Warning: violence and Danny being tortured in this chapter, along with talks about abuse and a little bit of underage drinking.

You've been warned.

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, lyrics, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plots are the intellectual property of the author(s). The author(s) is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended, nor should any be inferred. No profit is being made.


As they crossed the bridge, the noise that had returned once they were out of the room, disappeared altogether, leaving a relieved group in its wake. Danny suddenly took a sharp turn off the path and stopped.

"Due to us having to change routes thanks to the plant incident, we're closer to Dora's lair than we are to Frostbite so we'll go to her and see if she can help us get to him." Maddie frowned.

"Who are these things you talk about and why are you so determined to get to this Frostbite's lair?" She demanded. Jack bit his lip. She had promised that she would try and let up on the boy, and yet this entire trip she had been nothing but hard on him. It was starting to drive Jack up the wall with her mood shifts.

"First off, don't call them things." Danny snapped. "They are different ghosts that have helped me immensely in the past. And I need to get to the Far Frozen because Frostbite and his tribe have an infi-map that will help us get back home sooner. Plus I would like to talk to him about something while we are still here." Danny rubbed his forehead roughly. His headache was getting worse as he stressed out about Walker. He had a feeling there wasn't a way to avoid the prison warden, but he hoped to get everyone safe before he came, that way Danny could go ghost and kick Walker butt.

"Well excuse you." Maddie huffed. Danny just sighed again. Sam bumped her shoulder to his to get his attention. He looked down at the petite Goth with appraising eyes. She smiled softly and placed a hand on his arm. He smiled back appreciatively before looking up to the sky.

"Is everyone ready to leave?" He asked abruptly. Every peer and adult nodded quietly, waiting for Danny to take the lead.

"How long do you think it'll take us to get to this Dora ghost?" Star asked. Sam tensed.

"It would be best for you to address her as Princess Dorathea." Sam suggested nervously. Dash snorted.

"Why? Fenton isn't so why should we?" Tuck stared back at Dash.

"There's a difference between you and Danny. The respect Danny gives Princess Dorathea is completely different compared to the respect she deserves from you." Tucker spat out, eyes steely. Lancer raised an eyebrow carefully.

"Danny saved her and is seen as an equal, if not a superior, to Princess Dora." Sam spoke slowly giving Danny a side-glance as she felt the anger pouring off of him as they discussed the princess of Aragon.

The relationship between those two had been startling at first. Sam had, at first, wondered if there was something romantic going on between the ghost princess and the halfa, but as more time went by, she understood. He had taken over the role as Princess Dora's brother.

She had been torn down and abused by her brother for too long. Danny saved the Princess physically and emotionally, causing her to latch on to him as the first male to ever treat her properly.

Danny snapped his gaze over to Sam's for a moment, blushing when he felt pride coursing to him through the link. He had been confused at who she might be feeling this for, maybe Tucker for standing up for Dora's respect? But then he got a glimpse of her thoughts and was shocked and bashful.

Tuck smiled and patted Danny's shoulder.

"You're special, Sir Fenton!" Sam giggled as Danny blushed once again.

"Shut up man." He hissed, shoving Tucker away, ultimately breaking the serious atmosphere.

"Sir Fenton?" Maddie hissed, pushing in front of Danny to stop him. Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Um, Dora knighted me once she overthrew Aragon." He mumbled out, glancing up into the air every so often as if searching for something.

"That's wonderful, my boy!" Jack boasted as he pulled his wife back into the group. Danny smiled over at his father before continuing with their walk, something obviously bothering Danny.


They had been walking for several hours when Danny had finally called for a break so Cujo could fetch them food.

"How much longer do you think until we are to Princess Dorathea's lair?" Tuck asked around a mouth full of food. Peanut butter sandwiches had been served for almost everyone. Danny and Sam were sharing a large can of ultra-recylco vegetarian approved spaghetti-os, much to groups' amusement.

Danny quickly swallowed his food, much to Maddie's approval, before speaking.

"If we don't get interrupted, we should be there in about two and a half hours, tops." Sam sighed in relief as she leaned close to Danny, Chasta sleeping peacefully in her lap. Cujo was currently going around scavenging any scraps he could from the students. It shocked the kids when Cujo hadn't just eaten it all, but had continuously dropped pieces in front of Chasta for her to eat.

Danny gasped and shivered causing Sam and Tucker to look up to the sky.

"BEWARE!" Everyone jumped as a familiar spectral appeared above them.

"Oh, god!" Danny cried as the Box Ghost appeared with the Lunch Lady. "That's something I didn't want to see." He groaned. They must have been out on a date. Yuck!

"I am the Box Ghost. I have power over all containers cardboard and square!" Lancer watched as Danny groaned and laid back.

"Listen dude. It's obvious you two are on a date." Danny began. "And you don't want to mess that up, right?" The Box Ghost stilled as Lunch Lady came closer.

"You promised me that we would go see the new Phantom exhibit!" She screeched. Danny sat up straight while his friends began laughing.

"Anyway!" Danny said loudly, a blush creeping on his face. "I won't suck you in the thermos if you leave now and don't bother me." Box Ghost glanced at his girlfriend before slumping and nodding.

"I will leave you and you entourage for now. But beware! For I am The Box Ghost, and I will have my corrugated cardboard vengeance!" He glanced around at the wide-eyed group before speeding off, Lunch Lady hot on his tail. Sam and Tucker had finally stopped laughing enough to poke at Danny.

"Okay, is everyone done?" Danny yelled out, standing up hurriedly. Everyone took in his urgent expression.

"Why? We haven't even been here long!" Kwan cried out, as Sam and Tuck quickly complied and began cleaning their garbage up.

"I don't know if Box Ghost is going to tip off anyone that we're here." Danny explained frantically, eyes jumping around in the sky, gasping repeatedly.

"Too late for that, Punk!" Danny jumped and spun, causing everyone else to as well.

"Walker." Danny hissed viciously. Before anyone could do much else, there were several ghosts on them, placing clothes over their faces. No one could get them off, even Danny. Eventually everyone slowly began fading out. Danny's eyes grew green until in anger.

As Danny lost consciousness, his eyes flickered in and out weakly until he was at the mercy of the ghosts.


Valerie groaned in pain as she blinked her eyes opened. She sat up slowly, aware of the pounding headache, and noticed her peers were doing the same thing. There were curses, cries, and groans of pain as a few more students awoke.

"Where's Danny?" Sam cried out loudly frantically looking around the small cell that imprisoned her class.

Paulina gasped as she pointed over to the opposite wall that was slowly disappearing. And there, chained by his arms to the wall, was Danny Fenton.

"Danny!" Sam screeched, trying to get over to him, only to be stopped by some invisible wall. Danny's head snapped up and what everyone saw caused gasps to fly from their mouths. There was Fenton, chained to a wall, and looking like he was just run over by a semi. His clothes were tattered and his button up shirt was missing. His body was battered and bruised. Blood was running from his mouth and his hair was matted horribly.

He was down on his knees, the green glowing cuffs around his wrists digging into his raw skin as if he didn't have the strength to hold himself up. Blood tricked down his forearms as the cuts on his wrists deepened. His whole body showed signed of defeat. But when he looked over at the class, his eyes glowed bright with strength, determination, and defiance.

"I'm fine Sam." He hissed out before spitting a blob of blood from his mouth. His breathing was wheezy and his voice was hoarse, causing Maddie not to believe him. Sam held strong as she felt his words through their link. Sure, he was a bit beaten up, but they all knew he had gone through worse. She could feel his body healing itself as he stared at her.

Sam looked down and closed her eyes. Maybe if she could focus enough, she could literally send some energy to him to help him heal.

"Don't Sam." He called out, reading her idea through the bond.

"Why? You really need it!" She exclaimed. Danny shook his head. Everyone just looked back and forth between the two friends as if they were a tennis match.

"I'll be fine, but you're going to need your energy soon." Sam grimaced, but felt deep into the partially blocked link, trying to understand what he was getting at. Her eyes widened when she felt that he had some sort of plan. They just had to be patient. She nodded slowly before whispering something into Tuck's ear.

"I don't like this." He grumbled, glaring over at the now standing teen. Danny shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't know his full plan yet, so we need to be careful." Danny muttered, staring around the cell they were in.

Lancer blinked. What?

"What happened to you, baby?" Maddie cried out as she pressed herself against the invisible barrier between her and her baby boy. Danny glanced over at his mother in shock, as if he we surprised to see her there.

"Mom, calm down." He murmured before grinning at her. "Everything looks a lot worse than it actually is." Maddie began pushing against the barrier, trying to find some weakness in it. When she got ready to bang on it, Danny yelled for her not to. But it was too late.

