Chapter 8

Stuff happens. I know last chapter was kind of boring with all the original characters and such. They're not in this one much, so you can enjoy more of the show characters, like Vlad…and Danny.

I love Danny's intro to this chapter. He's so sarcastic. Also explained: Why Vlad never got a cat and his master plan is revealed! Man why does that have to sound so much like a pun….

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Line Break!

Maddie: You'll never believe it. We were on our way to the Symposium and our pilot forced us out of the plane right over your house.
Danny: Yeah, it's almost like it's some sort of villainous plot. What an incredibly well planned coincidence.
Vlad: That would be an oxymoron, my dear boy. Oh, and speaking of morons: how's your old man?
(Danny growls angrily; eyes change to green)
Vlad:(Pretending to be scared) Ooh, the scary eyes! (Shoots an energy blast out of his eyes at Danny and knocks him into a wall)

Line Break!

Jazz couldn't believe what she had just heard. When Lilith finally told her she still didn't really believe it.

"I've lived in the Ghost Zone." She admitted again. "I still do. See, I'm not hurt at all; I'm not emotionally scarred for life. I'm normal….as I can be." Lilith stuttered nervously.

"Lily, that's crazy! Danny's most powerful and dangerous enemies are all there! They did know who you were, right?" Jazz panicked. "I don't understand how you could still be alive. You are still alive right?"

"Yes!" Lilith said, exasperated. "I know. I'm constantly reminded of that fact, thank you. They're not bad. It may not seem like it, but they do care about me."

Jazz still seemed unconvinced and was possibly going to say something more, but let it drop for the moment after seeing the pleading look to stop in her niece's eyes. The friends sighed with relief for her in the background.

Moments only last for so long.

"There you are Whelp! Technus just came by screaming something about ghost hunters. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you? I told you to stay away from them!" It was only after he said this that Skulker noted all of the people in the room, including a certain redhead who looked all too familiar.

"You!" Jazz shrieked, reaching for the nearest weapon. She tore the Fenton Bazooka out of Ami's arms. The younger girl looked rather sad about it.

Ted winced. "I don't know what I'm afraid of more; a hunter ghost in a metal battle suit or the angry school counselor with the big gun."

Skulker responded to Jazz's outburst by bringing out his own really big missile launcher. "Ah, I suppose you would be the Ghost-child's aunt, wouldn't you?"

Lilith's eyes darted around nervously. She transformed once again and quickly flew up and got in between the two. Having seen the basic transformation many times, neither Jazz nor Skulker stopped glaring at each other. "Wait, stop! I don't want you two to fight. We're all on the same side here!" Lilith begged.

"Same side!" Jazz had finally lost it, it seemed. "Ghost X has been after Danny for years! I bet for sure he even had a hand in his disappearance."

"Ghost X…?" Lilith suddenly asked, very confused.

Jazz blinked. "Err…sorry, a bad habit. Skulker, right?"

"Indeed. Now I need to get you home." He said to Lilith, moving down towards her and taking her by the arm. "Plas-…" Skulker was not able to finish his sentence.

"Home…she lives with you!" Jazz said in horrid realization. She couldn't take it any more of this. "There's no way she's going back with you. Lilith is staying here with me and the rest of her real family."

"Aunt Jazz, please don't…" Lilith pleaded, still between the two.

"Wait, Jazz is your aunt?" Stacy asked mindlessly out of nowhere. Ami elbowed her less than gently to shut her up.

"She is coming back with me." Skulker said missiles at ready. "I may have been denied the Ghost-boy's pelt, but I won't have this child escape my grasp."

"I can't believe you! You're going down now!" Jazz lifted the gun further, ready to shoot.

"Wait, please, both of you stop!" Lilith continued desperately. It was too late as they both fired on the other. The portable doorway to the Ghost Zone slipped by her and hit Skulker before she could stop it, but she did manage to get between Jazz and the missiles. It didn't end well.

As Skulker was sucked into the Ghost Zone against his will the missiles impacted with Lilith. She instantly transformed back to her human form and fell to the floor, barely conscious.

