Eighteen year old Danny Fenton couldn't breathe, nor could he think. The only thing he was capable of was staring blankly at the body of his girlfriend, his dying girlfriend. He couldn't believe she had done that, had sacrificed herself for him. He gave her one last look, shivering as the glow of the ectoplasm leaking from her body burned itself into his retinas. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes they shone with pure hatred. His very skin seemed to glow as he turned to face his attacker, and for once the larger ghost appeared shaken. Good, he should be fearing for his afterlife, what little was left before Danny got his hands on him.

Spectra giggled as Danny pinned her hands above her head. He grinned at her before running his hand across her stomach, dragging peals of laughter from her. She should have known not to tease him, but he looked so cute with his hair all ruffled after having just woken up. He had of course retaliated by ruthlessly tickling her.

"D-Danny!" she shrieked, unable to breathe. "St-stop!"

"Do you promise not to tease me about my hair or how long I sleep?" he asked, still holding her down.

"Yes! Yes, I promise! Just stop tickling me!" she squealed.

Smirking triumphantly, the young man released her, sitting up enough so that she could prop herself on her elbows. Grinning wickedly, she grasped his shirt collar, unwilling to let him go without some form of punishment. She pressed her lips to his, causing his eyes to widen, making sure to swipe her tongue across his lips for permission of entrance, which he granted. Their tongues battled, bringing a deep groan out of the young hero. Smirking, she released him just as quickly as she'd grabbed him, leaving him panting and slightly stunned.

"Wow," he said, his eyes darting to hers. "If that's the way I get to wake up every morning then bring it on."

She laughed, the sound warming him and resonating in his chest. He kissed her again, though this time it was gentle and chaste, meant more to show his love for her than stun her with passion. They parted, and as was usual after such a kiss, he rested his forehead on hers.

"I love you," he whispered quietly, his eyes shining such a light blue they were nearly transparent, and the same color they changed to just for her.

"I love you, too," she responded, still feeling the immense wave of joy at the words as she had the first time she'd heard them over two years before.

Danny smiled, leaning forward to give her another kiss before being interrupted by his door opening. He groaned, turning his head to see who had so rudely interrupted what promised to be a great morning. Jazz stood in the doorframe, looking not only uncomfortable but slightly worried.

"Um, sorry to barge in, but there's something you might wanna see down in the lab."

"Jazz, if this is another weapon or something so help me-" he started, frustration apparent.

"No. Danny, this is serious. It's a message from Ember and, well, I think it'd just be easier for you to see for yourself."

Slightly concerned, he got off the bed, subsequently allowing Spectra to move as well, and as expected she followed him to the lab. His worry grew when he saw his parents huddled around the computer screen, the background glowing a ghostly green. Nudging them to the side, he stepped in view of the screen, his features hardening as he took in the view before him.

Ember was bleeding, her clothes torn and her hair a mere flicker of its usually brilliant light. Screams echoed through the air behind her, the kind that spoke of unspeakable pain and torture. The normally vibrant and pulsating ectoplasm of the Ghost Zone was dull and dark, the energy crackling within dark and foreboding. Every once in awhile a ghost would fly across the screen behind her, obviously fleeing from something. For the first time since he'd met her, Ember seemed genuinely terrified, and the thought of what could scare her so badly had him on edge. The last time he'd seen her even remotely close to as frightened as she now appeared was when Pariah Dark had escaped his sarcophagus.

"Danny!" she cried as soon as she saw him, and just the fact that she used his given name alerted him to the seriousness of the situation.

"Ember, what's going on?" he asked.

"He's back, oh god he's back!" she sobbed, shaking even as he heard what seemed to be screaming nearing her.

"Who's back? Ember, who's back?" Danny demanded when she refused to answer.

The screen fizzled out, only to be taken up in the next second by someone the brunette had hoped to never see again. His evil self, Dan Phantom, filled the screen. He heard his family gasping and felt his girlfriend grip his elbow, but his sight was fixed only on the computer. The screen cracked again before Ember returned, looking even more shaken up than she had previously.

"Please Danny, you're our only chance. Save us," she pleaded before the screen went black.

