Work Text:
Daniel James Fenton died at 14.
Big whoop.
Danny sees, feels, and lives dies the proof every time those bright rings wash over him, changing him into Phantom. Danny Phantom is dead, died at fourteen, will forever look fourteen, but Danny Fenton is 24 almost 25. Danny did die at fourteen but he also somehow remained alive. Of course, that's old news. Ten years old, to the day, to be exact. Danny is never more reminded of that fact than on this day.
What makes this day such a big reminder, you ask?
Well, other than the fact that it's the day of his really rather traumatic death, it's the one day of the year he is stuck as Phantom.
Yes, that's right.
Stuck.
Not the whole day mind you, just from the exact second of his death until midnight. What really sucks is, the whole 24 hours of that day is shot. All because in the hours leading up to his death mark, ghostly traits slowly bleed into his human form.
At first, his eyes gain their own luminescence. From there, they slowly turn into that bright neon green. His canines grow to their full size and the rest of his teeth become noticeably sharper. His ghostly aura, the one that keeps anyone from underestimating Phantom as just some "child," leaks over and unsettles anyone near him. Finally, his form shifts when he is at the periphery of someone's vision, his limbs becoming spindly and his form flickering.
All in all, not something easy to explain to someone. Especially not someone who you think you might really really love.
Duke is...well Duke is Duke is Duke and it really isn't an exaggeration to say he's the light in Danny's life.
Ha! Get it? Because his powers deal wi-oh never mind.
To find someone that not only accepts your cryptid oddities but actually finds said oddities rather endearing? Well that's a one-in-a-million sort of situation. He's never pushed Danny to tell more about his powers and side effects than he was willing to give.
Danny has been pretty open with most everything besides the whole, "I'm dead!" thing. Between the ectoplasmic interference and Vlad, the whole 'ghosts exist and are attacking middle America' headline hasn't managed to spread beyond the nearest cities. The world at large just doesn't know and believe in ghosts. Well, except maybe the congressman and higher ups in government, since they were the ones to pass the Anti-ecto laws.
Danny's pretty sure that Duke thinks he's some sort of magical entity or an alien. Something that the law tries to protect, but bad guys still kidnap.
And he meant to bring it up before now, he really did. It's just that whenever "the right time" rolled around, something came up, be it phone call, their Thai food delivery, an emergency alert about a villain attack. You name it, it probably happened right when Danny opened up his mouth to tell Duke about today.
Today...
Danny is so fucked. Him and his reluctance to spit out those three little words are going to get him dumped by the best thing that's happened to him since him leaving Amity Park.
I. Am. Dead.
How hard is it to say those three little words. He's already been saved from having to explain by Duke getting called out early this morning to deal with some batty problems.
Danny's joints ache with the coming re-visitation of his death and he contemplates the merits of drinking anything beyond water. As nice as coffee sounds right now, he doesn't want to risk it coming back up later. In a bid to avoid thinking about the complications of today, Danny turns to memories of when he and Duke first met.
~*~
It really is just Danny's luck that he goes somewhere on vacation only to have a ghost follow him in order to cause trouble and/or kidnap him. They're staying far enough to keep from triggering his ghost sense, but Danny has had a little too much practice being hunted down. He knows when he's being followed. Of course, the fact that this ghost isn't coming right out, means that they've probably been sent by Vlad. Someone waiting for him to let his guard down and kidnap him.
Danny lets out an exhausted sigh and drags his hand down his face. No use in going along with it pestering him all day at the edge of his senses. He might as well have fun with the uninvited visitor. Then tomorrow he can resume his vacation, hopefully without further distraction.
And so begins "The Chase." Twenty minutes in and Danny finds himself actually having fun. Not only is he having a grand tour of Washington DC, he's also trolling and confusing his follower to no end. He has yet to catch sight of them, not uncommon for ghosts, but there's a sort of emotional residue when he loops back around and criss-crosses his old trails. Cujo is great help in laying red herring trails. Danny is getting to see sights he otherwise would have missed by sticking to the touristy path. The restaurants, the people, the differing cultures in various neighborhoods...this is seeing and living a new city. And the Congress buildings. Has Danny mentioned those? Half of them are nearly empty except for an aide or two. Great big buildings just begging to be used. Danny prolongs the chase just so he can see more.
Of course, he doesn't have unlimited stamina so he finally leads his pursuer into an old warehouse district, seemingly devoid of life. There will be less collateral damage if he can keep any possible fight contained here.
What finally gets him, is that when his follower moves in, his ghost sense doesn't go off.
Did Vlad hire a human to hunt him down? Did he give them ghost tech? Is this some other entity after him?
Only one way to find out, so Danny squares up, leans casually against an industrial sized dumpster and waits with a confident smirk lazing on his face. When in doubt, pretend you're unfazed and know exactly who you're dealing with.