"Lily!" cried the remaining group collectively as they rushed to see if she was alright.

Lilith rolled over in pain. Her eyes shut tightly to grapple with it. Jazz had taken a first aid kit off of the wall and was now putting it to good use.

"Why did you go and do something stupid like that…" Jazz muttered. Cam was helping her wrap bandages and the others watched on in worry.

"Kids, I want you to get me some clean towels and then I need a couple of wet washcloths. You should find some in my parent's old bedroom." Jazz ordered. Stacy and Ted immediately left to do that.

"There's some antiseptic left in Danny's old room I think. Get some." She told Ami, who nodded. "Apply more pressure to the heavy bleeding areas." She then told Cam, who nodded wordlessly.

"Hmm…I see this was as good a time as ever to drop by." Said a new voice. Jazz looked up to see the last person she ever wanted to lay eyes on.

"Vlad, what are you doing here?" She demanded. Cam continued to apply pressure and treat Lilith's wounds, but listened to the conversation in the room despite the fact that he was thoroughly freaked out at the moment. Three ghosts in one day was a bit too much for him, but kept his mind by making sure Lilith was alright.

Vlad Plasmius floated down towards the small group with a smile. "Jasmine, I am most upset that you never told me you had a niece. And it seems she's inherited her father's powers." He said now kneeling to get a good look at the still barely conscious Lilith.

"You stay away from her." Jazz said menacingly, a voice that meant business.

Lilith slowly opened her eyes to look at the newcomer. "You're…Plasmius?" she said in a soft voice.

Cam put a finger to his lips. "Don't talk Lily, try to rest."

"I see your friends have filled you in since your encounter with the Fright Knight." Vlad said to confirm her question. "I was rather upset when you declined my offer to visit." He said mockingly.

"She's in no condition to have a bout of witty banter, Vlad. Leave her alone." Jazz said again. "And for that matter, neither am I."

Vlad stood up again. "You're all so serious today. Very well, I have a few questions to ask you about your parents, Jasmine. Firstly, where are they?" He finished with an almost humorous tone. Jazz almost laughed at the fact that he really didn't know.

"Even if I did know where my parents were, I wouldn't tell you." She countered.

Lilith coughed behind them as she opened her eyes again, focusing them on Vlad. "I…I want to see my mom and dad." She said simply trying very hard to sound threatening, and then had to focus on relieving her pain again.

It took Jazz a moment to grasp what her niece had just asked. "You have Danny and Sam! It was you all along!" She was already angry after Skulker, now she was furious.

"Who else Jasmine, really what did you expect? That they were dead?" Vlad explained almost impatiently. "Even if it hadn't been me I certainly wouldn't have allowed that to happen."

Jazz growled. "Normally, I'm the patient one, the rational one, the responsible one. I think this time I can make an exception." She said shortly as she aimed the Fenton Bazooka at him.

"And you're going to send me to the Ghost Zone? Where I can escape and come back to you again? An excellent plan." Vlad applauded sarcastically as Jazz realized that it really wouldn't work. For extra measure though, the eldest half-ghost destroyed the bazooka with a well aimed ecto-blast.

"I still want to know where your parents are, Jasmine. Since it seems you don't know where they are either, I'll give you some time to find out. Chaperone the field trip to Wisconsin this spring, I'll be awaiting my answer there and then. In the meantime…" He said with evil intent.

Vlad used his ghostly powers to lift Lilith at a distance, bringing her to his awaiting arms. The sensation was new to the girl as she was flying, but not in control of her body. "As I was saying, in the meantime, who am I do deny this child's request to see her parents?"

With his newest prize Vlad disappeared, presumably to fly off to one of his mansions. Jazz sighed deeply. She felt like bursting into tears. First she had lost her brother, then his friends and now she'd lost her niece again for the second time.

Cam put a hand on his counselor's shoulder. "I know this should be the other way around, but if you've gotta talk…or come up with a rescue plan; we're all here for you."

"Dr. Fenton! We found the towels and the antiseptic, what do…" Ted called as he, along with Stacy and Ami ran down the stairs. He stopped as he saw the lack of Lilith in the room. "What happened?" He asked as he saw Jazz kneeling on the floor and Cam trying to do what he could to comfort her.

