A/N: Sorry this isn't out when I said it would be…I had a friend stay with me until we left and didn't get a chance to write this. Thanks again to all those who reviewed! You guys make me happy…almost as happy as Disneyland makes me. Oh Disneyland, how I love thee…

Hope you guys like this one and enjoy!

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Ashes to Ashes

Chapter Nine: Ash

Jazz didn't know how much more stress she could take before every ounce of her resolve snapped. She had successfully been getting over her experiences with Riley with her families and Mikey's help, but every time she took a step forward, she had to take two steps back for Danny. She knew she shouldn't be angry at him, his amnesia was confusing him and making him lash out at everyone, but she couldn't help it. He was just so rude! That was part of the reason why she had stormed out of the kitchen earlier that day and left Sam, Tucker, and Valerie alone in there with him.

It wasn't until she and Mikey, who had in fact returned with the hot chocolate like she had wanted, heard her baby brother's scream after Sam had left did she feel her anger melt away. Fear replaced the void and she moved like a woman possessed until she was kneeling beside her crying brother and holding him to her, rocking him as she would a child who had a nightmare. He was clutching his head and whispering something about not wanting to see, and Jazz knew right away that he was having a nightmare…one that unfortunately was true.

She could hear her parents enter after her, followed by Mikey who was calling the doctor assigned to deal with the traumatic events the Fenton siblings had went through. Her mother swept down beside her and was debating whether or not to hold onto his hand, and her father knelt down opposite, looking lost and helplessly at his thrashing son. Jazz murmured into Danny's inky black hair comforting nothings until his shaking stilled to a stop and he slumped forward. She continued to rock her broken little brother for a few moments after he had passed out, oblivious to everything surrounding her but the now small figure cradled in her lap.

Jazz let her father lift Danny's prone form off the floor, admiring the gentleness her father exhibited as he cradled his younger child as one would a newborn baby, and the felt her mother give her hand a small squeeze before exiting the room. Her father followed her mother, telling Jazz that they were going to lay Danny down on their bed so they could be there when he woke up. She didn't move, just acknowledged the statement with a nod and continued to stare at the spot where her brother had been moments before. It wasn't until she felt a warm, soothing hand on her bare shoulder did she tear her gaze away and look up at the kind brown eyes framed by floppy brown hair.

"Jazzy," Mikey said softly, using his nickname for her in his low baritone voice. "Are you all right? I'm sure Danny's not hurt too badly…probably just experiencing his repressed memories in flashes."

"I know that," Jazz answered in a quiet tone, looking directly up into the ruggedly handsome face that belonged to her strength over the past few days. "And that's what I'm worried about. He kept whispering that he didn't want to see…and I wouldn't either if I woke up in a hospital and covered in bruises. He's resisting remembering and that's what's hurting him…he looked so small…"

"I know Jazzy," Mikey answered as he wrapped the petite red-head up in his arms and held her close to him. She hooked her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder; letting the calm he created seep into her skin and sooth her racing nerves. They held each other for a moment, and Mikey leaned down slightly to place a chaste kiss on Jazz's forehead, smoothing her long hair back as well.

"Is it wrong that I'm somewhat happy that this didn't happen to me?" Jazz asked in a small voice, feeling the hot swoop of guilt in her stomach as she uttered the words aloud. "That I'm relieved that I didn't end up with amnesia like Danny? That I woke up in a hospital with no memory of what my life was like and only a myriad of bruises and injuries to give me a hint as to why I have no memory?"

"No," Mikey answered with in a calm, but firm tone, tightening his hold on the young woman and rocking her a little bit now. "It's not wrong that you feel this way…just because this happened to Danny doesn't mean that it should happen to you as some form of punishment you think you deserve! You have nothing to be ashamed, guilty, or sorry for Jazzy…absolutely nothing. You did everything in your power to prevent your brother from being hurt…we know he wasn't raped because the doctors couldn't find any tearing around the anus and there was no bruising or blood around his thighs."

