Chapter 14

Hello, and Merry Christmas to you all. My deepest apologies that this is out a month late. I've been sick with bronchitis and even a little bit of pneumonia. Top that off with finals and every other little thing I have to do. Now that I'm home, I finally had the chance to sit and type for a while. I even got to update this on a Thursday for you. So, this may not be the best chapter I've ever written, but I hope that it is a satisfying ending to the saga.

:-):-)

Sam:(About giving Valerie the day off) You're not half bad, Danny, maybe someday Valerie will realize that the other half isn't either?
Danny: I didn't say it was Valerie.
Sam: You didn't say it wasn't. Relax, I'm sure wherever she is, she's finally enjoying herself. (Scene changes to Valerie chasing The Box Ghost on her jet sled)

:-):-)

"Dad!" Lilith yelled in surprise. Vlad dropped him to the floor roughly as Lilith did the same for the Plasmius Maximus, forgetting about it as she knelt down next to him. Her eyes were wide in fear and worry. Vlad casually picked up the device and used it on the teenage girl.

She yelped in pain and because of its effect she turned to her own human form. "It was a noble try my dear." He congratulated, trying to sound sad but soon turned back to his agenda. "It is time to ask one more time Daniel." Lilith watched her last hope disappear as he destroyed his own device so that it could not be used against him.

"Dad…I'm so sorry…I messed up big time…" Lilith cried. She allowed the tears to flow freely. In the past year she'd had plenty of reasons to cry, but had rarely done so merely by force of habit.

Danny groaned. "It's not your fault…" He reassured her with a smile. "There's always a way to get out. Always." He was weakened from both the shock and the fight. Even if he'd had his ghost powers at the moment it was doubtful he would have been able to use them to their full capabilities. "I guess I wasn't as strong as I thought. Dormant powers tend to backfire on you I guess…" He said, barely keeping himself awake.

"I expect a 'yes' from both of you and as a show of good faith I won't kill any of your friends." Plasmius warned, interrupting the moment.

"And as for you two." He turned to the two ghosts who had both been watching the fight up until now. Skulker had an unreadable expression on his face while Box Lunch was still in pain, but looking very worried. "I'm very disappointed in your behavior. I trust it will be better from now on."

"Don't count on it." Box Lunch said under her breath in disgust. Skulker, used to being the underling, gave her a sharp jab in the side where she was still hurting but continued to keep a firm hold on her. "Ouch, what'd you do that for?!" She said, venting out her anger to the wrong being.

Vlad ignored them both for the time being. He knelt down beside Lilith, who was still sobbing yet trying to gain control over the tears. Danny hadn't gotten off of his back. He was in pain, and not just physically.

"It's over, Daniel. How about it, son? What will you do now?"

Danny visibly winced at the tone, but probably much more so from Vlad's favorite names to call him. He saw Lilith had still not stopped crying and took her hand in his. She squeezed it tight and derived a bit of courage from it.

He gave a deep sigh, as if swallowing his pride. "I…" He started, but couldn't seem to finish.

"Dad, please…" Lilith begged. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault…if only I had trained harder or listened to Skulker in the first place…he wouldn't be doing this if it weren't because of me!" The guilt she felt was almost unbearable as she tried to come up with every possible avenue this adventure could have gone down and ended somewhat happily. Just not like this…

"Remember Daniel, all of this energy has to go somewhere...I hate to do this to you, but I've been more than patient. I've waited for over forty years to get my revenge on Jack. Taking you as my son is the first step, making the legacy of the half-ghost mine. Then, when I find out where your idiot father is, I'll finally kill him and wed your mother, just as I had planned from the beginning. Your resistance was cute while it lasted, but I'm done waiting. I want you to tell me what I've wanted to hear." He monologued darkly.

Danny closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Okay. If that's what you really want, I guess I have no choice."

"You always have a choice dad…" Lilith reminded him. Danny looked at her with a gentle smile, as if to communicate his thanks.

Lilith helped him stay steady as he slowly sat up; still in pain he managed to look Vlad in the eyes. This was something that only could be done now, with all of his experience throughout the years. Even as he sat in defeat, his confidence did not waver.

"I want to let you know, Vlad that I'll never be what you want me to be, no matter how things turn out today." Danny said seriously. "For now you can have what you want, but if you do anything to ever harm my family again-including my real dad-I might just kill you."

