Broken Records Part Six
"I'm not letting him go again," Maddie whispered moving into a more protective stance. Phantom shook and gave Jack a pleading look. He was scared and wasn't sure what was going on. "I'm not letting you go again. I just got you back, and I know," Maddie whispered quiet enough for the ghost to hear. He paled.
"Maddie, come on," Jack murmured placing his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Jack with a worried frown. "Give him some space. He's still really thin from recovery, and I'm sure making him something bigger to eat, than what I can do, would be better for him."
"Alright," Maddie whispered slowly moving away from the ghost. She looked sadly up to the hybrid and smiled slightly turning to Jack. "I'm sorry. Here," Maddie whispered handing him the key. "I really need to talk to him later, and I really need to relax."
"I think you do," Jack smiled slightly trying to support his wife. "After you get lunch, can you at least get some sleep?"
"I will," Maddie whispered taking a quick look at Phantom who was watching her warily. She tried to smile, but it felt as though that wouldn't help any of the pain from those words, and the things she knew about him now. Jack looked back at Phantom as Maddie left the room quietly.
"I guess she missed you," Jack whispered getting in front of Phantom and holding out his hands for the ghost to put his wrists down so Jack could get the cuffs off. "Can I take them off?"
"Yes, please," Phantom mumbled gently raising his hands over Jack's as the father gently wrapped his hand over the teen's wrist and inserted the key into the lock of the cuffs. "It hurts," Phantom whispered wincing as Jack touched a tender spot.
"You should have been a little easier on yourself in them. I know you were scared about her doing something, but she was scared, and whether you like it or not, she's taken a liking to you," Jack explained as he let the cuffs hit the floor. Phantom looked down as Jack started to wrap his wrists. "You're part of our family, and we'll treat you as such."
"Thanks, but you don't have to," Phantom whispered as Maddie entered again with a few tears on her face. She held a full plate of spaghetti.
"We want to," Maddie put in looking at him smiling. "Jack, yours is still in the kitchen. I wanted to talk to Phantom for a little bit."
"I'm taking the cuffs away from you," Jack smiled slyly and picked up the cuffs. He put them in his pocket, kissed his wife, and left giving Phantom an encouraging smile. Maddie turned to the ghost and smiled slightly setting the lunch down and sitting next to him.
"I know, Danny. I'm sorry," she whispered looking at her lap as Phantom turned to her.
"How?" Phantom whispered looking at the tray of food. He really wasn't hungry at the moment since he was put into this position. Maddie looked at him and put her arm around him. He tensed up and recoiled from her. She pulled him closer against his wishes.
"I was going through a scrapbook that had your little insignia on it. I thought that both my children worshipped you until I learned that my son was you," Maddie explained getting a confused look from Phantom.
"I think I understand…said in a very confusing way," Phantom murmured as he rubbed his wrist. Maddie grabbed his hand and held it.
"I'm sorry. I should have paid more attention. Maybe none of this would have happened," Maddie whispered letting the guilt she had finally get to her. She looked up at her son and smiled slightly. "I should have figured it out. All the signs were there, I just never put them together because I didn't know that they belonged together."
"That was what I was trying to do," Phantom whispered looking at the floor sadly. "I didn't want anyone to know. It's dangerous, and I was trying to protect you."
"Danny, you don't have to protect anyone," Maddie whispered kissing his forehead. "I missed you so much, and I missed so much of you growing up these past few months."
"I do, its part of who I am," Phantom mumbled looking up at her. "The reasons it was a secret was to make sure everyone was safe, and that was including me. The Guys in White will do anything to get me, and they want me more than ever now."
"Daniel, I know, and I'm not letting you continue this," Maddie stated. "You're not going back out there, and we're telling your father."
"Mom, I can't," Phantom whispered looking at the ground. "I have to. There's nothing you can do to stop me. This is who I am, and no matter what, I'll always be there to help." Phantom looked down at the plate of food and reached for the fork when Maddie grabbed his hand.
