One
Maddie thought he looked so familiar.
She hunted ghosts for a living, her inventions paying for her work - her and her husband Jack's work - and she made a point of keeping her town safe. Jack was never the best at it, but that was okay. For you to love someone, they don't have to be good at anything except loving you back. Loving meant working together, to her. And so they worked together. They were the Fentons, after all.
There'd been this ghost that they'd been hunting - Jack called him the "Ghost Kid" - just a young boy, with white hair and a black jumpsuit. When he got angry, his eyes flashed green, and you knew you were in for trouble. He'd caused so much damage and distress over fights he'd pick with other, always larger ghosts. Maddie and Jack had both assessed it as just petty ghost squabbles. The kid was very argumentative. Jack wanted to study the ghost, take it apart. Maddie wasn't sure exactly why. She meant to ask, but didn't want to know.
The thing about ghosts is that no matter how much time passes, they don't age the same way that humans do. Most of the ghosts they'd come across that appeared to be children had crossed over decades ago, sometimes longer. And they were stronger for it. Any ghost was a threat. Too many times, they'd let their guard down around a child ghost, and came away sorry.
But in this moment, Maddie questioned their assessment of the Ghost Boy for the first time. Maddie had responded to a ghost fight - the ecto-signatures were off the charts, the little screens beeping nonstop. A ghost that called himself Plasmius had started a battle with the Ghost Boy, or maybe it was the other way around. They were yelling at each other in front of the Nasty Burger restaurant, throwing punches and mostly just arguing, with more than a little showing off. Maddie got out of the car, watching the battle, waiting for a moment to act. It seemed like a fistfight now, but at any moment it could escalate... And just like that, almost on cue, Plasmius shot an ecto-blast at the Ghost Boy - and missed. The shot continued on, hitting the Fenton family car, and bouncing off, heading right towards Maddie.
In a split second, Maddie heard the Ghost Boy yell "NO!" and suddenly, there he was, in front of her. She watched the blast head towards him. She watched him throw his hands into the air, trying to cover as much as possible. His head was twisted towards her to make sure she was alright as he fell, and a realization struck her. His face up close was so familiar...
The Ghost Boy hit the ground, groaning. "Plasmius, you idiot!" shouted the kid, voice strained by pain and anger. He was curled up - it was safe to bet he was hit somewhere in the stomach. Shocked, Maddie stood there, unsure of what to do. If this were a normal human kid, she'd know how to act - she was properly certified in the appropriate emergency procedures. But she'd never thought to help an injured ghost before.
She looked up to the sky, to see what the ghost Plasmius was doing. But she couldn't see him anywhere. "What a jerk," she mumbled. Shooting and running.
"Coward, more like it," groaned the Ghost Boy. He coughed. "Hope you're okay." She nodded, searching for words. Before she could say anything, he said, "Bye," and with that, he phased into the ground, disappearing.
Maddie stood there, wondering how to process this. It all happened so fast. She got in the car, ready to head back to the house. Jack was still at home. They'd already started making dinner and it couldn't go unsupervised, so he'd stayed behind. She wondered if she should even tell him what happened.
Maddie walked through her front door, opening directly into the living room. Against the far wall was the couch, which her son Danny was lying on, holding his stomach. He was facing the wall, back to Maddie. In the kitchen, she heard Jack and their daughter Jazz laughing about something.
Maddie went and knelt next to the couch, trying to examine Danny. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Got hit in the stomach," he said, strained.
"You got into another fight at school? How many times-"
"I wasn't fighting any kids!" interrupted Danny, rolling over to face Maddie. His face was full of anger, with a sharp glint in his eyes. They reminded Maddie of someone…
Danny sighed. "It was a stupid move, but I jumped in front of someone else that was going to get hurt." Maddie was surprised - her son was angry, everyone knew that, and he got into fights often. But she'd never heard of him breaking one up before. "I couldn't stand to see… someone else get hurt," he said. He rolled back over.
"Well… I suppose that's okay, then." She leaned forward and kissed the back of his head. "Don't tell your father." She got up to get him an ice pack.
After dinner she and Jack were cleaning up, alone in the kitchen. Lost in thought, she scrubbed a plate in the sink, for a little too long. "He reminds me of Danny…" she said, quietly. The anger, the short fuse - but actions that show a good heart, deep inside. She looked up at Jack, who hadn't heard her.
