Hello everybody! I'm sorry for my lack of updates lately! Life has kept me busy, so busy I don't think I've replied to hardly any reviews, even from a chapter previous! I'm so sorry about that guys! I'll do better to make sure I reply to each of you! Anonymous replies will be made in my profile!

Please enjoy this chapter!

Coming back to awareness, Dan realized everything hurt. His shoulders burned, and his hands were numb from lack of ecto blood. Opening his eyes, he blurrily looked around to see a square room with black walls and floors, and a single door straight ahead.

Attempting to turn his head to the side proved difficult. Something chafed around his neck and held his head down. Upon further inspection, it was a collar chained to the floor in front of and behind him to restrict his movement.

Something was over his mouth as well; a hollow echo of his breath resonated back into his ears. Judging by the pain he felt with every expansion of his chest, it was filled with a blood blossom poison.

The door to the nondescript room opened, and for a moment, Dan was elated with the idea of seeing Valerie again. His hopes were immediately dashed when it was clearly a male silhouette. The lack of a right arm also made the identity of his visitor blatantly obvious.

"You're finally awake, you monster?" Damon asked, and Dan could only glare hatefully but did not verbally respond. The older man huffed as he reached for a chair off to the side and dragged it across the stone floor. Setting it down directly in front of the chained ghost, he took a seat and stared directly into Phantom's red eyes.

"Silent treatment? That isn't going to help your situation at all, ghost. I'm sure you can feel the after effects of the blood blossom gas fed directly into your muzzle. I can turn that back on with a wave of my hand if you prove difficult."

Dan felt nothing. No fear, no anger. Everything just felt like a void had opened in his being.

"Where is Valerie?" he 's moustache bristled dangerously, and a vein popped in his forehead. "That is irrelevant right now."

"Where is Valerie?" Dan flexed, testing the limits of his restraints and found them unyielding.

Damon started to literally shake with rage. "You dare ask after my daughter so easily? What right do you have to ask for her presence?" His fist slammed onto the metal arm of his chair.

In the past, Dan would have smirked, pleased with the amount of stress he was causing the leader of the last known human stronghold. This time, however, he could only feel his stomach sinking in despair.

"Where is Valerie?" he repeated once again.

Damon stood up with such force that the chair fell over with an ear shattering clatter. "She is none of your concern, Phantom! Now for the love of god, you will cooperate or so help me, I'll make sure you suffocate on blood blossom gas!"

The captured ghost glared up at the human man. "You can gas me all you want, but I won't talk to anyone but the Ghost Slayer herself." He adjusted his shoulders with what little wiggle room he was afforded. "I won't ask again. Where is Valerie?"

"You hold no authority here. What right do you have to demand to talk or see anyone?" He leaned down and got right into Dan's face. "If I have it my way, you'll never see her again."

Something in the older man's face gave away that perhaps he would not have his way entirely. A smirk pulled at the corner of Dan's mouth.

Valerie, stalwart as ever; it was one thing that he loved about her.

The Resistance leader threatened, "Wipe that smirk off your face, boy. You're dealing with me, and there is nothing funny about this situation. If you don't start behaving, you'll be having a nice long nap under the influence of blood blossom poison."

The thought of inhaling the gas sent a pit of dread into his stomach. No doubt it would cause splitting pains and intense muscles spasms within his chest. "If you refuse to let me speak with Valerie, then we're done here. Do your worst, Damon. I do not fear you."

"Fine."

Damon turned and walked out of the room. The door closed behind him with a slam that echoed throughout the chamber. Dan waited, and sure enough there was the sound of hissing air as his next breath delivered into his lungs the scent of blood blossoms.

He coughed violently as his body rejected the poison. Each contraction of his chest was like a thousand needles puncturing into his organs. Breathing became difficult as his diaphragm began to spasm and seize rapidly. As his mind began to shut down, his breaths became shallower and shallower until he was barely breathing at all.

The darkness consumed him for what seemed like only a moment, and the next time he opened his eyes, he found another presence in the room with him. Her curly black hair framed her face with its wild flyaway, and her aquamarine eyes glinted like steel in the harsh white lights. She stood with her arms crossed over her battle suit.

Dan grinned wryly. "Hello, Valerie."

