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writingpitcheswearingpearls · 4 years

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Nothing Says Soulmates More Than Sharing a Soul: Chapter 13

Ao3 Link

Once out of Danny’s body, Phantom found himself hyperventilating and his vision fading to black around the edges. This was it; the moment of truth. He was about to find out what Danny thought of him now that he’d seen his true colours.

“W-What just happened?” The sound of Tuckers voice got Phantom to turn and face him, which the ghost immediately regretted. Standing in front of Phantom with clenched fists and a heaving chest was Danny. There was so much pain and anger in his eyes, Phantom couldn’t help but immediately burst into tears.

“Danny, I –”

“Get out! I don’t want to see you!” Danny cut in with a furious growl. Phantom’s eyes widened with fear. He tried to say something, anything, but all he could let out was a pathetic whimper before turning and flying away as fast as he could.

As he frantically flew over the town, he felt pure dread fill his entire being. His absolute worst fear had been founded. Danny hated him the second he knew the truth, and now he’s lost the most important person in his life. Not only that, but he’s lost everyone else that’s important to him too. After all, it wouldn’t make sense for anyone to pick him over Danny. They’d only ever been there for him because they were under the impression that he was the friend they knew and loved, not some stranger who didn’t even have a clue who he really was.

Not being able to think clearly, Phantom flew straight back to Danny’s room and collapsed onto Danny’s bed, curling in on himself as he sobbed into the pillow that so painfully smelled of Danny. He knew he shouldn’t be there, but he had no idea where he was meant to go and it was the only place he felt safe. He figured as long as he left before Danny got back, there wouldn’t be any trouble.

“Danny? Are you back?”

At the sound of Jazz’s voice, Phantom choked on a sob. He somehow needed her and couldn’t handle the idea of talking to her. Immediately, Jazz burst into the room and rushed to him, apparently hearing him through the wall. She sat next to him and began giving frantic, yet still soothing strokes up and down his back.

“Danny! Are you hurt? What happened?” She asked in a panicked tone. At the sound of the name she called him by, he let out a small moan of distress and curled further into himself.

We haven’t told her yet…She still thinks I’m him.

“I- I’m not…” He tried to say through his sobbing, but the pain and fear attached to what he was trying to say made it all that much harder to let out.

“It’s okay. You can tell me anything, little brother.” She encouraged in a gentle voice full of protective feelings and love that he didn’t deserve. Finally, he found the strength to push himself up and back away from her touch.

“That’s just it! I’m not your little brother!” He exclaimed, bringing his arms close to his body and digging his nails into his biceps. It was all he could do to stop the frost that was building around him from spreading any further and hurting Jazz. He wanted to look up to see her reaction, but he couldn’t bring himself to.

“Don’t say that –”

“But it’s true! I was never actually Danny! I’m just some pathetic ghost that latched itself onto him, leeching off his memories and his friendships! Now you know the truth, you’ll want me gone too!” He cried out, lifting his hands to his face to clench his hairline.

“Phantom…” She said softly, before her hands wrapped around his to pull them away from his face.

“Please look at me. I… I already knew that you weren’t Danny.” That made him look at her.

“What? But then why did you call me that earlier?” He questioned with eyes wide with shock.

“It was a reflex, sorry. Having thought of you as Danny for four years, it will be hard to get used to the truth, even though I’ve had a couple of days to wrap my head around it. The point is that I know you’re not Danny, but I also know that nothing else you said was true.” She explained with a serious, yet empathetic expression. He opened his mouth to protest but was cut off when she raised her hand to gesture that she wasn’t done.

“You talk about yourself like some sort of malicious parasite, but that isn’t true at all. You’re a hero and the last thing I’d call you was pathetic!” She reassured. Phantom shook his head and looked away.

“You can’t know that. I have no idea what type of person I was before Danny, so who’s to say that fusing with him wasn’t intentional?” Phantom argued. The room was silent, and Phantom was afraid that what he’d said had convinced her.

“When that alternate future version of you fused with Vlad’s ghost, did he immediately go evil?” She asked.

Fuck, she thinks I’m going to go evil!

“I- I think so. I’m not sure.” He answered, shaking from how fast his core was pulsing with panic. He risked a look at her, only to become shocked to find her smiling.

“Great. So it stands to reason that when somebody fuses with an evil ghost, they are influenced to take on those evil traits. When Danny fused with you, he didn’t become evil, he became a hero. What do you think that says about who you were?” She explained with a confident tone that she reserved for when she was pretty sure she just won an argument. To Phantom’s confusion, it may have been warranted. He couldn’t find a way to argue with what she said. The calm only lasted a moment before he remembered the last time he spoke to Danny.

“Well, just because I didn’t go in a shit person, doesn’t mean I’m not a shit person now. You don’t know what I’ve done since separating from Danny.” He redirected. Her brow quirked in confusion.

“It can’t be that bad.”

“The second Danny found out, he never wanted to see me again.” Jazz blanched at his statement, visibly taken aback by it.

“What? That can’t be right. He wouldn’t –”

“But he did! He was everything to me and now that he hates me I’ve got nothing!” Phantom cried out, frost flashing out of him and spreading around the room, causing Jazz to flinch and jump up from the bed in shock.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that!” He apologised quickly, nearly reaching for her before thinking better of it. Jazz looked around the room at the ice damage, breath slowing down.

“It’s okay Phantom, you just surprised me. I’m not hurt. Has this been happening a lot?” She eventually said. Phantom groaned as he dragged his hands down his face.

“Yes. I can’t control my powers properly, especially my ice core. Danny has been helping me, but… without him I don’t think I’ll be safe around people anymore.” He admitted. The only place safe for him would probably be the Far Frozen. Frostbyte would surely take him in, even if he’s only half of “The Great One”. Jazz sighed, before sitting on the bed again.

“Phantom, I’m one hundred percent certain that if you just talk it out with Danny, you’ll find that he doesn’t hate you. That being said… spending some time away from him might be a good thing.” Phantom’s eyes snapped back to her, scared by what she’d said.

Is she telling me to leave?

Something about his expression must have told Jazz to realise what he was thinking, as her eyes widened and she suddenly raised her hands into a gesture that read “I mean no harm”.

“I’m not telling you to leave! I’m just saying that if you do leave, it may be good for you. It’s clear that you’re extremely dependant on Danny, so spending time away from him could help you develop as an individual and self-regulate.” She clarified. Phantom felt his shoulders drop, not realising that he had hunched them in the first place as he thought about what she said. Those sounded like things he wanted, but the idea of being separated from Danny for a long time gave him an uncomfortable tightness in his chest.

“In any case, you should wait until you talk to Danny before deciding anything. If you’re wrong about how he feels it will feel awful to leave with such a painful misunderstanding lingering between you. If you’re right, you’ll regret leaving without a proper chance to apologise and reconcile.” Jazz added on, bringing his attention back to her. The smile she gave him was warm and understanding, which he found deeply relieving.

“Thanks Jazz. For the advice… and for still caring about me even though I’m not your brother.” Phantom thanked sincerely, hoping his tone conveyed how deeply he meant those words. For a moment, Jazz’s eyes watered, before she suddenly lunged at him and pulled him into a hug.

“Listen closely Phantom, because if you don’t, I’m going to have to repeat it until it gets into that ectoplasmic skull of yours. Just because you aren’t Danny does not mean you aren’t my brother! You have been a part of my family for the past four years and that doesn’t end just because we aren’t blood related, you hear?!” She declared, voice shaking with emotion. Phantom couldn’t help but cry as he wrapped his arms around her back and clung desperately to his big sister.

“Dude, are you okay?” Tucker’s words cut through the tense silence. Danny turned to him and took in the concerned expressions of his two best friends. He groaned as he turned back away, too emotional to make eye contact with either of them.

“Not really.” He admitted lowly. So many emotions were bubbling inside him at that moment. Anger, betrayal, embarrassment, but mostly confusion. He wasn’t even sure confusion was an emotion, but he sure was feeling it.

“Did you want to talk about it?” Sam asked cautiously.

“Yeah, what the hell happened back there?” Tucker chimed in, voice raising in confusion. Normally, he would have loved to fill his friends in on what happened, but to do that he would have had to have processed what happened, and he did not want to do that any time soon.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Danny growled bluntly, hoping his anger would mask his fear.

“But –”

“Drop it, Tucker. He’ll talk about it when he’s ready.” Sam cut in. She offered Danny a supportive smile, which he tried to reflect back weakly.

“Fine, topic dropped. What do we want to do now, if we’re avoiding dealing with our problems?” Tucker relented. Danny was almost stunned for a moment. If he had told his fourteen-year-old self that Sam would be the one enabling him not to process his feelings and Tucker would be the vaguely more responsible one, he would have gotten a laugh and a “good one, Amorpho” from him, before immediately getting attacked. The thought made him chuckle lowly, before thinking of how to answer his friend’s question.

With everything he was feeling, he wanted nothing more but to distract himself from what had just transpired between him and Phantom. He was even willing to do something he had been avoiding doing ever since he became a hero.

“Is it too soon to go to Mikey’s party? I really just need to get drunk right now.” Danny asked, finally turning to face his friends. Tucker snorted out a short laugh.

“It won’t start for another couple of hours, and it won’t be cool to show up for another few.” He answered matter-o-factly. Danny groaned. He should have realised. Years of not being able to go to parties really made him a complete novice at them. Seeing his disappointment, Sam stepped closer to Danny with an encouraging smile.

“If you wanted something to do while we wait for the party, we could have drinks at my house and play video games.” She suggested.

“Pre-drinking before a house party? Wow, we are finally acting like real teenagers!” Tucker cheered enthusiastically. Danny put on a grin, hoping it conveyed his gratefulness to both his friends, while concealing the feelings he desperately wanted to ignore.

After sneaking into Sam’s parents’ liquor cabinet and several rounds of Ultimate Mecha Strike III that got progressively worse the more the trio drank, Tucker finally announced that it was fashionably late enough to show up at the party.

Sneaking more booze into their bags, the three of them took off on foot towards Mikey’s house, which was luckily only a short distance from Sam’s estate. Being in the same part of the neighbourhood, Danny really shouldn’t have been surprised by how nice Mikey’s house was. Not as intense as Sam’s “old money” mansion, but still quite fancy.

“Wow, drunk Danny sure is interested in architecture.” Tucker commented teasingly.

“Oh shit, was I talking out loud?” Danny asked, immediately being answered by two grinning nods.

Before they could knock on the front door, it swung open to reveal a red-faced Mikey with a wide, excited smile.

“Danny! You came!” He exclaimed far louder than necessary. Tucker cleared his throat.

“We’re here too, y’know.” He grumbled, making Danny and Sam giggle. Mikey took a big step back and gestured for them to enter.

“Come on in! If you brought drinks, you’re best to put them in the fridge now if they need it. We’re running out of room fast!” He advised, before wandering off at the sound of someone shouting his name from the other room.

Standing in the doorway, Danny felt his heart racing. Here he was, at a real-life high school party that he was invited to. He was drunk and without a care in the world, with no responsibilities or ghosts to worry about –

Suddenly, the thought of ghost brought a vision of beautiful green eyes to his mind. He shook the thought out of his head, before pacing further into the house to find something to distract him.

“Hey! It’s Fenton!” Turning to face the sound of the voice, he saw Kwan and a group of footballers gathering around a ping pong table. The rosy tint in Kwan’s cheeks and the delighted smile brought a warm feeling in Danny’s stomach. Before the jock could even gesture for him to come over, Danny found himself gravitating in his direction.

“You up for some beer pong? You can be on my team!” Kwan offered. Danny chuckled.

“Sure, but I’m warning you that I am already pretty drunk, so my aim is probably shit.” He warned, winning a light laugh from the group of jocks.

“All good, bro! That just means an even playing field!” A footballer he couldn’t remember the name of called out, words slurring together slightly.

Danny turned to ask Sam and Tucker if they wanted to play, to find that they had only just caught up to him.

“Do you guys want to play?” He asked. Sam rolled her eyes.

“Ugh, no thank you. I hate beer, and they probably don’t have a vegan friendly one, either.” She replied. Danny did a double take.

“Wait, beer can be not vegan? How?” He asked, very confused. Before she could answer, Danny felt himself being pushed toward the ping pong table by Tucker.

“Come on dude. You know she won’t stop once she gets started.” With a shrug, Danny returned his focus to the group of footballers.

“Alright, let’s do this! Now… how do you play?”

Danny wasn’t sure how, but he managed to be insanely good at beer pong, quickly annihilating Tucker and the other team and winning an uproar in cheers from his own team.

Learning how to aim while losing blood must have been good training for this very moment.

Busy chuckling at his own thoughts, Danny was caught off guard when he was suddenly swept into a bear hug by Kwan.

“That was legendary, bro! Seriously, is there nothing I can say to convince you to join the football team?” The boy gushed, ruffling a hand through Danny’s hair and messing it up even further.

“Yeah, especially considering sign ups are well and truly over and this is our final year?” Danny replied, not sure whether to return the hug or not. The contact certainly felt nice, but there was something this was just… off about it. Maybe it was the fact that Kwan seemed to be running hot too, so there was no cooling relief like when he was holding Phanto –

No. He wasn’t letting himself think about him. It hurt too much.

“Oh, right. My bad.” Kwan laughed, pulling away from Danny. He had to admit that the jock was quite handsome, and the glistening of his sweat was weirdly mesmerising.

“Wow, dude. You sure are hot.”

“WHAT?” Danny exclaimed, not sure if his line of thinking had made him hallucinate hearing that or if it had actually happened. Kwan laughed again.

“I meant your temperature, bro. Are you coming down with something?” At that question, Tucker jumped into the conversation, wrapping an arm around his best friend.

“Nah, he’s fine. He’s just running warm because of his growth spurt, that’s all.” Tucker explained, with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“That checks out. You did seem to fit four years of growing into like, three days. Why don’t you have one of my rum and cokes to cool down? They’re in the fridge door!” Kwan offered, before waving and wondering back to the footballers.

“Danny, are you alright? You really are burning up…” Tucker commented, voice laced with concerned. Danny sighed before slinking out from under Tucker’s arm and stomping towards the kitchen.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about how I’m feeling, I just want to drink until I can’t feel my fingers, okay?” If he couldn’t feel his fingers, maybe he wouldn’t remember how Phantom felt underneath them. Maybe he wouldn’t want to run them through his ghostly hair and relish in how soft it was.

“Whoa, take it easy, okay buddy? I don’t want you getting hurt.” Tucker advised; voice laced with concern. While Danny appreciated that Tucker cared, he was in no mood to be lectured, so he ignored the warning and continued his path towards the fridge and grabbed one of Kwan’s cans. When he was halfway through downing it, revelling in the cooling sensation, he heard a sigh come from his friend.

“I’m going to go find Sam. I think I need her help with this.” He admitted reluctantly. Danny huffed with indignation.

“Fine, go get her. Neither of you will be able to stop me from having fun tonight.” He scoffed. Hearing a surprising chuckle from a new voice, Danny pivoted suddenly toward the source of the sound to see Spike leaning in the doorway.

“Damn, Danny. I am loving your new look on you. Have you ever thought about eye liner? I think it would look awesome on you.” Spike commented, eyes tracing up and down Danny. For a moment, the blue-eyed boy shivered under the gaze, before offering a non-committal shrug.

“Come with me, I’m going to put some on you now.” With that, the punk boy had grabbed Danny’s free arm and tugged him towards what looked like an entertainment room, before pushing Danny onto a fairly large couch and stepping out of view. Quickly he returned with a bag and was pulling out an eyeliner pencil. Any concerns about getting pink eye from sharing the pencil immediately evaporated the second Spike perched himself on Danny’s lap. The pressure gave him an instant flashback to the times Phantom was in his lap.

“Sorry, this is just the easiest way to do this.” Spike apologised, a blush rising in his cheeks.

“I bet you say that to all the boys.” Danny was pleased with the laugh that quip won from the punk boy. Quickly, Spike stilled again and continued drawing along Danny’s lash line.

“With lines like that, it’s no wonder Punny Phantom chose you.” Danny couldn’t help but stiffen at the mention of Phantom. Spike leaned back to look at his work, only to frown as he noticed something.

“Uh oh, did something happen between the two of you?” At the punk’s concerned question, Danny groaned and realised that he must have been grimacing.

“Sort of? I don’t want to talk about it.” He mumbled, looking down and away from the boy in his lap. Suddenly, a hand pressed lightly into his cheek and turned his face back up to Spike.

“Hey…if you ever want to talk, or not talk… I’m here.” The punk boy offered, eyes lilting on the words “not talk”.

As Spike leaned closer in towards Danny’s face, it occurred to Danny that the guy might be into him. He was going slow, seeming to give Danny an opportunity to stop him. Feeling his heart rate increase, he wasn’t sure if he wanted him to stop or not. The guy was pretty cute and he seemed like a decent enough person having calmed down a lot from their freshman year, but there was something missing.

Before Danny had to make a decision, the door to the room slammed open, causing both boys to jolt in shock. Peering around Spike, Danny saw a very drunk Sam standing in the threshold, hand still on the door with an angry expression on her face.

“I have to go.” Spike said abruptly, scrambling off of Danny’s lap and pushing past Sam, revealing that she had Tucker and Starr behind her.

“What were you doing in here?” Sam asked with a scowl. Danny gulped nervously, not sure what he did wrong.

“Spike was putting eye liner on me. Do you like it?” He replied, hoping his nervous smile would be enough to smooth out her agitated mood. Sam narrowed her eyes, as she scrutinised his appearance, before a strong blush spread across her cheeks.

“Y-Yes.” She mumbled. For a few moments an awkward silence hung in the air, as Danny waited for anyone to say anything. Eventually, Starr groaned before pushing Sam toward Danny.

“For crying out loud, I thought you were going to confess, not stare awkwardly at him.” The blonde complained. Sam hissed lowly, her blush getting ten times worse as she staggered toward him. Danny was thrown off by what Starr had said.

“Confess? Do you mean like, to murder, or…?” He asked cautiously, trailing off when Sam stopped right in front of him. Either way, he was nervous for whatever she was going to say. She opened and shut her mouth a few times, before scrunching her face up and turning back towards Starr and Tucker.

“I can’t do this! It’s too hard!” She complained, earning an eye roll from them both. Seeing how distressed she was, Danny reached forward and took Sam’s hand gently, the touch getting her to whip back around to face him.

“You don’t have to be nervous, Sam. You’re one of my best friends; you can tell me anything and I’ll still want to be your friend.” He tried to reassure. Unfortunately it seemed to fail, as she let out a frustrated groan.

“That’s the problem! I’ve always just been a friend, but I don’t want to be!” She exclaimed almost angrily. Danny couldn’t helped but flinch, releasing her hand as he leaned away from her.

“Y-You don’t want to be friends with me anymore?” He asked, feeling tears begin to well in his eyes. The groan from every person in the room was Danny’s only warning, before Sam suddenly dropped herself onto his lap and pull herself in to his body until their lips met in an intense connection. It was at this point it clicked for Danny that Sam had romantic feelings for him.

As she gripped tightly into his shoulders with one hand and raked through his hair with the other, he took the moment to contemplate how the situation made him feel. He knew he should feel amazing; Sam was beautiful and someone he was very close with, not to mention the crush he’d had on her for the past four years. Theoretically, this was everything he should want and he should be satisfied.

The only problem? He couldn’t feel any of that. He tried kissing her back. He tried smoothing his hands over her waist. He even tried grinding into her. Nothing. Frustrated, he pulled away from her and groaned as he slapped himself in the face and leaned back into the couch.

“Ugh! What is wrong with me? Why can’t I just do this?” He mumbled, tears welling in his eyes. Why couldn’t his body react like it had with Phantom? Or even how he’d felt a minute ago with Spike in this same position. A scoff brought his attention back to the girl in front of him.

“I can’t be that bad at kissing.” Sam grumbled, crossing her arms defensively.

“Sam, I don’t think you did anything wrong. He’s just gay.” Starr interjected before Danny could open his mouth.

“What? No, I’m bi. I’ve had feelings for girls before, I swear! I even had a crush on Sam for like, four years! I don’t know why I’m ruining this!” Danny cried out. The irritated look in Sam’s eyes melted into one of sympathy as she slid off of Danny’s lap to sit next to him.

“It’s okay Danny. Sexual orientation can change, and crushes fade. I’m just sad I missed my chance.” She reassured, taking his hand comfortingly.

“But how did it change so fast? I swear a week ago Tucker caught me with a boner when you were picking up litter in a mini skirt.” Danny argued, before breaking eye contact with Sam to look at Tucker, pleading with his face for his friend to back him up. Seeing the thoughtful expression on his face made Danny’s stomach sink.

“Danny… I think those might have been Phantom’s feelings.” At the sound of Tucker mentioning the name, it all made sense. He’d always assumed he only started getting interested in girls after the accident because he’d only just reached that part of puberty, but what if it was because Phantom was the one who was attracted to girls? It would certainly explain why he hadn’t felt anything for any girls since they split. A weight lifted off of Danny, from both understanding himself better, and for the knowledge that Phantom was just as much in control when they were fused as he was. He let out a relieved laugh.

“So I wasn’t controlling him this whole time! He still had free will!” He exclaimed happily. He couldn’t wait to tell the ghost the good news.

“Uh… now that we can mention him without you losing it, can you please explain what the fuck happened back at the library?” Tucker enquired, making his way deeper into the room and sitting on a recliner. Danny found himself off guard, suddenly remembering that he was mad at Phantom.

“Ugh, don’t even get me started! He full on let me believe I was this perverted asshole that didn’t deserve a chance with him, but no! Turns out he was only acting weird because he did have feelings for me and was too much of a coward to tell me the truth! If he had just told me he was awake when I kissed him in my sleep then I wouldn’t have spent this entire time agonising over what a bad person I was!” Danny complained. As he spoke, it became very clear to him that the entire time he’d spent with Phantom as separate people, he’d been repressing his own feelings for the ghost to the point of almost being unaware of them. Seeing gears turn in Sam’s mind, he waited for her to speak.

“So, the problem was that he didn’t make it clear how he felt, which made you feel like he couldn’t love you?” Sam questioned, to which Danny nodded emphatically in response.

“Right… and how is that any different to what you are doing now?” She continued, stopping Danny dead in his tracks.

“W-Wait, what?”

“Come on dude, you had a look inside his mind and the first thing you did was tell him to fuck off, essentially. As if that didn’t tell him you aren’t interested. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought you never wanted to see him again at all!” Tucker explained, rolling his eyes. Danny felt his own eyes widen with realisation and despair.

“Shit! I only meant I need space to cool down while I was mad at him! He probably thinks that I hate him! What if he runs away to the Ghost Zone? I have to go home and tell him the truth!” Danny exclaimed in a panic, before jolting to his feet and dashed out of the room.

“What the fuck was that all about?” was the last thing he heard from the room before he darted his way through the house and back onto the street.

Thanks to his increased speed and endurance, the sprint home was in record time, and luckily he had managed to sober up in that time. He wanted to talk to Phantom with as clear a mind as he could, so that he could tell Phantom how he felt without there being any more confusion between them. As silently as he could, he opened the front door. Luckily, he could hear his parents tinkering away frantically in the lab, so he didn’t have to worry about them slowing him down. Unable to slow his heart rate down as he climbed up the stairs, he focused on slowing his breathing and on what he was going to say.

“Don’t worry Phantom! I don’t think you’re a pervert! I’d probably watch you shower, if given the opportunity.” No, no, no… that doesn’t sound right. Just keep it simple and say you don’t hate him!

Figuring that was a good place to start, he took one last deep breath before opening the door to his bedroom.

To find it empty.

Disappointed, Danny walked into the room and looked around. The only sign that anyone had been in here since they’d left earlier today was that the computer was now on. He paced over to the screen to see a folder open with a single video file in it labelled “Goodbye Danny”. Nervously, he tapped on the file and the video began playing. On screen, Phantom was stepping away from the screen and steadying his breath before looking straight into the camera. It broke Danny's heart to be able to tell that he'd been crying.

“Hey Danny. By the time you’ll be watching this, I’ll have already gone into the Ghost Zone. I know Jazz said I should wait to talk to you before I go, but I think seeing you would hurt too much. When you told me to leave, I didn’t know who I would be without you. I… I need to be someone on my own, but I can’t do that if I stay with you. When I feel like I’m ready, I’ll come back to see you. But I’m not sure how long that will take, or if I’ll still feel the same way about you. I just want you to know that I’m sorry for what I did, and I’m sorry I let you down. I hope you find someone who deserves you. Goodbye Danny.”

With that, the video ended on Phantom leaning forward to stop recording, and Danny found himself as frozen as the frame on screen.

He was too late; Phantom had left him.

#Danny Phantom #danny fenton #danny fenton x danny phantom #danny fenton/danny phantom #fan fiction #pitch pearl #pitchpearl

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fanficnewbie · 4 years

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Sienna Weighs In P11

OPEN HEART: SECOND YEAR - CHAPTER ELEVEN

(ETHAN x FEMALE MC)

MC is Dr. Francesca Houseman *This entry takes place after the end of chapter eleven. (This is a chapter by chapter series…)

Sienna visits Francesca in her hospital room.

PREVIOUS CHAPTERS Chapter 1: MC tells Sienna about her Ethan convo at Donahue’s. Chapter 2: MC and Sienna discuss Ethan’s gym routine. Chapter 3: MC questions how well she really knows Ethan. Chapter 4: MC takes Elijah and Sienna to see Evelyn’s exhibit. Chapter 5: Sienna talks MC through a panic attack over Ethan. Chapter 6: Sienna cheers on MC for standing up to Ethan. Chapter 7: MC confides in Sienna how she met Ethan’s mother. Chapter 8: MC has to the consequences after the baseball game. Chapter 9: Baz starts to question MC and Ethan’s relationship. Chapter 10: Sienna confronts MC over Ethan’s “Not Single” status.

Word Count: 1918 Rated: Teen

I make references to “SWI Chapter 8″ in this fic, so I suggest you read that one if you haven’t already.

***

Sienna walked into Francesca’s hospital room to find Ethan at her bedside. Their heads were huddled close together and her hand was clasped in both of his as the two spoke in lowered voices. They looked up as she came in.

“Oh no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She turned to leave but Ethan’s voice stopped her.

“No, it’s fine, I was just about to leave.” He raised Francesca’s hand to his lips and kissed it softly, before he stood up. “I need to get some sleep and check on my dog. She’s all yours.”

He walked towards the door and the two exchanged a glance of understanding as they passed each other.

Francesca gave Sienna a questioning look when she approached her bedside, “What was that all about?”

Sienna took Ethan’s seat, “I should be asking you the same thing! Was that a public display of affection from Dr. Ramsey?!”

Francesca beamed, “Yes! But it’s not getting you off the hook. That look you guys just shared, and the fact that he felt he could display affection in your presence...what exactly happened with you two while I was locked in that room?”

Sienna shrugged dismissively, “I already told you that we went to go see Travis, hoping he could help tell us find out what the toxin was.”

“Uh huh, and what didn’t you tell me?”

Biting her lip, Sienna hedged her words, “Hmmm, well, we may have talked about you a bit, I mean, to be more specific, you and him, as an...item.”

Francesca couldn’t hide her surprise that Ethan would entertain such a dialogue, “What? How?!”

“It’s no big deal! I just thought with everything going on, maybe I could get him to open up. So, I told him that you were my best friend and how I’d do anything to save you. Then I expressed that you guys seemed like you were much more than colleagues, and he actually admitted that you were!” She threw up her hands, “But he wouldn’t say anything else about it. And I acted like I didn’t know anything else. I played it totally cool - just like when I was under interrogation with Harper last year. It was fine, he didn’t suspect a thing.”

Sienna broke into a broad smile, “Then I walk in here and see him kissing your hand! So, what exactly happened last night while you were both locked in that room?”

Excited to finally share her news, Francesca quickly relayed the events of the previous night. It was the first time she had told anyone about it and she realized that saying it out loud actually made it feel more real. “Sienna, you were right all along! He admitted that he cared for me and he shouldn’t have pushed me away. You should have seen the look on his face when we both got it all out in the open. He was happy, like a burden he’d been carrying was finally lifted.”

“Yeah, his burden of deep denial!” She paused, “Speaking of, the one thing I did find odd about that car ride is that he acted like I totally didn’t catch him doing ‘the walk of shame’ out of your bedroom last year. Like, dude, none of this is new information.”

Francesca laughed, “I’m sure he’s completely repressed that memory.”

Sienna’s eyes widened with a sudden realization, “Oh my God. When you get out of here, you’re going to have the best sex. Lots of it!! Then you guys will get married, then have babies…beautiful, brilliant, stubborn babies.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m all in the for the great sex but the rest of it, slow down! It took me over a year just to get this far. Where’s that all coming from?”

Sienna turned away, instantly deflated, “Sorry. I guess I’m projecting a bit. I thought that would be my life with Wayne, but that’s not happening. Then with Danny, things were still new and I was the one who didn’t want to rush into another relationship, but I really thought that we had something that could turn into something more, we were just so…connected,” she wiped away an onslaught of tears with her hand, “I just want one of us to have the happy ending.”

All the guilt that Francesca had been harboring since Ethan told her about Danny washed over her at once. Her heart ached for the pain she had caused her friend. “God Sienna, I’m so sorry! I just can’t help but think that if I hadn’t have gone and stolen the Senator and brought him here, then none of this would have happened.”

Sienna looked up, sniffing through her tears, “No, no, no! You will not blame yourself for this. How could you have known? How could any of us have known? If being a doctor has taught me anything it’s that sometimes really shitty stuff happens to very good people.”

“Don’t look for meaning in suffering, you won’t find any,” Francesca met Sienna’s red rimmed eyes, “Ethan once told me that. It crossed my mind many times when I was in isolation, contemplating everything that was happening, wanting it to somehow make sense.”

Sienna nodded through her tears and Francesca scooted to the side, patting the bed for Sienna to lay down next to her. Settling against her, Francesca held her tight while she wept. “It may not look like it right now, but you’ll get the happiest ending of all. You’re too good of a person not to.”

Finally able to dry her tears, Sienna gave a humorless laugh, “I guess the other shoe dropped, huh?”

“To say the least.” Francesca sighed, “You know, last night really was the worst night of my life, but even it had this amazing silver lining. Now, I’m just, I’m elated about Ethan, and totally devastated about Danny and Bobby. The range of emotions I’ve gone through in the past 36 hours, that we all have, it’s been unreal. ”

The two women were quiet for a few moments, comforted solely by their proximity to and affection for, one another.

“Sienna?”

“Mmmmm?”

“Are you really going to give an interview for Senator Ed? Call him a hero? I understand why you made the deal, I really do. But you don’t have to go through with it.”

“But I do. I promised him that I would and I’m keeping my word. However, I was hoping you could give me some more information on his new bill. I was planning on mentioning it.”

“No problem, I’d be happy to give you a few more details”, she paused, “as soon as I make them up.”

Sienna offered a wry smile and then flipped onto her back with a sigh as she stared at the ceiling, “So, what now?”

“I have no idea.” Francesca grimaced, “My parents and brother want me to go home for awhile, take an extended vacation. I didn’t call them when everything was happening. I didn’t want to worry them when I didn’t have any answers, but now they’re really upset, and rightfully so. How unfair would it have been to them if I actually did die? But still, I don’t want to leave. I need to make sure Raf is okay. I need to go to the funerals. I need to be with Ethan. And they don’t understand any of that.”

“Why don’t you have them come here?”

“I’m not sure I want that either. Don’t get me wrong, I love them and I do miss them, but they’re just not what I need right now. I need people who understand what happened, who went through it too, and that’s not them. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“No, I get it. It’s all only something that we can understand.” Sienna suddenly sat up and grabbed her hand, “Francesca, I need you to know that you’re my best friend and I love you.”

Francesca squeezed her hand, “Well that’s a good thing because you’re my best friend and I love you too. Dolphins, remember?”

Sienna smiled. “Good. We can all take a page from Dr. Ramsey. Life is too short to not tell people how you feel about them. I was so scared I was going to lose all three of you guys. I’ll never be able to tell Danny what I hoped for us, but I want to make sure that I’m clear with everyone else.”

“You are one of the most loving people I have ever met. I promise you, we all know. But, I can’t argue that it’s still nice to hear from time to time.”

“Well, you never need to doubt that you are loved. You should have seen how hard everyone worked to create that antidote for you guys. Whatever doubts you have about June and Tobias, get rid of them. They were laser focused, and failure was not an option. Elijah was in his element and Jackie was like a machine. Bryce was the best cheerleader, he kept us hopeful even when things looked dire. And the other MK doctors were so nice and supportive, it was like that stupid softball game never happened. Around midnight Naveen even made an appearance to reiterate that despite everything, cost was not an obstacle in finding a cure.”

Francesca smiled, “He stopped by earlier apologizing profusely for not coming to see me yesterday. It was fine, I totally understood that he had been busy dealing with the CDC, FBI, the media and the Board. But he still felt awful and offered me anything I could have to make myself more comfortable while I’m here.”

Sienna quirked an eyebrow, “And what did you ask for?”

“Better food for me, Kyra and Raf. He’s now having our meals delivered from outside the hospital, on his dime.”

“That’s a good deal.”

“I thought so too. Aurora also mentioned how great everyone worked together and we both had the thought...what if Edenbrook and MK became one institution and shared resources? That way we could both stay open.”

“Oooooo! I love that idea! We could be Mass Edenbrook, no Edenbrook Kenmore! Or maybe Kenmore Edenbrook? I dunno,whatever, great idea!”

Francesca laughed as Sienna plopped back down next to her, “Glad you think so too. Aurora is going to talk to Harper about it and get her thoughts. She’ll know whether the idea is feasible or not since she used to be Chief.”

“Another good idea. So, when are you breaking out of here?”

“Ethan said tomorrow if my strength is up and my blood work remains clear. Zaid stopped by to let me know that Esme is under his supervision and doing well despite being worried sick. He promised he was going easy on her and that she’d stop by after her shift.”

“We’ll be ready for you to come home. Jackie is straightening up and Aurora is helping me make my famous chicken noodle soup. Elijah is putting together the perfect classic comedy movie marathon. He figured we could all use some laughs.”

“He’s not wrong.”

“Hmmmm, it seems like Baz was right after all.”

“About what?”

“That we can get through anything because we have great friends at our side.”

“Yes, he was definitely right about that!”

Overcome with another wave of exhaustion, Francesca started to drift off to sleep when she remembered Sienna’s earlier comment, “Sienna?”

“Yeah.”

“Our babies would be incredibly stubborn, huh?”

“Oh my god, the absolute worst!”

Francesca smiled to herself as she drifted off to her friend’s light laughter.

Chapter 12: Francesca texts Sienna while spending time with Ethan.

***

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING. YOUR LIKES AND COMMENTS MEAN THE WORLD!

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phantomphangphucker · 4 years

Text

Legless On Maim Chap. 9: Gifts Of Time, Science, And Space

ClockWork is surprisingly helpful. Danny’s surprisingly not. Jack and Maddie are surprisingly good at ethical(ish) human(ish) medicine(ish). Lewis is surprisingly not and accidentally makes a ghost. And the duo that is Venom are surprisingly... surprising.

