Mutiny

I've decided to try a less depressing story than what I usually do. Anyway, this is basically a rescue story. It's a good Samaritan story. Thank you very much for reading.

I can't do this anymore. He's only a kid. He's fifteen. He's fifteen and he's dragged in and out of a dingy little cell and strapped to a cold examination table. He had a life before this, from what I've heard. He had family, friends, hopes, dreams. This place has taken everything from him.

I was hired to take care of him. Bandage him up after a test, make sure he's fed and watered properly. I was supposed to be his caretaker. What kind of caretaker am I if I can't even protect what I'm meant to take care of?

After I graduated high school I didn't go to college and my parents didn't care much about me, so I wandered around the country crashing at friend's houses. I was at an old family friend's house when he said he needed someone to take care of his kids while he was off on a business trip. He said he'd pay me and I accepted.

That's when I learned that I love kids. Just little tiny people that'll welcome you into their small worlds without any fuss. That's when I decided to become a nanny.

I went through all of the training classes and stuff that was needed to actually become a nanny. I nannied for a few years, taking care of quite a few kids with parents in high places. I don't mean to brag, but I was a really great nanny. Like, Mary Poppins great.

But, the thing is about nannying, it doesn't pay very well.

I was talking to one of the parents I worked for and she offered me a job at her security firm. I got the job and learned some self-defense techniques.

A nanny/security guard. I have to say I never saw that one coming.

Anyway, after a while it got a bit boring at the firm. Nothing ever happened and I was shipped around the country to go protect worthless stuff. So, I quit.

After I left that job I was offered another. A government agency that wanted both my nannying skills and my guarding skills. Plus, it paid more than all of my last jobs combined, so I obviously took it.

I was supposed to move to this facility and take care of an "experiment" that they had. I had to make sure everything was secret. Keep my head down and do my job. Never tell anyone about it.

But that was almost a month ago. The "experiment" they had me taking care of was a fifteen year old kid named Daniel Fenton. He prefers to be called Danny. He doesn't talk much to anyone but me. That's probably because everyone is terrible to him. They treat him like scum. Like something smelly they stepped in. I treat him like a person.

He's stick thin and covered in scars from dissections and other tests. His eyes are a dull blue and his hair is a matted black. He jumps at every loud noise and every sudden movement.

I've read his records since he came here. He used to fight tooth and nail to try and escape. The first guard to work with him is permanently paralyzed on one side. The second one is blind. I'm the third.

Danny used to be some kind of superhero back at his home, Amity Park. He used to fight the other ghosts that were there until his capture about a year ago. He had two close friends, an older sister and two loving parents. Although he was bullied, and his parents were borderline neglectful, he had a pretty good life. He's fallen pretty far.

The report says that his two friends told his parents about Danny being half ghost. His parents freaked and basically tried to rip him apart before their daughter, Jazz I think her name was, was able to stop them and convince them to not kill him. They didn't kill him, but they disowned him and called the GIW on him. That's why we have him now.

Amity Park hasn't been doing too well without him. The ghosts are coming in at a rate the Fentons, Danny's former parents, the Red Huntress, and the GIW can handle.

I told this to Danny and he only got a sad look on his face and mumbled something. I try to keep him up to date with everything that's been going on in the world. It's cruel to keep him away from the world he grew up with.

What's even crueler is the torture, obviously, but I can't really do anything to help that. His past guards treated him horribly. One of them kicked him in the stomach almost right after a dissection. Honestly, I'm surprised the kid's still alive at all.

That's why I'm doing this. I'm going to get him out of here. I'm going to help him out of here and take care of him like a real parent. I've always wanted kids of my own, but I'm not really all that good about dating. I've got intimacy issues or something.

Anyway, I've been taking some computer classes, and I've got a virus that can target any specific data I want, and completely erase it. All I have to do is set the key words, and plug in a USB. Then, boom. All records of Danny Fenton/Phantom having ever existed at this facility are gone. After that, I just get him some wearable clothes and smuggle him past the front door. Then we're home free.

I've got the virus in my hand. All I've gotta do is plug it into a computer anywhere in the building.

I slink into the guard office and sit at the desk chair. The computer is ancient, but it'll do. I slip the USB into the slot and wait for it to download.

While I wait, I walk over to my locker and pull out a plastic grocery bag of clothes. I got them a few days ago for Danny. He's really thin and short, so I picked out some extra large children's clothes and some flip flops. The shirt is plain green cotton, and the pants are simple blue jeans. The whole combination isn't very stylish, I know, but it's better than the hospital gown he wears.

The computer makes a small dinging noise. Danny's files and records are gone. I smirk and pull the USB out of the slot.

Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I saunter out of the office. The brightly lit white hallway burned my eyes. Blinking, I started in the direction of Danny's cell.

