Hello! Here's an idea that I haven't seen a lot of on this site, so I decided to give it a shot! This is a Danny x Clockwork father/son fic. Danny will be a full ghost, as well as Clockwork's apprentice.

Pairings: Clockwork x Danny (father/son), Danny x Ember (romance). Dani makes an appearance too; so does Sam and Tucker. Danny starts out at age 12.

I own nothing except the plot!

Son of Time

Chapter 1

Clockwork stared down at the white-haired young boy in his arms. The victim of a horrible accident, he had stumbled into a man-made portal as it activated. Clockwork almost reset time so the accident never happened, and never would, but something made him stop. As he looked upon the unconscious boy, he felt a strange sensation. One that he'd never felt before. One that even he didn't anticipate.

Love.

Not a romantic love, but that love between parent and child.

Making up his mind, Clockwork flew back to his tower, the boy now sleeping peacefully in his arms. His new son.

Three days later, Clockwork was watching his time screens, when he heard someone moving behind him. He turned and watched as the white-haired child explored his unfamiliar surroundings. He smiled slightly as he watched the boy. It was always amusing watching the young ones explore, often sticking their noses where they don't belong.

Suddenly, a puff of mist escaped the child's lips. Unsure of what had just happened, the boy stood fidgeting for a moment before his gaze wandered over to Clockwork. The time master smiled as he slowly floated closer to the boy, who backed up slightly.

"Everything is alright, child. I will not hurt you," he said softly, giving a warm smile. The boy relaxed slightly, though he was still wary. "Y-you're a ghost," he said nervously. Clockwork laughed. "Yes, child, I am. As are you," he said kindly. The boy looked confused, then let out a startled yelp as he started to sink through the floor of the tower. Clockwork floated over and pulled him out of the floor and the boy's legs regained their tangibility. "You were recently formed, several days ago," he explained. The boy's eyes began to tear up. Clockwork picked him up, and the boy wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his head into his shoulder.

Clockwork whispered softly to the boy as he rubbed his back, trying to calm him down. It seemed to work, as the boy lifted his head and looked at him with bright green eyes that sharply contrasted with his hair.

"Will you be my dad?" he asked nervously. It seems he didn't remember anything from when he was living. Clockwork thought about this, but couldn't find a scenario where it ended badly for either of them.

"Yes, child. I will. Do you have a name?" he asked, and the child shook his head. "Well, then, what would you like to be called?"

The boy thought for a minute. Then his face lit up in excitement. "Phantom," he said proudly. Clockwork smiled and nodded. "Phantom it is then. Now, we should probably work on controlling your new powers," he said.

They worked on invisibility and intangibility first. The boy was inexperienced, but he was a fast learner. Within hours, he could walk through walls and disappear at will. He was constantly popping up out of nowhere, trying to scare the master of time. It never worked, but that didn't stop him from trying.

After Phantom mastered invisibility and intangibility, they worked on flight. They started by having Phantom focus on hovering a few feet above the floor, morphing his legs into a ghostly tail like Clockwork's. Soon, he was flying circles around the time master's head, laughing gleefully. Clockwork just smiled at his son's antics.

They began ecto-attacks next. Phantom learned how his own energy supplied each of his attacks, and how he needed to remember what his limits are. However, should he get into a fight in the Ghost Zone, he could manipulate the ectoplasm in his surroundings, effectively giving him unlimited ammunition. The boy soon mastered his ecto-blasts and shields. He also learned how to wield a scythe. The last bit was on the insistence of Clockwork, his reason being that if Phantom was to be his apprentice, the skill would be helpful to have.

The boy grew quickly. He soon wore a hooded cloak like his father's, although his was black instead of purple. Clockwork had provided him with new clothes; a black, form-fitting sleeveless shirt, black jeans with a white belt, and black combat boots. Phantom's scythe was strapped to his back.

One day, Phantom was lounging while his father watched his viewing screens. Suddenly, Clockwork stiffened and turned. "Phantom, there's a problem. A young ghost has fallen through a portal into Amity Park, Minnesota. She's being attacked by the resident ghost hunters. I am forbidden from intervening, but you are not. You need to go save her, then bring her here."

Phantom nodded and used his recently-developed teleportation power to get to the portal. He flew through it into a lab of some kind. He felt a shiver go down his spine as he pulled up his hood. It was special in that it completely hid his face from the nose up, except for his glowing green eyes. Now, where am I gonna find- he was cut off by an angry shout.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU GHOST!"

…Never mind.

He went intangible and shot through the ceiling, stopping and hovering once he phased through the roof. Looking around, he saw several green flashes down the street. He rocketed toward the source, and saw two jumpsuit-clad humans pointing weird weapons at a young ghost girl, who was cowering against a wall.

