My apologies on this chapter taking so long to get out. Lots of things getting in the way, both good (going to DragonCon!) and bad (getting sick for 2 weeks after). This sort-of filler chapter was also the hardest for me to write for some reason. But, enough excuses. Thanks to my most recent followers - getting more follows/favorites/reviews out of the blue give me a reminder and motivation to keep going!
Tucker led the way down the stairs with Sam following slowly, looking back every other step, wondering what Danny could need to talk to Valerie alone about. Tucker got to the bottom and waited for her. "You don't think he's gonna tell her…?" he asked, apparently wondering the same thing.
Sam's face tightened for a moment, then relaxed into a grimace. "No. He won't. This whole thing has him in such a dark place again… but no," she sighed.
Tucker attempted a smile. "Well, at least if he did, Valerie's too incapacitated at the moment to be able to really hurt him."
Sam bit her lip hard to hold back the tears starting to form in her eyes. "Shooting him is the least she could do to him." She stepped past Tucker. "Although we don't even know… Maybe Valerie finding out is what leads to… all this."
Tucker's face became uncharacteristically serious as he put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "It will be ok, Sam." She nodded resolutely as they stepped into the kitchen.
Tucker glanced idly out the window as he went to the refrigerator. "I wonder why the Ghost Shield is still down. Shouldn't Jazz have turned it back on by now?"
Sam looked too to confirm the shield was down. As she turned back to Tucker, the Fenton Thermos sitting in the middle of the table caught her attention. "Did he get him?"
Tucker grabbed the thermos and examined it quickly. "No, it's empty."
Sam frowned suspiciously, then activated her Fenton Phone. "Jazz? Jazz, are you there?" There was no response. Both of their eyes got big as they stared at each other for a moment. "He couldn't be…" Sam started to say, then there was a crash from the floor above.
Sam and Tucker turned and sprinted through the living room and back up the stairs.
Running into the guest room, Sam went to Valerie's side, while Tucker froze in the doorway uncertainly. Sam checked Valerie quickly and looked up, "She's alive." Her eyes went wide in panic. "Find Jazz!"
Tucker nodded tersely. "On it. I can probably trace her Fenton Phone if she still has it." He consulted his PDA and dashed out of the room.
Sam turned back to Valerie. "Valerie, are you ok? Valerie?" She shook her shoulder very gently, eliciting a groan from Valerie. "Valerie, what happened?" she asked, although Sam had her suspicions already.
Valerie put one hand to her head, trying to stop the room from spinning around her. "Phantom," she croaked weakly. "He overshadowed Danny." Valerie's eyes shot open again. "Where is Danny? Is he ok?"
Sam's lips pursed as she considered several excuses, but there were too many unknowns. Her shoulders sagged. "I don't know where he is. Jazz either. Tucker's gone to look for them."
Valerie tried to sit up again, breathing shallowly, and Sam reach out to help her. "What about my Dad?" she asked, grasping Sam's arm.
"Don't know yet. Sorry. We came straight here when we heard the noise."
"Go check on him," Valerie asked. Seeing the hesitation on Sam's face, she added, "Please. I'll be ok. Just make sure nothing's happened to him."
Sam stood with a sigh and handed Valerie a Fenton Wrist Ray and her Fenton Phone. "If I'm not back in 5 minutes, call Tucker. If he doesn't answer, call Mr. and Mrs. Fenton." Valerie nodded, immediately regretting the action and clutching her head again.
Tucker followed the blinking dot on his PDA, but it didn't take him far – just down the hall to Jazz's bedroom. Dreading what he might find, he was surprised when he opened the door to see Jazz lying in her bed on top of the covers, her head resting on a pillow. He almost would have thought she was just taking a nap, except that her pose was too unnatural somehow.
"Jazz," he called, jogging to her side. "Jazz?"
Her eyelids flickered open and she looked up at Tucker in confusion. "What are you doing in my bedroom?" she slurred drowsily.
"Are you ok? What do you remember? Did R.E.P. hurt you?" Tucker blurted out.
Jazz bolted up, shock on her face. "Danny!" She turned to Tucker. "You have to stop him!"
Tucker cut her off. "He's gone already. He attacked Valerie again, but she'll be ok. What happened to you?"
Jazz tried to calm her breathing. "I helped Danny in. He said he had caught the other Phantom in his thermos. But when we got into the kitchen I noticed the light on the thermos still indicated it was empty…" Jazz's voice became a little shaky. "When I turned back to him he grabbed my head… it felt like electricity shooting through me… Then I must have passed out." She paused, remembering the pain. "Where's Danny?" she finally asked.
