Ok, As usual, I don't own Danny Phantom. And this idea came with permission from Moony's Metamorphmagus. I just let my muses play with it... A bad idea if ever I had one.
A Choice
Maddie looked down at the ghost before her. The shot he had taken had weakened him severely. The ghost couldn't even stand, though that didn't stop him from trying. Maddie watched as he struggled to get his body to respond, his limbs shaking.
He had taken the blast for her, something she never would have thought a ghost would do. But Maddie couldn't rule it out as a careless accident on his part, trying to get glory for himself. He had been lulling the town into a sense of security and it was only a matter of time before he turned on them all. Ghosts always did, it was why they had to be stopped.
She could finish it all right then and there. She could make sure this ghost was never a problem in Amity again. Her grip on her gun tightened; her body felt like lead.
"P-please."
Maddie blinked and saw that Phantom was reaching a hand out to her, his entire body trembling with the strain of keeping it up.
"P-please."
His voice was scratchy and shaky. His eyes locked with Maddie's and she was blown away by the emotion in them. They pleaded for her help, screamed in fear, and were wracked with pain. The ghost's strength gave out and he fell to the ground again looking withered and helpless and it hit the woman how young he was, just a child around her own son's age.
But…
There was still that lingering fact. He was a ghost, a mere imitation of life.
An imitation that had feelings and pain…
Maddie bit her lip, her two instincts clashing: mother verses hunter.
She turned away. She could end it, but it was already drawing to a close, and her weapons would only cause more pain to the boy. But she couldn't help the ghost that had terrorized Amity, her home, her family, her children.
"Goodbye Phantom," she said softly, turning and determinedly not looking back.
But then her world came crashing down.
"Mom!"
Maddie spun, her insides turning to ice. Phantom had made it to his knees, one hand clutching his side, the other his shoulder, tears falling from his emerald eyes and terror in his every shaky syllable. "don't … leave… me" His voice was almost nonexistent and Maddie's heart broke in two, torn even more than before.
He had called her "mom."
She made up her mind. Ghost or no, he was just a child, a hurt child.
She took one step towards him. Then two. Three. And soon she was standing in front of him, his shining emerald eyes piercing her violet ones.
He made a soft noise before giving a small smile. "Mom…" he whispered.
His injuries were severe. There was no chance now of helping him. Maddie kneeled down to his level, all rationality gone, and scooped the boy into her arms, stroking his hair. "Shhh…" she comforted as Phantom allowed himself to be rocked back and forth. "Shhhh…"
She rose with the ghost bundled in her arms. He was so light. She held him close, whispering softly to his trembling form the entire walk home. The full moon cast a pale light on the boy's face, making him look as innocent as a sleeping baby.
She opened the front door quietly, not wanting to wake her children or alert her husband to her presence.
She set the ghost gently on the couch, the light from the moon trickling through the window to find him. She retrieved a first aid kit from the kitchen and sunk to her knees beside the couch. The ghost was still shaking from head to toe, his body curled into a ball. He seemed unable to get more than a few soft sounds out to indicate that he was still in pain, and Maddie had no clue how to stop it.
She began bandaging his wounds, all the while whispering soothingly to him, tears turning sticky on her face. She had no clue why she was helping him, and she didn't care, all she knew was that she needed to help a hurt little boy.
By the time she had finished patching him up, Phantom had stopped his trembling, his eyes opening and wandering up to the woman's face.
"You'll be alright now," she promised, gently brushing a strand of hair out of the boy's face.
The ghost gave a forlorn grin. "Thank you," he whispered, his eyes losing their luster, "Mom." Two halos of light appeared at his waist, splitting and leaving Danny, her Danny, lying there. He closed his eyes, his last breath escaping him as two words. "Thank you."
And he was gone.
"No," Maddie croaked, her hands reaching out to her son, her baby boy. "No!" She shook him, her tears falling on his raven hair. "NO!" she wailed, falling hopelessly over her child's body, her sobs carrying through the dark house.
"DANNY!"
Wow… I didn't think I would do that…