Chaos Is My Middle Name

Current Fandoms:

-Project Hail Mary

-Iron Lung

-Danny Phantom

Other Fandoms I enjoy:

-The Amazing Digital Circus

-Rise of the tmnt

-Hazbin Hotel

-Alan Becker’s AvA/M series

-Hermitcraft and Life Series

-Kpop Demon Hunters

-Transformers

-Avatar the Last Airbender

-Sonic the Hedgehog

And so many more that I don’t feel like listing rn

Current Works:

Wouldn’t You Like to Know Weatherboy (series)

https://archiveofourown.org/series/6164236

My art blog is @autonomous-dragons-art so any accompanying art or other fanarts I make will be over there.

Epilogue: An Ocean of…What???

They’d only been a few weeks into their journey to save more stars when they came across it. A moon. With… an ocean.

An ocean of… blood. Yep. That’s right. /An ocean of blood/. Grace wanted to throw up. And that was before the Hail Mary received a distress signal from said blood ocean. That meant they had /to go down there/.

Correction: /Grace/ had to go down there. Rocky said he needed to stay on the ship, to fix his suit. The cheeky Eridian had purposefully broken his suit so he wouldn’t have to come down. Also because at least one person should stay there. /He knows he could’ve come down instead. He’s just as grossed out by this as I am/. He would’ve asked Danny to go down, but Danny had been called to the Ghost Zone for a short while and hadn’t returned yet. It was something to do with a distress call, his parents, and … the United States government, of all things. Grace would ask him about it later.

Grace is so glad they already saved this system's star. They had discovered the moon on their way out. He wasn’t sure he’d want to stay if it had been the other way around. Star be damned.

Grace was most definitely gonna throw up again. He swallows it down.

He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t… another human. Who was /welded/ into a submarine. Grace wonders who did that and why. It was obvious this was blood, and why anyone would send anyone else down there was a mystery to Grace. The aforementioned submarine was floating in the blood ocean, and had crashed onto a… beach? Yeah. Grace is just gonna say that’s a beach.

He isn’t even sure the person is alive, but he brings them onto the ship to have Armando look over him.

Turns out: the mystery person had a pulse and was still alive! Grace isn’t sure how, considering he’d been in that Awful Blood Ocean and was /missing an arm/. After cleaning up some blood, Grace discovers the guy had some pretty nasty scars decorating most of his left side as well. Grace leaves Armando to it while he goes to throw up in a waste bag for the… third time that day? Grace doesn’t know what to do with the blood that’s covering him. He’s gonna have to throw away his clothes now. No way were the stains ever coming out, regardless of what he used. He hears an alarm beep from Armando, and goes to check it out.

He freezes in the doorway.

Chapter 7: Home Sweet Home

It’s only another day or so of travel before they finally reach Erid.

Danny flies out and they repeat the portal thing again. Grace hasn’t mastered piloting yet, but this time he only gets corrected by Rocky once! He’s pretty proud of himself for that.

“Heck yeah! Fist bump Rocky! I’m getting better!”

”Fist my Bump! Grace isn’t horrible at piloting!”

“Ok that kinda takes it away a little, but I’m too happy we’re here to care.”

“Yes yes yes! Rocky will see mate Adrian again! Adrian and Grace meet soon! Adrian will meet Danny soon too!”

Danny gets back inside and joins in their celebration. He’s just happy he was able to get them home so quickly. His protective spirit is happy and satisfied for a job well done.

It takes a bit to get situated, and the beginnings of the biodome are being constructed for Grace. The Eridian Reunions happy and tear filled. Mournful as well, for the 22 lost on the journey. Eridian scientists immediately got to work on utilizing the Taumeoba. Others helped Danny, Grace and Rocky design and build the biodome.

It was finished in record time as well. Grace was impressed by just how fast they worked. He was able to move in within two weeks of it all.

The closer his food rations were to running out, the more they seemed to just… refill themselves. Grace is pretty sure Clockwork has something to do with it. He still met with Eridian scientists to help him generate some food though. Just for the heck of it at that point. They were curious, he was curious, they wanted to see what they could do, next thing Grace knew, he had generated food that tasted almost exactly like how he remembered. He wondered if they could make him Sour Skittles or Twizzlers. Or if Clockwork could give him some. He missed that stuff.

The next time his food refilled, he noticed a couple packs of each.

Grace settled into life on Erid pretty well. He got a house, he got to start teaching again, he had a best friend and a pseudo-son who visited constantly. Life was good. Peaceful. Everything he’d ever wanted. Maybe missing some human connection but, hey. They’ll get there eventually. Hopefully sooner rather than later, Grace can feel a snag of loneliness creeping on him

Of course. The universe happens. Well, it’s routine at this point. C’mon. Life for Ryland Grace can’t be stagnant for too long anymore. He’s finally settled, but he gets the feeling he’s needed again.

After class one day, he finds a bright green sticky note on his door. ‘Soon’ was written on it and signed by Clockwork. Grace immediately thinks back to the conversation in the Ghost Zone. How he’d be needed again.

/Ugh. Can’t it wait a little longer/? He sighs. He decides to wait a little bit before bringing it up with Danny and Rocky. Today was for celebrating. It marked the end of Astrophage’s buffet of the 40 Eridani system. The fully completed biodome. The first day where everyone could finally relax from the stress of it all.

No /way/ was he going to ruin that.

He had a plan to get the gang (Adrian, Rocky, Danny, and himself) in the Ghost Zone to have that cuddle pile at some point. Everyone had liked the idea and agreed to it too, which was nice. They may have upgraded the xenonite suits, but it was something else entirely to the feeling of their warm bodies pressed together. He /needed/ this. His mental health required it actually. After all, too long without connection and the human brain doesn’t function as well.

Chapter 6: A Whole New Worlddd.

After about an hour of getting ready, they were prepared to traverse the Ghost Zone. Danny was currently opening up the portal a ways in front of the Hail Mary. Grace was piloting them into it while Rocky directed him.

“More left. Left left left. Now, right. Keep straight- Grace! Straight! Straight straight straight!”

“No I’m not” Grace mumbled. “Also stop being so bossy about it, geez, I’m working on it!”

”Grace pilot skills still need work. Statement.”

