Chapter Text
Danny doesn't remember falling asleep after that. He's not sure if he actually did or if he just went back to the sensory room... or maybe his own room in the castle. Regardless, it's the next morning.
Danny is slowly, very distractedly, getting dressed for the courthouse. Phantom is helping him pick out the best comfortable-formal clothes they own. It points to a pair of clean unripped jeans, waits as Danny pulls them on, then points to a white button up hanging in the closet.
'How long have we had this shirt?' Danny wonders idly, putting his arms in the sleeves.
Phantom hums. "I think you got it as a present?"
Danny just shrugs, looking down to button the shirt. His left hand is trembling slightly, fingers twitching every now and then. He huffs, dropping his hands.
Someone knocks on the door, startling Danny and Phantom. The ghost moves in front of Danny.
"It’s Jazz," a soft voice calls out through the door. Danny blinks a few times, then moves forward to open the door.
Jazz is standing with her hands folded in front of her. She's wearing jeans too, as well as a purple blouse that makes something (someone) in Danny's head flutter in awe. She smiles gently at him, waiting for him to move before entering.
"Do you want help with your shirt?"
Danny blinks, then looks down. right, his shirt. 'How long was I standing there?' He nods slowly.
"You think I know time?" Phantom quips, earning an amused huff from Danny.
Jazz smiles slightly at the noise, but doesn't comment. She buttons up his shirt quickly. Stepping back, she waits until he looks up at her to speak.
"Ready to go?"
"I guess," he responds.
Jazz smiles softly. "It’s gonna be okay, Danny."
He just nods, looking away from her to glance at Phantom. They're hovering next to the door, watching him. Taking a deep breath, Danny follows Jazz out.
He doesn't remember the trip to the courthouse, but the next thing he knows, he's standing in front of a podium in a courtroom.
He blinks, glancing around quickly. He calms down when he sees Phantom right next to him, one hand holding his arm as it watches the people in the room. Looking ahead of him, Danny sees a judge looking at him.
He tenses a little, suddenly very nervous that they asked a question he missed.
"Hello, Danny," the judge says. Their voice is smooth, pleasant but not fake. Comforting.
"H–hi."
"You understand why I asked to speak with you, yes?"
Danny nods, glancing to his left to Phantom one more time. It looks back at him, smiling a little.
"You–you want my... opinion on who I wanna stay with," Danny says quietly, forcing the words out when they catch in his throat.
The judge nods, smiling. "Correct. I know your parents are unfit to keep you, and that your sister, Jasmine, wishes to obtain guardianship. You're old enough to have a say in who you live with, but know that Jack and Maddie Fenton are unlikely to be an option."
Danny nods slowly, right hand coming up to rest on Phantom's. He squeezes, feeling the pressure on his arm as he does.
"I... I wanna stay with Jazz," Danny says, voice unwavering.
The judge smiles, then nods. "Okay. I am permitting temporary guardianship rights of Daniel Fenton to his sister Jasmine Fenton. I will talk with your parents soon, and should everything go well, I will change that to permanent guardianship."
Danny's eyes widen. 'Is... is this real?'
"Yes, yes Danny, this is real," Phantom replies, sounding equally surprised.
A somewhat shaky grin breaks out onto Danny's face. He turns his head towards Phantom, then sees a head of red hair moving closer and turns fully to his sister.
He feels giddy as he moves to hug the taller teen, arms squeezing as she lifts him slightly. There's tears slipping out of his eyes, but he can't bring himself to care.
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They start moving Danny's things into Jazz's apartment ("our apartment now") as soon as they get back from the courthouse. Their parents are out, doing something somewhere... neither teen cares enough to know, so they don't have to worry about getting caught packing things.
Jazz's apartment is mostly furnished by now, the emptiest room being the second bedroom. Her own room already has a queen sized, dresser, desk, and tv. She's also decorated it with string lights along the walls and various posters (Danny rolled his eyes the first time he saw one of them and it read "Keep Calm and Carry On").
