Archive of Our Own

“It’s nothing, okay?” Danny shouted, exasperated.

“Why won’t you just talk to us?” Maddie yelled back, similar frustration in her tone.

Jack just groaned as shoved his head further under his pillow. One of these days this family really needed to invest in some soundproof coating or something. His wife and son were in the living room, how could he possibly hear them so loudly? Why was this his life? Jack whined pathetically into the bedroom, empty except for him.

“There’s nothing to talk about, why is that so hard for you to understand?” Danny shot back.

“It isn’t nothing, Danny! Your wrist is very clearly broken, for Christ’s sake!”

Jack could practically hear the eye roll from the other room. “It so is not, mom!”

“It is bruised and crooked, why the hell won’t you tell me who did this?”

“Nothing happened and no one did anything! Ugh, I’m done with this crap.”

“Now wait just a second young man-!” Maddie didn’t even get to finish her sentence before Jack heard the front door slam close with impressive force, the window pane beside him shaking from it. Add doing a structural check for the house to the same to-do list that has the soundproofing on it, there was no way Danny was strong enough for this window to be doing that.

A cough tore from him, feeling like knives against his already sore throat. The flu sucked. He was still in the middle of his coughing fit when he heard the door to his room open, his wife’s soft footsteps coming over beside him. He heard the squeak of her hazmat suit as she leaned down to him, pushing back his sweaty hair and running her fingers through it. He didn’t say anything, instead giving a hum of satisfaction at the relaxing touch.

Maddie pressed the back of her hand against Jack’s forehead, sighing at whatever she felt. “You’re still burning up.” She said. Jack almost whined again when she pulled away from him. “I think I’m sleeping on the couch tonight, dear.”

“And you’re sure it isn’t ghost flu?” Jack croaked, doing his best to ignore the pain in his throat.

“I’m positive, sweetie.” Maddie said. Jack groaned and opened his eyes, watching his wife piddle around the room while she got ready for bed.

“What happened?” He asked.

Maddie stilled, staring at the pajamas she had pulled from the dresser. She slunk down to the edge of the bed, sitting down. “Danny’s wrist is obviously broken and I think part of his hand is too. It’s bruised and I swear it looks crooked. I don’t think he knew I was in the kitchen, he didn’t hide it in time. Now he’s stormed out. Why would he hide something like that? He needs medical attention!” Anger suddenly flared in her face and she bunched up the pajamas, viciously throwing it halfway across the room. They fell harmlessly to the floor, but Maddie continued to glare as if they had deeply offended her. “I don’t understand. God, why won’t he talk to me? We used to be so close! Today has been one fucking nightmare after another and I can’t take anymore.”

“What else happened?” He asked. Jack had been in bed almost all day - he hadn’t even been able to drive himself to the doctor, Jazz had had to squeeze him into her car and drive him. Jack and being sick did not get along well.

“Phantom, what else?” Maddie practically spat the ghost’s name. “I had him! I had him, Jack. I even literally handcuffed him to me! With the power suppressant cuffs so he couldn’t phase through them! But almost immediately after, I heard a loud crack and he was gone. I had him for a grand total of five seconds. I cannot for the life of me figure out how he got out. I failed as a mother and an ectoscientist today.”

The longer she spoke, the more anger faded from her voice, getting replaced with exhaustion and sadness so deep it was nearly grief.

“Why won’t he just talk to us?” Maddie asked desperately.

Jack reached out a hand and patted her reassuringly on the leg. “I don’t know.” Jack admitted, every syllable a knife directly to his throat. “I wish sometimes I could just… walk in his shoes, see through his eyes. Understand him. All we can do is our best, Mads.”

Maddie slumped forward, defeated. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess so.” The bed creaked slightly as she left it, grabbing the thrown clothes from the floor. “I’ll get you something to help you sleep, okay?”

“Thanks.” He croaked, fatigue settling in. He really was not doing well, that short conversation had been incredibly taxing.

Maddie changed into her pajamas, left the room, and came back a few minutes later, water and various bottles in her hands. “Okay. Take this antiviral for the flu symptoms. Here’s some cough syrup as well. And, honestly, you sound awful, so here’s Benadryl and the Fenton Knock ‘Em Out. Can’t feel bad if you’re dead to the world!”

Jack tried to chuckle, but it just sent him into another coughing fit. He accepted the medication from his wife, dutifully slamming it down.

