Work Text:
Fenton slides into his seat silently, eyes wide and locked onto Mr. Lancer. The teacher doesn’t seem to notice Fenton slipping into class late, and Fenton is already leaning over to whisper to Foley and Manson. Isn’t anyone else paying attention? Wes clenches his fists under the desk. There’s no point in saying anything, and he doesn’t want another lecture about him ‘bullying’ Fenton.
Fenton isn’t even good at lying. It has always been obvious that he’s hiding something. Why is he always late to class? Why is he always missing during ghost attacks? If he’s so scared of ghosts, why did he lead the charge to rescue their parents from that twerpy pirate ghost? And didn’t he fall off the pirate ship, how did he survive- unless he could FLY, because he IS and ALWAYS HAS BEEN Phantom?!?
Why won’t anyone just listen? No, of course they won’t believe the truth. No matter how many times Wes says it, no matter what proof he offers, no one believes that Danny Fenton is Phantom. Fenton’s gone when ghosts attack? Well, he’s a coward, Paulina says. Fenton’s eyes reflect light like a cat? Wes is lying, or it’s a trick of the light, Dash says! It’s like they don’t even hear themselves! Perhaps a saner man would have given up by now, but Wes is no quitter. He’s going to show them all.
Wes slides down low in his booth at the Nasty Burger. It was so worth the run to get here before Fenton. Wes picked his spot carefully, and now Fenton and his friends are only feet away, in the next booth over. That’s their table, they always sit there. They didn’t see him as they were walking over, and Wes flicks his audio recorder on, just in case they slip up in a ‘private’ conversation. It’s not creepy. This is just practical.
“Do we really have to get into it now?” Fenton asks. He sounds tired. Jerk. He didn’t sprint here.
“So that’s it, you’re giving up?” Manson is furious. Of course, she’s always mad when she’s talking to Wes, but he assumed she was nicer to her friends. Apparently not.
“Sam, let it go. Can’t we talk about something else now?” Fenton says.
“I can’t believe you’re just accepting this. Don’t you care about-“
“Of course I care! You think I’m happy about this?! It feels weird. If I could fix it, I would. But my parents would notice…” Fenton trails off. There’s silence. Why isn’t anyone saying anything? Did they see him somehow? “The only way to really fix this would be to tell them everything, and I just can’t. Until we’ve figured out a way around the security system this is just how things have to be.”
That’s practically an admission! He doesn’t want to tell his parents he’s a ghost. Why couldn’t he have said it clearer? Wes can’t prove anything with this! Do they know he’s here? Are they talking around it to spite him?
Wait, is Fenton locked out of his house?
Never mind. Not important. Fenton can figure it out.
“There’s got to be something. We could break the security system.” Of course Manson’s idea is criminal sabotage. Although maybe helping her friend get into his house might be a worthy cause. From a certain perspective.
“They’d just fix it. Probably add more to it while they’re at it. And they’ll think a ghost is attacking the house if the system is busted.” Fenton seems resigned to his fate.
“Don’t they always think ghosts are after them anyway?” Foley is speaking up. Wes would really rather they went back to the incriminating stuff, but then Fenton never has cared about what Wes wants, has he? If he did, he would admit that Wes is right and stop letting everyone think he’s crazy.
“Yeah, but if we break the system now they’ll think it’s about me. And honestly, I don’t know if we even can break that. I don’t know where the controls are, its not hooked to the computer.” Fenton’s talking with his mouth full now. Gross. “Can we please drop this? Come on, how about we get together this weekend. Play video games or something, we haven’t had time to do that in a while.”
Fenton’s friends allow the topic change, and all their suggestions are just normal activities. Video games. Movies. Bowling. It doesn’t seem like code for anything. Wes doesn’t care about their weekend plans, but despite his hopes they never go back to the old topic. None of that conversation was direct enough, no one would accept it as solid proof that Fenton is Phantom, but he’ll play the conversation back later. He might have missed something.
The most recent coverup of Fenton’s is truly ingenious, Wes can’t deny that. Fenton isn’t missing classes anymore, but Phantom still shows up to every ghost fight. He has clearly figured out how to duplicate himself, like Kwan did when everyone had that ghost disease, and sends a duplicate to fight the ghosts. Or maybe the duplicate is the one sitting in class? It doesn’t really matter. There’s no way Fenton could be happy leaving all the ghost fighting to a duplicate. He’s got to do it himself after school, and all Wes needs to do is catch him in the act then. Wes knows his secret. Fenton doesn’t switch instantly from ghost to boy- the transformation takes a few seconds. Wes saw it once! He wasn’t fast enough to get a picture, but he’ll be ready next time.
