/LOUD OBNOXIOUS SIGH/ Wow, so here it is, finally. So sorry this took months to get out. Life can really punch hard, and these past few months have been a little rough. Trying to find a job is pretty much a job all on its own, as well as a slew of other adult problems. A lot of personal garbage none of you want to hear had effectively cut off my drive to write for a bit. But now I've finally gotten this chapter done, and hopefully the next one will come out much quicker. Sorry to get heavy on everyone. On a much lighter note, I got Dragon Age: Inquisition soon after its release, and that game devoured all my free time I usually reserve for writing, so sorry for that, too.
Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's much shorter than the last monster, and not much goes on. But I figure it was time for a small break after all that chaos.
Chapter 14: I Met Him When the Sun Was Down
Danny stood with his hands held under his mouth, blue still running down his chin to splash onto them. His eyes were held so wide he felt like they might pop out any second, but he couldn't stop himself as he stared unblinking down at Ember.
She twitched and moaned quietly as she lay on the ground, two large sections of her neck missing and ectoplasm pooling beneath her.
The sound of running feet had Danny jumping further away from her, casting fearful eyes up at Sam and Tucker as they sprinted around the street corner, panting heavily.
"There you are!" Tucker gasped, leaning his hands on his knees. "Your parents and those cops are searching everywhere. The blast was pretty bright, so no one's sure where you ended up."
"We gotta get you out of here quick." Sam agreed, holding her left arm delicately.
"I-I, she-" Danny stuttered, still horrified with his earlier actions. He'd not only taken a bite out of someone's neck, he'd gone in for a second one! He wasn't sure what had come over him.
The two finally took stock of Ember's condition, Sam gasping and Tucker cringing as they stepped gingerly forward.
"Is she..." Sam trailed off on the question, only to jump back as Ember's body twitched again.
"I think not." Tucker answered for her. He took off his cap and wiped an arm across his forehead before replacing it.
"Man," he said. "Why do the hot ones always have to be psychos."
Sam scowled at him before turning her attention back to Danny, who still looked petrified.
"Danny?" she asked gently. "Are you alright?"
Danny looked up at her briefly before his eyes went back down to his hands, which he continued to hold up under his face, entranced and disgusted by the ectoplasm coating them. He barely took notice that his skin had gone back to its usual color, though still badly burned and peeling.
"Hey, we gotta get out of here now." Tucker stressed, looking behind him as sounds of people yelling could be heard.
"What-what about..." Danny managed to get out, looking at Ember. He still felt anger toward her and all she'd caused, but he also felt heavy guilt over his lapse in self control.
"Taken care of." Tucker said, holding up Danny's thermos and turning it on. He aimed it at Ember, and the young woman was quickly sucked up into the device.
Replacing the cap, Tucker waved it at Danny with a smile, before gesturing for the two to follow after him. He took off jogging back the way he came, and Sam and Danny fought to keep up. Sam winced as every step jostled her wrist, and Danny was still beyond tired.
The three ran along a series of dark, narrow alleys, having to squeeze between a few. Danny could only follow silently, his vision blurred and the taste of Ember's blood still thick in his mouth. It hadn't tasted at all like the kind his parents kept, and a part of Danny wondered at that.
When the three came to a short halt to rest, Tucker peeking out into the open for any sign of movement, Danny looked between his friends in concern.
"Hey, Sam." he said quietly. "Are you okay? When you fell, I tried-"
"It's alright, Danny." Sam assuaged his guilt with a smile. "I know you had a lot on your hands. If it wasn't for Tucker, though, I think I'd have a lot more than a hurt wrist to worry about."
"Huh?" Danny questioned, looking toward the now grinning boy.
"Yep." Tucker agreed, glancing back at them. "It was like a moment out of an action movie. Everything went in slow mo, and I just ran up toward Sam and managed to catch her, right in my arms!"
He held up his stringy arms in heroic display as Sam scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"I landed right on him." she corrected. "But he did break my fall, which was really lucky."
"Lucky for you." Tucker groused, still smiling despite his complaint. "My back's killing me!"
Danny felt some of his old self returning as he watched his friends' antics, no longer feeling like a stranger in his own skin. His clouded mind still ran amok with questions, but he could force them down for the time being.
"Danny?" Sam turned back to him. "How about you? At least you're not green anymore."
"Yeah," Danny said, "I'll be fine for now. I just want to get home."
"What are we going to do about Ember?" Tucker questioned, holding up the thermos once more.
"We can't just leave her in there." Sam said, frowning at the object. "I mean, she'll probably die or something."
"Well what are we supposed to do about it?" Tucker asked in exasperation.
The three resumed their trek toward Fenton Works, still several blocks away. Their pace had slowed as they began to feel safe, no sounds aside from distant sirens could be heard now.
Danny waded through the mental fog, retrieving Vlad's words on ghost recovery. He knew he could always give Ember ectoplasm to eat, but the only kind available was that rank garbage in his parents' store cabinet, and Danny shuddered still at its memory. No, there was one other way. One that he himself had had no access to, given his parents' recent sleepless nights barring it from him.
"The Ghost Zone." Danny spoke up suddenly, causing his friends to pause and look toward him.
"I can take her to the Ghost Zone." he clarified. "Ghosts can regain their energy there. It'll fix both our problems."
He gestured at his own stinging skin, and both teens nodded silently in agreement, though they still looked confused and concerned. No more words were spoken until they finally reached Danny's street, and then several curses and swears were muttered as the three took in the looming sight of the Fenton ghost shield. It cast the entire area in a shadowed glow, dashing all of Danny's hopes.
