A.N. I've been thinking about doing something like this for a while now, and while I am not going to be focusing on this as much as What Unusual halflives we lead I may update this whenever I need a break from my other story! Anyway I do intend to finish both stories and this will have my full attention as soon as my other one is finished. This won't be as long I don't think, but I don't intend for it to be a one-shot.

I know that many writers far more skilled and patient than I will ever be have tried this but I wanted to throw my 2 cents into the mix.

I set it just before Phantom Planet because I wanted Danny to have developed his powers more and I didn't want to explain all of it again just for the sake of my story. The Nasty Burger explosion happens and the same people die, Vlad is the mayor and blah blah blah, y'know the rest. The reasons for this will be explained later on in the story once Danny begins the long road to recovery.

Disclaimer; I history101, in no way, own any of these awesome characters.

The Crossroads Betwixt Life and Death

Chapter 1: Life Can be Tough Alone (Danny's P.Ø.V)

I've never felt so lost.

How else can I describe it? I'm lost. I have no one left to protect, so what's the point in trying to find my way back?

I fly at night, and I hide here in the day…but I never fight ghosts anymore…there's just no point.

The house is so empty now, but then there is no one left to make it happy again and there never will be. There's no one left to make a mess in the lab with the equipment anymore, there's no one left to wreak havoc in the kitchen trying to make our dinner behave itself anymore.

There's just no one left.

No one to nag me about missing my curfew every night, no one to tell me I have homework to do, no dad to tell me I had a lab or an Assault Vehicle to clean for him, or a lawn to mow…the list just went on.

And it was all my fault. Everything was always my fault. Me and my stupid ghost powers! Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like without them, but then I remember that there's no point getting rid of them now that the people for me to protect are dead.

I was a failure in every respect of the word. I had failed in every respect that a man can fail and I didn't deserve to feel happy again. I thought I knew what it felt like to die better than anyone else because I was half dead already, but I was wrong.

I'm more dead now that I had ever been in the last 2 years. What had I done wrong? Where had I gone wrong? Why did they have to die? It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair. Life wasn't fair.

I shivered as the cold wind penetrated my glowing suit and I wrapped my arms tightly round myself. But nothing helped.

I was cold because I was in the open air and it was snowing…and the strange thing is I think it's snowing because of me, it wasn't the right time of year for snow. We've had violent hail storms and horrible blizzards in the last few days, but now it was simple snow. I never felt warm anymore and the weather was never warm either since…

It's like I can't control myself; everything I touch freezes, I don't mean for it to happen, it just does, but I don't care. I don't care about anything anymore.

I watch as people in thick coats, hats, boots, scarves and gloves slip and slide towards the town hall for a meeting about the weather. I saw a poster about it last night when I was flying; they were all over the place.

Mayor Masters was diligently holding a meeting for his citizens in these desperate times…huh! After the…the accident…and the recent weather people have been saying that the town was cursed. And maybe they're right…maybe I'm the curse…Inviso-Bill; the curse of Amity Park.

I didn't mean for them to die, but they did. I don't mean for my powers to act up like this, but they did. I'm hopeless.

From my hiding place I see everything that happens, I watch but I don't see…they watch but they don't see.

I've been here since it happened. Almost three days ago now. I stayed here during the day, and until the men with bulldozers come to build another one I'm not going home… I can't go home.

I'd watched as the mayor dedicated the statues…the same as before…the day after it happened. 'Gone but not forgotten.' Gone because of me. All because of me…

People assumed I had run away, they knew I was alive…I had been stood right outside as it happened…but then I'd vanished, and no one had found me.

Was anyone even looking? No, I didn't think so. They probably knew it was all my fault too and wanted to avoid me for their own safety. I didn't blame them, they were right. I was bad news.

I yawned again and leaned back into the debris. At first it had been uncomfortable, but now I had got used to it, it was tolerable…it was fine, really. Maybe I'm mad. This was the place that took my world from me in an instant, but it was the last place they had been. Maybe if I stayed here I would see them again.

They could still be ghosts…right?

No, I know they can't…I know that, but there's a difference between knowing something and believing it. Like when I first knew our goldfish were dead when I was little I didn't believe it…or when I first knew I was half ghost but I didn't believe it…some things in life are just like that.

I hadn't slept either, I haven't eaten and I was tired and hungry. My eyes wouldn't stay open forever and despite my enhanced abilities I knew I still needed food to survive, but I didn't go looking for any. I hadn't even transformed into my human half…for three days. I'd never stayed ghost for so long, and it was not easy. Every now and then I felt my body trying to change back to conserve my energy…but I refused to let it.

But They had suffered, so it was only right that I did. Maybe if I suffered enough it would appease whatever god was up there and he'd bring them back.

It was getting dark now and soon, like a well-oiled mechanism I would emerge and fly until the sun came up. It exhausted me…but if I flew fast enough I could get to the point where I couldn't feel anything anymore. Feeling the G-force from flying 300 mph for hours on end through my hair and pushing my limbs back was exhilarating and exhausting…but I did it anyway…and I would continue to do it.

I watched as passing children played in the snow as their mom and dad smiled and glanced sombrely at the stone monument. They exchanged a sad expression and sighed…and continued to walk on. I often wished I could walk away just as easily, but that stone monument was all that was left of my life.

