Chapter Thirty-Nine: Sister

By the time the plane arrived in the early evening, Vlad was frustrated with the new design of the ecto-dampener, Dan was frustrated with dealing with Vlad being frustrated and they were glaring daggers when the door was knocked on. "Huh?" Dan frowned, looking over to the window. "We have a visitor?"

"Yes, we do." Vlad got up and went to answer the door. When Dan made to follow he pointed at him. "Stay there! What have I told you about being where anyone outside the house can see you?!"

"Sorry." Dan grumbled, sitting back in his chair.

Vlad nodded and went to the front door, opening it. "Welcome. I see you convinced her to join us."

"Let me see him!" Jazz pushed past him, looking around. "Phantom? Phantom, where are you?!"

"Uhm, he goes by 'Dan' now." Tucker reminded her.

"Phantom!" She ran up the stairs. Sighing, Vlad closed the door and motioned for the others to follow.

Someone was calling his name. A familiar voice. Jazz? Fenton! He went invisible and hid in a corner of the room, watching as she opened the door and looked in.

"Phantom?" Jazz looked around frantically.

"Jasmine, calm down!" Vlad ran up to her, grabbing her arm roughly. "Do you have idea how hard it has been to get him to trust me? If he knew that I said to tell you and didn't tell him about it, he'd—" They were interrupted by the card table catching fire. "…Set my table on fire."

Dan became visible, slowly lowering to the ground. "Hello, Jasmine." He said, his eyes narrowed and glowing red. "Vlad, what is the meaning of this?"

"Before I tell you, you have to calm down." Vlad replied calmly.

"I AM calm." He said coolly.

"Dude, your eyes are red." Tucker pointed out from outside the room.

Red? He blinked and looked towards a window, where he could see his reflection. Gasping, he covered his eyes and dropped to the floor. "Goawaygoawaygoaway…nothimnothimnothim…" He murmured, shaking his head as he sat on his knees next to the burning table. He realized there was a fire and gasped, using his ice ability to put it out. "…Sorry, Vlad." He mumbled, curling up on himself again.

Vlad sighed softly. "Wait here." He left the room, leaving the three teenagers to awkwardly stare at the trembling ghost. When he returned, he was carrying the black cloak. He fastened it on around Dan's shoulders and Jazz gasped as she recognized it.

"Wait, that's the cloak the nameless guy wore at the funeral!" She looked at Tucker. "You never told me Phantom was that guy!"

"Well, I figured you'd find out here." Tucker shrugged. "Anyways, yeah. That's him."

"Shh…shh.." Vlad held the no-longer-glowing ghost boy in his arms, cradling him gently. "I'm not mad, I was the one who did wrong this time. I'm not mad."

Dan relaxed fully and then looked up at Jazz. "…Sorry. I just…" He glanced away. "It's right…that you know. You kept his secret just as well as the other two did, so I know you won't tell anyone about me being here."

Jazz nodded. "…I'm glad you're alright. Danny kept asking for you, but mom could never figure out why and I had no idea what you went through until Tucker told me what Danny told them."

"I bet he didn't tell you everything." Dan said softly. "If you knew…the extent of what they did to him…to me…you'd be so sick…"

Jazz brought her hands to her mouth, gasping and starting to tear up. "Oh, Phantom…" She moved closer to him and looked at Vlad, who nodded, before throwing her arms around the snowy-haired boy. "I'm so sorry…I'm sorry none of us were any help to you or Danny…I'm sorry…"

He smiled sadly and gently patted her back before smoothing her hair. "You couldn't have done anything. It was all too well planned, too perfect. Danny was caught completely off-guard. He tried to run…but they caught him. They threatened to hurt the other one if either of us tried to run for help, so we didn't dare leave. A-And yet…" He bowed his head. "And yet, Danny is dead because I stayed put! Because I stopped resisting for his sake! If I'd used my powers on them—"

"They would be dead and Danny would never forgive you." Sam interrupted. "Right?"

He faltered and looked down. "He…made me promise not to kill."

"He doesn't want you to be like the 'other Dan', Phantom." Sam smiled softly. "You have to release the anger; don't let it drag you down and make you a monster."

Dan nodded, deciding it would be best to play along for a while. Sure, he can pretend he doesn't want to rip Jack Fenton to shreds. Oh, oops, he meant the Guys in White. Because Jack Fenton, poor man, is just a VICTIM, right?! Him and his disgusting lies…

"So, did you all come here to be my psychologists and support group, or was there another reason?" Dan asked.

"Well, Sam got you some more clothes of your own, based on what you picked out with Valerie before." Tucker nodded. "Those still on the private plane out there, you might wanna go pick 'em up and put them away. And I came to help Vlad with your ecto-damajigger."

"Ecto-dampener." Vlad squeezed the bridge of his nose, clearly rethinking his actions. "It's in the lab, come with me." Vlad patted Dan's shoulders before he went out with Tucker.

"Uhm…wanna go get your boxes, then?" Jazz suggested, releasing him and stepping back.

"Why did you come?" Dan asked, standing up.

"Well, two reasons. One, because you DO need support and two, because you're Danny's other half, and so you're also my little brother. Can't a sister worry about her little brother?" She turned to the door. "I've told my parents that I'm camping with Sam and Tucker. I didn't tell them where. Don't think they really care, at the moment. They've been pretty quiet, ever since dad sealed up the Ghost Portal."

"He what?" Dan blinked.

"Yeah. He kept saying something about 'green eyes' and 'going to kill me' and sealed it up." Jazz nodded, walking out of the room.

Sam started to head off, but paused. "Phantom?"

"Can you…wait a bit?" He asked softly. "I need to collect myself after earlier. Shut the door?"

"Okay." She nodded and closed the door. After her boots were no longer heard, he started to laugh hysterically, his right hand going to his face as his head tilted back.

"He sealed the Ghost Portal?" He laughed, stepping back to lean against one of the chairs. "He's terrified of me! Of me! That monster is scared I'm going to kill him!" He laughed harder, bending at the waist. "I don't even have to do anything and I have him quaking in his fucking boots!"

His laughter died down after a bit, his eyes narrowing as he straightened up. "But being afraid isn't nearly enough, and I don't have the power yet to do what I want to do to him. So lie awake in fear all you want, daddy. You don't have anything to fear yet." He chuckled darkly, and then calmed himself. "I still have so much I need to do before I get to that point." He clenched his fists and looked up at the ceiling. "So wait for me, Jack Fenton! Don't let any other ghost harm you before I can!"