Dr. Bennett decided that she was going to solve this complex issue the best way she could first chance she had the day following the strange course of events that happened in the dead of the night. And Dr. Bennett was indeed a keeper of her promises.

"You should have seen him Jerry!" Jossey exclaimed as she pasted up and down the police station while she bit her lip and wrung her hands in mild distress. Her white fall coat flowing behind her as she went, rosy red high heels tapping against the floor melding with the ticking of the clock on the white painted brick wall. "His cloths were absolutely filthy. He looked almost terrified, well not terrified per say but overly cautious and calculating for a teen his age-"

"And you saw this kid at two o'clock in the morning?!" The man in the navy-blue police uniform, Jerry, asked with disbelief and shock colored in his voice. "Do you think he was on drugs or a substitute of some sort?"

She shook her head "no, he seemed completely clear from what I could see. His pupils weren't dilated, he walked correctly and normally, his speech was clear. Whatever he was doing late at night, it wasn't drugs."

Officer Jerry Skiles leaned back in his leather scented chair in puzzlement. Both arms on the bumpy hand rests. Burgess was a small, diverse town. If something happened, the news spread like wildfire. And a dirt-encrusted kid appearing from no-where walking down cold streets barefooted was something he defiantly would've herd earlier.

How was that that kid up so late anyways? One of the most well-known worldwide mysteries was that time zone aside, children fell asleep at relatively the same time despite what home conditions could be or what set time they were given by their parents. Except for a few rare occasions of course, but they were far from the norm. Adults were still affected, but at a much less greater scale. Adults had more control, it was then far more manipulative, and the timing wasn't nearly as exact as the children or early teens alike.

It was just as strange as the fact that only children under thirteen were ever recorded to have dreams.

Officer Skiles picked up a spiral notebook and looked back at Jossey. "Look, I'll tell the other guys when they get back from lunch break. Ok? We'll find this kid. Can you give me a detailed description of him Jossey?"

"No problem."

. . .

Danny hated being homeless. He was hungry, he was thirsty, he was filthy, he practically lived in this alley way. But most of all-

he was bored out of his mind.

Or, at least he was.

"Kid, you need to come with me." The man said with a gruff, stern voice.

Danny looked up and frowned, he honestly preferred being bored then trying to figure out how to best out run this cop. He narrowed his brows suspiciously "where's your badge?" He might not know who he is, or was, but that wasn't going to stop him from asking who this "cop" was for sure.

The man raised his brows in mild surprise. Out of his pocket, he showed him the badge. Danny closely analyzed the picture, looking back and forth of the photo and the cop as the man patiently held up his badge to the teen. In both the image and real life, they had curly brown hair and deep brown eyes with copper skin. When Danny seemed satisfied, the cop put the badge safely back in his pocket.

It was Danny's turn to be surprised when the cop sat down next to him, only a foot of space distancing them. The man turned to him, one hand on his raised knee, while the other relaxed by his side. The man smelled like soap. God, Danny missed soap. "so, what's your name?"

Danny raised a brow as he scooted an inch or so away the man "Really? You tell me that I have to come with you, then you ask me my name?"

"Just answer the damn question."

"You first." Danny challenged.

The man gave him an uneven smile "fair enough, I'm Jerry Skiles, town cop. Now, who the hell are you?"

The first time in what felt like awhile, Danny returned the smile "I'm Danny Fenton, town vagrant. Nice ta' meet you." Danny, looking unsure, blinked as Jerry held out his hand.

"Well go on, shake it. It's not like I'm going to drag you out here."

Slowly and hesitantly Danny returned the gesture.

Jerry gave him a smug look, ignoring the dirt stains on his hand "See? Now that wasn't so hard."

Danny rolled his eyes, a small smile betraying his annoyed tone, let go of Jerry's hand. "Oh, go suck a lemon." He averted his eyes to the wall in front of him, trying his best to pretend not to notice the dirt now on Jerry's hand. Danny then moved another inch or so away.

Jerry looked at him bluntly "You know, you don't have to move away every few inches as we talk, right? We've already established that I'm not going to drag you out of here."

Danny leaned back on the wall and scowled "I was trying to be considerate. I don't know if you have a sense of smell or not, but I smell like a pig sty."

Jerry nodded his head absentmindedly "true, but that's why you should come with me. If not anything else, you would at least get a good shower out of it."

Danny turned quiet. Jerry could drive a hard bargain. But he wasn't sure if the officer could really help him. Danny wasn't sure of a lot of things. And he had a lot of problems that he didn't have the solution to. But did he have any chance of finding the answer to his problems alone? Probably not. But considering how he got here, could he trust anything or anyone in this town?

However, Danny doubt he was going to find anything remotely close to the solution in the streets. Plus, he was desperate for a shower. Ok, deep breaths Fenton "Alright, I'll come with you."

