A/N: Happy New Years everybody! I hope your 2019 is awesome!

Danny walked through the front door of his house at around 8:30 pm, right after going through his evening patrols and stopping over to Tucker's to drop off some fast food. His head held high and a smile on his face he headed inside and dropped his unnecessary coat off in the front closet. It was a lighter night, to Danny's relief. Only a few small beastial ghosts and the box ghost happened to show their heads, which left Danny in good spirits.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!"

"Hi, honey! In the kitchen!"

Danny follows his mother's voice to find her sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop, leftover lasagna sitting next to her. He can faintly hear tinkering coming from the basement door. "Hey mom, have a good day?" He moves behind her and gives her a half-hug, his other hand occupied with the leftover Nasty Burger he planned to have for dinner.

Maddie nods and swallows her bite. "Yes, thanks for asking! We've been doing very well with our research lately, despite the lack of ghosts out and about. Did you have fun with your friends?"

"Yeah, lots of gaming again." He takes a peek at his mom's laptop. "What's this?" He points at the screen and notices his school calendar up.

"Well, your father and I are planning a little trip." She looks up at him. "You and your sister have been doing so well in your studies and we haven't done a big family outing in around a year, so we figured it would be fun!"

Danny bites at the inside of his lip and leans an arm on the back of her chair. "When… um, when were you thinking this would be?" He looks at the school calendar, the closest day off they have is Halloween- shoot, that's this month?- and he knew they couldn't be going then.

"Probably the 10th to the 14th, we'd leave Wednesday night and return Sunday night." She points out the dates on the calendar and swaps to another tab. "We're going to this resort on the coast of Lake Michigan, it has a water park and camping plots, we thought we would leave it up to you and Jazz on which you'd like to do."

"So, water park or camping?" While Danny was leaning towards camping, he didn't look forward to all the work associated with it, after the week he's had, he'd much rather-

Wait wait wait, hold on- pause. He can't leave, not with that ghost targeting Star. He looks at the calendar again. It's the 6th, so he'd only have half a week to figure out this ghost trouble before he vanishes for 5 days.

Definitely not enough time.

"Um, do you think we could maybe just… chill at home instead? Have a few family nights watching movies and stuff? That's… a lot of school to miss, and I'm sure Jazz would-"

"Nope! I knew you and Jazz would probably try to get out of it so I already booked everything except for the attraction tickets, which we'd get at the door. I'm sure you'd be alright if you missed a few days too." She turns around in her chair to face him. "And I know if we schedule 'family nights' you two would disappear to hang out with your friends before we could even make popcorn."

Danny frowns, still trying to think of the perfect excuse to get out of this. He had a town to protect, damn it, and-

Maddie's face turns sullen and she stands up to kiss Danny's forehead, gently ruffling his hair.

"I won't force you to go, but It really would mean a lot to your father and I, Danny. We know we haven't been spending a lot of time with you lately, and we also know that you're at that age where it seems like you're always busy, but it's important to make time for your family every once in a while." She smiles. "And who knows? You might have some fun, too!"

Danny can almost feel- well, maybe he can actually feel the anxiety and sadness coming off of his mom, and the gentle, pleading smile… he could tell that she was really excited about this. It really has been a long time since they've all gone out and done something together, even this summer he was too busy with ghosts and training to do anything besides basic lab work for his parents, and that was only because he wanted some decent cash for more fast food and first aid equipment.

Overall he was without a doubt the cause for his family becoming distant- and the fact that they believed it was them? That just rubbed him the wrong way.

Damn it, he had a family to protect, too.

"Um, the- I'd rather do the water park, I think. It'll be cold out, and we can always visit the beach anyways, right? At night?"

Maddie's eyes light up and she immediately crushes Danny in a hug. "Oh, of course sweetie- to see the stars! The resort is a ways out from any cities so we might even be able to see the milky way! Maybe I can nag your father to pack the big telescope…" she trails off, and then smiles. "I'll go tell your sister, did you already have dinner?"

Danny holds up his fast food bag and drink. "Yep, was just going to get on the computer to do some homework. I'll let Sam and Tuck know about the trip." Danny turns the corner to head upstairs, but doubles back and leans around the wall to readdress his mother.

"Oh, and if Jazz gives you trouble, tell her that I already agreed, that should help convince her. Goodnight!" Danny resumes his path upstairs, leaving his mother somewhat confused at the statement. She shrugs.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

"Danny, this is probably literally the worst time for you to go on a camping trip."