(Danny POV)

One little boy leaned against a closed door, listening to his mother and his auntie Val argue.

"You knew! You knew, and you didn't tell me!" Valerie cried, betrayal clear in her voice as she yelled at Paulina behind the closed door. "How could you keep this from me? After all that's happened, after all I've been through?!" It was supposed to be a private conversation, but with how loud Auntie Val was yelling, Danny wasn't sure how it was going to remain a secret.

Not that he would tell anyone about what was going on. He was good at keeping secrets. He liked helping people keep secrets. Plus, auntie Val would be sad if he told anyone about how she was crying behind that door. He just wished she would stop yelling at mom.

"Chica, what was I to do? He threatened to hurt Danny if I told you!" Paulina choked on her words, equally distraught as auntie. Danny could feel his stomach twist uneasily. He wanted nothing more than to ignore the stern designation to stay out here and to burst through the door to comfort his mom. Clenching his tiny hands in his pockets, he began to feel something heavy settle in his stomach.

It made him feel sick.

All of this was his fault. Mom was in trouble with auntie because of him. If he hadn't been playing outside the Shield that day, , he would have never met Dan. Never needed to be saved by him, never met him in the park, and never would have found him on the couch that day.

A tear dropped into his lap, and he hurriedly wiped away more that threatened to follow. Everything was his fault.

"And what about after you had gotten away? After he had let go of Danny? What's your excuse there, Paulina?" Auntie Val sounded just as upset as he felt.

"Chica…I'm sorry, but after we learned he had saved Danny from being eaten, I—I felt like I owed him something. And maybe he deserved a second chance! He treated you well as Jake—"

"DON'T SAY THAT NAME!" Valerie cried hoarsely, her voice cracking, and the sound of strangled muffled sobs filtered through the wood of the door. "How could you even think that? This is Phantom we're talking about. He manipulated and used me for months! He even got me to care about him!" There was a strained silence for a moment, broken only by the sound of his mom and Auntie Val crying together. "He'll never deserve a second chance. He'll never be anything but a monster."

Danny couldn't bear it anymore. He quietly jumped down from the bench where he sat and shuffled over to the door. Auntie sniffed and cleared her throat as he grasped the handle to turn it.

"It doesn't matter anymore anyways." Valerie's voice was much stronger now, its rough edge the only indication she'd been crying. Danny stopped, instincts screaming that he waits and listen.

Paulina also picked up on the sudden change in Valerie, "Oh dios mio, chica, what did you do?"

"I did what had to be done. Phantom's going under for the longest nap of his afterlife."

"My God…" The horror was evident in mommy's voice.

"He'll never see the light of day again. Dan Phantom will fade out before another half hour passes."

Danny's heart pounded in his chest as he started to breathe heavily.

Dan was going to die. That thought sent what felt like lightning through his body, making the tips of his fingers tremble even as he held onto the doorknob.

Memories of how Dan snatched him from the jaws of certain death flew across his eyes. How sad Dan had looked sitting on that bench in the park staring up at the statue of Valerie.

Danny let go of the door and mindlessly stumbled back a few steps until his back hit the seat of the bench where he'd been quietly sitting until now. This couldn't be happening. Auntie Val was so warm and kind; there was no way she would be able to purposefully kill anyone.

"If you'll excuse me, I must do what I always do, and clean up Phantom's mess." The door opened, and Valerie stormed out, her face in a fearsome glare, but not quite dry tear tracks still shining on her face. She didn't even glance down towards the young boy staring up at her in fear and awe. She wasn't auntie Val right now. She was the Red Huntress. Her cold hard steps echoed down the hall, almost like a drum.

Muffled crying could still be heard from inside the office, and as Danny peeked around the edge of the door, he saw his mom sitting in a chair, face in her hands shoulders shaking with her emotions. The young boy wished he could do nothing more than comfort his mom, but something much larger was at stake right now. He couldn't let Dan die.

He had to do something.

Disregarding everything else, Danny ran from the room as fast as his legs would carry him.

He could hear his mom call his name off in the distance, but he couldn't answer her right now. There was no time to explain what he needed to do. Plus, mommy wouldn't listen. Neither would auntie Val. They were both too mad to see that Dan had changed. He would have to show them.

