Connections - OLD VERSION

by Hollyflash

*OLD VERSION, BEING REWRITTEN* Danny's life is changed forever after an accident leaves him with a ghost named Prince stuck to his side. Now, in order to protect the lives of his loved ones, Danny must enlist the help of his friends as he learns to get along with the entity connected to him and master the powers that came with him to fight ghosts, humans, and himself.

1. Accident Prone (Part 1)

Hello! I am Hollyflash, otherwise known as This-is-my-fourth-multi-chapter-story-why-the-heck-don't-I-have-a-system-for-Author's-Notes-yet? I'm joined by my angst and sibling bonding loving friend, LoveWritingStories, as we bring you our second co-written story! Hopefully we don't kill half the cast this time! Keyword there; hopefully.

Either way, you'll all still probably hate us by the time this story is over. ^-^

So, Connections is a mixture of my second and tenth plot bunnies for Danny Phantom. This makes it part AU series rewrite and part Oh-crap-I-broke-Clockwork. I've been tossing both ideas around for over a year and a half, and when LoveWritingStories watched Danny Phantom originally to make me shut up about it, I told her about what then were barely the bones of this story. And much to my surprise, she loved it! Together we fleshed out the plot, the characters, and the background. And together, we'll finish this story or die trying.

Wow, that sounded so cheesy. And why do I get the feeling the second option is more likely..?

Anyways, onto the AU element! Well, in all honesty, there's more than one. I'll cover two; within the Modernized AU I use, the story starts on March 2, 2014. And as for the second one, well, within the main Timeline of this story Halfas will not form from portals. However, something else is possible instead; a bond between a human and ghost, who gain the power to share a body. This is known as a connection and will be explained in greater detail later on.

No, this isn't really a Pitch Pearl story. It's more so Oreo Cookie; Pitch Pearl's platonic counterpart which is also known as Phriendship. Other than that, there really aren't any overarching ships… Well, unless you count Canon ones. And a lot of OC x OC.

And for the series rewrite, well, it's mostly done so everyone can be treated as actual people and grow. I'll leave it at that until we get to that part in the story.

Obvious universal disclaimer for obvious reasons; we do not own any of the real-life places and things named. Any and all original characters are either ours or used with permission. LoveWritingStories and I do not own Danny Phantom. If we did, the series would've gotten pretty dark pretty fa-

Wait, this is part series rewrite. Eheheheheheh…

Chapter Warning: Use of strong language.

Onwards, before the length of this AN kills your eyes even more than the AU!

---

Chapter 1;

"You can't change it, you know. You can't change the past. They taught us better."

"I know, I know... But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try."

.-.-.-.-.-.

It was supposed to be simple.

Get in to the building; defeat their opponent, head back out to bask in the glory. Simple.

It hadn't been; not at all. They'd underestimated their opponent, yet again. They always seemed to do that.

Danny Fenton felt his gut twist, and it was hard to breath. He'd messed up; this was the end. He wasn't going to make it out of this. But in no way did that mean he wouldn't take their opponent with him, and a smile twitched onto his face as the curse he'd placed had taken hold.

"Danny!" He could hear his friend- his team, too- shout out to him. His best friend was by his side within moments, shouting for help.

"No," Danny shook his head. "Don't. It's okay."

"No, it isn't!" His best friend shouted, "Don't leave me with these psychos!"

"Gee," One of their teammates spoke up, "Thanks."

"You'll be okay, its better this way." Danny replied, lifting his head to look at their opponent. "I set up a curse. I may go down... But they're going with me."

The team turned to watch their opponent fall to their knees, and there were cheers.

"...For the greater good," His best friend muttered, and Danny smiled, "Seriously dude? We've come so far; why'd you have to choose now to be self-sacrificing? Why now?"

"...Why not?" Danny replied, and watched the small green line steadily be replaced with more red. "I may be dying, but there's no way I'm going down without a fight. Besides, I'll be back. This is me."

There was only a tiny bit of green left. Everyone said their goodbyes; his best friend's sounded almost tearful. Danny wasn't sure whether to laugh, or to cry with them.

And then, mere seconds before the curse would finish their opponent off, Danny's world cut to black.

The recently turned fourteen-years-old boy frowned, blinked twice, and shook his computer monitor. "Oh no. No, no, no! ARGH!" He screamed, throwing his headset across the room. "And I was just about to defeat Chaos, too! I was going to get my D00M Team to the next level!" He placed his head in his hands, slumping forward in his chair. "I swear, if this is because Mom and Dad are playing with their stupid ghost portal again..."

Beside him, his phone buzzed. Danny hesitated for a moment before he picked it up, confirming what he had suspected. He had a text, from his best friend Tucker. It read 'Dude. All that drama and then you just log out before you die? I feel so loved.'

Danny rolled his eyes and texted back; 'Sorry. Parents are probably playing with the portal again.'

Tucker waited a minute before replying; 'Oh look, your curse died when you didn't. Chaos just murdered us all. That's the third time this week he's specifically gone for us. Now who will we play with? I swear we must be bad luck or something.'

Danny frowned, 'Not a clue, Tuck. BRB, I'm going to see if I can go get power.'

Danny stood, stretched, and made his way out of his room. He could smell food, and desperately hoped it was his sister cooking. He preferred dinner when it didn't eat his laptop's charger or gerbil or anything of his really.

Much to his relief, it was his fifteen- nearly sixteen-years-old- sister who was cooking. Jasmine, better known as Jazz, had her hair in a ponytail and was stirring something in a pot. "Hey Danny. Hungry? The noodles will be ready in a few minutes."

"Very," Danny replied, and heard someone shout from the downstairs lab. "Are Mom and Dad still working on their portal?"

"Yep."

"And you're still convinced ghosts aren't real."

"They aren't, Danny. Life ends with death."

"Well, that sucks. I always wanted to be a zombie." Danny shrugged, making his way to the basement door. "I'm going to talk to Mom and Dad about keeping the power on. Let's hope the portal doesn't blow up the house and kill me."

"Don't bet on it, little brother." Jazz mumbled, not looking away from what she was cooking. "But be careful anyways, okay?"

"Aren't I always?"

"No, not really."

"I feel so loved," Leaving the conversation at that, Danny made his way downstairs. Towards sparks, shouting, technical terms, and a giant hole in the family's wall which he was pretty sure had violated some sort of building code. He wasn't sure which one, but building what his parents currently were had to be a violation of some sort.

Danny poked his head in, and froze. The lab was a mess; green goop was everywhere, things had exploded, the only light was coming from their 'portal' and a few assorted battery-powered lights, exposed wires lay all around, and... It feels like the black market down here. All we need now is some fast-talking guy trying to buy my organs.

"Danny!" His parents turned off their blowtorches and pulled down the hoods of their jumpsuits. They stepped forward, smiling, as his father, Jack, asked, "What are you doing down here, son?"

"Power outage," Danny replied, as if it would explain the entire situation. And it did; his mom, Maddie, nodded before turning to Jack.

"I told you that connecting the main control to the power source was a bad idea! It didn't have anywhere to go, Jack!"

"My bad, Mads!" Jack rubbed the back of his neck, a trait of awkwardness that Danny had picked up from his father. "I should disconnect it, shouldn't I?"

"That would be a good idea," Maddie replied, and Jack moved back towards the portal to mess with some technological thing that Danny honestly didn't care about. Space was his thing; technology was Tucker's.

"So, sweetie," It took Danny a second to register that his mom was talking to him. "Did you get all your homework done? You're in high school now, you can't slack off on your work!"

"I know, I know." Danny replied, making a dismissive motion with his hand. I shouldn't, though. You're the ones who put me in a year early. "I just need to finish my book report for English, but after that I'm all good."

Jack apparently finished whatever he was doing, because the lights came back on. Danny lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness, and made a face. I wonder if I can claim this blinded me and get out of gym.

"Fixed it, Mads!" Jack looked proud of himself, and Maddie patted him on the shoulder.

"Good job, sweetie." She produced a small baked good from her jumpsuit pocket and handed it to her husband, "Have a cookie."

Jack smiled and shoved it in his mouth. Ew. Chew with your mouth closed, Dad. "Maddie, I also connected the red wires, and I think it looks like the blueprints! The portal is complete!"

"Really?!" Maddie's face lit up and she rushed over to their device, and Danny took a step back. Okay. I need to get out of here and warn Jazz. Then we can go out for supper and conveniently miss this portal failing to work. Ta-da, problem solved, they can get normal jobs and I don't have to see them disappointed. "Danny, could you get your sister? We're going to plug it in!"

Crud, I wasn't fast enough. "Uh..." Think Fenton, think. You can get out of this. Homework? No, won't work. Didn't hear them? Won't work either. Darn it.

"Danny? It's ready." Jazz called, and the younger teen turned to see his sister coming downstairs. He desperately motioned for her to leave, but Jazz didn't take the hint. "Danny, what's wrong?"

"Jasmine, perfect timing!" Maddie looked back at her two children, either ignoring or unaware of their desperate desire to leave. "Could you turn the ghost shield on around you and your brother? We wouldn't want the two of you to suffer from Ecto-contamination, would we?"

Danny shot his sister an apologetic look, and Jazz just shook her head. The two had learned at a young age to just humor their parents when they were forced to watch their inventions. If they wanted them to go under a green dome-thing which they could walk right through? Fine, whatever. They knew it wouldn't keep anything out, no matter what their parents said.

"Of course, Mom!" Jazz replied, forcing a smile which fell the second Maddie turned away. "Come on, Danny." She gave a small sigh, "Let's just get this over with."

The two of them moved to a corner of the lab, and Jazz entered the number code which would trigger the 'ghost shield.' Danny watched with a small smile as it came down from the ceiling to cover them, before sticking his hand through. His parents' lab may creep him out, but he did have to admit that the stuff they built was pretty cool.

Of course, that was ignoring the fact that a majority of it could cause him to desperately need a trip to the emergency room.

His parents were standing side by side, and Jack had two ends of a cord in his hands. "Maddie, would you like to say a few words?"