As soon as she slammed her first on to the wall, there was a flash on near Danny and he groaned a suppressed scream. Maddie watched in agony as electricity poured through the cuffs and into Danny's body mercilessly. As sudden as the light came, it left, leaving a panting raven-haired teen back on his knees.

"I don't." He breathed heavily before coughing up more blood. "I don't understand everyone's need to electrocute me!" He whined before turning his head over to Maddie.

"Every time you hit the shield, it'll electrocute me." He informed through pants. Maddie recoiled from the wall, only to trip over her unconscious husband and fall to the ground.

"Mom!" Danny called out as Sam and Tuck raced over to help her up. Once she was pulled back up, she brushed herself off.

"I'm so sorry Danny." She cried, tears forming in her eyes as she watched her baby boy struggled against the chains as he tried to get to her. Danny slumped against the wall with a sigh.

"It's not your fault, mom." He whispered. Sam walked back up to the shield and placed a hand on it, frowning as colors lit the shield where her hand was. When she pulled her hand away, the warm colors in the shape of her palm and figures were shown there for a moment before it disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

"Heat sensitive." Danny murmured out loud. "Interesting." Danny quickly stared over at Tucker.

"Get everyone up and make sure they're alive and doing fine. I need everyone to be okay before we can do anything else." Tucker took the instructions in stride and began to shake people before Danny was even done with his order.

As people began waking up, noise filled the room with cries of shock and dismay. Most of which were directed at Danny when they finally noticed the chained-up teen. Jack was about ready to blast the shield when Maddie and Sam stopped him in his tracks. Everyone was horrified at the condition of Danny; most of the girls had hidden their faces, unable to take the gory scene anymore. Even the guys were sickened by it. The only ones who seemed to be calm were Sam and Tucker, who had taken to standing up against the shield and were talking in muted voices to one another. They seemed too calm in most of the groups' opinions.

"Well isn't this nice, boy. We have an audience now." Paulina jumped at the booming voice, tears already streaming down her face as she stared over at Danny. Even she couldn't pretend not to care about Danny anymore. Star and Lana were already having panicky-like attacks due to his condition.

The group watched as Tuck barely held Sam back as she tried to fling herself at the shield, curses flying past her lips quicker than any one person could comprehend. Danny had taken the time to stand up tall, a look of defiance and hatred painted on his face.

"Walker." He hissed out viciously, glaring at the ghost. Maddie held tightly to Jack as she noticed the whip in his hand. Walker just smirked as the humans flinched when he flicked his whip against the air.

Sam hissed more profanities at him as Walked came close to the shield.

"How cute, your little girlfriend thinks she can take me on." Walker then turned back to the main target, a smirk on his face he got up close to Danny's face.

"You're not such a tough guy now, are ya, halfa." Danny scowled before spitting in his face. Walker roared and backed away as he wiped his eyes. Dash's whole body shook as he watched Fenton glared over at the ghost in so much courage.

Lancer blinked. Halfa?

"You're gonna pay for that, punk." Walker hissed before cracking the whip against Danny's stomach. The girls screamed when whip tore across Danny's abdomen, shredding what was left of his shirt. Blood smeared over his abs as he suppressed a groan of pain. Sam quickly slumped in Tucker's arms and closed her eyes.

"Wow, Walker. You're losing your touch." Danny teased as he stood strong and tall, a smirk painted on his lips. Walker growled inhumanely before striking Danny across his cheek. Danny's head hung for a minute before he spat the blood out of his mouth.

"Do you seriously get so bored in the Ghost Zone that you have to resort to torturing a fifteen year old kid?" Danny asked before spitting more blood out. "Dang, I really hate the taste of blood." He scrunched his nose in distaste before looking up at Walker, who was smiling in joy.

"It's kind of depressing you get pleasure from beating a kid up." He mumbled as he leaned against the wall nonchalantly, as if he couldn't be bothered by the beating he was taking. Gillian was horrified, and confused as Danny just took the attacks and still back-talked. Why was he taunting the ghost? Where was the wimpy kid he bullied every chance he got?

"Well, when that kid is a convict who owes me 1,000 years." Walker paused. "I take that back, you owe me more after you caused the riot and mass break-out. I lost some important prisoners because of you." Walker hissed before hitting Danny with the whip again, right where he had before. Danny just chuckled darkly. Jack blanched. His son had been locked away in this prison before? And he led a prison break-out? He didn't know if he should be proud or scared.

"I had to get Mom's present back. I would have simply grabbed the box and left without any trouble on your part, but you just had to throw me in jail." Danny accused, his breath labored. Paulina held jumped when she felt arms wrap around her. She turned to see Valerie holding her tight, tears falling down her ebony cheeks. For once, Paulina didn't make a snide comment, but instead held back just as tightly.

Gillian had Sarah encircled in his arms protectively, just as any good brother would do. Sure, they were both cruel people by nature, but this was a type of torture they could never handle. They had never liked Danny, just on principal that he wasn't as well off as they were. But never in a million years would they ever wish something like this on someone.

Lancer stood stalk-still, as Danny continued to egg the vicious ghost on, like he wasn't bothered about getting beat on. He watched, horrified, while Walker continued his assault on Danny as Danny just looked amused.

"So how has your afterlife been treating you, Walky?" Danny asked as he looked over Walker's shoulder and over at Sam, who had been staring at him unblinkingly. Lancer watched, noticing that Danny seemed to be drawing strength from the silent Goth who was being held by his techno-loving best friend.

"Has it been so unsatisfying that you have dedicated your time to trying to get me under your control. Jeez, you're almost as wacked as the main fruitloop." He snickered to himself at Walker's stunned face before it disappeared as Walker pressed a button on a remote he pulled out of his pocket.

Maddie screamed as her son was electrocuted again, terrified she was going to lose he baby.

"Please stop! I'm the ghost hunter, not him! Leave him alone, I'm the one you're after!" Walker stopped the torture long enough to turn and face Maddie with an amused grin on his face.

"I know very well who you are, Dr. Fenton." Walker blurted. "But I assure you, I've got the right hunter over here at my disposal." He chuckled wickedly before turning back to the fried boy, who was kneeling on one knee as he tried to regain his footing.

Hunter? Maddie scrunched her eyebrows. Danny didn't hunt ghosts! He ran far, far away from them! Walker raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

"It seems they don't know, do they punk?" Danny snorted.

"Right, you wouldn't even get the privilege of torturing me if they did. I would have already been dead and dissected." Walker busted out in a full-belly laugh as Maddie and Jack looked at each other in confusion. Danny narrowed his eyes. "Though I don't see how it's any business of yours."

"It's no benefit of mine to tell them. I like their agony at seeing you like this. But it is interesting how little you trust your own family." Danny snorted roughly.

"I trust my family more than anything." He hissed. Walker just chuckled.

"The one you created, correct? Your sister, you girlfriend, your friend, your uncle, oh and let's not forget your clone, Danielle." Sam was jolted from her stupor at the name of Danielle. She once again tried to launch herself over at the shield, but Tucker kept his grip tightly around her waist. Danny's eyes widened before narrowing to slits, causing a shiver of fear to fall over his peers. Who knew Danny could look so dangerous.

But Maddie just sat there in hurt and in denial. He had just said his family, and yet neither she nor Jack was mentioned. Did he not trust them? Were they that horrible of parents that he didn't trust them to protect their baby boy? And Danny only had one uncle—Dan—who Danny hadn't talked to in almost seven years! She then blinked and digested the rest their conversation.

'Oh, and let's not forget your clone, Danielle.'

But cloning wasn't even possible yet! And she would have known if Danny had been cloned. There wouldn't have been another way for anyone to get Danny's DNA without her permission!

"How do you know about her?" He hissed, his body shaking in anger. Walker smirked.

Maddie tried to stop herself from hyperventilating. He had pretty much admitted he had been cloned. And he seemed to be really protective of this clone.

"It's interesting to what kind of details I can get from Plasmius for the right price." He said, leaning close to Danny's face. Danny flashed his eyes green at Walker before gripping the chains and using them as leverage to lift his legs up close to him. This all happened within seconds and Walker was completely off guard when Danny slammed his feet in the fully corporal spectral, sending him flying into the shield.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Danny hollered as he sent Walker flying back.

Danny watched in satisfaction as Walker slammed violently against it, causing the shield to gain blue cracks that spread throughout the invisible wall.

Even better was that it didn't electrocute him. But that victory was short lived as Walker got up and pressed the remote that actually did electrocute him. Once he stopped it, Danny was kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily as blood ran down his body.

"Why do you ghosts always insist on electrocuting me?" He hissed as Walker moseyed over to a metal table and grabbed something off of it.

"Because it's fun to watch you keel over in pain." Walker answered as turned on the stick-like weapon. "And your humans' reactions are interesting." Danny scrunched his nose as he watched Walker wearily.

