Oh wow. The reviews. You guys… I'm touched, baffled even. Thank you for the reviews. Anyway another chapter, mostly because I got a shit tone of reviews, also because I'm watching Danny Phantom right now.
There could only be a certain amount that Maddie could explain away. Phantom blinked up at her looking incredibly sheepish. Maddie folded her arms.
"Long enough." She put on her best "mom" face.
"I can explain!" Phantom was suddenly on his feet arms splayed outward.
"You better." Maddie frowned.
"Is that Mrs. Fenton?" Tucker asked to Sam in the background, "How much do you think she heard. Does she know about the portal-"
"Tucker SHUT UP!" Sam growled. Phantom sat back down in the computer chair looking defeated.
"You have some explaining to do young man." Maddie tapped her foot impatiently for emphasis. The Boo-merang chirped happily again and suddenly took off through Danny's open window, surprising both Maddie and Phantom. Maddie hesitated a half a second then she ran out of the room.
"Don't think we're not going to talk about this later!" Maddie yelled as she ran down the stars and to the lab. She grabbed her computer and located the Boo-merang through the GPS tracker installed in it. It was flying at alarming speeds out of Amity Park and even out of Illinois. Maddie blinked. What could have happened to Danny that took him so far away? Maddie wanted to hop into the RV right then and there and follow the Boo-merang. But it was already halfway across the state. Maddie waited with anticipation, she was finally one step closer to finding her son.
She watched as the little pinging dot moved across the screen until suddenly it disappeared.
"WHAT!?" Maddie stood glaring down at the laptop. Had the Boo-merang hit a tree? Had it broken, Had it hit a plane, a bush, anything? Was it even still on earth, had the battery died? Maddie found her self-balking at the last statement. She'd designed the Boo-merang, as well as some other devices, to have self-sustaining energy sources and could last at minimum 14 years.
Maddie sighed collapsing to the ground. All her anger left her. She had tried to keep up the façade, keep a collected attitude, especially around Phantom. But this was the last straw. It was hopeless. Maddie's eyes closed and she let the tears fall. Soon sobs were shaking her and she pulled her knees to her chest. She knew she must look pathetic, but she buried her head into her knees and cried. The police were no help. No one had seen hide nor hair of her son. She'd been keeping to together for what felt like forever and her last hope had been in the Boo-merang finding Danny.
Now the Boo-merang was gone, probably with no hope of it ever appearing again, and with it her last chance of finding her son. She cried; it was all she could do.
Time passed slowly, yet all at once; soon the creaking of the stairs alerted her to the presence of her husband. He looked at her, a crying mess on the ground.
"Mads?" He helped her to her feet and wrapped his comforting arms around her, "We'll find him, and you know we will." He assured. Maddie hugged him back. Jack may not have always been the most tactful, but if anything he was an optimist. His confidence that they would find Danny gave Maddie a bit of hope herself. Because if there was one thing Jack Fenton did not do, it was give up. Sure he procrastinated, and he certainly would forget things from time to time. He was even a huge goofball that couldn't be taken seriously most of the time. But he was a genius, and he loved Danny.
Maddie felt ashamed for losing hope. Jack squeezed her softly to let her know he was there for her.
"Its just so frustrating Jack." Maddie wiped her eyes. Jack nodded, eyes sad, it wasn't often that you saw the cheerful mass of orange sad. He kissed her forehead.
"I know baby. I still suspect the Phantom kid knows something about it. He's always so secretive." Jack glared suspiciously up the stairs.
"Come on Jack, he's a teenager, by definition secretive." Maddie defended. However, he did have a point.
"There's something more Mads… I feel it in my boots." Jack insisted. Maddie frowned. From time to time Jack was more perceptive than he let on. Maddie gave Jack a hug then the couple headed up stairs. Phantom was digging through the fridge, when he saw Maddie he jumped and tried to make a hasty retreat.
"Not so fast." Maddie put grabbed his arm, "first you're going to explain what you were doing in Danny's room." Phantom looked for an exit.
