The final chapter. If you stuck with me this long, then I have no words to express my thanks. If you're just jumping on, then oh boy, you're in for a surprise as Editing Week truly begins. You guys know me, but I swear this isn't a re-write! I'm just going to be going through and re-posting all the chapters after edits, taking out plot holes, and fixing up the stuff I didn't like. In a few days I'll delete and post the last chapter again so you get the update as to what I fixed and include a list of what all changed. I think you'll like it, though! It'll be much more polished!

Right. Right, as always, check out my tumblr...

Actually, for now, just have a good day. I hope this chapter makes you smile and feel the sun on your skin.

Thank you.

Chapter Seventy Four

::

"And so that's how it all happened. Everything since Andrew was hired to be the substitute teacher at Casper High. Spectra, Section 13, Walker, the attack on Amity Park, yeah. That's all." Danny's breathing was a bit too fast, but that could be excused considering he had just spilled a year's worth of events to the Observants who were holding a trial over him.

If he thought the aftermath of that last battle had been bad when he had restarted time, then it was nothing to Observant guards swarming the place and detaining all of Walker's ghosts. Even worse, though, was when two Observants appeared in front of him and told him that he and his mates were to report for trial. Immediately.

Immediately ended up being a few days thanks to Clockwork's meddling, but, still. That was almost worse since he spent days dreading what the Observants were going to say to him, or, well. He spent days dreading what they were going to do to him.

"Two ghosts have faded, an entire section of one of the human governments has been destroyed, you have two bonded to you which should not be possible, the Master of Time has lost his title and a great deal of his powers, an entire human town knows of our existence even more so than before to the point you've created a Way Point." A what point? "And you say that's all."

"Um, I mean, I left out a few things, but those were kind of personal…" Beside him Randy cleared his throat, Andrew much less subtle in hiding his own laugh. Danny just tried not to blush because, yeah, that- Yeah. "I think I told you all the important stuff, at least."

"Phantom." Oh, jeez. Ghosts only called him Phantom when they were acknowledging he was on their level or when they wanted to kill him. He didn't have a good feeling about the way the Observants said it. "I think it goes without saying that we are displeased by your blatant disregard for all our rules and laws."

"Hey! I only fought in self defense!" He had only done two things that were unforgivable. One of them he could never take back because otherwise Andrew wouldn't be at his side today, but the other… He didn't regret what happened to Walker all that much.

"If you would let me continue." The Head Observant did a very good impression of sneering at him, Danny mused. "While you do not follow our laws as you should, we stand to admit that you have never caused harm to another outside the bounds of reason." Ha! "Your mates on the other hand…"

Before Danny could get worked up into a fight - because if it wasn't one thing it was another - there was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them. Danny glanced back to the empty stands to see Clockwork was sitting on the edge of the dividing wall, small smile on his face. "I believe I've made it quite clear before what my stance on Andrew and Randall was."

While most of the Observant council muttered amongst themselves, the Head Observant gave a sigh that showed just why the stands were empty and why this trial of theirs was on its own. A full trial would have meant dealing with Clockwork even more than necessary, probably. "Clockwork you no longer have a voice in these meetings since your renouncement of your title-"

"Oh, no, I'm here as Daniel's father, of course." Appreciating the glares that weren't quite glares, Danny did his best to not laugh as he caught sight of the absolutely shit-eating grin on Clockwork's face. "If family is still allowed to testify, of course, as is most cases dealing with a young ghost. Since Daniel has only had his powers for a few years-"

"Moving on." A yes without saying yes. Nice. "The true matter of the day is to discuss with you how your town is now under Observant watch and protection due to it being one of the Way Points of the Spirit Realm-"

"Whoa, whoa, hey, hold up a second, you keep saying that word, but is that like- Is that weight point like whoa, this is heavy, or is it way point like look that way, over there?" There would have been a very heavy silence if Andrew wasn't shuffling closer and looking eager because he didn't seem to know either and Randy wasn't trying to contain wild laughter.

