Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jazz:

            Things had quieted down in Amity Park enough that she felt secure enough in going away for college after her year off. Especially after Danny’s insistence that he’d be fine. He was sixteen now, he could look after himself and the house and their parents. Heck, when she’d left, he’d even managed to get his sleep schedule in order what with Team Phantom having Red Huntress as a for sure ally. Jazz was proud of them—proud of Danny. She’d be the first to admit she was hesitant about revealing his identity to someone who’d tried to kill him on multiple occasions, but Valerie had eased up on Phantom, enough that they could talk out the whole Cujo incident. Jazz had even caught her playing with the ghost puppy a few times, when he was in his much more manageable size.

            All this to say, Jazz had left Amity Park with a sense of security. So why did everything feel so off when she returned?

            She pulled up in front of their house, the Ops Center a familiar mechanical abomination on the roof, the buzzing Fenton Works sign blinking on and off. Danny sat on the steps, glassy eyed, in his old NASA hoodie that was still somehow too big on him. His hair was as messy as the day she’d left. Their parents were nowhere in sight. Great.

            “Danny,” she said softly, walking up the steps. She placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle shake. “Ground Control to Major Fenton, do you copy?”

            He startled, blinking rapidly as he came back to himself. “Major Fenton, copy,” he said, with a tired chuckle. “Hey Jazz, welcome back.”

            “Thanks, you didn’t have to wait outside you know. Does my key still work, or did they change the locks again?”

            He shook his head, rising to follow her to the door. “No, they haven’t. Haven’t seen them all week though.”

            She hummed disapprovingly, unlocking the door and making sure her car was locked behind her. Human crime wasn’t a concern in Amity, but she’d rather not have Technus or Kitty taking her car out for a joyride.

            “Had lunch yet?” she said, looking around the old house to find it…unchanged. Clean, but unchanged. That includes the occasional scorch mark from a random ecto-gun. At least all the weapons are put away, she thought.

            “A little,” Danny admitted. “I forgot to ask if you wanted to go out when you came back.” He slouched in on himself, too black hair blocking too blue eyes.

            They’d talked all day on the phone yesterday when she’d stopped at a motel. She wasn’t going to spend the whole summer in Amity, just a month or two. She wanted to get an apartment in Connecticut for her second year.

            “I have missed the Nasty Burger.” She ran her hand along the counter top as she crossed the room, stopping to listen at the lab door. It still wasn’t soundproofed, at least, it didn’t look that way. She couldn’t hear anything. That was odd. She made a little hmph sound, turning away.

            “How was the drive?”

            “Long. I should have flown.”

            “I’ll give you the cloaking device.”

            Jazz had refused to get a Fenton Works vehicle back in high school and still had her cute yellow jeep. She had, however, allowed Danny and Tucker to give it some Fenton Works qualities, like being able to turn into a mini-plane with the press of a button. And a little ghostly magic for some extra trunk space. All it needed was invisibility and she’d never pay for a flight again.

            “So,” said Danny, moving to the living room. She followed. “What do you want to do first?”

            “I should probably unpack. Then we can go to Nasty Burger.”

            “M’kay.”

            Jazz was fully expecting a ghost attack on the way to Nasty Burger. It was the hallmark of Amity Park. The board of tourism even started using it to draw in more tourists, there’d been a ghost hunting convention last year that she and Danny had been forced to attend. They were lucky that most ghost hunters were incompetent, even the Master Blasters, Vlad’s personal hired goons, weren’t very good at it. Speaking of, she didn’t see any sign of them either. Normally, they’d be patrolling, trying to one up Team Phantom and Red Huntress now that she wasn’t working for Vlad.

            Amity Park was unusually quiet. The streets were still crowded with all the same familiar faces and plenty of new ones, tourists or new residents willing to brave daily ghost attacks for the low cost of living and a crime rate of 0%.

            “Shouldn’t you be keeping your eyes on the road,” Danny teased, half muffled by his hand.

            “Ha-ha,” she said, focusing. “Is everything alright?”

            “Yeah, just, really quiet.”