"Of course, Jack!" Maddie smiled, and Danny slouched. We're going to be here for a while. "Children, standing in front of you is our life's work." Please shoot me. Repeatedly. "It was spawned from a mishap in college, when one student told an old friend of ours that ghosts didn't exist. Well that friend, your father, and I set out to prove them wrong, and punch a hole into the dimension where those ghosts hang around. Unfortunately, we don't have... Well we don't have his contact information anymore, but I'm sure he would love to be here to see that dream come true!"

Mom, I really don't care about your college buddies. Please, please just plug that stupid thing in so that I can go eat already.

"Jasmine Marie Fenton," Maddie continued, unaware of her son's annoyed thoughts. "Daniel James Fenton, the two of you have the honor of being among the first human beings to see a portal to the Ghost Zone captured for the purpose of science! Jack, would you do the honors?"

"On the count of three," Jack was smiling, and Danny had to admit, as much as he really didn't care about the 'Ghost Zone' and wanted his parents to get real jobs, their enthusiasm was contagious. He found himself wondering what a portal to that place would look like, a smile creeping its way onto his face. "One," Would it be white? Or black, maybe? Green? Nah, green's a stupid color. "Two..." Would you be able to see the other side from this one? I wonder what ghosts look like... This'll be so cool! Wait, what? Okay Fenton, settle down...

Despite his inner monologue, Danny didn't manage to stop himself from whispering "Three."

"BONZI!" His father's voice echoed around the lab as he pushed the two plugs together. Danny leaned forward, eyes wide as the portal flashed, sparked, made a buzzing sound...

...And died.

"Well," Jazz spoke up, "That was... Rather expected actually. Is the upcoming 'I told you so' appropriate yet?"

Jack blinked twice and unplugged the cords, "I said bonzi!" He plugged them back in, but the action was the same. Jack unplugged them again, and forced them together again. And again. And again. "Bonzi bonzi bonzi-"

"Jack," Maddie broke in, pulling the cord away from her husband. Danny wasn't sure, but he could've sworn he heard her voice crack. "Jack Fenton, you stop that!"

"But Maddie," Jack's voice did crack, Danny was sure of it. "It has to work! If we keep trying, it-"

"No, Jack!" Maddie nearly shouted, ripping the cord from her husband's hands and throwing it off to the side. "It didn't work. We were wrong. ...It's always been wrong. The Ghost Zone isn't real. It was all for nothing; we... We were wrong."

It didn't register with Danny that Jazz was pulling him upstairs until he almost hit his head on the corner of the doorway. He could still hear his parents arguing in the basement, and even after Jazz closed the door and all but pushed him into a chair by the table, how destroyed they had sounded stuck in his mind.

"Jazz," His voice shook, "Are Mom and Dad going to be okay?"

Jazz placed a plate of noodles in front of him but didn't offer a reply.

"Jazz," Danny had more force in his voice, "Are Mom and Dad going to be okay?"

His sister set down a plate of noodles for herself before looking up with a smile that Danny knew wasn't genuine. "Of course, Danny! Would you like anything to drink?"

.-.-.-.-.-.

As the Master of Time, Clockwork was not to make mistakes. He was supposed to be a higher power, who kept everything running- despite having hundreds of alternate Timelines to look after- without any interruptions to the flow. He was supposed to save everyone he could, since his core power focused on life, and stop wars, because of those started by the ghosts he had formed beside. He was supposed to be confident, since he was the only Ancient who hadn't gone into hiding after the Time War. He was supposed to be strong, because for years it was believed he was the only Servant of Time to survive Pariah's attack on them in that war. He was supposed to be a mentor, because he had been forced to teach other ghosts- his Time Apprentices, as the Observants called them- techniques to control their powers. He was supposed to act as a parental figure, because of the customs Pariah Dark had put in place, and act as companion to an old friend who hated him, because an Ancient had found her and so kindly brought her back.

But Clockwork made mistakes, and he made many. He was a horrible higher power. He saved so few, and was forced to watch dangerous battles nearly every day where he could save nobody. His confidence, especially in himself, was minimal. And his so-called 'strength' was an illusion provided by his status as Master of Time, and power of Time Manipulation. He was a horrible mentor, parental figure, and friend. Though, he doubted that he even counted as the last one anymore.

He failed them all, but nobody seemed to want to admit it, because they were all fooled by his title and staff. Nobody would focus on his mistakes, except for the ones who hated him. There was his old 'friend', who was quick to point out everything he'd done wrong, the Royal Sympathizers, and the Observants.

Oh, the Observants. He hated them. He hated that by being the Master of Time he had been forced to follow their orders, do the jobs they told him to, and not be able to help the ones who needed it. He hated how they had held on to something he'd said at his lowest and used it against him. Clockwork hated everything about them.

He was a Life Core. He couldn't let people die, it went against his very being. But by following the Observants' orders he always screwed up and he always did. Words could not describe how much he hated it.

Though, it was possible he hated himself for it more.

The Observants knew it, too. They knew how much he hated death. That's why, Clockwork had to admit, if it came down to it he could kill someone and get away with it. They would never expect it was him. A Life Core, committing murder? Such an idea was ridiculous, absolutely preposterous! It would never happen!

It should never happen.

He didn't want to- in fact, the very idea of killing anyone sickened him- but he didn't see any other option. It was either he killed the boy, or he would be forced to be even more of a tool for the Observants than Clockwork himself was. Up until a year ago, the Master of Time would've never imagined such a thing to be possible.

However, now the boy was caught up in a curse he would wish on no human, ghost, or anything within the universe. But to kill him...? There had to be a better way!

But... If there isn't... If this is the only way...

Clockwork closed his eyes, changing to his child form as he tapped the staff against his head. "Peter? I know you can't hear me, but... I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to do, how else to help him... I'm so sorry."

"...Um, are you done yet or should I come back later?"

Clockwork turned back, immediately taking his adult form. "This had better be important, Stopwatch." I swear, if that boy sneaks up on me one more time I'm tying a bell around his neck. It's unnatural how easily he does that. And what in the world is that on his cheek? Is that a bruise? ...Nope. Not touching that.

The ghost- Stopwatch, one of the many ghosts who Clockwork had chosen to take in over destroying- shrugged, rubbing his bruised cheek. "Hourglass wants to know if we can go roaming around the Ghost Zone tomorrow but doesn't want to ask because she thinks you're mad at her. Are you mad at her?"

"What? No," Clockwork raised an eyebrow, "Why would she assume that?"

"Uh, because you've kind of been a jackass lately...? Like, it's more so than you normally are. It's creepy." Stopwatch crossed his arms, leaning against a door frame. "But can we? I promise to keep her safe and not let her be seen and all that stuff she has to go by for some weird reason."

The Time Master was silent for a moment. Oh yes, because I have every reason to trust someone with suspicious skills and injuries. "I suppose so. But if this is an excuse for you to hurt her in any way, I swear on the powers above..."

"I know, I know," He straightened up, "It'll be the last thing I ever do and I'll be nothing but ectoplasm in a baggie which you'll mail to the Observants. This isn't my first time taking your charge places. I know what you say, and that you won't actually do it." He smiled, turning to leave. "After all, you wouldn't hurt me."

Clockwork ignored him. Stopwatch was a nuisance, despite his powers of reality manipulation and obsession with revenge, but nothing more. Clockwork's so-called 'charge' on the other hand, was an elegant young lady who could do much better in terms of friends than Stopwatch. But she could take care of herself. At least, Clockwork liked to hope she could.

Besides, Clockwork had something bigger to worry about. I'm sorry, Peter. As much as you cared for him... I don't have any other choice. He's caught in a fate worse than death, and I have to help him. It's all my fault, after all. And if I can't find anything better to do... I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Would you like some fries with your salt?"

"Shut up, Tucker."

Danny's best friend, Tucker, sat down on the other side of the table. He set his tray filled with a school lunch down, and looked back towards Danny. "Wow. Someone's in a bad mood."

"No, really?" Danny snapped, looking back down at his lunch as he tore open another salt package to dump onto his small mound of fries. "What gave it away?"

"Well for one, you used one of those self-defence things your mom taught you against Dash this morning. You never do anything like that; you just turn on the sass and hope he goes away. Plus you never texted me back last night. I was so lonely I started doing math!" Tucker leaned forward, "What's wrong, dude? You can tell me."

Danny swirled a fry around in his salt mound before shaking his head. "It didn't work."

"What didn't work?"

"My parents' stupid ghost portal!" He groaned, placing a hand on his forehead and letting it slide down to his neck for a second. "My Mom and Dad are messed up, Tucker. They really are. My Dad... You know how everything's a joke to him, right? I think he broke last night. Even Jazz is worried, and she isn't trying to hide it anymore."

"Oh, yikes," Tucker frowned, and reached over to place a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Dude, I'm sure they'll be fine."

"I'm not," Danny replied, pushing his friend's hand away as the other teen leaned back onto his own side of the table. "I've never seen them like that, Tucker. I... I'm kind of scared they might, you know..."

"Who might what?"

Danny looked over his shoulder, one hand immediately going to the back of his neck. "S-Sam! Hi!"

The Goth female, Sam, placed her tray down and sat a little ways away from Danny. Danny honestly wasn't sure what to refer to her as in his mind, since he wasn't sure if they were friends or not, but she did eat lunch with him and Tucker most days, and she did sit with him in all the classes they had together... "Hi, Danny. Carnivore guy whose name I forgot."

"Plant lady." Tucker waved a hand, lifting his carton of milk towards his mouth. "Danny's folks had one of their ghost things fail last night, and they didn't take it well. He thinks they might get a D-word-which-he-doesn't-want-to-say."

Danny winced.

"Oh. Okay...?" Sam shrugged, a popped a strawberry from her tray into her mouth. She chewed it for a moment, swallowed, and looked over at Danny. "I don't see what you're so worked up about. Look, your parents may be wackadoodles-" Tucker snorted into his milk, and Sam paused to send him a death glare. "As I was saying, they may be crazy- better, Meathead? But they do love each other. I know that, the janitor knows that, Lancer knows that, the whole town knows that. They don't keep it a secret."

