I have so many ideas for oneshots it's hard to finish them all. I have some that are half-finished while I've only just started some. It's kinda hard when you don't know where you want the story to go after the midpoint since it's a oneshot and you don't know how to end it. But here's an update of 'Shot of Ectoplasm' while I get started on the next update of 'Phantom Embryo'. I don't when it'll be, but maybe sometime in May, hopefully.

Anyways enjoy and stay safe!

What-if Scenario - Struck

Genre - Family/Tragedy/Angst

Word Count - 3,588 (Not including ANs)

Story 9: Don't Wanna Go...

A boy with raven-black hair wandered down the dark street, heading home after hanging out with his friends most of the afternoon.

His eyes were an icy-blue that seemed to reflect like glass.

He lifted his head and frowned, noticing how dark the sky was getting. "It's getting cloudy. I hope I make it before it starts raining..." He wrapped his arms around himself as a shiver wracked his body.

The teenager hurried down the street as the wind picked up and blew his hair into his face.

It was then he heard the sound of a loud crack.

He looked up at the sky, blinking, as the rain pelted onto his skin as a light flashed across his vision.

He never made it home that night...

SOE

"...worst storm in the history of Amity Park..." The television was cut off as it was turned off by the remote control on the table.

The three family members at the kitchen table stared it, lost, sadness welling in each of them. That storm had taken someone they loved dearly away from them. He had never come home last night and they still didn't know if he was okay or not.

"I...It's got to be a ghost..." Jack Fenton stuttered out; his usual boisterous voice quiet and trembling. "No storm can take down a Fenton..."

"Dad, didn't you see the weather reports...?" The daughter; Jasmine responded as she swallowed her fears that her brother was truly gone. "They said there were strong winds and even lightning ... if Danny was hit..." She stopped herself from continuing at seeing the distraught expression growing on her Mother's face.

"I...If that's true, then why hasn't no one found him...?" Maddie's voice stuttered out, eyes wide as tears trickled out of her eyes. "If he was alive he could've found shelter until it was over a...and then come home..."

"Mum, there was also mentions of flooding. If he was struck by lightning he may not have survived..." Jazz lowered her head. "...if he somehow did and just lost consciousness then he probably drowned during the flood. He probably won't be found for a while..."

Jazz lifted her head to notice her parents clutch each other tightly.

She sighed, clasping her hands together in her lap and biting her bottom lip.

Why did this have to happen to her brother?

He never did anything bad.

He was a good boy.

He never hurt anyone.

He didn't deserve this sort of thing to happen to him.

Jazz wiped the tears away that had started to form in her eyes, but froze when she noticed a blurry form in the doorway to the kitchen.

It had black hair, sticking to its face and its clothes were wet, dripping water onto the floor as if it'd just come out of the shower with its clothes on.

Its eyes were an acidic green that stared right at her.

Through her.

She shivered as the being kept staring at her but noticed one last thing.

It had a scar running over its right eye that was glowing bright green.

'A Lichtenberg scar...' She thought to herself, still keeping an eye on the being that she now realized was a boy.

A boy that looked familiar.

Her eyes widened as she stood to her feet, staring wide-eyed at the boy across the room from her. "DANNY!"

He just gave her a small smile almost as if reassuring her.

Her parents instantly turned around at Jazz's shout, but the boy that was Danny had instantly vanished.

Jazz swallowed, wanting to talk to him, but knew why he had done that.

Their parents were Ghost Hunters and if they saw Danny ... would they still see him as their son or try and destroy him?

What Danny needed was closure not to be destroyed.

What if finding his body would help?

Or even getting their parents to accept him?

"Why is the floor over here wet?" Jazz heard her Mother say as she kneeled on the floor where the wet patches were. She turned her head to her daughter with a frown plastered on her face. "Was Danny here, Jazz? You said his name."

Jazz froze before turning her head away from her parents; who looked at her, waiting for an answer to the question.

"He was, but..." She stopped, wondering what to say to them. "...he wasn't alive. He had a glow around his body, his entire body was wet and he had a Lichtenberg scar over his right eye." She turned her head to look at her parents to see their reactions, hoping that they wouldn't go extreme with this information. "H...He just needs to move on ... maybe helping him will help..."