Danny readjusts his headphones and turns down the volume on his computer. "Technically, we're going to a water park. I got to decide." He states, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Either way, we're going to have to figure out what to do. What if the ghost that's targeting you or Star decides to take advantage of the fact that you're either A. All alone with your family or B. Not here with us?"

"See, see, but neither of those will be a problem!" He says, gesturing with his arms." For Amity, Vlad owes me a favor- and I doubt he'll let his city be destroyed by some unnamed ghost anyways. For me, I'll have Jazz and my parents with me. While they might not be fond of Phantom, they'd rip another ghost molecule by molecule before they got within 20 feet of me. I don't have enough pride to not let them have their own kind of fun this weekend with an enemy ghost." He cringes at the double, triple entendre, but shrugs. "If they want to fight my battles with big guns then they can be my guest."

Sam sighs and rolls her eyes, while Tucker asks an additional question. "And… what about your obsession?"

Danny stills and flicks his eyes over to his friend, the smile sliding off of his face.

"Tucker!" Sam hisses.

"What? Someone needs to ask the hard questions. You will to an extent, but nothing about Danny's ghost half."

"It'll be fine," Danny says. "I'll be antsy, but if I just spend some nights outside it should keep me going. I'm not too concerned about it." His wall suddenly becomes very interesting, and he stares at that instead of his computer screen.

Sam hums. "I'm still not sure if this is a good idea."

Danny shrugs. "It's not like I have a choice either way, I already agreed- well, agreed isn't the right word again, my mom kind of trapped me in a corner." He pauses. "Plus, I know you still hate Vlad."

"For pretty valid reasons dude," Tucker stresses. "He kidnapped you. Multiple times!"

Danny scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Not like that doesn't happen often."

"Oh, and don't forget," Sam counts on her fingers. "he cloned you. Then, tortured you. Then, tried to kill your dad." She bangs her fist on her desk. "Damn it, Danny people don't change at the drop of a hat like that!"

"Sam, you-" Danny takes a breath and calms down, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm not rehashing this argument, I thought we were past this. I know you guys don't get it, and that's fine." He leans his head on his hand. "Just- we can use him as a resource, okay?"

The chat goes silent, and Danny takes that as his cue to leave.

"I'm gonna... get some homework done. I'll see you guys Monday. I'll be doing patrols till then alone."

"Danny, don't-"

"Sam, relax. I was planning on this before…" He gestures at the empty air. "this. I'd like to spend as little energy as possible this week and taking you and Tuck along isn't worth the constant intangibility and invisibility. Keep the Fenton Phones on and we- I'll call you if there's any trouble." He doesn't give them a chance to object. "I'll probably just try to chill tomorrow, see ya."

He quickly exits their chat program without hearing their goodbyes and shuts off his computer on muscle memory...

only to groan when he realizes he needs it for his homework. He holds his head in his hands.

"It's going to be a long weekend, isn't it?"

TTTTTTTTTTTTT

"Morning dude. How was patrol?"

Danny stuffs the Fenton thermos into his backpack. "Boring, a few ectopuses and Johnny, but he was just hanging out so I wasn't concerned." He slings it over his shoulder and walks up the stairs into the school, Sam and Tucker following. They head to each of their respective lockers.

"What are we going to do about Autumn?" Sam asks.

"I'm not too sure." Danny spins the lock to his locker again, squinting at it. "Little traitor lock, ugh- Just… keep an eye out and let me know if you see her. Star and I have her in History, but that's like 4th hour." He manages to open it after his third attempt.

"I could get into the school directories to find her class schedule. I can probably get out of our gym class for like half an hour."

"Ugh, I just don't know what to do about this. I feel like we need to do something as soon as possible but…" Danny slams his locker with a little more force than necessary, wincing at the noise. "I don't have the energy for a huge fight, won't for awhile, and something tells me we should try to lay low if we can." He leans his forehead on his locker, staring at the ground. "Look, I… this morning I stopped over at Vlad's, and-"

"Fentonia!"

Danny sighs and stares at the ceiling, shaking his head softly. "Whyyyy does the universe have to curse me so?"

Sam puts a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Don't worry Danny, we can talk about it later." Sam steps around him to stand in front of the approaching Dash. "What do you want, Dashiel?"

He halts in front of her and scowls. "Move it witch. I've got business with Fenton, not you."

"Business, huh? Make me, or can your thick skull not figure out how without slugging me?" She puts her hands on her hips.

"Sam, it's fine." Danny gently taps her shoulder and slides around her. "Surprised you're up this early Dash. Need something?" He looks up at Dash with a tired look in his eyes. While Danny was growing taller, there was no way he was ever going to reach the height of the monster that was Dash Baxter, especially with his characteristic slouch- not that it mattered. Danny and the rest of Team Phantom knew that he could take him with both hands tied behind his back, but that doesn't mean he should blow such a huge part of his cover over getting some petty payback. It's not like his punches actually hurt anything besides his almost nonexistent pride, either.

