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Going Ghost! (Young Justice) Chapter 77: Family Hug
🕑 Added 2025-06-26 17:49:52 +0000 UTC[Third Person's PoV]
Danny clung tightly to Jazz, as if letting go would cause everything around him to crumble. But Jazz gently pulled back, cupping his face in her hands. Her eyes widened with concern as she took in his tear-streaked features—his pale skin flushed, his cheeks damp, and his lips trembling with unspoken grief.
“Danny…” she whispered, voice thick with worry. His expression was contorted in pain, a silent agony that twisted her heart. He refused to meet her gaze, eyes clamped shut as fresh tears spilled down his face,
“Danny, can you tell me what’s wrong?” she asked softly, wiping away his tears with the sleeve of her sweater. Her voice was tender, calming, but laced with urgency. She needed answers—needed to know what had caused this breakdown.
“I’m sorry…” Danny choked out between sobs, his voice barely above a whisper, fragile and guilt-ridden. “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault…” He hiccupped mid-sentence, struggling to breathe as the weight of guilt pressed harder on his chest.
“B-Because of me… you, Mom, and Dad… I-I’m sorry…” he repeated, almost incoherently. He cried harder, his body trembling in Jazz’s arms, completely unraveling in front of her.
Jazz felt her heart shatter into a million pieces as she watched her little brother fall apart. He looked so lost, so broken—completely overwhelmed by something invisible yet crushing. She didn’t know what had happened or what he was talking about, but what hurt her most was her helplessness. She didn’t have the words to make it better. No amount of logic or comfort seemed enough.
So instead, she did the only thing she could do—she held him. Jazz wrapped her arms around him tightly, protectively, her own tears welling in the corners of her eyes. She pressed her cheek against the side of his head, whispering softly, “It’s all alright, Danny. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m fine… Mom and Dad are fine too. It was just a bad dream, I promise. That’s all it was—just a nightmare.”
They stayed like that for several minutes—huddled together on the edge of the bed, Jazz holding Danny close while his sobs gradually subsided. Eventually, his crying slowed, his breathing evening out, though he still trembled slightly. His eyes were red and puffy, the tears drying on his cheeks, leaving faint trails down his skin.
Now seated beside him, Jazz cradled his head against her chest, running her fingers slowly through his hair. She kissed the crown of his head, her heart still pounding with concern. Danny, however, kept his eyes downcast, his expression distant and vacant—like his mind had not fully returned to the waking world.
Then came a familiar voice from downstairs—bright, cheerful, and completely unaware of the emotional storm unfolding upstairs.
“Jazz, honey? Did you manage to wake up Danny yet? Breakfast is ready, and we don’t want to be late for school!”
It was their mother calling from the kitchen with her usual upbeat tone and a faint lively jingle in her voice.
The sound made Danny jolt. His breath caught in his throat.
Mom… The word echoed in his head, and his eyes filled with tears again—though this time not from guilt or fear, but something closer to disbelief. A small part of him had feared that voice would never come again.
Jazz felt his body tense and glanced down, seeing the fresh tears forming in his eyes. She quickly called back, trying to mask the shakiness in her own voice, “We’ll be down in just a second!”
‘He must’ve had a nightmare…’ Jazz thought, brows furrowing. ‘A vivid one… Maybe even a lucid nightmare. Something so real, he actually believed it happened. I've read studies about how dreams can distort a person’s sense of reality, especially when strong emotions are involved. He could’ve genuinely believed he lost all of us.’
She took a calming breath and gave Danny’s back a gentle rub.
“Come on, Danny,” she said softly. “Let’s go downstairs. You’ll see it for yourself—Mom and Dad are fine. Everything’s okay.”
Danny nodded faintly, still not speaking. Jazz took his hand and rose to her feet, tugging him up gently.
As they stepped out of the room, Jazz glanced over her shoulder to make sure he was following. He was, though his grip on her hand was tighter than usual. His face had grown eerily blank, the vulnerability from before hidden behind a stiff, composed mask. His features were frozen, stoic—almost emotionless—but the dried tear streaks on his cheeks betrayed the truth beneath.
To anyone else, he might’ve looked calm, but Jazz could tell—he was just holding himself together. Barely.
They descended the stairs and reached the kitchen, where the smell of fresh pancakes filled the air.
Inside, two familiar figures were already present and busy with their usual morning routine. Standing at the stove was Maddie Fenton, their brilliant and no-nonsense mother, clad in her signature blue jumpsuit and red goggles perched atop her head. She hummed a little tune to herself as she carried a stack of golden-brown pancakes to the table, her movements efficient and full of practiced care.
