Jazz got frustrated with Vlad before much longer, though Maddie supposed she shouldn't be surprised. She doubted Jazz had gotten much sleep, and this was far from the first time she'd snapped at someone.

Her target was usually Danny if she wasn't protecting him from them—something that meant so much more now than it ever had before; Maddie would have to come to terms with that later—but Jazz seemed more than happy to take her ire out on Vlad instead.

Still, Maddie hadn't stopped her daughter when Jazz had shoved the cloth into the mouth of the person who had once been one of her best friends, and she hadn't cautioned her sister when Alicia had helped Jazz to carry Vlad—still tied to his chair—to the Fenton Jet.

Better he was away from prying eyes, after all.

Maddie stayed in the clearing to wait for Danny, though she gave in to her general exhaustion and sat on the grass. To her surprise, Cujo stayed with her. He might have fancied himself guarding her (or, more likely, others from her) despite shrinking back to the size of an adorable little puppy, but he hadn't tried to bite Maddie's hand off when she'd reached to scratch him behind the ears, so they'd clearly made some progress.

"I never knew how little I was seeing, Cujo," whispered Maddie. "With Danny, with Vlad, with ghosts in general." Even with Sam and Tucker. Three days ago, if Maddie had had to choose one of either her children or Danny's best friends to face down a ghost attack alone, she'd have chosen Jazz in a heartbeat. She'd thought Jazz the most prepared. Jazz always listened so intently to their explanations about their weaponry, and she knew how to use everything. She might use their training technology as mere exercise equipment, but Maddie had noticed that Jazz's aim had improved since she'd started.

Of course, that improvement might be due to hunting actual ghosts as much as hunting them down in virtual reality.

Had Jack had any inkling about any of this? He'd never mentioned it to her if he had, but would he have, before he was certain? Before he had proof? She hadn't told him about Danielle's ectoplasm. About her blood. She'd wanted to understand it first. And now….

Now, Jack was somewhere in the Ghost Zone, searching for a son who wasn't there to be found.

At least, she hoped he was, assuming he hadn't somehow managed to find his way back to the portal without anyone else noticing him.

Was it easier to think about what was happening with Jack than about what she'd faced upstairs with Danielle?

"Mom."

Maddie jerked; she couldn't help it.

She'd hoped Danny would have a faint smile on his face when she turned to him, amused that he'd managed to sneak up on her, but there was no trace of humour in his eyes.

"We need to talk."

He said it as if they hadn't talked about anything yet, or as if anything they'd talked about wasn't as world-shattering as it was.

"Of course," she said, and she took the hand he offered and let him pull her back to her feet. Cujo whined, and Danny spared the dog a smile as he reached down to scratch him behind the ears and call him a good boy before asking him to look after Jazz and Alicia.

Cujo barked an affirmation before trotting off in the direction the others had gone.

Maddie didn't ask what Danny wanted to talk about, and he didn't offer anything more.

He did stop her from walking into the kitchen, nodding upstairs instead.

The bedroom had been tidied since Maddie had left it, though it was a rushed sort of tidiness—bunched instead of neatly hanging curtains, a missed shard of glass glinting dangerously by the foot of the bed, the still-dented laundry hamper righted and refilled but sitting crookedly in its usual spot. Madeline was still unconscious—drugged, Maddie realized with a shiver, with something that had been meant for Maddie herself—and left on the bed, but her bindings had been replaced by sturdier stuff. Danny must have raided the Fenton Jet for some of the supplies Jazz hadn't used on Vlad. She could recognize a pair of the Fenton Anti-Ecto Cuffs and what was probably the entirety of a spool of Fenton Fisher Line, considering it looked as tangled as it did properly knotted.

Danielle looked healthier than she had the last couple of times Maddie had walked into this room—her colour was better, her eyes brighter and more alert—but her shoulders slumped as she sagged against the head of the bed, and the bags under her eyes seemed tinged with green at the edge of the purple.

She didn't take her gaze off Madeline when they entered, though.

Maddie didn't really think that was because Danielle trusted her—if anything, she suspected Danielle trusted Danny to keep her in line—but at least it meant Danielle trusted Madeline less.

Then again, considering Madeline appeared to still be unconscious, that wasn't as comforting as it could be.

What sort of life had Danielle led that would make her wary enough to mistrust someone bound and unconscious more than she mistrusted someone who wasn't? Not that Maddie wanted to be mistrusted, but after what had happened three days ago, she'd understand. Even after Danielle had helped her, Maddie would understand. That had been a building block, a stepping stone, nothing more.

