Archive of Our Own ^beta

The reveal didn’t go like he thought it would. 

It was a quiet affair, much quieter than Danny anticipated. His parents hadn’t yelled or screamed, they just stood there, guns poised to shoot him into oblivion, one smoking from use.

And there was Danny, on his hands and knees on the damp pavement, staring into their eyes through his black bangs.

He remembered how Maddie whispered, trying to insist that it wasn’t him, that it was Phantom tricking them both, but when Danny met his father’s gaze, he knew that it was all over. Jack Fenton was nothing if not a family man. And although oblivious to many things, Phantom wasn’t someone who could fool him so easily like this.

Danny remembered bowing his head, waiting for his father to take that final shot. Just waiting, as ectoplasm dripped on the ground like a clock ticking away the time.

But that didn’t happen. They didn’t shoot.

They didn’t yell.

They didn’t scream.

They simply turned around and walked away.

And that hurt more than anything else.

Danny wasn’t sure if he could go home. He didn’t know if they would let him into their house, if he expected them to say, “Well, the jig is up! Back to the Ghost Zone with you, spook!”

So he curled up in the alley for far too long, pressing himself against the wall and swallowing the lump in his throat until he couldn’t swallow it any longer. 

Something, sometime later, snapped inside of him. His vision blurred, and he sobbed. 

But like everything else that night, his sobs weren’t a loud affair either. They were quiet, muffled, in some desperate attempt to control the situation, his emotions, to not alert anyone, his parents. 

Eventually, the tears dried—even though it felt like he still had more to give—and the raw emotions left him exhausted. He wanted to go home.

If he even still had a home.

He decided to risk it, and thankfully his parents hadn’t put up the ghost shield like he was afraid they would. Even so, he didn’t go through the front door. Instead, he phased through his window and flew to the bathroom.

The rest of the night was robotic. Mechanical. Wash the ectoplasm (now blood) off his body, brush his teeth, and drag himself into bed.

And that was the reveal. There was no spectacle, no heartwarming embrace, no I still love you’s and promises that everything would be okay.

Just silence. Whispers. And rejection.

Jazz found out the next morning. Jack and Maddie told her what happened, that Danny was Phantom, and she just said that she knew. She’d known for months.

And that was when the yelling started.

“What do you mean you knew? ” Maddie said, her voice tightened in a dangerous warning.

Jazz, however, wasn’t intimidated by this. “I mean I knew. I knew he was Phantom.”

“And you didn’t think to—to tell us?” 

“It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

“Wasn’t your—” Danny heard her slam her silverware on the table. “Jasmine Arabelle Fenton, how could you be so irresponsible? Danny is a ghost! Our son is a ghost and you didn’t think it was important to tell us? Are you serious?”

“He’s a half-ghost.”

“Doesn’t matter! He’s still inhuman!”

Chairs squeaked, and something was knocked over.

Then Jazz’s voice started to raise. “How dare you try to blame anything on me! You wanna know why Danny didn’t tell you? Why I didn’t tell you? It’s because of you both! You openly hate ghosts, you talk about your experiments and the shit you’d like to pull on Phantom all the time! Don’t you get how scared—”

“That’s why you should have told us!” Maddie hollered back.

“Oh, so it’s fine to have hated ghosts all these years, but now that Danny is one, you realize it was hurtful? Real fucking—”

“Enough, Jazz!” Jack roared.

“You both are completely blind! So blind to everything this whole time! And maybe you would have known what was going on with Danny if you’d just opened your eyes a little!”

“How were we supposed to know, huh?” Maddie yelled. “What the hell were we supposed to think, that our fourteen-year-old human son was a—was a ghost? That he died and we didn’t even notice?”

Jazz exploded. “YOU DIDN’T NOTICE BECAUSE YOU NEVER PAY ATTENTION! You’ve never noticed a goddamn thing, and whose fault is that?”

“Jazz!”

“No! I won’t sit here and listen to you two try to put yourselves as the victims here!”

There was stomping, footsteps. Danny hovered invisibly in the hallway upstairs, itching to get closer, but also not wanting to alert anyone that he was listening.

“I’m done! I’ve fucking had it!” Jazz’s voice cracked.

“Get back here!” Maddie yelled.

But Jazz had already turned the corner and was flying up the stairs. Danny had just enough time to press himself into the wall as he watched Jazz run by, her face red and streaked with tears.

Danny wasn’t hungry after that.

He left.

