Work Text:
Danny should have known his luck wouldn’t last forever. Really, it was a miracle it had lasted this long to begin with. The last time fortune had favored him was when he’d only half-died in the portal to hell in his basement. Obviously, the bar was pretty damn low.
Maybe he had just gotten arrogant. Reckless was a no-brainer, but it had gotten into his head that no one would seriously believe he and Phantom were the same person that he just stopped… worrying about it. Danny had faith that his parents would come to accept him if he ever revealed his identity to them. Part of the reason he’d held his tongue and hid it from them for so long was because he didn’t want to find out what that reality would be like.
Most of his possible pride came from Wes, probably. Despite all the ‘evidence’ and ‘proof’ he accumulated over the past year or so, Wes could never once convince anyone that Danny and Phantom were one and the same. Danny had quite a few laughs whenever he dangled his identity over the other boy’s face. Because c’mon, if Wes was going to stalk him and get all up in his business, Danny deserved some laughs too!
And sure, he might be a little too reckless with his identity, but it wasn’t like he was that bad at hiding it either. Yeah, okay, maybe he shouldn’t transform out in the open street so often, but no one ever paid attention to him. And if they did, they were quickly greeted by an unintentional flashback that left them dazed and blinking back spots long enough for Danny to run off and deal with the ghostly threat. Half the time those people wouldn’t even remember Danny was there.
Really, Danny’s identity was safe.
Except he forgot about one teensy, tiny little detail.
Danny had never once told anyone about his secret identity. Everyone that had found out had only learned the truth through one crucial detail:
His transformation rings.
And that’s where Danny found himself now, gaping in shock at Mr. Lancer who stared right back at him, just as aghast. He was sure the man hadn’t seen the transformation pass; he would be blinking and rubbing his eyes furiously by now if that was the case. But he must have seen Phantom go down this hallway, and lo and behold- Danny Fenton stood here, clutching a familiar thermos.
Danny didn’t have confidence in his lying abilities. He could commit to the bit just as well as any other dramatic teenager, but when the theatrics were over or ignored, Danny had nothing to fall back on.
If Mr. Lancer had even the slightest suspicion that Danny was actually Phantom then-
“Mr. Fenton,” Mr. Lancer said with a surprisingly calm voice, “Would you please come see me at my office?’
“Uhm,” Danny stuttered, glancing back and forth. This hallway was a deadend, but there was one classroom door between him and Mr. Lancer. There was always a chance that someone could come out and overhear them. Danny also didn’t want to risk causing a scene and alerting someone else. There was always still a chance that maybe Danny could pull this off. He would just have to risk it.
“Okay,” Danny agreed timidly, trailing after his teacher like a lost puppy.
When they finally arrived at the man’s office, Danny shuffled at the entrance. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d passed through this door, but all other times had been due to much, much different circumstances. Mr. Lancer, for his part, acted like nothing was wrong or strange at all. Danny wasn’t sure if Mr. Lancer had that good of a poker face or he was legitimately fine with this new development. Considering all the other times he’d caused his teacher to figuratively rip out his hair, Danny didn’t have high hopes either way…
“I think for this conversation we should have the door closed,” Mr. Lancer informed him, nodding to the wooden door.
Danny shuffled once again at that. His parents had always told him not to be alone in a room with an adult that made him uncomfortable. But well. Danny had been to detention with this man plenty of times and nothing bad had come out of it. For that matter, his parents wouldn’t even take their own advice since they kept letting Vlad stay in Danny’s room whenever the man spent the night.
That thought had Danny wrinkling his nose in distaste. Nonetheless, it was all Danny needed to convince himself to close the door. He’d rather take his chances with Mr. Lancer than Vlad, after all.
He was more than a little reluctant to sit down in front of his teacher, but he figured it would be more awkward if he was the only one standing. Danny sunk into the hard plastic chair across from his homeroom teacher. Remembering to breathe was a lot harder than he thought it’d be.
“I see that you and our local hero are one and the same,” Mr. Lancer commented plainly. Danny bit his lip and silently seethed. Yeah, there was no getting out of this, was there? “Are your parents aware that you’re Phantom?”
