I know this is VERY late, but I've been out of town for conventions and family stuff and it threw off my sleep schedule. This is the first day I've had a decent sleep and that I feel I'm in a Right-Enough-Mind (tm) to handle posting and everything. SO, you get this now.

Thank you for all your support, and I've had a couple of people approach me for beta reading. Thank you! I should be getting back to you soon!

Not a whole lot happens in this chapter, but I found it satisfying.

This chapter has not been beta read.

xXx

"So... you've been to the Ghost Zone a couple of times already, without backup, and you didn't tell us?!" Tucker asked, throwing his hands in the air angrily.

"I told Jazz," Danny said placatingly. "And she had strict instructions to come and get you to get me if something went wrong."

"You're missing the point, Danny!" Sam responded, arms folded and eyes narrowed. "We have no idea what's in there! We don't know how dangerous it is! Going in was beyond reckless!"

"Why didn't you call us or ask us, dude?" Tucker asked, sounding genuinely hurt.

"Mainly because you guys aren't ghosts..." he said. "The Ghost Zone is dangerous... but not as much so for a ghost."

"Are you hearing yourself?!" Sam practically growled. "It's dangerous for humans! YOU'RE STILL HUMAN!"

"Half," Danny said, although he could hear himself backing down. Facing off against either one of them was a challenge. Facing off against both of them... was kind of terrifying.

Sam had tears in her eyes and Tucker was looking like a very angry kicked puppy.

So Danny sighed. Again. "I'm sorry, guys. I... just didn't think about it. Honestly. I didn't want to leave you out, I promise."

"What's with you, dude?" Tucker asked. "You've... changed."

The half-ghost raised his eyebrows in surprise. He thought he'd been doing a decent job here.

"You thought we wouldn't notice?" Sam asked, scoffing.

For a moment, Danny was tempted to tell them again... but another small glance at Sam stopped him. Then he sighed and figured that part of the truth was better than none. "To be fair, I did get killed, turned into a fully-realized ghost and then shoved back into my body and resuscitated," he pointed out.

The other two stepped back as one, and stared at him, pale-faced.

"Y-you don't know that," Sam tried, but Danny shook his head.

"No, I do. Um... I'm not sure how mad he'll get for me telling you this, but I think I have to. So, after the accident, a ghost showed up in my room. Not just a normal ghost, but the ghost of time. He's a very old, very powerful spirit, and he watches over the world. I've seen his control over time with my own eyes," he said, forestalling Sam's argument, likely that he couldn't trust this new ghost. He appreciated her caution, misplaced as it was. "In any case, with what happened in the portal, I... um... sort of changed the future of the world, and he wanted to come and confirm it himself. He... told me... about how I became... like this. I don't think he even really meant to, or he thought I already knew. In any case, he's been really helpful and I trust him."

"Why didn't you tell us again?" Tucker asked.

Danny sighed. "Because I've been trying to process it all myself. I died, Tuck. That's... not just something you accept right off the bat. I needed time to come to terms with this all."

Sam still looked skeptical. "So, you were going to tell us."

"Wait," Tucker spoke up, "was this what you were talking about when you told me you wanted to tell us and that you would when you were ready?"

Danny smiled over at his friend. "Partially," he said. "I mean, there's more," he shot a look over at Sam for the briefest moment before returning it to Tuck. Then he looked over at her purposefully, hoping she hadn't seen that or that she dismissed it. "A lot more, and I do plan on telling you guys everything, but..."

"But you have to come to terms with it first," Tucker said, suddenly looking tired himself. Danny nodded, hoping he looked as apologetic as he felt. Sam was still frowning, but she looked far less angry than she had just a couple of minutes before.

"Look, I know I've changed... a lot. And a lot of it does have to do with the portal. But the two things I really don't want to lose are my friends and my family. You guys don't know how much I appreciate what you do – even if it's calling me out for being a thoughtless idiot."

Sam blushed a little and looked away. "You can be," she muttered.

He nodded. "You're right, I can be. And I'm sorry. The next time I go into the zone, I'll take you guys with me if I can, okay?"

"And you'll shoot us a text otherwise," Tucker insisted. "If you can text your sister, you can text us too."

