"Why are you doing this?" he asked, trying to free himself, fear and also anger apparent in his voice.

Danny simply stared at him, hearing his parents coming down the stairs.

"Answer me! Why? I didn't do anything!" he cried out. His eyes widened as he saw Jack and Maddie entering the basement.

Still Danny didn't reply and looked at his parents, his expression shifting. No longer did he look unfazed by the situation. He looked near tears, his face that of a scared child's. "Mum, Dad, I- I caught a ghost. He was attacking me," he told them, showing them the wound on his shoulder. His mother glared at the ghost who was simply staring at her, frozen in place. "Nobody hurts my son."

When the ghost looked at him, afraid for his life, Danny simply smiled.

"No."

"Come on, Danny. Don't you want to know if it could actually work?"

He wasn't sure if he wanted to. The idea of ghosts actually existing scared him, not that he was ever going to tell his parents that. Two self-proclaimed ghost hunters having a child who was afraid of ghosts? No, he could never tell them.

"Yeah I mean, this is so cool! Your parents really are geniuses, even if they are a bit on the crazy side. I mean, look at this!"

Tucker was inspecting the various gadgets that were strewn across the basement and Danny thought it was a bit strange that his two best friends were more interested in what his parents did than he was. They were the ones who had wanted to look at the Ghost Portal after he had told them his parents had failed to get it to work the day before.

For as long as he could remember they had been obsessing over ghosts. No matter how many setbacks they experienced, after a few days of wallowing in self-pity they were back at it again, trying to prove the existence of ghosts. They had no doubt that they were indeed real.

"Aren't you the least bit curious?" Sam asked him and Danny shrugged. "Not really. It doesn't work, because there are no ghosts and certainly no place where they live."

Sam looked at the failure of a portal again. "It took them ages to build that. Don't you think that maybe there is a chance that they are right?"

Danny crossed his arms. "Come on, you too? There are no ghosts. My parents are simply wasting their money on this stuff. They've been researching for years and have never seen a ghost, nothing."

"But wouldn't it be cool though?" Tucker wondered. "Imagine if your parents were actually right. They could finally prove to this city that what they're doing isn't completely crazy."

That would be great. Then he would no longer get bullied at school, at least not at this rate. The whole city thought his parents were a joke, including the other kids at school. To them he was the strange guy who had nutjobs for parents. And while he had at first tried to convince them that they weren't, he no longer did. It only prolonged the teasing and made him gain more attention, attention which he hated.

It was almost funny that his sister was fairly popular at school, but then again, she was more socially gifted and could stand up for herself if needed. Danny couldn't, he simply lacked the self-esteem. He lacked a lot of things.

"So you won't take a look at it?" Sam asked him again and Danny rolled his eyes.

"I already told you I don't want to. …it's weird," he said, staring at the invention. Looking at it gave him the creeps. It was dark inside and he didn't know why, but he felt cold all over when he looked at it for too long.

Tucker stopped walking around the basement-turned-laboratory to stand next to him. "Your parents must've been pretty disappointed when it didn't work."

"You have no idea."

They had dragged him down here to witness the beginning of something great, as his father had put it. The two had been so excited. It had been a while since Danny had seen them like this and part of him had wanted it to work.

The look on their faces when the portal had failed to activate had been devastating to see. Years of work for nothing. His sister had said they would get over it like they always did after Danny had told her what had happened. But they had yet to talk to their children. It must have felt like a slap in the face to not get repaid for all their sleepless night of researching, for all their efforts to prove that they were right.

Something tugged at his heart as he recalled their looks of disappointment. Part of him wanted their portal to work so they could be happy. He hated seeing his parents like this. He wanted it to function, even if that meant ghosts really did exist and that his fears were completely justified.

"Okay. I'll do it," Danny gave in and Sam smiled brightly.

"Great! Although, you should probably wear one of those safety suits just in case," she told him and Tucker nodded in agreement. Typical. They wouldn't do it themselves but wanted him to go, even though they knew it could be dangerous.

He changed into the jumpsuit his dad had made for him. He was still trying to get him into the whole ghost hunting thing ever since he realised Jazz would most likely never follow in his and their mum's footsteps.

"Wait, that definitely has to go," Sam said and pulled one of his dad's infamous stickers off. His friends were looking at him expectantly and although Danny wanted to go inspect the portal to help his parents, he now felt the pressure of his friends too.

Danny had no idea how the portal worked. Sure, his parents had told him about it, but he hadn't listened. Now he was thinking maybe that had been a mistake. He had no idea what he was supposed to do in order to fix it.

