Chapter Nine

Not dead

The doorbell rang one more time, and he opened the door. Any formal FentonWorks greeting he had died on his tongue. The woman from last night stood on his porch, smiling sweetly down on him.

"Hiya kiddo, so you ain't dead after all."

The blood drained from Danny's face. It was the lady from this morning. She stood there grinning down at him with a hand on her hip. He never thought that thick rimmed glasses, and a high pony tail could ever look so threatening.

"Wha…?" He breathed out. He hated how this was the way he reacted to being found. He wanted to stand strong, maybe lie his way out of it. But gaping like a fish out of water was how Phantom would be caught.

"Well, with the condition of your house, I thought that y'all might be dead! The news says there hasn't been a reported death caused by the plant incident -which is totally unbelievable, if ya ask me- and I was startin' to think I'd be the one to find the family that hadn' made it. But you ain't dead!" She clapped her hands together. "Which is good for me. Your parents wouldn' happen to be home would they? I'd like to have a look at their product."

Danny blinked. "Uh, right. Okay, yeah. I'll just… go get them. C'mon in."

He opened the door wider for her, and she waltzed right in. He slummed against the door as he closed it behind her. Letting go of a pent up breath, he placed a hand over his hammering heart. The lady scanned the house curiously. As she turned back to him, Danny quickly collected himself, and pushed himself off the door.

"They're upstairs…hold on."

Tucker and Sam gave Danny questioning looks as he passed the kitchen. He shook his head, and bounded up the stairs. At the top, he called down the hall. His first attempt didn't quite make it out of his throat, his muscles still taught from the shock. He had to clear it to try again.

"Mom! Dad! You've got a customer!"

"Oh? Who is it, Sweety?" His mom's muffled voice asked.

Danny slumped. How was he supposed to know, why would she ask that? "I don't know! Just some lady!"

"Alright," his mom stepped into the hallway with an excited spark in her eye. "We're coming!"

His dad emerged, wearing a construction tool belt full of completely normal, and unrecognizable gadgets. The two practically dove down the stairs past Danny.

"I'm Tucker, Tucker Foley. And who might you be?" Danny heard Tuck introduce himself in his 'smooth voice'.

The crazy lady didn't answer Tucker, or didn't have time to before his parents pounced.

"Hello! I'm Dr. Maddie Fenton! And the man in the orange is my husband, Dr. Jack Fenton!" She said enthusiastically.

Danny slowly descended, choosing to stand next to Sam. She gave another questioning look with a lifted eyebrow. It was then that Danny noticed he had positioned himself so that Sam was between him and the lady. He flushed and stepped forwards.

Danny's dad had already disappeared into the lab, probably to dig out their inventory.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Fenton. I'm Dr. Patricia Sawyer." Patricia shook his mom's hand professionally.

"The pleasure is all mine, Dr. Sawyer!" She gushed. Her eyes scanned the living room for a proper sitting place. Finding none, she quickly moved on. "How may we help you today? Are you in need of a pair of ghost hunters, to rid yourself of a pesky spook? Or are you looking for preventative measures to keep your house spook free? Or are you looking for self defense-"

"Actually, Dr. Fenton, I'm looking to catch a ghost myself."

Jack stopped short of reaching the top of the basement stairs, arms loaded with ghost shields, and weapons. Without a word, he turned and sprinted back down.

Danny subtly nugged on Sam's elbow, nodding towards the kitchen. She and Tucker got the message and slipped away.

"Really?" His mom asked. "Are you sure? These ghosts are tricky creatures, and can be quite dangerous. It's best to send them back into their dimension, or obliterate them where they float."

"And that's why I've come to FentonWorks. I hear your equipment is the best there is against the ghosts."

Once out of sight from the adults, Danny whispered, "that's the lady from this morning! The crazy one!"

"Wow, really?" Sam asked, looking back at the doorway.

"So she was hot! Man, you might be mixing up crazy with brave." Tucker sighed.

Sam rolled her eyes in disgust. "She's way too old for you, Tucker."

"I wonder what she wants with a ghost?" Danny pondered. "Wait, you don't think she's after me specifically, do you?"

"That's definitely a possibility," Sam hummed in thought.

"That definitely would be a good thing." Tucker smiled. "I will be so jealous if she catches you, Danny."

