A/N: Writing is so weird, guys. I had nothing for months (as you know) and then I literally sat down and wrote this in the past 2 days lol Enjoy!

Barry zipped along the side of the Specter Speeder just in time to block a shot sent from one of the police cruisers closely following the craft. After his own kinetic energy successfully clashed with, and dissipated, the ghost energy, he made the mistake of looking down. He had done this several times now, but the sight of his feet hanging mid-green-glowing-air did not get any easier to accept. His stomach lurched and he had to put a hand on the Speeder to steady himself. Luckily, it had come to a stop, though Barry did not know if that was a good sign or not.

With head down and eyes closed, he was startled by the chuckle and hand placed on his shoulder. Reacting quickly, Barry righted himself and found Danny giving him a half concerned, half amused, look.

"Flying not all its cracked up to be?" the half-ghost teenager quipped.

"I have to admit, it's weirding me out." Barry smiled. "Glad to see that's taken care of." He gestured to the collar in Danny's hand.

"Me too." Danny studied the device for a moment, seeming weighed down by something, but then he looked up at the other hero with a determined scowl. "Ready to end this?"

The Speeder shielded them for now, but they could only assume that Walker and his crew had stopped and were working on surrounding them.

Barry let go of the Speeder and tried to stand erect without thinking about the fact that his feet had nothing on which to stand, which meant his body had somehow exerted force on nothing yet he still managed to-

"Hey!" A gloved hand waved in front of his face, breaking Barry from his frantic speculating. He blinked hard to further clear his mind.

Danny was glaring at him. "I know that look. I live in a house full of scientists. Right now I need you to focus less on being a scientist and more on being The Flash."

"Sorry." Barry rolled his shoulders. "You're right, what's the plan?"

"I want to end this fast," Danny said, peering around the Speeder. "Can you get them closer together?"

Barry joined him and observed the way the guards had fanned out before them. "Sure, like herding cattle."

"Exactly," he gestured to where a white jeep was parked, "and get Walker as close to the center of the herd as you can."

The tall ghost warden emerged from the jeep, a pink mega-phone in hand. "Come out with your hands up, punks," he spoke into the device.

"I have to warn you," Danny's face was solemn as he turned back to Barry, "I'm only going to have one shot at this. If it doesn't take care of all of them, you may be on your own for a bit while I recharge."

Barry nodded.

"Sam may be able to provide some coverage using the ecto-guns on the Speeder, but it's taken a lot of damage and she's going to be watching the power gauge to make sure we have enough to get back."

"Got it, anything else?"

"Yeah," Danny looked at him with eyes glowing, "once you have them in position, get behind me and cover your ears."

"My ears?" Barry frowned, but Danny was already heading out to the clearing between the Speeder and Walker's force.

"Hands where I can see them," Walker barked.

Danny left the collar hooked to his belt and lifted his hands.

"The Streak too," Walker said, banging a fist against the hood of the jeep, "I want him where I can see him and still as a statue!"

Danny used his already raised arms to shrug. "The Streak?"

"The human," Walker growled, "the runner."

One hand to his chin, Danny pretended to ponder the demand. "Oh, you mean The Flash?"

Walker ground his teeth. "Where. Is. He."

At that moment, Barry tore out from behind the Speeder and began circling the crowd, forcing the guards closer to Walker with every lap.

"He's around," Danny replied with a smug smile. He began to power up for his Wail; using every second Walker took to analyze the situation to his advantage.

Just as the warden was about to respond, Danny released the energy, the first wave hitting with enough force to knock the majority of the guards unconscious. He closed his eyes and concentrated on emptying all he had into the blast of sound.

Being faster than sound, Barry saw the attack coming and did as Danny had told him. He then watched in awe as the auditory surge had a physical impact on the ghosts before him.

Walker was the only one still standing and he seemed to be trying to fight through the energy to lift the hand with the mega-phone in it.

Confused, Barry watched intently as the ghost hit a button on the gadget. Suddenly, another high-pitched sound pierced the air, slicing through Danny's ghostly howls. Pink energy radiated from the mega-phone and seemed to cut through the green waves of the Wail.

All too quickly, the pink beams reached Danny and he was thrown backwards against the Speeder, his Wail turning from a roar to a whimper.