Carefully he stepped into the portal, a shiver running down his spine. The air around him felt colder all of a sudden. Being inside this massive machine truly was creepy.

"And? See anything out of place?" he heard Tucker ask and he rolled his eyes. "I've been in here for a few seconds. Let me take a look first," Danny replied. Despite his friends' assumption that he apparently must know how to fix it, he truly had no idea. He didn't even know what to look for.

Hesitantly he took a few more steps inside. The light got dimmer and his footsteps were the only thing he heard besides his own breathing. The construct certainly was impressive. His parents had spent so much time down here, building what they believed to be the door to another world and Danny knew he had to do something. He couldn't let his parents down.

"Guys, I don't know what to do. It's really dark in here, I can't see anything anymore," he told them truthfully and sighed, disappointed in himself. He had no idea what to look for in order to fix the portal. There was no way he could repair it. There was also the possibility that his parents had simply been wrong. "I don't think I can do any-"

He suddenly stumbled over his own feet and held himself upright with his left hand against the wall, supporting his weight. Unexpectedly he felt something give way and the machine turned itself on.

"Danny? Something happened!" he faintly heard Tucker yell alongside with Sam screaming to get out of the portal, but it was too late. The last thing he saw was green light before pain, agonising pain consumed him, leaving him to only be able to scream in utter agony.

Danny saw him lying there, held to the table by shackles.

"Why?"

Every time he came down here he was asked this question and the answer never changed.

"Because you wanted it."

"Another detention? Danny, what's going on? Why are you always late to class?" his mother asked him, clearly exasperated. And Danny wanted to tell her why. He wanted to tell her that a ghost had stopped him on his way to school, that it wasn't his fault. He wanted her to know what was going on in his life right now, how he barely had time to study anymore.

But he didn't. She could never know.

"It wasn't my fault," he decided to reply.

"Then whose fault was it? I know you're leaving on time every day. Is something wrong?"

He couldn't stand the look she was giving him. She cared about him, wanted to know if he had any problems, but he couldn't tell her. She simply wouldn't understand.

"It was Dash," he muttered, hoping he sounded convincing. It wasn't really a lie. Dash did get him into trouble.

She now seemed even more worried. "Dash? Isn't that the boy Jazz was tutoring?"

Danny nodded and looked at the ground. "He's always…I don't want to talk about it," he said quietly. Dash truly was bothering him. Even after the portal had started to work, proving his parents were right, the bully still didn't leave him alone. How Danny wished he could make him pay for the years of bullying, making him come home crying when he had been younger.

"You can tell me anything, Danny. I'm your mother." How he wished that were true. How he wished he could truly tell her anything.

"Honey, look at me and tell me what's wrong."

Danny had never told them who was bullying him. Even as a small kid he had been ashamed that he couldn't stand up for himself. No matter how much they had begged him to tell them, he would never respond. He had believed if he told them things would get worse.

He looked up at her and saw how worried she was. Danny was no fool and neither was his mother. He knew she had noticed he didn't eat as much as he used to, or that he always looked tired. So far he had been able to avert any conversations about it. However, it appeared that wasn't the case anymore. And while he couldn't tell her the whole truth, she deserved to know about something else which was bothering him.

"Remember when I used to come home from school?" Danny said and saw her nod. "I never told you who was bullying me."

His mother frowned, realisation apparent on her face. "It was Dash, wasn't it? I never suspected- When he was here a few weeks ago he was so nice."

Danny laughed at that, though there was no humour behind it. "He's never nice to me. I can't remember him ever being nice."

"Oh Danny, I had no idea. He's still bullying you? I thought that had stopped," she replied shocked.

"I didn't want you guys to worry." He had known how much him being bullied had upset his parents, who had partly blamed themselves for it. "That's why I'm late. He's always being rude and then I get angry which just makes the whole situation worse. And then…well, it doesn't need saying."

His mum looked so sad at that moment and Danny wondered if maybe he shouldn't have told her.

"Doesn't Dash also get in trouble if he's late? Surely the teachers must've noticed this is happening." Danny nearly laughed again, but the concerned look his mother was giving him stopped him.

"He's a football star, mum. I'm a nobody at school. The teachers love him."

"I'm so sorry, Danny. I never realised this was still happening, and that it was Dash. I'm going to call the school-"

"No!" Danny quickly cut her off. "Don't, please. It will just make things worse. Let me just take the punishment and let's forget about this, okay?"

His mother looked at him in disapproval. "I can't forget about this. How else are we going to solve this problem?"

