A/N: I am so, so so so sorry about how long this has taken me. Last week I had absolutely no chance to write. I spent my days either eating, sleeping (even that not very much), going to class, and doing homework. It really stunk. But this weeked I finally got a break and was able to write this chapter. Yay! It felt really good since I'd missed writing so much!

If you haven't read the note on my profile, then here's the summary: April's going to suck school-wise and I won't be able to update very quickly. Albeit it won't be as long as this one took, but it will definitely be more than a week. I'm really sorry, but I just don't have the time.

Anywho, enough with depressing talk. Thank you so much for all the reviews of last chapter! I'm really glad you approved of Danny's reactions and decisions. It means a lot to me. I'm really excited for the rest of this story, it's going to be good, I can promise you that! )

Again, I'm really really sorry for the late update. I truly am.

Chapter Twelve
Running Away

Jazz pounded on Danny's door with her good arm. It was now ten thirty in the morning and although she knew Danny liked to sleep and probably could use it, this was getting a little ridiculous. He was hiding from them, she knew it. He was too afraid or ashamed to show his face so he'd just spend all his time in his room, away from everyone.

"Danny! You need to come out now! You can't hide in your room forever! We want to talk to you, spend time with you! Locking yourself up in your room isn't going to do anything!"

When she didn't receive an answer she started pounding harder. "Danny! You open this door right now! Don't make me break into your room!"

When she still didn't receive an answer or hear any signs of movement in his room whatsoever she started feeling nervous. Usually if he didn't feel like opening the door he'd shout something back or open the door, give her an evil glare, and then shut it again. But now, she heard nothing. She tried opening the door but it was locked.

"Alright, you've asked for it!" she warned as she headed into her room and pulled out a mini-safe underneath her bed. She entered the combination into the lock and opened it, shuffling through stashes of cash, family heirlooms, photographs of her and her brother, and other personal keepsakes until she found a little key. With a vicious smile she headed towards Danny's door and inserted the key into the lock. A few years back she had found this key in her parents' room. She found with great pleasure that it opened all the doors on the top floor. She had kept it in her room ever since, knowing that it would come in handy sometime.

She opened the door and gasped as her eyes fell on Danny's empty bed. She immediately ran into the room, trying to figure out what had happened. Where could he be if he wasn't in the room? Had he perhaps gone out for a flight to clear his head? No, he couldn't have. He didn't have enough strength or control over his powers to be able to do that.

As she searched frantically throughout the room she noticed a glowing vial on his desk next to a note. Her eyes widened in worry as her face paled, knowing what this meant.

Danny had run away.

Danny landed roughly into a forest clearing, his head and body aching. He had flown almost all night, trying to get as far away from home as possible. He knew that once they read the note they'd start looking for him, whether he told them to or not. The flight had been slow moving. He couldn't fly very quickly and at one point he couldn't fly at all, so he was forced to walk.

He found a log in the forest and he sat down, holding his head in his hands as he shut his eyes, his head spinning from a combination of the disease and exhaustion. He was completely exhausted and he knew he needed to sleep, but he couldn't quiet his brain down long enough. He kept thinking about what had happened, what he'd done, and how he was going to fix everything.

He opened his eyes and as he looked around at the forest that was going to be his home for the afternoon, he couldn't help thinking about the one he'd left behind. Instead of a nice comfortable bed or couch he had a stiff, knotty log. Instead of the soft feel of the carpet he had the muck of the forest floor. Instead of a warm and supportive family surrounding him he had harsh shadows and beady-eyed animals.

He felt like crying, but he didn't have any more tears to shed. He'd been crying for so long that there was nothing left. His eyes were puffy and red from all the crying. He missed his home, his friends, his family, but he knew that he couldn't go back until he found a cure. Throughout the flight he started sneezing more than usual, and he'd shot off many Ghostly Wails into the sky. Were he still in the house, it would have been destroyed, and who knew what would have happened to his family. He was better off if he stayed here, away from everyone else, away from any source of civilization, away from anyone he could hurt until he figured everything out. He was doing this for the best of everyone, for their safety. He knew they'd be sad to see him go and he was sad for leaving, but it was necessary. He loved them too much.

He lay down on the log, trying to find a comfortable position but soon gave up, knowing there wasn't one. He shut his eyes and tried to quiet his thoughts and allow himself to fall asleep. Eventually he felt sleep creep at the edges of his consciousness, felt himself drift into the welcome world of sleep, memories of his family and friends lingering in his mind before all went black.

"Mom! Dad! Danny he's…he's run away!" Jazz screamed as she ran down the stairs, note and phial in her hands, tears running down her face.

Her parents immediately ran up from the lab, their eyes wide with fear. Did they just hear what they thought they'd heard? They hoped they didn't, they hoped they'd imagined it.

They saw Jazz run frantically down the stairs, her eyes wide with worry and sadness, a note in her hands.

Oh God.

"Jazz, Jazz, please tell me…please tell me that's the mail," Maddie begged as they met her at the bottom of the steps.

