The woman pulled herself from the fiery wreckage, grunting and rubbing her head. She found herself lucky to be alive, or barely unscathed. She turned around and took a moment to take in the ruins of what was the jet built by her husband. She cringed and checked her hand, feeling that her glove had gotten warm and wet. "God-" she looked around and rubbed her bleeding temple. She found herself at the base of a canyon, surrounded by trees, rocks and shrubs. The sky was dark, she guessed it was probably about eight-thirty or nine o' clock. The sky was clouded- though she wasn't sure if it was the weather or the smoke billowing from the flames. She stood up and stumbled for a moment, "I'm so sorry, Jack." she whispered.
There was a loud, pained grunt. Maddie thought the voice sounded familiar- young, echoed, like a haunted teenage boy. She panicked and grabbed the nearest thing she could use for a weapon: a branch. "Phantom's responsible for this..." she growled and stepped around the wreck, looking for the spectral adolescent. As she made it to the opposite side of the crash, she spotted the ghost boy, hunched over on his knees, one hand supporting himself and the other hovering around his abdomen. Out his back, there was a metal piece of the jet's framing, coated evenly with his blood. She paused and pulled her eyebrows together, hearing that he was now coughing violently, ectoplasm spattering beneath him. "Ph-Phantom?" she asked, forcing confidence into her voice and raising the branch higher.
Phantom turned his head to look at Maddie, ectoplasmic blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. His entire body shook in pain to the point that his left arm was on the verge of giving out under him.. His head bobbed with every rasping breath, trying desperately to stay conscious.
Maddie lowered the branch, seeing how pathetic and weak this ghost had become. But she shoved the sympathy aside and rose the branch again thinking he was just begging for attention, rage filling her chest, her eyes welled with tears, "L-Look at what you've done!" she screamed, "I have to go home to my kids!" she sobbed, "And you had to stow away on my jet!" she cried, "What were you thinking!?"
Phantom swallowed hard, letting himself collapse to the side. He panted and kept a shaking hand over the wound, as though somehow his ghost energy would keep it from hurting or bleeding.
Maddie thought for a moment, remembering the very moment before the jet crashed, "Wh-What were you thinking?" she repeated, lowering the branch. She remembered that he tried to protect her. Before the jet hit the ground, Phantom had wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from the initial explosion. Upon the collision, they were shaken apart. Fortunately for Maddie, she was able to walk away with only a bump to the head.
Phantom however...
Danny Phantom laid on his side, a piece of shrapnel lodged in his stomach, closer to his right side. Bright, glowing green blood oozed from the wound and the corners of his mouth. His eyes were vacant as he struggled for breath.
This wasn't an act. Phantom really needed medical attention.
Maddie dropped the branch an fell to her knees, feeling conflicted. She held her head in her hands and shook, "I'm so scared..." she cried, then she felt a cold hand touch her forearm. She gasped and looked up. Phantom was looking at her, smiling weakly. He grunted and panted, lying back down on his side. Maddie looked down, "L-let me help you..." she checked the wound for a moment. "I... I'll have to look for some sort of cloth to use as bandages..." she stood up, "Just... try and stay awake, okay?"
He reached forward and grabbed her ankle as she tried walking off. Looking at her desperately, "Don't leave..." he wheezed.
She looked down at him, eyes welling with tears, "Th- But you're hurt." she knelt by him. "W-Wait! You're a ghost, then..." She smiled optimistically, "Y-you'll be okay."
Phantom shook his head.
"No?" Maddie pulled her eyebrows together, "Don't be ridiculous." she shook her head, "But..." She took a moment to see how green his gloves had turned. "You... really need help..."
His eyes rolled back in exhaustion.
"Phantom! Stay with me!" she called, catching the boy's attention. "Listen- you need to let me find something for bandages." she suddenly felt a drop of water hit the bridge of her nose. "Oh no..." she looked around, "We need shelter..." she looked around. "I'll go find bandages!" she jumped up and began to run around the crashed jet.
