Summary: "The GIW… the GIW said primate research." Jack says quietly, too quietly "They didn't… didn't specify non-human primate." The words fall heavy, sinking into Maddie's heart like a knife. "It's not a chimpanzee or rhesus monkey, is it?" For Ectober Day 24
Notes: Based on this tumblr post (https: post /665260322814394368/a-few-dp-what-ifs) magicalmonsterhero submitted a post, asking about an au where Vlad's (and/or Danny's) powers were not the result of a portal accident. I wrote a ficlet about "the happy version of Danny being an intentional experiment" but decided to make it into an actual story for Ectober 24, Prompt Nightmare/Sweet Dream
A young couple sits at their kitchen table, talking in hushed voices while their toddler daughter plays in the living room.
"What are we going to do?" Maddie feels like crying, clutching the foreclosure notice in her hands.
Her husband looks over at their little girl. He swallows. "We'll...we'll figure something out."
The woman has rarely seen the man this somber, the distress barely below the surface. He's trying to stay calm for her, for their child but…. Maddie knows he doesn't believe it. She can feel it like the tiredness she's felt in her bones for years, since both the best and the worst day of her life. She looks at the stack of medical bills and….
The blood. The doctor and nurses shouting. They're pushing a crying Jack out of the room. And...where's her baby girl?
It was a nightmare and this… This is a nightmare.
"We need a miracle." Maddie says. And she doesn't believe in miracles. But maybe... they can get regular jobs and save up money and…
The doorbell suddenly rings. Jack blinks, turning. "Who's that?"
Maddie stands up, opening the door. And there are three men in white suits, standing across the threshold.
The woman gapes for a long moment before collecting her wits. After a flash of a badge, she invites the agents inside.
"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. We have a proposition for you." One of the agents offers.
After briefly excusing herself to take Jazz upstairs for a nap, Maddie returns. The scientists and agents talk and… Maddie's eyes bulge. "You're offering… that much money?"
She hands the paper to Jack. "Holy-"
"Yes. If you'll accept the project. As my colleague explained, the head scientist withdrew his team at the last minute. We need your expertise to salvage this research."
Maddie raises an eyebrow. "Which is?"
"Classified." The agent clams up, lip pursed in a thin line.
The scientists look at each other. Jack frowns. "Classified? Agents, we can't sign on unless we know what we're doing."
"World changing research is what you'll be doing." The man to the left, the senior agent, argues. He leans forward. "I'll be straight with you. Years of research and millions of dollars already invested are at stake if we don't act quickly. The previous team really did us a disservice by dropping the project like this. You will be more than well compensated for your contribution. You'll be making giant leaps forward in understanding ghosts and in human health. But we need your answer."
Jack and Maddie are unsure, a silent conversation passing between the two. They argue back and forth with the agents, pressing for more until…
The head agent removes his glasses. "Alright. I really should not be telling you this before you sign the NDAs but… this research… we've been trying to achieve the hybridization of ectoplasm with living cells in primates."
Maddie blinks, shocked. "Ectoplasm with…"
The man nods. "Yes, the combination of living tissue and ghostly powers. A hybrid organic being that will be able to produce and regulate its own ectoplasm. We'll be able to study ghosts and their abilities in ways we haven't even dreamed of but…" He tapped the paper. "We need you to sign tonight."
Jack and Maddie look at each other, another silent conversation. "Just...give us five minutes?" The man asks.
The couple debate. "We need the money." Jack sighs, eyes wide and desperate.
"But they're not telling us something." Maddie frowns, pointing."
"It's because of the NDAs. Right?" Her husband rubs his head. "And do you blame them? If what he said is true...this will change the world."
For just a moment, Maddie is starry eyed. "And to be a part of that…." The doubts remain. "But…"
"We always wanted to change the world. And…" Jack glances to the door. "With the medical bills and the foreclosure...we need the money or we'll be on the street."
