Nine days. Nine days since Danny went missing. Eight days since journalists started hounding Fenton Works for answers. The family was near their breaking point. Jazz had given her mobile number to everyone working to find her brother but they couldn't disconnect the land line in case Danny called or if one of those phoney sighting calls were true. The hope kept the phone connected but each call chipped away at the family's resolve. The crowds gathered outside didn't help either. Jazz looked up from her laptop when Danielle stomped downstairs and flopped on the couch beside her adoptive sister.

"What's up little sis?" Jazz asked, sensing what had upset the girl already.

"I'm sick of being here. I travelled the world! I should be looking for Danny. But no. I have to stay put because of the press and mom and dad. All I wanted was one lousy flight but news helicopters started chasing me," Danielle complained angrily. Jazz sighed softly. The last week had been hard on the entire family.

"Dani, if you were to join everyone out there looking, where would you look? And remember these people are holding Danny, they know how to catch a half-ghost. And you'd be alone," Jazz inquired. Danielle huffed angrily and folded her arms.

"I don't know. Okay!? I just want to help. And if flying around looking for him helps, I'll do it," Danielle grumbled. Jazz shook her head sadly and closed her laptop, putting it on the coffee table in order to give the girl her full attention.

"Dani, I know it's hard. I do. We're all going through the same thing. We just have to trust that Danny or that James kid will send us a clue we can follow soon. We need to be ready for that. Until then, we just have to be patient," Jazz muttered reassuringly.

"Can't we use that tracker? The boo-merang?" Danielle retorted impatiently. Jazz rolled her eyes.

"We tried that. Remember? It just locked onto you. And we put you in that ghost proof cell to block your ecto-signature to make sure it couldn't find Danny. It couldn't lock onto anything. The people who have Danny are blocking him from us somehow," Jazz gently reminded the girl. Danielle sighed sadly.

"He was right there. If I'd been stronger, or faster… I might have stopped that claw taking him," Danielle mumbled, miserably. Jazz smiled in sympathetic understanding. She scooted closer to Danielle and wrapped the upset girl in a warm, comforting hug.

"We'll find him. Don't worry. We will. We're not gonna stop until we find him. And you know Danny. He's practically invincible. I mean he survived the accident, being hit by lightning, almost freezing alive, facing Pariah Dark. And despite what people think, he's not stupid. He's grown a lot since getting his powers and knows when to push and when to submit. He'll be fine," Jazz assured Danielle, rocking the girl gently to comfort her.

Jazz's phone suddenly rang and Danielle pulled away, sniffling softly. Jazz flashed her an apologetic smile before answering the call. Any call on Jazz's phone was important right now.

"Hello?" Jazz answered.

"Hey, it's Jake. Thought I should let you know. Marty just came around. A few hours ago Danny's name appeared on his list. Only for a bit, twenty minutes or something. He's okay now. People come and go on Marty's list all the time. But we figured we should let you guys know," Jake informed Jazz without hesitation, almost as though he had to push himself to make the call and wanted to get the news out before he lost his nerve. Jazz gasped worriedly.

"You're sure he's alright now though?" Jazz pressed with concern.

"Yeah, we're sure. It's kind of a pity really. Marty has this object that can lead him to people on his list. My sister got kidnapped once and we used that to find her. But Danny's alive and… I won't say well because he obviously could be hurt, but he's not in any mortal danger," Jake confirmed. Jazz breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for telling me Jake. Any other news? Maybe something on James?" Jazz wondered hopefully.

"Nope. Sorry. James isn't on Marty's list and no sign of him anywhere. Don't worry Jazz, we're looking. And we're not gonna stop until they're found," Jake replied. Jazz nodded.

"Thanks Jake. Keep us posted," Jazz concluded and a few seconds later the call ended.

"Well?" Danielle inquired quickly.

