Here it is, just as promised!

Thank you guys SO MUCH for reading! I appreciate it so much and thanks as well for the favorites/follows and especially the reviews! They always make my day, so thank you!:)

Here's the last chapter! I hope you guys like it :D I'll definitely be writing more Danny Phantom fics in the future!

Until next time~

~cosette141

"He's waking up!"

Pain made itself known before anything else, and Danny groaned. His torso was still a muted fire and a thick fog of heavy weakness pressed him down into something soft. Something familiar…

Danny cracked open his eyes.

He was staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. He blinked, trying to bring the memories that brought him here to his mind.

Four anxious faces were leaning over him.

Sam and Jazz, first, who both visibly relaxed when they saw him open his eyes.

"Danny!" said Sam softly, smiling.

"Hey, little brother," said Jazz from his other side.

Danny smiled tiredly back.

"Danny-boy!"

Danny jerked back a little, wincing. He lifted his eyes to the other two people leaning over him.

"Hey, Dad…" croaked Danny.

"Danny," said Maddie, on the other side of his bed, her voice stern. "Thank goodness you're okay." She rubbed his shoulder with her gloved hand. "But what were you thinking, going to the GIW's facility?"

Tucker.

The GIW.

Agent E.

Danny's eyes shot wide.

Where was…?

"Tucker," he gasped, shooting off the bed, only to groan as his torso burned from the movement.

"Relax, Danny," said Sam, her hands on his shoulders, pushing him gently back down, concern in her eyes. "It's okay. Tucker's right here."

And Danny lifted his head slowly, finding Tucker leaning against the doorframe of his room. There was hardly any room around his bed for Tucker to stand. He was looking at Danny sheepishly.

Danny smiled at him, dropping his head back to the pillow in relief.

Tucker was okay.

"That was very dangerous, Daniel!" chastised Maddie, and Danny shrunk back a little into the pillows. "Tucker was being handled with extreme care," she went on, and it took every ounce of his self-control not to react to her choice of words, "so there was no need for you to go find him!" She shook her head, a little fear in her eyes. "When Sam and Jazz told me what happened…"

Danny looked tentatively to Sam for an explanation.

"...that," Sam took over, "you went to find Tucker. But the GIW had some power failure that destroyed the building."

Jazz nodded from Danny's other side. "And you were caught in the aftermath." She patted Danny's shoulder.

"But," said Tucker with a grin, stepping toward the bed. "Luckily not before the GIW saved me from evil Danny Phantom. I was released right before the whole thing went to shambles."

Danny sighed.

Not a bad story.

Jack let out a disappointed sound. "I still can't believe I missed watching them knock that ghost scum out of Tucker."

At everyone's stare, Jack smiled sheepishly at Tucker. "I mean… I'm glad you're ghost-free, now!"

Tucker looked at Danny when he answered. "Yeah… but… it wasn't so bad getting stuck with Danny Phantom."

Danny smiled at the honesty even when Jack scoffed and said, "Nonsense!"

"But you are grounded, young man." said Maddie firmly, rounding back on Danny.

Danny nodded. That was okay. He had a feeling he wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon.

"It really is too bad," added Maddie. "The GIW lost everything. They said it's going to take them months just to rebuild the structure." She shook her head. "But the research they must have lost…"

Danny had no such condolences.

And from the looks on Sam, Jazz and Tucker's faces, they didn't, either.

Jack rubbed the stubble on his chin. "Might take longer now that their head researcher was fired for going nuts."

Danny's face shifted in confusion.

Maddie shook her head. "Can you blame them? She was trying to convince everyone that Phantom was some sort of ghost-human anomaly!" She laughed a little, ruffling a very-rigid Danny's hair. "And that's just crazy."

Danny swallowed hard, feeling his fear snake back through his veins. He forced himself to nod.

Maddie's face softened as she ruffled Danny's hair gently. "I'm just glad you're okay, honey."

Danny smiled genuinely at her words. For a while there, he wasn't sure he'd get to see his parents again. Or if he did see them again, he wasn't sure he'd want to. Danny swallowed, looking from his mother to his father, glad beyond belief he was still just regular old Danny Fenton to them.

"We'll come back to check on you in a few hours," said Maddie, who leaned over and kissed Danny's hair. Danny winced at the affection—in front of his friends—but smiled a little anyway. She and Jack left the room, and Tucker closed the door behind them.

"Danny are you okay?" asked Sam, her expression shifting in the instant the door shut.

"Do you feel alright?" asked Jazz on his other side.

"I'm okay," said Danny with a little laugh, though it made him wince. "Really, I'm okay. Thanks." He looked between the them. "How long have I been out?"

"Two days," said Tucker, and Danny's brows shot up.

"Days?!" he echoed.

Sam nodded. "After you passed out, Jazz drove us all back to my place so we could, well…" She hesitated, something dark passing through her eyes. "You were... kind of a mess. We didn't want to risk your parents seeing."

"But you were starting to heal normally from the new injuries," added Jazz, sitting on the bed beside Danny. "So all I really had to do was re-bandage the old one."

Danny nodded. "It doesn't hurt as much now." He smiled at them. "Thanks, guys."

Jazz gave him a little grin. "We told Mom and Dad that we took you to the hospital and they were the ones who patched you up, and also that they gave you a clean bill of health so that Mom and Dad didn't take you themselves."

Danny hadn't even thought of that. That would have been the worst stroke of bad luck.