Vlad sighed. "Very well fair enough I suppose. I'll just have to rearrange some details and have Jack sent off to prison or a mental institution or something, in the most painful way of course. I'll find a way to null the marriage contract somehow." He said almost offhand. "Now, I believe there is something you want to tell me?"

Danny glared. "I'll join you." He said curtly with no emotion whatsoever.

"You'll join who?" Vlad said enjoying the moment he'd waited for so very long to have.

The room was dead silent during the exchange. The tension could be felt in the air. For Lilith and Danny this moment meant the end of their only hope of true freedom. For Skulker, Box Lunch and all the other ghosts, it meant there was a new king, if only in a round-about way. Plasmius was powerful enough and now free to do whatever he wanted now.

For the time being the two ghosts forgot their hostilities toward one another. Box Lunch looked like she was on the verge of crying. Not for herself, she had never done that, but for her best friend's fate. Skulker was distressed also, but for different reasons. He hid it well.

"Yes…fa-" Danny was never able to finish the otherwise dooming phrase.

In the doorway, standing on top of the poor kicked down door, was Valerie Grey. She saw Danny for the first time in over fifteen years with Plasmius standing over him menacingly. As was per Valerie's character and due to her lack of accurate knowledge on the situation as a whole, she came to the wrong conclusion.

Skulker, knowing trouble when he saw it, grabbed Box Lunch by her overalls and phased them both through to another room before Valerie could spot them. The younger ghost had no complaints. She'd heard things about this ghost hunter…

It took Valerie only a moment to asses the situation and make a deduction. She narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to give you five seconds to get off Fenton, ghost. Otherwise I will destroy you, but not before I cause you so much pain, you'll be begging for mercy…"

"Valerie…" Danny's face had a flood of emotions at once, most of which Lilith could not discern. He then laughed a bit and Lilith noted to ask him about it later. Valerie had saved them in ways she couldn't possibly have imagined.

"Ms Grey I presume?" Vlad said, trying to keep his cool.

"That's right Ghost, I take it you've heard of my reputation." Valerie said ego thoroughly inflated now, though she didn't let it get to her.

Vlad sighed heavily. As he did Sam and Tucker, who had trailed Valerie the entire time, finally caught up to her with heavy breaths. Sam was the first to see Danny and Lilith on the floor.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker cried at the same time mostly influenced by habit, both rushing forward past Valerie. "Lilith!" Sam continued when she saw her daughter there too. She attempted to get through to both of them, but there was the tiny issue of Vlad Plasmius in her way.

"Well, this certainly makes things much easier for me. I'm sorry Samantha, but I'm not finished talking with your husband and daughter yet. You'll have them back as soon as I'm done. As for the rest of you, this has been fun, but the day is mine!"

"Mom!" Lilith tried to run out, but Danny grabbed and pulled her back despite him still being in much pain. There was nothing they could do at the moment. That, and Danny had decided long ago that any suicidal rescue missions would be his job.

Thankfully everyone dodged the first ecto-blast that was sent their way. Valerie began to fight back. Sam was finally able to get through to the rest of her family. Tucker came up behind her not long after.

"What happened to you guys?" Tucker asked as he helped Danny stand up.

Danny clenched his side. "The Plasmius Maximus is what happened. We can't go ghost for another twelve hours. Lucky you guys came; I was this close to having to join him." He stopped to catch his breath, talking and standing wasn't coming easy for him. "We're in between a rock and a hard place guys." He explained the situation in a nutshell.

Sam was helping Lilith stand up next to her. They exchanged a hug. "I'm just glad you're both okay. There's got to be a way out of here."

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Lilith said. "I've been making a lot of mistakes lately and they've gotten everyone into trouble."

"It's not your fault, Lilith." Danny said. "You did the same thing I would have done if I were in your situation. No one is blaming you."

"Except that I blame myself. People are hurt because of me!" She insisted.

"You're giving yourself too much credit, Lilith. This has been going on since way before you were born. It's not your fault." Sam scolded. "You'll be safe now; you're not alone in this."

Sam couldn't have imagined the kind of impact those words would have on her daughter. She embraced her mother tighter. "Thanks."

