Jazz and Danny have a pointless conversation with the local police force.
The Fenton siblings sit in an interrogation room facing a mirror. No doubt a two way glass with someone watching them.
The clock above the single door ticks into the quiet stillness of the room.
Marking the passage of the time.
Seconds to minutes, coming up on an hour.
Jazz stares into the middle distance, leaning casually on the table before them. Danny tipped precariously on the back legs of his chair, he makes a show of sleeping as the chair rocks with his breathing.
The door to the room opens for a pair of police officers to enter.
“Hey, wake up,” the first officer, a burly bear of a man snaps, stomping forward to slam a hand on the table.
Jazz rolls her head to turn her attention to the officer that hangs back.
Danny yawns, stretching his arms over his head. His sharp canines glint in the overhead fluorescents.
“I said-”
“Wake up,” Danny drawls, cutting him off, leaning forward for the chair to hit the floor with a loud bang of metal on tile. “Heard you the first time.”
“This is not a -”
“Sorry, can we skip the intimidation tactics,” he bites back another yawn. “I have a test I need to study for.”
*Checks the date on this* MARCH 13TH??? This has been sitting here for MONTHS. I meant to do it but I couldnt really think of anything. I originally wanted to do something TOH-related because that’s your special interest
Ended up doing Danny Phantom I guess (Ao3 Link)
Hope you don’t mind :]
Anyways
Comforting hugs/Traumatic event
~~~
Danny was locked in a nightmare. He knew it was a nightmare because he was alone. The portal was on and swirled with a toxic green light, inviting him closer. He knew this was wrong. This wasn’t how the accident had played out. Sam had coerced him in. She wasn’t here now. Danny looked down at himself. He was wearing the white hazmat suit he had been wearing at the time of the accident.
The portal’s glow beckoned him and he found his feet moving against his will. He remembered the pain of the accident and his scars flared with the remembered pain.
He stepped into the portal, felt his hand press the button that shouldn’t have been there because the portal was on this shouldn’t be happening.
Familiar electricity arced through his arm, shooting through his body and down his spine. He woke with a scream.
He was in his room. Safe. Away from the portal. His breathing slowed. These nightmares were getting worse.
Jazz burst into his room. “I heard you scream. What’s wrong?” She held the Fenton Peeler in front of her.
“Nothing. I just had a nightmare.” Danny answered.
Jazz’s eyebrows went up. “That didn’t sound like ‘just a nightmare.’”
“Yeah, well, it was, and I’m fine.” Danny glared down at his blanket.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to make you upset.” Jazz said. She set her weapon down on Danny’s dresser, then sat on Danny’s bed. “Do you need a hug?”
Danny crashed into Jazz, wrapping his arms around her middle in a tight hug. She was startled at the strength in the embrace. She hugged him back, gently squeezing her younger brother.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Jazz asked. Danny shook his head. Jazz rubbed his back and felt the tension melt out of his muscles. She scooted closer to him and he shifted in her arms so that he was sitting up. She nuzzled her head into his hair and continued rubbing his back gently.
I finally got this out of my "ready to edit list" and posted a new fic on Ao3
Ember sneaks out of the ghost zone to have a night for herself, but misery loves company, and sometimes you find company in strange places.
----------------------------------
Ember flew over Casper High, though only someone like her would be able to tell. The darkness made it almost impossible to see fifteen feet in front of you, let alone the quarter-mile of height she had above the ground. But, she knew the route here like the back of her hand: a right turn here and a left turn at the tree, following the road until she had crested the hill.
She had taken this exact same route for four years when she was alive. She didn’t need her senses, sharpened by death, to find her high school.
She stopped and looked down. The school that had consumed so much of her life looked so small down there. Idly, she raised her hand, and covered the school with just her thumb. With just a finger, she blocked it from sight.
The idea of the school under her thumb made her smile.
That being said, the thought of mind-controlling the students again reminded her of another memory, one she didn’t want to recall. Quickly, she glanced side to side as she peered out into the darkness.
Fortunately, Phantom wasn’t around. Or at least, that she could see.
Which meant her night was probably going to be a peaceful one.
She started dropping down toward Casper High. Her stomach fluttered as she allowed gravity to pull her down. She dropped hundreds of feet in seconds. Her hair whipped about as if she were plummeting on a roller coaster.
Not that she knew, she never got a chance to ride one before she died.
That was something she should probably get around to fixing.
She stopped one inch above the ground. Sure, crashing into the roof would be cathartic, but getting Phantom on her case would not be good for her.
These nighttime escapes were something she couldn’t give up. This wasn’t the first time she’d snuck out of the ghost zone. Fortunately, the Box Ghost knew every artificial gateway into Amity Park inside of a room. Mirrors facing mirrors being one of the best stable ones into the real world, and quite common in Amity for some reason.