It really was a shame they couldn’t sell the Knock ‘Em Out, it worked so well, but neither of them technically had the degrees to be making medication in their basement. More for them!

Maddie kissed his forehead as she left, grabbing her pillow. The cocktail in his system kicked in quickly. All he thought of was Danny as he drifted away.

~~~~~~

Jack grumbled as light spilled in from his open curtains. He could’ve sworn Maddie had closed them last night. He cleared his throat, tested his limbs. He was relieved when nothing hurt the way it had last night, his arms and legs no longer feeling like lead. Wow, all that crap he took last night had really helped! Even if he did feel kinda sore in other spots. Must’ve slept wrong.

Eyes still closed against the offensive light, he pushed himself up. Or, tried to. He yelped in pain, eyes flying open as his right hand aggressively protested the action. He gripped his wrist with his left hand, pulling it against him.

He stared at his hands, though, utterly bewildered because these were most definitely not his hands. Jack blinked several times, trying to get his eyes to get back to reality instead of whatever dream state it was stuck in.

The hands in front of him had no gloves on, despite Jack knowing he fell asleep with them. They were too narrow, too small, too pale. He studied them closer, brows furrowing. Even that felt weird, he realized. His entire body felt, just… off.

His right wrist was mostly definitely sprained and had a nasty bruise entirely circling it, the bruise extending up to his thumb as well. Jack wiggled his(?) thumb in curiosity. It ached slightly as the bruise was pulled on. His left hand was, somehow, the more surprising one. He had to hold it close to his face, moving it to observe it from every angle, letting as much natural light illuminate the limb. It was so faint, he could barely see it.

A scar shaped like lightning branched around his hand and up his arm, fading into non-existence shortly above his elbow.

Done examining his arm, he studied the room around him. Well, at least he knew this room, though he wasn’t sure if that was reason to panic or not. There was no denying the walls covered in star posters, the NASA comforter set he was snuggled under. He threw the blankets from him and ran to the nearby mirror.

He wasn’t entirely sure how he was supposed to react when his son’s face was the one staring back at him, blue eyes wide with bewilderment. Jack touched his/his son’s face, still not quite believing it, even as he ran his hands across a smooth chin where Jack should have stubble.

“What the hell?” He asked, though Danny’s voice was the one who spoke his words. He hurried from the teen’s room, running into his own.

Was this an out of body experience? Literally seeing his own body, sniffling and coughing under the covers.

Jack moved to wake Danny-in-Jack’s-body up, but was distracted by Jazz talking to him from her doorway.

“Danny? You’re never up this early, were you out all night again?”

“Uh…” Again, hearing Danny’s voice was incredibly odd right now. A glance back at his sleeping form and an idea formed in Jack’s head. He could pretend to be Danny - maybe he’d learn something. He felt a twinge from the bruised wrist - the one Maddie had yelled about last night, the one that had hurt Jack so badly this morning. He loved his son and if the only way to find out what was hurting him was to pretend to be him for a day? He wouldn’t complain.

Smiling in a way he hoped mimicked Danny, he turned away from his own sleeping body. The mix of medication Jack had taken last night should keep him down most of the day and he suspected Danny was currently inhabiting Jack’s body.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Jack lied, shrugging like Danny so often did.

“Danny, what’s that?” Jazz asked, stepping closer and gently grabbing Danny’s injured hand. Jack hissed as it twinged painfully.

“Uh…” he said. He and Maddie didn’t know if Jazz knew what Danny was involved in and he couldn’t risk saying the wrong thing if she did. So he shrugged again. How often did Danny shrug? Was this believable? “It’s nothing.”

Jazz sighed, gently examining her brother’s hand. “Just because it’s a minor injury doesn’t mean it’s nothing.” Jack’s eyes widened. What the hell was his son doing that this was minor?

Jazz continued, too focused on the purple bruises to notice her father’s distress. “You broke this, didn’t you? You know you’re supposed to come to me when that happens so I can at least splint it.”

How often was Danny breaking bones?!

“It was late when I got home,” Jack finally said, realizing the silence was starting to stretch too long. “I didn’t want to wake you. Besides, it’s just a sprain.”

Jazz snorted, thwacking her brother on the back of the head. “As if that means anything. We agreed you would stop that, Danny. You wake me up next time, understand?”

