Danny stared up at Sam's window, uselessly he tried to reach into himself and find that orb of cold that represented his ghost powers but there was nothing there, just the odd and violent rush of blood as his heart pounded. Danny hesitated then threw a pebble at Sam's window. There was no answer. Danny threw another one glad that her window wasn't at the front of the building with the door so he could try and escape should her parents hear the noise and come out to get him. He was about to throw another pebble when Sam's hand opened the window, her eyes peering out before locking on him.
"Sam!" Danny called. Sam yawned.
"What?" She asked, irritated as she looked down at him, obviously annoyed.
"I need your help." Danny whisper shouted to her.
"Just fly up then." Sam growled angry at being woken.
"I… Sam… Sam I can't." Danny said, sounding scared. At this Sam changed her tone.
"I'll be back." Sam disappeared inside her bedroom rummaging around and soon a rope ladder was thrown out of the window. Danny gripped the side and began climbing up the wobbly rope contraption before pulling himself through the window and collapsing in Sam's room breathing heavily.
"Ow." Danny said before rolling over and standing up. He faced the wall away from Sam who put a hand on his shoulder.
"Danny, you're scaring me." Sam said. Danny's frame stiffened and he slowly turned. Sam saw green eyes and nearly punched Danny in the face for they weren't Phantom's glowing green eyes they were a very human green. A deep human green. However, upon seeing Danny's snow-white hair, though lacking in its usual glow Sam's fist stopped. Danny turned to face her full on, pressing Sam's hand into his chest so she could feel his heartbeat.
"I… I'm human." Danny said. Sam fell backward onto her bed staring at Danny as she stared.
"Shit." Sam said, "Shit." She repeated. Danny sat on the bed with her and stared at his hands.
"What am I going to do?" Danny asked. Sam opened her mouth to speak then closed it before opening it again then sighing.
"I don't know." Sam said, "Did you tell Tucker?" Sam asked. Danny shook his head.
"No… not yet. I came here first… I… I don't know what I can do." Danny started breathing quickly, "Will I be stuck like this forever… oh god…" Danny buried his head in his hands, his white hair poking out of the blue sweatshirt.
"I'm sure we'll figure something out." Sam said, trying to be reassuring, "we always do right?" Sam asked. Danny nodded.
"I guess." He said dejectedly. Sam sighed.
"You guess…" Sam lay back down on the bed. Danny looked over at her.
"I'm human… my ghost half is human, what happened to my human half? What is going to happen to me now? Will Danny Fenton just be missing forever? What am I going to do about the ghosts? I can't fight effectively like this. I'm useless!" His hands clenched into fist and he grit his teeth.
"You're not useless Danny, I don't think you know how to be useless, but… as far as fighting ghosts goes… you might have to do it as a human… though sensing ghosts is probably off the table since that was a part of your powers." Sam frowned. "I don't know… even if you're stuck as the human version of your ghost half, you're not useless." She said as she took his hand. Danny sighed softly and gave her hand a small squeeze.
"I don't know what any of this means, I don't know what to do about it… I feel like… I don't know." He mumbled. "I'm so confused…" He mumbled and closed his eyes. "I'm freaking out."
"I am too… I just… I don't think having me freak out helps you while you're freaking out so I'm trying not to freak out." Sam said. They exchanged glances before laughing at the convoluted sentence Sam had just spat out. Danny sighed softly as he laid there, still holding Sam's hand before finally taking in her pajamas.
"You know if this weren't so serious I would be laughing at your footie pajamas." Danny commented green eyes hinting a smile. Sam kicked him lightly with the stuffed face on her footie pajamas.
"Shut up, Jack rocks." Sam defended, the plush faced Jack Skellington grinning up at the two of them. Danny sighed and then looked up at the ceiling, sorting his thoughts before speaking again.
"I might not see you guys for a while." Danny said, a sadness in his voice that made Sam's heart clench.