Scene Break!

Lilith had passed out during the flight. She knew she felt the familiar rushing of the wind against her skin, a feeling she usually loved more than anything. Her mind was preoccupied with other things too much to be able to enjoy it though, and being kidnapped was only part of it.

When she finally came to it was to the feeling of a very comfortable sofa. She panicked momentarily as she was too used to waking up to the hum of her cage.

"I see you're awake at last." She heard the voice of Plasmius nearby. Lilith slowly sat up. She felt infinitely better. Her ghostly tissues had repaired her to a point, now she was just sore.

"Need anything? Aspirin perhaps, I can only image what kind of weapon caused your injuries." Lilith heard Plasmius tell her.

"No…" She responded slowly. So, he hadn't seen the skirmish between Jazz and Skulker? "I just want some answers for once. You're the reason my life is the way it is, so I might as well get to the bottom of this now."

"Oh, you're a cheeky one, aren't you? Very well, we'll get strait to the point." Plasmius told her. Lilith watched as the vampiric looking ghost did something that she was acutely familiar with. The rings relieved the man behind it all in a very neat black suit.

"You…you're just like me…" Lilith trailed off, astonished. There were three of them now.

"Yes, yes I am." Vlad told her in a satisfactory tone, "Which is why I'm going to make you the same offer I made to your father many, many years ago. You're young, talented, you think you're invincible. I went through the process of learning to control and increase my powers over forty years ago, I can help you. Join me and I will make it worth your while."

Lilith studied the man closely. "So why didn't my dad join you? There has to be a catch."

"Perceptive." Vlad granted as he poured a cup of tea for each of them. "You obviously have your mother's brains; it never was Daniel's strong point. I'm lead to believe that the females in your family seem to inherit everything useful."

"Where are my parents anyway?" Lilith asked as she looked around the living room and Vlad handed her a cup of tea.

"Safe for the moment. I'm sure you'd like to meet them. Let's go see your mother first, shall we? You can dwell on my offer for a while." Vlad suggested congenially.

Lilith eyed him warily, but stood up and walked over to the door her host was motioning to. "What I wouldn't give for a familiar face…" She found herself thinking with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She soon felt the strong grip of Vlad's hand rest on her shoulder, leading her through the mansion.

"So, where are we?" She asked a bit nervously, looking at all the sights to take in. The feeling she had was alike to when Skulker had first taken her to the Ghost Zone. Only this time she knew almost fully why she was there.

"We are currently just a few miles out of Madison, Wisconsin, my dear. This is my house, or I suppose it would be more correct to say mansion." Vlad responded in a conversational tone. "You just go ahead and make yourself at home while you're here."

"…I want to see my parents before anything." Lilith said, taking her ground. Vlad seemed slightly annoyed at this, but ignored it in the end.

The elder half-ghost opened a large door and forced Lilith in a bit unnecessarily. The teenager looked around and her eyes rested on two large machines on the opposite side of the room. She wiggled her way out of Vlad's grip and walked straight over to the other side as if she was possessed.

"Mom…" she whispered in disbelief. Behind the glass in a restful state was Sam. In the glass container next to her was Tucker in a similar position.

"They were test subjects." Vlad explained as casually as before. "I wanted to see if a person could really survive in suspended animation for a prolonged period of time; the future market for such knowledge would be staggering, don't you agree?"

Lilith didn't answer, but continued to stare at her mother, whom she had not seen in ten years. It was like a bad dream. She was really here, in the flesh, no illusions. She wasn't dreaming of past events. This was the now. This was real.

"It would take an extremely complex procedure to wake them up." Vlad continued to elaborate in the same manner. "Even if I were inclined to do so it is entirely possible that they wouldn't be the same. It would take years of physical therapy to get them back to normal." He said in a fake concerned voice.

"Wake them up." Lilith demanded suddenly.

"What was that?" Vlad asked innocently, with an evil smile on his face.

