I Don't Own DP.

Just a little idea of what went down for our favorite ghost-boy immediately after Phantom Planet. Very light effort. Don't expect much.

4717 words. Rated K.

Danny opened his eyes, slowly blinking the sleep away. The clear film of the tent roof showcased a perfectly calm sky above him.

He could still remember picking this one out for his ninth birthday. On every camping trip they took, his parents would let him stay up as long as he could manage just to stargaze. Vacations were for resting, but they were for enjoying themselves, too.

Was this a vacation – now that the work was done?

The blue sky helped pull his focus back in; it cleared his mind, acting like a reminder that the worst was behind him. Physically though, it was in front of him, thousands on thousands of miles away.

He inhaled deeply. The hard ground beneath him cooled the layers of material in between him and the floor—or his core just permeated so strongly that for once, he could feel it. Probably both, given the circumstances. Danny wasn't cold - hadn't been since honing his ice powers – and normally the cold, snowy Antarctic would spark his interest, and he would jump at the chance to strengthen his ice powers. But as the fog in his eyes cleared - and someone in his peripheral vision looked at him - the memories, the exhaustion of the past week caught up to him.

"Good morning, Danny."

He groaned, secretly hoping Jazz would let him alone. Danny stuck out his tongue, and rolled onto his side, tearing his gaze away from the sky.

"Five more minutes."

"I let you have five more minutes when you woke up five minutes ago."

His huffy, forced breath gave her an answer, though she knew he didn't care that much. She also knew he had a lot on his mind, and Jazz would not be the nosy, protective older sister if she didn't try to get him to talk to her. It was the most he could do.

"We're going home today."

Danny just stared at the blue polyester, tracing the closest stitch lines with his eyes.

"I'm ready to be back in our house. A long, hot shower sounds amazing. I feel more gross than when Ember threw me into the dumpster."

He snorted and turned to look her in the eyes.

"You smell like you need a shower."

Her brow scrunched in mock annoyance and yanked the mattress pad out from under him, attempting to flip him with the momentum. It was hardly successful since he turned intangible when she pulled on it, but he was chuckling, and that. That was good.

At the same time, Danny phased through his sleeping bag and sat up, rubbing the sand out of his eyes. He groaned when his core ached at the use of his powers, and he pushed a hand against his chest, trying to sooth the soreness he felt.

"How are you feeling?"

"You know me; tired and sore. I really could sleep another day or two."

"I'm certain that's your normal, Danny. I want a serious answer."

He looked back at the girl, finally registering her tight expression as she looked away. He didn't miss the way her face was weighed down from dehydration and sleep deprivation nor her slumped shoulders and the feint tear streaks she tried to wipe away. His sister never looked so ragged before.

"I revealed my secret identity?"

Jazz nodded, unfolding her sleeping bag so she could keep her hands busy. It was a mess of a fold she was determined to fix, but her trembling made the new attempt even worse.

"Everything's okay?"

She nodded again, hands tightening on the material. Danny watched her relay the same corner three times before gently pushing her aside and folding it himself.

"Jazz, are you okay?"

"I'm fine—"

"No, you're not. That's my usual answer. I want a serious one." He parroted.

"Doesn't stop you from saying it."

"I'm a master of deflection, sis." He said, wiggling his eyebrows. Her frown only deepened. Danny looked at her, concerned, his voice soft— reminiscent of their parents when they were sick as children.

"Tell me what's wrong."

Jazz watched him finish the roll and held the cover open for him. Danny made quick work of it and was halfway through folding his own sleeping bag when the girl spoke again.

"I don't know what we were thinking when you didn't come out of the portal. And the plane crashed into the mountain, and you weren't here and…fuck, we really thought you weren't coming back this time."

"We?"

"Sam, Tucker, and I— and mom and dad had no idea. The asteroid was close enough to shroud us in darkness, and mom, she. She thought, 'At least we're all together,' but we weren't. You weren't— I thought you were gone." She laughed, a sickly, choking drawl heavy with guilt.

"Dad was so proud of us, and he didn't even know how proud he could be if he knew you were…"

Jazz broke down crying, sobbing as she let the weight of her thoughts hit her full force. Danny was there to catch her, and he wrapped her in a hug.

"Hey, hey, Jazz, it's okay. I'm right here. We're all okay. I promise."

His core pulsed, and a wave of chills ran down his form, competing with the warm temperature of his sister's anxieties and tears. She sat back, wiping her face, and Danny knew this wasn't something he could easily fix, if at all.

They were so close to death.

"I'm sorry I told them, Danny."

