Author's Notes: Man, I am late. I'm back again, with another new chapter. Sorry for scaring you folks. I had lost my mojo for a moment there. Like I told you all last chapter, I pretty much wasted the nice buffer of chapters I had built up. When I did go back and tried to write a new chappie, all I could spit out was crap. The beginning of this chapter was rewritten a few times before I got it right.

This chapter had some good news, though. I couldn't get my normal betas in time, so I recruited the aid of one of my fave Phanfic writers, Cordria, to beta for me. She aided me a great deal with the ending and some character wonkiness I was having. The result will be pleasing to all, I hope. Thanks a bunch, Cori. You rock, girl!

Now, on with the story…

Lost and Found Chapter 5: Road Trip Part 2

The silence was unbearable.

Thousands of miles above the Earth, the Fenton Specter Speeder Mark II flew through the atmosphere. The craft soared at maximum speed, no doubt breaking a number of air traffic laws, as it grew closer to its destination. Inside were three female occupants; the young ailing halfa, Danni Phantom, slept soundly in the back compartment, saving her already waning strength. The two remaining passengers occupied the cockpit. Maddie Fenton operated the airborne vehicle, making sure it stayed true to its course. Raven had just come back from checking on their patient, ensuring that her condition remained stable. The sorceress now sat next to Maddie, her eyes closed as she quietly meditated… or so it seemed. A half hour in and neither one had uttered a word to each other, resulting in an uneasy hush hanging in the air.

A current of uneasiness ran inside of Raven's psyche as she contemplated her situation. When she had agreed to escort Danielle, she failed to fully take into account her current situation: the fact that she would be spending a number of hours, alone, with Danny's mother. She knew it was silly: she, in her lifetime, had faced criminals and supernatural beings far more powerful and yet it was her boyfriend's mother that made her nervous. It wasn't as if she was actually afraid of her, per se. One of the main reasons she felt anxiety grip her throat was the fact that she didn't know what the woman felt about her. She and Danny had revealed their relationship that morning. Not only that, but before there was any time for a reaction from the Fentons, Danielle had stumbled back into Danny's life, taking the attention away from the couple. With mother and girlfriend now alone, Raven felt a bit restless. Did Maddie approve of her dating her son? Did she even like her in general? Would Raven be able to fit into the Fenton household in the short time she would be staying there? The dark titan had never been one who cared for what others thought of her, and yet here she was, worrying herself into a frenzy.

Even if Maddie approved of her, what would she say if they did strike up a conversation? Raven couldn't think of anything they had in common, other than Danny. She knew Maddie was smart and a force to be reckoned with in battle. She also knew the woman, like the rest of the family, had more than a normal curiosity in ghosts. What little Raven knew of ghost hunting was learned during the battles fought the weeks prior. Other than that, Raven hadn't had a clue of how Maddie Fenton ticked. What if she said something wrong to her? "Get a grip," she whispered silently to herself. She was worrying about nothing. Danny's mother had asked for her to come; that had to mean something. Raven let out a breath she didn't even realize that she was holding until now. She tried to tell herself that worrying about it wasn't going to help, but she could feel uneasiness creep over her. She was going to have to have a long talk with Timid when this was over and done with.

Ironically enough, Maddie Fenton was having similar feeling of anxiety. As she kept a watchful eye on the instruments, her gaze intermittently strayed to the enigmatic teen sitting next to her. Like Raven,Maddie couldn't make heads or tails of the girl. She knew from what she had seen in the past few weeks that she was essentially a good person and a powerful superhero. At the same time, she had an air of mystery about her. She only seemed to open up to her fellow Titans and mostly kept her distance from the Fentons except when it came to Danny. There was something about her that reminded her quite a bit of Danny's friend, Sam; an observation that she suspected would be a bit of a problem.

Maddie, as well as anyone else who spent time near the family, always figured that Danny and Sam would eventually end up together. Everyone could see there was something between the two; something that neither would admit. Even Jack, who unfortunately was oblivious to everything other than ghosts, noticed it. She hoped the fact that Danny was now with someone else wasn't going to hurt their friendship after Danny had worked so hard at regaining it. Maddie tried not to hold anything against Raven; Danny and Sam were never officially together and when it came to love and romance, nothing was for certain. Despite that, she found it quite amazing that Danny and Raven had gotten so close in such a short amount of time. For his benefit, Maddie had to at least get to know the girl; especially she was going to become a guest for an indeterminate length of time.

"So," Maddie said, finally breaking the wall that was the silence separating the two, "How was Danielle? Is she doing ok?" The sudden sound of the ghost hunter's voice, after the lack of any noise surprised the girl, causing her to jump. She turned to the source, using years of practice to hide the look of shock on her face.