"We aren't. I've endured this for years, mum. You don't need to worry about it, alright? Just, don't call the school." His social life would be even more ruined if she did that.

Danny hoped she would let this go. Dash was the least of his problems anyway. He could beat him up, but that would be suspicious. So he had to let himself get bullied.

"I know you don't want that. Still, I'm worried about you… I'll tell Jazz she can't tutor Dash, at least not here anymore. Does that sound okay to you?" she asked and Danny nodded, smiling. "Yeah, that's okay. Thanks mum."

She ruffled his hair and smiled in return. "It's the least I can do."

Danny heard him sob as he listened to the goings-on downstairs.

"Please, just listen to me!"

"I'm sick and tired of your lies, ghost."

He heard muffled gasps, then silence. Danny got up and walked to his room.

Danny sighed and rolled his eyes, although a smile tugged at his lips. His father truly could get on someone's nerves fast, but how could you ever get mad at him? He was simply being himself.

"Good, it should be fixed now," his dad smiled and looked at the now repaired Fenton Ghost Weasel. Danny still felt queasy looking at it, remembering being crammed into it.

His mum and Jazz were away and his dad had thought now would be the perfect opportunity to spend time with his son. And spending time with him meant bonding over ghost hunting. If his dad only knew how much ghost hunting Danny actually did.

"Why did it need fixing in the first place?" Danny asked his father who immediately began to explain. "Your mother and I weren't quite satisfied with its abilities. You see, the Fenton Ghost Weasel could only hold so much ghostly material before it was full. We tried to build something new which would be able to contain much more mass, the Fenton Thermos, but we never got it to work."

Danny didn't know what he'd do without the Fenton Thermos. It had helped him capture ghosts so often that he was beginning to lose count. His parents always build gadgets that didn't seem to work at first, but Danny would be finished if they didn't exist.

"So I decided to try if I could improve the Fenton Ghost Weasel and we'll see if it will work next time a ghost shows up. It's only a matter of time until a new one appears," his dad told him and Danny nodded.

His father smiled at him. "Thank you for helping. I'm glad that you're showing more interest in ghost hunting, son. I used to think you didn't believe in ghosts at all like your sister did."

"I just thought now that ghosts started appearing at my school I should be more prepared," Danny said. He used to believe he and his parents would never have anything in common, but since the accident that no longer was true.

"And you should be. With our weapons no ghost is safe!" his dad proclaimed. "We will hunt every ghost down. They will wish they would've never come here!"

Danny laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I mean, with you and mum always on the lookout for ghosts they will have no chance."

"Danny, I'm glad you have such faith in us." He put one hand on Danny's shoulder, "now, are you sure you don't want me to make another jumpsuit for you? The last one disappeared…"

"I think I'm fine, dad. If I ever feel like I need one I'll tell you," Danny assured him and smiled at him. "I should go now. I promised Tucker I'd come over. I'll see you later."

"Do you know why they're always down there? I mean, even more so than they usually are," Jazz asked him and Danny shrugged.

"Maybe they discovered something new, I don't know."

"Whatever it is, they should spend more time with us. It's the most important step towards a healthier relationship with someone's parents. How about we ask them to go on a weekend trip somewhere?"

Danny nodded and smiled. "Sounds like fun."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I told you."

"Danny, I'm your best friend, I know when something's up."

They were in the park on the swing. It was getting dark, but that didn't bother them. They had been fighting a ghost an hour ago and Danny hadn't wanted to go back home yet. Sam had had to go back home, but Tucker had decided to stay.

"Danny."

He looked at his friend, seeing the worry in his eyes. "I don't know, Tucker. It's getting harder and harder."

"What is?" he asked Danny who was now looking at the ground.

"The whole half ghost thing. I thought I was over it. But, I hate lying to my parents all the time. I hate the fact that my grades are suffering because I'm ghost hunting. I used to have good grades and now I can't even bear to look at my report card. I mean, I wanted to be an astronaut, still want to be, but now I'll never be able to if I keep this up. I just feel like my whole life is going down the drain."

It wasn't often that he talked to his friends about this. Once or twice he had let it slip that he wasn't satisfied with how his life had changed, but he had never told someone this in such a direct way.

Tucker seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. "I guess your grades really got worse. But I thought you liked ghost hunting, helping others."

"Of course I like helping others, but what do I get in return? Everyone hates me, no matter which form I'm in. When I'm like this I get bullied at school, laughed at by others and receive punishment I don't deserve. When I'm a ghost my parents are hunting me. My own parents. Ever since the accident my whole life got so much more complicated. I hunt ghosts, save people and for what? I don't even know what I'll do after high school if I keep this up! My parents don't say it, but they're disappointed in me and I can't blame them. My grades are crap."

