AN: Welcome back! And Thank you guys for reading!
Okay this chapter is the kind of chapter one should come back from a long brake with. (Seriously, this chapter is one of the longest I've written in a long time.) I could have maybe broken it up- but I think it would have ruined the pacing... Anyway... get ready for some feels... and read on brave readers.

Keeping Promises

Chapter Five: Keep Moving...

Danny felt his limbs shaking from the cold as he sat on the steps of Fenton Works. The building and all its contents were his. Vlad had informed him that he didn't need to worry about any of it. The businessman insisted he would take care of all the paper work and any unpaid expenses.

Danny was wary of it, he knew that in essence he did not own the building, but Vlad did. His home wasn't his anymore- in more than once sense. Social services had allowed him to stay in the home over the last week or so as they searched for a local guardian. The pudgy social worker came every day to check on him. To make sure he was eating. Danny still hadn't bothered to remember his name. Today would be his last day to call Fenton Works home.

He'd mostly just been on the steps since he woke up, scared of what was to come. Vlad refused to tell him who his new guardians were, telling him he wanted it to be a surprise. It irritated him but at the same time Danny decided over all it really didn't matter who it was.

It was surreal. He stared at his reflection in a small puddle in the cement. Seeing dull eyes staring back. He shuttered finding his eyes disturbing. Dead. He shivered and stood dusting off his pants as he walked into the building. Other than going straight to his room he hadn't even acknowledged the house over the last couple days.

Now standing at the thresh hold he looked around. It was starting to sink in. His eyes burned with the threat of tears as he saw the bits of paper strewn half hazard across the coffee table, a mug with a little green ghost sitting on the corner. He walked over and picked up the cup evidence of coffee collected and amberfied to the bottom of the ceramic. It was his dad's favorite mug.

Danny set it down with a shaky breath, feeling like he had done something wrong. He ran his hands through his hair spinning slowly. Taking in the lived in room. The stillness only caused the feeling of loss to bubble in his chest.

His body rocked as his lungs forced in the air he hadn't realized he'd stopped breathing. A small sob left his lips before he closed his eye's gripping the fabric of shirt above his chest tightly. Just as quickly as the moment came it subsided into a dull roar in the back of his mind and he grabbed the cup walking quickly to the kitchen.

Turning on the water to the sink, he vigorously washed the cup, and put it in the dry rack. He glanced around the kitchen now drying his hands on his shirt. The faint smell of fudge and cookies somehow still clung to the air, mixing with the tangy smell of ectoplasm and metal.

Now on a silent mission Danny shuffled through the kitchen. Slowly he walked around the table, dragging his hand across the grain as he did. He stopped as his hand met an obstacle, one of his sister's text books. He stared at it a long moment. Trying to understand the title. The Psychological Misgivings of Ghost Envy. He silently wondered why she was reading something ghost related. Last time he'd checked she didn't want anything to do with them. That's why, he reasoned, she must not have confronted him about his powers.

Giving up on wondering, trying to pretend he didn't just think he'd ask her about it later, he took his eyes off of the book.

His eyes scoped the room, as if he'd never see it again- as if he'd never seen it before. He drug his eyes over the wall's taking in the faded wallpaper, and random splashes of stains. His eyes trailed over the counters and the stove, relatively clean, considering.

There was a pile of dishes, on the left of the sink, opposite of the drain holding the ghost cup. He didn't see any reason to actually do the dishes. He slightly noted the empty feeling in his stomach, but he felt like it was still too tight.

He couldn't eat with his stomach so tight. He'd surely puke if he tried. The thought of food left his mind as his eyes lingered on the magnets on the fridge. Taking in the sheets of paper held under alphabet letters and little ghost characters. An A+ paper from Jazz, a couple of snap shot photos, and an old drawing Danny did so long ago he barely remembered holding the crayon…

Danny closed his eyes, a blurry image of a green crayon in his hands. "Whach' ya doin' Dan-o?" Danny's eyes snapped open as he glanced around, his limbs burning from a shot of adrenalin.