"She's fine," the younger of the two replied. "She should be sound asleep now. Her condition hasn't gotten any worse, at least."

"That's good. She's going to need her rest." Maddie sighed discontentedly, "I wish I had the same luxury."

"I could help with that," Raven suggested, "I know of a few blends of tea that could keep you alert." The ghost hunter smiled in reply.

"I may want to take you up on your offer," Maddie said. "Actually Raven, I wanted to thank you for coming. You being here is a great relief." The sudden praise caused a small patch of pink to appear on Raven's cheeks.

"You don't really don't have to thank me for anything, Mrs. Fenton," she replied modestly, "I was happy to help."

"Please, dear, call me Maddie," the older woman corrected, "And I beg to differ. You've been a big help recently. I've been talking to Jazz and she explained to me how much you've helped Danny. He's changed so much thanks to you."

"It was nothing, really," Raven denied, the blush growing even larger, "Doing what we do… it takes a lot out of you. Mentally and emotionally. Sometimes you just need someone to listen; someone who understands what you're going through."

"And I'm glad Danny was able to find someone to confide in." Maddie's face softened as a sad, solemn smile adorned her lips, "You wouldn't believe how long we've been worried about him. He was always so guarded; he tried so hard to keep us out. If we only knew then what we know now, we might have been able to do something more."

"It wasn't your fault. It was Danny's choice to keep his powers a secret from you. You couldn't have known about his powers."

"That's the problem though; we should have known," Maddie's voice now cracked faintly as she spoke, her fists burled up into balls in frustration. "We failed him. All the signs were there: he was always tired, always getting trouble at school. His grades were slipping. We should have done more for him. We were so preoccupied with ghost hunting that we ignored our children. He shouldn't have to face ghosts and danger and Vlad all by himself; no one his age should." Images of her son facing down armies of ghosts flooded the mother's mind before she continued. "If only we had known, if only we had tried harder to reach him…"

"It's useless," Raven interrupted, "Worrying about the past, asking yourself all those 'whatifs', torturing yourself over what you could have done differently; it's all pointless. No matter how much you worry, no matter how hard you try, you can never go back and fix things. The past is immutable; you can't change it. Trying to do so won't accomplish anything."

Raven's voice was matter of fact and harshly void of any emotion. Maddie stared at the girl, her callous words catching the woman's attention. What caught the ghost hunter's attention even more was how swiftly the tone of the girl's voice softened. "Mrs. Fenton… Maddie, you may not have known about Danny back then, but you do know 

now. Things are different. Danny doesn't have to hide anything from you anymore. He'll need your help now more than ever." Raven paused for a moment, "All of you are his anchor, his reason for even doing what he does. He'll need your support and guidance. They both will."

Maddie stayed silent through Raven's whole speech andremained that way for moments after she finished. The Titan'swords rang true through her mind and heart. She could feel her anxiety lessen; she knew it would never truly go away completely. She was a parent after all and parents always worried for their children. It wasn't as overbearing as it was before, however. Raven was right; she couldn't allow her fears hold her back. Both Danny and Danielle needed her and Jack.

"Thank you," she finally managed to say, "I needed that. You're absolutely right; dwelling on the past won't help Danny or Danielle. I'm going to do my best to help both." The older woman smiled brightly. "I think Danny is very lucky to have found someone like you. I can tell that he likes you very much." The color in Raven's face returned as she looked away in embarrassment.

"I-I think I was lucky to find him," she responded meekly, completely contrary to how she was just moments before. "There's something… special about him; something almost noble. It probably sounds silly…"

"Not at all, dear," Maddie differed, "I think he actually gets that from his father. He may not seem it, but Jack can be quite brave and courageous when he wants to be." A glint could be seen in the corner of her eye.

"I don't doubt that," Raven agreed. She had to admit, Mr. Fenton turned out to be quite capable, despite her assessment of him when the Fentons first arrived at the tower.

"So, Raven," Mrs. Fenton began, "How long have you and my son been seeing each other?"

The Titan paused for a moment, wondering how Maddie could so easily keep her off balance. She quickly collected herself before answering. "Not for long. I found out about his secret after the attack on the tower, but we didn't actually get together until after everyone discovered his powers."

Maddie remained quiet for a moment, as if she was pondering something. "Now Raven," she continued after a moment of silence, "I know that Danny is my son, but he's also a teenage boy and I know how… fast they sometimes want to go. I just want to make sure that he isn't making you do anything… inappropriate."