"That doesn't mean Martino didn't touch him," Jazz hissed angrily, tightening her small hands around folds in Mikey's shirt. "I swear, if he wasn't already dead…"

"I know, I know," Mikey said with a small laugh as he pulled back enough to look into the object of his affection's turquoise eyes. "But, if I may add, I think you'd have to try and beat Sam and your parents to him! Let's just say that your brother did him a favor…when he did whatever he did."

Jazz didn't comment further how her brother had been able to kill Martino, knowing that Mikey accepted it as a family secret that he wasn't allowed in on yet. She smiled slightly and pulled back further, grabbing one of his hands with her own small one. They both felt something jolt through them, and knew that they were exiting the realm of friends and into something else…something that was a bit more terrifying and exciting.

After all, not many friends would fly from New York to Amity Park to bring someone hot chocolate.

"Do you want to go and check up on your brother?" Mikey asked in a gentle voice, brushing some of her auburn hair away from her face.

"Not right now," she answered, curling her slim hand around his strong one and smiling kindly at the Italian young man. "Let's give my parents some time with him first…they probably need it more so than I do right now."

Mikey nodded his head and let Jazz lead him out of Danny's room and downstairs to the living room. Curling up on the couch with a blanket, they watched a movie that was playing on 'Lifetime' and ended up falling asleep.

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Jack carried his son to his and Maddie's room, being careful not to jostle his vulnerable child too much. Setting him down with the utmost care, Jack just sat and watched his son breathe for what seemed an eternity, every once in a while smoothing the raven hair Danny inherited from him out of his still bruised face. His son's breathing was normal, and if one didn't know any better, it would seem like he was just resting peacefully. But, Jack Fenton did know better and his son was anything but peaceful as he lay there unconscious. The older man sighed heavily, a sound that was foreign coming from him, and rubbed his face with a large hand.

As if being kidnapped and beaten wasn't bad enough, his youngest child was possibly molested and now suffering from amnesia…it wasn't fair to thrust all of that on the shoulders of an eighteen year old boy. But, was being changed into a half-ghost superhero at the young age of fourteen any fairer? Danny had always been shouldering responsibilities and burdens that no one should have to, and he wasn't even out of his teens yet! To top it all off, Danny had actually hid his powers from both Maddie and himself…fearing being treated like some sort lab-rat by the people who raised him. Maybe getting amnesia and forgetting everything would be what he wanted…

A hot wave of guilt crashed into Jack as he thought over everything, realizing that most of the responsibility his son had to bear was, in part, due to his own doings. Riley attacked Danny and Jazz to take his revenge on him and his wife, his sins of the past caused everything his son went through over that week. And then the Fenton Portal, one of his inventions, created Danny's ghost powers, and then his obsession with fighting ghosts nearly caused him to destroy his own son a few times more than ever should happen. Not to mention that he had never been the most attentive father while Danny was growing up, easily distracted and to caught up in his work to make time for his beautiful little boy.

Jack removed the hand from his face as he felt a small, comforting hand on his shoulder, looking up into the beautiful face of his lady love. Maddie smiled down at her husband in a gentle, sad way and settled herself on his leg as she placed her other hand on Jack's cheek.

"Jack," Maddie said in a small whisper, glancing over at her still sleeping son before directing her bright eyes into her husband's own blue. "Don't beat yourself up over this. There was no way to know that Riley would harbor a hatred towards us for so many years over one little grant. Jazz doesn't blame you for what happened, and I'm sure Danny won't either…once he gets up that is."

Jack gave his wife a bewildered look, silently asking how on Earth she had been able to read his mind so accurately. "Call it woman's intuition Jack…we always know when something's bothering our husbands or our children."

"That's not all though Maddie," Jack spoke back in a slightly quieter voice than he normally used. Some habits just could never be broken. "I keep thinking about all those times we tried to capture him when we didn't know about him being Danny Phantom. It was partially our fault he became half ghost, and then he couldn't trust us enough to tell us about it. Maybe if I had been a better father, paid more attention to my kids than my tools, he would have trusted me enough…he wouldn't have feared me."