"Nothing, nothing, we just haven't talked in a while, have we?" Dash throws his arm over Danny's shoulder, the menagerie of football players behind him snickering and whispering.

"Oh?" Danny scans the crowd, seeing a few of the nerds quietly slinking by. Safely slinking by. His mouth twitches. "I hadn't noticed."

"Well, I have. And- you know, I've been feeling like we need to… reconnect more." Danny staggers as he's shoved into the group of waiting jocks who catch him and spin him around to face Dash- who reels back for an intense punch. Danny's jaw tightens and he squeezes his eyes shut, preparing for what's coming.

But he waits for a few seconds... and nothing does. The guys behind him still grip his shoulders just as tightly and he can hear a few hushed whispers, so Danny cracks open an eye to see what's going on.

Only to be winded as Dash punches him right in the diaphragm. Danny coughs a few times, gasping for air he doesn't need while the Jock Squad laughs and shoves him into the lockers. He remains hunched over and leans on the lockers, weakly glaring at Dash as he joins in on the laughter.

"Nice talking with you Fentertainment, it's always a blast!" They turn the corner and stalk off as the warning bell rings, and the crowd that had slowly gathered throughout the confrontation does the same. Once they're out of sight, Danny straightens out and fixes his hair, rolling his eyes.

"Hey dude, you okay? That looked like it hurt." Tucker hands Danny his bag.

"Did it? Good." He shoulders it and sighs. "Honestly Dash's bad acting hurts more. If it was anyone else they'd probably be on the ground, he hit me pretty hard." He rubs his stomach. "We should just get to class, I don't want to get detention today of all days."

"Sure, I'll see you guys in 3rd then?" Sam waves him off as he jogs down the hallway.

"Yep, see you in Gym, Tuck!" He waves back over his shoulder.

"Later!"

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Danny slides through the door to Falluca's class right as he's shutting it, earning a slightly disapproving look from the older teacher.

"Glad you could join us, Daniel. Take a seat." He shuts the door behind him.

Danny mumbles a quick "Sorry, thanks." and hangs his head as he quickly makes his way to his desk, pulling out his finished math worksheet for the day. He takes a moment to beam with pride.

Dang does it feel good to actually have work done.

Mr. Falluca resumes heading around to check homework as Danny feels a quick buzz in his pocket. Glancing back to Falluca (who's begun to reprimand one of the jocks for another late assignment) he pulls his phone out of his pocket and glances at the notification.

Sam Found her, forgot she's in my art class. Doesn't seem too suspicious? Just doing the project.

He quickly opens up the group chat and types out a short response, hiding his hands under his desk.

Danny keep eyes, don't confront

He sends the text and re-stows his phone just in time for Falluca to head over and scrawl a red check on his homework. Danny smiles.

"I see you're doing well Daniel, wonderful work."

"Thanks Mr. Falluca, turns out um, giving some effort really does help."

Danny's smile is returned to him by the older man who walks over to the next student and writes a check on their work as well. "However," He glances back at him. "do try to keep the phone away at least while I'm teaching, hm?"

He smiles and laughs nervously. "Um, yeah... sorry. Won't happen again."

TTTTTTTTTTTTTT

After Bio with Sam, Tucker, and Star, Danny runs to History as fast as possible, hoping to get there before Autumn does. Since Sam followed her to her second-hour class nobody's seen her, and so far their only plan is to just… wait and see what her next move is. Luckily, they were able to spare enough time to talk to Star for a few minutes in Bio to let her in on the plan, (if they could even call it that) so now, it's time to wait and watch.

Danny slips into the History room just as the last student leaves, getting into his seat and pulling out his phone almost immediately. He sends a quick message through their group chat and then scrolls through his social media sites randomly. He reads absolutely none of it, instead listening intently and flicking his eyes up every time a new student walks in the room. His knee bounces incessantly, slightly annoying Mr. Lancer at the front of the room.

"Mr. Fenton, while I'm impressed by your punctuality, I would appreciate it if you got your excess energy out between classes while you have the chance to move about."

Danny looks to Mr. Lancer and stops his fidgeting, setting his phone down on his desk. "Right, sorry. Must've had… too much coffee this morning I guess." He knows that he probably looks like even more of a nervous mess than he usually does, but the fact that he has no idea or control over how this ghost thing is going down concerns the heck out of him. It's also incredibly irritating to have to tiptoe around your own haunt, his brain oh so kindly supplies.