Jazz couldn't speak; she didn't know what to say. She held her arm out, the note in her hand. Her mother reached for it, her hands shaking as she grabbed the letter. She sat down on the couch, Jack and Jazz sitting next to her as she unfolded it and let out a small sob when she saw it was Danny's handwriting. Green tear-stains were left all over the note, the black ink smeared in some spots. Maddie cleared her throat, prepared to read the note.

Mom, Dad, Jazz, Tucker, and Sam

I'm so sorry to do this to you, to put you through this, but it was necessary. This was the only way to keep you safe. I know you said that you wanted to be here for me, to help me through this, but you can't. I can't stay in the house any longer, knowing that at any second I can bring it down, possibly taking you with it. I don't want to have to worry about hurting you anymore.

I know you said that you don't blame me, that it wasn't my fault, but I don't care. It doesn't make me feel any better. I still feel guilty, tainted. It is my fault. If only I had taken Skulker out sooner, if only I hadn't become a half ghost in the first place. There are so many if onlys, so many reasons why I'm to blame, and as hard as I try, I just can't get them out of my head. Every time I look at myself in the mirror, every time I look at any of you, every time I see the damage, I remember what I did and how it's all my fault, and I can't deal with it.

So, I had to leave and I hope you can understand. I also hope that you can understand my request to not come looking for me. I'm not planning on staying away forever, just long enough for me to find a cure or a way to control this.

I just wanted to say a few things. The vial next to this letter is a sample of my ectoplasm, just incase you need some more. I know that you plan to continue with your research and I figure this will help.

Jazz, thank you so much for constantly being there for me and supporting me. I see now that all those strange moments or cryptic messages were you trying to help me all along, so thank you. I don't think I could ever have a better or more loving and caring sister, so thank you so much. Even though I may not show it all the time, I love you and you are my best friend.

Mom and Dad, I can't explain to you how great the two of you have been. You've been so accepting and forgiving and I can't explain how much it means to me. I went from being afraid to tell you out of fear of losing your love to being more immersed in your love than I've ever felt in my life. I feel horrible having to repay you by running away, but I didn't have a choice. Please know that I love you with all my heart and I completely forgive you for everything you've done. You are the best parents in the world.

Tucker and Sam, I'm really sorry I have to leave you out of this. I know we've never done anything apart and we've always fought ghosts and saved the town together, but I can't let you, not this time. Keeping you safe from another ghost is a lot easier than keeping you safe from myself. You two are the best friends a guy could ask for, half ghost or not. You've always been so accepting, so helpful, no matter what. I know it's probably not easy being my friend and you have to deal with many weird things, and I can't thank you enough for constantly staying with me. After the accident you never treated me any differently and I can't explain how much that means to me.

I'm so sorry to do this to you, after you've been so forgiving, loving, and accepting, but I have to. I didn't want to do this, and I still don't, but it's the only way. I don't want you to get hurt again; I wouldn't be able to stand it. I can barely stand it now. I've made it my goal to protect this town and I'll do anything to keep it safe, even if it means protecting it from myself. I love you all so much and I'll miss you terribly, but I have to go because I love you. I'm sorry to put you through this, sorry I couldn't keep you safe, sorry I couldn't protect you, sorry I hurt you. I hope you can find it within your hearts to forgive me. I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can.

Until then, forever yours
Danny

The three of them couldn't stop crying. The tears continued to pour from their eyes. They sat there in stunned silence, not knowing what to say or do. Danny had run away. They were still trying to grasp the fact, still trying to process it. They kept expecting to see Danny walk down the stairs or hear his laugh or voice from upstairs. They'd even be thankful to hear a sneeze, but nothing came.

Finally Jazz shook out of her state of shock. "We should call Tucker and Sam. They'll want to know."

Maddie and Jack nodded their heads, still lost in their own depressing thoughts. Their son had run away. He couldn't stand looking at them because they reminded him of what that stupid ghost cold had done. And he blamed himself. After all their reassuring he still blamed himself for their injuries.

"Sam, this is Jazz. You need to get over here right away, and bring Tucker." Jazz paused. "No, he's not all right. He's…he's run away."

After a few hours of near sleep Danny decided that he couldn't stay there any longer. He had to keep moving, had to continue on. He was still too close to Amity and if his parents searched for a day they'd find him. Plus, he wasn't getting that much sleep on the log in the first place. If memories of his horrible actions didn't wake him up, a sneeze or an uncomfortable position would.

Danny stood up and concentrated hard, willing himself to become airborne again. It was taking so much energy to just float that he figured that soon he's be stuck walking. He finally managed to float himself above the ground and then took off, slowly gaining altitude, leaving the now partially destroyed forest below him. His Ghostly Wails had taken out a fair amount of trees and left a large clearing.

As he flew in the sky he felt the sneeze. He rolled over onto his back, prepared to place the Ghostly Wail into the sky but when he sneezed two rays of ectoplasmic energy emerged from his eyes and shot into the cloudy sky.