            “Is that a good thing?”

            He hummed. “There’s someone I want you to meet. She should be here by tomorrow.”

            She took note of the deflection, but didn’t press on it. “Looking forward to it.”

            The car got a little warmer as tension released from Danny. She didn’t notice the cold until it was gone.

            She found a spot in the parking lot.

            Jazz honestly thought she’d gotten used to the quiet and peace back in Connecticut. Sure, there were ghosts there, haunting spirits that weren’t strong enough to show themselves to regular people. But they weren’t obsessive like the ghosts from the Zone, and a majority of them weren’t malicious. It was quiet. She had liked the quiet, been thankful for it. Amity Park wasn’t supposed to be quiet.

            It was midnight. Her parents still weren’t home. She’d checked their room, checked the Ops Center, and checked the lab. It was empty. And impossibly dark. Gone was the swirling green of the portal, the blast doors locked shut for now. Everything was locked away actually. The weapons, the equipment, even the samples had been missing from the fridge. Where were their parents, where were the Drs. Fenton.

            “They got a contract,” Danny said.

            She didn’t startle when he appeared behind her, she’d gotten so much better at that since the accident. Even before the accident he always liked to sneak up on people, the little troll.

            “What do you mean,” she asked.

            He held up a few papers to her, cut by a fold in three places. Their mail. She took it, reading over the official documents from the US Government branch, Ghost Investigation Ward. The Drs. Fenton, experts in the field of Ectobiology, would be helping the GIW research and contain any and all ecto-entities deemed threats by the GIW and the Drs. Fenton. Research will take place at a classified location revealed upon agreement between the two parties. 

            The letter was dated two weeks ago, before her term had ended. Danny hadn’t seen them all week.

            Jazz was livid at them for just leaving without a word, but not surprised. Work always came first. With a heavy sigh, she set the letter down on the empty counter.

            “Let’s go back to bed.”

            Because their parents still weren’t back in the morning and they likely wouldn’t be back for a while, Danny’s surprise guest came straight to the house. She rang the doorbell was Jazz was making breakfast, she wouldn’t let Danny help. She needed something to do, okay, so she wasn’t just angry at their parents. And if that meant waking up early to make space themed pancakes complete with fun colors then that’s what she was going to do.

            She wasn’t expecting a younger, girl version of her little brother to be standing on their doorstep, smiling hesitantly up at her. She had the same too black hair half-hidden under a red beanie, same too blue eyes, though one was covered by her bands. She had Danny’s affinity for baggy clothes.

            “Hi,” she said, with a sheepish wave. “I’m Danielle. You can call me Dani. You’re Jazz, right?”

            Jazz stared at her, awestruck and confused, until she smelled her pancakes burning. “Shoot. Come in, you’re just in time for breakfast,” she said quickly, running back to the kitchen to try and salvage the carefully drawn pancake comet.

            Dani shut the front door behind her.

            “You made it,” said Danny, beaming down at Dani.

            Two Dannies, thought Jazz. Did he duplicate himself? Or is this another Fenton Dreamcatcher situation?

            “So um, explain?” she asked, wobbly smile accentuated by her nervous laughter.

            “Jazz, this is Danielle, our little sister.”

            Dani giggled.

            “How,” asked Jazz, easing the slightly burnt pancake onto her plate.

            “Well, she’s my clone,” said Danny.

            “Vlad made me,” said Dani, spitting the name Vlad like a curse.

            “Oh,” said Jazz, nervousness turning to anger for another adult in their life. She couldn’t finish college quick enough. She needed to get Danny out of this town. When had this even happened?

            “Two years ago,” said Danny.

            “In April,” added Dani. "I think early in the month."

            Danny chuckled, “Yeah, you’re only two years young.”

            “I can still kick your butt,” she gave him a playful shove.

            Jazz tried not to show any curiosity or concern about Danny’s new uncanny ability to read her thoughts, if that’s what he was doing. Unless I’ve developed some ghostly powers of my own.

            Jazz got another plate, took the bacon from the oven and divvied up the eggs. She gestured for them to wash their hands before eating. “So, where have you been since then,” she asked.

