Well, here we are guys. Let's get right into the last one. I'll see you at the bottom.

12. Echoes

The noise that rose from the kids exiting Casper High School was a roar as the juniors burst from the front doors with the sophomores and freshmen following suit. The last day of school was always a joyous one for most of the school; it meant freedom, time to relax and empty the brain of the cobwebs and other things after so many months cooped up in a building- at least until teachers decided they were having too much fun and gave out the homework.

So the students believed, anyway.

"It's like a tradition at this point, Sam," Tucker pointed out. "Let out all the loud ones, then we can have a nice and safe walk out the door without any tricks or pranks to get hit with!"

Sam shook her head. "If I get hit with something, you did this to us. You jinxed it. In fact…" Here, she pushed Tucker out the front door of the school. "You can take the first hit if we did get jinxed."

Tucker's eyes widened. "Wait, wait…! IT WAS A J—"

Sam shut the door before the screams outside were silenced by several individuals proceeding to spray Tucker Foley with water guns, hitting the door with the misfires. Sam glanced over at Danny; he smiled slightly, shaking his head. "Okay, that was mean. Even for you."

"We both knew it was gonna happen anyway. Didn't he learn from last year?" she snorted. "Maybe he won't be so stupid and loud-mouthed next year."

She opened the door; Tucker had crossed his arms with a sour look on his face and shook hie head, taking the beret off and squeezing the excess water out of it. "Dude, that wasn't cool."

Danny shook his head. "Hey, you were the one who said it, Tucker. Don't go blaming us for what you said."

"You left me for the water guns, Danny!"

"Sam left you for the water guns. I was yards away." Danny could barely hold in a snicker.

"Anyway," Sam interjected, holding up a washcloth to Tucker. He snatched it, wiping off his face and grumbling to himself. "Last day of sophomore year, free for summer until August… you guys wanna come over to my place?"

[ x ]

She stared at the book before closing it and setting it on the desk. The girl pushed herself away from it and stood up, sighing softly and turning to walk to the window. She placed her hands on the windowsill, staring out at the clouds that moved through the skies at surprising speed and the little moments of sun that came after. A small smile appeared, and she closed her eyes.

For all the times Jazz said things were going to be okay, she knew better than anyone that it would take a long time for them all to get over the pain. She knew how well Danny hid that pain for the last year, year-and-a-half, even if she did not really understand how he managed to cope with it so well. Perhaps 'well' was stretching it a bit thin, but he never managed to show off any of the bruises or the other wounds until just recently.

All the thoughts about the others at least pushed away how she was doing.

She never liked to talk about it. She hated it. It was a constant deflection to another topic and such and never one about herself, and she preferred it that way. She never wanted to talk about her feelings about things because, as she would claim, "they were complicated."

Deep down, she knew that was a lie.

She was tired of the hiding; she was tired of constantly having to cover for Danny. She wished she had a normal family, she wished she could try to have some sense of normalcy in a city filled with ghosts. She knew it was impossible, though- she was stuck with the Fenton family name until she got married someday, and who knew when that would be?

Jazz knew it was selfish to be thankful Danny had finally revealed himself because she would not have to constantly worry about always having to make sure he was okay.

But she was.

Jazz sighed, dropping her head to stare at the ground below and the newly paved road where Vlad and Danny had crashed into the ground. There was probably a whole new slew of issues going to come soon with this development. For now, she would take solace in one thing she never had to worry about again, and she would run with it as fast and long as her injured ankles would take her.

[ x ]

"So, what's on for the summer right now? Any trips?" Tucker called

Danny raised a brow and rolled his eyes. "I can't; I have a nutcase back in Wisconsin who's probably plotting more revenge for what happened and shit. Not to mention ghosts and whatnot. I know my parents know about Phantom now, but I have to get used to being around them and not having to hide everything." He sighed heavily. "It's- weird."

His friend came out of the bathroom in a towel, walking to the laundry room with his clothing and passing the bedroom. "How'd that go anyway?"

The hybrid shrugged; Sam came into the bedroom with a doubletake and quickly glanced around the corner. An exhale came through pursed lips. "Tucker, I thought I said—"

"I'm not going home for that!"