Maddie thought of the ice pack she'd given her son. She thought about the ghost who'd helped her that night, and how he would most likely be alone in recovering. Why would he risk himself like that for her? After all, she'd spent months already hunting the ghost. Why would he protect her after fighting for so long? She wondered if he was playing some kind of game.
She realized the risk must have been huge, for him. She'd only ever seen him alone, fighting someone or some ghost. Never with anyone else.
"Do you think he has parents?" she asked. Jack looked up from packaging leftovers. "The ghost boy, I mean."
Jack spoke without thinking, screwing a lid onto some Tupperware. "No, he's a ghost, of course not." But as Maddie continued to scrub, he pondered the question a little longer. Maddie wondered what he was thinking - of course his initial reaction was no, he'd been hunting this ghost alongside her. But after a moment of pause… "I guess I've never really thought about a question like that before," he said. "Maybe… but he's a ghost that wrecks havoc, Maddie! Why would that even matter?"
"I don't know," she said. "I guess… sometimes, there's moments when he reminds me of Danny. The way his eyes get so angry. But there's kindness, too…" she trailed off. "Does he have parents to go home to when he's hurt? Is there anyone caring for him, at all?" She kept imagining that ghost, alone, floating around the Ghost Zone… healing from his fights on his own.
Jack put down the Tupperware. "What happened at the ghost fight tonight? You said it was routine," he said, and then sighed. "But, I guess… no ghost is 'routine,' is it?" He sat back down at the table, looking at his wife expectantly. "Tell me."
Maddie didn't turn away from her dishes. "It's just - he saved me, Jack. Plasmius shot at me with a blast, and the Ghost Boy just jumped in front of me without thinking. He took the hit. I worry that he's alone out there… but why did he do it, Jack? What could he possibly gain from all this?" Maddie dropped her sponge and plate into the sink with a splash. "Why am I here scrubbing dishes instead of investigating?"
"And why didn't you tell me sooner?" asked Jack with a pointed eyebrow. "Listen, honey, maybe it doesn't mean anything…"
"That just doesn't feel like the right answer, though," sighed Maddie, sitting at the table across from her husband. She rested her face in her palms. "Maybe there isn't a right answer. But I want to learn the truth. We've never bothered to learn about the Ghost Boy as a person, really. Who is he? Why does he fight all these ghosts anyway? Where does he go to rest at night?"
"That's a lot of questions," said Jack. "We can't answer all of them right away." He paused, thinking. Maddie knew he'd be resistant to research like this. "But we can take some time to study… see what he's really about." It was a middle ground argument, on unsure footing. But she decided she'd take it.
"Great," said Maddie. "Let's start tomorrow night."
Two
The following night, Jack sat in the driver's seat of the family's van. Gripping the handle on the roof of the car, Maddie wished she'd gotten to drive - all the equipment in the back was delicate, and Jack wasn't the most careful driver. But he was a fast one.
"What's the plan, again?" he asked. He careened out of the way of a street light. They were heading to the Nasty Burger again; more ghost activity.
"The plan is to watch and listen," said Maddie. They'd already been over it twice, but she knew Jack couldn't always focus right, and that was okay. Thinking it through was important, too, anyway.
"We don't want to fight unless we have to," she continued. "This time, we just observe. If we need to make a move at all, it'll be because someone is in immediate danger. Otherwise: don't do anything, okay, sweetie?" Jack nodded, taking a hand off the wheel to give a thumbs up.
They arrived at the Nasty Burger restaurant, and Jack pulled into a spot that was at the edge of the parking lot, hopefully out of the way of tonight's ghost attack. The readings said ghosts were here... the restaurant was a very frequent place for ghost fights, but Jack and Maddie hadn't been able to nail down why yet. They sat in the front seats, waiting inside the car, watching the air. Finally, Maddie saw them: the Ghost Boy and Plasmius.
"You're such a jerk!" yelled the boy. "She'll hate you even more now!" Floating in the air above Nasty Burger, you could see his small frame tense up with anger. His whole body was ready for a fight. "You could have killed her."
Plasmius floated with his shoulders hung, a sure sign of a depressed attitude. "I know. Please, I assure you I didn't mean-"
"You didn't mean to," scoffed the boy. "But you did it anyway. Own up to it. That freaking hurt, man. Physically and emotionally." He gestured to his torso. Luckily, the boy seemed to have mostly healed from the night before. Maddie wondered if all ghosts healed faster than humans...