“Next time?” Jack asked, and it was definitely his son’s voice cracking because of puberty right then, Jack had not squeaked.

“If you ever figure out how to stop the ‘next times,’ let me know. Wanna ride to school or you gonna go solo?”

Did Danny frequently walk by himself to school? As far as his parents knew, Danny always carpooled with his sister. He looked out the window behind Jazz, where snow flurries fell. “Can you give me a lift? It’s snowing too much.”

For some inexplicable reason, Jazz laughed. “Yeah, as if the snow has ever stopped you.” She looked at her watch. “Meet me downstairs in ten and we can head out.”

Jack just nodded, suddenly realizing this meant he had to dress Danny. Somehow, that felt like more of an invasion of privacy than deciding to try to masquerade as him. Still, that conversation with his daughter had set off more alarms than a building on fire. Jazz - who had always been so protective of her brother, who tried to push him to be his best self - knew whatever Danny was going through and didn’t tell them.

As Jack ran back into his room - wow Danny was fast! - he frowned as he thought over Jazz’s words. She made it sound like Danny frequently broke bones. But bones took a long time to heal and they were extremely painful. Danny would need medical attention - a cast and possibly pain medication. Even after Jack - er, Danny? - had assured her it was just a sprain, she still scolded him like a broken bone. Jack knew his daughter knew bones would take weeks to heal.

Jack quickly changed, doing his best to not think about how utterly awkward this was and he ran downstairs. Maddie wasn’t on the couch so he hurried down the stairs to the lab.

“You’re up early, sweetie!” Maddie said.

“Listen to me,” Jack said urgently, continuously glancing up the stairwell to make sure Jazz hadn’t appeared. “It’s me, Jack. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but I woke up as Danny this morning. Whatever Danny’s into, Jazz knows! His wrist is just sprained, and I think his thumb might have gotten hurt too.” He held up the damaged hand as proof. “I took enough sleeping medication last night to put a bull down for a week - Danny is in my body and he won’t wake up any time soon. This is our chance! Maybe I can figure out what’s going on by pretending to be him! Jazz saw this and just got onto me - uh, Danny? - for not coming to her last night for her to put a splint on it! She thought he’d broken his hand because he does it a lot!”

As soon as he was done talking, he frowned. He hadn’t needed to take a breath for any of that. Danny must be in really good shape, even though he didn’t look it. Something about that explanation, though… it just didn’t feel right.

Maddie, thankfully, took it in stride. There were some benefits of marrying a scientist who believed in ghosts. Outlandish situations weren’t as unbelievable. “Are you sure?” She asked.

Jack nodded. “Maybe I can get something. Anything to put us on the right path. We won’t get this chance again.”

Maddie bit at her lip indecisively. “It feels wrong. But you’re right. You just have to make sure his friends buy it.” 

Jack shrugged. “He’s a teenage boy. How hard could it be? I just need to let them talk. Someone knows something and they won’t shy around the topic around him.”

“Do it.” Maddie said. “I’ll call you if Danny wakes up. Now go, quickly!”

Jack instinctively began to reach towards Maddie to hug her, but, again, it just felt… bad to do in his son’s body. So he just nodded and bolted up the stairs.

Wow, he really needed to get on whatever workout regimen Danny was apparently hiding. This boy could zoom. 

The living room was still empty when he re-entered, pulling Danny’s jacket and gloves from the rack by the door. Jazz wasn’t far behind him, digging her keys out of her purse.

“You remembered your coat for once!” Jazz said, grinning. “I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have to remind you to get it.”

Was Danny really that forgetful? This was Illinois, it snowed a lot. Was he getting head trauma on top of whatever else he was doing? Jack just grinned sheepishly in the best impersonation of Danny he could muster, following Jazz to the car.

“So, are you going to tell me who did that?” Jazz asked as they pulled away from the driveway, pointing briefly to his wrist before firmly placing both hands properly on the wheel.

Crap. Crap, crap, crap. Jack had no idea how Danny had sprained his wrist, much less who did it to him. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” He whined, crossing his arms and sinking further into his seat.

“Oh my God, was it Boxy?” Jazz said, laughing.

This was definitely a gang. But what kind of gang member went by Boxy? But it was an answer Jack could play off of. “Lucky shot.”