"No we-" Maddie's heart twists as the words die on her tongue. She wants to deny it but... Jazz. They need to be practical. They need...they need this money. Something in her still says this is a bad idea. But the mother bits her lip. "For Jazz?"
"For Jazz." Jack agrees.
The couple sign NDAs and accept the project. Late that night, the agents bring in the equipment and...
"What is that?" Maddie points at a metal and glass chamber, the inside swirling with ectoplasm and water.
"An artificial womb." Answers one of the agents.
Jack blinks, stunned. "An artificial womb?"
The head agent nods and Maddie frowns, asking. "And what's it for exactly?"
"Your job…" The agents glances from the incubator. "is to take care of the specimen and ensure it survives until it's viable outside of the artificial womb."
"The…. specimen?" The male Fenton asks. "And… until it's viable? How long is that?"
"How many weeks of gestation is it at now?" The other scientist asks.
The agent remains straight faced as he hands them thick folders of papers. "All the necessary information is here." He pulls a card out of his pocket, placing it in the folder. "Contact the agency if you require anything else."
Without answering any more questions, the agents leave. Maddie's stomach flops, filled with dread. Something about that was-
"Will you look at that?" Jack cut off her thought.
The woman turned to see him peering into the incubator and pointing at something. Maddie leans closer, looking. "Is that...the embryo?"
"I think so." He replies. "It's tiny."
The woman hums in agreement, observing. There, implanted to the back wall of the incubator, is a pea-sized mass. Maddie squints as she tries to make out details. She can barely see but it's C shaped, with visible neural tube and little nobs that should develop into the limbs.
"I wonder what week it's at?" Jack questions.
Maddie checks the research notes and she frowns. "Jack, a lot of this is blacked out." There are huge blocks of text that are missing or have been crossed out. She flips a page. "Six weeks, I think." Her husband nods. "It's going to take a while to sort this out. There's so much missing."
Jack gives her an encouraging pat on the back. "We can do it. We've got this, Madds."
Maddie isn't so sure. It's...odd, the lack of information. And why did the GIW pick them? They aren't experts in fetal development. Then again… this seemed to be a last minute placement. And they could learn but still...
Jack and Maddie do their jobs, checking the vitals, the nutrients, the ectoplasm levels. The two scientists take a crash course in primate fetal development. They watch and the embryo grows. It really is fascinating to see up close, Maddie thinks. But still…. Weeks pass, a month. The embryo is at 10 weeks and it's almost six times larger than when the GIW delivered it. The nobs have developed into small limbs, tiny...legs and arms. It has eyes now, though closed. There are nostrils. And growing dread pools in the scientist's gut. In the past weeks, they've looked at hundreds of pictures of embryos and fetuses, both those of various primates and of humans. The notes never specify what kind of primate this is and there's far more research into human fetal development than the other options. The fetus in the incubator looks…strangely familiar. But…the GIW did say primate research so this must be some kind of monkey, not... That. It couldn't be-
Maddie cuts off the thought before she can let it take hold. But still, a pebble of anxiety is rooted in her insides.
The mother goes back upstairs to feed her daughter lunch and play with her. Jazz is adorable, sitting in her high chair. She makes a mess eating her lunch and Maddie has to clean her off. After, Jazzy plays with her baby doll in the living room. She mutters babble to it and Maddie smiles. But… something in her starts to ache.
"Here comes the space ship." Maddie coes. She's sitting at the kitchen table, a little boy with black hair and blue eyes in the high chair beside her.
The boy opens his mouth, taking a bite. For just a moment, his face screws up with displeasure. Then he blinks. "More!" He sticks out little hands.
Maddie chuckles. "You like it, don't you?"
The toddler waves his arms. "More!"
The mother obliges, offering another spoonful of cereal.
The little boy makes a happy squeal, joking at his tray in his excitement. The bowl spills, thick white cereal spilling on his shirt. He looks down. "Uh oh."
Maddie wipes his shirt with a napkin. She lifts the half full bowl from the tray.
