Would have been nice to get this out yesterday in tangent with the other place, but FFN decided to throw a fit. Ah well. Beggars can't be choosers. Also god, December is tomorrow and it's honestly a blessing to have one month left of this year. I think I speak for everyone.

Thanks for staying up to date with this, everyone. Really. I'm reading all your reviews and comments and seeing you peek in. It makes me very happy. Hopefully this chapter will put some edge in again before we have an explosion of sorts. (Someone will also get an Expository Hairstyle Change next chapter, and it's not who everyone thinks it could be.)

8. Beckoning

"Dude, you don't look so good."

Danny merely shook his head, fiddling with the straw in his milkshake as Sam and Tucker both nibbled at the platters of food in front of them. Sam glanced at Tucker sideways before shaking her own head as well. "Well good to know Captain Obvious is here to help us."

Tucker snorted. "Someone's gotta say it, Sam."

The two of them continued to argue, Danny's eyes closing as he sipped once again. There was the typical bickering with the half-ghost in the middle, and truthfully right now? He would not have wanted it any other way. Just to have some sense of normalcy was- necessary.

It was clear to the two of his friends that he needed it. They would happily oblige, not to mention do their best to listen to… whatever Danny had to offer to them. After all, he had offered to pay for lunch for them to just get out of the house. He had snuck out of the house prior to lunch; everyone seemed to be gone at the time. It was as good a time as any right then.

The teenager kept his head resting on his hand, drifting in and out of the conversation that kept the other two talking- or lack thereof. He was not entirely sure right now; it did not matter.

The companionship was more than enough.

So, he listened to Sam chew out Tucker for a moment, only to have Tucker grump right back, and he smiled slightly. Even with the burn on his face, he had to smile.

It went on for another couple of minutes before the air was quiet again. Sam glanced over at Danny, who still had his eyes closed and his head resting in his hand. "Danny?"

"Mhm?"

"You've been pretty quiet for wanting to spend time with us."

His small smile remained, sitting up more in the booth. "Just- enjoying the moment, I guess."

"Weird," Tucker mumbled into his burger. "Usually you're the one causing the moment."

Sam gave Tucker a dirty look, but Danny waved it off. Sighing, the smile faded as he shifted his position once again. "I know that's all I've been doing lately, and I. I'm sorry about that. I get it."

The dirty look was now morphing into something a little more than that. Tucker decided that his interest in food was much more important; Sam turned to the half-ghost and gestured to her face. Danny sighed, looking at the French fries before back to Sam. "I… got into another fight."

"Could've guessed that much."

"It was with Plasmius."

She winced. "Also… probably should have guessed that."

"Mom knows."

Tucker froze mid-bite at this; Sam blinked before she stared with her mouth open slightly. Danny dropped his arm and pushed away his milkshake with that tired gaze again. "She, uh. She told me last night in the weapons vault."

"Dude, how? I swear neither of us dropped any hints or anything." Tucker was glancing around nervously; the diner was empty except for the three of them. He ducked back down into the booth. "We've kept our mouths shut the whole time. How did she figure it out?!"

Sam shut her mouth and folded her arms with a frown. Danny could tell that she was thinking and working out whatever could have happened in the situation, and he exhaled slowly. She was going to beat herself up for this, even if she would not admit it. He leaned forward in his seat now. "Sam? Sam, look at me."

"I don't get it," she muttered. "I thought… I thought they were…"

"Dense?"

Sam looked back at her best friend, pained. There was sympathy as well, but all she could do was bite her lower lip. Danny tried to offer her a smile, but it was more of a grimace. "We all did, Sam. You, Tucker, and I all thought they'd never get it. If I snuck it under the radar, it should have been okay. And…" He looked down now as his food. "I slipped. I slipped hard."

Now it was his friends' turn to remain quiet. Both watched the teenager, their complete focus now on Danny and away from the food.

"They figured out you guys went to Colorado thanks to the Specter Speeder; turns out there's a way to actually look up destinations and stuff in the database it's got." He frowned. "Just makes me wonder what else they know and if they've checked it before." He shook his head. "Anyway, I guess my burns from fights with Vlad this week got… more visible?"

Tucker nodded to the pinkish mark on his face. It was far less of an angry red from the day prior. "Like that one?"

Danny shrugged halfheartedly. "He mentioned something about too much stress in my body and what he did to me in Colorado. I mean, it makes sense, but… I don't know why it had to happen now. Maybe the electrocution was too much or something?"

