ahhh I know it's been a while. But it took a while to figure out exactly how I wanted to do this chapter. I hope you guys like it and thank you SO MUCH to those reading, following and especially to those who reviewed! Thank you so much!

~cosette141

Danny glared at the ceiling.

"…fifty-nine, and… sixty!" Maddie sang from her perch on the edge of his bed. She took the thin thermometer from his mouth and frowned at it. "Hmm." She looked at Danny. "That's strange. It says your temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Are you feeling cold?" At Danny's blank stare, she pursed her lips and looked back at the little device. "Maybe we should go see Dr. Anderson."

Danny sighed audibly. He'd argued with his mother for ten minutes just to get her to leave him alone, but she'd made him take the thermometer. The last thing he needed right now was his secret blown. "No—Mom, I told you. I'm not sick! And, uh, Jazz broke the thermometer last week when she used it for some psych experiment." He nodded at his own lie. "Yup. She said it made things seem colder."

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "If you knew it was broken, why didn't you tell me?"

Danny swallowed. "Uh…" He squinted and rubbed his temples. "Actually, my head does kinda hurt…"

"Danny-boy!"

Both Maddie and Danny turned as Jack walked into his bedroom. He was holding some sort of small vacuum that Danny stiffened at. "Uh…" he started.

"I've been thinking," said Jack, revving up the machine. "Maybe it's a ghost that's got Danny feeling down!"

Danny's heart flipped in his chest. He scrambled backward against his headboard. "No, no, no, I'm better! All better!"

Jack's entire being deflated in disappointment. He turned off the machine and it whizzed into silence much the same way its inventor did. "Aw, okay."

"Maybe you should just get some sleep," said Maddie finally. She kissed Danny's forehead and Danny made a face.

"Yeah, sleep sounds good," Danny mumbled.

Maddie got up and ushered Jack out of the room. She tilted her head back and said, "Just call us if you need anything, sweetie!"

And his door shut.

Danny threw off his blankets. Finally. "I'm gonna kill Sam and Jazz for this," he muttered to himself.

Temporarily forgetting about the injury, he shot upright, only to groan through his teeth and grab at the bandaged wound. He breathed hard for a moment, both riding out the pain and noticing that it actually hurt a slightly less than it had this morning. So, he was healing. Just… slow. Incredibly slow. He made a mental note to keep a closer eye on what his parents were inventing from now on.

Danny shut his eyes. Sitting up was a hard enough task. He was in no shape to fight. Let alone fight the GIW. Even at his strongest, he knew he was no match. There were simply too many of them, and now that they've had time to build new weapons, ones that worked…

But that didn't matter. His eyes opened, burning a fierce green. Prepared or not, he was going to go after Tucker and get him out of that place. He wasn't about to let them hurt his best friend, and was definitely not about to let Sam and Jazz walk straight into that death trap to clean up this mess.

He shut his eyes and whispered, "Goin' ghost!" and with a flash of white his humanity disappeared.

He was going to have quite a late start to save Tucker, and he could only hope that Sam and Jazz haven't done anything stupid. This wasn't their lane; he was the ghost fighter. He was the town's protector. Not them. If anyone was putting themselves headfirst into danger, it was him. If anyone had to be stuck inside the GIW waiting for who-knew-what… it should be him.

Not his best friend.

With one last glance to his bedroom door, he pushed himself to his feet. He wrapped an arm around himself and clenched his teeth, but made his way to the window. He opened it with his free arm and jumped out.

Flying hurt much less than walking, but it was still awkward and painful. He kept one arm around himself, twisting his fingers in his suit. Wind whipped through his hair as he made a straight shot out of Amity Park, his speed buffeting the branches of trees beneath him.

The town began to fade away and the trees thinned out until a wide expanse of a whole lot of nothing was spread out below him. His chest tightened a bit and his heart stuttered.

He ignored the fear and pressed on. I'm coming, Tuck. Just hang on.

He squeezed the arm around himself tighter as it throbbed, making him jerk mid-flight. He cursed under his breath and righted himself.

It wasn't until he saw the building in the distance that he slowed down.

It was there, a spec of stark white in the otherwise empty expanse of land. Lone and imposing.