Lilith turned around. "Let them out, now." She said as transformed into her ghost form. "I want my mom back!" She said in a rare display of true anger. "Everything! It's all your fault!" Ecto-energy began to form in her hands. She balled up one of them and made her ecto-sword with her left hand. She immediately shot the basketball sized ecto-blast right at Vlad and then came flying after it with sword gripped in both hands.

Vlad didn't even bother switching forms. He blocked the ecto-blast with minimal effort and then caught Lilith by the wrist before she could slice him. Her weapon dissipated as she felt a very painful and draining sensation. She couldn't help but scream.

"That was an impressive little trick, to manipulate your ecto-energy like that. Let me show you one of mine, this is a device that you will soon become very familiar with." Vlad said as Lilith continued to deal with the pain. "I first used it on your father many years ago. I call it the Plasmius Maximus. It is special to you because it shorts out your ghost powers for a period of three hours." As if on cue Lilith's own transformation rings finally appeared and did their duty.

She looked around frantically, still being held by Vlad. "I…don't feel any different." She noted to herself.

"Of course not, I've been more than generous with you Lilith. I've done some upgrades in the years I was all alone." He smiled evilly in her terrified face. "It'll last for a good twelve hours now. You can reach your own conclusions from there." He finished as he let her drop to the ground roughly.

Lilith didn't feel much pain following the initial wave, but she stood up slowly. She looked back at the tanks with a longing pain in her eyes. Then she turned to Vlad. "I suppose this is when I ask what's going to happen to me next." She said, still afraid and it was evident in her voice.

Vlad smiled and put a friendly arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer than Lilith would have liked. "We're going to have a little chat, like a good family."

"I'm not your family." Lilith said, averting her eyes.

"You will be as soon as I have my lawyers draw up the adoption papers." Vlad said in a very happy tone. "Your parents are missing and I happened upon their kidnapped child and rescued her from the evil ghosts." Vlad told her his little story he was planning on using for an alibi for the authorities.

"They aren't evil!" Lilith yelled suddenly at him.

Well, that was different. Vlad blinked in surprise. He had been expecting her to comment on; A: nothing, B: the adoption or C: the fact that he had been the one to kidnap her and her parents. He did not expect the response she gave with as option D with such determination.

"Oh really?" Now he was curious. He let go of his snug grip to face her. "Who isn't evil?"

"The ghosts, they aren't evil. They may be a little weird," Lilith consented, her eyes downcast, "but definitely not evil."

"Do you know that your father fought these 'weird' ghosts so that they wouldn't take over the world and so he could prevent them from killing him?" Vlad pressed like any good villain, using this opportune moment.

"I did know." She snapped a bit too defensively. "They told me all about that when I was growing up." Lilith said defiantly. "But they wouldn't do that anymore. They're better than that. They're my real family, not you!"

"Do you mean to tell me, that the ghosts raised you? It wasn't Jasmine?" Vlad said, honestly surprised.

"I didn't meet my aunt Jazz until she came to work at Casper High." Lilith gave as her answer a little shakily.

"Well, this is rather unexpected, but most ironic. They never told you about me?" Lilith shook her head. "I'm a little hurt, but this is something that will be easily remedied." He said as he took her wrist and forced her out the door.

Lilith gave one last look at her mother before being dragged out the room. She fervently wished she was home and she didn't care if Desiree granted it.

"Where are we going?" Lilith asked trying to keep up with Vlad's semi-fast pace.

Vlad stopped to face her. "Tell me Lilith, how badly have you wanted to meet your father?"

Lilith refused to look at him. "Even since I was little I used to dream about it. I sort of remember mom telling me about him, but I was so little I don't recall much.. After living apart from both of them for so long I just wanted to know if they were alive, and not in some weird sleep-like state." She ended bitterly.

"I can assure you that your father is very much conscious. He's rather talkative at times too. You see, for years your father and I have been the only two half-ghosts in existence." He explained. "Well, unless you count that clone of his, three, but that is unimportant at the moment." He said as a side note unhappily. He continued lovingly. "Now you're the latest in what will be a long line of half-ghost children. I want that legacy to be mine, not that idiot Jack Fenton's!" He ended angrily.