"Just gimme a break." he groaned, sitting down on the sidewalk in tired despair. He'd have to wait until his parents returned to lower the shield, and then it would be too late to slip in and out of the portal.
"How are we supposed to get you guys inside?" Tucker asked the obvious, walking up to the intangible wall. He'd walked through it a few times in the past, but it had never been an actual obstacle before.
"Well, you guys can go through." Danny said. "Just take the thermos down to the lab and throw it in the portal for me. I'll figure something out."
Tucker slowly moved through the shield, standing on the other side and turning to stare back at his now green-tinted friends. Sam was preparing to sit down beside Danny and wait for Tucker's return when she suddenly shot straight up, gasping loudly.
Both boys jumped and looked to her with wide eyes, and she felt the urge to shake them both for their idiocy.
"Wait!" she called, waving Tucker back toward them. "The thermos! It can go through ghost shields; of course it can! Why would the Fentons use it to catch ghosts if they couldn't get them into their home. Oh my god, we're so stupid!" she shouted, smacking a hand over her forehead.
"Wait, so..." Tucker said slowly, crossing the shield again. "You're saying Danny can get through the shield, but only if we put him in the Fenton thermos?"
"Woah, wait," Danny protested, standing up. "How do we even know it's safe? What if I get stuck in there or something?"
"Danny, you need to get inside that portal." Sam stressed. "You're still too weak, and there's nothing out here that can help you. Don't worry, we're not going to let anything bad happen."
Danny's mind was torn between trusting his friends and smothering fear of the unknown. He wasn't sure what it'd be like inside the metal device, especially with a hostile ghost already contained within.
"Come on, dude," Tucker said. "It'll be alright. Look, your parents even installed a release button, see?"
He gestured at a small third button, placed just below the top two and barely noticeable, its color matching the rest of the chrome device.
"How do we even know that's what it is?" Danny replied, still not wanting to give in.
"How else would they get the ghosts out?" Sam answered.
Danny's shoulders slumped forward, admitting defeat. He squeezed his eyes shut as he spoke.
"Alright, just do it." he said quickly, wanting it to be over.
"Hold still." he heard Tucker say, before a bright white light flooded behind his eyelids. A strange rushing noise filled his ears as Danny felt himself being pulled and stretched impossibly.
It didn't hurt like he'd feared it would, but it still sent sparks of panic through the teen as he then felt the sensation of being compressed take over his entire being. As everything seemed to settle, Danny opened his eyes. Or thought he did; it was hard to tell. He had no sense of his own body or motions, only pitch blackness wherever he looked. He couldn't tell whether he was in the middle of an endless void, or staring at the dark wall of some small, tiny room.
Danny tried and failed to keep track of the minutes, and it seemed as if hours had passed when he finally felt himself rushing out into open air. He spilled forth onto the floor of the lab, blinking his eyes in the bright light.
As his friend's forms came into focus, Danny took the offered hand and stood up shakily. He felt as if his body had been disassembled and put back together hastily, his joints loose and wobbly.
"What took you so long?" he complained moodily, still shaken up from the experience.
"What do you mean?" Sam said, "We got here as quick as we could."
"Yeah, man," Tucker seconded. "We ran all the way down here. Your sister yelled at us for making a racket."
"Well, it felt like a lot longer." Danny rebutted quietly, letting his tense muscles relax as his mind finally cooled, recovering from its panic. He was fine. He'd gone into the thermos, and now he was out again. It was over.
Danny breathed in deeply one breath, feeling his ribs expand for the first time in days, and let it out slowly before turning to look at the closed portal. He patted his jeans pocket for his cellphone, before remembering with a start that it was back at Sam's.
"Hey, one of you give me your phone. I need you to keep and eye out and call me when my parents pull up outside." he said, holding out a hand.
"Will it work in the Ghost Zone?" Sam asked warily, handing her's to Danny.
"Yeah, I've brought mine in before. As long as it's not living, I think pretty much anything can go in and be fine." he replied, pocketing the small pink cellphone.
"Too bad." Tucker commented, looking at the metal doors. "It'd be pretty cool to go inside."
"What's it look like?" Sam asked Danny as he walked to the main monitor, pressing a button that caused the twin doors to slide open.
For a moment, Danny considered giving a short, nondescript answer, but quickly decided on the truth.
"It looks like my house." he said, watching the swirling green light slowly reveal itself. "At least, a part of it does. The rest is just weird floating stuff and doors."
"Cool." Tucker said, Sam nodding her silent agreement.
Danny took no further notice of either of them except to hold out his hand silently once more. When he felt the weight of the Fenton thermos settle in his palm, he gripped the item and stepped forward, entering the portal without a word.
Once fully inside the other lab, Danny immediately began to feel better. His aches and burns lessened gradually as he ascended the stairs, and Danny looked down and watched in amazement as his torn skin retreated back into its normal state. Bruises vanished, cuts closed up, and Danny began to feel less and less exhausted.
Danny walked straight toward the front door, ignoring the impatient calling from upstairs.
'Hold on.' he thought. 'Just give me one second.'
Testing the door, Danny felt a bit of relief to note that it was still locked, though the uselessness of such a thing still occurred to him. He unlocked and opened the door, descending the steps and walking along the small stretch of concrete until it ended, dropping off into void.
Holding up the thermos, Danny looked for the hidden button, pressing it as he aimed down at the grass.
