Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When he graduated high school, Danny wasn’t sure what to do. He knew what he wanted to do: be an astronaut. He just didn’t know how he could ever achieve that. It was easy to fail when that’s all his teachers ever expected, and now he had to deal with the consequences.

He had thought the hardest parts of his life were over: coming out to his parents, the bullying at school, learning to control ghost powers, coming to terms with his own mortality. He had finally even gotten the hang of most of the villains that threatened his town to the point that they stopped bothering him.

He wished he could freeze time and figure out what he wanted to do. But as Clockwork says, “Time stops for no man or ghost child in this case.”

What Danny didn’t expect, though,  was the ability of everyone else to move on. His friends and enemies somehow knew which way to keep moving forward.  They emailed still, of course, and his friends came back during winter break to see their families, but it wasn’t the same. It felt like Tucker and Sam were slipping through his fingers like sand. 

So Danny was left with no school, no job, and no social life. At least he sort of had his superhero gig. The most he ever got out was to take his “little sister” Danielle to and from school when his parents were busy and whenever they ended up hanging out together.

During his senior year he had finally tracked her down and convinced her to live with his family. After all, it was biologically her family too. They were easy to convince. They could never ignore a child in need, even a cloned child. Vlad was the one who ended up dragging his feet on the whole thing, refusing to produce any papers for her.

Danielle was definitely a person, but legal documentation of that was still required. Vlad finally caved after a fierce negotiation session with Maddie and drew up her papers. So Dani could finally legally be a Fenton. 

Dani was only now in her freshman year of high school thanks to Jack and Maddie’s tutelage and Danny’s socialization. Jazz was a big help too, checking in biweekly and giving them all tips and tricks on how to help Dani feel welcome.

Jazz encouraged Danny to do things too, like go see a therapist or a support group. He ended up going to two real therapy sessions before deciding it wasn’t for him. But he couldn’t have Jazz and his parents worrying about him, so he lied about going to therapy. He’d head out the same time as the first 2 appointments but just head down to the train tracks near the abandoned warehouse to sulk or walk around. Sometimes the Box Ghost would be there. Sometimes he wouldn’t. Lately the goofy ghost had found better haunts where he didn’t have to worry about fighting Danny. And so the last regular person outside of his family disappeared from his life. 

Danny decided he needed a change, so he went to surprise Sam right before spring break. He flew all day to get to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where his goth friend had gone to study environmental science and policy. He knew her dorm location from her messages. It took a while to pinpoint where it was, requiring a few directions from students. Finally, as the night was falling deeper, he knocked on her door. He heard rustling on the other side and two voices, one distinctly Sam’s and another he didn’t recognize. 

“Hello?” Sam opened the door, just peeking her head out.

She spotted Danny who waved to her, “Danny? What are you doing here?”

She moved back behind the door, closing it, “Hold that answer one second.”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Danny called playfully through the door.

“Sam? Who’s that?” the mystery voice asked.

“An old friend,” Danny heard Sam answer through the door, “from high school.”

“Oooooh,” Danny didn’t like the tone of the other person through the door, “Was this the one you were telling me about?”

There was only muffled noises after that before Sam answered the door again.

“Why don’t you come meet him?” Sam tossed her words over her shoulder and came outside, closing the door behind her, “So why are you here?”

“I just thought, y’know,” Danny was beginning to feel embarrassed, “it might be nice to hang out with you. I didn’t mean to interrupt. By the way, who is that anyways?”

The mystery person came out of the door and took Sam’s hand.

“Um, Danny,” Sam felt a bit awkward too, “Meet my girlfriend. We were just hanging out, you didn’t interrupt.” 

Danny knew she was lying by the hickey marks on both of their collarbones.

“How about we go to the dining hall before it closes,” Sam’s girlfriend offered, “I’m hungry.”

“Ok,” Danny said in a small, quiet voice.

The walk from Sam’s dorm to the dining hall all the way in 9 and 10 (Sam said this was the only one open at this time) was quiet. Sam and her girlfriend, who Danny had now posited looked like if Paulina was goth, held hands the whole way.

Danny was still in disbelief that she could move on so fast. So many times he had missed her. He would turn around wanting to tell her something only for her not to be there. They had broken up because they both knew long distance wouldn’t work but Danny had thought she’d come home in the summer and they could pick up where they had left off like no time had passed. But now Sam had a girlfriend.

Danny didn’t hear Sam until she repeated herself, “Hey, we’re here. Do you want us to swipe you in or do you think you could, y’know, get yourself in?”

“I’ll go around back and meet you inside,” Danny’s voice sounded tired.

He walked to a secluded area away from Sam and her girlfriend and he felt one little sob escape accidentally now that he was alone. He wiped his eyes and pressed his emotions down. He went invisible and intangible and snuck into the bathroom before changing back.

He walked out and went to find Sam. Her girlfriend waved to him from the table. Sam was over grabbing plates at the self service bar. Danny walked over to her.

“I don’t think you’re going to like this,” she said and he realized she was of course grabbing vegan food, “There’s pizza over there.”

Danny saw where she pointed and went over, grabbing two slices. He returned to the table Sam’s girlfriend had saved for them to sit at. Sam was now sitting there, and her girlfriend was over getting food.

“Y’know, Danny,” Sam started eating, “I wish you had given me a heads up; we could have planned this better. We would have had more time to hang out and, like, made a proper space for you to sleep, but really I am glad to see you.”

“Really?” Danny felt his heart rise in joy and he tore ravenously into his pizza. 

“Yeah, I miss you and Tucker,” she took another small bite of tofu, “I even miss Amity Park in a way.”

Danny laughed at that between his first and second slice, “You’ll be back soon enough.”

Sam picked at her food without eating anymore, “About that, Danny.”

Danny slowed his eating, looking at her expectantly, “What?”

Sam breathed in and out to keep her voice steady, “I’m not coming back to Amity Park probably until next winter break.”

When Danny didn’t interrupt her, she got more excited to tell him the news, “I got an internship this summer with an ecological nonprofit. It’s kind of really big for me. But I have to go to Alaska.”

Danny had stopped eating completely at this point.

“I didn’t know how to tell you.”

Danny felt his eyes well up with tears. His ghost powers acted up like when he first had them and he knew he had gone invisible. He felt way too embarrassed.

“Danny?” Sam asked, “Danny please stay here.”

Danny was already floating up and away through the top of the building. 

The last thing he heard was Sam’s girlfriend returning and asking, “Hey, where’d your friend go?”

Sam stared at the solitary half eaten pizza slice, “I don’t know.”

Chapter Text

Danny knew what was coming next. Ever since The Incident, everyone had always been more…careful…  with any emotional freakout he had. It pissed him off to be treated like glass, even though he understood their worries. He knew Sam was more upset than she let on about him showing up unannounced like that. And probably more worried too.

“Stupid,” he cursed himself.

He sighed as he received a call from…Tucker? Danny glanced at the time of his phone. It was late for his friend at MIT to be up. Though, maybe the guy had just finished working on a cool project on the shared server he set up for ghost fighting and just wanted to chat about it. At 1 in the morning. Danny picked up.

“Hey dude,” came Tucker's tired voice over the line.

“Hey dude,” Danny tried to sound more cheerful than he was.

“So…” Tucker trailed off and the silence over the receiver was telling, “How are you?”

“Fine,” Danny couldn't control the annoyance creeping into his voice.

“Done anything cool recently?” Danny couldn't believe Tucker was asking him the small talk questions instead of getting to the point.

“Nope,” Danny popped the P.

Tucker didn't say anything else, but Danny heard some static of something on the other side.

“Dude,” Danny lost his patience, “Is there something you wanted to talk about?” 

“Just wanted to check in,” Danny knew Tucker was lying at this point.

“Did Sam put you up to this?” Danny finally realized he was still rising and changed course instead to begin the long journey back East.

“No,” Tucker sounded offended, “But she did tell me you visited her.”

“What's wrong with that?”

“She said you just left after she broke the news about her internship,” Tucker sounded so tired and Danny felt a pang of guilt, “I'm just worried; we both are.”

There it was.

“If that's all, I've got to be going,” Danny hung up the phone without giving Tucker the chance to respond.

He received a text a few seconds later.

From: Tucker. “Dude. Not cool.”

A second line came in right after.

“You're going to be alright, right?” 

Danny just typed “Yes.” and sent it. Then he put away his phone and picked up speed.

He hadn't gone too far before he received another call. This time it was from Jazz. Danny sighed. He knew Jazz would be up all night worrying if he didn't answer. Or worse: alert Mom and Dad.

He couldn't blame her. She had been the one to find his note during The Incident. She had been the one to check on him and find out. She had been the one to alert Mom and Dad.

He slowed down to answer the phone, “Hello Jazz.” 

Jazz sounded frantic but quiet. It was after midnight at Yale.

“What are you doing? Are you OK? Where are you?” 

“I'm going home,” Danny answered her questions in order, “Yes, I am OK. And I'm on my way home.”

“When will you get home?” Jazz asked.

Danny shrugged, but realized she couldn't see that over the phone.

“Dunno,” was his vocalized response, “before morning hopefully, but I gotta go. Can't fly and talk.”

He went to hang up the phone.

“Wait!” his thumb hovered over the hang up button as Jazz called out, “You promise you're OK? Like promise me you won't do anything stupid.”

“Yes, Jazz, I promise I'm just going home,” Danny tried to assuage his sister's anxiety.

“Good,” Jazz sounded sleepier, as though she had just yawned, “because if you aren't, I'll call ‘uncle’ Vlad on you.”

Danny outright laughed at that.

“I'll see you this weekend?” Danny asked.

Jazz responded in what sounded like she was repeating what he said as a statement through a yawn.

“Go to bed, Jazz,” Danny actually smiled.

She muttered something unintelligible in affirmative and the phone clicked, letting him know she had hung up. He sighed, picking up speed as he stored his phone again. Danny thought about what Jazz had said, about telling Vlad. He knew the guy still felt partially guilty about The Incident, even if it was only the pain it caused Mom. Because Vlad had definitely had a part in it.

Vlad paid off enough senators to get the Guys in White defunded and disbanded as ‘a waste of taxpayer dollars’ after the incident. He claimed it was to hide his own ghostly self from them but Danny knew better. He felt guilty and that was his indirect way of making himself feel less guilty. After his four years as Mayor were up, he didn't run for reelection either, retreating back to Wisconsin.

They were still enemies, but Danny wondered if Vlad went easier on him after The Incident. He wondered, too, if the decrease in ghost attacks didn't also have something to do with him. Danny thought Jazz might have pressed him. Maybe she really could have called him to come after Danny and make sure he got home alright.

He received no more calls or texts on the flight home. He got in just as Danielle came out of her room for school. 

“Gonna drive me today, brother?” she asked.

“Too tired,” Danny stretched and headed up to his room. 

Mom spotted him from the kitchen and called out to him, “Danny, could you come in here, please?”

