Disclaimer: The five shows in this fanfiction are not mine and therefore generate no revenue for me, just reviews.
Author's Note: No sooner than I type "it was like breaking a leg" than I end up twisting and spraining my knee at work! Fear the Author's Notes, they bring ruin! And supermodels! Lots and lots of supermodels!
...crud. Well, at least it wasn't male models that showed up. On the road to recovery, happy to say, and writing more because, franky, sitting is easier than walking at this point.
Chapter Three: Reunions and Meetings and Weird Feelings
They shouldn't be that hard to miss. The last time I saw them they were wearing those jumpsuits and Jack, well, he's not exactly the smallest man... Susan Vandom fanned herself with her menu as she watched the entrance of the Silver Dragont for any sign of her daughter or the Fentons. It would figure that she'd get her week of paid-vacation during a heatwave and that her boyfriend Dean Collins would be teaching summer school.
Still, the timing was perfect for a reunion with her old friends from University of Wisconsin. She'd kept in touch with Jack and Maddie over the years but never had the chance to reunite with them due to her demanding job at Simultech and raising her developing hellion of a daughter. The Fentons had been busy as well, though she couldn't begin to believe the stories that were circulating about them. Battling ghosts and such; talk about leading interesting lives.
It had been apparent that the two ghost-fanatics were made for each other from the moment she met them in the middle of the decadent eighties. Though Jack had shown some interest in Susan initially, the eccentric inventor had quickly realized that she was as enthusiastic about ghosts as she was into that new rap music. With he and Maddie it was nothing short of destiny; they were opposites on some levels but had the same interests in all the ways that counted. Susan wished she had been as lucky with her choice in men at that age; at least she had gotten her daughter out of her mess of a marriage. In Sue's opinion, even flowers could grow out of sh-poop.
Susan shook her head at the censorship. She was a very different woman since she had her baby. If she ever told Will what she'd been like when she was younger, the child would never have believed her.
Maddie had talked at length about her children when they'd planned their meeting for today. Jazz had grown into a beautiful and intelligent woman just like her mother and was the highest scoring student at her school; Susan wasn't too surprised, having noticed how brilliant and eloquent the girl was when she was younger.
Daniel Fenton sounded more like her own daughter; average grades, no discernible direction in life and somewhat moody. Not that Maddie had said as much, but Susan had learned to read between the lines mothers used. At the very least he and Will would get along, probably spending their time together complaining about their parents.
Susan was broken from her reverie when she heard a soft masculine voice call her name. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Vandom. Would you like to order now?"
Susan looked up at the young waiter and smiled. "Actually, I 'm waiting for some friends to arrive first. You look well, Caleb." And she meant it; when she had first met the young man she had been nervous about Will spending time alone with him. Anger and pain radiated off him so strongly she was afraid he would turn that negative energy on those around him.
But Will was never afraid, and eventually the hostility seemed to leave Caleb like the changing of the seasons. He was lighter now, smiled more, and made even more attractive for this change in demeanor. Though Will had been seeing Matt Olsen for over a year now and Caleb was (on and off) with her friend Cornelia, her daughter had blushed slightly when she asked if she had ever thought about dating the boy.
Though she had been teasing, Susan was fairly certain that the rest of Will's friends and just about every other girl that met Caleb fell a little in love with him. He was certainly handsome, the only real physical defects Caleb currently possessed were slightly baggy eyes indicating a lack of sleep. Susan chalked it up to the time difference from where Caleb lived with the Browns during the school year, a place called "Meridian"; she thought it was somewhere in Mississippi, though Caleb seemed to lack an accent. His father was in the military or something like that, so it was possible Caleb was an army brat. The air of mystery only helped to attract the girls even more; Susan had been amused when she realized the apparently guileless Caleb was utterly unaware of his-what did Will's friend Irma call it?-oh, yes: "his Hottie Rating."
Whatever else he was, he was definitely a cutie. There was no real comparison between the two, but it reminded her uneasily of how her ex-husband Thomas had been: good looking with just the right amount of "rebel" in him. Caleb, however, was far more open and honest; one could tell exactly what he was thinking just by looking at his face. It was strange to see a young person that comfortable with himself, she thought, but most teenagers didn't have to grow up like Caleb did. Susan, of course, had no idea how right she was.
"Thank you." Caleb seemed to search for something to say; confident as he was, conversation was not his forté. "Things are... better than before."
Susan had no idea what this meant, but took it at face value. "I'm glad to hear that. Will was always saying how difficult it was for you growing up. She thinks a lot of you," she added, to show that Will respected and not pitied him for his trials.
Caleb blushed at the mention of her daughter's opinion of him and turned an attractive shade of red. Lord, if she was a teenager again Susan would be all over him. "Oh. Well, I think a lot of her, too. I mean, I respect her... would you like some more water?" he offered, trying to hide his discomfort behind professional courtesy.
"Yes, please. It's just so hot lately..." Susan was wearing blue jean shorts and red and blue striped tank top in order to combat the heat. It was considerably less than the amount of clothing she usually wore; briefly she wondered what Caleb thought of Will's mom in her summer outfit. Then she mentally slapped herself for wanting to know if a boy twenty years her junior thought she was attractive. Let's stave off the mid-life crisis for a few more years, huh, Sue?
"I understand. I'll put some extra ice in your glass. Be right back." As he left with her glass Susan cast another glance at the doors just in time to see a worried Juniper Lee and her family enter, carting their luggage behind them and looking over the restaurant as if they were searching for someone. A swish of doors announced Yan Lin as she left the kitchen; her traditional robes gave her the illusion of sliding across the floor to the newcomers. Her smile was so wide it seemed to literally stretch from ear to ear as she greeted and embraced June's grandmother.
Never one to eavesdrop, Susan still couldn't help but overhear their conversation. "Jasmine, you look wonderful!" Yan Lin said happily. "And Juniper and Raymond! It is good to see you again."
The children greeted Yan Lin with different responses as they both bowed formally to Yan Lin; the boy called Ray Ray was almost alarmingly enthusiastic while the girl known as Juniper barely acknowledged the woman, her eyes flicking toward the windows. "Ah-Mah..." she urged the woman called Jasmine.
"Oh, yeah," Jasmine said. "Yan, we had a bit of mix-up at the station. Apparently, June and Ray Ray met up with Lao and his grandson Jake while I was away getting drinks. One thing led to another and Fu and Monroe switched places. Can you believe it? June's worried about Monroe, naturally. Have they arrived yet?"
"No, I am afraid not," Yan replied and turned to June. "I would not worry about your guardian, young one. Lao Shi is a fierce dragon still, and I have heard his grandson is quite powerful as well. He could not be in safer hands, well, other than your own, Protector."
What? Susan thought at the strange terminology. Maybe it's a cultural thing.
"I guess so..." June agreed reluctantly.
"Well, in the meantime, let's get you settled in. Caleb?"
Susan started when she realized that Caleb had already returned with her drink and was standing near her table. For such a tall boy, he moved like a shadow. "Yes, Mrs. Lin?"
"Please help the Lees with their luggage. I'll handle the tables; I'm afraid I'm not as strong as I used to be."
"Ha!" Jasmine chuckled. "You were always made of air, Yan! I could pick you up and carry you around even when we were kids!"
Yan Lin glared at her friend. "And look at where at that muscle has gotten you, Jasmine; you're the size of an ox!"
Susan snorted back a laugh and pretended to be very interested in her ice water when Caleb looked at her curiously. She was grateful when they ignored her and went about their business. Caleb picked up two large suitcases that the younger girl had been carrying and, from his surprised expression, found them to be heavier than he thought. As he lead the kids up the stairs Jasmine leaned in and whispered to Yan Lin, "Is that Hay Lin's boyfriend?"