Nothing could have prepared him for the young man about his own age stumbling around the corner, panting. The guy has decently broad shoulders with dark hair cropped close to his head. The two shaved lines along the sides look pretty damn good on him and he is very much Not a ghost.
Danny blinks.
The other guy blinks.
There's a sort of awestruck look in the guy's eyes as his gaze focuses on something around Danny.
Odd...He's not looking at Danny but at something about him.
"Well, you're not who I thought you were," Danny comments unhelpfully.
The guy, Danny really needs a better name for him since he is actually really handsome, even all sweat stained from chasing after Danny half the day. His eyes carry a kindness that you don't often see in a big city, or anywhere really. Anyways, the guy just blinks in confusion. He's still trying to catch his breath since Danny made that last bit a little more challenging.
"What," he sucks in a few deep breaths. "What the-What are you?"
Danny purses his lips thoughtfully, waiting a moment to see if the guy decides to do something unexpected. When he seems more invested in returning normal oxygenation to his muscles, Danny moves on.
"You a meta or something, then?" He asks in what he hopes is a casual manner.
The guy nods, his eyes still flicking from Danny to whatever he sees surrounding Danny.
"Cool cool, uh...this is a new one for me. Like you chased me half the day just to ask me what I am?"
Even in the dim lighting of the sunset hour, Danny sees the guy's cheeks turn a deeper color than the rest of his overheated flush and he coughs a couple times.
"I mean you don't seem like you're trying to kidnap me and you're not screaming at me about how evil I am or how you'll hunt me down so you're probably alright," Danny comments half to himself.
"I'm sorry? Is that something that happens to you regularly?"
Danny rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.
"A lot more often than you might think. Anywho...I kinda feel bad for dragging you around half of DC today. We can go talk at like a cafe or something. I've certainly seen plenty on our little tour around town and all that. You look like you could use some water..." And crap... he's rambling now, isn't he?
"I-uhm," the guy interrupts. "That does sound nice right now. I'd appreciate it." His eyes are mostly focused on Danny now, only occasionally flicking to the edges of whatever he sees.
Danny moves closer, his grin back in full force as he offers the man a hand.
"Promise I won't lose you this time."
~*~
Danny is startled from his thoughts by his cell ringing out with the ghost busters theme song. He's careful not to handle it for long, just enough to hit accept and to put it on speaker before he gives it some distance.
"You've reached the Park Row Mortuary, you stab'em we slab'em. How may we take your body today?"
There's a groan from the line that makes Danny grin wolfishly.
"You know, I Was going to ask if you wanted a sandwich from Julio's but now I'm not so sure I should be rewarding this behavior," Duke says with a snort.
It's Danny's turn to groan, and he really hopes his voice isn't too echo-y or static-y or otherwise unnatural. He really hates today sometimes. He has to miss out on food from Julio's?! Now that's just downright criminal.
"I'm not feeling hungry right now, but I definitely wouldn't say no to sticking it in the fridge for later," he says finally, ignoring Duke's chuckling.
"Alright. You feeling okay?"
Seeing as Danny pretty much never turns down food, his boyfriend's question is valid.
"Not really," he admits, "but it's not exactly something I can get into over the phone. I'll be okay by tomorrow. Promise." He really hopes his words are reassuring because he can almost feel Duke's worry through the phone.
"Can I pick you up anything before I come home?" Dukes words are laced with so many unsaid questions.
"Nah, I'm don't need anything...but thank you boo!" Making exaggerated kissy noises over the line until Duke hangs up leaves Danny laughing for almost a minute after the call is ended. His laughter fades into the emptiness of their little condo.
The silence is somehow suffocating now so Danny rolls himself to his feet to track down his record player. It's one of the few things that won't wig out as he becomes more ghostly. Ancient's bless the simplicity of older technology.
He kinda likes the odd way they play the songs, just a little too much static the uncanny twist in how the instruments sound. Maybe it's a ghost thing.
His teeth hurt, they're growing, he always hates when they grow while he's in his human form, but he's stuck like this until he reaches the appointed time.
Well now there's going to be two appointed times. The death of Daniel Fenton and the death of his future with duke.
Okay, maybe that's being a little too pessimistic, but Danny is fully acknowledging that he messed up by not telling Duke about this sooner, ten outta ten would not do again. He groans as he makes his way over to the freezer. He plucks out an ice cube to shove in his mouth. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't, but he likes the feeling anyways. It's always different with a regular ice cube. The way the cold spreads is a sharper, more localized feeling while ghost ice seeps slowly into the bones, cold in a less direct way but one that reaches further.
It's enough to distract him until he hears Duke's keys rattling outside the door. He spits out his current ice cube in the sink and practically throws himself onto the couch in some pitiful attempt to appear casual.
