Neutral (Danny Fenton/Phantom x Reader)

Chapter Three - Patch

Six months into living in the Ghost Zone, I began to get less and less sleep each night. I had graphic and vivid nightmares at night that scared me to the bone. I felt so scared and alone when I woke up, the things in my dreams were scary and threatening.

It was times like that, that made me wish I had a sibling or even just a friend.

I had crawled out of my bed when I went to seek Clockwork for comfort, he took one look at the crocodile tears pouring down my face and gave me a big hug.
"Calm down. It was only a nightmare, (Y/N)." He soothed in a hushed voice.
I had looked up at him as he wiped off the remaining tears from my face with the sleeve of his violet cloak.
"Nothing can hurt you. It's not real."
Unfortunately, even at that young of an age, I knew that even if the nightmare I had wasn't real, that didn't mean that it couldn't ever happen.
Dreams do come true, but nightmares can too.

I didn't release him from my tight hug until I had fallen asleep on him half an hour later.

He must have laid me in my bed after I drifted off, because I was in my bed when I woke up in the morning.
Clockwork and I played for most of the week, he taught me a game called patty cake where you smack your hands together in an organized handshake, singing a fun rhyme.

I became obsessed with it, randomly popping into the tower's main room where Clockwork spent almost all of his time, and ambushed him into playing the game.
He didn't mind most times, he didn't do much after all, his job is mostly just watching the View Screen, keeping track of time and history.
But sometimes, the door to the main room would be locked and Clockwork told me he was working on something, and to go play until his task for the day was complete.
I obeyed until he opened the door again, where I continued to play pattycake with him. I noticed his gloves had extra padding in the fingers and there was a bit of ectoplasm seeping through the tips of the fingers.
"What's that, Clockwork?"
"It's just where I injured myself earlier." He stated calmly, as if telling a four year old wouldn't end with me offering what I did.
"Aw! Should I kiss it better?"
"No, it's fine."

"You promise?" I asked and held out my pinkie to him.

"Yes, I promise." Clockwork confirmed and shook my pinkie with his own.
"Okay!"

His mysterious injuries persisted for days, almost a week, and my nightmares still remained in my brain anytime I fell asleep, but then everything changed when I went into my room at my bedtime one night.

I walked into my room in my new ghostly onesie, it was white like a sheet with green eyes on the hood. I got into my bed, shuffled under the sheets and felt a lump underneath my head.I reached under the pillow and pulled out a hand stitched teddy bear.

A soft pale green fur covered its body, its inner ears and paw pads were colored red, its eyes made of two gears sewn into the fuzzy material, a smooth red nose and a small stitched smile for a mouth. It even had its own cloak stitched together at the neck, made out of patches of different cloths, along with one of Clockwork's signature time medallions wrapped around its neck..

My eyes lit up with delight as I held my new best friend to my chest as tight as I could. I nuzzled my face into its fur, "I'm going to name you...Patch!" I pat his head as I spoke to Patch directly.

"Is that okay?"

I waited for a response.

Silence.

"Good! I'm glad you like it! I'm (Y/N), nice to meet you Patch!" I smiled and shook his paw.

Clockwork entered the bedroom to tuck me in after Patch and I learned more about each other. "Who's your new friend, (Y/N)?"

I screeched and smashed my cheeks together, "How rude of me! Clockwork, this is Patch!"

Clockwork smiled and pulled the blankets up to my chin, "Well I'm pleased to hear you have a bedtime buddy."

I clutched Patch to my chest and smiled, "Yeah! He can chase away my nightmares!"Clockwork nodded, "I'm sure he can."

Blowing out the lantern that was keeping the room lit, floating out the door, he closed it without another word.

Though I had my own Patch the Protector now, I was still a little weary of going to sleep, I laid there with my eyes shut for a bit. I was half asleep when I heard the door open, and could see the tower's low green lighting and the Ghost Zone's bright glow through my closed eyelids.I knew who it was, and he knew I was partly awake, but neither of us would address it later on.

Clockwork was hovering at my bedside, when he reached over and pat my head lightly. I couldn't help but to smile just a bit.

"It was worth the pain." He mumbled.

He stayed for a minute or two, and left for the rest of the night.

I pretended I didn't hear him, and he pretended he didn't know.