The transition from being asleep, to waking up, was seamless enough that Danny couldn't even tell if he'd been sleep at all, though finding that he hadn't been after all wouldn't have been too surprising to him.
It wasn't as if he got much sleep these days.
Groaning, he reached a hand up to his face and rubbed at his eyes, only noticing now the distant singing of birds somewhere beyond his window, his sensitive ears picking up their small voices as the cool, morning air blew in, dotted with the beginnings of a delicate drizzle of rain that pattered beyond. His lack of memory, or rather, recollection of ever even falling asleep was aided by the absence of dreams, an equally cold, black void at least gracing the back of his eyes as he recalled laying his head upon his pillow the night before...and just as soon, finding himself here, waking up the morning after as if he'd never fallen asleep.
Sitting up, he figured he couldn't complain, wrenching his surprisingly tired body from his sheets in a slow, exhaustive movement. It seemed to be more than he could ask to simply forget, after all, not that his mind would really allow him to, after all.
How could some really forget the stench of blood in his nose, so heavy and thick in the air that it practically choked him?
The flickering lights overhead allowing to see him the visage of gore and viscera that remained seared into his retinas?
He could still hear them screaming.
Crying for help that wasn't coming.
Help that he couldn't provide.
Even months later, they still lived there, lived ever present in the back of his mind, reminding him of his failure, his stupidity...but sensing himself beginning to go somewhere he didn't want to, the teen shook his head, attempting to redirect his focus.
'No, can't let myself get taken there. Not this early in the morning, anyway. Just gotta...think about something else. Literally...anything else...' Danny reminded himself calmly, taking a breath and loosing it shakily, and swinging his legs over the bed, he came to a stand, seeming reinvigorated. It wouldn't do to think about any of it, so simply, he wouldn't. He didn't get to sit around dwelling in it...what good would that do? Besides, it was a new year, a new start; he had the entire summer to wallow and sulk, but now, he finally had something to think about other than...all of that.
And to start?
He should probably start getting cleaned up and ready.
Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.
'Alright, up and at 'em. I'll probably wanna call up Sam and Tucker...see if they can pull off a patrol before school, just to be sure. That'll be a good way to shake off the dust, see what's been goin' on around town.' He thought to himself, walking carefully over to his closet, mindful of his steps to make sure he wasn't making too much noise. Despite the morning songs, he was certain that everyone else in the house was still asleep (well, maybe not everyone, but he could think about that later), and besides not wanting to be rude by waking them up, it would also make it harder to explain why he was up so early in the first place. In fact, eying his alarm clock on his nightstand, he made sure to remind himself to disable it after he finished getting ready.
Another part of him wondered why he even set it anymore. It wasn't as if he actually used it, since he woke up long before it would usually go off (if he ever got to sleep, that is). Maybe some part of doing still felt kind of normal, like...before when he still needed it, when he still felt like...himself
...
...
Maybe.
Regardless, it still posed the risk of going off and screwing everything up getting out before everyone else woke up (Mom and Dad were a lot harder to convince nowadays to let him roam around without good reason. Danny was sure they wouldn't okay with him walking about in the dark and cold of the early morning), so after picking his clothes, he did just that, flicking the clock from its alarm mode and turning it off, and just after, set his clothes upon the bed. A navy blue shirt, dark pants, and a light jacket were placed carefully on his disheveled sheets, paired with undergarments he fished from his first nightstand drawer. Nothing too complicated, he thought, satisfied with his selection, and grabbing his towel and toothbrush, he made his way to his bedroom door. But before making it there, he decided to turn on the television, picking up the remote and turning it on if only to watch the news as it flickered to life, the forecast playing quietly in background as he turned away, creeping silently the rest of the way to his bedroom door. Opening it and peaking out into the hallway, it was still dark, long, cast shadows posing little issue for his eyes as they made easy work of the low-lit conditions.
