Author's Note: I own nothing.

29 Passing On

Dani groaned as she pulled herself up off the floor. She was glad she'd gone intangible just as the blast from Vince's ectoblaster struck her. The combined effect had sent her tumbling through the wall of the lab. So maybe coming back to Axiom labs to try and find what Cujo was looking for by herself, as Phantom, had been a bad idea but she hadn't been able to think of what else to do. She heard growls from the other side of the wall and leapt all the way to her feet, wobbling slightly. Her hand shot out to steady her and met with a dusty pile of dog bends. A faint squeak sounded and Dani frowned reaching into the beds and pulled out a small pink bear that squeaked when she squeezed it.

"No fucking way is it that easy." Dani was incredulous but this did appear to be the kennels where they had kept the guard dogs. A snarl and scream had Dani moving again. She phased through the wall immediately squeaking the toy as she resolidified.

Vince saw his life flash before his eyes as the massive green mastiff snarled inches from his face. Its breath was unnaturally warm and he could almost feel it savoring the moment. Then a squeak echoed through the room and the dog pulled back. Vince opened his eyes, unsure when he'd even closed them.

The dog had turned fully away from Vince and was now wagging its tail at the ghost girl. She had something in her hand and it squeaked when she squeezed it. The dog barked happily and shrunk before Vince's eyes. In moments it was barely the size of a six month old puppy. It raced up to the ghost girl, running around her feet which was odd since her feet never touched the ground and the dogs never left it.

"You just wanted your toy huh? You just wanted your squeaky!" She said in an exaggerated tone, waving the toy at the dog. She tossed the toy up into the air and the dog barked excitedly as she caught it. She laughed and the thought crossed Vince's mind that this would have been really cute if both the girl and the dog weren't dead. "Ok boy, go get it." She gently tossed the squeaky toy into the air. The dog leapt for it, catching the toy in its mouth and squeaking it again. Then something happened. The dog curled up on the ground between Vince and the ghost girl, chewing on its toy and began to fade out of existence. Not disappearing like ghosts did when they turned invisible vanishing all at once. This was slower, and came with a feeling like curling up after a very long day as the dog slowly faded from sight still contentedly chewing on his toy which vanished as well.

"And they say you can't take it with you." The ghost girl muttered before floating over to Vince who had yet to get off the floor. She sighed and her feet finally met the floor. "Look, you may not believe me but that's not my dog. I'm sorry about everything that's happened. Not all ghosts are bad you know, some of us just want to help." She said reaching out a hand to help him up. He took her hand and used his weight to flip her over him, sending her to the ground and using her momentum to regain his feet and draw his ectoblaster.

"And not all humans are suckers, ghost girl! Say goodbye!" He leveled his blaster at her.

Dani was rescued by the sound of Damon Grey coming back into the building, loudly calling out for Vince. She sank through the floor while Vince was distracted. But she didn't go far. Instead she floated up through the floor and turned back into Dani Fenton. She quickly called Tanya.

"Turn the security system back on."

"Are you out?" Tanya asked.

"Just trust me! Turn on the security system."

"Ok, on your own head be it." Tanya said with a sigh. There was a click and the alarm system went off, trapping Dani in a net rather quickly. Vince now out of the suit he used for ghost hunting, his father and a man Dani didn't recognize rounded the corner. Dani waved from inside the net.

"Um hi? I was coming to talk to Vince about our school project." Vince let out a laugh as Damon rushed to a panel to let Dani down. The man, who must have been Damon's boss shook his head.

"Well at least we know we're secure against teenagers. But you're still on thin ice Damon." Vince stepped forward to help his father lower the net and extricate Dani from it.

Vince got home that night to a bit of a brighter outlook and pulled out the book that had come with his ghost hunting equipment. His good mood mostly stemmed from Dani, who by accidently getting caught in the net had helped to improve Damon's reputation with his boss if only a little. Vince flopped onto his bed and opened the book skimming through the table of contents to try and figure out what had happened to the dog. He paused on a chapter entitled 'Passing On'. He flipped to the chapter and began to read.

'The death of a ghost is a complicated thing. Many would argue that since a ghost is made of the consciousness of the deceased they cannot die in a traditional sense. This is in part true. A ghost can only be truly harmed by ectoplasm powered devices or artifacts from what they refer to as the Ghost Zone, or what many scholars call the afterlife. A ghost can be overcome by these items and by all appearances die in the way we, the living, think of death. That is they cease to exist. The only other way for a ghost to 'die' is one more commonly depicted in myths and legends. That is when a ghost 'passes on'. This is the more rare of the two instances of ghost death because it requires the complete fulfilment of a ghost's obsession. Since a ghost's obsession is usually an abstract concept it is almost universally impossible to complete. However once in a while a ghost will appear with a concrete goal. The theory goes that when that goal is complete the ghost will fade from existence. Though there is little evidence to substantiate these claims. There is even less evidence as to what happens to a ghost after their, shall we say, secondary death. It is possible that the deceased consciousness simply fades into oblivion and ceases to exist. However given the lack of evidence it is just as possible that any of the countless religious explanations for a true afterlife also apply to the death of a ghost.'

Vince flipped the book closed with a frown. Had the ghost dog passed on then? Maybe. If that was the case he wasn't likely to see it again. But that still left the problem of the ghost girl. Vince's frown deepened and he rolled over and shook his head at the glowing alarm clock staring at him from the bedside table. It was nearly midnight, he needed to get some sleep for tomorrow. They were presenting their project after all.