Chapter 5

Danny found himself holding a flashlight as the three jumped out of Fenton Works once again, the headlamp now on Jackson who seemed to understand future Madeline's Jack Fenton Finder the best.

Misty jumped down last and pointed her light at her brother. "So which way?"

"Hang on," Jackson said, powering up the brick in his hand. The circle that had housed the portal now sat atop a hand unit, working like a metal detector that only detected Jack Fenton. The circle lit up, showing it was ready, getting Jackson to slowly turn in a circle. A slow beeping sounded, stopping him. He looked up, shining his headlamp farther into the quarry. "That way."

"But his footprints stopped the other way," Danny pointed out, throwing his free thumb over his shoulder.

"Don't ask me," Jackson said with a shrug as he turned to look at Danny. "I trust your mom's devices more than I would footprints."

"You've actually seen more of them work," Danny mumbled.

"Come on, you two," Misty said, flashing her light at Danny's watch now on her wrist. "We've got an hour to find him and get back."

Danny stepped up to stand beside Jackson, waving his light to silently tell the boy to lead on.

Jackson led them through the uneven ground left behind from the old quarry, keeping the device pointed so that the beeps continued to get faster. They made it to the other side of the uneven ground, getting close to another patch of woods, when the beeping slowed down.

"Why's it doing that?" Danny asked as the three came to a stop. He shined his light on the device in Jackson's hands as the boy gave it a smack.

"No, no, no, no!" Jackson exclaimed, panic in his voice.

"Jackson, what is it?" Misty asked, shining her light on the device from her brother's other side as the device's lights died away.

Jackson flipped it over in his hands and pulled back the covering to find where they had put the ectoplasm was brown powder. "There's no ectoplasm in the air! It's all dried out," he explained. He clumsily shoved the device and panel against his chest, freeing up his right hand. He shoved the hand in his pocket and pulled out the box cutter before dropping to his knees. Before Danny even knew what was happening, Jackson had the device propped open upside down and the blade exposed over his open palm.

Misty dropped down beside him and covered his palm. "Jackson! You can't!" she exclaimed.

"Misty, you know Grandpa's supposed to make it out of this," Jackson said, turning his eyes to the girl. Danny saw purple reflected off of Misty's face, unsure where the light came from. "He has his dad, he has to make it out of this."

"But so do you, Jackie," Misty said, tears on the corners of her green eyes.

"You know I hate when you call me that," Jackson said with a laugh. His laugh died as he added in a whisper, "I have to do this."

"No, you don't," Danny said, getting the two to look up at him. "I don't fully understand what cutting yourself will do, but we can just go back and get more samples."

Jackson shook his head. "None of the others would make it this far, and I have ectoplasm in my blood." He looked back at his hand as Misty removed hers, and took a deep breath. In one swift movement he sliced his hand, exposing red blood with green flecks in it as it started to drip from his hand. Dropping the blade to the ground, Jackson slapped his wounded hand to the components that fed off of ectoplasm. The device quickly sprang to life, beeping to say they still face the right way.

"Come on!" Jackson said, scrambling to his feet as he held the device upside down.

Danny and Misty rushed after him as the beeps grew closer together. The three headed straight into the woods, Danny finding he was struggling to keep up with the twins.

Jackson stopped in a clearing as the device gave them a steady beep, looking around with his headlamp.

"Grandpa!" Misty exclaimed.

Danny turned to her light and saw Jack laying on the ground with a wound on his forehead. "Dad!" Danny exclaimed, rushing to the large man's side. He dropped to his knees and checked for the man's pules, glad to find one strong under his fingers. "Dad, you've gotta wake up," Danny said, grabbing the large man's shoulders.

"Jackson!" Misty exclaimed as the boy's body fell to the ground.

Danny shined his flashlight over to see Jackson laying on the ground. He was almost sure his light was shining through the boy as his sister ripped off a part of her shirt to wrap around the cut. Danny turned back to Jack and said, "Dad, I can't carry you and Jackson. Wake up, please." Danny gave his father's shoulders a hard shake, getting the man to open his eyes.

"Danny?" Jack said, his voice sounding horse.

"Misty, how long do we have?" Danny asked, keeping his eyes on his father as the large man looked around them from where he laid.

"Twenty-five minutes," Misty said, tears in her voice. "But Jackson's-"

"Dad, can you get up?" Danny asked, getting himself to his feet.

"I think so," Jack said.

"Misty, stay with my dad," Danny ordered as he stepped over to the twins. Now that he stood over the boy, Danny was sure Jackson was transparent now, his flashlight lighting up the blades of grass under his body. He knelt down and carefully put his arms under the boy's body, lifting him up like he weighted nothing. He looked down at Misty, seeing her wipe away tears as she rose to her feet. "I'll hurry home and drop him off if you're too far behind, okay?"

"Okay, Danny," Misty said, letting out a laugh at an unknown joke.

Danny gave one last look at Jack, glad to see the man standing even if it was with the help of a tree. He turned back the way they came, only having a few feet of forest to go through before getting back to the quarry. Danny looked at the boy in his arms, the headlamp still on Jackson's head as it rested against Danny's shoulder. Danny could see his arms through the boy, filling his gut with worry. He hoped whatever his mom was supposed to do worked, because any longer in this world and Jackson might be dead.

The thought worried Danny, getting him to go faster than he thought he could on a normal day. Something about this boy gave Danny hope for his future. He knew Jackson and Misty were either his kids or Jazz's but no matter that, they were family. He wasn't going to let anything happen to his family.

Fenton Works grew closer, the building balancing strangely on the now above ground basement in a part of a hole in the quarry. Danny rushed towards the front door, raising Jackson high enough to be put inside. He threw a glance over his shoulder, glad to see Jack and Misty closer than he feared, his father looking fully awake now even with Misty keeping his hand in hers.

Pulling himself inside, Danny picked Jackson back up and carried the ghost of a child down into the lab. He laid him down on the floor beside the mini fridge and pulled out as many of the ecto-samples he could. Future Tucker said they ate ectoplasm so maybe reapplying some might help stabilize the boy. Danny found the next most recent and opened it up. Ignoring the Gak-like feel of the substance, he reached into the beaker and scooped out as much as he could, putting it in Jackson's wounded hand.

"Just lay down right here, Mr. Fenton," Misty said, leading Jack down the stairs to the basement.

"Thanks, sweetie," Jack said, his eyes glazed over as he held to the wall and used it to lower himself to the ground.

Misty stepped over to Danny and dropped to her knees. "He used up all the strength he had," she offered. "How's Jackson?"

"I don't know," Danny admitted, watching the ectoplasm absorbing into Jackson's hand. He added the remainder from the beaker as he said, "I thought this might help. How much longer?"

"Any minute now," Misty informed, looking at the watch. She looked back up at Danny and said, "I'll take him from here. Check on your dad."

Danny looked into the girl's green orbs, seeing something he recognized but couldn't place. He let out a breath and nodded his head. "Okay." He moved so Misty could take his place at her brother's head and asked, "You think I'll be able to see you two once this is all over?"

"One day, yeah," Misty said with a smile. She looked down at Jackson and added, "I know you will."

Danny stepped over to where his father laid, his eyes closed again with a dried drop of blood that ran down to his eyebrows from the wound on his forehead. Danny looked at it closer, trying to determine if it was still bleeding when the lab started to shake. He grabbed tight to his father, making sure his back covered the man's head incase anything fell on them. He closed his eyes as gravity shook all around them. He let out a cry, the only thing he could do was hold onto his father as it felt like all of reality was falling apart all around him.