Just another perk of being half-dead, the teen thought with a morbid sense of humor. This was something he assumed very quickly when he was still getting used to having them, but now, a year out from the start, it wasn't too mystifying now, par for the course as he listened out for any indication that his parents were awake. But hearing his dad's loud snores and his mother's, comparatively, small breaths were cause for him to think it was fine to move, opening the door a bit more, and stepping out into the hallway but not far before he looked up again, unable to miss it, the sound of footsteps coming further down the hall, and, unsurprised, he looked up.
It was Jasmine.
Smiling a bit, and pausing just outside of his door, he gave her a knowing look, one she matched in kind.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd figured you were the one with super hearing or something. That, or you don't sleep. Maybe both." He said in a low voice, careful to take note that the two in the other room would stay sleep as they talked, though an air of impatience weighed in the back of his mind. It was no offense to Jazz, but her 'talks', which by his metrics would be coming up pretty soon, did take a while to finish. He did have somewhere to be, after all. However, she seemed to catch wind of his impatience, a perception that only she seemed to notice where their parents did not, and he didn't think he needed to guess why. Being one of the only five people that knew of his little secret, that is, his powers, she could probably guess when things were related to just regular teen angst...or something more supernatural. Maybe it would help if he were just a bit more subtle about it, if he could just...hide it a bit better,
But really, the teen figured, there was probably no hiding it from her no matter how hard he tried.
Shrugging, his older sister didn't try to mask the question, bearing little hesitation as she inquired, though her tone betrayed that she likely already knew the answer.
"Going out to patrol again?" Jazz responded, crossing her arms before walking forward, closing the distance between them, something, he figured, would make it easier for the two of them talk (since they were bordering on regular speaking volume, and from the shift in sounds from the other room, as if they were trying to wake up, probably wasn't in his best interest), and even more, reduce the chance that they might wake up their parents.
Something he definitely appreciated.
"Yeah. Gonna meet up with Sam and Tucker to get some headway before class. You know the drill." The halfa chimed, and in response, Jazz hummed softly as if to acknowledge what he'd said, though he didn't need to guess what her following silence was meant to indicate. It wasn't exactly a secret that she didn't exactly...approve it this, not that that was really any surprise, see, as she didn't usually approve of, well, much, but even with her knowing about the entire ghost situation...it didn't help her anxiety knowing about...last year's incident.
Also not helped by the fact that he'd sort of been out of commission for a bit, too.
He didn't need to smell the sweat permeating her pores, or the thrum of her soft, if panicked, heartbeat to know that him going out and looking for trouble wasn't something she was really ready to get behind, but that was just it; he wasn't looking for trouble.
He just...wanted to make sure there weren't any ghosts to be found. That things were fine and safe; what was so bad about that? It wasn't as if this was his first time out; sure, things have changed, but the foundation was the same in essence.
There was still a job to do.
"Listen, Danny - " Before she could get a word in, he rushed to stop her.
He really wasn't in the mood to hear a lecture about this.
Again.
He'd had enough of that over the summer.
"Look, Jazz, I know. The GIW have got it covered, but that doesn't mean I just sit by and wait for things to be taken care of by them, especially since they might miss something. I don't want to fight you on this, you know where I stand." He declared sharply, standing at his full height, towering over her easily as he stared down at her, unyielding. His parents thought it miraculous, but they likened him to a week when they began to notice his spontaneous...growth. Sure, he wasn't a giant, but there was a noticeable difference from last year to now, enough that he was starting to have a hard time fitting into any of his old clothes anymore, and enough that shopping for him happened far more often than it used to. He guessed it had something to do with his ghost-half making him grow faster or something, for some reason, but he didn't really know, and he'd be damned if he asked Vlad anything about it.
It was a matter of principle, after all.