"I'm not going to help you." Lilith said stubbornly. "You can't force me to do anything. When the police find out my aunt is around, they'll grant custody to her." Of course she didn't mention that there would even be arguments after that between Jazz and Skulker.

"What makes you so sure of that?" Vlad challenged.

Lilith sighed. "I lived in a cage for the last ten years. I read a lot of books, watched tons of movies and fixed a lot of weapons as well as learned to use them and my powers. I had a lot of free time. Walker has tons of old law books in his office; I snuck a peak at them when he tried to put me in the juvenile detention center."

"Walker has a juvenile detention center?" Vlad asked, genuinely surprised.

"No, he just calls it something different to make it sound impressive. It's just like the rest of the prison." Lilith admitted dully.

"Oh, well that's interesting, but I'm getting us off topic. I have my ways of getting what I want. Let me show you one of them." Vlad transformed into his ghost form and took Lilith down to his lab. At first she didn't see anything of interest, but then she heard one.

"Nice of you to drop in Vlad," said a rather bored voice. "It's only been, what, two days? You're human too you know, it would be nice to extend the courtesy and at least leave me something to eat if you're going to be gone!" The male voice complained.

"I was in the middle of some very important business, Daniel. You're not going to starve to death in two days."

Danny's eye twitched behind the bars. "I think I finally figured out why you never took my advice to get a cat. It would die from neglect, but then Sam would've beaten the crap out of you. That would have been funny." He admitted happily.

"I got you some more cereal last week. Be happy." Vlad scolded. Neither man noticed or remembered the dumbstruck girl in their presence.

Danny's hands flew up in frustration. "Okay, fine, after fourteen years, I get the point! I'll stop calling you fruit-loop! I understand that it offends you, that is why I used it in the first place, but this is torture in its true form! Now I know how a dog feels, having the same dog-food every day." He said, leaning against the bars in finality.

"…Dad…?" A small voice broke the silence.

Vlad smiled wickedly. Danny could only stare at what he immediately recognized as his daughter. "Oh. My…" He breathed. If he hadn't believed Vlad at first, there was no doubt in his mind now.

"As you can see, Daniel, I wasn't lying." He opened the door to the cage and let Lilith in before closing it again. "I'll be back soon. I'll give the two of you some alone time. Oh, and Daniel…?"

"What?" Danny asked impatiently.

"My offer still stands, even after all these years." Vlad said simply before leaving the two alone.

Danny couldn't find the words to say anything. He continued to stare at the likeness of himself and Sam, still not truly believing that this was his child, through normal means and everything.

Lilith was equally stupefied. She soon began to well up with tears and then embraced her father in a tight hug. Danny returned the favor, still a bit stunned.

"You're real." She sobbed. "You're alive and you're real." This was all she could think of to say, even after all the time she had used to dream of this moment.

Danny closed his eyes in thought. For the first time in a long time, he felt at peace as he continued to hold his daughter. "I hate to ruin your moment, but this is the first time I've actually seen you. I didn't even know I had a daughter until last week. I'm still in shock here."

"That's okay." Lilith said still crying as she looked up at him with a smile. "I've only seen one picture of you. The feeling's mutual."

The two laughed a bit. Lilith refused to let go. Danny took a handkerchief out of his back pocket and used it to dry some of her tears. "Look at you; you look just like your mother." He chuckled.

"Really? Everybody says I look like you." Lilith said a bit confused.

"Well, sure, it's hard not to see with the ghost powers and all, but you've definitely got a lot of Sam in you; her nose, ears, mouth, even your hair is straight like her's. But I'll bet her and Jazz had a heck of a time raising you. I could barely control my powers when I first got them, but I at least got them at an older age."

"Aunt Jazz did say something along those lines." Lilith told him with a smile. "Wait, how did you know about my ghost powers?"

"Gut feeling." Danny replied, winking. "It comes with the job. So, how is Jazz doing? I haven't seen her since the wedding." Danny asked, settling down on his bed. Lilith sat down next to him.