ClockWork smiles fondly, leans over, and pats Danny’s head, “I’m perfectly sound of mind and Core, child”. Danny only groans loudly in response.

But this is enough to get Maddie and Jack to their feet and drawing weapons, though not pointing them because something’s going on here. Jazz practically bolting into the kitchen and looking like she’s ten seconds away from blocking their line of fire and screaming ‘NO!’, only encourages them to hold off more. They knew Danny was close to her, trusted her, maybe told her things they didn’t know?

The ghost turns to the pair of hunters, them floating over the table, and actually bows exaggeratedly with a cheeky smirk, “greetings, Madeline and Jackson”. Jack blinks, having not been called that since he was basically born and they had to tell the nurse what to put on his birth certificate. While the ghost looks to Lewis, “as for the who, Lewis-”, making Lewis quirk an eyebrow over them following Danny in using his last name, “-you’d be right in assuming I’m ClockWork”, looking back to the hunters, “the ghost of time, or spirit, as you’ve chosen to dub the created dead”, grinning, “we prefer neverborn ghost of course. Born ghosts prefer unlived ghost”.

Danny lifts his head off the table to the sight of his parents' open mouth gaping at ClockWork, groans and bangs his head on the table again. ClockWork patting his head with their tail before Danny lifts his head up, returns his chin to his palm and sighs, “ClockWork, there are days I really wonder if you just like making me suffer”, sighing again while his parents give him really weird looks. Danny glances from his folks worriedly to ClockWork, looking mildly unimpressed and exasperated, “you’re gonna make me explain all this, aren’t you?”.

Jack raises an eyebrow at Danny, “Danny-boy? Do you... know them?”.

Danny slips his head off his palm and lets his face bang into the table yet again, “ugh. Yes”, lifting a hand limply and gesturing at ClockWork, his face still on the table, “Clocky. Timepants. Pocket-watch. Timedaddy. Kronos, when they’re being a real old-timer stickler”, sighing, “they’re kinda my-”, he’s probably going to regret deciding that lying wasn’t worth the effort here, “-ghost parent?”.

ClockWork shifts to their elderly form, “you say that as if it is a question”.

Danny lifts up his head purely to scowl at them, “oh my Ancients”.

“Yes?”.

Danny’s scowl deepens but he doesn’t get to say anything as Maddie cuts in, managing to sound only slightly accusing, “what does he mean, ghost”, glancing at Danny and softening her expression a little, clearly silently asking him the same question but nicer.

Jack nodding stiffly, “uh, yeah”.

ClockWork says precisely nothing, instead shifting to a child and sitting on Danny’s shoulder. Danny turns his head to gape at them, “seriously?”.

Lewis chuckles, “well I certainly see where Danny gets his mischievous side now”. ClockWork was absolutely a trouble maker and prankster. And fine, if prankster god wasn’t slightly horrifying.

Resulting in Danny screwing up his face and giving Lewis the most overacted ‘you did not just say that’ face ever, that effectively conveyed ‘what the fuck is wrong with you’ in about sixty-nine different languages. ClockWork just pats Danny’s head.

Danny looks back to his folks at his mom clearing her throat. Him chuckling awkwardly, “uh”, deciding screw it, it’s way too bloody late for this to not be awkwarder than a snow bunny trying to relax in someone's venti cup filled with espresso shots. Gesturing with both hands from ClockWork to his parents, “ClockWork, my parents; not that you didn’t already know that”, gesturing from his parents back to ClockWork, “mom and dad, ClockWork; my ghostly guardian because I am a child and ghostly enough to qualify for this shit and my life is bullshit and the universe has a horrible sense of humour and yeah okay I’m exactly the kind of mess to have a technical god watching over me more literally and this probably makes, like, zero sense and I’d rather you not shoot them and I have no idea why they’re here now and I'm just going to shut up now”, clacking his teeth shut and leaning back against his chair with his arms crossed. ClockWork, now an adult, repositioning to appear to be sitting on the top of the chair back (obviously they are actually floating though).

Jack and Maddie blink, exchange a Look, and go back to eyeing ClockWork -who’s suddenly a child again- warily; though they look less like they’re trying to restrain hostility and more simply cautious. Maddie sitting down slowly and stiffly, effectively pulling Jack to sit down as well, “explain”, her then glaring/squinting at the ghost, “why are you here”. Both of those were technically supposed to be questions but that didn’t sound even slightly like questions.

Danny seriously resists saying ‘I kinda just did’ both because that wouldn’t do him any good here and because she’s asking to explain the explanation. Jazz gives him an encouraging nudge as she relaxes and sits down herself; now sure her parents aren’t going to attempt to attack.

Danny swallows, “um, like I said. Ghostly parent. Guardian. Mentor. Teacher. Guide”, oh he is so never going to hear the end of this. Of him having a Guardian and being taught ghost things, and not telling his ghost crazed ectologist/hunter parents. Never. But his parents, or his mom at least, seemed to understand him not being super open with his ghostly shit. With him hiding it. So maybe. Just maybe. They’ll get him hiding this too. Maybe. Hopefully. Probably not. Big difference between ‘my body does weird ghost shit’ and ‘I hang out with literal ghosts’. Massive fucking difference. Huge. And ClockWork’s over here being their typical calm collected self. Jerk. Though that was probably a way of saying ‘this is fine and will be fine’; not gonna stop Danny from being a paranoid little bitch. Danny breaks the silence by reopening his mouth, looking to his mom, “um. They’re who I meant by that wise ‘friend’ I mentioned”.

Maddie squints at him a little before nodding and glancing back to the ghost. So this ghost -spirit or ‘neverborn’?- loved the living? That was... arguably good... okay. But she’s still not sure what’s even going on here. How can he ‘have a ghost parent’? That makes no sense. And pointing that out just effectively made Danny repeat himself, so obviously this didn’t cross his mind as ‘not normal’. She’s pretty damn certain a ghost wasn’t present when she gave birth to him, and carried him, and literally everything else. And he wasn’t born like this, born with a Core and ectoplasm. She would have noticed something like that. So what really is this ClockWork to him? Or how do they have the familial relationship Danny’s saying they do. Again Danny didn’t find this odd, so do ghosts just... get assigned a mentor ghost? That makes zero sense. Ghosts knew how to be ghosts from the get-go... right? But also, what the heck was some ghost -maybe ‘needed’ or not- teaching her son?

Jack tilts his head, watching the currently child-like ghost give Danny a little head pat. His son glancing up with the typical scowl he gave to the two of them for doing that or ruffling his hair, even looking a bit fond? And that wasn’t something that could really be faked. So close for sure. His boy was close with a ghost! What does he even do with this? Is it good? Bad? Kinda cool? If ghostie really was friendly -huh, friendly ghost, who would have thought? Danny apparently- then it was cool. The things he could learn! But how? “How are you related?”, Jack shakes his head, “wait no, they said created so no relatives at all”. Then squinting and becoming just a little giddy. Wait! They confirmed a theory! Or more so Dan’s theory. Blurting out, “you’re needed!”, pausing, right no assumptions anymore, “or are you?”.

ClockWork grins, “ghost of time. The time stream would quite effectively collapse without me”. A truly unfortunate truth. ClockWork lets them sit on that for a beat before adding, “of course I am an unfade so that hardly matters”.

Jack and Maddie blink, “an ’unfade’”, attempting to take this in stride.

“Indestructible. Immortal. I am an endless thing. I have always been and will always be”.

Jazz decides now would be a good point to interject, before her parents start building a questionnaire, “alright, I’m sure you didn’t show up to answer questions. So why are you here and could it have waited till after everyone had slept?”, Danny especially needed all the sleep he could muster.

ClockWork grins, “they asked to meet a good ghost, so I decided to let them. Though I can be more of a neutral when it comes to the universe or existence itself”. Ultimately, seeking to extend the existence of the universe and maintain the stability of time, were ‘good’ goals and jobs.

Lewis can’t help but chuckle, that was so painfully mundane but with complete chaos as a result. Which gets Maddie’s attention on him, “you are... very calm”. Maddie officially feels like Dan might have a better disposition for her job than she does.

Danny grumbles, “tell me about it”, because seriously, come on! Looking to ClockWork, “for the love of everything, tell me you had more reason than that?”.

Jazz butting in again, “no. No more questions. You all need to go to bed. And I need to go back to it”. Earning some neck rubbing from Danny. Maddie and Jack just gesture -with both hands- at ClockWork like that is reason enough for them not to. Jazz stands up, hands on her hips, “no. Bed. Now”.

ClockWork smirks and closes their eyes slightly, “I’ll make sure to tuck Daniel in then”. Making both parents immediately exclaim, “no! You’re a stranger to us! And a ghost!”. Which Danny glares at them over a little.

Jazz throws up her hands, “why do I try”, and attempts to smack ClockWork over the head, “you’re as bad as Danny”, blinking at her hand, which of course had just phased through ClockWork.

Danny snorts, “why did you think that would work? They see the future”.

Jazz points at him, “proof we need sleep”.

Jack lifts up a finger and opens his mouth, though closing his mouth at getting a harsh glare from his daughter. ClockWork answer his question anyway, no clue how the ghost knew what it was though, “the time stream flows trough my Core, to be without me would be rather similar to brewing coffee without the filter and picking your beans blindly”.

Lewis mutters, “the horror”, sarcastically. While ClockWork continues, “the universe would get nothing short of a mess and would likely throw out the end result with haste. And Madeline? I have in fact been watching over him since before you had been born yourself”, looking with an almost mean smirk to Jazz, “preventing your parents from speaking will not alter the fact that they did speak in another time”.

Jack is almost smiling over the new info and Maddie just looks incredibly confused. While Jazz sighs and rubs her temples, “at the very least Danny should sleep. If you’re a ‘parent’ then shouldn’t you be focused on his heath?”.

ClockWork smirks more, “and I am. After all, there are some timely issues. What better to empower timing mechanisms than-”, shifting to an elder, “-old man time, the being that empowers time itself”. Danny puts a hand over his mouth and chuckles; not even attempting to figure out what ClockWork means.

Lewis quirks an eyebrow, “you’re referring to the timer I’m guessing? I find it interesting that a ghost would be offering to help ghost hunters with their tech. Which is usually used for ghost hunting”. This gets literally everyone else to raise their eyebrows.

ClockWork shrugs very subtly, “they could hardly do me harm, and ghost hunting is far from the purpose here”, grinning and side-eyeing Danny, “put that tail to good use, people do tend to keep around that which is useful”.

Danny’s pretty sure he’s the only one who got that. ClockWork absolutely was enjoying his effectively full-time tail. Cheeky bastard. Rolling his eyes a little bit with a small smile at ClockWork poking his tail with theirs; letting his tail uncoil from the chair and effectively wind around and fiddle with ClockWork’s a little. Then scowling at Jazz for giggling at him.

Jack is struggling not to grin, only even trying not to due to this being a ghosts that deserves suspicion. Maddie furrows her eyebrows, “‘help with the timer’?”, then sounding very suspicious, “how?”, then glancing at Danny’s tail basically wrapped around the base of ClockWork’s, whose tail tip is patting his. The ghost seemed to imply It-they wanted him to keep the tail; not that there was another option. But why? Though come to think of it, she hadn’t seen them with legs at all, “is your tail constant?”.

Danny honestly feels quite pleased with himself and proud of his mom over her being kinda freindlyish. Danny deciding to be forthcoming to at least attempt to make up for never telling his folks about his Guardian; leaning forward, “yup”. ClockWork adding, “it is a common theme for Neverborn’s, yes”. Which Danny nods over. Nocturne, UnderGrowth, Vortex, the Observants, Remi, Silver; none of them had legs. Pandora and FrightKnight were two exceptions he knew of though.

ClockWork nods to themselves when Maddie hums acceptingly and thoughtfully, rightfully coming to the conclusion that they liked Daniel being similar to them; though she blames at least some of Daniel’s tolerance of his tail on them, which wasn't wholly wrong. “And Lewis’s guess is once again, correct. As is your guess that creating a stronger timer is simply beyond your capabilities”.

Maddie can’t help scowling at that while Jack pipes up, “I’m sure we could with enough resources”, managing to keep his tone down.

Jazz leans her head on the table and sighs. She’s staying awake at this point to keep an eye on her parents.

ClockWork chuckles faintly, “for what you seek to achieve, you would need-”, digging in their pocket, “-one of these”, and holds up the time medallion. ClockWork wastes no time in explaining away the twos confusion, “this is a time medallion. Only I can create them. They can allow the wearer exclusion from time or the manipulation of it. To travel to points in time or alter the flow of time, if settings are right. Only I can alter their settings. Though I can also grant another the ability to. If fused to a being they could even give a slight awareness of the future”, grinning almost meanly, “something that can entirely stop the flow of time around a being can certainly keep up with your creation”. ClockWork pockets the medallion while the three adults all gape slightly, ClockWork pulling out their own little timer device -that effectively looked like a silver time medallion with clock hands for adjustment nobs in the centre, all inside a dark gray circle- and holds it out to Jack; the more likely one take it. Unsurprised at Maddie instantly snatching it right out of Jack's hands, curious and mistrustful.

Maddie flips it over, noting that it was already completely compatible and based on the alignments was designed for waist placement; slightly to the right though. Glancing back at the ghost and noting their cloak clasp was a fair bit on the right, they were setting up the CyberSteps to copy them; and she’s gonna bet her and Jack can’t modify this. But no way in Hell were they sticking something that was a near unknown on their boy, especially if it was designed by a ghost; trying out Danny’s ghost-friendly approach or not. But if this was genuine and this ghost right, then they effectively gave Danny back functioning ‘legs’. She should probably thank them, giving a very very very awkward, “thank...you?”.

Danny blinks, goes slack-jawed, and leans back against his chair, mumbling, “my folks just thanked a ghost". Sure it was ClockWork but still. He’s made way more headway than he thought or his folks were trying really hard to chill the ghost hate. Sharing a surprised look with Jazz, also gives him a little wide-eyed encouraging smile.

ClockWork smirks and leans towards Danny’s ear, “I also have something of a job for you”.

Danny muttering while side-eyeing them, “uh, does it involve shooting you”, because seriously ClockWork. Thanks but, fuck.

“You’re welcome to try, Daniel”. Making Danny rolls his eyes, while ClockWork gives him another head pat before simply disappearing; leaving slightly awkward silence in their wake.

Jazz, surprisingly, is the one to break it. Pushing herself to stand up and asking in a way that sounds more like a command, “so can we go to bed now?”.

Lewis chuckles into his hand, “do you really think they will with that”, and points at the CW timer. The parents looking to it, Maddie biting her lip while Jack just looks excited; clearly tired though.

Jazz puts her hands on her hips and levels them with a glare, “that is a complete unknown to you. Do you seriously think you should be messing with that without sleeping?”, them inventing/working on sleep deprivation lead to either really weird inventions or a lot of destruction. And that was a gift (technically) from ClockWork, in two years she only knows of one thing ClockWork’s gifted Danny; a necklace with a stylised ‘CW’ in silver. Danny absolutely will be possessive and territorial -he’d honestly probably try snatching it from them if he wasn’t sleep-deprived himself- of it. So no way he’d sleep if they stayed up tinkering with it.

Jazz decides to take the initiative when her parents nod. Her pulling Lewis to stand up and pointing at his face, “you, make sure Danny sleeps. Then sleep yourself”. Danny throws a pouty look at her so she glares are him before making shooing motions at Lewis.

Lewis shakes his head with a chuckle and waves for Danny to follow, “I guess the sister hath spoken”, earning a round of weak laughs. Danny does actually float after him though, glancing over his shoulder at his folks and eyeballing the CW timer.

Lewis speaking up again at Danny’s door, “working legs, no revealing your legs, ghost bonding; guess your life’s glass is looking pretty half full”.

Danny pauses and blinks at him, before smirking weakly, “I’m pretty sure the entire bloody glass got ground into my fucking eyeballs when I fucking died”. Lewis doesn’t really have a response for that other than a chuckle, because yeah Danny’s luck was pretty bad.

Jazz nods curtly at the stairs before rounding on her parents, pointing at the CW timer, “no taking that apart, I don’t even want to know what might happen”, sighing, “and that’s a gift from ClockWork. I think it’s obvious Danny’s close with them, so think how hurt he would probably be if you wrecked it”. She decides she made the right call at both grimacing a little.

Maddie gets up, cradling the contraption cautiously, and nods, “right, thanks Jazz honey. I’m... going to put it in containment though”. Jack scurrying after her as she heads down to the lab. Jazz standing in the lab doorway, arms crossed, and making it very clear she will try to physically drag them to bed.

Maddie, unsurprisingly, doesn’t sleep very long; waking around nine. She spends about half an hour making coffee and sipping it at the table, getting a little surprised when Lewis comes down the stairs and pours himself a cup.

Lewis answers her question before she even asks it, “I’m used to working late shifts and morning shifts back to back. The occasional emergency call”. One needed to be bendable with their sleep schedule to be in the medical field. Another reason Danny was well suited. Sitting, “I take it you don’t sleep well on an active mind?”.

Maddie sighs and shakes her head, “no. Especially with a ghost being able to get into the house without any warnings or defences going off. Things put in place purely to prevent that”.

Lewis chuckles, yeah he could understand why she might have a few issues with that. “That ghost seemed more akin to a god. So I doubt defences really matter”.

Maddie sighs again, that in itself was an issue. She had managed to scan the ecto-signature ClockWork left behind, twenty-eight. Twenty-eight. Pariah had been a twenty-five. This ghost was the strongest they’d ever encountered, almost the strongest possible. And had some kind of positive relation with her son. “ClockWork scans at twenty-eight, so you’re not wrong”.

Lewis quirks an inquisitive eyebrow, “Danny might have mentioned the ecto-scale but I can’t say I know what each level means”. Twenty-eight was obviously incredibly strong though.

Maddie nods, “it doesn't mean much, but it tells us how a ghost compares to others. It goes up in increments. Basically, a two is as strong as a one and a half. A three is as strong as two twos. A four is as strong as two threes and a half. And so on. So the higher the numbers the bigger the gap. So a twenty-eight would be fourteen and a half times as strong as a twenty-seven”, sighing, “a thirty though doesn’t follow the algorithm, a thirty is twenty times as strong as a twenty-nine. I’m not sure why Danny changed it for that level, but he’s got a good sense about more tech or biological ghost things”. Which just makes her wonder why the Hell they never listened to him before on the things that didn’t line up with their theories. But then again, Danny’s theory on power levels had been proven in the field. They hadn’t believed him at first because the algorithm he made was frankly terrifying. Sure the fact that Danny’s scale accounted for things like general ectoplasm (one), ghost plants (two), and whisps (three); helped but still. Technus was a seven and he could be tricky to beat when he didn’t sabotage himself. (Trying to use ‘proper pronouns’ for ghosts, which Danny always seemed to preach, was... strange). And this ClockWork was effectively six-hundred-and-twenty-two-thousand times stronger. Course ectoplasmic power only meant so much, Technus was generally easy to defeat; very easy.

Maddie speaks back up at Lewis’s impressed whistle, “what really matters is the class of a ghost. Class takes into account powers, enhancements, and restrictions. One through six. A six could effectively end the world easily”, furrowing her eyebrows, “ClockWork’s a five, which seems strange”, that kind of power, time control and omniscience, seemed practically like ultimate power. What was holding them back? Or maybe they lacked powers other ghosts had?

Lewis chuckles, nods, and sips at his cup. That kind of power was pretty nuts, and man was he glad Eddie just dealt with regular ol’ humans. No gods, no alternate dimensions, no royalty, no symbiote hunters. Danny was in a whole nother league. But at least Danny’s enemies kinda respected him or straight up seemingly liked him. And he had powerful allies. Anne was right though, Eddie will be so severely out of his depth, Danny very much being a teen will help with that though.

Maddie speaks up again, breaking the slightly comfortable silence, “I wonder if Danny knows any other ghosts personally”, it would seem logical that he did. Wouldn’t make sense to just be friends, family?, with one powerful one. People don’t start out befriending the top dogs, they start at the bottom. And she’ll admit to being suspicious that Danny might have befriended some of the local ghosts. Had worried his ‘too friendly’ attitude about ghosts had extended to actually being friendly. That worry was apparently founded, but... it really was seeming like Danny was right which meant that this wasn’t exactly bad. Just... concerning. And Danny hiding his friend(s), family?, from her, from Jack, was honestly more upsetting at this point. Even if she understands his reasoning. She had hid her relationship with Jack from her parents for somewhat similar reasons after all.

Lewis pointedly looks around and covers his mouth with the cup, he’s not saying shit. Though there’s really no point in saying ‘no’.

Maddie glances at him a couple of times and squints, catching him clearly trying to restrain a small smile, “he does, doesn’t he”, that was definitely not a question.

Lewis makes eye contact and smirks in genuine, “well, at least one other has checked up on him to my knowledge. And that Skulker one has approached me about his legs; Danny did say he makes good pie too”. Sure, it was for ‘his pelt’ but he’d bet money that ghost was really fond of Danny.

The first thing that goes through Maddie’s head is that one is a known threat, a ‘villain’ ghost, why and how had Danny made ‘friends’ with It- him? The second thing is... wait he bakes? And it’s edible? But ghosts don’t eat, right?

Lewis keeps going, “Skulker also seems to like the idea of Danny having my job, though that might have encouraged him to teach Danny knife skills or something. And the other ghost, Johnny I’m pretty sure, threatened me because he thought I might be hurting him”, might as well hammer home that ghosts at least kinda cared about Danny. Would help with the whole ‘getting them to not hate ghosts or think they’re evil post-human manifestations’ thing.

Maddie blinks and stares at Lewis a bit, what? “That... doesn’t make sense”. The biker was another ‘villain’ ghost. Less ‘villain’ more ‘delinquent’, but tried to use her little girl so he was pure evil to Maddie. And didn’t Danny punch It-him? They’re not friends, that wouldn’t make sense. So why would he be attempting to protect Danny? And she still couldn’t picture that metal ghost baking anything. Unless... going a little wide-eyed, “teaching. Feeding. Protecting”, shaking her head a little and sounding almost awed, “they view him as one of them... but weak... and small”, blinking and muttering down at the table, “like a cat taking in a baby squirrel”. Or like Tarzan or a human raised by wolves. Her awe getting an edge of horror because just what were these ghosts teaching her baby boy?

Lewis decides against saying anything, because Danny got the shit kicked out of him by these ghosts. He can’t point that out without being seriously suspicious. And it would be pretty pointless.

Danny sticks his head in the kitchen at that very moment, likely having heard Maddie’s entire comment. Okay, Lewis is sure he did based off of looking like he’s trying to force his smile to not look completely and utterly nervous; the little ‘shut the fuck up, what were you thinking’ look he throws Lewis’s way really emphasises that. Maddie looking to him still wide-eyed probably doesn’t help the kids nerves.

Danny gives a little stiff wave, which he’s hoping is blamed on the restrictive braces, as he goes to start up (much stronger)coffee for himself. Part of him is glad she gets up to try and help after a beat -trying to pick up cups with finger braces was not easy okay?- but also, he can do it himself thank you very much. “I’m fine”.

Maddie pulls her hands back, holding them to her chest, “right right”, that ghostly pride thing. Instead awkwardly watching him fiddle with the machine. Danny almost wants to beg her to stop hovering.

Danny clutches his cup like it’ll give him life as he sits down, tail curling up and tip flicking in the air, “so... dad still sleeping?”.

Maddie nodding and giving an awkward, “yup”. As silence descends, only broken up by the occasional sipping sound from Danny.

Danny practically launches himself out of his seat when Tucker effectively kicks in the door, “dude, weekend time so you know I ain’t leaving your as... butt alone”, and waves innocently at Maddie; while Danny reacquaints himself with his chair.

Danny chuckles faintly, “no Sam?”, he knew Valerie was working this weekend.

Tucker quirks an eyebrow at him as he plants himself at the table, totally obvious to Mrs. Fenton’s tension, “I’m surprised you don’t know? Her mom dragged her off to a gala”. Danny pulls out his phone and cringes at the wall of ranting all caps in the chat.

Maddie sighs and shakes her head, using this a conversational life raft, “I’ll make her cookies”, why baking never came to life but cooking usually did, she’s not sure she’ll ever know. Well there was that one time with muffins, but that was intentional.

Danny goes wide-eyed and pokes Lewis with his tail, “you. You owe Tuck food. Bake shit”. Lewis raises disbelieving eyebrows at him so Danny explains, “well technically I owe him your baking. Tomato potato”.

Lewis chuckles with a head shake and gets up, “I guess I’ll see what there is to work with here”. Maddie getting up to show him were everything was; still feeling stiff and a little freaked.

Tucker grins, free food! “Sweet!”, turning to Danny, “so hurry up and get leggy again. Vampire Dad two is coming out, like, now”.

Danny rolls his eyes and rubs at his neck, “eh, that might happen sooner rather than later”, glancing at his moms back as she stiffens a little and pulls out a square pan rather jerkily, “CW showed up and lent a hand”.

Tucker’s eyebrows shoot up, he glances at Maddie quickly, “shit seriously?”. Danny nods and nods again when Tucker side-eyes his mom, clearly asking if she saw them. Tucker shakes his head, “they’re as nuts and reckless as you. If that even applies to them”. Danny can’t help chuckling at that ’cause it wasn't really either when you knew the outcome beforehand.

Lewis mutters, “yeah sure fine, I got this”, as he looks over ingredients while Maddie turns to face the boys.

“About that... how do you know them? And the... family thing?”.

Just as Danny’s opening his mouth to answer Jack barges in, looking drastically more awake than everyone else, “without me, Mads?”. Making her blush.

Tucker pats Danny on the shoulder supportively, that just gets Mrs. Fenton’s attention on him though, “you know don’t you?”.

Tucker shrugs with very intentional nonchalance, “I doubt there’s anything me and Sam don’t know about Danny-dude”.

Maddie nods, resisting sighing. She’s not exactly surprised. A little bothered? Yes. But not surprised. Those three were close, closer than she thought friends could be. She hadn’t noticed until Danny seemingly knew Sam’s bra size like it wasn’t odd for him to know that. And she’s sure she’s overheard that Sam pays for Tucker’s replacement glances; she’s not sure how they get broken so much. Shaking her head, not important right now, “well I guess I’m glad you’re close then”, looking to Danny, “so?”. While Jack sits down looking a little over-eager.

Danny gives Tucker a nearly pleading ‘help?’ look, so he gives him another pat, “all you man, your parents”, shrugging, “and it’s not like anyone other than you knows much about them. In fact-”, getting up, “-I think I’ll go help Lewis”. Danny whips Tucker’s ankle with his tail for that, nearly making the boy face-plant. Tucker mumbling sarcastically, “you'll regret that one day when I’m mayor”.

Danny whispers in ghosts with a smirk, “p͘͡ri͝n̡̛c̢͘e͜͝”, knowing Tucker knows exactly what he said; regardless of not knowing the language. Then clearing his throat and looking to his folks, “heh”, shaking his head, “uh, anyways. I, uh, meet them when they kinda savedallourlives”, chuckling awkwardly and shaking off the unpleasant memories, he is not getting into that with his folks, “But they, well, broke the law? in the way they helped, so that pretty much made me their responsibility. And they’re, uh, how I knew the impurity in Vlad’s ecto-acne. So kinda saved him too”.

Maddie cuts in before he can continue, “so this ‘ghost parent’ thing wasn’t really intentional or... willing?”. Making Jack frown.

Danny grimaces, “not really? ClockWork knew what would happen, explicitly. So willing and wanted there. They could have helped in a different way. So, uh, also technically intentional. And for me?”, shrugging, “I didn’t know Guardians were a thing so really couldn’t be intentional. I guess technically not willing either but-”, smiling sheepishly, “-who the Hell gets to pick their family?”, shrugging, “and I like them”.

Jack can’t help but chuckle at that. Danny-boy did have a point there. He’s fairly sure almost no one would willingly chose them as parents. And wow, he effectively had ghost family! How weird was that?! ‘Cause Danny’s family meant Jack’s family. Period. And any ghost who saved his boy -and apparently his entire family and Vladdie!- certainly couldn’t be evil and deserved some trust. Though he can’t help worrying that this ghost wanted to be Danny’s ‘guardian’ intentionally for bad reasons. He’s sure Mads is worried about that too. “But son, there’s something I don’t get? Why? Why would they want this? Want you? Heck! Why and how is ghost adoption even a thing?”.

Maddie nods at Jack before looking to Danny and frowning a little, “you’re human; even if slightly ghostly. The child of ghost hunters; even if you’re probably not going to be one yourself. And they’re, well, ridiculously strong; wouldn’t it make more sense to want a, how do I put this? strong kid?”, furrowing her brows and knowing Danny’s probably not going to take this well, “it’s not because of us being hunters is it? Because sweetie, I very well could see a ghost trying to get to us through you and Jazz”.

Tucker, next to Lewis, having just nodded that ‘yes, adding fudge is a good idea’, very heavily cringes. Even him and Sam knew better than to question ClockWork’s motives especially regarding their fondness for Danny. That was a good way to get a pissed off Danny. Or in Tucker’s case, shot in the face -or the crotch, that one notable time- with an ecto-beam. He does not recommend.

Danny, surprising no one, scowls and actually snaps with a bit of a snarl and power behind it, “no”, making everyone jerk a little. Maddie and Jack going a little wide-eyed, and Tucker cringing more. While Danny continues, tail actively lashing at the air aggressively and occasionally constricting around the chair legs hard enough to make creaking sounds, “you have nothing to do with it. Nothing. So don’t go there”, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose and grumbling angrily in ghost, “sh̶͡ơ̶u̸̢͡l̴d̡͝ h҉͞av͢͠e ̷f̨įgu̢r̷͜͝ęd.̴͜ ̴̶O͠f̶͢ ̸͢fuc͘k̨̧i͞n̷̛͢g̸̕͠ c͏o̸u͢r҉se͞.̧̡ ̨G̶̢hos̷t̨s̸͞ ͟͡s̕t͢ill ̢̢c͘͟͝a̢͘n’̷͡t ͘͟b͡e ̛tru̷̧̧st̴ed̶̕ ̢͝hų̧h̴.̨ ̴F̕͜u͜҉c͝ķ͟i͡n̷̕g̴ ͘͞͞A͟͠n͝c̕͝i̸̵e҉͞n̨͜҉t͘s̕”.

ClockWork picks that very moment to appear out of thin air, smacking Danny (somewhat gently)on the head with their staff, “they mean nothing by it. One can hardly expect the uninformed to understand. So explain”, and promptly disappears... again; leaving everyone (but Danny) gaping.

Danny makes some kind of whiney noise, puts both his hands over his head, and turns to exaggeratedly pout at the air where ClockWork had been.

Tucker wheezes and slowly crumples to the floor, “you’ve been told! Ha!”.

Danny turns to scowl at him, hands still on his head, “shut it, Tuck”. Dropping his hands and looking to his still gaping parents, “so... that just happened”.

Lewis chuckles faintly at that, “kid, that was worse than the time a friend of mine literally got shot, just took a sip of some fruity drink and asked the guy how the weather was”.

“Well if there was a tornado, that would be logical”.

Lewis actually turns around and points the batter spoon at him, “no. No it was not. Now stop being a little shit and talk to your parents before they blow a gasket”.

Danny rubs his neck awkwardly and looks to his folks, “um... sorry for going a bit... ballistic there. But, uh, I don’t take well to that. So just don't, okay? Their intentions are good, let’s just leave it at that”.

Jack and Maddie make a few unusual faces before nodding a bit. Jack clearing his throat, “alright, son. Does... that happen a lot?”, and nocks on his head for emphasis.

Tucker lays on the ground laughing, making Danny roll his eyes but losing a fair bit of tension. Danny grumbling petulantly, “only when I’m being stupid...”, smirking slightly, “or trying to use them for a prank”.

Lewis smirks himself and speaks while spreading batter, “so all the time?”. Danny turns his head and gives the back of Lewis’s head an overacted scowl. Lewis only smirks more over that.

Maddie clears her throat, recapturing Danny’s attention. Danny chuckles awkwardly, “right, explaining”, furrowing his eyebrows and sounding sheepish, “what were the questions again?”.

Jack chuckles a little at that while Maddie smiles and answers, “just why would a ghost adopt, adopt you specifically. Would want to”.

Danny nods, “right. I guess that might be confusing”, seeing as they didn’t know he was a ghost. And huh, the whole concept of Guardians was probably foreign to them. Probably should have realised that sooner.

Lewis snorts, “‘might’?”.

Danny turns to him, “you’re Mr. Snark today, huh?”.

Lewis shrugs, “eh, friends didn’t react to the fact that I’m making brownies”, turning and pointing at Danny, “that’s concerning”, before turning back around to slide the pan into the oven.

Danny blinks, right Vee was chocolate crazy. Really chocolate crazy. “Fair”, Far be it for him to harp on someone for being paranoid and worried over someone’s safety. Then smirking a little, “though if they’re hungry they can just get a bowl of Symbi-oats”, he can read a tired sigh/groan in Lewis’s body language.

“They’re not huge fans of cereal. They eat a lot of Chinese though”.

Danny snorts, “everyone already knows they love rawmen, Lewis”, successfully getting the guy to choke.

Danny promptly looks back to his folks and rubs his neck, “it would be easier to just, well, explain Guardianship in general?”, continuing when they both nod acceptingly, “cool, um okay. Well, so like, when ghosts form they form all their ectoplasm and Core yeah? But, like, there are adult ghosts and child ghosts. Dead ghosts always start out as child ghosts whether they died a child or not. Ditto for born ghosts”, shrugging awkwardly, “created’s are a toss-up”, shaking his head, “anyway. Child ghosts have... immature I guess? Cores. They’re weaker, less powers, less stable, more unruly and reckless; lots of things. Usually kinda sucky at being a ghost and look more like when they were alive. Adult ghosts are just instinctively or naturally a bit protective or teachery towards child ghosts”, shrugging, “kinda like humans and babies really“.

Jack and Maddie blink, Maddie opens and closes her mouth a few times so Danny pauses to let her think. Her eventually speaking up, “so ghosts.... collectively care for younger ones”, and blinks in shock a bit more because that is so far out of alignment with what they thought of ghosts.

Danny wiggles his hand in the air, “ehhhhhh, I wouldn’t go that far. Child ghosts are the most likely to get, well, murdered”.

“Oh”.

Danny nods, “yeah”, clearing his throat, “most child ghosts will get taken in or under the wing of or whatever; by an adult they impress or that likes them or is just similar to them or maybe related in life”, shrugging, “eh, it varies”.

Jack butts in at that, “what one’s ClockWork?”.

Danny shrugs and rubs his neck, “the, uh, situation with us is a little, different”, straightening up, “they literally broke time and temporal laws for me. That’s kinda super serious. Though they did that because they like me and I impressed them. Some other things”.

Maddie and Jack decide against pressing him, since he didn’t exactly react well to Maddie questioning ClockWork’s motives before. Instead Maddie asks, “okay, but generally, why would a ghost do this? It just- I guess it just doesn’t make sense to us, sweetie”.