She noticed how her parents had gone quiet which she didn't like.

They were most likely contemplating what to do.

If it was for Danny's sake they'd do the right thing, right?

"Jazz, honey..." Jazz stared as her Mother started with that line. Whenever she started with that line she would begin the whole spiel of how all ghosts are evil. "...that's not your brother anymore. I'm sorry, but we have to put it down."

She sputtered, staring at her parents.

She couldn't believe this-them.

"What? It's Danny! Why can't you get this whole 'all ghosts are evil' theory out of your head long enough to help your own son move on!?" Jazz exclaimed as tears pricked at her eyes.

Maddie shook her head at her daughter. "Jazz, this hurts us too, but that ghost isn't Danny anymore. It's only the last remnant he had ... his last bit of consciousness..."

"And what if his last bit of consciousness was for us to find him?!" Jazz exclaimed, angry at how opinionated her parents were. "He might want to lead us to where his body is? What if that helps him move on?!"

"Ghosts aren't that simple, Jazzypants. They are malicious beings that only want to cause the living pain because they are no longer part of it," Jack growled out.

"I don't believe this..." Jazz gasped out, trying to comprehend what her parents were saying to her. "You'd destroy Danny's ghost and for what reason? Just because you believe in your ridiculous theories?"

Before her parents could try to stop her she was rushing out of the kitchen and out the front door of FentonWorks. She wiped the tears from her eyes, trying to get rid of the feeling of worthlessness.

That she failed her brother.

She was the older sibling and she couldn't even take care of him-save him...

"Don't cry..." A hand landed on hers and pulled her clenched-up fist away from her face and she came face-to-face with Danny only this time it seemed so much more real to her that he was dead.

She sniffed as she looked over her brother's body, noting the small scuffs and bruises on his arms and the rips in his clothing.

His body must've been dragged pretty fair for him to have that many injuries.

How long was he alive for during all that?

She hated thinking it, but she hoped the lightning had killed him that way it was fast and painless he wouldn't have felt the slow and painful way of drowning in the flood as his body was dragged down the road, hitting anything in its path like in a river.

As his lungs were filled with water, suffocating him.

She couldn't stop thinking of how he had died and it haunted her.

Hurt her.

That he had been in pain and no one was there with him.

"Danny, w...why are you here?" She couldn't help but ask him.

"Body ... find..." It was very few words that came out of his mouth due to how garbled his voice sounded from the water in his lungs, but she knew what he meant.

He wanted her to help him locate his body.

Maybe this was the closure he needed to move on.

She put her other hand over his that was currently on hers and smiled at him. "I'll help as best as I can, Danny."

He just gave her a wide grin like he used to and Jazz knew that once they found his body ... she'd miss that smile of his...

SOE

The ghost of Danny led his sister down the road, away from FentonWorks. Jazz only hoped that her parents didn't get any ideas after what she said to them and ended up following her.

She knew her brother.

Why couldn't they see that Danny just wanted them to find his body and move on?

It made her angry that they were so biased.

That they believed in all these theories they created before they saw a ghost.

It disgusted her...

The boy suddenly stopped on the footpath and looked down, his sister following his gaze and stared with wide eyes. The usually white footpath was now stained black as charcoal with two footprints overlaying the stain as though someone had been standing there when it was made.

"Happened ... here..." Danny's garbled voice came as Jazz looked up at her brother, brows scrunching in concern. "...was ... painful..."

She swallowed before finally deciding to wrap her arms around her little brother, giving him a reassuring hug. "You ... don't have to do this if don't want to, Danny..." She told him, voice wavering slightly.

The boy opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a garbled mess.

His sister winced causing her to realize he possibly did drown if he's talking like that.

If it was the lightning that killed him and his body was swept away then he'd look more affected by the lightning from what her parents have said when ghosts form after people die.

This must mean it was a combination of both; he was weak from being struck by lightning and wasn't ready for the flood when it came, so he ended up drowning.

It made her queasy just thinking about it.