Whoever this Boxy was, he must be really weak, Jack determined, as Jazz was nearly crying from laughter. “No wonder you didn’t want to talk about it! By the Ancients, how did Boxy manage to break your wrist?”

“It’s just a sprain!” Jack protested, trying to push the conversation away from topics he had no idea what was going on. And also trying his best to not feel slightly disappointed at how hilarious his daughter found her brother getting hurt.

“Which means it was a clean break last night.” Jazz shot back.

“That’s impossible!” Jack immediately reacted, forgetting to actually think before he spoke.

Thankfully, Jazz didn’t seem to notice, apparently still thinking Danny was just messing around. “Yeah, and absolutely nothing about you is impossible.” She said sarcastically.

Jack had utterly no clue what was going on, so he reverted to a tried and true Danny method - he went silent and looked away, giving Jazz the cold shoulder.

Jazz laughed again but she didn’t push, allowing her brother to stew.

When they pulled into the school and he left her car, though, he realized a fundamental flaw in his plans.

He had no earthly idea where Danny’s classes or locker were. He was fairly certain Danny had passively mentioned at one point that every class he had either Sam or Tucker with him, so Jack would just… have to tag along. He had a 50/50 shot of getting it right. Maybe he could blame tiredness if he chose the wrong one?

“Danny!” Tucker yelled, waving as he strolled towards Jack. He was bundled in winter clothing.

Jack took a deep breath, preparing himself for the performance of his life. Again, something with Danny’s breathing just felt wrong. It wasn’t… he didn’t know, satisfying? There was something deep inside that he couldn’t place, something that was just… missing.

Regardless, he smiled back at the approaching boy, waving as well. “Hey, Tuck!”

Tucker closed the distance between them, both of them off to the side of a busy hallway. Jack assumed they were waiting for Sam.

Starting to feel a little too warm in this jacket - the school must have jacked the heat all the way up - he pulled it off with a sigh of relief.

“Dude, have you lost it? It’s freezing in here. Put that back on!” Tucker said quietly, looking around and watching the others.

“What? No, it’s burning up in here.”

“Dude, did you forget the heater broke? You know you get warm easily. Besides,” he continued, pointing at the splotchy purple bruise, “we don’t want people seeing that.”

Jack wanted to argue but he conceded. He was Danny right now, this apparently was just a normal thing his son dealt with, even if it made absolutely no sense to Jack.

He was obediently pulling the jacket back on, tugging the sleeve down to hide the purple mark, though it didn’t seem nearly as bad as he had remembered it. He must’ve imagined how awful it looked, made it worse.

“Danny, Tuck,” Sam greeted as she joined the little group. Jack, however, had gotten distracted by the lightning scar on his hand again.

“Earth to space case!” Sam called, playfully hitting his shoulder with a book. “What’s up?”

“Just, uh. Got distracted.” Jack managed, sticking both hands in his pockets as though it was normal. “Forget how bad that scar is sometimes.” 

Jack had been hoping that would prod the two into giving more information, but they just shrugged. “We’ll take your word for it. You know we’ve never seen it on this side of you.” Tucker answered.

Well. Damn. This side of you? Jack just had more questions now. The three of them got swept away in the crowd, Jack following his son’s best friends as closely as possible.

He felt an odd stir in his chest. It almost felt like… contentment? Like, his body was content even though he wasn’t? Jack couldn’t quite… place whatever was happening in him. It definitely wasn’t bad. Just… weird.

Jack yelped as he felt himself be grabbed by his collar, his back thrown to the wall. He scowled at whoever had grabbed him - a tall blond jock, flanked on either side by two others.

“How are you today, Fentonia?” The boy sneered.

“Dash, for one day, just one, can you not be a giant fucking prick?” Sam asked.

The boy - Dash, apparently - tilted his head in thought and paused. “Nope!” He said cheerfully, a punch flying towards Jack’s face.

Time seemed to slow, the incoming strike almost cartoonish in its exaggerated slo-mo. Jack easily broke the larger boy’s grip, throwing his arms up to protect his face. Something felt like it was… missing. Something he couldn’t place.

The punch landed on his crossed arms and the odd time perception stopped. Despite Dash’s apparent higher strength, Danny’s body didn’t flinch beneath the blow, nothing more than a piece of paper being brushed against him.

Dash yelped in pain, holding his hand against himself, looking at Jack in surprise. Behind him, Tucker and Sam looked stunned as well. Jack just studied the scene, wide eyed. 

What. What was that? What did he just do?

