Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does.
Maddie was standing with Jack, Jazz, and Tucker, in a panic because her son (and Sam, now that she thought of it) hadn't emerged from the building yet. He hadn't come out the doors or windows, and Phantom hadn't gotten him either. Amazingly enough, the ghost child was the one who had saved most of the students. A part of Maddie protested that he was just acting; that he was trying to fool them again; that he was just another evil, vile, no-good ghost…but that was a very small part. The rest of her wanted to trust him to bring all of the children to safety.
Please, she thought to herself. Please, be all right. Both of you.
Just then, Phantom appeared out of the smoke above Lancer's classroom. He was carrying Sam in his arms.
A surge of relief flared in Maddie before it was squashed by panic. Where's Danny? Where is my boy?
Then she could only watch in horror as a familiar, green-haired metal ghost shot a rocket at Phantom, quickly followed by another. Phantom was blown back, and Sam was ripped from his grasp. All Maddie could do was watch the girl's fall.
Phantom landed right in front of her, skidding to a halt by Jazz and Tucker. He was dazed for only a few seconds before he realized Sam wasn't with him, and he, too, saw her falling. Unlike Maddie, however, as soon as he saw her, he started running for her.
"SAM!" he screamed, and Maddie was shocked by the amount of desperation and agony laced in his voice. "SAM! NO!" He couldn't seem to get into the air.
Her daughter and Tucker grabbed him before he could get too far. He struggled furiously against them, his eyes blazing.
"You can't go back in there, Danny!" said Jazz, and Maddie noted numbly it was almost the same tone of voice she was usually using with her brother. "It's unsafe, and you can barely use any of your powers!" Her daughter cared about Phantom? And Tucker, too? Why?
"Let! Me! GO!" the ghost boy shouted. His face was twisted in pain, but not from the teenagers' grips, Maddie was sure. He cares about Sam?
"It's too late, Danny," started Tucker, and Maddie suddenly felt a flash of only somewhat rational fury – shouldn't Tucker be comforting her Danny (please be safe wherever you are), the one who had just lost one of his two best friends? He liked her, too, her inner voice muttered. From the way his eyes looked whenever he talked about her, you always knew that. "It's too late to save her." The techno-geek's voice broke as he talked to the ghost child. "She's gone. Sam's dea—"
"SHE – IS – NOT – DEAD!" Phantom screamed. Maddie watched, astounded, as tears slowly made their way down his face. He was shaking, but he fought harder than ever. "SAM!"
Tucker forced the ghost boy to turn and face him, then grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.
"She's gone," Tucker said.
"Don't you say that!" Phantom said viciously. "Don't say that! She's still there – we can still save her –" The despair in his voice said another thing: I should have saved her. How could I have dropped her?
"She's gone," the techno-geek repeated. Maddie felt her eyes well up in tears as what had happened finally sunk in. Sam was dead.
"No," the ghost boy said, not even struggling anymore. His eyes were blank. Maddie felt like crying harder as she somehow saw her son in this ghost, and it was he that was in denial over Sam's death, he who had that blank look in his eyes. That's probably how he will react, though,she thought to herself.
"She's gone, Danny," Tucker said again, his voice breaking for the second time. "Sam's gone."
"She can't be gone," Phantom said despairingly, staring into Tucker's eyes. Maddie had never seen a ghost display this level of human emotion – the ghost in front of her seemed as alive as the rest of the town as emotions flashed across his face. He suddenly crumpled, dragging Tucker down with him. The ghost buried his face in Tucker's shoulder; his body was shaking with sobs that Maddie didn't doubt for a second were real.
Tucker pulled him the rest of the way into a hug as tears dripped down his face as well. After a second's hesitation, Jazz joined them as well.
"She's gone," the techno-geek kept repeating dully for the next several minutes as he tightly grasped Phantom. "She's gone. Sam's gone. She's dead."
Maddie knew, rationally, that she needed to give them time to grieve a little, but she needed to know where her little boy Danny was right this instant. She moved a few steps closer and knelt down next to them. Jazz lifted her head, and as Maddie reached out her hand to shake Phantom's shoulder, she shook her head in a frantic "No!" gesture.
Phantom felt the movement and his grip on Tucker's shoulder tightened minutely before his hand relaxed again.
"Phantom?" Maddie asked quietly.
The white-haired ghost shifted his head slightly, one dull green eye looking at her.
"Where's Danny?" she asked bluntly. "Where's my son?"
Phantom completely lifted his head from Tucker's shoulder to look at her.
"Is he okay?"
Something changed in Phantom's face. It was an awful, maddened look. He started laughing softly, and it slowly grew louder, gaining a hysterical edge to it. He was still shaking.
"Phantom," Maddie growled. "What have you done with my boy?"
This had Phantom leaning against Tucker as he fought for breath he didn't need, giving a sort of hiccupy giggle as he shook. "Déjà vu," he explained at the expressions on the face of the others surrounding him, still laughing a bit. "But do I copy that jerk Dan and tell you? Or do I just assure you he's fine…which he's not." Tucker and Jazz had looks of dawning comprehension on their faces as soon as Phantom mentioned this 'Dan' person.
Maddie panicked. "Where is my son?" she snarled, grabbing Phantom by the shoulders, intending to shake him. As soon as she touched him, however, he slapped her hands away and jerked back.
"Don't touch me!" he growled. "Your precious child is fine! I can't say much for his mental state because of…because s-she…" he gulped and couldn't continue the sentence, looking very young suddenly, young and lost.
Maddie immediately felt bad for her reaction. He was obviously very different from other ghosts, and very much affected by this. Apparently the ghost had been spending time with Jazz, her Danny, Tucker, and…Sam.
"I…" she started. "I'm sorry. To the both of you." She looked at Jazz. "All three of you. I'm sorry…I'm sorry for your loss."
"Shut up," Phantom murmured, glaring death towards the ground at her feet. "You don't care about me. I'm just a ghost – what do I feel? You care for your child, but you don't care for me. You could never care for my safety, for my wellbeing because as much as I wish I still were, I'm not HUMAN!"
Maddie took a step back in shock as he screamed at her. There was something more hidden underneath those words, something she didn't understand.
"I'm so tired, Tucker," Phantom said, looking exhausted again. Defeated. "I'm so tired…I don't care anymore…"
Rings of blue-white light appeared around the collapsed Phantom's waist. They slowly traveled up his body until it was Danny Fenton who kneeled before her.
He met her eyes for a brief moment – they're so dead, he's in so much pain, I need to help him, but how can my son be Phantom? – before they rolled back into his head and he fell into blissful unconsciousness.
A/N: Oh yeah, I'm on a roll today! I'm going to mark this as Complete, but if any of y'all think I should continue it or write a sequel or something, I'm pretty sure I'd be up for it.
By the way, I finally figured out the name of the song. It was "Waitin' for a Superman" except it was the softer version by Iron & Wine. I like that song...