Danny grumbled to himself then put on a happy voice for his mother, “Sure mom, be right there!”

He had only gotten halfway up the stairs, so he walked back down and ducked into the downstairs bathroom. He turned on the sink and patted his face with cold water so he could wake up. When he had successfully pulled a not-tired face, he ventured out into the kitchen.

“Bye!” Danielle slammed the front door before anyone answered. 

Danny arrived in the kitchen and found both his parents sitting there. He grew nervous that he was about to be lectured.

“You know your father and I love you,” Maddie began in classic bad-news beginning, “And that we will support you no matter what.”

“Yes,” Danny nodded, running his fingers through his hair nervously.

“We've just been a little worried about you and wanted you to consider-” Maddie was cut off.

“I think it's time you got a job or went to school, son,” Jack said, cutting her off with his bluntness.

“Now, we understand these things take time, but we'd just like to see some effort put in,” Maddie tried to assure Danny. 

“And if you don't get a job, you better start volunteering somewhere,” Jack put on the motivational voice, “or you'll be on lab assistant duty with your mother and I!”

Danny cringed. He hoped his grimace wasn't too noticeable, but saw his parents frowning and knew it was.

“I'll start looking later today,” he promised, “so if you'll excuse me.”

“You're excused,” said Maddie, cheerfully bringing back her smile.

Danny walked out of the room.

As he headed up the stairs, Maddie called back out to him, “Love you!”

“Love you, too!” he parroted back.

Danny wiped his eyes and continued climbing the stairs, yawning. He got back to his room and stretched out. He closed the blinds and pushed the clean laundry folded on his bed onto a chair. He'd work on that later too…maybe…if he remembered.

Danny phased out of his clothes, feeling too lazy to change out of them manually. Then he put on an old t-shirt with his boxers and got into bed. He adjusted the blinds so it was dark in his room and shut his eyes. He didn't let the conversation with his parents bother him. That was Future Danny's problem. 

His eyes shot open and he reached over to text Jazz a simple message that he had gotten home safely. That was Present Danny's problem. Now that that was out of the way, sleep overtook him.

He didn't wake up until 4:30 pm that day. He was hungry and had a killer headache.

Chapter Text

Jazz came home for spring break early. She didn’t have classes Friday, so she took work off and left Thursday evening. Danny and Danielle waited at the bus station for her. When she saw them, she gave them both a big hug. Danny, of course, drove them all home for dinner. Maddie and Jack had prepared Jazz’s favorite meal. 

After dinner, Danielle went up to do her homework and Jack and Maddie went down to the lab to finish something they needed to do, leaving Jazz and Danny alone. Danny tried to retreat up to his room, but Jazz stopped him and tugged him back to the living room downstairs. 

“So, Danny,” Jazz didn’t know yet how to broach the subject of the last-minute Sam visit, “do anything fun lately?”

Danny rolled his eyes, “Nope.”

“Have you been looking for jobs or schools like mom and dad said?” Jazz took the conversation where Danny had not expected it to go. 

“Uh, well,” Danny didn’t have a script for this conversation, “Quite frankly, no. I just don’t know where to start.”

“Plenty of jobs seem to be hiring,” Jazz put a hand on Danny’s shoulder, “And have you ever considered attending Amity Community College?”

“Community college?” Danny asked the question like it was disgusting.

“Plenty of people go, and it's a great place to figure out what you want to do,” Jazz hoped she was getting through to him.

Danny shrugged off her hand and stood to leave, “That’s easy for you to say Miss Ivy League.”

Before Jazz could formulate a response, he marched upstairs and not-quite slammed his door. Shut it with vigor. 

Danny went and sat on his bed. He stewed over the conversation he had just had with Jazz downstairs and the conversation he had had with his parents the other morning and the fact that Sam wasn’t coming home this summer and and… It was all just too much. Danny had his face in his hands and realized he needed to go out and get some air. He phased through the wall, going ghost and flying across town to the abandoned tracks next to the old warehouse. 

He searched the empty areas for any ghosts to fight but there was nothing. Not even his ghost sense went off. And it was too warm a spring day to pretend that seeing his breath was actually his ghost sense. So he settled with marching around aimlessly, trying to cool his head. Unfortunately, the agitation just became worse with the brisk walking. He decided to try and pretend he was practicing to be a superhero again. 

Throwing rocks and shooting them, racing himself past the warehouse without a timer, and practicing duplication filled around two of his hours before he finally felt better enough to go home. Duplication especially was mentally challenging enough to get his mind off things. He could finally make a few copies of himself, but he still couldn’t get them to do much besides stand there blankly or just mirror what he was doing. Every time he tried to have one do something different, it just felt sort of disorienting. Like seeing too many things at once, absolutely overstimulating him. 

Overall it exhausted him enough to go home and go to sleep. Tomorrow was another day.

And the next day came. Danny didn’t get out of bed until 11 am. Danielle had already gone to school and mom and dad were busy. Jazz, however, was on vacation and was not busy. She was ready to annoy him.

“Good morning, Danny,” she was cheerfully sitting on the couch they had sat at last night, cross stitching.

“Good morning, Jazz,” Danny repeated her tone with none of the cheerfulness in his voice, “Could we not talk about what we talked about last night? You only visit for a little while and I’d like to enjoy some quality time with my older sister.”

“Alright Danny,” Jazz shrugged, “Want some breakfast?”

Danny looked suspiciously at her, then his stomach rumbled. Jazz stood up and they both went into the kitchen.

The day was alright. They didn't do much besides eat together and sit in the same room doing different activities quietly until they picked up Danielle who boisterously made them all play a game together.

They played for several rounds until Danielle got caught cheating with her ghost powers which spoiled the whole thing. She kept making her cards invisible to pretend she had less than she did. Jazz got tired of it and went to start dinner.

The next day was much of the same, but Tucker arrived from MIT. He was only back for the weekend since he had a job in that area, but it was close to home, so a weekend trip was easy.

“Hey dude!” Tucker gave Danny a big hug as he arrived at his house, “How have you been?”

“Same old,” Danny smiled at his friend before repeating his response, “Same old.”

“You heard from Sam?” Tucker said.

There it was. The dreaded conversation topic. And not even a minute into seeing each other again.

“Not really since,” Danny felt awkward saying it out loud, “Well, you know what happened.”

“She didn’t tell me anything except that you were upset when you found out she wasn’t coming home for the summer,” Tucker admitted.

“You knew?”

Tucker sucked in a breath through his teeth before speaking, “She told me about it a week before. She was planning to tell us during spring break but something came up and she couldn’t come back, so she asked me for advice on how to break the news to you.”

“She’s not coming for spring break?” Danny felt even worse.

“She told us during a Doomed session,” Tucker raised an eyebrow, “You didn’t react well then either which is why she didn’t want to tell you except in person.”

“Well she’s told me now!” Danny couldn’t look at Tucker.

“Dude,” Tucker was getting fed up, “You reacted the same way when I said I was going to school early over the summer. Did you even wish her congratulations or good luck?”

Danny glared at Tucker, half guilty, still half hurt.

“You know you could have visited me too at any time, I’m a lot closer than Sam,” Tucker tried to lighten the mood with a half serious joke, “You should come some weekend for my famous home cooked dinner.”

Tucker was notoriously bad at cooking. He burned whatever he was making horribly nearly every time. Danny felt himself softening up at his friend’s bad attempt at humor.

“Alright Tuck, I’ll come over and you can serve me spaghetti and ash balls again,” he chuckled at an old sleepover injoke.

“Hey, at least they weren’t raw inside,” Tuck fired back playfully about another cooking fiasco in their friendship.

“I’ll never forget that,” Danny laughed, “Anyways,Tuck, what do you want to do today?”

“Can we go to the mall?” Tucker asked, “I got stuff I need to buy.”

“Sure, you want me to drive?”

Tucker nodded and they headed for the door. Danny drove and they spent all day at the mall buying supplies and looking at outfits and just hanging out and eating. The last store they went to was the video game store. Gamestop had never moved into Amity Park but they still had their own independent game store. It was one of Danny and Tucker’s favorite places. Danny picked up a new game for Technus to focus on instead of world domination.

Late in the evening, they went back to Danny’s house and ate dinner with the Fentons. Tucker and Danny watched some horror movie after dinner before Tucker went home and Danny was alone with his thoughts until bed. 

He thought back to Sam. It was so in the moment that he really had just left without saying anything. It wasn’t unusual for them to go days at a time without talking, but it felt weird that they had not talked since. 

He opened their conversation and typed out a message:

Hey Sam,

Congrats on your summer internship. I know you’ll do great and hope you have lots of fun in Alaska. Sorry for flying off w/o a word like that and not saying anything sooner.

He chewed his lip, rereading the message, debating whether to send it. Finally, he covered his face with one hand and sent the message with the other. He watched the screen for a few minutes for any sign Sam had read his message or was typing back. Then he pretended to read a comic to quell the anxiety rising inside him. He checked every few minutes for a new message despite having no new notifications.

Finally, Sam sent back a simple message:

Thanks, Danny.

Chapter Text

The next thing Sam asked was to call him. He obliged, setting up his Webcam on the computer. She didn't opt for a video call. 

“So how are you?” Sam's voice asked as soon as he hopped in the call.

“Good,” Danny answered, “I saw Tucker today too and he was also good. We both miss you, but I know you're busy.”

“Tell Tucker I said hi if you see him tomorrow for me, ok?” Sam said, “I miss you guys too and I'm sad I couldn't visit.”

“Alright. So,” Danny tried to bring up a new, less sad topic, “What are you going to be doing for this new internship? Saving polar bears?”

Sam laughed at Danny's joke and launched into an explanation of what non profit she was working for and what she'd be doing in Alaska. Danny tried his best to store all the new information and come up with appropriate questions… and jokes of course. He was happy there didn't seem to be any awkwardness between them.

He heard the voice of Sam's girlfriend saying it was late and that she was going to bed. That made him realize that it was already 4 am. Time really flies when you're talking to old friends.

“Oh shoot,” Danny remembered he needed to meet Tucker before he left tomorrow, “I didn't realize how late it was, I should probably be heading to bed too.”

He said what had to be done, even if he didn’t want to say goodnight.

“Wait,” Sam said, though Danny was hovering over the end call button, “Last thing: I really meant it when I said you should visit me, just give me a heads up so I can like plan something. This goes doubly for Alaska. I'll have an apartment there instead of a crappy dorm room.”

“Alright, I'll remember that for next time,” Danny smiled, “Talk to you soon, goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” she repeated back to him.

He hung up and climbed into bed. He sent a quick text to Tucker letting him know he was awake late and that he probably would wake up late. He fell asleep very fast after closing his eyes. Probably because he felt less worried about his friendship with Sam.

He woke up the next day just in time to go meet Tucker at the Nasty Burger for lunch. Tucker was already there, waiting for him. Tucker saw him and opened the door for Danny to come inside. Danny obliged, getting in line. Tucker hadn’t ordered yet so he got in line behind Danny.

