#indrel writes

“Dani!” She could hear him scream, his voice filled with so much static it barely sounded human. 

The alarms started blaring out a warning about a level 7 entity loose in the facility. Wes started screaming about being right and now everyone would see. A few students started screaming about Fenton transforming into Phantom but to Sam and Tucker’s great surprise, the majority of students didn’t react with any surprise at all to this reveal. Not even Valerie. 

Before they could do more than take notice of this, a flood of white clad people started coming towards them from down the hall, weapons in their hands. While Tucker tried to think of a way to drag his best friend out of here, Sam could with a single look at Danny’s determined face tell there was no way they could make him leave. But she noticed the way Danny was hammering against the containment cell, the way the glass was breaking, and knew there was only one way for Danny to get out of there: if they gave him enough time to get Dani out too. 

She didn’t have any weapons with her, not that ghost weapons would have helped against humans, and neither did she have anything to defend herself with. It didn’t matter. With a mighty battle cry, she stormed towards the approaching GIW agents. To her great surprise, she was joined not only by Tucker, but also by Valerie, the jocks and several other students, their own battle cries on their tongues.

She threw herself over the first GIW agent, beating him with her bare fists and kicking him with her steel-toed boots. He yelped in surprise and yelled at her to cease her hysterics and let him get to the ghost, which only made her fight harder. But even with all the students that had joined in the fight, there were far more GIW agents and most could easily move past them to continue on their way to Danny. 

With horror in her heart she watched them break through their line of defense only … to be slowed down by the rest of the students in their year. They weren’t really fighting so much as standing in the way, not letting the agents through. It was still far more than Sam had expected from the likes of Mikey and the others, students who had no experience in fighting. 

With a grin, she kicked the man she was fighting between the legs and when his knees buckled she hit him over the head until he fell unconscious. The moment he was down she jumped towards the next white-clad person she could see. Maybe they stood a chance after all. 

“No! Get the children out of here before you fight the ghost!” Someone yelled loud enough to be heard over the alarm. The agents who had been trying to push through the students now started to push the students back towards the elevators, forcing them away from Danny. Sam fought more fiercely, as did the other people fighting by her side - there were several white clad bodies lying on the ground, either moaning in pain or unconscious. But as the agents started to push the other students towards her she got less and less room to fight without hurting someone innocent. 

Soon, there was no way to fight at all, as the huge number of bodies pushing against her made it impossible. Still, she and Tucker, Valerie and the jocks, were trying to fight. Fight to get back to Danny. To stop the agents from coming down on him. 

It didn’t matter. Further and further away she and the others were pushed until she could barely see Danny any longer. And then the agents started to shoot at him. Danny fought back. She could hear people screaming and blasts firing from guns and bodies hitting the floor. For a moment she held hope in her heart. Danny was pushing them back. She knew he was powerful. He had come out victorious from situations with far worse odds. He could do it again. He had to do it again. 

But the agents just kept coming. Just kept hurting him. Sam screamed, trying to push through the crying and screaming crowd around her, trying to get back to her best friend. 

And then Danny screamed. Loud enough to cut right through the alarm. Loud enough to make every person in the whole corridor still. An intense feeling of fear and hopelessness and pain flooded into her through that scream, almost bringing Sam to her knees and making more than one student around her fall over or cover their ears. A scream that was almost loud enough to be a Wail. And for a moment Sam thought that meant he had won. The Wail always made him win, even against Dan it had worked, someone powerful enough to bring the whole world to ruin. 

But then the sound cut off and Danny fell to the ground. 

There was a flash of white and then instead of Phantom, Fenton lied there. Unconscious. Defenseless. Defeated. 

The agents descended upon him like vultures upon a corpse (and wasn’t that what he was, in the end? Just another corpse because of Sam). The rest of the agents finally managed to push the students back into the elevator and the doors closed between her and Danny before she could see what happened to him. 

Which lead them to their current dazed existence. Tears dripped from Sam's eyes as she let herself be directed outside of the facility with all the other students. She was holding Tucker's hand, the only thing that felt real. Things had gone to hell in an instant and she didn't know what to do.

The sunlight as they stepped outside finally brought Sam back to reality. She was leaving Danny! The GIW had him, would do numerous horrible things with him, and she was walking away because, what? The fight hadn’t gone as she expected? The GIW agents had overwhelmed her? It didn't matter! She couldn’t leave him there! She had to save him, now!

Sam met Tucker’s eyes and saw the same conviction there. The two of them didn't really stand a chance against the horde of GIW agents, not when Danny had been defeated by them. But it didn't matter. They had to go back for him immediately. They’d fight to their last breath if they had to. They nodded at each other and as one turned around to go inside again. 

Only to find the way into the facility blocked by the rest of the students. They had all stopped in a half circle between them and the doors, all facing them. All with their faces set in determination. Valerie, the A-listers and Mr Lancer stood at the front, backs straight and with furious expressions on their faces. Sam swallowed and suddenly remembered how Valerie and the jocks had all joined in the fight against the GIW. They had been on Danny’s side then, but what about now? What would they do? 

“Miss Manson, Mr Foley, I can’t allow you to go back inside'', Mr Lancer said, his back straight and voice carrying an authority unlike anything he ever managed in the classroom.

“Didn’t you see?” Sam exclaimed, throwing her hands out in fury. “Danny is Phantom and now he’s captured! We have to go back and free him right now, so get out of our way.”

“I know”, he said calmly. He expressed no surprise over the huge revelation that had been shown to him today. In fact … most students didn’t look surprised. “I’ve known for months now that Mr Fenton is Phantom and I suspect most of the students here have also known for some time.”

He looked back at the students and almost all of them nodded. Sam’s mouth fell open. “What?! You knew? How? Why hasn't anyone said anything?”

Mr Lancer’s lips twitched but the humor quickly disappeared from his face. “Mr Fenton has a habit of transforming quite recklessly. I’ve seen him do so many times now and I reckon that’s how most others found out too.” More nods, though Valerie looked down in shame. “As for why I haven’t told anyone, I was afraid of the authorities taking him away if I did. But considering what just happened it's too late for that.”  

That immediately sobered Sam up. It didn’t matter if Mr Lancer and what seemed like half the school had known about Danny being Phantom, not when he had just revealed himself to the Guys in White. Not when they had taken him. Which also reminded her of the fact that the students were blocking her from rescuing him. Her anger returned, hotter than before.

“You know Danny is Phantom and still you stop us from rescuing him?!” She yelled. “He’s still Danny! He’s still human! And he’s saved all of your asses numerous times, despite none of you deserving it! And you’re just going to leave him there? They’re going to torture him!”

They all flinched at her words, as if she had hit them. She wished she had, it was no less than they deserved. Tears pricked at her eyes. “He has suffered for months, all for the sake of this stupid town, all for your sake. None of you have done anything to help him and now, when you can do something for him, you’re going to leave him to his fate? I hate all of you!”

Mr Lancer stepped forward to stand right before her. She braced herself for his mockery, for him to say cruel things about her friend and to her for having helped him. “You’re right and I’m sorry.” Her mouth fell open in surprise for the second time in minutes. An adult actually apologizing? To her? “I should have done more to help Mr Fenton and I will help him now. But, please understand that we can’t do this alone.”

He turned and gestured first to the facility behind them, the facility built like a fortress, and then to the students gathered before it. For the first time Sam noticed that more than one of them sported bruises or bloody noses. For the first time she saw that several were openly weeping and that the rest looked crestfallen and guilty. 

“While you and Mr Foley as well as Miss Gray and the football team stood your ground admirably against the agents, the rest of us have no fighting experience. As became evident when we tried to stand in the way of the agents, we don’t have much to put up against them. I can’t allow the rest of my students to be harmed, not when it wouldn't even lead to Daniel's rescue.” 

“I don’t understand why that happened at all!” Mikey suddenly exclaimed. “Fento- Phan- Danny has at least tried to be careful before, and suddenly he’s revealing his identity in front of everyone, including the Guys in White? And for what? Some ghost girl? It doesn't make sense!”

“That ‘ghost girl’ is his sister”, Sam growled out. 

Several of the students gasped at that and started muttering among themselves. Dash exclaimed out loud: “That was Jazz?!”

Sam rolled her eyes and huffed. “No, that was Danielle. She’s Danny’s younger sister.”

“I didn’t know he had a younger sister.”

“You think Danny being Phantom was the end of his secrets? You don’t know the half of it, of everything he’s suffered for this town.” Revealing Dani’s identity as a clone felt wrong without her there to have a say in it. And these people had no right to know every part of Danny’s trauma. They had done nothing to deserve it. Not revealing Danny’s secret to others was just like … common decency. 

“This is not important right now”, Tucker snapped. “The only thing that matters is getting Danny and the others out of there. How the hell are we going to do that?”

The other’s all fell silent, not meeting their eyes. It was clear that none of them - not even Mr Lancer, despite him leading the protest - had any idea on how to get Danny out of the GIW headquarters. Sam’s rage was rising again. But beneath it her fear was growing stronger, breaking through the rage she was using to hide it. Danny was trapped with the Guys in White. Dani too, and had been for who knew how long. She might have already been tortured. If she and Danny remained any longer though, it was guaranteed they’d both get tortured. 

She wanted to cry, to scream, to break down. They’d been through so much already, and now this? This was their worst nightmare becoming real. And almost the worst part of it all was that all these people had known Danny’s secret for who knew how long. They had known and had sat back and watched as their classmate, their student, fought every day to keep them safe. Danny had suffered for months, the three of them had all suffered for months, trying to keep the ghosts from hurting anyone. 

They had known. They had left them to their fates. And now they still refused to act. 

“We tell everyone”, a voice said, cutting through her thoughts. The students turned around and parted to let one of them pass through. Wes Weston. The one person who had always made it clear he knew about Danny and who had always tried to expose him. Though Danny had acted cocky with him for the most part, Sam knew it had been a façade. He had been terrified that someone one day would listen to Wes. That his parents or the GIW would hear his theories and believe them. 

“YOU!” She yelled and lunged for his throat. Only Tucker’s arms grabbing her around the waist stopped her from scratching his eyes out. Wes jumped backwards, covering before her rage. “You bastard! Were you behind this? I bet you were! Finally you’ve exposed Danny! Are you happy now? FUCK YOU!”

