The above artwork does not belong to me.

Sam was terrified.

Danny hadn't been answering his phone for almost the entire day. The last Sam had seen him was that morning, when he'd waved to her from the sky. He always answered her calls. Always. The only times he didn't were when he was in a theater or in a fight. Even then, he always called back.

He hadn't called back.

Sam was sick of hearing his voicemail. She had Tucker come over to her house, where they tried with his phone. It didn't work, of course. They then proceeded to tell Danny's parents that he was with them for the day (a lie they easily believed) and then began to search around town for him.

It was futile. They didn't go to Vlad's as he had been very quiet lately. They had no doubt that Vlad would announce it to his citizens if he captured Danny.

There was nowhere else to go, really.
They searched his favorite haunts and different places with frequent ghost activity to no avail. They couldn't ask for help without giving away Danny's identity. What else could they do?

"This is hopeless," Tucker muttered. "We can't do this by ourselves."

"But we can't trust anyone else!" Sam snapped in frustration. "No one but Jazz knows."

Tucker glanced down the street. "Speaking of which . . ."

Jazz was strolling down the sidewalk, talking on her phone. The two ran up to her.

She finished speaking and then hung up. "Hey, guys. Where's Danny?"

"We don't know," Sam said. "We're trying to find him."

Jazz was instantly alert. "How long has he been missing?"

"Since this morning."

The redhead scowled. "Where's that ghost tracker keyed in on Danny's DNA?"

Tucker glanced at the ground. "The boo-merang? Danny and I-- we, uh, broke it a few days ago."

Sam brought a hand to her face. "Idiots."

Jazz wore a thoughtful look. "Well, I can't exactly ask my parents to fix it so that it still tracks Danny, and I don't know enough about that sort of stuff to do it myself."

The goth girl hissed out a breath in frustration. "We don't have time for this! We have to keep looking."

Jazz snapped her fingers. "I know someone who can fix it. Are you sure Danny's phone didn't just die? Is he actually missing?"

"Yes," Sam and Tucker chorused.

She nodded. "All right. I've got to make a call."

* * *

Stan was eating breakfast with the twins when the home phone rang.

"Hello?" Stan answered, picking it up.

"Mr. Pines?"

"That's me."

"This is Jazz. Can I speak to-- wait, is this Stan or Ford?"

Stan grimaced. "This is Stan. You want to talk to my brother, don't you?"

"Yes, please," she said eagerly.

The grunkle sighed. "All right, I'll bring you to him."

He stomped into the lab and shoved the phone in his brother's face, whilst loudly saying, "It's for you."

Ford, who had been reading a book, scowled at his twin and took it. "Who is this?"

"Ford? This is Jazz, Danny's older--"

"Yes, yes, I definitely remember who you are," he chuckled. "What is it you need?"

"Danny's gone missing. We have a device that can track him, but it's broken and needs fixing."

Ford sat back in his chair. "How long has he been gone?"

The scientist could sense the nervousness in her voice. "Since this morning."

He sighed. "Look, Jazz, I can't just drop everything and go over there if he's not even a missing person by law yet."

"We can't wait forty-eight hours! Listen, he always checks in. Always. Every time he's been gone like this without notice, he's gotten into trouble. We used to be able to find him with the tracking device."

Ford rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Aren't there any clues to where he went?"

"None."

The six-fingered man thought it over. Danny could handle himself in a fight, he knew that much. What had happened to get him captured? Or, dare he think it, killed?

No. That boy was plenty resilient. He couldn't be dead. Then again, anything that was powerful enough to capture him could be of interest to Ford's research . . .

Plus, you know, it wouldn't be good if Danny died.

"Jazz, I can't stay in Amity Park for long, all right?"

"You're coming?" He could hear the relief in her voice. "Thank you so much! Here, let me tell you where to meet me--"

She rattled off an address, Ford writing it down.

"I should get there by tomorrow afternoon. Don't forget to be there."

"I doubt I could if I wanted to," the girl replied.

They exchanged a few more words before hanging up.

Ford trudged upstairs and handed his brother the phone. "What did she want?" Dipper asked.

The scientist hesitated. If he told the kids where he was going, and why, they would want to go too.

"Nothing, just a mishap. I've been meaning to tell everyone, but I'm going to be gone for a couple of days on a research trip. I'll be leaving tonight."

"What?" Dipper protested. "But we need to do research here!"

Ford ruffled his great nephew's hair, then Mabel's. "Don't worry, kids. I'll be back before you know it."

He tapped Stan's shoulder. "Can I talk to you? Privately?"

Stan rolled his eyes, grumbling as he got out of his seat and followed Ford into the hallway. He crossed his arms.
"Look, Stan, I'm not going on a research trip," his brother said quietly.

"I never would've guessed," Stan muttered.

Ford glared. "Danny's gotten himself into trouble. His friends haven't seen him since this morning."

"What does that have to so with you?"

"They have a tracking device, Stanley, but it's broken. I have to go down there and fix it."

Stan's glasses glinted in the dark. "So you'd leave just like that, huh?"

Ford hadn't expected this reaction. "We owe the boy that much for saving us."

"He also caused most of the trouble in the first place! Have you noticed how depressed Mabel is?"

The scientist's face had confusion written all over it. "She's not depressed . . . Is she?"

"Yes, she is! You just haven't noticed because you can't see past how she acts when she's around people. Dipper's noticed, I've noticed, even Soos and Wendy have noticed! And yet her own family hasn't!"

Guilt hit Ford's chest like a bullet.

"You know, Ford, you may be great at all the sciency stuff, but you really suck at emotional stuff."

Ford scowled. "Yeah? Well you're the opposite."

Stan shook his head. "I know. And I'm proud of it, too."

The six-fingered man sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I still have to go. I need to help them get Danny back." With that he turned and left, going down to the lab to pack. He had a lot to think about.