Work Text:
It was quiet, too quiet. It has been 3 days since any Demons were seen, there are still 3 Kaiju and their King unaccounted for. Their king was a tricky one to catch, she had been cornered thrice already but always managed to switch places with one of her Kaiju before anyone could stop her. Danny had ordered for her Kaiju to be found first before they try to catch her again. It was getting annoying, Danny knew she was toying with him but he couldn't figure out what she was planning.
Danny has spent the last 3 days in his office still doing the never ending pile of paperwork. His eyes ache from looking at paper for days with no sleep, his body groans with every movement and his stomach painfully reminds him of his humanity. But there he sits hour after hour the paperwork keeping his mind from wandering into the infinite realm of possibilities, what could she be plotting, where would she strike next, how could he stop her-
His thoughts are interrupted when someone clears their throat from across his desk making him nearly fall out of his chair. He looks up at his unexpected guests to find Frostbite, Ghost Writer, and Clockwork looking him over with concern.
"Ever heard of knocking?" He sighs, settling back into his chair.
"Great one we have knocked and have been standing here for several minutes" Frostbite gestures to the other beings standing next to him.
"Right, sorry I was a little distracted" he gestures to the stacks of papers on his desk "what brings all three of you here today it must be pretty important for you to just show up"
"Frostbite brought us here to see for ourselves the state you're in" Ghost writer folds his arms over his chest "He has been checking on you all day and hasn't seen you leave to eat or sleep. We all know even Ghosts need some sleep and you're half human still"
"I still have a thousand years worth of neglected paperwork to do not to mention-"
He is cut off by Clockwork raising a quieting hand "Go home and sleep the work will be here when you get back"
"The worked waited three thousand years already so it can wait a few more days" Ghost writer added
"But what about the Observants?" As much as Danny wanted to protest he knew that it was futile if all 3 of his closest mentors were here.
"Let us worry about them" Ghost writer had a mischievous grin playing on his lips.
"You can come back when you figure out a solution to your problem"
Danny looked at Clockwork about to say something but it was too late. He was already in his room sitting on his bed. He sighed and flopped back, looking at his digital alarm, the time read 4:30pm. His duplicate would be home soon then he would have to absorb the last 3 days of memories.
He closed his eyes for a few minutes when he felt his duplicate enter the house and come up the stairs. He laid there as the duplicate closed the door and reabsorbed into one main body.
He had learned all he could about duplicates from other Ghosts. He can now sustain one for months even if he isn't in the same realm. It makes it easier to live both lives right now but the memory return always left him with a headache.
He stared at the old stars on his ceiling, head pounding while he sorted the memories until he drifts off into a fitful sleep.
______________
Jazz knew Danny was home from the level of energy in the house. Having his duplicate around wasn't the same, there was just something missing. Their parents hadn't noticed but they also wouldn't notice if he just never came home at all.
Jazz had started attending online classes so she could be close to home if Danny needed her. She was also working full time at the Library so she could afford her schooling and so she could afford food that wouldn't attack them. She wanted to make sure Danny was taken care of even if the nutrition wasn't doing much for his actual body.
She made her way up the stairs to her brother's room, knocking lightly before opening the door. She found him lying sprawled across his bed with his legs hanging off the side, clearly having dozed off.
She approached quietly not wanting to startle him, until she noticed the hem of his shirt rolled up exposing the pale skin of his stomach. The sisterly urge to tickle her baby brother winning after a few seconds of debate.
She crept the last few steps, stretching her fingers out over his sides slowly before softly pinching down. He startled awake but soon was overtaken with giggles and laughs and he tried fruitlessly to escape his sister's grasp. Her own giggles and grin of pure glee washing away any anger there might have been.
After She stopped they both sat on his bed still giggling "Hell of a way to wake someone up!" He mock scolded but there was too much joy, amusement, happiness, kinship, being communicated between their connections "My sides hurt" he playfully threw himself onto her lap.
She gently ran her fingers through his hair, it was getting greasy but that didn't bother her. They stayed like that for a few minutes just enjoying each other's presence and touch.
"Okay! Dinner should be ready and you need a shower!" As much as she wanted to stay like that she knew they needed to eat and wash up "How about after dinner we watch a movie?"