            “I’ve been touring the world as the amazing Phantasm.” She swept an arm through the arm, soap suds flying. “It’s mostly just the touring, but sometimes I stop robberies and help old ladies cross the street.”

            “You been on your own for two years?”

            “Yeah! It’s a lot of fun. I came back to visit Danny before, and sometimes we meet up in the Zone. He told me all about you. I’ve been so excited to meet you,” she said, drying her hands.

            Jazz had to stamp down her worry. “I’m happy to meet you too. Why don’t we eat, and you can tell us about your travels. Do you want orange juice or apple,” she said, pulling the bottles from the fridge.

            “Apple,” chirped Dani. They had the same smile.

            “Orange please,” said Danny.

            Dani told them about her travels, about her recent interest in marine biology since it was easier and less of a strain on her to get to the ocean than to space. That was another thing. Dani hadn’t been fully stable the first two times she’d been to Amity Park.

            “Don’t worry, I’m doing much better now. We’ve got a doctor in the Ghost Zone,” she explained.

            Jazz glanced at Danny for elaboration.

            “Frostbite,” he said.

            She nodded; she had indeed met the yeti chief. It was kind of funny seeing the massive yeti call her baby brother Great One. But it had also filled her with an immense sense of pride.

            “What was your favorite place to visit?” Jazz asked.

            Dani practically vibrated in her seat as she excitedly told them about her visit to the Parthenon in Greece where she hung out with this group of kids for a bit.

            Jazz felt a little lighter listening to Dani. Her apprehension over the town’s eerie quietness didn’t go away, but she was happy to meet this new addition to their family.

Chapter Text

            It was day two of her stay in Amity Park, Danny had gone to hang out with Sam and Tucker to give her time with Jazz. She liked having a big sister. Danny had so much to say about her and she really was as nice as he said, with an unintentional humor to her. Dani would get back to hanging out with her later, first, she needed to pay dear old dad a visit.

            There weren’t a lot of things Danielle could say she wanted from Vlad. In fact, there were exactly two, money and answers. Being a homeless tween had lost its glamour when the morals hit and she felt bad about stealing…mostly. She might as well collect child support. There was also the fact that, halfas were rare. Clones of halfas would have been nonexistent if it weren’t for Vlad meddling. There was a lot Frostbite wouldn’t be able to tell her because she wasn’t like the other Neverborn, so, as much as she hated it, she needed answers from Vlad. Or at least, she needed to steal all his research. She knew he was still in Amity, so she went to the mayoral mansion first.

            Popping and invisible, intangible head through the front wall, she looked around. The place was a mess, broken vases, askew paintings, toppled over furniture. She picked through it, trying to figure out what happened. Thankfully the place wasn’t as big as the Wisconsin mansion and the damage only covered the first floor. Nothing was wrong with the second, third, and fourth floors. No one was even there, not even his ghost servants. Dani frowned.

            “I’ve been here long enough to trip an alarm, he should be looking for me by now, not the other way around,” she muttered under her breath.

            She flew down to the lab in the basement. For a man who despised Jack Fenton, he sure did take a lot of cues from him. Though, there wasn’t a portal down here and nor was there a Vlad. The place was empty. Lifeless.

            “Okay, the fuck is going on?”

            Just to be on the safe side, she combed through the whole mansion again, if she took a few family jewels or whatever, that was between her and the walls. Lastly, she checked where Danny said the portal was, behind the huge vanity portrait of Vlad and Maddie the cat. The feline was also, suspiciously missing. “Maybe he went on a trip,” she said to herself, pushing the ugly painting aside. It was…gone. Why was it gone? How was it gone? Security footage, she thought. This whole place is filled with cameras. Whatever happened was probably recorded. She sounded nervous even to herself. But, goal in mind, she set off down to the lab again.

            “Danny!” she screamed, bursting into Sam’s room where Team Phantom had been having a hangout sesh. “Hey Valerie, Sam, Tucker,” she said, breathlessly. “Danny there’s a problem.”