Jazz has already put a double bed in Danny's room (along with a small tv when Ellie and him tagged team begging her), but other than that the room itself is pretty barren. He’s able to fill the closet easily with his clothes and some hand-me-downs for Ellie.
When they're done moving all the things Danny wants, they settle on the couch in the living room space to watch a movie. Jazz says they can shop for more decorations tomorrow.
The next day they order some star string lights and puffy glow-in-the-dark stickers for Danny's room. They end up at a store to look for bedding mainly, but also any other items either of them might want.
Currently, Danny is having a debate over which sheets to purchase.
'It's my room, I should be able to choose!'
It’s all our rooms! And I want those purple ones! Ellie argues.
"This is a dumb argument."
At least we agree on that. Killian doesn't talk much, and xe hasn't fronted since hx first split, but every once in a while Danny'll hear xir deep voice like a distant memory.
'I still think I should get to make the final decision.'
"Which sheets do you, Danny?" Phantom asks, cutting Ellie off before she can continue their circular argument.
'Those,' he thinks, staring at a bundle with constellations and star names on it.
Ooh... that one's pretty...
Danny smiles, ignoring the faint mix of amusement and exasperation coming from one of the ghosts. Or both. He shakes his head, moving forward to grab the sheet bundle to put in the cart Jazz grabbed.
They continue walking around, Jazz is searching for a lamp for her nightstand. Danny keeps a hand on the side of the shopping cart, eyes wandering as he listens to Ellie explain the plot of a movie she watched recently.
Phantom, previously floating alongside Danny, stops suddenly, staring at... something. Danny follows its eyes...
'Oh that looks comfy,' he thinks.
Phantom is staring at a big dark blue beanbag chair. They float closer, Danny follows. His hand slips off the cart, mind focused on how comfy the chair looks. He barely stops himself from just falling into it, but he does press his right hand against it to feel the fabric.
"Very soft..." Phantom whispers, its own resting on the beanbag too, moving in almost a kneading motion. Cat. Phantom ignores hxm.
"Danny?" he hears, Jazz following after him. "What—oh! Do you want that?"
He looks at Phantom, who still hasn't looked away... and Danny is about 98% sure they're purring... he nods in response to Jazz's question. She smiles as she grabs the beanbag chair, lifting it into the cart.
Strong big sis... Danny smiles.
The rest of the shopping trip goes quickly; Jazz finds her lamp and one for Danny that casts light on the walls in the shape of spaceships and planets.
When they get back to the apartment, Danny quickly puts his new sheets on the bed then sets the beanbag in the corner of the room.
Immediately, Phantom pushes Danny into the beanbag, following after and curling up in his lap like a cat. Danny giggles, running his hand along its smoky back.
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Sam and Tucker come over after school about a week later. It's the first time since the 'portal' accident that they've gone with Danny to his home. It makes him unreasonably happy and more at home in the apartment than before.
They stay for a few hours, getting a tour of the small apartment and Danny's room. Tucker agrees with Danny that Phantom is part cat, making the ghost hiss (not that Tucker can hear it).
He almost forgets about the fact this is technically a temporary thing. Almost.
Jazz gets called back to the courthouse three and a half weeks after they first went. Their parents were informed the day after Danny moved out, and he could tell that Jazz was anxious about the meeting. Thankfully, he doesn't have to attend.
He hangs out with Tucker after school that Friday, beating him every other round of Smash Bros. Jazz texts him an hour after he gets there, saying she's heading over to pick him up. He asks how it went, she just replies that they'll 'talk later'.
When the siblings get back to their apartment, Danny is a bundle of nerves. Apparently, the conference didn't go great. Jack and Maddie were contesting the case.
"Wh—" the words caught in his throat. He looks over at Phantom, who understands the silent request.
"On what grounds are they contesting it?" They ask, equally confused and anxious.
"Well, their main argument was that they didn't think I was able to handle being fully responsible for both myself and someone else."
"S—" 'so... we're going back?'
"No... we're not going back... right?" Phantom asks, speaking out loud without meaning to.
