This is a story being written for one scene. a scene that appears in this chapter. The rest of this story is simply a build on that scene.

I do not own Danny Phantom.

Chapter One: The Caged

Maddie Fenton was one of the top most experts on paranormal investigation and ectoplasmic containment fields. She was a ninth degree blackbelt. She had helped save the city of Amity Park more times than the mayor was really willing to admit.

And Maddeline Anne Fenton was a bad mother.

Her daughter, Jazz Fenton, was a top student, on her way to becoming one of the best psycholigists in the state, and had a rich and fulfilled childhood. She hated her parents.

Because she loved her brother.

Not in any way that could be considered incestuous, though with her cold outward attitude to any male outside of her family it was joked about often enough.

She loved her brother in the way every big sister should. And she admired him. Admired his strength. Both physical and the strength of his soul.

For two years he fought against all outside forces intending to do harm. He layed to rest the schemes of people with plans so ... vile Jazz still shuddered at the thought of them. He withstood endless amounts of temptation, bowing only once or twice, and came out the other side better than when he started.

Until Jack and Maddie found out his little secret.

"Jazz," her mother began, "I know you think he's your brother," It was an argument that had started three years ago, a mere two weeks after Danny tunred sixteen, "But it's a monster," Her tone became poisonous, "A creature that stole the face and form of our son to mock our sense of familial love and closeness. You have to see that!"

Jazz said nothing as she glared across the table at her mother. She had set her face in a permanent scowl ever since it became apparent that her parents themselves would never see the face of their son in the towns hero ever again.

"Just look at the testing," Jack insisted. He had become far more serious over the last three years. Too serious.

"No human being grows like that, Jazz," Maddie said with unending conviction. She knew, knew, that monster wasn't her son.

Jazz finished the cup of coffee she was drinking without taking her teal glare off of her mother before standing from the table, grabbing a book bag full of the books she needed for her current term in Amity University. She didn't grace her parents with a goodbye. She hadn't in three years done that once.

Jack placed a large hand on his wife's shoulder and gently assured that it would all be fine, "She'll understand, Maddie. She's a smart girl. Sher just needs to get used to the fact that it wasn't her brother she had grown closer to."

"But it's been three years, Jack. What if she's still under his thrall? What if-"

"She's not, sweety. We've done every kind of test we can and more. We know she's just being stubborn."

Maddie sighed deeply before a fiece look crept into her eyes, "Let's get back to work."

The two eldest Fentons went to their basement laboratory to further their studies.

Currently heading to the airport, not to Amity University, Jazz was speaking rapidly on the phone with one of the two people she hoped to see more than all but one other person on this planet.

"Yes, he arrives tomrrow. If I'm right, just two days later the International Ectomorphic Study Expo starts. My... parents will be there. We wont have to worry about them for two to three days. We can do it then," She spoke in a monotone to the receiver, but there seemed to be a warmth in her voice. A warmth that no longer existed for all but one of her family.

"I'll see you in thirty minutes, Sam," she then said a quick goodbye and hung up the cell phone. Her mind was whirring with images of past present and what she hoped to be future.

She arrived at the airport fifteen minutes later and as she sat in the parking lot, parked in the closest space she could get to the doors of the terminal, and every subsequent minute from there ticked by like an unbearable eternity. She almost screamed when someone knocked on her window.

She briefly glared out her window. Her scowl immediately became a bright smile. She threw open the door and proceeded to crush the person in a hug.

Her victim, a young woman with pale white skin, lustrous black hair kept in a ponytail, and amethyst eyes, laughed good naturedly and hugged her back. After a short while the two women parted and looked eachother over.

Jazz, for her part, hadn't really changed over the years except to grow a little taller and adding a semipermanent scowl to her visage.

Sam Manson however was almost a different person, physically. She now stood at a proud five feet, eight inches tall, her body was covered with the lithe muscle of a professional gymnast, and her breasts, a modest A cup the last time jazz has seen her, had filled out some more into a mid B.

