Esparia's A/N: I guess you could say this has been haunting me for a while. Ba-da-tch! Anyway, as much as I love reading angsty Danny (he's half dead for goodness sake) I've decided to shake it up a little. This planned to be a one-shot but... I do have a general idea if you guys want a full length fanfic? But I'll let you guys choose?

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Advice from the Dead

(Sirens of Suicide)

Danny had made a promise to Sidney, one he was more than happy to make. Really, he would have done it anyway but there was something that drove him a little harder to do it with Sidney's pleading request.

He had known, on some level, that Sidney had a rough life before becoming a ghost and hadn't died of natural causes. He had his suspicions that it was suicide but he knew better than to pry into the other's previous life.

Even so, it was one of those times that he had been visiting that the older ghost asked.

Keep an eye on them. The nerds especially. Look for signs, please Danny, just watch out for them. Don't let them end up like me.

So Danny did.

He kept an eye on his peers. Watching them and making sure. Some things were just off days, others were attributed to a certain ghost councilor, and others were needing their friends' and family's support. Danny did little things for them, smiling, nodding, thanking them and apologizing if need be. Things to show he saw them, acknowledged them. It wouldn't do a lot for them, but as an acquaintance it was the best he could do.

As he got into that habit, he began to notice more about those around him. When something was bothering them or when something really good must have happened. It did give him a reputation for being a kind, air headed and chronically late, but a good kid. It seemed to make others more comfortable around him. Probably grew him as a person by watching out for others like this or some cheesy nonsense like that.

However it was with this that he noticed Mikey's distancing. The nerd seemed to draw into himself and shut out his friends.

Danny only really became worried when the kid stopped protesting being shoved into his locker, not even putting up a token fight.

Danny couldn't do much. He tried, of course, to get the bullying to stop or at least lessen by directing it to himself. He tried to talk to Mikey but was brushed off, they weren't exactly close so there was a limit that Danny could push his peer.

Nonetheless, he kept watch over Mikey. Going so far as to make sure he left the school safely and checking in on the boy during patrol. Maybe it was obsessive. Maybe it was creepy. Maybe, ethically, he shouldn't have watched Mikey like an assassin staking out his target.

He was glad he did.

Danny found him over the edge of the mall's roof.

Who knew how the boy got there but got there he did.

Mikey was hunched over, sitting with his legs dangling and just staring at the ground below.

Danny floated above him for a short while before settling next to his peer.

Mikey side eyed the young ghost before looking away, cheeks reddening. His eyes were red and face drawn. The poor kid looked exhausted. It was a good sign that he wasn't standing though, he looked like he had been there for a while. Not yet likely to leap.

This was a very different type of hero work than what he typically was up against. While he could fight off ghosts, retrieve kittens from trees, and help little old ladies cross the street; this was something he couldn't actively fight or physically fix. He didn't even really know Mikey. He didn't know how Mikey felt and he didn't know anything very personal about him. He was a good acquaintance at best.

He decided to let Mikey speak first. To let him gather himself before he coaxed him away from the edge. He didn't want to spook him... haha, spook- not now, puns were so inappropriate right now. Zeesh.

Mikey peeked over at Danny, voice cracking a bit before he cleared it. "You, uh, probably think I'm pretty lame... sitting up here."

Danny tilted his head toward the human, and when did he start excluding himself as one. "No, you are not. We all have monsters we fight against, some are just not so literal."

Mikey nodded absently, looking back to the ground.

Danny floated a bit closer, legs crossed. "A friend once described it as a siren's call, death to a suicidal mind. Horrible but enchanting, drawing you away from the safety of your ship. Lulling a person into danger. It's not wrong to want to escape pain. It doesn't matter what form it comes in or if people say it's valid or not. If it's painful to you it's valid pain. It's a natural thing to want to escape it. The thing is, pain is fickle. It's temporary, it likes making itself known while it's happening and then disappears as if it was never there if not for scars it may or may not leave."

"Death though," Danny paused, hand lightly touching his still chest. "Death is very permanent. It tends to stick around. I can't say I know what you're feeling, nobody but you does. What I can tell you though is that it will get better. You still have a whole life ahead of you and that may seem daunting or like you'll just keep feeling like this. A lot can happen in even a year, but nothing can if you don't live it."

Mikey was watching the local hero, understanding but not really feeling his words. It was hard to believe that it would be better, it just seemed empty.

Danny smiled slightly. "You don't have to believe that right away. I don't think anyone does the first time."

Mikey looked away before turning back to ask, "can... can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want! I was just wondering..."

"Sure, I'll answer almost anything." He shrugged.

