It was midnight, but many were still awake.

People going to work or taking a walk or keeping a lookout. Mostly for ghosts that would enter the town and roam around. The different ghosts could be entertaining. So if you couldn't sleep, looking out your window for the snake serpent that thought the streets were its river was a good way to pass the time.

Unfortunately, things weren't always that peaceful. Usually, it was aggressive ghosts that would keep these people up. Not the ghostly pests that would pop up occasionally, they were usually quiet. It was the ones that were looking for a fight or to conquer something. The battles between ghosts and Danny Phantom were never silent...

Many people figured that if they couldn't sleep they might as well get a job. Others would work on hobbies well into the night. And it wasn't uncommon to see someone walking their dog at 3 am.

Amity Park didn't have the best sleep schedule.

Danny Fenton wasn't an exception. Usually, he'd stay up fighting said ghosts, not that he knew that now. This time he was up and trying to pass the time. He couldn't seem to fall asleep so he went through his stuff again.

It was when he was holding the medkit he'd found under the sink and another, dirtier one he saw under his bed (half under the floor, meaning past him had phased it through the bed in a hurry and not realized how far it had gone; also meaning he couldn't get it out.....yet), and the makeup supplies from the bathroom that it really went through him that all this was kept a secret from everyone.

All this that now seemed to dominate his life went on in private before the accident. Insane. Not even his parents had known.

He'd hidden his whole species from everyone.

Danny grabbed the folder he'd found in his drawer. It had the words "Ghost catalog" scribbled in green pen on the cover. Most pages were attached to wires from the folder but some were loose. He flipped through it for the fifth time since he'd found it.

Danny looked up at the two blob ghosts - he didn't know when the second came up, but it was suddenly there as if it had always been there - that were resting on his dresser.

They were classified in the folder as minor threats. An interesting way to describe a friend.

Something rustled downstairs and Danny's head shot up. Someone was awake and in their house. Danny went invisible and opened the door as quietly as he could. He hurried to the stairs, his feet not making a sound. However, he froze when one of the stairs creaked.

The sound stopped and the boy hurried the rest of the way to the kitchen, not minding the creaks of the floor anymore. He stopped in the entryway to the kitchen. There was his mother, hurriedly trying to dry her tears while sending the door panicked looks.

She was startled when Danny dropped his invisibility. He looked tense and worried. "Good morning?" He glanced at the clock.

She frowned at him through red eyes. "What are you doing awake?"

"I'm not tired." Danny entered the kitchen cautiously. "Are you ok?"

Another tear slipped from her eyes and she straightened hastily. "Of course I'm fine. Go back to bed, Danny."

"Mom."

She looked at him with defeat as he sat down next to her. He looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.

She wiped the tear away and sighed shakily. Accepting that her son wouldn't leave but not giving anything away.

Danny waited a moment awkwardly, but nothing was said. He smacked his lips, not knowing what to do, and glanced at Blobby and Blobber. They rested around him, not sensing the tense atmosphere. They did sense his concern and touched his hand, calming him.

Maddie smiled. "What does it feel like?"

"Huh?" He snapped back to her.

She nodded towards the ghosts. "Them. How does it feel having them?"

Danny frowned, confused. "Nice? You can touch them if you want. They're not dangerous."

She smiled but didn't make a move towards them. "I know they're not. They're minor threats. But I don't want to disrupt them."

Minor threats. Just like in the journal in his room. Was that how ghosts were looked at in this household? By how dangerous they were? "What are they doing?"

"Helping you." She hadn't looked away from the ghosts. Her eyes were still glassy but a small smile on her face. "Keeping your core stable."

Danny's eyes widened. "What? Really? That makes sense. I- didn't know they were doing that." He glanced at them, sending them a thankful smile they wouldn't understand. "How did you know that?"

Maddie glanced at the clock, then down at her hands. "I've studied ghosts. The ghosts that are powerful enough to have their own lair also have these little pests following them. They are attracted to powerful cores. They get their energy from it. In return, they keep the core stable. Otherwise, it gets too wild for them to get anything from it."

