Danny lay or more hung off the end of Jazz's bed staring at Jazz's Bearbert Einstein who he held raised above his head. Jazz was quiet, too quiet. Danny looked over at her, she had her arms crossed and appeared to be deep in thought. He'd just told her everything about dying and the dream he had with Clockwork, about how he wasn't sure how much time he had left, basically everything he had covered with Sam and Tucker in the broom closet at school. She shook her head and mumbled to herself then went back to staring into space. Danny sighed sliding off the bed but keeping his feet (with his shoes still on) on the mattress upsetting the bedding.
There was a soft knock on the door which jarred Jazz out of her thoughts.
"Who is it?" She called.
"It's me." Maddie said through the door, "Is Danny in there?" she called. Jazz looked at Danny who shrugged. But Jazz frowned.
"Yeah… Well I mean Danny Phantom is in here." She clarified with an exaggerated wink to Danny who rolled his eyes.
"I need to speak with him. May I come in, I don't like speaking through the door like this." She asked.
"Come in." Jazz agreed, Maddie opened the door, Jack behind her worrying his thumbs over a photograph.
"Danny… are you… I mean, will you take your shirt off please." She smiled at Danny, he blinked.
"Um… excuse me?" He swung his legs off the bed and rolled into a sitting position throwing Bearbert at Jazz who caught him ungraciously.
"Your shirt." Maddie insisted. Danny tugged at the edge of his T-shirt.
"Um… why?" he frowned, "I mean… haven't you seen me shirtless enough with all your experiments and electrodes?" Danny protested.
"Well then you won't mind if we look now would you." Maddie folded her arms, growing impatient.
"Fine, whatever." Danny stood and tugged off his shirt and threw it toward Maddie, she caught it in one hand and surveyed his torso. Danny folded his arms over his chest defiantly. This did nothing to hide the scar, she could still see the scar under his ribs on the right, he wasn't able to have the surgery done laparoscopically, just like Danny, could he really be Danny. She inhaled sharply. It didn't mean anything right? Lots of children had to have their appendixes removed, she had to deny it, if she kept denying it, that would mean she wouldn't have to face what she'd done. Then Jack gripped her shoulder, his hand trembling and his eyes fixed on the boy's back.
"Birthmark…" He said softly, looking at the distinctive birthmark on the lower right of Danny's back. It was a strange swirl, Danny had always liked it because it reminded him of galaxies, whereas Maddie thought it looked more like the swirl of the ghost zone through the portal. She and Jack stood there staring at the boy.
"Can I have my shirt back now?" Danny demanded. Maddie frowned and handed the shirt back silently.
Then she thought back to what he'd told her about his death. There was a lab accident… the portal… Tucker had mentioned the portal and if she had known about it before Sam shut him up. The portal accident! Danny had had an accident in the portal and had been strange ever since, moody, secretive, frightened, late, rebellious and snarky. She had thought the near death experience had maybe changed his worldviews. That he'd gotten involved with gangs or the freaks from Circus Gothica, which later turned out to be false… but she had never imagined… he'd called her mom… on more than one occasion he'd slipped up and called her mom. But not because of ducks or dinosaurs or any type of imprinting but because she was… and he was… to him she was…
Could he be an echo of Danny? Something created in the portal accident… no… that didn't make sense either, ghosts didn't have so much detail… something had happened to her son. Her mind whirled, had he been infused with ectoplasm, she had expected some minor contamination following the portal given that Danny had started setting off their ghost equipment. What if it was more than a low level ecto-contamination, if it had altered his body on an molecular level.
"Mom?" Jazz frowned, "are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost." She said, despite the severity of the situation Danny burst out laughing causing Jazz to turn bright red and snap at him.
"Shut up Invisobill." Which sobered Danny up slightly, though it seemed his amusement at her comment hadn't completely faded given he was still snickering from time to time. Maddie watched them interact; Jazz threw Bearbert Einstein at him to which he dodged smoothly with a laugh.
"Missed me." He grinned.
"You are so childish." Jazz folded her arms, rolling her eyes before turning back to Maddie.
"Mom, Dad… seriously though are you ok?" Jazz asked while Danny pulled down the hem of his shirt nervously.