The room was silent, so quiet he could hear everyone breathing. His gaze flickered to the portal, which at the moment was closed, but he knew that wouldn't remain the case for long. Spectra sensed what he was thinking and gripped his arm harder, her nails nearly drawing blood.

"Danny, no. He'll kill you," she begged.

Her words clarified his thoughts to his family, who all burst into speech at once. Through the chorus of "Danny, you don't have to do this," and "There's got to be another way," he only had one thought looping through his mind. Either he fought Dan and gave his loved ones a chance of survival, or hid like a coward and doomed them all. He was no fool, he knew the first thing Dan would do would be to hunt him down by whatever means necessary, destroying whoever and whatever he had to to get to him. He couldn't put his family through that, he just couldn't.

He shook off Spectra's desperate grip, taking a step toward the portal and silencing all the objections swirling in the air. He turned back toward them, locking eyes with each of them briefly before calling upon his signature white rings and transforming into Phantom.

"Danny, please," his mother begged, tears brimming her eyes.

"I have to. If I don't at least try to stop him we'll all die. And if I'm going to die, I'm going to do it protecting those I love."

His mother burst into tears, Jazz not far behind her. He looked to his father, who for the first time he could recall was serious. He gave him a jerky nod, though tears were glistening in his eyes, too. Lastly, he turned his gaze to his girlfriend of the last two years, Penelope Spectra. She looked broken, and he felt his heart give a lurch at the realization that it was him who put that look onto her face and into her eyes.

"Danny, don't," she pleaded again, voice broken with the tears she was fighting.

"I have to," he whispered, sounding just as broken as she looked. He looked at all of them, making sure he could remember their faces. "I love you," he said, turning and taking a steadying breath before pressing the genetic lock to open the portal.

It hissed open, and he flew through it, ignoring the sobbing behind him as he did so.

Spectra watched the doors to the portal close with a heavy sense of finality. She felt like half of her soul had just left her and the remaining half had been shredded beyond repair. It hurt, perhaps more than anything that had happened to her in life. She faintly heard crying surrounding her, and that was the final straw. She couldn't just let him walk to his suicide. She had to follow him, had to help him.

"Open the doors," she heard a voice say, and it took her a moment to realize it belonged to her.

"Penelope, I don't think-" Jazz started, only to stop when she was met with murderous glowing green eyes.

"I said, open the doors."

Jack and Maddie shared an uneasy look before he leaned forward and pressed his thumb to the lock. The doors clicked open, and Spectra shifted forms, her casual clothes replaced by her black and green battle suit, something she hadn't had need of for a long time. She narrowed her eyes, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly before shooting into the sickly colored portal. The doors slipped closed, leaving the three remaining Fentons staring at it in horror. What had they done?

Danny flew around, horrified by the things he was seeing. Ghosts were flickering, some fading and some exploding into bursts of ectoplasm. Others were disfigured beyond recognition, and still others were shaking as their cores disintegrated. The Ghost Zone was falling apart at the seams, and he knew if he didn't act fast there would be no way to save it.

Judging by the direction the ghosts seemed to be fleeing in, Dan was somewhere to his right. Where exactly he wasn't sure, but he was determined to find him. He flew off, noting that the Ghost Zone seemed to grow darker the further in he went.

Spectra was astounded at the carnage that surrounded her. She had thought what had been going on behind Ember had been horrible, but to be in the middle of it all was worse. She went invisible, hoping to hide from Danny as long as possible, knowing that if he found her he'd send her back to the Human Realm. Not to mention the enemies she still had, though she doubted they would notice her in the midst of panic and chaos. She flew blindly, though opposite of the other ghosts. Absentmindedly, she noted how suicidal it was to fly toward the danger rather than away from it, but she wasn't about to be idle while Danny fought for his life and everyone else's.

She found him not long after and trailed behind him silently, not even screaming as she desired to do. She loved him, and if she were to die again for helping him, well, at least it would mean something.

Danny knew he was getting close when the screams ceased to sound. In fact, there was no noise at all, only silence like that before a storm. Reminding himself of why he was there in the first place, he put on some speed, hoping to put an end to the torment as quickly as possible. A scream he immediately recognized tore through his mind, sending him spiraling backwards. It had been a while since he'd had the Ghostly Wail turned against him, but he'd recognize it anywhere.