Barry shot to his side just as the teen slipped back into his human form. "Danny?" He cursed as the body in his arms went limp. "C'mon, kid." Barry jostled him a bit to try to keep him conscious.

A shadow fell over them.

"All you have to do is hand him over, son," Walker said, baring his canines, "I'll let you and everyone else go. All charges dropped."

"No deal," Barry spat.

Walker scowled. "Not a good choice, Streak."

He had a way of making the name sound demeaning. Barry frantically tried to think through his options. Glancing down, he saw that Danny was holding the collar once again and his expression darkened.

"Remember our conversation about mercy," Walker grunted, "and my lack thereof?"

Barry kept his head down, but spoke evenly to the ghost. "If you're not going to show any, then neither will I."

He sprang forward, using his speed and the element of surprise to get up and behind the ghost in less than a second. With a definitive snap, he secured the collar around his foe's neck. The effect was almost immediate as the collar glowed to life as if feeding from the energy of its wearer. Walker was hit with an unceasing current of shocks that had him incapacitated and seizing in place.

Barry flew around him and back to Danny. Lifting him gently, he saw that the teen was still unresponsive, but he could feel him breathing, his chest gently expanding against Barry's grip. He wasted no more time in getting them to the Speeder where the door was being thrown open and hands ushered him inside. He took one last look at the ghost laid out and pulsating with electricity, clearly in the throws of excruciating pain, and turned away. The door shut behind him.

The first sensation Danny became aware of was a sound, a soft, but quick, tap tap tap…. Tap tap tap tap tap tap. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked until they properly focused.

The sound he was hearing was Cisco typing on a laptop, his concentration clearly set on the screen. Beside him, Caitlin was peering into a microscope, her attention also fixated.

Danny gently cleared his throat. "Either of you seen my phone?"

The two scientists instantly looked up from what they were doing.

"Look who decided to rejoin the living!" Cisco's face had broken into a wide grin that now turned to a grimace. "That's not offensive, right?"

Danny chuckled as he tried to sit up. "Only halfway."

Cisco smirked. "Still got the jokes."

"Easy, Danny, go slow." Caitlin rushed over to help him.

He realized he was on a cot in the basement/lab of his home, the portal visible to his left. The Specter Speeder was parked in front of it, looking like a kicked-around tin can.

Making it to a sitting position with Caitlin's help, he also noticed that he was wearing a crisp, clean shirt, under which he could feel a bandage tightly wound over his entire left shoulder and part of his arm. Caitlin picked up his right wrist and looked at her watch.

Danny waited patiently until she let go. Pulling a pen light from her pocket, she checked his pupils next.

"Your vitals seem fine," she said, "How do you feel?" Worry clear on her face.

"Honestly?" He placed his feet on the ground and, resting his elbows on his knees, let his head fall into his hands. "Like I was hit by a bus." He rubbed at his eyes. "No, wait, I've been hit by a bus. This is more like a hundred buses."

"How's your hearing?" Cisco asked.

"Fine."

"No ringing?"

Danny paused, and then shook his head no.

"That's a good sign." Caitlin relaxed some. "You remember what happened, right?"

"All I remember is I was using my Ghostly Wail, then something hit me. Hard." Danny scrunched up his face. "Am I supposed to know more?"

"According to Barry, you were definitely out after that," Caitlin assured him.

"And we're guessing you were too focused on your, uh… what did you call it? Ghost Wail?" Cisco frowned.

Danny nodded. "Ghostly Wail."

"C'mon, man," Cisco shook his head, "you gotta do better with naming stuff."

Caitlin and Danny exchanged annoyed glances.

"Banshee Shriek. Crypt Cry. Spirit Siren." Cisco held up his hands. "I could do this all day."

"And they would all still be terrible." Everyone turned to the source of the jab. Barry was taking the last few steps down into the basement.

"Agreed." Danny crossed his arms, shooting the Latino a look. "Can we go back to how it was earlier today? You know, when you weren't supposed to talk to me?"

Cisco's face fell. "That's cold."

"Is anybody ever going to fill me in on what happened?" Danny asked, gesturing around the room.

Barry cleared his throat. "I can, but first, let me go tell your family that you're up."

"I can do that," Caitlin offered, but before the words were even out of her mouth Barry had disappeared and reappeared, almost like he went invisible for a moment.

"And never mind," she stated quietly, returning to her microscope.