Danny notices more movement out of the corner of his eye. Another student, Star walks into the room. He watches her nervous eyes sweep the almost empty room before falling on him, smiling as she walks to her desk.

She directs a tiny wave towards him and Danny nods, relaxing a little knowing that she made it to class alright. She gives him a wide berth as she crosses the room, and he can feel the unmistakable buzz of the Spectre Deflector behind him as she takes a seat. He resumes his watch on the door, waiting. The hum of electricity, while somewhat unsettling, helps him focus his thoughts.

The rest of the room gradually fills up throughout the rest of the five minutes, and Danny begins to doubt whether Autumn's even going to show up. Mixed feelings shoved aside, he starts to build a new plan for catching her before the warning bell calls and he notices a black dress and long brown hair glide silently into the room.

While most people would believe the action or the person themselves to simply be graceful and reserved, Danny notices the ghostly aura she holds that only another of her kind could see. Anger knits his brows together on impulse, doing his best to hold back the green flash of his eyes threatening to spill over. He can hear Star shift in her seat behind him, likely being able to feel the protective, obsession-driven aura coming off of him in waves.

Shit, dial it back Fenton.

Autumn's eyes lock onto the source of the hostile aura immediately before shifting to Star and widening. Danny's previous thought of restraint flies out the window, his eyes boring right through her in an expression that could only be called intimidating, a very foreign look on Fenton. Autumn's lips press together in a thin line and she halts her progress to her seat, spinning on her heel to instead head towards the front of the room, boldly turning her back to Danny.

"Mr. Lancer, I'm not feeling too well, do you think I could head to the nurse's office?"

Lancer looks up from the papers he's grading to address Autumn. "Of course Miss Viipuri, you do look rather pale. Be sure to get a pass before you return."

Danny stands, that dark expression still dominating his features. Autumn hastily exits the room, passing by a number of confused students, but not without the ghost boy hot on her heels. He falls behind some while navigating around desks and people, but as soon as they're out of earshot of Lancer's room, they break into a run.

I'm not letting you get away that easy.

The game of cat and mouse continues down the almost empty hallways, both of them maintaining a realistic speed while there are still witnesses in the halls. Autumn glances behind her as she flees, red eyes narrowing at her pursuer. She turns corner after corner, searching for something, anything to help escape. Fortunately for Danny, she comes up empty.

Enough of this. He thinks.

He glances around once they head down a dead hallway and after making sure they're alone, carefully reduces his weight to almost fly through the maze that is Casper High. He effortlessly catches up to her with the benefit of his ghost powers, and at this point they've easily made a lap on the first floor. He edges closer, within arms reach.

Autumn glances behind her as she turns another corner and frightens when she realizes how close Danny is to her. She missteps in her surprise, sliding sideways and into a row of lockers with a loud bang. She recovers quickly, but it's not enough to avoid capture. Danny grabs her first by the shoulder and then by the hair, making sure he has a firm grip- earning a sharp cry from his target.

He glances around, hoping that there still weren't any tardy stragglers in the halls to witness his assault. Upon seeing none, he spreads his intangibility between them and drags her down into Casper High's basement, pushing her down to sit on the cold concrete floor and readjusting his hold onto her wrist, even more vicelike than before. His other hand glows a menacing toxic green, mirroring his eyes that look down at her with a cold, deadly stare.

"Alright, you're going to tell me everything now, ghost. Why you've overshadowed Autumn's body, what you want with me, and why you attacked Star, got it?"

The girl below him hisses, but it twists into a snicker, then a sharp laugh. "Bold, speaking to one of your own kind in such a venomous fashion. I'd hold your tongue more often if I were you, fledgling."

Danny grips the wrist he's holding harder, feeling the muscles tense up more beneath his fingers. He holds himself back, remembering that the body and its owner are still the victims here.

"Own kind?" Danny scowls down at the ghost. "I may be part ghost but I'm nothing like you, possessing and attacking innocent people- you're a breed of your own. Leave her and fight me head on, coward."

"Ah I forgot, you are correct, our situations are fundamentally different of course." Red eyes meet green, and a cruel smile decorates her face. "At least I'm possessing living flesh. You're holding onto nothing but a corpse, aren't you?"

Danny's resolve snaps, and his core flares- the mention of his state causing a chain reaction throughout his body. Instinct quickly taking over, his eyes glow white-hot, and he pumps more energy through his palm and into his fist, pointing his hand right at Autumn's head,

only hesitating when he sees an expression of pure fear cross her features, tears frantically spilling down her face from her dark brown eyes.