He recovered as quickly as he could, unknowing of the woman floating behind him trembling in fear. He released a scream of his own, though he had yet to actually see his enemy, not noticing the slight purple tinge it held.

…..

When she'd seen him thrown backwards by an invisible force she'd grown far more terrified than she thought herself capable of, but she didn't run. She could sense Dan near them, though she couldn't see him, and she knew immediately just how deadly this battle was going to be. When she saw Danny readying to release a scream of his own, she added some of her own power to it, not wailing but putting extra force behind the attack. She knew he didn't notice the added power, and she thanked the gods he hadn't. Dan on the other hand, that was someone she couldn't speak for.

….

Dark laughter filled the air, echoing all around Danny and chilling him to the bone. He felt his heart, which beat even as a ghost, stutter before resuming its usual pace.

"Well, well, look who came to play," a voice said, everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"Come out, Dan!" Danny demanded, and he thought he hid the tremble in his voice quite well. "Why are you hiding?!"

The older ghost chuckled before appearing behind Danny and firing an ectoblast that sent him to his knees.

"Who's hiding? I'm merely the cat toying with the mouse before he kills it."

"You're not killing anyone," Danny snapped, forcing himself to his feet.

His back burned, and he was sure if he looked the flesh would be raw and oozing ectoplasm. Not for the first time, he remembered why everyone in the no longer existent future was terrified of his evil self. Dan laughed, as though the whole ordeal was just a moment's distraction, an easily handled situation that required no more attention than that of squishing a fly.

Taking advantage of not only Dan's momentary lapse in concentration but his own burning anger, he charged an ectoblast of his own, hurling it straight at the man's flaming head. It seemed to grow larger and it traveled toward its target, but Danny didn't have time to debate that as he had to immediately dodge his own attack as it was reflected back at him. The ball of energy exploded behind him, for some reason sounding louder than normal. He didn't have time to think on that, however, as Dan prepared another attack. He flew at him, giving him no time to defend himself, and grabbing him around the neck before shocking him. Danny screamed, the pain worse than when Vortex used the same tactic.

….

Spectra watched, angry that she couldn't do more to help her boyfriend, but aware of how easily she could be killed if she revealed herself. She had at least tried to boost his attack, but her power was draining quickly. She wasn't and had never been meant to use so much energy at once, and doing so was taking its toll on her. When Dan grabbed Danny she felt a rush of anger and flew to him, allowing her energy to flow through him by touching his shoulder. His signature rings flashed, throwing Dan back as had happened the first time she herself had fought with him.

Both men looked confused, Danny especially, but he also recovered first, calling on his ice core in an attempt to freeze the older male. She floated back away from the fight, barely able to keep herself hidden.

….

Danny didn't know where the extra surge of energy had come from, but he wasn't going to question it, especially since it had succeeding in getting Dan away from him. Not only that, but it had given him time to tap into his core and begin using those powers as well. He began an offensive assault, switching from ice to ectoplasm to the ghostly wail. Unfortunately, Dan also possessed those powers, not to mention others, and had far more experience wielding them. Dan simply created a ghost shield and waited until Danny slowed his strikes to duplicate himself, sending his clones to surround the young man and fire multiple ghost rays while he himself teleported behind him and opened a portal.

Danny took the hits as best he could, but he could feel himself weakening. He was bleeding from the multiple shots he'd taken, smoking from being electrocuted, and he could feel his core struggling to keep him in his ghost form. He saw the portal flair to life out of the corner of his eye and felt panic flood his system. There was no telling what was on the other side, and he knew if he was forced through he wouldn't come back. Summoning one last burst of power, he tried another ghostly wail, succeeding in knocking the older ghost away for a few moments.

He felt the rings appear around his waist but fought them off. It had been years since he'd drained himself to the point of reverting to his human half, but this battle with Dan proved to be the changing point. He had to stall for time, give himself space to recharge and find a weak point, but he had no clue what that would be or how to go about it.

….

Spectra was worried, more than she cared to admit. She'd seen the rings appear around Danny and knew what that meant. She also knew if he reverted to his human half he'd instantly be killed. Truthfully, she barely had any power left, just enough to keep herself from becoming visible, but she knew she had to do something. She just wasn't sure what.

….

