Chapter Fourteen: Run

"Danny, are you awake?" Jack asked, grabbing the Wraith Wrangler. "It's time for the next experiment. We're going outside for it."

Outside? As in…outside?! Phantom eyed him warily, then looked at Danny's terrified expression. Thanks to Phantom's warning, he knew he would be put up against some kind of wild animal. But this was a chance! If Danny could run away, then it would just be him put through hell!

"Y-Yeah…I'm awake." Danny answered, slowly getting up from Phantom's arms. Phantom reluctantly let him and got up, the box opening. As soon as it opened, Phantom was latched onto by the Wraith Wrangler and then Jack led Danny out, leading Phantom behind them.

Wait, he was going outside, too? They got to the elevator and Phantom looked at Danny, trying to assure him that everything would be okay.

When they got to the top and stepped out, the sky was full of stars. Phantom had no clue how long they'd been here, so he couldn't gauge what time it was. From the positon of the moon, though it looked to be—

An insistent jerk broke him out of his thoughts and he was led over to where he could see a large boar standing with the Guys in White, struggling to get free. Danny looked at the boar fearfully, then looked up at his father.

"D-Dad?" He questioned.

"Danny, this is the next test. Go over there to where the boar is." Jack said, nodding to him.

Danny walked away from his father, looking around. He then looked back at them and Phantom realized what he was doing – he wanted to know if Phantom wanted him to run. He nodded and then Danny dashed away, with his enraged father yelling for him to come back.

He could hold his breath for two hours underwater, so running long enough to escape his father and the Guys in White should be easy, right? The field was clear without any obstacles, and Danny's bare feet padded the grass as he ran beneath the stars, the wind whipping through his hair.

His chest was aching, but that had been happening even when he stayed still so he ignored it and ran on. Sure he was tearing his stitches, but he had to get back to Amity Park and to his friends!

Unfortunately, he had forgotten all about how they'd gotten here. The RV came tearing after him, running over the grassy plain like a great beast. Danny let out a cry of terror and ran after, until his body finally gave in and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath in the light of the RV's headlights. The RV pulled to a stop just before hitting him and then his father got out, walking over to Danny.

"D-Dad…" Danny breathed. A swift hand on his face cut off anything he was about to say and Jack glared down at him.

"Did I not say 'go to the boar', Danny?" Jack said coldly. "Get in the RV. Now."

Trembling, Danny obeyed and followed him to the RV. He was directed to the back, where Jack laid him on the cot and opened his blood-stained shirt. "D-Dad…"

"Quiet." Jack scolded, looking at the torn stitches. "You can't fight the boar like this…we'll hold it off until these heal. It'll be a week or so, but the Guys in White won't mind." He closed up his shirt again and pointed to the passenger seat. Danny got off the cot and went to sit down, trembling silently. "I was hoping to get results today. Damn. Did you and Phantom make some sort of plan last night?"

"No…it was spur-of-the-moment." Danny said softly, his voice shaking. "I just…wanted to make sure it was okay to leave him behind."

"Well, even if it wasn't the results I wanted to get, I did learn how fast and how far you can run in ten minutes, even if your condition." Jack sighed. "So, it wasn't a COMPLETE waste of time."

Phantom looked up from where Jack had tethered him to see the RV coming back, Danny in the passenger seat. As soon as it parked, Danny ran over and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry…" Danny whispered. "I couldn't get away…I wanted to find Tucker or Sam to help you…but I couldn't get away…"

"It's fine." Phantom pursed his lips. "I just wanted you to be free."

Danny was about to speak, but he was roughly pulled away from Phantom. "We're going back down." Jack said. "I've told the Guys in White we'll do this test in one week. Hopefully some of Phantom's regenerative abilities carried over to you in the ectoplasm." He picked up the Wraith Wrangler and pulled Phantom along, the Guys in White getting into their truck after loading the boar in and driving away.

Once down in the basement again, Phantom was thrown into his silent box and Danny was laid on the table. Jack muttered to himself as he undid the old stitches and put in new ones. "Don't ever try that again." He said warningly to the boy. "Or I'm not letting you sleep with Phantom again."

"I-I'm sorry…" Danny whimpered.

Hm, so removing him from Phantom was a good threat to keep him in check and be obedient. He finished sewing Danny up and then took some readings. "You're winded from the run; all your readings are higher." He then unstrapped Danny and went to open the box. "Now, if either of you try to escape again the other will be hurt for it. Since this was the first time, I'll let you off with a warning." He nodded to Danny. "Go in the box."

Danny stepped into the box, then turned to him. "Uhm…dad…food?"

"I'll bring you something." Jack said, shutting the box with the two boys trapped inside and then leaving the room.

As soon as the man had left, Phantom gently pulled Danny closer. "Danny…you okay?"

"It hurts…my chest…my head…" Danny clung to him. "How long will this go on?"

"I don't know, Danny." Phantom gently laid Danny's head against his collarbone again. "All we can do is live through it and hopefully he'll realize he's wrong and let us go. Or at least you."

"I miss Sam and Tucker…and Jazz…and mom…" Danny sighed. "Hell, I even miss the fruitloop."

"Yeah…he never did anything this bad to us." Phantom nodded. "I miss Skulker…the Box Ghost…Ember…" He closed his eyes. "Even the Lunch Lady…and Cujo…"

"I wonder why dad stopped Dash from punching me if he had this in mind?" Danny wondered aloud.

"You gotta paint on a clear canvas." Phantom said bitterly. "He didn't want anyone hurting us so close to when he was going to."

"I hate to admit it, but you might be right." Danny said, wincing in pain as Phantom shifted his weight. "Sorry…am I heavy?"

"No, you're fine." Phantom replied. "I can handle a lot of weight, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Danny closed his eyes. "Phantom? Can I sleep?"

"Don't see why not." Phantom shrugged.

"Do you ever wonder…what happened to the other Danny? Dan's Danny?" Danny asked softly.

"'Some things are better left unsaid'. Could be anything. I'd hate to imagine me hurting you, though. I would never hurt you." Phantom held him a bit tighter.

"I'm hoping…he's still alive. That Dan just…took him away and hid him somewhere. That he'll be found and live a happy life." Danny looked up at him. "Do you think…he would bother helping us, if he knew?"

"He'd kill dad to do it." Phantom reminded him.

"No, I don't want dad to be killed." Danny looked down. "Even if he's done this…he's still our dad."

Phantom nodded, then looked up at the light from the hallway flooded in. The box was opened and a plate of food and a glass was put in, Jack nodded firmly before closing the box again.

"Thanks, dad." Danny said softly as the box was closing. Then he pulled away from Phantom and started to eat, splitting his food with Phantom so they could both eat.

Normally, ghosts didn't need to eat. But, Phantom was a special case and this was just one more human trait; that he actually got hungry. After the plate and glass were empty, Phantom knocked on the wall and the box opened just enough to slide the plate and roll the glass out. Then the box closed again, sealing them in.

This was how their week was spent. Open the box, pass in food, close the box, open the box, take Danny for bathroom visits, and then close the box. That was the extent of their outside time, and otherwise they stayed in the box. He wasn't even doing any tests, because he was waiting on Danny to recover and Danny clung to Phantom like a baby koala when he tried to take him out.