[A/N] - So, I have skipped two episodes. The one with Baxter and the mirror, because only Danny gets trapped there and there is not much for Lina to do. The second one is with Nazire, mostly because the story is narrated by Tucker and talks about his friendship with Danny.
I did not want to ruin that. Do not forget to let me know in the comments!
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The clock ticked and the time showed 9:57 pm.
Rarely anyone was out but the male halfa known as Danny. He was riding home on his electric scooter and was just returning from Tucker after the two friends spent some time together playing video games.
His adopted sister was already waiting for him at home, worried.
At 10 pm, it was their curfew and they had to be home by then. However, lately, with all that ghost hunting, this proved to be a problem. This was why, Lina had chosen to return home from Sam, even earlier than usual.
To be certain.
She did not want to be grounded and she did not want to disappoint the Fentons. It was odd. Someone would think that as the family that raised her, she would not have such fears and she would be more like Danny.
However, that was not the case.
Lina always felt the odd one out. Not to mention that the two scientists were not exactly the best at hiding their natural favouritism of Jazz and Danny over her. She always felt as if she was a mere guest, not once calling the adults something more than their original names.
She did not want to be a burden by nature, and she always aimed to be good enough. Especially for the Fentons. And after the whole became a ghost' incident, she tried even harder to maintain that image.
It was not the best thing a child should think of and not the right way to be raised, but it was part of her personality. By now, it was almost natural to her to be this way, her actions always having been well thought out. Perhaps this was why she was so different from Danny during a battle, for she was used to thinking things through before acting.
She was laying on her bed, tossing a stress ball up in the air and catching it as it fell. She wanted Danny to return home, so her thoughts could be at peace. She was worried that something might delay him again.
It was okay if the ghosts attacked after the curfew. By locking themselves in their rooms, they could hunt them down.
Suddenly, she caught the ball and her ghost senses went off.
Oh no, she thought and looked outside. Quickly changing to her ghost form and she knew Danny was close. She flew outside quickly, hoping she can help him and he makes it back in less than 3 minutes.
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Flying outside, she spotted Danny in his ghost form, levitating above a rooftop and facing three old ghost vultures. She lifted an eyebrow and approached, noting that they had never seen those three before.
"You fellas look lost. Um, any chance of you staying that way?" he asked them.
"Mind your own business, fancy pants, ghost boy." One of the vultures said.
"Hey, this is rude!" Lina said, coming into the conversation.
However, those three birds ignored her and instead chose to fly down and phase into a bus. The two siblings and friends exchanged a look before doing the same, landing in the aisle of the bus.
To their surprise, the vultures were sitting in their seats, chilling and talking to one another.
"Hey, we've been circling this town for hours. We could have been halfway to Florida by now. Ask for directions" one of them said.
"I know where I'm going!"
"You so do not! *Points to Danny and Lina* Ask them"
"Ask us what?" Lina questioned and took a step towards them.
However, the ghost birds simply flew out of the bus by phasing through the roof. Leaving out a sigh, knowing their time was almost up, she followed them with Danny. Stopping mid-air, hands folded in front of her chest, she waited.
"We're on a search-and-destroy mission. Can you help us find and peck to death this guy here?" the vulture to be the first to speak to Danny, most likely the leader, showed them a torn photo of a younger Jack.
"Dad?/Jack?" the two halfa questioned out loud, recognizing the man and exchanging a look of worry and shock.
"Ah-ha, see? I told you they'd know where he is" the second vulture, who always seemed to be scolding the first one, said.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Danny moved and used his newly learnt ability to hit them. At their last ghost fight, the last big ghost fight, they had to fight a wishing-making ghost. During the battle, Danny learnt how to throw some sort of ghost energy from his hand.
It was the one thing that helped them win and also boost his confidence since despite Lina trying, she could not form one. She did not mind, for she would find something else and she was glad Danny learnt something new, to be able to protect himself during battles.
However, he still needed to practice with the target because the birds easily dodged his attack. "Nice try, kid. Get 'im, boys!"
The vultures quickly started to circle Danny, waiting for an opening to attack him. His adopted sister was ready to interfere when the male halfa looked at her and she could realize he had a plan in mind. One thing that they were thankful for, was the fact that they could communicate silently.
Not perfect and not always but it did work most of the time, enough for those to get the upper hand in a situation.
"Give it your best shot, guys! I'm a whiz at dodgeball!" Danny taunted them and they charged. However, he flew out of the way and caused them to crash into each other.
As they were dazzled, Lina took speed and headed with her punch raised. Hitting one vulture, she sent it flying and slamming it on its two friends, causing all three to land hard on a rooftop. She cracked her knuckles, always taking pride in her good left hook.
Yet, it did not take long for the birds to control themselves and fly after them.
They quickly flew away, each one thinking of a plan but as they approached the clock tower, they noticed the time.
"Danny! The time!" Lina said and his eyes doubled.
"Agh. It's almost ten!" he gasped just as the birds approached.
"I have a plan," Lina said as he quickly flew closer to her, eager to hear any plan that might save him before he was punished for breaking curfew.
