A/N: I don't really know why I'm writing this when I know it'll be at least a month (if not more) before I can post the next chapter. Oh, well.
Playlist for this chapter: "Made of Glass" by Trapt, "Scream" by Thousand Foot Krutch, "Falling Into Black" by Skillet, and "Lanterns" by Rise Against.
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Santa Barbara, CA, 1987
"Alright, kid," Henry Spencer began, crossing his arms and staring hard at his twelve-year-old son, who squirmed in his seat. "Since the Gusters are out of town for a while—"
"Gus ditched me, Dad!" the boy cried out, indignant at the 'betrayal' from his best friend. "He didn't even try to see if I could go with him or if he could stay here!"
Henry was turning bright red in anger. "Shawn, he was going to afuneral! You—!" Henry calmed himself down forcefully. "Now, while he's gone, I found someone else to keep you out of trouble."
Shawn blushed, then bristled and glared. "I don't need a babysitter, Dad, I'm twelve!"
"You tried to prove you could fly last week by jumping off the jungle gym in the park!"
Shawn huffed. "I knew I'd land safely."
"You fell on top of some sunbathing man with a beer belly!"
"On purpose!" Now Shawn crossed his arms. "I knew his Santa-belly would soften my landing."
Henry rolled his eyes. "Forget it. I found you a babysitter, now be polite and behave for once while I'm at work." He turned and called into the house, then came back out with a young girl—only a couple years older than Shawn—and stopped in front of his son. "This is Maddie O'Connor. You remember the O'Connors from down the street?"
Shawn studied the redhead while answering his dad. "Yeah, but they only had one daughter, Alicia, and she's kinda mean."
Maddie grinned at him. "Yeah, 'Licia's not too happy with guys. She just had a bad break-up last week."
One of Shawn's eyebrows jumped up at that. "But she's mean like thatall the time!" Then he frowned. "And that doesn't answer where you came from."
"It's an on-off relationship. They break up every other week almost. And, I just moved here." She smiled sadly. "The O'Connors adopted me."
"So, you're not really related to the meanie?" he asked, eyes sparkling mischievously.
His dad yelled at him, but Maddie giggled. "Nope. Not related, thank God." She winked at Shawn. "She's mean to me, too, when she breaks up."
Henry gave up and left, knowing the two would be getting along fine.
After his dad was gone, Shawn studied Maddie again. She noticed the change in his attitude instantly.
"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting down next to him.
He sighed. "I can't call you Maddie."
"Okay," she said easily. "Why not?"
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "That's Mom's name. And Dad always yells it when they fight."
Maddie thought that over, then nodded. "Alright, so make up a name for me."
Shawn blinked. "What?"
She shrugged. "Everyone calls me Maddie, anyway. It'll be fun to have another nickname." She smiled at him. "It can be whatever you want."
"Really? 'Cause Gus got mad at me when I first started calling him Gus, but I think he got used to it…."
"Sure. And it doesn't have to be only one nickname, either. Think of it like a game. See how many different names you can give people."
Shawn beamed up at her. "I think I'm gonna like this game, Nancy Newbie."
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Amity Park, CA, 2011
"Kids! Time for breakfast!" Maddie Fenton called up the stairs. "Wake up!"
Groaning met her ears, along with an overly cheerful, "Okay!" Then, the now-customary morning fight over the girls' bathroom ensued. Stifled yells made their way downstairs, ending with a smug laugh and an aggravated shout of the winner's name. Feet stomped over to another room down the hall, and Maddie chuckled at her daughter's explanation.
"Danny, your clone's a cheat! Let me use your bathroom,"Jazz exclaimed, not bothering to knock before heading in.
"What's for breakfast?"
Maddie jumped, not expecting the black-haired girl to have finished so quickly. Danielle Fenton chuckled, flopping down into a chair. "We've got eggs, so I was thinking omelets."
"Yum!" Danielle replied enthusiastically, rubbing her hands together.
Maddie rolled her eyes at the girl's near-insatiable hunger and started making up omelets. As the first was set before Danielle, Jazz came into the room slowly, a confused look on her face. Maddie's brow furrowed. "What's wrong, Jazz?"
The redhead bit her lip. "...Did Danny stay over at Sam or Tucker's?"
Now, the woman frowned. "No. I don't even remember him leaving last night."
Danielle stayed suspiciously quiet, digging into her omelet with unusual enthusiasm.
