Chapter 9

I am amazed by the turnout for chapter 8. You guys are astounding.

Danny gets his hero-complex back…(rolls eyes) as if it had ever left him. Then Lilith meets her grandparents.

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

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Sam:(To Danny, after he is beaten up by ghosts) Are you okay?
(Danny stares at her)
Sam: Sorry. Standard question. (Helps him up) What was that about?
Danny: I don't know, but I think Vlad Plasmius just became the least of my worries.

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It was the wee hours of the morning. Not that Danny could tell. There were no windows in Vlad's 'secret' laboratory. Lilith had fallen asleep hours before. Danny was still holding on to her, absentmindedly stroking her hair. The paternal instinct had kicked in faster than he had anticipated. It still seemed unbelievable that she was his daughter. His only child.

And at the moment, he was feeling very protective of her.

He chose to stay awake and watch over her. Vlad hadn't come back yet, but Danny was sure the older man was scheming something and whatever plan it was, probably surrounded around Lilith. He would be ready to make sure nothing happened to her.

"If only…" Danny thought out loud, sadly. "I'll find a way to get you out of here. I promise. You've already suffered enough because of me."

Lilith moaned as she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Danny and she immediately shot up. "It wasn't a dream. It really did happen." She said, amazed.

"Did you sleep okay?" He asked.

Lilith nodded. "One of the best I've ever had. Now we can get out of here together!" She said excitedly. "All of us."

Danny frowned. "I don't think that'll be possible. I need to stay for Sam and Tucker. I won't leave without them and…Vlad isn't that easy to defeat."

"But if we team up…" Lilith started, Danny shook his head.

"No. If worse comes to worse, let me deal with Vlad. He's my archenemy, not yours." Danny explained.

"But he took you and mom away from me. He ruined my life!" Lilith said angrily.

Danny's heart stopped for a moment. "'Ruined my life' was the phrase everybody seemed to be using these days. All Vlad ever talked about was Jack 'ruining his life'. Danny had ruined many plans that ghosts had in store. The accident that had given him his ghost powers had almost in essense ruined his own childhood. It was the attitude that had started this entire nightmare; and that was still behind everything.

"Don't say that Lily. I hate Vlad just as much as you do, probably more, but don't ever say he ever ruined your life. You said yourself you enjoyed living in the Ghost Zone, right? They took good care of you, however much it creeps me out." He sighed. "Look, there are many different twists and turns life may, or may not take. But there's always more than one good path available to you."

"I suppose you're right…" Lilith said eyes downcast.

"I know I'm right." Danny said smugly. "A good friend once told me that, and he's never wrong."

The swishing sound of the ghost portal interrupted the father/daughter bonding time. Out of the portal came a ghost that Lilith was very well acquainted with.

"Box Lunch!" Lilith cried quickly running over to the bars. "What are you doing here?"

"Box Lunch?" Danny asked, mostly to himself. "Oh no."

The young ghost brushed herself off, but then floated over to Lilith. "I came to rescue you, duh." She said as if it should be obvious.

"You came by yourself?" Danny asked quizzically.

Box Lunch gave Danny a critical look. "I know you from somewhere…" She said out loud.

"He's my dad." Lilith provided. "How in the world could you…"

Box Lunch eyed him again, not allowing Lilith to finish her question. "It is you!" She declared finally. "…but you remember me?"

"My kitchen, the Nasty Burger? I was also thoroughly grossed out. Of course I remember."

"I'm not crazy!" She said, elated. "Wait until I tell Youngblood! He owes me!"

"A date." Lilith filled in, looking quite pleased with herself that she had at least one thing to tease Box Lunch about even if it had no foundation whatsoever.

"Not date!" She shot back with a glare. Lilith continued to look at her best friend with a smirk.

"Box Lunch and Youngblood? That's another major 'Ew'." Danny concluded.

"We're getting off topic." Box Lunch interrupted seriously. "I've got to get you out of here before Plasmius finds out I'm here. We can talk later."

"I can't leave." Danny and Lilith said at the same time. The parent and child gave each other creepy looks after that.

"Man, if there was any doubt you two were related it's gone now." Box Lunch sighed. "Why not? If he gets control of you two, we're all doomed!"

"That's more like the Box Lunch I remember." Danny said lightly. "I was beginning to think you were some evil clone. But seriously, I can't leave without Sam and Tucker."

"And I'm not leaving without mom and dad." Lilith said, equally stubborn.

