3,838Queen S of Randomness 016: I appreciate you taking the time to review, Thanks. Last Chapter was meant to keep you in the dark, but this one will reveal some things…
A Few Important Notes ahead: Just in case anyone noticed I modified the Prologue a little, it's nothing major I just found a couple of miss spelled words and chopped sentences here and there, so I fixed them; but it isn't necessary to reread. I also change the summary a little, the plot is the same I just thought the beginning sounded to corny so I modified it, like I said it isn't anything major, so if you are not new to this story then don't worry about rereading, it's still the same but I just wanted to bring it up.
Ok, here's Chapter one. I'm going to apologize ahead of time, because this first part is mostly more plot building, but it was really necessary to get a good transition into what will happen next, in other words there's a reason this chapter is called, Spiraling Emotions. Please bear with me until the end. I think you'll like the ending. My next apology is for not having this up sooner; my internet crashed so I wasn't able to update until now
I also wanted to explain why I divided this chapter, originally it was going to be chapter 1 and 2, but I realized it would do better as one chapter, but then I realize it was really long, so I divided it into two parts. I really didn't want to and I still don't but it would have took me longer to update and did I mention it would have been really long.. Anyways Please be ready to spent some time reading, this is pretty long! The Prologue was 19 pages and this one is 32. I strongly suggest reading it in one sitting, because…. Well let's just say the beginning and end of this chapter, umm never mind just go ahead and read, you'll find out soon enough.
Edit: I combined both parts of chapter one into one. So, for those reading this for the first time, this chapter is 82 pages long; because it's two parts in one. But, don't worry. You will not find anymore chapters as long as this one. Although, my chapters are all naturally long-just not this long.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom
Chapter 1 - Spiraling Emotions:
Danny began to wake as the sun's morning rays gently hit his face and eyes, making him squeeze his eyes harder together in hopes of remaining in blissful darkness. The warmth and comfort his bed and covers provided, motivated his fight against consciousness.
His mind however had other plans as he slowly became more aware of the world that was waiting for him to join it. His senses were also against him as they slowly overwhelmed him. His nostrils took up the aroma of something sweet; while the chilling morning air nipped his cheeks making him impulsively cling tighter to his covers. The sound of birds happily chirping outside his window reached his ears; their song a constant reminder that it was time for him to get up.
Groaning at all the annoyances, Danny rolled on his back, grabbing his pillow currently under his head and placing it on top of his face. Just when he realized that his action banished said annoyances, a louder noise tore through any hope of sleeping in.
"Go away" he stated, not realizing that to anyone hearing, his words sounded more like an "omm" noise from the pillow muffling his words. The noise to his dismay was his sister's laughter.
"You know Danny, I never thought watching you sleep could be so amusing." she teased.
"Ha-Ha; very funny Jazz, now would you leave? I'm trying to sleep." he countered, annoyance clearly in his tone.
Jazz not understanding a word he had just said, but catching his sarcastic and annoyed tone, chuckled once more before deciding to do what she came for. "Come on little bother, its time to wake up." Danny groaned in response, clinging tighter to the pillow on his head.
Seeing she wasn't going to be able to coax him verbally to wake up, she decided to take a more direct approach. With one quick tug she snatched his sheets away from him. "Jazz!" exclaimed Danny while instinctively curling his body, in a vain attempt to hold on to his remaining body heat.
Knowing he was outnumbered by his sister and the world, he let out an irritated sigh before opening his eyes. Suddenly his irritation melted away and a devilish smile appeared on his lips; unfortunately for Jazz, it remained concealed by the pillow still resting on his face. Danny took hold of the pillow on his head with his right hand and quickly sat up. Before Jazz could comprehend his quick actions and the evil smile on his lips, he flung the pillow towards Jazz's head.
"eep!" was her only remark before the pillow perfectly hit its target, making her step back in surprise. "Hey, Jazz I'm awake" Danny taunted with a smug smile projected towards his scowling sister.
"As much as I would like to get you back for that; it'll have to wait till later. You're friends are waiting down stairs, so hurry down." She said as she tossed her brother's bed sheets and pillow back to him.
"Ok, ok I'll be down soon." He said, standing up and stretching.
"Oh and Danny?"
"hmm?" he replied in between a yawn
"Happy Birthday" she said as she ruffled his messy hair and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.
"Jaaaaaaaazz" he whined as he tried to hide the smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"I love you too, little brother" she said, shooting him a warm smile before closing the door behind her and stepping out
"Sisters are gross" he thought shaking his head and smiling. "Now, where did my mom put my clean clothes.."
As Danny walked down the stairs, he realized that the sweet smell that filled his room earlier became stronger as he descended the stairs. The scent, which reminded him of cinnamon rolls, was mixed with another more dominating aroma. The smell of coffee was overwhelming to his senses, and even though he didn't drink it he immediately felt more awake as he breathed in its penetrating aroma.
"Jack, I'm not giving you anymore, you already have had eight slices." Maddie scolded
"Aww but Maddie, I'm still hungry and I love your homemade French toast! ….well not as much as I love those butterscotch flavored snicker doodle cookies you make, but you get the point. Jack replied, his facial expression changing from a pout to a bright smile as his thoughts went from being hungry to remembering the mouth watering delights.
"Here Mr. Fenton you can have one of mine, I can never eat more then one." Sam intervened, giving her second piece of French toast to a happy looking Jack."
"Morning" Danny greeted as he walked into the kitchen, plopping himself on an available seat between Tucker and Sam.
His reply was various greetings of "Good Morning and "Happy Birthday" while receiving hugs from his friends and family, and an extra kiss from his mom. Jazz already having said her greetings to her brother earlier, went to the fridge to serve a cup of orange juice for him.
Once everyone settled down they went back to eating their breakfast. Danny happily accepted his own plate of French toast from his mom allowing him to join in with everyone else. Seeing that everyone was fed Maddie grabbed her own plate and joined the five other people as she sat down in between Jack and Jazz
"Yuuuck!" Jack cried, standing up and rushing to the kitchen sink. Everyone stared at him as he stuck his head under the sink's water facet, running water into his mouth.
"Jack, are you okay?" Maddie inquired with a curious look
"Maddie, what did you do to Sam's toast?" he asked, rinsing his mouth over and over again in hopes of getting rid of the terrible taste.
Maddie chuckled lightly, "Jack, you know Sam's a vegetarian. I made her toast with soy milk and eggs."
"Yeah and it taste just fine." Sam scowled, rolling her eyes at the man's reaction.
"Aww, I just lost my appetite." Jack dejected, crossing his arms and sitting back down in his seat with a huff. Everyone chuckled at the expression on Jack's face; how a mid forty year old man could pull off a kid's pouting look so perfectly was beyond them.
Their breakfast time went by quickly, as various types of conversations spread across the six members. They happily laughed and enjoyed their time together as they finished eating.
"Jack, could you bring those dishes over to the sink so that I can wash them." Maddie asked as she stood up and made her way to the kitchen sink.
"Sure thing Maddie" Jack replied as he gathered the plates on the table.
"I'll help you wash them mom." Jazz offered, walking up to her mom.
"Thanks hon." Maddie replied warmly.
"Hey mom, did you want me to clean the table?" Danny asked, standing up and placing the syrup back in the fridge.
"No, that's alright; you're father can do that. I believe your friends want to take you somewhere." Maddie informed him, ignoring the "aww" her husband made as he heard his wife mention he was doing the table. "Oh, and make sure to be back soon so you can open your presents." She added
"Thanks mom, I will" Danny said, happily pushing his friends out of the kitchen.
"Thanks for breakfast Mrs. Fenton" said Tucker as he was dragged out of the kitchen.
"Yeah, Thanks Mrs. Fenton." Sam added, she too experiencing the tugging force of her blue eyed friend.
"You're welcome kids; have fun."
"We will" yelled all three teens in unison as they closed the door behind them.
"So where are we going?" Danny asked curiously. "Oh, you'll see when we get there; I had to use some of my dad's connections but I think you'll agree with me soon, that it was worth it" Sam said, pulling out her cell phone and dialing a number. "Are you almost here?…Great! We're right up front.…okay, bye"
"Who were you calling Sam?" Danny questioned, his curiosity increasing.
"Oh, some much needed transportation" replied Sam with a devilish smile.
Before he could inquire further, a black jeep pulled up in front of them.
"Sorry for being late Ms. Manson, but your mother insisted I take a limo instead; she said a Jeep is not a suited vehicle for a young lady to be seen in, so I was forced to wait until she left with your father a meeting they have today before coming to pick you up. I just hope she does not get too mad at me for disobeying her orders." Said the driver, stepping out of the Jeep.
"Don't worry about it Jeffry, you're my chauffeur remember; so my orders come before theirs. Sam said as she winked at him mischievously, "and if they find out, I'll just tell them I threatened you with some cruel and unusual punishment."
"Thanks Miss; I'll be sure to tell them I've been scarred for life." Jeffry dramatically voiced as he smiled and opened the door for the three teens.
Sam laughed at his comment while Tucker and Danny exchanged knowing looks, both thinking the same thing. "That's Sam for you."
"Ok, Jeffrey we're ready, you know where to go."
"Sure thing Miss."
Danny couldn't believe his eyes. "No way" He said to himself.
"Yes way" Sam replied, sharing a smile with Tucker at the baffled look on Danny's Face. "Welcome to Amity's private Astronautic Facility." Sam said as she folded her arms over her chest and smiled smugly at him.
To Danny the building in front of him was one of the most wonderful sights he had ever seen. The building was divided into different size and shape buildings, but all of them were connected in some way or another. The tallest part of the building, which was directly in the center, was a huge glass dome that had to be at least 100 stories high. He could see acres and acres of land around the building, some occupied by runways or various tent structures that seemed to house either people or some form of equipment by the way they were labeled. His blue eyes sparkled even more as they fell on one more sight. In one of the runways his future dream projected itself in a physical form. Standing grandly was one of the coolest space shuttles he ever laid eyes on. Just its size was breath taking.
"Come on Danny, I didn't bring you here to just stare at the building all day." Sam joked, placing her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
"I-I don't know what to say." Danny stuttered, still not able to take his eyes off the space shuttle.
"As long as you don't say you didn't have to I'll be happy." She replied, matter-of-factly, with smile
Finally being able to tear his gaze from the shuttle he turned towards his friend with a bright smile on his face. He flung himself at her and grabbed her into a backbreaking hug, "Thanks Sam, this is awesome! You're awesome!" he said still not releasing his death grip on her.
"You're wel- wel-come... nowcouldyouletmebreath!" she exclaimed trying to take in air without succeeding.
"Oh... heh-heh; sorry Sam, I guess I got a little carried away." Danny meekly smiled; releasing her, his cheeks taking on a pink hue and his right hand going up to the back of his head in embarrassment.
"That's…..Ok." she said as she bent over and placed her hands on her knees, in an attempt to take in oxygen quicker
"Ha! If you like Sam's present wait till you get mine!" Tucker said excitedly, gleaming a smile at his male friend. "So let's hurry this up; we still have to pass by my house." Tucker added as he gave his friends a small push.
After getting past the security guards, who were expecting their visit, the trio of friends headed further inside the massive structure. Tucker and Sam literally had to drag their friend through the facility, in an attempt to keep him moving since he would stop every 5 seconds to look at something that would catch his attention.
"Come on Danny!" they exclaimed trying to budge him from his current spot
"But did you guys see that! Oooo what's that?" Danny's friends gave a sigh as their friend escaped their grips and ran over to study a display.
"He's lost Sam; I don't know how we're going to get him out of here now." Tucker announced, shaking his head
"Don't worry Tuck, I have an idea." She said as she walked towards Danny, a wicked smile forming on her lips.
"Hey, Danny?" Sam asked, in a casual voice.
"Sam! Look at this model, did you know it was used to build one of the first space shuttles!"
"Oh, that's great Danny. Listen, Tucker and I are going to head into the training room; the main person in charge of this facility said he would let us try out the space stimulator." She said, off handedly. Danny being stuck in "kid at a candy store mode," didn't register any of her words until she said "Space stimulator."
"Really?! then what are we waiting for?!" Danny grabbed her hand and dragged her towards Tucker, doing the same to him when he reached him. "Come on!" Danny happily stated
"Danny!" Sam yelped, "You're going the wrong way!"
"Oh, okay." He added, his happiness never decreasing. Being use to making last minute moves he perfectly twirled himself around and dragged his friends the other way, forcing his friends to walk backwards before they were able to fumble in the correct position. This time it was Sam's and Tucker's turn to have the same thought. "Wow, Danny's more like his father then he'll ever know."
"BS-NB 3501 located; locking import to mainframe now."
"Excellent!" Vlad Plasmius proclaimed wickedly, watching the computer main frame in front of him; complete the most crucial step to his plan.
"Import locked and ready for command. Please state desired status." The machine informed in a voice that perfectly matched Maddie Fenton's.
Vlad tapped his chin, pondering his next step "Terminate dormancy state by Twenty percent." He commanded.
"Activating BS-NB 3501 by 20 percent… Activation complete. Downloading host's bio-status now."
With a smile that would cower the bravest men, he walked out of his lab "Happy Birthday, Daniel" he said in a mocking tone, before his evil laugh vibrated through his mansion
"Good day Samantha; I'm glad you and your friends made it" said a man in a brown suit as he saw his friend's daughter walk into the room.