"I'm not. If I was you, I would have done the same thing. And honestly, it's time. I'm so tired of hiding everything, Jazz. You know that. You don't have to be sorry; you did what you thought was best, and like almost always, it was."

She frowned, different than before— caught off guard by Danny's attempt to poke fun at her— and though she appreciated the gesture of distraction, she didn't take it.

"And you're okay with it being public? It's not just our family, Danny, but the whole world knows. Will know, as soon as everyone leaves here."

Danny looked up through the plastic film again, memory tracing the constellations that were overhead, invisible. He wondered if Vlad was still up there, and as much as he hated the man, he couldn't help but mourn him. Feeling protective, he pulled his older sister in for another hug, and his core reverberated the peace he felt. The boy spoke anyway, in case the ghostly purring wasn't answer enough.

"Yea, I'm okay. Are you okay?"

A fresh wave of tears told him no, she wasn't, but Jazz said yes anyway, and then made a comment about how he should consider taking psychology too.

He knew she would be okay. Eventually.

Jazz took several deep breaths, grip tight on her brother as if he'd slip through her grasp. Danny was smart and stayed tangible, even as the snot and tears gathered on his shoulder. He would be grossed out later when things weren't so fragile.

—

Jazz climbed out of the tent and walked to the facilities to get ready for the trip home.

Sam and Tucker were sitting in front of the entrance to their tent when Danny finally climbed out dropping his and his sister's duffel bags outside on the tarp. The two were bundled up in their heaviest winter clothes, and sitting on top of an extra tarp, to buffer the cold snow underneath. Danny sat down in between them.

The post was alight with movement as the nations of the world worked together to clean up their camping spaces and leave as small of a carbon footprint as possible. It was unreasonable to remove the large technology, and the countries unanimously decided to create an international station with it, on the off chance something monumental threatened the Earth again. There was no feasible way to separate the machine into pieces equal to the money donated from each country anyway.

The three best friends watched the peoples for a few minutes, avoiding eye contact with the brief stares that landed on them. Eventually Danny got tired of avoiding awkward eye contact and he looked away from the main camp, dragging his gaze from the communications tower to watch the mountains behind it. Tucker passed over a clipboard and a pen.

"The president wants everyone to document their experience. He even said to go as far back as the first announcement of the asteroid."

What were your first thoughts when the Disasteroid was announced on October 23?

"But technically, we knew about the asteroid two weeks before that." He flipped through the pages, both annoyed and in awe. "How'd they draw up these papers so fast?"

Sam slapped his arm, drawing a defensive yelp from the boy.

"Start with NASA's announcement, Danny. They don't need to know any more than that."

"Are you talking about this," he motioned to the giant device a mile away, "or everything in general?"

How did you spend what was believed to be your final days?

"It might be up to you, dude, but you really should consider keeping some stuff under wraps."

"I mean, that's kind of obvious."

"Danny, your entire life is about to change. We're going back to Amity, and there is no changing people's memories. There's no reality gauntlet to fix things this time.

"Guys, relax. It's not like I'm going to tell people about my obsession or how I died. All that's different is I don't have to lie about where I'm going when a ghost attacks."

The two teenagers tensed next to him.

"That was the wrong thing to say, wasn't it?"

Tucker snorted, stifling a pained laugh, "how are you so calm right now?"

Have any of your fundamental beliefs changed due to this disaster?

"I don't know. Everything feels good right now. I feel at peace with my secret getting out, I feel accomplished, and safe, and you guys are safe. I just feel good. Sore and tired, but good."

How would you describe the events immediately before, during, and after the asteroid?

Sam trailed her hand over Danny's, then quietly pulled out the second paper and pointed to the last question.

"There are fifty or so people here, and they have all been 'politely' badgering us with questions. We'll talk about as much as you want us to, Danny, but we need to figure out how much we're going to give them."

He scribbled down an answer and tossed the clipboard to the side. The teenagers let the soft breeze encompass the makeshift campgrounds, and Danny's searching gaze landed back on the mountains.

"We can deal with all that stuff later. How are you guys holding up with everything?"

"Probably better than your shirt," Tucker commented, slightly grossed out.

"It was my last clean shirt too, so either I wear the snot rag, or I wear the really sweaty one. I can't phase out the smell."

"Neither are great." Tucker muttered, glancing at the scrubbed mess on Danny's shoulder. "Maybe you should just wear your jacket by itself."

"It's too nice out for a jacket."

"I had a nightmare last night."