Box Lunch's eye twitched. "You're all the same! You all think you can do anything, that you're invincible like some kind of superhero! Well, beware! I got news for you, you're not."

"Although…" came a new voice. "They do share some remarkable superhero characteristics." Lilith's stomach tightened as Vlad Plasmius came before them. "For example, if you hold some close friends captive, you can get them to do anything you want."

"Box Lunch, look out!" Lilith barely had time to warn her friend before Plasmius had her in a small ghost shield, again she noted sorely that it was Skulker's design. "Let her go!"

Vlad didn't have a chance to respond to her. "You've gotten away with too many things Plasmius. It's time somebody did something about it." Box Lunch informed him. "Beware." She said with a well trained smirk. It surprised Danny to see the ghost girl break out of the box.

"When did she get so powerful? That was a ghost shield!" He had to ask in utter astonishment. The fact that a ghost could break out of a ghost shield was not something he was used to. It was also something he had to keep in mind.

Lilith blushed. "Well…we sort of use Skulker's training facilities without his permission sometimes…"

"I suppose the fact that it was a box helped a bit, didn't it?"

"Maybe, it was an old model though. Not as strong. At least she doesn't use too many puns anymore. She used to be much worse, and her dad's really bad too."

"You don't know the half of it." Danny moaned, thinking about the Box Ghost. The subject was dropped then and there.

Box Lunch was able to surprise not only Danny, but also Plasmius long enough to get a box-shaped attack in. It barely singed his cape.

Plasmius laughed. "You actually think you can beat me? Oh, this is good. My turn." He said before returning the ecto-blast favor. This one hurt Box Lunch much more than her own had hurt Vlad.

Box Lunch tried to stand up, but found she didn't have the energy to do so. Plasmius picked her up and addressed the other two half-ghosts.

"As much as I'm flattered that neither of you want to leave, I'm going to have to make an exception." Plasmius placed a metal bracelet on his newest captive's wrist. He dropped Box Lunch in Danny's arms and took Lilith out before shutting the door.

"You have school today young lady and I'm not the kind of person who would deprive a future grandchild of a proper education." He said, speaking to Lilith alone. "But I expect to see you, along with your aunt back here during your spring field trip and I expect an answer."

"An answer to what?" Lilith said, trying to wiggle out of Vlad's grip.

Vlad rolled his eyes. "My offer what else, my child?"

"She's never going to join you, Vlad. She's not your child." Danny told him, his temper rising.

"That was your decision, Daniel, one you made long before I had your friends. Lilith however has yet to make a decision and I have collateral to make sure she won't turn out to be the little hero you did." He finished and turned again to Lilith. "If you don't want anything to happen to your friend or your mommy, I trust you'll make the right choice." Vlad finished quite seriously.

"No! You let them go!" Lilith demanded, trying to squirm away.

"At least let Box Lunch go. This is between you and me. She's got nothing to do with this." Danny told him.

"Like doom I have anything to do with this." Box Lunch said, rubbing her head and sore body. "I'm not going to sit around and let my best friend get corrupted by a Pariah wannabe."

For some reason this seemed to strike a nerve in Vlad. "Do not compare me to that miserable abomination. I am much more powerful without items of power than he ever was with them. You'd do well to remember that child."

Box Lunch stuck out her tongue immaturely at him and turned around. Danny seemed very amused by this. "I think I like your friend Lily." He concluded.

"Thanks dad…" Lilith said a bit exasperated that her father and best friend were bonding at the wrong time.

Vlad snorted. "It's time for you to be on your way Lilith. Think long about my offer. I'll see you again in April, until then, ta!" He told her as he sent her spiraling with a scream into the Ghost Zone.

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Lilith was very much disorientated. She wasn't used to this particular portal despite how similar it was to the Fenton Portal. She now found herself floating around the Ghost Zone. She had no idea where she was.

On top of all of this, she didn't know how much longer she would be stuck in her human guise. As far as she knew the Plasmius Maximus was still in effect. She tried to switch to her ghost form, but it failed.

Normally she wouldn't be too worried, but normally she was only in her human form when she was in that world, or at home when she had no real use to have her ghost guise on. Never had she floated around the large expanses of the Ghost Zone this way. It didn't feel too terribly comfortable.

She wrapped her arms around her body. She was alone again. On habit she started to shiver. "No…not again…" She had only been alone once in her life. In the Fenton's laboratory, only four years old, for a longer amount of time than she should have been. She didn't know how long she had been there, but if Skulker hadn't found her, she may not have even survived.

