GLE – Merry (belated) January 7th Christmas! That is, if you're Orthodox, like me. I hope you enjoyed your holidays and are refreshed for the new term to start. I know it's been half a year since I last updated, and there's an incredible amount of you who seem to love this story. Well, I finally made some time to work on it and this chapter, as far as I can tell, will probably end up being the longest one overall.
I know, you want to get to reading it, so I'll wrap this up. Thanks to Esme, my former roommate who beta'd the parts I wrote last summer (we've gotta hang out more this term!), and to (a somewhat reluctant) Fey, who beta'd the parts I wrote more recently when I wanted some immediate feedback as I typed away. Plus, thanks to both of them for the "character motivations" discussion that has helped me finalize my ideas for the ending of this story.
Whee! Here we go...
-(o)-
Do Superheroes Exist?
Of Being Half Ghost
"Welcome to Insight," announced a disembodied male voice as a set laden with a couch, two comfortable looking chairs, a coffee table, and four women appeared on the screen. "Discussing today's current events with Emily Marden..." the shot cut to another camera that was focused on a close up of a tall woman in her late 30's, with shoulder length chestnut hair. "... Anna Cox..." a woman with short bleached hair and a round face smiled. "...Lauren Costanza..." sitting next to Anna on the couch, a woman with tan skin and long, dark hair tied back in a ponytail. "...and Susan Benjamin!" On the chair opposite Emily, Susan had her legs crossed, and flicked a stray strand of her curly blond hair out of her eyes. The sound of the studio audience's applause could be heard as the intro music faded out.
When the clapping subsided as well, Emily cleared her throat to begin the discussion.
"Well, to start off today, I brought with me a little something that arrived in the mail this morning," she said to the others as she reached into a bag on the floor next to her chair. "I have a cousin who happens to live in Amity Park, and he sent it to me. Apparently they've had these at souvenir shops there for the past couple of months." She held up a small toy for the camera.
"A Danny Phantom action figure?" laughed Susan. "Well, that's certainly appropriate, isn't it, girls?"
There was a murmur of agreement and nodding of heads. Emily placed the gimmick on the table.
Lauren turned to face the camera and stated, "Yes. Today's first topic is the phenomenon of the ghost-human hybrid, Danny Phantom."
"From what we've been able to dig up," continued Emily. "The boy, Danny Fenton, had an accident in his parents' lab, and Danny Phantom was the result. He seems to be able to change at will from shy and quiet human, to a butt-kicking super-ghost!"
"So, Susan, you wanna start us off?" asked Anna gently.
"Sure thing," said Susan energetically, placing her coffee mug on the table. "His parents are professional ghost hunters. If we didn't have proof that ghosts exist I'd've thought they were crazy. Well, I suppose that's still up for debate. What I'm wondering is how they could let a young teen wander unsupervised into their lab full of hazardous equipment. I mean, becoming half ghost is like almost killing him, isn't it?"
"Well, he isn't dead, and from their interviews, I think his parents really do care about him," countered Emily in a friendly but competitive tone. "At least his mother does. Mr. Fenton doesn't seem very talkative. But I will give it to you that their work is dangerous. I suppose their son is just continuing the family business. He certainly seems capable of defending himself against the creatures."
"But he's just a kid!" exclaimed Susan, waving her arms for emphasis. "He shouldn't be fighting ghosts at all!"
"Yes," Anna agreed, resting her cup of tea on her lap between two steady hands. "Imagine, he's just, what? Fourteen? He's not even old enough to drive a car. And here he is, playing superhero to protect us all."
"You make it sound like it's a game to him," said Emily indignantly.
"It is a game to him – he's a kid!" affirmed Susan.
Holding her hand with her palm open towards her coworkers, Emily declared, "I think he's quite serious about this. No one would go out there and put their life on the line like that every day if they weren't serious."
Susan had no response as Emily took a quick sip of her coffee, letting both of her hands and her mug return to the armrest of her chair.
"Anna brought up an interesting point," Lauren stated picking up the conversation while uncrossing her legs and re-crossing them in the other direction. "Is he a superhero? By definition? And should he be one?"