            “What, what is it,” he said, shooting up, bag of Red Vines spilling off of him. Tucker snatched them up.

            “I went over to Vlad’s, like I said, and the place was trashed and no one was there. His portal isn’t even there anymore and his cat is missing and—” she stopped herself, took a deep breath, and said, much calmer; “I checked the security cameras and the Guys in White took him. Your parents were with them.”

            “What!” everyone gasped.

            “I think they know he’s a halfa,” she said.

            Silence hung heavy around the gothic room. It was only broken by Danny’s phone. He answered, his expression falling further.

            “Jazz says the Guys in White are at the house,” he said gravely. “They’re looking for me.”

            “He sold you out,” said Valerie.

            “We can worry about that later. We have to get you two out of here,” said Sam, rushing over to her wardrobe and tossing Danny his bugout bag. They had several stored at each of their houses and a safehouse in Elmerton.

            Danny shook his head clear. “Right. Who knows what they’re planning.”

            Tucker was already on his PDA. “I’ll try and find out so we aren’t running blind.”

            They couldn’t take Danny’s car but they would have to move it, since it was parked right outside Sam’s house. They’d be able to track that. Val offered to drive it to keep the Goons in White occupied while Sam got Danny and Dani as far away from Amity as possible.

            Before she knew it, Dani was buckled into Sam’s car, windows blacked out in the back so no one would see her and Danny. Tucker rode up front with Sam, hacking into the GIW comms and letting Valerie know their movements.

            “See if you can find out how much they know, Tuck,” said Sam, eyes on the road as she gripped the steering wheel.

            “Or at least where they’re keeping Vlad,” said Danny, voice icy in his anger.

            Dani couldn’t blame him. She was seething. It didn’t surprise her that Vlad would rat Danny out, she just hadn’t expected him to tell the Guys in White. Isn’t he paying them? Is this just another ploy to get Danny to be his? Then what about the mansion? All that mess. She hadn’t known Vlad for very long or well enough to know how all this fit into whatever plan he had. She didn’t have much time to ruminate on it as a vibrant pink ectoblast sent Sam’s car toppling over.

            “So sorry, dear boy, but I’ve got to look out for Number One,” said a sickeningly familiar voice. “Now, come on out.”

            Danny ignored him, phasing through his seatbelt and getting Sam and Tucker out of theirs. “You two okay,” he asked.

            “Yeah, just peachy,” muttered Sam, groaning.

            “My baby’s okay, so I’m okay,” said Tuck, hugging his PDA to his face. “Give the fruitloop a good punch for me though.”

            “Make that two,” added Sam.

            Danny smirked.

            “It doesn’t look like the Guys in White are here yet,” said Dani, popping back into the visible spectrum after putting her head through the car.

            “Good, here,” said Danny, giving her his bag. “They don’t know about you and Vlad doesn’t know you’re here. When you get the chance, head to the safehouse.”

            “But—” she was cut off by the wobbly ray of pink ectoplasm lifting the car up and shaking it. Danny grabbed onto Sam and Tucker.

            “Come now, Little Badger. Some of us can’t survive for long without our better half,” said Vlad.

            Dani went invisible, dropping out of the car with intangibility. She got a good look at Vlad, unwilling to leave right away. His blue skin looked paler than before and his perfectly coifed pointed hair fell limply down his back. He wasn’t even in his usual suit, instead his form flickered between a hospital gown and a lab coat above a turtleneck sweater and jeans. His stringy dark hair shifted to mullet then a white ponytail. Vlad had never told her the story of how he gained his ghost powers, she’d learned that from Danny. It hadn’t really hit her how different his accident was from Danny’s. Vlad kept flickering into different forms of his slow death and painful rebirth thanks to the tainted ectoplasm in him. Dani watched in morbid curiosity until Danny blocked an ectoblast directed at Sam and Tucker, throwing up a shield but refusing to go ghost. Danielle shook her head and flew away; just as white vans circled the group and men in white suits stepped out with the ectoweapons.

            “Please be safe guys,” she begged, gripping Danny’s bugout bag.

