Yup! Ya'll get a two-for-one special today for being so darn patient with me! The further along in this story we get, the more changes we make since in the earlier version of this story, this chapter was when I started rushing a bit more because I was ready for the story to be done... But! I am going to give this chapter more care and NOT skip the shipping with Ellie and Johnny. Also more shipping in the next chapter but you only get this one for now.

Enjoy...

Chapter 12: Flashbacks and Shipping

"So Mavis is pretty. What was that little meeting the two of you had in the little side hallway? Hm?" Ellie teased, stepping over to the desk of her brother's room and casually leaning over to look over some papers that had been left on the desk.

"It's nothing, really." Danny shook his head, taking the paper from his sister's hand and meeting her eyes. "Her birthday's coming up and I wanted to give her a present. It's no big deal."

"My brother the casanova." Ellie teased, stepping around her brother and plopping down on his bed.

She let out a happy sigh as she stretched out on the cushions.

"A nice, soft bed. You don't get these often on the road, you know."

"Hence why I always say you're welcome to stay in Halloween town with us. Uncle Jack and Aunt Sally would love to have you. I'm sure that you and Sally could even eventually come to an agreement on more appropriate clothing for you if you lived with us." The ghost boy said, his tone showing that he had had this conversation with his sister a lot more than once.

"And you know I always say that that would never happen." Ellie shook her head, resting her hands behind her head. "There's too much to see out in the world. Maybe you can handle the idea of not seeing and exploring it all but I certainly can't. Halloween town is too small for me. I'd go crazy being cooped up there."

Danny only huffed and shook his head, knowing how stubborn she could be wouldn't let her change her mind anytime soon. Never hurt to try though.

Plopping down in his desk chair, he leaned back and suddenly felt fairly sleepy. He had used up most of the morning working on Mavis' necklace and had ended up using up a good amount of his energy to call up his ice power. For some reason, he always felt like the ice made him feel a lot more drained than his other powers felt. Maybe he and Jack could get some more practice in when they got back to Halloween town. He was sure the monsters there would more than enjoy a nice snowfall if he could figure out how to do it without wiping himself out.

A soft snoring caught Danny's attention, pulling him from his thoughts as he looked up to where his sister was now fast asleep on his bed.

Shaking his head slightly and rolling his eyes, he gave a small shrug as if to say 'sisters' and turned to look out the window.

Danny was flying through the dark woods that surrounded his now new home. No memories and having just brought himself to begin to trust Jack and Sally like family, he was just looking for something, anything that could spark some kind of memory. When the couple had found his grave, their ghostly dog, Zero, had been barking his little head off and the ghost boy, now freshly dead and confused, had been trying his best to figure out what kind of threat the little ghost dog was.

"Hey! Watch out!"

The shout of a familiar female voice that broke him from his thoughts, had come too late as Danny collided, face first, into a particularly tall dark tree. Coming to a hard landing to the ground, the ghost boy rubbed his head, groaning in pain as he sat up. He was still trying to regain his sense of balance when a weight had collided with him and he felt arms wrapping around him in a hug.

"Danny!"

"H-Hang on…" Danny groaned, his voice cracking slightly from pain as the female released him. "I just ran into a tree, lemme get my bearings back."

"Of course. Sorry."

As his head stopped spinning, he took a second to look over the girl who was coming into view. She had long white hair that was tied up in a ponytail and bright green eyes just like him. Her dark brows were furrowed in concern for him as she watched him patiently. Her clothes had a rather tomboy-esque feel to them and seemed to all have a black and white mismatched look to them starting with the t-shirt that had a slash running diagonally across her chest that was half black and half white with a familiar D with a P inside it in the center. She had one black fingerless glove on one hand and a white one on the other hand. Her jeans were half black and half white with her boots being opposite colors from which side of the jeans they were.

"Nice superhero suit." Danny complimented as he rubbed his eyes, feeling a lot better now.

