Aw, you all are so nice! Thanks for the sweet reviews, you guys! Here's the quick update I promise, and it will probably never happen again. ^^'
There'll be some random rewrite notes at the bottom, for those of you who are interested. Until then, onwards!
Part 2;
"I might need a ride."
"Where are you?"
"Uh... I don't know." He paused, and Jack had already grabbed a coat. "A- a bridge? I'm under a bridge."
"Tell me about the bridge." He was close. He had to be close. Danny hadn't replied yet. "Danny-"
"Sorry, sorry!" Danny hissed in obvious pain, and Jack was already at the door. "There's a river under here, with lots of rocks... the bridge looks really old. Everything's a bit snowy." He coughed, a dry and cracking sound.
Automatically, Jack could picture the old bridge over the Elmerton River. It was falling apart, and should have been condemned years ago. He imagined it falling on his son. "I'll be right there."
.-.
In 1939, Jack's Grandfather had moved his family to Amity Park to research what he believed to be a weak point in dimensions right over the Elmerton River. Later, in what the man would surely claim supported his theory, there was an urban legend that the bridge was haunted by a girl who'd thrown herself from it in '89. Jack and Maddie had moved back to Amity after college, planning to research the weak point in realms around that bridge. They'd found a much stronger point where they now lived, and the bridge had slipped from relevance.
But Jack had remembered the fastest route to it anyway.
He didn't have a cell phone, and the house phone had gone out of range precious minutes ago. With every moment that passed, fear dug deep into the back of his mind. This could be a trap. It was too convenient, and it could very easily be some sort of ghostly trick. But he didn't stop.
The old bridge was in poor shape, and the recent cold weather had not been kind to it. Pieces had fallen into the river, leaving the guardrail almost entirely missing along one side. A significant amount of the light, powdery snow looked like it had been blown to the other side. Still, Jack drove up- and for the first time in three months, he saw his son.
Danny was in his pajamas, left side stained with dried ectoplasm and blood. He was pale, shivering, and was sitting with his knees drawn close to his chest.
Jack knew he should hesitate. He should take some time to make sure this was Danny, or at least grab an ectogun just in case, but then Danny gave a poor attempt at a smile and a halfhearted wave and Jack flung himself out of the RV. In a second, he'd scooped up his son and was holding the freezing teen to his chest. Through the jumpsuit and his coat, Jack could feel Danny's heart beat.
"Hi, Dad," Danny sounded so tired, "can you put me down-"
"No." He was going to keep Danny in his arms, where nothing could take him away again.
"Oh." Danny coughed, "O-okay, uh-" Jack shifted his son, pulled his coat up and draped it over Danny. "I can explain, uh... I..." another cough. His son wouldn't stop shivering. "Dad, are you okay?"
Jack was probably crying. "I thought you were dead."
"Oh. Dad, no, I'm so-" he coughed again, and placed a hand on the center of his chest. He sucked in another raspy breath, and a tremor wracked his form. Danny curled in on himself, shaking more furiously than before, and still clutching his chest.
Jack practically threw him into the RV's passenger seat and barely remembered to pull his seatbelt down. The whole time, Danny shook, and clutched his chest. For a few brief seconds, his entire left side turned invisible.
Jack made sure Danny's heart was still beating before speeding away. He knew the quickest route to the hospital, too.
.-.
Maddie, Jazz, and Vlad came home to an empty house and a missing phone. It was Jazz who got the call, but Vlad who answered for her.
It took two words before they were rushing to the hospital as well.
.-.
[Sent 4:23 pm] Jazz: South Mercy hospital, meet me out front.
[Sent 4:24 pm] Sam: oh God what happened
[Sent 4:24 pm] Jazz: Tell Tucker Danny's alive.
[Seen 4:24 pm]
.-.
They were in class when Sam checked her phone- as she did every few minutes- and suddenly froze. Tucker watched her frantically text back, and the phone slide from her hands. He started to reach for his own- the teachers weren't as lenient with him anymore as they were with Sam, he had to keep his out of sight- but Sam was faster. She grabbed her stuff and Tucker's shoulder, barely giving him time to grab his bag before she was pulling him out.