Maddie remained silent, embracing her husband in mutual comfort as he wrapped he small frame in his huge arms. She decided it was safer to not agree or disagree with her obviously upset husband, because he was partly right on some of the things he said. She too felt that Danny's condition was in some way her fault, her and Jack had just left something so dangerous out there in the open, a perfect death trap for a headstrong fourteen year old. Thank God it didn't kill him though…something that according to all of their notes was something that would happen to a living creature that entered the portal without protection. Somehow, Danny had survived and became dead in a sense, but that didn't erase the harm 'harmless' neglect had caused on their poor little boy. Jack was right in that sense…they both should have been better parents instead of being so concerned with ghosts and their work.

For goodness sake, she didn't even know that her son had been terrified of ghosts up until his transformation! She had to remember to thank Sam for trusting her and Jack with all that Danny apparently didn't. She had to stop thinking about this; she had to focus on helping her son remember his life!

"Jack, we can't live our lives with a bunch of what-ifs," Maddie said finally, looking at her husband lovingly. "Perhaps we should have been better parents when Jazz and Danny were younger, but we can't go back and change what's done. All we can do now is star trying our hardest to make up for lost time. So we weren't 'parents of the year' for the first part of their lives…we can start right now."

Jack stared at his incredible wife for a moment before the uncustomary gloom on his face broke and morphed into his trademark grin. He stood up suddenly, getting a yelp of surprise from his beautiful love as he too her with him and spun her around with a happy laugh. He stopped and set Maddie down, who now also wore a truly jovial smile, and rested his chin on the top of her head…still leaning down some to reach even that point.

"How are you always right Maddie?" Jack asked with a slight chuckle to his tone.

"Well, I am female," Maddie answered with a smile of her own, knowing her husband was mock-scowling at her head right now. "And my concern for Danny is taking priority over my own issues right now…he'll be all right when he remembers as long as he knows that we still love him no matter if he's ghost or not. There's no way a boy with those big eyes and that pout could ever keep anyone mad at him anyway!"

Both older Fentons laughed a bit louder this time, knowing that their rather clumsy son knew how to get people to do what he wanted with one patented puppy-dog face he had perfect since age five. Glancing back over at their still slumbering son they exited the room quietly, letting their amnesiac son get the rest he needed and the space he wanted. They shut the door softly and walked down the stairs to the kitchen, hand in hand like the love-sick couple they were.

"I love you baby," Jack said in his customary booming voice, fixing her with the sparkling eyes that could always make her laugh as he quirked his eyebrows at her.

"I love you too honey," Maddie answered with a chuckle as she playfully slapped his arm before kissing his cheek chastely, knowing that kissing parents in public was still very much a taboo in the Fenton household.

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"But Mommy! I hate going to the store! Can't I just go play cowboys with Tucker? Pretty PLEASE?"

"Danny," a woman's voice answered, strangely familiar and yet different. Flashes of brown hair and kind eyes flitted in his mind before escaping his grasp. "If you want those sugar cookies you've been complaining for then you have to just bear with going with me to the store! Sometimes you have to things you don't want to do to get the things you want."

"But the store is soooo boring!" He vaguely remembering jutting out his bottom lip and widening his already big eyes and then heard a woman's laughter.

"Now don't you dare try that on me right now Daniel James Fenton! Tell you what, if you behave at the store today, you can have the cookies after dinner tonight and even have Tucker and Sam over for a sleep-over! How does that sound uh?"

"Okay! Let's go now Mommy!"

"Slow down Danny, don't trip running down the stairs…"

It felt nice to remember such a happy time in his childhood…or at least that's what he figured it was. Things seemed so carefree back then…and this proved to his denying mind that he did in fact know who Tucker was. Sam was mentioned again as well…this was starting to become a serious problem.

"Mommy…can you take me to the park today! You promised we'd feed the ducks and get ice cream!"

"Danny, Mommy's busy right now…maybe later. Why don't you just go and play with your sister?'

"Her friends say I have cooties! And they keep trying to lipstick on me…"

"Well, Mommy's work is very important, you know that. You Daddy and I might be on the verge of a breakthrough!"