”Yeah yeah yeah.”

He manages to line them up and get them through the portal without too much more hassle. There was more arguing though.

Once they’re through however, Grace looks out the window and… /H’oh my gosh/. It was… So different.

Everything was green. Every now and then a purple door floated past. It was ethereal. Literally.

Danny appeared back in the ship, breathing heavily. Grace looked back at him in concern, but before he could say anything, Danny put his finger up in the ‘wait’ position.

“Just… need to… to catch… my… breath… hoo boy that took a lotta juice.” Danny huffs. “Never had to hold it for that long before.”

A few moments later they're all situated in the dormitory. Grace had needed to sit down properly again, because he exerted too much energy as well. He was hungry and tired and he wanted to be at Erid already gosh dangit!

He got his next meal from Armando and sat on his bed. Danny and Rocky joined him on the neighboring beds.

”Ok so, now that we’re here, we just have to keep going straight this way and we should get there any day now! Hopefully everyone here recognizes my human form and leaves us alone. If I need to scare anyone off I will, but I don’t really want to use that card right now.”

Grace nods and Rocky chitters in excitement. Happy to be on his way home. It had been far too long for him to be away from Adrian. He missed them greatly.

For the most part, the trip through the Infinite Realms was… actually kinda boring. It was only the third day but, Grace had been expecting… well. He didn’t quite know. Maybe some action or more excitement? Just- /something/. So far, it had been nothing but that green, green, /green/ that was absolutely everywhere. The occasional door that floated past but. Well.

It’s amazing how fast the abnormality became… the normal. Grace felt like at this point, nothing would be exciting. Like he’d experienced enough excitement for a lifetime. He sighs.

That didn’t last long. The universe apparently heard him think that and thought to itself, “Hey. Ryland Grace is bored. We should surprise him /again/.”

Grace looked out the window for the umpteenth time that day. Not expecting to see anything different from the last time he’d looked, but /what do you know/? There was… something out there. Whatever it was was surrounded by… cogs? Like from an old clock. The building itself was reminiscent of a grandfather clock. Grace didn’t know what to think of that. He called out to Danny.

When Danny came over to look, he saw the building, paused, and groaned. Danny /so/ didn’t want to deal with Clockwork right now, but it seemed as though the ghost of Time had other plans. They might as well make the stop, it was obvious Clockwork wanted to talk, and there was no running away from Time. He groans again.

“Clockwork. You’re double killing me here. Can't you see we’re busy?!” Danny says to… no one in particular. Grace raises an eyebrow.

“Don’t worry about it. Ugh. Mind if we take a detour? It’s important if Clockwork is here.”

Grace shrugs. “I don’t mind if Rocky doesn’t. As long as we can still get to Erid soon enough to recreate food for me before /I/ die.”

Rocky rolls in, curious as to what Grace and Danny are looking at. He didn’t need to ask what they had been talking about though, he’d already heard them from the other room.

“If important to Danny, then we can stop. Rocky wants to be home soon though, will it take long?” Rocky questions.

”With Clocky? Who knows. I don’t think so though, if this was an End Of The Times type thing, he would’ve come to get me sooner. He probably just wants to chat or warn me about something. Hopefully.” Danny turns, “CLockwork please don’t take too long, I don’t want Dr. Grace dying or Rocky away from home much longer.” He finishes, again looking at no one.

Next thing Grace knows, they’re pulling up to the… actually kinda intimidating structure. Danny comes over, practically skipping. Happy as could be. Grace gives him a questioning look and Danny grins wildly in response.

”Soooo something you and Rocky might like to hear. Since this is the Ghost Zone, there is both every atmosphere and no atmosphere. Meaning… You don’t need the xenonite barriers. At least outside. You still need it in here but once we’re outside you don’t need it.” Danny finishes with a somehow even wider grin.

Grace’s jaw drops. He… doesn’t know what to do with that information yet again. /Danny is amazingly good at making me dumbfounded/.

“You mean…”

”Yep!”

”I don’t even need the EVA suit?”

”Nope!”

Grace feels like crying again. He could hug Rocky! For Real!

“Well what are we waiting for?! C’mon, let’s go! Rocky hurry hurry hurry!”

Grace all but flings himself outside and lands on the floating island the building stands on. Rocky in hot pursuit, Danny following a little more slowly. Danny’s holding Rocky’s xenonite ball.

“For when we get back on the ship. So he won’t need to be exposed to our atmosphere at all.” He explains. Grace nods in acknowledgment. He turns to Rocky, “C’mere you! It’s time for a proper hug.”

They’re hugging and Rocky /is warm. I can hear him… is he purring?? Ohhhh my goshhhh that is adorable/! Grace could die here. And he’d be happy because it was in his friend’s arms. Grace decides he and Rocky and Danny need to have a cuddle pile in the Ghost Zone sometime because /holy moly this is nice/.

Their hug is interrupted by a voice, “Heartwarming. And well deserved.”

They break apart and Grace sees an old man, wait no now he’s a middle aged guy, scratch that he dude is a baby- /what the heck/?? Grace’s brain hurts just from looking at whoever… floats in front of them. He takes it this the Clockwork he’s heard about, given that he has a freaking clock in the middle of his body.

Rocky chitters, nervous. Grace remembers he couldn’t sense Danny in his ghost form, were ghosts invisible to Rocky, like, /entirely/? Yeesh, he’d hate that. He decides to relieve Rocky from his distress by describing Clockwork, or well. As best he could to the Eridian.

Clockwork looks on at him endearingly while he does so, as though he had just done the cutest thing ever. Grace isn’t sure how to feel about having that look directed on him. He decides to ignore it for now.

Clockwork speaks again, his voice worn and gravelly. He sounds like someone you would /not/ wanna piss off.

”I just wanted to congratulate Doctor Ryland Grace and Rocky The Eridian for saving their worlds. Now the timeline is as it should be. All you need is to continue making the world safer from the Astrophage, Star Killer of the cosmos. That, is your duty. You have saved your worlds, but in time, others will need saving. I am here to forewarn you of your future travels. Save those who need saving, and you will be rich in happiness.”

Ok. /That/ was cryptic.

