~Chapter 17~

Danny angrily looked the guard in the eye. It almost seemed to scare him and he stopped walking, holding up the small line consisting of two people behind him. Powers, no powers, what did it matter? Danny was Danny, that was that. And he was a threat no matter Fenton or Phantom. Why? Because he had a cocktail of adrenaline, desperation, and above all, motivation. He needed his family and he needed to know they were safe. This entire branch of the government had now entered his bad list, which was something no one should ever want to do.

They wanted tests? They wanted to find out more about him? Fine then. Time for a little demonstration of a ghost-human's youthful rebellion.

Lilith finally went to sleep. It was morning, unfortunately, and Danny was still nowhere to be found. For a very long time, at least a year and a half actually, Sam had thought of the twins as the rapist's and the rapist's only. But back then she was blind. Now she saw what a father really was. Biologically, they didn't belong to Danny. But truthfully, they were his. Biological parents didn't determine parenthood at all. That was why adoption existed. Danny had adopted these twins before they even came into the world. He loved them beyond words and treated them like his own, almost as if he couldn't tell the difference. Danny was a father. No...he was a dad. Well, okay eventually he would be a dad. Right now he was a doddy.

And unlike most guys, Danny didn't have much of a problem taking care of the twins. Not to say that he liked changing diapers or getting food flung all over him, but he didn't mind being busy. Sometimes he was the one to rock them to sleep so she could take a break. And when the twins got up, most of the time it was him to get them. He fed them dinner and actually liked it...until one of them spit out their food. He also really liked playing with them. No one was quite like mommy, but the twins were all over doddy when he got home from school. Since they could walk now, they would run up to his legs and prevent him from walking. He was forced to hold his heavy backpack for that much longer.

Eventually he would be able to walk...but only with them riding his feet.

He thoroughly enjoyed being a father. It wasn't always fun, and it was tough, but he was happy. These twins were his whole world. He would sacrifice anything and everything to make sure everyone was safe.

She frowned. That fact alone...that he would sacrifice anything and everything. Even himself. He would give his own life to protect them. No, he couldn't be dead. He couldn't be! This was Danny, Danny couldn't be dead! And what-?

Ghosts. Valerie. The Guys In White. His parents. There were a lot of people who hated Danny Phantom, swearing he was an evil creature that needed to be exterminated. That just couldn't be right though. No, they never caught him before, never really came close. What was so different this time?

Sam paced the room several times, unwilling to believe he'd sacrificed himself for the sake of her and the twins. And of course, his family too. But especially the twins. If there was anything Sam had learned as a parent, it was that the kids always took priority over the adults. She knew Danny, and knew that he would try to protect everyone, but he was a parent as well. And these twins were his kids. She wanted him to make them top priority. If Danny had to choose between Sam and the twins, she wanted him to choose the twins. It was what every parent wanted, she assumed.

Except hers, apparently. Ugh, why was she even thinking about them? And at a time like this, honestly...! Why was it that they crept into her thoughts at the most random times? Anytime she began to think deeply about the twins or Danny, her parents popped up out of nowhere. It was like one second, the twins were there, and then BAM, her parents.

He never actually gave thought to what he was doing. All that ran through his mind was thoughts of the twins, Sam, his parents, and Jazz. Even Tucker could be hurt if they got his family. Ironically they could even trace this down to Mr. Lancer.

He quickly turned around, boldly facing the guard. He stood on his toes, succeeding in confusing all the agents in the hall with him.

"I'm not asking," he growled. "I'm telling." With that he lurched forward, his head banging hard against the guard's. Being experienced in fighting ghosts, some who used armor or metal weapons, getting hit on the head with a hard material was practically nothing now. The guard fell, knocking the men behind him down like dominoes. It wasn't very hard to jump forcefully on them, making sure they stayed down. And to add to that, they needed to get the message. Hopefully they received it.

He hopped off the last guy and started to run while they were still trying to compose themselves and probably still trying to get up and off one another. The bad news was, he was in a strange place and he couldn't use his ghost powers to escape. It would have to be done the old-fashioned way. But old or new, he still had no clue where he was going nor where an exit might be. All he could do for now was run at top speed until the alarms went off and more agents were sent after him. These idiots would do anything they could now that they knew he was half human.

He could probably get out on his own even without his powers, but he would need his hands. Getting out with just legs and a head wasn't going to be very easy. In fact, it might not even be possible. But then the realization hit him that he didn't need to cut the rope off. The more he fought, the more he struggled...the more the rope would loosen. Even as tight as it was now, it was still just a rope. Yes, it had an anti-ghost coating on it, but it was still just a rope. And it was a really stupid idea on their part to underestimate him. Even stupider to threaten him like they did. It made no sense to give him a motive to beat the snot out of them and break out.

