A/N: Chapter eight. Wow, it's already longer than Must Be.
Disclaimed.
…FentonWorks…
Pam paced nervously. Jazz picked at the skirt of her blue dress. Ben flipped through the channels on the T.V. and Danielle, Tucker, and Ida talked quietly. Only one thing crossed their minds though: are they okay?
"This is ridiculous!" Dani jumped and picked up the FentonPhone that was on the table next to her.
"Dad?" she called, tuning in to the Speeder's frequency.
"Yes, Dani?" he answered. They were approaching the Realm of the Far Frozen.
"Are you almost there? We're all worried here," she asked.
"We're about to land, Sweetie," he responded, gearing to ease down to the snowy mass.
"THERE!" Thurston shrieked, seeing the ring of yeti-like ghosts Jack was about to land in the middle of.
"You insisted on coming," Valerie told him, with a look that said, We tried to tell you.
"What are you doing here, anyhow?" Mr. Manson snapped, glaring at the girl.
"Me? I'm going into battle," she smirked as she activated her suit. He was shocked for a moment at seeing the Red Huntress.
"Well, at least we'll have some protection from them," he assumed haughtily.
"Why would I fight the Frozenites?" Red teased. "I'm going to help Danny and Sam."
Jack concentrated on the landing, "We're here, Dani-girl."
Danielle sat back, relieved that the trio had made it.
…
"Maddie," Dewice called. "They're here."
"They?" Sam asked, confused. Maddie, too, seemed baffled.
"Jack, Red Huntress, and one other we have not seen before," the ghost told them, showing mild distaste at the mention of the third party.
Sam gulped; she had a feeling she knew who was with them. Mrs. Fenton left with Dewice to greet the new arrivals, but Sam stayed behind. Danny had still showed no change.
…
"I don't know what your game is, Fenton, but I will not be made a fool of!" Thurston whispered angrily. Jack ignored him. Valerie looked away, anxious to get into the battle.
Maddie walked out soberly, escorted by Dewice.
Thurston fidgeted, this had to be a trap. Jack and Red were anxious, too, but for completely different reasons.
"Thurston," Maddie started, "I didn't expect to see you here."
The blonde man glared at her.
"Maddie, what happened?" Jack asked, concerned.
She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to steady herself, "We've bandaged Sam, and she seems to be doing well."
"What's wrong with my daughter?" Thurston demanded, alarmed. Maddie didn't answer.
"Maddie," Jack asked worriedly, "how's Danny?"
"He-" she broke down, "He hasn't woken up!"
Jack pulled her into a comforting hug. Valerie dropped to her knees in the snow and removed her helmet.
How can this be happening? she thought, shivering when she realized that it was humans, not ghosts that did this to her dear friends.
Thurston looked away, uncomfortable because he had shown no concern for their child and friend, as they had done for his.
…
"Sam, your father's here," Maddie announced as she, her husband, Valerie, and Thurston came in.
She looked up, but not with the usual defiance, and hugged her dad, "I'm so worried for him."
They stayed like that for a moment before Sam pulled back.
"Hey Valerie," she greeted. "Did everyone know before me?"
"Nah, Tucker coached me tonight so I could help," she explained, though Sam didn't seem to mind too much. She looked sadly at Danny, Santa Claus!
"Samantha, how can you stand this cold?" Thurston scowled, annoyed that the girls knew something he didn't, that they all knew. He watched warily as Frostbite entered.
For the first time, Sam noticed that she wasn't wearing her cloak. She looked around, panicking.
"It disappeared as you slept, Great Lady," Frostbite told her gently. Sam blushed, How am I going to explain that one to Dad?
"Please, Frostbite, it's Sam," she requested, embarrassed. This must be how Danny feels being called Great One. Her eyes strayed to his still form. Please be okay…
"Samantha, what does this ghost mean?" Thurston queried, looking distastefully at Frostbite.
"His name is Frostbite, Dad," she defended him. "I'm sorry about him, Frostbite."
"Worry not, Great Lady, it is beyond your control," he brushed away the apology…and her request.
She chuckled inwardly. It's no use, I'm stuck with it. She winced as her side reminded her of the damage it was dealt earlier.
"Are you okay?" Valerie asked, seeing the flicker of pain.
"Yeah, but the numbing is subsiding," she referred to the chill that her side had been given to relive the pain. "Val, I'm glad you figured things out. He needs to be stopped. What they've done…man, I can't even think about it…That place was supposed to be peaceful; that's why they gave it to Danny."
Her thoughts flickered momentarily to the story Frostbite had told them.
"What place? Figured what out?" Thurston demanded, sick of being left in the dark.
Sam clenched her fists and huffed a deep breath of cold air before responding; yelling wouldn't solve anything, "Danny's job and the place where he works."
"I thought you still didn't know about that?" Thurston curled his lip in annoyance.
"I didn't, not until just before we left," she told him with forced calm. Why was it that every time she talked to one or both of her parents about Danny it felt as though they were looking for faults?
"Well, what is it?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
At this, Sam smirked, and gave her father the same answer Danny had given them whenever asked directly, "In your own way, know all is well. In your own time, the secrets tell."
"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Thurston yelled, frustrated that no one was giving him a straight answer. Everyone just smiled.
"Figure it out for yourself!"
…FentonWorks…
"Mom?" Dani answered the FentonPhone, worried and tired from the long day and night. She was the last awake.
"We're on our way home, Sweetheart," Maddie's voice hitched, alerting her daughter that something was wrong.
"I-I'll wake the others," she volunteered, scared of what was to come.
"Alright," she agreed, "but you need to rest that leg of yours; use your powers."
Danielle nodded, "I will."
"I love you, Danielle," Maddie told her.
"I love you, too, Mom," Dani responded.
…Workshop…
Valerie sped across the once-beautiful landscape and grimly surveyed the situation. Frostbite had come back with her and explained that the humans were not to be harmed.
Everywhere she looked, she saw destruction.
Not allowing herself any more time to worry, Red Huntress started to fight with gusto. She hated what they'd done. Vlad is really sick to bring them here!
…
Nathan ran, hiding in boulders as the large ghost had instructed once they were out of sight. He had started to shoot at him in an effort to keep off suspicion. He had given up his coat when he'd seen that it was a human that white-haired woman was hiding; if he didn't know, he couldn't tell his superiors.
His foot landed on something hard, and he looked down to see what it was. A cell phone? he thought, looking up to find that he was back to that place. Closing it, he put it in his pocket and continued to dodge the blasts.
…Specter Speeder…
Maddie sat next to the cot in the back of the craft where Danny lay unconscious, pondering everything that had happened that day. She was the only one awake, having made everyone take some much-needed rest and put the Speeder on autopilot.
She brushed her fingers through his hair, remembering when he was a kid. Even then he'd looked out for the younger children.
Was Frostbite right? she silently asked. Are you Santa reincarnated? Somehow, she just couldn't see her son as anyone but her baby boy. She would have to tell Jack once they had gotten Danny, Sam, and Danielle to the hospital.
She looked over at the Goth, who slept restlessly in the other cot, no doubt dreaming of the past.
…
A/N: What did you think of Thurston's reaction to the Frozenites? Do you get why Nathan did what he did? Tell me in a review, and as alwaysALOHA!