Ember's body collapsed onto the ground, her voice hitching slightly as she groaned, attempting to curl in on herself.
Danny didn't give her the opportunity, walking up and placing his foot on her shoulder. He pushed her over onto her back, and stared down at her half-lidded eyes as she gazed blearily up at him.
Glaring, Danny pointed a finger at her, letting all the hate and rage boil back up to the surface as he spoke.
"You will not step foot in here, ever again." he said, his stained mouth giving the threat in his words much more weight.
Not waiting for her to form a reply, Danny backed away, walking calmly to his front door and slamming it closed behind him. He locked it quickly before forcing himself to relax once more. Ember would stay away, he was sure. If she knew what was good for her, she'd stay away.
Danny now allowed a smile to overcome his dour features, his eyes brightening as he ran up the steps, flinging his door open and rushing toward the closet. He'd spent far too long away from his old body, and it dearly missed him.
The house was dark, save for the light of the tv screen which played a local news channel to an absent audience. Sam and Tucker were busy in the kitchen, using the Fentons' first aid kit to wrap Sam's wrist.
The girl winced but stayed silent as Tucker bound it securely with guaze tape. Once that was finished, it was Sam's turn to clean the blood that ran down Tucker's face from his nose. After a short inspection, she deemed that it wasn't broken, much to Tucker's relief.
"It'd be a shame to ruin these good looks." Tucker said as he and Sam entered back into the living room.
"Well those 'good looks' will have to take a vacation for a while, Tuck. Your nose may not be busted, but it's going to swell like crazy." Sam replied, shifting her torn dress as she sat down on the couch.
Tucker frowned in concern at this, his eyes crossing a bit as he tried to look down at his own nose. Silence enveloped them, both teens nervous as they remembered exactly why they were there in the first place. Their eyes moved constantly from the tv screen to glance toward the windows.
The sound of the front door slamming caused both of them to jump into action, Sam standing up quickly and Tucker pulling out his PDA. When they saw that the door had in fact not moved at all, both friends settled back down on the couch in confusion.
Running, invisible feet on the stairs had Sam gripping Tucker's arm to the point of circulation loss. As the two sat huddled, tense, the noises quickly ceased. Tucker loosened up enough to send a sly grin Sam's way.
"Looks like someone's scared." he teased.
Sam immediately released him, shifting away and smacking him over the shoulder.
"I was not." she disagreed, crossing her arms. "I was just surprised."
"Sure you were." Tucker said smugly, before his face fell into a confused frown. "What was that all about, anyway?"
"I'm not sure." Sam replied, looking back toward the stairs.
"Look." Tucker said, pointing at the tv screen. "They're talking about Ember."
Both teens' attention caught, Sam grabbed the remote to turn up the volume. Video of the concert hall, with hundreds of people standing outside of it, could be seen as the reporter told of the shocking events that had unfolded hours before.
Apparently, the exact details were fuzzy, and not many of the kids questioned could give full answers. All they knew was that a ghost had come to fight Ember, and she had risen up into the air to fight back.
Suddenly, the camera cut to Jack Fenton, and the reporter held up a microphone to him. Subtitles pinned him as a local ghost expert as he explained that the famous pop idol had been a ghost all along, masquerading as human. He claimed to have seen it for himself, though the reporter met his claims with skepticism.
"Look, our detection device clearly pinpointed her." Jack emphasized, sensing that he wasn't being believed. "Everyone needs to be on the lookout for four humanoid ghosts, you got that? We weren't able to catch them, so the spooks are still at large."
The sound of tires screeching just outside had Sam and Tucker jumping to their feet in unison. The front door opened up to reveal Maddie. She practically ran into the house, only to stop at the sight of the guilty-looking teens in her sitting room.
"Kids, you're alright!" she said, walking toward them in relief. "Where's Danny?"
"Uh, he's..." Sam's mind quickly spun together a lie. "He's at my place."
"At your house?" Maddie questioned. "But then why are you here?"
"Because we got separated." Sam continued haltingly, "We came back here because of your ghost shield, but Danny went back to my house. He just called."
"Oh, well, that's good." Maddie said, still looking uncertain. "I was just coming to check on him and Jazz."
"I'm up here!" the girl in question yelled from her room. "And I'd appreciate some quiet, please! All this stomping around is getting old."
"Sorry!" all three automatically called up at her.
"You two should stay here for now." Maddie said, addressing the kids once more. "It's safer within the shield. I'll go pick up Danny."
"Ah, uh, no need!" Tucker sputtered. "He said he was on his way, so-"
"It's not safe out on the streets!" Maddie exclaimed in alarm, her eyebrows rising high. "There are dangerous ghosts out there! Stay inside kids, I'll be right back."
Maddie turned on her heel, rushing out the door and hopping back into the rv before Sam and Tucker could stop her.
"Great." Sam said, frustrated. "Now what?"
"Now we call Danny." Tucker said. "If he gets out here before Mrs F gets back, we can just pretend they missed eachother out there."
"Alright, good plan." Sam replied, calming down.
Tucker pulled up Sam's number on his PDA, the girl watching from over his shoulder.
"What is that?" she questioned in a threatening tone.
"Uh, nothing." Tucker said hurriedly, angling the small screen away from the girl. His picture for Sam's number was a quick photo he'd taken of her last year. She'd been about to bite into a rather large soy burger, her mouth stretching wide and her eyes caught mid-blink. It was by far Tucker's favorite picture of her, and he'd kept it long after he had pretended to delete it in front of her.