"Thanks," Danny replied sarcastically, and Sam rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I tried. That's more than he did." She motioned to Tucker, who was currently stuffing his face with a burger. "And besides, it's a good kind of crazy! It sets the apart from everyone. I don't see how that could be a bad thing."

"Tell that to Dash, maybe it'll get him to leave me alone for a week." Danny muttered, quickly eating a couple of fries. "Speaking of that idiot, where is he? He usually shows up to bug me during lunch."

"Do you think he's avoiding you because you made him punch the locker?" Tucker asked, and Danny shrugged.

"Nah, after that he shoved me in it and the janitor broke me out like always." He shrugged, "Maybe I'm just lucky today."

"He sits by me in Health, you know." Sam spoke up, "His wrist was swollen, but he was pretending it wasn't. That thing's bruise was ugly. His friend- that weird Asian guy, whatever his name is- came to talk to the teacher and panicked when he noticed. It was hilarious. He literally flipped a desk to get to him. Dash was so red."

"Why would he be in your class? Isn't he a year older than us...?" Tucker raised an eyebrow, and Danny shrugged.

"He's in English with us too, Tuck. So is the Asian guy. Maybe they're just really, really stupid."

"Speaking of stupid," Sam leaned forward, "Can I join your group for that science thing? Mine is full of lazy idiots who won't do anything."

Danny made a face as he was reminded of the project he had been fighting to push from his mind. "You mean the Science Fair? I guess. But we don't know what we're doing for it. Tucker wants to build some sort of technological thing, if that interests you at all...?"

Sam shrugged and ate another piece of fruit. "Best suggestion I've heard in a while. I wanted to do something to do with the environment, but hey, that'll work too. If you guys aren't busy, we should work on at least some part of it after school."

"Not at my house," Tucker said, quickly drinking some milk before he continued. "My Dad's friend's family is visiting. The religious ones."

"Oh! You mean the ones who met my parents and held up a cross?" Danny made a face, "Yikes."

"Yeah," Tucker nodded and motioned to Sam. "I don't even want to know what they'd do to black eggs and ham over there."

Sam rolled her eyes, "If you're going to reference Dr. Seuss, at least do it right. And my house is off limits, my parents would flip if I brought home one boy, let alone two. Though, I'd love to hear what my Grandma had to say... Danny, any chance your parents might let us plan there? If it's not a problem, that is. It's okay if it is."

Danny looked over at Sam, staring into her eyes for a few moments before his hands were on the back of his neck again. "I uh, maybe? I'll text my mom."

"Aww," Tucker cooed, lifting up his phone and snapping a picture. "I think I found a new real-life OTP!"

"...Please no," Sam replied, but Danny didn't say anything. He just swirled one of his fries in his salt mound before reaching over and dropping it into Tucker's milk.

"Oh, gross!" Tucker made a face and pushed his milk away from him, "Dude, keep your salt fetish away from me!"

"I don't have a salt fetish!" Danny's face turned bright red, and he looked over at Sam. "Really, I don't! He used the word wrong!"

"Right," Sam looked unamused, and looked over her shoulder. "Hold on, I think someone said my name. I'll be right back." She stood up and walked into a crowd of people. Danny looked back to Tucker, who was making a heart shape with his hands.

"Tucker, I'm going to hurt you."

"You like her! Like, like like!" His friend was smiling, "And she likes you back! It was meant to be!"

"No, I don't like like her!" Danny threw a fry toward Tucker, which he caught and popped into his mouth. "I... Friend-like her! And she friend-likes me back! Not everything has to do with romance, you know!"

"Oh, dude, you're smitten. Guess this means it's time to put away my rainbows." Tucker said, and made a face. "Also, tone down on the salt. Yuck! But this is cute!"

"Tucker, I'm going to spell it out for you, okay?" Danny leaned towards him, "N-O. No. I don't have a crush on her. Now shut up or I'm going to bring you over to my house and tell my dad you want to learn how to hunt ghosts."

Tucker narrowed his eyes, "You wouldn't."

Danny leaned back, smirking. "Try m- oh crap!" His voice shot higher almost into a scream as he leaned back too far, flailing his arms as he nearly fell off the bench. He managed to throw his hands forward and grab onto the table, pulling himself back into a normal position as his face flushed bright red.

"Dude," Tucker said, rolling his eyes, "You better hope she's into dorks. Because otherwise, you don't have a chance."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Hourglass had nearly doubled over laughing, the hood which often covered her face having fallen back. "Do it again! Do it again!"

Stopwatch raised the stick he'd been holding and spoke once again in a low mocking voice. "I am the Master of Time. I am powerful. I am- DON'T TOUCH MY TIMELINES! HEY YOU, AWAY FROM CANON!"

Clockwork's charge was laughing so hard she lost flight for a second, and Stopwatch swooped down to grab her. He caught her bridal style, dropping the stick onto an island below them.

The physically thirteen-year-old ghost blushed a bright green. "Uh, Stopwatch? You can put me down now."

"Oh! Sorry," Stopwatch copied her blush, and moved quickly down to the island. He set her down, and Hourglass brushed a free strand of blond hair out of her face as she pulled her hood back up. Stopwatch looked away, running a hand through his hair. "So..."

"So..." Hourglass trailed off, playing with the hair in her side braid. She opened her mouth to say something, but slammed it shut as she noticed something behind Stopwatch. She squinted, and then her eyes widened with realization. "...Oh no."

"What?" Stopwatch turned to see what his friend had spotted, but didn't get a chance to before she pushed the both of them between two rocks and suddenly the two physically teenage ghosts were close.

Too close.

"Close your eyes and stay quiet," Hourglass whispered, attempting to cover Stopwatch's face with her hands. "Please. Please."

"Why...?" Stopwatch asked, pushing her hand down. His eyes locked on a ghost a little ways away, with a familiar black and white color scheme. His body tensed, and an almost wild look appeared in his eyes.

"Stopwatch?" Hourglass' red eyes widened as her friend pushed her out and shot after the ghost he'd spotted. "Not him. Oh, anyone but him." She pulled her hood down more to cover her face, and flew off towards the two ghosts.

Stopwatch, meanwhile, had caught up to the white-haired specter his friend had attempted to hide them from. A smirk appeared on his face as violet ectoplasm coated his right hand, and he tossed it forward in a beam. The other ghost looked over his shoulder, green eyes widening as he tossed up a shield of blue ectoplasm. Stopwatch's attack bounced off it, and the other ghost burst through light show which happened as a result. He swung a fist, punching Stopwatch in his left cheek. The blue skinned ghost tumbled back, bumping into Hourglass. The wild look in his eyes faded, and he barely set up another shield in time to stop the other ghost's bright green ectoplasmic rays.

"Oh, crap!" Stopwatch shouted, throwing up another shield as the white-haired ghost rushed towards them and barely stopped in time to avoid hitting it face-first. "Dude, I am so sorry! I thought you were someone else!"

The much more human-like ghost rubbed his head, glaring at both Stopwatch and Hourglass. "Fine, whatever. What are you two doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Hourglass spoke up, making her voice sound lower than it actually was. "And you would have no choice but to answer, Prince. Be happy I do not believe in those methods."

Prince bit his lip, and Stopwatch blinked in surprise.

"Wait, Hourglass," He turned to face his friend as she pulled her hood down some more. "Who is that? Is he an actual prince? Is there royalty out here I don't know about?" Prince wrinkled his nose as he averted his eyes, Hourglass played with her braid, and Stopwatch looked between the two of them. "Oh! So that's why Clockwork's been moody! You see, that explains a lot. Doesn't make much sense, but it still explains a lot!"

What is he doing there?!

"Wow, an idiot." Prince crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, floating a little above Stopwatch. "Cool, I haven't met one of them for nearly a year."

"Wow, that's rude." Stopwatch copied Prince's motions, floating up to his height. "Look, I don't know you Sir-"

"Sir?" Prince raised an eyebrow, "I'm not that old, kid."

"Don't you dare call me that!" Stopwatch snapped, pointing a finger in Prince's face. Prince leaned back and looked rather annoyed. "You hear me, you royal scum? If you do that again I'm dragging you off to the Far Frozen to deal with Rebel extremists!"

"Okay," Hourglass quickly pushed Stopwatch back and grabbed onto Prince's wrist, pulling her hood down some more. "That's enough you two. Stopwatch, go home. I'm taking Prince back to the Observants." She started flying off, towards a metal hoop with a small ball of white sparks in it.

Prince's eyes widened and he attempted to pull his wrist away from Hourglass' grip. "No, don't! Please! Please, I just got out; don't make me go back there! Please!"

Hourglass ignored him, though her flight did slow down slightly.

Stopwatch, who had been staring at the ball of sparks, froze as he watched Hourglass fly past it. He noticed that the Ghost Zone seemed to be being pulled into it, and he recognized what that meant.

"Not her, anyone but her. Hourglass, move!" His voice climbed to a shout, rushing forward and pulling her away from Prince. He shielded her with himself as everything suddenly seemed to move in slow motion; Prince's eyes widened as he noticed what was right beside him, let out a surprised shout of fear as he attempted to fly away from it, and four screams blended into one as the ball burst into a portal, consuming the young ghost who hadn't been able to escape...

"Time out!"

Clockwork blinked twice, staring at the scene which had just played out in front of him. It couldn't have happened. He'd just wanted to look in on how Hourglass was fairing, but this... It was impossible! The chances were next to impossible, this...

This isn't what I wanted. Anything but this.

Clockwork turned his head slowly, looking down at the staff he held in his hands. It meant power, it meant success...

He threw it across the room, switching to his child form as he landed on the floor. The staff skid across the floor and out of the room, an act that the Observants would likely consider treason.

Clockwork didn't care; he'd failed. Why was he surprised? It's not like he ever did anything right anymore.

It's not like he'd done anything right for the past twenty years.

"I'm sorry," Clockwork spoke softly, "I'm so sorry... Peter, Prince, Hafia, Mary, Gwen... I am so, so sorry..."