"Hey ugly!" Danny yelled, gaining Dan's attention and subsequently pissing him off further. "How the hell did you escape in the first place? Or did you just beg and plead like the wuss you are until Clockwork let you out to shut you up?"

The older ghost's eyes glowed a brighter shade of red before he launched himself at his younger self. It was exactly the reaction Danny had hoped to get, and he calmly flew out of the way, missing the sloppy attack by a mile. Dan immediately charged at him again, once again missing as Danny turned intangible. If he could just keep the older man enraged to the point that thought abandoned him then maybe he had a chance. He should have known he could never be that lucky.

….

Spectra had been watching with baited breath as Danny dodged the numerous charges, understanding that he was trying to buy time. She herself was slowly re-energizing, though she still couldn't really do much besides a weak ectoblast. Since she was mainly a spectator she could see every change in stance and tactic, thus she noticed when Dan's strikes changed from unfocused to deliberately off-target. He was missing on purpose, though she didn't know why Danny hadn't seemed to have caught on.

….

There was something off about the way his older self was fighting but Danny couldn't put his finger on it, too busy dodging numerous blasts and plasma bolts to think beyond his next move. He came out of a backflip to be faced with an orb of plasma, the thing pulsing and glowing with electricity. The sheer size of it alone made him nervous, especially since he knew his core was still taxed for energy.

"This has been fun, but I've grown tired of our little game. Time for the cat to catch the mouse," Dan said, releasing the glowing orb.

It slammed into Danny full force, and he screamed to the point that it hurt to breathe. The attack had thrown him back into his human form as soon as it coursed through his body, and he found he couldn't really care with as much pain as he was in. He lay, suspended and panting, waiting for Dan to finish what he'd started. At least he could die knowing he tried.

….

She saw the attack coming before Danny did. It took everything she had not to scream a warning to him, the knowledge that they would both die managing to keep her mouth shut. She did scream as she watched the orb slam into him, her screams merging with his and becoming indistinguishable. Tears streamed down her face as she witnessed his agony, and she flew over to him, stroking the hair out of his pain-glazed eyes. He couldn't even tell she was there, he had been injured so badly.

She saw a flicker of green out of the corner of her eye, and when she looked closely saw Dan charging another blast, this one concentrated and obviously meant to kill. She gasped, and he looked up and at her, dead in the eye.

….

Danny, through the haze of pain, thought he felt someone stroking his forehead, but he couldn't be sure. He saw Dan charging the strike that would kill him, and sighed, accepting his fate. It was the older ghost's hesitation that had him sitting up and looking around.

"Well, this certainly changes things," Dan said, his gaze still firmly locked on something that Danny couldn't see.

"What...what are you talking about?" he asked.

"You've had help this entire time."

He fired another, smaller, blast at something just to Danny's left, and the piercing scream that resonated through the air had him up and transforming faster than he ever had in his life, despite his weakened core. Spectra shimmered into existence right beside him, her hand covering a hole in her side. He noticed she was in her battle gear, and suddenly all the extra power behind his attacks made sense. He reached over, covering the wound with his own hand. She hissed in pain, looking up at him in fear and sorrow.

"Penny," he whispered, "why are you here? Don't you know I'd rather you have stayed with my parents and Jazz?"

"I know, but I couldn't let you face death alone," she replied.

Dan watched the two with growing amusement, his laughter breaking them out of their conversation.

"This just gets better and better! Now I can force you to watch her cease to exist before putting you out of misery permanently!"

"You're not going to touch her!" Danny yelled, moving to block his girlfriend from his evil self.

"Please, as if you could actually stop me!"

He threw another blast at Danny, this one designed to throw him out of the way. That done, he turned his attention back to the wounded redhead in front of him. Ectoplasm leaked down her side, the color matching her suit perfectly. He grinned at her, sending chills down her spine. He powered up a concentrated ghost ray, aiming at her chest, right over where her heart should be. He took a few more seconds to enjoy the absolute terror covering her face before firing, surprised when his attack bounced harmlessly away. He snarled, turning to face his younger self.

"I don't know how you did that, but it will be the last thing you ever do."

He fired his supercharged ectoblast, enjoying the look of fear that replaced the anger on the younger ghost's face.

….

Spectra saw it happen. She saw Dan preparing to destroy her other half with the energy orb. She saw him throw it. She jumped.

