A/N REGARDING CHANGE FROM COMPLETE TO IN-PROGRESS: As of January 20, 2018, this story is no longer complete but in progress because I found inspiration for a sequel. There haven't been any specific requests or suggestions, but this story has been well-received and thus worthy of more attention. So, while this story is still 'complete' in that the posted text can be read and enjoyed as an independent oneshot, I am now developing a part 2 to make it a twoshot.

A/N as of May 21, 2020: Overhauled for clarity, diction, phrasing...basically everything I've learned from writing fanfiction for a couple years now. Part two has been almost entirely drafted, but it needs some serious help before it's publishable.

Hello everybody!

I've always wondered what goes through Jazz's mind when she has to play dumb about Danny's secret identity until she finally tells him she knows in TUE. This fic idea started off as a short few paragraphs of introspection on Jazz's part, and then I got the idea that she witnesses a fight as a way to give it a bit more substance. And THEN I wondered what would happen after he comes home injured from said fight.

So here you go. I still need a beta, so this is unbeta'd, but I think I caught any grammatical errors and continuity issues myself. I am usually my friends' go-to Grammar Nazi. But, you know what they say about a second pair of eyes, so I would happily update the story if some gracious reader goes through and finds some errors I might have missed. Or if the story is sort of rubbish and needs revamping.

Enjoy some sibling bonding!

General notes:

"This is speech."

'This is thought.'

This and THIS and *this* are emphasis. *This* sort of emphasis is more along the lines of the snide, like the sort of thing you'd say with sarcastic jazz hands or over-emphatic air quotes.

Customary disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

Originally posted: November 12, 2017

CHARADE

It was a dark and stormy night.

Jazz knew how much of a cliché the setting was, but hey, she didn't have control over reality. These things just happen in a haunted town like Amity Park.

Everything had been proceeding as normally as they could at the Fenton household. Dinner had been rushed but uneventful, Jack and Maddie were busy working on something in the lab, and the drone of the rain outside meshed with the hum of the dishwasher. A few scattered table lamps gave a soft warm glow to most rooms of the house, pairing with the white noise to give Fenton Works a rare aura of mid-winter serenity.

As far as their parents knew, Danny was "doing homework." (About 15 minutes prior, Jazz had heard the quiet rustling of class notes, a sudden frantic gasp, a not-as-quiet-as-it-could-have-been shout of "going ghost," and subsequent silence.) Jazz actually was doing homework while glimpsing out her window ever so often to monitor the ghost fight over the distant park. It was rather difficult to see through a mile of pouring rain, but the glowing beings and bright pink and green ectoblasts were hard to miss. At least Jazz had thought to silence the ghost alarms after Danny left so he wouldn't be distracted by their parents' typically anti-Phantom interference.

After another five minutes, Jazz sighed and put down her pencil. It was usually at times like this that she wondered why she kept up the charade. She'd known for a few months that her clumsy, awkward, "slacker" brother Danny was secretly the town's confident, cocky, elusive hero Danny Phantom.

Of course, Danny didn't know she knew; Jazz had feigned ignorance since the Spirit Week incident. Jazz figured it was easier for him if she didn't know. After all, she'd be one more person to have to worry about even more as a target for his enemies.

Not to say she hadn't already made the "tactful kidnapping victim" list for most of the ghost boy's enemies already, but it would be even worse if they knew she knew who he was. The villain's threat to manipulate Danny Phantom into compliance would immediately jump from exposing his secret to Jazz to far higher stakes. Jazz's life could be on the line if the ghost was serious enough.

So, Jazz kept silent, and she was not oblivious to his other motivations to keep it under wraps. From what Jazz had overheard during Sam, Tucker, and Danny's "secret" conversations, Danny assumed Jazz would "psychoanalyze the crap out of him" and drive Danny crazy. That thought always brought a small smile to Jazz's lips; even she could admit that her interest in psychology sometimes blinded her to how the people around her responded to Jazz's "helpful" "insight."

Most of all, though, Danny hated being called a freak because he hated being what he thought was a freak (a half-ghost) and didn't want Jazz to think he was any weirder than he thought she already did. It would completely avoid any potential rejection, because one can't be rejected if one never puts oneself out there, right?

Little did Danny know that Jazz couldn't be prouder. Instead of hiding or ignoring his *unique* biology, Danny used his situation to protect the people of their obscure Midwestern city. His grades were tanking as he took daily beatings regardless of the fact that almost no one trusted him; never mind the fact that his own parents unwittingly hunted him down whenever he showed his ghost half's face anywhere near them.