It was one of the other boys behind Dash who broke the silence - a redhead. “You stole some of your parents' tech, didn’t you? Even with the shit your insane parents make, you’re a loser.”

Dash nodded along with the other boy. “Yeah, what Jeff said. Freak.” He didn’t look like he actually believed it, to be honest, but he was going to roll with whatever sounded better than… whatever the hell Jack had just done. They quickly left after.

Sam and Tucker immediately closed ranks on him, blocking him from view.

“What the hell, Danny!” Sam hissed. “You know you can’t do that!”

“I didn’t mean to,” Jack protested.

Tucker pinched the bridge of his nose, slightly pushing up his glasses. “I thought you had control of the power now, dude. You can’t be here if you don’t. It’s too dangerous!”

“Do you need to go back to Clockwork, Danny?” Sam asked.

Power? Clockwork?

Jack just blinked wildly, unsure what had just happened.

“It’s okay if you do,” Sam said, her voice softening. “Time doesn’t move here if Clockwork doesn’t want it to. You can go spend a few more months with him.”

Jack just shook his head rapidly. “I’m fine.” He said, pushing away from the locker. The way they phrased it, it sounded like Danny had already spent some months with this Clockwork. But that was impossible, Danny hadn’t been gone longer than a night in years. “It won’t happen again.”

“It can’t happen again, Danny.” Tucker pleaded. “You can’t get revealed. I thought you were about to hit Dash! Fuck, dude, you already had to break your own wrist and half your hand last night to get away from Maddie, do you want to get caught?”

Genuine fear and worry emanated from his son’s two friends. But Jack almost didn’t notice it. Their words had struck him as he struggled to understand them.

“Let’s just… let’s just go to class, okay?” Jack finally managed. This charade was getting harder and harder, he was grasping at straws to stay in character. A character he apparently knew nothing about.

“Yeah. C’mon, before Lancer gives you another detention.” Sam sighed, turning away. Tucker and Jack fell into step behind her.

“Seriously, dude. If you can’t control it, promise me you’ll go back to Clockwork.” Tucker said, throwing a worried glance at his friend.

Jack desperately wished he knew who this Clockwork was, that he knew what was going on. It almost seemed… ghostly. But that was impossible. Danny was human, Jack had seen him go through a ghost shield last week. Was Danny involved in a literal mad science experiment? Trying to fuse ghost abilities to a human host? Was it hurting Danny? Was he having to fight other guinea pigs? How in the absolute hell could his son fucking slow down time? That wasn’t an ability he knew any ghost to be capable of.

“I promise.” Jack lied. If this Clockwork was forcing his son into something, there was no way in hell he was letting Danny back near him.

Tucker breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

As they settled into their apparent normal seats - why did Danny insist on sitting so far away? - Jack’s mind was a storming ocean.

Jack knew Tucker loved Danny - romantically or platonically Jack didn’t know or care - so his words confused Jack now that he thought about them. He wouldn’t encourage Danny to do something dangerous. Sam wouldn’t either. They were thicker than thieves, even closer than Jack had been with Maddie and Vlad back in college.

And what they had said about Danny breaking his own bones to escape someone named Maddie. Of course, it wasn’t his Mads, she’d sooner rip their portal apart and set herself on fire than hurt either of her kids, just like Jack would. What other Maddie was in Danny’s life? Was Maddie trying to kidnap his son?

How was it that he found out his son was being physically bullied by another student, and it wasn’t the worst thing he’d learned?

The day went by slowly. Jack did his best to take notes for Danny, his grades were already so poor… but it was all so boring. He’d seen ghosts with more vigor for life than some of these teachers! So far, he’d also been right in his guesses of who to follow to which classes through sheer dumb luck.

His next chance to properly speak to Sam and Tucker didn’t come until lunch. They had glanced at him throughout the day, but they seemed more of worry for this morning than suspicion that he wasn’t Danny.

Maybe his son was more like him than he’d realized, among his friends.

The day had gotten slightly warmer, some of the snow finally fading from the ground. Jack was immensely grateful as the trio ended up sitting down outside. They weren’t wrong when they’d said Danny got warm easily. Jack quite enjoyed being outside - there was no wind, but the cool air seemed to soothe him.

