Chapter Text
William Lancer sighed as he took attendance on Wednesday, after the two-day ‘vacation’ the students had while the teachers all attended a conference. The reason for the sigh? Danny Fenton was absent, yet again. That, or late.
By the end of class, William concluded that Danny was indeed absent from school entirely. Then again, it was only the first period of class, and sometimes he didn’t show up until lunch…
“Sam, Tucker, please stay a moment,” William told the two before they left, figuring it was best to ask Danny’s friends where he was, although there was only a fifty percent chance they’d actually know.
“If it’s about Danny, we don’t know where he is,” Tucker said quietly, apparently easily able to guess William’s question.
“Again,” Sam grumbled. “A couple of days ago he told us he had something to do and would be back in time for school, but evidently that wasn’t the case.”
“We tried calling yesterday, but it went to voicemail. We think he might have accidentally destroyed his phone again,” Tucker informed William, as though that were a common occurrence.
“Does that happen often?” William wondered.
“Oh yeah. Ghost powers and teach aren’t the best combo, and he forgets that,” Tucker explained. “If he’s upset, and emits too much ghost energy while his phone is in his hand? Kablooey. Only about half the time does he catch it beforehand and toss the phone away.”
“I see,” William said. “Well, let me know if he contacts you; now, get to your next class.”
“Sure thing, Mr. L,” Tucker replied, then the two hurried off.
Once second period started, William assigned the class a group assignment and left them to their own devices, stepping outside to make a call or three.
First call was to the Fenton parents, who as expected had no idea where their son was yet were unconcerned. It seemed Sam and Tucker had covered for him for the weekend, and although the kids hadn’t mentioned the two days off the parents assumed Danny was still with them. They said he probably just decided to skip school again and they were sure he’d show up soon; William wanted to shout at them, given just a week and a half prior their son had literally run away and then after their daughter and William both chastised them they had promised to do better, but alas, that wouldn’t do any good here.
William thanked them for their time and hung up, then dialed the next number.
When, as expected, Danny’s number didn’t work, William called someone else who might know where Danny was.
“Yup, he’s here,” Dean Winchester told William immediately upon answering the phone. Then he called to someone away from the phone, “Hey, kid, it’s for you. Your teacher.”
A moment later, Danny sheepishly answered with, “Hi, Mr. Lancer. My, er, phone got broken again…”
“Yes, I heard that was likely,” William told him. “Now, you do realize you have school today, right? The conference was only two days.”
“Yeah, I know,” Danny said, a little too brazenly.
“So, where are you now?”
“California.”
“Cali—why are you all the way in California instead of class?”
“Dean’s brother, Sam, is here, at Stanford—we’re in a basement of the theater building right now. First I just came here to deliver the ecto-pills to Ember, but then we encountered a demon so Dean taught us how to exorcise it, and then something else happened and we got arrested and had to escape,” Danny informed William casually; William recognized the cocky tone of voice as one Danny tended to take when he was nervous yet trying to pretend he wasn’t.
“To Kill a Mockingbird! You got arrested?” William proclaimed, perhaps a little too loudly.
“Uh, yeah. But we escaped! Ghost powers, you know. I was in ghost form so they don’t know it was me. But we kinda gotta lay low because the GIW caught wind that me and Ember are both outside of Amity Park and now there’s a big ghost shield around the town and they brought in a force of like twenty people to look for us. Seems they really really really don’t like high-level ghosts being outside of Amity Park.”
“The Maze Runner. Well, I suppose that’s an understandable reason to miss class,” William conceded. “Why did you get arrested in the first place, though?”
“Well, we’re supposed to be laying low, and using our ghost powers while the police had us surrounded would’ve been bad, since the police here don’t know about ghosts. So we had to let ourselves be caught and then wait until they thought we were locked away enough to look away.”
“I suspected as much; I mean, what were the charges?”
“Oh. Grand theft. But the reason’s legit! The thing was a cursed object, not our fault it happened to be expensive too. But we had to take it and destroy it, since it was killing people!”
“Yes, that is understandable,” William concluded. “However, could you not have gone invisible to steal it?”
“Ah, well, apparently the owner, who was a professor at the college, actually knew about the curse and had been actively using it to kill. He knew lots of other occult things too, including about Amity Park ghosts, apparently he was an ex-GIW agent that got dishonorably discharged for some classified reason, maybe because he’s apparently a witch and was killing people—but no charges of course, since, you know, government agent. Anyway, so he had ghost-detecting devices and an anti-ghost trap set. We didn’t expect that all the way in California so didn’t check. Luckily the authorities didn’t know there were anti-ghost properties to the net, they just assumed we were regular humans trapped. Thankfully they didn’t recognize Ember!”
“Yes, thankfully so,” William agreed. “What happened to the object’s owner?”