"Oh! Thanks!" She smiled at him, the same smile he had seen on himself in the past. "I've been looking everywhere for you! I'm so glad you're ok!"

"Hold on. Hold on." He said, holding up his hands in an attempt to calm her. "Why have you been looking for me? Who are you?"

Her smile fell from her lips with so much disappointment that he suddenly felt really bad. Shaking her head as if to shake the disappointment from her eyes, she smiled at him again, a smaller smile this time.

"I'm Dani. With an I. I'm your sister."

It had taken a few weeks for her to fully convince him and for him to fully trust her but over time, he began to look forward to when she came back to the town from her travels. And eventually he had started asking for her to stay in Halloween town forever, his protective big brother-ness constantly worrying about what she was doing when she was on her travels. But she'd always say that she couldn't handle staying in such a small town and he couldn't blame her.

Halloween town was small. The monsters that lived there would be able to gather in the town hall with a bit of room to spare. Of course, they all trusted and knew each other very well, they had to in order to work together to bring about Halloween every year for the world. So Danny didn't mind it. He was comfortable in Halloween town.

Glancing over at his sleeping sister, he smiled softly, glad to see her. Glad to see she was ok.

Leaning back in the chair so that it bended backwards slightly, Danny gave a wide yawn. Maybe a few hours of some shut eye before dinner would be nice. Knowing how impossible it was to share a bed with his bed-hog of a sister, he chose to try out sleeping in the plush office chair. His uncle Jack fell asleep in his office all the time so it couldn't be so bad.

Closing his eyes, he let himself fall into dreamland.

All the noises seemed to multiply and echo around him. Two female voices and one male voice screamed, begging for something or someone to stop. Their voices were muffled and something told Danny that they couldn't help and that they needed to get away.

Two figures, one thin and blue and a large orange one, stood over him, laughing. Sharp tools glinted in the blinding light above him. He was laid back on something hard and cold and however hard he tried, he couldn't get up.

"Please! Please! Stop! I'm your son!" The words in his voice echoed around him but didn't come from his lips.

"Oh please. You think that trick will work, ghost? You're not our son! You killed him!"

"Danny!"

"No! No! I swear! I'm your son!" White hot tears ran down his cheeks as he yanked and pulled his arms and legs, trying to get free. "Please! You're hurting me!"

"Ghosts don't feel! You're not our son!"

"Danny! Wake up!"

He almost didn't hear the other voice. He felt himself shaking and his resolve to get free, to just get away, got stronger as he fought. They were hurting him. They were going to hurt the ones he loved. He had to get out.

"Danny! Please! Open your eyes!"

The pleading voice seemed to calm him. It pulled him towards it and everything seemed to fall away around him. The hard, cold thing he had been laying on vanished and he had what felt like a second to catch himself. His powers didn't work so he couldn't fly. He pulled himself up, standing, as he let the voice pull him towards it. He didn't know why exactly he trusted this voice so much but for some reason, he walked toward it.

"Danny!"

Another voice joined the already urging one. As the world seemed to change around him. The screaming, pleading voices from before seeming to silence themselves. The last remains of the laughter from the two figures echoed but then also grew silent.

"What's going on?"

"Danny won't wake up! He's having a nightmare!"

A nightmare? Is that what this is? Just a bad dream? Why had it felt so real then?

"Danny!"

He felt himself pulled even more and consciousness quickly returned to him. Waking up, he shot forward quickly, his head colliding with something as he fell out of his chair. Quickly regaining himself, Danny looked up to see Ellie rubbing her head as she glared at him, relief in her eyes at seeing her brother ok. On either side of the chair stood Sally and Jack, who both moved to help the teens up.

"You have a hard head, bro." Ellie said as she laughed, relief flooding her and soothing the growing headache.

Danny couldn't help but smile at her. His aunt and uncle seemed to relax with relief as they watched the teens laugh together.