Regardless of the reason, he did know it made easy for him to make her look small by comparison, something, he thought, would never get old, and their apparent difference only made her more annoyed as she looked up into his eyes. For a moment, they didn't move, each unwilling to back down, but after a few seconds, Jazz sighed, appearing to relent. He could see it, the piercing strike of concern that was only complimented by the steady, if quick, pulse that thrummed through her veins, marked by her careful, outstretched hand that ran up the length of his arm as she appeared deep in thought. Beneath her finger tips was an a long, deep, scar, running the length of his forearm as it snaked around his wrists and along the appendage until it disappeared beneath his sleeve, mirroring his opposite arm. His eyes flickered over to her hand, remarking her touch with a stroke of anxiety and buried fear he thought he'd long since quashed, and just as quickly, a shimmer of annoyance with himself followed suit.
He was over it. It didn't effect him.
This little reminder shouldn't have been enough to make him...scared.
Because he wasn't scared.
Not anymore.
But that didn't stop the images of something deep, something repressed, from flickering behind his eyes.
It didn't stop him from gritting his teeth at the feelings it brought.
The sensation of cold, drawing disgust and unnamable feelings he didn't have the capacity to think on right then and there. So he thought it easier to push it away, until he was ready to really do so.
Or...if he ever would be.
Pulling away from her, smiling weakly, though it didn't really his eyes, Jazz didn't look to hurt, almost seeming to expect that he would do just that, and after a breath, she crossed her arms again, looking away as she spoke, the air just a bit more tense than it was before.
But despite that tension, he couldn't mistake it, the way her calm, vibrant eyes glittered with genuine concern, even when one of them remained hazy and dull, drained of its luster and framed by a huge, ghastly scar that ran crudely across her eye socket. Each eye betrayed no ill intent as she watched him carefully, doing what she could to maintain her composure, though really, and he would never tell her this, she was doing a really bad job of it.
Not that he held it against her or anything.
"I know where you stand, I just...be careful, okay? I just don't want you to...to get hurt again... Not again, Danny. Things are different this time, they're not going to be as easy as they were before, and I don't want to see you...like you were. I can't do that again..." She whispered, and he could feel it, the raw emotion running so thickly in the air that he felt his stomach twist at the sound of her wavering voice. It was harder to remain detached when...she got like this, and honestly, the teen couldn't help but think, this was the last thing he wanted to feel right now. As much as he appreciated her concern, he didn't want her to worry, he didn't...want her to concern herself with this...with any of it. She didn't deserve to have all of this on her when she never asked to.
This was for him to carry.
Him alone.
All of this was his fault, after all.
Softening his gaze, he pulled her close to him, seemingly taking her by surprise as he wrapped his massive arms around her, and seconds later, she did the same, and he could hear her.
Crying.
It made him ill, knowing that this was because of him. That she was upset because of...him. Holding her tighter, he felt his own voice waver, but he steadied himself, refusing to allow himself to do the same.
It shouldn't bother him.
It didn't...it didn't bother him.
He had to be strong...for the both of them.
For everyone.
"I know, Jazz. I promise I'll be careful, I promise, okay? You didn't think I'd let something like that take me out that easily? Come on, I'm a little tougher than that." The halfa assured her, though his heart felt...heavy with a feeling he hated more than anything else.
Doubt.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that he wasn't exactly...at his best, not that he would tell her that. Why would he? All he needed her to know, all he needed her to believe, was that he would be fine, and as far as he knew, no, what he was certain of...was that he would be. He wouldn't screw up again, he wouldn't...fuck it up like he did last time.
Not again.
At his words, though, she seemed to brighten up, smiling a bit as she sniffed, pulling away as she wiped at her face, though the worry wasn't gone, just placated as she gave him a light, playful punch to the arm.
He liked seeing her smile much better.
They'd been sad enough already as it was.
This was nicer.
He wanted it to stay just...like...this.