"What's the definition of a superhero? Are we really even qualified to define one?" Susan asked. She brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face. "In any case, I don't think he should be one – it's too much responsibility for a kid to handle. He should be worrying about school and friends and stuff, not whether or not someone will be attacked by a ghost."
"He probably does worry about those things – I don't envy him for the stress he's under if that's the case," Anna remarked empathetically.
Leaning forward, Emily added, "Isn't that part of what makes him a superhero? His selflessness? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that it's typical of a superhero to struggle with living their lives while saving the day. They try to keep in balance both of their identities."
"But those identities are supposed to be secret to one another, aren't they?" pointed out Lauren. "Danny doesn't have much of a secret anymore where his identities are concerned. Can we still consider him a superhero?"
"He already has the powers," replied Emily firmly. "They are a part of who he is. If I were him I'd want to use them for the better good. But I don't know if I'd be strong enough to face death the way he does…" she finished quietly, letting her voice trail off.
Susan spoke up again. "Those same powers are potentially dangerous. He can outmatch most of the ghosts he encounters, from the reports I've seen about his battles. That's enough to terrify any student who goes to school with him. Makes me wonder if he isn't a bomb waiting to go off? They say he gets bullied, and yet he takes it even with more than enough strength to put it to an end."
"But nothing in his character suggests that he'd ever do such a thing," responded Anna carefully. "He uses his powers to protect people, not to hurt them. And he's obviously been trying to keep it all hidden from the rest of the world, successfully doing so for months until now."
"I wonder how much power he has?" Lauren speculated curiously. "We know he can fly, shoot blasts at his opponents…"
"He can pass through solid objects and become invisible," Emily included.
"No wonder no one can find him," noted Susan raising her hands and shrugging her shoulders.
"Oh, how do you think he is handling all of this?" exclaimed Anna with concern. "The poor dear."
Patting the petite blonde on her arm, Emily reassured, "Maybe we'll get a chance to interview him when he reappears?"
Half-smiling in a resigned sort of way, Susan leaned back in her chair, lifting her mug off the table at the same time. She said, "Till then we can only rely on what his friends and family are willing to tell us, which hasn't really been all that much, and on news reports and our own speculations." She took a deep sip of her drink, and the other three followed suit, nodding to her statement.
After a couple more moments, Lauren announced the change of topics, "When we return from the break, the current trend in Hollywood: motherhood."
Emily added enthusiastically, "And later, caffeine addictions!"
"You're telling me!" laughed Susan, raising her mug in a mock toast to the camera and taking another sip.
Click!
Damon Gray placed the tv's remote control on the couch's arm rest. He'd made sure the girls were awake about half an hour ago, and then chose to finish his breakfast in front of the tube. He now stood up and stretched, bringing his bowl back into the kitchen. Valerie was at the counter, filling her backpack with her lunch.
"Ready to go?" Damon asked his daughter.
She nodded.
"Good. Where's Jazz?"
"Right here," came a reply from the hall. "I'm coming."
Jazz entered the room while stuffing a book into her bag. Noticing how cramped the small space was with all three of them occupying it, she immediately turned around and led the way out towards the apartment door. They all put on their shoes and left. Damon decided to give them a ride to school this morning, as it was the girls' first day back since the incident, and he was headed to work anyways.
Sam's hand reached for the door handle at the front entrance of Casper High, but before it made contact she heard someone call her name.
"I see you're back from the dungeons," commented Tucker as he approached his friend.
Sam returned his smirk with her eyebrows raised and a small smile playing about her lips. "Seems like you've decided to leave your tech sanctuary, too. Ready for the institution of learning again?"
Tucker just laughed as they headed inside. Sam shrugged her shoulders, then sighed, suddenly looking quite tired.
"Long night?" Tucker guessed.
"Actually, ya… and I won't be doing anything like that again for a while…"
They arrived at Sam's locker first. She turned the dial on her lock without really paying attention to it as she continued, "I'm glad that they at least realized that I was going insane with boredom and should come back to school. 'The fresh air is doing me good'," she added sarcastically.