Fenton and his friends are at the Nasty Burger once more. Truly, Amity Park's choices for hangout spots are dire. This place gets attacked by ghosts at least twice a month and everybody still comes because where else even is there? Alright, so there is a movie theater, and a pretty sweet mall, but they get attacked a lot too. Why do ghosts seem so interested in places people hang out instead of places that have things they'd want to steal? Like, why doesn't the Box Ghost attack a shipping warehouse instead of showing up at the school? Wait, no! Focus, Wes! Fenton is here. Odds are, Fenton will need to deal with a ghost soon. It hasn't happened in a few days, which is an unusual lull in ghost activity. Wes isn't quite close enough to hear the conversation at Fenton's table, but can he afford to stand up to try and get closer? Or will Fenton see him?
A guitar riff breaks the peace. Terrible news. If this is a ghost, it will be Ember. Wes always gets distracted when she attacks- except that one time with the pirate ship, for some reason? It's probably mind control- Wes remembers inexplicably coming home to having a poster of Ember in his room once, and Kyle insists that Wes got really into her music a while back. Wes remembers having a dream like that, once. Ember was new and super popular, and she was going to rule the world. Was that supposed to be real? Wes has listened to her CD, and it was grating. Wes grabs his camera anyway; odds are poor, but maybe he'll be lucky. The music is getting louder, and is that other people chanting? Wes walks over to the windows to get a better look and that is quite the crowd out there. Ember's singing is much easier to make out, why was he ever trying to listen to someone else? She needs his support!
...
When Wes comes to, the parking lot is a nightmare of smoking potholes. It's dark. His classmates seem disoriented around him. His camera is in his hands, apparently he's been taking pictures of a skeleton ghost drummer? There's some nice shots of Ember too, was she trying to give him good angles for these? Ooh, and there's one of Phantom decking Ember! Wes doesn't remember seeing any of that, but pictures don't lie. He scans the sky, but there's no sign of any ghosts. Searching the crowd, it seems like Fenton and his friends are already gone. Wes missed all the action! At least this is further evidence that Ember does use mind control, but Wes isn't focusing on her right now. The known ghosts can wait until Wes exposes Fenton.
Fenton is slippery. Wes has been following him around secretly for weeks now. And no, it’s not stalking, no matter what Kyle thinks. But Fenton never goes ghost when he's with his friends, these days. Wes has never caught him transforming, or making a duplicate, or anything. He does seem to use his ghost powers when he's alone, though. Sometimes Fenton ducks into a side street or slips into a closed room, and Wes always catches up too late. He rushes in, camera raised, but finds nothing, Fenton already flown away or invisible. But tonight is going to be different. Wes just got lucky, catching Fenton coming back into town from the woods. He must have been fighting a ghost out there, no other reason to be in the woods alone. Wes slinks along, tracking Fenton carefully through the shadowy streets. It’d be real convenient if his glowy eyes would show up. The moving shapes in the darkness are getting harder to distinguish, but Fenton still heads deeper into the alley. This could be it! Wes races around the corner. And Fenton screams.
“AAAHHH! Oh. Wes.” Fenton glares at him. “Why did you do that? You scared the life out of me.”
“Oh, ha ha. Very funny.” Wes can’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. Why does Fenton insist on these dumb jokes? He makes them both as Fenton and Phantom, and they’re the worst puns and jokes anyone has ever heard. “Why are you creeping around this time of night, Fenton? Looking for ghosts?” Wes probably shouldn’t be picking a fight, but Fenton is so annoying! Why was he just walking through here? Why wasn’t he transforming? Wes put in all this work following, he deserves a payoff! And what does Fenton give him? Bad jokes.
“Dude. I’m just going home. That’s it. My parents are the ghost hunters, not me.”
“Why would you even be out this way? Just admit it, you were fighting ghosts!”
“Wes, man, why do you always do this? I’m just minding my own business. Why are YOU out here?”
“Don’t you try and turn this on me!” Wes is not about to admit that he was out here looking for Fenton. He’d probably make a whole thing of it, try to make it weird, when this is just practical. People won’t stop thinking he’s crazy until he gets his proof. “Seriously, Fenton, you were just hanging out in the woods? Alone?”
“Fine. I was on a date. Can I leave now?”
