- Why did you do that?

Danny panicked and took some steps back. The mental movie he came out with where Sam would cross her arms around his neck and kissed him back with more intensity just fell apart in front of his eyes.

- Danny…

- I'm so sorry Sam! I… I don't why… I should've never done that!

Sam worried for him because he looked completely insane: he was pulling his hair really hard; his face was full of anguish and he kept mumbling things under his breath that she couldn't quite hear. If the word regret had a face, that would be Danny's face right now.

- I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… - He started retreating from her house.

- Danny…

- I should've never done that. I should've never done that!

He turned around and ran away from there. She could only watch him part without knowing what to do.

She checked her phone again, specifically her conversation (or unilateral messages) with his baby brother, and noticed they were still unread. She threw her phone to her bed and stood up. She left the room and went stairs down to the kitchen to prepare some tea. There, she searched every cupboard and drawer, but couldn't find a single teabag. She put her hand in her hips thinking on what to do now. She opened the fridge and saw a jug of milk.

"Bingo". She thought while she grabbed a mug. She poured some milk in it and took it to the microwave oven, setting the time at 15 seconds, enough to warm the milk to the exact point she liked. To avoid waiting in the kitchen, she went upstairs to retrieve her phone and came back down. She took out the mug careful not to burn herself and blew it. Before taking a sip, she heard a loud noise coming from outside and, even though it was weird, she ignored it. She took a small sip and the warmth traveled from her throat to her stomach. She smiled and was about to take another sip when her brother walked into the kitchen, took a seat at the dinning table and dropped his head against the wood. Hard.

- Stupid… idiot… brilliant idea Fenturd…

Jazz, with the mug still on her hands, not only was shocked by the fact that her brother hadn't noticed her yet in the kitchen, but also for the way he kept insulting himself. Danny kept on going at it until she finally spoke.

- You know? Mi boss would have a field day if she ever got to psychoanalyze you in your lowest moments. – She joked.

Danny turned his head slowly to the left, watching his older sister with a mug on her hands.

- Jazz? Why are you here? – He asked with his head glued to the table.

She squinted and put her mug on the kitchen bar next to her and she crossed her arms. She was the one who should be pissed, not him.

- I came to spend the summer break with you. But I guess you forgot that as well. – She said serious.

- "As well"? – Danny asked after a few seconds in silence.

- You were supposed to pick me up from the airport. I waited for you, I texted you and I called you, but you never showed.

- Oh… - He relaxed his face a bit. "So, she was the one calling". – Sorry.

Jazz got worried in that moment. Danny seemed so distracted to fight with her. That had never happened. Although they weren't children anymore, it was his duty as her younger sibling to fight with her.

- Danny, what's going on? – She seated next to him.

Danny stayed in silence for a while, until he growled and straightened in his chair. With his face finally visible, Jazz could take a better look. He seemed tormented, preoccupied or upset. Perhaps all at the same time.

- I screwed up. Big time. – He looked down.

- You'll have to be more specific, little brother. – She put her hand on his left shoulder.

Danny looked at his sister before hiding his face with his hands, resting his elbows on the table.

- I kissed Sam.

He waited for his sister's screams, perhaps insults or even a smack on his head. But when none of those came, he looked at her. Jazz was still looking at him, completely unfazed by what he just said.

- And?

- What do you mean "and"? – He started to get annoyed.

- Well… it wouldn't be first time.

- But now it's different because…! Wait. – In the midst on his lecture, a thought crossed his mind. – How do you know it's not the first time?

- Tucker. – She replied quickly.

"Judas". He thought.

- Anyways. – He relaxed. – I don't know why I did it, I just lost control and kissed her when she was saying goodbye.

- Does that mean you're together now? – She asked, getting her hopes high.

- What? No!

- But you said…

- She rejected me! – Danny shouted, making Jazz to open her eyes and mouth.

- What? – Jazz was in shock.

He growled again, rubbing his face with his hands.

- She pushed me away and asked me why I did it and… God! You should've seen her face. She looked so… hurt. Like I just betrayed her or… Argh! – He dropped his head back to the table, the sound of the smack echoing through the kitchen.

Jazz put a hand on her chin, processing the information Danny dropped on her. And she reached a conclusion: it made no sense. Sam was crazy in love with Danny. She new that since a long time ago, way before Tucker confirmed it to her. And let's not mention Danny's feelings for her. If Sam had a boyfriend, she would've never put herself in a situation like that with Danny, so she could rule that option out. And she needed more information to draw more assertive conclusions. So, the only card she could play now was the one of a sister.

