AN: oooooo, two chapters in one night! That's largerly because this chapter was written before the last chapter was finished, weird I know. But this was also a chapter that I had to take breaks while writing cause man did I get emotional!

Hope y'all enjoy!

Almost everyone experiences a moment in their life when the world seems to freeze around them. When everything suddenly stands still, even their own beating heart, as their mind rushed to process a situation. A moment in time that just seemed too big, too soon, too sudden. When the sudden wave of unstoppable dread and fear washes over them and leaves them almost rooted in place.

It could be anything. Something as seemingly small as a failed test in high school. Or seeing the two little lines on a certain test some one had been hoping to fail. It could be something life altering, or it could be something that had only been a hope. A goal that had no true impact except for one's own happiness and well-being.

For a certain older sister, she had that moment twice in her life time so far. The first time, when she heard the news of her baby brother being electrocuted. Heard he had been so close to losing his life, that he had been so lucky that his two best friends were there. That one of them knew CPR while the other was fast enough to dial an ambulance.

The second time was when she pieced it all together. When she realized a certain ghostly hero was also her baby brother. When it all clicked. The realization that her own parents were trying to do horrible things to him, even if they didn't know who it was him. Both moments weren't in fear or dread of herself. It was in fear of what would happen to her little brother. The person she spent her whole life trying to care for and protect.

She wasn't lucky, as some would say. The third time that feeling washed over her, she was prepping for a local college interview. She had been waiting in the lobby, rehearsing answers and facts. She had been brimming with nervous excitement. It wasn't her dream college, still much too small for what she wanted. It was a stepping stone, and a back up plan if things go wrong. Because in the end, Jazz Fenton was always thinking about her brother.

"Jazz... It's Danny. He's in the hospital..."

And just like that, her world felt like it was falling all over again. Her heart froze in her chest, air rushing out of her lungs. Before she even knew it, without letting anyone know, she was rushing right out that office door. Ripping her way through the halls with a speed only an older sister knew. She hadn't even waited around to hear more from her mother, didn't need to know more.

Her baby brother was in the hospital, again. It didn't matter the reason, or what happened. Danny was different now. She's seen him reset a broken leg and walk it off like it was nothing. She's watched him be thrown through brick buildings, only to come out again just fine. So if Danny was in the hospital now? She couldn't imagine what it meant, and that terrified her.

Much too soon, but also not soon enough, she was tearing through the hospital hallways. Rushing nurses for answers, and refusing to wait. She hadn't been ready to see both her mother and father waiting outside Danny's room. Neither of them were inside with him, and that rubbed her wrong in all the worse ways. She had a scolding on the tip of her tongue, questions roaring in her mind. Except they all died, the moment she really looked.

Maddie was seated, head bowed, and her own arms holding. Her own arms, not Jack's. Her always doting husband wasn't consoling his wife. Maddie's face was puffy, eyes swollen, and flushed cheeks stained with tears. There was pain in her eyes, but a guilt that the pit settling deeper into Jazz's stomach. All while Jack was standing, just a few feet away from her. His arms crossed tight over his chest, his jaw clenched, and anger radiating off him. There were tears in his eyes, he had been crying too. But that anger, it's what caught Jazz's attention.

Her always gentle and loving father, a man who only ever raised his voice when his family was at risk. A man that was the perfect image of a gentle loving giant who truly cared for his loved ones. He was angry. Not just angry, he was enraged. It was rolling off him like tidal waves, almost clearing a perfect space around the three of them as Jazz approached. Her movements slowing, her mind growing unsure of what she was going to say.

"He's going to be okay, Jazzy-bear. Go in and see him."

That was all she got. Maddie wouldn't even look her in the eyes, and Jack was refusing to look at Maddie. The target of his rage, something Jazz had never seen before between them. Despite all the fights and arguments they have had, Jack was never the angry one. Maddie always was. Before Jazz went in, she gave her father's shoulder a squeeze. A silent reassurance that no matter what, Jazz was on his side. She knew he wouldn't be in this state unless it was completely justified.

The sight of Danny in that hospital bed, wired up to machines, the beeping. It all brought back memories of the first time. Of the fear they all felt because they had all truly thought Danny was going to die. Yes he had, but he wasn't gone. He was still Danny. This time, though... this time was different. Jazz could see it in his eyes when he struggled to meet hers.

She hadn't said a word, immediately going to his side. Pressing a mother's kiss to his temple, a gentle hug, before settling on the edge of the bed. She took one of his hands in hers, eyes trained on his face. There wasn't anything physically different about Danny, not a blemish in sight. Not a wound, bruise, or cut. But he was different. His eyes held a deep pain that hadn't been there last time she saw him.

It took everything in Jazz's power not to start asking questions. To start trying to figure out what happened, and figure out how to fix it. Just like she always did, just like she was supposed to do. Jazz knew she needed to let Danny tell her when he can, when he chose to. Something had happened, and it hurt her baby brother more than his own death hurt him.

Danny had started with why he was in a hospital bed. An apparent cardiac episode. The doctors believe it was a delayed side effect of the accident. The electrocution had weakened his heart, but no one had caught it. It had only been weakened, but not changed. That wasn't until a stressful event pushed it over the edge. A stressful event. Her baby brother essentially had a heart attack, and refused to say why.

"Danny... I need to know."

Jazz finally had to make the push, to get Danny to tell her what happened. Her mind flickered to Vlad, to Sam, to Tucker. To the people in Danny's life that had such a direct impact on him. Whether it be his safety, or his happiness. She thought of school, of him being king, or all the many things that could stress Danny out so much to this point. When he answered her, after the longest pause of her life, she didn't expect what she heard.

"She hit me... Mom did. We got into a fight about Vlad and she... she slapped me."