"Hi Mr. Rompik; these are my friends Danny and Tucker." She said, pointing to the boys behind her. Mr. Rompik walked up to the boys to shake their hands.
"Hello Tucker; Hello Danny, it's a privilege to meet both of you."
Danny and Tucker returned the man's greeting, with a "likewise" from Danny and a "Thank you" from Tucker.
"Thanks again for doing this for us I really appreciate it Mr. Rompik."
"Don't even mention it Samantha; you know you're like family to me. Now, which one of your friends is the guest of honor hmm?"
Sam and Tucker both pointed at Danny whi smiled shyly at the man's comment.
"Come with me Danny, I want to show you some things that I think you'll find very interesting. He said as he escorted Danny into another room. His friends followed behind them, silently hearing the conversation between the two.
"So I hear you want to be an astronaut…."
"I really don't know how to thank you Mr. Rompik; this has been one of the best experiences I've had." Danny said, shaking the man's hand and smiling appreciatively
"You're quite welcome young man, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Mr. Rompik smiled warmly.
"Are you kidding, I loved it!" Danny responded, giving the man a full hearted smile.
The man chuckled kindly at Danny's happiness, patting the boy in the back
"You kids take care of yourselves, alright? Oh and Samantha?"
"Yeah?" she questioned with a smile.
"Give your mother and father my greeting, alright?" Mr. Rompik requested, patting Sam on the head and smiling down at her
"Of course Mr. Rompik and Thanks again!" Sam happily replied, not realizing how peppy she sounded at the moment.
"My pleasure" he said, smiling back at her. "Oh, I almost forgot!" he exclaimed, breaking away from the conversation and towards what looked like a storage room. "Danny before you go I wanted to give you something."
He pulled out a black box that was the size of about three shoe boxes. "Danny, I believe you're familiar with one of the newest shuttles NASA has acquired, correct?"
"Explorer Hartman?"
"Yes that very one; I was one of the shuttles designer; did you know the shuttle's design was made right here in Amity Park?"
"No, I didn't." Danny said, admiration and interest in his voice
"Well, after years of planning and designing we created the final blueprints for it right in this facility. Two physical models were made. One was sent to NASA for approval, while we kept the second one here as a back up. After NASA approved it a larger model was made and the model they had is now residing at Huston's National Museum. The second model was given to me, since I was the head designer of Explorer Hartman." Mr. Rompik informed, handing the black box to Danny.
Danny noticed the box was pretty heavy and well packaged. "The box in your hand contains that second model. As I'm sure you know it is a priceless possession and I want you to have it." He said as he smiled down at the now shocked teen, staring up at him with wide eyes.
Danny was at a loss for words, he could barely process what the man in front of him had just told him. He was honored, but he couldn't accept this; the model was worth millions! "Sir, I- I really appreciate this, but I ca-can't accept it; this is y-yours an-and-"
"Well now it's yours Danny" Mr. Rompik kindly stated, cutting the boy off from his stammering. "I'm giving it to you because I know you will value it and take great care of it. I know it is going to good hands." He said, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder and giving him a confident smile.
Danny smiled back and nodded his head appreciatively "Thank you; I will take very good care of it, I promise."
"I know you will." He agreed with the same confident smile.
"Well, I won't hold you kids up anymore; I know you have a lot to do today. I'll call up security to let them know you're on your way."
"Ok, thanks again for everything." Danny said, his friends also saying their thanks to the kind man in front of them.
Mr. Rompik nodded his head and smiled at them. He walked the teens to the door were they had first met, "Danny, here's my card; give me a call or email me if you ever need anything; I really do wish you the best of luck in becoming an astronaut. Be sure to let me know when you apply, I'll put in a good word for you." the man stated, adding a wink to his last sentence.
"Oh you bet I will, Thanks a lot sir!" Danny said, happily accepting the small card from the man.
The teens waved good-bye as they said their last "thanks" to the man waving back at them from the doorway.
"Man! That was so cool! I'm not into all the astronaut stuff, but that was better then a theme park!"
"Yeah, it was" Danny agreed "Just the tour of the inside of the shuttle made my day, not to mention the training equipment we got to test out, talk about intense!" he exclaimed
"Ugh, I still feel like my heart and my stomach switched places on that deep space stimulator." Sam added, beginning to feel sick again just by remembering said experience.
"That's what's great about it!" Tucker beamed "Oh and that rocket you got; man! I can't believe he gave you that, that thing is worth millions!"
"I know I couldn't believe it myself; you didn't have anything to do with this, did you Sam?' Danny asked, giving his friend a questioning look.
"No, I didn't, I was just as shocked as you guys; you sure know how to make an impression on people Danny."
"You got that right Sam, but most of the time he makes the wrong one." Tucker teased, slapping Danny on the back while laughing at his own joke.
"I hope you realize I'm going to have to get you back for that Tuck." Danny stated, arching his eyebrow at his friend, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
Tucker chuckled and nervously fixed his hat. "Why don't we head to my house now" Tucker added, quickly jumping into the backseat of the jeep.
Danny smiled smugly at his friend's retreating form "Yep, works every time" Danny smugly smiled at Sam as she gave him an amused grin in return.
It was a little over noon when the trio arrived at Tucker's house. "Mom? Dad? Are you guys home?" Tucker called out, stepping into his house, his friends following behind him. "I guess they haven't returned from work." Tucker concluded, stepping into the kitchen and pulling out soda cans from his fridge.
"So what do guys want to do, after this?" inquired Danny as he accepted the canned drink from his male friend and sat down at the kitchen table.
"I say we head to your house Danny; your parents did say they wanted you home early." Sam Suggested, following her friend's action.
"Yeah, we can play that new video game you have, Complete Annihilation!" Tucker exclaimed, lifting his arms in the air, an excited smile overwhelming his face.
Sam rolled her eyes in response, not understanding how anyone could get so hyped over a video game "Alright" Danny nodded with a smile, amused at his friend's perkiness. "My mom should have lunch ready by now, we can eat over there."
"Sounds good." Sam said, getting up to put her can in the trash. Tucker was interrupted from responding when they heard shuffled movements and scratching coming from upstairs.
"What was that?" Danny asked, giving the stairs a confused look.
"I don't know" Sam said, faking confusion and smiling at Tucker behind Danny's back.
"You should check it out Danny; maybe it's a ghost." Tucker suggested while trying to sound serious, but barely managing it. Tucker and Sam's expression quickly hid any look of amusement as Danny turned his head to look at them.
"Tuck if it was a ghost, don't you think my ghost sense would have gone off?" Danny said, arching an eyebrow at his friend questionably. "Are you sure no ones home?" he added with the same expression playing on his face.
A loud thud from up stairs made all three teens switch their attention back to the stairs. "I'm sure" Tucker stated, cringing at the noise. "Oh man, that can't be good." He thought inwardly; as the same statement crossed through Sam's mind.
"Let's just go see what it is." Sam said as she pushed both boys toward the stairs. Climbing up the stairs the trio heard the scratching intensify as they got closer to the source. When they got upstairs they realized the noise was coming from Tucker's room.
"Oh no it got out of its cage!" Tucker thought warily, muffled growling now accompanying the scratching. "Go see what it is Danny" Tucker said as he gave his friend an encouraging push towards his bedroom door. "We'll be right behind you." He added with a smile. Danny turned to glare at him, before complying with his friend's command. Danny slowly turned the knob and pushed the door inward to reveal a full view of Tucker's bedroom. "Ah! My Room!" screamed Tucker, while the trio took in the sight before them.
The room was completely trashed; paper and what looked like pieces of metal littered the floor. His desk chair lay fallen on its side with Tucker's comforter wrapped around it. His pillows had been replaced by hundreds of feathers that had taken residence on his desk, bed, floor, fan, and even walls. The trio was brought out of their stupor from the now all too familiar scratching coming from under Tucker's bed. Danny slowly approached, while he noticed that Tucker's bed sheet were being slowly dragged under by the culprit of this mess.
"Ahhh!" came Danny startled scream as said bed sheet sprang out from under the bed, with a small lump hidden under them. Danny quickly grabbed the fabric and ripped it away revealing the lump to be a small brown eyed Dalmatian puppy. The dog happily yapped at the new distractions as it ran from one form to another before deciding Danny was the best choice, since he held his white cotton toy. "Um Tucker? There's a dog in your room." Danny slowly stated, looking at the puppy with a baffled expression.
"Happy Birthday?" Tucker meekly said as he surveyed his destroyed room. Danny's head spun so quickly to look at his male friend that any quicker and he would have had whiplash.
"What?" Danny questioned with wide eyes; wanting to make sure he heard right.
"Well…you said you've always wanted a dog….so I got you one." Tucker said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and shooting Danny a triumphant smile.
Danny blinked at his friend still not completely registering what he had just said. "Tucker" Danny stated, trying to comprehend what his friend had been thinking. "I know I've wanted a dog, but I think you forgot why I've never got one" Danny said in a serious tone, rubbing his forehead with his hand, attempting to retain his calm demeanor. "Tuck, my parents aren't going to let me keep her!" Danny exclaimed not able to hold in his frustration any longer
"Actually, it's a boy" Sam piped in, smiling confidently with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
Danny stared at them like they had lost their minds. "Tuck, I really appreciate you going out of your way to do this, but there is no way my parents will accept a dog, believe me I've tried for years." Danny stated sadly, crouching down to pet the excited puppy.
"You know Danny, sometimes you don't give me enough credit." Tucker added smugly as he looked down at his friend. Danny stared back at him in confusion. "Do you really think I would have spent so much effort in getting you this dog, without making sure you could keep it?" Tucker warmly smiled, shaking his head.
"You….asked them?" Danny stated in disbelief as he rose to his full height.
"Well Duh!" Tucker exclaimed as he rolled his eyes. "And so that we can get you pass your brain freeze, they said you could keep him."
"but what about.." Danny began to ask but was cut off by Tucker
"Already taken care of. Jazz said she would help you take care of him when you are out ghost hunting, so stop worrying so much and just pick out a name for him." Tucker stated in a light but strict tone as he made his way to the dog. "Here" Tucker said as he picked up the dog and handed it to the stunned hybrid.
Sam quietly watched the two boy's interaction, smirking at the stunned look on Danny's face. "Wow, he really wasn't expecting this." Sam thought with amusement as she walked over to the two boys.
Before she could say something to bring Danny back to reality, he came back on his own. "Hey Sam? Could you hold him for a Sec?" Sam agreed by taking the dog from Danny as Tucker and her gave him a bewildered look.
"Hey Tucker?" Danny called in a serious tone
"Yeah?" Tucker replied in a curious and baffled tone, wondering what had gotten into his friend. The next thing Tucker knew he was constricted in the same back-breaking hug he had given to Sam earlier. Danny happily said "Thank you" over and over again with a childish smile gleaming from his face. Sam laughed at Tucker's pain expression, while Danny hugged and playfully punched Tucker over and over, saying his gratitude in any way possible.
"Dude.. ok, you're welcome already." Tucker smiled as he docked another playful punch from Danny.
"I hate to break up such a lovely moment, but its getting late." Sam mockingly informed them, an amused smile showing on her face.
"heh… right" Danny added with an embarrassed smile as he realized how childish he must have looked. Sam smirked at Danny before handing the dog back to him, which he happily accepted.
Danny turned around and began to head for the door "look at you; you're so cute! Yes you are!" Danny cooed all the way down the stairs, while the dog in his arms happily yapped in agreement as he was swung from side to side in front of his new master's face.
Hearing and seeing Danny's actions, the two teens laughed warmly at each other as they followed behind the cooing teen. "Hey Tuck." Danny said without looking back "That was really cool of you to let the dog trash your room just to surprise me like that." Danny stated as he positioned the dog on his side to allow himself to open the door.
Tucker's face paled at Danny's word. "Ah!" He yelled as he ran up the stairs. "I forgot about my room!" Tucker's reaction caused a stun look to fall on the two remaining teens as they watched their friend's frantic retreating form. Their gaze fell on each other with an expression that said "What got into him?" before shrugging in a "no clue" way.
After helping Tucker salvage what remained of his room, the trio plus one, went off to Danny's house. Upon arriving Tucker grabbed Danny's model from the backseat since Danny's arms were occupied at the moment. "Jeffery you can go back home now, I'll be staying here the rest of the evening." Sam said
"Sure thing Miss, enjoy the rest of your day." He said, waving goodbye to the three teens.
"Hey Guys? Thanks again for doing all this for me; this really has been the best birthday ever." Danny smiled sincerely at his two friends.
"You don't have to thank us, we're your friends Danny, but I'm glad to hear you say that." Sam said with a warm smile.
"Yeah, what Sam said." Tucker agreed, smiling as he gave his male friend a playful punch on the shoulder.
Closing the door behind him Danny placed the Dalmatian on the floor were it happily ran around in circles. "Well this is weird." Danny stated in a confused tone "My house is never this quiet."
"SURPRISE!"
Danny jumped backwards from the sudden outburst, arching himself in a fight stance, his hand instinctively rising in front of him, palm up. "Happy Birthday Sweety!" Danny's mom said as she approached him, passing off his actions as a simple result of being alarmed.
"Danny!" Sam said urgently under her breath as she placed her hand on Danny's extended arm. Quickly he let it fall to his side, relaxing his body as he smiled and hugged his mom.