Jerry straightened up on the filth encrusted bricks "really? I mean, I thought it was going to take a lot more than using a shower as a bargaining chip."

Danny shook his head as he got up "nope." He then held out his hand to help Jerry up "where are we going anyways?"

Jerry wordlessly accepted "eh, here is where you'll take over. Just tell me a relative or something and I'll give you a ride." He jabbed a finger towards Danny's direction "No tricks, I'll look you up! If you're having family troubles though-"

Danny shook his head giving the officer a slightly guilty look "yeah about that. I sort of can't." he shrugged

Jerry crossed his arms "what do you mean, you can't."

Danny scratched the back of his neck "well... um... you know what? I'll just show you and explain along the way."

. . .

"Holy shit!"

Danny flinched at Jerry's voice, not because of the volume, but because the shell-shocked tonality of it. However, he didn't mention the discomfort. If roles were reversed, he would of been the same way.

For a while, they both stood in silence staring at the gasping hole in the designated park. A part of Danny didn't expect the hole to be there. That it would of only of been a fragment of his imagination from the lack of oxygen and shock. Or perhaps it would have been filled by a past-by or by someone whom managed the grounds. But instead, it stayed nearly untouched. There were a few minor changes though. The dirt settled from the time Danny spent in the streets, some places sunk while others stacked higher. He frowned when he could still see the claw marks, his claw marks. While his head felt, numb and prickled at the memory, his stomach tightened and his palms gleamed with sweat as his heart raced.

He averted his gaze and instead followed the roots to the trunk. It was strange, really. This was the first time he saw the tree that saved him. It didn't look anything miraculous or special or grand at all despite the affect it had on him. Heck, it wasn't even a pretty tree. Danny smiled a bit at that. It was a common ash tree; its trunk was dark and smooth and its branches seemed to almost claw at the sky. Already it was bare from any leaves. It did smell nice though. The smell of wet moss was a dim green and brown that clung to its base.

Jerry broke the silence and snapped Danny out of his daze "So, you don't remember anything?"

Danny shook his head "not a thing." Then Danny paused for a moment, as if considering something "well, something's I still remember technically. I mean, it's not like I forgot how to read or write. Or how to talk, obviously. But it's small stuff like that. It's more of a muscle memory or instinct then anything. Like I don't know I can ride a bike until I try. Or, sometimes it's like I don't know what a bike is until I see one. Then it's like I never forgot. That kind of stuff." Danny put his hands into his jacket pockets "but I can't remember anything like places I've been or faces of people I've meet before I dug myself out."

Danny found himself disliking how cold, numb, and neutral his tone was, even to him. It sounded as though he was only listing several facts, or it was simply summary of events that happened to someone else. A stranger. Not what he himself went through.

Jerry turned his head towards his grey walkie talky that was clipped on his right shoulder and pressed the middle white worn button "Hey, Carol?"

A static voice came from it, "Yeah Jerry?"

"I'm... I'm going to need a couple of guys to come over and look at this. I'm at the Argyle Park, a bit far from the east side of the lake."

"You got it" the voice, Carol, promptly hung up.

For a while, the both once again stood in silence. The only sound filling the air was the brisling of the leaves that surrounded them and the quiet whistling of the wind.

Jerry sucked in a breath "come on, I'll get you that shower I promised you. God knows you need it." He eyed Danny, whom could only stare and the gasping hole that seemed to mock him. The teen glared harder as if it would somehow answer his unspoken questions. Jerry gently grabbed his shoulder and lightly shook him. Danny blinked in realization, and looked up to the other man. Jerry never notice before how small the teen was. How worn and torn he looked. How the teen's voice was dry and cracked from dehydration.

Jerry motioned his head towards the car. "while you take your shower, I'll get you some new cloths."

Danny shrugged, keeping his indifferent charade "sure, where?"

"My house, duh. Now go to the car."

"... can I go to the back seat?"

Jerry raised a brow "you realize I drove a police car here, right?"

Danny grinned "that's the point."

. . .

Danny marveled at the white painted chipped door. Or, more pacifically, the doorknob. "It has a lock and everything."

"Kid, you haven't even stepped inside the bathroom yet."

Danny however, ignored Jerry's commit as he opened the door and flipped the lock. Locking and unlocking the door. A small click had never been so satisfying. The doorknob felt nice too, the worn cold metal fitted perfectly into his hand.

"Alright. That's weird. I'm going to get you clean cloths now, don't break anything while I'm gone. I mean, not like I have anything valuable, but yeah. Standards." Jerry wasn't sure why he even bothered. The kid wasn't paying attention anyways.

Jerry lightly pushed the teen inside "For god's sake. Take a shower."

As Jerry closed the door with the teen inside, he rolled his eyes as squawks of pure joy came from the other side from how "well" the lights worked.

Dear gravy, what did Jerry signed himself up to?