"Are you alright, Danny?" Sally asked, setting a hand on his shoulder and looking over his face for any left over signs to be worried about.

"I'm ok. I promise. It was just a nightmare." He shook his head, reaching up and running a hand through his hair. "I'll be fine."

"I thought you stopped having nightmares a few months ago." Jack stated, clearly concerned that said nightmares were returning.

"I thought so too." The ghost boy nodded, trying his best to not look worried as to not make the couple worry more about him. "I think I just need some food and fresh air. Come on, Ellie."

His aunt and uncle looked as if they were going to try to stop him but a look from Ellie caused them to let them go. She'd handle this. As they made their way through the halls, Ellie had changed into her ghost form so the two could fly along and just phase through walls. Eventually, Danny spoke up.

"I get the feeling you have a different reason for being here than just wanting to see me." Danny finally said, voicing his thoughts.

Knowing her brother, Ellie wasn't shocked at all by this observation. Of course, she had come to visit him but she also was on the look out for a certain ghost. Taking her brother's hand, she led him over to a table as soon as they got to the dining room.

"Fine. You're right." She said, changing back to her human form. "I was keeping an eye on a certain billionaire and he's gone silent. Knowing him, I guessed it had something to do with you so I came to check on you. Lo and behold, you had left Halloween town and it's protection so I followed you here."

"A certain billionaire? Who? What billionaire would want anything to do with me?" Danny raised a brow, interested in the information.

"Vlad Masters." Ellie explained. "You probably don't remember him but he also goes by Plasmius."

The ghost boy ran a hand through his hair, processing the shock of his sister knowing about this ghost he had been dealing with. He was silent for long enough that it concerned his sister, who raised a brow at him in curiosity.

"The other night." He explained. "Mavis and I went for a fly around the clouds and Plasmius attacked us. And then, a couple days later, he attacked Uncle Jack and I in the forest.."

Ellie's eyes widened and she looked like she was about to say something but Danny silenced her with the raise of his hand, gesturing that that wasn't all.

"The first time, Mavis and I both got away just fine but when Uncle Jack met him, Plasmius claimed to be my father." Danny continued. "I went back out to talk to him after he had attacked me and Mavis and-"

"Talk to him? He attacked you and you decided to have a casual little chat?" Ellie asked, exasperated by the ever present cluelessness of her brother.

He only fixed her with a look that caused her to huff, crossing her arms as she waited for him to continue.

"When he attacked Mavis and I, he had said something about my memories and I had to find out more. You would've done the same." he explained.

Ellie opened her mouth as if to argue before closing it again, knowing her brother was right. They both had a terrible problem with their curiosity getting the better of them in the past. With a wave of her hand, she gave him a look to explain more.

"So what'd he tell you?" She asked. "And do you know if it was the truth?"

"He had told me I used to be a hero. And that my family had turned on me before I died." Danny explained, pushing aside the twinge of pain at the idea.

Ellie was silent now, as if processing how to take this information. She knew the billionaire well enough to know his plan. Looking up at her brother and his curious eyes, she decided to voice her main concern.

"Do you think Plasmius is your father?"

Danny only shook his head.

"No. I know he's not. He wouldn't of attacked us if he was my father. And I've been in Halloween town for years, there's no way it would've taken him so long to find me if he was my father." He said, his resolve final. He was done with guessing. "Another ghost had gotten into the hotel a few days ago and had told me that he knew me and that Plasmius wasn't my father. He even thought it was laughable that I thought that in the first place."

"Good." She decided not to voice her relief, memories of her time as Vlad's daughter weren't ones she liked to remember.

The two sat in silence, absorbing their information and deciding not to break said silence. A certain redhead chose to make himself known at that moment, stepping forward and setting his hands on the back of a chair. Danny noticed how he was paying extra attention to his sister and couldn't decide how he felt about it.

"Hey, this seat open?" he asked, apparently fairly nervous.