Looking over his mom's shoulder Danny realized that their were other people besides his parents and Jazz standing in the room. He quickly noticed that most of his out of state family members were there. His eyes locked in surprise to a specific person also in the room. "Valerie?" he thought with surprise as he received hugs from the rest of the people in the room. Catching his gaze she waved and smiled at him as she approached, but there was something in her previous look that he couldn't make out or it just made him too nervous to acknowledge it.
Danny was right of course; Valerie noticed his little stunt, being in battle often herself, she knew a fighting stance when she saw one. "What the heck got into him?" she thought curiously. "Wait…did his eyes just change colors?" Before she could ponder on this, she realized Danny was starring at her. Shaking it off as a trick of the light she waved and approached him with a gentle smile.
"Happy Birthday Dann", she said as she hugged him and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.
Sam seethed at the other girl's actions. "Sam!" Tucker squeaked in a pained tone "You're breaking my arm!" he whispered harshly. Sam sighed, releasing her grip on the boys arm "Sorry, Tucker" she apologized with a smile.
After bone crushing hugs, slobbery kisses, and "Oh, look how big you've gotten!" remarks, Danny was able to escape from his relatives. He spent most of his time relaxing and happily talking and joking with his three friends, out in the patio.
For the most part both girls forgot their differences and soon found themselves engaged in a conversation with the other two boys. "This really is one of the best days of my life" Danny thought happily, watching his closer friends relate to Valerie about what they did earlier. "And the best thing about it, no ghosts around."
After eating Jazz joined her little brother and his friends, deciding that it was more exciting then hearing some old fossils talk about what they did when they were younger. "So Danny what are you going to name your dog?" Jazz asked as she petted the puppy's head, currently sleeping on Danny's lap.
"I don't know Jazz, I've been thinking about it but I haven't thought of a name that suits him.
"Why don't you name him, Spot." Tucker suggested
"Spot?" Danny inquired with a weird look on his face. "Tucker, do you realized how lame that sounds…"
"Yeah, not to mention how totally unoriginal the name is." Sam added in an annoyed tone.
"Well I don't see you coming up with anything!" Tucker huffed as he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"What about "Matches"?" Jazz suggested
"hmm, it could work… It just doesn't seem to suit him…" Danny pondered, stroking the dog's fur.
"You know, it's just a dog Danny; you could name him Tucker and he won't know any better." Valerie added with a smirk.
"Hey!" Tucker protested.
"You know Val, you've got a point; Tucker did give him to me." Danny said, his face furrowing in a thinking expression as he smiled at the thought.
"What? No way man! You are not going to name your dog after me!"
Danny chuckled at his steaming friend. "Oh come one Tuck; you should be happy, your name is going to be passed on."
"Not to a Dog!" Tucker exclaimed.
All four teens laughed at Tucker's sour expression. Sam was laughing so hard her stomach was burning, "Could you imagine Danny yelling, Tucker stop peeing in my mom's roses!" Sam mocked, laughing harder. Everyone broke into a fit of laughter at her comment; even Tucker began to chuckle lightly at the mental picture.
The teen's laughter died down as they tried to regain their normal breathing. "Are you really going to name him Tucker?" Valerie asked a smile still planted on her face.
"Naw, I was getting Tucker back for a few that he owed me" Danny smiled as he placed the awaken pup on the ground.
"Well it doesn't have to be Tucker, you could name him TJ or something." Jazz said with a suggested smile
"TJ?" Danny asked with an inquiring expression.
"Yeah, it's short for Tucker Jr." His sister added brightly.
"Hmm.. "Danny replied as he thought about it. "TJ huh? It's not bad" Danny said "What do you guys think?" he asked his friends in front of him.
"Seriously it isn't that bad, just as long as you don't tell people that it's short for Tucker Jr." Sam smirked as she crossed her hands in front of her. Valerie and even Tucker also gave him a "why not" expression.
"Ok! TJ it is! Oh, and don't worry Tuck, his name's TJ not Tucker Jr, so you don't have to worry about me yelling "Tucker" out in the streets." Danny smiled. Tucker just rolled his eyes at Danny's mocking.
"Ow!" exclaimed Jazz as she grabbed her forehead.
"Jazz are you ok?" Danny asked, curious at her sister's strange out burst. Jazz nodded as she slowly opened her eyes and unclenched her teeth.
"I'm fine Danny; I've been having headaches all day." She said, her face expression returning to normal, but still continuing to rub her temple with her fingers. "It's probably from arguing with dad so much; his ghost obsession really drives me up the wall sometimes." She sighed, shaking her head in annoyance. "I'm going to go get some aspirins" she decided, standing up from her chair. "Make sure you come in soon Danny; it's almost time for you to open your gifts." She called back as she walked away.
Danny worriedly looked at his sister's retreating form. "Danny?" came Valerie's soft voice.
"It's fine Val, she just has a headache." Danny said, turning his head back to address his friend with what he hoped was a convincing smile. She seemed to fall for it, as her worried expression fell. His other friends however could read him like a book, but they also relaxed since Danny was right. It was just a headache.
"Thanks for the games Jazz." Danny smiled appreciatively at his sister who sat across the room.
"you're welcome little brother." She smiled back sweetly
"Ok, Son you can open mine next!" exclaimed Jack as he shoved a big wrapped box at his son.
"Thanks Dad" Danny said with a goofy smile on his face.
Opening it he realized it was several gifts wrapped together. Danny swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared at the items in the box. "T-Thanks Dad" Danny said nervously as he tried to quickly move to the next present he saw closest to him.
"Wait son, let me explain what each does. This gadget here is called the Fenton spectral eater." Jack beamed as he waved the miniature blaster in front of his son's perspiring face. "One blast from this baby and all a spook's spectral energy is sucked right out of it, leaving just an outer shell to study!" he exclaimed proudly
"Heh, that's great dad." Danny said meekly as he swayed around trying to avoid having the weapon aimed at his face.
"That is great! Mr. Fenton" Valerie added excitedly as she took the weapon from Jack's hands, intensely examining it.
Danny's face became as pale as …well a ghost. "Ok, my dad holding it is bad, but Valerie holding it is reeeaaally bad." He thought as he saw the evil look in the girl's eye as she continued to inspected the weapon
"This one here is The Fenton Ghost knock out", Jack continued, removing one of the three hand-size metal ball from the gift box. "All you do is throw it at a ghost and it releases shock waves that will knock any spook unconscious no matter how powerful! Now This one here.."
Jazz eyed her brother with a worried look, she plainly could see how scared and uncomfortable he was at the moment.
"Jazz?"
Jazz was brought out of her concerned thoughts as she heard her mother call her. "Yes, mom?" She asked, masking her expression into a happy one.
"Honey, can you go get the cake; we're going to be here forever if we don't find a way to get your father away from his inventions." She smiled with an amused look.
"Sure thing mom" Jazz said, getting up, mentally thanking her mom for giving her the distraction she needed to save her brother. Jazz quickly left to retrieve her brother's cake; looking for the paper plates, forks, etc.. ,she placed it all on top of the boxed in cake and hurried back to aid her brother. "Mom!" she said as she walked out with the things. "I think it's time to cut Danny's cake." She said, smiling at her mom.
"Jack dear, you can finish that later; we need Danny to cut the cake" Maddie said, smiling gently at her husband. Danny quickly jumped away from the two ghost hunters; giving Jazz a thankful look, his sister always knew how to help him out off tight situations.
Jazz smiled at him in return, but her smile vanished as she felt a bolt of pain explode within her brain. She gasped at the pain, the cake accidentally falling from her hands as she gripped her head. Leaning forward she scrunched her face and tightly shut her eyes trying anything to stop the pain threatening to split her head. She could barely hear the worried voices around her trying to ask her what was wrong as agonizing waves pounded her brain with increasing frequency and magnitude.
The torture became too great; she opened her mouth to scream but she couldn't hear anything coming out; her vision began to darken into a red hue, the blurry world around her slowly fading. When she thought her suffering couldn't get any worse she felt her lungs painfully constrict. Jazz grasped at her chest and throat desperately trying to force life giving oxygen down into her lungs, but her paralyzed lungs refused to take it in. The pain and fear she felt suddenly seem to stop as her body and brain became numb then in a flash she felt her strength leave her and she knew no more.
Danny couldn't comprehend what was happening, one minute Jazz was smiling at him then the next she doubled over in pain. "Jazz? Jazz!" he called, running to his sister's side.
"Princess, what's wrong?"
"Honey, answer us" Danny's parents pleaded as they rubbed their daughter's back, trying desperately to comfort her. For the Fenton Family what happened next felt like it went on for hours when in reality it occurred in a few minutes.
Jazz's pained voice echoed through the house. "Jazz!" Everyone screamed
"Jack call the ambulance their's something really wrong! Maddie screamed her voice thick with fear. "Danny Help me lay her down" his mom ordered. Danny's family members and friends watched in fear and eagerness, no one daring to move both from shock and because they knew they would just get in the way.
Danny rushed to grab Jazz's arms, but he couldn't get her to straiten her body from its hunched position. Jazz's screams stopped as she clawed desperately at her throat. "Mom! Mom! She can't breath!" Danny yelled as panic began to swell within him. One of Danny's uncles stepped in to help Maddie, but before they could lift her up, Jazz collapsed in Danny's and Maddie's arms.
"Jazz!" Maddie and Danny screamed as they saw her eyes roll back, her head following motion.
"Jack! Jack!" Came Maddie's frantic screams.
"Their on their way Maddie!" Jack exclaimed as he ran into the room only to halt in his tracks at finding his wife's trembling form on the floor, with an unconscious Jazz in her arms. "Princess?" he whispered in disbelief before regaining movement and ripping his way into the crowd of people worriedly gathered around the fallen form of Jazz. "Maddie? Maddie! What happened! Maddie! Answer me! Maddie turned to look at him fear overwhelming her every fiber. Seeing his wife's shock state he turned his attention back to Jazz "Jazz wake up, come on princess!" Jack's voice urged, trying to desperately hold in the panic that threaten to overwhelm him.
"D-Dad?" came Danny's barely audible voice "Dad? Is s-she going to be alright? J-Jazz is o-okay, Right?" Danny whispered desperately wishing that his father gave him the comfort he needed.
Not wanting his son to see his sister like this any longer, he decided to make him leave, for his son's sake and for his… "Danny go wait outside for the ambulance." Jack said in a serious tone as he saw Maddie snap out of her despair, deciding to check Jazz's pulse.
"…but.." Danny weakly said.
"Please son! Just…. Do this for us okay?" He said with a pleading look before returning his attention back to his daughter. "Maddie, she's not breathing." Jack nervously said to his wife.
"Give me some room; I'll do CPR." Maddie informed him.
"Danny!" his dad exclaimed in an angrier tone seeing that his son was still there.
"Come on Danny, we'll go wait with you." Sam intervened in a nervous yet comforting voice. She gave Danny's hand a squeeze, Tucker doing the same to his shoulder as he walked up to assist his female friend. Danny allowed his friends to lead him towards the door;
"J-Jazz" came Danny's soft voice as he looked back at his sister's stilled form disappearing from view.
"She'll be okay Danny" Valerie said with a confident tone.
Danny said nothing, his face wiped of any emotion. His vision glassed over as his eyes threatened to express his fear and worry physically. Looking up he could see and hear the loud sirens approaching his house but they barely registered in his mind, for it was consumed by a fear he had only felt once before… "Please be alright Jazz…" He mentally pleaded over and over again.
Chapter 1- Spiraling Emotions: Part 2
Maddie rode the ambulance to the hospital, wanting to stay with her only daughter as long as possible. Jack quickly thanked everyone for coming, receiving support and comforting words them, asking him to keep them informed of Jazz's state. Valerie also left because of how late it was getting, but she promised Danny she would stop by tomorrow as early as possible. Danny told his friends to go home as well but they refused to leave his side no matter how late it was and in Tucker's case no matter how afraid of hospitals he was. After informing their parents about what happened, the two teens left to the hospital with the two remaining members of the Fenton Family.
Maddie was drowned in her own thoughts as she saw the door open in the waiting room.
She felt depressed upon seeing it wasn't the doctor, but relieved to see her family walk in instead.
"Any news yet?" Jack asked his wife as he sat down beside her, rubbing her back in a comforting way.
"No" she answered, shaking her head and placing it on Jack's shoulder; he embraced his wife with one arm in return, trying to comfort her at such a difficult time.
Danny leaned on an available wall, refusing to sit down. He remained quiet as he focused his gaze on his feet, hands stuffed in his pocket. Sam and Tucker remained seated on the closest seats to Danny. Hours seem to pass once again, no one saying a word.
"Mrs. Fenton?" asked the doctor, stepping into the room.
Maddie and Jack were at his side in a flash. Danny's gaze quickly shifted to the man standing in the doorway, but remained in the same spot.
"How's our daughter?" Maddie asked, fear resurfacing again.
"Mrs. Fenton, it seems your daughter suffered a large drop in blood pressure. Her blood cell count was very low, fortunately she didn't suffer a heart attack or stroke, but we haven't been able to determine why her blood cells started dying so quickly, if we had not already ruled it out I would think she was suffering from internal bleeding or a serious injury, but like I said all test show it is not the case. Danny held his breath, trying with all his might to remain calm. Maddie trembled under Jack's supporting embrace. "Fortunately" the doctor quickly continued, "She didn't lose enough blood cells to require a blood transfusion, instead we have her on medication that will speed up her blood cell production. If everything goes as planned she will be able to go home in about a week, Sunday most likely" The doctor informed as everyone visibly relaxed at the news.