"Mommy!" The toddler let out a cry of protest.
The woman's heart swells with love. "I'm not taking it away, Danny. I'm just going to hold it. See?" She moves the bowl up and down in the air. "Now open up."
Danny opens his mouth and his mother feeds him another bite, just as a clock chimes behind her.
Maddie wakes up from the sweet dream with tears pooling in her eyes. She wipes them away and gets up to wake up Jazz.
Jack and Maddie go down to the lab again. More watching the specimen, more notetaking, more research. And the scientists are getting attached. They're invested. Maddie had always had a habitat of talking aloud when working and she still does, now addressing the incubator when her husband isn't present. Jack plays music and rambles. It's lively and exciting, watching and learning. The subject seems to be growing properly and it appears to be accepting the ectoplasm. It glows faintly in the dark. The scans show a mass of ectoplasm, concentrated in the center of the chest. That dream… the hybridization of a living creature and ectoplasm might in fact come to fruition.
But still dread grows. The specimen is at 12 weeks, three months development and still growing. Its neck is clearly defined, small digits visible. And it's hard to tell but…
"It's male." Maddie comments, after comparing the view to the naked eye with the magnified pictures they'd managed to take.
Jack looks as well, agreeing with the assessment. For some reason, the knowledge makes Maddie's heart clinched. It's male. A boy, part of her says.
"No you don't, little mister." Maddie tries to sound stern but she chuckles as she scoops up the still damp toddler trying to run past her. "We still have to put your pjs on, silly. Then a bedtime story."
The little boy blinks. Then he asks. "Spaceship pjs?"
"Yes." His mother nods. "Let's put those on."
The woman closes the door and puts the child down. She pulls his clothes out of the drawers.
Danny holds up his hands. "By myself." He demands.
Maddie obliges. Her son gets about halfway through before he needs help. The woman finishes adjusting the bedshirt. "There." She picks him up. "Let's go see Daddy and Jazzy."
The fetus continues growing. And by the time the specimen is at 3 and half months gestation… the tiny fingers and toes, the shape of the head, that surprisingly human face…. it's obviously-
No. It can't be… it's obviously a rhesus monkey or a chimpanzee. Not-Maddie pushes the thoughts away but at the same time…
Maddie is sitting on a park bench, watching two kids on the playground. Something purple and starry hovers at the edge of her version but she doesn't worry about it.
"Danny! Wait up!" A six year old Jazz calls after her brother. She tries to pick him up to put him on the baby swing but can't lift high enough. "Mommy!"
Maddie stands up, going to push both her kids on the swings.
Again, Maddie wakes to tears. But she pushes that pain away, faced with other things. As the weeks pass, the fetus grows, tiny hairs appearing on its head. The form is much more obvious. The dreams continue.
At the beach. There's Danny, playing at the edge of the surf. Sometimes his hair is black and sometimes it's white.
The dread and fear grow, with the attachment. And… Maddie and Jack do more research on fetal development.
Maddie is walking a five year old Danny to the bus stop. She looks down and… her heart stops. Her son is gone. "Danny!" She calls.
"Mommy!"
She whips around. He's running up to her. His eyes flash green.
Jack and Maddie compare notes, reading every textbook and article they can get their hands on. And….
Something's floating in their backyard. White hair, black suit, shining like a star. Neon green energy wafts around the hands. The head tilts towards the starry sky.
Maddie...should be scared. She should be startled but… "Sweetie! It's time for bed." She calls.
The figure turns around. The neon green eyes fix on her and he's grinning. The ghost...the boy lowers in the air, just inches above the ground. His hands glow blue for a moment and… there's a rose, made of ice. He holds it out to her.
"For me?" Maddie smiles.
The boy nods. The mother blinks and he has black hair and blue eyes. He stands on his tip toes to give her a kiss on the check. "Goodnight, Mom."
Maddie gives her son a goodnight kiss in return. "Goodnight, Danny."