"P-please- Phantom, help." She whimpers, and the bubbling green energy he holds melts away, dripping to the ground and sizzling out as if it's battery has lost all charge. The drippings leave faint green burns in the concrete, and the smell of acid and coal wafts around them like a noose.

Danny takes in the current scene; the thrumming of energy, the deadly toxic scare, the crushing grip he has on her arm, and, worst of all, the deep dark desire to destroy the ghost that threatened his obsession, regardless of the innocent body he possessed. He clenches his jaw, a memory of who he promised not to be dancing at the back of his mind. Tears begin to prick at the corners of his eyes as well, clouding his vision and causing him to resume breathing- when did he stop?

"Ooh, a weakness I see." The ghost combines a touch of intangibility with a hard yank, successfully pulling their arm out of Danny's grasp and immediately morphing into a dark black smoke. "That's two then, what a treat."

Danny curses the ghost, swiping at the smoke in a feeble attempt to recapture his quarry, succeeding only in collapsing to the floor and pounding a fist onto the solid concrete. It cracks and he scoffs at it, his strength ultimately means nothing to an enemy he can't touch. He can faintly hear the ghost's condescending laughter recede from the halls of the school in a direction he can't place, laughter at his mistake.

He seethes, tears dripping onto the floor and reflecting the green light of his eyes back at him. He takes a moment to stare at his empty hands and curses again- this time, at himself.

He sits up and clenches his fists. "It's just like… fucking Spectra." His voice cracks, his body relaxes, and he stares up at the ceiling while the faint green glow that's been lighting the room slowly dims to darkness.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Danny returns to Lancer's class around 7 minutes into the lecture with his hands in his pockets and a scowl decorating his face. His teacher looks at him and knits his brows together.

"Mr. Fenton, how nice of you to return. Care to explain your disappearance?"

Danny takes a seat and clenches his jaw. He rubs his eyes. "Sorry, not feeling well either." He mumbles. He pulls his backpack into his lap and begins to remove his materials for the class.

Star notices his solemn expression and how he didn't look at her as he walked in, and becomes somewhat concerned. What happened with Autumn? She scans the bits of his body she could see. No bruises, no scuffs- he doesn't look injured… he doesn't even look like he got into a fight.

Did she get away?

Fear worms it's way into Star's mind and her fingertips brush against the belt of the Spectre Deflector beneath her clothes. She glances at her purse that sits on the ground beside her, feeling a sense of security from the items contained within.

I've gotta figure out what's going on during lunch. She takes a breath and attempts to focus on the lecture.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Sam, Tucker, and Danny sit in their usual spot outside. While the two humans regularly struggle against the bite of the cold, it's one of the only spots that they can take without the risk of prying eyes and ears, so they endure.

"Dang man, that sucks. I wonder what she's gonna plan next?"

Danny stays silent and lets the other two talk it out, still frustrated about the whole situation. It's not like he could tell them anymore, anyways. He stares down at his uneaten lunch with a frown.

Sam presses her lips together as she looks at Danny. "There wasn't anything you could do about it. Beating yourself up isn't going to help. If they're really like Spectra, it's exactly what they want, too."

He sighs. "I could have done a lot of things. I could've called you guys, I could've remembered the thermos, I could have not overreacted about their stupid comments." He holds his head in his hands. "I've been doing this too long to be making dumb mistakes like that, and the fact that I lost it over my obsession and a stupid comment?" he scowls. "I hate it."

Sam and Tucker exchange a glance and then look down at their own meals, sullen expressions crossing their features. While they wanted to help their friend, there wasn't much they could do about this situation. It's not like they could identify with anything Danny was going through, and it's not like anything the ghost said was something they could contradict either.

So the best thing that they could do for Danny is simply be there for him and help plan out their next steps once he's ready to move. This isn't something that he'd just want to-

"Hey Danny, you-"

"Star, don't-!"

A loud yelp sounds across the back lawn of Casper High. Thankfully, due to the cold, not many people are outside to hear it. The group stares at a certain ghost boy now on the ground next to their table, still recovering from the intense shock he'd just received. He groans.

The perpetrator clutches her hands to her chest and kneels down next to him. "Danny, oh my god I'm so sorry, I-"

"Don't!" He scoots away from her, gripping his shoulder and rubbing his hair down with tears in his eyes. "I'm glad it's working, but that's literally the worst! Ugh, Tuck why the heck is it that strong!?"

Tucker pulls his beanie over his eyes and shakes his head. "Dang, I had more faith in you Star."

