Even with Pandora’s warning, Phantom was still caught off guard by how bright it was. His eyes quickly adjusted though, and the warmth was the next thing he noticed.
“Welcome to my garden.” Pandora said proudly. Phantom looked into the new room and felt his jaw drop.
It was a large room, lit up by warm yellow lights, and filled with all kinds of plants Phantom had never seen. Some had similar shapes to plants he’d seen all his life, like the trees and hedges and vines that grew along trellises, but the colours were the true difference. Though green still seemed to be the most prominent much like their own plants, Phantom could see various purples, pink, reds, yellows, blues and so much more. And that was just what he could see from the entrance! The room was so much bigger, and he could see that there were some parts that were sectioned off by tall hedges.
Phantom tore his eyes away from the beauty of the place to take in the human’s reaction, after all they were there for him, and found himself struck all over again by the look on Danny’s face.
His mouth hung open in awe and his wide eyes radiated happiness and longing. Though humans didn’t glow, Danny sure looked like he was trying to. Danny slowly stepped forward, taking in more of the garden, and then he turned around with a wide smile and tears in his eyes.
“It looks just like home.”
Phantom looked out at the sea of colours visible to him, his first glimpse at what Danny’s world looked like, and it wasn’t hard to believe they were from the same world. Not just because of the differences to his own, but because Danny and the garden shared the same vibrancy. They were both bright and warm, as well as relaxing and comforting.
Pandora chuckled and walked forward, guiding them deeper. Phantom’s team had tagged along with them since they were there when they found out humans couldn’t eat their food. “I should hope so. I spent a long time collecting these plants and making sure they could survive in the Ghost Zone.” She pointed upwards at the lights. “Mimicking the sun was the hardest part. Though I’m glad it’s paying off now.” Their leader looked at Danny with a hint of worry as they passed under an arch covered in pale pink flowers. “One of the things I remember about humans is that you can become sick when away from sunlight too long.”
Though Danny just shrugged at the statement, Phantom interrupted before he could say whatever he was about to.
“Wait! What do you mean sick!?” He flew forward to get a better look at the human’s face, making sure there were no signs of an illness. Danny looked startled for a moment, but amusement quickly took over. He ignored the chuckles he heard from the direction of his friends and focused on the soft touch on his raised hands. It was the first time Danny had willingly touched him, and he patted them as if to comfort the ghost.
“It’s okay, Phantom. I’ve only been here a day, that’s nowhere near long enough to cause any problems.” Danny looked to the side and gestured to the cluster of plants they stopped next to. “And look, if the plants are flourishing like this then whatever artificial sunlight Pandora’s made must be pretty good.”
Phantom observed the large yellow flowers and relaxed. He didn’t know what they were or how they were supposed to look, but Danny seemed pretty happy with their condition and he supposed nobody would know better than a human. “What are these called?” He asked.
“Sunflowers.” He chirped.
Phantom looked at him with a raised brow, but the human payed him no mind. Instead, he pranced around Phantom to crouch in front of a group of plants with purple flowers that clustered around a stalk that made it look like a tall dome. “And these are hyacinths. My Mom has them in her garden too. They’re her favourite.” He jumped up to examine some flowers with pink petals surrounding a yellow centre. “She has these too, but I can’t remember what they’re called.
“Those are peonies.” Pandora answered him.
He smiled at her, and for the next few minutes the group explored the garden. Everyone occasionally asked Danny the names of certain flowers and he answered where he could. The times he didn’t know Pandora answered for him.
They were nearing the end of the flower section and Pandora was ready to guide them to the area where she kept the edible plants when Danny suddenly stopped.
He was staring at a group of small white flowers that grew up a trellis though Phantom wasn’t sure why. They were pretty unremarkable compared to all the other flowers he’d just discovered.
Danny looked up at Pandora, revealing a sad smile. “May I?”
After a confirmation from the ghost, Danny carefully picked off a stem with several of the white flowers and held it close to his chest before tucking it in the pocket of the jacket Phantom gave him.
Danny blushed when he noticed the questioning looks from everyone else. “They’re called jasmines.” He answered. “My sister was named after them.”
At everyone’s looks of realisation, Danny cleared his throat and turned to Pandora. “So, food?”
Pandora nodded towards another arch. “Yes, it’s through this way. I know humans don’t eat as much as ghosts but you must be starving by now.”
A low growling sound filled the air causing majority of the ghosts to stand on alert.
“What was that?” Ember looked around for the cause but could only find an amused Pandora and an even redder Danny.