“It’s so nice right now.” Jack said, looking around. They were extremely isolated, tucked in a far off corner that dipped slightly behind the school.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, ice head.” Tucker said, rolling his eyes. He’d taken off some of the heavier winter clothes but he was still swaddled in several layers. “We’re only out here because you need to feel better. Uh - not that it’s a bad thing! Or anything!” He began to babble.

“We need you to feel better, too.” Sam interjected, cutting off Tucker’s babbling. She then rounded on Tucker, stole the red beret off his head, and then began to swat at him repeatedly with it. “Are you trying to get his hero complex riled up?”

Jack added that tidbit to the growing list of things he’d learned about Danny when he froze. Suddenly he felt like ice was consuming his insides, freezing his blood in his veins. It was brief, ending when he exhaled and blue mist escaped his mouth.

That wasn’t what drew his attention, though, as the ice retreated back into the center of his chest, nestling back into his ribs. He had felt all day, he realized, and he hadn’t noticed.

“Danny? Where’s the ghost?” Sam asked, though Jack didn’t see her right now.

Because he’d finally realized what had been missing.

He had no heartbeat. That’s what had been missing earlier, in the fight - the pounding of blood in his ears as his heart raced. Then he noticed that, in his shock, he had stopped breathing. Yet there was no burn in his lungs as he continued to hold it. There was no desperate need to breathe, no fear of suffocating.

Jack began to panic, pressing his a hand to his silent chest, searching for a pulse in his neck.

“Danny!” Sam and Tucker both called, running to his side. “What’s wrong?”

Jack knew he was probably having a panic attack, he’d helped Maddie through a few towards the end of their doctorates. But it was wrong, there was no constricting of his chest, nothing seeming to suffocate him as he didn’t draw breath.

“I can’t-“ he stumbled over his words. “The heartbeat - I can’t - where - I can’t - I can’t find a heartbeat.” 

“Danny, did you get shot with something new last night?” Tucker asked.

Sam meanwhile, sat beside him, pulling Jack’s hands into her own. “Danny,” she said softly. “You haven’t had a heartbeat since you died.”

“Died?” Jack said. He was spiraling hard. Somehow, the lack of his heart erratically beating due to anxiety was making this worse.

“Danny, what happened last night? Did something happen you didn’t tell us about?” Sam asked, her voice more gentle than Jack had ever heard her.

“Oh dear, am I interrupting something?” An echoed voice asked. If he had any more room for panic, the fact the Wisconsin Ghost was hovering in front of them probably would have been notable. Fuck. He needed to get himself and two teens away from one of the most violent ghosts in the town, no weapons in sight. The cold in his chest seemed to flex, gently spreading through him.

“Oh fuck off, Vlad. We don’t have time for you today.” Sam spat, her prior gentleness buried in hate. She really was fearless.

Wait, Vlad? The ghost was named Vlad?

“Daniel always has time for me. Don’t you, son?” The ghost leered.

Even as Jack continued to feel like he was shattering, the ice within him moved, freezing the shards of himself in place, keeping him from fully falling into ruin.

“Not your son.” Jack managed. He didn’t know what had happened to Danny, what Danny was now. But Danny would always be his fucking child.

“Not yet,” the ghost cooed. “But soon. Your father won’t survive me forever. Not even with you as his guardian angel, little badger.”

Jack had yet again been verbally backhanded, more than once, as the ghost’s lips twisted into a cruel smile. This ghost was trying to kill him - Jack him - and steal his son.

And he knew who this ghost was.

Jack had always thought the little badger endearment was, well, endearing. But now it left a feeling of ash in his mouth.

How could this be Vlad? Jack’s Vlad, his first genuine friend in college. One of only two he had. His heart - apparently he still had an emotional one of those - felt like it had been torn from his chest. Still, no matter what Vlad had been to him, how much he had loved him like a brother, the feeling clearly didn’t go both ways. No matter how much it absolutely destroyed him, Vlad was no longer a friend. He was an enemy trying to steal Jack’s son away.

He pushed himself to his feet, even if his legs did shake some. “Go to hell.”

Vlad grinned, sadistic and vile. “I already have.” A pink ectoblast flew from his hand, nailing Jack square in the chest. He fell backwards, catching himself with his elbows, grass itchy against his skin.

Jack really wished he knew how to control whatever time shifting ability Danny apparently had, but he had no idea.

Vlad lazily threw up a shield as Tucker and Sam blasted at him, wrist rays smoking with each shot. “Danny, do something!” Sam shouted before she had to jump out of the way of a blast.