"I don't want you to get hurt again. I don't think I could handle it," Maddie explained pulling him into a hug. "Please, stop. I can't take this anymore."
"There is nothing I can do to stop," Phantom whispered as a white ring appeared around him and transformed him back into Fenton. "I'm the protector, and it's been my job since I walked into the portal. I wouldn't change it for the world."
"Danny," Maddie whispered running her fingers though his hair gently. She looked into his eyes and seen the responsibility and determination that drove the young hybrid. She sighed knowing there was nothing she could do to keep him from saving those in Amity. "We still will have to tell your father, and we have to do something about the Guys in White."
"I don't know about the Guys in White, but since you know, telling Dad won't hurt anything," Danny whispered guessing that now it wouldn't matter if they knew. Plasmius really couldn't do much, but he had enough to hurt his family dearly. "I want the Ghost Shield up though. Plasmius has lost it, and I believe that he would hurt you guys since he would no longer have anything over my head."
"You said he was like you, a hybrid? Who's his human half then?" Maddie asked gently rubbing Danny's back. She felt his tension rise with the question. She also felt him slightly wince in pain. "Please, there's not much he can do now, what's holding you back?" Maddie questioned worriedly as they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Danny changed back into Phantom as the door opened to reveal Jack looking worriedly at the two. Maddie looked back at her son. "You need to tell him and explain to both us what is going on."
"What?" Jack asked confused as Phantom looked at the ground and pulled his legs up to his chest. Maddie sighed and looked at Jack sadly.
"He's Danny, Jack. He was afraid to tell us," Maddie whispered as Phantom shook. Maddie gently put her hand on his back while Jack looked at them confused.
"What are you talking about?" Jack asked looking between the two trying to figure out what was going on. "Danny is at Tucker's finishing up the homework he missed."
"He lied," Maddie stated as she felt her son shift uncomfortably. She could feel his guilt for it, but she could care less at this moment. "He never was there."
"I'm sorry," Phantom whispered as he changed back into Fenton to prove the point. Jack took a step back unsure of what to think. He was afraid that this was a trick, but everything seemed to make sense. The late nights, the real reason he went missing, and why he was in so much pain when he had come home.
"Did the Guys in White really use humans in their experiments?" Jack asked hoping that he had just lied about that to cover for himself. Danny looked up at him sadly.
"That was the only thing they could use to break me. I'm a protector, and it's my job to make sure people are safe. In there, there was nothing I could do to save the ones they used," he whispered looking at his hands. "They knew enough about me to use my obsession on saving people against me. That was until that last day when I got out, and they managed to." He suddenly started shaking and buried his head into his knees trying to hide from them. Jack slowly walked up to him unsure what to think. He didn't really want his family to know what Phantom had gone though, and now he finds out that it was his son who was really put though everything Phantom was: that they were one and the same.
"It was always you then," Jack whispered sitting next to Danny. He gently wrapped his son in a hug and felt the young teen shake. "I love you, Danny. For everything you do, and everything you fight for. I'm so proud of you," Jack whispered hoping to calm his son down. He didn't want his son to be afraid of him in his own home. Jack wished for everything to go back to a sense of normal, only difference would be that he could see his son in this light. The hero of Amity Park.
"I am too," Maddie whispered wrapping her arms around the teen as well. She could tell he was uncomfortable, but they were parents, it's their job to make him uncomfortable. She could tell though that it wasn't from normal parent things, but the fact he had been tortured. She remembered what the agents had said, and she was afraid that maybe they had seriously ruined any chance her son had to a normal life, even with ghost powers. He had managed to be normal these past months, but now everything had changed. The game wasn't being played fair anymore. They both felt Danny shift and disappear. Maddie jumped up and looked up to see him by the door.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he started to fade. "I don't think I can keep this up."
"Daniel, you are not going anywhere," Maddie ordered sternly staring her son down. He stepped down and looked at the ground. She stood up and slowly walked to him. Jack felt the tension in the air as he noticed his son wanted to run. He wanted to run from this problem, and all others that he was forced to face at this moment. Jack pressed the button to the remote that caused the Ghost Shield to cover the home. Danny looked up as he felt his energy hide inside of him to get away from it. Maddie watched as he slightly winced while his healing slowed and his body fold in pain.