"They aren't my humans, Walker. I don't own them. That's not how earth and humans work, remember? You were once human too. Probably never brushed your teeth with the way your breath stinks now. I was serious when I said you need a breath mint." Danny kept his eyes on an advancing Walker as he continued to speak.

"Dude, I think I actually have a breath mint in my pocket. You would seriously benefit from o—ahh!" He was cut off as Walker shoved the stick against Danny's skin. Lana had to cover her nose from gagging as the smell of burning flesh met her nostrils. Most of the group was in similar states of disgust while Sam screamed with Danny, falling to her knees as if she were the one taking the blow.

Dash's eyes widened. And maybe she was. He had always believed that the psychic link between the two losers had been real, and as he watched Danny and Sam both doubled over in pain he knew it was. Danny's eyes widened when he noticed Sam on her knees in pain. He, miraculously, stopped screaming as he closed his eyes and concentrated on blocking the link. He couldn't let her feel this pain, it wasn't fair to her. Just as quickly as she began screaming, she stopped, tears streaming down her face as she tried to regain her thoughts and feelings. Tucker held her tight as she collapsed in his arms.

"I'm so sorry Sammy." He sent through the link before he shut her completely out and reopened his eyes, unshed tears being pushed back as Walker finally pulled away. Everyone gasped in horror as they noticed that he hadn't just burned Danny's skin, he had branded Danny's left hip. The red, raw words 'OBEY' were etched into Danny's skin.

Danny threw his head back in pain as he tried to regain his breath. He already knew what it said and he just couldn't look at it. This wasn't the first time Walker had tried to brand him, but it was the first time he succeeded. Danny could feel the words burned into his skin.

"You really should learn when to shut your mouth, punk." Danny flashed his eyes angrily at Walker, forgetting that his classmates were there. And, quite frankly, he just didn't care anymore.

"You're a sick bastard, you know that?" Maddie flinched. Danny was never one to cuss and she had to admit that she was quite thankful. Most kids his age could list off a string of words that could make a sailor blush and she didn't like hearing them come from her son's mouth. Luckily, he kept it clean on his own. She guessed it just wasn't in her son's personality. This was the first time she had heard such a word from her son, and she completely agreed with him.

Walker chuckled happily as he went back over to the table, turning his back to his subject. It was silent sans the labored breath and the crying. Everyone turned their heads back over to Danny, sickened by his condition, but curious as to what was happening.

Danny seemed to be observing the cuffs and their connection to the wall, which was by two loops in the chains that linked around hooks that were sticking out of the wall. He glanced back over to Walker, who began working on cutting something with a sharpener, more than likely the dagger he had stolen from Danny the last time they fought.

Danny nodded to himself and quickly began flicking the chains, trying to unloop them from the hooks. He quickly got one down and stilled when it clanked to the ground. When Walker didn't even make a move to turn around, completely oblivious, Danny began working on his other chain. Just as quickly, Danny got that one down, relieved Walker's twisted ways kept him from getting more modern torturing equipment.

He zoomed over to his backpack that Walker had carelessly left in the room before getting the Fenton lipstick laser out and cutting his chains. The entire time, the class stayed frozen, terrified that if they made a noise, Walker would catch Danny and kill him. Danny stilled when Walker shut the sharpener off.

"You know, I was reading the law book not too long ago." Danny called out as he aimed the simple laser at Walker. Walker finally turned towards the wall, only to stumble back when he noticed Danny standing closely. Walker's eyes widened nervously as he took in Danny steely blue eyes.

"Oh." Walker said, stepping back but stopping when Danny power up the laser. He wasn't stupid; he knew Danny had modified the laser to be a stronger blast than what it had originally been.

"Yeah, I read all seven-thousand, three-hundred, seventy-two pages." Danny growled, narrowing his eyes at the cunning prison warden. "And it's shocking how many of those rules, written by you, are being broken, by you." Walker's shocked expression gave Danny little delight.

"I have never broken a rule!" Walker seethed indignantly. Danny barked out a humorless laugh.

"Right, and I'm a freaking penguin." Danny countered as he continued to aim the laser. He was vaguely aware of the eyes watching him from behind the shield. Walker growled monstrously at the halfa.

"Let us see think about this." Danny called out. "You've been attacking and torturing an endangered species for months now." Danny started. Walker chuckled.

"Yeah?" He asked. Danny nodded.

"With only three halfas in the world and one of them being a clone, I'd consider that an endangered species." Walker's eyes widened. The punk had a point. Maddie scrunched her forehead. What the hell were halfas?

"And then there is the crazy thing with how every ghost just knows how another ghost died. That was when you created the law that said no one was to ever exploit a fellow ghost's death." Walker nodded wearily, impressed with the young boy's knowledge.

"So then there's the fact you've exploited Phantom's death continuously." Walk slammed his fist against the shield in anger.

"I have never exploited your death!" Maddie sucked a deep breath in at Walker's exclamation. What in the world could he mean? Danny was alive and human! He never died! The tears that had been finally drying now that Danny had the upper hand threatened to start again. Danny took note of the small cracks that began crawling through the shield due to Walker's temper. It seemed the shield wasn't too strong.

"Um, dude. How do you think he died?" Tuck asked, giving Danny the well needed distraction. Once Walker glanced over at Tucker, Danny maneuvered himself behind Walker, forcing the ghost to back away from his weapons table.

"He was in an ally after a concert and with you two twits and was be—." Walker hadn't even finished his sentence before he found himself slammed up against the electric shield. He winced when he felt Danny's hands around his neck lighting up with just enough ectoplasma that he couldn't go intangible and move. More cracks crawled up the shield after Danny had viciously slammed the ghost against it.

"How the hell do you even know about that?" Danny fiercely, eyes began, unwillingly, to glow a vibrant green as his temper finally got the better of him. Walker began panicking as he felt Danny's grip strengthen. He knew in all honesty that Danny could obliterate him at a whim, but always counted Danny had too much humanity to actually be able to do it.

The only times Walker had second guessed that was when he had tried going after the halfa's friends, when he mentioned his clone earlier, and now.

"Just like you said earlier, we just know the deaths of other ghosts!" Walker exclaimed, struggling against Danny's iron grip, which tightened.

"That happened when I was thirteen." Walker's eyes widened. Maddie pressed back into Jack in fear, what was happening to her baby? What had happened to her baby? His eyes were glowing green, as were his hands. And how was he keeping a ghost twice his size pinned against the shattering shield?

Sam and Tucker quickly got everyone back as the shield began to crumble, constantly keeping one eye and ear opened on Danny.

"But you—" Walker started in shock.

"Phantom didn't die until the next year by electrocution due to the portal, did you know that?" Danny rasped, his breath was still thin and ragged. "Electrocution, Walker." Walker gulped. Danny wouldn't even have to kill him. All he had to do was tell the Ghost Zone that Walker had broken his own laws and the ghosts themselves would take care of him!

"You've already chalked up seven thousand years just today. Can you image how many more years you've earned yourself from all those times before you electrocuted me?" Danny was getting extremely careless now, but the pain was causing him to become slightly delirious and he just couldn't stop.

"I- I didn't know!" Walker cried out fearfully, scratching weakly at the painfully burning hand on his throat. They only got hotter, causing Walker to cry out in pain.

"Ignorance is no excuse to break the law." Danny smirked, rehashing the words Walker had told him all those months ago. Walker whimpered when Danny's left hand reeled back. Walker closed his eyes shut, preparing himself for the painful blow. He was shocked when the first flew past his face and slammed against the shield, causing it to fully shatter. As the electricity coursed through Danny's body, he tightened his grip on Walker.

No one moved, not even Sam and Tucker.

"But I'll cut you a deal." Danny snarled, relaxing his grip on the ghost's neck as he sank to his knees. Walker nodded eagerly. Maddie couldn't believe how terrified this ghost actually seemed. Of her little boy, nonetheless! She wasn't sure if she should be impressed, or scared for herself! Jack had similar thoughts, but he was more on the fact that the two had jumped between Phantom and Danny's life repeatedly, like they were entwined somehow.

"Anything." Walker cried, struggling to free himself of the iron grip. Danny refused to let go.

"I won't tell anyone about your failures to follow the law, if you release us all and drop any charges." Walker sagged in relief.

"Of course." Danny shook his head.

"That's not all." Walker wanted to cry. "You are to drop charges against Wulf, along with any of my other allies. I will no longer be a fugitive and there will no longer be a bounty out for me or anyone who helped me escape. If these conditions are not met, I will inform everyone to your violations. Understood?" Walker wanted to protest, but decided that there could have been much worse things Danny could have demanded.

"Understood." He whispered. Danny glared, his head cocked to the side.

"And what happened to Danielle?" Walker's eyes widened. He knew he shouldn't have said anything about that clone he was so protective of.

