THEN: The day was spent by all parties in high anticipation of the Fentons' ghost portal test. Daydreams abounded, jumpsuits were fitted, and blast shields were erected. But the real question is: did Dean manage to disable the portal, or did he doom all of them to death in a fiery explosion?

NOW:

Jack and Maddie Fenton were by no means idiots. A little eccentric, to be certain, but brilliant. Maddie remembered very well her college days with Vlad and Jack, experimenting in their lab. Despite Vlad's horrible accident with ecto-acne, she knew that they had been close, so close, to punching a hole into the Ghost Zone. She had kept all their notes from their college years and had spent days and nights rechecking everything. Every dot and tiddle she reexamined. Where there were lingering doubts, she experimented. Where there were errors, she corrected. Where there was reliable information, she copied laboriously.

When Danny and Jazz had been born, three years apart, Maddie had taken a break to raise her children and expand her horizons. It had been when Danny was a toddler that she and Jack had started developing weapons and researching ectoplasm and ghosts in real depth. The kids had grown up surrounded by ghosts and technology. Slowly, Maddie forgot about her dream to build a ghost portal, and the notes she had so carefully maintained became dusty in the cabinet she had locked them in. It was only many years later, at the dinner table of all places, that Maddie was reminded of her ambitions.

"Mom! Dad! I got accepted into Stanford!" Jazz had come running into the kitchen with the day's mail.

"Good for you, Jazzy-pants!" Jack had exclaimed, leaping up to envelope his daughter in a bear hug. In the midst of all the congratulations, however, Maddie remained at the table, suddenly realizing how much time had gone by. All the years came crashing down on her and she was reminded of her own college days with Vlad and Jack. Remembering the ghost portal, she was conscious of the exact location of the locked cabinet in the lab beneath her. It felt like something was pulling her towards it. The longing overwhelmed her and a tear slipped down her face.

"Mom?" Jazz was looking at her, a little confused and concerned.

Maddie swiped her hand across her face. "I'm just so proud of you, sweetheart. You've grown

up so much." Rather belatedly, she joined the group hug.

Maddie really had been proud of Jazz. Intensely so.

But, as everyone knows, there are two sides to every coin.

So maybe now you, dear reader, can understand the crushing feeling of disappointment and confusion that crashed down on Maddie's heart and soul when the portal whirred, sparked, and died on the other side of the blast shield. For the second time in Jazz's senior year of high school, the weight of all those years suffocated her as all of her hard work sputtered out of existence before her eyes.

"What... what happened?" asked Dean, breathing for what felt like the first time in days. He didn't dare hope that his plan had actually worked.

"I... don't know." Maddie's knees were shaking. She felt herself swaying in place, then Jack's large, warm hands around her shoulders. "I checked and rechecked everything. It was all perfect!"

Jack, for all his flaws, loved his wife dearly. So, he gently steered her up and out of the lab and into their bedroom, where no one could see him cradle her in his arms as she cried.

The rest of the group stood in the lab, not sure how they should feel. Dean alone had no issue with diagnosing what he felt: he felt like he had stolen candy from a baby. One more threat ended, one more life ruined. He bumped his brother in the shoulder.

"Come on, Sammy." The brothers changed back into their clothes in the vault and emerged clad in flannel and denim once more. They found the three high schoolers gathered near the portal, peering curiously inside.

Sam stuck his hands in his pockets, shrugging uncomfortably. "Y'all, uh, y'all take care!" He waved halfheartedly at the kids. They mumbled their goodbyes as the two giant men made their way out of the lab and out of the house. In the street, the sky was glowing orange and red in the sunset. Dean glared at the beautiful panorama. The world had no right to keep on spinning when he felt so miserable.