“I’ll take that as a yes?” She chuckled.
The rest of the ghosts looked at Danny with confusion.
“That was you?” Johnny asked incredulously, only making Danny blush harder as he lifted a hand to his midsection.
“It does that when I’m hungry, okay.” He mumbled and followed after the older ghost, leaving the others to laugh behind him.
In hindsight, that should have been obvious, given that the Ghost Zone had a working atmosphere. But it still took Danny a while to learn that fact.
Still, even after he discovered this, he didn’t think much of it. It was just another thing humans had gotten so wrong about ghosts. But it was just another fact. Something that didn’t seem all that important.
Until the GIW caught on.
He wasn’t sure how they discovered it. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to know. But somehow they had managed to catch Ember, and it was no coincidence they put her in an air tight container, complete with pipes and controls that could distribute oxygen at their whim.
Ember’s powers were mainly based in music, but she was a fire core deep down. And fire needed to breathe. Or it would die.
But the GIW didn’t care about that. They were just watching her, struggling for breath against the glass walls of her cage, and marking down the reaction in their records. Her suffering was nothing more than an experiment to them, and though Danny and Ember had never gotten along in the past, he couldn’t stand to let this happen.
Danny wasted no time in blasting the pipes that controlled Ember’s airflow, giving her the chance to breathe freely. Still invisible, and taking advantage of the confusion, he hit the button that freed Ember and reached through the now non-phase proof cage to take a hold of her.
Their escape was quick and seamless. By the time the GIW agents had caught on and started shooting, the two ghosts were well on their way to safety.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Ember stated, minutes later after her breathing had returned to normal.
Danny looked at her for a moment, seeing the way she curled in on herself and avoided looking at him. Danny may not have known her very well, but he did know she hated losing control or seeming weak, and having the world’s most dangerous group of ghost hunters know one of her biggest weaknesses was understandably frightening. Danny felt sick to think about what they would do with this knowledge in the future, and what else they may have gathered.
“No, I guess not.” Danny looked out at the sky from their hiding spot, hoping to make her more at ease by not looking at her. “But I wasn’t going to let them keep doing that to you.”
They were both silent for a long while after that, neither knowing what to say. Danny looked at her hesitantly before voicing his offer. “If you want to go home, you can use our ghost portal. I’ll distract my parents for you.”
Ember was silent a while before nodding. “Yeah, I’d like that.” They both stood and were ready to take off when Ember spoke up quietly, “Hey Phantom?” Danny turned to her with a hum, watching the way she crossed her arms and continued to avoid his face. “Thank you.”
Danny smiled, though she didn’t look to see it. “You’re welcome.” He said simply, choosing not to make a big deal out of it.
The GIW’s new discoveries worried him, and now that they knew Phantom would intervene, they would likely not be so obvious about it in the future. And there was still the issue of how they’d obtained that knowledge to begin with.
Danny didn’t want to know, but he knew he was going to figure it out anyway.
“You did what!?” The shriek drew the attention of a few people around them, but once they realised it came from the loser trio, they looked away.
A red-faced Danny began looking around, fumbling and stuttering like he was trying to find a way out of the situation. But Tucker had planned for this, and that was why he confirmed with the boy that he had nothing else to do for lunch before he dropped the bomb.
He wanted to make sure Danny had no way out of his little experiment.
“Come on Danny. The guy’s got no other friends here. I thought it would be a nice thing to do.” Or it would have been a nice thing to do if he didn’t have an ulterior motive. But Tucker kept those thoughts to himself as he subtly typed Danny’s reaction into the notes on his phone.
“W-well, it is! I wasn’t saying that there’s anything bad about it, ‘cause there’s not! It’s just that I didn’t expect it? I mean, you’ve never invited anyone to sit with us before, so I was surprised! There’s nothing wrong with it at all!” He tried to cover, and if Tucker weren’t expecting this kind of reaction, he probably would have been surprised at the speed his friend was talking.
Sam though, looked very confused, but Tucker ignored her and smiled at Danny. “Good! Then we should get going. Don’t want to leave him waiting.”
Danny started walking to the cafeteria but stopped when Tucker called him back and gestured to his wide open locker. With a burning face, he returned to slam it shut and took off faster than the first time.
A chuckle slipped past Tucker’s lips, to which Sam gave him a suspicious look.
“Okay. Danny’s right. This is unlike you. Why’d you really invite Phantom to sit with us?”
Tucker gave his friend a grin full of mischief. “It’s for science, Sam.”
Her confused look just made him laugh more.