This might be another one.

Maddie wanted it to be. She wanted to rebuild her relationship with Danny, to start again with Danielle, but she was afraid that if she pushed too hard, too fast, their progress would crumble to nothing.

She hadn't been this conscious of walking on eggshells since Alicia—

"I'm assuming you already know what's wrong with this picture," Danny said dryly as he settled onto the foot of the bed and left her standing alone in the middle of the room, "but has Jazz filled you in on the plan with Vlad?"

She hadn't, and when Maddie admitted as much, Danny had sighed and told her about Walker. Apparently, there was a ghost jail, and Danny had once found himself in it before escaping. Only, he now had it on good authority that the jail had been upgraded to hold someone like him and Danielle—or, more to the point, someone like Vlad.

"Walker hasn't caught me breaking the rules," Danielle put in when Danny paused. She'd finally looked away from Madeline to face Maddie, and there was a defiant set in her expression that reminded Maddie of her son. Maddie wondered how much of that defiance was there because she expected Maddie to call her on the fact that she hadn't claimed to not break any rules and merely that she was simply good enough to avoid being caught. "He'll take my testimony seriously, and if this isn't enough evidence about what Vlad's been up to, I know where to get more."

"Is this…." Maddie hesitated. Rules and laws held a different weight in her book, but she had no idea how ghosts saw them. "Is what Vlad has been doing against the rules?"

Danny and Danielle exchanged a long look, and it was Danielle who finally said, "Only technically, since most of this stuff is mostly just against the law here. But Walker's a stickler for technicalities."

Maybe he was, but Maddie also knew Vlad was phenomenal at exploiting technicalities.

If this were somehow all a misunderstanding, it would come to light sooner rather than later with Vlad's diligence, but if it wasn't? Maddie didn't really want Vlad free to use his power in either realm against them if it wasn't. "Exactly how strong is our case if we're basing it on a technicality?"

Danny pulled a face. "Don't ask."

"Sweetie—"

"It's okay," Danielle said, and Danny shot her a look that Maddie had seen him give Jazz more than once: I hope you're sure about this. Danielle, not unlike Jazz, ignored the look and explained, "Madeline isn't a shapeshifter, and she's not just a ghost. Walker's not going to fuss about the human laws she breaks because it's out of his jurisdiction, but impersonating someone outside of overshadowing when you're not a shifter is, um, frowned upon."

Maddie had to fight back a frown herself at that. "But not illegal. Not against the rules."

"I mean, we can't prove she would have replaced you unless we'd let her do it, anyway, so it's a moot point. But even if she had done it and stayed in this realm, Walker wouldn't have pursued her without good reason. You're only human."

"None of this sounds remotely promising."

"That's why I said don't ask." Danny rolled his shoulders, but he still looked more troubled than relaxed. "Dani's familiar with most of Vlad's labs, but Walker likes things to be black and white, and intent is pretty grey."

Maddie was lost.

They were explaining things to her, things she wasn't entirely sure they'd have explained if Madeline hadn't shown up, but she could be grateful for small mercies and still be hopelessly lost.

"If you don't think Walker will find that Vlad has broken the rules, why take him there?"

"Sam and Tucker—"

"It's a flimsy case without me," interrupted Danielle. "I have to go with you. Danny doesn't like that idea."

Danielle didn't particularly look like she liked that idea, either—she'd been getting more and more tense throughout the entire conversation, despite keeping her voice even—but Maddie had seen that expression on Danny's face before. The set of the jaw, the tightness of the lips, the little wrinkle between the eyebrows, the stiffness of the shoulders—all signs that Danny was convinced he was right and wouldn't back down without a fight.

Judging by the resignation and exhaustion seeping into Danny's features, the same was true of Danielle.

Maddie suspected they'd already had the fight and Danielle had won, however.

She wouldn't be part of this conversation if they truly felt it were up for debate.

She wasn't entirely sure they'd trust her to weigh in.

She wasn't sure they should.

"If you want to go ahead with this, we can wait until you've recovered," she suggested. "It doesn't need to be right now."

"It does," countered Danny. "If not for Dad's sake, then to make sure Vlad doesn't get away. Now that you know about him, I doubt he's going to go ghost unless he has to; it'd be too easy for me to catch him in a thermos that way. He'll just wait for the right opportunity to use his powers."

