I do not own Danny Phantom

"How's it lookin, Mads?"

Jack asked as he held the latter for her and kept look out. Maddie was working the wiring at a circuit box on the side of a building. A few adjustments here and there and the power would cut just long for Scratch to get into the building.

The married couple were at an unknown facility two hours from home. Thankfully the rain had stopped but it was near eight O'clock at night so it was still quite dark. Maddie needed to use the night vision setting in her goggles to see anything.

"Almost…". She responded to her husband quietly.

Their job was simple. Cut the power to the security system to allow Scratch to enter the building. Then meet him at the rendezvous point to make a get away. What was this building? Why did Scratch need to get inside? They didn't want to know. In all the time they had known the ghost, they had never figured out what exactly his "company" was for. All they knew was that most of the work they were asked to do was in someway very illegal. Jack and Maddie liked staying in the dark. The less they dwelled on it the better. So they kept everything on a need to know basis.

On this particular job they were needed to dismantle a ghost security system made by one of Fenton work's ghost hunting competitors. It should be an easy enough mission. Maddie took note of what shoddy workmanship these people did, at least by her standards. Just get rid of this and Scratch would be able to come and go into the building as he pleased.

"Got it!" The woman flicked one more switch in the circuit box and the deed was done. Unfortunately she wasn't quite careful enough and got quite a nasty shock that shot her right off the latter.

"MADDIE!"

Thankfully, Jack caught her just in time before she hit the ground. Before the man got the opportunity to ask his wife if she was alright however, they heard barking in the distance. The noise caught the attention of the guard dogs.

"Crap! Let's go!" Maddie bolted from her husbands arms and they both hurried away from the scene. She flipped open her phone and speed dialed Scratch's number.

"Is it done?" The ghost snapped impatiently.

"Yeah, but we caught the notice of some guard dogs so they might be on to us."

"What", came his flat, displeased reply.

"It's fine! We rewired the system so that we can control the system remotely! Turning it on and off will be as easy as pressing a button from our GAV. Give it 20 minutes. They'll check everything, think that it's fine, then we turn it off and you can slip in easily. You ever need to come back here for anything else, breaking in will be a piece of cake!"

Maddie explained as she ran. She and Jack split up to take the long way back to their vehicle, hopefully throwing anyone who might look for them off their trail. If one of them was caught, at least the other would be safe.

"Hmm. Okay. Acceptable." With that the devilish ghost hung up.

Maddie made it back to the assault vehicle first. She waited anxiously for her husband. He had to make it back alright, he just had to. She couldn't take it if it all ended here. She sat in the drivers seat, gripping the steering wheel, tapping it nervously with her fingers in an anxious rhythm. Each second he wasn't there was like an eternity on her nerves.

Thankfully, after only five minutes, Jack came running. The threw open the passenger door and crawled in panting heavily.

"Thank goodness, were you followed?" The woman asked her husband.

Jack responded in between heavy breaths. "… No!… We're good!… Let me see!" He grabbed Maddie's hand gingerly, inspecting it for any injuries from her shock from circuit box.

"I'm fine. Good thing for insulated gloves, right?" She said with a forced smirk to try and lighten the mood. Her black glove was scorched slightly but the skin underneath was fine. If she wasn't wearing them, this incident could have resulted in their second trip to the hospital that day.

Jack leaned back in his seat, finally getting his breathing under control. He stared forward with a tired look in his eyes. He still held his wife's hand, not ready to let go. "I can't handle anyone else getting electrocuted today. I swear MY hearts going to give out if we keep this up."

"Yeesh, It's day one, get a grip."

"-AHH!" Jack and Maddie both yelped simultaneously startled by Scratch suddenly appearing in the backseat. He held two large coolers in both hands, his prizes for the night.

"We're done, drive." He commanded, setting the ice boxes down.

The ghost hunters said nothing but stewed in their own irritation as they buckled up and began the long drive back to Amity park. They wondered what the coolers might contain, but kept their mouth's shut, reminding themselves once again. The less they knew the better.

The ride back was in complete silence. The couple didn't want to talk with Scratch and he didn't feel like talking with them. He seemed so pleased with himself as he rolled down the window to light up a cigarette and let the smoke roll out.

'Great,' Jack thought with high levels of irritation, 'Now I'll have to clean out GAV to get the smell of nicotine out before anyone notices.'

This was his family's main ride. If one of the kids caught the smell, they'd have questions, and what would he tell them? He didn't want them to think he or their mother had started the bad habit, if he told them he gave someone a ride who smoked that would just raise more questions.

Besides instilling in Jack Fenton the belief that ghosts were A-moral monsters, Scratch also put a massive hatred of smoking in him. The very smell of it was enough to put the man in a sour mood. It was just the icing on the cake that was the worst day of his life.

Scratch asked to be dropped off in front of the gates of Amity park cemetery. "Great work today, team." He said with a mockingly syrupy sweet smile. "We'll see each other again real soon."