"No, I didn't. It's going to take a bit more than that to take you down...and you better be. You know you have be more careful. NISIA is pretty much everywhere now, so don't get caught. They've been swarming around all summer..." Jazz reminded him, her features wrenched found concern at the notion, and he nodded, giving her a coy smile to help ease her nerves.
"Oh, please. The GIW couldn't get a hold of me on their best day. I'm doing the same patrol I always do, then I'm heading over to school. They'll never know a thing, okay? Quick, easy, then straight to school." Danny finally said, and with a long, soft look, Jazz nodded back, After a shared, silent moment, the taller teen felt it was time for him to get cleaned up, though he wasn't sure how much time had actually passed since the two of them had begun to talk.
He hoped it hadn't been long, not that he would have minded if it had been.
"Well, I'll see you at school. Gonna go get showered and stuff; is Mom and Dad gonna take you there?" The halfa asked, and the girl nodded, rolling her eyes slightly.
"Yeah, you know why. They've been super paranoid pretty much all summer, and speaking of which, got a cover for when they inevitably ask why you're gone? Hope so." She reminded him expectantly, and he shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the prospect.
"Sure. Just tell them that I left early or something so I could get to school sooner. Oh, and that I didn't know they were gonna drive us. Easy. They can't argue with punctuality." He chuckled, finding the notion pretty fun. They had always taught them that being on time meant being early; it would be a bit hypocritical to get mad, then, for doing just as they'd said, wouldn't it? Besides, Jazz wasn't exactly the type to rat you out unless she had good reason, at least, now she wasn't.
Of course, she did seem to have a sense of humor.
"Letting you go and giving you an alibi? You know, I'm going to start charging you for this extra work you're putting me through." She chided half-heartedly, not really serious, but feigning it as she turned around, taking careful steps down the hall as she crept towards her room. Rolling his eyes, he shot back at her, tone light and playful as he parted in the opposite direction to the bathroom.
"Oh, yeah, sure. Put it on my tab." Danny called back, giving a small laugh before entering the bathroom, and closing the door behind him, leaving him alone in the tiled room. In the quiet that followed behind him, he stood there for a moment as he set his towel on the hook on the back of the door, and his toothbrush on the counter, and just as he motioned to turn towards the tub, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Icy, blue eyes greeted him as he noted his sharper features: an angular, but youthful face framed by inky, black hair that rested in longer, wild strands about his head. Danny didn't often look at himself in the mirror, but it was stranger to see the apparent shift in his features as his development over the summer had become harder to ignore. But more than that, he couldn't really disregard the definite, tired look that had begun to settle deeply in his features, an occurrence that was born over the summer, and made worst from his lack of sleep.
Whilst it was harder for him to succumb to sleep deprivation, hunger, and thirst, it didn't mean that his human half could really go without it, per se.
Worst yet, it was beginning to show.
'Christ, I look like crap!...' He exclaimed in his mind, lamenting the dark circles under his eyes, and the pale parlor of his skin, and he couldn't help but wonder if more people had noticed it or not...though, it wasn't as though his paleness was anything new. After the portal incident, he guessed being half-dead made you a little more...dead-looking as before he'd been a bit rosier. Now?
He definitely came out looking a bit more, well, ghostly, to put it lightly, but even this was pushing it, Danny thought solemnly as he ran a hand through his hair. Looking at the rest of him, his body coupled with a thinner, lankier frame, he could definitely tell that he'd lost some weight.
What could he say? He just didn't have much of an appetite these days.
"Note to self: get a bite at the Nasty Burger on the way; can't have people wondering too much about why I look like...this." He whispered, and with that, he began to peel off his clothes, Looking back into the though he made an additional effort not to stare too long at the various scars that echoed along his body, some raised, others larger, others smaller, but most a few months old as he yanked his eyes away.
He hated looking at them.
Closing his eyes, then opening them again, he turned to face the window, still for a moment only just to notice the beaming rays of red, gold, and pink that began to shimmer through the drawn curtain of the bathroom.
