I can't seem to keep a consistent chapter size to save my life. Oh well.
Enjoy!
It was Danny's turn to do the dishes after supper that night.
"I'll wash, you dry tonight?" Maddie offered as Jazz went upstairs to study while Jack headed down to the lab.
"Sure." Danny said, setting the pile of plates he was carrying in the dish water.
Danny watched as his mom scrubbed a plate.
"So how was school today?"
During drama class, no one had noticed that some ghost with floofy pants that only spoke in iambic pentameter had shown up instead of Trevor that day. Danny had spent the next hour struggling to find a way to suck their Romeo into The Fenton Thermos without anyone noticing.
"Pretty average." he shrugged.
"That's good to hear." Maddie smiled.
Danny watched her scrub a plate.
He thought about the conversation they'd had in the helicopter. He'd said he'd tell her what was going on soon.
That had been months ago.
He could tell her now.
The thought made Danny's heart speed up dramatically.
"Are you keeping up with your homework alright?" Maddie asked "We haven't had any calls from Mr Lancer lately, but I know you had that rough patch at the start of the year."
"Don't worry, I've been doing better. Jazz has been giving me study tips." Danny responded mechanically.
"I'm glad to here that." Maddie smiled "I know how much of an adjustment high school can be. I'm glad you at least have Jazz to show you the ropes. Ugh, I don't know how your father always gets so much cheese stuck on his plate." Maddie rolled her eyes as she grabbed the scouring pad.
Danny's mind was too occupied to pay attention to what Maddie was saying.
He couldn't tell his mom he was half-ghost while they were doing the dishes. That was way too big a bombshell to just drop like that. Besides, it was probably better to tell her and Dad at the same time, get the revelations all out of the way at once.
Danny sighed to himself.
It was logical reasoning, but Danny still felt like a coward. He wanted so badly to tell them, to just get it over with, but it never felt like the right time.
His mom handed him the wet plate to dry.
"Did I tell you Vlad's stopping by tomorrow?" she said.
Danny almost dropped the plate.
"R-really?"
"Yup. Sometime around four, he said."
"O-oh. Th-that's...cool." Danny didn't notice that he was drying the air above the plate instead of the plate itself.
"Are you alright, Sweetie?" Maddie raised an concerned eyebrow.
"Huh? Oh yeah, fine, fine, totally fine. I was just wondering, um..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck "Do you think it might be kind of awkward with you three? You know, with the whole, finding-out-Vlad-has-ghost-powers thing?"
"Oh don't be silly, Danny." Maddie laughed as she handed Danny another plate.
"It's not weird for you and Dad? You know, since you're ghost hunters?"
"Vlad's not a ghost Danny, he's our friend. I mean, sure, none of us expected...this to happen, but your father and I can adjust. I mean, we did choose a career path where one has to be prepared to deal with the unexpected, so we've been managing our mindset."
Danny's mind flashed to that night in the kitchen when he'd seen his mother sobbing with her face buried in her hands, his dad's arms wrapped around her.
Now she spoke so collectedly it was hard for Danny to believe he was talking to the same person.
"That being said," she continued "Things are really going to depend on Vlad's comfort level."
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
"You saw how he was at the end of the trip, Danny. The poor dear had himself tied up in knots for years, worried about how Jack and I would react to his ghostly properties." Maddie sighed "I do have sympathy for him, of course, but sometimes I just can't believe he honestly thought we'd turn on a friend like tha- GHOST!"
In an instant, Maddie whipped out an ecto blaster and shot at the plate she'd just pulled out of the sudsy water. Danny instinctively ducked and pulled the dishtowel over his head as the ecto blast bounced around the room a few times before dissipating.
"Ope, never mind, that was just a weirdly shaped guacamole smudge." Maddie laughed as she put away her blaster and continued scrubbing the plate. "Anyway, I suppose we'll have to tread a little carefully tomorrow, but I'm sure things will go smoothly once we get everything out in the air."
"That's great to hear, Mom." Danny said, clutching the dishtowel around his head.
"So did you tell them yet?" Sam asked as soon as she saw Danny approaching their table.
"Couldn't you at least wait for me to sit down?" Danny said as he took the seat across from her.
"Okay, you're sitting now, did you tell them yet?"
"Sam!" Danny threw back his head in exasperation.
"So that's a 'no'?"
Danny rolled his eyes.
"I haven't told them yet, and I don't know when I'm going to, but I'm stressed out enough without you pressuring me!"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop asking." Sam relented "But don't you think we should at least start discussing the plan?"
"The plan?"
"You know, like when you want to do it, who you want to be there, that sort of thing."
"Uh..." Danny's brain completely blanked "I think I'll just figure all that out later."
"You know, it might help your stress levels to at least start to get a plan in place."
Danny didn't agree. Just thinking about telling his parents made him feel queasy.
"Do you want Tucker and me to come over some night? Would that help?"
"I don't know." Danny couldn't keep the irritation out of his voice "Why are you even so invested in this Sam? I thought you were against me telling my parents at all."
Sam took a deep breath, gathering patience. Couldn't Danny see she was trying to be supportive?
"Danny, it may not be what I'd do in your shoes, but I know this is important to you, and you seem pretty stressed out about it, so we're just trying to help. Tucker, back me up here."
