Danny woke up full-on sick the next morning and ended up calling Tuck. After informing his parents, he wound up at his friend's house, utterly miserable in more ways than one (at least they were miserable together). He'd forgotten just how awful colds were. Thank goodness he didn't have to put up with it in the future.

Both of them missed school on Monday, though Tuesday saw them back. They met up with Sam before class, but it was... awkward at best. Tucker was the biggest help to both of them, though, constantly nattering on about this, that, or the other and providing constant distractions. He'd even gone through and made copies of his notes on the future for Sam and handed her a second three-ringed binder on Wednesday. She had, of course, thanked him and had come to school with her own notebook and a wicked grin almost splitting her face on Thursday.

And here he'd thought Tucker would be the worst. Nope. Unfortunately, he couldn't answer Sam's questions very well as a lot of them had to do with politics and the protests she liked to participate in. He knew a couple of them had been successful, but it had been her thing, and while he'd supported her, he hadn't memorized everything that had happened.

She still seemed grateful for what he did remember, though, and that, more than anything else, helped him feel better about the whole situation.

Friday was a day off of school due to some teacher's conference or something, so he was looking forward to a long weekend now that he felt better, and was making plans to find Desiree and check up with some of his other ghost friends. Unfortunately, he ran across Vlad's three vultures that night.

He almost banged his head on the nearest wall. Purposefully and repeatedly. How could he have forgotten it was that weekend? Just when he was getting his emotional equilibrium back... For the first time since coming back, he wanted to approach intelligent ghosts by sucking them into his thermos and just being done with it. Maybe he wouldn't even let them go just to send a message to Vlad.

Then he sighed, knowing very well he could never do that.

"Don't you three work for Plasmius?" he asked, flying up to them.

They squawked and one almost fell out of the sky. They really were too old.

"There he is! Get him!" One of the birds yelled and dove for him.

Danny frowned. They hadn't acted like this last time. He easily dodged them, but he'd been hoping that he wouldn't have to.

Well, maybe he could get out some of his frustration?

"Fine," he said with a grin that may or may not have been a little vindictive, "have it your way."

It took him maybe two minutes to get them rounded up, holding them up by their feet as they recovered from the punches he'd dealt. He hadn't figured he'd be able to do it that quickly with his diminished powers. Amazing what knowing the ghosts you were fighting could do for the length of a fight. Especially if they didn't know much about him.

"Alright," he said with a too-happy smile. "This is my territory, I let Plasmius know, and now I have all rights to completely beat the stuffing out of you."

The birds all exchanged glances and began struggling to get away. Danny squeezed their legs harder, making sure not to do any actual damage, and making sure to give off a small ecto charge that would stop them from changing forms (from legs to tails) and getting out of his grasp. He really wished he'd known that little trick the first time around.

"The sad thing," he continued, with that same expression on his face, "is that I would have been happy to discuss things like normal sapients if you would have just spoken with me, ghost to ghost. Too bad for you. So, now that you've gone and ticked me off, I'd start talking."

"Ve aren't saying anything!" one of the buzzards said.

Danny's smile widened. "Really? That's too bad, because this has got to be worth at least a week in solitary confinement."

More squawks and struggling. Danny, whose grip had loosened, tightened his fists again.

"What was that?" he asked in a light tone.

"Fine! Fine!" One of the birds said frantically. "Ve vere supposed to come to this town, find and then peck to death this guy here."

He held out a familiar torn corner of a picture with his father's face on it.

"Ah, see? I can't let that happen," Danny said, almost regretfully. Almost. "This town is my haunt, under my rules, and I will protect it and anyone living here. So, the way I see it, you have two options:

"One, I let you go and you fly back to Plasmius and tell him that I stopped you and will continue to stop you. Also, if he keeps this up, it will mean war, and I won't hold back. I'd really like to avoid that, as I'm guessing he will if he's as smart as I thought. Two, you continue to fight and struggle and I put you in solitary. What'll it be?"

"Very vell! Ve vill leave!" the third buzzard said, voice panicked.

"Good choice," Danny said, releasing the birds. "If you come here to attack anyone again, it will mean time in my thermos. Cumulative hours and days. Hours for minor infringements that don't put peoples' lives in danger. Days if you come with the intent to hurt. I will respond to lethal force with the same. Do you understand?"

All three of the ghosts nodded quickly.

"Great! I'm glad we could come to such a civilized understanding, even if it didn't start out that way."

"Ve're sorry!" the largest vulture said.

"Ve'll leave, now!" the one with puffs of white hair (feathers?) agreed.

