This one came to me later for my need of a happy ending (I can't really go without it, sue me).

Jack was so excited he could barely keep still. Today was the day. It was finally here!

Everything he and Maddie had been working on for the last twenty years was finally coming to a head.

He almost plugged it in the second Maddie said she was finished with her calibrations but then he remembered the kids.

This was going to be the biggest thing ever! This was historic! They couldn’t miss this!

“I’m gonna get the kids!” Jack said in a rush before he bounded up the stairs two at a time.

He swung open the door and found his son standing in the kitchen doorway with a bowl of chips. A few chips were on the floor around his feet for some reason.

“Just the son I was looking for!”

“What?” Danny said as he dusted a few crumbs off his shirt.

“Where’s your sister?”

“Upstairs, I think.”

“Great!” Jack said before he ran over to the other staircase and shouted up for his most favorite, and only, daughter, “Jazz! Come down here quick!”

Jazz popped her head around the corner, “what is it?”

“Come on! Come on!” Jack urged and then walked back towards the basement.

He took the bowl of chips from Danny’s hand and tossed it on the coffee table, “you won’t be needing these.”

“I was eating those,” Danny said his hand reaching out towards his snack.

“You can have it later. This is much more important.” Jack said as he started down the stairs.

“More important than food? I guess this is big.” Danny said and then he followed behind Jack.

Once he was at the bottom of the stairs, Jack turned around to face his audience. His kids.

“Today, you two will witness history!”

The reactions he got were mostly confusion, but that was fine. Everything would make sense soon enough.

“As you know, we’ve been working on this project for years. We’ve been working on this since before either of you were born. Way back in our college days!”

Danny looked over to the framework and then back to Jack, “you finished it?”

“You betcha!” Jack said with a grin a mile wide.

“I hate to ask, but what’s it supposed to do?” Jazz asked with her arms crossed and doubt written all over her face.

It was a little disheartening to have such a skeptic for a daughter but, he’d make a believer out of her yet.

This was just the thing to do it.

“We’re going to punch a hole from our world straight to the world of the dead!” Jack explained, punching his open palm for emphasis.

“That way, we’ll have constant access to the spectral dimension. We can gather samples, full specimens, and more data than we’ve ever been able to gather in all of our research to date!” Maddie added.

“So true, honey,” Jack said with a grin. She always had so many good ideas.

“You’re going to rip a hole in reality?” Jazz clarified.

“Yup-arooni!”

“Okay then.” she said with an eye roll, “I’m going to stay on the stairs.”

“You sure you don’t want to be closer to the action?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, very sure.”

“How close can we get?” Danny asked.

“That’s the spirit!” Jack said with a supportive slap on the back.

Which may have been a bit too strong given Danny stumbled forward a few steps.

Jack turned back to Maddie, “So where’s the cord? Can I do the honors?”

“Of course sweetheart!” Maddie said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before handing over the two cords.

Jack wasted no time and jammed the two cords together.

He watched the portal spark to life and then…

Nothing.

That wasn’t right.

He squeezed the two ends together a little tighter. Maybe they didn’t connect all the way.

Still nothing.

He looked at his wife.

She looked just as confused as he felt.

She held out her hands for the cords and he handed them over.

She unplugged it and plugged it in again.

It didn’t change anything.

She dropped the cords and quickly walked over to the board with their notes.

She read over them, looked to the panel, and looked back at the notes.

“I don’t understand. It should have worked.”

“Hate to break it to you, but I know why it didn’t work.” Jazz said with her arms crossed on the stairwell.

“You do?” Jack asked, hopeful that his daughter was able to see where they went wrong. Hopeful that it was something silly that they overlooked in their eagerness to start.

“It didn’t work because ghosts aren’t real. They never were.”

Jack’s shoulders sank.

“Come on, Jazz. There’s no need to be mean.”

“I’m not being mean! I’m being realistic! Maybe they’ll finally get out of this fantasy that they’ve buried themselves in and actually work on something real!” She said before storming off out of the basement and out of sight.

Jack sighed unsure of what to do with himself. It certainly wasn’t the first time he’d been told something like that, but somehow it was worse this time.

Maddie was getting upset. He knew even before she slammed her fists on the table.

It wouldn’t do her any good to stay down here.

Maybe they should just walk away.

Maybe Jazz had a point.

Jack walked over to Maddie and gently walked her away from the workbench. “Come on hon, let’s go.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Danny asked. It was hard to tell if he was more confused or worried.

“We just need to get out of here for a little bit.”

“So you’re coming back later?”

Jack didn’t know how to answer that.

Normally he’d say yes.

Normally there was no question.

Right now didn’t feel normal.

It hardly felt real.

“You know I still believe you right?”

Jack gave his son a smile. Or at least he tried to.

He gave him a pat on the shoulder and then walked upstairs with Maddie.

