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Danny had finally come clean to his parents. And it had gone… okay.
When he had told them, they had gone quiet and still. Then they had simply stood up and left the room.
Danny had panicked and flown to Sam’s unsure whether he should flee or not.
But a few hours later, his parents had called asking if they could talk.
Danny had agreed, much to Sam’s reluctance, and he had promised he’d call her afterwards. She finally agreed, saying that if he didn’t call back after an hour, she’d storm Fentonworks.
He entered the house through the door, not wanting to show off his ghostliness just yet.
His parents were sitting on the couch, they tried to smile at him but it looked more like a grimace.
“Danny…” His mom started before trailing off.
Danny shifted on his feet, biting his lip and looking at the ground.
“Danny, you’re still our– our son. Despite your… ghost side.” His mom said hesitantly. His dad remained silent. “But you also have to understand our worries. Everything we’ve seen about ghosts proves they’re evil. How can we know for sure you’re any different?”
Danny jerked back as if slapped. “Mom… that’s not… ghost’s aren’t evil. They’re just–”
His mom held up a hand to cut him off. “Danny, I know you may think that, especially considering your… status. But our research doesn’t lie.”
“But–”
“But nothing. You’re father and I have agreed to a test period.”
“A test period?” Danny repeated, his voice quiet. What did they mean? Were they going to… to lock him up? Or just kick him out? Surely, they wouldn’t experiment on him. He was their son! How could he be evil? He’d been like this for over three years.
“Yes, a test period.” his mom repeated, looking toward Jack. “Since, you’re only… part ghost, then the same traits might not apply to you.”
Might?
“So, we’ll have a test period. Prove to us that this hasn’t changed you, that it isn’t making you evil.”
“But I’ve already done good stuff! I help people!”
His parents grimaced.
“What you’ve done is destroy a lot of property. And how do you explain that all the ghosts seem to want to attack you? Ghosts only know how to attack people.”
Danny wanted to argue. The ghosts fought him because he was trying to get them back into the Ghost Zone, and there was bound to be property damage after the fights. But he knew they wouldn’t listen.
“What exactly would this test entail?” he asked hesitantly.
“You no longer transform into Phantom, leave the ghosts to us. Show us that you aren’t reliant on the ghost side of you.”
Danny bit his lip. He wanted to cry. Phantom was part of him. He wished Jazz were here, but she was at college and he shouldn’t bother her with this. He only had 3 months left until he turned 18, then he could leave.
He looked down at his feet, fisting his hands on the edge of his shirt. “Ok.”
—---
At least his parents shut off the portal so no ghosts could come through.
Danny didn’t tell his friends exactly what his parents had said. He just told them that they were still nervous his ghost half was affecting him. But he had to keep making excuses as to why he wasn’t transforming. He would if he could get away with it, but his parents had taken his ecto-signature so that if it ever showed up, they’d know he had transformed.
And he did good for the first month, but then his core started to ache.
It was harder to stay awake and he suffered from tremors and a biting chill that wouldn’t leave no matter how many layers he put on.
And then he began slipping in and out of visibility and tangibility like he’d done when he’d first gotten his powers.
At least his parents hadn’t noticed.
Sam and Tucker were becoming more concerned, but he only had to push through for a couple more months before he turned 18. He could make it a few more months.
—---
It happened near the end of his second month. He was walking to school when the tremors caused his legs to collapse, his teeth were chattering and his chest felt like it was screaming. Everything hurt. His body felt like it was trying to turn itself inside out.
His body felt so weird, he felt his transformation starting and it felt like a thousand needles piercing his skin.
He thought he screamed, but then he sank into blessed darkness.
—--
Danny woke up slowly. Everything hurt and it took him a moment to remember what had happened.
When he did remember, he jerked up only to be tugged back down.
He opened his eyes. The green glow of ectoranium greeted him.
He was in a cage, and as he looked down he saw cuffs chaining his wrists to the ground and a chain connecting to a collar around his throat.
No. Nononononononono! This couldn’t be happening. His parents wouldn’t— They weren’t going to— This wasn’t—
His breathing started to pick up. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t happeningthis wasn’thappeningthiswasn’thappeningthiswasn’thappening—
The door to the basement clanged open, and his parents walked down the steps.
“Mom, Dad, please! Don’t— I can— please!”
“We gave you a chance, Danny. We told you to keep your ghost half locked away, but you wouldn’t listen.” Jack said.
“I tried! It wasn’t—”
“We warned you.” His mother’s expression softened. “I know you can’t help it. That the ectoplasm in you is making you act like this, that’s it’s making you become more ghostlike, more evil. But you have to understand Danny, your father and I have devoted our lives to investigating ghosts to keep the world safe. We have to consider the greater good.”
“Please!” Danny sobbed.
“It’ll be okay, Danny.” his father said. “We’re just going to help you move on. Don’t worry. Soon you’ll be free of this evil influence.”
There were tears in his parents eyes. They didn’t deserve to be sad. They were doing this to him! Why couldn't they just accept him, accept that ghosts weren’t evil, that he wasn’t evil!
He just wanted them to love him.
Why couldn’t they just love him?