"But…you promised Mommy…"

"Maddie! I've just finished the new coordinates for the Fenton Ghost Zapper! Let's test them out on the random pieces of junk in the house!"

"Jack dear…"

Emptiness…they ignored him. Not on purpose, but the damage was done as he saw a very small black haired boy no older than seven turn away from the room with slumped shoulders and tears on his cheeks. Even though it happened so long ago, looking at it again made the pain rip through him anew…indifference is a horrible thing when directed at a child.

Okay, so his life wasn't perfect…he figured as much, but this really wasn't giving him incentive to keep the images rolling. His emotions were already reeling from everything that had apparently happened, why make it worse? Aw damnit…not more!

A bright head light and a sudden sound of metal crunching against metal and asphalt. He…phases through the car? Why is his hair white? And doesn't he have blue eyes not green…he's even talking differently, like there's an echo or something. Another image…person…appears before him: black hair, pale skin, red eyes, and fangs with a cape make this guy a Dracula wannabe. Wearing spandex out in public! That had died in the 80's with good reason!

"Daniel…"his voice sounds like oil, thick and suffocating but smooth and confident. "Let's have a little chat yes?"

"Plasmius…" he heard himself growl angrily…and then he floated off the ground…God please let this be a dream! "Any reason why you decided to total my car to have a chat! Haven't you gotten the fact that I don't want to join you, my Mom is happy with my Dad, and you should be adopting cats right about now?"

"Always so witty Daniel…but this has nothing to with your mother I'm afraid. You see, I have offered you time and time again to join me and leave your pathetic excuse for a father, but you insult me and shove those offers right back in my face…like you did just now. If you will not join me Daniel, I will not allow you to continue to disrupt my plans. How does permanent afterlife sound to you son?"

"Sound a little confident there Vlad…don't consider me a threat yet even though I'm still floating here after three years of attempted executions? Sorry, I don't feeling like fully dying just yet…and you are not my father…you never will be."

The two…things…met in midair and began a deadly dance of bright green and dark pink. Eww…that looked like it hurt…wow! He could certainly dish it back out though! He…HE kicked ass! It was a dangerous fight, and others soon joined in. A red clad form zoomed in on a flying surfboard and began firing at the ghosts that were working with Dracula's fan boy. She pulled back her hood and he was startled to be met with a familiar face.

Valerie Grey…the same girl who kept coming over to the house…

Another form zoomed into the fray, this one on a scooter and sucking the ghosts into a thermos? That was weird…why a thermos? He knew that dorky red beret…

Tucker Foley…

He saw the redheaded girl staying in the house with him zip in next, clad in some strange metal body suit. She was, shredding for lack of a better word, the ghosts in front of her and also was protecting Tucker as he scooted this way and that. She was his…

Jazz Fenton…his older sister.

He didn't need to identify the whirl of black hair ad flash of lilac eyes. He knew that one all on his own. The fight was winding down and he…he was winning! It all began to blur away and the last thing he saw was of 'Plasmius' hitting the ground with a resounding thud and he slightly younger version of himself floating down as well.

That was certainly interesting…was he really a superhero like Sam kept telling him? He certainly wasn't a wuss, that's for sure!

"Daniel," an ageless voice spoke to him, holding out something in his green and wrinkled hand. "I am entrusting this to you. Give it to someone that you deem worthy of your affection…you will need it dearly in the trials to come…"

A small purple stone on a silver chain rested in his hand, giving off a slight warmth as he curled his hand around it…why did that seem so important?

"Happy Birthday Sammy!"

"Danny…this is beautiful! How did you come across this pendant, and why are you giving it to me?"

"I got it from a friend…ad it's not every day someone's best friend turns eighteen…"

…

…

…

"…he'll be all right when he remembers as long as he knows that we still love him no matter if he's ghost or not…"

The sound of laughter and of a door shutting softly shortly after roused the groggy Danny Fenton from his trauma induced sleep. He opened his eyes and was met with the dimly lit room he knew belonged to his…his parents. He shot up like a bolt, and immediately cursed his actions afterwards due to the pain he felt in his head and his entire upper body. He took shallow breaths and got the pain and dizziness under control before getting up completely, feet dangling over the side of the bed as he gripped the edge.