Sam was now eyeing Tucker with a deep frown as he turned his back to her, holding the device up to his ear and listening to it ring.
Danny sat with his back against the closet wall, darkness cloaking him comfortably behind the closed door. His right side was pressed against the warm body beside him, still concealed by the sleeping bag. He leaned slightly into it, afraid of jostling the corpse too much with his movements.
A peace had settled over him, and Danny let his thoughts drift far away from the night's events.
An unexpected techno tune ringing out startled Danny, and he reluctantly opened his eyes. Pulling the phone from his pocket, Danny saw that it was Tucker calling, and hit the green icon.
"Yeah?" he said. "Are they back?"
"Kind of." was Tucker's reply. "Your mom showed up looking for you. Now she thinks you're on your way here. Get up here fast and we'll pretend you just arrived."
Danny sighed out through his nose before ending the call. He'd just arrived! He thought for sure his parents would be combing the streets for hours. Why'd his mom have to go and be concerned for him now, when he least wanted it?
Feeling despondent, Danny leaned into the body more, not wanting to leave just yet.
"This sucks." he whispered. "I wish I could just keep you in my room. You know, my real room."
Groaning dramatically, Danny stood up, his back sliding along the wall as he leaned heavily against it. He felt a million times better, and was afraid that the second he stepped across the portal threshold, he'd go back to being exhausted and weak.
"See you soon." Danny promised, looking down fondly at the motionless form before opening his closet door and exiting out into his darkened room.
Coming down the stairs, Danny took notice that the tv was on again, lowly buzzing static casting shadows against the far wall. Mentally shrugging at the many anomalies of this place, Danny continued toward the basement, entering and walking straight toward the portal.
Looking at the churning light, Danny bid the Ghost Zone and its many comforts farewell, never knowing for certain when he'd be granted another opportunity to come back. It felt rather like being forced away from your home on lengthy business trips, always waiting for a moment of freedom to return, however briefly.
Entering the realm of the living, Danny grimaced as his bones and organs were all squished tightly together, compressed by gravity and air. He'd never get used to that, he figured.
Sam and Tucker awaited him upstairs, and Danny quickly joined them, running lightly up the stairs and into the front room.
"Hey, guys." Danny greeted, holding out Sam's phone for her to take. "Is she still out?"
"Yeah, but she'll be back any minute, so you'd better change quick." Sam said, taking her phone and looking over it, as though she expected it to be warped beyond recognition.
At Danny's confused look, Sam elaborated with a gesture at her own face.
"You're covered in blue."
Danny started a bit as he looked down at himself, and without another word he turned and hurried up to his room. He snatched a random shirt from his closet before entering the bathroom. Once inside, he took a moment to look at his reflection. Crusted ectoplasm clung to his mouth, falling in dried up streams down his neck. Thick blotches covered his shirt and hands. He quickly pulled the shirt over his head, tossing it onto the counter before turning on the sink.
He quickly scrubbed away at himself, wanting to be rid of the evidence of his animalistic actions. He tried to block out the thoughts that came swirling back as he watched the diluted blue disappear down the drain, the rushing sound of the water almost matching the roaring in his ears.
"What took ya?" Tucker asked as Danny walked down the stairs, cleaned and in a fresh shirt, having flung the dirtied one into the back of his closet.
"Uh." Danny began reluctantly, pointing a thumb behind him. He didn't want to explain to his friends that he'd just had a small meltdown in the bathroom, and was suddenly nervous that he might have been in there longer than he thought.
"No, in the Ghost Zone." Tucker clarified.
Danny nearly answered that he was visiting with his old body, before common sense smacked him over the head. Duh, he'd never told them. And there was no reason to tell them.
"Just sitting around." Danny replied with a shrug, mentally collecting himself and joining the others on the couch. "It was great to have a rest after so long."
"Yeah, I bet." Tucker agreed, fishing around for the remote.
Sam sat in the middle, turning her phone over in her hands as she inspected it closely.
"You're sure it's fine?" she asked. "It's not, like, possessed by a tiny ghost now, is it?"
"Not that I know of." Danny answered with a smile. He sat back against the cushions, reveling in the feeling of his energy returned to him fully. He'd definitely need to take care not to let that whole debacle happen again.
"They're covering the Ember story right now." Tucker commented, finding the remote and adjusting the volume. "Your dad was on tv."
"Was he ranting about ghosts?" Danny said, already knowing the answer.
"Yyyup." Tucker replied.
"They didn't recognise you, at least." Sam put in, finally setting her phone in her lap.
The three teens sat upon the red sofa for nearly an hour more in thought-filled silence, each lost in their own considerations of the night's happenings. Eventually the Fenton rv was heard pulling back up, and Maddie entered the house once more.
"Danny!" she exclaimed, running up and practically pulling her son off the couch to hug him. "Oh honey, you're freezing cold! Did you walk all the way from Sam's house without a jacket?"
"Uh, yeah." Danny agreed, casting a look back toward his friends.
Sensing her cue, Sam stood up with an easy smile set in place.
"He got here just a few minutes ago; you two must've passed by each other without knowing it." she said.
"It seems so." Maddie accepted the story, content to be relieved her son was back home.
Maddie began subconsciously rubbing her hands up and down Danny's back in an attempt to warm him, and the boy untangled himself from her hold in response.
"Mom, I'm fine." he said. "I didn't see any ghosts on my way here, and nothing happened."
"Were you hurt at all?" Maddie asked, looking over the three and spotting injuries. "Sam, Tucker, we'll need to get you two to a doctor as soon as it's lighter out. Danny, what about you?"
