Danny woke with a yawn, stretching then pulling the covers off and shuffling his way to the bathroom from the guest bedroom which had become his recently. He yawned again and sighed heavily as he considered his situation and how long he'd been living as Phantom.

One and a half weeks.

One and a half weeks and he was still stuck as a human version of his ghostly self. It was mind bending and he tried not to think about it. As his father had suggested, he would just have to try and figure out how to make the best of the situation. That didn't make the ache in his chest any less painful. His body yearned to change, to be ghostly, he hadn't realized how ingrained into his being his ghost half had become until he'd become completely human again.

Danny rubbed his eyes as he splashed water on his face staring into the mirror at those strangely dark green eyes. Shaking the excess water from his hair he continued about his business in the bathroom before emerging to find Maddie walking down the hall with a large stack of paperwork in her arms.

"Here, let me help." Danny insisted on taking half of the paperwork off the stack and helping her carry it, Maddie noddied to him in thanks before explaining the pile, not that Danny particularly cared about the specifics.

"Just a last minute bit of paperwork to take care of. Social Security. School forms, a couple letters about our work. Not to mention trying to find your parents, discussing adoption with the lawyer. Paperwork about patents and so on." Maddie prattled off absentmindedly. Danny nodded, not really listening.

"Sounds highly dull." He commented as he followed her down the stairs, "I kinda love being a kid and not having to worry about that stuff."

"Oh, it is very dull, but it has to be done, you know. I'm really not sure where to start with most of this. Everything is so new and circumstantial." Maddie said, turning on her heel as she reached the bottom of the stairs and walking briskly through the living room into the kitchen. Danny followed, depositing his paper stack next to Maddie's on the kitchen table. Maddie sighed then smiled over at Danny.

"Thank you. You've been so helpful over the past week." Maddie patted Danny's arm, he gave her a small smile back, though it didn't reach his eyes.

Maddie then sighed heavily forcing down tears, Danny Fenton was still missing and there had been no luck in finding him over the past week and a half. It was a bit overwhelming, but she couldn't show Phantom how much it bothered her. Danny realized it anyway, he didn't say anything about the tears in her eyes though and glanced down at the papers with a frown.

"Well… I better get started on this. We have that thing to go to this afternoon." Maddie said. Danny nodded, biting his lip.

"Are you sure we have to do this?" Danny said, looking nervously around as if for an escape. Maddie nodded and stared at Danny with that stern motherly look she reserved for uncooperative teens.

"You know perfectly well that this has to be done. We can't just keep you holed up in the house forever. Plus people are growing curious as well; rumors are spreading, and well… It's about time the world knew." Maddie said, Danny rubbed his face as if that could wake him from this nightmare.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever… I'll just… go get dressed…" Danny said. Maddie nodded as she shifted through the papers.

Danny trudged upstairs opening the door to his room with a sigh, Jack came down the hall.

"Whoa there, kiddo." Jack said, grabbing Danny by the shoulder, "Whatcha doing in Danny's room?" He asked, not quite suspicious but clearly not liking that Phantom was in his son's room, despite the fact that they had gotten a bit closer over the past week. Danny's embroidery hadn't improved the same way as their relationship, though Jack kept trying to help.

"Sorry… I… well I need clothes… and M-Maddie hasn't taken me shopping yet so she's been letting me… well borrow some of… well some of your son's clothes." Danny said, gesturing to the room.

"Oh… right." Jack cast a defeated glance into Danny's room, the man clearly missed his son as well. Danny stretched out his hand trying to comfort his father, then he caught his reflection in the doorknob. The white hair that graced his head was foreign to this human form. Danny retracted his hand for a moment then gently rested it on Jack's shoulder.

"Jack… I'm… I'm sorry you haven't found your son. I… I wish I could help… I…" Jack cut Danny off, shaking his head.