Chapter Text

            Valerie swore as the call went dead, pulling over in Danny’s car somewhere near the mall. The Guys in White chasing her had made several illegal U-turns behind her, meaning there was no point in sticking around here. She had to help the others. She let the suit wrap around her before she got out the car, locking it and jumping into the air, her hoverboard forming below her feet. Valerie pressed two fingers to her ear and tried to call Tucker back.

            “Tuck? What’s the status? I know I heard Vlad before the call dropped,” she said.

            “He’s attacking us and the GIW are here. We’re on the move. There’s something wrong with Vlad though,” he said frantically, panting.

            “Can’t you clock out at five like normal government employees,” Sam yelled in the background.

            Valerie snorted. “Wrong how? Besides him trying to date Dr. Fenton?”

            “Not sure. He keeps changing forms. Maybe…hah…maybe it’s a new type of destabilization. Yow!”

            “Shit,” said Danny.

            There was the telltale sound of ice forming and a rush of wind.

            “Whatever’s wrong with him hasn’t stopped him from chasing us,” said Danny over the Fenton Phones. “Val, we might need an assist. We’re nearing Elm Street and 5^th.”

            “On my way,” she assured, willing the hoverboard to speed up. Whatever Technus did to it, it really had no limits.

            She was there in no time, getting a quick scope of the scene. The trio were huddled behind Danny’s ice shield and two dumpsters, backed into a corner by Vlad. The Guys in White were advancing on them. Unlike a ghost’s ectorays, ectoweapons didn’t hurt people, so she focused her attention on Vlad. She knew the ray still hurt him and Danny, but she hadn’t expected him to react so viscerally, curling in on himself as he flickered between ghost forms.

            He spun on her, face pinched and voice hoarse. “Ah, if it isn’t the Red Huntress. Here to kick me when I’m down?”

            “I’m not above it.” She lowered her arm and fired a missile at the operatives, they were too preoccupied with Danny and co to notice, scattering once it hit the ground. It was only infrared vision that let her see when Danny pulled Sam and Tucker away with his invisibility, phasing them through the wall. She was ready to leave, firing at the operatives’ tires, to keep them from following, when Vlad rushed her, pulling her down and turning her invisible.

            He whispered desperately. “You have to help me Ms. Gray. My body is still with them.”

            “So, why’d you out Danny,” she hissed under breath. “If you’d just asked for help, we would have helped.”

            “Information is more valuable than money my dear, they wouldn’t have let me out without it.”

            The Guys in White were trying to melt Danny’s ice, but some of them were clearly looking for Vlad, calling out for ‘Plasmius’.

            “What did they do,” she asked, half grumbling. She needed to know; in case they got Danny. Hopefully, they’d be able to reverse it.

            “There was this machine, like a dream catcher. Jack made it,” even in his weakened state, Vlad still spit the name Jack with all the vehemence of a man scorned.

            Operative K and Operative O were scanning the area. M and L were trying to break through Danny’s ice.

            “I can’t promise you anything,” she said. “But we’ll try.”

            “Thank you.” And for the first time since she learned the truth about him, Valerie thought he actually meant it. “Now go!” He pushed her away and the invisibility wrapped over her faded.

            She flew off, keeping an eye out in case she was being tailed. Instead of heading back towards the mall for Danny’s car or towards Elmerton, she dropped behind the school and put her suit—wherever it went when she was done with it. She knew it was nanobots, she just wasn’t 100% where they were. Not worth thinking about, she decided again. Just gotta get to the others.

            Unwilling to lead the operatives to their safe house and needed more information, she headed for Fenton Works. Jazz’s car was still out front, so was the GAV. If Danny couldn’t go home before, he definitely couldn’t now. Chewing her lip, Valerie wondered if this was worth it as well. She could just as easily ask Danny. But why are the Drs. Fenton doing this, if they believe Vlad about Danny? Steeling herself, she walked up the stairs and rang the bell. Jazz opened it.

            She put on a wide, strained smile and her voice had a hint of nervousness to it. “Valerie! Danny’s not here right now.”

