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Chapter Text

   Chaos and discord were so common in the Fenton household the inhabitants were now at homeostasis with it. Murderous Thanksgiving dinner? Smack it with the broom a little dear. Loud explosions so violent that the model Danny had been working on was now shattered on the floor? Must be Thursday. 

   However, on this particular Thursday, something new was happening. There were no signs of ecto-anything in sight. Not even the freezer. Danny was standing at the top of the stairs observing his family messing around the room, looking for imperfections. The scent of cleaners, air freshener, and the distinct undertones of meatloaf swirled around him. Mom and Dad were wearing their usual attire of matching blue and hunter-orange jumpsuits. Freshly cleaned. Jazz wore the same outfit at their parent’s family reunion several months ago. Or was it years? Time felt funny to him now. 

   The Ghost Zone operated separately from the Human Realm to start. Then there was the haze of school/ghost fighting with stolen sleep wedged in there like the last pair of socks in a travel suitcase. Mom noticed the time and ordered everyone to assemble near the front door. Danny joined his family on the ground floor waiting for the doorbell.

   “You’re wearing that?” Jazz gave Danny once over. Danny shrugged. Sure his new look didn’t scream ‘Sunday best’ but green flannel was stylish. Coupled with a thin white sweater underneath looked casual and clean. He probably should’ve put on some jeans that didn’t have holes though.  

    The second his feet touched the bottom step the doorbell rang. Dad threw open the door with only twenty percent of his usual enthusiasm. Instead of dragging the people inside he stepped back allowing them to enter at their own pace. A tall woman dressed in a blouse and ironed slacks ushered in a small child. Timothy T. Turner followed behind. 

   They had never met despite being family. Dad had no contact with his family the second he got into college. That included his sister Susanne. Dad’s family thought they were better than him since they didn’t believe in ghosts. Apparently, they didn’t believe in being good parents either.

* * *

   Timmy held his fish bowl close to his chest as he entered his relative’s home. From the moment the social worker pulled up in front of the weird building Timmy had a weird pit in his stomach. Mom never told Timmy about his uncle or anything about that side of the family. Though seeing the massive Fenton Works signs attached to the building, Timmy was starting to see why. The social worker had given Timmy a brief rundown of what his estranged family. Uncle Jack, aunt Madeline, and cousins Jasmine and Daniel. Both cousins were in their teens already. Great just what he needed, two hormonal teens who probably scream at him for some much as breathing the same air as them. Timmy glanced down at his fish as he made his way to the front door. At least he still got to keep his fairies. 

   When the door was thrown open Timmy and the social worker were met with a blur of hunter orange and black. An orange and black hazmat suit to be specific. Timmy’s faith in surviving the next eight years was looking more grime by the minute. Aunt Madeline was also wearing a hazmat suit. Jasmine and Daniel were standing more off to the side looking normal. Jasmine looked like she was heading to work at an office while Daniel looked like he was heading to the skatepark. As Timmy tried to look for hints of malice in his cousins’ face his heart sank further down into his shoes. Daniel was shooting death glares…at the fish bowl. The three fairies disguised as fish were just as locked into the staring teen. 

   “Don’t worry about a thing. We’ll treat Timmy here just like he is one of our own!” Uncle Jack’s voice shattered through Timmy’s thoughts as he was hoisted into the air. Being carried over the large man’s head Aunt Madeline charged up the stairs to show Timmy his new room. In a flash, Timmy was placed in the middle of a barren bedroom. The bed had a metal frame. 

   “Ok, sweetie. Dinner is in twenty.” Aunt Madeline flashed a toothy grin before dashing out of the room. 

   “Hollar if you need anything Timbo…no wait I can do better.” Uncle Jack gave a pause before saying. “Ah well. I come up with something better later. See you in twenty.” There was a slamming of the door and then Timmy was alone.  

   Cosmo, Wanda, and Peri poofed into their fairy form. No one could say a thing as Timmy sat down on the bed. The bareness of the room was oppressive. Moments slipped by before there was a knock on his door. Jazz let herself in before getting the ok. She was all smiles as she approached. Her speech reminded Timmy of the therapist he was forced to talk to about ‘the case’. Almost word for word in some areas. He felt himself growing more and more distant with each sentence. Uncle Jack’s bellow signaled it was time to eat.    

   Timmy’s fairies transformed into pins attached to his hat. When Timmy got down to the kitchen the others were already seated. Everyone but Daniel greeted him. The teen was staring openly. Jasmine ushered him to the fifth seat opposite Daniel. Aunt Madeline sat a plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Thankfully no one tried to talk to Timmy as they ate their dinner. Daniel’s eyes were boring a hole in Timmy’s head. It was a nightmare come true. 

   Daniel disappeared as soon as the plates had been cleared. Jasmine scolded her brother but he flat-out ignored her. 

   “DANNY,” Jasmine sighed before addressing Timmy. “Sorry. He probably has homework.”

   “Speaking of school, we already enrolled you in-” Aunt Madeline went on to explain about his new school. His dinner curled painfully. He just realized that he would never see Chester or A.J again. 

   “I'm going to bed,” Timmy announced leaving before anyone could say anything. Not bothering changing Timmy curled a top of his blankets. It was wrong. Everything was wrong. The blanket smelled wrong. There was a strange hum in the air. It was turning dark yet the light from the stupid sign lit up the room. 

   He wished he was back home. Now he just needs to figure out where ‘home’ was.

Chapter Text

   Three days inched by. Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack only seemed to have two settings: sleep and screaming about ghosts. Their work consisted of inventing new and creative methods to hurt ghosts. They were so engrossed in their work that they even brought it up from the basement to work on it. Jazz would eat breakfast while using the book she was reading to shield her from the sparks. Danny would just eat robotically no matter what chaos was unfurling around him. He always seemed to be two seconds away from falling asleep. 

   Jazz had been in his face almost every second since that faithful night. No. Timmy did not want to talk about it. No. He didn’t want to do her ‘impromptu’ activities. And no, he certainly did not want to journal his thoughts and feelings on how terrible his life was. 

   The journal was lying on his new desk next to his new school books. The teacher was nicer than Mr. Crocker but it didn't make school any more enjoyable. She pulled him aside to discuss his ‘lackluster performance’ on day two. There was going to be a guardian/teacher meeting on Monday. He had no friends and no one seemed interested in adding a new member to their group. The second someone asked why he lived with ‘The Fentons’ he shut down. Then they asked if he was a ghost hunter weirdo like the rest. When he said no the group would go back to whatever they were talking about before, ignoring him completely. 

   None of that matters now! Now was fairy time. His aunt and uncle were in the lab. Jazz was that the library and Danny was….not here. In anticipation, Timmy was rubbing his hands together. He took a deep breath as Cosmo and Wanda cocked their wands giving a satisfying chak-chik. A warbling sound accompanied the pulsing of light from the stars at the end. 

   “I wish for a beanbag chair full of packing peanuts. The newest issue of the Crimson Chin. A stereo with all of Chip Skylark’s CDs. A chocolate and strawberry ice cream cake. A thirteen-foot crazy slide that dumps into rainbow Jello.” Each item popped into existence one by one leading to Timmy being placed at the top of the crazy slide. He wasted no time going down facefirst. He went down four tight turns before going through a loop to be launched several feet into a pool filled with rainbow Jello. The dessert flew everywhere. When Timmy managed to wiggle his way out his cheeks were packed with sugary goodness. Just like a cartoon character, he attempted to eat his way out. 

   “Woo that was some workout,” Wanda commented as she wiped the sweat from her brow. The end of her wand was still smoking.  

   “Yeah. I’m so rusty.” Cosmo flexed his arms making a loud creaking noise. 

   “Work out? That would normally be a warm-up back-” Timmy stopped mid-rant.

   “Well yes, but, see, that was there, and now we are here.” Wanda looked uncomfortable as she motioned around the room. Despite her and Cosmo’s best work to look like Timmy’s old room, it wasn’t. 

   “Yeah…right.” Timmy climbed out of the pool leaving a delighted baby fairy trying (and succeeding) to cram as much Jello as he could into his tiny body. The young boy made his way to the beanbag chair he wished for to collapse in a huff. 

   “Hey, you going to finish that?” Cosmo asked before plucking some Jello off Timmy’s hat to eat it. He smacked his lips for a second. “You can really taste the sadness. Or maybe that's black licorice. It's hard to tell.”

   “Did we do something wrong sport?” Wanda had a stained smile. Timmy side-eyed his godmother before closing his eyes. 

   “No. It's perfect.” 

   “Oh good. Wanda said adding the stains to the floor would ‘be too much’,” Cosmo then proceeded to flutter over to the largest stain right in front of the closet. “I call this one Jeffry.”   

   “It doesn’t matter. Just change it back before someone walks in.” Timmy closed his eyes to not see his bright cheery old room turn into the drab one he’d been forced into. 

   Timmy let out a noise as the beanbag had disappeared too. Rolling on his back he stared up at the ceiling with his arms stretched out to the side. Peri floated into view babbling away in baby talk. 

   “Sorry Peri. I’ll play with you later.” Timmy rolled over onto his side to not have to look at the baby fairy’s disappointed face.  

   “If you want we could grant you some smaller wishes. Maybe a new blanket. One that doesn’t perpetually smell like burnt sugar.” Wanda held her wand high, magic glowing yellow and ready. 

   “Why? So my cousin can give me the third degree about where I got it? No thanks.” Timmy went back to pretending he was anywhere but here.

   “Since when does Timmy care about telling the truth to adults?” Cosmo asked. 

   “Jazz is sixteen.” Wanda reminded him. There was a loud noise that shook the floor. It wasn’t the usual rumble that came from the lab.

   “Cosmo! Will you knock it off?” Timmy propped himself on his elbow to glare at his godfather. 

   “It wasn’t me. It was that guy.” Cosmo pointed out the window as a blur flew by. 

   “Huh?” Timmy rushed to the window to press his face against the glass. A second later a large wheel ran over the glass. Timmy pressed his face so hard it hurt but could not tear his eyes away. The motorcycle had backflipped off the building onto the powerline. 

   The man atop was saying something. Feeling like he was missing out he threw open the window to eavesdrop. As soon as he wrestled the window open the motorcycle guy was joined by another weirdo. He was dressed like his aunt and uncle except his hazmat suit was black and white. 

   “Whoa, a real-life superhero!” Timmy could barely breathe he was so excited. 

   “Actually Timmy. Those are real dead ghosts.” Cosmo of all people corrected.

   “Ghost? They’re real?” Timmy turned to look up at Wanda. 

   “Well yeah. It's all your aunt and uncle talk about. All day. Every day.” Wanda got a thousand-yard stare the more she spoke. 

   “Look, Wanda. The biker guy has the other kid in a headlock.” With that, both fairies transformed into sport’s casters.   

   “It doesn't look good for The Kid.” Wanda narrated the action outside. “Oh wait. What's this? An energy blast right to the chest.”

   “Seems The Kid brought his A-game today Wanda,” Cosmo leaned over Timmy’s shoulder to get a better look. 

   “Don’t celebrate yet Cosmo, it appears Biker Thompson is tougher than he looks.” 

   "Aw. What are we going to do with all these fireworks then?" Several extra large fireworks took off behind Cosmo. The green-haired fairy poofed them away along with the fire it was setting to the ceiling. Timmy's family would be none the wiser.  

   “Easy there kid, that actually hurt.” The Biker wrapped his arms around his midsection. 