Pulling the keys to the Impala out of his jacket pocket, he set his face in stone and headed to the driver's side. "I need a drink," he said to no one in particular. Sam sighed and compressed himself into the passenger seat just as the car growled to life. Together they roared off into the entirely-too-beautiful sunset to find a cheap bar.

~~~

Danny, Sam, and Tucker waited until all the adults were out of the lab before talking at a normal volume.

"It really sucks that it didn't work," Tucker said morosely, "It would have been a technological marvel."

"Tell me about it," said Danny, leaning cautiously towards the hole in the wall. Listening hard, he tried to detect a trace of the whispers he had heard the day before. He couldn't hear anything now.

Shrugging internally, he tuned abruptly back into what Sam was saying as she pointed at him and said, "--ghost!"

"What?!" He jumped a foot in the air. "Where?!"

Sam only raised an eyebrow. "Your jumpsuit? It makes you look like a ghost." Danny blinked at her and she sighed longsufferingly. "Because it's white..."

Danny started and looked down at himself. His jumpsuit was indeed white. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh... yeah... it kind of does."

"Hey!" Sam snapped her fingers suddenly, startling both Danny and Tucker. "Climb in the portal and I'll take a picture! It'll make it look like there's a ghost coming out of it!" Danny felt suddenly short of breath.

"You want me to climb in there?!" he asked as Sam scampered for her spider backpack, withdrawing a camera.

"Yeah!" she said brightly, flicking the camera on and focusing it on Danny.

Danny looked to Tucker for support. His best friend caught his scared look and turned to Sam.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Sam," he said, "And Danny is pretty uncomfortable with it."

Sam frowned and put the camera down. "Uncomfortable?" then she grinned. "You mean scared. It's just a hole in the wall, Danny! I mean, granted, it is dark and ooky-spooky, but that makes it all the more perfect for this picture!" She held the camera up and snapped a quick photo of the two boys. "Come on!" she cajoled, "it won't take but a few seconds!"

Danny and Tucker exchanged another look. Tucker could tell that his best friend was still a bit uncomfortable with the idea, but Sam had accused him of cowardice and that was one thing he knew Danny couldn't stand.

"Fine, fine!" Danny said, holding up his hands in surrender, "But you better get it the first time!"

Sam gave him a victorious thumbs up as he clambered gingerly into the portal. Barely a foot from the opening, he turned and posed halfheartedly. Sam didn't even have to say anything. Sighing, he edged his way farther into the darkness of the hole. A few feet from the opening, the hole dissolved into almost impenetrable blackness. Offhand, Danny mused how that probably wasn't a thing that should be physically possible, but he was too busy trying not to trip to give it much more thought than that.

"Can I get a light in here?" he asked as his foot snagged on a piece of something in the dark, making him take a forced step forward. He braced his hand on the wall to keep from face-planting and he felt something shift under his palm. Hope that wasn't important... he thought, quickly withdrawing his hand.

There was a whirring sound and Danny looked up, hoping he was hearing things.

Something sparked green in the darkness and Danny was thankful for his insulating jumpsuit.

Then there was a bright flash and Danny felt like he was going to die from the sudden agony that assaulted him.

~~~

Amity Park turned out to be a very kosher town. Dean and Sam could only find one bar in the whole place. Granted, Dean didn't spare much time to look around after they spotted it.

The two brothers sat inside, some of the first customers of the day, and ordered beers. Sam expected Dean to get food as well, but Dean hadn't stopped staring at a spot on the back wall since they'd sat down. He didn't lighten up even after his third beer. When he raised his hand for a fourth one, Sam intervened, waving away the bartender.

"Dude, what's wrong?" he asked, "You haven't said a word since we left the Fentons'."

Dean looked at him blearily, just buzzed enough that the tip of his tongue was numb. Unfortunately, Dean had always been a silent drunk, so he said nothing for a long time. When Sam didn't look away, Dean sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Just tired," he said, "It's nothing."

"I kind of feel bad for Maddie," Sam said, facing forward again. "I mean, that portal must have taken years to complete."

Dean sighed again, more loudly. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"I think we did a good thing, though," Sam continued, musingly, "I mean, imagine if that thing had actually --."

Dean cut his brother off by slamming his hand down onto the counter. "I said shut up." Sam frowned, but quieted. After glaring at Sam for a moment longer, Dean raised his hand and called out, "Yo, barkeep! You got anything stronger back there?"

The bartender, a buff guy with a shock of blond hair, gave Dean a measured look before turning and pulling a bottle off a high shelf. "I got Everclear and some single malt whiskey. Which one do you want?"

"Whiskey on the rocks!" Dean said, slumping back down into his chair. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Could I get one of your salads, please?" he asked, leaning forward. The bartender glanced up from twisting the lid off a bottle of amber liquid, raising an eyebrow. Grimacing, Sam leaned back again. "Actually, you know what? Never mind. I'll eat later." He settled instead for watching as the bartender sat a clear glass on a frilly napkin in front of Dean and began pouring. Just as he was withdrawing the bottle, there was a buzzing sound and the lights flicked off.

In the dark, something clanged loudly and Sam could hear the pitter-patter of liquid hitting the floor. The bartender swore loudly.