The next few weeks were like living in a tomb.

Everything felt colorless and cold.

No matter what he ate, everything was bland. It was like all the flavor had been drained out.

No matter how much or how little he slept, he still felt depleted and tired. 

He couldn’t think of a single thing to do to change it.

When the portal failed, it was like a part of himself died. 

And it wasn’t just him.

Maddie was feeling it too. Even if she didn't say much these days.

Most of his energy was spent making sure she ate something every day. 

Maybe that’s why he didn’t notice. Not that he’d been very observant before.

Despite how little he and Maddie had been doing lately, you’d never know from looking at the house.

The dishes were regularly cleaned and put away. The fridge continued to be stocked. Even the vacuum had been run a few times, but Jack had never bothered to look when he heard it.

His kids had been keeping house.

They shouldn’t have to do that.

He was sitting in the kitchen, taking the most time he had ever taken to eat a simple bowl of cereal when his son approached him.

“Hey Dad,” Danny said, fidgeting in place ever so slightly.

Jack dropped the spoon on the table, “what’s up, buddy.”

“I cleaned up the lab.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, but there were a few things I didn’t know where to put.”

“I’m not really sure I know where they go either.”

“You don’t even know which things I’m talking about?”

“I’m not normally that good at putting things away. That’s more your mother’s thing.”

“Oh.”

Then Jack started to wonder if Danny didn’t actually want him to check, but wanted something else instead.

“Do you want me to come down anyway?”

Danny nodded eagerly.

Jack shrugged and followed along. His boy seemed to be up to something, but he wasn’t really sure what it was.

Once they were downstairs he saw that Danny wasn’t kidding about cleaning the lab. He actually did a really good job. It looked like it did when they had first set it up.

It hadn’t been this clean in years.

“Nice job Sport, maybe I should add this to your chores.”

“You know that only works if it gets messy again.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Things didn’t really get that dirty if you didn’t use them.

“So is it going to be one of my chores?”

“Wait a minute.” 

Kids don’t like chores. Why would he want more chores? That couldn’t be what he was asking. 

“Are you asking if your mom and I are going to be working again?”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, “maybe.”

Jack ruffled Danny’s hair, “you're a good kid.”

“You know, there’s this thing, that maybe we could try. I mean, since we’re already down here.”

“What thing?”

“So you know how Tucker is good with computer stuff?”

“Yeah, you kids like to play games on the computer.”

“Yeah, but he’s really good. He’s been teaching himself to make his own games. He doesn't have anything playable yet, but he talks about it all the time.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Well, sometimes he gets stuck and he has this trick to get unstuck.”

Jack just waited for Danny to continue. 

“He just explains what he’s trying to do to me, step-by-step, and then he figures it out. He says it works best when you explain it to someone who doesn't know anything about it. It even works on a toy.”

“And you want to try that here?”

“Yeah!”

“I’m not really good at explaining things.”

“That’s okay! As long as you know what you’re talking about it.”

“I guess we could give it a try,” Jack said hesitantly.

“He says it works every time.”

“Every time?” Jack repeated. 

He supposed it couldn’t hurt. They were already down there after all. Plus he’d always wanted his kids to be interested in his work. He really wanted it to work.

“Hard to argue with results like that,” Jack said with a nod.

The smile on his son’s face was like watching the sunrise after a long night. So bright and full of hope.

Jack couldn’t wait to see his reaction when he got the portal to work. He’d bet it would be unforgettable.

“Well if we’re doing this step by step I know what we have to do first.”

“What’s that?” Danny asked.

“We’ve got to dress for the job!” Jack said before walking over to the storage closet near the stairs.  

He pulled out his own jumpsuit and then reached a little further to pull out another one. It was much smaller than his.

“Meant to have this ready by your birthday but the time kind of got away from me,” Jack said as he pulled out the white and black suit.

“You made me one too?”

“Of course, can’t have you getting into the family business without looking the part.”

Danny carefully took the suit as if it was made of glass.

“Go get changed and we can get started.”

Five minutes later, both Fenton men were suited up and ready to go.

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah! It’s just like a spacesuit but tighter!”

“It’s not too tight is it?”

“Nah, just different.

“Okay,” Jack clapped his hands to refocus on their original task. “Now that we're dressed it’s time for step two.”

Jack then started to talk through everything that he and Maddie usually did. He definitely wasn’t going in order, so he kept backtracking and starting over.

He was starting to think he wasn’t doing this right at all.

While Jack had his back turned, looking over some notes on the counter, Danny asked a question.

“Hey, what’s this button do?”

Jack, without thinking, said, “Press it, and let’s find out.”

And he did.

Jack turned when he heard the spark.

He forgot all about what he was doing before, the second he processed what he was seeing now.

His son standing in the frame of the portal. His hand against the wall.

He was staring at the light.

Why was there a light there?

