Melinoe blinked in surprise at the imposing building Danny and Tucker were leading her to. It was a two-storey townhouse on the corner. Despite the other houses on the street being terraced, Fentonworks was detached from the rest. It was almost like the neighbourhood rejected the strange building, shrinking away to leave the house alone. The building was a normal grey brick house, like many of the older residential houses in Amity Park. Tall windows framed with black. A couple of steps up to the front door. A dark alleyway ran alongside the house, littered with trashcans with a large RV with painted green logos on the flanks parked just out of view. On top of the building, a flickering neon sign announced that this was Fentonworks. And if the sign wasn't enough the large bulky construction on the top made from dull metal with small windows cut into the sides and large pipes jutting out randomly, shrouding the house in a dim glow, was a big hint at what this house was associated with.
Danny glanced back at her before hopping up the stairs and knocked loudly on the front door. Melinoe tugged Rusty onward as Tucker paused at the steps.
"This is a really weird house," Melinoe mumbled. Tucker snorted in amusement.
"It's weirder inside," Tucker muttered with a conspirator's wink. Melinoe smirked at him.
"Tucker, I hardly think this house is weirder than your obsession with tech," Danny interjected. Melinoe bit back a laugh when Tucker frowned at his friend's back.
"The town doesn't call me crazy," Tucker countered.
"That's because they don't know you like I do," Danny quipped as he tried the door handle. Danny smirked when Tucker fell silent and the door opened.
"Why did you knock if the door's unlocked?" Melinoe asked as Danny lead the way inside.
"I've been hit too many times with Fenton anti-creep sticks and ghost weapons in the past. Since I moved out, my parents don't really expect anyone to just walk in," Danny answered.
"Anti-creep sticks?" Melinoe repeated in confusion.
"Baseball bats with the name Fenton on it," Tucker clarified, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Mom!? Dad!? You guys here?" Danny called out.
"Danny?" a female voice shouted from in the house.
"Yeah! Where are you?" Danny replied.
"In the lab sweetie," the voice answered. Danny nodded to himself and Melinoe, Rusty and Tucker followed the man through the living room and into the kitchen. Melinoe glanced around herself curiously. While she didn't get a good look at the living room, she had seen the numerous pictures littering the walls and a cabinet in the corner while a large worn grey couch took pride of place in front of an outdated television. Danny moved towards a door in the kitchen before hesitating.
"Mom! Have you turned off the defences!?" Danny asked through the door.
"Of course, sweetie. We don't have them on while we're down here," the female voice confirmed. Danny scowled at the painted white door before glancing over his shoulder.
"You two should probably wait here. Just in case," Danny suggested before he opened the door. Moments later there was an explosion on the other side.
"I thought you said you turned them off! That nearly took my head off!" Danny exclaimed angrily. Tucker snorted as he nosily dragged a couple of chairs out at the breakfast table.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Melinoe wondered, gazing at the mysterious door. Tucker nodded knowingly as he dropped into one of the chairs he pulled out.
"He's probably exaggerating. He grew up in this house Mel. It's always been like that. But it's really annoying to get covered in green sludge when their weapons hit you or inventions explode," Tucker assured, pulling out his phone and tapped absently on it. Melinoe hesitated a moment longer before joining Tucker at the breakfast table, softly ordering Rusty to sit down beside her on the floor.
"Did mom come here a lot as well?" Melinoe asked. Tucker looked up from his phone before he nodded at the teenager.
"Sure did. We usually met up at Danny's or mine when we were kids. Sam went through a rebellious phase around your age and argued a lot with her parents," Tucker confirmed.
"More than they do now?" Melinoe retorted with raised eyebrows. She could recall numerous meaningless arguments she had witnessed over the years between her mother and her grandparents, usually her grandmother, ranging in topics from dating guys Pamela Manson deemed worthy to fashion sense of Sam and her daughter. Or the rare occasion that Pamela visited Sam's home, the woman would regularly suggest redecorating the monochrome theme of the house. Tucker barked a laugh.
