Reunited?

Dan put the Ring back into his pocket and headed back up the stairs. Halfway up, he stopped, familiar voices reaching his ears.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" It was a man's voice. One that Dan thought he would never hear again.

"Is there any way to repair that thing?" It was a woman's voice, now. The man's wife.

Dan crept up the rest of the stairs and peered around the corner, needing to confirm it for himself. Sure enough, it was just who he thought: Jerry and Marie.

But they were very different. Not only did Jerry have a scar on his cheek, but they were carrying what looked like ghost hunting equipment and were dressed in suits. White suits.

Dan's heart dropped into his stomach at the sight of the all too familiar uniform.

"Of course we can fix it," Vlad insisted, coming into view with a screwdriver in his hand. "But it will still take time."

"How wide is your shield's radius?" Jerry asked. His voice was sharp, but his expression was understanding.

"At max capacity? About half the city," Jazz answered.

"Good," Marie responded. "We need to protect as many people as possible, so as soon as you get it up and running, expand it to the max."

Vlad nodded. "I was planning on it."

Vlad turned, intending to return to the broken ghost shield control when he spotted Dan in the doorway of the basement lab. Vlad internally panicked at the sight of him. He couldn't come upstairs with Jerry and Marie here.

Vlad subtly put his hand out, telling Dan to stay put. At Dan's nod, he put his hand down again, returning to the broken mechanism.

"Why are the Guys in White investigating here anyway?" Sam wondered. "There hasn't been major ghost activity here for months."

"We can't tell you that," Marie responded.

"But it's a good thing they did send us here. Otherwise, no one would be here to address this," Jerry continued.

Dan's stomach churned at the confirmation. It turned so horribly that it threatened to make him lose his lunch right there and then. His legs shook, almost bringing him to his knees in the doorway. He backed away from the door, leaning against the wall. His chest was so tight that he couldn't breathe. Gradually, he slid down to the floor, sitting on the steps.

He brought the Ring back out of his pocket and stared at it in the palm of his hand. He had to get rid of it. He didn't want to, but if he wanted to survive long enough to take that Crown and Sword, he had to. And if he gave it to Jerry and Marie, they'd keep it safe. Especially if he appeared to them as he did before, after his fake funeral.

His heart clenched, painfully. If he gave this Ring to them, they could die. The skeleton ghosts out there would do anything to get it back. He remembered their kindness and generosity. They took him in when he had no one. They were a kind and wonderful distraction from all the pain.

But now, they were part of that pain. They had joined the Guys in White. Dan subconsciously put a hand to the Y-shaped scar on his chest.

It didn't take long for his premature guilt to vanish. The hand at his chest slowly clenched into a fist, and his jaw tensed with it. Jerry and Marie are the enemy, now. It doesn't matter why they joined the Guys in White, and it doesn't matter that they might die. The only thing that matters is getting that Crown and Sword and reclaiming this Ring when it's over.

Dan turned himself invisible and got up from the steps, walking through the doorway. He was followed quickly by his mother. "What happened? Why didn't the ghost shield stop them?" she demanded

Sam was the one to answer. "We held them off as best as we could, but it didn't take them long to figure out why they couldn't leave."

Vlad didn't look up from his work, but he added, "The ghost shield regulator got damaged during the battle, so it's failsafe made it shut down." He paused and looked at Maddie. His eyebrows narrowed in confusion. "Where's Jack?"

"He's sitting down downstairs," she answered. "We suddenly had to test the Fenton Pants when the ghosts came. Turns out that it drains its user like a battery. We need to calibrate it more before it's safe to use."

"Is dad okay?" Jazz wondered, her voice high with worry.

Maddie nodded. "He just needs to rest. The Pants went down to about 80% power after the brief fight downstairs." Her eyes narrowed in both curiosity and worry as she put a hand to her chin. "Who knows what would happen if it ever got down to zero."

"Let's hope it never does," Jerry voiced, making Maddie jump.

"When did you two get here?" Maddie asked.

"Just after the battle," Marie answered.

"We watched the ghost shield dissipate and all the ghosts leave the house," Jerry continued.

Maddie nodded. "We'll need some time to make repairs to the ghost shield, so can you two guard our backs while we do that?"

The husband and wife nodded. "Of course," Marie agreed.

"We'll go, too," Tucker spoke up. "Better to have two groups so everyone can have a partner."

Sam nodded in agreement.

Maddie hesitated before letting out a breath. "Okay. Take your guns, and watch each other's backs. Don't get into unnecessary fights."

Sam and Tucker nodded, picking up their guns.

As the two pairs headed out the door, Dan invisibly followed. "Maybe we should have one adult and one kid per pair?" Jerry suggested.

"No," Sam refused. "We can handle it ourselves."

"Yeah, we've fought ghosts before," Tucker added.

Jerry and Marie shared an unsure glance, but they eventually nodded. "Stay near the building, then," Marie ordered.

"You two take that way," Jerry gestured to the right of the doorway. "and we'll go this way." He gestured to the left of the door.

Sam and Tucker nodded and went in the indicated direction.

Jerry and Marie looked after the young adults for a moment before heading to the left. "Do you think they'll be okay?" Marie wondered aloud.

Jerry nodded. "Well they made it through that battle unscathed. They have to be able to hold their own to be able to survive that."

Maddie closed the door behind the two pairs. She opened her mouth to discuss Jerry and Marie with Vlad, but he suddenly roared and launched the screwdriver in his hand across the room. He threw it so hard that the metal tip of it stuck into the wall. Maddie jumped at his action and stared at the still-vibrating tool. She jumped again when Vlad started to shout at the top of his lungs.

