Chapter Text
Danny took a deep breath. He could do this. He’s fought ghost and died for Christ’s sake; a conversation shouldn’t be that hard!
But it’s not just a conversation. Today was the day, Danny was coming out to his parents…
As a ghost, they already knew he was gay.
Jazz slid into the booth next to him, interrupting his internal monologue. They were going to have this Earth-shattering conversation at Nasty Burger. Sue him, this was the only place that popped into his mind when Sam suggested they find somewhere “public and not suspicious”. He and Jazz had disguised it as a “Birthday Family Dinner” to pull his parents away from their research.
Research on a blob ghost they have trapped in their basement… Running experiments on it… Disecti- Nope not finishing that train of though.
Danny jumped at the sharp elbow to his ribs. He turned to Jazz probably about to say something along the lines of ‘only a demon has bones that pointy’, but the insult got caught in his throat as he looked in her eyes.
“Hey, are you ok?” She asked, worry painted across her features.
As much as she was a pain, she always had a sixth sense for when something was truly on his mind.
“I’m just worried, I don’t like pitting their love for me against their love for their research.” Danny said looking over to his parents who were chatting happily at the cashier who was holding the money they handed him with horrified expression on his face.
“It scares me even more that it’s such a tossup of which will win.” He mumbled, looking down to his hands in his lap.
Jazz slung her arm around his shoulder. “Hey, don’t think like that! Of course they will accept you, you’re their son, and if they don’t well then they’ll have to answer to me and social services about all the exposed biohazards in our home.” She said with a look of determination on her face that made Danny 100% sure she would do it.
“I have hope that this will help them see that ghosts are still human. It will go well, I’m sure of it.” She almost whispered.
“And if it doesn’t then we have them and plan B.” She muttered, gesturing to Sam and Tucker sitting a few booths away in their closet disguises. Tuck wore a suit that was too big for him and one of those fake mustaches you buy at the dollar store, while Sam was in a blond party city wig and a white sundress. “They will never suspect it.” Sam had said when they were making this plan, and she was right. They looked nothing like themselves.
Plan B was less of a plan and more of a few wibbly wobbly concepts of a plan. It consisted of Danny flying as far away from Amity as possible, finding a way to contact the rest of them and let them know he was alive, then flying as far away from that location as possible and living out the rest of his life. Maybe meeting up with them every few years at a diner to let him know he was alive. Main communications through Christmas cards with no return addresses and cryptic letters sent by pigeon.
Danny did not like Plan B.
Unfortunately, it was their only option if things went south. His parents were too connected to the GIW to make living in Amity feasible if they decided not to accept him. Danny shivered, the thoughts of the bad side of his parents with the virtually unlimited funds at their disposal to hunt him and any ghost unlucky enough to find themselves wandering through the portal was a scene straight out of one of his nightmares.
Not telling them was becoming less and less of option now too. After the defeat of Pariah Dark, the whole zone has just seemed to be waiting for… something. Danny asked Clockwork about it once, but the crazy old man just smiled at him creepily and said, “Time will tell.” But he didn’t, he just made a recursive paradox about it and laughed to himself about the mere mortal’s confusion.
Danny’s competitive hand wringing and anxiety spiral was interrupted as his parents set down their trays of food.
“I do think that boy was seriously interested in our work! Did you see his face as I described the reaction of the Blob Ghosts inner anatomy to extreme temperature differences or how its body fully reformed after being shot with an ecto-blaster? He seemed positively enraptured! “His mother beamed, sitting down.
The booming voice of his father followed “I don’t know Maddie, I would say he seemed more interested in my descriptions of how the new Fenton Freezer will be able to freeze ghosts with one shot, making collection, containment and experimentation easier than ever before! If I could only get it to work...” Jack said, sitting down so hard it made the whole booth shake. He seemed to be lost in thought, contemplating a singular fry that he must’ve picked out of the bag on the way over to the table as if it somehow held the secret for getting his newest gadget to work how he envisioned.
Jazz cleared her throat. “Hey, let’s try not to have work talk at the table, today’s not about that.”
Danny watched as his mom’s eyes widened with realization as she turned to look at him. “Right! Almost forgot and got carried away. Danny sweetie, happy birthday.” Her head tilted to the side as she reached a hand out and placed it on his shoulder. Danny leaned into the touch, it felt nice.
“Ah yes, a man’s 18th birthday is nothing to snooze about, today is the day you become a man. You can join the military and pay taxes!” Jack said matter-o-factly.
Danny cringed “Well good thing I don’t have to worry about that yet, I’m only turning 16.”
Jacks posture deflated, at this and he pulled out a notebook, flipping through the pages looking for something. “I could have sworn I marked today as your eighteenth, I did the math! Oh, that’s a 3 not a 5, I see. Sorry Daniel, I’ve been so distracted, but I thought I got it right this year.” He said solemnly
The silence stretched on for a second too long before Maddie clasped her hands together. “Well on that note, lets eat!” She said as she started to pass out the food.
Danny got his burger and fries and opened them up, digging into his food. He let the familiar taste of grease and salt distract him from his worries from before and took in the people around him.