"You didn't have to take the blow," said Plasmius. Maddie realized they were talking about the other day, when the boy saved her. "You should know that I of all people wouldn't want to hurt Ma-"
"Don't even say her name!" shouted the ghost boy. When he said the word "name," he hung onto the word, screaming it, the pitch getting higher - she realized he'd activated one of his powers, the Ghostly Wail.
"Cover your ears!" she shouted at Jack. The car couldn't protect them from a wail like that. Not only was it loud enough to pierce eardrums, but sometimes it created waves of ghostly force as well. It could knock over the car, if the boy was angry enough. Jack stayed braced against his seat, hands over his ears, but he watched the ghosts in the air intently all the same.
After a few seconds, though, it died down. Plasmius rested his chin in his palm. He clicked his tongue. "Anger doesn't fix your problems, boy! Even with all this rage you don't have enough power to really harm me!" He chuckled.
"I can't believe it," said the boy dejectedly. "You don't even feel guilty? You love us, want us to live with you, but laugh when you hurt us? You really don't care," growled the boy. "I don't see how you think you can convince me to move to Wisconsin. You'll never be part of my family!" He turned to fly away. She'd never thought that much about it before now, but not all of the fights he got into with ghosts were physical. Sometimes he just yelled at somebody. Like an angry teen...
As he drifted away, though, Maddie heard Plasmius growl with anger. "I won't have you rubbing my personal failures in my face, Daniel," he spat.
The Ghost Boy - named Daniel, apparently - turned back to face Plasmius. "I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked, pointedly.
"I won't have you looking at me like a failure!" roared the ghost. "I've taught you more about your own powers than anyone else has! I'm your true father figure, and you know it!" He put his hands possessively over his chest. You're mine, they said.
"I'll never come live with you," said Daniel. "Not even if the Nasty Burger explosion really happened. I'd rather be homeless than with someone so cruel!" He turned away again, this time prepping to fly away fast.
But Plasmius didn't let down. His eyes glowed red, his muscles tensed with anger, too, now. Maddie realized he was about to take a shot at Daniel while his back was turned.
Jack saw it, too, and moved quicker than she did. He popped open his door, unbuckled his belt, and bellowed, "HEY, GHOST KID! LOOK OUT!" Before she realized what she was doing, she was out on the road standing next to her husband. Maddie knew he was trying to point out the danger, hoping the ghost would look around and notice his opponent gearing up for an attack.
Instead he turned to look where the voice came from. He looked at Jack, standing below him on the ground, with a perplexed expression on his face. He seemed startled, like the first thing on his mind was the conversation he'd just had, and how embarrassing it was. He didn't know what Jack meant. Jack pointed behind him. "PLASMIUS-" he started, but he was interrupted by a shock of pink light that blinded him. Daniel turned quickly, but not quick enough. Jack and Maddie covered their faces, closing their eyes while the blast went off.
When the light had faded after a second, Maddie looked back up to the sky. Plasmius still faintly glowed a dim shade of pink, but silhouetted against that was the Ghost Boy - hanging in the air, clutching his chest. He coughed. "V-" he started, but he didn't finish. Before Maddie knew what was happening, the boy started dropping from the sky. She started running.
Something whizzed past her. It was Jack, rushing to catch the Ghost Boy before he hit the ground. They didn't know what would happen if he hit, and it didn't seem like a good time to wait to find out. Jack's height gave him the advantage for speed, and he reached his arms out - catching the ghost boy, just in time. Luckily, the kid wasn't that heavy. Jack looked back up at Plasmuis. "What kind of a person does this?" he asked the ghost. He didn't get an answer.
Maddie caught up with Jack, and looked into his arms. His jumpsuit was shiny, and though it was dark, she could tell that there was ectoplasm everywhere. "We need to get him back home," she said. She and Jack went back to the car. Jack laid him down carefully in the spacious back seat, and Maddie tried to buckle him in, with only a bit of success. He was still awake, but not really processing what was going on… She worried for him. It was likely that he dealt with blows from Plasmius often enough, but two large blasts like that, in the same place, within 24 hours… it was certainly dangerous. She hoped Daniel's wound wouldn't be as serious as it looked.
Getting back in the front seat, she couldn't stop thinking. Would he be okay? She knew that they were probably the only humans even partially equipped to deal with healing a ghost's wounds. But how could she make sure he was okay? Would he run off home if they let him? Where was home? She thought back to the argument Daniel had with Plasmius. It sounded like Plasmius was trying to adopt him, or something. Like he wanted the Ghost Boy to come live with him. But Daniel didn't want to go…
"What if we just adopted him?" she blurted. "What if we just, take him home, and never send him away?"