"I assumed." she answered softly, avoiding looking at him for a moment. Danny sighed heavily before standing up, letting go of Sam's hand and pacing the room. He paused when he heard the roar of the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle roaring down the street. Great, his parents had found out he was missing. He sighed and looked back at Sam.
"I should go." He said softly. Sam nodded.
"Yeah… Tucker probably wants to see you before… whatever happens next happens." She sighed as she felt her heart sink. She wished that she could fix everything for him, but that was beyond her abilities.
Danny slunk toward the window white hair catching the moonlight giving it an almost ghostly glow. He looked back at Sam and smiled sadly, giving her a small waver before he proceeded down the ladder. His humanly green eyes and his white hair were the last thing Sam saw as he left.
On the ground Danny was hastily running through back alleys and cutting through yards till he got to Tucker's house. With Tucker's room being on the first floor it was much easier to break in and wake up his best friend.
Danny jiggled the window open till the lock broke free, a security flaw Tucker's parents always said they'd fix but they never had. Danny crawled through the window and into Tucker's room before making his way to the bed. He grabbed Tucker's should and shook him, trying to wake him up.
"But that's my bacon!" Tucker groaned, not quite conscious yet before he began to snore again. Danny groaned and shook him harder.
"Tucker, it's me… it's Danny." Danny said as he tried to pull Tucker upright, the sleepy teen opened his eyes then blinked, but didn't seem to be all there.
"Yes Phantom, those pickles do look withered." Tucker stated, proving that Danny's attempts to wake him were futile. He mumbled something that didn't make sense then rolled over as Danny released him.
"Tucker!" Danny said, trying to get Tucker to wake up, he shook him more, he was convinced if he tried shaking him any harder Tucker's parents would hear the bed moving and come in to investigate. Tucker groaned then tried waving Danny off, managing to smack Danny in the face as he flailed.
"This is my bed, it's only for hot girls and cyber chicks." Tucker whined. Danny, getting frustrated, grabbed the glass of water off Tucker's bed stand and poured it on Tucker's head. This worked like a charm and Tucker sat up suddenly coughing and sputtering as water streamed down his face. He glared at Danny.
"You should have just shaken me awake." Tucker said as he fumbled for his glasses. Once his glasses were on his jaw dropped. "Duuuuude." he said, staring at the human version of Phantom.
"Tucker… I need to be quick; my parents are out looking for me, they'll probably be patrolling the streets for me for a while..." Danny said, he flinched as he heard the sound of the GAV in the distance, "I…" Danny scrambled for the right words; "I don't think I'll be seeing much of you for a while." He ran a hand through his hair, then rubbed the bridge of his nose as he thought of how to explain what happened in the limited time he felt he had.
"This is because of the human thing right." Tucker asked, gesturing over his friend. Danny nodded.
"I'll probably be at home for a while… my parents will want to keep an eye on their science experiment after all… but… as far as hanging out goes…" Danny rubbed his neck and trailed off, "I… I'm probably… not going to see you guys for quite a while." he admitted softly. There was a long stretch of silence between them as what Danny said began to sink in. It was Danny who broke the silence first.
"Please take care of Sam." He asked, "Take care of each other while I'm… out of commission." Tucker frowned trying not to get emotional.
"Ok… and dude… take care of yourself." Tucker said.
"I'll do my best." Danny said with a nod before creeping back to the window and slipping out.
"Me too." Tucker said. Danny paused, looking over his friend once more, then he closed the window behind him before ghosting across the lawn and into the dark, vanishing from sight. Tucker laid down wondering if it would take long till he saw Danny again.
Danny had fled to a nearby park. He was currently sitting down on the park bench rubbing his hands together wondering why it was so cold. He blew warm air into his palms and shivered before bringing his legs up to his chest to conserve heat. It had been a couple hours since he had left Tucker's house and Danny hadn't felt so cold since he got his ice powers. What felt worse was the fact that it wasn't the unnatural cold that came with his ghost half, it was a distinctly human cold that seeped into his skin and made him shiver, a cold that was no longer a part of him and that scared him. Danny shut his eyes tight against the rest of the world hoping that would warm him up as he shivered.