"Now he can't go anywhere," Jack smiled lightly hoping to ease some tension that was caused. Danny backed into the door as Maddie grabbed his hand.
"Danny, we're not letting you fight this alone anymore. Plus the Guys in White believe we have Phantom in our lab," Maddie explained as she desperately thought of a plan to save her son. "So they'll let us alone long enough for us to come up with a more permanent solution."
"We could have Vladdie's help," Jack smiled thinking of his old friend. Maddie looked at Danny to see what he thought when she noticed the hostility and pure hate of his face.
"That'll only get you killed, and it's one of reasons why I didn't want you guys to know. Vlad isn't helping you, Dad. He wants you dead so he can marry Mom," Danny informed harshly. Maddie wanted to slap him for using that tone, but she realized that he was still hurting from being abused. She could let it go this once, but she just hoped that he didn't get too out of control from this.
"Daniel," Maddie whispered gently hoping to at least get him to calm down. His eyes were glowing, and she noticed him slightly flinch from the shield but the burning hate was too much for him to care. "Danny, it's okay, we won't tell. Just calm down and explain to us why," Maddie comforted slowly putting her hand on the hybrid's shoulder. She gently massaged them hoping to relax her son. He didn't. She pulled him into a hug trying to get him to calm down before he hurt himself.
"He's the one that started this entire mess," Danny growled pulling away from his mother. Maddie grabbed his shoulders and heard him hiss slightly from the pressure.
"Danny, we need to know everything. We can't help if we don't know what's all really going on," Maddie responded. Jack looked between the two unsure of what to do. He was still surprised that his son was Phantom, but something felt slightly off about how he was acting about Vlad. He looked up at Maddie as a possibility formed in his head.
"He's Plasmius then, isn't he?" Jack asked looking at his son. Danny backed away slightly nodding his head. Maddie looked at Jack lost at how he figured it out. "What? It's Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton? I've heard Plasmius refer to himself as Vlad Plasmius, so I just figured that maybe they used similar name schemes."
"Wow, Jack," Maddie mumbled surprised at her husband. That was another quality that she loved about him. He always surprised her with something. He may have been forgetful, but he always could figure things out if there was something similar. Danny looked up at them.
"Yeah, well, you said something about them working together, and Masters funds them," Danny explained looking down. "He's not going to help with anything. He'll more than likely try to get me back in the custody of the Guys in White."
"Danny, what really happened in that first year? If that was really you, you should know better than to steal like that," Maddie whispered reaching for his hand and squeezing it. Danny sighed and closed his eyes.
"I had just started and was trying to get use to fighting ghosts. Well, when Circus Gothica came to town, the ringmaster Freakshow had this staff. It controlled ghosts," Danny explained looking up at his mother. "There was really nothing I could do at the time about it. I wasn't sure, and I can't remember most of what was happening. It's still a blur to me. Sam and Tucker had to explain a lot of it."
"Danny," Maddie whispered putting her hand on his shoulders and turning him to face her. "I don't want excuses; I want to know what you were thinking."
"Mom, I couldn't," Danny whispered shutting his eyes tightly. "It was like that in lab. I had no control over anything that was happening. I couldn't break free. I don't know what else to compare it to."
"Mads, I think he's telling the truth. He really wasn't acting like himself during that time either," Jack put in looking to his son and back to his wife. "I mean it would make sense. If he was under someone else's control, he really couldn't do much about his actions. It's like hypnotizing someone. They can't really do much about it."
"Jack," Maddie sighed putting more pressure on Danny's shoulder. Danny tensed and tried to back away.
"Mom, you're hurting me," Danny mumbled pulling away from her. She slowly let go, and Danny stumbled backwards before catching himself. Jack looked up as Danny gently wrapped his arms around himself. Maddie walked over to Jack and gave him a quick glare.