A date. Like Wes is supposed to believe that. Where’s Manson? She would be heading home too, if it was a real date. But Fenton’s already walking away. Wes follows him back, but predictably Fenton is too suspicious to use his powers now. Wes follows Fenton all the way until the jerk goes into FentonWorks, just in case, but it’s a waste of time. He slips into his own house, thankful that Kyle remembered to leave the back door unlocked. His brother might not approve of ‘stalking’ Fenton, but he’s still helping him get away with breaking curfew. Maybe he’s a good guy sometimes.
The next day, there are rumors flying at school. Apparently, Star and Ashley heard Manson yelling at Fenton this morning, and the story is that she’s jealous because Fenton’s dating someone else. By lunch, Paulina is telling everyone that she always knew Fenton was gay, and isn’t it sad that Manson can’t support her friend? Manson is seething at the loser table and Foley’s sitting there silently, not making eye contact, but Fenton is conspicuously missing. Manson does look angry- but doesn’t she always look angry? This could still be a ploy, Fenton trying to defend his dumb lie about a date. But it would make more sense to ask Manson to be his fake girlfriend, not invent a new guy. No one seems to know who Fenton is supposedly dating, not even Paulina or Star. Everyone at school still believes it, though. Should Wes confront Fenton about this farce? Or would Fenton just make him look stupid?
Fenton still shows up to all his classes. He’s in a bad mood, scowling at everyone and not talking to his friends, but he’s not skipping. As soon as the bell rings, he’s up and storming out of class. Wes considers following him, but Manson and Foley are headed another way, arguing in hushed tones. Eavesdropping seems like the right course. Wes isn’t nosy, okay? This is just practical.
“Why didn’t you back me up? He might have listened if we were both together on this!” Manson is glaring at Foley, her voice basically a hiss. Are goths venomous? Wes looks away quickly so she won’t catch him listening.
“It is weird. I’m not saying it’s not weird! But friends don’t ruin friends’ relationships.” Foley is on the defensive, even though that opinion seems fair enough.
“Even if I did agree with that, and I don’t! But even if I did, this is different! You can’t actually think this is the same as if he was dating Valerie or someone like that. That would be bad enough, she’s dangerous, but this is just wrong.” Valerie is dangerous? No, focus Wes! Wonder about that later.
“It’s weird. I can’t say I like it. But it’s his life. He doesn’t need our permission, Sam. And they do have a lot in common.”
“They have a lot in common?! Do you even hear yourself?! This is disturbing! I can’t believe you don’t get that!”
“I do get that. And I’m saying it doesn’t matter. Danny’s going to date who he wants. I remember you and Danny telling me off for dating Valerie, and it sucked. I’m not going to do that to him. Yeah, he’s being really weird to me. But him dating is not about me. He’s happy. That’s the part we should focus on.” Foley seems to have found his rhythm now, he sounds more confident. Wes risks a glance over and Foley has a nasty scowl. The two of them always seem to butt heads when Fenton isn’t around to mediate. And oh, Manson is practically breathing fire.
“I can’t believe you. Someone needs to straighten this out. He would listen if we came to him together.”
“Or he would get mad and not sit with us at lunch. Oh wait. That’s already happened.” Foley huffs. “Listen, I don’t like it either Sam. But Danny’s my friend, and that’s more important to me. I mean, from what he's said, things are never going back to how they were before. So does it even matter?”
“Of course it matters! How can you just not care about this! He’s-” Silence. She’s cut off mid-sentence. The air is heavy, and Wes’s stomach drops. He looks over slowly, meager hope dying as the silence stretches. Manson is staring right at him. Her face twists in fury- and she was already angry before, honestly it’s impressive that she can feel any deeper rage. Perhaps a braver man would argue his innocence. Wes bolts down the hall and barrels through the door. He plays basketball, he can outrun Manson.
Fenton and Foley are sitting together at lunch the next day, and now it’s Manson that’s missing. Wes’s eavesdropping seems to suggest Fenton really is dating someone new. Fenton dating doesn’t have to mean he wasn’t lying about being on a date in the woods, though. Really, this changes nothing. If anything, doesn’t Wes have a duty to warn Fenton’s partner? He probably hasn’t told them that he’s a ghost. Despite this resolve, Wes can’t even begin to guess who Fenton is dating. His only clue is that they ‘have a lot in common’, and Manson seemed dubious about that. What does that even mean, anyway? They have the same hobbies? They tell the same awful puns? The easiest solution is still to get a picture or video of Fenton transforming. If he shows the whole school, news will inevitably reach Fenton’s mystery guy.