The lock clicked open and the door swung forwards. Sam reached in and grabbed a book, while placing her lunch box on the shelf. She quickly shut her locker again and started walking with Tucker towards his.
"So, you gonna spill or what?" asked Tucker impatiently. "What happened last night?"
Sam grinned, "Weeell... my parents weren't particularly thrilled that I went out yesterday morning, of course. So they confined me to my room, sat me at my desk with my homework, and took away any form of communication I had with the outside world. Heh, close your mouth, Tuck, you look like a guppy."
Blinking, Tucker obeyed. "You had no technology at all? That's barbaric!"
Chuckling, Sam said, "Tell me about it. Anyways, good news is I'm done all my homework for the week."
Sam recounted to Tucker each of her escape attempts from the previous day. Tucker laughed when Sam mentioned how she'd been caught by the cook, but he practically fell to the floor hysterically when she mentioned putting on a pink dress and climbing out her window at a quarter to four that morning. Neither of her parents, nor their help, had expected it. But, alas, her grandmother unknowingly alerted Mr. and Mrs. Manson when she called out to Sam, thinking the girl was one of her granddaughter's friends come to visit, and not her granddaughter herself. So, before dawn a conversation occurred between Sam and her parents. They spoke of their concern for her well-being and apprehension for her to be mixing with part-ghost, Danny Fenton. Sam made good points that she'd completed her homework and had nothing to do but die of boredom. Plus, she hadn't seen Danny since Monday's last class and had absolutely no idea where he'd gone to. Tucker wore an amused expression when Sam announced that she'd convinced her parents that he was just a techno-geek – nothing paranormal about him – so she could still hang out with her only other best friend. Apart from all that, though, the most compelling arguments to let Sam return to school were: 1) that she needed an education, 2) that Danny's being searched for by the entire world, not least of which the Guys in White, and 3) that the school is crowded, so Danny wouldn't show up there.
"So here I am," concluded Sam.
"Yep," agreed Tucker, closing his locker. "Man, your parents are harsh. All mine did was lecture me about how unsafe ghosts are, blah, blah, blah, then let me take another day off school to 'think about it'." He turned to face her. "I've been monitoring the web and tv, but I haven't seen anything about Danny being caught by anyone, so hopefully he's still ok."
Before they could continue their discussion, Sam and Tucker were cornered by the A Squad and bombarded with questions about Danny.
"Hey, losers!" Dash exclaimed closing in on them. "Why didn't any of you tell me about Phantom?" Getting no response from the duo, he asked, "So, Fenton's a freak?"
"Ya, and he could totally—" began Tucker in retaliation, but Sam interrupted him, with a growl, "Watch it!"
"How can he be da ghost boy?" Paulina demanded, wanting to hear it from a reliable source that was not the morning talk show.
"Well, Paulina," answered Sam condescendingly. "I dunno. Perhaps the electric shock from his parents' ghost portal had some minor side effects other than knocking him out. But you know, if he'd really wanted to let you in on his secret, he'd have told you about it himself."
Catching her drift, Paulina rebutted, "Oh, no. Don't you go thinking I'm jealous of you. I may have had a small crush on Danny Phantom," (Sam scoffed), "but the fact that he is part loser is too twisted for me. Sure, he's still unique, but it's a strange way," Paulina finished with an undertone of disappointment.
"Forget about that," said Dash cutting in, "What's he planning to do to me?"
Sam and Tucker blinked in surprise, not missing the note of panic in Dash's voice. Of course it must've been a shock to the jock to discover that the hero he worshipped was also the kid he'd been wailing on day in and day out, and now that the kid's secret was loose, what was stopping him from getting some payback?
"We don't know, Dash," replied Sam shaking her head.
"Sorry, man," added Tucker. "We haven't seen Danny since Lancer was hauling us off to detention. No idea where he is."
"But if it's any consolation," Sam stated, "Danny's probably not planning to do anything to you. It's just not like him. Besides, on any given day, you're the least of his worries, especially now."
At that moment, the warning bell rang and the crowd that had gathered around Sam, Tucker, Dash, and Paulina dispersed. Among the onlookers was Valerie Gray who left promptly, not wanting Danny's friends to notice that she was listening in.