….

It all happened in slow motion. Danny saw the orb coming for him, prepared himself for impact, expected to burst into an agony of flames. He didn't expect his girlfriend to jump in front of him and take the extent of the blast.

It hit her squarely in the chest, the power behind it not only causing it to explode but rip through her as well. He watched wide-eyed as she convulsed, ectoplasm and a black substance (her core, his inner voice supplied) oozing out of the hole in her chest. He flew to her in a shot, gathering her into his arms. Tears sparkled in his eyes as he looked down on her and saw the energy leaving her eyes.

"Why?" he asked in a choked up voice.

"Because I love you," she whispered.

He squeezed his eyes shut, tears streaming down his face. He opened them, despair swirling in their depths as he gently released her.

Danny's eyes glowed as he faced Dan, the irises disappearing and turning pure blue. For the first time since he'd relinquished his human half, Dan felt a twinge of fear. Danny gave him no chances to attack, duplicating himself and hitting him with one incredibly powerful ectoblast after another. The older male tried to dodge and defend himself, but for once the younger ghost was more powerful. He felt each blow keenly, and before long he resembled Danny, covered in ectoplasm and burns.

Danny stared him down, gathering in his left hand an ordinary but supercharged ectoblast, in the other an orb of ice. He threw both, simultaneously shocking and freezing his older self in place. He then formed two more, though this time he pushed them together to create a swirling mass of blue and green. It crackled with energy, and as Dan watched he could see the younger man pouring more and more into it. It began to glow brighter, the colors melding tightly together until the entire ball seemed white. Sweat poured down Danny's face, and it was obvious he was truly straining his core to the limit. The rings that would return him to his human self flickered around his waist but he pushed them back, focusing all his energy into his final attack.

"My, how the tables have turned," he said, not trace of humor in his voice. "Here mousey, mousey. Come get the cheese."

He released the orb, watching in satisfaction as horror morphed Dan's face into something resembling human emotion before the sphere collided with him. The explosion was brilliant, the sound astronomical and the light blinding. He barely had time to cover his girlfriend's body before his senses were dulled by the blast.

When Danny's hearing returned and he opened his eyes he found no traces of his evil self anywhere. The portal that had been opened had been forced shut by Dan's demise, and Danny felt a surge of satisfaction greater than he'd ever known. He looked back down at the woman he had shielded, noticing that she had yet to fully disappear. Hope sparked in his chest. Perhaps if he got her to his parents before it was too late….

He felt like he was going to collapse, his chest burning in pain from the exertion of charging such a large ectoblast, but he scooped her into his arms and flew as quickly as he could toward the Fenton Portal. He could feel himself flickering, the awkward stutters in his speed speaking volumes. The doors of the Fenton Portal loomed in the distance, and he knew if he could just make it then everything would work out. It had to.

He reached the doors, freeing one arm and banging on his side, hoping beyond hope his family could hear it. Spectra was slowly fading in his arms, her core dwindling the longer he held her. Fate smiled on the young man, and the doors slid open. He wasted no time darting through them, barely exiting before his human half washed over him. He tucked the woman's body close to his own as he flew head over heels onto the cool tile floor of the lab.

It was silent for a minute before cheers rose into the air, though they died out soon enough as his family saw the state both he and his girlfriend were in. Stars swimming in his eyes, Danny managed to lock eyes with his mother.

"Mom please, help her," he said, slumping forward and practically covering his girlfriend's body with his.

Danny blinked into consciousness, the ceiling he recognized as that of the lab swimming into focus. He ached all over, especially his chest, but forced himself to roll onto his side. He realized with a start that he was on one of the lab tables, Spectra on the other. The hole in her side had been expertly closed up, and she was connected to some sort of I.V. that seemed to be pouring ectoplasm into her body. She had, thankfully, solidified since he'd blindly flown her through the Ghost Zone, the parts of her that had disappeared having returned.

The gaping wound in her chest was still as large as ever, and if he looked closely enough he could see the ectoplasm his parents were providing glowing around the edges. Her core seemed to be trying to repair itself, but even he could tell she had taken on too much damage. They needed a miracle, but he figured he had used all those beating Dan and getting home. He squeezed his eyes shut, the wave of grief he felt threatening to choke him. He heard scuffling, and when he opened his eyes his mother was leaning over his girlfriend, her features set in a grim line.

