"This is going too slowly," Danny growled, gripping the steering wheel tightly as he tried to find some way through the traffic. He could always take after his parents in driving and just plow through things like there weren't even there, but his car wasn't exactly on the same level as the Fenton Assault Vehicle. In fact, he was fairly certain if he tried crashing through things to get past the traffic blocking his way that he would only end up with a useless car wrapped around a tree or lamppost, which didn't sound like it would help his progress any. Added to that was the fact that Dash was in the car with him, and while Danny could probably walk away from a crash thanks to his ghost powers, Dash probably wouldn't be so lucky.
"So maybe this is a crazy suggestion," Dash said slowly, glancing Danny's way like he was trying to gauge the half ghost's reaction before continuing, "but you do have ghost powers. I know keeping that secret is highly important, but I think protecting your son trumps that." He reached out suddenly, grabbing hold of the man's wrist like he feared Danny would suddenly fly off if he didn't stop him. "Your son is at my house with my son and one of my best friends, which means I have people in danger as well. So don't even think about running off on your own to fight this alone. You're taking me with you, and that's final."
Danny gazed numbly at the doctor. He was coming to understand that the man did care about him, but Dash had more than just one or two people that he was concerned about in this situation. "I promise I'm not going to let the bastard hurt any of them." Fierce determination flashed in his blue eyes. He did care about Xander and would never wish any harm to befall the boy. Paulina certainly didn't deserve to suffer from Freakshow's actions either.
He turned the car down a side street that was lined with tall buildings. Later on, Danny might regret this decision, but Dash had a point. Lex's life was far more important at that moment than protecting his secret. "I hope you're ready for this," he said, throwing a glance Dash's way. Then he shifted forms, changing the car and them invisible then intangible. He hadn't needed to do something like this since high school, but it wasn't as much a strain for him as it was back when he first got his powers. He veered the car in the direction of Dash's house and hit the gas, speeding them through buildings, cars, and other obstacles.
"This is actually," Dash laughed almost breathlessly, "pretty awesome."
Danny smiled a little to himself, taking some pride in the fact that he could still awe the other man with his ghost powers. "Definitely beats sitting in traffic, huh?"
"Man, if I had this power, I'd never have to worry about being late for anything because of traffic jams."
"I don't generally abuse my powers like that, but that would certainly make life a lot less frustrating." Danny laughed, wondering why he never thought about that until now.
"So that Darren guy," Dash said in a contemplative tone, "you seem to know him pretty well. And that whole badge flashing thing." He raised an eyebrow at Danny. "Care to explain that whole thing."
Danny shrugged, one shoulder rolling. "After Freakshow murdered Sam, I spoke a bunch of times with Darren, who was on the team that investigated into the murder. Of course, many of the agents didn't see much reason to do anything all that thorough since it was pretty obvious who the killer was since Freakshow didn't get away after shooting Sam. Darren was actually pretty cool. He, and his band of three subordinates, which includes that Steven guy Paulina's been seeing, wanted to ensure that Freakshow could never get out and do something like that again. Unfortunately, being on the lower end of the ladder, Darren doesn't have much power or influence. He could tell his bosses a thousand reasons with substantial evidence to back him up for everything, and they would still turn a blind eye to him." Danny sighed tiredly. "I actually like the guy. He'd be a good friend if he didn't work for the Guys in White. Darren isn't one of those agents that shoots firsts and asks questions never when it comes to ghosts. That's part of why he kept in touch with me and gave me the badge so I can get in and out of Guys in White facilities whenever I need to. He was interested in knowing what sort of things I knew about ghosts since my parents are ghost hunters. Of course, he's still wary of ghosts he first meets and never goes into an encounter without packing a few weapons, but he gives a ghost the chance to prove it's good or not before attacking. Which can't be said for many Guys in White agents."
"I guess it's good that you have some relations with them," Dash mumbled dryly. "But how do they just let this guy escape? And for a second time?"
"Well, third if you count the time he escaped while I was in high school and he had the Reality Gauntlet," Danny corrected, but he frowned at the questions. "I really don't know how he could escape. I know the Guys in White aren't exactly the brightest in some areas, and they certainly ignored the threat that Freakshow posed, but even they should be able to keep a human prisoner locked up." He heaved a tired sigh. "But Freakshow has shown that he can be rather resourceful and sneaky."
