Danny had known, intellectually, that ghosts were dead people. He had, perhaps, even known it emotionally. It was hard to miss dying, that collision with mortality, hard to miss Ember, and Technus, and Poindexter, and Desiree and all the others that held onto their deaths and lives so closely, so intimately.

Still. Seeing this, Danny could still safely say that he hadn't known. Not really.

"Danny?" said the ghost, softly, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "Is that you?"

Danny, for one, couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, either.

"Grandpa Greg?" he asked, ignoring the fact that he was in ghost form and his grandfather really shouldn't recognize him.

After all, he wasn't sure he should recognize his grandfather, either. A change in skin, hair, and eye color usually made that kind of thing difficult.

A relieved smile stretched across Grandpa's face. "It is you," he said. "I was worried... Well, never mind. How have you been?" He reached out to ruffle Danny's hair, like he always used to, and Danny let him. "What- How did you get out here?" Grandpa's face started to fall. "Why- Why are you out here, Danny? What happened to you?"

"I'm just, um," said Danny. "Exploring. Mom and Dad, they got the portal working."

"They did? That's, well, that's astonishing," said Grandpa. "I wouldn't have believed it, but then..." He trailed off. "I hardly believed it when I woke up."

Danny tensed. "Grandpa," he said, cautiously, "you do know..." He trailed off, trying to find the best way to put this. Often, ghosts weren't happy to have it brought up.

"Dead?" asked Grandpa. "Yes, I know. I..." He looked sad. "What happened to you, Danny? Did someone-"

"It's a long story," said Danny, even as he started to hear the faint buzz of a gathering ectoblast. "A long, complicated story. But I'm not dead. Promise."

"You're not dead."

"No. Here, I'll show you, but we'll have to go up a bit."

"What for?"

"Ectoplasm here is really thick." Danny gestured around at the wavering stairs, weeping walls, melting architecture, twisted trees, and gelatin-like masses of things that might have once been buildings but could also have been condensing islands. "Hard to breathe." He floated up, and gestured for Grandpa to follow.

They spiraled up, dodging other ghosts and more solid bits of reality. Danny kept looking back, checking to make sure Grandpa was still following him, that it hadn't all been a hallucination.

He'd wonder if it was some kind of trick from one of his enemies, but... Grandpa had died before the portal opened. None of them should even know about him.

They reached an area where ectoplasm and air mixed relatively evenly, and Danny quickly found something to land on - a crumbling old building that slowly rotated in the ether. He anchored his sense of 'down' to the wall, and landed, looking up at his grandfather, still making sure he was being followed.

"Are you ready?" asked Danny.

"I'm not sure what you're asking me if I'm ready for," said Grandpa. He said it with some levity, but it sounded forced.

"Well," said Danny, "it's hard to explain. Just-" He bit the bullet and transformed, kickstarting his breathing and heartbeat.

He didn't expect his grandfather to suddenly embrace him, crying.

"I was so worried," he said. "So worried that something terrible had happened, and you'd died. What is this? One of Jack's inventions, letting you look like a ghost? Are your parents out here too? I have to see Maddie-"

"No," said Danny, feeling himself tear up as well. "It isn't an invention. I was in an accident with, um, a little ectoplasm? So I'm a bit weird now, but it's fine."

"And Maddie? Alicia? Your sister?"

"We're all fine, Grandpa," said Danny. "Really."

Grandpa let out a shaky sigh. "I'm glad. I'm glad, Danny. I can still hardly believe it, you know? All those things about ghosts. They were true. Except the evil part, but I'm sure Maddie's figured that out by now, too."

Danny cringed and pulled back, out of the hug. "Not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... If they saw you, they'd probably shoot at you."

"But... I'm me."

"They wouldn't think that."

"But," said Grandpa. "I have to see them! I have to make sure they're alright."

Danny bit his lip. "Maybe," he said, "you can still do that. But we'll have to be really careful."

.

Danny went through first and checked to make sure the lab was clear. Grandpa followed after.

"Oh, my," said Grandpa. "That's different."

"Yeah," said Danny. He eyed Grandpa with worry. "This is your first time out of the Zone, right? If you need some time to adjust... I mean, we don't have to do this today."

"No, no, I'm fine."

"Right," said Danny. He let go of his ghost form. "Okay, now, go invisible, and stay near me." His parents were used to Danny setting off their detectors, so, this way, if they triggered anything, they'd assume it was just Danny again, and Grandpa would be safe. "And don't say anything when other people are around," he added.

"You're the boss, Danno."

He climbed the stairs. "They might not be home for a while, yet," he said, quietly. "I usually don't go to the Zone unless I know they're going to be out for a while. They were going to go investigate a haunting."

"Do you think they'll be safe?"

"Probably," said Danny. "It wasn't a real haunting. I checked." He pushed the door at the top of the stairs open and peered into the kitchen. "But we could go check in on them. Or Jazz."

"Is she still home?"

"She could be at the library," said Danny. "But she still lives here."

"I'd like to see her," said Grandpa.

"Okay. She does know about ghosts, so it's okay to talk to her, if she's here."

He took the stairs up to the second floor two at a time. "Jazz?" he called. "You home?"

"Yeah? What?"

"Can I come in?" asked Danny, stopping in front of her door.

"Sure!"

Danny opened her door and stepped in. Jazz looked up from her computer.

"What is it?" she asked. "You're back early."

"Yeah. Uh. I ran into Grandpa Greg out in the Zone."

"What?"

Danny nudged Grandpa. "You can be visible again," he said.

"Thank goodness. I don't know how long I can keep that up for."

Jazz gasped.

.

"Remember," said Danny, "when they come home, you have to stay hidden. They won't believe you're you."

"I will," said Grandpa.

"Okay," said Danny. He braced himself and went down the stairs.

"Hey, Mom, hey, Dad, how are you guys doing?"

.

"Are you sure you need to leave?" asked Jazz. She was definitely tearing up.

"Sorry, Jazzy," said Grandpa, patting her shoulder. "I just... I need to check on Alicia, now. And sticking around here seems to not be a good idea." He smiled at Danny, a little sadly. "But don't worry, kiddos, you aren't getting rid of me forever. I'll be back before you know it!"

"And we'll be here," said Danny. "Or, well, I will, I guess. Jazz might be in college."

Grandpa chuckled. "You might go to college, too, young man."

"Eh," said Danny, shrugging.

"I love you guys, you know that, right?"

"We know," said Jazz.

"Love you, too," said Danny.

They waved as he flew away.