            “Danny,” she heard Dr. Fenton call. A blur of teal ran up the hall and suddenly, Valerie was staring down the barrel of an ectogun. “Give me back my baby you—Oh, Valerie! Sorry, Danny’s not here right now.”

            “Valerie,” called Jack, barreling up the hall. His expression went from determined, to despondent. “Oh, I’m so sorry. We know you and Danny were close.”

            Valerie smiled tightly. She and Danny had broken up ages ago, and even now that she knew his secret, they weren’t back together. “What happened?” She tried to make sure her voice had the appropriate amount of hesitant curiosity. Judging by what she knew of the Drs. Fenton, she didn’t think they’d notice if she sounded more curious than hesitant.

            Maddie’s face fell. “You’d better come inside.”

            Jazz gave her a desperate look, pleading that she didn’t. Valerie only nodded.

            She was ushered into the kitchen and given a cup of tea she knew better than to drink, no matter how ecto-contaminated she was, Fenton Works was at a whole other level.

            “Well, we caught the Wisconsin ghost,” said Maddie, hood still up, red tinted goggles facing her black gloved hands. “He had somehow fused himself with Vlad. I don’t know how much you know, but Vlad had been a good friend of ours back in college. Learning that he’d been fused with a ghost ever since the reunion was just—it was hard.”

            “But Maddie and I swore we’d do everything to set him free from that ecto scum’s grasp," declared Jack, slamming down on the kitchen table.

            “How,” started Valerie, letting the worry creep into her voice. “How did you two find out.”

            “It wasn’t easy,” said Maddie. “We’d been contracted by the Guys in White and were looking over the ectoplasmic samples we’ve collected from around the city. Long story short is, we found blood mixed in with samples taken from Plasmius—the Wisconsin Ghost.”

            Valerie nodded.

            “While inspecting it, we were also looking into the possibility of ghosts hiding among the living,” continued Jack. “So, we did the only sensible thing and confronted him about it. If a ghost was harming my best buddy Vlad, I’d wanna know. And we right!”

            Their dishes rattled some more with the extra slam on the table. Tea splattered against the wood and Valerie noticed for the first time how messy the kitchen was. She was sure that if she got a good look at it, the rest of the house would be messy to. They’re searching for him, she thought.

            “Of course, that rotten Plasmius tried to deny it,” said Maddie. “But after the Guys in White searched his home and the stores of security footage he’d been saving; we had our proof.”

            “That foolish ghost had been keeping videos of his own transformation. Probably to gloat or torment poor Vladdie with,” said Jack, fists clenched. They braced themselves for another slam on the table, sighing when it didn’t come. Jack seemed too worried about Vlad to do it, a dark look in his normally bright eyes.

            “So, how did you save him,” Valerie asked, “and what does this have to do with Danny?”

            “Well, a while back, we invented the Fenton Ghost Catcher. While it’s not great at catching ghosts, when they go through it, it splits them apart—”

            “Molecule by molecule!” Now there was a slam.

            “We figured it would be our best bet in getting that ghost out of our friend. And it worked. Unfortunately, the ghost’s extended presence had taken quite a toll on Vlad’s body.”

            “And yet, he still managed to warn us about that spook Phantom infesting our son. Now we’ve gotta find Danny and get that ghost out of him before it’s too late.”

            “So please, Valerie, if you see him, let us know,” pleaded Maddie. “We have to save our son.”

            She was almost too stunned to respond. It had been hard for her to come to terms with Danny’s double life, that Fenton and Phantom were the same. If she hadn’t seen Vlad transform and met Danielle, then maybe she could understand the Drs. Fenton’s point-of-view. But now, now she was just scared. She felt herself nodding, could hear herself promising a lie, and watched the Fenton kitchen disappear, the front door in its place. Jazz hugged her, slipping something into her pocket as she did.

            “Stay safe,” she whispered.

            “You too,” asked Valerie.

            She was certain of one thing when she left Fenton Works, regardless of what good the Drs. Fenton thought they were doing, if the Guys in White got their hands on Danny, then there would be no going back.