Danny shook his head once more. He leaned back on the bed, listening to the two of them and closed his eyes. At least some things were back to normal enough again, yet he could not help but have his mind wander. It went from Tucker to Sam… to Jazz… his family…

He had no idea the exhaustion was so great before he was snoring softly on the bed, curling up gently on the sheet as Sam and Tucker continued to argue down the hall. They walked back into the room, ceasing their argument when they saw the boy asleep on the bed.

Sam watched him before Tucker walked into the bedroom and gingerly sat on the bed next to him. "…man, I feel bad for him."

His friend slowly sat on the other side of Tucker, watching Danny move slightly in his light sleep. Her eyes softened, gently pulling up a blanket over his frame and looking back at Tucker. "I do too, Tucker. I dunno what we can do to help him out, mainly because he never tells us." Sam huffed softly, frowning. "I know us going ghost hunting is helping him, but." She ducked her head, her hand by his body as she watched Danny. "I mean- what about his well-being?"

Tucker did not answer this at first, thinking. He wanted to be funny, he wanted to make a snide comment about the entire ordeal; he was the one who was good at cracking jokes. As he watched his best friend resting in Sam's bed, clad now in a bathrobe as his clothing dried, he took a deep breath. "I think for now, we give him the help he wants. But if he needs something more, we're ready for that too."

Sam glanced up.

"I know you're worried about Danny; I am, too. He's my best friend, Sam, and the guy has been through some crazy shit. We've seen it. But…" He shifted uncomfortably on the bed now. "I know we gotta watch out for ourselves too. Like, his mental health is a big deal, yeah- but if we can't even take care of ourselves, how can we help Danny?"

She looked back down at Danny, her frown now softening as she contemplated Tucker's words. He was right, she hated to admit. He was right about that. "It almost makes you wonder how his parents are managing then. Y'know?"

[ x ]

"Hey, I got snacks!"

Maddie glanced up from the computers as Jack gingerly climbed down the steps with a grin on his features; she smiled in turn, seeing the plate of cheese and crackers as well as a small glass of wine. "Thank you, Jack. I trust you have something for yourself?"

A bag of popcorn dangled under the plate of food, Jack nodding at this. "Of course! I can't have my wife have a snack and miss out with my own! Found any clues yet?"

"Nothing quite yet- our work really never is done, is it?" She leaned back in the chair and watched him set the plate down with the glass. "Thank you." She took the glass and swirled it slightly as he pulled up a large office chair. A faint smile danced on her lips before it disappeared seconds later. "Are you still thinking about… you know."

Jack set down the bag after putting in a few pieces in his mouth. "When am I not?"

It was not ridiculously hard to tell what 'it' was specifically; the subject was also one they had not really touched on very much. Each time Maddie had tried to talk about it, Jack had waved it off with a different conversation of sorts. Like father, like daughter- Jazz did the same thing, and it did bother Maddie more than she wanted to admit. "Do you- wanna talk about it yet?"

The ghost hunter heaved a sigh, looking down sadly at the tile floor. There was never going to be a perfect time to talk about it, and they both knew it. How were you supposed to talk about your former best friend taking you and your entire family hostage, then finding out he was half-ghost and tortured and fought your son? How were you supposed to confront that truth over anything?

Danny being Phantom, he could at least grapple with and support. Vlad being Plasmius was an entirely other spectrum of pain, really.

It hurt. It just hurt, and he was not sure how to handle it. Every time he thought about it, he would tear up and shut down; it was just his reaction to the entire thing. He could not handle it.

"What's there to talk about?" he finally muttered. "My best friend showed he was half-ghost and hates my guts. He held us hostage, he's been tormenting Danny for months- where do I even begin, Mads?"

Maddie inched her own chair to his, setting her glass down and biting her lip. "I'm not entirely sure, Jack."

He swallowed, not moving his gaze from the floor. "We trusted him, Maddie. I trusted him, and for what? For him to be a complete jackass and do a one-eighty on us… on me… and he. He." He leaned forward, his head in his hands now. "God, I've been an idiot. I've been blind. How the hell can Danny forgive me after all that? And you."

Jack's hands ran through his hair, holding his neck now. "How can I… how can I even start making it up to you, Maddie?"