While Danny's family made their way to the lab, Barry explained how Walker had managed to counter the Ghostly Wail and then tried to get Barry to hand him over, leaving the hero no choice but to put the collar on the ghost warden.

"I hated leaving him like that, but I didn't see what else I could do," Barry finished with a heavy sigh.

"You did the right thing," Danny reassured him.

"I keep telling you, dude," Cisco rejoined the conversation, "that thing definitely short-circuited by now. Ghost Cop is probably already back to busting up ghost gangs and loving every minute of it."

"Or plotting his revenge," Danny offered, "but, sure, ghost gang busts seems more likely."

"Who's in a ghost gang?" Jazz was the first one down the stairs, but she was followed closely by both of her parents.

"Danny?" His mother practically shoved through the others to get to him.

"I'm okay, Mom," Danny said as she sat beside him on the cot and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Gave us quite the scare there, son." Jack placed his large hand gently against Danny's back. "Uh, no pun intended."

Danny smiled up at his father. "First rule of being a super hero, Dad, pun always intended."

Everyone laughed as relief spread through the lab. Sam and Tucker were the next to approach their friend, having hung back to allow his parents to take the lead.

Sam leaned against the wall beside his cot so she could speak to him without the rest of the group hearing. "So how are you really feeling?"

"Yeah man," Tucker came to stand with them and matched Sam's low tone, "an attack that packs a punch greater than your Ghostly Wail? That had to have hurt."

"I'm fine, guys, really," Danny waved off their concern.

"And how are you about…?" Sam flicked her eyes over to where Barry had engaged his parents in conversation.

Danny shrugged. "They seem to be accepting of me just the way I am." He looked up at his friends. "Guess I still need to work on being more accepting of myself."

Sam smiled, knowingly.

"Alright," Jack said, clapping his hands together, "we better get going if we're going to make it back to Star City tonight. The Fenton Jet is fast, but she can't bend the rules of time and space, unlike a certain someone." He elbowed Barry, with a wink.

Just then, a low whine cut through the room, fading out into a rumble.

"Uh," Danny chuckled, somewhat embarrassed, "Does that flight include dinner? I… missed lunch."

There was an awkward pause as everyone was briefly reminded how Danny had been imprisoned during lunch.

Cisco looked around at the guilty faces in defiance. "Somebody get the boy a pizza, for crying out loud! He's done more than enough to deserve one!"

The tension broke and everyone murmured their agreement.

"I'm on it!" Jack was the first up the stairs.

The rest of the group seemed to hang back, waiting to make sure Danny could get up on his own, which he did, but once all backs were turned, he faltered and reached out a steadying hand. It landed on the arm of the person nearest him, which happened to be Sam.

Color instantly spread to both teens' faces.

"Sorry, I, uh," Danny stammered, moving away his hand.

"It's okay." Sam put her hand over his to keep it there. "We both know you'll never make it up the stairs without me."

Danny looked ahead, worriedly. The stairs were quite daunting to him in his current state. He sighed in resignation and nodded, gripping her arm tighter instead of letting go.

"The fearless Phantom," Sam teased, as they made their way forward, "thwarted by a common household architectural design."

"Haha, very funny," Danny said, giving her a playful nudge that rocked him off balance more than it did her.

Sam laughed. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Danny stuck his tongue out at her, but chuckled too.

Upon making it into the kitchen, Danny let go of Sam before anyone could see his struggle and went to lean against the counter. Barry quickly joined him.

"You know, you were on to something this afternoon," the young adult said, "about secret identities."

"Huh?" Danny tried to think back to his first encounter with Barry. It was hard to believe it was still the same day.

"You got on to me about my girlfriend not knowing mine," Barry reminded him.

"Oh, that," Danny rubbed the back of his neck, "I was just trying to get you to pay attention to me, it really wasn't any of my-"

"No, you were right," Barry cut him off. "It's wrong to keep the people who care about you in the dark about who you really are. Don't you feel better with your parents knowing the truth?"

Danny considered this for a moment, his eyes gliding over his parents, who were rushing around gathering supplies for the trip, and coming to rest on Sam. She was talking with Caitlin and Jazz, but turned, feeling his gaze on her, and shot him a small smile.

"It's nice knowing I won't have to sneak around anymore," Danny finally decided, "but I think it's always been more important to me that my friends knew."