- I'm so sorry, little brother. – she rubbed his back. – But don't let that discourage you. – She smiled at him.

- Did you hear anything I just said Jazz? She… - Jazz interrupted him by raising her hand in front of him to keep him quiet while she elaborated.

- You tried and failed. If you offended her as you think you did, you should apologize to her first time in the morning tomorrow. – She made a pause to make sure he was listening. – And after that, you need to reconsider whether your promise stands still or not, depending on how she reacts. After all, you said you would do anything to go out with her.

- But Jazz…

- Just apologize for now. One step at a time, ok?

Danny observed his sister and smiled weakly.

- One step at a time. – He repeated.

- That's my baby brother. – She smiled back. – Now, you own me 20 bucks.

Danny went from thankfulness to shock in seconds. He followed his sister with the eyes as she stood up to grab her mug again.

- For real, Jazz? We shared a fraternal moment and you want to charge me the session?

Jazz took a sip of her milk before answering.

- I'm charging you for the taxi I had to pay when you were busy being a bad brother. – She walked out of the kitchen. – Because I don't think you could afford a session.

Danny smiled at her joke. Before he too stood up, he heard Jazz shouting form the stairs on her way up.

- And you'll have to explain mom and dad why you didn't pick me up!

Danny sighed with resignation for the comment. Too bad for him, in that moment he heard his parent's truck parking in front of the house.

- Damn it.

- Sammy, dear. You're late. – Pamela said as she was arranging the dinner table.

- Emmm… - She hid her face with her hair and rushed towards the stairs. – I'm sorry. I went out with my friends and lost track of time.

- You're not going to eat with us? – Her mother asked.

- No, thanks. I ate out. – Before she reached the second level, her dad's voice stopped her.

- Samantha. – He looked at her from the base of the stairs. – Why did heard Daniel Fenton yelling at you? – He asked.

"Damn you, Danny!" She tried to calm down a little and turned around to face her dad, who was now standing in the first step of the stairs, staring at her.

- He… wasn't yelling at me. – She murmured.

- Sorry. Mi bad. – He smiled before getting more serious than usual. – Why was he apologizing for? What was that thing he "should've never done"? – He made quotation marks in the air.

She used all her might and willpower to avoid blushing by remembering the k… "Don't think about it now!" She controlled the tremor of her hand and tried to remain unfazed by the conversation.

- He… accidently stepped on mi foot.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow and looked at her daughter's feet. Sam imitated him and realized she had her boots on. "You idiot". She yelled at her in her head.

- They don't protect you as much as you would think. – She added quickly to save her lie and smiled to her dad.

- Right. – He finally said after a pause that lasted ages and he moved toward the dining room.

He obviously didn't believe her, but she wasn't sticking around to make the interrogation easier. She turned around y walked as fast as she could towards her bedroom. Once inside the safety of her bedroom, she finally released the air she was holding in and all her emotions hit her at the same time. She started hyperventilating, her face burned and she unconsciously put her hand on her mouth. Her fingers caressed her lips slowly, just like Danny's lips did a few moments ago. She ran to the bathroom and locked herself there. She washed her face with cold water and looked at her reflection on the mirror: her cheeks were crimson red and her pupils were fully dilated.

"He kissed me". Her heart pounded hard against her rib cage. A smile formed in her face at the memory of that moment, but turned into a frown when she remembered his reaction. She took her hand to her face and then she pulled her hair. Why could she just enjoy the moment? She had waited years for that to happen and when it finally did… her mind couldn't stop overthinking it all.

"What kept Danny distracted all the walk home? Why Danny wanted to spend the whole day with her? Does Tucker asking out all those girls had anything to do with that? What was Danny mumbling when he was in the middle of his breakdown? Why did he avoided checking his phone all day when it would ring o vibrate? Why did he kiss her? Would it be that Danny finally saw her the same way she saw him?"

She tried to find a logical explanation for that. Her heart begged Danny was in love with her. And she really wanted to believe that. But her mind was telling her otherwise.

"He had just received terrible news. He was furious and you helped him calm down. He probably just was confused and didn't know how to handle that many emotions at once." She concluded. "That must have been it. Why would he had apologized to her if that wasn't the case?"

She broke the kiss with the intention of finding an answer to the kiss in his eyes, but he immediately panicked and she could help asking that question.