Slightly grossed out, Danny and Sam both pulled a face.

"Would you knock it off, Tucker?" She smacked him over the head. "And keep your voice down, they'll hear us."

"Yeah, I doubt she'll actually catch me. I'm more worried about her getting hurt trying to."

Sam narrowed her eyes at Danny. "It better not be because she's a girl, Danny."

"It's not!" He whispered in defense. At her unbelieving look, he continued, "she's crazy, doesn't run when it gets dangerous, and she doesn't look like she could throw a brick if she wanted to. She probably doesn't know how to fight at all. Besides, she's a doctor. Doesn't that take like a dozen years of school? She's a nerd."

"Your mom has a PHD. So does your dad. And they're both crazy." Sam pointed out.

"They're a special case and you know it."

Sam hummed, scrunching her face and pretending not to agree.

"I think Danny's got a point." Tucker threw his arm around Danny and grinned. "Maybe we should follow her to make sure she doesn't get herself into trouble."

"No, Tucker." Sam and Danny said in unison.

"It would be good to know what she buys though. Just to know what to look out for," Sam reasoned.

"I can just ask mom and dad after she leaves…" Danny trailed off and they all began listening in to the conversation in the other room.

"This cage will keep a ghost trapped for sure!" His dad bragged. "But only for forty-eight hours. Unless you buy extra ecto-batteries for it. As long as it's got a charge, the ghost can't even touch the bars! The trick is getting them in there…"

Danny shivered.

"I like it," the lady, Patricia, said. "But you know, I saw this ghost using a device. It looked like one of your inventions. It was a.. soup thermos, but it sucked the other ghost right up. I'd love to buy one of those off of you." He heard his mom practically snarl, "it is one of our inventions. But we couldn't get it working properly. The ghost boy stole it from us, and he somehow got it working. We haven't managed to get it back to study how he did it."

"Oh," Patricia only let a little disappointment show. "That's alright, then. May I make an order, and have you deliver the stuff to my hotel room?"

"Of course! Here- oh, um, Jack darling? Would you mind grabbing my paperwork out of my cabinet in the lab? It should all be in the second drawer from the top."

"Sure thing!" His dad bounded down the stairs.

"Do you take credit?" Patricia asked his mom.

Danny grabbed his forgotten drink off of the table. "Lets go to my room, guys."

"Don't you want to listen in to what she gets?" Tucker whispered, confused.

In the middle of a swig, Danny rolled his eyes. "Mom and Dad don't get new customers often, but when they do, they do not shut up about it. I'm going to be hearing all about what she purchased, and what she didn't for the rest of the day and tomorrow."

"Oh boy, I bet." Sam grinned.

"You guys have both been here before after a customer, you've heard them." Danny stated questioningly.

"Dude, we don't listen to your parents. Half the time I don't even understand them."

Sam nodded, agreeing with Tucker.

Dannys scowled in light hearted jealousy at his two friends. Then he quietly lead the way back to his room. Easily slipping past the adults unnoticed.

A few hours later

Danny messed with the sleek new phone his parents had handed to him before heading to the airport with one hand. The other hand held on securely to the handle above his seat, barely noticing whenever his dad hit the curb taking a corner too sharp. The glossy screen was unscratched or marked, and felt wondrously smooth under his thumb. It's protective, flexible case opened and closed around the phone. His brother had gotten it for him, but gave it to his parents first for whatever reason. He guessed his mom had said he wasn't getting another phone, and Dick may have been trying to respect that. It already had Dick's number in it, as well as his sisters and parents. He added Tucker's and Sam's in. But other than that the phone was free of any apps or content. It had a Wayne-Tech logo on the back underneath the case, but Danny had never seen this model before.

Danny smirked to himself. The perks of being indirectly related to a billionaire. He couldn't wait to show Tucker. He typed out a quick text to Jazz, Tucker, and Sam, letting them know he had a new number and phone. Just as he hit send, the RV lurched to a sudden stop.

"We're here, Dann-o!" His dad boomed and leapt out of the vehicle.

Danny unbuckled. Shrugging his back pack on, Danny slipped the phone into his pocket. His hand barley brushed the door handle, before his dad flung it open and grabbed the rest of his luggage, a under stuffed duffle bag.

