Disclaimer: And… after about 2 years (wow, it's really been that long since I started this), I believe it has become well established that I own nothing here. DP and its characters belong to Butch Hartman, and Winston Wolfe belongs to Hornswaggler.

This chapter has been beta'ed by shadowxdragon!

To all, Merry Christmas! Hope your holidays go well!

Eidolon
21. Downtime

The exit from the manor and then the property seemed to be little more than a blur of lights and the bustling of bodies. The police had somehow quickly gotten him and the others out of the building and into the arms of waiting paramedics. Up until a few hours ago, Danny probably would have raised a fuss if someone was checking his vitals due to the changes his ghost-half had brought, but he simply sat bemused as the paramedics did their job.

He was in shock. There was no other way to explain it. Somehow, he and the girls had managed to safely escape from Vlad. To make it better, the older half-ghost was gone, at least for now. He should be happy, but it just seemed too good to be true. So he continued to sit in a daze as his mind tried to accept what happened.

Most of what happened around him was registered as nothing more than hazy images, but he was clearly able to recall Sam's father sweeping her up into a hug while sobbing in uncontrolled relief. Jazz weeping openly as she looked at the night sky for the first time in her memory. And Maddie threatening to hit a reporter, one of several who snuck onto the scene, if she didn't leave her family alone. Though it wasn't much, it was enough to bring him comfort as he and the others were escorted to the hospital.

Once they arrived at the nearest hospital, everyone received a quick checkup to verify no one was seriously harmed. Everyone was deemed healthy which was a huge relief to Danny. His lowered body temperature and pulse had been written off of as symptoms of shock so the doctors didn't look too much into it. If there had been a reason for the doctors to check his blood… he didn't want to think about it. But they did keep him and the others overnight for observation.

Around noon the next day, an officer came into the room to get an official statement from him. While he obviously had to omit the paranormal parts, Danny did do his best to keep the story as close to the truth as possible. As opposed to the police he had dealt with in Amity Park, this officer was less suspicious and more accepting. The man's presence helped give Danny a sense of security he hadn't felt in months.

After the officer was finished, he gently asked Danny if he would walk with him for a moment. The officer led him down a few hallways to a large room where several people were waiting for him. One in particular stood further forward from the rest, and he watched Danny's approach with a stunned stare. It took a moment for him to recognize the dark-haired man leaning on a wooden cane. Tears threatened to fall as Danny raced over to embrace his guardian. The warmth and sense of joy radiating from the man as he returned the hug was all the proof Danny needed to know that Winston was truly there.

The sound of clapping ended the hug which brought Danny's attention back to the audience of hospital staff, police officers, and press members. Although he was unaware of it at the time, he later learned the police who rescued him had made the arrangements for Winston to meet him at the hospital. Years after the event, the police would still receive thank you letters from the two around the time of its anniversary.

This then opened the way for a multitude of press-related questions and more than a few interviews. After a couple hours, the police eventually shooed them away allowing the two to have some much needed alone time. Winston gently explained to Danny how Sam and Tucker had come to him in the hospital after he awoke and told him of Vlad's plan and their own to rescue him. He also explained while he was well enough to leave the hospital, he was still recovering. Standing and walking for long periods of time stressed his body, so he was going to use a cane for a while to help.

What surprised Danny the most was how accepting Winston was of his new abilities. The older man had shamefully admitted that he knew about them before they manifested. Just before the abduction, Winston had been planning to explain everything within a few weeks. "I can't begin to image the terror you felt as your powers started to appear," Winston sighed as he looked away from his charge. "I'm so sorry, Danny. Please forgive me for failing you."

Although Danny did try to reassure Winston it wasn't his fault, their conversation fell to an awkward silence. The ordeal had unexpectedly changed more than just Danny. A lot of other changes were going to happen in the near future, and there were still loose ends that needed to be tied. But, he didn't really want to think about them just yet. For now, all Danny wanted to do was enjoy his current feeling of security.

…

One year later….