Yan chuckled. "Oh, no, Caleb is a part of the family, though Hay Lin has a hottie of her own! By the way, she'll be arriving shortly with her friends."
Jasmine's eyes widened. "Ah, you mean 'those' friends? I have to thank them again for helping June. If it wasn't for the Heart of Cand-oooff!"
Yan Lin had lightly elbowed her friend in the ribs and, though her eyes didn't so much as drift in Susan's direction, she got the feeling that the old woman was looking right at her. "You should get some rest, Jasmine. Soon there will be hordes of young ones underfoot and there will be little peace at all."
"Ooh... Always the mother, eh, Yan? Well, alright." They embraced again, Yan Lin's back popping back into place from the second hug. "It is so good to see you again, Big Sister. We have to go clubbing later, when the kids are asleep!" Yan Lin laughed.
When Jasmine was of hearing range Yan Lin grinned at Susan. "An ox indeed!"
Susan blushed, feeling a lot younger than she was at the moment. Mrs. Lin tended to induce that feeling when she was around the elderly woman. "Um, excuse me?"
"Don't play innocent with me, little lady," Yan Lin said, the grin now accompanied by an admonishing look. "I can see where Will gets it from, though to be fair all women are nosy by nature."
"I'm sorry." Geezus, she was the customer, why was she apologizing? "I didn't mean to... you know."
"As loud as that woman is? You'd have to be as far away as Aubrey to eavesdrop!" Susan's mouth twitched as her sense of humor warred with her good manners. "Has Caleb taken your order yet? I apologize, he is not sleeping well..."
"No, it's okay, I was just waiting until my friends arrived. They're supposed to meet me here but they're a little..." How to put it delicately? "…absent-minded."
"I'm sure they will make it. Fortunately, the rush has not started yet, and we have plenty of room for a large party." Yan Lin indicated the nearly empty restaurant. "By two o'clock this place will be filled to the brim and bubbling over like one of Caleb's stews."
Susan blinked at her. "You can just tell?"
"Oh, yes, dear," the old woman replied, her voice changing subtly to a lighter tone. "When one lives for a long time, she will see patterns that emerge in a cycle that plays throughout life."
Susan was nearly mesmerized by the metaphysical connotations until a thought occurred to her. "Or, you've been in the restaurant business so long that you just know what's going to happen on any given day."
Yan Lin chuckled. "And that is why I'm always happy to see you walk though our doors, Susan. You... cut through the crap, is that the phrase?"
Susan nodded. "Will says I don't have any imagination, so all I know are the facts."
"And yet she is your daughter in that regard, always getting to the heart of the matter. Children; they think they just popped out of thin air without us to bring their spirits into the world. But I'm rambling. I'm sure the Fentons will be here momentarily."
"What? But how..."
"I have many ways of gathering secrets, young lady... not the least of which is a talkative granddaughter who has me on one-touch-dialing." Susan chuckled at the admission. "If you wish to wait, I'll take your orders when they arrive, dear." Yan Lin left her and began to make the rounds to check on the other customers. Susan gave an involuntarily shrug as what she referred to as the "Yan Effect" washed over her. Whenever she talked to Hay Lin's grandmother she was besot with conflicting feelings of amusement and confusion, topped off with the suspicion that Mrs. Lin wasn't telling her something.
She liked the woman and had come to appreciate her insight into child-rearing; she was also comfortable with Will spending so much time at the restaurant now. But still... she knew that Yan Lin was hiding something. As long as it didn't threaten Will in any way she could let it slide, but one day she wanted to know what the big secret was.
The distinctive sounds of teenage girls drifted over to her as Will and her friends walked through the doors. The snatches Susan heard of the conversation were typical; boys, summer plans and some sort of practice. Will detached herself from the group and sat across from her mother. "Hey, mom. Am I too late to meet the Fentons?"
"No, you're actually early." For once. "Do you want to order now?"
"Naw, I can wait. Guys?"
It was strange, Susan thought, how often Will would check up on the group's status. Are you hungry? Is it too hot? How are you feeling? It gave Susan the absurd impression of a squad leader asking for status updates from his troops.
Every one of the girls could wait, apparently. The other girls sat down with Will and Susan while Hay Lin decided to pass the time by taking one of her many positions within the restaurant as door greeter. The girl's cuteness and nearly unlimited amount of cheer made her perfect for the job, though today she had another objective in mind. "I hope I can greet Jake when he comes in," Hay Lin said to the others gleefully. "Wouldn't that be great?"
"Jake?" Susan asked as she remembered the name. "One of your grandmother's friends arrived with her grandchildren a minute ago. They met up with a boy named that at the train station."
"Really?" Hay Lin asked. "Great! Thanks, Mrs. Vandom!"
Susan was amused at the girl's excitement. "You're welcome. Is Jake a relative of yours?"
"No, just a friend."
"Just a friend?" Irma said in disbelief. "You'd think he hung the moon the way you talk about him." Hay Lin blushed and turned toward the front doors.
"Do you remember much about him, Irma?" Will asked with both professional interest and standard curiosity. If he was going to be around for a month it would help to have some info. Plus, she was dying to know more about Hay Lin's hero.
Irma scrunched her face up in concentration "Well, he seemed okay. We were in Kindergarten at the time but he wasn't bratty or anything like my little brat-brother is. Kind of a show-off, but I think he just wanted to impress Hay Lin. Heh... couldn't throw too well!" Irma thought for a second. "That's about it. If Mrs. Lin isn't worried about having him here, we probably shouldn't stress too much." Will nodded in agreement. It wasn't as if they didn't have enough to deal with already.
Cornelia glanced around the restaurant, trying to look mildly disinterested. "Oh, has anyone seen Caleb? I thought he was working today."
Irma rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just fit him with a bell and a GPS tracker and be done with it?"
Once again Susan found himself in the role of the Human Information Kiosk. "He was helping Mrs. Lin's friend take their luggage upstairs. I guess they're staying for awhile?"
"A month," Will said. "It's a... a cultural thing, I guess." Something kicked in Will's brain as she processed what her mother had said. "Wait a second... was there a girl with them?..."
The bell at the front doors dinged. Hay Lin turned with a big smile on her face to greet her long lost friend and was disappointed to see an older man dressed in a bright tropical shirt accompanied by two green-eyed kids.
"Something wrong?" Max Tennyson asked worriedly. Surely he had remembered to "close the barn door"...?
"Oh! Nothing! I'm sorry! Welcome to the Silver Dragon! Table for three?"
"Yes, please. Is Yan around?"
"You know Grandma? Uhm, sir?"
Max smiled widely in recognition. "I thought it was you, Hay! Why, the last time I saw you were just up to my knees!" He looked past at Hay Lin and sighted her grandmother as she was feeding the fish in the restaurant's aquarium. "Hey, little girl, where's your uniform?" he called out to her. It sounded somewhat odd to Susan but it seemed to garner a positive reaction from the "little girl."
"Max!" Yan Lin dropped the fish food and hurried across the floor to throw her arms around the tall man. Max returned the hug with a laugh and picked her up off the floor; Yan shrieking in a manner more suitable to a schoolgirl than a grandmother and causing every person in the restaurant to look at them with amused expressions. Except for Ben, who rolled his eyes and stared at the fish tank in exasperated embarrassment.
"This can't be the Yan Lin I know," Max said as he put the restauranteur down. "You don't look a day over forty-five!"
Yan Lin slapped his thick arm playfully. "Ha! Your eyesight is going, Maxie! You haven't been eating enough carrots, I take it?"
Ben blanched. "'Maxie'? You've gotta be kidding me..."