"He promised…He promised I'd never be alone…" She repeated continuously if only to comfort herself.

She remembered long ago when Skulker had decided to leave her alone for the first time. Boy had that been a mistake on his part. She laughed lightly at the memory in spite of her emotional pain.

"Alright Whelp; I'm leaving for the day. When I get back I expect the other specimens fed and the trophies polished, got it?"

Lilith, now seven years old, yawned. She had just woken up from bed and was eating breakfast at the table. "Why can't I come with?" She questioned.

"Because I'm going out hunting, that's why. There is a new ghost in the area that I believe may have unique camouflage abilities. It should prove to be a challenge for me." Skulker said, rather excited to have fresh prey.

Lilith yawned again and gave Skulker a blank look. "So…why can't I come with?" She repeated.

Skulker's eye twitched. "It's dangerous, that's why. I haven't had a good hunt in a long time because I've been watching after you. I'd rather not have you get in the way. You'll get hurt." Skulker raised an eyebrow at his own words. "Well…err, I mean, you'll get damaged. I can't hunt you eventually if you're injured." He finished decidedly.

"Is Box Lunch coming over?" She asked hopefully.

"No, the Pest is with her parents today. You'll be here alone." He said offhand. Even so, it put the wrong effect on Lilith.

"I wanna come with." She said a bit more loudly. "I don't wanna stay home alone."

"You'll be staying here." Skulker stressed. It wasn't often that Lilith contended with his authority, but when she did, he made sure to assert it. "Don't argue with me, you will not win."

"No! I don't want to be alone!" She almost yelled, turning away and jumping off and out of her chair in defiance.

Skulker stood by in mild shock. She had never been this troublesome before. She had always done exactly what he'd told her to do. She did her new chores without complaint and never questioned when told to go to her cage.

He strode into the main living area, where Lilith was planted on a couch, getting her shoes on. Before she could get the second one on Skulker picked her up roughly and carried her over to her cage. She emitted a short gasp of surprise at the sudden aggressive action. "What have I told you about disobeying my orders?"

"N…not to do it…otherwise I'll be in really big trouble?" She said timidly.

"Yes, close enough." He said, sighing and putting her back down on her bed. He'd given up trying to explain that if she got too out of hand that he would have to settle for her pelt, but this was only a first offense and he was already too used to her being around. He forced himself to admit he enjoyed waiting on the child. She was his responsibility. Knowing the fact that she relied on him for everything was enough to satisfy him.

"Now, you'll stay here and clean your cage, its messy enough." He said, looking around at the barely visible floor, it being littered with candy wrappers, dirty clothes and other such things. "It's only for the day. I'll be back, so don't get any ideas about running away." He warned.

Lilith nodded in understanding. "Do you promise you'll come back?" She asked with a worried look on her face.

Skulker raised an eyebrow. "Of course I'm coming back! What kind of question is that!"

Lilith looked down at her feet and then slowly turned to where she had a dart-ridden picture of her parents and their friend. "Mom never came back. Neither did Uncle Tucker…" She said sadly.

Suddenly Skulker realized what she was so against. She just didn't want to be alone. Her first night here when she had snuck into his room and her complete attachment to him all explained that. In the past three years she had been living here Skulker had barely left and if he had, she'd gone to stay with Technus or Box Lunch was there to play with her. She was just afraid of being alone.

"Clockwork said I'd never be alone…" Lilith said, mostly to herself, but Skulker caught it too. "He promised…"

Skulker finally decided on a course of action. "You're going to have to get used to it, Whelp. I'm coming back at the end of the day; you won't be alone for long."

"That's what mom said and she didn't come back." Lilith argued.

"That was different circumstances." Skulker said back.

"No it wasn't."

"Yes it was," Although he really didn't want to explain why it was different at the moment. It had the potential to ruin everything.

Lilith was silent as she contemplated the situation. "You're really going to come back?" She asked for extra measure.

Skulker grinned as an idea formulated in his brain. "I'll come back as long as you're here. I can promise you that." He inwardly congratulated himself at the stroke of genius.

For the first time that day Lilith had a small smile on her face. "Okay, I won't leave then…but I still wanna come with you!" She said in a playful voice, now grinning ear to ear.

Skulker immediately put up the ghost shield. Lilith rammed into it comically. "No. We discussed this already. You're staying here!"

