Chapter 9

Act 2: Aftermath

Danny's eyes opened, and he found himself at home laying on the couch. He sat up and looked around in confusion. What was he doing here? Wasn't he just in the hospital? A sound outside caught his attention, so he looked out the window to see the maniac standing outside, holding a torch. When he saw Danny, he began yelling and pounding on the window, saying that Danny needed to come out of the house or he would destroy his home, his family, and everyone he loved.

Danny backed up into the wall. The maniac broke the window and threw the torch inside, and the flames spread wildly throughout the room. Danny ran from them, but the fire followed closely on his heels and he could still hear the maniac pounding on all the windows Danny passed. He grabbed the phone in the kitchen and attempted to dial 911, but his hands were shaking too badly to dial it correctly. He thought a long line of obscenities as he failed dialing, then noticed the fire was encroaching on him again. Danny had to run to the next room to get away from it if he didn't want to end up burned to a crisp. Run. Just run. Get away. Danny stopped at the stairs to the basement, fire blocking every other direction. He could still escape through the ghost portal! He jumped into the stairwell and turned on his heel to lock the door behind him. Danny raced down the rest of the stairs, taking them two at a time until he reached the bottom. If he could just get to the portal…

Danny froze when he looked around. His parents' lab was empty. No weapons, no shelving, no ghost portal. Just an empty cell he couldn't escape from. Danny jumped when he heard the maniac banging on the door at the top of the stairs, screaming in unintelligible rage as he threw his body against the door, trying to break it down.

Danny backed himself into a corner and sunk into a ball, wrapping his arms around his head as he made himself as small as he could. He heard the wood splintering, failing under the blows until the door shattered and what was left flew into the basement. He heard the horrible sound of the maniac's loafers clicking against the concrete steps as he descended the stairs. The steps got closer and closer until they stopped right in front of him. Danny couldn't breathe. It was like his lungs were paralyzed; maybe it wasn't just his lungs but his whole body that was paralyzed. He really couldn't breathe.

Danny woke up, taking a huge gulp of air, and breathed heavily until his lungs were satisfied and the heart monitor slowed to its normal pace. Had he really not been able to breathe because of that nightmare? Danny sat up and pushed his white hair out of his face. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep. It didn't feel like it had been very long. Danny looked at the clock on the wall. It was only about one in the morning and he groaned, already feeling bags forming under his eyes. Wait a second, white hair? He looked down at himself and realized he'd gone ghost in his sleep again. He changed back and rolled over onto his side, bringing his knees close to his chest. Danny regretted having told his family to leave, although he was glad his parents hadn't seen him as Danny Phantom. He didn't want to know what would happen if they found out now. Would his parents hate him? They wouldn't understand why he lied to them for so long, at the very least. Would his mom want to continue her testing? Would they want to use him for their own experiments? What would his life look like then? Would it be so bad that he'd wish to be back at the GIW lab?

Danny's eyes became heavier as he cycled through his anxious thoughts, drifting into a mercifully empty slumber.

Danny woke up just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. He rolled over to look out the window and hugged a pillow close to his chest as he watched the sun rise. It was nice, especially having gone so long without seeing the sun at all. The sky went from a hazy grey to a pastel orange to a light cotton candy pink. Watching it allowed him to suspend most of his angst-filled thoughts, and he felt a speck of peace. That was until he heard the door open.

"Good morning, Danny," he heard Dr. Goodwin say, but Danny didn't want to look at him.

"Morning." Danny returned the greeting flatly without moving.

Dr. Goodwin was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Did your parents happen to mention what I had brought up to them yesterday?"

"Yeah, so you don't need to bother telling me about it again."