"And this is my little Benjy?!" Yan Lin stuck her smiling face close to Ben's to examine him, causing the ten-year-old to back away instinctively. "Why, look at you! You don't remember Grandma Lin, do you?" Ben shook his head nervously, as if there might be a penalty for not knowing. "Well, I suppose not. When last I saw you I was changing your diapers. Whew, what a stinky one you were!"
Gwen laughed out loud at that. "He-hee hee-still is!" she choked out. Ben glared at her and absently tapped his finger against his rather large black watch.
Yan Lin looked over at Ben's detractor. "And Gwendolyn, yes?"
"Yes, ma'am," Gwen replied cheerfully. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Lin. Grandpa's told us a lot about you." She looked meaningfully at Max, who shrugged and tried to look nonchalant, only to end up looking constipated.
"And it's nice to meet you, Gwendolyn... Max said you prefer Gwen, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Agh, no ma'am with me, little one! Why, I was this close to becoming your grandma a long time ago!" She smiled at Max warmly. "Unfortunately, it was not to be."
Gwen, Ben, and Hay Lin's eyes grew large. "Whoa," Ben said, "You guys were together? No wonder Grandpa made record time getting here!" Ben's comment elicited a round of laughter from everyone, even from the restrained Susan. Ben looked at Max. "So, uh, why didn't you take the plunge, Grampa?"
Max sighed. "Duty, mainly. I was in the 'army' when I met Yan. I was transferred all over the place and just passed through Heatherfield a couple of times. By the time I was, uh, 'discharged' Yan already met Hay's grandfather. That was the one thing I regretted about the service, missing an opportunity like that."
For their grandchildren it was difficult to believe that their grandparents had ever dated period, most of all each other. For Ben and Gwen the revelation was particularly bittersweet since they knew that Max had been a Plumber, a member of a special forces unit that had battled paranormal threats like the monstrous alien warlord Vilgax. Grandpa Max having to fight the horrible sociopathic extraterrestrial to protect Earth and the girl he loved was the stuff of, well, sci-fi movies to be honest, but the Tennyson kids still felt a spike of pride pierce their hearts at Max's sacrifice.
The sounds of sniffling caught their attention; it was Hay Lin and she looked like she was about to cross over into crying. "That... that is so sad."
"Hey, no need for tears, kiddo! I wasn't exactly a bachelor for life, or these two wouldn't be here." Max gestured at Gwen and Ben; Gwen politely offered Hay Lin her hanky to dry her eyes while Ben also offered the end of his untucked shirt, earning a exasperated glare from Gwen. "Of course, I never met another girl like your grandmother, if you know what I mean." Max winked at Yan Lin; Hay Lin looked at him curiously before glancing at the other Guardians.
"Oh, Max, you charmer! You must really be hungry!" Ben and Gwen's stomachs growled loudly as they noticed the smells wafting through the restaurant. "And you two as well! Please, have a seat while I get your meals ready. I made your favorite, Max!" She guided them to the table next the Guardians and Susan where they were seated. "Please help me bring the food out, Caleb. You're really earning your paycheck today, aren't you?"
Caleb just shrugged in response; his present duties were a lot easier than the ones he had grown up with. The rest of Caleb's life was practically a vacation compared to the past he'd endured, but only the Guardians and Yan knew that.
Caleb smiled that Killer Smile at Cornelia that always made her go weak in the knees as he followed the restauranteur; Irma rolled her eyes at the Earth Guardian as she dissolved into emotional jelly at the gesture. Of course, the Killer Smile also had a splash radius that hit other girls beside his target, causing Irma and Gwen to fan themselves slightly. They caught each other mimicking the gesture and grinned sheepishly as they silently agreed on Caleb's hotness.
"So, you were in the army, Mr. Tennyson?" Taranee asked.
"Just Max, please. Mr. Tennyson makes me feel old. Older, anyway. Yes, I was enlisted for many years, mainly in... security, I guess you could say, for sensitive materials. After that I was a plumber before I retired." Gwen and Ben looked at each other knowingly. "What about you, Miss Vandom? Off the top of my head I'd say... modeling?"
The kids groaned, but Susan blushed happily at the guess. She could tell Max must have been ruggedly handsome back in the day and still knew how to talk to a woman; no doubt Mrs. Lin had been on the receiving end of that charm. "Not quite. I work at the Simultech branch in town. Nowhere near as exciting as the army, I'm sure."
"Oh, there's nothing exciting about the military, believe me..." Max was interrupted by Ben choking on his water. Gwen roughly patted his back as she tried to grin innocently at the other girls. "Just a lot of yelling and boredom. Still, I kept some dangerous stuff out of the hands of bad people, so it was time well-spent. Of course, raising a family was a lot more fulfilling."
"I know," Susan agreed, "But it can be murder on your sanity!"
"Hey... what's that supposed to mean?" Will asked indignantly. "Someone's not getting a Mother's Day card next year."
Max looked at Will and Susan with wide eyes. "Oh. I didn't realize... I should have seen the resemblance."
"It's the hair," Will said. "I got it from my dad." Ben was looking at Will, too, and quickly turned his attention to his water when Gwen noticed him staring. Gwen smirked at no one in particular as she foresaw an opportunity for some much deserved antagonizing later.
"So, how did you meet Grandma?" Hay Lin asked as Yan and Caleb returned with their food. Ben and Gwen dug in immediately, relieved to be eating regular Chinese food as opposed to Max's "exotic" dishes of insects and animal parts not usually consumed by human beings. Gwen noted that her cousin was using his napkin a lot more with Will around. Maybe she wouldn't rag him too badly.
Oh, but he would be ragged. That was for sure.
Max looked at Yan Lin before he answered Hay Lin's question. "Well, er... it wasn't just one big meeting, we kind of passed by each other a few times before we really talked. I guess what caught my attention was her... her hair. She used to have it cut real short back then, an unusual style for a girl in that day and age. That, and she caught me checking her out and called me on it!" Max and Yan laughed as the others stared at them in shock.
"No she didn't!" Taranee said in mock denial.
"Oh, yeah, she did! My ears and face were red when she was done with me."
"What did you do then, Grampa?" Gwen asked.
"Only I could think of doing: I asked her out! And she said yes!" Everyone laughed at the unexpected resolution. "But she was very haughty about it. Not that that intimidated me; it just made her more interesting."
"It was the uniform," Yan Lin explained. "I really liked the uniform."
Max looked at her slyly. "Not as much as I liked yours, I bet." Yan Lin blushed as the Guardians snuck glances at each other. "Oh, I completely forgot; are the others here yet? Lao still owes me money from Super Bowl Twenty-Eight."
Yan Lin rolled her eyes. "Men and their sports... Jasmine is upstairs with June and Ray Ray getting settled in."
"Great! She owes me money from Super Bowl Twenty Nine."
Another roll of the eyes and a sigh for good measure. "Men and Jasmine and their sports... Apparently, her grandkids met up with Lao and his grandson at the train station where they switched dog carriers. Fu Dog is upstairs asleep and Monroe is with Lao, who should be here shortly with Jacob..."
"Jake!" Hay Lin yelped. She darted back to the front door and took up her menus with a righteous furor that was more likely to scare off customers than welcome them. The Tennysons stared at her before turning to Yan Lin.
"My granddaughter is very excited to see Jake again," Yan explained. "They were like two beans in a pod."
"Peas!" Hay Lin corrected from the doors, still in her manic mode. "We're peas!" Irma, who loved her oldest friend more than her own heartbeat, did the twirly finger gesture toward her head that suggested a screw loose in the mental workings. Gwen and Ben giggled quietly at the sight.