The day was bright and warm as Danny made his way through familiar paths. Little had changed since the last time he had traversed Amity Park's major cemetery. The statues, graves, and plant life all seemed normal, but what once gave him feelings of peace now gave him mixed signals. His human side told him to be wary as it was the place where he first encountered Vlad, who was still out there somewhere. It was also where he first learned he was something more than human. He couldn't help but be wary of it.

However, he still felt relief as he walked along the paths. He understood it was the ghost in him that yearned for the comfort of being around a place closely linked with the realm of the dead. One would think he would feel more at ease in a place where there actual deaths had occurred, but thankfully, that was not the case. His stay in the hospital, a place where many deaths occured, did nothing but make him uneasy and paranoid when he was alone. Maddie had been very curious when she first learned of it. While she didn't have a good explanation, she was looking into it.

Danny had openly tried to avoid coming back to the cemetery when he first returned home, but after several months, he could no longer resist the pull of it. However, it had only been more recently when he had worked up the courage to go further into it than a few hundred yards beyond the front gate. He was glad he did as it filled a necessity his ghost half needed. It also allowed him to get closer to his friends as they would commonly join him.

Speaking of his friends, he was going to have to meet them soon.

Since his rescue, he had become closer to Sam and Tucker. He owed them his life… err… half-life, so of course it was bound to happen. They were spending a lot of their free time together anymore. Not only did they help him feel normal again, but they also helped him with school work. In late August, he had been enrolled at the local high school. The transition from being homeschooled to dealing with so many different people on a daily basis had been initially difficult for him to handle. But, Sam and Tucker had really helped with his transition. They were also really good at catching and covering up his occasional slip ups with his powers. While he had fairly decent control now, strong emotional stress still caused him some problems. It had been because of this that there had initially been a lot of argument about him starting school, and surprisingly, it had mostly been between Winston and Maddie.

Maddie had tried to argue it was too dangerous to let a half-ghost mingle with normal humans, but Winston would have nothing of it. Winston believed it was time to stop protecting Danny from the world. Sure, Danny wasn't exactly normal, but Vlad had still managed to take the boy even when he wasn't allowed to be around others. To the military man, if something more was going to happen, Danny would equally be at risk wherever he was. Winston also argued that being around normal people would help Danny control his powers. After Jazz and Danny joined his side of the argument, Maddie eventually gave in under the condition that he would be removed from school if anyone else learned what he was.

As Danny walked back towards the entrance, he reflected upon his performance so far. In his first couple weeks, he had fallen through his chair five or six times, dropped several breakable things during chemistry lab, and once got stuck in a wall for a few minutes . The teachers had thankfully chalked up his behavior to nerves stemmed by PTSD. Winston had taken the time to explain to the teachers about Danny's abduction last year, and Danny was more than thankful for it as it helped cover some of his mishaps.

Voices eventually caught his attention as the gate came into view. Sam and Tucker were near the entrance, and although he couldn't clearly hear them yet, he figured they were probably debating if they should go looking for him. Quickly looking around to see if anyone else was around, he faded out of the visible spectrum and slowly made his way over to them.

"Come on, Sam," Tucker stated as agitation filtered into his tone. "Danny is really good at being on time for his training. There's no reason for us to go looking for him just yet. Give him a little more time; he'll be here."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't move a little further in than the front gate," Sam retorted. "It'll be easier to see him if we can see a little more of the area."

"Well, that's all fine and dandy for you, but there is no way I'm wandering around here without Danny."

That statement caught Danny by surprise. "I thought this place didn't bother you that much anymore…" he stated somewhat questioningly as he became visible again.

"Gah! Danny! Stop doing that!" Tucker stated as he turned to face the chuckling half-ghost. "And, for your information, one too many bad things have happened here for me to be okay with it."

"And when I'm here it's fine?"

"Yeah! I mean, if something comes after us again, you have the ability to stop it."

"Glad to know I'm of some use," Danny told him dryly. "Anyways, you guys didn't have to come get me."

"We know," Sam told him, "But we figured you need all the support you can get right now. I know you've been trying to hide it, but you've been gloomy recently. Is everything okay at home?"