Thinking quickly, Phantom flew down at an amazing speed, unstrapping his scythe as he went. In seconds, he was in front of the ghost, a young girl about his age with blue flaming hair and green eyes. The humans just stared as their weapons fell from their hands, slashed to pieces.

Phantom held out his hand. "Hurry, we need to get out of here. Grab on."

The girl hesitated before grabbing his hand. Danny focused, and they disappeared, reappearing in Clockwork's tower. They walked towards the viewing room, where Phantom knew his father was. It was only when they reached the door that they realized they were still holding hands. They quickly let go and looked away, blushing.

Phantom pushed the door open. Clockwork looked up from his screen. "Ah, Phantom. I take it your trip was successful?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Phantom rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dad. You already knew the answer, so why ask?"

Clockwork smiled. "Well, in any case, welcome, young lady. I'm Clockwork," he said with a smile.

The girl nodded. "I know who you are," she said. "My mom told me about you. I'm Ember, Ember McLain."

"Welcome to my tower, Ember. You've already met my son, Phantom, I presume?" Clockwork said as Phantom lowered his hood.

Ember nodded. Phantom smiled, and she felt herself blush.

"Excellent. Now, I'm sure that your mother is worried about you," said Clockwork, and Ember's eyes widened.

"Oh, crap! I totally forgot!" she cried, jumping up. Clockwork gave a small smile.

"Don't worry, Phantom will teleport you back to your lair," he said. Phantom walked up to Ember and held out his hand. She went red and hesitated a bit before taking it.

"Don't stay out too late, Phantom," said Clockwork. Phantom nodded and they disappeared.

Phantom and Ember reappeared in front of a plain wooden door. Phantom released Ember's hand and knocked politely.

Almost instantly, the door was thrown open and a blue-haired woman flew out and wrapped Ember in a hug.

"Ember! Thank God you're okay! Are you hurt?" The woman asked, looking Ember over.

"Mom, I'm fine! Chill out!" Ember said indignantly, extricating herself from her mother's grip. Her mother's eyes landed on Phantom, who blinked. "And who is this young man?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Mom, this is Phantom. Phantom, this is my mother, Lyric McLain," said Ember, with a tone that indicated she wanted to get this over with quickly. "He's the one who brought me back after I was attacked by the ghost hunters."

Lyric smiled warmly at Phantom, who blushed a bit. "Thank you for saving my daughter and bringing her home, Phantom. Won't you stay for dinner? It's the least I could do." "I'd have to ask my dad first, but I'm sure he's okay with it," Phantom said, before disappearing. He reappeared a few seconds later. "He said its okay," he announced.

Lyric smiled and invited him inside. The lair was…cozy. Like a house should be.

During a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs (Ember's favorite), Lyric started asking Phantom questions.

"So, Phantom, if you don't mind me asking, when did you die?" she asked, genuinely curious. Phantom looked down slightly. "About a week ago," he said softly. Lyric's eyes softened and she put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. "I'm sorry. Let's get off the subject. You mentioned you had a father, who is he?" she asked.

"Clockwork."

There was a clatter of silverware hitting plate as Lyric dropped her fork, her eyes wide. "Clockwork?! I didn't know he had a son!" she exclaimed. Phantom smiled sheepishly. "Yeah…that's me."

Lyric asked what seemed like a million questions. Was Clockwork a good father? Was he single? Did he train you? What is he like? Phantom almost couldn't take it.

Finally, dinner was over, and he excused himself. He was about to teleport when Ember stopped him. After looking around to make sure her mother wasn't near, she asked, "Will I see you again?", blushing. Phantom blushed slightly too as he smiled a lopsided grin. "Of course, if that's what you want," he said cheerfully. Ember smiled and nodded. Phantom waved goodbye and teleported back to Clockwork's tower.

LINEBREAK

A few days later, Phantom had become the talk of the Ghost Zone. Everywhere, ghosts were whispering.

"Did you hear about Clockwork's son?"

"CLOCKWORK has a SON?"

"How'd THAT happen?"

One day, Phantom was idly playing with a ball of ectoplasm, when his father floated in.

"Phantom, a meeting has been called. The entirety of the Ghost Zone is going to attend, to discuss the fact that you are my son. I would prefer that you attend with me, so the public may actually see you instead of believing rumors about you." Phantom fidgeted nervously; he hated crowds.

Clockwork smiled at him. "Relax; I'll be there with you the whole time. And so will Miss McLain," he teased. Phantom blushed and looked away. Clockwork chuckled before floating over to the door. "Let's go, we shouldn't keep them waiting," he said. Phantom sighed and floated after him, morphing his legs into his ghostly tail, before they took off towards the meeting.