Danny chuckled. "Deal."

They all shared a grin, even if it wasn't as expansive as their normal smiles. They were still real, and Danny couldn't help but be grateful for that. Then Sam bent down and picked up her box of mechanical frogs. "Come on. We'll be late for the assembly."

The two boys exchanged fond, if mildly exasperated, glances before following her down the hall.

xXx

Danny had never been phenomenal at building stuff from the ground up. That had been more of his parents' area of expertise. The master's degree the half-ghost had earned in the future dealt more with the physics behind the Ghost Zone. It also included studying and classifying ghosts – figuring out how they worked, how they fit into or expanded upon (or redefined) Earth's current systems of classification, what that could mean for ghost and human interactions, how ectoplasmic entities could evolve and their danger level, etc. Other than that, he'd dealt more with recording, understanding and classifying how ghost powers worked and what physical rules governed their existences than anything else. Why could they do what they did and how could humans replicate or help to moderate that? Did it all have to do with ectoplasm? A substance that, while found in humans, was otherwise neutral? It just sort of existed, so what gave ghosts the ability to do what they did? How did it get emotionally charged to a point where it could physically manifest?

It had been fascinating, but honestly, Danny wasn't looking forward to having to redo all of his work this time around. As interesting is it was, he wanted to move forward and figure out more, not redo everything he'd already done. So he was planning on putting it off until after he got his parents on board. And that would happen soon. Maybe after the trip to Wisconsin?

Until then, Danny was stuck working in the area of science he tended to be the worst at: building and modifying hardware. There was a reason he wanted Technus as an ally. While he could watch and observe and try to figure out patterns and parallels for hours, for some reason working on his parents' inventions just made him want to tear his hair out. It was all the little wires and connections he had to worry about, and welding correctly and having such a steady hand and the pressure of it all... He really didn't like to do anything like that unless he absolutely had to.

Unfortunately, right now, he had to.

His parents had come up with a specter deflector prototype that they wanted him to wear. Now he had to copy it as best he could and modify his copy so it could contain a ghost's energy signature instead of repel it. He had a little while to finish it, as Ember wouldn't be in Amity until March, but he knew he'd need to start on it now to get anything of decent quality finished by the time she got there (although, before would be better). He couldn't just adjust his own and give it to her (although he definitely planned on adjusting it) because his parents would get suspicious about him 'losing' his. Fortunately, he and Jazz had also talked them into giving Danny a key to his own belt as wearing it in the shower or during gym class would be difficult to swing with the teachers, embarrassing with the other students, and honestly going overboard. It had taken quite a lot of effort on the teens' part, but eventually they'd worn their parents down.

Fortunately, this prototype wasn't as strong as the prototype he remembered his parents making the first time around, so if it didn't touch his skin (he wore it over his pants and under his shirt), he was only mildly uncomfortable in his human form. It wasn't anything he couldn't deal with, honestly, so he just went about the day as best he could with it on and left it with Sam or Tucker if he had to go ghost.

He sighed as he raised the face shield he'd been wearing and studied his handiwork. It wasn't nearly as professional as his parents' but it should do. He hoped so in any case. Scrounging up the different parts and working when his parents weren't there had been... difficult to say the least. Even though his father could be oblivious, he was strangely focused when it came to his possessions. Apparently it was part of the mild autism his father had been diagnosed with in the future. Danny wasn't quite sure how that worked, but Jazz's brains and her strange fixations (not to mention some of Danny's own quirks) had been attributed to an even milder case of it. It may have also been part of why Danny and Jazz both had issues, sometimes, figuring out social faux pas and why it never even occurred to his father to try and figure the same faux pas out.

"Well, here goes nothing," he muttered as he turned on the belt. It was kind of obvious, but with a little spray paint, maybe some rub 'n buff, and some acrylic touch ups, it shouldn't look too bad from on stage. Besides, if it looked cheap, no one would really think of it as something significant, right? He might just be stuck scrounging up more parts and making a couple more different ones for different costumes. He didn't remember her having too many, but was that because she was a ghost, or because it was just her look or because he hadn't been paying much attention...

Well, they'd have to figure out the nuances later. He checked the Fenton RV Tracker to see where his parents were. Still out in the city, chasing ghosts. They seemed to be near the park for now. Good. That meant he still had time to test this out.