"But I want to help!"

"No!"

The argument continued on for some time, before Skulker finally got fed up with Lilith's ability to annoy him whenever she felt like it. He had finally started to ignore her and left. She wouldn't be getting out of her cage.

It felt good to be on the hunt again. Not just for a few hours at night nearby, but actually following the prey, watching, waiting…

There it was. The ghost animal was using its camouflage abilities to blend next to one of the many rock patches of the Ghost Zone. Skulker grinned as it he saw it through his modified binoculars. .

He quietly brought up his net gun and carefully aimed it at the creature. The excitement was rising in him yet again. He was just about to release the net when his eyes were suddenly covered up. He couldn't see.

"Guess who!" Came an all too familiar playful voice. The voice of a girl who shouldn't have been able to be there. A voice loud enough that it spooked the ghost creature into seeing Skulker and running off again, switching camouflage.

"Whelp!" Skulker yelled. Indeed when he turned around there was Lilith, giggling madly. "I told you not to come!" He scolded.

"But…I was getting scared." She admitted, the smile vanishing from her face. "I…I know you promised to come back, but I didn't want to be alone…I couldn't stop being scared." She said in apology. "I'm really sorry."

"You do realize that you are about this close to becoming my next pe—" He wasn't able to finish his thought as a new one entered his mind. "Wait a minute! How did you escape your cage!"

This made Lilith giggle harder. "I pushed the power button!"

Skulker growled as he took her into his arms. "I suppose your cage will need to be upgraded then…so much for the hunt." He sighed and spoke to Lilith. "As soon as you're old enough Ghost-child I will be able to hunt you for entertainment."

Lilith curled up against her guardian, very content. "You're funny Skulker." She said with a smile. "I really like you."

Skulker faltered. He was not expecting that. He kept her in a cage and –he admitted to himself- that he yelled at her quite often. Yet through all of this she was still in a positive attitude, she enjoyed it. She really wasn't going to try and escape.

Skulker had a very had time trying to decide whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

To this day, he still didn't know. Lilith grinned once again at the memory. It was those little moments that made living with Skulker bearable. Because of him she was never alone.

Hello, what was this? Floating around aimlessly while she dwelt in her thoughts, she happened upon another portal that looked similar to both the Fenton's and Plasmius's. Before going in, she felt a tingling sensation surge through her body. Acting on the hunch, she tried to change forms again. Lo and behold, she was able to change.

She heaved a sigh of relief. She felt a little better now that she wasn't completely helpless, but she was still alone without a clue as to where to go. Just like before.

"Well, I guess that means it's about five in the morning." She mumbled to herself doing the math in her head and trying to keep her mind busy from bad memories. "Let's try this portal and see where it leads. Maybe it's someone I can get directions from…" she wondered out loud.

She went through the portal. What awaited her on the other side was what looked like a quickly assembled laboratory. She bristled quickly at that fact, reminded once again of her only real nightmare. It was filled with ghost hunting equipment. Lilith raised an eyebrow at this, but continued to look around, picking up a few of the devices to get a better look at them. They looked oddly familiar.

"Get out of my lab Ghost-kid!" This was a voice Lilith was not familiar with at all. She barely had time to register the man in the orange suit as she was hit by a weapon from another direction.

"Jack! Get her on the Fenton table!" Said a female voice that Lilith identified with a woman in a blue suit.

"Fenton, that's dad's…" Lilith wasn't able to finish her thought as in a flash she lay on the table, stuck there due to restraints on her wrists and ankles.

"Look Maddie, we got one! I told you we weren't lost!"

The woman sighed deeply. "Jack, we've been driving around the world for fifteen years now and somehow we've managed to miss every single major city that could get us back home. Sam sounded really urgent in that last message…"

"Ah, we'll worry about that later Maddie, let's tear apart the ghost now! Molecule by molecule." Jack finished as content as he would be with fudge.

Lilith didn't know if she liked where this was going. "Um, if it wouldn't be too much trouble I'm actually lost myself."

"Of course you're lost, sweetie." Maddie said with unusual care when talking with a ghost. "You just have to take your time finding out how to move on. I'm sure you'll get your unfinished business done someday, but for now, we're going to experiment on you so we can see what makes you tick."

Lilith knew she didn't like that laser that Jack was holding. "I try to go to school like a good kid and I get captured by crazy scientists, who are probably my grandparents by the sounds of it." Lilith thought this was rather ironic.

