Chapter 6- Bringing Both Feet together.

"Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place in the object we're waiting for."
-Charles Stanley

Jack jotted down the EEG reading for the twelfth time since Phantom had been hooked up to the ectoplasm drip. Like clockwork he recorded that and the ECG number every ten minutes and took note of any change.

Phantom was looking much better already. Within the hour he had started regaining some of his color and his wounds, though not fully healed, also showed good progress indicating that his healing was at least getting somewhat back up to speed.

With the current readout recorded Jack grabbed the thermometer from Phantom's mouth and held it up to see. 37. 'Wish we had some kind of base line to compare this to.' Jack thought scribbling the number under a box labeled 'Temp'. Shrugging he shook the thermometer a few times before inspected the red alcohol inside. Satisfied that it was almost back up to the room's temperature he put the thermometer back into its case and moved the holder to a partially littered table that had been brought over to give the scientists more table space.

"I think you can take a sample now." Jack called over to his wife.

Maddie held a finger. "One sec." She read over another few lines on the monitor in front of her then got up and walked over to the table. She glanced at Phantom and bit her lip. "Maybe I shouldn't. I mean he did lose quite a bit of ectoplasm and he's still recovering."

"Maddie it's been an hour and a half. I think he has enough for a smallsample. Besides he wasn't bleeding core plasm, he should have plenty and that's more important to analyze then the stand stuff. We can get a lot more information from it."

"It's just… his core is under enough strain regenerating the rest of him, I don't want to put too much pressure on it." She was trying to save her boy, not kill him.

"He'll be fine. Phantom's been through the worst part and he's still intact. I think he can handle losing a few mLs. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

'No he wouldn't.' Maddie agreed. 'The problem is I do.' She sighed and grabbed an empty 10 mL syringe sitting next the one she had used earlier to put Phantom under. 'I don't even know where his core is other than around where his heart should be.'

Straightening up Maddie removed her right glove and pressed her hand into Phantom's chest testing it in a couple of areas. When she found a spot colder than the rest she stopped. Assuming that's where his core was Maddie slowly inserted the needle until she felt some resistance. Taking a deep breath she gave it a harder push and felt it sink into something. Phantom's face scrunched slightly before relaxing again. Maddie grabbed the plunger and pulled up watching as a cyan, instead of bright green, ectoplasm plasm filled the syringe.

When the syringe was full Maddie waited a minute to make sure Phantom had no reaction before she slowly removed the needle.

"See Honey, now you have a sample that we can analyze and you can store the rest for that big project you're working on." Jack said giving her a pat on the back. "No harm done, he's fine."

Maddie nodded and went back over to the monitor she had just come from. She pulled out a thin plastic tray from a new looking device next to her computer and carefully deposited a drop from the sample just taken into a small well. With the core sample in place she slid the tray back into the analyzer and pressed a grey button an inch above the slot opening. A green light flickered on in response.

'I better put the rest in a safe place.' Maddie thought picking up the syringe and giving it a long, hard look. 'It's beautiful. I wonder why it's a different color, maybe because it's an ice core? If so does that mean color is based on the element ability? I'd love a sample from another ghost to compare this to. There are bound to be abnormalities since Phantom's part human but I'd be willing to bet that it's on par with the stand make up. If it was too different I'm not sure 'Phantom' would be able to exist.'

She rose from her swivel seat grabbing an empty vial from a test tube rack before she left her work station and walked to the lab's small walk in freezer. Though it wasn't much bigger than a closet it served its purpose well and the two scientists had never found need of a giant freezer. Most of the chemicals they used could be stored at room temperature and the select few that couldn't didn't take up much space. Half the occupied room was actually filled with Jack's emergency stash of fudge, which he had insisted must be kept in a secure place.

Maddie opened the door and stepped inside. Color air immediately assaulted her and she was glad her hazmat suit insulated her body temperature. In the winter it kept her warm and throughout the summer it kept out a good portion of the sun's excess heat. She uncapped the test tube and injected the rest of Phantom's core plasm into it before putting the plastic cap back on and setting the tube in a rack that only had one other sample in it.

Satisfied that her son's core material wasn't in danger of getting lost or spilled do to Jack's or, less likely, her own carelessness she closed the door and went over to the table Phantom lay still on. Maddie ran her hand down Phantom's left arm giving his hand a gentle squeeze when she reached it. "How's he doing?"

"All things considered pretty good. His face has gotten most of its color back and his aura's back to normal. Phantom's delta waves also shifted a bit, they moved to about 1.6. I don't think he'll be waking up for a few hours since he's still in a deep state but it's not as comatosed as it was before and the ECG readings have been steadily going up."

"You mean in frequency or strength?" She asked.

