A/N: Here it is! The Epilogue! Read/review/fav/follow and…ENJOY! Remember to keep an eye out for the sequel, "Adrift"! It may not be updated as often (I finally graduated from NEET-dom and got a job! YAY!) but It'll still be updated as often as possible! It's been fun, and I hope you'll enjoy the sequels as well!

Epilogue

The cold creeps between his lips, and he raises his hand. Mr. Lancer glances over with a wry smirk.

"You don't have to ask anymore, Fenton. Just go. Manson can take notes for you."

Danny leaps from his seat and vanishes through the door as Sam pulls out a black notebook with "Danny" written on the front with a silver sharpie. The students who hadn't been on the fieldtrip stare in confusion, sending asking glances at their classmates. They receive nothing but shrugs in return. They had all agreed to keep the ghost-hunting secret in the hospital at Danny's insistence, two weeks prior.

Things are the same as ever; yet somehow different, at Casper High. Danny Fenton still vanishes in the middle of class, to sometimes return with injuries, which no longer go as unnoticed. Dash no longer bullies him or the other 'nerds,' knowing what could happen in retaliation. Mr. Lancer still drones on, though – that hasn't changed.

Tucker Foley and Valerie Grey are among the most discussed and debated couples in the school. They can both be seen bickering constantly as they walk through the hallways, but Alex and Jaden insist that they'll stick; something about Valerie being the type of person who could never respect someone who can't hold their own and Tucker getting bored otherwise.

A normal, peaceful day at Casper High; well, as peaceful as it gets when a techno-ghost decides to invade the computer lab.

Frederick Isak Showenhower, more commonly known as "Freakshow," had been given to Clockwork, who promised that he would be given to the Observants, who would give it to other delegates to solve the problem; he has since been united with his ghost self, and was full-ghost, living happily with Lydia under the spectral big top.

The Amulet of Charon had proven to be powerless once broken, and Sam was given a pair of dangling skull earrings made of an oddly familiar blue-gray material long before Christmas.

Over all, everything is peaceful.

Maddie Fenton stands in the moonlight that spills through her window, leaning on the sill and allowing the night air to calm her mind. Her violet eyes are framed by shadows, betraying her lack of sleep. When she closes her eyes, she sees her son's blood-stained body, his skin cold and gray, and then he opens his eyes – eyes that burn acid green. He asks her why she didn't notice that he'd died. That the Danny she'd known for the past few years wasn't him.

She doesn't hear him stop in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

"Mom?"

She turns to see him – her son – watching her with worried blue eyes, framed by shadows like her own. A cut on his cheek has stopped bleeding recently, and she knows it'll be gone by morning. They always are.

"Yeah?" she tries to smile.

He sighs, a sad, gentle smile forming on his face. He walks slowly towards her and places a hand on her shoulder before drawing her into a hug.

"It's okay, Mom," he whispers, "I know it's hard. I…I should have told you sooner. But I was scared," he chuckles weakly, "I was just a fourteen-year-old boy who ended up with ghost powers in a freak accident. At first…I just didn't know how to tell you; just waltz in and declare that I had ghost powers? Then I started fighting ghosts…and I was afraid that my enemies would target you even more if you knew."

"Fourteen-year-old boys aren't supposed to worry about things like that," she sniffs into his shirt.

"I suppose not," he laughs, backing away with a smile, "But it's part and parcel with the superpowers and heroics."

"The troubles of a boy your age are supposed to be…" she shakes her head, "school, cars, girls…"

"School, a little," he shrugs, "I can fly, and I already have the only girlfriend of my entire life, so…"

She laughs, "Do her parents know yet?"

"No," he smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Do Tucker's?"

"Also no."

"Do they know about the ghost hunting?" she frowns.

"Do you honestly think Sam's parents would let her do that? They put a restraining order on me freshman year because Sam and I cut class to go to Circus Gothica…granted, I was being brainwashed by Freakshow with a crystal-ball-staff, but…you get the point. They only removed it because she wore that awful floral-print, poofy-sleeved monstrosity…I can't believe she did that for me…" he trails off, "How did I not notice?"

"Tucker's parents wouldn't exactly approve either, but I'm sure he could talk them into it."

"Probably," he smirks, "We don't want to worry them, though. Val's dad knows about her hunting…somewhat. He grounds her from the suit on occasion, but he's accepted that he can't keep her off of it at all times. He might know that we're out there now."

"It probably makes him feel a little better, knowing that his little girl isn't alone out there," she whispers, turning back to the window.

"Yeah," he moves beside her, "…get some sleep, Mom. You look exhausted; and for what I said in Frostbite's place…I…I didn't mean it. I was just…frustrated. You wanted the truth, and I was finally telling you and…" he sighs, his eyes flashing green.

"…and I was rejecting it," she finishes.

"Yeah."

"Tucker told me about the Reality Gauntlet."

"Did he?" he swallows.

"You erased our memory; everyone's memory."

"I did."

"Why? We…we accepted you, why…why us too?"

"Because of this," he indicates her sleep-deprived state, "Nights spent worrying at the window. Sam already does that. I didn't need to add you to the list of people waiting for me to show up battered, bruised, and bleeding."

"It must have been rough," she whispers.

"It isn't easy to love a hero," he replies quietly, "the world is always on our shoulders and any day can be the day we meet someone stronger than us. Any day can be our last, every breath, every kiss…I'm not sure what will happen when I die. Will I move on? Will I become a full ghost? Will I be stuck in some sort of limbo? I don't know," his fist clenches, and he turns, pausing in the doorway, "But I can't prevent that. We all die someday, so what's the point of worrying about it now? I'll have to deal with it when I get there," she can't even hear his feet in the hallway as he creeps to his room.

"It is tough," she whisper hoarsely, "but I still love you, Danny. My Danny."