Danny stilled in the air, staring at it. Tightness seized his chest. He let out a breath. Then newfound determination burned from his eyes and he shot ahead, flying faster from before, ignoring the pain from the sharp movement.

He had to get Tucker out now, and before Sam and Jazz did anything. In and out. He was quick. He could be quick. He would be quick.

The compound grew as he flew closer to it. First the barbed wire fence, sparking green. Danny almost rolled his eyes at it; ghosts flew. Height was no issue.

He turned himself invisible several hundred yards from the gates. He steeled himself and pressed onward, flying easily overtop the buzzing fence.

He was inside the yard. Flying over the parking lot, and straight for the walls of the building. A few guards patrolled, but none saw him. He was invisible, after all.

He winced a little seeing the wall to the building get closer and closer. It was a GIW building; there was sure to be some sort of ghost-proof protection. Willing to try it anyway, he shut his eyes and drove straight into it.

...And passed through. Still invisible, and now intangible, Danny hesitated, floating in the middle of the empty hallway, breathing hard and squeezing his arm around himself a little tighter. White walls surrounded him, stretching on forever. He hovered for a moment.

He was in the GIW headquarters.

His chest tightened more.

He shook himself. Just find Tucker.

He passed through another wall, beginning his search for his best friend.

I'm here, Tuck. I'm coming.

Tucker pulled and jerked at the restraints again, groaning aloud when they didn't budge. He collapsed a little in the chair, mind racing. How long has it been since they left him here? Ten minutes? Twenty? And, a more terrifying thought…

What were the going to do to him when they came back?

He was only sitting there stewing in his own terror for a few minutes after that when he felt the slightest breeze, and someone was suddenly close in front of him.

He screamed a little from the suddenness of it and jerked back in the chair, turning his head away in fear of being hit or stabbed or whatever these people had in mind for him when-

"Tucker!"

That voice was like heaven.

Tucker opened his eyes and jerked his head back around. Sure enough-Danny was hovering in front of him. "Danny!" gasped Tucker. Shock, quickly followed by relief, overflowed his veins. He let out a huge breath as Danny dropped to the ground in front of him. "Oh, my god, you're here, thank god you're here, Danny, you-" He stopped himself quickly as something else settled in his veins and his eyes widened. "-you're here! What-what are you thinking, Danny?" He whipped his head around the small room. "Danny, get out of here! They could be back any minute!"

Danny's eyes were hard. "I'm not leaving without you, Tucker!"

Tucker stared at him for a moment, taken slightly aback. He didn't notice it at first glance, but he could see it clearly now. Danny looked awful. He had an arm wrapped tightly around his stomach, where Tucker knew the disc had hit him last night. He looked even paler than he usually did in ghost form and was hunched forward a little, as if simply standing was a feat. His eyes were exhausted and he just simply looked worn out.

"Dude, are you okay?" asked Tucker.

Danny just huffed out a breath, wrapping his arm around himself a little tighter. "Tucker I don't have time for this, okay? We need to get out of here now!"

And Tucker saw it then-the fear in his eyes. He knew he was a mess. He knew this was a bad idea. But here he was anyway.

Tucker had the best friend in the whole damned world.

"Okay, hurry, they left a while ago and I don't know when they'll be back-" said Tucker as Danny circled the chair he was in. "Oh! Get rid of the remote on that table," he said quickly, gesturing toward the little metal remote on the tray beside him with his head.

Danny picked it up. "This?"

"Yes!" said Tucker breathlessly.

"What does it do?" asked Danny, giving him a dark look.

"Electrocutes the chair," said Tucker reluctantly.

A darker look - an angry, murderous look - passed through Danny's eyes, and he closed his fist over the device and it snapped into a million pieces. Tucker flinched, watching the dust fall, slightly intimidated by the sheer strength. "Uh…" he said. "Thanks."

"The chair," said Danny. "I think this will unlock-" Danny reached for the restraint around Tucker's wrist, but the moment his fingers touched it, static sizzled and he jerked his hand back with a gasp.

"You okay?" asked Tucker quickly.

