It was late afternoon, fortunate for the city below. Aside from the slayer that got into Lucy's house, it was far too bright for most malefactors. Silver's marksmen were probably hallucinations, which left Darwin and the gorgers. After the way he beat the spirit of gluttony last time, Danny didn't expect a rematch. Of course, that had been thirty years ago…

The sound of weapons fire dragged him back to the issue at hand, and he dropped to avoid the three blasts. Future Valerie had clearly updated her equipment, so why did she use the three energy cubes he'd grown so used to? Perhaps Silver simply wasn't trying to kill him yet? He glanced back to see if she was up to something, so it should have come as no surprise when he looked forward again and nearly slammed into the ghostly psychic. With a shout of panic, he dove toward the distant pavement for a few minutes before twisting around to head back the way he came.

"Oh, lover!" future Valerie called playfully. "Don't run away!" Danny shivered involuntarily.

You need to play with us, Silver informed him. The image of Sandruu, Lucy, and his Valerie lying on the ground in a spreading pool of blood flashed across his vision, distracting him enough that he misjudged her aim. His back felt as though it was on fire from her second assault. He ducked further and flew beneath her again, and the two twisted around each other as Danny tried to stay close enough that she couldn't aim while still keeping out of reach. If the laughter in his head was any indication, Silver was having enough fun that she wouldn't resort to telekinesis yet.

"Valerie!" he yelled. "I know you're still in there! This isn't you! Fight her!"

She can't hear you anymore, amante.

"Silver, let her go!"

She is part of me. If you join us, you can have her again. I promise…

Danny clenched his teeth. "Yeah, I'm sure." He ducked instinctively at the sound of weapons fire and was nearly clipped by a plummeting jet sled. Someone called his name, and he glanced over to see Dan and the younger Valerie.

"Are you okay?" the older half ghost demanded. Danny nodded. "Good. The kids got away. Now, take Valerie to Fenton Works and hide!"

"I'm not hiding from her!" Danny retorted.

Not that you could.

The older half ghost clutched at his throat suddenly, gasping, moments before he was flung aside like a rag doll. Danny fired into the swirling mist behind the ghost hunter and was rewarded with the sharp projection of agony that spread through his skull. Future Valerie blinked uncertainly and looked around. "Wha-"

No! Silver exclaimed, reasserting her control. You are mine. Well done, amante, but I don't lose so easily.

Valerie shook her head in disbelief. She found it difficult to form a coherent thought about the whole situation, completely unable to understand how she could have become like that. True, she'd been a bit mindless when she first found out, but she'd also been blinded with grief. The feeling had faded. How could this other version have maintained such an attitude for thirty years and, more importantly, why would she want to?

We feel your pain, whispered that chilling voice. Valerie was vaguely aware of the two half ghosts fighting off her older self, but the sheer volume of countless voices drove away all rational thought. We understand your hatred. Join us, and we will make him ours…

"Join…you…?" the girl muttered, drifting forward slightly. A sudden ringing blow against the side of her helmet drove the whispers from her mind, and she bit back a curse as she was thrust into Danny's arms.

"Get her out of here!" Dan commanded, turning back to the fight.

Danny seemed on the verge of an objection but thought better of it. He tugged on Valerie's arm and started flying. "Come on. I don't think we want to be in hearing range."

After a few minutes of simply running on autopilot, she recovered enough to gasp, "What is that thing? It…I…it's like I…?"

"Don't worry about," Danny answered quietly. "Silver gets in your head, makes you see things that aren't there."

"I was almost under her control."

Conversation was forced to a halt as Dan's Ghostly Wail echoed across the sky. Valerie tried to whirl around and stare, but Danny continued to pull her along. He wasn't entirely sure that power would work on Silver. It was a sound-based attack, and she couldn't hear unless she "borrowed" her host's ears. Despite her psychic tendencies, she couldn't even read minds unless she was in her victim's head already. He dropped as they drew close to Fenton Works.

"Yesterday morning…" Valerie muttered, momentarily forgetting that said morning had happened thirty years ago. "That banshee attack…that was you?"

Danny grinned apologetically. "I didn't actually mean to do that much damage. I was aiming for Walker." He became human to duck through the ghost shield, and the two slipped inside the building.