"What is it like? Death?" Mikey looked up at Danny with a surprising amount of intensity.

"Uh... heh, um," Danny rubbed his hand, "which kind do you mean? Like, dying? Being a ghost?"

Mikey shrugged. "Any of it, all of it. Does it matter?"

"Well, yeah. Dying can come with varying degrees of pain." Danny grimaced. "Can't say I enjoyed it, I got a pretty, uh, painful death. Actual dying though is more of a fading feel, body wise, but you're aware after and feeling pretty goodish? Like you've woken up from a dream. At least, that's what I felt. But regular death might be different, because, being a ghost and being dead dead is different?"

Seeing Mikey's confused face Danny shook his head. "Ghosts can, in a sense, die. Moving on or dissipating is usually what ghosts call it. Death is usually used as a term for the end of our human lives for those who were human. Most people don't become ghosts, so death is their death death. What lies beyond that isn't something I've ever experienced."

Danny sighed and waved his hand. "The point is, living. Do it. Even if it's only for a single thing or person. Will your mom grieve? Yes, and that is sad. You don't want to make her sad. Dad comes home late and you're the only one to welcome him back? That makes him happy and if you're gone no one's gonna say 'glad you're back'. Take dog on walks? Well dang, if you're gone is your pupper gonna know why you're gone or is it going to think you abandoned it. It's as little as a single reason. Living.

"You know what? Homework time. Here's what we're going to do. Every time before bed you're going to list five things about the day you thought were worth seeing. Five diddly darn good things. Waking up sucked, sure, but you got to see an awesome sunrise. Rain is cold, but listen to that sound. And that smell? Amazing! It doesn't matter what you list, but list five or more and think about them. Then a thing to look forward to. An upcoming video game you wanna play? Perfect! Wanna order that weird looking platter at the Mexican restaurant that will probably melt a hole in your stomach next time? At least you tried it you brave brave thing! Giving kissies to Auntie's kittens because you wanna feel fluffy fur on your face? Nothing to be ashamed of! Kittens are cute, dang it! The point of this is to see life is worth living!"

Danny flew up and over the edge of the building, floating a bit in front of the boy. "I mean look at all of this! This world is huge and beautiful!" Danny grinned and flew up to the startled boy's face, "and you get to live in it. Everyday and every night, you're in a world of choices and possibilities. A world full of wonderful things and everyone forgets to see it. Depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, all those mind monsters steal that from you. They lure you like sirens and before you know it you're stuck in a whirlpool of self hatred and hopelessness. Your mind is your ship and your stuck in a dangerous current. That's why we're going to break your thought process out of there and we're going to get you back to safer waters."

Mikey pushed up his glasses, a huffing laugh at the ghostly hero's antics. Eh, what could it hurt. "Sure."

Danny beamed. "What's your name?"

"My name's Mikey."

"Cool. Well then Mikey, how would you like to go flying?"

"Flying?"

Danny gestured behind him. "Yeah, figured you'd want a lift home. No better way to travel then flying with the wind in your hair and bugs in your teeth."

Mikey snorted. "Ok, sure."

Danny wrapped his arms around the red head, lifting them slightly off the roof. "Not afraid of heights are you Mikey?"

"Ah, well, not really but-"

"Great!" With that Danny leaped over the side of the mall, diving towards the ground.

Mikey shrieked, clinging to the halfa like a baby rhesus monkey and glasses smashed into his face. "Pull up! Pull up!"

Danny laughed and swooped up, lifting high enough to skim the trees. Looking down at the cringing boy, he couldn't help but feel a little bad. "Mikey, I'm not gonna drop you. I've never dropped a passenger in my life... unlife? Afterlife? Point is, you're safe and the view is great. If you need me to go slower, just tell me, kay? It's pretty natural to me so..."

"You're fine."

Danny hummed happily and steadied into a cruise above the skyline. He could feel Mikey slowly relax as they flew in silence, only interrupted a few times for directions to Mikey's house.

Setting Mikey down in the boy's room, Danny paused before he phased out. "Hey Mikey, if it's cool with you, I'll dropped by every now and then."

Mikey's eyes widened before he nodded. "Sure, that's- that'll be fine."

Danny grinned. "Cool, see ya later Mikey! Have a good night!"

He flew out the wall without a backward glance.

"Goodnight," Mikey replied to his empty room. If he meeting Phantom was one of the five good things he listed that night was thought, it was never mentioned.

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Right, so if this does continue it'll be the idea of Mikey being a sort of friend of Phantom's and meeting other ghosts. I'm thinking it would be kinda like the Ghost Zone Experience by Dream Trance but I don't know if people would be interested in it with Mikey? PM me or review to let me know.