“No, they aren’t,” Danny gave a clipped reply. “And with all due respect, Mr. Lancer, I would appreciate it if you let me tell them when I’m ready.”
“I’m afraid matters are a little more complicated than that, Mr. Fenton,” Mr. Lancer informed him with a stern look. His expression softened as he said, “As a teacher, I am a mandated reporter and as such-”
“My parents don’t abuse me,” Danny instantly went to his parents’ defense. Sure, they ignored him most days and their equipment could randomly attack him instead, but that was hardly abuse. That was just poor programming on their parts, as far as Danny was concerned.
“As much as it pains me to say this, that is a blatant lie,” Mr. Lancer drawled with a sigh. Danny opened his mouth to defend them, but Mr. Lancer lifted a finger and cut him off. “I have seen your parents shoot at your alter-ego, Mr. Fenton. They don’t miss every time.”
Danny pressed his lips shut, grinding his teeth in frustration. Mr. Lancer wasn’t entirely… wrong about that of course, but Danny was sure that if his parents knew they would stop attacking him. Or so he hoped, anyways. Danny would never truly know until his identity was revealed, and he’d like to leave that skeleton in the closet he’d dumped it in.
“But that’s not the only thing I am referring to, unfortunately,” Mr. Lancer continued, his expression severe. Danny waited in tense silence as the man gathered himself and announced, “What were you planning to do once the Justice Lords found out about your hero status?”
All the blood immediately drained from Danny’s face.
“I-” Danny stuttered. He trailed and failed to wrap his brain around a good enough answer. Because the truth was that Danny had never thought that would happen. He probably should have, because of course the Justice Lords were bound to find out about Amity Park’s ghostly crisis at some point, but- Danny had never considered what they would mean for him too. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”
“This information cannot leave this room, you understand?” Mr. Lancer told him, volume growing quiet. It was only once Danny nodded that Mr. Lancer explained, “All public schools are charged to file a report to the Lords if we have a metahuman under our supervision-”
“You never said anything about Phantom before,” Danny insisted, jumping to his feet. He would have known if that was the case. There was no way the Justice Lords would have ignored a story as juicy as ghosts. They might not believe it at first- who would?- but Lord Superman was as paranoid as he was cruel. Add Lord Batman to the mix and Danny was done for.
“Before today Phantom was the ghost of a dead child,” Mr. Lancer hissed at him. Danny felt like he’d been slapped across the face. “I had no govern over a dead child-”
“So you ruin the life of a living one?” Danny’s voice cracked as he stared, imploringly, at his homeroom teacher. “I- I’m a ghost, or half-ghost or whatever- but you can’t just tell them-”
“I swore an oath when the Lords came into power, Mr. Fenton. It is not a matter of how, it is a matter of when,” Mr. Lancer chided him gently, an eyebrow arched in challenge. “If they found out I hid you, or that your parents hid you, I will have doomed us all.”
“They don’t have to find out,” Danny snapped back, hands curling into fists at his sides. “This secret can die with us just like it should have-”
“And if they do? What will you do then?” Mr. Lancer curved right back to the beginning, the very first question to doom Danny.
Danny could pretend and insist and turn a blind eye all he liked, but if he got this wrong, people could die. People could actually, seriously die, and Danny couldn’t dare hope they’d come back as ghosts.
He swallowed down the shame boiling up his throat, crossing his arms over his chest. “It won’t happen,” he muttered to himself. It was a comfort as much as a dying hope. They couldn’t find out, not by any means. “It won’t.”
Mr. Lancer sighed, “Danny-”
He knew it was a bad sign when Mr. Lancer had used his nickname of all things, so he bolted out of the room. He could hear his teacher calling after him, shouting his name, but he just ran to the nearest bathroom. Danny shut himself up in a stall, precariously balancing on a toilet lid and sobbed into his folded arms.
He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t.
But since when did Danny ever have a choice?
Nothing happened for a week. And then a second. And then a third.