"We'll keep looking for him. Danny is a Fenton, he'll make it through somehow." He said and shook his head. "I appreciate the sentiment though Phantom, get some clothes, I'm sure Danny wouldn't mind." He said, he shook Danny's hand off his shoulder and headed downstairs. Danny sighed as he watched the man go, Jack's shoulder drooping with sorrow. Danny clenched his hands into fists before entering his room to find some clothes. He grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt along with some of his underwear. If he wasn't the same person as Danny Fenton he might have found it a bit gross he had to borrow someone's underwear, but he was Danny Fenton, and that made it less weird.

He took the clothes to the bathroom, resisting the urge to slam the door. Throwing a tantrum wouldn't help, and it wouldn't make him feel better about his situation. His parents were so worried about him and he couldn't even let them know he was there in front of him. He threw the clothes the the side, pausing as he looked up at the mirror.

Once again Danny was faced with his reflection and all that was wrong in the world. He felt the overwhelming urge to punch something, to release all the anger that had built up in his stomach to the point he was sick. If he could just punch that face in the mirror maybe it would shatter and he'd see his own face. Maybe everything would finally be ok. Danny stared at the face in the mirror, glaring harder and harder as if trying to change that image.

"Change back." He hissed at his reflection through clenched teeth, "change back." He said a little bit louder. Yet his reflection refused to shift, refused to give way to black hair and blue eyes, it didn't waver, it didn't for a moment stutter as it stared back at him with concrete truth. It refused to bend to his will, just as his body refused his commands.

Danny raised his fist at the mirror ready to drive it into the smooth reflective surface that was so stubborn. Yet he slowed halfway and touched the mirror, surprised to see angry tears in his eyes, throwing a tantrum wouldn't help, he reminded himself. The anger had passed leaving him feeling empty. He leaned his head against the cold surface, a double reflection of his own white hair over his eyes.

"Change back." He begged, his voice cracking slightly. "Change back." He whispered softly, pressing his hand against the glass.

He knew it wouldn't happen, he knew he was stuck, and yet he couldn't help but wish. He took a deep breath and pulled away from the mirror.

"No use crying Fenton, no use throwing a tantrum. Just take everything one step at a time." he told himself before turning to take a shower.

Maddie set a plate of food in front of Phantom as he sat down at the table in Danny's clothes. She had taken him out on small errands in the past week when Jack wasn't available to watch him, but Phantom never seemed interested in leaving the RV. It was probably just as well as it would have been rather hard to explain what he was doing and why he was human, but that would all change after the press conference today.

With a deep sigh Maddie ruffled Phantom's hair, the action was more automatic than intentional, she was used to ruffling Danny's hair after all.

"I'm going to drop off and turn in some things. Do you want to tag along? I can buy you some of your own clothes, plus you'll need some nice clothes for the press conference." She suggested. Phantom looked up, his brow furrowed slightly, he shrugged and looked back into his breakfast.

"Yeah… that sounds good… how soon are we leaving?" He asked, he had a piece of egg stuck to his lip and hadn't seemed to notice.

"Within the next half hour, I hope, that is if nothing unexpected happens." Maddie sighed remembering an incident when a vast quantity of ghost weenies had escaped the fridge and it took the next hour to get them all back into the specialized drawer she and Jack designed for them. Phantom sighed as if he too remembered this event, he might have witnessed it. During the past week Phantom admitted to using the Fenton Portal to put ghosts back in the ghost zone to Jack, it was nice that Phantom was opening up to him.

"Finish up your eggs and I'll load up the RV." Maddie smiled, grabbing some papers and a large briefcase. Phantom nodded and continued to shovel eggs into his mouth while Jack lumbered into the kitchen dragging various ghost devices. Phantom looked up from his eggs and Maddie had to contain a chuckle at the look of horror on his face when he realized he'd be subject to another one of Jack's rants.

Maddie proceeded to shove her things in the RV not surprised to see Phantom running out of the house seconds later pulling Danny's jacket on and pulling up the hood, he jogged up to Maddie.