"It isn't that cold, it isn't that cold." He told himself over and over. But his body knew differently as he shivered in the cold night. Danny felt a warm hand on his shoulder and looked up to see a policeman. He shivered and blinked in confusion as he stared at the man.
"Hey kid, you can't sleep here, it's past curfew. Where are your parents?" the man asked. Danny continued to shiver and he sat up, he looked down at his hand before running a hand over his hair, accidentally knocking his hood off and exposing his white hair.
"I…I don't know." Danny looked up at the policeman, his eyes wide and confused, "I'm… I'm human." He said still in a semblance of shock. The policeman froze as he took in Danny's appearance and then the odd statement he had made about being human. His eyes widened and the hand on Danny's shoulder tightened its grip as he connected the dots.
"Phantom?" he breathed, not sure what to do. Danny looked down at his hands then grabbed a fist full of his own white hair still shivering as he choked out a sob.
"What is going to happen to me? I can't… I don't… What am I going to do? What… What happens now?" he wondered, rambling and shivering and looking miserable. The policeman put his hands on Danny's shoulders; Danny released his hair and looked up at the policeman.
"What happened?" The policeman asked, looking into Danny's eyes to try and get the ghost turned human to focus on him.
"My… it… the Fentons they…" Danny blinked and tried to force a laugh, "Oh wow I make no sense." he said, shaking his head and taking a deep breath before he looked at the policeman, "I must be a sight to see… oh gods… Let me see… if I can… I… well the Fentons… they made me… human… They really messed me up… I'm human… How can a ghost be human?" Danny said before a more violent shiver caused him to curl up into himself, "So cold."
"Come on, you can warm up in my car." The man extended his hand, "My name is Pete by the way." Pete the policeman said with a reassuring smile. Danny nodded shivering and took Pete's hand as he helped him off the bench. He stood and followed the man through the park, presumably back to Pete's car. Danny's stomach growled and he immediately grabbed his abdomen.
"Oh… uh… we can go to the Nasty Burger and get you something to eat." Pete offered with another reassuring smile.
"You really don't have to do that." Danny said, sounding more articulate. He had pushed his emotions and panic down, after all it was embarrassing to be caught having a nervous breakdown, especially when he was supposed to be a fearless hero.
"No, it's ok. The way I see it is you've helped us out when we're in trouble so we might as well return the favor." Pete smiled, opening the door to the side of the car and letting Danny get in. Danny sat down still shivering and waited as Pete got into the other side starting the engine and waiting a while for the car to heat up.
The inside was strewn with garbage and various other things that Pete gathered up into a white grocery bag, Danny stared out the window, rubbing his arms and waiting as Pete cleaned up the car. When the car was a semblance clean Pete tied off the bag and threw it in the back before speaking.
"We're a bit short on cruisers at the moment. A whole bunch of them got destroyed in that last big ghost invasion." Pete said, "We haven't been able to acquire the funding to replace them yet so a few of us just have to use our own cars." Pete explained. "Not quite the best thing for taking in criminals so we usually have to wait for a cruiser to come while we hold the perp. However, lately most criminals aren't the kind we can hold with cuffs." Pete smiled a bit before putting the car into drive and heading down the road.
"Yeah I suppose not… Sorry… It can be hard to keep track of what gets destroyed in the fights." Danny said, his shivering had decreased as the car warmed up, Pete looked over at him.
"So… you're human? How… how is that?" he asked the boy, Danny turned his emerald eyes onto the man and sighed.
"Yeah… human… soooo… no ghost powers, no goin' ghost, no nothing." Danny sighed. "It's frustrating… limiting… There were times when I wanted to be normal again, fully human again… but not like this." he sighed and closed his eyes.