There was the sound of footsteps, and the staff was dropped by his side. A moment later, the ghost spoke. "Mind telling me why you interrupted my baking to have a breakdown?"

Of course. Of course she would be the one to come in, quite possibly with the intention of hurting him. And somewhere in the back of his mind, Clockwork knew he deserved nothing less. "I'm sorry," He whispered, "I should've stopped this. I should've realized something would happen... I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?" She snapped, obviously annoyed. "Ruining my baking? I spent hours trying to get that damn soufflé recipe right."

"No! Well, yes, but... I am so, so sorry..." Clockwork's hand twitched towards the staff, wrapping shakily around the handle. He pointed it towards the Window through Time he'd been viewing, and once again his voice almost shook. "I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes, watching as Clockwork caused the scene in front of them to rewind. "Stop saying sorry! What did you fuck up now? Because I swear to god, if we have to deal with another Spiral…"

Clockwork wouldn't meet her eyes, and just motioned to the Window through Time. He let the scene play, and could only imagine how she would be reacting. Probably with anger at first, since he'd let Stopwatch spend time with Hourglass where neither could easily keep an eye on them. It would then be replaced with confusion as Prince appeared, and then... He wasn't sure. But Clockwork knew it couldn't end well for anyone, especially him.

"Hourglass? You let Hourglass out? She could have been killed! She could have been seen! And she's with that Rebel!" She shouted, not quite understanding what she was seeing. Her expression changed when she saw Prince. "What? What is he doing...? Wait, what?" There was a pause as she processed what she had seen- the young ghost being caught in a portal. "...Is he...?" She didn't finish, the words were too hard, to foreign, for her to speak.

"I'm sorry, I should've seen this. I should've stopped this." Clockwork spoke again, time falling back in place around them. Clockwork lost hold on his child form and shifted to his adult one, but still wouldn't make eye contact with the now physically younger ghost. "Ghosts in that Timeline don't survive that unless they have human blood to latch onto. What are the chances he did?" Clockwork found the strength to lift his head, and looked up at the ghost who had once been his friend. "I'm so sorry. I should've stopped this; I should've realized what was going to happen... I'm so sorry."

She stared at him for a moment. Memories of when she would have trusted him with her life floated across her mind. Those days were long gone. "Fix it," She said, ignoring that part of herself that held reason. "Go back, and fix it."

"I can't," Clockwork replied, doing his best to keep eye contact. "It's in the past. I can't change the past. I have tried. You know that. Do you think I'd be this upset if I could?! Do you think I'd be this torn up if I hadn't destroyed him?!"

Her words were harsh, her eyes had no sympathy. "I don't care. Bring him back. Find a way to fix this mess. Or you'll have to answer to more than just the Observants." With that, she turned around and left.

Clockwork's voice caught in his throat as once again he called out one last desperate apology, "I'm sorry!" His head fell, and Clockwork found himself staring at the floor. "I'm so sorry, Gwen..."

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Ow!"

Danny let out a hiss of pain, bringing his left hand close to his face. As he noticed Sam's and Tucker's questioning looks, he supplied an answer. "Paper cut. Jesus, these things hurt worse than being electrocuted..."

Sam blinked twice before looking back down at her science textbook. "Not even going to ask."

"So," Tucker spoke up, "Do we know what we're doing for our science project, or are we just going make a crappy PowerPoint?"

Danny closed his own textbook, lying back on his bed beside his friend. On the desk chair a little ways away, Sam closed her own in effort to stop a few loose papers from falling out. "I don't know, why not? It's not like my parents are going to let us steal stuff from their lab of disaster-" He sat up, smiling. "Wait. Wait, maybe they will. Who wants to come with me to find out where my parents are?"

"...Sure?" Sam spoke up, shrugging. "And what is this magical lab of disaster?"

Danny stood, pulling Tucker up with him. "We're going to see if my parents have blueprints for anything that works. And the lab's just my basement."

Sam shrugged and stood to meet the boys. Together, the trio traveled downstairs into the kitchen. "Mom? Dad?"

"Danny," Tucker motioned to the fridge and pulled a piece of paper off of it. "They're at the store."

"What?" Danny frowned, and Tucker handed him the paper. Just as his friend had said, it was a note to him and Jazz from their parents, saying they had gone to the store and didn't know when they would be back. "Great. That's just wonderful! And Sam has to be home in half an hour, too! This is why we shouldn't have spent the first three hours watching horror movies, guys!"

"So," Sam spoke up, distracting the two boys from their paper as she stared at a metal door. "Is this the entrance to the lab of disaster and doom?" She tried the handle, finding it was locked. "You wouldn't happen to have a key, would you Danny?"

"Sam, we aren't going in there." Danny took a step towards her, Tucker following. "Seriously, like ninety percent of the stuff down there could end up with us having to go to emergency care. And I'm pretty sure none of our parents want to pay for that."

"Aw, come on!" Sam groaned, and reached into her hair. She pulled out a bobby pin and inserted it into the lock. "Okay, this'll work."

"What do you think this is? Some weird fanfiction?" Tucker rolled his eyes, "There's no way a bobby pin is going to open a..." He trailed off as the door swung open, and Sam looked back at him with a proud smile. "Okay, maybe this is a fanfiction."

"Oh yes, because we're totally fictional characters who have fanfiction written about us." Danny shook his head and turned back to Sam, "Sam, we can't go in there. My parents will kill me!"

"You'll be fine! And come on, your parents are scientists! You want to cheer them up, don't you? What better way than this: letting them know how much you love their work?" Sam didn't wait for an answer, and instead started down the stairs.

"Sam!" Danny groaned, and exchanged a look with Tucker. "Stay here. Watch for my parents or Jazz. Don't let them know we're in there." Swallowing the lump in his throat, Danny placed a hand the railing and started down the stairs.

"Danny," Sam was asking once he reached the bottom, "Why is there a hole in the wall?"

"It was a thing my parents did that didn't work." Danny looked around the lab, sidestepping to avoid a table. "Sam, we need to get out of here. This place is creepy and dangerous. Plus my parents will freak if we break anything... And we'll probably die..."

"I'm not going to break anything!" Sam protested and looked away. "Look, my science mark kind of died during biology, okay? I need something awesome and out of the ordinary to even hope I'll be able to pass, and what we were talking about upstairs cut it. I can't fail Danny, I just can't." A pause, "Can I at least take some pictures? Please? I know I can think something up if I just have some prompts, and if you have even a quarter of your parents' brains you and Tucker will be able to help me make it amazing!"

"...Okay, fine," Danny groaned, giving in to her flattery as he looked towards the metal frame of the portal. "Just don't touch anything, okay? And if they end up online I'll know it was you."

"Just because I'm Goth doesn't mean I don't have a soul, Danny. That's just a stupid rumor. I'm not going to do that." She smiled and turned away from him, apparently reaching a hand somewhere on her front. When she turned back to face Danny, she held some sort of touchscreen phone in her hand. "Okay, what down here do you think Tucker might be able to work with?"

Wait, she doesn't have pockets. Where did she pull that out of? ...On second thought, I don't want to know. "Uh, I wouldn't know. I kind of avoid this part of my house." Sam looked confused, so Danny elaborated. "When I was a baby my sister and I broke into here and knocked over a bunch of ectoplasm. Apparently that can burn you or something when it's liquid, I don't really know. My parents flipped and we were banned from here until I was six, but by then I was old enough to realize that the lab is dangerous and full of stuff that could kill me. My sister decided we would ignore the lab after that and I just kind of went with it."

"Huh," Sam shrugged and looked down at her phone, "Well this is just-" She cut herself off as something crashed on the stairs and Tucker scrambled down it, panting. "...Apparently full of good timing."

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Did you just fall down the stairs?"

"...Maybe," Tucker panted, leaning on the wall for support. "Your sister's in the kitchen. I think she saw me, and then I tripped."

"Oh, wonderful," Danny crossed his arms. "Thanks Tucker, now the second we come out she'll be waiting to lecture us."

"On the bright side," Sam smiled, "He's here now. Tucker, what in this place do you think you could build?"

Danny watched his friends move around the lab, looking at and taking pictures of various inventions. He stayed back, catching bits of their conversation but not taking part in it. The lab was dangerous, and they shouldn't be in it. Tucker had only ever seen it once before, when they were eight and playing hide-and-seek. He'd gotten lectured by Danny's parents by hiding in there, so he had to know how much they really shouldn't be in here...

"Danny, dude!" Tucker's laugh cut that thought off, and Danny looked over just in time to see Tucker throw a white and black jumpsuit at him. "You have one of those?! Aw, you can match your folks!"

"Shut up, Tucker!" Danny snapped, hiding his blush by holding the suit up to his face. "It's not like I ever wear the stupid thing, anyway!"

Sam shrugged and held up her phone, "Well, then come pose for pictures with it! Come on, please?"

"...Uh, sure?" Danny replied, folding the jumpsuit over his arm. He looked over at the two of them to see Tucker making a heart shape with his hands. "Tucker, I swear to god, I will tell my parents you want to learn how to hunt ghosts. And that you ate the emergency fudge."

At once Tucker's hands were back at his side, and Danny replied with a triumphant smile.

"So..." Sam trailed off, holding up her phone. "Pictures?"

"Oh! Right," Danny took a few steps towards her, and Sam motioned for him to stand in front of the portal. Danny did as instructed, jumpsuit still in hand, and looked back towards her. "Here...?"

"Smile!" Sam called, holding up her phone and snapping a picture of the surprised Danny. "So what is that hole for, anyway? A bat cave?"

"No, I-" Danny cut off for a second, blinking as Sam took another picture. "-I wish my parents were that cool. No, it's supposed to be a portal to the ghost... World... Or something like that. I forget what it's called. All I know is that they were calling it their ghost portal."

"Huh," Sam frowned for a second, and then smiled. "That's freakin' awesome! How does it work?"

"It doesn't," Tucker spoke up for Danny, "That's what upset his parents. That thing was like their life's work."