"She's fine. She just took the job as our school counselor, so I get to see her every day." Lilith said happily. She was just thrilled to be having a conversation with her dad for the first time ever.

"Oh, I suppose she works a lot, so you probably didn't get to see her much at home then." Danny assumed.

"No…" Lilith said tentatively. She had been hoping to avoid this, especially so early into their first conversation. "I didn't even know I had any living relatives until last month. …I grew up in the Ghost Zone." She finally admitted.

Danny was silent for a moment before giving off some nervous laughter. "You're kidding, right?"

Lilith shook her head. She took hold of her dad's handcuffs and gave them a quick look over. "These handcuffs are Skulker's. They're an earlier model, but I could probably get in and get them off just as easily as the newer ones."

Lilith stood up and walked around the cell for a bit. "This looks a lot like one of the old prison cells Walker replaced five years ago. He got the whole penitentiary remodeled after Ember's big rock concert. He didn't have enough room so he had to expand, so he got the whole place fixed up at the same time."

She walked over to the bars and pointed to the large computer near the ghost portal. "That looks like Technus's old computer. I know because he taught me how to use a computer with it. Then the Ghost Writer used it to teach me how to read and write. I know it might be weird for you to believe me, but they've been nothing but good to me, even with their quirks." Lilith ended a bit sadly.

"It is hard for me to believe." Danny admitted, but prevented himself from saying anything stupid. He already saw how nervous Lilith was telling him this. "As nervous as I was to tell my parents about my ghost powers…which is something I never had the guts to do. She's so much more like Sam than she is like me."

"I turned out sort of normal." Lilith continued to defend a bit spastically, not knowing about her father's inner monologue. "It's not like I was lonely or had to stay in my room all the time. I have really good friends and I was allowed to go off by myself."

"It's okay." Danny said, smiling warmly taking her into another hug. He'd been a dad for a little less than five minutes and he was already fitting perfectly into the role. "It doesn't matter where you've been or how you grew up, you're still my daughter, and even though I'm still new to this whole 'dad' thing I'll try my best. If Sa- if your mother were here, she'd say the same thing. We love you. I just regret we weren't able to be there for you."

It was the second to last sentence that Lilith had been waiting for. "You don't know how long I've wanted to hear that." She said, trying to hold back tears. "I needed it really badly."

"I know." Danny said. "I know you did."

Scene Change!

Bang, the first blast was directly on target. So were the second and also the third and then the round of bullets that followed that.

Skulker scowled. Usually either hunting or putting in some hours in his shooting gallery helped him relax. It wasn't helping tonight.

"She won't be coming home." Said a little voice in the back of his head, it had been troubling him since being thrown in to the Ghost Zone. It would mark the first time in a very long time that she had not been back for dinner, much less for the night. Yes, it was her home. "As it should be."

"You will be sleeping here tonight." Skulker instructed. Her cage was not completed as he'd had to deal with all of the ghostly company earlier that day. It was late when they were satisfied enough at this turn of events and had left, promising to come back another day.

So Lilith was sleeping on the couch that night. She had already been stuck on it most of the day anyway, secluded from mostly everyone. He had been a bit hopeful when she had started warming up to Box Lunch. He probably wouldn't have been able to stand the silence from her forever.

"But…I don't want to stay here alone…" She begged even as she cuddled into a blanket.

"It's only for tonight. Now, I'm only going to be in that room over there, so don't try any escape attempts." He warned, though he knew she wouldn't try any.

"Okay…" She agreed softly, lying down.

"Good, let's keep it that way." He threatened. He hadn't needed to, but his overall goal wasn't to be nice.

Skulker walked back over to his work area. The ghost shield needed some work and the adjoining bathroom needed to be built. But that could wait for tomorrow. He wanted to sleep and felt he deserved some after his big catch.

He left his metal suit by the side of the master bed. The room was alike to the main area in that it had pelts, hunting trophies and various hunting equipment. In his true form, the likeness of a little green frog-like creature, he settled in for a satisfying night's sleep.