"N-n-nothing I swear! We tried going after her once you left her at the Far Frozen but we couldn't get the upper hand over the tribe so we retreated." Danny narrowed his eyes.

"You better be telling the truth or I promise you that it'll be me escorting and performing your execution." He hissed before handing Danny the keys attached to his belt.

"You and your humans are free to go." He bowed his head respectively when Danny threw him to the side and released his throat. Sam and Tucker practically flew over and tentatively hugged their friend.

"I'm fine, I've suffered worse." Valerie gasped at how easily Danny brushed off his wounds "But we need to leave now." Danny said once they released him, his eyes still focused on Walker. Fortunately, his eyes had turned back to their blue.

Sam and Tucker nodded before motioning everyone to join them. Danny dragged Walker to his feet.

"You are to escort us out, but if you try to break this deal, it'll be the last thing you do. And I want Chasta and Cujo now." Danny threatened before grabbing his backpack and opening the door. Everyone shuffled out after the raven-haired Fenton, cowering ghosts appeared behind every jail cell they walked past. Lancer noticed that as Danny and Walker passed, they all look terrified. Snippets could be heard as the ghosts began to gossip. Danny fell back a bit to walk with Sam and Tucker as they followed Walker.

They stopped at a cell that had the two pets in and Walker motioned for one of the cowering guards to open the cell. The guard continuously fumbled with the keys as he threw nervous glances over at the bloodied teen standing protectively in front of his two friends, an emotionless mask plastered onto his face.

Cujo and Chasta immediately ran over to the trio and growled at the ghosts, only calming once Sam and Tuck had petted their heads.

Everyone huddled together nervously as Walker escorted them into a large cafeteria. Even Maddie and Jack just silently trailed along, watching as everyone scurried away, eyes wide with fear as soon as Danny passed, his body battered and bruised. And yet he strode with power.

Words of 'Danny' and 'ghost kid' and 'prodigy' all whizzed over the groups heads as they continued to shuffle after Danny, fearful of being left behind. No one really breathed until they were out of the prison and back on their path. Walker quickly scurried away once Danny released him, back into the prison.


Danny fell weakly to the ground once Walker was gone, Sam falling with him.

"Danny." Sam murmured, placing the exhausted boy's head in her lap. Danny breathed heavily before grinning up at the Goth.

"I'll be fine. Nothing's too broken." He mumbled, closing her eyes tightly before exhaling deeply. Maddie kneeled down and reached to pull him into a hug until Sam smacked her arms away.

"And here you're supposed to be the scientist." She hissed as Tucker got into his own backpack and pulled out several first aids.

"Excuse you, young lady?" Maddie hissed. Sam glared up at her best friend's mother.

"He is severely injured and you were about to pull him up to hug him. Do you see all those cuts on his body? You moving him more than necessary will not going to help him." Sam barked viciously.

"Tuck can you—" Danny started, only to be interrupted.

"Get ahold of Princess Dora and see if she can help us. Last time we visited her, she was working on a limo-carriage so maybe she can send that to us." Tucker finished as he began typing away on his PDA while Sam began pulling out random bandages and equipment from the first aid kit.

"I need you to take the rest of your shirt off." Danny sat up and pulled it off before lying back down. Everyone sat around the trio in a circle as Sam began caring for their savior.

"Okay, now breathe deeply." Sam murmured as she pulled out several bottles of water and a large thin towel. Danny did as she instructed while Sam poured the water on his chest, clearing the blood. Chasta and Cujo laid on the outskirts of the group, watching for any intruders as their masters were busy.

Maddie gasped as she finally took in the amount of scars that were appearing now that the blood was clearing away. Scars on top of scars on top of scars littered her baby boy's body. Paulina, Valerie, Star and Sarah had gathered together to take comfort in a little female company for a while as they watched the horrors take place in front of their eyes.

Everyone who had finally stopped crying in fear, began to cry in sympathy and pity as they took in the appearance of the raven-haired boy. Dash, Kwan, and Gillian looked amongst each other guiltily. Were they the reason this kid had these scars? How much pain had Fenton gone through because they found some sick pleasure in it?

Paulina looked shell-shocked and hadn't even cared when it had been Mikey pulling her away from the prison. Michelle and Natalia were cuddle close to their brothers as the trio continued to speak in soft tones. Everyone was unsure on how to deal with everything they had witnessed.

Sam could tell things were already healing, but not as fast as it usually did

"The electrocution is slowing the healing." Sam whispered as Tucker continued to try reaching Dora. Danny sighed.

"I'm not surprised. The voltage was pretty high and I could literally feel my blood boiling." Danny replied before taking a deep breath. Sam nodded and got to work with drying his chest.

"Hello Princess Dora!" Tucker exclaimed, relieved to finally get ahold of her.

"Hello, servant of Sir Phantom." Danny groaned. Tuck turned the PDA to face Danny as he laid on the ground.

"Oh dear god, what could have happened to you, Sir Phan—"

"Fenton, Dora." Danny interrupted smoothly. Dora paused before nodding.

"Of course, Sir Fenton. Now, please. Can you tell me what happened?" Dora begged, her eyes pleading with him over the video.

"Walker caught me for a bit." Dora gasped.

"Where are you, I'll be there as soon as I can." She declared, jumping up. Danny sighed.

"I'm actually about half a mile from the prison, but I also have my class, pets, parents, and teacher with me." Dora stopped short for a moment before nodding.

"I will be there momentarily." She insisted before the screen went blank.

"We should be able to get you patched up by the time she gets here." Sam said as she finished applying bandages over his arms and wrists. She was quick to clean the wounds around neck and shoulders, saving the ones on his stomach for last. She dabbed gently at his brand before grabbing his wrist and placing his hand on the brand.

"That needs to cool down." She instructed as Tucker began to work on the cuts on Danny's face, applying cream to his black eye.

"This isn't good." Sam muttered. Danny slowly opened one blazing blue eye to look at Sam for a moment before closing them again. He knew his eyes literally glowed blue when he used his ice powers, so he had to be somewhat cautious so that his parents didn't get any more suspicious. Danny was furious with himself for slipping up so much at the prison. At the time, he hadn't been able to think much through the pain, but now, he was angry that he didn't watch what was said.

"Broken ribs." Danny groaned. Sam nodded as she gently pressed against his chest.

"You also have a broken wrist." Tucker tacked on as he finished taping a small cut on Danny's eyebrows. Danny sighed.

"Those are probably what my body is trying to focus on healing right now." Danny's eyes snapped opened when he felt something through the link.

"Are you serious?" He hissed, raising himself up a bit with his left elbow. Sam turned away from him as she began to silently dig through the first aid kit. "You are." Danny whispered before falling back on the ground.

"Danny?" Tucker rasped, staring down at his male best friend. Danny looked up.

"I need stitches." He explained. Maddie gasped as Sam pulled out some surgical suture and a curved needle.

Jack stopped short. How in the world had he known that? She hadn't even said anything!

"I suggest anyone with a weak stomach to turn away." Most of the girls cringed and turned away as she took a flame to the needle before tying the suture to it. She got out a pair of scissors along with tweezers.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lancer asked nervously. Sam sighed.

"He needs stitches immediately, if that's what you mean." She responded as she began pushing the needle Danny's stomach.

"It'll only be temporary until we reach Frostbite's. When we get there Frostbite will be able to heal Danny." Danny winced as she tied the first stitch off before working on the next one.

"Are you okay man?" Jake asked woozily from his spot close to Danny. Danny unconsciously looked over, but quickly closed his eyes when he was Jake's own widen. He forgot he was still chilling his brand.

"Yeah, needles just aren't my thing. Last time she did this she poured alcohol over the wound to numb it so it's a really uncomfortable to feel the needle move in your skin." Jake cringed at the visual before nodding and pulling Lana close.

Jack gasped uncomfortably.

"You mean there was another time she had to do this?" Jack exclaimed. Danny stopped chilling his hand and stared up at his father.

"Um." Danny stuttered. "Yeah, I got in a fight with a ghost and Sam's studying to become a veterinarian so I volunteered for her to stitch me up." Danny shrugged as Sam continued to expertly stitch him up. While it had been true she is training to become a veterinarian and he did allow her to try her first actual stitching with him, but this wasn't the second time she had done this. It was more like her eleventh or twelfth time.

"A ghost?" Maddie howled. "What were you doing fighting a ghost?" She hissed, distracting herself from seeing her boy being taken care of someone that wasn't her. She hated knowing that Sam knew what to do to take care of Danny while she was left clueless on how to help. She resented how Sam had taken over caring for her baby boy and was able to comfort and care for Danny better than Maddie even knew how to.

"Talk to him Tuck." Sam muttered, keeping Danny from talking to his mother. This was a really long, really deep, really bad gash and she didn't need Danny getting stressed out more with his body already working in overdrive.

