Danny groggily woke up, his body feeling like he had bruises all over. Flickering his eyes he heard the sound of medical equipment beeping. Groaning as he started to sit up, he looked around the room and found it not to be his parent's basement lab. "Where am I?" he quietly asked.

"Oh Danny," Desire cheered as she flew over to him. "You're awake, how do you feel my beloved," she gently held his arm.

"Like crap, wait, beloved?" he questioned the choice of word to describe him.

"Damn you Vlad Masters," Desiree shouted to the sky before turned and speaking to Danny in a much softer tone. "Vlad has wished that when you awoke, I would confess my feelings to you, so he wished it and so it shall be," Desiree resigned herself. "I think I love you Daniel Fenton, of all the men and women who have made wishes over the last 5000 years, you are one of the few who learned not to abuse my powers or abuse me, you are a man of conviction and power and I am attracted to that," she said as she dragged her finger along his bare chest, that was exposed when the sheet fell lower. "So I am wondering if you would have me as yours," she requested.

Danny blinked for a moment processing the information. "So like my girlfriend," he asked for clarification, to which the beautiful genie nodded. "I would uh, be honored, delighted, yes," Danny stumbled over his words. "So uh, what exactly happened to me," he asked.

"Well, some of this is what Ember has told me, but it would seem that Skulker of all people rescued you from your parent's torture and took you to Vlad who has spent the last few days and a not insignificant sum of money and favors to keep you from becoming a full ghost," Desiree explained.

Danny lay back on the bed. "Wow, so that's, wow," he whispered as he tried to comprehend what he was told. "I don't even know where to begin."

"How about like this," Desiree huskily said as she settled her voluptuous body on Daniels and locked her lips to his. Her eyes filled with mirth as Danny moaned into the kiss, his hands slowly rising to wrap around her waist keeping her pinned to him. Taking the initiative, she slowly rubbed her chest against his. "Mmm, yes, like that," she shuddered as she felt Danny gently massage her hips, his hands creeping ever lower.

"Oh ho, what's this," Vlad said as he entered the room, causing the new couple to panic and disengage from one another.

"V-Vlad," Danny shouted in shock as he pulled the sheet up over his chest. Vlad frowned when he saw that while the flesh had healed, there were still clear signs of the damage inflicted on his body.

"So, Daniel, I have something for you," Vlad he said as he crossed the room and handed the teen the bag of Nasty Burger. "I figured you would be famished and with your distinct lack of culture wouldn't wish to dine on what my chefs normally serve me."

Danny quickly tore off the wrapper of a nasty burger and wolfed it down, now that he thought about it, he was starving. Vlad inspected the equipment next to Daniel's bed. "Hmm, your vitals are within normal ranges, but we won't know how your ghost half has recovered until you are well enough to transform," he said as he turned back to Daniel. "Let me take those nodes off of you," he said as he pulled the chords away from Daniel's body. Sitting down in the chair as Danny ate his third burger. "So, tell me, how did they catch you," Vlad asked.

Looking down in shame, Danny silently started to explain. "I got careless," he admitted. "I was just going for a fly at night, helps clear my head so I can sleep, and they got me in the back," he looked at the wall, not wanting to make eye contact. "I don't know what they used, but it really messed me up and when I woke up they had me strapped to the examination table," he voice warbled as emotion bit at his frayed nerves.

"I-I couldn't even talk, no matter how much I tried," Danny hiccupped as he remembered his fruitless cries for mercy. "When they cut into me, I couldn't, couldn't even scream. Everything hurt, so much," Danny pulled his legs to his chest. "I tried to turn back into my human form, I don't know if I succeeded or not."

"Daniel, Little Badger," Vlad said comfortingly. "When Ember brought me to you, you weren't in your ghost form," he informed Danny.

"So they might have," Danny realized what that implied.

"We don't know," Vlad quickly cut off Daniel as he stood up. "I will leave you two alone." Vlad nodded to Desiree as he left, to which she floated over to comfort Danny. "But I will soon enough," he growled as he fell through his floor into his lab.

Once in his lab he went over to a secure computer and pulled up the information that Technus was able to acquire.

"As much as I hate the oaf, no one could make meticulous notes like Jack could," Vlad said as he started going through the "autopsy" report for Daniel. As he read down the report on the various organs they removed, bile building in his throat as he imagined Daniel strapped to a table when they cut him open. He dropped his coffee mug when he read a section of notes that truly horrified him.