The two older Fenton women turned to her, mirror images with hands on hips. "Danielle, where is Danny?" Maddie demanded.
For such a smart girl, Danielle was a horrible liar, and she knew it. So she spilled. "He said he just needed to be alone for a bit!"
"Danielle!"
She pouted. "He's out at the Hill."
The Hill was actually an overlook at the edge of town. Since coming back to Amity Park, Danny had spent nearly half his time at the Hill, either just watching and thinking or, more frequently, calling Alex Rider, Yassen, or one of his FBI friends.
Maddie sighed. "When did he leave?"
Danielle glanced away, rubbing her neck nervously. "Just a few hours ago…."
"When, Danielle?"
"...Around nine last night…."
The woman groaned, grabbing for her keys. "You two get to school, I'll go get Danny."
Danielle huffed, jumping up. "No! He deserves some privacy! Everyone's been either smothering him or treating him like he's some priceless china doll since he got here!"
"Danielle, he's been alone since last night! He runs off every other day! He's getting plenty of privacy!"
"Obviously not, if he keeps running away!"
Jazz stepped in, taking Danielle's shoulders and leading her to the door. "C'mon, Danielle, we're gonna be late. I'll drop you off on my way to class." Jazz was currently attending the local county college, but still took the time to drive her siblings and their friends to and from school.
Danielle rolled her eyes but left, slamming the door behind her.
Maddie sighed again. "He wouldn't have to run away if he just told us what was wrong…."
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The world was quiet for once. Not silent, God no, birds still sung and wind still blew, but this was far from the honking and yelling and squealing tires and chatter of the town. Here, Danny could relax and practice with his new hypersensitivity. He'd sit up at the top of the Hill and close his eyes and take a deep breath and let his consciousness spread across the Hill and the valleys and the town itself until he could feel each person, each car, each heartbeat and breath of every living thing within two miles. It was a heady feeling at first, to be able to sense every movement of every thing. Then, he'd breathe in and catch all the smells of Amity Park. There was fresh-cut grass and dew and rainwater and the various dinners from each house. For instance, one house nearby had had stir fry for dinner and another had chicken parmesan.
At least, he assumed it was dinner and not a person.
Ever since his kidnapping, Danny had found that his new heightened sense of smell came with a cost. Sure, he could easily pick out the individual scents that made up a whole, but he couldn't tell where the smell originated. As such, he'd often confused himself by guessing. What he thought were the scents of people actually came from buildings or trash cans or other inanimate objects, and what he thought came from inanimate objects actually came from people or animals. After a while, he stopped guessing, instead just filing away the combinations he picked up for later cataloguing.
Of course, he hadn't told his "family" about this, mostly because Danielle was the only one he knew wasn't a clone—er, was real. His life definitely was backwards, if he was avoiding possible clones and trusting a known clone—even if that clone were like a sister to him.
Danny sighed, opening his eyes to stare up at the clouds above him. He'd watched the sun set last night, watched the moon rise and fall, watched the stars wink in and out of sight.
And of course he'd gotten his tri-weekly phone calls from Reid, Yassen, and Alex. The three were constantly concerned for him and as such very rarely let him off the phone without his promising to get in touch should anything get worse. It was simple to assure Reid he was fine—the profiler wasn't quite as sharp over the phone—and Garcia had butted in long enough to chatter at him about Skyping her soon.
Yassen was harder to convince, seeing as he knew Danny didn't really want to be in Amity Park, but he let it go after the teen promised he was weaning himself off the sleeping meds he'd been addicted to. Of course, he never mentioned that, as a trade-off for not taking the meds, he'd only slept a couple hours every week or so.
Alex was different. Alex didn't need any convincing because he didn't ask. He knew Danny wasn't alright, knew he wouldn't be alright for a long time. He avoided the topic—directly, at least. Alex would find the most roundabout, subtle ways of getting his answers, ways that didn't make Danny mad, anxious, or flighty. These were the calls Danny always looked forward to, to the point where, if Alex was late in calling, Danny would actually call him.
The teen was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the car door shut or the footsteps approaching until the shadow fell over him. "Hi," he mumbled, tipping his head back to glance up at his "mom."
"Daniil Hunter Fenton," she began, hands on hips and frowning heavily, "what were you thinking, running off like that?"
He sighed, closing his eyes. "I couldn't sleep. I needed to dosomething, so I came out here." He opened his eyes again. "I didn't want to wake you."