“Sam, calm down!” Tucker yelled, clinging onto her and holding her back despite her best efforts to break free. 

She turned a betrayed look towards him. “Are you on his side?”

“Absolutely not! I’m fucking furious with him too, but there’s no way he could have planned this! We would have known, I literally hack into his stuff like once a week. I checked yesterday to be safe and there were no plans about this then. He’s a bastard but he's innocent in this case.”

Sam slumped in his arms and rapidly blinked to keep the tears from escaping. Tucker slowly let go of her to instead wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a half-hug. Tucker gave Wes a look that was so cold Sam almost thought he was the one with cryo powers. “What do you mean by ’we tell everyone’?”

Wes eyed them with caution but seemed to decide they wouldn't try to attack him again. He cleared his throat and stepped closer to them. “I mean that we go on the news and tell all of Amity Park what just happened. That Danny is Phantom and that the GIW have him captured.”

“You just want to show everyone you were right, don’t you?”

“I mean … that is part of it. Especially since the whole school apparently decided to gaslight me about Danny being Phantom. You all knew and just let me think you didn’t, making me feel crazy!” Sam gave him a dark look and he quickly shut his mouth and took a deep breath. “But all that is in the past. However! I have not only told everyone in school about Danny, I’ve told every single person in Amity that would listen for even one second. And now I’m pretty certain it wasn’t just the school gaslighting me, but the whole town!”

“Wait …”, Tucker said slowly, feeling like his whole world was upending itself. “You’re telling me … the whole town knew about Danny?”

“Maybe not everyone, but … maybe enough.”

“Enough for what?” Sam snapped. She didn’t have any patience left and if Wes continued to mock her like this she didn't care about the teachers being right there, she’d kick him in the balls.

Wes grinned suddenly. It was the wild grin of a person who had never had all his marbles to begin with but had now lost them all. “Enough to kick some ass.”

Comprehension dawned slowly in Sam’s mind and matching grins spread over Sam’s and Tucker’s faces. The rest of the students and teachers gathered looked between the three teens with fear, but also with determination. They had all failed Danny, their hero, today, but those scary grins gave them hope that maybe they would get the chance to make up for it. 

👻👻👻

The students and their teachers finished plotting. They piled onto the bus that had taken them on this utterly failed field trip and it drove them around the city, dropping them at different key targets. The school, the police station and the news station to name a few. 

1. Mr Lancer and the school

Edward Lancer called all the teachers together and told them what had happened. None of them had ever talked to each other about a certain student transforming into their local hero. But when Lancer told them, none of them showed any surprise about the identity of their hero. And none of them hesitated to answer his call to action. They jumped to their feet and gathered whatever weapons they could find and went to organize the students. 

Students that didn’t really need organization as Paulina had already spread the news to the school about what had happened. Every single student immediately picked up any little scrap that could pass for a weapon and painted warpaint on their faces with mascara. Once the teachers were ready, they were already standing at attention outside, like child soldiers ready for battle. Danny Phantom had saved everyone in the school more times than they could count. And Danny Fenton was one of theirs. No one got to hurt him. Today, the GIW would learn to fear teenagers.

2. Officer Jason and the police

Police officer Jason Bergstrom smiled when his little brother Mikey entered the police station. His smile quickly dropped when he saw how pale and shaken his brother was. His smile quickly became an angry grimace when Mikey told him what had happened during his school trip. 

Jason quickly called Carl and the captain over, as well as the rest of the station. He relaid to them everything Mikey had said and their faces twisted first into fear and then into grim determination. They had never had the tools to deal with the ghosts that attacked the city, not even with the recent purchase of Fentonwork weaponry. Danny Phantom performed a vital part of the defense of the city, without him it would have fallen to the ghosts long ago. Not to mention that the few times more mundane troubles had hit the city, the ghost had been one of the first on the scene to help out. In all that time, they hadn’t been able to do anything to help Danny Fenton in return, except delete some security footage and try to keep his parents away from wherever the ghost fight was taking place. Finally, they could do something to actually help a child in need. 

Within minutes every police officer in the city was armed to the teeth and ready for battle. 

3. Valerie and the Major

Valerie flew into Vlad’s office on her hoverboard and resisted the urge to gag when he turned a fake, slimy smile her way. Luckily, her next few words knocked that smile right off his face. “I know that you’re a halfa.”

Vlad’s eyes narrowed in a dangerous fashion. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about, dear. Are you feeling alright?”

“Cut the bullshit, Vlad, I don’t have time for it. I know that you’re a halfa, and I know that Danny and Dani are halfas too. More important is that as of an hour ago, the GIW also knows that Danny is a halfa and they have imprisoned not only him, but Dani and at least a dozen other ghosts in their headquarters. My classmates are currently spreading this information to the rest of the town in order to raise an army to rescue them from the GIW. While I want to think that you would join us out of care for two children, if that’s not enough then just think about how long it would take them to realize that you are a halfa, now when they are aware such a thing is possible. So I hope that you will at least join us out of self preservation.”

Vlad’s blood grew cold for a second before anger burned through his veins, making his eyes glow red. He bared his teeth as a growl rose from his throat. “Those bastards have gone too far this time. I’m in.”

4. Sam, Tucker and The Fentons

Tucker and Sam hesitated on the street, staring up at Fentonworks. The familiar building felt foreboding, looming over them. 

“I’m not sure we should be doing this”, Sam said, unease churning in her guts. “Danny never trusted them with his secret for a reason. They never listened to him about ghosts and they’ve shot at him more times than I can count. How can we be sure that if we tell them, they won’t just take the GIWs side?”

“Even if we don’t tell them, the secret is already out. If it isn’t already on the news then it will be any second. And even if they miss the news, they will most likely not miss the army of people going to storm the GIW.”

“If there will be an army”, Sam muttered, not daring to hope just yet. The city had never helped them before, why would they bother now?

Tucker ignored her. “And I’ve been thinking the whole way here. Our classmates and teachers all knew that Danny is Phantom and they assured us that many more people in town know too, but that there is a silent agreement to not say anything about it. They were so good at keeping it secret that we never realized. But when I think about it, almost all complaints about Phantom have disappeared, and those that remain are mostly about ghosts and destruction in general than about him. And Valerie, she knew too, and a couple of weeks back she agreed to that truce with Danny.”

“What’s your point?” Sam sneered, out of patience for piercing together what Tucker was talking about. “That we’ve been ignorant? Stupid? Worse at hiding than we thought?”

“Well … yes”, Tucker said with a grimace. “But also, if all those people knew and their behavior changed accordingly…”

Sam gasped as she realized. “Danny’s parents have almost completely stopped hunting ghosts and he said they’ve been acting a bit skittish around him. You think they know. That they’ve known for a while already.”

“Exactly. They must know and since they stopped hunting Danny rather than just … just lock him in their lab to do experiments on him or tell the GIW about him … then they will help us.”

Silence descended between them as the pain once more bore down on them as they thought of Danny in the hands of the GIW. But the thought also finally spurred them into action. Danny needed them and they needed help from as many people as possible if they were to rescue him. They needed his parents' help and … they deserved to know what had happened to Danny. 

After taking a deep breath, Sam rang the doorbell. A minute later Jazz opened the door and they relaxed a bit. If she was home she would be able to help them wrangle her parents. Jazz eyes immediately sharpened when she saw them standing there without Danny. “What’s happened?”

“Danny was taken by the GIW and they know his secret”, Tucker explained. Jazz’s face morphed into an expression of horror and he hurried to continue before she could get too panicked. “We are gathering an army to storm their headquarters so we will definitely get him out but …”

“But you need to tell my parents”, she filled in. While there was still horror and some panic in her expression, there was also steel in her eyes and determination in the way she squared her shoulders. “Alright, I’ll help you. Come in.”

They walked inside the familiar house and Jazz led them down into the basement where her parents were working on some new invention. Not a gun, for once, or anything that looked remotely like a weapon actually. Hopefully, it was a good sign. 

“Mom, dad”, Jazz said, gaining their attention. “We have something really important to tell you. It’s about Danny.”

The adults exchanged looks and then nodded at each other. Maddie was the one who spoke up, her voice wavering with tears. “We … we already know that Danny is Phantom.”

Jazz gasped, her hands flying to her mouth and even though Tucker had considered it, he still was surprised. Sam regarded them with suspicion and barked: “How did you figure it out?” 

“I … I noticed that Danny and Phantom had the same injuries and then one night when I went to check on Danny he had a nightmare and … he talked in his sleep. He dreamt about me h-hurting him, he was a-afraid of me.”

Jack stepped up to place an arm around Maddie’s shoulders as she sobbed. “Maddie told me what she had discovered.” His eyes also glittered with tears. “Please, believe us that once we found out we immediately stopped trying to hurt him. We love Danny, he’s our son!”

“That’s right! We love him!” Maddie sniffed and leaned into her husband’s side. Then she dried her tears and straightened up. Her voice was filled with pain but steady once she spoke again. “I assume you came here to tell us in his stead to gauge our reaction and make sure he would be safe around us. It’s okay, I understand and I’m just glad he has your support.”

Sam wasn’t sure she did believe them, and neither Tucker or Jazz were willing to completely trust them, but they had much bigger problems to deal with currently. “I’m afraid that your reaction to Danny is the least of our problems right now.” Sam took a deep breath as she prepared to tell Danny’s family what had happened to him. “Today, during the field trip to the GIW headquarters, we discovered that they had managed to capture several ghosts and were holding them in cells and experimenting on them. And in the last cell … was Dani, Danny’s ghost little sister.” Jazz gasped in horror, tears springing to her eyes. She knew all about Dani and how much Danny loved her. She would immediately understand what had happened.

Tucker continued the tale when Sam’s voice failed her. “Danny transformed into Phantom and tried to break her out of her cell but this alerted the GIW agents and dozens of them came to attack him. We tried to hold them off but there were too many of them and Danny was so busy trying to break Dani out that he barely defended himself against the agents. They … they defeated him. They captured him.”

Jazz was sobbing by now and her parents were listening with horror growing on their faces. Even Sam and Tucker couldn't help but cry as they remembered what had happened.