There was a little girl and little boy having a snowball fight, I knew their names; I had saved them…or rather their school bus full of kids a year ago when Technus and Walker had wanted to use it to play baseball as the bat and with a car as a ball. At first it had been kinda funny but when he actually picked up a school bus and a car I knew I had to step in, and I had. Technus had been pissed off with me and Walker had added a thousand years to my jail sentence for 'disturbing the fun' rather than the peace…but what else was new?

And then the kids from the bus had told me all their names and demanded that I ride to school with them, it made me late for school, but it had been worth it. Her name was Alice and she wanted to be vet because she didn't want animals to die anymore, her brother wanted to be a space-pirate, his name was Jack…like my dad; Jack…

I felt the tears start again and I let them fall, I had given up trying to stop them…it was impossible. Sometimes when I cried my tears froze and made beautiful 'chiming' sounds when they hit the ground, I didn't try and stop them. I couldn't. I couldn't do anything anymore.

I waited until the street lamps at the end of the road blurred to life; I must have been sitting for another few hours in silence…like a statue. It was all I ever did, and I lost track of time.

What was the point of time when you had no one to pass the day with?

There were people walking back in the opposite direction now, some carried pamphlets and papers, I couldn't see what they said. Some talked to each other with concerned expressions and I watched as a group of young people made their way up to the monument and laid down a wreath and bouquets of white carnations and Forget-Me-Not's.

White carnations meant…remembrance and Forget-Me-Not's told you to remember someone forever. I was sure of it. Jazz had done a psychology project using the 'language of flowers' she had said it was called. I hadn't even known plants could even have a language. She had used them to see if different flowers could make you react or feel a certain way in different situations.

She had always been smart. I didn't know what the point of the project had been and she had said that it didn't necessarily have to have a point. She just wanted to know things and that was it. I wanted to know things too but they weren't to do with psychology.

I had wanted to know things. Now I just wanted to hide away and never speak to anyone ever again. So far I had been successful.

Once I made sure that the coast was clear I intangibly emerged from my prison and stood surveying the surroundings. It was the same as it had been for the last few nights; quiet, eerie, empty…lonely.

I swayed on my feet as a sudden wave of dizziness made my vision blurry and I fell to my knees as I struggled to stay upright. My whole body ached and screamed at me to rest, but what was the point?

I tried to pull myself back up again but I fell onto my stomach in failure. I curled myself into a ball and ignored the waves of agony running through me; it was like my heart was sending this terrible feeling through my veins rather than my blood. I closed my eyes and sighed…I think I had stopped crying, I didn't know anymore, it was difficult to tell.

I felt my ghost sense go off, it was weaker than usual and I could barely see it but I still shivered as I felt the familiar sense of alertness go through me. But I didn't have any energy or wish to do anything about it. Whatever it was, it was right in front of me and it showed no signs of going anywhere.

Maybe whatever it was would put me out of my misery and just kill me; maybe if I didn't fight back I could see my family again. I could see my mom and dad smile at me, I could see Jazz laugh, I could see my best friends beside me, even Lancer had a smile for me…

I was ready to die…I had nothing left to live for. It was a new concept for me…even though something inside me was telling me to get up and fight I ignored it. But I was still not a coward…even in death…so I opened my eyes and searched for the face of my murderer…the ghost who would do me a favour by killing me. I would owe them a debt…this was new.

I was met with blood red, pupil-less eyes, black hair and a white cloak. Oh, boy, was this irony or what? "Go on then, get it over with," I muttered and stared back at him, and for once meeting his deadly gaze directly didn't send shivers down my spine.

"Get what over with, dear boy?" he asked and looked down at me as his black boots planted themselves firmly on the ground.

"The part where you laugh at me an' kill me," I answered as emotionlessly as I could, but it wasn't so difficult to try anymore. I didn't move from my spot on the ground, there was snow gathering round me and I was sure that I had a thick covering of the stuff over my jumpsuit too.

"Why would I do that, Daniel?" he asked me and gracefully he knelt in front of me.

"'Cuz…you're…Vlad…" I muttered quietly and broke our eye contact. There, I had acknowledged my weakness which my enemy was meant to exploit, something which I would never have done before now, but I was desperate. And desperate times called for desperate measures.

"And because of that sole fact I am supposed to kill you?" he stated and sounded confused, but I wasn't really listening.

"Mmm," I nodded slightly and waited for death to carry me away.

"I don't think so, Little Badger," he said simply and I felt strong arms suddenly lift me from the hard, cold ground.

And that simple movement was enough to send me over the edge, I was just so tired, and the warmth I unexpectedly felt was something I had not experienced in three days. It seemed like it had been years…but it was only three days. The gentle rocking motion seemed designed to send me to sleep and two glowing red eyes were the last things I saw.

…Maybe death wasn't so bad after all…

A.N. Other chapters will be longer; I just wanted to set the scene for le pauvre Danny!

If there's any mistakes in their powers or whatever in the story please let me know as we can no longer watch episodes on megavid I'm left with youtube, and not all of them are on there now. And there's only so much wiki can remind me of!

So basically I took the idea of the Nasty Burger explosion and it did kill the same people; so Danny's parents his sister his best friends and Lancer are dead! SO SAD! But I wanted to explore how or even if Danny could recover from it while trying not to 'turn evil,' and being forced to live with the only other person who cares for you, who you happen to hate.

I decided to write it in first person from Danny and Vlad and maybe a few others in between, I never usually do and I wanted to give it a go, if it turns out crap I'll give up.

Review and let me know!