Danny bites back muttering about how that’s because of their bigoted opinions on ghosts, thinking they’re unfeeling uncaring evil chaos-loving monsters. Though the chaos-loving part was true. Monster was debatable. “Because they want an apprentice, or heir, or are lonely, or just genuinely care. Though I guess it does benefit the adult ghost some”, shrugging, “makes both adult and child stronger. If the child accomplishes lots, it makes them look good, y’ know like it does with human parents”.

Maddie nods, “for power I can understand”, making Danny roll his eyes a little. Which really just confirms that he still thought they were overly anti-ghost.

“Yeah well, it’s not much so it would be stupid to become someone’s Guardian purely for power. Stupid”.

Jack scratches his head, ignoring the banging of Lewis and Tucker cleaning up, “couldn't they just drop the... child ghost?”.

Maddie nods at him before looking back to Danny, “like with human adoption?”.

Danny shakes his head immediately, “nope. A bond thing kinda forms that lasts as long as they both exist; whether the child ‘grows up’ or not”.

Both parents blink, Jack mouthing ‘wow’. Maddie bites her lip, “so you are... bound to ClockWork?”, she’s not sure what to do with this information.

Danny gives an awkward nod, he gets that there’s really no way for that not to bother them, “yeah”, tapping his chest brace over his Core, “my Core recognises them as Guardian and reacts, um, accordingly”.

Jack and Maddie share a Look, and Lewis glances over pointedly curious. Maddie’s the one to speak though, “and what’s ‘accordingly’?”.

Tucker snickers and speaks almost meanly, leaning over at Danny, “like a little kid”, snickering more, “Sam has a few embarrassing photos”.

Lewis looks to him, “I’m curious”.

Danny turns to point at him, “no, bad doctor”, and subtly flicks snow from his tail at the guy’s legs.

Lewis rolls his eyes, “can’t be any worse than Vee covered in marshmallows eating chicken with a coffee mug on their head. Or literally any photo of a heavily drunk Eddie; the most recent featuring him trying to eat a tv and covered in party hats”. Tucker wheezes, Danny and Jack joining in after a beat.

Jack glances at the oven and back to Maddie, “cookies?”. Making her sigh and nod. Lewis shrugging and literally undoes all his cleaning to get ingredients and supplies.

Jack grins at the cookie sheets before looking back to Danny, “so you act like a child around ClockWork, eh?”. Danny just blushes and looks around anywhere but his dad at that; which just makes him laugh heartily.

Jack grins widely to himself, he’d kinda like to see that. Danny-boy had been a darn cute, goofy, and dramatic kid. That did explain all the banging his head on the table dramatics yesterday, or this morning technically. And the tail coiling was kinda like a kid grabbing at their parents' hands. Well shit, that’s adorable and makes him grin like an idiot a little. Little Danny did used to get mesmerised by Jack’s hands, mostly ‘cause of size difference though! And there was that pouting act he did! Maybe more genuine childish pout? Less mischievous drama? Jack’s attention getting grabbed by Lewis pulling out the brownies, “wait, is there fudge in those!”, and practically going to pounce on them.

Maddie shoos Jack off, “wait a little, dear. How about you and Danny wait in the living room till the cookies are at least in the oven?”. Jack groans but nods. Maddie speaking to Danny before Jack has a chance to drag him off, “one thing I still don’t get though? Core and everything else or not, you’re still human”.

Danny shrugs, “it’s like you said before I came in -yes I heard that- I’m ghost enough to ghosts. ‘One of them’”. Maddie nods acceptingly, though she doubts someone who would defy time would care about something like species.

Jack immediately drags Danny off to the living room as soon as his wife looks satisfied, because he knows she won’t put in the cookies until he leaves. Gotta love a tricky lady. Though a third the joy in baked cookies was how damn good she looked in her frilly apron.

Danny elects to just float around lazily a bit, it was still kinda surreal floating around his parents. His dad chuckling, “it’s like you were born with It”.

Danny stilling and shrugging, “well, uh, thinking of it, ClockWork might have something to do with that. All they’ve got is tail”.

Jack chuckles and nods a little, made sense. What with the bond influence thing. Which, yeah, still not that cool with but Danny seem cool with it; so he’s kinda cool with it too. ClockWork did seem nice! For a ghost at least. Mads would take a bit more, but Danny-boy’s not a little kid so surely he understands! Though thinking of her and that, this whole ClockWork situation wasn’t all she was fretting over... “so Danny?”.

Danny pauses in the air, “why do I feel like this is more heavy stuff?”.

Jack gives an apologetic shrug, “sorry?”, Danny just waves him off so he asks away, “so Maddie had been wondering to me about more than ClockWork”.

Danny makes a point to not seem nervous, “oh?”.

Jack nods, “yeah. She was thinking that maybe you had an Obsession. You know, like a ghostly one. She wasn't sure ‘bout asking, if you’d be cool with that. Since we’ve always talked about those being unpleasant”, chuckling and rubbing his neck, “not that there’s anything wrong with that!”, moving to sit down on the couch, “though they don’t exactly seem positive. But! I’m sure you could make things work for you! Right?”, rubbing his neck again, “Dan thinks they’re like a hobby! So maybe you like it- or would like it! If you had or have one that is”, giving another weak chuckle, “though we’ve always thought of them as controlling and inclined towards bad behaviours. Violent”, waving his hands pacifyingly, “not that you’re ever violent or bad!”, muttering to the side, “other than ditching class and shirking chores anyway”, looking back to Danny, “so if you do or did, then it totally can’t be violent, so we must be at least somewhat wrong about that! We’re definitely learning a lot from you”, waving his hands again, “not that that’s why we ask or want to know!”.

Danny interrupts, floating to sit down himself. It was weird when his dad was the one needing comforting, he didn’t like it, “dad, you’re rambling, I know”, shrugging, “sure you’re curious for curiosities sake, and it being ghost-related of course. But I know it’s more because you want to know me, that I'm your son. Family”. Jack just nods and rubs his neck awkwardly, so Danny continues after adjusting a little; trying to not be weird about this, and running his hands over part of his tail, “as for the, er, Obsession, thing-”.

Jack pats him on the back gently and cuts in, “you don’t have to tell me, tell us, if you’d rather not”. He hopes his boy doesn’t take the out though, he’s curious! And they didn’t fully understand Obsessions beyond them being called ‘Obsession’ for a reason, was related to their death, and largely what kept them around; blocked them from moving on. What ghosts Obsessed about was important them, so if Danny had one then it’s got to be important to him! And he definitely wants to know the things important to his boy! But Danny was clearly a bit defensive of all these things he’s been hiding, the ghostly things and definitely ClockWork; boy could be scary if he wanted to be! And also the Core, he has a feeling Danny didn’t just recently find out about that. And Obsessions could, and have been, used to a hunters' advantage. To trap or discourage or harm. he’s never even heard of a ghost being open about their Obsession! Even if it was obvious! Like with that Box Ghost. And ClockWork’s was probably time-related; or just was time as a whole! So it would totally make sense for him to what to hide his, if he has one.

Danny blinks, well honesty has worked for him with all this so far. But he never would have willing outed his Core to them. Parents or not, they were still ghost hunters. And even if they weren't, well Lewis only knew because he saw It. And Lewis had caught him off guard when he told him about his Obsession and was being kinda like him. Asking what he had to for someone else’s health and safety. Oh, and the drugs; that was definitely a factor. Now his folks? The only reason they had was curiosity and maybe some misplaced worry/fear over the idea of him having one. And his Obsession was absolutely one that could be taken advantage of. Lewis and his ‘it would be helpful’ shit made that painfully obvious. And him giving him an Obsessive Crisis, while an accident, had still been partly caused by Lewis knowing. So no, not happening. And his dad would just ask questions on top of questions, likely becoming completely oblivious to sensitivity. That was kinda his dad’s thing. And his mom, well she would wonder how he satisfied it; and that would lead to the big Phantom secret.

Danny rubs his neck, glancing at his tail swishing around and vibrating a bit, “I mean? Don’t worry about it?”.

Jack nods a little, that was as good as a ‘yes’. To both an Obsession and to not wanting to talk about it. He has no idea if this is cool or not. He should probably confirm though? No assuming. “So... yes?”, and making a point to give him a sheepish look over the tail giving a little snapping thrash; he had noticed Danny’s tail seemed to give away his emotions a little. Which actually did support the possibility that ghosts were actually more emotionally sensitive.

Danny looks around awkwardly and nods a little, “um, yeah. Do you, like, need to know the, er, ‘what’ though?”, and staring at his dad a bit challengingly. As if daring him to make up some bullshit reason. If his dad, the much more curious and knowledge-hungry one, can let this go then he guesses he can trust them a bit more. Can much more genuinely believe they care more about family, about him, than ghost hunting. He already knew they loved him more than they hated ghosts, them accepting his ghostly crap was proof enough of that. And they hadn’t, like, banned him from seeing ClockWork. Not that that would be possible.

Jack’s pretty sure some might find his sons staring a bit ‘creepy’ but he’s seen it a few times, usually aimed at his friends though... and Vladdie. Who, come to think of it, was pretty good at the unnerving stare himself! As for his boy's question? He definitely wants to know! but no way he needed to. Mads would probably worry it would make him misbehave or something, but Danny-boy said not to worry and he’s gonna trust his boy! “Naw. If you don’t want to then you don’t want to. I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with that!”, chuckling and smiling, Danny exhaling and smiling back after a bit. While Jack continues, “so long as it’s not making you sick or unhappy, anyway. And I’d be totally down with helping you with it! or maybe you need help figuring something out with it! Or even just wanna talk about it! I’m sure your mom would be cool with that too!”.

Danny cringes a little, “uh, sorry but no. I’d really rather not. It’s, uh, personal. Private I guess”, shrugging a little stiffly, “kinda like how I, uh, don’t want my Core being poked at”, clearing his throat, “but it’s fine. I’m fine. I keep it satisfied and in check. And it’s not something bad or anything”, shrugging and tacking on, “most generally aren’t”, partly to get away from his Obsession specifically.

Jack blinks and mutters to himself, “so Dan was right...”, making Danny cringe again as Jack shakes his head and speaks up again but at Danny, “good then. Well my offer still stands, always will!”.

Danny nods, “um, thanks”, and gives his tail a little, hopefully subtle, pat to encourage It to chill out. He’s gonna have to ask ClockWork for tail tips.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Tucker nudges Maddie, “when it comes to CW, take Danny’s warning and just don’t question their motives towards him. You know better now so he’ll be less... nice next time”.

Maddie blinks, stilling her mixing, “should I be worried?”.

(Lewis is firmly staying out of this)

Tucker chuckles and rolls his eyes, “nope, it’s a bond thing”, shaking his head, “and ClockWork saved all of us, so questioning their motive is like questioning whether all of us deserve to live to him”.

Maddie whispers, “oh”, okay that was pretty serious. She knows how protective Danny can be, especially of friends and family, so Danny’s extreme reaction made much more sense now.

Tucker nods, washing out a bowl while Lewis spoons the cookies. Maddie sits against the table as Tucker continues, “yup. And ClockWork is just as defensive of Danny”, snickering, “did you know the government of the Zone put out a hit on him once”.

Maddie chokes, whisper yelling, “what???”. Lewis just steps to the side slightly, Danny’s friends are as addicted to chaos as Danny is; he’d like to not be in the splash zone currently, the peanut gallery’s pretty appealing though.

Tucker nods, “yup. ClockWork pretty much told them to get lost. And nobody says no to ClockWork”, tilting his head, “except Danny”.

Maddie shakes her head in utter disbelief, “they're that respected or powerful?”.

Tucker shakes his head and purses his lips a little, nodding at Lewis, “it’s not just simple little humans that look at them and think ‘god’, ClockWork’s the stuff of myths and legends to the spookies”, adding purely to cover his own ass, “according to Danny anyway”.

Maddie nods, that was a bit out there. Ghosts had their own myths? That also meant culture. Were ghosts actually... highly complex and sophisticated? shaking her head a little, she would have brushed this off days ago, and puts the cookies in the oven. Frowning slightly at overhearing Jack, was he asking Danny about Obsessions? She advised him against that! Apparently, Tucker thought the same. Him sounding slightly worried, “oh, uh, wonder if I should jump in? Obsession’s kinda touchy”.

Maddie blinks, looking to Tucker, wait what? “So he... he has that”.

Tucker makes a cringe showing all his teeth and even scrunching up his neck, “I’m guessing you didn’t know that”. Making Maddie sigh.

Lewis shakes his head and chuckles, again amazed Danny has held on to any of his secrets when none of them could even keep track of what they were lying about and what they weren’t; combined with talking about shit out loud.

Maddie checks the cookies, “well I’m glad you’re close and protective of each other. Though I wish we had been told about all of this”. Tucker elects not to respond to that.

A bit later Jack and Danny turn their heads at Maddie calling that the cookies are ready. Jack promptly jumping up and dashing to the doorway; eager for brownie and cookie alike. Looking back to Danny from the entryway, “you coming?”.

Danny smiles, “yeah. Yeah I am dad”, and flicking his tail before floating over.

Tucker effectively shovels food in his mouth, looks excited and excitedly smacks Lewis arms, “fugh mun”. Then finger-gunning at Danny, “weh, I shoe gwe giong”. Making Danny laugh and finger-gun back, “you just wanted me for my food. What? Do I only have half enough physical appeal for you?”.

“Yo oh ur zezz”. Danny just wheezes at Tucker’s wink.

Lewis walks up behind him, another coffee in hand, “did he just call you sexy?”.

Danny rolls his eyes and takes the second cup from him, “Lewis, doc man, Tucker thinks everyone’s sexy. All the time. Dead. Alive. Furry. Don't matter. Everybody’s sexy af”.

Lewis quirks an eyebrow, “furry?”.

“His sona’s an otter”.

“Well alright then, all the power to him”, and lifts his cup in a little salute.

Danny scowls slightly and points at him, “no matter how chill you are, I will always remember breaking your mind via duplication”. Lewis shakes his head with a little smile.

Jack walks up and ruffles his hair, “so Danny-boy? What should we call the ClockWork fellow? ‘Cause no offence, but ‘parent’ is taken”.

Danny chuckles slightly, “uh, dad? Guardian is the actual proper term”.

Lewis points up at him, seeing as he was floating slightly above their heads, “but ‘guardian’ is synonymous with ‘parent’ for us human beings”.

Jack chuckles, “so something else for the ghost guardian of our kid's ghostliness”. Making Danny tilt his head, “uh, I’m not even sure there is a word for that. But maybe... godparent? Sure you didn’t choose them, but?”.

Lewis snorts, “of course that’s the term you’d go with for a technical god who’s also technically a parent”.

Jack laughs, “true!”, patting Danny, “and they -like Vladdie!- aren’t actually related to you! so it would make sense!”.

Danny rubs his neck and floats slightly lower down, “uh”, and looking around awkwardly.

Lewis raises his eyebrows, a bit genuinely surprised because how???? “Oh really?”.

This gets Maddie over, “did I hear that right? Are you saying you are related? To a ghost that was never alive?”.

Danny gives an awkward shrug, “bond thing. I’ve got a little bit of them. They've got a little bit of me”.

Maddie and Jack exchange a major Look over that before looking back at him. Jack grins wide and smacking a fist into his hand, “well that settles it, that ghosts a Fenton”, tilting his head, “which is not something I thought I’d ever say”.

Danny’s grin is practically beaming, “well I’m happy to hear it”.

Maddie just grins and passes around the cookies.

It doesn’t take long before the parents' minds are firmly back on the ‘make Danny legs goddamnit’ train. Maddie eyeballs his swishing tail as Lewis has him doing (unnecessary)laps and what can really only be described as tricks. Maddie walks over, following her son with he eyes; it was almost weird how normal him floating around felt now, “so, up for installing the clock timer?”.

Danny pauses and shrugs, still a little too awkward about this to just float upside down and chat or something, “I mean? Sure?”. All three of them watching Jack practically launch himself at the lab door.

Maddie and Lewis watching Danny’s eyes widen a little, before he zips towards the door; absolutely beating Jack down.

The three adults getting down to the sight of Danny flipping over and inspecting the little device; Maddie’s not even going to bother wondering how he got that out of containment.

Danny absolutely knows there were little sparkles of green flecks in his eyes as he checks the trinket over, running over the curves and edges. Eventually lifting up his head and pursing his entire face as he hits a tiny trigger and the devices shoots out confetti everywhere.

Jack almost immediately begins laughing, “oh wow! They’re a jokester!”. Like Danny!

Maddie walks up and shakes her head at the mess, “well that was rather funny though messy”.

Danny chuckles, “well if you had tried to install this before I accidentally set off the little prank then the confetti would have probably fried things. So joke, but also test slash failsafe”.

Jack tilts his head, “but they see the future right? They already know our actions before we take them”.

Danny shakes his head, “no. They just see all the possible futures. Sure they can tell what’s most likely but that doesn’t mean much”, smirking, “and even they say I’m notorious for taking the less likely paths. They, uh, actually make bets on that”.

Lewis blinks, “you mean people bet against the guy that sees all the future?”, shaking his head, “how stupid do you have to be”.

Danny shrugs, “more like egotistical, they usually bet against other future seers, ClockWork’s got a better view than them though. So...”. Lewis shakes his head more.

Jack runs over snatching up the fully repaired CyberSteps, while Maddie holds her hand out to Danny. Danny glances from the (apparently dubbed)clock timer to Maddie, “okay. Just... careful”.

Maddie nods and takes it from him gingerly, “we will be, don’t worry”. Lewis walks over to look over her shoulder at the device before she takes it over to one of the tables to examine; leaving Lewis standing next to Danny.

Lewis watches the parents for a bit before looking to Danny, who of course is practically staring at them. Lewis knows they’re far enough away from the hunter couple to go unheard; even with sound travelling a lot down here. “So obviously I know ClockWork is immortal, but I remember you implying you were practically immortal yourself. Neigh indestructible, I believe”.

Danny glances to the guy, giving him ‘seriously?’ eyebrows, before looking back to his parents. Speaking quietly, “geez doc”, shaking his head a little, “ghosts are super hard to destroy in general. Halfas are just even harder”.

Lewis nods, “so Vlad too then".

Danny snorts, "he's weaker than me”.

“Yeah I think that’s obvious”, Danny was obviously stupid strong. This gets Danny to curl up a bit and laugh. While Lewis continues, “speaking of that one, just how dangerous is he?”, considering he might just have pissed him off. Lewis could do without more ghostly drop-ins.

Danny digs out his phone from his brace and flips through his photos while speaking, “he’s a nine. Lots of reasons for the lower level. Made by weaker and less ecto; contaminated ecto too. My age is a factor too and being exposed to ecto for, like, my whole life”. Glancing at him, “his real danger is he’s stupid smart and has enough cash to go nuts with”, chuckling, “like the cloning thing. That’s one way to get a kid at fourteen though”.

Lewis raises his eyebrows at that, again this kid’s life was ridiculous, “not sure that counts as ‘kid’”.

Danny smirks, “Vlad fucked up. We’re not identical, just closely genetically related”, chuckling, “she’s a little three-foot-tall twelve-year-old travelling nomad. In London right now I think”, tilts his head and shrugs.

Lewis shakes his head with a sigh, “congrats, just like Eddie you have a kid without getting anyone pregnant”., shrugging, “though Eddie’s is technically in the works”.

Danny laughs, “least Elle’s not natural”, holding his phone out to the guy, “here’s a pic of her kicking Vlad in the face”.

Lewis leans over, huh, someone would have to be blind to not notice the family resemblance. White hair, green eyes, black and white jumpsuit, DP symbol, stupid cheeky grin; a Phantom through and through. The other guy though, looks like a knockoff bramstrocker; the vampire jokes officially make sense. “Well alright, cute kid; I can practically smell trouble maker on her”, tapping his nail on the screen, “why’s Vlad look so different though?”.

Danny shrugs, “adult thing or something. Spookies change their appearance sometimes”.

Jack actually comments on that, “we’re honestly not sure at this point if they do that for aesthetic or it just happens because they got stronger!”. Maddie coming over as well, clock timer in hand. Danny’s more than a little pleased that it doesn’t look like they took it apart at all. Good.

Maddie holds it up, “I think I’m willing to trust this and it’s definitely compatible”, looking to Danny, “it’ll only work around the waist though and won’t function as a conductor”.

Jack nods and gestures with his hands a little wildly, “so we’ll just rip out the timer stuff from our conductor! And leave the conductor where it is!”, nodding curtly with a grin before pausing, “if that’s cool with you, of course”.

Danny smiles, “that’s fine, apparently I’m flexible enough to reach”, stretching to make a point, “even with the braces”.

Lewis grumbles, “just don’t break them”. Danny has cost the hospital a lot of money at this point. Sure medicine wise and room wise he saved them money, but all the braces, having to recast his arm, the extremely expensive wheelchair that he can’t believe Mrs. Levi actually signed off on (sure all he had to do was show the insanely high and unusual injures Amity Parker’s tended to get -especially minors- and she gave her approval immediately), the patient file bug Tucker made that the tech guy said he’d have nightmares over, and the fact that they got investigated by a very shady section of the government (that not-rain stuff almost forced the entire hospital into quarantine).

Jack beams and rushes off to the CyberSteps, dragging Maddie along with. Danny’s pretty sure the legs look more defined, more finished, than when he last saw them; or this was just a finished version since basically everything but the timer conductor was likely as perfect as it could be.

Danny makes damn sure his folks are preoccupied with the legs before looking back to Lewis, snatching his phone away since the guy started flipping through his photos, “seriously doc? Rude”.

Lewis just shrugs, “you’re the one who gave me your phone. Besides, you’re interesting and I’m curious. Nice castle. Doesn’t seem your style though”.

Danny huffs and rolls his eyes, “excuse me for thinking you, a doctor married to a lawyer, had some manners”, crossing his arms and muttering down at them, “sure I would’ve done the same but still”, looking back to Lewis, “and I didn't design that, Pariah did. I’ll change it when I take the throne”, shrugging, “it’s an automatic thing. Lairs are weird like that. Ecto-construct and all that”.

Lewis nods, yeah lairs bent to the need, personality, and somewhat the will of its ghost; if he’s remembering that correctly. Smirking a little, “let me guess, it’ll reholposter itself black n’ white?”.

Danny smirks right back, “what can I say? I know my colours and I wear them proud. The white of life and the black of death”.

Lewis shakes his head and leans against the wall, “speaking of castles and thrones, still can’t say I understand how a crown and ring could make someone able to absorb and feed an entire dimension. And if you’re the sorta will of Zone then could you modify it like a lair? And what about the Zone needing a king eventually? Is that a sooner or later kind of thing?”, tilting his head, “and with that, if you got destroyed would the universe eventually just die?”.

Danny gives him a truly pained look, “you wrote this shit down, didn't you”, scowling at the doctor's small nod. Danny side-eyes his parents to make sure they’re still absorbed in their work, before answering, “alright, it works like this: the ring has a negative glow so it can pass as a regular ring, because it -unlike other ecto things- strictly absorbs ectoplasm instead of shedding ectoplasm. While the crown is the opposite, it only sheds and doesn’t absorb; hence why it practically blazes off ectoplasm. The ring absorbs the Zone’s ectoplasm, the Crown sheds off the wears ectoplasm plus whatever they absorbed in from the Zone. Kinda like the wearers a heart and the ring and crown are valves”.

Lewis smirks approvingly, “that’s a very doctorly comparison of you”.

Danny snorts, “it works and you’re a doctor. Anyway. Yeah having that much energy following through a little tiny body’s a lot but-”, shrugging, “-like I’ve said, I’m used to dealing with things that are a lot. And my consciousness, sorta, would be carried though all that ecto. So I’d pretty much have an awareness of the whole Zone and every ghost. Which yes, means I could modify it like a lair. Not quite the same though. The Zone would be part of me yeah, part of my ectoplasm and what my folks seemed to have called my ecto-circulatory system; but the Zone wouldn’t be my lair, just an extension of my being. And I can’t just modify my body willy nilly”, tilting his head, “well it’s base state anyway”. Danny forms an eye on his hair to wink at the guy just for emphasis.

Lewis quirks an eyebrow, at least he was pretty immune to body horror shit, “so you’re effectively a battery, heart, and food for the Zone, but also are -will be- literally the Zone. You’re gonna be a dimension”.

Danny actually laughs a little into his hand at that, giving Lewis a little shoulder pat with his tail, “that’s a great way to put it!”, shaking his head with a smile, “yeah I’ve got a crazy future existence. And for that one question, it’s a long time in the future. The Zone’s probably good to run off the stockpile of Pariah for a few hundred more years. Well, unless something happens anyway”. Which, with his luck, was probable. Heck, he’s pretty sure Sam and Tucker have a bet going on whether or not it’ll happen before or after they graduate, before or after his parents eventually... pass away, or before or after they do. Shaking his head and firmly pushing away thoughts of anyone dying, “and no man, currently my destruction won’t end the universe. The Zone will latch on to someone else... eventually. Now if I was king, that would be an issue since the Zone would decay right”, chuckling, “though in that case the throne would just be passed down to Elle”.

Lewis blinks, “oh, so it’s tied to your lineage? Instead of exclusive to you”.

“Yup, the typical royalty shtick”, tapping his chin, “though I think Sam and Tuck are classed as my brethren so they might kinda have a level of claim too. Dora, FrostBite, and Pandora are sorta family too. But they’re all complicated. And course, if I married then whoever would have their own claim”, and shrugs, “I wouldn’t put it past Vlad to try and wiggle his way in too”.

Lewis sighs, “nothing is ever simple with you is it? And you have more ghost family? Really?”.

Danny shrugs awkwardly at that, “kinda? It’s weird man and not to the level of Clocky. Not even close”, grinning a little, “Dora sees me as the good protective older brother she never got to have. Pandora sees me as like a nephew or sorta godchild, ever since I got her box back. FrostBite’s kinda a mentor in all things icy, kinda worships me as some kind of chosen one, and they’re my doctor too sometimes”.

Lewis blinks at that, “wait, you have a specialised doctor? Then why the Hell don’t you use them”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “of course that’s the part you care about mr. Doctor man. I can handle my own shit and I do go to him for serious shit I can’t just handle myself”. Making Lewis sigh and shake his head, completely unimpressed. The boy had access to medical care and just... didn’t use it. Thinking of the whole setting Danny’s arm after he literally crashed though the car. Or at least he didn’t take advantage of medical care unless it was literally within arms reach.

Maddie picks that moment to bolt over with a grin on her face, grabbing at Danny’s hand; Jack in the background looks to be throwing his fist up in a cheer.

Danny rolls his eyes with a smile and lets her drag him off; Lewis studiously following after. Lewis seriously hoping this time doesn’t result in yet another negative reaction.

Danny looks over the CyberSteps, floating around them quickly. Putting his hands on the waist and peering down, tapping the off-centre clock timer with his tail tip, “looks good”. The very tip coiling around one of the clock hands a little, he likes it; it kinda felt like ClockWork. Pointedly ignoring Lewis’s slight chuckle. Jerk.

Maddie and Jack both watch tensely but ridiculously excited all the while, as Danny grips the waist and slips his tail in, hopefully having to test out the ‘legs’ for the last time.

Danny glances over his shoulder brace as he activates the neuroreceptor strip, watching it all snap on over the back brace; which Lewis is probably still unimpressed about. Then tilting his head, the draining felt practically the same as before; and it didn’t seem to be making his ecto freak. So that’s a check on the conductor. Looking down at the legs and quirking an eyebrow at the little clock timers clock hands spinning around. His mom obviously noticing, “I’m pretty sure that’s what it does when it’s calibrating, sweetie”. Which Danny nods at and decides to wait, going to try moving the legs once the clock hands chill out. And the toes/boot tips successfully bend upwards.

And with that, one Danny Fenton was no longer legless on main

FIN.

JK JK JK

Lewis watches as Danny wiggles the toes and bounces up on said toes some, before actually taking a few steps around. The movements were definitely a little jerky and he wasn’t moving them quite right, it was very much like he was trying out limbs he hadn’t had before. If Lewis were to guess, he’d say that’s likely because these robotic leg prosthetics didn’t work exactly the same as natural legs; so logically he’d have to learn how to pilot them properly. Watching Jack and Maddie stand in-front of him and all three pretty well beaming at each other; Jack even doing a little jig or something (whatever it is, Danny clearly finds it embarrassing). It was obvious Danny was proud of what his folks made, even if he didn’t honestly need it. Frankly he’s pretty sure Danny’s proud of the things his parents make in general, he just hadn’t liked the anti-ghost foundation they were built upon. Sure seemed they had gotten better about that though. Which is good, since the universe -somewhat technically- depended on that.

Lewis nods once and walks closer -having given the family their little moment- and pats Danny’s arm brace, “well looks like you can walk upon this earth again. Though maybe practice”, pausing for a beat before adding, “no kicking people”.

Danny blinks at Lewis, “no kidding doc. Literal steel toes here”.

Lewis chuckles and gives his two (adult)friends pats, “congrats, you just made a breakthrough in probably a lot of fields, but most relevant to me, medical science. You’re officially scary smart. But-”, turning to Danny because the kid’s supposed to be injured and recovering. Gesturing at the neuroreceptor strip, “you. While this is great and all, you had back surgery. So I’m restricting use till your braces are good to come off and I check your spine out”. Honestly, he should outright ban it.

Danny sticks his hands to the side and pouts a little, “oh come on doc”.

Lewis crosses his arms, “most doctors wouldn’t have even let you test them or wear them at all”. Danny rubs his neck at that.

Maddie gives Lewis a sweet smile, “well thanks for letting us do this and I think we all understand”, looking to Danny, “right Danny?”. Danny grumbles incoherently but nods.

Jack taps at his chin, watching Danny walk around a bit more, “what I don’t get, is how you moved the ones that didn’t work at all smoothly but these ones are being a bit jerky or over-exaggerated? Even if you originally weren’t working them even close to smooth with the tail”.

Danny shrugs, “uh, well I’ve never had brain to mechanics connections like this before. My brain and ecto might just, like I don’t know, learn how these interpret stuff?”.

Lewis nods immediately because that was actually true really for learning how to work any prosthetic, “there’s a learning curve with any prosthetic, they never move the exact same as the originals”, tilting his head, “and if what you’re thinking of Danny’s ghost being somewhat active is right, then the tail wouldn’t be truly new; simply normally inaccessible. Which you’ve effectively already implied to be the case to explain his ease of adapting. So his fine motor skills with his tail should be quite good, which would allow for it to take very little time for him to figure out how to grasp or say, move things, with said tail”, and nods curtly to himself. Pretty content with his explanation.

Danny decidedly says nothing though Lewis just gave him a pretty damn good out. His parents' nods and smiles make that obvious.

Jack goes wide-eyed, coming upon an idea and blurting out, “ClockWork!”, then looking at his slightly confused looking son, “you said that ClockWork only has a tail! And that you’re basically related! Ghostly related!”. Everyone gives him slightly confused eyebrow quirks, so he explains himself, “so maybe your ghost took after them and just has a tail too!”.

Maddie blinks and grins, “that does make sense”, ruffling Danny’s hair, “so that explains that“. Danny just shrugs, ‘cause in their mind, there’s no way he should know what his ghost looks like. But also, yeah, him being so comfortable and good with this was totally ClockWork’s fault. And he totally loves them for it. Intentionally swishing his tail around in the legs, kinda weird that he could move his tail without moving his legs. How in the heck is his brain -or ectoplasm maybe, Core?- differentiating between tail and legs? He’s totally going to fidget with his tail during class. No one will ever know! “Well still too bad my walking skills have gotten a bit rusty”.

Lewis glances at his watch, pretty late; it would probably be the ‘responsible’ thing to encourage a normal -or as normal as possible for a teenage superhero whose enemies seem to prefer the night- sleep schedule. “Alright, I know you probably want to celebrate all this but at the very least Danny should reestablish a proper sleep schedule. Sleep is vital for healing and health after all”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “all doctor, all the time, huh?”.

“Says mr. Helpful”. Danny scowls at that, because not the same. Not the fucking same. Though if the doc became a ghost his Obsession would probably be the same but maybe more curious ‘I wonder what will happen if’.

Danny looks around, “well first, can’t we at least have supper?”. Jack’s stomach growls as if being summoned, making everyone laugh.

While Maddie gets to work making food, Jack and Lewis basically talk each other’s ears off with how the legs even worked at all; ‘cause Lewis is just stunned but intrigued and Jack is utterly excited. Danny sneaks up the stairs, totally unused to how damn loud these feet were; he’s gonna have to work on that because he loves how easily he can even accidentally sneak up silently on people.

Danny stops in front of Jazz’s door and promptly kicks it in; the door simply opening loudly instead of being blown off its hinges purely because all the doors in the house were built to handle getting rammed and blasted.

“Zone! Danny! Why in the Zone are you kicking in doors!”. Jazz pauses, “wait, you kicked it in”, looking to his legs and leaping up, “holy shit Danny! You’ve got legs!”, rushing over and pinching the CyberSteps, “can you actually feel this?!?!”.

Danny grins stupidly, puts his hands on his hips, and poses ridiculously, “yup, totally can”, tilting his head, “not quite the same though”.

Jazz practically jumps on him and hugs him around the neck, “oh who cares! This is great Danny!”, letting go and brushing off his braces, “I bet mom and dad were just stoked”.

Danny nods almost sheepishly, “oh definitely”, cringing a little, “dad did a jig”, making her cringe as he continues, “Lewis also crushed their spirits a little by limiting my leg time. Though we are still baking eggies to celebrate my leggies”, and grins.

Jazz sighs with a head shake, “I was wondering if they forgot about supper again”.

“Oh they did”.

Jazz blinks, “of course they did”.

Lewis walks in, arms crossed and judgmental eyebrow raised, “there you are. You do realise I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on the kid who broke basically everything, should have died, is in braces and bandages, and is now trying out brand new experimental prosthetics that interact with his brain and the spine he broke”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “geez tell me what you really mean”.

Jazz pokes Danny, “he does have a point you know. You are supposed to be injured”. Danny scowls at her but rounds on Lewis, sticking his arms out to the side, “so when can I obliterate these things”.

“Never. They’re hospital property. Casts can’t be reused, braces can”.

Jazz immediately cringes at that, Danny’s the one to speak though, “you don’t want to do that. I bet you ten bucks these are all ecto-contaminated. And I doubt you want them coming to life, or death really, and trying to eat someone’s arm or something”.

Lewis blinks, “alright, you can destroy them”, that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. A very strange lawsuit. ‘My arm brace came to life and ate my firstborn’, would certainly be a new one.

Danny grins wickedly and promptly bursts into blue flames, actually managing to make Lewis jump back and Jazz yelp.

Lewis watches the ashes of the braces flutter to the ground, before giving (the no longer on fire)Danny an exasperated look, “I didn’t mean now”, squinting, “and how did you not burn the CyberSteps?”.

Danny creates a flame over his fingers, “ecto-fire”, pointing the other hand at the CyberSteps, “anti-ecto”, then adding, “only a little though, otherwise it would be anti-me”.

Lewis shakes his head, “can’t have that now can we?”. Danny grins and points out the door, promptly walking off at Lewis saying, “so long as an adult who knows your ecto or tech is around you”.

