Archive of Our Own

Danny likes to think that his afterlife has been going pretty well lately. 

He's been Phantom, Amity Park’s local hero, for more than six months now. This is a secret, of course, one he keeps from almost everyone that knows him. He can count on his hands the number of people who know his secret identity. There's his sister, Jazz, his best friends Sam and Tucker, and a few of his new hero friends on the Young Justice team—Tim, Dick, Bart.

The Team… Danny supposes that his team is one of the reasons why everything has been going so well lately. Back before he became Phantom, he would have never believed he'd eventually join an entire team of hero teens. He’s still one of the newer members, but getting to know others who know what he's going through feels amazing. Even if he doesn't get to meet up with them very often, as he’s still relatively new—usually only for very important missions where his ghostly abilities would come in handy—he feels a little less alone now.

Beyond these people though, Danny has not told anyone of his secret identity as Phantom. Who would even believe him, anyway? Phantom is the ghost hero —and Danny, with his living and breathing body, sure doesn't look like a ghost.

Him being Phantom is such a bizarre situation. It's one that even Danny himself most likely would not believe if he didn't experience it personally. But it’s true, and he has to deal with all of the wild complications that come along with it.

One day, a few months ago, Danny died in a lab accident and came back as a half-ghost . Half dead and half-alive, some sort of weird anomaly balancing right between the precipice of life and death. That's when he gained strange, ghostly powers—flight, invisibility, intangibility—and he's been using them to fight crime ever since. He's also been keeping them largely a secret ever since.

If he's being completely honest with himself, he's mainly been attempting to hide these powers from his mother and father. It is absolutely not something he wants to tell them. He has gained the support of his friends, his sister, and his teammates, but he can’t imagine getting any sort of support from his parents…

His parents, who are ghost hunters . Yeah, he doesn't think telling his ghost hunter parents that he's Phantom the ghost hero would go down very well. So he just… doesn't. He keeps his secret buried deep down inside, where he hopes they will never see. He doesn't know if he will ever be able to tell them the truth, though he hopes that one day he might have the courage to just try. He even has a plan in place, a speech prepared, for the day he feels brave enough.

But secrets are a heavy weight to carry. This is why when getting home after a long day of school, he feels his heart drop when his parents wave him into the dining room because they want to have a conversation . 

“Come on, Danny," his mother says, “We need to talk to you about something." 

He feels all of his emotions about things going well recently sink down inside of him. It almost feels like whiplash, his good feelings getting yanked straight out of his chest. He doesn't know what they want to talk about, but his secret is almost always on the tip of his tongue when he talks to the two of them. Their voices sound weighted, like they want to discuss something important—his parents are usually lighthearted folks, so it can take a lot for them to take anything so seriously.

Danny sits stiffly, gripping the edge of his chair tightly between his fingers. He stares down at the table, not making eye contact.

His father calls his name to try and get his attention. The words feel blurry. "You know that you don't have to keep secrets from us, right?”

Secrets.

Danny finally looks up at the man. He can feel his nerves bubble up inside of him. They start in his stomach, rising up the back of his throat and making him taste sickness on his tongue. It feels like it's going to be too much for him to handle. If he opens his mouth, he thinks that instead of words, all that's going to escape his lips is vomit.

“Sweetie," his mother adds, “You don't need to be nervous. We just want to have a chat." 

Danny sinks into his seat, eyeing both of his parents. They're sitting on the other side of the table, smiles on their faces. He doesn't trust those smiles—as soon as he got home from school, they called him into the dining room because they had something important they wanted to discuss. Secrets, his father said.

What do they know?

“A chat about what?" Danny asks. He brings his hands up and folds them, resting them on the tabletop. He wonders if he should bolt. What do they know? What did they find out? His mind focuses on his one particular secret, shoved in the deep recesses of his mind. They can't— they can't know that one —he has a plan to tell them, one that involves having his trusted friends there for safety. Just in case.

But he's alone right now. It's just him and his parents, who are both looking at him with gentle eyes. All of his friends are at their own homes and Jazz has stayed after school for one of her clubs. None of them are here, and they are all completely unaware of the conversation he's about to have with his parents right now. This isn't how it's supposed to go.