Just like that, it all clicked into place. The tension, the anger between Maddie and Jack. The pain that was now so deep seeded into Danny's eyes. The way his bottom lip trembled, and tears had filled his eyes at the sight of her. The way he was still trying to be so strong, even when he was the victim in all this. When he didn't have to be. The way he tried to explain it away, blame himself for something that wasn't his fault.

Jazz didn't care what Danny had said. What verbal blows had been exchanged, how he had riled Maddie up to that point. It didn't matter because it was still her fault. She was the adult, she was the mother of a teenage boy. A teenage boy who has been going through more than any boy should, who has been outright acting out for a while now. There was no excuse for Maddie to have escalated verbal blows to physical. Not a single goddamn reason could make sense in Jazz's mind.

But Jack's rage? That made sense. In that moment, Jazz made a solid realization. She inherited her father's protective temper. The rush of sisterly rage that flood her system at Danny's words had her feeling almost breathless for a moment. Danny mistook it as shock, but Jazz knew better. It took all her will power to remain in place, to stay seated by his side. To keep holding his hand because that's what Danny needed.

That wasn't going to be the end of it. Even as Jazz wrapped his trembling form in her arms. Gave him a shoulder to cry on, and reassuring words as she held her brother close. Right now, her attention was on Danny. On making sure he was as alright as he could be in the aftermath, before she let that rage loose.

Jack might have his reservations about how he handled his anger. He might not want to yell at his wife, give her the reality check she needed. Jack might not be able to bring himself to that point. He might show his anger in different ways, but they weren't ways that were getting through to Maddie. That was becoming starkingly clearer the more days that ticked by.

Jazz didn't have those reservations. She spent her whole life taking care of Danny, of putting him above everyone else in her life. She had watched the way Danny had tried his hardest not to be a burden. She had watched as his mental state took a decline, as he became moodier, lashed out more. And still then, he tried his hardest not to bother anyone else with it. Even when Jazz was more than willing and happy to take on some of that weight.

"I'm not letting Danny go home if she's still there."

Jazz had wanted to rip right into Maddie the moment she left Danny's room. She had held him until he slipped back to sleep, exhausted and hurt after the day he had. She waited to make sure he was out like a light, before she left him alone. Only to find only Jack waiting for her. He knew she would find out, that she wouldn't be against causing a scene. Hell, she wouldn't be against getting CPS on the phone right this instant if she had to.

Except, Jazz knew she wouldn't have to. Not with the way Jack had pulled her into a hug after she spoke. Even when her words were dripping with righteous rage and venom, he pulled her in for his perfect Jack Fenton Bear Hugs. Jack hadn't made a single move to comfort Maddie in the brief moment Jazz had seen. But he didn't hesitate to comfort his angry daughter.

"I know. She's going to stay with her sister for a while."

His voice had been so different from usual. A soft tone that Jazz couldn't remember ever hearing before. There was still pain and anger running through his words, but there was also an understanding. An unspoken agreement between father and daughter. They both knew it, despite Jack not wanting it to be true. As much as Jack wanted his family together, wanted everyone together.

He understood, just as much as Jazz did. If the Fentons wanted to be a family, they needed to separate themselves from the true problem. It never was Danny, despite how much the boy seemed to believe it was. It wasn't Jack, and it wasn't Jazz. Ever since things had started getting harder for the family, ever since Danny's accident, and even before that.

The problem was Maddie. It had always been her, even if no one wanted to admit it. She had been the driving force behind so many of their problems. She had been the driving force that spurred the two parents to spend countless nights locked away in the lab. Leaving Jazz to take care of a baby brother when she was barely old enough to take care of herself. She had been the pressuring force to send Danny to Vlad. She was the one always pushing for what she wanted and what she needed.

Never what the family wanted. Never what her kids needed. Jazz was mad at herself for letting things get this far, for not stepping up sooner, or making a louder fuss. She had been so focus trying to keep the peace, while taking care of Danny... Jazz never realized he needed drastic change until now. Until a physical conflict pushed everyone over the edge.

"I'm sorry, Jazzy-bear. I should have noticed sooner."

A single simple apology, spoken low and emotional. It had been what broke Jazz. The tears she didn't even realize were pushing against a dam, finally flooded. In just a few small words, Jazz wasn't basically an adult any more. No, she felt like a kid again. Back when she used to be able to run crying to her parents when she needed it. After a nightmare, or a scraped knee.

In this moment, Jazz was just a little girl. A little girl clinging to her father in a hospital hallway while sobbing her heart out. After yet another giant scare of her life, and the most angry she's ever been. Jazz was soaking in her father's comfort and affection, realizing just how long she's missed it. Realizing just how long Maddie had been truly poisoning the well before anyone really put it together.

And Jazz would be damned if she let Maddie anywhere near her family again. That woman might have given birth to her, might have given her a few good memories, and it might hurt to think about removing her from her life. But Jazz needs better. Danny needs better. Jack needs better. They all need better than what Maddie can give them.

Maddie was a mother in the eyes of the world, but she is not a mom. She would never truly understand everything that went into being a mom, and she would never get to experience it. If she couldn't be there for the two kids she had now, Jazz could hope she never had another chance to screw it up. Vlad could win for all Jazz cares, as long as the only prize he truly wanted was Maddie.

The Fenton family was on a new journey starting today. A journey of rebuilding and reconnecting in a way they hadn't realized they truly lost. The Fentons might have lost one member, but they gained something so much more important. They will be a family again, no matter how much work or effort it took. Jack sent away the woman he loves, the woman he had done so much for. Jazz wouldn't let that go to waste. They will be a family again, a true honest family. Even if Jazz had to rebuild that foundation all over again by herself.