"He probably realized what he had done and felt disgusted." Said the nasty voice inside her head. The same voice that for years reminded her that he would never like her the way he liked Paulina, the same voice that remarked her how Valerie was better than her in every way and the same voice that tried to persuade her to step aside every time someone showed interest for him.

She growled at that thought. She wasn't like that. She had defeated that voice long ago and she sure wasn't letting it come back to ruin her life. She sighed in an attempt to relax. He simply wasn't going to give it any importance, it would be just another fake-out make-out like the rest. She would pretend it wasn't that big of a deal, she would ignore the fact that it happened and move on with her life… even if she wanted the opposite. After all, that's what Danny would suggest they do, right?

When she managed to calm down, she took a long bath and then got under her bedsheets. She decided to read a bit to distract her thoughts before going to bed, so she picked up her favorite book and…

"Danny gave me this as a gift". She remembered looking at the cover. "Don't! Don't think about him!" She quickly put it back in her bookshelf and took another one. "I bought this one after going to the movies with…"

As if she was holding live coal, she put it away and growled. She needed to find something that didn't remind her of Danny. She searched in her whole room for something, anything not associated with him and, when she failed, she just threw herself into the bed and buried her face on her pillow. She screamed her lungs out to release her frustration. Even her bed reminded her of him, of that time he received a large cut on the back and both her and Jazz had to stop the bleeding and clean the wound while he laid upside down on that mattress.

- Sammykins, are you alright?

Overflowed by panic, she lifted her head from the pillow and looked in the direction of the door, where her mother had half her body through the door and looked at her with concern.

- I heard you scream… - Pamela explained.

- Yeah, I just... – "Think, think". - … hit my pinky toe.

- Oh. – That's all she could say.

- But the pain is wearing off. – She faked pain. – Good night.

- Good night. – She said leaving the room.

She buried her face in the pillow again when she was alone. She rolled on her bed and stared at the ceiling. "It's going to be a very long night". She thought.

It was probably midnight and she was still unable to fall asleep. A buzz in her night stand made her turn to her right, and she reached her arm over to fetch her phone. When she unlocked it, the light of the screen blinded her and forced her to close her eyes once more. Squinting, she pulled down the notification bar to see who was texting her at that ungodly hour without opening the chat.

Tomorrow. 7 am. In the park. Please. – Danny F.

"Not even a good night?" She thought with sarcasm, trying to ignore the whirlpool starting in her mind once more. She opened the drawer of the night stand and threw the phone inside, before going back to try to sleep at least a couple of hours.

Since Danny didn't specify where in the whole park they were meeting, she started walking around by the path while keeping her eyes open in case she spot the blue-eyed boy. Thanks to the horrible night she had, she now was wearing sunglasses to cover her baggy eyes, in addition to a very long and thick coat that covered most of her small form. She spotted him near a tree, pacing in circles and rubbing his hands anxiously.

She sighed and chose pragmatism. She would simply tell him not to worry, that nothing had happened and their friendship was as strong as ever, she would swallow her feelings once more and everything would be back to normal.

- Sam! – Danny shouted when he saw her.

Danny approached her slowly. When he noticed the sunglasses, he thought she was trying to hide her swollen eyes from crying all night by his betrayal. Just the thought of it made his heart ache.

- Good morning. – She said shyly.

- Hi. – He rushed to reply.

Silence set in. Heavy, awkward and tangible silence.

- Emm… - He scratched his nape. – So…

- About what happened yesterday… - She said uncomfortable.

- Before you say anything… Please, let me speak first.

- There's no need for that Danny. – She interrupted him. – Look… a lot happened yesterday; you had a lot in your head…

- No, Sam… - He tried to regain control of the conversation.

- It was just a stupid impulse… I get that.

- No. No! Wait…

- It was an accident and it doesn't have to be any different from the prev…

She was shocked when Danny put his hand over her mouth to keep her shut while his other hand held her form the nape.

- Sam, just… let me talk and don't interrupt me, ok?

Danny's serious statement to her he meant every single word and just nodded. After that Danny let go of her. He inhaled deeply before start reciting the speech he spent the whole previous night rehearsing.

- First of all, I owe you an apology. Last night I was too unnerved to properly apologize to you as you probably remember. I am… incredibly sorry for offending you and making you uncomfortable the way I did yesterday… - Danny stopped her before she could interrupt him. – Sam, don't try to deny or downplay it. Your face told me everything I needed to know. And for that I hope you could forgive me.

- Danny…

- Having said that… I'm not apologizing for kissing you.