“I don’t have a weapon!” Jack shouted back as he caught thin, knife-like rays striking across his side, cutting deeply into him.

The ice in his chest suddenly burst. It encased him, consumed him. It was no longer the cold of a dead heart, Jack was the ice. Power he’d never felt before flared beneath his skin and he yielded to it, the power painlessly tearing through his skin, through his very being.

Jack watched as a circle of light pulsed out from inside him, travelled along him.

“You’re not Daniel.” Vlad said.

Jack stared at the white gloves that had appeared on him, the black jumpsuit, the white boots. “What?” He whispered, pulling at the fabric clinging to his chest so he could get a better look. There was no denying that symbol.

Jack’s entire world had absolutely gone to hell and yet he continued further, into the deeper circles, each new revelation a spear to his soul.

“Who are you?” Sam asked. Tucker warily raised his ray, now aiming at Jack. Yet he barely registered them, staring at Vlad.

Phantom’s powers, Jack knew. Phantom’s abilities were something Jack and Maddie had been studying for years. The thought of his wife gave a small twinge in his hurt wrist. He pushed that avalanche away for now. 

He’d happily let it bury him in shame later.

Jack willed his body into the air, floating level with his old friend. His fists clenched and green surrounded them.

“Stay the hell away from my son, Masters!” Jack shouted, ramming his hands into the ghost’s stomach. Apparently Vlad hadn’t been expecting this fake Phantom or whatever to be strong. Almost immediately, he had the upper hand, surprising the other ghost and then just not letting up, even as it devolved into Jack just repeatedly slamming his fists into the other’s face.

It didn’t last forever though, eventually Vlad blasting him in return and sending him flying. He slammed against a tree and slid down, bark angrily digging into him, until he crashed to the ground. Now it was Vlad who had successfully surprised his enemy, continually blasting Jack.

As much as it hurt, Jack felt so guilty. His son would eventually get his body back. And Jack hadn’t protected it. Jack wasn’t the one who would be suffering these bruises later. As Vlad continued his barrage, yelling insults the whole way, all Jack could do was throw his hands over his head, trying to form a shield with only a moderation of success.

Jack heard the roar of an engine, gravel being crushed under something heavy, metal doors slamming open.

“Ah, Daniel, I presume?” Vlad asked, granting Jack a brief reprieve, allowing him to look up.

As odd as seeing his sleeping body had been, seeing himself up and walking around from an outside perspective that wasn’t a recording felt deeply wrong. Maddie was also there, catching his eyes. He saw his pain mirrored there and he knew Maddie knew Danny’s truth now as well.

Danny stepped forward in his father’s body, hefting the blast bazooka onto his shoulder. Despite looking like death warmed over, he didn’t look weak or afraid. As sick as Jack knew he had been, Danny pushed through it like it was nothing.

“Stay away from my dad!” Danny shouted, firing the bazooka. “Tucker, now!”

Vlad’s - and Jack’s - attention had been entirely on the new arrivals. Neither of them had noticed Tucker slipping around behind Vlad.

Vlad reacted too late - he managed to catch the blast in a shield but the blue light of the Thermos caught him. Tucker slammed the cap on, twisting it shut. “It’s both infuriating and hilarious to me that Vlad keeps falling for that.” He said, dropping the device into his backpack.

“Dad?” He heard his own voice ask timidly. Danny was warily approaching him, slowly and cautiously, two things Jack himself had never been.

“Danno.” He said, forcing himself to stand even as his side twinged, cold ectoplasm bleeding down.

Danny seemed to relax some, hurrying towards his father. “Are you okay?” He asked, eyeing the injury on Jack’s side.

Jack nodded. “It’s your body, son. I’m just borrowing it. But I think I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry!” Both blurted out simultaneously after a short silence. Jack motioned for Danny to continue.

“I’m sorry I lied. I’m sorry I died. I’m sorry this is the way you had to find out.” Danny said. “Do I need to apologize for coming back? For coming back wrong?”

“No.” Jack said firmly, willing his body to float, lifting him until he was eye level with Danny. He wondered if it was as odd for Danny to stare into his own face as it was for Jack. Gently, he held Danny’s face, even though it was his own eyes looking back at him, misty with tears. “I am so sorry I ever made you believe that. I’m sorry I didn’t immediately wake you up when I realized what had happened. But I love you, Danny. I will always love you. You are my son, you understand? Dead or alive.” His voice cracked there. “But I love you so, so much, Danny. And I will spend the rest of my goddamn life proving it to you if I have to.”

