Work Text:
Funerals are supposed to be meant for grief for the dead to know they were mourned properly. Danny finally got his grave just not in the way he wished it. His parents were supportive, they were really trying to be but they never made him a grave. He knew they grieved, he could sense the tension was off in the house after he came out as Phantom to his parents. There was no point pushing the matter but Danny was tempted to explain it to them and he was getting real close to actually being able to explain to them but he was never able to.
He wasn't sure of what he was feeling, was it envy or despair. They could grieve him in private, he knew that they felt guilty and no man of apologizing was going to bring him back. But Danny was a conundrum, he wasn't supposed to be alive yet he had a living body that breathed and had a pulse. He shouldn't want to have a grave. He's still a breathing boy. He could still go to school and function like any normal human but something about having a grave felt right. No amount of passing a cemetery or a monument dedicated to a dead person quell that envy.
Emotions were a difficult concept for the Fenton's, Danny was no exception to that. It just turned out that out of both his parents and sister he was better at hiding it from public view. Not much changed after he died initially, if anything it just helped him act more since ghosts were empathetic, the problem was his family was full of apathetic people. So his wishes and desires went unnoticed because unlike him learning to read emotions and adapting to them, they couldn't see his pleas.
Fentons were always weird, his father was loud and energetic but it was almost empty. His mother was swift and steady to calm her husband but there was no bite to reprimand. Jazz smiles were hollow, they could be sweet but to Danny who actually knew his sister best he could just see her uncanny appearance. Not that they would ever talk about it though they had an option to be home school but neither of them took it so there was no reason to judge each other.
But to the outside they were pitch perfect expressions, they weren't perfect people of course people called the Fentons crazy but they all used emotions they didn't understand. Danny had a grip on it but he wasn't exactly sure what it was, he thought having a grave and fully feeling whatever that came with it could fix what he had. But what was the point of having a grave when there is no one to mourn you.
He should have seen it coming. If someone was destined to die there was no way to avoid it, it was coming whether he wanted it or not. Danny is only 16, on his birthday no less. The Nasty burger explosion was inevitable, it took his friends and family. Danny sat in front of their tombstones while some local priest would read a verse, Danny wasn't even sure why that man was there. His family wasn't even religious if anything the local churches hated them for several reasons then Danny saw a flash of a familiar red.
Vladimir Masters and all his cocky glory stared at Danny with not even an ounce of remorse or shame, Danny had the sneaking suspicion he was involved but he wasn't going to bother satisfying the old creep. Danny just sat on the grass while people walked past. They were mostly Jazz friends, Sam's family and Tucker's Family. He couldn't look at Sam's parents; he already knew they blamed him. Tucker's Parents were a bit less hurtful but they were still publicly grieving.
"Well little badger, you should come with me. You shouldn't stay in that home alone." Vlad's voice sounded like poisonous venom that didn't even wait to strike. Danny wasn't going to go with him, he already knew the risks and he wasn't going to let that be an outcome. The creep placed his hand on Danny's shoulder but he shook it off.
"No, he really shouldn't stay in that house. Hey space cadet, I'm taking you home." A voice he recognized but he couldn't believe she would even come. His aunt Alicia, she was different in a sense. She was nothing like his mother because she actually could express emotions and understand just well. His aunt didn't look sad though, normal people would be sad but she didn't look like she had shed a tear.
Vlad looked flabbergasted but Danny enjoyed the fact that Vlad must have forgotten that minors of family are supposed to go directly first before the care of strangers. He could be his "godfather" but his mother made sure that wasn't on any official paperwork. Danny walked over to his aunt to give her a quick hug before shooting Vlad a victorious smile. He wasn't even sure would come but she had, Danny remembered her saying that she wouldn't be able to take care of kids in passing. It was honestly a gamble.
Alicia had him in and out of Fentonworks in 2 hours. All his things were put into boxes in the back of her pickup truck and they were on the road in under 20 minutes. Handing over the keys to the government officials after Danny destroyed most of his parents' work was less nerve wrecking than he thought he should have. Danny had memorized the route a couple of times after visiting his aunt with his mother a few times but he was more confused when they didn't start heading south.
"Have you moved from Arkansas?" Danny didn't even bother pretending with her, she knew he was monotoned when not in front of an audience. Her face didn't really change much, she kept her neutral expression before speaking up.
"You know I can't take you in yet you called me anyway." Danny didn't understand what she was getting at, she didn't have to come but his mother was her sister so she had a right to know. Or was that not how that worked?
