Jazz drove Sam and Tucker to Fenton Works. Both teens had taken to heading straight to the house after school to check in with the Fentons. Both parents were finding it hard not hearing from Danny.

"I wish he'd just write. Just to say how he's doing," Sam muttered.

"I know Sam but Danny mightn't want to write to us in case we ask about what happened. We just have to be patient," Jazz retorted.

"Jazz, it's been five weeks! How much longer does he need? We're his friends. We just want to know he's fine," Tucker interjected. Jazz bit her lip as she pulled into her drive. Admittedly her argument was losing its effectiveness after so long. She wanted to hear from her brother too, but she wanted to respect his wishes as much as possible. Tortured for almost seven weeks. It would take time to get over that.

With a sigh, Jazz didn't reply. They'd had this discussion turned argument numerous times in the past. All that happened was they all got angry at each other and stopped talking for a few hours. They couldn't afford to keep it up any longer than that since ghost attacks were frequent. And without Danny to take point, ghost fighting was more dangerous than ever. Every ghost required the full Team Phantom, except their leader. They couldn't afford to take chances.

Jazz opened the door for the other two teens and they filed inside. She guessed that her parents were in the lab like usual. At least now they weren't desperately looking for Danny, they'd gone back to inventing ghost weapons Amity Park was in dire need of. They'd considered setting up the Ghostkateers again despite the fact that that group had never been taken seriously. Team Phantom didn't have the heart to tell the parents that the only reason those people joined was because the ghosts overshadowing those people wanted to keep the Fentons close in order to trap Danny.

Something reached their ears and Jazz froze. Her parents weren't in the lab. They were in the kitchen talking to someone. About ghosts! Jazz barged into the kitchen, terrified that her parents had been duped into revealing things they shouldn't by undercover Guys in White or other similarly horrible people. But there weren't any white suited government agents or weird looking people displaying unusual interest in ghosts. It was Danny! Her little brother was home!

Danny looked up and smirked at her.

"You can close your mouth Jazz. It's not that unexpected is it?" Danny greeted her as he got up. Jazz blinked and realised her jaw had dropped mid-word. She'd been about to spout some excuse for being in the kitchen so she could eavesdrop and then interject before the situation grew serious.

"Danny," Jazz whispered. She walked forward in a daze and pulled him into a disbelieving hug. He looked so normal. No scars. No haunted look in his eye. He was joking and smiling. It was like her little brother had never been taken.

She was crying before she knew it. Danny rubbed her back and made soothing sounds. She couldn't help but be reminded of how she'd done the same things when he was little and upset. She'd never thought that Danny would use the same techniques to calm her down after he'd been missing from her life for almost three months. She heard movement behind her but she didn't bother to look. She had her brother back.

"Oh hey Sam, Tuck. Be there in a sec," Danny greeted them. Jazz laughed at his casual greeting.

"Be there in a sec? Geez, why did we look for him?" Tucker joked with mock insult. Sam folded her arms and smirked.

"Not sure. Not even a letter," she replied.

Jazz broke her hug with Danny and dried her eyes and Sam and Tucker had similar reunions with Danny. Not a letter. No. This was way better. Jazz sank into a seat and her mother passed her a mug of tea from a teapot already on the table. Jazz smiled and sipped the scalding beverage.

"How long have you been here? Could have texted?" Tucker complained. Danny rubbed his neck.

"Haven't gotten a new phone yet. Kind of misplaced my phone during my stay with the Guys in White," Danny muttered. Everyone flinched in realisation. It was a nasty awakening to the fact that Danny hadn't been away for fun.

"Sorry dude," Tucker began. Danny held up a hand.

"Nah, it's fine. I've only been here for like half an hour. So I've got a more than an hour before Black Canary comes to pick me up," Danny interjected.

"Pick you up?" Sam repeated. Danny nodded.

"This is only a visit guys. Sorry, but this has to stay between us," Danny confirmed. The teens deflated at the news.

"But I thought…" Tucker began. Danny put a hand on Tucker's shoulder.

"I know. And I'm sorry. But if it were up to Batman, I wouldn't have come at all. He's worried about me getting caught," Danny reassured his best friend.