"We'll talk about this later," Maddie whispered walking out the door and leaving Danny and Jack alone. Jack watched as Danny backed into a wall and slid down pulling his knees to his chest.
"Danny, I believe you," Jack comforted slowly making his way to his son's side. He sat next to Danny and put his arm around the young teen. "She just needs some time. She's really worried about you, and I don't think she knows quite what to do at this moment. It is a lot to take in," Jack explained looking down at his son.
"The truth is all I have at the moment," Danny murmured closing his eyes and tensing unwillingly. Jack felt it and sighed rubbing Danny's arm.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Jack comforted holding his son a little tighter. "I would never hurt you."
"I know," Danny whispered slowly opening his eyes to look at his dad. "I know. But…"
"They ruined your trust in even the people that care about you the most," Jack whispered feeling Danny trying to fight against himself to push Jack away. Jack went to move when he felt Danny relax back into his side. He looked down and noticed Danny had buried his head in his side and was silently crying. "You okay, Bud?"
"No," Danny mumbled shaking. Jack pulled him a little closer and let the teen get out his emotions that were no doubt from everything that was going on. He looked up as Maddie walked back in with swollen, red eyes.
"Mads, you alright?" Jack asked hoping to keep his family together. She slowly walked over to him and sat down next to Danny and put her arms around him. Jack felt Danny tense and then relax again as he noticed that it was only his mother.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get mad at you," Maddie whispered kissing the top of his head and holding him close. "I just didn't know what to do," she cried as Danny looked up at her. She slightly smiled wondering how she missed her son grow up. She remembered how he was in pain when he came home from being gone and everything she was trying to figure out. He wasn't caught as Fenton, but as Phantom and the wounds transferred. "What else did they do?" Maddie asked needing to know what happened so she could help her son. She saw him stiffen.
"No," Danny whispered closing his eyes as Maddie pulled his face out of his father's side. She looked down at him and felt her heart break once more at the corner and scared look he gave her. She let go, and he buried his face back into his father. Maddie looked up at and smiled at her husband.
"He's trusting you more," she whispered giving him a quick kiss. She heard Danny groan and laughed.
"Gross," he mumbled shifting slightly. Suddenly he went still as they heard a knock on the door. Jack looked at Maddie who had taken a more protective stance next to her son. Jack slowly moved away and stood up pressing the button to take down the shield again.
"I'll send you a blank text if it's them," he whispered making his way to the door. He took a quick look back and seen Danny looking at him worriedly. "They probably have something that they want us to do to Phantom, or something that might give them rights to him."
"Alright," Maddie whispered pulling Danny closer to her. She could feel his tension rise. "Danny, they won't be able to do anything. If Jack sends that blank text, I want you to phase down in the lab and stand in the area where you were before," Maddie explained quickly. Danny tried to pull away. "Daniel, listen to me. This will only work if you follow everything I'm telling you now."
"Mom, I can't," Danny mumbled as Maddie grabbed his arm tightly.
"Daniel, I'm trying to keep you safe," Maddie explained looking at the door as she heard the front door open and Jack greet whoever was there. "Stay still, and look to your left, there'll be a red button. Fire a small ecto blast, and it'll lock you in there like last time. You have to do this yourself, or they will think that we are hiding something. Please, you have to do this," Maddie pleaded as Danny started shaking. She felt her phone go off. Danny changed as she picked it up, and it was a blank message from Jack. Phantom looked at her sadly before disappearing into the floor. She looked at the door and walked to the steps and looked down to see Jack glaring at the agents.
"Why are they here?" Maddie growled glaring at them. "We have every right to Phantom."
"Ma'am, the government believes you are incapable of keeping Phantom under lock and key. We are here to make sure that he gets what he deserves," K stated officially. O just glared at everyone. Jack looked at Maddie wondering what she had done with their son. She gave a quick look to the lab silently telling Jack that was where she had Phantom go.
"You guys lost him first," Maddie deadpanned glaring at them. "He's still here, and not going anywhere anytime soon."
