Chapter Text
Danny had been in a lot of sticky situations in his nearly two years as Phantom. It was almost like every day was a new and crazier adventure as whatever shenanigan of the hour decided to screw him over.
One such ‘adventure’ is him getting hunted down for sport by a bunch of men in black wannabes who could never take a hint. Again.
It should have been a normal problem, one he’s dealt with more times than Danny could count. Just fly around, shoot an ectoblast or two to distract the agents, and after maybe a couple hours of chase he would find a suitable corner to transform and get away scot-free from the persistent annoyance that was the GIW.
Except he couldn’t do that this time.
Because the normal, everyday, and most importantly not a ghost Danny Fenton, was now confirmed to be the town's very own ghost hero thanks to a stupid stupid mistake.
A mistake that could very well have spelled the end of not only Danny Fenton, but the entire Fenton family.
And it was all Danny’s fault.
For months now, after the admittedly rocky event of Danny telling his parents the truth (and them accepting him with open arms instead of harsh burns or broken hearts all with the reasoning being that he was their son. He was their son whom they loved with all their heart, of course they would accept him. They had all ended up crying for what felt like hours after that), they had been doing their best to support him and keep him safe.
They had backed out of giving any outright support to the GIW but knew cutting themselves out of ghost hunting completely would set off all kinds of red flags to the organization. They continued to make ectoplasm technology, and even the occasional weapon that they would sell to the GIW though they would always be weaker than the last or outright faulty, but slowed their ghost hunting to an almost complete stop. Now they would only go out to ‘hunt’ ghosts when the GIW was already after them and help whatever poor soul was being chased get out safely.
It was all working out so well, his family was safe and whole and they all knew-
So of course it would fall apart the second Danny got too comfortable.
The GIW had caught on, or suspected, or just plain got tired of all their tech literally blowing up in their faces, and they had come for the Fentons. They had come with weapons blasting and zero regard for all the highly volatile experiments, chemicals, and ectoplasm leaving Danny with the decision to help protect protect PROTECT save his family or keep his secret safe.
It was a no-brainer what he would choose. But even then, he wasn’t fast enough.
He tried, he tried so hard but then the explosion and the fire and the shouting and restraints and their bodies-
So he ran. Like the coward he was, he ran.
Flying through town with tears falling down his face he racked his brain for what he could possibly do. Some kind of plan a plan they had gone over this he was supposed to know what to do what does he do-
He found himself at the edge of town, his only thoughts being to get away as he panted for air he didn’t need with aching lungs he didn’t have, and he paused.
Turning back he could see he was on a hill, one that overlooked the town (he caught a glimpse of the tower of smoke in the distance and jerked his head away). There was a forest past the hill that he could go through, a way to keep running away, but there was also a building.
The observatory.
“We don’t know what they will do next,” Jazz warned, “They’re getting desperate, they will try something.”
“And that’s why we have the plans,” Danny continued. When he was only met with his parent's still down-turned expressions he tried again in a lighter tone, “It’s not something definite. It’s only just in case. For a worse case scenario. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
His dad’s frown deepened as he looked at the small go bag he had found still held tightly in his grip, as if the bag itself was a reminder of the danger Danny was in. Because that’s exactly what it was, wasn’t it? A tangible, real sign that Danny had been in danger for nearly two years under his roof and neither of them had noticed.
While his dad stewed in his thoughts, his mom took a deep breathe before speaking herself, “I understand.” Her voice was shaky, a glimmer of tears in the corner of her eyes as she contemplated the same implications his dad was.
His dad glanced at her at the sound of her voice and his frown eased ever so slightly. He leaned closer to her, letting his arm brush her side in a show of his love and support that visibly helped strengthen her resolve.
She turned and let her head rest against his shoulder for a moment, a thanks for his presence, before she turned to her children with a hard look in her eye strong enough to break diamond and she went to work.
“What other plans do you have.”
Speeding across the distance toward the observatory Danny phased through the wall, not even caring if there were people to see him as he flew through wall after wall until he reached it.
Not many people were around seeing how it was the middle of the day, so the area around the giant telescope was completely barren. He had no delusion that his presence hadn't been noticed, be it from security cameras or any passerby who had seen his mad dash through the area, so he had to make this fast.
The GIW would be here soon.
But by the time they did, Danny would be long gone.
With the help of his parents, Danny now had even more bags and emergency stashes throughout the city. Even some ideas on where to go after the fact instead of a nebulous ‘anywhere but Amity’ plan like he, Jazz, Tucker, and Sam had come up with. Their priority was just to get Danny away from whatever threat made him leave, but his parents wanted him to have somewhere safe he could stay.
