Summary: Jack and Maddie discuss things over a cup of coffee.
Characters: Jack and Maddie
Written: October 2015
Note: This is set after chapter 69 of Spectacular Specter.

Chapter 69.5

"He's going to be fine." Jack set a mug of coffee on the table before his wife. She worried her thumbnail so much Jack feared she might chew the whole nail right off her thumb.

Maddie pulled her hand away from her mouth then wrapped it around the mug as she lifted her gaze. She offered her husband a small, forced smile. "Sorry. I can't help it." She took a sip of the coffee then set down the mug again. "I already don't like the idea of him running out there and putting himself in harm's way. I know. He's saving people and stopping criminals. And I understand what got him started doing this. But he could get seriously hurt, and that scares me. But now there's the Guys in White to worry about. We don't know what sort of tech they have. What if they capture him?"

Jack sat down next to her and closed a hand over her hand. "I'm scared too," he admitted. The thought sneaked into his mind ever since they learned the truth about their son. It kept him awake at night and filled his dreams with dreadful images. "But he's grown up to be far wiser and much more mature than we gave him credit for. He's strong and capable, and I think he can do a lot of good as Phantom."

Maddie squeezed his hand. "We raised a good son."

"We did." Jack nodded, returning the squeeze. Then he pulled his hand away with a sigh. "I know his actions were not well thought out, but right now, I think having a way to wake up a coma patient would be handy."

Maddie frowned as she turned her gaze to the papers spread over the table. They were running through the information Danny gathered so far to see if they could pick out any helpful clues their son might have overlooked. Things would be significantly easier on them if they could awaken Mr. Gray from his coma. Then Mr. Gray could explain what really happened during the attack on the police precinct which ended with him in the hospital.

"The idea may be noble, and would really come in handy, but messing with something like that isn't something we, or anyone, should do," Maddie said with a stern look at her husband. "And we've already seen evidence of how doing such a thing might turn out. It wouldn't be wise to risk it."

Jack sighed. "I know. Vlad never should have tried something like that. But if we can just get Officer Walker out of temporary Police Chief's office, we could get rid of the Guys in White, which is good for everyone. Not just ghosts. And most importantly, our son, Elle, and Vlad."

"We're going to figure out a way to prove Officer Walker was the one at fault for what happened to Mr. Gray," Maddie stated firmly, and Jack believed her. She always sounded so confident when she spoke with such strong conviction. It was easy to believe she could do just about anything when speaking in that manner. "He might be a smart man, but no one's smart enough to leave absolutely no evidence. We will find something on him, and we will get him out of office."

"No giving up until we do!" Jack pumped a fist into the air. "But Officer Walker isn't our only problem."

Jack pressed his mouth thin as he glanced at all the various papers on the table. Their daughter's killer was still out there. When Mr. Gray was running the office, Jack felt confident in the man's ability to hunt down the person responsible for the death of their daughter. Officer Walker, on the other hand, was obsessed with capturing Phantom. It was just another reason to wish for Mr. Gray to wake from his coma, aside from his daughter needing him. Mr. Gray cared about the people of his town and about their safety and about bringing criminals to justice. Officer Walker's allegiance seemed to be more for the Guys in White than the police department.

"We need to find a clue to Jazz's killer." Jack scanned the papers, looking for something they might have missed.

"I never would have thought Danny would be this good at gathering and piecing together information." Maddie smiled softly. "Maybe he could grow up to be a detective." Danny had picked up on quite a bit of information, but the organization behind some of the things happening in town remained a complete mystery. "I think our best lead is trying to figure out who these two men are." She pointed to a scrap of paper where Danny wrote about his encounter with two men who had faked being in trouble. "But this really isn't much to go on."

With a nod, Jack stared at the paper. It had a little note written on the side reading: Familiar? He wasn't sure what exactly his son found familiar, but they hadn't questioned him about it yet. "Danny said one of them turned into an animal. That sounds like a ghost. We could try tracking him with our Fenton Finder."

"But we'll need more than that if we want to find this ghost," Maddie said before Jack could get too excited about going on a ghost hunt. With Danny's help, they managed to fine tune their Fenton Finder and even locate a few ghosts on their own. They only went on short ghost hunting excursions, and the ghosts they came across were mostly harmless; a cat trying to catch living mice, a beggar sitting at the corner of one street quietly waiting for handouts like he didn't realize he had died. But with those few successes, they felt like they could locate this ghost Danny encountered. "First, we need to know what this ghost looks like."

"Ah." Jack frowned because Danny hadn't put a description of the two men in his notes. He and Maddie both glanced toward the ceiling when they heard Cujo bark excitedly. "Sounds like Danny just got home."

Tetractys: Dan brings that out in people. XD Danny meets Dan, they fight. Valerie meets Dan, they fight. XD

YumiStar: *looks innocent* I may have.