What did he mean about future travels? They would leave Erid to go save more planets and stars?? /I mean sure but like, we’re not even done with this one! We’ll need a break from universe saving for a while/.

Grace goes to open his mouth and say all this but is stopped by a look from Clockwork.

“I already know of your hesitance Dr. Grace. Just know, that when the time comes, you must answer the call.”

He closes his mouth. Well. If this guy is such a know-it-all then he knows that Grace would die soon if he didn’t get more food. Hmmph. Grace wasn’t sure he liked this guy. Dude seemed the type to boss you around Willy Billy and not have a care about it at all.

Clockwork smiles deviously at him. Oooooh he’s up to something and Grace doesn’t wanna be here anymore.

”As thanks for righting the timeline, I had the observants gather some fresh food and important healthcare items for everyone aboard the Hail Mary. You will find a few satchels waiting for you when you leave.”

Grace decides that Danny has competition for who could make him speechless the most. This guy! Clockwork is confusing.

Rocky trills happily, thankful to the being he cannot see. Grace smiles awkwardly and scratches his neck in embarrassment.

“Thank you uh… Clockwork. It’s very much appreciated. How do we repay you for this?” He asks

”By answering the call.”

He’s immediately sorry he asked. Of course Clockwork would pull that card. Gosh dangit.

During the whole exchange, Danny stood to the side. He wasn’t sure whether to be thankful to Clockwork for the food and stuff, or upset he delayed them further. He decides on being reluctantly appreciative. Can’t let CW have it all right?

”Ok I think we’ve had a long enough break, we should get going. Thank you Grandpa, for the stuff, I’ll be back for my lessons soon, but, you know that.”

/Grandpa/? Nope. Grace is gonna ask him about that /later/. Decidedly /Not/ in front of said Grandpa. Even though said grandpa is looking at him as though he already knew the questions piling up in Grace’s brain, which, he probably did. Creepy.

They’re finally leaving, Grace likes the Ghost Zone because he could hug Rocky, but he is glad to be leaving and getting back into the Hail Mary. /Never thought I’d be happy to get into a space ship/. He thinks.

They got back inside and, just as Clockwork said, there were bags of essentials waiting for them. Huh. Grace hasn’t seen a steak in /years/. He knows what he’s eating for dinner tonight, that’s for sure.

They’re back on track and heading for Erid once more. The detour finished.

Grace loves the steak. He thanks Clockwork halfway through scarfing it down. Positively sure that the ghost hears him.

He does.

Chapter 5: Sickness and Experiments

A week goes by. A whole week. Danny still had a fever. Grace is going through the motions. Rocky is keeping Grace from going insane. Grace isn’t sure what he would do without Rocky.

Grace is checking up on Danny for the third time that day. It was only lunchtime but Grace isn’t looking too hard at that. Crazy how dependent one can get with a new schedule in just a few hours.

He’s just finished checking his vitals when he hears Danny getting up.

“Danny! You’re up! How’re you feeling?”

”Like I need a shower.” He throws a half grin at Grace.

Grace relaxes for the first time in what feels like forever. Danny is ok.

He winces before telling Danny that, no there’s no shower. There is a sponge to wipe off with though.

“Need any help standing up? Food?” Grace asks.

”Nah. I want that sponge first.” Danny chuckles.

Grace turns away before remembering.

“Danny, wait! Can I… get a blood sample real quick? I am bursting with questions and I have a hypothesis about how you got sick.”

Danny hesitates, opens his mouth, then closes it. He nods. Rather reluctantly Grace might add. Grace pauses.

”If you’re… not comfortable with that, you can just tell me so you know that right?” Grace says.

Danny’s head snaps as he looks at him as though he’d grown a second head. Grace isn’t sure why that caused such a reaction, but he knows he doesn’t like it. He’ll let it go for now though.

”You’d… do that? Even though you could get the answers for your questions?” Danny asks.

”Of course! Consent matters! I know I certainly wouldn’t like having a needle jabbed into me without my consent. Actually, yeah. I know because they drugged me and sent me up here like that, so I totally get it if you don’t want that.” Grace replies to Danny with a tilt of his head.

Danny… Danny smiles at him like Grace had just offered him a million dollars.

”I’ll still do it, but I /really/ appreciate you asking about that. Seriously, you have no idea.” Danny sighs in relief.

Grace was so glad Danny still agreed to it. He’s noting the relief in his voice though, Grace will definitely have to remember to ask every time he does something like this in the future.

While Danny was cleaning up, Grace examined the blood. He had to put the Hail Mary in a centrifuge, so they weren’t going anywhere at the moment.

The blood… well. It was unlike anything Grace had ever seen. It had specks of green. /That must be the ectoplasm/. Which in turn, had specks of Astrophage that stuck to it like it had been welded to the ectoplasm. Danny was right, the Astrophage really /did/ bond well with ectoplasm ! The blood also had… Yep. Taumeoba. The Taumeoba wasn’t actively doing anything at the moment. That is where the next part of Grace’s little experiment would take place.

Grace would need Danny to fly outside of the ship, away from the rest of the Taumeoba, Go Ghost, and Grace could see if the Taumeoba would attack the rest of Danny’s blood.

They had to make sure all of the Taumeoba was fully washed off though…

If Danny went out there, and it turned out he still had Taumeoba on him, then it would reverse all the progress they had made.

A couple hours, examinations, and explanations later, they were ready to test it all out. Danny, thankfully, didn’t need to breathe as much anymore. He could hold his breath much longer than the typical human being even in his human form. When he was Phantom, he didn’t need to breathe at all! Grace was all too happy to hear this. It made the experiment easier on all of them.

Danny flew out, far enough they could hardly see him. They had made sure to establish a way of communication. A…signal at the very least.

Grace got ready at the lab, Rocky gave Danny the signal, Danny transformed.

Before Grace’s eyes, the blood changed. The normal red got overtaken by the green ectoplasm. The Astrophage came even more alive, as it now had more to bond with. A split second of ‘normal’ before the Taumeoba attacked. The Astrophage was hunted down, resulting in the destruction of the bond between the Astrophage and ectoplasm. The ectoplasm just… going still. No longer energized by the Astrophage.