"Um… can we leave now? You know… before Jack asks my opinion on another one of his inventions." He asked, glancing nervously over his shoulder, Maddie smiled to herself laughing softly at him.

"Alright." She agreed, starting the GAV, Phantom ran to the passenger side, pulling the door open and climbing in.

Dropping mail off at the post office had been fairly quick, and she had picked up some stamps while she was there before hurrying to the police station to check on any updates on Danny. She was disappointed that there was no new news regarding her missing son. Errands finished, she returned to the GAV and headed to the mall. It would be a good place to get a variety of things for Phantom after all.

Maddie pulled into the mall parking lot Phantom nervously picked at Danny's pants and at the drawstrings of the hooded jacket.

"You ready?" Maddie asked, Phantom looked over at her and laughed humorously before speaking.

"I mean… I kinda have to be." He scoffed before nodding and grabbing the door handle to let himself out. Maddie nodded back and both of them climbed out of the GAV in sync.

"Let's just get some basics to begin with." Maddie said. "The usual things, pants, shirts, socks, shoes, underwear."

"Well… I think that's probably the best… but I don't think I'm going to be able to come here again without… you know… massive swarms of people following me." Phantom said, "At least now… well they don't have a concrete idea of who I am." He said. Maddie paused nodding.

"You have a point." She responded, "I'm thinking… a suit for the press conference."

"Press conference?" Phantom asked, frowning at her, Maddie nodded.

"We talked about this, remember? We need to make an announcement about the Promethean Gun, not to mention we need to let the town know who you are before you show up at the school." She reminded him.

"Right… Sorry… I… kinda space out a lot, I remember now… mostly." Phantom admitted, a slight blush on his cheeks. Maddie refrained from rolling her eyes as they walked into the mall. Phantom seemed agitated and nervous, for that matter Maddie was as well. She walked briskly to "Spirit Suits." Ghosts had become something of a tourist attraction and many small businesses had changed their names to reflect the paranormal.

"Really, Spirit Suits… that's a terrible name." Phantom quipped.

"Well it's not as bad as invisobill." Maddie said with a chuckle, Phantom turned bright red as she mentioned his old moniker. Maddie had found that Phantom, being a teen, was still easily embarrassed by stupid nicknames. He wandered into the store grumbling about needing a press agent and his name being Danny Phantom and something about rhymes and stupid truckers. Maddie wasn't sure what truckers had to do with his name.

Maddie followed the former ghost into the shop. He went straight to the discount rack, a fact that made Maddie extremely grateful, as inventors she and Jack had plenty of money, but she would be spending a lot of money on a whole new wardrobe for Phantom. It seemed that Phantom had considered this as well, though admittedly the selections in the discount section were lacking and sometimes down right atrocious.

Maddie pulled out a lime green suit holding it up with a playful smile and showing it to Phantom.

"This one looks perfect." She joked, Phantom looked up and made a noise of disgust, shaking his head while Maddie laughed.

"Uh… over my dead body." Phantom answered in standard teenage snark, he continued rummaging through the black suits. Maddie put the lime green suit back into place flipping through the other suits on the rack. There were sequined suits and velvet suits, suits in atrocious colors, but there were some nice ones as well. Maddie smiled thinking of Phantom dressed in a sequined suit and as the image solidified in her mind, a chuckle escaped her lips.

"What?" Phantom asked, frowning at her as he looked over.

"Nothing." Maddie replied looking up. Phantom's deep green eyes were on her, confusion on his brow, but a slight amused smile on his lips. Maddie pulled out a white suit. The material was soft, she could tell that much through her gloves. She glanced up at Phantom's snow-white hair then down at the suit.

"Hey… how about this?" she asked. Phantom's green eyes surveyed the suit.

"No… I'll look like the guys in white." He said simply then continued combing the racks.

"Oh." Maddie said softly putting the suit back, she hadn't even thought of that and looking at it now she couldn't help but think of those bureaucratic morons.