Regardless of that, it was nice to see the world for a bit. Away from the despair and loss that was the ghost zone.
Her feet touched the roof of Casper High, and she began to walk across the roof. The click of her boots across the top of the building made a feeling of power well up in her. The school didn’t allow anyone up here. It wasn’t safe, supposedly.
Ember rather would have been up here, than down there where people would tear up her music, or stick gum in her hair.
Maybe if they had let her come up here while she was alive, she never would have…
She shivered, feeling a chill in her soul that echoed throughout her body. It felt just like the cold she had once felt while her skin burned.
She ran her hands through her hair as she shook her head, trying to change her train of thought. That wasn’t why she was here.
She took another step. The gravel on the roof crunched underneath her feet. The sound was grating and loud. She focused on the sound, trying to drown out the crackles of fire that echoed in her ears.
“Who’s there?”
Ember jumped, her thoughts scattered like ashes tossed in the wind. She twisted around to see Phantom standing nearby. However, seeing him in his human form, instead of his ghost form, was a unique occurrence.
His eyes were wide, and his mouth was open, stuck open ready to shout another question. His eyes looked just slightly down toward her.
That stuck with her though. It had been a long time since they had stood on solid ground together. And she was staring face to face with a sign that time had passed.
Sometime in the last four years, he had gotten taller than her now.
Ember stepped back, caught off guard by his presence. He looked her up and down the same time her brain caught up with the fact that Phantom was here . His body turned away from her slightly, and his feet shifted with it, ready to run. However, his hands clenched into fists.
The sound of paper crumpling caught her attention and she looked down to see in his left hand a few pieces of paper. A postage stamp was clearly visible in the light cast by her glow.
“Ember…” Phantom began warningly. Ember’s eyes jumped up to meet his. He straightened, making himself even taller than she had thought he was, and his lips got set in a thin line. “Ember, go back. I don’t want to deal with you right now.”
The words washed over Ember. She heard them, but she was too focused on something else.
Danny rubs his temples, silently begging the building migraine to stop.
Unfortunately, that's not how migraines work.
His parents continue their screaming argument with Mister Lancer.
At this point they're so off from the original topic that he can't even remember what set them off to begin with.
(It was how to properly ensure the students safety.)
More unfortunately, they're in front of the entire school population in the gymnasium.
"You good?" Sam stage whispers from her place on the side of the makeshift stage.
"I'd rather deal with the Observants," he hisses back.
Sam winces.
Danny hiccups on a breath of cold air, as a presence solidifies behind him.
"Good, then maybe we can-" Danny grabs the hand that's placed on his shoulder and flips the Observant over, slamming them bodily between the adults.
The ensuing silence is deafening.
"Ancients, I swear if Johnny is nearby, he's getting souped for a month." Danny mutters walking closer to the ghost.
"Danny?" Maddie asks, a little bit shocked but something like pride in her eyes.
"Nuh-uh," Danny puts his hand up. "You're not touching this one."
Jack frowns, "But it's a-"
"I don't care-"
The Observant groans, trying to sit up. He stomps on their shoulder, pinning them to the stage.
"-and you shut up, I'll deal with you in a second."
The eyeball glares at him, "I will not be treated in such a manner."
Danny pulls out his thermos, "You want to be souped?"
The Observant holds their hands up, palms out.
"That's what I thought, now you two-"
"Did you just negotiate with a ghost?" Maddie asks, a little gobsmacked.
"Yes, now you two are going to pack your weapons up into the GAV and go home."
She frowns. "This is an educational-"
"Yeah no, it stopped being educational 30 minutes ago when you started a screaming match with Mr. Lancer."
"We did not-"
"I do have to agree," Principal Ishiyama says, watching the ghost warily as she steps on stage. "It would be best if you two were to leave, this assembly has officially lost its purpose. Or we can have you forcibly removed."
Maddie glares at her while Jack frowns, gaze bouncing back and forth between the ghost and Danny.
"It's just letting you hold it down?" Jack asks.
"They're a they, not an it, and yes because they know to wait their turn." Danny says.
The Observant makes a noise that's a cross between a huff and a growl. Danny shifts more weight onto their shoulder, wiggling the thermos.
They fall silent.
"Go home, or at the very least, get off the stage," he says.
Maddie narrows her eyes behind her goggles but pulls Jack back. Her hand drifts to her pocketed gun.
"Mr. Lancer, unfortunately I think I'll be missing the rest of the school day. This has a bit of a higher priority." Danny waves a hand at the ghost.
Lancer sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Ghost nonsense is not a higher priority than your education," Ishiyama states.
Danny frowns as something cold touches his shoulder. Stepping back he flips the now visible second Observant over his shoulder, slamming them into the first.
The both make a pained noise as the stage cracks.