"You've seen nothing Mel. A lot of visits we had at Sam's ended with Sam and her mom screaming at each other. Although… Sam's mom never really approved of Danny. When they split, a lot of arguments eased up," Tucker admitted.
"Why didn't grandma approve of Danny?" Melinoe prompted. Tucker raised an eyebrow at her.
"If you were your grandma, would you approve of Danny?" Tucker retorted. Melinoe frowned as she considered the question. Danny did badly in school, couldn't hold down a job, from a family of crazy ghost hunters. She recalled the comment the other night where Danny assured his sister that he wouldn't end up on a park bench, again. Obviously, Danny had been homeless for a time. Melinoe shook her head.
"I guess I wouldn't," Melinoe mumbled.
"I know Danny doesn't seem much. But he's a good person," Tucker mentioned, putting down his phone. Melinoe turned to the inventor with a slight frown.
"I don't doubt he's a good person. But… that doesn't change the fact that he doesn't seem to have done anything with his life," Melinoe replied with a half-shrug. Tucker nodded.
"He's a lot more than he appears Mel. Do you really think Sam would fall in love with some guy that couldn't even look after himself?" Tucker countered. Melinoe chewed her lip and shook her head. She didn't understand what her mother saw in Danny Fenton.
"Give Danny a chance Mel. You'll see why Sam loves him. Why I trust him with my life. Why I called him to help you," Tucker encouraged. Melinoe nodded.
"Did you know that Danny slept on park benches before?" Melinoe wondered, happy to change the topic. Tucker raised an eyebrow.
"He told you that?" Tucker asked. Melinoe shook her head.
"He mentioned it in passing last night at dinner when he promised to move out of Jazz's by the time she gave birth," Melinoe corrected. Tucker nodded.
"It wasn't long after he and Sam split. I tried to get your mom to talk to Danny about it, but she refused to even talk about him. I didn't know why back then. Guess it's kinda obvious now," Tucker began and Melinoe nodded in agreement, guessing her mother's reasons as well.
"None of us. Me, Jazz and Danny's parents could keep track of where Danny was. He had been out of work for a while. One night Jazz would find him on her parent's couch, the next I'd find him passed out in my kitchen. We didn't know why he wasn't staying in his apartment, turned out he got evicted and never told us. He missed too many rent payments. One day I found him sleeping on a park bench. He looked terrible. Looked like he hadn't slept properly in days, probably hadn't eaten a real meal either. He tried to run off with some lame excuse about job hunting but I can guess now that he was really looking for Leto. I managed to convince him to at least stop by mine for some food. While I kept him in my kitchen, I sent a text to Jazz and her parents and we held some kind of intervention. We managed to talk some sense into him, and he agreed to move back in with his parents. Honestly, he wasn't much better off here since his parents are absentminded at the best of times. They didn't always keep track of how many days they hadn't seen him or if he missed mealtimes a few times in a row. But at least we knew he had a bed and a roof over his head. When Jazz moved back to Amity Park a few years ago to settle down with Richard, she insisted that Danny move in with her. It took a lot of convincing, but Danny eventually agreed. Jazz is better at keeping an eye on him. She notices if he's missed meals or if she hasn't seen him for a few days in a row without an explanation," Tucker recalled. Melinoe blinked at what Tucker had just revealed to her. She could tell that finding out about Leto had made Tucker understand a lot about Danny and even Sam's actions over the years. But she was starting to realise how many sacrifices Danny had made for her. The story told her how hard he had tried to find Leto. True, after that intervention, Danny may have been forced to slow down his hunt for the ghost, but it did make her feel a little better to know how hard he had looked.
Suddenly the door Danny disappeared through opened and Danny reappeared, flashing her a nervous grin. Before Melinoe could think what Danny was nervous about, two aging adults followed him into the kitchen. A large man covered in a bright orange jumpsuit, a perplexed frown on his face contradicting his numerous laughter lines around his wrinkled eyes. A curvy woman in a teal jumpsuit, her face dominated by bulbous red tinted googles and a hood. The orange man stood a foot taller than her while Danny was only a few inches taller. Danny stood anxiously between the two groups of two and gestured to the adults who appeared through the strange white door.