   “I already told you. This isn’t a good time Johnny. I got a lot of things going on right now.” The Kid shot back.

   “Wait. I thought they were fighting,” Timmy squinted at the two ghosts. 

   “Are they friends? Enemies? Frienmies!” Cosmo gasped as he summoned a stack of papers stapled together. “Is this an enemy to lovers, 100k, slow burn?” 

   Wanda shoved her husband just enough to cause him to lose his balance a little. The stack spun in the air for a moment before she caught it. She then began to thumb through it. 

   “How would that even work?” Wanda asked as she continued to speed read. Timmy actively ignored his godparents' antics at this point. Peri had joined Timmy at the window just as caught up in the action as Timmy was. Peri almost floated out the window but was stopped by Timmy holding him. Johnny and The Kid kept trading blows. Just when The Kid out the upper hand, a sentient shadow morphed from the darkness. It wrapped around The Kid preventing him from moving.

   “Hey, that's cheating,” Timmy shouted. Peri babbled angrily as he raised his rattle wand. The star glowed for a moment before a giant oversized periwinkle flashlight appeared in midair just above the fight. All three ghosts stared at it for half a second before it turned on. The light was so bright it sizzled the shadow ghost out of existence. Johnny tried to yell at The Kid but was struck again by another energy blast. He hit the ground this time with his bike falling on him. The Kid descends to where he is only a few feet from Johnny. He then pulled out a futuristic thermos. 

   “What is that? Coffee?” Timmy was baffled more than usual. The Kid opened the top to then suck in Johnny in a beam of light. After capping the lid The Kid began to look around. Ducking out of sight Timmy didn’t want to deal with a ghost right now. 

   “What was with that light?” Timmy heard The Kid ask no one. “Oh well, that's a later problem.”  A woosh signaled the hero had flown away. Timmy slid down to sit on the floor now. He replayed every second of the fight he witnessed. 

   “I know that must’ve been scary champ.” Wanda tried to comfort him. Timmy lept to his feet instead. 

   “Are you kidding? We have a real-life superhero in our own city! Did you see the way he,” Timmy made pew pew noises as he did finger guns? I didn’t know ghosts could be superheroes! This changes everything. I can’t wait to ask Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack about the cool ghost I just saw.” Timmy was positively bouncing around at this point. Aunt Maddie was calling the family down to eat. Finally excited for the first time since ‘that day’ Timmy raced downstairs to see his family.  

Chapter Text

   “He's a menace is what he is.” Uncle Jack slammed both first on the table. The glasses of milk shook dangerously. 

   “Easy dear.” Aunt Maddie placed a calming hand on her husband's arm. “Timmy I know the ghost boy looks cool but he's not really protecting anyone.”

   “Huh?” Timmy was confused. The ghost boy looked like a hero. He acted like a hero when he captured Johnny. Timmy had never been so confused. He regretted saying anything. Aunt Maddie gave a small smile. 

   “You see, all ghosts are selfish. The only reason they do anything is to help themselves.”

   Danny gave a deep sigh as he slumped in his chair. He was twirling his spaghetti without attempting to eat it. Jazz gave her brother a look before speaking up.

   “This doesn't seem like a good dinner-time conversation.” 

   “You're right Jazzy. “ Uncle Jack straightened up in his chair. Jazz smiled as if she had won an award.  “It is time for young Timmy here to have his orientation.”

   “Oh no.” Danny groaned as he cradled his face with his free hand.

   “What? Dad no.” Jazz protested. 

   “You're father is right. We put it off so long because we wanted you to settle in first.” Aunt Maddie spoke as if no one had said anything. Timmy wasn't sure how three days counted as ‘so long’. 

   “Then it is settled.” Uncle Jack did not explain any further. The air was smothering, too scared to ask any more questions. Timmy stuffed his face with the buttered toast with garlic salt sprinkled on top. He returned to his room where he didn’t even look at his fairies. Staring up at the light polluting his ceiling, sleep did eventually come. 

*  *  *

   “Come on TimTam times a-wastin’,” Uncle Jack threw open Timmy’s door with a bang.  

   “Eyah!” Timmy flew off the bed tangled in his sheets. As he tried to wake up a little more, Uncle Jack stomped over. With a flick of his wrist, he unraveled Timmy to hold the ten-year-old like a cat. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes Timmy noticed the rest of the family was already downstairs. Aunt Maddie was pulling in a whiteboard while Danny and Jazz sat on the couch. Neither one acknowledged Timmy being carried in as they both were staring holes into the nearby walls. Timmy was placed between the two fuming teens. 

   “I don't see why WE have to do this,” this was the first time Timmy heard Jazz be anything but bubbly. Timmy gripped his pajama bottoms tightly. He slumped backward so much he felt the cushion give way. Maybe if he pushed back hard enough the couch would eat him. 

   “It's always good to get a refresher now and again.” Aunt Maddie replied as she began drawing on the board. 

   “What's there to refresh? ‘Ghosts are evil and must be destroyed molecule by molecule.’There, I just saved us three hours!” Danny slumped over his armrest like he had melted.

   “Whoa, there Dann-o. Spoiler alert.” Uncle Jack chuckled. “Let's get started! I know there have been a lot of big changes recently. However one thing will never change, ghosts are evil and must be destroyed molecule by molecule.” Uncle Jack drew a cartoonist ghost before drawing a massive X over it. 

   “Now. Before we can begin to fight ghosts we need to understand them. The dictionary defines ghosts, apparitions, specters,” Aunt Maddie began to explain but was drowned out by Danny and Jazz's loud and drawn-out groans. Timmy's cushion gave a little more, allowing Timmy to sink further into the couch. 

   Three hours.

   At some point, Timmy had drifted off. 

   “Now for the best part.” Uncle Jack was smiling so hard Timmy was certain he noticed his uncle was missing a tooth in the back. “Brand new uniforms!” 

   From behind their backs, Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack pulled out three hazmat suits. Magenta, forest green, and aqua blue all with matching black accents. 

   “When did you even have time to make those?” Jazz screeched. 

   “After I say my ‘sleep tights’ I go downstairs to hem until morning. Now go change.” Uncle Jack finished his statement with a clap. 

   Without even looking at one another the three kids made their way to their respective rooms. When Timmy shut his door his fairies changed into their normal forms. 

   “Family uniforms. Sounds like your aunt and uncle really want to make you feel welcome.” Wanda fiddled with her wand as Timmy struggled to get the suit on. 

   “Maybe.” Timmy tried to pull up the suit but ended up on his face instead. There was a knock on the door. Cosmo and Wanda transformed back to their fish disguises. 

   “Timmy? I heard a thud. I'm coming in.” Danny opened the door. He was dressed in his suit already. 

   “Yeah, I had a feeling.” Commented Danny closing the door behind him. “Here I'll show you a trick.” Danny picked up Timmy to set him on the edge of the bed. Danny bunched up the left leg of the suit. He then slipped the foot portion to unfurl up to the knee. He then repeated the motion of the right leg. Helping Timmy to his feet they finished putting on the suit. 

   “Thanks, Danny.” Timmy raced to the mirror behind the door to admire how the hazmat suit looked on him. 

   “No problem, the first time I tried to put one on I did the same thing.” 

   “So cool. I look just like the ghost boy.” 

   “Phantom.”

   “Huh.”

   “The ghost boy is called Phantom.” Danny had a small smile that lit up his eyes. 

   “Phantom. Even his name is cool!” Timmy struck a few new poses as Danny leaned forward still smiling. 

   “You two better get moving or I'll send Dad up to get you.” Jazz called through the door.

   “That's not a threat, that's a promise.” Danny stood up to usher Timmy back downstairs. 

*  *  *

   It was eerie how quiet the school's playground was when all the kids were gone. Timmy was sitting atop the covered slide as he surveyed the skies. His aunt and uncle were in an IEP meeting. Whatever that was. Growing bored of the cloudless sky he focused on the buildings surrounding them. Amity Park was always busy. Right now a delivery truck had pulled in front of a building to unload handcarts of boxes. Half paying attention it took Timmy a second to realize the boxes still in the truck began to float. 

   “Whoa, what's that?” 

   “I AM THE BOX GHOST!” A man dressed as a dock worker materialized.

   “He seems polite,” Cosmo commented. Then the Box Ghost began dumping the contents of the boxes on the sidewalk. “Maybe not.” 

   “I think we should get out of here.” Wanda pulled out her wand to summon full body armor. Timmy wrestled the gear off. 

   “What gives?” 

   “Incoming!” Cosmo shouted, summoning a wall. Debris and brick dust scattered everywhere. Timmy wheezed as the dust clogged his throat. 

   “Your magic is no match for my six-sided might!” The box ghost lifted the largest cardboard box over his head to slam down on Timmy and his fairies. There was a moment of quiet as they tried to hear for the Box Ghost.

   “I wish there were holes in the box.” Quarter-sized holes appeared all over the box. Cosmo and Wanda used their wands as glowsticks to illuminate the space.

   “What the heck was that? You were defeated by a cardboard box.” 

   “I'm a lover, not a fighter.” Cosmo held Peri Like the baby would disappear any second. 

   “Fairy magic is made up of the joy of children. Ghost energy is made up of negative emotions of the dead. Only the most skilled and well-trained fairies are capable of matching up against ghosts and,” Wanda's eyes filled with tears. “I'M A LOVER NOT A FIGHTER!”

   Cosmo and Wanda then clung to each other as they cried. The two hugged so tight that Peri's tiny body slipped out so hard he rocketed upward.  He took the box with him. 

   “Peri-wary!” The fairy parents flew up to grab their child. Another box materialized to open its lid like a shark. The box enclosed around Peri as the Box Ghost cackled. 

   “I have captured your tiny-” The speech was cut short by Phantom tackling the Box Ghost. The momentum of the tackle carried the three of them out of sight. Timmy could hear some more shouting, the sound of the thermos, and then silence. 

*  *  *

   Another day another ghost attack. Fortunately, it was only the Box Ghost. Once the menace was contained Danny was about to fly when he heard a noise. It wouldn't be the first time a stray animal got caught up in the fray. Opening the box he gasped. There was a time when Sam was obsessed with Biblically accurate angels. The many eyes and seemingly randomly assembled wings and rings left her breathlessly enchanted. She was going to lose her mind when he told her about this later. Inside the box was a periwinkle-colored angel. It had three sets of wings wrapped around a glowing gold crown. 

   Going off instinct Danny reached inside to retrieve the creature. It was warm like when you put on socks straight out of the dryer. He couldn't feel through his gloves but it looked downy. Danny brought the wing bundle closer when it began to tremble. The light it emitted flickered as it changed into a toddler. A toddler with unnatural colored eyes and hair. One with a wand, fairy wings, and a floaty crownie thing. The two beings stared at one another for a moment. 

   “Aww.” Escaped Danny's mouth as the toddler began babbling. The toddler then stiffened before poofing away in a cloud of fairy dust. That was weird. And so was this feeling of wanting to level the city to find the little one again. Hearing shouting below Danny came to his senses. Time to go! Turning invisible Danny made his way home. 

Chapter Text

   Timmy entered his room with a loud bang as the door hit the wall. He tottered over to his bed where he landed face first. Wanda and Peri popped into fairy form floating above Timmy as he buried his face under his pillow. 

   “I thought today was a good day,” Wanda commented more to herself than anyone. 

   “Yeah, that's what the folder says anyway,” Cosmo burst out of Timmy’s backpack sending supplies in all directions. 

