Back to back we fight
In secrecy and plight
When you fall to their delight
I will catch you from any height
We have blurred their sight
Don't let them see our might
Soft miniscule ticking fills the darkened room in a rhythmic beat, the wooden backrest of my chair uncomfortably digging into my hunched back. I gave up on finishing my homework a while ago. The red numbers of my alarm tell me it's 3:42 in the morning, prompting my sluggish mind enough to let me know of its desire to just shut off and let blissful sleep claim me.
The annoyingly familiar tune of my phone penetrates the peaceful silence and I jump into a fighting stance at the suddenness of it, my chair noisily clattering to the hard ground. The rigid tension in my muscles loosens somewhat after the initial shock wears off and I attempt to calm my nerves. After a while I notice the tune is slightly off.
Actual fear sizes me and I rush to my phone. I look at the display and surely enough while entering several passwords I realize it is in fact a distress call from Phantom. The adrenaline returns tenfold. While looking for his location I am about to call Sam and Tucker, yet seeing where exactly the blue dot is makes me freeze on the spot. No need to call the others, it will be suspicious and I still have a chance to manage this without revealing our unlikely alliance. I eye the hidden thermos, glance back at the digital map in my hand and formulate a plan. Holstering a small ectogun I command all the control I acquired from training and fighting to calm down my buzzing nerves. I head downstairs into my parents laboratory with an air of nonchalance and an underlying sense of ever present duty. On the heavy steps I overlook the vast space, spotting my parents near Phantom farther down, who is restrained on a metallic table, fluorescent green liquids illuminating the darkened laboratory. The sight horrifies me, almost lets me stumble and freeze, but right now every second may be vital. The instant I am close enough I loudly call out.
"Mom! Dad!"
Both stop with soiled tools still in their hands and turn to me. The sight greeting me mockingly is overwhelmingly terrifying, barbaric even. In this moment they scare me more than any ghost I have encountered until now and I barely manage not to let it show. Now comes the tricky part.
'Don't even glance at his face, much less his body. You'll lose it Fenton, and with it your position and their trust.' I mentally berate myself.
"Seeing as you're still awake I wanted to happily announce that I managed to catch the Wisconsin Ghost."
Both hunters momentarily forget about Phantom and congratulate me with ecstatic cheers and praise. My conviction wavers and my darkened eyes stray to the partly dissected ghost's face. Phantom weakly glances in my direction with hope gleaming in his dulled eyes while my parents happily discuss their experiments and tests for the new ghost. After sharing their enthusiasm my mother expectantly turns to me.
"So honey, where is this ectoplasmatic scum?"
"Upstairs in my Fenton thermos. It would be better if you take him down here to the lab now before he somehow manages to escape, you never know with these powerful entities."
Both eye me worriedly but I calmly refute their concerns. I counter their distrust in my abilities with an insulted yet humorous look.
"I can manage myself, Inviso-Bill is restrained and far too weak to even manage a peep from what I can see. Good job by the way." I force a genuine smirk to overtake my features and relax into a confident stance.
They hesitate a few more seconds, but in the end their ecstatic scientific minds win out and they head upstairs, fueled by the prospect of groundbreaking discoveries and international fame. As soon as they disappear from sight my coiled body immediately springs into fluid movements and I start setting my plan into action. The hidden thermos in my room may give me some time, yet I have to act fast, every second is crucial. I rush to the console and open the restrains, not even hesitating before hauling up the groaning body and almost throwing him through the portal. Several glasses are opened, its green glowing contents dumped on the already sticky surface of the operation table. I throw the empty glasses through the portal as well before hurriedly closing the restrains and activating the termination process. The ectoplasm on the table briefly smokes, but aside from that nothing happens. I curse loudly while slamming my fist on an empty surface of the console. The smell of acidic lemons penetrates the air and just a few seconds later my parents barge in. Their jovial expressions begin to slip as they notice the scene I created.
"Danny? What happened?"
I contort my anxious expression into an expression of rage, disappointment and slight fear and seeing who I am dealing with does not make this feat difficult. I just need to pretend that it's not directed at them.
"Phantom."
I try to growl this word with as much murderous intent as possible. They are too shocked at the sudden turn of events and already try to figure out what exactly happened just by looking between me and the metallic table, so I elaborate.
"As soon as you left it started talking. This ectoplasmatic filth grinned at me and told me that if its existence is about to cease, it will take me as a consolation prize to the afterlife. Make me a part of those you hunt, as I would surely return for vengeance. The moment he started taking a deep breath in concentration I knew we were in danger. So I did the only thing left to save us. I terminated him."
Silence and shock mingle in the air with the sour stench of rotten lemons. Luckily my adrenaline and fear of getting caught can be chalked up to being shaken from the danger I was supposedly in just mere minutes ago.
"Sorry Mom, I know how important this was for your scientific breakthrough."
I briefly look down in slight shame and angry disappointment before my father speaks up in exuberant enthusiasm. Me and my mother are surprised at this display before he waves the thermos around.