Surprisingly, the Head Observant actually rolled his eye. Impressive, but also insulting? It was a simple question! "Must this boy be the bridge?" Clockwork must have nodded because the posture the ghost had now could only be called a slump. "Very well. Honestly, did you think this had never happened before? Did you think a town has never played host to our kind? How naive."

A ghost town… The way Clockwork had explained it had made it sound like it happened before, but now knowing it had, that was… That was kind of cool. "So I was kind of a substitute as the 'halfa'. A go-between for the worlds, right?" A few gave nods as best they could, and, yeah. "So I'll always be kind of the bridge - the reflection - but I won't be like… I won't be chained to the town or anything, right?"

"No, Phantom, you will not." Danny could have sworn the Head Observant smiled. He probably would have. If he had a mouth. "Unless there is anything else you three have to share?"

Andrew and Randy shared a look, Andrew clearing his throat after a moment, "What are the parameters of getting by keyboard working once again?" The looks grew sour. "If I were to repair it, of course-"

"Don't. Beaumont." That had Randy startling a little and, right, he was probably used to Randy or Riter. "You look shifty." Oh, god, don't laugh, Fenton. They really did work with Randy a lot, didn't they?

"Assuming I found an ancient ritual site within the Ghost Zone-" Randy cut himself off at the groaning from all of them. "I didn't activate it this time!" Oh, good, Andrew was looking at Randy just as strangely as Danny was. "It's a long story. I'll tell you later-"

"We banned you from speaking of that incident!" One of the Observants snapped, Randy smirking.

"Bans don't apply to mates."

"I believe that will be all," the Head Observant sighed. "Clockwork, stay, if you will?" Clockwork laughed even as he nodded, Danny shifting and that meant they weren't in trouble, right? "You three may leave without any fear of reprimand for the events the last year. Phantom, be aware we will be speaking to you more thoroughly about your role in the future. For now, though, Section 13 is no longer your concern. Don't come back."

"We'll do our absolute best, sir!" Danny darted over to give Clockwork a quick hug, grinning at the ruffle to his hair before he was flying over to latch onto Randy's shoulders. "I'll try not to start any revolutions, revolts, or anything else!"

A flash and they were standing Vidya, the three quiet before Andrew gave a snort of laughter, Randy following not a second later. Danny huffed, horribly offended, "Hey, I think that went great!"

"I didn't think it was possible for them to hate us any more, mon cher, but you have proved me wrong once again." Danny flew over to lecture and was instead distracted by the very nice kiss he was given. "Don't you have a party to prepare for?"

"We do, yes, but we can probably waste a bit more time since Sam's still setting everything up." Danny tugged Andrew down for another kiss, shuddering sharply when he felt a hand press against his lower back and then another rubbing at the tip of his spine and- "Ganging up on me is cheating."

"We like to think of it as creative problem solving," Randy hummed, kissing at Danny's cheek from behind him. "How long until that party?"

"A few hours. At least. Definitely a few hours at least." And if they were a little late, well, Sam wouldn't mind.

::

"Why is it you two are here more than at your actual literal mansion?" Danny, changing back from where he had just come in through the portal, walked over to where Vlad and Elle were working at a station. Well, Vlad looked to be working, Elle was doodling on some paper.

"Um, because our place doesn't have an awesome cool lab where I can blow sh- stuff up and not be yelled at for it."

"Nice save," Vlad replied dryly, squinting at something under a microscope. "I'm not quite sure what Elle is doing, but I've been studying those vines to see if we can't make sure they never crop up again."

"I'm drawing," Elle said sweetly, tapping a hand to where a bunch of maps were spread out all around her. She seemed to be drawing on the maps themselves.

"Very artistic. I should have you draw with me and Randy sometime." Getting a closer look, he frowned and tapped at the bright purple x's marked all over. "What are these for, buried treasure?"

"Those were there when I found the maps," Elle shrugged. "Dad, what are the giant x's Danny's freaking out about instead of praising my drawings?"