"What the hell?" Sam fished his flashlight out of his pocket, clicking it on and shining it around. The bartender had disappeared from view, but Sam could hear vile mutterings about new shoes coming from behind the counter, so he assumed the man was fine. Dean was already out of his seat, feeling his way to the door and clicking his own flashlight on. Carefully, Sam caught up with his brother. "Demons?" he asked, more than a little nervous.

Dean pushed the outer door open and peered out into the twilight. The town was completely dark. Dean didn't know what to think. Power outage or demon attack? It was so hard to tell sometimes, but with the Winchesters, a coincidence was too good to be true. Huffing, he walked back to the bar, slapping some cash on the wood and downing the whiskey in a single gulp. "Let's go, Sam."

As they opened the doors of the Impala, power flickered back into the town and the streetlamp above them blinded them as it blinked on suddenly. Cursing the pain in his eyes, Dean slid into the driver's seat and twisted the key in the ignition. He didn't wait for Sam to buckle his seat belt before he tore off down the street, wheels squealing. Punching the radio on, he twisted the tuning dial until he found the station he wanted. A woman's calm voice chattered out of the speakers.

"-- should be advised that the power outage has been dealt with and power should return to most homes within a few minutes. The cause of the massive blackout is still being determined by the staff of the power plant, but the manager assures us that there will be no rest until the problem is found and dealt with. Citizens are recommended to call their electricity provider only if power has not returned after four hours. I repeat: the power outage has been taken care of and the problem is being located and dealt with by city --" Dean flipped the channel to a local rock station.

"Power outage my ass," he muttered, "As soon as we get back to the motel, we grab our stuff and get the hell outta Dodge. Got it?"

Sam nodded, heart still beating a mile a minute as Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising played over the radio:

I see a bad moon arising

I see trouble on the way

I see earthquakes and lightnin'