Danny ordered and the cashier read out the total. He swiped his card and nearly left when he heard the dreaded words.

“Um, sir, your card declined,” the probably-a-Casper-High student said.

“Oh, oops,” Danny started nervously going through his wallet for another card.

The cashier was still watching him. He didn’t have any cash on him. He wasn’t poor by any means, his parents had just stopped giving him an allowance after he graduated high school. Something something about teaching him the value of his time and money that he hadn’t learned until just this embarrassing moment. Tucker cleared his throat and nudged Danny out of the way.

“Don’t worry dude, I got this,” Tucker then added his own food to the order and paid for both their meals.

Danny resisted his natural urge to go intangible and sink though the floor to get out of there. He was just so embarrassed. Tucker touched his shoulder and he realized he was frozen still.

“You’re welcome, dude,” Tucker tapped his shoulder again and Danny finally moved.

They went and sat at their usual spot. Danny was still embarrassed. It felt like all eyes were on him and everybody knew, even though logically he knew they didn’t.

“Sorry,” Danny sank low in his chair, before correcting himself, “I mean, thank you, Tucker.”

“Now that’s more like it,” Tucker was unaware of Danny’s discomfort.

“I promise I’ll repay you,” Danny assured.

“You can repay me right now,” Tucker got serious for a second before softening, “by pouring my soda, just how I like.”

He passed Danny the two drink cups.

“Get yourself something nice, too,” Tucker gave him finger guns as Danny got up to get their drinks.

“Two parts Nasty Cola, one part Appalachian Mist, right?” Danny tried to bring his own mood up.

Tucker nodded and he smiled. Danny went up to the drink machine and filled up both their drinks, Tucker’s just the way he liked it and Danny just got a regular Nasty Cola. When he got back, their food was ready and Danny rushed to go grab it so Tucker didn’t have to get up.

They enjoyed their burgers heartily. Tucker ate fast, like he always did, and only stopped to talk when he got to the fries.

“So what are you going to be doing this week?” Tucker asked.

“Just going camping with my family for ‘quality’ bonding time,” Danny made air quotes, “What about you?”

Tucker launched into a long explanation about his current project at work. Most of it went over Danny’s head. He was good at video games, but not at computers and technology like Tucker was.

“That’s cool, I talked to Sam last night,” Danny found a spot to start on the next topic, “I thought about what you said and I hadn’t apologized for springing my visit on her or congratulated her for her new position.”

“That’s good,” Tucker said, “Did you meet her girlfriend, Paula?”

“Yeah,” Danny thought about his observation of Sam’s girlfriend, “Ever notice how she looks-”

“Like Paulina?” Tucker cut him off and they both chuckled.

“Glad I wasn’t the only one who noticed,” Danny said, “I bet Jazz would have something to say about the psychology in that.”

They finished their meal and headed out to Tucker’s car.

“So are you going to be back next weekend?” Danny was hopeful.

“Nah,” Tucker shrugged, “I gotta do laundry and I have some plans with my other friends already.”

‘Other friends’ sat in Danny’s stomach like a rock. He resisted the urge to vanish again, instead giving Tucker a hug.

“Well, I’ll see you again soon, hopefully.”

“Maybe,” Tucker hugged him back, then pulled away and got in his car.

Danny watched his best friend drive off. Back to his life. He felt even more left behind than he did when his friends and classmates all left for college the first time after summer. He sighed and walked home. 

It was time to pack for the Fenton Family Vacation. Danny packed his favorite camping outfits. He checked again how long they would be gone. Until Thursday. Great. He packed extra of course. And mostly out of habit he packed the Fenton Thermos. He packed his toiletries and then he went out to help his dad clean and pack the assault vehicle, or actually, RV.

After he was done, they ate dinner and Danny stayed up way too late playing video games. The next morning when his alarm sounded, he didn’t want to get up. Luckily, he’d already picked his camping outfit out for the car ride and it was fairly comfortable. He got in the back of the RV with the rest of his family and fell asleep. Maddie was driving so there wasn’t the horrible, motion-sickness-inducing rocking that accompanied his dad’s driving.

Danny awoke, and they were at a pit stop. Jack saw a barbecue place they just had to stop at. After lunch, Danny was able to stay awake and look out the window for the rest of the drive. The campsite was nice and pretty and Danny was happy to be out with his family like old times.

The camping trip passed far too quickly and Danny was sad as they packed up the last day. Jazz would be gone soon enough and Danielle would be back in school. Mom and Dad would be working and Dnny hadn’t found a job or even looked at any school programs.

“You don’t have anything going on tomorrow, right?” Jazz asked Danny as they drove home.

“No,” Danny raised an accusatory eyebrow, “Why?”

“I booked us a tour,” Jazz lounged in her seat, fixing to take a nap on the road home, “You will go with me, right?”

“A tour of what?” Danny asked point blank.

“You’ll just have to see,” Jazz settled in, closing her eyes.

Danny crossed his arms and lowered his eyebrows but didn’t respond further.

Chapter Text

The next day, Jazz woke Danny up, excited for their tour to wherever she was taking him. Danny felt a little grouchy while getting dressed and eating the nice breakfast Jazz had made him. He wasn’t used to getting up early anymore and he was wary of Jazz’s overtly cheerful mood.

He crossed his arms as he sat in the car beside her. She still refused to explain where they were going and he had no idea based on the direction she was driving. He finally realized when they passed the sign for Amity Park Community College.

“Jazz,” Danny felt exasperated, “I know what you’re doing and it's not going to work.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jazz countered, “And you promised to come yesterday so you can’t back out now.”

Danny sighed, “What do I have no idea about?” He said the last part in a higher pitch to mock Jazz.

“Did you know they’re building a planetarium here?” Jazz pulled out her trump card without revealing her hand, “I was hoping we could tour that.”

“A planetarium?” Danny was intrigued yet suspicious, “Here? I wonder how big it is.”

“That’s what I thought,” Jazz smugly got out of the car she had just parked, forcing Danny to follow her to continue the conversation.

“Well I don't know how you can get a tour,” Danny said, “Isn’t this a private institution?”

“No,” Jazz explained, “This is a public institution. C’mon danny it’s for the community, hence the name.”

“So just like, anybody can go?”

“Save your questions for the tour guide, mister,” Jazz pushed open the door to the front office.

“Isn’t it spring break?” Danny was skeptical.

“The door wouldn’t be open if it was closed, silly,” Jazz shook her head and walked up to the front desk.

A previously unseen secretary popped up from behind the desk, “May I help you two?”

“We’re here for the 11 am tour,” Jazz put both her hands on the desk.

“Alright, your tour guide will be here in just a moment,” the secretary gestured to some chairs by the door, “Go ahead and take a seat.”

Danny’s heart nearly stopped when he saw their tour guide as she came around the corner. It was none other than Valerie, previously known as the Red Huntress. Danny had lost contact with her after, well, something really bad happened. 

She looked way better than the last time they had seen each other. For one, she only walked with a cane and a minor limp now. And her scar had faded. Danny still felt guilt well up inside him as he saw the jagged line that ran from temple to collarbone on her right side.

The last time Danny had seen her, she had just awoken from her coma and had not been able to leave the hospital bed yet. He had admitted everything through tears to her about his secret identity and apologized profusely about what had happened. He laid his life into her hands. And she gave it back.

She had forgiven him, quietly kissed his tear stained cheek and left his life. Her dad had them move somewhere safe, away from ghosts. A place she could get the support for recovery. And yet, here she was drawn back to this place. And back into Danny’s life.

Jazz was a little clueless but didn’t say anything. Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds.

“Hey, Danny,” Valerie smiled reservedly, “Are you planning on going here?”

“Maybe,” Danny gulped down the guilt, “You go here?”

“Yes,” She walked over to the door, “I’m your tour guide aren’t I?”

He opened the door for her and Jazz, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Valerie giggled and stepped through the door. Jazz was amazed by how well this was going. Danny hadn’t run away or used his ghostly powers to escape and he had even said he was considering coming here. He could tell she was happy and thinking about this just by the way she walked. She was even nearly skipping.

“Our school was opened in 1903, though none of the original buildings still stand. In fact the entire school had to be moved to a completely new location,” Valerie’s voice grew loud like how Danny fondly remembered it used to be as she shifted into tour guide mode, “The school came to reside here in the 80s when the old factories that had been here before - since World War 2 - closed.”

“Why did the old location close?” Danny was confused why that wasn’t included in the first tour blurb, though now that he asked the question, he realized it was probably to prompt that exact question.

“The school closed because a bad Nor'easter hit and nobody could reach it for weeks by car. It was actually more remote, about 7 miles into the woods, it was such an inconvenient location that they used the storm to move the school into the city proper. It moved to this location after the factories shut down and the school realized it could use all this space to upsize.

“Why’d they build it out in the woods away from everything, anyways?” Jazz asked.

“I don’t know,” Valerie shrugged, “I’m not them. But there are a few theories about why, though none are officially confirmed.”

They walked a bit farther until Valerie came to stand in front of an impressive, old-looking building.

She gestured behind her, “This building used to be a warehouse, but was retrofitted to be our state-of-the-art library.”

“A warehouse?” Danny couldn’t help himself, “There better not be any boxes leftover.”

Valerie chuckled at the mention of boxes, remembering the feeble ghost.

Jazz changed the subject, “So Valerie, as someone who goes here, do you like it? What’s the best thing and what’s the worst?”

Valerie considered the question, moving her head back and forth in thought for a second.

“It’s nice. Better than wasting my money going to a four year school in my opinion. Best thing? Probably the range of classes available to take. Coming here, I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but now I’m not so sure. Worst thing? Definitely their accessibility. The professors themselves offer a lot of flexibility, depending on the professor of course, but most of these old buildings weren’t made with people like me in mind. And while retrofitting has done a lot, it still falls short in some areas, you know?”

Jazz and Danny allowed her to continue expanding on her final point by giving her a look.

She taped her cane on the stairway up to the library’s door, “Lotta stairs, we’re getting more elevators, but still. Not very many, and sometimes they aren’t put in the most convenient places. And rarely any ramps. Just elevators.”

Danny and Jazz nodded in agreement with her statement. It wasn’t normally something he thought about, but thinking about it now, what had happened was the reason it was an issue for her in the first place.

“Alright, moving on,” Valerie led the way.

They were on one edge of campus and moved their way to the other side slowly. Valerie pointed out certain important buildings and made mention of what classes were held in this area. They passed through the liberal and language arts and came into the math department. 

“Do you mind if I sit down?” Valerie asked, “I just need a little breather.”

“No problem,” Jazz assured her, “In fact, where’s the bathroom?”

Valerie sat on a bench and pointed to a building she said had the nearest and cleanest bathroom. Jazz walked off slowly. Danny stood there awkwardly.

“You wanna sit too?” Valerie raised an eyebrow.

“Oh,” Danny noticed he was still standing and sat down.