Danny shook out his burnt fingers. He gave the chair a calculating look. Tucker followed his eyes, and where his gaze ended. There was a small electric box at the side of the chair. Danny gave it a small blast of ectoplasm and it exploded. Tentatively, he reached out to touch the chair, which didn't shock him a second time. He nodded to himself.

He found the unlock switches on the chair easy after that and Tucker jumped out of the chair. "Oh, sweet freedom!"

Tucker looked to Danny, whose eyes were shut and he breathed hard, his arm tight around him again. Tucker felt fear flit through his veins again. "Okay, man, let's get out of here."

Danny nodded. "Great idea." He circled Tucker and grabbed him under his arms and flew up toward the ceiling, turning them both intangible. Until…

They both crashed into the solid ceiling and fell back to the ground, hard. Tucker broke Danny's fall, and the wind was knocked out of him for the second time in two days. He coughed hard. "I'm all for catching you when you fall, man," he wheezed. "But seriously?"

"What the hell-?" Danny sprang back up, stumbling a little, his face twisted in pain. "Agh-" He took a second to collect his breath. He stared up at the ceiling. "Why couldn't I phase through? I was intangible. We both were!"

Tucker swallowed hard.

Danny walked toward the wall, pressing a hand to it. His turned his arm intangible and he pressed against it, but it didn't phase through. He pressed harder. Nothing.

Tucker stood up, his heart beating hard in his head. "Danny, why can't you-"

"I don't know, Tucker!" Danny pressed both hands into the wall, trying again. No difference. "I could phase in; why can't I phase out?"

A different wall. Nothing. The door. Still nothing. He hit the wall in frustration.

"Maybe because they don't mind if ghosts get in," said Tucker in a quiet voice. He and Danny exchanged a dark look.

Danny hit the door again, harder than the first time.

"Danny…" said Tucker in a higher voice, suddenly very afraid.

Danny stood back a few feet, gathering an ectoblast, aiming at the door. Released it. It crashed into the wall and and smoke made them both shut their eyes. As it cleared, they both stared.

Nothing.

Not even a scratch.

Danny stumbled back from it. He ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, my god."

"What do we do?" asked Tucker fearfully.

"I don't know!" exclaimed Danny, releasing another-unsuccessful-blast into the wall. He cursed under his breath. Tucker watched him in silence. He'd never seen Danny so infuriated. So… scared.

And that chilled Tucker to the bone.

Just then, they both heard sets of footsteps from beyond the door. Danny and Tucker looked at each other, sharing the same horror.

The agents were coming back.

Danny stood stock still, and Tucker could nearly see the wheels spinning rapidly in his head.

"Danny, you have to get out of here!" said Tucker desperately.

"I can't!" he hissed. And Tucker could hear the fear in his voice then.

"Then…" Tucker looked around the room. "Then hide!"

"Where?"

There wasn't a closet or even crevice in the room he could hide in. "Uh-uh-" It clicked. "Turn invisible!" Tucker whispered.

Danny nodded. Tucker watched him, but he didn't do anything. What was he waiting for? Tucker gave him a look. "Danny, turn invisible!"

Danny gave him a strange look. "I am!"

Tucker just stared at him. "No, you aren't!"

"What do you mean?" hissed Danny back.

"I mean I can see you!"

Danny looked down at himself and jerked. "Wha-" He stood still for a moment again. Stared at his fingers. "I… I can't." He looked at Tucker, panic in his eyes. "Why can't I?"

Tucker looked around the room. The switch. The lights. "Danny, I think they turned on something that makes them see you even if you're invisible!"

Danny cursed again.

The footsteps were nearly outside the door.

Tucker watched Danny look at it. The fear inside in his eyes. The defeat settling.

An idea hit Tucker instantly.

"Hide in me!" he said desperately.

Danny gave him a crazed look. "What?"

"Overshadow me!" said Tucker quickly. "You can hide in me!"

Danny's face twisted in discomfort. "Tucker, I don't-I couldn't-"

Someone was turning the handle on the door.

"Danny, just do it!" hissed Tucker.

Danny looked from the door and back to Tucker, and with a heavy sigh, said, "I'm sorry about this." He jumped forward, and disappeared into Tucker's chest, knocking him back into the chair just as the door opened.