But Tucker wasn't paying attention to the conversation. His eyes were locked on the empty seat by Sam.
"Valerie not joining us today?" he asked.
"Doesn't seem like it." Danny shrugged.
Sometimes Valerie would join the trio for lunch, but most days she went to the library to do homework. She said she liked to have it out of the way in case there was a ghost attack after school.
The idea of not having any homework after school did seem pretty sweet, but Danny didn't know how a person could stand seven straight hours of school without a break. The idea made his brain melt.
"Ah. Well," Tucker stood up "I'm gonna go now. I've got something I needed to do before lunch ends. See you two later!"
Tucker grabbed his bag and headed for the cafeteria exit.
"I see he left his tray for us to take back." Danny remarked.
"Thanks Tucker." Sam rolled her eyes "Any idea where he was going?"
"Uh...nope!" Danny thought about the conversation he and Tucker had the other night "No idea!"
"Hm." Sam was too occupied watching Tucker leave to notice Danny's terrible acting skills. "Well, while it's just us, I wanted to ask you for a favour."
"What's up?" Danny was glad for the change in topic, but he had learned a long time ago to not say 'yes' to Sam's favours until she told you what they were.
"Don't tell Tucker I'm aro."
"Aro?"
"It's short for aromantic."
"Oh. Yeah, sure no problem. I'd never tell anyone something like that without permission. If anyone understand- wait, do you like, specifically not want Tucker to know?"
"Yup."
That was weird. Sam was usually very open about her identity. You didn't have to talk to her long to find out she was an 'ultra-recyclo vegetarian'. Or what that was. In great detail.
"Why?"
"Because discovering this about myself has been really eye opening. So many things have clicked into place and I really feel like I understand myself and the world a lot better now that I know I'm aro."
"Okay, what's that got to do with Tucker?"
"Look, Tucker's my friend, but this is very important to me, and I know he wouldn't take it seriously."
"People taking you seriously never stopped you from sharing your views before. Very loudly, might I add."
"It's not my fault if people can't handle the dark inconvenient truths of this world. But this is different. It's not a debatable opinion or a style choice, it's an unchangeable part of who I am. If Tucker tried to turn this into a joke, I might strangle him with his own beret, and I feel like you'd be pretty sad if your best friend got murdered."
Despite Sam's joking, Danny couldn't help but take what she was saying very seriously. He knew Sam and Tucker weren't getting along the best right now, but apparently both of them had decided to start keeping things from the other.
When had things gotten so bad?
"Tucker would take this seriously if you told him how important it is to you." Danny insisted.
"Yeah right. He never takes anything seriously." Sam flipped over a piece of lettuce with her fork "Besides, he's probably itching to get back at me for teasing him about Valerie so much."
"What? I don't think he cares that much."
"He seemed to care a lot when he tried to goad me in the RV."
"Well if you're really worried about that, maybe you should apologize to him." Danny suggested.
"Come on Danny, you know how Tucker is." Sam said, stabbing some vegetables onto her fork "He'd just turn my apology into a joke like he does with everything."
"Okay one, he doesn't turn everything into a joke, and two, I'm literally a ghost and your favourite colours are black and dark black. Can you blame Tucker for wanting to lighten things up a little?"
"I like purple too." Sam grumbled.
"Look, I've known Tucker a long time, and I know sometimes he doesn't think about what he says, but his heart's in the right place, and if you just talked to him directly and told him he was bothering you in some way, he will listen."
"Sure Danny." Sam said as she took a bite of her salad.
Danny sighed. Why'd he have to be friends with the two most stubborn people on the planet?
"Can you just think about it?" he asked "You two are friends. You really should have a little more faith in each other."
"Yeah, I'll mull it over." Sam said.
She didn't sound totally sarcastic. Dany supposed that was a start.
"So," Sam said "Did you remember to bring in your book report?"
"That's due today? I thought Lancer said Friday!"
"No, it was definitely today."
"Oh man, oh man," Danny began digging through his bag "I still have to write the conclusion!"
"Okay that's not too bad," Sam said, handing Danny a pencil "There's ten minutes of lunch left, you can get something passable if you hurry."
Tucker checked around the doorframe to the library again, silently debating whether or not he should go in.
On one hand, he didn't want to interrupt Valerie's study session to ask her out. He knew how annoyed he got when people interrupted him when he was working. Not to mention whisper-asking someone out wasn't the most romantic gesture.
On the other hand, Valerie might stay in the library up to the last second of lunch, so if he waited much longer he might not have enough time to properly ask her.
Tucker sighed as he checked his watch. Maybe it would be better to do this another-
"Hey Tucker." Valerie said, emerging from the library "What are you skulking outside the library for?"
"Valerie! Just the girl I wanted to see!"
Tucker was relieved to see Valerie, but it didn't last long when he remember why he'd wanted to see her alone in the first place.
"Oh yeah?" she said.
"Yeah, I um," Tucker cleared his throat "I had something I wanted to ask you."
"What's up?"
"I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to um...maybe go out sometime. With me."
"You mean...like a date?"
"Uh, yeah. I mean, i-if you're interested, that is. Like, no pressure or anything." Tucker adjusted his glasses.