“The GIW forced us and the rest of the class out of the headquarters. When we tried to go back inside to rescue Danny, the rest of the students and our teachers stopped us. Apparently, they all knew that Danny was Phantom and had known for some time. They told us a lot of people in town also knew. We hurried back to Amity and then all went to different places to tell as many people as possible about what happened. We’re gathering an army big enough to storm the GIW headquarters and save Danny. And … we hoped that you would join us.” 

The horror on their faces steeled into determination. Jack walked over to a pair of locked doors and opened them, revealing all the weapons they had built. There were hundreds of weapons, both short and long ranged and of different power levels. He pulled out a pair of metal gloves and put them on his hands before hitting them together with a metallic clang. Then he gave his wife a baseball bat and a few smaller guns that did not look like they were supposed to be used on ghosts. 

“The GIW will regret the day they so much as touched a hair on our boy’s head. Count us in.”

5. Literally just … so many people

Lance Thunder was for once able to do just a weather reportage - you know, as was his job description - since no ghosts had been seen in a few days. He was overjoyed. He was standing in front of the camera in the studio for once, instead of out in the field, braving flying cars and angry ghosts to give Amity Park the latest news. There was a nice weatherboard behind him and he opened his mouth to tell the public about how the weather was going to be for the next few days. Before he could speak, his daughter Star burst into the recording room and ran over to him, ignoring the security guard trying to stop her. 

“Star? Are you okay? ” he asked, staring in confusion as she came to a stop next to him. 

Instead of responding, she turned to look straight into the camera. “Danny Phantom turned into Danny Fenton in the middle of the GIW headquarters! We tried to fight the agents off but there were too many of them and they captured him! Please Amity Park, our hero is in danger and needs our help! He’s saved us so many times, it’s time for us to save him!”

Lance gasped, horror clasping his heart in clammy hands. He knew this must be true, because there was no way his daughter would interrupt him on the news like this otherwise. And there was absolutely no way she would have revealed Phantom’s human identity on live television unless it was paramount for the boy’s safety. While he still worried what the Fenton’s reaction would be, he had to admit that they hadn’t actually been hunting Phantom for weeks. Maybe they, like the rest of the town, just hadn’t known who Phantom was and just recently found out. But it didn’t matter now anyway. Not if the GIW had him. Not if he had transformed for them to see. His safety was already in jeopardy and the doctors Fenton finding out wouldn't do much in the grand scheme of things. 

Lance stepped up to put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. She looked up at him with fear and hope mixing in her eyes. “You heard it here first, Amity Park! Danny Phantom needs our help! Grab whatever weapons you have and let's go save our hero!”

All across Amity, the citizens were either getting the news directly from their children who had been to the GIW headquarters, or heard the call to arms on the news. All across Amity, the citizens grabbed knives and baseball bats, tool boxes and tasers. Anything they could fight with. 

All across Amity, the citizens answered the call to save THEIR hero. 

👻👻👻

Danny woke slowly, his whole body aching. It felt like he’d been hit by a train - which had actually happened once so he knew what he was talking about. All he wanted to do was sleep a bit longer, but someone was insistently shaking his shoulder. 

“Five more minutes, mom”, he groaned. He felt tired down to his bones. 

“Wake up!” That voice did not belong to his mom. In fact, that sounded an awful lot like Dani. When had she returned to Amity Park? The last time she’d been there she had needed some ecto dejecto. Was she in trouble again? Trouble …

His eyes flew open and he sat up so fast his head spun and he almost fell over again. “The GIW! I was fighting the GIW because they had taken Dani!”

He gasped and turned to her. He reached out and seized her by the arms, looking her over. She didn’t look injured, though she seemed paler than normal. She was also in ghost form. “Are you okay? Have they hurt you? Did I manage to rescue you?” His memories of what happened came back to him sluggishly. He could barely remember anything from the moment he laid eyes on Dani in her cage. Only the need to save her was crystal clear. 

She sniffed and the sight of her tears made his heart and core both ache. “I’m okay. I’ve only been captured for two days so they’ve just barely had time to start experimenting on me. But Danny … you did not rescue me.”

“Huh?” he breathed and then for the first time since waking up, took in his surroundings. They were in a cage. “No…”

He was human. “No, no no.”

He had transformed for the whole class and all the agents to see, had revealed that Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton were one and the same. He had tried to free Dani but the GIW agents had attacked him before he could. He had fought them. And he had lost. “NO!”

Ever since the Accident, his worst nightmare had been some government agency whisking him away for experiments. But the reality was so much worse. For even in his worst nightmares, it had only been him that got captured. Only him that got hurt. But this place was filled with ghosts. And his little sister was here. Dani was here. They would experiment on her. 

He couldn't breathe. It felt like his heart and core were trying to fight each other in his chest, to finally battle for dominance and decide what he would be - human or ghost. It felt like he would die completely. That he would End. 

“Danny!” Dani exclaimed, shaking him again. “Calm down!”

She sounded so scared, so much like the little kid she looked like, that he forced the panic down, swallowing it with his nausea. Danny didn’t have time to panic right now, not as long as they were in danger and Dani relied on him to get them out. He was the older sibling, so it was up to him to act rational. Just … try to act like Jazz would. 

He took a deep breath and cleared his throat to make sure it wouldn’t crack when he spoke. “I’m alright and don’t worry, I’ll get us out of here. You’re going to be okay.”

He gently pushed her away and stumbled to his feet, biting back a wince at how stiff his body felt. His throat ached from the near Wail he’d let out and his head pounded from the hit that must have knocked him out. He still couldn’t remember how exactly he was brought down and that worried him, but he had bigger issues than some memory loss. His body was also littered with burn marks from the ecto guns and he could feel the phantom pain from electrocution in his lichtenberg scars. 

None of that mattered, not in comparison to being in a cage with Dani, deep inside the GIW headquarters. He would have to try and get them out himself. To get Dani out, no matter the cost to himself. 

Danny looked around the cell they’re in and noticed that the cracks he created while trying to free Dani weren't there, so the agents must have moved her out of her cell. Since all other cells except the very last one had been occupied, he assumed they were in that one. A slight feeling of dread builds in him at the realization. When he had walked through the corridor with all the holding cells, he had gotten the impression that the cells got stronger the further they walked. Dani’s cell had been so strong that it had taken him several full power punches to crack it. If this cell was even stronger built, then what would it take for him to break out? 

There was no way he could break it quick enough for them to get away before the alarm went off. He still had to try. 

Danny called upon his core to start the transformation into Phantom. The moment his core woke with a gentle buzz, waves and waves of electricity coursed through his body. It burned through him and in an instant his mind was forcefully brought back to the portal accident and his death. A scream tore its way out of his throat and his body spasmed in pain. 

The pain seemed to last for an eternity, but it couldn't have been more than a second before his core gave out and turned dormant in his chest again. The electricity immediately stopped. Danny fell to the floor, his body still twitching sporadically. Whimpers escaped his throat despite his best attempts to keep them in. 

Dani ran to his side and held onto him in fear. “Danny! Are you alright?”

He forced himself to lie still and bite back the pained sounds that still wanted out. He couldn't make himself smile at her, but he turned enough to look at her. Her green eyes were huge and terrified. “I’ll be fine, it’s not the first time I’ve been electrocuted. But why couldn't I transform?”

Dani sniffed and whipped at her eyes. “T-they put something in our necks when we’re captured that electrocutes us if we try to use our powers.”

Fuck, Danny thought but didn’t say out loud because he didn’t want to make Dani even more scared than she already was. If he couldn’t transform then there was no way for him to break his way out of here himself. If he had something sharp he would have tried to cut the invention out of his neck but the room was completely bare. 

Which meant that the only way out of here was through outside help. He knew that his friends would never give up on trying to get him out and that Jazz would join them in a heartbeat once she heard what had happened. But it would be up to the three of them to get into a high security facility, through at least 50 trained agents, break him and Dani out without activating the defense system, break the rest of the ghost out too - because lets face it, there was no way Danny could leave even his worst enemy behind in his place - and then get out. This was further complicated by his secret being revealed. There was no way it wouldn’t be leaked to the whole town now, so there would be even more people to oppose his friends and sister in a rescue attempt. They might be able to find some ghostly allies in the zone, but there weren’t many ghosts that would risk their own hides to launch a rescue mission.

Danny had faced a lot of seemingly impossible situations - was a seemingly impossible situation - but this one seemed utterly hopeless. 

If he had been alone this would have been the moment he broke down in tears, but with Dani relying on him, he couldn't allow himself to be distressed. She needed him. It was bad enough that she had to see him panic and in pain, he couldn't let her see him give up. Danny had to make sure she got out, one way or the other. 

While he sat in the cell and tried to think of some way, any way, to get them out of there, footsteps came closer. Dani tensed and hid behind his back. Danny in turn squared his shoulders and fell into a fighting stance. He might not have any powers currently, but that didn't mean he couldn't fight.

Five muscular men in white suits with big ecto guns in their hands came into view. Behind them were one man and one woman in white lab coats, dragging a metal table on wheels behind them. Cold sweat broke out on Danny’s body. A metal table. Of course, it was always a metal table. He’d had numerous nightmares about scenarios just like this one. 

Behind him, Dani whimpered and clutched at his shirt. He could feel her hand trembling. It strengthened him. Yes, there was a metal table and white clad scientists waiting on the other side of the cell door. Yes, he had no powers to fight back with and his scrawny human body would not be able to defeat five grown men. Yes, this was one of his worst nightmares come to life with no way to avoid it. But there was still one thing he could do. He could make sure that Dani wasn’t the one on that table. 

The cell door opened and he pushed Dani away, gently, and stepped forward despite her protests. “Stay back”, he told her, channeling all the authority he could manage into his voice and miraculously, she obeyed. 

Once there was enough space for him to squeeze through, Danny threw himself through the cell door and aimed a fist straight at the first man’s face. It connected with his nose with enough force to break it, though he could also feel something break in his hand at the same time. It didn’t matter, it was far from the worst pain he’d experienced. The man on the other hand howled in pain and backed away. It left Danny enough space to kick the next man between the legs, sending him to the floor with a wheeze.