Now Danny was worried. Not only were his powers malfunctioning, but now powers that he didn't even have were malfunctioning as well. It was a good thing he left the house when he did, otherwise everyone would be in much greater trouble. Instead of a destroyed forest it would have been a destroyed house, and now everything was going to be so unexpected if his sneezing was starting to trigger his untapped powers. He didn't know what other powers he might have or what they could do to the world or the people around him.

He had to find a cure soon, something that would keep him in control of his powers, something that would stop his powers from short circuiting, something that would stop his powers period.

He stopped in the air, an idea coming to him. The Plasmius Maximus. If he could find some way to steal the Plasmius Maximus from Vlad it would disable his powers for three hours. Then he could go home and use it on himself every three hours, allowing him to search for the cure with his parents without having to worry about their safety. It wasn't a cure, but it was a start.

With newfound determination Danny pushed himself, willing himself to fly faster, further, heading away from the setting sun, towards Wisconsin.

Hours had passed while the Fentons, joined by Tucker and Sam, sat in the living room, staring at the note and phial on the coffee table in the middle of them. None of them really spoke and all of them continued to weep. They didn't know what to do, what to say. They wanted to comfort each other, tell each other it was going to be okay, but at the same time they needed convincing that everything would be all right as well because no one felt it would be.

The sun was starting it's decent as the room was filled with the golden colors of a beautiful sunset, but no one cared. All that mattered to them was that the setting sun signaled that Danny now had almost an entire day to get further away from them. The clock read five thirty, the time when most families would start preparing dinner, but they didn't care about that either. The only importance the time had to them was that it showed them how many hours it had been since Danny ran away.

"We have to do something," Sam finally stated and everyone looked up at her, shocked to actually hear her talk. "We can't just let him run off like this. We have to go after him."

"You read what he said in the note," Maddie replied sadly, her eyes having lost their usual wit and sparkle. "He doesn't want us to come after him."

Of course Sam had read the note. They'd reread it so many times they each practically had the whole thing memorized, but Sam wasn't going to let that stop her. "Danny doesn't want us to do a lot of things but we still do them. He's not thinking straight. He's sick, weak, and has no control over anything. Who knows what trouble he'll get into?"

Everyone sat silently, looking guiltily into their hands. Of course they all wanted to go after him, but he did say that he didn't want them too. He seemed so adamant about keeping them away; they didn't really know what to do. Did they do what they felt was right or honor their son's wishes?

"Sam's right, we can't just leave him out there," Tucker agreed. "He's just being stupid. This is just the way he is. He tells us it's too dangerous to do something, tells us to stay behind, and then we ignore him and follow him anyways."

Everyone still remained silent, fighting within themselves.

"Well, I don't care what the rest of you are planning on doing but I'm going after them," Sam replied as she stood up, determined, sick of waiting around. She wanted to go help Danny, to find him, no matter what he said.

"Me too," Tucker added.

"But Sam, what about your leg?" Maddie asked.

"Who cares? I'll walk for miles on it if I have to if it means finding Danny."

She turned around and started walking out the door with the aid of her crutches, Tucker following her.

"Wait, I'm coming too," Jazz remarked as she stood up and walked towards the door with them.

Maddie looked at Jack and they both reached the same decision.

"We're coming too." The other three smiled. "But first, I think we should get some supplies. We don't know how far Danny might have gotten and we need to be prepared. He's probably not going to be near any civilizations, just in case something happens, which means we'll be roughing it on our own."

The rest of them agreed and started running around the house, grabbing as many things as they thought would be necessary. Half an hour later they all met in the living room, fully packed and ready. Jack pulled out a device and turned it on.

"Jack dear, what's that?" Maddie asked.

"The Fenton Ghost Tracker," Jack answered proudly.

"Honey, you know that doesn't work," she replied softly, trying not to hurt his already delicate feelings.

"But it does now. I just fixed it while you were getting everything ready. I put a sample of Danny's ectoplasm into it and now it's targeting onto Danny's signature. Observe." He held up the phial Danny left behind to the ghost tracker and it started beeping rapidly while repeatedly saying "Ghost Detected." "All we need to do is follow where this baby's pointing and we'll find Danny."

Everyone else smiled and Maddie kissed her husband on the cheek. "I knew I married you for a reason," she remarked as she pulled her hood and goggles over her head. "Alright everyone, to the GAV! We've got to find Danny!"

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. If my planning serves me right, I think they may only be three chapters left, maybe four. It seems really sad, but I think that's it. I'm going to be really depressed when this thing is over. tear

Oh, and if you haven't seen V for Vendetta yet, GO SEE IT! It is by far one of the best movies I've seen in a long long time! It's just so brilliant! On my movie scale (which probably doesn't count for much, but that's okay) it's right after LOTR, which is saying a lot because I practically worship that trillogy! So go see it! Hugo Weaving (Elrond and Agent Smith) is fantastic!