Maddie wakes up, breath heaving and tears on her face again. Her heart aches, still filled with love and warmth as the face flashes in her mind again. That smiling face from all those dreams or… are they nightmares? They're sweet, so sweet. And that boy... Maddie loves him so much. So much that it hurts to wake up. It must be a nightmare. She must be damned, cursed with visions of what can't be. This, having another child, a son, will never happen. After almost dying giving birth to Jazz, she physically can't get pregnant again. She can't have a little boy of her own flesh and blood. She and Jack had wanted two kids. They'd talked about adoption but with how expensive and time consuming it is, with everything else happening in their lives, it's impossible.
Back to the lab, to the small ghost hybrid. Something is tickling in Maddie's mind as she watches. The fetus is about the size of a pear. The small arms move, fingers brushing the face. The tiny mouth opens. The glow flickers brighter for just a second and there's a flash of neon green as the eyes blink. Maddie drops what she's doing and practically runs up the stairs, feeling queasy with guilt.
"What is it, Madds?" Jack asks, from where he's feeding Jazz.
The woman's eyes land on her daughter and shame swells in her insides. "We can talk about it later." She says, not wanting to upset the little girl.
The man doesn't argue, even as his eyes flicker to the door of the lab. A meaningful look passes over his face and… Maddie is sure they're thinking the same thing.
But still, she tries not to think about it, about the possibility. When Jazz is napping, she digs through the research notes. There must be something! Something to disprove this cursed thought but… nothing. Nothing! Nothing.
Maddie is shaking when she and Jack go down to the lab after putting Jazz to bed. Both scientists are silent for a long time. Both turn, studying the incubator and its occupant. Their eyes meet again and the woman suddenly feels like throwing up, sickened by the realization.
"The GIW… the GIW said primate research." Jack says quietly, too quietly "They didn't… didn't specify non-human primate." The words fall heavy, sinking into Maddie's heart like a knife. "It's not a chimpanzee or rhesus monkey, is it?"
Maddie covers her mouth. "It's…it's a human." She can barely force out the words. "That's a human fetus." She leans forward, feeling nauseous. "A human-ghost hybrid. We're...we've been growing a human-ghost hybrid in our lab!"
Maddie feels disgusted with herself and she can see it on Jack's face; he feels the same.
"We should have seen this earlier." Jack curses. "All that secrecy. The agents wouldn't answer our questions."
"All those gaps in the research notes. The huge wad of money they pushed on us, if we'd hurry up and make a decision." The woman's face is red, anger and guilt warring. "Those f-king NDAs!"
There's anger and screaming. Disgust at themselves, at the GIW for doing this. But...
"It's... part ghost." Maddie paces, rationalizing. "Ghosts are monsters. They can't...they can't feel or rationalize. They're...less than animals." She argues, the words sounding false on her tongue.
"It's part human too." Jack argues pointedly. "And we don't experiment on humans, Maddie!" He balls his fist. "It's wrong. This is wrong! If it was actually an animal, then maybe but…. This is a human! You don't experiment on human beings!"
The wind is knocked out of the woman. She agrees. She agrees completely. You don't experiment on humans. Period. But… "It's...not a human being." Maddie's voice wavers, feeling tears collecting. "It's..it's just a fetus." She's flailing, grasping for a rationale. For empty words to justify what they'd been doing. "It's just a fetus."
"For now." The man points out sharply.
For now…. The tears spill. For now, it's a fetus but… But… it will grow. And months from now, they'll be a baby. A human, at least partly, baby and-
"We need to pull out. We can't be a part of this." Jack interrupts.
"They'll just give the project to someone else." Maddie mumbles, looking down.
"So what?! We do nothing! I can't… I won't keep doing this." He's angry, more determined than Maddie's ever seen him.
"I know!" The other scientist blurts out, her own anger flickering. "I know that! I don't want to be a part of this either. But we can't…. we can't…. just give him.." She swallows, stumbling over the slip up. "…it to some other scientists."