It was getting later.
He'd need to make this quick.
Turning on the shower, and adjusting the water, he grabbed his loofah and began to lather it with soap, and beginning to rub the item across his body, he had to admit it; it felt kind of nice to get cleaned up.
Something that he'd only just started doing again, not that he wanted to think much on that either.
Scrubbing, he couldn't help but catch sight of the same scar Jazz had touched earlier, his eyes invertedly traveling up the length of his arm and to the others the cris-crossed like strange bindings across the majority of his body in random places that matched all the same.
Vaguely, he could parse the sensation of itching from them. It was so irritating, the teen absentmindedly taking his fingers and running them tentatively along the same scar that she had touch, shivering at the contact. They were ugly, raised and agitated as something bloomed in him.
He knew it, the name of this sensation, something so foul and bitter that his head began to pulse.
Hate.
He hated them, hated looking at them, hated thinking about them.
Just reminders, he thought.
Reminders of what happened.
Constant, unending...terrible.
Ripping his gaze away, he focused squarely on just getting cleaned up, pushing down the sickening feeling that grew in his gut as he tried to stop thinking about them, but it was hard.
Really, really hard.
But he still tried.
He stood under the shower head, allowing it to run over him.
"Don't think about it." He reminded himself, but he could hear it still.
"P-please...please, help - " They moaned quietly in his ears. Whispering, crying, muttering, begging for it to end. He could see himself, away from himself, shaking and struggling as they made him watch. -
Breathing out, the teen tried again, running the loofah over his body again.
He had to get clean.
It was still on him.
It was -
"Make it stop...it...it h-hurts..." Another groaned, their voice broken, distorted, warped and unnatural...
"Stop...stop it..." He whispered desperately to himself.
He had to focus.
He had to -
"Pha...Phan...tom..." Something whispered, a horrid grin, plastered, wide and bloodied teeth glistening softly in the dark.
His wrists burned.
They were burning.
"S-stop..." He begged softly, his hand becoming rougher, grating into his flesh as he scrubbed the same spot again and again and again, just where the scar was on his arm.
He had to get clean
He could still feel it sticking to his skin, the stench of blood thick on his body.
With each pass of the loofah over his skin, over the old, still-healing scars that covered him, he couldn't help but feel himself pulled back there.
To the dark halls.
To the way his spectral flesh burned under the bindings.
To his writhing as they laughed.
His fear as they -
"NO - " Danny gasped as he dropped his loofah, the green ball falling at his feet and soaking in droplets of red as he realized he scrubbed one of them too hard, the puckered, reddened skin budding with fresh blood that trickled down his arm, but the pain, strangely enough, was numb, the boy gripping the wall of the shower as he stared down at the open wound he'd managed to give himself.
He was blind to it, caught on the struggle of trying to catch his breath, but it was proving harder than he thought it would, the halfa choking as he tried to push it down, down, down...away from his mind, out of his sight. He couldn't focus on what he needed to if he kept letting this...happen, this...strange sensation of falling that wouldn't go away no matter how hard, no matter how desperately, he tried to.
Closing his eyes, he tried to make sense of why he could still see it.
The blood.
Breathing in quietly, desperately, he tried to make sense of why he could still feel it.
The pain.
Oh, god. Everything hurt, everything burned -
"D-Danny, get it together. Just...just b-breathe. Let's just...get this over with and get to school. Everything is...okay. Just...j-just..." He whispered in quiet panic to himself, though that surely wasn't what he'd meant to sound like.
He sounded weak.
So...fucking...weak.
"Get your shit together...you don't have time for this." Loosing a shaky breath, he tried to relax, bending over to get his loofah and, with a flash of his eyes over to his injured arm, he held it under the water, allowing the blood to run down into the tub and down the drain as he finished getting cleaned up, doing the same with loofah as he rinsed it clean.
What was he doing?
He was Danny Phantom.