A grin spread over his face and for a moment he thought that he might actually win. Then there was pain. 

Danny screamed as electricity coursed through his body once more, body spasming. His knees gave out and he fell to the floor, unable to even catch himself as his whole body was out of his control. He vaguely felt one of the agents kick him in the ribs, but he barely felt it over the pain the electricity caused him. For several long seconds, the electricity continued to burn through him as he twitched weakly on the floor until after an eternity, it finally stopped. 

Now unable to fight back, to do anything more than groan in pain, the three unharmed guards lifted him up as if he weighed nothing and placed him on the metal table. As they did he saw one of the scientists, the woman, place a small controller back in her pocket. It must be what’s controlling the electricity. If he could just get to it … metal bands slammed down around his wrists, ankles and around his neck, completely immobilizing him. 

“Take it to the lab”, the woman said, her voice entirely emotionless in the face of his pain. As if he wasn’t human, a kid. “Prepare it for operation.”

“Danny! No!” Dani screamed and started running towards the still open door. 

“No!” he screamed back at her, making her halt in her steps. He swallowed his fear and looked at her with as much fierce confidence as he could muster, despite having just been electrocuted - again. “You stay there!”

She did as she was told and the cell door closed between them. The agents surrounded the metal table, the guns all trained on him, while the male scientists pushed it away down the corridor. The other trapped ghosts stared at them with fear and pity in their eyes and Danny forced himself to keep the brave expression on his face until they got out of sight. Then his face crumbled in fear and tears started leaking from his eyes. 

“P-please”, he said. “Please, I’m human! Don’t do this to me!”

The woman looked back at him and for a second he had hope that she would listen, but that hope died when she pulled out a muzzle and put it over his mouth. He cried out in it, but his muffled cries went as ignored as his tears. They didn’t care that he was human, that he showed clear emotions. They didn’t care that he was a scared kid and that they were planning on cutting him open. 

Danny cried the whole way to the laboratory. 

The laboratory almost glowed, it was so white. The walls, floor and ceiling were the same spotless white. All the tabletops and shelves were made of steel, polished to an almost blinding shine. The room was bathed with bright light, enough that he had to squint against it. The scientists stopped the table he was strapped to right in the middle of the room, next to a table filled with … with knives and saws and glass jars. Everything you needed to cut a body open and examine the organs inside. More silent cries were muffled by the muzzle around his mouth. 

More scientists stood around the room, all staring at him with the same hungry expression, like he was a piece of meat. To them he might as well have been, one they intended to cut open. The guards all moved to the corners of the room, their guns still trained on him, while the scientists streamed forward to get a closer look at him. 

For several long minutes they scanned his body with different instruments, some he recognized as ghost scanners his parents had built while others were foreign to him. The scientist talked to each other about whatever the instruments said, and though he recognized some of it from his parents’ rants, most of it went above his head. The most central part - the only thing that mattered to him - was that they clearly didn’t see him as human enough to be allowed any human rights. But he was grateful for anything that would push back any cutting. If he was lucky they might get so caught up in this part of the examination they didn’t have time for the cutting today. 

The lights flickered above, but it went ignored except for a fleeting glance from the scientists. One of them brought out a needle and Danny tried to take even breaths so he wouldn’t throw up in the muzzle. He didn’t want to see if they would remove it or not if he started to drown in his own vomit. The needle pierced the skin by his elbow and red blood with tiny flecks of green ectoplasm started to drip into the syringe.

The lights flickered again, for longer this time. One of the scientists cursed the people responsible for maintaining the electric circuits. The others were too eager to study his blood to notice. More needles were procured and stuck into different limbs to draw more blood. Danny tried not to cry any more than he already did. His head was pounding as it was, becoming dehydrated would only make it worse. Would they give him any water or food while he was here? Though at this point dehydration and starvation were the least of his problems. 

The lights flickered and then went out. A minute passed and he could hear the scientist and guards scrambling around, cursing at anyone they thought might be responsible for the power outage. Hope bloomed in Danny’s chest. If the power went out they wouldn't be able to operate on him in the darkness. But he had barely thought that, when light flooded back into the room, though not as bright as before. The scientists muttered about back up generators working as they should at least. Meanwhile, Danny’s heart sank. 

The woman from before lifted up a pair of scissors. Danny stared at them in dread. She took hold of the bottom of his shirt and started cutting it open, all the way to the neckline. He tried to get away but was held firmly in place by the metal cuffs and no matter how much he cried, it went ignored. Then she cut lines to the armholes and pulled all the fabric free from him, baring his chest for them all to see. Goosebumps broke out over his skin from the cold and from the way the scientists stared at his naked chest. 

Then the scissors returned, this time cutting apart his pants. Danny struggled harder but there was no use. The only thing that happened was that the metal of the binds cut into his skin until he could feel bruises bloom. His pants fell away, leaving him in only his underwear and his shoes. He started praying that at least they would let him keep those. The humiliation was almost worse than the fear. Especially when they started poking at him with some metal instrument - luckily not a sharp one, but it bit into his flesh anyway and it was so cold. He flinched away each time it touched him but that only seemed to make the scientists more interested. 

After a few minutes of this, one man walked over with a pen. Danny stared in confusion at him until he started drawing on Danny’s chest. Three lines, two from his shoulders and one starting below his belly button, the lines meeting right above his core in a giant Y. That’s when Danny started crying and struggling in earnest. He knew that shape, he’s had numerous nightmares about it. He knew what came after it. 

“Everything is ready for the dissection to begin”, one of the scientists said. For once Danny had no trouble understanding what they were saying. He wished that he hadn’t.

Dissection not vivisection, he thought, mind turning hysterical. That answers that question. 

The table filled with knives was brought forward until it was right next to his head. He could see in full detail all the cruel instruments they would use to cut him open and dig around his organs. The woman, whom he was now pretty certain was the head scientist, picked up a scalpel. This was it. 

The scalpel was brought to one end of the Y, by his right shoulder. It was pressed gently against the skin, the bite of the cold the first thing he registered even before he could feel the sting of metal cutting through skin. He screamed into the muzzle, hysterical even as he couldn’t comprehend this was actually happening to him. It couldn't be real! This was just a nightmare and he would wake up at any moment, safe and sound in his bed!

BOOM!

The whole building shook with the force of an explosion, the sound so loud it made Danny’s ears ache. The lights went out once more. The scientists around him were thrown to the floor and unfortunately, the scalpel bit deeper into his skin as the woman holding it fell, creating a long cut across his shoulder. He cried out in pain, though no sound left the muzzle and wouldn’t have been heard above the explosion either way. Blood was already dripping from the wound in an alarming amount. 

The building settled down again, the sound dying down. A moment later the lights flickered on again, though this time they were red and much dimmer. An alarm started sounding throughout the base. The scientists scrambled about in fear while all guards but one ran out the door. The one remaining guard stalked over to Danny and pressed his gun against his head. 

“If I find out you had anything to do with this, I’m going to pull the trigger, ghost scum!” the guard growled at him. Danny was too busy freaking out over the blood leaking from his shoulder to really pay attention though, especially since no one seemed to have noticed the wound or didn't care that he was bleeding out. 

BOOM!

The building shook again as the lights flickered madly. The agent standing over him stumbled and fell, the gun getting knocked from his hand. A piece of the ceiling fell down on Danny’s hand, the one that was already hurt from before. A whimper of pain escaped him but then he noticed that the metal around his wrist was looser now. Carefully, he tried to wriggle his hand and discovered that he could do so now. 

Danny had no idea what was happening up there to make the building break apart like this, but it made him feel equal parts dread and hope. If the building fell down, he and the other ghosts would all be trapped without their powers and at least he and Dani would most likely die. But it might also be his only chance to get away. If he could just break through the manacle, free the rest of himself and get the taser in his neck out so he could use his powers again. He eyed the scalpels on the table next to him. One of them should work. 

His hand was already injured, breaking his thumb so he could slip through the manacle should be easy. Danny had broken bones before and this would be far from the worst break he’d experienced. He could do this. He had to do this, or he would most likely not get another chance to escape. The muzzle would even muffle any sounds of pain he did. This was the perfect opportunity. 

There was a commotion outside the room. People were yelling, there were strange thuds he couldn’t place and some screams of pain. He ignored it, assuming it was just more of the ceiling falling down on people. 

Come on, Danny, he thought. You can do this. Break your hand and get out of here, for Dani.

The door slammed open with enough force to knock down a scientist who hadn’t moved away in time. Five very familiar people ran into the room, all of them armed to the teeth and with their teeth bared in battle grimaces. His friends and sister he had expected would try to save him, even though he hadn’t thought they would be able to, and certainly not so soon. But the sight of his parents leading them into the room was a complete shock. 

They all stared at each other for a long moment and renewed tears started falling down Danny’s face. Never before had he been so happy to see them and the relief was so strong he would have fallen over had he been standing. They had come for him!

“Oh no you don’t”, his mom suddenly growled and raised her gun towards him. Danny froze, betrayal coursing through him, his core aching as if it was about to break. Maddie fired the gun and … she missed. Danny blinked in surprise when a man cried out in pain behind him and twisted around to see that the GIW agent had been aiming his gun straight at Danny but was now convulsing as electricity poured into him from Maddie’s taser gun. Sweet revenge.

The man fell to the floor with a scream and Maddie stalked around the table to place a foot on his chest, keeping him down. “No one hurts my baby boy.”

In the meantime Jack was running around the room and beating the scientist with the metal gloves he wore. They had been made so he could fight hand to hand with ghosts, but the humans he fought went down just as easily with a punch from his massive fists. Within seconds, all the GIW personnel were taken down. 

“Danny!” Jazz, Tucker and Sam cried in unison and ran to him. Jazz cradled his face in her hands, trying to remove the muzzle. Tucker was already working on the metal bands keeping him strapped to the table. Sam was pulling out bandages to wrap his shoulder with. 

They were here. They had come to save him. He wouldn’t be dissected after all. Danny finally broke, the tears bursting from his eyes like water from a broken dam and he sobbed so hard that he choked, the muzzle not letting him draw in enough air. 