"I… well you see…" Phantom sighed, "Look, I met Sam and Tucker at school, they said that they were friends of Danny's and I got Danny's computer password and chat login from them." Phantom admitted. Maddie stared down at the boy. His story did seem likely. Jack triumphantly pulled a bowl of fudge out of the fridge and made his way to the Ops Centre. Danny watched him go.
"I'm more interested in this Half-Ghost business." Maddie sat Phantom down in a chair and sat across from him. Phantom's eyes went wide.
"You… you heard that too?" He glanced around the kitchen then back at Maddie, "It's… it's hard to explain." He held his hands out as if that would be an indication.
"Then you better get to explaining." Maddie folded her arms.
"I… I… look there was an accident." Phantom sighed, "A bad one… I was… I got caught in a piece of experimental equipment in a lab…" he was using vague words and mumbling, "It… it killed me… but also didn't?" He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I mean… I still don't know exactly what it did… I guess… I became half ghost, my DNA or something was altered with ectoplasm… or… maybe I died, and didn't at the same time… like a shro… Schrödinger's cat? All I know is one moment I'm normal the next I have ghost powers?"
Maddie theorized that he thought he was still alive after his death, or maybe even had hallucinations that he was alive except when he thought the town was in danger… except… except Tucker and Sam were talking to him like they knew him. Like being Half-Ghost was something they could corroborate. Maddie stared at the boy. She ran possible scenarios through her head. It didn't seem possible that a person could be a human and a ghost at the same time. It was just as ridiculous as humans having ghost powers or any super power. Her finger tapped against her arm.
"Look I'm telling the truth." Phantom insisted.
Maddie believed him, or at least believed that he believed he was truthful.
"You called me mom." Maddie said. It wasn't specifically that she had wanted to ask about it, but it was nagging on her mind and it was something to fill the silence. At this Phantom blushed.
"I… well… you remind me… and… with the gun… and life… first person I saw when I was alive again right… like… uh… chickens… or is it ducks… and my mom is… well you are very close to her… I mean… ducks? Imprinting is it? Why am I still talking I am such a spaz." Phantom continued blushing as Maddie stared at him.
"Like ducks?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah… ducks." He blushed harder.
"Ducks." Maddie mused, she was struggling to keep a straight face, she really wanted to laugh, "Ducks." She repeated choking down a chuckle.
"Or dinosaurs." He blurted out. Maddie giggled. Phantom hid behind his hands.
"Dinosaurs?" She was having a hard time keeping it together now. Her train of thought had veered off track, "Dinosaurs and Ducks?" She giggled.
"You know what I mean!" Phantom moaned from behind his hands.
"I'm not entirely sure that I do." Maddie covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Phantom groaned.
"Excuse me for flunking Biology because I was too busy hunting ghosts." He grumbled to himself. Followed by something that sounded like purple back gorilla thermos and sulk-er. Maddie was regaining control of herself and she sighed, a chortle or two escaping her lips as she went about preparing dinner.
"Go… do your homework… we don't want you flunking Biology and not knowing about Dinosaurs and Ducks." Maddie laughed again. Phantom slunk off grumbling to himself. As her chuckles died down she felt empty again. Danny was still missing, and no amount of laughter could fix that. The rest of the night moved by in a blur, her mind distracted by the possible scenarios that Danny could have gotten himself into, each one more horrible than the last.
Danny's dreams were restless, in the dream he was standing in the lab. The portal wasn't constructed yet; his parents had failed in their attempt to build a ghost portal. The lab was empty. Danny could see his hair flopping over his eyes, black, something he hadn't seen for a few weeks. Danny glanced around the lab, the white and black suit was sticking out of a bin. Danny walked over and picked it up. This is where it all began… the lab accident… the portal… Danny stared at the suit and the portal. He rubbed the material in his hands… echos of battles, of fights, came from the empty portal. Who are you? A ghost trying to fit in with humans? Or some creepy little boy with creepy little powers? Spectra's taunts came echoing out of the portal.
