Opening A/N: I'm baaaaack! First! I know I've been uploading new chapters pretty much every day since I started this fic, but at some point I'm going to have to slow down. Just to give myself time to push out higher quality content if anything. Plus I don't want to run myself into the ground and get burned out. But that's something to worry about at a later time. As for now, I can hardly think about anything except this fic (Thank you ADHD hyperfixation!), once I feel like my creative process begins to slow down, I'll mention it in an ending A/N and let you guys know that I may not upload for a few days. Once again, thank you for the continued support and kind words in regards to how you think I'm doing with this fic!

Chapter Synopsis - Danny makes his way out of the GZ and back to Amity. What he comes across isn't what he expected. Did he forget something?

"Two quotation marks means speech or emphasis on a word."

'One quotation mark means thought.'

Italics mean heavy emphasis on a word or written/digital text.

Chapter IV: Home

Danny didn't regret the decisions he had made today. If he had any regrets, they were not trying to make amends with Ember sooner. They had gotten along surprisingly well, the consistent sarcasm and witty banter between them never failed to make either of them smile, or laugh in most cases. It did help that they had four years of chemistry built up, even if that chemistry could be labeled as "highly explosive".

Floating his way through the empty black and green tinted Ghost Zone, toward the location of the infamous Fenton portal, he thought back contemplating why exactly he had never tried anything like this before his interaction with Kitty and Johnny two years ago.

'Now, that was a complicated situation in every sense of the word.' Danny thought

Of course, he could blame it on being a product of his environment, his parents and Sam never being on board with the idea that ghosts could be passive, let alone friendly. It was one of the many reasons why he split with Sam less than two weeks into their "relationship". It was ironic really, seeing as how Ember was the catalyst that caused that ship to sink.

Three years ago, not even a full week after he and Sam had officially gotten together, Ember had made an appearance in Amity with a new trick up her sleeve. She had modified her guitar's "love spell" ability. While it still had the effect of making its target fall for someone, it came with a catch. On top of making the target love their crush unconditionally like before, it also made the target unable to lie to the person they had fallen for.

Long story short, of course Sam had gotten hit with the attack, but luckily Danny's ghost half prevented him from being affected. After he had taken care of Ember, but before the effects of the love spell had faded, he had decided to talk with Sam about their relationship, with her permission of course. Mainly questioning her on why exactly she had fallen for him. The answers he received were far from the ones he had wanted or even expected. Sam hadn't fallen in love with Danny Fenton but Danny Phantom, citing that Danny's powers were the biggest and best part of him. To say that this devastated him would be wildly understated.

Danny had never felt so betrayed, so angry before. The only thing he could relate them to was the feelings of anger and rage he used to receive in memories from Dan Phantom. He quickly ended their relationship, saying that if she couldn't love both sides of him then it would never work. His human life was just as much a part of him as his ghost afterlife. After all, there's a reason he's called a "Halfa", each side of him was one half of a whole, one couldn't exist without the other.

After some time apart, Sam tried to reconcile with him but Danny just couldn't bring himself to do the same. She and Tucker were the only friends he had, even before junior high, and for him to feel betrayed so deeply by one of them, it made it nearly impossible to keep his composure upon just seeing her, let alone trying to be friends again.

That's not to say that there's lingering animosity between the two, no, at least not on his part. Danny could never bring himself to hold a grudge against her, but that doesn't mean he would ever forget what had happened. He and Sam still haven't repaired their friendship to this day, and he doubted they ever would. They still see each other sometimes when he visits Tucker, or is out on patrol as his ghost persona. They manage to be cordial and polite, but never much more than that.

Though he can't place all the blame on Ember alone, no she wasn't the sole reason their relationship was doomed, far from it.. He and Sam were just too different. One day Danny had suggested to her and Tucker that he should try and extend an olive branch to some of the less violent members of the Ghost Zone. Tucker, while not entirely convinced, was open to the idea stating that it was impossible for every member of the GZ to have the same violent tendencies as Skulker or Pariah Dark. Sam, on the other hand, completely shot the idea down, saying that if there were well-meaning ghosts out there somewhere, Danny would've ran into them already. Verbally reinforcing her idea that force should be a last resort. He tried to argue that point, stating that he was on good terms with a few ghosts, but she just responded with the fact that most, if not, all of his current "allies" had tried to attack him at some point.