"Don't worry Danny-o, we still have the Wisconsin Ghost you caught!"
My father's expression gains a bit more solemn pride as he continues.
"Besides, thinking of our safety first was a very noble thing to do. And reacting so quickly in the face of such grave danger, I am proud of you my son."
His muscular arms envelop me in a lovingly warm hug. I try not to cringe and tense as the ectoplasm from his jumpsuit smears and sticks to my clothing. The fluorescent green liquid might as well have the dark shade of a deep red.
I return the hug and we separate to continue their research. My father inserts my glorious catch into the soundproof containment cell and we watch the mist solidify. However, instead of the threatening presence of the Wisconsin Ghost we find ourselves observing the disoriented movements of the infamous Box Ghost. After recognizing his surroundings he starts yelling at us, most likely his annoying catchphrase of 'Beware!'. We stiffly stand around in another bout of thick silence with matching disbelieving expressions. I break the confused silence by quickly grabbing my holstered gun and opening the cell. My parents protest loudly but I pay them no mind. I bend down and furiously grab the smaller ghost by the front of his shirt, putting the gun near his head and charging it with a high-pitched whine.
"Where is the Wisconsin Ghost, scum!"
The usually fearless ghost cowers in obvious fear and the hunters behind me momentarily pause their protests at my deadly tone. The ghost in my grip reconsiders his answer and hesitantly offers what I know to be the truth in an uncharacteristically meek manner.
"I don't know, honestly. As far as I know he should be in his mansion, plotting Phantom's demise as he always does."
His attempt at humor falls flat in the dead silence and I try to look unconvinced instead of humored by his answer and narrow my stormy eyes.
"You are sure you don't know." I state in a threatening yet deceptively calm tone.
"Yes! I'm sure!"
A few frantic nods and his honesty make my face fall in obvious displeasure. A muttered "useless waste" escapes my downturned lips. Without so much as a moment of contemplation I angrily walk over to the portal to open it and throw him in before quickly closing it again. My parent's dumbfounded expressions morph into disappointment and my mother begins to reprimand me good-naturedly. She knows that most things I do have a good reason behind it, even if it does not seem that way at first.
"Why did you throw it into the Ghost Zone? We could have studied it."
A deep sigh leaves my lips while I drag a hand across my tired face. My hands feel cold and clammy.
"Mom, that ghost has the lowest level I know of. The information, if we would have been able to gather any at all, would have been sparse and not different from what we already have. We had stronger ghosts in captivity."
Understanding brightens their eyes and I mentally cheer in relief. After a while I guiltily glance at the messy table covered in ectoplasm and wince slightly.
"I just messed up monumentally. First Phantom attacks me the moment you leave and then it turns out I accidently captured the wrong ghost. I should just have stayed in my room."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. Who knows, maybe Phantom would have attacked us with his wail even without your interruption and knowing our distracted minds we might not have even noticed."
After seemingly remembering something her gaze turns thoughtful.
"Why did you come down to the lab at this hour anyway?"
"Oh, I always check on the lab almost every night to make sure there are no ghosts messing with our equipment, kind of stuck as a routine after doing it a few times."
My mother's contemplative expression turns into one of sad concern and her delicate hands softly grasp my shoulders. More ectoplasm seeps into my clothes and I feel a deep sense of unease and nausea.
"Oh sweetie, you don't have to. And you certainly shouldn't interrupt your sleep just to check the lab. It should be our responsibility, after all it's our main job and workplace. You still have school to worry about."
An honest, sheepish smile pulls at my lips due to their worry directed at me. I have not always received such close and concerned attention, but ever since I stepped into their footsteps they started to include me more into their lives.
"I know Mom, but you guys are sometimes so tired after one of your binges that I wouldn't have the heart to wake you just to check the lab when I can do it myself."
"Your health and education is way more important to us than letting those irresponsible urges get the best of us. Don't worry about us, we'll figure something out."
I am faced with their brightly shining confidence, but I refuse to back down without a compromise. So I offer them a deal.
"How about this. I'll check in on weekends and you will do it on weekdays, that way you won't have to worry about me not getting enough sleep and you can sleep through on the weekends."
Uncertainty is clear, but arguing further would get them nowhere with the way we immensely care for each other. A Fenton can be very stubborn and we all know that. Besides, my deal is reasonable enough to not immediately turn it down. After another moment of silent contemplation in the dimmed light of my parents mostly dark laboratory they acquiesce and offer me a stern yet proud smile.
"Alright, but keep to your end of the deal. That means no late night visits to the lab on weekdays young man."
A cocky grin claims my lips and I retort playfully with a light laugh.
"Only if you manage not to neglect your own duties. You should move your binges to the weekend if you don't want me patrolling here at night."
I mentally add asking Tucker to install a device to detect ectoplasmatic entities to my list, seeing as my patrolling and meddling will be cut short.