Chapter Text
It’s been a long day for Robert, managing calls and the Z-team had left him just stupid tired.
So stupid tired in fact he doesn’t even register or care that there is a teenager standing in the middle of his apartment. The kid looks like a scared stray that is about a hundred pounds wet and staring sheepishly at Robert.
It’s a full minute of them just staring at each other before the kid makes a move to run.
“Stop..just stop” Robert orders groggily, there is no real force behind it but he is too tired for this shit at the moment.
Beef, who has been by Robert’s side like the good boi that he is, waddles up to the kid, he parks his butt in front of him and looks up at the kid with the biggest dopey looking face.
Said kid hangs his head in defeat, looks at Beef and crouches down to give the good boy a scritch.
Ok so Beef is good with the kid, that means he is not gonna do anything bad to Beef or the apartment...hopefully.
Robert scoots to the kitchen island as nonchalantly as he can, “Sooo...why did you break into my home?”
Remembering that the owner of this little hovel is still here the mini perpetrator quickly turns to him and plainly states “I thought it was abandoned”. The sheepish look that appears on poor thing’s face tells Robert that he instantly regrets saying that.
Robert probably should be mad, livid even, but he can’t. Not when a kid who can’t be older then 16, in clearly dirty clothes and has eye bags bigger than Robert’s own was so desperate for a place to sleep that he did a B&E.
“Do you want something to eat?” he can’t let this kid leave now, he’s clearly in some kind of trouble and he’ll lose the only lead he has if they run. (Which they already shown their more then willing to do)
Said kid tries to protest Robert’s suggestion but the beastly growl that comes from him tells Robert all he needs hear. He chuckles as a sly smile crosses his lips, “Look, go take a shower because I can smell you from here and I’ll order a pizza, ok?”
The kid is silent for a minute, probably unsure if this is actually happening but he relents with a simple “ok” and quietly makes his way to the bathroom.
Robert waits till he can hear the roar of rushing water before he makes a very important phone call.
“Hey Blazer, are you still at the office right now?” he asks as he tries to figure out how the kid got in.
The front door was still locked when he got home so that’s out, the patio door doesn't look like it’s been touched either and the amount of dust on everything else tells him nothing has been moved.
Blonde Blazer’s gentle laugh pulls him back to the conversation he should be having.
“Hello to you too Robert and yes I am at the office, what’s up?” she questions with a sweet sassing.
“Has there been any reports involving teens or young adults recently?, trafficking, runaways, anything like that?”
“Jeez, that’s a bit concerning, why do you ask?” Blazer tries to her tone light but considering Robert is using his work voice this is serious.
“I got a teenager currently using my shower who looks like he got the thousand yard stare and probably has powers considering he managed to get into my apartment”
“Aren’t you a bit worried?” She knows Robert can take care of himself, but this situation could turn sour very quickly if Robert says or does the wrong thing.
She gets a notification from the same man she is talking to, a picture of a chonky black and white chihuahua happily sitting patiently outside the bathroom door.
“He’s got the Beef seal of approval so I think I’ll be fine” she shorts at the remark “Beef likes everyone”.
Robert is the one sassing now “I think it’s great metric measure a person’s character thank you very much”
“Ok, ok, putting the Beef Metric aside, can you give me a description of this kid so I know where to start?” tone still chipper but fully locked in now.
“Caucasian, male, black hair, blue eyes, between the ages of 14 to 16, about 5 '4, around 90 to 110 pounds and a lightening like scar up the left arm. If I had to guess about his powers I have to say maybe flying and intangibility but don’t hold me to that”
“Did you get a name?” she questions, the pause on the other end of the line says no, he did not.
“I’ll see what I can dig up” she starts to type Robert’s list of descriptors into the SDN database but begins to wonder “Do you have a plan for the kid?”
Returning to his nonchalant attitude “Nope. My main goal right now is to get him cleaned, fed and making sure he doesn’t run off till we figure out what’s going on”
Blazer lets out a knowing hum, Robert has a good nose for people in trouble and if this kid is in any danger it’s best to trust him on this one.
“If anything pops up can you text me?, I don’t want him panicking, just to be safe.”
“Sure” she chimes.
Summoning all the sincerity a man like Robert has, he tells her “thank you”.
Chuckling to herself she simply responds “Good night Robert”.
Laughing right back he tells her the same and ends the call. He takes a deep breath to collect all his thoughts and looks back to the bathroom, shower still running as he looks at a box of clothes.
