Maddie was downright livid.
Jack sagged in his seat, picking half-heartedly at the remnants of the once-glorious platter of fudge. He watched as Maddie paced circles around the other side of the table, working herself up into a right state. Despite the pain that throbbed through her body, the woman shouted for all she was worth, gesticulating wildly and occasionally jabbing a finger in her husband's direction.
"I didn't bring you here so you could decide to go through the same thing as me!" she exclaimed, swatting at burning eyes with frustrated movements. How dare he? They had a duty to their family, but that obviously meant nothing to the man sitting across the table.
Jack sagged further, sliding down so that his chin was almost level with the platter. "I'm sorry," he whined, acting in similitude of a dejected puppy, "but when Phantom said you're now immortal…"
"Did you even think about Danny and Jazz?" the woman snapped, slamming her palms down on the table as a few rebellious tears slipped free. "What's it going to do to them?!"
"We don't have to tell them," Jack responded in a voice that was so quiet it sounded like it would break if startled. "Jazz'll graduate in a few months, Danny in two years, and they'll have both moved out in the few years after. We don't have to explain or even tell them, Mads. They won't be around to be affected."
"Like hell they won't! We have a family, and they'll still be in our lives and us in theirs after they've moved out!" Maddie screamed, tearing her hands through her hair. She stiffened, her body suddenly seeming to forget what gravity was.
The woman rose through the air, ending up with her back pressed against the ceiling. Panic seized her for a moment, and some part of Maddie was absolutely terrified because flying was definitely more than she could handle right now, but then the panic and pain and fear all contributed to her fury like gasoline on a fire.
Pressing her palms uselessly against the ceiling, Maddie continued to shout as though floating uncontrollably was the most normal thing in the world. "All you care about is yourself, not giving a damn about how badly this could affect our kids! I can't believe you're being so selfish!" The pain was increasing, and Maddie hiccupped through her tears as her breathing caught and stopped.
Light was suddenly everywhere as Maddie's chest constricted painfully, cold exploding through her limbs. The woman clutched at her middle, moaning. "Damn it," she hissed, tilting her head forwards so that blue bangs hid her face.
She was a ghost.
This sudden and unnatural transition from living to dead blew all thoughts from the huntress' mind, and she curled her arms around her midriff, grasping heaving sides tightly as though trying to hold herself together.
This was impossible.
Gasping for breath as though she had just sprinted halfway across town. A heartbeat that throbbed in her ears. Pain.
She was a monster.
Maddie pushed those thoughts away, sending them back to where they lurked at the edges of her mind. She was still Maddie Fenton, loving mother and wife. Phantom was still just a teenager full of good intentions and bad puns. The two of them might not be human, but one thing was certain: they were not monsters.
"I'm sorry," Jack whispered again, meeting her gaze unflinchingly. "I'm a coward, but at least I can admit that I'm not strong."
"What?" the woman demanded, staring through tears and the strands of electric blue hair that clung to wet cheeks.
Sitting up a little straighter, Jack swallowed thickly as he traced patterns in the cream and fudge debris. "I'm a good inventor, but a horrible hunter," he announced in a voice that trembled. "I'm bad at hunting because I'm always so scared that I'll never come back home, and if I died then I'd leave you."
Taking a deep breath, the hunter's voice hitched and his own tears broke free. "That's why I always follow you, even that time when you went to help your sister celebrate her divorce and you obviously didn't want me to come. Whether I'm a ghost or a human, I love you so much that you'll always be my obsession, and if you're now immortal…" Sniffing, the man wiped his nose on his sleeve. "I love you too much to ever leave you, and I thought you loved me enough to never let me go."
His words hit her like a punch to the jaw, ears ringing and thoughts scattered. It took a moment to collect herself, and that hit had been enough to snap the woman back into perspective.
She was being stupid.
Their children were important, but Maddie remembered the day her parents had sat down with their two teenage daughters to have a long and serious talk.
The girls' brother was in jail, and nothing had looked like it would be okay ever again.
There's one thing you two need to know, their parents had told them.
Children go astray sometimes, so badly that you can't get them back. A lot of families fall apart because of this, but ours won't. We're strong.
I'll tell you why.
Because your mother and I treat our love for each other as the most important thing in the world. And if you girls ever fall in love, make sure that it's a love like that, or don't bother keeping the bloke around because, likely as not, he won't be there to support you when you most need it. Family is important, but in the end, when your kids are all grown up and are having their own glorious lives, the person you'll still have around should be the most important person to you ever. Never forget that.
Only now, with Jack wholly prepared to give up everything that he was, did Maddie understand.