She kept her attention on her dead brother as he pointed down the wet pathway where it went down an alley that led to the park.

It was still hard for her to come to terms with ... that her little brother was dead.

All because he couldn't get home on time.

He made a gesture for her to follow him and did so. It was another slow, quiet walk that allowed her to look at the damage the storm had caused, but notice that she couldn't have a conversation with Danny as they went.

He was a ghost...

He'd be gone once he fulfilled whatever last wishes he wanted to tell her and then he'd go.

She hated knowing that and having the responsibility to tell his friends.

Sam would blame herself for not letting him stay the night.

Danny looked at her from the corner of his eye, concern on his face as he pushed wrecked bushes and broken branches aside once entering the park. They entered an area with a small stream nearby as Danny waited for his sister to catch up. He heard the leaves in the bushes rustle as she came out and stared.

Danny had indeed led her to his body, but the sight of it was too much.

She collapsed on her knees, eyes watering as she stared at the glassy blue eyes of her brother's body.

It was slumped up against a rock, the bottom half of his body in the water and the upper half still leaning against the rock like a chair. His glass-like eyes were staring up as if he was waiting for help and never received it.

"Danny..." It hit her after finally seeing his body.

His corpse; that her brother was indeed dead.

That his ghost had been helping to lead her to it and would be gone any minute now.

Her eyes widened, turning around to face said ghost to find him thankfully still standing in place, staring at her with worried green eyes and mouth upside-down.

"Danny, y...you must have some ... last requests or w...wishes for me ... to do...?" She could hardly finish her sentence due to her tears pouring down her face.

He only gave her a solemn nod.

"W...What are they then?" She asked while wiping her tears away.

"Tell ... Mum ... Dad ... I sorry..." He lowered his head as though ashamed he'd died. "Tucker ... best friend ... ever..." He gave a small smile as he spoke these words even if they sounded odd coming from his garbled voice. "Sam..." He shut his mouth then almost as if he couldn't say it.

"I think I have an idea of what you want me to tell her."

He looked at her, blinking, but all he saw was a fond-knowing smile on his sister's face. He turned his head away from her with guilt clear across his face. "Never ... told her..."

A sudden weight caused him to turn his head back to face Jazz as she had come over to him to hug him. He may be a ghost and may be untouchable, but he needed one at that moment.

That was all it took for tears to well up in Danny's eyes that dripped down his face like the water still dripping from his wet hair. He dug his face into her chest and grasped her shirt in a vain attempt to hide; hide his emotions.

He'd just died that night and he never got to truly let all that out.

With trembling shoulders that were soothed by his sister's hands, he let out a wail of sobs into the morning air.

Knowing his sister was here with him.

It helped, but he'd have to leave her and everyone else he loved behind.

"Y...You're ... best ... sister..." He sobbed into her shirt, eyes shut tight as though trying to imagine this was all a nightmare. "I ... don't wanna ... go..." He mumbled out into her shirt.

Jazz had frozen at his words, smiling, but as conflicted as her brother was.

They both knew he had to go, but it hurt too much to let it happen.

"Oh, Danny..."

A few sniffles escaped his throat though his echoed cries still had that distinctive garbled sound to it, indicating how he had died.

It hurt Jazz that she hadn't been able to save her little brother.

She hadn't been there with him in his final moments.

He'd been alone.

He'd waited for someone to save him, but because people were told to stay inside due to the storm no one had come.

She felt awful.

If only she had felt something was off.

She would've gone out looking for him last night.

And now ... because she didn't her brother was dead.

He had been struck by lightning; possibly still alive and probably passed out in the flooded street before drowning.

It made her feel sick.

Her brother could've survived.

The older of the two siblings bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back a sob.

If this storm hadn't have happened ... he'd still be alive.

It hurt so much.

A rustle from within the bushes nearby caused the two to let go of each other and turn towards the noise. What jumped out of bushes was two jumpsuit wearing adults that the two teens knew all too well. It was Jazz's parents and formerly Danny's; the two had an ectogun drawn each and aimed in Danny's direction.

Jazz should've expected that they had followed her, especially after the way they had acted before.

It ground her gears that they had the nerve to act that way towards Danny.

