Hi everyone, this fic has been on hiatus for a good year now so… I guess I'm trying to get back into the roll of things. It's difficult to get back in contact with the plot-bunny that first spawned this here fic. All your reviews are much appreciated.

-/-

Sam and Tucker didn't need much of an explanation before coming over, which was good since he didn't have much of an explanation to give. He greeted them at the door, still wearing his pyjamas, they didn't mind though.

Sam gave him a look as she walked up to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" Tucker didn't look much different. "Yeah man, we were worried when we hadn't heard from you in two days." Sam bit her lip, towering over him with her four inch heels. "I'm so sorry for calling your mum, I just wanted to tell her what happened-" He gestured them in, offering them a tired smile. "It's alright you guys; this actually isn't a house call…" They looked at him and nodded. "We thought as much." Sam added as she looked around making sure nobody was around.

Once up in his room he offered them both chairs before Sam nearly threw him back in his bed. Once they were sitting down Sam took her tablet from her book bag, earning her a romantic sigh from Tucker. "Tucker, stop making kissy faces at my tablet." Tucker sighed. "But she is so beautiful!" She rolled her eyes before bringing up the ghost catalogue she had made.

"Okay, so what did the ghost look like?" She said looking up at him. This was where the awkward part started. "I… don't know." Sam blinked. "Did you fight him blindfolded or what?" He sighed as he touched his head, the shadow of a headache surfacing. "I don't know. I saw him once, but I don't know." Tucker looked at him over his glasses. "Kay…weird." Sam looked a bit lost. "So you saw him, but…you didn't?"

"When he appeared the headache had gotten so bad I couldn't think straight, so when I went ghost…I don't know what happened. I must have blacked out or something." Sam put her tablet down, leaning forward in her chair. "Danny…are you sure, it wasn't just a dream?" He shook his head. "I saw myself fight him, I-" His friends shared a look that was starting to look a lot like the school counsellor had given him once before. "What!" He snapped.

"What do you mean when you say, you 'saw' yourself fight him?" He sighed. "I saw myself in ghost form fighting the ghost." "Like you were two people?" Tucker asked. He nodded.

"Right…" He sighed at the look Sam was giving him. "You know what, if you guys don't believe me-" Sam shook her head and held up her hand. "Danny, you know we believe you, I mean we should be used to strange stories by now. It's just, a little stranger than we thought." He touched his lips. "Tell me about it." He thought to himself.

Sam had started typing up what he said. "So, you fought this ghost, or watched yourself fight him, anything else we should know?" He nodded. "First I had this dream-" Tucker sat upright and sighed. "Come on Danny, seriously?" Sam elbowed him in his side. "Don't mind him Danny, go on." He pinched the bridge of his nose, the headache coming up full force now. "I… don't know, it was all dark and there was this light and I wasn't allowed to reach it… he-he stopped me." Sam leaned in some more. "Who stopped you Danny?" The headache was thumping now, like music breaking through the barrier of his mind. "I don't know, but he was here again last night, he helped me when I couldn't go ghost." Sam leaned in some more. "You can't go ghost?" He shook his head. "I haven't tried since last night, when that ghost appeared again. He asked about…someone, the same person from my dream, the one who helped me. He said I was part of something, something big." He looked at his friends. Sam typed along with everything he said but Tucker had sunk back into his seat, looking at him with a blank expression. "I think the headaches might have something to do with it, like my ghost sense only…more painful."

He grabbed the note he had written the night before. "Here, these were some things that stood out." He handed it to Sam who took it from him and typed it over. "It always starts with darkness, then I'm bound and I can't turn ghost."

He closed his eyes, feeling the pressure on his temples thumping loudly. "Damn this headache." Sam walked up and touched his shoulder, pressing him back so he could lie down.

"It's alright Danny, you get some rest, and we'll look into it. If something like this happens again don't hesitate to call me." He offered them both a smile. "Thanks you guys, I knew you would understand." Sam touched his shoulder as she flung her bag over her shoulder. "You just get some rest alright?" He nodded as she walked out the door. Tucker gave him a look before sighing deeply. "Hey man I'll send you your homework alright?" He followed Sam before he could think of anything to say. And Danny was left in an empty bedroom.

He must have laid there for a good minute, waiting for the headache to go down when suddenly the window swung open. He jerked up which gained him another dizzy spell, groaning as he held his face in his hands when he heard something.