"You knew." Maddie said, taking in her daughter, "You two have been covering it up… together… you knew." She shook her head. Jack was silent behind her as if he were still coming to grips with things.
"Mom? I don't know what you're talking about." Jazz said, though there was a tinge of fear behind her dismissive words.
"You knew Danny was a ghost… you knew what had happened after the portal accident, what had happened to Danny." Maddie clarified, her mind ran through the science trying to figure out how it had happened while Jazz and Danny exchanged a look.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Jack asked his face confused, "we could have done something. We could have helped. Or at least we would be shooting at you." He grumbled. Jazz looked at Danny who sighed.
"W-Wait a second guys? Who ever said Danny was a ghost? I think you're just getting the names confused, I mean Phantom does seem similar to Fenton but obviously they are two separate Dannys." Jazz covered nervously. Danny sat down on Jazz's bed silent, staring at the floor.
"But we love you!" Jack blurted out. Danny winced. Maddie tapped her foot on the ground, anxious and somewhat angry. Her children had been conspiring against them. No wonder why Jazz was so protective of Phantom, and why Danny avoided the subject and slipped out of the room anytime ghosts; Phantom or ghost weapons were involved, especially when ghost weapons were involved. She wanted it to be a trick; that Phantom had modeled himself after Danny, or overshadowed Danny, or maybe he'd even killed Danny and taken his place, or the portal had killed Danny and Phantom had accidently filled the void left by her son's soul. But no; one couldn't fake everything; and while his behavior had changed following the accident, his mannerisms and habits hadn't. She couldn't deny it any longer, he had to be Danny, the way Jazz and Phantom interacted, it was all so obvious now, the way Phantom interacted with Danny's friends, the things he seemed to know that were only family knowledge, Phantom was her Danny.
Danny caught Maddie's eyes then looked away rubbing the back of his neck.
The silence stretched on. Danny sighed plucking at the fabric of his jeans while Maddie scrutinized him. There were marks from where his fingers previously picked at the seams, he paused wondering if that just gave himself away more, then stilled his hands. That didn't last long, he found himself drumming his fingers along his leg, then glanced at Jack who was also staring at him. He rubbed the back of his neck again then tapped his foot.
He opened his mouth and looked at his parents then closed his mouth again. What could he say? What would they believe? He licked his lips and opened his mouth again forcing the words out.
"I'm sorry." He stated. The other three Fenton's stared, "It was… well it was easier… just easier not to say anything." He went back to looking at the ground, choosing his words. "I… It's not that… I didn't trust you. Or that I was afraid that you'd either not believe more or tear me apart molecule by molecule… though at first I was scared that you would. The Freakshow thing happened which put those fears to rest. But by then… by then it was just easier for you not to know… no that's not entirely true. I mean… you said you'd love me to quote 'ghost, boy or something in-between.' And I wanted to believe that." The words began spilling out of him and he just couldn't stop now, even if his words made no sense to him, they didn't remember the whole summer with Freakshow nonsense.
"When I altered reality I guess I could have let you remember, just made the rest of the world forget that I was Danny Phantom, that I was a half ghost. Not just because of the Guys in White or the attention or the unlicensed comic books, but because… because I didn't want anyone to know I was… what I was." Danny frowned, swallowing hard and he shook his head.
"I guess… as cool as being a ghost and ghost powers were… I didn't want to be more of a freak…" Danny drummed his fingers on his leg again, "But it's not that I didn't want to be half-ghost anymore… I thought…no I feared that you'd… you'd think differently of me, no matter your kind words. That you'd try to 'cure' me as if I had an ailment or disease or as if there was something inherently shameful about being half-ghost." Danny sighed.
"And most of the time I take pride in what I am… was. Only the second of my kind to be created, one of three known, something unique, something more than I was before. I had the ability to help people, save people, protect people. I could fly. And as much as I complained about wanting a normal life, a human life… I just can't go back, I couldn't go back to being normal Danny Fenton who gets picked on and shoved in lockers and is the most average of the Fentons." Danny looked up at his parents, pain, betrayal, anger, fear all reflected in those deep green eyes.