Sam's arms were still folded, but she leaned on the table. "It would make sense. But we're getting away from the subject. How do your burns and reduced healing factor have anything to do with your parents?"

"Jazz tried to cover for me one night after I had a fight, and Dad got suspicious of it. So, he came upstairs, we talked, he saw my burned hand and recognized it as an energy burn. Ectoplasmic burn from a ghost." Danny closed his eyes. "I should've known better honestly, but I've been so… I've been so fucked up after everything that I just."

Tucker ducked his head. Sam's eyes grew soft and sympathetic.

"I- I did this to myself, honestly," he muttered. "I didn't do anyone any favors to help myself out or anything, and Jazz tried to pick up the slack for- for what? Just to have me end up getting my cover blown anyway by parents who are smarter than I give them credit for? Mom's torn to hell about it, but… I don't even know what the hell Dad's thinking about it all. He might just want me gone or something- move out. Stupid shit or something, I dunno."

His forehead rested on his arm now, the silence between the three only broken by the classic rock playing in the background. The food seemed all but forgotten, Tucker having folded one arm over his body and holding the other one and Sam having her own folded. It was a terrible feeling, knowing they had failed to keep their friend safe.

It was a terrible feeling indeed.

The silence was almost welcome, however. Nothing could be said or done now; it was all in the past.

Sam's brow furrowed now, thinking. "…so. We can't do anything about the current situation with them. What's done is done, and knowing you, you're not gonna run to Clockwork to fix things for- another time this month. Year, whatever it is. But what about Vlad?"

Danny's head slowly raised, and Sam could have sworn he aged five years in five seconds. "He's at my house right now. Something about a meeting in Amity Park or whatever. I needed to get out of the house, though. After last night and- y'know."

"We get it," Tucker replied quietly. "Danny, you've- been through a lot. Have you considered…? I dunno. Talking to someone else?"

"What, besides you guys and my family? Oh yeah, that'll go over really well." Danny rested his head in the palm of his hand again. "Sure, I can tell someone else and then probably go into the system with orphans or whatever because of me being half-ghost and my parents being incompetent at keeping me safe. That's an amazing idea."

Tucker winced. "…forgot about that."

Sam shook her head. "Guys. Topic please?"

"Right. Crazy old man in my home with my parents."

"Fruit loop."

"No, he's… gotten worse."

"Dude, how can a billionaire get any worse than 'fruit loop?'"

Danny gestured to the side of his face.

"…fair enough."

A phone buzzed. The trio blinked before Danny pulled out his own and stared at the caller identification with confusion before picking up. "Mom?"

The sound of something gently hissing was on the other end of the device. Danny pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed the option to put on speaker phone. Sam and Tucker frowned, listening as the hissing and buzzing filled the booth while Danny gripped his cell. "Mom?!"

There was the faintest of moans. "J-Jesus…"

"Maddie!" Jack's voice rang out in a panic before there was a cry of pain. Another hiss was heard. "Son of a bitch…!"

"Might I suggest you cease struggling?" The sound of someone gasping was next.

Then came a cry again.

Danny hung up, pushing himself out of the booth. Sam and Tucker followed suit, grabbing their phones and watching the teenager run out of the Nasty Burger. Both followed, leaving the mess of food in their wake as they saw their friend duck around the corner and a flash of light. Sam gritted her teeth. "Danny, wait!"

Phantom poked his head out from behind the building; Tucker froze, but Sam clenched her fists. "Dammit, don't do this again. Let us help you. We can- "

"If you've got time to talk, you've got time to walk," Phantom cut in sharply. "That or we can see if I can break my old speed record."

Tucker paled at this thought. Sam pursed her lips, however. "…at least wait at the door for us."

Phantom took off into the skies with a leap; Sam took off after the ghost hero in her boots. Tucker decided it was probably time to take up jogging.

She should have known something was wrong when she went into the kitchen that morning. Maybe it was the way Maddie was making pancakes, the way Jack was quieter than normal, or the way that Vlad had walked in with his scarlet robe and hair already up. Maybe it was the glances between her mom and uncle, then over to her with a tight smile. "Morning, Jazz."

"Morning, Mom."

Jazz had not heard any arguing, nothing having to do with last night or anything else really. She could tell that something was very wrong, though- it did not take a genius to see that much. Danny's door had been shut as well, and she knew that last night had been enough of a problem that there were no real dinner plans when they had a guest over.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

[ x ]

Jack could not tell you what had happened between Maddie and Vlad last night except what she murmured in their bedroom: 'be careful.'