"Mel, my parents, Madeline and Jack Fenton. Mom, dad, Melinoe. Sam's daughter," Danny introduced. Melinoe blinked in shock as she realised that she was meeting her paternal grandparents for the first time. Madeline pulled her hood down, perching her googles on her head, nestled in light brown hair streaked with silver. Jack grinned at the teen, bounding forwards to shake her hand.
"Nice to meet ya. How's Sam doing?" Jack greeted happily. Melinoe blinked at him in surprise and gently took the man's offered hand. He grabbed her hand, shaking her entire arm enthusiastically. Melinoe flashed Tucker a bewildered glance which he grinned at in amusement.
"Danny, I'm a little confused why Sam would have reached out after all these years. Why have you brought her daughter here?" Madeline remarked suspiciously. Danny grinned weakly at her as Jack released the girl, turning to hear his son's explanation.
"Sam didn't really reach out to me…" Danny began.
"I did," Tucker interjected, waving a hand at the couple.
"What are you doing with Sam's daughter?" Madeline pressed, resting her hands on her hips with a stern frown.
"Sam's… kinda… missing," Danny revealed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Missing?" Jack repeated in shock, his easy-going grin fading once again into confusion.
"Yeah. We reckon that a ghost took her," Tucker confirmed.
"Oh! You want us to find her then," Jack assumed, a grin returning to his face. Melinoe raised an eyebrow at the large man, it seemed that a grin was Jack's default expression.
"Actually… I was hoping that you'd watch Mel's dog," Danny corrected, flashing his parents a nervous grin. Jack blinked at the dog in question who was panting at the couple with a swaying tail. Madeline's frown deepened into a scowl.
"Danny, we are not dog watchers. We're ghost hunters," she retorted. Danny nodded.
"I know mom. But… me and Tucker have to find Sam. But Rusty needs someone to watch him and I figured you two wouldn't mind watching him for a few hours," Danny soothed, holding up his hands.
"Danny, I don't like the idea of you two going on a ghost hunt. And what about Melonie?" Madeline argued.
"Melinoe," Danny corrected casually before Melinoe could open her mouth.
"And she's coming with us. Thing is Rusty's scared of ghosts so it's not fair to bring him with us," Tucker added.
"Scared of ghosts? And you brought him to us?" Jack questioned, scratching his white head in confusion.
"Danny said he knew you guys," Melinoe remarked. Madeline and Jack blinked in confusion and turned to Danny. He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Er, that's right," Danny confirmed.
"How?" Jack pressed.
"He um, well remember a few years ago… I brought home three puppies, well two since I rehomed one before you even saw them," Danny started.
"Yes," Madeline mumbled.
"Well, Rusty was one of those puppies," Danny revealed. Madeline and Jack's eyes widened in understanding before Jack grinned and knelt on the ground to inspect the dog a little closer.
"So, this is fudge!?" he boomed excitedly. Melinoe blinked in stunned surprise when Rusty surged forwards into Jack's waiting arms and licked the man's face.
"Fudge?" Melinoe repeated in bewilderment, glancing at Tucker who looked just as confused as her.
"Dad, his name's Rusty," Danny interjected as Madeline shook her head at her husband.
"And we all agreed not to name the dog," Madeline reminded the man. Jack grinned sheepishly up at her.
"He seemed to like it," Jack muttered.
"He liked it because whenever you said that, and he came running you used to give him some of your fudge. I still blame you for that time he ran into the Christmas tree. You got him on a sugar high," Danny retorted, rolling his eyes although the smirk playing on his lips betrayed his amusement. Jack barked a loud laugh.
"He loved fudge. Speaking of which, where did I put some?" Jack agreed as he struggled back to his feet.