"What the hell was he on about?" "I don't know, maybe he's sicker than we thought." "Do you think it's really a ghost?" "I don't know, he was pretty out of it, maybe its just fever induced hallucinations." "Yeah, you're probably right."

He listened to his friends walk away. The sounds of the outside world broke through his quiet room, birds, traffic, people chattering but he didn't hear anything, just the disbelief in his friends their voices replaying over and over.

How could they not believe him? He would never make up something like this! Granted it was a bit difficult to understand but why would he lie about something like this!

He groaned as he sat up and walked towards the window, closing it quickly. And just as he turned to walk back to his bed his vision blurred over. "Fuck…" he whispered as he rubbed his eyes, stumbling over to his bed he quickly sat on the edge as his vision swam before his eyes. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck…" He whispered to himself, feeling panic contract his chest and making his heart race in his chest. His breathing became laboured and he was on the verge of a panic attack when suddenly two hands grabbed his shoulders from behind.

He gasped in shock as he was pulled back against someone, a cold someone. "Calm down Danny, it'll pass." He tried to speak but no words came out as his body began to shake his vision blurring more and more before finally turning to black. "I'm blind!" He shouted, his heart racing as his breathing became uneven, he felt like running, like screaming for help, he needed a doctor, he needed a hospital, he needed- But those arms just held him back, forcing him to press back against the chest behind him.

"Danny, just breathe, just breathe." He tried to breathe but he couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, why was he so cold, why was he blind, what the hell was going on here!

"Danny this is just like in your dream, it's just for a little while, and than you'll wake up." After a while of just trying to breathe he became aware of other things. The figure behind him was cold but he recognised that cold and he recognised that voice. "I-it's you…you from before." The arms that had wrapped itself around his waist stiffened. "Yes." The response was spoken against his shoulder but no cool breath accompanied it. "You're a ghost aren't you?" A soft chuckle… "Something like that." He breathed in deeply, trying to get the shaking under control. "Did you open my window?" "Yes, they didn't believe you, I thought you should know." He swallowed nervously; thankfully for every question he could get answered. "Last night…you said you wouldn't explain it to me, because I wouldn't believe you." Another chuckle… "Please, I just want to know what is going on, what is wrong with me."

The figure released him and on instinct he turned to look at him, realising he was still blind the moment he did. So he felt his way onto the bed, kneeling on the mattress, staring at where he imagined the figure would be.

"What do you want to know?" He frowned. "Isn't it obvious! Everything, I mean, what the fuck is going on? First I faint, than I get this out of body experience and now I go blind randomly, 'any' explanation would be welcome!" He started when a cold hand cupped his face, touching him so lightly. He blushed brightly as he attempted to slap the hand away, but it was gone as fast as it came.

"You're not asking the right questions." "What the fuck is that supposed to mean!" The cold hands grabbed his hands. "Think Danny, what did this all start with?" He shook his head which still hurt from before. "I fainted in class-" The hands squeezed his. "Then what?" He thought back. "Than I was attacked and I turned ghost, but it was like I was watching myself from afar." "Yes!" The excitement in his voice was strange but made his heart race.

"Something happened when you fainted; it was as if something had loosened within you, something that had been holding something captive…that was holding…me. It was holding me captive." He didn't say anything, just looked into the blackness and felt those cold hands on his. "When you went ghost I was supposed to come out but because the bonds were loosened I could move freely. I only came out because you couldn't do it on your own but this was the first time I was able to do it without you." He tried to make sense of the words he heard, tried desperately. "You mean-" "Yes, I'm you're ghost form. That's why you couldn't go ghost, because I'm loose. I'm still attached to you, but the bonds are loosening more and more each minute that goes by." One of the cold hands moved up to touch his face again. "I don't… I don't understand." His head hurt, he still couldn't see, he felt like panicking again.

"I'm only just starting to figure it out for myself." The voice chuckled. "We've been one for so long I wasn't sure what was happening. It feels odd and unnatural now but…" He could feel the cold aura against his skin as he leaned in. The hand at his face moved to the back of his neck, holding him in place. But he couldn't move, not even if he wanted to. He swallowed nervously as he felt the cold aura growing denser and denser. "S-so w-what made this happen?" He peeped, grasping at straws. The cold aura stopped.

"I don't know." He tried to will his eyes to start working again. "Does that other ghost have anything to do with it?" The figure was quiet for a moment before moving back some. "It was after me. It came to collect me." He could feel the fingers at the back of his neck, massaging the skin there. "Separated from you I'm just a ghost, free to be collected by others." "And…why does my head hurt all the time…why can't I see."