"Remember, Jack dear, we've been banned from the airport, he's going to have to carry his own stuff," his mom said with a worried frown.

"Mom, I'll be fine." Danny hopped out of the van.

After hugs and kisses, and Danny assuring them he'd stay safe, he waved over his shoulder has he headed for the entrance doors. He noted a security guard hovering just inside, eyeing his parents.

The Ghostbusters theme song jingled from Jack's pocket. Danny turned curiously. The only sign of embarrassment he gave was a small glance in the direction of the family walking quickly past.

"VLADDY!" Jack answered the phone immediately. "Oh! That's right! I forgot to tell you. There's been a change of plans, I hope that's alright."

Danny's eyes bulged. If his dad had forgotten to inform Vlad, that ment Vlad most definetly had plans for his stay. The idea of being alone in an airport immediatly after his dad informed the man Danny had kicked in the manhood and shot point blank in the face that he would not in fact have the golden oprotinity for revenge drained all color from his face. He dropped his bag and sprinted back.

"You see, Vladdy, Danny-"

"I want to tell him!"

Jack was cut off by Danny jumping up and snatching the phone.

"Hiya, Uncie Vlad!" Danny greeted innocently, walking in a small circle and ignoring his mom's disapproving look.

"Daniel," Vlad barley held back from a growl. "What have you done? Where are you? I'm at your house to pick you up as scheduled and no one is here."

"Well, you see, the thing is… Whoops!" Danny pretended to trip on his own foot.

He smashed his dad's cheap flip phone against the pavement as he fell. The strangly satisfying crack and crunch of the plastic underneath his palm had him sighing in releaf.

"Danny, are you alright?" His dad knelt down to help him up.

"Oh no! Dad, I am so sorry!" Danny stood, holding the plastic remains. "You hadn't done any upgrades to it yet, right?"

His dad frowned, taking the pieces from him. He put it up to his ear and listened for a second, before shrugging forelornly.

"Forget about the phone, I'm more worried about Vladdy. I forgot to tell him Dick is taking care of you instead and Maddie still doesn't carry a phone…"

His mom put her hands on her hips. "Daniel. Jackson. Fenton." she said with shock, anger and denial all mixed together.

Danny stiffened, but tried to play it off with a smile. "I'm sure Vlad will be fine?"

"You broke your father's phone, Danny."

"I said I was sorry." He gave a nervous chuckle looking away from her. "Oh, would you look at the time! Don't want to miss the plane!" Ignoring his mom's protests he took off for the building, throwing goodbyes over his shoulder.

Slouching in the front seat, Harley strummed the steering wheel impatiently. Giving the Fenton-Scanner a good shake, she grumbled.

"'Most haunted city in America.' 'Ghost attacks nonstop.' Ya, well I haven't seen nothin' for hours! The stupid liars."

She flipped down the heat vision goggles and scanned the park one more time. She let out a whine when nothing out of the ordinary showed itself. Her pouty lip turned into a scowl as she started up the stollen Jeep. Before she could pull out from the curb, the scanner gave a ding. There in the top right corner of the screen a bright green dot blipped at her. She gave a whoop and sped off, plowing through traffic.

Aside from Danny casually watching out for any signs of Vlad during his trip, it was uneventful. He really wasn't looking forward to the next time they fought, he'd been royally pissing Vlad off quite a bit lately. Dick met Danny at the baggage claim with a smile so bright and kind, he had girls in the airport unsubtly keeping their eyes on him. Danny wondered if he even noticed.

As they made their way to the parking lot, to the motorcycle, Dick gave him a run down of his work schedule and how he would be on call most of Danny's visit, and what Bludhaven had to offer visiting teenagers with nothing to do. It didn't have much. With Dick laying out what his stay was going to look like, it dawned on Danny: for an indefinite amount of time he would be away from his ghost hunting parents, away from the city that hated his alter ego, and, hopefully, away from the ghosts.

Dick handed him a leather jacket and a helmet, then asked how he felt about breaking the speed limit. Danny smiled. The summer was going to be awesome.

It's short. But it's what I had. (I'm trying to post more regularly.)

Thank you for the support you guys. I love getting your reviews!

Until next time

Date posted: 07-06-18