That all goes out the window as Duke flings the door open, his eyes full of concern as he scans the room for Danny. Apparently, him being "sick" is a lot more concerning to Duke than Danny thought it would be.
"Danny..."
"Duke, hey Duke. Duke hey...As you can see, I'm okay." He gestures to himself before promptly remembering that he does in fact look like he's dying. "Okay, I know I don't look good, but I feel fine...mostly and I can explain. I know it looks bad. I promise it's not as bad as it looks. I'll be okay by tomorrow," and oh he's coming closer, that unreadable detective expression masking his emotions. Damn you Bruce and your ridiculous vigilante teachings. Oh fuck, he's rambling isn't he. He's still talking and the closer Duke comes, the faster Danny's words spill out. It's not even an explanation of his condition. "...and I really meant to tell you before now but how do you tell one of the most important people in your life that you straight up die once a year? Like there's no handbook for this and Jazz just kinda found out on her own so I never had to tell her and I..."
Duke cuts him off with a finger to his lips.
"Okay, uh Danny? You're kinda scaring me more. Can you explain from the beginning?"
Danny nods.
"Okay, alright, I got this..." he takes a deep breath. "Duke, I'm dead."
The second the words are out of Danny's mouth, he's backtracking.
"Shit! Fuck! That's not what I-how I meant to say that. I'm not dead-dead." He presses his fists to his mouth and screams into them before taking another breath.
Duke remains deathly still, not daring to interrupt and really half hoping that he heard Danny wrong.
"So, I kinda died when I was 14 but it came with side effects. Think of it like a funky magic thing, but every year on the day I died I get like this whole echo of my death. Think of it like an annual sickness. It's not fun, but it won't permanently end my existence." Danny hopes beyond all hope that he's coming across as reassuring and not just more confusing.
"But you're also alive...right here with me," Duke says hesitantly.
"I am, but there's a part of me that isn't. Alive. A part of me that isn't alive." He runs his fingers through his messy hair. "You can feel it now, right? The aura of the dead. It's unsettling and leaves you with your skin tingling. We're getting close to the time I died. I get worse, the closer it is. I'll have this whole meta-like transformation and then I'll be stuck in my other form till midnight. It's not so bad after the change and then tomorrow I'll be a-okay again like it never happened." He finishes with jazz hands, waiting nervously for Duke's response. He knows it's a lot but his anxiety doesn't agree with the whole waiting for someone to process new information thing.
"I meant to tell you before now. I almost brought it up several times, but I was always either too scared or something interrupted me. I didn't want you to have to find out this way Duke. I'm sorry."
They sit in silence for several minutes as Duke runs through everything Danny has said and matches it to past behavior and whatnot. Those minutes feel like several eternities, for Clockwork did not take pity on Danny and spare him this wait. He half wonders if the bastard slowed down the seconds just to make Danny suffer longer.
"Will you..." Duke starts only to stop and wrap his head around what he wants to say. "What does your other form look like?"
Danny shoots him a reassuring smile. "Well actually...you'll have heard of me even though we've never worked together. My ghost form never aged. It's what has helped me keep my secret identity. No reason to look for one when the kid you work with is dead."
Duke processes that for another long moment, this one not quite so many eternities as the first. Danny shifts as he sees it dawn in Duke's eyes.
"Phantom?"
Danny nods and has to stop himself when he goes to reach for Duke's hands. He figures the comforting gesture would lose its effect when the hands on you are like that of a cold corpse. He leaves his hands, palm up, anyways. Just in case Duke decides to reach for him first.
"You were so young..." Duke reaches a hand out to cup his cheek, not flinching at the cold.
"I really was. At the time I felt so old, so mature, but when I see that face in the mirror..." Danny trails off, not quite sure if he wants to finish that depressing thought.
"You see the child you were," Duke finishes for him.
"A child who died," Danny agrees solemnly. "I'll be stuck in that form until midnight. You don't have to stay, it's all pretty run-of-the-mill."
Shushing Danny with a finger to his mouth, Duke leans in and presses their foreheads together.
"This is a lot to process, but I want to stay here with you. Process it with you." He runs his fingers through Danny's limp, lifeless hair. He hears the shuddering sigh and tries to ignore that way he can hear Danny's lungs rattle like those last breaths before death. He focuses on what his powers can sense. The strength and steadiness of Danny's aura. It paints an entire different picture from what Duke sees in reality.
Danny has to fight not to cry. He's so fucking lucky to have Duke of all people. Strong, kind Duke. Forgiving Duke. Light of his life and beyond.
"Together..." he echoes.
"Promise you won't lose me this time?" Duke is giving Danny such a soft teasing look that Danny breaks, a muffled half giggle, half sob tears it's way from his throat.
"I promise."