A/N: I'm having a rare moment of almost pure creativity. I saw the quote: "Searching for the truth is easy; Accepting the truth is hard," and just had to make a fanfiction about it. So here you go . . .

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

Chapter 1: A Search Begins

Maddie couldn't help but notice how as Jazz, Danny, and his friends grew closer together, a rift grew between the children and the Fenton parents. She was the only one to notice, but Jack's behavior had changed too. He saw the gap growing just as she did, and felt just as helpless and afraid. She saw all of this. Despite what others may have thought, she and Jack were not oblivious. They tried on several occasions to bridge the gap, but nothing worked. It was temporary at best.

Maddie wondered what could have possibly caused this empty abyss to grow so large. It hurt her that she hadn't seen it coming, hadn't been able to stop it, hadn't even been able to slow it down. She saw that it hurt Jack too. She could tell he was strong and tried to just shrug it off, tried to tell himself it was 'just a phase, something that all teens go through,' but Maddie knew just as well as he did that wasn't true.

Sure, teenagers were moody and secretive, but not this much. And the worst part was how if you looked closely enough, you could see a haunted look on Danny. There were moments when, just for a second, Danny dropped some sort of constant façade, and you would see a certain deepness, a darkness, deep in those lovely blue eyes. He knew something, had seen something, and no one could guess what it was. His friends and sister knew, but they hadn't been there apparently. They only knew because Danny told them.

Currently, Jack was at the table, working on a new invention or fixing an old one. Maddie didn't care. He was effectively taking his mind off of what Maddie couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. Danny was running late for school again, having yet to make an

appearance downstairs. Jazz had left for school.

Danny then came running down the stairs, tripping and falling half of the way down. Quickly, he picked himself off the floor and shouted, "I'm okay!" Then he came into the kitchen dusting himself off. He grabbed a bowl and poured a bowl of cereal. Maddie was confused at how fast he ate. She could have sworn he swallowed the spoon once, but it reappeared in his other hand, so he must have just dropped it in his lap.

Although he did glance up at them as if to make sure they hadn't seen something. "Honey," Maddie began, addressing Danny. She had to pretend she didn't notice his strange behaviour. He was probably expecting some kind of 'You can tell us anything' speech. "Just . . . Have a good day. Okay, Sweetie?"

He seemed surprised and relieved at that. "Oh." He laughed, but it held no mirth. "Yeah. Sure, Mom," he said, though it sounded sarcastic, as if h0e hadn't ever known what a good day was. It broke Maddie's heart, the tone he used. Had this really been going on that long? She didn't notice he'd finished until she heard him yell, "See you later!" the door slamming behind him.

Jack's composure dropped. He'd been crushed by his son's tone as well. "Mads? What do we do? I just want Danny to be happy, but no matter what we do, it just gets worse." He sounded devastated. Maddie couldn't help it any more. Her expression hardened to determination.

"Jack, we're going to find out the truth. One way or another. We can't help him if we don't know what's wrong."

"True," he conceded. "But how are we gonna do that, Mads?"

"Danny said he broke his phone again, correct?"

"Yes," Jack confirmed, still not getting the point.

"We get him another, and plant a tracker in it. He might be suspicious if we are seen messing with it before giving it to him, so we'll be upgrading it so even a ghost couldn't break it. It will help so he can't break it again, and we'll see where he goes off to all the time," Maddie explained. Jack's face lit up.

"That's a great idea, Mads!" he exclaimed.

Later . . .

Maddie heard the front door close and Danny yell, "Mom, Dad? I'm home."

"Down in the lab, Sweetie," she called back. She could feel his hesitation. He came down anyway.

"What are you guys working on?"

"Well, you break your phone so often, we wanted to make sure this one wouldn't break," Maddie explained calmly.

"So," he started, looking nervous. "It's not a weapon?"

"No, Sweetie. We're just upgrading it so that not even a ghost can break it. You really are quite clumsy." He muttered something that sounded a lot like 'I bet Johnny's Shadow could break it' but Maddie just frowned and helped Jack with the finishing touches. She handed it to Danny. "If you manage to break this one, I'll be very surprised."

"Cool," Danny said. "I'm going to go meet Sam and Tucker now. See you later." He went back upstairs and left. Maddie got on the computer and pulled up a map. On it there was a green dot slowly making it's way to Tucker's. She transfered the map to a handheld device, before going upstairs herself with Jack in tow. Now, all they had to do was wait.