"Miss Manson," Lancer started to say, "where are you-"
She spun around and stared him in the eye. "Danny's alive."
Tucker's knees nearly buckled and he barely registered Valerie jump to her feet and rush to join them. "Where?" Her voice sounded so far away.
"Hospital," Sam replied, and the three of them didn't wait to be excused.
.-.
He's dehydrated, and likely hasn't had a good meal since he disappeared. He was stabbed by something long and thin, which pierced part of his stomach and one of his lungs. He's tested positive for near-fatal levels of ectoplasmic contamination, has two broken ribs, and he has almost a hundred older injuries that are very concerning. He had stitches fused into his right arm, from the elbow to the wrist, that show traces of a possible infection.
I'm going to be honest, Mr. Fenton. It's a miracle you found your son alive, let alone conscious.
.-.
The trio of teenagers met Jazz out front, just like she'd promised, and the seven of them waited for a chance to see Danny. The doctors were evasive, and kept telling them to wait.
Vlad, personally, found that absolutely suspicious.
While the others discussed how Daniel could have survived- in plain hearing range of many normal humans who could piece together his secret if they continued for a moment longer- Vlad debated finding Daniel himself. It would only take a moment, he could overshadow a nurse and examine the files without an issue. However, if he stayed he could console Maddie... Daniel or Maddie, hm...
"Maybe Clockwork saved him," Tucker suggested, and Vlad automatically turned and left. There was no way the reclusive Master of Time cared enough about something like this to get involved. A being like that had more important things to worry about.
Finding Daniel's room was easy, but the moment Vlad was on the floor he found a complication. Agent 241B of the Guys in White stood at attention in front of Daniel's door.
In human form, Vlad approached the man. 241B held out his hands and started to stammer. "Er, Sir, I apologize but this is official GIUU business-"
Vlad held up a hand to shut him up. Agent 241B was certainly too young to have been part of the Guys in White during Vlad's experience with them, and that was one of the few things that held him back. "I want to see my Godson."
"Er... I can't allow that, I apologize-"
"And why not?" If this was anyone else, Vlad would have overshadowed him by now. As it was, he was strongly contemplating the risk.
Agent 241B fumbled with a badge. His incompetence would be amusing if it was anyone but Daniel on the line. "Official G-I-double-U business, I apologize-"
Enough. Vlad smacked the badge out of his hand and forced the door open. Locks meant nothing to a half-ghost.
Two agents stood at the end of Daniel's bed, one with a needle in hand and the other with a bruise forming on her arm from a surely excellent kick. The boy himself had nearly fallen out of bed, and taken the multitude of machines attached to his arm with him. Daniel was pale and gaunt, his appearance far too much like a corpse for even a half-ghost. He looked awful.
Vlad steeled his gaze on the two agents. "He is a minor."
"He's contaminated with ectoplasm," one of them held up his hands. Vlad recognized the voice from a few months back; Agent Z was here, and absolutely underwhelming. He was a man of average height and build, with a plain face and nothing that made him seem special. "As stated in the Federal Anti-Ecto Control Act-"
"He is a minor," Vlad said again, and stepped into the room. "If you are to take samples, a parent or guardian must give written consent and be present." He motioned to the room around them, "Maddie and Jack are in the lobby. I'm sure they would be more than willing to discuss their son's condition."
"Z," the woman beside him said, "protocol states that we-"
"Go bother someone else?" Daniel offered. His voice was rough, and three sets of eyes turned towards him. He was shuddering, and had one hand under the barely-fabric of his hospital gown. He looked over at Vlad, and the older hybrid could barely make out the shape of Daniel's hand over his core.
Vlad crossed over to Daniel's side, hands clasped behind his back. "Leave, or you will be hearing from my lawyers."
The two agents gave each other a look. Good. There were very few occasions when threats of legal action would not work. "We'll be back," Z said.
"Don't bother." Vlad didn't watch them go; Daniel already had that covered. The door closed, and in seconds Daniel was pulling towards the opposite side of his bed.
"Yeah, thanks Plas-"
"Don't." Vlad cut him off, "Did they leave anything behind?"
Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Uh..." he coughed, beating a fist against his core. It did nothing to improve his voice. "R-right. Like, bugs or... no? You're th-the only one who does creepy stuff like that, Vlad."
Vlad's arms dropped back to his side. "Of course." An invisible duplicate formed and began to search the room. It wasn't the safest plan, but he didn't have time for anything else. The rest of his energy went to keeping himself carefully composed. "Daniel?"
The eyebrow rose a bit higher. "Vlad?"
"Where the hell have you been?"
Daniel stared at him. "Did- did you just actually swear?"
"There are more important things to focus on, boy!" Vlad snapped, "It has been nearly three and a half months! Where have you been?!"
It was almost adorable how Daniel tensed at that, already on the defensive. Unfortunately, Vlad had run out of patience months ago, when his ally and trusted friend had attempted to murder Miss Gray. His duplicate reported back; the room was clear.
"Why should I tell y-you anythi-" he didn't finish the word before Vlad had stepped forward and slipped into Daniel's body. An advantage to overshadowing was how you could look through another person's memories, after all.
Vlad found what he was looking for easily enough. He saw through Daniel's eyes, and felt the whispering remains of the sword that dug into his side. There was something wrong with Skulker- Daniel choked up blood as the weapon was removed, and he just kept smiling. Skulker valued the thrill of the hunt, not the thrill of the kill. This was wrong-
Something exploded under them. Daniel was blasted away from Skulker in a dark sparking wave of force, and Vlad smashed against the opposing wall.
Slumped across the room from the younger hybrid, Vlad found himself back as a human. Daniel slammed the button to call his nurse as he stared Vlad down, ears still ringing from the impact. The shadows around Daniel seemed to shift, and dark drifts of energy danced around his arms as he stared Vlad down "Stay the hell out of my head."
.-.
They heard that Vlad had- apparently, according to Danny- injured himself wrestling with the Guys in White stationed by his room long before any nurse even brought up seeing her brother. When they were eventually allowed, it was family only.
Danny was frail and thin. Barely skin and bones, nearly emancipated, and from the sound of his voice, it hurt to talk. But still, he gave the three of them a smile. "I'm sorry," he said. He held out his arms, and three of them rushed in.
For at least an hour, the four of them simply sat there, holding each other tight. Danny was taller than he'd been three months ago, and Jazz kept expecting to wake up from the dream she was still half convinced this was.
"Where were you?" She whispered, "I tried everything- the boomerang, we checked the Ghost Zone, I even tried to find Clockwork. What happened?"
Danny was silent for a very, very long moment. "I... Skulker was there, and then- and then-" he was shaking.
"You don't have to tell us right now," Maddie said, "you can wait until you're ready-"
"N-no," Danny said, "that's not the- I- I can't..." he sucked in a breath, and clenched a fistful of Jazz's shirt. "I don't remember."
.-.
The next two weeks were full of tests. Danny had been injured- had only nearly bled out, despite the state of his room suggesting otherwise- from a wound on his left side. It had scarred, and the flesh only seemed to be getting darker. Their family sent in cards; everyone except for Jack's mother was too far away to come in person, and she wasn't as young as she once was. The table beside Danny's hospital bed filled up with flowers and gifts, and far more knitted trinkets from his grandmother than Danny knew what to do with. Sam baked a batch of his favourite cookies- gingerbread, ironically, considering his feelings about Christmas- and Tucker brought the rerelease of the handheld Doomed game. Valerie brought him a stuffed dog that looked almost like his crazy ghost dog, and hoped he would get the hint.
Sam and Tucker's gifts were left on the table, unopened.
Jazz, eventually, caught her brother alone. He was rarely ever alone- Vlad had placed his own personal guards outside the door at all times, and her parents only left to sleep and shower. And they rarely did either of those before they'd nearly lost Danny. "Hey, Little Brother," she said, "is there anything you're not telling me?"
Danny stared at her for a long moment, and Jazz couldn't help feeling like something was wrong. "No?"
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" She tried.
"Yeah, I know," he quit looking at her. The lights in the room dimmed a fraction. "If I remember anything, I'll give you a shout."
He didn't bring it up again. So, neither did she.
.-.
"Danny," Maddie started to say one day, "Sam and Tucker have been asking when they can come see you."