Sam's face fell, "Oh. That's too bad."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Can we go now? My parents will kill me if they catch me here." Danny lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck. "And it's not like this stuff works anyways."

"Oh come on Danny, a ghost portal?" Sam's hand fell to her side, "You've got to be at least a little curious! You should check it out!"

"Um, no," Danny shook his head, "I'd rather not. Not only would I probably die of radiation or something, but if I didn't my parents and sister would kill me."

"We can fix the radiation thing with the jumpsuit," Tucker spoke up, "Come on dude, give it a shot!"

"...I'm not putting on spandex, Tucker."

"Aw, that's too bad," Sam shrugged, "Guys in spandex are hot."

The second he processed what Sam had said, Danny quickly stepped back into the closet. He swapped his clothes for the jumpsuit before rushing back out and over to his friends. "Really? Well then take some pictures! Maybe some of the hot girls at school will see them!"

Sam and Tucker exchanged a look before they both broke out in laughter. Danny's face turned bright red as he realized what he'd said and what he'd just done. It took a moment for him to realize that they were pointing at his chest.

"That," Sam sputtered, "Is one attractive sticker."

"You're making me swoon! I didn't know you'd come out of the closest like this!" Tucker added, and Danny scowled. On the front of his jumpsuit- and honestly going annoyingly against its white and black color scheme- was a sticker of his dad's face.

"I really hate my dad sometimes. And Tucker? If you make another gay joke I'm throwing you in the closest. For the last time, I am straight." Danny peeled off the sticker, crumpled it up, and tossed it across the room. "Is that better?"

"Much," Sam replied lifting up her phone to snap a picture, and Tucker snorted as he lifted a hand to cover his mouth. "I never knew someone's face could go so red. That one's going in the scrapbook."

Danny turned away, ignoring their continuing snickers. "Well, if I'm wearing it," He muttered, looking at the portal as he took a reluctant step forward. "Here goes nothing."

Danny moved forward slowly, his breathing shallow and fast. He clenched his right fist, trying to calm himself, while he dragged his left hand along the wall. His throat was dry and he was shaking. Hundreds of red flags had risen in his mind, and Danny felt as if he was being crushed under the feeling that something was about to go horribly, utterly, wrong.

Danny suddenly stumbled forwards as his boot caught on a loose wire, and he let out an alarmed shout before pressing both hands against the side of the portal. He felt something move, but ignored it. Oh my god. He attempted to swallow his fear, ending up feeling as if he was about to puke.

"Danny?" Tucker's voice betrayed a bit of worry, "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Danny snapped, his fear coming out as anger. Something in the portal started to buzz, and a couple things lit up. And right underneath his hands, Danny saw a green button labeled 'on'.

"Wait," The panic was obvious in his voice now, "I lied."

"Danny, get out of there!" Tucker shouted, and Danny looked at the portal around him to see little bursts of electricity jumping around him. It crawled along the walls, jumped across the entrance way... "Danny? Danny! Dude, get out of there!"

Nearly silent, Danny whispered, "I always knew I'd die on a Monday."

The electricity reached him, and Danny screamed.

He felt as if the bonds which held his very being together were being dissolved. He felt as if he was unbearably cold and unbelievably hot. The intense, searing, unbelievable pain flooded him, covering every bit of his body. If souls were real, his was being torn away. He felt as if his DNA was being scrubbed clean and rewritten, replaced with something else. The agony bubbled up within him, coating him with searing, tearing, radiating pain.

Danny wasn't sure how long he screamed, or how loud he did. His brain was too focused on the pain which tore into him, ripping him apart from the inside out. His mind struggled to form a coherent thought- just one, just one which could truly express his pain- but it formed a different one instead.

No one should ever feel this pain.

And suddenly, there was green. And there was white. And there was black. Everything was spinning, and Danny felt as if he was pulling something towards him. The pain was fading now, but his vision was still blurred. And he was dizzy- oh so dizzy. There were bright flashes of light, though he couldn't fathom where they came from.

The black and white suddenly collided with him, and Danny was thrown back. A feeling raced through him, one which could best be described as having tape wrapped around the inside of him. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and Danny felt as if he was falling through some thick substance.

Another thought formed in his mind, and strangely it didn't cause him fear.

Am I dead?

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny's scream had been endless and filled with pain. Sam couldn't find the words to describe it any other way.

Everything seemed unreal, too quiet, too bright. It didn't seem like it was actually there- like a dream, almost. Oh god please let this be a dream. Please let me just wake up, and he'll be fine. This can't be real. This can't be happening.

Tucker had started screaming too, but she wasn't sure when. His had blended together with Danny's.

But she wasn't sure if Danny was even screaming anymore. She could do nothing but stare at the swirling vortex of green which had claimed her friend.

I just killed Danny.

Weren't people supposed to feel something when they watched someone die? Happiness, anger, grief- any of it would be better than the numbness which covered her. Why don't I feel anything? He's dead. He's dead. Oh my god, Danny's dead. No, he can't be dead. Just a few minutes ago, he was getting a paper cut from his science book. He was bleeding. He was alive. He can't be dead. No!

Sam wasn't aware of the tears rolling down her cheeks until she tasted salt as one of them rolled into her mouth. A scene jumped into her mind, of the trio at school last week during science, as Danny rambled on about the stars above.

He can't be dead.

"Oh my god," She choked, the reality of the situation crashing down around her. "Oh my god..."

I killed him. I... I killed Danny. No. No, no, no, no, no...! Please no...

"No!" Tucker's screech was dying off, and Sam couldn't hear Danny anymore. "No, no, no! Danny, no! This can't be happening!"

"Oh my god, no..." Sam's voice cracked, and she watched Tucker rush towards the portal.

"Danny, this isn't funny! Get out of there! Remember the deal from when we were seven?! You die I die!" His fist pounded against the metal outline, barely far enough away from the actual portal. "Stop this stupid light show! Get out of there! You die I die Danny, you die I die!" He fell forward, one hand still on the framed as his body shook. "Come back..."

Sam took a step towards him, wiping her tears away. She didn't deserve to cry. This was her fault. "Danny..."

The portal seemed to shiver, as if it was trying to escape. A second later, a white hand poked out from it.

"Tucker!" Sam's voice reached an unreasonably high shout, and the other teen looked over. He yelped almost in surprise, scrambling back as a black suit followed the glove. A body followed, falling back and crumpling up on the lab floor.

"What the hell is that?!" Tucker's voice was almost a screech. Sam rushed over to his side, not wanting to be standing alone when there was that... That thing laying a little ways away. The thing with unnatural white hair, a faint glow, and reverse colors of Danny's jumpsuit.

A thing which if the reverse colors were ignored, happened to look rather similar to the missing member of the trio.

"Danny...?"

At Sam's quiet question, bright green eyes shot open. Both her and Tucker stumbled back as what had fallen from the portal sat up slowly, took one look at the swirling green abyss, and scrambled away from it. He made a sound, almost like a scream, but a lot quieter and a lot raspier. He raised two hands towards his neck, but the raspy scream came again as he noticed them and soon the rest of his body.

"Danny...?" Tucker asked, panic obvious in his voice. "Danny?!"

"What is this?!" It sounded like Danny... Well, almost. The voice was echoing, and Sam swore it had something speaking alongside it. "What happened to me?!"

"Oh my god. Danny!" Tucker crossed the lab within a couple of steps, throwing his arms around the reverse-Danny as he sank to his knees. "Don't ever do that to me again, you hear me?! Don't you ever do that to me again!"

"T-Tucker?" Danny's voice shook, "What happened to me? My gloves were black. They were black. Why are they white? They were black."

"I don't know," Tucker's voice was shaking too, "I don't know, but I'm sure you're fine. You have to be fine. You're alive, right? So you have to be fine."

Sam stood off to the side, feeling like a stranger in their conversation. As much as she'd like to pretend she was, she wasn't their friend. Friends wouldn't let their friends be electrocuted!

Danny suddenly let out an alarmed sound, and Sam instinctively lifted a hand to shield her eyes as a bright flash of light covered the lab. It was gone almost as quickly as it came, and afterwards Sam let out a choked sound of surprise.

The Danny being hugged by Tucker was no longer the green-eyed-reversed-colors one, but instead the Danny which had stepped into the portal. Normal colors on the jumpsuit, no glow, black hair instead of white, and his normal alarmed blue eyes.

"Danny...?" Sam whispered, and he looked over at her as Tucker finally pulled back.

"Sam...?" He replied, looking down at his hands then back over at her. "I... I'm normal. I'm okay? I'm- oh holy f-!" He pointed to the ground in front of her, shuffling backwards until he hit a table leg. Sam looked down, and seeing nothing, looked back at Danny. He had tensed up, and with a sudden alarmed cry he was convulsing on his side. His skin had paled and his breathing sounded oddly noisy.

"What the hell?!" Sam took a step back, shallowly and quickly breathing as panic covered her once more. Tucker was reacting the same as she was. "What the- Danny?!"

"Get Jazz!" Tucker snapped, panic very obvious on his face. "Get his sister! Get Jazz!"

Jazz. Jazz, his sister Jazz. The girl who gave us a ride here. She's upstairs, kitchen, that Jazz.

Sam didn't know when she started nodding and wasn't sure when she stopped. She wasn't sure when she turned and ran up the stairs, or why the doorway back to the kitchen suddenly got so close to her face. She moved by instinct, everything she did seeming foreign and controlled by someone else. The door swung open, revealing Jazz sitting at the table.

Danny's sister automatically switched from angry to concerned once she noticed that only Sam had come upstairs. She stood up, and Sam choked out a few words. "Danny, he... Danny..."

Those three words were enough for Jazz. She quickly pushed past Sam, fear evident on her face, and rushed down the stairs. Sam followed, numbness covering her and salt water leaking into her mouth once again. She reached the bottom of the stairs in time to see Jazz pull Danny close to her into a hug, ignoring his shaking and flailing limbs. Moments later she pulled her cell phone from a pocket, dialed a few numbers, and frantically shouted into it. "I need an ambulance!"