"Good. Have a nice flight back to Plasmius!"

With that, the ghosts took off, leaving the half-ghost behind them. Danny's smile fell as he watched them go.

Of course, at that point, he heard the clock strike ten and had to sigh. For a couple of seconds he day-dreamed about going back to his own time where his parents would be understanding and he wouldn't have to deal with Vlad.

Then he remembered that he was going to prevent some of those things that brought about that future from happening. Right.

Well, time to face the music.

xXx

His parents weren't as angry as he remembered when he came home a couple of minutes late that night. It wasn't the first time it had happened this time around, and it certainly wouldn't be the last, but he'd managed to keep things together much better than Before.

"We've noticed that this is becoming a habit, Danny. Do you know how worried we get when we don't know where you are?"

And that was it. No mention of his grades or chores. Huh. Well, it seemed he was doing something right.

"It was just a couple of minutes," he pointed out.

"This time. What about last Tuesday? This isn't the first time you've been late. Tuesday wasn't the first time either. Ever since you were un-grounded, it's hit-or-miss as to whether you'll actually get home before kerfew. And after we got a call from your school complaining about absences... Danny, this is becoming a problem."

The half-ghost bit his lip. Now would be a good time to segue into telling them...

But, no. He needed them to at least question their biases first.

"Maybe it's a ghost coming after you again!" From his father, tinkering on one of their inventions in the living room.

Speaking of biases.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Oh, for... I'm not being influenced by a ghost!" As he spoke, he reached down and grabbed the belt he was wearing that they would take as a Specter Deflector. "Maybe you just don't understand everything in my life right now." He said it calmly, ignoring the de ja vous it brought up. It was something his teenaged self would say (had said, multiple times). Unfortunately, he couldn't help the edge that sneaked into his voice as he said it. Why was it so much harder to control his teen-aged body? Why?!

His mother sighed. "Every teenager says that, Danny. It's the oldest excuse in the book. If it isn't a ghost, then there isn't anything you're going through that we didn't go through when we were your age."

Well, she wasn't entirely wrong. Danny rubbed at his chest where he could feel his core thrumming.

Jazz, who was listening in as she read her latest psychology book, shot Danny a sympathetic smile, then winked at him.

Then she stood up.

"The reason Danny doesn't think you can relate to him is that you never take the time to tell him about your childhood," she said in a smugly superior tone. Well, he couldn't expect her to just change everything about herself overnight.

"Jazz," he started, but she went on.

"Have you ever told him how you met? About your first date?" She must have been reading the same book she'd been reading last time, because as far as he knew, she'd said something very similar last time.

His father walked over to stand by his mother, both looking thoughtful.

"Where you went to college?" his sister continued. If she was trying to distract them this time (highly likely), she really needed to work on her technique.

Danny just sighed. At least he wouldn't have to manufacture something to get his parents to take him to their reunion. And no sooner had he thought of it, than his father spoke up.

"You know, Jasmine, that's a great idea!"

Jazz blinked, surprised. "It is?"

His mom looked just as confused. "What is?"

Jack grinned and held out an invitation for the University of Wisconsin college reunion party. "This is!"

"Oh," Maddie said in realization.

Danny watched as his father put an arm around his mother's shoulder. "You can come with your mother and I to our college reunion!"

The half-ghost stifled a groan. Just because he knew he'd have to go didn't mean he wanted to. "There's no way for us to get out of this, is there?" he asked sardonically.

"Not really, no," his father replied, a huge grin on his face.

Jazz looked horrified. "Wait... Wisconsin?!"

Jack grinned even wider somehow. "Why not? My old pal, Vlad, is throwing a huge shindig there. We'll take the RV so the whole family can go together. You can learn more about your mother's and my college days, and while we drive," He leaned down, obviously having no sense of personal space as he grinned at his daughter, "I can blather on about ghosts!"

Of course, right then, the invention his father had been working on set of a ding and shook for a moment. The hose attached to it, an ugly, gray thing, began to shudder, suddenly shooting green goo around the room. Danny managed to duck, but Jazz didn't. She looked torn between rushing up to the shower and glaring homicide at her parents.

"Ha! It works," Jack said, raising his fist in triumph. "I can't wait to blather on about that, too!"

Danny couldn't help but smile at the de ja vous. He may have wished his parents would address some things, but there were others he hoped never changed. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same in some cases.