"I think it has to do with the bonds loosening between us. I am still attached to you now but the bonds are stretching thin. I don't know why it hurts so much, I'm sorry." He nodded as he tried to make some sense of it all, his chest felt heavy and he felt like crying. "A-and my eyes?" He could feel the figure tense. "Before, it was the ghost that blinded you, he used some sort of energy; I don't know if it's the same as plasma, maybe that is still affecting you."

Danny shook his head trying to shake off the cold the figure left on him. "No, there is something you aren't telling me. You…that ghost, you knew him; he was…looking for you." The hand went to his shoulder, squeezing lightly. He breathed in deeply, his eyes stinging with tears he hadn't cried yet.

There was a long silence wherein he tried his best to keep the tears from falling. The figure didn't speak, just lightly massaged his shoulder while holding onto his hands. "Please…" he tried again "I just want to know what is going on." The figure heaved a sigh. "He calls himself Death." He tensed all of a sudden. "I don't remember much from before…" "Before?" "Before you found me and we… merged." The hand on his shoulder had started to play with his hair. "I used to be a ghost, much like the ones we have been fighting. I don't know exactly but I think Death was chasing me, I don't know why or what he was planning once he'd caught me." He felt the cold fingers curling in his hair, calming him some with their gentle ministrations. But he wasn't done asking questions. "So when he was here…why didn't he take you?" A chuckle close to his ear made a shudder run through him. "We're still attached, like a child to his mother." The analogy made him feel even weirder; more so even when the cold figure leaned in and he could feel lips at his ear. "Because we are still attached your life force keeps me alive. Whatever he is chasing me for; he won't take me while we're still attached." "Alive…?" He asked, noticing he was whispering. "Well, not like you are, but I'm not like those other ghosts, who have forgotten what it is to be alive." The cold lips at his ear made him hiss suddenly as he raised his hands to lean on the cold figure his chest, which felt strangely solid under his hands. "Why…are you doing this?" He could feel those lips form a smile while the hand on his neck still played with his hair. "Mostly because you are letting me… but also because I have wanted to for so long." The lips moved down to his neck, nipping at the skin it found there, making another shudder run through him. "I can't explain the feeling of being merged together, it's so intimate… I feel like I was meant to protect you." He was whispering in his neck now and the strange feeling made a calm wash over him. He didn't even question it; it felt so natural, like this was all they had ever done. The lips travelled back up his jaw, leaving a trail of light kisses. When he opened his eyes he found he could distinguish dark and light contrasts again. "W-what do I call you?" He breathed as his eyes drooped close again. "What do you usually call me- I mean, us, when we turn ghost?" The cold hand at his neck had moved to touch the shell of his ear. "Danny Phantom…?" Another chuckle at his neck… "How about just Phantom?" He nodded as he tried his eyes again. He could almost distinguish shapes again, noticing the dark figure that leaned over him.

Phantom held his face in his hands, making him lean into the touch. It felt pleasant against his warm skin. He heard a humming as he leaned into him some more. "Are you done asking questions now?" He shook his head sluggishly, feeling so comfortable in Phantom his cool touch he could hardly think straight. "Your eyesight is coming back. Good." His whispered words, together with his soft touches made him yawn.

He was pulled against that solid chest again and found himself lying down. Covers were drawn over his chest while cool hands brushed the locks from his face. He blinked frantically, trying to see Phantom or anything really.

"W-what are we going to do now?" He asked while suppressing a yawn, almost able to distinguish the black silhouette that hovered over him. "I don't know, you're still not feeling well, and I'm not sure you will until our bond breaks or… something happens." He barely caught the discomfort in his voice. "Normally we would go out and chase the ghost but Death will come to us. We might have to fight him again." He bit his lip as he considered what happened last time they met. "We'll figure something out Danny, don't you worry."

Hearing those words made him feel better while cold fingers still touching his face, touching his cheeks and his lips. "I'll let you sleep now." He moaned as he reached out to him trying to hold onto him. "I haven't seen you yet." A deep chuckle made goose pimples spread across his skin. "Just rest now, it's not important." Just as he felt himself dozing off he could feel Phantom lean in and press his lips against his own before the cold aura disappeared completely.

-/-

Wow, this took me a while. I had a hard time getting back into the flow of things but I still like where I went with it. I really hope I captured the essence with which I started writing it.