Written for danphanwritingprompts on Tumblr!

Title is from Set It Off's song, Unopened Windows.

James found Lilith in her bedroom, floating two feet above the floor and intangibly kicking her bed. He was going to chew her out for not doing the dishes that Mom just made him do, but clearly, she was pissed about something. And when Lilith was angry… things were not well. Sure, she was only eleven-years-old — but she could throw a hell of a tantrum. When your family had ghost powers, everything was more complicated.

"Uh, what's your deal?" he asked, cautiously.

Lilith's feet hit the floor and she whipped around, eyeing her brother. "None of your business!" she hissed.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Every time you've gotten angry this month you've almost shot me, so I think it is my business."'

"That's because you always butt in where you don't belong!" she pushed him back. "Now go before I do shoot you."

"Wow, can't wait to tell Mom that one," James deadpanned. "Really, just tell me why you're kicking your bed like a moron, moron."

Lilith sighed, slumping onto her bed. She grabbed a fistful of her purple bedspread and let it go. "I left my Switch at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but I can't tell Mom and Dad because I'm not supposed to have it. Dad hid it last week, but after a few hours, I found it in the kitchen wall. Now I'm afraid Grandma and Grandpa will find it and tell Dad, then it'll be game over. Literally."

"Well, that's a big screw-up," he commented.

She smacked him on the arm. "Youthink?"

Lilith was almost obsessed with her Nintendo Switch — she snuck it in her backpack whenever she could. She felt like she had to prove to people that she was a good gamer, that she was invested in video games. James couldn't complain — she had her games, he had a phone. But if Mom and Dad took her Switch away… James couldn't imagine having to push her off his back all the time again. That, and she did seem pretty upset….

"Hey," he said, "I'll tell you what. I'll fly over to FentonWorks and get your Switch for you."

Lilith gawked, "Really?"

"Yeah!" he nodded. "But… on one condition. You'll let me play with it whenever I want for the next month. It won't be often, but maybe a few hours here and there, got it?"

Lilith considered it. She tilted her head to the side, gauging if he was telling the truth. After a moment, she made up her mind. "Alright. Promise not to get caught?" She held out her pinky, extended toward James.

James nodded. "Promise," he locked his pinky with hers. This was going to be a piece of cake. Grandma and Grandpa Fenton spent most of their time after dinner in their laboratory, no way he'd get caught!

Finding Lilith's Switch wasn't that hard. She'd left it on the kitchen counter, pushed behind the toaster. Thankfully, their grandparents hadn't noticed it yet so it was untouched. He floated across the kitchen, maintained invisibility, and grabbed the device. James weighed it in his hands, praising himself for such a smooth retrieval.

And then, the kitchen light switched on. Maddie ascended from the lab and entered the kitchen, removing her hood for good measure. James was still invisible, so that wasn't a problem. But he was floating in the center of the kitchen, holding a not invisible gaming device. Maddie addressed the oddity immediately, realizing that there must be some sort of paranormal entity present. Because Nintendo Switches, as innovative as they were, did not float.

"What's there?" she drew a gun from her belt, pointing it toward James. Crap. He's been spotted… sort of.

He tried extending his energy to the device, to turn it invisible with him. But unfortunately, Dad hadn't taught him how to do that yet. He couldn't make other objects invisible, just himself. So he could drop Lilith's very expensive Nintendo Switch or he could run, lugging the device with him.

Before he could make a choice, Maddie pulled her hood back on and activated her ghost-detection goggles. Now she could see him anyway — double crap!

"Ghost," Maddie hissed. "You're a new one."

Now that she could see him, he really didn't need to waste energy staying invisible. James popped into visibility and shrugged, "I guess?"

She'd seen his ghost form and being seen was against Dad's rules. The rules were for his protection and now he'd placed himself in danger. Now his grandparents, ghost hunters, knew that James Phantom existed. Not that they knew he was related to the Phantom… but they could probably figure it out. His appearance and costume were similar to his dad's — a black jumpsuit with white accents, white hair, and glowing green eyes…. Not exactly subtle.

"What do you have?" Maddie aimed her gun. "Is that our equipment?"

James cocked his head to the side. She thought… the Switch was Fenton Tech?

"No…" he responded. "Why would I steal stuff to hurt ghosts? That's dumb since I'm a ghost."

"Not if you're taking it from us," Maddie pointed out. She fired her gun, but James managed to dodge in the nick of time. He'd practiced with his parents in the lab some, fought a ghost once or twice, but he'd never had to really dodge anything before. His heart started pounding. This was real, his grandma was attacking him!

"Woah!" he exclaimed. "Y — you don't have to shoot!"

"You're stealing from us," she growled. "Nasty ghost."