   A monthly chart was inserted in the front pocket of the dark blue folder. On it was a daily calendar with the month’s dates with colored dots shading the dates. There was a color for each day since Timmy had joined the program. For the five days he had been there Timmy had gotten a violet-colored mark on each. According to the key guide on the bottom left corner, Timmy was ‘bright and willing to learn’. The other colors of the rainbow went down to red being ‘having a difficult time’. 

   “You even got a lovely note,” Wanda magicked the note from Timmy's new teacher addressed to his aunt and uncle.  “Timmy is creative and motivated.” 

   “That's our Timmy!” Cosmo smiled throwing up confetti, not noticing how Timmy was beginning to shake. He was wrapping the pillow so hard around his head trying to muffle out the world too bad he couldn't muffle his thoughts. 

   “Timmy!” Jazz’s voice pierced through Timmy’s pillow armor. Timmy curled in tighter, not trusting his voice to even wish her away. He heard her come in. Typical. Teens always did what they wanted whenever they wanted. 

   “There you are. How was your first week?” Jazz asked, taking a seat on the end of Timmy’s bed. Timmy didn’t answer. 

   “Oh, what's this?” There was a rustle of paper and plastic. “This is amazing!” 

   Her tone twisted Timmy’s heart. 

   “I’m going to show mom!” With that Jazz was already out the door. 

   “Hey, those are Timmy’s.” Cosmo protested. 

   “It doesn’t matter,” Timmy said. His fairies could only look at one another as they knew there was nothing they could do now.

   A second later Timmy threw his pillow against the wall. He got off his bed with a huff. He tottered to the window to stare at the cloudless sky. He was hoping against all hope to see a glimpse of Phantom again. He had opened his window to air out the place when he heard commotion below. Two girls were rolling along the sidewalk. The girl in black pigtails was on a scooter and the brunette with glasses was on a skateboard. Their giggles filled the air.

   “Wish I was doing what they are doing,” Timmy said aloud without thinking. In a puff of fairy dust, Timmy was transported to a skatepark. Obscured by the trees and bushes surrounding the park Timmy and his godparents could talk freely. There were kids of all ages zooming around. Figuring he could use a distraction Timmy wished for fancy gear and a new skateboard.

   “I wish I had some mad skills too,” Timmy added. Cosmo lifted his wand to grant the wish. Timmy felt anger rising in his whole body. He gave an animalistic roar as he lifted his skateboard above his head to throw at the nearest bystander. Wanda unwished it without a second thought. 

   “I don't think that's what he meant, snookums.” Wanda gave her husband a gooey smile.

   “Ohhhh. What did he mean?”

   “I wish I was the best skateboarder in the park.” Timmy’s organic anger caused him to yell out. There was another cloud of fairy dust with the words ‘totally rad’ in the middle. With more confidence than he felt in months, Timmy burst onto the scene at the park in a flurry of bush leaves. 

   He was flying by as he began to command more and more attention with each trick. On the half-pipe, he performed a one-handed handstand at the top. When he went to remount his board he was hit by something. In a blur of color and pain, Timmy slid down the ramp on his front. There was laughter. Gathering what little self-respect back Timmy managed to get back on his feet. 

   “Hey, little dude. Are you alright?” A voice called out but Timmy kept walking. As he nursed his hurt arm something jumped in front of him. It was a large dog that had Timmy’s skateboard in its mouth. 

   “Hey, that's mine.” Timmy managed to grab the end of the board to then be dragged away by the dog. After twenty utterly humiliated minutes, Timmy decided to go back to Fenton Works. Maybe dinner would help his mood.

   Dinner was worse. Jazz was already filling in her parents about Timmy’s ‘accomplishments’. When he entered the three of them beamed at him.

   “All purples! That's good right?” Uncle Jack stage whispered to Jazz who gave a double thumbs up. “I knew you had it in you.”

   “Just a little adjustment is all you need. I knew that Crocker was a real crackpot.” Aunt Maddie snorted at her joke. Timmy only stood in the doorway fighting the urge to run upstairs. Mr. Crocker’s report must have been a horrible one. Timmy remembered how the lunatic made a snide remark about how Timmy’s move must’ve been the work of fairies. 

   The smell of delivered pizza was turning his stomach now. The little voice in the back of his head was laughing now. Help came in the form of Danny slamming the front door. 

   “Danny, come eat. We're celebrating.” Uncle Jack beckoned. Danny half shuffled towards the kitchen. He was sporting his usual half-asleep look as he barely acknowledged Timmy’s presence. No one took notice as Danny grabbed a slice of pepperoni and mushroom and the little pickled pepper it came with. Timmy made a face as he watched the teen eat the pepper down to the stem in one bite. 

   “Timmy,” Aunt Maddie turned her attention back to the ten-year-old. “Your teacher says you're creative. Would you like some art supplies?”

   “Like canvas!” Jazz added.

   “Metalwork! Nothing beats the smell of soldering metal in the morning.” Uncle Jack contributed. 

   Danny took a sip of soda looking half dead. 

   ‘Finger paints is more your style.’

   Timmy's ears were ringing. He could barely make out that his family was talking. 

   “I wish you all would Just leave me alone.” 

   A cloud of fairy dust filled the room. The rest of the family blinked for a moment. Danny then gave a large sneeze that broke the silence.

   “Eugh, Danny, that's disgusting.” Jazz lifted her plate away as if that was going to prevent further contamination. After that, it was as if Timmy wasn't there at all. 

* * *

   Saturday morning Timmy woke up around nine. He went downstairs and wished for a bowl of Rainbow Bytes cereal with marshmallows. We were only half-watching Alien Watch since it aired out of order. Looks like the network decided to show episode one again. Timmy watched as the main character tried to wrestle off the alien watch in vain. 

   While Timmy watched TV his aunt and uncle had returned from the hardware store. Jazz came down to leave. Not once did his family glance in his direction. It was exactly as he wanted. So why was he still miserable?

   The Morning Cartoon Blast on channel 197 had wrapped up for the day. Not wanting to leave the couch he flipped over to 212 for The Bizney Channel. Timmy smiled as the opening whistle song to Falling Gravity came on. Looks like they were having a marathon leading up to the season finale. 

   A little before noon Danny shuffled down the stairs. For someone who slept half the day away, he looked awful. The teen frowned when he saw Timmy. 

   “Why are you here?” The older boy asked, blinking slowly. 

   “I live here now?” Timmy tried and failed to hide the hurt in his voice. Timmy’s tone must’ve woken Danny a little more. 

   “No. No. I mean-” Danny took a deep breath. “Mom and Dad were going to take you shopping today for stuff for your room. I thought you guys would have left by now.” 

   “Oh. Right.” Timmy stabbed his cereal a little.

* * *

   Danny allowed the awkward silence a minute before going to the kitchen. Something about the situation did not feel right. Timmy did yell at them last night. Danny racked his brain as he descended the stairs to the lab. His parents were in full swing with their latest build. Dad was manning the circuit board while mom had her computer out coding.

   “What happened to taking Timmy shopping?” Danny asked when the two of them didn't notice his entrance. 

   “We were going to do that huh?” Dad said, barely looking up from his soldering.

   “He did say to leave him alone.” Mom reminded them as she took a sip of her coffee. Her tone made Danny raise an eyebrow. Since when were Doctors Jack and Maddie Fenton socially aware? 

   “I guess.” Danny conceded as he made his way back upstairs. In the kitchen, he made his breakfast. As he was pouring the milk one of the characters on the TV said something that made him pause. 

   “The county jail was so cold.” Curiosity winning Danny carried his cereal to the living room. Timmy hadn't moved from the spot earlier. Now that he was more coherent, he noticed Timmy had his bowl resting on top of the fish bowl he had come with. The three fish inside seemed unphased by their home being used as a lap tray. 

   Even in this dimmer light the glow surrounding the fish was still the same. Pink, periwinkle, and green. The pink and green ones retreated to the little castle under Danny’s staring. The periwinkle one was floating a little closer to the glass. If Danny didn't know better he could have sworn it was staring at him. 

   “Now who wants to put on blindfolds and get into my car?” Asked the man on the TV. 

   “What are you watching?” 

   “Falling Gravity. It's about these twins who have crazy supernatural adventures.” 

   “Alright then. Looks interesting.” Danny took a spot on the couch. 

   Timmy was correct in the crazy adventures. Cursed wax figures. A mad scientist who builds robots just to get attention. He could watch it all day. Long after the two of them had finished eating Danny and Timmy continued to watch the show. Danny checked his phone to look at the time. It was almost time to meet up with his friends. Getting up Danny glanced back at his little cousin. 

   His blue eyes were trained on the TV as if it were the only thing keeping him grounded. Whipping out his phone Danny floated the idea of having Timmy join their bowling game. Sam and Tucker answered his group text with a three-way video chat. 

   “First we're not allowed over because it might overwhelm him and now you're stuck on babysitting duty?” Asked Sam the second the chat started. 

   “Yeah, dude. What gives?” Tucker chimed in. 

   “It's not babysitting exactly.” Danny looked at Timmy who still hadn't moved. He looked tiny and sad. Ever since the ten-year-old had moved in, the urge to pick up and hold the kid until…something. 

   Danny wasn't sure if it was a human thing or a brand new ghost thing. Whatever it was it was starting to buzz in his brain more insistent each day. The periwinkle angel fairy kept popping up whenever Danny was left to his thoughts. Where was it now? Was it safe? 

   “I was thinking this might help my parents allow you guys to come around sooner. You know? Outings in a neutral area help facilitate better bonds or something like that.” Danny knew he was rambling. 

   “You sound like your sister.” Pointed out Sam. She sounded half annoyed but half impressed. 

   “Yeah well, she has been talking nonstop about introducing new members to the household who have experienced trauma.” Or at least she did until last night. 

   “Is she talking about dogs or people?” Sam snarked. 

   “Either way, the Fentons are sure to be foster fails.” Tucker laughed at his joke. 

   “I don't mind him being here,” Danny admitted offhandedly. “Just something about those fish.” 

   “I feel like we're not having the same conversation anymore.” Said Sam as Danny looked away again at Timmy gesturing at the TV while talking to the fish. 

   “So I take it, is it cool to invite my little cousin?” Danny looked back at his friends to gauge their reactions. Both shrugged and agreed. With that, the call ended. 

   “Hey Timmy, you like bowling?”

Chapter Text

   Timmy was bouncing when he and Danny entered Bowling with the Stars. The inside smelled of old fryer oil and the spray they used for the shoes. 

   Half the lanes were split into two sections. One was the boring one with faded cream-colored walls and mint green trim. The other half was space-themed. Complete with bright colors that were lit up by black lights. 

   Timmy dashed to the black light side to get a better look. He was stopped short by a hand on the back of his shirt. 

   “Whoa there. First thing is first. Shoes.” Danny smiled down at him. His face slipped into a confused stare for a moment. The look passed as Danny seemed to remember what he was doing. Shoes were exchanged and Timmy dashed to grab a ball. He grabbed a black one off the rack. He was not expecting the weight as he tried to carry it with his chest. The bowling shoes had no traction so he slipped backwards with the heavy ball pinning him down. There was a chuckle just beyond his sight. Danny lifted the ball off Timmy's chest allowing the kid to get back up. 

