Night Wind
By: Wilona Riva
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.
Caught
There were no humans in that crowd.
Actually, there was one. Look.
Oh.
Maddie checked in on Jazz, who was snoring softly, slouched over her desk, lamp still on. She shook her head softly at her daughter lost in another of one of her complicated endless essays.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The beeping on the tablet was getting closer. She hit it a couple of times, as the reading on the tracker showed her son to be in his room, which was clearly empty, as she stood observing from the open the doorway. His ecto-signature showed he was in the park with a large number of other random ecto-signatures.
"A gathering of spooks," she murmured, scanning the room, then spotted the tiny glowing dot on the mirror. "Smart, Danny, but not smart enough."
Grabbing her keys to Assault Vehicle off the wall, she scribbled a note to Jack, put a small bundle of Fenton Fishing Line on the seat next to her, and started the vehicle. "Wait, until I get a hold of that boy!"
She's not going to hurt him, is she?
Keep watching, Ain.
She arrived in time to see a glowing portal appear, and a bright, golden phoenix motion for Phantom, Dusk and Twilight to enter.
Phantom shook his head, and signed something back to her.
Dusk and Twilight shot off into the night sky, but Phantom was halted by the red-haired human boy. "Will you teach me and Nathan that weird sign language of yours?"
"There is a price to pay," Phantom cautioned.
"Here that, Nathan? He said, yes!"
Phantom groaned, face-palming.
Night Lord! The huntress!
Maddie grabbed the Fenton Fishing Line, created a lasso, and snared Phantom's right wrist. Before he could slip out of it, she quickly wrestled him to the ground, and bound his hands behind his back. "We're going to have a talk about a little thing called 'a curfew'," she calmly told him.
Night Lord?
"No, Dusk," he said, resigned to his fate. "The Queen of the Night Stars cannot help us. And no, Twilight, neither can Bell or Moon at this point. The Sixth first, then the Seventh. That is the proper order."
You need to make contact with your tree.
"Yes," Phantom agreed, feeling a bit drained. "Mom, can you give Mikey and Nathan a ride home first?"
Mikey panicked. "My parents will ground me for life if they find out I snuck out."
"You should have thought of that, beforehand," Maddie warned him. "Thank you for remembering, Daniel."
He turned his back to her. Dusk looked at him questionly. In the mirror, Maddie could see him shake his head.
I am most definitely informing the Queen of the Night Stars how the hunters treat you, Phantom.
"Not helping," Phantom whispered to Twilight.
Maddie dropped off Nathan first. His father answered the door, listened to Maddie's explanation on why she found him in the park at 3am in the company of ghosts. Mr. Lester thanked Maddie politely, yanked his son inside the house, and slapped him hard upside the head before the door slammed shut.
Maddie was shocked.
Night Lord, why did the human's father do that?
Phantom looked away. "Not all humans are like in the stories we read," he answered. "Most families have strong bonds of love, Dusk, but some do not. This is one of those times."
"That's why he always wears that sweater," Mikey spoke softly. "You can't tell anyone, Mrs. Fenton."
"The authorities have to know about the abuse, Mikey," she said. "This should have been reported ages ago."
"They already know," Mikey replied, "but can seem to pin anything on his foster parents. If he gets taken away again, he'll be put in a home for untouchable children. I'm his only friend."
Maddie pursed her lips, but said nothing. She would discuss the situation with Jack tomorrow, and then decide what to do.
Dusk and Twilight watched Phantom suppress throwing an ectoblast at the huntress. "Get this thing off of me," he hissed.
We don't know what it is, Night Lord. It burns!
We have to tell the Queen, Eveningstar!
"Great," he grumbled, then a look of anger crossed his face, as Maddie returned the vehicle.
"On my signal, " he whispered softly. Dusk and Twilight nodded.
Mikey hopped out of the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle when Maddie stopped in front of his house. He stood beside her, as she knocked. Lights came on, and Mrs. Elias was angry to see her sheepish-looking son trying to hide behind the ghost hunter.
"Really, Emerson," she sighed. "Thank you-?"
"Maddie Fenton," the huntress said, introducing herself. "I found him in the park while I was searching for three powerful ghosts, who escaped our house earlier."
"Now," Phantom whispered. "Go!"
Dusk and Twilight turned invisible, phased through the GAV, and took off for the nearest natural portal.