Lewis looks to Jazz, “he certainly seems better for his ghostliness, doesn’t he”.

Jazz smiles soft and sweet, “I used to worry about him, even got the vice principal to force him to see a therapist. But once I found out, it made sense and I knew he was okay. That not only was he good mentally, or as good as he could be, but also just good as a person”, giggling a little, “now of course I still worry, that’s what sisters do after all. But he’s a day at a time mentally, there isn’t exactly a standard for a halfa, for being mentally two species that are really opposites; and Vlad’s not exactly a good example. He needs a therapist more than Danny does”.

Lewis chuckles at that and nods, “can’t say I disagree. Though I wouldn't say Danny particularly comes off as someone who needs therapy, he hides his traumas well. Which, well, hiding things from a therapist equals not getting effective therapy”.

Jazz gives him a smile that practically reads ‘you misunderstand’, “that’s because he’s at the stage of acceptance now”, Lewis quirks an eyebrow so she explains, “people grieve when someone dies, and I believe the dead grieve their death just as much if not more”, nodding a little to herself, “at first he tried to convince himself nothing had changed, the abilities would just wear off; he even went through an ‘I’m not dead!’ phase, that came later though”.

Lewis tips his head, “well to be fair, most people don’t expect to be dead but still walking around, and half-dead just sounds impossible. So thinking he’s not dead seems more like being logical than being in denial”.

Jass gives him an almost pitying look, “yeah but he was apparently pretty desperate and freaked about it. Less simple logic and having an issue with the impossible, more desperation to deny what they know is true”.

Lewis nods, ah okay Danny definitely had a harder time than he had thought. He’s kinda glad he didn’t meet Danny back then because again, he’s not good at dealing with freaking out breaking down emotional types.

Jazz nods and keeps going, “Sam and Tucker said they effectively had to convince him not to just tell his parents and beg them to fix him once he realised things weren’t going away. He hated the powers, the changes; that’s the point when I noticed something was up, that he seemed depressed. I pushed for the therapy when he started being just angry, all the time”.

Lewis nods, “ah, I guess that does sound like grieving. In that case, I’m glad he’s in the acceptance stage”.

Jazz grins, she certainly was, “same. His Obsession, his friends -especially the ghost ones-, the weird love/hate thing the town has for him; I think all that helped. Which is how I imagine it is typically for most ghosts; minus the last one”, pointing at him, “though I think you've helped with acceptance, he seems less affected by your name, and those blue flames he used there?”, grinning wider, “many times he’s refused to ever use that, so somethings happened there”.

Lewis blinks, ah the pyrokinesis was probably a power ‘Dan’ had and used liberally. “I may have effectively reasoned with his Obsession why he shouldn’t fear certain futures and that it would make him a shittier king. Used ClockWork too, or more so a quote Danny made of them”.

Jazz raises her eyebrows, “you must think pretty differently for that to have worked out”, frowning slightly, “I’d watch it, taking advantage of his Obsession too often will start coming off as malicious to the Obsession”.

Lewis shrugs, yeah he kinda figured that one. Like tempting Vee with chocolate. Eventually you’ll lose a few fingers. Literally. “I’m not one for social queues, living or dead ones. And he’d make a good surgeon, very helpful. And telling me things is helpful. And sure, I may have given him an Obsessive Crisis but my reasoning was sound”.

Jazz blinks, walks over, and smacks him over the head, “how has Danny not assaulted you yet?!?”.

Lewis takes it in stride, he had been smacked a great many times for insensitivity, and smirks, “might be that my whole career is helpful, I’m a helper all the same. Protecting people from the outcomes of their stupidity like shoving a cheese grater up their ass or eating nails”.

Jazz goes a little wide-eyed, “that actually makes sense. Obsession similarity is a major comradery thing for ghosts”, pausing, “also, is that really a common thing people do? Though the nails probably had something to do with pica”.

“We keep a white board of all the things people have shoved up their asses, one guy’s made it on the board multiple times; I admire the tenacity”, Lewis smirks as she gives him a strange look and just moves to head downstairs.

They come down to a slightly concerned-looking Danny sitting backwards on the couch but resting his chin over the back of the couch, watching his parents. Looking to Lewis when he notices them and making ‘psst’ noises at him; which makes Lewis wonder if he’s being hissed at for a bit, which considering the upstairs conversation would make some sense.

Jazz heads into the kitchen while Lewis walks over to Danny.

Danny scuttles over and hiss whispers, “so I wasn’t sure if me actually being braceless was, like, a good thing? ‘Cause, like, maybe you know otherwise and I, like an idiot, didn’t confirm things-”.

Lewis chooses to cut off what’s definitely going to be a ramble, “it’s fine, Danny. Honesty, I was considering removing them entirely pretty soon here. You’re fine”.

Danny grins and gives a little relieved sigh, before looking slightly freaked again and gesturing to his chest, his bare heavily scared toned chest, “also totally forgot about the bandaging. I mean what am I, a wire stripper?”.

Lewis is pretty sure most people would find how he goes from flesh straight to metal more eye-catching than the scarring; even if it was pretty major. Danny’s likely more worried about Jack and Maddie seeing though. And well, Danny being completely healed was very obvious this way. Which might be pushing it, “yeah, you look too healthy like this”.

Danny blinks, “I wasn’t actually thinking of that but point”. Lewis gestures up the stairs, so they head up to Danny’s (still uncleaned)room to redo bandaging.

Lewis shakes his head while unrolling bandaging, “you’d think you’d be encouraged to clean after your encounter”. Danny rolls his eyes and holds out his arms after disconnecting the CyberSteps. Lewis pauses and taps his chin, thinking of it, “actually, let’s just bandage where you had the most serious damage”.

So Lewis gets to work on the waist wrapping, again noting how strange Danny coming to a totally smooth flat end is. He’s going to have to pin the blame on Danny’s tail if his friends ask, because this is not only not medical standard but medically impossible. Not to mention physically impossible, so many half cut off organs and where the heck are his intestines? His poor digestive system; and that’s ignoring his lower excretory system being basically non-existent. He’d lose his license if he took credit here. Muttering mostly to himself, “how the Hell do you shit”.

Danny blinks before bursting out laughing, “did you seriously just ask that?!?!?”, shaking his head, “doc? Anyone ever tell you you’re weird?”.

Lewis smirks, “all the time”.

Danny smirks himself, “ghosts ‘excrete’ everything via shedding off ectoplasm, so what do you think”, and points at his tail, which is currently waving intangibly through Lewis. Danny, for kicks, makes It shed more noticeably; just to fuck with the guy a little.

Lewis pauses and side-eyes the tail, “is that... sanitary?”. Making Danny fall backwards on the bed cackling. Lewis has so many questions. Does his ectoplasm just burn it up? and it comes off kinda like smoke? Or does his ectoplasm digest it for fuel? Danny did imply he could get by on just ectoplasm (which a human can’t do) or just food (which a ghost can’t do).

Danny puts an arm over his eyes and wheezes, “nothing can survive the ecto, oh man. Haha. Does a better job than bleach”, and wheezes some more.

Lewis nods, moving to Danny’s chest -because honestly, what in there hadn’t been obliterated. Other than the Core and even that was hurt- and unrolling more, “well that’s good then”. Making quick work of the chest and grabbing Danny’s left hand up.

Danny chuckles, “yeah, I crushed, like, everything in that one”.

Lewis starts wrapping very quickly at the sound of an explosion outside and icy mist leaving Danny’s mouth. Ghosts and their timing. Managing to finish before Danny transforms and zips off through his window; leaving Lewis to stand up, put his hands on his hips, and shake his head.

Danny glances around, pretty sure he can smell something really strange that he’s never smelled before but ignores that at promptly spotting Red shooting at Boxy, Danny floats over, “I’m guessing you don’t really need or want my help here?”.

Red opens her visor purely to scowl at him and shoots the Box Ghost without even looking, “fuck off, Phantom”.

“YOUR DISTRACTION WILL BE YOUR DOOM!!!! AND MY BOXY REVENG-”. Getting cut off via a rocket to the mouth and both teens telling him to shut up. Red promptly capturing him and rounding on Danny.

Danny quirks an eyebrow because her just cutting off a Boxy beat down was weird. Red snaps at him, “obviously you've noticed shit’s up with the Fenton’s, so you better be leaving them alone, spook”.

Danny nods a little, “kinda easy to notice when those two are or aren’t out hunting”, continuing at it feeling like she’s squinting at him, “I ain’t pestering them, Red”. It’s true. Phantom wasn’t technically pestering his parents. Fenton was.

Red studies him for a bit before nodding and appears to sigh, “well the sons got a ghost tail now, like you guys”, Danny changes his legs to a tail for example, which she points at, “yeah, that. And you’re not too terribly evil and he slammed his face into a wall trying to use the thing”.

Danny gives a mock very offended, “hey”. Before blinking and going slightly wide-eyed at a realisation, “wait, are you asking me to teach him?”, how does he get himself into this kind of shit?

Red huffs, “you're supposed to be this town’s ‘protector’ and dealer with ghost shit, it’s supposedly your job”, then adding with bite and meaning, “unless you don’t actually care about people and just like fighting”, shrugging, “and even you wouldn’t be stupid or reckless enough to mess with the youngest child of ghost hunters”. Any ghost that did mess with Jazz or Danny probably saw Hell from the Fenton’s. And Phantom might be literally the only ghost Danny wouldn’t run away from. Maybe. And wasn’t there that time the house came to life or something and Danny and Phantom both helped with that?

Danny blinks, “yeah, I’m not stupid. Still remember Jack punching -yeah, punching, not shooting- Plasmius to a pulp for screwing with the Fenton family”. That was one of Danny’s favourite memories.

Red blinks, opening her visor again and just leaving it that way, “that really happened? Damn”, she’s never felt genuinely impressed by Jack before.

Danny nods, “yup, and Red? Our bodies, the floating, that shit comes naturally. It’s not taught”.

Red snaps, “but he’s not a ghost, Phantom”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “ghost body part. Same thing. And our bodies ain’t all the same you know”.

Red points at his tail, “well his and yours move similar, so there”.

Danny pointedly doesn’t look sheepish or anything at that, he should just agree -fuck his luck- before she starts pointing out other similarities, “geez fine”, pausing and floating a bit closer, “wait, you haven’t been just asking every ghost you see to play teacher, have you?”, for the love of the Ancients say no.

Red scowls at him and refuses to back up, “I’m not a moron either, Phantom. Just you”, squinting, “why?”.

Danny backs off a little and shrugs, “ghost social thing. It’s a few phrases shy of asking a ghost to adopt someone. Which would be kinda mean”, tilting his head, “if you asked Skulker that, you probably would never see Danny again”, if Danny Fenton was a regular human (with a ghost tail somehow) and couldn’t beat Skulker’s face in, anyways.

Red blinks, “what? You’re not ‘adopting’ him“.

Danny rolls his eyes, “well obviously. What you asked could just be taken that way. But I’m still a child so it don’t matter”.

Red shakes her head, “you ghosts are strange. Don’t adopt Danny, just give him tail tips or something”.

Danny snorts and chuckles, “just the tip?”, and pokes her board with his tail tip quickly before zipping away cackling. Red growls and shoots at him while shouting, “you disgust me!”.

Lewis had eventually wandered down into the kitchen, everyone raising the eyebrows at him, probably over Danny’s absence, “decided to take the chance to check up on Danny’s healing and wrapping. He’s stretching out his new bandaging and taking a break from the prosthetics”, nodding curtly, “the braces aren’t really needed anymore”. Jazz giggles quietly.

Maddie and Jack beam, Jack practically cheering, “awesome!”. Both of them super glad to hear that he genuinely as okay as he keeps insisting he is. His ecto likely being to blame, which is okay.

Just then Danny comes back, sticking his head through the kitchen doorway before pausing, “shit! Forgot my shirt”, and ducks his head before zipping back upstairs. Shouting down at everyone laughing or giggling or snorting, “its been a while since I’ve worn clothes alright! I’ve got hardware and software, but no underwear!”.

Lewis actually laughs at that, “pretty sure that’s one thing you don’t need!”, and speaks up again as Danny renters, “you know, a stripper that crushed both her knees said that to me once”. Making pretty much everyone choke.

Maddie steamrolls right over the adult implications of that and plates the eggs. Lewis raising an eyebrow, “eggs for supper? That’s weird”.

Danny coughs and gives Lewis an ‘I can’t believe you just said that’ look and promptly takes the opening, “that's not weird, your pants are weird”.

Lewis looks down, “they’re just sweat pants”, then pauses, wait that sounded familiar. Looking back up and shaking his head, “you really just quoted a commercial for eggs at me”.

Danny grins like he’s the cat that caught the canary, “you started it, doc”.

Maddie grins, digging into her food. Danny seemed more confident. She’s not sure if Lewis just had that effect on him or if it was because of him not utterly hiding his ghostliness around them anymore and them giving the good ghosts thing a real chance. Which made her think it’s all worth it. Trusting a ghost or too, being more neutral about ghosts, rethinking the science; and getting her son back more genuinely, knowing him better, was a great deal. Even if that meant her and Jack had practically been villains to Phantom and other maybe good ghosts; which was an uncomfortable thought. Because really? if ghosts could be good then Phantom being a hero was practically undeniable. And who shoots at a hero? Villains.

Seeing Danny in a loose long sleeve makes her unable to really feel bad though, he looked genuinely like himself again. His hand being bandaged up was a reminder of his injuries however; and she can see a bit peaking out of his collar. Glancing at his other hand, when had he gotten scars there? Though more importantly, how had she never noticed??? Or did his recent injuries scar over that fast. Both were a little concerning. Though she knows he’ll have scarring, Dan said as much.

Lewis’s phones goes off with a big fat ‘fuck you’ from Eddie for not saving any brownies and a pic of stew which was probably meant to be some kind of ‘well look what I made and you can’t have’. Lewis just sends back ‘who did the cooking? ‘Cause if it’s you Eddie, I think I’m good’ predictably getting swears in return. Lewis decides to take a photo of what he’s eating, answering Danny’s raised eyebrow, “Eddie made stew and is attempting to brag about that”.

“I hope there wasn’t any potatoes or baked beings”.

Jazz smacks him over the head while Lewis scrunches up his eyebrows, because that... that was actually something they would do. Getting a response from Vee reading ‘FRIED BABY BIRD NICE' didn’t help. Lewis shakes his head at Danny, muttering, “don’t give them ideas”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “well then I hope you don’t let Vee near your feet”, Lewis gives him some confused eyebrows so Danny smirks and continues very smugly, “they might want some men toes for their breath afterwards”. Lewis sighs. Jack and Maddie just look confused though.

While Danny finally wakes up the next morning, Maddie watches Lewis start breakfast. Jack is attempting to wake up himself with a cold shower. And Jazz has been up for a while sipping tea and reading in her room.

Danny stretches out a little, telekinetically dragging over the CyberSteps and slipping in; this was basically what he was going to be doing for however long in place of underwear. And fuck it, he’s not gonna bother with pants. Kinda pointless and he’s owning his metal. Might as well. Nabbing up his comfortable sweater, the one that never catches on bandaging. Twisting his upper body back and forth, didn’t seem like it would catch on the neuroreceptors either. Nice.

It was honestly still kinda strange walking again, using metal to do that was just a little bit weirder. Cool as shit too though.

Danny turns to the door at hearing a shout of: “IT’S NOT JUST US! YES!”. So he heads downstairs and thus walks into the sight of Lewis staring in confused curiosity at a pan he’s holding with three screaming grill-cheese sandwiches in it. One sprouts a little hand and tries to grab a fork, Lewis just bats it away like a misbehaving cat’s paw; a dirty look on his face all the while.

Danny walks in and looks down, “uh, congrats doc it’s a girl... I think”.

Lewis quirks an eyebrow, “you can tell?”.

Danny scowls, "no, I was making a fucking joke, doc".

Maddie puts her hands on her hips, "language Danny”. Catching Danny slightly off guard and making him blush, “oh um uh, sorry?”. Maddie just shakes her head.

Sam and Tucker barge in while Lewis lifts up the pan, “obviously this is inedible for us, but you?”. Danny gives him a serious ‘are you fucking me’ look.

Maddie immediately butts in, “why would-”, and cuts herself off, going wide-eyed. Looking to Danny, “actually, could you? Do you... want to try?”.

Jack practically bolts over, having just caught that, “oh that would be so cool! We wouldn’t have to scrap food so often!”.

Sam and Tucker come over grinning meanly at him. Tucker speaking up, “do it coward. Be a man”, Sam kicks him. Sam looks over the pan, unphased by the screaming and weird bubbling, but scowls at the cheese; or what once was cheese, “you already stole the poor cows milk, don’t insults them more by trashing it”.

Danny mutters at the floor, “I feel like I’m being ganged up on here”, though obviously not actually bothered. His mom makes him laugh though when she hands him a glass of ‘help you swallow it down’ milk. Danny takes it and looks to Sam with a smirk, “now I know you reject milk, but hopefully you’re not lack-toes-intolerant”.

The two teens look down at his feet, about to comment that he had those again, Tucker giving a little nod, “huh, no toes”.

Danny just chuckles, wiggles his ‘toes’, “hope you like roboots”, everyone sighs and the grill-cheeses scream a little more, which absolutely grabs Danny’s attention. Turning to the pan, “okay, now you are getting eaten. Feed my cyborgans”.

Sam mutters, “Ancients damnit, Danny”. While Danny grabs one of the sandwiches, smacks one of the other ones that tried to bite him, and cuts off the one he grabbed’s screaming by biting It with fake aggression.

Sam and Tucker both start laughing, while the adults all just kinda watch with bated breaths. Maddie’s pretty sure she can actually see him absorbing ectoplasm through his skin off the -what should they call It?- ecto-sandwich. Was certainly interesting that this was even technically safe for him. His Core would just eat all the ectoplasm before it could even possibly cause issues. And that ecto-immunity Jack considered him to have should mean all his human stuff can handle the ectoplasm; possibly even good for him. Feed his ghostly stuff, which probably only got anything from how contaminated the town and house were. Or maybe his Core could convert human food to ectoplasm, just like how food in general here could become ectoplasmic.

Jack sounds more than a little excited, “so! How’s it taste!?!”.

Danny rolls his eyes, slightly embarrassed, “spicy cream cheese”. Jack looking excitedly giddy just makes Danny genuinely blush, though a bit happy that he made him happy. And he was actually hungry so fuck it, he’s eating his sandwich; that much ecto making his eyes green be damned.

Maddie makes a point to not react to his eyes going green -like they had when his ectoplasm was overcharged she notes- as Danny finishes off the ecto-wich. Lewis laughs and just shoves the pan at him.

Danny grumbles, “anyone else would get burned you know”. Lewis just shrugs with a grin as he moves to make something else, but vegan suitable; which hopefully won’t come to life. Everyone else -except Sam who chooses to lean against the wall- sit around the table. Jack and Maddie making a point to ignore the oddness of Danny woofing down the other two plasumwiches -much better name- straight out of the pan; the cold of his skin contacting the pan making a little bit of steam. Lewis attempts to take a subtle photo but of course Danny notices, giving the most suspicious sounding, “what's up doc?”, Lewis thinks is even possible.

“Eddie will get a kick out of this. Thing’s cropped, curb your paranoia”. Danny’s only response is a huff. The response Lewis gets back from Eddie nearly makes him choke though: Vee’s face sandwiched between bread and Eddie biting it/them; Lewis isn’t going to ask why he’s not wearing a shirt, but is wearing a tacky necklace (and of course his brackets, but he never takes those off). Lewis decides screw it, Danny’s friends knew, were just as weird, and that chat thing Tucker set up was almost disturbingly secure -yet they still used codes like paranoid little fuckers, and they were at least kinda cool with aliens; so he tosses the photo into the group chat, with a password to view though ‘cause why not be paranoid too; though it’s an obvious one.

Tucker, not surprising the doctor in the least, is the first to check and chokes on his food.

PDAXpda: @everyone

PDAxpda: what

PDAxpda: pray tell

PDAxpda: the fuck is that

Tiethief: space monster

Tiethief: and reporter mouth

NightShade: you suck at names

NightShade: @DPain do yer job

Just a little later Danny checks his phone and wigs out. His hair fluffing up a little like some anime bullshit, the legs swinging around probably ‘cause his tail is wiggling or something a bunch, the ecto in his eyes making tiny little sparks; Jack and Maddie watching the reaction more so with awe and curiosity than unnerved worry.

DPain: hdieksnhrjsHHUDJjhhudikwdhjHhdnsjdkoajbdhuejzk

DPain: zhHhudjnshakbusfjkabjhUSJJNhdkakbsjbuijdh

DPain: TINY MURDER COBOOB IS BLOB

DPain: TINY MURDERY ALIEN BLOB

DPain: FUCK ME DADSY

DPain: anyway

DPain: cjsinsbdhaihujsmkfhdkajhdnfcjai

DPain: space mon fine

DPain: othera meat puppet

DPain: djiafdwih

DPain: best blob be nommed

PDAxpda: first look at murder goo

Lewis looks up at the ceiling as he pockets his phone before spooning out the stir fry. Less breakfasty, but more edible. Giving Sam Tucker’s veggies and throwing some real bacon bits into Tucker’s. Danny takes a small plate even though he ate three bloody sandwiches -maybe the ectoplasm went somewhere else and thus didn’t fill him up?- and munches still looking overly excited.

Sam points her fork at Danny’s feet kinda bouncing around. He shrugs and snickers, “looks like I've got a few new roboticks”.

Which makes Jazz groan as she comes in, “ignoring that, what smells so good?”, looking Danny over slightly and quirking any eyebrow over his green sparky eyes.

Sam rolls her eyes, biting a pepper, “your parents’ made ghost food again”.

Maddie immediately sits up straight, “Dan did actually”. Jack practically cheering, “so it’s not just us!”.

Jazz mutters, “that’s not actually comforting”, because that means it’s either the house's fault or the utensils/cookware.

Sam huffs, “more reason not to have animal products”.

Tucker laughs, “more like reason to!”, and jabs a thumb at Danny. Who throws a quiet, “prick”, Tucker’s way.

Maddie shakes her head a little as the teens poke fun at each other. Yeah they knew and were used to it. Which was... probably good for Danny. Hurt a little to confirm though. She understands though; her and Jack will just have to continue to be better then.

Not too long later, Lewis is putting away leftovers, Jazz and Maddie are on clean-up duty, Danny’s eyes are back to fucking normal, and Jack’s giving the CyberSteps steps a once over.

Tucker nudges Danny, ignoring Jack doing the typical ‘can you feel this?’ thing, “so theatre’s open. Feel like taking your limbs for a test drive?”.

Maddie immediately pauses with her washcloth, making a point to sound stern, “only if Dan okay’s it, sweetie”.

All the teens look to Lewis, who smirks and fakes being unsure, “oh I don’t know”, relenting at the scowls, “so long as he’s not left alone I don’t see a problem with it”. Tucker immediately high fives Danny, before Jack steps back with a smile; letting Danny run only kinda coordinatedly up the stairs to grab pants.

Danny decides fuck it and opts out of shoes; the CyberSteps toes/boots look like, well, boots. Heading back down and the three friends walk to the door. Jack and Maddie smiling to themselves over the fact that Danny can actually walk around town with his friends.

Just as Danny’s reaching for the handle there’s a knock and Danny’s pretty sure he smells smoke... and that weird new smell from yesterday? Shrugging and opening the door to the sight of a guy who looked like hot garbage yet healthyish. His hair looked like a comb would get stuck in it yet smooth. One bloodshot eye, yet they were also totally clear. Clearly unbrushed teeth, though white. In a leather jacket with burn marks, off-white t-shirt, and torn-up jeans. And a cigarette in one had, dirt under literally every fingernail and in the nail-beds.

“Wow someone’s speed lightning”, the dude looks around, “your yard’s kinda not shit so I’mma just put this out in my pocket”, and shoves the cigarette into his pants. Danny watches the pocket smoke and slowly gain a new hole as the guy speaks, “so if it ain’t obvious, name’s Eddie. Eddie Brock”.

Danny blinks, gapes a little -which the guy smirks over, and laughs. Because yeah, this is exactly his luck.

51 notes · View notes

tw-anchor · 4 years

Text

36. The Anchor and the True Alpha

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x12; Lunar Ellipse

Word Count: 8,373

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, stupid Jennifer Blake, moron Deucalion, true alphaness, badass anchor, awkward Derek

Author’s Note: Here’s the 3A finale! I hope you enjoy. Please make sure to let me know what you think, reblog, and like!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

"Okay, like this?"

Allison giggled at Olivia, enjoying the way she held the Chinese ring daggers that the shorter brunette had insisted that Allison teach her how to use. Right now, Olivia held them loosely, the tip of the blades closer to cutting her wrists more than protecting herself.

"Stop laughing at me!" Olivia called her out with amused eyes. "I'm trying to be a badass like you!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Allison choked down the rest of her laughter. "Let's start over."

Olivia nodded and put the daggers back to the starting position that Allison had taught her. "Okay, now what?"

"Now, you twist them like this," Allison demonstrated the move with the set she was using. "and then you flip your wrists up and raise your arms like this."

Olivia did as Allison told her, wincing at the slight bruises starting to form around the base of her fingers. Chinese ring daggers were no joke and now she understood why Allison came to school with bandages around her fingers for a couple of weeks the previous semester of school.

She did the move sloppily, nowhere near as sharp as Allison's, of course, but that was expected. Allison nodded in approval, a small smile forming at her lips. "All right, keep practicing that," she said encouragingly. "Once you tighten that up, we can move onto the next move."

"Considering that I'm not athletic whatsoever, I think that went okay," Olivia breathed as she slipped the daggers off of her fingers.

Allison laughed. "Does that mean you want to try the crossbow?"

"Don't even think about it, Al!"

Olivia walked through the woods surrounding the old Hale House. They were training Jackson about control before he headed off to London, England. To say that he was being a bitch about it all would be an understatement. He was taking his temper out on her and Scott—he was upset about what he had done as the kanima, his brush with death, and the fact that his parents had found out what happened and were moving the family to London for no other reason than to get him away from everything supernatural.

Olivia could take his temper and his snide comments because she had seven or eight years to get used to it. Scott, however, did not. Too many comments about he used to suck at lacrosse and cheated the whole semester, how he used to have only Stiles as a friend, his mom's income, and Allison breaking up with him had gotten to Scott.

He stomped away with golden eyes, leaving her to deal with Jackson on her own. Since she was still harnessing her own abilities, she just sent Jackson home for the day and then proceeded to go and find Scott. She found him by a small creek, sitting on the bank.

"Hey," she called as she walked over and sat down next to him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he told her quietly. "Just lost control for a second."

"Anyone would have. Jackson's a dickhead. I don't know how he has more two friends," she huffed out a laugh. "Other than me and Danny, I think the rest are just afraid of him."

Scott's lips quirked into a half-smile. "Probably," he hesitated. "Have you, uh, have you heard from Allison?"

Olivia frowned as she thought of her friend. "A couple of nights ago. She's not doing too well. I think Gerard messed her up just as much as her mom's death."

"He's a psycho," Scott agreed. "Did she ask you about me?"

She hesitated, not wanting to hurt his feelings—how had she become this empathetic person? "I'm sorry, Scott, but no," when Scott ducked his head, she reached for his hand and took it, trying to give him as much support as he needed. "I know it hurts but she's going through a tough time. And you're both different people now, you've both changed."

"So does that mean she won't want to get back together?" Scott asked miserably, lifting his head to look at her with wet eyes.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "But, Scott, listen. I know you love her, I know you do. And what you had was amazing and odds-defying. But sometimes relationships don't last. It doesn't mean that those people don't love each other, but sometimes circumstances can alter the path of the relationship."

Scott frowned and looked back at the creek. "I really love her."

"I know," she squeezed his hand. "but sometimes love isn't enough. Then again, I can't predict the future. Allison may come back from France and want to get back together, she may not. I just want you to be ready for whatever she decides, okay?"

"...Okay," Scott said after a minute and then attempted to smile at her, changing the subject only slightly. "Are you a love guru or something, Liv?"

Olivia laughed. "Nah, I'm not so good at love."

"That's not what Stiles says."

"Hey," she slapped is arm playfully. "You guys talk about me?"

"A little too much—ow, Liv!"

Derek sighed reluctantly as he sat Olivia down on her bed, taking a seat in the armchair a few feet away. "Okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but you and Stiles—"

"Oh no. Oh, God, please don't do this," Olivia pleaded with her cousin, her cheeks warming up. "Derek just walk away."

"No, I have to get this out," Derek insisted. "You have no one else to tell you."

"Uh, yes I—"

"Obviously, you and Stiles are in a serious relationship," Derek interrupted her. "and with a serious relationship comes...personal relations."

"Personal relations?" she looked at him in disbelief. "What are you, eighty-five years old?"

"Fine, sex," Derek glared at her. "You and Stiles will start having sex."

Olivia sighed and though she appreciated that he was there to give her advice and take care of her, Natalie had given her and Lydia the typical parental sex talk when they were eleven and twelve and they got their periods around the same time. Then, a few years later, Lydia gave her an actual sex talk after her experiences with some boys and then Jackson—the kind of talk that was rated R and too inappropriate for parents to talk about with their kids.

"Now, you probably won't experience this, because I'm tempted to rip off Stiles arms if he doesn't keep his hands to himself, but," Derek winced, looking more uncomfortable than she felt. "but sex...is...natural."

"Derek, please..."

"Just let me get this out before I lose my nerve," Derek cut her off; Olivia nodded, her lips twisting in amusement. "Under no circumstances are you to have sex without a condom. Only when you're married and want to have a family is when it's accepted to go without."

Olivia hid her smile to nod seriously. "Okay."

"And never, ever do anything you're uncomfortable with," Derek continued. "If you say no, Stiles will stop if he's a good guy. If not, I put pepper spray on your keys and a rape whistle in your purse."

"Oh, God..."

Stiles was not a guy who would put his hands on anyone without their express permission. Usually he was a nervous wreck anyway if they did something sexual. And he was always respectful of her. But, if he was out of his mind or crazy enough to force her into relations—as Derek called it—than she would kick his ass. And then break up with him. She loved him but she loved herself too and she was not going to put up with that.

When Olivia nodded her understanding, Derek cleared his throat. "Now..."

He paused to pull something from behind his back. Olivia's mouth fell open when she saw what he had. "Oh, my God...please tell me that's not a banana and a condom, Der! Oh, my God, it is!" she winced and buried her burning face into her hands. "Please don't do this Derek."

"I want you to learn how to put on a condom."

"I didn't want to say this, but Derek, I've already had this talk, two different times, okay?" her voice was muffled by her hands, but Derek got the gist; he looked horrified. "Lydia even taught me how to put on a condom."

She almost added that she knew how to do it multiple ways, but Derek looked like he wanted to die from embarrassment from what he had already heard.

He glared at her. "Why did you let me ramble on?!"

"I didn't let you ramble on, you kept interrupting me!"

"You're grounded!"

A genuine laugh spilled from Olivia's lips. "You can't ground me!"

"Well, I just did, so there!"

"Top five favorite ice creams. Go."

Olivia blinked in surprise from Stiles' random prompt. They were on the beach, laying on their towels and trying to tan after a dip in the ocean. She raised up onto her elbows—she was laying on her stomach—and looked down at Stiles, from where he was laying on his back, hair halfway grown out and the black ray bans she gave him as a gift on the bridge of his nose.

"I don't like ice cream very much," she told him.

"There's not way you don't like ice cream," Stiles disagreed; she shook her head. "Come on, you don't even like chocolate-chip cookie dough?"

"I don't like raw cookie dough."

"Unbelievable. I'm in love with a heathen," Stiles joked. "So, not one ice cream?"

"I have two that I usually get if I actually want ice cream," she confessed. "I like vanilla and mint."

Stiles looked up at her in disbelief. "Vanilla and mint?" when she nodded, he scoffed. "Sorry, nope, I'm not dating a heathen, I'm dating a senior citizen."

"Hey!" she gently slapped his toned abdomen in offense. "I'm younger than you."

"Your favorite ice cream flavors are vanilla, which is the most basic out of all the flavors, and mint—without chocolate, by the way—which only adults eat. No offense, babe, but you need to live on the edge sometimes."

Olivia pinched his side because of the pet name and laughed. "Living on the edge is eating different ice cream flavors? Wow, what a life you live, Stiles."

He poked her in the cheek. "At least I don't have the personality of an old lady."

"Ouch, that really hurt."

"Hey, I'm just saying," Stiles put his hands up defensively. "All right, how about the worst five moments of your life?"

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "What a serious change of topic."

"Here, I'll pick a new one—"

"No, it's okay," she assured him. She leant toward him more and rested her head on his stomach, facing him. "Number five would be my very first day of school."

"Really?" that surprised Stiles. "You love school, though."

"I do now. Before I started school, I hung out with either Lydia, or Cora, Derek, and Laura," she shared with him. "They were all my heroes and my best friends. And I'm a year younger than Lydia and Cora, so I didn't start school with them and it made me so upset that I threw a fit."

"You, having a tantrum? Wow, I didn't expect that," Stiles commented sarcastically.

"I really was an angel," Olivia went along with him and then went back to the story. "Anyway, my mom started teaching me stuff because she was in college studying to be a teacher. By the time I went to preschool, I was too advanced and I was miserable because Lydia and Cora weren't with me."

"So they let you skip a grade."

Olivia nodded. "I tested out of preschool and went right to kindergarten."

"We had class together," Stiles remembered. "You were quiet."

"And you were weird," Olivia returned with a laugh.

Stiles joined in with her laughter. "All right, what about number four?"

"Number four was when I was seven years old and I realized that I wasn't able to draw," at the look Stiles gave her, she defended herself. "In my defense, I wanted to be an artist back then. And I was not good at art. At all. I was always jealous of Lydia's ability to do anything, especially draw."

"You shouldn't compare yourself to Lydia," Stiles scolded her quietly. "You're perfect, even with all your flaws."

Olivia smiled gently, touched by his words. "Thanks, Stiles."

They kept going with her worst moments in her life. Her third worst moment was when she and Cora got lost in the woods outside of the old Hale House when they were five or so. She had been really scared and Cora hadn't yet mastered her enhanced sense of smell, so they were stuck out there for four hours—when Talia and Peter had found them, they were grounded for two weeks. Her second worst moment was the night of winter formal, when Peter had bitten Lydia and herself.

"The worst moment of my life was when I heard about the fire," she said quietly, tracing the pattern of Stiles' freckles on his stomach. "Everyone but Laura and Derek were in the fire. They came to me and told me what happened. Our whole family was dead, my mom was dead, and my dad barely survived."

Stiles brushed his fingers through her hair; he knew what it felt like to lose a parent and he couldn't imagine what it was like to lose two at the same time—because she had lost Peter, too, even if he wasn't dead. He just turned into a psychotic alpha who wanted revenge without carrying about those closest to him.

"I was lost for a really long time," she admitted quietly. "Derek and Laura left for New York and I was suddenly living with Lydia, Uncle Thomas, and Aunt Natalie. But I eventually got better."

