Chapter 10

"He's making a miraculous recovery." Dr. Knight said to the two parents wearing hazmat suits. "I didn't expect him to be this far into his recovery for at least three months."

"Does that mean I can keep the brace off?" Danny asked, sitting on the examination bed with his shirt and brace sitting next to him.

"I'd rather if you kept it on for another week, just to finish the month out." The doctor admitted. He checked his papers before continuing." You are a really lucky kid, Danny. Any closer to your back and you'd probably be paralyzed from at least the waist down."

"So he'll be fine?" Jack confirmed.

"As long as he keeps away from heavy work for one more week, I think so." Dr. Knight nodded. "Has he finished the bottle of pain killers?"

Danny put the plastic brace around his chest and quickly velcroed the device back on as he listened. He really wasn't surprised that his body was almost back to his level of normal.

"I think he has one more days' worth." Maddie informed as Danny put his white shirt back on.

"I don't think he'll need them anymore because of how rapid he's healed, but if you'd want, I can give you a prescription for more." The doctor informed.

"I don't think I need them." Danny said, putting his two cents in.

"You sure?" Maddie asked, worry in her eyes as she looked at her boy.

Danny nodded his head, giving his mom a look that made Maddie remember back when he was a little boy.

Maddie turned back to the doctor and asked, "Could we still have the prescription just in case?"

"Sure, Mrs. Fenton." Dr. Knight said, nodding. "I'll go and get it filled for you." The doctor left the room, leaving the Fenton's alone.

…

Cat looked down as she invisibly watched her dad and grandparents finish with Danny's checkup. She knew Danny knew she was there since he would periodically look up at her direction, but she had told him back when she took over his Phantom duties that she would have to follow him around. She covered her mouth to make her stop laughing as she remembered telling him.

*Flashback*

"You're sure you don't mind me ghosting you?" Cat asked, sitting next to Danny on his bed.

"Ghosting?" Jazz asked from where she stood by the door.

"It's video gamer's term." Sam informed.

"Ya, it's normally when a player's been killed and he's watching invisibly until the next round starts." Tucker explained.

"You're not going to watch me when I'm…" Danny started to ask, looking at the girl with a grossed out expression.

"What?" Cat asked only for it to make sense as to what he meant. "Ewww! No!" Cat exclaimed, leaning away with her arm up in defense. "You're still my dad!"

"I'm sure someone wouldn't mind." Tucker mumbled with a smile on his face.

"What!?" Sam asked, her hand in a fist.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Tucker said, holding up his hands for protection.

Jazz and Cat found themselves laughing at the scene before them, Danny just as clueless as he was before the comment.

*End Flashback*

Cat came back to the present just as the three were walking out of the doctor's office. She was about to follow them into the Ghost Assault Vehicle when a buzz from her pocket stopped her. She flew through the walls and found the back of the building before answering the call.

"Creepy Ghost Monkey Think!" Sam's voice cried into her ear. "Down by the park!"

"Got it." Cat said quickly before closing the old device. She stashed it in her pocket and quickly flew into the G.A.V. to tap Danny three times on his shoulder.

Danny turned to see nothing and nodded, knowing three taps meant "ghost gotta go"

Cat was gone after seeing his nods, making it to the park in record time. As soon as she passed the gate, her ghost sense went off, telling her it was towards her right.

"Hey! Danny Phantom's here!" a cheer called up, getting Cat to look down as she passed over a small crowed that had run from the ghost.

Cat waved before going for the "creepy ghost monkey-thing" and Sam. She found the goth standing behind a tree and landed.

"Danny?" Sam asked, not for the first time she found herself fearing her friend was here and not his daughter.

"Got one more week. Where is it?" Cat informed, a sigh coming from Sam before she pointed behind Cat.

Cat turned around to see why the goth had described it creepy. It looked on the verge of becoming a zombie with its muscles visible, ripping away from the fur and bones poking out a various places.

The beast roared towards Cat and Sam, forcing the two down to the ground.