   “I think that one might be a little too big for you.” Although Danny was chuckling, Timmy didn't feel ashamed. He felt his mouth quirk into a small smile. Danny switched the large black one for one of the smaller brightly colored ones. Timmy instantly recognized it as Cosmo in disguise. Before handing it over Danny stared at Cosmo with the same look he gave the fairies whenever he saw them in disguise.

   “Thanks, Danny!” Timmy snatched Cosmo-ball before trotting over to where two teens were flagging Danny down. 

   “Timmy. This is Sam and Tucker. Tucker and Sam. Timmy.” 

   “Hey, little guy.” Tucker gave a winning smile. The bispecialed teen then hunched over the console to begin typing in names. 

   “Hey,” Sam said in an aloof manner. She then noticed the board. “Looks like you're up first Timmy.” 

   “Excuse me, it clearly says Timothy.” Tucker pointed at the score screen. It read: Timothy, Samantha, Tucker, and Daniel.

   “You think you're funny don't you?” Snarked Sam smacking the back of Tucker's head just enough to push his beanie over his eyes. 

   “I think I'm adorable.”

   “Have you ever bowled before?” Danny asked as Timmy approached the line. Timmy rolled his eyes.

   “Duh!” He then raised Cosmo-ball over his head. 

   “Maybe a refresher course is needed.” Danny stopped Timmy from throwing Cosmo-ball. The older teen gently instructed on his footing. Just as Timmy had pulled back his arm to swing, a freezing breeze tickled his cheek. 

   “Oh no,” Danny moaned in annoyance. Timmy blinked up at his now angry cousin's face as the older boy glared around. 

   “Danny?” Timmy questioned as Danny stopped guiding him to stand up straight. 

   “You're doing great. Just do it like I showed you. I'll be right back.” Danny instructed with a wave before jogging off. Timmy glanced at Sam and Tucker who gave matching pained smiles. With a sigh, Timmy did as he was instructed. Cosmo-ball was traveling right for the middle of the pins. Right before Cosmo-ball made contact he veered to the left, straight into the gutter. 

   Everyone present groaned. 

   “Sorry kiddo. There is always next time.” Tucker said as Timmy shuffled over to sit down. 

   High above everyone, Cosmo joined his family in an impromptu meeting.

   “What was that Cosmo?” Wanda asked.

   “I have no idea. I was rolling along and then something pushed me!” 

   “Are you sure you just didn't get dizzy and go the wrong way?”

   “You know one of my favorite things to do is spin around!” Cosmo looked offended at his wife's accusation. 

   Wanda gave a pause. That was true. On their third date, he showed off to Wanda by spinning a merry-go-round so hard it became airborne. 

   “Gasp. Maybe this place is-” Cosmo gave a pause to clutch his wand tight while glancing around. “Haunted.” 

   As the realization that there was a strong possibility that there was a ghost in the area both fairies velcroed to one another. Cosmo went so far as to summon a baby leash for Peri. The toddler protests went largely ignored as his parents urged him to follow Timmy. 

* * *

   Sam and Tucker had finished their turns and Danny still wasn't back. The two seemed utterly unphased by that fact. 

   “Well, I came prepared,” Sam announced pulling a backpack shaped like a spider from under the seat.

   “Me too,” Tucker agreed, taking a break from playing with his PDA. 

   Sam pulled out a glass container with a wooden lip out of her bag. When opened a full salad fluffed up threatening to spill out. Tucker had pulled out a fast food bucket of chicken from his bag. Timmy tensed up because he was certain that was against the rules. 

   Timmy glanced around to notice the two employees were either napping at the snack bar or on their phones. 

   “Want some?” offered Tucker. 

   “He doesn't want any of that cold greasy garbage! Here,” she offered some raw carrots from her salad. Timmy made a face at both of them. 

   “I was thinking of getting some nachos.” Timmy excused himself to wander out of sight. When he was certain no one was going to see him near the claw machine he spoke.

   “I wish I had some nachos.” His fairies appeared in a cloud of fusty dust to summon the snack. 

   “Careful Timmy, this place is haunted.” Warned Cosmo emphasized ‘haunted’. 

   “Should we call you aunt and uncle?” Wanda half-suggested half-hinted.

   “No way!” Timmy was reminded of the three-hour orientation. The two would destroy half the place and probably get the whole family banned. 

   “But Timmy.” Cosmo tried to protest but Timmy cut him off. 

   “Look. This is the first time since we got here I am having fun. A few gutterballs are not going to ruin-” Timmy tried to walk back to the group but his foot was perked back. He landed face-first into his nachos causing the chips to break as they stabbed at his face. Ew some of the spicy cheese sauce got up his nose too. 

   Timmy tried to get his knees under him but something was tugging at both his laces. He wiped enough of the nachos off his face to see his shoes had been tied together. When did the ghost have time to tie them together in such a gnarly knot? 

   “Haha, so fun. I wish my laces were undone.” Timmy tried to keep his cool as he re-tied them properly. Once he was set he lifted the smashed nachos.

   “I wish I had new nachos.” Ding-poof. 

   “See. Perfectly fine.” Timmy tried to convince himself as he made his way back to Danny’s friends. 

   “Should someone go check on Danny or what?” Timmy looked between the two finishing off their snacks. 

   “Nah. He'll show up soon enough.” Sam waved her hand. From the ceiling, a green ghost zoomed in only to have Phantom catch him. Phantom spun the green ghost around to toss him. The ghost struck Danny’s pins leaving two still standing. 

   “Seriously?” Phantom yelled at the seven-ten split. He then pulled out his thermos to absorb the ghost. A blinding flash blinded Phantom for a second as onlookers snapped pictures using their phones. The other ghost used the distraction to disappear.

   “COOL!” Yelled Timmy. Phantom disappeared as quickly as he arrived. 

   “Can’t believe that stupid ghost didn't at least get me a strike,” Danny grumbled as he attempted (and failed) to knock down both pins. 

   Thankfully the rest of the game was uneventful. Danny seemed distracted as Sam and Tucker tried to make small talk about Timmy’s hobbies and how he was adjusting. When Timmy admitted no one wanted to be his friend everyone got uncomfortable. 

   “Do you like Space Marine?” Tucker eventually asked right as the group was packing up to leave. 

   “I love Space Marine!” said Timmy. 

* * * 

   “And then we went to Tucker's house and played the rest of the day.” Timmy happily reported. The school therapist was nice. She always allowed Timmy to talk her ear off about whatever he wanted. Her not allowing his backpack or hat in the room was odd though. Other than that she was ok. She was currently smiling and clapping after Timmy talked about his Saturday. 

   “Wonderful. So glad your cousin and his friends were ok with you crashing their plans. Most teenagers would even go so far as to say you ruined their weekend.” She smiled so wide it reminded him of Chip Skylark. 

   “Danny did invite me.” Timmy felt a pang of guilt. Danny did seem a little annoyed. But that was from his bathroom emergency, right? Timmy did need hands-on help. Even then he ended up missing. Cosmo says it was from a ghost but…

   “Of course he invited you.” The counselor got up from her chair to walk around to Timmy’s side. 

   “Who could say no to this face?” The counselor tapped his exposed front teeth with her long claw-like blood-red nails. Timmy tried to pull his lip down over his oversized buck teeth.

   “I mean,” her smile faded slightly as she backed up. She gave him a pitying look as she clasped her hands in front of her. 

   “Your parents did. But that's all in the past. I'm sure your new family doesn't see you as a burden at all. Especially since you need so much more attention than their actual children.” She then laughed airily. The school bell rang, catching both of their attention. 

   “And that's time. You best be off, don't want to be late for your special needs class now do we?” Timmy slumped out of the room before she shut the door in his face. With a heavy heart, he grabbed his bag from the little chair outside the counselor's office. When his silly pink hat was placed on his head Cosmo and Wanda began talking to him. 

    “What's wrong sweetie?” Wanda prodded gently.

   “It's nothing. Ms. Spectra just gave me a lot to think about.” 

   “Gasp. That monster!” said Cosmo. 

   “It's fine really.” Said Timmy as he made his way down the still unfamiliar hall. 

   “Uh. Timmy, your class is that way now, remember?” Wanda pointed out. 

   “Yeah. Sure.” Timmy turned back to head towards the far end of the hall. 

* * *

   Timmy was sitting lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. Trying not to be the burden he was. His eyes burned as the mattress dipped a little on both sides. Both his fairy godparents had given up on trying to cheer him up. It was day four of him not making a single wish. Not even for an extra ketchup packet for his corn dog at school. 

   He was grateful Jazz was ignoring him. She had no idea Timmy had been bumped down from violet to blue on the rainbow scale. His aunt and uncle had a note from the teacher expressing how worried they were. Timmy is seeing the school therapist daily now. They still remembered to feed him though, so that was an upgrade at least.

   Sending his godparents tumbling off the bed Timmy sat up. He was sick of this terrible room. He was sick of feeling like going to sleep and never waking up again. 

   “Where are you going sport?” 

   “I need some air,” Timmy said, closing the door. In the hall, he could hear the TV. Deciding to keep with his avoiding the family streak he went upward towards the roof. There is a nice breeze up on the roof. Spotting a few outdoor folding chairs Timmy set one up to stare at the moon. As he stared he noticed a pink balloon floating caught in the wind. 

   “Wanda?” said Timmy. 

   Two poofs signaled the arrival of his fairies. 

   “Yes, Timmy?” 

   “Wait. If you're here then?” Timmy pointed up to the balloon as it drifted away. Following the balloon Timmy watched it descend slightly. On the street below Timmy, he gasped loudly when he recognized the figures standing below. 

   “Mom? Dad?” Timmy could barely see through the tears. 

   “I thought your parents were in Bee-lease.”

   “That Belize sweetie. I thought they took your babysitting budget to go backpacking through the Amazon.” 

   “YOU'RE BOTH WRONG. BECAUSE THEY'RE HERE NOW!” Timmy shouted before rushing to the fire escape. 

   “I have the heebie-jeebies about this.” Cosmo protested as he floated slowly after Timmy. 

   “I know. But there is nothing we can do except watch over Timmy.” Wanda reminded her husband. She summoned the baby leash preventing Peri from floating away. 

   Peri was not having it. Using his rattle he summoned a periwinkle colored balloon. Using his rattle he drew eyes and a mouth smiling back at him. He then switched places causing his mom to drag the balloon after her. 

   Flying down to the side of the building he found Danny’s room easily. The teen had large headphones on while writing in a workbook. Excited to see his friend Peri tried to fly in. Unfortunately for him, the window was shut so he slammed into the glass with a loud smack. 

   Danny jolted when he heard a loud noise. Looking around he approached his window to look outside. Squinting he saw something pink crossing the street. 

   “Wait. Timmy? Where is he going?” Danny asked no one right before noticing Timmy was approaching two people. 

   “Uncle Darren and Aunt Suzie?” Danny glared after the two as they took Timmy’s hand. That's impossible. Timmy’s parents were somewhere in the middle of Europe. Dad had complained loudly (the man had no indoor voice so, of course, everyone in the home heard him) about how the courts had to wait for them to find a place with internet access to sign the paperwork to relinquish custody.

   He took three steps back. Transformed. Then he phased through his floor into the rooms below. Invisible he checked the living room where his parents were relaxing. Mom was reading a book while Dad worked on his needlepoint. Neither seemed phased that their youngest was currently walking into a dark alley with two strangers. Debating on telling them as Danny rather than Phantom his Mom set down her book to lean closer to Dad. 

