Author's Note: I own nothing.

23 The Therapist

Jasmine Fenton considered herself to be a reasonable person. One of the few in her family. She knew her parents were a little nuts, she didn't like to use that word. Obsessed was better, buried in their work also worked, especially since their ghost portal had started working. But Jazz prided herself on being observant and something else had changed since the portal turned on. Her parents had of course been much busier than before. Family nights basically disappeared off their radar but they were not the only ones who had changed their schedule.

Dani had never had much of a social life. She had two friends, Sam and Tanya. She'd never missed curfew, she didn't tend to stay out late. She'd had some bullying problems but not many and it had never gotten physical. Then she'd had her accident. She'd been out cold for a little while, but seemed completely normal when she woke up, save for the new scar on her hand. Lichtenberg scars, that's what they were called, when they were normal. But Jazz had gotten a look at her sisters and they weren't quite what she'd call ordinary. Normally these scars spread over the skin, they weren't small nor shaped. But the one on her sister's palm was perfectly circular, tiny fissures of lightning spiraling around the center of her palm, all meeting in the middle. The odd scar, that Dani now habitually covered with a pair of fingerless black gloves, was reason enough to keep an eye on her. But then her behavior turned odd.

She became flighty, started missing curfew. Chores and schoolwork got pushed aside for something else. Jazz wasn't sure what exactly. But if the injuries she was hiding were any indication it was dangerous. It had started small, but bruises glimpsed beneath shirt collars became more frequent, cuts and scrapes mounted. Her parents were oblivious, they always had been, especially when they were so wrapped up in work. Jazz still hadn't seen a ghost, and refused to believe her parents ravings about them but she was genuinely worried that all this talk of ghosts was affecting Dani in a negative way. She flinched any time her parents brought up what they would do if they caught a real ghost. But of course Dani wouldn't talk to her about anything. They'd never exactly been close, in fact more than once they'd been at each other's throats. But as that summer drew to a close and Dani just stayed out later, claiming she was with Sam and Tanya Jazz knew that something was up. Dani wouldn't talk to her so during the second week of school, the beginning of spirit week, she approached Mr. Lancer. He'd been her teacher for the last two years, though she didn't have any of his classes this year she knew Dani had a few so she was hoping he could help her little sister.

She did not expect her prediction of Dani taking out her aggression in a negative way to come to fruition so quickly, with Dani having destroyed the new counselor's office. Penelope Spectra was a little… off. Jazz couldn't quite put her finger on why. Maybe it was the overly peppy attitude, maybe it was the pictures with the very clearly depressed kids that she displayed proudly on her walls. Maybe it was the creepy assistant, maybe it was how tactile she was. But Dani needed professional help and Spectra was the best option. Or so Jazz thought.

But ever since Dani started seeing Spectra she had become even more hostile towards Jazz. The dark circles under her eyes had grown and she looked much more on edge these days. She ran into Dani and her friends getting ice cream and she was very on edge, which resulted in an apparent fight between the three.

"Yeah! Well, if you're gonna take her side, how about you hang with her too!" Dani pushed Jazz towards their table. "Take my seat, you've already taken my friends!" She took off running and Jazz called out after her.

"Dani wait!" She was quicker than Sam and Tanya and made it to the side door Dani had exited through before it could swing all the way closed. She grabbed it and swung it back open. Dani was there, with her back to Jazz, unaware her sister had caught up to her. Lights bloomed as Jazz watched. As they passed over Dani she changed. Her clothes became a black and white hazmat suit. Her hair seemed to braid itself as the color drained from it, leaving it a silvery white. Though she wasn't facing Jazz her face was just in view enough for Jazz to see her blue eyes shift to a toxic glowing green, her skin paled to an unearthy hue. All of that in a few seconds, a flash of light. Once the transformation was complete she took off, flying up out of the alley. As she did Tanya and Sam ran into the alley. Jazz stepped out of the doorway and Tanya spotted her, staring off after the ghost girl who had so recently begun haunting Amity Park. Tanya seized Sam by the sleeve with her ice cream free hand. Jazz turned to them, the gears in her head turning rapidly trying to process what she'd just seen.

"What the hell did I just see?" Jazz didn't even realize that she'd said it aloud until Sam spun round. Jazz caught a look of calculation on his face for a moment before it vanished. Tanya didn't seem to be so cool under pressure.