"That..." Valerie smiled "Yeah. I would like to do that."
"Really?" Tucker felt his heart leap in his chest.
"Yeah. I'm don't have anything I need to do today. Wanna meet up at seven?"
"Yeah!" Tucker beamed "That sounds great."
"Cool. I, uh, I'd better get to class. See you then!"
Valerie waved and quickly walked away so Tucker wouldn't see how wide she was smiling.
Tucker waited until Valerie was all the down the hall. Once he was sure she was too far away to hear, he let out whoop and pumped his fist in the air.
"She said yes!" he squealed "She actually- I'd better get to class." Tucker cut off his own celebration "Ms Ramos probably wouldn't that I was just got a date with Valerie."
Tucker started running down the hall, his heart doing little skips all the way to fourth period.
"Hey Mom! Dad!" Danny called as he shut the door "We're home!"
"Oh, hey kids!" Maddie called back "We're down in the lab! Would you two mind joining us?"
Jazz and Danny looked at each other before starting down the basement stairs. When they got to the lab, they saw their parents putting some devices into a cardboard box. More boxes were piled on the floor next to them.
"What's with all the boxes?" Jazz asked.
"Well, since Vlad's coming over today," Maddie said "We figured we'd move some of our more...sensitive equipment into the garage and out of the house."
"Really?" Danny's eyes lit up.
"Yup." Jack nodded "We'll bring 'em back to the lab after Vlad leaves, of course. But while he's here we'll keep them out of his vicinity. For his comfort and safety."
"Oh."
Jazz glanced pityingly at the deflated Danny.
"Think we should add this to the box?" Jack held a glowing green rock up to Maddie.
"The ectoranium? Well, I hate to leave something so valuable out in the garage, but our research indicates it can be excruciatingly painful for ectoplasmic entities to touch, so we'd better not risk."
"That's a good point Madds. Oh, I know! Danny! Take this to Ops Center! It'll be more secure there!"
"Uhhhh..." Danny stared at the rock his dad was holding out to him.
"Oh, don't worry about what your mother said son," Jack waved his free hand "Ectoranium only hurts ghosts!"
"Yes! But," Jazz lunged forward and grabbed the rock from her dad "Danny's just sooo tired from school. He can't carry this all the way up to the Ops Center. Just look at those noodly arms."
"Hey!" Danny said.
"But honey," Maddie said, perplexed "You, um...both went to school today."
"Yeah, well, Danny did this thing in gym class. It's, uh, a thing they make the freshmen do. You know, the ninth grade..."
Jazz gave Danny a look that said Please help, it's your skin I'm trying to save here!
"...run?" Danny lamely supplied.
Jazz gave him another look. This one said Seriously? That's the best you could come up with?
"Ninth grade run?" Jack scratched his chin "Well since it was only running, You should still be able to help us carry this stuff Danno."
Danny took a step towards the boxes, but froze when something started beeping.
"Uh, actually" Jazz said loudly "Running is an exercise that works the entire body, and The Ninth Grade Run isn't just a run! It's more of a triathlon, so Danny really shouldn't be carrying anything right now! Don't you two remember when I did The Run? All my muscles were sore for, like, a week!"
"Oh, are you feeling sore Danny?" Maddie asked sympathetically. "You don't have to help move stuff if you're not feeling up to it, Sweetie."
"Yup!" Danny said "Jazz's right, I'm really sore everywhere. Sorry I can't help move this stuff, but I'm going to go upstairs and rest for a bit. Um, ow, ow, ouch." Danny exaggerated a limp as he climbed the basement stairs.
Danny was sitting on his bed reading comics when he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in." He said.
The door swung open, revealing a disgruntled Jazz with globs of ectoplasm tangled in her hair.
"What-"
"Don't ask. Is The Fenton Scalp Scrubber in here?"
"Yeah," Danny picked up what looked like a hand vacuum with mini scrubbers all over it from his nightstand "That ghost Youngblood decided he was obsessed with paintball the last time I fought him. Except instead of paint, his shots were filled with compressed ectoplasm. Catch!"
"You owe me for this one." Jazz said, catching the device with one hand "Also 'Ninth Grade Run'? Was that seriously the best you could come up with?"
"Hey, you're the one who started the cover up story! You didn't really give me much to work with!
"I'll tell you one thing," The Scrubber buzzed as Jazz switched it on and began running it meticulously through her hair. "I'll be glad to finally not have to ad-lib these excuses anymore once you tell Mom and Dad. The only thing that makes me cringe harder than watching Mom and Dad fall for the nonsense I come up with is watching them fall for the nonsense you come up with. Speaking of, have you come up with a plan for telling them yet?"
"Er..." Danny held his comic up in front of his face "I'm still thinking."
"About..."
"Y'know...how to, like...tell them."
"You haven't thought about it at all, have you Danny?"
"I have thought about it. I'm just still trying to figure out when and how I want to do it."
"Danny, it's been well over a week."
"I mean, this is kind of a big thing, Jazz."
"I understand that, but I can't help but feel like you're putting this off. You do want to tell Mom and Dad, right?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then what's with the stalling?"
"I'm not stalling! I'm just trying to figure out the right way to do it."