Danny held his breath the entire time, hoping beyond all sense and logic that Mr. Lancer wouldn’t have ratted him out. His teacher hadn’t made another mention of the topic, in his presence or otherwise. But the man would still give him sad looks on occasion, brows pinched or furrowed depending on his thoughts that day. Thoughts that Danny wasn’t privy to, and honestly was afraid to know about.
On his part, he kept his run-in with Mr. Lancer a secret to everyone. The more ears that heard, the more chance that word could spread around. Already rumors had spread that Danny had run out of Mr. Lancer’s office without warning, and a few had caught on and whispered about how Danny had been caught crying later that day. His friends tried to talk to him about it, and even Jazz tried to use her lacking psychological knowledge to help him ‘sort out his emotions’, but Danny wouldn’t have it.
He’d already risked this much, he couldn’t ruin it all now.
Just when he thought he could finally breathe again, let his hunches lower and shoulders relax, there was a knock on the door.
Pretty much every kid in that room lifted their heads to see Ms. Tetslaff poking her head through the slightly ajar door, beckoning Mr. Falluca over. Danny frowned as the two teachers muttered to one another. He was sure he was not the only one openly staring at the two. They might be in the middle of a test right now, but this conversation was much more interesting.
Danny couldn’t help the twist in his gut when Mr. Falluca turned to him with a frown.
In a slightly louder voice, probably intentional on the man’s part, Mr. Falluca reminded Ms. Tetslaff, “We are in a test right now.”
“And Principal Ishiyama won’t have them waiting,” Ms. Tetslaff hissed in return. Mr. Falluca gave the gym teacher a hard look before he sighed, shoulders wilting.
He turned back to the class and beckoned Danny forward, “Mr. Fenton, you appear to be excused from your test for once. You’re needed at the principal’s office.” And there went a furious gaggle of whispers all around him. Danny would try to pay attention and parse them out, if only he could hear them over the drum of his heartbeat.
“Uh, how come?” Danny asked tentatively, fiddling with his pencil. He could tell his classmates were sending him weird looks for trying to ask, of all things, when to them he was receiving a ‘get out of test free’ card. Danny wasn’t nearly as optimistic.
“I don’t think that’s a subject you want announced to the whole class now,” Mr. Falluca said with a sigh, rubbing the wrinkles in his forehead. “Well you heard it, Mr. Fenton. Up you go. You may leave your things here for now. If you have to leave, we can have someone fetch them and give them to you later.”
Danny nodded slowly and, with a squeak of his seat, stood up in front of his whole class. If their eyes weren’t on him before, they were certainly on him now. Danny tried not to gulp under their attention, and awkwardly walked to the door where Ms. Tetslaff met him.
He wasn’t offered a hall pass, but it looked like he wouldn’t be needing one. Ms. Tetslaff was right behind him the entire way, escorting him to the main office herself. Danny couldn’t help but feel self-conscious under her gaze, intimately aware of the way she surveyed and observed him. What did she know about the situation? Had she been informed at all? Danny had to wonder why this teacher would have been called to escort him. Did they think he would fight, and that’s why they called her in?
Danny sucked down a dry breath as he approached the principal’s office. It was situated in an odd place in Casper High. You would think it should go with the nurse’s office and other teacher’s rooms, but there was no such thing here. Danny always figured that Principal Ishiyama had chosen a room all for herself elsewhere, or maybe the last one was just so horrible she didn’t dare stay. The difference didn’t matter at this point, but the thought was a kind distraction.
There was no reception desk between the hallway and Principal Ishiyama’s offices. Nothing to field or keep someone out, or at least at bay.
Which meant that the moment Ms. Tetslaff swung the door open, he was greeted to the sight of Lord Batman, silver Batman insignia glinting back at him.
Danny inhaled sharply and tried to back away, only for Ms. Tetslaff to wrap a firm hand on his shoulder, paralyzing him and pushing him into the room. The door closed behind his gym teacher, and he glanced up at her with sheer terror painted over his face. Only, her face began to bleed before her eyes. His familiar teacher turned into Lord Martian Manhunter himself.
