Holy Crap 10 Favorite plus and 5 reviews within 24 hours of posting! Thank you everyone! I guess I managed to do a good job, and I hope to continue that. I'm not entirely sure where to go with this since like I said I first thought of it as a one shot. I'd be happy to hear people's Ideas!

On with Chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.


Chapter 2: Except maybe that.

Maddie's POV

The alarm clock blared by the bed, much too loudly in my opinion, at a painful 80 decibels, but considering Jack slept right through it most mornings, curled up like a giant pink grizzly bear, I could hardly complain. I got out of bed and changed out of my yellow and purple ghost print pajamas into my usual form fitting blue jumpsuit. I went downstairs and put on a pot of coffee, contemplating yesterday's revelations. Danny has been fighting ghosts for the past year without us even realizing it! He trusted all… both his friends, but was afraid to tell us, his parents? He even told Jazz! Well he hadn't told her but she still knew, which is more than Jack and I can say… That was the second surprise of the day. When we got home Jazz was busy on the computer, looking through the ghost files that we hadn't even know existed, and frantically tried to close them when we went down into the lab, apparently trying to hide them from us until Danny told her it was ok since we already knew. I mean Danny's been acting a little distant and secretive lately but Jazz was always the good one! That even she would hide things from us…

I poured myself a mug of coffee and decided to go and check if Danny's locator was working properly. The computer screen lit up and after a few minutes the data from last night was on the screen. I nearly spat up my coffee. These readings can't be right! Several things were wrong with the data, first being that Danny had apparently spent a good chunk of the night in the Lab. The near continuous stream of Ecto energy signatures matching the Fenton blasters and the fact that Danny was moving back and forth across the lab so fast seemed to indicate he was training. Then he spent a good half hour stationary in the corner of the lab with gym equipment, running on the treadmill if his increased heart rate was any indicator.

That's another thing, his vitals are all wrong! I pulled up the data from later that night when he was asleep, hoping to see some semblance of normalcy in his readings at rest. No such luck. His body temperature was at a somehow stable 85 degrees Fahrenheit, at which he should be suffering from hypothermia, and his resting heart rate was rather high at 110, and his blood pressure was an unusually low though not necessarily 'unsafe' 85/70. Throughout the training session his heart rate never exceeded a moderate 160, and 170 on the treadmill. He's in remarkably good shape to keep his heart rate so low, running at… I accessed the computerized history of gym usage… 12 miles per hour! On a broken leg, for over half an hour? … Well he seems healthy, so I guess this is the new "normal" for him… I managed to shrug it off. But I don't like him staying up until midnight. I did a quick inventory of the arsenal. Hmm, 2 guns, an ecto- staff, a Fenton thermos, and a specter deflector missing…I went back upstairs to fry some bacon and heat some fudge. The only things that could wake Jack up was either a ghost attack or a nice plate of hot fudge bacon, and as damages caused by faking the former were not cost effective, the smell of a heart-attack-on-a-plate would have to do. By the time the bacon was done, the fudge was melted, and breakfast was cooking for everyone else, Jack had charged down the stairs and sat at his place, drooling expectantly. Jazz followed shortly after. I wanted to let Danny sleep as long as possible but when it really got to crunch time I sighed and went up to wake him.

I knocked gently on the door if his room. Nothing. I knocked a little harder. Still nothing. Sighing, I opened the door. Danny was in bed, wearing the gym shorts he had presumably trained in last night; he wasn't wearing a shirt or anything else though. This was the first time I really got a good look at his scars, since I was a little too distracted by the situation in general to really inspect him. It was surreal and heart wrenching to see my little baby boy so big, so strong, so hurt; I held his good shoulder and gently shook him.

"It's time to get up, honey. Sweetie? Wake up. Come down for breakfast and see me before you leave, I want to have a word with you about staying up until midnight on a school night, and after you were told to take it easy for a while." As I squeezed his muscular shoulder and looked at his solid, slightly gaunt physique I understood the weird feeling I got on the rare occasion he let me hug him, what had been "off". He stirred and mumbled some barely intelligible affirmative response. I smiled a sad smile and walked back out the door. When I was about half way down the hall I heard a commotion in Danny's room.

"Wait! How did she know…? Damn bracelet!"


Danny's POV

The nothingness swirled around me, dark, dreamless slumber numbing my senses, blissfully unaware of the outside world. Suddenly, a single word pierced the nothing and floated through my mind, pulling me back to the real world, quickly joined by others

"…Honey…sweetie, wake up… come down … breakfast… see me… staying up till midnight on a school night… told to take it easy for a while". I groaned. Sure thing mom I'll be down in a minute, I thought, trying to make my mouth form the words as well.