Grace doesn’t even /want/ to imagine how that would feel in his body. No /WONDER/ Danny was in so much pain! His body was actively being destroyed and the energy that contradictorily kept him alive was taken away in the blink of an eye.

His experiment over, Grace told Rocky to give Danny the signal to come back.

Moments later, Danny was back in human form and in the lab with Grace and Rocky. Grace reported his findings to the others.

“So basically I just can’t be in my ghost form on the ship?” Danny asks.

”Yeah. Prettyyy much it.” Grace replies.

”It’s just attacking the Astrophage that’s bonded to me though right? It didn’t attack the ectoplasm?”

“No…….… What are you thinking Danny? I can see the wheels in your head turning.”

…

”I can… still bring you both to the Realms. I’d just need to open the portal and then focus on keeping it open while I change back and you all pilot the ship through.”

Grace faces Danny fully.

”and that… wouldn’t hurt you? At all?” He asks.

”Well, not too much at least. Might put some strain on me but overall I should be fine!” Danny replies.

”Rocky? Any input?”

”Danny say Danny can do it, Rocky has no reason to not believe him.”

“Alright then. And you’re sure Danny?” Grace confirms one last time.

”Yep! I mean I’d still need to find Erid there first, but once I get back that should work!”

“Ok.” Grace still isn’t fully convinced, but he isn’t gonna be the one to rain on everyone’s parade or slow them down from getting home.

Without further ado, Danny heads out, and Grace can see him in the distance transform and open the portal. Welp. Guess they won’t see him for a bit. It’s back to just being Grace and Rocky aboard the Hail Mary. They get to work without much fuss. Even if Danny would get them there faster, they can still help by lessening the distance some.

It’s quite some time later that Danny returns. Grace isn’t sure how long. Long enough that he’d already started running out of food. He was rationing his food and staying awake far too much than was good for his health. He’d actually passed out earlier. Rocky was understandably worried to hell and back for him. Grace had just woken up from said black-out when Danny arrived.

Relief floods through Grace. If Danny was back, it likely meant he’d found the way to Erid.

Grace felt weak, he sat back down. He wasn’t going to risk passing out again. Armando attempts to get Grace to eat. He reluctantly accepts. Not much food left at /all/.

“Dr. Grace! Are you ok?! Geez I didn’t think I was gone /that/ long! I’m so sorry I wasn’t back sooner! I got held up by one of my old rogues. They found me and uh, Walker doesn’t like his rules being broken, and I was kinda flying really fast in there, so he arrested me. Even though! I technically am in charge of him now! Anyway, I had to initiate a prison riot to escape. /Again/. I’m gonna need to talk to him about all that cuz it was /so not the time/. But! I found Erid! I can lead us there in just a couple days’ time!” Danny bursts into the dormitory and rushes to inform Grace of it all.

Since Grace only just woke up, he’s still processing it all, but it only takes a moment before his brain catches up and he brightens visibly. They could be at Rocky’s home in no time!

Grace tries to get up again, successful this time. He calls out for Rocky before noticing he had followed Danny inside.

“Rocky has a confession to make. Promise you won’t get mad?” he states, nervously.

” ‘Course not Rocky, what’s wrong?” Grace asks.

”Rocky has lied about Eridian customs. Eridians do not speak of eating, eating is like Grace 🎶🎶🎶 in front of others.”

Some of it wasn’t translated but Danny stares in horror at Rocky.

“Dude! That… uhm. Ok I’m not mad but that is weird, man.”

What? Danny could understand that? How??

”Danny, how do you know what he said? Part of that didn’t translate all the way.”

Danny looks back and forth between them. Realization dawning on his face.

“Ohh. Oh you guys never talked about that stuff so of course you don’t have the translation or meaning of it. Oh yeah, as for… how I understood… Uh so, another perk of being dead is understanding pretty much any language ever? If a species has any who have died, then I can pretty easily understand their language. Don’t ask me how it works, I’m… not fully sure myself.”

Grace and Rocky stand there, dumbfounded.

“Danny understood Rocky whole time?”

“Yep! No need for translating for this guy!”

Huh. The more you know.

”Wait so what did Rocky say? The meaning was kinda lost on me there.” Grace says.

”Oh. Uh. So… There’s no other way of putting it I guess. It’s very taboo for them. It’s like us talking about sex, but. Like. Openly.” Danny explains.

”Oh.”

A moment passes.

“Rocky! Ugh! Anything else you need to share with us?” Grace sighs. He’s so done.

“Yes. Eridians wear clothes too, statement. Rocky has not worn shirt in years. Rocky alone, no need to wear shirt. Then Grace comes along and Rocky not think we know each other long. No need to tell of /every/ Eridian custom. Then Grace comes with Rocky back home, Rocky wasn’t sure how to tell Grace about Rocky lying. Apology apology apology.”

Grace sighs again.

“It’s ok Rocky. Thanks for the heads up. Where are your clothes now then? Might wanna get used to wearing them again.” Grace does have to admit, he’s curious as to what Eridian clothes look like.

Grace couldn’t say how, but he could see that Rocky looked ashamed. His carapace was down low -below his elbows- and turned slightly towards the ground. Closest Grace could compare it to was when a child was caught doing something they shouldn’t, and now they weren’t able to look you in the eyes. It was kind of endearing, actually. He couldn’t stay mad for long, this worked better than puppy eyes.

”Hey, bud, it’s ok. Thank you for telling me, and for feeling comfortable enough to do any of that in my presence actually. That took guts.”

It’s a bit of an awkward silence for a little bit before Rocky feels ok to look at Grace and Danny again. He still looks upset but slightly better after being forgiven. He leaves and comes back a few minutes later, with. A shirt. It was just like a human shirt, but had arm holes for all five arms. Interesting. Grace wants to analyze it more but Danny claps his hands and exclaims that he’s ready to get the show on the road.

Eh. He’ll look at it later. He’s ready to get to Erid, and so is Rocky. Starvation will soon be no more!

Chapter 4: Taumeoba Leak Part 2; Electric Boogaloo

Grace was awake out of spite at this point. He’d been up for hours and had figured out… Nothing! Ab-so-lute-ly nothing! His brain was a puddle. He was sitting in front of the whiteboard, nothing written down at all.