Jack, still driving, raised an eyebrow. "Maddie-"
"I know, he's a ghost, but I know you heard what I did! He's a teenager without any support! What if he's getting into all the ghost fights because he doesn't have anything else to do? Nowhere to go? What if we gave him a place to stay?" She couldn't get the thought out of her mind, now that it had made itself known. She didn't want to take no for an answer.
Jack sighed. "Let's think about it. Let's wait and see."
Three
And so they waited. They took the ghost boy down to their basement, where all their ghost equipment was - everything skewed about the chamber, tools over every surface. Something had to help… right?
"What's going on?" asked Daniel. You could tell by the way he looked around, his head was spinning. How he moved his neck in careful, but still wildly swinging motions. They'd laid him out on one of their chrome tabletops, and Maddie hoped it wasn't too cold to the touch.
Jack was rustling around the lab, looking for something to help. "Uh," Maddie started, "well, you've been hurt, and we're trying to help. Try not to move too much." She glanced around the table, by Daniel's feet, past his head - looking for something that could, at the very least, help him calm down.
But she was interrupted by cold words. "Are you sure you're not trying to take me apart, 'atom by atom?' How-" the ghost coughed, green flecks spattering from his mouth - "how can I trust you? You just trapped me again, didn't you?" Maddie opened her mouth to say something in protest, but faltered. "We both know you don't care about ghosts, whether they feel pain or how you tear them up inside." The ghost grimaced, his signature look, but it turned into a wince.
Maddie stepped back, in shock for a moment. But she also knew exactly what he meant. She and Jack had spent a lot of long nights chasing this ghost down, trying to capture him. While it was true they had made many threats against him… she knew she felt different now. All she had to do was prove it. But how could she do that?
"I know you don't like us," she started. "And you have good reason not to trust us. But… I'm worried for you." She stood awkwardly, not sure where to put her hands, trying to avoid looking threatening. "I was wondering… Do you have a family?"
The boy scoffed. "Of course, I have a family." He closed his eyes, staying still like Maddie asked him to.
"Will they help you with this?" She gestured at his wounds. "Do they ever?" She knew it was a little pretentious to assume they didn't care for him, and normally she wouldn't make assumptions. But it seemed like a dangerous situation to be in, one that could end his existence one day, if he wasn't careful. She knew ghosts often disappeared and never came back… like dying a second time. She didn't want this teenager getting killed again.
"Well- they- my…" the ghost trailed off, sighing out of exasperation. "They don't know." He opened his eyes again, looking right at Maddie with those glowing green eyes. "They can't know I do this," he said. "They can't know I'm… like this."
"Like this?" asked Maddie. She could guess what he meant, but she wanted to know.
"A ghost!" he said, a little loudly, pulling his gaze away from hers. Maddie heard Jack stop what he was doing at the sound of the shout. Suddenly the pain she saw in Daniel's face seemed less about the gash in his abdomen. "They don't know I'm a ghost. I couldn't do that to them."
Jack walked over to where Maddie and the ghost were talking. "Is everything alright…?" Obviously it wasn't, but he was mostly just checking in.
"Jack, his parents don't know he's a ghost," said Maddie. "He's basically estranged…" She thought about how to phrase what she was going to say next. Maddie knew he was hurt, and feeling trapped, and it probably wasn't the right time, but…
"What if you stayed with us?" she blurted. Worried, she expected the ghost to lash out, to yell some more. But as she watched his face, she just became more worried.
The boy's eyes grew wide with fear. The idea seemed to terrify him, more than she'd thought it would. "You-" he started, then stopped himself. "I can't. I don't… I don't think you'd like me staying here full time. I don't know if I could… If it would be safe. You know, ghost stuff." It was a vague excuse. Maddie ached to know what spooked him so much.
Jack spoke up. "What is there here that wouldn't be safe?" The Ghost Boy gave him a look. "I mean, besides our weaponry, which you could even use if you need to." He huffed a breath of air. "We have the portal here. And more ghost research than any other lab on Earth! It's sudden to ask, I know, kind of sudden for me too, honestly…" He rubbed the back of his head with his gloved hand, looking back at Maddie.