Unsurprisingly, all the lights were off. Gadgets and tools littered most flat surfaces, and a light dusting of fog covered everything. It had been recently disturbed in the kitchen, probably by Sandruu and Technus. He couldn't help but wonder where his parents were and whether or not his older self lived in the home. The door to the basement lab creaked opened and an eye that appeared to have been caught somewhere between the colors green and violet peeked out. "Where's Daddy?" Lucy whispered.

"Still fighting Silver," Danny answered. "Don't worry; he'll be fine."

A tapping noise startled the teens, but it was merely Sandruu's feet against the linoleum as he entered the kitchen behind them. His single red eye was almost nightmarish considering the darkened surroundings. "Are you sure?" he asked, torn between the knowledge that Danny would one day be his father, and anger that he had left the man behind. "I've never seen him look scared before."

"Even if Silver beats him, she won't kill him," the boy explained. "She knows he means something to me, so she'll just hold him hostage as a…prize."

There was a bewildered silence that Valerie finally broke. "You mean, like a game?"

"It's a long story. Please don't make me tell it."

Sandruu looked like he was about to anyway, but Danny shuddered and gasped. They both jumped to wary attention while Valerie belated remembered that he did that when other ghosts were around, then Dan's voice called, "It's me…" He joined them, almost unconsciously becoming human again.

"Daddy!" Lucy squealed, erupting from behind the basement door to fling herself around his neck.

The man managed a faint smile. "Come on, kids. I told you to hide in the basement. Everyone get down there. She could recover any minute."

"So it worked?" Danny asked as they all complied.

Dan shook his head, his eyes acquiring that haunted look that Valerie had long since learned to hate. She briefly hated herself for being responsible for it. "Not on Silver, no," he replied cryptically. They hardly needed a translation.

It seemed an eternity before Sandruu's tactlessness kicked in. "Will she be okay?" He seemed genuinely worried, then genuinely sad when his father shook his head. "Did you-"

"Andrew Jack Fenton!" Lucy exclaimed. "Quit flapping your lips, man! He'll tell us when he's up for it."

"What happened to me?" Valerie muttered, unable to shake her older self's blank stare from her mind.

Sandruu opened his mouth, then glanced askance at his sister, who glanced at her father, who shrugged and waved his hand dismissively. A few more seconds of silent communication went by while the siblings apparently argued about which of them would tell it. Valerie, an only child, began to wonder if they were somehow telepathic or if it was just a sibling thing; Danny didn't appear to be surprised. Finally, Lucy said, "Things were always a little weird. You…she never liked him much, but they had kind of a truce."

"Until gr…Damon died," Sandruu interrupted, earning a peeved glare from the rest of his family. Valerie and Danny exchanged glances, both wondering what he'd been about to say.

"You knew," Dan said, picking up the thread. "It was…complicated, to say the least, but we got along well enough. Until Damon died."

"And that was the day Vlad learned not to mess with me!" Sandruu announced.

"Sandy!"

"Why are you calling your brother 'Sandy'?"

"Why does she call him 'Sandy'?" Danny whispered to Valerie, who merely shook her head.

While the ill-timed remark had served to lighten the atmosphere, it grew depressed again far too quickly. "What happened to Dad?" the young ghost hunter demanded.

There was another prolonged silence, the kind that indicated that no one wanted to be responsible for the bad news. "It was the day the rest of the town found out about me," Dan sighed. "It wasn't exactly news to most people what with the two of them, but that was the day it was confirmed. What happened was a horrible, tragic accident, but you refused to believe that."

"That was the first time Andrew lost his mind," Lucy whispered.

"I knew exactly what I was doing," her brother refuted, a dangerous edge to his voice. For a brief moment, the green glow of his normal eye overpowered the red glow of his mechanical one, and the two teens repressed a shudder.

"But what happened?" Valerie pressed, almost desperate to know.

"A ghost attack," Dan answered, though that much was obvious. "The worst one since Pariah. A creature named Necrowind raised an army of zombies. You said something about it happening once before…?" He trailed off helplessly. "I don't remember much of it, so I can't really defend myself. But Damon was one of the casualties, and you always blamed me."

Valerie covered her mouth and let out a shuddering sigh, then walked as quickly as dignity would allow into a far corner. Sandruu opened his mouth and quickly shut it again at the sight of his father's warning glare. Danny shuddered and found his own secluded place to think. There had to be a way to keep all of that from happening.

Wasn't there?