She rested a hand on his shoulder, her eyes softening now. He was beating himself up. He was not going to let himself live this down for a long time, and Maddie knew that. She also knew she was not going to be able to convince him otherwise for now, so she merely kept her hand there for now and sighed gently. Her hand unconsciously ran over his shoulder blades, and she wrapped her arms around him. Maddie's head rested on his arm, her eyes closing.

"…god… I'm sorry, honey…"

[ x ]

How long had he been out? Three, four hours? Danny groaned, stretching his legs because hissing sharply. "Cramp cramp cramp…!"

He pulled his leg up to his body, grabbing his calf and working his fingers into the muscle with a growl. That was not exactly the most pleasant way to wake up as he closed his eyes. His mind seemed to repeat the same word, and he forced himself to take deep breaths in and out. His hand massaged it, hearing the door creak open before he opened one eye and closed it again.

"Danny? What happened?!"

He groaned. "Leg cramp. Not what I wanted when I woke up…"

Sam strode over to the bed, sitting down and sighing. "You want some help? More painkillers?"

"God, if you got any aspirin or something, I'd love some right now."

She stood back up and walked over to her dresser, opening a bottle. "I leave you alone for two minutes, and you wake up- with a leg cramp, much less." Sam grabbed a water bottle from the side of her dresser, shaking her head. "What're we gonna do with you, hero?"

Danny winced and sat up slowly, keeping the cramped leg outstretched. He would have made a comment, but his brain was still fixating on trying to calm down from the unwelcome wake-up call. He took a deep breath in and exhaled through his mouth, taking the water and the pills. He chugged the water before popping two aspirin in his mouth and sighing, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "That sucked."

Sam smirked slightly, walking back over to sit next to him. "Well yeah. Cramps suck."

"Where's Tucker?"

"Went home a couple of hours ago; it's like eleven o'clock. Don't worry, I did call your parents and tell them you were over here," she added, seeing his eyes widen in panic. "So, they know not to worry."

Danny lay back on the bed again. "I really need to stop having you guys cover for me."

Sam watched him, furrowing her brow. "It's not a big deal."

"It is to me," he countered softly. "It's not fair to you, Tucker, Jazz to keep covering my ass every time something happens to me." He closed his eyes, laying an arm over his face. "I appreciate it and all, but at some point, I know my parents are gonna ask for me to start taking responsibility and all for being half-ghost and still a student."

She was quiet at this. How long had this been bothering him?

"I'm sorry, but… I. I feel like I have to stop being a bother to you guys; you all pick up my slack, and what do I do for you guys? Sure, I ask for help for ghosts, and you help. I ask for help in making sure I'm always covered for my stuff. And now that they know, there's no real point in—"

Sam exhaled lowly. "Danny."

"—asking you guys to keep doing that. So, I don't even know how to—"

"Hey. Danny."

"What?"

Sam let the word hang in the air for a minute before she moved closer to Danny's head. "…can you look at me? Please?"

Danny let out a disgruntled groan and lowered his hand from his face. His close friend rested on one hand, looking at the sheets now before she took a deep breath. "I know you- you think we're doing it out of obligation because we're your friends. We have to do it; we have to help you out." She smiled a little before it faded almost instantly. "If… if we didn't want to help you, I'm pretty sure we would tell you that."

Danny could feel his face growing hot at this.

"Remember what I told you at the Nasty Burger? We're your friends, Danny. Let us help you."

"And look what happened then!" he snapped. "You ended up getting tossed like a doll and fucking wall-planted!"

Sam never flinched. "Sure, we did. I won't deny that. But we wanted to help you anyway. Didn't matter what happened right then- we wanted to do what we could for you. Isn't that what friends are for?"

Danny's scowl melted slowly into a tired gaze.

"Let us help you, Danny. You may be a half-ghost superhero who can take on a Ghost King and apparently even your evil self from a bad future, but… there are some things you can rely on us for. We can dig up the dirt, we can make those distractions. Even if we're in danger, we know you're there to kick evil in the ass and send them back." Sam offered a small smile. "Besides. I'm fairly sure your parents can help with that now too."

The boy gingerly moved to prop himself up on his elbows. He was not going to win this argument, pushing himself upright while Sam placed her hand over his own.