.-.-.-.-.-.

With a wave from a man in a police car, the Fenton RV managed to get past the car accident which had held them up. Maddie tapped her fingers by the door handle, awkward silence covering the vehicle. She didn't want to turn on the radio; but she didn't know what to say...

"It's okay if you're mad, Maddie." By the sound of Jack's voice and the fact that he was driving calmly- something he hadn't done for years-, he didn't know what to say either. "You have every right to be. It's just... If it doesn't work, we need to take it down. The sooner we do, the sooner we can move on."

"I know, Jack," Maddie replied, shaking her head. "I know, okay? But I just... I can't take it down. We've been working towards having a working one since college. And besides," She pulled out her trump card, ignoring the sirens in the distance. "Wouldn't Vlad want us to do it? It was his dream too, Jack."

Jack pulled to the side of the road, and for a second Maddie wondered if her trump card for arguments had finally backfired. It was soon revealed that that wasn't the case, and instead an ambulance raced passed them.

"Don't turn right," Maddie wasn't aware she'd spoken aloud until she heard Jack's voice speak alongside it. "Don't turn right, don't turn right."

The ambulance did just that.

A few moments passed. There was no look between the two, and no secret message passed between them. Jack's foot pushed down the gas pedal and he was driving more frantically than normal within seconds. People on the sidewalks flattened themselves against buildings in an attempt to avoid injury. Jack Fenton was known for his reckless driving, but this was new level for him.

Maddie just held onto what had been dubbed the 'oh-holy-crap' handle- it was just a piece of plastic built into the door, but with Jack's driving it was very useful plastic- with grip causing her knuckles to turn white. She knew there was a chance that the ambulance wasn't going to their house, but... She wasn't going to take that risk. As a mother with very dangerous items in her basement, she couldn't take that risk.

A light turned red in front of them, and Maddie pulled the steering wheel over to her side. She turned sharply onto another road, avoiding the light.

"What are you doing?!" Jack snapped, and Maddie knew he was just as worried as she was.

"Shortcut!" She replied, and shoved the steering wheel back to him before wrapping her hands back around the handle. "Do you want to sit at a light?!"

Jack didn't reply, and the RV lapsed into silence as they pulled up to their block to see their worst fear. The ambulance was right outside their house, and their door was open. Maddie was jumping out of the RV within seconds and racing towards her house, despite Jack calling after her.

"Jazz! Danny!" She shouted, jumping up over the stair railing and rushing into her house. Please let my babies be okay. "Jazz! Danny!" Please. Anyone but them.

There was the sound of someone in the kitchen, and then, "Mom?"

"Jasmine!" Maddie shouted rushing into the room. Two muscular men were carrying a board of sorts up the stairs as Maddie threw her arms around her daughter. "Jasmine, where's your brother?!" Jazz pulled back, tears in her eyes. Maddie caught sight of what was strapped onto the board, and her heart skipped a beat. "No..."

Danny was unconscious, and Maddie wanted to scream as she realized he was wearing his jumpsuit. Everyone in the family had one, but Danny and Jazz seemed to hate theirs. Maddie briefly wondered why Danny would have his on, but she suppressed the thought. It didn't matter.

"Ma'am," It took Maddie a split second to realize the front paramedic was talking to her. "Ma'am please, you need to move."

"But," Maddie protested, her voice catching in her throat as she noticed Danny's friend Tucker and some girl leave the basement. They were using each other for support, and the girl's makeup was horribly smudged. "Please, that's my baby!"

"That may be true Ma'am," The second paramedic spoke up, "But that's not going to matter much if we don't get him to a hospital."

Jazz let out some sort of high pitched sound as she tensed up. Maddie clasped a hand over her mouth and tried to calm herself as the first paramedic gave an annoyed look to the second. She moved to the side, and they rushed out the door. Jazz went to move after them, but Maddie caught her arm first. Ignoring Danny's friends, Maddie pulled her daughter to the Ghost Assault Vehicle and pushed her in.

Jack was looking over at her, a death grip on the steering wheel. "Maddie...?"

Maddie did up her seat belt and looked her husband in the eyes. She only said one word, but that word was enough.

"Danny."

The ambulance pulled away, lights and sirens going. Jack's expression turned to one of horror before he stomped down the gas pedal and raced after it.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny woke to the annoying sound of constant beeping. He became aware of a dull sensation of pain throughout him as his eyes fluttered open, and his first thought was simple.

This isn't my room.

He attempted to move a hand so that he could wipe strands of hair from his eyes. Something pulled against it, and there was an uncomfortable feeling in his wrist. Danny frowned and moved his head, looking over at his wrist. An IV...? I'm in a hospital. Oh. Okay. Ow.

There was a sort of shink sound, and Danny moved his head once again to see a familiar face pull back a blue curtain. "Jazz?" His voice sounded rough, and Danny coughed in an attempt to regain his normal voice. He tried to move into a sitting position, but his sister quickly rushed forward and placed a hand on his chest.

"Danny, no!" She pushed him back down, hesitating a second before smiling. "When did you wake up?"

"Just now," Danny coughed again, "How long was I... Uh, asleep for?

"Uh... A day? I don't really know." Jazz sat down in a small metal chair beside Danny's bed. "They wouldn't let us see you until a few hours ago. Mom and Dad just left to go talk to a doctor, and I-" She held up a bottle of water. "I got thirsty."

"Oh," Danny reached over, his left hand grazing the paper wrapped around the bottle. "Can I have some?"

Jazz pulled the water bottle out of Danny's reach. "I don't think so, little brother. Not until the doctors say so." Danny's face moved into a pout, and Jazz let out a small laugh. "It's good to have you back, Danny. I... I was so scared I'd lost you."

"What?" Danny frowned, "What are you talking about, Jazz?"

Jazz started tearing off the paper from the bottle. "You tell me. The doctors... They didn't know if you would wake up. They didn't think you would."

"...Oh." Great job Fenton, you can't even be in a coma right. "Whoops."

"I... I almost believed them. Sam and Tucker were panicking, and I came downstairs to see you flailing. I didn't know what had happened, or what to do, I..." There was a pause before Jazz looked up at him and wrapped one of her hands around Danny's own. "Danny, please. What happened?"

Scenes flashed through Danny's mind. There was pain, ear-piercing screams, his gloves changing color with a flash of light and some sort flickering black and white thing at Sam's feet, more pain... But after that, there was nothing. And Danny wasn't sure why.

"Danny?" Jazz pressed, squeezing Danny's hand. "Are you okay? You... You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Sam and Tucker gave us an abridged version, I just wanted to hear it from you."

Danny shook his head, "I... It's not that, it's just..." I'm a complete and utter idiot who actually thought it was a good idea to go into that stupid portal? I should probably be in a lot more pain and probably dead? Something was lying at Sam's feet but when I tried to move away from it I felt like the portal was murdering me all over again? I shouldn't even be alive right now?! ...Wow, that went from bad to worse. "...I don't know anymore."

"Oh," Jazz hesitated a second before standing up, lying the water bottle down on the chair. A few drops of the water leaked out onto the seat. "Do you think you're up for seeing Mom and Dad? They'll be happy to know you live."

Danny smiled, "Better now than later, right?"

"Yeah," Jazz turned away and stepped past the curtain, leaving Danny alone.

...Jazz looked wrecked. Good job Fenton, you broke yourself and your sister. Danny groaned, fiddling with the thin blanket draped over him. You are an idiot. A complete and utter idiot. If there was any chance of the portal working before, it's probably dead now. Bravo, you've screwed everything up even more... His thought trailed off as a puffed of cold air rose up from the back of his throat and out his mouth. Danny coughed as the fog dissipated, feeling a small mental tug towards his left side.

"Okay...?" Danny whispered in an effort to calm himself, "That's a little bit weird... Okay more than a little... Maybe I imagined it...?"

"Let. Me. Go."

Danny froze, pulling the blanket up around him. The voice had been quiet, and though it sounded far away, it held power. It was unnatural, echoing, and plunged fear into Danny's mind. Please tell me that was just some crazy patient.

The voice didn't add on anything else, but Danny shivered as the room seemed to grow cooler. He felt like he had just been dumped in a snowbank, and for the life of him Danny couldn't figure out why. Am I getting sick? Please let it be that. Please let it be something reasonable like that. For a split second, he felt pressure on his right arm just below the shoulder. But then it was gone, and the coldness retreated.

"What did you...?" The mysterious voice spoke again, but it was so quiet that Danny barely heard it. "What did you do to me?! Stop it!"

"This can't be happening..." Danny whispered, closing his eyes. "This isn't happening. This isn't real, this can't be real... This can't be happening..."

"Danny!" The tense and terrifying situation was broken by the sound of Jack's voice, and Danny opened his eyes just in time to see his dad barrel through the curtain and pull Danny into a tight hug.

"Dad," Danny gave an exaggerated gasp, as he always did when his father hugged him. "Air...!"

Jack quickly let go, unlike normal. Danny fell back onto the bed, looking up at Jack. He frowned, confused, and Jack looked guilty. "So... How are you, son?"

"I'm... I'm okay," Danny frowned, his left hand moving to rub the back of his neck. "How are you?"

"Good. I'm uh, I'm pretty good."

"Danny?" Both Fenton men breathed a sigh of relief as Maddie and Jazz both re-entered the area, ending the awkwardness. Maddie reached down to kiss Danny's forehead, a small smile on her face. "It's good to have you back, Sweetie."

"It's... Good to be back...?" Danny said, and coughed once again in an attempt to clear his throat.

"How are you feeling?" Maddie was doing the same thing Jazz had done before; squeezing Danny's free hand. Jack attempted to move around her, nearly tripping over the chair in the process.

"I'm okay," Danny muttered, "A little bit sore, but I'm okay."

Maddie shot a glance at her husband before looking back at Danny. "If it's bugging you, we can ask the doctors to give you more painkillers."

Danny attempted to sit up, "I'm on painkillers?"