"Dad?" he asked faintly, knowing that the voice, no matter how real it had sounded couldn't have been anything more than his imagination. Rushing from the kitchen he made his way upstairs to his room and stopped short seeing the suitcases sitting next to his bed. It hit him again, the silence of the normally active house. It was so quiet…

He tried to fight it but a sob broke out of him as he backed into the hall wall and slid to the floor. Fenton Works was as dead as his friends and family. Guilt and loss pulled him into a blur of self-loathing. He didn't know how long he sat there his chest tight with self-hatred and his body trembling with loss before he pushed himself back to his feet.

"I can't do this." He berated himself. "I promised… I promised. I can't fall into this." He mumbled, shaking away the feeling of darkness that had filled his head. Stumbling into the hall he flexed his hands. Slowly he walked down the hall, stumbling into the bathroom like a drunk. He switched on the faucet and splashed his face with ice cold water. He drug his hand down his face pushing most of the water off of it and glanced at his reflection.

It startled him, it was as if he was looking into a bottomless pit. There was a deep emptiness in his eyes. He stared, trying to find something else in them. Fear flashed across his face and he quickly spun grabbing the towel right off the rack as he left the room. Drying his face, he paused and stared at his parent's door. He stood there for a long moment before he slowly pushed the door open. The room was dark, and Danny stood frozen staring at the bed, memory's flashing through his head of nightmares and comfort.

Blinking, he took a hesitant step forward and, after a pause, he took another as he crossed the minor boundary into the room. He glanced around warily not sure what he was looking for.

Some part of him didn't want to be here, he was trespassing his mind and body told him. Still, a quieter part of him told him this was necessary.

He needed to do this. He gritted his teeth and took another step. Letting out a pent up breath he glanced around. A small pile of cloths was in the corner, but other than that the room was clean and organized. It was probably his mother's touch that kept it that way.

Danny stepped up to the bed and sat down. Before he knew it he was curled up pulling the blankets up to his face. The whole room smelt like his parents. Cookies and ectoplasm. Danny let himself relax a bit into the bed, exhaustion overtaking him, his eyes half lidded as he let the artificial feeling of comfort surround him.

"What's the matter sweetie?" Danny shot up his eyes wide, his heart beating painfully in his chest. The sound of his mother's voice rung in his ears.

He took a shaky breath running his hand through his hair and looked around the quiet room nervously. After slowing his breath and swallowing deeply he stood. Flexing his hands nervously he glanced to his side.

With a deep breath he walked to the closet. Pushing it open. Danny was truly surprised at how many regular shirts were hanging in it. He'd half expected nothing but jumpsuits. Getting on his knee's he started shuffling through the boxes.

Vlad had asked him to find a black box. Danny was suspicious of why Vlad wanted him to find such a thing. But it wasn't like either of them were in the mood for games right now. So Danny looked. He was here after all. When going through an old box of his and Jazz's old school work Danny spotted it. A small box in the far back corner of the closet. Danny pulled it out.

Opening it he found a few small pieces of jewelry, a couple coins and a folded piece of paper. Shaking he unfolded it. "In case of our untimely Death." The words on the top of the paper glared at Danny and he blinked not understanding why the world around him was in a blur. He didn't read the paper but instead stuffed it in his back pocket.

He didn't know what it said, or why it was in the closet instead of some life insurance workers desk, but he knew it was important. Standing shakily Danny saw a glint of red out of the corner of his eye hidden with the cloths. Stumbling forward as he reached to the back of the closet wrapping his hands around a cool solid object. Pulling it out he stared down at a pair of his mother's goggles.

He stared at them, his body and emotions frozen. He felt like his emotions were slowly dying. Fear rushed through him at the thought and he slipped the goggles over his head all the way down till they hung around his neck. His heart hurt. His hand was still wrapped tightly around the goggles as he glared at nothing. "Mom and Dad…" Danny licked his lips, finding that, hearing his voice in the silent house was unnerving. "Mom and Dad would want me to fight." He let his eyes fall to the floor, not really sure of the words he just said.

"It doesn't matter if they care if I fight or not." He mumbled to himself. "I made a promise… and I'm going to keep it. Whether they like it or not." He noticed that even though he'd tried to put determination into his voice the words still sounded hallow.

Stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him Danny glanced at Jazz's door. Quickly he looked away. His stomach flipping.