The tall, imposing stainless steel door stood in front of me. I grabbed my key from my waist and shoved it into the lock. The door swung open and I saw him.

He'd just come from a test. They were supposed to see how fast he could run, and how far he could run at that speed. He looked exhausted. He was slumped against the wall on his cot, still shaking and breathing heavily.

"Danny."

He stirred a little, but didn't move.

"Danny. We're going. C'mon."

He just grumbled and responded weakly

"I just got back from a test. Please, just let me rest. Please."

"Danny you're not understanding me. We-" I pointed between myself and him "-are leaving. Right now."

"What? Max, I don-"

"I'm getting you out of here. You're leaving this facility with me."

His eyes brightened and for the first time ever, I saw hope in his eyes.

"Really?"

"Yep. You're gonna live with me until you're all healed. Then you can leave if you want."

"T-thank you, I-"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get going."

I marched up to him and helped him up.

"You need to put these on quickly. Think you can do that?"

"Y-yeah…"

"I'll be watching outside the door. knock when you're ready. Think you can walk alright for a few minutes?"

"Probably."

"I'll carry you if you want."

He nodded and started taking off his hospital gown. I turned and walked out the door and stood in front of it.

After a few minutes I heard a knocking from the other side of the door. I twisted the doorknob and went inside again.

Danny finally looked like a teenager. A teenager that was too short and skinny and dead-looking to be healthy, but a teenager nonetheless. It's better than a gaunt, sick-looking lab rat.

I lifted him over my shoulder and started jogging briskly towards the front door.

The glass doors slid open smoothly and I set Danny down.

"Ready?"

He nodded and stepped outside for the first time in a year. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, smiling. When he opened his eyes, they were shining. He had the brightest eyes. Hope shone through his eyes like a beacon. He looked more alive than anyone I'd seen in a while. And he was supposed to be half dead.

I escorted him to my car and set him in the passenger seat. I got in and started the car, driving away from that prison.

After about an hour of driving we finally got to my house. danny, the poor kid, fell asleep not even five minutes into the ride. I carried him into the house and set him down in the guest bed. I wrote him a note for when he wakes up.

Danny-

You're out of the facility, in case you haven't noticed yet. You're in my guest bedroom, actually. The bathroom is the door across the hallway from this one, my door is the one to the left of this one. If you get hungry, the kitchen is downstairs and through the dining room. If you need me, wake me up. I can help you with anything.

Have a good sleep

-Max

I set it on the bedside table next to a glass of water and walked out of the room, ready to sleep.

Only to be woken up again six hours later by a clanging noise in the kitchen.

I hopped out of my bed and slid downstairs quickly.

I saw Danny standing over a pile of bowls that had fallen onto the floor from their clumsily stacked position on my shelf.

His eyes were wide and he looked ready to run. I sighed and smiled, trying to calm him down. He may be out of the facility, but that doesn't mean the facility is out of him quite yet.

"Morning, Danny. Need some help making breakfast?"

"Yeah."

"What do you want? I've got eggs, cereal and toast, I think."

Danny wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Toast is gross. Cereal sounds good. What kinds do you have?" "Froot Loops, Cheerios, that's it." I said as I rummaged through a cupboard.

"Froot Loops, please."

I nodded and pulled out the milk and a bowl.

Pouring the cereal into the bowl, I looked at Danny.

"So, any questions about how or why I got you out?" May as well get this part over with.

"Yeah. Uh- Why did you save me?"

"Because it was the right thing to do, and I can't properly do my job with you there."

"What is your job?"

"Nanny/guard. As a nanny, I have to make sure you're healthy and happy. As a guard, I have to make sure you're safe. It's a little hard to do that when you're locked up in a tiny cell waiting to be ripped open again."

Danny winced.

"Sorry."

He nodded and asked

"How did you get me out?"

'I've got access to the outside and your cell at all times. So getting you out was a piece of cake. Keeping you out was a bit more of a challenge, though. I had to learn how to hack a computer to destroy all evidence of you even being half ghost. It's all gone now. They never even noticed. The people will probably remember, but there won't be anything to go on."

He stared silently at his cereal. He sighed and looked down.

"I can't go back home. They'd just turn me in, or try to kill me again. We might be able to talk to Jazz, though. She's the only one who didn't hate me when I was caught.

"I've been looking for her. She put herself into the Foster system not long after you were caught. She looked for you, though. There was records of her having broken into like, fifty GIW bases. I know where she is now. She's somewhere in Wyoming. We can call her if you want."

He agreed quickly, but still kept his gaze lowered.

"But, where am I going to stay?"

"With me."

His head shot up and his eyes were wide.

"Really?"

"Yeah, for as long as you want, that is, if you want to. I mean-" I cut myself off and watched Danny's smile grow into a grin.

"That would be great, Max. Thank you."

That was the first time I ever saw him that happy.