"No..." Phantom whined, coughing a little more. "We... we need help..." he panted and opened a shaking hand. He aimed his open palm to the sky and shot a plasma blast straight up, making his own flare. The shot was silent in comparison to the approaching rain, and the green light was invisible to the light that shone from the remaining flames.
Maddie came back around and dropped to her knees, having found a towel and torn it into strips. "I think this'll work..." she muttered, "We have to pull this out- okay?" she reached for the shrapnel. Then she stopped, seeing that it went in through the front and out the back. Six inches stuck out from each side. The rain started pouring harder. Maddie shook her head, "We need to get to shelter." she commented and looked around, "We need to get you out of the rain..."
"Just... Let's get this thing out..." Phantom rasped, "Then we'll find... find shelter..." he breathed, gripping the spike of metal. He took a deep breath and went intangible, taking the metal out almost painlessly. When he became tangible again, he yelled in pain and growled, clenching his teeth and writhing in agony.
Maddie quickly wrapped the towel around Phantom's stomach, quickly turning it green. However, what concerned her was the fact that in some places where the blood spread, was actually bright red. She shook the thought from her mind and tied off the bandages. "Okay... think you can lie on your back?" she asked.
Phantom adjusted himself to lie on his back, cringing at the wound on his back. He groaned in pain. Maddie took his hand and gently placed it on the towel that rested on his stomach.
"Let me see about shelter." She jumped up and ran off.
Phantom watched her run off, "Mom..." he breathed, and looked back up to the sky, squinting at the falling rain. He rose his hand and fired at the sky again, hoping someone was watching. The rain had put the flames out, and the plasma shot burned out quickly. The two crash victims were now drenched from top to bottom.
Maddie saw the green light from the plasma shot. Completely unaware, she ran back to check on Phantom, seeing he was still alone, she knelt by him, "Are you shooting the plasma?" she asked.
Phantom nodded weakly, "Do... Do you have a flare gun?" he asked, almost bitterly and sarcastically.
Maddie ignored the tone and sunk, "No..." She sighed, "The best I can do is to take shelter under the jet." she said, "But..." She looked down at the wound, then she shook her head, "Come on- up we go." she scooped her arms under his and carefully lifted him up. She dragged him and laid him under the left wing of the jet, leaving a trail of blood from where it had pooled under Phantom. She sank upon seeing the trail, beginning to question whether or not Phantom was even a ghost. She took a deep breath and sat down next to him, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging them close. "I just hope my kids are okay..." she whimpered, "And my husband." She looked over for a response from Phantom, "Are... Are you going to be okay?" she asked. "I mean... you're a ghost, right?" she asked, "Something like this isn't supposed to happen." She said, "Hey- Phantom!" she called.
Phantom jolted, his eyes forcing themselves open. "I'm... I'm really tired..." he whispered, barely audible through the rain.
Maddie leaned over to listen better, "What?"
"I'm really tired..." he slurred, "I wanna go home..." he winced and gripped the towel a little bit.
"Are you going to be okay?" she repeated, now realizing it was probably a stupid question.
Phantom weakly shook his head. "No..." he breathed, "Everything goes back and forth between hurting and being numb..." he stated, "It hurts to breathe... I can't see clearly..." he said, "I can barely hear you..." he gasped and cringed.
Curiosity taking over, she took a deep breath and carefully took his left hand, taking the glove off and feeling his wrist. She gasped upon feeling a pulse, albeit weak, but she found a pulse. "Y-You're human!" She backed away in horror, "H-How?!"
Phantom felt a pit in his chest, "D-Don't be mad..." he panted, a lump forming in his throat, his heart began pounding faster than it ever had before.
"Mad?!" Maddie exclaimed, "You're so young! Your parents must be worried sick!" she held her head.
Phantom weakly opened his eyes and looked out into the rain. "We..." He lifted his hand, "Need..." his hand began to glow before he fired another beam into the sky.
Maddie jolted at the sound of the blast, "S-stop doing that!"
Phantom dropped his hand in exhaustion, letting his eyes drift shut again, "I'm sorry, Mom..." he breathed. "I'm sorry..." he coughed.
