Chapter Six: Mother

"Danny?" Maddie walked out of Danny's room, holding up the object he'd found in his pocket. "Where did you get this?"

"It's not yours?" He blinked.

"No, but it IS a listening device." She frowned. "You don't know where it came from?"

"Is that what it is?" Danny frowned. "No, I don't." He shook his head. "I found it in my pocket after getting home from school and decided that you must've slipped it in during my examination."

She sighed and examined it. "Well, there's nothing I can see that indicates where it came from. I'm confiscating this." She nodded and walked out. "And Danny? Clean your room, please."

"Yes, mom." He nodded, going into his room and starting to clean.

He kind of missed the object, but knowing it was a listening device that had been slipped into his pocket terrified him. Who was on the other end, and how much of his personal life did they hear? He put the last of his toys away and gathered up his clothes to put them in the hamper before going to get the vacuum.

"If you turn on that thing when I have to do a RECORDED speech assignment, I will smack you." Jazz said, glaring at him as she walked by his room to hers. "And be quiet in there!"

"…Yes, ma'am." Danny decided against the vacuum and went to get the broom instead.

Fifteen minutes later and his room was looking a lot cleaner. He sighed and fixed the bed before sitting on the edge and flopping back, his eyes on the glow-in-the-dark star stickers and planets he'd put on his ceiling. All around his room were space objects and he looked towards the window wondering if he would ever have the freedom to try for that goal again.

Not wanting to incur the Wrath of Jasmine, he quietly left the room with the room and stored it downstairs, sitting back on the couch to watch a movie on TV. His dad came up and sat next to him, sitting back to watch the movie silently. Danny glanced at him when he felt a nudge and accepted one of the fudge blocks that Jack always had on hand, the two silently enjoying the movie.

He had heard his parents discussing before, something about him, but decided not to pry and had left the area before he could hear what it was. He couldn't help but be curious, though… "Uh…what's…what's next?" He asked, looking up at him.

Jack gestured to the TV.

"Right…movie." Danny looked back at the TV.

The movie ended and Jack got up before Danny could say anything, returning to the lab. Sighing, he decided to drop it and scooted into where his father had been sitting for the past hour. The warmth calmed him and he curled up in it, closing his eyes and imagining his father's arms around him.

Only half a heart could be given for half a son. A tear slipped down his cheek and he softly sobbed into the couch, gripping the cover tightly.

.

"Are you all ready to go?" Maddie said, nodding to Danny's pack. "Flashlight, batteries, toothbrush, pajamas? How about clean clothes?"

"Yes, mom. All here." Danny put his pack in the car and climbed into the front seat. While she out in hers and shut it.

"Good-bye, have fun!" Jack said, walking over and kissing Maddie before he went to Danny. "Now you be good to your mother, okay? Treat her gently." He rubbed Danny's head before stepping back.

What did THAT mean? Danny wanted to ask, but Maddie had already started the car and then they were driving off, leaving behind Jack and Jazz.

"Do you want some music?" Maddie asked as she turned on a random channel.

He held up his MP3 Player. "Can I put this on?"

She pursed her lips, but nodded, plugging in the adapter. "Alright, plug it in."

He nodded, taking out his earbuds and sticking the adapter's plug into the headphone jack. Then he made sure to turn it down before turning on the player, dark music playing through the speakers.

Maddie would never understand why her son like this dark punk rock music, but the important thing was to keep him happy. He wouldn't be so willing to change into Phantom if he was in a sour mood and she needed him to be Phantom for the next experiment.

Of course, it might be hard to convince him to do it willingly, so she would have to drug him a little to make it work.

.

They parked at the camp site and worked together with putting the tent up. Then Danny leaned against the car and looked at the sky while Maddie prepared food; he'd offered to help, but she had said she was fine and to go to something else. He sighed and fingered the bracelet before looking at her "Hey, uh…can I go for a flight?"

She glanced up at him. "Alright, but be back in a half-hour."

He smiled and changed into Phantom, flying into the air. She nodded and then returned to cooking.

The air was so open up here, so free. If he didn't have the bracelet, he would even have the illusion that he was free, but one glance at it reminded him and his spirit dampened a little.

Ever since he had revealed he was a half-ghost to his parents, they had been treating him…well, like he was half a human. And yet, he got the sinking feeling that they preferred the Phantom part, the live specimen that would never leave them and was much easier to capture than other ghosts and even captured ghosts for them.

He felt a little guilty, but he had his orders and if he disobeyed he'd be punished painfully so he did as they commanded him to, capturing one ghost after another if he found them causing trouble. Some of them he let escape, warning them not to show up in his area again or he'd have to hand them in to his parents, while others…he shivered at the memory.

He saved the city, sure, but he aided in the murder and torture of ghosts. That thought deflated him completely and he flew back to the campsite. He lowered down, sitting on the roof of the car silently, his ghost tail hanging over the edge and moving slowly from side to side sadly like a cat's tail.

.

Maddie looked up from her cooking and sighed. "What's the matter?"

He shook his head. "I'm just…feeling guilty. Those poor ghosts…"

She pursed her lips. His sympathy for the creatures had been an unpleasant side-effect of half of him becoming one of them. While she enjoyed Phantom immensely, he always made her feel a little guilty about what she did to ghosts – did to him. Something about those intense green eyes…

She pulled her gaze away, focusing on her cooking. "You knew what would happen when you did it." She said calmly. "And with the alternative, how could you refuse?"

"Still feel guilty…" He mumbled, fingering his bracelet.

She sighed and stirred the beans. "Well, dinner's about ready. Come join me?"

He got off the car and changed into his human form, walking over to her.

She smiled and served up his food while he transformed, taking advantage of his being momentarily blinded by his own light to slip a liquid into the beans and stir it up. Then he was beside her and she handed it to him. "Eat up, I bet you're hungry." She smiled.

He nodded, starting to eat while she served up her own food. With the dose she'd given him, it should take effect in about an hour, which gave them time to finish eating and clean up their meal. She watched her out of the corner of her eye as she ate, and then they worked together to clean it up.

"Nnh…" He swayed a bit, kneeling to set down the bowls so he didn't break them. Maddie took the bowls and set them aside. "Mom…I feel…dizzy."

"It's alright, Phantom. You're just going to be a little easy to persuade now." She said, gently stroking his cheek before touching her lips to his. "We'll have our discussion after I finish the dishes, why don't you go into the tent and wait for me?"

He nodded, silently obeying her command. She'd said…"Phantom", right? Did that mean she wanted him to change? Nodding, he changed into Phantom and sat down on the air mattress, just now recalling that they'd only brought one blanket.

She entered the tent and closed the flap of the door and all the windows, making sure they had complete privacy. The tent was lit up by Phantom's glow, so she hadn't bothered to bring in a lantern. "Good, you've already transformed." She smiled, moving closer to him and brushing her lips against his.

"M-Mom…dad?" He asked, trying to get his mind to work right.

"Phantom, this is the new experiment." She said calmly. "As I'm sure you know, I have told you, your father had an accident when you were two that made him unable to give sperm. He's impotent." She gently stroked his cheek. "And I want another child, while he wants to see what a child by your seed will be like. We have both agreed that this is a good experiment." She reached up to her neck and started to unzip her bodysuit.

In case it wasn't blatantly obviously, the next chapter contains the advertised incest.
Phew, about dang time too! You guys were hearing about it coming but not seeing anything!
What? Do I have an ounce of shame? Uhm... Anyways, review to see the next part! ~ Zone