Epilogue:

"It's been several days since a warehouse with a rogue government branch was stormed and the people there arrested," A blond female newscaster reported from a TV screen. "Many of them will be serving several life sentences for their many crimes. Those crimes include multiple accounts of property damage, citizen endangerment, and most shocking of all the kidnapping and illegal experimentation of a teenager by the name of Daniel Fenton, who had been taken from his home and family over six months ago. The exact nature of these experiments is unknown, but Daniel has been in the hospital since being rescued. Thankfully it seems he will make a full recovery and will be able to go home soon. Now the results of today's games are…"

"Did they have to mention my name?" Danny grumbled as he turned away from the TV and crossed his arms, careful not to pull on the IV line in his arm. He was currently sitting in a hospital bed with various machines and monitors around him. A blanket covered the lower half of his body and he leaned back against a pile of pillows. His arms and hands had several bandages on them leading under his shirt and there was a small bandage on his cheek.

"We did our best to protect your information, but unfortunately a big news story like this couldn't be completely buried," Brian replied, sitting in a chair next to Danny. "But don't worry, I made sure no one knows about your secret and your friend Tucker had already been thorough in erasing any recorders pertaining to you and your other half. Other than that you're famous now. I'm sure you'll be pretty popular at home now."

"I got over wanting to be popular a long time ago," Danny scoffed. "It's not all it's cracked up to be and just makes leaving for my job even harder. But I'm sure people will get over it pretty quickly once they realize I'm still the same old Danny."

"Perhaps, but I know several people that will be happy to have plain old Danny back."

"Who?"

Brian didn't answer; instead, he got up with a smile. He opened the door and Danny only saw a massive blur of colors before he was enveloped by several sets of arms.

"Danny!" the mass cried who Danny now recognized as his friends and family.

"Guys!" Danny gasped. "I c-can't b-breath!"

They complied with Danny's request and backed off with sheepish smiles and a few blushes. Danny took a deep breath before turning back to his family with a smile.

"It's great to see you again Danny-boy," Jack beamed. "You had us all worried for a while, but I knew you'd come through. You're a Fenton after all."

"Oh, my poor baby, taken by those awful men," Maddie cried, hugging Danny again and then whispered in his ear. "Why didn't you tell us who you were? We could have helped you and saved you from so much pain."

Danny's eyes widen as he looked at his mom before looking over at his sister and friends. They were looking away with slightly guilty expressions on their faces.

"We had to tell them, Danny," Jazz defended. "You had been gone for days and we had no idea where you were and all our attempts to find you were useless. We couldn't possibly hide it from them any longer."

"Yeah, I should have figured that would happen," Danny sighed before turning back to his mom. "But I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. I guess being kidnapped kind of made that pointless huh."

"If I ever get my hands on those monsters…" Sam growled, wringing the air front of her with her hands.

"Calm down Sam," Danny said, putting his hand on hers. "We already made sure those jerks are going to pay for all their crimes."

"Yeah," Brian agreed, drawing the attention of the group. "With all the evidence I found and Naz's influence, you'll never have to worry about them again."

"Thank you so much for all you've done for Danny Mr. ..?" Maddie began gratefully.

"Just call me Brian."

"You're the one I was helping right?" Tucker asked. "You were a great help and an excellent hacker."

"So are you," Brian complimented. "I didn't even realize you had been pigging backing off of my hack until you stated blocking things I was trying to get into."

"Why thank you," Tucker grinned, puffing out his chest slightly. "I take great pride in my skills as a techno geek."

"And an ego to match," Sam teased, punching Tucker on the shoulder and making him yelp. "But seriously, thank you Brian. We might never have been able to save him otherwise."

"I was happy to help. He's a great kid," Brian said, smiling as he watched the family interact. While he did enjoy catching bad guys and solving things no one else could, it was this that truly made everything worth it.

AN: I had a great time writing this story and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Merry Christmas everyone!