"You know," Max said, "I think Fu owes me money from Wimbledon '91. Maybe I should go collect while he's caged up." Everyone laughed at the idea of a dog owing money on a lost bet. No one really noticed Yan Lin whipping Max with a menu in admonishment.
June, Jasmine, and Ray Ray came down the stairs at that moment. Jasmine sighted Max and said, "It's in the mail!"
"Sure it is, lady," Max responded as he stood and embraced her. "Sure it is. Whoa, is that June? She looks just like you did but prettier." Max noted the magenta stripe in her hair and nodded to himself; it seemed that traditions were being passed down in more families than one.
Jasmine elbowed Max in the stomach, almost doubling the larger man over. "Watch it, smart guy, I can still whoop up on you like nobody's business."
"Will!" June cried happily. She lunged forward and yanked Will out of her seat, wrapping her arms around Will's waist and lifting her bodily off the floor in a big hug. "How's my favorite Guar-girl?"
Will smiled awkwardly. "Uh, whoa oh oh, doing great, June. Could you set me down? People are staring." Susan was particularly surprised to see her daughter being hefted easily by a girl nearly a head shorter than her. June realized what she was doing and hastily but gently placed Will down on the floor.
"I see your granddaughter has your strength, Jasmine," Yan said, trying to do damage control over the mishap. "You recall, Susan, how she bragged about carrying me around as children? She was not much bigger than June herself, too."
"Um, yes, I recall." Susan tried to dismiss that nagging feeling of not knowing something she should.
"Hey, June!" Hay Lin said from her Jake Greeting Spot. "Welcome to Heatherfield!" The other Guardians greeted her as well with hugs and involuntary teases of the colored strand of her hair; June smiled tolerantly of their continued fascination. "Hey, Ray Ray! How's my hero?"
Ray Ray's chest puffed up so high his face was pointing toward the ceiling. "Ah, you know... making the world safe for pretty ladies like you, Hay Hay."
Hay Lin chuckled. "Nice to know you're on the case!" The Orchid Bayers were seated by Yan next to the Tennysons and introduced.
"You're from Orchid Bay?" Gwen asked. "I hear it's beautiful down there!"
"Well, we like to think so," June said, "But we're kinda biased. Still, you'd rather be here in Heatherfield right now; the humidity down there is rough on out-of-towners."
Irma sipped her water and grimaced at the baking sidewalk outside the window. "Yeah, we have a 'dry' heat going here. We're like Death Valley on the coast."
"Where on Earth is Lao?" Jasmine asked, frowning. "He left the station right before we did."
"Traffic is bad this time of day," Yan assured her. "If he took a cab, chances are he's caught in a jam."
"Doesn't he have a cell phone?" Max asked. "The man lives in a electronics shop for crying out loud..."
"Yes, but the last one was destroyed. I haven't gotten the new one's number yet." Yan sighed. "We really must try to keep in touch better. With the technology of the day there's really no excuse."
Max nodded. "True. He was out of town when we passed through New York or I would have stopped by to see the Longs. Speaking of, I never even met Lao's grandson. Is he anything like Susan? Susan Long is Lao's daughter," he explained to Susan Vandom.
Yan grinned at Hay Lin. "In ways. I understand that Jacob is very much into the hippity hop music." The kids chuckled at the slipup.
Hay Lin sighed heavily. "Hip hop, Grandma. Hip... hop."
"Oh, my bad. I was tripping big time, yes?"
"...yeah."
"...and so then I had to drag me-self through ten miles of the Cyranian Swamp with a bum leg and the worst case of fleas I'd ever had," Monroe continued as Jake lugged the dog's carrier under his arm. "I mean, there was standing room only all over me body, they was so tightly packed together. Bit awkward around my bits, if you know what I mean... but finally, I got the Scrolls of Mozenrath to the Te Xuan Ze and the world was saved, thanks in part to this humble dog just doing his duty. Ah, yeah, that's me. Humble as the hills."
Compared to some of Fu Dog's stories, it was downright credible. "Wow, that's... real impressive, Mr. Monroe."
"Ah, thanks, lad. And just Monroe; I never stand on ceremony. I never stand at all, actually; too much strain on the hind quarters. Don't want to blow a glute, you know. Hurts like a devil when you walk."
Jake groaned softly and not entirely from the heat. "I'll bet it does...hey! The Silver Dragon! Thank god! Ah, I mean: oh look, we're here."
After sorting out that Jake and crew had met up with the Te Xuan Ze herself and unknowingly exchanged animal guardians the New Yorkers had double-timed it to the restaurant, Monroe telling old war stories the entire time. Or actually just one very long war story. Jake was incredibly happy to see the restaurant and he wasn't even thinking of Hay Lin at the moment.
"I can't believe that girl is some kinda Buffy-The-Vampire-Slayer butt-kicker," Trixie said in disbelief. "She's even younger than us! She's pre-training bra! Hey, you think she'll show me some moves? We can practice on Spud."
Spud gulped at the thought of being used as a practice dummy. "Oh, man, do you think I might've made her mad? I'm too young to be slain! Maybe not too cute, I mean, gotta be realistic here, but definitely too young! I never got to see Paris! And I still have my mime costume..."
Jake chuckled. "You didn't do anything wrong, Spud, and the Te Xuan Ze doesn't do killing; mostly they just banish evil beings to the Underworld. Besides, she seemed pretty cool, real Cali-mellow. I just can't believe I didn't realize who she was; some dragon, huh?"
"Don't be too hard on yourself, lad," Monroe assured him. "The power of the Te Xuan Ze isn't supposed to grab attention. It would be hard to be sneak up on the forces of evil if it were."
"Hey, thanks, Monroe." The dog wasn't that bad after all. "I appreciate that..."
"And it's bloody hot out here to boot! Can't even think in this oven of a town! Hurry up, lad, I'm boiling in this box!" Jake could hear slurping noises as the dog drained his water, then noises of an empty bottle being suctioned for every last drop of moisture. "Oh, dammit! I'm bone-dry!"
Once again, Jake Long found himself being ordered around by a talking dog. The American Dragon sighed and led the way to the front doors; he was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the other guy rounding the opposite corner until he bumped into him. Jake was about to apologize when a chill ran up his spine while it held hands with a bolt of electricity. He looked at the kid in front of him and was surprised that he looked perfectly normal. Because he sure didn't feel normal.
Danny was staring at Jake, too, but what he felt were cold flames shooting from his head to his toes. Their respective parties stared at them as they stared at each other, uncertain as to what was going on.
Finally, they shook their dazes off and tried to apologize only to end up speaking over each other. "Sorry, man I..."
"I should have been..."
"No, it's my bad..."
Sam cleared her throat and motioned for Danny to shut it, which he obeyed obediently yet grudgingly. "If you two try to keep apologizing, we'll be here all day. Danny, say you're sorry."
Danny glared at her even as he complied. "Sorry about that." He noticed the New Yorker's bags. "Here, let me get the door."
"Thanks, Danny," Jake said gratefully. Whatever he was, he was fairly decent. "I'm Jake. Jake Long."
"Danny Pha-Fenton." Why had he nearly slipped up? He only used his code name when dealing with ghosts, which this kid was definitely not. What he was, Danny couldn't say. "So, uh, back from vacation?"
"Naw, just visiting." Jake grinned as they entered the restaurant. "We're from New York, actually. Thought it was my place, huh?"
Danny flushed in embarrassment. "Uh, yeah, sort of."
"Eh, honest mistake. The outfit goes with the restaurant, anyway..."
Jake was interrupted by a perky feminine voice. "Welcome to the Silver Dragon. Table for... wow, there's a lot of you..."
Jake did a double-take. "H-H-Hay? Is that you?" He knew it was her even as he said it but... "Dang, girl you grew up nice!" slipped out before Jake could stop himself.