"Jake was just telling us that Danny's name appeared on Marty's list for a little while earlier. He's not on it anymore. No sign of James or anything else on Danny," Jazz reported reluctantly, she didn't want to tell Danielle but knew she had to say something. And the truth was best. Danny was most likely injured. Better to prepare the girl than say everything's fine. Danielle gasped worriedly.

"Danny's not dead. He was in mortal danger for a bit. Jake said people appear on the Grim Reaper's list all the time. Doesn't mean they'll die, just that they'll be in danger and could die," Jazz quickly corrected the girl, knowing what was running through her mind. Danielle nodded worriedly. Jazz drew the girl into a second comforting hug.

A few minutes later, Danielle left to see if their parents needed any help. As they were unable to help their son, they had taken to busying themselves in the lab doing odd jobs. Jazz thought she heard Maddie mention an improved tracker to find Danny though. Jazz looked at her phone and with a sigh decided to call Kim and Kid Flash to inform the others that Danny is possibly injured, formulating a lie about a ghostly object for the heroes instead of mentioning Jake's magical connections.

"Hey, Kim here," Kim answered the call.

"Hi, it's Jazz. Jake just called. Apparently Fu Dog's friends with the Grim Reaper, name's Marty. Well… Danny's name appeared on his list earlier. Not for long and it's gone now. Jake's certain Danny's alive. No sign of James. But I thought I ought to inform you guys to prepare you if you find Danny," Jazz explained. Kim hummed in displeased thought.

"I doubt he'd be taken to a hospital but I'll ask Wade to double check. Robin sent us pictures of Sportmaster and a few well-known Light members so he could look for them too. You know, they might be the link we're looking for," Kim informed Jazz.

"Thanks. I doubt it too. Danny's a fast healer. I just hope that James isn't hurt too," Jazz muttered worriedly.

"Jazz, we're not gonna stop looking until we find them. Promise," Kim assured the other red head before they ended the call.

"Hello," a male voice answered the call Jazz made to Kid Flash.

"Kid Flash? Jazz Fenton. I have some news," Jazz told him cautiously, still trying to get her lie in order in her mind.

"Oh. Oh! Jazz. Right, one sec," Kid Flash replied. Jazz waited patiently, understanding that Kid Flash likely had a secret identity and she may have caught him at a bad time.

"Alright, go ahead. What news do you have?" Kid Flash prompted.

"We have reason to think that Danny might be hurt," Jazz began.

"Hurt?! Did you get a ransom call? A threat?" Kid Flash interjected worriedly.

"No. Nothing like that. Have… have you ever heard of the Grim Reaper?" Jazz quickly resumed. Kid Flash was silent for a few moments.

"Grim Reaper? As in the guy that takes spirits to the afterlife?" Kid Flash inquired sceptically.

"Yeah. A friend knows him. And he got in contact with us that Danny's name was on the list this morning. Not for long. And he's gone now. He's still alive. But we're all bit worried that Danny could be injured so I thought I should let you know," Jazz explained.

"List? You mean the list of people about to die?" Kid Flash asked.

"That's the one. People come and go on that all the time. Whenever you're in mortal danger. So Danny was close to dying but, I dunno, something saved him. Maybe James," Jazz elaborated, well aware of how sceptical Kid Flash could be.

"I'll pass on the message, but you do realise how ridiculous that sounds, right?" Kid Flash decided.

"I know. I understand. And trust me, a few years ago I wouldn't have believed it either. But I'm not lying," Jazz assured the hero.

Jazz hung up a few moments later and called Sam and Tucker to tell them what she'd learned. Then it was on to her parents. She was not looking forward to that conversation. Jazz sighed after she finished telling Sam and looked out of the window. It was eleven in the morning. Phone calls generally started after lunchtime but there was a crowd outside the house already. People were camping out there. A few people even asked to pitch a tent in the back yard or to use their bathroom. Jack and Maddie made it very clear the first day that the people gathered outside were not welcome in the house. Jack was threatening to get the Fenton Foamer and chase the pests away from Fenton Works but Jazz managed to talk them out of it. As much as she hated it, there was really little that they could do. And if Jack did attack them then the family would just get into legal trouble. The best thing was to try and ignore the people gathered around their house.