Maddie raised an eyebrow. She doubted Vlad would be caught off guard quite that easily, and she couldn't recall hearing of a time Phantom had caught Plasmius in one of the stolen thermoses.

Of course, Danny—whether as himself or as Phantom—had clearly done many, many things about which she had not heard.

Waiting, as Danny had mentioned, did seem more in line with Vlad's usual tactics. He could be incredibly patient when he wanted to be.

She'd also seen him lose that patience when pushed past a certain point, and she wasn't sure how close he was to it now. Jack had seen more of Vlad's temper than she ever had, and Jack had always been quick to laugh off mistakes or what he'd always called minor disagreements.

Knowing what she knew now, she wondered how many of those disagreements had truly been minor and how many had instead festered and grown into a resentment neither she nor Jack had ever truly seen.

"I'm fine," insisted Danielle, and this time, Maddie could hear the uncanny echo of Danny's words in the young girl's voice. She wasn't really fine, but she'd be fine. She was good enough right now. She didn't want to argue; she simply wanted to get it over and done with.

"You could stay with us and recover afterwards if you like," offered Maddie, but Danielle was shaking her head before Maddie could finish.

"I want to stay here for now. Alicia said I could."

Nothing had changed on that front, then.

Maddie supposed she shouldn't have expected it to, especially in so short a time.

"I'll make sure she gets back here," added Danny.

"So you're coming with us?" She hoped the words didn't sound accusatory. She didn't mean them to be. But if she wasn't jumping to conclusions….

"I'm staying with Dani," he said, which might be all the answer she really needed. It might be both an answer to the question she'd asked and to the one she'd been afraid to voice.

Jazz had mentioned emergency paperwork.

Jazz had prepared quite a bit of emergency paperwork for them, but nothing Maddie knew about would be applicable here, which meant Jazz hadn't put this paperwork with the rest.

Which meant it hadn't been paperwork she'd wanted them to know about.

Which, given what Maddie knew now, surely meant it was related to Danny's secret.

She'd asked Alicia what she should do if Danny didn't want to come home after this, but she hadn't….

She'd known she was close to losing him.

She hadn't realized it was this close.

"Sweetie," she said carefully as she took a couple steps towards the bed to close the distance between them, "I'm happy that you want to support Danielle, but can we talk before you make any long-term decisions?"

"We've already talked."

He wasn't looking at her.

Neither was Danielle, who had evidently decided going back to watching Madeline and pretending that she didn't exist for this conversation was the way to go.

Maddie wasn't sure that would be particularly easy to do, considering Danny was staring at the girl he'd claimed was nothing more than his cousin with an intensity she was more used to seeing with Jack and their latest prototype.

Danny would do anything for Danielle, the same way Jack had made multiple sacrifices in pursuit of perfecting his latest invention.

Only, Danielle wouldn't be put into the weapons vault once everything was sorted out, and Danny wouldn't only remember her when she might be useful to him while he focused on someone new. Which was good, of course, because Danielle was a person and not a weapon, but because she was a person, she would never lose her value to Danny. She would never have to be valuable to be loved, to be someone he claimed as family.

Maddie wished she could claim Danielle as family, too, but all she could do right now was make sure it was an open offer.

For now, and maybe forever, Danielle was going to stay with Alicia, and Danny had appointed himself to protect her from the world.

He couldn't protect her if he wasn't with her.

He hadn't protected her from Maddie, after all.

Maybe that was what this was. Maybe he felt guilty that he hadn't been there to stop her. It was ridiculous, since it had clearly been more her actions than his inaction that had gotten them into this situation, but feelings didn't have to make sense.

She reached out to touch his arm.

She stopped.

"Please, Danny?"

"Fine." He still wasn't looking at her; now he, too, was staring down at Madeline instead. "But only after we do this. I don't trust Vlad not to weasel out of this if we take too long."

"The Fenton Foam is phase-proof," Jazz explained as Alicia gleefully hosed down the man who, in another universe Jazz really didn't want to think about, could have connived his way into being Alicia's brother-in-law. Despite all the embarrassing family moments, Jazz would never wish she had Vlad as a father instead of Jack, so it was a good thing she wouldn't exist in that theoretical universe.

Alicia would, though.

Even if she hadn't known any of this, Jazz wasn't sure Alicia's feelings on Vlad would have changed.

She was a lot better at detecting Vlad's lies, however blatant or subtle, than Jazz's parents ever were.