"No, you're not being forced back there. The judge said they're going to be sending a social worker to do a sort of wellness check. And..." she crouches down in front of Danny. He's not sure when he sat down on the couch.
"And?" He repeats quietly.
"There's going to be another meeting in two weeks, the social worker will give their opinion on both them and their house, as well as me and our apartment." Danny nods slowly, still not sure why she looks so concerned. "The judge also wants you, Danny, to come with me."
"What?" The word is barely a whisper. His head feels dizzy and he can hear a strange whining–hissing noise from Phantom's form where it sits next to him.
"—an— Da— —anny? Danny? You back?" He blinks.
Jazz is still crouched in front of him, and there's still a soft whining coming from Phantom. They've moved to be curled around him, more fog-like than solid form. Danny nods slowly.
"Okay," his sister says with a soft smile. "You know you won't have to talk to them, right? The only thing the judge wants from you, is for you to tell them your preference for who has custody."
"B–b—" he huffs.
"I know you did that already, but that was more because you needed to be removed from that house and needed somewhere to stay while we started working on the custody case. Does that make sense?" He looks down at his hands, seeing Jazz's wrapped around them. With a sigh, he nods.
It makes sense, even if he doesn't like it.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
It takes exactly 8 days for the social worker to knock on the door. Not that anyone's counting. They definitely didn't have a bet going, that Ellie is definitely not upset over because she lost... because they weren't keeping count.
The knock sounds through the apartment on Saturday, interrupting Ellie while she hums along to the Disney movie playing in the living room. She stares at the door, then looks over at Jazz.
Her sister just smiles at her, letting her know it's okay. So Ellie goes back to colouring and humming to the song. She hears Jazz open the door and greet the person on the other side.
"Hi, I'm Mary, the social worker assigned to Danny's custody case. It's nice to meet you."
"Jasmine, you can just call me Jazz. come in," she moves to the side, letting the woman in. "Uh, may I ask something, really quick?"
"Of course."
"Did the judge," her voice goes quiet. Ellie can hear them whispering, but she doesn't care enough to listen.
"Okay, well, would you like anything to drink?" Jazz asks, voice at a normal volume again.
"Sure, water please."
Jazz walks behind the couch into the kitchen area to get a cold bottle of water. Mary moves closer to the chair nearest the door, moving around to sit in it.
"What are you drawing?" Her voice is soft, nice.
Ellie glances at her, then back down at her paper. "The castle."
"Castle? Is it a princess castle?"
"Uh–uh. It's our castle. I wanna draw it so Jazzy can see how cool it is. And how comfy my room is!" Ellie kicks her feet behind her.
Mary hums. "Would you be willing to show me your room?"
Ellie stops drawing, turning her face slightly to look at the woman. She has long hair, lots of braids, and sorta fancy clothes. It reminds Ellie of the clothes Jazz picked out for her court days. Mary tilts her head a little, patiently quiet. Her skin is darker than Ellie and Danny's, not as dark as Tucker's, and she has patches of light on her arms and face.
She seems nice... nothing like Vlad, she thinks. Ellie feels a rush of protective anger from somewhere in the castle, but she ignores it. Killian gets upset whenever Ellie's reminded of him.
"I can show you Danny's room," she says quietly. "My room's in the castle. Phantom says no one else can get there, just us. Sorry."
Mary just smiles at her. "It’s alright." Jazz hands her the bottle of water, receiving a thanks.
"So, Mary, what exactly will you be doing for your visit?" Her big sister asks, sitting on the couch behind Ellie.
"I'm going to start with looking around the apartment, making sure everything is safe. Then I'll talk to you about your daily schedule, and maybe talk with Ellie some more."
She smiles a lot, the young girl thinks to herself, continuing her drawing. They keep talking for a bit, Ellie doesn't really pay attention. She hears them both stand and walk further into the apartment.
When Ellie is done with the castle, she sits up on her knees. Quickly standing and bringing the drawing with her, she places it against the fridge door, grabbing an apple magnet to hold it.