"She was your family too." That was all he said and he could see her face scrunch up. "You could have left me but you didn't, there was nothing stopping you from ditching me." Danny was fully aware of his aunt's hatred for his dad, she was always open and forwarded about it.
"It's because she was my sister. I am even taking you anywhere. I know that Master fella is a downright pervert and leaving you with him would have her haunting me for life. She will kick me once I make it to hell." She wasn't even wrong, Vlad literally brought the worst out of people and the last thing Danny needed was to be in his mansion alone and grieving. At least his aunt was aware of something that he and his mom always noticed but his dad failed to realize.
"So where are you taking me?"
"As much as I hated your old man, his family was solid for the most part. On top of the fact they are the only ones that could handle you without going insane, no offense." Alicia kept her eyes on the road ahead but Danny could see that she wasn't lying. His dad never mentioned having family, for the most part he had met his grandfather once but he took one look at Danny and started screaming at him to get out.
There was only a wonder to the type of people that his dad grew up with for their family to turn out the way it was. His dad never mentioned them so perhaps they kicked him out plus with his grandfather essentially hating both Danny and his dad there was definitely nothing good. The rest of the trip was quiet, they passed a few state signs along the way and Danny noted that he was going to be a long way away from everything he knew.
The east coast was one hell of a journey, Danny would have thought they were going to go forward east but as soon as his aunt took the turn off the highway into the town surrounded by woods it was clear. The fact that his dad was from New Jersey and just never mentioned it had Danny questioning less about his sanity and more about how he ended up living in Illinois of all places. Despite the endless debates Tucker used to have with Sam about the Garden state, there was definitely one thing the residents there didn't like. Outsiders and Travelers should stay away from locals if they aren't going to be polite within state limits. The never ending verbal war with New York was a prime example.
"Excuse me, do you know where this address is?" His aunt pulled over to pass an aged piece of paper to an officer. The officer looked at her before looking at Danny and her face changed. Danny couldn't swear he didn't look exactly like his dad but with people having either violent or negative reactions to him he must be. The officer gave them clear directions before wishing his aunt luck. She bit back a sigh before driving off.
"You know I will probably never see you again after this, yeah?" She said Alicia looked tired and Danny couldn't blame her. She was only doing this for his mom and they were never exactly close to start with.
"I wouldn't be here if I expected you to come back." She let out a painful dry laugh. Danny would literally take anyone else as long as it wasn't Vlad since he literally took everything from him. As if Danny would go crawling to him.
They managed to leave the town again until she turned down a narrow road. If Danny could have imagined it he would have assumed he somehow entered an old fashioned horror movie. Alicia's truck stuck out like a sore thumb being bright red. As they pulled up to what looked like a mansion, it was all black down to the curtains inside. The only source of color was the clear lights and candles. As they pulled in close the door opened to a tall woman who looked like she was picked from a black and white movie and a man definitely looked like Frankenstein.
"Alicia, it has been some time." She spoke elegantly but something about her screamed otherworldly.
"Morticia, I really wish I could say I was never going to come back here but I have to make do on my promises." Despite her smile, Alicia sounded extremely bitter. Morticia didn't give close to her but signaled to her zombie. He made his way to the back of Alicia's truck and she inched away from both him and Morticia. Danny wasn't exactly sure what he should have been doing at the moment, he just stood off to the side while staring at the zombie taking his things inside. Well that explains where his dad's obsession with the dead came from if this was where he grew up.
"Oh my, when she said she was bringing you. Tell me, what is your name, child?" Morticia came a lot closer, Danny was mildly shocked she could move around so quickly in the dress she was wearing.
"Danny. I hate being called Daniel." There was no way Alicia didn't fully name him Morticia though he wasn't exactly sure what their relationship was. "Who are you?" Morticia frowns a bit and turns to Alicia who just looked away while she was leaning on her truck door.
"Well my dear, I am Morticia Addams. Jack was my brother, you are my nephew though it seems we will have to catch you up on a few things." Morticia sounded genuine but her smile was strained. Danny simply nodded and grabbed his bag from the passenger seat.
All his things were unloaded so Alicia wasn't going to stay any longer than she needed to. Danny made his way to the porch and he only turned slightly to already see Alicia driving towards the gates. He sighed and took one step through the door, he could feel stares. The door closed behind him on its own and when he tried looking for who was staring a short girl stood in a black dress that was over a long sleeve shirt. She was clearly Morticia's daughter, she looked like was also cut out of black and white film. She raised an eyebrow and Danny slightly tilted his head.