“So what have you been up to recently?” she asked, “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Danny shrugged, looking away, “Not much.”

They sat together in silence for a moment.

“What about you?” Danny spoke up, “I know you moved away, but what made you come back?”

“Amity park is my home,” Valerie shrugged before going on, “And I figure with Vlad gone and ghost attacks down, I could come back.”

Danny felt a pang of guilt at the mention of Vlad. He hadn’t known that Valerie knew about Plasmius since the fight for Danielle. In the aftermath, she tried to call out the mayor for what he was but Vlad was sly, as usual. When Valerie called him out at a public town hall meeting, she hadn’t realized he had accounted for this and duplicated himself. Danny only arrived halfway through the ensuing fight with Plasmius. 

Vlad could still fight the two of them easily with a second duplication. Danny noticed before Valerie did that the building was coming down onto them. He tried to get her out but he wasn’t fast enough to grab her and go intangible.

The doctors had said she was lucky to survive but Danny knew luck had nothing to do with it. Technus’ upgrade to her suit and Danny pulling her to rescuers was the reason she survived. And he still felt like he should have been faster, then she wouldn't have fallen into a coma. That and Danielle’s subsequent re-disappearance was the straw that broke the camel’s back and catalyzed The Incident… which Valerie didn’t know about because she was in a coma and then moved away.

“So,” Valerie’s voice shook him out of his thoughts, “You planning on going here?”

“Oh, uh,” Danny scratched the back of his head, “Maybe?”

“Is there anything you’re really interested in?” Valerie nudged him with an elbow.

Danny held in a sigh. If Valerie was going here, he’d at least have one friend to help him out. She was even a tour guide for new students. And he couldn’t discount how smart and hardworking Valerie was. If community college was good enough for her, he couldn’t turn up his nose at it for not being good enough anymore.

“I remember you always wanted to be an astronomer,” Valerie took his silence as an invitation to fill in her own blanks, “We can go see the new planetarium. It’s not finished yet, though.”

She was right; Danny was surprised she remembered that from the brief time they dated.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Danny smiled before he realized the rest of what she said, “But wait, you said it’s not finished?”

Valerie shrugged, “It should be done by the end of fall.”

“So what are we even going to see?” Danny asked.

Valerie stood up, and conveniently Jazz reappeared. Valerie didn’t answer his question, opting instead to go back into tour mode. She said things about buildings on the way there, statistics about the ongoing construction and student body, explained how the planetarium was going to be used and other such important tour things. The rest of the campus tour after the planetarium went quickly, with Jazz speaking way more than Danny, who was trying to imagine what it would be like to go there. He kept wondering if he would be able to be classmates with Valerie again.

Jazz tapped him on the shoulder and out of his thoughts as she asked, “So, Danny what do you think?”

Valerie chimed in, “Yeah, what do you think? Did I sell it?”

“I’m still just not sure,” Danny watched his shoes.

“If you’re worried about talking grades and classes again, I recommend taking something easy over the summer to get back into it,” Valerie suggested, “By the way, you can do everything online on your computer now: applications, class signups, the classes themselves, practically everything!”

“I’ll keep that all in mind,” Danny said, though he had already made up his mind.

They thanked Valerie and went home, leaving her to go back into the office. They went out for a nice lunch but didn’t talk much during it. Jazz went back home and picked up her stuff. She was leaving back to school today and Danny needed to drop her off at the train station. Also while at home, they picked up Danielle who wanted to see her older sister off. 

When they went back home, Danny remembered Tucker wasn’t coming back this weekend and realized he needed something to fill his time. So he started the application for Amity Park Community College.

Chapter Text

The application was easier than expected. He finished quickly and thought that it couldn’t be right. He remembered his friends slaving away over essays and transcripts and letters of recommendation. Maybe it's because they went to four year universities. And Danny was going to some loser community college.

No, Danny couldn't get down on himself like that. Or at least he couldn't insult Valerie like that. She was smart and hard-working which meant going to her school would be ok. It could even be better than ok.

Danny thought about texting Tucker for some Doomed. Gaming with his friends always took his mind off his anxieties. But the echoes of what he said last week came into Danny’s mind. He was busy with his other friends. Tucker was busy with his other friends.

Danny decided the best thing to do was go for a walk down to the abandoned warehouse by the tracks. He kicked around down there until he had forgotten his troubles and it was time to go home.

When he got home, he had gotten a message from Valerie on his computer:

“It was nice to see you again.”

Danny didn’t quite know how he wanted to respond but he felt like he couldn’t leave Valerie hanging after she messaged him first like that. So he kept it short and simple:

“You too”

He quickly turned off his computer and laid in bed after sending the message. He woke up late in the morning as usual. Since Valerie had messaged him last night, he turned his computer back on to check his messages for something from her. And to message Tucker and Sam, of course. There was nothing from Valerie yet so he opened his group chat with Sam and Tucker:

FentonMenace: Guess who I saw yesterday

GothicGhoulie: Omg who?

Techlord: Dash???/j

Danny chucked at Tucker’s message before sending his reply:

FentonMenace: No, Valerie :P 

GothicGhoulie: She’s back in town??? How is she???

FentonMenace: better than I last saw her.

Techlord: ok but she had just come out of a coma last time you saw her. Doesn't tell us much

FentonMenace: She has a scar still…

FentonMenace: She uses a cane to walk.

FentonMenace: Idk if her suit from Technus still works. Didn't ask. She was in good spirits

FentonMenace: Did you know she’s going to APCC?

GothicGhoulie: Omg no, good for her tho

Techlord: Good for her :]

GothicGhoulie: Are you going to go to APCC?

FentonMenace: I applied last night. I’m worried about getting in and my grades and stuff.

GothicGhoulie: Talk to Valerie about it.

Techlord: What she said ttyl btw

GothicGhoulie: I gtg too, bye Danny! Good luck

FentonMenace: See ya!

Danny still didn’t have a response from Valerie so he went downstairs to rustle up some breakfast. When he came back upstairs he did have a response:

V: So planning on taking any classes this summer?

D: Idk if i got in yet

V: c’mon. It's community college. You live in town. You’ll get in.

D: Oh, ok. I guess maybe itll get me outta the house.

V: Good, that’s the “spirit” ;p 

V: Anyways, how’s Dani?

D: She’s fine, in her freshman year.

V: And she lives with you now? In a stable home?

D: Yes

V: Vlad doesn’t bother her?

Even if he did, there was no way Danny would tell her that.

D: No, my mom made sure of that.

D: You should pick her up from school sometime, I'm sure she’d be thrilled to see you.

V: Maybe. Gtg to physical therapy. See ya!

D: Ok ttyl.

Danny did not, in fact, talk to Valerie later. Or the rest of the weekend. He didn’t message her again until Monday afternoon when he finally read his acceptance email. He told her the good news and asked what classes he should take since he was very anxious about going to school again. She did not respond for 4 days.

V: Sorry 4 ghosting. I had a bad flare up. Congrats btw.

V: I recommend taking something easy like a language or an art class. If your parents let you, why not ease into it. Just take something simple over the summer.

D: thanks and no problem

V: Btw I'd like to see Dani again. How about I go with you to pick her up from school?

D: I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.

Danny gave Valerie his phone number and she texted him her new address. It was a little far away but he managed to be there in time. They made it to Danielle’s school on time. Danielle made a sarcastic remark about flying home before she saw Valerie was also there. She squealed with delight and jumped in the back of the car. She asked Valerie a million questions and told her about… well everything. Danny could hardly get a word in edgewise. 

Danny decided it was a good time to gas up his car and let them go get Icees. Danielle knew what flavor he liked. He stood there gassing up his car as his sister and friend went into the store to get the delicious iced drinks and he just felt kinda tired with no idea why. Danielle and Valerie returned and handed him his drink. They drove to the Fenton household and Danny tuned everything out. The girls stayed downstairs while Danny went upstairs to finish his drink and take a nap. 

By the time he woke up, Valerie was gone. Danielle told him she took the bus. He felt bad he wasn’t awake to drive her home. He and Valerie talked online again:

D: Sorry I couldn’t drive you home.

V: It’s fine, Dani flew me home :p 

D: She said you took the bus!

V: oops ;p

D: Oops? That’s all you have to say?

V: Says the guy who fell asleep

D: In my defense, I was sleepy!

V: ;p

V: Anyways, it was nice to see you again as friends and while im not at work

V: It was also really nice to see Dani and know she has such a great family looking after her 

V: she loves you guys a lot

D: Aww really? I had no idea :p 

V: Heh. Shutup. But anyways, we should do it again sometime.

Danny agreed with her and logged off his computer to find something to eat.

It was April. Valerie came back once before the school year ended in May, though they kept touch on a weekly basis. With Val’s help, Danny and Danielle got to bond better as siblings and Danny finally found himself caring about her friends. He found out she was friends with Tucker’s younger brother and Kwan’s younger sister.

His birthday came and went. He mostly spent it with his family, but Tucker and Valerie hung out with him (not at the same time). Sam sent him an expensive video game he had been wanting and they played it together on call on his birthday (with Tucker too). And that was that. He was nineteen now, despite never thinking he’d make it.

Soon it was very nearly summer semester and Danny realized he still hadn’t picked his summer class. Last minute he decided to take some art class. There weren't many to pick from anyways, seeing as it was summer semester, so he chose the ceramics one. He had done art in middle school and was alright at it, but he didn't want to get a bad grade on his first college course. 

Nervously, he attended the first day of his summer class. It went well. As did the second and third days. The 4th day went even better. Then it was the weekend. Tucker visited. For the first time in a long time, Danny’s weekend actually felt like a weekend.

His friends congratulated him online. The one bummer with taking a summer class meant he wouldn't have time to go visit Sam in Alaska. She sent lots of awesome pictures though.

Slowly, Danny felt the semblance of a routine building. It felt good and helped him sleep better. He did his best on projects in class, but tried not to sweat it if it wasn't perfect. 

Things went from good to great. Then, just as he started to get used to it, the summer ended and Danny was left with his ceramic pieces, his memories and no ideas on what classes to take in the fall. And he only had a week before they started.

Astronomy 2020 and other space based courses were already full and Danny didn't know how a “waitlist” worked so he looked at some other courses. He thought about what kinds of things astronauts had to know and what kinds of things he wanted to know in general. Unfortunately, lower engineering and chemistry courses were already taken too. Well, Danny still needed to take calculus anyways as a “prereq” though he wasn't sure what that meant. 

He asked Valerie what she was taking and by the time she was able to respond, those classes were full.

Danny almost wished it was like high school so he could just be assigned classes and have to deal with it. But, no, he had to remind himself this was better than high school. He got to make his own schedule. Valerie gave him some good recommendations and even changed her own calculus class to the four hour long Friday one Danny was taking, despite it being shitty. All that so they could take a class together. The other class she had recommended him to take was oceanography and he just took it because she said to. Now he had classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After that was picked, he had to pick the lab sections for those classes. He picked one on Tuesday when Valerie had her section to take the calculus lab (whatever that would even entail), and Wednesday in the evening for his oceanography section, since there were only 2 sections still open and he thought it would be nice to have Thursday completely off. Then he’d be able to prep for Friday tests.