Sam, however, pumps a fist in the air. "Ha, I knew it would happen by Wednesday! Pay up loser!" She holds a hand out towards her seatmate who reluctantly pulls out his wallet.

"You were betting on this?!" Danny cries, looking sufficiently hurt by his two former best friends.

"Sam started it," Tucker says, handing Sam a wad of cash. "You know me, I can't resist. As for the strength question-" he points at Star and raises an eyebrow. "I figured you'd be happier if it was stronger rather than weaker, and where's your shield?"

"I, um…" Star glances at Danny and then at Tucker again, feeling entirely guilty. "My purse is… inside, with Paulina and everyone else. I thought it'd be good if I came over for a second and... figured out what was going on." She looks to Danny. "You looked pretty upset in History, and Autumn never came back."

Danny crosses his legs, apparently content to sit on the ground. "The short answer is she got away. I can't imagine she's going to come back anytime soon though, if she does then I think we have to bite the bullet and let the 'official' ghost hunters know she's probably overshadowed."

Star glances over to the school, nervous about spending too much time away from the A-List. "Didn't we talk about how we wanted to keep this under wraps? How would we even know she was overshadowed if it weren't for her attacking me?"

"I've been thinking about that," Danny says. "and I could probably convince my parents that it's just my suspicion based on what ghost knowledge they've taught me, but…"

Danny trails off, and Sam takes over. "That would be a pretty weak accusation,"

"or bring you under suspicion." Tucker finishes. "Or both. Overall, not amazing choices."

Danny sighs. "Not that we've got much else to choose from." He stares at the blue-grey sky and bites his lip. "Um," He glances between Sam and Tucker and rubs the back of his neck. "If you all like, Vlad's coming over to my place after class to discuss this. You guys can join, to make up some sort of plan for while I'm gone. Um, you included, Star."

"M-me? And who's Vlad?" She thinks for a moment, recognition crossing her face. "Like, Mayor Vlad… Masters?"

Danny nods. "Yeah, he's pretty involved in this stuff too. The one person you haven't met that knows everything about me." He pauses. "Well technically there's one other, but she doesn't come around much."

"So, the Mayor too." She takes a moment to think, realizing that it shouldn't be too surprising based on all of the ghost stuff he's been wanting to implement since he became mayor. "I can probably come over if you think it's a good idea, but I'll be a bit late, Pauly usually drives me home."

Danny nods again. "That's good, since Autumn might try to target you again we need to factor that into things, and you knowing what's going on is just a good idea."

Sam scoffs. "Yeah, and Vlad will probably try to use you as bait or something."

"No, he won't. I won't allow it." Danny draws his brows together at Sam but then looks back to the school. He sighs. "Well Star, you better get back. We'll talk more tonight, um… be prepared to learn a lot."

TTTTTTTTTTTTT

Honestly, if anyone ever told Star she'd be sitting across a table and conversing with the multi-millionaire-probably-billionaire Vladimir Masters she'd probably laugh right in their face. Sure her parents may be well off, but honestly, that's just for Amity Park standards, in the grand scheme of things? Yeah, no.

Add that onto the fact that she's watching that same man argue childishly with a group of teenagers and she'd simply call it slander- but here she was, doing just that. In the kitchen of a half-ghost boy and his ghost-fighting friends, preparing to hatch a plan to capture a rogue ghost that's possessed one of their classmates.

She snickers to herself at the believability of the situation as she takes her seat at the table, it honestly sounded like the plot to an early 2000's kids show. Or maybe she's just trying to cope with what's happened these past few days with laughter. Oh well.

Vlad gestures towards Star. "And that, Daniel, is exactly why we don't need more of your little friends to find out about your little secret. She can't even keep her laughter to herself, how is she going to keep life-threatening information?"

"Hey, you've threatened Danny's life on more than one-"

"Sam! I told you that you guys could be here if you didn't argue, this is getting ridiculous."

"She has a point, dude."

"This is hardly the conversation we need to be having in this circumstance, we have much more pressing matters to attend to."

"Yes Vlad, I get it. Now can we please get back on track here?"

"You mean onto the point where we remove your new addition? I'd be delighted."

"No!"

"Star, would you like a cup of hot cocoa?"

Star's attention snaps from the ongoing argument to the calm voice beside her. Jazz smiles at her warmly, and Star nods.

"Yes please, thank you, um…" she gestures to the group opposite her. "Is this…?"

"Yes, they're always like that." She hands her a warm mug with stars and constellations on it, cute. "And don't worry, there's no way we're kicking you out. Vlad's just trying to protect his own interests by being stubborn- it's usually his first go-to." Jazz takes the seat next to her. "They should stop arguing in a few minutes, then we'll actually make some progress."