"I keep feeling there's more to this," Dash said, drawing Danny's attention briefly away from the what lay ahead of them. Being intangible had the advantage of not needing to worry about crashing into anything. "He went after your son. Maybe he was intending to kill Manson as well, but it still remains that he seemed intent on hurting Lex before dealing with you. That sounds like a more personal vendetta than just being angry at you for locking him up and making him sound like a complete lunatic to the Guys in White. I'm not trying to diminish anything about what happened. I'm just trying to figure out what this guy's deal is. Maybe he doesn't even deserve to explain his actions. He's definitely crossed a line of no return when he killed Manson and tried to hurt Lex. But maybe it would helpful to have some understanding behind why exactly he's doing all of this to you."
Danny shook his head when Dash fell silent. "No, I get it. I definitely want some answers. Why this had to happen has circled around in my head ever since that day, and the Guys in White wouldn't give me those answers. All I've had as an explanation these last three years is that he hates me for locking him up and the whole Reality Gauntlet thing. If I can get answers out of Freakshow, I definitely want that. But I don't think he'll exactly be willing to give me those answers."
The wheels of the car squealed as Danny slammed on the brakes, turning the steering wheel hard. Beside him, Dash grabbed onto the dashboard, bracing himself in a panic as the car spun then came to halt several inches from the curb. After a brief moment, Danny dropped the invisibility and intangibility.
"You're not driving next time," Dash said shakily.
"You've seen the way my parents drive. I'm surprised you didn't expect me to inherit some of their insane driving," Danny joked, but now that they were sitting outside Dash's house, tension knotted in his chest.
"I guess I should be happy that you managed a perfect parking job." Dash gave him a dry look.
From the outside, the front of the house looked normal with no sense of trouble. Danny almost wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking maybe his fears were for nothing. Maybe Freakshow hadn't even reached California yet, though he would have had plenty of time since his escape. Danny could hope that maybe Freakshow had some alternate agenda this time, some other enemy that he wanted to punish, but he knew, with miserable sinking sensation, that Freakshow would still be obsessed with coming after him.
"I need to-" Danny cut off, blue eyes growing wide when he heard the gunshot. Immediately, images of Sam lying dead on the ground with her blood spilling out onto the sidewalk flashed through his mind. The anguish of it gripped at his heart even tighter when he imagined his son in her place. If Freakshow managed to succeed in his sick, possessed mission of killing his family, Danny - His mind blanked as he tried to think of what he would do then, but he could only see himself breaking down at the loss of his son. How could he even come back from something like that? He still had his parents, his sister, and his friends, and he knew they would always be there to support him. But the thought of losing Lex after having already lost Sam plagued his mind, crushing his heart, and he could almost feel himself starting to breakdown simply from that single gunshot.
"Shit!" Dash threw open the door of the car and didn't even bother to close it as he raced toward the front door of his house.
Danny didn't hesitate a second longer. The images in his head terrified him, but he couldn't breakdown, not here, not yet. He didn't know who got shot, or if anyone even did get shot. The gun could have gone off but completely missed its target. There were so many possibilities for how the events could have gone, and he wouldn't know the truth until he got in the house and saw the damage. He shot out of the car, soaring toward the house and catching Dash around the waist as he phased them through the door.
"Dad!"
"Daddy!"
Danny halted immediately at the boys' voices. He set Dash on his feet and landed beside the man as the two boys raced up to them and grabbed hold of their fathers' legs. Xander had a scrape on his forehead just below his hairline. It was bloody, but it didn't look too bad, merely a surface scrape. Both boys had tears streaming down the faces, clinging tightly to their fathers.
"Hey, hey, you're okay," Danny said soothingly as he crouched down to better look over his son. Lex didn't show any signs of being seriously hurt. "What happened?"
