Hello there! I'm greeting you from the end of the first week of school. I have yet to be driven weeping from the classroom, so that's a good thing. Thank you for your patience.

Thank you so much for your thoughts on the trial! I'll be looking for more, right up until, and through, when I actually post the trial.

Also, i just realized that i didn't post a key for terms in Chapter 63. I'm sorry if that caused any confusion.

Angel Frog: Yes, it's sad, but real-life prejudices also generally take a long time to fully get over, even if you're consciously trying. But it is a step up... So... I don't know where I'm going with this. Thank you for reviewing. I appreciate the feedback.

paolotejadej: I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. I am going to keep it T rated though, because this is the rating at which I'm comfortable writing. (Also, I'm a teacher, and I don't want to get in trouble if anyone ever traced this account to real me. Teachers have been fired for lesser offenses.) Thank you for understanding.

StormFen: I understand your confusion, but I don't think I ever officially said the plane was coming from Bermuda? I kinda had that one missing Air France flight in mind, even though that was eventually found, and on inspection, was coming from I different place than I thought. I guess I had an international France to America flight in mind. Also, not all of the Harmony people are from the plane. Do you know how many people go missing every year? Okay, I don't either. But I understand that it's a lot, and I guess that's what I was thinking about. I have to admit that these details weren't solid in my head when I was first writing it, and if I've contradicted anything in the story, I'm sorry.

StormFen (continued): Yeah, Jack and Maddie have the dubious distinction of being the first and most persistent of the loved ones who have tried to kill Danny, but they definitely are not alone. This is canon. There was ghost!Tucker from What You Want, and then pharoh!Tucker from King Tuck. Then for Sam, there was plant!Sam in Urban Jungle. Vlad made Danny and Jazz fight in Secret weapons, and Danny was momentarily convinced that she was serious. For Danielle, there was the whole prime clone thing, and she betrayed him to Vlad. Valerie... I don't need to explain that. Dora had the whole angry dragon thing going on, and then helped kidnap Sam. Frostbite was crazy and violent when Danny first met him in Infinite Realms, because of the icicle imbeded in the back of his neck. Clockwork sent Box Lunch and SkulkTech after him, and then fought him with an army of duplicates. I think Pandora is the only exception, and that depends on whether or not you consider her and Danny to be close. Of course, Danny considers this to be fair, due to the events of Control Freaks and TUE. Poor Danny.

katyrcompton: Thank you for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying this. I do feel the need to warn you that there is going to be some death and gore in upcoming chapters. Not a lot, and mostly bad guys, but I thought I'd give you a heads up since it's been mostly talking so far.

LizReader1125: You're welcome! :)

.

.

.

Chapter 65: Stuck With Us

.

Star felt bad about leaving Paulina. Not bad enough to stay with Paulina, but bad. She knew that a lot of Paulina's actions were powered by insecurity, rather than a sense of entitlement, like most people assumed.

(Okay, so there was a lot of entitlement, too.)

Lina just always felt like she was being cheated, like she was being laughed at, behind her back. At least, that was Star's interpretation. Maybe it was wrong, but whatever. She was Paulina's friend, not her psychiatrist.

So, when Paulina was risking death to go after a crush that Star knew was hopeless, well, Star felt bad about not being able to talk her out of it. Then again, Star hadn't had much hope of talking her out of it in the first place. The stalker shrine to Phantom in Lina's locker had nothing on the one in her room.

But, Star reasoned, Phantom was there, even if he was stuck inside Fenton, and so was that creepy shadow, Echo, and Valerie, who had apparently been fighting ghosts for the past two years. Lina would be fine.

Speaking of Valerie, Star was worried about her, too.

Valerie could take care of herself, Star knew that, but sometimes she made dumb decisions. Like, the whole Red Huntress thing. That was dumb. Fighting Phantom? Super dumb. Valerie had a temper, too, and Star just didn't think that that was a good thing, when chasing off after a bunch of trigger-happy Guys in White.

