章節 21: Chapter 21
Summary:
Test results bring the beginning of secrets in the Fenton household.
Danny has a problem at school.
Notes:
Sorry this took so long to get to you guys. I want to thank all of my readers for the comments and kudos! They make writing worth it. Also, a shout-out to other DP writers. Thank you for helping me with inspiration! I couldn't do this without everyone's support!!!
:-)
Chapter Text
The next morning, after breakfast, the family made their way back down to the lab. Jack pulled the test results up and printed them out, while Maddie got the kids into Fenton hazmat suits. Danny pulled at the collar of his, while Jazz kept glancing at hers with a frown.
"Mom, why do we have to wear these again??" The red-head's voice was higher pitched than normal.
Maddie attempted to suppress her frown. "Jazz, sweetie, we couldn't let you wear them last night because of all the testing we needed to do, but from here on out, we don't want anyone in the lab without protection."
Jazz mumbled under her breath. Danny snorted. "Great time for them to pick up lab safety habits, huh, sis?"
The older teen shot a side-eye to her brother, but her frown softened quite a bit. "No comment." Despite having the edge taken off of her anxiety, she still refused to look her parents in the eye.
Jack cleared his throat. "Ok guys, we want to repeat your x-rays with the hazmat suits on. That way we have two sets of baseline data for you kiddos. We think that the ecto-radiation interferes with the x-rays to a degree, so having you two in hazmats should give us better images, or at least an idea of how much those suits help keep you from absorbing the radiation in here."
Danny looked dubious, but walked over the machine anyway. Jazz followed him slowly. She turned her eyes to her mother, who was looking over the print-outs from Jack. "Um, did you get anything from the bloodwork?"
Maddie tore her eyes away from the papers and swallowed. "Yes, sweetie. We'll discuss it upstairs after we get done with the x-rays."
"But mom!" Jazz's anxiety spiked again.
"It's going to be ok, princess." Jack put his large hand on his daughter's back. "I promise."
"Your father is right, honey. It's going to be ok. We're going to fix whatever this is. Try not to worry too much about it."
Jazz huffed and got into position for the next test. Danny watched the rest of his family with a small smile that did not reach his haunted eyes. No one else had anything else to say, so the x-rays came and went silently.
When they were done, the family of four went back upstairs. Everyone changed and showered in the anteroom next to the kitchen. The adults changed into clean hazmat suits, while the teens just put their regular clothes back on.
Once dressed, Maddie and Jack led the way to the kitchen table. Both held copies of the test and image results. Maddie put hers on the table and went to start a fresh pot of coffee. Danny peeked over the outside of the folder that his mom had put down; he was disappointed to see that the outside was nearly blank, except for the Fentonworks logo. Jazz stared at the folder in Jack's enormous hands with trepidation.
Everyone waited in silence until the coffee maker sputtered out a popping wheeze that signaled the cycle was complete. Maddie's face was unreadable as she poured and fixed four mugs of the bitter brew. Once done, she carefully brought her offering to the table, gently setting each mug in front of the person it belonged to.
Danny picked his up and immediately took a gulp. "Mmm. Coffee. Very good, Mom."
Maddie's mouth quirked up in a small smile. "Thank you, honey. I thought we could all use a pick-me-up right about now."
Danny sighed. "You're not wrong…" He took another drink from his cup, a small sip this time. The teen stretched his neck and back a bit. "Good coffee." He said to his mug.
His parents shared a quiet look. Finally, Jack spoke up. "Alrighty, kiddos. Here's what we know so far…"
What followed was the most anxiety-inducing, brain-frying hour of both Danny and Jazz's short lives. The teens were brilliant in their own right, but some of the test results and implications went right over their head. Unfortunately, Jack kept stumbling around what the tests meant, and for reasons only known to her, Maddie did not interrupt.
Jack finished his explanation with: "And that's that! See, kiddos, nothing to be worried about." The towering man gave an enormous sigh and looked to his wife, who had sat through the entire dialogue staring at the folder in her hands.
The kitchen sat bathed in silence for a good few minutes before Maddie looked up at her children. She cleared her throat. "Your father is right. The ecto-radiation levels in the lab are no longer high enough to affect your test results. Any changes in your bodies that were going to happen due to exposure have already occurred, so there is no reason to think that things will get worse."
Danny watched his parents with guarded eyes. Yes, they didn't seem to be overly upset at the appearance of "ghostly" symptoms or the levels of residual ectoplasmic radiation, but…they also didn't know the extent of the changes the teen was going through. Danny had shared with his parents the smaller manifestations that he had experienced, but he couldn't bring himself to talk about the bigger ones—he was too upset and worried to discuss those changes with anyone. No one needed to know about the white-haired, neon-green-eyed face that sometimes greeted him in the mirror. Right?