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Lina quickly taunted the birds, making them follow her and started to fly around the clocktower in a silly game of tag. However, a few turns later and the three vultures stopped in front of the clock and looked around, not seeing their target anywhere.
That was until Danny phased through the clock and grabbed the leg of one of them.
"You know that old saying about a bird in the hand? " he spun the vulture around and hit the other two with it before he tossed it towards them. "Well, neither do I And don't go messing any windshields on your way out of town!" he shouted at them as they flew away.
The torn picture of Jack started to float and Lina grabbed it as she became visible again before handing the picture to Danny.
"I wonder why those guys were trying to waste Dad" he voiced his question out loud and Lina gave a nod, wondering the same thing.
It would make sense if they were after them but Jack... barely did anything and he was no threat. After all, he could barely catch anything or harm anyone. Ghosts most likely laugh at him when they see him trying or if they ever happen to see and taunt him.
They were snapped from their thoughts when the clock behind them chimed 10. Exchanging a look of worry, they quickly flew towards the house
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Lina had phased through the roof and into her room. Turning back to normal, she climbed down the stairs only to see Maddie and Jack waiting in front of the door. Their backs were turned on her, but she could imagine that they were not happy.
Just then, Danny opened the door and peeked inside, deeply praying he was off the hook but he was mistaken.
"You're late again, young man," Jack said, making Danny look down.
"Oh, poop." On cue, one of the vultures pooped on Danny's head as they flew above the house, making him glare at them.
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It had barely been a few minutes yet it felt like hours on end. Jazz was sitting in a chair, reading her book. Lina sat on a different chair, silently watching as Maddie kept scolding Danny, who was sitting on the couch sullenly.
The female scientist and ghost hunter stood while lecturing, her tone showing she was not happy at all. Maddie could be chill and cool and a great role model, but she was also a mother and that meant that when she was angry or disappointed, it was a heavy thing to bear.
The only person in their world, as per usual, was Jack. He was busy working on a large, green invention that looked like a giant water heater.
"Danny, this is becoming a problem. You're constantly late coming home..." Maddie started, only to be interrupted by Jack.
"You're shirking from your chores..." he added, without taking his eyes from the newest invention of his and not looking at his son.
"Your grades are slipping..."
"You're shirking from your chores..."
Lina wanted to roll her eyes at jack and Danny was not far from wanting to do the same but could not do it at that moment because his mother was forward and was already being scolded for enough things that he couldn't and didn't do.
She was in a similar position, but she strived and managed to finish hers somehow. It was that feeling of not wanting to disappoint them and since she was almost a guest at the Fentons. In addition, she was good with time management and the best of all things, she didn't have as many chores as Danny did.
Since Danny was their son, the more attention they paid him also including the chores and work he had to do. Which many times led to Lina helping or even covering for him. She did not mind but sometimes, with the ghost hunting and the school, she also struggled to help him which eventually led to the lecturing and scolding of the day.
"You already said chores." Danny corrected him, hoping not to get into too much trouble for Jack just repeating the same thing again and again.
"I know, but when you don't do 'em, I get stuck with them."
"Look, I'm under a lot of pressure. You two have no idea what it's like to be a kid today!" he snapped.
Indeed, they had no idea and especially being a kid with a secret identity and generally a secret like no other.
"Come on, Danny. That's the oldest excuse in the book" Maddie said and on cue, as Danny leaned his elbow against the couch's arms, it became intangible and phased through. "There's nothing you're going through that your father and I didn't go through when we were your age"
Lina's eyes doubled as she saw it, knowing Danny would lose control when he was frustrated or emotionally overwhelmed. Thankfully, he managed to cover it but what Maddie said, was not sitting well with any of them because they knew it was not true.
"Yeah? Well, I beg to differ." The male halfa said and the female gave a nod quietly.
Only Jazz noticed her but didn't say anything, having gotten tired enough of hearing those two adults.
She closed the book and stood up. "The reason Danny doesn't think you can relate to him is that you never take the time to tell him about your childhood!"
"Jazz!" the boy complained as Lina facepalmed, loud enough to be heard across the room.
Sometimes, Jazz was not helping with things. The opposite, in fact, would make it even worse. No one was truly interested in the backstory of the couple, not even Lina and she would quietly listen and nod when Jack started his monologue.
"Have you ever told him how you met? About your first date?"
"Jazz!"
"Where did you go to college?"
Suddenly, Jack stood up and walked to stand next to Maddie. "You know, Jasmine, that's a great idea!" he said, making Lina lift an eyebrow.
"It is?" she asked, also standing to be closer and have everyone in her optic view.
"What is?" Maddie asked, having lost track of what they were talking about.
"This is!" Jack said and held out an invitation to a college reunion party for the University of Wisconsin. "You can come with. All of you" he pulled Maddie close. "Your mother and I to our college reunion."
"I...can?" Danny asked.
"Reunion?" Lina repeated.
"Wisconsin?!" Jazz ended, and all were equally shocked.
"Sure! My old pal Vlad is throwing a huge shindig there. We'll take the RV so the whole family can go together. You can learn more about your mother's and my college days, and while we drive *Leans down in Jazz's face, smiling* I can blather on about ghosts!"