"Well, who are you staying with?" Pete asked, "I mean do your parents know you're alive again and you'd stay with them?" Pete said, "Not to be rude or anything." He added, not sure if ghosts were self conscious about then and certainly not having met a ghost who came back to life.
"No. Don't worry about it. I guess you could say my parents think I'm still alive, that I was never a ghost in the first place. And… honestly look different from how I did when I was alive." Danny said, "That is probably a big factor as to why they never knew it was me."
"I don't see how a family could not know their son was dead." Pete said angrily. Danny shrugged then stared at his hands once more. "Hey… you ok?" Pete asked the Nasty Burger's neon sign glowing in the distance.
"I'm fine… physically at least." Danny sighed, "I just don't know how… how I'm going to protect my town now." Danny said with a sigh, Pete looked over at him raising an eyebrow.
"You're town?" he wondered. Danny laughed softly and smiled sadly.
"Well I guess it's not really mine as I've put my name on it or marked it as territory… It's just the place I've grown up in since I was little. So in that way it's mine. I want to protect it, make sure it's safe. It wasn't something I thought of at first. I didn't want to be a ghost… but does any sane person want to be a ghost?" He shook his head and sighed as he looked out the window. "But it was something I figured I might as well do after all. It… it's not really something I can explain… I guess it's more like noblesse oblige… or some kind of altruism" Danny shrugged.
"Noble what?" Pete asked.
"Oh… it's the only term I seem to remember from my government class. Basically it's since I have the power to protect people, I'm obligated to use it for people who don't have the power I do. No, that's not exactly it. The original term was referring to nobles from England but I've adapted it for myself I guess." Danny sighed. "But… even powerless like I am now… I'd like to protect people."
"I've never heard that term before… but I have heard the concept." Pete said. The car pulled to a stop in front of the menu with Nasty Nat and the speaker. Pete pulled out some bills.
"Welcome to Nasty Burger, may I take your order?" the speaker crackled, but did nothing to hide the obvious boredom of the person taking the order, Pete rolled down the window.
"Give us a minute." Pete said to the machine before he turned to Danny, "what do you want."
"Just a Nasty Burger and fries with a cola" Danny said. Pete nodded and repeated the order.
"Your total is $6.95 please proceed to the first window." The voice said. Pete pulled around the side of the building and stopped at the window. Valerie was working at the window, she hadn't had to spend time playing the franchise's mascot for a while. Danny smiled, he still thought it was still a kind of crappy job, but at least she was moving up the ranks.
"Six dollars and ninety five cents." She said with a fake smile, Pete handed her a ten and she returned the change with a false chipper voice, " three o' five is your change, your order will be out in a- YOU!" Valerie said, her customer service facade breaking as she noticed Danny in the passenger seat.
"Great, what do you want… and what are you wearing?" Valerie asked. Pete knew there were people who bore ill will toward Phantom but the killer aura coming off Valerie made him shiver, he wasn't sure if he should interrupt the two teenagers and say something.
"I just want to eat, am I not allowed to eat now? Is eating somehow evil?" Danny replied snarkily, rolling his eyes and folding his arms.
"As if ghosts can eat." Valerie scoffed, "I don't know what you're up to ghost, but I'm going to find out." Valerie glared.
"I may be inclined to agree with you… that is if I were a ghost at the moment." Danny said sarcastically. Valerie looked closer at him then frowned as she noticed the distinct lack of glow in his aura and eyes.
"You like Danielle?" She asked, kind of taken aback for a moment. Danny shook his head sighing and looking past Pete.
"No… not right now anyway… I'm fully and completely human." Danny sighed as he put a hand to his chest feeling the beat of his heart. Valerie frowned, still half glaring at Danny but seemingly unsure what to say now. Pete coughed to get her attention.
"Um… our order." He prompted gently, Valerie glanced at Pete then seemed to realize for the first time that he was a police officer and not only that, but that she was still at work.
"Oh… right… I'll get that right away." Valerie picked up the bag with the Nasty Burger logo then handed it through the window.
