Ghost portals were fickle things.

Especially the wild ones - the natural portals.

You never knew when you might accidentally step through one, and find yourself transported through space and time .

Danny blinked, mouth open to respond to something Tucker had just said, when a wash of green sizzled around him, and he twitched in an instinctual response to missing a step.

It didn't take him long to realize when he had ended up - the clothing style of this era was eye-catching, and the slang he heard was pretty recognizable. It also helped that he knew this place. This university, where his parents and Vlad had created their first proto-portal, and Vlad had his own accident.

Which, considering the fact it had been a natural portal that dumped him here, he really wasn't pleased about.

Danny looked around, confirmed that his friends hadn't been transported along with him, and promptly turned invisible.

There were only three people in this time that he would trust to try and send him back to the Ghost Zone - once inside, it would be an easy enough matter to find Clockwork's castle and get shoved back to his own timeline.

First, he needed to find his parents.

And maybe Vlad.

The midday sun was a lovely warmth against his back, sliding friendly heat across his body to contrast the cold winds blowing in from sorta northwest-ish (if he had estimated the time of day correctly.). Winter would be here soon, the winds whispered. His icy core hummed in quiet happiness at the general temperature, relaxing a few degrees in its constant struggle to keep him cold enough to function.

He wondered if it was only his human half that enjoyed the sun and warmth, or if it was a universal enjoyment. Could ghosts absorb sunlight? Normal ones, not just plant-based ghosts. Maybe if Technus hooked up to some solar panels...

Regardless, it had been a long, pleasantly cold morning as he circled the University grounds, eyes scanning for familiar faces - and hairstyles. Hours passed in gentle flight, the alarmed worrying had faded to a quiet anxiety about his situation. There wasn't much that could be done until he found the people he was looking for, so there wasn't much use in freaking out constantly.

When the campus clock struck 2 pm, he wondered if he should grab a bite to eat.

When the clock struck 8 pm, even his ghost side's stomach was gurgling unhappily at him. Well, it didn't have a stomach per se, but it still required sustenance of sorts. Danny found the building labeled 'Library' and sank down, half-heartedly maintaining his invisibility.

Danny settled down near a study group, carefully positioning himself near a window, in case someone noticed a chill. The mild anxiety the lot of them were putting off would be enough for a while. It was… an odd sensation, feeding on someone's emotions. Too bad it wasn't exam week - the library would have been a buffet. Danny would need to properly eat eventually, but his body was put into enough of a stasis while in ghost form that it wasn't an urgent requirement

He closed his eyes, turning over the map he had been building of the campus in his head. Wandering and looking randomly wasn't getting him anywhere. He should figure out where his parents had been building the portal - one of the science labs, probably. Wherever that was.

Yeah, he needed a better plan.

It was a mixture of sheer luck and a random epiphany that he ended up skimming through the University phone book, searching for certain names. They were organized by Hall, apparently, so he had to alphabetically go through every single stupid- There!

Danny flicked his tail in delight, tapping his finger against the name and sliding sideways to find his…. Major. No room number. Crap.

It was Carlisle hall, though. He knew where that was, at least. He'd passed the stupid L-shaped building at least three times.

Danny shushed his stomach, wondering how immoral it would be to steal food in another timeline. Minor emotions just weren't doing it for him. Hm... What if it was just stealing from the cafeteria? Surely there were students who overate, not like they'd notice the difference. No, maybe later. He had a quest, and a lead!

In Carslile, he just had to stick his head behind the front desk, skimming over mailboxes until he found the right name and room number. Whoop~ There we go! Off to the third floor!

The door in front of him had a bland notebook-paper sign taped to the front, with 'Vlad Masters' penned neatly in slanted letters. Danny's mind raced with the possabilities before him. Should he knock? How far were they in the portal building?

He took a breath (and realized as he was doing it, that he really didn't need to breathe) and just phased through the stupid door.

Danny looked around the room, noting the complete lack of posters, colorful bedding, or extra furniture. Just the plain university-provided bunk, a hamper with some dirty clothes, and a desk full of books and papers.

"Geeze, you're boring."

Someone groaned from the bed, springs squeaking as they shifted and a person moved to peer bleary-eyed up at him.

Oh lord, he had totally forgotten Vlad had a mullet. Ha!

Danny met his eyes, and gave a little jaunty wave.

"Yo."

His stomach decided it was time to growl. Dark blue eyes glanced down at his torso, then back up to his face.

Well, it didn't hurt to try.

"You got any snacks?"

A small nod, and a gesture toward the tall dresser pressed up against the wall.

"Sweet, thanks."