"We have something we need to see about him," O growled. "It's part of what we were doing before he left."
"No," Maddie growled. Jack stood by his wife with an ecto gun ready to defend his family and home. "You are not ruining any experiments of ours."
"Please, there's not much you can learn from him. He's too different for anything to count," K explained trying to salvage anything. After last time, he was unsure that they could get the hybrid back. "He's not really a ghost."
"He walks though walls, he's a ghost," Jack pushed knowing that wasn't really the truth. He was something more than simply a ghost, and he would be a wonderful scientific experiment, but he was still his son. He wasn't going to sell him out like that very easily. "He has ectoplasm."
"But he's not really a ghost," O pushed glaring at him wanting to run down to the lab and push the syringe into Phantom's arm and watch him die a slow and painful death. They figured it out from leftover samples of the ghost's ectoplasm how to destroy him from the inside out. "Besides, he won't stay here long."
"I said no," Maddie growled preparing to fight them. "Now get out. We have plenty of equipment if he starts to act up. We don't even have to torture him."
"Can we see you do something then?" K asked hoping to maybe save something from the ghost before they destroyed him. Jack looked between them and grinned.
"Sure," he exclaimed running the lab hoping Maddie would stall them long enough for him to explain to Danny what was going on. He ran down the steps to see Phantom curled up in the corner. The shield he was supposed to be in was destroyed. "Danny? Hey, bud, you okay?"
"Go away," Phantom growled. "I heard what you told them."
"Danny, it's okay. If we said no, then they would force their way down here and that just would be bad for all parties," Jack pleaded kneeling behind his son and gently putting his large hands on the young hybrid's smaller shoulders. "I won't hurt you. It'll be something simple, I promise. I'll make it so they have to stay behind a line. I won't let them get anywhere close to you. But I have to do this to prevent them from taking you away from me." Phantom looked back at him and shuddered.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to destroy the shield thingy," he whispered looking down. Jack gently pulled him into a hug.
"It's okay," Jack whispered. It really didn't look like it was destroyed, just like it didn't work at all. "Come on, we don't have much time. You really not gonna like what I plan though."
"Does it involve an examination table?" Phantom asked slowly following his father. Jack stopped and looked back at Phantom sadly.
"Yes, it does," he whispered knowing that the hybrid was scared out of his mind of them. "But I might be able to keep them from getting closer. We only have enough lab coats for our family, and they won't fit any of them. They'll have to stay behind that line," Jack pointed at a line that was on the floor as they passed. Phantom remembered how they explained protection was needed beyond that point. He hesitantly stepped over the line feeling weird.
"What are you going to do?" Phantom asked as Jack pulled out the table. There were no straps or anything, and Jack locked it into place on the floor. He grabbed his white lab coat and put it on motioning for Phantom to jump on the table.
"I'm going to run a test that involves following a dye inside your body," Jack explained a little too happily. Phantom shuddered as Jack walked up to him with a purple colored liquid.
"Stick the nitro in him," O ordered as the scientist recorded Phantom's reactions. He was shaking in pain and fear. The vial was a light brown color, and every time a new vial was put into his ectoplasm, the pain increased.
"Sir, I don't think it's working," the lead expert said watching as the ghost shook. "Forcing him out of withdraw isn't working. He has to go through straight cut off for your plan to work."
"I want him addicted, and I want him to know what happens when he doesn't listen. We take away his pain if he does what we want," K grinned taking out another needle with the pure methamphetamine. "Once he realizes that we are the source of this, and then he'll do everything we ask just to avoid the pain."
"Using the purest form of a normally common drug isn't really the smartest thing. That is illegal," the lead said looking at the two agents warily. "Wouldn't you get into trouble?"
"He won't be able to get it, besides, he doesn't even know what it is," O taunted slamming his fist onto Phantom's chest and watching the ghost scream in pain. "He'll get it eventually."
"This is the dye," Jack explained kneeling in front of the hybrid. "It won't hurt you. It might feel funny, but that'll go away."