"Is she going to be alright?" Jack asked, hope filling his voice.
"As long as her body response to the medication and her body recovers from its lost then she should be okay, She might have a mild case of Anemia for a little while, but that can be remedied by a higher iron and vitamin intake, like I said we have not been able to determined what caused her sudden state, but we will continue to run test. Her blood pressure is slowly returning to normal, so I'm confident she will make a full recovery." The doctor finished with a hopeful smile.
"There is something I need to ask you." Maddie told the doctor, taking a breath before continuing. "Before my daughter lost consciousness she was in pain and I don't understand why. She kept gripping her head tightly, and then her throat like she couldn't breath; she stopped breathing!" Maddie exclaimed, not being able to hold in her distress as she recalled her daughter's earlier state. Jack squeezed her hand silently telling her to calm down.
"Those were also results of her rapid drop in blood cells. Our blood cells are in charge of circulating the oxygen they get from the lungs. A decrease in blood cells means a decrease in oxygen for the body, thus explaining her headaches. The lack of oxygen to her brain triggered a pain response, sort of a "call for help" from her brain if you will. Your daughter stopped breathing because her body was causing too much stress for her lungs, I'm sure before she collapsed she was feeling short of breath; her body kept forcing her lungs to take in more oxygen, because it kept thinking it wasn't getting enough. The stress and the lack of blood to her lungs caused them to constrict, in turn her body shut down since it was no longer getting its vital oxygen supply. Thankfully she was treated quickly avoiding any long term damage to her body.
We will keep monitoring her closely to make sure her body recovers from this ordeal. Unfortunately we still need to keep her in the emergency ward for observation, so only one of you may see her for a few minutes. Once her blood pressure rises to its normal rate, we'll transfer her to a patient room tomorrow. Now do you have anymore more questions for me?" The doctor asked kindly.
"No we don't; thank you so much for taking care of my daughter." Jack stated his face so serious, that the goofy and clumsy Jack could in no way be traced.
"It's my pleasure and don't worry she will be just fine." The doctor informed them, smiling at the two adults in front of him. "Now, who is coming with me to see her?" the doctor questioned
"You go Maddie, and give her a kiss for me." Jack smiled warmly. Maddie nodded, returning her husband's warm smile, as she walked out of the room with the doctor.
Throughout the doctor's speech Danny's gaze stayed glued on the man, his eyes barely blinking. The breath he was holding, gradually released from his lungs as he heard the doctor say Jazz was going to be okay. He suddenly felt very tired and decided to finally sit down, his friends splitting away to allow him to seat in the middle, so they both could comfort him. His eyes became heavy as all his repressed emotions turned into exhaustion, he refused to sleep however, not daring to close his eyes in fear of missing anything related to his sister, he was going to stay there until he could see her, nothing was going to remove him from that hospital.
Minutes later Maddie came back, her face a little brighter then before, but like Danny her exhaustion was evident. "Jack, why don't you take the kids home, their parents must be worried sick, and poor Danny is barely awake." Maddie asked, with a more relaxed smile.
"But Maddie, I can't leave you here alone." Jack responded, visibly worried.
"Honey, the kids really need to go home, I'll be fine by myself for a few minutes." She assured.
"Ok." Jack nodded, turning his gaze from Maddie to his son. "Danny, let's get you and your friends to bed, ok?" Jack asked in an encouraging voice. Danny just shook his head "No", his elbows and arms resting on his legs, while his hands dangled in between his knees. His expression and eyes were directed towards the floor, becoming masked behind his long messy hair.
"Honey" Maddie said sweetly, in a voice only a mother could pull off, walking over to her son. "You need to get some rest, Jazz is okay now, and you will get to see her tomorrow; please go with your father." She asked, stroking his black hair away from his face. Danny kept his gaze frozen to the floor, his expression blank, as if he wasn't even there.
"I'm staying." He announced loud enough for everyone to hear him. Maddie shot a worried look at her husband, silently asking him what to do.
Seeing that Danny's stubbornness was not going to be easily removed, his friends decided to pitch in some help. "Danny, there isn't anything you can do right now, you really need to get some rest plus TJ is by himself remember." Tucker reasoned calmly, rising from his seat. Danny said nothing but was considering his friend's words. "Tucker's right Danny, you don't want your room to end up like Tucker's do you?" Sam playfully added in hopes of lifting his spirit as she took hold of one of his hands to coax him to stand up. Finally looking up Danny gave them both a warm smile and gave Sam's hand a comforting squeeze before removing his hand from her hold.
"Listen guys, I know what you're trying to do, but I really need to be here, so please stop insisting." He said with pleading look "Tucker, please check up on TJ for me, ok?" Tucker gave him a sad smile, nodding his head. Sam let out a troubled sigh, knowing that they were not going to convince him this time.
"Ok, kids let's get you two home." Jack told them, giving his son a worried look before heading out the door.
"Danny.." His mom began, in a pleading tone.
"I'm staying" he said in a strict tone, leaving no room for argument. Maddie sighed and waved good-bye to the two teens and her husband. Tucker and Sam gave their friend one last worried look before exiting. Hearing the door close Danny resumed his slumped position, both son and mother remained quiet as they sat on opposite ends of the small room, not a sound could be heard besides the noises coming from outside the room. Maddie finally got up to sit next to her son, taking hold of his hand. Danny raised his dull eyes towards his mom's. Not needing words to express what both desperately needed, they embraced each other in a hug. "Jazz will be just fine Danny." She whispered softly to the shaking boy. He nodded his head, giving her a warm smile as they released each other. Maddie felt calmer as she saw Danny visibly relax, but his exhaustion was too great to hide; coaxing him a little she was able to get him to lay his head on her lap. Danny gladly accepted the comfort of his mom softly stroking his hair with her fingers, telling his self he wasn't going to fall asleep. Maddie quietly played with her son's hair, knowing that she would use the same tool when he was little to put him to sleep. She smiled to herself, as she saw her son fall asleep within a few minutes, happily thinking. "Oh Danny, you haven't changed one bit."
"Check" Vlad declared, moving his "Bishop" diagonally across the board to his left, threatening the rival "king" piece across. Skulker growled in his throat, clearly annoyed at the smug smile the man across from him was sending his way.
"Why do I even play this stupid game with you, you always win." Skulker bitterly replied, moving his "king" one square forward to remove it from the path of Vlad's "Bishop". Vlad chuckled at Skulker's words, still giving him a smug look and smile. "Hmm, I do, don't I?" he replied conceitedly. "The game, however, is not stupid, but the player who can not play it." He replied mockingly with a grin, raising his eyebrow in a challenging manner. Skulker rolled his eyes; the man's arrogance could be such a pain sometimes, but he was clearly too great of an ally to lose.
"I'm going to ignore that." Skulker stated, eyeing his pieces as he waited for Vlad's next move. Vlad chuckled once more, knowing perfectly well that the ghost would not dare challenge him, not that he would want him to, they both provided each other with benefits that neither would give up quite easily.
"Did you find what I need?" Vlad inquired, moving his left "Knight" in an "L" shape to his right, the piece falling on the same vertical line that his untouched "queen" continued to occupy.
"Yes I did and they will be coming right out of my personal collection." He replied, evilly smiling at the hybrid, before moving his furthest pawn to his left, forward one square.
"Alright, just have them ready by tomorrow; I'm sure Daniel will enjoy some company." Vlad stated, smiling evilly at his last comment while observing the Chess board in front of him.
"You know Masters, I really don't understand why you play this game with the brat, why don't you just waste him already; I'll gladly accept the whelp's leftovers." Skulker declared, his expression going from a questioning look to a predatory one. Vlad sighed, shaking his head at the ghost's one track mind.
"If I wanted to kill the boy, I would have done it a long time ago." He stated, matter-of-factly. "This "game" as you call it, is necessary to get him were I want him, Oh, and that's "Check" by the way" Vlad informed him, moving the same knight forward in an "L" shape to threaten Skulker's king once again.
"And were do you want him?" He inquired, moving his king diagonally to his left, one square.
"Really Skulker, do you expect me to divulge what I'm planning?" Vlad inquired smugly with a smile.
"Well after all the random jobs you have been sending me on, I can't help but ask." Skulker replied, shrugging his shoulders. Vlad laughed once again, nodding his head in agreement.
"Ok, I will tell you." Vlad replied, his face becoming serious, except for a small smile playing on his lips. "I want him here." Vlad said picking up his untouched queen and moving it diagonally to his left across to the furthest square possible. Skulker looked down at the board, realizing Vlad's queen was threatening his king, but to his dismay Vlad had caught off all his escape routes, not even his remaining pieces could save his king. "You see" Vlad continued "These little "jobs" I have been asking you to do are just my way of manipulating his moves, until I have him where I want him and once that's complete I'll have Daniel as trapped as your king." Vlad smiled evilly, knocking Skulker's king down. Skulker blinked at the chess board a couple of times before looking up at the man across from him.
"You know" he slowly began. "I think you have been playing this game too much." He declared, looking at the hybrid like he was crazy.
"And I think it's time for you to leave!" Vlad spat out venomously, glaring at the ghost across from him.
"Yes… well… I have some things to do" Skulker replied, getting up, and passing a hand through his fiery green hair. "I'll come back later tomorrow to let you know how everything went." He added quickly, before turning and flying through the wall. Vlad continued to glare daggers at the metallic ghost's retreating form as he left his living room through the wall that connected to his bottom stairs lab. Vlad looked down at the fallen king piece, chuckling softly at thoughts he only knew of, before standing up and exiting the room himself.
Danny ran to his sister as she collapsed to the ground unconscious. "Jazz!" he screamed as she fell to the floor. "Jazz? Jazz! Answer me!" Danny yelled, shaking his sister's body slightly, but getting no response. "Mom! Dad!" Danny yelled, looking around for them, but they were not there. "Help!" He screamed frantically to the empty room. Danny gasped as he turned his attention back to his sister, realizing Jazz was no longer there. "Jazz!" he yelled looking around frantically for her, but she was nowhere to be found, no one was there, he was all alone. "No" he said as he dropped to the floor shaking. "Danny" whispered a voice. He looked up from his fallen position, trying to locate the voice. "Danny" it whispered again.
"Honey, wake up" Danny snapped his eyes open, quickly sitting up, and staring around in confusion. "Danny, take it easy; we're at the hospital remember?" Maddie said, seeing the confusion in her son's face. Danny looked at his mom as yesterday's events came crashing back into his sleepy mind.
"How's Jazz?" he asked, looking at his mother expressionless.
"That's why I woke you up; the doctor came in and said Jazz's blood pressure is slowly returning to normal and she appears to be reacting well to the medication, they said they were going to transfer her to a room around noon." His mom explained, happily smiling at her son.
"I'm glad" he stated with a small smile. "Where's dad?" he asked
"Oh, he went to get some coffee" she responded, standing up and stretching.
"How long have I been asleep?" he asked with a slight frown, realizing that he had fallen asleep.
"Well, it's about 5:30 in the morning right now, so about five hours." she declared, smiling sweetly at him.
"Maddie, I got you vanilla flavored coffee." Jack said pushing the door open with his foot, as he came in with a cup holder containing three cups in one hand and a bag in the other. "Danny! You're awake" he announced almost sounding like his old self again. Danny nodded smiling softly at his father. "Here son I got you a donut and an Orange Juice" Jack said, handing said items to his son.
"Thanks dad, but I'm not hungry." he announced, smiling appreciatively at his father and setting the items on a small table in front of him. Maddie and Jack frowned at their son. "Now Danny, you need to eat something, we don't want you to get sick sweetie." Maddie said, worry evident in her tone. Danny's eyes visibly saddened at her last statement, quickly lowering his gaze to hide the emotion from his parents. Maddie and Jack, however, did notice his change in demeanor. Maddie sighed, quickly looking at Jack, before turning her attention to Danny.
"Danny, at least drink the juice… for me?" she pleaded sadly. Danny looked up at his mom, giving her a warm smile, before taking the juice from the table to drink it.
After a quick breakfast, the Fenton family remained quiet for the most part, except for a few comments between Jack and Maddie. Maddie looked at the clock then looked at her son. She really wanted to get him out of the hospital, but he kept refusing. She decided to try again, maybe with the recent news that she had given him on Jazz, he would be calm enough to go home for a little while. "Jack, we won't be able to see Jazz until noon; why don't you and Danny go freshen up; to pass some time?" Maddie suggested. Danny sighed, did he really have to go through this with his parents again. He wasn't leaving, not until Jazz left with him. He couldn't leave her, what if something happened in his absence, what if she needed him, what if…. No, he couldn't leave.
"Why don't both of you go, I'll stay." Danny suggested a sure smile on his face.
"Danny" Maddie began, becoming exasperated with her son's tenacity. "You won't be able to see Jazz until noon, what is the point of you staying here?" she asked, frustration edging in her voice. Danny said nothing, becoming frustrated himself with his mom's persistence. Maddie wasn't going to relinquish so easily, but before she could say something Jack placed his hand on hers, silently telling her to let him handle this.
"Son, you really don't want Jazz to see us like this do you?" he asked, pointing to his messy hair and wrinkled clothes. Danny looked down at himself, realizing that his dad was right, but it wasn't his untidy appearance that bothered him, but his physical appearance. Danny felt exhausted and stressed. He knew his sister would pick up on it and worry. "I can't let Jazz see me like this; I don't want to add anymore stress on her." He resolved in his mind.
