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Danny Fenton couldn’t tear his eyes away from the TV. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. It couldn’t .
Phantom, they were calling him. Amity Park’s new hero, menace, monster. Whatever you wanted to call him. He wasn’t any of those things to Danny.
Sam couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “...Is no one going to say it?”
Tucker shot her a warning look. “Don’t, Sam.”
“What? Isn’t it freaky? That ghost looks just like Danny.”
“I know,” Danny said, too quietly. Sam had a hundred theories lined up already, but Danny was already standing up before she’d even gotten a chance to speak.
“...Danny? Where are you going?”
“I’ve got someone to find.”
The door shut.
Sam looked to Tucker, incredulous. “Did I strike a nerve? It wasn’t an insult, it’s just- Look at him.” She gestured wildly at the news, still broadcasting footage of Phantom flying across the sky. “It’s not like Danny’s dead. Who the hell is that, and how does he look so similar?”
Tucker hesitated. The idea was almost too awful to contemplate, but Danny had clearly thought the same thing he had when that familiar figure made his way across the screen. He stood up, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
“I don’t blame you for not knowing- It happened before you moved to town, and Danny doesn’t exactly like to talk about it. C’mon, I’ll tell you on the way. We should find Danny before he does something stupid.”
---
For once, his parents’ ghosthunting technology was coming in handy. Danny never believed in this stuff before- honestly, part of him still didn’t- but somehow, it seemed to work. The machine detected ectoplasm, and Phantom may as well have been a beacon for all the power he gave off.
This is bullshit, Danny thought, even as he followed it like a compass.
It led him to- of course it lead him here. The observatory. The project had been abandoned a while back, but the skeleton of the structure remained intact. The metaphor didn’t escape him. On the contrary, it was pretty much punching him in the face. Abandoned telescope, abandoned dreams, abandoned life.
It wasn’t hard to hop the fence. Okay, it was- It took like, 15 minutes, a few falls and a whole lot of swearing, but he finally made it to the other side. The machine in his hands was beeping faster, like a frantic heartbeat.
Shut up, he silently willed it. It didn’t.
Making his way carefully through the rusted doors of the place, he couldn’t help but feel a chill. Somehow, he didn’t think it was from the temperature. He turned the machine off and stuffed it into his back pocket- At this point, he didn’t need it to feel the energy radiating off of the place. It was everywhere . Wrapping his arms around himself, he stepped into the middle of the circular room.
“I know you’re here,” he called.
No response.
He gazed up at the unfinished ceiling, narrowing his eyes. “It’s me.”
Still nothing.
He couldn’t take it anymore. “James. I know it’s you.”
Just like that, he felt the energy in the room shift. He still couldn’t see him, but he knew he was there. A quiet voice echoed out from the shadows.
“...how?”
“You’ve been all over the news, man. Amity Park’s newest hero, I’m hearing.”
“not that. how did you know it was me? i’m not exactly... normal looking.”
Danny let out a halfhearted chuckle. “You know we have the same face? Can’t exactly change that with a fancy new hair color.”
“...”
“...Besides, it’s not like I’d forget my own brother.”
“...you got me.”
There he was, finally. A dark shadow right in the corner of Danny’s eye. No- There he was again. More solid, more... real.
Not by much, but enough.
“...Hey.”
“...hey.”
Danny had been thinking this over the whole way here, but everything he’d planned to say seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden. What was there to say? It had been years since it had happened, and part of him still couldn’t accept it had happened at all, even now. It didn’t seem... real.
Ghosts weren’t supposed to be real. It was supposed to be nothing but the made-up fantasy that got his brother killed. That stupid portal. It was less of a portal and more of an electrocution hazard, which Jazz had pointed out, not that either of them had listened. Not until it was too late, that is. It hadn’t worked. Why his parents had tried again after that, he had no idea, but they had, and now he was here. Against all odds, he was here.
Meaning he’d been there all this time.
And Danny had left him behind.
“You look...”
“older?”
“...Yeah.”
“so do you. guess that’s how this works.”
“Maybe.”
They’d always joked about some psychic twin connection. Danny might’ve made some quip about it now, but the humor he often used to cope was starting to feel hollow. James was here. Not alive, but here. What the hell was he supposed to say?
“I... missed you.”
“i know. i missed you too.”
“Why didn’t you come home? I had to see you beating up ghosts on the news to realize you were back. Could’ve said hello.”
There was humor in those glowing green eyes, but not much. “think i didn’t try? mom and dad had a nice hello waiting for me in the form of big ol’ ectoguns.”
“...Oh.”
“yeah.”
“I’m sorry.”
“it’s not your fault.”
“Not just about this, about- About everything. That stupid dare. Not... Not looking for you out there.”
The phantom’s form solidified a little more, just enough to see that familiar smirk on his face.