Valerie recommended him to see an advisor, but he thought the classes he picked would be enough for now. At least that's what he hoped. Danny was still getting used to college and his parents understood he didn't want to be overloaded and overwhelmed with classes.

He went shopping for some new supplies with Val and Danielle. It was good to be out with the both of them before the school year began and they'd all probably be too busy for any substantial quality time. They got ice cream as the last errand before driving Valerie home. Tucker visited again since he had a bit of free time before the school year started anew.

For the first time in a long time, Danny felt himself coming out of the despair that had plagued him since high school. Maybe he couldn’t see it now but he at least felt like he had a future.

Chapter Text

The worst possible thing happened. Maybe not the worst possible thing, but it was up there among the horrible things happening in his mind.  

It started out fine. He drove Danielle to school. He parked his car at the old tracks because he was not about to pay for parking at a school he already paid to attend. His ghost sense went off but Danny brushed it off as the box ghost or something harmless nearby. He flew the rest of the way to school. He transformed back in the bathroom and walked into class. So far everything was going great.

He stepped through the door to the lecture hall and lo and behold who was sitting in the front row? The one and only Dash Baxter. The Casper High torturer of Danny Fenton. 

Danny didn't recognize him at first. He was in a beige and brown Memphis jacket, so unlike his high school letterman’s jacket that was red, as if to warn others of his poisonous personality. The very worst part was when Dash noticed him and waved. Like there was nothing wrong with him being here.

Danny slunk to the back of the class, mood fully soured. He sat there and didn’t take notes, but it didn't matter because it was just going over what was on the syllabus anyways. Danny watched Dash who was diligently taking notes. Or writing something mean to throw at him. Probably the latter. Definitely the latter. 

As soon as class was over, Danny booked it to the bathroom so he could transform and get back to his car. 

It was hot because of course it's hot in the last days of August, so he sat by his car, waiting for Danielle to get out of school. He remembered his ghost sense from the morning but it was just too hot to care about the Box Ghost haunting the same warehouse nobody even goes in, again. Danny could also have taken time to reflect about what happened today in class, but he decided a nap would be a better use of his time. Danny made sure to set an alarm so he didn't sleep too much.

He woke up with one of those horrible post nap headaches and a terrible-tasting dry mouth. But with those new problems, the earlier ones slipped his mind. He drove to pick up Danielle, and then he played video games until he was too tired to see.

The next morning he went in earlier than his lab, which was smack in the middle of the day. He hung out with Valerie, who already had stuff to work on. So he sat quietly while Valerie worked. She finished, and they had a little bit of time before class, so she struck up conversation.

“So, how was your first day?” Valerie asked casually, putting away her books, “And how was Danielle’s first day?”

“Danielle’s happy to be back to seeing her friends on a daily basis,” Danny looked up from the table, “I’m thankful they’ve really cracked down on bullying since we were there.”

“That’s nice,” Valerie could tell he was avoiding her question, but that didn't deter her, “But what about your day? You had a class yesterday, right?”

“Well, I don't know. I might drop it,” Danny suddenly found a very interesting spot on the table, “I know we know less about the bottom of the ocean than we do about the surface of the moon, but space is really what I'm more interested in.”

“Have you talked to an advisor?”

“Well, no, but-”

Valerie cut him off, “Danny, what's the real reason you don’t like the class?”

“How do you know that’s not my real reason?” Danny crossed his arms, going on the defensive.

“Because you’re a terrible liar,” she shoved him softly.

“I kept my identity secret,” Danny said and then added, “I’m still keeping my identity a secret.”

“Everyone still knew you were lying,” Valerie laughed, “They just didn’t know about what.”

Danny put on a pouty face and Valerie asked even harder, shaking him in a friendly way.

“Sorry to break the illusion that you thought you were slick,” Valerie’s smile was present in her voice even when she went back to serious business, “But seriously, tell me what’s wrong?”

“It’s just that,” Danny felt awkward talking about it, “Well, Dash is in that class.”

Valerie looked rather confused for a second, “Dash? As in Dash Baxter? Last I heard from Kwan he was going to some fancy division one school on a football scholarship.”

“Danny threw up his arms, “I know! That’s why I didn’t know I had to worry about him!”

“Well, Danny,” Valerie stood up, “Don’t worry about him; you’re here for you. This isn’t high school.”

“I know,” Danny repeated over and over to Valerie’s statements.

“If he tries any of that shit he did in high school,” Valerie put a hand on his shoulder, “He’ll be arrested for assault and banned from the school.” 

Danny looked up at her and she patted him on the shoulder.

“Now come on, It’s time for class.”

Not only did he have to buy a textbook, but he was assigned a small amount of work out of it during their math lab. He and Valerie did it together after buying their textbooks, though this made him not-excited for the lecture on Friday. But he wasn’t any more excited for the lecture he had tomorrow, since Dash would be there. At least, he hoped, Dash wouldn’t be in his lab.

Chapter Text

The next morning Dash waved at him again. Danny eyed the blond boy from afar. He had a five-o-clock shadow going and was wearing a shirt that looked a bit stained. Danny wondered where his jacket was today. He didn’t wave back, and sat in the back of the class. 

Danny didn’t really pay attention that day, either. He tried to take notes, but ended up losing focus and doodling.

Finally, class ended. He didn’t bolt for the door, and Dash didn't approach. He went to the building that his next lab was scheduled to be in. It was nice and cool and had several other sciences in it. Sciencey stuff decorated the halls.

Danny wandered around them before he found the classroom, and then went back to the main hall to study his calculus. There was a fish tank to watch when he finished. He did the problems from yesterday again, this time without Valerie’s help.

“Fenton?” He heard Dash’s voice and internally groaned, looking up from his homework at the man standing by his table.

“Yes, Dash?”

“I thought it was you, but you didn’t wave back,” Dash’s voice had changed a lot since high school, though Danny couldn’t place exactly how, “Do you mind if I sit here?”

Danny shrugged, even though he definitely did mind.

“It’s nice to see somebody I know,” Dash opened a bag of off-brand Doritos, “Even if it's just you.”

Danny shot him a glare.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Dash backtracked.

“How exactly am I supposed to take that, Dash?” Danny snapped back, putting his pencil down.

His concentration on calculus was now broken. At least he could better focus on this new conversation.

“I just never thought I’d get to talk to you again,” Dash had a handful of chips but hadn’t stuffed them into his mouth yet, “after everything that happened.”

Danny quickly got defensive, as he hated when people treated him as fragile due to The Incident. Dash didn’t get to treat him like that. As if he cared.

“If that’s all I’m going to get out of here. I don’t want to talk about that,” Danny splayed his hands out over the table, getting to his feet.

Dash hopped up and put his hands up, as if comforting a spooked horse, “No, I can leave. I just wanted to ask what lab section you were in.”

“I’m in Fleishman at 4:30,” Danny quirked up an eyebrow and packed up, “it was the only one open. Why?”

“Oh, cool,” Dash smiled, “I’m in that one too. I’ll see you later, then.”

Before Danny could say anything else, Dash left. Danny puzzled over the interaction now that he was alone again, staring at the fish in the tank. Now he had to mentally prepare himself for seeing Dash again later. But right now? His stomach rumbled. 

Danny was much too hungry to think about any of it, so he went to get some food. He picked up a smoothie from a place near the library. He found a place to sit there and tried to study calculus again, until he realized it was already 4:30 and he was late to class. He packed up as quickly as humanly possible, then went from one bathroom to another (in ghost form, to save time, of course).

He ran into class and looked around. The only seat left was next to… of course, it was next to Dash. Dash moved his backpack when he entered, as though he had been saving the seat for Danny.

The professor took roll. Then he did a lecture on lab safety and made everyone take a test about it right after. Danny thought it was a stupidly easy test. Then the professor explained what they were doing. Once they started the lab, they were finally allowed to talk.

“I remembered you had issues with glassware, so I thought I’d save you the humiliation of explaining it to a new lab partner,” Dash explained his thinking in saving Danny a seat.

Danny still felt touchy and snapped back, “It was a condition I had in freshman year.”

“A condition that only made you break glassware?”

“Sweaty hands,” Danny rested his arms on the table, watching Dash do the experiment.

“Oh, ok,” Dash didn’t sound thoroughly convinced, “Could you be the one who writes down the results?”

Danny sat up straight in his chair and got his pen out. They finished the experiment, filled out their worksheets and wrote up their lab reports all without another word to each other, besides what was required by the lab. Danny still didn’t really understand what he learned from the lab. Something stupid about the density of seawater and food coloring and why ice floated on the sea. He just rushed it so he could go home. 

Thankfully, Dash seemed to still be fully invested in the assignment and only waved when he left. Dash was taking his time and worked on the worksheet and lab report slower. He asked plenty of questions to the professor, too. Danny just thought it was another weird interaction. Dash would return to the way he was in high school. It was only a matter of time.

He had some reading for Oceanography but decided to ignore it and chill for Thursday. He needed it before the 4-hour Friday class. He put Dash out of his mind again at the wishes of his friends. They were right; he didn’t deserve to take up any of Danny’s thinking time or energy.

Chapter Text

Danny considered going to Clockwork and asking to kill the inventor of the 4-hour Friday class. He amused himself in the dull lecture with that thought. He tried to imagine what the ghost of time would say about such a petty thing like that. He invented jokes and banter between them. The only reason he was able to survive was the fact that Valerie was there and they were able to trade letters between note taking.

At the very least, they had one 15 minute break in the middle of class. Afterwards, Danny decided he was fried for the weekend. He almost canceled his visit to Tuck in Boston over it. Almost. Boston was always a good time and Tucker was always a good time. Combined it was enough to rejuvenate his spirits for Monday.

Monday, however, was a bit of a stinker. They had a pop quiz and Danny didn’t do so hot because he only took time to study calculus homework. He didn’t jet off instantly from the back of the class, so Dash was able to catch him before he disappeared.

“So how’d you do on the quiz?” Dash asked, as they walked.

“Dunno. Bad,” Danny wasn't in the mood to talk about it, “I’ve never liked having pop quizzes sprung on me like that.”

Dash looked at him confused, “That wasn’t a pop quiz, it was on the syllabus.”

Danny’s only response was a look .

“Yeah, the professor didn’t go over everything on the syllabus because she wanted us to take the time to read it over.”

“Oh,” Danny put a line on his mental to-do list (that he would soon forget): to read the syllabus.

“By the way, have you bought your books yet?” Dash asked, “I was going to go today. We could split the cost and share them.”

Danny didn’t understand why he’d say that; there’s no way any book could be that expensive. And besides, the last thing he wanted to do was share a book with Dash, if he could avoid it.