Hay Lin quirked an eyebrow at the boy who knew her name and may have just hit on her."Uh, do I know... Jake? Jake! Jake, it's you!" Hay Lin dropped her menus and gave a high-pitched squeal that caused everyone within twenty feet to wince. She threw her arms around Jake's neck and squeezed with surprisingly force; Jake dropped Monroe's carrier and his luggage, the carrier squealing out a Scottish curse. "It is you, Jake, it is! You look so different but... not! I recognize your hair!"
Jake, caught in Hay Lin's deathgrip, was both happy and shocked; mostly shocked. Unable to decide where to put his hands, his arms waved out to the sides like a bug pinned by a needle. Finally, he just patted her shoulders.
"Smooth, Jay," Trixie dead-panned. She stood corrected, though; not only was the girl not Hefty-sized, she looked like two pairs of chop sticks with a head. And she was cute and friendly, too; no wonder Jake acted like she was the complete package. Trixie would have bet her allowance for a year that she could cook like them Iron Chefs on TV, big knives and all. Ooh, better get grandma's name right first time out, then.
"Wow, the service sure is friendly," Sam said as she observed Jake Long being crushed by a young waitress. He may have been a relative she hadn't seen in a long time, judging from the intimacy of the crushing.
Tucker appraised the girl and nodded to himself as he decided on a plan of action. "When its our turn, let me in front." Sam bopped him on the beret. "Geez, okay, you can go, Sam. Didn't know you swung that way." Another bop on the beret. "Ow!"
"Sam, quit hitting Tucker," Danny said calmly. "You know he never learns his lesson, anyway."
"You're right." She bopped him again.
"What was that for?" Tucker asked, rubbing his head. Girl could hit.
"Extra credit." Tucker glared at her while Sam turned her attention back to the reunion.
Hay Lin finally released Jake and was giving him the once-over look people give to those they haven't seen in a long time. "Look at you, Jake! You look really cool, well, you look a little warm in that sweatshirt, actually, but you know what I mean..."
"Uh, thanks." Jake absently scratched his back to check for wings; seeing Hay again was such a shock to the system he nearly transformed in sheer reflex. She was, no joke, not the little girl he remembered. "But you, Hay, you... you've gotten downright scorching." When it came to talking to fine girls, honesty always seemed to have the best compliments.
Hay Lin giggled. "Oh, thanks! You're still a sweetie! Oh, you guys, over here!" Hay Lin motioned to the other girls who sidled over. "Jake, these are my best friends in the entire world... and then some."
Jake recognized one of them. "Hey, Irmie, right?"
"Irma, actually," Irma said with a slight grimace at Cornelia's smug smile. "Good to see you again, Jake."
"Oh, ha, right." Oooohhh, not the best second-first impression.
Hay Lin giggled, though. "So you remember Irma. This is Will, Taranee, and Cornelia." The teens exchanged greetings. "Who are your friends?"
"Trixie Carter," Trixie said as she introduced herself. "This is Arthur Spudinski, but he goes by Spud. He does the one name thing."
"Hello, ladies, or should I say... W.I.T.C.H.!" The girls started and gaped at him, Hay Lin stuttering for an explanation. "Your names! Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin! It's an acronym deal! Are you guys superheroes?" Spud winked at them.
The girls stared at him, then began to laugh nervously. "Nope," Hay Lin said with a smile, "we're just normal, average, everyday girls." Jake was suddenly struck with a memory of Hay Lin fibbing to her father about who broke a vase. She had worn the exact same expression she had on now.
Max, Yan, and Jasmine greeted Lao Shi warmly as Susan embraced Maddie and smiled at Jack. "Welcome to Heatherfield, you two! I'm sorry it's so hot right now..." Susan began.
"Oh, don't worry about us, Sue," Maddie assured her, "Our jumpsuits are climate-controlled. It was Jack's invention," she added with a smile at her husband.
Jack's ample porpotions swelled with pride. "Thanks, sweetie! Of course, it means I don't get to see you in a tube top as much!"
Maddie looked both flattered and scandalized at this statement. "Jack! Well, ahem... oh, is that Wilma!? She's grown up so much!"
"I know. Will?" Will turned and looked at her mother. "Do you remember the Fentons? It's been a long time, I know..."
"Little Will!" To Danny and Jazz's horror, Jack scooped up Will under her arms and held her up in the air. "It's me, Uncle Jack! Wow, you sure don't look like a boy anymore!"
Will, understandably, was taken by surprise by the greeting, but strangely not afraid of the big man with the booming voice. Maybe it was her Guardian senses telling her that Jack possessed a gentle heart within his large frame. That, and there were lots of eyewitnesses in the restaurant, all of whom were getting a good look at the spectacle. "Uh, thanks, Mr. Fenton... ummmm… Uncle Jack?"
"Jack! Put her down!" Maddie urged her husband. Jack looked slightly sheepish as he placed Will back on the floor. "I'm sorry, Will, Jack's a little excitable."
Will grinned. "It's okay. It's always nice when someone's happy to see you."
"Of course we're happy to see you, Wilma!" Will winced slightly at the name. "Oh, I mean, Will. This is our son Danny and our daughter Jazz, and Sam and Tucker are friends of Danny. You probably don't remember them since you were so little..."
Will squinted at the Fenton children, the son in particular. "Er, I think I do... from... somewhere." Tucker whispered something in Danny's ear that caused him to elbow his friend in the arm. "I definitely do..."
"Could you look after them, Will?" Susan asked. "Maddie, Jack, and I will be over here catching up if you need us."
"Uh, sure. Not that it's dangerous in here or anything," she added to the Amity Parkers.
"Unless Caleb's cooking," Irma added. Caleb shook his head and muttered something about "picky Earth girls" that caused Cornelia to step on his foot. "So, I take it you're a Samantha and not a Tuckerina?" she asked Sam.
Sam shuddered at the use of her full name. "Just Sam, please. Samantha sounds like a girl that wears frilly dresses and pearls. I don't do pearls. Unless they're black."
"Gotcha. At least you're not like Red here; she's Wilhelmina, or Wilma, if you really want to irritate her."
"That's why I remembered your name!" Jazz said excitedly. "You're just like the Flintstones character!"
Will smirked and turned to the Water Guardian. "Just so it doesn't seem clever later, whenever Irma calls my name she's going to say 'Willllll-maaaaa!' just like Fred does."
The assorted teens laughed at that, except for Irma who simply said, "I'm getting predictable, apparently. I always thought you reminded me of Strawberry Shortcake, Boss." Will glared at her supposed best friend for saying the "s" word. "Oh, geez, you're not that short..."
Tucker held his arms out expectantly. After a few seconds he mock-pouted and asked, "What, no hug?" To everyone's surprise (including Tuck's) a giggling Hay Lin actually gave him one. "Thanks! I bet this place is way better than anything in our hometown! Great name, friendly service, and the food smells great! I'm Tuckard Foley, but everyone just calls me Tucker." He turned to Will. "Is it true that you and Danny took baths together? That might be why you remember him."
"Tucker!" Danny growled, his narrowed eyes momentarily flashing green.
Will blinked and blushed. "Excuse me?"
"You took baths together?" Hay Lin said, her voice rising into the "Awwww" pitch she was legendary for. "That... is... so... precious! Oh, do you have pictures?! Hey, Jake, didn't we do that when you were here last time?" Jake chuckled weakly and tried to hide his face.
Danny glared at Tucker. "I will get you for this, Tuck." Tucker gulped and grinned weakly as he realized that he'd just earned the ire of someone with superpowers. The last time Danny promised to get him he'd found himself standing in the lunchroom with his pants dropped to his ankles, after Danny had possessed him and made him sing the "Oscar Meyer Wiener" song. Mr. Lancer had given him detention for a month but, surprisingly, his popularity surged from the sheer audacity of the act. That was the only reason he didn't suck Danny into the ghost-catching Fenton Thermos and toss it in a river.