Though Valerie had not asked for help, nor would she ever ask as the threesome knew, the fact still remained she needed it. The battle between her and Plasmius had barely begun and she was already losing. Badly.

Tucker found the ectoplasmic rope Vlad had made earlier. He threw a look to Danny, who grinned in return. It was time to do some old school fighting back.

"Hey Plasmius, catch!" Danny called as he launched the rope like a lasso. It hit the target and both men pulled on it hard.

The moment of relief was short lived as Plasmius broke out of the weak restraints, forcing them to dissipate. "Your attempts are futile Daniel, give up now." Even as he said this, he was hit from behind by Valerie.

"You're talking too much Ghost. You might as well be the one to give up." She added.

"I've had enough of playing games." Plasmius said in a dangerous voice. He split himself four ways. The first quickly took Valerie down, leaving her too weak to get up. The second grabbed hold of Tucker and then Sam, leaving Danny and Lilith to only watch. The third held on to Lilith and the final original fired a single ecto-blast in Danny's direction.

Danny was so concerned and preoccupied with what was happening to his friends and family that he didn't even see it coming. He was down with a massive burn in his side, too painful to move, yet too painful to stay still. He heard several people cry out his name, but delirium gave way and could not place a voice to a face or name.

"Now," Plasmius began. "Please, by all means, finish what you were saying before we were rudely interrupted." Vlad's patience was wearing thin, as he had said earlier.

But Danny didn't have the will to speak. Yet, he didn't even need to. In his ghost form, Vlad felt an irresistible pull he could not escape. "No." He said in disbelief as he looked behind him. "Not now, not when I've finally won!"

Lilith smiled as the duplicate disappeared and she dropped to the ground. "It's not over until the thermos is capped." She said smiling as she saw what was happening.

Or in this case the vacuum.

"The Wisconsin Ghost has been detained; backup is requested still to stand by for assistance to wounded." Said the first man in the white suit through his communicator.

"Chill dad, why don't you give Mr. Fenton the vacuum? He'll probably want to deal with the ghost himself." Ami said, popping up beside the Guy in White. She sent Lilith a wink. The man with a shaved head looked down at his daughter, looking much more innocent than normal and sighed.

The other people in the room stared in complete shock about what was happening. Danny fell onto his back. He was exhausted and was glad to get some rest at last. It seemed to all be finally over.

"Normally we'd take the ghost into custody, but we'd like your opinion Mr. Fenton." Said Ami's dad. "He's been after your family for a long time. What do you want to do with him?"

Danny sent a look in Sam's direction, then Tucker's. He smiled. "I think if you leave him with me I can work out something." He said a bit evilly, a sharp pain in his side reminding him he shouldn't be doing anything at the moment.

The agent left the vacuum in their care, but turned and spoke before leaving. "Speaking of which, any of you know your way around the computers here? We're having some trouble locating a password and bypassing the other security measures."

Tucker stood up. "Sounds like I'm on duty. I'll catch you guys later." On his way out he helped Valerie stand up. She gave him a look of thanks as Ami's dad also helped her up and out the door. In the meantime, Ami pushed the rest of the next generation friends out of the room to give the reunited family some well-deserved time alone.

It was an odd sight. Danny; laying on his back and in severe pain, Sam; sitting down on the floor next to him and Lilith; kneeling next to her dad and holding onto the vacuum with Vlad Plasmius inside.

"You know…" Sam started. "It kind of seems anti-climatic to end this way. Weren't you all ready to 'take care of him myself'?"

Danny laughed weakly. "You know, for all the talk, for all the bravado and for all the personal vendetta, in the end, I really don't care. It's over Sam. It's over." He continued to laugh, but stopped when his side hurt from it. "And I think it's funny. I really do."

Lilith looked down at the vacuum containment unit in silent thought. Sam smiled. "So, what do you think we should do with the stalker?"

Sam smiled. "We could give him a taste of his own inventions. Lock him up in the stasis pods. See how he likes waking up ten years later." She suggested with a bit of anger in her voice.

Without waiting for further instructions or hints, Lilith took the container and placed it in one of the pods. She then closed it with a resounding hiss. She sighed, mostly in relief. Here her family was together, safe for the first time ever.

But perhaps, not completely.