Though he was still frustrated to lose the long weekend to this.

xXx

Danny told Jazz all about Vlad that night. He started by describing the man the world knew – Affluence Magazine's billionaire of the year, one of the richest men in the world and a very good business man. Then he went on to tell her in far more detail than he had before about how the older man was the only other half-ghost in the world, his obsession with their mother and how he was convinced that all the pain he'd gone through was their father's fault.

Needless to say, Jazz was more than a little shocked.

The half-ghost also wanted her word that she wouldn't do anything reckless. Of course, she'd just glared at him as he'd said that, but she wasn't the one with ghost powers. He managed to extract a promise from her that she would stay out of Vlad's way and would wear an actual Specter Deflector the entire time they were there. She wasn't happy about it, but she agreed.

The next morning they finished packing and went on their way up to Wisconsin. They were able to avoid mishaps until Jazz wanted to open one of the windows and pressed the wrong button. Danny was able to mostly dodge. Jazz, again... wasn't.

"How is this my life?" she asked as she put her goo-covered head in her hands.

Danny patted her on the back and handed her a towel.

xXx

They stayed in the RV that night... the one that, if Danny wasn't careful, could easily oust him as a half-ghost. Fortunately it also had a fair amount of room... well, if one didn't count his father's bulk, but Danny managed to get a decent amount of sleep. He did fall through the bed once that night, but fortunately any alarms were focused outside and not inside. He just grumbled and got back onto the bed with only Jazz opening her eyes to see him. He just shot her a thumbs up before getting back to sleep.

The next day they got back on the road, and a couple of hours later, pulled up to the giant castle/palace that looked somehow even gaudier than in Danny's memories. The time-traveler just shook his head with a sigh. Even Ember couldn't live up to Vlad's pretentious, diva-like attitude.

Walking into the mansion and seeing everything covered in green and gold Packer's paraphernalia made it even worse. And Vlad was obviously giving Jack the cold shoulder. Had Danny missed that before? How Vlad had even slammed the door in his father's face after letting everyone else in? Maybe they'd been too stunned by the interior decorating (or lack thereof)?

Danny bit his lip and went to open the door.

"Hey, Dad..." he started, only to have his father rush by him and go to tackle the other half ghost. Danny got his foot out just in time. Better to have his father humiliated by tripping and falling face-first than by running into the bitter half-ghost who would kill him as soon as look at him.

"Sorry, Dad," he said, hearing his mother and sister exclaim in the background as he leaned down to help the larger man up. "But you told us last night that Vlad might still be mad at you. Tackling him may not be the best idea right now."

"Oh..." his father said, looking stunned. Then he nodded firmly. "Right you are, Danno. I'll apologize first."

"Dad, wait—" Danny started again, but just stopped and facepalmed again when his father made another bee-line for Vlad Masters, who was showing Jazz his signed Ray Nitschke football, obviously having dismissed the larger man's trip. Danny sighed as Jazz tried and failed miserably to not look nervous.

"So the Green Bay Packers won't let you buy them?" Jazz asked, sounding a little incredulous (whether that was at Vlad's audacity or at the circumstances in general, Danny didn't know).

"No," Vlad said, an edge to his voice that Danny did not like. He watched closely as the other half-ghost set the football back in its case. "It's one of..." he paused and looked directly at Maddie, "two things my money has, as of yet, been unable to acquire."

"Right in front of Dad?" Jazz hissed to Danny angrily as he came up beside her. Well, that was certainly different from her previous indifference.

The younger half-ghost just shrugged. "That's Vlad for you."

"Why are you trying to help this guy again, Danny?"

Danny frowned. "Deep space, Jazz. I don't know if you understand how big and terrifying even our solar system is. No one deserves that."

Before Jazz could respond, their father squared his shoulders and then held out his hand to Vlad.

"V-man. I... wanted to say I was sorry for what happened all those years ago. I tried to come and visit you – several times – but they wouldn't let me. Then you said you didn't want me to... and so I... left. But I've always felt terrible for what happened."

To Danny's amusement, Vlad looked gobsmacked.

It didn't take him long to recover, but when he did, he gave Jack the most honest expression Danny had ever seen. He hadn't known Vlad was capable of making that expression. Go figure.

"You ruined my life, Jack. All it would have taken was one word – one warning – and I would have gotten out of the way."

"It wasn't supposed to do that."

"That is what safety wear is for," Maddie pointed out. "I think that all of us should have been a little more vigilant when it came to that. But what Jack is trying to say, Vlad, is that we're both sorry. We all had some culpability when it came to your ecto-acne. We're just sorry you had to pay the price for it."