His mother and father exchange glances. Danny fights the urge to jump up from his chair and run to his room. He wants to go and hide in his bed, under the covers. He's supposed to be a hero , so he's not really sure why he's so afraid.

“Danny," his father says, “We found out about a secret you've been keeping from us." 

No, no, no. Danny feels like he is going to throw up. His friends are supposed to be here. His sister is supposed to be here. He absolutely doesn't want to be alone, not with his parents. They're both smiling so softly at him, but he is barely unable to stop himself from flinching away from them. His hands tremble, but he forces them to be still.

Danny clenches his fingers, staring down at them intently. His vision feels blurry and unfocused. He doesn't want to look back up at his parents. Neither of them have elaborated on the secret they mean yet, but Danny knows that they must be talking about his ghostly abilities. What else would it be?

Do they just know about his abilities? Or do they already know that he is Phantom too? He knows that would be worse—his parents don't like Phantom. Instead of the hero he tries to be, all his parents see is a menace who terrorizes the town. He thinks that it has gotten a bit better lately, ever since Phantom joined the Team, but they still have so much skepticism. 

“Oh sweetie," his mother says, and then she's standing up. She walks around the table and there's suddenly an arm around his shoulders, hugging him. He wants to pull away.

His mother is a ghost hunter. If she knows that he is a ghost, why hasn't she tried to hurt him yet? Both she and his father are incredibly well known for hating ghosts… for wanting to hunt them down, capture them, and lock them away. Why isn't she threatening him?

“You know we love you, right?" his mother continues, moving a hand to touch his chin. She grips it tight and pulls his head up to look him in the eyes. Her face, framed by her auburn hair, looks reassuring. 

“Yeah," Danny says, staring into her eyes. He doesn't dare move. What is she doing…?

"And you know that we'll love you no matter what, right?” she says, "No matter who you are?”

Danny sucks in a slow breath. The air feels unnaturally cold on the tip of his tongue. He swallows thickly over the lump forming in the back of his throat. No matter who he is?

“Yeah," he says again, even though he isn't quite sure if he believes it. His voice shakes a bit, cracking over the word.

"Danny,” his father says. Danny's eyes snap over to look at him, leaning over the table with an intent expression on his face. The man’s eyes look bright. “We know that you're gay." 

Danny blinks, releasing a breath he didn't even know that he was holding. It takes a moment for him to really understand the words, they’re just that jarring. He was expecting a confrontation about his ghost powers, not this. He didn't expect this at all. He just sits there, stunned. What…?

It feels like a bucket of ice water has been suddenly thrown over him. It feels like he's frozen. His heart, which has been hammering loudly in his chest for the past few minutes, slows. They don't know that he has ghost powers, do they?

They don't know? He almost wants to laugh in relief. They don't know. His mind skips over and over on that one thought. 

He has to force himself to not cry. The moment his parents mentioned a secret , his ghost powers were all he was able to think about. The knowledge of his powers are always buzzing in the back of his mind whenever he talks to his parents. He had been so, so certain that they were going to tell him that they knew about his powers, but they didn't.

Instead, they think that he's gay.

…

It's so ridiculous that he has to pause for a moment. His heart has slowed, but it still thumps loudly in his chest and his breaths come out in ragged bursts. Is he going to laugh?

Danny… Danny is not gay.

“And we don't care!" his mother adds, gripping him tighter. She releases his chin. Her hand comes to hold him close, bringing his head to rest against her shoulder. “If you want to date other boys, that's completely fine with me and your father." 

Danny's lips move up and down without sound. No noise escapes, even when he tries to force it. The words just don't want to come.

They… they don't know that he's a ghost? They think that he’s gay? He snaps his mouth shut with an audible click. His panic and nerves, while still there, feel like they're slowly being replaced by a sense of incredulity. He thinks that if he tries to open his mouth again, he's going to laugh instead of speak. What the hell is going on?

“What makes you think that?" Danny asks, voice just a little more steady than it was a moment before. He has no idea how his parents might have come to this conclusion, but he does his best to hide behind it for a moment. At least they don't seem to know his actual secret? His breaths feel sharp, but at least he feels calmer.