Without saying anything, the Ghost Boy just watched the two of them, his face scrunched up. He couldn't seem to decide on who to stare at, but he was thinking hard. "Why are you - what could have… I don't -" He stumbled over himself as he tried to think out loud, suddenly screeching to a halt as he came to a realization. His eyes went wide again. "This - this isn't because of the other night when I jumped in front of that blast, is it? Oh, my god, it is. I can't believe this. Damned if I do, damned if I don't…" He sighed. "Listen, it's a really nice offer, but I don't think it'll work. It's just… too… much." Maddie watched his eyes, how sad they seemed at the last word he spoke. They shone brightly, and not because he was a ghost. The glint of all the electronics bounced off his gaze so readily. Then he blinked and the moment was over.
"Okay." Maddie took a deep breath, one that turned shaky at the end. She turned away and started messing with things, looking for some first aid again. "But the offer still stands. Either way, we should get that fixed up. I know you're probably good at patching yourself up on your own and all that, but that is a deep gash, and I -"
"Just give me some bandages, it'll be okay," said the ghost. "I've had worse, trust me. I heal pretty fast, too." He moved to prop himself up on his right elbow, so he wasn't lying on his back anymore. "It's already feeling way better."
Maddie found the gauze in a shelf underneath one of the cupboards. "I don't know," she said. "Let me take a look again."
"Maddie, the portal!" called Jack, who had turned to look where they had the Ghost Portal installed. It was a giant mechanical door that they'd built, with a lock. It opened to the Ghost Zone, another dimension… the dimension where ghosts came from. And the door was glowing pink. Maddie - as well as Jack and the Ghost Boy, too - knew the Ghost Zone was filled with green. Green ectoplasm. Whatever was on the other side of the portal wasn't normal.
"Plasmius," breathed Daniel, in shock. Jack and Maddie started scrambling around, trying to figure out something to stop the other ghost from coming through. But the metal of the door was melting, and they didn't have enough time. Daniel sat up on his table, and Maddie reached for a spare ecto-blaster on her ankle. Jack couldn't seem to find anything, but he readied his fists.
Four
And then the door blasted open, pieces of metal flying everywhere. Daniel reached forward and touched the back of Maddie and her husband's shoulders, making them intangible. She had never gone intangible before, because she wasn't a ghost. The sensation felt familiar, but strange, like when your body goes numb when you're falling asleep. She couldn't feel anything except maybe her bones turning into jelly. But then the debris finished falling to the floor, and the Ghost Boy let go. "Oof," he said, taking some deep breaths. "That took more effort than I was expecting."
"I told you -" started Maddie, but she was interrupted by Plasmius.
He came through the fog and dust of the portal's door being blasted off its hinges, his form bright white as always. Plasmius' hair normally was spiked upward, like if Wolverine was trying to go for devil horns, but the ghost's long black hair had fallen down around his shoulders. His ghost suit had a dramatic cape that looked like it'd been ripped, and his green-blue skin glowed like any ghost's would. But his eyes were glossed red; they were piercing, and aimed in anger at the boy.
"YOU," he said, pointing at the Ghost Boy, "have ruined everything." Daniel, who normally had a fun quip or joke to poke at his adversaries, said nothing at all. Maddie looked behind her, and saw he was still on the table, frozen in fear. He was shaking.
"Why don't you leave us alone, ghost?" demanded Jack. "Get out now and we won't pound you to a pulp." He slammed a fist into his palm threateningly.
"Leave you alone? Oh, but… I haven't even been here two minutes!" He let out a short cackle. The portal glittered green behind him, and some kind of wind was blowing in, tossing around stray strands of his hair. "Daniel doesn't have the protection he used to. We used to mutually benefit from keeping secrets. But after the other night, I've been ruined. Look at him, he knows it. Secrets are only worth something if you can use them! But ours, boy? It's useless to me now!" He lunged forward with a growl, but Maddie raised an arm and blocked him.
"What secret?" she spat. She tried to make a move to punch or push him away, but he saw her coming, and dodged backward. "What are you so upset about?" She raised her mini blaster, ready to take the shot. But she waited because she wanted to hear the reason, if Plasmius was willing to tell her. What was all this about?
"Oh, that's for me to know," said Plasmius. "And for you to hate me for." Maddie jumped in the air, bringing down her foot with a kick, but he dodged that too, and grabbed her leg. He yanked, hard, and suddenly she was flying through the room. She lost her grip on her blaster, and she felt her side smack hard against the wall. The pressure pressed in on her hip and shoulder, and she landed on the floor with her right side throbbing. Her eyes were wide open, but she could hardly see anything. Static filled her vision. She tried to shake it off.