"Why did they do that?" he roared. "Why did they have to go join the GiW? I swear! If Daniel didn't have any connection with them, I'd have slaughtered them on sight!"

Vlad clenched his fists, bringing them to his forehead as he squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip. He bit it so hard that beads of blood began to drip from between his teeth. He took several unsteady steps as if he was trying to pace but something was preventing him.

Maddie took several deep breaths in the tense silence. Vlad brought his hand down and stamped the floor with his foot, crying out in more ire.

"Take a breath, Vlad," Maddie comforted. Taking a few cautious steps closer to her friend. "I know it's terrible. I'm angry, t-"

"No," Vlad sharply silenced, pointing a harsh finger at her. "You don't get to be angry. You don't know what they did to us."

Vlad sighed and turned his back on her. He walked away and leaned his forehead against the wall. "If...i-if it wasn't for Dan, I…" Vlad took another shaking, preparatory breath. "If it wasn't for Dan, I would have resigned myself to them." Maddie froze at the statement. "I already wanted to. I...I wanted to pass out on their table and stay asleep."

Maddie had nothing to say, and the silence rang louder than his shouts.

As Jerry and Marie walked along, keeping one eye on the endless stream of swirling ghosts in the sky and the other on the streets around them, Dan worked on his transformation. He shifted into his more malleable ghost half and made himself a little shorter.

The instant he changed into his ghost half, Jerry and Marie's ghost equipment went off. They pulled out their guns and went on high alert, scanning the area around them. As Dan changed his clothes into his usual jeans and tshirt and shifted his hair color from white to black, Jerry and Marie honed in on his position.

"Show yourself, ghost," Marie demanded, but unlike Jack, her voice wasn't hateful. Though her expression was sharp and her stance was defensive, nothing about her was filled with disdain.

"You're not really going to shoot me with that, are you?" Dan wondered, making his voice soft and innocent.

Jerry and Marie both jumped at the sound of his voice, their weapons lowering slightly.

After a shocked pause, Jerry asked, his voice shaking, "Dan?"

Dan didn't say anything. He wanted to seem afraid. They would trust him more if he was.

"Won't you come out?" Marie wondered.

Dan waited another moment before answering. "Not if you keep those out," he whispered. "They hurt." His voice wavered, and though it fit the persona he was trying to create, it was still involuntary.

The two instantly powered down their weapons and put them back in their holsters. They both put their hands out in a pacifying gesture, their palms facing Dan.

Dan hesitated, unable to help asking. "Why did you join them?" His voice was so breathy and quiet that even he could barely hear it.

Jerry and Marie dropped their hands and shared a nervous look. "We wanted to find you," Marie answered, her voice, too, practically silent.

"After you showed yourself to us that day, we threw ourselves into research, eventually coming across the Guys in White again," Jerry added. "We know what they do and what they did to you, but they were our best opportunity to find you.

"We never planned on hurting ghosts. Every one we caught, we released again," Marie continued. "We made it look like the ghost caused some trouble and got away, and since we're just rookies, they never questioned that we made a mistake."

Dan's heart clenched again with guilt, but it did nothing to dull his desire to give them the Ring. The image of his heart and core in that woman's hands instantly extinguished his guilt.

He dropped his invisibility, and Jerry and Marie instantly ran forward at the sight of him. They wrapped their arms around him with crushing pressure. Dan wanted to shove them away, but the persona he was putting on prevented him. Bile rose in the back of his throat from the disgust of wrapping his arms around them in return.

It felt like forever, but eventually, his adoptive parents finally released him. "Where have you been?" Marie asked, looking him directly in the eyes.

Dan shrugged. "Exploring mostly. The Ghost Zone is a really interesting place. But unfortunately," He paused for effect. "I...I think I caused this."

Jerry and Marie started. "How?" Jerry wondered.

"I was flying around when I came across this strange castle. I checked out the inside of it, and it was filled with traps. I stumbled across this Ring, and I touched it. Somehow, it woke up this guy called Pariah Dark, and he attacked me. I ran and ended up in Amity. He chased me all the way here," Dan explained, keeping the lie as close to the truth as possible so it would sound more believable.

"That's terrible," Marie sympathized. "I'm so sorry."

"What happened to the Ring?" Jerry asked.

"I still have it," Dan said, reaching into his pocket and pulling it out.

The married couple stared in amazement at the green glowing Ring.

"Pariah still wants it," Dan continued. "That's why he sent these ghost skeletons. To get it back. All the other ghosts are here because they're running from him."

Marie instantly swiped the Ring from Dan's hand. "We'll take it," she said. "We'll keep the Ring and stop him from getting to you."

"No," Dan refused. "I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking. We're offering," Jerry said. You're our son, and we will protect you with our lives."

Dan beamed. It was difficult to make the smile appear genuine rather than malicious. It was like holding back a fire hydrant with his hands, but he didn't have to manage for long. "Go and find a safe place to hide," Marie said, standing back up and pulling out her gun.

Marie slipped the ring onto her finger, and it made her arm glow a ghostly green that was so bright it revealed the skeleton of his hand, but it didn't seem like she noticed.

Jerry pulled out his gun, too and looked back down at Dan. "We'll protect you. Go on."

Dan nodded and took off into the sky. He flew towards a nearby building, allowing his natural ghost form to reassert itself as he landed on its roof. He watched Jerry and Marie below as they completed their patrol of the block and went back inside. He couldn't prevent a smirk from reaching his lips as they entered. "With them out of the way, getting that Crown and sword will be a snap," he muttered.