"Ghosts are seemingly capable of pretending to feel pain, but after a time of no success with begging and faking screams of agony, they move onto pretending to lose consciousness and imitate the appearance of a loved one."

"Oh Christ," Vlad muttered as he shut off the monitor, not able to stand looking at the line. Knowing that the worst-case scenario was true, Daniel had in fact reverted to his human form at some point, but what made it even worse was the Fentons never once stopped the procedure that he was feeling the entire time. He grabbed a trashcan and emptied the contents of his stomach into the receptacle.

"Geez that bad," Ember said as she turned herself visible, having been quietly watching Vlad read for a few minutes.

"Worse," Vlad wiped his mouth. "Because Daniel is still so young, an older ghost would have been better able to handle the torture, at least physically."

"So how's Babypop doing," she asked as she started to read from the monitor she turned back on. "Oh sick, that's." she gagged as she read parts of what Jack had written. "You going to try and tell me this guy isn't some kind of serial killer?"

"No, Jack is a man of science," Vlad shook off his intense anger feeling it to be a waste of time and energy. "On a less sickening note, Desiree and Daniel are making great strides in their newfound relationship."

"Rock on," Ember cheered. "Lame-O the Friendly Ghost is a pretty decent guy when you get to know him, and my girlfriend could really use someone like him."

"I agree, the two seem to be hitting it off." Vlad said, happy to have a distraction from what he had read.

"Gonna be kind of awkward to fight the kid after all this," Ember admitted.

Vlad chuckled. "I do not think heroics are going to be in Daniel's near future, he still has much to recover from."

"Not just physically either," Ember guessed. "Well that's some shit," she leaned back as she floated.

The phone rang next to Vlad's desk, "Yes, good," he paused as he listened to the voice on the other line. "Send her straight to his room, thank you."

"Hmm?" Ember hummed.

"Daniel's sister Jasmine is here."

"Oh the hot red head, yeah," Ember smirked as she recalled Baby Pop's sibling.

"Danny," Jazz shouted as she burst into the room.

"Oh come on," Danny groaned as the intrusion startled Desiree into getting off his lap and ending their makeout session.

"Daniel Fenton," Jazz stated indignantly. "Why did I get a call from Vlad of all people that you were captured," she asked as she hurried over to her brother's side. "What did they do to you?" she said, her tone soft and caring as she saw all the equipment that surrounded her brother.

Danny slowly lowered the sheets exposing his bare chest to his sister so she could see the scars. Instead of a noise of disgust Jazz tightly wrapped her brother in a hug. "I'm so sorry, I should have been there for you," she whimpered.

"It's not your fault, I got careless," Danny said comfortingly trying to take the blame.

"It's not your fault either Danny," Jazz firmly snarled. "Mom and Dad had no right to, to, to do this to you, gosh, they didn't even have proof ghosts existed until you turned on the portal and the first thing they do when they capture one is to start cutting it open," Jazz said her voice rising in volume as she worked herself up. "It's wrong, they want to be scientists, but they shouldn't take cues from Mengele."

"It's not that bad, really Vlad and Desiree, they put me back together," Danny said as he reached his hand out for Desiree to take it.

"And this," Jazz saw their two hands touching.

"We're trying something new," Danny said nervously.

"Fine, Desiree can I talk to you outside for just a second," Jazz said sweetly.

"Sure I do not see an issue with this," Desiree responded as she floated out the door with Jazz shutting the door. "We'll just be a moment, girl talk, you know," she chuckled.

"No, I don't, not a girl," Danny shouted at the closed doors.

Jazz quickly got close to the wishing ghost as soon as the doors had shut. "Listen here and listen good," Jazz pointed a finger into Desiree's face. "I swear if you are doing this to hurt him, I will not stop until you are gone, do I make myself clear."

"I understand, your brother is a good man," Desiree folded her arms in defiance. "I have no intentions of doing him harm."

For a moment Jazz said nothing but instead studied Desiree's features looking for a flinch or any sign that she was being untruthful, but the many millennia old ghost did not react. "Fine," Jazz growled. "Now tell me, what he's not," Jazz demanded.

"Unfortunately, I merely saw the damage, I am not aware of the details surrounding it," Desiree answered honestly. "But he was missing quite a few of his organs and was barely clinging on to life and death."

Danny sighed as he sat in the bed. He noticed the room didn't even have a television, looking around he tried to see if he could find his cellphone or anything he could use to contact the outside world. He nearly jumped out of the bed when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Well, well, well," Skulker said as he floated into Danny's line of sight. "My favorite prey, and too weak to protect himself," his mechanical suit smiling at him.