"I don't know." Tucker sighed.
Sam cautiously started back down the stairs, Wrist Ray at the ready. Everything seemed unnaturally quiet. She reached the basement door without incident and slowly pushed it open.
"Mr. Gray?" she called. There was no answer. As she proceeded down the steps she smelled acrid smoke, causing her to speed up. At the bottom, she immediately saw Mr. Gray crumpled on the floor, unconscious but breathing steadily. She also saw the lab controls for the Ghost Shield and Ghost Defenses smashed and fried.
Tucker and Jazz stared in dismay at the smoking ruins of the Ghost Defense controls in the Emergency Ops Center. "He sure works fast, doesn't he?" Tucker said lamely.
Jazz radioed back to Sam, who now had her Fenton Phone again, "The controls up here have been destroyed too. There's not going to be any getting the Ghost Shield back up for quite awhile."
"Mr. Gray says he'll take a look at it once he's recovered a little more."
"Ok. At least R.E.P. didn't get the Emergency Button in the living room. We can still activate the other defenses if we really need them."
Tucker did a silent cheer behind Jazz as she used the phrase "R.E.P." "I knew it would catch on," he whispered to himself.
"Maybe it's time to call Mr. and Mrs. Fenton back home," Sam suggested reluctantly.
"I already tried," Jazz admitted with a worried frown. "They're not answering."
Tucker and Jazz turned to leave the Ops Center. "Ahh!" Jazz suddenly screamed. A ghostly figure in white and black had just phased through the ceiling. Tucker fumbled his PDA trying to aim his Wrist Ray and it skidded across the floor.
"Chill out, it's just me!" Danny said, landing on the floor in front of them, hands held out placatingly.
Jazz and Tucker stood tensely and looked Danny over. He was still looking pretty beat up, but no worse than Jazz had seen him last.
"How do we know it's really you? That you're not still being overshadowed?" Tucker asked, putting on a brave face.
Danny pointed a finger toward his face. "Green eyes. Besides, I don't think I can be overshadowed in ghost form…"
Tucker and Jazz glanced at each other, then Jazz shook her head. "Not good enough," she said.
"What if we ask him something only Danny would know the answer to?" Tucker suggested.
Jazz sighed. "That won't work. If he's Danny's future self he'll know anything Danny would know."
Danny looked at them blankly. "Then what can I do to prove I'm me?"
Jazz bit her lip, thinking. "Ok, I've got it. Don't move a muscle," she said, as she started sidling towards a metal locker located along one wall, never taking her eyes off Danny.
As she opened the cabinet, revealing the array of ecto-weapons inside, Danny twitched nervously. "Jazz, what are you going to do?" Jazz pulled a large, round-barreled gun from the locker and aimed it toward Danny with a determined look on her face. Danny's put his hands in the air, "Whoa, Jazz, it's really me, really!"
Tucker glanced briefly in her direction with large eyes, then quickly refocused on Danny. "Jazz, let's not doing something you're going to regret," Tucker said.
Jazz ignored Tucker, keeping all of her attention on Danny. "Turn human."
"What?"
"Turn back into your human form, now," she demanded.
White rings swept over Danny, transforming him, as he squinted in confusion at the weapon in her hands. "Wait, is that the…" The moment he was completely human again, Jazz pulled the trigger, shooting out a jet of green foam that covered Danny from head to toe. "…Fenton Foamer?" Danny groaned and wiped a handful of green suds off his face.
Jazz and Tucker froze for a moment, then when nothing else happened, Jazz dropped the gun and ran to sweep Danny up in a messy hug. "Oh Danny! You're ok!"
"Are you sure he's just him?" Tucker called from where he hadn't yet moved.
"Yes! If he had been overshadowed the foam should have expelled the ghost."
"Should have? You don't know for sure?"
Jazz finally let Danny go, mussing his hair one last time. "No, but neither would he and he just stood there and let me shoot him."
Danny grinned half-heartedly as Tucker finally lowered his weapons and went to retrieve his PDA. "Next time, let's just come up with a code-word or something," Danny suggested, throwing a handful of the green foam at Jazz.
"Danny!" Jazz shrieked.
"Yep, that's him alright," Tucker commented, laughing. He quickly became serious again though. "Dude, let's go to your room so you can get cleaned up. I'll have Sam meet us there. Then you can tell us all what happened."