"Can we talk about this?" Lilith asked nervously, struggling with the bonds. "I mean, these experiments aren't painful are they? And…and I'm pretty sure my data won't be consistent with all ghosts…" She tried her hardest to make up an excuse.

"Oh nonsense," Maddie said dismissively. "We never worry about things like that and why wouldn't it be the same for all ghosts? It's not like your part human or something like that. That's just silly."

"Although…I remember Danny tried to ask us about that once…" Jack thought retrospectively.

"Now, this won't hurt too much. Just think about something nice, or whatever you ghosts think about. It's at times like this I miss Jazz, she was always so good at getting inside at what a ghost is thinking about…" Maddie reminisced. "Say 'ah'."

Lilith instead gave off an 'eep' sound. "Please, I'm looking for your portal. I just want to get back home." She shut her eyes, preparing for the pain. But soon she began to feel nostalgia as nothing happened.

"How do you know so much? Answer me Ghost-kid!" Jack blurted, an ecot-energy gun pointed at her. A very big gun.

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "Now that I think about it, that symbol on your uniform is the same as Danny Phantom's. What's your connection to him, and why are you all the way out here? He haunts Amity Park."

"Yeah." Jack said. "We haven't seen him since he showed up at Danny and Sam's wedding!"

"I do live near Amity Park. Like I said, I got really lost in the Ghost Zone and I found your portal." Lilith supplied on the dime. "Danny Phantom's my dad." She said truthfully. "Dad apparently never told them about his powers. That must have been horrible." She sympathized.

"Ghosts can reproduce!" Maddie exclaimed. The poor woman was in a terrible state of shock. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know. I'm living proof and I really don't understand myself." Lilith said, hoping they wouldn't catch her slip up use of the word 'living'. She might as well play along. She may not be living proof herself, but Box Lunch was certainly dead proof.

"So, who's the lucky girl then?" Jack winked.

"You do realize you're talking about my mother." Lilith said dryly, a bit freaked out.

"Maybe they reproduce asexually…" Maddie continued to ponder the mystery.

"I definitely have a mother, Mrs. Fenton. Trust me on that."

"Why should we trust you?" Jack hoisted the gun back to a more comfortable position for him and a more deadly position for Lilith.

"Maybe because you're the ones who have me tied down and I haven't done anything to harm you at all?" She tried.

Maddie sighed. "I suppose so, but I want you to promise me a sample of your ectoplasm before we let you go."

Lilith smiled. "I think I can do that as long as it's nothing too painful."

"Aw…but Maddie, I don't want to let the ghost go…" Jack whined.

"Have a cookie, Jack." Maddie offered, giving him the said cookie. Jack ate it in delight. Next she released Lilith from her restraints.

"Thank you." Lilith said, still sitting on the table.

"Not a problem. Normally I wouldn't let you go, but seeing as how we're on the road, we really can't afford to take on any more passengers if you know what I mean. And even I have to admit that your father wasn't too bad of a ghost comparatively. Now for the sample." It wasn't too painful, only the initial cut stung a bit, but she'd had worse before. After Maddie was done with collecting a good sized sample Lilith floated above them ready to go.

"One last question, which was is it to Amity Park?" She asked a bit embarrassed.

"If you start flying west, that might be your best bet." Maddie told her. "We'll see you again….err, what is your name?"

Lilith blushed. "Well, you can call me Lily." She told her grandparents, though they were unaware. "Lily Phantom, but just Lily is fine." She said. After saying so, she flew out as quickly as she could. School started in two and a half hours and her friends probably had questions.

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"Skulker, I should have known." Danny grumbled. Box Lunch was lying in a relaxed position on the single bed while Danny paced around. The teenage ghost was filling Danny in on everything that Lilith hadn't told him. Vlad had left them a while ago to go do whatever evil billionaires did in their spare time. Besides annoying their captives, that is.

Exactly what she hadn't told him was how she managed to evade Plasmius for so long and how she survived in the Ghost Zone. "That's just like him." Danny continued. "You ghosts have one track minds, you know. No offence."

"None taken." She responded, examining her fingernails. "Skulker didn't do a half bad job raising her you know, but he'll never admit it the jerk. He obviously had help and I kept her sane, but if I have kids, I'm not going to him for babysitting services."

