Chapter 14

Summary:

The portal accident happens...in a different way. Sam and Tucker aren't the ones with Danny when he turned it on this time. His parents are.

Notes:

Hey all, I'm done with Invisobang '23, so all my attention is back on this story! I'm still working on getting a good buffer, but this chapter is ready to roll!!!

I'm excited to start working on this one again. I hope you all enjoy!

:-)

Chapter Text

Danny was content. He had just passed his fourteenth birthday, and he was looking forward to starting High School in a few weeks. Not only that, but his parents were really close to finishing their decade-long dimensional portal project. Danny had been spending a lot of time in the lab helping out where he could, and he was almost as invested in the project as his parents.

When he went down to the kitchen for breakfast and saw both of his parents sitting at the table with huge smiles, his heart leaped in his chest. "Mom, Dad…is it? Did you?..." He couldn't even form the words through his growing excitement.

Jack stood up and pulled Danny into a hug. Maddie quickly joined them. "Yes, honey. It's finished."

"We did it, Danno!"

Danny was so happy that tears misted in his eyes. He pulled back and looked his parents in the eye. "So have you tested it yet?"

"Like we would do that without you there!" Maddie swatted him on the shoulder.

"Then let's go do it now!" Danny pulled back and raced for the door to the basement, his parents were right on his heels. The teen quickly palmed the lock next to the door, and glanced back to Jack and Maddie. "Come on, guys!"

Jack looked at his wife, love clearly in his eyes, and then he locked eyes with his son. "Alrighty, Danny-boy! Go suit up; we're right behind you!" Danny disappeared down the steps. Jack pulled Maddie in close and placed a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. "Let's go make history!"

The two adults followed their son down to the basement. Danny was most of the way into his hazmat suit. It had recently been purchased for him after his last growth spurt a few months back. Jack had been so busy with the portal that he hadn't even had time to add the Fenton trademark to it yet. It was just a plain white suit with black gloves and boots. It did have a hood attached at the neck, but Danny didn't usually pull it up. He liked to see things unimpeded.

Maddie smiled at her son. He had brought so much joy to the family since the day that they brought him home. Danny finished suiting up and grinned at his mom. He flashed both of his parents a thumbs-up and walked over to the control panel. "Ready when you are, guys!"

The elder Fentons joined their son behind the panel. Jack held the checklist and started calling off items. Maddie input the controls as called out, and Danny double-checked her. Everything had to be perfect for this to work. And it was. Every box was marked as complete. All the dials and readouts were at the most optimal levels. The only thing left was to prime and activate the portal.

Jack and Maddie shared a quiet look and locked hands. Then, they took Danny's hand and gripped it underneath theirs. They would flip the power switch together. Maddie took a deep breath, and Jack started counting down. "Ok, guys. This is it! Five…four…three…two…one…activate!" Their joined hands turned on the power.

There was a quiet hum in the background. It started getting louder and louder. The lights in the room dimmed. Electricity started to arc between the walls inside the portal. Then, there was a "click" and everything stopped. The power readings fell to zero.

"NO" Danny's vehemently whispered denial was echoed by his parents. Maddie drew in a sharp breath, and Jack slumped—suddenly looking years older.

"It should have worked! Everything was perfect! What in the hell?!" While the other two were frozen in shock, Danny's mind went into overdrive. He glared at every dial and readout on the display. He started flipping switches and pressing buttons, but nothing happened.

"Danny…son…take a breath."

The teen turned to his parents, tears flying off of his face with the speed of his spin. "It HAS to work. I'll make it work!" He turned his attention back to the portal itself. A few quick steps, and he was at the edge of the frame. He started pushing the buttons that were supposed to prime the portal for activation. When nothing happened, he kicked the side of the wall next to him.

Danny's head snapped to the opposite side of the portal entrance. There was an industrial breaker box just on the inside of the ledge. He reached for it.

"Danny, NO!" Jack and Maddie cried in unison. Maddie reached out to cut the power from the non-functional device before her son could make contact. She was too late.

The second Danny's hand touched the circuit breaker, there was a loud snap, and a ball of electricity started forming in the middle of the frame. Somehow, Danny had started the activation sequence for the portal—but he was too far inside the danger zone!

The ball of electricity grew bigger and burning white light started arcing from Danny's hand to the center of the portal. That's when the screaming started.

Jack and Maddie stared on in horror as Danny started to convulse. His hand seemed melded to the breaker, and his agonized wails filled the room. Jack started pulling out all the wires and plugs he could reach. He had to do something!

Maddie choked back vomit as she glanced at Jack, knowing that it was far, far too late. Her gaze swiftly returned to her son, and she was paralyzed at what she saw. The white ball of electricity turned toxic green and began to fill the portal. Danny's screams got even louder as the green washed over him. Soon, the entire opening of the portal frame was filled with swirling, neon green. Danny's continued screams were the only sound left in the room.