"But… I guess I didn't have a choice; and it's too late now to think of what I could have done differently or why I didn't do what I should have done." He twiddled his thumbs, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you… I mean it. I'm sorry I couldn't trust you and you have to find out this way and that you won't even get to bury your son because I'm like this. And like this…" He stared at his hand and then ran a hand through his white hair fighting back tears, "I'm not even sure what I am anymore or what I'm going to end up as…" He wiped his eyes, "I don't want to die like this. I don't want to die again. I'm running out of time."
Maddie and Jack were suddenly hugging Danny, something Danny certainly hadn't expected, he wasn't sure what he expected exactly though, he hugged them back, leaning into them and crying softly, he was only 15 after all and he had been through so much.
"Oh Danny… we're sorry too… if we… if only we hadn't been so set in our beliefs that we were right, if only we had listened to you guys. Especially Jazz, we could have learned so much. We are so sorry." Maddie ran a hand through Danny's hair smoothing it down like she did when he was younger.
"We love you Danny. No matter what." Jack said his arms around Maddie, Danny and Jazz, who had sneaked into the family hug at the last minute.
"You should have told us… but I understand." Maddie leaned her cheek against Danny's forehead, "I understand why you didn't."
"I didn't mean for you to find out like this, when everything… it's all messed up." I can't…" Danny sobbed as the Fenton's broke the hug, "I don't know what to do." He tapped his thigh, Maddie took his hand in hers causing his nervous fingers to still.
"This situation was something I'd never thought of. I've imagined you finding out what I would do, either if you caught me, or I found the courage to tell you, or if someone spilled the beans, either by accident or on purpose. But me… stuck like this… talking about it… not being able to prove anything or show you the truth… I never thought I'd believe me. I definitely never thought you'd confront me after this happened." He gestured to himself. "How does one explain such things without proof… How did you guys realize it? I mean you're not complete idiots, and even Valerie found it out… but I thought you would be in deeper denial about it." Danny frowned.
"DNA testing." Maddie sighed.
"Really?" Danny blinked, "But I… I mean I'm Phantom." He frowned.
"Your ghostly structure turned human is 99% similar to your human form." Maddie sighed. She was still trying to wrap her head around how this had happened, and that the boy in front of her was indeed her son. "How… How did this happen." She asked, fearing she knew the answer. Danny blushed.
"Um… You… well the portal… it didn't work. And there was… well Sam wanted to check it out, and… you guys put the on button on the inside of the portal." Danny obsessively picked at his pant leg trying not to look at his parents.
"The on button?" Jack said slowly trying to process exactly what had happened, "But… that would mean you were inside the portal when it activated." Jack frowned.
"Yeah." Danny still refused to meet anyone's eyes.
"But if you were in it…" Jack shook his head, "Well… that makes no sense… But Vlad had ecto-acne after the portal blasted his face, and he's not a ghost… you didn't have ecto-acne." Jack pointed out, confused by the portal accident, Danny and Jazz winced.
"Yeah… about that… the diet coke thing… I mean you didn't use the ecto-purifier in the original portal you used coke, but the portal downstairs had ecto-purifier instead… the coke is what caused the ecto-acne." Danny explained.
"Though an argument could be made for any acne." Jazz interrupted.
"But Vlad isn't a ghost." Maddie stated, Jazz and Danny exchanged a look, "Is he?"
"That's the thing… there are three half ghosts that I know of… I'm one… Vlad is another." Danny revealed. "Specifically Vlad Plasmius… or you may know him as the Wisconsin Ghost."
"Suffering Spooks! If Vladdie is the Wisconsin ghost… but that would mean… at the reunion… he used me as a meat puppet!" Jack was hurt, outraged, and confused. Danny flinched away from his father's wrath, curling into himself slightly as he backed out of the family circle.
"Why would he do that?" Jack asked the universe, feeling betrayal.
"He hates you for marrying mom and making the portal, he thinks the accident ruined his life… it did hospitalize him for several years." Danny winced, "You wouldn't believe the amount of times he's hit on mom and tried to kill you." Jack shook his head.
"I always knew Vlad had never been the same since the portal accident but I never thought he was a ghost. I mean he was a creep but I would never have guessed ghost… how come you didn't tell us?" Maddie glared at Danny who shrunk under her gaze.
"He threatened to expose my secret if I told his, but now that you know… I guess I don't have to keep his secret any more." Danny avoided his mother's gaze.