“Hey, everything ok in there?” asks Robert as he knocks loudly on the bathroom door. He can hear from the other side a squawk of panic as items fall off their shelves, good that means the kid is still in there.
Making sure that his voice sounds friendly he asks “You're not allergic to anything are you kid?.
The kid stammers clearly trying to calm as he scrambles to put things back but failing answers back “ N-no I’m good, I-i can eat pretty much anything”.
“OK, good, I left you some sweats outside the door, they're old but they're clean and should fit you just fine” with that Robert leaves the kid be, he did promise pizza after all.
******
WHAT HAPPENED TO STRANGER DANGER!?!?
Danny knew that he had the one broken in in the first place but he seriously thought no one was living in this dump.
He just squats down in the cold shower, trying to figure out how the heck he got into this mess.
Running away from Amity, leaving everything behind was one thing but breaking and entering was another. What else could he do though, stay and let himself get dissected!
And now after weeks of managing to avoid detection from both the GIW and his parents Danny somehow managed to make it all the way to LA and ended up in some random office worker’s apartment.
(He was a office worker right? his shirt said SDN?, maybe a security company?)
The smart thing to do would be to phase out of here and keep moving, find some place else.
But the hunger pangs radiating through Danny’s body tells him should at least stay for pizza.
Why was this guy feeding him anyway? Shouldn’t he be calling the cops on Danny? He didn’t even seem upset, didn’t he care that his home was broken into.
Maybe he didn’t.
Not that he was gonna steal anything, not that there was anything to steal. Just a couch, a plastic lawn chair and some cardboard boxes.
(Man he’s even beginning to misses box ghost now)
The home owner looked more dead inside then Danny actually is, so why is he being so kind?
Something’s gotta be up, but Danny can’t think of what.
The older man seemed normal enough, generic even though the whole of the man seemed like a mess.
Brown hair, brown eyes, blue dress shirt, brown khakis, maybe some freckles, the only things that stood out about him would be the...bullet hole?, yah Danny is gonna go with a bullet hole in his right ear.
Yeah the whole thing is weird, weird for Danny anyway.
Might as well face it head on, he can’t keep having these shower thoughts forever.
At least he is clean now. When he wipes the steam off the mirror as towels dry, Danny gets a good look at himself and grimaces at the sight.
Multiple blaster holes, they healed up ok but looked gnarly and the bruises from neck and wrist from the restraints are almost gone.
The injury that Danny took issue with was a very small one.
It wasn’t even that deep so why wasn’t it healing? Maybe something up with the ghost part of him?
He runs a finger along the incision and remembers the feeling of the scalpel hot on his skin and the twisted look in his parents eyes.
Bile rises into Danny’s throat as the visions flood his brain but he forces it down, all of it down.
He tries to remember the breathing exercises Jazz taught him. Take a deep breath, name something in your line of view, repeat.
Breath in, a beige bath mat that has seen better days, breath in, the Fenton phone Tucker modded on top of his dirty clothes, breathe in, a worn out old blue toothbrush is a chipped mug, breathe in.
Danny stares at himself in the mirror before letting go of the final breath.
His eyes red as the tears well in his eyes sting his skin.
God he was too old for this. Danny splashes cold water on his face, maybe the swelling wouldn’t be so bad?
He picks up his clothes, gives them a quick sniff and gags. Jesus did he really smell that bad?!?
He really didn’t want to put these back on after he got clean, which left only one option.
Danny’s eyes narrow suspiciously at the bathroom door, remembering what’s waiting on the other side.
This guy can’t be a creepy fruitloop right?
He’s got a dog, of course not, creeps don’t have dogs. Especially not ones that look like the embodiment of a pudgy ball of sunshine.
Danny pokes his head out of the bathroom but sees no sign of the man in the studio apartment. Just the aforementioned sweats and what could possibly be the goodest boy in existence.
He pats the dog on the head as he examines the name tag (who names their dog Beef) before retreating back to the backroom.
They are a dark blue color, a little big on Danny but they are comfortable and clean.
When he exits the bathroom Danny is a bit nervous.
What does he do now?
Guess the only thing he can do is play with Beef until his owner comes back. Before Danny can start rummaging through boxes his spine stiffens as the front door jiggles.
Danny swiftly turns on his heels and gets into a fighting stance only to be met by Beef’s master. Wide eyed staring at Danny as Beef waddles up to him and the smell of food.
“Uuh..I got pizza?”
(Crap, he is the worst guest ever)
******
The silence between them is awkward as hell. Robert stands in his kitchen and Danny parks himself on a bar stool by the kitchen island, and two steaming extra large pizzas between them.