Danny had travelled the halls with his dad many times when his babysitter, Stacy, couldn't come over to take care of him. The little boy knew exactly which way to turn at every fork to make it to the room where Dan was being held. Daddy had told him to never go in there and that it was very dangerous, but going outside the Ghost Shield was dangerous too and everything was still okay. Dan would protect him.

An announcement sounded over the speakers. "Attention all personnel, a young boy with black hair and a red sweatshirt has gone missing. Be on alert, he responds to the name Danny. If found, please bring him to Admiral Damon Gray's office on the 14th floor."

Danny didn't really understand all the words in that big grownup sentence, but he knew that he needed to hurry as fast as he could.

Panting hard he turned the last corner and was faced with the heavy double doors. Directly to the right was the best possible toy-that-is-not-a-toy for a young boy.

A number pad.

Even though daddy had never let him enter the big room, Danny had watched his dad enter the same numbers in many of the other pads to enter the rooms. His dad had always forbidden Danny from touching the number pads.

Excitement burned through his body. Now he would finally get to push the forbidden buttons. They beeped a satisfying beep as he punched them in correctly. As he pushed the last number, the doors hissed and began to slide open.

"Danny, NO!" Dash screamed from the end of the long hallway.

Frightened, Danny turned just in time to see his dad begin to run towards him. Knowing that if he was caught he'd be stopped from his mission, the little boy quickly darted into the mist-filled room. "I have to save him!" he cried before the doors buzzed loudly and shut with a cold determination. Daddy's terrified face unnerved the little boy. Maybe he wasn't doing the right thing. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Heart beating fast, he slowly turned to face into the room. It was a plain room with metal walls and was so cold a thin mist covered his ankles.

In the center was Dan. His head was bent forward, a collar around his neck and wires connecting him to the floor. A mask covered his nose and mouth. His arms were bent up at an awkward angle and similarly wired to the walls on either side of him.

Danny swallowed nervously as he approached the ghost. As he got closer, the young boy could see that Dan looked sickly and faded. He was beginning to be able to see through his wrists, and his fire hair did not flicker with its usual gusto and fiery energy. It lay limp around his face and shoulders, an occasional twitch and spark the only indication it was not normally inanimate.

"D-Dan?" Danny asked fearfully, scared that it may already be too late.

Dan did not even twitch, his eyes completely still from behind his closed lids.

Dancing from foot to foot, Danny glanced hurriedly around the room for anything that might help. He had to do something.

A tremor shook the building and for a moment, the young boy was pushed off balance and fell to the ground. Something was happening outside. Something bad, he could feel it.

Getting up, the boy rushed to the ghost. "Dan you have to wake up! You can't go to sleep!" Grabbing his pale face between his small hands, Danny began to lightly slap his cheeks in hopes that it would help bring the man back to wakefulness.

Dan wheezed and blearily opened crimson eyes that were streaked with stripes of green blood. He stared unseeing at Danny's face for only a moment before his head fell once again, his body too weak to hold it up for any longer.

"Dan! DAN!" he cried more desperately and slapping more forcefully.

There was no response a second time.

Time was running out.

The boy gripped the mask covering his mouth and nose and tried to pry it off, but it was secured to his face with a heavy belt. A desperate sob escaped his throat when his small fingers were not strong enough to remove the buckle.

Glancing up he spotted the solution.

A big red button.

Desperation filled Danny's body, and before he could think twice he was lunging towards the large red button. He smashed the button as hard as he could, and with a loud siren it sunk in.

Cold mist enveloped the room as the clatter of Dan's mask falling to the ground was nearly engulfed by the siren and hiss of the sprinklers. It was nearly impossible to see in the room and when another tremor wracked the building, Danny once again went sprawling across the floor.

Getting up he found he was once again directly in front of Dan, who was looking less and less solid as time went on.

"DAN!" Danny continued to cry and gently slap his face.

No response, not even a twitch.

Scared and frantic, the little boy did something he never thought himself capable of.

Bringing his tiny arm back as far as he could, he slapped the Destroyer of Worlds across the face with a slap that echoed off the walls. "WAKE UP!" he screamed.