Though some may accuse Cornelia Hale of being somewhat ditzy when it came to matters not relating to clothes or figure skating, in truth her keen eye and attention to detail (and the cynicism that came with dealing with monsters disguised as booksellers) allowed her to perform an usually accurate estimate of people. As she inspected Will's old bath buddy and his friends something wasn't tracking with them.
On a first glance they looked just like the teen archetypes of Mr. Average, Techno Geek, and Goth Chick, but certain details seemed out of character. Sam's eyes were intelligent and confident, nothing at all like the blank glares of the goths at the Sheffield Institute the Guardians attended; truth be told, she held herself a lot like Cornelia did. Tucker wore his gadgets the way Caleb carried his weapons and shield, like they were an extension of himself and not a passing interest; this was a person who was truly the master of his element. And Danny... it was hard to say, but there was something about his face that seemed primed to change at a moment's notice.
Whether the others had noticed she wasn't sure, but the part of her that was a Guardian was perking up and paying attention to the new arrivals. Jake Long and his friends seemed like standard models as well (the Hip Hoppers and the Out There Guy) but again, something about the way they moved suggested maturity born of conflict, the same way the Guardians walked these days. And what was the deal with Long's hair? Not only was it sticking straight up, it had a green tint to it like a really smooth dye job. So smooth in fact that Cornelia knew it was plain impossible to do something like it, the only only explanation being that it was actually real.
If someone looked at Cornelia's face, she would appear to be appraising Sam's dark yet tasteful miniskirt-black top ensemble instead of evaluating possible threats. Cornelia, however, could do both. She deduced that the threat level these new kids presented seemed low if at all and that Sam had a real knack for color coordination for someone that wore mostly black; the small violet oval on her shirt really brought out her eyes and the green and purple stipes on her skirt looked particularly good to a Guardian of Candracar.
June had taken Monroe out of his carrier and was scratching his ears as she apologized to him. Monroe wore a wounded expression but seemed to be enjoying the attention too much to complain. Jake, with Hay Lin on his arm, approached June with a pained expression. "I'm sorry I jacked your dog, Ms. uhm..."
"Juniper Kim Lee," the Te Xuan Ze said in a friendly tone as she offered Jake her free hand, "But I prefer June. Hey, don't worry about the mix up. The carriers look the same, the initials... personally, I'm just glad you were there when I needed to go to the bathroom. " The three teens laughed at that. "Besides, you're making Hay Lin a very happy girl right now and that's good by me."
Jake raised an eyebrow. "You two know each other already?"
"Yep. Let's just say that Hay and her girls helped me out with a... barrier in my life. Your dog's upstairs asleep, by the way, and snoring like a stampede to boot. You must be the other student studying under Mrs. Lin?"
"Uh, yeah," Jake replied uneasily. "Jake Long. From New York." He had forgot to ask his Grandpa if Hay knew about the dragon thing. A sudden panicky thought occurred to him: if Hay didn't know, would she freak if she found out? Jake's gut said no, but doubt still lingered. "Cultural thing, huh?"
June shrugged. "That's what I was told. Not that Ah-Mah was forthcoming with the info. Did your grandfather mention anything?
"'Fraid not. Don't you love it when they get all quiet and then spring something on ya?"
"Oh, yeahhhhh..." June and Hay Lin said in total agreement. Jake looked at Hay Lin in surprise; how did she know about that sort of thing? Hay Lin didn't notice as she glanced around the restaurant. "Geez, it's getting crowded down here. Let's get your stuff to your rooms. Caleb, can you help with the bags? I'll fix you something special later if you do..."
Caleb grinned wryly. "One day I'm going to get tired of your meals. But not today." As the older boy helped Trixie with her bags, Jake raised an eyebrow at the exchange. Was that Hay Lin's BF? Not that he was jealous, nah, but he had hoped to catch up with Hay a little while he was here. With the Calvin Klein model over there around, that was looking to be hard to do.
"Oh, Caleb!" Cornelia said. "About this weekend..."
Caleb smiled slyly at his girlfriend. "I've already cleared it with Elyon. I'm all yours, Miss Hale." Cornelia kissed his cheek happily, causing him to blush lightly. Jake chuckled in relief.
"They're cute, aren't they?" Hay Lin said as they ascended the stairs with June, Trixie, Spud, and Caleb behind them.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess. For a minute there I thought he was your... you know."
Hay Lin made an amused face. "Oh, no! Caleb's my 'big brother'... W.I.T.C.H.'s big brother really. Well, except Cornelia, of course. He's staying in Heatherfield for the summer so he can be with Corny and the rest of us. He stays in the basement... don't worry, we fixed it up for him. He's going to be a big help because he can cover for Grandma while she's teaching you and June."
"Ah. So, who is your boyfriend?"
Hay Lin blushed. "Now what makes you think I have a boyfriend, Mr. Long?!"
"Psshhh, you kidding? Fine lady like you? Mrs. Lin must be beating them off at the doors."
Hay Lin giggled. "Oh, Jake, you haven't changed a bit!"
Jake's smile faltered. "Well, maybe I changed a little... but you didn't answer the question, Ms. Lin."
"Er, there is this guy, Eric..." Hay Lin looked embarrassed. "I'm not really good at that sort of thing, so I can't just say it." She looked at Jake with mock anger. "You're putting me on the spot, meanie! What about you, big shot? How many girlfriends do you have back in the Big Apple?"
"Well, just one… her name's Rose. We're, uh, we're pretty tight… been through a lot together."
"That's great! Rose… flowers make great names! Well, for girls, anyway. Right, June?"
"I got no complaints," June said, "But I don't feel very flower-y. You doing okay, leaving her behind?" she asked Jake.
Jake shrugged. "Not really, but it's gotta be done, y'know? No one else can do it but me." June smiled and nodded as she realized she had found a kindred spirit. "'Sides, it's a long-distance relationship, anyway, but I don't mind."
June looked at the small pyramid-shaped charm on Jake's wrist. "You see each other in your dreams, right?"
"Um…" Jake realized the Te Xuan Ze would know about dream charms and he smiled. "You could say that. But she wants me to give my all while Mrs. Lin is teaching me, so we're keeping the contact down. Ain't thrilled about it, but you know how it is."
Hay Lin smiled and patted him on the cheek. "It's alright, Jake. I'll make you sure you enjoy your visit here. Wow, a whole month! Last time we only had a week; can you imagine the trouble we'll get into now?" Hay Lin realized that violated the Rules of Catchphrases, but what the heck?
For the third time today in the Silver Dragon a large man was lifting an old associate into the air. This time was no "small" feat, as the person being lifted was Max Tennyson.
"Max!" Jack Fenton cried out as he bear-hugged the older man off the ground. "What are you doing here, old man?! It's been years!"
Max grunted as his vertebrae shifted against Jack's grip. "It's... good to see you, too... Jack." Jack finally placed him down. "Oof... still strong as ever. Like the jumpsuit, by the way."
"Thanks! I may not have nanotechnolgy, but I've made lots of improvements to the old design..." Jack trailed off. "Er, not that you ever wore anything like this, of course." The nutty inventor winked at Max with what he thought was a sly deception.
Max sighed inwardly as he realized Jack Fenton was still Jack Fenton. "Yeah... I see you two finally tied the knot, Maddie. I'm sorry I couldn't make the ceremony, I was... out of the country at the time."
Maddie embraced Max more gently than her husband had. "Oh, that's alright. It wasn't that big of an occasion, anyway. We just couldn't wait, you know?"