"No. No, you are not going in there Tin-head! You leave them alone!" Box Lunch's distinct voice came from just beyond the wall. There was a moment of lowered voices speaking, then her voice came through loud and clear again. "I am not going home! Not after all of this! You can't just sit here and…what do you mean he gives you boxes?!"

"Oh no." Lilith said with an aura of heaviness. After the ending of one problem soon came the one she was dreading more. She stood up slowly as Skulker phased through the wall, her best friend notably not with him. Sam instinctively stood up as well. In horrid realization, Lilith remembered that her mother didn't know where she had been for the last ten years.

Danny leaned over on his side, an almost comical expression on his face. He gave off a mock laugh. "Wait, don't tell me. You're here to get my pelt while I'm down and out?"

"If you even try it I'll kick your tiny green tush right where it belongs." Sam threatened.

"Oh please. You can't stop insulting me for just one evening when I'm trying to help you?" Skulker asked, incensed.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Neither can you apparently. That was some wake-up call you gave me earlier." He said, stalling for time.

"But very enjoyable for me. You don't know how much I missed causing you pain." He said almost gleefully.

Danny sighed. "I love this conversation already." He said sarcastically.

Skulker powered up an arm gun as Lilith watched more or less on the sidelines. "Now my job is done. Although it would be beneath me to hunt you in your current state, I'm going to take you back to my lair. All of you." He said pointedly. "Just like I should have done in the first place all those years ago instead of listening to you ranting off about gorillas and what not." Lilith was confused as to why he glanced at her mother as he said that. "Then once you have recovered, I will hunt you down for your pelt."

"On your island, in a rigged scenario I'm sure." Danny glared.

"You wound me Half-ghost. I would never do such a thing. It would merely be…in my favor." Skulker said thoughtfully with an evil-intended smile.

He began to advance on the group. Sam looked around frantically, purposefully ignoring the comment she had made back as a teenager that may or may not have been directed at a certain purple-back gorilla. Lilith was panicking. Out of all of them, Danny, the one in the most danger, seemed to be the least concerned.

Lilith had a decision to make in a split second. Between two families. One she had never known until just recently. Gathering up all the strength she had inside of her, she made a decision to act.

"Skulker, stop it!" She pleaded, getting in between them. Time seemed to stop for a brief moment as Lilith considered what she would say next. She needed that extra moment.

"Please." She added softly as she saw her guardian's eyes grow wide. "You have so much more time to hunt. Does it really have to be now? So soon?" She said, playing on his logic.

"What other time would you have me do it? I agree with Plasmius on the one issue that I've waited far, far too long to let opportunities like this go to waste. Now step aside Ghost-child." He demanded. He tried to walk around her, but she met his stride. "Okay, now this is getting annoying."

"There will be other places and other times. I've learned to be patient, incredibly patient all of these years. I just wanted to be with my family without having to worry about having our lives in danger." She stated.

"You know me probably better than anyone Ghost-child, I won't let this pass."

"And you know me better than anyone else! You know this is all I've ever wanted…Please."

A dozen thoughts floated through everyone's heads. A few less passed through Danny's head as he'd had time to examine the situation …and things generally didn't go through his brain that well in the first place as Tucker would tease. Sam had to voice her thoughts though.

"Uh, what's going on here? I suddenly feel like there's something really big that I'm missing out on completely."

Danny shrugged, but his nonchalance earned him an extra burst of pain in his side. "Oh, nothing to big. Just that Mr. Hunter here decided to be generous for once in his life and somehow managed to raise our daughter."

"He WHAT?!" Sam exclaimed in surprise, wearing a look of astonishment.

"And there's nothing you could have done about it woman, so don't go karate on me again." Skulker said without much feeling.

"I know. I was just as surprised as you were. Although I should probably take back what I said about you being a horrible mother." Danny admitted, trying to break the seriousness of the situation.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Now that's just karma Danny. Nice work."

"You're blaming me?!" He said incredulously.

Lilith sighed heavily and turned back to her argument. "Please don't Skulker. I'll go back with you, but leave my parents alone."

"Didn't we just talk about this before you left? I told you I won't settle for anything less."

"Let's just go home and we'll talk about it there. You're already dead; impatience is not going to kill you. Let Dad recover in peace." She reasoned desperately.