"Have you decided if you want to talk to him? He's a good friend of mine and he's helped a lot of kids in your situation—"

"I'm not interested." Besides, it wasn't like anyone could relate to what he went through and help him. What would he even say? That he's a half ghost kid and was kidnapped by a government agency and tortured in a secret lab in the name of science? Who would even believe him besides Sam, Tucker, and Jazz? Even if he wanted to tell them what he went through, none of them had the tools to help him deal with it. As much as Jazz liked to play therapist, she wasn't one. She may be getting ready to head off to college, but wasn't there yet. Plus, Danny was pretty sure there was an ethics rule or something against shrinking your family.

Dr. Goodwin sighed. "Okay. But if you change your mind, he'll be here for you."

"Thanks," Danny said with a hint of sarcasm.

The doctor continued doing whatever he came in here to do; all Danny knew was that he heard him rifling around in some paperwork, then typing on a keyboard. "Well, Danny, all of your tests came back within normal ranges and you don't appear to have any physical trauma, so I'll get your discharge paperwork started. If you ever change your mind about seeing the doctor I recommended, don't hesitate to stop by," Dr. Goodwin said, then left the room.

Danny sat up in the bed, feeling like the walls were closing in on him. Nobody was paying any attention to him now. He could just slip out of here to get some fresh air. He disconnected himself from the heart monitor and left the room to find a way that led to the roof. Sure, he could've gone ghost and flew up there the easy way, but he had to admit he was a little sick of his ghost form. Besides, there were cameras and he didn't know if the GIW could access them, or requisition the recordings, or whatever it was they did. He didn't want to worry about them finding him.

As Danny was looking around, he came across a stairwell that looked like it went all the way to the roof. He followed it and made it to a heavy metal door that looked promising, and when he pushed it open, a refreshing gust of wind blew into the stairwell. He sighed in relief as he went outside, the confining feeling easing as he took a took a deep, cleansing breath. Danny walked over to the concrete railing on the roof and leaned on it, looking out at the city. It looked exactly the same, but somehow it was completely different. Maybe it was just him that was different. He sat down on the ground and leaned back against the cement block railing and looked up at the sky. The pink tinge had gone, only leaving a pale pastel blue with wispy white tufts of clouds. He took another deep breath and closed his eyes. It was so much more peaceful out here than inside. Out here, there were no walls to close in on him.

Danny didn't realize he was almost asleep until the sound of the door opening made him jump. He looked at the door and saw a guy in blue scrubs walking out, a pack of cigarettes and lighter in his hand as he propped open the door with a nearby brick.

When he turned around and saw Danny, he looked at him, surprised. "You're definitely not supposed to be out here," he said as he approached Danny.

"It was too claustrophobic in there. I had to get out."

He held up the cigarettes. "I know the feeling. I took up smoking just to have an excuse to get a semi-regular break," he said as he let out a laugh. "You're Danny Fenton, right? The city hasn't been able to stop talking about you. Everyone's excited about you being found. News outlets can't stop talking about it. They said finding you was like finding a needle in a haystack."

Danny sighed. The GIW looking for Danny Phantom, everyone else looking for Danny Fenton. He didn't want more eyes on him. "Guess I was really lucky, huh?"

He sat down next to Danny. "You don't look like a boy who feels lucky. Do you mind?" he asked as he pulled out a cigarette.

"No, go ahead."

He lit the cigarette and let out a puff of smoke. "Wanna talk about it?"

Danny looked at him. "Did Dr. Goodwin send you to find me or something?"

"Can't I just be interested in what a patient might be doing on a roof?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "He's been hounding me to talk to someone. You wouldn't happen to be a shrink, would you?"

He gave Danny a crooked smile. "You caught me. He saw you in the stairwell as you were heading up here. When you didn't come back to your room, he got worried. Kind of hinted to me that I should take my smoke break now." He stuck out his hand to Danny. "I'm Dr. Hawkins."

"Danny," he returned as he shook his hand. "He doesn't give up, does he?"

"Not at all. But it's usually for a good reason."

Danny looked down at his hands, suddenly feeling guilty for giving the doctor an attitude when he came to check up on him.