However, Skulker was the only one sleeping. Lilith had not been able to close her eyes. They darted all around the dark room, looking at the heads of former animals/ghosts and their pelts. To the four-year-old girl, it seemed as if they would come alive at any time. She clutched her blanket close and tried to turn around and not look at them, but she felt them staring at her.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. She took her blanket and pillow and went into the room Skulker had indicated he would be.

She looked around and saw the battle suit standing up in the back. She thought it was him and smiled. She climbed into the bed, now feeling safe that someone was watching over her.

As she lifted the covers and settled in, she noticed the green blob that actually was the hunter ghost. She almost couldn't believe her eyes. It was almost exactly like a stuffed animal she had back home. Too thrilled to wonder what it was doing here, she picked it up and quickly fell asleep.

When Skulker woke up that next morning, he was not pleased. Thankfully Lilith was not awakened by his screams of surprise when he saw the situation. She was much too warn out from yesterday. He immediately flew back into his suit, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Wake up, Whelp." He ordered roughly, taking the blankets off with the purpose it would wake her. Her clothes were still dirty and torn; he'd have to give her something else to wear that day as well as a bath-as much as he was dreading it. He had contemplated requesting the assistance of one of the female ghosts, but they had all laughed and said no because they wanted to see 'the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter' give a child a bath.

Lilith slowly woke up, she still seemed really tired. "Thank you." She said immediately after looking at his towering form.

Whatever Skulker had been about to say, he didn't. "What for?" He demanded instead.

"For letting me stay in your bed. Mommy let me sleep with her all the time and I know you don't really like me all that much…"

"And what made you think that?"

Lilith shook her head. She didn't want to answer that question. She had already overstepped her bounds and could tell by the tone in Skulker's voice. "Go on, say it." He prompted.

"Well…you yell at me a lot…I'm not being bad am I?" She looked up at him with such an innocent face that he almost felt bad for her.

Almost

"Child, let me explain something to you." He motioned for her to come next to him on the bed. She obeyed and looked up as if ready for a bedtime story. "You are not here for your own benefit. You are here because I've taken you into a part of my collection of rare and unique creatures." He said slowly, so that her young mind could comprehend.

"But…there are lots of humans." She responded in confusion. Well…at least she was understanding some of it.

"You're part ghost, child. It makes you completely different." He said, putting his hand around her arm. Lilith didn't say anything about the uncomfortable grip.

"That's not what my mommy said." She retorted back without thinking. She then sunk back down when she realized she probably shouldn't have said that.

Skulker sighed. It was time for a little white lie. "You're the only one there is." He told her. "The only one I can get anyway." He thought to himself. She didn't need to know that. The less she knew the better. "The human world doesn't like half-ghosts like you. It's much better for you to stay here in the Ghost Zone."

Lilith's eyes widened. "You mean…we're in…" She didn't need to finish her sentence.

Skulker laughed, very much amused. "Yes, we are. Where else would I take you? Look, there are some other ghosts who would love to take you away, they'd do much worse than what I have planned for you. So, you must be careful about strange ghosts." There was a chance every now and then the three ghost vultures would appear as well as the Fright Knight. If Plasmius found out this whole thing would be up. Skulker had waited far too long for this opportunity.

Lilith was still somewhat wary about the entire arrangement, but it wasn't like she had a choice. So she nodded in understanding. "Mommy told me to never go here…that bad things would happen…"

"Not as long as you stay with me." He told her. This was good. The more of this she believed the less hassle it would be for him. He didn't get any further with the talk though, as a loud, obnoxious knock came from the door.

"Hey, Lily! It's me! You comin' out or what!' Yelled Box Lunch's loud voice came from the entryway. She had apparently let herself in. Skulker had a very bad feeling that this would become a habit and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Go. Be back for dinner." He told her. The child ghost would keep her out of real trouble anyway. Lilith nodded and left a bit hesitantly. She was slowly getting used to the other ghosts and was coping much better than she had the day before.

He wasn't that worried. She would be back by dinner. She knew of no where else to go.

"I should have told the child earlier." He berated himself. It didn't seem that long ago those events had taken place. "Now I don't get to hunt anything worthwhile."

