A/N: Torture. Umm, I don't know if I am excited about this or not.

I was feeling awful. Completely awful, about everything. I had seen Danny come home late with bruises, but I was just worried that he wasn't home in time and completely ignored the bruises. I had put them off as bullying and clumsiness.

I had done that for three years. Even when Danny started coming home early at least once a week, I still didn't question his bruises and cuts and scrapes. But I had noticed that his bruises weren't there in the morning. His cuts were gone- not even the scars were there. Or, if they were, they were extremely faint. Once I had noticed that, I had decided to ask how he got them.

That didn't work so well, with Danny. He gave the reasons I was expecting, but he wasn't outraged at the bullying like I thought he would be. He refused to tell me who had given him these cuts, scrapes and bruises on a daily basis. And some bruises were so weird that it couldn't have been my Danny's clumsiness.

I decided to check up on Danny whenever he came home late and Jack and I grounded him. And I found out, about half the time, he wasn't there. I asked Danny, and he didn't give me any clue about how he got out. I punished him when he didn't tell me, but it didn't discourage him. I had put iron bars in his window. Danny still got out without me or Jack noticing. How he had gotten out is beyond me, especially when I had been downstairs the entire time Danny was supposed to be in his room.

So, I had decided to wait for Danny whenever he wasn't in his bedroom, to see how he got out, because that's probably how he got back in. Every single time, he came home through the front door - without a sound. I bought cameras to out in his room, and Danny noticed the, as soon as he got in his room and said it was an invasion of his privacy, basically forcing me to take them down.

There was something that Danny did not want me to see or know about him. I just didn't know what. I knew that it must've been hurting his grades, because they plummeted in his freshman year. They went from A's and the occasional B to the occasional C and D's. In his sophomore year, his grades started climbing a little again. Granted, in the middle of that year, the town lost two and a half months of work, school, and progression because of a plant ghost. But, Danny had gotten B's and C's. Currently, Danny was back up to the occasional A and B's. He was probably going to be on the honor roll, and he could possibly have a shot at being an astronaut if he went to a college and got good grades there.

But Danny was still getting detentions for coming into class late, albeit only once per day instead of two or three times per day. He was still falling asleep in class sometimes, but not half as much as he used to. It was obvious that whatever happened to Danny was a huge shock to him and it's been a long road of recovery.

I couldn't let Danny continue doing whatever he was doing, and I knew he was still doing it. I know it wasn't drugs. I know it wasn't a gang. I know it wasn't bullies. I just couldn't figure out what Danny was doing, and why. I know he's a smart boy, even if he had trouble in his freshman year.

I decided to hide in his closet, because Danny doesn't really use it. I know, it is an invasion of his privacy, but he's my son and it is my job to keep him safe. I also know that it is a cliché that teenaged boys don't use their closet, but it's actually true with Danny.

I waited in the closet for hours. I knew because I had a watch on. The clock went from twelve to one to two. Finally, it was four when Danny got home. a bright white flash seeped through the cracks of the door and then he mumbled something incoherent. I realized I had forgotten to watch for how he had returned. Shoot. But I creaked open the door anyways.

I gasped. Danny was passed out on his back on the floor and his arm had a long, deep gash along his forearm. I made sure he was asleep, and then I checked over his arms and neck. I paused on his neck; there was a bruise that seemed to continue under his shirt. I carefully, gently, flipped Danny over on the bed and edged his shirt over his body. What I saw made me gasp.

"Danny!" I whispered sharply, an automatic reaction. Unfortunately, Danny isn't the heaviest sleeper and he shook awake. He scuttled away from me and relaxed a little when he realized it was me. Then he saw that his shirt wasn't on. His bit his lip.

I was shocked when I saw his stomach. Danny was extremely muscled and had a slight six pack. His arms were brimming with power, too, and the kind that didn't intimidate. They were just there. I also saw that the bruise on his neck were shaped like fingers and that it looked like he had been choked. He had another large bruise on his rib age, and it looked like his ribs were broken. He had cuts and scrapes everywhere. His wrists looked chaffed, like he was wearing handcuffs or had been tied up by his wrists with ropes.

"Danny. What's going on?" I asked softly. Danny shook his head, not answering. "Danny. Answer me. I promise, whoever is doing this to you, Jack and I will protect you." I demanded. Danny shook his head again. "Then we need to get you to a hospital, at least." At that comment, Danny's eyes widened.

"No!" He stated, forcefully. I was a little taken aback. I had no idea that Danny could sound this forceful. The gears started turning in my head. What I planned was wrong, but then maybe I could give him medical attention.