Sam froze when she heard that statement. Her mouth hanged slightly open as Danny kept explaining himself.

- Even when I didn't plan any of it, I wanted to do that and… - "Come on Fenton, you can't go back now". He cheered himself. – And I enjoyed it.

Sam could help but take a step back. A part of her was hoping that was just teasing her and that in a moment, Tucker would jump out from a bushed to reveal that everything was just a prank. That way she would now how to react. But Danny's serious demeanor erased that option.

- And at the risk of sounding like a complete jerk, I… would do it again. – He paused. – You can punch me if you want to, but the truth is that my only regret for what happened is not finding a more original or romantic way to… do it. – He finished the last part with a bit of hesitation when he saw Sam's blood leaving her face.

- Danny, what are you saying? – She asked with a tremor in her voice.

This was it. Today was the day he would finally give the final step he didn't dare to take in years. If she accepted him, great; if not, he would have to try again some other time. He could hear his own heartbeat in his chest, as if it was trying to break free from his ribs… Except it wasn't his heart he was hearing.

- I like you, Sam! I've been completely and hopelessly in love with you for a very long time. And God knows how hard I've been holding back to avoid doing something stupid when I'm with you, but yesterday I just… couldn't anymore. – He sighed. – Damn! It does feel good to say it out loud. – He said with relief, more to himself than to her.

Sam was in shock. She looked at him, then away and finally back at him again. There was no doubt in Danny's face. He was in love with her. It wasn't a prank, the were no ghost attacks in the middle, it wasn't a panic attack nor stress… Danny liked her. And suddenly everything clicked in her head: Amity Park calling the lovebirds, the times he stared at her when he thought she could she him, all the small details he had with her, the compliments he would give her and the times he defended her from Dash. But all of that had been…

"…for a very long time".

Danny swallowed heavy when she didn't react. Concerned, he took a step closer to her.

- Sam. Please say something. – He said worried. – Anything, insult me or…

- For how long? – It was all she could ask.

- What? – He was taken aback. – Sam, I just bore my soul out to you and the only thing you want to know is…

- Just answer me, Danny. – She ordered him. – For how long?

She removed the sunglasses to look directly into his eyes. Her serious and desperate demeanor told him how important that question was to her. She was at the verge of crying and she was biting her lip. Danny's mood changed at seeing so… tired.

- I… - He rubbed his forehead. – I've been in love with you since we were 15… - Then he started to ramble. – At least since I'm like a 100% sure of it, because according to Jazz it started after that incident with Gregor, but Tucker says it started way back and what happened with him just exposed something…

Sam's sarcastic chuckle interrupted his monologue, making him turn to her. Sam deviated her gaze and was smiling bitterly, while shaking her head.

- You gotta be kidding me…

- I know, I know! It's too cliché. – He said distressed. – Look, I promise you it wasn't my intention, I just couldn't help it.

- Why wait 'til now to tell me? – She accused him. – Why not before?

- Before? Sam, you just came back. How was I supposed to tell you if you weren't here?

- I left at 18, Danny! You had 3 years to…

- But you were leaving anyways! – Danny sighed before continuing. – I wanted to tell you many times during those years, but for what? Each one of us would take their own path and tie you up to a long-distance relationship would be selfish of me.

- Danny…

- That's why I promised myself that, if you were single by the time you returned, I would do things right! – He defended himself. – That day in the airport… I was so distracted thinking whether I should tell you or not… That's why I'm not apologizing for kissing you! Because even if you reject me now, I'll keep on try…! Wait. – His distress transformed quickly into confusion. - "Why not before?" – He mumbled to himself. He looked down to organize his thoughts and suddenly, Danny turned to see her with wide open eyes. – Sam… Do you wanted me to do it?

She looked at his as if he just grew an extra head. "He still has doubts?" A hundred occasions came to her mind in which she thought Danny would finally confess to her, and a few more in which she, implicit but obviously, showed her interest in him for a more than fraternal relationship.

- God! – She screamed to the sky. – How the hell can you be so damn clueless?!

- Sam! – His heart started pounding loudly, his hands were sweating and his nerves had him at the brink of a breakdown. – Please tell me. Do you… like me?

If we were honest, this was on her. Nobody told her to fall for captain clueless in the first place and she set her expectations to high on that regard. She wanted to punch him, kick him and make him understand by force that his deduction was right, but knowing him, he would probably misinterpret it anyways. She looked at Danny's eyes, those baby blue eyes that were staring at her with expectation.