"He might have let me know that he was seeing symptoms of PTSD. Do you want to talk about anything that happened while you were missing?"

"Not really." Why did everyone keep asking him about this? Why wouldn't they just accept what he said about not wanting to talk about it? It was getting so frustrating!

"You know, Danny, when you experience trauma, it creates change inside you that you didn't choose, but healing creates change you do choose. I can't lie to you, though. Choosing to heal may involve some discomfort, but so does refusing to heal. And, over some time, refusing to heal is always more painful."

Danny rubbed his hands together nervously. "I can't talk about it."

"What makes you say that?"

Danny shrugged. If he talked about it, they'd send him to some padded cell somewhere, and how was that any better than being locked up in the lab? At least a cell designed to contain a human would be easier for him to escape. "I just can't."

"It's okay if you can't talk about it yet, but don't close yourself off to the possibility of ever talking about it. We're here to help." Dr. Hawkins looked at his watch, then put out his cigarette and stood. "Well, my smoke break is over. Need a hand back to your room?"

Danny groaned. "Do I have to go back in there?"

"Yeah. Sorry, buddy. Can't leave you up here alone."

Danny stood and dragged his feet as he followed Dr. Hawkins back to his room, only to find that his family had made it back there before he had.

"Danny! We were getting worried about you," Jazz said as she came over and hugged him tightly.

"Choking, Jazz," Danny said in a strained voice. "Not breathing."

"Oh, sorry," she said as she let go.

"Dr. Goodwin called to let us know that you were being discharged, so we brought you a clean change of clothes." Mom held out a bag for him.

"Thanks, Mom," Danny said as he grabbed the bag and ducked into the bathroom to change.

The discharge process went faster than Danny expected it to, although they were, and soon they were all on their way home in the Fenton Family GAV. His mom and dad chatted in the front while he and Jazz sat in the seats behind them. Danny stayed quiet as they drove. He thought he would feel relieved, or happy, now that he was home with his family. Everything was just so messed up inside him. How would he handle school?

"You all right, Danny?" Mom asked. "You've been awfully quiet."

"I'm… I don't know. Tired, I guess. Not looking forward to going to school."

"Well, it is Friday tomorrow. Do you want to just take the day and start fresh on Monday?"

Delaying going might give him a chance to get his powers under control. "Yeah, I'd rather do that. Thanks, Mom."

"Of course, sweetie," she said as she gave him a sympathetic smile.

His dad parked the GAV, and they all got out of the vehicle.

"Oh Danno, wait a second!" Dad said, then ran ahead of him to open the door.

"O…kay?" He raised his eyebrow at his dad and walked in after him, eyes down at his shoes.

"Welcome home!" a chorus of voices shouted as soon as he walked in the door. He looked up and saw Sam and Tucker holding a banner saying the same thing with wide grins spread across their faces. Valerie stood next to them holding a bunch of colorful balloons, Vlad standing behind her, and Tucker's parents, Sam's parents, Val's dad, and even Aunt Alicia had shown up for this.

Sam and Tuck dropped the banner and rushed over to him, encasing him in a group bear hug in which Jazz, his mom, and dad also joined in.

"We missed you so much, Danny!" Sam said as she hugged him a little tighter.

"Yeah, never do that again!" Tucker continued.

Danny smiled and began laughing under the weight of them all. For some reason, this little surprise party and show of affection broke through his new shell of apathy. "Thanks, guys."

They all stepped out of the hug and he turned to his two friends. "Jazz's idea?"

"Jazz's idea," they confirmed at the same time.

Danny looked over at his sister, who was smiling with tears making her eyes glossy. "Thanks, Jazz."

"You're welcome, Danny. It's great to have you back home."

Danny walked to the middle of the room and raised his hands in an over-exaggerated shrug, feeling more at home than he had a few minutes ago. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's party."

Author's Comments:

D'awww, the gang's all back together. It's nice ending a chapter on a more positive note for once. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!