Danny rested an arm on one of the cell bars, looking out into the laboratory. "That's probably just as well. It kept his obsession with my pelt at bay for a while, as long as he never hurt her. I still don't like the thought that he had her for all these years…"

"No. He's still obsessed with your pelt. Has the whole area above the fireplace reserved just for you." She said as if announcing that a contestant had just won a prize on a game show.

"Great." Danny said sarcastically, resting his body weight against the bars. "Lily said something about playing 'hide and seek' a lot. I can only image what she meant by that." He said in deep worry.

"You don't really wanna know." Box Lunch reclined back again.

"But Skulker'd never hurt her." Box Lunch continued seriously after a moment of silence. "Neither will any of the other ghosts. They're too attached. That's what happens when you live with us for ten years, she became a huge chunk of our lives. Good thing for me, otherwise I would have ended up just like my parents had I not met Lily."

"I know." Danny reminisced to the only time he'd ever met Box Lunch. "You know, once I think back on it Clockwork must have known we'd meet like this. He probably asked you to come after me on purpose. That'd be just like him." Danny said in a resigned tone.

"Was that his name?" Box Lunch asked. "He never told me. When we were smaller, especially right after we met, Lily was always going on about a ghost named Clockwork. Said she met him or something."

"She knows Clockwork?" Danny knew he shouldn't be surprised, but he was.

"Everyone told her she was crazy. Finally she just gave up on it, figured it was a figment of her imagination or something. Are you saying he's the same ghost that brought me to fight you?" She finished.

Danny nodded. "If it weren't for Clockwork, my life would have been a whole lot worse and Lily definitely wouldn't have existed. I used to go to him for advice when I felt I really needed it, but I haven't seen him for a long time." Danny chuckled. "Last time I saw him I asked for his opinion on what stone I should get for Sam's engagement ring."

"Did he give you his advice?"

"He told me to trust Tucker's opinion. That's the first time I ever doubted his advice." He joked.

Box Lunch gave a quick 'ha' as a laugh. "That's like asking Youngblood's opinion on cookies. He loves all of them."

"Really? He and my dad have something in common. That's scary."

"He'll probably hate the fact that he has something in common with an adult. I'll tell him as soon as he comes back." She reassured herself happily as now she had something to annoy the child ghost with.

"Where'd he go?" Danny asked in conversation, sitting down on the floor.

Box Lunch's eyes flashed angrily. "He left yesterday after he found out Lily had been kidnapped. He didn't leave because he didn't want to rescue her, he left because he was scared to hang out with me alone."

"Let me guess, he'll pay when you dish out your 'empty calories of doom'." Danny said wryly.

"Oh, please." Box Lunch defended, sitting up slightly. "I'm trying to get away from acting like my parents. You should be grateful. Besides, I was only eight!"

Danny just laughed.

Box Lunch scowled. "Like you never acted like your parents before."

Danny stopped laughing and grimaced. "More than I'd like."

The two were silenced as they heard the door to the lab open and close. Box Lunch smiled wickedly. "Beware, the fruit-loop of doom approaches…"

"Remind me never to trap you in the Fenton thermos."

"It has been duly noted." She agreed, not knowing what in the world he was talking about. It sounded like a nice gesture though. Vlad gave them both an odd look as they burst out laughing for no apparent reason.

"And he accuses me of being crazy." Vlad pondered bitterly.

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Lilith was extremely tired by the time she arrived at Casper High. She'd been flying non-stop since she had left her grandparents somewhere in Europe, promising to come back and visit for more tests.

The good news was that she had arrived just on time. It was 8:30 am. The school bell rang as Lilith entered the large double doors in the front of the school. She lethargically meandered to Mr. Lancer's room and opened the door with a very, very tired look on her face.

"Miss Manson, it's nice of you to join us." Mr. Lancer said out loud. Lilith was too sleepy to notice the astonished looks on the faces of Ted, Stacy and Ami. Cam had gym this period. "The bell rang a good two minutes ago."

"Sorry Mr. Lancer. I didn't get much sleep last night." She responded robotically as she walked to her desk.

Mr. Lancer frowned. "I would recommend you go see a doctor about that. Your father had the same problem when he was your age. It might be something in the genetics in your family."

"You bet it's in the genetics." Lilith thought before propping up her head with her hand, trying very hard to pay attention.

As Mr. Lancer continued again with the lesson for the day, Ted turned around with wide eyes. "What happened to you?" He whispered. "Jazz said you got kidnapped by your family's personal stalker."