Of what? Be careful of what?

He did not say anything when the trio was in the kitchen, keeping his eyes on Maddie and turning to Vlad. His best friend only smiled a little back, tilting his head before he went back to Maddie. She inhaled softly, whipping the pancake batter with renewed vigor and forcing a smile of her own. They keyword here was 'forcing.' He could tell something was amiss.

Jack knew; it was that weird feeling in his gut he always had.

It was something he should have listened to more often, he realized, when he saw Maddie almost dropping the bowl with the batter in it. Her eyes widened before she realized what had happened.

It was slow motion.

The bowl clanged to the floor with the batter spilling out, Vlad diving to grab Maddie by the hand. She had no time to react before his hand grasped her own and began to glow a deep red color. Her eyes had widened before she opened her mouth to scream, and Vlad twisted her around with his hand. It was a ballroom motion, sliding a hand over her mouth before it glowed red as well.

Maddie's scream never came; her eyes rolled slightly as she fell to the floor next to the pancake batter in a heap.

Jack had no time to think; his body was in motion before his mind had any time to process what the hell had just happened. He was diving for Vlad, diving for his best friend, before he realized the same hand that was glowing and silenced his wife was now hitting his face. It pushed into his mouth, glowing and almost burning before he realized—

[ x ]

The first thing he felt was pain. It was a burning sensation across his mouth, his wrists, and his ankles. Jack blinked blearily, struggling before there was a searing feeling of agony in said wrists. It made him squeeze his eyes shut for a moment before his eyes snapped open and he was fully alert.

"What the hell...?"

Jack looked down at the bindings on his wrists, the glowing red energy searing his skin. The ghost hunter shut his eyes, inhaling sharply as he clenched his fists. Jack forced his hands to unclench, exhaling slowly after the fact before wracking his memory.

He last remembered Vlad being in the kitchen with them and then- Maddie had dropped the bowl. She had been knocked unconscious. There was darkness. He had woken up chained to the chair in the dining room with-

"Mads!"

She moaned quietly, eyes fluttering open as she lifted her head. "Jesus..."

"Maddie!" Jack pulled again at the restraints; there was instant regret, the smell of burning flesh permeating the air as he hissed this time. He should have learned the first time, but the need to help Maddie overtook the burning sensation cutting into his wrists. There was no chance he could escape from whatever the hell this was without some sort of help. "Son of a bitch-"

"Might I suggest you cease struggling?"

The bonds around Maddie's wrists began to glow, and a red series of scarred markings began to snake up her arm. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she gasped. Jack gritted his teeth, watching them begin to pulsate slowly and Maddie clenching her fists. The bonds dug into her wrists as well; she cried out finally. It burned.

"You can't break out of them," came a pained and tired voice. "I. I already tried to."

Jack swallowed hard; Jazz had been placed in the same position as the other two with the dinner table between the trio. She had no burn around her mouth, but her eyes were wet. She had been crying clearly; her father narrowed his eyes.

This was a hell of a situation they were in. Even with thinking, pondering what to do to try and get out, every movement would leave a burn mark. A scar.

There was one problem and two missing people.

"Where's Danny? Where's Vlad?"

"Oh, he'll be here in thirty seconds."

The purr came from the guest room, Maddie shuddering from the sickly-sweet voice of their old college friend. Jack could only jerk his head in the voice's direction, seeing the billionaire walk out with his hand adjusting his sleeve. Jazz's eyes narrowed, and she growled softly. "You…"

Vlad held up a finger with a small smile. "Ah ah ah. We need to wait for the guest of honor to arrive, Jasmine. Wouldn't be a hostage situation without a hero now, would it?"

Maddie's stomach churned at this. "…wait a minute."

Jack frowned. "I thought you had a meeting!"

The front door creaked open slowly, and the teenage boy stood there with two friends in tow. They were gripping their phones, stone-faced. Vlad tilted his head and lifted two fingers; the Goth and the geek's eyes widened before Danny stepped inside with his voice soft. "…no. He didn't have one at all."

"Incorrect. I do have a meeting," Vlad corrected simply. "I did forget to mention one little detail."

Sam and Tucker suddenly floated up into the air surrounded by pink energy; Danny's eyes widened before they were thrown into the apartment against the walls of the building. Sam crumpled on the floor in a heap, Tucker meeting the same fate on the other side of the entryway to the kitchen. The boy clenched his fists, and the billionaire smiled grimly.

"My meeting in Amity Park is actually here."