"Not a scratch on me, I swear." Danny said, holding out his arms to show his newly healed skin.
"Well, maybe just let the doctor have a quick look-"
"Mom, I'm alright. We're going up to my room, so just come get us later." Danny interrupted.
Danny walked toward the stairs without giving his mother a chance to reply. He knew exactly what would happen if a doctor so much as pressed a stethoscope against him, and he intended to avoid that completely. Sam and Tucker silently followed, offering half-hearted shrugs and glances back at the befuddled woman.
"Wow man, that ghosty stuff really does help you." Tucker commented once they were in Danny's room. He smiled in wonder while looking over one of Danny's arms. "You can't even see scars or anything!"
"Yeah, how does it do that?" Sam asked, joining Tucker in inspecting Danny's skin.
The teenager leaned slightly away from his friends' stares, still unhappy about how brief his visit to his old body had been, and wondering how he might get out of a doctor appointment if his mom pressed the matter.
"I don't know," Danny answered, shaking his head. "It just does. It's the ectoplasm; it's everywhere in there."
"Okay, that does it." Tucker said, straightening. "Next time you go in there, take some videos with your phone."
"Yeah." Danny agreed, already distracted as he flopped face-down on his bed, the springs offering up their muffled complaint.
Several hours and a brief visit to the doctor later found the trio back inside Danny's room, wrapped in light blankets and huddled around his television. Sam and Tucker were on their third sparring match, controllers gripped tightly within their hands as they swayed and maneuvered. Neither wanted to give victory to the other, and Danny was content to sit back and watch his friends' familiar rivalry.
Occasionally, noises and voices could be heard faintly from below. The Fenton parents were back to their usual work, disappointed that the mystery ghosts had all escaped. After Maddie had walked the kids back up to Danny's room, she had already been talking over her shoulder with Jack, discussing blueprints and necessities for a new ecto gun model.
Danny stared off into space with a frown, worrying about the details of his parents' newest venture, when a series of light knocks came from downstairs. Danny rose silently, walking in front of his friends and enjoying the way they swerved their heads around his legs, sending him unintelligible noises of frustration as he made his way to the door.
Police, ghosts, the guys in white suits; whoever it was Danny had expected wasn't the person standing behind the front door, with arms folded behind his back and a sure smile on his face.
"Mr Masters?" Danny said, perplexed. "What are you doing here?"
"You should always invite guests into your home before you start questioning them, Daniel." Vlad stated, smile spreading into a small smirk.
The boy bristled slightly, still caught between annoyance and gratitude where this man was concerned. Frowning, he stepped aside, allowing Vlad to glide into the living room. He watched silently for a few moments as Vlad looked about the house, his gaze quickly settling on the door to the lab.
"Your parents must be very excited. No ghost sightings in years, and then suddenly a burst of activity. Ghosts seem to be popping up everywhere lately."
He then turned to look at Danny, smile never leaving. "I wonder why that is."
Danny got the impression that Vlad was trying to imply something, and his frown deepened as he tried to figure out what that was.
"Are you saying this is all my fault?" Danny asked in an accusatory tone. "That I'm the reason all these ghost are appearing now?"
"No, not the sole reason." Vlad corrected.
"Hey, I didn't put up a flashing sign outside my door saying 'Ghosts Welcome', okay?" Danny said.
"Ah, but an unguarded entrance into the human world might as well be a flashing sign, you see." Vlad said, his arms falling to his sides.
Danny stiffened as realisation dawned, his mouth dropping open.
"They're all coming through the portal?" He asked in a low voice. "But why?"
"I imagine one must have seen you exit through it somehow, and where one ghost travels, others will follow." Vlad answered.
"How are they getting past my parents?"
"The same way I'm sure you have, Daniel."
Danny paused at this, his head tilting a bit to the side as he looked up at the man before him.
"Have you been spying on me, Mr Masters?" he asked.
"Of course not. And please call me Vlad, Daniel."
With that, the suited man began walking toward the basement door, leaving the boy with no other option but to trail unhappily behind him.
Danny's tentative steps followed Vlad's assured pace as the two entered into the Fenton lab. Both working adults failed to notice the new presence, however. Maddie was writing furiously on a blueprint, pausing every now and then to calculate a measurement. Jack was disassembling his ecto gun, placing each individual part neatly upon the table.
"My my, you two never take a vacation." Vlad commented, glancing between the pair as they simultaneously looked up in surprise.
"Vladdie!" Came the expected outburst from Jack, who shot upward from his seat and practically dove toward the shorter man, arms out wide.
Once again, Vlad accepted the crushing bear hug with as much grace as one could manage in such a situation. When the overenthusiastic man finally released him, Vlad quickly straightened his jacket, still smiling ever so politely. Danny wondered how he did it.
"What brings you to our neck of the woods, pal?" Jack asked.
"Oh, I was struck by the thought that we barely get to see each other anymore. It has been years, and I for one would love to catch up on the lost time, don't you agree?" Vlad answered, much to Jack's teary-eyed joy.
"Aw V-Man, you know you're always welcome over here." He swept an arm out in gesture toward Maddie. "It could be just like the old days, the three of us working on inventions together. Pioneers in the paranormal field, I always said!"
Maddie smiled briefly toward them, still enveloped in her writing, hunched over the desk.
Danny was surprised that his father appeared so willing to let Vlad lend a hand with their work. They normally only allowed people to look, if that at all. They were an air-tight team when it came to anything ghost-related, and Danny had a hard time imagining them working well together with anyone, even Vlad.