"There's no perfect way to-"
"I never said it had to be 'perfect'." Danny threw his comic aside "Ugh, why does everyone keep bugging me about this? They're my ghost powers! I'll tell Mom and Dad when I'm ready."
"This affects the rest of us to, Danny." Jazz said "I know you have the most at stake, but we're all anxious about it. I'm not going to drag you downstairs and force you to tell Mom and Dad right this second, but I'm not leaving until we've discussed some sort of-"
Jazz was interrupted by sharp gasp from Danny, a tell-tale puff of mist escaping his mouth.
"Aw darn, a ghost, guess we gotta continue this conversation later." Danny shrugged as he transformed.
"Danny, you can't avoid facing this mental block forever. Even if you won't talk to me about it, at some point you have to sit down and ask yourself-"
"Gotta go! See you Jazz!" Danny yelled as he flew out the window.
"Jazz! Danny!" Jack called from downstairs "Vladdie's here! I saw him out the window! Come down and say hello!"
Jazz glanced at Danny's open window and sighed before heading downstairs to greet Vlad. That kid was quite the headache sometimes.
Angela Foley narrowed her eyes.
"Your teeth are brushed?"
"Yup."
"Glasses are clean?"
"Yup."
"You're sure that's what you want to wear?"
"Mom!" Tucker rolled his eyes "Valerie and I decided this would be a casual date."
"But it's still your first date, Honey." Angela straightened Tucker's beret "I'm so excited for you! I just want everything to go as smoothly as it can."
"And I appreciate that, I really do, but-"
Tucker was interrupted by the basement door flying open.
"Did he leave yet!?"
"No Maury, he's still here." Tucker's mom told his dad "But he was just about to. I told you he had to be gone by six thirty."
"I know, I know." Maurice shut the door and walked over to Tucker and Angela "I was at a critical juncture in my Enterprise model and I lost track of time. You know how it is with level fives. Anyway," Maurice dug in his pocket and handed Tucker a twenty dollar bill "Here's a little something to mark the occasion."
"Oh, cool! Thanks Dad."
"You're welcome Son." Maurice continued to smile, but his expression shifted to a more more businesslike one "Now, have a good time and make sure you treat Valerie right. And compliment her appearance at least once. I know you two aren't doing anything big, but if there's one thing I learned from my older sisters, it's that first dates are ripe for self-consciousness, especially in teenagers, so a little pick-me-up in that regard can go a long way. Speaking of, you're not looking too bad yourself, kiddo. I see you cleaned your glasses for the occasion, excellent. Always good to show you're putting in an effort, even if it's not a serious date. You know, I remember my first-"
"Ugh, not you too!" Tucker opened the front door "Look, I already sat through Mom fussing over me, and if I go through all that again with you, I know I'm going to be late, which is not how I want to start off my first date!"
Tucker swung the door shut behind him. Not five seconds passed before the door opened again and Tucker stuck his head back inside.
"That being said, I do appreciate how much you two try to support me and take an interest in my personal life, but I've really got to go now, so I love you and bye!"
Tucker slipped back out and shut the door for real this time, a bit more gently.
"They grow up so fast." Maurice wiped an imaginary tear from his eye "You remember your first date?"
"Timothy Matthews. Freshman year. Same age as Tucker. If that kid treats that lovely girl even remotely like Timothy treated me, I'll flay him alive."
"Come on Dear," Maurice laughed and put an arm around his wife's shoulder "You know he won't. That kid's got a good heart."
"I know." Angela put her hand on top of her husband's "We can just heat some leftovers for dinner tonight. Did you want any help with that model?"
"Absolutely." Maurice beamed.
Tucker knocked on the door. He gave his outfit one last lookover. It was just the same stuff he usually wore, since he and Valerie had agreed to keep this date low-key, but he'd still made sure to pick out a stain-free sweater and rip-free pants. It was still a date, after all.
The apartment door opened to reveal a very tall man. He gazed sternly down at Tucker.
"Um, hi," Tucker greeted him nervously "You must be Valerie's dad?"
"I Just want you to know young man," Damian Gray's voice was deep and threatening "That if you hurt my Valerie in any way, I will-"
"Come off it Daddy," Valerie pushed passed her dad with an 'over it' look on her face "You're not funny."
"Aw, Valerie." Damian's voice was suddenly much softer "You ruined it. I really had him going."
Valerie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling affectionately.
"Did you really think I was just going to stand there and let you scare my date away?" Valerie crossed her arms.
Tucker felt a small jolt of giddiness when Valerie referred to him as her date.
"No," Damian smiled back "I suppose I did raise you right. You kids enjoy yourselves. And be back by ten."
"Eleven?" Valerie smiled wide and fluttered her eyelashes.
"Ten thirty, and that's as good as you're gonna get Val. It's a school night."
"Fine. Love you Daddy."
"Love you too Babygirl. Have fun and be safe."
Damian closed the door, leaving Valerie and Tucker alone in the hallway.
"So," Tucker felt his cheeks heat up "We're going on a date. You and me. That's...that's pretty wild."
"Yeah." Valerie bashfully tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "So, where are we going?"
"I...uh...didn't think that far ahead." Tucker was instantly pulled back down to earth. How had he forgotten such and important detail? "We could...do a movie?"