Barry followed Danny's line of sight. "And maybe one friend more so than the other?"

Danny cocked a brow. "What are you implying?"

Barry put his hands up, apologetically. "Nothing, just thinking out loud."

The teen shifted his weight against the counter, while Barry thought for a moment.

"I guess what I'm getting at is this," he finally said, "As heroes, we're always really focused on being there for others, but what I'm learning is that we can't do that if we don't also have a couple people who are there for us."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, my friends do a lot for me." He flicked a glance at his fellow hero. "Before you decide to tell someone, I guess you have to be sure they can handle everything that comes with it." He shrugged then, not knowing how much his words hit home with Barry. "But I'm just a kid, what do I know?"

Barry had been listening to Danny with an intent stare, but now he quirked his lips. "I think we both know you're much more than that."

Danny returned the grin. "Pretty big compliment coming from The Flash."

It was Barry's turn to shrug. "I'm young too. And I haven't had my powers long. I'm sure I still have a lot to learn."

Danny let out a deep breath. "You and me both, dude."

Just over an hour later, the group was all aboard the jet and finishing the last of several extra-large pizzas. They were two members short as Sam and Tucker had to go home before their families grew concerned; plus there was really no need for them to travel back to Star City. The Fenton's, on the other hand, had luggage and the GAV to retrieve.

"So you can either ride home with me in the GAV or your father on the jet." Maddie proposed the options to her son as he took the last bite of his crust.

"Hm and listen to Dad drone on about ghosts the whole time?" Danny reached for his soda and took a swig. "I think I'll stick with you."

They both looked over at the pilot's chair, where Jack was holding Barry captive in a conversation about spectral energy and the physics behind it.

Maddie sighed. "Poor Barry."

"The scary part is," Danny whispered conspiratorially, "I think he's really enjoying it."

His mother laughed, making him smile. He watched her as she kept her gaze fixed on Barry. She noticed him staring and turned to face him instead.

"It's funny," she said, "from the moment I met him I've been thinking about you at his age, wondering what you'll be like." She reached out and brushed his hair from his face with a frown. "You're growing up so fast."

"Mo-om," Danny gave the obligatory teenage groan and ran a hand through his hair, putting it back the way he likes it.

"I'm serious," she gave his non-injured shoulder a gentle bump. "And it's funny because, at the time, I didn't even know how alike you two are."

Danny nearly choked on his soda. "You think we're… alike?"

"Of course," Maddie relied, like it was obvious, "You've both been given extraordinary abilities!"

"Yeah, but…" Danny fiddled with the tab on his soda can.

"But what?" His mom pressed him, trying to understand where his sudden unease was coming from.

"I mean, he's still human." Danny kept his gaze fixed on the soda tab. "I'm not. Not all the way at least."

Seeing how much this had been weighing on her son, Maddie's tone softened. "I don't really see what that has to do with anything."

The fidgeting with the soda tab stopped.

"You're still you," she added emphatically, "And your father and I love you very much."

Danny looked up with an appreciative grin. "Love you too, Mom."

She pulled him into a quick side-hug. "Now I'm going to go save that boy before your father gets so caught up he forgets to land."

Danny chuckled. "Good idea." He watched his mom go up to Barry and observed them from afar.

So his mom had been thinking about him whenever she interacted with the lanky scientist-turned-superhero. The disclosure sent his mind drifting. He had never thought about what it would be like to be Barry's age and still be half-ghost. The thought was a bit jarring. He had planned on becoming an astronaut before the accident that gave him his powers and since then he had never once considered how it might have changed the course of his life. Was the space academy still his plan?

Danny closed his eyes and tried to imagine his future and what he would want it to look like… but the feeling of uncertainty blurred the images in his mind and he began to panic. His eyes flew open and he looked down at where his arms rested in front of him, one hand was squeezing the opposite arm. The sensation was calming to him and he wondered briefly why until he remembered his hand on Sam's arm not too long ago.

He smiled as he had a comforting thought. His future may be uncertain, but one thing was for sure: he was not going into it alone.

The End! Thank you so much to all my readers and especially my reviewers who stuck by me through this whole ride! If you follow me as an author, I do have something else in the works for DP. I'm going to wait until it's a little more developed before I post it, but stay tuned! :)