Jack lunged forward, trying to grab the ghost. His advantage of height and weight were what he was relying on, but as Maddie watched with blurry vision, Plasmius just turned intangible, sending Jack stumbling forward with his own force. He crashed into a table, hitting his stomach on the corner of the chrome countertop, and doubled over, groaning.
"Jack!" called Maddie, strained. She struggled to her feet, head swaying. The floor felt so far away and so close at the same time, and she could only guess at whether she was standing up all the way. As she tried to get her bearings and Jack slumped against a wall, Plasmius kept talking.
"Daniel," he said, voice low. "You shouldn't have let your guard down like this. Me, getting the drop on you twice in one night? I mean, I know it's your own home, but the portal is right there." He pointed behind him at the green void stirring the room. "Easiest way to get here from Wisconsin, by far." Wisconsin? What did he mean by "your own home?"
Plasmius walked closer to Daniel, who still hadn't moved. Every step seemed to make the Ghost Boy even more tense. Maddie worried he wasn't just unable to move out of fear, but also because his wounds had hurt him more than he'd been willing to admit. His exhaustion after turning intangible was proof of that.
"Stop," said Daniel, between panicked breaths. He held his body a few inches off the table, but didn't move farther. "You- you wouldn't." His eyes were like saucers, his mouth open as he huffed air, breathing out small clouds of visible condensation. His chest heaved in exhaustion with every breath, light glistening off his shaking body. Maddie suddenly realized just how much ectoplasm had covered his suit.
"Oh, and you'd be the one to know, eh?" said Plasmius. "You're so infuriating. Quick to pick fights, but when you get in over your head, Little Badger…" He clicked his tongue. "Even faster to play the 'scared little boy.' But I know you." He raised a hand, glowing pink, and Maddie was frightened about what he was going to do with it. "You're no harmless child."
Plasmius thrust his hand toward the Ghost Boy, as if he were going to grab the front of his shirt. But his hand didn't stop when it made contact with the boy's chest, passing through instead until Plasmius' hand was wrist-deep. Daniel opened his mouth, but didn't seem to be able to say anything. They hung there for a moment, Plasmius chuckling with his hand inside the boy's chest. He literally had a grip on the Ghost Boy's life. Maddie found it terrible to watch.
Jack got up from the ground. "Stop that!" he bellowed. "I don't really know what you're doing, but it doesn't look good!" He barrelled at Plasmius again, and this time the element of surprise was in his favor. Caught off guard, the ghost didn't have time to go intangible before Jack hit him in the shoulder with the full force of his body, sending him flying backwards into the wall. A box of old computer parts fell off a shelf and landed on Plasmius' head. He stayed on the ground, buried under cardboard, and let out a single groan.
Having gained enough of her balance back, Maddie sprung forward. She watched the Ghost Boy as Plasmius was knocked away. When he was freed, the boy gasped, and then his eyes rolled back in his head. She reached the table just in time to catch him. She held his head, his white hair soft in her hands. He was out cold, and she had no idea what had just been done to him, but he didn't seem like he was going to double-die just yet. Jack came over to check on him. "Wow," he said. "Crazy night."
A flash of bright light immediately blinded them. Maddie blinked her eyes, unsure of what caused the flash. But when she could see again, she realized the boy whose head she was cradling in her hands was no ghost: it was her son Danny, who she knew to be human, black hair and all. At least, she had thought he was human.
Five
She and her husband stood in silence for a moment. Danny was a ghost. He was the ghost, the one they'd been hunting for months. There were a lot of questions she knew they were both wondering. How it happened was probably one of the biggest questions, second only to one other: Why didn't he tell them?
"Our son… is a ghost," said Jack. "That's…" He didn't seem to know what to make of it. Maddie didn't, either, but she realized it made sense. My parents can't know I'm like this. The Ghost Boy tried hard to not let it show, but he kept his secret, and was alone for it. Knowing that he was right there, doing so much, keeping it from them all this time, made Maddie want to cry.
"He's not a ghost," growled Plasmius from under his box of computer parts. He phased through it all and stood up, brushing himself off. "Not all the way, anyway. Your ghost portal, when you first tried it, it didn't work, yes?" Maddie and Jack just stared at him, not saying anything. "Well, at some point it started working again. I don't know what you thought happened, but it's thanks to him that it even works," he said, coming closer. "Though he got caught in the portal in probably the worst way possible. He's half ghost. Half dead, whatever you call it. The ghosts call him a 'Halfa.'" He sniffed, acting nonchalant as if he hadn't just tried to murder their son.