“I kinda have to go,” Danny pointed out.

“I’ll walk you to your car,” Dash offered.

“...to the bathroom,” Danny saved it.

“I’ll wait outside for you,” Dash offered again.

“No, it's ok, you go ahead, I’ll take too long,” Danny lied, and headed into the bathroom.

Thankfully, he was alone in the bathroom, and assumed Dash would leave like he asked. Just in case, he ducked into a stall away from prying eyes and transformed. The invisible flight back to his parked car felt pretty good. But then again, everything always felt cooler when he was in ghost form.

He couldn’t wait to talk to Valerie again tomorrow and do homework together. He put off oceanography stuff because calculus was just so intense. Today’s …quiz… was just a fluke and it would get easier as time went on. It was considered one of the easiest science classes at school besides maybe earth science. 

He and Valerie met for calc lab the next day. They arrived on time and turned in all their homework. They were given more for next week. They got a quiz and time to ask any questions they might have on homework, new or old. Or they could leave. Danny wanted to leave but when he stood up, Valerie grabbed his wrist to yank his butt back in the seat. They finished one assignment before the end of the class. The Teacher’s Assistant was helpful to have during his homework, so Danny was grateful he stayed.

After class, Valerie insisted they eat a bit of lunch and then go get Danny’s Oceanography textbook after he mentioned that he hadn’t bought it yet. She would have given him hers, but she had traded it to get her money back at the end of the semester when she had taken the class.

“But I’m not even sure if I’m going to take the class,” Danny sulked in his chair and whined while he waited for his sandwich, “I still might drop it.”

“So either drop it,” Valerie had an amused tone despite trying to keep it serious, “Or buy the book. But don’t do neither.”

“I just don’t know if I need it,” Danny slouched lower in his chair.

“So see an advisor today,” Valerie crossed her arms, “They probably have a walk in available.”

“Fine,” he put his face on the table.

Then the food came and he realized how hungry he was. He started eating and wondered why he was feeling the way he was before. He made a small noise from how tasty the sandwich was and Valerie laughed.

“See, I told you all you needed was lunch,” she dug into her own food which had also just arrived, “When are you gonna admit I’m always right.”

Danny snapped some quick and funny comeback but it was so muffled by the food in his mouth that Valerie just laughed at that and told him to wait until his mouth was clear to speak. By the time it was clear, the time had passed for what he wanted to say to be funny, so he let it go. They finished and it was time to leave.

Instead of going to the bookstore, Valerie took him to the advisor's office. They made an appointment and she sat with him until it was time to go. Valerie hugged him and told him to text her later what happened. With that she left for physical therapy.

Danny nervously went into the advisor's office. The advisor had stepped out for a second for a drink of water. Danny sat and played with the straps of his backpack that he had placed on the floor in front of him. 

The advisor came back in. She reminded him of Spectra, if she were a living breathing person and not a ghost. Her voice and smile held none of the cold malice Spectra’s did, though.

She addressed him as soon as she sat down, “Hello, young man, what did you come to see me for? May I see your student ID?”

He passed her his student ID and found a spot to stare at on the wall while she typed it in.

“I wanted to ask if I should drop Oceanography,” Danny hoped his voice didn't come across as too nervous when he remembered she had asked two questions.

“Well, what program are you doing and what are you hoping to accomplish?” she stared at him expectantly.

“I don’t know,” Danny started to get mad but realized she hadn't done anything to get yelled at, just ask a simple question, “I like astronomy but I couldn't take that class. It was full up already.”

“It looks like you just started here,” she stated.

He nodded in reply but his eyes were firmly fixated on the wall.

“What are you hoping to do after you finish school?”

“I don’t know,” Danny hated this conversation, “Get a job, I guess.”

He didn't mention wanting to be an astronaut, because why would he reveal all his cards right away. Plus this adult would probably just laugh at him anyways… Though he probably shouldn’t be thinking like that. That was an unpacking session for another day, though.

“Well, right now I recommend staying in your current classes,” the advisor swung the monitor around to show Danny the path she had thus far made for him, “I think you should do our associates of science degree with a focus in astronomy. It’s nice and transferable for any other schools you might want to go to in the future.”

“Alright,” Danny muttered, “Thanks.”

“Would you like me to print this for you?” the advisor said before adding, “Oh, well, you can find this in your student portal!”

He got up quickly and left. She continued to call after him about his pathway and the student portal and other stuff he didn’t care about, but he wasn’t listening. He was briskly walking toward the bathroom from yesterday.

However, he very nearly collided with Dash. The very last person he wanted to see.

“Oh, hey,” Dash started but Danny walked away, “How’s it-”

“Bathroom,” Danny roughly cut him off.

“Oh, ok, see you tomorrow,” Dash didn’t mean to but he said some very cutting words to Danny.

Danny got to the bathroom, went back to his car and drove to pick up Danielle. She seemed to sense he was in a mood, because the car ride was silent. As was the car ride the next morning. It was the first day of September, and Danny’s ghost sense went off by the train tracks again. He thought nothing of it and just wanted to get the day over with.

He walked into class and sat in the back as usual. Dash waved to him, and he didn’t wave back, as usual. He didn't take notes and wasn't ready for the quiz at the end of the period either, despite reading the syllabus and knowing it was going to happen. He left and went to the table in the main area of the science labs. This time he’d be there early and this time Dash would not be his lab partner.

In a way, he knew it would happen, but Danny still wasn’t expecting it when Dash showed up at his table and took a seat quietly. Danny looked up and cleared his throat. Dash had another bag of off-brand chips which he was about to open. He paused to look at Danny, but didn't say anything.

“You know,” Danny said rather tersely, “I'm trying to do my homework.”

“And I'm not trying to stop you,” Dash leaned back in his chair, trying to open the bag of chips as quietly as possible. 

Danny rolled his eyes and went back to trying to ignore him. Dash paused, remembering something and digging through his backpack.

“Oh yeah, I got something for you too, in case you were hungry,” Dash offered.

He produced another bag of chips and placed it on the table near Danny. Danny eyed it wearily.

“This isn't somehow filled with your underwear is it?” Danny’s snark was half joke, half serious question.

“No,” Dash flushed, possibly ashamed of his previous actions, though Danny couldn't be sure.

He still didn't pick up the chips, opting instead to continue to try to solve a math problem quietly. Dash decided, however, that it was still a good idea to keep conversing with him,  “Hey so, we have a test next week.”

“What?” Danny accused, “Are you trying to steal my answers? I’m not very good at Oceanography.”

“No, I just wanted to know if you wanted to study together,” Dash looked down at the ground.

“Why would I ever want to hang out with you?” Danny blew up, “I was hoping to never see you again, actually. I almost dropped the class just because you were there. You made my life hell for three years in high school. And now you think you can just waltz up to me and expect to be all buddy-buddy now?”

Danny was testing him. The old Dash Baxter he knew would have beat him to a pulp for mouthing off like that. Then he’d get kicked out of school.

Dash caught Danny’s eye for a second. There was no anger. Only a deep guilt and sadness.

“Sorry,” he muttered, hanging his head.

“Sorry?” Danny spat back, “Sorry?”

He laughed bitterly. Dash got up and left, taking his stupid chips and backpack. He didn’t even have the gall to look him in the eyes again.

Danny went back to his calculus, but his stupid stomach growled. He noticed the second bag of chips Dash had left. He reached for it. The bag was still factory sealed. He opened it, so far so good. He took a bite. Stale. They were stale. Danny looked at the date on the bag. Expired, of course. Stupid Dash had given him stupid gross expired chips, of course . Danny threw them away. Ugh.

He continued to do his calculus homework without pause until it was time for class. He definitely should have gotten something to eat, because he could barely focus well enough to finish another stupid problem correctly. Oh well, too late for that now.

He sat in the front of the class where he had sat before. He didn’t save a seat but the other students sat in their seats, the same as before. Maybe they could sense Danny’s broiling rage. Or maybe they were just creatures of habit. Dash was the last person to arrive. And of course there was only one seat. And of course it was next to Danny.

Thankfully, he didn’t try to talk or otherwise interact with Danny through the whole lab period. They did the stupid project on depth sounding and topography maps in the ocean with relative silence. Exchanging papers once was enough to finish it. 

Danny left and Dash stayed. Not one word was exchanged. He couldn’t wait to tell Valerie about Dash’s audacity. 

The cool evening air on the flight from the school to his car smelled of fall. It was still relatively warm, but it smelled of fall. The briskness of the evening quelled Danny’s rage. Dash hadn’t reacted the way he had thought he would. And was he also eating expired food? He almost started to feel bad for Dash. If that was the case. Maybe he-

But as he arrived at the tracks, his ghost sense went off - stronger, closer than it had all the times before - and he pushed all other thoughts from his mind. He was on alert for whatever ghosts might be around.

“You seem lost,” came a voice and there Danny saw them, face obscured in the shadows of the evening.

Chapter Text

He was already transformed into Phantom, so switching into fight mode was easy. Ghost energy lit up his hand, but the mystery ghost had already vanished, leaving behind only the first traces of a fall breeze, carrying some early fallen leaves. 

Danny patrolled the area for around ten minutes, hoping his ghost sense would tell him if the ghost was still in the area, or which way it went.

It was gone, so Danny headed back home. He opened a new ghost file on his computer, right before bed, but there wasn’t much information to put into it. Before he could save it, he needed to name the ghost file. Normally ghosts tended to dramatically yell out their names or be named after something they looked like or haunted. He tried to think of what the ghost could possibly be named but nothing came to mind. No indication of a motivation or obsession. Just what they had said to Danny.

He typed it into the info box. Then he thought of a name Jazz might give it, chuckling to himself as he typed in the name.  Jazz and his friends would probably text him about the new file on the ghost cloud drive tomorrow.

He jumped onto a game of Doomed with Technus since tomorrow was Thursday and he could sleep in. He still stayed up arguably too late. He awoke at 1pm to a call from Valerie. Shoot. He had forgotten all about meeting up for calculus homework. He answered, still groggy.

“Listen,” Danny rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, “I know I’m late. I’ll be there soon, sorry.”

Valerie laughed into the phone and Danny was confused.

“Danny, I was calling you to let you know I won’t be able to make it,” she explained, “I wanted to know if you wanted to do some studying while on call together.”

“Oh, ok,” Danny’s tired mind didn’t quickly process what she said, “give me a chance to get dressed and eat something first though.”

“Better wake yourself up, too,” Valerie’s laugh sounded tinny through the phone speaker.

Danny didn’t respond, choosing to let her sit in the awkward silence.

“I’m sorry, Danny, go get some breakfast,” he smiled at her warm words.

She hung up and he went to go get dressed and eat some piece of fruit he found in the fridge.  He turned his computer on and messaged Valerie. They got on a video call together. It sounded much better than the phone call did. Valerie only had one assignment to complete so they did that one first. She was out of spoons for the day, so she logged off immediately after finishing it. Danny asked through text a few spare questions here and there. He got a picture from her in response. Now he knew she was really too tired to even explain. 