He just…he knew this was his parents room! This was major…he was beginning to recognize things other than Sam…did he want to? Gingerly, he slipped off the bed and steadied himself before slowly walking toward the door and cracking it open. Seeing everything was clear, he slipped out of the room and warily crept down the hall, a vague tune from some movie humming in his head the whole while.

He could hear voices coming from downstairs…happy voices that had been absent in the house ever since he had come here from the hospital. He felt something stir in his heart at the sound of a booming laugh and an exasperated "Dad!" as he started to walk down the stairs carefully. He didn't know why he kept heading towards the people he had been avoiding for the past week, but something inside him whispered that it was the right thing to do. He felt a smile tug at his lips as another voice joined in the laughter…a lilting laugh that sent shivers of warmth down his spine and into his stomach.

'Mom…that's my Mom's voice…'

He was about to step onto the landing when he caught his reflection in a mirror downstairs, causing all of his motions to stop. He still looked like he did when he was up in his room, before all the memories bombarded his mind. His black hair was sticking up at odd angles, no doubt due to the scrunching his hands had engaged in earlier and he looked down to find his wrist still in a splint. Nothing had changed, everything that had made him want to not remember was still there, visible on and underneath his skin. But…something else was there as well…he caught his own eyes in the mirror and looked a bit harder.

They were glowing green…

Maybe everything was still shitty and maybe he didn't want to know what had happened to make him look this way, but those glimpses of love and affection had finally broken through the barrier he had set up around himself. All of these people…those voices in his mind and in the kitchen to his right, were cheering him on and letting him know how much they cared about him.

He supposed the least he could was to try and learn to love them again…

Turning his gaze away from the mirror, Danny proceeded to step off the stairs and took small, tentative steps until he stood outside the kitchen door. Their voices sounded so inviting, so warm. Not aware that his eyes were now a brilliant blue again, and were no longer dull and lifeless, he took a deep breath and gently pushed open the door to the kitchen, staring dumbly at the shocked faces that greeted him.

It didn't take long after he muttered that he knew that Jack and Maddie were his parents and Jazz was his sister that he was suddenly being slightly crushed by hugs of his…his family. He could feel the salty tears leaking from his mother's eyes on his arm, but he didn't shy away from them this time. When they all pulled back from the recovering halfa, each person n the kitchen smiled at the genuine, albeit small, smile on Danny's face. Even Mikey, who had barely met the kid before the incident, was amazed by how much the smile lit up the eighteen year old's face.

They asked Danny a bunch of questions, mostly having something to do with how he was feeling and how he was starting to remember, but he just shook his heart-shaped face and spoke only a few words, further shocking his family but knowing they would help him.

"Can you please take me to Sam Manson's house?"

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Sam had just got of the shower and was towel drying her raven locks when she heard her mother say she had a visitor downstairs, in a mysteriously elated voice as well. Already suspicious, Sam narrowed her eyes as she set down the towel and slipped on some black sweatpants and an over-sized concert shirt and headed towards her door. She saw cracked it open and saw nothing frilly, pink, or flowery, breathing a sigh of relief before continuing down the hall and towards the main foyer of her large home.

However, now as Sam made her way downstairs she was wondering why her mother had used the tone she had if she wasn't trying to force Sam into some hideous cupcake dress…her mother didn't use that tone without good reason. As she ambled down the hall, continuing to dry her hair using her hand, her mid drifted back to the current poem she was working on…she couldn't help it. Writing poetry made her feel better when she was upset…

…Go take my heart and shatter it against the floor,

Since evidently none of it matters anymore.

She had spent most of the night scratching out lines when she wasn't satisfied with how they turned out. Those were the only lines she had kept so far…but those definitely felt like more of an ending than a beginning…should she write a whole poem based on two ending lines? Oh hell, why not? It's not like she had much else to with her time right now...