“Oh Danny”, Jazz murmured, her eyes also filling with tears. She finally managed to remove the muzzle, gently pulling it away from his face. His skin felt raw from where it had pressed into it and snot and tears were falling down his face. Jazz still cradled his cheeks like he was the most precious thing in the world and gently whipped away his tears. “We’re here now, you’re going to be okay.”

A second later, the last of the restraints fell away from his body and he was finally free. Danny immediately reached up to clutch at Jazz’s arms, not caring that his injured hand complained, just needing to be close. She immediately pulled him into a hug and he sobbed into her shoulder. He could feel Tucker’s hands on his shoulders and Sam patting his back gently. Then another hand ran through his hand and he looked up to meet his mom’s sad eyes. 

Instinctively, he tensed under her gaze and she immediately pulled away. He missed the touch but at the same time he felt too weary of her to stand it. She was his mom and she had come to rescue him, but he didn’t know how much the other’s had told her. Dad walked up to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling sadly. “I’m sorry, Danny. I’m sorry for making you fear us and for hurting you. I’m sorry for everything. But we promise to never hurt you again.”

“D-do”, he croaked out, his voice breaking from the strain of his tears and the cries of pain he had let out. Sam ran to get a glass of water for him and he drank it greedily, the cool water a relief for his throat. The others waited patiently for him to speak again. “Do you … know about Phantom?”

Maddie sighed and looked down. “We do. We know that you’re Phantom. I found out weeks ago and told your dad and we immediately agreed to stop hunting you. We just didn’t know how to tell you that we knew, not without scaring you.”

“We never should have hunted you to begin with, Danno”, Jack sniffed.

His mind felt so slow, so heavy. They had known for weeks? That was why they had stopped hunting Phantom? Not because they were coming up with some new horrible invention that would tear him apart molecule by molecule. But because they found out his secret and didn’t want to hurt him any longer. It … it was a dream come true, the one thing he had wished with all his heart but never dared to hope for. 

A new wave of tears burst out and he threw himself into his mom’s arm. She readily caught him and cradled him to her chest. His dad then hugged the both of them, encasing them in his body. Danny couldn't recall the last time he had felt this safe. 

“Not that this isn’t very touching, but we should probably wait with this until we’re out of here and Danny has gotten proper medical attention”, Sam drawled. 

Danny immediately pulled away from his parents, a renewed spike of fear tearing through him. “Dani!” He couldn’t believe that he had forgotten about her, even for a second. “I have to rescue her!”

Jazz stopped him before he could stand up from the metal table. “Dani is already being rescued.”

“W-what? How?”

Tucker suddenly started laughing. “Man, you won’t believe what happened after you transformed into Phantom in front of the whole class.”

Danny had of course been aware that he transformed in front of his class, but in the moment only Dani had mattered. And then afterwards the most important part was that the GIW knew he was a halfa. Though when he thought about it, he vaguely remembered that some sort of commotion broke out between his classmates and the GIW agents. “Are our classmates alright?”

“They're fine, but apparently none of them were actually surprised by you being Phantom! All of them already knew!”

“What do you mean they already knew?”

“Apparently, you have been awful at keeping your secret from the town. Almost every single one of our classmates have seen you transform at least once. So after we left the GIW headquarters none of them were surprised by your reveal. Though apparently they’ve been gaslighting Wes into thinking he was the only one to find out your secret? Because they were angry he was trying to expose you? Because get this: the whole town had a silent agreement to keep your identity safe!”

“The … the whole town?” Danny asked, feeling weak all of a sudden. They had all known that he was Phantom? For how long? Before they started accepting him as the town hero? Or did they only accept him because they knew he was half human? He didn’t know what would be worse. 

Sam gave Tucker a weak punch to the bicep, making him yelp, but when she glared at him he shut his mouth. “Apparently people found out bit by bit over time as they caught you transforming. Not everyone knew before today, but the majority did. Them keeping silent about your secret was the least they could do, and frankly they should have done more. But it really helped us today. You see, our classmates went around town and told everyone what happened to you here and we managed to gather up an army of townspeople to come rescue you. That’s the only reason we could defeat the GIW today. The town saved you, Danny, and all the other ghosts too.”

“The whole town knows my secret and … and they came to save me?” Danny asked, unable to wrap his mind about this revelation. He had thought many times about what might happen if he revealed his secret to everyone, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that they would stand up for his sake. That they would fight for his sake. “Why?”

Jazz squeezed his uninjured shoulder. “You can ask them once we get out of here.”

Danny startled. He had actually managed to forget that he was still in the GIW headquarters, still on the operation table where he only minutes ago was about to be cut open. He shivered, and not only because he was almost naked. Suddenly he couldn’t stand being here for even a minute longer. 

When he tried to rise from the table, his legs gave out beneath him and only his father’s quick reflexes saved him from falling face first on the floor. “Whoa there, Danno, take it easy.” 

Jack pulled Danny into a princess carry as if he weighed nothing. If he hadn’t been so exhausted, Danny would have protested being carried like that, but instead he practically melted into his dad’s arms. His head ached with every beat of his heart, his throat and mouth felt drier than a desert, his eyes were swollen from all the crying and his shoulder and hand just hurt. Not to mention that he could still feel the phantom pains from the electrocution coursing through his body. Not having to walk in this state was a relief. 

Another shiver wrecked his body and Maddie almost tore a lab coat from one of the scientists and helped Danny dress in it. It was better than going around in only his underwear, but the white color made him feel slightly nauseous. Jack gently hugged him closer and Danny hid his face in his dad’s shoulder. He felt like a little kid again, being carried like this and cared for so attentively by his parents. He’d missed it more than he’d known. 

As they were about to step outside, Danny remembered something important. “Oh wait! In the pocket of that woman is a controller that is connected to something in my neck that electrocutes me if I try to use my powers.”

At his words, Tucker immediately ran to the indicated woman and rummaged in her pockets until he found the controller. He fidgeted with it for a moment - and Danny was a little nervous that he would activate it by mistake - before he pressed a button and a beep could be heard from his neck. “There, I turned it off.”

Danny called on his core and flickered into invisibility for a second, breathing out in relief when he could do so without any electricity burning through him. It immediately made him feel safer that he could fight back if he had to. He turned his left, uninjured, hand intangible and swept through his neck until he found something foreign lodged in the flesh. He pulled it out and saw a little metal invention sitting in his hand, deceptively innocent looking. It crunched with a satisfying sound in his hand. He was free. 

Outside in the corridor, several unconscious GIW agents lay sprawled across the floor, many with bruises or blood covering them. Danny couldn’t help a small, satisfied smile at the sight. Dad just stepped over the bodies like he didn’t even see them, even though he must have put at least some of them down himself. 

Tucker led them through the long corridors and through several doors. Danny hadn’t realized the scientists had taken him so far, but then again he had been very busy freaking out over being cut open so maybe he could be excused for not noticing. Along the way they found more unconscious agents and even some scientists or other personnel. There was also a surprising amount of destruction all over the place, with doors torn open, ceiling tiles lying on the floor, equipment knocked over and shredded paper everywhere. Maybe some of it was from the explosions, but an army of people must have come after the destruction and torn it apart for it to look like this

That reminded Danny of something, though. “Did … did you guys cause the explosion?”

“Of course!” Jack said and looked very proud of himself. “Patented Fentonwork explosives were used to blow up the front entrance and to take out the power source keeping all the ghosts contained! Made quite the Boom, I’d say!”

“Yeah”, Danny said and a little chuckle, more air than sound, escaped him. It still surprised him that he could laugh already, after what happened, but it felt good. That explained the explosions and the power going out, but there was still one thing missing from the scene of battle around him. “Where is everyone?”

Tucker tapped something on his PDA. “Either chasing down the last few remaining agents or helping the ghosts out of the building. We’re almost by the holding cells so you’ll see them soon.”

Danny immediately buried deeper into his dad’s embrace at that news. Logically he believed his family and friends that the town had helped him and therefore must accept him. But his feelings were not so logical. It felt like he was being brought ever closer to his doom, that the moment the townspeople saw him, they would turn on him, calling him a freak of nature and condemning him for every little mistake he’s made as Phantom. 

They finally reached the corridor with all the holding cells, now open. The corridor was full of people, either leading the ghosts towards the elevator or trying to coax the more afraid ones out of their cells. There were so many humans - hundreds of them - and not only from his school, but many he had never seen before. People had come in their work clothes so he could see nurses and office workers and truckers and construction workers. He could see teenagers and young adults but also middle aged people and some grannies with knitting needles in their hands. All kinds of people from all over Amity Park, helping the ghosts that had terrorized them for months. All of them had rudimentary weapons, though most had tucked them away. There were also a dozen or so GIW agents bound in handcuffs and watched by a couple of police officers. He could also see Lance Thunder and his cameraman filming something further away, reporting to the city what was going on. 

And there, near the elevators, was that Vlad? Huh, it was. Danny had never thought he would see the day Vlad willingly risked his own skin to save Danny like this. Next to him stood Valerie, scowling at Vlad and eyeing the ghosts wearily, but not reaching for any of the many guns on her person. Even she had come to save him, despite hating ghosts? Sure, they had a truce in place, but this was much further than the truce demanded she help him. She must also know the truth about him and had come to save him, despite how much she had hated Phantom in the past. 

As they stepped into the corridor, all movement and sound died down as people turned to look at him. Danny shrank back, hiding in the overly large lab coat and trying to shield himself in his dad's arms. Jack hugged him tighter and the rest of his loved ones stepped closer to them, creating somewhat of a shield between him and the other people. 

The silence was broken by one voice. “DANNY!” Dani screamed and ran over to them, still in ghost form, and threw herself at him. Danny automatically opened his arms for her and only his dad’s strong grip on him stopped him from falling to the floor when Dani wrapped herself around him like a koala. His shoulder and hand grumbled at the treatment, but he was too happy to see her again to acknowledge the pain.

“Are you alright?” he asked, hugging her as close as physically possible. His core vibrated happily in his chest, a purring sound filling the silent corridor. He was so relieved to see her that he didn’t even feel embarrassed by the sound, for once. “Why are you still here? You should get out of here!”

