Butterfly Boy

Chapter 34

Maddie swirled the vile of blood in her hand. There wasn't much in it, but it would be enough. She poured it on a small disk, closed it and placed it under a scanner. "Danny let me take some last week," she told her husband, who was there with her in the basement. "I wonder if he even knows how different his blood is now from a human's"

"What are you doing with it?" Jack asked, watching how she typed some things on the screen attached to the scanner.

Her eyes didn't leave the screen. "I'm trying to compare his ectosignature to other ghosts to see if we can find out what kind of powers he might have. The more we know about it, the better."

She pushed away from the machine, letting it have the time to scroll through the many ectosignature they had collected or scanned over the years. "Do you think he has powers? Or whether he knows?"

Jack punched the Fenton coffee machine and it poured him a drink. "No idea. But if he does, he hides it remarkably well. It would be fascinating to learn all he can do. Do you think he has different powers than a ghost?" He paused, chugged some coffee thoughtfully and leaned back on a table. "Ghost and human. At the same time. Think of all the possibilities."

"It is fascinating to think about," Maddie agreed. "Do you think Danny would ever trust us enough to show us? Or tell us at all?"

Jack sighed, knowing his answer wouldn't be appreciated. "He hasn't in all the years he's had it, has he?"

His wife looked down. "No."

The basement was silent except for the hum of the machines around them.

"We're paranormal hunters," she answered the question that was running through both of their heads. Why?

They snapped to attention when there was a sudden ding from the machine that had been running scans on Danny's ectosignature.

Both of their heads swiveled to stare at the conclusion it had made.

There was a match.

A perfect match in fact.

Jack choaked on his coffee as Maddie stared open mouthed at the result.

There wasn't a picture. There wasn't a name. But they would recognize that signature anywhere.

It was Danny Phantom's.

Maddie sat very still, mind running through her many jumbled emotions and thoughts, trying desperately to grab onto something logical.

Jack, however, experienced his emotions one by one. And boy, were there a lot. His first reaction was to break out in a grin.

Danny!!

His Danny!!!

His son!!!

A superhero!!

An ass-kicking, power-wielding, life-saving, secret...having...superhero...

His face fell. A frown instead of a proud smile. Danny had kept a whole other life a secret. A complete other side of himself. At some point it probably was all his life revolved around.

Jack felt angry at first. Then sad. Betrayed overal.

Then he remembered the conclusion they'd come to as to why Danny would keep being ghost gene compatible a secret from them. They were paranormal hunters. Scientists, specifically. Maybe he was scared of them.

Jack felt angry again. Of course he was scared of them. What reason could he possibly have not to be. Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid.

But didn't I show him I loved him? Didn't I show him how much he meant to me?

Didn't you curse him out as you tried to trap him with a gun?

Maddie had meanwhile taken to watching her husband shift from one expression through the next, her hands closed into tight fists and biting her lip hard. Her emotions were too jumbled. Too confusing to keep up with. She relied on her husband to make a straight line through the thought pattern. One after the other. She could read him like an open book. It was easy. He kept his heart on his sleeve.

Everytime his train of thoughts changed tracks his posture morphed and she followed. Also ending with her own conclusions.

Finally she saw him glance at an ectogun and tense.

Her eyes widened in realization at the final thought they both got stuck on.

A sob tore through his throat and Maddie sprang up to hold him as he cried. Eventually she let her own tears fall.

They cried out of relief, that they had finally resolved the mystery that was their youngest.

They cried out of frustration that it has taken so long and that it was a mystery in the first place. Anger and regret was in there too. A lot of regret and self hatred.

And they cried out of happiness. Their son, Danny, had grown up so much. Gone through so much. They regretted not being a part of it. But that didn't exclude that he had gone and passed and was able to get stronger to the young man he was now.

They were so proud.

Ooooohhhhhh. Whelp....ahem....the cats outa bag :):):)

Quick note. Yall know that my book doesn't really follow a specific timeline right? I mean...each chapter isn't one day after the previous. There might be days, weeks or even months in between. If it's not a direct continuation like the couple of chapters were Danny gets kidnapped then you might as well figure there's at least a week in between unless specifically said otherwise.

There's also a lot happening that I don't write. Lots of bonding or hawkmoths revolution growing or other Akuma attacks that I might hint at. Keep your mind open and all.

Haci que...tengo que contarles algo...
ES MI CUMPLEAÑOS!!
Creo que todavía no les conté.

Cumplo 18. Soy una adulta ahora. Jejeje.

Ok Chau.

PS. Did you guys hear about article 13???
Everyone that lives in the EU will be prohibited from...well idk exactly. You're all big kids, look it up on Google. It isn't that hard.
Lots of copyright bullshit and I'm pretty sure writing fanfics is gonna be illegal by the end of January so what the heck am I supposed to do now. The actual frik.
Shit I sold a fanfic I'm gonna be paying some fines when they find out shit.