Author's note: Before you get annoyed at the shortness, I've got an actual chapter nearly ready to post- should go up in a day or two. This is just my attempt at mild humor. If you chuckle once or twice I'll be happy. :P

And a special shout out to E-Dantes for kicking me a bit. Mucho gracias senorita! (And if I spelled that wrong, oops!)

Interlude

Blame the Box Ghost


"It was the Box Ghost."

Officer Higgsworth quirked an eyebrow at Danny. "The…Box Ghost." He was holding a clipboard, pencil poised over it. "Can you spell that?"

Danny stared dumbfounded for a moment.

"Uh...T-H-E….B-O-X....G-O-S-T." He paused, blushing. "Except with an H after the G." He heard a quiet snort nearby. Sam was laughing at him.

Today…was not a good day.

Danny trudged on. "So anyway…he took the playpen. Didn't know it had a baby in it." The doofus. Danny didn't have to fake the frown or the bags under his eyes. Last night had been bad.

And since there hadn't been a pause hardly anytime between now and then, this was kind of like a continuation of last night…

So, last night extended. With surround sound.

A tick started up in Danny's left eye.

I can't spell ghost…

Sam piped up, giving the officer a quirky half grin. Nathaniel was balanced on her hip, watching with interest. "Good thing Danny comes from a family of ghost hunters. Which is, incidentally, why you really shouldn't give Jazz a ticket. She was totally panicking…" Sam launched into their pre-planned explanation for last night's events, in which Jazz had discovered the Box Ghost, toting Nathaniel, as he whizzed through the Ghost Portal (which was conveniently located in the Fenton basement, where Jazz just happened to be doing chores at the time.)

They had talked to law enforcement a few times already today. This run down, with Higgsworth, was apparently for police records, and to confirm one last time that everything was okay now, etc.

Yup, Nathaniel hadn't spontaneously disappeared again. Everything was just hunky dory.

Danny, already bored, mostly tuned out as Sam worked her magic. He knew the story by heart. The important thing, of course, was that it was believable. Danny smirked to himself a little at that- what wasn't believable in this town? Especially when it had anything to do with the Fentons?

Danny's smirk widened as he thought of his dad, and how he would be chasing the Box Ghost around the city the first chance he got, ghost catching equipment in full swing. His parents would probably hold a grudge for quite a while. Of course, Danny would need to save the idiot, if his mom ever caught him. He was ticked off at the Box Ghost right now, but nobody deserved that.

His mom was scary. That was all there was to it. And seriously weird, too.

But not as weird as his dad.

At least neither of them was actually insane. That honor was reserved for good ole Uncle Vlad.

And on that subject…Danny had decided long ago that Vlad's infatuation with Maddie Fenton, who was an incredibly capable ghost hunter, was the clearest sign of insanity the man had ever exhibited. Seriously. How could he not see the problem with that? He either had a death wish, or he really was a crazed up fruit loop.

Thus the nick name. He had to be a complete nut.

Danny let out a deep, silent sigh. At least one thing had gone right: his parents hadn't been involved in the crisis.

And there was irony for you. They had been out on their own date last night, having left shortly after Danny. When they had returned, Jazz was dead asleep, and Danny wasn't home. They had assumed he was still out with Sam.

Danny could picture his dad standing in his bedroom door, smirking:

"Those rascals!" Chuckle, chuckle.

So Jack and Maddie had turned in for the night, deciding they didn't need to worry about Danny. Ah, young love.

Until the police showed up on the doorstep the next morning, they hadn't known anything had happened.

Danny had raced back home pretty fast, after Jazz called him. She had pulled the bathroom stunt: aka, she had locked the bathroom door from the outside, and yelled, "Danny's in the bathroom Mom!" This worked well, and was used frequently- though he had gotten a laxative as a stocking stuffer a few years back.

After his parents and the police had gotten an explanation about the night before- mostly provided by Jazz before he got there- they, sans the police, had taken off for Sam's house, Danny in tow. That had been convenient, since he really needed to get back there anyway.

Jack and Maddie had been a combination of relieved and aggravated. Nathaniel was safe again, which was great, of course. But they wondered: why hadn't anyone thought to include the professional ghost hunters, after all? So what if they were at a movie? With their cell phones turned off?

Their time at the Manson household had been unique, as usual...