"Shuurthnmmbdowmin..," blinking against the light, I opened my eyes and the fog cleared just in time to see Mom close the door behind her. Then the latter half of her statement hit me. "Wait! How did she know…? Damn bracelet!"

I got dressed quickly and stashed the gear I taken from the arsenal in holsters under my shirt, the Fenton thermos in my backpack in its usual secret compartment. Damn it how could I let myself sleep in so much! I swallowed my eggs in one bite and washed them down with a huge gulp of milk. I grabbed a piece of Fenton toast, wondering vaguely for the millionth time where the heck Dad got a Jack shaped bread pan, and made a break for the door, trying to avoid that talk with mom. No such luck.

"Danny, I see you sneaking off, young man! You aren't getting out of training until midnight that easily. I thought we told you to take it easy for a while?" Damn it maybe I should have waited but I'm not used to fighting without my powers, so practicing with those stupid guns was my only option.

"I'm sorry mom really I just needed to unwind, bad excuse I know, but could we please discuss this later I need to get to school!" I said in a somewhat frantic voice. Surprisingly, mom smiled and nodded, and I ran past her.

"Danny?" I'd only gotten past her by five feet. I stopped, cringing instinctively. Mom put out her hand with a (smug?) smile. "The guns." *Sigh* she's good. I reached into my shirt and pressed the buckle that held the holsters in place, catching the straps and attached guns as they fell. I handed them to Mom and ran off. A least she let me keep the other stuff... wait, if she knew about the guns she must've know about the specter deflector, thermos, and the ecto staff… so she did "let me" keep the gear… I turned back as I ran, stupid cast thumping the ground, and smiled. Thanks mom.

A few blocks down I let my usual nervousness slip away some as I headed to school, for once not interrupted by any ghosts. I guess I only attract their attention when I'm flying…

"Aaah, there you are whelp! I didn't see you here on the ground, why aren't you flying as usual? Have you realized the terror that is Ghost World's greatest Hunter, and decided to hide?" Or maybe I'm just more visible that way, and they're only late today because it took a bit longer to find me.

"Me? Hide? In your dreams, Skulker! I just thought I'd mix things up a bit. You want a fight, come down here and get it Skulker!"


Dash's POV

I still can't get over it! I'm not sure what exactly is going on with Fenton but it's freakin me out! I walked through the halls lazily, not really caring if I got on to class on time since that touchdown in the last game means the teachers will give plenty of leeway. No one knew exactly what had happened to the geek but rumors were flying, each one more unlikely than the last, from ghost stuff to military or gang involvement to parental abuse to friggin alien abduction. I mean he's obviously stronger than me, so how come he's… let me (it was hard to admit, but that seemed to be the case) wail on him for the past… however long it's been since he's been so built? I was deep in thought, which was how I didn't like to be unless I really had to. I was getting pissed as I thought of all the possible outcomes of the situation. Best case scenario, it turns out that Fenton really is just a loser wimp anyway, and I keep beating on him like always, even if he is stronger. Worst case scenario, Fenton turns out to be some kinda hard-ass gang thug who was just hiding for convenience sake and now that the secret's out he'll have nothing to hide and will have no problem beating down on anyone who gave him trouble. Shit that's me! I shook my head. No, I did not just feel afraid of Fentina! Nothing could make me afraid of that little… Just then the doors behind me burst open, and a ghost in an enormous metal suit soared in, slamming someone into the lockers, completely trashing them. I started to shake. What the hell! I'm outta here! I started to turn and run but then noticed that the "Someone" the ghost… I think he calls himself "Sulker"… had pinned against the lockers was Fenton. He struggled as the ghost held him calmly with one hand, allowing a long, glowing blade to slide out of his other arm, a wide, maniacal smile spread on his face.

"I've got you now, ghost child! Today, I mount your head on my wall." Holy…! I-I gotta do something! Gotta do… gotta … I wanted to look away but couldn't, frozen in place by fear and delir…delari… craziness. It was over in a single sickening slash, and, I'm ashamed to say it but can say it no other way, I shrieked like a little girl as his head rolled off his shoulders, tumbled to the floor and stopped against my foot, cold, blank eyes staring up at me. Allow me to restate; nothing can make me afraid of Fenton except maybe THAT!


A/N I'm evil, I know :)