Danny your powers make you unique, unique is good! Came Sam's battling Spectra's jab. Danny's grip on the suit tightened. Suddenly he was wearing it. The echoes of battles grew louder as he climbed into the portal, his heart was pounding. The first time had been an accident, the second time had been trust. Neither time he knew what kind of pain he was going to feel. He knew now. He felt like his heart was going to explode, the shouts and screams and sounds of pain and distress grew louder and louder. Danny stared at the on button his black gloved hand shaking as it hovered over it. He knew what to expect, what pushing the button would cause. He swallowed hard then slammed into it.
The sounds stopped, everything was dead quiet. Time slowed down, he turned toward the back of the Portal where a green light was building. He expected to see it come toward him slowly, as things do in dreams, but then everything exploded into real time. He choked on his first scream. His skin prickled his heart felt cold. His suit flashed into a negative and he could see his hair turn white in front of him.
The second scream built up, slowly but gaining in volume until his screaming jarred him out of bed.
Jazz flicked on the light. Danny held his head, it had seemed so real.
"Danny?" Jazz came to his side worried, she placed her hand on his shoulder. Danny felt something wet running down his face, wet and cold. He hadn't thought he was crying.
"Danny are you ok?" Jazz squeezed his shoulder. Danny wiped the wet from his face and looked up, Jazz covered her mouth.
"Danny, oh my god!"
"What?" Danny looked down at his hand, it was covered with glowing green ecto-plasm. Danny used the other hand to wipe at his eyes, more ecto-plasm. Jazz grabbed tissues and attempted to dap at Danny's face, the tissues becoming soaked as they did little to stem the flow of ecto-plasm from Danny's eyes.
"We should get mom and dad." Jazz made for the door.
"NO!" Danny yelled, Jazz froze.
"Danny, this is serious, something is very wrong here." Jazz looked at Danny eyes worried.
"No… I'm fine… please… they'll run a thousand tests on me." Danny continued to wipe at his eyes. The flow seemed to be stopping.
"Danny… this isn't right, this shouldn't be happening." Jazz insisted. Danny shook his head.
"Please Jazz… please." He insisted. Jazz lingered by the door. Danny cleaned up, his eyes feeling puffy and irate.
"Danny… you're going to have to tell them eventually." Jazz brought the wastebasket over the bed where Danny proceeded to dispose of the tissue.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Jazz questioned again.
"I'm fine. Tired and sore, and a little exasperated, but fine." Danny reiterated. Jazz nodded.
"I'm in the next room over if you need me." She replaced the rubbish bin and turned the light off closing the door behind her.
"I'm fine." Danny insisted. There was a whine from under the bed. In all the chaos of school and his mom almost figuring out his secret he'd nearly forgotten about Cujo. Danny fished the dog out from under the bed. He wasn't looking to good himself. He was breathing heavily and seemed to be running a fever. Danny pet him and Cujo licked his hand weakly.
"Looks like we're in the same boat buddy." Danny laid back down laying the dog beside him and went back to sleep.
The puppy still wasn't doing well in the morning. Danny frowned as he clicked off the alarm and petted the dog gently. Cujo whined. Danny picked him up and carried him down stairs.
"M… Maddie?" He poked his head into the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" Maddie could sense the worry in his voice.
"I… I think something is wrong with Cujo." Danny came into the kitchen the poor dog in his arms. Maddie put the eggs she was cooking on a nearby plate and quickly came to investigate.
"Oh dear…" Maddie picked the dog up gently, "You go get dressed, I'll take him to the vet this morning." Maddie instructed. Danny nodded and headed back upstairs. On the way he passed Jazz.
"Are you ok?" Jazz pulled him aside.
"Fine, just fine really." Danny insisted. Jazz frowned.
"I still think we should tell mom and dad. What if it happens again?" Jazz questioned.
"It won't." Danny affirmed. Jazz glared at him.
"You can't know that." She crossed her arms, "Promise me if it does happen again you'll come to me, and then we tell our parents."