"Well what do you want me to talk about?" Tuck complained. "Talking to Danny is so not fun to talk about. All he wants to talk about it such boring things!" Danny rolled his eyes at Tucker's meaningless teasing and smiled up at his best friend, whose lap he was currently occupying.

"Shuddup jerk." Danny slurred as Tuck began brushing through his matted hair. Sam felt tears burn her eyes as he opened the link back up. He felt…calm. It was something he rarely felt and it always changed Sam's mood so rapidly.


The wound was very deep and very big, causing Sam to have to stop and clean the gash out several times. The class tried to help distract him by talking to Danny about every random subject under the sun. In the end the girls tried to focus on things like his interest in astronomy and his artistic talent, anything but the needle that was repeatedly being shoved into his body.

"You know, your drawings remind me a lot of Neil Fathom's." Natalia had stated. Michelle had begged Danny into letting them see a few of his drawings again. Agreements rose through the group as they began comparing similarities to Danny's drawings and this Neil's drawings.

Tuck and Sam shared an amused look before continuing on with their works. While the conversations helped distract him, Tucker messing with his raven locks relaxed him enough for Sam to continue to stitch him up.

"Yeah, your signature even looks the—" Jake trailed off as he stared at the drawing they had stopped on. Danny's eyes widened in panic and he tried to sit up to reach for his sketchbook, only to be pushed down by Lana and Tuck.

"Dude." Jake whispered as he began to flip through some more. He looked up, shock filling his hazel green eyes. "Are you Neil Fathom?" Danny blushed and closed his eyes as everyone began murmuring around them.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He whispered meekly. This was so not good.

"Dude, you're artworks are sick." Gillian exclaimed, breaking the shocked silence. Danny blushed even harder and covered his face with his good hand. He had long since stopped chilling the now bandaged brand mark.

"Um, thank you?" Danny squeaked out, trying to instead focus on what Sam was thinking, but stopped when he could see, through her mind, his wound being stitched up. That wasn't something he wanted to see.

"No, he's serious man. Your art is literally everywhere because it's so good!" Dash added, staring at the sketchbook.

"Dude." Was all Kwan could get out, his eyes were wide in awe. Danny felt so mortified.

"I just don't understand it." Natalia stated. Everyone turned to her with blank expressions. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Not that he had used the alias Neil Fathom to sell his art, but why did you do it?" Danny sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve some of his headache before answering.

"I needed the money and that was the quickest way. My uncle-in-law's son, Matt, wanted to sell my paintings near a large tourist attraction for a 75/25 split—in my favor—of the income." Danny shrugged his shoulders slightly. Star cleared her throat delicately.

"But why did you use Neil Fathom?" Danny gave her an incredulous look.

"Would you have bought one if you knew it was by some 'wimpy loser with no life'?" He asked, no hint of bitterness in his voice as he labeled himself. Most of the kids turned away in guilt. They knew they wouldn't have dared to buy a Fenton original before this trip.

"What did you need close to five thousand dollars every month for?" Valerie asked loudly. She had been a loyal fan of Neil Fathom paintings and had been bored one night so she looked up the average amount of paintings he had per collection and how much they were sold for. The results had been shocking. Jack whipped his head to Danny once he heard how much he was making, where could all that money go? Danny sighed and looked up to the zone's 'sky' like atmosphere.

"I needed for things like groceries, clothes, class materials that would get destroyed, and college tuition." Maddie bit her lip guiltily. Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember the last time she had gone to the store and gotten groceries. She had always expected Jack gave the money to Jazz, who took Danny to the store to get everything they'd need. She guesses she should have known better when they had a bit more breathing room after their bills in the past few months.

"Do you have a college already in mind, Daniel?" Lancer asked, eager that there was something school-related happening right now. Both Tucker and Sam stilled for a moment before continuing quietly. They couldn't do anything more than be there for Danny right now.

"Um, it's not for me." He mumbled uncomfortably. Jack and Maddie looked at their son in confusion. Who else would he be saving the money for?

"Does it have something to do with that clone the evil ghost spoke of earlier?" Michelle asked nervously. She had seen how defensive he had gotten over her earlier and didn't want to cross a line. Danny shook his head.

"Not exactly." He muttered. "I have already set aside another account for her that has all of the money my uncle tries to give me in it so she'll be set for college and whatnot once Tuck gets the papers we need finalized." Danny hissed when he tried to move his bad wrist to scratch his nose.

"So who is it for then?" Natalia asked eagerly. Danny sighed.

"Jeez, you guys. I think I liked it better when you all ignored me." He mumbled before sighing when he saw the guilty looks his peers were wearing. "Sorry, that was rude of me." Lana snorted.

"You're kidding me, right? You're lying broken, bloody, bruised, and literally in stitches and you think you have to apologize for getting a bit snippy at our nib nosing?" Lana shook her head.

"Yeah, if I were you, I'd be screaming and cursing and wishing death on anyone who dared to come near me, so you have nothing to apologize for." Jake amended, grinning over at the smaller boy.

"If anyone has anything to apologize for, it's us. We should be digging into your life, it's called your personal life for a reason." Danny smiled at Mikey's apology before closing his eyes.

"It's for my sister." He finally said, opening his eyes up. Jack and Maddie felt their shoulders sag. Danny shouldn't have to be worrying about it.

"She's destined for one of the top Ivy League colleges of her choosing. If she were to go to Harvard, or Princeton, they'd be able to only give her a partial scholarship due to our parents making too much money for a full scholarship. We got a negotiation say that if she can promise to pay, upfront, the rest of the tuition then they'll give her the scholarship and free boarding. They really want her there." No one missed how proud Danny looked.

"The way I see it is that I've got about half a year left to come up with the rest and assure her a spot in the college of her choosing. I've gotten close to 24 grand by now and have half a year to come up with the other 22." Danny sighed. Maddie blinked. Wow, Danny seemed to have everything worked out. She didn't like that he was so worried about making sure there was enough money for Jazz to get into college, that was something she and Jack should be dealing with, not their youngest child. They hadn't even given Jazz and Danny's college funds any thought in years, completely forgetting that they'd be heading off really soon.

Or at least Jazz was.

"But what about your future, man?" Danny blinked at Nathan's question before letting out a humorless chuckle.

"I'm probably going to have to repeat my sophomore year, Nathan. There isn'tgoing to be that type of future for me." Sam caressed his shoulder gently as he shut his mouth with an audible click. Lancer bit his lip, upset.

"That's something I don't get." Kwan spoke out. "You've obviously got brains, man. Otherwise we'd still be stuck in the room with the riddles and astronomy analogy things." Danny flushed.

"And there was the way you were able to locate the weakest area of the wall thing in between us and shatter it." Valerie piped up. Sam was close to finishing up with the last stitch.

"Yeah, no." Danny stated. "I just punched the shield. The electrical wavelengths were what was holding the thin sheet of ectoplasma that Walker had set up. It's was weakened due to all the hits Walker had taken to it and all I had to do was use the Fenton Lipstick Laser to short-circuit the wavelengths." Danny was unaware of all the stares. Even Maddie and Jack were just sitting there stupefied. And here Maddie had thought her son wasn't smart, it seems there was another thing she had gotten wrong about her son.

"Okay, but you read the law book—which is unnumbered—and in a language you learned in two weeks. Then you used it against the same ghost who created it." Tucker chipped in. He hated how his best friend was always bringing himself down. Danny glared up at him, careful to keep his eyes their natural blue.

"No one asked for your input, Foley." Danny hissed. Tuck stuck his tongue out at his best friend before pulling the brush through his hair again.

"Danny, it just doesn't make sense. All through elementary and middle school you and Sam were either the star pupils of one teacher's class, or the devil's advocate for another. But no matter what, you guys kept the highest scores in school." Mikey informed the group.

"Yeah, and at the beginning of the year, we thought you were going to stay that way." Nathan continued. Danny closed his eyes. Yeah, he knew that he had always gotten good grades, but he wasn't that smart, at least in his opinion. Sam and Tucker had completely different thoughts on this subject.

"Yeah, I remember when we were in sixth grade the school took the top highest five in the grade and tested them individually. They were so impressed with your grades they wanted to bump you up to high school." Jake exclaimed; Danny side-glanced at the bigger boy. Jack and Maddie stared at each other with wide eyes. Why didn't they know about this?

"Um, how exactly did you know that? I only told Tuck and Sam about that; at my house, in my room, with the music blaring." Jake rolled his eyes.

"Dude, they asked you out in the halls. I was walking past when you turned them down cold." Danny semi-shrugged.

"I wasn't about to head to high school and get bullied even more." He mumbled as Sam stood up.

"And because you wouldn't leave Tuck and Sam behind." Jake countered. Danny snickered.