Vlad stared at him, but didn't try to stop Danny from rummaging through his snack drawer. Every once in awhile he would pull a bag or box out of the drawer, phasing a hand through the packaging and pulling out a single chip or candy to try. It may have been the dead of night, but his own glow was good enough to see by, and there was no point in breaking the seal.

"You're... a ghost?"

Danny nodded agreeably, to the sleep-rasped whisper, taking curious nibbles off the foreign snacks, bright eyes flaring in interest when he found a flavor he had never encountered before.

He flipped the bag over, blinking curiously at the lack of an ingredients list. Ah, no, there was a list, but the familiar black and white table of health facts was completely absent. Maybe it wasn't required by law yet?

He shoved another chip in his mouth. The taste burst strangely over his tongue, interacting oddly with the ectoplasm in his saliva and making a delightful bloom of sweet-tart before fading into a creamy sort of saltiness. He stared vaguely into the middle distance, contemplating the odd flavor.

What did they make chips out of back then? Back-now? He could feel the solids disintegrating somewhere in his chest region, and the supplimenting food perked his energy back up a little.

Or maybe it was just the sugar.

"What do you want from me?"

He glanced up at the quiet, strangled voice, blinking when Vlad hunched his shoulders, pressing back into his pillow.

…..

Oh?

Oh!

He didn't have any real experiences with ghosts, did he? The young man lying over there with mussed hair and trembling fingers wasn't a half ghost - hell, he didn't even know who Danny was, just that some glowing guy walked through the wall, woke him up, and started stealing his snacks.

Poor guy.

"My name is Danny." he offered, trying to be helpful. He could feel the anxious twang of fear in the air, and peeked back into the drawer. Maybe he could offer the guy a snack, and he'd calm down? He hadn't really prepared for meeting like this, he'd just impulsively waltzed in. It seemed to be biting him in the butt.

Sensitive hearing picked up the rustle of blankets, and Danny glanced up to see Vlad crouched awkwardly, half out of bed.

Danny blinked at him, watching with a puzzled expression as Vlad slowly resumed moving. He slid out of his blankets and edged toward the door, always facing Danny and kinda fumbling sideways along the wall. Wide blue eyes darted to the only exit, then back to him.

"Running away won't do much good, you know.'"

He had meant it as an innocent comment, but from the rapidly paling cheeks, Vlad probably took it very badly. It was weird seeing the young man so vulnerable-looking.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to explain himself.

"Hey, that wasn't a threat."

Danny put the chips down, humming a tone to himself in thought. His tail split apart and solidified into two legs, and he sat himself on Vlad's surprisingly uncomfortable desk chair, some old memory telling him that people felt less threatened when the other person was lower than them.

Vlad still edged toward the door, only freezing in place when Danny was looking directly at him.

"Where are you trying to go, anyway? Do you have the numbers for the Ghostbusters or something?" He smiled, trying to crack a joke. Vlad just looked terrified.

Danny felt his smile slip.

This wasn't going at all how he had not-planned.

He watched with idle curiosity as Vlad unlocked and rushed out of the door, bare feet slapping against the thinly carpeted hallway.

Hm.

"So this is where you ran off to."

He felt more than he saw, Vlad jump in place, body shuddering as he shied sideways to stare at the point where his voice came from.

There was nothing there, of course. Danny wasn't dumb enough to suddenly pop into invisibility in the middle of a brightly lit classroom. Instead, he stole a nearby student's pencil and started doodling at the edges of Vlad's notebook, little smiley faces and absent swirls.

It had taken all of thirty seconds to find the class list taped helpfully to his wall, times and locations underlined for a new semester. It was a peace of cake after that, to wait out the night in the Business college, poking around in teacher's offices and napping on uncomfortable furniture to pass the time.

Vlad sat stiffly beside him for a long while, staring in muted horror at the designs appearing beside his notes. He should chill, he was making the drawings cute on purpose. Look, a lil ghost saying 'boo!' and a cute lil frog. A half-hearted attempt at re-creating the chip company's mascot badger.

"What do you want from me?"

Danny paused at the hoarse whisper, humming to himself and invisibly watching the side of Vlad's face.

"I want to go home. I landed here by accident, and you're the best lead I have."

"I don't even know anything about ghosts!" Vlad protested.

Danny drew a small sadface, before tapping the eraser against the desk a few times, thinking.

"You know a guy named Jack Fenton?"

He paused.

"If you don't I could help you find him."

By the time class let out, Vlad still didn't seem comfortable, but he did seem less jumpy. Danny counted that as a win.

He trailed after the taller man, invisible and intangible - just a cold presence hanging around. Apparently Vlad had NOT heard of Jack Fenton.

Apparently he was a freshman in college and hadn't really made many friends yet.

That explained the bare room.