"Ok. I promise." Danny held his hands up, "Now can I go get dressed or what?" He added with some snark. Jazz rolled her eyes but continued down the stairs.
Danny remerged, showed, dressed, and ready for school. Maddie had breakfast on the table, of which Jazz and Jack were already eating. Danny joined them shoveling eggs into his mouth.
"So Phantom. How was your first day of school?" Jack asked boisterously with a grin. Danny groaned.
"That bad?" Jack laughed, "I remember when I was your age…"
"Don't you have to get to school?" Jazz butted in. Danny glanced at the clock.
"Oh crud… I should have left 10 minutes ago." He shoveled the rest of his eggs into his mouth along with the bacon while washing it all down with orange juice.
"Mom is busy I'll drive." Jazz twirled the keys around her finger and headed out to the car. Danny grabbed his bag and followed. They climbed into the car and headed to school.
"Thanks for saving me." Danny mentioned, pulling on his hoodie as they drove.
"Believe me, I was saving myself as much as I was you." Jazz glanced over at Danny, "It's like 73 degrees out, why are you wearing that?" Jazz frowned.
"Because it's better than being recognized going down the street. Yesterday was a nightmare. I don't want to relive it." Danny pulled the hood up and glared out at the street.
"Well you seem to be doing alright for the most part." Jazz shrugged.
"Meaning I haven't gone nuts or de-stabilized into ectoplasmic goo." Danny sneered.
"Hey I'm on your side remember, no need to take the attitude with me." Jazz reprimanded. Danny sighed.
"I know… sorry Jazz… I'm just… well upset doesn't really cover it." Danny huffed.
"Speaking of ectoplasmic goo…" Jazz cast a worried look over at Danny, "How are you feeling?"
"Fine. I told you already, I had a weird dream though." Danny mumbled.
"Tell me about it." Jazz perked up.
"Oh no! I'm not telling you anything, you would just psycho analyze me and drown me in psycho-babble, not something I'm willing to inflict on myself right now. Danny teased. Jazz rolled her eyes.
"Dreams can be a valuable insight into the subconscious, if nothing else it can help you get something off your chest." Jazz lectured.
"Fine… I dreamt about the portal accident." Danny relented, "But not… not how it happened. It was more like… I don't know, I chose to go into the portal, even though I knew what waited for me if I did so." Danny looked away.
"That makes sense." Jazz stated.
"Does it?" Danny glanced at her like she was crazy.
"Well, to me it says that you're willing to sacrifice your own happiness. I believe, if faced with the choice to go back in the portal or live a normal life, especially knowing what you know now, you'd choose the portal. Because if your powers could help save people, protect those close to you, you'd do it." Jazz explained. Danny "huh'"-ed.
"I guess I never thought about it like that." He went back to looking out toward the street.
"Plus I think your really enjoy flying." Jazz added. Danny laughed.
"Guilty as charged." Danny smiled.
School proceeded pretty much as planned. Word had spread about Sam being "in charge of integrating Phantom" so it people didn't question her presence, nor Tucker's (given that they just assumed that Tucker must be in on it since he knew the Fentons as well) as Danny went about school. And for that he was grateful. What he wasn't grateful for was the scores of people that would follow him around. He couldn't discuss anything with Sam and Tucker given that Dash, Star, Kwan, and Paulina surrounded him during any free time. There was hardly time alone with Sam or Tucker. Miraculously he had a free period, which he was now spending hiding deep within the bowels of the library.
He was camouflaging himself behind a book, Dash was just around the aisle, and Danny was trying to escape by slipping through the bookshelves as fast as possible, as he did so he ran straight into someone and fell down.
"Oh I am so sorry." She said before she turned. Danny's hood fell off.
"What are you doing her ghost!" Valerie demanded. Danny stood up.
"It may have escaped your notice, but I go here now." Danny glared.
"That's not what I meant." Valerie glared back.
"If you must know, I'm hiding from Dash." Danny spat.