"Both. After the initial reading which was off the scale, his field's power output plummeted to almost nonexistent. Most likely the electricity from the power lines hadn't really dissipated on his way from the school to here so it was still pretty built up. Once he got put on the table however it started leaving much faster since this," he patted the stainless steel table, "is grounded. Those first numbers were still registering the excess but by the time we recorded the second set it was just Phantom's output which was next to nothing in his state. Ever since then it's been getting stronger though the amplitude has mostly leveled off at this point. I think that's a good sign." Jack supposed.

"Yes, his field probably aligning itself back to a normal range. I'd say he just needs some rest then he'll be up and running again."

"He's should be stable enough to leave alone for a few minutes so we can get something to eat. You hungry Maddie?"

Maddie looked at Phantom. If Jack had asked her half an hour ago she would have declined without a second thought; her stomach had still been in knots and twisting a bit, but now that Phantom was no worse off than after a bad battle she was feeling more like herself and her stomach was telling her that food would be much appreciated. "The computer probably needs at least another twenty minutes to finish the initial report and I think there are some leftovers in the fridge. He should be fine even if we left him like this for several hours so just a couple of minutes would be fine." Maddie conceded following Jack to the stairs then up them.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Like Maddie had remembered, when she opened the fridge a tub of dumplings was sitting on the top shelf from the previous night. She heated them along with some premade white rice and spring rolls in the microwave as a late lunch for the two of them.

"I'm glad he's doing better. Phantom really had me worried when he first showed up." Maddie said dishing out the Chinese food.

"I'm not used to seeing him so still. For someone who's dead he always seems so alive." Jack said stabbing a beef dumping with his fork. "To be honest I'm surprised Phantom came here. I would have assumed that he'd want to meet up with some of his ghost friends. If I was a ghost I'd assume that they knew more about my structure than humans did." He popped the dumpling into his mouth before skewing another and shoving it in with the first.

Maddie internally sighed at the sight. She and Jazz seemed to be the only ones in the house who believed in eating Asian cuisine properly. "He would have had to come here either way then since we have the only working ghost portal and Phantom likely knew he wouldn't make it to where his allies in the ghost zone were."

"That shows he was thinking. A ghost's mind is controlled by their electrical field, it's really a wonder he could have that level of insight with his core getting as overcharged as it did. Him surviving is just as impressive though, most ghosts would have melted from that kind of destabilization. Maybe Phantom didn't because he's denser and his ectoplasm naturally lends itself to greater stability."

"It's an interesting theory." Maddie agreed pinching a spring roll between her chopsticks and taking a bite out of it. "One I disapprove of testing."

Jack laughed at that. "Oh Maddie you don't think I'd go testing the melting levels of Phantom against other ghosts do you? No, you're right he's much too valuable to do anything so damaging to him. Beside I know how much you and the kids have taken to him."

The two sat in silence while they finished their meal. When the food was all eaten Maddie rinsed out the plastic containers and washed the plates while Jack dried them one by one as Maddie handed them to him.

With their lunch break over Jack followed Maddie back down stairs.

"We can probably just take the readings every thirty minutes at this point." Maddie said recording the latest one.

"That sounds fine." Jack agreed going over to his personal work space on the floor. "I'm gonna get some work done on the specter sensors Mads. Maybe you could finish the conversion chip now."

"I still need to fine tune to transmitter but since Phantom is hooked up to the EEG I guess I could start the converter."

. . . . . .

A few hours later when the last rays of light had set Jack stood up and cracked his stiff back.

"Alright. I'm going to start distributing the sensors. I'll be back in a bit Honey." He announced grabbing an armful of the metal contraptions he had been working on.

"Make sure you space them properly. It's always better to put them too close then too far apart. We don't want any holes in the grid." Maddie warned.

"Don't worry, I measured Amity's dimensions last week after I installed the ghost shields at the school. I have enough to cover about a fourth of the town right now so that's all I'm going to do. I'll need you in the ops center when I get back to help link everything up and back to our systems."

"Sounds good." Maddie stopped and looked over at the pile of ghost sensors still scattered about Jack's area. "Would you like a hand?" She asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great."

Shaking her head slightly Maddie carefully step sided the obstacles littering the floor and made her way to the messy part of the lab her husband called his work area. One by one she picked up the small cylindrical devices, placing the first few atop the ones already stacked in Jacks arms, and then tucking the rest under her arms. "I think that's all of them." Maddie observed sweeping the floor with her eyes.

She followed Jack out to the RV and gently set the electronics in the back.

"I shouldn't be gone too long, I already mapped out where to put these puppies."

"I know, I helped with those calculations after all."

"That you did… where would I be without you?" He asked rhetorically.

