A friend kindly informed that the last chapter ended on a cliff-hanger too. That wasn't intentional, but no regrets. ?

Jack had not shut up since Phantom dragged him through the portal. He kept shouting for Phantom to release him so he could "tear him apart molecule by molecule". For some reason, Phantom didn't find this idea very tempting.

Once he was sure that they were far enough away that even if Maddie had decided to follow them in the Specter Speeder she wouldn't find them, Phantom finally stopped flying. "So you're giving in, ghost?"

"Oh for the love of—You are a ghost." he really meant to break the news gentler—or better yet, not have to at all—but Jack's constant blathering threats had gotten on his nerves.

"Me? A ghost?" Jack laughed, "That's absurd, I hunt ghosts!"

"You died!" Danny yelled, cutting off anything else he might say. The normally wide grin melted off Jack's face and Danny repeated quieter, "You died."

For perhaps the first time in Jack Fenton's (after) life, he seemed to be at a loss for words. His mouth moved but he really didn't know how to respond so no sounds came out. He would have continued his blustering if it wasn't for the fact that the Ghost Boy seemed genuinely hurt about this; Jack could see unshed tears glistening in his eyes. He didn't even think ghosts could cry.

Danny Phantom continued talking in a hushed voice, refusing to raise his head to look at Jack, "You had a heart attack. It was breakfast time, but you didn't come running like normal. We—They found you clutching your chest in pain and called an ambulance. You were rushed to the hospital but they couldn't do anything and pronounced you dead at 10:32 am. You were buried. I watched them lower your casket into the ground."

The tears were now flowing freely down his face, and he didn't bother trying to hide it. Jack absorbed this information but he couldn't comprehend why the ghost kid cared. Ghosts didn't care, they didn't have emotions or pain. They were simply bundles of ectoplasm that were barely sentient. But here was a ghost, right in front of him, crying genuine tears over the death of a human that persistently shot at him. He couldn't understand it. Even if ghosts could feel, why would this one shed tears over him?

"Look, uh, ghost kid," Jack started awkwardly as he floated closer to console the teen, he looked so young and vulnerable crying like this.

"Don't. Please, just don't." Danny Phantom pleaded. He edged backward and curled into himself. It was almost like he shrunk in front of Jack's eyes, his ghostly aura even dimmed. "Do yourself a favor and stay away. Find your lair, go through a natural portal, I don't care. Just don't go back to Amity."

The words caused pain in Jack's chest like someone was jabbing at his center. "But, my family—"

"Do you really think they would accept you?! You're a ghost, the Fenton's hunt ghosts. Want to 'tear them apart molecule by molecule' because they're nothing but unfeeling creatures that enjoy tormenting humans."

Jack could hear the pain and bitterness in the ghost kid's outburst but that didn't keep his words from hurting him. Each word was like a knife to the chest.

Jack did nothing but watch as the kid turned away and sped out of sight as thoughts and questions swirled through his head. He had always believed ghosts were less, but now here he was, an ectoplasmic being himself, having a very real and emotional conversation with another ghost. Heck, he didn't even realize he was a ghost and he had been floating through the Ghost Zone. Were ghosts created with emotions and morality but start to lose their humanity the longer they have been dead? But records showed Phantom living in Ancient Greece and here he was crying over a ghost hunter.

Beyond his confusion over the ghostly teen, lied his own pain. Knowing that his family was hurting without him but that he couldn't go to them. Jack didn't want to live out his afterlife without his family, they were everything to him. It took his own death and a ghost teen having an emotional break-down in front of him to finally realize the truth about ghosts, how could he expect his family to be any different? They would think it more likely some ghost possessed his corpse to torment him. That hunt would leave them scarred for life.

Jack sighed, he really didn't know what to do. With the kid's words ringing in his head, he began to randomly drift through the Ghost Zone, not really knowing where he was going.

—

Danny Phantom felt like his core was splitting. He knew that wasn't fair to his dad but seeing him hurt. He realized that he allowed his own trauma and fear of being rejected by his family to influence his actions; but if they could accept Jack as a ghost, did that mean he was wrong? Would his parents have accepted him all along and he should have told them instead of lying, or would it take something as dramatic as his father's death and return as a ghost to make them see sense?

He didn't want to think about these questions. So instead, he told himself that he did the right thing, the lesser of two evils. Phantom protected everyone from the pain and trauma that an undead Jack would cause.

That was a heavy chapter. I actually kind-of struggled with this one. Part of it was me trying to make sure Jack was actually Jack Fenton. I still don't know if I got it. Speaking of which, if someone would like to beta this story, that would be great! This chapter made me wish I had someone to bounce ideas off of and also just to let me know if the chapter is good enough to publish.

I realize the prompt focuses on Maddie's internal wrestling of morals but I felt like Jack needed that first since he's the ghost. I know it sucks that Danny Phantom told Jack to stay away from his family but I feel like it's necessary for Jack to spend time alone in the GZ for further character development and for something else I want to happen in the story, however, I don't feel like Jack would willingly do that.