He didn’t have a plan in mind. The clouds rolled in overhead, signaling a storm on the way, but that didn’t phase him. It wasn’t like ghosts could get cold anyway.

People recognized him on the street. Children cheered, waving to him as he flew by. Teenagers pulled out their phones to try to get that viral TikTok moment, and adults simply gawked at him, some with fear and others with excitement.

Danny didn’t acknowledge anyone today. He normally would, but then that would mean he’d have to smile at them, and…no, he couldn’t manage that.

He went from building to building, laying atop the cement roofs and staring up at the graying sky, occasionally switching locations when he got bored. The time ticked by, not that Danny was aware of it, until a chill bit his skin and a raindrop splashed on his face.

Danny jolted upright, shocked out of his stupor, to find that the sun had apparently set long ago. He pulled out his phone, but there were no missed calls or texts from his parents.

His heart plummeted, and he put his phone away.

That was fine, he was fine. 

A few more raindrops fell onto his skin, and the smell of the air changed to one of cool pavement. He hung his head down, feeling as the rapidly increasing raindrops started sticking his hair to his forehead, but he didn’t move.

What was the point?

It was dark, it was stormy, and there was nowhere else to go.

“Hey!” A voice called out.

Danny flinched, wondering who in their right mind would be crazy enough to come out on a day like tonight, but there was no one else on the roof.

“Phantom!” the voice tried again, and this time Danny was paying attention enough to look up rather than down, and he was met with the descending form of the Red Huntress, who had her blaster pointed at him and cackling with charged electricity.

He wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Of all the nights for her to come looking for a fight.

“Leave me alone, Red.” Danny flopped back onto the ground, spreading his arms out wide. More rain hit his skin, but he didn’t blink.

Red hovered above him, likely contemplating whether to kill him right here or capture him and kill him later. Whatever her decision was, Danny didn’t care.

And then she did something that Danny would never have predicted in a million years: she put her blaster away.

Danny would have made a snarky remark about her going soft, but he wasn’t about to push his luck with this.

Fortunately for him, Valerie apparently had no such reservations. “Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?”

Phantom didn’t respond.

She lowered herself till she was within jumping distance from the ground. On her mental command, her hoverboard folded into her shoes, and she splashed on the roof next to him, putting her hands on her hips as she looked down at him.

Even with her helmet blocking her face from view, Danny was positive she was glaring.

“Why the fuck are you out here? It’s raining.”

“I could ask the same about you,” Danny shot back, though his voice had no bite.

Valerie’s had plenty. “Well I’m out here because I got home from work to find you’re dumbass ectosignature was pinging me from my roof. What’s the deal, Phantom?”

Danny blinked, sitting upright. Sure enough, he recognized this part of town. “Sorry, I didn’t realize…”

“Well, congrats.” She crossed her arms. “What’s gotten into you anyway?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit. I’ve never seen you look so depressed before. I didn’t even know you could get depressed.”

Danny shrugged. “Happy to prove you wrong then.”

She shivered. “If you’re gonna be difficult, can we at least do it inside? It’s fucking freezing out here.”

“Uh…” Danny felt his face morph into the most incredulous look he could muster. “I’m a ghost?”

“And what? Ghosts can’t go inside all of the sudden? What are you, a fucking vampire?”

“No, I—I just…you really want me to go in your room? ”

Valerie threw her hands up. “Phantom, it’s fucking cold! Come on before I change my mind.”

“Okay,” Danny said dumbly, following her lead into the roof staircase. As soon as they stepped inside the narrow stairs, she deactivated her suit, and Valerie came into view, still wearing her Nasty Burger shirt.

“Your dad won’t be mad that you’re bringing a ghost into your apartment?”

“My dad’s at work.” Valerie shivered and then turned to glare at him. “You’re fucking cold, you know that?”

“So I’ve heard.”

Danny followed Valerie to her apartment, phasing the water off his body before he stepped inside. Her apartment was cozy. It was small, but with remnants of her past upper-class life scattered throughout. The couch looked too upscale and comfy to have been purchased recently, and some of the vases and decorations that were mounted around the room were almost certainly keepsakes from before.

A pang of guilt hit Phantom. It hadn’t been his dog, sure, but keeping Amity Park residents safe was his responsibility.

Valerie didn’t seem to notice his distress, fluttering about the kitchen putting a pot of coffee on and breaking out sandwich bread and peanut butter. “I’m fucking starving,” was her only explanation.

At that, Danny’s stomach growled. He didn’t remember eating anything today. 