He had gone immediately back to the portal, invisible this time. He had encountered four teenagers and a very angry aunt. Lilith hadn't been there. He didn't need to wonder why. As soon as he had heard Plasmius' name in the conversation, he knew where she had gone.

"You mean you probably won't get to enjoy her being around anymore." Said a very annoyed voice.

Skulker turned around and found Box Lunch had snuck in behind him. He chided himself momentarily for not noticing her entrance, but found little comfort in taking it out on the younger ghost. "What do you want, Pest?"

"He finally got Lily, didn't he?" Box Lunch asked sadly.

"Yes, he did, are you happy now?"

"Happy that Plasmius has my best friend? I don't think so! Why?" She told him angrily.

"I don't have her locked up anymore. Wasn't it you that was always yelling on about that?" Skulker said, annoyed and angry.

"I didn't mean to leave you altogether. I meant to let her have a little more freedom, that you'd treat her a little nicer. Lily looks up to you as a parent, she trusts you, and she'd do anything for you! I just can't stand it that you just treat her like a pet."

"No she doesn't." Skulker insisted. "I am not her parent, nor will I ever be."

Box Lunch threw her hands in the air as she gave a loud cry of frustration. "You may not admit it now, but someday I'll get you to see it." She promised. "In all the time I've known Lily she's done nothing but try to please you. When she was little if she could make you happy, she was ecstatic. You've done nothing but cater to her needs. Take it from one who's been watching you two from the outside. She's your daughter in every sense of the word. I just thought it was about time that you treated her like one."

"…What…?" The last two sentences threatened to make Skulker rethink his entire afterlife. "She's part of my collection of rare and unique creatures! I am Skulker: The Ghost Zone's greatest hunter! You, Pest, have just about exhausted my patience!"

Box Lunch growled, just as angry. "Fine, be that way Mr. Greatest Hunter!" She said mockingly. "Don't you at least want to try and rescue her? Or are you just going to let your boss get his way until you finally realize it's too late."

"I will deal with it in my own time. Now leave before I decide where I want to put your pelt, a ghost who was born naturally would be an excellent addition to my collection…" He threatened.

"Fine" Box Lunch relented, sighing. "But beware; the halfas are in control our future and I don't want the future to be in the hands of Plasmius. In the meantime, I'm going to try and do something. It's time I go serve the creep a big helping of doom." She smirked evilly.

"He'll destroy you." Skulker warned. "Plasmius is at least ten times more powerful than you'll ever hope to be."

"Then help me!" Box Lunch pleaded for the final time. "You've raised her up to this point, don't let her down now."

"You're a child; you don't know what you're getting into."

"It doesn't matter. I'm getting my friend back." She said with finality before zipping off.

"Stupid Pest…" Skulker resumed his shooting. He kept firing, but all of his bullets and ecto-blasts missed the targets.

A/N: I am in love with this chapter. Box Lunch finally got to yell at Skulker. Lilith finally got to meet Danny and vise versa. And Jazz finally figured out the whole truth. Yeah, this was kinda a big chapter. And gasp! Is there development in Skulker's character! Does he feel guilty! Is he going to change for the better!

It's Skulker. Even if he did, he'd never admit it.

I hope the first meeting was satisfactory. It didn't change much from the original version, so I think that's a good thing.

You can thank Sleep Warrior for the longer chapter and the idea to incorporate more past scenes in the actual fic. So now I'm scrambling around trying to find the best places for them. It's working out better than I thought though, so don't worry about me missing the weekly update.

In other news, I've started a forum to talk about the various ghosts of the show. I figure it can also be the sort-of official home of the Clockwork fanclub. It's appropriately named: Blathering on about Ghosts. So, if you wanna drop a line in and rant about Clockwork's coolness or about how awesome another ghost is that'd be cool. If not, don't worry about it.

Special thanks to my happy reviewers from last chapter: DP fan, Jessica, Sleep Warrior, Anonymous Reader 13 and Sweeteen19. You guys rock my fanfiction world, which says a lot.

Next Chapter Teaser: Lilith meets her grandparents. Her Fenton grandparents.