“As if I could ever leave without you!” She scoffed, but the purring of her core gave her away. She pointed to the rest of the ghosts and he noticed that not one of the ghosts had actually left yet. “You wouldn't have left without us so none of us would leave so long as you were still stuck here. And am I alright? Are you alright? Did they hurt you?” He hesitated for a second too long and a little growl escaped her. “Those bastards, they did! I’m so sorry Danny, I shouldn’t have let them take you.”

“No, don’t say that, I asked you to stay back so you wouldn’t get hurt and I’m glad you did. And I’m not even badly hurt! I’ve had much worse.” His dad’s arms tightened around him for a second at those words and a worried murmur broke out around them. Danny flinched at the sound. His relief at seeing Dani again had made him forget the rest of the people gathered. 

He pulled away from Dani and she reluctantly let go and floated down to stand on the floor again. She didn’t go far away from him, though, staying close enough that she could rest a hand on his shoulder in a protective gesture. Danny loved her so much. 

“You…” Danny began, looking from person to person. Inexplicably, tears gathered in his eyes.  “You all came to … to save me, despise what I am. Why?”

The people in the corridor all exchanged glances and then an old woman stepped forward, going up to him where he lay in his father’s arms. She used a cane to walk and yet she had still come here to save him. When she came too close, his eyes automatically flashed green in warning and he froze up, fearing that his display of ghost powers would turn the people against him. But the old woman just smiled sadly at him and stayed where she was, not getting closer but not backing away either. 

“Oh dear boy”, she said. “Ghost, human or something in between, you’re an Amity Parker and we will always protect our own.”

In that moment, Danny finally believed that the people of Amity Park had truly come to save him. That they didn’t hate him or saw him as a disgusting freak of nature. Instead they had fought for his sake. In that moment, something broke inside of him and a flood of tears burst forth. He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed even as his core buzzed happily in his chest. Jack hugged him tighter and the rest of his family huddled closer, all of them patting or stroking whatever part of him they could reach. He was so warm and so safe, surrounded by these people who had come to save him, despite knowing exactly what he was. 

And the rest of the gathered people? They all raised their voices and called out their own support. “You’ve saved us so many times, it was time for us to save you!” “No way we were going to let these assholes in white take you!” “We love you Phantom!” “You’re one of us!”

And the loudest call of them all, repeated again and again by numerous people, human and ghost alike: “You’re OUR hero!”

They loved him. The citizens of Amity Park and the ghosts and his family. They all loved him despite what he was, despite his secret being in the open now. They had loved him for weeks and months and years. Tears still poured down his face, but an overjoyed laugh escaped him, harmonizing with the purring of his core. 

The morning after their wedding, Wei wuxian woke up sore but happy, nestled up in his many tails and the blankets of the bed. Therefore, it took him several long minutes before he realized that his newly minted husband, the love of his life, Hanguang-jun, Lan Wangji, Lan Zhan, was not in bed with him. 

“Ugh, what is it with Lans and not being able to sleep in, not even the morning after their wedding” , he grumbled. He squinted his eyes open against the sunlight filtering into the room and threw his arms out as he stretched. There was a solid thunk as his hand hit something hard and he paused in confusion. 

Wei Wuxian opened his eyes completely and turned his head only to see Wangji the guqin lying on the bed where Lan Zhan had slept the night before. Bichen laid just further past it on the bed, right next to Suibian. There were also several books of poetry on the bed, a lot of really lovely robes and blankets, some of the art Wei Wuxian himself had drawn of Lan Zhan, clusters of gentian flowers, a basket of loquats, a steaming teapot, the statue of a turtle Wei Wuxian had given him while they courted and … five bunnies. Several other lumps hidden by the blankets hinted at even more items being hidden in the bed. Wei Wuxian was surrounded by so many items on all sides that he couldn't twitch without knocking into something. 

Why the hell were all these things on the bed? And how had Lan Zhan managed to put them there without waking him up? Where was his husband? Nothing made any sense.

It took a lot of effort to sit up, not only because of the many things surrounding him, but also because his body still ached - in a very lovely way, but still, it was criminal that Lan Zhan wasn’t here to cater to his every whim when it was his fault. Absentmindedly, he pulled out one of the bunnies that had buried itself in his tails and petted it. He noticed then that Lan Zhan’s forehead ribbon was still tied to one of his wrists and a smile spread over his face. He let go of the bunny to trace the cloud pattern on it.

It still felt unreal that after everything that had happened - all the death and tragedy and misunderstandings - that not only had Wei Wuxian married Lan Zhan, he had married him in front of the entire Lan sect in an extravagant but tasteful wedding. It was too good to be true, and yet he had the proof of it around his wrist and in the room around him. His home with Lan Zhan. A giddy giggle escaped him. 

Right then, his sensitive fox ears caught the sound of multiple people walking up the path to the Jingshi. He assumed it was Lan Zhan with some servants in tow, hopefully for a bath as he still felt sticky, and smiled in excitement. 

The door opened and Lan Zhan stepped inside. His face was serene with a tiny smile spreading over his face when he saw that Wei Wuxian was awake. He was dressed in only three layers of robes and his forehead was scandalously bare and he was so beautiful Wei Wuxian could die happy. Wei Wuxian loved him so much. 

“Lan Zhan!" Wei Wuxian called out, beaming at his husband even as he tried to sound scolding. “You were so cruel, leaving me to wake all alone in our marriage bed. And putting so many strange things in …”

He trailed off as Lan Zhan stepped into the Jingshi, pulling two people after him that very much were not servants with a bath. The first one was Lan Sizhui, who cast one look at Wei Wuxian, sitting in bed and only barely covered by a red blanket with his love-bite covered chest out in the open, and blushed so red Wei Wuxian was concerned he would faint. The other person was Lan Xichen, whose smile looked distinctly strained and he wouldn't meet Wei Wuxian’s eyes. 

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian shrieked and pulled the blanket up to cover himself, not caring for the crash it created as several items fell over. His face matched the red blankets. “What are you doing?”

There was no response. Instead, Lan Zhan continued into the room, pulling his brother and son with him. They struggled a little against his grip, but it was clear they had given up on resisting him some time ago. Lan Zhan walked straight up to the bed and Wei Wuxian shrieked again when he pushed Lan Sizhui and Lan Xichen into the bed. They sat themself down as far from Wei Wuxian as they could and just barely avoided crushing the many other things currently in the bed. 

Lan Zhan looked the bed over with a critical eye before nodding in satisfaction. Then he too crawled into the bed and pulled Wei Wuxian into his arms. Wei Wuxian scrambled to pull the blanket with him, lest he give his son and brother-in-law an(other) eyeful. He was pressed close to Lan Zhan’s front and could hear deep rumbles emitting from his chest. Lan Zhan’s dragon tail made a swishing sound as it dragged back and forth across the blankets in satisfaction. 

After several seconds of shocked, embarrassed silence, Wei Wuxian pulled back enough to look at Lan Xichen. The man was still not meeting his eyes. “Okay, someone explain what the fuck is happening right now. Not that I’m not happy to see you two, but why did Lan Zhan drag you into our bed? And all these other things! Why are the bunnies in our bed?”

Lan Xichen cleared his throat delicately. There was a red tint to his ears. “As you know, animal hybrids often take on … characteristics of their animal side.”

Boy did Wei Wuxian know that. He knew no one else that looked at worms like it was a delicious meal, and had never met someone who quite liked to dig in the earth as much as he did. Lan Qiren and Madam Yu - while she was still alive - had both yelled at him about mischievous fox spirits more than once. He also had a spot behind his ears that made him melt if scratched. 

Wei Wuxian knew that animal traits affected people, but what did that have to do with this? The Lans were dragons and as such were far too refined to display any such traits, unlike all lesser hybrid species. As the kings of the animal kingdom, Lans had long ago conquered such instincts. 

Or at least, so he had always presumed. 

“Are you telling me that Lan Zhan put a bunch of things in our bed because he’s a dragon?” he asked, skepticism dripping off his words. To his surprise, both Lan Xichen and Lan Sizhiu nodded. They didn’t elaborate. 

He turned back to his husband and poked him in the cheek until he opened his eyes and looked at him. His expression was blissed out - not dissimilar to how he had looked the night before and Wei Wuxian determinedly pushed those thoughts down considering the company. “Lan Zhan, why did you put all this in our bed?”

“Hoard”, he answered, humming happily. 

“Hoard?” Wei Wuxian asked. “Hoard of what ?”

“All my favorite things.”

It took him a second, looking around in confusion at all the items and the other two people in the bed. Then it hit him and he hid his face against Lan Zhan’s chest as blood rushed into his cheeks. His heart felt ready to burst from love. “Lan Zhaaaaan! You have to warn me first!”

“Mn”, he said, sounding smug and not at all like a person who would warn Wei Wuxian in the future. Wei Wuxian loved him so much. 

“But really, Lan Zhan, couldn't you have given me some warning that you would do this? A little shout out that you would be bringing your brother and our son into our room so I could at least have put on one layer before? Like, I love you and I love them, but this is awkward.”

“Oh”, Lan Zhan said, very quietly, and seemed to really see him for the first time since entering the room. In all his naked, love-bitten glory. His ears slowly turned red. 

Wei Wuxian gasped, half in delight, half in disbelief. “You forgot I’d be naked? I can’t believe you!”

“Baba … can you please stop talking about it?” Lan Sizhui said, his voice choked with mortification. His face was so red and in any other situation Wei Wuxian would tease him so much about it. 

“Sorry, A-Yuan”, he chuckled. “It’s just so ridiculous. Are all Lan dragons like this?”

Lan Xichen smiled kindly, but was still very much not looking at them. “I’m afraid so, though we are usually able to keep it under control once we get older. When we were young, Wangji and I would constantly hoard each other and every time we visited mother, we would bring things with us so we could hoard her too.”

“That is … so cute ”, Wei Wuxian squealed, imagining a chubby cheeked baby Lan Zhan piling toys on his mom and cuddling up to her with an equally chubby cheeked Lan Xichen. 

“When A-die’s adoption of me was finally made official, he put me in a hoard and wouldn't let me leave for three days”, Lan Sizhui laughed. Another squeal escaped Wei Wuxian as he thought of the small toddler A-Yuan had once been, bundled up in bed and surrounded by all the other things Lan Zhan loved.