"Sure, and more will keep showing up until this is dealt with," Danny says.
"How many more are there?" Lancer asks.
He shrugs.
He blinks, eyes shifting to the side as he feels another cold spot form.
Pivoting on his heel, he slams his leg into the next Observant, doubling them over.
"Seriously?!" Danny throws his hands up, "Can you guys chill for once in your afterlife?"
"This is of utmost urgency," the second Observant says, floating upright.
"I said I would deal with you guys in a minute."
"Technically speaking, you only told-"
Danny punches that one in the eyeball.
The three other Observants visibly wince.
"Mister Lancer, can I be excused now, please?"
"Wait, go where?" Jack asks.
"You're not going anywhere, Daniel James Fenton," Maddie draws her gun.
"Ooh you got full named," the punched Observant mocks.
"I will literally soup you where you float," Danny hisses.
"Step away from the ectoplasmic embo-"
"Or what, you gonna shoot me?" Danny snaps. He presses the heel of his hand against his temple. "Go ahead, shoot me in front of my entire school. Show everyone how you're such a caring mother."
She flinches, as if slapped.
Danny doesn't stop the next two Observants, who show up simultaneously, from grasping his shoulders.
He does, however, uncap the thermos to suck five of the Observants into it. The very first Observant remains, still laying where they were.
"Hey, George-"
"That's not my name," they cross their arms.
"And I'm not spending nine minutes to say your full name, so George, can you tell the rest of your collection to chill for five fucking minutes?" Danny rubs his temple again.
They squint up at him.
"You can have my full undivided attention in five.
"You have four minutes and 55 seconds left," they say before vanishing in a swirl of ectoplasm.
"That was some fine ghost wrangling," Jack says.
Danny pivots to face his teacher and principal. "I'm leaving with or without your permission."
Ishiyama frowns, "you will be doing no su-"
"Fine," Lancer cuts in, "But I expect you to inform us when you return. And a complete report on my desk first thing tomorrow morning."
"Report?" Danny blanches.
"Explaining whatever," he gestures to the cracked stand, "this all is."
Sam jumps onto the stage to press a bottle of pills into his hand.
"Excedrin, you better take it now before you go," she says.
Danny opens his mouth to say thanks when a portal opens under his feet.
Danny stares at the glowing sticky note sitting innocuously on his notebook.
"Mister Fenton," Lancer says, drawing his attention up, "since you seem to be so studiously staring at your notes, perhaps you know the answer to my question."
Danny blinks.
He looks at the note once more before looking up.
"Is it 42?"
The class erupts in giggles as Lancer sighs. "That may be the answer to life but no that doesn't answer my question. Miss Sanchez, perhaps you know."
Danny tunes out to pick up the green sticky. Glowing blue ink glitters as it moves.
A single hand may lift a stone, but many can move the boulder.
Danny flips the note over, and back.
"What's that?" Tucker whispers, leaning forward on his desk to be closer to Danny.
"Bewildering, I need to visit Grandfather I guess."
"The mysterious one that you never mentioned before the C.A.T.S?" Sam asks.
"Mister Fenton," Lancer walks over. "There is no note passing in my class."
"But I wasn't-"
"Wow Fentina, don't know how you didn't expect to get caught with something that bright," Dash laughs.
"Pass it over," Lancer holds his hands out.
Huffing a sigh, Danny passes it to Lancer.
Or tries to.
The note passes through Lancer's hand.
Lancer blinks.
Danny blinks.
Lancer grabs the note again, fingers passing through.
"Wuthering Heights!" Lancer frowns, trying once more. "I'm losing my touch."
Danny flips the note and wiggles it. The sticky note does not make a noise. It does glow brighter however.
Lancer grabs Danny's wrists to move the note around to see it better.
"...Mister Fenton," he stares at the glittery ink, leaning closer.
"...yes Mr. Lancer?"
"This doesn't look like it's English."
"That's 'cause it's not."
"How the fuck-"
"Language!"
"Does Fentoenail know more languages?" Dash asks.
"I bet it's some made up chicken scratch from one of his nerdy books," Paulina comments.
"This looks like cuneiform," Lancer says.
"Common mistake, it's actually Akkadian," Danny corrects before slapping a hand over his mouth.
"Isn't that that dead city you were complaining about at lunch?" Tucker asks.
"...no?"
"Convincing," Lancer deadpans. "Will you care to read for the class what your little note says?"
Danny opens his mouth and then closes it.
The note shimmers in his hand.
"Would you believe me if I said what note?"
"Now Mister Fenton, we can all clearly see…"
Danny opens his hand as the note fades into nothing.
"I don't have a note." Danny gives his best innocent smile.
Lancer and half the class gapes at him.
The bell rings.
Nobody moves.
Danny wiggles his fingers a bit, "Can you let go please?"