"It isn't possible to leave these two behind. I've got them for life." Tucker chuckled.

"You sound like that's a bad thing, dude. You're privileged to get to be best friends with me." Sam cleared her throat, a smile on her lips.

"I need you to stand up so I can wrap your chest." She spoke for the first time, still in 'Nurse Sam' mode, as Tuck liked to call it. She stood on either side of Danny's hips and stuck her hands out to the raven-haired boy. He huffed before grabbing her hands and allowing himself to pretty much be hoisted up. It was a good thing his wrist wasn't broken anymore.

In the past twenty minutes it took for her to sew and clean the wound, most of bones in his wrist had reset themselves and slowly mended back together. Now it was just a horrible sprain.

Sam began to gently paw at his ribs, taking note to which ones Danny would tense with, which ones he'd close the link on, and which ones he barely took notice to. Once she figure that out, she pulled out the large wrapping bandages and began to fix them around Danny, careful not to make it too tight.

"You seem to be an expert at this, Ms. Manson." Lancer commented as she began tying off the end. He watched as her hands stilled for a moment at his words before returning to work, Danny answering for her.

"She wants to major in veterinarian medicine with a minor degree in nursing." Sam smiled up as Danny as he answered.

"We're talking about Gothica here." Lana said, no malice in her voice. "You know, the girl all about darkness and death." Sam chuckled.

"Hey, animals love me." Lana rolled her eyes.

"But that's not the point. Your bedside manners will be that of a rock." Sam pretended to contemplate that.

"That's why I have Danny." She stated before she plopped back to the ground and began packing up the first aid kits.

"Yeah, she gets a lot of practice on him." Tuck blurted absentmindedly. Danny scowled before rolling his eyes.

"That wasn't what she was talking about, man." He said slowly.

"No I was talking about how you're too nice to everyone. We balance each other out." Danny grinned down at his female best friend. "You're pretty nice when you want to be." Tuck snorted.

"Dude, she's only nice to y—ow!" Everyone chuckled when Sam threw and empty bottle over her shoulder and hit in him in the face. Somehow they knew it wasn't an accident.

"I don't think your mom will be too thrilled with me if you have to get your glasses replaced again." Danny muttered as Tuck rubbed at his cheek. Tuck just rolled his eyes.

"Do you think we'll get out of here soon?" Sarah had asked softly when there was finally a lull in conversation. She stared up at Danny with wide, chocolate brown eyes. She held a complete new respect for the so-called loser as he stood tall above everyone.

The bruises and the cuts, and the scars, and the gashes, and the stitches, he brushed them off like it was no big deal! She cries when she gets a paper cut, and here he was joking and laughing with his friends after he was completely abused.

Danny looked down at her with kind eyes—kindness she didn't deserve—and shrugged.

"Dora should be here in about ten to twenty minutes and then we'll head over to the Far Frozen, which is about half a day away. After that, Frostbite will insist we stay overnight. We should be out of here by either tomorrow or the day after, provided we don't have any more interruptions on our way there." He looked nervous about something.

"She's fine, Danny." Sam murmured, her back still to him.

"Can you say that for sure?" Danny countered. Sam sighed before standing up to face the distraught teen.

"Walker said that Frostbite and his tribe were able to protect her. And you know that crazy yeti would rather put his afterlife on the line than let you or Danielle get hurt. We set her there for that exact reason, Danny." Danny looked to the sky again and sighed.

"I know you're worried about her, Dude." Tuck said, getting up as well. "Hell, we're all worried for her. But Walker didn't stand a chance against those yetis and you know that." Danny chuckled.

"They sure know how to protect what is theirs." Sam smiled. "And we both know you are their unofficial member." Danny grinned down at the petite friend and nodded.

"Danielle is the clone that ghost was talking about before, correct?" Maddie butted in. She would love to get her hands on the clone and experiment on it. See how it even exists! This could be a scientific breakthrough if she can break down the DNA composite and imitate the cloning process…

"You aren't touching her." Danny hissed at his mother, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"What are you talking about?" Maddie reflected. Dang, it seemed her son had grown some sort of emotional attachment to this creature. It'll be harder for her to get it out of Danny's sight long enough to begin her dissection.

"You've got that same look in your eye that you get when you talk about killing and painfully dissecting Phantom. And if you think for one moment that I'm going to let you near her, than you guessed wrong." Maddie could feel her hackles rising at the tone her son was taking with her. Jack was impressed with Danny's perceptive skills.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" She hissed angrily as she stepped closer to him until she was almost in his face. Danny stared at his mother with a guarded look, something Maddie had never seen before.

"You're threatening Danielle." He stated simply. Maddie threw her hands up in the air.

"No, I'm talking about figuring out how that clone even exists. And stop giving it a name and—"

"Wait a minute!" Valerie suddenly called out, pushing her way through the group. Danny, who had slowly began forming a protective stance, stood up straight and looked over at the sassy girl.

"What Valerie." Sam hissed, her eyes darting back and forth between the two females.

"You aren't talking about the Danielle I'm thinking about, are you?" She hissed, her mind going back to what Danny had said in the prison. Danny turned his look to Valerie, pushing Sam behind him subtly.

"It depends on who you're thinking of…" Danny said cautiously. Valerie felt tears begin to burn in her eyes.

"You said that there were three halfas in the world." She hissed. "And that one of them was a clone." Danny's eyes widened as he stepped closer to Valerie. Sam began to crouch down, ready to pounce as soon as Valerie made on wrong move.

"Valerie." Danny stated softly. "Can we talk to you over there?" Valerie nodded fanatically and let her be pulled away by the trio, Cujo and Chasta kept anyone from following them.


"Danielle was supposed to be Phantom's cousin. And I know she's a halfa and so is Vlad and you said there was only one other half in existence." Val started as soon as they stopped.

"And now I'm hearing Danielle is your clone and the only way for that to be true is for you to be a halfa and she and Phantom look so much alike. And then you and Phantom look identical and please Danny say that I'm wrong. Say something!" She cried staring at the trio frantically. Danny just sighed and lowered his gaze to the ground.

"I'm sorry Valerie." He whispered, guilt and shame filling his voice. Sam stood close, her shoulder just in front of Danny. She knew that if Valerie were to attack, Danny wouldn't stop her. So it was left to her to protect Danny.

"But Phantom is evil. He stole that jewelry and attacked the mayor and—" Sam shook her head.

"He was under Freakshow's control when he stole the jewelry and Walker had possessed the mayor to make it look like Danny was attacking him. If you go through the footage, you'll see the mayor's eyes were glowing red." Tucker explained, a hand resting on Danny's shoulder.

Valerie felt the tears begin to run down her cheeks as she thought about all the things she did and said to him. He had nothing to apologize for! She had hunted him, tortured him, and tried to kill him on so many different occasions!

"I'm so sorry Danny." She whispered, her voice quivering from the tears. Danny's head snapped up, his sapphire orbs focusing in on Valerie's face. He cautiously made his way over to her.

"Valerie." He whispered as he gently wiped the tears from her cheek.

"I'm so sorry Danny. I've done so much to hurt you… Can you ever forgive me?" She choked out, angered that she was allowing him to comfort her. She had done so many horrible things to him and yet here he was, trying to calm her down.

Sam smiled softly as she felt Danny's feeling through the link. While he didn't have romantic feelings for the cocoa-skinned girl anymore, he did still care deeply for her and hated seeing her in tears. It was one of the things Sam loved about Danny. He treated everyone with kindness and wore his heart out on his sleeve.

"Oh, Valerie, as far as I'm concerned, there isn't anything to forgive you for. I know that you thought I was out to get you, but I swear it was the whole 'wrong place, wrong time' kind of thing. I had no intentions of hurting you and neither did Cujo. He's just a puppy that only understood that his squeaky toy was missing and I was the only ghost around to help him." Valerie hiccuped and nodded slowly.

"But can you forgive me?" Valerie blinked up at the taller teen.

"What would you have to apologize for Danny?" She asked. Danny chuckled darkly.

"I kept my secret from you. Only Sam, Tuck, and Jazz knew and I didn't know if you would try to attack me or them if you knew." Valerie's whole body shook.

"You have nothing to apologize for either. I've done so many horrible things, and you never retaliated. You never fought back, except when you were protecting someone." Danny shrugged.

"I didn't want to hurt you." He mumbled before pulling Valerie into gentle hug. She held back loosely, still aware he was injured, and cried into his bandaged chest.

"And Danielle? You both said she was your cousin." She asked as she pulled away. Danny wiped away the remains of her tears before stepping back to his two friends. Sam placed a hand in between his shoulder blades while Tucker stood closer to him.

"Physically she's my clone." He mumbled, running his hand through his hair. "But emotionally I look to her like she's my little girl, you know?" He had that fond smile on his face again, the one she saw on Phantom's face when he had been watching Danielle.