When school finally lets out, Fenton rushes out without his friends, just like yesterday. Wes tails him this time. The crowd of students jockeying to get out the door first makes it difficult to keep up, but Fenton isn’t trying to lose him or anything, probably hasn’t even noticed he’s being followed. Honestly, it’s a miracle Fenton has been able to hide this long with how oblivious he is. Fenton ducks into a classroom on the way to the door, and Wes has to shove past Ashley to get over there after him. He’s going to pay for that tomorrow, but he can’t afford to be late. Wes opens the classroom door… and nothing. The room is deserted. Fenton is already gone. Did he transform that fast? Can he use his powers as a human? Wes moves further into the room, but he already knows he won’t find anything. Is Fenton hiding under the teacher’s desk? No. Did he go for a daring escape out the windows? Of course not. Wes clenches his fists and forces the anger down. There’s always tomorrow.
Tomorrow doesn’t play out any different. Fenton ducks into a room, and Wes barges in to find it empty. The whole week is full of disappointment. Wes must be barely missing a transformation every single day. Fenton disappears from the school as soon as he possibly can. This should feel like an opportunity, but it is driving Wes mad with frustration. When he had to stalk Fenton to catch his chances, at least he was doing something productive some of the time. Now every day just feels like failure after failure.
Wes keeps expecting a blowout fight between Manson and Fenton, but it never comes. They glare, but there’s never any yelling. Foley still talks to both of them, so he’s probably trying to smooth things over. Wes doesn’t really care about that. Except… now Wes can’t get any leads on where to find Fenton. His friends won’t know, and Fenton leaves without a trace.
It’s a relief when Fenton walks out of the school with Foley and Manson again. He can follow them, find out what they’re doing, actually do something! In the end they’re just getting burgers, but he feels accomplished. Manson didn’t catch him this time! She’s terse with the boys, the friends are clearly all thinking about Fenton’s guy they can’t talk about, but it seems like they’re all trying to move past it. Manson still clearly disapproves of whoever he is. Foley doesn’t appear uncomfortable about it anymore, so he either got over it or is a better actor than Wes had pegged him for. No ghost attack, so no transformation, but Wes is getting back into the swing of things.
Following the friends isn’t giving Wes any leads. Fenton used to run off to deal with ghosts in the middle of outings, leaving his friends to cover for him, but he hasn’t been doing that for a while. Chances to follow Fenton alone are rare, now, and usually it turns out that he’s just heading home. So when Fenton says he’ll meet his friends at the Nasty Burger later and splits off on his own, Wes has to rein himself in before he blows everything with his excitement. This is his chance! Fenton is speedwalking towards the football field. There’s no practice today, so Fenton must think it’ll be clear to transform over that way. Wes readies his camera as he rushes after Fenton. Soon, everyone will know the truth. Fenton ducks behind the bleachers. Wes sprints the last few feet, camera raised in triumph!
He freezes in shock, horror washing over him. Fenton is tucked in close against Phantom, one hand on the ghost’s chest, the other in his hair. Phantom’s got a hand cupping Fenton’s hip. They're standing so close together, and oh that's kissing, and oh god that's tongue! There’s… noises! Is this hell? What has Wes done to deserve this? He takes a shaky step back, but he can’t bring himself to look away. He doesn’t want to see this. He should just turn around. God, they’re still going, oblivious to their unwilling voyeur. Wes stumbles away, transfixed against his will. Maybe… maybe Kyle was right about stalking.
Later that night, Wes considers all the information he’s collected in the past. Most of his evidence is circumstantial, it’s why no one has ever believed him before. Could he have been wrong? Is Fenton just a normal loser? But then, what about that time Wes saw Fenton transform? He doesn’t have any proof, but he knows he wasn’t mistaken. What else could that even be? If Fenton can duplicate to fight ghosts and attend class, he could also duplicate to kiss himself. It’s a great cover. No one would suspect Fenton of being Phantom if he’s dating Phantom. But then why not be more public about the relationship? Or, well actually Fenton’s parents would freak out if they thought their son was dating a ghost, so that’s got to be why not. Is he taunting Wes? Is that what this is?
But then, why was Manson so angry about the ruse? Usually she’d be in on it, helping Fenton trick everyone. She didn’t talk to Fenton for two weeks after he started ‘dating’, and Wes doesn’t think the talk he overheard with her and Foley was staged. Fenton is actually dating someone. Someone he ‘has a lot in common’ with.
Did he… did Fenton duplicate permanently? Is that a thing ghosts can do? When? Why? And now they're dating...? There’s only one way to find out what’s going on, isn’t there. Wes is going to have to dig deeper.