Maddie can't help remembering when she'd been four and a half months pregnant with Jazz. That's when they'd gotten a sonogram and figured out they were having a little girl. She remembers Jazz as a newborn, all pink cheeks and grasping hands and screaming her little lungs out. And Maddie imagines a baby boy, with little tufts of black hair and blue eyes, crying on their lab tables. A little boy, poked and prodded by needles. In cages. Experimented on. A part human lab rat.
"That…that wouldn't be a life for anyone." Maddie chokes on the words. Her heart aches, torn between two images. A human child and the flickering, ethereal form of a ghost. "Not…not even something that's half ghost."
"We could…." Jack's voice is so quiet, so pained. "We could make sure it doesn't…survive long enough for that."
Maddie looks up, blinking in surprise before her mind catches up with the meaning. Then she understands and….the man's thoughts are absolutely clear. And she hates them.
"We can stage… an accident." The other scientist continues. "Tell the GIW the subject unfortunately didn't survive."
Maddie hates it. She hates it so much. "They'll just try again." She tries to argue.
"But not with us." Jack's face is hard and she knows he's right. The GIW wouldn't involve them again. They'd get someone else and she and Jack wouldn't have to be a part of this. But-
"Okay. We'll…we'll do it." Maddie abhors herself for saying the words.
Jack and Maddie plan in secret. They'll cut the power to the incubator. All it will take is a few minutes and the fetus will die without oxygen being delivered to the living cells. They'll lie, make up a story about the backup generator failing.
But Maddie's guilt is still overwhelming. Earlier, she'd thought that almost dying in childbirth, that almost losing the house, that dreaming of having another child when it was impossible was a nightmare. But this. This is a nightmare. She wishes the GIW had never contacted them, that she and Jack had never agreed to this project. She wishes...she wishes they were still working in ignorance.
The room is dark. There's a clock ticking somewhere. Something's glowing in the corner of the cage. Maddie approaches. It's a ghost, obviously. The figure is black and wispy, with the lower body curled into a tail.
The woman's heart pounds in her chest. There's…. a sound. She shivers. Someone's crying. Another step and…
The white-haired head whips up, teary green boring into her from the face of a young teenager.
"Please, let...let me go." A male voice begs.
Maddie is frozen, fear, dread, and sorrow creating an ugly mix in her heart.
The ghost floats forward, gripping the bars. "Please. I didn't… I didn't do anything wrong. Just...just let me go."
The scientist trembles. That face...that voice, she recognizes-
"Please." Tears run down his face. "I just wanna go home. I wanna see my Mom and Dad. Please!"
Maddie wakes up still shaking. The guilt is eating her alive. They need… they need to put a stop to this. They will put a stop to this. Because she can't..she can't keep going. She can't face the product of their science. She can't face the possibility of subjecting a thinking and feeling being to a life of pain and experimentation. If something that's part ghost can even live.
The woman shudders. Is that even a question? And does… does it matter? If there's even a chance that a ghostly hybrid can think and feel like a human, that they can grow and learn and love and-
The possibilities are driving her mad. But they have to do this. They have to! (But will this even do anything? The GIW will just try again. They'll get their hybrid and she and Jack will have just stood by, knowing that they were experimenting on people. They'll just stand by as a different fetus, a different baby, a different child is brought into the world, just to suffer).
Maddie sleeps again, this time with neither nightmares, nor sweet dreams. Instead, her heart is heavy, at war with itself. The guilt and the grief. The weight of what they've done and what they could do, of what is and what might be.
Jack and Maddie send Jazz to daycare for the day and they go down to the lab. They stand in front of the incubator, going over the plan one last time. Tentatively, with shaking hands, Maddie grabs the plug to the artificial womb. With one pull, one yank, she will end this. One small motion and this will be over, before it really begins.