Cat recovered her balance and shot an ecto-blast back, hitting the ghost in the shoulder.

The monkey just shook its head, the shoulder now pushed back as if it was dislocated. The monkey looked her in the eyes before charging, with a limp, right for her and Sam.

"Sam!" Cat cried, grabbing the girl before dodging away as the monkey slammed into the tree.

Sam closed her eyes and felt the world twirl around a bit before coming back to her senses. She looked up, finding herself upside down. She rolled over, surprised to see an angry look she was used to seeing on Danny's face but not when worn by Cat. Cat was shooting blast after blast at the monkey, ripping its arms from it.

"Cat!" Sam cried, surprised to see such violence from the girl. "CAT!"

Cat stopped firing, surprised at hearing her name. She turned towards Sam, her expression hard to read. Across from her, the monkey fell to the ground, close to being sent to oblivion.

Cat looked down at her hands, still glowing green from the fight. She looked back at her appoint, surprised at the damage she had done to the creature. Cat found herself backing away in fear.

Sam quickly pulled out her Fenton Thermos and caught the ghost. She stood up so she could look Cat in the face.

"I'm turning into a monster." Cat stumbled out, her hands finally stopped glowing.

"No you're not." Sam said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Why not? I should've stopped before it…it…" Cat's voice cracked, stopping as tears fell down her cheeks.

Sam found herself staring. She had never seen Danny cry like this, even if it was really only Cat. She blinked to clear her mind. "Come on. Let's go somewhere to talk." Sam said, realizing people were getting curious.

Cat looked where Sam was before her mind told her what to do. She grabbed Sam's hand and made them both invisible as they walked out of the park. They walked through the fence before reappearing, Cat now her human self. She leaned against the fence and dropped to the ground, her head down so her brown hair covered her as she hugged her knees.

"You're not turning into a monster." Sam repeated, kneeling down next to the girl. Sam wasn't used to comforting another girl but hoped she could at least do something for Danny's daughter.

"You saw what I did." Cat cried through her hair. "Once he, she, whatever, attacked you…" her voice drifted off.

"You're just like your father." Sam realized, a laugh escaping her lips. She full sat down, stretching her legs out on the grass. "He has problems when ghosts attack his friends and family, too."

"But this is why he doesn't allow me to fight." Cat said, looking up at the girl. "I don't get why he doesn't just move our family away and hide."

"Danny would never be able to do that." Sam said, brushing the hair away from Cat's face. "You said he's still able to work for NASA even with them knowing he's half ghost, right?"

Cat nodded, not sure if she trusted her voice to say anything.

"Then he's living a dream that, in this time, he's gotten close to giving up." Sam said, happy. "And you, aren't you happy about where you're living and the friends you have close to you?"

Cat nodded again. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and said, "And, you and Tucker won't let him move us into hiding." She admitted.

"Good. You get it, right?" Sam asked, smiling. "People need to be saved and if something is causing a threat than you should defend."

"Just not to kill." Cat said, understanding where Sam was going with this.

"Can I ask something?" Sam asked, finding herself blushing.

Cat laid her legs out, almost mirroring the girl as the change of subject was a welcomed one.

"What am I to you in your time?" Sam asked after thinking carefully about how to word it.

Cat smiled as she, too, chose her words. "You're a really close friend. I think in my whole life, I've only lied to you once."

Sam laughed, more at herself than what Cat said. She was laughing at her naïve thought, thinking she could find out who was her mom. "I guess you can't say more?"

"Nope." Cat said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Sam stood up and held out her hand to help Cat up. The two looked at each other, amethyst to dark blue. "Is your dad happy with your mom?" Sam tried, at least wanting to know if he was happy.

Cat found herself laughing this time. "They're a happy couple. Don't worry. Dad's even told me how Mom's the best thing that ever happened to him."

"That's good." Sam said, worry in her mind. The thought of Danny loving someone so much that wasn't her scared her a bit. "At least he's happy."