Consequently, upon reflection, hosed might be too generous of a word for Alicia's current actions.

She'd sprayed Vlad in the face and then repeatedly blasted him to make sure he was soaked through. Jazz had been on the wrong side of the Fenton Foamer more than once, and she knew it packed a bigger punch than a water gun did. Considering Alicia was standing less than three feet from Vlad, the ordeal would hardly be painless.

Good.

Vlad had more or less given up protesting, probably because Alicia had aimed the Fenton Foamer at his mouth whenever he'd tried to talk around the gag, but he was secure; Jazz had checked his bindings more than once.

Still, while her hands were covered in the sticky green foam that was murder to get out of hair, Vlad was entirely covered. Since he couldn't just phase it out, his suit would never be the same. Jazz planned to celebrate every little victory she could.

When the stream from the Fenton Foamer finally eased up and stopped entirely, Jazz was smiling as widely as Alicia. She knew they hadn't won yet, for all that they had practically caught Vlad red-handed. Ghosts were nothing like her parents had believed, but that didn't mean this whole thing was cut and dry. Vlad hadn't gotten away with as much as he had because he was lucky.

If they didn't want Vlad to turn this around on them, they needed to nail him to the wall.

"Let's get him on the jet," Jazz said as Alicia relaxed her stance and let the empty Fenton Foamer point towards the ground. "I can get you another cartridge for the foamer then."

"Grab it now. I'll take guard duty while you prep the holding cell."

The non-weapons storage unit at the back of the jet was technically not a holding cell, mostly because her parents had assumed any ghost transportation would either be done in an invention like the thermos or in the containment overflow unit in the base of the jet, akin to the one in the Spectre Speeder. Jazz had mostly cleared the room out on the flight over in anticipation of taking back a patient, not a prisoner, but revamping the room wouldn't take her long.

Jazz grabbed what she needed for the Fenton Foamer and then showed Alicia how to replace it. Vlad glowered at her the entire time, green ooze slowly dripping off his nose and chin and, well, everywhere else, but he knew better than to try to protest again.

Or maybe he was biding his time.

Jazz was not going to get comfortable until she knew Vlad was behind bars.

Once Jazz was back inside, she gave herself five minutes to prep the room, but the turnover took over ten by the time she was satisfied. She didn't particularly want Alicia to use the Fenton Foamer inside, but the Fenton Utility Stick and anything else utilizing electricity wouldn't be much better when Vlad was soaked.

Jazz hadn't actually grabbed a net-gun earlier, so she did now; Alicia was a good shot, and it would be nice to have that as backup. Jazz also grabbed some Fenton Plugs and a Fenton Sleep Mask, as she didn't intend to let Vlad know any more about their plans than he'd already discovered. What he could guess was going to be bad enough, but the less he could prepare for what was coming, the better.

Cujo was standing beside Alicia when she got back outside, still in his puppy form—likely only because Alicia was scratching him behind the ears—but growling at Vlad in a way that told Jazz he'd shift to his larger size the moment Vlad showed any sign of loosening his bonds.

Vlad, maybe because he could see the writing on the wall now that things were finally going their way, did not go quietly.

Well, he didn't go easily. He could only make so much noise through the gag. Jazz didn't think he sounded like some wild animal, but Cujo certainly did, so if any of Alicia's neighbours happened to be trekking through the woods for a visit, she fully planned to tell them she'd seen something. Maybe a bear. If they didn't believe the bear had made any noise, hopefully they'd believe she'd been the one making it to scare off said bear. Noise was one of the ways to scare off black bears, wasn't it?

Given that Alicia had had to taze Vlad to knock him out for the few precious seconds it took to get him onto the Fenton Jet, Jazz sincerely hoped she wouldn't have to employ any feeble excuses. Maybe, given Alicia's reputation, she could say it was private family business and her neighbours would leave it at that?

Not likely, given the rate gossip spread here, but Jazz could hope—at least if any hypothetical visit happened.

She was good at handling worst case scenarios.

She was going to get through this one, even if it killed her.

"Are you going to leave him in the chair?" Alicia asked once Vlad was inside and they'd left Cujo to stand guard outside. She'd helped Jazz with the earplugs and the sleep mask, so Vlad shouldn't overhear the answer, but still. Jazz was going to be mindful of what she said in potential earshot.