Vlad looked a little more unhinged, but once again, recovered quickly, smoothing down his Armani suit.

"Yes. Well, it gave me time to chart out a course for my life, didn't it? Make some decisions that helped to make me very wealthy, very quickly. And it never would have happened without you, Jack."

Danny actually had to hold Jazz back from going over to give Vlad a piece of her mind. "You promised," he reminded her quietly. She shot him a glare, but otherwise backed down.

Fortunately, his mother spoke up, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah... maybe we should go."

"No, no, you should stay with me!" the older half-ghost said as he got up to put his arm around Jack. "That's the whole reason I'm throwing the reunion here in my castle – previously home to the legendary Wisconsin Dairy King." He gestured up to a very large portrait that they'd all somehow missed a midst the gaudy green and gold. "Just so I could... reconnect with you, Jack. I insist you stay."

"Wait," Jazz spoke up.

"Jazz," Danny hissed out of the side of his mouth and hoping he didn't look too tense.

She ignored him, walking forward to stand in front of Mr. Masters, who looked rather surprised.

"With all due respect, Mr. Masters, you just said that my father ruined your life. You obviously blame him and you..." she faded off, glancing at their mother, who shifted uncomfortably. She probably didn't want to say it aloud as it would hurt their father. He was like a giant three-year-old sometimes, and hurting him at all felt like kicking a puppy. In the future, Jazz would be long over that, but here and now, Danny really couldn't blame her. "And then you ask us to stay – insist even?"

Danny was half a second away from transforming and just getting her out of there. He did not like her proximity to Vlad, who was recovering from his surprise. His expression melted into a thoughtful one.

"You take after your mother, don't you?"

Danny saw Jazz grit her teeth and was surprised when he found himself doing the same. It had been years since a little comment like that got to him... Oh, right. Puberty. Bah. Protective of his father, his sister, his mother, all in different ways, on top of being fourteen again. In some ways, this seriously sucked.

"Come on, kids," Maddie said. "Jack."

"You know, the Dairy King's spirit has been known to haunt these very halls," Vlad called after them, sounding a little desperate. Their parents, who had turned to leave (Jack rather sadly and reluctantly) both froze and exchanged glances.

Jazz looked worriedly at Danny, who shrugged helplessly. Then she sighed. "Mr. Masters," she said, "thank you for the invitation, but we'll be staying in our SUV."

"It is a really cool SUV," Jack commented, although Danny could see the longing in his eyes as he looked back at the castle.

Vlad looked like he was about to transform himself, but he took a deep breath. "Very well, I understand. I've been told I can be a little... intense at times. Maybe I can convince you otherwise over dinner?"

"Well," Maddie said reluctantly. "I don't know..."

"Please, give me another chance?" Vlad asked, a little more desperation showing.

Jazz folded her arms. "Will you give our dad another chance?"

The older half-ghost stood straight, blinking at her and then taking several glances at the other members of the family before he let out a sigh.

"Yes, of course. That's why I asked you all here early. I... just didn't realize it would be this difficult."

Jack looked like he was about to cry. "Vladdie!" he said, starting forward, but Danny had already grabbed his arm.

"Not now, Dad," he muttered.

"But—"

"Jack," Maddie hissed, not unkindly, "Danny's right."

The larger man slumped a little. "Fine." Danny patted his arm. His form of high functioning autism meant that he had difficulties reading the room, but it just took a little managing and awareness from those around him and everything usually ended up just fine.

Hopefully more than fine this time.

Danny looked over at Vlad, still standing there looking pleading. At Maddie. Of course.

"Very well," his mother said with a sigh. "We'll stay for dinner."

"Excellent!" Vlad looked happy and relieved. "What would you all like? You can all order separately. I have a staff of personal chefs." That were all likely ghosts.

"I'll have whatever Dad's having," Danny said with a bright smile. "He has such good taste."

"Aw, thanks, Danno! How about a steak?"

"That sounds great!" Danny agreed.

"And fudge!"

Danny did not smack his hand to his forehead, but it was a near thing. "How about a salad and fudge for desert instead?" he asked.

"Oh, and some mashed potatoes!"

"I'll have the skins," Danny said. Vlad could still conceivably poison his father, but A. It wasn't Vlad's style, he tended to prefer hands-on either via himself or his lackies, and B. They'd gone through this just fine the last time. Of course, they were staying in the mansion last time, thus giving Vlad more opportunities, and the older half-ghost got nasty (well, nastier) when he got desperate.

Maddie sighed herself. "I'll have the same as Danny."