"We were playing soccer in the backyard," Lex explained as he scrubbed at his face, trying to remove the evidence of his tears. "And he showed up. And - And Paulina tried to stop him from coming into the house. And we hid upstairs, but he came." He hiccupped as more tears spilled from his eyes, obviously terrified after the whole experience, especially meeting his mother's murderer again. "And Paulina came in to stop him. I managed to turn me and Xan intangible to escape when he wasn't looking. And there was a loud bang upstairs."
"Paulina!"
Danny glanced up at Dash's whisper and saw the coloring draining from the man's face. He felt cold inside for a different reason. As much as he appreciated Paulina protecting Lex, Danny certainly didn't want her losing her life. "I know you want to help, Dash." He stood up with a quiet fury in his eyes. "But if she's hurt, you're needed with her more." He charged up the stairs, not surprised that Dash followed since Lex's story implied that Paulina was probably upstairs when the gun went off.
At the top of the stairs, Danny froze as he met gazes with Freakshow down the hall. He grabbed hold of Dash, who was right behind him, and turned them both intangible seconds before Freakshow fired the gun in his hand. From downstairs, Lex and Xander screamed at the loud noise of the gun firing.
"Get to Paulina. I'll get this jerk out of here," Danny told Dash as he fired an energy ball at the man closing in on them. Freakshow dodged it, ducking into one of the bedrooms. "Uh, and I'm sorry about any damage to your house." He winced before flying off after his target. He felt bad that Dash's house was probably going to take some damage during the fight, but he couldn't really do anything to stop that from happening. He landed inside of Dash's bedroom to where his quarry disappeared. "Okay, Freakshow," Danny growled, glaring at the former ringmaster as his hands glowed green. "You wanted my attention. You got it. Now tell me why you're doing all of this."
"Now, now, my grim reaper," Freakshow said, drawing himself up to stand at fully height, which didn't seem all that impressive at his age. Danny had surpassed him in height through the years. "You know I can't simply show my cards just like that. We need to have our game and play our parts." A cruel smirk spread onto his waned face. His attire didn't look much different from how Danny remembered it back in high school. It looked more raggedy now, tattered and with patchwork. He didn't honestly look like a big threat in appearance, and Danny distantly wondered how the man could have outsmarted the Guy in White to escape. Twice now.
"I'm not playing games!" Danny shouted, ducking when he saw the gun aimed at him again. If those bullets were laced with the same stuff that Freakshow used nearly four years ago, then they could potentially be deadly to him. Danny wasn't tempted to test out just how deadly they could be.
He charged forward as Freakshow's finger began to squeeze around the trigger. Before the ringmaster could finish the action, Danny grabbed hold of the arm, thrusting it upward into the air as the shot rang out. The bullet fired into the ceiling, raining a thin column plaster dust upon them. They struggled, Freakshow trying to free his arm from the half ghost's hold. Danny twisted his arm, squeezing the hand until it finally released its hold on the gun. It clunked upon the floor as Freakshow growled in his frustration. His left arm shot out suddenly, surprising Danny as it clutched the half ghost's throat in a tight grip.
"You should have kept your distance," Freakshow whispered with an eerily calm voice as his eyes danced with madness.
Panic raced through him when Danny found he couldn't phase himself through the grip. He clawed at the cold metal around the hand, trying to pry it away from him as it squeezed around his throat. The familiar tingle of the light rings that appeared when he changed only increased his panic. He struggled to fight against it and keep himself in his ghost form, but it was quickly becoming harder to maintain that form. Reaching out, he pressed a hand to Freakshow's chest as he concentrated on forming an energy ball. The green wisps faded as soon as they appeared around his hand.
"What - How are-" Danny choked out as he finally lost the battled and reverted back to his regular human form.
"Thanks so much." The grin remained stretched widely over Freakshow's face, and some part of Danny's mind was strongly reminded of that one villain from a comic book. In the next moment, Freakshow threw him across the room. Danny slammed his back into the wall with a grunt. His legs felt weak under him, and he stumbled as he tried to stay upright. Then a burning pain seared over his chest, and he hit the wall again, which cracked under the pressure, sending Danny into the hall where he lay among a pile of rubble. Through the hole, Danny stared up at Freakshow standing over him with his left arm raised with a green glow around his fisted hand.