He stopped when holes in the ceiling opened. Red lights dropped down and started flashing. Soon after, an alarm was triggered, screeching horribly in his ears. It echoed through the halls. He could already hear multiple footsteps. It was about time they sent in the reinforcements. Before he could determine which way to go, he took a breath and paused to listen. The footsteps were coming from behind him, meaning he could run left, right, or straight ahead. Thankfully the red flashing lights illuminated each corner and made it easier to see where one hall ended and the other began. He chose to run right.

It was, in a way, fun to tick off the government. But this would only be seen as fun if he wasn't fighting to get back to his family. He had to know they were okay. If worst came to shove, everyone could get away in the Specter Speeder. They could retreat to the Ghost Zone, where they would be safe. Momentarily at least. If he didn't find anyone in the house or lab, he could check the Ghost Zone. He wouldn't even need to look for them; he'd simply turn human, let the real-world item scanner detect him, and wait for Sam to steer up to him. Or at least in his direction where she could find him.

Er...wait...there was just one problem with that little plan. He couldn't turn human. With this rope still clinging to him, he couldn't use any of his ghost powers, which included turning human again. Which meant that although Sam and everyone else could escape, he might not be able to find them if he couldn't get this rope off.

Well...this sucked.

Looking behind him to see if there were any agents in sight, he bumped into a wall he hadn't seen coming. It was a two-way decision. Right or left. He went right last time, so... The halfa gathered his balance and pivoted on his heels, turning left. The footsteps were gaining and worse, they were following him. With a rope restricting you, it wasn't easy to keep good pace. But at least he had one thing going for him: his strength. Ghost fighting had paid off. Now if he needed to knock someone out, he could put them in a headlock with his legs and strangle them until they passed out. It was just getting up that was hard.

The twins still hadn't stirred, which in a way was great news for Sam. She'd found herself completely unable to sleep before, but now she was utterly drained, both emotionally and physically. She wondered if Danny was tired as well, assuming he was still alive.

But now her eyes were heavy, almost too heavy to lift. For almost three years she'd been unable to sleep unless Danny held her. Now it was just...not right. Those nightmares would come back if not for Danny. But this time the nightmares would be about Danny, about something bad happening to him. It was the last thing she wanted to see. She would much rather relive the worst moment of her life instead of paint out a picture of whatever could've happened to him. It truly terrified her, and as each second passed, she became more and more certain that he wasn't coming back. And if he didn't, the twins would never have a father to look up to.

As he ran he lowered his head and tried to bite into the rope. No use. Then again, it wasn't exactly like he'd expected it to simply slide off him at the touch of a tooth. Last time he checked, ropes didn't work that way. He needed to find a way to get it off him though. If he managed to find an exit without being caught, then what? If he knew the Guys In White, he was probably on the high floor of a high building. What was he supposed to do, jump and hope he lived? Fighting could be useful only if the rope was loosened because of it. It could also have dire consequences, as he remembered once more the whole 'termination' part of this ordeal. Fighting was a last resort. He needed to find a way to cut it off before they could catch up to him. Only problem was, these halls showed nothing but white and flashing red. They didn't look like they had anything to-

Wait. There was a room somewhere back where he'd come from. It was where the scanner was. Yeah, that one room full of sharp...stuff. If he could somehow get back to it, again without being caught, he could use his mouth to grab a scalpel or something and set himself free. After that, it would be smooth sailing. Phase through all the guards and agents, keep phasing through the walls until he reached a way out, and get far away. Then finally, once he was sure they weren't following him, he could go home.

He smiled at that thought. Going home, making sure everyone was safe and sound... They might be a little concerned right now, but rest assured he would get back to them. He already had a plan in mind, and if it worked like he hoped it would, he was practically free.

There was one flaw. Where the heck was that room? Everything was completely white! Sure, he'd been dragged around through these same halls...probably these same halls anyway...but he still didn't have enough time here to memorize all those rooms. He could end up in a janitor's closet! Or worse, the training room, if they had one. They probably had laundry rooms scattered everywhere in the facility. Actually, it would make sense that he'd end up in a janitor's closet. What if the floors got dirty?

He listened closer. There were footsteps coming from in front of him. He would see agents appear any time now. Anytime, but they would be coming either from a left or right hallway. Straight ahead was a wall, so unless they blasted through it, no one would be coming from straight ahead. At least one direction was safe...

"It's like a maze..." he muttered breathlessly.

Since people were coming from in front anyway...

He screeched to a halt, quickly pivoted, and started the other way. Hopefully the way he'd come from was the way that held the room with the sharp stuff in it. Okay, so until he got there-and if he got there-he would have to fight his way through throngs of agents. Just one ghost. Just one! All this fuss over just one ghost! It was crazy, it was really, really crazy. Then again...this was the government.