"I don't want anything in me right now," Phantom whispered looking at the door to the lab as the light turned on. "Mom delayed them a while."
"She was probably chewing them out on ethics," Jack whispered reaching for his son's arm. Phantom jerked it away not wanting him to do anything. "Hey, bud, it's okay. I know this is something you really don't want to do, but it's the only thing I can think of that will get rid of them the fastest without seriously hurting you."
"Jack?" Maddie called looking at him curiously. The agents stepped forward when suddenly a glass wall appeared. Jack grinned and looked at Phantom with a secret smile.
"They are unauthorized to continue. I thought you knew that?" Jack asked innocently. The agents glared at him and then looked at the ghost who was just staring at the ground, unrestrained.
"Aren't you worried Phantom will attack?" O yelled turning to Maddie who had grabbed her lab coat and entered a code in the wall to let herself in.
"Nope, he can't use his powers in there. He's really works well with a kind word too," Maddie smirked and strutted in.
"Nicely put, Mads," Jack grinned looking back at the ghost. Maddie looked at the chart and noticed Jack wanted to run the dye test.
"Jack, are you sure?" Maddie asked worriedly making sure that the sound to the outside was off. The couple could hear them, but they couldn't hear the couple.
"It'll tell them enough to know that we are doing something, but they won't think we are holding back," Jack explained as Phantom looked up at them. He completely avoided the agents trying to forget about them. "And it shouldn't hurt Danny badly."
"Danny, you okay with this?" Maddie asked looking at the hybrid. Phantom looked up slightly and sighed knowing that there wasn't much of a choice here.
"If it gets rid of them," he whispered slowly moving. Maddie watched the agents as they tensed ready for the hybrid to attack. It made her wonder how much her son fought while in that place and how many people were hurt from him trying to get away. She put that thought down knowing he probably did more damage to the place than the people.
"Alright," Maddie whispered standing in front of him preventing the agents from seeing her son. "Jack, I'll do this, hand me the syringe."
"Here you go," Jack smiled encouragingly at his son trying to ease the halfa's tension while handing Maddie the vial with the purple liquid. Maddie gently pulled down the hybrid's glove and set it aside. Phantom turned his arm a little to let her get to the vain. She gently tapped it and inserted the needle. He flinched, and they heard the agents murmur among themselves. She knew they were surprised at how easily Phantom submitted to them. She turned and grinned evilly at the agents. They both glared at her upset that Phantom had let the Fentons, of all people, do whatever to him.
"I need you to lie on the table and stay still," Maddie whispered gently pushing on his chest. She heard him take in a quick from the pressure. "It's okay, Sweetie."
"My ribs are still sore," he whispered as his back met the cold surface. He winced as memories raced though his head.
"Get him down!" Boss yelled angrily. He was tired of the ghost breaking away from the table. He could continue this work if the stupid ghost would work with them instead of against. K took out his whip and lanced Phantom's front pushing the ghost back down to the ground. Phantom screamed out and shook the lab.
"Shut the Hell Up, Phantom!" K screamed adding to the hybrid's panic. Phantom had broken the restrains and destroyed the lab area. O shot an ecto gun at the hybrid knocking him into a wall. Phantom slowly tried to stand only for K to kick his side making him fall back down. "Man, you're freaking annoying."
"It's alright," Maddie whispered looking back at Jack as he started the machine. It made a light buzzing noise before slowly coming out of the ceiling. She turned as Jack turned on the sound for the agents. She felt Danny tense and his breathing became faster. "Shh, calm down."
"I can't," Phantom whispered looking up at her. She took a quick look at the agent and noticed their confused gazes at the ghost. He was tense, but did whatever the couple told him.
"Mads," Jack called out looking at her from the computer. "I need him in anatomical position so we can get an accurate reading."