"Danny…." Maddie sighed. "Fine. But at least tell us next time you decide to leave, okay? Leave a note or something."
"Alright."
They were quiet for a long moment as Maddie sat down next to Danny and the two just watched the town. Then Maddie glanced down to see Danny's wrists spinning wildly. She sighed again. "...It's getting worse, isn't it?"
Danny dug his nails into his palms, forcing his hands to stop rotating. "No."
"Danny."
The teen looked away.
"Danny."
He sighed. "Yeah, it's getting worse."
Maddie nodded. "I thought as much." She stood, brushing herself off. "C'mon, let's get going."
Danny blinked at her. "Huh?"
She stretched out a hand to help him up. "You've got school, and I've got a couple tickets to buy. How'd you like to visit your godfather?"
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Santa Barbara, CA, 2011
"And that is why I say The Hobbit p'owns The Silmarillion." The man speaking grinned proudly at his logic, which received groans and eye rolls from his audience.
"Shawn, what's that gotta do with the murder we're investigating?" Burton Guster—Gus—hissed at his best-friend-slash-partner.
Shawn Spencer's bright grin slipped slightly. "Oh, right. About that, it was the butler."
That was as much goofing around as Head Detective Carlton Lassiter could take. "Spencer! There is no damn butler, we're in a restaurant, not a mansion!"
The energetic brunette smiled once more. "Did I say butler? I meant waiter. Specificallyyyyy," Shawn drew the word out dramatically as he spun and pointed at one of the waitstaff, "him."
Green, shocked eyes went wide, staring at the group of policemen that were now watching him. "B—But I—!"
"See, he thought that—"
But Shawn's big reveal was cut off as the waiter went running and the Santa Barbara Police Department went chasing. Not one to be ignored, Shawn called after them, "You're welcome!" Then he turned to Gus. "Well, I think that went well. Jerk chicken?" He held up a fist.
Gus pounded it. "You know that's right." They headed for the door to leave.
"Shawn!"
The brunette winced. "So close." He turned, facing his disgruntled, red-faced father. "Yes, Dad?"
"What the hell was that, Shawn?" the man yelled. "You aren't paid to argue over books!"
Shawn rolled his eyes. "If you had your way, I wouldn't be paid, period."
Henry Spencer crossed his arms. "If I had my way, you'd be adetective, not a fraud!"
"Love you, too, Dad. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got dinner plans!" With that, the two sped out the door and into Gus' blue Echo hatchback. Once he'd slammed his door shut, Shawn yelped, "Drive, Gus, drive!"
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Amity Park, CA, 2011
Sam grinned when she saw her friend headed towards her. "Hey, Danny, what's—?" He blazed past her. "—up." She sighed, turning to Jazz and Tucker as they walked over. "He's been like this ever since he came back last month. What's going on?"
Tucker shrugged, and Jazz sighed. "I don't know. He won't talk to us anymore. Danielle's the only one he even lets near him." Jazz nodded down the hall to where Danny and his clone were standing, the girl chattering away happily. "He just locks himself in his room or goes to the Hill. He spent the night out there, y'know."
"What?" Sam gasped. "Why?"
Jazz shook her head. "Dunno. Mom just said his ADHD's getting worse. She's planning on taking him to stay with his godfather."
The two younger teens gaped. "Huh?" Tuck said. "What godfather?"
The redhead frowned. "I told you about him, didn't I?" She thought back. "Yeah, remember the friend of Mom's who left before we found out about Danny's hallucinations?"
"Yes," Sam snarled, still mad about the apparent abandonment.
"He's Danny's godfather."
"What?" both shrieked.
"That jerk?" Sam hissed.
"Why'd he leave Danny if he was his godfather?" Tuck wondered.
"Because he had ADHD, too. Well, ADD, but close enough," Jazz responded, leaning back against the lockers. "He stayed with us for almost a year, which was a lot longer than most places. But by that point, he was getting restless. So, he left."
"Left Danny to kill himself," Sam grumbled.
"No," Jazz murmured back, pausing as a group of jocks walked by. Once they were gone, she continued. "He told Mom about his suspicions before he left. It's actually because of him that Danny's still alive."
The three stared across at the two half-ghosts again. Danielle was still jabbering at her older counterpart. Every so often, Danny's mouth twitched as though he was going to smile, but it never truly formed. Each time he failed to smile, Danielle seemed to droop a little more.