She goes back to the couch, plopping down and pulling up her legs to cross them.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Danny opens his eyes to a movie he hasn't watched before. He thinks he remembers seeing trailers for it a couple years ago, but he never cared to watch it. he shrugs to himself, deciding to leave it on in case Jazz was enjoying it.
Speaking of, he turns his head to the left, looking over his shoulder towards the kitchen. He sees Jazz walking down the hallway where their bedrooms are, and...
He stiffens slightly, brows furrowing as he stares at the woman following behind his sister. She has a clipboard and pen in her hands, glancing down at the paper a couple times but mostly looking around. His eyes slide back to Jazz.
"Oh! Danny, this is Mary. She’s the social worker I said would be coming soon," she says the last part sort of like a question, not sure if he does remember (which is fair, he does seem to remember the least).
Slowly he nods, looking back at the woman. She smiles. "Hi Danny, it's nice to meet you." He waves silently.
Mary detoured to the kitchen, looking around and opening various cabinets. Danny pulled his knees up, hugging his legs as he watched the woman move around. Jazz walks to the back of the couch, leaning against it.
Mary doesn't look around much longer, coming closer to the couches to talk with Jazz a little. Then, she turns to Danny.
"So, Danny, would you be comfortable talking with me in your room?" After a few moments of silence, he nods.
They head to his room, Mary entering first. She looks around, thankfully not touching anything though. Danny lingers by the door, leaving it slightly open behind him.
"So, how do you like staying with your sister?" Mary asks, turning around the face him.
Danny nods slightly, feeling a cold presence appear at his back. His shoulders loosen a little.
"We like Jazz," Phantom answers for him.
"That's good," Mary says with a nod. "Would you say she's a good caretaker?"
Danny nods. "Yes, she's good with Ellie and makes sure Danny is safe." Danny huffs as Phantom's response.
'She notices when something's wrong,' Danny thinks. 'And she knows when Ellie is here and I'm not.'
Phantom repeats his words and Mary nods.
"Alright, well I think it's clear you enjoy being with your sister," she comments, making Danny smile. "My next question then is, how did you feel staying with your parents?"
The smile drops from his face. Danny grabs his left wrist, feeling a buzz shoot up his arm. "D–don't..."
Phantom curls tighter around his shoulders. "They hurt Danny," it tells her flatly.
Danny can see her eyes drop to his arm, though he's not sure why. He can't focus on anything but the electricity shooting up and down his left arm mixed with the sharp pinpricks where his nails are digging into—
'Oh that's why she's staring...' Danny can't get his hand to loosen though. 'Phantom?' He thinks, feeling a pressure build behind his eyes.
A cold hand wraps around his, gently prying it away from his left arm. He hears a soft warbling from behind him as Phantom's form becomes more humanoid again.
"We don't like them, and don't want to go back," Phantom says. The words come out a little shaky, the tears sprouting in Danny's eyes bleeding over.
"Okay," Mary whispers. Her eyebrows are pinched together, and she looks like she wants to comfort him more but knows better than to get closer.
She doesn't stay for much longer after that. She thanks Jazz for her hospitality and says she'll see them again in a few days at the courthouse. Once she leaves, Danny retreats to his room.
He settles in the beanbag chair, arms wrapping around a pillow he keeps there. Jazz comes in at some point and leaves a dinner plate next to the chair, but otherwise leaves him alone.
Danny winds up curled in an armchair in the castle's living room. Ellie sits on the floor nearby, building a Lego set. Killian is lounging on hxs own couch, after making sure the entire castle is empty and the living room they're in is dark. Phantom is wrapped around Danny, form pure smoke with two neon green pinpricks for eyes.
They stay there for hours, watching various movies (mostly centered around space travel).
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The next week passes quicker than Danny would've liked. Before he knows it, it's Friday.
His friends do their best to distract him from what's to come. Tucker keeps dragging Danny into a conversation about some new game he's played recently or wants to play soon. Sam asks him his opinion on this thing or that, random topics that she's likely mentioned before.
