Chapter 6

Maddie walked up the stairs and into the kitchen. After watching the tender exchange, Maddie felt less angry but was still worried. All she was doing was trying to protect her son but he kept defending the very ghost that was putting him in danger.

She took a seat at the table where Danny was already sitting with his arms crossed. "You said you would give Phantom a chance."

"I did. I gave him a chance to tell me the truth."

"That's what that was? You were yelling at him and threatening him!"

"He admitted he was using you!"

"No he didn't. He said we have a connection. He told you something you didn't like and instead of listening and letting him explain, you made an assumption! You assumed he must be hurting me even though you don't know everything."

"And whose fault is that! If you actually told me what was going on then I wouldn't have to make assumptions."

"We didn't tell you because we knew you'd reaction like this! You assume that just because Phantom's a ghost he must be trying to hurt and manipulate me. But you're wrong!"

Maddie pleaded. "Honey, please I'm just trying to protect you."

"You don't have to protect me from Phantom!"

Maddie stopped. Clearly this was not getting her point across. Danny did not understand how harmful this connection to Phantom was. She needed to make him understand.

"Sweetie, I know you don't see it now but this connection is not a good thing. Phantom is a parasite."

"Mom! What does that even mean?"

"I can't believe I didn't see it before. Sometimes ghosts link themselves to objects or people to help keep them anchored to the real world and increase their power. They act as ghostly parasites, draining the energy, the life force from their hosts. That's what Phantom is doing to you. That's why you are so tired all the time. Phantom's a parasite."

Danny paled at this. "Phantom's not a parasite. He's more like a… umm… symbiote, yeah a symbiote. Except with no desire to eat criminal's heads." Danny half grinned at this but Maddie gave him a horrified look. He quickly frowned. "It was a joke. A reference to that movie with the reporter guy who bonds with an alien and gets super powers." Maddie continued to gape at him, not getting the reference. Danny then put his head in his hands. "Okay. It's a type of symbiosis. Mutualism- When two organisms consistently live together and both benefit from the relationship. We learned about it in biology."

Finally over her horror/confusion, Maddie crossed her arms. "Danny, I know what symbiosis is. If this is mutualism, then what exactly are Phantom and you getting out of this?"

"Well, you are kinda right that Phantom's anchored here because of me. And I do think he's more powerful because of me. But he's not draining me to do that. The most important thing though is I'm his link to humanity, the reminder of what it's like to be human."

Maddie gaped. Did that explain why Phantom looked and acted so human? Why he looked like her son? Was it because of his connection to her Danny? Stopping this train of thought, Maddie continued. "What about you? What do you get?"

Danny smiled. "Phantom gives me a purpose. We fight the bad ghosts, and can help people. He gives me the ability to protect the people I care about. Plus the access to ghost powers is awesome, especially flying."

Maddie contemplated this. She could understand how Danny would think this was a good deal. He seemed to gain some benefits from the arrangement and appeared to be okay with what he contributed to Phantom. Maddie still had many misgivings though.

"Ever if all that is true, Phantom could still be hurting you. He could be lying about what he gets out of this."

"Phantom's not hurting me. He's not lying."

"How do you know that though?"

"I just now he's not lying to me about anything."

"But you can't know that!"

"Yes I can. Phantom literally cannot be lying to me about this."

Maddie paused at the bold statement. Speaking gently, she implored. "I know you want to trust Phantom and think he would never lie to you but you have no way of knowing that for sure."

"Yes I do!" At this Danny's mouth snapped shut as if realizing he said too much.

Maddie gave him her best Mom look. "Please explain to me how you can possibly be so certain."

Danny bit his lip, debating what to say. Finally sighing, he stated. "We've been inside each other's heads."

Tilting her head, Maddie motioned him to continue.

"When Phantom's overshadowing me, we share thoughts. I know everything he's thinking and he knows everything I do. So he can't lie to me because I know everything about him."

"Danny that's ridiculous. That is not even how overshadowing works. I know from interviewing people in this town who have been overshadowed, that they don't remember anything that they did while the ghost was controlling their body. They definitely don't know what the ghost is thinking. "

"Well we're not exactly a typical case."

"Okay then what is it like?"

"Well, I don't have any memory gaps for one. I can see, feel, and remember everything that happens to me."

"But Phantom could still do anything with your body without you having any control. That's not okay."

Danny bit his lip. Pausing for a few moments, he continued. "But that's just it. Phantom can't make me do anything. I never loss control."