Danny glanced to the side. His friends really did know him well. When he originally came home after his ordeal, he figured things would probably go back to being as close to normal as possible. He hadn't been expecting Winston to invite Maddie and Jazz to join the household. Danny was shocked and confused, but Winston explained that a boy needed to be around his family. That statement opened a whole new round of questions and problems.

Although he originally had suspicions that Maddie had some connection to his missing family, he never would have guessed that Maddie was his biological mother. In a way, he was excited because he didn't really have a clear understanding of what having a mother would be like, but he figured it wasn't like how things were currently going. Maddie was still acting somewhat cold towards him because of his ghostly status. She was convinced he was still going to become evil and was trying to find a way to either remove or suppress his abilities. It made his home life very stressful. Thank goodness he had Jazz, who really had embraced her role as a big sister, and Winston, who was willing to stand up to Maddie.

"Well, it's no worse than it usually is," Danny eventually answered as he started to move towards the cemetery gates. "Come on, we need to get going."

…..

"Oh, Danny, you're back," Jazz noted as he walked in the door followed by his friends. "Sam, Tucker! Hi! How are things going today?"

"Same old, same old," Sam replied as she and Tucker removed and hung up their jackets. Although Danny might be more than comfortable in the slightly crisp weather of early fall, she and Tucker still had to keep warm. "How are things going here?"

"Mom's teaching me how to bake," she replied excitedly. "Although we could heat food in a microwave, Vlad never gave us the ingredients or the stove to actually bake. I… uh… am not doing too well right now, but I haven't given up yet!"

"Stop doubting yourself," Danny told her as he looked around the room for a sign of anyone else. "You've haven't brought food to life, so you're doing just fine." That had been an interesting experience. Maddie had decided to resurrect an old experiment in cooking a few months ago and outfitted a microwave with some sort of ecto-energy battery. It somehow brought hotdogs to life. After battling the undead hotdogs, Danny had a hard time eating beef-related products for a few weeks.

Jazz couldn't help but laugh. "That's true. Anything could be considered a success when you compare it to that incident. Anyways, I'll try to make a batch of cookies for you guys to eat once your done with training."

"That's awesome! Thanks, Jazz!" Tucker almost shouted in excitement.

"Yeah, thanks," Danny added as he looked around again. "By the way, where are Maddie and Winston?"

The redhead frowned as she tried to think. "Mom's downstairs waiting for you. Winston's not home yet. I think he had said something about having to stay at school late tonight. I'm not exactly sure when he'll be home."

"Okay, thanks."

"Oh, Danny, you received a letter today."

"It's not from the school again, is it?" the halfa asked cautiously as he watched Jazz retrieve it from the kitchen counter. When he had first started classes, his constant accidents had caused the school to start sending damage and progress reports to the house. Even though the school thought he had PTSD, they still felt obligated to report his "transgressions."

"I'm actually not sure who it's from. There is no return address on it."

"Well, that's a little more than weird…" he grumbled as the letter was handed to him. There was nothing odd about the envelope upon first glance, but Danny could feel the lingering energy on it. Whomever had written the thing clearly was strong. Against his better judgment, he opened it.

The letter read:

Greetings young Phantom,

My apologies for the ordeal you've been put through, but it was only the beginning. Train well, and do not lower your guard for darker days are approaching.

CW

"CW…? Who's that supposed to be?" Danny asked as reread the letter. This person called him 'Phantom,' so did that mean he had ties to the other ghosts? Or, was this just some form of elaborate joke?

"Here, let me see," Sam told him as she grabbed the letter out of his hands. He immediately tried to get it back, but it just got passed to Tucker.

"Phantom? That's actually pretty catchy," Tucker mentioned as he passed it back to Sam. "Maybe we should start calling you that."

Before Danny even had a chance to protest Sam spoke again. "I actually have to agree. But putting that aside for now, Danny, do you have any idea who wrote this?"