I see bad times today.

~~~

"Danny?!"

"Danny, bro, come on! Open your eyes man!"

Danny felt strange: lighter than air, only just aware of the hard concrete he was lying on.

"Crud, his parents are coming!"

"Quick! Help me drag him into the vault."

"What?! Why? He needs help, Sam! He needs to go to the hospital!"

"He's not gonna make it out of this house if his parents find him! Help me get him into the vault!"

Danny groaned and shifted as two pairs of hands touched him. Then he felt himself being pulled, lifted, pushed, and prodded. He felt kind of achy now. Like he'd exercised a lot and was just now feeling the soreness.

"It's gonna be ok Danny, just hang on a minute longer."

"Lift him higher! His head's gonna--"

Clang.

Danny felt that. That hurt. A lot. His eyes opened.

"Ow," he said.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker completely filled his field of vision as he looked up from where they had set him down on something hard. The floor? Danny rubbed his head.

"What happened?" he asked. His friends exchanged a look, then looked back at him. Sam opened her mouth, but at that moment, loud footsteps echoed from... somewhere. Where was he again?

Sam and Tucker jumped at the sound. Then Sam grabbed Tucker's arm and pulled him away.

"Sam, wha--?" Tucker stumbled along after the goth.

"Just follow my lead! We can't let them find him!"

"Sam, he's hurt! He needs--"

Sam whirled on her friend. "He is a ghost, Tucker! A god-forsaken ghost. If his parents find him now, they will kill him!" Sam considered what she had just said and added, "Again."

Voices in the lab.

Sam grabbed Tucker's hand and pulled him behind her again. "Just follow my lead." And they were gone. Danny sat up on his elbows carefully. He didn't remember what had happened to him, but he felt like any small movement would trigger pain. The pain never came, though.

"The portal works?!" His mom. "Jack, the portal works!"

"EUREKA!" His dad. There was the sound of people jumping up and down, rejoicing. Danny's memory slowly came back, like your vision does after you've seen a bright light. Bits and pieces slowly came into focus until he remembered everything. The darkness. The green light. But, most of all, the pain. He looked down at himself and found that his once mostly-white jumpsuit with black accents was now a mostly-black jumpsuit with white accents. He considered his newest memories about the portal test and Sam forcing him and Tucker to take a photo. Of climbing into the portal. Of tripping. Of...dying? He figured the panic would set in soon. Gingerly, he climbed to his feet. No pain, just that weird, achy feeling. Glancing up, he caught sight of himself in the mirror above a utility sink. And that's when the panic hit him.

It was so sudden, so jarring, that Danny almost fell to the floor again. His hands grabbed parts of himself: his clothes, his hair, his arms, his gut. The figure in the mirror copied his every move, glowing green eyes staring back wildly. His breath came fast and ragged, tearing at his throat and lungs. Shouldn't he be feeling lightheaded right about now? He jerked his gaze away from the mirror, staring instead at the wall. He struggled to calm himself, to analyze the situation, but bizarre questions kept shooting through his brain and crowding out all logical thought.

Am I dead? Really really dead?

What do I do now?

How do I know for sure?

What will my parents say?

What will they do?

Will I have to leave?

Will anything ever be normal again?

Slowly, he calmed himself and organized the questions into a single file line. As he tried to answer them, all he could come up with was a single sentence: I don't know. Then, that sentence started flying around his brain and banging into his skull, knocking things over like a rampaging cat. He breathed in and out, slowing things down, trying to pick up the pieces of his sanity.

"It's ok, it's fine." he whispered, trying to keep his nervous limbs still. "We will figure everything out. It will be ok. I'll be ok. I'll be fine." His panic was gradually overtaken by an insistent curiosity. He looked at his now white-gloved hands and wondered what the rest of him looked like. He felt like he was still about the same height and weight. He felt his hair. He was surprised how well he could feel with the rubber jumpsuit covering his fingers. That brought his thoughts around to his skin. I hope the... whatever that was didn't melt the jumpsuit to my skin. That would suck. Danny found the zipper on his chest and pulled it down, revealing his naked chest. Apparently you weren't supposed to wear clothes under these things.

When he peeled the jumpsuit away from his skin, what he saw made him whip around and face the mirror on the sink again. All across his chest and stomach were glowing green Lichtenberg Figures: lightning scars. He had his zipper opened to just beneath his navel and as far as he could tell, they extended farther down his body. In the mirror, he could see them extend onto his collar bones and, he assumed, over his shoulders. He extracted one of his hands from the jumpsuit and turned it over in the dim light from the lamp above the sink. The scars shimmered as he moved, a dull toxic green on his arm and hand. He didn't really know how to feel about them. Sighing, he put his hand back into the sleeve and zipped himself up. He could deal with those later. Looking back into the mirror, he examined his face. The Lichtenberg Figures were very faint here, thank goodness. He could probably cover those up with makeup or something from Jazz's stash. His hair had turned a glistening white, shimmering like snow when he moved it. That would be harder to hide.

Great, I'm a My Little Pony now. All covered in sparkles.

The change in his eyes, though, was the most stunning. Danny walked right up to the mirror, resting his hands on the sink and leaning close. Whereas before his eyes had been blue -- baby blue, his mother had said -- now they were green, like the Lichtenberg Figures, and glowing brightly. Danny blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, but the ones staring back from the mirror still glowed, green and bright.

The panic began to set in again. White hair, glow sticks for eyes, the Lichtenberg Figures, not to mention the drastic change in his jumpsuit. It was all too much. At that moment, his right hand slipped and he cracked his head against the glass of the mirror. And kept right on going. His shriek of surprise was cut off as his mouth followed his head through the mirror, not that he could tell. He was too busy staring at the inner workings of the cinderblock wall. His only thought was, I can't get stuck in here!

Using his left hand that was still groping at the rim of the sink, he pulled himself quickly back out of the wall and stumbled away, sitting down hard. What the ever-loving crud...?!

Through the ringing in his ears, he could hear questioning voices coming from the lab followed by loud and hurried explanations. Then Sam and Tucker were beside him again.

"Dude, are you good?" Tucker asked, helping Sam lever him into a standing position. Through the confusion and panic still swirling around like a miasma in his brain, a million answers and witty comebacks came to mind. He went with the first one that made it to his tongue.

"I fell through the mirror."

Sam and Tucker glanced at the mirror -- looking as solid as ever -- then exchanged a look.

"Are you sure you didn't just hit your head on the mirror?" asked Tucker, "Like, really hard?"

Danny frowned impatiently. "No I -- GAH!" He cut himself off with a yelp as his feet were swept out from under him and he found himself floating, upside down, in midair. He looked at his friends wildly. "What the heck is happening to me?!"

Carefully, Sam and Tucker helped maneuver him into an upright position, still a foot off the ground.

"Danny," Sam started, wringing her hands. That worried Danny. Sam had never been the kind of girl to wring her hands in a stressful situation. "We think you're a ghost."

Danny immediately plopped back onto the floor, sitting down hard for the second time in as many minutes.

"I'm a what?!"