Mr. Lancer marched down the hall, ushering students into classrooms. Clearing his throat, he remarked, "Do I really need to mention, once again, that although you may have all just witnessed the revelation of the biggest secret you'll discover throughout your high school careers, you are still here for the purpose of learning. Mr. Fenton, obviously, is not. Discussions about him must stop now and the lessons must go on."
And with that, he shut the door behind him, picked up some chalk, and began to write on the board.
Tap, tap, tap... Tap, tap, tap... Tap, ta—
"Argh!" Danny cried as he awoke. "Klemper?" he asked while rubbing his eyes.
Tap, tap—
"Hey! I'm up already! Wouldya quit poking me?"
Klemper smiled and nodded his head vigorously. "Will you be my friend?"
Ignoring the question, Danny stretched then tried to massage a kink out of his neck. Sleeping on concrete was never comfortable. Glancing up at the large doorframe in front of which he'd slept, Danny admired the carvings of a fork and spoon and remembered briefly appearing at the Ghost Zone fest here during Christmas not long ago. He hadn't spent that much time inside since he'd left to visit the Ghost Writer and break the spell he was under. But none of that mattered now. Danny's plans from the previous day didn't extend much past his current position. He came to the Ghost Zone to satisfy the ghost part of him, maybe make a lair and live here... forever.
"Hey, Dipstick! Whachya doing here?"
Danny's eyes shot towards the blue-flame haired ghost who was floating at the bottom of the steps. Klemper was busy contenting himself by smiling back and forth between Danny and Ember.
"Yah," piped up Johnny 13 who slowed his motorbike to a halt, Kitty's arms wrapped around him. "You're not dead, are ya?"
"Nn," said Danny, then he cleared his throat. "I mean, no." Scoffing, he continued, "But I may as well be. This is the one place I doubt anybody'd look to find me, 'cept maybe Sam and Tucker, as if they'd ever be allowed to..."
"Ah, quit your whining!" spat Ember. "You're still alive, aren't you? Haven't you been some sort of hero to these people?"
Danny opened his mouth but no words came out.
"Cat got your tongue?" asked Spectra, joining in. She leered at Danny in her shadow form, her croony, Bertrand, right by her side, snorting.
"It didn't last long," Danny muttered angrily.
"What was that?" Spectra spoke sharply.
Sighing, Danny replied, "Look, if I was really 'some sort of hero' to them, then why are they all so quick to condemn me?" Danny took one step down and stood there.
"What are you planning to do?" questioned Johnny 13. "Crash here?"
Danny shrugged. "Well, yah. Sorta."
"Whoa, back up there a little, Baby Pops. You're giving up?" Ember asked, astonished. "Just like that?"
"No! I... I..." stammered Danny, becoming a bit red and casting his eyes down and to the side. "I... Don't you ever just wanna hide from it all sometimes?" he pleaded, looking up again. "I wish..." he paused, thinking better of finishing the sentence even though Desiree was not in sight. "Never mind."
"Look, kid, nothing that's worth having is ever easy to get," Spectra stated. "If you want to be accepted by your world, you're not putting much effort into it by being here. Besides, I'm sure Walker'd say it's 'against the rules'."
Danny closed his eyes a moment and sat down. Blinking, he glanced around the group of ghosts gathered in a semi-circle in front of him. Every face was just another one of his enemies, yet they weren't being hostile towards him. For a brief instant, Danny wondered whether it was a trap, or perhaps because of their location they wouldn't attack. Whatever the case was, they were right, and Danny knew it; he couldn't stay here much longer. But...
"What should I do then?" he asked out loud. "Go back, and then what?"
Shrugging, Spectra answered, "That's for you to figure out."
"You can do it, Danny," encouraged Kitty.
Danny returned her enthusiasm with a weak smile and stood up again. "Fine. I'll go." But first, he thought reluctantly, I want to know what Vlad thinks. The Guys in White are probably on my tail, and it's gonna take a lot of convincing that I'm a good halfa.
Danny started to fly away, ignoring once more Klemper's request to be his friend.