Maddie reached over and held his hand. She sighed and adjusted herself to get more comfortable, leaning her head back and giving Phantom's hand a gentle squeeze. "You're going to be okay, Sweetie..." she sniffled, not realizing that Phantom was apologizing to her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, crying softly.
She wasn't able to save him. The boy was going to die before they got help, and there was nothing she could do about it. With each moment, she felt his grip weaken more and more. Eventually, she drifted to sleep.

She found herself walking through her front door, after another day of ghost hunting. Jack had been walking right behind her. But something was off. The house was eerily quiet. "We're home~!" she sang out, pushing the nervousness aside. She walked to her kitchen, suddenly noticing that Jack had grown quiet. It was... uncharacteristic of him. She gave him a brief concerned look, then called up the stairs, "Kids?" she called. "Danny! Jazz!"
"Maddie..." a started somberly, "They're uh... they're not here." he said, giving her an uneasy, blue-eyed look.
"Oh, are they hanging out with Sam and Tucker?" she asked. She was in a somewhat cheery mood, "Or staying after school?" she asked.
Jack shook his head, "No... They're gone..." he stated.
Maddie's body ran ice cold, "What do you mean?" she asked.
"They... they took out the Specter Speeder... And there was another ghost. They were attacked and the Speeder crashed..." He looked up at her, his eyes seemed dead, "None of them survived."
Maddie shook her head and stepped back, "No- no, that's... that can't be right!" she turned at darted to the downstairs lab, though the room looked unfamiliar, the destroyed Speeder sat in the center of the room.
"I'm sorry, Maddie..." Jack apologized, standing right behind her.
Maddie turned around to look at Jack, but he was gone. "Jack!?" she screamed, "Jack!" she ran around looking for him, "Jack!" she shrieked.

The sound of thunder jolted Maddie awake, causing her to jump, flinch, and cover her head. After catching her breath and calming herself down, she curled up and sobbed. The rain still poured, and the shelter she established was beginning to pool with water. She sniffled and looked down, "Phantom, we have to move. The canyon is starting-" she looked down at the teenage boy she thought was Phantom and froze, "D-Danny...?" she gasped, tears filling her eyes and her body beginning to shake. "Danny?" she gently shook him, "Danny, say something!" she hopped up and sat on her knees, facing him, "Danny, sweetie, say something! Anything, please!" she begged.
Danny didn't respond. He'd grown much paler than he was before, even as Phantom.
Maddie scooped Danny up in her arms, "We have to-" she looked outside, seeing the rain was still pouring heavily. "Move..." she sighed and sat back, holding Danny on her lap and brushing his hair back, rocking him back and forth. "You're gonna be okay, baby..." she sniffled and rested her forehead on his, feeling how cold he'd grown. "I'm not mad..." she reassured him, knowing why Danny wouldn't have told her or Jack, "I'll love you no matter what, okay?" she took a deep, shaking breath. "I love you, Danny..." she cried, "I love you... and never forget that..." she sobbed, holding him close, "I take everything back, just..." she cried harder, "Don't leave, baby. I didn't know... "
A clap of thunder echoed through the canyon, rattling the jet and the two crash victims hiding underneath. Maddie shrieked in fear, her ears ringing, hugging Danny tightly. She shook violently, her heart pounded in her ears as she began to hyperventilate as she fell back into hysterics.
She was alone. Her son was gone, and the last thing she did was yell at him, not even thinking it was him. She'd been hunting him the whole time and it never stopped him from fighting ghosts, or loving her or Jack. He was a hero. And what had she done to appreciate him for it?
She felt something touch her shoulder, making her jump and look up.
Jack's bright blue eyes met hers as he repeated a question she never heard in the first place. Behind him stood Sam and Jazz, crying over Tucker's shoulders. Jack asked once more, this time, she was able to hear:
"What happened?"

**I'll be honest, I almost cried. Almost, but not quite. Not even a tear. This took way longer than intended. I meant this to be a quick 'write something depressing and go to bed' and instead it turned into 'write this for four days and don't ever stop thinking about it'. Review and lemme know what you all think. Stay awesome folks!**