Skulker seemed to think it over. "You'll be back home within the hour. If not I'll carry through with my original plan. You've found your parents. That is what you wanted. Now say good-bye… for now." Saying this he activated his jet packs and flew off.

When he was gone, Lilith turned slowly to face her parents. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

"This is the first time we've ever been together as a family." Sam said, stating the obvious. "We can't get separated now! An hour is plenty of time to plan out a strategy. We'll be prepared when he comes back and we'll stick him in the Fenton thermos." Sam persisted.

Lilith shook her head. "I have to. I've been living there almost my whole life. I'm not going to turn my back on it so fast. I owe him for taking care of me."

"You don't owe him your life." Sam said, crouching to her daughter's eye level. "I'm your mother. You belong here, with me and Danny."

"But I…" She protested.

"Sam…" Danny said gently, causing the two to turn their heads towards him. "Let her go. She has to do what she feels she has to do. She's gotten along without us for a long time. She's old enough to make her own decisions."

"I'm sorry mom." She said with a hug. "I don't know if I'll be coming back. I've wanted so long to know you both. I'm just glad I got this chance to see you as you both really are."

Danny struggled to sit up, but gave her a hug as she walked over to him. "Be careful. Be safe." He said softly.

With one final look Lilith exited the door. Upon leaving the room, she ran down towards the lab with the ghost portal, almost in tears.

Sam sighed heavily, kneeling beside Danny. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

"It's not fair Danny. It never has been. It seems like we can't ever be happy." Sam said in a depressed tone.

"Hey, at least we're all alive and well. After all that's happened I'm glad to have you back. And besides, Lilith seems to know what she's doing." Danny responded, caressing Sam's face.

She took his hand in hers. "You're right…which is unusual." She said teasingly.

Danny looked offended. "What do you mean 'unusual'?"

Sam laughed. "Come on. Let's go downstairs. We'll get you treated." She helped him stand and leaning on Sam, he limped down the stairs.

Coming down the stairs Danny was met with an odd sight. The majority of their freshman class was hustling around in the main entryway.

"Was there a class reunion that I wasn't told about?" Danny asked, blinking innocently.

"Fenton?! You're alive?!" Dash exclaimed, rushing up to his former punching bag. Proving he was just as strong as he was in high school, the bulkier man lifted Danny up by his shirt collar. Danny had the face of his nervous and unsure fourteen year old self.

"Uh, of course I'm alive Dash." Danny said pathetically. "Why would I be dead? I mean, it's not like you thought I was a ghost or something. Hehe…" He laughed weakly.

"Haha, that's a good one Fenton." Dash laughed about just as weakly. "Thought you've been haunting me for all the stupid stuff I did to you in high school. Good thing you're NOT a ghost." Both men laughed at the idea. But neither could take it. Dash freaked out, realizing that the person he was holding might be a figment of his imagination. Danny freaked out due to his almost revealed secret. They both screamed and separated quickly, Danny falling down painfully on the floor next to Sam, who shook her head at the utter nonsense.

"Well this is the last thing I ever expected to see in my life. Former students returning from the dead." Lancer deadpanned.

"Please stop making the references to me being dead." Danny asked politely, with a bit of a nervous edge with a touch of exasperation to it. Sam helped him to sit on the steps at the same time.

"In any case, it's good to see you again Mr. Fenton, even if it is under somewhat odd circumstances…involving ghosts." He said suspiciously.

Danny's eyes widened under his former teacher's scrutiny. He didn't have time to come up with a good response. "Wow Danny, you've grown up." Paulina said off to his side, in her analyzing way. Danny blinked. Had Paulina just…? He looked at Sam. She was infuriated. His unsaid question answered, he sighed heavily.

"Hey, do you two know where Vlad Masters is? He should probably know that there are ghosts in his mansion." Kwan interrupted, saving Paulina from quite certain death.

Danny laughed. "Sorry to say, I don't think he's going to be able to come and talk to anyone. He's sleeping right now, and he might be sick. He said that no one should see him otherwise they might catch whatever he has. Doctors are coming in later to check on him. And… I wouldn't worry about the ghosts. I think he knows."

Kwan looked a bit skeptical, but took Danny's word for it. Paulina sighed sadly. "There was a ghost, but Danny Phantom didn't come to save me…." She said depressingly. "Maybe he really is gone…So much for my great news story." She pouted.