The other ghosts scattered and went back to their normal business. They were glad that The Halfa wouldn't be sticking around. Not only did it cramp their styles, but having him hidden in the Ghost Zone was a risk they didn't want to take. If humans decided to venture in looking for him, it could only mean trouble. The potential power that could be obtained by controlling the Ghost Zone may seem too great to pass up. Or perhaps the humans would instead aim to use the ghosts as sources of energy. Or, feeling threatened, they could close off any connection between the Ghost Zone and the Real World. No, the ghosts didn't want any of that. Happily, they watched Danny disappear in the distance before they wandered off, themselves.
"Um, Boss?"
Skulker was floating in the center of Vlad's private library. Vlad had been working on his computer and was startled by the hunter's sudden appearance.
"What did I tell you about coming into the human portion of my castle?" the billionaire yelled while transforming into his alter-ego.
Skulker eyed his employer's fists warily, since they'd begun to glow, and announced with haste, "You'll want to hear this!"
"Very well then," said Plasmius dropping his arms to his side. "Hurry up with it – can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"
Skulker relaxed a little and said, "It's about the Whelp." The halfa's expression of anger and annoyance turned into one of interest. "Well," Skulker continued. "All of Amity Park knows his secret. They caught it on video."
Vlad's face paled, as much as a ghost's face can, and a moment later he stated, "You're serious?"
Nodding, Skulker confirmed, "It was on the news."
Neither of the two sensed Danielle, hovering in the doorway as she paused on her way to the kitchen. Instead, Vlad flew through the ceiling to the top floor and sped to his media chamber, with Skulker in pursuit. The room was filled with television monitors and computer equipment, wires trailing to the roof where they attached themselves to satellite dishes. In here, he could access almost any media feed in the world. He changed back to his human mode and began typing madly on a keyboard. The large screen in front of him lit up, tuning into Amity Park's Channel 4 News. A reporter was interviewing some man who was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Vlad pressed on a button to turn up the volume.
"And we have footage of this very incident, which we bring you now," said the reporter.
There was Daniel as Phantom, fighting a green gryphon, and looking exhausted. Two rings of light appeared, revealing the secret he'd been desperately trying to hide since his accident. Vlad took on a strange far-off look, frozen to his spot.
"Uh, Plasmius? Boss?" Skulker asked tentatively, trying to get the halfa's attention. "What should we do?"
"Nothing," replied Vlad harshly, snapping out of his thoughts. "He'll come to me. Eventually."
"Yes, but what will I do when he comes?" Vlad muttered to himself. "That's the question."
Currently, the billionaire was flying back to his Wisconsin castle from a business meeting in New York. His gaze was focused out a window of his private jet, but he wasn't really seeing anything. The meeting was just a false front and unfortunately one of the tedious tasks he had to do to maintain his human appearance. Vlad was glad it was over and he could return to the more pressing matter in his mind.
He'd spent a great deal of time over the past three days contemplating the whole situation. His initial thoughts revolved around the plots he'd been in the process of completing, which were now absolutely useless. No amount of re-evaluation could fix them; the circumstances demanded a rather radical change. Then he considered the understanding he held with the boy to keep each other's secret. Vlad had had some level of control over the younger halfa, but now that too was no longer relevant. And this worried him. Without his own secret to hide, what was stopping Daniel from spilling his?
Shoving this notion aside for the moment, as obviously Daniel had not mentioned his secret to anyone yet or there'd be someone knocking on his door about it, Vlad wondered how Danny himself was taking it. The little Badger had run away and no one had seen him since the incident. And what of his beloved Maddie? Did the truth about her son shock her? Was she upset by it? Was she agonizing about her son's disappearance?
Vlad reflected on what he himself would be going through if it'd been him. He came upon the impression of Daniel using his powers for 'noble causes' while Plasmius was hardly known to do favors. Shuddering, Vlad filed the concept of his exposure to the world away with the other unpleasant thoughts.
And for a brief moment Vlad felt content with the idea of Danny paying him a visit. If the boy did come, then Vlad would regain a certain amount of advantage again.