Dan's eyes snapped open as he snarled in pain, revealing a razor-sharp canine.

"Dammit, Valerie!" Dan cursed before he looked directly into the innocent eyes of young Danny. They narrowed in confusion and accusation. "You. You're not Valerie."

"No! You gotta get up! Auntie Val was gonna do something really bad!" He sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve. "She was gonna leave you to sleep forever!"

Dan slumped down once more and sighed heavily, his breath shuddering on the exhale. "I know."

"What?"

"She told me before she left that I wouldn't be waking up again. The Blood Blossom poison would be the last thing I felt."

"No, you can't die! You're good now!" Danny cried, tears streaming down his face.

"I'll never be the good guy, kid. No matter what I do, she'll never accept me. What's the point?" Dan coughed roughly, and stringy ectoplasmic blood dripped to the floor from his mouth.

"But I know you're good! You saved me! I can make other people see it too! What if you saved more people?"

"Why do you care, brat?" Dan questioned the small boy, suspicion heavy in his tone. "I threatened you and your mom with death if you didn't keep my secret."

"You wouldn't do that. You're good now. You saved me, you're not all bad. You just have to show other people too and then they will like you too!"

"Stupid, naïve child. What the hell do you know?" Dan tensed and flexed his powerful muscles, the restraints suddenly straining against his strength. "I destroyed the world and ruled the ashes! Destruction and death is all I know. You are truly the spawn of that bitch Paulina and ape-brained Dash if you think I could ever be diff—"

"STOP SAYING MEAN THINGS!" Danny yelled, distraught before once again slapping Dan across the face.

Instantly, his hair flared to life and his ghostly aura returned, nearly blinding the little boy. The wires holding Phantom to the ground began to whine and groan under heavy duress.

"YOU CAN'T GET PEOPLE TO LIKE YOU IF YOU SAY MEAN THINGS!"

"It doesn't matter what I say, you little brat! Everyone will hate me regardless, so I will hate them. I will wipe them all from the face of the earth!"

"That's dumb! Mommy always says be nice to people, and they'll be nice to you!"

"I don't care what your mommy says. No one will listen to me. So it doesn't matter," Dan snarled with hatred as his eyes began to glow a hot orange. The bindings started to fray, and one wire around the collar snapped entirely.

"Then SHOW people you can be good! Auntie Val needs help. Help her!" Danny yelled, scared and desperate. "People will believe that!"

There was a beat of silence as Dan stared in confusion at the little boy, who was beginning to cry. Another tremor shook the building, and the harsh lights flickered. Danny once again lost balance and tumbled to the floor. The ghost watched the spectacle with mild amusement.

"Why do you care so much if people think that I'm good?" Dan asked, his glow subsiding somewhat and restraints slackening.

The little boy clumsily picked himself up off the floor. Sniffling loudly, he turned back towards Dan and puckered up as much courage as he could to look directly into his red eyes. "Because I like you and want you to be good."

For the first time in his life, Dan was the first to break eye contact from a staring contest. He slumped in the remainder of his restraints, chin resting down on his chest. The ghost was silent. The only sound in the cold room was Danny's shuddering breaths and occasional sniffle.

After several beats of silence, Dan spoke. "Turn the gas back on, kid. It's better for everyone if I'm gone. For good this time."

Danny stared in horror at what Dan had just asked of him. He couldn't…. want to die? Nobody wanted to die! The little boy stumbled back one step in his shock. Tears filled his amethyst eyes, threatening to spill over onto his cheeks.

No, he couldn't cry. Roughly the little boy wiped his eyes on his hoodie sleeve. Determination filled his body, and he stood strong against the captured ghost. Puffing out his chest and giving his best 'Dan-like' glare, Danny stared down at the flame-haired ghost.

"No." His voice was strong and steady, which only made him stand stronger.

"Dammit, kid, listen to me! No one wants me around!"

"NO!"

Dan snarled, but Danny could see it in his eyes that he wasn't mad. He was very sad.

"NO! I won't do it! Because if you die, then I'll be very sad." Without giving the older ghost any time to react, Danny quickly swooped in and wrapped his arms tightly around Dan's neck, enveloping him in a hug. "Dan, please don't die. I'll miss you too much."