Maddie shook her head. That didn't make sense. Even if Danny was still aware of what happened when Phantom took control, which Maddie was still finding unbelievable, the very definition of overshadowing was a ghost taking control of a human's body. Therefore the human has to loss control of their actions. Unless Phantom was just passively hiding inside her son and not exerting control? Yet that had never been reported. And why would Danny or Phantom have not just directly said that?

"Mom? Mom. Are you going to say anything?"

Maddie had become lost in her own thought and failed to notice she was staring at him in confused silence. "Sorry. Sweetie, you're going to need to explain what you mean. This is all confusing me."

Danny chuckled. "Tell me about it. The relationship between Phantom and I is very confusing. We really don't know how half of this works but we know it does."

Maddie frowned, not liking the sound of that. "What do you mean by you never loss control?"

"Uhhh…I guess you could say everything Phantom and I do is a joint decision. We work together and both parts always have a say. So that way I have control of what's we're doing."

"But Phantom still has to take control to use his powers, though."

"But I know Phantom. I trust him."

"But you can't trust a ghost! That's the problem here. You may benefit from your connection and may know some of what Phantom's thinking. He may even take into account what you want. But he could still be lying and manipulating you. He could decide you are not useful to him anymore and turn on you."

Danny had been calm most of this conversation but at this his face blazed with fury. His hands balled into fists. "What do you want from us?! We've tried to be honest. We've tried to show you Phantom is trust worthy! But you still won't listen! Why are you assuming Phantom has to be lying?!"

"Because ghosts are manipulative! You know that Danny!"

"Not all ghosts are! Phantom's not!"

"I've studied ghosts for years. I know how they work!"

"No you don't! You're just making assumptions. And not even giving Phantom a chance!"

"We've already had this conversation. I don't want to hear it anymore."

"Well you need to. Whether you like it or not Phantom and I are connected. So this, what you're doing. Refusing to let go of your biases. It's not just hurting him. It's hurting me. I felt how you scared him earlier. He was terrified you would turn a gun on him and rip him apart. And I felt how you made him cry this morning. I don't know what you said, but I know it was cruel. We are trying to get you to understand, to mend our relationship, but you are refusing to work with us at every step!"

At this, Danny stood up, tears starting to well up on his face in a mixture of anger and sadness. "I know you think you are trying to protect me but you're not. If you can't accept Phantom, then you can't really accept me." He then jogged up the stairs and slammed the door to his bedroom.

At Danny's words, Maddie's stomach knotted with guilt. Earlier she had promised to give Phantom a chance and multiple times she failed to do that. She observed Phantom and came to the conclusion that he was being authentic but quickly threw that way when he said something she strongly disagreed with, something she did not understand and feared. She did the same thing with Danny, chalking up the things she did not understand about his and Phantom's relationship as lies. Because if it did not align with how she thought thinks worked a scientist and a mother, there was no way it was true right? But that was so arrogant. They were both right. This whole situation was like nothing she had ever seen before and it was ridiculous to expect it to make sense in that light. Maddie needed to change her thinking. If she didn't she could lose her son, and that was not expectable. She could not assume Phantom was guilty by default but needed to gather evidence. She needed to trust her son, and if her son trusted Phantom, she needed to try.

After taking 15 minutes to calm down, Maddie decided to go upstairs to talk to Danny in his room. Hopefully he would be willing to talk to her and this time she would try harder to listen. Maddie stood up and walked up the stairs. She knocked on his room and gently called. "Danny. Can we talk?"

Defiantly, Danny replied. "If you're just going to just tell me Phantom can't be trusted, I don't want to talk to you."

"No sweetie. I need to apologize and want you to tell me more. I promise I'll listen."

At this there was no response for a few moments but then Danny quietly replied. "Okay. You can come in."

Maddie opened the door to see Danny sitting on his bed. She walked in and sat beside her son. "You were right earlier. I'm sorry. I have not been fair to you or Phantom. I've done a horrible job of keeping my word that I would give Phantom a chance. I need to reexamine my assumptions and give both of you the benefit of the doubt. I promise to listen and trust you more."

Danny looked at his mother. "I forgive you. I'm sorry too. I should not have yelled at you like that. It's just it's really hurts to hear you talk about Phantom like you did. I understand that you've been trying to protect me but it still hurts, you know."

Maddie frowned, guilt swirling in her gut again. "I am sorry about hurting you. And hurting Phantom. I know he's really important to you. That's why I want to know more about him. Will you tell me more?"

In a serious tone, Danny answered. "I will. But I need you to promise me you'll apologize to Phantom too. I was serious about how much you terrified him this morning. He needs to know that you are going to try to trust him too."

