Work Text:
Another Danny tells his parents one shot! Though this time he doesn't really have a choice.
Shit. Shit, this was bad. Skulker had already flown away, realizing the damage he’d unintentionally done to his “prey”. Danny knew he didn't actually want to kill him, it was part of their banter. But his new rocket had slammed right into Danny’s head, knocking him out of ghost form immediately. Danny, in his terribly concussed state, could tell his arm was broken. Red, human blood dripped down his face.
He could already feel the ectoplasm racing through his system to try and heal him as fast as possible, but in human form, it would take longer. He just had to make it home before someone on the streets saw and called an ambulance. That would be bad, he was sure his human body was incredibly non-human right now.
Danny had to get to Jazz, Sam or Tucker. His own home was much closer, and Danny didn't have the privilege of a long walk or short flight to either of his friends’ houses right now. It was late. Very late. His parents no doubt thought he was in bed. Jazz had to be staying up to wait for him to get back, like always.
God, he hoped his parents were asleep or in the lab. His left hand fumbled to get the key in the lock, and he tripped over the step up into the living room, sprawling out on the floor hard. The sudden movement had his head spinning, and he vomited on the tile floor of the entryway. Thundering, light footsteps could be heard and he desperately hoped it was Jazz.
“Danny?!”
Just his luck. It was his mom. Danny tried to push himself up, but threw up again. He groaned, hating this. And hating that his mom was the one to find him. He was so going to kick Skulker’s ass for this.
Maddie carefully lifted him just as Jazz ran down the stairs, looking between them frantically before she hurried to get the extensive first aid kit that was worth the amount of allowance it cleaned out for Danny from under his bed. Maddie was asking what happened, terrified of his twisted radius bone and bloody head, even though the open wound had long since closed.
"I'm calling an ambulance!”
“Mom, no!” Jazz screamed, ripping the phone from her hand. Maddie was frozen in shock, and Jazz was lost on what to say as an excuse as to why she didn't want to take her concussed and bleeding brother to the hospital. So, she turned away and started treating Danny’s injuries. “Danny, I’m gonna reset the bone, okay?”
“Jazz, what?!” Danny gave a slurred okay. Jack ran into the room just as Jazz shoved the broken bone back into place. Danny gave a pained grunt and that was it. Jazz then splinted his arm, and got to wiping the blood away. Her hands were shaking under the attention of their parents. Who were speechless. Especially at seeing no wound on Danny’s forehead where all the blood had come from.
And the part of skin where bone had been poking out knitted closed in real time. Danny knew his secret was so out after this. How else was he supposed to explain?
“E-ecto-contanimation!” Maddie shouted in horror. What other explanation was there? That Danny just randomly gained super regeneration? Jazz, with ease, lifted the very light Danny up, and looked between her parents in utter panic before running past them and up the stairs. They followed her up, but she laid Danny on her bed and then slammed her bedroom door shut, locking the door and putting a barricade against the door.
Danny sighed. “‘M sorry.”
“Don't be. Just bad timing,” Jazz said, pacing back and forth as her parents demanded and pleaded for her to let them inside to tend to Danny. She ignored them, not responding. Instead, she asked Danny what had happened.
“Skulker fight. He accidentally… did real damage. A rocket hit m-my head and I fell out of the sky and broke my arm,” he said, brain fog already clearing. His mouth tasted like vomit, but he still wasn't in a state to go into the bathroom to wash his mouth out. "I'm so gonna kick his ass for this.”
Jazz finally sat beside the bed, and they heard Jack on the phone. He was calling an ambulance. Danny willed his body to heal faster, and finally had control over his transformation. He needed to speed this up before any paramedics got there. Jazz nodded to him, and he slipped through the floor to the basement, and crouched down beneath the nozzle his parents didn't know could pump out Ghost Zone ectoplasm. He opened his mouth and drank straight from the “tap”, flooding his system.
He shuddered, sitting on the floor as it supercharged his functions. After this he always immediately needed to pee and eat human food. He went back upstairs, and sat on the bed. Jazz had a tissue and wiped at Danny’s mouth. He no doubt got ectoplasm all over his lips and chin. Now his mouth tasted like sour pennies and energy instead of vomit. It was a minimal improvement.
But, he healed far more rapidly. He frantically scrubbed blood out of his hair and phased through his wall to get a new shirt as he heard the sirens get closer. He gave a questioning look to Jazz, who nodded; no obvious signs that their parents’ call had any merit. Danny lifted Jazz’s dresser up and deposited it quietly back into place, the barricade gone.
The entire time their parents had been enraged and panicked that Danny, badly concussed and bleeding, had been in the bedroom, both children almost completely silent in their defiance.
Danny unlocked the bedroom door when many footsteps were heard. His heart was racing in nerves. The door was opened, and EMTs were there. “Uh, what’s up?” Danny asked, faking confusion and annoyance the very best he could. The EMTs stood there in confusion. Danny scratched his head with his healed right arm. No sign of either a broken bone or head injury.