Danny could feel the sharp intake of breath upon contacting him, but he did not let go and continued to squeeze the ghost as tightly as possible. After a moment of hesitation, the little boy felt Dan rest his head on his back, returning the hug as best as he could. Smiling happily, Danny nuzzled into his flaming locks, marveling at how they carried no heat.

A tremor shook the building, worse than the last time. The lights flickered, and a couple went out plunging them into partial darkness. A couple metal panels fell from the roof around the two, and the boy could feel Dan tense and move around him with the sound of more wires snapping. A sudden movement in the ghost's body, and a harsh metallic clatter off to the side made Danny suspicious. Had he knocked away a falling panel?

A large hand appeared on the young boy's back and dug deep into the thick fabric. Suddenly, he found himself able to keep much better balance even as the floor beneath them shook and shuddered violently.

Once it subsided, Danny pulled away from Dan and smiled widely up into the red eyes. Dan's hand was still on his back even as the tremors stopped, and the ground once again became solid.

A beat of peaceful silence fell between them only to be shattered by the explosion of the door being blown in.

Dan once again pulled Danny into his chest and curled around him as best he could to protect the boy from any possible harm.

Dash walked through the smoke, a gun at the ready. The father's eyes widened in horror when he spotted his son in the arms of the Destroyer of Worlds. "DANNY, GET AWAY FROM HIM!" he screamed, panicked as the gun prepped whirred to life.

"Daddy, wait! He won't hurt you!" the little boy cried while putting himself in between the ghost and the terrified human man. "He's good now! He even made sure I was okay when the roof fell and when you blew up the door!"

"He's fooling you, Danny now get behind me. We need to go." Dash dismissed his son almost immediately as he took a few steps closer. "Don't move a muscle Phantom. All I have to do is pull the trigger, and the last thing you'll see are your brains splattering the floor."

"Dad, no!"

"Danny don't argue with me, behind me now."

"Dad please—!"

"DANNY, NOW."

"It's okay Danny, go, I'll be okay," Dan murmured into his ear quietly enough that Dash wouldn't be able to hear.

"Don't talk to him, Phantom." Dash took another step forward.

Danny glanced nervously between his angry father and the calm ghost but against his gut reaction, the little boy took hesitant steps towards his dad.

Just then, another quake shook the building worse than any before it and Danny stumbled, falling hard at the feet of Dash who struggled and failed to keep his balance. The blaster flew from his grip, but before that his nervous finger squeezed the trigger and released a blast into the ceiling. With metal panels missing, he destroyed several main supports as well as much of the wiring keeping security measures up, including an operational security door.

All but a few lights went out immediately and plunged the room into near darkness. A heavy groan resounded throughout the room as the walls began to buckle and the ceiling give way. Dirt and earth poured from the opening quickly encouraging the neighboring panels to similarly open.

The roof was quickly deteriorating, it wouldn't be more than a minute or two before the whole room was crushed under an unknown amount of earth.

He needed to get out of here. Breaking the last of his restraints with ease, Dan stood once again to his full height. There was a cry of agony when a particularly solid piece of rock fell through the roof.

"Danny! Danny, where are you?" Dash cried worriedly, his voice strained like he was in great pain.

Lighting a white flame in his hand, Dan illuminated the area. Sure, enough dash's legs were trapped under a large mound of earth with more slowly piling on top. The young boy rushed over to his father and tried to help move the debris off his legs.

"Dan, help me! We need to save dad!" Danny cried, fear and desperation once again coloring his voice.

The ghost hesitated. It was likely that Dash's legs were broken underneath all that weight. He could leave with Danny right now—the integrity of the room would not last much longer. Even as he thought through his options, the room grew smaller and smaller as less of the ceiling was able to hold up under the weight of the earth.

Danny screamed in fear as rocks and dirt burst through the ceiling beside him and narrowly missed his head, "Dan, we need your help! Be the good guy and help us!" the young boy cried as the last of the ceiling gave way above his head.

"SAVE US!"

Another cliffhanger! I'm not sorry, but things are really heating up! There's probably only like 3 chapters left at the most now! We're coming into the endgame!

Leave me a review if you'd like! I'd love to hear your thoughts!