This was the basis of Jazz's charade. She wanted so badly for Danny to know that someone close to him knew what he really was and thought he was great. For now, however, Jazz would have to keep up appearances for Danny's peace of mind.

At minute twenty-five, the firefight suddenly paused. The dueling ghosts had come within ten blocks or so of Fenton Works, close enough that she could see what was happening with a pair of binoculars; so, that's exactly what Jazz withdrew from her bottom desk drawer.

Danny and the other ghost were just floating there a few feet from each other. The other ghost gripped Danny's right wrist in his own black-gloved hand. Jazz knew that ghost; it was the "lame vampire wannabe" her parents had ranted about on their way back from the reunion at Mr. Master's house. He was one of the few who didn't shout out his plans or even his name during his fights, so Jack and Maddie only referred to him as "the Wisconsin Ghost."

From this distance, Jazz obviously couldn't hear what they were saying, nor could she read their lips easily with all the rain. But, the clenched teeth and animated gestures along with Danny's repeated attempts to pull free were enough to tell her it was not a friendly chat. Of the two of them, Danny definitely looked the most worse for wear with his wildly tousled hair and slightly torn jumpsuit.

Suddenly, pink electrical energy flowed through the Wisconsin Ghost's arm (He needed a name. Ghost W, perhaps?) and surrounded Danny's body as the two hovered just above their neighborhood's brownstones' roofline. Jazz gasped worriedly as Danny spastically flailed and inaudibly screamed in pain. After a few moments the electricity stopped, and her poor brother's body steamed in the rain.

Ghost W raised his arm so Danny could look him directly in the eyes as he hung there helplessly. Despite the pain, Danny's was painted with an indefatigable defiance that so perfectly characterized her brother's secret identity.

W spoke with a menacing grin and waved his free arm around in the air in a Vanna White-like gesture. Was he making Danny an offer or something? Whatever it was, Danny gave a determined smile and slowly shook his head, twirling his left index finger in circles next to his temple in the universal hand signal for craziness.

Ghost W's grin fell into an enraged scowl. He pulled what looked like a terrifying taser out of his pocket and jammed it into Danny's side. Once more Danny spasmed under the shock. All in one instant, W pulled back the taser and released the boy from his grasp. Danny started to plummet from the air as his transformation rings quickly washed over him. He fell behind one of the homes into an alley out of Jazz's view.

"A fall from that height could kill him!" Jazz hissed aloud as she momentarily dropped the binoculars. She quickly refocused in time to see Ghost W disappear in a pink swirl of energy. A metal trash can lid rolled out into the street from the alley where Danny had dropped.

'Well, at least some bins cushioned his fall…' Jazz stood at her window for what felt like an eternity, waiting for her brother to show any signs of life. "Come on, Danny, you can do it, you'll be okay, just come out of that alley…" she encouraged under her breath.

Finally, a shadowed form limped around the corner of the building using the wall for support. A flash of lightning illuminated the street and confirmed it was her brother clutching one hand high on his side while he caught his breath.

'Bruised ribs from the drop, maybe…'

As the cherry on top, Danny had no coat on since he'd left straight from his homework session. Danny slowly started to limp home, but he had at least five minutes at this rate and would be completely soaked by the time he got home.

Jazz checked her alarm clock. It was now 9:46pm, but the Fenton parents would be in the basement for another hour at least, a fact both Jazz and Danny knew from having individually kept tabs on Jack and Maddie's behavioral patterns since the portal had started working last September. So, that meant he'd try the front door.

But the front door was locked, so he'd have to knock if he didn't bring his keys…

Jazz shoved her binoculars back into the drawer, sped down the hall to Danny's room and opened his door. Sure enough, his house keys were sitting next to his wallet on top of his dresser. After a quick roll of the eyes, Jazz closed the door, curtly nodded to herself, and strode determinedly back to her room.

'I may not be able to offer direct support, but I'll be darned if I can't give our superhero a little love and kindness.'

After putting on a pair of slippers, Jazz took her ultra-soft microfiber throw blanket from her bed, collected a couple towels from the hall linen closet, and headed for the stairs. She suspected Danny would be able to just phase off the water since she had come home to a suspiciously neat puddle just inside the front door on countless rainy days. But, for the charade, Danny would have to stay wet and miserable, and she couldn't have that.

Four minutes and counting.

Jazz paused and went back to her room to grab some extra first aid supplies from her secret stash at the back of her closet. Her arms full, Jazz went downstairs to the living room and hid the towels under the blanket on the sofa. She then went to the kitchen and arranged her extra first aid supplies in the kitchen's kit above the fridge.

Three minutes and counting.

