Chapter Eighty-Two: Father and Mother

Dan avoided Jack as often as he could, but Jack seemed determined to try to make friends with the two teens and so he had to control himself and keep himself from swinging a punch. 'Calm down…' He thought. 'The LAST thing you want is for him to know you're exactly what he came for. He's not terrified of you, you're not as strong as Dark; it's too soon, too soon to do anything to him.

"Do you want some fudge?" Jack offered, attempting to make a peace offering. The last time they had talked had been at Christmas, when he'd lashed out at him for messing with James. Dan glanced at him sourly and grabbed one of the fudge cubes, taking a bite. "It's good, right?"

"It's decent." Dan muttered.

"Where's your brother?" Jack asked.

"Dunno, most likely spending time with your wife. It's the first time he's been around a mother-figure in a while, he's making it count." Dan replied.

"Oh yeah." Jack nodded. "Well, he's looking a lot healthier!"

"He hasn't been abused in months and he's been well-fed. That does kind of happen." Dan replied curtly.

Jack sighed, sitting back. "You don't like me, do you?"

"Pft." Dan glanced at him. "You got your son killed in a grudge match with the Guys in White. Excuse me if I don't trust you. Jazz was smart when she decided to move out."

Jack hung his head. "That is true, but I've been doing all I can to protect my remaining family. It's not MY fault the monsters won't leave me alone!"

"'Monsters'." Dan said flatly. "You mean the Guys in White?"

"Of course, who else would I mean?" Jack glanced at him, feeling himself consumed by those intense, toxic-green eyes. No, ectoplasmic-green, if they glowed. He pulled his eyes away. 'He's not Phantom. I need to stop jumping every time I see his eyes, he's not Phantom. I'm going to find Phantom and get rid of him and then I can stop living in fear.' He swallowed nervously.

"I was just wondering. 'Monsters' is a pretty harsh word for guys just doing their jobs." Dan said calmly, licking fudge off his fingers before standing up. "I wish you luck on your hunt, Jack Fenton. Valerie only saw Phantom once, though she was constantly scanning the skies for him. Perhaps he's gone back where he went to before." He left the room, his hands slipping into his pockets.

Between Dan's green eyes and James' white hair, Jack couldn't help but think about Phantom every time he saw one of them. Dan had red hair, though, not white. And he certainly didn't glow. And James had blue eyes, not green. And he didn't glow either! Jack shook his head and closed the fudge tin, getting up to leave the room as well.

"And then you put this in here, like so." Maddie said, smiling at James as he followed along. She was showing him how to take apart and put together an Ecto-gun, and he seemed to be listening well. She sighed wistfully, thinking of her son. If only he'd never gone on the summer trip…

"Ma'am?" James looked up at her, his blue eyes even more reminding her of Danny. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…I'm alright." She blinked back tears that were forming. "You just…remind me so much of my son."

James nodded. "Dan told me about the funeral, and what happened. I'm sorry that you lost him so young." He placed his hand on hers.

She sighed and shifted her hand to hold his. "He would be exactly Dan's age right now. Just two years older than you." She smiled sadly.

James nodded again. "I've heard that he was a great person, but people took advantage of him and treated him badly."

"That might be the case…" Maddie looked down. "Because of our work, we never had time for him. He was failing in school and we never took the time to help him study and I just kept telling him to do his chores and scolded him for failing grades, but I found out at the funeral that he was being bullied relentlessly in school and he was having trouble sleeping. He hid so many bruises from us…" She felt tears slip down her cheeks. "How could I have been so blind? What kind of mother was I, to not recognize when my baby boy was in pain?"

James held her hand tighter, tears slipping down his own cheeks. She gasped and pulled him close. "Oh no, James…I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry!"

He clung to her, sobbing softly. "He hid…how he really was from her the whole time…I hid the bruises...forced smiles…happy voice when talking to her…"

Maddie realized he must be talking about his real parents and held him tighter. "I'm so sorry, James…please forgive me for bringing up those terrible memories…"

He clung tighter, his face buried into her collarbone as she tried to comfort him. She wasn't sure how long they sat like that, clinging to each other, but by the time he cried himself to sleep and she was gently smoothing his hair she felt a shadow over her and looked up to see Dan watching them.

"…I can take him now, if you want." He offered.

She shook her head, picking James up gently. "Show me to his room?"

He nodded, leading her out of the den and to James' room. He opened the door for her and stepped back, watching as she carried him to the bed and tucked him in. "Sleep well." She said gently, kissing his forehead before adjusting the blanket one last time and leaving the room.

Dan closed the door once she was out. "…Thank you."

She smiled a bit. "I might not be his real mother…and he might not be my real son…but we can at least play the parts, right?"

Dan nodded. "That would be nice. He needs it."

She smiled and then kissed Dan's forehead. "Then I'll do the same for you, okay?"

Dan smiled a bit and shrugged. "If you want."

She smiled and then walked off with a bounce in her step. She hoped that Danny wouldn't mind, but having a surrogate son really helped with the grief.

This chapter was shorter than most, but it's just an interlude before a longer chapter I'm still working on. So if you're here and there's nothing beyond it, congrats you've finally caught up to the train! Now sit on it and wait for it to pick up speed again, because I have eight different Danny Phantom stories in the works so it may not update as fast as before.
Plus, y'know, I do have a life. Sort of. Trying to get one. It will happen. Where's Desiree, I wish for a well-paying job in within walking distance.
Please take a look at my pictures and stuff for this and other stories at zonerobotnik. deviantart. com (No spaces) and anticipate the next eight years in-story because they will be fun. :)