She kept trying to come up with words or clever wordings in her head that at first she didn't comprehend who she was faced with in the main entry room of her mansion. It was only after blinking her eyes a few times did she actually accept who she was seeing…Danny Fenton was standing with his hands clasped in front of him like a scared little boy on his first day of school, looking at her like she was going to throw something at him.

"Uh…hi Sam."

Sam just stared back at him, cursing herself for not being able to come back with some sort of scathing comment to vocalize her frustration with this boy! Unfortunately, Maddie Fenton was not the only one affected by those depthless blue eyes. Sam suddenly wished she didn't try to hand dry her hair, knowing it now probably looked like a wild woman's hair, and also cursed the Fenton parents for not even putting a shirt on their son before taking him out of the house! Well, there he was in all his glory, wearing only a very low pair of baggy sweatpants on his lithe frame and only white bandages covering his chest at all. Someone up there hated her.

"I um…I just wanted to say that…that I-I'm sorry I've been kind of rude lately," Danny said has he bit his bottom lip in anxiousness. Sam was having serious problems now! Why did he have to look so…so…so tasty right now when she wanted to yell and scream at him! Wait…tasty? Oh God…she was starting to use the same words as Paulina. Did she kill a king in her past life or something?

"I just wanted to…I'm sorry Sammy."

There it was. That last sentence broke Sam Manson out of her momentary daze and she fixed Danny with a surprised and hopeful look. "Danny? What did you just call me?"

"I called you Sammy," Danny said in a small voice that made her want to kiss him all over again. 'I swear Bruma, if I get pregnant before I turn nineteen I'm blaming you entirely…' "And I called you that because…because that's what I remember calling you whenever you were mad at me. I'm remembering things Sam, and I think that now I don't want to fight anymore…I want to remember everyone and my life…even if it's stuff I don't like. I want to remember you…"

Sam smiled a brilliant smile before rushing over and wrapping the slender boy in a gentle hug and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She could feel the pendant resting on her chest thrum happily and opened her eyes a fraction to see it emit a soft violet glow. She looked up and gazed into the boy's lost, but now blazing blue eyes, smiling in that secret way of hers that she new unnerved him, amnesiac or not.

"Will…Will you help me remember Sam? Everything…including the…the ghost powers and stuff?"

Sam placed one hand on his bare but bruised chest, careful to not press to hard and smirked at the blush that she had caused to spread over his cheeks. She reached up and stroked the side of his face softly, smirk changing into a smile again as he closed his eyes and emitted a soft sigh of security. She stood on her tip toes and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek before saying in a voice she thought she would lose with this ordeal.

"Of course you goof…when have I ever not helped your butt out before?"

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A/N: I know it isn't all that long, but I was faced with a choice halfway through this chapter. I could make it long like it originally was and have lots of pointless angst and yelling, or I could delve into the emotional aspects of certain characters and keep this chapter a bit shorter. I choose the greater of my strengths and am actually pretty happy with how this turned out!

I want to dedicate this chapter to Me the Anon One! Happy birthday Nonny! Hope it's a good one!

Let me just say this, some of your reviews crack me up guys! You guys are just lucky I'm not one of those anal authors who get angry when people start to virtually threaten me when I don't update on schedule. I actually get a kick out of them to tell the truth…you guys are funny and I love reading your reviews! But, just to let you know, the threatening really has no other effect on me…sadly if I am lazy and am caught up reading other fanfiction and doing schoolwork among other things, the threat does not make me suddenly give up my procrastinating ways. Usually lots of reviews give me motivation, but I've never been a quick updater…but I hope you guys appreciate the quality the time generates. Anywho, thanks for the laughs from my threateners! You guys rock out loud!

Okay, next update right? Uh, I've got two paper due next week and I have yet to start them so probably not until after a week …maybe a bit longer. The action will pick back up in around two chapters or so…hang with me guys! I'll try my best, but I don't just want to put crap out for you guys. When my update will come, it'll be worth it I hope!

And now, after a very long end note, I ask you all to please keep on reviewing and filling the void in my author soul! Let's try to get thirteen reviews this time around…I've never broken a hundred strangely enough…it would be wonderful if I could!

As always, thanks so much and I bid you all adieu until next time!

Osco