His mother cocks her head to the side and replies, “We saw you on your date at the mall the other week with your boyfriend.”

Boyfriend?

Then the woman gasps, once again pulling him in even closer. Her hand is on the back of his head, buried in his hair. Over her shoulder, he can see his father standing and walking over to their side of the table. The man puts his own arms around both of them. 

“I'm so sorry," his mother continues, “for making you think that you needed to hide your boyfriend from us.”

Danny freezes in their arms, stiffening. They saw him hanging out with his boyfriend at the mall? Danny doesn't even have a boyfriend! He has absolutely no idea what they are talking about, but he doesn't dare open his mouth. He feels an odd sense of hysteria rise inside of him.

“What?" he replies after a long, silent moment. It's the only thing he can manage to say. He thinks that if he tried to string together a longer sentence, it would all come out in one big jumble of nonsense. But both of them were looking at him, expecting him to speak—

“We didn't mean to spy on you, sweetie,” his mother says, "And usually—well, we'd want you to feel comfortable enough to come to us yourself, but I starting thinking about how stressed you sometimes looked and how often I was sure you were hiding something from your father and I. I could tell the secret was eating away at you." 

Danny blinks again. 

He knows that, despite the fact that things have been going rather well lately, he hasn't shown that side to his parents much. He's still jumpy in their presence, not wanting to ever sit down and talk with them, or spend time together. He loves them both, he knows that he does, it's just scary thinking about what might happen if were to ever find out about his secret. He's glad that they still don't seem to know, but still—

His boyfriend?

Danny doesn't go to the mall very often anymore—he usually finds himself far too busy with his duties as Phantom, especially now that he's joined the Team. In the little bit of free time he has to hang out at the mall, it's usually with either Sam and Tucker, or the new friends he's made with his teammates. Every once in a while, some of them who know his secret identity make the trip to visit Amity Park to hang out. He's been becoming fast friends with them all.

“He seemed like a very nice young lad!” his father adds, “You should introduce us later!" 

“Oh, yes," his mother agrees, “he seemed so sweet! It was so nice of him to bring you those chocolates." 

Chocolates.

Oh. Danny thinks that they're talking about Tim—Robin, on the Team. Danny remembers hanging out with the other boy at the mall maybe two weeks ago. Tim's brother, Dick—also known as Nightwing—was supposed to come as well, but cancelled last minute. So, it was just Danny and Tim.

Tim brought him a box of chocolates—Danny had been talking about not being able to find this specific type of chocolate for weeks. It was a special edition Martian Manhunter themed box, which came with a limited edition playing card. Danny didn’t even like most of the chocolates inside—half were dark chocolate, which he hates, but he and Tim spent an hour laughing and eating them together. Tim had grinned while he plucked up every last one of the dark chocolate ones.

“It reminded me of our dates, Mads,” his father coos, leaning to bump his jaw against his mother's. "When you used to bring me those little containers of fudge." 

Danny doesn't know what he's supposed to say. Is he supposed to say anything? They think he's dating Tim?

“Aw," his mother replies, before turning her attention back to Danny, “I remember that. Oh, sweetie, you know me and your father used to go on dates at that exact mall together?”

“I hope it hasn't changed too much,” his father says, “What did you two do together?" 

Danny, who has barely been able to utter any words since the conversation started, still doesn't know what to say. His tongue feels like it's stuck to the roof of his mouth. He can't even swallow over it.

“Oh, I'm sorry," his mother interjects. “You don't have to tell us, sweetie. We've made this all about your boyfriend. We only wanted to have this chat to let you know that we'd love you no matter what.”

“It's okay," he finds himself blankly telling his mother. “We—we got Chinese food and then went and saw a movie.”

Yeah. Tim brought Danny chocolates and then they snuck takeaway Chinese food into a movie at the theater. It was some garbage horror film, super campy and goofy. They were barely able to contain their laughter the entire time, giggling into their noodles. Danny remembers being exhausted from staying up late as Phantom the night before. He also remembers falling asleep right there in his chair, head slowly falling to rest against Tim’s shoulder.