By the time Raven fully realized what the woman was implying, her face had decided on doing a very good impression of a stop sign, its warm crimson glow shining brightly on her flustered face. She quickly looked down, well past being embarrassed. "I –I don't think you need to worry about that," Raven finally managed to squeak. "Danny is actually sort of old fashion when it comes to that. Trust me; I don't think he would do anything like that; not that I would let him."

The mother smiled and nodded in approval. "Good. Jack was sort of the same way. I'm glad to hear Danny is being such a gentleman." Awkward silence began to linger once again between the two; the only sound that could be heard was the various beeps from the flight instruments.

"Maddie?" Raven began, still unaccustomed to calling her by her full name, "I was just wondering; is it …alright that I'm coming with you?"

"What do you mean, dear? Of course it's alright."

"I just mean that…" She hesitated, "I was happy to come and help and spend some time with Danny, but I'm starting to think it's not such a good idea. Danny's going to need to spend time with his friends and I don't want to interfere with that. That and I don't know if I exactly fit into his normal life."

"I don't think you could qualify Danny's life as being normal to begin with," Maddie countered. "I think you're just nervous, that's all. I'm sure things will work out." Despite the sincerity in Maddie's words, Raven's doubts still lingered.

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

Tucker Foley, techno-geek, was currently hard at work in the Fenton basement/lab. The African-American male had himself surrounded by a myriad of computer equipment and cables. Off to the side, the remains of his dinner, a mega-sized nasty- meal from Nasty Burger, lay crumpled up. The mega-gulp cup full of soft drink still sat beside him as he would regularly take sips from the straw to hydrate himself. Ear buds were firmly jammed into his ear canals, playing loud pop music as he toiled on one of the Fenton's work stations. He was so engrossed by what was on the screen and so isolated by his music that he didn't notice the figure that stomped down the stairs. The unknown assailant reached him unnoticed; that is until it promptly yanked the ear buds off of him, depriving him of his music.

"Hey!" he cried out in protest.

"Damn it, Tucker," an equally irate Sam Manson uttered as she stood there, her hands firmly on her hips, "Do you know how long I was at the front door, ringing the doorbell?"

"Don't you have a key?"

"Yeah, I have a key, but I figured you'd at least answer or something. I didn't even know if you were here until I heard that god-awful singing of yours."

"Hey I'm not that…" His gripes stopped halfway as he suddenly began gawk.

Sam, catching the absence of Tucker's usual blabber, turned to him and noted that he had his gaze fixed on her. "What?" she asked harshly, "What the heck are you looking at?" Her severe tone broke Tucker out of his trance.

"Uh, nothing!" he exclaimed with his hands raised high, "Nothing at all. It's just that… Don't you think you're a tad overdressed?" Tucker pointed to her current attire, as Sam followed the direction of his finger. The goth girl was currently sporting a black and purple colored corset, which hung tightly around the curves she had obtained over the past year. Black, fingerless gloves reached up to her mid-bicep. Her fingernails alternated from black to purple and back again. Her fishnet covered legs sprouted from a black skirt, highlighted with violet lace and ended in boots that were evidently nicer than her standard arm steel toes. The most noticeable aspect of Sam was her face: eye shadow and lipstick, both in her signature amethyst color, were carefully painted upon her eyes and lips respectively. Instead of her usual single small ponytail, instead two adorned her head, one on each side, both with violet streaks.

"What's the matter with the matter with how I look? I dress like this all the time." Sam silently cursed herself. She had a feeling she might have gone overboard with her outfit.

"Uhh, no, you don't. The last time you got this dressed up was for the dance two years ago." A devilish smile appeared on the cyber-geek's lips, "You wouldn't happen to be trying to impress a certain half-ghost male, now would you?"

"What?" she cried, a little too shrilly, "Tucker, you're crazy. So maybe I am a little dressed up; so what? Danny's coming back. I think that warrants a little celebration, don't you?"

"Suure," he replied, totally not convinced. A swift kick in retaliation caused him to cry out. "Hey, watch where you aim those things!"

"That's what you get for making false accusations. See if I do you any favors anymore."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" He got up to stretch his legs, which were more or less stuck in the same position for a number of hours now. "Speaking of favors, did you get that thing I asked you for?"

"Yeah, I got it," she confirmed as she dug into her backpack. After searching for a few moments, she revealed a few shrink-wrapped CD cases, as well as a small box containing a computer card. "Freshly delivered."

"It pays having a rich friend," he commented as he examined her delivery, "Perfect. These will do the job perfectly."

"So how exactly is this 'big job' going, anyway?" she asked curiously as she surveyed the mess of wires and computers.

"Long and tiring," he replied. He stuck the CD into the terminal he was working on and began to type furiously.