   Knowing this was going to NSFW real fast he shot out the front door. Timmy and his parents were nowhere to be seen. Flying in the direction he last saw them lead him down a nearby alley. The little family got around the midway point of the alley before Aunt Suzie snatched Timmy’s hat off his head. She then tossed it to Uncle Darren who placed it in a butterfly net for some reason. 

   “Don't worry Timmy. We'll get you a new hat.” Uncle Darren beamed down at his son with entirely too many teeth. 

   “Think of this as a fresh start. Just the three of us.” Aunt Suzie looked deranged as she eyed her son like she was going to eat him. 

   “And where is that exactly?” Danny called out. He was floating in midair with his arms crossed. 

   “Phantom.” Uncle Darren said with the utmost distance. Aunt Suzie sounded disgusted. Timmy sounded delighted. 

   “I'm going to ask one more time,” Danny felt something cold creeping into his very being. “Where are you taking him?”

   “What we do with our child is none of your business snarled ‘Aunt Suzie’ her eyes were glowing and her teeth had grown sharp. Whatever it was, the disguise was slipping. 

   ‘Uncle Darren’ had decided he was going to set the butterfly net on fire. Timmy screamed as his hat was about to be burned. Shooting an ecto-blast Danny sent ‘Uncle Darren’ flying. ‘Uncle Darren’ growled at Phantom before transforming into Bertrand. 

   Danny whipped out the thermos to recapture the annoying ghost. He barely got the chance to cap the thermos before something hit him in the back. 

   “Why do you care about that brat anyway?” Spectra asked transforming into her true shadowy form. 

   “Funny. I can ask you the same thing! What were you planning you creep?” 

   “I wasn't going to hurt him. We were just going to mess with him a little bit before dropping him off at that eye-sore you call home.” Spectra gave a one-shoulder shrug.

   “And what made you think that would be ok?” Danny gripped Spectra so tight he felt her form give a little under his grip. 

   “Oh please. You're just as bad as the rest of them! I've heard him. How terrible you and the rest of that horrible family of yours are.” 

   “Shut up!” Danny ordered through grit teeth. 

   “How you're no better than his parents. That-” she did not get to finish her speech. Danny had slammed her into the ground from three stories up. She lay on the cracked cement dazed from the attack. Not wasting another word on the misery ghost he souped her. 

   Capping the lid tightly Danny flew back to where he left Timmy. The little boy was hunched over his hat that he had rescued from the butterfly net. He was muttering to it when Danny floated up. 

   “Hey, kid. Are you ok?” Danny asked as Timmy nodded, not looking up. Landing Danny placed a hand on his tiny cousin's shoulder. Timmy curled around the hat in response. 

   “Come on. Let's get you home.” Said Danny lifting Timmy. He only rested his head on Danny’s shoulder as he was flown back to Fenton Works. 

Chapter Text

   Timmy was vaguely aware he was being carried. Under his cheek, he felt spandex and polyester like his hazmat suit. The scent of heated sugar and a soap he recognized yet could not remember from where filled his nose. 

   His thoughts swirled as he was set down on a bed. At some point, he had closed his eyes as the obnoxious glow from his relatives' sign filtered through his eyelids. 

   “Timmy?” Wanda called out softly. Timmy reached out. For what? He didn't know. None of his toys had made it with him. 

   “I wish I had a Phantom doll.” Timmy thought aloud. There was the telltale sound of a wand dinged faintly. 

* * *

   Monday morning dragged on without Timmy saying a word. His school therapist was unavailable so he was sent to sit with the receptionist. She had handed him a fist full of pens, highlighters from the desk, and a few sheets of printer paper. 

   Timmy drew Phantom. It had been a while since he put some effort into a drawing. Cosmo was disguised as a green star-shaped paper clip attached to Wanda posing as a pink heart-shaped paperclip. Peri was rolling around as a small purple rubber band ball. 

   “You really do like Phantom don't you?” Wanda commented as Timmy admired his work. 

   “I'll say, look at that cross-hatching. That's some quality work there.” Cosmo chimed in. 

   “Yeah, he's the coolest.” Timmy set his drawing aside to make room to draw his next piece. He started drawing Phantom again. However, the more he drew the less it felt like Phantom. For one the body was too small. The hair was shorter too. Timmy gently batted Peri around the desk a little bit.

   “Dee. Dee.” Babbled the toddler. Timmy smiled as he poked around the pile of random office supplies. He found a pink broken crayon he used on the character's suit. By the end of ‘therapy but not really hour’ Timmy had finished his drawing.

* * *

   The moment Timmy opened the door to his relatives’ home the most amazing scent hit him. Chocolate chip cookies and that soap smell he smelt on Phantom. Timmy doesn’t remember closing the door and walking into the kitchen. Uncle Jack ignored Timmy peering around him to see what he was stirring in a large stock pot.

   “Whatcha making Uncle Jack? Is that dinner?” Timmy asked standing on his toes to see. Uncle Jack took a sharp breath as if he had forgotten to breathe for a second there. The large man looked down at Timmy with an almost manic smile. 

   “Timtam! I didn't hear you come in.” Uncle Jack then scooped up Timmy with his free arm to allow the smaller to see in the pot. 

   “This is our newest creation. Ghost Bait. One whiff of this and ghosts become docile sitting targets.” 

   “Ghosts can smell?” Timmy asked as the thick molasses-looking concoction bubbled. 

   “You bet they do! Plus it smells different to each person.” Uncle Jack then took a massive sniff. “Ah, fudge and V7 scrub.” 

   Timmy gazed at his uncle in confusion. V7? Like the shampoo upstairs? Come to think of it. When he first moved in, he noticed only three sets of shampoo/conditioners in the bathroom. Coconut Delight, Zephyr Breeze, and V7 three in one. Why would Uncle Jack find comfort in V7 soap?

   While Timmy pondered Uncle Jack reached over to a panel the young boy didn't know was there. The older man slid it open to bellow down.

   “Hey, Maddie. I got an extra hand to help with those canisters! It's TimTam!”

   “Timtam?” Aunt Maddie asked as if she was trying to remember the significance of that name.

   “Oh right! Timmy! Wonderful. Just have him in the uniform and send him down.”

   “Oh gee, I'd love to but-”

   Uncle Jack set Timmy down before giving him a shove towards the stairs. 

   “Happy to hear! The sooner we get this done the sooner we can start hunting.” 

   Worried his uncle would storm up after him Timmy decided to get changed on his own. He was standing in the kitchen debating on if letting himself go downstairs or wait in the kitchen. Cosmo went exploring and came back a shivering mess—something about portals to the bad place. 

   Thankfully the decision was made for him when both Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack brought up the supplies. Much to Jazz's frustraion when she arrived home an hour later. 

   “Well, we couldn't do it in the lab.” Aunt Maddie rolled her eyes. She was wearing her goggles but everyone could hear it in her voice. “Timmy's too small to be in the lab.”

   “None of us should be in the lab.” Jazz muttered to herself as she rummaged through the cabinets for a granola bar. 

   “How else are you kids going to learn to take over the family business?” Uncle Jack made his way to the fridge to pull out one of the many pre-made meals prepared earlier that month. It turned out that taking a month's worth of food and then freezing freed up more time for their work. Though the mountain of pizza boxes suggested that was too much work during school hours. 

   “Not this again.” 

   “Now. Now. I know you're terrible at it now-” Aunt Maddie tried to calm her daughter. 

   “WHAT?” Squawked Jazz as bits of granola fell from her mouth.

   “But with a little more time and practice you'll be just as amazing as your dad and I.” 

   Jazz looked between her beaming parents with a look of derision. 

   “Sure.” Was all Jazz said before leaving the room. Timmy reached after Jazz's retreating form to telepathically have her save him. No help came as he and his entles went back to filling canisters. It didn't get better when Aunt Maddie turned on the TV for background noise. Apparently, their favorite channel was the news since the local broadcasting station logo was burned into the plasma screen. 

   “Next up, Tiffany Snow with her afternoon snack. What are we having today?”

   “Well Shelly, today we have Ants On a Log. Now you can make this with either traditional peanut butter or soy butter if-”

   “We interrupt this segment to bring you breaking news. A ghost is attacking fishermen in the harbor. We're going live with the feed.”

   The screen then showed a live video of a female ghost terrorizing the harbor. She looked like an overweight cafeteria worker, complete with a hairnet and apron. 

   “Oh, these are perfect for fish sticks.”  The ghost lifted a school of fish out of a fisherperson’s net. 

   “Maddie grab the keys, we're going ghost hunting.” Uncle Jack screamed despite Aunt Maddie being two feet from him. The large man had already reached out to tuck Timmy under his arm. Timmy could only watch as the lunch lady ghost was blasted midair by someone off-screen. The cameraman managed to whirl around to capture Phantom flying in. 

   “COOL!” Timmy yelled as he managed to take advantage of Uncle Jack's slightly looser grip. The pink hated boy was on the table gripping the edge as he leaned as close as possible not to miss a second of Phantom. The hero ghost bantered for a moment before being buried under a pile of fish. Phantom poked his head out of the pile to spit out a smaller fish that got into his mouth. Spitting it out in disgust he then pointed his index finger to the control panel on the deck. He then fired off a small blast from his finger and flipped a lever to release a net. The lunch lady ghost was caught off guard by the net dropped on her. As she squirmed on the deck Phantom got out of the fish pile to suck up the ghost in his thermos. Phantom then took off with the thermos and the attacking ghost. 

   “So cool,” Timmy repeated. 

   “Not cool.” Uncle Jack growled. The larger man lifted Timmy to address him. 

   “That ghost is a menace.”

   “How? He flies in, defeats the ghosts, captures them, and then-” Timmy was cut off by two heated glares.

   “Everyone loves a bad boy.” Aunt Maddie sighed. She messaged her forehead trying to work out a stress headache. 

   “Yeah maybe.” Uncle Jack grumbled as he and Aunt Maddie started packing up the Ghost Bait canisters. Timmy took their change of topic as a sign he should take his leave. Up in his room, he didn’t change out of his uniform. 

   “Hey sport,” Wanda greeted wearing a gas mask. Cosmo appeared next to her wearing one as well.

   “Whats with the masks?”

   “Oh, these. That stuff your family was making works on fairies too it seems. We almost didn’t make it out of there. Peri almost exposed us.” Wanda explained as she pointed to the fish bowl with a gas mask fitted over the top. Peri was inside pouting. 

   “Uh-huh.” Timmy sighed as he approached his backpack. He took out the two pictures he drew earlier. He then took out some tape to fix them over the sparse desk. It looked like Phantom was flying with someone. Glancing over at the mirror affixed inside his closet door Timmy realized he had drawn himself flying next to Phantom. 

   Phantom had been there for Timmy twice since moving here. 

   “I wish my aunt and uncle could see that Phantom like I see him.” Timmy wished thinking he found his answer. 

   Both Cosmo and Wanda’s facial expressions were hidden behind their masks but the way they fiddled with their wands told Timmy everything. 

   “I mean…we can try,” Cosmo admitted.

   “But you saw how quickly the last spell we put on them broke,” said Wanda. Timmy had no idea what other spell they were talking about. He knew they were right though.

   He glanced back at the two pictures again. He wanted to fly wherever he wanted. To do whatever he wanted. To not lie in bed every night wondering what you did wrong. Were you that bad a kid? Why didn’t they fight for you? I’ll be quieter! You won’t even know I’m there! Maybe your therapist was right. Maybe the time you wished to never been born was right too. Timmy felt his throat tighten up. 

   “I wish I was a ghost.”