Sam's aversion to violence was one of the many factors that resulted in Danny being bullied for his entire freshman year. While, of course, he never would've stood a chance against someone like Dash before he got his powers, he could've at least put up a fight. Once he had his powers though, he knew he could take on Dash or any of the other members of the self proclaimed "A-List" relatively easily. Yet, at the same time, he knew that if he fought back it would cause tension between him and his friend. Danny didn't want to risk losing one of the people closest to him over something he knew wouldn't last forever. In the end, despite the consequences it was Danny himself who was ultimately at fault for not making any ghostly friends sooner. He had been too afraid of ridicule to follow his gut, and his heart, to do what he believed to be right. Something he vowed to never let happen again.

At this point the reasons don't really matter anymore. Danny had moved on and high-school was in the past for him, as was all the drama that it produced. He had finally managed to break barriers and build bridges within the Ghost community and he couldn't be happier over that fact. As for possibly moving on to college, it was still something he hesitated in doing. After defending his home for so long, the idea of leaving it in the hands of someone else, no matter how qualified, just didn't sit right with him.

As much as he would like to follow in Jazz's footsteps, it's not like he would ever need to work in his life. After his secret identity had been revealed to the world, he began to receive royalty checks for all of the Danny Phantom themed merchandise that had been, and was continuing to be, sold. He had more money than he could ever dream of spending. His dreams of becoming an astronaut had faded over the years as he fell more and more in love with being the hero of Amity Park. Sure, his passion for the stars and what lied among them hadn't faded, but his desire to be the one to discover the answers they held had. Between all of this, going to college just didn't seem important anymore.

'That's gonna be a fun conversation to have with mom and dad… "Hey guys, so you know how I was planning to be an astronaut? Well now I don't even plan on going to college! Anyway, love you guys!"'.' Danny muses, shaking his head before refocusing on his destination.

Upon entering the portal and returning back to the world of the living, he's greeted by a chaotic scene. His parents running around the lab, frantically gathering and searching for ghost hunting gear.

"Uh… Mom? Dad? What's going on?" He asks, thoroughly confused at their actions. "Is someone attacking Amity again?"

They freeze in their tracks, both turning to look at their son. "Danny!/Dan-o!"

He's nearly crushed between his behemoth of a father and his mothers surprising strength. "Mom! Dad! Unless you want to turn me into a full ghost, you should probably let me go!"

They hesitantly release him. "What's going on? You guys just nearly squeezed half the life out of me."

"Danny, where have you been?!" His mother asks, nearly frantic. "You've been gone for hours!"

'Ohhhh shit. I didn't tell anyone I was going into the Ghost Zone, did I? Whoops…'

"I was uhh- I went into the Ghost Zone." He explains.

"Why? Did Clockwork want to see you? Nevermind that! More importantly, why didn't you tell anyone you were leaving?!" Maddie asks, still thoroughly annoyed.

"Honestly? It was a spur of the moment thing. I wasn't expecting to venture into the GZ today. It just kind of happened." He offers, weakly, with a shrug.

"The important thing." Jack says, giving his wife a calming look. "Is that you're safe. That's all that matters to us Danny-boy."

Danny smiles up at his father. "Thanks dad. I promise to tell you guys or leave a note or something next time, like I said, it was a completely unexpected thing."

"Actually, better than leaving a note, you can start carrying this around." His mother says, picking up a device off of a nearby workstation.

"What is it?" He asks. The device looks a lot like Tuckers PDA except the screen takes up a majority of the front, and it has a small circular button at the bottom.

"It's a new piece of tech that just came out." A new voice says.

Danny turns to look at the newcomer, he's happily surprised to see them. "Tucker!"

Tucker holds his fist out for a fist bump with a smile, and he happily bumps fists with his dark-skinned friend. "How are you man? We haven't hung out in a while because of all your Mayoral duties."

"Too true, I've been meaning to update the software on my Mayor program again so it can take care of all this junk for me, but I haven't even had time for that!" He explains

"Anyway," Tucker continues, taking the device from Maddie. "This is a wonderful new piece of tech called a smartphone. It's a lot like a regular cell phone, except it has a camera and can access the internet on top of the usual text messaging and calling. And it's fully touch screen, meaning you just tap the screen to do what you want. The only buttons on it are the home button here on the bottom, and the volume/power buttons on either side."

Danny raises an eyebrow. "That's cool and all," He says, taking the smartphone from Tucker, and placing it in his pocket. "But how would it help me if I was in the Ghost Zone?"