Sam spoke softly, and if Tucker and Danny were not waiting for her to join the fresh conversation, they would have easily missed it. The half-ghost picked at his worn jeans, which like his shirt, was far too thin of a material for someone at the South Pole; he finally spotted the marred rock face where the ship crashed into the mountain. Sam and Tucker followed his pointed gaze.

"Jazz said the Fenton Jet came back through the portal before me."

"Yea, and we thought you'd ... you could feel the room shift as soon as the jet flew into it. There was just this… weight pushing gravity down on us. The whole building was silent."

"It didn't matter how much we knew you'd fight to get back here. The asteroid was right there."

Danny wrapped an arm around each of them, pulling his friends in for a hug. He leaned his head on Sam's, grateful and warm when she wrapped her arms around his abdomen. Suddenly distraught, he breathed out his sob and the sound echoed around the campsite. It carried some kind of unintended ghostly essence, powerful enough that even the people on the other side of the tower briefly stood up from their work to look at them.

"There isn't a ghost or human in any of the Realms that could keep me from coming back to my home…

…we've really been through a lot, haven't we?"

"Yup." Tucker popped the 'p', accentuating the word. Sam hummed, leaning deeper into Danny's form; his core purred at the sense of familiarity and warmth his human friends provided.

"I wouldn't change what we've been through. But we should talk to someone about everything eventually."

"Yea, you're probably right."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm already too fine."

"Yea, okay, mister I went crazy with pharaoh power."

"Says the crazy, green, vegan chick."

"Sore loser title fits the bad gamer."

Danny laughed, easing off the slow parade of tears, and he hugged them tighter. His purring guffaws were contagious, and the two joined in easily. Yea they'd been through a lot, but they'd been through it all together.

What will you do when you return home?

Eat a burger, take a shower, sleep in my bed. In that order.

—

The first day back— as he said he would — Danny, Sam, and Tucker went straight to the Nasty Burger, leaving their family and friends at the airport. It seemed as if the Amity Parkers were the first to return to their homes out of everyone who had congregated at the southernmost continent. News hadn't broken yet, and they were relieved to be able to get home for some peace before the world caught up.

When they were in the Antarctic, it was easy. Nobody wanted to be the first to say something, more focused on their desires to return home, and unsure of what was appropriate to say to the half-ghost teenager. Plenty of thank you's were exchanged, and the four teenagers – as Danny wouldn't take the praise without making sure his friends were there to receive it too – returned the gratitude right back to every person present. But other than announcing that they would do an interview soon, the group refused to say anything, and the gathered country officials had no reason to bring things up. As much as they wanted answers, it was clear they weren't going to get them just yet. It was an exhausting week for everyone; people wanted to go home and there was no argument considering the new problems that the financial drain put on the world, nor the news of ghosts and half-ghosts about to change it for better and worse. If they could put it off for just one moment of peace, then they would.

As Danny flew his friends over the city, he began to realize how different this disaster made the town; the one place on Earth ready for this new future. People were both everywhere and nowhere in sight, scattered across the town. Any person walking alone was quickly met with a ghostly escort, provided by one of the many spirits he allowed to live in his home. As he came down to land, he caught a glimpse of a few of his classmates extending the same friendship to a ghost down the street, smiling and talking as if they were best friends. This was only the beginning.

The teenagers were grateful to walk into the eatery and realize the story hadn't aired yet. The building was empty, save for a few families and the employees, who were content to sit together and enjoy each other's company. Danny smiled, little fangs peeking out of his soft grin; he really liked how tranquil the place was; it certainly helped that none of his classmates were there to catch them.

The trio dropped into their favorite booth after ordering, not even bothering to make small talk. They didn't know how long the peace would last, and without having a chance to really discuss their future interviews in private, the close-knit group preferred to just let the silence continue.

They thanked their server for the food, digging into their meals with sudden fervor. The half-ghost knocked back the most food, laying claim to the other's leftovers before phasing through the table as he stood to order a milkshake to take home.

The six o'clock news, claiming the first released footage of the Disasteroid began to run just as the three teenagers left the building. Danny turned them invisible and transformed, flying them both home before phasing into his own. He showered - a long, warm rinse that helped ease the pain he still felt - and climbed into bed, barely stopping to say goodnight to his family.

For the first time in a year Danny slept a full eight hours.

—

A week after the Disasteroid, life across the world was beginning to settle back into mundane.

People knew where they were when the asteroid came through, but everyone was just as well happy to move on. When you get a second chance, you take advantage of it.

The city was turning again. Schools resumed the day after Danny's ceremony; he still hadn't seen the statue up close, too embarrassed by the fact that they'd done such a thing.