"I probably won't get another chance to ever have a kid and she is a miracle for me." Valerie cocked her head to the side. That was an unusual statement.

"Don't you expect to have kids when you are older?" Danny flinched and blushed while Sam sighed.

"I can't have children. The, uh, accident in the portal, um, turned me, um, sterile." He stuttered out, embarrassed. Valerie decided to push past the awkwardness of this situation.

"Oh, my God Danny." She whispered. "I'm so sorry." He smiled tightly at her.

"I have Danielle and, honestly, I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect." Danny chuckled.

"She may have started off as my clone, but she became her own person completely." Sam and Tucker both smiled. They honestly loved the little girl and was so proud of Danny for stepping up and caring for the little girl.

"We should head back, they're starting to get restless and Princess Dora should be here soon." Tucker interrupted. Valerie and Sam both agreed.

"Can you not tell anyone, Valerie? I'm not ready to have anyone else know just yet." Valerie nodded quickly another apology falling from her lips. Danny rolled his eyes.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He mumbled before they headed over to rejoin the rest of their group.


No one spoke as the trio and Valerie walked back over, Chasta and Cujo giving up their stances and happily being petted by their masters. Maddie stood straight up, glaring at the kids. She was furious with how Danny had just brushed her off.

Jack, on the other hand, smiled over at his son, who returned the gesture.

"We aren't finished, Daniel." Maddie spat out, crossing her arms over her chest. Danny rolled his eyes before he stared over at his mother.

"What mother?" He asked curtly, his voice as tense as his body language. Maddie could see every muscle in her son's body tighten as he stood there watching her. Paulina was almost salivating.

She was devastated for what happened to Danny, she really was. But staring at his rather muscular form, she couldn't help but check him out. He wasn't as muscular as one of the jocks, or even Jake, but he had a lot more than the baggy clothes he wore showed. Her attraction to him grew more and more with everything she found out about him.

"You can't stop me from experimenting on her. She's not only an illegal science experiment; she's of your DNA so I have certain right to that experiment." She stated simply, smirking when she saw the anger in his eyes. Go ahead, kid, throw a tantrum.

"You're hilarious." Danny barked out, causing her smirk to disappear. "But you can't stop me. You have no rights over her. She's of my DNA. And as far as I'm aware, Jazz actually has first say over what happens to me. Or did you forget signing those papers after another almost fatal lab accident?" Maddie flinched and searched for Jack to help her. She was shocked when she noticed he had made his way over to Danny along with the rest of the class.

"So not only do you not have first say in what happens to me, you also have not rights over Danielle. And trust me when I say I will do anything to protect her, no matter the threat." Maddie flinched at his subtle threat.

Everyone jumped when Cujo began barking loudly. Danny spun to where he was facing to see a gigantic carriage being pulled by horses descended from the sky and landed close to them. The door to the carriage opened quickly and a female ghost hopped out.

"Sir Fenton!" She cried out as she made her way over to them. Danny turned just in time to receive a dainty hug from the princess.

"I'm fine, Dora." He comforts her once she pulls away. She looks at his chest with upraising eyes.

"It seems Lady Manson has patched you up just fine." She murmured. "But I can still sense the weakness coursing through your body. Come, we must get you to Sir Frostbite's as soon as we can." She gently pulled him towards the carriage. Everyone quickly followed behind the boy, trusting him to keep them safe.

Once they were all situated in the carriage, with Danny, Sam, and Tucker sitting in the center due to there not being enough seats, the carriage took off.

"Should we worry about that horrid warden?" She asked hesitantly, sipping at some wine she had poured for herself. The privileges she now had been incredible to her. No longer was she under the abuse of her mother or brother.

Danny shook his head before leaning back onto Sam, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders. It seemed that the trio had long since stopped caring who was around them as they kept close.

"I have something over Walker that should keep him away from me and all of my allies." Dora blinked before smiling and nodding.

"In that case, we can take the fast way there and be at the Far Frozen within six hours." Danny grinned weakly back at Dora.

"Thanks Dora." He slurred. He could feel his body starting to crash as he finally let himself relax.

"Everything will be fine, Danny. Take a nap." Danny heard Sam tell him, but he was already slipping into the darkness.


"Will he be okay?" Valerie asked. She looked rather panicky as she stared down at the resting boy. Sam nodded.

"I'm hoping so." She murmured before glancing up at Dora.

"Doesn't the wine your kingdom manufactures have natural healing qualities due to the berry you use?" She asked. Dora stopped mid-sip and nodded.

"Yes, it is what has kept my people from questioning Aragon's abuse for years." Sam scowled.

"Danny's still mad about that." Dora smiled softly.

"Sir Fenton has an extremely large heart that I am honored to be a part of." Sam smiled before focusing on the task at hand.

"Do you think that the wine would help him heal faster?" Dora paused and looked down at the young teen before nodding.

"Perhaps, but we should let him sleep for a while." Sam nodded.

"Yeah. He's going to be really sore when he wakes up." Tucker pointed out as Sam unconsciously brushed her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah…" Everyone was silent as they watched their hero lay on the floor, his mouth partially opened. He looked so peaceful and innocent, something even Sam and Tucker haven't seen in months. Sam closed her eyes and focused on sending Danny happy, calm thoughts through link as his blocks crumbled.

Dora watching in amazement as a light flashed between Sam and Danny before Danny smiled in his sleep. She had read stories of links that had manifested between two people who literally shared the same wavelength, but never in her thousands of years did she ever think she was to ever see it. It was incredible and awe-inspiring.


It was only three hours later that Danny awoke. Most of the class had dozed off at some point or another, only staying in a light sleep as they awaited Danny's awake. The only warning they had of him waking up was a sharp intake of breath before his eyes flashed opened and he jumped up quickly.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked as he looked around, counting and taking roll in his head. Once he noticed everyone was here, including the animals, he relaxed and faced Sam.

"You need to sit down right now." Sam instructed from her spot on the floor. Danny hesitated before nodding and sitting back down.

"Now, Danny." Sam started, trying to keep the link blank to keep him from growing suspicious.

"What, Sam?" Danny asked cautiously at her tone.

"You aren't healing that fast…" She pointed out. "And we're in open territory right now, and almost four hours from Frostbite's still." Danny was uncomfortable with how she was stating the facts.

"Okay…" He stated slowly, trying to gauge the situation. Sam was doing an excellent job at keeping him out of her mind as of now, and he didn't like that one bit. Danny's eye twitched when he heard the noise of some sort of liquid being poured into a glass. Glancing over at Dora, Danny's eyes widened. So that's what she was getting at. Sam flinched when she both felt and saw the anger Danny began displaying.

"Absolutely not." He hissed, glaring at the wine with hatred usually only directed at any ghost—or human—that attacked his family. Sam sighed.

"Danny, you need to heal and that'll help you. We don't have much more first aid equipment left and we can't have you bleeding to death here. Your already weakened body has taken a huge toll and you know you need to heal." Danny shook his head.

"I refuse to touch that stuff." He growled, backing away from Dora completely. "After all the crap alcohol has put my—our—lives through I'm shocked and horrified you would have the gull to try and pull something like this." He snapped at his best friend. She just rolled her eyes.

"You think I don't remember? But you aren't Neil and you've got Tuck and me here to keep you safe." Sam bit back. Jack nervously cleared his throat.

"Who's Neil?" Maddie blurted. While she was happy that her son refused to drink alcohol, she did agree with Sam that he needed to heal and if this wine was supposed to help him, then so be it. Sam and Danny side-glanced at Maddie, both were wondering what to tell her.

Neil went by Dan to everyone else but the trio. Danny had refused to call him Dan due to the horrid memories he had of Dark Dan and Sam and Tucker felt the same way.

"Your brother, mom." Danny stated as he fell on his back, shivering when his bare skin touched the ground. Maddie blinked. She only had one brother and his name was Dan.

He was who Danny was named after. Daniel Julian Fitzgerald, who went by Dan, even when he was younger. She always hated that he never let her call him Danny when they were growing up. Maddie just never liked the nickname Dan.

"But he goes by Dan." She mumbled, watching as her son scowled.

"Yeah, well I don't really like that name so we've taken to calling him Neil." Danny shrugged. "He doesn't seem to mind it too much." Jack blinked, cocking his head to the side.

"Since when have you and Dan talked? Last time we saw you near each other was when you and Sam were in third grade!" The trio winced. They had tried to keep the fact that Neil, Sam and Danny were back on talking terms away from Jack and Maddie to avoid questions, but it seemed the world had different thoughts.

"Yeah, you refuse to go with us to his Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners every year." Danny rolled his eyes at his mother.

"He has never refused to go. You guys just leave without even asking if Danny wants to go!" Jack flinched as Tuck's accusation.