Star continues to observe the attitudes of the room's other occupants with decreased interest and decides to gain information from the one sane member of the group.

"I'm… assuming your parents aren't home then." She looks around the house with some intrigue, taking note the modest furnishings and amusingly standard family photos and decor.

Jazz sips from her own mug and the smell of coffee wafts through the air. "Mhm," she swallows. "Vlad sent them off on a ghost thing in Elmerton, that's probably all I can tell you without his permission. They won't be back until late tonight, possibly even tomorrow. Good news for us."

"Without his permission? Is he hiding something too?" Star leans back in her chair. "Seems everybody is nowadays."

Jazz nods. "That's actually what started this argument, Danny wants him to tell you but Vlad's been refusing. Ultimately I don't think it matters much, you'll figure it out sooner or later." She sets her mug on the table and crosses her arms. Star takes another sip of her own.

"What, is he half-ghost too? Honestly, at this point, I wouldn't even be surprised."

The ever ensuing argument across the table suddenly halts, and everyone gapes at her, including Mayor Masters. Star glances around, tilting her head nervously.

"Um… did I get it?"

Danny points a finger at Vlad and laughs. "Ha! Seems she figured it out on her own, huh V-man?"

Vlad glares at Danny, eyes momentarily flashing red. "Oh butter biscuits, just because she guesses it doesn't mean you tell her, you insolent brat!" He crosses his legs and throws up his arms, leaning back in his chair. "No wonder everyone and their mother knows you're a half-breed!"

Tucker cringes. "Hey man, don't say it like that, it makes it sound weird."

"I refuse to use your silly 'Halfa' terminology, it's childish and unscientific." He crosses his arms as well and turns away, shaking his head.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," Danny leans forward on the table and rests his chin on his fist. "can we please focus on the real issue?"

Vlad scowls but agrees. "So, it seems there's a new ghost on the loose now." He glances at Star. "A dangerous one at that. And you managed to catch the attention of them somehow." He raises an eyebrow at her.

She fidgets a little in her seat. "It seems like… they didn't like me getting close to Danny- Like they didn't want me finding out he's half-ghost." She curls her mug closer to her mouth, pressing the warmth to her top lip. "They tried to kill me." She whispers.

"Yes, I heard the details from young Daniel already." He taps his fingers on the table. "It seems you're lucky to be alive young lady."

"My question is how long this ghost has been around." Danny says. "They can freely move about and not trigger my ghost sense, which is weird, and we don't know what their goal is or why they've overshadowed Autumn, either."

Tucker rests his forehead on the table and groans. "So, we don't know anything is what you're saying."

"Well, first of all, it's already known that your ghost sense isn't the most reliable detector, so using that as your metric is silly." Vlad removes a small notepad from his inner breast pocket. "Second of all, we know that their goal has something to do with Daniel and Daniel specifically, and it likely pertains to his hybrid status." He flips through it, stopping at one page. "I've also done some research on the girl you've claimed they've overshadowed, and I believe I have a good estimation of the why, but not the how."

"Autumn Lei Viipuri, 17 years old, female." He reads. "Only child of the late Camilla and Robert Samsen."

"Late… so they're-" Sam frowns.

"Dead, yes." he interrupts.

"The last names are different though." Danny points out. "Did she take her mother's name?"

"Yes," Vlad replies. "Seems she changed it at 16. Apparently, she claimed that she was closer to her mother's heritage and that it had meant something to her. We don't have any information about how her father felt about this, but the likelihood is that he wasn't pleased."

Tucker shakes his head. "I can imagine, but is there any actual evidence? Maybe he let her."

Vlad hesitates, knitting his brows together.

"Vlad, start from the beginning, we're gonna get everything mixed up otherwise." Danny looks at him. "We might still be in high school, but we're not kids. Just tell it straight."

Vlad glances at each one of them and then sighs. "It's not exactly easy to say these things to anyone you know." He resumes his reading. "The Samsen household was rather volatile to begin with when they were both alive, a number of calls for domestic disturbances and the like, and the father even had to go to court for a domestic abuse charge, but in the end, nothing came of it but fines and warnings. Ultimately meaningless."

"Then," He continues, "when Miss Autumn reached 15, her mother committed suicide in her own home. The father was the one who called it in."

He pauses, letting the information sink in. Sam crosses her arms and mumbles.

"Bullshit, everything about this is fishy to me."

Star sets her mug down. "What happened to the dad?"