At least they didn't yet know what his human form looked like, and they also didn't know his last name beyond Phantom. It would likely be the first name they would run through their engine. So let's see... So far they knew he was half human and had a family that was obviously involved with ghosts. They knew him only as Danny Phantom. They didn't know he was Danny Fenton. They didn't know about the accident that made him half ghost and assumed a false idea about his parents. They only knew he had white hair, green eyes, and pale skin. They didn't know of his black hair, blue eyes, and darker-than-a-ghost's skin. They had the knowledge to attempt to find out what his human form looked like, but they didn't have enough knowledge to actually succeed in finding out what his human form looked like. Not yet at least.

One morph was all it took, one mistake was all they needed. And if they managed to weaken him enough without the rope on, he wouldn't be strong enough to hold the transformation, and he would collapse and revert back to his human form. After that it was over, done with. They could test his human DNA and know everything about his biological family. They might be shocked to know his parents were ghost hunters, but everyone would suffer because of him. He couldn't afford a single mistake. He had to get out of here. Now.

The goth kept drifting in and out of consciousness. She wanted to stay awake for Danny, hoping he would return any second now. Maybe scaring her by phasing through the window or door...something like that. For all she knew he could be right behind her, invisible, ready to yell out once she finally went to sleep. Real sleep, not the dozes she was having right now. If he scared her, she would beat the living daylights out of him. Making her worry all this time only to get a few laughs...he would pay dearly if that was the case.

Deep down she knew he wouldn't do something like that. Sadly she still didn't know, deep down or up top, whether he was ever going to come back. Every passing second seemed to feel like the word 'abandonment' was closing in. Soon, she knew, it would be there to engulf all of them. Thankfully, if he wasn't coming back, the twins would forget. No one else would forget though, no matter how much they wanted to. And when Lilith and Junior were old enough to understand, she would have to break the ice that their father had died when they were babies. Being as they wouldn't remember, they probably wouldn't be very sad about it. That would be a good thing though. Their hearts wouldn't break for their deceased father. They could live life happily and normally, but now with the knowledge about what happened to their father.

Almost there...almost...just a little more and- Yes! There it was! That had to be it!

Danny bolted towards the door, the one he was sure that held the scalpels and other really scary objects. Ones that, come to think of it, would give them direct access to kill him.

"Nice going," he mumbled breathlessly to himself. "You managed to find the one room in this place that lets them throw pointy things at you..."

He skidded to a halt, again not easy when an anti-ghost rope was tied around you, and used his teeth to turn the doorknob. Human or ghost, using your teeth to do this was incredibly difficult. Especially when you had about a hundred highly trained government agents hot on your tail.

He felt the knob turn and started pushing on it in hopes that he could open the door as rapidly as possible. A soft click was hear after just a second or two and he almost fell sideways as he burst through the door. Yeah, he was right. This was the room, this held all the needles, that one scanner thing they used on him earlier, and scalpels. He rushed toward the first one he saw, be it biggest or smallest, and took it up in his mouth.

He used his tongue to maneuver the little item into a position where he could effectively cut the rope. It was done just like that, in a split second time frame. All he needed to do was position it. Now came the hard part...trying to bed his head far enough downward to reach the rope twines. But before he could do anything else, he closed the door with his shoulder and braced himself against it, acting as a human-er, ghost-barricade. He knew it would never hold long against all those strong men, but he was strong too, and this time he had a family that needed his protection. This time he couldn't afford to lose.

If they started banging on the door, he would likely cut himself with the blade of the scalpel, but at least it would get the rope off. And there was only one reason they would put an anti-ghost rope on him...the walls had no coating. They knew, and now he'd figured it out, that he could easily escape through the walls if the rope came off.

He wasted no time in attempting to saw off the first few twines. It wasn't easy. He probably hadn't picked up the longest scalpel, and therefore had to bend his head even further. To top that, this rope was very thick and strong. It was meant for holding and/or binding powerful things. But it was definitely giving way, and that was good.

He couldn't help but think about the cloths that were on Sam when he found her in that storm. They were actually as strong as, if not stronger than, this rope. He'd never encountered anything that strong before, save for Skulker's nets. This rope was kind of like that, extremely-no, ridiculously-strong. It was still something he could handle but why would they use something like this on him? If they'd simply kept their mouths shut, if only they'd kept from threatening his family, then he wouldn't be trying so hard to get out of here right now. They would've still had his cooperation. He would've still done what they wanted him to do. But now they were going too far. Now they had doomed themselves to be taken as a very serious threat. That...was a big mistake.