"Danny, you know what for. You're saving lives! Without you ghosts would be tearing this city apart," Tucker replied and Danny sighed.

"I know, believe me. It doesn't make it easier though. I sometimes wish this would have never happened, that I would have never stepped into that stupid portal. I'd still be me, normal Danny Fenton. I'd still get bullied, yeah, but at least I'd get sleep, at least I could study and do something for my future."

Tucker was silent, most likely trying to figure out what to say. It felt good to finally talk to someone about it. Danny could always rely on his best friend.

"I never knew it bothered you this much," was the reply. "I really had no idea. Let's say you were back to normal again, who would defend the city?"

"My parents," Danny told him and Tucker laughed. "Come one, you believe your parents can defend the whole city from ghosts?"

"I…don't know. They aren't idiots. As a team they can be quite dangerous. I think my parents could handle themselves."

Tucker didn't look very convinced. "I don't know, man. This is all hypothetical anyway. You're Danny Fenton, half-human, half-ghost. Even though this is a large burden to carry, I believe this happened for a reason. And hey, you might still be able to become an astronaut. You still have time to improve your grades."

Hypothetical. Tucker was right, wasn't he? He couldn't simply ditch the ghost hunting. No. He had to learn to deal with all of this. But he had already tried and it wasn't working. Danny didn't know how much longer he could go on like this.

At night he couldn't fall asleep, busy thinking about what his parents might say if they ever found out. Would they accept him the way he was? What would Jazz say? His sister was always worrying about him, but could she accept a brother who was half ghost? It scared him, the thought that they could reject him. Most humans would reject him and so would the ghosts. Both sides thought of him as something unnatural, something which shouldn't exist.

"I never noticed that this was on your mind so much," Tucker said quietly. It was an odd moment, an odd conversation. They normally didn't talk too much about their feelings. Danny had never deemed it necessary. He had always thought they knew each other so well they had no need for this. Perhaps he had been wrong.

"It's stupid, isn't it? I can't change the fact that this happened, yet I can't stop wallowing in self-pity. I hate it," Danny muttered, starting to resent himself. Why couldn't he just accept it?

Tucker shook his head and looked at him. "It's not stupid. You've got so much stuff to do. I've been wondering how the hell you were managing to do everything you were supposed to. I guess you don't."

Danny chuckled, "no, I don't."

"And you're sure you don't want to tell your parents? Maybe they'd understand. Hell, they might be able to help you," he tried to reason with him.

"No. I don't want to risk it. I've got enough problems already."

Silence followed again and Danny looked up at the now dark sky. It was a cloudless night and the stars were visible, twinkling down at him. He wasn't ready to give up on his dream, not yet. Had this truly happened for a reason, as Tucker had said? He didn't want this. He wanted to be normal and live his life like he was supposed to.

"Whatever happens in the future, you'll always have us," Tucker said after a few minutes and Danny smiled. "And you can talk to us whenever you want to."

"Thank you."

Danny couldn't express how grateful he was that he had friends like them. Without them his life would be an utter disaster.

"Stop telling them lies," Danny said darkly as he looked at the ghost. "I've had enough."

"I will never stop," he glared at him. "I will never stop telling them what happened until they finally believe me."

"Then I'll simply make you stop."

"Danny?"

It was the only way. He had to do this, for his own sake. He didn't care anymore what would happen if he stopped ghost hunting. What mattered to him was his future, his life. Everyone was so disappointed in him and there was only one way he could change that.

Danny looked at the Fenton Ghost Catcher and shuddered. Now that he was determined to do this it looked ominous. He had seen it work when he had saved Tucker after his wish to Desiree. He could use it to get rid of his ghost half once and for all. No more ghost hunting, no more sleepless nights, no more worrying about his parents finding out his secret.

Once he was separated into two parts he would simply capture his other half with the Fenton Thermos and bury it, never to be seen again. His life could go on like it was supposed to.

Taking a deep breath Danny transformed, heart in his throat from anticipation. There was no going back once he went through.

"I guess this is goodbye, ghost powers. While you were helpful, you're getting in the way of my life," Danny said and chuckled. Now he was talking to himself. "This is it."

He closed his eyes. For the last time they would shine bright neon green. For the last time his hair would be white. And for the last time in his life he would feel like a freak of nature, something which didn't belong, something that shouldn't exist.

And so Danny flew through the Fenton Ghost Catcher.