Danny Phantom had been attending Caspar High for three weeks now, though he had made no move to make any friends or even bother to get to know people. Yet when Tucker had asked if he wanted to join him and his friends for lunch, the boy’s eyes had lit up. Tucker wasn’t sure if it was the idea of sitting with anyone in general or sitting with someone in particular that made him so eager, but that was just another thing he would be testing today.
The two caught up to their friend, who was waiting just inside the doors for them. It seemed he didn’t want to go in and find Phantom on his own, another thing Tucker noted down.
Phantom hadn’t arrived yet from the looks of it, so the boys went to get some food while Sam sat at their usual table, having brought her own food as usual.
(Break because I didn’t know how to join these two and I was done with this prompt.)
“You know my friends; Sam and Danny.” Tucker slid into the seat next to Sam so Phantom would have to sit between him and Danny.
“H-hi.” Phantom’s eyes remained on Danny, and Sam didn’t even bother reciprocating the greeting, choosing to watch the two as closely as Tucker.
“Hi.” Danny’s voice was a little more pitched than normal.
After an awkward moment of nothing, Phantom realised he was still standing and rushed to take his seat. He nearly tripped sitting down and both were blushing brightly.
Sam narrowed her eyes. It came as no surprise to Tucker that she hadn’t noticed the strange way they behave around each other. She shared less classes with the two of them than he did, so this would be one of the first times she’s seen them really interact.
Or try to, Tucker thought, watching the two of them stumble through a conversation about something that happened in the art class they both shared. Neither Sam or Tucker were in that class, so they couldn’t really join the conversation, but it didn’t really matter seeing as they were busy examining the two who seemed to have forgotten they weren’t the only ones at the table.
Tucker jotted everything down on his phone. Everything from the way they both tried to avoid eye contact but still found themselves staring at each other, to the way Danny forgot the word for a burger, to the way Phantom stared in awe when Danny laughed at one of his terrible puns.
By the end of lunch, Tucker was satisfied with all the evidence he’d gathered, and he and Sam came to a solid conclusion.
Danny was glad it was only him and his Mom cleaning out the storage room. That way it was less embarrassing that she was cooing over all his old baby stuff.
“Awww, and look. Your first pair of shoes.” She held up a pair of tiny dark green sandals with little blue dinosaurs on them.
Danny gave her an exasperated but fond smile. As embarrassing as it was, it was still endearing to see his mom get so excited over something. And with the way she was fawning over every little thing with a bright smile and sparkling eyes, it was hard not to enjoy.
He could have gone without the stories though.
“You used to hate them. Walking around like a grumpy kitten. Sometimes you’d just sit down and cry until we took them off.”
The teen rolled his eyes. “Mooom.” He whined, but the bite in it had been lost about half an hour ago. Sometime when she’d been cackling like a mad woman after finding his favourite red hat as a toddler and told him how he always wore it low over his eyes and ran into everything he could.
He tried to hide his laughter, but the smile couldn’t be helped. “We’re never going to finish cleaning this room out if you keep gushing over everything.” He chided.
His mother pouted but put the shoes back in the box. “Sorry, Sweetie. There’s just so many good memories in here.” She pulled out another box labelled ‘Danny’s baby things’ and opened it just like she had all the others. “I just want to look at everything.”
Danny rolled his eyes again but left her to it. His task of pulling out deeper boxes was interrupted yet again by his mother’s gasp. “Danny, come look at this.”
There was something a bit softer in her voice that made him stand up from under the table he was crawling under and walk over to her. “What is it, Mom?”
His mother carefully pulled out something incredibly dusty that looked like a ball surrounded by a hoop from which little ornaments hung off. She was wiping away the dust from the ball in the middle when Danny reached her side, curious as to what she was holding so reverently.
“It’s your old mobile.” She softly said.
Now that he was closer, he could see that the ornaments were tiny planets, stars and rockets. And the ball in the middle, now clearer of dust, was a small moon.
“You always loved space, even as a baby. You would stare at this thing like it was the most incredible thing you’d ever seen. And you’d reach up to it all the time.” His mother looked at him with a mixture of sadness and worry. “You don’t talk about space as often anymore. Do you still want to be an astronaut?”
Danny’s eyes fell to the mobile longingly. “Of course, I do. It’s been my dream for as long as I can remember.” He sighed. “I just don’t think it’s possible anymore.”
Maddie frowned at the dejection in his voice. She didn’t like the thought of her son giving up something he loved so much. “Why not?”
He scoffed. “You’ve seen my grades. I’ll be lucky to graduate.”
