It was such a long way to Madison. For the rest of his life, Danny never again wanted to think of those lonely weeks. Weeks, spent sleeping in motels or at the backs of busses - weeks, feeling cold, feeling hungry, feeling like he was forgetting the sound of his own voice. He'd long abandoned any sense of shame in stealing; food, clothes, phasing into motel rooms until he found an empty one… he was glad for these ghost powers, because without them, he wouldn't have even made it to Gravity Falls.

(He wouldn't have made it when he accidentally phased out of the end of the bus somewhere in Montana and had to spend days trekking along the highway back to town. Those starving nights sleeping in the snow… those and other nights were behind him, and he never again wanted to look back.)

He was here now, and that was all that mattered.

Danny stepped off the bus with heavy feet, looked up at a sign welcoming him to the University of Wisconsin, and managed a ghost of a smile.

"I made it," he breathed, and hefted his backpack over one shoulder. "Mom, Dad… I really hope you're here."

Danny started off down the main street of the university, looking around at all the students grouped together on benches or making their way to class. There were a couple students on a picnic blanket on the grass, talking and giggling with each other, and when one glanced his way Danny couldn't help but draw his hat down to shield his face. It felt slightly illegal to walk onto a college campus as a highschooler - it wasn't illegal, right? The last thing he needed was attention.

He kept looking, hoping he'd find his parents soon. He was looking for a big guy in a bright orange jumpsuit, how hard could that be? Not hard at all, he thought… as long as he was here.

The worry gnawed at him as he kept walking, passing a group blasting music from a boombox. There was still a lot of places to look, but he'd known since the beginning his plan wasn't exactly airtight. Heck, he didn't even remember exactly how old they were; they could easily be in highschool right now, and what would he do then? Go back to that creepy guy in Gravity Falls? That broken portal was probably the next best shot, but…

He could've come all this way for nothing.

Danny came to the lake at the other end of campus, to a break in the trees looking out into the water. If he had to go back… god, he didn't know if he could do that again. All this time he'd been carrying on with the thought of seeing his parents again - they weren't here, if he had to turn back now, knowing the possibility of seeing them ever again was even slimmer than he'd thought when he first set out… Danny clenched his fists.

No. It was too early to start thinking like that - they could still be in class. Maybe he'd start looking inside the buildings; yeah, he could turn invisible and check each room that way, that'd work. They were here, he just had to find them.

They were here, Danny thought, staring out of the water for one more moment. Then he turned, and headed back towards the main square. He passed by a stone sign for the University of Wisconsin, and - now that he was going this way - saw there was a bulletin board by it, too.

Huh. Danny stopped at the sight of all the papers pinned up on it. Might not be a bad idea to look… but as he approached the board, he heard a strange beeping sound. It was getting closer, and when Danny turned to look at a rustle in the bushes, he heard a voice that took his breath away.

"Come on, V-man, keep up! We're on the trail of a real one!"

Danny froze as he saw a man in an orange jumpsuit emerge from the bushes and hold up a branch for someone else. That was his dad. That was one hundred percent his dad, and the other person was… just some guy, but oh my god, he found his dad!

"Jack, I'm telling you, that contraption of yours can't track ghosts, it can hardly turn on!"

"Oh, yeah?" Jack held up what looked like a metal detector with a little display taped to the pole; it was connected to some giant contraption on his back. "Then tell me what's tripping off this ecto-sensor! Oh, wow, it's going bananas - stay behind me, Vladdie, this ghost has gotta be right in front of us!"

Danny couldn't move. He locked eyes with his father, and suddenly, despite all the little ways he looked different, looked younger… it really was him. He could feel his throat tightening - god, he couldn't cry right now.

The guy next to his father picked a leaf from his shirt. "That's hardly a ghost, Jack. That's a teenager."

"What?" Jack blinked at him. "But it's - it's right in front of us! Hey you, kid, can I see your backpack? I think there might be a ghost in there!"

Danny opened his mouth, but he could hardly speak. "Uh…"

"Oh, for pete's sake," Vlad pinched his nose. "I'm so sorry about my friend. He's a little… enthusiastic, about ghosts."

"So I've heard," Danny managed, but that was the wrong thing to say - both of their heads snapped up.

"You've heard of me?"

"You've heard of him?"

"I, um…" He took a step back, but his Dad suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Hey, he must've read our flyer!" He rushed past Danny and picked a paper off the bulletin board; several other pins and pages dropped to the ground. "You coming to the demonstration this Friday?"

Danny stared at the page; it was crumpled, green and it had the following words on it:

GHOST PORTAL EXPERIMENT

ROOM 101

SCIENCE BUILDING

JOIN US!

His heart nearly stopped as he read the words. "Portal… portal experiment?"

"Yeah, baby!" His Dad grinned at him. "Me and Vladdie and Maddie, we're gonna make history together! And you can be there to watch if you want - you know where the science building is, right?"

"Uh-"

"Jack, he looks like he's in middle school." Vlad crossed his arms. "Is he even allowed to come? I don't think we'll get to keep using the lab if you go and fry a twelve year old."

Danny opened his mouth, but Jack beat him to it. "Oh, you worry too much, it's totally safe! Here, kid!" He shoved the flyer into Danny's hands and patted him hard on the back. "You should come! I promise, it's gonna be the coolest thing you've ever seen, isn't that right Vladdie?"

"It will be… assuming it works." Vlad put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Come on, let's stop bothering this kid and get back to the lab."

"Oh, good idea - haha, yeah, back to work! We got a lot of stuff to do for Friday!" Jack turned and waved at Danny. "Nice to meet you, kid! See you around, and watch out for ghosts!"

Danny watched them go with wide eyes. After a moment, he managed to lift a hand. "See you soon," he echoed, and for the first time in a long while, he started to smile. "See you real soon, Dad."