"But what about that time the Wisconsin ghost tried to steal our portal?" Jack asked.
"His blew up." He added.
"But he's our mayor!" Jack protested. Danny looked sheepish again.
"Uh… that's slightly my fault… I mean mostly Vlad's because he started it… but there were some pranks that got out of control, and he wanted to make my life hell." Danny glanced at his parents, "He really hates me." He shrugged, "I keep thwarting his plans to take over the world, or at least to kill dad and marry mom." Danny admitted.
"Speaking of Vlad, you think he'd take this opportunity to do just that." Jazz frowned.
"Let's back up for a moment…" Maddie frowned, "You said that there were 3, who is the other one?" Maddie asked. Danny sighed.
"Dani, with an I. She's my clone." Maddie started to interrupt, "Vlad made her." He answered, "He wants me as his son."
"I thought you said he hated you." Jack frowned.
"He does… but he also is a lonely creep and keeps offering me a ticket to the dark side. I keep refusing of course… I know a little too much about my dark side and how it ends with Vlad… but I guess after my refusing so often, and being a general nuisance to him, he decided to build his own son using my DNA. Probably would have succeeded too if it hadn't been for Sam and Tucker."
"Sam and Tucker know about this too?" Maddie blurted out, then she looked at Danny's face, "Of course they do." Her face turned red, Danny had mentioned that Sam had been present during the portal accident; logically Tucker would have been too.
"It seems we have a lot to talk about." Maddie said with a sigh, Jazz and Danny exchanged a look.
"Uh… to the living room?" Jazz suggested.
"Yeah… There is a lot to explain." Danny said with a small nod. "Let me start at the beginning again."
Perhaps things were a bit awkward in the Fenton residence, but definitely more light hearted. Still looking back on it, Maddie was surprised that she hadn't noticed before. Her mind was perhaps so against the idea that the similarities had barely registered. Now that she knew though, they seemed to smack her in the face every few minutes.
Danny was still keeping something from them; and something he'd said during his rushed confession still bugged her "I don't want to die like this, I don't want to die again. I'm running out of time." While she was working on a way to change Danny back to normal, she started dwelling on those words. "You won't even get to bury your son because I'm like this." She figured being half-ghost (though she still wasn't sure how it was possible) would make one think about death; but he had genuinely freaked out when Skulker had attacked him and Maddie saved him. He was scared to die, in a way he had admitted he wasn't before.
She worked endlessly to try and find a way to bring back what Danny called his "human half." She didn't even know where his "human half" could have gone or where she could find it. If it was in his genetics and she could find a way to shift it back, even given that these were Phantom's genetics, or if she could reverse the process by which she had created the human Phantom and Danny's human half would reappear with Phantom's ghost being revived.
If "Phantom" died she figured Danny as a whole would die, so she had no way of turning Danny back to normal. She briefly entertained the idea of using the portal. But when Danny had described the incident and the pain; she thought better of it. She would not put her child through any more pain than he'd already endured, she had already put him through enough, not to mention what he had gone through because of the accident. Besides, she wasn't entirely sure if "Phantom" would be the human and "Fenton" would be the ghost if she did consider using the portal to help. Indeed she didn't want to see her child as a ghost, even if she already had, this would be different. Her child dying was a fear that was quickly creeping up on her.
Running out of time… what did it mean? Being a mom she feared the worst, Danny's death of course. Danny had admitted to much after the big reveal, describing an entire other world, the ghost zone, describing his life through a ghost's and a human's eyes. Giving them insight to things they could only guess at before. It seemed tragic for one who danced through the borders of life and death to ultimately belong on only one side, she could tell he longed for his other half, he had been right when he'd screamed that she had upset a delicate balance. He was strange, acting off in a way he hadn't before, he was tired more often than not, sick and pale lately. She feared he was destabilizing.
Unfortunately her worst fear was soon confirmed.
Cujo, the ghost dog turned living, was dying. Their analyzes of the dog's sickness revealed a breakdown of his genetic structure. Slow as it may be, it was happening, and while the dog still had long moments of clarity, he was slowly becoming more ill. He'd go for longer periods of time without food, and his vomit was oddly green tinged. The dog was dying, and if Cujo was dying… What was going to happen to Danny?