The ceremony was on a Wednesday two weeks after the Disasteroid, and Tucker and Sam returned to school the following Monday. They - and Jazz, who returned with them - laid a lot of groundwork for Danny, who they agreed would be bombarded the most by comments and questions. Other than being spotted as Phantom while stargazing, Danny hadn't stepped out of his house, too uncomfortable with the more than usual foot traffic that adorned their street. Instead, he hid inside his house or spent more time in the Ghost Zone, using the time to recover and rest.

After talking to their parents together over their extended school break, the three families decided to keep most of the information classified, allowing Danny to choose which parts of his world were made public. Along with paving the path for Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz had their own questions to face. None were as intricate or demanding as the half-ghost's unanswered ones, but just as personal and awed; the televised interview answered plenty, but revealed even more unsaid.

Tucker followed his friend's lead in a fierce stance for privacy, one that was strong and unexpected in the eyes of their peers. At his request, Sam took control of Danny's scarce and private social media page and cleared it out to make a public image spot for Team Phantom, before creating a new private profile for him. Millions of friend requests turned accepted when she changed the account type to public; her and Tucker laughed over lunch when Danny messaged them over the unexpected and still unending stream of notifications.

Finally after a few weeks of finding routine in his new normal, Danny too began living again. The half-ghost was beyond grateful for all his friends and family did when he woke up an hour earlier than necessary on his first day back to school.

Fucking, pants-less nightmares.

He trudged down the stairs in a zombie-like state, only awake due to his core buzzing in anticipation for the upcoming attention. The ghosts had been just as worn out as he was, staying in their lairs to settle from the stress of past events, but word spread quickly, and Danny didn't doubt the possibility of a ghost attack as soon as they knew he was active again. A ghostly shiver ran down his back at the thought, enthralled with the idea of such engaging activity after being cooped up for so long. He had to admit he enjoyed the battles, but Danny really hoped they'd wait to fight until after school ended.

He yawned, stretching as he became more awake and walked into the kitchen, dropping his backpack next to him as he sat down.

"Would I be noticed more if I was first into class, or if I slipped in at the last second?"

His parents jolted, having missed his silent decent— a perk of ghostliness the boy admitted was kind of fun— but after a month of living with his secret out things got dismissed easily Maddie looked up at the clock, surprised to see her son up before his sister,.

Not quickly enough though, as the teenager spoke again in their silence.

"Because if I'm there first, everyone will see me sitting at my desk when they walk in, but if I run in at the last second, everyone will see me at the same time. I used to be late all the time, so maybe if I show up late they won't think any different and forget about everything, at least until class starts… I don't thing they're dumb enough for that anymore though."

Jack barked out a laugh, deep and from the gut that surely woke the whole neighborhood.

"Danno, just walk in with that Fenton confidence and you'll be fine."

"Okay, yea, but that's not an actual answer."

His mom approached with a fresh plate of eggs and placed a hand on his head, giving him a kiss before answering his question.

"Sweetie, if it bothers you so much, maybe you should aim for the middle. Don't be first, and don't be last. I think you know everyone is going to be looking for you though. It won't matter."

"Do you need a ride today? I can give you one on my way to the office?"

"No offense, dad, but that'll lead to everyone knowing I'm at school before it's even started."

"Son, we Fentons know how to make an entrance, and we pride ourselves on that too. Just make the attention work for you."

"Good Morning."

The family greeted the eldest daughter, who happily took her seat at the table. Maddie quickly put a plate in front of her, and sat down, enjoying her family's presence.

"Danny, did you get all of your makeup work done?"

"I think so. I have to take all the tests I missed today and tomorrow, so. I might be late coming home after school."

"What about physical education?"

"Ms. Tetslaff didn't give me anything. She'll probably make me run the mile, since I missed three of those. I'm not looking forward to that."

"Why not?"

He looked up from his plate, where the remains of his eggs sat cold. He shrugged.

"I just don't want to have expectations put on me or to be treated differently. But I know that's gonna happen regardless."

"They're still processing everything Danny, just like you are. We all have to process the last few weeks on our own time. Seeing you change forms the first time shifted my entire worldview when I found out; it's going to change other people's perspectives too. Besides, everyone got used to ghosts before, including you, so I don't think it will be too hard this time around. Knowing both your names is just another part of knowing you."

"Thanks, Jazz." He smiled appreciatively.

"Aw, Jack, our babies are so grown now. Where did the time go?" Maddie fawned. Danny groaned at his family's laughter.