"Alright" he declared with a small smile. Maddie and Jack blinked at their son, neither expecting such a quick turn around.
"Wow, it worked?" Jack asked himself. "Hmm, Jazz's psychology blather isn't as worthless as I thought." He thought proudly, as he smiled at his son. "Alright Maddie we'll be back soon" Jack announced kissing his wife's cheek.
"Jack, see to it that Danny get's some sleep before coming back, ok?" Maddie whispered, so that only her husband could hear her. Jack nodded before leaving the room, Danny following behind after giving his mom a small smile.
Danny walked into his room, looking at the clock "6:15" he thought, sitting down on his bed with a sigh. TJ happily barked at his master, wanting attention. Danny smiled sadly down at him before picking him up and putting him on the bed, rubbing his belly. Maybe after a quick nap and a cold shower, he wouldn't feel so drained. He felt so tired, physically and mentally. He decided to shower first, since sleeping wasn't too appealing to him at the moment, especially with the images of Jazz playing in his mind so vividly over and over again every time he held his eyes closed for more then a second. Danny stood up heading for his closet, his mind felt heavy from so many thoughts and emotions that he could not separate.
Danny made his way to the bathroom, directed only by his subconscious, since he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to focus on anything else. He closed the door, placing his clean clothes on the counter. He looked at himself in the mirror as if searching for something. "Why am I so afraid?" He whispered to himself, while looking at the mirror in hopes of receiving an answer. From all of his jumbled feelings fear was the only one he could make out. He was afraid, afraid that something could happen to his sister. The doctor told them she would be fine, but for some reason he couldn't believe that, maybe it was because he hadn't seen her yet, maybe after seeing her he would feel better, but why couldn't he believe that? He sighed sadly, turning away from the mirror and turning on the shower. How could this have happened? His mind questioned. Yesterday had been one of the happiest care-free days he had ever had since he got his ghost powers, but after what happened with Jazz, it turned into one of the worst.
He closed his eyes as the warm, moist droplets splashed his face. They felt so healing to his body and mind as they covered his entire form. His mind slowly began to unravel from all its mixed thoughts and emotions, they flooded his essence as the water did to his body and he slowly began to comprehend what he was repressing from even himself.
He glared down at his hands as the droplets spilled in between his fingers and gathered at his palms. "Why am I thinking about this now" he said in a reprimanding voice. He told himself he wouldn't let this mess with his head any longer after the constant nightmares and doubts that plagued him for so long after that horrible fight. He had buried all of this. But what happened to Jazz yesterday broke through the mental wall he had made. "Why?" he asked himself softly "because you haven't learned to survive without them." replied a small voice in his mind. Survive without them? After everything he had been through he still couldn't imagine a life without them, could he survive? Danny took in a trembling breath, as he stepped out of the shower. No he couldn't, He couldn't bare the thought of losing even one of them. That's when he realized what the fear he felt was.
It was fear of losing them, a fear that he had buried after witnessing it happen in his future, and almost happen in his present… Jazz's state resurfaced his worries.
Although he still had a thorn of fear in his mind of becoming evil, it was nothing compared to his fear of losing them. He was nothing without them; they were his sanity, his strength, His light, his….weakness.
"I can't lose them." He whispered to the empty room. "I won't lose them." He said in a louder voice filled with resolve. He would always be there to save them from danger, from anything that could harm them, but how could he fight sickness, nature? He couldn't and he felt so helpless, because the truth was he could lose them, he could lose Jazz and there was nothing he could do about it. Danny made his way back to his room, his expression troubled, he sighed and shook his head. "No" he told himself, closing his door behind him. "I'm not doing this again; Jazz is fine; …. I'm fine." He told himself sternly, his hands clenching on his side as his eyes matched his voice. He felt a wave of cold swell inside of him, becoming visible as it escaped his mouth. Danny gasped at the sensation; his mind forgetting its inner battle to take on the coming one outside.
"Is it so much ask to have some peace once in a while" He growled, before calling forth his powers deep within him.
"Danny?" came his dad's voice as he knocked softly before entering; Danny's mind panicked at seeing his dad entering his room, out of pure reflex he did the only thing he could, he disappeared. Jack walked into the room, frowning at not seeing his son. Jack walked further into the room as he looked around
"Son? Where did you go?" he said to what he thought was an empty room. His frown increased as he noticed that TJ was hiding under Danny's bed, whimpering. Danny held his breath, terrified that his dad would hear him; he quickly pushed back his nervousness to get out of the room before his dad thought he wasn't in the house. He flew through his floor before curving his flight, placing him at the bottom of the stairs. He quickly changed back and ran up the stairs.
"Dad, I'm right here" he called as he finished climbing the stairs. His dad stepped out of his room, an expression of relief on his face.
"Danny, what are you doing up, you need to get some rest before we leave." Jack gently asserted, placing his hand on Danny's shoulder. Danny nodded as his ghost sense went off again.
"I was getting a drink, but I'm going to bed now, ok?" Danny quickly stated, suppressing the shivers his ghost sense sent through his body.
"Ok, we will be leaving in about an hour." Jack smiled, removing his hand from his son's shoulder and heading to his room. "Oh, and check on your dog, he seems to be scared of something" His dad called back before closing the door to his room.
Danny hurried back into his room, closing the door behind him. He looked under the bed to find his dog huddled on the far corner. "I'm sorry buddy; you're going to have to get use to that." He chuckled as he patted the dog on the head to comfort him. Standing up, he picked up his extra pillow and stuffed it under the covers before turning off the light, leaving his room in complete darkness, since the sun hadn't come up yet. "Can never be too careful" he thought, as his room was momentarily engulfed in a bright light, before leaving behind the soft glow of his ghost form. He was going to fly through his window, before he remembered he needed the Fenton Thermos; he walked up to his dresser, turning his arm intangible, he reach through one of his drawers, before pulling his hand back out with the Thermos, he quickly strapped it to his back and flew off.
Danny flew around looking for the ghost that had dragged him outside at 6:30 in the morning, "that's stra-"
"EE-EE-EE!" came high pitch shrieks. Danny covered his ears; the sound reminding him of a shortened version of his ghostly wail, but only four octaves higher. The waves came at him, but to his surprise they didn't hurt, suddenly his body felt stiff, and he found himself falling from the sky, landing in a near by bush.
"Ow" Danny said as he hit the hard and thorny bush. The shrieking stopped; the ghost bat suddenly opened his mouth releasing a bright red blast right out of his mouth, towards the ghost boy.
Danny mentally screamed at his body to move from its spot, but it felt numb "What kind of attack is this?" he asked himself. Before he could think about it further the bat opened its mouth releasing a red, hot ecto-blast instead of the shrieks. Danny knew this one was meant to hurt him, he screamed at his body to move but it wouldn't "Move!" "Move!" he thought the blast getting closer "Move!" he screamed out loud, his body finally responding, but a little too late to escape the blast completely. The shock wave from the blast knocked him back into a near by car, causing a dent on the side door.
"That was too close for comfort." He said to his self getting up to blast the spectral bat. The bat gave out a shriek again in another direction. "What the heck is it doing?" he wondered. Then Danny noticed the bat was hovering in the air, shrieking around itself. "Bats use eco location to see" Danny remembered from his biology class. "It can't see me unless it touches me with those waves" He concluded from the bat's strange behavior. "Huh, who knew ghost bats used it too." He added as an after "thought", flying out of the way as the bat shrieked in his direction, the waves barely nipping his left foot. He felt his foot slump lifelessly for a few seconds. "I doubt a normal bat can do this though." He said frowning, trying to move his numb foot. Danny charged into the sky, blasting the bat from behind with an ectoplasmic energy blast. The bat tumbled through the sky from the blast. Danny used this to his advantage as he flew at the slightly dazed bat, thermos in hand "I think you'll find the thermos, just like home" Danny stated as he unscrewed the thermos and sucked the ghost in. "Well, that wasn't too bad" he said out loud as he wiggled his once numb foot.
"EE-EE-EE-EE!" Danny covered his ears, hearing the same shrieks again; he turned around and gasped in horror. Ten more of those ghost bats were heading his way. "Ok, now it's bad." He declared turning intangible and flying underground to avoid the various waves approaching him. He resurfaced, flying towards the park. He needed cover and trees would work perfectly. The bats followed by picking up the disturbances in the wind from his high speed flight. He forced himself to fly faster at seeing the park close, turning intangible at seeing the bats closing in. To his dismay, he could still feel it in his body that the bats were getting closer to him. "Great! Their freaky attack affects me even when I'm intangible" He thought angrily, flying down towards the trees, suddenly he felt his spectral tail numb over quickly spreading into the rest of his body.
"Ahhh!" he screamed falling like a rock towards the ground. He fell in between several trees getting slapped and pricked by various limbs before hitting the ground. He couldn't move, his body wouldn't respond. His arms and head seem to be the only thing the waves didn't touch. He could hear the bats shrill screams intensify around him. "There are too many of them." He said with a grunt as he dragged his body closer to the trees for cover. He kept hearing the ghostly bats' call, which was giving him a headache. He sighed in relief that they couldn't locate him in between the trees.
He felt his body movements slowly come back, until he was able to hover to his feet. "Ok, I've had enough of this" he said, as he flew in between the trees. He looked up and noticed the bats were flying near each other. Danny grunted; there was no way he was going to get rid of them if they didn't separate. He needed cover, but it wasn't like he could hold a tree over his head as he flew at them. "But I could definitely hold a shield." He told himself, a clever smile forming on his lips. Danny created a circular shield around himself hoping it would work.
The bats shrieks came in his direction hitting the shield; he happily realized he wasn't affected by them, but now they knew were he was. Danny drew the shield closer to him as he curled his body inside of it turning the shield into condensed spectral energy before releasing it back out in every direction. The blast pushed all the bats in several directions giving him the window he needed. He fired a blast at each of the three bats that were the closest to his location, sending them hurling to the ground with thud. He quickly dove towards them as he opened the thermos a wave of white energy sucking them in as Danny neared the injured ghosts. He flew through the trees to avoid getting hit with the paralyzing waves as he heard other bats approaching. Danny reemerged from his cover catching two unsuspecting bats from behind with the thermos. "5 down 5 to go" he stated proudly as he flew back down towards the trees, resurfacing again to blast the unsuspecting bats. He kept this up as he flew up and down, never stopping his movements so that he could not be detected. He managed to catch two more through this strategy, before his luck ran out. The last three remaining bats opted to take the offense. Instead of trying to locate the pest that was attacking them, the bats began to blast red energy from their mouths in every direction.
"Whoa!"
"Yipe!"
Danny cried as the hot blast nearly collided with him. Danny flew up into the sky blasting two of the bats away with his own blast, but he wasn't quick enough to fire on the third. "Ahhh!" Danny screamed as the red ecto-blast hit him full force in the chest making him fall from the sky and then through several trees. Danny grunted in pain as he stood up, only to drop to his knees at the pain in his chest. Danny hissed in pain as he brought a hand up to his chest, holding it there to ease the pain. After a few seconds he slowly and painfully got to his feet.
"Wow, big things do come in small packages" He declared in a painful voice. Pushing down the hot throbbing feeling in his chest as he flew upwards, straight through the trees, blasting the first bat he saw sending it tumbling through the sky. Danny made another shield in front of him stopping blasts from the two remaining bats in front of him. He quickly lowered the shield pushing as much energy into his two hands before firing twin green energy blast towards the two bats. In one quick motion he grabbed the thermos sending the two bats to join their friends. Danny gasped, hearing the last bat's shrieks behind him. Spinning around he instinctively brought up a shield to block the assault. Danny gritted his teeth as the waves hit the shield. He had already wasted a lot of energy from his constant movements and attacks; he didn't know how long he could keep this up.
At finding his opponent, the bat changed its assault to red blast. Danny grunted feeling the shield giving in to the bats constant bombardment. "Alright bat but you're going with me." Danny hissed feeling this shield shatter. Danny immediately fired a blast of his own pushing as much energy into it as he could into it; simultaneously getting hit with the bats attack. Both opponents hurled towards the ground. Danny felt his powers escape him reverting him back to his human mode as the ground got closer by the second. This time their wasn't any painful tree branches to break his fall and even if there were he was too high up for that to help him. Danny closed his eyes, frantically trying to make his body respond before he collided with the earth below. He dug into his mind forcing it to bring his powers to life. Danny mustered all his remaining energy as the twin halos engulfed his body saving him from gravity's deadly pull. He was able to slow down his descend but not enough to avoid the ground completely. He hit the ground with a roll as he slid to a stop. "That was painful" he thought lying on the ground, before remembering the last bat was still loose. He gasped as he rolled over, to lift himself to his feet. He let out a relieved sigh at seeing the unconscious form of the spectral bat. He slowly and painfully walked towards it, before trapping it in the thermos. Danny sat down with a small thud to rest for a few seconds, feeling lucky he was still conscious from so much us of his energy. He looked up at the foggy sky, the morning sun…
Wait…Sun?
"Oh no!" he stated out loud, "I've been gone for more then an hour!" he said as he pushed back his exhaustion and pushed himself skyward, flying as quickly as he could to his house. His flight was nothing close to graceful, losing altitude every so often, his body swaying in the air clearly showing his exhaustion. He flew invisibly through his window and to his relief no one was in the room. He sighed turning visible only to be startled by a loud yelp.