Jack returned to his desk, picking up pieces of his ecto gun and explaining them to Vlad, Danny turned toward the stairs. He wasn't sticking around and listening to his dad ramble on about ghost stuff; he'd much rather be back upstairs.
Upon returning to his room, he found Sam and Tucker still locked in battle, fingers mashing buttons as they muttered under their breath.
"Who was it?" Sam asked, not taking her eyes off the screen.
"Mr Masters." Danny said, sitting down behind them.
"The rich ghost guy?" Tucker asked, glancing toward Danny in surprise.
"The very same." Danny replied, leaning against the end of his bed.
"Well, can we go down and see him?" the other boy questioned.
"Why?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Dude, he's a ghost. And a pretty powerful one, from what you've told us." Tucker said.
"He's right." Sam agreed, choosing this moment to kick the head off Tucker's avatar.
The boy cried out in shock, turning to give Sam and appalled look, one she answered with a smug grin.
She stood up, kicking out lightly to relieve the numb tingles in her legs. She waved toward the door, victorious expression still in place.
"C'mon, let's go meet this oh so famous Mr Masters." she said with a hint of mocking.
Danny sighed, regretting ever painting the man in a heroic light when he'd first spoke of him. He hadn't realised at the time that Vlad could be just as much a bane as he was an ally.
The trio quickly descended into the lower reaches of the house, finding the adults almost exactly as Danny had left them. Maddie was still hunched over her desk, sure to develop a nasty crick in her back soon. And Jack was tinkering with several tiny wires and bolts, explaining the internal mechanics of his ecto gun to a deeply interested Vlad.
Once the friends were actually standing in the lab, all self-assurance and casual demeanor fled from them, and the two just stood silently, glancing briefly about the room to keep from staring at Vlad for too long.
Danny looked between them, wondering what the big deal was, until he realised that Sam and Tucker hadn't had nearly the same amount of contact with spirits that he did. Vlad was also the only, well, normal ghost they'd ever seen aside from Danny. So the teen decided to take pity on them and begin introductions himself.
Stepping around them, Danny cleared his throat briefly, getting the two older males' attention.
"Mr Masters, these are my friends, Sam and Tucker." said kids gave small waves and awkward smiles. "They wanted to meet you, and uh, see how the inventions were going."
"We're on a roll, kids!" Jack exclaimed happily, waving wires around as proof.
Vlad offered the kids a polite smile, hand extending out to shake theirs briefly in turn. Danny watched in amusement as Tucker stared down at the man's hand for several seconds before finally shaking it. He couldn't wait to bug them both about this later on. Sam was at least collected enough to give a polite greeting of her own.
"Hello, Mr Masters." She said quietly, as though afraid to break the near-silence of the lab.
"Please, call me Vlad." The man insisted. "So you are the friends Daniel has told me about. He speaks very highly of you."
Danny mentally raised an eyebrow at the compliment. Last he could recall, Vlad had been insulting his friends for being alive, and had expressed how useless he thought they must be. Oh well, he supposed Vlad couldn't really say those things to his friends' faces.
Small talk was brief, consisting entirely of Tucker asking Vlad if he really was a billionaire, Vlad confirming this with a laugh and proud gleam in his eye, and then Jack rocketing off into a lecture on how ecto energy is harvested from the Ghost Zone and used to power his and Maddies' weapons.
Danny tuned a lot of it out, bored and wanting to be back in his room, slumped on the floor and watching mindlessly as his friends crushed each other. It had been far too long a day for this.
Danny felt guilty for being relieved when Sam noticed the time and groaned aloud. Her parents had very nearly stormed over to the Fenton residence, but quickly settled down when Sam agreed to let them take her to their family doctor. They wanted to get a second opinion on her wrist, they said.
Tucker took that as his cue to head home as well, as his family was also worried after his brief talk with them earlier that morning.
When the knocking at his bedroom door came, Danny wasn't the least bit surprised. He'd been up in his room for the past hour, alone, tv screen still asking if the absent players wanted a rematch. He didn't feel exhausted anymore, but neither was he full of energy. Mostly he just wanted back into the Ghost Zone. The absence of that choice left him restless.
Rising from his computer chair, Danny went to the door, opening it up and letting Vlad inside. Before he could open his mouth, however, Danny was beating him to it with a frown.
"Okay, what are you here for now. You've obviously heard about the Ember thing. Here to gloat over how I almost revealed myself again? Or how I nearly starved to death? You say ghosts are flocking out of the portal, but I've been flying around at night, and haven't seen a single one!"
Danny's tone became increasingly irritated, and Vlad's vaguely amused expression was not helping him feel any better. He sighed harshly, turning small circles as he continued.
"Ugh, I don't know how I'm supposed to track down and eat ghosts, which is still beyond gross by the way. It's impossible!" he said, raking his fingers roughly through his hair.
"Don't worry, Daniel," Vlad chuckled. "The idea does take some getting used to. But I can assure you it gets much more appealing the hungrier you get."
"You can say that again." Danny mumbled, looking down at his hands. He swore he could still see pale blue staining the white skin. "I've never been that friggen' hungry before. It was a nightmare!"
"Ah, so I take it you did find a suitable target then? I assumed so, seeing as how you look much better than the last time I was here." Vlad said.
"Uh, sorta. I wouldn't really call it suitable...more like a last-ditch effort not to die. I don't know what came over me, I just-" Danny's voice cracked at the end, and his sentence faltered. He nervously rubbed his hands together, still guilty and more than a little afraid at his lapse in self control.