"Well, we didn't want to upset him with the fact that we were going to his uncle's for the holidays." Jack mumbled his defense. Sam snorted.

"Nope, it's better to just leave your youngest child home alone on the holidays." She then blinked and turned to Danny. "It seems there's another similarity between our parents!" She exclaimed. Danny grimaced and nodded.

"It seems so." He mumbled, staring over at his friends tiredly. In all honesty, he ached all over. He felt as if he body was on fire on the inside and was trying to burn him from the inside out. His muscles ached and his stitches itched, all problems he hated dealing with. He knew that the wine would help heal him, for it had Juniper Dew Berries—only found on the neutral territory of Dew—that have the highest healing powers known to ghost and man.

They also made for the sweetest, richest wines.

"Why in the world would you compare me to your mother?" Maddie hissed out, angered. She and Pamela Manson have gone way back into Maddie's middle school years. They had been the two queen bees of their boarding school they attended. Everyone was either on Maddie's side, or Pamela's. They had been at each other's throats since high school, which only got worse when Maddie had slept with Pamela's boyfriend the night of their senior prom before Pamela stole the crown by winning Prom queen. Maddie still believed the vote had been fixed.

"Maybe it's because you both leave your kids home alone on the holidays." Tucker deadpanned. Jack looked down guiltily. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had spent time with Danny on Christmas. And didn't that make him feel like a lousy parent!

"Danny can join if he wants to. It's not my fault he's like the scrooge during the holidays." Sam barked out a laugh at Maddie. Danny just cleared his throat, garnering the attention of all the inhabited the carriage.

"Whether or not it is your fault, I would rather we stop making such a scene." He spoke in a low, even tone. Sam and Tuck instantly recognized the warning in his words, but it seemed Maddie enjoyed the drama.

"It's because you know you're to fault to you don't like the holidays." Danny just closed his eyes and drew calming breaths.

"I'm not going to get into this argument in front of so many people. Princess Dorathea, how far are we from Far Frozen?" Dora's eyes widened comically. That was probably only the second time Danny had ever addressed her by her title the entire time they had known each other. The only other time she could think of was when she knighted him.

"Um, about t-three and a h-half hours from the Far Frozen territory." She stuttered. Danny sighed as Sam picked up the glass of the wine and handed it to Danny. He stared down at the liquid in the flute with disdain. None of his peers— or Lancer—understood why he was so reluctant to drink, though Jake could barely remember something about Danny's uncle. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt like it had something to do with Danny's reluctance.

He still regrets not staying Danny's friend in elementary. He and Lana had loved playing and talking to the raven-haired boy and his female companion. They had been so thrilled that they weren't the only boy and girl to be such close friends. But then Tucker joined the two after Danny saved him from Sarah's insults and Gillian's attacks and Jake and Lana had felt an odd sense of betrayal.

Suddenly it wasn't SamandDanny and JakeandLana. No, now it was Sam, Danny, and Tuck and JakeandLana. Things had changed as the duo had become a trio and Jake and Lana stepped away.

Now, as Jake looks back, he could tell that it had been childish and stupid to be upset that they had made another friend. Jake and Lana easily had other friends at their disposal, all around them. They were friends with the geeks, and friends with the A-list members. To the neutrals they could go on pretty much any territory in the social hierarchy and get away with it.

They were rarely teased or taunted by anyone higher up in rank, and were just generally left out of drama. So, while they loved each other dearly, they didn't have the dependency Sam and Danny had had before Tuck came along. Had Tuck not come around, Jake was sure that Danny and Sam would have fallen into their own world, never to talk to anyone but each other.

Lana and Jake could go and hang with separate friends and not get jealous or worried about their better half, but Jake didn't think Danny and Sam could. They were on the verge of co-dependency and, had there been no Tuck, they would have reached that years ago.

"Calm down Danny." Tuck advised. Danny scowled before taking a large gulp of the sweet alcohol. He ducked his head and blinked as he felt his eyes unwillingly turn to green. The Juniper Dew Berries were taking ahold of his ghostly cells and speeding them up.

He could already feel them vibrating in his blood.

"Whoa." Was the only thing he could get out as he felt his pupils dilate. Sam sat there stunned as his mental blocks were shattered and she began to feel the effects as well. And that was after just one drink!

"I don't know if I should drink anymore." He mumbled as he swished the liquid around in the flute. It wasn't a lot to begin with, maybe 8 ounces tops, but it seemed he was already a lightweight, and this wasn't wine typically drunk by humans.

"Only drinking the little bit you did won't help you much. You must, at the very least, drink the entire glass." Dora broke in, her voice full of experience. Danny snapped his eyes to Dora, ignoring the startled gasps from his classmates.

He remembered a time when Dora had told him that she was forced to drink large quantities of the wine to keep his abuse on her hidden. It was right before his knighting ceremony and the two friends had been lounging around the garden while they waited for Sam and Tucker to return from Danny's lair. She had been slowly pouring the wine onto some of the plants in the garden, causing them to flourish wildly when she told him.

She had quietly rehashed detail after detail of her brother's abuse before and after she died until she was nothing but a blubbering mess. He had held her hand tight through the entire recollection until they were called in for the ceremony.

"Is Aragon hurting you again I swear to God I'll—" Dora cut him off with a smile.

"I promise you, Sir Fenton, that monster is under lock and key with no chance of getting out." Danny sighed, running his hand though his raven locks.

"Good." He muttered before looking into her ruby eyes. "But you promise me that you will tell me if anything changes, do you understand Dora?" He demanded of the princess, who nodded happily.

"Of course, Sir Fenton, you'll be the first to know." Danny relaxed as he took another swig, becoming more alert as the antioxidants instantly coursed through him and began repairing his mauled body. He blinked, trying to change his eyes back to blue as he stared down at Dora's feet, but couldn't force them back. He didn't like not having control.

"Dude, what's with the eyes?" Dash blurted, slightly spooked by how green and dilated they were. Was that even safe? Danny just lulled his head to Dash with a smirk on his face.

"Boo." Danny sniggered suddenly, feeling elated by the alcohol already coursing through his system.

Sam and Tucker both scooted over until they were on either side of their wobbly friend.

"It's probably just a side effect due to it being made from berries in the Ghost Zone." Sam covered swiftly, looking at Dora for back-up. Dora nodded quickly as she watched the young halfa

"I'm feelin' the wine now." He slurred out, blinking as Sam's face swayed around. He quickly finished the rest of the wine, blinking as he literally felt his energy rising and blazing his skin. He shivered as the cool air of the Ghost Zone's frosty territories blew over them.

"Did everyone remember their Jackets?" Lancer asked as he pulled out his Jacket from his bag. Maddie and Jack just sat there. Their hazmat suits kept them at a comfortable temperature in most climates. Everyone began to dig their hoodies and jackets out of their bags and slipping them on as the temperature dropped down before evening out at a chill rate.

Only Dora and Danny seemed not too bothered by it. Paulina wanted to cry when she noticed she must have forgotten her on the specter speeder 2! She folded in on herself and rubbed her bare arms hoping the friction would help her warm up.

Sam frowned and stared over at Paulina. She may not like the Paulina, but Sam really wasn't a mean person at heart. Sighing, she slipped her arms out of her—Danny's—hoodie sleeves and pulled it off completely before sticking it out for Paulina.

Paulina stared at the black oversized hoodie for a moment, scared that it would attack her the moment she touched it. Sam, noticing her hesitance sighed.

"Listen Paulina, I can handle the cold pretty well due to Danny so I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, are already shivering like crazy." Paulina flushed. "Would it help if I said it was Danny's? That way you aren't worried that I charmed it or something to attack you or whatever kind of voodoo you think I do." Sam rolled her eyes as Paulina quickly grabbed it with a thankful, yet cautious, smile.

"Um, thank you?" She tried as she slipped the oversized jacket on and zipped it up. Danny looked up at her and snickered wildly.

"Why do you still even have that jacket Sammy?" He asked, staring at the white DP insignia plastered on the breast of the black jacket. Jazz had bought him it for nights when it got really cold out and he had to go out fighting. He would often wear it just because he didn't want to hurt his sister's feelings. He rarely felt the cold when he was in his ghost form.

"Because you left it at my house and it was comfortable." She mumbled as Tucker snickered next to her. Danny just gave a lopsided grin before pulling the blanket out and wrapping it around his shoulders. Everyone giggled as he tugged Sam over easily and pulled her to his chest, arms wrapping around her effortlessly.

She blushed, but stayed still as she felt the comfort Danny took in their embrace.

"You're 'da best, Sammy." Sam blushed harder and wondered if she was going to make it to the Far Frozen in one piece.


Another chapter finished! I hope you guys didn't mind the violent scene, but I felt it needed to be in here.

Review please!

~WildFireBurnsTheForest