Valerie looked at him like he had two heads. “You eat?”

“Uh…surprise?”

Groaning, she pulled out two more slices of bread. “Hope you like peanut butter and jelly, because that’s what Chef Valerie is bringing to the kitchen.”

Danny felt his lips twitch up. “Gordon Ramsay could never.”

“Damn straight.”

Gaining a bit more confidence, Danny stepped forward into the kitchen and collapsed onto one of her counter stools. He propped up his head onto his hand and stared at the black and gray subtle swirls on the island countertop. 

“So…” Valerie rocked back onto her heels. “Why were you on my roof?”

“Huh? Oh…I don't know.” Danny glanced away from her. “I uh, can’t go home. I guess.”

“Why not? It’s your lair, isn’t it?”

Danny jerked up, surprised, to see Valerie’s pointed look. “My what?”

She waved him off. “Your home, it’s just your lair, right? All the ghosts live in lairs in the Ghost Zone. You were the one who told me that.”

“Oh…I actually don’t have one.”

“You don’t?”

“Or, maybe I do. I don’t know, I’ve never checked. I don’t really know how it all works.”

“How do you not know if you have a lair? Don’t they just, I don’t know, manifest when you die or something?”

Danny tapped his chin in thought. “I guess, probably. But when I go to the Zone, I usually just stay with Frostbite.” At her lost look, he quickly added, “It’s, ah, an island in the Far Frozen. It’s pretty much floating Antarctica.”

She shivered. “That sounds horrible. And you go there? Well, remember to never invite me to your lair whenever you find it.”

Danny gave her a weak thumbs-up.

“So…” She poured the coffee, trying—and failing—to not look too curious. “If you can’t go home, and home isn’t your lair, then you can’t go to the Far Frozen?”

If Danny was more responsible, he would have just lied. In fact, he should have just lied and said yes, he got in a fight with Frostbite, he just needed space. 

But, in fact, Danny wasn’t that responsible. He also was far past the point of caring. If his parents already knew his secret and had all but rejected him, then there was nothing Valerie could do or say now that could possibly make him feel worse.

“My family on Earth. They found out I was their son.”

Valerie’s eyes grew to the size of saucers, and she lowered her cup of coffee from her lips. She stared at him, processing his words until she finally managed to emit a simple, “Oh, shit.”

“Yeah.” 

“Like, your family family? Your parents from when you were human?”

“Yeah.” Despite his previous good humor, he heard his voice crack. He ducked in embarrassment and tried to swallow the new lump in his throat.

“Fucking hell, man.”

Danny blinked rapidly, sucking back the tears that threatened to spill. No way in hell was he going to cry to Valerie. 

“I’m guessing they didn’t take it well?”

“Not at all.”

Valerie wordlessly offered him a cup of coffee with his sandwich, which he was almost relieved to take. 

“What’d they say?” she asked.

“That’s the thing, they didn’t really say anything at all. They just left.”

“You think they thought you were lying or something?”

“No. No, they knew. There was no way I could have lied.” Danny replayed the events in his head, his mind pausing at the image of Jack’s face as soon as it hit him what Danny truly was. “They knew, and they left. We were outside, and they just…went home. Left me there. I don’t know.”

“Ouch. That’s cold.”

Danny nodded, sipping his coffee. It burned his tongue, but he didn't care.

And besides, he was a ghost. His tongue would be healed in an hour. 

Valerie bit into her sandwich. “I’m sure they just need time or whatever. I doubt they expected that their son would have turned into Phantom.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I mean, what are the chances, right? Of all the things I could have become, I became the ghost protector of Amity Park.” He grinned bitterly. “It’s the worst thing they could have imagined me doing. They hate ghosts, they always have. Now not only am I a ghost, but I’m the one that hangs around Amity Park that they see every day. I should have known. I did know. I just never expected them to…I don’t know, I would have thought they’d at least say something. I just didn’t expect them to walk away.”

“It sounds like they’re just shocked. Give them time, they’ll come around.”

And so he did.

Days passed, and Danny gave them space, he gave them time. He only spoke unless spoken to, he didn’t make unnecessary noise in the house, he didn’t annoy them, he didn’t really talk to them at all. He showed up for family meals when Jack requested them on Sundays and otherwise, he kept to himself.

He was a model son.

And days passed, which turned into weeks. Danny kept waiting for them to stop him as he was leaving the kitchen at night, to ask him to sit down, to talk to him, to bring up Phantom, to tell him that either they loved him or they needed him out by midnight. He kept waiting, kept waiting, kept waiting.