Danny feels something akin to realization blossom deep in his chest. He shoves it down. Now is not the time. Now is definitely not the time.

“That's lovely," his mother says, “I'm so happy for you, Danny." 

“We don't care who you are or who you love,” his father says, "You'll always be our son." 

Danny suddenly finds himself blinking back tears. He can feel them well up in his eyes, threatening to spill over his cheeks. It takes everything in him to not let them fall. He turns to look at his father, who is smiling so brightly that it almost looks like it hurts.

“No matter what?" he whispers, and his mother laughs softly.

“No matter what," she tells him, “We don't care if you're gay, Danny. I don't think there's anything that would make us stop loving you." 

Danny pauses. He feels pins and needles run up his entire body. He lifts a shaky hand to wipe his face, dragging his fingers over his eyes during a long, slow blink. The words feel slow, but he's eventually able to whisper, "Anything?" 

His mother leans down to press a soft kiss to his cheek and says, with a chuckle, “Well, maybe don't try and become a super villain, or mass murderer, or anything like that.”

“What if—” he begins, and then his words trail off, shaking. He takes a second to try and compose himself, inhaling sharply.

“What if, one day," he asks, “I die and I become a ghost?" 

Both of them blink, like that is the last question they ever expected him to say. He almost regrets asking it, and he wants to sink down into his chair. He wouldn't mind if the Earth swallowed him whole. They both pull back to get a better look at him. He can feel them staring with wide eyes.

It takes far too long for those eyes to soften. His mother admits, “I’ve thought about it.”

Danny stares intently down at the table. He does not lift his head. There's a glare on the polished wood, a reflection from the harsh lights shining down from the ceiling. He can still feel his mother's hand in his hair, stroking through the strands.

“No parent ever wants to think about losing their child,” his mother says. “But… I've definitely thought about it. How could I not when our work revolves so closely around death?”

The glare on the table almost hurts Danny's eyes. He doesn't look away from it. He traces the wood grain, up and down the length of the table. There's a notch on the edge.

“Most of our theories on ghosts say that they are not the same person as they were in life," his mother explains. “They become twisted and corrupted." 

Danny swallows hard over the lump in his throat.

“But—” she says.

“If you were a ghost, and told us you were still you," his father interrupts, “I would believe you." 

"You would?” Danny whispers.

“Sweetie," his mother says, voice more serious than Danny thinks he's ever heard in his entire life, “Your father and I are scientists. To us, evidence is one of the most important things. If we are presented with evidence that ghosts are not these evil things, we could reevaluate and try to make new theories.”

“But you've interacted with other ghosts plenty,” Danny replies. His voice feels hoarse. "Why wouldn't they change your minds?”

The two of them exchange glances. It feels like they've been doing that a lot during this conversation, eyes flirting back and forth between each other and Danny himself.

"Not really,” his mother admits, "As ghost hunters, most ghosts obviously avoid us. We have made the majority of these theories from a distance.”

"It doesn't help that I might have been—" his father chuckles, “—a little heavy handed with my gun when they first appeared. They were attacking you kids at school, and I panicked.”

Danny remembers the very first few ghost attacks. First, there was the Lunch Lady—who was distraught over the fact the school menu had suddenly changed. She attacked the local high school Danny attended, angry, bitter, and rioting for revenge. He still isn't the strongest fighter, but back then, it took everything in him to defeat her and save everyone. Then there was Skulker, Desiree, Spectra… all within the span of a month or two. It felt like it was too much to handle alone as Phantom. It was overwhelming.

It was also when he met his Team. Danny remembers calling the Justice League with his friends, over and over in hopes that someone would respond and finally send help. He almost fainted when Young Justice replied, saying that they would be able to send help, as well as extending their hand to offer him a spot on their team.

That's also when he met Robin.

Danny pulls a hand up to his chest and tries to steady his breathing. Robin. Tim.

“Why are you asking about this, Danny?" his mother asks, “Is this something you've been thinking about?"