"Was it one of the ghosts from the news?" Vlad asked, adopting an expression of genuine surprise.
"It was Ember." Danny said reluctantly, as though there were some law against harming other human ghosts. He wasn't sure ghosts even had laws, but it had still felt wrong.
"Well Daniel, I must say, that is impressive. She may have been younger than you, but that ghost was coming into her full powers much faster than you. I assume it was mostly due to her letting go of her human ties."
"Human ties?" Danny asked, curiosity caught.
"Hmm, yes." Vlad moved over to the vacant computer chair, turning it around and sitting. Danny followed his lead and sat at the end of his bed.
"You have human ties, Daniel." Vlad said. "As do I. It simply means that we still have people who we wish to remember. If a ghost lets go of human ties, it makes them, for lack of a better term, more ghost-like. It can be both an advantage and a detriment. It would change you, Daniel, and not for the better, if you ask me."
Danny was taken back by the seriousness in Vlad's tone, leaning forward and carefully digesting the words.
"So if I ever decided to just forget about my family and friends, I'd become more like Ember?" he questioned after a moment's contemplation.
"In a sense, yes." was the man's cryptic answer.
When he didn't elaborate, a brief silence stretched between them, punctuated only by dull clanging from below. Vlad dropped his gaze to the floor before raising them up toward Danny.
"I meant what I said before. You really should get more involved in your parents' work. It can only benefit you."
"I know, I know." Danny groaned. "Excuse me if I haven't had the time to follow through on all your advice, okay? I've been kinda busy trying not to starve. Oh, and thanks for the warning by the way. You should've told me that stuff would be awful. I brushed my teeth like five times!"
"Pardon?" Vlad offered with a bemused expression.
"The ectoplasm." Danny explained, leaning down to search underneath his bed. "I got desperate enough to swipe some from my parents, but it was so not worth it."
Producing the jar, Danny set it on his lap, glaring down at the green contents in disgust. Vlad's sudden burst of loud laughter caused him to jump, giving the man a wide-eyed look. Vlad held up a hand in reparation, but continued to chuckle for several long seconds before finally regaining control of himself. By this point Danny had gotten the familiar sense of dread that told him he'd missed something major.
"Okay, what is it?" He said, falling into a resigned slouch.
"Daniel, you do realise that that ectoplasm sample has almost certainly been in your parents' possession for a number of years, and has had all manner of tests performed on it. Of course it was awful, my boy!" he gave another brief laugh.
Danny looked down at the jar again, this time in horror.
"So you're saying I ate rotten, experimented on ectoplasm." he stated gravely.
Vlad's only answer was to nod, his expression conveying just how humorous this situation was for him.
Danny wordlessly crammed the jar back under his bed, vowing to smash it against a dumpster at some point. He tried not to let the thought get to him too much, lest the nausea rise up again.
"So then, that's why Ember's...uh, the ectoplasm from her- it didn't burn or taste horrible. I actually don't really remember how it was. I kinda blacked out. But I definitely would've remembered if it had been like that." he grimaced and pointed down at the jar.
"That is because she was a 'live' ghost. The ectoplasm that constructed her was active, not sitting stagnant for years." Vlad said.
Danny continued to absorb all of the new information, glad that Vlad wasn't mocking him for his lack of ghost knowledge. Maybe he really should have called the man when things were looking bleak; maybe then he wouldn't have...
"Mr Masters?" Danny asked, looking back up. "During the fight with Ember, my skin went all green, and then at the end I just sorta, I dunno, snapped? Is that normal?"
Vlad nodded reassuringly. "As normal as a ghost inches from his second death is. You came very close, Daniel. Your instincts simply took over and sought out the nearest ectoplasm source."
"But I tore her neck out." Danny protested, still not willing to let himself off the hook. It couldn't be normal, not what he did. Not even by ghost standards. "I nearly killed her. I mean, isn't there some kind of ghost code against that?"
"Nearly?" Vlad frowned in confusion.
"Well yeah," Danny replied with a shrug. "I took her into the Ghost Zone with me. You said that helps ghosts heal, right?"
Vlad seemed to silently observe Danny for a moment before leaning forward in his seat.
"So you fought a ghost at the height of her power, while you were fading, nearly devoured her but stopped yourself, and then was kind enough to bring her to the Ghost Zone."
"Uh, yeah?" Danny answered, sure that he had done something wrong somehow.
Instead, Vlad straightened up once more with a smile.
"My, Daniel, I see that I was once again proven correct. You're a very powerful ghost indeed." he commented lightly.
"But how!" Danny asked, exasperated. "You said that before, but you never explained why. What makes me so powerful or whatever? I certainly don't feel like it."
"I already told you, Daniel. It's all in how you were created." Vlad supplied unhelpfully.
Danny groaned in reply. That made zero sense to him, but he doubted he'd get a clearer answer. Masters was still fond of riddles, it seemed.
Vlad stood up, hands mindlessly straightening any wrinkles in his jacket as he strode toward the door, Danny following behind.
"I must be off now, Daniel. You see, unlike some, I cannot while away hours sitting in my room. I have a busy schedule." he commented, casting a glance over his shoulder.
Danny scowled at this. "Hey! I've been slowly draining away for the past several days, okay? Cut me some slack."
"Ah yes, that." Vlad continued, "Do try not to let yourself get that bad again. If you're in a desperate state again, simply give me a call. I'd rather not see your potential cut short by your lack of ghost hunting skills. Perhaps you need lessons from your parents?"