Her clothing had changed too, though not for lack of want. Instead of a gothic getup that she would have chosen back then, she wore a pair of blue jean pants, some inexpensive running shoes, and a purple shirt that matched her eyes and lipstick.

After a small session of catchup between the two they were off. sam stuff her dufflebag full of necessities in the back seat and climbed into the passenger side of Jazz's car. They rode into nothern Amity park, A forty minute drive from the Fenton Works, where Sam had called ahead to rent a couple of rooms for herself and Tucker, when he showed up the next day.

Jazz wished she could invite her to stay at her place, but she still lived in the Fenton Works with her parents. She used the excuse that if she didn't have to pay rent for an appartment then she'd have more time for her studies in her college classes. It was only a half lie. She did use the time to study, but instead of psychology, like she lead them to believe she studied Jack and Maddie. She learned the ins and outs of their day to day life like she never had before in the first eighteen years of her life. They would hardly ever surprise her with something they did anymore.

After another parting hug and a whispered, "We've waited three years for this," Jazz left to continue her day at the university. Luckily she had a free period that morning that she had not told her parent about so that no one would miss her as she went to pick up Sam.

Sam sat her duffle bag on the bed and pulled out another pair of blue jeans and a green shirt, with the logo for the gymnastic team she had played for in her last two years in highschool, and headed for the shower. A good forty five minutes later, Sam stepped out of a nice hot shower wearing the hotel provided robe, and looked out over the panoramic view of Amity Park.

She'd never hated a city more than she did this one. If only for two of it's current residents. She never thought she could hate anyone else's parents more than she did hers. The Fentons, as they had a habit of doing, proved her wrong.

It was Jack and Maddie who convinced the Mansons that taking Sam away from Amity would be good for her. It was them who convinced the Foleys that Tucker should stay away from Sam too, to keep from perpetuating eachother's delusions of Danny still being alive.

It was Jack and Maddie Fenton who locked up their son for saving their lives.

Three years ago Vlad Masters had picked a fight with Danny by threatening his family. Danny fought his hardest and with the help of Sam, Tucker, and Jazz was able to beat Vlad down. But Vlad has never been known to play fair.

Just as the four teens though they had won Vlad launched his last strike. A massive blast of magenta energy shot towards the elder Fentons. Danny didn't have time to think, only time to act. He placed himself in the line of fire and summoned an ecto shield with the best of them.

Vlad poured every last bit of himself into that blast, and to keep it from killing his parents, Danny had to do the same for his shield. In the end, after two minutes and thirty seven seconds of struggle it ended.

With a roar in his throat and determination in his eyes, Danny pushed the very last of his ecto stores into the shield. It strengthened to the point that, for half a second, it refelcted the blast back at Vlad. That half second was just enough for it to take Vlad out in his weakened condition. The elder Halfa passed out after a hard landing and reverted to his human form shocking those who saw it. Danny, in a similarly weakened state fell out of the air and landed at his parent's feet, also in human form.

Thing never seemed to stop going downhill from there.

At least, not until today. Today was the beginning a new era in there lives.

+--- ---+

Four days later Jazz, Tucker, and Sam stood infront of a seemingly bare wall in the Fentons' lab. They had decided to wait an extra day to make sure that Jack and Maddie were well and truly gone. It would not due for the two of them to come back to the house to grab something they forgot and see the three of them attempting this.

Jazz decided to go over the detail one last time, "Okay, once the wall opens we have exactly fifteen minutes before it closes again. Ten feet in the real fun starts, that's where the laser tracking starts. Jack," Except in the company of her parents Jazz never refered to them by anything but their names, "Programmed those so it will be impossibly to know exactly where each laser will be at any given moment. The lasers, when they find you Sam, will start the cameras. Tthe cameras are hooked to a a computer that scans for ectoplasmic traces and start a biometric facial scan. The whole process will take thirty eight seconds. When it sees that you aren't Maddie or Jack it will jump into alert mode. The first thing to change will be the initial laser grid will change from scanning to cutting, neither Tucker or I will be going in for this reason. The next forty meters will be traps and hidden electrical floor panels galore. I hope you memorised their placement.