Jack grinned. "She was helpless before my animal magnetism." Maddie and Susan laughed while Danny and Jazz made the appropriately disgusted faces.
"Your dad sure is... emotional," Will said to Danny. "In a good way. He's very happy, I mean."
"Thanks. That's the nicest way it's been put. I'm sorry about him grabbing you before..." Danny began.
"Don't worry about it. It wasn't that bad, and it was kind of sweet of him despite not seeing me since I was a baby."
Danny chuckled. "Yeah, once you're in with my dad, you're in for life. No escape, I'm afraid."
"Oh, come on, he's not that bad..." Will lightly thumped her fist against Danny's sleeve in a surprisingly defensive gesture for his father. The second her small fist came into contact with his arm Will was overcome with a mostly familiar dizziness.
Her eyes rolled back into her head and she began to fall, her body cut loose from the strings of her mind. She was dimly aware of arms catching her and knew that it was Danny because the dizziness continued. In the backs of her eyes she saw green flashes mixed with white lights until a face formed in the dark, indistinct and distantly recognizable.
The dizziness abated even though she was still in Danny's arms, like she was growing accustomed to whatever it was. "Will? Are you okay? What's wrong?" he asked as her eyes opened. The other Guardians, including a frightened-looking Hay Lin, were clustered around her protectively. "Will?"
Will sucked in a breath and coughed. "I'm fine, just... it happens sometimes. It must be the heat." She smiled weakly. "Do you make lots of girls light-headed?''
Danny chuckled. "Only during chemistry class. And a few guys, to be fair."
Will gave a snort of laughter. "Let's make sure we're not in a lab at the same time. We could so some serious damage together." For a regular-sized guy, Danny had some strong arms. Likely he got them from his dad.
"Sounds like fun. Here..." Danny placed an arm under her back as he helped her to her feet; it remained there to steady her as she got her footing. "If I did something wrong, I'm sorry."
"No, no, it wasn't you..." she lied, unsure as to what else to say. Susan had noticed her daughter looking faint and rushed over, placing a hand on her forehead and asking frantic questions. "I'm okay, mom, I just... got too hot."
Susan frowned. " If you say so. Still, I should get you home just in case." Will was about to protest but decided against it; her mother looked genuinely worried. And she was as stubborn as Will herself. "Thank you, Danny, for catching her."
"No problem, Mrs. Vandom. Fentons have to have fast reflexes."
Susan remembered Jack's experiments she had attended in college. "I hear that. Speaking of your family, I've already invited Jack and Maddie over for dinner tonight. I'm afraid it's only going to be pizza and soft drinks..." As honored guests, Susan wouldn't feel right poisoning her friends and their children with her cooking.
Danny smiled. "Mrs. V, we live on pizza and soda at FentonWorks." Considering the times when their food had been given life by various inventions, eating out was much safer. That'll be just fine, ma'am."
Susan was surprised at Danny's polite manners; Maddie had described him as somewhat surly when it came to adults. Most likely it was a motherly characteristic of assuming the worst; Will herself seemed to be handling the eccentric Fentons very well, all things considered. "I'm glad to hear that. Hopefully I can get some takeout from Mrs. Lin, too. Will eats at the Dragon so often I'm worried she'll turn into a fortune cookie."
The kids laughed at that, except for Will who simply pouted. "Mom, I don't eat that much..." Not that she looked like she gorged; though still growing, Will was what Jake would call a "shorty". Cornelia had often complimented her friend on her "lithe" form and powerful metabolism. Will would have actually preferred a few pounds to round her figure out; Irma, a true friend, had offered a few of hers if she ever wanted them.
"It does smell good in here," Danny commented about the Dragon. "Way better than our eating places back in Amity Park."
"Oh yeah, you're from the ghost town!" Hay Lin remembered. "So you must know Danny Phantom! Well, not personally, I guess..."
Danny couldn't help but grin. "I've seen him around a few times."
"He's really cool, isn't he?"
Danny fought to keep from laughing. "Yeah, he is. He's real popular with the kids at Casper High." Sam and Tucker gave each other amused glances.
"Will's a huge fan of his, aren'tcha Will?" Will glared at Hay Lin. "Oh, you know you are! You have a wallpaper of him on your desktop!" Will's glare doubled in intensity as the other kids laughed at her discomfort. Danny, however, was mentally pumping his fist.
"Don't anyone tell her boyfriend about that," Taranee said. "No guy wants to have to compete with a superhero."
Danny's mental self stopped pumping and started pouting. Wonderful. The first girl he ever flirted with successfully was taken. It figured. Well, she lived hundreds of miles away anyhow, so maybe it was for the best.
"Wait a minute," Irma said, staring at Danny intently. "Fen-tom..." Danny, Sam and Tucker gulped simultaneously. "You know, you look real familiar, and we've never met before."
Danny grinned shakily. "Well, I do take after my dad." It was a last ditch save to compare himself to his father. "Hair and eyes and all."
"Hmmm... if you say so."
"Kinda funny, you having the same name as Phantom," Jake said nonchalantly. Kinda funny, like that feeling I got when we bumped into each other.
Danny shrugged and tried not to let his nervousness show. "Not really. They're like fourteen Daniels at my school alone." It was both a diversionary tactic and the truth. "Most everyone calls me 'Fenton'."
"Or 'Fenturkey'," Tucker said with a grin.
"Or 'Fenturd'," Sam added. Hay Lin made a disgusted but amused face.
Danny rolled his eyes. "Only Dash ever calls me those. That's the best he can come up with, anyway. At least he's a decent quarterback, 'cause he'll never make it as a comedian."
Jake laughed. "So you got a dumb QB, too? Please tell me he's not blonde."
Danny's eyes lit up. "You're kidding, right? You, too?"
"Yeah, the 'Bradster'!" Jake's suspicions were forgotten in the moment of revelation. "Oh, man, it's like they're cloning clichés."
"This is great!" Hay Lin interjected. "Most of us have just met and we're already connecting!"
"It probably helps that our parents and grandparents knew each other," Gwen said. "Grampa kept calling it a 'jamboree of young and old' on the way here."
"What is a jamboree, anyway?" Ben asked.
Hay Lin shrugged. "Well, this is, I guess. I know June and Jake are here to study, and the Fentons and Tennysons won't be here too long, but we should really try to make plans. W.I.T.C.H..." she giggled slightly as she said the team name in front, "...is going to the convention this weekend. Maybe we could plan a group trip to see Danny's booth!"
"Uh, it's not really my booth," Danny said, not all that eager to show the Fenton Insta-Booth to his new associates. "But, uh, we'd love to have you guys visit it."
Spud pumped his fist in the air. "Alright, real ghost-fighting equipment! This is gonna be awesome! So, Dan-My-Man, have you seen some action on the ecto-front?"
"Well, if you live in Amity park you're pretty much guaranteed to," Danny responded. "But I generally leave that sort of thing to my parents. And Phantom, of course."
Will sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose; everyone looked at her in concern. "Maybe you should lie down upstairs," Hay Lin said, "while your mom catches up with the Fentons. You can leave when you feel better."
"That might be a good idea," Susan agreed. "I'll be down here if you need me, pumpkin." Will sighed again at the pet name.
The stomachs of the Amity Parkers and the New Yorkers growled simultaneously. "And you all need to be fed! C'mon, let's get you seated." Hay Lin led them off to empty tables, leaving Caleb, June, Ray Ray and the other Guardians by the stairs.
"You know," Irma began, "That boy is almost a dead ringer for that Phantom guy. I'd bet an arm and a leg he's got some connection to it."