"Mom," he whispered, causing her to turn.

"Danny! Oh thank goodness you're awake!"

She rushed over to him, crushing his body to hers in a bone-crushing hug that made his body scream in agony. He groaned, his pain heightening a few notches.

"Mom...can't breathe!" he gasped, and she released him.

His gaze slipped to the unconscious redhead once more, and Maddie followed it.

"It doesn't look good. Her core took extreme damage, not to mention the wound on her side. Luckily that was stitched up and is trying to heal, but her core…." She sighed, a sound he usually associated with a failed invention she was scrapping. "Her core is virtually nonexistent. Whatever happened to her destroyed it almost entirely. If you hadn't gotten back when you did she wouldn't be here now."

Danny's eyes hardened.

"There's nothing you can do to fix it?"

Maddie bowed her head. She had never truely approved of her son's relationship with the woman, not only because she was a ghost, but because even at her youngest she was several years older than Danny. She had at least, in the two years she had known her, gone from tolerating to getting along with the woman. She may not be her favorite person, but even she didn't want her cease to exist.

His mother's silence told him everything, and hot tears slid down his face. He was devastated, but also angry. Angry at himself for not realizing she had followed him. Angry because he had let her get hurt. Angry because two years wasn't nearly enough time. Angry because he couldn't heal her. But most of all, he was angry at Dan for ruining his life once again, this time in an irreparable way.

Ignoring his own pain, Danny slid off the table and stumbled over to Spectra, collapsing on his knees beside the table and grasping her hand. Her skin was even cooler than normal, and he cried. Maddie cried with him, hurting because he was. She slipped out quietly, giving him time to grieve.

Danny hadn't left Spectra's side in days. He barely ate, barely slept, barely functioned. She hadn't healed, but she hadn't gotten worse, though he wasn't sure if her stability was a blessing or a curse. They were merely prolonging her afterlife, and at this point it looked more like suffering than help. Maddie had been working around the clock to try and find a way to fix her core, but as there was no research to go by it was proving impossible.

As the end of the fifth day drew to a close, she had to admit that perhaps the best thing for everyone was to let her fade. Danny of course denied it vehemently, claiming that something would change for the better.

Denial was ugly, and on a grieving hero looked worse.

It wasn't until Danny was left alone completely that he had an idea. If Spectra's energy could be transferred to him to fuel his attacks, why couldn't he transfer his to her? And if he could do that, why couldn't he also transfer a part of his core to help build hers back up? It would be just like an organ donation, only it would be ectoplasm and his inner being.

For the first time in nearly a week he smiled, releasing his girlfriend's hand and running to find his mother. She was skeptical at first, and he couldn't blame her. After all, who'd ever heard of performing surgery on a ghost? But he knew that if anyone could do it she could. He kept pushing his theory, driving home all the details and exploring all the angles. Finally she agreed to try.

….

Danny, though nervous about the impending transfer, was happy. If his idea proved to be correct then there was no reason why he shouldn't spend many more years with Spectra by his side. He didn't even care if he wasn't able to go ghost anymore. As long as she would be all right, so would he.

"Danny," Maddie spoke up as she readied herself for the surgery, "are you sure you want to do this?"

"I've never been more sure about anything," he answered, sounding far older than his eighteen years.

"Okay. I'm going to try my best here, sweetheart, but please just promise that if this doesn't work you won't hate me."

"What?! I could never hate you, Mom. I know this is just a crazy theory, and the chances of failure are way higher than those of success. I'm just glad you're willing to try."

Maddie smiled, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Okay Danny, hop up onto the table and we'll get started."

He did as he was told, anxious to begin. Maddie wheeled the table over to stand beside Spectra and locked it into place before rolling over an I.V. identical to the one in his girlfriend's arm. Without being told, he went ghost, and promptly reached to hold Spectra's hand. His mother smiled sadly, not as confident as her son that the procedure would work.

"I'm gonna insert the I.V. now, sweetheart," she said. He hissed as the needle penetrated his skin, by other than that didn't make a sound. "And the anesthetic."