Not really, that was just sad. Bare cinder-block walls were depressing.

But if he hadn't met Jack, then they definitely hadn't started building the proto portal yet - which meant he was a long way from being able to get home like that.

Danny sighed forlornly, trailing in Vlad's shadow and resigning himself to looking up his dad's name anyway, as soon as they got back to the dorm.

Somewhere, a clock chimed noon.

Danny wondered how many fries he could steal before Vlad realized they were disappearing faster than they should off his plate.

By the end of lunch, he was disappointed.

Either Vlad didn't notice, or he did and just didn't react.

Boo.

Like, in a negative boo-ing sort of way, not like a ghostly boo!

It was a dumb word anyway.

Boo~

The larger boy (and Jack really did look like a boy, instead of a man. There was something about the optimistic, almost naive face he showed the world) had been tickled pink to be approached by someone who was interested in ghosts. Jack had ushered Vlad (and, unknowingly, Danny) into his dorm before closing the door and plopping down in a sturdy chair covered by a clearly hand-knitted afghan.

Similar colored yarn and a glint of a long needle poked out from under his bed.

"So what can I help you with, Vlad, was it?"

Danny watched his future-enemy nod solemnly, taking a breath to settle his nerves.

"I'm being haunted."

Jack practically lit up.

"Are you really!? What kind of signs have you been getting! Is there a cold spot in your room? Have you purchased anything old recently? Have you gotten any messages or signs from the spirit?

Vlad hunched his shoulders under the onslaught of questions, glancing sideways toward the constant cold spot pressed against his shoulder.

"He says he wants to go home. Cold, yes, and he doodles in my notebook during class."

Jack quieted a little. His brows furrowed slightly, and the smile slipped a little.

Almost like he didn't expect such an agreeable answer, and he was a bit suspicious.

"Do you have examples of the writing? Has it… told you any other information about itself? Do you know what it looks like?"

Vlad dragged his backpack up into his lap, unzipping it and pulling out a notebook, flipping to the page with all Danny's doodles in the margins. He pointed to them emphatically, and Danny could hear the hopeful buzz curling off him, that maybe Jack really did believe him, and knew something about this. Maybe he wasn't going completely insane?

"I saw him last night - He had…. White hair, and really green eyes. A strange black and white leotard." Vlad flinched slightly at the offended scoff that puffed air over his neck. Jack glanced up, noticing his guest leaning sideways away from something, the color draining out of already pale features.

Danny didn't reveal himself.

Not for any particular reason, really. There was just… no point. There was no proto-portal, and no other leads until a natural portal sprang into existence or Clockwork decided to interfere.

The growing dread that he'd be stuck here long-term had settled into a vague sort of acceptance. It probably hadn't registered properly yet, but as long as he was doing something, he didn't have to think too deeply about what that implied.

"Do you have… protections, or anything I can use? I can't sleep with this thing in my room."

Jack's eyes scanned the air, and took in Vlad's frazzled, tired features.

"I might have just the thing." He announced.

Turns out Jack's idea of 'Ghost Repellant' is a scribbled rune on some specialty paper, and a piece of tape stuck to Vlad's clothes.

It didn't work like Jack appeared to intend - Danny had no problem leaning close to squint at the rune when they got back to Vlad's room, sensing something at least.

That same tape, slapped over Danny's arm, on the other hand, had him yelping and swatting at the paper, crumpling it a bit until the tape disengaged and floated harmlessly to the ground after sticking to something invisible for a moment.

Vlad had good aim, and unfortunately quick reflexes.

Danny spent the rest of the night hovering in a corner, while Vlad waited for him to come within arm's reach, homemade ghost-zapper ready to pounce.

Thankfully, the young and slightly-less-evil version of his arch enemy had a very long day, and eventually succumbed to sleep.

His ectoplasm still hummed, energy keeping him awake as the stars turned overhead, but Danny knew his human body would be aching under the stress from so little food and sleep. While Vlad didn't seem bothered by only having the one meal at lunch (unless he also ate breakfast? The sneak!) Danny was definitely used to three square meals, plus snacks, and raised-stakes emotions from crowd flybys and dangerous battles.

This low-level anxiety just wasn't cutting it.

Danny peered at Vlad one more time, making absolutely sure he was asleep, before using two pencils as improptu chopsticks to pull the horrid little rune-paper from limp fingers.

He dropped it behind the dresser.

With a muffled yawn, Danny allowed himself to float gently down onto the top bunk, closing his eyes.

He might not be able to fully sleep in this form, but until he found a safe place or a solution, there wasn't many options.

The last thought that drifted through his head before the pseudo-sleep fuzzed over his cognative function was;

I wonder how much I'm changing, by being here?