Chapter Text
Setting down her latest project, Maddie sighed and looked at the nearby clock. She noticed that it was already after midnight. The chair she was sitting on scraped against the floor of the lab as she got up. Maddie looked down at the modified ectogun she had been tinkering with. She toyed with the idea of joining Jack and the children in going to sleep, however she couldn’t see herself being able to relax enough to do so.
After turning off the equipment, she walked up the stairs and wandered into the kitchen. Unsatisfied with the prospect of trying to settle down and rest, she pulled on her jacket over her hazmat suit and decided to take a walk. She told herself it would be for the purposes of hunting ghosts, but she really wanted to get some fresh air and time to herself. Grabbing a pad of paper and a pen, she wrote that she was going out for a walk and made a note of the time just in case her family got worried.
Assuring herself that her children and Jack would be fine by themselves, she slid out the door into the moonlit night. She let her legs take her in the direction of the nearby park. As she walked, Maddie remembered all of the times she had taken Jazz and Danny to that park. She worried about them, especially Danny. It was noticeable to both her and Jack that his grades had started to slip, besides the fact that he never spent time with her anymore.
***
As she turned into the park, she made a cursory glance to make sure that there were no ghosts around. She opened the gates and walked in, her only light being the few lamp posts that dotted the walkway. The area had grown so much since her children came here regularly: trees were now large enough to climb in and the bushes were well-kept but noticeably large. Maddie was making her way over to the swings when she thought she saw a flash of green light. Whipping out a ectogun, she turned to face where she saw the light. Nothing caught her eye.
Maddie chalked the scare up to a trick of the light. She finished the walk to the swingset and sat down. Letting her legs dangle, she was reminded of how much Danny loved jumping off them. He had always told her that one day he was going to jump all the way to space. Ever since his accident in the lab though, he had lost his drive to go to the stars. Maddie had noticed his demeanor change after that day in the lab. She knew it wasn’t a huge accident that he needed medical attention for, but she still wondered how it might’ve affected him mentally. Looking up towards the stars, she made a note to ask Jazz, ever interested in the psychological aspects of things, if she knew anything about it.
A rustle from a nearby tree brought Maddie out of her introspective thoughts. She quickly hopped off the swing, careful not to make a sound. Drawing her gun again, she slowly made her way over to the tree. Casting her gase all around her, she made sure there was nothing around her that would be of any danger. As she approached the tree’s trunk, she looked up. In one of the branches was a figure that had no clue she was there. Walking around to see their face, she slowly raised her gun as she realized who was there. The black and white suit gave it away, but as she looked up, she confirmed her suspicions.
There was Phantom, laying in a tree, unaware and vulnerable.
He had his attention fully on the stars ahead, reminding Maddie of how Danny would look at the night sky. She couldn’t blame Phantom, it was a nice night, but he was a threat to the town and her family. Maddie tightened her finger on the trigger, but something in her was keeping her from pulling it. Perhaps it was the uncanny resemblance to her son or his fully vulnerable position, but she pulled her finger from it.
“Nice night for stargazing, isn’t it?”
Maddie was immediately brought out of her confusion as Phantom’s voice cut through the silent park. She tried to come up with a reply, but all she could do was raise her gun and say,
“G-get away, or I put a hole through your chest”.
Phantom made what Maddie could only assume was his version of a laugh. “If you’d wanted to do that, I’d be out of this tree and on the ground.”
He shifted his legs so that he was facing her. She kept her gun raised, now aimed directly at his chest. Phantom held his hands up and slowly drifted down to the ground. He turned and started walking towards the swings where she had been.
“It was nice to have some company in the park tonight. Usually I’m here alone, save for the times when the Box Ghost makes himself known for the umpteenth time of the day.” Phantom aimed the joke at her, looking back before getting on the swing.
Maddie cautiously followed him, but noticed that her hand had lowered on its own. She found it interesting how Phantom made visible his use of walking and joking. He seemed to mimic human qualities, perhaps to trick the town into trusting him. She noticed him dangling his legs and letting them swing around. In the dim light, his eyes were one of the brightest things around. The toxic green shade of his eyes looked back at her in a way that reminded her of Danny, the same expression plastered on his face.
“Don’t make me regret this, Phantom.” She holstered her gun and moved to sit next to him.
“I loved seeing the stars when I was little. Before this. It was one of the things that I could really dive into. If you look there,” He said, pointing to the brightest planet in the sky, “that’s Venus. And right next to it is the constellation Cancer.”
Maddie allowed herself to relax and take a moment to study Phantom up close. As he was talking, she noticed that his freckles began to light up and tiny lines dotted them together. She wondered if studying space was Phantom’s obsession. Although she slightly doubted that theory, considering the fact that he rarely brought it up or did anything to display that otherwise.
What she was hung up on was the fact that he talked about when he was younger, as if he remembered his life before his death. Which, Maddie thought, was impossible, given that ghosts were merely ectoplasmic echoes of a person’s last moments. Maybe that was what made Phantom different, the fact that he remembered his past life. A cold feeling came over Maddie as she thought of how young Phantom must have been when he met his demise.
She quickly realized that that was only part of the reason why she felt cold on a hot summer night, as Phantom’s breath suddenly was visible.
“What kind of trick is this, ghost?” She asked, hand on her holster.
Phantom simply groaned and replied, “No trick, probably just the Box Ghost again. You should probably go, I can handle this fight.”
Maddie shuddered at the thought of another ghost and pulled her gun out. Like hell she was going to miss the chance to fight ghosts.
A large whirring noise began behind them and Phantom’s eyes widened. “Get out of the way!”
Bright ectoblasts whizzed past her towards Phantom. "Shit! shitshitshitshit," He cried.
He the blasts as he turned around, eyes narrowing at an approaching figure.
“Skulker,” he gritted out from clenched teeth.
“Evening whelp. Time for me to hang your pelt on my wall,” The ghost replied.
Maddie let a barrage of blasts out as Phantom flew towards Skulker. A few collided and as he was caught off guard, Phantom flew in to let ectoblasts loose on the combatant.
“You should learn to leave me alone, Skulker.” Phantom said as he brought out a … thermos? Maddie recognized it as one of their inventions as the ghost was sucked into the containment device.
Phantom followed Maddie’s line of sight and looked almost embarrassed. “Sorry I kind of took one of your inventions, but in my defense Da- Jack threw it pretty much to me. It’s been really helpful.”
Maddie said nothing as he watched her.
“I should probably get going.” Phantom said before looking at her one last time and flying off.
***
As Maddie walked in the house, she made sure to be as quiet as possible. She looked at the clock on the wall. It read at 1:45 in the morning. Maddie yawned and turned to head upstairs, before noticing movement in the kitchen. She caught a glimpse of Danny, pajamas on and hair ruffled, searching through the cabinets. One thing he had inherited from Jack was their shared love of night snacks.
She chuckled and said in a low voice, “Goodnight, Danny.”
He looked up, but didn’t say anything. He was probably too drowsy from only recently waking up to be able to string together words. She gave him one final glance at him before trudging up to bed.