Of course, the GIW wasn't the only reason that Star was worried about Valerie. She and Paulina didn't get along super well, especially after Valerie got kicked off the A-list. Hopefully, they wouldn't get into a fight, now that Star wasn't there to play peacekeeper. Maybe Jazz would stop them. Star didn't know the older girl super well, but she seemed like a calm person.

.

.

.

"It feels weird, without Nathan and Lester here," said Mikey.

"Yeah," said Ricky.

"They're going to die, aren't they?" asked Mikey.

"I hope not," said Ricky.

.

.

.

"I'm breaking up with him," announced Tiffanie.

"Uh, okay?" said Kwan. He wasn't sure how to handle this. Paulina, who would normally deal with break ups in the A-list, was here, Star was lost in her own thoughts, and Dale was, honestly, kind of an insensitive jerk. Cool to hang out with, and really good at football, but he could be mean. "Why?"

"Because he's gone off with her."

"Uh, you mean Paulina? 'Cause, I don't think that's a problem. She's like, super obsessed with Phantom. You know that."

But Tiffanie was already shaking her head. "No, not Lina. Lina knows what's up. She wouldn't do that to me, it would be totally uncool. No. I'm talking about Fenton."

"Uhhhh. You've lost me. I know Fenton's, like, super wimpy and girly, but, he's definitely a guy, and I don't think he swings that way, you know?"

"No, the other Fenton."

"His mom?" asked Kwan, feeling thoroughly grossed out.

"No, Jasmine Fenton, his sister. God, you're a freak."

"Oh. Yeah. Just, I mean, you could have used her first name to begin with. There's like, four Fentons, here. It's kind of confusing."

.

.

.

Mia was watching Fractal. She couldn't see very well without her contact lenses, but there was something familiar about the way he moved.

"Doesn't he remind you of someone?" asked Hannah, suddenly. "Something about the way he talks and acts, you know?"

"Yeah," said Mia.

"I don't know who, though."

"Jazz, maybe," said Mia. "They act sort of similarly. They're both... Bookish, I guess. Nerdy."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

.

.

.

Jeremy was stalling.

He knew that he had screwed up. The zip ties were a hint, he supposed, but Iota had explained that it was only a precaution, and the leader, Alpha had seemed eager to get everyone, everyone from Harmony, and whoever it was they had come looking for, 'back to the real world.' Still, that was what had initially put Jeremy's guard back up. He knew that many of his neighbors didn't want to leave, and if these men tried to force them, there would be a fight.

Then there was everything that Beta and Gamma had said about ghosts. Destroying ghosts.

In the Outside, yeah, there were a lot of dangerous ghosts, but Jeremy knew and liked the ghosts who resided in Harmony. Sure, the wisps weren't exactly brilliant conversationalists, but you could get a surprisingly large amount out of their songs and lights.

Finally, Jeremy was worried about the kids. He didn't know any of them very well, except, maybe, for Sonia, but he knew that they weren't entirely normal. That, actually, a lot of people in Harmony were a step closer to ghosts, a tad more spiritual, than they had been when they had first arrived. It wasn't something that bore thinking about, no one really talked about it, and, most of the time, no one cared, but everyone knew, and the children had much more of it than anyone else.

So, Jeremy was stalling, leading the men away from anything important. Distracting them. Hopefully, Shade and Umbra would be able to come up with a plan before he ran out of lies to tell.

.

.

.

Walden ran a hand through his frizzy hair, and, from his perch on the pillar's base, counted the dogs again. He was colorblind, so, unlike virtually everyone else, he had to do it this way. He wasn't sure how he'd been stuck with this. Yes, he liked dogs, but he was hardly the only one who did, and someone who could distinguish green from red would be much better at this.

He kept coming up one short. After counting one more time, he sighed, and jumped down.

"Yeah," he said. "Cujo's missing."

.

.

.

Danny stirred inside his cocoon. Anxious. Someone was in trouble, but he didn't know who, where, why, or how. He felt like ants were walking over his skin, crawling in his mouth and eyes. He wanted them to go away, leave him alone. They were too close. The GIW were too close. Why wouldn't they go away? Why did they hate him so much? What did he ever do to them? Why was his mother choosing them over him?