But they didn’t say anything.

They hardly looked at him, and when they did, it was awkward. Like they had forgotten that this was the same kid they’d spent the last fourteen years raising. 

More than a few times, when Danny left the room, he could hear his mother crying.

As time passed, his disgust in himself only grew. His parents had spent their entire careers developing the information and technology to hunt and dismantle ghosts, and now he dared to become the ghost that they hated the most? And live with them? Force them to look at him?

He was terrible.

Phantom was supposed to make people happy. He was supposed to make people feel safe and secure. He was supposed to protect people.

And yet here he was making his mother cry by just existing.

The weeks continued until a month came to pass. A month of awkward stares, tension, whispers. A month of Danny hiding, of him staying out late—far past curfew—and his parents not saying a word. A month of them treating him like…

Like a ghost haunting their home.

Sunday sit-down dinner came again, and like the past four Sunday dinners, Danny found his eyes glued to his plate, quietly eating. The tension was palpable, and none of Jazz’s frail attempts at initiating conversation could crack the feet of ice they’d encased themselves in.

Finally, the dinner ended, and the Fenton family quietly settled into their roles. Danny was scraping food into the trash cans when Jazz threw the sponge in the sink, flipping off the faucet.

“Okay, everyone!” She announced, turning to face the family.

Danny blinked up at her.

“Everyone into the living room! I’m calling a family meeting!”

Maddie looked at Danny uncomfortably. “But Jazz, we need to clean up from dinner first.”

Danny looked away, his stomach suddenly hollow despite having just eaten.

“I don’t care, I’ll clean them later. Let’s go, we need to talk.” 

And with that, Jazz grabbed Danny’s arm—who did not yelp, thank you very much—and all but dragged him into the living room with their parents in tow.

“Jazzercincess, what’s this about?” Jack asked, settling onto the couch. “Is everything alright?”

“No, everything is definitely not alright.”

Maddie looked away guiltily.

“Ever since you guys found out about Danny, this house has been completely unbearable. Watching the three of you try to interact at all is painful. I’m sorry for butting in, but I refuse to live in a house where nobody can stand to be in a room together.”

“Jazz honey, that’s not true. We love both of you very much.”

“Oh? Then why have you both decided to stop acting like Danny was a member of this family too?”

Danny felt his face heat up. “Jazz, it’s fine. Really, it’s fine, I don’t care.”

“Bullshit, Danny!” Jazz smacked his arm, turning back to their parents. “I know Danny is Phantom. Sorry, but that’s the truth! You can’t just hide away and pretend like that night never happened!”

“We’re not pretending like it never happened,” Maddie said sharply. “It was just very shocking to us both and your father and I need time to process it is all.”

“It’s been a month. If you haven’t processed it on your own by now, then this intervention is definitely needed.”

“Jazz, honey—”

But Danny had heard enough. He phased away from Jazz and stood. “Listen, I’m sorry, okay? I know neither of you wanted me to end up like this. I’m sorry for being a disappointment, I’m sorry. I never wanted to be Phantom, it just happened. I get it, it’s fine, I’ll just go.”

“Danny!” Jazz sprang up.

But he was done. “No, really, it’s fine.”

“Son, wait.” Jack’s voice was pained. “Wait, I’m sorry, sit down.”

“No, it’s—” Danny blinked, and he felt a tear spill over his eyelid. He ducked his head down, trying to hide behind his bangs. “It’s fine.”

“No, honey—”

But Danny was already gone. Transformed and out the door before they could finish their thought.

It was fine, it was fine. He didn’t care that his parents were still processing, he didn’t care that his parents couldn’t stand to be in the same room as him for a simple conversation, he didn’t care.

Tears blurred his vision, and he could have turned intangible to avoid the tree branch that hit his shoulder, knocking him onto the dirt, but he didn’t.

He wheezed, feeling the grass tickle his cheek. 

He was fine.

The stars were out tonight, and Danny couldn’t think of a reason to move. He traced them with his eyes, naming each of them as he went. He found Saturn, bright against the sky, and even saw a satellite trail by.

He was fine.

The Earth turned as the hours passed, and with it, new stars appeared, new constellations, new things to look at.

He was fine. 

He wasn’t sure how long he was laying down in the field. He didn’t know how much time had passed. He wasn’t aware that the grass had grown damp in the chilled night and that dew was soaking his jumpsuit. 

