Work Text:
“How fascinating” Madeline murmured as she went through a paper after paper full of numbers collected from dozens of testes they had performed that day. “Over half of these results are against everything we know about ghosts and yet…”
“Oh come on, Mom” Danny smirked, scratching the skin around the electrode taped on his bare chest that was used to monitor his heartbeat. He must have had them for hours by now and the glue Jack had used to keep the wires on place probably wasn’t even meant for human skin. “Aren’t you always saying that I’m your special little boy”
“There is a difference between motherly pride and destroying an entire branch of science” the woman muttered under her breath, drawing a snicker out of her son, then continued with louder voice. “Can you handle couple more tests, Danny? Or do you want to stop for today?” There was genuine worry in the scientist’s voice and her sharp eyes tried to find any signs that could indicate they were stressing the boy’s body too much or causing him any kind of mental discomfort. It was a weird situation to them all, trying to study a ghost -the whole idea calling her baby boy one made cold shivers run down Maddie’s spine, even though Danny claimed himself to be only “half-ghost”- without harming it (them?) was something the married couple had never even considered. Ghosts were supposed to be just mindless piles of ectoplasm, the remnants of human consciousness fused with natural substances of an alternate dimension that was working as counter balance to the humans’ more logical and controlled reality.
Her son glanced towards the clock on the wall and shrugged. “If they are fast ones, then sure. I’m supposed to meet Sam and Tucker in an hour.”
Maddie nodded and looked at her husband who had just returned from the storage his arms full of several different equipment and tools, which would surely need at leas minor fixing after the handling the exited man was giving to them.
“Perhaps we could just settle in taking a sample or two.” the woman moved away from the medical table her son was sitting on, to study the tools the older man was spearing on the table. “What do you think, Jack?”
The man nodded his head. “A bone marrow sample would be nice” he agreed, lifting a long needle. “To imagine that ghosts even have bones! Oh, and then we should to get a brain tissue sample. Just imagine what we could learn from it!”
Maddie nodded, already forming a plan of action in her head. “That’s a great idea. We should be able to do it without anaesthesia if we can make him to turn only the skull intangible. And we should aim at the top layer to minimise the risk of losing the ghost. It would be a bitty if we-”
“Mom! You’re doing it again” Danny’s voice snapped the woman out of her brain storming turning to look at her son. He had sounded annoyed, slightly upset even. It was nothing new, their unordinary career had made Jazz and Danny upset more than once during the years, which kept happening more often the older Maddie’s children grew. Still, knowing that you were the one making your children unhappy was never a pleasant thing to hear and just like everything she didn’t like, Maddie’s instincts told her to fix the problem.
“What you mean, sweetie. I was just…” But instead of the familiar blue eyes she found herself staring at the ones as green as the portal at the other side of the lab. It was an unnatural colour, something only ghost could have and yet those eyes belonged to a boy made out of her very own flesh. “Oh”
“Danny I’m so s-” the mother started but her son lifted his hand, making the excuses to die on her lips.
“Mom, it’s okay.” the boy assured, trying to act as if her slip hadn’t bothered him. “You’ve already apologized like hundred times. The old habits die hard and all that jazz, am I right”
His joking tone and confident smirk could have fooled anyone, even Jack and Maddie if they had been as clueless over their son’s double-life as they were only weeks earlier. But now they knew better and saw those familiar little habits and subtle expression Danny had had ever since he had been a little boy. The small wrinkle between his brows and twitching of the fingers as Danny tried to keep himself from rubbing the back of his neck, both of those were signs of that Maddie’s words had made him feel more than little uncomfortable and nervous. Less than month ago, their boy’s body language would have just confused them, giving them ‘no other choice’ than assure themselves that it was just a teenager thing, but now they both knew better and neither of them liked seeing their son wasn’t feeling entirely safe around them.
Maddie opened her mouth to apologize yet again, only to close it when she felt the familiar weight of Jack’s large hand on her shoulder.
“No Danny, it wasn’t okay.” It was one of those few moments his voice was entirely serious, causing their son to drop his act, now confused and more on the alert than before while Maddie lowered her gaze in shame, her closed hands pressed over her chest. She felt Jack to squeeze her shoulder gently, small wordless gesture to tell her he wasn’t blaming her of anything. “We should remember by that ghosts are just and intelligent and just as much persons as we are… Especially when we are talking about risky tests like brain biopsy”
The teen blinked then chuckled weakly, giving the adults a smile convincing smile that was clearly not genuine. “Seriously, Dad. It doesn’t really bother me. It’s just like Mom said. I can turn my head intangible and you take the sample, end of the story.”
“Nine out of hundred people get complications from brain biopsy. And that’s when it when the operation is done by a trained brain surgeon. We could have killed you!” Maddie pointed sharply, trying to make her son to realise how risky the whole idea had been.
“Expect you can’t kill me. I’m already dead!”
There was a sharp gasp and Maddie’s hands flew to cover her mouth. Not because her son had yelled at her but from the cold weight of realisation that had hit her, making it almost impossible for her to breath. And on her side, Jack’s suddenly colourless face told her he wasn’t doing much better.
“I changed my mind.” Danny tore the wires off from his chest, still irritated and purposely avoiding looking towards his parents. “No more testing. I’m going to see my friends now.”
The light flashed, and their son was once again human -and alive. Or wash he?- already storming up to the stairs and out of the lab before either of the adults managed to recover from their shock.
“We killed our son…” Jack’s voice was barely louder than whisper as he spoke again after time that felt like an eternity and pained sob escaped behind Maddie’s hands. “I but that switch inside the portal and the shock… Oh my God.” Jack’s hand left from his wife’s shoulder only to grab hold on his hair as the man let out a sound that was between hysteric laugh and sob “I killed our son”
“There has to been other explanation” Maddie insisted, tears falling freely down her cheeks. “It makes no sense.” The woman reached towards the papers forgotten at the edge of the table behind her, her shaking hands almost tearing the paper more than once as she tried to find a proof she needed to see. “Danny is alive. He has to”
“Maddie. You heard what Danny said. He’s-”
“A teenager who made a conclusion passed on external evidences and lies Vlad must have told him.” She blinked violently to get the tears out of her eyes so she could read properly.
“But the data we got from his ghost half says there is no difference-”
“Our invention did not murder my son!”
They stared at each other; the wide-eyed husband pale and still like a statue and heavily breathing wife, hunched over the papers that had started stain by her tears and crumpled in her too strong grip. Jack was the first one to break out from the spell and his shoulders dropped with a deep, submitting sigh.
“Okay…” He stepped closer and took Maddie’s hands in his own, easily prying her grip open, taking the papers before drying the trail of tears on the woman’s cheek with his thumb. “Okay”
Maddie closed her eyes and leaned against her husband’s touch. She pressed his hand closer while taking a shaking breath, trying to calm her nerves.
“We’ll figure this out. We always do” Jack assure her and she nodded. The breathing was starting to calm down and his skin slowly returning to its natural hue.
“That we do.” she agreed with weak smile “We’re Fentons, after all”
“That we are.” he chuckled genuinely before giving his wife short, yet tight hug, before straightening his back.
“So” The man asked, his confident smirk back once again, though it had yet to reach his eyes. “Ready to destroy everything we have believed in the past 20 years?”
“With you?” Maddie asked, the man’s natural cheering presence bringing up her own weak smile as she dried her remaining tears. “Absolutely.”