"I'll be gone for the next week, sweetie. Don't forget to sign for the grocery delivery on Friday, ok?"

Maddie zipped her final suitcase closed, turning to look at her son in the doorway. His arms were crossed and he was frowning, the pull at his healing split lip painful.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Mom?" he asked quietly. "I mean, after what happened with Dad...?"

Maddie smiled reassuringly at her son, a touch of sadness in her eyes. She abandoned her luggage and swept him up in a tight hug. "I know you're worried about me, sweetie, but that's just what being a monster hunter means. Sometimes accidents happen. Besides, this trip will just be a bit of information gathering, I'm not expecting to find anything right off the bat."

Danny leaned into her grasp for a moment before remembering he was a teenager. He wriggled free and wiped his nose roughly. "You're going to miss Jazz coming home. She was really excited to see you again."

Maddie tousled Danny's hair. He made a face, but allowed the touch and she reveled in it. "I'll be sure to call her when I get back. Now remember, Danny." She put her hands on her hips and wagged a finger at him with mock seriousness. "No wild parties. I don't want to get word of you and Sam and Tucker throwing a rager while I'm gone."

Danny groaned. "Please, the most trouble we'll ever get into is staying up past midnight." He frowned again. "Not like you and Dad..."

Maddie hated the bitter air that descended on them. She hugged Danny one more time, squeezing him extra tight, and said. "I'll be back before you know it."


"Fly me to the moon/Let me play among the stars..."

Danny was curled up on the couch, humming slightly off tune to himself. He was trying to read a comic, just like he'd tried to play a game or tried to eat a snack. There was a buzzing in his mind and an ache in his stomach. He could only see his mother loading up two suitcases and a dufflebag into the RV and backing out with a cheery wave.

Not too long ago, it would have been two of them. His dad's giant grin would have seen him and his sister off, his booming voice would have yelled tearful goodbyes at them all the way down the street, even if it was only a day trip.

The pair of them had survived all kinds of monsters since their college days. They'd fought vampires, dodged hexes from faeries, stripped power from witches, always together and always smiling. They invented ways to counter spells, machines were built to contain every elemental beast dusty tomes spoke of.

But now? Maddie was off on her own and Jack was...

Danny jumped as the doorknob turned. He looked over the edge of the couch as his sister walked in the front door, calling out, "Mom? You home?"

"She left a few hours ago." Danny clambered off the couch, flopping his comic on the side table. He grabbed his sister for a hug.

Jazz held him tight for a moment. But she was exhausted from her drive, and the news of her mother's departure wasn't making her feel better. She pushed Danny away to grab her shoulder bag and marched inside, heading for the kitchen. "She knew I was coming home this week. How long will she be gone?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, closing the door and saying quietly, "Until Tuesday, probably."

"Tuesday! But my classes start back up on Monday!" Jazz grabbed a chipped mug from the cabinet. It had been Maddie's all through college and Jazz had usurped it the moment she'd graduated high school. "Mom did remember that, right?"

"She said she was sorry." Danny watched from the living room as Jazz emptied a water bottle into the mug. "But you know how she gets."

"Yeah, I do. Her and Dad, both." Jazz took a long sip. "That's what has me so worried."

Silence reigned between the siblings. Jazz was tired, she'd driven since that morning and she just wanted to collapse in her bed. She'd planned on talking to her mother this week, trying to get the older woman to open up about everything. She'd wanted to go to the history museum together and check out the display on European Folklore and see if her mother could come up with some new theory or have an epiphany for a new device. She'd wanted a girls' night to feel normal, and she'd wanted to talk about her classes she hated and her professors she liked.

"I guess I can take a nap for a while..." Jazz glanced at Danny who'd entered the kitchen. He reminded her of a baby deer – unsure of his footing and ready to bolt a moment's notice. "You want to go out for dinner later?"

"We can?" Jazz smiled at the hope in her little brother's voice. Despite his shy nature and faux macho teenage exterior, he really liked being able to spend time with Jazz.

"Wake me up in about an hour?"

"I can do that." Danny was smiling, brighter than he had in a while despite a slight wince. Jazz frowned, looking closely at his face...