The main door to the mansion opened again. Jazz re-entered after having just gotten done talking with the Guys in White. Ami's dad had been more than generous due to his daughter's insistence. "Great news everyone, it's stopped raining! And the tow truck is here too."

Those who had arrived then left. Stacy said a good-bye to her aunt as Star hitched a ride with Kwan back to town, while Paulina and Mikey got the news crew back on the road to the studio. They were replaced inside by the four kids.

"Well, after all the excitement tonight, I'm ready for bed. " Lancer declared. "Same with all of you." He said pointedly at the kids, with faces of innocence. "Speaking of which…where is Lilith?"

"Nothing…bad happened to her…did it?" Stacy asked hesitantly, biting her nails.

"She…went back to the place she was living for a while." Danny filled in. "Its close by here."

"Oh no…She'll be coming back right?" Ted asked in worry. He was the first to catch on, as he had actually been there before.

"She just has some last minute things to take care of. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Sam said, mostly reassuring herself.

:-):-)

Lilith didn't feel the same coming home this time. She would always feel safe and natural coming here, but this time something felt wrong. Something felt off.

She shook these feelings off. "This is home!" She convinced herself as she walked briskly into the lair before she could have second thoughts.

Skulker was standing outside of her room with a stern look on his face. The door was open, inviting her inside. He had a metal cuff link in his hand. She gulped, as she recognized the device as similar to a tracking collar he'd put on Cujo for that year. She suddenly felt like that prized piece in the collection he insisted she was and wondered if that was his desired effect. Putting the memories aside, she went and sat down on her bed. Skulker noticed the depressed and confused look on her face.

"Well, one thing can be said about you Ghost-child; you're fiercely loyal." He said, leaving the door open and coming inside. He gave her an affectionate pat on the head, as he often had when she was younger. "But somehow, you're loyal to everyone." He said in annoyance.

"I know you're not happy with what happened, but I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. I'm not going to apologize for it." She said, not looking at him.

"I thought not. Do you know the reason why I agreed to your suggestion?" He asked sternly.

Lilith sighed heavily. "Just put the collar on me and be done with it. I don't like the suspense. Besides, it's late and I'd like to go to bed." She said stiffly. She tensed after she was done speaking and closed her eyes in anticipation.

Skulker looked at her in confusion, then back at the collar. "I was going to say I brought you in here to move your belongings. If you're going to live with your parents then its best you take some of this with you. I thought you'd want the collar as sort of a souvenir. I surely don't need all of this stuff."

Lilith was in a state of shock. "You…you're letting me go…?" The notion was almost unheard of to her. "You can't do that!" She said, still in denial.

"I came to a realization back at the mansion. When I found you I captured you too quickly. You were four years old; you didn't even put up a real fight. These events that have taken place have proven to me that you are now worthy for me to truly hunt. I keep telling you that's why I took you in."

"But…you're letting me go? That doesn't make any sense! You hunt me all the time over the island!" She said, completely flabbergasted that this was happening.

"No Ghost-child. That was merely practice. You were already my prisoner all of those times. We both knew the outcome before the day was done." Skulker explained.

Lilith still didn't believe what she was hearing. "No. You can't. This is my home. I met my parents. I helped save them. But that's not home."

"And it will be still." Skulker reassured her. "As soon as I hunt and capture you in the real world. Although if you don't put up much of a fight, I'll just keep sending you back until I am satisfied. I've trained you for better than that."

Lilith was speechless. "But what about my dad?" She asked for lack of anything else to ask.

"As I have always said, his pelt will adorn the top of my fireplace. Absolutely nothing has changed, except for the setting of the hunt. Although," He said in afterthought, "Don't take too much. With my superior skills you'll be back in here before you even know it."

Lilith's astonished face slowly shifted into a twitched smile. Even though this latest news had been a shock to her, everything was going right. There was no real fight over where she would live. Her parents were free and alive. She had friends in both worlds. She felt as if nothing could ever go wrong.

She got up and a bit reluctantly started packing a bag of clothes and personal items. "Are you absolutely sure about this?" She asked again.

"Yes I'm sure!" Skulker yelled. "Now get out of here before I do change my mind and put your pelt at the foot of my bed!" He pointed out the door.