Cracking his neck (he'd definitely been sitting too long), he transformed and then buckled the belt into place. It really didn't look pretty right now, haphazardly thrown together with wires glued to the inside of a thick, brown belt. It definitely sat wrong on his hips, but didn't people wear belts at strange angles these days? Meh... if not, Ember could start a trend.

Then Danny turned on the new Fenton Detector. He had to admit, this was part of the reason why he'd decided that he had to finish his project for Ember now. His parents had told him they'd start scanning him for ecto-energy once they finished (he'd been keeping an eye on them and realized they'd just finished that morning), and he had to have something to stop them. He hoped that he and Jazz were making progress in highlighting and challenging their biases, but they still had a ways to go. So, this was just as much for him as it was for her.

"Alright," he muttered as he stood in front of the scanner. "Let's see if I've gotten something, or completely screwed it up."

It went haywire.

Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was sure he'd fixed everything this time... Frustrated he went to take the belt off when he realized something...

He'd forgotten to turn it on.

Ugh. He really was more like his parents than he wanted to admit.

Shaking his head, he flipped the switch on and the belt hummed for a moment, then glowed. To Danny's relief, the Fenton Detector quieted down almost immediately. It still showed some ectoplasmic signature, but nothing he couldn't likely explain away. He may want to try and up the strength for Ember's, but all in all he couldn't help but grin. He'd done it! He'd made an invention on his own! Admittedly, he'd had a guide to follow, but still!

Grinning, he changed back to Fenton, willing the transformation to not touch the belt.

It still fizzed and sparked when the rings passed over it, shocking Danny a bit.

"Ow!" he yelped, then sagged a bit when the Fenton Detector went haywire again.

"Ugh," he muttered, reaching over and turning it off. "Back to the old drawing board."

But he had an idea of what had happened. His ghost energy had likely overloaded... well, there were a couple of components it could have overloaded. None of them would be too difficult to replace. If he had a couple more wires and some connectors, he might even be able to enhance it...

He went looking for a couple more things and some replacement parts, because he would finish this tonight.

xXx

Jazz bit her lip nervously as her parents scanned her for ecto-energy, insisting they do so before she left for school. She knew she'd be fine, but Danny...

She shot a glance over at him. He didn't seem nervous at all. Did he have a plan? Probably... she hoped so.

"Alright, Jazzy-pants! You're all clear!" Her father boomed.

"I still think you're wrong about ghosts," she said, almost flippantly. She knew they wouldn't take her seriously.

Her parents exchanged glances, but didn't say anything. Probably a good idea if they wanted to keep the peace so their kids could get to school.

They turned their equipment on Danny. Jazz sucked in a silent breath. Their parents looked over the information for a few moments.

"Well, it's a little higher than Jazz's, but still within expected parameters," her mother said finally. Jazz let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Guess I've just been exposed to more," Danny said with a shrug. Then he smiled at his parents. "I agree with Jazz."

Their mother sighed and their father pouted.

"I still love you both, by the way," their son said, throwing his arms around his father, and then his mother.

Jazz smiled at the scene. It was sweet and did seem to lighten their moods.

"Are you wearing your belt?" Maddie asked sternly.

Danny reached down to his waist and grabbed something clunky that hung there through the bottom of his shirt, which covered it completely.

"Alright. Be safe," their mom said as the two children hurried out the door.

"Want a ride?" Jazz asked.

"Sure," Danny replied. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said, unlocking her car and slipping inside. Danny did so on the passenger side and went to buckle in.

"Alright," Jazz said after he'd closed the door, "how did you do that?

Her brother grinned, reached down and lifted his shirt. A very clunky-looking mechanical mess sat where the Specter Deflector should be. Jazz just stared.

"Danny, what is that?"

"It conceals a ghost's signature so it can't be detected. At least not with current technology."

Jazz just blinked as she stared at it, then looked up at her brother's grinning face, then back at the mess around his waist. "You... made that?"

Danny's expression turned wry as he put his shirt back down. "Yup. I know it isn't exactly on mom and dad's level, but it worked."