Maddie and Jack were rightfully baffled, jaws dropped open. They got plenty of angry glares from the paramedics who (thankfully) believed the call was a shitty prank. The four men stormed out, and Danny watched the ambulance drive away. He sagged in relief, flopping onto Jazz’s bed.
“Explain! Now!” Maddie demanded. Danny winced, and sat up.
“I'm fine. N-Nothing happened. I’m sure you imagined-”
“If you tell us we imagined what happened downstairs, I swear,” Maddie growled. Danny shut his mouth.
“I really am fine-”
“How are you fine?” Jack asked, sounding scared.
Danny scratched the back of his head. “It’s complicated,” he said, so badly not wanting to get into this. Ever, but especially not right now. Not like this.
“Where did you get the injuries? Who did this to you?” was what Maddie asked when Danny kept his mouth shut. Jazz stayed by him, quiet, but a steady support.
“Skulker. It was an accident, though,” Danny grumbled.
“A - a ghost? What were you even doing out at 2 AM? I thought you were in bed!”
Danny pursed his lips, and finally let out a heavy sigh. “I was on patrol. I do it every night.”
“Patrol…?” Jack asked, growing even more confused.
“Uh, yeah. I’m kinda… a vigilante at night. And sometimes during the day. Look, there’s no easy way to say this, and I clearly have no choice in the matter at this point. I’m Phantom.” His parents very clearly did not believe him, so Danny rolled his eyes, palms sweating, and transformed. “Believe me, now?” he said a bit waspishly.
Maddie put her hands to her mouth in horror, most likely realizing Danny had died at some point, and also flooded with confusion since Danny ate, drank, slept and breathed when he looked human. Her question was predictable. “H-how?”
“The portal accident. I wasn't next to it when it turned on… I was inside it. The ghost portal opened up inside me, killing me while also bringing me back. I've been like this ever since.” Despite never planning outright to tell them the truth, he’d practiced this speech more times than he could count.
“You… you died,” Jack said, tears pooling in his eyes.
“Only for a couple seconds,” Danny said in a hurry. “But… yeah, I died. Just not permanently. And before you start planning on ways to ‘fix me’, don't. I won't let you. The moment you bring me into the basement to test on me is the moment I turn invisible and never see either of you ever again.”
They all winced, including Jazz. “B-But, this much ecto-contamination can kill you!” Maddie said, clearly very hurt by Danny’s threat, which he absolutely meant.
“I already died,” Danny replied bluntly. Another wince all around the room. “I’ve been like this for three years. It’s normal for me.”
“...We’ve shot at you. And - and all of the things we’ve said about Phantom,” his mom said in utter horror.
“Yeah. It’s not nice hearing how you’d vivisect me step by step,” Danny grumbled. His parents both blanched, hearing the fear and resignation in Danny’s voice. They immediately promised, now that they knew, they would never do such a thing. “It doesn't matter, you shouldn't have wanted to in the first place! Ghosts are sentient and have feelings! You wanted to torture me, and any other ghost you catch!” Danny exploded, tears burning in his eyes.
Maddie and Jack didn't know what to say, but finally settled with apologies full of guilt. Danny rubbed at his forehead. “Look, we have a lot to talk about, but I’m exhausted and have school in the morning. I’d really like to go to bed.” Jazz pulled him into a hug.
“Good job, little brother,” she said sympathetically. Danny nodded, hugging her back. Not wanting to pass by his parents, Danny walked through the wall and into his bedroom, locking the door as soon as he was in.
The moment his head touched the pillow, he was out.
In the morning, his parents were waiting for him with Jazz in the kitchen. Danny refused eye contact, and poured his cereal stiffly.
“Your father and I spoke for hours last night.” Danny braced himself for the worst, but what he heard wasn't awful. “We want to learn. From you and Jazz, and we assumed Tucker and Sam know, too. And we’re very sorry for making you feel and be unsafe in your own home and family,” Maddie confessed.
Danny stared at them, shocked.
“Danny, we love you very much. And - and we hope you can believe that we want to change. For you,” Jack said, sounding so very sad.
“Okay…” Danny breathed. “Do… you promise to actually listen and believe me?”
“Yes. It will take time to, well, get used to this. But we want to try. And, well, as scientists, we have to be able to admit when our conclusions are incorrect.”
A weight lifted off of Danny’s chest, and whatever expression he made on his face clearly conveyed that. Maddie cautiously walked up to him, and for the first time in a long time, Danny returned her hug. “Thanks, mom.”
“It’s the bare minimum, but you're welcome,” she answered. “Let me make you breakfast. You need to eat more, given how fast you, uh, regenerated last night.”
“Yeah… but drinking straight ectoplasm from the portal tap helped out a lot.”
“The portal has an ecto-tap?!”
Danny laughed.