"Well, choose one. Either you go to the hospital, and I find out what happened there, or you tell me now, and maybe I can help treat you if the injuries aren't too bad." I told Danny, placing my hands on my hips. Danny sighed.

"I want to tell you, mom, but I don't want you to get hurt. Mom, I really love you, but if I tell you... I don't know what'll happen to you. I mean Sam, Tucker, and Jazz know, and all of them have been kidnapped and used to get to me. I don't want that happening to you, too." Danny said, sighing. I rubbed Danny's head.

"Danny, that's sweet, it really is. But why then, did you tell your friends and sister, but not your father and I? Don't you think we'd be able to handle it better than any of you?" I asked, sincere. Danny grimaced

"I didn't technically tell them. Sam and Tucker were kinda caught up in it when it started, and Jazz found out by herself. But I've tried to get them to stop helping me, and they won't. I just... hate seeing them get hurt because of me." Danny hung his head. I started to hug him but Danny tensed. I quickly let go, remembering part of what I thought I saw on his back.

"Oh! Sorry. But Danny, what is it?" I asked, wanting to know my son's problems. Danny stayed quiet. "Daniel! You're getting tortured because of it." Danny winced. "Your grades slipped because of it."

"You saw my back." It wasn't a question, but I answered anyways.

"Yes, Danny. You're being tortured for god damned sake and you won't let me help you!" I cried, tossing my hand up in the air. Danny hung his head. "Danny, I just want to help you." Danny opened his mouth and shivered slightly. I thought he was going to tell me something. However right then, a ghost phased through the wall. Danny groaned. I thought it was because of the pain.

I stood up, making sure to keep Danny protected. I aimed at the ghost. It was a large ghost, with metallic armor and a green flaming Mohawk. I shot at him, and he protected himself with a shield. "Get away from my son!" I yelled. The ghost just swatted me to the side. I crashed against the wall semi-softly, my vision getting blurry for a second.

"Whelp! I have come to take your pelt and place it on my wall!" The ghost cried, towards my son. My vision cleared and I saw Danny had gotten up and into a decent fighting stance.

"Yeah, that's still gross, Skulker." Danny said, that statement made me realize that it was probably a ghost that was torturing him, and that he groaned out of annoyance. The ghost aimed at Danny and fired a shot. I struggled to get up before the beam hit Danny, but I sunk to the ground. It was then I realized that Danny had dodged the beam swiftly. He ran up to the ghost and and kicked his hand off. Danny spun around and kicked the ghost in the chest, sending him flying towards the wall. The ghost crashed into it and he slid down to the ground. Danny walked up to the ghost and popped the head off. I was a little shocked because Danny did it with such ease, and it looked at least double Danny's weight, if not more. He reached his hand into the head which I guessed was a helmet. After a moment Danny smirked and pulled his hand out. He was holding a tiny green ghost by his skinny little leg.

"No! I am Skulker! I will have your pelt eventually!" The ghost cried in a much higher octave. Danny cracked a smile and rushed out of the room, I assumed to put the ghost in the Ghost Zone. Thirty seconds later, Danny was back in the room. I was about to speak when Danny spoke first.

"I'll explain after school. But first, we need to bandage you up, mom." Danny went into his top desk drawer and pulled out a fake back, revealing an impressive first aid kit. He opened the kit up and got out antiseptic wipes, gauze, and small bandages. He rushed over to me and started to treat my head injury. "Probably a minor concussion. You should try and stay awake, and keep away from screen, blah blah blah. I think you know all about that." Danny said. I smiled, remembering all the concussions I've gotten. After finishing bandaging me, I tried to get up. When Danny realized I couldn't get up by myself, he lifetime me up and let me lean on him. "I think we should get you to the couch, mom." Danny said, clearly not having a hard time supporting my weight.

"Yeah. You're probably right." I wheezed. Danny frowned a second but surged slightly, leading me down the stairs and over to the sofa.

"I would like to get a little sleep, so I'm going back upstairs. When Dad asks what happened, can you not tell him? I'd rather explain it to him after I've explained it to you." Danny asked. I nodded, understanding that whatever 'it' was- and I was pretty sure that he was doing some serious ghost hunting.

I am so glad that my son is going to explain his dilemma(s), but the next twelve or so hours are going to be torture for me.

Wow. I think that might just be one of the longer oneshots, if not the longest. Was the wait worth it? Anyways, I hope to catch up today. YAY FOR MEMORIAL DAY, and thanks to all veterans. I think I'm going to try and do the theme of the day for today also a little on veterans, so you'll get your story (I don't know if it'll be on time, though). This is unedited.

Review!