Almost without thinking, she turns to look one last time. The fetus is clearly visible, floating in the synthetic amniotic fluid-ectoplasm mix. Tiny legs kick. And Maddie's mind flashes without her permission to Jazz's sonogram pictures. Remembering the joy of feeling her little girl kick for the first time. In the incubator, just formed eyes drift open and…. they're blue. A spark of ectoplasm flickers. And the eyes are green, an oh so familiar green and…
"I can't… I can't do this." The plug drops out of Maddie's trembling hands. "Jack. I…I can't."
There's a pause. The woman can feel the man's eyes on her. His gentle hand appears on her shoulder. "It's alright, Mads. I'll do it." Jack bends, picking up the plug.
The other scientist's eyes widen. "No! We can't…we can't do this!"
He looks at her, eyes sad and pitying. "We talked about this. We...we have to."
Maddie shakes her head, tears welling. "No. We can't...we can't kill him." Before she can even register, she confesses. "He can't die. He can't! I won't kill him."
"Maddie?"
She places her hand on the incubator. "I've been dreaming about him for weeks. He's just a little boy. And we're going to name him Danny. And he'll have black hair and blue eyes but sometimes they're green. And-"
"Madds, I don't understand. What are you saying?"
Maddie is crying now. She doesn't know what she's saying either. She doesn't understand. This is ridiculous. But- "Please. I… I can't. I can't lose him. I haven't...I haven't even held him yet."
Jack looks gobsmacked and the woman feels that way too. Is she really saying this? And yet she is. She is and she means it. Every word and-
She turns fully, putting both hands on the artificial womb. She looks, really looks and lets herself imagine. "I want him. I want him to be safe and healthy and happy. I want...I want him to be our little… our little boy, our baby."
Maddie is crying and she can see it. Months from now. Holding a tiny pink, human-looking baby. His little fingers wrap around hers. She kisses his little nose and rocks him to sleep, just like she'd done with Jazz.
Jack grabs onto one of her arms and pulls her so she'll look at him. "Maddie… what are you saying?"
She blinks back the tears, a determined look crossing her face. "I won't kill him. And I won't give him back to the GIW."
His jaw drops. "We don't have a choice here. They won't let us keep him."
Rage flashes in Maddie's eyes as she grits her teeth. "I dare, I dare those f-king white suits to try and take away my baby!"
"Are you listening to yourself, woman?!" Jack puts up his hands.
The other scientist pokes him in the chest. "Are you listening to yourself?! You're perfectly fine killing him! Or let's just call the GIW and hand him over right now! Let's just curse him to a life of torture and painful experiments and-"
"I'm not f-king okay with this!" Jack raises his voice. "I don't want to do this! I don't want to turn off that incubator. And I sure as hell don't want to turn a baby over to the GIW so they can experiment on him! But we don't have a choice! As soon as he can live outside that incubator, they're going to take him away whether we like it or not. This is our only choice!" He grabs the plug again and...he's crying too. "This is the only way. It's...it's this or… or a life of pain."
The tears on her husband's face finally snap Maddie out of her anger. She places her hands over his. "There has to be another way to stop this, a way to save him."
"There isn't." His voice lowers, pained. "We can't do anything and… they'll never let us keep him."
Maddie blinks, surprised. "Keep…."
Jack nods. He turns to the artificial womb, his face softening. "We'd wanted two kids. I've always wanted a son to take fishing. And…." He turns back to her. "Danny?"
"That's what I always call him, in my dreams. I...I don't know how but.. It's him. I keep dreaming about him."
The other scientist's brow furrows in thought. He pauses. "Black hair and blue eyes, you said? I think… I've dreamed about him too."
Maddie's mouth falls open. How? She wants to ask. But before she can, she blinks. And...they're on the same page.
"So…." Jack turns back to the artificial womb. "We both want to keep him…" He sighs, the hopelessness audible in his voice. "What are we gonna do?"
The woman swallows. "We won't hand him over. We'll...we'll run."
The man stiffens. "They'd find us and..we have Jazz. What kind of life would that be for them?"
