Author's note: My painkiller of choice is ibuprofen since it's the only one that actually works for me. Acetaminophen does nothing for me, and it seems to run in my family since my siblings have said the same. I've been going through a phase of headaches lately, and every time I take a dose of ibuprofen, I'm reminded of this story and wonder if my pain is real or imagined?

(after being) Disparaged

In their bedroom, Maddie closed the door and faced Jack.

"So…is it what you were thinking?" asked Jack in a low voice.

Danny was downstairs with Jazz. Maddie knew she could trust Jazz to keep an eye on him until she and Jack were ready to talk to him together. She leaned against the closed door with her arms folded against her. "Yes," she confirmed. "He admitted that he snuck out to see Sam to get narcotics."

"Do you know how it started? Or if he's doing anything more than that?"

"I didn't pry too much. I didn't want to overwhelm him. But I don't think he's been taking painkillers to get a high. I think he really thinks he's in pain and needs them." Maddie moved to the bed and sat down. "I think there might be a lot more to it, something psychological, anxiety or depression." She put her head in her hands.

Jack sat next to her and put a hand on her back. "Maddie?"

"I just don't know how I missed this." Maddie shook her head. "No. I didn't miss it. I just ignored it. His teachers have sent so many e-mails, and he's been so withdrawn and secretive since he started high school. But I kept telling myself he was fine, normal." She stared at the floor. "I guess I just thought that if I ignored it, it wouldn't be true, that it would just fix itself."

Jack pulled her close to him so that her head was against his chest. "I'm just as much at fault," he said while stroking her hair. "I didn't want to believe there was anything wrong with him either."

Maddie focused on the feeling of his embrace, how good it felt to have him hold her so tightly.

"I'm really sorry," said Jack quietly. "I'm sorry I didn't take Danny's strange behavior these past few days as seriously as you did. I wasn't any help to you."

Maddie sighed. "Well, at least I've figured it out now. Now, we can focus on getting him help. We're going to have to do some research, figure out if there's a program we should put him in or if it'd be better to just have him meet with a therapist every week."

"Someone who specializes in substance abuse issues in teens?"

"Actually, I was thinking of something more than that, someone who specializes in anxiety and depression, too. What is it called, cognitive behavioral therapy?"

"We'll need to see what our insurance will cover."

"No, I don't want to claim this on insurance," said Maddie firmly. "He doesn't need that on his record. We can afford to pay for it out of pocket."

"That's true, we can."

"Yeah, I mean, if we can afford to spend so much on our inventions and research…" Maddie chewed the inside of her cheek. "We can certainly afford to get our son help without tarnishing his record."

Jack squeezed her. "Of course we can."

"And we'll probably want to go through his phone messages, e-mails, make sure he's not getting anything from anyone else either."

"Are we still going to give him his phone and computer back Thursday when he's no longer grounded?"

"I'm not sure about that. We might need to consult with someone about the best way to handle that because I honestly have no idea."

"And what about Sam? She's one of his best friends, but we can't have her help him get drugs anymore."

Maddie groaned. "I'm going to have to call Pam. I am not looking forward to that conversation. She already has such a low opinion of us. And Danny."

"It doesn't matter what she thinks of Danny," said Jack. "She has her own child to worry about. You and I will take care of ours." He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away just a little so that he could look into her eyes. "He's going to be okay."

They stood and moved to their closed bedroom door. Jack's arm was around Maddie as they just breathed together.

"Ready?" asked Maddie.

Jack nodded and opened their door.

-DP-

Danny sat on his bed in his room. In the dark, blinds closed so that not even moonlight could get in, finally alone. He still had to keep his door open, but this solitude was so much better than the constant supervision and invasion of privacy he had had to endure ever since he returned from the canyon with Maddie.

His parents had searched his entire room, had confiscated anything that they didn't want him having. His ghost-related items were still secretly stored in his wall, but he had managed to silently float up to his room while his parents conversed privately (although he was supposed to stay downstairs where Jazz was supposed to keep an eye on him) and at least put his stored narcotics somewhere they could easily be reached. He had already confessed to having them, so it would be better to just let them be found.

Of course, he didn't hand over all of his narcotics. He had to keep some, right? In his line of work, injuries were certainly not uncommon.

For the remainder of the day, it was nothing but talking and questions and treatment plans and concerns and silent nodding and letting them say and do whatever they wanted because he had to give up this control. If he wanted to keep his real secret concealed, then he had to just accept this turn of events. They kept him in their sight at all times, exchanged glances that they thought he wouldn't notice but of course he noticed everything. He knew what they were thinking, that he was something to be pitied, a poor wayward teen who needed help, a mentally ill addict who felt he had to turn to drugs to fix his problems and so needed to be assured that there were other healthier ways to deal with his problems, really!

He had managed to break away from all of that attention for a moment, a half hour of blissful isolation. He had already showered that morning, but his parents graciously allowed him to shower again at his request just so he could get away from them.

In that small block of time he had to himself, he had never cried so hard in his life.

But now, finally alone again in the darkness of his room, there were no tears or even any feelings at all. He felt empty, so drained and exhausted from the events of the day that there was nothing left for him to feel anymore.