Danny hummed, but continued to poke his pudding cup instead of replying. Beside him, still wrapped gifts from his once best friends sat untouched.
"You'll probably be able to go home soon," She couldn't really ask Vlad to keep funding the hospital stay when none of the tests had found anything. "Maybe we could throw you a little party?"
"No thanks," he continued to twirl the spoon. "I don't want to deal with a bunch of people."
"Of course." She wasn't going to make him. Still, Maddie had promised she'd at least try. "What about just a few? Sam, Tucker, and your friend Valerie all want to see you."
Danny stabbed his spoon into the pudding cup and shoved it away, throwing his hands to the back of his neck. "I, uh, have to go. Bathroom."
Maddie was quick to help him up. "Do you need a hand-"
"Mom, ew, no." Danny shook his head. The rest of him shook as well. "I'm fine."
Maddie sighed, and grabbed her son's arm. Hands still on the back of his neck, she helped him walk to the bathroom. A tiny burst of static jumped from Danny's arm as she pulled her hand away- and for barely a heartbeat, she considered how odd that was when he was in bare feet on a cement floor.
.-.
Danny was barely allowed to go to the bathroom on his own. Someone always tried to follow him; either a nurse, or his family, or one of Vlad's dumb guards. It sucked. He could understand his family, kind of, but did everyone else really have to be so clingy?
Danny sat on the floor, staring at his hands. His core was churning again. He closed his eyes for just a moment, and focused on that. He didn't dare try to bring out his ghost half. Maybe this time he could turn intangible, or make a bit of ice-
Black sparks shot out of his fingertips and Danny yelped. "Nope!" He jumped to his feet and shoved his hand under the already-running facet. The sparks seemed to fade away.
Danny took a deep breath in. He took another. He couldn't start shaking again; his nurses freaked out whenever his core built up enough energy to make him shudder. He just had to focus, and stay calm. As long as he was calm, the sparks stayed away. None of his other powers were working, but his core twisted and hummed as it filled up to a limit Danny never knew it had. He needed to find some way to let it out in a way that wasn't with those black sparks.
Last time he'd tried that, he'd destroyed half a bridge.
.-.
"He's not going to forgive us, is he?"
Jazz sighed, and watched two of the people who had meant the world to her brother take it as agreement. Sam went still, and stared down at the untouched, dry pastry she'd ordered. Tucker squeezed the table hard enough that his arms shook, and stared at Jazz, waiting for her to officially answer his question.
The three of them were in a restaurant just across from the hospital. Sam had wanted to wait inside, in case Maddie's conversation with her son miraculously went so much better than they thought it would- just in case Danny asked for them. But they'd barely stepped through the entrance before Tucker's old fear had returned with a vengeance. He'd froze, she'd panicked, and neither of them would be attempting that again unless Danny asked for them.
Jazz licked her lips and didn't meet Tucker's gaze. "He's been through an incredibly traumatic incident. I'm sure he will, you just have to be patient."
They'd been patient. Before, Danny wouldn't have wasted any time after getting a serious injury to let them know he was fine. Now, it was like he was trying to forget they existed. And Tucker couldn't say that he blamed him.
"I just want things to go back to the way they were," Tucker admitted.
"We all do," Jazz promised, "and they will. I promise. Just give him time."
.-.
His parents kissed him goodbye, and Danny was left alone for the night. He laid in bed, trying to breathe evenly and not start shaking. He could feel everything running from his chest to his hands, pooling there in his fingertips. If he started shaking, there'd be more of the black sparks, and he really didn't want to mess up the hospital room. So, close your eyes, deep breaths, think happy thoughts. Five second breath in, seven second breath out, five seconds... or is it the other way around? His breath came out in a freezing, fogged puff.
Danny's eyes snapped open as his ghost sense dissipated, and he froze in place. His core ached with a familiar chill, pulling him downwards to investigate. But the hospital had a basic ghost shield, how could there be a ghost close enough for him to sense? Had one formed in the hospital? What was happening?! People could be in danger, he had to do something!
He forced himself to sit up, and for the first time since he'd been injured, focused directly on his overflowing core. "Goin' ghost," he whispered, and nothing happened.