“what, you think you should’ve summoned the dead just to bring me back? doesn’t work like that, buddy. you probably would’ve just gotten a demon.”
“It’s just...” Danny’s voice wavered a little, and he took a deep breath. “It’s just not fair. Why you? Why’d this have to happen to you? You’re back now, but you’re still...” He swallowed, trying to hold back the tears that had been threatening to spill the entire time. “You’re still...”
Denial was the only thing standing between Danny and a full-on mental breakdown. He’d figured it was an impostor. If not that, a coincidence. If not that, some weird dream. A hallucination. Ghosts weren’t supposed to be real. James was gone.
And yet, here he was.
“Why aren’t you angry? It was my dumbass idea, and you’re the one that kicked the bucket. You should be pissed as hell. You should hate me. ”
“...”
Danny’s voice was shaking. His shoulders, too. James drifted a little closer, concern making its way onto his ethereal face.
“Why don’t you hate me?”
Everything went cold. For a moment, Danny thought he’d been dunked in cold water, until he noticed the gloved arms wrapped around his shoulders. James had made it the rest of the way across the room, and was hugging him as tight as one could when they weren’t fully tangible. Danny froze, then slowly lifted his arms to return the hug. James seemed to be getting more solid by the moment, and now that there was a shoulder there to cry on, Danny did. He let it all out- The repressed guilt, the self-hatred, the sadness, the loss. He cried until he couldn’t anymore. James stayed there, solid as a ghost could be.
“...maybe i was a little pissed at first,” he spoke softly, after what seemed like forever. “okay, a lot pissed. it was a dumb idea, and a dumb portal. but i had a lot of time to think about it while i was gone. lots of ghosts get so pissed and so sad that they just lose themselves completely. go nuts. turn into a big ol’ murder monster or whatever. i didn’t want to be... that, especially not when i knew you were out there probably hating yourself enough for both of us. besides... you’re my twin, dude. i don’t think there’s anything you could do to make me hate you. so i learned to live with it, y’know? well... not live with it, but you get what i’m saying.”
“...Kind of,” Danny sniffled.
Phantom pulled away from the hug and grinned. “what i’m saying is that i’m okay, danny. it’s okay. i’m back. and besides- you know what i can do now? check it out.” He raised a hand, which immediately began to glow. In his palm, tiny, glowing green stars began to form. It seemed to be taking a little bit of effort, but after a while, he clapped his hands together and then raised them, letting the stars loose. Throughout the observatory an ectoplasmic galaxy soared around them, and James’ face was full of light. He looked... happy.
“see? isn’t it sick?”
“Y-Yeah, I guess so,” Danny chuckled, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “Guess being a ghost has a few perks, huh?”
“yeah.” Phantom smiled, then gave a small sigh. “listen. don’t tell mom and dad, okay...? they won’t... get it.”
“Are you sure...?”
“big ol’ ectoguns, danny.”
“Fair point. I’m... sorry.”
“holy shit, danny.” James smacked him lightly in the shoulder. “stop apologizing!”
“Sorry!” Another smack. “Ow! Okay, okay, I get the point!”
“good.” He looked like he was about to say something else, but a sudden chill came over the room, even worse than before. James looked suddenly agitated, and soared quickly to the window. The stars vanished. “listen, i really wanna catch up more. like, you have no idea, i missed you so bad. but i wasn’t the only ghost the portal let out. there’s lots more, and they’re mean, and i’m pretty sure there’s a new one out there right now. i better go make sure they don’t kill anybody else.”
“You don’t have to do it all by yourself.”
“i’m the only one of us who doesn’t have to worry about getting killed. i’ll see you later, okay?”
“Wait-”
“i won’t disappear, promise. show me all the pokemon games i missed when i get back.”
And with that, he was gone. The room was suddenly several degrees warmer, but emptier, too. Danny wasn’t sure how long he was standing there before a voice from behind him made him jump.
“DANNY!”
“Ack! Sam?”
Upon leaving the observatory, there they were- Sam, pacing around and calling. Tucker, lying facedown in front of the fence, clearly having messed up his footing.
“Danny! There you are,” she exclaimed, jogging over as Tucker managed to get to his feet. “We were worried you were going to get possessed.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry about before, by the way. I didn’t know.”
“Are you alright?” Tucker asked, finally having made his way over.
“Not really,” Danny replied.
He’d spent the last few years feeling like half of a pair. It had always been Danny and James, Danny and James, Danny and James, until one day it was suddenly just Danny. But now... now?
His missing half wasn’t missing anymore. Different, yes. Weird, for sure. Probably just as annoying as he'd ever been. But not missing.
Danny glanced over his shoulder, back at the empty observatory. It didn’t seem so foreboding now.
“...But I think it's gonna be okay. Eventually.”