"Nope," Danny stated as he popped the 'p'. "Your guess is as good as mine. But, I'm really not going to worry about it right now. There are more important things… like getting our butts downstairs so Maddie doesn't come up here and get us." Even though Maddie didn't like his abilities, she was currently in charge of his training. She seemed to think that until she could find a permanent solution, he needed to do his best to get his abilities under control. It was easier said than done as it seemed like his abilities were still developing.

Tucker shivered for a moment. "You're probably right. Your mom is scary! Err… no offense."

"None taken." With that, the trio started down towards the basement where Maddie would be waiting for them.

…

"That was brutal!" Tucker exclaimed as he lay back on Danny's bed. Although most of the training was Danny's, Maddie did make sure that she had both Sam and Tucker do some exercises and train with some of the ecto-weaponry. Today's training had been more intense than usual.

"I told you that you were out of shape," Sam teased as she gently hit the boy's foot as she sat with her back against the bed. "But think about how poor Danny feels." She looked at the half-ghost sitting on his desk chair while staring out the window. "His mom really does a number on him."

"But he's used to it!"

Danny barely registered as his friends got into another friendly argument. His mother had seemed a little more aggressive with his training today than usual. Thank goodness he wouldn't have to see her again until dinner as her room was in a different part of the house.

Winston had moved him and the girls to a larger house several months ago. To him, the house looked like someone had decided to join to different townhouses together. It worked for him because the girls had one side of the house while he and Winston had the other. The only parts of the house that were connected was the kitchen and basement (which Maddie had somehow modified into a rather large laboratory) which made it easier to avoid people if he wanted.

It seemed like she was secretly trying to prepare for something. It could just be her thoughts that he would turn evil, but it did seem like there was something else to it. Maybe he was just thinking about it too hard, but his mind kept coming back to the odd letter. Could it be warning him about the same thing that Maddie was?

He shook his head as he forced himself to listen to his friends talk. He knew there was always a possibility that his trials weren't over. Vlad had never been caught after all, but he had been trying to ignore that. While he had nothing but a strange letter and a gut feeling to go on, he was going to keep his eyes out for anything that could suggest something was coming. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea if he started looking into some of the things that hadn't made sense to him during his captivity.

Perhaps he should ask Maddie about that book over the weekend. It wouldn't hurt. But, until that time, he was going to stay calm and enjoy himself. If things were about to get worse, it was a good idea to relish the down time while he got the chance.

So a couple things here:

1. It is very true that you may be in a lulled state when you are in shock. I've gone through it twice, and the second time I was too out of it to care about anything. The first time, I was hyper-aware even though I have no visual memories. Shock is more than complicated, and it sucks!

2. PTSD= post traumatic stress disorder. Basically, strong traumatic events can leave very strong and lasting effects on the body. Flashbacks and anxiety are common to see with it.

3. About Danny's comfort in cemeteries… This is an odd consideration of mine. There are a lot of cemeteries that are haunted which doesn't make sense when you look at how you usually get a ghost. And, even if a cemetery does not have a history of haunting, they still tend to have a strange feel to them. I think this comes from the memorial of the passed loved one and lingering feelings. Cemeteries are already going to be emotionally charged due to services and people coming to pay their respects. So, that's going to strengthen a ghost if one is there.

There is also an old superstition that if you cry when a person passes their soul will never find rest because they'll see how much they're missed. If a soul that still lingers follows its family to the cemetery, it might become trapped because it could pick up the lingering emotions in the cemetery. Also, cemeteries are hallowed (blessed) ground, so it could it could have effects on souls no one could completely understand. There is also a tradition that a dog would be buried in a cemetery before a human was because it was believed the first soul buried in a cemetery would become its guardian. This is where you get the church grim (spectral dog) from legends. So who knows? There might be some basis in this.

Geez… I know too many old stories for my own good. Anyways, a big thank you to shadowxdragon who has kindly taken up the mantle of my beta.

And, I hope everyone did and will have a good holiday. I'm going to do my best to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, but it will probably still be a few weeks.

That's it for now,
Goshi signing off