Danny held up his left hand and punched himself in the chest, "I said, going-" black sparks danced off his finger tips. "Oh no. No, hey, c'mon-" he whacked his hand with the other, and his right hand stuck to his left. "No- no, hey, no way-" he couldn't destroy the hospital room, he couldn't! He shouldn't even be able to! Why was the ghost shield letting him? Was it broken? If there was a ghost in here, then people could die! He didn't have time for this! "Please-" he couldn't pull his hands apart. The sparks were spreading now, and Danny's heart was pounding. It hurt to breathe, he bumped the table beside him, his phone fell onto his arm and-
A light that was far too bright practically punched him in the gut and Danny wasn't in his hospital room anymore.
.-.
Vlad had always used and, in the opinion of some, abused overshadowing. He didn't see what the issue was; if the nurses didn't want to be overshadowed, they should be wearing anti-ghost technology. Anyone who didn't have something like that already was an idiot and deserved everything they got.
He'd left the woman in a nearby closet, and as far as she would know she'd simply locked herself in there. And if anyone noticed anything suspicious, then she would be the one who had left a trail when prying into a patient's records.
Maybe, if he looked through everything they had on Daniel, he could find out exactly what had sparked the Guys in White's sudden interest in the apparent human.
Daniel's blood tests were odd, even for a half ghost. According to the reports, if the boy's blood and ectoplasmic contamination were not immediately separated, then his blood simply destroyed the ectoplasm. If anything like this could be explained, it should be the other way around and on a much smaller scale. But that was what caused Ecto Acne.
Was Daniel an anomaly? Was that why they had wanted his blood? If Daniel's human side was attempting to eliminate his ghost side, did that have anything to do with Skulker's knife? Every grasp at an answer led to more questions. Vlad was sick of it already.
An unfortunately familiar warmth curled in his core, and Vlad pulled back. The hospital had a ghost shield, and he had never been able to sense Daniel before. So how-
"Man, you have never heard of doctor-patient confidentiality, have you?"
He recognized the echo as ghostly. Vlad switched to his ghost form automatically, an ectoblast prepared in his hand, and fired at the unfamiliar spector.
It never hit. One hand raised and yawning, the ghost held the ectoblast in place a foot away from him with no strain at all. He was tall, and hid his form under a hooded white cloak. "Rude." The attack disappeared when he closed his fist, and the scene around him dimmed. "But then again, you specialize in rude." He leaned in with a smirk, red eyes glowing under the hood and catching the edges of his face in their light. "Don'tcha, Plasmius? Better duck down V-man, this is about to get weird."
Vlad seethed. "How dare you-" and part of the hospital exploded above him.
Heeeere he is, the biggest douche in the uniiiiiiverse!
Okay, that's probably an overstatement, but my favourite thing to do is insult the local Terrible Man. He's one of my favourite characters to write. I love him so much.
So! Rewrite notes! These are just comparisons between the old version and various fun facts.
In the old version, when I originally showed up with this part, I got a review expressing disappointment at how I glossed over everyone's reaction to Danny's return. And honestly, that's entirely fair. I made an effort to fix it, while still keeping everything moving.
Danny's hospital room is mostly based off of the hospital room my dad stayed in for a couple weeks in November 2014 after a severe accident. (He's okay, though!) Considering that Danny also got severely injured, it seemed fitting. There's also a little bit of the one I stayed in for a day when I was twelve mixed in.
Throughout the old version, the local Terrible Man went through three or four periods where I redid his backstory entirely. That was one of the primary reasons I wanted to do a rewrite; while the older chapters in the earlier version did still mostly reflect his characterization, they weren't the best.
The Guys in White didn't do nearly enough in the old version for the headcanons I have for them. They'll be doing more this time around, because I have plans that need to be given the proper amount of weight before we use them.
Danny is left-handed, just to be clear. Also, if you remember from the last chapter, February 17 is Danny's birthday! Happy birthday Danno, have fun with your new powers! :D
The next chapter is written, but it's really unlikely that I'll be able to do a speedy update again. Or maybe I will. I'm very easily bribed with affection.
Until next time, thoughts?