“How long since Grace last sleep, question?” Rocky breaks him out of his thoughts.

Waving a dismissive hand, Grace replies,

“Doesn’t matter. I can’t sleep right now Rocky. Danny needs me to figure this out.”

Grace picks up the marker and stares at the blank whiteboard. Still nothing.

“Grace need sleep, Grace think better after resting, statement.” Rocky insists. ”Rocky watch Grace and Danny sleep.”

”I appreciate the effort, bud, but I can’t. You saw how much pain he was in! What if it’s something contagious? Or.. or something if left alone for long, only gets more dangerous??”

”Grace still need at least some rest. Nap while Rocky thinks on it and helps Danny get better.”

Rocky isn’t backing down on the matter. Probably for the best honestly, Grace can’t remember the last time he slept.

Grace slow blinks at the whiteboard. Yet, still nothing is there. He knows Rocky is right, humans do lose cognitive functions after too long without sleep. He would be better able to solve the problem if he’d just lay down-

But, Danny. He’s in pain and Grace needs to help. He /needs/ to know what’s wrong so he can go about fixing it in a way that actually /helps/. Grace sighs, defeated by the power of logic. /Stupid logic/.

”Fine, you win. Wake me up in an hour and a half.” He’s asleep before he even makes it to the dorms.

He’s woken up by Rocky a bit later. He already knows it was more than an hour and a half based on the way he feels rested. It still wasn’t enough to completely recover, but it was enough. He’s finally thinking more clearly, at least.

He’s sitting in front of the whiteboard again, replaying the events of yesterday in his head. Mumbling out loud every now and then.

“Ok so… about to leave for Ghost Zone… still fine… only hurt when… changed? … Ghosts are made of ectoplasm right? … shouldn’t be… problem though… Ughhh.”

Grace decides to go to the Laboratory to try and see if he can find any clues, but is interrupted when Rocky comes back.

“Grace, Grace, Grace! Danny is awake! Come, come, come.” Rocky says happily.

Grace rushes to the dorms, Danny is attempting to sit up. He's failing spectacularly, but trying nonetheless.

“Danny- Danny hey.

Danny lay back down. You’re not going anywhere.

How are you feeling? You scared us quite a bit back there, any idea what happened?” Grace sits on the bed next to Danny as he talks.

Danny tries and fails to get up once more. He sighs as he falls back to the pillow.

“Uh. Well. Not the best, that’s for sure. Quite the opposite actually. I am in so much pain right now. I know I’m on painkillers though, I can tell it could be worse.”

He has that deep and scratchy morning voice people sometimes get. Danny smacks his lips, “Ugh- is there water or something I can drink?”

Armando delivers, and Danny slurps it gratefully. Continuing, he says,

“No idea what it could be though. I just know that when I transformed, it was fine for a moment, and then it was the feeling of being ripped apart. Like, down to the very essence of my being. My molecules were rearranged in a way they were never supposed to.”

Danny sighs again and lays his head back further into the pillow.

”This is gonna take a while to heal, even /with/ my enhanced healing factor.”

Grace isn’t fully sure what to do with the information he’s just been given. He takes the water from Danny’s hand before he drops it as he’s pulled back into unconsciousness.

Ultimately, Grace decides to let Rocky continue watching Danny as he searches for answers. He heads back to the lab, ready to resume his original plan.

He has a feeling it’s important that they were in the lab, but he’s not sure why yet. At the moment, it’s just a little thought niggling in the back of his head, and he’s gonna find out what it is.

It takes him all day, but he finally manages to stumble upon the answer. The breeder tank Danny bumped into. Somehow it.. did something to those specific Taumeoba.

”It's Taumeoba. One of the Taumeoba tanks broke or something and the Taumeoba went for Danny.” He says this, out loud, and with an almost dumbfounded voice and expression.

But, that still doesn’t answer everything. That-

Why would it go for Danny? What’s so special about him in this scenario? Why wouldn’t it go for the Astrophage in the fuel ta-

Wait.

No.

Didn’t… Danny tell them that the Astrophage was used with the Ectoplasm in the portal? The… same portal that… killed him? Would that affect his molecular biology? Well, ok, it did but would the Astrophage that bonded with the Ectoplasm, bond with Danny at the same time? If that was the case, then Danny wouldn’t be able to be exposed to Taumeoba, like. At /all/.

So why was he fine in his human form? He’d been in his human form for a moment and nothing had happened. As soon as he transformed, the Taumeoba attacked his cells. /The cells that have both Ectoplasm and Astrophage bonded to them/. Grace thinks.

Grace thinks he’s thinking too hard about this. He needs to check something. Preferably a sample of Danny’s blood. But that would involve Danny transforming again. Which would mean the Taumeoba might attack. Again.

He can’t risk Danny’s health here. Grace is gonna have to be okay with some guesswork from now on. He’s gotta admit though it’s annoying the scientist in him.

He could… possibly… still get a blood sample. And then he could wait to do any tests. That way he’s not setting back Danny’s recovery, and he can quiet the questions in his mind. Of course, all with Danny’s permission, Grace would never do so without it! Grace nods to himself, decision made.

He heads back into the dormitory to see the progress. Danny is out cold, Rocky watching the sleeping figure as he fiddles with an unfinished project. Grace asks Mary to pull up Danny’s vitals. Everything looks normal, although there was a fever. That's a good sign though, that means his body is fighting off anything harmful. Grace lets out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“Grace doing good, question?” Rocky asks from his corner.

”Hm? Oh. Yeah I’m doing alright bud. Just worried about Danny. I want to help, but I think this is something he has to fight alone. We can’t really do much other than make sure he’s getting enough to eat or drink.” Grace answers.

”Why, question?”

”He’s got a fever, not much to do about that way out here in space.”

Rocky hums sadly in acknowledgment.

“You should sleep some Rocky, I’ll keep watch.” Grace says after a moment.

Rocky acquiesces and lays down. Becoming all but dead to the world.

Chapter 3: Love Is In the Air? WRONG. Taumeoba leak.