He wasn't doing anything wrong.

All he wanted was to show her where his body was so he could move on.

It wasn't anything malevolent.

He just wanted to do one last thing before he left this plane of existence for good.

"Mum, Dad, put the guns down," Jazz demanded of her parents.

They ignored her command, keeping their gaze on Danny.

"How dare you trick our Jazz you pile of ectoplasmic scum!" Maddie shouted, powering up her weapon causing Danny to wince slightly and back away a bit.

"Mum, listen to me! It's Danny! Stop this nonsense!" There were tears in Jazz's eyes. "Put the weapons down! He just wants to say goodbye!"

"Jazzypants, ghosts don't do goodbyes. They are malicious beings that will trick you. We've taught you better than this. Just because it took Danny's form doesn't mean it's him. He's probably still at Sam's," Jack explained to his daughter not noticing how the two teen's glanced at each other.

'So now they thought it's a trick. It's not like it's any different since they said they would get rid of Danny's ghost anyway,' Jazz thought to herself, annoyed.

Danny grunted and floated aside giving his parents full view of his corpse.

The two froze.

Their eyes scanned their son's still form as if expecting him to move.

Maddie dropped her gun, rushing over and putting a hand to his wrist to check for a pulse.

There was none.

She checked his neck.

Nothing.

Her breathing picked up, hands shaky as they roamed over to his chest to find his heartbeat.

Any indication that her baby was still alive.

Again nothing.

"No, Danny, please..." She whimpered, tears appearing at the edge of her eyes.

No movement.

She swallowed, noticing the Lichtenberg scar along his face, the ripped and dirty clothing and how he was half-buried in water. Her gaze lifted to the ghost that had lead her daughter here, noting the similarities between her son's body and said spirit.

It wasn't possible.

But yet he was standing right there.

"D...Danny...?" Maddie muttered out causing the ghostly teen to give a nod and a small smile.

Jack looked at his son's body before turning to face the ghost they had previously been aiming their weapons at. His eyes widened when he realised what his wife did, choking. "Danno..."

The boy just gave them a simple smile not noticing the water continuing to puddle around him on the grass. "I ... love you ... guys..." He garbled out to them, noticing how teary-eyed his sister was getting knowing what was to come. He wiped his own watery eyes, sniffling a bit. "I ... sorry. I'll ... miss you..."

"DANNY!"

The teenage ghost gave his family one last smile before he felt something in his core pull.

He had to go.

He'd done what needed to be done.

He said his last words.

He'd lead them to his body.

He wanted to stay, but couldn't.

He couldn't help it.

He started to sob, putting his face into his hands and tears streamed down his face. "I don't ... wanna go ... yet..." He let his voice garble out as his form flickered, confusion overcoming his being. He did what he had to do to move on yet he wanted to stay with his family. "I wanna ... stay..."

The three living Fentons stared at the ghostly one as he continued to cry.

They looked at each other.

Was it a good idea for him to stay?

This could be his only chance to move on.

"Danny..." He turned his head over towards his Mother. "...I want you to stay too, but this might be your only chance to move on. You might not get another."

The teenager sniffed as he looked over at his Dad. "I'd be fine with you haunting our house, Danny, but your Mother's right."

Danny finally turned to his sister; who gave him a sad smile. "I know you want to stay, but if you stay you might be stuck here. I don't want that for you. I don't want you to have to deal with our deaths years down the line."

All this did was cause Danny to wail, wiping his eyes, sniffling.

His family approached him, giving him a big group-hug.

Soon he started to calm down and settled into the hug, wrapping his cold arms around his sister and parents with a smile on his face. "I'll always be here..."

His voice was clear at that time.

No gargle to his voice.

It was almost as if he was still alive except without the echo.

The three looked around to see that Danny was gone.

Before they could say anything Danny was in front of them once more; transparent and seemed to be fading.

His hand was on his chest and he was smiling, grinning almost.

The gesture was simple.

He slowly faded from their view and the three Fentons watched their youngest member fade into the wind.

He was telling them he'd always be with them ... in their hearts.

He was their son and brother and always would be.