He struggled out of his cocoon, still somewhat somnambulant. He sniffed, wiping tears out of his eyes.

"Hey," said Tucker.

Danny looked up, surprised. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but he hadn't thought that anyone would wake before him. Tucker was sitting on a chair, eating a sandwich.

"Peanut butter," he said, offering Danny a sandwich. "No jelly, 'cause it's slimy."

"Thanks," said Danny.

"I've got some orange juice, too," said Tucker. "Want some?"

"Sure," said Danny. "How long was I asleep?"

"A while," said Tucker, shrugging. "You want to talk about it."

Danny swiped at his eyes again. "Not really."

"Okay, cool. You should maybe talk to Jazz, though."

Danny nodded. He would do that. "Thanks," he said again.

"So I've tracked down some fruit," said Sam, as she walked in. "Oh, hey, Danny. You're up. Are you okay? Do you want an apple? Or, um, a nectarine?"

Danny nodded, swinging a little in the hammock. "Thanks, Sam." He sighed, heavily. "I really don't want to do this," he said. "I don't trust those people at all."

"Which people?" asked Tucker. "The Guys in White, or the people from Harmony?"

"The Guys in White," said Danny. "They feel dangerous," he said, his eyes loosing focus. "There's something off about them. Something wrong about how they're moving, what they're doing." He blinked, the world coming back. "What?"

"You tell us," said Tucker.

"I think that your connection to this place is getting stronger," said Sam, when Danny just shrugged.

"That makes sense," said Danny. "Maybe I'm just getting better, though?"

"Do you feel better?" asked Sam.

"Not really. Where is everyone?"

"Well," said Sam. "I think that Jazz is trying to psychoanalyze your mom again, Valerie got into a fight with Lester, a beam, I'm not sure where it came from, almost fell on Dash when he pushed Nathan off the stage, and Paulina is off in her own fantasy world." She paused. "Do you remember what happened with Mirage, Valerie, Paulina, and I?"

"Sort of?" said Danny. "It's like I'm remembering a dream. Does that make sense?"

"I don't know anything about that," said Tucker.

"You don't need to know," said Sam.

"Hey," complained Tucker. "Come on. I'm not going to tease you that badly."

"But you admit that you're still going to tease us."

"Says the one that hordes blackmail material like it's a matter of course."

"I'm not the only one with blackmail material. I've seen the files on your computer."

"Hey, those are practical blackmail materials. For, like, Vlad, and Agent O, and the police."

"Wait," said Danny. "Why would you want to blackmail the police?"

Tucker raised his eyebrows, amused. "Says the vigilante half-ghost."

"Oh."

Sam, meanwhile, looked thoughtful. "We should pool resources. Not all my blackmail is for you two. Actually, Grandma knows a lot..."

"Hey, guys, Nathan didn't get hurt, did he?"

"No, he's fine. Not even bruised," said Tucker.

"There's padding around the stage," explained Sam. "I think that you anticipated the whole, 'falling off the stage' problem."

"Is Dash hurt?"

"No, he screamed like a little girl, though," said Sam.

"Oh, yeah, that was hilarious," agreed Tucker.

"Mm," said Danny. "Is Mom mad at me?" he asked, quietly.

"I don't think so," said Sam, after Tucker just shrugged. "I think she's just angry in general."

"Trust her, she's an expert at being angry."

"Whatever, Tucker."

"So, you didn't really say where everyone was," said Danny.

"Oh. They're just sitting out in the stands, not talking to each other. Except for Jazz and your mom. You know how Jazz is."

"Yeah, I know how Jazz is." He sighed. "I guess that if everyone's awake, we should get going again."

"Danny," said Sam. "You know that you don't have to do this, right? I mean, if I'm interpreting that contract right, you don't have to go now, just because your mom wants you to."

"I know," said Danny, miserably, "but if I don't, then they'll never trust me again. I'd actually feel better if you two didn't come," he admitted. "I don't want you to get hurt, if things go wrong."

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, and shook their heads. "No way, man," said Tucker. "You're stuck with us."