Ultimately, however, it was not good news that Skulker had brought him. Everything was a mess. Vlad sighed and ran a hand through his hair, leaning back in his seat. The plane had begun its descent.
Tucker watched as the minute hand on the clock above the door slowly made its way to the end of class. He'd stopped typing his notes onto his PDA ten minutes ago in anticipation and he barely even registered the droning of the teacher's voice. As soon as the bell rang, he and Sam bolted into the hall. Sam was in and out of her locker before most students got to their feet, and the two of them were flying towards the exit. One moment, Tucker was twenty feet away from his destination, the next, he'd been hauled into a janitor's closet. He had to blink a few times before he realized where he was.
"Jazz?" he asked loudly.
"Sh!" she uttered back. "Keep your voice down."
"Finally," said Sam. "Someplace where no one will be breathing down our necks about Danny. Nice one, Jazz. Tuck and I were headed to the schoolyard, maybe climb a tree or hide behind some bushes, but this works much better."
"Tell me about it. Half of them are worshipping Danny while the other half are freaked out about me and my entire family, and everyone has something to say to me!" agreed Jazz. "Oh, and I did the 'bushes in the schoolyard' thing this morning, running to class on the final bell."
The two girls shared a smile, then Jazz informed, "I tried to call you yesterday. Well, actually, Valerie did, but your parents said you were busy. How mad were they that you visited me?"
"Survey says: very," replied Sam goodheartedly. "It's sort of a long story; I'll tell you about it some other time."
"Make sure she does," added Tucker, chuckling.
"So why did Valerie try to call me?" inquired Sam while pulling out her lunch. Tucker cringed at the fruits and veggies laden before his friend, even though his stomach rumbled.
"Oh right, you don't know about her," muttered Jazz. "The jerks who showed up at our door when you left yesterday morning made me leave my parents and 'temporarily move in with a girlfriend', because apparently my parents aren't devoted." Calming down, Jazz continued, "I called your parents, but they hung up on me. The Grays have been kind enough to let me stay with them. I wanted to warn you that you'd probably be next on the FBI interview list and that I said no one had been there when Danny had his accident. I got a hold of Tucker, but I knew I couldn't call you, so I asked Valerie to do it instead, on the premise that I wanted to ask you something. I think she was actually interested in talking to you too—"
"Slow down, Jazz!" said Sam holding up her hand. "It's ok. I didn't say anything. My parents were in the room the entire time."
"Oh," Jazz mumbled while taking out her turkey sandwich.
"Meat..." whimpered Tucker.
Both girls looked at him as his stomach growled loudly.
He blushed. "Heh... sorry? I didn't want to brave the caf..."
"Here," sighed Jazz handing him half of her sandwich.
"Thanks!" exclaimed Tucker gratefully, his eyes lighting up. The sandwich was devoured in mere seconds.
"Anyways, being with Valerie might be useful," Jazz announced. "Mr. Gray got a call last night and it sounded like he was talking about Danny. Right after he hung up, he opened an email with ghost info on it. I sort of took a peek at his computer this morning; the email was from the Guys in White."
Sam leaned forward in interest. "What would he have to do with them?"
"No idea," replied Jazz. "But, it did sound like he wanted Danny to get help. Maybe he thinks the Guys in White will 'cure him'."
"Yah right," grunted Tucker. "The Guys in White probably want to disembowel Danny, then tear him apart, molecule by molecule. Anything even part-ghost is a threat to them."
"Which is why I think we should start keeping an eye on them," said Jazz slyly.
Tucker stared a moment then cracked into a wide grin. "I like your thinking, Jazz Fenton. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer!"
"Exactly," she confirmed.
He saw it an instant before flipping the lightswitch, reflected on the glass of an empty tank against the wall – his glowing green eyes. The lab flooded with light and sure enough there stood Daniel next to the portal on the opposite end of the room.
"Ah, Daniel. I've been expecting you," said Vlad walking forwards. He opened a cabinet door beneath one of the work benches and dropped his briefcase carelessly onto a shelf.
Danny didn't move; his arms still folded across his chest, his back still leaning against the portal's frame, his face still set in a distrustful expression. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure exactly what he was going to say, but he may as well appear calm about it.