The last line had a joking tone to it, and Danny continued to glare at Vlad as he reached out for the doorknob, resting his hand there as he looked again toward the boy.
"I'm being serious, Daniel. I was also entirely sincere when I said that I would offer any assistance you needed in furthering your development. You have all the strength you need lying dormant within you, you just need the right g-"
"Guidance, I know." Danny interrupted, shoulders slumping down. "I wish this all wasn't so complicated. I need the Ghost Zone, but I can't get to it half the time because of my parents. I need to catch other ghosts, which I'm still not sure about, and I can't find any. Oh, unless I'm being attacked in the middle of school by one."
Danny wallowed in self-pity as Vlad replied to his complaints.
"You're a clever child, Daniel. I'm sure you can come up with a solution to your first problem. As for the second; I'm afraid that is exactly as difficult as it sounds. You'll simply have to remain vigilant, and always capitalize on an opportunity."
Vlad opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, turning toward him once more.
"Oh, and ghosts do not have any strict, official laws. Some like yourself try to enforce certain rules and restrictions, but it rarely works out. It's every ghost for themself, Daniel, and alliances are few and hard-won. Remember that."
Danny watched him walk out of sight after that, slowly closing and locking his door with a sigh. He immediately returned to his bed, flopping down on it and thinking about how chaotic school would be tomorrow. Pretty much every teenager in Amity Park had went nuts at the Ember concert, after all. He hoped none of them would be able to recall the events clearly, or he might well be screwed.
Tilting his head up, Danny gazed at the upside down image of his window. The sky was quickly growing dark, thick clouds already cloaking the moon. He weighed his choices mentally, wondering whether it was worth it to fly around tonight or not.
His decision was made for him as he caught the sound of his parents talking downstairs. He got up and walked toward his window as they both exited the house. Leaning out the open window, Danny saw that they both were armed with ecto weapons, Maddie's goggles glinting in the sparse light. She looked around the area, her eyes catching sight of Danny.
"Hi sweetie!" she called up with a wave, before adopting a grim demeanor as she and Jack began walking steadily down the street.
Danny watched them go for a minute before closing his window. Great, now they'd be waking people up all night with their shouts and gun blasts. However, that thought took a backseat as relief quickly grabbed the wheel, steering him happily out his room and down the stairs.
He was in the lab and stepping through the portal with hardly a glance around himself. He hoped his parents' determination to find the four spirits that had eluded them would keep them out all night. He was glad he had his newly retrieved cellphone in his pocket, and quickly set an alarm for himself as he walked up to his room.
Stuffing it back into his pocket, Danny enclosed himself in the small, comforting space of his closet. In the pitch black, he knew exactly where his old body would be. Where it never ceased to be.
One side pressed into the familiar warmth, Danny brought his knees up, wrapping his arms around them and letting his head rest. He slowly lost himself to contentment, no thoughts or sounds to disrupt him. Only the steady, shallow rise and fall of breath from the body beside him. A great comfort.
It was dark out.
The wind bit into Kitty's cheeks, and she pressed one side of her face into the warmth of Johnny's back, alternating sides every few minutes. She was really regretting the short skirt and fishnet tights.
The road they sped down was nearly barren, other vehicles phantoms in the pitch night. She hoped Johnny didn't accidentally run off the road. He'd done it before, nearly busting his beloved bike as well as both of their skulls.
Her arms tightened around his middle at the memory. The sound of a loud truck thundering by making her jump slightly. Everything always felt distorted when they rode late at night. Like nothing happening was actually real, only a dream, slipping past her before she could fully take it in. It both soothed and frightened her.
She didn't understand why Johnny loved riding his bike at night so much. Especially on these long, lonely highways outside the city.
They usually ended up at some seedy club Kitty never remembered the name to, or at a tiny little diner in the early hours. Kitty tried not to think about how tired she would be the next day at work, to relax her tense stomach and thigh muscles, and just enjoy the sensation of soaring. It reminded her of those falling dreams she had as a child. She'd be on the edge of sleep, darkness all around her, and then the ground would give way beneath her. She'd jolt awake, clutching onto her blankets and sweating.
The crash back down onto her bed always hurt, somehow. As though she'd truly fallen from some great height, pulled through her ceiling and held suspended amid the black of space.
Soaring, for one brief second. Just long enough for her stomach to drop, and then she would land harshly on her bed, heart pounding and sleep-caked eyes squinting in the darkness.
The flying she felt while on the back of Johnny's bike was similar, but not enough. Not as fast or as raw. For this she was almost grateful.
The cold air stung her nose as she inhaled. Her lungs expanding, only to be forcibly compressed against Johnny's back, the force of their sudden collision breaking several bones.
Kitty wasn't sure whether her eyes were open or closed. Everything was so dark. She was soaring, her grip on Johnny rent from her fingers, and she was flying. Flying and then falling. So quickly it happened. So quickly, like when she was little.
Landing always hurt, even when it wasn't real. She felt the ground beneath her back, something digging sharp into her ribs. She was sure that she was looking up, but could see no stars. Maybe it wasn't the sky. Maybe it was her bedroom ceiling, and she was having that familiar dream again.
Her heart pounded, she felt sweat beading on her face.
It was dark out.
(If you want some good Kitty/Johnny feels, especially for this fic, give the song Closer by The Tiny a listen. It's the perfect song for their story arc in my AU, and also where I got the chapter title. Happy New Year, everyone!)