"Danny, you were electrocuted," Jack spoke up, "You're on a lot of painkillers." He reached over, picking up a frozen bottle of water from the chair as Maddie glared at him. "And apparently discount ice packs."

"Oh," Danny relaxed, looking up at his parents. I've seen on TV that some painkillers can make people hallucinate. He yawned, smiling. That's a relief. There wasn't anyone there. I'm just a little crazy. I'll be okay. "Okay."

"You should rest, Sweetie," Maddie smiled, "The more you sleep the quicker you'll get better." She went to pull her hand away, but Danny held on tighter in an effort to stop her. He wanted his family there if something happened again.

"Could you stay until I fall asleep?" He fought to keep fear from his voice, and he quickly glanced over to his sister. From the look on her face, she'd heard it. "Please?"

Jack appeared a little tenser as Maddie sat down in the chair and Jazz sat on the edge of Danny's bed. "Of course," Maddie reached forward to brush some hair from Danny's eyes. "Of course we'll stay."

Take that, hallucination. Danny smiled, pulling the blanket around him. Good luck bugging me when my family's around.

Thankfully, the disembodied voice offered no reply.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"But don't you see? Trying doesn't matter. It won't work- it can't work! You know that. You know it better than anyone."

"But I can't just let this go. I can't just- I need to bring them back! If you came back, why can't they?! I have to try! I... I can't go on like this. I can't go on without them."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny was officially bored of the hospital.

Two days had passed since he'd woken up, his parents had gone home to play with their now-working portal, and Jazz had gone back to school. She had gotten a bunch of students to sign a card for him, while Tucker and Sam had sent him a bouquet of candy.

Danny ran his teeth over a piece of white chocolate, board out of his mind. He just wanted to do something- anything- besides sit in his hospital bed and make occasional trips to the bathroom.

He finished off the chocolate, smiling to himself as he forced himself to focus on the positives. According to his doctors he was healing at an unbelievably fast rate, which meant he'd probably be able to go home by Friday morning. He'd still be on painkillers, but he was going home. And that was the main thing. And Jazz would probably be over to visit him in a few minutes.

But until then, I get to be bored. Bah. Someone shoot me.

Danny debated going for another piece of chocolate, but a sudden drop of temperature stopped him. He shivered as a breath of freezing air escaped his mouth, and Danny pulled the blanket up around him.

I hate these painkillers. Why do I have to hallucinate?! This isn't fair!

The voice had more force when it spoke this time, "I think I've figured you out."

Danny pulled the blanket up over him, waiting for the voice to go away.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Now it just sounded annoyed, "I will pull the leash. You're human; it'll hurt you more than it'll hurt me. …I think."

"Go away..." Danny whispered, "Please, go away."

"...Fine." From the corner of his eye, Danny saw what could best be described as the air shivering. "I've wanted to see what humans do when the leash is pulled against them."

The voice seemed to leave then, and Danny frowned as he sat up. Leash? I'm not on a leash. What does he think I am, his puppy?

...Wait, why did I give the voice a gender? It's not real. Fenton, you moron, it's not...

Danny's thoughts stopped, and he sat up. A feeling of dread rose up within him, a feeling that if he went forward even an inch more his world would come crashing down around him.

Danny licked his lips, taking a deep breath in. Relax, Fenton. You're fine. You're in a hospital; what's the worst that could happen? You're fine, you're perfectly... You're fine. Breathe. In, out, in, out, in...

The feeling started in the fingertips of his left hand. It was pins and needles, like he'd been lying on his hand for an hour. But that only lasted for a few seconds.

Danny screamed, his body going rigid as the unnatural pain exploded through him. It felt like his entire body was being crushed while pulled apart, and that thousands of nails were stabbing into him. He felt as if he was caught up in a flame so hot it was cold.

As quickly as it came, it was gone again. The next thing Danny knew there were nurses all around him, talking soothingly and assuring him he was safe. A headache forced Danny to ignore them, and he groaned softly as he rolled onto his back.

He barely heard what the nurses were saying, but Danny felt his body tense as he noticed what almost appeared to be a figure at the end of his bed.

"Huh," The voice spoke up, clearer than everyone else's. "So that's what happens when I pull on the leash. ...Ow..."

Danny barely swallowed a whimper of fear. Whatever this was, it wasn't a hallucination. It had hurt him.

This wasn't a side effect of painkillers. It couldn't be, As much as Danny wanted to deny it… This was real.

Oh my god, he's real.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Stopwatch leaned against a wall in a hallway, his tongue poking from the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on his hands. A shape slowly formed from the faint blue glow which surrounded them, and the ghost's eyes brightened. "Yes!" He cheered, staring down at the small bag of popcorn he'd created. He popped a piece into his mouth, smiling. "Suck it, you Timey-Powered twat! Who can't focus their powers now?! All five senses, in a neat little buttery bag!"

The sudden sound of someone crying behind him caused the ghost to tense and throw his arms behind him in a panic. He cut off his power as he turned towards the sound, trying to appear innocent as he looked at the ghost.

Oh. It's just Hourglass. Never mind then.

"Hey," He smiled, watching her wipe her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"No," She sniffed, pulling her hood up to cover her face. "My aunt showed me my Timeline. We couldn't find Prince. He's gone, Stopwatch, this isn't like Positgen. He's actually, honestly, gone. And it's all my fault!"

She was crying again, and Stopwatch fought to stay stoic. Honestly, didn't care that the ghost had been destroyed. He'd looked like a Danny Phantom. And it didn't matter which of the thousands of Timelines one of those were from, they always caused more trouble than they were worth. But on the other hand, even though his best friend wasn't a fan of them either, she was horrified by the idea of anyone dying. It was rather annoying.

"No, it isn't." Stopwatch stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. He threw a smile onto his face and reached forward with his other hand, brushing loose strands of hair from her face. "Listen to me. You made a mistake. Whoop-dee-do. Everyone makes mistakes. You can't let them define you."

"But I destroyed him!" Hourglass pushed his hand away, "I'm not like you. I can't just shrug death off. And it gets worse; we found a Danny Fenton. I... I don't know what ghost it was, it might've been us, but he sensed them. Stopwatch, I think I made a Scientific Halfa. And not just any- one of them."

Stopwatch froze for a second, knowing exactly what she meant by 'them' before he recalled he had an appearance to keep up. Improper sass engaged. Sorry Hourglass. "Are you sure he wasn't just cold?"

"He was in a hospital," Hourglass shook her head, and Stopwatch briefly frowned at the missed opportunity for sarcasm. "I don't think that was the problem."

"But isn't your Timeline the one where something screwed up and now portals don't make Halfas?" Stopwatch crossed his arms, "Look, you're upset. I get that. But you're usually smarter than this. Your Timeline will be fine. You know how the line goes; everything is as it should be." Hourglass gave him a curious look, and Stopwatch quickly threw on a goofy smile. Being so serious would be bad for his image. "Unless it starts raining popcorn or something. I don't have enough butter for that to be as it should be."

Hourglass smiled for a second before lifting a hand to cover the bottom of her face. "You aren't helping."

Bull, Stopwatch thought, detecting a faint sound of amusement in her voice. "Hey, you stopped crying." He shrugged, letting his arms fall to his sides and ignoring a somewhat distant thump. "I think I helped."

Hourglass opened her mouth to add something else to the conversation, but stopped. She looked to her left, confused. "...Did you hear something? I think something fell. What if it was a thermos?"

"I can name at least five reasons why it wouldn't be that." Main one being I heard it too, and that was too heavy to be a thermos. He barely contained an eye roll, "It's probably one of the other apprentices. The common room's just around the corner, after all."

"I know that," Hourglass turned towards where the sound had come from. "Do you think we should go check it out?"

No. "If you want to," Stopwatch shrugged, suddenly aware of what sounded like rushed footsteps. "On the other hand..."

He timed it perfectly; whatever had been running rushed past them, suddenly pulling them back to function as shields. Stopwatch was about to be offended, but then another ghost turned the corner. Except, this one was in the form of a large tiger. It stopped when it noticed them.

Stopwatch recognized his fellow apprentice within moments. "Really, Tori?" He scoffed, "I knew you were lonely, but you're supposed to get a cat, not become one."

The ghost, apparently named Tori, stopped. A flash of light later, a physically-nineteen and green-skinned female ghost stood in the tiger's place. She raised an eyebrow, and it disappeared behind the bangs of her short, darker green hair. "He started it. That impossibility shouldn't even be here."

"You know, there are these things called chill pills," The ghost behind Stopwatch spoke up, "You might want to talk to your doctor about them."

Tori crossed her arms, "Shut up, freak. Those who actually matter are talking."

"Tori!" Hourglass snapped, clasping her hands in front of her. "Respect is a virtue, you know. I suggest you read up on it."

"Oh, my apologies," Tori's voice was heavy with sarcasm as she dipped into a mock curtsy. "I am but a normal ghost, who does normal things. The terminology you Timey Elites use confuses and frightens me."

Stopwatch felt fury rise within him as Hourglass stepped back, for some reason hurt by Tori's comment. He pushed it down, knowing that no good would come of him losing control. He'd be punished severely for that, by many powerful beings. Instead he stepped forward, calmly calling forth the power he been practicing with. "Well, then maybe you should read some books." He flicked his hands, coating them with a faint blue energy, and Tori stumbled back with wide eyes. He pictured what she would be seeing- a roaring monster made of paperback novels- and a smirk made its way onto his face. "I have some you can borrow." Sight and hearing. Just those senses. Okay, okay... Shit, I hate doing sight...

"Where did you-?! Ah!" She stepped back, looking past the illusion to glare at Stopwatch. "You... Freak! Fruit loop!" She turned around the corner, and Stopwatch waved his hand to have the illusion follow her for a few seconds. He let the power die off after that, ignoring the temptation to continue manipulating her reality and cause the other ghosts in the tower to believe Tori as insane.

"Oh no, I'm a cereal." He rolled his eyes instead, pushing the thoughts from his mind. "I must live my life in delicious shame."