"This one?" Phantom held up a simple black suit. The color was a deep black, it was an English style suit and Maddie nodded, grabbed a matching black button up shirt and ushered him to the dressing rooms.

Phantom disappeared into the dressing room to try on the ensemble and Maddie tapped her foot waiting before turning and looking at ties, cravats and tie pins while the sales attendant roved around.

Maddie could hear Phantom's shuffling as he tried on the suit. She fiddled with a silver tie pin in the shape of a P inside a D. A soft smile slid across her face as she picked it up. Danny Phantom charms and products had become a common occurrence once the infamous ghost had defeated the Ghost King and saved the town from the Ghost Zone. Maddie stared down at the tiny DP, her mind wandering to the tattered black HAZMAT suit with a matching DP in white on the chest that was lying in the basement along with other research materials.

"Ahem." a voice behind her said, Maddie turned in the direction to see Phantom standing with the suit on. It fit perfectly. Maddie smiled, setting down the tiepin and clapping her hands together with a smile, a small hint of pride on her face at how well he looked.

"Very nice, now turn around." Maddie insisted as she checked out the back, "Is it riding up anywhere?" she commented, lifting up the back of the jacket to inspect the waist.

"No… It feels fine." Phantom said.

"Lift your arms up." Maddie ordered, Phantom followed her directions, "Is that pulling anywhere, that feels fine? Not too short on the wrists then?"

"No Mommmmmadddie, it's fine." Phantom said, he lowered his arms, eyes downcast, "sorry." He mumbled. Maddie swallowed a lump she didn't know she had in her throat and turned away. Phantom had nearly called her Mom, she couldn't think about that now while Danny was missing so she switched topics.

"What color tie should we get?" She forced her voice to sound cheerful and busied herself picking out ties so that she wouldn't have to look at his face.

"Green?" Maddie asked, holding a neon green tie to Phantom's neck.

"Sure, why not… doesn't match my eyes anymore though." His response was lackluster and he seemed to be over the whole suit buying experience. Maddie nodded and set the tie over her arm while Phantom wandered off to change out of the suit.

"Green it is." She smiled, grabbing a matching handkerchief since they were cheaper as a set. Phantom was quick and it seemed like only seconds had passed and he had already returned from the dressing room, wearing casual clothes once more. The sales associate stared at Phantom, her expression suspicious somehow.

Maddie glanced at the little DP tiepin then back to the door before grabbing it as Phantom pulled the hood over his head to hide his face, having noticed the stares of both the stales girl and a few customers. Maddie walked up to the counter past the girl who snapped a photo of Phantom as he passed and paid for the suit, which was a modest $125, which considering the quality wasn't a bad deal at all.

Phantom hovered beside her as she paid before they made their way to the next shot to buy him his own casual clothes. Phantom browsed, adding clothes to the cart as they made their way through the department store, Maddie looked into the cart, his fashion sense was remarkably similar to Danny's. She had guessed he'd be more into black with the color of his suit and all, but he had fairly average tastes it seemed. At least that was what she thought until a NASA shirt found its way into the cart. Maddie stared at it, her eyes misting up as she thought of Danny once more.

She hoped wherever he was, he was safe, that he was warm. She wondered if he was hurt, but perhaps he had left of his own accord, he had been distant and strange over the past year. If he had run away, what exactly had caused him to leave? Phantom put a red hoodie into the cart and broke her out of her thoughts as the NASA t-shirt was covered up.

"I think… other than shoes I've got enough." Phantom said.

"Good… Then we'll buy these and head over to shoes… before preparing for the press conference." She said with a smile.

"Right… press conference." Phantom sighed and then nodded. "Shoes first," he agreed.

"Shoes first." Maddie echoed and nodded.

Author's Note: Short chapter this time, the original was short, I added a little more to pad it out, but there wasn't much more to be said before the next chapter begins.

Thank you for shopping Fenton Mart.