The meeting was packed. Every ghost in the Zone was in attendance. Even the prison had been emptied because of the circumstances.

Clockwork floated to the front of the crowd and raised his hand for silence. Once everyone had calmed down, he started speaking.

"Now, as I'm sure you all have heard, there is a rumor going around that I have a son," he said. "I'm here to respond to that rumor. It's true, I do indeed have a son."

Instantly, there was an uproar. Ghosts everywhere started shouting questions at Clockwork. Where is he? What does he look like? How old is he? Clockwork once again raised his hand for silence. "One question at a time, please," he said calmly.

A ghost in blue overalls and a beanie spoke up. "What's his name?" he called.

"Phantom," was the simple answer.

"Where is he?" asked another ghost. Clockwork smiled and stepped aside.

No one was there. He sighed.

"Phantom, if you don't become visible right now, there will be no television for a week."

A few seconds passed, then a white-haired, green-eyed twelve-year-old faded into visibility, gripping Clockwork's cloak like a lifeline. Every ghost in the Zone sympathized with him; he was forced to appear in front of thousands of ghosts, it was only natural to be nervous. Besides, he was just a kid.

Clockwork smiled and put his hand on Phantom's shoulder. "As you can see, he is very nervous. He doesn't enjoy being in front of large crowds, so we will take our leave."

With that, he steered Phantom out of the meeting and into a side hallway.

However, that hallway was occupied.

"Phantom!" Ember called. Phantom flinched and whirled around, then visibly brightened as he saw who called him.

"Hey, Ember! What's up?" he asked. Ember shrugged. "Not much, really. Wanna hang out?" she asked. Phantom looked up at his father, who smiled and nodded. With that, the two ghost kids flew off. Lyric came up alongside Clockwork and smiled as the two kids flew away. "They seem to have taken to each other," she remarked. Clockwork smiled. "Indeed."

"Anything I should be worried about?"

"Not in the foreseeable future."

"Good."

There was a pause. Then…

"I say a month."

"My dear, you should know better than to make that bet with me."

"I will anyway."

"…Less than that."

MEANWHILE

"Come on, Phantom! I bet you can't catch me!"

"Oh, you're on!" was the reply as Phantom prepared to teleport.

"Ah, ah! No teleporting! Just flying!" said Ember, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"Aww…" Phantom whined, before shooting forward at top speed, trying to catch her off guard. It worked a little too well. He crashed headlong into her, sending them both tumbling into the ground. They rolled for a bit before coming to a stop, laying next to each other. They had shut their eyes to keep from getting sick, and when they opened their eyes, they immediately looked at each other. They were mesmerized by each others' eyes.

Phantom recovered first. He blushed deeply and looked away. Ember did the same.

There was an awkward silence. Then…

"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

Ember was stunned by the amount of concern in his voice. She checked herself and nodded. Phantom breathed a sigh of relief and sat up. Immediately, he gripped his right leg with a hiss of pain. Ember got up and went over to him. She checked his leg, then said, "It's a bad sprain. Nothing major." Phantom nodded and stood, careful to avoid using his right leg.

He stumbled and Ember caught him before he hit the ground. She wrapped her arm around his waist, and his around her shoulders. Phantom blushed deeply, determinedly looking at anything but Ember who, unbeknownst to him, was the same shade of red he was.

Without a word, she lifted them both off the ground and flew them to Ember's lair.

She set Phantom down on the couch and propped his leg on the coffee table.

"Alright, hold still," she said as she grabbed an ice pack and a bandage.

Phantom blushed as she went to work on his leg. Ember's flaming hair hid her face, but she was blushing furiously too. Why am I doing this? she wondered. She didn't understand why her stomach got butterflies whenever she saw him, or why her core skipped a few beats whenever he laughed.

Phantom was in the same boat. He couldn't comprehend why his breath would catch whenever Ember smiled, or why he found himself sneaking glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking.

Back at Clockwork's tower, a certain master of time looked into one of his viewing screens and smiled.

The next day, Phantom was hanging out at the Ghost Zone park. He was sitting in a tree reading a book he had…borrowed…from a library in the human world. He was surprised that his father let him go as often as he did.

Suddenly, a scream rang through the park. It was so loud, Phantom nearly fell out of his tree. He looked around for the source of the noise, he saw something that made his ectoplasm run cold.

Ember was backing away from Skulker, the so-called "greatest hunter" in the Zone. He had a sinister grin on his metallic face.

"You will give me what I want, bitch!" he shouted as he reached for her.

Ember closed her eyes and waited for the worst.

Nothing happened.

She opened her eyes to see an enraged Phantom carve Skulker to pieces with his scythe, before punching through the disembodied head and dragging Skulker's true form out, kicking and screaming.