"This isn't a social call is it?" Sam realised. Danny chewed his lip for a second.

"It's many things. I had to come for a little business and while I was here, I decided to visit you guys too and save Batman a trip. I'll explain, don't worry," Danny admitted.

Sam and Tucker grabbed a seat and Danny dropped into his own. He frowned in thought as he figured out the best way to put what he had to tell them.

"Okay, well… I'm not exactly allowed to tell you guys everything but I'll try to answer any questions. The other day, a halfa got into a bit of trouble with the Guys in White. The people that saved me got wind of it and in trying to warn me, kind of tipped me off on what was happening. It was a case of mistaken identity. Anyway, I went with the team to save her and things got crazy," Danny began, knowing that his friends could guess that it was Danielle in trouble. He'd already explained vaguely that he wasn't the only half-ghost in existence to his parents.

"She got caught and when we tried to rescue her, we got pinned down. I had to use my ghostly wail to get us all out of there," Danny resumed. Team Phantom nodded in understanding, knowing the devastation that power wrought.

"We all got away but then we learned that a member of a group called the Light was at the complex at the same time we were. The Light are bad news. Really bad news. Batman thinks that the Light might be interested in me," Danny continued.

"Wait, because you used your wail?" Jazz interjected. Danny sighed and nodded.

"Apparently the Light are interested in powerful beings. So they might want to recruit me. That's where you guys come in," Danny told them.

"They might use us as blackmail," Sam gasped. Danny nodded.

"Exactly. So Batman is putting you guys under watch. Justice League members will be keeping an eye on you guys. Batman wanted to keep that quiet but I said it was better you knew. Also, mom and dad have been confirming my fears about Amity Park. Ghosts are out of control. Which means these Justice League people will need to know how to protect themselves. So I suggested that they stop here, get a lesson and introduce themselves. That way, if you spot them following you, you won't freak out and try to ditch them," Danny explained, giving Sam a pointed look. The Goth scowled at him. He smirked in return.

"But if you guys know who's meant to be following you, you'll know who isn't. So keep an eye out. You know yourselves if someone's acting weird," Danny concluded.

"Why can't you just come home?" Tucker asked forlornly. Danny smiled sadly at the techno-geek.

"Sorry Tuck. Still under protection. Guys in White were trying to catch me not the other halfa. Besides, I'm not ready to get back into the ghost fighting game," Danny admitted. Jazz frowned and turned to her brother.

"Is something wrong?" she inquired. Danny smiled knowingly at her.

"I've lost a lot of confidence in my powers. I'm getting better. But I'm not really confident enough to get into a real ghost fight just yet," Danny answered.

"Dude, you didn't always have your ghost ray and stuff. You can still do the basics right?" Tucker reminded him. Danny gave him a sad shake of his head.

"No Tuck. I can't. I find changing hard right now. Flash backs," Danny revealed. The room was silent in stunned sadness.

"Oh Danny," Jazz breathed. Danny shook his head.

"I'm getting better. Promise. One power at a time, yeah. But I'm getting better. And I'm still confident in my ice and getting my confidence back in my ghost ray. I can hold my own, but like I said, not ready to get back in the game properly yet," Danny reassured them. Sam and Tucker nodded in understanding.

Sam frowned as she recalled something Danny said.

"You said you had some business to take care of," Sam reminded him. Danny nodded.

"I might not be the only halfa in danger from the Light," Danny replied cryptically, but he knew that Sam, Tucker and Jazz would understand.

"What!? You're warning him! He didn't lift a finger to help you Danny. We asked, no begged, but he refused to get involved," Jazz exclaimed, ignoring the confused looks from her parents. Danny nodded.

"Which makes me better than him. I've already made up my mind. Besides, I'd like to confront him on that," Danny retorted.

"But your powers," Tucker pointed out.

"He doesn't know about that," Danny answered with a smirk. The three teens nodded, conceding the point but they weren't happy.

Finally Danny gets in contact with his loved ones and they have a better idea of how he's coping with things.

Any guesses how Danny's visit to Vlad's will go?

Let me know what you guys think of the story so far.

Until the next chapter.