Work Text:
Jazz sighed as she sat back in her chair, teal eyes glancing at her bedroom door. It wasn’t hard to miss the signs that Danny was struggling, well, not when someone cared enough to look, but he was so reluctant to let them help. Rising from her chair she made her way to her brother’s room, knocking softly on his own before cracking it open slightly.
“Danny?” She called softly, “I was wondering if we could talk..?” Head far enough into the room that she could see into the room Jazz blinked in confusion as she stared at what was definitely her brother in his ghost form, his soft glow illuminating the darkened room, but that wasn’t what was odd. Because Danny was laying face down on the bed, a slight snore coming from him as he slept in the clothes that he had been wearing that day. Green eyes blinked, turning towards her own for a few moments before turning back towards the bed.
“Hey Jazz,” He answered just as softly as she had been talking, “didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You’re okay, though I’m a little confused.” Slipping into the room, Jazz closes the door softly behind her and goes to sit at Danny’s desk, “I thought your powers didn’t work when you were sleeping.”
She watches as Danny winces, slightly, “They don’t, at least, not that Danny knows. But I don’t need to sleep as much as he does.”
Frowning Jazz watches the ghost of her brother before he moves further away to come closer to her. It’s only as he does this that she notices that he isn’t as entirely solid as he usually is, that the air around him has more of a chill to it, there are other things too, his eyes are slightly different, the ectoplasmic green of his eyes more brilliant than it normally was.
“You don’t think you’re Danny?” Jazz asks the ghost that sits close to her.
“I know I’m not, I haven’t been, not for awhile.” Scratching at his jaw he shrugs, “It started a couple of months ago I think? I’m not sure, I just know that somehow I started realizing that I was me, and that Danny wasn’t. I’m not always aware of things that are going on, but when he starts fighting or using our powers I know. I try to help where I can, but I can’t really control his body. It wasn’t until last week that I was able to do this, and it’s only when he’s asleep.”
“Have you tried while he’s awake?”
The ghost shook it’s head, “No, and I don’t want to. He tries so hard to help people, the last thing I want to do is to make him feel like he is keeping someone prisoner in his own body. I’m… I’m not even sure how I feel about all of this. I don’t want to put that on him too. Not now.”
Humming Jazz watches her sleeping brother for a little while, before voicing the question that’s nagging at her. “If you aren’t Danny, then who are you?”
A short laugh comes from next to her, though it’s devoid of humor, “I wish I knew. I guess… you can just call me Phantom. It fits. In more ways than one.”
“Maybe,” Jazz smiled, “But I don’t think that’s all you are.”
“You’re… weirdly calm about this,” Phantom told her, carefully watching her face.
“I mean, I will probably freak out a little bit later, that’s what happened when I found out what Danny is, but right now? It’s not going to help freaking out, and you seem just as confused about this as I am. He’s, well I guess both of you, are always finding out new things that we didn’t know before and not all of them exactly line up with things that we thought we knew before.”
“I guess, “ Phantom says, looking back over at his sleeping counter part as he snorts, both of them falling silent for a few moments. “Would you do me a favor Jazz? Please don’t tell Danny about me. Not right now.”
“I can’t say that I blame you, Danny would feel guilty if he knew, so I won’t tell him right now, but you should still tell him at some point. We don’t know what is going to happen now that you’re aware and it’s not fair to you either.”
“Not like I can do anything about it.”
“Not that we know of right now, but we might think of something down the line. For right now though, if you need something, you can always come to talk to me. I don’t know if I will always be able to do anything to help, but at least you’ll have someone besides yourself to talk to.”
“Might be nice,” Phantom smiled, leaning a bit into her, his body phasing into her a bit before seeming to catch on something solid. “Maybe… maybe we can figure some of what’s going on too.”
Danny’s breath hitched and Phantom sat up, “He’s going to wake up soon. Thanks Jazz, for this.”
“Anytime little brother,” Jazz said ruffling his hair, and Phantom looked at her questioningly before Danny’s head popped up and the ghost of Phantom faded out.
Blue eyes blinked in the dark of the room before squinting towards her, “Jazz?” Came the sleep laden voice, “What are you doing in here?”
“Sorry Danny, I didn’t mean to wake you. I was just going to check your homework over so you didn’t have to worry about it.”
“Didn’ have any today,” Danny mumbled already curling back up to go back to bed, “thanks though.”
Smiling Jazz walked forward, running a hand through Danny’s hair, “Of course, night little brother.” Walking back towards the door Jazz paused turning back to look at the room, but when Phantom didn’t form again she slipped back out of the room. She would catch him on another night she was sure.