Danny Phantom One Shots

A Field Trip to Remember pt 6

A/N Written by @CastorTheBean. Plot minorly changed.

Upon glancing at Mr. Lancers watch and realizing that it was almost midnight back in Amity, Danny finally declared that they had found a suitable resting place for the night. Several people slumped to the ground with exhausted groans, too tired to contemplate the fear and anxiety that they probably should be feeling when sleeping in the Ghost Zone.

Star, Paulina and Cassie all pulled off their shoes and started fussing over their blisters, which Maddie was gracious enough to treat with the first aid kit. Mr. Lancer took a seat parallel to the students and Jack sat down next to him, shooting the teacher a cheerful smile before proceeding to blather on and on about his most recent invention. Lancer was too tired to be exasperated.

Dash and Kwan had collapsed next to the girls and were chattering quietly, shooting glances at Danny periodically during their discussion. Valarie was still hanging out on the fringes of the group, staring off into the endlessly swirling green sky of the Ghost Zone.

"You okay?" Danny asked Mikey, who had moved farthest from the group and was seated on a small rock several feet away from the nearest person.

"O-oh y-yeah, I'm fine" the nerd replied.

"Are you sure? You can tell me if your ankle hurts, you know and it won't help any if you try and hide it, that'll only make it worse."

Mikey looked away for a moment before glancing back at Danny, who was wearing a look of intense understanding and concern. Swallowing lightly a sheepish grin took over the redheads face, "Well it does hurt a little..." he admitted.

Danny laughed and helped him up, leading him back over to the rest of the group and asking his mom to take a look at the injury before wandering back out to the fringes and facing the path that they were taking. Lancer watched the exchange, momentarily tuning Jack out to marvel at Danny's sudden change in behavior.

When Mr. Lancer had first met Danny at the start of his freshman year he had immediately pegged him as a smart kid. He wasn't perfect but the lowest that he ever gotten was a C and that was a rarity. Daniel Fenton had always been a little shy but he was happy too, that much Lancer could tell whenever he'd happen to see him laughing and joking with his friends as they walked down the hall.

Roughly three months into the school year all that had changed. Danny started coming in late and missing assignments. Lancer gave him detention and extra work both to encourage him to do better and try to help him bring up his rapidly declining grades but it didn't seem to help. He started coming in with dark circles under his eyes and every once in a while Lancer would spot a bruise or a cut under the collar of his shirt or sleeve. Sometimes they would be openly displayed on his face.

The thought of parental abuse had occurred to him and Lancer called the Fenton's in for more than one parent teacher conference to discuss their son's performance. Between getting to know them a bit better and talking to Jazz, Lancer determined that they might not be the best parents but they certainly weren't violent. Several theories as to why Danny behaved this way popped into the teachers head: bullying, peer pressure, affiliation in some less than savory occupation, but none of them ever quite fit right in the puzzle that is Danny Fenton.

Thinking of Danny and his friends as ghost hunters made more sense than any of the theories Lancer had been able to come up with but there were still a few unexplained variables. Danny Fenton is obviously very physically fit, which is apparent from both his physique and the way that he moved when he was fighting the ghost earlier. So why is it that he's failing gym?