"Once you've gotten past that there will be another door. That should be seven minutes in and that's where you and I come in Tuck. I will be upstairs watching the phones. after the computer sees that Sam is going for Danny it will notify Maddie, through her cell phone, and ask for confirmation for the use of deadly force. Luckily it wont send video or pictures of the intruder. Mom will take a few moments to send the response and depending on where they are that will take three to four minutes. Tucker you will use your link to their system through your laptop to receive and alter the confirmation to a command to cut the power to the grid. Maddie should call about the intruder to see if I'm okay, I'll answer after the fifth ring.

"When the power goes out the other door can be forced open. Do you have your crowbar?" Sam held one up, "Good. On the other side of that door is another short hallway followed by one more door that you should be able to easily open, and behind that the room where they are keeping him. Now the cell they have him in and the initial door right here are on a seperate power grid so you will have to access the terminal directly to the left of his cell to open it. The password is 'Fudge', capital F. Now every single scrap of metal from the other side of this door to where they are keeping him is Ecto-reactive. If he touches it, it will explode. Not enough force to kill you but certainly enough to incapacitate you both. That why you need this," Jazz handed Sam a Fenton Thermos, "I know it will be hard to do to him, but it's the only way to get him out safely. After that it shouldn't take you as long to get back since you wont need to avoid the traps and you should make it through the door with thirty seconds to spare.

"Then we get the hell out of Dodge!"

Sam and Tucker moved to where they needed to be for the beginning of the process. Tucker sat at a nearby desk and established a connection with the Fenton network. Sam took the position of a track runner.

Jazz stood by the button and counted down from five with her fingers on her right hand.

Finally, after an eternity, or so it felt like to the three, Jazz pushed the button. The wall slid aside with a mechanical whirring sound and Jack's voice, from before the incident, sounded out.

"Welcom to the Fenton Ecto Containment Program. Please keep your chin elevated for an easier scan from the biometrics."

"Yeeaaagh!" Sam took off with a furious shout.

Jazz raced upstairs to watch the phone like she said and Tuck followed her movements from the video feed piped into his PDA.

When the email came back from Maddie confirming the use of lethal force Sam was only fifteen feet from the second door. Tucker intercepted the email before it could be received by the network and reworked into the command for power shut down. That took twenty seconds and by that time Sam was impatiently tapping her foot as she waited to wrench the door open with the crowbar.

By the time Jazz had answered the phone Sam had made it to the third door and had just wrenched it open.

There, in the center of the room, in a spherical prison with his arms and legs in silvery metallic locks and pipes feeding in and out of him from all over his body, was the one they had come to save.

Noticing movement the person lifted it's head, hanging down from exhaustion, to glare at who he suspected was Jack or Maddie coming to run another series of painful tests on him again. The eye that peeked through the snow white bangs of his moderately long hair, did not have an iris or pupil, the entire thing just glowed green with malice and hate.

Until it saw it's visitor.

"Sam...?" he ground out with a deep, rich voice that he had not owned years before.

Sam was almost brought to tears by the naked man before her. He had scars over his body from past battles and recent experiments. His hair, as previously mentioned, had remained uncut throughout the last three years, and he had a full beard and mustache.

Most surprising was his muscle tone. Unlike what was to be expected of a prisoner not alowed any physcal activity, his muscles had not atrophied. Quite the opposite he seemed to have bulked up. He obviously stood taller than she did and had more muscle mass than some of the wrestlers that attended the highschool she tranferred to when her parents moved.

With a crack in her voice she spoke the name of the only person she loved with all her heart," Da-...Danny."

+--- End Chapter one---+

A/N: and there you have it. I am actually quite pleased with this chapter. It came out better than I first expected. And incase your wondering the scene that inspired the rest of this chapter was when Sam first opened the third door and Danny glared at her with only one visible eye.

I hope you enjoyed this.

TOSD out.