The phone rang and Danny snatched it up quickly. "Hello?"

Jazz could hear a voice, high pitched and chatty. Not their mother. Danny paused for a moment after a lilted noise that must have been a question. "Yeah, Jasmine Fenton is here. Me? I'm her... cousin."

Then Danny shoved the phone in Jazz's hands, stalking out of the kitchen with a dark glower.

"Danny?" Jazz called. She put the phone to her ear, but covered the mouthpiece before shouting, "What happened to you? Where are you going?"

"Out," was the sharp reply. "With Sam or Tucker. I'll be back tonight."

"Wait, don't forget about – " The door slammed shut and Jazz winced at the echo. She removed her hand and asked, "Hello, who is this?"

"This is Amy Steinman with Genius Magazine. Did I call at a bad time?"

Jazz sighed. No wonder Danny was so upset.

"No, no. Did you want to speak with me?"

"Yes, I wanted to try and schedule an interview with you, and perhaps your mother. I can schedule you as early as tonight if you can..."


Tucker was leaning on the picnic table, tapping away at his phone. The late afternoon sun made the screen hard to see, but he was squinting at it without a care.

"So they, like, called right when she got home?" He gave a low whistle. "That magazine must have some kind of tracker on your sister."

Sam glowered and punched Tucker on the shoulder. "That's not the point, Tucker." She turned her glare on Danny, but softened it just a touch. "And Danny, you -"

"I shouldn't have snapped, I know." Danny huffed. He folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on them, looking out at the park. A few families were milling about, a group of teenagers looking rather unsavory but still behaving for the most part. Danny often wondered how many monsters still lived in Amity Park even with his mother around. "It's just that Mom left, Jazz just got home, and I've already lost her to 'Amy Steinman with Genius Magazine.' She's probably already forgotten about getting dinner with me..."

Sam touched him lightly on the shoulder and Danny shrugged her off with a sigh. "I know it's not right to be mad at her. It's not her fault I'm just a dumb kid born into a family of geniuses."

"You're not dumb, Danny," Tucker tried. But Danny had already stopped listening. "You wanna crash at my place tonight?"

"Nah, Jazz'll just get madder if she's all alone on her first day back. Maybe tomorrow." Danny glanced at the sky. The sky was beginning to streak with pinks and oranges. "I'd better get going."

"Don't forget your dad," Sam said quietly. Danny hated to be reminded about it in public, especially if Dash happened to be nearby.

Danny groaned as he stood. He grabbed the chewed up leash and called out into the park, "Jack! Jack, we're going home!"

Across the grounds, blue eyes lit up. A wide grin stretched across Jack's face and he ran as fast as he could toward the sound of his son's voice. As soon as he was close enough, he leapt, slamming into Danny and licking wildly at his face.

Danny sputtered at his dad's usual enthusiastic greeting. Whether gone for a few minutes or all day, Jack never wavered in showing his affections.

"Jack! Ja- Dad! Get down!" Danny laughed. For a brief moment, he ignored the fact that he was in public. He decided to forget that he wold suffer for this at school when it started back up on Wednesday. He wrapped his arms around his dad and hugged him tight.

Sam and Tucker smiled at the pair. From far away, it would look completely normal. A teenage boy and his dog, a huge great dane with salt and pepper fur. His blue eyes were bright and he barked happily, wagging his whole body excitedly.

A faerie's curse one year ago had changed Jack Fenton from middle aged man to young puppy, and Maddie had yet to find a counter spell to cure him. They were still unsure if the man's mind was gone, or if his childlike love of fairy tales and his children just fit in perfectly with that of his canine form. But rumors spread like wildfire in Amity Park, and it wasn't long before Danny felt the full brunt of his family's quirks and oddities.

Jack whined as the leash clipped to his bright orange collar, and Danny gave him a sad smile. "Sorry, Dad. I don't want to be stopped for violating the leash law again." He looked at his friends and gave a small wave. "See you guys tomorrow."


This is a gift fic for the amazing acid_and_oil who wanted a BatB AU that wasn't like all the others. I don't know where you went, but I hope if you find this that you're happy where you are.

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...
- For Good, Wicked OBC