So much better.

A soft knock against his door. Danny looked up in dread, fearing that he would see his mother.

"Can I talk to you, Danny?" asked Jazz in a whisper. "Mom and Dad are both in their room."

Danny stood and moved to his window. He opened his blinds so that he could survey the part of the town he could see from there. "I'm glad you're here, actually. I need you to tell Sam and Tucker about what happened today since I won't be seeing them until Monday. Sam especially needs to know. Tell her that I'm really sorry for getting her in trouble like this. I don't know when Mom plans on calling her parents, but I just want her to know ahead of time so she can be prepared."

"Uh, okay—"

"I also need you to tell them to let you know if there are any ghost threats I need to take care of. Tell Tucker to hack into Vlad's security cameras he has set up around the town."

"Ah, wait—"

"Tell them that I'll only go out and take care of ghosts that pose a real threat. I won't resume my normal patrol until Thursday when I'm no longer grounded."

"Danny, wait—"

"Until then, I'm going to work on mastering duplicating myself." Business as usual. Danny didn't even look at Jazz as he spoke. "Maybe I'll be able to do it well enough by Thursday, but if not, the Ghost Catcher will have to do. I mean, splitting myself in half is not ideal, but I can't let Mom and Dad catch me out of my room again."

"Danny!" hissed Jazz. She was right behind him now, but Danny still faced away from her as he stared out his window. "Are you really going to go on keeping this a secret from them? From Mom?"

"Oh, right," said Danny evenly. "Tell Sam and Tucker that I changed my mind and decided not to tell her after all."

"So you were going to tell her?"

"I was. Not anymore."

"Why not?"

"I've just changed my mind. I think it's better for her to not know."

"How can it possibly be better for her to not know? You really think she's just going to leave it at you having a drug problem? You don't think she's going to try to figure out what underlying problem caused this dependency on painkillers in the first place?"

"I'll come up with something. I'll just say I've been really depressed which has given me a lot of headaches. Or that I read somewhere that painkillers can help with depression. Whatever she'll believe."

"She's going to put you through treatment that won't even be tackling the real issue. It won't help you at all, not when you're going to be lying about what's really brought you to this point."

"This point? What are you talking about?" Danny finally turned his head to look back at her. "I don't need help. I don't need treatment. I'm just going to do this to get her off my back, to keep my real secret hidden."

"But why do you still want to keep it secret from her?"

"Because she doesn't deserve to know, Jazz!" snapped Danny. He turned and faced her squarely, her face visible just barely in the cold light from outside. "She thinks of me as an imitation that has no real feelings and that I'm just out protecting the town because I'm some narcissist who wants adoration and approval."

"Did she say that?"

"Yes." Danny's tone darkened. "And she wants nothing more than to strap me down and cut me open no matter how much I scream for her to stop. Because any pain I might feel wouldn't be real."

"But she wouldn't see you that way if she just knew—"

"What kind of excuse is that?" spat Danny. "Why can't she see that I'm still a person even if I am a ghost? Why does she have to know that I'm her son first to see that?" He paused, shut his eyes, opened them again. "If a great genius ghost researcher like her can't even see that Phantom is just as real a person as her own son, then she doesn't deserve to know."

"You can try to rationalize it however you want." Jazz's voice shook as she spoke. "But I know that you're just grasping for an excuse to not tell her. Because you're still afraid of her."

Danny made no reply, only looked at her with lidded eyes.

"But you can't keep doing this to yourself. Even if you lie and somehow manage to fool Mom into thinking that there really is nothing more to what's been going on, you will still always be afraid of her." Jazz choked on a sob. "And you'll keep being afraid of her unless you tell her. Is that really what you want, Danny? Do you want to be afraid of your own mother for the rest of your life?"

"Wow, that's such an exaggeration. The rest of my life, really?"

"Don't avoid my question. If you don't tell her, you'll never have a good relationship with her again."

"So the burden of fixing our relationship is all on me? Are you saying it's my fault that we're at this point?" He raised his hands and looked up briefly. "I mean, maybe you're right. Maybe it is all my fault. I shouldn't have entered our ghost portal. I should've told her right away when it happened. Maybe none of this would've happened. Maybe she would've been able to help me out."

Jazz swallowed and waited for him to continue.

"But what's done is done. I have to accept the consequences for the choices I've made." He looked down. "And if that means that I'll never feel safe around her again, then so be it."

"I don't agree. I can't support that," said Jazz bluntly. "Don't you see how much this is hurting you, Danny?"

"You're right. This hurt me." Danny's voice broke. "This destroyed me in ways that I didn't even know I was vulnerable." He looked at her with fierce focus. "But that doesn't mean I'm broken."

Frustrated tears streamed down Jazz's face. "Why do you insist on carrying on like this? Why do you keep doing this to yourself?"

"Because I'm not some delicate little lamb, Jazz," yelled Danny as loud as he dared. "I'm not some injured lost puppy that needs to be sheltered and coddled." He stared her down. "I'm not nearly as fragile as you seem to think I am."