"That bad?"

"Worse. Vlad had his claws on every one of the Fenton's computers. Took me forever to weed out all the spyware and plug up all the backdoors in the OS. Who knows how long he's been stealing stuff from the database?"

"Sounds like Vlad," she observed, "Everything he does just screams 'creepy stalker. He needs to get a new hobby or something."

"Can't argue with that," Tucker replied as he continued to work. "Anyway, this firewall software you brought me should prevent him from doing that again, with a few tweaks from yours truly. And the moment he does try any funny business, I'll automatically get notified on my PDA."

"So, in other words, you're the Fentons' new IT guy." she quipped. "How much are they paying you?"

"Sam, I'm shocked!" he mock gasped, "How could you think I'd put a monetary value on aiding a friend? This is on the house. Besides, I can always charge later for maintenance fees."

"Always the entrepreneur. Speaking of the Fentons, any idea when they're coming back?"

"Eager to see Danny?" A withering stare from the goth took the smile off his face. "Anyway, they should be here by…" he glanced at the clock on the wall, "Sometime this morning. Looks like we have a bit more time."

"No problem. I can wait." Sam took a seat on a nearby stool, crossing her legs as she did so. Digging through her bag once again, she pulled out a shiny black MP3 player, along with a pair of headphones. As she did so, Tucker's mind became slightly preoccupied by the recent talk of time.



"Wait a sec… don't you have a curfew after the whole 'getting kidnapped by ghosts' thing?"

"Had a curfew," she corrected, "Luckily, Grandma and I found a way to make my parents annul that."

"You snuck out while everyone was asleep, didn't you?" Tucker surmised, not buying her excuse for a second. "Won't get in trouble with your folks?"

"When am I ever not in trouble with them?" she countered. "Besides, it'll be totally worth it."

"If you say so," he shrugged. Suddenly green lights began to flash, accompanied by a more than evident siren.

"What the heck is that?" Sam cried out in alarm.

"That would be the Specter Speeder coming in for a landing," Tucker clarified, "Looks like we don't have to wait after all." Sam's stomach decided just then to do a triple back flip while her heart was attempting to jump into her throat. She could feel her pulse quicken at the impending arrival of her best friend. Both teens watched as a panel at the far side of the room opened and the Specter Speeder hovered in, slowing to a stop ten feet in. Sam soon found her feet moving on their own as she sped towards the craft as it lowered itself onto the ground. The goth teen waited breathlessly as the side hatch slowly opened.

"Danny?" she called out in a surprisingly meek tone. A figure appeared in the hatchway, though their features unquestionably did not match those of the halfa. Raven stepped into the light of the lab, her face impassive. Behind her, being pulled by her dark powers, was a gurney, currently occupied by Danielle, who was still in a restful slumber.

"Sam," the Titan greeted as she made her way down the ramp. Both Sam and Tucker stared back in surprise, not sure what to say.

Finally, Sam found the power to speak. "Raven? Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything, but what are you doing here? And more importantly, where is Danny?"

"Danny is still on his way, dear," a familiar voice called from the vehicle. They turned to find Danny's mother as she followed Raven, "He's with his father and sister in the RV. They should be arriving later today. Raven is here to make sure Danielle is okay while we try to find a cure for her." She smiled warmly at the two, "It's so good to see you two again."

"Same here, Mrs. Fenton," Tucker replied. I readied some of the equipment you might need over there." He pointed over to a table with various gadgets arranged neatly on top. A computer terminal sat in a corner of the table.

"Well, thank you, Tucker. Raven; can you move Danielle over here?" The sorceress nodded, pulling the bed next to the area where Maddie had instructed. "Tucker, I need you to help me move some things around."

"Sure thing, Mrs. Fenton," he complied. Sam stayed behind, watching as Raven examined Danielle for any instability.

"Uh, Raven?" Sam began, "I wanted to thank you… for keeping your promise, I mean. For making sure Danny didn't die. I really appreciated that." Finishing up her examination, Raven looked up, smirking.

"It was my pleasure," she replied. "I was more than happy to help. I'm also glad you and your friend made it out ok."

"I wouldn't necessarily call Valerie my friend, though," Sam amended. "And technically, I'm sort of grounded, so I didn't get out of it completely unscathed."

"I see," Raven replied, "At least you're fine now. I know that Danny was pretty worried about you."

"Speaking of Danny, I hope he wasn't too much of a spaz while he was over there. I know he can be sort of a handful sometimes."

"He does take some getting used to," Raven agreed, eliciting smiles from both. "He wasn't that must trouble, though. Once you get to know him, he's really a nice guy."