"Eh...to be honest, a date where we sit there and don't talk for two hours doesn't really sound like the greatest first date."
"Huh, I never really thought about it like that. Why is a movie always the go-to first date on TV then?"
Valerie shrugged.
"Okay, we could...uh..." Tucker totally blanked.
This wasn't good. Despite being the one to ask her out, Tucker had no idea where would be a decent place to take Valerie on a date, and he was beginning to panic.
"You kids should go to bowling!" Damian called through the door "They've got snacks, and Valerie's a great-"
"Dad!" Valerie interrupted sharply.
"Sorry! I'll be quiet now."
There was an long moment of silence.
"Bowling does sound pretty good, actually." Tucker said "Amity Lanes does make pretty good hot dogs."
"You know what, why not?" Valerie smiled "I do like bowling, and it has been a while since-"
"See! I do have good ideas sometimes!"
"Dad!"
"Okay," Maddie turned to Jack, her hand on the door knob "Remember what we talked about."
"I know, I know," Jack waved his hand "No talking about ghosts or ghost powers until Vlad explicitly says he's comfortable with it."
Satisfied, Maddie opened the door.
"Hello Jack, Maddie." Vlad greeted them, formal as always. "It's wonderful to see you again."
"Hey Vladdie, come on in!" Jack wrapped his massive arm around Vlad's shoulder's and practically dragged him inside "And don't worry, we're not going to ask you any questions about your powers or even talk about ghost stuff until you say you're comfortable with it!"
Jack finished his sentence with what was probably intended to be a comforting smile.
Maddie facepalmed.
"That's...great to hear Jack." Vlad returned a smile that was much more strained.
"How about we go sit in the kitchen?" Maddie said, gently inserting herself between Vlad and Jack "I just put the kettle on."
"Yes, that sounds rather lovely."
Maddie didn't miss the stilted way Vlad spoke.
When they got to the kitchen, they found Jazz moving some books off the table and into her bag.
"Hello Jazz," Vlad greeted her "How have you been?"
"I've been good Mr Masters." Jazz swung her bag over her shoulder "Mom, Dad, I'm going to the library. Danny's in his room, sleeping. Do not wake him up. Enjoy you're visit."
She grabbed her keys and marched right past the adults and out of the house before anyone could respond.
"She's certainly...efficient." Vlad remarked.
"Well," Maddie said "Guess its just us. Ope, there's the kettle!"
"Have a seat Vladdie!" Jack said, sitting at the table as Maddie poured the boiling water into a teapot.
"Y-yes, of course." Vlad said, sitting down opposite Jack.
Maddie set the tray with the tea stuff down at the table.
"So Vladdie," Jack said "How ya been since we last saw you?"
"Oh, um, I've been well."
"That's good to hear." Jack smiled.
Despite his upbeat tone, Maddie could tell Jack was feeling the tension as much as she and Vlad were.
Maddie sighed to herself. She was trying to be sensitive, but if someone didn't address the elephant in the room, the whole visit was going to be this awkward.
"So, Vlad." she said, sitting down at the table "We didn't really get the chance to talk much after...after that ghost attack at your cottage."
"Oh," Vlad immediately tensed "I-I mean, well, you know-"
"Listen Vlad," Maddie cut off his rambling "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I really think it would be a good idea if we talked about it. Maybe cleared the air a little? If we're being honest, it's pretty much all Jack and I have been thinking about this past week, and I have a feeling you're in a similar boat."
"I mean," Jack said "I wasn't going to say anything, but she's not wrong V-man."
Vlad sighed and his posture slipped a little, a subtle surrender.
"Alright." he relented "What did you want to know?"
"Um, well..." Maddie glanced at Jack. His expression mirrored hers. Of course, they both had a million questions, but where to even start?
"So...this all happened to you because of the proto-portal accident in college?" Maddie said.
"Yes. That's correct."
"Right, right." Maddie nodded "You did say that back at the cottage."
"Yes. I did."
Maddie grasped her hand together tightly, unsure how exactly to proceed. That had been a pretty dumb question, and Vlad could definitely tell, but she was very aware how tense this conversation was, and she wanted to be careful with what she asked next, try not to go too fast and-
"So when did your ghost powers first show up? Was it right when you got to the hospital?"
Maddie's blood pressure spiked as Vlad flinched. She was torn between giving Vlad a comforting look and glaring at Jack. He wasn't an unkind person, quite the opposite, but sometimes he just did not think! Sure, someone needed to get the conversation going, but did Jack have to go right for the throat?
"Unless you don't want to!" Maddie added hurriedly.
"Oh yeah, you don't have to talk about it if...how does Jazz put it? 'It brings up too much trauma'." Jack nodded.
"We understand if it's too painful."
"No, no, it's...alright."
Vlad cleared his throat and shifted slightly in his seat.
"I can't remember exactly how many, but I'd only been checked into the hospital for a few days when my, erm, abilities first manifested."
"How did they manifest?" Sure, Maddie had just wanted to scold Jack for his pressing question, but he wasn't the only one who had trouble keeping the scientist at bay sometimes.
"Well, I'd been suffering from a fever that kept increasing in intensity as time went by, and...I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but I suppose I reached some kind of breaking point eventually. I was forcibly transformed into my, er, ghost form and I let out an enourmous burst of plasma energy. Did quite a bit of damage."