Phantom spoke, and his voice was dripping with malice.

"If you EVER try and lay a hand on her again, not even my father will be able to fix what's left of you," he snarled, before tossing Skulker in the air and shooting an ecto-beam at him. The hunter ghost screamed and flew away as fast as he could.

Phantom calmed himself down and strapped his scythe to his back. He turned to see if Ember was alright when she launched herself at him, burying her face into his chest. He immediately wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her trembling in fear. She clung to him like a lifeline as he tried to calm her down. He picked her up bridal style and teleported to her lair. Lyric answered the door when he knocked. She took one look at Ember and ushered them both inside. Setting Ember down on the couch, he sat next to her with his arm around her while he told Lyric everything he saw.

Throughout Phantom's explanation, Ember sat as close to him as she could, finding comfort in his presence. She didn't understand why she felt like this, but she did. She decided not to question it as she leaned her head on Phantom's shoulder.

When Phantom finished his tale, Lyric smiled at him. "That's the second time you've saved my daughter, Phantom. Please, stay for dinner?" she asked. Phantom looked at Ember and saw the plea in her eyes, and nodded. Ember smiled and snuggled closer to him. This action did not go unnoticed by Lyric, but she said nothing, she just smiled and went to make dinner.

Ember leaned her head against Phantom's chest, feeling the steady beat of his ghost core. She felt him put his arm around her and she smiled. He made her feel safe, secure…loved.

Without thinking, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He looked shocked for a few seconds, then he smiled and pulled her closer to him, kissing her forehead, causing her to blush. She laid her head on his chest again and sighed contentedly.

If this was a dream, she didn't want to wake up.

Two days later, Phantom was training with Clockwork. He had given Phantom some of his time powers, such as "Time Out", and they were practicing using the move in a fight. Phantom was a natural, almost as good as Clockwork himself.

After several hours, they decided to call it a day. Phantom was on his way to his room to shower when he had an idea. He teleported to Clockwork to ask Lyric if he could surprise Ember. The response was an immediate and enthusiastic yes, and Phantom was showered and dressed in 3 minutes flat.

He waved goodbye to his father before flying off to Ember's.

Lyric was waiting for him outside, a mischievous smile on her face. She opened the door and beckoned him inside. "She's in her room listening to music," she said before pointing him in the right direction. He found her room and went invisible and intangible before poking his head through her door. She had her back to him, looking at something on her bed. He snuck up behind her and looked over her shoulder at what she was looking at.

It was a picture of him. He barely contained his gasp. How could he have been so blind? It was obvious when he looked back on it; Ember really liked him. His core danced a jig, because he had those same feelings for her. He backed up a few steps, became visible, and cleared his throat. She whirled around and hid the picture behind her back. "Phantom! Holy crap, you scared me!" she cried. Phantom put on his signature lopsided grin. However, Ember knew something was up; he seemed a lot more cheerful than he usually did.

"Phantom, is there something you're not telling me?" she asked. Phantom's eyes widened involuntarily and he shook his head. Ember wasn't fooled. "Phantom, tell me now, or you will regret it later." Phantom sighed and came clean. He wasn't in the mood to get beat up.

At Phantom's revelation, Ember promptly went scarlet. "Y-you saw that?!" she asked, embarrassed. Phantom went red too and nodded. As Ember started to stammer out an excuse for having his picture, he held up his hand.

"Ember, stop. Please. I know it's awkward, but…I…I feel the same way…" he said nervously. Ember was stunned for a minute, then launched herself into his arms. Taken off guard, he stumbled back and fell to the floor with her on top of him.

"Phantom, you have no idea how much I wanted to hear you say that!" she cried, and kissed him full on the mouth. Phantom immediately went red, but kissed her back. After a few minutes, they realized the position they were in, and quickly stood up.

"So I guess we need to make it official, huh?" Phantom asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Ember rolled her eyes. "If you must."

Phantom took her hands and looked her in the eye. "Ember McLain, will you go out with me?" he asked. Ember smiled. "Of course, dipstick!" she said, kissing him on the cheek.

Upon opening the door, they were greeted with the sight of Lyric handing Clockwork a wad of cash, which he stored in his cloak.

Phantom's eyes started glowing, as did Ember's. "Did you bet on us?!" they roared. Clockwork smiled. Suddenly, he was gone. "No fair!" Danny shouted. "Time Out is cheating!"

Ember's mom held up her hands in a "calm down" gesture. "It was painfully obvious you two liked each other, so we made a wager on the amount of time it would take for you to end up together! Technically, we didn't bet on you, per se."

Ember sighed, but seemed to accept it. Phantom took her hand and she smiled.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.