From up the stairs loud footsteps didn't break their staring contest but a boy fell on his face while going down the stairs. The girl turned to look at him and crouched down to roll the kid on to his back. Danny didn't move any closer, watching both the girl and the boy have a conversation in whispers. The kid on the floor sat up quickly and started cheering, they seemed similar enough so they must be siblings. His sister picked his temple with a blank expression before getting up from her crouched position.
"I am Wednesday and this is Pudgy. Mother says that you will be living with us from now on. You are not that much older than me so I will not tolerate you trying to belittle me. Though I doubt you would, despite being estranged from the family for so long you have a sense of familiarity." Wednesday was just like her mother, she was very on point. At least talking to her would be a lot easier.
"I'm Danny. I am just a guest, you live here. I won't impose on anything, I just need to know where my room is." Wednesday eyebrows furrowed. Danny wasn't exactly sure what he did wrong, he thought he was clearly. Morticia came back to see Wednesday and Pudgy, she looked a bit disappointed. Well this was quick, he was going to be homeless now.
"Mother, I believe Danny has not realized that this is now his family home." Wednesday was frowned?! Danny was confused when Morticia looked offended and ushered him into what he could only assume was the dining room.
"Danny, what would you like to eat? Anything for your ghostly appetite." Morticia clapped once and a hand fell from the ceiling. It took Danny a second for him to register what exactly Morticia asked of him. That phrasing was specifically for him, she knew and let him into her house anyway. Then again there was currently a moving hand on the table in front of him so Danny honestly wasn't sure what to be confused off first. Well it was definitely the zombie butler he first saw first.
"I'm not picky, anything will do as long as it's not toast." Danny felt small, Wednesday slid a knife towards Danny.
"Uncle had told us about your vigorous battles against food. I don't believe you have any weapons on you so take this just in case. They have never come to life here but I believe you would rather be prepared." Wednesday simply nodded to the knife. His dad talked about him to them, when did he even have the time to do that? "After your meal I will be in the garden. Come find me."
The hand, which he later learned was named Thing, was an amazing chef. How exactly he was about to pull it off he wasn't sure but for once in Danny's undead afterlife he could eat food that didn't try attacking him and was actually good. Morticia seemed pleased and disappeared within Pudgy to tell the Ancients where. As soon as he was finished he was going to bring Thing his dishes but the limb got mad and shooed him out the back door. For just a simple hand he was very expressive.
The garden itself was filled to the brim with poisonous plants and ivy. Danny recognized a few of them from one of Sam's many rants. He never thought he would ever see any of them up close but there they were. Danny danced over a few of the vines that were clearly overgrowing and made his way through the garden until he heard the noises of someone shoveling. There was Wednesday with 3 holes and a mountain of dirt.
"Father and Grandmama should be back tomorrow so we can properly bury Uncle and his family in the Addams graveyard." Danny never realized that the family had their own graveyard but that actually checked out. The tombstones were different from the one at Amity Park, wait that meant they were grave robbing but not really? Danny wasn't exactly sure but it was definitely complicated. He wasn't going to question it, had he known about the Addams he would have just told the morgue to send them over. Not that the Fentons or Addams weren't clearly related but they all had a disregard for the law.
Wednesday pointed to a tombstone next to his sister. Danny walked over to it and crouched to read it, it was clearly older because it was tangled in vines. Danny looked at the stone before looking at Wednesday who furrowed her brows again. "I made sure it was maintained everyday, those pesky vines grow back every night." She sounded proud and bitter and Danny turned back to the block and pressed his forehead against it.
Danny felt light, almost too light. He had subconsciously transformed but he wasn't upset by it. He had his own grave, it was being managed and everything. He kept circling around it and touching it. Danny wasn't dreaming, this was his own grave and with his name. The one he loved, not the one he hated. He wasn't going to be forgotten and someone actually cared enough to make him one. Wednesday climbed out of her hole and stepped a bit away from the stone, he tilted his head and she simply pressed hand to the ground.
Wednesday being so far away from the grave, she was at the start. Danny went intangible underground and there it was, it was empty but it was his. They wasted, no they gave him a casket with his grave and did it correctly. He peeked above ground to see Morticia, Wednesday and Pudgy holding Black Roses. He had never seen them before but they looked lovely. Morticia put the roses on his grave, they were a gift to him.
"Welcome home, Danny."