"How did you avoid getting caught on the security cameras?" Jack asked.
"The hospital hadn't implemented cameras yet. Wasn't the most well-funded facility."
"Ah, I guess this was back before they all had them." Jack nodded.
"Yes. There was one nurse who witnessed the whole ordeal whom I feel quite bad for, though."
"Oh dear." Maddie put a hand over her mouth.
"Yes, he was a nice young man, but I played dumb and had him convinced he'd hallucinated the whole ordeal. Didn't really have an explanation for the damage to the room, but I doubt he even tried to tell his superiors it was because his patient had turned into a monster and blasted fire everywhere." Vlad sighed "I was acting in panic, but I do regret the way I dealt with him. If I ever do find that nurse again, I'll make sure explain things."
"But what about you?" Jack asked.
"Excuse me?"
"How were you doing when all that happened? You must have been scared out of your wits, Vladdie. All on your own...Maddie and I could've been there for you, you know! We tried! We really did!"
"Jack, I told you, I didn't tell anyone what had happened. I barely even knew what was going on."
"Yeah, but we could have figured it out together! You were just stuck in the hospital by yourself, scared half to death because of my goof up." There was a pain in Jack's voice Maddie rarely heard "Oh Vladdie, I knew my mistake had cost you, but...I never really knew just how much."
Vlad was stunned. Maddie reached over and put her hand on top of Jack's.
"Dear, you can't blame yourself. We all worked on that prototype." she said softly.
"Oh please Madds. We all know I have a bad habit of rushing into things. I try to be careful, but I just get so excited sometimes and don't think! Maybe if I'd just-"
"No Jack." Vlad spoke up "I knew the risks I was signing up for. We all did. We all knew how dangerous ghost research could be. Sure, none of us probably expected that becoming a ghost was a possibility, er, well, in this capacity at least, but I knew I wasn't signing up for a normal life when I decided to investigate the paranormal. Would you be angry at me if our positions were switched?"
Jack sniffled and wiped his face with his free hand.
"You know, I've really missed having you around Vladdie."
"And I've missed you two." Vlad hand tightened into a fist on the table "A lot."
There was brief silence as the three of them took it in: after so long, the gang was back together. They were far from as they were, but at least they finally together again.
"You know..." Jack tentatively broke the silence "I wanted to tell you the last time we met up, but I finished constructing The Ecto Catapult a few months ago."
"Y-you did?" Vlad raised an eyebrow, taken aback "But, why would you bother? That was just some silly idea we had in college."
"Maybe so, but it was really cool silly idea we had in college! Seeing you at the reunion again made me think about it, so one day I just decided to go ahead and build it!"
"Of course, it has just been collecting dust in the corner of the lab ever since." Maddie said "We never even got around to properly testing it out."
"You want to go down to the lab and see it?" Jack asked.
Vlad's eyes widened slightly.
"I...very much would."
"Fire!"
SPLAT!
Giant globs of ectoplasm were smeared all over the wall of The Fenton Containment Tank. Jack, Maddie, and Vlad had been down there for over an hour launching ectoplasmic samples of various sizes into the giant glass container.
"Interesting." Maddie said as she scribbled furiously into a notepad "The Ecto-Pult is consistently launching the ectoplasm with enough force to induce splatter, but no matter the weight of the load, the ectoplasm retains enough surface tension to sustain its mass!"
"Even the big pieces on the ceiling aren't dripping!" Jack said "We should've tried flinging ectoplasm at a wall ages ago! There's so much to observe!"
"It's a shame all our attempts to utilize ectoplasm as an effective adhesive have failed so far." Maddie lamented "Despite its incredible mucilaginous properties, it can be pulled apart by hand relatively easily."
"Yes, I've been down that road too," Vlad said "Despite it's incredibly unique structure, the most effective use for ectoplasm I've gleaned from my research is for anti-ghost measures. And energy supplication."
"Oh, we know. Jack and I have been experimenting getting the house running on nothing but ectoplasmic energy!" Maddie beamed.
"Er, that's rather...ambitious of you two." Vlad said, his brow knitting "Seems like there'd be a number of complications to consider, though."
"Eh, it's still only a hypothetical for now." Jack waved his hand "Now, let's see if we can learn anything else from flinging ectoplasm at a wall! Maddie! Grab a sample The Fenton Deep Freeze while I wind this baby back up!"
"Ooh! That'll be interesting!"
The two remaining pins sat at the end of the lane tauntingly.
This was a tricky shot. Tucker knew his aim had to be perfect to knock the last two pins down.
He pulled back, swung his arm, and let the ball go. He held his breath as it rolled down the lane...
...and sailed right down the middle of the split pins.
"Dang it!"
"Word of advice," Valerie smirked as she picked up a blue ball from the return "When you get a seven-ten, in-between the pins is the worst place to throw."
"I was trying a manoeuvre!" Tucker pouted as the remaining pins were knocked over by the pinsetter.
"Ah, yes, I see." Valerie nodded "Quite the manoeuvre."
"All right," Tucker said as the new pins were set up "Let's see you do better."
Valerie grinned. She carried her ball to the lane, took a stance, aimed, and threw, her whole body smoothly following the motion.