"A shower then a movie!" He sat up stretching "Mom and Dad?"
"Not here, I think they went to some conference about the whole Ghosts stopping Demons thing"
"Hope that doesn't spell trouble for us"
"I'm sure it'll be fine" she gives him a reassuring smile "Now come on before dinner burns"
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.
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After dinner Danny went to shower while Jazz cleaned the dishes. When he was done he went down to the living room and laid on the couch, leaving room at his feet for Jazz but knowing full well she wasn't going to sit there.
After she was done she came in and threw a blanket on him and picked up the remote, clicking a few buttons until she got to the episode of The Walking Dead they left off on. She pressed play and set the remote down, stretching before calling out "My spot!" And flopping on top of her brother.
He grunted out an "ow" while she got comfortable. "Baby" was the only response he got.
"You know if anyone saw this they'd think the wrong thing"
"Eh, Let'em think what they want, this used to be the only way you'd sleep so I kinda got used to it"
Maybe Clockwork was right, he needed this. Just some time to enjoy his life.
_______________________
Clockwork has somehow locked his king out of his kingdom. Everytime Danny tries to make a Portal back in the Zone its like there is an invisible wall keeping him out and he definitely blames Clockwork.
Why you might ask does he want back, well he's not even sure why himself. Maybe it's because of all the days he's spent locked away in his office, or maybe he's just bored.
Either way now he is stuck at Sam's house studying with his two best friends. It's strange how easy the work is when he doesn't have to worry about Ghost attacks or his parents.
Sam's parents are gone at some Gala in Gotham so they basically have the house to themselves. It's peaceful.
Aw shit it's peaceful!
Danny slams his hands on the table startling his friends. He spreads his senses out over his haunt but finds nothing wrong, but there's always something wrong…
He turns to Tucker "where are your parents?"
Tucker stares at his friend, confused "At home?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah dude you saw them after school when we picked up my stuff"
Sam placed her hand on Danny's shoulder "there is nothing wrong, just chill. Besides you can sense people now why not just check in on them?"
"Same reason I don't peep on anyone, especially married couples!"
"What could they possibly be-" Tucker started before his face scrunched in disgust "aw man! I did not need that mental image!"
Sam and Danny laugh, some of the tension releasing from his shoulders.
"Seriously though you need to relax dude, things have been pretty chill around here. And we've seen the changes to the Zone since you became king, she won't miss you for a few days" Tucker reassured.
"Speaking of, Didn't Clockwork say you should find a solution to your problem while you're here? What problems are you still having?"
"I don't know, aside from the demons that are still missing I have a mountain of paperwork that will take me forever to finish"
"Dude why not delegate a team to do that? There has to be at least a few Ghosts who can do that"
Danny stares at Tucker “Sometimes I hate you but mostly I hate me for not thinking about that sooner” sighing as he lets his head drop onto the table with a thud.
Sam pats him sympathetically on the back “I'm sure it would have come to you at some point”
“Yeah when he finally finished it” Tucker Jokes before receiving a smack from Sam and a kick from Danny.
_____________
Later after they finished their studying they three are piled together on a couch in Sam's home theater watching some random horror movie when Tucker's PDA starts beeping.
With an annoyed and frustrated groan he picks it up and starts tapping away “Seriously this is the 12th time! Just give up already, you aren't getting into Ghost Tech!”
“Who's been trying to hack us so much” Danny slightly readjusts so he can see the screen.
“I don't know their system is really well encrypted, all I can find is that they're from New Jersey”
“Huh are they using that as a ping location?”
“Nah they tried to use a few other states but it wasn't impossible for me to track it back to Jersey”
“Can you shut down their systems and restart to gain access?”
“I mean probably but there hasn't been a good enough reason to go that far yet”
“It could be the League, they haven't shown any interest in the past though”
“Well this has become a multi world event that the Ghosts are taking a huge roll in so its not surprising they would want all the info they can get”
“Do we want the League having all the info on Ghosts?” Sam asks
“I'd rather they get it from us first then to get it from the GIW or the Fenton's”
“I agree with Tuck, let's find out if it's even them first but then we can initiate plan Seed!”
“For the record I still hate that name” Tucker mumbles.