"Seriously?" Cornelia asked. That would fit with her examination of Mr. Average. "I thought there was something different about Fenton. He doesn't move like a normal kid. He moves like... well, you, Caleb." Caleb quirked an eyebrow at her, not sure what to think of the comparison. "I meant that in a good way."
Irma gave a "huh" of amazement at Cornelia's agreeing with her; hey, it happened. "I know, he's always glancing around like some sort of commando; I mean, he just sat with his back to the wall like a gunslinger in those Western movies. You just have to look at him... no, don't look at him!"
Caleb still glanced at where the Fentons were eating. "Are you telling me that scrawny kid is some kind of undead crimefighter?" Earth just seemed to get weirder the longer he stayed on it.
"Oh, come on! It fits perfectly! The name, the location... off the top of my head I'd say he's an experiment the Fentons were working on, a ghost-human mix or something. I have an eye for faces."
"Among other things," Cornelia said sourly. Irma had yet to cease checking out Caleb's body. She couldn't fault her for it, of course...
Will frowned. "Don't you think that's stretching it a little, Irma?"
Irma lolled her eyes over to Will. "And exhibit C... our resident DP Phangirl, who I might add is the worst flirt in our little group, was practically clawing the Fenton boy's jeans off!"
The look on Will's face was so priceless Taranee had to take a photo of it. "What?! I was not... I am not..." Will's brain froze, then locked onto a single question. "I thought Taranee was the worst flirt?"
"Nope," Taranee said with a grin. "That's all you, Will." Will was annoyed that Taranee was so proud of her position of second place (it was actually third, behind Hay Lin), but that wasn't her biggest problem at the moment.
"I wasn't flirting with him, I was... just... making conversation. Our parents are friends after all and I am dating someone who, I might add, is as close to perfect as it gets." Will summoned an image of Matt in her mind and felt the familiar warmth blossom in her chest. Why would she want anyone else? Nothing against Danny, of course. If she wasn't... but, she was. So, no.
"It's okay, Will," Cornelia assured her, "there's nothing wrong with a little flirting even if you're committed."
Caleb frowned. "There isn't?" He wasn't sure he liked the idea of Cornelia flirting with other guys. Alright, so he was damn sure he didn't like the idea.
"Well, it is for you, pal," Cornelia said. "You're a guy, and guys can never just talk; they always gotta have something in the end."
Caleb shrugged, having learned by now not to argue with "Girl Logic." "Whatever."
"Have what?" Ray Ray asked. No one answered him.
Will scratched her head bashfully. "So, okay, maybe it wasn't just conversation. Thanks for pointing that out; I'll probably be eaten up with guilt later for that, not that you heathens care. But how does that prove Danny's the Ghost Boy? He doesn't look like he can fight off ghosts with his bare hands." Because if he was Phantom, Will would likely embarrass herself in a display of flagrant and fanatical Phandom.
June smirked. "And I don't look like I can punch through concrete, but I can. And none of you look like interdimensional Guardians, but you are. I think its safe to say that appearances aren't everything."
"Try telling Corny that," Irma said in a low, mischievous voice.
"Don't call me Corny." That was this week's quota for that particular phrase; Irma was hoping for a new record.
Caleb broke back into the conversation. "Okay, so if this kid is what Irma thinks he is, why is he here in Heatherfield?"
"His parents, or maybe his... creators, are attending the convention," Taranee said. "Maybe that's all there is to it."
Caleb shook his head and tried to speak, but was interrupted by a long yawn. "Yawwwwwnn... Maybe, but you and I did some checking on this 'Phantom' when those 'ghosts' started appearing, remember? It turns out that he was involved in a string of robberies with other ghosts. He even attacked the mayor at a town meeting." Caleb was looking very smug, confident in his position that Danny Phantom Was No Good.
Instead of looking mollified at Danny (Phantom)'s smeared reputation, Will quirked an eyebrow contemptuously. "You think I don't know about that? Please. The robberies were linked to a Frederick Showenheimer, aka Freakshow, who could control ghosts according to eye witnesses. If Danny is a ghost or part-ghost, he would have been affected by whatever controlled them. We know all about mind control; remember the trance marcher horn and Enthrallment? And the assembly happened at a time when ghosts were possessing people all over Amity Park; is it really that big a stretch to think that the most important official in town would be possessed, too? And besides, I can list a dozen more cases where Phantom saved lives." She paused. "And my printer likes him. If that's not proof enough..."
The others stared at her. Irma turned to Caleb and said, "Don't look now, captain, but I think you're gonna need a bigger boat." The movie reference was lost on Caleb, but he got the gist even as he yawned again. "Are you getting enough sleep?" Caleb muttered something about "Meridian-Earth time differences." "Cornelia, you're not..." Cornelia shot Irma a DON"T GO THERE IT WILL ONLY HURT YOU BADLY look.
"How do you know all that, Will?" Hay Lin asked in honest amazement, having returned halfway through Phantom's defense.
"Oh, well, there's a website about Phantom. I've... read a few pages. Here and there."
"Ten bucks says it's on her Favorites list," June said with a smirk.
"It is not! Well, OK, it is. Alright, forget that: if Danny is Phantom, what do we do about it? I mean, I'm sure he's a good guy; the fainting thing was weird, but it didn't have the evil aftertaste I'm used to getting. It kind of felt...er, fun."
"'Fun'?" Irma repeated, her mouth turning up into a rakish grin.
"Well... you know how when you were little you'd spin around in a circle to get dizzy? Because it felt like the whole room was twirling like an amusement park ride?" The others stared at her. "What, you didn't ever do that? Come on, Hay Lin, surely you did." Hay Lin nodded with an embarrassed grin. "Well, it was like that, with a lot of colors like a kaleidoscope, but mainly green and white."
"Far out, mon!" Irma said with a hippie/rastah drawl. "Will be tripping on the Fenton boyyyyy!"she added in a sing-song voice.
"Irma, sometimes I really want to slap you... but I'm just too woozy right now." Talking about Phantom seemed to bring back the less-fun aspects of what might have transpired with Danny. "Ooh..."
"Do you want me to carry you?" June asked the taller girl with obvious concern. The others stared at her. "Oh, right…"
"I'll be fine," Will assured her. "Still, maybe I should lay down." As they ascended the stairs she looked over at Danny, who was eating and talking animatedly with Jake at the same time. She tried to picture Danny with white hair and green eyes and found it to be a good match. Will mulled this over as she was led up the stairs by June and Hay Lin. What if she had just met her superhero idol? Only one thing was for certain if that was what had happened: her hair was a complete mess. Crap.
Author's Note: I used to spin around in a circle to get "drunk" when I was younger; it was cool to put that in there. Wouldn't recommend it, though, if you get dizzy easily. Or puke easy.
Factoids: "Hay Hay" is used in the WITCH comics as a nickname for Hay Lin.
Episode References: Danny was under the mind-control of Freakshow in "Control Freaks" and dealt with a possessed town in "Ghost Enemy Number One." The Fentons' food has come to life in "Attack of the Killer Garage Sale" and "The Fright Before Christmas." Do not eat over at the Fentons if you can avoid it.
Spud was considering a career as a mime in "A Befuddled Mind."
The Scrolls of Mozenrath are a nod to the recurring villain on the Aladdin TV series. Or as fans of the show know him as Mr "I sacrificed my hand for evil, it hurt, boo hoo, prepare to die, street rat."
Will being compared to Wilma Flintstone I borrowed from "More Than A Game" by Utsukushii Kohana; check it out if you're into angsty older Guardians. Think I got the first "Strawberry Shortcake," though.
There's a Meridian, Mississippi, as well other cities with that name in the US. None of them have larveks, Passlings or pretty boy rebel leaders (to my knowledge.)