"Alright, Phantom," Maddie began as Jack adjusted a couple things. "I need you in anatomical position." Phantom looked up at her and knew that they could now hear. It wasn't helping his nerves, but he slowly turned his palms upwards and spread his feet apart about a foot from each other. Maddie smiled and put a gentle hand on his forearm. Jack grinned and put the results up on the screen. It showed a general outline of Phantom and then there was a deep purple color surrounding his chest area especially where he was injured. There were a few areas where it was also a purple. Where Maddie was touching him, it was a light purple.
"This is so cool," Jack exclaimed excitingly. Maddie felt Phantom flinched and the result screen went dark. "Wait, what's going on?" Jack started typing furiously on the computer wondering why it now decided to act up. It wasn't going to help his son if something went wrong.
"Phantom?" Maddie asked quietly looking at her son. He was looking around alert and focused telling her that he didn't do anything that was causing this. She looked back at the agents' smirking faces as the glass wall dropped and the emergency lights came on.
"We are very grateful for your capability in getting the scum submissive, but he is too dangerous to be kept alive," O taunted grinning like a manic and pulling out a needle. Jack noticed Phantom's fleeing look and took out the hidden ecto weapon he had under the computer desk. He aimed and shot the vial letting it hit the floor. O picked it back up. Then Maddie took the Fenton Foamer and shot at the two agents sticking them to a wall.
"Next time you try to ruin anything we do," Maddie began angrily taking out her staff and putting it to K's neck. "I will not hesitate to throw you in the Ghost Zone." Maddie backed away glaring at them. Phantom had sat up and now was just sitting on the table with his arms wrapped around himself and eyes closed tightly.
"What did you do to my lab?" Jack boomed aiming an ecto gun at them. He took a quick look at Phantom and noticed he had pulled his legs up to his chest and buried his face in his arms. He was shaking violently. Jack was torn between helping his son, and tearing the ones who caused his son to fall apart to shreds. He deemed that the agents were a threat, so he focused on that and noticed that Maddie was ready to rip their heads off and throw them in the Ghost Zone.
"We set it so we could get Phantom," O growled as Maddie plunked the syringe from his hand. She growled at him noticing the red glow coming from the vial. Maddie slammed it on the ground and stepped on it. "What the hell is wrong with you? You just set the town to its doom."
"Shut up," Maddie snapped slapping him across his face. "You're going to take a little trip to the Ghost Zone. I hope you have fun."
"They will know you did it," K smirked. "You won't get away with it."
"Phantom, can you get one of your ghost friends to pick these knuckleheads up?" Maddie asked turning to the hybrid. Phantom looked up at her and then buried his face back into his arms. "Great, thanks, you idiots. Now I have to get him to come back out of the shell."
"You were working with him?" O stammered not believing what was happening. Maddie smirked and opened up the portal.
"No, he was working for us," Maddie grinned peeling them off the wall and rolled them to the portal. "Have fun, and never come back here again. Or it'll just be your bodies going into the Ghost Zone," Maddie growled out shoving them into the Zone. She pressed the button and let the doors close.
"BEWARE FOR I'M THE BOX GHOST!" The, clearly, Box Ghost shouted unnecessarily in the lab. Maddie sighed and walked by him to Phantom who was shaking violently. Jack grabbed a thermos and sucked the annoying ghost in. For whatever reason, he always got out when the portal was open, every time.
"Is he okay?" Maddie asked gently resting her hand on his shoulder feeling the sobs coming from his body. He seemed so much smaller and vulnerable. Jack looked at her sadly.
"He is still healing," Jack whispered reaching for his son, but Phantom winced and shrunk back. "Well, whatever we had accomplished was ruined."
"No," Maddie whispered standing in front of the hybrid. She put her hands on his shoulders and gently massaged them. "Danny, it's okay. They're gone, and they won't be coming back for a while. Please, it's okay. Look at me," Maddie pleaded gently moving her hands to his neck. He took in a quick breath and held it. "Daniel, it's okay. No one here is going to hurt you."
"Should we take him to his room?" Jack asked looking back at the thermos that was supposed to hold Plasmius, only it was gone. "Mads, where's the thermos that was sitting on table?"