“I had to do my sect work from a pile of bunnies”, Lan Xichen lamented, but his smile was widening. Lan Zhan let out a little put upon sound and there was a barely noticeable pout on his lips. 

“Oh?” Wei Wuxian grinned so hard his cheeks hurt. He poked Lan Zhan in the chest. “Lan Zhan, are you going to hoard me for three days too?”

“A week”, Lan Zhan said and though his voice lacked emotion, his arms tightened possessively around Wei Wuxian, making him laugh in delight. 

“And what about Xichen-gege and our sweet little radish? Are you going to hoard them too?”

“Hoard”, he agreed, very determinedly. 

Wei Wuxian stifled a snicker at the looks on said people’s faces. They looked like they had expected that answer yet dreaded it at the same time. It was very cute how willing they were to indulge Lan Zhan in his dragon tendencies. There was just one little problem. 

Shifting until his mouth was right next to Lan Zhan’s ear and whispering as quietly as he could, so the other two people in the room couldn't hear him, he said, “Then what about our everyday?”

Lan Zhan stiffened against him and a little gasp escaped his mouth. His grip turned bruising around Wei Wuxian and he purred in response, happy by the reaction he had enacted. “Sizhui, Xiongzhang, you can leave now.”

The two men startled, clearly surprised that Lan Zhan would let them go so quickly. Wei Wuxian winked at them from Lan Zhan’s arms and the color returned to their faces. They left the bed and hurried out of the Jingshi with none of their usual Lan grace. Wei Wuxian laughed after them and then some more when Lan Zhan pulled him in for a kiss. 

Wei Wuxian was sitting in Lan Zhan's lap, getting fed spicy food Lan Zhan had cooked for him and feeding his husband in turn, stealing kisses between bites and chatting about his day. Occasionally, he would drink from a cup that Lan Zhan kept filled with Emperor's smile, while Lan Zhan drank his fragrant tea. His heart felt full and warm, and so did his stomach. He hummed happily on wangxian and when Lan Zhan broke the no talking while eating rule to hum back, Wei Wuxian felt so happy he could die. He whined dramatically and hid his blushing face against Lan Zhan's shoulder. Lan Zhan just hugged him closer for a second before picking up another piece of the fried fish to feed him. 

"Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan", Wei Wuxian chanted and his husband made a little inquisitive sound. "You really are the best. The most wonderful husband anyone could ever hope for, I love you so much."

Lan Zhan put down the chopsticks and turned to look at him. The full force of his devastatingly beautiful golden eyes were directed at Wei Wuxian. It never failed to make him feel giddy. "I love you too, husband." 

Wei Wuxian squealed and clutched his heart. "Lan Zhan! You're too much! Be gentle with my poor heart!"

"I will always be gentle with Wei Ying's heart. It is precious." 

"Nooo!" Wei Wuxian protested as his face turned completely red. Even months into their marriage, he still wasn't used to Lan Zhan's earnest words of devotion. He quickly grabbed his cup and drowned all the alcohol in it, in hopes that it would give him strength. That hope was immediately doused when Lan Zhan leaned down to kiss him deeply, the alcohol spilling from Wei Wuxian’s mouth. 

Not that Wei Wuxian would ever complain about getting kissed, especially not these deep and filthy kisses Lan Zhan currently gave him. He nipped at Wei Wuxian’s bottom lip and then licked deep into his mouth, chasing the taste of alcohol and sucking on his tongue. It sent tingles down Wei Wuxian’s whole body and he moaned into the kiss. Lan Zhan only pulled back once he’d grown lightheaded, instead licking and biting down Wei Wuxian’s throat. Wei Wuxian tilted his head to the side to bare more of his throat to Lan Zhan’s clever mouth. More moans escaped him without his conscious input and he pulled Lan Zhan even closer, needing to feel his touch on his skin. 

Then, Lan Zhan suddenly fell face first into Wei Wuxian’s lap. For a moment he thought it was because Lan Zhan had something special in mind, but as the seconds passed without Lan Zhan moving, Wei Wuxian started to grow worried. 

“Lan Zhan? Are you alright?” He pushed on Lan Zhan’s shoulders to turn him around and then immediately groaned as he saw that Lan Zhan was asleep. He poked his cheek but there was no reaction. “Fuck! The alcohol!”

Wei Wuxian sighed and settled down as he waited for him to wake up, pulling Lan Zhan into a more comfortable position in his lap. Once he woke up, he would hopefully be able to put him to bed without much trouble. Meanwhile, he ate the rest of his food and downed the last of his alcohol. And if he occasionally petted Lan Zhan’s hair or stroked his face then that was his own business. 

Just as suddenly as he had fallen asleep, Lan Zhan woke up. He sat up and blinked in confusion at the room around him. Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but feel endeared by his cute expression. He giggled and when Lan Zhan looked at him in question, his nose scrunched up, he only laughed more. “Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan, you look just like a bunny! So cute!”

“... bunny” Lan Zhan said and his forehead wrinkled with how hard he was thinking. Then he suddenly stood up and moved towards the door. Wei Wuxian scrambled after him, cursing under his breath. Lan Zhan couldn’t be allowed to wander through the Cloud Recesses in this state. He would embarrass himself, and only Wei Wuxian was allowed to see him like this. “Lan Zhan! Wait up!” he called out and latched onto his arm. Unfortunately, Lan Zhan continued walking as if he didn’t even notice Wei Wuxian hanging off him. Damn that Lan strength! And so, despite his efforts, Lan Zhan managed to open the door and walk outside, Wei Wuxian dragged with him. With a sigh, Wei Wuxian resigned himself to his fate and started following his drunk husband. If he couldn’t stop him it was better to willingly go with him and hopefully stop him from committing too much shenanigans. 

They walked through the paths of the Cloud Recesses and Wei Wuxian had never before been so grateful that all the Lans followed the rules about curfew. It meant only a few guards were out to see Lan Zhan drag him around. And it was extra lucky that the rules against gossiping would make sure they kept quiet about what they saw. Wei Wuxian waved at the guards they passed, grinning sheepishly as they stared in concussion at Lan Zhan. 

“Where are we even going, Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian asked when they had been walking for several minutes and had gotten deeper and deeper into the back hills. The only thing back here was the bunny meadow. Wait … “Lan Zhan, are we going to see the bunnies?”

“Bunny”, Lan Zhan said and nodded in his typical serious manner. As usual, he didn’t seem very drunk, except that his eyes were distant and he was so single-minded in his focus. 

“Lan Zhaaan”, Wei Wuxian complained and tried once more to fruitlessly make him stop walking. “We can go see the bunnies tomorrow, they’re probably asleep already, like we should be.” Not that he usually went to sleep this early, but if it could convince Lan Zhan to go back home it was worth a try. 

“Bunny”, was all Lan Zhan said in response and Wei Wuxian groaned, even as his heart skipped a beat at just how cute his husband was when drunk. Well, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad if he played along. There should be no one else by the bunnies at this hour, so Wei Wuxian could indulge in his husband acting silly without having to worry about him ruining his reputation. 

They reached the bunny meadow soon enough, and as Wei Wuxian had suspected, the bunnies were all hidden away in their burrows. Lan Zhan sat down in the middle of the meadow, pouting. “Bunny…” he said sadly and Wei Wuxian felt an urge to both bully his husband further and to immediately go digging into the burrows to find the bunnies so he wouldn’t be sad.

“The bunnies are asleep.” Lan Zhan pouted even more at those words and Wei Wuxian couldn’t resist the urge to lean in and kiss that protruding bottom lip and give it a little nip. Lan Zhan gasped and chased after his mouth when he leaned away. He was so cute that Wei Wuxian worried his heart would explode. He relented and let Lan Zhan pull him into his lap to steal a couple of deep, filthy kisses. His mouth tasted slightly of alcohol and Wei Wuxian chased the taste happily, humming in pleasure. 

Lan Zhan pulled him flush against his chest and kissed him breathless for several long minutes, remarkably coordinated in this action even while drunk. Then Lan Zhan suddenly pushed him away, making Wei Wuxian fall on his ass in the grass. He gasped in surprise at the action, especially since the push wasn’t followed by Lan Zhan pushing him to the ground to make out. Instead, Wei Wuxian watched in disbelief as a couple of bunnies jumped up to him, crowding around his lap and even climbing onto him. Lan Zhan eagerly gave them all pets and cuddled them closer. 

“Lan Zhan! Did you just push me away to cuddle the bunnies instead?” Wei Wuxian whined.

“Bunny”, was Lan Zhan’s response and Wei Wuxian couldn't help it. He started laughing, loud enough that the bunnies startled and tried to hide in Lan Zhan’s clothes. 

“You really like the bunnies, huh Lan Zhan?”

“Mn.”

Wei Wuxian couldn't help but soften as he regarded his husband, kneeling on the ground and surrounded by the bunnies who had woken up just because they sensed Lan Zhan was close. He kept trying to pet them all at the same time and seemed distressed that he only had two hands. His husband was too cute. “Ah, Lan Zhan, you really like the bunnies and the bunnies really like you. It’s like … like you’re the King of bunnies.”

Lan Zhan’s eyes sharpened. He looked at Wei Wuxian, making him shiver, and then turned those intense golden eyes upon the bunnies.  “Mn…”

He scooped two bunnies up into his hands. They wiggled for a second and then settled down happily in his big hands. Absurdly enough, Wei Wuxian felt a little bit jealous of the bunnies. He wanted to be cradled in Lan Zhan’s big hands. Lan Zhan gazed down on the bunnies for a second and then he stood up, turned around and started walking away from the meadow. Wei Wuxian gaped in surprise after him and then he scrambled to catch up with him. 

“Where are you going now? Lan Zhan, the bunnies should stay in the meadow!” He was ignored, Lan Zhan marching determinedly on. Wei Wuxian sighed and resigned himself to follow and try to mitigate any damage Lan Zhan might do. Hopefully he just wanted to bring a pair of bunnies into the Jingshi. 

Except when they reached their home, Lan Zhan didn’t stop. He didn’t even stop when they reached the more central parts of the Cloud Recesses. The guards eyed them in confusion and Wei Wuxian grimaced as Lan Zhan barreled past them like a man on a mission, bunnies in hand. Hopefully, they would keep quiet about this too. 