There shouldn’t be a light there.

There wouldn’t be anything there unless…

Oh.

There was nothing he could do but watch.

Watch as the spark grew.

Watch as the light at the end of the tunnel got brighter.

Watch as it hit him like an oncoming train.

Fast and hard and loud.

He was surprised he even had time to scream.

Could barely believe he could even scream at all. Especially that loud.

All Jack could do was watch.

Jack just stood there, watching the frame of the portal fill with a swirling otherworldly green.

Stood there in silence. The lab was so quiet now.

What was he supposed to do?

How was he supposed to reach him?

Was there going to be anything to get?

Was he underneath or inside?

Caught between?

Nowhere at all?

Just gone forever?

What was he going to tell Maddie?

“I’m sorry,” he whispered to the empty room.

Then something changed.

There was a ripple among swirls.

Something was moving in there.

Something was coming.

It’s too soon.

He isn’t ready.

Slowly something staggered out of the portal. It takes a few steps and fell to its knees.

It’s small.

Human looking.

White hair.

Wearing a jumpsuit.

It’s black and white.

It’s got Danny’s haircut.

The suit looks so familiar but the colors are wrong.

Jack’s legs give out from under him and he falls to the floor.

Something hit the floor as he turned. Probably a beaker, he wasn’t sure.

That was his son? Or what’s left of him?

It was a ghost.

Jack grabs the nearest thing, the thermos, untested, and aims it a the ghost.

The ghost of his son.

His son the ghost.

His hands shake as Danny’s ghost just stares at him.

“Dad?” the ghost’s voice has an uncanny but incorrect version of his son’s voice. It echoes in a way no human voice should.

It echoes as if he’s still standing in the framework of the unfinished portal.

It echoes like it did just before the portal turned on.

Jack’s finger pressed the button on the thermos.

Nothing happens.

He just watches as his son’s ghost looks at its hands in confusion.

Did it not know?

“Dad, what happened?”

There are tears rolling down his face, but Jack can’t find it in him to care.

Normally he’d hate to cry, hated it more to be seen doing it, but not now.

The thermos drops to the floor.

The metal against metal is so loud. Jack doesn't flinch, but Danny does.

His boy has always been skittish.

Had been.

Has?

Danny’s ghost looks at him, confused and fearful, but says nothing.

Then he faints.

Ghosts don’t faint.

Before Jack could even try to make sense of that, something even stranger happened.

A bright blue-white light flashes around the ghost and then his son is there.

His son is there?

Jack slowly crawls over, not yet trusting his legs to be able to carry him.

He reaches out and lightly touches his back.

It feels solid.

Feels warm.

Feels real.

Feels alive.

Jack listens and hears breathing.

He holds his own breath just to be sure.

His boy is breathing.

He scoops him up and just holds him.

Danny’s alive. He’s just unconscious.

But he’s alive.

He wasn’t gone.

He wasn’t a ghost.

Maybe that was just a hallucination? A trick of the light?

There’s no way his son was a ghost.

Not while he was still alive.

His boy was still alive.

He was still alive.

He was still holding him when Maddie came down.

He had no idea how long he had been down there.

“Jack, what happened?”

So much had happened he didn’t even know where to start.

Maddie knelt down in front of him, her hand brushing some of Danny’s hair away from his face so she could look at him.

She looked up at Jack again, “what happened?”

“We came down. He wanted to help. The portal turned on.” Jack thought he was doing okay, but then the words started to stick to his throat, “He was- I thought- I thought he was- I really thought-”

“Jack, sweetheart, just breathe.”

“I thought he was. For a second there, I really thought. But it’s okay. It’s fine. He’s just sleeping. He’s fine.”

“Jack, how did the portal turn on?”

Jack shook his head. He didn’t know.

Wait.

Yes, he did.

“Found a button. Danny found it. Said he could push it. Why did I say that? I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have. I should have pressed it. It should have been me.”

“Jack, calm down. It’s okay. Let’s take him upstairs. If we lay him on the couch I can take a better look to make sure he’s okay.”

“Why not check here?”

“It’s too dark down here.”

“Dark?”

“Jack the power went out. Probably when the portal turned on.”

He looked around the room, his neck stiff from looking down too long. 

The room was dark, the only light was the ghastly glow from the portal.

How had he missed that?

“Why don’t we just go upstairs? The sun’s still up.”

Jack just nodded along. He got up, carefully lifting Danny as he went. 

He was so light in his arms. Hardly weighed a thing.

Had he always been this light?

Jack hardly noticed he was back upstairs until Maddie was telling him to set Danny down.

“Just rest him here.”

He didn’t want to let go, but Maddie needed to look him over.

Once his arms were empty he didn’t know what to do with himself.

He didn’t know where to go.

Jazz was the one who convinced him to sit down on the other couch and take a glass of water. 