Sam turned back to Jazz. "...This guy can help Danny?"
"He did before," the elder replied.
"...When does he leave?"
Jazz bit her lip, watching as Valerie went over to the half-ghosts and joined the (one-sided) conversation. Valerie was the only other one who Danny really let near him. "Tomorrow. He and Mom leave in the morning."
"Wh—Where are they going?" Tuck asked.
"...Santa Barbara."
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Santa Barbara, CA, 1989
"I'm never going to have kids," Shawn declared as he burst into the O'Connor home. This had become a frequent occurrence over the past two years as he and Maddie hung out whenever Gus wasn't available.
Maddie wasn't even thrown off by the odd statement. "What did Henry do now?" She, like Gus, had been told of the training, but unlike Gus, who tended to either ignore or not hear about the harsher lessons, she had tried to stop it. That had led to her being "fired" from the babysitter position, but just made her friendship with Shawn that much stronger.
Shawn threw himself down into a chair, accepting the cup of pineapple juice Maddie passed him. "He never lets me have any fun! Everything I do has to turn into some cop lesson, and he lectures me every single day now!"
"So you are swearing off kids of your own just because your dad's a jerk?" Maddie asked as she sat down next to him.
He took a swig of the juice, then sighed. "No, I guess not. But I'm definitely not gonna be a hard ass on my kids like he is on me!"
"Language."
Shawn ignored the half-hearted admonishment. "I'll actually be a funparent, no yelling or lecturing or 'how many hats?' Not from me. My kids will like me. And I'll play games with them all the time and never ask them to describe a room with their eyes closed or zigzag away from a bad guy or break out of a trunk—"
Maddie blinked. "When did he make you break out of a—? He locked you in a trunk?"
Shawn waved a hand dismissively. "It was before you moved here. The point is, I'm gonna be a way better parent than Dad!"
She chuckled, pushing back the new wave of anger at Henry and promising herself she'd never distance herself from her children. "I have no doubt you'll be the best dad ever, Shawn."
Shawn grinned. "And you'll be the next Mrs. Brady."
Maddie laughed now, doubling over.
When she'd calmed down, Shawn turned more serious again. "Hey, Mads?"
She grinned at the one nickname he'd chosen to use consistently. "Yeah?"
"Do you ever wanna have kids?"
Maddie smiled at him. "Yes, I do. I wanna settle down and live in a nice little house and have a couple of kids… and see my brother more often."
Shawn nodded, having heard stories of her brother who sent her some money each month or so. "I dunno about the settling down, but Iwould like to have kids." Then he grinned widely. "And I could make up new names for them each week!"
Maddie giggled at that. "You'd certainly drive their teachers crazy."
"What would you name your kids?" He was back to being serious, honestly curious about the topic.
She put a finger to her chin. "I'm not sure. But, if I ever have a boy, I'd like to name him Daniil."
Shawn's head tilted, eyes narrowing slightly in thought. "Daniel?"
"No, Dah-nee-eel."
"Daniil? Daniil." His head tilted the other way. "Why Daniil?"
"It was my dyedushka's name." At Shawn's confused look, she added, "My grandfather. And I'd like to use my brother's name as his middle name."
"Daniil Yassen…," Shawn tried out.
Maddie smiled vaguely, her eyes and mind a million miles away.
Shawn grinned at her as she slowly came back to Earth. "Daniil Yassen," he repeated, "I like it."
She smiled brightly at him. "And I'll name you godfather, and you'll have to come up with new names for him all the time and spoil him and teach him how to have fun and smile all the time."
Shawn smirked. "Oh, I'll teach him how to have fun, alright."
Maddie's smile slipped from her face, and she grabbed Shawn's hand. "And you have to help him, if I can't."
Shawn looked her in the eye, seeing how serious she was, and nodded. "Any time he needs help, he can come to me. I promise."
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A/N: Okay. So this chapter is staying mostly the same as my notes, but the rest of the story got trashed. Panicking over college courses does not a good story make. So a major redux is being done to get this story back on track and up to my standard of posting. As such, that means it'll be a while before the second chapter will be posted, and I highly apologize for that.
In other news, the whole of this story will be highly influenced by Rise Against's newest CD, Endgame. I recommend listening to it while reading this, as I'm trying to use a song from it as a basis for each chapter.
So, read and review, and please be patient with me. Any delays are strictly because I want this story to be as awesome as possible before I post it.