"We've all got your back, ghost boy. We all do. If you need anything, remember. You can ask us. I promise."

It was silent in the castle as he descended through the ceiling and inhaled slowly through his nose.

Those who said they could calm themselves with deep breathing exercises were absolute liars.

Out through the mouth.

He stood on the floor of the welcome hall and sighed, turning visible once again and closing his eyes. His hair had remained long, much akin to how it was when he had been fighting Phantom. The energy he had whilst fighting had disappeared; in its place was sheer exhaustion and a simmering fury in the furthest reaches of his mind. He dropped to one knee, the two rings splitting down his body as he worked to take a deep breath- an actual breath.

The man ran a hand through his hair, moving to drop to both knees and run hands through his messy, long hair. It was no longer pristine and clean, almost somewhat fluffy from static as he closed his eyes. He did not want to believe it, but what was done was done. In a way, what had happened was almost a blessing in a way. He did not have to worry about making the boy his ally anymore, nor did he have to concern himself with Maddie.

It hurt. It ached so much, and it should not have. It should not have hurt.

He gripped his head, gritting his teeth and feeling his vision flashing red again. That idiot child... he ruined everything. He ruined everything he ever touched, and he could just see that little smirk on his face. 'Take a chill pill, old man- you live in the Midwest after all!'

Vlad snarled gutturally, baring his teeth to the carpet and his eyes flashing. His form flickered to the beaten and bruised form once again before flickering back to his human form. He could not stop the rise of fire in his chest and coursing through his veins. It was that unbridled fury once again. that anger that had him wanting to wring the life from his body.

Without warning, the man transformed once more; again, it was without the cuts and bruises and scrapes. Yet, the hair remained long again. He looked up from his position on the floor, his eyes that blood red color with his fangs glinting in the moonlight that shined through the window. Plasmius stood up running his hands through his hair and exhaling slowly. "Emotional transformation...?"

He walked over to the empty glass shelving units, staring at himself with his black hair past his shoulders. His eyes remained pupil-less, the aura about him much darker than it normally was. Phantom's aura was usually light, a soft white of sorts. Plasmius never really had one, not until now when he saw the red radiating from himself. He frowned softly, raising a hand up and summoning energy.

The energy surrounding his hands was a dark red, bathing his face in that hellish glare. Plasmius gazed at the consuming red, narrowing his eyes. His right fingers bent forward in a soft sort of clench before he flung a ghost ray to the right at the door. It blew open, splinter of wood flying everywhere with the open frame leaving traces of the red energy. Plasmius lowered his hand before closing his eyes, a soft chuckle escaping him.

The chuckle soon became maniacal laughter, erupting from his very being as he stood in the hall.

Phantom may have become feral in their fight, but his power was temporary. Plasmius's was (seemingly) forever, and now so was his grudge against the little family.

He had come up with a plan later. For now, he would relish in his new strength and the feeling of that rage coursing through his blood. He grinned at himself in the mirror, pushing his hair back.

"Oh, Daniel. I do hope you're ready for what's coming."

Is this a tease for sequel bait? Mhm, it is. I'm already thinking of it and have the first chapter written out, but it'll be a bit before I post it. It's gonna be a remake of my Criminal Minds/Danny Phantom crossover I started and never touched again, so keep a look out! I'm hoping maybe the last week of the year and all, just so I can mellow a little with this. There are some open-ended questions in the open because I do like a little mystery that can be answered down the line in other fics! I hope you'll stick around and look out for them.

This fic was a hell of a fic for me- I'm so used to killing characters, but honestly, not murdering anyone for once was refreshing. We've had enough death and issues over the last year and everything, and it's just been a very long and tiring road to get to the end of this year.

Really, what I'm here to do is say thank you. Thank you SO MUCH for sticking around and reading this story, even with its little holes and such here and there. I'm so elated with the feedback and the response to this, and it makes me so glad that I did this. It really does. I appreciate ALL of you reviewing this fic and am sorry I never got back to you all. I promise I'll answer all your reviews in this final chapter, cross my heart.

Well, this is the end for now! But I do really hope to see you all again soon in another fan fiction I write. So until then... well. I'll see you all then. =D

- Adri. x