"TJ! Relax it's just me!" he whispered harshly, reverting back to his human form. The dog curiously looked at his master as he threw himself on his bed. Danny closed his eyes feeling more exhausted then ever. He did not even realize TJ was licking his fingers on his left hand that was hanging off the bed. He stayed in this spot for a few minutes, feeling sore all over from his injuries. It didn't worry him too much since his ghost powers helped him heal quicker then an average person. Suddenly he heard a knock on his door.
"Danny? Are you awake?"
Danny snapped his eyes open, sitting quickly upright. He ignored his body's protest at the rough movement as he leapt over his bed, to prevent his dad from entering. "
Dad! Don't come in! Yes I'm awake but I'm changing, soo.."
"No problem son" Jack interrupted, "Just hurry down." He said as he moved away from the door.
"Ok" Danny said, sighing as he leaned his head against the closed door. Danny picked up his phone from his dresser, catching his refection in the mirror "Yikes" he said, turning intangible as he headed out of his room, leaving behind a small pile of leaves, twigs, and dirt on the floor as he let his dog out and closed his door behind him.
"Danny!" Sam said as she entered the waiting room, dragging a frightened Tucker behind her.
"Guys? Wow you're here early" Danny said with a smile, surprise in his expression.
"Duh dude we said we would be back early today remember?" Tucker responded as the trio took a seat.
"Your mom told me Jazz is doing better." Sam said, as she smiled softly at Danny. Danny smiled back nodding his head. "Yea, but we won't be able to see her until noon." Danny said sadly.
"Don't worry dude, Jazz will be back to herself in no time, your mom was allowed in a little while ago and she said Jazz looks a lot better." Tucker added, giving him a comforting smile. Danny nodded at them with a smile.
"Thanks gu-"
Danny was interrupted by his icy ghost sense releasing from his mouth. "No" he stated his eyes going wide.
"A ghost here?" Tucker whispered.
"Guys I didn't bring the thermos" Danny whispered as he looked around.
"Come on" Sam whispered. "Mrs. Fenton, we are going to head to the cafeteria Danny is going to get something to eat." Sam said sweetly.
"Of Course dear, I'm glad to hear that." Maddie said happily. Danny nodded in agreement before leaving the room with Sam and Tucker behind him.
"I don't see anything" Tucker stated. Danny's ghost sense went off again. "There's a storage closet, we'll cover you." Tucker said pointing at the small room. Danny ran in and changed into his ghost form, becoming intangible and invisible before leaving the room.
Danny flew back to his friends, "Hang on, I think it's below us." he said as he grabbed Tucker and Sam by an arm and phased them through the floor. Making sure no one was in sight he set them down, making them visible again. "Come on guys, I think it's over here." Danny said as he flew in front of them. Danny and his friends made their way towards the end of the hall, turning the corner they found what they were looking for. Floating in the middle of the next hall was a circular spiky ghost with no real form. "What the heck is that suppose to be?" Danny quietly told his friends.
"More importantly why is it just floating there?" Tucker responded.
"I don't know, but this would have been a lot easier if I had the thermos." Danny stated with a sigh. "I need to get it out of here before someone sees it. Meet me outside." He said, before flying straight towards the ghost. Danny turned intangible and invisible, doing the same to the ghost by grabbing hold of it and flying straight up and out of the hospital. The ghost blob growled at the hybrid for removing it from its hiding space. It freed itself from Danny's grip, taking off into the sky. "Well this is new." Danny said, at seeing the ghost fleeing instead of attacking him. Danny chased after it more out of curiosity then anything else. He sped up as he got closer to the ghost. "Wait" Danny called after the ghost who seemed to be terrified of him as if he was going to eat him or something. Danny finally got close enough to grab hold of the ghost.
"Gahhh!" Danny screamed as he quickly let go of the ghost. He looked down at his hands, gasping as he saw large, thin, green quills penetrating his hands, and every part of this body that came in contact with the ghost. The ghost quickly expanded like a puffer fish, releasing more sharp quills in Danny's direction.
"Whoa!" Danny yelled as he raised his arms in front of his face, becoming intangible. Danny sighed in relief as the quills passed right through him, but to his dismay the quills that had penetrated his skin from tackling the ghost when he was tangible, where still attached. Danny looked around but he didn't see the spiky ghost anywhere. He sighed as he descended back down, were he saw his friends waiting.
"Danny! What happened?" Sam called as she ran to his side, with Tucker on her heel. Danny winced as he removed another quill from his body.
"It-"
"Ouch-"
"got-"
"gasp-"
"away"
Tucker and Sam winced at seeing Danny covered with green sharp quills.
"Geez Danny, are you sure it wasn't a cactus." She commented, wincing as Danny removed another quill.
"You're not helping Sam" Danny hissed as he removed one from his leg.
"Why don't you just go intangible?" Tucker suggested
"Tuck, don't you think I already tried, they won't come off!" Danny replied in a frustrated and pained voice. "You know, you guys could help at anytime." Danny continued in the same tone of voice at seeing his friends just staring at him.
"Ok, calm down" Sam said, as she made her way over to him and began to pull out the quills. Tucker hesitated, but complied when he saw the glares his friends were sending him.
"Ouch!"
"Take it easy!"
"Ah!"
"Would you hold still!"
"Yipe! Tucker!"
"Opps!"
Danny sat in a chair, as he hissed inwardly "Stupid ghost!" he thought madly.
"Danny, maybe we should get you some medication for that rash." His mom suggested, looking at her son's pink, swollen arms and legs.
"I'm fine mom; I just ate something that I'm apparently allergic to." Danny reassured, holding back a pained groan. "So much for not making Jazz worried" he thought annoyed with himself for being so careless. Three teens and two adults sat in the waiting room having various conversations here and there. Valerie stopped by like she promised to see how Jazz was doing, but wasn't able to stay too long because she had to work.
It was eleven when the doctor came in and interrupted the small chattering.
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I came to inform you that Jazz has reacted quicker to the medication then we anticipated. Her blood pressure is back to normal and she is doing a lot better. Her recent blood test, worry me however." the doctor said with a concerned look. Everyone's heart began to beat a little faster at the doctor's words. "She still is showing an abnormal number of blood cell deaths. Her body has been able to balance out the lost by producing more of them, but it just isn't normal and we have no idea what is causing it." The doctor stated with a frown. "It isn't life threatening as long as this abnormality doesn't increase further, but I wanted to make you aware of the situation. I'm hopeful her illness is just temporary and her body returns to normal." The doctor told them. "Because of her fast recovery, I allowed her to be transferred to a patient room earlier. The room is on the eleventh floor, room 1126; she should be there by the time you arrive." The doctor smiled before leaving the room.
"Oh honey, we can go see our baby!" Maddie exclaimed as Jack hugged her with the same excitement. Danny smiled at their exchange, his eyes regaining some of their natural glow at the news.
"Mom!" Jazz exclaimed as she saw her family enter the room with various get well gifts.
Jazz had seen her mom for short periods of time, but she was too drowsy to acknowledge her.
"Honey, you're awake!" her mom exclaimed as she made her way over to her daughter, giving her a gentle hug.
"Jazzy-pants! I'm so glad to see you're alright." His dad happily said as he went up to her daughter and gave her a hug so carefully that it was hard to believe the man hugging her was really Jack Fenton
"I'm glad to see you, Daddy." Jazz replied as she embraced her dad. Jazz looked over at her brother who was staring at her with a warm smile. Jazz returned the smile as she looked back at him, quickly wondering why he was all pink except for his face.
"Well, aren't you going to say hi to me too Danny?" she asked a playful pout playing on her face. Danny nodded as he walked over to her sister; he looked down at her with a sad smile before leaning down and embracing her strongly, yet delicately. Jazz frowned at feeling her brother tremble in her arms, "Danny I'm fine" she whispered, so only he could hear her. Danny nodded on her shoulder not wanting to let go. He felt so light headed from forcing down so many emotions that wanted to explode within him, upon hearing her words. Too soon, they let go, giving each other warm smiles as their parents smiled at each other at seeing how strong their kid's bond was. Tucker and Sam greeted Jazz as well, before she laid back down from her sitting position. She still felt weak and a little out of breath, but it was nothing compared too yesterday.
Her family and Danny's friends sat down at various chairs in the room. They all encouraged her to sleep, which she gladly accepted. Everyone felt like a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders at seeing Jazz was okay. Although she was really pale and weak, she looked so much better. Danny watched his sister's sleeping form, with a warm smile on his face. Jazz was going to be fine, which meant he was too.
"Dude, you look horrible" Tucker commented, as the trio made their way to the Hospital's cafeteria.
"Well considering I have been getting barely four hours of sleep and these stupid ghosts keep stalking me, what do you expect!" Danny responded, as he glared at Tucker. "Danny relax, you know he didn't mean anything by it." Sam calmly intervened.
Danny gave a sigh, "I know" he replied as he looked down at his feet and then back at Tucker. "I'm sorry Tuck, it's just everywhere I go lately, there is always some weird ghost popping up and it's wiping me out!" Danny said with frustration edging his voice. "Yea, they have been pretty strange." Sam agreed, thinking back on the ghost Danny had been fighting lately.
"Well, look on the bright side; at least Jazz is finally leaving the hospital today so it will be less for you to worry about and I don't have to come here anymore!" Tucker said happily, as he served himself steak and mash potatoes.
"Yea" Danny nodded with a happy smile on his face getting the same food as Tucker. Tucker and Danny went to pay for their food while Sam finished getting her salad.
The trio sat down as they talked about school. Danny had missed the first two days since Jazz got sick so he was a little behind. "I'm so glad this week is over" Danny said with a relieved sigh, knowing that after today some of this nightmare would be over. "Unfortunately tomorrow is Monday and I didn't have time to study for Lancer's stupid test!" he said becoming frustrated once again.
"I know this week has been hectic for you Danny, but I'm sure it will get better." Sam said reassuringly.
"Yea dude; things couldn't get any worse." Tucker added with a smile. Danny glared at him.
"Tucker don't say that." He scolded, resuming playing with his food instead of eating it. Tucker gave him an apologizing look, as he smiled nervously. Sam quickly changed the topic at feeling the tension Danny was giving off.
"So how's TJ?" she asked with a smile
After lunch, the trio made their way back to Jazz's room, not wanting to leave her alone for so long since Maddie and Jack had gone home to rest and get everything ready for Jazz before it was time for her to come home. When Danny and his friends entered the room she was receiving her lunch from a hospital volunteer.
"Hey Jazz, we're back." Danny said as he took a seat next to Jazz's bed.
"Hey Danny, did you eat?" Jazz asked her brother as she sat up to eat herself. Danny nodded at her, standing up to help her move the small table with her food in front of her. Jazz gave Sam and Tucker a questioning look, as Danny moved the table. The two friends knowing what she was asking mouthed "Just a little."
Jazz sighed, knowing her brother wasn't eating right lately. "Danny, are you, okay?" Jazz asked as she opened her Apple Juice.
"I'm fine, why do you ask?" He replied, tilting his head slightly and giving her a confident smile.
"Hmm, I don't know, maybe it's because you look like you haven't slept in days and you are barely eating." She said, matter-of-factly.
"Really Jazz, I'm fine. Ghost activity has just been a little high." He assured her, making it sound like it wasn't a big deal. Jazz was about to respond, but was cut off by Danny gasping as his ghost sense went off.
"Just a little?" Jazz questioned, folding her arms in front of her and frowning at her brother.
Danny smiled nervously, "Yea, not a big deal; I'll be right back." He said as he transformed and flew out her window. Jazz sighed, looking at her brother leave the room. She turned around and glared at the two teens left. "Ok you two, talk." She commanded crossing her arms in front of her once more. The two teens cringed at her tone, knowing quite well that they were not going to get out of this one.
Danny looked around not finding any ghost in sight. "Uh! Can't these stupid ghosts leave me alone for two minutes!" he yelled angrily, his frustration flaring once again.
"A little edgy, aren't we Daniel?" Danny gasped knowing the voice all too well. He spun around, finding none other then Vlad Plasmius, giving him his usually smug look as he floated with his arms folded across his chest.
"Plasmius." Danny spat out venomously, his eyes glowing a little more then normal as his hands took on the same green glow. Vlad chuckled at the boy's reaction to his presence, the young hybrid was really good at masking his fear into aggression, but he could see right through it.
"Oh come now Daniel, I just want to have a nice chat with you." Vlad replied.
"Talk? I doubt it" Danny said, firing two ecto-blast at Plasmius before the man could gain any advantage over him. Vlad arched an eyebrow at the attack, becoming intangible at the last second; the twin blast passing through him harmlessly.
"That was pathetic Daniel, were you even trying to hit me?' he taunted. Danny growled as he lunged at Plasmius, realizing too late that he wasn't planning on moving,
"Wait, something's wrong?" he thought before he felt a blast hit him in the back,
"Ahh!" he yelled as he fell from the sky, trying with all his might to regain flight but couldn't, suddenly Danny felt something grab him by the collar of his jumpsuit stopping his fall abruptly.
"Hello ghost child" came a haunting voice. Danny looked up his vision spinning slightly. "Skulker?" he questioned clearly surprised, coughing at the abuse his throat had just received. He mentally berated himself for not realizing another ghost had to be around since Plasmius never sets off his ghost sense. Danny growled ready to attack the ghost holding him, but quickly realized he could barely move. He gasped as he looked down, seeing glowing green bonds strapped around his hands and feet.