It smells incredible but the teen just looks down red faced.
Robert keeps his cool, you shouldn’t try to throw hands with a homeowner but the kid's clearly scared and he’s gotta eat.
“Look, I get you’re embarrassed but food is getting cold so at least grab a slice” he grabs a slice, takes a piece of pepperoni and gives it to Beef for keeping the kid company.
Danny eyes the food in front of him, the scent of cheese, tomato sauce, and pepperoni make his mouth water. Tentatively he takes a slice of cheese and starts crying as soon as it hits his lips.
GOD THIS IS SO GOOD! When was the last time he had anything this good?
Damn the kid really was starving if he’s weeping over mediocre pizza.
Since the kid is starting to relax he might as well ask “Ssooo...you got a name?”. The kid stops eating, shit Robert pushed it too far already.
Swallowing the lump and food in his throat as Danny internally freaks out.
Of course the guy is gonna ask the name of the random jerk that broke into his home. Quick think of something to stall him!
“You first” Danny tries to sound assertive but dang this was a dumb idea. Sure make the man give his name first. Smooth. Idiot.
Ok that seems fair, stranger danger and all. He just gotta not be a stranger anymore “Robert Robertson”.
The poor thing chokes as he snorts and wheezes, laughing as he tries to catch his breath “ NO IT’S NOT!”.
The kid is a giggling mess now, good, that;s much better than the mopey mess the kid’s been most of the night.
Keeping the good vibes going Robert pulled out his wallet “What you don’t believe me? here” he takes his drivers license and hands it to the kid.
The belly laugh that fills the kitchen tells Robert he’s on the right track. “OH GOD THAT IS YOUR REAL NAME! I THOUGHT MY NAME WAS BAD!” the kid coughs between talking and his little giggle fits.
“Which is?” Robert asks as tries to use the same cool older brother voice Chase used to use when they were younger. It clearly failed when the kid went silent again.
Come on kid, you gotta give him something!
“Danny”
“Danny......?”
“Fenton ... Danny Fenton”
Jesus it’s like pulling teeth with this kid but at least he’s got a name now.
Robert doubts he’s gonna get anything more out of Danny tonight. Not with how uncomfortable he is, not looking Robert in the eyes and constantly rubbing the back of his neck.
Taking in a breath to clear his mind he places his palms on either side of him and leans in, stance relaxed but with authority.
“OK Danny here is the plan, your gonna eat as much as you want and I’m gonna setup the couch for you and your gonna sleep here tonight, alright”
“What?” crumbs fall from Danny’s mouth as he stares up at Robert in bewilderment.
“You heard me” Robert rebuffs as he exits the kitchen to search his boxes for a pillow and blanket.
Quickly swiveling on the bar stool to keep his gaze on Robert “BUT WHY?!” Danny scratches his head, he is so damn confused.
Continuing his rebuff, Robert states plainly “If you think I’m gonna let a teenager who has super power and is running away from something go off in the middle of night you're dead wrong”.
Crap! how did he figure that! Quick, distract the man again with questions!
“What about you?” Danny questions, Robert can’t just do that right? This is a studio apartment, where is he gonna sleep?
“It’s fine, I got some work emails to catch up on anyway” Robert sasses the boy as he finishes placing bedding on the couch.
Should Danny really be doing this, sleep on a total stranger’s couch.
The smarter part of Danny said no, they should run and not look back.
The other part of Danny, the part that’s clean, fed and oh so tired just wants to crawl under that blanket and never wake up.
Slowly Danny gets up off the stool, walks over to Robert, gives him a small bow and with a small voice tells Robert “thank you”.
He then quickly retreats to the couch and tucks himself in before he can say anything else.
Beef, who up until now has been licking crumbs off the floor, trots up and hops onto the couch to snuggle up with his new best friend.
Before Robert can turn off the light he hears the teen give a small good night.
He just chuckles and gives him a good night right back as he turns off the lights. As the lights go down so does Danny, falling asleep in an instant.
(Shit, the kid must be dead tired if he was knocked out in an instant)
Robert's phone begins to buzz, he blinds himself for a second with the blue light blasting his face as he takes it out of his pants pocket.
B: “I couldn’t find anything in the databases about your kid, did you find anything else?”
R: “Just a name, Danny Fenton”
B: “Ok thats not a lot”
B: “Did you at least figure out a plan moving forward?”
R: “Yah I think I do, I’ll bring him by the office in the morning”
B: “....”
B: “God I hope you know what your doing”