Tucker looks offended. "You seriously underestimate me dude. Why do you think I'm here? I modified this baby so that it can get a signal even if you're in the Ghost Zone."

"What?" Danny asks, astonished. "Dude, that's incredible! I hate to ask, but do you think you could modify a few more the same way? I'll pay for the costs of course."

Tucker waves his hand in front of his face. "Don't worry about the costs man, you know I make a ton of bank off my software and repair business. But yeah, I could easily crack a few more to work like yours. Why do you need them though? Backups in case yours gets damaged?"

Danny rubs the back of his head nervously. "Not exactly? They're not for me."

"Ohhh, I get it. You wanna give one to Kitty and Johnny too!" He exclaims.

"Exactly. And, well, one other person too." Danny says, fidgeting.

"Oh really? Who?" Tucker asks, his curiosity piqued.

"Ember." Danny replies, hesitantly.

The three other occupants of the lab stare at him in stunned silence. "Ember." Tucker says, "As in Ember McLain? The incredibly beautiful girl with blue fire for hair, who loves rock and roll, brainwashing people, and kicking your butt? That Ember?"

"That's the one." Danny says with a sigh.

"Why in the world would you want to give one of your biggest rivals a Fenton Smartphone?!" Tucker asks, incredulously.

'Great, they already slapped a "Fenton" label on it.'

"Because she's not exactly an enemy anymore?" He explains, "Look, Tuck, it's been a long day and it's a long story. A lot of which isn't mine to tell. All I can say is that it's the reason I was gone for so long today. I was looking for Ember in the GZ."

Tucker shakes his head in disbelief. "Listen dude, I trust you, I trust your judgment, but I do not trust Ember McLain. Although if you took the time to go and search for her, and get back here without a scratch on you, then I know nothing happened." He muses. "Alright, fine. I'll upgrade those phones for you and shoot you a text when I get done. It might take a little while though. Until then, do me a favor and take care of yourself man."

"Thanks bro, I'll send you a message later of the exact number of Fenton Smartphones I need." With one last fistbump between the two, Tucker makes his way up the stairs and out of the Fenton home.

Danny looks to his parents who haven't said a word throughout the whole exchange between him and Tucker. 'Cue overprotective tantrum in 3… 2… 1…'

"Daniel Jack Fenton! Why on earth would you go looking for Ember McLain, in the Ghost Zone of all places?!" His mother shouts.

"Mom, I love you, I really do, but this is something we have never agreed on. I have tried and tried to convince you that not all ghosts are purely evil, my time with Kitty and Johnny proved it. And my time with Ember today was even more proof. If Tucker, my best friend, can trust my judgment when it comes to things like this, why can't you?" He lets out a sigh before using his intangibility to float through the ceiling and up to his room.

His mother is nearly in hysterics over the blatant disregard for his own safety. "Maddie." Jack says, "Danny's right."

"What do you mean Danny's right?! You know just as well as I do that ghosts can't be trusted!" She exclaims.

"I meant that he's right about trusting him. Danny's eighteen, he's not that fourteen year old boy anymore. Danny has been fighting ghosts and protecting our home longer than even we have. We don't have to trust any ghosts, but we should at least trust our son." Danny's father says somberly, wrapping his arms around his wife.

Up in his room, Danny takes out the smartphone and experiments with it for a little bit. Discovering that you can listen to music, and even watch videos on it. 'This thing is awesome!'

After sending the text he promised to Tucker, his thoughts turn back to his parents. "I really just wish they would trust me on this. I've been doing this for longer than they have!"

Letting out a sigh he pulls off his clothing, save for his underwear, and puts on a pair of black and green plaid pajama pants he retrieved from his closet. Letting out a sigh, he mumbles, "Why did I feel more at home with Ember in her realm, than I do here in my own house with my own family?"

Ending A/N: Aaaaand SCENE! Ah, I do love some family drama (not really, I hate it. Kill me.) Now I'm sure some of you will have questions on WHY I portrayed Danny's parents the way I did. So here's my reasoning: One thing I remember from the show is that Danny's father, Jack, was always irrational and excitable when it came to ghosts. He would always jump at even the chance to see, capture, or interact with one. So why shouldn't Danny's mother, Maddie, be the same when it comes to her family? It's a sort of Yin/Yang dynamic I've given them I suppose.

Anyway, do you like it, do you not? Anyhow thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! There's more to come, soon! -DraconicAnarkhy