They had /just/ gotten settled after setting course for Erid when the universe seemingly decided to ruin their day. They had just finished eating dinner together while Danny explained the Ghost Zone to Grace and Rocky. Because yes, apparently ghosts did exist and Grace was definitely not going to panic about that fact later. The Ghost Zone - or, Infinite Realms as Danny often referred to it as- was actually how Danny planned to bring them home. Apparently, one of the numerous powers Danny had acquired as Phantom -and yes, he did get teased /endlessly/ about the name, especially from Rocky- was the ability to open portals to and from the Ghost Zone. As soon as he had traced the path to Tau Ceti, Danny converted the way more or less into the Infinite Realms. Things carried over pretty well if you knew how to do it, Danny had said over burritos.

Once he maps it out in the Realms, it's actually faster than if they just travelled normally. Don’t ask how, something something time can pass differently? Grace only absorbed a little of that. Sue him, ghosts were confusing. Anyway, Danny’s plan was to figure out where Erid was, transfer the course over to the Realms, and whoomp, there it is! The quick and easy way home!

Danny went on to explain that, given that this was still a fairly new power, he was only able to do it in his ghost form so far. He needed more practice before even /thinking/ about doing it in human form.

That’s what was about to happen in fact. Danny was currently in the lab with Rocky and clarifying some things before going through the Ghost Zone to map some areas out.

“Ok so, it’s a big planet that has a lot of rings, and is… how you all describe… ‘blue’? And it’s pretty much a straight shot from here?” Danny asks.

”Yes, yes, yes! And Erid is best planet ever! Home to Eridians and Rocky most amazing, bad as hell mate Adrian!” Rocky replied enthusiastically.

With that, Danny righted himself, bumping into the wall of breeder tanks as he did so. He dusts the imaginary dust off and looks up.

“Alright! I think that’s all for now! Can’t get much clearer than that, amirite?”

Rocky trills in excitement.

”Going ghost!!” Danny exclaims.

Grace gives a snicker at the very obvious catchphrase. Danny gives him the stink eye. Next thing Grace knows, a bright ring of lights envelopes Danny and travels up and down his body as he changes to Phantom. Hard to believe they only had their reunion the day cycle before, Grace feels as though it’s been longer.

So you know how earlier he said that the universe wanted to ruin their day? Yeah. It’s about to throw a real monkey wrench in their plans. Yep, it’s happening right now.

Danny finishes his transformation, a moment passes, and then Danny cries out in pain and crumples to the ground. He changes back to his human form just as quickly. Grace barely has time to /blink/, much less process what’s happening before both he and Rocky rush forward. Something, so incredibly, terribly wrong just happened and Grace doesn’t know /what-/

Danny is writhing on the ground, so in pain he can’t seem to sense anything else. Grace can’t do much but watch on in horror as his body is frozen in place.

*Danny’s pov*

He transforms, and everything is fine for a moment. Then it all comes crashing down around Danny in an instant. Fierce, /excruciating/, pain erupts from his body and Danny can do nothing to fight it. It feels as though his very soul is being ripped to shreds. Like he’s being eaten alive from everywhere by everything all at once. He’s being eaten alive and /holy fucking- Ancients above, it HURTS./ He feels his body falling, powerless and helpless to stop it. he transforms back to his human form, and whatever was eating him just… leaves. Like it got bored and tossed him to the side to go find someone or something else to terrorize. He's still in massive pain though. The leftover wreckage is like a gap in his body and soul. /Fffffuckkk this is gonna take forever to heal from./ He whimpers. It still feels like his body is actively deteriorating from the inside out. He’s pretty sure this was worse than Blood Blossoms. Another moment passes by and Danny can’t fight it anymore. He succumbs to the incoming darkness and blacks out from the pain.

*Back to Grace pov*

Grace is. Totally not panicking right now. Nope. He was so in control of the situation. Yep. Mhm.

Chapter 2: Three Nerds in Space (what’re you gonna do?)

After he managed to compose himself, Grace gave Danny the biggest bear hug he could muster. /Gosh, I missed hugs from an actual human being. I mean Rocky is great and all but it’s gonna take a little bit to get used to his hugs./

“What are you doing here? /How/ are you here?!?” Grace exclaimed.

“Well… It’s kind of a long story. It would be a lot easier to just tell everyone at the same time?”

“Right, right, You’re right.” Grace replied.

It was then that Rocky came rolling in in his little xenonite ball.

“Grace, Grace, Grace, Rocky can hear another heart beat now! Who is maybe-human and how did they hide from Rocky?”

At his entrance, Danny’s mouth flies open and Grace could /swear/ he saw the stars in his eyes.

“Is that…” He started. Grace smiled and said,

“Yep. First contact Danny!” he pats Danny on the back, “You’re now officially the second human ever to meet sentient alien life! This is Rocky, the Eridian!” Danny stares.

“Oh. My. Ancients. Ok, this is /definitely/ the coolest thing ever! Ohhhh man, do you know how monumental this is? What this means for science in its entirety? I mean, of course /you/ do, Dr. Grace, but like. /Still/!.” He pauses his excitement as more of what Grace said registers in his brain.

“Wait… second human ever? What about…” He meets Grace’s downturned gaze and quietly goes,

“oh.”

“It wasn’t painful or anything! I don’t think so anyway. They uh… didn’t survive the induced comas. They went peacefully.” Grace started, hoping to alleviate any sadness of the news of their deaths. Danny breathes a sigh of relief at this,

“Oh good. That means they didn’t become ghosts. So, I… guess that means you’re the only surviving crew member of the Hail Mary?” A strange look passes over Grace’s face but he ultimately decides to let it be for now. He has other, more pressing questions for Danny to answer.

“Yeah. Listen- why don’t we all move somewhere more comfortable and uh. talk?” After getting agreements from Danny and Rocky, Grace leads them all to the dormitory so they can all sit. As soon as everyone is settled, it’s decided that Grace and Rocky have a slightly shorter story to tell. so, Grace begins.

He starts with how he woke up, alone and confused because of the amnesia, how he figured out what he was sent to do, how he and Rocky first met. Then he continued with their discovery of Taumeoba, and finally, ended with how they had pretty much just sent the Beetles out and were preparing to leave for Erid when Danny appeared. All the while, Rocky interjected with corrections, quips, and snarky remarks about Grace. Danny sat there, listening attentively the entire time, mournful and laughing at appropriate moments. Grace purposefully left out the amount of times they almost died, he didn’t need Danny knowing all that. When Grace finished, Danny fell quiet for a moment, letting it all sink in.