He texted Tucker, but he didn’t remember from last semester. So Danny put it off until tomorrow, when he could ask either Valerie or the professor. Instead he focused on finding the mystery ghost.

To start off the Mystery Ghost Investigation hours, Danny went back to the scene of the… (well it wasn’t a crime, so) sighting. He searched for evidence of the ectoplasmic entity. 

He felt around with his ghost sense trying to see if they were near or far. Nothing appeared or jumped out at him as out of place. 

The box ghost had finally returned to his favorite spot, the warehouse, so Danny figured since he was right next to where the mystery ghost was, he ought to at least ask him if he had seen something. The box ghost however, was less sure about being asked such things.

“Even if I had seen something, which I haven’t,” the Box Ghost spoke in his usual disjointed manner, “what makes you think I’d tell you about it, Phantom?”

“Look, I just want to make a catalog,” Danny rubbed between his eyebrows in annoyance, “What if they’re really dangerous?”

“Then why did you shoot at him first?”

So the old BG had seen something.

“How’d you know about that?” Danny was smug, feeling as though he had caught him in a lie.

“It is what you always do with new ghosts,” the Box Ghost crossed his arms, “And when you meet old ghosts too.”

“That’s not true!” Danny felt offended.

But, as he thought about it, it was very true. He almost did react violently upon seeing any ghosts. But he would hate to admit Boxy was right.

“Go ahead,” the Box Ghost threw up his arms in his rant, “Capture me in your cylindrical container of doom; I will not fight.”

Danny bit his lip. This was clearly a no win situation the Box Ghost was goading him into. If they fought, it would only prove the point that Danny reacted too violently to other ghosts. But if he didn’t capture the Box Ghost, who knows what kind of box-related mischief he might get into. Danny relented though. If only to prove he didn’t always fight his way out of things.

Dani texted him at that moment anyways, asking where he was and if she could join him. He didn’t like her involvement in ghost hunting, so he ignored her text and headed home. She looked like she wanted to say something at dinner but didn’t. Danny decided if it wasn't important enough for her to bring up to him, he shouldn’t be bothered enough to ask.

The next day was the boring 4-hour math lecture. Danny and Valerie passed notes to each other during the lecture to pass the time. They did a few silly drawing ones until Danny decided to ask if she had seen any new ghosts about. Valerie didn’t respond to his note for a while and he got worried he had stepped into dangerous territory while they were still on potentially rocky terms.

She finally passed him back the note which now read:

D: Sorry to ask but have you seen any new ghosts around lately?

V: No, I don’t really get to do stuff like that anymore.

She didn't seem mad or upset but Danny still felt bad. That was until she asked an equally prickly question back to tease him:

So how’s your class with Dash?

Danny quite frankly had no idea how to answer that question, much less in a succinct enough way to fit onto a slip of paper. Especially since he kept scribbling out what he didn’t like. And quite frankly, he didn’t like thinking about it. So he just wrote: “Tell you after class” and turned back to taking lecture notes.

After class, he still didn’t really want to talk about it. But Valerie made him do it anyway. And getting his feelings out there did make him feel better, though he’d never say it.

“So,” Valerie said once the class had been dismissed, “What’s there to tell after class?”

“Ugh,” Danny put his hands over his face.

He wanted to at least wait until they were out of earshot of everyone else. So he groaned as an excuse to wait as they parted ways from everyone else.

“So how far did you park?” Valerie rolled her eyes at his reaction.

“Pretty far,” Danny admitted, “Do you mind flying? I can carry you.”

“I think I got it,” Valerie tapped her heels together and the hoverboard appeared. 

She took off at a moderate pace. They were out of view of the other students thankfully so Danny took one last look around before he also flew off after her. He had to put on some speed to get in front of Valerie so he could lead the way. Also so he could win the race they were having in his head. They made short time to Danny’s car where they saw someone sitting in the back. A ghost? The ghost?

As they got closer and circled the car, there was nobody there anymore. The two ghost fighters circled a second more, sensing for ghosts before they landed. Danny noticed Valerie was breathing hard, but didn’t mention it.

“Did you see that too?” Valerie asked, the tenseness in her voice came across as a crack.

“Yes,” Danny said with quiet certainty, “I’m sure that was the Mystery Ghost I saw the other night.”

“I can help you patrol if you want,” Valerie offered but he could tell she was leaning on her cane harder than usual.

“No, no,” Danny assured her he could take care of it, “If the ghost had wanted trouble, they would have stuck around and introduced themselves. Probably loudly and obnoxiously before telling us exactly how they planned to take over the world or make our lives hell.”

“Yeah,” Valerie looked relieved and disappointed at the same time, “I guess you’re right.”

“Let me just check my car for mischief before I drive us out of here,” Danny produced the key from his pocket.

“Alright, hot shot,” Valerie smiled as Danny unlocked the door and examined the car.

Everything was exactly as he had left it, save for a few dry fallen leaves. Though they were so dry and the trees around him weren’t that Danny thought they might just be from last year. Danny shrugged, leaving the leaves. He started the car, and after no explosion or engine failure happened, he gave Valerie a thumbs up and she walked over to the car and got in. They drove off to Casper High, just in time to pick up Danielle, who was eager to see both of them.

Before she arrived though, Danny asked Valerie to keep the Mystery Ghost a secret. Danielle was a lot more headstrong, and they both agreed that high school was tough enough without ghost fighting.

They all went out for ice cream, then it was back to Fenton Works for the afternoon. Valerie was very tired so after about an hour, Danny drove her home. Danielle wanted to come with but she got called into the lab for chores. 

While they were driving to Valerie’s house, it was weirdly quiet.

Valerie broke the silence as they neared her house, “Did you notice anything different about Danielle?”

“No,” Danny wasn’t too concerned, “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Valerie said, “She just seemed less happy than usual.”

“She’s probably just dealing with stuff at school. I was the same way,” Danny put on a false, jovial tone, “Nothing to worry about.”

Valerie didn’t look at him, “If you’re sure.”

“I am,” Danny lied.

He was sure until Valerie had said something. He hadn't noticed anything. Valerie didn’t know about The Incident. Danny intended to keep it that way

She got out of the car and waved at him, “See you next Tuesday!”

“See you next Tuesday,” he repeated back to her, waiting in his car to watch her enter the building.

Once she was inside, he drove away. His ghost sense went off before he saw anything. He knew it was the mystery ghost in his back seat.

“Neat trick,” he said, glancing in the rear-view mirror, confirming they were there.

“Before you do anything rash, I just want to talk,” the mystery ghost said as Danny locked eyes with them.

Chapter Text

“Talk, huh?” Danny continued to drive, but he gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles.

He finally got a good look at the mystery ghost in the rear-view mirror. They had a mullet, wore a flannel with a t-shirt underneath. They had a relaxed expression on their face, arms up and resting along the seats next to them.

They looked more human than most of the ghosts he had encountered. No unearthly skin tone, no fire hair, not even the soft glow of other ghosts. Only ghosts who wore disguises, like Spectra, ever looked this good. Danny noted all this in his mind. He would add this to the ghost’s file when he got home.

“Yeah, I’d just like to talk, huh?” the mystery ghost shook him out of his thoughts.

“About what?” Danny responded, glancing to make sure the road was still clear before returning his stare to the rear-view mirror.

The ghost was now staring right back at him in the mirror. Danny jumped slightly.

“Whatever you want to talk about,” the ghost said and Danny exhaled in frustration.

“I don’t want to talk,” he snapped, “to anyone, least of all some random strange ghost I’ve never seen before.”

“Why not?” the ghost shrugged.

“Because,” Danny threw his hands up, before returning them to the steering wheel, “Because why would I?”

“Because, you’re lost,” 

“I’m not lost,” Danny pointed out the window at Fentonworks, “We’re literally right next to my house.”

“If you’re sure,” the ghost did not elaborate on what the hell they meant by that. 

He pulled into the alley and parked his car. While he was focused on that task, the mystery ghost disappeared again.

“Great,” Danny muttered, kicking himself for giving out where he lived to Mystery Ghost and went inside.

He entered the information about the ghost’s looks under the appearance section. He left goals and weaknesses as a question mark. Under personality he just put ‘Annoying.’ Then he went to bed.

The weekend flew by. Danny had finished his calc homework and once again neglected oceanography. 

By the time Monday morning rolled around, he didn’t even remember they had a test on the syllabus. His mood soured when he realized he didn’t even have a scantron. Dash slipped one on his desk but thankfully ignored him otherwise. Even after class, Dash just left without a word. This made up partially for the poor test. 

Tuesday went by without a hitch. Wednesday did not hold a quiz since they had had the test Monday. Dash didn't show up to where Danny normally sat and he was able to finish his calculus in peace. They were lab partners again, only because everyone had already settled into a routine. They didn’t talk again, during the lab. Dash stayed late to ask questions and Danny left as soon as the worksheet was complete.

The Mystery ghost appeared again during those days, mostly to greet Danny as he went back to his car, as though they were friends.Usually with a wave at a safe distance. There were no more talk attempts, at the very least though.

Thursday went fine until the evening. After dinner, his parents called him for a chat. He knew it was about school. Somehow they had gotten his bad grade back before him and he was going to get punished for it.

“Danny, this talk isn’t going to be about you,” Maddie began.

Or maybe it wasn’t about him or his school performance at all.

“Ok?” he was confused and suspicious.

“We actually want to talk about your younger sister, Danielle,” Mom continued, “We’re a little concerned about her. Have you noticed anything?”

“And does it involve a ghost?” Dad followed up in his typical manner, “Or ghost fighting?”

She had been quieter when he drove her home. But it probably wasn’t Danny’s place to talk about her behind her back. They should just ask her if they were so concerned.

“I don’t know,” Danny shrugged, turning avoidant.

“We wanted to ask you first, since you're a better expert on being in high school in this day and age than we are,” his mom affectionately brushed his hair out of his face, “And we remember how you used to tell Jazz about your problems instead of us when you were around her age.”

Danny wondered if they were bitter that Jazz knew about Danny’s ghost powers and ghost adventures before they did. They never did get mad about it, acting more than understanding when the secret came out during The Incident. And after they just stepped around the topic of conversation. Well, he did until they got the message and stopped trying to ask about it. His parents had always been good at hiding their own emotions from him in favor of putting up a happy front.

“There’s no ghost involved,” Danny finally answered his father’s question.

“Alright,” Mom gave him a hug, “Thanks, Danny! You can go.”

Danny didn’t realize until he left the room that he had gotten extremely tense during the conversation. Danielle was fine. He had convinced himself of this. He lingered by her bedroom for a second. He raised his hand to knock on the door, but hesitated. He couldn’t hear anything from behind the door and decided against intruding on her privacy. Danny went to his own room to go to sleep.