"Yeah,” he admits., "You guys just talk about how evil ghosts are, all the time. And I just—”

He struggles to continue. He's not sure why. He knows how to talk, how to be confident. In his last few months as Phantom, he likes to think that he's gotten rather good at speaking to crowds of people without his voice shaking. So why is it trembling so badly now?

“I have a few friends," he says with that shaking voice. ”They're ghosts, but they care about me a lot and I care about them. They're just like anyone else.”

And it's true—many of the ghosts he has met are bad people, of course, but he thinks that he's met even more who are wonderful. Ember, a rock star who loves trying to force him to learn how to play the guitar. Sidney, a bullied ghost boy who just wants Danny to be his friend. Dora, a ghost princess who is just desperate to escape the clutches of an abusive family.

“They like to hang out around the school," he says, “Not to hurt anyone or anything. Just—just to hang out.”

His mother's eyes feel like lasers, boring into his skull. He doesn't look at her. He stares at the table. He just keeps staring at the table.

“I couldn't stop thinking about—” Danny presses his palms against the tabletop, "—the fact that you would hate my friends. And you would hate me, if I was different too." 

"Oh,” his mother whispers. She sounds like she is about to sob. Her voice cracks over the single syllable, wavering. "Danny, is this why you were afraid to tell us about being gay?”

Danny blinks back tears.

“Oh, God," she whispers, “We've been so up in arms about ghosts ever since they started to appear… we must have seemed like we hated anyone different.”

“Danny," his father says, “Dann-o. We love you. We wouldn't care if you are gay, or a ghost, or if you fail all of your classes at school. We’ll always love you, okay?”

"Okay,” Danny finds himself whispering. He can feel the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes finally fall, dripping down his cheeks. He brings his hands up to wipe at them, feeling halfway between a laugh and a cry.

“Maybe you can introduce us to some of your friends, later," his mother says gently, “I'd love to meet them." 

Danny's eyes finally snap up to meet his mother's. For a blink, he thinks that it may be a trick—she only wants to meet his ‘ghost friends’ in order to capture them. But the emotion in her eyes is genuine and deep inside, Danny feels like there is no way in the world that she is lying. He tries to smile, though it feels wobbly on his face.

“Okay," he says again, in agreement. His parents still don't seem to know that he is Phantom, or that he has ghost powers, but he somehow feels so much better. He doesn't think he would mind telling them, not at all. He was so worried before, yet… he thinks that he believes his parents, when they say that they would love him no matter what.

“Can I go to my room?" he asks after a moment, “I want to be alone for a little bit." 

“Of course, sweetie," his mother replies. “You don't even have to ask. Take all the time you need, alright? I'm planning to order one of your favorites for dinner tonight. Is there anything specific you want?”

Usually, Danny thinks he would only really want to ask for greasy pizza or burgers. But suddenly, all he can think about is the bad Chinese food he and Tim ate that day at the mall together. It was not great—obviously inauthentic and cheap—but he can't get it off his mind.

“Can we get Chinese?" he asks, “I want some chow mein." 

“Absolutely," his mother says, “Love you, sweetie." 

"Me too,” his father inserts, "Love you, Dann-o.”

"Love you too,” Danny echoes. He feels oddly light, as he heads out of the dining room. There's a strange, hollowness to the sensation, like he's a damp towel whose water has been all rung out.

Danny isn't entirely sure how he makes it to his room. His legs are wobbly, feeling like they might just collapse from under him at any moment. He feels like he's floating, almost drifting up the stairs. He has to force himself to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground. When he finally makes it to his room, he practically throws himself onto his bed. He sprawls over the mattress, limbs spread eagle. He stares up at the blank white wall of his ceiling.

His parents would accept him if he was a ghost.

He sinks down deeper into his mattress. He reaches for a pillow, pulling it up and onto his chest. He holds tightly onto it like a stuffed animal. He was so afraid that they wouldn't accept him for being a ghost. They still don't know, but he can feel so much of his fear evaporating. He feels so much lighter.

And yet…

There's still something heavy in his chest. In his head, all he can hear is his mother's voice. It echoes around in his brain. “We've been so up in arms about ghosts ever since they started to appear… we must have seemed like we hated anyone different.”