"Hey Skulker," Danny said weakly as he watched the hunter circle him.

"Aww too tired to escape," Skulker laughed.

"Yeah," Danny sighed, he couldn't move much of his body, due to it being so sore.

Skulker's smile fell. "You know, you're really taking the fun out of this," he pouted as he sat in one of the chairs.

"Sorry, I'll use my time recovering to come up with some insults for next time, how's that sound?" Danny joked.

The hunter smirked. "Better," he replied before sitting silently.

"Skulker," Danny softly called out. The ghost looking over to him. "Thanks," Danny said. "You didn't have to help me. Would have been really easy to skin me there."

Skulker folded his hands. "Kid, you're young, and while I might want to hang your pelt sometimes, I'm a hunter, at the very least I wouldn't make you suffer, not like that," Skulker explained.

"So not friends," Danny quirked an eyebrow at the ghost.

"Yeah, not friends," Skulker chuckled. "Although with you dating one of my girlfriends' girlfriends, I can't exactly kill you anymore."

"Maybe," Danny snickered. "But I don't think I'll be thwarting any ghosts any time soon. So uh," Danny licked his lips. "What's been going on the last few days without me there?"

Leaning back Skulker closed his eyes. "Obviously Ember, Vlad, Desiree and myself have been preoccupied, Technus helped out once he was made an offer, the Box Ghost has been mostly messing around with people at the mall, and everyone else hasn't really done much."

"Wow, that's crazy," Danny realized. "So without me there, none of the other ghosts are bothering to attack."

"Ehh, it's not fun if you aren't there," Skulker admitted.

"Then I should just quit then, save everyone the trouble? No Danny Phantom, no attacks," Danny reasoned.

"No," Skulker shouted. "I just said it wasn't fun for me, most of the stronger ghosts just move slower than the rest, they'll still attack with or without you."

"I don't get it," Danny sighed as he felt this conversation going above his head.

"Look, let me put it into perspective, ghosts like Ember, Poindexter or me, we used to be people, we were alive at some point," Skulker started to explain. "So we do things because we want to, some of it's a compulsion of being dead, but we're mostly in control of ourselves. Some other ghosts, the ones that have always been in the ghost zone, they don't."

"Honestly, some of them scare me," Skulker admitted. "Undergrowth, Nocturn, they aren't like us, they aren't just more powerful, but they think and act completely different to anything on Earth. I used to be a hunter," Skulker continued. "I know, big shock there, but I've seen lioness hunt in packs. I've watched crocodiles wait for hours for food. I've seen it all, but these creatures, they don't behave like anything that's ever been alive."

"I still don't get it, why are you telling me this," Danny said as he sat up on his elbows.

"Us normal ghosts don't want to take over the world, we couldn't even if we wanted to really," Skulker answered. "Some of the more powerful ghosts would step in and stop us if we tried, gotta keep the balance and all that," Skulker said jokingly. "But some of these things, deep in the Ghost Zone, they will and not even someone like Clockwork could stop them. What I'm trying to say is, you are special whelp, somehow you stopped these things, be it an accident or a fluke. We hold grudges because you stopped us, but these things, they didn't care, it was like, ugh, I can't even describe it, once you got out of their line of site they just, reset or something."

"So what you're saying is that I can't just quit being a hero," Danny concluded.

"Yeah, I might be dead, but Earth was my home, I'd like to see it not because a wasteland of death and carnage," Skulker laughed weakly. "You just get better though, I'll tone it down a bit, you've got enough problems without me hunting you." The hunter turned intangible as he flew out of the room, leaving Daniel to contemplate what the conversation.

It was a few minutes later that the door opened and Jasmine entered the room. "Danny," she said as she sat next to her brother.

"Where's uh, Desiree," Danny asked as he didn't see his new girlfriend come back.

"She's giving me a bit of alone time with you," Jasmine answered. "Now, I know you don't want to hear this."

"Nooooo," Danny said slowly as he realized what was going to happen.

"Since you are at that age," Jasmine continued unphased by Danny's reluctance.

"No no no," Danny cried out as he squirmed and tried to get out of the bed but was still too weak to do so.

"Just because Desiree is a ghost, doesn't mean you can forgo protection," Jasmine said as she pulled out a book from her bag.

"Someone, please, kill the rest of me so I don't have to do this," Danny shouted to the heavens.