Vlad stepped towards Danny smiling. He was right, Danny did come to him after all. But what Danny came for, Vlad couldn't give him. Voicing these thoughts, Vlad said, "I'm sorry to hear of your predicament, Daniel, though I'm afraid there's not much I can do to help without exposing myself..."
Danny's resolve faltered a little. Had he come for nothing? And who was he to expect Vlad would even consider supporting him? Letting his arms drop to his sides and standing up straight, Danny asked, "Not even if I threaten to reveal your secret too?"
Vlad continued to smile. "And what point would that accomplish? Two outted halfas and nowhere to go? And with all the stress your parents are under right now, you'd add yet another burden to their hearts? Your father seems to be quite depressed lately, I hear."
Danny winced at that. Vlad was usually one to manipulate others, but he probably wasn't lying about this. Danny could imagine his dad being upset and guilty about the whole catastrophe, especially since he'd played a key role in it. But Danny didn't blame his father for what had happened. There wasn't really anyone to blame since so much of it just accidentally occurred at the same time. And if Danny had told him before the incident, there may not have been an incident. Danny dropped his shoulders in defeat – he wouldn't rat out Vlad, there was nothing to be gained by it.
Vlad prided himself on his ability to produce persuasive answers on the spot. Seeing the boy's body language signal that he'd given in, Vlad felt his ego get another boost of encouragement. Yes, he could still charm his way to an advantage, and furthermore, he could feel safe that Daniel wasn't going to blab to everyone about him. Vlad grinned in satisfaction.
Danny was at a loss for words. He obviously couldn't stay here – or at least, he wouldn't. Living with Vlad was more than he could stomach at the moment, even in consideration of everything else that had happened. He cast his eyes around the room, trying to find something to say.
Vlad noticed and decided to put the boy a little at ease. "You may be pleased to know that 'whatever I'm scheming' has been completely debunked due to recent events and well, to put it bluntly, I've had to trash all my plans. And we were making such good progress on them too."
Danny nodded rigidly. Good to know, but not really relevant at the moment, he thought. Sighing, he decided it was time to be direct. "Vlad, is there... do you think... what should I do?"
Vlad's eyes connected with the younger halfa's, and his smile faded. Leave it to Daniel to get right to the point and plead for help. In all honesty, Vlad didn't know. Somehow Daniel needed to regain a sense of normalcy in his life. And it was probably something that only he could do himself.
Plastering on a smile once more, Vlad stated, "Daniel, I wish I could help, I really do, but I just don't know the answer. Congratulations, you have me stumped."
Danny sighed again, trying to avoid a sinking feeling from overwhelming him. Maybe it was time he went back to face whatever it was everyone wanted to do with him. Running away was not how he wanted to continue to live. Halfheartedly he commented, "Well, thanks for your help, Vlad. I'll be on my way."
"Best of luck to you, little Badger. Cheerio," Vlad replied.
Danny leapt up and flew through the ceiling. Vlad dropped his smile immediately and gazed around the empty lab. Picking up a clean beaker, he threw it across the room, watching it shatter as it connected with the wall.
"Damn," he muttered.
Using his eye lasers, he incinerated the mess then headed upstairs for a cup of tea. Perhaps it might aide him in letting go of some frustration.
Mr. and Mrs. Fenton stood in the doorway of their new living arrangements, courtesy the FBI. It had every appearance of a typical hotel room, from the floral printed bed covers, to the nature paintings on the walls, to the free samples of shampoo sitting on the bathroom counter. Maddie carried her suitcase inside and dumped it on the dresser across from the bed. She shivered as Jack slowly made his way in behind her, dragging his bag along to leave it on the floor at the foot of the bed. He sat down and slouched, staring at the blank tv. Maddie walked over to the window and glanced outside to their gorgeous view of the parking lot. She shut the curtains then turned off the fan.
"Jack, Honey, I know you're still upset and that this is probably one of the worst experiences of our lives," (he half grunted and sarcastically smirked at that) "but it's time we start thinking of a way to help our son, and bring our family back together. We're Fentons, after all, and no ghost, or human, will ever truly keep us apart."