"I love you, too," she responded, feeling so damned guilty all of a sudden. "Sorry for yelling." Her fingers curling tighter into the blue-turned-scarlet hazmat, Maddie felt all her anger drain away. Suddenly exhausted, the woman clutched her sides and shivered on the ceiling. "Jack," she whimpered, "get me down, please."
The man gulped, lurching to his feet. "Um, I don't… Just hold tight, I'll go get Phantom."
"Hurry," Maddie sobbed as he sprinted from the room. She felt washed-out and exhausted, realising that this was the first time they had fought over something in such a heated manner since that anniversary debacle a couple of years back.
It was petty, pathetic, and unnecessary. They knew each other like nobody else, and they both knew better than that. She had to be strong now – no more fighting over silly things, no more taking Jack for granted.
Their family was already falling apart anyway; Danny drifted further away every month, closing himself off and often leaving the house for days on end. As much as the woman tried, he was slipping through her grasp.
She would still hold onto her children for as long as they let her, but the person that she would never let go of was Jack. Finally realising this, Maddie felt herself settle into a much calmer state of mind.
Phantom sidled into the room, dull green eyes meeting hers as he sighed. "Oh, Maddie."
He looked so sad, gaze raking over her new form repeatedly. It was almost as if the kid looked enough times, what he was seeing might magically prove itself to be nothing but a dream.
Maddie could definitely relate. For a moment she wished that she had a mirror, but the thought of what she might see made her glad that she didn't.
Jack filled the doorway behind him, clasping the teen's shoulder. "Can you get her down?"
Phantom raised and lowered his free shoulder. "I can try," he admitted weakly, brushing off Jack's hand and trudging around the table to stand near where Maddie floated.
The teen practically collapsed into a chair. "Forgive me if I don't join you up there," he groaned. "Now, flying's like intangibility, or any of your other powers – it's psychological, so-"
"Why are you still so tired?" Maddie interrupted, wiping at the tears that still lingered on her cheeks. "I'm not anywhere near that bad."
The boy sent her a look that Maddie supposed was meant to convey irritation, but only made him appear more exhausted. "It takes a lot of energy to stay in ghost form all the time," he grumbled.
"Not to mention that it can't be comfortable sleeping on the laundry floor," Jack chimed in.
Phantom glared, and Maddie swallowed, staring at the teen in horror. "You what?"
"It's private in there," Phantom ground through gritted teeth, "and this place has only one bed."
"Phantom," the woman growled, "as soon as I get down from this ceiling you are going to bed and getting a good night's sleep in your human form."
He raised a bruised eyebrow, and Maddie felt a sudden jolt of unsettling familiarity.
For a moment she could have sworn that it was Danny standing there.
Maddie blinked, and the moment was gone. He was Phantom again, a whole lot of insufferable attitude bundled up in hazmat and a quick tongue. She steeled herself, preparing for the backchat and argument that would most likely be on its way.
Phantom chuckled before curling in on himself with a grimace. "Well, we have to get you down first," he responded, somewhat surprising the huntress by his lack of objection. White light flickered at his waist for a moment, and Maddie could have sworn that he let loose a sob before the brightness disappeared again.
After her own transformation, she knew what that light meant.
"Alright," the woman sighed. "Tell me how to get down, please."
Jack had moved to stand beneath his wife, stretching his arms out comically. "I'll catch you!" he promised. Maddie smiled fondly at her soul mate before concentrating on what the younger halfa was telling her about remembering and forgetting gravity.
It was easier than intangibility. Maybe because she was in ghost form this time, or possibly due to the fact that the scientist had already had to alter her way of thinking in order to control her body's tangible state. The ease was most likely a combination of both of those factors, along with a calmer mind and an environment that felt a lot more familiar.
Whatever the reason, it only took a few moments for Maddie to drop into her grinning husband's arms.
Phantom's rings flickered into existence again for a handful of heartbeats.
"You'll turn human when you get tired," the boy groaned, levering himself into a standing position as Jack set Maddie on her own feet. "If you want to change back earlier, um, you have to sort of just change… Reach for that warm spark inside you … Ugh, I can't explain it. You sort of can't do it until you've experienced it, so just wait for your body to change back on its own." He had lurched to the door as he spoke, leaning heavily against the frame.
"Go get in the bed," Maddie ordered. "I'm going in the laundry to get whatever bedding you've got in there, so the only way to keep your secret is to sleep in the bed."
Phantom took one look at her face before obviously realising that the woman was serious. Slumping his shoulders, the boy staggered across the hallway, disappearing through the bedroom door.
Light shone beneath it, followed by a groan and the creaking of bedsprings.
"If only Danny were so obedient," Maddie sighed.
Jack slung an arm around her waist, planting a kiss against the top of his wife's head as he hugged her from behind. "We can only hope," he whispered. "Now, what're we going to do with the stuff in the laundry?"