At the head of the table sat Jack Fenton, their boisterous and well-meaning father. Towering in size and wearing his usual orange-and-black jumpsuit, he was surrounded by scattered gadgets and ghost-hunting gear—none of which stopped him from eagerly waiting for breakfast, fork and knife already in hand.
Danny stood still, staring at the sight before him—his parents alive, laughing, going about their usual chaotic morning routine as if nothing happened. As if they hadn’t vanished. As if they hadn’t… died.
His chest tightened.
His vision blurred.
Unshed tears welled in his eyes, trembling at the edge of falling. He felt overwhelmed, like his heart was being pulled in a hundred directions at once.
Maddie, sensing her children’s presence behind her, looked up. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on Danny. She paused mid-step, her mother’s instinct kicking in at the sight of his expression—so raw, so broken.
Without hesitation, Maddie launched herself over the table, executing a flawless front flip leap over pancakes, plates, and gadgets. With a graceful landing, she touched down directly in front of her son, her eyes wide with concern.
“What’s wrong, baby—” she began, but stopped as Danny suddenly threw himself into her arms. He wrapped her in a tight, desperate hug, clinging to her as though letting go would mean losing her all over again.
Maddie froze in surprise, blinking rapidly. Her hands instinctively came up to hold him, but her expression remained puzzled. She looked over Danny’s shoulder, eyes meeting Jazz’s for an explanation.
Jazz could only shrug, still trying to piece things together herself. She mouthed silently, ‘I think he had a weird nightmare. I don’t know.’
Maddie’s brows furrowed slightly. She didn’t fully understand what was happening—but she didn’t need to. Danny was holding her like his life depended on it. That was enough.
‘And here I was thinking we’d started drifting apart now that they were teenagers…’ she thought wistfully, her heart softening as she held him tighter.
Jack, seated at the head of the table and chewing thoughtfully on a piece of bacon, turned to see the emotional scene unfold. He stood abruptly, towering over the chairs as his orange-and-black jumpsuit stretched with his movements.
“What’s the matter, son? Is it a ghost?” Jack asked, concern creeping into his voice as he approached with lumbering footsteps.
Danny reached out and hugged his dad next, burying his face in the soft fabric of Jack’s jumpsuit. It was warm. Familiar. Real.
Danny laughed through the tears. His voice cracked slightly, but the sound was genuine. “You could say that… in a way.”
“Aww, a hug from my boy… and in the morning too!” Jack exclaimed with his usual theatrical flair, lifting his head dramatically to the ceiling as if trying to keep his tears from falling. “It’s just enough to make a grown man cry!”
Maddie pouted playfully beside them, her arms now empty. “Hey! I wasn’t done hugging yet!”
“You know what this calls for?” Jack announced, throwing his arms up triumphantly. “A Fenton-style family hug! Bring it in, everyone!”
“Yay! I love family hugs!” Maddie cheered, springing forward once again with renewed energy. She reached over and grabbed Jazz’s wrist before she could protest.
“Waaah—!!” Jazz squealed in protest, half-laughing, half-struggling as she was pulled into the fray.
Jack, being the massive and enthusiastic man he was, wrapped all three of them—Maddie, Danny, and Jazz—into a colossal bear hug. With surprising ease, he lifted them all off the floor in one sweeping motion, holding them tight as he squeezed with his full strength.
Jazz groaned loudly, cheeks flushed red. “Too tight! Dad, air is important!” she wheezed, but her laughter betrayed her embarrassment.
Maddie giggled joyfully, snuggling into the group hug like a content cat, while Danny… Danny felt warmth unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Whatever spell or nightmare he had been trapped in before, he didn’t care anymore. If this was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up. If this was reality, he never wanted to let it go.
He had missed them—achingly, desperately. There were things he’d never gotten to say, things he had buried so deep inside him they had nearly rotted into silence.
But for now, he didn’t need elaborate explanations or poetic confessions.
Just four simple words. Words that carried everything he couldn’t say outright.
“I love you guys.”
And in that moment, held within the arms of the people who meant everything to him, those four words were more than enough.
Comments
KingSpy25i .
Thank you for the chapter 🙏
firerock laser
His parents should still be dead. If anything he either got adopted by someone else or grew up in a orphanage
Green223
Now for the really big question because of Penguins wish are Dick's parents now alive too?
