The Simulation

Danny's weight in her arms was a comforting feeling, even if he had grown a bit taller from the last time she had held him. Sure, she had piggybacked him in the woods a while ago, but this was different.

Bride-carry was more personal and near, she could squeeze him and hold him close, like she had done since he was born.
She loved Jazz to pieces, but with her son it was different.

They had the same fidgeting tic when they reflected or read; they both gained freckles if they stayed too long under the sun (Jazz had her father's skin in that sense, more durable and less sunburn-able). When she had managed to drag him to the firing target practice, he had her aim, not Jack's, and (despite despising physical activities) he had taken to karate like an otter* to water.

But… in the past two years he had grown distant. Maddie was certain it was because of the ghost attacks: after all, who wouldn't close off if there was a constant threat to one's safety? It was just another thing she despised those scums for.

Their existence was unnatural to begin with and back in university she had made her mission to discover why they were so frequent in folklore and where they came from, if they weren't from (didn't belong to) this world. In all traditions there was at least one testimony of them being malicious, so there was a constant! They were evil!

Maddie shook gently her head, getting rid of that thought and at the same time trying not to disturb her son.
He deserved a bit of rest, he had worked so hard lately, even if it was because he had been grounded. She hadn't missed so many curfews when she was young, had she? …It had been a while ago, so she didn't trust her memory on that. But then again, even if she had, now that she had more experience, she knew better and the town they had transferred to was more dangerous and bigger than the rural village her and Alicia's parents had made them grow up in.

Carefully, the woman pushed open Danny's bedroom door with a hip and went to deposit him on the covers, but before she could reach halfway through the room, her boy started to frown and whimper in her hold, making her freeze.

…Nightmare?

Maddie tried to shush him and rock him back to more comfortable dreams, but apparently something was wrong, because at the sound of her voice he had tensed and tried to curl into a small ball, as if in an attempt to protect his abdomen and chest.

She had to tighten her hold on him to prevent him from falling on the ground, but that had been another wrong thing to do, because now Danny was struggling to escape.

With hurried strives, the mother reached the bed and gently deposited him on it, hurt curling in her chest. Why was his baby boy terrified by her touch?

(She was certain it was because of her, he had reacted only when he had recognized her voice.)

That seemed to only deepen Danny's night terror, because tears started to stream from his closed eyes, as he struggled harder against invisible restraints. – Nnno, please…! – He began muttering, distressed. – Lemme go, it's me…

– Of course, baby… – The mother attempted to soothe, caressing her boy's raven hair, but both actions made him recoil.

– No, you're not listening to me! – His voice came out pained, then his breath hitched in what she assumed was primal terror. – No, mom no, put away that scalpel! I'm your son! No, there are other ways to examinate my weird biology, molecule by molecule doesn't work! No, mom no, please! – A mangled scream tore his throat and he convulsed in illusionary agony.

That was too much to bear, need to sleep or not, he needed out that nightmare!

– Danny, wake up! – She shook him, trying to startle him awake, and she succeed.

However, she hadn't expected her son's eyes to be toxic green when they snapped open and for him to phase through the bed and out of her hold upon seeing her, then he took advantage of her surprise to bolt out his room right through the closed window.

The woman followed after him, opening with a snap the glass panel and leaning over, to see if he had hurt himself in the fall, but she was just in time to glimpse him turn (flying!) the corner of the house in direction of what she assumed was Tucker's house.

…What had just happened?

Why had he been so scared of her before and even after waking up? Had dreams and reality blended that much that they had triggered his flight (ha!) instinct? But how was that possible in the first place?

Had those been… ghost powers? Was he possessed?

…No, the dream had been too personal, too real for it to belong to a random ghost. He had kept saying that he was her son, plead about it even. No, those powers belonged to Danny and Danny alone.

Had this been the result of a prolonged Ecto-contamination? That time when Jazz had been stinged by a ghost mosquito and become just a head with a goonish body came up to her mind. That had been temporary, though. However, given how vivid the nightmare had been, Danny's contamination had to be more permanent and going on for a while.

In a daze, Maddie walked downstairs, not knowing if chasing after her son would just scare him more than he already was or if it was more important to reassure him that nothing had changed, that a dream like that would never happen, "weird biology" or not.

Jack met her halfway, face as pale as she felt herself be.

Had he seen Danny fly downstreet from the kitchen window? Was that why when she doubted aloud about her competency as mother and scientist that he hadn't immediately reassured her (like he would usually do) and he joined her in her pity party?

…Whatever it was, Maddie couldn't manage to say what had happened after Danny had begged her, so she broke down. Her husband embraced her, allowing her to cry freely until they were interrupted by the ring of the phone.
The woman took a moment to recompose herself and be coherent enough to respond, then let Jack go. She sniffled before picking up. – Fentonworks, how can we help you? – She warbled.

Maddie, are you okay? We have Danny here and he's hysterical. – Maurice answered, making her both relieved and instantly worried. – Tucker is trying to calm him down, but he's barely responding. Can you come here?

– …I don't know if it would help. – She confessed wetly. – He had a nightmare about me, so I don't think it's a good idea with how he reacted at seeing me after waking up.

– I could go. – Jack proposed quietly. – Was I involved?

– …He didn't mention you, so we could try. Hold on Maurice, we're coming in five. – Maddie relayed and hung up. – Danny's at the Foley's.

– We'll be faster on foot, com'on! – The man moved to the front door, before pausing and grabbing a manila folder from the table. He didn't say anything on that regard, as he sprinted out of the house, Maddie hot on his heels, silent, as she was trying to keep the world from being yanked from under her feet.

In less than 3 minutes they had reached the apartment of their son's best male friend, where Maurice was waiting for them outside, looking worried and ruffled.

– Angela is out on her nightshift, there's just us. – The bespectacled man explained, as he opened the apartment door. Jack quietly and carefully stepped inside, while Maddie hesitated. The trauma was still too fresh for Danny to see her so soon, so she had to let her husband start the conversation with their son. – Aren't you coming in?

– Like I said… I was in his nightmare. For now, it's the best if Jack tries alone. – And hope that Danny would still want to come near her.


* They fuss and start melodramas, but then they get a feeling for water and "maybe it's not that bad".


A/N. The reveal comes next along with my favorite quote of this fic, are you excited?