"Let me go!" he yelled struggling against the bonds.
"Don't waste your energy my boy; Skulker made those especially for you." Plasmius responded as he flew down to where Skulker and Danny were floating.
"That I did whelp; but you already had the privilege of wearing them before." Skulker said; his grin nothing short of predatory.
Danny glared back at Plasmius, knowing at the moment he was the greater threat. "I'm not in the mood for your games Plasmius!" he yelled, wishing he could blast the smirk out of his face.
"Yes, I'm sure having your dear sister ill, has you a little unstable hmm?" Vlad smirked, carefully taking in the boy's reaction to his words. Danny's eyes widen at his comment, a bad feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. He knew that the older hybrid never brought things up without a reason behind it.
"How do you know about Jazz?" he asked warily, his heart rate increasing slightly at what the answer could be.
"Don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet? Vlad replied in a condescending voice, his eyebrow arching. "Oh that's right, I forgot; your small teen mind can not comprehend anything without it slapping you in the face first" he ended, mockingly. Danny's fear and irritation exploded, completely ignoring the older man's insults.
"Just tell me!" Danny yelled aggressively, trying to summon an ecto-blast, forgetting the bonds canceled out his powers.
Vlad chuckled, a sinister expression on his face. "Why don't I show you instead?' he replied, before gesturing to Skulker to follow. Vlad willed himself invisible as he flew up approaching the large hospital in front of him, Skulker followed suit, masking himself and Danny invisible as well.
"Wha-" Danny began, realizing they were right in front of Jazz's room window.
"Hush Daniel, you might want to pay close attention to this." Vlad remarked, his attention going to the people inside the window.
"Activate BS-NB-3501 by 50 percent" Vlad commanded into a device strapped to his wrist. Danny looked at the older hybrid warily, he didn't like where this was heading. He vaguely remembered hearing that name at Axion labs in his recent fight with Skulker. Danny's attention returned to the window, his heart rate faster then normal.
"So, he hasn't told you guys anything." Jazz questioned warily as she sat on her bed.
"No, he hasn't, he has been very distant lately." Sam replied with the same worried tone.
"Yea, He barely even acknowledged Dash yesterday when he threw him in his locker." Tucker added. The four teens became silent, each thinking their own thoughts about Danny
"I think he's just tired from all the ghost activity lately, I mean he has to be when the box ghost caught him off guard at the park yesterday!" Tucker exclaimed, ending the silence
"I don't know what's going on lately" Sam continued with the same concerned tone. "We have been helping as often as we can but we can only do so much; plus with you falling sick… well it just adds more things for him to deal with. Sam said sympathetically
"I know it has, but-"
Jazz abruptly stopped, forgetting what she was going to say, suddenly feeling lightheaded and out of breath.
"Jazz?" Sam and Tucker asked fearfully, standing up slowly at seeing the color in her face disappear.
"I-"
She began, but couldn't say anymore as she was overwhelmed by a familiar pain; she fell back on her bed hyperventilating.
"Tucker! Get someone in here!" Sam yelled running over to Jazz who was doubled over on the bed. Tucker wasted no time, running out the door.
"Hold on Jazz." Sam said nervously, pushing the assistance button on the bed not knowing what else to do.
Danny noticed that Jazz and his friends looked worried. "They're probably talking about me." He thought dryly. His sister would never waste an opportunity to talk about him to his friends, she always pictured things worse then they really were when it came to him. Danny's mental thoughts were brought to a hold as he observed his friends and sister curiously; it seemed that they were alarmed by something; could they see him?
No, that wasn't it Sam and Tucker were looking at Jazz. Danny felt like his heart stopped, suddenly seeing his sister double over on the bed, and Tucker run out the room.
"Jazz!" Danny screamed, fighting desperately against the bonds to get to her but they didn't even move an inch. Skulker's grip got tighter as he pulled the struggling ghost boy away from the window, becoming visible once again. "Let go!" "Let me Go!" he yelled over and over, his paranoia increasing by the second.
"My, those bloodstream nanobots work quickly." Vlad commented becoming visible himself as he moved away from the window, smiling sinisterly at the struggling boy. Danny stopped his struggle, his eyes going wide at Vlad's statement.
"Nanobots? But how-"
"Don't tell me you forgot the nanobots I inserted in Jasmine the day I made her use the ecto-suit against you?" Vlad questioned, his eyebrow raised.
Danny's mouth gaped open, clearly shocked at what Vlad had said. His shock however quickly changed into anger
"The remote was destroyed! Those things were destroyed!" he yelled back, not wanting to believe what the man was saying. Vlad laughed at Danny's absurd comeback.
"Oh dear boy that inconvenience is remedied with a few thousand dollars and as for the nanobots…Well as you can see that was not the case" He replied his laugh falling into a self-satisfied smile.
"You should have kept her out of this Daniel, now she has become another asset I can use against you." He stated, his smile disappearing into a dangerous expression. Danny glared at the older hybrid, his breathing becoming as fast as if he was running. Danny knew that there was more to this then he was telling him, but at the moment all he could think about was getting to Jazz.
Danny growled, his emotions once again threatening to overwhelm him as he struggled against the bonds "Let me go Plasmius!; let me go! He yelled; furry overwhelming his entire body.
"We haven't finished Daniel" Vlad replied calmly, ignoring the young teen's demand.
"I don't care what you have to say!" He spat out, struggling so hard against his restraints that Skulker was having trouble holding on to the young ghost.
"Let go! Plasmius!" ...Jazz sh-"
Danny's demand died down as his voice constricted, his breathing was quick and ragged. He could feel his anger dissipating, revealing fear and desperation, his body trembling from the emotions.
Skulker laughed feeling the teen shake in his grip. "What's a matter whelp, can't you escape?" he taunted mockingly.
"Please…, let me go." Danny whispered without meeting the Vlad's gaze; not caring that he sounded pathetic at the moment. Vlad raised an eyebrow at Danny's slump form and his pleading voice, reminding him of nothing more then a frightened child. For a nanosecond Vlad felt something tug at his heart, but quickly pushed it back.
"Very well, we will continue this chat at another time" He said, gesturing at Skulker to release the boy. Skulker growled at having to let go of his quarry, but did so without hesitation. Danny didn't give neither villain a second glance as he flew down and found a place to change back, running towards the hospital entrance. Danny felt a chilling presence approach him that made him shiver even more.
"Daniel? Let's keep this to ourselves, hmm.." came a voice in his ear before he felt the chilling presence leave him.
Danny ran into the hospital building like there was a fire, startling people on his way to his sister's room. When he got there he saw several staff members frantically moving around, he could hear the doctor giving orders.
"Jazz!" he screamed, holding down the increasing temptation to turn intangible to get to her.
"Danny!" he heard his friends' voices come over all the noise in the building. Danny ran in their direction on the opposite side of his sister's room, Tucker and Sam doing the same.
"How is she Tucker! Tell me she's okay!" Danny yelled, grabbing Tucker by the front of his shirt, shaking him slightly.
"Danny calm down!" Sam pleaded, Tucker too shock by his friend's action to do anything but stare at him.
Danny sighed letting go of Tucker, "How is she?" he whispered, his eyes pleading at his friends.
"H-How did you-" Tucker began to ask,
"It doesn't matter!" he screamed in frustration.
"w-we don't know." Sam continued her tone unsure for once. "They just said they were going to move her into ICU; but they are still in there and-"
Sam didn't finished, seeing her worried friend run towards Jazz's room. Danny began to push his way around people before he was stopped by his sister's unconscious form lying on her bed, being strolled out of the room. Danny felt something shatter within him, as he looked at his sister's pale and fragile form wearing an oxygen mask which a nurse was pumping slowly. Jazz looked-
He closed his eyes, feeling very dizzy and sick.
"Young man, you need to get out of the way." came a lady's voice. Danny opened his eyes, as he was moved out of the way by a blond nurse.
"s-she's my s-sister." Danny replied, softly.
"Stephanie he's a relative, explain to him what's happening while I get her to ICU" Jazz's doctor called back, continuing his rushed exit, other staff following him.
"Come with me dear, you need to sit down." The nurse gently said at seeing how pale the boy was, Danny allowed her to lead him to a near by seat, too distraught to do anything else. Sam and Tucker ran to his side, explaining to the nurse that they were close friends of his.
"Listen honey, your sister suffered a relapse; do you know where your parents are?" she asked gently. Danny didn't say anything, his mind haunting him with his sister's unconscious pale face. "I ask you this because your sister needs a blood transfusion and because she is a minor we can not proceed until we get an approval" she continued more urgently. Danny's breathing became heavier, feeing even more sick and dizzy. The nurse gestured something to another nurse, who nodded and quickly went into a room.
"His parent's went home for a little while; they said they would be back soon." Sam answered for him
"We already called, but no one is answering." She replied with a sad frown. The second nurse came back with an orange juice.
"Here sweetie, drink this." She said handing it to Danny. They were interrupted by another voice approaching them.
"Danny what's going on?" his mom asked warily at seeing so many people huddled around him. The second he saw his parents Danny felt panic rise inside of him. His mind could no longer hide from the truth to protect itself, Jazz was dying. His breathing became even more rapid, almost hyperventilating.
"No" came Danny's broken voice as he brought his hands to his face, embracing his desperation. The nurse known as Stephanie went to address the older Fentons', relating to them the distressing news and what needed to be done. Danny heard his mom's shouts, before they broke into sobs, his father's soon following. Danny had never heard them cry like this, especially not his dad, and he knew who was responsible. Danny's mind shattered as he sobbed quietly into his hands, his breathing hyperventilated.
"Danny? Please calm down." Sam's broken voice pleaded, squatting down to his level, trying to fight the tears welling up in her eyes from seeing her friend in so much pain. Tucker was also at his side giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze, his voice thick at seeing his strong friend breaking down in front of them for the first time in his life. Danny felt very lightheaded as his mind began to spin; his vision was blurry from the tears pouring out of his eyes, his breathing rapid.
"Mrs. Fenton, I really think you should come look at Danny" Tucker stated warily at seeing his friend's pale face hidden behind his pale hands. Before either friend could react, Danny's body limped, falling on Sam who was kneeling in front of him.
"Danny!" Sam and Tucker screamed at his friend's unconscious form. The older Fenton's rushed over upon hearing the teen's shout.
"Danny!" his parents screamed, Maddie falling to the floor next to her son's body. "Danny!" she screamed shaking him a little.
"Stacy, call Doctor Roberts he's in shock." Maddie heard the nurses say behind her. Jack picked up his son, placing him on the bed the nurses had just rolled in. Jack was in so much grief at the moment that all he could do was stare after his son as he was taken away. Maddie hugged her husband, something was wrong with both of her kids and all she could do was wait. Sam and Tucker were in a similar position, as they both hugged each other for comfort. A week that had started out so wonderful had now become nothing short of tragic.
Danny slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurry. Blinking a couple times, the hospital room slowly came into focus; Danny looked down noticing he had an IV on his left arm. "Danny?" he heard his mom's voice say. Danny looked up noticing both his parents were looking down at him. "How are you feeling?" she asked softly.
Still feeling dizzy, it took him a little time to comprehend her question. "I'm fine." He said looking away from them out the window.
"Honey, the doctor said your body is stressed from the lack of sleep and nourishment. What's going on Danny?" his mom questioned with a frown.
Danny sighed angrily to himself. "What's going on! Maybe my life is a complete disaster because of your stupid obsession with ghosts!" his mind screamed in response, making him feel even guiltier for blaming this on his parents. It wasn't their fault; it was his for allowing his loved ones to become involved in his fights, but it was also Vlad's.
Danny closed his eyes, feeling them burn green at just thinking the man's name. "Nothing is going on; I have just been stressed because of Jazz." He answered half truthfully. "How is she?" Danny asked looking back at his parents.
"We don't know Danny." His dad answered sadly. "They said they were going to give her a transfusion because she has lost too many blood cells; they said they would inform us how it went after they were done." He ended.
Danny sat up ignoring the dizziness he felt at doing so. "Where's Sam and Tucker?" he asked noticing they were not in the room.
"They had to go home sweetie, it was getting late and they have school tomorrow." Maddie answered, gesturing to her son to look at the darken sky.
"They insisted on staying until you woke up, but seeing you were not going to anytime soon they had to leave." Jack added.
Right then a nurse walked in, "Oh good, you're awake." She stated happily, "How are you feeling?" she asked taking his blood pressure and temperature.
"Better" he mumbled in between the thermometer in his mouth.
"Well you look a lot better." the nurse replied warmly. "What do you say we get this IV off?" she added, looking at the instrument, and stopping the clear liquid from dripping into Danny's vein. "Now, make sure you eat more, ok?" she scolded gently. Danny nodded as the nurse finished bandaging up the area where he had the IV in. She gave him a nice smile before turning around to address his parents.
"He'll be fine, just try to avoid anymore stress on him, I know it's going to be hard considering your daughter's condition." She said sadly. "He is free to leave when he's ready, but I recommend for you to keep him here until you receive news about your daughter." She added before walking out the door.
Time once again slowed down; Danny stood in front of the window as he quietly gazed out at the twinkling stars. His once matching eyes, no longer held that twinkle. Danny was wrapped in his own thoughts, coming to him in never-ending waves.