Danny tensed a bit and looked at the blob ghosts confused and betrayed. "So is it not bad then? Them being with me?"

"No, they don't hurt."

"Oh." He calmed down a bit, but still retracted his hand from under Blobber. "I thought they took pity on me and tried to send me good vibes to make me feel better."

Maddie took a moment to process that. Her face fell a bit. "No. They're, not attracted to feelings, but can manipulate them. Not that it works with humans."

Danny frowned, surprised. "No? I thought everyone could feel it? And they don't change my feelings. They just-" he realized that was what they did- "They project, I guess. Just like me."

His mom looked surprised. She lifted her head from where it was resting on her fist. "You can-?"

"Yeah. It's communication. How else would I talk to them."

She hummed. "Curious. I wonder what else you can do that you believe is normal." She was quiet for a bit, her eyebrows steadily forming a deeper frown. "You said they might be trying to make you feel better. How are you dealing with all of this?"

Danny's muscles tensed, but he didn't show anything otherwise. His mother continued.

"You don't know anything. It's all new. You're in a house full of strangers. Even if you remembered, it would've been a big change. We-" She took a breath, trying with all her might to keep her voice steady. "We were not a perfect family. We're a mess. I can't imagine how it would've been for you. All this time." Her chin scrunched up and she hunched her shoulders a bit. "I can't believe how it- must've been. And now. You- you shouldn't be with us. We're a mess." She broke off to keep the sobs subdued.

Danny's eyes widened and his shoulders lowered. He opened his mouth, but closed it with a grimace. There was such sadness and so much regret radiating from her. He wasn't sure what to do with it.

He reached out and shakily put an arm around her back. He felt awkward with his other hand hanging loose so he wrapped the woman in a sideways embrace. She tensed a bit, still trying to keep her composure. Danny buried his face in her shoulder, covering his eyes as best as he could. He felt her shift. She lifted her arm and wrapped it around his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Danny," she cried.

"It's okay-," he replied, mournfully.

"It's not okay."

Maddie pulled away. She ran a hand through his hair with gentle movements even as she spoke harshly. "It's never been okay."

Danny shook his head as his eyes shifted away. He stared at a scorch mark on the carpet. He wondered if that was because of his own powers or one of his parents' guns. That boy that used to live here. The ghost in a house of ghost hunters. He didn't know what that kid had gone through. What he'd felt.

"I know."

The boy waited until the shaking steadied a bit before talking again. "I can feel your emotions too, you know." He figured she'd want to change topics.

"Really?" She wiped her eyes. "Will be hard to keep something hidden from you."

"I won't bother you about it." He reassured. "Only if it's really concerning. I'm guessing people usually can't do this?"

She shook her head. "There's a lot you can do that others can't." It was the second time she had said that. It made him pause. He ket go of the embrace and leaned back in his chair.

His mother got up to wash her face but paused by the sink, her back turned. "Can you...make me happy?" She asked quietly.

"I don't think so," he replied quickly. "I won't even try it. The blob ghosts can't either. They can make you feel what they're feeling, though. They just communicate through emotions. Pretty basic stuff."

The woman chuckled. "Another theory to cross out then." Maddie stared at the running water from the faucet, thinking about all the theories they'd had to revisit since the opening of the portal. It was hard, editing their view on ghosts that drastically. A view Jack's ancestors had passed on for generations (ancestors that had only documented from the perspective of nineteenth-century witch hunters now that she thought about it). They really should've checked their sources, but it's not like they had much to work with.

And now her son was a ghost, suddenly throwing those theories in the metaphorical trashcan was much easier. She and Jack still had to talk about what to do with their research. It would take a long time to comb through it and starting from a clean slate would also be a lot of work. Oh well, the sacrifice one had to do. She and Jack hadn't gotten to this point by slacking off. Besides, now they had their objects of research in their house! They didn't have to rely on secondhand sightings anymore.

Maddie meant the portal in the basement of course. Not her ghostly son. Of course not. It was her son. Just a teen. She had enough data thanks to the portal. Her son is going through enough already. Who knows how he's holding up.

It wouldn't hurt to keep a notebook on his behaviour from time to time though....

To get to know her son better...