Outside the window, he saw her leaving the house. He remembered those sleepless high school nights and his heart ached. It wasn’t related to ghost hunting or he would know about it so at least she was safe in that regard. If she didn’t want to talk about it, it probably wasn’t his business. He closed his blinds.

Valerie wasn’t in on Friday, which made the class unbearable. Danny considered leaving at break, but  She hadn’t been answering her texts either. The last thing she had said was that she was tired on Wednesday. After Friday class felt like it lasted forever, Danny hoped the weekend would actually last forever.

Chapter Text

Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t last forever. Monday morning rolled around, as it always did, indicating that time hadn’t frozen somehow. Monday morning meant he’d have to go to stupid class and get his stupid test back to confirm that he was indeed stupid. And see stupid Dash. Danny pulled the pillow over his head as his alarm went off, realizing he probably should have gone to bed earlier.

The Mystery Ghost was waiting for him when he got to his parking spot.

“Hello, Danny,” they greeted him like it wasn’t unusual of them to know his name.

 “How do you know my name?” he accused.

The ghost shrugged, smugly mysterious. Off to a great Monday morning! Danny just shook his head and went to class. They waved him off.

Class was just fine until they got their tests from last Monday back. Danny snooped on how the other students around him did and saw he was about average. He looked over at Dash’s test down a few rows in front of him, squinting to see it better. He was shocked to see a middle-of-the-road A. Danny had only scraped a C- and he had always thought of himself as smarter than Dash.

He made the conscious decision to move down the stairs at the end of class in order to find out how a meathead could do better than him. Dash tensed up as Danny approached. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was restraining himself.

“Ok, spill, what’s your secret?” Danny asked, pointing to the A test.

“I had a hard time with classes freshman year and I learned the hard way,” Dash looked bashful, “Nobody cares how good I am at football and nobody’s gonna hold my hand and help me when I don’t understand something. So I went and got a tutor myself.”

Danny said nothing but raised an eyebrow.

“If I’m paying to be here I might as well do my best to learn,” Dash explained,  “And get good grades too. I got both those pieces of advice from somebody else though.”

When he didn't elaborate on who this mysterious somebody else was, Danny thought it was better not to ask at this moment in time.

“So who is this tutor anyways?” Danny asked, “and how much do they charge?”

“His name is Harold and it's free if you go during his hours,” when Danny didn't look so sure, Dash continued to talk, “The school pays him. And he’s really nice if...”

“If what, Dash?” Danny was annoyed with Dash for trailing off.

They both got up and began to head outside since class was dismissed.

Dash bit his lip before he spoke again, “He’s a little weird, in my opinion.”

“Weird how?” Danny glared at Dash, anticipating some sort of bully’s remark.

“In a good way, like, he just has so much knowledge on his favorite subjects, but doesn't know when he's been talking for too long,” Dash explains hastily.

Danny throws him another look, but continues to follow.

Dash continues to stutter through his explanation, “I mean he’s like... not for the impatient, you know?”

“And you’re patient?” Danny snorted.

Dash turned a scarlet color and Danny began to feel intimidated, but Dash took a deep breath and closed his eyes instead of blowing up, “Look F-… Danny, there’s… a lot you don’t know about me. I was terrible in the past, but I’ve changed and it's nice to talk to someone who’s unrestrained with me.”

Danny continued to walk beside Dash while he looked down, thinking about what Dash just said.

“It’s nice to meet new people who didn't know you in high school because they have no expectations of who you’re supposed to be I guess.”

They walked along in relative silence until they reached the lab building. They pushed open the door and stepped inside. Dash led the way to an empty classroom.

Dash sat down in the front row and Danny awkwardly remained by the doorway looking over the room. Dash started to go through his bag, pulling out a stack of papers.

“Do you need some lined paper?” He looked up and noticed Danny still standing there, looking a bit like a deer ready to bolt. “Come sit, he’s probably going to have us do test corrections.”

Harold arrived, looking startled that there were people in the classroom waiting for him. He was an owlish, short boy with large glasses; the perfect nerd, Danny noted. 

“Hello Dash,” he spoke in a manner much too friendly to the jock for Danny’s comfort.

“Hello Harold,” Dash responded matter-of-factly, “This is my classmate, Danny. We got our tests back this week so I was hoping we could do test corrections today.”

Harold nodded and launched into his explanation of how to format the test corrections. The basic gist of it was that Danny had to number the question he got wrong, put the right answer, and explain why it was the right answer. Harold explained that he’d be able to get points back if he completed it. Danny thought that was pretty easy.

They were able to do their test corrections while in relative silence. Danny appreciated having a book to look at. Maybe he should finally buy it. Or just come here to share it. After finishing test corrections, he felt like he had learned a lot, and it didn’t take too long. Dash was busy asking questions about today’s lecture, since he had finished faster than him. He stood up and cleared his throat.

“I’m done,” he said. 

“We are at the end of our time, too,” Harold nodded.

“Thanks for the help,” Dash responded, “See you next time.”

Harold left as quick and awkward as he had come. That left Danny and Dash alone again.

“One other thing,” Dash mentioned before he left, “The labs also really helped me understand what was going on. We’ll probably stay lab partners, so if you have any questions, definitely stay and ask the instructor.”

Danny nodded but just left the room. He was left with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. But now wasn’t the time for thinking about that, Wednesday was the time for thinking about that. He went back to his car. The ghost was there, leaning up against a tree waiting to greet him.

“Feels weird that you know my name, but I don’t know your name,” Danny spoke first this time.

“But I thought you didn’t want to talk to me about anything,” the ghost riposted.

“Traditionally you give your name before you try to talk to someone,”Danny crossed his arms.

“Some people call me the September Ghost, on account of that’s when I appear,” “I’ve also heard myself referred to as the Specter of Autumn or the Fall Phantom.”

Those were all quite the mouthful, Danny decided. And they didn’t give him a clear picture to give to Jazz so she could psychoanalyze this ghost for him.

“I don’t care what others call you,” Danny still didn’t yet know if ghosts had true names that could give him power.

“Well, you can call me Ber, shortened from Septem-Ber, Octo-Ber,or  Novem-Ber,” the ghost, known as Ber, said, “The best months of the year.”

Danny tilted his head in acknowledgement and Ber continued, “So now that we’re properly introduced, would you like to talk?”

“By the way, how do you know my name?”

“You have certain acquaintances who told me,” Ber was of course cryptic and unhelpful.

He mentally added ‘Put the Box Ghost back in the Ghost Zone’ on his list of things to do for this.

“Anything else you’d like to talk about?” Ber interrupted his thoughts.

“I want to know what you’re doing here,” Danny crossed his arms and leaned against his car.

“I appear to those in need, to those lost souls that need guidance during the fall months,” Ber said.

“I told you I’m not lost!” Danny raged and sent out a ghost ray.

The blast seemed to tear through Ber. They burst into a gust of chilly autumn breeze and some fallen leaves from the tree. Danny groaned in annoyance. That must be how they could get around without setting off his ghost sense, of course.

Danny picked up every leaf he found in the floor of his car, crumbled them up and disposed of them before driving home. He was finally getting his adult life in line, he wasn’t about to get tricked by some stupid therapy ghost. Again.

Chapter Text

It was Tuesday, which meant he’d get to talk to Valerie today. And go to class, but that wasn’t something he was excited about. He had made good progress on understanding calculus and was proud he could at least get something in his life right despite how challenging it was. 

Valerie was present but wasn’t focused in class and couldn’t stay long afterwards. They exchanged a few words, but Danny decided to hold off on talking to her about anything deeper for when she was less distracted.

The first thing that was wrong was the Mystery Ghost wasn’t posted up at their usual spot: Danny’s car. He hadn’t noticed that he had gotten used to seeing them every day until they weren’t here today. That was annoying.

He waited around for the ghost to appear, annoyingly. He went into the back of his car and made sure there were no fallen leaves. He had even reviewed both his calculus and oceanography problems. Still no ghost appeared and it was time to go pick up Danielle.

The air at Casper High was palpably tense. Students rushed to get picked up and avoided each other more than usual. Lancer was nowhere to be seen, instead Mr. Falluca was watching the students get picked up.

Danny waited for over an hour for Danielle to show up. She wasn’t answering her texts, or even phone calls. He didn’t see her friends either, which was strange. He did see Paulina’s little sister, who if she was anything like Paulina, had her finger on the pulse of all of Casper High.

“Hey, Isabella,” the girl glanced toward the direction of his voice, “Did you see Danielle Fenton? Do you know where she is?”

She gave him a strange look in response and shook her head, hurrying up to get into Mr. Sanchez’s car which was idling right behind Danny. Mr. Sanchez pulled out and sped past Danny, not even looking at him. He waited until the crowd of students cleared out and Danielle still wasn’t there, so he decided to head home too.

Outside his house, there was the no outwardly appearance of something being wrong. His ghost sense didn’t go off either. Still, anxiety invaded his brain.

“What do you mean you don’t know where my baby is?” Danny could hear his mother talking on the phone in the kitchen as he entered through the front door.

He crept closer, not wanting to be noticed just yet. He found it strange his dad hadn’t been there to greet him or ask about some kind of sweet. Dread seeped into his bones. He stood in the doorway, watching his mom listen to whoever was on the phone. He cleared his throat and she turned around, noticing his arrival.

“Well, keep looking!” She hung up the phone.

“Hi, sweetie,” Maddie said with none of her usual upbeat cadence.

“Hi, mom,” Danny replied with his usual tone, “What’s up?”

“Danny, have you seen your sister?” Maddie’s voice was colored by panic, despite her outwardly maintaining a calm appearance. 

“I haven’t seen either of them today,” Danny tried to be nonchalant, but he was worried, “Danielle wasn’t there for pick up.”

“Apparently there was a ghost attack today at the school. They evacuated everyone safely except for Danielle and her friends. One of her little friends got hurt pretty badly and she’s nowhere to be found.”

“What?” Danny’s stomach dropped out from under him.

He simply froze as he imagined what could have happened to Tucker’s little brother or Kwan’s little sister. Or his own little sister for that matter. He wondered if Tucker knew already. 

It must have been Ber. He knew he shouldn’t have trusted any new ghost he barely knew anything about. They must have been casing Danny to find the perfect time to strike. Danielle was missing or worse and it was all his fault. He simply didn’t know what to do until his mother brought him into a well needed hug. He hugged her back.

Jack had already taken out the Fenton AV to investigate the ghost and Danielle’s disappearance. That left Maddie and Danny together at home. Maddie was calling everyone she knew, from other parents to even Jazz.

Danny sent a text to Danielle asking where she was. He even called her once, but it went to voicemail. It did ring, so at least he knew her phone was on, somewhere.

He received a simple text from Danielle:

I’m not coming back.

“She’s run away,” Danny muttered to himself, processing her message out loud. 

Maddie heard him talking to himself and rushed over, “Danny, where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“Danny, where is she?” Maddie’s voice grew more frantic.

Danny didn’t answer.

“Where is she?”