"You're right." Maddie looks down, feeling ashamed for even thinking it. "We can't...we can't do that."
Jack put his hand on his face, wiping away the tears. "How is this even happening? Oh god...I wish…I wish he was just a normal baby."
Maddie blinks and the world turns on its head. A sudden idea hits her. "What if….the GIW thinks he is?"
Jack's eyes widen at the words. "What?"
"What if…they think he's just a normal human?"
Her husband's eyes widen even more. "Maddie…."
The woman starts pacing. "If the hybridization doesn't work, if he's just a normal human… we can convince them to let us keep him. This level of ecto contamination…. It's never happened before. We can...we can use that. And…" She stops. "If they think that hybridization isn't possible, then maybe they'll stop. They won't try again." She hopes the words are true but she can't dwell on the possibilities. Danny is who matters right now. "We can make this work. We can get them to let us keep him. It'll… it'll work."
A little light enters Jack's eyes; he seems encouraged by the words. " But… how?" He asks tentatively.
"Here's what we do…" Maddie starts, determined. Gradually, excitement and determination grow on Jack's face as they discuss. They'll make the GIW think the project failed. Through a combination of falsifying data and intentional sabotage, they'll make sure the baby appears to be a completely normal human when he's done.
Maddie goes to sleep that night feeling encouraged and excited. This will work. It has to work. It will.
"And what's that constellation called?" Maddie asks, pointing at the starry sky.
"That's Taurus, the bull. Did you know…" The woman looks down at a fourteen years old version of her son. Green stars glitter in his eyes and across his cheeks as he rambles.
The mother smiles, happy and heart full of love. There's a clock ticking to the side and something glowing purple, curved like the horns of a ram.
"So you made your decision." An ancient voice says, ringing like the great bells of a clocktower.
Maddie turns, startled. But she doesn't speak.
"You still would have, without this push. But still…. This is the most favorable version of events." The hooded figure continues.
"Why did you coerce me to help then?" Another being, stary and purple, grumbles.
The other figure doesn't answer, still addressing Maddie. "You will not remember this when you wake up, not for many years. Until then, Madeline Fenton."
In the morning, Maddie only remembers a dream of stargazing with her son. And it gives her the strength to enact their plan.
Jack and Maddie stage a malfunction with the ectoplasm circulation in the tube. They play at fixing it. Maddie's body is tense with fear. What if it doesn't work? And what if it does? What if the GIW realize what they are doing? But Jack and Maddie are determined. And they are careful, so careful. They contact the GIW and claim they are trying their best to fix the problem. But after the feed was cut off overnight, for twelve hours, the spectral energy in the fetus is already falling. It's already dropped down to almost zero, the forming core unable to produce its own ectoplasm. At hearing this, the GIW are pissed. Jack and Maddie play at being apologetic and claim they'll do everything they can to fix this.
The last few months pass. Danny grows, developing like normal. Jack and Maddie claim to be trying to reintroduce the ectoplasm but it won't take. The fetus is rejecting it, each time the tiny heart threatening to stop. Hopefully the half-formed core will restart and it will be able to integrate the ectoplasm but it's not working.
In truth, Jack and Maddie are watching and waiting with eager but nervous anticipation. There are many near catastrophes but they do in fact do everything they can to make sure Danny lives to see the outside of the incubator.
The mother put her hands on the glass. "Just a few more days, Danny. A few more days." She hadn't had any more dreams since the night she and Jack had made that decision but it doesn't matter. A few more days and she'll finally be able to hold her son.
The day arrives and the GIW agents and scientists are there when they take the boy out of the incubator. Jack washes him off, gentle but with a practiced neutral expression. Maddie has never had more struggle to act cold and professional in her whole life, as she takes a blood sample and her baby cries.
She prepares a slide from the sample and looks at it under the microscope. "As we've said, there's no signs of ectoplasm hybridization. Not even significant ecto-contamination."