With total sincerity, Maddie reassured him. "I promise. I will"

Danny leaned over and hugged his mother. "Thank you. That means a lot to me. "

Maddie gladly returned the hug. They stayed like that for a few moments and then broke apart.

"So earlier, you said a few times that you felt how scarred Phantom was. What did you mean by that?"

Danny looked down. "I felt his emotions. It's part of the connection we have. That's part of the reason I was so upset by you threatening him. It felt like you were threatening me. I know you would never mean to hurt me but it still hurt, hearing you say those things about and to Phantom."

Maddie frowned, not liking the knowledge that she had scared her son, even if it was through this empathic connection. "I imagine it works both ways, right?"

"Yes. It does."

Maddie nodded in acknowledgement. "How did this connection start anyway?"

At this Danny frowned and bit his lip, looking at the floor. "We're not really sure of the specifics but it was because of the portal accident." Maddie's expression fell. She took his hand as Danny shivered but continued. "Sorry, I don't like thinking about it."

Rubbing his back to comfort him, Maddie implored him. "Danny, what happened?"

"I got shocked by the portal when it was starting." Maddie nodded. She knew that already. "The portal started because of me and since Phantom was the first ghost to come out of the portal, we were linked."

"So you meet Phantom soon after the accident?"

"Yeah. It was around when that lunch lady ghost showed up."

"What did you think of him when you meet him?"

With a thoughtful expression, Danny explained. "He scared me at first. Not because Phantom was trying to be scary. He can't scare anyone to save his afterlife. But he was new and new things can be scary. I didn't know a lot about ghosts and what I did know from what you and Dad said about ghosts, well that scared me. Back then we both were scared though. Phantom hadn't been a ghost very long and didn't have very good control of his powers either so neither of us really understood what was going on." Danny paused here, uncertainty in his eyes.

"If you were scared, why didn't you tell your father and I about this at the beginning?"

"I was scared at how you would react. I mean yeah I didn't trust Phantom at the beginning either. But I saw really soon that Phantom was like me. Not a monster but a person. We were both scared and both cared about this town and wanted to protect it. It was obvious there was a connection between us and once I started accepting Phantom, I saw we were better and stronger together. "

"I see you've thought a lot about your relationship with Phantom."

"Yeah. Like I said earlier, we're complicated and have been through a lot. To make peace with everything, we needed to figure us out. Knowing how Phantom works and how our connection works helps us to be happier and stronger."

"You sound like you've been talking to Jazz. Does she know about this?"

"Yes she does. Don't be mad at her for not telling you though. I asked her not to."

At this both sat in silence for a while. Danny then inquired. "What do you think of all of this?"

Maddie sighed. "I don't know. I've learned a lot today but don't know how I feel about it."

Danny shook his head, understanding. Then he meekly inquired. "So is there any way you'd be willing to let Phantom go now?"

Maddie shook her head looking at her son with compassion. "Not yet honey. I see why you trust Phantom but we're not there yet."

Danny's shoulders fell. Sounding disappointed, he muttered. "I understand."

"Sweetie, It's not that I'll never trust Phantom but I'm a scientist. I can't just take your word that this connection to Phantom is not hurting you. It's possible that there could be negative effects neither of you know to look for or there could be long term effects. I need to do some research to make sure this is not hurting you."

Surprisingly Danny agreed with her, though he sounded uncertain. "Okay. You have a point. Just promise you won't hurt him. No painful experiments and you'll ask Phantom before you do anything?"

"Yes of course. I'll need some data from you as well. Nothing intrusive. Just a blood sample, some hair."

Danny nodded. "Yeah. And can you tell us anything you find? Also please don't try anything without telling us. You could hurt me and Phantom without meaning to."

While Maddie did not like the sound of that, she understood her son's concern. Hugging him again and kissing his head, she promised. "Of course Danny. I'm so happy you are trusting me with this."

Danny returned the hug, though he sounded a little guilty. "I am too Mom. Thank you for listening."

During the tender exchange, for the first time since before this started, Maddie felt at peace. Everything would turn out okay. She was sure of it. While she still needed to figure out the cause between the resemblance between the two boys, she knew she could figure all of this out. She could make sure her son was safe and mend their relationship. She could learn more about Phantom and why he was so unique. And hopefully, she would find her son was right about Phantom and that he was trustworthy.

Author's note:

Thanks for reading! We still have a ways to go with this story. I have four more chapters planned so you're going to have to wait a while for the reveal. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. This is my first multi chapter fic so any feedback readers could give me would be awesome. Until next time!