She had seen his grades. They had been pretty bad for a while now, but she wouldn’t say they were that level of bad. Though hearing her son sound so self-loathing about them was a new perspective. Her and Jack had talked to him about them a few times, mostly to berate him for slacking off and not caring.
Now she felt incredibly guilty for that.
“I’m sorry, Danny.” Maddie tried not to flinch at the look of surprise he gave her. “When your grades started slipping, your father and I just assumed you weren’t trying anymore. I didn’t realise you were struggling.”
Danny looked away and held his arm defensively. “I shouldn’t be struggling. I could do it if I tried harder.”
Hearing her own words come out of her son’s mouth did not give her the satisfaction she thought it would.
“I know you could, Danny. The reason we thought you weren’t trying is because we know how smart you are.” Maddie ducked her head to find his eyes. “I don’t know what’s been distracting you lately, but I’m here if you want to talk or need help with your schoolwork. Whatever you need, if you ask, I’ll be happy to help.” She handed the mobile to him. “I don’t want you to think you can’t keep reaching for the moon.”
Danny gave her a bright smile, his face radiating with gratitude, and for the first time in a long time, Maddie felt like she’d taken the right step in helping her son.
Her joy only increased when Danny took her up on the offer and asked for help with his homework and reviewing his assignments. He didn’t do it often, but the uptick in his grades was enough to make them both proud.
Danny, however, was a little bit embarrassed when she nearly started crying at the sight of his old mobile, clean and hanging from a hook over his bed.
Danny, who had been expecting the reaction, began arguing his point before Phantom had even finished speaking. “I’ll stick to the sidelines and won’t run off. You won’t have to worry about me Phantom, I promise.”
Phantom was shaking his head, “No, you need to stay here and recover.”
“I need to be out there to help you if you need me.”
“Sam and Tuck are helping me tonight. There’s nothing you can say that will convince me to let you come too.”
“Come on, please?” Danny tried using puppy eyes. He didn’t use them often, but his boyfriend almost always caved in when he did.
Almost always.
“No. You are staying home and that is final.” Though Phantom’s voice was strong, he was avoiding Danny’s eyes.
Danny tried to lean in to catch the ghost’s eyes, but Phantom wasn’t having it. Eventually, Danny sighed in defeat. Maybe threats will work.
“If you don’t let me come, you know I’ll just sneak out to join you.”
That got Phantom’s attention, and Danny was just thinking he had won when Phantom smirked and opened his mouth. “Jazz!” He shouted before Danny could stop him.
“What are you doing!?” Danny asked, panicked as he looked between his closed door and the ghost in front of him.
“Getting you a babysitter.”
“I don’t need a babysitter!” Danny protested just as the door opened.
“What’s this about a babysitter?” Jazz asked, amused.
“Hi Jazz.” Phantom greeted. “Can you make sure Danny doesn’t try to leave and join our patrol tonight?”
“Sure, I can keep an eye on him.” Danny didn’t think she had any right to look so smug and amused by the request.
“Phantom, come on.” Danny refused to think he was whining as he tried one last time. “I’ll stay out of the way and leave the big stuff to you and the others.”
“No, I’m not letting you on patrol in your condition.”
Danny didn’t know whether to be offended or disbelieving at Phantom’s statement. “In my condi- Phantom, it’s just a broken arm!”
“And you will not be allowed back on patrol until it is healed.” Phantom pointed at the cast with an air of finality.
“What!?” Danny ignored his sister’s poorly hidden laughter and glared at his boyfriend. “Phantom, that isn’t fair!”
Phantom shrugged, as though it didn’t matter to him, but his grin spoke of his enjoyment. “I think it’s plenty fair.” He leaned in for a quick kiss before Danny could stop him. “Now, you stay here with Jazz, and I’ll be back to check on you after patrol.”
With a quick goodbye to Jazz, Phantom was flying out the window before Danny could think to shout at him again.
Danny was tired, sore, and hungry. The only thing giving him energy at the moment was knowing that his nieces would be waiting for him at home. And his husband too. No offence to Phantom, but he doesn’t often get to see his nieces.
And with Jazz and her husband away on a trip for the weekend, Danny and Phantom were babysitting. After the week he’d had, a whole weekend with his husband and nieces was exactly what he wanted.
Danny heard the laughter as soon as he opened the door, and he immediately felt so much better. Jazz had dropped the girls off while Danny was at work, leaving Phantom to watch them. That was perfectly fine with the ghost since he adored their nieces just as much as Danny did.