"Step aside." The head agent demands. "I need to verify this." He scowls and Maddie holds her breath, praying to a god she doesn't believe in that he doesn't find anything telling. The agent looks at the slide. He takes and prepares his own sample. He even scans Danny with his own ghost scanner. "You're right." He scowls. "The specimen is free of ectoplasmic contamination. Completely human." He drops the scanner heavily. "What a waste! All that time and money!" He looks back at his fellow agents. "We need to discuss what to do with...this." He turns up his nose at the sniffling baby.
The agents debate. "Waste of money. Take care of an infant, please." A roll of the eyes. "It's illegal to experiment on a real human anyway." "Let's just destroy the records and get rid of the evidence." Glances at Danny. "It doesn't legally exist so…."
On the inside, Maddie is panicking but on the outside, she becomes the perfect image of a cold scientist.
"Excuse me but, this is an extraordinary opportunity." She argues. "This level of fetal ectoplasm exposure is unheard of. They need to collect data on this. This is a potential fountain of information on the effects of long term exposure on the human body. There may never be an opportunity like this again."
The agents look at each other. "She has a point." One says.
The head agent rolls his eyes. "Maybe we can get something out of this, then." The man tapped his chin. "We need scientists to carefully monitor this. We can't just give this… subject to anyone." He furrows his brow, turning to Jack and Maddie. "You've got a kid, right?"
The scientists both blink, surprised. "Well...yes." Maddie answers.
"Congrats. You've got another one." The agent says casually. "This is your problem now." He motions to the baby.
Jack and Maddie look at each other, still flabbergasted for a moment. And then… Maddie sees her husband's expression shift. It's not obvious on his face but he's never been more relieved.
The head agent is still talking, barely looking their way as he types on his phone. "We'll arrange for a birth certificate to be assigned. And...a small stipend." He looks up, giving them pointed glares. "You will say nothing and we'll pay you to report any physical or mental deformities that develop." He turns back to the phone. "This'll end up being cheaper than holding that thing at the facility at least."
The two scientists don't argue and they don't pretend to argue. Though Maddie's stomach does flop. Deformities…. She hadn't even thought about that. Jack glances at her. He takes her hand and Maddie knows it will be okay. If something happens, if Danny isn't healthy, they'll deal with it. And either way...he'll still be perfect.
When the GIW finally take their equipment and leave, Jack and Maddie finally cry with relief.
"Shh. Shh. It's okay. Mommy's here." Maddie picks up Danny.
Jack stands beside her, one arm around her back. "We did it." He says, awed. He gently reaches to touch the baby. Tiny fingers wrap around his pink. The man beams down. "Already got a strong grip, don't you son?"
Son. The words warms Maddie's heart, making her spirit sing. So. This is their son. Not their flesh and blood. But still their, always theirs.
"You're safe." Maddie kisses the top of his head. "You're safe, Danny." The woman lets out a sigh of relief. They did the impossible, saving him from an agonizing fate as nothing more than an experiment, as a lab rat.
"And we'll make sure you stay that way." Jack vows.
And Maddie agrees. They'll do whatever they have to to keep it that way, to keep their boy free and safe.
"Come, Madds." The man interrupts. "We need to introduce Jazz to her new baby brother." Still being held by their mother, Jazz meets Danny and she instantly adores 's heart swells with love.
Weeks become months become years. And Jack and Maddie both watch Danny grow into that little black haired boy that Maddie had dreamed about. And he's surprisingly normal, completely human. His parents don't tell him the truth, don't even tell him he's adopted. And they're all so happy. Danny is happy and normal, a bright boy who loves life.
Years pass and Jack and Maddie keep working on their ghost research and raising their kids. Jazz is 16 and Danny is 14 when they successfully open their ghost portals and ghosts start invading the town. But still, Jack and Maddie are happy. They can almost forget where Danny came from.
Until when the mayor's kidnapped, Maddie sees Phantom face to face for the first time.