"Ha. Didn't think he'd pick on a big 'hero' like you." Valerie said the word hero as one might say Hitler or dung.
"While I am flattered by your opinion of me, he's trying to get me to sign his posters, and his replica jumpsuit, and his Danny Phantom hat, and his shoes…" Danny sighed. Valerie looked at him, and if he didn't know any better, he'd assume she was looking at him with pity. Though it mostly seemed to be amusement.
"I knew he was a fan boy, but this is ridiculous." Valerie glanced over Danny's shoulder. Danny looked around hesitantly as if waiting for Dash to jump from the shadows. Valerie sighed.
"Look… I know a place." Valerie forced Danny's hood up and over his eyes. Danny blinked as Valerie peeked around the corner dragging him through the school. They crept through the halls, avoiding the public eye more than worried about teachers. Soon Valerie was in front of a door Danny had never bothered to notice. Valerie was doing something with the lock that Danny could see.
"Ta-da!" Valerie presented as the door swung open.
"Did you… did you pick the lock?" Danny blinked.
"You better not make any jokes." Valerie glared leading Danny up a flight of stairs.
"No… I'm impressed." Danny admitted as the trudged up the stairs. The door let out onto the roof. Valerie showed him some old couch cushions.
"Why are you being nice to me?" Danny raised an eyebrow. Valerie turned her head flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"I don't need to explain myself to you ghost." She walked to the edge of the roof and leaned on the fence looking over the school grounds.
"Well… I'd like to explain myself to you." Danny sighed, "Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot, with me wrecking your life, unintentionally or not… but I'd like to apologize. Just because I didn't mean to ruin your life doesn't mean that I'm not responsible. I was… I had just become a ghost and honestly I wasn't fully in control of my powers." Danny sighed.
"I know." Valerie sighed.
"You know?" Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Look, I'm not stupid okay. I just thought it would be easier than admitting…" Valerie sighed exasperatedly then looked at Danny, "than admitting I was wrong about you. It's easier to sneer at you and say mean things, because… because that's what I've been doing for the past year or so…" Valerie walked over and sat on the couch cushions.
"Excuse me?" Danny sat next to her.
"Look Phantom, we've obviously had our challenges, but… I like you better as an ally than an enemy. And after that thing with Danielle… I know about Masters. You were right." Valerie sighed, "And of course I didn't listen, because I was too busy planning how to kick your butt." She gave Danny a look that may have been an attempt at a glare.
"I can't say my life is better off because of you and that ghost dog, heaven knows it's not better off. But you know… I have my dad still, and I made some great friends who don't care whether I can afford the latest fashions or can wave around the most cash… or… friends that mock me for the colour of my skin the second I stop being popular." Valerie glared at the ground.
"Whoa… Val… I had no idea." Danny put a hand on her shoulder, Valerie shrugged it off.
"The thing is, I've wasted so much time and energy planning to destroy you, because of how you ruined my life… but I guess I never appreciated the things that I do have." Valerie glanced at Danny. "I wanted to ask your advice." She admitted.
"My advice? On what?" Danny blinked. Valeire reached into her pocket and unfolded a check.
"Whoa… that's a lot of zeros." Danny glanced.
"Time was I would have cashed that check in an instant." Valerie let Danny look at it. "The thing is… now that I know what kind of man Vlad Masters is… I don't know if I can do it."
"You want to know if you should cash it?" Danny handed the check back to her, "That's not really my expertise." He admitted.
"I was kind of hoping you'd say something about taking the money from the bad guy that would make me feel better about cashing it." Valerie grumbled as she stared at the check.
