Dash followed behind his dad through a series of white hallways. He'd never been allowed at his dad's workplace before. It was always a hard off limits thing up until now and now he knew why.
Dash's dad had come up to him and without preamble told him he needed to teach him a lesson. That Dash had a couple things he needed to learn. So Dash followed his dad and hesitantly got in his car. They drove for a while. Dash never realized how far away his dad's workplace was. He opened his mouth to ask a question but then he saw the sign at the beginning of the long driveway.
The Ghost Investigation Ward.
Dash's eyes had widened. He never knew his dad worked for the GIW. As far as Dash knew his dad had the same job his whole life. He didn't realize the GIW were around long before the ghosts started attacking Amity Park.
His dad parked the car, flashed his badge in the lobby, and led him to an elevator that took them down instead of up. Then he started leading through these hallways.
He still didn't tell Dash what they were doing here. He just kept leading him through this maze of a building, through locked door after locked door.
Dash's interest peaked a little more when they got to another set of doors that was guarded by two men. This door locked thicker and heavier than the ones behind them. Dash's dad flashed his badge instead of scanning it this time and the doors opened for them a moment later.
This hallway was more heavily populated than the rest of the building had been so far. Agents walked back and forth between different rooms, some of them wearing lab coats and carrying sheets of paper around. He could see green flashes of light coming from some of the rooms but he couldn't quite see what was happening on the inside.
"What is this?" Dash asked nervously. Why had his dad brought him here?
"This is where we keep our high security risk ectoplasmic entities."
Dash gasped. "You've got ghosts here?"
His dad scoffed and continued walking without looking at him. "Of course we've got ghosts here."
They walked to the end of the hallway where one large door was. It was guarded by another two agents and a ghost shield.
"What's this?" Dash asked warily, if a little curious.
"Specimen P." His dad responded. The agents at the door began scanning them. "It's our highest security risk as well as our biggest research project. It's different than any ghost we've ever seen before."
"No traces of any hidden weapons or ectoplasmic contamination. No overshadowing specters detected."
The shield flickered off and the door started opening heavily. It moved slowly and it had Dash wondering what was in there.
Or more accurately, who was in there.
The door finished opening and for a moment it was dark except for the soft glow of the ghost that was in there. Its glow was the dimmest Dash had ever seen on a ghost before.
Then the lights were flickering on and his eyes widened. His heart skipped a beat and he wanted to book it out of the room. The only thing keeping him there was his dad and the ghost in front of him.
Danny Phantom.
"What?"
Phantom sat on the other side of a glass wall. He rested on his knees but his arms were held above his head by chains that connected to the walls. The same chains were around his ankles but they were looser. And one around his neck.
At the sound of Dash's voice, Phantom's face twitched. His brows furrowed. Dash heard him groan. It sounded like he was in pain.
His dad pulled out a remote that had a button on it. He walked up to the glass and pushed it.
Phantom's back arched and his screams permeated the air around them. The room shook with the sound of it. Crackles of electricity flashed along the chains that were holding him. He tried to pull his arms away but the chains just pulled him back.
His dad let the electricity run over him for a few moments longer before lifting his finger off the button. Phantom collapsed as far as the chains would let him, his breathing deep. Dash could hear the whimper that seemed to force its way out of his throat. He wanted to crumple to the floor himself at the sound.
His dad handed him the remote that he had just used to shock Phantom. Dash looked at it in horror.
"This is your lesson." His dad crossed his arms behind his back. "Ghosts aren't to be trusted. Especially not this ghost."
Phantom looked up at Dash, exhausted, a pleading expression on his face. All Dash could do was stare back.
"Press the button, Dash."
Dash took a step back, still staring at Phantom. He shook his head.
Suddenly his dad was right next to him grabbing a handful of his hair. He yanked Dash's head to make him look at him.
"Press the button!"
Tears sprung into his eyes. He couldn't hear what his dad was shouting at him as he shook his head by his hair.
He looked at Phantom. He looked tired. He looked defeated. Like he'd accepted what was going to happen.
Dash's eye contact with Phantom was broken when his dad hit him across the face. He fell to the ground and lay there. He groaned and when he sat back up Phantom was still looking at him.
It was almost imperceptible, but Phantom was nodding at him. He looked resigned. He knew this was going to happen whether he or Dash wanted it to. Dash's dad wouldn't let him out if it.
His tears continued falling and they began to drip onto the floor. He wouldn't get out of this. He had to comply. He always had to comply.
He hung his head and he heard his dad bend over and place the remote on the ground in front of him. When Dash opened his eyes it was sitting there, staring at him.
Dash picked the remote up off the ground. It felt heavy in his hand.
He looked up at Phantom one more time. He mouthed I'm sorry at him. Phantom closed his eyes.
Dash looked back down at the remote in his hand and stared at it. He slowly lowered his finger down to the button and rested his finger on it. Only did he press on it when he heard his dad take a step towards him.
Phantom's screams filled the air again and it pierced Dash through the chest. He closed his eyes and tilted his head down.
A moment later his dad's hand was in his hair again, pulling his head up.
"Watch."
Dash shook his head and his dad shook it back.
"Open your eyes!"
His eyes burst open and he watched Phantom writhe in pain. He didn't want to watch. He didn't want to be here anymore.
After a few more seconds his dad took the remote from him.
"Now, we don't want it to destabilize."
Phantom laughed and coughed. He forced out words with a scratchy voice.
"Speak for yourself."
His dad walked up to the glass and stared at Phantom. Dash could tell he had a jeer on his face even though his back was facing him.
"How does it feel to be helpless? How does it feel to know pain?"
Dash couldn't help but feel his dad was talking to both of them.
Phantom's head lifted up again and he stared at Dash. Tears filled his eyes this time. He started mouthing something but Dash couldn't quite make it out. Phantom turned, trying to get into a more comfortable position. It was to no avail because of the chains around his wrists. His eyes closed but he kept mouthing the word.
"This ghost will teach us so much about them." Dash's dad turned towards him and Phantom kept mouthing something. "And I hope he taught you something."
Dash almost wasn't listening to his dad, he was too invested in Phantom. It felt like he was trying to tell him something. He kept watching him.
Dash's eyes widened when he finally saw the word Phantom was mouthing.
Fenton.
"You'll need to remember this, Dash. Ghosts will do anything to trick and manipulate you. You cannot trust them."
Fenton?
Dash took a deeper look at Phantom. More than he probably ever had before.
Fenton. Phantom.
Danny Fenton?
His world felt like it was spinning. The nerds ghost name had been a pun this whole time. He'd been hanging out with Phantom so often and he'd never even considered it.
What if all of it was just one big trick? Just like his dad said?
Dash looked back at Phantom- Danny.
It couldn't have been. Even if most ghosts were like that, Phantom wasn't. Phantom saved people. Danny cared about people. And if Phantom was actually Danny? There was much more to him than any ordinary ghost.
"Let's go."
Dash's head shot up towards his dad. "Go?"
His dad nodded. "There's nothing else here for you. It's time for you to go home. I trust that you've learned your lesson."
Dash stood up and looked at Phantom.
The only lesson he learned today wasn't that he couldn't trust ghosts. It was that he couldn't trust the people who said they were protecting them.
"Yes, sir."
He could see the distressed look on Danny's face but he couldn't let his dad suspect something. He had to pretend he hadn't figured something out. He had to get out of there.
And when he did, he needed to find the Fentons.