What was he going to do? If only he knew what he could do to stop all this, he would do it. He would do anything for his loved ones, he would give his life for them and right now he would gladly trade places with Jazz. "Why did he come after her, why not me like he always does?" he questioned himself. No wonder the doctors couldn't find what was wrong with her, knowing Plasmius like I do, he covers his tracks a little too well. Danny thought angrily.
Sighing his mind went to another thought "Am I keeping something that could save Jazz? Maybe I should tell them?" he asked himself as he looked back at his parent's sad faces. "Maybe I should tell them everything?" he told himself, angrily gazing out the window. "What would they say? Would it be the end of me? Of Danny Phantom?" His mind fearfully questioned. "It doesn't matter, Jazz's life is more important then all that." He resolved sadly in his mind. Danny turned around, taking a shaky breath.
"Mom? Dad?" he called. Danny's parents looked up at their son curiously, seeing a strange look in his eyes. "There is… I need to tell you something." He said, his voice resolved on what he was about to do.
Whatever Danny was going to say, was interrupted by a knock on the door. Danny's eyes widened, his heart beating so loud and fast he thought it was going to come out. "No" he stated softly at seeing the last person he wanted to see at the moment.
"Maddie! Jack!" Vlad smiled softly at the two. "I was on my way over to your house, when I heard the news; I am so sorry." He said sadly giving Maddie a hug.
"Thanks for coming, V-man." Jack replied with a sad smile as Vlad gave him a supporting hug.
"How could I not? Your family means the world to me Jack." Vlad said in what sounded like a noble voice. Jack smiled appreciatively, not realizing his "friend's" comment didn't include him. "How is dear Jasmine?" Vlad continued.
"We don't know yet, this has been awful for all of us, poor Danny has been taking this really hard." Maddie commented sadly
"Really? How so?" he asked mocking concern.
"Well he has been really stressed and with his sister's relapse he went into shock" Maddie finished softly so her son couldn't hear.
"Tsk Tsk. That's a shame." Vlad responded with a sad look.
"Danny, come say hi to Vlad, he came to give us his support" His dad informed him
Danny stared at his parents as they talked to Vlad, not caring at the moment what they were saying, his body was filling with so much rage his vision went black for a split second.
"Danny, come say hi to Vlad, he came to give us his support" Danny heard his dad say. Danny's rage flared at hearing the man's name and "support" in the same sentence. Danny began to breathe wildly, his hands balling into tight fist.
"YOU! HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE HERE! YOU TWO-FACE LYING SNAKE!" before his parents could react to even his words, Danny lunged at Vlad; both falling on the ground from the force of Danny's attack. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER! YOU STAY FROM MY FAMILY! Danny yelled hysterically, trying to swing punches at the man below him, while Vlad grabbed Danny's wrist to keep him from doing so. Vlad's face was nothing short of shocked, as Danny glared at him with bright, almost yellow eyes, trying desperately to attack him with everything he had.
"Danny!" his parents yelled, shocked at seeing their son attack Vlad. Jack quickly grabbed hold of his son, pulling his flaring son away from the man below him.
"Danny! What has gotten into you!" his dad scolded. Danny ignored his dad as he continued to glare at the man, who was standing up and composing himself; he would give almost anything to remove the man from his sight.
"Sweetie." His mom continued. "I know you're upset, but it isn't Vlad's fault. He's a friend of the family who is just trying to help." His mom gently coaxed. Danny felt sick at the irony in her words, he stopped struggling against his dad, but his anger was still burning so strongly it made him tremble, holding his fist so tight they were turning white. "I'm sorry Vlad." Maddie stated, putting her hand on his shoulder to apologize. "As you can see Danny's really confused at the moment." She continued.
Vlad ripped his gaze from the teen to address what the women was saying. "Don't worry about it my dear; I know Daniel is going through some difficult times." Vlad replied, his demeanor back to its usual poise.
Maddie smiled appreciatively at him before turning to Jack. "Jack why don't you take Danny home to get some rest; there is no point in all of us being here." Maddie asserted. "Excellent idea Maddie, I will stay with you until Jack gets back." Vlad offered, smiling kindly.
"What! NO!" Danny yelled, his rage exploding again. Jack grabbed hold of Danny, as he flung himself once more at his friend.
"Danny! Stop this!" Jack yelled, his son flaring wildly in his arms.
"Let me go! You don't understand!" he screamed back, struggling with all his might against his father's grip. There was no way he was leaving that monster anywhere near his sister. Danny's eyes once again flamed a bright yellow-green, not caring if his mom saw them, "I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER! DO YO HEAR ME! I WON'T LET YOU!" Danny screamed at the top of his lungs, his screams surely would have been coming out as his ghostly wail if he was in ghost mode.
Jack screamed at his son to stop, while Maddie cried, her strong character shattering at seeing her son's instability. Danny kept screaming and fighting against his father's grip. Vlad was beginning to feel a little tense, knowing Danny had lost it and if this kept up he was going to expose both of them. Jack couldn't believe how much strength his son had, he weighed almost three times his son's weight, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep him off Vlad.
"Danny Please Stop!" he yelled pleadingly, but Danny was deaf and blind to everything around him, all he saw was that monster and all he could think about was making him disappear.
"I WON'T LET YOU! I'LL TELL EVERYONE PLASMIUS! I SWEAR!" Danny raged on.
"What's Going On In Here!" Stephanie exclaimed, three security guards around her. Apparently Danny's screams could be heard through the entire floor, attracting the attention of the staffs' and patients'. The head nurse had decided to call security seeing how nervous the patients were becoming and the staff as well.
"I'm sorry!" Maddie said in between sobs. "He is really upset because of his sister's state!" Maddie informed them, before sobbing even louder.
The nurse frowned sadly at the broken women, "Try to calm him down, I'll go get him a sedative!" she said loudly trying to be heard over the boy's screaming. Danny continued to fight against his father's hold, slowly winning the battle, his screams had become hysteric, his vision spinning on and off. Vlad took a few steps back at seeing Jack slowly lose his grip on his son.
"Danny!" Jack grunted before he lost his grip. Jack gasped, seeing his son was going straight for Vlad again. Danny was stopped from his assault as two of the security guards grabbed him inches away from his enemy.
"LET ME GO! NONE OF YOU UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T KNOW! LET ME GO!" he screamed angrily.
The nurse quickly went to the guards' side, as they held Danny down on the floor, the third guard having to step in to hold him still enough for the nurse to inject the sedative. Immediately Danny felt a wave of weakness flood his vein, slowly doing the same to his entire body. Without any strength to fight anymore Danny limped, his heart rate and breathing slowly returning to normal. Jack picked up his son cradling him in both his arms like when he was younger.
"Dad… please… don't let him… he…Jazz…" Danny whispered, desperately wanting to tell his dad what the man was doing, but he quickly lost the energy to talk.
Maddie was too lost in her angst to think straight, but Jack wasn't. Jack knew he was not the most observant person, but his son's reaction to Vlad was not normal, something was happening that he wasn't aware of. "Why did he call him Plasmius? Was that a name or an insult? …Don't let him what?" Jack questioned in his mind frowning at his barely conscious son. He was brought out of his thoughts by Vlad himself.
"Jack why don't you stay with Maddie instead, I will gladly take Daniel home for you; I'm sure he will be at peace knowing his parents are with his sister." Vlad offered.
"I-I don't know V-man, Danny seems very nervous around you." Jack replied, not taking his eyes off his son.
"Nonsense Jack." Vlad dismissed "Daniel is just under a lot of stress; he will be fine with the sedative they gave him." Vlad said, in an assuring tone.
"I appreciate the offer, but-"
"If it will make you feel better, I will give you a call when we get there hmm…" Vlad interrupted, ending his words by giving Jack a comforting squeeze on his shoulder. "Alright I'll help you put him in the car." Jack replied, surrendering to his friend's offer. "Of course Jack; my limousine is right up front." Vlad informed him.
"Maddie, will you be okay by yourself while I take Danny to Vlad's car?"
Maddie nodded sadly, giving Danny a kiss on his forehead and one to her husband. Vlad felt his eyes burn red, but quickly composed himself as Maddie addressed him.
"Thank you Vlad for your support and I'm sorry about all this." Maddie said with a warm smile, before giving him a light hug.
"That is all in the past now my dear and you do not have to thank me, like I said before, you and your family are very important to me." He replied, giving her a warm smile, patting her hand gently. Maddie smiled appreciatively, before looking back at her son's barely conscious figure. She sighed sadly, caressing his face before he was carried away by her husband, Vlad walking beside them.
Danny could barely move his body, his mind desperately pleading for him to embrace the much needed darkness, but his dad's conversation with Vlad had him wishing he could disappear or fly far away from his soon to come, alone time with Vlad. His only consolation being that his sister would be safe from the evil hybrid. He wanted to plead to his dad not to leave him alone with the man, but it was either him or Jazz, and his sister was all he cared about at the moment.
"Thanks V-man, you really are a great friend." Jack replied truthfully, climbing out of the back of the limousine as he finished laying Danny down on the seat.
"Don't mention it Jack." He replied, patting the man on his shoulder, before boarding the car himself next to Danny. "I will bring him back tomorrow as early as possible." Vlad stated with a small smile. Jack nodded and closed the door, waving goodbye to the departing limousine.
As soon he heard his father close the door, Danny wanted to shrink away from sight, his body was barely responding to his commands anymore, his vision spinning in front of him as the sedative began to shut down his nervous system. Danny's heart sped up, feeling the car engine start and take off.
Seconds later Danny felt a strong grip lift him from the seat; faster then his groggy mind could process, Vlad swung him to the other side of the limo, his body hitting the chair roughly before his body slumped to the floor face first. Danny groaned on the floor, his vision only getting worse; he wasn't even strong enough to move his body from its uncomfortable position. Vlad quickly grabbed him and flipped him over, his face inches from Danny's. Danny felt a cold wave of fear wash over him as he looked at the man's red eyes glaring at him. "You listen closely to me you little rat! If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will end your miserable existence faster then you can say "Going ghost"! he mocked threateningly. I told you to keep your mouth shut and I suggest you follow that order for your sister's sake! Do I make myself clear! ANWER ME DANIEL! Danny could only nod, his body paralyzed by fear and the sedative circulating his body. The last thing Danny saw before his exhaustion and the sedative took their full affect were those blood red eyes piercing his soul.
Vlad's eyes return to their normal hue as he looked at Danny's unconscious form. Vlad continued to look at him, his expression changing into sadness before closing his eyes and sighing angrily. Vlad shook his head at thoughts he only knew of before opening his eyes once again. He angrily picked up Danny by his shirt collar and threw him on top of the seat before taking a seat at the opposite side of the car. Vlad angrily crossed his arms in front of him, glaring at the young boy's slumped form for a few minutes before turning his glare towards the window.
Danny opened his hazy eyes, feeling someone gently tucking him into his bed. Danny looked up at Vlad, the man's eyes meeting the teens with a glare. The older hybrid turned off the light coming from the lamp on Danny's night stand, leaving them both in complete darkness, except for a small tint of light from the hall way, sneaking into the barely opened door. Danny heard Vlad move towards the door to leave. Using every ounce of strength left within him, he addressed the older half ghost. "Vlad" Danny whispered, making the man stop in his tracks and look over at the boy. "I won't let you do this to her" He whispered with assurance. Vlad raised an eyebrow at the boy's tone. The boy was stronger then he gave him credit for sometimes. Vlad shook his head in amusement before turning back around to leave. "Sweet Dreams Daniel." He responded coldly before exiting.
The dog….I really debated on it. Originally the rocket was going to be Tucker's present, but I realized Tucker couldn't pull it off without a little financial help from Sam and I wanted him to do his own thing and I wanted it to be as good as Sam's gift. It's really was hard to pick the "perfect" presents for Danny since we haven't been given a lot on Danny's inner views and he doesn't exactly have a label; You know, Tuck's a techno geek therefore anything with tech. would make him happy, and Sam with the whole goth thing, anyways I decided on a dog since it has been his childhood dream to have one, and yes I know he mentioned it to Sam but I'm sure he would have mentioned it to Tucker after all "they share everything" (from WYW). Why I picked a Dalmatian? Well I'll give you three guesses and the last two don't count. Oh, and don't worry the dog is just a background thing. He-He…TJ…. does anyone notice I like to mess with Tucker?
Long huh? Ok this will be the longest section, from now on most chapters will be 10-15 pgs. the reason I did this is because this really isn't the center focus of the story. This fic will be centered on Danny and Vlad which you will understand in the next chapter... I basically wanted to tell the side story in one chapter before going to the real focus.
I want to clear something up before heading further into the story.
BS-NB 3501 is short for blood stream nanobots (and the number b/c most things like this have numbers) if you haven't notice
There is also BS-NBN 3501: this isn't an error and it will come to play later...
One more thing: this was the hardest chapter to write, because of Vlad (which he is harder to write then I thought, It was really hard to get him to reveal the truth without making it sound lame or making him OC) and because of Danny, I know I drew him out as unstable by his reactions, but keep in mind that his sister is dying, he is getting bombarded by ghost (Know Why?) and he just found out his arch-enemy is responsible for his sister's state. What I'm trying to get to is that I really want to know if you think the character's are OC, it really means alot to me to keep them in character, so let me know how they came out especially Vlad and Danny.
Ok, Thanks again for taking the time to read and I look forward to your reviews!