He stares at his ceiling. Did he think that? Did he think that his parents hated anyone different? He wants to say yes, even though it makes him feel just a little bit bad.

Danny closes his eyes. It would have been so easy to look at his mother and say, “No, I'm not gay." 

He could have said, “No, I wasn't at the mall with my boyfriend. I was just with a friend." 

But he didn't. He didn't say a word to deny them. Instead, he closed his mouth and chose silence. Is he gay? He didn't think so, but he's suddenly so unsure. Is that why he didn't realize…? 

He had been scared that his parents hated anyone different.

“Is this why you were afraid to tell us about being gay?” his mother had said.

He and Tim… 

Exchanging chocolates, going to the movies together, cuddling against each other while they watched. Thinking back, all of these things feel awfully close to what someone would do with a romantic partner. Did Tim like him? Did Danny like Tim?  

Danny imagines sharing those chocolates with Tim. Sitting so close together, knees touching, as they laugh together. Later that night, his head resting on Tim’s shoulder. The other boy's hand coming up to touch the back of his head. Feeling so safe and secure.

It's not just that day at the mall, either—Danny thinks of days with the Team, cackling with Robin as they try to antagonize the older members of the actual Justice League. Taking the other boy flying as Phantom, holding him under the arms as they swooped through the sky. Playing pranks on Nightwing together.

A different day, after one of their missions, Robin’s hand moving to graze Phantom's own, fingers locking together for just a second.

Oh.

Danny feels like he can't breathe. His chest rattles when he tries, eyes wide open as he stares up at the ceiling. He doesn't move for a long beat. He just lies there, staring, utterly still. He feels very stupid. Very, incredibly stupid.

“I'm gay?" he asks himself in an aggressive whisper. He's not sure. Gay? He knows there's other words too—gay, bi, pan—he doesn't know. He's not even sure what they all really mean. He's never thought about it before. Does he like girls? Does he like boys?

Or does he only like Tim?

Oh, God, he likes Tim. Danny likes Tim. He feels so certain of it now. He likes Tim.

Downstairs, he can hear a door open and slam shut. He can hear the distant voices murmuring to each other. That's probably Jazz, finally coming home from school. Perfect timing. She couldn't have gotten home just a bit sooner? He doesn't move, even when he hears her footsteps begin thumping up the steps.

His door creaks open, and he can see Jazz’s head stick into the crack out of the corner of his eyes. She says, “Hey, Danny. Mom said to come get you, because the food is about to arrive—” she pauses a beat, "—oh, woah. Are you okay?”

Danny finally lifts his head. He can feel that his cheeks are wet. He brings his hands up to wipe at them aggressively. Jazz rushes over to the bed, leaning over him and putting her hand on the edge of the bed.

“Jazz," he whines, "am I gay?”

"—what? " she asks.

He sits up straight, reaching over to grab her shoulders. He shakes her unsteadily, holding her shirt tightly between her fingers. The fabric almost feels slippery, and he has to hold extra firmly so he doesn't lose his grip.

" Jazz, ” he repeats. Suddenly, everything feels so deeply funny. He has to force back a laugh. It all feels so stupidly impossible, “Jazz, I have a crush on Tim." 

Jazz furrows her brow. She cocks her head at him, just looking incredibly confused. She says, "I thought you and Tim were already dating?”

Danny throws himself back down, turning to shove his face into his mattress. He is unable to hold back that laughter, and he feels it escape his lips in a flurry of chuckles. Jazz is just staring at him as he laughs, but he can't stop.

He dissolves into giggles. He feels so stupid. He feels so silly. He feels the happiest he's ever felt in a long, long time.

He scrambles, reaching for the phone in his pocket as he says, “Jazz, get out!" 

“What?" she replies, but he's suddenly standing to push her out of the room. She calls after him, “The food is almost here!" but he doesn't really care.

His fingers hover above his phone. He needs to call Tim right now, or else he feels like he might explode. His fingers shake when he dials the number. There's a buzz, before he hears the person on the other side pick up, the phone making a small click—

“Danny?" the voice on the other side says.

Danny can’t help but smile.