"But not you," guessed Jack. Maddie realized what he meant: Plasmius talked about ghosts as if he weren't one himself. Odd for a ghost like him to consider himself something else… Unless…
"No, not me," said Plasmius. "This is because, very much like your son, I'm not fully a ghost myself, and I find the term particularly annoying." He adjusted one of his black gloves. "But I think it's time we-" He took another step forward, too close, and Jack reflexively punched him in the face, knocking the ghost back.
"Ooh, sorry," said Jack. "Wait, no I'm not. Pretentious prick."
"Jack, you knocked him out cold..." said Maddie, trailing off as an idea hit her. After slowly taking her hands out from under her son's head, she walked over to Plasmius' body. "Let's throw him into the ghost zone and activate the emergency lock, before he wakes up." The Ghost Portal had a secondary door mechanism that could be activated in case of emergencies. It usually acted as an extra lock, but in this case it would need to replace the destroyed door.
"Okay," groaned Jack as he bent down to pick up the ghost's feet. But there suddenly was another flash of light, and they had to pause as they were blinded yet again. Maddie wondered if Danny had woken up and transformed back, but when her vision cleared, she saw he was still laying on the table asleep. He looked human, dark hair and all.
Jack bent down again to pick up the ghost on the ground and realized something. "Woah! Maddie! Hey!" He shouted. She turned her attention back to the ghost on the ground and gasped.
Lying on the ground was their old friend Vlad Masters. Back in college he'd had an accident with a prototype ghost portal, and he'd refused to speak with them for almost 20 years… they knew he'd been upset over it, but it still came as a surprise. Vlad Masters, half-ghost millionaire.
Vlad had been their friend - Jack and Maddie's best friend - when they were younger. But he'd changed so much. When Maddie looked at him now, she saw all the pain he'd caused as a ghost. How he'd almost hit her with a powerful ghost ray the other night… how he had been fighting her son for who knows how long. She thought about the comments he made towards her sometimes - his words were always deplorable, and it was clear that he was in love with her after all these years. He was an old friend that she'd tolerated, and at one point enjoyed the company of. If things had been different… they might never have drifted apart after all.
And yet. And yet here he was, instead of becoming a positive part of the Fentons' lives, coming across state borders to mess with their homes and their family. He flew miles, determined by his anger and search for revenge, to fight and fight and fight until he got what he wanted. It sickened Maddie to her core.
"Vladdy," said Jack, immeasurable disappointment in his voice. He was Vlad's biggest fan, really. He voted him for mayor, he made signs in support and bought Vlad's merch. She couldn't imagine how he must be feeling.
"Jack, I-"
"No time for standing around!" bellowed Jack, straightening his spine. "Listen, Maddie, we should just get on with tossing him in the ghost zone. He's half ghost, this sucker can handle it." He made a fake movement to roll up his sleeves without actually doing it. "What a punk."
"Jack, sweetie, we're going to have to talk about this," said Maddie, in the gentlest voice she could muster. "He's only part ghost because of the portal experiment from back in college. And Danny…" she looked back at her son again. His foot twitched. "Danny's our fault, too." She looked her husband in the eye and put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly.
"I know," said Jack, hanging his head. "But emotional conversations should come later. Vladdy's only gonna be asleep for a couple minutes, max!"
Maddie nodded, and with a heave, they launched Vlad into the portal. Brushing their hands off, they both looked each other in the eye, then back at Danny. What should they do about him?
Six
Danny woke up in bed, sweating. He'd had the most awful dream. Vlad had shot him - twice - and got so close he'd held his hand around Danny's heart. He remembered the feeling, as if his soul were being squeezed, as if the second he tried to breathe would be his last. He remembered fighting with his parents, and the ectoplasm, his ectoplasm, it had been everywhere. It was such a vivid memory, he'd swear he'd just passed out in the middle of it, if he weren't sitting safely in bed.
And yet he held this dread in his heart, anyway. The kind that he felt when his secret was compromised, the kind that weighed his mind down so far it was in his stomach. He just couldn't remember how it had been compromised. He hoped these feelings were wrong, but they tended not to be.
He realized his parents were sitting by the right side of his bed, watching him. Poised in silence, their eyes were huge. "What are you guys doing here?" asked Danny.
"We just wanted to make sure you were okay," said his mom, with a smile on her face. Cryptic, and unusual. Not a good mix.
"After your fight with Plasmius last night-" started Danny's dad, but he was interrupted by Maddie stomping his foot. "Yeow!" He reached down to massage his foot. "I mean - uh, darn it."