He was a ghost, and ghosts didn’t feel cold. He didn’t need to go home, he could just be outside. Right here.

Eventually, he heard footsteps, but he didn’t bother to move. Whoever it was would likely just snap a photo of him and leave.

“Clear night, huh?”

Danny sat up, twisting around to see his dad’s giant figure hovering beside him.

He swallowed thickly and nodded, turning his attention back to the stars. He was in Phantom form, and his dad hated Phantom. He would probably just tell him off for missing curfew and then would leave.

After all, Jack Fenton would sooner be caught dead than interacting with Phantom casually.

“I remember when your mother and I took you to Cape Canaveral. You remember that? We went to the space center?”

Danny nodded, the fuzzy memory coming to surface. He had been young at the time, but he remembered the big rockets, seeing the prototypes and pieces from the Apollo missions. It was an older memory, from back when they were still a happy family.

Back before Danny ruined it.

“One of the nights we drove out from our hotel and took you guys to see a rocket launch. You remember that? You were so tired, I think Jazz fell asleep at some point, but you were so excited. I’ll never forget that.”

Danny chewed on his lip. He remembered that too. “The sky turned orange.”

“Yeah!” Jack’s voice brightened. He sat down beside Danny. “We were a couple miles away too, but you could still hear it like it was right in front of you. You remember that?”

“I do.”

“That was such a fun trip. I loved spending time with you and Jazz.”

Not like now, Danny wanted to say. You can’t enjoy spending time with me anymore because I’m a ghost, right? 

Jack sighed. “Danny, I know I haven’t been the best father lately. And I’m sorry. I…no, there’s no excuse. I should never have left you alone that night. We shouldn’t have walked away.’

Danny ducked his head.

“I’ve replayed that night over and over so many times. Every time, I see myself walk away from you. And every time, I wish I could take it back. I wish I could have had the courage to turn around.”

“It’s fine,” Danny said, his voice tight. “I get it. I’m fine.”

“It’s not fine. It’s never okay for a parent to do that to their child.”

“No, it’s—it’s—” Danny wiped at his eyes. “I’m half-ghost, so I know that…that you never wanted this. I know that.”

Jack was silent for a moment. “Danny, I was never upset at you for being half-ghost. I was upset at myself for ever letting you get hurt. When I saw you…well, all that I could think of was that a parent is supposed to protect their kid. And there I was with a gun that I’d just tried to kill you with. It was never about me being disappointed in you.”

“Oh.” Danny sniffed, his walls starting to crumble. “Then why have you—you and Mom been like this? Why have you guys been acting like I’m…I don’t know, like I’m the boogeyman or something?”

Jack wrapped his massive arm around him, pulling Danny in close to his side. “Son, I’m sorry. We were scared for you and we're both so mad at ourselves for letting you ever get hurt, for making you feel unsafe in your own home. We never ever wanted either you or your sister to feel like you couldn’t come to us about anything. And we’ve been so preoccupied with this, that we forgot about what really matters right now: that we’re a family, and families need to be there for each other.”

He squeezed Danny’s arm. His cold, Phantom arm. “You’re our son, Danno. Nothing will ever change that.”

Danny felt his shoulders shake as a sob wracked through his body. And just like that, a month's worth of confusion and pain were free.

He curled in on Jack’s side, gripping his jacket in his fingers just like he used to do when he was a kid. Tears poured out of his eyes in a stream, soaking into his father’s clothing. He gasped for air, and more sobs poured through.

“It’s okay. Let it all out.” His father rubbed his arm gently. “I’m so sorry.”

“I thought—” Danny choked out. “I thought you—you guys hated me.”

“No, we could never hate you. We love you, both of you. We were just scared, and we should never have let that change the way we acted around you.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” 

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

At that, another wave of sobs took over Danny. All this time he thought that his parents were disgusted by him, that they couldn’t bear to see his face any longer, and yet that wasn’t true.

He was wrong. 

He cried until the tears finally dried and his shoulders stopped shaking. He cried until exhaustion seeped into his brain and involuntarily triggered his transformation back into human form. He cried until every last morsel of anger and pain was expelled from his body.

And then he leaned into Jack’s body, slumped in fatigue, as they both looked up at the clear night sky.

“It’s a beautiful night.”

Danny nodded, his eyes half-lidded as he fought away sleep.

His father nudged him. “Let’s go home, Danno.”

Danny nodded. 

Home sounded wonderful.