"Not sure, but then again I don't know where I would've ended up if I hadn't meet you." Maddie gave Jack a quick kiss on the cheek. "Drive safely." She said as jack climbed in the giant of a vehicle they drove.

"Don't I always?" Jack asked seriously. Maddie had to bite back a several things at the question including an eye roll, laugh, and sarcastic remark.

"I'll see you in a bit." She replied instead heading inside as Jack drove off.

Instead of going back down to the lab Maddie walked up the stairs and down to the master bedroom. Removing the carpet she told the ever ready command device, "One to the ops center." Immediately the Plexiglas tube shot down and sucked her up.

The auburn haired scientist made her way over to the main console and logged into the isolated FentonWorks computer system. Maddie figured she could start doing the setup work before Jack got home, that way it wouldn't take as long to connect all the sensors together and then back up to their mainframe. Maddie's fingers danced across the keys as she typed in a series of commands that left computer ready and waiting for the sensors Jack was distributing to come online.

Finally a little yellow dot blinked to life on the screen. Several minutes later another started flashing and every few minutes a new dot would appear. As the points emerged the computer picked up the signal and Maddie locked the connection to the system creating a continuous feedback loop. She then tied the individual information streams together forming a grid. As each new signal came online she added it to the group expanding the range of the ghost detecting web.

New dots kept appearing until there were about two dozen flickering blips arranged in a quarter circle on the ops center screen. When no more points emerged after 10 minutes Maddie knew Jack was on his way home.

. . . . . .

Stabbing the last of the sensors into the ground Jack inserted the master activation card into the thin slit and pushed the small red button on the side of the stem. A sharp beep informed Jack that the device was up and transmitting its signal.

The giant of a man stood up and wiped his hands on the sides of his bright orange jumpsuit. With his hands mostly clean and the task done Jack got into the RV and head home.

. . . . .

Feeling thirsty Maddie got up and went to the fridge. She opened the door and frowned. No water. Or juice. Hell no soda even. Sighing Maddie closed the mostly empty and drink free fridge and walked to the side of it. She pressed a little button that read 'emergency stairway- leads to kitchen' and gave herself an internal pat on the back when part of the metal wall slide aside revealing a staircase.

'I am so glad I installed this.' She thought descending the steps.

Stepping into the kitchen Maddie went straight the cabinet under the counter and right next to the fridge. She pulled out eight regular water bottles and three quarts sized Gatorades. With her arms full Maddie went back up and loaded the drinks, with the exception of one water, into the fridge. Satisfied that the next time someone needed a beverage they'd be able to get one she went back over to the chair in front of the active monitor.

. . . . .

Phantom lay on the table dead to the world with a peacefully expression resting on his face. The wounds coving his body were healed by this point and only scars betrayed the memory of what had happened earlier.

All of a sudden without any provocation Phantom's aura brightened and condensed around his waist forming a blindingly bright halo of energy. The halo split in two and passed over his torso and legs replacing Phantom with Fenton.

. . . . . .

Jack opened the front door and headed to the kitchen. Walking by the exposed steps that lead to the emergency ops center he started going down the stairway to the basement lab.

A/N: *Gasps* "No Danny wake up! It can't be revealed like this!"

Sorry it's a little late guys but hey the chapter was more doubled in length so you get to read more and life has been a little hectic. Monday was my AP Bio exam; I know I passed and I'm positive I got at least a 4 but I'm excited and can't wait till June because whole class has been convinced that I would get a 5 and I think I might have. Yesterday my class (and a few other science classes) had a video conference with a friend of my AP Bio teacher, Robert Cabana- director of the Kennedy Space Staion. We ran out of time before I could ask my questions so I'm a little not happy about that. Yesterday was my last debate which is also sad. Senior year is coming to a close and I'm going to miss being in high school, I'm getting old- I reminisce about elementary school with ,my friends. Anyway I'm thrilled that this is finished and I apologize for the lack of action but not every chapter can have a fight or life saving scene. Maddie finally gets what she needs so her awesome project (which was my favorite idea) can be finished and that is exciting.

Side notes:

1- Maddie references eating Asian food properly. For me I understand that some people simply can't figure chopsticks out no matter how hard they try, I get it. I just get annoyed with people when they don't even try to see if they can and head straight to the fork

2- The specter sensors or part of a project I always pictured the Fenton's working on. They're ghost sensors that are linked together electronically and distributed around the town forming a detection grid. Much more efficient than having to go up and down every street in search of trouble.

By the way for people who haven't checked out my author's page, I keep a CBAP update status section on there. I try to update that regularly so people know how the chapter is coming along; how many words and how close it is to being finished/posted, that sort of thing. As always reviews are much loved and welcomed and they seriously make my day. Honestly it's sad how excited I get when I check my emails and I see 'Fanfiction- review'.

- May Rene