"There's so much wrong with what you just said I don't even know where to start, you little brat."

"Takes one to know one!"

"Hey-!"

"Children." Vlad looked torn between exhaustion and amusement and yeah, Danny could feel him on that one. "It's polite to share."

"Ha ha." Danny tapped at the maps again. "Know what these mean?"

"Hm- Oh. Ley lines." Ley what now? "Honestly, I'm surprised you don't know about them. Jack used to study them quite a lot." Vlad rolled his chair over, nudging Elle to get a bit of room before spreading the maps out more. "They're an old fool's theory about how the 'energy' of the earth ran along certain longitudes and latitudes."

"Like that Ghostbusters movie?" The look Vlad had on was so pained it almost had Danny laughing like Elle was.

"They're said to lead you to monuments of power or ritual sites, like Stonehenge." Huh. Neat. "Ask Andrew, I'm certain he's done some research into it."

"What makes you say that?" Danny frowned, watching Vlad laugh and turn back to his work.

"Have you read his books?" That… That was probably going to forever cause a feeling in him that he would never know how to name. Cool.

"Isn't this Amity Park?" Looking to where Elle was tapping on the map, Danny frowned and huh. It was. There were a lot of towns that had x's over them, actually. One that looked to be in the middle of the desert, one in California, a few in New York, and another up in Oregon… Ley lines, huh?

The Observants had said that this wasn't the first town to be like this, so maybe the ley lines had something to do with those Way Point things? Maybe there were other towns like theirs.

"Kids! Lunch is ready!" Maddie's voice was all it took to have Elle jumping down and running for the stairs, Danny stifling a laugh. "You too, Vlad! Danny!"

"Terrifying as always." Vlad grabbed a few papers before heading up the stairs, Danny looking to the maps again for a moment. If Amity Park was so crazy, then he bet those other towns were even crazier. It'd be nice to visit them one day, but, well.

For today, everything was perfect as it was.

::

"You know, it's just going to get even crazier the more everyone gets control of all this energy," Randy pointed out, one leg hanging off the side of the school roof where they were all sitting and watching the teens stream into the school for another new year.

"That doesn't have to be a bad thing," Andrew said softly, sitting sideways and leaning up against Randy, seeming to enjoy being up 'early' for once. "Besides, the people of Amity Park seem well suited to the strange."

"That might be putting it mildly," Randy snorted and considering Valerie just flew in on her suit and retracted it without breaking stride, yeah, he had a point.

Danny only kept watching as the two talked, smiling more and more as he saw the hints of power in all the teens and heard Ghostspeak drifting up to him. He even saw a few of the ghostly teens lingering around and chatting to friends, one of them actually sneaking in with the other students - probably on a dare.

A laugh bubbled up out of him and Danny turned to his mates and, "We did good, didn't we? I mean, everything that happened last year. Spectra, Walker, Section 13, the whole Way Point thing. We did good."

Andrew was the first to smile, shifting to link his hand with Randy's. "Yes, I think we did rather good." Randy beamed, nuzzling against the top of Andrew's head.

"Of course we did. Nothing can beat us when we're all working together, after all." That- Exactly. Exactly.

"More is gonna come." Danny looked back over the town, warm golden sunshine lighting it all up and making it perfect. "More always comes." Spectra and Walker and Section 13 had only been another threat just like Pariah, Dan, and every other ghost he had ever fought. "But things are good, for now."

They were learning. They were learning, and growing, and happy, and everyone in this town had made it through so much, but there was still a long way to go. More holidays, more dark days, more good days, more days just in general and it… It was all going to be so amazing. There was so much to come!

It was going to be amazing and Danny honestly couldn't wait, but for now, though, he had today and he had this town and they all had each other. It was all they really needed.

"Come on, Mr. Riter." Danny slid off the edge and into the air, darting around to tug Andrew up and give him a beaming smile. "You've got an English class to substitute for."