Chapter Text

   There was the usual puff of fairy dust leaving Timmy feeling weightless. A sharp pain on top of his head caused him to look down. He was floating! Cosmo and Wanda were floating next to him beaming. 

   “Cool!” Timmy shouted, causing his legs to fuse. Wanda placed a hand atop Timmy’s head to gently guard him downward. 

   “Well, what do you think?” asked his godmother to turn him to look at the mirror in his closet. Cosmo opened the door further with a flourish. Timmy leaned toward him only to lose his balance. He smacked his face on the cold glass surface. Wanda steadied him. Timmy could not stop staring. His brown hair was now ice blue. His eyes were orange like Uncle Jack’s hazmat suit. Even his suit had changed color from his usual raspberry pink to a lime green. The now-white trim went from black to white. Honestly, his suit reminded him of Phantom. 

   Timmy looked just like his hero. A hero that existed! No in a comic or on TV. One who fought for him and brought him home. 

   “Thank you.” Timmy caught Wanda’s eyes in the mirror as she nuzzled his hair. 

   “TIMTAM! YOU DONE YET?” Uncle Jack's voice rumbled through the house. 

   “Walk through walls!” Cosmo suggested.

   “Disappear!” Wanda chimed in.

   “Fly!” Timmy shot up only to run into the ceiling. Timmy saw stars as pain erupted through his body. 

   “Timmy?” Uncle Jack threw open the bedroom door with a slam. Timmy yelped as he phased through the ceiling. Invisible Timmy peered back down through the ceiling to watch his uncle take a lap around the room to then lift the bed with one hand. 

   “Timmy?” Uncle Jack called out again a tone of concern in his voice.

   “Jack!” Aunt Maddie’s voice floated up from downstairs. 

   “MADDIE!” Uncle Jack dashed out of the room to meet his wife. 

   “They’re so cute.” Cosmo cooed looking at the door Uncle Jack just left. 

   “Now that they're distracted, let go do ghostly things.” Timmy cheered as he floated upward again without him wanting to. 

*  *  *

   “What should we do first?” Wanda asked in her pigeon form. Timmy had floated so high he had to grab onto the weird structure on top of his family’s building. It was a bright afternoon as people were bustling to and fro about their day. The way the sun was peeking out from a large fluffy cloud casting beams of sunlight upon the town. 

   “Wow.” Timmy had never taken the time to explore the nearby city back home. It was different than living in one, despite how small this was supposedly. Pushing off the weird structure Timmy floated lazily over the city. No one paid him any attention as he passed over them. Children playing, adults clutching coffees, teenagers draped over various structures seemingly without a care in the world. Timmy kept flying as Cosmo and Wanda fluttered by his side. 

   “I know,” Timmy announced as they were passing over the movie theater. The new movie Honey Badger and Tontine has just come out. Despite the age restriction, Timmy desperately wanted to see it. Flying down he tried to go intangible but smacked into the roof. He got it right the second time. The lights were already dim and the movie was starting. Sitting cross-legged in midair Timmy wished for popcorn. In a cloud of fairy dust, the bucket appeared. Timmy’s eyes watered and he began sneezing violently. 

   “HEY!” Shouted a voice from below. Looking down Timmy saw one of the moviegoers pulling the popcorn bucket off his head. Locking eyes with the person below. The man screamed as he bolted out of the theater. All around people were rushing out to get away from ghost Timmy. 

   “Oops.” Said Timmy floating down to a proper seat to watch the movie. 

   Ninety minutes later the three of them were squinting in sunlight. 

   “That sure was violent.” Cosmo was physically shaking. 

   “And vulgar,” Wanda added, magicking up a green blanket and mug of hot chocolate. 

   “Yeah, it was pretty cool.” Timmy was now lazily floating over the skyline. Blinking lights caught his attention. With a happy yell, Timmy zoomed towards the arcade. He had a blast helping little kids make difficult scores on skeeball and the basketball throwing games. He felt most proud grabbing the bossy kid’s foot in the ball pit. He got a slice of cake thrown at him by the kid’s mom. 

   Timmy was now trying to phase the sticky frosting off his clothes and hair (and failing). He ended up taking a bath in the fountain. Allowing the water to crash over his head he thought about his next haunt. In the water, Cosmo and Wanda had shrunk down to pretend they were on the Regatta. Cosmo was dressed as a fancy woman while Wanda was dressed as a rower. 

   “Ready to head home sport?” Wanda asked, taking a break from her rowing. 

   “No way!” Timmy glanced around the park desperate for an excuse not to go back to his relative’s place. 

   “Isn’t your aunt making tater tot casserole tonight?” Cosmo asked floating up to get to eye level with Timmy. 

   Timmy wasn’t sure what tater tot casserole was but he didn’t feel adventurous tonight. He wanted something his mom would make. Store brand lasagna that is slightly burnt but still cold in the center. Maybe a frozen TV dinner with a brownie. Timmy always ate the brownie first because if it got cool it turned into a solid brick. 

   Back with his old room and old school and old friends. A kid on a skateboard ground on the rim of the fountain startling Timmy. Shooting out of the fountain with a splash Timmy flew after the kid. Still not used to his powers Timmy caught up with the person. They gave a scream when they realized Timmy out of the corner of their eyes. They hit a broken piece of sidewalk sending them into the bushes. In an attempt to help, Timmy retrieved the skateboard. 

   When Timmy came back he put on a bright cheery smile holding out the board for the skater to take. 

   “Keep it. Just don't hurt me.” With that, the skater ran off. Timmy dropped the skateboard in the bushes to float off. After scaring a dog walker Timmy took to the sky. 

   “Home sounds pretty good about now, huh sport?” Wanda suggested as she hovered in pigeon form. Timmy nodded as he made his way back to his relatives. 

   Getting back into his barren room was easy enough. Standing in the middle, not looking up from the bare floor he soaked in the freedom of his ghost form. 

   “I wish I was human again,” said Timmy. There was a ding and a cloud of fairy dust. His senses were overwhelmed. He sneezed so hard he felt himself launch Off the ground. Groaning he opened his eyes to realize he was flat on his back on the ceiling. Still in ghost form. 

   “Uh, guys?” Timmy began to ask when his door was flung open. Aunt Maddie looked around like Uncle Jack did earlier. She called out as she looked under the bed and even opened the closet to shift his small collection of shirts to the side. 

   “I told you I already checked there,” Uncle Jack leaned into the room to talk to Aunt Maddie. “Checked it five times.”

   “I thought I heard voices,” said Aunt Maddie. She was now holding herself. Uncle Jack ushered her out into the hallway. 

   “Jazz and Danny will be home soon and then we’ll go. Watch, he’ll be at the park playing with his new friends,” said Uncle Jack as Aunt Maddie made a quiet noise of agreement. Downstairs a door slammed.

   “Mom Dad, we’re home.”

   Timmy managed to float down to listen to his family downstairs. 

   “Ok. Jazz, you search the east side. That includes the library and the big park. Dad and I will search the west side. Danny, stay here and hold down the fort.”

   “Kay,” said Danny in a monotone voice. There was the jingle of keys and the door slammed again. 

   “Careful, there is a ghost out there,” Danny warned after a moment. 

   “And you couldn’t catch it?” Jazz sounded worried.

   “I tried but it's not causing a lot of trouble. It only scared one theater. Didn’t even steal popcorn. Then one skateboarder at the park. That's it.”

   “Hm. Still,” said Jazz as several beeps floated up from the living room. 

   “Yeah. Mom changed the passcode to the internal anti-ecto system.” Danny yawned.

   “Great. Just…be careful. There is a mini Fenton Peeler on my dresser if you need it.” Said Jazz before Danny made a noise of disgust. 

   Timmy gasped as he heard his cousin come up the stairs. Soon Danny’s steps faded towards the older boy’s room. 

   “Now what?” Timmy sank to the floor to slip a few inches under the bare wood. 

   “We were afraid that this would happen.” Wanda appeared to lift Timmy out of the floor by his head. 

   “What do you mean?” 

   “When you wished to be a ghost, we had to make adjustments.” Wanda began to explain floating to the center of the room to summon a whiteboard like the one his aunt and uncle used. A picture of Cosmo was already drawn there wearing Timmy’s clothes. 

   “In order to fulfill the wish-”

   “And not kill you.” Chimed in Cosmo.

   “Yes, that. We wrapped you in a ghost-like wrapping.” Wanda waved her wand to have a clingwrap-like wrapping envelope Cosmo making him look like a shrink-wrapped toy. Cosmo tried to move but all he could do was wiggle a little and make muffled noises. 

   “And let me guess: there is no easy way to unwrap me,” said Timmy. 

   “Bingo! All our magic just bounces off the ecto-wrapper.” Wanda explained as stars representing fairy magic were bouncing off Cosmo. 

   “So I’m stuck like this forever?” 

   “Maybe your family has something in their basement. They have all kinds of weird things down there. Fishing line, guns, a spaceship, a portal to the bad place.” Cosmo transformed back to fairy form to count off the various gizmos in his aunt and uncle’s lab. 

   “Portal to the bad place?” Squawked Timmy. 

   “It's fine if it's closed.” Cosmo waved his hand. 

   “We don’t need a portal, we need like a….” Wanda looked away trying to think of a word. “Ecto stain remover.” 

   “Or Ecto Potato Peeler,” Cosmo added.   

   “Wait. Did Jazz say she left her Peeler in her room?” Timmy opened the door to his room to spot Jazz’s room a little further down the hall. He managed to float a few inches out of his room when panels in the walls shifted to reveal laser guns pointed directly at him. 

Chapter Text

   Danny paced around his room. First, a ghost was causing minor inconveniences around town he couldn't catch. Now Timmy was missing. After the incident the other night Danny's nerves were shot with how alert he had been. It was too soon for Spectra to come back. Or was it? Ghost attacks were random for the most part.

   ‘Except for when they weren't.’ Like when Ember used her powers to enslave the world. It has been a while since she came screeching about. The sound of a laser firing followed by a high-pitched ghostly yelp caught his attention. Danny rushed out of his room to see something ghostly dash around the end of the corner. Unable to transform he hoped he could chase the ghost out of weapon range. He managed four steps when his foot caught on something. 

   Glaring Danny looked down to see he had tripped on a kitten. A purple kitten. It blinked at Danny as it got to its feet. Thoughts like, ‘How did a kitten get in here, and ‘Why was the kitten purple?’ went through Danny's mind when another laser fired off downstairs. Scooping up the kitten Danny cradled it close to his chest with his left arm. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Pocket Peeler. Picking it up he felt weird using a weapon to take down a ghost rather than his powers. 

   “Daaah!” yelled the ghost as ripping fabric filled the air. Feeling silly strafing down the stairs, Danny approached the sound. Bright natural light filled the living room. Odd. His parents always hated being blasted by the afternoon sun when they decided to emerge from the lab. There was a clinking of metal and rustling of heavy fabric from behind the couch. 

   Danny controlled his breathing as he powered up the Pocket Peeler (formerly the mini Fenton Peeler). The cat in his arms was oddly still as they approached the couch. The curtain then shot upward, with the ghost inside. Danny fired off a shot, striking the ghost underneath the thick drapery. The shot fizzled but did not pierce the fabric. It did manage to startle the ghost, causing it to yelp and dash away. It slammed into a wall. Flailing around more, it started to dash off again. 

   Danny took a step back as it flew towards him. He stilled his trigger finger since he knew another shot would do nothing. He did however stomp on the draper as the ghost flew past. 