Jazz was startled out of her thoughts as the phone rang. With a sigh, she grimly thought that calls were starting early that day.

"Hello?" she answered tiredly. These calls were wearing on her.

"Hi, I'm a reporter for the Evening Star in-" a woman began.

"Look, I don't know how long it'll take for you reporters to get the hint, but we're not interested in issuing a comment. Things are difficult right now and your constant calls are making it worse," Jazz interrupted sharply.

"I'm not calling to get a comment, Ms Fenton. I'm calling because I wanted to tell you something I've learned. I was asked by my editor to cover both Danny Phantom's disappearance and another boy's kidnapping. I apologise for my colleagues, I know how it gets when reporters want a statement," the reporter resumed. Jazz blinked. Someone had seen a connection between Danny's abduction and James's kidnapping, because she was certain that was the boy the reporter meant.

"Go on," Jazz prompted cautiously.

"Thank you. The boy, I don't know if you've heard, is James Neutron, better known as Jimmy. He's the smartest person in the country, possibly the world. His IQ is impressive. 210 I've been told. I've spoken to the kid's family and started investigating. The van that took Jimmy went through the town Mr Phantom disappeared in. Police then lost the vehicle on backroads. But it was heading east last they saw. I suspect that Jimmy was taken to either work on a project involving Mr Phantom or as leverage against him. I don't know if it helps you in your search," the reporter continued. Jazz blinked. East. It narrowed down the search from the entire country to a corner of it. True the vehicle could have doubled back once the police lost it, but Jazz suspected it hadn't.

"Thank you. That does help," Jazz admitted.

"I'm glad to hear that. In return, if you'd give me a comment, I'd call it even," the reported replied hopefully. Jazz scowled angrily.

"Is your tip even real?" she growled.

"Yes! It is. I promise. It was just a thought. Forget I asked," the reporter quickly retorted. Jazz sighed. She knew she was going to regret this but this reporter had helped them.

"Alright. What do you want to know? And if you could avoid names it would be great. I don't want to encourage reporters to try harder," Jazz relented. She could almost see the broad grin on the reporter's face.

"Deal. What are you doing to find Mr Phantom? I asked the cops but they said Mayor Tucker Foley of Amity Park had taken over the investigation," the reporter inquired.

"We believe that the police will only get in the way. We're grateful for any help they provide but the people behind taking my brother know what they're doing. So instead, we're relying on friends my brother has worked with in the past. We have also asked a few ghosts that are allied with Danny to help with the search but so far we've had little luck," Jazz answered carefully.

"How was your brother taken? I know that he was investigating an abandoned Guys in White base but the exact details are unknown," the reporter asked.

"That's right. He was. He has been since before Christmas. There was a trap which he accidently triggered and was dragged away. We believe the kidnappers then took Danny to a car and drove away. Traffic cameras haven't yielded any results in finding the culprits," Jazz explained.

"Thank you. I won't ask anything else as I know you're reluctant to deal with the press Ms Fenton. Good luck in finding your brother. But I'll say this. All reporters want is a story. Making what you've told me more public will help get those reporters off your back. I'd suggest, and forgive me if it's inappropriate, that you should issue a statement explaining what you are doing to find Mr Phantom. Anyway, thank you for your time," the reporter concluded before hanging up. Jazz put the phone down and considered the female reporter's words. Maybe telling the public more would help ease everything for the family. She'd discuss it with her parents, Sam, Tucker and Danielle. But first… telling her parents that Danny was mostly likely badly injured.

So the injury was enough to put Danny in mortal danger.

Looks like those constant calls from journalists might have actually helped Jazz and the rescue effort.

Let me know what you think of the story so far.

Until the next chapter.