"The choice to cash it is yours… though Vlad will probably get suspicious if you don't." Danny added, "And you could move out of that apartment, and help your father find a better job, you could even buy your way back into the in crowd and live the life you were living before I ruined it for you… but that money… it's hard to say where it comes from. If you cash it Vlad will just replace it, either through robbery, extortion, overshadowing millionaires, or utilizing the less fortunate." Danny frowned, "Then again even if you don't cash it he'll continue to do what he's doing, so in the end… I have no idea. If it was me; I wouldn't cash it. Mostly because I hate the bastard and my family is fairly well off as it is." Danny shrugged, "But… you could use the money, even if you didn't buy a flashy house with it, you could put it toward college, or donate it. In the end it's your choice." Danny shrugged, "I'm not so good with decisions in my own life let alone others."
"I know." Valerie folded the check back up and put it in her pocket. She looked over to Danny and nudged his shoulder with her own, "Did you have plans for college." Danny chuckled.
"Yeah… I'd always wanted to be an astronaut." Danny looked off into the stars, "but the accident happened and pretty much killed that dream. Not that I still didn't want to be an astronaut, I mean I've landed a rocket before and even got shot into space… though you knew about that last one… but I didn't have the grades for it." Danny frowned and looked away.
"How about now?" Valerie asked.
"Now?"
"Well yeah, I mean you're not a ghost anymore. You probably couldn't fight any ghosts in your state anyway. You have every chance to live a normal life." Valerie explained, "So… why don't you?" she looked to Danny.
"Valerie… even if I wanted to live a normal life how am I supposed to do that as Danny Phantom?" He sighed rubbing the back of his neck, "Maybe if I'd brought my grades up, stopped sleeping through class, better managed the ghost fighting, got some tutoring… perhaps I could have lived a normal life… perhaps I could have… but … not as Danny Phantom." Danny leaned against the wall staring up at the sky.
"As Danny Fenton though?" Valerie asked. Danny jumped looking at Valerie.
"Don't look so surprised, I'm not stupid." Valerie rolled her eyes.
"I… I know that but… how long have you known?" He asked.
"Not long." Valerie shrugged, "I started thinking about it with Danielle, thought maybe you were like her. And her human half did look an awful lot like you... well Danny Fenton… but I never really confirmed it till now. Your mannerisms, your speech patterns, the way you were talking about still going to school and ghost fighting, especially with your emphasis on not being able to have a life as Danny Phantom and the fact that you want to be an astronaut… It wasn't hard to connect the dots." Valerie shrugged. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.
"And have you trying to waste me as Danny Fenton as well as Phantom. No thanks." Danny teased.
"Fair enough." Valerie looked at Danny, "How'd it happen?"
"What?" Danny frowned, "How I became half ghost or how I became a human version of my ghost half?"
"Both I guess." Valerie shrugged.
"You know the ghost portal in my parent's lab?" Danny stared at the ground.
"Yeah… the one that lets all the ghosts into our world, barring natural portals?" Valerie nodded.
"It didn't always work… in fact was written off as failed… so… I went to check it out." Danny sighed.
"If it was failed… then how did you get it to work?" Valerie raised an eyebrow.
"The on switch was inside the portal." Danny looked up at her. Valerie's eyes went wide and a hand flew to her mouth.
"Oh my god."
"As for how I became a human version of my ghost half… you heard my parents spiel when the revealed their big successful experiment right?" Danny asked.
"Yeah. But I would have thought it would have made you normal again, human as in Danny Fenton." Valerie frowned.
"I might have thought that too, my best guess is the converted my ectoplasmic DNA to human, meaning how I look as Phantom." Danny shrugged, "Quite possibly it was divine intervention, a 'lesson' or maybe somebody's amusement." Danny crossed his arms over his legs and let his chin rest on his arms.
"How are you going to get back to normal?" Valerie glanced down at Danny.
"I don't know."
They sat in silence for a while. Inside the school the bell rang. Danny sighed standing up.
"Well, I better go see what fresh hell sixth period will bring." He held his hand out to Valerie helping her up, "for what it's worth, I'm still sorry for ruining your life." Danny gave a weak smile. Valerie returned it.
"Bygones."
I am constantly flattered by your reviews. Thanks for everything everyone, honestly, the more reviews I get the more I'm motivated to put out another chapter. Anyway, tune in next time for another chapter.