- Danny, you have no idea how much I'm hating you right now. – Showing emotions was against her style, and even then, she was about to declare her love to a boy. – God, this is embarrassing… She whispered.

- Sam… - He got closer to her, standing a few centimeters away from her body. That last statement hurt him deeply, because it was the confirmation of one of his worst fears and the total opposite of what he wanted to achieve, but he remained in silence in let her talked. He deserved it anyways.

- Danny, I'm in love with you.

- But… – He said confused. – I thought you hated me…

- What? Where did you get that from? – She said annoyed. – You weren't listening to me?

- You just said you were hating me…

- I hate that you are so damn clueless! – She exploded. – God! I've been in love with you since I was 12! Everybody Danny, everyone knew that! I tried to forget about it for a while, but… - She paused for a second before slapping his chest.

- Ouch!

- … but you! Mister… you started being extra attentive to me, you spent more time with me and thus frustrating every single one of my attempts to move on from my crush…

- Because I wanted to me you fall for me!

- That wasn't necessary! I was already in love with you!

- Then why you never said anything?! – Danny asked frustrated. He didn't know how they ended up fighting if they just confessed to each other, but here they were.

- When?! – She said pissed. – When you were drooling for Paulina?! Or maybe when you were dating Valerie! – Silence set between them after those words. If she just crossed a line, she didn't care. – Besides, how dare you say that to me when you just admitted you did the same?

"Ok Fenton, that's on you". He thought. He knew he had hurt Sam's feelings (or at least now he knew) in those occasions and that explained why she had her reservations whenever those 2 were after him.

- I get it. – He was looking for a way to express himself without making this worse. – I was a fool. I did dumb stuff, but so did you…

- Excuse you?! Did I go out with someone who hated me? Twice?

- In my defense, I only dated Paulina because Kitty overshadowed her and the thing with Valerie was Technus fault, but…

- But what?

- But you supported me both times. You didn't oppose when…

- Because that's what friends do!

- But you didn't want to be just my friend. – Danny got real. – I was a coward for not telling how I fell and so were you. Sam, I can't change the past not fix the mistakes we both made… but the future is a whole other thing. – Danny took Sam's face with his hands. – Now I know what I want and I know I'll do everything in my power to get it… What about you?

- I…

- I want you, Sam. And we could spend the rest of the day fighting for things that don't matter, or… - Danny rested his forehead in hers, closing his eyes. – Or we could end this game right here and now.

Sam closed her eyes and a tear fell down from them. He hadn't moved an inch and still had his forehead glued to hers. She could feel his breath in his face, listen to his heartbeats and feel the warmth of his touch on her skin. She didn't remember why they started fighting, but just like him, she was tired of doing it. She was tired of running away from her feelings.

- I… - She laid her hands in his chest and clenched his jacket with her fists. – I won't lose my independence for you…

- I know. – Danny smiled.

- I'll keep doing things my way…

- I couldn't expect less. – He whipped her tears with his thumbs.

- I refuse, and listen to me carefully Daniel, I refuse to be treated like I was a doll made out of glass…

- Roger that. – He caressed her cheeks.

- Things won't be awkward when we're together…

- I'm afraid that won't be possible. – His smile got wider.

- Why? – She finally looked at him.

- I'm pretty sure this will make everyone uncomfortable.

Without giving her time to reply, he closed the distance between them and kissed her. Feeling the contact, Sam let go of his jacket and her arms surrounded his torso. On the other hand, Danny released his grip on her cheeks to pull her even closer with a hug. The first kiss was long and they only broke it off when breathing became a necessity. The next ones however, they kept them short but continuous.

Away from them, the few people that started walking around the park that early in the morning watched curiously their public demonstration of affection, but didn't mind that much. Except of course for the owner of that pair of blue eyes, who just clenched her fists to the side of her body before leaving the 2 involved.

Their brief romantic session was cut short by Danny phone, ringing in his pocket.

- I… - He said while trying to take his phone out of the pocket. – I should answer this.

- Who's stopping you? – She said kissing him again.

Danny's gigantic grin faded away as soon as he saw the caller ID.

- Shit! – He pushed her away and quickly answered. – H-hi, I…

- Daniel James Fenton! – He separated the phone from his ear when the scream came through. – Where are you?! It's not even 8 in the morning and you're already out!

- Mom, I… I can explain…

- Oh, you will young man! Or did they teach you in Florida a different meaning to the phrase "you're grounded"?