"Thank you for eating at Nasty Burger." She said with her chipper customer service voice, before switching to Vallerie the ghost hunter just as quickly to glare at Danny, "Phantom I'm going to have a long talk with you later." She warned, the sudden change gave Pete whiplash.
"Will it be painful?" Danny asked sarcastically, taking the bag from Pete. Valerie glared and waved him off.
"Just get out of here." She said closing the window behind her as she returned to her job, Danny chuckled. Pete looked over at him.
"What was that about?" Pete asked, "Do you know her?"
"Yeah, it's a long story and it involves me nearly a year ago, not long after becoming a ghost and this Ghost Dog and her Dad… basically her life was ruined… and she blames me for it." Danny shrugged taking the burger and fries out of the bag. He bit into the burger as if he was starving and chewed a bit before whimpering in delight. Pete smiled even if Phantom was a superhero… or former superhero; he was clearly still a teenager. Pete chuckled and Danny looked up at him.
"What?" Danny asked with a slight head tilt.
"You have ketchup on your face." Pete said turning the corner and parking down the street by one of the smaller neighborhood parks.
"Oh." Danny said, grabbing a napkin. Danny smiled up at Pete, "Thanks." He said.
"No problem." Pete smiled.
"I'll pay you back somehow." Danny promised.
"Don't worry about it." Pete said.
"Of course I'll worry about it or I'll just feel like a mooch… I'm a bit short on cash though so…" Danny frowned then took a handful of fries.
"Hey, how about you just come sign my daughter's Danny Phantom poster and we call it even." Pete said. Danny laughed.
"You got a deal… though I'm not sure how much it would be with me like this." Danny frowned. Pete shrugged.
"You have a place to stay?" Pete asked.
"No… not really. The Fentons had me… but… I don't know if I want to go back there, I'm sure I'll go back eventually but ..." Danny sighed and trailed off. Everything felt so complicated and insurmountable, he didn't want to think about it right now and trigger another panic attack.
"Stay the night, or er… rest of the morning with me and then you can decide tomorrow." Pete suggested, Danny considered it then nodded, smiling at the kind man.
"Thanks." He said. "I think I'll take you up on that offer."
Maddie frowned; she couldn't find Phantom anywhere. It wasn't so easy looking for a human; he was harder to track now, humans didn't have ecto-signatures… well except Danny, but that was because of the portal incident. Jack was raging about how he must have had help from a ghost or he wouldn't have been able to get so far so quickly. Maddie wasn't sure about this story, after all most of the other ghosts didn't like Phantom. Despite what she thought of Phantom, it was obvious that he did fight off the other ghosts and it was unlikely he would receive help. If anything the ghosts might take advantage of Phantom's new found humanity.
Maddie wasn't sure what taking advantage of Phantom might look like, and she wasn't sure if they would go so far as to kill him. Though killing him would likely only result in him becoming a ghost once more so if anything they had captured him to keep him from gaining the control he once had over Amity. Likely any sway or claim he had over the town had been dissolved due to his humanity. There wasn't much else to do but find him, and hopefully before he fell into the hands of any ghosts.
As much as she hated to admit it, Phantom, despite being a ghost, was helpful at times. A dark thought crossed her mind: if the other ghosts got a hold of him while he was human could they rewire him before killing him? Could they somehow make Phantom worse? More destructive? Would they turn him into an ally through brainwashing? Realizing this, she wondered if Phantom had posed that much of a threat before, and what sort of problems might arise if they couldn't find him.
Authors Note: Hope you enjoy this chapter, if you're someone who has read this story before back when I first wrote it, then you probably won't notice too many changes. That'll be a bit of a theme for a while, so I'm trying to make it through the old chapters as quick as a I can so I can start updating new chapters for the folks who've read this in the past.
Again comments/reviews are my life's blood and I love them so much. Especially when they are detailed and specifically comment and mention thoughts and feeling you had while reading.
Seriously, makes me want to cry sometimes.