Maddie sighed, cleaned her face, and walked back to her seat, running a hand through her hair to fix it up and have it not stick to her face. "How are you feeling?"

Danny looked down in thought. "I don't know," he finally answered. "I think I'm just shoving it away. Or I got used to it."

Maddie nodded. "Can- you let me feel it?"

Danny pursed his lips and looked at her in concern, which made her heart clench. "I'd rather not try. Besides, I'm not feeling anything at the moment. Just kinda numb."

"That isn't good." Her lips turned downwards. "But it's typical of you."

Danny smiled lightly. "Yeah?"

"You get it from me. We put business first, emotions later. Jasmine is always mad about it."

Danny grinned, leaning back in his chair. "Had a lot of emotions just now."

"Yes. It's terrible." She took a breath. "But sometimes it is overwhelming."

Danny folded his hands in front of him, wiggling his fingers. Indecisive. "Do you want me to get dad?"

She shook her head without even giving it a thought. "No, it would only agitate him. I can deal with it. I prefer crying alone."

Danny's fingers clenched. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No. It was alright. It's over either way. Jack is just...not equipped to handle emotions very well. He can't feel around the situation."

"Yeah..." Danny thought about what his dad had told him earlier. Before school. "He gives some fire pep talks, though."

Maddie chuckled and shook her head. Abruptly, she stood up and patted him on the back. "Well then. Go to sleep. You've missed enough rest."

Danny groaned. "But I'm not sleepy."

"Goodnight."

A sigh of defeat. "See you tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The screech of tires made the students on the road pick up their pace and hurry to school grounds. Tucker didn't move from where he'd been standing for the past five minutes as the Fenton RV came to an abrupt halt in front of him. He grinned at the boy that opened the door.

He was about to greet him when the halfghost levitated from his seat and floated to the ground, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. As soon as his feet touched the ground he turned and grinned at the man behind the wheel. They exchanged goodbyes.

"Have fun at school!" The door clicked shut and the vehicle screeched away again.

The place where the car had been standing now made place to show a few people with cameras and microphones. Danny's eyes widened as they smiled brightly at him.

He turned, grabbed Tucker, and disappeared. "Not today." He smirked, ignoring Tucker's startled yelp.

"Hey! Dude. Warn a guy." But they were running together to the school entrance. Tucker not feeling as uncomfortable as he probably should've been. In fact, Danny's hand in his and tingling of invisibility traveling up his arm felt familiar. He'd missed it.

He grinned, dodging students. "You're really getting the hang of your powers."

"Yeah. I've been practicing." Danny's disembodied voice said. "It's really kind of easy."

Tucker laughed. "If you say so."

Danny paused in front of the entrance. "Um. I gotta go to my locker so uh."

"Can you take me with you? Mine is close to yours."

"Sure."

Tucker expected Danny to let go of his invisibility, but the boy only kept walking with his hand in Tucker's. Soon enough they were at Danny's locker. He let go of Tucker to get his books, pausing several times to look at his phone for the schedule. Or at least, Tucker could imagine him doing that because Danny hadn't dropped his invisibility. Most likely to be left alone by students.

The only sign he was there were the disappearing books from the open locker.

Tucker took his hat and squeezed it between his. "So I was thinking. Do you want to hang out with me at Sam's house? It's pretty sweet. We can go bowling in her basement and she's even got a milkshake and popcorn machine." He asked hopefully. He didn't get a response right away and he couldn't look at Danny's reaction. He panicked slightly. Oh gosh, that sounded like he was bribing him into being his friend, showing off the money Sam had. Of course, Danny would be hesitant. "OR- or we could eh go to my house! Except there's not much to do there. Wait. You want to hang out in the arcade? It's really fun."

Danny had paused with a book in his hand and looked over at Tucker as he talked. This wasn't the first time he's asked him to hang out with Sam. In fact, those two were trying to spend all the time they could with Danny. Not that it amounted to much. Danny either had to decline a lot because he still had to catch up to school or had other plans with other people who were also trying their best to befriend him. Except he could see the difference between these two and the rest of the student body.

