Hallowed be thy ween

She couldn't even smile back at Danny. At least to comfort him.

And yet the world did not stand still. The green sky of the Zone was quickly filled with bloody clouds, gathering into the silhouette of the Ghost King. Danny didn't waste any more time on doubts and flew through the disabled ghost shield towards the enemy's fortress.

Together with Tucker, Sam took up blasters again and shot down an army of skeletons. Shooting seemed meditative: see the enemy, aim and shoot. Rinse and repeat.

Unfortunately, time dragged on like molasses. There was no sign of Danny's return, and with every passing second, tension was building in her stomach.

Suddenly, the sky began to mess up, like the graphics in a terrible game, returning to its blue color, or back to acid green. It hovered for a couple of minutes and finally stopped at blue. It became much easier to breathe, the smell of ozone was gone, the air did not seem filled with ectoplasm. The skeletons froze and bones fell, like puppets whose strings had been cut.

Sam turned around, where she saw Tucker struggling. They met eyes and, in silent understanding, ran back to the Fenton Works. The beam of ghostly energy was no longer coming from the antenna, and the shield was turned off. For some reason, the silence around the house did not calm the two friends.

Everything was the same inside Fenton Works. Scattered weapons, some leaking ectoplasm, a couple of piles of bone dust, and burns on the walls. Sam went further into the house, leaving Tucker to catch his breath on the porch.

A muffled hum of voices could be heard from the corridor to the underground laboratory. Sam gently pushed the metal door, as always, without creaking, just enough for her to fit through.

"…messing with our inventions to ruin them!", - Mrs. Fenton's voice came to her. Too annoyed when the city finally returned to the living world.

"Don't worry, Maddiekins, just let the ghost boy come closer and I'll take him apart molecule by molecule!" - The loud-mouthed Mr. Fenton comforted his wife in his own way, but it made Sam's heart sink.

"At least the ghost army was stopped…" - Damon tried to calm them down, but it seemed like it was a failed idea.

"Dad, you don't understand, the Phantom took the costume for his nefarious purposes!" - Valerie was burning with anger and whispering through her teeth. - "He even dared to reveal my identity."…

"We'll talk about this later, young lady!" Damon left the Fentons and looked at his daughter reproachfully. She visibly faded away, but the fury in her eyes did not subside at all. Sam hoped that this wouldn't create problems for the future Danny, especially in light of the recent relatively friendly days with Valerie.

Suddenly, Sam felt a weight on her shoulder and whirled around, preparing to strike. However, Jazz stood in the aisle, stunned, with her hands up, and her aqua blue eyes were strangely sad.

"Sam?" - she whispered, her gaze moving from her parents to Grays and then to Sam.

"Uh… well, of course it's okay", - Sam tried to keep her voice calm and shrugged her shoulders. - "And you?"

"I'm fine, but…" - Jazz clasped her hands in front of her and bit her lip, showing her concern. - "You know… is Danny okay?"

Sam's heart sank, but she steadfastly held on, tried to smile. Perhaps it turned out terribly if Jazz's eyebrows were furrowed.

"O-of course, why is there something wrong with him? He's okay, he's, uh, probably hiding somewhere in the city."

"If you say so…"

Sam kept a smile on her face as Jazz nodded at her silly lie, and then went down to the lab, joining her parents in the conversation.

"What the hell!.." - Tucker's shout caught her attention, and she closed the door and ran into the living room.

Her body froze when she noticed Vlad in the center of the room, who was holding an unconscious Danny. Instinctively, she raised her hand and aimed the blaster on her wrist at the man's face. Tucker was doing the same thing, aiming from behind.

"Let him go, Vlad…" - Sam almost hissed.

"Ah, Miss Manson, you're as always-..."

Before he could respond, a thin ectoplasmic ray flew less than an inch from a lock of his hair.

"Let. Him. Go." - Sam repeated her order again.

This time Vlad didn't say anything, but slowly let Danny to the couch, where Tucker came over. He picked up his friend and went to the stairs, while Sam guarded their backs, watching the calmly standing man.

When they entered Danny's room and locked the door, they both sighed, relaxing a little in this illusion of protection and privacy from fruitloop. Danny himself was still unconscious when they laid him on the bed. His skin seemed paler than usual, highlighting dark bags under his eyes, his hair was matted, and his clothes were disheveled.

"He's going to be okay, isn't he?" - Tucker whispered, watching the occasional dip of Danny's chest. His hands fiddled with the PDA, circling each button, just to keep his fingers from shaking.

Sam didn't know what to say. Her hand was on the sleeping boy's wrist, reading his slow pulse.

They both flinched when Danny coughed violently, his eyelashes fluttered, and his eyes opened slightly. He slowly surveyed his surroundings before focusing on them. Then he coughed again and Tucker quickly got up and went to the exit.

"I'll get some water", - the slight tremor in his voice was overshadowed by the relief in his posture.

The door closed behind him, leaving the two friends alone. Sam didn't really notice Tucker leaving. All her attention was focused on Danny, who was still recovering. She counted her pulse again. Slow, but within the normal range of her ghost boy. Breathing was also normal, there were no noticeable wounds or bruises. Only fatigue was imprinted on this body.

"Sam?"

The quiet call of Danny, already half-sitting on the bed, lifted some weight from her, dispelled her stupor. She threw herself at him with a hug, stifling a slight sob.

He could have died fighting the Ghost King.

He could have died from Ecto-Skeleton exhaustion.

He could have died while he was in Plasmius' hands.

"You're alive…" - she mumbled. Confirmed that it was real.

She heard a soft chuckle from above, and a hand was passed through her hair.

"Hey", - Danny called, and his hand lifted her chin. - "I'm all right. I won."

Their eyes met. There was so little distance between their faces.

Sam didn't know who moved first. It was definitely after her gaze dropped a short second lower before their lips touched. A soft touch and they broke away, but didn't go far, still sharing the same breath between the two.

"I… I wait you... " - she said, the stupidest confession of all the thousands of other things she could say. - "I…"

"Me too," - Danny smiled sweetly and disarmingly, knowing exactly what she meant.

His hand circled her neck and they approached again. The kiss was deeper and brighter, causing butterflies to form in her stomach.

The creaking of the stairs and the trampling of a crowd of people caught Sam's attention. She abruptly pushed Danny to lie on the bed, and she stood up from the edge. A soft whimper came from him as the back of his head hit the bed frame. She looked at him sheepishly and mouthed “sorry”. He responded by rolling his eyes with a smile.

The events after that passed in a kind of haze, Sam did not even notice how she returned home and lay on her bed. She buried her face in the pillow, stifling a scream, her heart racing as her brain finally realized what she had done.