This is a little late but I hope you enjoy it. Disclaimers aren't necessary anymore, are they?
Sleep had always come easily to Maddie Fenton. As a scientist, her mind required sufficient rest to function optimally. Maddie had also learned to take advantage of the dreams she had to improve her design and her husband's. Her subconscious was always helpful during her dreams, coming up with cutting edge ideas and imaginative solutions. Many of her best works were done in her dreams. Unless she was caught up with a stake out or a project, she always made sure she had sleep. Yet, tonight, sleep eluded her.
Not wanting to disturb her slumbering husband, Maddie silently slipped out form under the warm covers and left the room. Perhaps some warm milk would help her sleep.
As she headed towards the kitchen, she passed by Danny's room. Her feet came to a stop.
During the trip back from the Ghost Zone, Danny was subdued. He never spoke a word. Even after they had returned home, Danny was silent. He barely responded to them, not even when Sam and Tucker left the house. She was worried about him. Perhaps he was traumatized by the day's events. Being held hostage by a ghost would scare anyone.
Maddie quietly opened the door. All of a sudden, the need to be by her baby's side overwhelmed her. She had almost lost Danny to an ectoplasmic scum. It showed how vulnerable he was. Danny was easy prey to ghosts. Jazz and Danny were the reasons she and Jack became ghost hunters. They knew how fragile humans were against ghosts, that was why they worked so hard to invent weapons to level the field.
She settled down gently beside Danny on his bed. Pale moonlight slipped into the room and illuminated the tear track on Danny's cheek. With a sad smile, she brushed away the moisture with gentle fingers.
Perhaps in their efforts to protect their children against the supernatural, they had lost sight of their children. Since when was Danny's arm so toned? Did he work out? What did he do in his free time? How was his school life? Did he have any other friends beside Sam and Tucker?
Maddie quickly drew back her hand when Danny moaned and shifted. A fresh tear trailed down a cheek from the corner of his eye. She waited. When Danny showed no signs of waking, she laid her hand on his forehead and started to brush his hair from his face. She couldn't remember the last time she watched over her slumbering son, but she remembered how the gesture always soothed Danny, no matter how old he was.
After a few strokes, Danny gave a soft sigh and leaned into her touch. The brow which was furrowed before evened out as he relaxed. Danny didn't look like he was having any sweet dreams, but at least he didn't seem as if he was trapped in a never ending nightmare.
Son comforted, sleep sneaked onto her like a shadow and she yawned. Maddie gave the raven head one last pat, placed a kiss to Danny's bow and left the room on silent feet. She didn't make a sound as she closed the door and returned to her husband's side.
Behind the door, unnoticed by the ghost hunter, Danny shifted. His lips moved and a word as a soft as a zephyr left his lips.
"Mom…"
"We have to go back. We can't just leave Danny there."
"But Mr. and Mrs. Fenton made the lab off limits to everyone, even themselves."
"That has never stopped us before."
"They've never made the lab off limits before."
Sam made an annoyed sound at the other end of the phone. When Sam wanted something, she would get it, either by negotiation or brute force. Even if she didn't have a plan yet, Tucker was sure that she would make something happen.
"What are you thinking?" Tucker asked.
"If we can use the Fenton Ghost Portal, good. If we can't, Vlad isn't that far away. We can't leave Danny split into two for long. Did you notice his hand?" Sam replied.
Tucker nodded, then he remembered that Sam couldn't see him. "Yeah."
When they were hanging around Danny during their first few hours back to the human world, Danny's hand would blur at the edges at random moments. Like a virus slowly eating away at data. They never saw that happen when Danny was split into two before that. Heck, they didn't even know why there were two Danny's in the first place.
"I have a bad feeling something really bad's happening to the other Danny," Sam said worriedly.
"Danny's strong. He'll hold on until we get there. Once we get human Danny away from Mr. and Mrs. Fenton we'll go get ghost Danny," Tucker said.
"Hah!" He could imagine Sam rolling her eyes. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton aren't going to leave him alone for a long time. The latest trip was the last straw."
"Then Danny's going to have to hold on for a long time."
Sam kept silent.
"Sam?" he asked.
"Do you think he's going to last?" Sam asked in a small voice.
"Truthfully? No."
"Same here."
Both of them didn't say a word as they pondered.
"Ideally, human Danny should be with us when we go get ghost Danny," Tucker said.
"But if we really can't kidnap Danny from his parents, we'll just have to go ourselves."
"Yeah."
Silence…
"We're going to kidnap Danny from his parents…"
"That sounds wrong on so many levels."
That's it for this week. For the next update, I'll probably be able to finally post the response to the challenge "dew drops".