Sam and Tucker had been his closest friends before this. He didn't know how close but if they had known about his superhero activities they had probably gone through a lot together. They must be scared of losing him to the masses.

He returned to the visible spectrum and smiled at the boy. "Sure. Let's hang out at the arcade after school." He couldn't give them the friendship they used to have but he could start over with them.

Tucker lit up with a grin. "Alright! We'll be at the back entrance." He plopped his hat back on his head.

But it was only the start of the school day. And what a long day it was turning out to be.

Danny turned in his sloppily made biology homework and got a comment from the teacher about how he didn't even need to do homework. He could get straight A's if only he asked for it. Danny reminded her how learning didn't work like that.

In another class the teacher explained how she was their new teacher (Danny couldn't even remember the last teacher) and to turn in their homework from yesterday. She didn't even really acknowledge him. He was grateful and suspicious of the sudden leave of the previous teacher.

Then was the ever delightful Mr. Job from history who didn't seem to have changed his opinion on Danny. This time he'd informed him that Danny didn't qualify under human rights and was therefore worth as much as a slave from the 1500s, a topic he seemed to feel was necessary to compare to Danny. The class was as outraged as you'd expect but Danny just kept it to a nod and wrote it down.

It was in English Writing class where he again encountered something that made him different from his peers.

The teacher, whose name he'd forgotten too, was doing his best to interest his students in the grammar of Of Mice and Men, not really succeeding. People were taking notes here and there but there is just no way to make grammar interesting.

Danny was sitting, bored out of his mind and trying to pay attention. Just because he wanted to learn doesn't mean he could do it well.

At some point, he had started doodling on his notebook. His hand moved around the paper. With hesitance at first and many sketch lines but he gave a triumphant smile when the image of Blobby was now edged on the worksheet. A small accomplishment, since it was just a blob, but it relit a spark.

He quickly got started on another sketch. He'd seen so many drawings of Danny Phantom that other people had sent him. He wanted to try it out too. Just a very simple one, with one fist in the air. Like an action figure.

Hey! Drawing was quite fun. Maybe he used to do it a lot. Maybe this was a hobby.

He froze when a weird feeling passed over him. An influx of cold expanded in his chest and he realized it had always been there. The cold traversed through his whole body and the warm air in his still very human lungs contrasted the cold, coming out of his mouth as fog.

He stared wide-eyed, a feeling nudging him. There was something. Someone. Was here. They shouldn't be.

Not without his permission.

He hadn't given anyone permission to be here.

He frowned, annoyed but also confused. Why would they not ask? That's kinda rude.

He stood up and addressed the English teacher. "Excuse me, sir. Sorry. I need to leave." He left his backpack behind and walked to the door.

Mr. Lancer stopped his lesson midsentence and frowned disapprovingly. "I'm sure you do, Mr. Fenton, but you cannot just stand up and leave without permission."

The word stopped Danny in his tracks. Was he...serious? Expecting Danny to ask him permission? Did this teacher have any say over Danny? He didn't think so. This was his domain.

Another part of Danny whispered a counterargument. Even if this was his domain. He should respect the citizens in it.

Danny nodded. It wouldn't do to disregard others' boundaries. He didn't particularly want this teacher to dislike him.

But it wasn't as if he would stay behind even if he didn't get the go-ahead. He decided to humor him. This human had proved to care about Danny.

He turned to face him and asked "Can I leave?"

The English teacher looked frustrated still but nodded. "Go ahead. Come back as soon as you can, you still have a lot to catch up on."

That was true. Danny agreed to the conditions and left through the door. A few students called out to him and encouraged him. Why would they do that? He didn't know. They probably expected him to fight off supervillains and save people from burning fires. Which was all nice and dandy, but this was just an intruder. Besides, there were people whose jobs were to save others. Danny had schoolwork to do.

He walked out of the school and flew upwards through the roof. He didn't think twice about how this was the first time he could remember that he'd flown over five feet and he couldn't even enjoy it.

Danny flew around a little aimlessly. He'd felt the intruder. It couldn't be too far.

There it is.

Just floating there behind one of the big stores in the mall. Stacking anything square-shaped up. Messing around with his possessions.

