February 13, 2009
The morning sun filtered through the curtains of the Fenton household, but for Danny, it offered little comfort. He woke with a low, guttural groan that seemed to vibrate in his very marrow. As he shifted beneath the sheets, his entire body protested; he was stiff, his muscles felt like rusted iron, and a lingering numbness from the previous night's exploits clung to his limbs. He lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling and mentally cataloging every ache before forcing himself upright.
After a series of slow, agonizing stretches and some light calisthenics to jumpstart his circulation, Danny managed to drag himself through a hot shower. The steam helped, but the fatigue remained a heavy cloak. He finally made his way downstairs, the scent of breakfast acting as a faint beacon.
Upon entering the kitchen, he found the table already set. Plates were piled with food, and the coffee was hot, yet the house was uncharacteristically quiet. There was no sign of the usual parental chaos. The only occupant was Jazz, who sat perched in her chair, a fork in one hand and a thick textbook in the other.
Danny let out a long, weary sigh as he approached. He leaned over, offering a quiet greeting and a light, brotherly hug. Jazz hummed in response, not looking up from her page but acknowledging his presence with a small, knowing smile.
"Let me guess," Danny said, his voice still scratchy from sleep as he began to serve himself breakfast. "Mom and Dad are still hunkered down in the lab? Still playing 'mad scientist' with the Box Ghost?"
Jazz finally looked up, her eyes rolling toward the ceiling in a gesture of shared exasperation. "They haven't showed up for air once," she chirped, though her tone held more concern than annoyance.
Danny sighed again and reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. He winced at the sight of the screen—a spiderweb of cracks obscured the display, a souvenir from last night's activity. Despite the damage, he managed to navigate the menu and dial his mother.
The phone rang several times, the silence on the other end stretching long enough to make Danny wonder if the signal had even reached the lab. Finally, Maddie's voice crackled through the speaker, breathless and distracted.
"Hey, Mom," Danny said, leaning against the counter. "Checking in. Have you and Dad seriously been running experiments on that Box Ghost all night?"
There was a pregnant pause. "Oh, Danny! Good morning, sweetie," Maddie replied, her voice hitting a slightly too-high note of forced cheerfulness. "Experiments? Well, I wouldn't say all night... not in the traditional sense."
Danny's eyes narrowed. "Mom," he said slowly, "what exactly did you and Dad do to him last night?"
The silence that followed was heavy. He could practically hear Maddie searching for a way to sanitize the truth. After a moment, she let out a long, defeated sigh through the receiver. Danny didn't wait for her to find the words.
"I'm coming to the lab," he stated firmly.
"Danny, wait, it's not—"
He ended the call before she could finish, sliding the cracked phone back into his pocket. As he turned toward the door, Jazz was already on her feet, setting her book aside.
"I'm coming too," she said, her expression leaving no room for argument.
—-------
Because their usual vehicles were often "modified" to the point of being unreliable for simple city transit, the siblings opted for a taxi. As the car navigated the morning traffic, Danny looked out the window, the date on a roadside billboard catching his eye.
"So, Jazz," he started, trying to lighten the mood. "Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Got any big plans?"
Jazz leaned back against the seat, shaking her head. "Nope. Just me, my research papers, and perhaps a very large latte. What about you?"
"Actually, I'm on a date with Sam," Danny replied, a small, genuine smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Jazz blinked, her brain momentarily stalling. Then, a slow, delighted smile crept across her face. "Really?"
"Yeah," Danny said, feeling a bit sheepish.
Jazz didn't just smile; she squealed, a sound so high-pitched the taxi driver glanced nervously in the rearview mirror. She threw her arms around Danny, nearly crushing him against the door. "Oh my god! My little brother is actually going on a real date!"
Danny, stunned by the sheer intensity of her reaction, tried to push her off gently. "Okay, who are you? And what have you done with my real, emotionally reserved sister?"
Jazz nudged him playfully with her elbow. "Just because I haven't been in a serious relationship yet doesn't mean I'm some kind of robot, Danny. I've thought about these things before."
Danny raised an eyebrow, his smirk widening. "Oh, really? So, has the great Jasmine Fenton ever actually had a crush on someone? A real person, not just a case study?"
The reaction was instantaneous. Jazz stiffened, her face flushing a deep, unmistakable crimson as she broke into a fit of nervous coughing. "That... that is ancient history," she managed to say, avoiding his gaze.
Sensing he had finally found a crack in her armor, Danny nudged her back. "Oh, come on! We're in a taxi, we've got time. Let it out. Who was the lucky guy?"
Jazz sighed, looking out the window as if the memories were playing out on the passing storefronts. "Fine. When I was in high school, there was this boy," she started. "Blond hair, incredibly fit... he had this certain charm, you know? But he was also incredibly cocky. A total handful."
Danny grinned, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "My, my, my. I had no idea my sister was into the 'Bad Boy' type."
He was rewarded with a sharp elbow to the ribs that made him huff in genuine pain. "Alright, alright! Mercy!" he wheezed. "Just tell me the name of this fortunate guy."
"Johnny," Jazz said softly.
Danny gave her a flat, deadpan look. "Johnny? That's it? There are millions of Johnny in the world, Jazz. Give me a full name."
Jazz took a breath, her voice steadying. "His name was Johnny Storm."