In a puff of smoke he disappeared, allowing Jack and Maddie to finally go home to rest.

It was about a quarter to 11:00 PM as they opened the front door to their house, they could hear Jazz pounding on Danny's bedroom door, clearly annoyed as she called out to him.

"Danny, open up! You haven't eaten anything all day!"

She stood outside teen's door, plate of pizza in one hand. She tapped her foot impatiently waiting for a response. Maddie smiled a little at the sight. "Aw, it's so sweet how you care about your brother."

Jazz turned around to see her parents and her look of annoyance deepened before looking away again. Jack and Maddie could hear her mutter under her breath. "Someone in this house ought to."

She shoved the plate into her father's hands. Speaking a little louder this time she said, "Here, you talk to him. He hasn't left his room since he got home."

The teenage girl stormed off down the hall to her own bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Normally the parents would be quite upset at their daughter for showing them a disrespectful attitude, but considering how quickly they left that afternoon, they sympathized with where she was coming from. That still didn't make it okay for her to be so rude.

"I'll talk to her." Maddie said. "You check on Danny, I'll be there in a minute."

Jack was about to knock on his son's door when he overheard the conversation Danny and his friends were having.

"-So what? Run away from home?"

"I-I don't know, Maybe? I don't know what to do! I don't have any control over this! What will my parents do if they see!?"

Danny was going on in a clearly distressed voice, but Jack was stuck on four words. "Run away from home?" Was Danny considering running away from home? After everything that happened today, how he had lost him, how he and Maddie now had to go through this contract or else he might be lost again, did they seriously have to also worry about loosing him this way now too?

A sudden anger began to rise in Jack. "This kid…"

Jack began to pound on the bedroom door. "Danny, you open this door right now, mister!"

after a silent moment, Danny hesitantly turned the knob and opened the door enough to peek his face out. It's pale, worried features stared up at his father. An audible gulp escaped the 14 year old. He looked like a child caught red handed stealing, but Jack paid no mind as he pushed his way through to enter the room.

Tucker tried to lighten the mood. "Uh, Hey Mr. F-"

"Tucker, Sam, It's late and I think you should be heading home now." Jack cut him off. His stern eyes never leaving his son. He slammed the plate of pizza down on Danny's desk with a loud 'clunk' emphasizing his fowl mood.

"Uh, actually dad, I was hoping that maybe they could stay the nigh-"

"-Not tonight! They're going home, and we're going to have a talk!"

Danny gave his friends a pleading look. He desperately did not want them to leave him alone. They only offered him an apologetic look before tentatively making their way to the exit.

"We'll call you later, Danny." Sam said as she closed the door behind her.

The second the two teens were out of the room Jack began to demand answers.

"Did I just hear you say to your friends, you're considering running away from home?"

Danny gulped again, "W-what else did you hear?"

Jack threw his hands up in the air in complete aggravation. Furious that on top of everything else today, he had to deal with this. This really was the worst day of his life.

"I cannot believe- You- After ev- the things you put us through!"

He could not find the words. Jack pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache about to come on. The two stood in silence for a minute. Danny looked away and rubbed his arm anxiously, waiting for his father to say something. He knew better than to chime in right now while his father was so obviously livid.

"What do you remember about your time in the hospital today?" Jack was finally able to get out. He already knew the answer, but he had a point to make.

"Uh…. I don't really remember anything too well after the portal turned on…". Danny answered lamely, still not being able to look at his dad.

It was the truth, although a very shortened version of the it. He didn't want to go into detail about the searing pain, as though his veins were on fire. He remembered going in and out of the blackness, the agony, hearing frantic voices. Suddenly there was this slow coldness enveloping him, and then…. Feelings, colors, but no memories attached. Floating? It was all so fuzzy. After that he woke up in his bed with Sam and Tucker nearby and he was…

Danny really did not want to dwell on any of it anymore than he already had. It was all so haunting, for a lack of a better word.

"So you don't remember your mother crying so hard she could barely stand?!"

Danny's downcast head shot up. He finally managed to make eye contact with his father. It was difficult to picture his mother that way. It filled him with incredible guilt that his actions led her to feel so awful. He'd never want that. He could have never imagined anything like this would happen when he stepped into the portal.

"In the entire time I've known her, I have never seen her like that. She was…. I…. We were sure at one point we were going to loose you. You have NO IDEA…" Jack stopped, needing another moment to collect himself

He took a deep breath and sat on the bed. He slumped forward, elbows resting on his knees, feeling very tired. "I nearly lost my son forever today because of a stupid reckless decision he made, and now I'm finding out that I could loose him again because he's making another stupid reckless decision. Danny, I don't know what this is about, but you can't considering running away. You CAN'T put us through that. This family is ruined if you're not apart of it."

Danny's eyes swam with shame as he watched his father. He had never seen him so visibly shaken and upset like this. His parent's deflated faces over seeing the portal not turn on this morning was nothing compared to this.