He found them on the lounge room floor. Phantom was lying on his stomach with the girls sitting on his back, and they were all giggling as Phantom kicked his legs and begged them to let him go.
Danny crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “What’s going on here?” His smile became more fond than amused when all four of their faces lit up at the sight of him. Eighteen-month-old, Saige crawled off from Phantom’s neck and waddled over to Danny with grabby hands. “Di-di! Up!”
“Danny, help! I’m stuck!” Phantom reached out to him with a wide grin as Danny picked up his youngest niece.
“I don’t know…” Danny pretended to be thoughtful. “You must have done something to end up here.”
Alice, the oldest at six, giggled. “Uncle Phantom was cheating!”
Danny’s mouth dropped open as he let out a dramatic gasp, making Saige start laughing. “Cheating!?”
The four-year-old, Elisabeth nodded while holding up a controller. “He used his ghost powers to go in the game.”
Danny looked at Phantom in mock disappointment, shaking his head. “Using your ghost powers to cheat against your own nieces. Phantom, I am ashamed of you.”
“But they were beating me!” Phantom extended his arm to the TV with a laugh. “What would people say about me if they knew I lost in Mario Kart to a couple of kids?”
“Oh, I’m sure they wouldn’t tell anyone. Would you, girls?” Danny asked, knowing full well they’d tell everyone.
One of the things about having a superhero for an uncle mean that everyone at school was always asking them questions about him. And the girls seemed to love telling the most embarrassing things they could.
So Phantom didn’t believe them for a second when they said they wouldn’t say a word. But he let it slide, admitting to defeat, and the girls finally got off him. Danny joined the game and one fair and square, despite Phantom saying that surprise kisses were distracting and therefore, cheating. But the girls said it didn’t count if they didn’t see it and Uncle Phantom should stop being such a sore loser.
They moved away from video games and played round after round of hide-n-seek-tag until it was time for Saige’s nap. They played card games for a while after that and then Danny helped the girls with their homework while Phantom cooked dinner. Saige woke up in time to join the video call from Jazz and her husband who wanted to say goodnight early because they’d be asleep by the time they got back to the hotel. As expected, Alice and Elisabeth told them all about Phantom’s loss the moment they could, which made Phantom claim betrayal.
After the call ended, they watched a Disney movie while they ate, and they played various other games until it was bedtime. The girls all refused to go to sleep, especially Saige who’d had too short a nap earlier and was getting crabby without her parents. Phantom agreed to give them short flights one at a time if they promised to go to sleep afterwards and it worked for the older two, but Saige required a longer flight before she finally got sleepy enough to stop crying. Then it was just a matter of getting her to fall asleep and stay asleep which was much easier thanks to all the running around they did earlier.
With all of their nieces safely tucked away in bed, Danny and Phantom sat down on the couch and watched a quiet movie before they would go to bed themselves.
“Man, they have a lot of energy.” Danny yawned from his spot tucked into Phantom’s side.
Phantom hummed into Danny’s hair, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not tired at all.”
“Yeah, because you don’t need as much sleep as I do.” Danny poked Phantom in the ribs and smiled at the quiet laughter it brought out of his husband.
They remained quiet for a few more minutes after that, until Phantom brought up something that had been on his mind all day. Well, he’d been thinking about it for a long time actually, but today he just couldn’t stop.
“Hey, Danny?”
Danny hummed sleepily and lifted his head a little.
“I want kids.”
After a moment, Danny lifted his head fully, and looked his husband in the eyes. “You realise we just spent an hour getting three kids to go to sleep, right?”
Phantom rolled his eyes. “Yes, Danny, I know.”
Danny laughed quietly, “Just checking.” He leaned forward to give Phantom a soft peck on the lips. “You’ll be a great dad, Phantom.”
Phantom’s eyes lit up. “You mean…”
Danny nodded with another soft laugh. He looked at Phantom with such a sweet, bright smile, the ghost found himself falling in love all over again. “Yeah. Let’s have kids, Phantom.”
And he had every right to be. Ever since ghosts became a much more known thing in their town, Phantom had been able to interact with people other than Jazz and in his own body. Most notably being Jazz’s younger brother Danny, whom Phantom had developed a hopeless crush on not long after being introduced to him through Jazz.
Danny didn’t know that the ghost he’d shared a few conversations with was actually sharing a body with his sister, and therefore, shared the same memories of those interactions. And in fact, the awkwardness that stemmed from that is one of the main reasons Phantom had been trying not to interact with the boy.
