Danny Phantom Fan Fiction ❯ Width of A Thread ❯ Crazy ( Epilogue )

“This is the closest thing to crazy I have ever been
Feeling twenty-two, acting seventeen,
This is the nearest thing to crazy I have ever known,
I was never crazy on my own...
And now I know that there's a link between the two,
Being close to craziness and being close to you.”

 

-Closest thing to Crazy

Written and sung by Katie Melua
Published by Melua Music Ltd / Sony / ATV Music Publishing UK) Ltd
From the album 'Piece By Piece'

 

 

 

Danny walked into the office, looking not at all rested and wearing the same rumpled cloths he had at the party. Arms crossed over his stomach he plopped down into a chair beside his boss's desk and stared out the huge window, ignoring the three guests in the seats across from him.

 

“Good morning Daniel.” Judge Baxter said coldly. Dash just glowered at him while his father flexed his hands.

 

“Now that we're all here, we can get down to business.” Danny's boss smiled sweetly at them all. “I know you have received the pictures by now, otherwise well, you wouldn't look ready to slaughter the two of us like you do.” He laughed as if it was all some funny prank.

 

In Danny's experience pranks were rarely ever funny.

 

“What do you want?” Mr. Baxter snarled.

 

“I understand you have a little pile of papers on me.”

 

“We were building a case, yes.” Danny's head shot up and he looked at them in surprise. Dash's lip curled in rage. “Is that all this is about? Consider it gone then, you can come by and destroy the copies yourself if you want.” Judge Baxter hadn't lost her cool at all, and Danny wondered where that bubbly woman he met last night went.

 

“Yes, well sorry to say that's not all.”

 

“What the hell more could you possibly want?!” Mr. Baxter snapped. “We don't have anything else on you, it was all between Dash and my wife, and you've effectively tied them both.”

 

“Dash?” Danny practically whined the question.

 

“I wanted to help you Fenton.” Dash grit. “But it's too late for that now.”

 

Danny let his head fall towards his chest. He really was so stupid. There had to have been a real threat if he had wanted a judge in his back pocket. And Dash's mom? He should have connected the dots long before the stupid party.

 

“I guess.” He said softly.

 

“Now now, there can't be any bad feelings between us here,” he placed a hand on Danny's shoulder and squeezed. “After all we're going to be working together.”

 

“Bullshit.”

 

“Honey.” The judge held up her hand. “Very well. It will be difficult should something actually end up in my courtroom, but I'll help you out with whatever I can on the legal end of things.” She nodded. “You keep the evidence down and nobody should make any of the connections we had. It was… a very interesting case to say the least. Pity the system will never see it.”

 

“A sensible woman.” He smiled pleasantly and rose from his desk to shake her hand. “I understand the boys and you have some things to discuss, and if Danny were anybody else I would worry about leaving him in here alone with you.” He turned that smile to a shocked Danny. “But after last night I think we all know he can handle himself.” And he was out the door, whistling merrily. “Lock up when you leave ghosty!” He called.

 

Danny just sat there while the others glared at him.

 

“So what exactly does he have on you Daniel?” Mr. Baxter asked harshly.

 

Danny looked up at them through red rimmed eyes, the dark blotches beneath them a testament to the nights of sleeplessness he had since the day his secret had been exposed. “Something very, very bad.”

 

Dash snorted. “To you maybe.”

 

“And you think what he has on you lot is worse Dash?” Danny snapped. “What, you're afraid everybody will think you're gay? Big deal.”

 

“Now listen you.” Dash's father began but Danny interrupted.

 

“No you listen, all of you listen.” He growled. “If my secret is exposed I'm dead. Not harassed, not discredited, dead. Dee Ee Aye Dee, DEAD. Do you know what it's like to fear for your life?” He stared wide-eyed at them through his bangs. “No matter what I've done, or who would defend me, I'm dead. The Government could say they protect me and there would still be some nut job scientist out to kidnap me and cut me apart.” He raked his hands through his disheveled hair. “I'm dead, sooner or later I'm going to mess up and he'll expose me and I'll be dead.” He shook his head, fisting his hair and trembling, just repeating the word over and over. `dead.'

 

“So you say.” Judge Baxter spoke. “But would this terrible secret be believed?”