As Maddie sat down on the bed next to her husband, he lifted his head to her eyes, his hope returning to him after days of despair. He let out a long sigh, releasing all the tension he'd kept built-up inside. She was right, and he was ready to do everything he could to save and protect his son from those who would do him harm. A fight was beginning to burn deep within him and he spoke with determination.
"You're right, Maddie. It's time we take action. I can't sit here any longer and let my guilt get the best of me! We've got to show the world what us Fentons are made of!"
He kissed her quickly and stood up, his eyes glittering. Maddie got to her feet as well, smiling, and headed to the dresser to open a pocket of her suitcase.
"I thought this might come in handy," she stated, pulling out an ectogun.
"Just as I was thinking," agreed Jack as he dumped the contents of his bag onto the bed. Apart from an extra jumpsuit and his pajamas, the bed was laden with as many of their ghost-hunting inventions as Jack could carry undetected by the FBI. "And to think, after all those times of wondering why they'd malfunction around Danny…"
He picked one up and turned it on. Nothing showed on the radar, but he grinned nonetheless. "When Danny comes back to Amity Park from wherever he's disappeared to, we'll know first thing!"
Maddie closed the gap between her and Jack, stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on his cheek. "This is why I love you so much."
"I love you too, Baby."
"Now, let's get some rest and tomorrow we'll find our son."
Jazz lay with her back to Valerie's bed, her shoulders shrugged as high as she could get them without seeming uncomfortable. In her hands (and slightly covered by her bed sheets) she held one of Tucker's PDA's. She'd been discreet about bringing it with her to bed, and now she, Sam (who was on Tucker's other PDA), and Tucker (who was on his computer) were conversing via messaging. Tucker was currently making his attempt to hack into the Guys in White's database, and Sam and Jazz spent most of their time speculating on Danny's location, while reassuring each other that no news was good news. Tucker was surprised by the level of security the ghost hunters had on their computer systems, but credited it to the government's tech division for wanting to keep anything government related a secret.
Yawning, Jazz glanced at the time in the upper right corner of the PDA and decided to call it quits for the night. She typed in a leaving comment then logged off, quietly tucking the PDA into Bearbert's jacket before letting sleep overtake her.
On the bed behind her, Valerie lay with her eyes open for the fourth night in a row, staring at the streetlamp outside her window. Being back at school had merely confirmed that absolutely no one knew where Danny was or what he was thinking. Not even his best friends knew of his whereabouts, though they didn't really say more than that. They were still keeping the rest of his secrets confidential, much to Valerie's dissatisfaction. And since Jazz seemed to have nodded off an hour ago, Valerie couldn't even question her about her brother's intentions with regards to the whole 'Phantom as her archenemy' thing. Even if she got the chance, she probably wouldn't want to berate her guest with it anyways. Who knew how long Jazz was going to be staying?
Valerie rolled over and shut her eyes, gearing up for more strange and uncomfortable dreams about half-ghosts and hunting.
Danny flew stealthily through the night. The wind whirling past him was the only sound he heard as he made his way back home. Home…
-(o)-
GLE – All the key players are in, now let the fun begin... mwahahahaha!
A completely random side note: A toothbrush is something Jack would forget... I'm sure Maddie brought it for him.
So anyways, that's it for now. We're almost half way through this story and lots of action to come. I'm not making any promises as to when I'll update next, but I'm probably not going to work on it during term (which ends in April).
Just a random update on my life; everything is going great! I got high marks (mostly) on the courses I just finished. I just flew back (late last night) from a training camp that was tough but has me well positioned for the championship competitions that are coming up (one in two weeks, one at the end of February, and one in mid March). The courses I'm going to be taking this term look like they'll be a blast (and I worked it so I don't have class on Fridays). And next weekend, Fey and I are going to be taking another Peak Potentials course, called "Life Directions". I'm so excited because I'll finally learn the tools to discovering exactly what I want to do with my life (and just in time too, since I'm graduating in a year and a half).
So I hope you all enjoyed this gift. Have fun in whatever you do.
-)Golden Lunar Eclipse(-