"I didn't move it," Maddie whispered staring at the area where Jack was pointing. "Why?"
"It had Plasmius in it," Jack worried. He looked at her with fear in his eyes. "They were here to not just kill Phantom, but to let him go too."
"Of course they would," Maddie hissed. She suddenly stopped her anger as she felt Phantom shift. She gently put her hands under his face and lifted it up so she could see his eyes. They were dull, red, and swollen.
"Mom," Phantom whispered looking up at her sadly. He jumped on her and pulled her into a hug crying. Maddie wrapped her arms around him protectively and rocked back and forth hoping to calm him down enough to think straight. "I'm scared."
"I know, Sweetie," Maddie whispered in his ear starting to feel the coldness of his body. She shifted slightly and paused when she felt his heart beating a very slow and steady pace. She wondered about it, but pushed it aside for another time. "I know, and I'm here now to keep you safe."
"I am too," Jack put in feeling slightly left out in trying to help his son. He walked up and wrapped them both into a protective embrace. He felt Phantom shift slightly from his touch, but then slowly relaxed back into him. "We're always here for you, son, whether you're ghost, human, or something in between."
"Every time, and every place," Maddie whispered pulling him a little tighter. A bright light appeared around Phantom's waist and changed him. Maddie felt his heart rate pick up and his breathing slowed slightly as he fell asleep. "Jack, let's get him to his room."
"Alright," Jack mumbled as Maddie moved enough so Jack could pick the young teen up. He gently walked up the steps to the kitchen and noticed Jazz standing holding the milk and staring at them.
"What did you do?" she asked running up to her brother. Maddie quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug.
"Wait, don't wake him up," Maddie whispered calmly motioning for Jack to continue and that she'll handle their daughter.
"What did you do to my baby brother?" Jazz growled glaring at her mother.
"The Guys in White were here," Maddie explained quickly letting her go. "They tried to kill him to cover their tracks," Maddie whispered looking at the doorway where Jack and Danny disappeared. Jazz looked at her mother confused.
"You know?" she questioned worriedly. "How?"
"I looked though his scrapbook. He had a picture of him changing, and now we are just trying to get him trusting people again," Maddie explained taking her daughter's face in her hands. "We are going to need your help with this. He's been broken, and we have to put the pieces back together."
"Does he know you know?" Jazz asked worriedly wondering if her brother was ready for all this.
"Yes, he does, and he's not happy, but he's scared right now. He's scared of everything," Maddie whispered rubbing her shoulders. "We have to help to him. He's still trying to get over what they had done, and he won't be able to get any justice from it because of the circumstances that are surrounding this."
"What do you mean?" Jazz questioned worriedly. Maddie looked at her sadly.
"Something that he never should have had happen to him," Maddie whispered pulling her into another hug. "I'm just glad that we are back together."
"You're not mad at him for keeping it a secret?" Jazz questioned wondering what would have caused her parents not to be upset at something like that.
"After this, I'm just glad he's home safe and sound," Maddie whispered kissing her daughter's forehead. "We have to protect him now."
"He won't be use to it," Jazz smiled. "But he should be fine then if you accept him. He's use to protecting everyone, and now everyone will protect him."
"Telling everyone the wounds from what those men did," Maddie smiled getting an idea. "Maybe we can get him some justice after all."
Danny: She might make a sequel...and an epilogue to introduce it, but she needs ideas for that
Me: Please, I had so much fun, but now I don't know where to take this from here...
Danny: Also it might be a while before she does anything really big because in two weeks she has to give her laptop back to the school
Me: And then convince my dad to get me one before I start college so I can continue to write...My family hates that I'm always on here, but its part of what I love to do...I might start writing on paper, but it takes up too long and I always get weird sounding phrases...
Danny: Also Review and give ideas so that way she can make a third story to this. Silent Tears happens up until that one point in the last chapter. Someone noticed the similarities there, but no one really said anything...
Me: Please Review, and give your ideas, maybe I'll come up with something...otherwise I hope you have a wonderful day!