"That's one way to put it." Lilith said, yawning. "I'll explain everything at lunch. I've got a lot on my mind and my shoulders, but right now I just need some sleep." Her eyes drooped slightly.

Ted raised an eyebrow but dropped the subject and turned around before Mr. Lancer could yell at them.

Lunchtime

"Well, that sucks."

"Thanks Stacy, I couldn't have summed it up better myself." Lilith said her head on the lunch table as she had just finished telling the others about her little adventure. She clonked out on the table and tried to fall asleep…again.

Ami smacked her in the back of the head. "Stop falling asleep Lily. You're starting to become sarcastic. That's my job."

"I can't help it." She mumbled helplessly.

"So what do we do now? We've basically got until the field trip to figure out a plan of action." Ted concluded.

"Let's start with what we're up against." Cam took charge. "We're got a billionaire with ghost powers obsessed with getting Lily and her dad to join him and he has captives." He took out a large piece of construction paper and began to draw on it.

"Cam!" Stacy yelled. "That's our Health Sciences project! You can't use that!"

Ted took a peak at what his friend was drawing. "Why am I not surprised you're using X's and O's to make a battle plan?"

Ami rolled her eyes. "We know what we're up against. What do we have at our disposal? One: the arsenal in the Fenton's basement."

"Two: Me." Lilith added, still slumped tiredly on the lunch table. She didn't have enough energy to contribute too much or insist that she had to do this herself as to not put her friends in danger. Not only was that cliché, but Lilith was too tired to care. She wouldn't have gotten anywhere with it anyway.

"Do we have a third?" Ami asked.

"Valerie?" Ted suggested.

"No." Lilith responded immediately. "Not unless you want me dead."

"Maybe Jazz will have something helpful. She's fought him before." Stacy said with the first real useful idea of the day.

The Counselor's Office- after School

"Aunt Jazz…you can stop hugging me now. I still have to breathe." Lilith choked. This near death experience had woken her up considerably.

"I can't believe you're here! I thought for sure I'd lost you again!" Jazz rambled. "I can't believe he let you go!" She said, pulling away.

"Only so he can soak in the time he has on top. We've got until the field trip in April. If we can't think of anything I may have to take him up on his offer…" Lilith said sadly and a bit desperately.

"Don't you ever think that." Jazz scolded. "We won't let Vlad get what he wants. Put on a brave face, but also don't be afraid to call for help. We're all here for you."

"She's right, you know." Ted interjected.

"Those New York Ghostbusters ain't got anything on us." Ami told them reassuringly. "Trust me." She ended a bit wickedly. If she would have had a gun with her, she would have cocked it at this point.

"All anyone needs is a little motivation and encouragement." Cam said. "It's worked for me, it'll work for you."

"I'll try the best I can to train you in some of the weapons, but I'm afraid I wasn't really the ghost hunter of the family." Jazz admitted. "I definitely need to introduce you to the Fenton Peeler."

Lilith nodded. "Vlad won't even know what hit him and then everybody can be back together again." She was feeling a lot more optimistic now.

"Besides," Stacy said blissfully unaware. "What could go wrong?"

The rest of the group paled. They had a lot of work to do.

A/N: Not the greatest chapter. I don't really like the last half of it…probably because I'm starting to get annoyed with my own original characters…and that's really sad. I'm actually having to do more plot-orientated things with them now, it makes them too cliché and I don't like it.

I dunno, I still really like the part with Jack and Maddie. More of those two to come. That sample of ectoplasm comes in handy later in the epilogue. And Danny's stuck in a cage with Box Lunch. What have I done!

The flashback started with just Lilith following Skulker out and it turned into the monster you read. I didn't even mean it to be that long. It just kinda happened. Although granted, the past scenes are my favorite parts to write. This fic started out as just a bunch of scenes like that, only not quite that elaborate.

The good news: Chapter 13 is done!

The bad/good news: It's not the last chapter!

Its two scenes…I have to write two more really, super big scenes as chapter 14 and then I can write the epilogue. ...I really want to write the epilogue…

A huge thank you to all eight of my reviewers for last chapter! To: Meagaisttheworld, hermie-the-frog, dessyweird51, Rishi-Rishi, katiesparks, DP fan, and Sleep Warrior.

You guys totally broke the record for reviews per chapter! I really hang on to what you guys say, so once again, comments and critiques are always good! They motivate me to write better and to edit to make this fic the best that I can. I can't make this better without a good critique, that's just how writing works.

Later.

-Unrealistic :-)