He was better than this, better than...letting this control him.
He was better.
Turning off the shower, he hung his loofah back up, and stepped out, grabbing his towel to dry off, and quickly at that, though he couldn't ignore the small, but noticeable, scraps that had been made by the teeth of his loofah just moments ago, though he was at least happy to see that it wasn't bleeding as badly now, little droplets of red budding on his skin, but nothing a sleeve couldn't handle. It was strange, the teen not even noticing that he'd been...doing this during all of that before, a sick sort of disgust resting in the back of his throat at this blatant lack of control
Danny Phantom didn't lose control
Danny Phantom was always cool headed.
Always.
And he didn't do things like this.
Ever.
Wrapping his towel around himself, he grabbed his toothbrush, the toothpaste, and began to brush his teeth. Finishing a minute or two later, he gave himself just one last look in the mirror, and left the bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush on the way, he rushed a bit now since the sun was just now rising, and reading the time, his heart nearly leapt through his chest.
"05:59?! Shit, I need to get going!" He exclaimed to himself with a start, and shutting his door quickly, but quietly, he passed the television and made a beeline for his bed where his clothes and undergarments rested, grabbing his underwear first and chucking his towel on the bed in a bid to get dressed as fast as he could. In the midst of this, he couldn't help but catch a bit of what they were saying on television, not that he hadn't intended for that to be the case, seeing as keeping up with the news kept him in the know.
And that wasn't something he could afford to miss out on.
"...and the NISIA have placed Detection Beacons at key locations around Amity Park as was designated in their outreach initiative. Mayor Smith has since agreed to a tighter hold on these key points with outsourced assistance from other agencies as well, namely that of the Blackwood Organization who..." Danny listened on, his attention piqued at the name...Blackwood...
Who was that? They already had the GIW, but they were bringing in some other guys? How many anti-ghost agencies did this town need? What did that mean for him, Sam, and Tucker trying to do their part? Danny couldn't help but think back to what Jazz had told him just a few minutes prior. Maybe things were going to be a bit more...challenging...but this wasn't something he couldn't handle; he just had to play it smart, keep it cool.
He could manage that much.
Walking over to the mirror in his room, he took his towel and dried his hair a bit before adjusting his clothes, pulling and fixing the areas where they rested in odd places here and there, but he felt his attention be pulled from his appearance when his Fenton Phones began to ring, and immediately, he knew who it was. Nodding at his reflection, pleased with how he looked, rushed over to his desk where they laid in wait, buzzing quietly over the voice of the television with eager demands to be answered.
And upon picking them up and placing them in his ear, he was right.
It was Sam and Tucker.
Because who else would it be at this hour?
"Hey, guys! You out already? I was thinking of taking a few rounds around Amity, check everything out. What do you guys think?" He asked, leaving little room for pretense about what his intentions were.
He was too ready for this.
Walking back to his bed and slipping on his jacket, and, with a swift movement, putting on his socks before looking around the room for his shoes before spotting them near his door. Sauntering over to them, one of the voices answered, Sam's voice, melodious, deeper tones than last year's akin to music to his ears, as cheesy as it sounded.
What could he say?
His girlfriend had a nice voice.
"Uh, Danny? We figured you'd have been out already, so we took the liberty of doing our own little patrol out here. You're late." Sam chided teasingly, but softly, and Tucker zeroed in, adding to her statement.
"Yeah, dude. We've been out here for, like, thirty minutes. What, you overslept or something? Not that we would have complained much if you had; you could use the Zs." The teen added, and Sam chuckled, though Danny was quick to deny it, scoffing before answering.
"Pff, no; it takes time to look this good. You wouldn't get it, Tuck. Anyway, I'm almost done here; just need to grab my bag and thermos, then I'll be heading your way. Where are you guys, anyway?" He inquired, and there was a slight pause over the headset before Sam responded.