Jazz looked over them for a moment before she said, "I'll have the same thing as Dad."

"Wonderful! Let me go tell the chef and we can eat later. Until then, you have free run of the mansion! I have some work to finish, so please pardon my rudeness."

"Of course," Maddie said.

"If you need me, I'll be up in my office. Third door on the right just up these stairs!"

And with that, he practically fled. Whether it was to regroup or so he didn't just go ghost and destroy them all right then and there or if he really did have work, Danny didn't know, but he wasn't unhappy to see the man leave.

"Well, that wasn't awkward at all," Jazz muttered.

"It's fine, Jack," Maddie said, noting her husband staring after the retreating man sadly.

"Maybe we shouldn't have come," he said softly. Well, for him.

"Just give him time."

Danny and Jazz exchanged glances.

"Hey, Dad," Danny said as he strode forward, "he did say we had free reign. And isn't there supposed to be a ghost?"

Immediately his father perked up. "That's right! C'mon, Maddie! Let's get the equipment!"

And with that, he rushed out, a very relieved Maddie following behind.

The physically younger sibling turned to the older. "Normally I'd say go find a library and I'll keep an eye on them, but I'm pretty sure they'll split up and if you're there with Dad, there's less chance Vlad will try to do something."

Jazz frowned. "If I'm there with dad?"

Danny sighed. "Yeah, I... want to talk to mom, and I know she'll be safe if I have to leave her for ghostly reasons.

Jazz still didn't look entirely convinced, but she did concede with a nod. "Fine, I'll trail after Dad if they split up."

The half-ghost smiled at his sister. "Thanks, Jazz."

She shrugged. "They're my parents too."

Of course, right then, said parents came barging through the door carrying all sorts of cases.

"Unfortunately," Jazz mumbled. Danny could tell she didn't really mean it, even if he could commiserate with the sentiment.

xXx

Surely enough, not five minutes into the 'hunt', his parents split up to cover more ground. They were both thrilled when one kid decided to tag along with each of them and the ghost-hunting officially commenced.

About ten minutes into scanning more or less every room they came across, Danny decided that now was as good a time as any.

"Mom... did you have a thing with Mr. Masters in college?"

His mom froze and Danny could see her face contort in a wince. When she turned around, she wore a forced smile.

"What makes you think that, honey?"

The teenager shot her an extremely unimpressed look. "He was flirting with you. Right in front of us. In front of Dad."

She bit her lip and looked away. "You... think so?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Mom, if he'd been any more blatant, even Dad would have picked up on it, and that... that isn't okay."

His mom seemed to slump a little. "When I was in college, I heard about a paranormal club that had only two members in it."

"Dad and Mr. Masters?" Danny asked.

The red-head nodded. "I told you that my family was haunted by a poltergeist, right?" Danny nodded. It had been a traumatizing experience for his mother, especially as no one else in the family had seemed to have any issues. Or, at least, they didn't admit it. "Anyway, I decided to check it out and eventually joined the club. We worked on our projects outside of class and I... well, I finally found a place I belonged. Because of my paranoia and PTSD, I didn't have many friends growing up."

Well, that sounded familiar. Maybe he was more like his mom than he'd initially thought. He didn't really have a problem with that.

"Your father and Vlad... we were inseparable until the accident that put Vlad in the hospital. Three years of college together and then our friendship was just gone, just like that. I..." she paused and looked down at the instrument in her hand, even if she didn't seem to really see it, her cheeks a little red. "I knew they both had crushes on me, and at first I felt so... well, flattered, I guess. But then I saw how it strained everything between all of us. I felt I'd need to make a choice... but honestly, it was never really a choice for me. Your father can be overwhelming and oblivious at the best of times, but he's also so... optimistic and supportive. He accepted me from the moment I walked into that lab, and Vlad took some time to warm up to me. By the time we'd become friends, I was already head-over-heels in love with your father. He's always helped me feel like I belong, and I know I help to ground him. We help each other be better, and isn't that what marriage is all about?"

Danny smiled warmly up at his mother. He'd never heard it like that from her, especially after Vlad had been banished to deep space. It was nice, hearing about how they'd been back then.

However, that didn't stop one fact. "I think that's... well, kinda gross," because he was in a teen-aged body right now, and it did kind of gross him out to think of his parents even kissing, let alone more. Meh, he got over that in the future. "But kinda sweet. And also something Mr. Masters needs to know."

Immediately, his mother's brow furrowed.

"I don't know if I could ever do that to him! It would hurt him so much..."