Most places were ones where the famous members of the Justice League were known to hang around. Sure there was an argument to be made to avoid these places like the plague on the off chance the heroes try to catch Danny with the GIW, but that chance was a pretty low one.
With all the ignored emergency calls to the Justice League, it was pretty obvious they didn’t believe in ghosts. It was more likely they would scoff and ignore the claims before ever going on a wild goose chase after some ‘ghost’.
If nothing else the surprise presence of a mostly unknown organization showing up in their city would cause the hero of the city to ask questions or otherwise stall the GIW in their hypothetical search for Danny. That alone was reason enough to mark down a few of their cities in the list of where Danny should go.
There was Central City with the Flash seeing how it was just a hop skip and a jump across the border in Missouri. Then there were Gotham and Metropolis, New Jersey and New York respectively, and while those are a farther fly distance wise they were also two confirmed cities with heroes. Gotham was looking the most favorable simply because even in a backwater and somewhat internet-and-social-media-blackout-area like Amity everyone knew how sceptical and more importantly territorial the big bad Bat was when it came to his town.
The point was, Danny now had a better idea of where he could go… after. If there ever was an after, that is. This was all just- just a what if scenario. A worst case scenario! What were the chances he would ever even need to leave anyway?
Rushing to the wall on the right of the telescope Danny’s eyes skipped around the smooth white tiles of the wall. At the desk that displayed the big model of the solar system, he floated to the small orb of Mars forever stationary like the rest of the planets that sat here. From there he went straight up and stopped where the dome part of the observatory started to curve inward.
Two tiles down and four to the left. Something that was ingrained into his brain just like all the other steps and directions for these plans. Two tiles down and four to the left.
As he got closer and closer to the tile that held hidden this specific go bag he could feel his chest tighten and hands start to shake. He shook off the feeling, eyes never leaving the tile that held his ticket to safety.
He couldn’t panic, he had to focus. He needed to grab this bag if he was going to go through with the stupid, harebrained plan he had settled on.
It was a joke, a complete joke of a plan that he had spouted when the table had felt too serious and he wanted his parents to smile. To remember what life was like not just when there were no secrets between them, but when there were no bruises or burns either. They had apologized and Danny understood, he understood even before they had known about him, he would never hold it against them.
But even when his ‘suggestion’ brought a small smile to his sister and a full belly laugh from his dad, his mom sat still. His dad continued that stupid train of thought, continued to up the ante until it got to the point where Danny had to tone him down with a laugh. It was impossible anyway, just a funny idea.
A funny idea that made his mom go quiet with thought. One that led to an abundance of testing and gadgets made for this specific plan in mind. No other go bag could work with this, no other tech could even work there.
Danny jerked to a stop with his arm halfway stuck into the wall where he knew lay the small disk and sturdy metal bag covered in white metal and blue-green tubes that carried his own personal touch of ectoplasm he had freely given for this experiment.
If he grabbed this, then it would be real. It would all be real. He would need to leave the second he strapped on the bag and got all the equipment settled. He would need to leave before the GIW make their way to his location and find him, leaving the past who knows how long of running away for not. He would need to leave, period.
He didn’t know if he could ever come back. They never made it that far into the plan.
They never made a plan for what would happen if there was no one to come back to.
No- stop- stop it! He couldn’t think like that. He couldn’t let himself think like that. He didn’t know- he couldn’t confirm if they were really-
He just saw them lying there, each lying motionless in their own small puddles of blood with burns littering their skin.
But he didn’t know.
He couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not.
The sound of alarms blaring in the distance jerked him back into motion and out of his thoughts. Steeling his resolve he grabbed the bag and small disk from the small space behind the wall and yanked them out before flying up and out of the building through the roof. Quickly shrugging on the bag he held the disk in his hand, looking down at it with a feeling he couldn’t quite describe.
On one hand he was about to fulfill the dream he’s had for as long as he can remember. On the other… he has no idea what would come after. No idea if he would come back.
Taking in what could possibly be his last breath of fresh air, he settled the disk in the middle of his chest right above the logo Sam had made all that time ago. Squeezing the sides he then twisted it and felt as the streamlined mechanical suit washed over him, connecting seamlessly with the bag against his back.
As the pieces all fell into place, Danny looked up at the clear blue sky until his target was found. It wasn’t technically necessary, even if there was a storm ahead and the sky was covered in nothing but grey clouds, he would still know where it was. He had a space core after all.
When the metal finally reached his face, covering up to his nose and keeping his ever-flowing hair and neon green eyes untouched, and settled across the rest of his skin, Danny took of to his destination.
The moon.