When it's time to leave, Jazz meets him out front and they head to the apartment quickly to change. Danny's outfit is already picked out and ready for him, so he doesn't have to worry about finding clothes. He's dressed in jeans once again, this time wearing just a plain long–sleeve shirt instead of a button up.
By the time they get to the courthouse, Danny's chest feels like it's burning. Not the first time it's happened, and Jazz always says it's anxiety. He focuses on the ground instead of anything around him.
'Nothing to be anxious about if I can't see it,' Danny reasons to himself. He pointedly ignores the sharp laugh from Phantom.
They get to the actual courtroom, Danny sitting closest to the wall with Jazz as a barrier between him and... the other table. No one is there yet, but... even seeing it is making his chest tighten.
He hears the door open. his leg starts bouncing faster (he hadn't really noticed it before) under the table, pulling at his fingers with his hands in his lap. He hears quiet whispers, and distantly thinks,
'Not sure I've ever heard Dad be so quiet before...'
Someone makes a noise, like clearing their throat. It makes Danny look over on instinct. He sees a pair of purple eyes staring back at him, and is suddenly enveloped by a pleasant icy air.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Phantom looks back down at the table, head turning sharply. It stares, leg stilling and eyes wide. Shit. It should've known that Danny would panic when he saw them...
The judge enters the room, everyone stands. Phantom stays seated, staring blankly at the wooden table. It can feel Jazz glance down at them with concern, feel two other pairs of eyes land on them before leaving. The judge tells everyone to sit.
Phantom should probably be paying attention to the conversation, but it's too distracted trying to push down the feeling of burning anxiety permeating through the void.
They're not sure if it's entirely Danny or if Ellie has realized what's going on outside the castle and has started worrying too. Hopefully Killian will be able to calm her, at least (Danny and hxm don't always get along, which Ellie thinks is hilarious).
Phantom hears Danny's name said a few times. By the judge, by Jazz, by Jack, by Maddie, and by Mary. Eventually, they've no idea how long they've been there, Jazz taps the table in front Phantom, directly where they're staring.
It blinks, glancing around before looking at Danny's sister. She smiles slightly, then looks over at the judge. Right... Danny is supposed to speak... shit.
Slowly, Phantom stands from their seat. Keeping its gaze down, they move around the table to stand at the podium. Once they're there, it looks up at the judge.
"Since you're old enough to have a say, Danny, I'd like to hear from you. What would you prefer?" A few seconds later, they add, "if it's easier to write out, you can."
The judge nods to someone and Phantom sees the social worker, Mary, approaching the podium. She places a paper down in front of them, along with a pen.
Phantom glances between them, then raises its left hand to pick up the pen. It hears a noise from the table Jack and Maddie are sitting at. They ignore it.
Phantom writes;
"Danny panicked when seeing Jack and Maddie, he will not be able to give his thoughts until we are not in the same room as his parents. are we allowed to either have them (and Jazz, if necessary) leave temporarily? or may we go to a separate room so Danny can speak? please know it will likely take a few minutes at least either way for Danny to calm down."
They place the pen down, handing the paper to Mary so she can take it to the judge. Phantom can hear Jack and Maddie whispering to each other.
The judge reads over the note, then nods to themself. They stand, moving down from their bench and towards a door to the left. They nod to Mary, who gestures to Phantom to follow the judge.
They can hear confused noises from behind them, but they continue to ignore the noises in favour of getting away from the adults. They follow after the judge into their chambers, immediately grabbing a pillow and blanket from the back of the sofa and crouching in the corner.
Mary stays by the door, making sure it doesn't close completely. The judge goes over to their desk, sitting and waiting quietly.
Phantom hugs the pillow, pulling the blanket over their head to hide. With a deep breath, it sinks backwards out of the void. Keeping its right hand on the doorframe, it looks into the sensory room.
Killian is standing guard in the hall, looking at Phantom for a moment before glancing back into the dark room behind xym. Phantom can hear Ellie ranting quietly to herself about a newly discovered planet. Danny is silent.
With a soft whine, Phantom gains Killian's attention again. Hx huffs, then moves closer to them.