 

Danny looked up at her confused. Dash turned to her, cocking his head. “Mom, you don't even know what it is.”

 

“But you do, don't you Dash?” his mother nailed him with an icy look. “You seem to know everything, quite a change from your regular casting in things.” Dash opened his mouth but nothing came out.

 

“Dear?” Mr. Baxter probed.

 

“I'm thinking you're problem isn't as big as you think it is.” She held up a hand when Danny protested and charged ahead, knowing a single hand wouldn't prevent a distraught teen from interrupting. “I'm sure since you know that it's true it seems huge.” She paused, considering her words. “But you see, not everybody knows it's the truth.”

 

“But it is true.” Dash said. And his mother nodded.

 

“Well then, can you maybe tell me this big secret?” she asked

 

“You wouldn't be—” Danny halted and stared at the judge. “You wouldn't believe us…”

 

“I thought as much.” She smiled.

 

Danny looked ready to hyperventilate and Dash, forgetting his injustice, hurried to his side. “No one would believe him.” He said. “Why didn't I see it, oh god it's so obvious.”

 

“Because you know it's true.” Mrs. Baxter said, standing. “And when you know it's the truth, you start to think everybody knows the truth. It's a paranoia many guilty criminals suffer from.”

 

“But I..He! Oh god Dash I'm so sorry I..it wasn't supposed to..oh man.” Danny couldn't get the words out, he just couldn't say it.

 

“It's okay.” Dash sighed, even though it wasn't. “You had to get back at me for all these years somehow.”

 

“Dash..” Danny put his arms around the bulky teen. “I'm sorry.”

 

“Yes, yes, well let's get going then. I really don't like this office and the sooner we're gone the sooner I can see the city from the ground floor.” Mrs. Baxter smiled.

 

“But mom, you said you…mom you work for him now. The pictures.” Dash stood with Danny, arm around the boy's shoulders to steady him.

 

“Yes yes, the pictures.” She pulled an envelope out of her jacket pocket. “Nice quality, really.” She smirked, dumping the little rectangles into her hand. “You want to see them Danny? Nice ones of you.” She chuckled at the redness of both boys faces. “So my son's gay, so what, worst thing for me in this town is to have a bunch of homo-hate crimes end up in my courtroom. And hey, who doesn't like business?” She laughed at her own bad joke.

 

“But honey?!” Mr. Baxter protested.

 

“Oh sweetie, he would have had to come out sooner or later, I mean we've know about it for forever.”

 

“What?!” Dash tensed. “What do you mean? I'm not gay; this was all a big mistake, that's all.”

 

“Right, Dashiel. Romance channel? Teddy bears?” His father put his hands on his hip. “You have a Chihuahua. Named Pooky.”

 

Danny let out a whoop that turned into a cough when Dash hit him. “Shut up Fenton, this is all your fault.”

 

“It is.” Danny said with a strained smile.

 

“Well, I guess this is all the evidence he has to hold the two of you.” She handed the copies to Danny, who blushed when he saw the top one was of a very arousing kiss, and Dash was grabbing his ass, whoa boy so it wasn't just when he had Dash doped up. “It's really up to you two boys what to do, is this secret as important as the other one?”

 

Danny looked up at Dash, who was also red, and looking pained. Dash had to think about his reputation, of course and since Danny got him into this he would go with his decision.

 

Dash smiled tightly and shook his head. “It's not.” He answered.

 

“Nowhere near.” Danny agreed.

 

“Well then, he can publish these all he wants,” Mr. Baxter declared. “And considering you both are under 18 and in private, he'll simply wind up looking like a pervert.”

 

“Child porn charges?” Mrs. Fenton suggested.

 

“We aren't that young.” Dash protested and his mom shrugged. Dash took the pictures from Danny and leafed through them. “These are good.” He laughed at Danny's elbow jab, removing a single picture. Moving his arm from around Danny's shoulders to around his waist he threw the pictures up in the air and steered him out the door with his parents, tucking it into his back pocket before Danny could see which one he chose. “I'll keep this one.”

 

Danny shrugged, stepping on one of the pictures as they left. He would see them all soon enough, and hopefully his boss never again.

 

 

-

 

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