"No fudge," Madeline scolded, causing Jack to frown in disappointment.
Melinoe's eyes flicked between the three adults, her eyes still wide in bewilderment before her gaze settled on her dog who was waiting patiently at Jack's feet. Danny noticed the dog and crossed the kitchen, pulling open the fridge door and dug around inside before producing a packet of chicken which he tossed to his father after giving it an experimental sniff.
"Give him some of that," Danny encouraged. Jack grinned before ripping a chunk out of the pack and tossing it to Rusty who gulped the chicken down. Madeline sighed before turning back to her son with a frown.
"Can we get back to the fact that you want to go on a ghost hunt with Sam's daughter and Tucker to look for Sam while we watch this dog?" Madeline interjected, folding her arms with a frown. Danny sighed and nodded.
"Mom, I need to do this. Myself. Please. And we're not being stupid, Tucker makes ghost weapons and defences for a living. We're gonna use his tech to find and fight the ghost holding Sam and well, Mel wants to help us find her mom. Can you blame her?" Danny explained. Madeline glanced between her son, Tucker and Melinoe before sighing in defeat.
"Alright. But I want you to take a Fenton Thermos and a couple of our guns as well. Just to be safe. And I want hourly reports. I'll make sure Jack doesn't get Rusty high on sugar again," Madeline stipulated.
"Thanks mom. We'll be careful. I promise," Danny concluded and followed his mother back through the white painted door.
Jack looked up from Rusty who had devoured the entire packet of sliced chicken to gaze at Melinoe.
"So, he's your dog now?" Jack commented, leaving the empty pack on the kitchen worktop. Melinoe nodded.
"I got him for Christmas when I was nine," Melinoe confirmed.
"From who?" Jack pressed.
"Me," Tucker lied, surprising Melinoe.
"I heard that Mel wanted a dog and Danny mentioned that he had found some puppies. I asked him to hold on to the puppy until Christmas since I used to babysit Mel a lot when she was younger," Tucker elaborated. Jack nodded in understanding.
"I wonder why Danny never told us you took the puppy off our hands," Jack mumbled.
"I asked that he keep it secret so it would be a surprise for Mel. I meant it more from people who might tell Mel through Sam, but he kept it quiet for me," Tucker added, giving Melinoe a warning glance when she opened her mouth to question him.
A few moments later, Danny and Madeline reappeared. Danny had a soup thermos clipped to his jeans and a glowing gun tucked into his waistband. Madeline handed another gun to Tucker.
"You remember how to use them right Danny?" Madeline asked.
"Yeah. I remember. I got plenty of experience when you guys roped me into helping out when I was a teen and then when I lived here a few years ago," Danny assured. Madeline nodded although she still didn't look happy to let her son go on a ghost hunt without her.
"If you run into anything you can't handle, call us and we'll come straight away," Madeline added.
"Thanks mom but I don't think that'll happen," Danny replied.
"Danny, I want you to promise me. You won't try to take on a ghost without Tucker or calling us," Madeline pressed sternly.
"I promise mom, I won't do anything stupid," Danny soothed with a roll of his eyes.
"I mean it Danny. I don't want you going against a ghost alone," Madeline retorted.
"And I'm not. I've got Tucker. We'll be fine mom," Danny pointed out. Madeline sighed and nodded.
Madeline and Jack followed them out of the kitchen and into the living room. After a gentle nudge from Tucker, Melinoe reluctantly handed over Rusty's lead to Jack's waiting hand.
"Um, he doesn't like strangers and he's scared of ghosts. He should behave but if you have any problems could you call Tucker?" Melinoe requested.
"I'm sure we'll be fine. But we'll call if there's any problems," Jack promised.
"Don't over feed him dad," Danny added before they stepped out of the house.
So Melinoe's met more of her family from Danny's side. And for now, we have to say goodbye to the lovable canine Rusty.
But will they find some answers using Tucker's tech in Sam and Melinoe's home?
Will Melinoe learn Danny's secret?
Until the next chapter.