His thoughts must have reflected a little in his eyes and Sam squeezed his shoulder. "Tucker told us about everything." Something dark passed through her eyes, but it went as quickly as it came. "I'm just so glad you guys are okay."

Danny gave her a grin, but it was tired. He blinked heavily, still feeling the exhaustion pulling at him.

Sam must have noticed because she said, "We should let you rest," and got up.

Jazz got up from the bed, too. "We'll be downstairs, little brother."

Jazz and Sam left, making Tucker look awkwardly between Danny and the door. He started to get up to leave.

"Tuck."

Tucker stopped, turning.

"I…" Danny hesitated, fighting with words. "I went in there to save you," he said quietly, "and you ended up saving me." He gave Tucker a sincere look. "Thank you, Tucker."

Tucker smiled a little back, saying, "It was nothing," but his eyes told a different story.

Danny's grin faded. He looked at Tucker seriously. "Are you okay?"

Tucker forced a grin. "Who, me? Yeah, totally okay."

Danny raised an eyebrow.

Tucker sighed, sitting on the end of the bed in a huff. "Okay, not exactly okay. The kind of not-okay that's been giving me nightmares, and my hands won't stop shaking, but—" He stopped, looking up at Danny's concerned gaze. "Danny, why didn't you tell us?"

Danny's concern shifted into confusion. "Tell you what?"

"About… about all that!" said Tucker, getting off the bed. "You…" He hesitated, looking at Danny. "That was…" Danny watched the memories replay in Tucker's eyes, and he shivered himself. "That was the scariest day of my life. I never even imagined what…" He looked at Danny, shaking his head in something between horror and awe. "You knew how bad it would be if the GIW caught you. You knew. You always knew." At Danny's uncomfortable silence, Tucker swallowed, his eyes shining with a trace of tears. "But you never…" He fell back to the bed again. "I never knew."

Danny—with difficulty—pulled himself up to a sitting position, cringing a little as it woke the pain in his abdomen. He put a hand on Tucker's shoulder. "I didn't want you guys to think about it." He shrugged a little. "I didn't want to think about it. Most of all…" Guilt sank into his chest. "I didn't ever want you to get hurt."

"But what about you?!" said Tucker in exasperation. "You flew straight into a place that nearly—" He couldn't get the words out, but Danny heard them nonetheless. He shivered a little, feeling himself back on the table, Agent E staring him down.

He pushed the emotion from his voice. "But I'm okay," he said with a grin that was almost real. "Don't worry about-"

"Stop it!" exclaimed Tucker, pushing himself off the bed again, making Danny recoil in surprise. "Stop… stop pretending everything is better than it is! Stop protecting me!" He heaved in air and Danny stared at him, stunned. "I was more scared that day than in my entire life and everything they did to me-or t-tried to… to do to me," His voice cracked a little, but he kept on. "That was meant for you! They don't even treat you like a person, Danny!" He hesitated and Danny listened, shocked into silence. "I… you weren't the only one who could feel emotions when you overshadowed me, Danny." said Tucker firmly, making Danny tense. "You were scared. You were more than scared." Silence passed between them. He looked at Danny, with something between sadness and frustration.

Danny's eyes found the blanket. "Tuck-"

"How close was it?" demanded Tucker. "When I cut the power, when I found you, you weren't in ghost mode." A pause. "How close was it?"

Danny's eyes darkened.

Agony.

A flash of light.

His control slipping through his fingers…

This is it.

Danny breathed out.

"Close," said Danny finally. He felt the memory tighten his chest again. "More than close," he whispered.

Tucker looked at him, his eyes shining. "I don't understand how you do this stuff." He sniffed. "I… couldn't."

Danny looked at him funny. "But you did."

Tucker sighed. "That's just because… because… I couldn't let them hurt you," he said quietly.

Danny nodded. "Now you understand."

Tucker looked at him, seeing his best friend in a way he never had before. His best friend who risked his life by simply existing, who played with fate every time he tried to protect someone else.

"I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you." Danny shrugged. "You don't have to have ghost powers to be a hero, Tuck."

Tucker stared back at Danny, taking in the messy hair, the still-too-pale color in his face, the slight haggard look in his features. Behind that crooked grin on his face, Tucker could see the kid in who was sitting across from him. He could see past the mask that Danny must have always had up. He could see the fear he's never seen before.

Or maybe the fear that Danny hasn't let him see before.

Tucker put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "You protect me, I protect you."

Danny's smiled, the smile holding such sincere, raw gratitude it took him a second to speak. He cleared his throat a little and nodded. "Deal."

Tucker grinned back, feeling a resoluteness in the promise that passed between them.

Danny blinked tiredly again, and Tucker got up from the bed. "Get some sleep, dude. You look exhausted."

Danny nodded, leaning back to his pillows, and he must have been as exhausted as he looked because he fell asleep almost instantly.

Tucker started to leave, hesitating at the door, looking back at his best friend. The best friend he very nearly lost for good. The best friend, that by some miracle, Tucker was able to save.

"You don't have to have ghost powers to be a hero."

A warmth spread through him from the inside out.

Tucker started to turn when he saw an icy wisp of blue escape Danny's lips; his ghost sense.

Tucker looked around the room, but it remained silent.

A protectiveness rose in his chest.

He let go of the door handle and pulled out Danny's desk chair. He planted himself in it, watching the room attentively. He let Danny sleep.

Even heroes needed a hero sometimes.

Tucker watched over his best friend, smiling to himself, knowing that from now until the bitter end, he would be Danny's.