   In a blur, the ghost came free allowing Danny a free shot. It struck true as the ghost's momentum carried it through to the kitchen. That's when the kitten decided to remind Danny he was carrying it. It wiggled out of Danny’s grip to land with a thud in front of the teen. Leaping over the kitten Danny chased after the ghost. 

   At a glance, the kitchen seemed normal. For the Fenton Household. The back door was open spurring Danny to check outside. 

   “Ouch.” Timmy moaned from at the bottom of the stairs leading to the patch of backyard. All thoughts of the ghost evaporated at the sight of the almost crying ten-year-old. He was dressed in his hazmat suit and sitting on the ground. He was cradling his right elbow in pain. 

   Danny slid the Pocket Peeler into his back pocket to check on his little cousin. He gently coaxed the smaller boy to show him his scraped-up elbow. At the sight of the roughed-up and the slowly pooling blood, Danny picked Timmy up to patch him up. 

*   *   *

   Danny had not let Timmy out of his sight the rest of the night. Timmy rubbed the large bandaid on his elbow. His cousin had taken a pair of scissors to the bandage. He cut the sides to allow the bandage to move along with Timmy’s elbow. 

   After that,t it was a whirlwind of his aunt and uncle coming home (Danny had called them) and giving the ten-year-old the third degree. They were distraught that Timmy was ghost-hunting without an adult. The scolding morphed into a family dinner discussion over Chinese takeout. Soon Timmy was ushered into the bathroom (he was forced to use his aunt and uncle's soaps) before being ushered into bed. 

   Nine thirty. Nine freaking thirty!  

   Ugh. He could not wait until he was living with his parents again. He usually went to bed when his parents did. Which was like, eleven, most nights. He did like the tuck-ins though.

   Aunt Maddie said her goodnights with forehead kisses. Uncle Jack hung back choosing to take a lap around the room glaring. 

   “Hey Timtam,” Uncle Jack spoke, still glaring at the walls. “You ever want some posters or something? Like, what was it? Crimson Nebula.”

   “Crimson Chin and Crash Nebula.” Timmy wiggled a little to get comfortable. “It's ok. My parents will be back from their vacation soon.”

   Timmy did not see his aunt and uncle give concerned looks. 

*   *   *

   Timmy was watching Alien Watch again not really paying attention. Besides the dialogue on the TV, the house was eerily quiet. Jazz was upstairs while Danny was out with his friends. His aunt and uncle were both out but would not tell anyone where exactly. They had a stack of papers they had shoved in an old letter bag. Uncle Jack looked weird wearing a tie with his normal orange hazmat suit. 

   “Oh Timmy,” Jazz’s voice floated from upstairs. Timmy tensed up. Maybe if he didn’t move she wouldn’t see him. Luck was not with him since she zoned in on him for a second. Things got worse when she sat down next to him on the couch. Not looking away Timmy kept staring straight ahead, eyes straining to keep Jazz in his sight.

   “I like your pins.” She commented reaching a handout. His Vicky aversion training kicked in as Timmy flung himself to the ground to then dash off. He didn’t stop until he reached the backyard. 

   “Few. That was close.” Timmy bent over to lean on his knees to catch his breath. 

   “Yeah, um. Clean fingernails sure are scary.” Cosmo tried to agree.

   “I don’t think Jazz was trying to hurt you sport.” Wanda chided with a hand on her hip. 

   “Everyone is acting weird today. Like I’m about to explode if they look at me funny.”  Timmy griped the coarse fabric of his black jeans. He was so angry. And sad. And. And. His eyes strung. 

   Just a little longer. Just a little bit longer. They have taken long trips before and they always come back. A laser-firing above jolted Timmy out of his thoughts. Two vulture ghosts were being fired at by,

   “Phantom!” Timmy cheered gazing up at the superhero. 

   “I don’t know why you’re here you’re leaving, NOW” Phantom then captured the two ghosts like they were nothing. 

   “I wish there was a way I could’ve-” Timmy spoke as a loud slam behind him startled him. 

   “TIMMY. It's too dangerous, come inside.” Jazz grabbed Timmy to drag him inside. 

   “Are you hurt?” She pressed looking over Timmy. 

   “I’m fine.” Timmy shrugged off his cousin’s touch before wandering upstairs. In his room, he walked over the window to look at the sky. Hoping against hope that he would see Phantom again. Downstairs Timmy heard the backdoor slam shut. He heard Danny’s voice but not what he was saying. 

   Now the house was too noisy. Timmy looked out of the window thinking. He didn’t want to be out there either. 

   “Cosmo. Wanda. Peri.” Timmy called out in a quiet voice. The three of them appeared in a cloud of fairy dust. For a moment, not a word was said. Then as one, the three fairies floated down to hug Timmy. 

   “I wish I knew where my parents were.” In a cloud of fairy dust a magic nine ball appeared in his hands. He shook it and Machu Picchu was displayed on the die. Timmy groaned allowing the ball to drop to the ground. It rolled under his bed where he let it stay. 

*   *   *

   School the next day seemed more slow than usual. Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack returned from their mysterious errand without any explanation. They were frowning so hard that they were in danger of freezing like that. Jazz was hovering every time she noticed Timmy. She even volunteered to take him to school. That wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t ask him so many questions. 

   “Uh Timmy,” spoke up Eraser Wanda. “This is science class, not Geography.” 

   Timmy didn't answer as he circled Machu Picchu on the map of South America. He knew those were the school’s books but he didn’t care. He was looking for some of the other places his parents had visited. On a piece of torn-out notebook paper, he wrote down each place and how far they were from each other. 

   “This looks more like math to me,” Cosmo noticed when Timmy was trying to figure out how long they had stayed in each location.   

   “Well, it's science class now and we are learning about Phasmids.” Wanda tried to refocus Timmy’s attention away from his calculating. 

   “Phasmids? Sounds like Phantom.” Timmy commented louder than he realized.

   “Thats right Timothy! Phasmids are also called Ghost Bugs.” The teacher, their name eluded Timmy, was writing on the whiteboard. Shoving the paper with his parent’s vacation locations to pull out a new clean sheet. Ignoring the teacher's lecture about how bugs survive being eaten Timmy was drawing himself as a ghost again. He spent the rest of the day carefully shading. He debated on using a logo like Phantom did. He decided against it. He did keep his signature cap. It was one of the only things that were ‘his’. 

*   *   *

   “Uh Timmy,” Wanda spoke up. Timmy ignored her. He had just gotten home and thrown his backpack across the room. Something he had done countless times before. He wasn’t going to do the homework anyway. Instead, he went straight for his closet. He shouted in annoyance when he realized that what he was looking for wasn’t there. Uncle Jack must still have his suit! Wait, the basement is where they kept most of their ghost-hunting stuff. Abandoning his closet Timmy made a break for the door. A flashing railroad crossing popped up blocking his way. 

   “We need to talk.” Stated Wanda appearing above the flashing sign. Cosmo was next to her mirroring her disapproving look. Though his eyes reflected he was as clueless as ever. 

   “About what? Have I not been making enough wishes? Fine. I wish for a boatload of ice cream.” Snapped Timmy. Cosmo and Wanda granted the wish without changing expressions. Peri, however, cheered before diving into the dingy full of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream drenched in hot fudge rainbow sprinkles and three massive cherries. The baby fairy moved through the treat with only his wings poking out looking like a sharkfin cutting through the ocean. 

   “It's not the amount of wishes. It's the type of wishes.” Continued Wanda.

   “Yeah. You don’t play with us like you used to.” 

   “Well, what do you expect? Nothing is the same here! Everything is different and wrong.” Timmy’s voice hitched. Wrong. It was all wrong. 

   “I know things are rough sweetie. Maybe it's for the best. Change can be good.” Wanda tried to coax the young boy. 

   “Fine! You like change so much. Figure out how I can have ghost powers and not die.” Chaneglled Timmy pointing at his godparents while wiping his eyes. 

   “You know fairies have no imagination. We named our son after a color!” Cosmo pointed out gesturing towards Periwinkle Fairywinkle-Cosma. Said son surfaced from the ice cream feast with a pile of whipped cream with a cherry on top. 

   “Fine. I'll just run around town with a bedsheet over…my,” Timmy said as he remembered something. “That's it. The first time you transformed me you said it was like I was wrapped up or something. Maybe you can wrap me like it's a coat or something.” 

   “Like an enchanted item?” Asked Wanda.

   “Like in anime?” Cosmo asked, turning himself into a magical girl. Complete with flowing green pigtails and a fluffy dress. 

   “Exactly. Now we need an item I can always have on me so it doesn't look suspicious. The three of them thought about it. Timmy hated watches since they always got in the way. Any jewelry would raise questions since he didn't have any. Peri sighed behind the three of them. They turned to see the baby resting atop of the remaining ice cream pile. His entire body was bloated looking like he was about to pop. He gave a loud belch that caused him to spit out a cherry. It knocked off Timmy’s hat onto the floor. 

   “That’s it!” He lifted the hat towards the ceiling. “I wish I could transform into a ghost whenever I want using my hat.”

   There was a large cloud of purple and pink smoke. When the cloud settled Timmy placed the hat back on his head. He took a steadying breath. He closed his eyes before saying.

   “Phasma.” 

   A ring of white light appeared above Timmy’s head and traveled downwards. In its wake was the new and improved ghost boy Phasma.

Chapter Text

   Timmy wasted no time flying upwards through the roof. He kept flying higher and higher right up to a large fluffy cloud. The cold water droplets clung to his costume and hair. Timmy flew on. He had no plan beyond away, away from everything. Inside the clouds, he just kept flying. He didn’t want to see the people milling around below. The children laughed as they played with their friends. Soon there was a break in the cloud cover. He was now flying over the lake. Ocean? Timmy wasn’t sure. He didn’t bother to learn anything about the city. 

   He hung in the air staring over the horizon wondering how far the water stretched out. Timmy leaned forward to see how far he could. Dropping down he took off at top speed, skimming across the top of the water. The lake's surface was calm so Timmy split the water sending massive waves as he blew by. So caught up in the thrill of flying he dipped down too far. The water’s surface bounced Timmy causing him to careen around. 

   SPLOOSH!

   When Timmy managed to get his bearings it was dark. He felt like he was in water. Moving around he realized he was in water. Cosmo and Wanda were floating in fish form looking concerned. Timmy started freaking out. Why were they staring? He was going to drown! 

   “Oh wait. I’m a ghost now. Duh,” Timmy remembered. “Wow. That could have been bad.” 

   The second those words left his mouth, a large fish swallowed them. Inside the fish, Timmy made a noise of annoyance. 

   “Hey, where is Peri?” 

*   *   *

   Peri was sleeping off the ice cream-induced coma. 

*   *   *

   “Well, this is boring,” Cosmo complained. They were surrounded by total darkness inside the fish. 

   “Oh right. Ghost powers,” Timmy phased through the fish blinking at the bright sunlight. Eyes coming into focus Timmy realized the fish he had been inside had been captured and was hanging from a hook. 

   “GHOST!” Cried a voice. There was a chorus of screams as everyone fled. Above Timmy, a higher-pitched voice began laughing. Looking up Timmy was met with a child ghost. 

   “That was hilarious kid,” complimented the ghost child. He flew down to get a better look at Timmy. Instantly Timmy noticed the kid had overlarge front teeth like Timmy. They were flat on the bottom instead of rounded like Timmy’s. The kid had a grey complexion with poisonous green hair and eyes. His cheeks were dusted with dark grey freckles. 