He needed to be reminded to drink it and not just hold it.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Jazz asked.

He just drank some water instead of answering.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, “You really shouldn’t bottle it up. It’s not healthy.”

“I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Then maybe we should go to the hospital? Why are we still here anyway?”

“Calm down dear. I’m sure Danny’s just fine.” Maddie said as she continued to look Danny over.

Jack really didn’t want to drive to the hospital.

The last time someone got hurt by a portal he went to the hospital and Jack never saw him again.

He didn’t want to send his boy away.

He moved over on the couch so he could be closer.

“He’s okay right?”

Maddie kept her eyes on Danny as she spoke, “I don’t see anything. Did he hit his head?”

“No. He just fainted.”

He hadn’t been a ghost. That was just a trick of the light.

He didn’t need to tell Maddie that.

Then, finally, Danny woke up with a gasp.

He sat up immediately but then stopped and closed his eyes.

“Hey there, slow down,” Maddie said as she took his hand. “You’re alright.”

Danny looked around, from her, to the room around them, to Jack, then back to her, “how’d I get up here?”

“You passed out in the lab. Do you remember what happened?”

Danny was quiet for a moment. Thinking about something before he spoke.

“I was trying to help Dad with the portal and it turned on.”

Then he just looked a Jack and held his gaze for a moment before looking away.

“Can I change back into my clothes?”

That wasn’t what Jack expected him to ask.

“So nothing hurts?” Maddie asked.

He shook his head.

“Okay, go get dressed.”

Danny made his way upstairs despite Jazz’s protest to the contrary.

“Why are we not going to the hospital? He could have a concussion!”

Normally Jack would try and talk Jazz down but instead, he followed his son upstairs.

He found Danny lingering in his doorway. Like he had been waiting for Jack all along.

Or maybe he just heard him coming. 

Jack had been told more than once in his life that he was too loud even when he was standing still.

“Dad, did you tell them?”

“Tell them what?”

“Where I was standing when it turned on? What I looked like after.”

Jack knelt down and placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder, “Hey, it’s okay.”

“Did you tell them?”

“Danny,” Jack started but he wasn’t sure what to say. He had really hoped that was a hallucination. 

But if Danny saw it then it was real.

He wasn’t really sure what to do with that information.

“Dad please, I need to know.”

“No,” Jack said in a rush. “I didn’t say anything.”

He didn’t like seeing his son so scared.

He also didn’t like that he could see through his son’s head.

Literally. 

He could see the whole room and the fear all at once.

Danny slowly faded back into view, his body losing its transparency, but it wasn’t fully solid yet. “Why not?”

Carefully, Jack placed his hand on Danny’s cheek. “Honestly? I’m not sure.”

“Will you?” He started to fade again. 

Jack didn’t want to lose him. 

He replaced his hand on his shoulder and tried to send all his reassurance through touch alone, “Why don’t you want them to know? They’re family.”

“I know. I just,” he looked away.

Then he finally noticed what was going on. How he was straddling the line of being on the visible spectrum.

Whatever he was going to say was lost in the panic of trying to undo what he’d been doing without thinking.

He flickered as he panicked. Going from full visibility to fully invisible.

It was both incredible and heartbreaking to watch.

Jack took advantage of the fact that he still had a hand on one of Danny’s shoulders and took hold of the other as well.

“I’ve got you. You’re okay.”

His boy’s eyes were a bright glowing green. 

Just like they were when he had stepped out of the portal.

Just like the portal itself.

“Dad, what’s happening to me?”

“I don’t know.” Jack started but clarified when he saw his words were making things worse, “I don’t know yet. But I’ll figure it out.”

“Promise?” 

His son’s blue eyes were the only thing he could clearly see.

“I promise.”

Jack was glad he was in a stable pose when his currently invisible son landed on his chest, his little arms unable to fully wrap around Jack’s body.

Jack hugged him back.

“We’ll have this sorted out in a jiffy.”

“You think I’ll be better before school starts?”

“Sure!”

Then Jack remembered that was less than a month away.

He had no idea what had even happened, let alone where to start.

“But if not, maybe you can just tell people you’re working on becoming a magician?”

Danny leaned back to show off just how confused he was.

Which Jack could luckily fully see him.

“In case you disappear again.”

Danny looked down at his hands to see, well, himself. He sighed in relief. 

They both did.

As much as Jack wanted things to be fixed in an instant, he had a feeling things weren’t going to work out that easily.

It wasn’t until Danny was safely behind his bedroom door that Jack let his train of thought go further.

Jack wasn’t sure how this was going to play out. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to do this on his own.

But there were two things he knew.

One; is that he cared about his son. More than even he realized.

Two, that Jack Fenton was no quitter.

No matter what challenges he came up against. No matter how tough it got. No matter how long it took.

Jack wasn't going to give up. 

No matter what.