"Jazz! It's not what it looks like!" She was clearly panicking. Sam shoved Tanya's ice cream into her mouth.

"Oh, Jazz you're not gonna start babbling about ghosts now are you? Everyone knows they aren't real." Jazz stared at him. They had gotten into the alley in time to see what she'd seen. But words spoken as she tried to discover what her sister was hiding came tumbling back into her mind.

'We're Dani's friends, that means we keep her secrets from you.'

'She keeps some things to herself.'

They knew. They had likely known the whole time. They were helping Dani keep her secret from everyone else. Jazz was pulled from her revalation by Sam frowning at her.

"Jazz?" She plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Of course, gosh my parent's crazy must be rubbing off!" She looked down at her wrist not even really realizing that she wasn't actually wearing a watch. "Oh would you look at the time? I need to work on my speech!" She rushed off, but didn't go far. Instead she stayed close enough to watch the fight. A fight that the ghost girl lost, it only ended when the ghost, a green panther, vanished with a smug laugh.

"Great he got away again. Another ringing endorsement for the town screw up." Dani said it just as Jazz managed to pick her way back into the room. But none of them saw her. Sam and Tanya were watching as Dani flew off through the ceiling. Jazz stared after her sister for a few minutes. She didn't know what to make of this.

As she walked home she went over everything she could remember from her parents rants about ghosts. They said that ghosts were made of ectoplasm and post human consciousness. But Dani wasn't dead. How was it possible? She wasn't sure, but all of this had started around the same time as Dani's accident with the portal. Had she died? Even for a moment? Was that enough to do something like this? Jazz had no idea. She headed inside and watched Dani through dinner. She wasn't eating, this time their parents noticed though and their mother demanded she not leave the table until she was finished. Jazz stood to do the dishes as her parents left the room, leaving her and Dani alone together while their parents played with their latest invention, the Ghost Peeler. Jazz finished quickly and frowned at her sister, who was still picking at the food on her plate without real interest. Jazz frowned. Dani seemed to sense her sister watching her.

"What?" She snapped. Jazz shook her head.

"Nothing." But she couldn't help it. She stepped over to her sister. She didn't look any different. No more than usual. She'd gotten slashed in the arm as a ghost. Jazz, curious poked that same arm. Dani winced back, pain flashing across her face.

"What!"

"Nothing!" Dani really hadn't noticed her in the alley. Jazz sat down next to Dani. "Dani, I realize I've been a little hard on you lately, but you know I think you're great right?" You're not the town screw up, you're not the loser that panther ghost called you. Jazz wasn't sure how to tell Dani that she knew. Dani rolled her eyes.

"Yeah right, that's not what I've heard."

"Then you've heard wrong. I know you think I'm pushy and a know-it-all. I know you think I can be a jerk sometimes…" Dani looked at her expectantly. "You know you can stop me any time." Dani nodded.

"I know." She said with a tiny grin. Jazz, not thinking gently slugged Dani in her injured shoulder. Dani winced, almost off her chair. Jazz winced in sympathy.

"Sorry." Dani shook it off.

"I'm fine." That was a lie. But Jazz let it go she needed Dani to know something.

"I just want you to know, I'm your sister, I love you no matter what. You can tell me anything." Dani stared at her for a moment. There were several emotions running through her eyes. Confusion, thoughtfulness, distrust, hope, resignation. She blinked and Jazz could have sworn for a split second her eyes had flashed green.

"I…" But before she could finish her sentence there was a crash from the living room. Both of them rushed to the door and spotted the couch in pieces. Their father was wearing the Fenton Ghost Peeler, the main gun on it was still smoking.

"I'm just saying if we could find that ghost at Jazz's school we could tear it apart molecule by molecule." Dani winced.

"We can't completely vaporize it, don't you at least want to examine the remains?" Dani pulled back, she'd gone a little green and dumped her plate into the trash quickly scrubbing it off.

"Honestly Jazz, I just don't want to talk about it." Jazz nodded glancing between her parents and her sister.

"Yeah I get that." She pulled Dani into a hug, seeming to startle her. After a moment Dani returned it before breaking the hug and heading upstairs. Jazz shook her head. Maybe outside the house, maybe then she could get Dani to tell her the truth.