   “So you got a name kid? I’m Young Blood” introduced the kid. Timmy was too distracted by the kid’s attire to hear what he said. He looked like an old-fashioned sea captain. 

   “Um, Tim-, I mean, Phasma.” 

   “Phasma huh? Sounds like Phantom,” the boy wrinkled his nose. 

   “Exactly!” 

   The kid made a noise of disgust.

   “Explains the wannabe superhero outfit.” Young Blood floated behind Timmy to tug at the hood. 

   “Cut it out.” Timmy tried to dislodge the kid's hands. Young Blood yelped as he let go. Timmy turned to see the kid waving his hand with Cosmo as a crab clung on. With a particularly hard flap, the fairy was dislodged. Cosmo then turned into a seagull to maintain flight. Wanda joined her husband in seagull form. 

   “Whoa, your servants are so cool. Mine can only turn into animal bones.” Complained to the kid. 

   “I am your tutor, not a servant.” Protested a bird's skeleton that had eyes. Its sudden appearance took aback Timmy.

   “Fat load of good that did me.” Young Blood rolled his eyes to then remember he had company. 

   “Hey new kid, I'm bored playing Moby Dick. Let's play Tarzan of the Apes instead.” Young Blood grabbed Timmy by the hand to fly towards the zoo. The other boy’s grip was cool through Timmy’s glove. It didn’t matter, Timmy still held on as if letting go would make the other boy disappear. 

   Floating high over the zoo Young Blood let go of Timmy’s hand. With a ‘fwing,’ the boy's outfit changed from explorer to a more caveman look. 

   “OK, your turn,” Young Blood motioned for Tummy to follow suit. Timmy blinked at the other boy for a moment. 

   “Oh no.” Timmy smiled waving his hands. “I’m good Y.B.”

   “Wybie?” The other ghost blinked for a moment before giggling.

   “I like it. I never had a nickname before!” He then swooped forward to grab Timmy’s hand again. The Amity Park Zoo was rather small than what Timmy was used to. Then again, back in California the zoos and aquariums were world class. Amity Park had a decent Savaanha area with a few giraffes, zebras, and even a rare gorilla.  

   “Race ya,” Wybie suggested floating towards the giraffes milling around. 

   “Isn’t this mean?” Timmy hung back a little. 

   “Pff. No. We ride horses and elephants all the time and they love it.” 

   “Still. Aren’t those special-” Timmy tried to argue.

   “Are you always this lame?” Young Blood cut off Timmy. 

   “I’m not lame!” Timmy protested. 

   “Yeah. Timmy is a good boy!” Cosmo protested.  

   “He is kind and sweet and thoughtful,” Wanda added.

   “Yeah lame. Look if you want to just float around with your mommy and daddy. Maybe they can make you a snack before your nappy time.” Taunted the other ghost child. He even added a ‘goo goo gaa gaa’ noise to mock Timmy further. 

*   *   *

   Sam Manson always viewed herself as a special. While other girls filled their heads with nonsense she learned how to cultivate her food supply. While other girls got excited about the latest fast fashion fad she championed for animal rights. Which is why she was sitting in front of the gorilla enclosure with her sketchbook. 

   Delilah (formerly Samson) was cradling her new baby to her chest. The tiny being blinked as she awoke from her nap. Sam felt a smile form as the little one (name yet to be determined) noticed the human. Baby wiggled from their mother to reach for Sam. Setting aside her sketchbook Sam approached the thick plexiglass. Pressing their hand against the barrier Sam mirrored the motion by putting her hand on the opposite of Baby’s.  

   “Yahoo!” A loud child’s voice cut through their tender moment. Sam spun around seeing two giraffes raced by, looking up Sam noticed that Young Blood was racing a new kid ghost. 

   “Great. Now there are two of them.” Muttered Sam pulling out her cell phone. As she was going to call Danny a loud ‘whoosh’ announced Red Huntress’s arrival. Sam stilled her finger. Maybe Val could handle this one. Danny had enough on his plate with his new brother/cousin along with the increase in ghost attacks. 

*   *   *

   Timmy and Wybie’s fun was cut short by some wackadoodle on a jet-powered surfboard. Red Huntress is what the other ghost called her. She had fired a laser at them which sizzled as it grazed Timmy’s costume.

   “Come on, I know where we can hand out where she can’t find us.” Wybie then took off expecting Timmy to follow. Wybie’s idea of a safe hideout was an abandoned pizza place. The only things left were the items bolted to the ground. Timmy took in as much as he could see in the fading sunlight. 

   “Is this your home?” Timmy tried to sound casual. 

   “Over here yeah.” Wybie dove into the ball pit to resurface a second later. He wiggled a little as he looked like he was nestling down for the night. “In the Ghost Zone, I have a territory. Idiot.” Young Blood muttered as his eyes fluttered shut. Young Blood’s companion transformed into a rabbit to then snuggle up against his charge. 

   “We should get going.” Wanda transformed into her fairy form to steer Timmy back to his relative’s house. 

   Timmy phased through the wall into his room. 

   “Timmy.” Commanded Timmy causing the magic to retreat into his hat. 

   “Well, that was a disaster,” Wanda commented looking annoyed. 

   “What do you mean? Today was fun.” 

   “That boy was mean.” Cosmo looked upset holding his wand with both hands. 

   “Maybe you two are just lame.” Timmy shot back. 

   Both fairies gasped in horror. 

   “I don’t think you should hang out with that boy anymore.” Wanda began her impending lecture.

   “Oh right. Because there are so many people lining up to be my friend.” Timmy felt his eyes prickle. Cosmo and Wanda gave each other the side eye. “Now if you excuse me, it's dinner time.” 

   True enough it was dinner time for the kids. Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack had made their plates to take downstairs, leaving the kids to eat upstairs. Danny looked even more dead on his feet than ever. His head was balanced on his arm as he struggled to keep his eyes open. Jazz gently slid Danny’s plate away seconds before the teen’s head hit the table. Seconds later Danny was softly snoring. 

   “Is he ok?”

   “Yah he’ll be fine.” She said with the confidence Timmy could only dream of having. “So, how's it been going?” 

   As she leaned forward Timmy leaned back so hard the chair gave a small noise of protest. 

   “It's fine.”

   “Fine?”

   “Yeah, fine.” 

   The two of them stared at each other over their frozen breaded chicken with noodles in red sauce dinners. Her eye twitched slightly before she spoke in a strained peppy tone.

   “Whats your favorite class?”

   “Don’t have one.” 

   “Why not?”

   Timmy shrugged while poking at his noodles.

   Silence. 

   Timmy picked up the second piece of garlic toast (a single slice of sandwich bread toasted before being buttered and dusted with garlic salt) he got from Danny. The dry crust went down harder than he wanted so he took a sip of milk to wash it down. The only sound was Danny’s quiet snoring. 

   “Any friends?” Her voice sounded more strained than before.

   “Yes.” He answered before thinking. Internally cursing himself for his lack of keeping the redhead at bay. She was exhausting on a normal day, today she was a woman on a mission. Her eyes gleamed as she leaned over her plate, food forgotten.

   “His name is Wybie.” He half lied. Jazz gave an ‘eee’ of delight. Danny jerked awake at the sound. 

   “Wha? What's happened?” 

   “Our baby cousin made a friend.” She recapped grabbing Danny’s flannel sleeve to shake. Timmy frowned at being called ‘baby’. 

   “S’awesome. Good friends are hard to come by.” Danny gave a small sleepy smile. Seeing Danny’s approving smile made Timmy feel better. True Young Blood was a ghost but that wasn’t a big deal. He had magical fairies that granted his wishes so a ghost friend wasn’t too much of a stretch.

*   *   *

   Another day over and done with. Timmy stood at the edge of the school playground. No one paid attention as the other kids made their way to waiting cars and buses. So children gather in small groups to walk home. Not one of them looked Timmy’s way. 

   “So your family is not expecting you for a few hours,” Cosmo looked like he wanted to say something.

   “Yeah Timmy, plenty of time to go the park, or maybe pick out a cool group to introduce yourself to.” Wanda was using her wand to point to the various groups. Timmy looked around.

   Jocks?

   “No.”

   Japanese comic book nerds?

   “No.”

   Glitz ‘N Glam Dance Troupe?

   “Definitely not.” Timmy rejected when a loud laughing came from overhead. Looking up he saw Young Blood floating above the school. He was dressed like a fancy Victorian kid. He had shiny shoes that stopped where his calf began, his pants went past his knee only making it halfway down the shin. His buttons and tied ribbon around his neck screamed wealth. 

   “Young Blood,” exclaimed Timmy he looked for a tree or something to duck behind. He found a shrub that he dove into to shout. 

   “PHASMA!” Timmy shot upwards to greet the other child.

   Wanda sighed and Cosmo looked upset this was not what they had wanted when they said to make a friend. Peri glared up at the two boys talking. 

   “Poof. Poof.” The toddler grumbled as Young Blood grasped Timmy’s hands to spin him around.

   “Want to go out and make some bad choices?” Suggested the ghost child. That was it! Periwinkle Fairywinkle-Cosma would not float by and allow some brat to corrupt his precious older brother. Timmy was chaotic enough on his own but never went out of his way to hurt anyone. Like that giraffe yesterday who needed to have a neck cast. 

   “We can play doctor,” Young Blood suggested transforming his outfit into an outdated doctor’s outfit, complete with a mirror headband. The little poltergeist leaned forward to stage whisper to Timmy. 

   “On real patients.”  

   THATS IT! Peri had heard enough. His parents were looking horrified, unable to do anything since Da Rules restricted them. Peri, on the other wing, was not. Waving his rattle wand he summoned an old-fashioned whipping cane. With a flick of his wrist, Peri commanded the cane to give a swift strike on the back thighs of Young Blood. The child gave a pained screech grabbing at the pained area. 

   Mom, Dad, and even Timmy all spoke at the same time. Dad was the first one to react. He grabbed Peri in a crushing hug before poofing them back to Fenton Works. 

   The second they got into Timmy’s new room Dad began talking. Peri wasn’t listening. This was going South fast. Peri needed backup. Over Dad’s rambling Peri heard someone talking through the wall. 

   It was Danny! Danny could protect Timmy from that vile child. But how? Peri held up his hand to stop his dad’s rambling. 

   “And then Philip found out Gladys was a chocolate coin. Man, what a night.” Dad stopped talking to blink at Peri. 

   “Poof, poof poof. Poof.” Peri explained before using magic to summon his nappytime blanket and Timmy doll. He then turned into a goldfish to nap inside the little plastic castle in the fish bowl. 

   “Ok son. You take your nap. Daddy will be right out here if you need me.” Dad picked up the bowl to give Peri a kiss. He sloshed water everywhere, including his clothes and hair. Unbothered Dad replaced the fish bowl to float into the center of the room. He summoned a yo-yo to play with. On the first drop the string began horrifically tangled. When Dad tried to untangle the mess it became more entangled and somehow the string began to loop around his wrists. 

   Satisfied that his dad was distracted he summoned a goldball. He dressed it in his usual onesie. He then used a permanent marker to draw on his facial features as if he were sleeping. Satisfied he threw on the blanket and tucked the Timmy doll under the blanket. 

   “Ga ha.” Shouted Dad as he managed to get his wings tangled by the yo-yo string. With a silent apology, Peri poofed out of the room.