“Dude, that’s so cool. You’re quite literally living my dream, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, I gathered.” Grace replied with a wry smile.

“How and why Danny here, question?” Rocky queries.

“Yes! I have /many/ questions about your whole… situation. Honestly, it’s a miracle I’ve stayed quiet so far, ask Rocky, he knows I never shut up.” Danny smiles for a moment before his face becomes more serious.

“Okay. I… guess this means I should start with it all started in the first place. My parents,” He stops, winces, and then continues,

“My parents managed to get their hands on some Astrophage.” He begins. This time Grace winced. Based on his knowledge of the Fentons, he could start to see where this would take a turn.

“They were experimenting and discovered that, when exposed to ectoplasm, the Astrophage… bonded with it. Like, really well too. It /energized/ the ectoplasm in ways no other element or form of life has. It made it… come alive. In a sense at least.”

Grace really didn’t like where this was going. The Fenton’s were already crazy about ectoplasm and the existence of /ghosts of all things/. Listen, Grace wasn’t one to put down anyone’s ideas in science (Unless it was the thought that there was no life without water because goSH DANGIT THERE IS SUCH THING- ahem. Anyways.) But even then, Grace knew where to draw the line. The self-proclaimed ecto-biologists and ghost hunters were obsessed beyond obsession. Them getting their hands on Astrophage held promises Grace never wanted to hear.

“Well, they finished their portal to the ghost zone, -you remember they had started on that right?- using Astrophage to help. It… didn’t work at first. So, one day I went down with my friends Sam and Tucker. Just… to have a look at it ourselves! it was never meant to be more than that! But then, well, they, kinda… sorta…dared me to go inside. At least we figured out why the portal wasn’t working! So, it turned out, my parents had put the ‘on’ switch inside the portal.”

Ok, Grace was like. /Realllly/ not enjoying where this was going. Not only were the Fentons known for their bad driving and crazy obsessions, they also had infamously bad lab safety. A miracle they never got shut down by the government honestly. Despite the looming dread, both Grace and Rocky leaned in, morbidly curious as to what would happen next. Danny paused to collect his thoughts before resuming.

“I tripped and fell onto the switch, turning… it… on, while I was still inside. The pure energy from it all… well. To put it simply, it should’ve killed me. It /did/ kill me. My molecules got rearranged to accommodate the energy. When I woke up later, I had snow white hair and glowing green eyes. I had become the very thing my parents hated. A ghost.” Danny was obviously struggling to get this part out. Practically choking on his words, tears threatening to pour from his eyes.

Grace leaned over and placed his hand on Danny’s shoulder. Mostly to remind him he wasn’t with his parents anymore and he wasn’t alone, but also because he didn’t know what to do or say. Danny cleared his throat and began again.

“Over the course of the next year or so, I developed powers. Ghost powers. Intangibility, invisibility, flying, you name it. Because of the portal turning on however, a bunch of ghosts started coming out of it and attacking the town. I took it upon myself to use my powers and protect everyone. I learned quite a bit from all that. The ghosts have mostly chilled out since then. I was even able to befriend a couple of them too! A few of them do like to cause trouble every now and then, but for the most part they all stick to their own respective things.

Anyways, moving on, I eventually managed to graduate high school and college and then I left to come find you out here. Especially once I learned Project Hail Mary was a suicide mission.” Danny said this with a slight frown. “Let me tell you, if it weren’t for the fact I’m friends with Time itself and a bunch of dead Yeti’s, it would’ve taken me so much longer to get out here. It took me long enough already, but still.

Anyway! The /reason/ I’m here is because /I/ am your ticket back home!” he says this last part with a dramatic flourish at himself.

“I can get us back to Earth in a fraction of the time it took for you to get here!” Grace knows he’s staring. He knows /Rocky/ is staring. That was a lot to process. Everything Danny told them was taking a bit to sink in.

“Can I…think about it?” Grace asks. Danny looks back at him, seemingly surprised.

“Oh, uh. Yeah, of course! take all the time you need Dr. Grace.” he turns to Rocky,

“The offer to go home is extended to you as well, Rocky. It just might take a little longer because I’m less familiar with where you’re from.” Rocky perks up at this.

“Rocky able to see beautiful mate Adrian sooner?” Danny nods and Rocky seems like his mind is made up.

Grace just sits there. Ruminating. He’s… not actually sure he wants to go home anymore. He’s become such good friends with Rocky by this point. They’ve both risked their lives for each other. What’s more, so much time has already passed on Earth. It wouldn’t be the same Earth he once knew. Yes Danny said he could get them home insanely faster than if he just took the Hail Mary back anyway. But thirteen years or so had already passed. Everyone he knew, the scarce number that it was anyway, was older. Grace hadn’t really aged during his time in space due to the coma. He would need to basically start a new life. From scratch. He’s positive that after throwing him onto the ship, Stratt had gotten rid of all his Earthly possessions. He wondered if he could establish a life on Erid with Rocky and then just… visit Earth every now and then. That was the most ideal course of action for Grace. He brings up his question to Danny after about two hours of sitting there thinking. During those two hours, Danny and Rocky had been exchanging information about Erid and travel plans and such. When Grace came over, ready to voice his queries, Danny listened. He thought for a moment before saying,

“That… could work. I mean once I have a clear path to Erid, it’ll be even easier to travel between worlds. I won’t have to spend any extra time trying to navigate around. Yeah sure why not!”

Chapter 1: Ruminations and Reunions

When Grace thought of his students, there was always one who jumped out more than the others. Danny Fenton. A thirteen year old science and engineering genius. One of the smartest kids Grace had taught.

His home life however… was chaotic, to say the least. And that was an understatement. His parents were forgetful at best and just plain neglectful at worst. They focused on their projects more than their own children. While Grace was a fellow scientist -or well, molecular biologist to be precise- even he knew when the line was crossed. Not to brag, he always felt more like a parent to Danny than his actual parents. When he could afford to, he would bring extra food for Danny whenever he saw the kid was struggling more than normal. Jasmine was the only other person who took care of Danny, but his older sister could only do so much. She was just a sophomore in high school at the time anyway.