The ghost behind him snorted with muffled laughter, and Hourglass shook her head. "I really hate shape shifters." She turned to the ghost they'd been defending, "Are you-" She stopped, eyes wide as she stepped back. "No. No, why this?!" She fell to her knees, her head in her hands. "Oh, the world just hates me today!"

Stopwatch blinked twice and turned towards the ghost. He tensed, recognizing them within an instant. His core buzzed, and he felt his control over his obsession slipping away. Scenes planted themselves in his mind, and though he knew it wouldn't end well, he smiled at the ones of human blood on his hands.

"Hey? Hey!" Stopwatch was surprised he didn't fall forward. He was dragged out of his mind, greeted by fingers snapping in his face. "Wake up! I'm not in the mood to die right now!"

Shaking his head, Stopwatch took a step back. It just had to be one of them. He knew Clockwork- with his whole 'I'm not killing anyone I'm taking them in instead' thing- had a small army of alternate versions of him, but they were supposed to stay hidden. They weren't supposed to know there were alternate Timelines, or other apprentices!

They weren't supposed to do anything. They weren't supposed to know anything!

They weren't supposed to matter.

The Danny Phantom gave him a confused look, "Are you sane now, or...?"

"I'm fine," Stopwatch quickly replied, stepping back and looking past the Danny Phantom. He couldn't lose control again. He had to stay strong. "What are you doing here?"

"...I'm looking for Clockwork," The Danny Phantom moved back into an almost defensive stance, "I want to talk to him."

"Oh," Stopwatch frowned, searching his mind for a ghost the Danny Phantom in front of his would've fought. He needed one and he needed one now, otherwise he was going to lose control. And while he was thinking sanely, the idea of human blood on his hands made him sick. "He's a couple floors up, I would think. Pretty sure that's where his quarters are." Ember? Spectra? Skulker. I'll use Skulker. "Here, I have a friend who'll be able to show you the way."

Stopwatch pooled his power into creating an illusion he'd only met a couple times before. He had to affect sight and hearing; only two of the five senses. He could do this. He'd just done it moments ago. I can do this.

The illusion of the robotic ghost sprung to existence, and Stopwatch didn't bother focusing it only on the Danny Phantom. That would involve focusing on him, and he wouldn't be able to keep his control if he did that. Besides, Hourglass had learned to tell when he used his power of Reality Manipulation on her.

The Danny stumbled, eyes wide. Both his hands pressed against his left side as he fell back against a wall, cowering and shaking with fear.

Stopwatch blinked twice, you're supposed to run, idiot.

Stopwatch received another jolt towards reality as Hourglass laughed, and he nearly dropped the illusion. He had to actually check back to be sure, but that confirmed it. The physically younger ghost was laughing at the hybrid's fear.

Unsure of the proper reaction, Stopwatch just shrugged. There went any reason to stop manipulating reality. After all, if his over sensitive best friend found it funny, it couldn't be too bad. Besides, if he manipulated his own vision, he could distort how he viewed the Danny Phantom. That way his obsession wouldn't overwhelm him.

Stopwatch didn't notice when the hybrid appeared to pass out from fear, or the tears running down his cheeks as he gripped the left side of his torso. Stopwatch just kept the illusion moving forward at a painfully slow pace, producing weapon after weapon. The point of it quickly faded from his mind, and Stopwatch found himself laughing too.

What was- in Stopwatch's opinion- a relatively peaceful situation was quickly ended, as a blast of energy hit his side. He was thrown back, hitting a wall. His fists clenched, and he looked up with murder in his eyes. It was quickly replaced with a neutral look, all anger safely hidden away.

Hourglass was standing now, caught between rushing over to him and the brown-haired female ghost who had delivered the blow. "Auntie! I- I mean..."

"For the last time," The ghost sounded annoyed, in the simplest of terms. "I am not your aunt. Why was your boy toy over there murdering a kid? I thought he was housebroken."

Stopwatch stood, "Not quite. By the way, I left a present on your rug."

Hourglass smacked a palm to her face as her not-aunt raised an eyebrow. "Oh, someone's feeling clever today. I'll remember that next time I'm in the mood to murder someone."

"Oh goodie," Stopwatch smirked, "Can it be mutual?"

"Please stop," Hourglass spoke quietly, but it was effective on both ghosts. "Can I please just take Stopwatch and go? Please! We're sorry!"

"That won't get you out of this that easily, Sweetie." The ghost frowned, looking over at the now unconscious Danny Phantom. "But I suppose we can deal with it later. Both of you- and yes, that does mean both- will be punished." She stepped forward, hooked her arms under the unconscious hybrid's shoulders, stumbled slightly, and dragged him away.

Stopwatch floated over to Hourglass, frowning. "She's not going to punish you, is she?"

Hourglass gave a sheepish smile, "Probably not." She paused, "Do you really have to antagonize her like that?"

Stopwatch shrugged, barely holding in a smile. No, but since killing her isn't an option, it's the best I've got.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"We believe Daniel has developed Epilepsy. The tests we just finished have confirmed it."

Jazz looked up at the doctor, confusion evident on her face. She knew that Danny had been pulled off for a variety of tests after what had happened, but this… This wasn't what she expected. "Epilepsy? But... I don't..." I haven't read about that!

"Jasmine," Maddie forced a smile, motioning to the room Danny was in. "Perhaps you should go talk to your brother. I'm sure he'd enjoy the company."

Jazz swallowed, giving the doctor a glance before stepping back and opening the door. She gave a nod of recognition to the boy Danny shared the room with- she'd learned a few days ago that his name was Gregory and that he was two years older than she was. He'd been the one to contact a nurse when Danny had had his seizure. He was also very cute, but that wasn't important- and he waved back before rolling on his side and putting headphones in.

As Jazz stepped closer to the curtain between Danny and Gregory's beds, she became aware of her brother speaking. The conversation was one sided, but there were short breaks for replies. Though, from the sound of Danny's voice, he didn't get one.

"I'll ask again. What do you want with me? Why did you hurt me? Where are you? ...What are you?! Talk to me! I know you're there, so talk to me! Just tell me what you want!"

Jazz couldn't take it anymore. She shook the curtain back and forth, declaring her presence before opening it. Danny looked alarmed as she opened it, his hands automatically resting on the back of his neck.

"Hi," She smiled, sitting down in the chair beside Danny's bed. "How are you?"

"I... I'm good," Danny wasn't making eye contact, and Jazz held back tears. Her baby brother was hurting, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. "You?"

"I'm fine," Jazz forced her smile to stick, folding her hands in her lap. "So..."

"So..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck, not offering anything else.

Jazz looked down, unsure of the words she wanted to say. After a few moments, she gave up. "Can I get you anything?"

Danny shook his head, looking over at the end of his bed. "No... No, I'm fine. Just... Well, bored."

Silence once again settled between them. It felts smothering, like a blanket. No matter how hard she tried, Jazz could not find the words the express what she wanted to say. At last, the teenage girl settled with the best phrase she could. "Danny..." She began, "I'm sorry."

This time, her little brother actually did make eye contact. "What do you mean?"

Jazz held the eye contact, again not exactly sure what to say. "I should have done something..."

"Wait, what?" Danny attempted to be subtle as he shot another look to the end of his bed, but Jazz still caught it. "About what? Jazz, a lot of stuff is going on right now, but I'm sure you're doing as much as you can. And knowing you, it's probably a lot more than you should."

Jazz sighed and sat back. "Danny, no. I am not doing more than I should. I'm doing less than I should. You wouldn't be here, laying in a hospital bed, if not for me. I am sorry that I didn't protect you like I should have." With that the teenage girl bit her lip and turned away, she would not let herself cry. She needed to be strong. Her baby brother needed her.

"Jazz," Danny groaned, "You aren't the one who made me put on the stupid suit and go in the portal. You didn't make me push that button. I'm fourteen, Jazz; I'm not a little kid. You can't protect me from everything." Just loud enough for Jazz to be unsure if he had really said that, her brother added on. "Though at the moment, I kind of wish you could."

Jazz looked at her brother, "Danny, who else are you talking to?"

"...Uh..." He was rubbing his neck again, "...I don't really know... I haven't seen him. It. Whatever."

"Danny," Jazz started, "You know you can tell me anything? Right? If something is wrong, more wrong, please, tell me."

"Believe me," Danny muttered, "If I knew how to explain it, I would. But I haven't even seen the guy; it was like a figure... That isn't normal, is it?"

It took Jazz a moment to processes what her brother was trying to say, in the end she only barely understood. He was seeing things that weren't there. "Danny..." She trailed off. Honestly not sure what words could comfort him. "Danny I don't know. I don't know if any of this is normal."

"Why can't we be normal, Jazz?" Danny's voice shook slightly, "Why can't we get injured by normal thing and have normal stuff happen afterwards? Normal people don't have this stuff happen to them. They break their leg falling from a treehouse or something. Why can't we be like that?"

Jazz sighed once more. She'd been asking herself the same question for years. "Because Danny, life has something special planned for us."

---

Please excuse the broken Clockwork. I've been meaning to take him in to get fixed, but I've been busy. Also, excuse the plot-heavy scenes with the Time Apprentices. They'll be very important for later events, so I'm getting their arc out of the way early. Later on, their scenes won't be as plot heavy. Well, usually. Sometimes they try to kill each other and that's kind of important.

So, I know your eyes are a little bit dead by now, (16,000+ words, and we only fit in half the scenes we wanted! This is why you shouldn't let me do things) but bare with me for a little longer. Within this story, we will have something called the Favorite Character Poll. Now, much like my Misleading Poll from Unfamiliar Family, this has no set base where you can vote. You just tell us in a review, PM, on Tumblr, or whichever other way you so choose which character- Canon, OC, broken Clockwork, whatever- you enjoyed the most in this chapter. Despite the fact that this'll be in every chapter, it has no effect on the story, and honestly is mostly for our curiosity. Though we would love it if you did vote, it is by no means necessary.

Any sort of love for this story will be welcomed with open arms! However, if any reviews turn out to be flames, they'll be used to make the chapters even longer.

And you know, somehow I doubt your eyes want that.