Jazz then got out the electric kettle and turned it on after filling it with water. One moderately quick search through the pantry later, Jazz had found the hot cocoa mix and Tupperware of her mother's latest batch of fudge. Yeah, Danny wasn't Jack and not completely obsessed with the stuff; but, Danny is his father's son, after all, so fudge should do the trick.

Two minutes and counting.

Jazz stole away to the living room and very slowly pulled back one of the curtains in the front window to gauge her brother's progress without drawing attention from outside. He was only a block away but looking more miserable and pained with every passing second. Jazz cursed the charade once more as she wondered why he didn't just fly back; faulty powers were her best guess.

Jazz retreated from the window and, with a quick glance to make sure the blanket and hidden towels were laid innocuously on the couch, headed back to the kitchen. 'Should I unlock the door so he can slip in and then I notice him, or should I leave it locked so he has to knock? He clearly isn't using his powers, so he can't sneak in.

'But then, will he even knock? The doorbell would alert Mom and Dad. Maybe if I make it obvious that I'm downstairs and in earshot of the door, I can influence him into knocking and not trying to break in.

'I wonder what his story will be?'

One minute and counting.

The roar of the almost-boiled kettle confirmed that everything was on schedule. After grabbing a couple mugs and plates from the cupboard, Jazz went back to the window and made a show of opening the curtain and observing the storm outside, very pointedly not looking in the direction of the sidewalk where her brother was sure to be. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him frozen at the bottom of the front steps.

She went back in the kitchen and stood at the doorway listening for her brother's soft knock to sound. Jazz knew she wasn't the greatest actress, and Lord knew neither was Danny, but she would do it for his sake.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Jazz heard a quiet knock. She counted three seconds and then walked to the door to thrust it open.

Jazz gasped almost theatrically loudly. Danny looked even worse than she had imagined. His shirt had some obvious blood (and subtle ectoplasm) stains on it; his face, scratched and bruising; his breathing, clearly labored. All of Danny's clothes were soaked completely through, and his arms were wrapped around his torso as he shivered violently. Completing the image, Danny was hunched over and looking up at Jazz with the most pitiful expression she had ever seen him wear.

"Danny?!" she exclaimed with a bit too much surprise. "I thought you were studying upstairs! What are you doing out here?! Get inside at once!" She stepped aside so he could limp slowly into the tiled foyer. After closing the door, Jazz continued, "Go on into the kitchen. I was just making some hot cocoa. I'll get some towels or something."

"Thanks, Jazz, but I'll just-"

"Danny," she interrupted. Jazz did her best to mimic the no-nonsense expression Sam had seemed to have perfected ages ago.

"Fine." Danny forced himself to move but released a short gasp of pain at the movement.

Jazz did her best to ignore it and grabbed the towels and blanket from the couch. Upon reentering the kitchen, she found Danny scowling at the mugs on the kitchen table. "Were—were you expecting me?" he asked.

"Uhhh, whaaat? No, I-" Jazz felt her façade crack momentarily but quickly regained her composure as she handed over the towels and draped the blanket over the back of his chair. "I just, uh, couldn't decide which mug I wanted so I just got both out."

"And two plates?" he added with a quirked eyebrow.

"Um, uh, I must have gotten the second out by accident?" She poured the hot water and cocoa mix, opened the fudge, and got the first aid kit from the cabinet. "So," she continued, rifling through the kit, "What were you doing out there anyways?"

"I was, uh, going for a walk. Needed a study break." He smiled as innocently as his bruised ribcage would allow.

"In the pouring rain?" Jazz asked, her voice failing to hide strong disbelief.

"…Yes." It took everything inside Jazz to not cut short the act then and there.

'Well, let's see how he explains the injuries. He's clearly in so much pain, maybe I'll have to help him out with a story…' "And what happened then? You look like you were hit by a bus."

"I was, uh—" Jazz could see the wheels turning, or rather, spinning freely in a muddy bog. Her gaze fell onto a particular item on the table and got an idea.

"Oh my gosh, were you mugged?"

"Mugged?" Danny asked. He looked at Jazz's expectant expression, her head almost nodding for him to just go ahead and agree. "Yeah…mugged. Heh heh. Just my luck, huh?"

"Oh you poor, sweet, innocent little child! Did they get away?" Jazz asked while opening the antiseptic. She pretended not to notice the rapid rate at which the scratches on his face were healing even before her very eyes.

"Yeah, the jerk…" Danny moaned.

"Oh, so it was only one guy?"

"OW!" he yelped when the alcohol made contact with his skin.