Nasty ghost. Dad always warned him not to get caught by ghost hunters. He was used to being scared of ghost hunters, he was born a ghost. Getting caught hurts, Dad recalled. Avoid confrontation at all costs.

James had always assumed that Dad meant it physically hurt. Being locked up, strapped down, cut open… he's been prepared for that scenario, for years. But Dad never mentioned that their words would hurt too. Especially… especially Grandma, who'd coddled him just a few hours ago. But in her eyes he was just a nasty ghost.

"I'm — I'm really not!" he stammered, dodging another blast. "Not stealing!" (Or a nasty ghost. You love me.)

"Oh sure," Maddie fired. James dodged, but by the time he recovered Maddie had decided to change tactics. She lowered her gun and toyed with a new Fenton Thermos prototype. James recognized it from a few weeks ago when Grandpa let Lilith chose the color scheme…. They weren't allowed near the actual weapons, but Grandpa liked showing them their designs.

And if there was one thing James knew about his grandparents' tech… it was absolutely foolproof. Once Grandma hit that button he'd be pulled into the device and condensed into a vaporous state. Dad claimed that being inside the Fenton Thermos didn't hurt, but James couldn't fathom being trapped inside something so small. He was scared, definitely scared. He couldn't be captured.

But could he run? Grandma had him cornered — he couldn't even phase into the floor, there wasn't enough time. If he even twitched, she'd press the button and suck him into the thermos, game over.

"You know what this is, don't you, ghost?" she smirked, reading his expression. James nodded, numbly. Maybe if he played nicely, she'd let him go— "I've got you now."

And she pressed the button. James's world tilted and whirred, and then he was light. He was pressured, confined — and yet, he was nothing. There was no vision, sound, flavor, sensation… he was nothing. He was captured.

Inside the thermos, time felt like a thread. It was thin yet durable — it felt like a second and eternity were only a moment apart, and he occupied that moment. He couldn't feel how long it had been — a minute, a day? — but he wanted out. He didn't like this lack of sensation, this disorientation, this loss of time…. Was this what it's like to be a full ghost, to be dead? He hoped not, that would suck.

Suddenly, the thermos lurched. He was pushed upwards and his own bodyweight felt tenfold, like he was pressing down on himself. Gravity was a pain, that's for sure… so was light and sound. Everything was too bright, cold, and every time he moved his jaw his ears popped. After a few seconds, his vision focused and he examined his surroundings.

He was in his grandparents' lab, but not from a perspective he'd seen before. That said, he'd only been in the lab a handful of times — with very strict supervision. But from what he could tell, James was in some sort of containment area…. It was like a glass box, twenty feet wide, fifteen feet tall… enough room for him to float, but not enough to fly with any velocity.

On the opposite side of the glass, his grandparents observed the containment area. It was such a mundane scene; Grandma and Grandpa lost in their work, pensive researchers. Though, this was wrong, so wrong. He didn't belong on this side of the glass, he wasn't a specimen — he was their grandson. They were watching him like a bug under a magnifying glass, honing in. Hopefully, he could persuade them to let him go before they found out the truth….

The truth. What if they did learn the truth? What would that even mean? James's stomach dropped when he considered the implications.

Mom and Dad had rules. They had a lot of rules that made James's head spin trying to think of them all. 'Don't ever say I wish', 'don't start food arguments with Mom', 'don't summon primordial ghosts in school'. But their number one rule was ingrained.

Dad swore James and Lilith into secrecy, "Never be seen using powers, never be seen in your ghost form, and never ever get caught. We're… special. People can't know about halfas, not your friends, not the government, not even Grandma and Grandpa. Promise me that, kids? You'll keep our secret — our family — safe?"

"Of course!" James chirped. "I'm too cool to let anyone know I've got powers! They'll never see me! Geddit, see me?"

Dad ruffled James's hair, "You've got the spirit, sport."

They all laughed, even Mom (who pretended she hated Dad's puns). Back then, it had seemed so simple. Don't get seen, don't get caught, don't get revealed. Yet, James had already broken two of three of Dad's rules. His luck wasn't looking good….

His vision swam again. This wasn't going well, wouldn't go well. His hands were shaking, and this stupid costume didn't have pockets he could hide his hands in. How was that fair? Lilith got pockets, why didn't he! James slapped his hands against his leg and hoped that he didn't look like a maniac (like it mattered).

He was definitely terrified, but he couldn't let that get the best of him.

James swallowed the lump in his throat, biting back his fear. He couldn't let his grandparents suspect he had something to hide. To them, he was a ghost — a normal ghost — and he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, he intended no malice. He had to convince them or else.

Maddie tilted her head and whispered something to Jack. James could tell that the containment area wasn't soundproof but her whisper was so far away that he couldn't hear her.

