Notes:

Sorry... quick update... gotta finish a lot of homework (faints)...

Thanks for the comments, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 14: Reality Check

When you're trying to get some sleep after a long and grueling day, it can come to you easily. You drift into a land of fantasy and find yourself immediately at ease. However, if it turns out that one of the excruciating tasks of the day was to deal with a Dream Eater, it is difficult to keep yourself in that state of peaceful dreaming. You'll find yourself either having nightmares or waking up every half hour to make sure that you're back in the real world. Danny's case seemed to be the latter throughout the night.

The youngster knew that he needed and wanted to sleep, but it became a challenge as the morning came closer. A few hours later, he finally saw the sun through his window. With a tired sigh, he got up from his comfortable bed and decided to take a shower to start his day. After all, he was supposed to be at school in an hour.

He raised an eyebrow at this last realization as he let the water clean both his body and his worries. Wow. I'm going to be at school on time? If that's not a sign that something's wrong with me, I don't know what is.

The warm liquid tranquilized him. He felt his mood improve as he pushed the events of last night aside. He even forgot how tired he really was.

When he finally got out of the shower and put his trademark clothes on, he realized that the house was quiet, and that was definitely not normal in the Fenton home.

Curious, Danny walked downstairs, trying not to make a sound. As he reached the final steps, the boy could hear his parents whispering in the kitchen. Jazz was probably still in her bedroom getting ready, so they must be talking about something important if they were keeping it in a low voice.

"-and you said you saw the same thing I did," Maddie's hushed words traveled to Danny's ears as he got closer. She paused briefly before continuing. "Jack, this can't be a coincidence. If what we saw turns out to be real, we have to-"

"Good morning, Danny," Jazz exclaimed cheerfully as she saw her brother near the kitchen's entrance, which startled the younger sibling and interrupted Maddie from whatever she was about to say.

Darn it! Now I'll never know what they were talking about. Thanks for blowing my cover, Jazz. I knew I should've gone invisible…

Both parents glanced in their kids' direction and greeted them nervously. "Oh, hi, Jazzipants," Jack said once his daughter walked to take her seat next to him, followed by Danny's slow steps. The man in the orange jumpsuit shifted his gaze uncomfortably when he saw his son. "Hey, uh, Dan". He then returned his attention to a gadget on the table.

The boy sensed some tension in the air as he stepped into the room, but shrugged it off. He figured he was being paranoid after what happened last night. "Hey mom, hey dad".

Maddie eyed him just as tautly and replied with an awkward smile. "Hi, kids, breakfast will be ready in a minute," she informed her children quickly and then began to search for a couple of things inside the fridge.

A sudden silence fell upon them. Jazz looked at Danny, raising an eyebrow as if asking him 'what's going on?'. He answered with a shrug and a confused expression.

Finally, the one who could be considered the only normal member of the family attempted to change the mood. "So, why are you up so early, Danny? Usually you're still sleeping at this hour," Jazz teased.

Danny understood that she was trying to lighten up the current atmosphere that surrounded the Fentons. "Hey, don't underestimate me. I still have time for a tardiness," he joked back.

Both siblings chuckled but their soft laughter drifted into silence once they saw the lack of attention they were getting from their parents. "Uh, anyway," Danny started, "do you think you could give me a ride today?" he asked, trying to clue her that he wanted to tell his sister something.

Jazz took the hint. "Sure," she replied. "We can leave as soon as we finish our breakfast". The girl turned around to face her mother to see how she was doing with their meal. She noticed that Maddie was staring blankly at the wall and the strips of bacon were now burning in the frying pan. The young redhead gasped. "Mom! The bacon!"

Maddie snapped out of her distracted trance and was startled as she realized how she had ruined her children's breakfast. She put out the small fire and left the pan on the sink. "Oh! I'm sorry, kids. Why don't you have some cereal instead?" the woman suggested just before she went to the lab to work. Jack followed her silently soon after.

The two teenagers exchanged glances once their parents had disappeared. "What was that all about?" Jazz asked confused.

Danny frowned, not knowing the answer either. "Beats me. I've never seen them so jumpy or distracted before," he replied.

"Yeah. They usually get angry whenever I imply that you've been late to school," she said with a teasing smile.

"I would reply with a sarcastic remark if it weren't for the fact that you're right," her brother exclaimed with some concern.

Both of them remained silent as they ate a bowl of cereal each. They tried to finish as quickly as possible so they could have more time to talk on their way to school.

Once in the car, Jazz went straight to the point. "All right. There are no parents here who can overhear us and we still have some time left. Is there something you wanted to tell me?" she asked with curiosity.

Danny took a deep breath before he began to narrate his oneiric 'adventures'. Well, at least now I know she really is my sister, right?

The red convertible had the roof on to stop anyone from eavesdropping. Two people sat inside in silence while the vehicle was parked in Casper High's parking lot. Jazz turned her gaze to meet her brother's even though his eyes were focused on his red and white shoes. Danny had just finished telling her about last night's events.

"Are you sure this Guardian of Dreams you told me about is going to capture Remy?" she asked worriedly.

Danny sighed, unsure of what to think. "I don't know. He told me he would but, after what happened with Valerie, I have my doubts," he replied. The boy groaned as his head moved forward to hit the dashboard. "What am I supposed to do? I'm not strong enough to beat this guy and, to be honest, I don't think Morpheus is either. Remy took a lot of energy from me. For all I know, he could be trying to use that power to make my life a real nightmare, to stop me from getting in the way. In fact, I can almost guarantee that's what he's planning," he finished quite pessimistically, sitting straight once more to face his sister.