"That he is. Though I sometimes wonder why I put up with his frequent bouts of cluelessness." She paused as her mind wandered to the halfa in question. Even though she complained about it, one of the many things she loved about him was his naiveté. Her mind drifted back into reality, "How long are you going to be staying anyway?"

"It depends," Raven responded in an almost cautious tone, "on whether or not Danny will need me after Danielle feels better."

"Need you?" Sam asked warily.

"Yeah, for backup and…wait, he didn't tell you?" Raven's expression became unreadable, which piqued Sam's curiosity.

"Tell us what?"

"That…" Raven hesitated for a moment. "He's part of the Titans now."

"He is?" Tucker interrupted, having overheard the conversation. He had long since helped Mrs. Fenton rearrange equipment and had inadvertently eavesdropped on the girls. "Awesome! I can't believe he didn't tell us! I wonder if he'll let me have a look at one of those Titan communicators..."

"Wow. That's…great," Sam reacted in a not so enthusiastic way. Raven's eyebrow arced ever so slightly as she perceived her reluctant tone. "Uh, Tucker, can you come over hear a second? I think Mrs. Fenton just called us to help with something."

"I didn't hear her…hey!" Sam physically dragged Tucker to the other side of the lab, out of earshot from Raven. "What was that for?"

"Did you hear what she said?" the goth girl asked in a hushed, yet livid tone, "Do you know what this means?"

"Of course I know what it means! It means our boy is moving up in the superhero biz. It means Danny's going to actually have a good reputation for once…"

"It means that he won't need us anymore," Sam finished flatly.

Tucker did a double take, staring at her as if she had her head missing. "What?" Where the heck did you get that from?" Tucker queried in confusion. "Of course Danny still needs us."

"You obviously don't remember freshman year," she grumbled, "Because if you did, you wouldn't be so confused. Let me jog your memory. You recall when Danny got invited to that party by Dash? Or when he was dating a possessed Paulina for that unbearable amount of time? Both times Danny became one of the popular kids and both times we got the shaft."

"And you think the same thing is happening now?" Tucker concluded, piecing together her logic.

"I know that's what's going on! Except now, instead of Dash, Kwan, and Paulina, we have the Titans. I mean, why wouldn't he want them over us? They're superheroes, like him. He's not going to have to babysit them whenever he goes off in a fight, unlike some of his other friends." Her voice dripped with venomous sarcasm.

"You do realize that this is crazy, don't you?" he asked in disbelief. "Danny isn't going ditch us like that."

"You think I'm crazy?" she countered forcibly, "We'll see who's crazy when he kicks us to the curb, again. Or don't remember all the crap he put us through last year."

"Sam, you're being paranoid," Tucker stated, trying to calm down his friend, "Danny isn't going to replace us. Listen, you're not thinking straight right now. Why don't you go upstairs and take a nap or something. Danny isn't coming in till much later, so you should get some rest and chill out a bit." Tucker's eyes pleaded from behind his glasses, which did not go unnoticed.

"Fine," she relented, "Whatever. But I'm right and you know it, Tucker." With a huff, Sam collected her things and stomped up the stairway, but not before sneaking one last venomous stare at Raven. Tucker sighed, groaning inwardly; it wasn't as if he already had his hands full.

"Is she going to be alright?" Raven asked from behind him. He jumped in surprise, unaware of her arrival.

"She's fine. Sam's just getting a bit impatient about Danny, so I suggested she get some fresh air," he lied deftly, a trait he had learned well over the years. Raven looked as if she didn't buy his claim, but decided not to question him further as she walked away.

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

"Gah! Why can't he see what's going on?!" Sam emphasized her frustration as the couch felt the wrath of her booted foot. Sighing, she turned and fell back, falling into the couch. It had been ages since she had sat there, one of the many places she, Tucker, and Danny used to frequent back in the good old days. She wished that they could just go back to the way things were. She knew, however, that things world never go back. They had all changed too much since then.

Maybe Tucker was right; maybe she was just overreacting. It had been a weird few weeks. The problem was what if she wasn't wrong? She wasn't going to lose him again; not after all that trouble they had went through to get him back. She wasn't going to let Danny just toss them aside again; she wasn't going to give him the chance. The only thing she could think of, however, was the thing she had been mulling over for quite a while now; the moment she feared and longed for at the same time. If she confessed her true feelings, there might be a chance. She might not be able to stop change, but at least she could push it in her favor.

AN: Hope you liked this one. Once again, special thanks to Cordria for her suggestions and kind words. Hopefully thanks to her, I'll be able to churn out some better chapters. See you next time, everyone!