The red-head felt herself frown. "Didn't you work with mom and dad on things like that in the future?"

Her brother shrugged. "Yeah, but I just had the basics down. I know how to string things together. I'm not very good at it though. And I'm terrible at troubleshooting. I think I'm a bit more like dad in that aspect," he grumbled that last part and Jazz had to cover a smile with her hand.

"What?" Danny asked, sounding defensive. "Dad has some great ideas! And he's pretty good at building things. He just... tends to rush through things."

"Is that what you do?" Jazz asked as she eased out into the relatively empty street. People tended to avoid their street... for obvious reasons. She'd avoid this street if she could.

Danny folded his arms a little huffily. "No. I mean, yes, I get impatient, but dad actually enjoys it. I enjoy a finished product. He likes the process. So does mom. It just frustrates me."

"Well," the older sibling said with a smile, "I'm proud of you for making it, then." They pulled to a stop sign at the end of the street, and she reached over to ruffle her brother's hair.

"Hey!" he protested, but he didn't sound (or look) too upset.

She just widened her grin and then pushed on the gas pedal once the intersection was clear.

xXx

"Danny! I found it!" Sam said excitedly over the computer screen.

Jazz and Danny blinked at each other blankly, and then looked over at the screen.

"Here, let me send it to you!"

A file slowly transferred over and Danny opened it quickly. The file popped up on screen.

No picture, but it did have, in cursive, a death certificate for a Jonathan Beasley, age 24. His death had been a shipping container accident.

Danny just stared at it for what felt like forever. They'd been looking for several hours, twice a week for what felt like years (it was only a month and a half though) and... he'd gotten used to the idea that they likely wouldn't find it. Actually, them finding it this soon was kind of... a miracle.

"I can't believe it," Jazz said.

"Is it the real thing?" Tucker asked from his own screen.

Danny felt a smile grow on his face. "I think so, Tuck."

"It wasn't from Amity Park," Sam said. "It's from Chicago."

"That's a couple of hours drive from here."

Sam shrugged, still grinning in triumph. "I figured it was a good place to look. I've been looking through those records for the last couple of weeks. Having the name helped."

Danny just laughed. "You're brilliant, Sam! Now we can see if we can track his family down!"

The goth's grin just widened. "On it."

"You don't have to tonight," Danny said. "I mean, I want to stop by the Box Ghost's lair and let him know the good news."

Silence.

Danny blinked.

"You are not going without one of us along," Jazz said.

Sam and Tucker agreed with firm nods.

The half-ghost sighed. "Fine. Jazz, want to come?"

"I can use a dummy number to call your parents to get them out of the house," Tucker said.

Danny nodded. "Great idea Tuck. You do that now. Jazz and I will take the Specter Speeder. It should be done about now." After all, his parents had been working on that almost since before they'd started on this portal. "I'll need you to come over to let us back in though. Can you do that?"

Tucker nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem. Curfew's still not for another two hours."

"Alright. Let's go," Jazz said firmly. Danny could see how her face had paled though. He didn't really blame her. But he had promised that he'd take someone.

"Calling now," Tucker said.

Five minutes later, they heard their parents practically stampede out of the house.

Danny and Jazz found the Specter Speeder off to the side, right where they were expecting it. It turned on just fine, it hovered just fine, and while it was obviously not finished, it looked like it would work for them.

"Alright!" the half ghost grinned. "Get ready for the tour of your life, Jazz."

She swallowed as she got behind the driver's seat. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Danny shot her a reassuring grin before opening the portal. Then he hurried to the other side of the Specter Speeder and they flew in.

"Is... it always like this?" Jazz asked, looking around nervously. "I mean... there isn't even ground. How do you orient yourself?"

Her brother opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again, thinking about that.

"That's... a good question. I just kind of... do. I mean, I know where the portal is, and that's always been my ground zero. I don't know how other ghosts orient themselves. I would guess that wherever they live, they count that as their starting point and orient everything else off of that."

Jazz leaned out a little, looking over the side. "How far down does it go?"

Danny pulled her back in as a random ghost rushed by. She gasped.