Tucker's jaw dropped as all of the pins went crashing down. Neon letters spelling out STRIKE scrolled across teh screen above them.
"How was that manoeuvre?" Valerie smirked.
"How'd you do that?" Tucker gaped as the fallen pins were swept away.
"I was on the bowling team in middle school. Shame Casper doesn't have one."
"I'll say!"
"Of course, I wouldn't really have time for bowling if there was a team, anyway."
"What do you mean?" Tucker asked.
"Well, you know, with the whole ghost fighting thing. Gotta be ready at any time."
"Hey, it's not all on you, you know." Tucker said as he lined up his next shot "The four of us are a ghost hunting team. There's always backups if one of us has stuff to do. For instance, Sam's got her poetry thing," Tucker threw his ball as hard as he could "And I play Yarg-A-Loo at the card shop on Mondays. One of us being absent has pretty much never been a problem. Just because we gotta catch ghosts sometimes doesn't mean we can't- NOOO!"
Tucker cried out as his ball rolled into the gutter. All he could do was watch in dismay as his ball sailed right past the pins.
"Ooh!" Valerie cringed "You sure you don't want me to ask them to turn on the kiddie bumpers?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Tucker grumbled.
They bowled many more rounds. Valerie managed to get four more strikes.
"Whoo!" Tucker pumped both fists into the air as he scored his first spare of the evening "Told ya I didn't need bumpers!"
"Nice one. Hey Tucker," Valerie checked her watch "How many frames we got left?"
"Frames?"
"Yeah, how many more are left? I wasn't really counting, but I feel like we should be at least getting close to ten."
"I...don't know."
"Haven't you been keeping score?"
"Keeping score? I don't know how to keep score."
"Isn't that what you've been doing on your PDA?"
"I was just keeping an eye on my messages in case a ghost decided to try to eat the roller rink, or something."
Tucker and Valerie stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.
"Y'know," Tucker said "I think at this point we can safely say you won."
"I mean, you're probably not wrong."
"Wanna call it and grab some hot dogs from the canteen?"
"That sounds great."
"...but then my mom realized she didn't have the cake!" Tucker was barely holding back laughter. This was one of his favourite stories to tell.
"Wait, but you just said she set in on the driveway to buckle you in, so- oh no!" Valerie covered her mouth in horror.
"Oh yes, my dad backed right over it!"
"No way! Your mom must've flipped!"
"Yeah, both my parents were freaking out. In the end, they went and bought a cake, and told me they'd buy me whatever Lego set I wanted as long as I pretended Mom made it. And that's how I got the Toa Lhikan Bionicle that's on my computer desk."
"Is that the gold one on the rhino?"
"It's a Kikanalo, thank you very much."
"Right, right," Valerie sarcastically patted Tucker's hand "How could I have made such a mistake?"
Tucker looked down. Valerie hadn't removed her hand from his. He looked back up at Valerie and smiled. It took Valerie a second to figure out what Tucker was smiling about, but she was soon smiling back at him.
Both of their cheeks began to flush.
"Here's your hot dog's!" The chipper voice of the server almost made Tucker and Valerie jump out of their seats. They kept their hands together, though.
Valerie recovered first.
"Oh, thanks!" she politely smiled at the server "It's been way too long since I've had one of these!"
"Yeah, there's just something special about Amity Lane's footlongs." Tucker agreed before picking up his hot dog with his free hand and taking a large bite.
Tucker watched Valerie put mustard on her hot dog with one hand. Even though he hadn't known her for quite as long, talking to Valerie felt as natural as talking to Danny or Sam.
And she trusted him too. Sure, she'd been pretty hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for her to see him as someone she could talk to, and Tucker was really flattered that she thought of him that way.
It made him want to share something personal with Valerie in return.
"Hey, I just wanted to say the other day at The Nasty Burger, when you told us you were bi, that was really cool."
"Oh. Um, yeah?" Valerie didn't remove her hand from Tucker's, but there was a hint of wariness in her voice.
"Yeah. And I do realize that might seem a little weird for me to bring up, but I've been thinking that I might actually...uh maybe be bi too." Tucker adjusted his glasses as he spoke.
"Wait," Valerie sat up straighter and her eyes widened "Really?"
"Uh, just maybe!" Tucker said quickly "Like, I get crushes on guys sometimes, but I'm still not really sure if they really count."
"What?" Valerie raised an eyebrow "What makes them not count?"
"I mean, I think in my whole life I've only liked, like three maybe four guys, but I've liked at least a million girls, so I'm definitely into girls, "
"Hey, it's not like someone's gonna arrest you for not liking enough boys. If you say you're bi, then you're bi."
"I don't know." Tucker swirled his pop with his straw. "Sometimes I just worry I'm taking something that isn't mine, ya know?"
"Oh no, some kid called himself bi when he might not technically follow the standard definition a hundred percent!" Valerie said in an exaggerated voice "This is robbing us of all our bi resources! We won't be able to add in a swimming pool at the clubhouse!"
"Well it sounds ridiculous when you put it that way..."
"There might be reason for that." Valerie said, the corner of her mouth cocking upwards.
"Yeah, yeah." "You're probably right. It still feels kind of weird. Calling myself 'bi', I mean. I think I like it, but I'm not a really a hundred percent sure."