As to be expected, the door started wobbling. Danny strained to keep it shut, at least to the point where they couldn't enter the room. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't cutting himself. But...well, that was probably because he had the protection of a thick rope right now. Hopefully he would be near the end soon, and that protection would wear as thin as the rope.

His feet started to lose traction and he began scooting forward as a result. How he managed to keep them out, he didn't know, but he knew he had to start cutting faster. The more he dawdled, the more time was spent giving them an opportunity to end all this once and for all. But now, 'all this' included his entire family. And maybe Tucker.

Ha! Halfway there! Take that, government idiots...

The door lurched forward, almost causing the scalpel to slip out of his mouth. Curse saliva. Thankfully his tongue held it, this time more firmly as it repositioned the little object. The door was opening, and this time he couldn't push it back. There were too many of them...

Three-fourths.

Another squeak as his shoes began to give way to the...probably three?...men repeatedly tackling the only entrance to the room. He was lucky he fought ghosts every day, otherwise they would be too much and he'd have been caught long ago.

Just a little longer...

He tried to put force on his heels. He couldn't afford to lift a foot, otherwise he would be overpowered and lose any chance of liberating himself. The only shot he had was this one scalpel. He couldn't lose it to a door.

And...success. He shrugged the rope off, proud with the knowledge that he could finally see his family again.

He beamed at the thought that for once, he was there for Sam. He didn't fail her like he did the last three times. He protected her this time.

A/N

Guys, I'm really hoping you're reading this... Before I say ANYTHING about the story or reviews or whatever else, I have a very important request that could change this story. I put up a poll (you can find it on my profile; all you have to do is click my username at the top of the page where the description is) concerning Sam and the twins. I'm stuck between EIGHT ideas and I really need your help on this one. :( I feel bad about asking this favor because I know the update took a long time, but I would really like it if everyone came together and decide the fate of this story.

This chapter is at very LEAST 3,500+ words. Around 4,000+ by the time this A/N is done. I hope this makes up for the long wait.

Okay, my dizzy spells haven't gone away or gotten better, but I'm not having one right now, I don't feel one coming on...so absolutely no review quota (again, I feel TERRIBLE about letting you all down like this).

However, I can provide review replies:

TheNinjaKitty13- This is a branch of the government that specializes in ghost hunting. Of course it didn't occur to them. Honestly if we didn't know what happened to make him half ghost, we'd assume that one of his parents was ghost, the other human, right?

AJ- Well we're not sure. I've been told I need to move around some to get good circulation of my blood but it's not helping these spells. Oh don't feel bad for me. I've endured so much worse and whenever I get sick, it's usually more serious than just a cold or the flu. So I'll get through this once we find out what's going on. Thanks for your concern though. :) I appreciate it.

PlasticPencils- I'm not going to the hospital! D: UGH! I hate needles, I mean, metal going through your skin and entering your body?! AHHHH! lol I can't tell, now can I? By the way, PLEASE vote on the poll!

sammansonrepilica- Thank you and thank you again. :)

fictionwriter28- I still feel bad about this. I mean, do you remember what happened when I was writing FWB? So many problems with FF and now THIS?! *sigh* This sucks, I really wanna make it up to you all, that's one reason why this chapter was so long. Oh, writing isn't a trigger. I don't know what is, I get them randomly.

HeroAce- Thanks. :) And that's exactly why I freed Danny in this chapter. It WAS going on too long and I was starting to realize it a little late.

Zinnia99- Thanks. And I'm glad you do, I try hard to make this story at least tolerable.

Adams7- Yeah but at least they don't last forever. Thanks, I'll try. :P

Inuyuke- *salutes* Will do! And I'm so SICK of hiatuses! D: Remember how many were in FWB? Too many!

I'm. Only. Human. Dude. - Thanks, I try my best on each one. :) And thanks. I'll try to update when I can.

Favorite Daughter of Hades- lol He should but wouldn't that blow his cover? Thanks and thanks again. I'll be fine, you'll see.

ChristinCC- It's okay. Well now you know. :)

Jaded Jimmie Productions- Ah, don't sweat it, it's fine. I'm sure it's nothing serious. I've had lots of "serious" stuff in my life, this is nothing to fret over.

Thunber- I'm sure I'm fine. They'll go away eventually, I mean, nothing lasts forever. And I know I should pace myself on these chapters but I feel HORRIBLE about making the wait so long! D:

Looka'sMagicHell- Well they ARE smart, government-wise, and they ARE trained to deal with ghosts. They already suspected Danny was different, which is why they took his blood and accidentally found out he was half human. Can't tell, sorry. ;D And thanks.

Again, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not forget to vote on the poll! It seriously is important!