"I didn't say you were—"

"I have taken on so many enemies, have fought and won so many battles that I've lost count. I survived a shock from our ghost portal, a shock that would've killed anyone else." He pointed to himself. "But I survived it. Because I'm not weak."

"I'm not saying you're weak," pleaded Jazz. "I can just see that you're struggling with this so much, and if you keep ignoring it and suppressing it like this—"

"Oh, you can see that, huh? And you think you know exactly what will fix all of my problems, huh?"

"Well, I mean, I've studied up a lot, you know—"

"You think you know me just because you've read some psychology books?" Danny scoffed. "You know nothing about me, Jazz. You don't know what it's like to be me or to what extent this has affected me. Please stop insulting me by insisting that you do."

Jazz gritted her teeth. "I'm not going to let you keep doing this to yourself. If you won't tell her, then I'll—"

"Jazz, I swear that if you tell her, I will never trust you again," said Danny in a low, serious voice. "I will never forgive you."

Jazz made no reply, only looked at him with eyes shining with tears.

"This is not your secret to tell, not your decision to make." Danny crossed his arms and glared at her. "Don't make me regret you discovering my secret anymore than I already do."

Her expression. So crestfallen and wounded.

He looked away and back out his window, unable to see her pained expression a moment longer. "Will you give those messages to Tucker and Sam for me?"

Danny heard her leave the room. He put his forehead against his window and breathed deeply, clutched at his sill until his knuckles turned white. He hated doing that to his sister, one of the few in his life who sincerely cared about him. He knew he had hurt her, but he also knew that hurting her was the only way he could get her to respect his wishes, the only way he could protect himself.

He glanced out his door. No one was there. He would have to listen carefully so that he could detect his mother coming down the hall.

But he had to do this, something he hadn't done since that night.

He focused and willed his molecules to change, felt their mortal and biological properties infuse with something not of this world. He looked down at his now gloved and glowing hands, ethereal wisps of ectoplasmic light pulsating around and within him.

His thought processes were already being taken over by his spectral neural oscillations, brainwaves that carried and transmitted messages of self-preservation. He had to figure out a way to continue protecting the town without telling his mother the truth. He had to figure out how to duplicate himself. He held out his hand and targeted its individual cells, mentally commanded them to split and replicate.

Not something a normal human could do. Certainly not.

But that didn't mean he was an imitation. That didn't mean that what he was feeling was artificial.

Could she ever believe that? Or would she always ignore his cries of pain?

-DP-

Maddie groggily checked the time on her bedside clock. Past three in the morning.

She should just go back to sleep.

She should, but…

She couldn't stop thinking about him.

No, not her son. Not this time.

Phantom.

Maddie closed her eyes. She still remembered so vividly the way his clasped hands shook on the back of his head, the sleek lines of his developing physique as he knelt with his back to her, the radiance of his eyes as he stared straight ahead with submissive solemnity, and the feel of his hair in her grasp, like snatching the fibers of the frostiest wind.

Now that she had finally solved the mystery of what was ailing her son, she could return to her ghost-related work and research. Perhaps not at the same capacity as before, not until Danny made some good progress with his treatment and recovery, but she could at least give it some focus again.

In particular, she wanted to focus on her most wanted ghost.

She couldn't sleep. Thoughts of him woke her completely, aroused her to a state of excitement that she simply had to rub out.

She climbed off of her bed, didn't bother trying to be quiet because Jack was far too heavy a sleeper anyway. She moved down the hall, glanced into Danny's room real quick to make sure he was still there.

He was there, sleeping, his handsome face faintly visible.

Safe at home.

Maddie smiled at the sight before moving on, down the stairs, down to their basement lab. She pulled out all of her notes on Phantom, photos and articles, anything and everything she had that pertained to the ghostly vigilante of Amity Park. She was going to find him. She was going to capture him. She was going to make him hers.

Next time, he wouldn't get away.

But she was going to have to be smarter next time. She had been fortunate to catch him by surprise before, but she couldn't rely on ever getting that lucky again. She had to study him more, had to go out more often at night and search for him.

And she had to be completely ready and focused. She had to be sure that all of her equipment was up to the task of this hunt.

She looked over her guns, her snares, her containment devices, her—

Maddie frowned as she looked at the vials containing her unique concoction, her powerful solution that prevented ghostly molecules from changing. Next to them were vials containing the reversing agent.

Except…

One of the vials that contained the cancelling agent was missing.

Puzzled, Maddie went through her notes just to make sure. Yes, she had carefully measured out a certain volume of each liquid, and she had definitely filled one more vial than what she was seeing here.

She put a loose fist to her mouth in thought. She looked around the room, her eyes falling on the ghost portal.

Phantom knew where they lived…

Phantom had experienced the effects of her molecule-halting solution before and would perhaps want a way to reverse it quickly if he were to ever be injected again…

Could he have come in and stolen this antidote from her? What other explanation could there be? She certainly hadn't done anything with it, and no one else in her family would have any reason to take it.

Maddie smiled despite herself. Phantom made for such a good chase. It was this sort of behavior that made him all the more alluring to her.

Making him her prisoner would be the ultimate pleasure.