"I think it's safer than moving him to a cot." They couldn't bolt down the chair, but Jazz found it difficult to care about that at the moment. Vlad wasn't going to fall into anything that would help him slice through the line of the Fenton Fisher, and with his ghost powers less inhibited than anyone would like, he wouldn't sustain an injury they'd have to worry about.

Of course, the only injury she'd worry about him getting at this point was a fatal one, and that was mostly because she didn't want to deal with Plasmius on so little sleep. Any other time….

"I'm going to grab something to see to that wound," Jazz added, since thinking about Alicia was a lot easier than thinking about how they'd handle things if Vlad threw caution to the wind and didn't hold back with his ghost powers to keep up his flimsy lie. "I've got the med kit in the other room. I'll be back in a sec."

It might have been a testament to how well Alicia knew her niece that she didn't question Jazz.

Then again, there was a decent chance she also didn't want to say too much in front of Vlad. Just in case.

Jazz was finishing up her first aid patch job when Alicia asked, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Jazz glanced at Vlad. He hadn't reacted, but that didn't mean much. "You should stay with them. Danny doesn't like to admit when he needs help until it's bad, so the fact that he went to you says a lot. I can handle Mom."

"You don't have to be responsible for everyone."

Jazz hesitated, medical tape in hand as her fingers hovered over the final side of the gauze that needed to be secured over Alicia's wound.

If Alicia came with them, her words might be true. Jazz might not need to be responsible for everyone—or as responsible as she could manage, anyway.

As it was, though?

She didn't trust Vlad an inch. She wasn't convinced Maddie wouldn't do or say something they'd both regret. She still hadn't even met Danielle, but if Danny was staying with her to take on Jazz's role of protective older sibling—even if Danielle was somehow a cousin? Jazz really needed to get answers on that front when this was over—then Danny wouldn't be around to help Jazz out.

Or to make a mess of things in his own way, she supposed, but she'd rather he did. She'd rather they all figure this out together.

She understood why Danny was wary, though.

From what Maddie had said….

"Jazzy." Alicia's voice was soft. She rarely used pet names for them, not since they'd been little kids, and maybe it was because Jazz hadn't gotten enough sleep or because this situation remained entirely too stressful, but she almost wanted to cry to hear one from Alicia now. "I want to help. You might be able to do something by yourself, but that doesn't mean it won't be easier to have someone else helping you."

"Danny—"

"—is capable of handling things himself, least as long as he's sure no one else is gonna spring out of the woodwork with some not-so-fun surprises. If he thinks he can hold down the fort himself, do you want me with you or will I just be in the way?"

"I think it helps for Mom to have a trusted adult perspective on everything," Jazz said slowly, "but it's not fair that you—"

"It's not fair that you've had to do all this, but you ain't quibbling about it. Why should I care more'n you do?"

"You're still new to all this."

"I'm a quick study. I don't need to be the genius of the family to learn enough to get me by. The rest can come later." Alicia was giving her that flat, judgemental stare now. "When was the last time you got some sleep?"

"Last night."

"When was the last time you got a good sleep?"

That question was harder.

Jazz wasn't sure of the answer.

She slept better than Danny, she knew, but she was a light sleeper. She might not drag herself out of bed if she heard Danny telling off the Box Ghost for attacking in the middle of the night, but that didn't mean Jazz didn't hear him when he was woken by his ghost sense at least half the time and worry that she'd missed something the rest. Her parents both wore Fenton Plugs at night now, but ever since she'd discovered Danny's secret, she'd decided she'd rather be woken up than find out what had happened too late.

It was a bit ironic, really, that all this had begun when she'd been out of the house and not when she'd merely been asleep.

Not that she'd necessarily have heard something, considering the lab was soundproof, but still.

Danny might have known, and she'd probably have heard Danny get up, so they'd have been able to face the situation together.

"I'm fine. I promise."

"You think I don't know what that means in this family? We're always fine if we're still breathing."

Jazz snorted, thinking of Danny. "And sometimes even if we're not." She wasn't entirely sure if Danny needed to breathe in his ghost form or if he only did so out of reflex, the part of his mind that remembered his human half insisting upon it. She'd never wanted to ask, but she had her suspicions.

Alicia grinned at her. "Talk to Danny and give me an answer before you take off. I certainly wouldn't say no to helping him" —she spat the word in Vlad's general direction— "get what's coming for him. Or see it happen, even if I can't help."

Jazz smiled and finished taping on the gauze before promising, "I will."