Jazz rolled her eyes. 'I just saw you get dropped from four stories above the ground, and a tiny bit of antiseptic makes you freak? I sure hope this is the weak-and-defenseless-Fenton part of the charade.'

"Yeah, it was actually *shocking* how powerful he was." He chuckled silently to himself at the bad pun. Jazz successfully stifled her own reaction to the inside joke since she wasn't supposed to know.

"I'll say. You sure took a beating. But why aren't you wearing a jacket?"

"Mugger took it."

"Ah. And your house keys…did the muggers take those too?"

"No, I forgot them at home," he said, criticizing himself with an additional muttered 'stupid.'

"Well, if I were you, I'd always keep them in my pocket. That way, if I ever went out for a, uh, sudden walk, I wouldn't get stuck out of the house if the doors were locked and there were no *alternative* means of entry. Especially if I'd been hurt."

"Good idea…" A small hint of suspicion colored his response.

After a few minutes of silent diligence, Danny was somewhat dry and patched up. Jazz poured more hot cocoa. Her brother retreated under the throw blanket after stripping and tossing his wet clothes onto the foot of the stairs to take up later.

Now that Danny was home safe and sound, and a feigned cover story secured the continuity of his double life, Jazz couldn't suppress the urge every sibling feels when presented with the opportunity to screw with their brother or sister. "I'm glad it was just a mugger, though. There was a huge ghost fight while you were out."

Danny's mug froze halfway to his mouth as he stared down his sister.

"Looks like that kid 'Inviso-Bill' got a pummeling too."

Danny scoffed. "Uh, his name's Phantom, Jazz. DANNY. PHANTOM. Why can't anyone get it right after I- I mean, he has corrected the public so many times?!"

"I dunno, Inviso-Bill is a clever pun. Maybe that should be his name…" Jazz couldn't help but have the slightest hint of a smirk at Danny's indignant face. 'Too easy.'

"It has to be the stupidest superhero name I've ever heard," Danny deadpanned.

"What, stupider that Danny Phantom?" Jazz asked with fake incredulity. "How unoriginal. His name is literally what he is. Basically Danny Ghost. Maybe I should change my name to Jazz Human?" Jazz rolled her eyes again as she took a bite of fudge, fully enjoying messing with her oblivious brother. He fumed and took an angry sip of hot cocoa which seemed to cool off his temper and bring about a bit of introspection.

"Well, what if his name has a meaning behind it?" Danny challenged, eyes locking with his sister's.

Jazz temporarily dropped all intentions of teasing Danny when she saw the prospect of finally getting to psychoanalyze her brother.

"There is a difference between 'ghost' and 'phantom,' " her brother continued. "A ghost is just dead. I read in the dictionary that phantoms have purpose," he said softly, avoiding making eye contact. "Or at least, they're supposed to." With a blush, Danny cut himself off before his musings got too incriminating.

Jazz felt a small twinge of pain at his apparent lack of belief in himself, but she saw an opening to offer direct support without admitting to it. "I don't know, I think *Phantom* has plenty of purpose. He's like the Superman to Amity Park's Metropolis," she said, invoking the name of one of Danny's favorite superheroes.

Danny perked up, though mostly in disbelief. "W-what?" he stuttered. "I thought everyone in this town hates Phantom and all other ghosts. Everyone loves Superman."

"Well, some ghosts, yeah," Jazz said nonchalantly. "But that Phantom kid only ever fights to protect the town. I can tell he's the good guy just from how many times he's stuck out his own neck, just to save all the people that don't like or trust him normally. It's such a noble thing to do, and I don't care if he's alive, dead, or somewhere in between. This town doesn't deserve Danny Phantom."

Danny gaped.

"Heck, I even owe my own life to him, but I never get a chance to talk to him to let him know. I just hope I get to thank him properly one day…" Jazz added wistfully, staring off into the middle distance.

Danny looked like he was on the edge of appreciative tears, an expression which truly broke Jazz's heart. The only support he got was from Sam and Tucker, and yes, they were fantastic support for him; however, Jazz was a 'neutral voice' in his eyes since she allegedly didn't know he and Phantom were one and the same. For Danny, she was his sounding board for the community.

Danny's expression lingered for a few moments, until apparent realization crossed his visage which immediately gave way to disgust. "Oh, gross."

"What?" Jazz asked, this time actually not knowing what he was thinking.

"You—you don't have a…crush on Phantom…do you?" He winced in anticipation of the answer.