* * *

Maddie was probably staring intently at Sam. It was hard to tell with those goggles. "Sweety, we want you to know that we can fortify this house against ghost attacks- just like we did our own! And we won't charge a thing."

Everybody had crowded in Sam's bedroom, much to her private annoyance, Danny was sure.

Jack jumped in. "Wouldn't dream of it! We're practically family!" Jack had his hands on his hips, chest jutting out. Danny stood next to him, feeling mildly embarrassed. After years of being mortified by his parents, however, the effect had gradually worn off.

"I'll…need to talk it over with my parents. But thanks a lot." Sam's parents were there too, currently hovering in her bedroom door, looking aggravated and slightly haggard. Sam gave the Fentons a distracted smile, which twisted suddenly as Nathaniel shifted in her arms. He was getting bored...and the wristband was now gone.

Even without that to worry about, the thought of living in a house fortified like the Fenton's, with a toddler halfa…?

Just…no.

Jack was already infomercialing away on the benefits of an anti-ghost household, (which begged the question: how had Danny survived all these years?). Nathaniel, meanwhile, was getting more interested in escape.

"Now, we've got some incredible stuff for you guys…"

Arg. Interested in upward escape. Of the flying variety.

"…of course, you'll want the Fenton ghost demolisher- conveniently fits in the hallway closet…"

Nathan's little hands were pushing away from Sam, his face saying 'Hey, I'm not gonna fall already! Let me go!' Sam hugged him closer, and shot Danny a look.

"…that Box Ghost, just wait till he tries getting past the Fenton Finalizer- it attaches conveniently to the ceiling…"

Danny silently split his form, an invisible ghost peeling away to fly over and hover above Sam and Nathaniel. He gently put his hands on Nathan's shoulders, invisibly pressing down.

"…looks like a broom, but just rev it up- and watch those ecto cretins explode everywhere- and they'll never see it coming…"

Nathan looked startled for an instant, then twice as interested, staring up as though waiting for someone to appear. Danny could see an idea forming on his face. He could almost feel Nathaniel about to act the very next instant…

"…maybe a little messy, but…"

"Nath…no!" Both Danny's yelled out simultaneously- he still wasn't as good at this duplicates thing as Vlad.

But at least it worked. Nathaniel relaxed into Sam's arms again. "Dan…neh…" Then he twisted around to face the Danny he could see. He pouted, his face clearly saying 'what gives?' Jack clapped a hand down on Danny's shoulder, making him jump slightly. "Son, what's the matter? You scared the little tyke! Ants crawl up your pants?"

"Um, yeah, something…bit me…"

Jack pursed his lips, looking thoughtfully confused. "Might have a case of ecto-bugs in here…by the way, is it just me or is there an echo?" He frowned, a mad genius glint in his eye. "Or maybe…an ecto-echo."

* * *

At that point Sam had quickly claimed fatigue, and the Fentons had been ushered out.

Sam's parents were still around, of course, which posed a tricky problem. They wanted to be near their grandson after everything that had happened, after all. Danny predicted some interesting times up ahead, depending on how long replacements for Nathaniel's wrist band and playpen took to arrive. Danny could turn Nathaniel invisible, should he transform. But he had no way to stop him 'going ghost' without that equipment.

And Nathaniel spontaneously disappearing would be…er. Danny wasn't sure Sam could think of an explanation for that one.

At the moment though, it was just Sam, himself, and Nathaniel…and Officer Higgsworth, still filling out the paper work. Just maybe, if they worked things right, Jazz wouldn't have to take that defensive driving course after all. Even if she did get clocked doing one hundred and sixteen miles per hour on the highway.

Danny kind of wished he 'd seen that.

In any case, everyone knew the truth about what had happened. Roughly.

Well…they blamed it all on the Box Ghost, anyway. And boy did that feel good. Danny was still seething on multiple levels from the sheer brainlessness it required for someone to make off with a playpen still containing a small child.

That's right Officer Higgsworth. Mom, Dad. Blame the Box Ghost.

Author's note: So. Ahaha. :D Shall be updating again soon. (Aaaand for any of you wondering if I'd dropped off the earth, I'm in the last year of my degree. I still think and write on this frequently- just randomly and not in solid blocks of time. Which makes updating tricky, because I need those solid blocks of time, apparently...)