But he hadn’t been counting on Danny seeking him out. And the chance to be able to interact with Danny as his own person had been too good to pass up, even if it did strengthen his crush.
Something Jazz had very conflicting emotions about.
Especially when, during a conversation earlier that day, Phantom had offered to take Danny on a flight later that night without thought. Jazz had immediately started lecturing him, but the hesitant yet hopeful response Danny gave knocked down half of her grievances on the spot.
But that didn’t mean she was going to let Phantom go without some ground rules. Or embarrassing him first.
‘You’re not allowed to hold him in any way more intimate than necessary.’ She listed, making Phantom blush even as he checked his appearance in the mirror.
“O-okay. That’s fair.”
‘You’re not allowed to kiss him.’
“I w-wasn’t thinki-!”
‘Keep your emotions in your corner and I’ll stay in mine until this whole thing is over.’
Phantom let out a shaky breath. That would be the hard part. “I’ll do my best.” It was all he could promise.
It seemed to satisfy Jazz enough though, because she continued. ‘And above all else, make sure he has a good time.’
Phantom blinked, not expecting the rule but not surprised by it either. “I will.” He said, “I hope, at least.”
Jazz sighed in his mind and levelled all the seriousness she could at him. ‘If you mess up anything tonight, I will never forgive you and I promise it will be hell.’
Phantom gulped at the threat. He knew she meant it.
Knocking on Danny’s window, Phantom tried his best to calm the racing of his core. It would need to be at reasonable levels or Danny would feel it when he… held…
Oh. Shit. It’s going faster again.
He felt Jazz give him the equivalent of an eye roll and a comforting pat on the back. Her reactions were limited, tucked away in her safe spot of their shared consciousness as she was, but he was grateful for the awkward support before she would try to bury herself deeper.
‘Try’, because, as they’d learned, they could be pulled to the front of the mind more easily if the other was feeling emotional distress. And given the state Phantom was in, Jazz would be in for a hell of a tug-o-war game tonight.
Phantom’s thoughts completely froze when Danny opened the window, greeting the ghost with a bright grin that reflected the excitement he felt.
“Phantom, you came!”
He grinned back, “Of course. I’ve been looking forward to this.” He tilted his head as he looked at the boy. “Were you expecting me not to come?”
Danny blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, “I was worried that something might come up and you wouldn’t be able to make it.”
Phantom smiled at the shy admission, “Well, I’m glad nothing did. Are you ready?”
After a bit of awkwardness in trying to find the best way to hold Danny, they settled on a side by side position where Danny’s arms were around Phantom’s neck as the ghost held onto his waist. Less than a minute from there, they were flying high above the city and giggling in euphoria.
“So, what do you think?” Phantom asked the human that clung to him tightly.
“This is amazing!” Danny laughed. “How high can you go?”
“Until the oxygen runs out, I guess. Wanna go?”
“Yes!”
Phantom laughed at the enthusiasm and brought the two of them high above the clouds. He stopped before they could get too high, not wanting to actually take Danny to the point his oxygen ran out (and his too. Sharing a body with a human made things like breathing necessary). But Danny didn’t even notice, too caught up in staring at the stars in wonder.
“I’ve never seen them so clearly before. It’s like they’re all around us.” While Danny continued to turn his head in all directions to take in the sky, Phantom never once took his eyes off the boy in his arms. He was so entranced by the sight of his crush; he didn’t fully register when Danny eventually looked down and smirked. “Hey Phantom?” The ghost hummed, “How do you feel about free falling?”
“I do it all the time.” Phantom answered easily. “I love how it…” He looked at Danny, seeing how wild his grin really was. “No.” He said simply.
“Pleeeaaasse.”
“It’s reckless.”
“You just said you do it all the time.”
“I’m a ghost. I can fly.”
“It’s not like you won’t catch me.”
“Of course, I will. But what if something hits you on the way down? Like a bird or a plane?”
“Pretty sure you’d see a plane coming.”
Phantom sighed. It was hard to dissuade the boy when his own resolve was crumbling. He did love free falling, and he really wanted to share the experience with Danny. “Okay, fine.”
No sooner had he said it was Danny laughing and enveloping him in a tight hug. “Thank you!”
The ghost laughed back, and just to scare the apparent daredevil in his arms, he allowed his body to return to the laws of gravity. Danny’s grip tightened automatically at the sensation of falling but he lifted his head with a grin as they tilted upside down. He started laughing as they broke through the clouds, Phantom joining him as he began to pull back after a cursory glance at their surroundings. Grinning widely, Phantom let go of Danny, watching as he spun and laughed falling through the sky.