Danny's stomach dropped. "So it wasn't a dream," he breathed. "Did I- ?"
"Transform in front of us? Yeah," said Jack. He got another look from Danny's mom. "What? I'm just answering his questions!"
Maddie sighed. "I wanted to wait until he remembered, but maybe that doesn't matter…" She turned to Danny. "How are you feeling? Does it hurt?"
Danny moved to sit up, and twinged in pain. Relatively mild pain, but it still went deep. He struggled to pinpoint where it was coming from… "Only a little," he said, a half-truth. Maddie smiled, a little bit of sadness in her eyes. He guessed she knew it was still pretty bad despite his words.
"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked. The question echoed in Danny's head, something he knew would be asked eventually. Words that had hung over him for weeks, months, maybe a year or more. Somehow, he'd lost track of it all. He'd had this conversation with himself in his head over and over, writing a script, but in the moment, when it actually came down to it, it all vanished from his memory.
He took a deep breath, held for a pause. "I was scared," he said.
"Scared?" asked his dad. "Why would you be scared?"
"Because you're the world's leading ghost hunters! Because since that day, you've hunted me down, trying to capture me and do who knows what kind of experiments. You have told me, outright, that you don't care if a ghost feels pain or not!" He stopped to take a few breaths. "I could never be certain… if you learned I'd become one, would you hate me for it? Would you double down on your hunt? I know love isn't supposed to be conditional, but… sometimes it ends up being that way, anyway." The stupidest part about this was, Danny had told them before, and his parents were supportive. But he had forced them to forget anyway. The uncertainty was too much - how far could he push their trust, their boundaries? He couldn't bear to find that line someday. But this time, there wasn't any forgetting. No going back.
His parents shared a meek look. "We'd never stop loving you, kiddo," said his dad. "Not for any reason, ever." His eyes seemed to be blinking back tears.
"Remember when I offered to let you stay here with us last night?" asked Maddie. "Inviting a ghost to live with us - we're open to change, sweetie." She nodded to punctuate her point.
His parents got up from their chairs, moving to sit on his bed instead. To be closer to him.
"Well, if you're open to change…" Danny trailed off, hand scratching the back of his head. He wasn't sure how to phrase it. "I do know someone who needs… some help, I guess." He paused again, looking to his parents to see how they reacted. They seemed invested, waiting for more information. "She's uh… maybe 10 or 12, I guess, we aren't sure how to put it exactly. Her name is Danielle, and she's on her own… She's like me, but doesn't have parents, actually, for real. Do you think she could…?" He left the question open-ended.
"I'm sure that if she's your friend, honey, that we'll like her," said Maddie, so ready to be assuring. Danielle was more than a friend - she was Danny's genetic clone. But they could learn that later, because unraveling that secret involved unravelling so many more. "Bring her by the house tonight for dinner, if you can. We should get to meet her!"
"Okay," said Danny. "I will." He let it sink in for a moment, in silence. They were okay with it. He got out of bed, socks padding on the floor, as his parents talked logistics, distracted once again. He made his way downstairs, where Jazz was indeed making some breakfast. Omelettes and bacon, the breakfast of champions. More importantly, made by Jazz, which meant without any ecto-equipment. Ghost free eggs, the best kind...
Danny plopped down in a chair at the dining room table, a huge sigh escaping his lungs, practically involuntarily. He rested his elbows on the surface of the table to prop his head up, but he kind of just slumped down as if he were melting instead. Somehow, he didn't mind it.
"You seem very relaxed," said Jazz, not turning away from the eggs. "Get something off your shoulders, perhaps?" Danny could hear the smile in her voice. She had to already know the answer to that question.
"Yeah," said Danny, smiling back even though she couldn't see. "They didn't even ask to do experiments or anything. It's… such a relief!" He threw his hands into the air, a celebration. The sun shone brightly through the window, lighting everything in a way that just suddenly seemed less bleak than it used to be. It's going to be okay. "Also, I told them about Danielle. Sort of. Not about how Vlad made her, just that she exists. I've gotta find her so she can have dinner with us."
"That's good to hear," said Jazz as she served up the omelettes. She patted the bacon dry with paper towels. "I'm always so worried about that girl - but it's been tough, because revealing the secret could also be so dangerous…" She brought two plates over to the table and sat across from Danny.
"You look happy," she said.
"Yeah," said Danny. He couldn't turn off the smile.
"It suits you."