Despite the less than ideal home life, Danny thrived in the classroom. Especially whenever space was brought up. Grace remembered one time after class when Danny confessed to him that he wanted to be an astronaut. His parents were late picking him up that day. After that Grace did everything he possibly could to keep that dream alive and to help Danny possibly achieve it one day.

It was the year after that when everything changed. The Petrova Line discovery. Astrophage. Stratt bursting into his life with reminders of his past and demands on her tongue. The kind you can’t say no to.

Grace missed his kids. He never got to say goodbye to any of them before Stratt had him thrown on the Hail Mary Project. One more thing he got to add to his growing list of regrets. Now he’s here, light years away from any humans, conversing with an alien as they finish saving their respective species. Alone together. Both of their crews may have died, but they were together now and they had managed to save their worlds. Yeah, Grace was with an alien right now. In fact, he was about to leave Tau Ceti to go live with said alien. Because he didn’t have enough fuel to get back to Earth. man, Danny would’ve loved to be here right now. Grace was pretty sure he was actively living the kid’s dream.

Grace was snapped out his stupor with a,

“Grace okay, question?”

“Yeah bud, Just… thinking. I know someone who would love to be in my place right now.” Grace replied to Rocky with a hint of a smile on his face.

“Grace friend, question?” Rocky asked.

“you could say that, I guess. He was a student of mine a couple of years before leaving earth. We were pretty close though.”

“Ahhh ok, Grace’s pebble.”

“Not qu- you know what? Sure. Yeah. I’m not gonna argue.”

“Rocky want to learn more about Grace children, statement.”

“I am always more than happy to talk about my kids!”

Grace was pretty sure he could talk about his students for hours. How smart and inquisitive they were. Their hopes and dreams and fears and thoughts that they shared with him. How he tried so hard to be the kind of teacher they could count on for that kind of thing. The favorite and cool teacher. How it paid off more times than he could count. He was there for his kids when no else was. Before he could say all of this however, the proximity alarm started going off. Was there another alien species coming to say hi? Another species hoping to save their world by studying Tau Ceti? He and Rocky share a look (or well, as much of one as they could with one of them being a sentient rock spider) and rush to go see what could be coming up on the Hail Mary.

Grace wasn’t quite sure he could handle discovering yet another alien species, he was still having trouble processing meeting Rocky! Ohhh why did this have to happen now? they were literally just about to leave the Tau Ceti system to go to Erid! It would just be plain rude to leave now. If that was an alien coming to see them, what would they think if the ship saw them, and then just left anyway? Who’s to say they wouldn’t be petty and shoot them down or something? Or if they discovered the beetles, and destroyed those? Ugh! Too many things that could go wrong! But, if they didn’t leave now, things would just get worse for him on the trip to Erid. He wouldn’t have enough food for the long trip, he would need to ration it, meaning they had to make as much of the time they had now while they still had it. Ugghhhhh Decisions. Yuck.

“Rocky, what do you think? Do we have time to stay? What’s our status?” he asked.

“Rocky not know, Rocky also conflicted” He replied. Great help bud. Thanks.

“Hmm. Fine. How about we stay for a couple more hours, exchange info if they ask for it, and then leave?”

“I like!”

“Alright. Cool. That’s what we’ll do then” Grace concluded.

They reached the control room and looked at the camera to see what was on the radar. ok. That was strange. There was nothing there. Grace checked the camera again, making sure it was working. Yep, still working. … Still nothing showing up though… That’s when the silence was interrupted. There was a quick knock knock-knock-knock knock knock on the airlock door. Shave and a haircut rhythm. Was that just a universal thing? Regardless, that was freaky. The proximity alarm was still going off, the camera showed nothing, and now there was knocking on the door? Was the Hail Mary haunted? Or was there some sort of… clairvoyant alien or something messing with them right now? Grace changes cameras to see over by the airlock, and, what in the world?

Is that…. Danny?? No. It couldn’t be. This was a -albeit strangely- humanoid being with white hair that was actively defying the laws of physics, green eyes, no helmet for protection from the void of space, no legs, just a body that… ended in little wisp, and also, something light years away from earth. So there.

“Grace, what is it? Rocky cannot see. Rocky only hear annoying alarm.”

“What do you mean you can’t see anything Rocky? Also there’s a… human out there. or, a maybe-human at least. They look human. They also look uncannily similar to someone I used to know.”

“Rocky mean Rocky no hear heartbeat or see figure outside. Nothing there for Rocky.”

“Huh. ok then.” I’ll come back to that later.

The knocking comes again, slightly more insistent. Shi-crap maybe they were just holding their breath out there! Gosh Grace, you’re so dumb sometimes!

“I’m gonna go put my suit on and let them in, ok?”

“Rocky think Grace idea dumb”

“Yeah yeah, I’m doing it anyway.”

Grace puts his EVA suit on and opens the airlock. Whoever was out there waiting patiently as he did. At least they were polite? When they got inside and the door was closed again, there was a bright light and suddenly, his old student was standing in front of him. Well, an older version, but his student nonetheless. There was no mistaking Danny Fenton.

Although how he was way out here in the Tau Ceti star system and also how he just… changed his appearance like that? It was a whole new thing to think about and Grace’s brain was going haywire.

“Dr. Grace! I knew I’d find you here! Oh man I was hoping I’d get here in time! Dude, I was flying for foreverrrr. Wait, hang on, you don’t know about that yet, oooh that’s ok, I’ll explain it later. Sorry if I’m talking too fast. I kinda haven’t talked to anyone in a little bit, are Captain Yao and Engineer Ilyukhina here? If so, where? I’d love to get you all together for this. What if I told you you could come back? it would still take awhile, I still haven't figured some things out but I could definitely get everyone back faster than how you all got here. Oh Ancients! I should slow down and let you talk, I’m sure you have a ton of questions right now.”

The kid says all of this in one breath, honestly Grace is surprised he didn’t stop for one sooner. It takes Grace’s brain a couple seconds to catch up, but once it does, Grace sputters. Yep. Ryland Grace is left speechless. His mouth opens and closes like fish gasping for air. “Danny??” He manages.