"Of, we're just passing Polter Heights Private School. We're sort of just circling the area; we were thinking of getting some breakfast from Nasty Burger when we pass over by your place. Breakfast starts a six A.M. Up for it? " She asked, appearing to wait for a response. Danny thought on it for a moment, not terribly surprised that they'd pondered on the same idea just as he had not too long ago. Things had been a little...weird over the summer, around town that it; people didn't get out as much and a lot of places were sort of shut down as the GIW kind of moved in, so getting to the Nasty Burger on their first day felt...right. As if that could help mark their first day back into some sort of normalcy...or as normal as things could be going forward.
As far as the idea of getting food was concerned, they were all on the same page, however, there was still something he had to take care of.
"Yeah, sounds good. But I still want to patrol a bit before I do. Get the other half of town since you guys covered the south half. Oh, and thanks by the way. For patrolling; makes it easier for me so I don't have to out and about longer than I have to be." He stated, and the two gave him a grunt of approval, though Tucker chimed in, voice hesitant.
"You sure you wanna go flying around right now? There's, like, a million Beacons and Proximity Detectors out here; it's not exactly going to be smooth sailing out there..." He started, and before Danny could lead in with what they were sure was going to be him dismissing their concerns (as always; it had become the standard fare at this point), Sam entered with her own concerns.
"Yeah, he's right. You know we can just save that for after-school. So you don't have to rush and we can make it to Nasty Burger, you know, before we have to get to Casper." She offered, voice betraying the hope that he would just take it, but collectively, they knew he wouldn't.
But it wasn't as if he couldn't see the writing on the wall.
He didn't need to have it told to him again that Amity was a bit more...ghost-proof, more than it ever had been. Between Jazz, the news, and Sam and Tucker, it was everywhere, the notion that they weren't the only ones out here trying to catch ghosts anymore.
Though, it reality, he reminded himself with a touch of malice, if he'd just done his part, none of this would have been happening.
Then he pushed the thought away again.
Thinking like that wasn't productive.
But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous.
The tech and extra parameters that were being installed around town, with even his parents contributing a fair bit of their own inventions to the efforts to "Fortify Amity", (the new campaign slogan that was practically plastered all over town and as the news said on and on) it wasn't really a mystery why they were all on edge about this.
Hell, he was on edge.
But...but he still had to do this.
He had to patrol, he had to play his part.
He...needed this.
"Listen, guys, I'm just gonna sweep up north, check things out; you know I'll be careful. Seriously, you worry too much. Besides, can't let the GIW think they own the place." He reminded jokingly, though knowing them, he figured they probably weren't much in the mood to joke about this sort of thing.
But it was easier than trying to be serious all of the time, and have them refute each and every point he'd try to make.
Besides, they'd been serious enough as of late. He didn't want every single conversation with them to feel like a funeral dirge.
Not to mention that he wasn't really much in the mood to keep going back and forth about this, anyway; he was already set on it, whether they liked the idea of it or not.
They'd seen where hesitation had gotten them
He didn't intend to ever do that again.
And thankfully, the two seemed to get the memo, both sighing before Sam spoke again.
"Ugh, fine, but just...don't get into trouble, okay. Me and Tuck just walked past, like, tons of agents, and they're starting their patrols early, so just - " Without so much as listening to another word, he'd around made his way to the window, nodding as if looking at them despite the fact that they weren't really there with him. Smiling, he felt his blood rush as he forced himself to change, his Fenton Phone buzzing with energy as he shifted, a subtlety that wasn't lost on the other two as their speakers buzzed in kind.
"Remember, be careful!" Sam urged him on the other end, but quickly, he gave them reassurance, grabbing his bag that rested nearest to his bedroom door, and, bolting back to the wind, he grinned.
"Don't worry, this won't take too long. Meet you guys at the Nasty Burger in a few." He exclaimed, and just like that, without even giving them the opportunity to answer, he clicked off, and made off into the sky.