"Yeah, you did," Stiles gazed at her with soft, loving eyes. "and you're the strongest person I know."

"I'm not strong," she denied, avoiding his eyes. "I'm a coward. I hide my feelings away deep down inside of me. I act like a bitch to anyone I don't care about. Most of the time I'm an emotionless robot."

"No, you're not," Stiles sat up and simultaneously adjusted her until she was sitting in his lap. "The people who say you're emotionless don't take the time to pay attention to you. I'm sorry, Livvy, but you're actually very easy to read."

Olivia gaped at him, unsure if she should be insulted or relieved. Maybe it was a little bit of both; she was a little insulted because her emotionless robot mask was a comfort to her and not to mention, something to push away all of her negative feelings. On the other hand, it was special to her that Stiles was able to read her so soundly. The only other people who had been able to were Lydia and Derek but Stiles being able to, the boy she loved...that was amazing.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," Stiles emphasized his words with a quick but loving kiss. "Okay, that's enough seriousness for now."

"Mmm, I agree," Olivia smiled at him.

"So, how about...your top five pizza toppings?"

"Well, number one is pepperoni..."

"Ah, what a classic."

Olivia woke up eight hours after Stiles, Scott, and Allison had fallen unconscious. Lydia and Isaac were sound asleep but Dr. Deaton was awake and there to greet her when she woke up. She was disoriented, the memories with Allison, Scott, Derek, and Stiles going through her mind like flashes.

She didn't tell Deaton about the memories, but instead thought on them. It didn't take long to realize that one of those memories were unlike the other. Derek hadn't been in the ritual like the others, so why did she see him?

It worried her. It worried her so much that she excused herself from the exam room and called Derek. It was Cora who answered the call, shockingly—she had no idea how Cora was better but boy, was she glad that she was. She told Cora that she was worried about Derek and in return, Cora told her just how she hadn't gotten better. Derek had given up his alpha status to heal Cora; he was now a beta again and very, very weak at the moment.

Olivia checked her tethers and she saw that Cora was right. Derek's tether was bright blue again, like the color of his eyes before he killed Peter and became an alpha. It was strange, but it was more worrying than the memory she had. Kali and the twins were supposed to come for Derek before the lunar eclipse and not only was he not an alpha anymore, but he was tired from healing Cora. He was screwed.

She told Cora that she would call back soon before hanging up. Then, she cried. She cried for Derek, she cried for Stiles and Allison and Scott, for Noah, Melissa, and Argent, and finally, for herself.

The whispers in her head were loud and they were pressing. She could no longer focus on anything but the names of her loved ones and the pain that filled her heart from her loss, even if Stiles, Scott, and Allison came back. She had the potential of losing the boyfriend she loved, two friends, and Derek, her protector, guardian, and father-figure for all intents and purposes.

It was not okay. None of this was okay.

Stiles, Allison, Scott...Derek, Derek, Derek...Stiles, Allison, Scott...Over and over, came the whispers until a migraine grew and she fell asleep once again.

She woke up only three hours later, more collected. She stayed seated in between Isaac and Lydia, who had now woken up for the day, and they all listened to assurances from Dr. Deaton that Stiles, Scott, and Allison would be okay. There was worry in his voice but somehow, his words comforted them. Olivia had the feeling that the man could give someone the worst news of their life and still be a comfort.

It was eight hours after the first time Olivia woke up, sixteen hours after they first fell unconscious, when Stiles, Allison, and Scott all woke, sitting up out of the water with loud gasps. Olivia, Lydia, Isaac, and Deaton rushed over to the tubs, the ice long gone, and handed the three of them towels.

"I saw it, I know where it is!" Scott claimed, taking the towel that Lydia held out for him.

Stiles nodded. "We passed it," Stiles confirmed as he climbed out of the tub soaking wet. "There's—there's a stump, this huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore, it was cut down. But it's still big, though, very big."

As Olivia wrapped a towel around him, Scott added, "It was the night we were looking for the body."

"Yeah, the same night you were bit by Peter."

"I was there, too, in the car with my mother," Allison was still sucking in huge gulps of air. "We almost hit someone."

"It was me. You almost hit me," Scott told her; Allison gasped in amazement while he turned to the others. "We can find it."

Olivia, Lydia, and Isaac all exchanged worried looks. It didn't go unnoticed by Allison, Scott, and Stiles.

"What?" Allison asked them.

Isaac was the one to answer them. "You guys were out a long time."

"How long is a long time?" Stiles wondered, glancing between the three of them and then over to Dr. Deaton.

"Sixteen hours," Deaton broke the news.

Scott's eyes widened in shock. "We've been in the water for sixteen hours?"

Dr. Deaton nodded. "And the full moon rises in less than four."

Scott sighed heavily and sat down on the rim of his tub. "I have to go back to the alpha pack."

Olivia gulped uncomfortably and spoke up, "I think I should go with you, too."

Scott looked at her with an understanding expression and nodded slowly.

"No, dude, you are not going back with them," Stiles told Scott firmly before pointing to Olivia. "And you, don't even think about it, all right?"

"I made a deal with Deucalion," Scott reminded him. "And he wants Olivia, too. A lot."

Stiles scoffed. "Does anyone else think that sounds a lot like a deal with the devil?"

"What does it matter, anyway?" Isaac piped up from his seat next to Allison.

"Because I still don't think we can beat Jennifer without their help."

Allison shook her head at Scott's answer and turned to Dr. Deaton pleadingly. "He trusts you more than anyone and Liv is obviously going to agree with him. Tell them they're wrong."

Deaton glanced at Olivia and then Scott. "I'm not so sure they are," he admitted. "Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align yourself with people you'd normally consider enemies."

"So we're gonna trust Deucalion?" Isaac shook his head in disbelief. "The guy that calls himself death, destroyer of worlds? We're gonna trust that guy?

"I wouldn't trust him, no," Deaton advised and gestured to Olivia and Scott. "But you guys could use him to your advantage. Deucalion may be the enemy, but he could also be the bait."

They all paused as they heard the door to the lobby open. Deaton went out first, and when they heard Ethan's voice, Olivia, Lydia, Stiles, and Scott joined him.

"I'm looking for Lydia," he told them.

Lydia looked at him expectantly. "What do you want?"

"I need your help."

Olivia gave him a suspicious look. "With what?"

"Stopping my brother and Kali," he paused only for a second. "from killing Derek."

Olivia lifted her chin, all of her concern for Derek coming back into focus. Stiles, Scott, and Allison were all right, but what about Derek? His tether was still shining bright blue and although it wasn't enough to take all of her focus, his name was still floating around in her head.

"You should go, Lydia," Olivia cleared her throat. She had never liked Lydia's relationship—if anyone could even call it that—with Aiden, but there was at least one benefit from it, other than Lydia's happiness. And it was that Lydia had a hold over him. If she could convince Aiden to not kill Derek, then maybe he had a shot at surviving.

Lydia looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you sure?"

"All day, I've been hearing warnings about Derek," she confessed, glancing at Ethan. "I don't know if he's going to survive or not, but if you can convince Aiden, maybe..."

"We'll turn against Kali," Ethan spoke up in agreement with her. "We won't let her kill Derek."

Lydia didn't think it over very long, but that was Lydia; she was brave. "Okay," she agreed and gave Olivia a quick hug. "Just be careful."

"No, you be careful," Olivia insisted; Lydia smiled at her and when she walked out the door with Ethan, she turned back to the others. "Okay, what's the plan?"

"Just grab anything," Scott told Stiles through the phone as he, Olivia, Allison, and Isaac got out of the elevator in Allison's building and headed to her apartment door. "Stiles, I'm not smelling your dad's boxers. Socks? Okay, I'll smell the socks."

He ended the call and as Allison unlocked the door, Isaac asked, "What about me?"

"See what you can find in my dad's closet," the door opened and they all filed in. "Anything with the strongest scent."

Allison opened the door to her dad's office and stopped in her tracks, making Olivia, who was right behind her, slam into her. In the office was Agent McCall and two deputies, waiting for them at the desk.

"Quite the arsenal your fathers got here, young lady," as McCall spoke, Scott came up behind Olivia and stared at his dad in shock. "Scott."

Scott carefully squeezed past Olivia and Allison to enter the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Following one of the only leads I have," McCall stood from Mr. Argent's desk chair. "Now, since I don't know where you've been, why don't you have a seat and we can talk? You too, Isaac."

Isaac, who had been hiding in the hallway, came and stood next to Olivia. "How do you know my name?"

"Your name's one of the few things I know," McCall told him. "To be honest, the rest of what's going on around here has be stumbling in the dark, even over the smallest clue."

"If you're trying to tell me that you don't have a clue, I learned that a long time ago," Scott glared at his dad.

"I'm really hoping to avoid the embarrassment of dragging my own son into an interrogation room," McCall said firmly, meaning business. "Really hoping."

Olivia, Allison, and Isaac entered the office. Scott and Isaac let Olivia and Allison take the chairs and stood behind them. None of them were taking this very seriously; Isaac was eating some Icebreaker mints, for crying out loud.

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm more than a little disturbed," McCall admitted. "Not only by the number of missing parents, but the fact that it's Stiles' father, your father, and your mother."

Isaac shut his case of mints, popped one more into his mouth, and said, "Mine are both dead."

"Mine too," Olivia added, though, technically, that wasn't true. As far as anyone outside their little supernatural circle knew, Peter had disappeared from the long-term care unit in the hospital and had never been recovered.

"Save the cliché teenage apathy for your high school teachers," McCall glared at them. Olivia narrowed her eyes at him. What a dick. "The four of you know more than you're saying and I'm fully willing to keep you here all night if I have to."

"We don't know anything," Scott emphasized. "Stiles already told you that."

"And you can't keep us here," Olivia glared at the giant McCall, recalling some of the information her Uncle Thomas told her about his job. "Not without some kind of warrant."

Agent McCall gestured to the desk full of weapons. "I've got a desk full of probable cause."

Allison scoffed quietly and stood from her chair. "My father is a highly respected private security consultant and federally licensed firearms dealer. That means he has to own a few weapons," she told them as she stepped toward the desk. She pointed to a large crossbow and then a huge knife. "Like this one hundred and seventy-five-pound tactical crossbow or this carbon steel marine combat knife," she then poked at one of the handguns. ".50AE Desert Eagle..."

She stopped for a moment and hummed before picking up a smoke grenade. "A smoke grenade with pull-ring igniter," she pulled the ring and threw the grenade toward McCall and the deputies. "Go!"

Olivia, Scott, and Isaac all scrambled out of the office after her, ducking to avoid the smoke currently choking up McCall and the others. Olivia, Allison, and Isaac got into Allison's car and Scott sat on his motorbike and drove away from the apartment. They only stopped when they reached the woods, where a sign prohibited entrance to the preserve after dark.

As Olivia got out of the car, a scream ripped its way out of her throat. She didn't even notice that Isaac and Scott immediately covered their eyes, too focused on the feelings that overwhelmed her. Not only had Stiles gotten hurt—and she didn't know how, which worried her all the more—but Lydia was screaming and she felt everything her cousin felt. Someone was dead, more than one person was dead.

"Olivia, what's wrong?" Allison grabbed Olivia's hands, which were covering her ears, and pulled them away from her head as she stopped screaming. "Olivia?"

"Stiles is hurt," Olivia croaked, her throat now in horrible pain from the combination of the garrote and the loud scream that had escaped her. "And Lydia, she screamed. Someone's dead."

"Is it Derek or Stiles?" Scott asked worriedly.

"No, I would have known if it was," the tether that connected her with Derek wasn't lit and Stiles was, though it wasn't a dangerous feeling that came from it. "It's someone else. Maybe one of the alphas."

"I'll call Stiles and you can call Derek," Isaac offered.

Olivia nodded in agreement and pulled out her phone, quickly pressing on Derek's contact to call him.

"Ollie, what's wrong?" Derek answered a hint of panic in his voice. "We were on out way out of Beacon Hills when we heard Lydia scream."

"I think one of more of the alphas are dead," she told him. "Are you okay? Did you get out in time?"

"We did," Derek confirmed. "but we're heading back to the loft now to check on Lydia. I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay, be careful, both of you," Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "Love you."

"Love you, Ollie," both Derek and Cora chorused before ending the call.

"I didn't get anything from Stiles," Isaac walked up to her side, giving her a worried look. "Did you get Derek?"

"Yeah, he's okay for now. He and Cora are going back to the loft to check on Lydia," Olivia told him as Scott and Allison walked over to them. "What if Stiles...?"

"He's not," Scott tried to comfort her. "I don't get it, though."

"Well, we can't wait for him," Isaac decided. "Come on."

They all turned away from the vehicles, only to come face-to-face with Deucalion. "You're cutting it a little close, aren't we, Scott?"

"We got a little delayed," Scott informed him. "Where are the others?"

They knew that one of them, if not all three of them, had died. When Deucalion spoke, he only confirmed it, unbeknownst to him. "Occupying themselves with other pursuits."

Olivia inhaled deeply and steeled her nerves, speaking up, "Well, I've come with Scott to join you. If you'll still have me, of course."

God, I can't believe I'm sucking up to a blind, psychotic, alpha werewolf, she lamented privately.

"Of course, you're still welcome," Deucalion said pleasantly. "You, Scott, and I will made a good team."

Olivia exchanged a nervous look with Scott before he turned to Allison and Isaac. "Okay, get Stiles and then get to the root cellar, okay?" he told them. "We'll keep Jennifer away long enough for you to get them out of there."

"How are you gonna do that?" Isaac wondered.

"I have a plan."

"Sir," Olivia spoke up uncomfortably. "Uh, Mr. Deucalion."

"Please, just call me Deucalion, Olivia," he chuckled pleasantly as they walked through the woods, heading to an unknown location.

"Deucalion, right," she corrected herself, ignoring the half-amused look that Scott was giving her. "I just wanted to know why you wanted me as part of your pack. I mean, other than the fact that I'm an anchoram."

"Anchorams are rare, as you likely know. But what you may not know, is that they are immensely powerful. You've harnessed most of your powers, yes?" he glanced at her, even though he most likely couldn't see her (Scott had told her what Gerard told him about Deucalion; he wasn't always blind).

"Some. I can calm a werewolf down if they're losing control, or use that same ability against them during a fight," Olivia shared her progress. "I know when my pack members are in danger or close to death and I know how to locate them."

"But's only for your pack mates," Deucalion said knowingly. "One day, when you master those abilities, you'll go on until you've unlocked them all."

"What do you mean?"

"At the height of your powers, you will be able to locate any supernatural creature in the world. You'll be able to use their strengths against them, like you do for werewolves now. You can physically make a werewolf lose their lycanthropy, making them human again," Deucalion listed, the most recent ability making Olivia and Scott shared a look of shock. "And, of course, using the banshee side of you, you will be able to predict the death of anyone you hold dear to your heart, not just your pack mates. Every anchoram is different, though."

She could hardly believe the magnitude of her abilities. In all honestly, it sounded like a lot. Maybe too much. "How do you know all of this?"

"My great-great-great-grandmother's mother was an anchoram," Deucalion told her. "Her name was Marguerite Richardson, nee Hale."

Olivia looked at him in surprise. "We're related?"

"Very distantly. I used to be great friends with your aunt."

"Wow."

She honestly didn't know how to react to that.

She and Deucalion fell silent and the three of them continued walking. The storm got progressively worse the more they walked on. The wind was strong, the rain felt like glass against their skin, and it was so dark Olivia was having trouble seeing, using only the outlines of Scott and Deucalion to keep going.

Finally, though they entered a distillery. The one that Derek and Paige used go when they wanted private time.

"You said you had a plan," Deucalion reminded Scott once they were under the protection of the metal roof.

"On the first day of class, Jennifer sent all of us a message. It was the last line from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness," Scott told him. "I got a message of my own to send to her."

He proceeded to take out his phone and gave it to Olivia so she could film him. He stood in front of the revenge symbol that they all had seen many times before, and Olivia started filming.

"See this symbol?" he pointed at the swirl all the while glaring at the camera. "It's a symbol of revenge. You talk about balance, about saving people? We know what you really want...And now, you know where to find us."

Olivia stopped filming and handed the phone back to Scott, who sent the message to Jennifer right away.

"And now, we wait," Deucalion sighed.

They only waited ten minutes until they came. Yes, they; Derek was with Jennifer. It confused the hell out of Olivia. Was Jennifer forcing him onto her side? Was he actually on her side? Was he acting like he was on Jennifer's side to catch her off guard while he was really on their side?"

"Derek," she breathed. "what are you doing?"

"This might be hard to believe, but I'm actually trying to help you both," Derek eyed her and Scott meaningfully.

He was fooling Jennifer, he was actually on their side—not Deucalion's, Olivia's and Scott's side.

"Ooh, like brother against brother...and sister," Deucalion commented, almost tiredly. "How very American this is," he faced Jennifer as he brought together his seeing cane. "Are you ready, Jennifer, hmm? Did you gather your herbs, pray to your ancient gods and your oak trees, slit a baby's throat, perhaps? Should we show them why you needed to sacrifice nine innocent people just to face me? ...Or is it twelve now?"

Deucalion's eyes glowed red and his wolf features appeared on his face. Surprisingly, Derek was the one to make the first move. He swiped his arm at him, but Deucalion simply grabbed the arm, and then the other one. With Derek trapped, Jennifer went up to the plate. Using whatever powers she had, she threw them at Deucalion, expecting them to work.

Except they didn't.

As Scott slipped something into Olivia's hand, she closed her eyes and brought up her tether map. She found Deucalion easily this time, in between Derek's bright blue and Scott's orange tethers. It didn't surprise her, since Deucalion was clearly the most powerful werewolf she'd come across—it made since that he was easy to find. What would be hard, however, was fighting to use his control against him.

She heard grunts and groans from Jennifer and Derek as she focused on Deucalion's deep red dot, which was also larger than her the other werewolves she had come across. Despite how tired she was, both physically and mentally, she used all the power she had left to hit his dot with her bright purple blasts. She hit him but he actually was able to push back against her, forcefully making her take a step back.

She gritted her teeth and raised her hands toward him. She felt her power build within her and she projected it toward him. For a second, just a second, his features started to fade, long enough for Derek to knock him over. Then he was back up and throwing Derek across the distillery and then stomping toward Jennifer and lifting her up by the neck.

He forced her down on her knees in front of Scott. "Kill her," he ordered Scott, his voice demonic. "Do it."

Scott didn't move, though, and that pissed Deucalion off. He roared loudly, so powerfully that Olivia had to fight to stand and Scott dropped to the floor, his wolf features out on display.

"Now kill her," Deucalion demanded once again. "Your parents are dying. That storm you hear, she's burying them alive. It's her connection to the telluric currents. Kill her and it ends."

"It won't end," Jennifer objected forcefully. "Not with me. He'll have you kill everyone you love. It's what he does."

"They're dying, Scott," Deucalion tried to get Scott back on his side. "Your mother and the parents of your best friends. Kill her now and it's over. Become the alpha you were meant to be. Become a killer."

"Scott."

The firm way in which Olivia said her friend's name made him stiffen. She knew that she had given him some control over the shift that Deucalion forced upon him. They both knew that if Scott killed Jennifer, he would no longer be a true alpha. And that was exactly what Deucalion wanted from him.

Scott glared at Deucalion. "They're not dead yet."

"Who's going to save them? Your friends?"

Scott shook his head and said determinately, "My pack."

Deucalion looked at him for only a moment before he threw Jennifer to the side and raced over to Scott, snarling furiously. He grabbed one of Scott's clawed hands and held it up, forcing him to hold it out.

"Maybe you just need a little guidance," he gritted through his teeth, guiding him over to Jennifer.

At once, Olivia had her hands up again, the arrow tip that Scott had given her, which he snagged from Allison's apartment, in one hand. She pulled together her power. Her anger and fear and all that anxiety that had piled up inside adding to it.

She screamed as her power blasted itself into her tether map and right at Deucalion's dot. His grip on Scott immediately faltered so much that Scott managed to free himself and he staggered, blinking rapidly. \

"Scott!"

"I forgot to tell you something," Scott spoke loudly over the grunts that Deucalion forced out of his lips while he struggled to fight off Olivia's attack. "Something that Gerard told me. Deucalion isn't always blind."

At the same time as Scott, Olivia threw her arrowhead at the concrete by Deucalion's feet. Both of the arrowheads were flash bolts; they lit up at contact and Deucalion practically fell on the floor. Olivia winced at the bright light, obviously effected by the bolts, but not like Derek, Scott, and Deucalion were, and dropped her hands, more than a little tired out.

It didn't help that the lunar eclipse had started. Like werewolves lost their power during the eclipse, it appeared that she did too. She leaned one hand against the wall as Derek ran over to her, allowing him to steady her.

On all three werewolves, their features had gone away.

"The eclipse," Deucalion stumbled to his feet. "it started."

They all noticed that Jennifer was gone at the same time. As they all looked over to the entrance of the distillery, Scott whispered, "Oh, no."

Jennifer dramatically entered the distillery, her disguise of a beautiful face gone. She was also wearing a completely different outfit from before, which was pretty weird. Olivia didn't know how she changed within a minute and she had to admit she liked the outfit Jennifer was wearing before more than the one she was wearing now.

She shrieked as she held a handout to Scott and threw him against the wall. She didn't make a move toward Olivia, which had to do with the fact that she was leaning against Derek, but went straight to Deucalion. He fell to the floor and Jennifer was there beside him within a second, grabbing his head and bashing it against the concrete repeatedly.

Blood had started pouring out of the wound at the back of Deucalion's head and his eyes rolled back into his head before Derek interfered. "Jennifer!" she stopped and looked back at him. "He doesn't know."

"Know what?" she growled back at him.

"What you really look like," Derek told her. "He knows the cost of bringing Kali into his pack, but he's never seen the price you paid."

Jennifer paused for a full minute. "No. No, he hasn't," she said finally before turning her attention to Deucalion. She placed her hand over Deucalion's eyes and she must have healed them because he started to scream in pain. When Jennifer released him from her grip and stood up, she ordered him, "Turn to me. Turn to me!"

When Deucalion turned to face Jennifer, his blue eyes were no longer cloudy. Honestly, he didn't react too badly to Jennifer's real face. It didn't seem to be therapeutic for Jennifer like she thought it would be. She changed back to her fake face and pulled her right arm back to finally kill the alpha.

But instead, she faltered. Derek let go of Olivia, gesturing over at Scott to take his place since she didn't have much of her energy back, and walked over to Jennifer and caught her.

"What is this?" she asked weakly.

"Healing him made you weak, just like healing Cora did to me," Derek informed her. "You won't have your strength for at least a few minutes."

"Then you do it," Jennifer's voice broke. "Kill him."

"No."

She looked at Derek, surprised, while Olivia smiled proudly. "What?"

"Like my mother used to say, I'm a predator. I don't have to be a killer," Derek moved his hand from her back up to her neck, squeezing it tightly. "Let them go."

Jennifer struggled with his grip and gained enough of her strength back to throw Derek a few feet away from her. He landed against a random bale of hay and raced to him, punching him forcefully in the face, two times, then three times.

Olivia threw herself out of Scott's arms and into the line of fire. She pushed Derek away, knowing that the eclipse would end at any second, and received the blow that was meant for him to the face. Her head reared by from the hit, but she managed to kick Jennifer away from her.

At that moment, Olivia felt her powers rush back into her body. It felt like a vibration. Something that she had gotten so used to being there, she hadn't noticed it. The eclipse was over and Derek and Scott had their powers back—and so did Deucalion.

Derek flew through the air and hit Jennifer, holding her against the floor. "Your fifteen minutes are up."

Jennifer managed to get up and dodged the attack that Scott gave her. Before either of them do anything else, she had taken some mountain ash from her pocket and threw it around her, creating a barrier that would protect her from Scott, Derek, and Deucalion.

"Like I told you, Derek, either you or the parents," Jennifer said nastily. Apparently all of her "love" for Derek was gone. "Well, I guess I'll just have to take them now. In a few minutes, they'll be dead and I won't need a lunar eclipse, even to kill a demon wolf."

Derek and Olivia exchanged a horrified look. By the time they looked away, Scott had stormed over to the circle of mountain ash and held his hands up, pushing them against the supernatural barrier between him and Jennifer.

"You've tried this before, Scott," Jennifer taunted him. "I don't remember you having much success."

Scott pushed harder at the barrier, his body leaning further and further into it. Blue light streaked past his body as he broke into it, getting a hand through. The more he pushed through the barrier, the brighter his tether looked in Olivia's head, until finally, it turned a deep, alpha-werewolf red.

The barrier fell apart. Scott was an alpha.

Jennifer had fallen to the floor from the small eruption that occurred when the mountain ash barrier broke. She frantically crawled away from Scott, looking up at him with horrified amazement. "How did you do that?"

Scott glowered down at her. "I'm an alpha now," he said powerfully. "Whatever you're doing to cause this storm, make it stop or I'll kill you myself. I don't care what it does to the color of my eyes."

"It won't change the color of mine, so allow me," Deucalion growled as he strode past Scott. With one swift move, he threw his clawed hand forward and slit the length of Jennifer's throat. She choked on her own blood and she slumped down onto the ground, dead. Olivia was not reluctant to admit that she was glad to see Jennifer dead.

As soon as Jennifer's heart stopped, the storm above them ceased. Olivia slowly reached for her pocket, the blood loss from the blow she received on her face from Jennifer making her sluggish, and called Stiles, hoping that he and everyone else was uninjured and safe.

"Olivia?"

"Hi," Olivia sighed in relief from just hearing his voice. "are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay," he confirmed. "We're all okay. What about you and Scott, are you okay?"

Olivia glanced at Scott and Derek, who stood close together discussing something. "Sort of."

"Do you think you and Scott could come and get us?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Great," Stiles huffed out a laugh. "And, uh, bring a ladder."

"I'll get right on that," Olivia giggled. "Hang tight. We'll be there soon."

Derek walked over to her as she ended the call, bent down, and helped her to her feet. He wrapped an arm around her and let her lean all of her weight against him while they walked over to Scott, who was standing in front of Deucalion with a stern look on his face.

"My mother told me you were a man of vision once," Derek told Deucalion, his voice strong. "We're letting you go because we hope you can be that man again."

"But if you're not, then having your eyesight back won't matter," Scott threatened him. "because you'll never see us coming."

With that, the three of them turned around and left the distillery.

Unfortunately, Olivia ended up in the hospital once everything was over. Because of Jennifer's strength, she had a concussion and the bruising around her neck was worse than she, or anyone, thought. She only stayed for one night and by the next morning, she was itching to get out of there. She wasn't a fan of hospitals, especially Beacon Hills Memorial—no offense meant to Melissa.

That morning, only two hours before Natalie was supposed to come and get her checked out, Derek and Cora interrupted her and Stiles' conversation. Just by the looks on their faces, she didn't like what they were going to tell her.

Yeah, she really didn't like it.

Cora was the first to speak. "Ollie—"

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" Olivia interrupted her, recognizing the guilt on her face.

"I am," Cora confirmed with a slight nod. "With Derek no longer an alpha and Boyd gone...I can't stay. I don't really...get along with your friends."

Olivia frowned but ultimately, she knew Cora had found a good life down in South America where she had been living for the past six and a half years. She was going to miss her fiercely, especially since she just discovered that she was alive, but she had to let Cora go so she could be happy.

"You'll call, right?" Olivia asked finally.

"Of course I will," Cora leaned forward and gave her a goodbye hug. "I love you, Ollie."

"I love you, too," she said as Cora pulled back. She looked at Derek and added, "Let me guess, you're going with her."

"Just dropping her off," Derek corrected her. "Peter's coming too."

"And you're coming back?" she checked, a little worried that they wouldn't be back and she'd lose her Hale family members all in one go.

Derek heard her heart start to race. "We'll come back," he confirmed taking her head and squeezing it. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you," Olivia finished the quote, thanking whatever supreme being that was out there for Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, and the friendship that came out of Captain America: The First Avenger. "I love you, Der."

"I love you, too, Ollie," he promised. "We'll send Stiles back in. Remember what I told you—"

"Wear a condom, yeah I got it."

"Actually, I was going to remind you about the pepper spray and rape whistle."

"Get out of here!" Olivia took the paper cup she had been drinking out of and threw it at Derek, who caught it easily.

Derek laughed and he and Cora left the room, giving her one last goodbye. Her smile slipped from her lips as she watched them walk away, but she wasn't able to be sad for long. Stiles had waltzed right back into the room and took his seat on the chair next to her bed.

"So," he grinned at her. "We defeated Jennifer and Deucalion is no longer his evil self. You know what that means?"

"No, but I bet you're going to tell me," she smiled back at him.

Stiles chuckled. "I am. It's time to get engaged."

"Ha! Very funny, sweetcheeks."

(Gif is not mine)

#teen wolf rewrite #stiles stilinski x oc #stiles stilinksi x reader #teen wolf #stiles stilinski #stiles stilinski fanfiction #teen wolf fanfiction #stiles stilinski x original character

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dimensionwriter · 5 years

Text

Mechanical Heart

Part 5

M! Robot x F! Reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

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This was awkward. This was beyond awkward and there was nothing you could do to stop it.

"So this is my, well I guess our, home," you said splaying your hand out to you house. You weren't exactly rich, so your house wasn't filled with the most lavish things.

You had a black couch that could barely seat 3 people with a white rug that had a few stains on it from spilled drinks. Your tv wasn't gigantic, but was durable and looked quite nice on your tv stand.

"So, this is the living room," you walked past the couch and went to a light brown wooden door," and this is my kitchen."

You went to glance at Axel, but he wasn't there. Spinning around, you saw that he was still in the corner of the room next to the door.

You squint your eyes to see that he had something written on his face. Is he really going to make you walk all the way over there to read it?

"Axel, come on," you said beckoning him over with your hand. He didn't move from his spot in the corner. He looks as if he was trying to take up as little space as possible.

With a long and exhausted sigh, you took giant steps over to him. He tense up and took a step back.

"I do not require a tour of the house. I can stay in this corner until we need to leave for work," he wrote in dark grey times new roman. This font was so boring. Maybe, it's a reflection on his view of life. Nothing but business.

"I'm not going to leave you in the corner like you're some potted plant," you snickered imaging him with a plant on top of his head. Reaching out, you grabbed his hands. Feeling the smooth cool metal press against you skin caused a slight buzz to shoot up your arm.

"Come on," you said using all you strength to pull him. And him being Axel, didn't even budge a single inch. He remains stiff as he started typing a new message.

"Just think of me as an immobile potted plant until work," he said in a light grey colour. Your head tilted as you read that over again. He just made a joke.

"You're breathing, I think, moving, and thinking being. So, no, you are not a plant," you yelled digging your heels into the ground trying to get him to move. He was like a bolder secured down by diamonds.

"I do not require the necessity to breath," he inquired with a slight tilt of his head. You thought he was getting interested in conversation, so you tried to catch him off guard by running to the back and pushing on it. Fail, barely moved the fabric on his jacket.

"Well, can you at least sit on the couch? I feel bad leaving you here in the corner," you pleaded from behind him. You gave a final shove and he actually move. But the thing was, you weren't expecting him to actually move.

A loud thump echoed through your house as your body collided with the ground. Axel stopped moving towards your couch and turned around slowly.

"I'm okay," you groaned lifting up a shaky hand to give him a thumbs up. Your ribs are going to be sore in the morning.

Axel's black hand moved downward towards you and wrapped around your forearm. His grip tighten causing his digits to lightly dig into your skin.

With one smooth pull, Axel had you off the ground and onto your wobbly feet. You used your free hand to balance yourself by placing it on his chest. Ah, there's that six pack.

"Axel, you can't go around throwing a human body as if it's a rag doll," you scolded trying to find your balance. First, falling downward then instantly being yanked upwards, really does a number on your stability.

"Apologies if any damage was done to your flesh or internal organs," he wrote in a tinier font. That was a really weird way of wording. Sometimes, you forget that androids and humans have different components.

"It's fine. Just, sit on the couch while I get ready for bed. I'm exhausted from work," you dismissed waving him towards the black couch. That hot shower was calling your name and so was that bed.

Axel nodded obediently and moved smoothly to the couch. He seem to try to move as little as possible as he went to the sit. The couch barely even moved as he put his body on it.

"Well," you drawled out staring at his stiff form. His back was straight as a plank of wood. He wasn't even leaning back into the couch. "I'm going to go take a bath now. Make yourself at home, since it's kind of yours."

He just gave a quick nod before facing forward. His screen turned darker, almost as if he was going into sleep mode. Well, guess androids need rest too.

"Night Axel," you said walking past the light switch and going towards your room. If he wanted the lights off, he can turn it off. It would be rude to turn it off on him if he still wanted it on.

Axel waited until he could hear your water running to move again. It was a new surrounding, so of course he had to check it out. Just to be sure.

He moved as lightly as possible as he went to the kitchen you were trying to show him earlier. He pushed open the light wooden door.

It revealed a small kitchen with mostly white colours. One of the corners of the counter was chipped, seem to have been that way for years.

A small door stood in the corner of the room. He was almost certain it was a food closet or pantry as some called it. But he had to make sure his human partner wasn't hiding anything.

Opening the door slowly, he peeked into the small room. There was a bunch of food products lining the shelves. Humans are so odd. They know how much nutrition they require, yet they have so many forms of food that doesn't reach it or have more negative impactful than beneficial.

He closed the door quietly and left the small room. There was a hallway with two doors on the right with one on the end. Glancing at them, he decided to go to the first one since it was closest.

He opened the door as quietly and quickly as he could to prevent any squeaks. The room seemed to some sort of guest room that got turned into a storage area. There were loads of boxes and random junk in it.

He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. He turned over to night vision mode to get a good look at everything in it.

All the boxes were clear. Most of them held either random unused objects or items that seem to be used that were broke. Why didn't the human just throw them away? Somehow, a few of the items seem familiar. Maybe seen on tv or being used by other new human officers.

He turned around to see that the door was open. Not only that, but it was his human partner. She stood in the door with quite the lack of clothing, only a towel tightly wrapped around her. A gun was held in her hands and was pointed at his head.

You reached your hand out to reach for the light switch. You could see the outline of the person trying to blend in with the boxes. Well, too bad for them. They broke into the wrong house.

"You are under arrest for break in and- Axel," you said in shock as light finally flooded into the room. He stood completely still as he stared at you. You wait for something to type of his face, but nothing did.

"Why are you standing in the dark in my closet?" You asked confused. He stood there for a little bit before taking a step forward.

"I was assessing the new area," he typed quiet slow. You face scrunched up in confusion. So, he's saying that he was just simply looking around.

Maybe he doesn't want you with him when he looks around. He is used to working alone, so he may be overwhelmed since he spent his entire day stuck to a person.

"I understand. Check out everything, but not my bedroom. That's my area," you said jokingly narrowing your eyes at him. He nodded his head before going still again.

"Well, I'm going to go take my bath again," you said taking a step back. A slight whirring noise emit from him as he stuck his hand out to you. You stop you movements while quirking up an eyebrow.

"How did you know I was moving?" He wrote quickly. You read it again before smiling.

