Doctor Dash

Chapter 12

Danny stretched his arms over his head as he leaned back in the chair at his desk. His gaze drifted to the clock on the bottom right corner of his computer and sighed when he read that it only noon. "I should probably eat something," he mumbled, realizing only then the gnawing sensation of hunger at his sides. After making sure to save his work before he closed out of his writing program, he stood to leave his office. Betty would kill him if he somehow lost his work and failed to meet the deadline for his next book. Sadly, it wouldn't be his first time having an entire book wiped from his computer, and Betty gave him a huge lecture afterward. Danny shook his head as he walked toward the kitchen. It was a total accident when it happened, and he was busy taking care of Lex, who was still a baby at the time, and somehow, the file simply vanished from his computer. He had to work like crazy to rewrite the entire novel from memory.

Sam wasn't pleased when that happened because Danny basically turned into a shut in, locked up in his office as he worked nearly nonstop on writing. Sam already returned to work at that point and was too busy with a project to stay home and watch over Lex until Danny finished. Luckily, they had their parents and Elle and Dan to babysit their son. Neither of them really felt all that comfortable with Dan being alone with their son at that point, but Danny admitted his evil future surprised him by taking good care of Lex.

Danny halted in the doorway to the kitchen as he lifted an eyebrow. "My house isn't an all you can eat buffet, you know," he said dryly before making his way to the refrigerator and grabbing a leftover tuna melt sandwich he made yesterday.

"Duh," Elle responded with a roll of blue eyes that matched his color exactly. "You're out of mayonnaise though." She wiped a glob of white from her lip then sucked it off her thumb.

Danny brought his sandwich over to the table and sat down to eat. "I thought you went back with Valerie."

"I did." Elle wiped her hands clean on a towel. "But she's busy with work, and I don't have to be back until tomorrow, so I decided to come back and hang out with you."

"Sorry but that's going to be a little boring." Danny took a bite from his sandwich and swallowed before continuing. "I'm trying to actually meet my deadline on time." He started to take another bite when he groaned. "I should start arranging for Lex's birthday party. I should probably give him invitations for the entire class." He frowned as he recalled the reason his son had to stay home for three days last week. He didn't want those two boys coming to the party, but he didn't want to appear rude by singling them out and not inviting them.

"I think Wulf was asking what would be an appropriate gift the other day," Elle said, tilting her head in thought.

Danny cringed. "Crap. I forgot they would want to throw him a party too."

"How could you forget?" Elle laughed as she stood and carried her plate over to the sink. "They only throw him a party every year. It's like a second Christmas truce. No fighting on Lex's birthday."

Danny polished off the rest of the tuna melt. He did know the ghosts liked to have a party for Lex, but it slipped his mind while he was busy with the move then the shock of running into Dash and Kwan. Getting to his feet, he walked over and joined Elle at the sink to wash the plate he used. Thinking about Dash reminded him of the sleepover, which in turn made him recall the movie with which Dash's son seemed to be obsessed. Danny sighed as he put the plates on the drying rack. So far since he moved here, he hadn't come across any ghostly activity, but he couldn't become complacent. He might be on friendly terms with some of his old foes now, but those ghosts were only a small percentage of what made up the entire Ghost Zone. If he had to resume his role as Phantom here, Danny wasn't sure he couldn't count on his old bullies to continue being too stupid to put two and two together. Danny Fenton moved to town and shortly after Danny Phantom made an appearance? He worried Dash would easily make the connection between them.