When he ignored the imminent threat of what he was about to do hanging over him, this was actually pretty nice. It has been a while since they were all together like this. No ghosts, no Vlad. No hot dogs coming to life trying to kill him. Just Danny, Jazz, Jack and Maddie, enjoying each other’s company.
Good things never last long.
Jazz folded up her wrapper and placed it the side, looking at Danny for the ok, asking if he was ready to do this. Ready to possibly lose his family and life as he knows it forever? No, but ready to get this over with? Dear god yes. He gave her a small nod and turned his head back to face them.
Danny risked a glance towards Sam and Tucker, checking that they were ready. They both gave him encouraging smiles and the most ridiculous versions of overly enthusiastic thumbs up he’d ever seen.
Danny had to stifle the laugh that almost burst out of him with a cough. He loved his friends.
Jazz cleared her throat. “So, Mom. Dad. Danny actually wanted to get dinner together for another reason than just celebrating his birthday.” She reached her hand over and gave his knee a supportive squeeze.
Jack and Maddie put the remnants of their food down and turn their eyes towards Danny. He had their full attention. It was terrifying.
“Well. Umm I don’t know how to put this..” He stumbled over his words. Not everyday you have to explain how you died to the people who inadvertently caused it.
“A few years ago, there.. there was an accident. In the lab. I got hurt. Really bad. I.. I died.” His mother’s eyes widened at his words, then her eyebrows lowered as she focused on what he said. Jack just sat there, a blank expression on his face but Danny could see all the scenarios playing behind his eyes.
Danny better hurry this up.
“But its ok! Because I came back right away, barely even died.” He said putting his hands up as if he was defending himself. Danny took a deep breath and continued “The issue is when I came back, I didn’t come back all the way?”
At this Maddie stopped him “What do you mean not ‘all the way’?” Danny could see the gears turning behind her head. She was putting the pieces together; he’d have to beat her to it.
“Well, I guess you can say I only came back half-way. I’m half alive and half—” “Ghost” His dad interrupted him this time, shock written all over his face. Danny turned to look at his mom and her face was a mix of shock and horror.
“Yeah. I am a special case, there hasn’t been something like me in a longgg time. Most of the ghosts were pretty confused about it when it first happened, and they came to check me out. It’s just unfortunate that their version of checking something out looks a lot like attempted murder and mass destruction to humans. I tried to fight them off, take care of my mess and I like to think that I was pretty successful. Ended up making a name for myself...”
Danny waited for it to click. He and his friends decided to take it slow with them, let them come to the conclusion on their own time. He gave them all the puzzle pieces, now to play the waiting game and let them figure it out.
His dad was just sitting there, staring off into space. Danny would honestly be worried he wasn’t breathing if it weren’t for the tell-tale subtle rise and fall of his chest.
His mom on the other hand. She was searching his face, cataloguing every freckle and hair until it seemed she came to a conclusion .
She sat back, with a numb look on her face. “You’re Phantom” she said. There was no emotion, only cold undying certainty.
Danny looked at his hands under the table and nodded, not able to bring himself to look at his parents in the eyes. Now was the test. Would they accept him? Kick him out? Try to kidnap him and take him back to the lab to figure out how he ticked?
As the silence stretched out, tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall. Jazz was deathly still next to him, watching their parents. He looked up at her, jaw clenched, and shoulders set. She didn’t know what they were thinking either.
A loud slam from the table across from him made Danny jump out of his skin and almost Go Ghost on reflex. He whipped his head to look at his mom, finding her with the same smile she wore before dinner, except now with something slightly off. “Well. That was one hell of a revelation! Why don’t you kids go to the car and your father and I will clear the table.” Danny turned to look at his father who was still sitting, staring blankly at the table.
“Um yeah sure…” Danny said, giving Jazz a side eye trying to ask a silent question of what the hell is going on. Jazz just looked at him with wide eyes and gave slight a shrug then started to scoot out of the booth.
Danny followed suit, still unsure of what was going on. He took one last look back at his mother, and she met his eyes, smiling warmly. He felt his mouth quirk up in a shitty imitation of her look, then he got out of the booth and trotted after his sister who was already at the door.
Danny and Jazz walked out together, not breaking the silence until the noise from inside the building died with the closing door.
“Well, that could’ve been worse” he noted, glancing at the pavement.
“It could’ve gone a lot better too.” They paused.
Danny wouldn’t say the interaction was a complete fail, but he also couldn’t say the image of his father staring blankly at the table and his mother giving him a smile that couldn’t quite reach her eyes wouldn’t haunt him for the rest of his life. Death? Existence.
He looked back at his sister who met his gaze with a kind smile. One thing he knew, was that however his parents ended up taking it, Jazz, Tuck, Sam, and all the rest of his friends, alive or dead, would make sure that he got out ok.
The siblings continued walking to their car, chatting about everything and nothing at all, when they heard the door open once again. Danny looked back to see his mother, loading up the Ecto-Blaster she held in her hand, before lifting it up and aiming it directly at her son. His Dad, was standing next to her, finding something very interesting about his boots. Danny’s eyes trailed the weapon as his mother lifted it, taking aim at her only son, and smiling that same strained smile she had at the table, not quite reaching her eyes.
Danny met her eyes, mouth open but the plea never formed, as he watched her pull the trigger, heard the shot go off, and everything went dark.
Only for a moment, before everything went green.