Vlad sighs again. "According to records, he also committed suicide less than a year ago, after she changed her name. Since then the girl's been put under the care of a Karen Dario, but she lives in another state and has been unreachable for months. The only contact she's ever had with the girl is her coming to court and procuring an apartment and government assistance for her. The whole situation is… messy to put it lightly. From what I know her apartment is in Elmerton, but I wasn't able to get the exact address due to it being out of my jurisdiction and her minor status."

Danny speaks up this time, frustration apparent in his voice. "It was so perfect for that ghost." He scowls. "They were just looking for an easy target to take advantage of." He glances at Star, realizing he should probably explain. "The more emotionally troubled, unstable, or distressed a person is, the easier it is to have full or partial control of both their mind and body. For ghosts with more powerful cores, I- this doesn't matter much."

"Young Daniel and I can overtake most humans without much trouble unless they have a strong will." Vlad shrugs. "Even then we'd just have to exert a small amount of power to maintain control. For weaker ghosts, however, this isn't the case. They grow tired after long periods of time and often get pushed out within hours. If the victim fights back it's even more difficult." He holds his chin for a moment and thinks. "It could also explain how they evaded his ghost sense as well. While I do make fun of Daniel's lack of reliability in the past, at this point you're able to detect an overshadowed victim rather easily, can you not?"

Danny nods. "Yeah, I was actually just thinking I was um… getting rusty." He rubs the back of his neck. "That makes more sense. This ghost is just weak."

"Not that it matters, she's probably ran by now," Tucker ventures. "She wasn't in my 8th-hour study."

"She'd be stupid to come back now that he's figured her out. She was probably relying on her 'camoflauge' up until now to get by." Sam says. "If it was an all-out fight, Danny would win hands-down."

"If that's the case then they wouldn't have gotten away now, would they?" Vlad counters. Sam snaps a glare his way and frowns. "This ghost clearly prefers manipulative tactics rather than combat, they likely wouldn't allow a fight. And you-" He squints at Danny. "Are in no condition to fight anyone right now. I can barely feel your core! As you are now you'd likely struggle against Skulker of all ghosts, and we've no idea about the abilities or allies of this one, you could get yourself killed a second time."

Danny opens his mouth as if he wants to retort, but closes it just as quickly. He makes it a point to stare holes through the table instead, accepting the statement.

"While it might deeply wound you to admit it, all five of you know I'm correct. It's pure good fortune your parents are taking you traveling this weekend, you'll have some time to recuperate- I can even send you some… provisions as well."

Danny's head snaps up to stare daggers at Vlad instead, who simply shrugs and stands.

"Just an offer, little badger." He brushes off his suit coat. "While you're gone I'll try to gather more information about this girl, perhaps we can find out how she got into contact with this malevolent ghost. In the meantime," He directs his attention to the humans in the room. "I'd like the four of you to keep an eye out for her as well and let me know if she ever shows. The ghost could possibly jump to another victim, but it's worth a shot to get some answers out of Miss Autumn anyways." He walks out of the kitchen and towards the front door, and Danny gets up and follows him out.

"So you just… what, expect us to sit and do nothing?"

"I expect you to follow my advice, Daniel. I mean really, is it that hard to listen to me for once in your life?" He pinches his brow in frustration. "I mean goodness, I can expect your little friends to go off and act on their own prerogative in spite of me, but I would hope by this time you've at least figured out that our interests are aligned."

"Some. Some of our interests are aligned, not all of them." Danny pauses and sighs, running a hand through his hair. "We'll… I'll try to lay low for now, but if I catch wind of someone- anyone getting hurt then I'm flying out of here at Mach 5 and there isn't anything you can do to stop me."

"I wouldn't assume anything else," He smiles. "but be prepared for me to show up and save you from whatever inevitability you've gotten yourself tangled up in."

"Like I've done loads of times for you? You don't exactly repel trouble either, Plasmius."

"Ha!" Vlad opens the door and steps out into the cold, his limo pulling up within seconds. "Little badger, I've far passed that count by now. At this rate, you'll be signing up for a year-long internship at my office by the end of the semester." He waves and lets Danny catch the door as his chauffeur greets him. "I'm looking forward to it!" Is the last thing he hears before the limo drives away, Danny left shaking his head in the doorway.

A/N: A longer chapter to ring in the new year! This one was super hard to write and transition, I spent forever proofreading it. I am still in need of a Beta if anyone's interested!

Oh, and a friend actually told me that the way I number chapters is misleading, so I'm debating on changing it to a proper standard numbering to make things more clear. The (Ch 2) thing is simply a continuation from the theme from the last chapter, everything is still very connected. If you skip those chapters, you might be a bit confused come the next one. Sorry about that! Let me know if you think a different numbering system would make more sense.