A hand belonging to the girl on the driver's seat reached his shoulder to show support. "Danny, don't stress yourself. You've been through worse and you came out victorious those times. Even if this is a hard battle to face, you still have Sam, Tucker, and me to help you. You won't be alone again. I promise," Jazz said soothingly to make her brother feel better. It seemed to work because Danny shot her a heartfelt smile.

"Thanks, Jazz. Though, this is kinda awkward," he said, changing his expression into a frown.

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "What is?"

Danny sighed softly. "Well, one of my dreams involved a conversation like this between you and me," he explained.

"Danny, Remy might have been messing with your head lately but you really are not alone anymore. You don't have to deal with him on your own. You don't even have to struggle by yourself with the aftermath of the mental mess he made. Whenever you want to talk, remember that I'm here to listen. I'm not going to lie to you: trusting reality again is going to be an ordeal, but I know you're smart enough to figure it out and we'll be here to help you with that," Jazz comforted her brother once more.

"You're right. I can't wait for this madness to be over". He opened the door and stepped outside. "Come on, sis, or I'm really going to be late," he added with a smirk.

The two siblings walked together to the halls of Casper High and they parted to their respective lockers. The boy was deep in thought as he strolled towards his.

I thought everything would be over once I woke up, but it seems that it made matters even worse. What happened last night with Valerie and my own doubts today could be just the beginning of my problems.

I have to keep my eyes and my mind open in case that freak decides to strike again. The people I love could be in danger if I don't do something to stop him.

Yeah… I am going to do something about it. I'm not just going to sit this one out waiting for Morpheus to get rid of Remy. If Morph fails, I'm going to blame myself for not acting sooner.

Danny met his two best friends by his locker. They smiled at him. "Hey, Danny," Tucker greeted.

Sam's smile fell when she saw Danny's brooding expression. "Are you okay?"

"Actually, no. I have to tell you something," he began but was interrupted by the bell's ringing, signaling all the students that their classes were about to start. "It's a long story. I'll tell you during our lunch break".

The classes before lunch had been pretty much average. Even the events between them were part of the daily routine: certain blonde jock shoving a scrawny, blue-eyed teenager into his locker, a particular bald teacher being specially hard on the same boy who had been trapped by the bully, and there was also the usual friendly discussion between a Goth girl and a techno geek.

Danny was relieved to see all those antics back. Even if his shoulder was a bit sore due to Dash's bullying and he was having a hard time trying to stay awake during Mr. Lancer's class because of his tiredness, he was glad to have everything back to normal.

That's why his mood had improved by the time Sam and Tucker walked with him to the cafeteria to sit on their same old table. The half-human teenager leaned closer to his friends once they had taken their seats. He wanted to talk as quietly as possible, not wanting anyone to overhear the conversation. As he told them every little detail concerning his hallucination, Remy, Morpheus, the way his personality was split, and even the bit of information Valerie shared with him last night, his two companions stared at him in awe.

It took them a minute to recover from all that they had heard. Sam was the first to break the silence. "You had to fight yourself?" she asked in disbelief.

"C'mon, Sam. It's not like he hadn't done it before. Remember his jerky older self?" Tucker reminder her.

Danny's eyebrows narrowed in anger. "Hey! That was different. I wasn't evil last night. I was just… confused to say the least," he defended.

"You or your ghost half?" Sam asked with her eyebrow raised.

"We're the same, remember?" he replied annoyed.

Tucker and Sam exchanged glances. The girl with the violet gaze then turned her eyes to meet Danny's blue ones. "We know you're the same, but how are you coping with your mind split? I mean, yeah, you already went through a similar situation with the Ghost Catcher, but this case sounds like a whole different deal. Part of you wanted to kill your other part. Aren't you afraid that your dream might come true?" she questioned with concern.

Danny gave her a stern look and let her words sink in before replying. "Guys, listen. I know you're worried and I'm seriously thankful. But that's never going to happen. When I fought myself last night, it was all because of an inner conflict I had for a long time that I didn't want to admit: that I was not completely convinced with this whole superhero gig. Now, I feel free. Like I've finally accepted myself. It's hard to explain the feeling, but I'm confident when I say that everything's all right with my two identities now," he reassured his friends.

They remained silent again for another minute. However, this time Tucker and Sam gave him supporting smiles instead of worried glances. "So, what are we going to do now? I mean, with the whole Dream Eater thing?" the dark-skinned boy asked Danny.

"I guess I'll have to patrol tonight in case he decides to disturb anyone's dreams. I'll try to sneak a pair of Specter Deflectors out of the lab for you. I don't want Remy attacking you while you're sleeping," he replied.

Sam rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll be careful".

"Yeah, we'll be so careful that you won't even recognize us," Tucker added jokingly.

Danny smiled once more and sighed. I just hope I can regain my energy by the time I face with that freak. I don't want to be stressed about this kind of things.

And now, how will I convince my parents to stay more alert than usual without giving too much information away? And Valerie… if he reached her once, nothing will stop him to do it again.

I guess that means I'll have to stay awake all night to protect them just in case. It's not like I'm having luck whenever I want to remain asleep anyway. I keep waking up filled with paranoia. I just have to find a way to stay up all night without feeling tired and also while trying to regain all my energy.

Yeah… nobody said that my half-life would be easy.

Notes:

So, there you go, another chapter done. I'll try to post the next one around April's 1st (and no: there'll be no pranks from my part, so don't worry).

Next Chapter:

Night Terrors

Featuring a patrolling night, an explanation to Jack and Maddie's jumpiness, and a certain showdown.

This is just the beginning of the end…so stay tuned.