Lan Zhan reached the center of the Cloud Recesses and without warning, jumped onto the roof of the Main Hall. Wei Wuxian cursed and scrambled to get up on the roof after him. “Lan Zhan! Get down from the roof!” Lan Zhan just looked at him with his shining golden eyes, a tiny pout on his lips. The bunnies he was holding only made the scene even cuter and Wei Wuxian was a weak man when it came to his husband. 

“Damn it!” he said and then sighed in resignation. Surely it wouldn't be too bad if he let Lan Zhan do whatever it was he wanted. It would at least be quicker than trying to convince him to abandon his plan. “Alright, Lan Zhan, go ahead.”

The tiny smile on Lan Zhan’s lips made it all worth it.  He raised the bunnies above his head and then took a very deep breath. “I AM THE KING OF THE BUNNIES!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs, the words echoing across the silent Cloud Recesses. Wei Wuxian  was so surprised by the sound that he almost fell off the roof. Never before had he heard his husband make such a loud noise. 

“Oh shit!” Wei Wuxian cursed. There was no way people hadn't heard that. Maybe he could convince the Lans that he had been the one to yell that? After all, no one would be surprised if Wei Wuxian yelled some nonsense late at night. As long as he got his husband home before anyone could come check what the noise had been, they would be alright. 

Before he could implement his plan to get them away from there, Lan Zhan laid down on his back, put the bunnies on his chest and fell asleep right there on the roof. Wei Wuxian stared at his sleeping husband in utter disbelief for a second. Then he started laughing so hard that he had to sit down on the roof to make sure he wouldn’t fall off it. 

It was to that scene four guards and Lan Qiren arrived a few minutes later. Hanguang-jun sleeping on the roof with two confused rabbits on his chest and the Yiling Laozu howling in laughter next to him. The newly arrived Lans just stared in confusion for a few long seconds, before Lan Qiren gathered his wits enough to remember he was supposed to be angry.

“Wei Wuxian!” he yelled and jumped onto the roof. The other Lans followed his example and gathered to awkwardly glance between the sleeping Hanguang-jun, the laughing Yiling Laozu and the Grandmaster. “What is the meaning of this? Why are you outside after curfew, yelling loud enough to wake people up? Why are there rabbits here? And why is Wangji sleeping on the roof?”

Wei Wuxian forced himself to look away from his sleeping husband or he wouldn't be able to stop laughing long enough to answer. He still giggled occasionally as he tried to explain. “Ah, Grandmaster Lan, all those things can easily be explained by one thing; Lan Zhan drank some alcohol by mistake.”

Lan Qiren’s face immediately shuttered as if he was in pain and then he took a deep breath to compose himself. “Are you telling me that Wangji was the one who yelled?” Wei Wuxian nodded, thoroughly amused by the way it seemed to cause Lan Qiren further pain. “And he was the one who brought the rabbits here?” Another nod. “And the reason he’s asleep on the roof is because he’s drunk?”

“Got it in one. Uh, also can I borrow these Lans to help me carry Lan Zhan home?”

“It’s too late for this.” Lan Qiren closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sure, why not, do what you must. I’m going to bed.”

“Goodnight, Uncle!” Wei Wuxian called out to his retreating back and snickered at the glare he got in return. Then he turned to the remaining Lans. They were too disciplined to show their discomfort, but Wei Wuxian caught more than one of them glancing between him and Lan Zhan uncertainty. Wei Wuxian clapped his hands and had to suppress a snicker at the tiny jumps they did. He pointed to the Lans in turn. “Alright, you carry the rabbits back to their meadow, you guys take one limb each and I’ll support Lan Zhan’s head.”

They all relaxed as he took charge and seemed especially relieved Wei Wuxian would be the one to hold his head. Since Lan Zhan still wore his forehead ribbon, there was no way Wei Wuxian was going to let anyone else close enough to risk touching it. And it would have been really undignified if they just let his head dangle without support, not to mention uncomfortable for Lan Zhan. 

They got into position and lifted Lan Zhan up together. Wei Wuxian was very glad for the help to carry him. He knew from experience just how heavy his husband was, being not only taller but also more muscular than himself. While he had carried Lan Zhan in the past and wouldn't hesitate to do so again if necessary, they were quite the distance from the Jingshi and Wei Wuxian would rather spare his back if possible. 

The Lan carrying the bunnies also made sure to steer all other guards away from them, so that as few people as possible saw Lan Zhan get towed around Cloud Recesses like a sack of potatoes - though a very loved sack of potatoes. Since they consequently didn’t have to worry about being discreet, they could walk directly to the Jingshi and arrived within minutes. Wei Wuxian led the others inside and together they lowered Lan Zhan down onto the bed. 

“Thanks for the help, everyone!” Wei Wuxian chirped and got four “you’re welcome” of various degrees of awkwardness in return. The moment the Lans closed the door behind them, Wei Wuxian started undressing his husband and getting him as ready for bed as possible in his unresponsive state. 

He lovingly moved Lan Zhan’s limbs out of his clothes and removed his ribbon and combed his hair out. He washed his face and made sure there was fresh water next to the bed just in case Lan Zhan woke up before him - he usually didn’t when he got drunk, sleeping in for once in his life - and was thirsty. Then he tucked Lan Zhan into bed and climbed in next to him, resting his head on his shoulder. While he loved it when Lan Zhan doted on him and took care of his every little need, Wei Wuxian loved it when he got a chance to dote back. It usually only happened when Lan Zhan was drunk, so he had to take a moment to appreciate it. 

Wei Wuxian pressed a kiss to his husband’s lovely cheek. “I love you so much”, he whispered and then extinguished the last candle and settled down to sleep. 

🐇👑🐇

Lan Wangji’s head was pounding, he felt slightly nauseous and there was a stale taste in his mouth. Despite having only experienced it a handful of times, he immediately knew what it was. He was hungover. However, he could not recall having consumed any alcohol the night before. What had happened?

He stifled a groan as he opened his eyes and the light immediately stabbed into his sensitive eyeballs. “Take it easy”, an angelic voice said, a voice he would recognize anywhere - even in a new body, even in death. Wei Ying, his husband. Lan Wangji opened his eyes completely, despite the light, for he couldn’t bear not gazing upon his beloved’s face for even one second longer. Those precious silver eyes met his own and a brilliant smile, brighter than the morning sun, lit up his dear face. 

“Wei Ying”, he said, just to say his name. It was his favorite thing to say in the world, followed closely by “I love you” and “my husband”. 

“Lan Zhan”, Wei Ying echoed back, his smile turning even more illustrious. He was so beautiful Lan Wangji sometimes felt like he would go blind looking at him, and yet he would never again turn his gaze away, like he had done when he was a foolish teenager. 

Wei Ying reached out and tenderly helped him sit. It made Lan Wangji’s head pound harder but the cup of water that was pressed into his hands a moment later made it worth it. He drank it all down greedily and immediately his mouth and stomach felt better and the headache lightened slightly. After he sat the cup down, he tried to subtly take in the room around them. 

They were in the Jingshi and it looked as it normally did, though a little bit messier as Wei Ying had just let their clothes from the day before fall on the floor. He'd probably forgotten that Lan Wangji wouldn’t be capable of folding them up in his drunken state. Otherwise, there was nothing that hinted to what he might have done the night before while drunk. Everything seemed as it should. 

Lan Wangji did not trust it. He had managed to pull the full truth from Wei Ying about what he’d done while drunk in the past and was therefore aware of how … mischievous he could be while drunk. So he knew that something must have happened. “What did I do last night?”

Wei Ying hesitated, gnawing at his plush bottom lip. It managed to distract Lan Wangji from his question for a second, as he was overwhelmed with the desire to put his own teeth on that lip. But he forced himself to concentrate, as Wei Ying hesitating like that never bore good news. It meant he was considering how much to say so he wouldn't make Lan Wangji feel embarrassed, which meant there was something to be embarrassed about. It only made Lan Wangji want to know even more, for how was he to make amends if he didn’t know what he’d done? Luckily, Wei Ying knew by now that Lan Wangji genuinely preferred to know the full truth, no matter how embarrassing. 

“Lan Zhan!” he exclaimed and pouted in an exaggerated manner. “You were so cruel, refusing to kiss me and instead going to the bunnies and cuddling them instead!” That didn’t sound too bad, but he knew from the look in his husband’s eyes that there was more to come. He hummed and braced himself for what would come next. “Then you stole two bunnies away, climbed on top of the Main Hall’s roof and yelled for all of the Cloud Recesses to hear ‘I am the King of the Bunnies!’ and then you passed out on the roof.”

Mortification coursed through him and Lan Wangji could feel his ears burn. “Please tell me that you are lying”, he said, even though he knew that Wei Ying was being honest, having learned his tells by now.

Wei Ying looked at him, very seriously, and cupped his face in his hands. “I would, but then I would be lying to the King of Bunnies.” And then he started laughing so hard he fell to the floor. Lan Wangji’s heart soared at the sound, as he would never tire of hearing Wei Ying’s laughter, but his ears also burned hotter.

“Wei Ying”, he complained, which only made him laugh harder.

“Your Uncle found you there, asleep on the roof”, he said between his laughter and Lan Wangji cringed. “He and a couple of guards! I explained what happened and he just left! Luckily the other Lans stayed and helped me carry you back to bed.”

Lan Wangji coughed into his sleeve to try and cover for his embarrassment. This was worse than he had feared. “I must apologize to Uncle and the guards for my conduct.”

“Aww, Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying said, still giggling a little bit but also squiggling around on the floor until he could drape himself across Lan Wangji's lap. He reached up to hold Lan Wangji’s face again and since Lan Wangji was unable to deny Wei Ying anything, he leaned into the touch despite his embarrassment. “Don’t be embarrassed! You were so cute! And you’d make a wonderful King! Also, does that make me the Queen of Bunnies, as your wife?”

Wei Ying looked him right in his eyes and then licked his lips and wriggled his hips in a very suggestive manner. Lan Wangji felt heat flood through him for an entirely different reason. “I think the titles fit us very well, considering we breed like bunn-”