He twisted his head back forward, flinching when Lord Batman was much closer than he’d been only a moment ago. Danny peeked up at the man with thinly veiled horror, the Lord’s face just as emotionless as all the news reports had shown. He gave nothing away, nothing but the slightest twist of his lips as he lifted Danny’s chin to look him in the eye. When had he looked away?
Danny squirmed under his touch, rough, thick gloves caressing his jaw. Lord Batman didn’t hurt him by any means, but the weight of his hand on Danny’s face felt more like an anvil than a headrest.
Thankfully, the Lord released him only to ask, “Daniel Janus Fenton, correct?” Danny nodded timidly. “You also go by the alias, ‘Phantom’?” Danny gasped quietly and gave a minute nod. “I need a verbal confirmation, Mr. Fenton.”
“That’s correct, my Lord,” Danny choked out. The words were just barely past the grumble side of things, but that seemed to satisfy the Lord well enough. Danny refusing to make eye contact, on the other hand, did not.
“Look at me when I speak to you,” Lord Batman told him. It was neither rough nor commanding, but the unspoken threat was enough for Danny to lift his head again anyways. He flinched when he felt a presence root around in his mind, press up against his mental walls. Danny tried to push it out, but it clung to him like a leech.
Lord Martian Manhunter was trying to invade his mind. How could Danny ever hope to keep him out?
“What are you going to do to me?” Danny whispered, not once breaking eye contact with Lord Batman. He found it was hard to do so with the Martian trying to root around in his head. Lord Batman had captivated his attention, but his mind was- quite literally- waging a war of its own. Really, it was a miracle Danny could ask the question to begin with.
Danny had asked a question out of turn. He should be afraid, he should be apologetic for his poor, disrespectful behavior.
But Danny was far past the point of no return. What was one more drop of blood in the bucket?
“That is still to be decided,” Lord Batman told him with a thoughtful hum. The man leaned forward, tilting his head back and forth. Danny was grateful the Lord didn’t touch him again, but he couldn’t say he liked this any better. He felt like a bug being pinned to a board, laid bare and vulnerable to unforgiving hands. “You remind me of my sons.”
Danny let out a quiet sob.
He didn’t know why that terrified him so much.
“Is the ship ready?” Lord Batman inquired of Lord Martian Manhunter. Danny felt like the air had been sucker punched out of his lungs. He did nothing more than stare at the line of Lord Batman’s shoulders as the two Lords conversed over his head, as if he wasn’t even there with them.
“Lady Hawkgirl is waiting for us as we speak,” Lord Martian Manhunter replied with a nod.
It was then that the once Dark Knight turned his attention back to Danny, tilting his head towards the door. “Come.”
He said it so casually, like Danny had any choice in the matter. Danny swallowed down the acid and bile climbing up his throat as he was escorted back down the halls. Lord Martian Manhunter kept an austere hand on his shoulder the entire time, leading him down this hall or that. It was probably for the best; Danny was having a hard time keeping himself from throwing up all over his Flash hoodie, let alone have any sense of direction in this maze.
As they walked down the hallways, Danny became more and more aware of all the other students gaping at him. The hallways were clear, don’t be wrong. But the other students and faculty had taken to gaping at the small group traversing these halls like spectors. Danny even managed to catch the terrified expressions on his friends’ faces. He didn’t dare mouth something to them, knowing Lord Martian Manhunter would either see it or read it straight from his mind.
Along their trip to the front entrance, the group passed Mr. Lancer’s classroom. Just as before, Danny’s classmates gaped at him and the two Justice Lords that bracketed him on both sides. But perhaps the most painful part of all was seeing Mr. Lancer watch him be escorted down the hall and do nothing about it.
When the man turned his head to look away, a single tear fell down Danny’s cheek.
His feet were numb by the time they reached the plane outside. He still kept walking anyway, fearful that the Justice Lord behind him would just pick him up and carry him into the waiting, open doors.
Once upon a time, Danny had dreamed of flying on this very plane. Now Danny could only dream that he would walk off it.
It was pure torture to stand at the doors and wait for them to close, the hum and whine of the engine filling his ears. Lord Batman rested a hand on his shoulder now, to match the one on his other side.
And suddenly Danny didn’t think he’d ever breathe again.