"This house is old. It was built before the techno houses were built, so there's some problems with it. My bathroom lights flicker every time someone opens and closes a door. So when it flickered four times, I knew someone was moving around in my house," you explained locking your gun. Your words appeared on the screen before disappearing. Guess he was taking note of you again.

"I'll withhold this information," he wrote quickly, almost sloppily since the bottom lining of the words were uneven. Glancing down at his right hand, you noticed that he was gripping his leather jacket tightly. Okay?

"Well, I'll leave you to 'assessing' then," you said awkwardly grabbing your towel to lift it up. You flickered off the light and slowly shut the door on the android. He didn't move a single gear and just stared blankly at you.

The door clicked shut and you could hear the jerk in electricity from your bathroom. Guess Axel wasn't planning on being found out. He must doubt your skill, you are very aware of your surroundings.

You were about to turn around and leave to get to that warm, comforting shower, but a neon pink light flared from under the closed door. You ran to the door in panic to make sure your partner was okay.

A loud and increasing buzz followed the room making you stop mid motion. You recognized that sound. It was earlier today at the woman's house when you didn't follow his order when he was worried.

That's it, you need answers.

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" Screw wrote slowly in gold cursive font. They were sitting in Danny's desk, who was gone at the moment, and had their screen leaning on their open palms. Their three fingers were tapping lightly on the screen and the other hand was busying itself with a black pen that had Danny's name on it.

"Okay, so as you can clearly tell I am not human. I am not able to read non-human emotions," you drew out trying to get them to pick up on your hint. All you got was Screw's black screen.

"If you are asking for some type of book on android's emotions, you won't find one. Each android is different in their own way," Screw wrote while rolling their wrist in a bored continuous manner as they continued to write. "You just have to learn how they are."

You let out a loud groan and sunk deep into the office chair. How are you supposed to read Axel? He is the equivalent of a brick wall that only does something interesting when you are not looking. You can maybe guess when he's happy, in about 10 years.

A light tap on your nose brought you out of your pit of despair. Screw pointed to his screen as a way of saying listen, or read?

"Are you trying to read Axel? If so, good luck. He's a pretty serious machine that only really focuses on his work. He even stated, don't take any offense to this, 'emotions were made to be with humans, which is why they struggle so much. In their struggle is where I shall succeed.' Your eyebrows dropped in slight disgust at the quote. You were so worried about appearing speciest to your partner when in reality it was the other way around.

"I can tell you're judging him. What Axel meant is that he doesn't want emotions to get in the way of his job because he feels that it would hinder him."

An image downloaded onto their face. It was an old cartoon drawing of a train on a track that slowly divided into two. On one track was a bunch of tied up people and on the other was one singular person. On the bottom of the image was the text that read, 'Choose a path'.

"This picture was something use a long time ago to get humans to question their morals. While humans will think to take out the single person, even if they don't want to. Axel will think to derail or stop the train, even if he has to destroy his body. He doesn't want to feel fear, doubt, or anything negative that could stop him from succeeding his missions. He would rather be stone cold and be the best than full of life and face the consciences of failing."

Screw stopped scrolling on his paragraph. You glanced again at some parts as you let it sink in. Guess that's a good explanation for his lack of emotions.

"But here's the thing, I think Axel is showing emotions," you exclaimed helplessly as you felt more confused. How was someone that was trying so hard to distant himself from something, but still continues to return to them?

"What?" Screw wrote in bold red font. A loud shrill came from their neck that caused you to flinch from the high pitch sound. Screw slammed their hand over their neck as a slight pink colour started to bleed into their words. "Sorry, that shocked me."

"There. That sound you just made and the pink colour on your words. He does that. He also flashes a neon pink light and his words have a red gradient when I'm being annoying or something," you rambled on and on, listing all the times you noticed his drift away from his normal boring grey new roman font. It felt great to actually talk to someone about it.

"I knew that scrap of metal was going to start showing emotions. No one, machine or not, can remain blank like that," they wrote out quickly while jumping out of their seat. Speed walking to a computer in the corner of the room, Screw's screen seem to darken in concentration.

"What are you trying to do?" You asked turning around in your chair to look at them. They gripped the end of their golden suit and bunched it around the forearm.

Their screen spun 180 degrees around and stopped at your angle. A startled scream slipped out of your mouth at the creepy motion. You keep forgetting what these things can do, even if it can be creepy as hell.

"I know I said there isn't a book on android's emotion, but I do have access to all the coding of every android that works under me. So if I can check all of his most recent coding, I can see if I can translate it into something that can be interpreted into something similar to a human's emotion. I would probably need a few hours to see it and to get a time on when it started. Then I should be able to contact you when-"

The entire screen disappeared making you let out an irritated groan at missing the ending. You need to speed read when it comes to Screw. They write so much. But they usually give you time to read it all, so what made them delete it?

A hand clamped down harshly on your shoulder. Fear and dread dripped down your spine as you recognized the firm matte digits. You had a feeling on why Screw deleted his words.

"Hey Axel. I thought I told you to wait in our office," you said too sweetly as you looked up at his screen. He somehow changed clothes from when you arrived. Today, he had on a white shirt with a black breast pocket. His pants were a little more unique which the left side being black and the right being dark red. The iconic black jacket was thrown on with his gun holster lying lazily on his hips.

"We should have started patrol 2 minutes ago. I tried to give you a few more minutes, but crime doesn't stop for us," he wrote slowly. His screen turned towards Screw for a second before looking back down at you.

Did he read what Screw wrote? No, Screw is definitely smart enough and deleted it in time. No need to worry.

"Ah, well I guess I can talk to Screw later…about getting a company car so it can fit you a little easier," you lied quickly. To add a little whipped cream on top, you widen your smile and batted your eyelashes. Please take this as not being suspicious.

"I do not require that," he wrote in a dark grey font. The font was still the same old Times New Romans, but the edges seem to be a little bit more pointed. Is he making the font his own?

"Oh, well I just wanted to make sure you're comfortable too. You are my partner so I'm going to be worried about you," you said honestly. You kind of hated when Axel dismissed himself as if he didn't deserve to be treated like equals.

"You know what. I think we are done here for now. Let's go Axel," you exclaimed jumping out of the chair. You grabbed Axel's dangling hand and yanked him towards the door. Luckily, he moved along with you and didn't just stand rock solid.

As you speed walk to the exit, you turn slightly around and threw a quick wink at Screw. By the time you finish with your patrolling, they should be done with the coding. You will finally be able to understand your partner. And maybe be able to finally connect with him.

"Sure," you read as you glanced at Axel's screen. The bottom of his words were tinted pink as he tilted his screen down at your entwine hand.

"Then let's go," you said cheerfully dragging him out of the door. You just have to make it through patrol and then you get your prize.

Part 6

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It may have been 10 years since the last chapter of in this series, but I did it. I really missed Axel and I’m glad I got a chance to come back to my boy. Anyway, please remember to comment on anything you liked about this chapter, this really helps inspire me and I love to look at them. Please like and look out for a part 6 in the future. The next story I put out may not be an addition to any of the series I’m doing. Love you guys and enjoy the rest of your day.

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love-of-fandoms · 4 years

Text

Cherry Blossoms (Hanzo Shimada + OC) Interlude

Between Chapters 5 and 6 of Cherry Blossoms (Master List)

Pairing: Alpha Hanzo + Omega OC

Word Count: 1035 words

When Danny awoke the next morning, she was surprised to see that a blanket had been thrown over her. In any other instance, she would assume that Jesse had placed it over her, but he was snoring below her.

Another surprise was the glass of water on the coffee table in front of her and a couple of aspirin. She groaned, reaching for it and quickly downing the pills and the water.

“Fuck,” she muttered, getting off of Jesse as gently as she could and stumbling over to the kitchen. When she looked back at her adopted elder sibling, however, she grinned devilishly. In the place of his normal stetson was a dark pink fedora. Genji had done wonderfully. Danny noticed that Törbjorn was no longer where he had passed out the night before, and Reinhardt was slowly coming to.

Looking around, she didn’t see any more aspirin for the warrior, so she got the next best thing, a hot cup of coffee. As she waited for the coffee to be ready, she put the kettle on the stove, craving some tea.

Once the coffee was ready, she put a spoonful of sugar in it, which was how the crusader usually took his coffee, and then gently placed it next to Reinhardt. He smiled thankfully at her, raising the cup in a ‘cheers’ motion before bringing it to his lips.

A little later, people began wandering into the common area, including Genji and Hanzo. They joined Danny where she sat on a couch near Jesse, waiting for him to wake up with a hot cup of tea in her hands.

“Good morning,” she murmured to the pair, and Genji echoed it while Hanzo just grunted. “Hey Genji?” Danny called, and he hummed in question. “Who put out the aspirin for me this morning?” she asked, and Genji smirked a bit, his eyes dashing over to his brother. Hanzo coughed, and when Danny turned to look at him his eyes were averted and there was a slight dusting of pink on his cheeks. “Oh,” she said, and then smiled brightly at the archer. “Thank you!” she went to give him a quick hug, before thinking better of it and letting her arms drop back to her sides awkwardly.

“You’re welcome,” Hanzo rasped. “Are you feeling alright?” he asked, surprising Danny. This was the most he had actually spoken with her at one time.

“Y-yeah,” she stuttered, feeling heat rise to her cheeks, and she took a sip of her tea to try to hide it. “My head hurts a little bit, but yeah,” Hanzo nodded, giving her a soft smile-or at least, his version of a smile. A barely there quirk upwards of his lips before he was scowling again. She smiled shyly back.

A groan from Jesse got Danny’s attention, and she and Genji shared a smirk as he slowly sat up.

“Ugh,” he groaned, his flesh hand rubbing down his face, and he stumbled to his feet and over to the kitchen. There were a couple giggles trailing in his wake as he made his way through the common area, but he paid them little mind. Even Hanzo had a small smirk on his face as he watched the cowboy walk around in a pink fedora.

“Mission accomplished,” Danny muttered to Genji, who chuckled and nodded.

“How long until he notices?” he asked, and Danny shrugged.

“Probably before lunch, but it’s everyone saying it’s his normal hat that’ll really fuck with him,” she answered, and Genji hummed in acknowledgement.

Danny’s prediction had been right. About an hour before lunch, Jesse had come running into the common area, going straight for Danny. She was sitting with Genji and Hanzo, watching a random home renovation show, and she glanced up as he approached.

“What’s wrong, Jesse?” she asked, and he just glared at her, hands on his hips. The fedora was still on his head. Danny sighed, turning in her seat to fully face him. “What?”

“What did you do to my hat?” he growled, and Danny tilted her head, face scrunching in faux confusion.

“I don’t understand,” she said, looking to Genji, who had turned as well and was looking at Jesse with the same puzzled face.

“Jesse, I think you’ve lost it,” Genji said, pointing to the fedora. “Your hat’s on your head,” Jesse scowled, tearing the hat off.

“This ain’t my hat!” he argued, but Angela, who had been sitting on a couch with Reinhardt, piped up.

“Jesse, are you alright?” she asked, and the cowboy turned to her, the anger on his face shifting to confusion.

“Huh?”

“That’s the same hat you always wear,” she said, and Jesse shook his head.

“But-but-” he went to argue, but Danny walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“That drinking must’ve messed you up, huh?” she asked, face the picture of concern. Jesse’s brows pinched together. “Why don’t you go rest?” it was difficult for everyone to keep a straight face, since Jesse’s own face fell, and his lost expression almost prompted Danny to give up the ghost. Instead she directed him to the entrance.

“Y-yeah,” Jesse muttered, walking down the hallway to his room. Once he was out of earshot, Danny turned back to Genji.

“Phase two?” she asked, and he nodded.

When Jesse woke from his nap, he reached a hand out to his bedside table for his hat, and was surprised to find his stetson sitting on the table. He was sure it had been a pink fedora… had that been a dream? He put it on and stumbled out of his room, knocking on Danny’s door.

“Come in!” she called, and Jesse swung the door open, seeing Danny watering one of her plants. She turned to him with a bright smile. “Hey, you feeling better?” she asked, and Jesse’s brows furrowed.

“Uh… yeah,” he muttered, even though now he was more confused than he had been before.

“That’s good!” Danny cheered, taking his arm and beginning to lead him to the kitchen. “It’s almost time for dinner!”

It would be a couple more years before Genji and Danny told Jesse that he hadn’t hallucinated the whole event.

Chapter 6

#Pranks #Overwatch #A/b/o overwatch #overwatch fanfic #Hanzo Shimada #Alpha Hanzo #a/b/o verse #Alpha Jesse Mccree #Jesse McCree #Genji Shimada #Fluff #Hanzo fic #Hanzo x oc #cherry blossoms overwatch

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donotexterminateupgradepudding · 5 years

Text

Defining the relationship between the 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald - part 3.

Oh goodness, I’ve made it to a part 3 and I’m not even through season 8. Oof. I had to cut myself off since the season finale for 8 is critical to understanding the Doctor and Clara’s relationship since their true colors [feelings] come out in these two episodes. But before getting to Clara and 12, we need to tackle Clara and Danny.

And this brings us to “Dark Water” which starts out with Clara talking to Danny on the phone. Recall, that the last episode had Danny giving a soft ultimatum to Clara to go home and do her marking before they talked again about their relationship and his expectation of her being honest with him. She spent that evening with the Doctor and was not alone marking or thinking about Danny and their relationship at that time.

For this important phone call it is clear that she’s very stressed out about this and she’s got a bunch of post-it notes up on her bookshelf to try to help her get through this phone call. As soon as Danny picks up and answers, she tells him to shut up, he laughs at her teasing if this is how they are communicating now and she replies by telling him to shut up more.

Her repetitive use of “shut up” is a direct copy of the Doctor’s quirk when he’s stressed out. As well established by this point, Clara is talking to Danny like how the Doctor would talk to others ~ think back to “The Caretaker” where the Doctor says the exact same thing to Danny and other times as well.

So even though Clara is a different person and a more socially adept individual, she’s starting to act more like the Doctor.

Danny is clear to her that he’ll be there in a few minutes and he can talk to her then to which she responds, no, not while you are in the room. Danny retorts back that is suggestion is stupid.

She then tells him to “Stay. Shut up.” Again, a very 12th Doctor thing to state. So that she can tell him the truth, she wants for him to stay in place so she can say all that she needs to say uninterrupted by his actual presence. A bit harsh and detached, but this is quite telling, her love for Danny is a sort of concept for her that is abstract. She can’t address the love to him directly.

She is very nervous. She wants to get this right.

Danny keeps asking if it were better if he were there, but this is something that she feels might be better without him around. Her notes are all in relation to her travels with the 12th Doctor and only one reference to 11, “impossible girl”.

She tells him that not all of what she has to say is good, but she is searching her notes to decide what to say next . . .

There is a reference to the mechanical man from the Victorian period and the dinosaur murder, “Psi” and “Saibra” from the bank robbery, Madame “Vastra” with her being the “impossible girl” in the newspaper ad as well as “Robin Hood”.

Her notes also cover her conversation with “Maisie” as well as using her as bait, “Jenny”, “Courtney on the Moon” and the fact she will become the President, the “Boneless” (as named by the Doctor) her “lying . . .”

her notes aren’t quite in a clear order - what is interesting is that the Doctor’s note is by itself and next to a picture of Danny who is a bit out of focus and recessed compared to the Doctor front and center. There are also more mentions of “Miniature Clara” from going into the Dalek, Rusty the 2nd (Rusty the 1st was in Utah in 2012 with 9 and Rose), “Kill the Moon”, and “Karabraxos”.

She keeps looking at her notes as she stumbles and struggles to find her words . . . this is a huge deal. Clara and the12th Doctor are two people who are never at a loss for words. They can easily weave words with little effort 99% of the time. The fact that Clara Oswald is tongue tied indicates she’s very emotional.

She finally grabs the “Just say it” note which is next to “truth” [underlined] and “three months” with other notes including “Rupert Pink/Dan, Dan the Solider man”, “Robin Hood” and “rob the bank”, “lying” [underlined twice], “the teller” and “Orient Express”. Randomly, she also has a hyperscape body swap ticket hidden among the items clearly from her travels, does this mean anything? Or a reference to their travels not covered in the show? Interestingly, “three months” appears on two post its.

I think one of those is the amount of time that she was angry at the Doctor between “Kill the Moon”, their break up and “Mummy on the Orient Express” their make up. The next three months is likely from their make up until “In the Forest of the Night” when Danny calls her out on how she supposedly hadn’t seen the Doctor for months.

Gathering all of her courage she with the post it, she says it.

With this, she says “I love you”. This time without Danny in front of her she tries to make her full point as how this is different.

Danny: I love you.

Clara: No, not like that. Not like it’s automatic. Not like it’s how you end the phone call, the sign off, the pat on the back.

Danny: Clara . . .

Clara: I will never say those words again, not to anybody else, ever. Those words from me are yours now.

Danny is now stunned and confused as he slows down and can’t think of what to say.

She then tries to fill the awkward silence as she explains there is more as she puts the note back and becomes nervous as she asks him to speak to her, since “this is, this . . . is killing me.”

She then goes to tell him again that she loves him and he’s going to be the last person ever to hear him say that.

Of course the random woman picks up his phone and tells her that she’s so sorry as Clara sprints to the scene of the accident and some time later is just standing in the road at the same spot a day or so later?

Clara is then in her apartment with flowers and condolence cards as she dials the Doctor - who is no longer a stick insect on her phone. Is this an upgrade for him since she now has him as a person and not insect? But he doesn’t have a picture so perhaps she got rid of the picture for Danny? By telling Danny she loved him, she changed the Doctor’s picture?

Clara’s Grandma tries to comfort her by telling her that she should cry and it was terrible. But Clara can’t see that, she sees it as boring, ordinary, how it was nothing. Danny died and everyone went about their business . . .

Her Grandma tries to reason that Danny deserved better and so does Clara, she retorts that nobody deserves anything, including herself. Instead, she is “owed” better. Who owes her, her Grandma asks right as the Doctor picks up the TARDIS phone as she tells him it is the same old same old. The Doctor then asks what he can do for her - and it is clear that she will make the Doctor owe her something.

Immediately upon entering the TARDIS she tells the Doctor that she wants to go away as he asks for context “work, kids, dullness” etc. Instead, as she walks around collecting TARDIS keys, she says she wants to see a volcano, but the Doctor thinks it is pretty lame.

Clara then asks if he has the sleeping patches and he refuses to let her have one. She uses the patch to knock out the Doctor who wakes up in front of a giant sea of lava as she tells him that he told her what it takes to destroy a TARDIS key, lava. Clara threatens the Doctor by revealing that she has all 7 of the keys and she throws one into the lava as the reveals that Danny Pink is dead. He will fix this. He refuses and she holds up another key before she tosses it into the lava.

The most interesting aspect of their conversation is that she tells him that he can change time as she has seen it. He reminds her that this creates a pardox which destroys her timeline so he must refuse her. Her argument is that he doesn’t care about rules - which is true, what she is missing is that he cares about her. The Doctor will refuse her since he doesn’t want to hurt Clara.

Doctor: in reference to time - I know when I can and I know when I can’t. Throw away the key.

Clara: I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to take control.

Doctor: I am in control. Throw away the key. Do as your told!

Clara: No!

Doctor: While either do as you’re told, or stop threatening. There really isn’t a third option here!

Clara: You know what Doctor, when it comes to taking control, you really are out of your depth.

They continue to escalate with the one remaining key as they argue, the Doctor tells her to do as she’s told and she just cries back no, the Doctor tells her she won’t do it as he reaches out to stop her and the key flies into the lava and the TARDIS chimes its alarm bells.

She then breaks down as the Doctor looks distressed as she collapses to her knees crying.

As she begins to cry he at first backs away unsure what to do. He wants to comfort her, but he pulls back.

Clara then continues to cry as she asks him why he’s just standing there? He knows what she’s just done and his mannerism then shifts. He softens as he turns to look back at her.

He really goes through a range of emotions as he looks to his left and the right to her as he’s clearly trying to hold back something. The Doctor’s face is very contorted as he frowns and looks like he’s about to cry before he begins to tell her to look in her hand.

He is trying to hard to stay calm in the situation. Clara is too upset to notice the facial gymnastics he displays in this instance. We see a lot of emotions on his face.

He finally gets her to look at her hand and realize she has the patch in her palm. The Doctor then explains it isn’t a sleep patch, it induces a dream state where she acted out her scenario. As he removes it from her hand it reveals she threw all the keys around the console of the TARDIS. This then explains why he shifts to smiling as he tells her to look at her hand. Even though she is in a dream state, her interaction with him was in real time. In her dream state he reaches out towards her and holds her right hand in his left as he gently removes the patch.

I’m sure the way they hold their hands isn’t just by accident, he almost cradles her hand in his as he “wakes” her up. If this were meant to be a cold interaction, he would have just grabbed her by the wrist and yanked it out - instead he is so soft in the way that he handles her . . . he doesn’t want to hurt her and likely let her know he supports her.

So a few points to ponder from Clara’s lava TARDIS key dream state;

i.) Clara has to be incredibly upset and not thinking as she normally does. She damn well knows that one does not need a key to open the TARDIS door! She herself can snap her fingers and the TARDIS door will open or close, in addition to the Doctor himself. Clara is so grief stricken she lashes out at the Doctor without even thinking about it. This is how upset she is.

ii.) Does Clara have a ring that matches the Doctor? As she holds up the keys in the dream state, she has a gold ring with a green-ish stone in the center on her left pinky finger. This looks quite similar to the Doctor’s ring that he wears on his left hand on his ring finger, also gold with a darker colored stone in the center. She also has a band ring on her left middle finger as well as two more rings on her right hand as above when he removes the patch. We don’t really get a good look at the rings on her right hand, but the camera and focus really seems to highlight the one ring on her left pinky.

I don’t have the time to go back and look at Clara’s outfits in all the previous episodes but this one really visually makes sure that we focus on her hands.

Now, back to the action.

He tells her that he was curious to see how far she’d go - which she realizes was very far and they now both know. She, currently frozen in place asks him what this means about them, what happens between them now as he fiddles with the TARDIS console not answering her at first.

She asks him again, and he replies by saying “Go to hell” and Clara says “Fair enough”. The shot then zooms out to show her not having moved the entire time and the Doctor across from her clearly upset based on his body language.

He’s leaning forward and looking away from her. When the 12th Doctor is upset it shows in his posture, he leans and sways when upset as he tries to process his emotions.

Clara then turns away and walks to the exit. The Doctor is confused and walks after her, he tells her that she asked him what they were going to do and he told her.

They are going to hell or where ever people go when they die and with honestly and maybe again holding back some of his tears . . . since his eye looks a little wet in the corner there, he’ll help bring him home. He can’t make eye contact with Clara when he’s speaking until he says this last bit. The rest of the time he’s just staring off as he is speaking. This is hard for the Doctor.

Right after this, he has his own emotional malfunction. He immediately smiles like this - the fake-est smile possible from him!! Oh he’s trying so hard to look supportive of Clara here! You are a terrible liar at times Doctor, when you have a personal connection to someone you cannot lie well.

But he can’t hold this flash of a fake smile for long as as he looks away from Clara he has his own sad smile here. This is how he really feels, this is his introspective sad smile. He’s lost Clara to Danny and in order to make her happy, he’s going to feel sad and it is exactly like Clara on the Orient Express.

Clara then finally is able to speak after he discusses investigating the afterlife.

She shakily responds trying to hold back her tears as she asks that he’s going to help her as he replies that of course he’s going to help her.

Clara struggles to respond. As an unusually eloquent speaker herself all she can say is incomplete and he cuts her off by saying she betrayed him.

He tells her how she betrayed his trust, their friendship, everything he ever stood for and he shouts out, barely keeping his emotions under control as his voice cracks “You let me down!” Still shocked, Clara can only ask why are you helping me? For dramatic effect he says why from behind the TARDIS console as he approaches her as he says one of his heaviest lines

Do you think that I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?

As he finishes that statement he looks at her like this, with such softness in his eyes. This is how much he loves her.

As he looks at her, crying before him, he’s not sure how to react. He panics and tells her to stop it with the eyes, he doesn’t know how to handle it when she gets very emotional in front of him and he blurts how how uncomfortable he is by observing how her eyes inflate as she cries before him. Clara’s crying is making him upset and he likely is close to crying so he needs to stop himself before he gets swept up in it too. He turns his back to her as he composes his thoughts as he tells her to stop whining as this is one of their darkest hours. He’s right in front of her as he says the following:

“let’s see what we’re made of, [dramatic pause] you and I.”

He delivers these lines in a whisper as he leans in towards her, at eye level since he’s a few steps lower than her, so they can meet eye to eye.

The equal footing, the whisper, this is no ordinary way to speak to each other, it has a level of intimacy and urgency to it. As they lock eyes, he then nods in the direction of the console and he runs up to it as she follows a bit reluctantly.

The Doctor then fiddles with the controls so that he can remove all of the navigation locks and she can use the telepathic interface again. She and Danny are tightly linked through their time streams, they discuss how as a result of that she should be able to find him if he is anywhere.

This time their body language and physical interaction couldn’t be more different than the previous time they used the interface. First off, he’s much bolder, he gets square behind Clara as he grabs her right hand with his as he leads it towards the interface and his left hand is on her arm as she reaches forward with her left.

Already, instead of being beside her, he’s right behind her. He also doesn’t take his time, he’s in a hurry as he rushes her to use it. She tells him that she doesn’t deserve him as a friend. He leans towards her as he speaks to her left ear as he apologies that he is exactly the friend that she deserves.

To be this close to her, he is clearly in physical contact with her, he’s pressed up on her back and he leans into her to push her forward to the console.

Let’s pause here before moving on - like holy crap! This entire scene is so contradictory.

To sum it up with my understanding of events, as a somewhat serious and sarcastic summary. Please keep in mind this is my reading of their conversation and actions.

Doctor - I love you too much to care that you would hurt me.

Clara - I am confused, i hurt you so much. I love you and trust you though.

Doctor - This is our darkest time! This is a test of us [as a couple?]!

Doctor - I am going to physically touch you as I stand behind you and explain that we are perfect for each other. Look at me, I am supporting you!

Clara - Ok, I’m going to find Danny.

Doctor - Find the man you lost. Oh wait, but where is he now?

Argh, this is soooooo confusing! The Doctor uses language that implies a “we” and a “us” for him and Clara. Yet, he’s trying to help her find Danny. Does he ultimately think he can’t be saved, but he loves Clara so much it is worth going through the motions for her? I can’t help but think one part of him is doing this to prove to her how much he loves her. Or is he doing this to prove to himself why he loves her so much?

Does he think their relationship transcends a normal romantic relationship?

I’d say yes.

Back to the action, Clara cries as the Doctor talks her through finding Danny, for her to embrace her pain, but not become lost to it so that she can find Danny as a tears run down her cheeks.

The TARDIS then thinks that Danny is somewhere and it takes them to a destination.

Clara asks Danny will be there and he clarifies they are someplace that is linked to Danny. He then tells her she needs to return to normal to be quick-witted, skeptical, critical not mopey.

He goes on to say it puts years on her face. Another odd line is “And what if people see us together? It looks like you’ve been melted.” She retorts back asking if he forgets what they are doing and he reminds her that they are getting her boyfriend back from the dead.

Why would he be so concerned about others seeing them together? To think that he’s the reason why she looks so upset? That they are a couple? Argh, again!

Clara and 12 then investigate the water tombs at 3W and they encounter Missy. At first, he is quite forward with her, but as soon as she approaches him closely, he becomes completely tongue tied and stammers having to rely on Clara to help him out that they are browsing etc. The Doctor is clearly quite uncomfortable and is shocked when Missy does the “official“ welcome.

She grabs the Doctor by the lapels of his coat and shoves him up against the glass as she french kisses him with a lot of tongue and even traps him back with her umbrella handle.

The Doctor completely freezes, his hands are pressed against the wall and glass as he eyes are shut and he looks pained.

Clara is so shocked she turns away as Missy continues to make out with the Doctor. Here you can see the umbrella on his left side.

As she finally pulls back the Doctor is frozen in absolute shock. He’s panting for breath as he asks Clara with a great pause if it is finally over.

Missy pretty much caused a major systems failure for the Doctor. He makes a really weird face opening and closing his mouth as he slowly tries to process how the kiss was very . . . realistic as Clara cuts him off my asking if there was tongue with clearly some jealous undertones in her voice. The Doctor has a look that could kill as he tells her to shut up.

Some random woman just made out with the Doctor - Clara doesn’t want to admit that she’s feeling a bit upset, the Doctor isn’t supposed to get kissed by someone else!

She’s pissed in the next scene as she can’t look at the Doctor as he’s recovering from the shock of a very wet and intense kiss as Missy asks if Clara is interested in the welcome as well; she’s stewing in the corner before angrily refuses.

Missy then asks if she needs to adjust her settings and the Doctor is quite clear that she should do that, do it right now and Clara tries to calmly state she turn it down a tad.

As the Doctor tries to get answers, he’s still not quite recovered still stuttering as Missy states that she is in charge and she repairs herself. She dramatically grabs his hand and places it on her heart as he is again taken aback. He asks about who maintains her heart to which she replies:

When she says the doctor, Clara turns to look at her and the Doctor as he asks “Doctor who?”, Missy only makes a scoffing laugh before yelling for a Dr. Chang. As she lets go of his hand, the Doctor is left standing there stunned and frozen. Clara has to tell the Doctor that it is okay for him to put his hand down. So after his entire pep talk to Clara, she is now the one trying to keep him on track. Who has their wits about them? Clara. Who is completely lost and confused? The Doctor.

Before they go off with Dr. Chang, Clara holds out her hand as the Doctor asks if she is okay. She’s not quite looking at him as she replies “No.”

He then relies that it is good that she isn’t. If she were good it would be wrong and while he speaks he reaches out to grab her hand.They pause before they follow him holding hands.

He even gives her hand an extra squeeze as they look at each other before walking off.

When they talk to Dr. Chang, he tries to stall to not tell them the truth since Clara has had a recent loss. The Doctor says she’ll be fine. She replies that if he speaks for him, she’ll hurt him - before saying that she’ll be fine. Okay, there old married couple. . . .

Clara and Danny then try to talk over the weird 3W wifi system - the Doctor is skeptical as they could have determined his voice from scanning her.

Danny asks her who she is talking to (the Doctor) before she replies back to him and never mentions that she is with the Doctor. They then split up as the Doctor needs more information and he reminds Clara to not believe anything. No matter how hard it may hurt.

The conversation between Clara and Danny is so telling. She needs to keep her wits about her, so she tells him that she needs to ask him questions and he is immediately defensive.

Clara and Danny struggle to connect as he just want her to believe it is him while she doesn’t get the information she needs to be assured that it is him.

Meanwhile, Missy and the Doctor meet again as he is confused who this female Time Lord is, she keeps saying he knows who she is and that she’s all his. He begins to back away from her in a panic and immediately thinks of Clara! He needs to get to her as he calls her name.

Doctor: Clara, Clara, Clara! I’ve gotta go get Clara!

Missy: Oh Clara, Clara, Clara! I should shoot you in a jealous rage. Now, wouldn’t that be sexy?

The Doctor then opens the door to run outside as she’s turned off the elevator. The Doctor then runs out into the middle of London as the action goes back to Clara and Danny.

Danny tells Clara that he loves her and Clara replies that anyone could say that. She coldly replies that “I love you” means nothing, she needs him to say something that proves to her that he is really Danny.

Clara then becomes as contradictory as the Doctor. She tells Danny that once he proves to her that it is him, she’ll make sure that she is with him, she wants to be with Danny Pink. He argues back that to get where he is, she would need to die and that she should live her life. He just keeps telling her that he loves her and she threatens to turn the thing off if he says it again. He pauses and then tells her he loves her again. He does it knowing damn well she will switch it off which she does.

Danny then begins to weep and he is given the option to “delete” himself to deal with those pesky feelings.

Clara then is in shock as she rolls back in the chair and looks around before noticing the Cyberman and runs in search of the Doctor.

The Cybermen are then deployed as the Doctor is in a panic and Missy reveals herself to be the Master.

The next episode “Death in Heaven” has the Doctor and Clara operating separately for most of the time. Clara then uses her lying skills to prevent Cybermen from killing her by convincing them that she is the Doctor and reveals how much info she actually knows about the Doctor.

She is eventually found by a Cyberman that is not under the control and he states that she is lying before knocking her out, killing the other Cybermen and taking her with him. The viewer then gets to see that the rogue Cyberman is Danny.

While all of this is happening, the Doctor is drinking tea with far too many sugars in it from the displaced liquid from the teacup that has overflowed onto the saucer. He is informed he is the President of Earth as a part of UNIT.

Skipping all the action on the 747 with the Doctor and UNIT and Missy killing Osgoode etc. etc. it is more important to go back to Clara in a graveyard with Danny.

She approaches him and asks him if he took her there as he turns away from her briefly. She inquires that he knows who she is. Danny replies that she is not the Doctor. Clara states that she was lying to stay alive and asks how does he know so much about her and the Doctor.

Danny replies that she is his associate. Clara firmly and very strongly replies that she is not his associate. She is his best friend. Right now she is his best friend in the entire universe. She then tells him to look up the Doctor and what happens to him if he threatens her based on the Doctor’s abilities.

Danny asks where the Doctor is, and she laughs back at him.

She’s not giving up any information about the Doctor right now. To rub salt in the wound she even calls him daft.

Clara then draws the biggest line in the sand showing where her true heart lies.

I would never, ever give up the Doctor. Because he is my best friend, too. He is the closest person to me in this whole world. He is the man I will always forgive, always trust, the one man I would never, ever lie to.

The entire time she says this Danny keeps crumpling his id papers in his hand as he gets angrier and more upset and more hurt. He almost shoots her, but instead, removes his faceplate as he tells her that Danny Pink is dead and she has a complete look of shock and horror as he asks her to help him.

Yep. So Clara just spilled all of her most intimate feelings to Danny when she didn’t know it was him and what does this tell us. That Clara loves the Doctor far more than Danny, then she could never love Danny that same way as the Doctor and she never was going to have an equal relationship with him.

Poor Danny.

The action goes back to the chaos on the plane as Missy tells the Doctor that she put Clara and the Doctor together and kept them together.

The control freak and the man who won’t be controlled!

The Doctor then answers Clara’s call as Missy mocks him and she explains that Danny is a cyberman, he’s crying and he’s in pain and hurts because of her and she is going to make it stop. The Doctor frantically tells her to stop as he’ll kill her if she activates him.

Clara then asks him if he is going to help her or not. The Doctor shouts back he’s not going to help her commit suicide. She then states that the TARDIS can home in on her cell phone and that the Doctor is either going to help her or leave her alone and she tosses the phone away as she fiddles with the wires in Danny’s emotional inhibitor.

Of course the Doctor regains the TARDIS and heads to Clara’s location as he yells at her to stop. He runs to her as she turns to him and away from Danny as she asks him to help.

As he tries to tell Clara that Danny will kill her and others, Danny replies he will not harm her. The Doctor then steps in front of Clara as she turns away from both of them with her back to the Doctor and Danny.

He cautiously walks around Danny as he calls him P.E. and Danny replies Sir as he explains the Master in vague terms as his former friend.