The ghostly siblings exchanged a look, Danny's a bit more hesitant than his sisters, before Ellie smiled up at the redhead.

"Yeah, sure. Johnnystein, right?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

The boy's eyes lit up and a goofy smile spread over his lips as he fumbled to maneuver into the chair and take a seat.

"Yeah!" He said excitedly before seeming to calm himself and put on a cool demeanor. "But, uh, you can call me Johnny. Or John. Or Stein. Or J-dog."

"J-dog?" she laughed, holding a hand to her mouth. "I'll just stick with Johnny."

The redhead blushed in embarrassment, sticking his hands in his pockets. Danny crossed his arms and raised a brow at Johnny, giving him a look that said 'whatcha thinking about, buddy?'. The other boy seemed to suddenly grow very nervous. The awkward silence that appeared over the table was quickly interrupted by the black haired vampiress as she stepped up to the table and stood beside Danny's chair.

"Hi there. Don't mind me." Mavis said casually, gripping the ghost boy's arm and pulling him up to stand beside her. "I just came to get Danny. You two have fun."

Ignoring the look of confusion from the ghost boy, she simply smiled and gave Ellie and Johnny a tiny wave with her free hand before she turned and led the ghost boy away. As soon as they were through the doorway leading out of the dining room, Mavis stopped, causing Danny to stumble and have to catch himself as she turned and peeked around the doorway to watch the couple still standing by the table.

"Wanna tell me what's going on?" Danny asked, leaning against the wall behind her, his eyes showing just how entertaining this was despite his confusion.

"Did you see how Johnny was acting around your sister?" She asked, turning to face him, her eyes sparkling. "He so likes her!"

"Mave, that's my sister." Danny said bluntly, frowning. "And we barely know Johnnystein too!"

"No! No! Listen!" She waved her hands excitedly, causing him to raise a brow at her. "They've already got a lot in common!"

"Like what?"

"Well they like to travel! I overheard them talking about music yesterday when I got back to the concierge stand. They both love R&B and Rock music." She explained, energized by her excitement. "And! And, they both love to travel! You should've seen the way Johnny lit up when you and Ellie were talking about traveling yesterday! He's into her! Plus, he's a big softie! I can tell. He'd never do anything to hurt her."

Danny frowned, pondering the idea. Seeing as Johnny liked to travel like Ellie did, he would probably end up traveling with her. And knowing his sister and how she never bothered to call, he could use this to his gain. Johnny would be able to make sure that she would call during their travels. And while she doesn't really need it, the redhead could help keep her safe and keep from getting into trouble.

"Alright." He sighed, feeling the effects of the vampiress' excitement as a smirk pulled at his lips. "What did you have in mind? What is that beautiful mind of yours concocting?"

Clapping her hands excitedly, Mavis grabbed his hand and pulled him to stand slightly behind her as she peeked back around the door frame. From their spot hidden by the wall, they watched Ellie and Johnny while they chatted at their table. Danny rested a hand on the small of the vampiress' back as he watched how his sister was doing what the siblings had dubbed her 'girly laugh'. Without the ghost boy sitting there, it appeared that Johnny was a lot more comfortable with talking to Ellie.

"Look at them!" Mavis whisper yelled, practically glittering with excitement. "I feel just like a proud mom!"

"So what? Are we just gonna watch them all day?" Danny asked, smirking. "I don't know how you can play matchmaker without matchmaking."

She only stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to watch the couple, silently deciding on what to do.

"Oh hello, children." A voice came from behind them, causing the two teens to jump and turn around, hoping they weren't in trouble.

Sally only smiled kindly, even giving a small laugh at the surprised looks on Danny and Mavis' faces. Her husband was nowhere to be seen.

"I see you've come down for dinner. Would you like to join me?" She asked.

"Sure, Aunt Sally." Danny nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to soothe his nerves.

The ragdoll woman nodded, smiling still as she led the two teens back into the dining room.