He was asleep quickly, and she was faced with two bodies that she had no desire to touch. She steeled her resolve, reminding herself that if she didn't at least try she'd lose one ghost that was beginning to grow on her, and perhaps her son as well if his actions were any indication of his mental state. That thought lingering in her mind, she picked up a scalpel and made the first incision to her son's chest.

….

Maddie learned a lot of things during the operation, things she'd never even contemplated. For instance, she'd always assumed that when Danny was a ghost his heart wouldn't beat, but as she'd begun her search for his core found it thumping along steadily. She'd also never given much thought to ghost cores. She had assumed they were invisible or liquid, acting as a center and tether for consciousness. She was proven wrong as she found Danny's bright blue core pulsing away nestled underneath his heart. It was about as big as her fist, just slightly smaller than his heart, and definitely solid. That had made the operation simultaneously both easier and harder. Harder because his core was underneath his heart, and easier because there was actually something she could transplant.

She stopped then to take a look at Spectra, surprised to find that her core was her heart. In a strange way, that actually made sense. There was the tiniest chunk of black still lodged in her chest cavity, a piece of her own core that had miraculously survived what Danny had described as a brutal attack. It was also the only reason she hadn't faded instantly.

She wasn't sure how her body would take to such an integral part of a being that wasn't her own, and could only hope she wouldn't reject it as humans were bound to do with foreign organs. Her questions answered, she began the delicate task of taking a piece of Danny's core.

Danny opened his eyes and groaned, promptly snapping them shut again. His head felt fuzzy and his tongue was incredibly dry. For a moment he wondered what had happened to him, and then recalled the surgery. His eyes flew open and he flew off the table, forgetting the I.V. that was connected to his arm. It ripped out, ectoplasm spewing everywhere, and he yelled out, the sound bringing his mother into the room. He looked around frantically, ignoring her, sinking to the floor when Spectra was nowhere to be found.

He said nothing as his mother bandaged his arm and chattered on about how much she had learned during the surgery, nor did he say anything when she prompted him to revert back to his human half. He allowed her to steer him upstairs, unsurprised when they stopped in front of his bedroom door. Of course she'd want him to rest after all he had been through, and he could really use the time alone. He did, however grow suspicious when Maddie grew silent. She hadn't shut up the entire time since she'd found him awake, why would she now? Shooting her a questioning look, he pushed open his door, sighing in exasperation when it revealed his normal bedroom. He turned back to see she had followed him in, and raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled and pointed over his shoulder to his bed, and when he saw what she had been pointing at he hit his knees and began to sob.

Spectra lay in his bed, still unconscious, but looking healthier than she had since the battle. Her skin was back to its ivory color, rather than the ashy gray it had been in the days previous. The I.V. was still attached to her, though he noted the amount of ectoplasm she was receiving had been reduced. He reached toward her, drawing his hand back soon after, unsure if she was real or an illusion. Maddie crouched down beside him.

"She's real, Danny, she's really there," she said, and was nearly knocked over as he hugged her. She stroked his hair, holding him as he cried. "You were right, sweetie. When your core touched hers the pieces melded together, and her side began healing. Her chest began to reform as well as her back, and I was able to close her up completely. You saved her, Danny."

He mumbled something that she didn't catch, but that sounded suspiciously like a denial and a thank god all rolled into one.

"If I'm right she should be waking up soon," she whispered, actually falling as he rushed to be by the woman's side.

He gripped her hand as he knelt by the bed, his head resting on her chest. He heard the unmistakable hum of an active core, and more tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked back over his shoulder.

"Thank you so much, Mom. You saved her, not me. Thank you."

Maddie blushed, embarrassed at the intensity in his voice and eyes. Before she could respond, Spectra began to move, pained whimpers escaping her lips. Danny's head snapped back to face her. He focused entirely on her, watching as her movements became more frequent and the whimpers grew louder and began to resemble words. Finally, her eyes opened, and he was gazing into the familiar green orbs he loved so much and had thought he'd never see again.

Spectra smiled, the look she gave him nearly identical to the one she gave him in the mornings after just waking up.

"Hi," he whispered, voice thick with tears and at a loss for what to say.

"Hi," she whispered back, the sound of her voice sending him back into tears.

That one word was the most beautiful word he'd ever heard.