The Doctor places his hand on Danny’s heart as he tells him pain is a gift as it allows one to know when they’ve hurt another. Danny shames him and the Doctor accepts it fully, agreeing with Danny, as Clara looks sad in the background. The Doctor asks Danny to tell him what the plan is and he states he can’t because of the inhibitor being off. Danny then fights back against the Doctor. Of course he’s super upset, Clara pretty much declared that the Doctor is far more important to her than he ever will be.

Danny: Clara, watch this. This is who the Doctor is. Watch the blood-soaked old general in action.

Danny goes on to repeat he needs to turn the switch on.

Danny: And didn’t all of those beautiful speeches just disappear in the face of a tactical advantage . . . sir.

The Doctor slowly staggers away as he cries that he needs to know, he needs to know. The Doctor just can’t do it, Clara then tells him to give her the sonic. He refuses and she tells him to do as he’s told. He looks pained as he glances about before he hands it over to Clara as she asked. Danny remarks that he’s a typical officer, too good to dirty his hands.

As he hands it off to her, neither of them can look at her. He can’t refuse Clara’s request.

What is the worst about this, is that Danny insults the Doctor not realizing that the Doctor simply cannot do this. The Doctor the walks away from Clara with his back to both of them unable to watch. The Doctor’s hands are already far far dirtier than Danny can ever imagine.

When 12 and Clara ‘met’ as he has come into his own in the TARDIS (post-regeneration), with his new wardrobe and console room, he flat out tells her that he’s made a lot of mistakes and he is going to try to correct for them.

Therefore, with that mindset, this Doctor is going to be very adverse to being too heavy handed. Also at this point, the Doctor thinks that Danny will kill Clara and he is letting her essentially create a love suicide. The Doctor can’t do what Danny requests because he thinks Danny is asking him to kill his best friend. He only does what the ‘boss’ says since she is his actual best friend.

Clara points the sonic at Danny as she tells him that she wasn’t very good at it, but she loved him. Danny replies that he loved her too as she then tells him that she is never going to say that again.

Clara and Danny have a very emotional exchange as they get quite sappy (honestly this was too sappy for me).

She struggles as she feels like she’s killing him, he replies he’s already dead, she sniffles asking if he’s ready, she says good-bye, he says good-bye and he adds on that he’s glad she’s here this time and then she sonics him as he activates and she runs to hug him. The Doctor after hearing the stop of the sonic and Clara’s sob, turns around to face her as he runs up to try to stop her from hugging him.

The Doctor then against all reason, grabs onto Clara as she cries onto Danny’s chest. Again, this is a very firm connection between the Doctor and Clara.

As the Doctor asks Danny for the plans he explains what will happen. The Doctor figures it out as Missy comes down like Mary Poppins and explains she’s doing every thing for the Doctor. She wants him to see what is the same and goes on a huge bad guy monologue. The Doctor is confused as he struggles to really understand who he is. Clara stole Missy’s handheld Gallifreyan tech and kept close to Danny as the Doctor tried to sort things out.

Missy explains he needs an army since he is always right etc etc. The Doctor then concludes he doesn’t need an army, he is neither a good man nor a bad man, adds in that no, he’s not an officer for good measure (since he’s still in a pissing contest with Danny) he’s just an idiot with a box and a screwdriver.

When the Doctor kisses Missy thank you, it is what you would expect from him at his best. His kiss is the most chaste and awkward ever. He forcefully, holds her face as his lips barely even touch hers and he looks like he needs to just do enough to meet Missy’s expectations.

As the Doctor has realized that Danny has not killed Clara despite being activated, he knows the Danny is still in control. He points out that he doesn’t need an army since he has people like Clara and Danny and then he declares that;

Love is not an emotion, love is a promise.

Danny then hugs Clara as the Doctor states that he will never hurt her. He calls him P.E. and tosses him the control bracelet that Missy gave him and Danny approaches her how he will burn the clouds.

The Doctor, Clara and Missy watch as Danny orders the rest of the Cybermen of their orders, and he tells Clara she will sleep safe tonight before they all launch into the sky and self destruct.

Clara is the first to speak as the cloud clear up and the Doctor comments it has all been burned away, burned to nothing, as he then pauses and looks at Clara sadly as he says sorry in regards to Danny.

Even with Danny’s death, neither the Doctor nor Danny could resolve their conflict. Danny wanted to paint the Doctor as an elite too good to do the dirty work, while the Doctor argued back Danny never understood him. To state that pain is important implies the Doctor knows this first hand and to fulfill his own love and therefore, promise to Clara the Doctor gave him the bracelet so he could come back to her.

Clara and the Doctor the have their most calm yet heated argument. Clara is about to kill Missy and the Doctor tries to stop her. She states if he lets her live, everything that happened she will hold on him. He can’t let her kill her but he’s not letting her live. The Doctor realizes if he can only stop Clara by killing Missy himself, he will. He is so upset this entire time. He looks broken and sad as his eyes have to plead with Clara’s, she even turns away from him as she hands him the device before turning back to him. The Doctor is more than willing to dirty his hands to protect Clara. It is his love for her that causes him to act this way.

Missy chuckles he’s doing it to save Clara’s soul, but who will save his? He isn’t even able to respond he just looks beaten here.

When he can finally speak he asks why? Missy tells him to say something nice and he holding back tears and blinking simply replies that she wins and she knows. His face shifts from grief and pain to one of steeled anger as he prepares to shoot her before the Cyberman does instead.

They find Kate, saved by her dad a former commander from UNIT and the Doctor salutes him. Keep in mind the Doctor did not salute Danny. Clara then two weeks later gets the boy that Danny killed sent back to her with Missy’s bracelet and Danny stays behind as he apologizes to Clara.

Clara and the Doctor then meet up for coffee or something as he shows up 2 weeks late. The Doctor states he’s improving and she gives him that.

And then Clara and the Doctor are both in so much pain that they have the worst conversation to each other about what has happened. The Doctor assumes Danny figured out how to come home and he is back upon seeing the bracelet on Clara’s wrist.

Doctor: Good old P.E. he’ll make a maths teacher yet.

Clara: Listen, Doctor. There’s something I have to tell you. And erm, it’s not good news, so just. . . so just listen, okay?

Doctor: I know, I know exactly what you are going to tell me?

Clara: You do?

Doctor: You and Danny are together now. That’s great, that’s how it should be. But the old man and the blue box, that’s never gonna fit in.

So no more flying around, no more lying.

Clara: Okay, no. That’s not exactly . . .

Doctor: It’s fine.

Clara: No, it’s not fine. It really isn’t. . . fine.

At this point, the Doctor is trying to take the “high road” and respect Clara and Danny’s relationship. He knows that his relationship with her caused her to lie to Danny and hurt him so much that he needs an excuse to move on. Giving Danny the bracelet was one way to make sure Danny came back as he promised in the beginning. And so, the Doctor reveals that his true intention was to bring Danny back for Clara and this was likely driven by how much he loves her, even if it hurts him.

To do this he has to lie to her - a huge lie. He tells Clara that he found Gallifrey and for once the Master/Missy didn’t lie to him. This lie works because Clara knows how much this means to him. That’s why he stops her from saying more as she’s shocked and happy and relieved for him.

What actually happens is that she was lying, the Doctor went there, saw that Gallifrey wasn’t in that location, he tries to hold it in and angrily beats the console (poor TARDIS!) before he collapses weeping. He wanted the Master/Missy to have been right once in all of the madness, but that is not the case.

Clara happily asks him what he’s going to do as he replies he’s going go home and help it out.

Clara: So you aren’t just going to steal a TARDIS and run away.

Doctor: No, not this time. Never again.

Clara: Never again.

Doctor: It is a long commute, so I thought with you and Danny.

Clara: Yeah, me and Danny. Me and Danny are going to be fine, don’t you worry.

Let’s pause for a minute here, time for another sarcastic summary of these actual events. Again, this is my own interpretation with additional dark humor.

Clara - I don’t think you will be able to sit still if you go home. You will steal another TARDIS. Haha! I know you Doctor - I know you inside and out.

Doctor - Of course! That is exactly what I’m doing. I’m running away from you, the only person I love because it hurts so much, I don’t even know what to do. This version of myself is truly bad with emotions! Long commute, what the fuck am I even saying? The TARDIS can go anywhere in an instant.

Clara - I’m right there with you. I am pushing you away, you are the only person that I love and I hurt so much that I also don’t know what to do. And since you suck at being sympathetic, I can’t keep you around.

They small talk a bit more before Clara suggests breaking habit and requests a hug, and the Doctor is willing to do so within reason. The Doctor as expected stands up ready for the hug. Clara then looks up at him. This facial expression doesn’t seem like a normal hug expression. This is a much more nuanced expression as she looks at him, looks away before looking back at him. I’d argue this is a bit of a flirty expression from her, but she sees this as their final good-bye.

As he goads her that she’s on the clock she stands up to start their odd hug.

She hugs his neck as he slowly so, slowly wraps his hands around her. She begins to hold back tears as she’s hugging him asks why he doesn’t like hugging. He replies you never trust a hug. It is just a way to hide your face. She agrees with him with a quivering mouth and tears in her eyes. The Doctor is also on the verge of tears his mouth also quivering.

So these two idiots are hugging to hide the fact that they are completely in pain and crying - as they don’t want to upset the other one. The Doctor thinks Danny is alive so he must break off his relationship with Clara. She knows that finding Gallifrey is so important to him that she can’t stop him from going home!

They are both so afraid to hurt the others happiness that they make themselves miserable.

There is a cut scene to the Doctor entering the TARDIS as she thanks him for everything and how traveling with him made her feel very special. He looks around as he figures out what to say back. He finally is able to reply “Thank you for exactly the same [things]”. The Doctor knows that Clara made him feel special as well and he finally relaxes and smiles as we get another one of his sad smiles. Clara is sad smiling back at him.

Both of them are soooooooo sad here and feel like they need to break themselves apart to move on. They do not have room in their lives for each other any more; or at least this is what they think.

The episode ends with the Doctor looking sad and contemplative in the TARDIS as someone begins to knock on the door. The man tells him that things can’t end like that. She’s not alright and neither is he and the man opens the TARDIS door revealing he is Santa and he wants to know what the Doctor wants for Christmas as he stares back in shock.

To really get at how their relationship wraps up at the end of season 8, we need to then continue onto that year’s Christmas special as it resolves their issues in relation to Danny’s death.

Clara wakes up on Christmas Eve, in a flat that is clearly not hers as she finds Santa and two elves on the roof. Santa inquires as to why she stopped believing in him and she states that he is a Fairy Tale (back to that ongoing theme of a Fairy Tale) as the Doctor then lands the TARDIS on the roof interrupting them as he tells her that she’s back and she reaches out to him in shock.

He keeps telling her that he’s back and she replies that she thought he was gone for good. I don’t know the exact time since their good-bye hug but it was at most recent early fall, but likelier even longer. Clara in her robe and pjs then realizes how much she missed the sound of the TARDIS as the Doctor asks her if Santa is actually real.

But seeing that Santa brought the Doctor back to her, it is safe to say that she believes in him at that moment.

Clara and the Doctor then land in the arctic at a science base as they interrupt Shouna on her mission to dance by the sleepers in the infirmary.

The Doctor and Clara then attract them due to thinking about them as he tries to get them to not think about them. Having Clara do math problems isn’t enough so he asks her about Danny.

He asks her to think what Danny is doing right now.

Doctor: He’s probably flirting with your neighbor, or texting women of low moral character . . .

Clara then slaps him as he looks back at her in complete shock.

Clara: Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare say that.

Doctor: I was only. . .

Clara: Danny Pink is dead.

The Doctor is in complete shock. He doesn’t know what to say and calmly replies that Danny is still alive and Clara quickly replies that he is dead. The Doctor is still shocked and confused as the sleepers have stopped moving around them and their conversation is interrupted as the others rush into the room. The try to help them to escape but the creatures clearly take hold of them.

The scene then cuts to an explosion as Santa comes to their rescue.

Everyone tries to figure out what is happening and Santa gives a gift of a sample of a Dream Crab in a giant container. The Doctor is apparently familiar with them but never encountered them yet.

The whole bits with the Dream Crabs and action I’ll be skipping for the most part. What I will stick to are all of the conversations between the Doctor and Clara.

Clara tells the Doctor that what she said about Danny was unacceptable as she is pissed off in the corner of the lab.

He quickly approaches her as he agrees that she is right but he needed to flood her with random emotions. She’s upset at his concept of random, but he’s even more upset as he looks at her hurt as he states she never told him what happened.

The lighting here is excellent, his face is half illuminated half shaded as he is so hurt that she wasn’t honest with him. Back when she told Danny she’d never lie to the Doctor and yet she did.

He’s upset and sad she never told him the truth. She replies she lied so he’d go back to Gallifrey.

Of course he then replies, that he lied so she’d move on with her life with Danny.

Now both of them are confused. Clara turns and walks away from the Doctor who then turns to face her back.

They both end up across each from each other on either side of the table as she asks him what to do since they are dying. He tells her to trust nothing, question everything. She summarizes that this is required, “in case it’s a lie.” and he repeats her. So their lies have caught up with each them and now they need to face these weird Dream Crabs when they came clean about their own lies.

The Doctor asks Clara to get the sample Dream Crab, and she asks him if he’d like a cup tea to as he concludes if he asked for that, he’d get a punch in the face. So they are back to some bickering.

Clara gets attacked by the Dream Crab and starts to dream her perfect Christmas with Danny, but the Doctor’s chalkboards appear as he tries to write notes to warn her to wake up. She begins to freak out and only is able to expel the boards after she takes a deep breath and clears her mind as she follows dream Danny downstairs.

The Doctor is then shown next to her calling her name as he holds onto her hand tightly, kneeling down next to her.

He chats with the others as he asks Santa to go back to the infirmary. He then goes back to kneeling and holding Clara’s hands as he requests that Santa help him.

The Doctor then has Santa get him a Dream Crab so, he can enter Clara’s dream to tell her that it is a dream. He keeps telling her that she is dying and that she needs to realize that this is just a dream. The Doctor now is laying down next to her with a Dream Crab as he’s holding her hand on the floor.

As the Doctor continues to talk to Clara in the dream, he reminders her that Danny is dead.

He then is very honest, he says he’s sorry. He thought there was a way back for Danny but he was wrong. He can’t change that and Danny is still dead. Clara begins to pick up on things as Danny sides with the Doctor and tells her to let go and move on. It makes sense that the only way she can accept his loss is for the Doctor to affirm her feelings towards Danny. This would not have happened if they didn’t lie to each other in the first place.

Thankfully, as she goes in for a last kiss with Danny they wake up and the Doctor helps Clara focus as they destroy the Dream Crabs. Despite waking up Clara immediately is concerned that there is no wound and the pain is still there. As everyone discusses this Clara asks why do they all still have the same pain. The Doctor tells them to theorize as Clara retorts in the background to not treat her like a beginner. She’s clearly in a foul mood towards the Doctor still. They can’t quite figure out where they stand at the moment.

Of course the Doctor gets in an argument with dream Santa as he calls him a scientist dressed as a time traveling magician and travels in a phone box. Santa tries to get them to join hands and the Doctor is obviously opposed to the touchy-feely stuff. Santa then tries a scientific explanation which the Doctor cuts him off as that is the line in the sand as he mocks him by calling it a bit “dreamy-weamy” in reference to the 10th Doctor’s “timey-wimey” line from “Blink”. He tells him to make up a naughty list to which Santa refers to him already being on the list as they continue to argue Clara finally gets him to shut up.

I do love the Doctor’s hand motion as he calls Santa hostile though.

As they agree to hold hands and not die on Christmas, the Doctor declares he’s not good with the hand holding thing. Clara is already grabbing his left hand as she tells him tough. I love how his response is that he will hold Clara’s hand.

He then tries to refuse to hold anyone else’s hand but Clara tells Shona to hold it and he looks very uncomfortable as she does. Therefore, he can only state that this is all very Christmasy to avoid the further awkward. Gotta fill that emotion with words as the 12th Doctor.

They then wake up from the attack as the Doctor then quickly goes back to the TARDIS and leave with Clara. She’s upset he doesn’t want to help them but he’s ready to go. Until she asks him if Santa was gone from the dream, why did they meet him on her roof as the Doctor the rushes back into the base.

When they run back to help the base crew, the Doctor makes them check the manuals again. He tells her to pick a number and to make it a good one.

She looks clever as she says twelve, she’s regained her faith in the Doctor with that number. Oh look how cute she is, she’s grinning with warmth as she knows the Doctor is right about something.

Not sure he notices though.

Once they escape the base with Santa, the Doctor tells her to believe in Santa as she confirms she always has but he looks a little different. This is her telling the Doctor that she believes in him.

He’s a bit confused by her statement at first. To make her point she then leaps up and hugs him. He’s definitely caught off guard and not sure what to do. Look at that awesome 12th Doctor’s expression of “oh my god! I’ve been attacked!”

However, he quickly relaxes and realizes he’s okay with this as long as no one else sees it. With everyone else looking off the sleigh and Santa driving it the two of them aren’t noticed by anyone else. And he’s happy as he’s enjoying being hugged by Clara as both of them smile. Oh yes, you show your true colors here Doctor - you like this.

He then takes the opportunity to steer the sleigh and reluctant at first agrees to do it with excitement. Several times he keeps looking back at Clara grinning telling her to look at him as he drives the sleigh.

Right now, the only person the Doctor cares about and needs validation from is Clara. Nothing else matters. The Doctor is just like Clara in “Flatline”, she wanted nothing more than his validation as a good “doctor”.

Of course, as the Doctor wakes up he rushes to Clara to find her 62 years later. This of course, is his own joint nightmare with Clara. He is filled with regret as he left her for too long and he missed out on spending time with her. As this is a joint dream with the two of them, he asks if there was anyone else besides Danny. She responds that there was one other and he was impossible. By this point, all of their cards are finally on the table, she loves him and his pain in his voice shows that he missed her. The Doctor has a lot of interesting facial expressions as he comes to terms with staying away from Clara for too long. There is the very touching scene with the Christmas cracker how Clara came to Trenzalore to help the dying 11th Doctor open one and how it is reversed. This makes sense since this is a shared memory between the two of them and great dream fodder.

Thankfully, Santa shows up indicating that they are still dreaming and he wakes up and rushes to present day Clara. This is where the joint dream is confirmed as she asks for a mirror to check if she is old or not which he rushes to get to her. Then he informs her that the TARDIS is outside and all of time and space is before them.

These events really and finally allowed the Doctor and Clara to talk about what happened between them and to realize they needed their friendship and their worst fear was to lose each other. They pushed each other way to protect each other but hurt each other instead.

Doctor: Please, [long pause] don’t even argue.

Clara: [laughs]

The Doctor then offers his hand to her that she accepts while she is beaming. She then quickly goes it to kiss him on the cheek. The framing of this shot is interesting. We know an instant later she only kissed him on the cheek as she pulls back wit the side angle shot. In this shot though the shadows make it much more obscured. If you were to go by the silhouette of their heads it looks like it can be a more intense and intimate kiss. It also makes me think of one of those classic style romantic movie first kisses. . . . as this is their first kiss and Clara feels that she can and should do this. I think this framing of the shot is deliberate, and shows the power of their kiss.

If this weren’t important, we would have seen the kiss from the side the entire time, clearly showing that she went for quick peck on the cheek.

She pulls back from him in shock with a huge grin on her face as she is glowing in happiness. She tells him Merry Christmas.

He pauses a moment before as you see a sparkle in his eyes as he replies to say Merry Christmas Clara Oswald. Look at that facial expression from the Doctor, he’s happy and he looks so playful!

Note that his “recovery” from her kiss was pretty fast all things considered. He’s not in shock, he appreciated it. He’s just too dense to have seen it coming and she knew it so she could kiss him without resistance.

He only glances at her bedroom door as they both giggle as they head out the door to the TARDIS. He holds onto her hand until she has to go out the door.

Clara remarks that it is rare to see him happy as they run up to the TARDIS. As she laughs he states second chances are even rarer and he never gets a second chance so he doesn’t even know who to thank. He looks around briefly before hopping into the TARDIS with a flourish. That flourish is how excited he is to be back with Clara.

They then head off on more adventures. The Doctor is getting better dealing with Clara and physical intimacy. The two of them have gotten a second chance and it wasn’t arranged by the Master or anything else. If we take the ending of the episode it was arranged by Santa Claus, but really . . . These two are now so in love with each other that they can’t not be together in the future.

And yes, that ends my read of the Doctor and Clara’s relationship in - season 8.

When it is all said and done, they started out with a reluctant relationship. It then grows and evolves at a different pace for the two of them since Clara restarts it with 12 from 11 and starts looking for a real relationship. 12 clearly said she isn’t her boyfriend. 12 meanwhile, relying on the continuity of Clara’s presence then defines the relationship further to one which is less based on the physical but more on the emotional connection he has with her. As he becomes aware of Danny, he more aggressively fights for her attention and is torn how to treat a boyfriend. He sees that his relationship with Clara is deeper and more important since he will have known her longer than any guy she’d date - just based on math alone. As Clara’s relationship with Danny forces her to make a choice, she first breaks up with the Doctor only to realize she can’t do that. When she makes up with him the Doctor is elated as he just wants Clara to keep coming back to him.

Season 8 kept teasing us with this returning theme of a Fairy Tale. The quick read of this concept is that Clara’s relationship with the Doctor is a Fairy Tale. He’s the magician with the box showing her wonders. Maisie alludes to her complicated relationship with him to be the Fairy Tale.

I wonder if this is a red herring instead. I think the Fairy Tale relationship is the one with Danny. He’s the perfect boyfriend archetype - nice guy, positive, went through hell as a soldier, works hard, wants to be supportive of Clara and be open and honest with her. He is gentle, athletic, calm and physically intimate with Clara. Danny wants nothing more than for Clara to see him as the man in her life and he will do whatever it takes to please her. This is reflected in Danny in her Christmas dream - he’s too perfect and she almost gets swept away by it until the Doctor knocks at her door.

Danny’s character was written to be a complete foil of the Doctor and their conflict is supported by this completely. I’m not saying that Danny is perfect, but dating Danny versus dating the 12th Doctor implies the Doctor would be a harder person to date by - a landslide. The easier one to date would be Danny but he’s safe, secure and super boring. I think Clara’s Fairy Tale is a life that is safe, secure and boring - she doesn’t want this, therefore, she has given up on the Fairy Tale and instead accepts reality which is her relationship with the Doctor.

This is going to end up being longer than I expected - I’ll see how many parts it actually comes out to. Whoops.

#doctor who #doctor who meta #12th doctor #twelfth doctor #twelve x clara #clara oswald #danny pink #missy #the master

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jessahmewren · 5 years

Text

“Just The Way You Are” / The X-Files / Fan Fiction

A response to @xfilesfanficexchange The X-Files Fan Fic Episode Challenge. I had The War of the Coprophages for @admiralty-xfd who wanted a little bit of Scully’s thoughts post ep on Bambi, Mulder and the whole deal. I hope I delivered for you dear.

Also on Ao3 and tagging @today-in-fic

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Scully stood bemused as Dr. Berenbaum and Dr. Ivanov retreated into the rainy afternoon, happily chatting about their combined interests. If only Bambi had found him sooner, Scully found herself thinking.

It wasn’t that she was bitter that her partner had spent the better part of a week working with a smart, beautiful woman. She was just wet and cold and covered in dung.

That’s what she told herself, at least, as Scully and Mulder made their way to the car.

Scully sat in the front seat as Mulder drove, the combined stink of the two of them almost comical in its overwhelming cloud. As if reading her mind, Mulder hit the switch to roll down both of their windows.

They said very little on the drive back to the hotel, and Scully’s mind slowly turned over thoughts of a hot shower, bionic cockroaches, and big-breasted, doe-eyed etymologists.

Her cheeks dusted pink, a tight flutter in her chest.

Mulder had spent days with Bambi, working side by side, bouncing ideas off each other. They’d gotten a lot of work done, it seemed.

Scully chewed on that as Mulder pulled up to the hotel. “I call dibs,” Mulder called over his shoulder. He had checked out the day before, so this was her room.

She rolled her eyes, following him inside the small room. “Be quick,” she said.

It was chill inside, with that stale wet cold common to all motel rooms. She absently picked through her things, setting aside her hairbrush and clothes on one of the double beds. She heard the shower start up, and a puff of steam snaking out from a crack in the door.

After a few minutes Mulder came out, hair spiked in places and sticking to his head in others, his tan skin pinked at the collar of his t-shirt. Scully swallowed, feeling the color rise in her cheeks.

“Leave any hot water for me?”

His mouth quirked up. “Maybe a little. Should’ve showered together, Scully. Save the planet and all that.”

She cocked her head, eying him hard as her heart hammered in her chest. When she slid past him on her way to the bathroom, the warmth and clean soap smell of him pressed into her, and it was all she could do not to lean into it.

She quickly scrubbed off, washing her hair and her body, her skin just a touch oversensitive. She chalked it up to nerves, to tiredness. After a few minutes, Scully staggered out of the shower and stood in front of the mirror, appraising herself. Small breasts, few curves. Her mouth turned down in a small frown. While she knew Mulder wasn’t interested in her like that, she couldn’t help but compare herself to Bambi, a woman Mulder had been obviously interested in.

Scully turned away, toweling off and dressing in one of her college t-shirts and a pair of sweats. It would do for tonight; they would be sharing a room, after all, the hotel being completely booked and their flight out not being until in the morning. Inwardly, she was glad the hotel had given her the double.

She padded into the hotel room in sock feet, finding Mulder propped up against the headboard on her bed watching television.

She put her hands on her hips, her head cocked toward him. “That’s my bed, you know.”

He worked his mouth. “Your stuff was on the other one,” he reasoned. “Come on, Scully. Full House is on.”

She sighed, flopping down on the pristine coverlet of the other bed. She propped some pillows behind her, eyes vacant as she stared in the direction of the television.

“Who do you think is more likely to believe in aliens, Uncle Jesse, Joey, or Danny?” Mulder drawled out between laughing. He was chewing on the end of a pen he’d found on the bedside table, one leg casually bent where he lounged against the pillows.

“Joey,” Scully replied flatly. He seems most gullible, she wanted to say, but bit her tongue.

Mulder seemed pleased, happily chewing the end of his pen. “Ok, then who do you think is most like to be an alien?” His eyes sparkled in the light of the TV. He loved it when they got into, and she could see his excitement tensing his whole body.

She rolled her eyes, deciding to play along. “IF they existed, I would say Danny. He is very neat. A being like that IF they existed would probably go to great lengths to replicate what is quote normal behavior for a species and not draw attention to itself.”

Mulder was beaming. He tossed the pen on the bed beside him, a broad smile on his face. “So, Dr. Scully, by answering that question you’re admitting to the mere possibility of an alien species are you not?” He was very animated now, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Scully just smiled. “No I am not. It’s merely conjecture.”

Mulder frowned, but still seemingly satisfied. Then he looked at her shrewdly. “You know what else I think is conjecture? That you’re still upset about something.”

He looked at her meaningfully, stood from the bed and crossed to hers to sit next to her. He could feel the heat from her body, warm from the shower as his shoulder pressed against hers and the smell of her strawberry shampoo. No hotel-issue stuff for his Scully. “Wanna tell me what it is?”

Scully looked up at him, the light from the TV casting lurid shapes onto the gentle slope of her cheek. “Dr. Berenbaum,” she whispered.

Mulder pursed his lips, mind ticking quickly. “What about her?”

Scully’s liquid blue eyes flashed up at him. “Did you like working with her?”

Mulder answered without a thought. “Of course. She’s very good at what she does.”

Scully sank a little. “Oh. Yes of course,” she answered a little thinly.

They sat like that a little longer, Mulder pressed up against, feeling Scully breathe and the bed creak under them. His hand went up, touching under her chin.

“Is there something else?”

Scully swallowed. She couldn’t get the insecurities out of her mind, nor could she stop the burning desire to just blurt out question after question about the woman and Mulder’s time with her.

“Did you um…did you like her?”

Mulder blinked. “Yeah Scully, I did. She was nice.”

It wasn’t enough, and she hated herself for it. “Let’s just watch some more TV ok?”

Mulder nodded, still concerned, and returned to his bed. The next sitcom came on, but she couldn’t focus. “What’s wrong,” Mulder finally said, eyes turning away from the TV. “You’re too quiet. Usually you make fun of this.”

Her mouth quirked into a tight smile. She turned on her side, finally giving in.

“I think I’m just tired,” She said finally. “I’m going to bed early.”

Mulder grunted, content to leave her for the moment. Scully reached for the small lamp by the bed and switched it off.

She closed her eyes, trying to sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come. She heard Mulder flipping through the channels, felt the strobing light from the TV bleeding through her eyelids. She turned over again, the covers twisting at her feet.

Mulder exhaled, his eyes darting to Scully’s restless form for the umpteenth time. He worked his mouth. “Talk to me, Scully.”

She sighed. “We already talked, Mulder. I just need to sleep.”

“You want me to turn the TV off?”

“No.”

“We haven’t really talked,” Mulder said.

Scully said nothing, she just lay in the dark, listening to Mulder wait for her response. The silence was deafening, despite the noise from the television.

“Is this about Bambi?” Mulder prodded.

Scully squeezed her eyes shut, burying her head in the pillow.

“No,” she lied.

Mulder exhaled through his nose. “She was just a colleague, Scully. Just—“

“I know,” Scully said, tears straining her voice. “I know that.”

They said nothing for a while, the tension hanging thick in the room. Scully willed herself to sleep, anything to quell her racing thoughts.

“Then what is it?” Mulder asked quietly.

Scully closed her eyes. She was facing the door, her body curled into itself. “Is that what you want,” Scully inquired softly.

Scully could almost hear the wheels turning and then click into place. “What do you mean ‘what I want,’” and Scully could tell he truly didn’t understand and wasn’t just avoiding the question.

She swallowed, not really wanting to explain herself but feeling strangely compelled to. “Like Bambi,” she said quietly, still looking at the door. “You know, the way she looks.”

“Forget it,” Scully said quickly, squeezing her eyes shut so fast, wishing she was anywhere else, anywhere but with him in that room, in that town, wishing that the whole week had never –

She felt the bed dip, felt his long limbs fold and arrange themselves on the space beside her. Her heart flipped as his hand brushed the back of her head.

“Scully, look a me.”

She exhaled, hands gripping the sheets up around her chin, and remained stubbornly stuck where she was.

Another stroke to her hair, his knuckles brushing the now-wavy strands, silky-soft against the pillow.

“Come on, Scully.” More insistent now, Mulder’s voice dropping low and rough. She didn’t have to turn around to know he was worrying his bottom lip.

But she did. She slowly rolled onto her back, meeting his thoughtful gaze.

When Scully turned over, he could see the silver tracks of her tears in the low light, and he instinctively wiped them with his thumb. She closed her eyes against his touch, her face turning slightly as if she could hide the fact that she had been crying. He sighed softly, his brow furrowed.

“Do you wish I looked like that,” she said quickly, instantly feeling relieved…feeling unburdened as ridiculous as it made her feel. She was glad it was out in the open, finally blinking in the light of day.

Mulder inhaled slowly, his face impassive. His hand slipped down to cup her cheek, a thumb sweeping over the soft flesh. “Why would you think that?”

Scully pulled her plump lower lip between her teeth. “Because you and Bambi got on so well. And she is...,” she struggled with her words for a second…”You know, she looks the way she does.” Scully swallowed hard, averting her eyes.

Mulder pursed his lips, shaking his head softly. “That has nothing to do with our partnership, Scully.” He tutted softly, stroking her cheek. “I didn’t see Dr. Berenbaum that way at all. She helped me on a case. That’s all.”

Scully should have felt relieved, but she just felt miserable. Embarrassed and miserable. “I know,” she whispered. “I didn’t think anything else.”

Mulder just pressed his lips together. Scully eased into his touch, his presence beside her soothing her anxiety somewhat. “Is there something else going on Scully?”

She shook her head. “Everything’s fine Mulder. She reached up to stroke his shoulder, letting her hand rest along his bicep. “Why don’t you get some rest, hmm? We’ve got a long journey tomorrow.”

Mulder worried the inside of his jaw, still looking at her. His mouth quirked, and then he leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Get some sleep, Scully.”

She sighed as his weight lifted from the mattress and the TV flicked off. She listened in as he busied himself in the bathroom, the tingle of his touch still burning on her cheek. Finally, he lay down in his bed and turned off his lamp.

Just as she was nodding off to sleep, she heard him turn over.

“Scully?”

“Yeah Mulder?”

“For the record, there’s not one thing I would change about you. Not one freckle, not one lock of red hair, not one thing. You’re perfect just the way you are. Do you understand, Scully?”

She lay in the dark, breathlessly still. “Yes,” she said.

He smiled, even if she couldn’t see it. “Good. Don’t ever forget it.”

She wouldn’t, she thought as she listened to his breathing even out and a light snore fill their small hotel room. She would never forget it again.

-0-0-0-

#The x files #the x-files #the x files fanfic #txf fanfic #xfepisode2019 #dana scully #fox mulder #war of the coprophages #the x files fanfiction #the x files fan fic

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wandering-----wonderings · 5 years

Photo

A glimpse inside everyones favorite hyperpolyglot, Sydney Bristow. (Yes, I childishly cut Danny out of the picture because I prefer Sydney with Noah, but I like this picture, so there you go.)

Let's start this off with a quick quote from Recruited: I speak five languages (six if you count pig latin. From Shadowed, we also know this: for SD-6 agents, mastering five or six languages was the bare minimum. So right out of the gate, before she even starts working at SD-6, she's already met the 'bare minimum' requirement. Sort of; I'm not sure if SD-6 would count English - or pig latin for that matter.

My current wondering is: what five languages (six including pig latin) did she know before starting SD-6? English would be 1, obviously, and Pig Latin would make two. I'm assuming she's counting her Spanish and Mandarin college electives when she said that (unless she already spoke those languages and just took them as electives to get more of a background on them), so that would be 3 and 4. So what were 5 and 6?

Truthfully, I have no idea. Wikipedia has a list of her speaking 30 languages: English, Russian, German, Greek, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish, Romanian, Hungarian, Hebrew, Uzbek, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Indonesian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Vietnamese, Polish, Serbian, Czech, Ukrainian, and Bulgarian.

Now this is completely a supposition, but the Wikipedia list doesn't mention Latin - it doesn't mention pig latin, either - but I would think that one of the languages she knew before coming into SD-6 would be Latin; it just ... sorta seems like it would be the first language she would learn with her being as studious as she is since, while being considered a dead language, it's still quite present in today's world, especially in the sciences. So my guess for language-number-5 would be Latin.

The sixth language is more of a long-shot. Seriously. In the pilot episode, in the SD-6 briefing room, we hear this:

Sydney: ''What is that? Hieratic?'' Sloane: ''Good try. That's what I thought. Actually, it's demotic. Taking notes in ancient languages was just one of Muller's quirks.''