Danny went quiet, the name echoing in his head. It felt familiar, like a word on the tip of his tongue. "Storm... why does that sound like I should know it? Is he related to someone famous?"
"He's Susan Storm's younger brother," Jazz explained.
The pieces clicked into place instantly. "Wait—Susan Storm?" Danny exclaimed. "The Susan Storm? I've seen her on the news. She's that absolute genius in Biology and Genetics, right?"
"That's her," Jazz confirmed.
"I heard she's currently working with Reed Richards," Danny added, his mind racing through tech blogs he'd read. "Richards is a heavy hitter—basically Tony Stark's biggest rival in the scientific community. Damn." He paused, a different thought crossing his mind. "And now that I think about it... Susan Storm is actually incredibly hot. Like, a total bombshell. I can't believe I missed the chance to be even tangentially related to that family."
The atmosphere in the taxi shifted instantly. Danny felt a chill that had nothing to do with his ghost powers. He turned to see Jazz glaring at him with an intensity that could melt lead.
"I... uh... sorry," Danny stammered, his bravado vanishing.
The glare didn't fade.
"Seriously, I am sorry. I deeply apologize. Wrong thing to say," he added, holding up his hands in surrender.
Jazz let out a long, frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "My brother is such a hornball sometimes," she muttered under her breath.
Danny cleared his throat, desperate to change the subject. "So, where is this Johnny guy now? Still in the picture?"
Jazz shrugged, her expression softening into a mix of pity and indifference. "Last I heard, he dropped out. I lost track of him after that."
"Huh," Danny remarked, wondering briefly what happened to the boy who had managed to capture his sister's attention.
—---------
A few minutes later, they signaled the driver to stop. After paying the fare, they stepped out into a nondescript part of the city. Danny took a cautious look around, scanning for any tails or unwanted eyes, before leading Jazz toward the same old, abandoned subway entrance.
This was their new base of operations now. After their previous lab had been destroyed, they have moved their equipment here. It was significantly larger than the old space, providing much-needed room for their growing collection of tech and spectral containment units. To keep it secure, Danny had installed a high-end cloaking device that masked the entrance from both mundane and electronic surveillance.
As they entered, the hum of machinery filled the air. Artemis greeted them with the same old sassy tone. Deep inside the facility, they found Jack and Maddie.
The sight was alarming. Both parents looked like they had been through a war zone—or at least a very long, very caffeinated weekend. Their eyes were bloodshot and heavy with exhaustion. When they saw Danny and Jazz, they didn't offer their usual boisterous greetings; they simply sighed in a way that spoke of deep physical and mental fatigue.
Danny's gaze shifted to the center of the room, where the Box Ghost was held. The entity looked absolutely pathetic. Usually a loud-mouthed nuisance obsessed with cardboard, he was now slumped, his spectral form flickering weakly. Danny looked at his parents, his expression hardening.
"Really, guys?" he asked, gesturing to the ghost.
Jack and Maddie actually looked ashamed, scratching their heads and shuffling their feet like children caught breaking a vase.
"We're sorry, Danny," Maddie said softly. "It's just... we couldn't help ourselves."
"It's a ghost!" Jack added, his voice cracking slightly. "A literal, spectral entity! We've spent our lives being ridiculed for believing in this. Having one right here... we just had to know."
Jazz stepped forward, her voice laced with sympathy but firm in its resolve. "We understand why you're excited. We really do. But that doesn't justify this. Even if he's a ghost, he was once a person. Treating him like this is unethical, no matter how you look at it."
Jack and Maddie nodded solemnly, their exhaustion finally catching up with their ethics. "You're right, Jazz. We apologize," Maddie said.
Danny walked over to the containment unit. He glanced at the closed Fenton Portal nearby and then addressed the lab's interface. "Artemis, how do we send this guy back through the portal without a full-scale containment breach?"
Artemis provided the necessary sequence. Danny followed the instructions; the portal hummed to life, a swirling vortex of neon green light illuminating the lab. With a final, resigned look, Danny initiated the release, and the Box Ghost was unceremoniously sucked back into the Ghost Zone.
As Danny prepared to leave, something on a nearby workbench caught his eye. He picked up a sleek, cylindrical device he hadn't noticed before. "What's this?"
"That," Jack said, a spark of pride returning to his tired eyes, "is the Fenton Ghost Thermos."
"A thermos?" Danny asked, turning it over in his hands.
"It's designed specifically to contain and transport spectral entities," Jack explained.
Danny felt a surge of genuine interest. "Does it actually work?"
"Of course it works!" Jack replied. "But there's a catch. The ghost has to be incapacitated or weakened first. If they're moving too much, the capture beam can't lock on."
Danny nodded, sliding the device into his bag. This was exactly the kind of tool they needed for the field.
"Well, we're heading out," Danny said, gesturing to Jazz. "Try to get some actual sleep, okay?"
They turned to leave, but Jack and Maddie suddenly surged forward, their exhaustion momentarily forgotten as they blocked the exit.
"Wait! You can't leave yet," Maddie said, her voice now sharp with a different kind of intensity. "We found something during the scans. Something you need to see. It's an emergency."
Both Danny and Jazz stopped on their tracks. They looked at their parents, then at each other.