“Oh. He’s dead.”
“A Clockwork Orange, Danny! You didn’t—”
“No, no, the cursed object did! Humans can’t touch it, what it does is it burns you based on your sins or something, he was using it to kill bad people who got off for whatever reason. He tried to grab it and run but I guess his glove had a hole. He turned entirely to ash, guess because of all the murder he did,” Danny explained, then added, “Really hoping the GIW doesn’t find out those ashes are him and blames me or something.”
“Hopefully not,” William agreed. “So, when do you think you’ll be able to return?” William wanted to have a more detailed talk with the boy about the situation; it sounded like he’d watched someone horrifically die, which likely would cause some degree of trauma. Hopefully he talked to his friends and sister about it, at the very least.
“I mean, hopefully soon? I don’t think they’ll stay around too long; we’re at a college and the students are currently organizing a protest in response to their presence.”
“A protest against the GIW?” William asked, surprised.
“No, a general anti-government one, the GIW didn’t actually give their credentials, just said they were with the government, and the students didn’t like that at all, particularly when they tried to start barging into places without warrants. Sam—Dean’s brother—says the GIW will probably leave soon since the news seems to have gotten wind of it and they don’t want exactly what organization they’re with to become known, since with the exception of Amity Park they try to keep the existence of our kind of ghosts a secret.”
“I see,” William said. “Well, try to get back soon, okay? I’ll arrange a more normal-sounding excuse to legitimize the absence.”
“Thanks, Mr. Lancer,” Danny replied with clear appreciation.
“Of course. And Danny? Please call me first next time you go on an impromptu Hunt; your friends, too. We were getting worried again.”
William could almost hear Danny cringe. “Sure thing. See you in probably a few days?”
“Yes, hopefully. Stay safe.”
“I’ll try.” And with that, Danny hung up.
William snapped his phone closed and sighed. Well, time to get back to—
“Ah, Principal Ishiyama,” William said nervously as he turned around to see her standing there, hands on her hips.
“Vice Principal Lancer,” Satsuki Ishiyama said flatly. “And just what are you doing in the hallway on the phone when you ought to be teaching a class? Which you seem to have not gotten anyone to cover?”
“Ah, well… It was an emergency,” William said.
“Hmm. An emergency requiring you to make a ‘more normal-sounding excuse’ for Danny Fenton missing school today?”
William gulped and asked weakly, “How much exactly did you overhear?”
“Well, I only heard one side of the conversation, but the first part I heard was when I was walking down the hallway and you yelled ‘You got arrested?’. Then it was too quiet to hear until I approached, upon which you said something about stealing something, then something about the GIW being involved. What sort of criminal activity have you gotten young Danny involved in?”
“Me? I assure you, I am uninvolved, other than with the school excuse!” William told her, amazed that she would think William masterminded any criminal thing. “And, it isn’t what it sounded like. There’s a good excuse, Satsuki, I swear.”
“Uh huh. I’m sure there is a great excuse for telling a ghost to go invisibly steal something.”
“A ghost?” William said with another gulp.
“I’m not blind, William,” Satsuki said with a sigh. “I know that Danny’s a ghost, even if he can look more human than others and incredibly manages to pass the more noticeable things, like the eye glow, off as ecto-contamination. But the school cameras have shown him not only turning invisible and phasing through things, but the transformation as well.”
“Ah. So you know he’s…?”
“Yes. I have been scrubbing the security feeds of it. But if you’ve got him involved in something that got him arrested—”
“I assure you I have not!” William again protested.
“Hmm. Then, explain why Danny is not in class due to being arrested.”
“Well, firstly, he escaped; the GIW is now there, at Stanford—yes, California—searching the campus, trying to find him, although the students are protesting so they’ll likely leave soon. The news will likely report the raid, although likely not who they are looking for or which government organization it is.”
“Okay. That’s the current situation. You have glossed over the arrest, and the entire reason he is at Stanford to begin with.”
“Right, ah… So… Hm. Well, I suppose some background is needed. When Danny ran away last week—which is when I found out what he is—we met a man calling himself a Hunter, Dean, who was looking for a ghost, but a different, more violent variety that was killing people. So we decided to help—or more accurately, Danny threatened to run again if I didn’t let him help, so of course I had to help to supervise. Ember showed up looking for Danny and joined in.”
“So, it wasn’t car trouble?”
“No; my apologies for lying, but I did not know you knew his secret. So, afterwards, Ember decided to stay with Dean, and a few days ago Danny went to meet them to give her some ecto-pills to keep her stable outside of Amity Park for more than a few weeks—apparently, Amity Park is rather unique in that its high levels of ambient ectoplasm allow ghosts to maintain a more physical form outside the Ghost Zone indefinitely, whereas elsewhere they eventually become more incorporeal, like the traditional notion of ghosts.