"Go, I'll wait here."
Phantom nods, flying past hxm as soon as hx puts a clawed hand on the doorframe. It sees Ellie wrapped in a blanket, looking younger than usual. She has headphones on and a colouring book in her lap.
Phantom decides she'll be okay for the time being, and continues towards Danny. He's also wrapped in a blanket, but the fabric is more loosely draped over his shoulders as he stares at the ceiling. They settle on the cushioned floor in front of him, fog pooling on the ground.
"Danny?" It asks softly, a quiet warble accompanying its voice.
He looks down, ice blue eyes blinking a few times as he refocuses. "Are we done?"
"Not quite." Danny deflates. "We're in the judge's chambers right now, only them and the social worker are with us."
He sighs. "Okay... does... does that mean I have to go out?" Phantom nods, making Danny groan slightly. "Fine... you'll be with me though, right?"
Phantom nods. "Always."
With a deep inhale, Danny grabs Phantom's hand and lets himself be pulled up. They go down the hall, pausing right before the doorway. Phantom reaches its free hand out, past the doorframe.
Killian nods at them, heading back to guard the hallway. Danny squeezes Phantom's hand, then walks into the void, pulling it after him.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Danny takes a shaky breathe, eyes opening to darkness. 'Huh?'
"I put a blanket over us."
Danny rolls his eyes. Slowly, he pulls the blanket down, squinting a little at the bright lights of the room. He whines quietly, eyes hurting and already dreading the interaction-to-come.
Danny looks at Mary, leaning against the far wall next to the slightly open door, then over to the judge, sitting at their desk. Taking another shaky breath, Danny clears his throat (thankful he's actually able to make a noise).
The judge looks over at him, smiling gently. "Danny?" he nods. "Good to see you again. Are you ready to talk with me, or would you like another minute?"
Danny glances to his left, Phantom's shadowy form leaning against him. "I'm... ready."
"Okay. As a reminder, the current custody battle is between your sister and your parents. I have talked with each of them as well as Mary, and would now like to hear your thoughts. So, what would you prefer?" Their voice is warm, calming.
He grips the pillow in his arms tighter. "I... I wanna s–stay with my sister, Jazz."
The judge nods, leaning back in their chair. "Okay, that's all I needed to hear. We can stay here for another minute if you'd like, or we can head back into the courtroom now."
"Y–you've decided, then?" Danny asks quietly. The judge nods, a small smile on their face. He relaxes slightly, but not entirely.
Standing on slightly wobbly legs, Danny sets the pillow on the couch, followed by the blanket. The judge stands, leading the way out of their chambers and back to the courtroom. Danny follows with Phantom over his shoulder, Mary trailing behind them.
Danny sits back next to Jazz, fidgeting the entire time. He's not fully paying attention as the judge talks, but he does hear the 'final verdict' (mostly because Phantom hisses in his ear to make him pay attention).
"Given all the evidence, as well as Danny's preferences... I've decided to grant Jasmine Fenton full legal guardianship of her brother, Daniel Fenton." The hammer falls and everything in Danny's ears turns to a blur of noise.
He can hear various protests from Jack and Maddie, as well as Phantom alternating between hissing at them and purring against Danny's head. Jazz turns to him, a tearful grin on her face.
"It’s over now," she whispers.
Danny grins, tears slipping past his eyes.
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Danny finally feels comfortable... settled in a way he hadn't even realized he never felt before.
He’s gotten closer with Jazz, words rarely catching in his throat when he's in their apartment alone. Sam and Tucker come over more often, sleeping over every once in a while in the living room. He doesn't have to worry about evading his parents because they're in a bad mood anymore.
Ellie's gone shopping with both Jazz and Sam more than once to pic out clothes and toys for herself. Killian has forced them all to watch multiple Hallmark movies (that Danny thankfully doesn't remember once he wakes up). Phantom still hovers around Danny, claiming at some point that he's its "human half" and making Danny laugh but agree wholeheartedly.
Danny's not sure he's ever been happier.