Jack's voice brought Danny back to the conversation at hand. "Danno, what's going through your mind, son. You seem like you're a million miles away."
Danny blinked and cleared his throat. "Uh, not a whole lot. I'm just trying…to process this stuff, that's all."
Jack looked at his wife and took a deep breath when she nodded her encouragement to him. Then, he looked back at his son with a sigh. "I know it's a lot, kiddo, but we have every reason to believe that all of the ecto-contamination is going to fade. So try not to worry too hard about stuff that we can't change. It's gonna be ok."
Maddie piped up. "Your father is right. I am already showing a marked decrease in radiation levels, and Jazz no longer has any detectable residue at all. Your father's levels are also dropping—just not as fast." She pasted a brittle smile on her face. "We have every reason to believe that it will be the same for you. It just might take your body a little bit longer than the rest of us because you had the highest level of exposure."
Danny looked at Jazz. Her fingers were white from gripping the kitchen table so hard. Her face was set in an uneasy scowl. He decided, then, that he would most definitely keep the hidden changes to himself. With Jazz being this upset about basic ecto-contamination, she would probably explode to find out that her brother was turning into some kind of mutant, ghost-adjacent freak. Nobody needed to know.
Jack and Maddie watched their children. They were both drowning in guilt, and trying to pretend that everything was alright. They had deliberately decided to gloss over some of the more…distressing test results. The teens need reassurance and hope, not technical facts that may or may not change in the future. The kids didn't need to know. That was the hill they were standing on. Now everyone just had to hope that their secrets didn't come back to haunt them.
Two weeks later:
"Danny, honey, I got a call from the school today. Would you like to explain to me how you managed to get yourself banned from the chemistry lab?"
Danny blew out a huff of frustration and unceremoniously dropped his backpack on the floor. He stared at Maddie's boots for a good half minute before shutting his eyes and rubbing the back of his neck with his traitorous left hand. "Um…" The teen wasn't quite sure how to explain things to his mom. He finally decided to leave out the more disturbing details and see how she reacted to a partial truth. "I've been having trouble with my hands. They…they've been twitching and spasming, and I guess that's why I keep dropping things." That should satisfy her questioning.
Maddie looked at her son, and the anxiety written across his face. She decided to not push the issue. He would talk to her when he was ready. She did wonder if he was still having issues with intangibility in his hands; Jack's difficulty with that peculiarity had faded alongside his ecto-contamination. If Danny's hands actually were going intangible, then it was likely that his contamination levels hadn't dropped as they should have. That would be something to look at over the weekend.
Suddenly, Maddie became aware of the silence that had taken over the living room while she was lost in her thoughts. Danny hadn't spoken a word since his comment about twitching and muscle spasms. The red-head cleared her throat. "I'm sorry that you're having so much trouble, sweetie. Do you want me to make another appointment with Dr. Severn to see if there is anything that he can do?"
Danny jerked like he had been hit, his wide teal eyes screaming out his fear. "NO! No more doctors!"
Wait, teal eyes? Danny's eyes were blue. When had they changed colors? More importantly—why? Maddie looked more closely at her son. Now his eyes were blue again. Had she imagined the green tint mixed in with his normal coloration? She shook herself out of her thoughts and focused on calming her child.
"Ok, honey. I won't make you see someone right now if it bothers you that much. I've just been concerned because you got hit with a large amount of electricity during the accident. That can have long-term effects. If you keep having problems, though, we will have to revisit this, alright?"
Danny swallowed and nodded. He toed his backpack on the floor before finally meeting Maddie's eyes. "I'm sure that I'm gonna be ok, Mom. A few more weeks, and I bet I won't have any more problems…"
Maddie took a few steps forward and pulled Danny into a hug. He pressed his forehead into her chest; he was trembling. So was Maddie. "It's going to get better, sweetheart." She murmured into his hair. "I love you, honey."
Danny sniffed and wiped his eyes. "I love you too, Mom."
Maddie leaned backwards to see her child's face. "How about we order pizza for supper?"
That seemed to perk Danny up a bit. "That sounds amazing."
"You want the usual?"
The teen gave a genuine smile. "Yeah."
Maddie returned the grin. "I'll go order it now. We can have an early dinner. Sound good, kiddo?" She ruffled his hair.
Danny batted away her hand, all traces of fear gone from his perfectly blue eyes. "Moooom!"
Maddie poked him as she headed towards the phone. "Daaaannny!"
By the time the scientist had reached the kitchen door, all of the heaviness had left the room. She called and placed the order with a smile, thinking about how lucky she was to have Danny in her life. She refused to give ear to that small voice that reminded her she could have—should have—lost him during the portal accident. He was here now, and he would be fine. She'd do whatever it took to make sure of it.
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