Jack ran towards the now-functioning portal. He had to save his son! Ignoring the danger and Maddie's frantic gesturing, he plunged his hands into the space where he had last seen his son. His body strained with the effort of pulling his son from inside the green whirlpool. He gave a loud grunt and tugged.

Something gave way unexpectedly. Maddie's eyes widened when she saw Jack fly backwards from the portal and hit the wall—with Danny in his arms! She ran towards the pair. "Don't you dare be dead!" She hissed under her breath. She was NOT going to lose her family today. Three more steps and she reached Jack and Danny's side. Jack was groaning quietly. Maddie gave thanks to whoever was listening that he, at least, was alive. She prayed that he stayed that way.

Danny was another story. He was completely still, and his appearance was changed. His hazmat suit colors were inverted, and his hair was glowing bright white. He was cold when Maddie dared to touch him to search for a pulse. She wasn't expecting to find one, and she didn't. Something in her broke, then, but she pushed it aside and reached for her phone. She didn't know what else to do, so she dialed 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" The man's voice was calm and smooth.

Maddie's mind went blank. On autopilot, she responded. "This is Madeline Fenton at Fentonworks. There's been an accident in our lab. My husband and my son…" Words failed her.

"Ma'am? Mrs. Fenton? Are you still there?" Maddie stared blankly at the sight of her unmoving, changed son lying on top of her moaning husband. "Mrs. Fenton? Help is on the way. Police, fire, hazmat, and EMS are all in-route. Can you stay on the line with me? Mrs. Fenton? Are you there?"

A second groan was heard in the room, and it made Maddie drop her phone. The sound had come from Danny! Maddie leaned over and touched his forehead. "Danny? Danny, honey, can you hear me?"

She wept in relief when the boy mumbled. "Moooom. Lemmie sleep. 's a weekend…"

Maddie dropped to the floor and pulled her son into her arms. She didn't understand what had happened to him—or how he was even talking to her, but she didn't care. She rocked him back and forth. "Oh, baby, it's going to be alright…" She turned her head and noticed that Jack was waking up. "Honey, Danny's alive! You saved him!"

Jack's eyes squinted open, and a small smile graced his lips. "He's…he's gonna be ok, Mads?" His whispered words were quiet, but understandable.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and Danny's appearance changed. His hair and clothing were all back to normal—except for the charring—and the teen was noticeably breathing! Maddie started sobbing. Too much had happened too fast. She sat dripping tears on her son, propped up against her husband.

Ten minutes later, the First Responders broke open the door to the basement. "Mrs. Fenton! This is the fire department. Are you ok? Can you hear us?"

Maddie jerked into awareness. It brought twin groans of pain from the other Fentons. She shook her head and took a breath. She couldn't miss the smell of charred flesh that assaulted her nose. Swallowing down bile, she looked upwards. "We're down here. Please, help!"

"Ma'am, Dispatch informed us that you reported some sort of lab accident? I'm sorry, but we can't move in until Hazmat clears the scene."

A lump formed in Maddie's stomach. "But my son—he's got electrical burns! And my husband…please do something!"

"Hazmat is on the way. It shouldn't be much longer, ma'am."

Hazmat my ass… Maddie's anger erupted and covered the grief and other emotions that had nearly paralyzed her. She gently laid Danny across Jack and stood up. She looked around for the Geiger counter and found it on a nearby shelf. The mother quickly made a circuit around the room. The only radiation was coming from Jack and Danny, and even that was barely detectable. "The lab is safe!" She called.

No one answered her, but before she could say anything else, two men if full hazmat gear lumbered down the steps. Like Maddie, they each had a Geiger counter in hand. Maddie was done. "I told them the lab was safe! I checked and there is no residual radiation!"

"We had to make sure ma'am. Were there any chemicals involved?"

As Maddie shook her head to the negative, one of the men frowned. "What's with the glowing thing on the back wall?"

"It's an experiment dealing with different properties of light. It had nothing to do with the accident. It's nothing you need to worry about." Maddie expertly lied. Her family needed EMS now, damnit!

The second Hazmat agent checked, and the "experiment" wasn't giving off any recordable radiation. All of the chemicals and equipment looked to be properly contained. "All clear over here." He called out, heading for the stairs. "EMS is clear to come down!"

It didn't take long for the paramedics to examine Danny and Jack and get them both on stretchers. They quickly got Danny ready to go, but securing Jack was a little more difficult. Maddie felt sorry for them as they worked to get Jack up the stairs. In the end, it took both teams of EMS and firemen to get him to the waiting ambulance.

The police tried to question Maddie as all of this went on, but she wouldn't have it. "I am the ONLY one who knows what happened and what went wrong down there, and I and the ONLY one who can tell the doctors what they are dealing with. You want my statement? I'll give it at the hospital!" She followed Danny's crew up the stairs and climbed into the back of the ambulance that was assigned to carry the young teen.

Both he and Jack were alive, but they weren't out of the woods yet. The EMT closed the back doors, and hopped into the driver's seat of the vehicle. Sirens blaring, they raced through the city; the ambulance carrying Jack not far behind.