He sat down on the bed next to his dad. He still felt unsure about his situation. He was afraid of what his parents reaction would be if they saw him for what he really was, what he had become, and even more scared that he felt like he had no control. He didn't know what was happening to him, but at that moment he felt convinced of one thing. His parents loved him and he didn't want to cause them anymore grief than he already had.

"I'm sorry…. I won't go anywhere. I promise."

Without warning, the teen was embraced in the biggest hug his dad and ever given him. Jack closed his eyes, letting some of the weight roll off his shoulders at least a little for the time being. For what felt like the hundredth time that day the man exhaled a tired sigh. He just took in the moment, holding his living, breathing son against his chest and staying like that for a while. His arms wrapped around his youngest protectively, as if that could possibly be enough to keep the kid alive and safe from whatever this year would bring.

The hug was more than little awkward for the teen but he didn't say anything or make an effort to move away. He could see that his dad needed this, even if he didn't grasp the full extent of what his family had been through that day. Out of the corner of his eye Danny saw his reflection in the mirror over his dresser. Green eyes that glowed like neon stared back at him.

Danny only hoped they'd go back to normal before his dad noticed.

Scratch grinned a sharp toothy smile as he put the finishing touches on his work. It had been about a week since he got Jack and Maddie to help him get the finally bits of material for this little project. The client would be pleased. He was getting this finished far quicker than he originally thought he would. It was good to have those two back working for him again.

The devilish ghost took a break to thumb through the contract he'd made up for the client. This guy was going to owe him big time. This is how Scratch worked. He'd use his specialties in exchange for favors from others and he'd always have it down in writing.

In the human world, money was power. He'd be the richest man alive if he lived there. Charging a fortune in exchange for bringing back the loved ones of the wealthiest people on earth. He'd have the respect he was sure he deserved there.

In the ghost zone however, money wasn't that impressive. Most ghosts just took what they wanted by force. That's where Scratch often ran into problems.

He had an ability that no other ghost had, but in a fight? He was no better at throwing a punch than the box ghost. It was pitiful. He could get humans to beg for his services on their knees but his own kind just pushed past him like he was worthless scum.

So he could raise the dead? So what? What did they care? Most ghosts didn't want to go back to their powerless human lives, and considering their memories of being a ghost would be wiped away as soon as they were human again, they'd have no way to pay him back.

Scratch often wished he could use his powers to resurrect himself so he could live in the human world, but he could only attach a soul to their original body and his had rotted away decades ago.

He was so envious of ghosts like Walker, or Nocturne who had minions to do their bidding. Now that was a status symbol amongst ghosts. The best minions HE could hope for were the clumsy human workers he contracted that needed to eat, sleep, and rest in their home dimension. Ghosts like Ember McLain used human workers often as well, but at least she could properly brainwash them into adoring her. Scratch's humans embarrassed him by showing such contempt for his very being. It was hardly comparable.

Hopefully that would change soon. These types of projects that he'd throw together in order to make deals with ghosts took quite some time to create, that's why it had taken so many years, but he'd save some just for himself. Someday he'd have enough.

Just then a big behemoth of a ghost stepped into Scratch's little workshop. The Devilish ghost greeted his stone faced client with a wide eerie smile that showed off his yellow fangs.

"Well, whadya think? Got the exact specifications you ordered."

The behemoth inspected the creation with stern emotionless eyes, Finally in a gruff voice, it let out the reply "Yeah. This'll do…"

"Wonderful!" In one hand, Scratch outstretched the contract for the client to take, and in the other he held the pen that would be needed to sign. "If you would just put your name on the dotted line right he- Wait where are you going?"

The giant ghost grabbed what he came for, ignoring Scratch's words and strode right by uncaringly.

"We had a deal! You can't just-"

Before the shorter ghost could say anything else he found himself swiftly pinned up against the wall, struggling as he was crushed by the larger ghost's brutish strength. If Scratch had needed to breath, he would be suffocating right now from the pressure against his body and definitely have more than a few cracked ribs.

For the first time, the large behemoth ghost smiled. It was a cruel sneer of mockery aimed right at Scratch. "And what are you gonna do about it, weakling?"

Scratch said nothing but glared back unblinking at the brute with a mixture of hatred and fear. There was nothing he could do. He didn't have the power. Then without warning, he was dropped to the floor, landing with a painful thud. The large ghost just strode out the door with the necromancy ghost's hard work slung over his shoulder.

As soon as he was gone, Scratch let out a shriek of rage over his powerlessness. He pounded his fist to the floor. He despised how others would walk all over him.

Then he stood up and took out his cell phone. At least he knew of some ghost hunters who'd take revenge for him.

Any guesses as to what Scratch was making?

I always thought that Danny considered running away from home as a back up plan in case his parents ever found out about him, but always shelved that idea because he never really wanted it to come to that.

I'm going to be taking a break from this story for a little bit. Summer is coming up and my schedule is going to get busy.

Any feedback is appreciated.