Danny studied the ghost. He felt like he recognized them from somewhere. Their aura was sharp and contained within a frame that only the ghost itself could make out. It was also shining brightly as a sign that the ghost was feeding their obsession. They didn't really seem to be breaking anything, but it didn't sit well with Danny that they'd barged in like that.

His irritation seemed to have carried through the air because the ghost stiffened and whirled around. They didn't appear at all surprised to find him here. In fact, they looked delighted. "The ghost child! You have escaped the box of pain at last. You are just in time to witness my squared construction of DOOM!!"

He stepped aside and with a flourish displayed the stacked boxes that formed some type of giant humanoid-shaped thing. All held together by bubble wrap.

Danny inspected the stacked boxes that had started glowing blue. Uncertainly, he threw the ghost a questioning look. He was still trying to make sense of what the ghost had said to get his head around the fact that they'd seemingly come here specifically for a fight.

At the lack of response, the ghost held its hands higher as a sign of intimidation and waved its hands. "Beware!"

Danny cocked his head. "What do you think you're doing?"

They floated up a little higher. "Square up, boy! The Box Ghost will not go down easily!" Their aura spiked and bristled in a show of posturing.

Danny floated closer, amused. He wasn't scared of the ghost harming anything or anyone, confident he could stop him. (Even with his amnesia)

The Box Ghost faltered at Danny's relaxed position. "Has the box of pain made you unable to fight, ghost child?"

Despite himself, Danny grinned. "No, I'm just not feeling up to a boxing match."

"Ah-ha!" The threatening posturing was back up immediately. "Too bad! You do not have a choice!!"

"Excuse me, but I'd rather not fight right now." He would very much like to get in a scuffle. Maybe show him for trespassing. Show off his own strength a little. But after school. In an acceptable location and after an acceptable introduction.

It wasn't polite to get into fights with every random passerby.

The ghost looked taken back. "You won't? How dare you refuse a fight with the Box Ghost!"

Now he's gone and offended them. Danny raised his hands. "Look, I don't know who you are, but this isn't really a good time and you're being very rude-"

"You what?!? How could you forget the memorable Box Ghost!"

"It's nothing on you. I just have amnesia."

It was quiet for the first time since meeting the loud ghost. Even the mountain of boxes behind them froze. The Box Ghost looked at Danny in horror. "Amnesia?" They asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, like. Kinda hit my head pretty hard. I don't remember anything."

The boxes toppled down like a house of cards.

"You're fading!?"

The Box Ghost flew forward and was suddenly up and close to him. Danny leaned back, startled. "I- what?"

"You don't seem fading! Is it gradual for halfas?? How do we return your memories? Has the box of pain taken them??"

The ghost was shaking. The aura spread over Danny in concern. Waves of worry swept over the boy.

Danny blinked quickly and tried to hold his hands up and calm the other ghost. "Whoa! Wait up! Listen. I just hurt my head. I'm not hurt. Don't be a square," he snickered.

The Boz Ghost did not look amused. "You are barely a youngling and not even a proper ghost at that. Memory loss is a serious matter!!"

Danny felt chastised like a child. He supposed it was well-founded. He did not know much about ghost culture. He could at least try to appease the other. "Ok sorry. Good news is: The memories might come back slowly. They did say that if I do things I used to do or see places I used to go to, it might like, kickstart my brain into remembering."

The blue ghost paused, he put a hand under his chin. He nodded. "That seems sound. We need to surround you with familiar things." He seemed satisfied with his own words and nodded again. He grinned up his square teeth at the halfghost. "Do not fret, child! You'll get your memories back in no time!" Before Danny could reply the ghost flew away.

Danny was left behind alone except for the scrambled boxes and bubblewrap on the ground.

He sighed.

Y'elloh

It's a me

:3 I love you

And love Wattpad. Even with all the..sigh.. the ads
I know I'm late on the uptake but the ADS goodness gracious it was bad enough they changed the logo T-T

I guess it's funny the new logo looks handwritten.

I've figured what feeling I'm going for with this story lmao. After a thousand years.

Love y'all byeeeeeeee