"Um... I don't know. I tend to go horizontal more than anything else. I haven't found an end to the Ghost Zone. This isn't a planet, it's a realm. Probably closer to outer space... except with a breathable atmosphere and no vacuum. Don't ask me how that all works with physics. Considering that all ghosts have a type of magic when it comes to their powers, I'm pretty sure the ectoplasmic energy has something to do with it."

Jazz's fingers tightened on the steering wheel. "You're not really reassuring me."

The half-ghost smiled at her sympathetically as he tried to ignore his ghost sense going crazy. "How about this: I've been here often enough that I can get us home easily. I'll make sure nothing happens to you, and if you fall, I'll catch you."

Jazz shot a thankful smile towards him.

It took them about fifteen or so minutes to get to the Box Ghost's lair. They ran across a couple of ghosts, but none who were particularly memorable, and none above a level 40 on the GEV scale. Danny couldn't help but be relieved. He could likely protect his sister, even at his current power level, but it could potentially be difficult, depending on the ghost. He couldn't even throw a decent ectoplasmic blast. Well, he could, but they tended to putter out before he could do anything. He'd much rather prefer not using each power until they stabilized. Of course, him being able to talk down most of the major ghosts who popped up helped there. And, thankfully, Skulker hadn't come back yet, so he was just keeping an eye out for the lower GEV scale ghosts around Amity currently.

Well, he would be if he wasn't in the middle of the Ghost Zone about to break some very good news to an ally.

He told Jazz to stop, and she did so. Then Danny changed into his ghost form and got out of the speeder. He floated up to and knocked on the door and then couldn't help but fidget while he waited. This was exciting news, after all.

Eventually the Box Ghost opened the door and then blinked when he saw Danny there.

"Hellooooo! What news have youuu?" he asked.

Danny sighed. "Seriously, you're not scary like that and it's very hard to take you seriously."

The Box Ghost studied Danny for a couple of moments before dropping the act.

"Fine. Why are you here?"

Danny grinned. "Johnathan Beasley, age 24, born and raised in Chicago, Illinois."

For several seconds, the Box Ghost just stared in a sort of open shock at Danny, who pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over. He was glad he'd taken the liberty of printing out a copy of the death certificate before they'd left.

The ghost just stared down at the piece of paper as if he couldn't comprehend what he could see written on it.

"You... found it?" he asked in the softest voice Danny had ever heard from him.

The half-ghost grinned. "Yup. Actually, it was my friend Sam who went looking in Chicago. She found it."

The Box Ghost continued to stare at the paper for several seconds, but then he hugged the paper to is chest. Danny grinned.

"And the box?"

That caused the half-ghost's smile and dim a bit. "We're still looking into it. Hopefully this will give us a good lead, but we're only human... and ghost. But I told you we'd keep you updated."

The Box Ghost continued to stare at Danny before rushing forward. Danny didn't have the time to move as the ghost threw his arms around the half-ghost. Danny stiffened and awkwardly patted the Box Ghost on his back.

"Thank you, so much," the Box Ghost said. "I don't know why you did this... but thank you."

Danny felt himself relaxing a little. "You're welcome, Johnathan."

He politely ignored the half laugh/half sob that he heard coming from the ghost's mouth.

"Alright, alright," he said after a couple of seconds, "don't make it weird."

"I'm a ghost. It's my joooob to make things weird!" Johnathan said as he backed away. "Beware!"

Danny just sighed and shook his head. Then he glanced back at Jazz. He could think of a lot of good reasons to introduce Box Ghost to Jazz. Not the least of which was that he could foist said ghost onto her when he showed up. He hoped his grin didn't look too mischievous.

"Hey, Johnathan, want to meet my sister?"

A couple of blinks as Box Ghost looked at him, then leaned past him to see the Specter Speeder and the teenager sitting inside behind the wheel. She still looked uncomfortable, and waved at them when she saw their attention on her. It was actually a little amazing that the ghost hadn't shown up around his sister yet, to be honest.

"Your sister?!" he asked in his usual voice. Then seemed to think about it. "Sure, why not?" he said, his tone dropping to something more normal.

"Great. She's studying to be a psychologist... or a brain surgeon. She hasn't decided yet. Come on." And with that, he led the Box Ghost over to the speeder, knowing that if Jazz tried to kill him for this that it would be worth it.