But she didn't leave quite yet. She gave him a quick hug and spoke from outside the cage before he could yell at her for it. "Thank you. You may not want to admit it Skulker, but you're a good ghost. Don't change." Smiling, she ran off, leaving her guardian in between speechless and wanting to yell and defend his position.

"I would say I told you so, but then you might hunt me down or something. Wouldn't want that to happen, you're busy with the halfas as it is." Box Lunch sat on the dresser, casually filing her nails. "You just can't say no to her, can you?"

"Where do you keep coming from?!" The self-proclaimed Ghost Zone's greatest hunter yelled at the child ghost. Had his pride not been severely threatened, it would have almost been funny that this child was the only being who could ever successfully sneak up on him multiple times. He wasn't even sure if there had been a time when he knew she'd be showing up.

"I just represent your good side I guess." She proclaimed, floating down triumphantly and folding her arms across her chest. "Seriously, where would you be without me?"

"A lot better off than I am now for sure. And since when do you proclaim to be the good side. You don't even have a good side." Skulker pointed out.

Box Lunch considered this. "Hm, I suppose I don't." She quickly recovered her spunk. "But I'm here to congratulate your decision. I'm very proud of the progress I've made with you over the years."

"What in the Ghost Zone are you getting at Pest?" He asked; the face of confusion.

She sighed. "If this had happened even five years ago, there's no way you would have let her go. You did what was best for her. That's all you've ever done and I'm very proud of you for it." She explained. "It's partly thanks to my subliminal messages to your mind you know." Box Lunch said as she preened.

"'Subliminal messages'? I'd say it was more like in my face demanding sort of thing." He said with a comical look on his face. "I'll get you for all of that someday." He promised her.

"Hey, you did a great job." Box Lunch admitted. "We all have life lessons to learn and yours just happened to take a longer time than it should have. Besides, you raised Lily without even having practice with those flour sack babies." She complimented, looking pleased with herself.

It had the wrong effect on the hunter ghost. He whipped out just about all of his major artillery on his suit and aimed it at the child. "Never" He said in a very threatening voice. "Mention those flour sack children again…"

And Box Lunch decided quite wisely, for once in her existence, that she wouldn't.

The End

…or is it…?

With a thud, the ghost came out of the containment unit and into a decent sized ghost proof cell.

"Wisconsin Ghost has been securely detained. Awaiting further instructions." Agent X spoke into his communicator.

The 'Wisconsin Ghost' looked around his surroundings, most surprised. "What is the meaning of this?' He demanded.

"You have been relocated from Mr. Masters's mansion to the secondary Guys in White headquarters. While you're here, we're going to perform lots and lots of painful experiments on you. Nothing personal, you're just a hazard to society. Enjoy the accommodations." The agent said he couldn't help but smirk at the look he got out of Vlad Plasmius.

"You can't do this to me!" Vlad screamed as the agent walked away smugly. "I'll have my vengeance! I'll get out of here and sue you for all you've got!"

"Just don't go sucking any ectoplasm!" The agent added one last jab at his appearance. Vlad yelled several obscenities at this, but the agent was long gone, too late to hear his threats. Vlad was most perturbed at this.

But as he began to think his frown turned into a sly grin. "You think you're very cleaver Daniel. But you've once again proven that you can not defeat me on your own." He smirked. "Enjoy this time that you have. I'll be back sooner than you think and then your family will belong to me." He finished evilly.

But before he could plot his escape more, he felt a very chilling presence behind him. "Will you be my friend?" Frightened, Vlad turned around to see his pajama -clad cellmate.

"Oh Fudgebuckets" He said dejectedly.

A/N: Well…there you have it. The end of the main storyline. Not really my best and favorite chapter, but it makes me eager to see what you all think.

Many, many thanks to: hermie-the-frog, Meagisnttheworld, katiesparks, The Sleep Warrior, dessyweird51, BloodPhantom, DP fan and Beyonce's Angel925 for the awesome reviews last chapter! My love for your feedback knows no bounds.

There are questions left to answer. I'm still open for any questions you all may have after reading this. What happened to Jack and Maddie? What's the deal with this aging thing? How is Clockwork involved in Danny's future? How does Danny deal with work and ghost fighting? How many horrible puns can Unrealistic make with these extra scenes? All this and more in the Epilogue!

Until Next Time,

-Unrealistic :-)