There was no fear at all in him, and Phantom’s core thrummed at the trust that was being shown to him by this action. After a long moment of just falling, the two came face to face again and for a while, they just stared. Both of them had a soft smile on their face as they gazed at each other.
Phantom was the one to move first, reaching out to hold Danny as he slowed them to a stop and righted them. The tops of the tallest buildings were still a fair way away from them, but Phantom wasn’t taking any risks.
Danny’s smile widened, “That was the best.” He said breathlessly.
Euphoria bubbled in his entire being and came out in giddy laughter. Taking in his crush, red faced and hair messy from the wind while beaming at him with pure delight, Phantom decided the flight had turned out even better than he had hoped.
Phantom tried not to stare. He really did. He could tell the creature was uncomfortable enough with everyone else’s eyes on it and he didn’t want to make it worse. But just like everyone else he was intrigued by the strange creature.
Since bringing it back with them, everyone at their base had been wanting to look at it. This strange being that came from a flash of light and looked so different to them.
Phantom asked if his team could speak with Pandora about it privately, as they had been the one to find it and they shouldn’t draw too much attention to it until they knew what it was. Though it was really for the creature’s sake.
But some people had already started whispering theories. There was one term in particular that stuck, a word that followed them through the halls.
Human.
No one was really sure about that. Humans hadn’t been seen or heard of in centuries. But some of the older ghosts who remembered that time insisted the creatures were real. Pandora was one of them, so if anyone could tell them what this creature was, it would be her.
But if this creature was a human then it really shouldn’t be here. It’s existence alone would be of great interest to many ghosts and could prove or disprove so much about their own existence.
There were legends that said some ghosts came from humans. That when a ghost formed it came form the remnants of a dead human. And that it was a second chance at existence. There was a lot of speculation about the subject, their only proof being the words of centuries old ghosts and a few random objects that made their way into the Zone somehow, but it was mostly younger ghosts and the ones that were born and grew differently that doubted it.
When a ghost was formed from the light of the Zone, they were fully formed yet held no memories of anything before. It was easy to believe that this was all there was, and they hadn’t had a different life to the one they had now. But the older ghosts said that the only way to regain your human memories, was exposure to the human world. And since no one knew how to get there anymore, most people thought it wasn’t real.
If this creature was a human, then it could change all of that.
Pandora had yet to say a word about the creature, only listening as Phantom explained how they came across it. The flash of light that came out of nowhere and the thick swirling mass that had hovered in its place a few moments longer.
Only when he was done did she look at the being, and only then did Phantom allow his eyes to fall back to it.
It… him? It looked male by ghost standards, but he didn’t know if that were true for this creature. They looked frightened, anyhow. Curling in on themself and glancing around frantically. Phantom took in the alien features and found himself more and more entranced with each one.
The creature didn’t glow like ghosts did, but they still stuck out. They were wearing a strange white and black jumpsuit that covered everything but the face. Their skin was a pale peachy colour that was incredibly rare among ghosts. Phantom himself was one of the few that had it but his was a few shades darker than the creatures. The messy black hair wasn’t too unusual, but the lack of glow gave it a strange appearance. Though it was the eyes that were truly striking.
Bright clear blue stood out against the pale skin and dark hair; unlike anything Phantom had ever seen. Blue was an incredibly rare colour in the Zone, which was part of the reason why it was his favourite, and majority of things with this colour were the random objects that were considered human.
But Phantom had never seen anyone with blue eyes before.
Skin, it could happen, Pandora had blue skin. Hair, it was rarer, but could still happen. Clothes, sometimes it could be formed with ghosts but making it was incredibly difficult due to a lack of things to use for dye.
But never eyes.
It was entirely unheard of, and perhaps the most alien thing about this new creature.
And Phantom was struggling to look away.
“Can you understand us?” Pandora’s sudden question almost made Phantom jump. He was embarrassed for his distraction but thankfully only Ember noticed, giving him a strange look that he avoided.
Instead, he turned to the creature, waiting for an answer.
For a moment, they did nothing, and Phantom thought they couldn’t understand them, but then they nodded at Pandora, slow and unsure.
Pandora smiled softly, trying to calm the being. She still hadn’t said if they were human or not.
“My name is Pandora. Can you tell me yours?”
This time they hesitated longer, but eventually opened their mouth. “Danny Fenton.”
Phantom nearly stepped back at the voice and saw a similar surprise on his teammates’ faces.
When ghosts spoke, there was an echo to it. A sound that reached out and covered you completely, overlapping on itself. Sometimes the echo got stronger if the ghost were emotional about something, and you could hear it with more than your ears.