"Well I'm going to catch Tucker on the way to Sam's. I'll see you later."

He bolted, throwing on his backpack and turning invisible to fly over to his best friend's house. Jazz rolled her eyes, and returned to her breakfast.

"We should have game night tonight."

"Good idea, Jazzy. I'll call Sam and Tucker's parents. And why don't you invite Spike too? He's always a pleasure to have here."

She blushed, hiding in her food. "Yea. Sure, I'll talk to him."

—

Danny waited invisibly on the corner of Sam's neighborhood. When Tucker finally rounded the cross street, he followed, falling into a quiet step just behind his friend. The technogeek immediately noticed the cold presence and grinned, holding back a laugh as he waited for the half-ghost to try to scare him. On the frightening scale, Danny was barely above the box ghost— only winning because of the fangs he got from his last growth spurt. His ghost form looked bore childish thanks to his big eyes though, so the fangs were really only effective in his human form.

That fact certainly didn't stop the held-ghost from trying, and as soon as Sam climbed down the steps to greet Tucker, he popped into visibility, flash-freezing the ground around him. He let his fangs glow with the energy that matched his sparkling eyes.

"Boo!"

"Hello, Danny."

"Hey, man. You excited to go back to school?"

"Dang. I though I had you that time. How do you always know?"

Sam rolled her eyes, and leaned in for a kiss that he eagerly reciprocated.

"Lovebirds." Tucker teased. "I just had a cold feeling you were going to try today, so I was expecting it."

He crinkled his nose, annoyed, and they laughed. The two pulled him along the path, finally feeling whole again now that he had returned.

"You guys don't think I've put this off for too long, do you?"

"Absolutely not. You deserved the break, and you needed to adjust with your family first. Everyone understands."

"They've been asking if you were coming back at all. Dash wants to recruit you for football, and Paulina and Star want you to try out for cheer."

"You're joking."

"Nope. And Tetslaff thinks you were holding out on her in P.E."

"What? When?"

"During the presidential fitness test."

"Just because I'm Phantom? Man, that test was exhausting.

"It probably didn't help that you spent the days before fighting Skulker."

"I didn't sleep that night either because that was the same day as the Doomed patch where they added new playable characters."

"Yea, and what are we not going to do, now that everyone knows your secret?"

"Use my powers to sneak out of class?"

"Use Danny's powers to sneak into R-rated movies?"

"Use my powers to mess with the A-listers?"

"Use his powers to pick up girls?"

"Stop it, both of you. We're not going to push ourselves too hard. We have outward support now."

"Oh, yea. Sure. I guess I am mayor, I suppose I should be a good-law-abiding citizen."

"How's that going, anyways?"

"I'm so done man. I swear most things could be an email, and I really just want to take a nap after school, not go to seven meetings about the town's finances. I gotta hand it to Vlad for how long he handled it, because he did a good job when he wasn't trying to ruin our lives. Once I finish out his term, I'm quitting."

They turned the final street corner, the school finally in site.

"Have you heard from him?"

"No. For all I know, he's still in space. I know I'm supposed to hate him, and for everything in the past, I do, but… I can't help but feel bad for him either."

"Speaking of who you feel bad for," Sam pointed to the student body, lingering outside the school. "We've been spotted."

"No thanks, I'll see you in there." Danny vanished, surprising their peers who were headed towards them. Tucker and Sam laughed, pushing through the growing crowd.

Upon walking into homeroom, they immediately caught onto Danny's icy presence, invisible in the plain classroom. They sat down and started texting, giggling when the half-ghost's ringtone blared from his seat behind Sam. Lancer looked up confused, but the halfa quickly shut off the noise.

The bell rang and he slowly turned visible, making sure nobody spotted him before Lancer had a chance to finish roll call. Without looking up, the teacher went through the list, skipping Danny's name as he had for the past few weeks.

As soon as Lancer got the final response and looked up, zeroing in on the ghost boy, Danny took his dad's words to heart and cracked a joke, finally allowing himself to be seen.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

I was originally gonna end this a lot earlier than it did, but then there were little bits I liked of the rest that deserved to be seen, but you couldn't have those bits without the rest I didn't care for, and I wasn't about to rewrite it…

I have not picked up my computer since before my vacation. And then I took on like three more big projects, and might be taking on another in June. If being ambitious is a crime, then put me in chains for I am guilty.

I will never understand how some can settle in comfort when there is so much to do and so little time to do it. But I do have 6(?) more one-shots ready to be edited and published. And I will get to those bigger ones soon.