- No… I'm coming home now.

- You have 5 minutes to walk through this door if you don't want to make this worse for you. Did you hear me?

- Yeah.

The call ended abruptly and Danny noticed that Sam was amused and worried.

- What did you do?

- I was supposed to pick up Jazz from the airport yesterday.

- Yesterday? She was the one calling you non-stop?

- Yeah. – Danny smiled awkwardly while putting his phone back in the pocket. – I… gotta go. But I can take you home flying.

- No Danny. – She refused with a hand gesture. – You go home. I'll be fine.

- You sure? I don't think…

- You only got 4 minutes left, Danny. Hurry up.

Danny sighed and approached to her. He hugged her and kissed her goodbye in the forehead, before running behind a tree to transform and fly away. Sam watched him leave with a smile on her lips. She covered her mouth so nobody could see her smiling.

He transformed back in an alley next to his house and ran to the door. When he opened, he saw his parents wanting for his, seated on the biggest couch in the living room. Jazz's head popped in from the kitchen door and gave him an empathic look before disappearing. He swallowed heavy before facing his parents and took a seat in front of them.

- I'm home. – He said shyly.

- 6 minutes. – Maddie said looking at the clock on her phone. – Would you mind explaining what was so important to ignore your punishment, Danny?

- Especially at 7 am on a Saturday. – Jack added. – I told you we should've used the Fenton Stockades. – He whispered in his wife's ear.

He wasn't a fan of lying to his parents, but he was used to. However, what kind of lie would they believe without hesitation?

- I… emm… a… ghost?

- A ghost? – Maddie repeated, not fully convinced.

- Yeah! A green and sticky one. I saw it outside the house, but since I'm grounded, I wasn't planning on catching it. But then it started to taunt me and… well, I could let it humiliate me.

Danny inspected his parents' reactions, waiting for any kind of signal that they believed him.

- Ha! I told you Maddie! – Jack said jumping and landing next to his son, palming him in the back. – Danno would never disobey us without an important reason. Son, I'm so proud that you're like me.

- But Jack…

- We lost our hope with Jazz…

- I heard that! – She shouted from the kitchen.

- … but Danny here will continue the ghost hunting family tradition.

Danny felt uncomfortable by the statement and just smiled, while Maddie just sighed.

- Well… - She stood up. – If that's true, then I guess there is no need to extend your punishment.

She smiled at him and he returned the gesture. Just when he thought he got away with it, he noticed that his mother's smile faded and in a matter of seconds, many emotions flashed in her face: confusion, surprise, indignation… And her left eye twitched just a little.

- Maddie, what's going on? – Jack asked when he noticed his wife's change of mood.

- Who were you with? And don't you dare lie to me again. – She said.

- What? – Danny got nervous again.

- Tell me who is perverting my baby. – She pointed at him.

- What… are you talking about? – He shrank in his seat.

By this point, Jack was standing next to his wife and Jazz's head popped in once more to witness what was happening. Maddie squinted and put her hands on her hips.

- You'll be grounded one more week for lying, young man!

- But mom…

- And you better tell Sam I need to have a conversation with her!

Danny's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the mention of Sam's name. Busted. His mother had busted him, but how?

- W-what? – He squealed. – What does S-Sam had to do with any of this?

- You have purple lipstick on you. – Maddie said touching the corner of his son's mouth.

Danny froze and his face lost all the color previously acquired. In the background, Jazz started laughing from the kitchen.

- Danny… - His father said reaching for him. – You're a stud like your father! – He smiled.

- Jack! – Maddie scolded him.

- Between us… - His father whispered. – This is your fault. – He said before Maddie dragged him by the ear downstairs.

All alone, Danny ran to the first reflecting surface he could identify in the room and took a look at himself. True to her word, there was a minuscule purple stain in his face. He whipped it oof vigorously with his hand until he heard his sister walking in.

- Someone had a great morning. – She joked.

He needed to hurry. The week needed to turn into hours if he wanted to have any sort of hope to stop what was coming for them all. After destroying the time portal in the court of the Observants and his own, he just needed to disappear and wait for the things to happen the way they had to. He grabbed the time medallions, the Infimap and Pandora's Box, and opened a new time portal with his staff. Before going through it, he looked at the corner of his lair. On a pedestal laid his biggest failure, the Fenton thermos rusty by time. He sighed and shot a weak energy beam at it, making it fall to the ground.

With that done, he crossed the portal and disappeared.