Gravitational Phantoms

Chapter Twenty-Two

Here it is... the last chapter. But before I get all sappy on you guys, I have an important note for all of my fics: my phone is broken. This means that I cannot update nearly as much as I would like. Also, school is about to start for me, so I'll have less free time. But I am in no way abandoning my stories.

Dragonlings, thank you. For reading this story, for clicking on it, for commenting and voting and doing whatever with it. Thank you. You matter to me, and it really means a lot.

Well... on with the show.

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Danny woke up. He was in Mabel's bed again, with her multitude of stuffed animals all around him. Dipper and his sister were in the male twin's bed, both asleep. They were covered in dust and dirt, with bandages around their arms and heads.

The bedroom was still mostly in ruins, and one of the walls was still collapsed. The floor was covered in large splinters and chunks of wood, that seemed as if they could impale a monster truck.

The ghost boy squinted against the sunlight streaming in through the window. He tried to sit up, but his arm buckled under his weight and he flopped down with a yelp of pain. His entire body was on fire with pain, and it felt like some of his stitches had been ripped open.

"Ow," he whimpered softly, setting a hand on his chest for a moment before taking it away when the pain flared. "How long was I asleep?"

The Halfa said it quietly, because even though he wanted answers, he didn't want to wake up the twelve-year-olds in the bed across from him. But Danny still got a reply. 

"About two days," someone whispered. Danny turned to face the door. Wendy was standing there, with her outer shirt tied around her waist and her long, red hair in a ponytail. She held a finger to her lips. "Shh. Don't wake the kids."

She crossed the room and sat at the foot of Danny's (well, Mabel's really) bed. "How you feeling, Casper?"

"Casper?" Danny tilted his head and frowned. 

Wendy shrugged. "What? It fits, doesn't it?"

"I-I guess. Are the twins okay?" Danny asked nervously. Everything was kind of fuzzy.

"Yeah. A little banged up, and I think that Dipper has a cracked rib somewhere, but other than that they're fine." Wendy smiled and ruffled Danny's hair. She couldn't help but think of him as a little kid, even though he was closer to her age than he was to Dipper and Mabel's. "What about you?"

"Everything hurts," Dany said, lifting  one of his shoulders before dropping it when a cramping ache shot through it.

The girl chuckled. "Yeah, that's what happens when a psycho demon with a plan for world domination and no understanding of the human body tries to destroy town by possessing you."

Everything clicked back inside Danny's head, and he froze. He killed someone. He killed someone. He killed someone. He killed someone he killed someonehekilledsomeonehekilledsomeone ohgodohgodohgod.

"Whoa, whoa!" Wendy put her hands on her shoulders. "Danny, calm down. It's okay!"

The ghost boy couldn't breath, and the world was spinning. Wendy put her hand on his chin and made Danny look her directly in the eyes. "Danny. It's okay. Just breath, alright?"

Finally, the world shifted back into place. Danny's eyes filled with tears. "I killed someone, Wendy. I killed someone. How...?"

He clutched at his hair. He was no better than Dan, murdering people in cold blood. Maybe he hadn't been in full control of his actions, but he still made the deal that gave Bill his body. Technically, it was all his fault.

"No, Danny, you didn't. I wasn't there, but from what Dipper and Mabel said, it was all Bill's fault. It may have been your body, but that demon was the one controlling it," Wendy assured him. 

"Yes, it is," he whispered. "I'm the one who made the deal, and I've seen the future. I'm a murderer, Wendy. I'm evil, a freak of nature. A monster."

All of the things that the agents and Jack and Maddie drilled into his head came back, and Danny looked up. "The agents were right. I don't even deserve to live."

"Danny, don't you ever say that about yourself! I don't care what those people think about you, you're a good person." 

"Yeah!" The two teens looked over. Mabel and Dipper were sitting up, looking at them.

Wendy frowned. "How long have you two been awake?"

"Since Danny had his panic attack." Dipper shrugged. 

Mabel hopped off of her brothers bed. She walked across the room with a strange expression on her face, and Danny was worried that she was going to attack. Instead, she threw her arms around his neck.

"It's not your fault," she muttered into his neck. The sound was muffled. "None of us blame you."

Dipper nodded, and, to Danny's surprise, joined in of the hug. Mabel batted some puppy dog eyes at Wendy, and the redhead joined the embrace as well.

Danny ignored the pain that his entire body was in and curled up around the three people.

Okay, he thought. Maybe I can do this.

Several things happened as the aftermath of Bill Cipher's attack on Gravity Falls.

Stanley Pines was buried in the local cemetery. As promised, Dipper and Mabel gave him the largest tombstone that they could find.

Daniel James Phantom (he wasn't a Fenton anymore) became a permanent resident of Gravity Falls, living at the Mystery Shack and occasionally staying at the Corduroy residence. 

Dipper and Mabel Pines were sent back to Piedmont at the end of the summer, despite begging on behalf of both parties.

Soos moved up to Portland to spend more time with his girlfriend Melody.

Stanford Pines published a book about oddities and the paranormal, which garnered much surprise in the scientific field-especially when he easily produced evidence to back up his claims.

Pacifica Northwest was involved in a car crash with her parents when she was fifteen, and was left an orphan. She opened up her house as an orphanage for monsters and metahumans.

Danielle showed up a few months after, and suddenly Ford found himself with another mouth to feed.

Wendy Corduroy found a group of monsters and people willing to protect Gravity Falls, forming a kind of supernatural police force.

The GiW where shut down after it was revealed that they used inhumane tactics. The anonymous tipper could be traced to a small town in Oregon.

The Fentons were arrested for murder, assault, disorderly conduct, and a host of other charges.

Jasmine Fenton was buried beside Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley. Their graves are often visited by a pair of ghosts that glows white in a black jumpsuits.

Sometimes, the two are joined by a man in a trench coat. And once, they were accompanied by two kids.

But sometimes, you would swear that you could see a shadowy figure in a suit following the kids as they went about their business. 

Or maybe it was just a trick of the light.

Fin.