“He didn’t give me a lot of details, but apparently this time Dean taught Danny how to exorcise demons, and then they learned of a cursed object, which is what they were stealing. Unfortunately, the object’s owner was a witch and ex-GIW, thus knew about ghosts and had precautionary traps set, which led to the arrest—Danny and Ember let them take them so as not to reveal they were ghosts until they could privately escape. But, the GIW did catch wind…”
“Hence the current situation,” Satsuki said with understanding. “But, I’m sorry, you said something about demons and witches…?”
William tiredly sighed. “Yes, unfortunately ghosts are not the sole supernatural creature in the world. The Hunter I mentioned, whom Ember is assisting, actually goes after all sorts of supernatural beings, as well as objects, driving around the country investigating suspicious activity and unsolved cases that may be related to such and taking action if needed. His whole family is apparently involved in it.”
“Hmm. Well, I can’t say I’m not rather disturbed to know that more than ghosts exist,” Satsuki admitted. “Although I suppose it is not surprising.”
“If it’s any comfort, most stay away from Amity Park due to fear of our more unique brand of ghosts,” William supplied.
“Yes, I suppose that is a small comfort; at least our ghosts only cause major property damage and not death. What became of this… witch, you say? Could he become a threat to Danny, revenge perhaps?”
“No; apparently, the witch burned, literally. In his haste to escape, he touched the cursed object, which did such. Danny witnessed it, so I am sure counseling is in order, at least to the best I can manage given, like most students here, Danny has an aversion to talking to a professional.”
“Ah yes, Spectra,” Satsuki said bitterly. “If she ever sets foot in this school again, I will find a way to permanently destroy her.”
William chuckled. “My sentiments too.” Spectra had been the only Amity Park ghost thus far that had been a serious threat, despite her weaker power level, given she had actively plotted to murder a human and very likely had actually done so before. Even the evil Ghost King hadn’t gone to that extreme; he was more about subjugation and creating servants than killing people (after all, if you killed people, they can’t be your servants). Any other potentially deadly incidents were all accidental, usually a result of ghost fights and which Danny mitigated before any injury actually occurred (he had, in fact, saved William’s life twice before), and the ghosts sometimes noticed after and looked apologetic.
The door to the classroom then opened, and Mikey poked his head out. “Um, sir? We might have a problem…”
William turned to the boy. “What is it, Mr. Baker?”
“Well, we’re unable to complete our worksheets.”
“And why not?”
“They all got made into origami.”
William paused at that. “Excuse me?”
“Well, there’s a new ghost in the classroom who seems especially fond of origami. She doesn’t seem dangerous otherwise, but it does mean we can’t use loose-leaf paper.”
Lancer considered that. “Loose-leaf, you say? Does she care about books, notebooks, or binders?”
“No. She said paper with holes, rough edges, or bound to other paper is evil. She didn’t use one that got ripped, either.”
“Are they at your desks, or flying around?” Given the lack of frustrated screaming and no sounds of heavy movement, he’d guess the former.
“At our desks. She refolds them whenever we try to unfold them.”
“In that case, tear a corner off of each worksheet, and it ought to be fine,” Lancer decided.
“Got it, Mr. Lancer,” Mikey told him, then returned to the classroom and closed the door.
“Creative thinking,” Satsuki acknowledged with some degree of appreciation. “Now, I sense you have a question?”
“Ah, yes, actually,” William confirmed. “I just have to wonder: who else at the school knows about Danny’s, ah, ‘condition’?”
“Well, as far as I know, none,” Satsuki told him. “Then again, I didn’t realize you knew until I heard that phone call, so it’s possible others know but are also keeping it a secret.”
“True,” William acknowledged. “I would assume Danny doesn’t know you know?”
“No, I haven’t told him,” Satsuki revealed. “I thought he wouldn’t want the interference; you know teenagers.”
“Or, you just didn’t want to deal with it,” William accused.
“That too,” Satsuki admitted. “Truthfully, I was unsure how to approach it without potentially scaring him away and causing more damage. Yet you managed to…?”
“Ah. Actually, I found out when he phased us through a car accident,” William explained. “It was rather difficult for him to deny things after that.”
“Yes, I suppose it would be,” Satsuki acknowledged, looking a little harrowed at that revelation. “I’m glad you’re both okay. I assume his parents still don’t know, then?”
“They do not,” William confirmed. “And I must say, I do have concerns.”
“We all have concerns about that house,” Satsuki reminded him.
“Yes, yet I fear it may be worse than we thought. He said he slept better on the streets than at home, and I do not believe he was exaggerating. When I offered him, and his sister, my spare room as needed, neither outright denied the offer. I truly believe you ought to tell him you know; he could use every adult in his corner that we can give him.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s true, if it is as bad as you say. Very well; when he returns, I will speak to him.”