"But Mom, aren't you hurting him by not telling him? I think he thinks he still has a chance, and that's not very fair to him, either."

His mother's eyebrows drew further together. "You think? The fact that I'm married doesn't…" she stopped and let out a sigh. "No, of course it wouldn't. But..." she faded off, and Danny let her think about it. Then she sighed. "Yes, you're right, Danny. And this bothered you and your sister, didn't it?"

Danny nodded emphatically.

Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly, and she suddenly looked very tired. "You're right, Danny. I should go talk to him now. Would you mind?" she asked, holding the instrument out to him. It looked like a cold spot detector and moved more towards the yellow the closer it got to him. Thankfully, for once, his mother didn't seem to notice.

"Sure. Just, be careful, k, Mom?"

The woman smiled sadly. "Oh, I don't have anything to fear from Vlad. But, if he does try anything, I have a 9th degree black-belt." She winked at him.

He grinned back. "Good."

Almost as if on cue, a door opened down the hall and Vlad walked out of the room towards another door, holding a phone to his ear.

Maddie took a deep breath, then let it out. "See you soon, honey."

"Good luck, Mom."

He waited until she was a little ways down the hall before darting into the next room and checking for cameras. When he saw none, he set the instrument down, went ghost, then turned intangible and followed her. There was no way he'd leave her unguarded in a room anywhere near Vlad Masters.

Stupid hero complex.

xXx

AN: (Sorry for the long note)

I've begun to use the word 'sapient' instead of 'sentient' because I looked it up, and any animal that has higher brain function is sentient, while those who are self aware are sapient. I thought it was the other way around. Mind. Blown.

I didn't see much of a point in changing anything about how they got to Wisconsin, and I also wanted to point out that some things would really stay the same. The family members' basic personalities, for instance. So yeah. That being said, don't expect a whole lot else to be the same from here on out. Kind of one last hurrah, I suppose. There might be some recognizable things in the future, but likely not as similar to the original as this is.

Now, as for last time… talk about a polarizing chapter. People either loved it or hated it. *ahem* Understandable, but I do think I need to clarify a few things.

Some people accused me of messing up the canon pairing just to make way for my own favorite pairing. Um… no. Seeing as my favorite pairing won't work either. I honestly think that having Sam and Danny stay together doesn't work. I don't mind the pairing. It's canon and that automatically gives it a bunch of points in my book. But no matter how many issues I have with it, high-school romances don't tend to last. Do I think Danny and Sam COULD have made it work? Yes. With a lot of sacrifice from one party or the other, but both of them are selfless enough that they wouldn't want the other one to hurt themselves or give up their dreams or what keeps them sane for a relationship between them. In most cases, I honest to goodness don't see it working. *shrug* My opinion, my story. If you don't like it, you're welcome to write your own. No, seriously, I'll even read it and likely enjoy it. I'm always looking for a good, well-thought-out fic to listen to while I draw (part of what has kept me sane recently – thank you fanfiction downloader!).

That being said, the reason that last chapter partially spurred this story into existence is because it convinced me there was enough emotional baggage there to make this story work. I've already been accused of everything going TOO well, and I get it. I'm honestly taking this one episode at a time and asking myself what would happen. I do have some ideas for later that aren't going to exactly go as Danny expects… so yeah. But I knew that would be a long-time coming going into the fic, so I wasn't sure if it would be worth it. Then I thought about the DannyxSam thing and thought 'Okay, there's something there I can work with. Onto the story!' Or… well, something along those lines. *ahem*

As for a beta reader… I meant to get around to looking at people who had offered (including my previous beta reader, no, hon, I'm not upset at you. Promise. As a matter of fact, you're welcome to drop by the google docs and check out what I have there if you want), but this new webcomic has SUCKED AWAY MY LIFE! I honestly get up, wake up for an hour or so, eat, and then get to work drawing. I will draw with breaks (because burnout is a bad thing…) for the next 8 – 15 hours, then go back to sleep, and I'm STILL behind. You guys are lucky you're getting this chapter this month at all. I reserve the right to wait to post the next one in July…

I also may not be able to respond to any reviews or responses until July, but I promise I read every single one of them! Some of them, multiple times. I really appreciate that you've taken time out of your own busy life to come and read my story. It really means the world to me, so thank you!

For anyone interested: If you go to webtoons, look up HACamp and then check out 'Hope for Scars', I'd REALLY appreciate it! The second installment should be up this week so I'd also appreciate it if you subscribed to it. Don't blame you if you just want to take a look at it though. Thanks in advance!