This time it was Jazz's turn to contort her face with disgust as she realized the implied accidental incest. "Oh, oh, EW! THAT'S disgusting!" she shivered. "No no no, I just meant he's so hard to pin down as soon as a fight's over so I've never been able to say thanks." Another gleam of mirth appeared after she regained her composure. "Besides, I couldn't ever have romantic feelings for him. I think of him too much as more of a…little brother."

Jazz silently wished for a video camera to capture how quickly Danny paled under her momentary, knowing smirk.

"But," she continued, breaking the tension, "until he decides to start showing his face around town for more than just the ghost fights, I'm stuck cheering my little superhero on from the sidelines. Anyway, what do you think of him?" She took another square of fudge.

Danny sat there eyeing his mug while twiddling the handle with his uninjured left hand. Eventually, he spoke without much confidence. "I sometimes wonder how much I like him. Yeah, he fights for the greater good or whatever, but he sure seems to blow it sometimes. That Red Huntress' grudge against him, and all the property damage… Look at how much the construction industry—or I guess, re-construction industry—has boomed since he started showing up. All because he isn't good enough to stop the ghosts in time."

"Some people would call that 'economic stimulus,' " Jazz corrected with a smile. "And I don't blame the damage on him. It's not his fault he's being thrown all over the place. If it weren't him, it would be much less invincible citizens getting hurt."

Danny smiled. "I guess I think he's misunderstood. Being half-dead doesn't automatically make you evil." He was clearly feeling safe in this conversation about not himself and let quite an incriminating fact slip.

A fact which Jazz couldn't help but roll with to lighten the mood. "Half-dead?" she clarified.

Danny's immediate anxiety was comical to his occasionally mischievous older sister. "Did I say half-dead? I meant full dead. Like, totally dead. Slip of the tongue. He just seems so human sometimes…" Danny bit his lip as he gave off more information than he intended.

'At least I already know,' Jazz drawled mentally. "What about those robberies? Or the mayor thing? You don't think that makes him 'evil?' "

Danny sighed in exasperation. "Again with the mayor and robbery things. Doesn't anybody ever look at the eyes?" he asked no one in particular but elaborated when he saw Jazz's confusion. "The robberies were the same week as that creepy Circus Gothica was in town, and Sam said she saw some kind of glowing red crystal ball on the ringmaster's staff when she went to the show. It was the same color red as Phantom's eyes were, but his are normally green. Sam said it looked like mind control."

"That makes sense…" Jazz mused while trying to hide her relief.

"And the hostage thing? The mayor's eyes were, like, fully red which you can see in every photograph EVER from that day. His eyes didn't even have whites! Obvious possession. Why couldn't even Mom see that? She was, like, right there," he finished softly.

Jazz relaxed; she knew there had to have been a logical explanation. "Well, misunderstood or not, he seems like a pretty cool guy. I just wish I had a way to let him know that if he ever needs someone to talk to, I would be here for him. He needs all the support he can get."

"I don't know how you could tell him either," Danny began with a smile, "but I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"And the same goes for you, Danny," Jazz added as she took one last swig of cocoa and took her mug to the sink. "I'm always here for you to talk to also. You know you can tell me anything, right? And I won't judge. I wouldn't even care if you were secretly Danny Phantom himself or something as ludicrous as that." She scoffed and shook her head for good measure.

All Danny could manage was a nervous gulp.

'Good GOD, he's easy to mess with…'

"You know what's funny? I never thought about how similar your names are," Jazz added in a tone which suggested she was thinking aloud rather than talking to her brother. "Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom…they're practically the same."

Danny looked like he was ready to implode like a dying star.

"Eh," she finished noncommittally with a shrug. Jazz headed to leave the room, pausing to put a loving hand on her brother's shoulder. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Phantom. I mean, Fenton. I mean…Danny." She kissed his forehead and left the room with a muttered "Stupid Freudian slip."

Danny sat there mortified. He sure as heck wasn't going to admit to anything or ask what Jazz knew. That was too risky and could result in him accidentally divulging some secrets. Danny couldn't have that, not while he still had a charade to keep up.

END[?]

Thank you for reading! This is not my first fanfiction ever (I've also done lots of creative writing in my past); but, it is my first published fanfiction, so feedback is graciously welcomed!

And I'm sorry if Danny and Jazz got a little out of character in this or if the sibling dynamic isn't quite right. I am an only child and basing my representation of their relationship entirely off of my friends who have siblings, and all of them have loved screwing with each other just as much as they have enjoyed being there for each other.

And in case you were wondering, the very VERY brief mention of "incest" (which will never EVER appear in ANY of my stories because ew) was what I rated the story T for. Let me know if you think I can drop the rating.

One final note: PLEASE HELP I STILL NEED EXTRA BETAS