Jack narrowed his eyes. "He does," he declared. "But how does that work? He's had clones before but…"

"This one feels different than that female Phantom," Maddie agreed. Female Phantom? Did they mean Aunt Ellie? That wasn't good, if they were comparing him to Ellie then they'd already recognized his resemblance to Dad….

"A clone would be the same age as Phantom," Jack deduced. "This is something else, it has to be."

Maddie lowered her voice again. "The similarity is uncanny," she muttered. She stepped forward and James flinched — her observation was very uncomfortable. "Same fringy white hair, piercing green eyes… young."

James wanted out, now.

His grandparents were inches away from the glass now. James met eye contact with Jack and felt his core spasm — James fell from where he was floating, slamming his knees against the floor. Hard. He cursed at himself, his stupid powers malfunctioned when he was nervous. Now he was scared and his knees hurt.

Maddie crossed her arms. "Ghost," she addressed him. Her voice was cold, calculating. He was nothing but an object to them.

"Gran — uh, ghost hunter?" he responded.

"Why were you in our house?" Jack asked, placing his hand against the glass. "And that thing you were stealing… that was one of our grandkids' games. Why did you take it?"

Well… at least they still didn't think that the Switch was some of their tech. Grandma probably realized her mistake after she captured him but there wasn't anything James could do now. Well, except lie his ass off.

"I came through your portal," he conceived. James clenched his fists, hoping they'd buy his story. "You guys were looking away and I came through invisibly. I saw the Switch and thought it was cool, I wasn't going to steal it. It just looked cool, I swear!"

Jack and Maddie held themselves professionally. He couldn't get a read on them but from what he could tell they didn't think he was lying… yet.

"I'm sure you thought it was 'cool'," Maddie drew finger quotes. "You were going to steal it, but that's beside the matter. We have other questions for you. You're different than other ghosts but like others. You look like Phantom — even have some of his more… human-like qualities. Why? Why are you similar?" she cut to the chase.

"I uh… don't know what you mean?" he tried.

Jack pounded his fist against the glass. Not enough force to break it, but enough to convey his point. "Yeah, you do."

James gulped. He couldn't think of a good lie, so… he supposed he'd have to settle for the truth. "Okay, fine. Uh, I'm sort of Phantom's son?"

Now, this admission disrupted their composure. Maddie's lips parted and Jack's eyebrows furrowed.

"Come again?" Maddie asked.

James didn't want to repeat himself, but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't exactly to be one of Dad's clone or something because that would just be more trouble. "I'm Phantom's son."

"Impossible," Jack shook his head. "Ghosts can't have children… can they?"

They were faced with difficult knowledge. Regular ghosts couldn't have children, yet James was the spitting image of his Dad… but not exactly. He had Mom's nose, narrow face, sleek hair, and purple eyes — other than those key features, he looked exactly like Dad.

"Phantom has always been different than other ghosts," Maddie put a hand to her cheek, "But how can something dead reproduce? It shouldn't have the parts necessary for that."

James did not want to think about Dad's parts.

"Phantom's inconsistent, Mads," Jack pointed out. "Even if he shouldn't be able to reproduce, he does plenty of things ghosts shouldn't be able to do. He ages like a human, so maybe—"

James was anxious and impatient. If he let them keep talking, he'd lose opportunities to talk himself out of this. "Hey, that's a nice deduction and all but I kinda need to get going. I'm sorta breaking curfew and stuff — plus, thinking about how I was born is really nasty."

Maddie's face darkened. She spoke with a tone of authority, "Don't interrupt us, ghost." She leaned forward and pressed a button positioned outside the containment area.

There was a sudden popping noise and light arched across the glass walls. In the moments before it hit him, James was mesmerized by the iridescent blue light reflecting off the glass… and then the electricity poured into his body. Burning agony — his flesh was tearing. So much pain, his nerves were overloading. Dad said electrocution hurt but James had always dismissed his Dad's stories — electricity couldn't kill him, after all! But damn… damn, everything was fire. What was even his body, besides a collection of tangled cells and ectoplasm? Was he even in this glass confinement or was this his mind, his soul? He was delirious….

"—light shock'll put him in place." Grandma. Grandma no. This wasn't 'light'—

The electricity had receded, but James could still feel it. It was under his skin, peeling — burning — itching! Now his core refused. His core was too weak, it couldn't maintain this form anymore. He had to change back, he had to transform or he'd die from the shock. But he couldn't change in front of his grandparents, especially not now!

James protested, "No, no, no don't go! Stay, stay, stay—!" He was slipping. Phantom was slipping from him and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

His grandparents watched him stumble. James curled into the fetal position, resisting the urge to transform. Despite his efforts, the ring of light hung over his waist before sliding over him, fizzling into nothing. He was left in his blue pajama pants and Batman t-shirt, undeniably human.

He'd broken all the rules now.