Danny sobbed gently, throwing his arms around his father, and clinging to him in a hug. It wasn’t a hug Jack would normally give - bone breaking, all consuming. It was soft and light, it avoided the wounds Jack hadn’t stopped from littering his son’s body. Jack held onto his son just as tightly, squeezing his eyes shut as he cried, too.

For a moment, it felt like he was being pulled from the body, painlessly melting from his son’s form. As quickly as he melted, he was rebuilt.

The arms around him changed position, chilled him even through his clothes. Solid ground reappeared under his feet. The ache in his side fell away, the other wounds disappearing into mist. His throat became sore and itchy, fatigue settled into his very bones. A light weight was held against him.

Jack carefully pulled back. Phantom’s green eyes stared back at him, a relieved smile coming to both of their faces as, finally, they no longer eerily stared at themselves. “I love you, Danny.” Jack repeated, even as talking felt like gargling sharp gravel. But it didn’t matter, he needed Danny to hear this from his father’s voice, for once. “You’re safe.” 

“Are… are you two back in your own bodies now?” Maddie asked, approaching them as they separated. 

Jack just smiled and nodded, suddenly exhausted.

Phantom floated there, before gritting his teeth together and edging closer to her until he was only just beyond arm’s reach. “Yeah, mom.” He said. “I’m in my body. This is my body - this is who I am.”

Maddie smiled even as tears fell down her face. “I’m glad you’re back where you belong.” She said, holding out her hands to him. He came closer and reached for her, allowing her to pull him into a hug. “I love you, too. All of you.”

She was the first to pull away, though she didn’t release his hands. “I’m sorry, Danny. Just like your father. We never would have hunted Phantom if we’d known it was you. I’m sorry that we made life so hard for you that you had no way of knowing that. God, I’d do anything to take it all back. Every awful thing we’ve ever done or said.” She looked at his hand, the wrist he’d broken last night. “I’m sorry for the lengths you’ve had to go to in order to be safe from us.”

“I think we should all go home,” Jack said, glancing at the school. “Maddie, can you go check out Danny and Jasmine? I think today’s been hard enough.” His wife nodded, heading to do so.

Finally, he turned to Sam and Tucker. “I’m sorry I lied to you. But thank you. For keeping him safe all these years. I’m so grateful Danny has you two. And I promise both of you that he has two less people you need to keep him safe from.” His throat felt like it was layered with razors, but Danny had been fine. He could be strong enough for Danny, just long enough for the things that needed to be said.

“We love him too, Mr. F.” Tucker said, fidgeting with the he of his shirt.

“And we will always protect each other.” Sam added. The glare in her eyes was a warning, Jack knew. The two of them would make sure his parents kept to their word.

Jack really couldn’t ask for better friends for his son.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

“Wait a sec, Danny.” Tucker said. “He only knows you’ve died and he freaked about your human heartbeat.”

Jack looked at them curiously. Was there more?

Danny groaned slightly. “Great, I already had to explain halfas to mom today.” He leaned his head back and whined. Tucker and Sam laughed, waving their goodbyes.

“I don’t need to know everything immediately. We can wait until you’re ready.” Jack said, shivering slightly, both from fever and the cool day. Part of him didn’t want to know yet, wanted to go home and down some more cough medicine. His entire head hurt.

“Did you see the scar on my left hand?” Danny asked.

Jack nodded. “I don’t know how I never saw it.”

“Human eyesight isn’t good enough for it.” He explained, hovering closer and pulling off his left glove, facing his palm out towards Jack. “Look.”

He studied his son’s arm, the scar so much more visible now. It looked like long healed scar tissue, in the same pattern he’d been studying periodically all day. “Electrical injury.”

Danny nodded. “Yeah, I think the electricity might be why I’m the way I am, like, with what I’m about to show you. I mean, I already know it’s why I’m a ghost. But I… there’s a very long story for us to face when we get home. I don’t know how what I am works and I don’t think I want to. But I’m still half human. My human heart… it couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t get it back. I’m more than human, though. Ugh, I’m babbling. Here. Just… just feel for it.” He offered up his hand to his father.

Jack accepted, pressing his fingers to Danny’s wrist. He inhaled deeply as he did, blinking back tears.

As he felt, under ice cold skin, the gentle beating of his son’s heart.