A quick Google search showed this:

Now, she obviously doesn't know Hieratic or Demotic, otherwise she would've been able to translate right off. However, she was able to recognize it. So my theory is that she either learned the 'parent language' or one of the other 'child languages'. None of them are on the Wikipedia list. Most kids are interested in hieroglyphics but usually not enough to actually learn them (at least, such was the case with me), but I think we can all agree that when it comes to languages Sydney is a bit different - in a good way. So my long-shot-of-a-guess is that her 6th language is 'Egyptian'. Granted, she'd been at the agency for about seven years when we see her in the pilot episode so she could have learned it within that time.

Now that we've done that, let's review her language history in the books (at least, all of the one that I can remember off the top of my head). (I don't think she spoke in anything but English in Sister Spy, Father Figure or Skin Deep, but I may be wrong.)

Recruited: she's taking Spanish and Mandarin as electives, and she also says that she can speak a total of six languages (prior to being recruited)(see above). Spanish is also used later in the book. A Secret Life: she's was trying to teach herself Russian. French was used in this book, but she couldn't understand it. Disappeared: she had to learn Romanian (which she was distracted and didn't do too well at, but I assume she went back and learned it properly later). She also states that after the events in A Secret Life, she came back to L.A. and learned French as if her life depended on it. Free Fall: had her brushing up on one of her ''better languages'' - French. She was also able to translate an one-sided phone conversation she was eavesdropping on, from Russian. Infiltration: her Russian is described as amazing (and at times she'd been ahead of her SD-6 tutor), she says the Romance languages had been easy to learn (I haven't got a clear answer as to how many there are), Japanese took an impossible amount of concentration, and says it was difficult to keep the Oriental languages straight when she threw Cantonese and Mandarin into the mix (which, she should have already knew a fair bit of Mandarin since, as stated above, it was one of her electives). Vanishing Act: speaks in 'flawless' Dutch. (Also, she asks a woman working in a bookstore if she has any first additions of Chekhov, and when the woman ask if she wants it in English [the book], Sydney says she wants it in Lithuanian. This doesn't necessarily mean she speaks Lithuanian since it was a code phrase and it's not listed in her Wikipedia languages, but maybe she learned at some point.) Shadowed: she had recently brushed up on her Greek, and had learned German at some point.

Think about that for a minute. Did you catch what I did? She was recruited in the fall of her freshman year (a few weeks into the school year) and Free Fall says this happened in September. Shadowed itself happens in October of her sophomore year. Which means, Sydney learned 11+ languages in a year. So, aside from learning stuff for school, learning bank stuff (so she would be able to lie more efficiently to anyone who asked what she did on a daily basis for Credit Dauphine), and learning cool spy stuff and going on missions, she managed to cram in 11+ languages amidst carving out time for a social life with Francie (and a few dates with Noah) in one year's time. At the age of 19 and 20 years old. If you didn't think she was superwoman before, you should now.

Not to mention, that that's just the languages she speaks. While Sydney's trading card lists her languages as ''numerous'', she obviously knows a various amount of codes and ciphers as well; which, to me, counts as a language. We know she knows Morse code (2x18) from her mother's earrings, the Substitution cipher from when her dad encrypted her crossword puzzles (4x12), and Skip Sequencing Cypher Text (2x19) from when she was trying to get a message to Vaughn and an ever-helpful Weiss. That's just the ones I can remember right off, I'm sure she knows quite a few more.

As a side note, on Noah Hicks' trading card, it claims he only speaks three: English, French, and Russian. Oddly enough, the Russian was episode based while the French happened in the books - it's odd because I like to find what's different between the show and novels, but that's something that lines up. I'm sure he knows more languages - as it's said, five or six was the minimum - but it's not stated in the novels, the show, his Wiki page, or his trading card.

((Update: Ok, so two things. One, one the back of her season 3 trading card, it has one of Sydney’s languages as Taiwanese, so I guess that bumps her (known) total to 31 languages. Secondly, I did forget about a language from Vanishing Act; ''... a circle filled with words in what Sydney immediately recognized as Latin.'' Now again, it said she recognized it and not knew it (though, that’s probably the same thing for her), but I feel it’s further evidence supporting my theory.))

#Alias #Sydney Bristow

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galaxiia-quean · 5 years

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ocean eyes [1]

THE FLAT WAS BATHED IN LIGHT, streaming through the open windows. Ethan couldn’t recall a time in which he’d slept past five in the morning, always being up before the first rays of sun. He padded across the living room, following the music drifting from the kitchen.

He leaned on the door frame, a smile spreading on his face at the sight before him. His beloved girlfriend danced around the room, his white shirt draping over her thighs. Ethan approached her, brushing his lips on the silky slope of her neck as she finished serving breakfast. An involuntary giggle escaped her, his beard tickling the sensitive skin.

“Morning, love.” He twirled her, properly kissing her. Nora smiled against his mouth, tracing the outline of his bare muscles.

“I made coffee and waffles.”

“Perfect.” Ethan lightly squeezed her waist, drawing a short laugh from her.

They ate mostly in silence, relishing in the peacefulness. A comfortable hush enveloped them with the occasional discreet glance at each other. The easiness of their relationship never ceased to amaze him. Nora was perhaps equally as reserved as him — even though her amiability and patience ran deeper than his — and understood those rare moments of quietude were invaluable whereas his previous partners failed to comprehend the concept.

He admired most her way of appreciating the little things which the rest of the universe tragically neglected. Ethan supposed he was a part of that category. Although, he was beginning to warm up to Nora’s methods. He hadn’t been particularly superstitious until he met her and yet nowadays he found himself subconsciously knocking on wood and avoiding to cross under ladders. She changed his life for the better and he couldn’t be more grateful for that.

Ethan ran a hand through his mussled hair and deftly cleaned the dirty porcelain, wiping his hands on a nearby cloth when he was done. Nora squealed excitedly when the pop tune playing on her phone came to an end and swiftly transitioned into a kizomba ballad. Ethan recognized it as one of her favourite.

“Eth, dance with me.” Nora pleaded, beaming.

He complied to her request, a dimpled smile rising on his cheeks as he wrapped an arm around her, pressing their hips flush together. He intertwined their fingers, kissing her temple. Nora sighed contentedly, snuggling into his chest as he lead, expertly swaying along to the song.

Ethan rested his chin on top of her head, murmuring the words in a soft hum. His accent flowed smoothly after years of practice.

“My heart melts when you speak Portuguese.” Nora commented, the corner of her lips quirking upward. “Though I shouldn’t be surprised you’re so well-versed in it.

He gave a casual shrug. “It’s a beautiful language.”

“It sure is.” She agreed, reluctantly detaching herself from him as the last notes faded. “And we sure have lives to save, today.”

“It’s a rather beautiful day, isn’t it, Shepherd?” Ethan teased, pressing his lips to hers in a sweet kiss.

“I’m so glad I persuaded you to watch Grey’s.”

“Persuaded? I believe “pestered” is the correct term.” He laughed, disappearing into his bedroom.

They were careful to part ways before reaching the hospital, cautious of arousing suspicion. The diagnostics team gathered in the lobby, where Ethan assigned each of them a department, instructing them to update him throughout their shift.

Nora made her rounds in the pediatric wing, cheering the children up with jokes and the small batch of chocolates she always carried in her purse. Most of them had been milling about in the playroom and coaxed her into a game of Pictionary, which she promptly lost due to her dreadful drawing skills.

It was nearing lunch time when she entered the room of Amelia Bailey.

She frowned when she found the young girl entertaining herself with loose domino pieces. Amelia’s face lit up when she saw her favourite doctor, a bright smile replacing the sad grimace.

“Nono!”

Her scowl melted into a soft mien. She set the chart aside, allowing the child to hug her, and gently pinched her chubby cheeks, eliciting a contagious giggle from the six-year-old.

“How are you feeling, baby?” She sat on the edge of her bed, caressing the side of her face.

Amelia shrugged noncommittally. “Fine.”

“That’s good.” Nora lowered her chin, meeting the girl’s eyes. “Where are your parents?”

“They fought again. Mom went back home and dad went to work.”

The physician paused, exhaling deeply and struggling to contain the anger from her face. She averted her gaze and counted to three. Amelia’s grip on her hand tightened.

“They won’t answer if you call. Mom drinks when she’s mad and dad doesn’t use his phone at work,” Amelia said in a small voice, staring at her lap. “Can I stay here for a bit?”

“Is there no one else we could call?” At her silent shake of head, Nora conceded. “Then you can stay.” ‘I’ll have to inform child services’.

The nurses’ station was chaotic to say the least. There had been a massive collapse in an office building down the street and the hospital’s emergency and operating rooms were the most occupied they’d ever been. Nearly all nurses had been dispatched, leaving only two per station.

Danny greeted her, waving his hand. He was slumped on one of the chairs, a disarray of charts and laboratory results laying on the desk.

“What can I do for you, Nora?”

“I need you to call child services.” The doctor sighed, leaning on the counter. “Amelia Bailey, room 404. Her parents were arguing in her room until her stepfather left for work. Amelia told me we shouldn’t bother trying to reach her mother because she’s drinking and won’t answer the phone.”

He frowned. “Okay. By the way, here are the results from Sam Washington’s scans.”

Nora accepted the chart with a grateful nod and turned to leave. Her path was obstructed by a tall man with a charming smile. She raised expectant eyebrows, returning the gesture somewhat bemusedly.

“I apologize for bothering, miss, but it appears I’m lost. Could you be so kind to tell me where the cafeteria is?”

“On the ground floor, it’s easy to find. The elevator is down this hall and to the right.”

His smile grew. “Thank you very much, miss!”

Nora resumed her duties, and caught a glimpse of Ethan inside a patient’s room. From his posture, she deducted he was delivering bad news to the parents of the little boy; his shoulders were set in a straight line, arms folded and jaw clenched.

He ruffled the child’s hair before exiting the room, not entirely surprised to see her waiting for him.

“Hey.” He leaned on the wall, glancing around. “How’s Amelia Bailey?”

“Good to go, except for the fact no one is here to take her home,” Nora replied in a sharp tone.

Concern flashed in his icy blues. Nora rarely allowed her annoyance to shine through, maintaining a cool composure at all times.

“Danny called child services,” she continued, her hand brushing his, seeking the comfort his touch could easily provide.

“Good.” His eyes narrowed at something behind her right shoulder. “I’m sure Amelia is feeling lonely cooped up in her room. Why don’t you let her out for a walk?”

Her brow furrowed. “What is it, Ethan?”

He met her questioning stare, squeezing her hand. His expression softened into an adoring smile, though Nora saw right through it. The uneasiness in his blue depths alarmed her, the pressure of his digits digging into the back of her hand resulting in a pit of anxiousness building in her stomach.

“There’s a man in those visitor chairs in the corner who never left this wing. I’ve seen him linger outside of Amelia’s room when she was alone and sleeping. Maybe I’m being paranoid, maybe I’m not. I don’t want to take any risks either way. There’s a lounge at the end of this corridor where some interns relax during their breaks. Pretend like everything is fine and take Amelia there.”

His façade never fell. Ethan bent forwards as if to kiss her cheek and his warm breath blew gently on her skin.

“Be careful.”

Nora gulped, dropping the chart back at the station and shoving her trembling hands inside the pockets of her white coat. Amelia didn’t seem to notice her distress, following her dutifully outside and excitedly blabbering about her favourite games while Nora refrained from looking over her shoulder. Ethan’s instincts were sharp as a knife and she had absolute trust in them, so she had no doubts that the man was most likely a danger to Amelia.

True to Ethan’s word, a few interns were mingling about in the lounge. Nora’s mind barely registered their presence. Amelia plopped herself on one of the couches while she changed the channel to a kids program the girl would enjoy.

The fear gnawing at her insides was unbearable and became even more pronounced when terrified shouts were heard outside the room. One of the interns got up to check the commotion and quickly closed the door, all colour draining from his face.

“There’s an armed guy outside. He’s holding Dr. Ramsey at gunpoint.”

Her heart stopped at those words. Amelia turned to her with frightened eyes and Nora shushed her, cradling her face.

“I want you to hide behind this couch, do you understand?” She shielded the child with her body, holding her hands behind her back.

Absolute silence engulfed them. Nora could hear the thundering rushing of her blood in her ears, blending with her rapid breaths and accelerated heartbeat. Never in her life had she been so terrified. Ethan was being held hostage and she could lose him at any moment.

Deafening screams exploded when the door was ripped off its hinges, revealing Ethan and the gunman. He scoured the room for her. Tears welled up in her eyes, seeing him so unusually scared, his hands raised and the barrel of a gun directly pointed at the back of his head.

He was shoved inside and quickly crawled to her side, chest rising and falling with adrenaline. Nora realised she’d seen that man, spoken to him just minutes before that whole situation. He scowled when he didn’t see his target, then noticed Nora shifting her weight to hide the child.

“Give me my daughter,” he growled, aiming the weapon at her chest.

“I won’t let you hurt her.”

“I won’t. She’s my daughter,” he snarled, waving the gun.

“That’s not a toy.” Ethan watched him closely, moving so he could protect both girls.

“Shut up.” The aim was back on him. “I told you, I won’t hesitate to shoot. I want my daughter. Let her come with me and no one gets hurt.”

“The police will be here soon,” Nora threatened, pushing Ethan aside. They were both strategically positioned to cover Amelia.

“You called child services on the whore and her guy. I’m the best option for Mia!” He shouted.

“I would daresay the best option for Amelia is someone who doesn’t charge into a hospital with a dangerous weapon.” Ethan’s voice was calm despite his offensive stance, prepared to protect his staff should the man snap.

“Get out of the way.” The criminal switched the gun’s aim between the couple.

Neither budged.

“Last warning.” His target was uncertain.

Nora pushed Amelia further behind the furniture.

“Move!”

The gunshot blasted across the lounge, booming in their ears. Blood pooled around the figure sprawled on the floor, crimson staining the whiteness of their coat.

@princess-geek ; @cordoniansqueen ; @universallypizzataco ; @galaxy-of-rosess ; @hatlley ; @valiantlychaoticbarbarian ; @teenytinymagician ; @lilyofchoices ; @angellwithoutname ; @perriewinklenerdie ; @radlovedreamer; @claudevonstruke ; @nyikondlovu ; @ifyouseekheart ; @hopelessromantic1352; @gingerjane15 ; @cordoniaqueensworld ; @paleweasels ; @fangirlingmum ; @usuallyamazinglyaverage ; @writinghereandthere ; @confessionsofabrokegirl; @regina-and-happiness ; @brightpinkpeppercorn ; @choicesyouplayandmore ; @timmagicktoad ; @zeniamiii ; @drakesensworld ; @ethanplaysfavorites ; @topsyturvy-dream ; @sharrybh20 ; @cordoniansqueen ; @greek-elsa ; @drakewalkerfantasy ; @paisleylovergirl ; @faithhasnowords

#open heart #ethan ramsey #ocean eyes #mc: nora holland #playchoices #pixelberry

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darks-ink · 5 years

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Unseen

Prompt: After getting his by his parent’s newest invention, Danny discovers he is trapped in Phantom form and can’t change back. Prompt by: @kinglazrus Word count: 4,165

[AO3][FFnet][more Phic Phight fics]

A bright flash blinded Danny, and he braced himself for a painful impact. Surprisingly, it didn’t come. He peeked between the fingers of his white gloves, right at the weapon still pointed at him.

“Uh. I don’t think it worked,” he muttered, as his parents’ faces paled further.

His dad lowered the weapon, flipping open a panel to check. “It definitely fired, though. Mads, check him over just to be sure.”

“But I’m fine!” Danny exclaimed as he lowered himself closer to the floor anyway and submitted to his mom’s worried examination. “It didn’t even hurt or anything!”

“It wasn’t designed to hurt, sweetie.” His mom carefully inspected him, rubbing over his chest – the impact site, apparently – and even asking him to unzip his jumpsuit. Underneath it, his skin wasn’t even bruised. Nothing showed that he had been hit.

“See,” he waved a hand demonstratively, “Totally fine. No need to worry or fret, okay?”

“But that doesn’t make sense!” His dad waved the invention around, and Maddie pulled it from his hands before he damaged it. “It should’ve worked!”

Seeing the glare his wife was shooting him, he added, “Not that I wanted to hurt you, Danny-boy, but–”

“It’s fine.” Danny shot him an understanding grin, one which doubled as a soothing one for his mom. “Accidents happen. I shouldn’t have dropped in so unexpectedly – I should’ve known that I would startle you two.”

“And we should know better than to shoot first and look later.” His mom looked off-put, but she sighed and relaxed a little. “We got lucky this time, but it shouldn’t have happened.”

“Why were you coming down anyway, kiddo?” His dad had perked up a little now that it was clear no one had gotten hurt. “Important ghost business?”

“Uh, no.” Danny’s grin turned sheepish as he started to rub the back of his neck. “Jazz wanted to know what we were doing for dinner.”

“Couldn’t you just have used the stairs?” His mom looked at him, her expression somewhere between intrigued and perplexed. “Why were you in your ghost form anyway?”

“Jazz said that it was good for people – for you – to see me hanging out as Phantom.” He scuffed his boot on the floor, for once not floating in his ghost form. “Something about connecting the ways you saw me or something?”

She accepted this answer with a nod. If Jazz said it, it was likely right – and she was pretty sure it was, anyway. She hadn’t seen Danny in his ghost form a lot – it was still hard to think of him as Danny instead of Phantom. “And the phasing through the ceiling instead of using the stairs?”

“I, uh, didn’t really think about it.” Danny dropped the hand from his neck and shrugged. “I use my powers all the time, even in human form. Phasing through the door instead of opening it, floating down the stairs so they don’t creak, lighting a ball of ectoplasm instead of turning on the lights…”

“Fascinating,” his dad mumbled, and Danny abruptly remembered that the man was there, too. “Your powers are so easily accessible even in your human form that you use them so casually?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” He floated over closer to his dad, so that he was more easily included in the conversation. “My core never leaves, human or ghost. And when I first became half-ghost, I kept accidentally using my powers in human form, not in ghost form. I guess it just comes naturally.”

His mom shook her head. “I still can’t believe that we missed it for all these years.”

Danny opened his mouth to answer with one of his usual replies – assurance that it wasn’t their fault, that he had hidden it, etc – but she held up her hand and quietened him before he started. “It’s alright Danny. It was a stray thought, nothing serious.” Then she smiled at him. “We’ll do pizza for dinner, okay sweetie? Go and tell your sister – and use the stairs this time, please.”

“Alright alright.” He planted his feet back on the floor and triggered his transformation back to human form.

No flash of light came.

He frowned, tried again. Still nothing.

“Are you okay?” his dad asked, leaning closer. “You’re just… standing there.”

Danny looked at his clenched fists – still covered by the white gloves of his jumpsuit. “I can’t shift back.” He poked the ball of warmth in his chest – it was still there, just… idle. Like his core whenever he got hit with the Plasmius Maximus. He didn’t even know it was possible to lock his human form away like this. “I can still feel my human side, but I can’t switch to it.��

“That… makes sense.” His mom wandered closer, still holding the invention. “This was supposed to stop a ghost from using their powers – temporarily, of course. But it only worked on your ability to transform, rather than your ghostly ones.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “How long was it supposed to last?”

“Not sure,” his dad admitted with a shrug. “Anywhere between a day and a week, depending on a number of factors. Strength of the ghost, how close to the core we hit, all of that stuff.”

“So it won’t be over before school tomorrow?” Danny groaned, dragging his hands down his face. “Of course. And you won’t let me stay home, will you?”

His mom shook her head. “No sweetie, you already miss enough classes as-is. We can’t let you stay home over something like this.”

“I figured,” he mumbled, lifting off of the floor. Might as well fly over to Jazz to tell her they were having pizza, since that was what started this whole thing.

“And use the stairs, young man!” his mom yelled, moments before he passed through the ceiling.

With another sigh he re-angled himself, flying through the stairway instead.

Danny eyed the closed locker in front of him speculatively. Then, figuring that he had noting to lose, turned his arm intangible and stuck it right through.

He was still digging for his books when Sam and Tucker joined him, leaning on the lockers to either side of him.

“Didya forget something, dude?” Tucker asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. “I know you’re not hiding anymore, but this is going a little far, even for you.”

Danny sighed, pulling the last books out of the locker. “My parents accidentally hit me with one of their new inventions yesterday. I’m locked out of my human form for anywhere between a day and a week, or so my dad says.”

Sam sucked in air through her teeth. “And they wouldn’t let you stay home, huh? That sucks.”

“Mom said I miss enough class with my ghost hunting anyway.” He flung the backpack over his shoulder again. “Which is fair, but still. I’m not really excited about the prospect of going to class as Danny Phantom.”

“What are the chances that the teachers will give you detention for being a distraction?” Tucker shot him a shit-eating grin, leading the group towards Lancer’s classroom. The bell would ring soon, anyway.

Danny grumbled wordlessly. Then, almost impossible to hear, he added, “At least mom wrote a note explaining it.”

“So that’ll be about 50% of the teachers, got it.” Tucker swung his PDA around. “I’ll keep track for you so you can sue them for discrimination.”

“On what basis?” Danny frowned at his friend, ignoring the wide-eyed glances he was starting to receive as more and more people filled the hallways. “Being a ghost? I don’t think that that counts.”

“I’m sure that I can think of something,” Sam assured with a smile so evil Danny almost shivered.

Thankfully he was saved from having to answer by both the bell and the fact that they reached Mr. Lancer’s classroom. They entered immediately, Sam and Tucker moving to their seats. Danny stopped by the teacher’s desk, instead.

“Mister… Fenton,” Lancer said, tone tired and clearly barely repressing a groan. “What can I help you with?”

Danny pulled the note out of his pocket and offered it to the teacher. “I, uh. Accident in my parents’ lab, so I can’t shift back. Mom wrote a note explaining it.”

The teacher read over it once, then again. Then with a sigh he handed it back. “Very well. Take a seat and try not to distract the class.”

“I’ll do my best,” Danny said, grinning. He wandered over to his usual desk and plopped into the seat. More quietly, to Sam and Tucker, he added, “Not that it’ll make much of a difference.”

“No kidding,” Sam muttered, eyes narrowing into a glare as Paulina entered the classroom. The girl was followed by a horde of other girls, of course, but none of those mattered in comparison. It was Paulina who had had a shrine dedicated to Phantom in her locker – even though she had thankfully taken it down after the reveal.

The girl visibly perked up when she spotted Danny. He, in turn, sunk down lower into his seat – and barely repressed his automatic reaction to phase through it to sink deeper.

“Ghost boy!” she chirped, moving towards him instead of her seat. She might’ve taken down the shrine, but she still harbored strong feelings for Danny. Luckily, like most people she seemed to struggle with connecting his ghostly persona with his human form, even knowing that they were one and the same.

Unfortunately, that meant that he had to deal with the full force of her adoration – at least until he could shift back to human again.

“Paulina,” he greeted with a shaky grin. He tried to peer around her and make eye contact with Lancer – hoping that the man would shoo her off and into her seat. Unfortunately, Mr. Lancer seemed to be too occupied with his papers to notice. “Shouldn’t you, uh, get to your seat? Before the class starts?”

She ignored the suggestion and leaned on his desk instead, somehow blinking flirtatiously at him. “What are you doing here, mi amor?”

Danny blinked at her disbelievingly. “I… am part of this class? I’m here every day, unless there’s a ghost?”

Thankfully Lancer had finally noticed his plight, and came over. “Miss Sanchez, if you could stop distracting your fellow students and sit down, that would be wonderful.”

She shot Mr. Lancer a glare, then cast a longing look over at Danny, and then finally sat down. Danny couldn’t wait for this stupid invention to wear off. He was already so done with this stupid thing.

And here he had been, thinking that he had been getting a lot of attention ever since revealing his identity. Apparently it was still better in his human form, despite everyone knowing he was Phantom. Imagine that.

The rest of the classes went… Well, they weren’t normal, by any means, but it went alright, at least. A lot of the others still looked at Danny, but he could ignore their stares well enough. The only real problem had been when they had tried to watch a video during Chemistry – Danny’s eyes started glowing even brighter once the lights went off, which was apparently quite distracting to everyone else.

And there was, of course, lunch. When he had walked into the cafeteria, the entire room had shushed – but then his ghost sense went off and he spend the entire break catching Technus.

And now he sat in the locker room, Tucker by his side, staring at his gym clothes thoughtfully.

“Dude, just put them on.” Tucker was lacing up his own shoes. Everyone else had already left – Danny had waited until the locker room was mostly empty on purpose. “You know what Tetslaff is like. She’ll make you wear them anyway – might as well avoid the fight.”

Danny snorted. “Yes, because I make a habit out of avoiding fights.” Still, he complied and started peeling off his gloves.

“Don’t I know it,” Tucker grumbled in response. He straightened his beret – why did they let him wear that thing, anyway? – and pointed towards the doors into the gym. “I’ll tell Tetslaff that you’re on your way. And, uh, that you’re stuck in ghost form and all that.”

“Thanks Tuck.” Danny looked away from the pile of ghostly hazmat he was acquiring to shoot his friend a grateful look. “Try not to get killed.”

“If I do I’ll just come back as a ghost!” he shouted back as he left the locker room.

Still smiling, Danny carefully freed himself from his suit. It wasn’t exactly designed to be easy to put on or remove, and while that normally wasn’t a problem for Danny… Well, he was finding a lot of problems he didn’t normally run into, anyway.

Like how he had spent the entire day struggling to stay grounded. And forcing his legs to stay legs, instead of dissolving into a ghostly tail.

Having finally changed into his gym outfit, Danny tried to sneak into the classroom unnoticed. Unfortunately, his gym clothes did little to dampen his natural glow – and once someone caught sight of his scars, their shout alerted the rest of the class as well.

“Mr. Fenton,” Tetslaff snapped, gesturing for him to come closer. “How nice of you to finally join us…” she trailed off into silence, apparently having seen his scars as well.

Dash, unlike most of the class who had gone quiet, decided to go loud, instead. “Hey Fenton, what the hell are those?”

“They’re scars, Dash.” Danny rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, hoping not to come across as defensive as he was feeling. “You know what scars are, right?”

The boy spluttered, clearly grasping for a reply that was at least as insulting as Danny’s. Kwan spoke up instead. “But where did they come from? And why are they… green?”

Danny waved a hand over himself, demonstratively. “Um, they’re green because I’m a ghost. Ectoplasmic flesh is green, and so is ectoplasmic blood. Therefore, scars are green instead of red.” Then he paused, considering his words for a moment. “And as you might tell from the fact that they’re faded, they’re not new. They’re from the accident that turned me half-ghost.”

“Then why haven’t we seen them before?” Mikey asked, a note of genuine curiosity in his voice. Now that the question was asked, more voices started repeating it, demanding an answer.

“I’ve always had them.” Danny frowned, shooting a quick glance at Tetslaff in the hopes that she would call the class into silence. But, unfortunately, she seemed content to listen to his explanation as well. “But only as Phantom. You can’t usually see them, though, because I always wear my jumpsuit in ghost form, and that covers up most of my body.”

“Well!” A large hand landed on his shoulder, and Danny stiffened – and almost reflexively charged an ectoblast. “Now that this fantastic Q&A session is over, why don’t we get back to gym class, huh?”

Tetslaff pushed him back towards the class, and Danny quickly sidled up next to Tucker and Sam. “Today we’re running a standard training course. We’re starting with timed laps around the room, and some hurdle jumping after. Any questions so far?”

She completely ignored the raised hands, instead storming on in her explanation. “No? Good. First ones up are you guys.” She pointed at a few students – including Dash and Danny. “Get your asses to the starting lines already!”

Danny grumbled under his breath, but trudged over to the line anyway. At least he didn’t have to pretend be less athletic than he really was, now. Even if he wasn’t all that great at running, anyway. Stamina? Sure. But actual running speed?

Well, he never tested that, but still. He flew everywhere. Danny was pretty sure that he walked less now that he was half-ghost, not more.

Tetslaff whistled for them to start, and he burst off. His sneakers felt weird on his feet – wearing regular clothes always felt weird in ghost form – but they didn’t hinder his movement. The rhythmic pounding of his shoes on the floor of the gym felt good – sounded good.

Then he surpassed Dash and felt a smirk crawling up. Actually, you know what? This felt even better.

Danny crossed the finish line as the first of his group – and by wide margin, too. The teacher eyed him appreciatively, noting down his time on her clipboard. “Would you look at that, you really have been holding back on us, Fenton.”

Dash finally crossed the line, and scoffed in-between breaths. “Yeah, duh. Have you seen Phantom fight?”

“He says, like it came with being half-ghost,” Danny muttered, intending for only Sam and Tucker to hear it. Unfortunately he forgot how many of his classmates paid attention to him nowadays, and most of them seemed to have overheard it.

“Didn’t it?” Valerie asked, apparently genuinely curious. Her eyes scanned him, up and down, clearly locking on his lean muscles. “You actually worked out, Danny?”

His aura flickered brighter in annoyance. “Sam made me,” he finally admitted. The green that crept over his cheeks definitely wasn’t out of embarrassment, no sir!

A loud clap from Tetslaff interrupted the conversation before it could continue, however. “Alright, break it up! Next runners are up.”

She led the next students to the starting line, and Danny took this chance to move to a quieter corner. Most of his classmates took the signal for what it was and left him alone – even when Sam and later Tucker were called away to do their runs.

Unfortunately the peace couldn’t last, as Tetslaff called him forward again when everyone had had their run. Now, it was time to run with obstacles.

Now this, Danny knew, he could do. He actually jumped a lot, both in human and ghost forms. It was simply convenient for quick shifts – jumping off of somewhere tall or just straight-up jumping up meant that he could fly off right after shifting.

And, having already finished his regular run, he knew he could do that pretty well, too. So, really, there was no reason for him to do badly at a combination. Right?

The starting signal went off, and once again, Danny shot away from the line. He maintained a steady run, kept his eye on the first hurdle coming up. There were two more right after, and he was mentally calculating if he could clear them in one go or not–

First hurdle, strong push with his leg, and off the ground he went. Second and third hurdle flew by as well, and Danny quickly made his way to the finish line.

Miss Tetslaff eyed his critically, then heaved a weary sigh.

“Mr. Fenton,” she said. “You are aware of the fact that you were supposed to run this course?”

“Um.” Hadn’t he? He turned around to look at the course, very sure that he had, at least, started with his feet on the ground. In doing so, however, he noticed that he was definitely floating now. “I… Oh. How, uh. How long have I been flying?”

“You didn’t notice?” Dash exclaimed, this time having witnessed the whole thing since he wasn’t in the same group. “Are you serious, Fenton?”

He flushed green again and opened his mouth to reply, but Sam cut in before he could. “Flying comes naturally to ghosts, Dash. Plus, have you ever seen Phantom not float?”

Tetslaff shook her head but noted down the time anyway. “Doesn’t matter anyway,” she decided, with a quiet grumble to her voice. “We have no one to compare his data to anyway, and we can’t have him compete either.”

Which they had, apparently, seriously considered. Even though 1) that would’ve been cheating, since Danny wasn’t human, and 2) Danny didn’t have the time for it. Seriously, he couldn’t even keep up with school! How would on Earth would he make time for sports? Also why? He genuinely had better things to do.

Sam and Tucker ribbed at him, of course, for accidentally flying his lap instead of running it, but thankfully no one else gave him trouble. And so the rest of gym class passed by without further problems, too.

Danny laid on his desk, head resting on his folded arms. Sure, he should be paying attention to Mr. Lancer. But the teacher was just so boring, and he was so tired. He hadn’t slept well last night – several ghost attacks had interrupted him as always. And sleeping in his jumpsuit proved to be more difficult than he had expected, too.

So now here he was, almost asleep during English class. Blinking very slowly – but making sure to open his eyes again every time. He didn’t want to fall asleep, but… it was very tempting.

Lancer was keeping an eye on him, though. Despite the man knowing about the cause of his troubles – or perhaps because of it – he continued to push Danny. It was probably well-intentioned, but sometimes Danny just wished the man would stop.

Not that he said that out loud, though. Everyone in Amity knew not to make wishes – and even if he worded it differently, Danny didn’t want to hurt Lancer’s feelings. Especially if the man was just trying to be nice, or do the right thing.

“Mr. Fenton,” the teacher called, and Danny almost didn’t squash the groan he wanted to give.

Instead he mumbled a wordless reply. Pushed himself up a little further, the glow of his eyes making them look sharper than he really was. “Myeah?”

“Could you tell us the answer to the question, please?”

His eyes moved from the teacher to the board he was standing next to. It was, surprisingly, a question he knew the answer to. For once, he had read the book – and remembered enough about it, too.

So, naturally, he gave the answer the teacher was looking for.

“Excuse me?” Lancer asked, looking confused and somewhat thrown off.

Danny repeated his answer, frowning. He was sure that he was right, so why was Lancer acting so weird?

Sam nudged him, and he looked over at her with a brow quirked. “You’re speaking in ghost, Danny,” she explained.

“Oh,” he said. “Uh, sorry.” He turned back to Mr. Lancer and repeated, once again, the answer – this time making sure he stuck to English.

The teacher shook his head in exasperation. “Yes, that is correct. Thank you Mr. Fenton, and please try to stick to English next time.”

He ducked his head, cold crawling up to his cheeks – blushing green once again. “Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

Seeing that the teacher was distracted, Valerie leaned over to his desk. “Does that happen often?”

“Slipping into ghost?” he asked, sinking down on his arms again. “Usually only when I’m in ghost form, and even then only when I’m tired or distracted.”

She nodded, scribbling something down in her notebook. Seeing the motion, he cocked his head at the book. “Keeping notes, Val?”

“Yeah,” she carelessly admitted, looking back at him. “Someone has to. Besides, Dani keeps dropping by and knowing more about you translates into knowing more about her.”

Valerie toyed with the pen in her hands. “Can… humans learn that? Ghost, I mean? Or is it a language of the dead only?”

“Ask Sam or Tuck.” Danny shrugged, not that it was very visible since he was still lying down. “It comes naturally to me – sounds just like English, too.”

Another nod. A soft scratching as she noted down this, too. At the front, Lancer had fallen silent.

Danny risked a look over and saw that they were supposed to be reading, now. He opened his book, eyes aimed at it but not actually reading. He wouldn’t remember any of it, anyway. Not with how sleepy he was.

Besides, he was warm and surprisingly comfy. Surrounded by his three best friends, who would surely keep his safe – even if he was in danger, which he wasn’t.

“Are you purring,” Valerie hissed, incredulous.

“No,” he protested, not even bothering to prop himself up or to stop the rumbling coming from him. “I’m not a cat, I don’t purr.”

She looked at him, skeptically. Sam now also leaned in closer – glancing at Lancer to make sure he didn’t notice – and added, “His core hums when he’s content. You just usually can’t tell because the flesh of his human form mutes it.”

“In other words–” Tucker shot Valerie a grin as he, too, joined the conversation. “–it’s absolutely purring.”

Danny groaned, but didn’t say anything. He stood no chance against the combined forces of his friends.

And so, content and surrounded by the soft voices of his friends, Danny Fenton-Phantom fell asleep.

Still purring, of course.

#phic phight #phic phight 19 #danny phantom #dark writes #danny fenton #i just posted this but apparently it posted on the wrong blog so i'm reposting it #but that's dumb and frustrating so ugh

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