A part of him wanted to continue what he started, but he felt sick at the thought. He was thoroughly emotionally whip-lashed and he didn't know how much more of this he could take. "I owe it to them not to run away." He said glaring at the ground. He stood there for a long moment before he jumped at the sound of the doorbell going off. Surprised he made his way down stairs.

When he opened the door Damon Gray was standing there. "Danny." The man said. "I'm here to pick you up."

"M-Mr. Grey?" Danny stuttered. "You're my new guardian?"

Damon smiled weakly and gave half a shrug. "Yeah. I guess so…" He stood there a moment, as Danny stared in disbelief, so shocked he couldn't even begin to wonder what Vlad was thinking before Damian cleared his throat. "Do you need me to help bring your stuff to the car?"

Danny closed his mouth with a quiet snap before answering. "Uh… sure…" He gave Damon a weary smile, that didn't reach his eyes before leading the man upstairs to his room.

Danny grabbed the bigger suitcase but Damon took it from him. "Let me get that." The night guard said.

Danny almost protested but as the man pulled his backpack over his shoulder and quickly scuffled out to the hall Danny bit his lip and grabbed his duffel bag and followed Mr. Gray down stairs. He paused at the entry way, and without looking back he flipped the switch by the front door. The florescent sign above the front door popped slightly as it went out and Danny sighed, shutting the door to his past.

Damon took the duffel from Danny as he walked up to the car and put it in the trunk with the other bags. "If there's ever anything here you want to bring later we can always come and pick them up."

Danny nodded not looking at his new guardian. "R-right." With that Danny turned and climbed into the car.

"Valerie's at school right now." Damon said as he got in, turning the ignition. "She's been anxious to welcome you." Danny nodded curtly. "We moved to a bigger house…" Damon continued. "You'll get your own room-"

"Vlad pay you to take me in?" Danny asked a stiff bitterness in his voice.

Damon looked to the boy surprised. "No." The man said seriously. "I mean, once we officially took you in he did buy us the new house- but Danny- we both… Valerie and I decided together to take you in."

"So you just let someone else buy you a house for taking in a kid?"

Damon gave a soft smile, strangely happy Danny was talking to him at all, despite how unfriendly. "I guess that dose seem strange… but it'll help us in the long run. I would have helped you anyway- but now I can keep regular hours and you and Val won't have to survive off of spaghetti-o's and ramen."

Danny's glare melted into a depressed stare as he fell silent. Damon shuffled slightly as the car pulled to a stop at a red light. "Have you eaten?" The man asked. Danny turned his head slightly away from the man and shrugged. Damon silently decided to stop for food before they reached the house.

The light turned green and the silence in the care continued to hover like a physical weight. "Do you want me to turn on some music?" Damon asked. Danny shrugged and the man frowned. It didn't surprise him that Danny was being closed off, but it did remind him of the hardships that no doubt lay ahead. Damon wouldn't be surprised if the kid had PTSD and who knew when or if the boy would ever come out of the depression of losing his family and friends.

Damon reached for the dial and switched it on, quiet rock filled the silence that had built up between the two. "Tomorrows Saturday… I was thinking we could get you settled this weekend and then you can walk to school with Valerie on Monday."

Danny blinked. Right. School. His world had stopped the moment his family had died, he hadn't gone anywhere but the hospital, the church and Fenton Works. He vaguely recalled his ghost sense going off once or twice but he hadn't bothered to see what caused it. He'd have to do a patrol… Danny's hand went to the goggles hanging loosely around his neck.

The thought of patrolling was unbearable for some reason. "I know it's going to be slow going… but getting back into the swing of things will be good for you in the long run."

Danny shook his head realizing he'd spaced out some of what Damon had been saying. Danny thought of what he did catch. Get back into the swing of things… keep moving. He had to keep moving. He let a small smile fall on his lips, but it didn't feel happy. "Yeah… I have to keep moving.

AN: A lot of nothing happened for such a long chapter...
I think it say's something about my current state of mind that this is the only story I'm actually making progress with right now... I've been trying to work on Not an Idiot but my mind keeps wondering back to this story...
I hope my mood improves soon. Getting this out of my system though should help... I hope.

Anyway, I'm blabbering...

Thank you all so very much for reading!