This being’s voice was nothing like that.
It was a solid sound, clear and jarring in a way. Phantom could only describe it as being focused or centred, like he was all over the place but now he wasn’t. It was deep and pulled him in, the clarity of it almost forcing him to listen.
Phantom looked around and saw a similar alertness on everyone else’s faces, as well as a bit of wariness. Youngblood in particular looked uncomfortable.
Pandora was the only person who didn’t seem affected and the creature, Danny Fenton, didn’t seem to notice the affect his voice had on everyone else. Which could probably mean that this was a human.
“I apologise for frightening you Danny. But no one’s seen a human here in centuries. And your arrival was a bit of a surprise from the sounds of it.”
“You can say that again.” Johnny mumbled.
Danny looked at Pandora curiously. “So… you are ghosts.”
Pandora nodded. “Yes, we are. Though if your world has become anything like ours then I assume there are very few who believe we exist.”
The human gained a sad look and turned his face to the floor. “I thought my parents were crazy.” Before anyone could say anything to the regretful statement, Danny’s eyes shot back up. “Do you know if there’s any way I can go home?”
Pandora frowned, which didn’t bode well. “I’m not sure. I don’t even know how you came here in the first place. All the portals were closed over 300 years ago.”
“My parents built one.” Danny answered. He held onto his arms and didn’t look at anyone. “But they couldn’t get it to work… I was showing it to my friends, and Sam… she dared me to go in. But I tripped on a wire and hit something. It got really bright and the next thing I knew, I woke up here.”
Their leader hummed thoughtfully and turned to Phantom. “You said that the swirling light he came from disappeared?”
Phantom nodded. “It was only there for a few moments. Then it completely vanished.”
She nodded and turned back to the human. “Danny if your parents were able to make a portal then your best chance at getting home is if they open it again.”
Danny, though, seemed afraid that that would be the answer. “But they couldn’t figure it out. I only did it by accident, I don’t even know what I did.”
“I’m sorry Danny, but there’s nothing I can do. As I said, there haven’t been any portals here in over three centuries. I have no idea how your parents managed it, but if you were able to come through then they can open it again.” The last part seemed to calm him a little bit. Pandora ducked down to catch his eyes and continued comfortingly. “I’ll have someone stationed at the area you came through. When it opens again, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, you are welcome to stay here.”
The human said nothing for a moment, still upset but he gave her a small smile, “Thank you.”
Pandora nodded and stood back to her full height. “Phantom.” The ghost snapped to attention, having been distracted by the smile. If his leader noticed, she said nothing. “Can you please escort our guest to a room while I organise a patrol?”
Phantom nodded, “Yes ma’am.”
She turned to Danny one final time. “If you need anything, let Phantom know.” After receiving a nod, she dismissed them both and Phantom guided Danny outside while the others confirmed the location with Pandora.
The walk to the accommodation area was uncomfortably silent. There were a few ghosts who caught sight of them and when Danny started fidgeting under the staring, Phantom led them down some side corridors to escape the more populated areas.
“And here we are.” Phantom said with relief as they finally reached a spare room. They entered and he turned on the light. The room was pretty basic. A cot, wardrobe, table, chair, and a small bathroom.
He watched the human walk inside and look around and focused on the strange jumpsuit he wore. It didn’t look comfortable, so he wondered why the human wore it. “I can bring some of my clothes by later if you like. We look about the same size.” He hated that he sounded so awkward. But he didn’t really know what he was doing.
Danny looked back at him with a small but genuine smile. “Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”
Phantom couldn’t find a response as he found himself staring again. The human was much closer to him than he was in Pandora’s office and he could see the strange eyes much more clearly now. Danny’s eyes weren’t just blue, they were different kinds of blue. Rather than the solid colours all ghosts had; Danny’s were a swirling mixture of different shades. They were darker around the edges and had lighter flecks webbing out like waves or lightning. The patterns looked so intricate, and Phantom wanted to get a closer look, to see if he could make out any shapes in them and what they could be. It was only when Danny took a step back that he realised he actually was moving closer.
Snapping out of it, Phantom recognised a look of fearful confusion on the human’s face and realised he was probably frightening him. He swore and stepped back. “Sorry, uh… I’ll go get those clothes.”
He left before Danny could question him and started towards his own room, berating himself all the way for staring and making the human uncomfortable.
But as he started picking through his clothes for something that Danny could wear, he couldn’t help wondering if all humans had such beautiful eyes.