"Give it time." Valerie said "You figure it out eventually."
"Danny said something like that, too." Tucker let his head flump onto the table "Why can't someone just tell me what's going on in my brain? This all just feels so needlessly complicated!"
"Trust me, it's worth it." Valerie patted Tucker's hand.
"Okay fine, I'll stop complaining. But you and Danny had better be right about this!"
Tucker lifted his head to see Valerie smiling down at him.
"What?" Tucker asked, smiling back.
"I've just never really had someone I could talk about this stuff with. I mean, I've got some cousins who'd probably be cool, but they don't live close enough for me to see them that often. And my old friends were...well, you know."
"That sounds rough. You know, Danny and Sam are pretty cool, if you ever want to talk with the group. Jazz too. Wait, I don't think you've ever met her. She's Danny's sister, and she gives really good advice."
"I'll keep that in mind, but I like talking with you."
"Because I'm a fellow bi?"
"No, it's because I like you."
"Oh." Tucker smiled as felt his cheeks go warm "I like you too. I like talking to you."
Valerie bashfully smiled back.
The tender moment was broken by what sounded like distant screaming.
"Did you hear that?" Valerie asked.
"It kind of sounded like-"
CRASH!
Tucker was interrupted by a large object flying through the ceiling. Tucker and Valerie jumped apart as it hit their table, smashing it in half.
The object turned out to be Danny Phantom, now lying in a heap in the wreckage of Valerie and Tucker's table.
"Oh hey," Danny waved from the ground. "Didn't expect to run into you two. How's the date going?"
"Pretty good, in my opinion." Tucker said "Thanks for ask- hey wait, do you like, need help dude?"
"What? No, don't worry, I got this ghost handled, you two enjoy your date!"
"Doesn't look like you do." Valerie pulled an ecto gun out of her backpack "Danny, taking down a dangerous ghost is was more important than-"
"No no no no no! I'm good! I got this! She just got a lucky shot in." Danny grunted as he pushed himself up and cracked his neck.
"That's better." he said to himself, floating up into the air "See? I'm good. Seriously, don't worry about me. I'll just call Sam if I need help, you two enjoy your date. Oh, and congrats on Valerie saying 'yes', by the way." Danny gave Tucker a double thumbs up.
"Oh yeah, thanks." Tucker said "You sure you don't want any help?"
"One hundred percent. It's just another one of Romeo's acting buddies, I got this. Just pretend I wasn't even here."
With that, Danny zoomed back out of the hole he'd made in the ceiling, disappearing into the night sky.
Valerie looked at Tucker.
"Does he 'got this'?"
"If he says he does, I believe him. Romeo wasn't a very tough ghost." Tucker picked up his mostly intact hot dog from the floor "Would it ruin the mood if I ate this?"
"I mean, Danny definitely already killed the mood, but I'd still judge you for eating off the floor."
"What? It stayed in the basket the whole time." Tucker said as he took a bite.
Valerie rolled her eyes.
"Also these things cost like four dollars each."
"Good point." Valerie said, retrieving her own fallen hot dog.
"Goodbye Vlad!" Maddie beamed "Today was so much fun, we'll have to get together again soon!"
"Yes, very soon. Goodbye Maddie, Jack." Vlad smiled back as he shut the door behind him.
He really meant it. Vlad truly did plan on seeing Jack and Maddie again soon. It had been too long since he'd had that much fun.
Sure, The Ecto-Pult (as Maddie had dubbed it) was incredibly inefficient compared to most modern-day ecto weaponry, but he hadn't realized how much he missed doing research with his friends. The data they'd collected might not have been that significant, but Vlad had left that basement feeling more invigorated than he did after the most productive days in his own lab.
Vlad couldn't stop smiling as he walked down the front steps.
There were still some thing the three of them needed to work out, such as the fact that all of them were hesitant to talk about Vlad's ghost side directly, but today had felt like the first sunny day after a week of rain, and Vlad was willing to work through any amount of awkwardness to have more days like that.
After walking a short distance, Vlad ducked into an alleyway to transform. The Ghost Zone was the fastest way to travel to and from Amity Park, but Jack and Maddie didn't need to know Vlad was using their portal. Not that he thought they would mind, but it was one of those awkward things Vlad wasn't ready to discuss quite yet if he could help it.
"Well," Jack wrapped an arm around Maddie "That was a lot better than the last time Vlad visited!"
"I'll say." Maddie agreed.
Once they'd gotten down to the lab, it was like they'd all forgotten about Vlad's accident and had been transported back to college when they were a closely knit research team and everything was normal.
Of course, in reality their college days were long behind them and things were far from normal. Vlad was still hesitant to talk about his ghostly properties, and Jack and Maddie still felt pretty awkward about the whole situation themselves.
A lot of unresolved thought and feelings still had to be dealt with, and Jack and Maddie knew that fixing things with Vlad wasn't always going to be as enjoyable as today was.
But this was a start. A pretty good start, in their opinion.
Next chapter will probably be on the shorter side (for my writing, anyway) but (spoiler alert) Danny's gonna finally reveal his secret to his parents! Woo!
Feedback appreciated. Thanks for reading and see you next month :)