"It's going to get harder before it gets easier," she began.

Danny groaned and kicked against the floor, sending the lab's computer chair spinning. "Gee, thanks, Jazz. I can always count on you to make me feel better."

Jazz leaned forward and planted a hand on the armrest, stopping its motion so that Danny faced her at eye level. "You didn't let me finish, little brother," she chided. "It may get harder before it gets easier, but it will get better. You don't need to worry, our parents know what they're doing. They won't let anything happen to you."

Maddie walked briskly past them, adding in as she went, "Of course we won't, Danny. You're going to be just fine!"

"It's not exactly me I'm worried about here."

"What do you mean, Danny? Who else is there?" Jazz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"There's two of us going under the knife, remember?" He turned his attention to his mother, who was searching through a box on the other side of a lab bench. "Mom, please, be honest. Is Phantom going to be OK?"

Maddie paused in her bustling for a moment, arms dropping to her sides, before approaching him. She stooped down, examining his face, before reaching out to him; Danny suppressed a flinch at the black gloves reaching out at him from under the surgical smock, but the hand simply moved to brush the hair off his forehead.

"Sweetie, there's always some small risk that things might not go right—"

"That's not what I asked."

"...when your brain heals from the damage that's been done, there... The probable outcome is that Phantom's consciousness will simply fold back into your own. He'll cease to exist, independently of you anyways, and you will return to normal function."

"How probable."

A pregnant pause. "...ninety-five percent. Those are the odds that the brain will heal 'properly'. If the damage to the connecting nerves has been severe enough, then he will 'survive', I suppose."

That was more or less what Danny had been afraid of. "Why didn't you just tell him that? Instead of stringing him along with false hope?"

Jack appeared over Maddie's shoulder, and they both floundered at Danny's accusation. The man reached over and squeezed his shoulder tightly. "...Danny-boy, we couldn't lose you."

"I—" Danny's reply was cut off by Phantom.

"Cut them some slack, champ. They were just worried about you." The ghost's usual upbeat tone was conspicuously absent.

Danny frowned at the subtle implication. 'They should be worried about you, too. They obviously weren't thinking.'

"Yeah, sure. I guess not."

'Well... We'll talk to them about this. Afterwards. We're both going to pull through this, OK? I'm not going to let you go anywhere.'

"...let's just get this over with."

They had a while to wait; it was a further 30 minutes before his parents had moved on to the actual preparations from the pre-preparations. In that time, Phantom hadn't talked at all, which even given the circumstances was enough to make Danny uneasy.

It was only when he found himself half-seated, lying back on an inclined operating table, that Phantom finally prodded him.

"...Danny?"

'...Yeah?'

"I wouldn't change a thing, you know."

The teen was silent for a moment. The ghost could almost feel his human gathering up his wits to form a reply, a desperate plea. 'I just want there to be another way. How is this the only solution?'

"Heh. Well, the only other option gives you a 100% chance of death, so you know. This way we've both got a chance."

'It's not much of a chance...'

"Yeah, but like I've been telling you; try to focus on the positives, OK champ? Just, do some good out there. If... Just in case this is the last time we talk to each other, will you try to do that for me?"

Danny faintly heard his mother asking him a question; he just nodded in response. She gave him a weak smile and fitted a breathing mask over his mouth and nose.

"You will try, won't you?"

'I don't know how I'm going to do that, without you.'

"Hey, now. I'll never really be gone, you know. I've already spent 14 years as your silent conscience. I'd like to think I've left a mark, even if I'm not around to talk your ear off."

'It's going to be different this time.'

"...Yeah. It will be. But I know you better than most people. You'll be all right, champ." They both knew the spirit was trying harder to convince himself than Danny, but the other teen said nothing. "I'm... I'm sure of it."

A valve was twisted open, and Danny's vision started to blur. He could vaguely tell that he was being asked to count backward from 100.

"One hundred,"

"Please... Tell me you'll be all right."

"Ninety-nine,"

"Ninety-eight..."

"Ninety-seven..."

"Danny?"

The digits were coming slower now. The thought that followed was also slurred, in a fashion. '...I'll be fine.'

Phantom decided he could be happy with that answer. He settled himself back, and waited.

"Ninety... Six..."

"Ninety... Five..."

"..."

"..."

The smell of wood smoke entered Danny's nose. The air was thick with it, but it couldn't quite block out the smells of algae and recently fallen leaves.

He realized he had no idea where he was, and electric green eyes cracked open. The clouds were on fire overhead, the deep oranges of the early twilight highlighting the puffy deep blue and the darkening teal sky behind them. Shifting to sit up, Danny heard clattering beneath him; fingers pressed against small, cold stones.

It was the lake, in Wyoming. He had camped here once, with his family. With Fenton. With retrospect, it was clear enough that by then he had already been largely relegated to a passive role in his life, supporting his other half with kind suggestions and assistance as needed. The Danny Fenton that presented himself to the world around them quickly fell into the habit of explaining away or ignoring entirely anything it registered about its other half, but on a night like this all those years ago, the silent one had decided he didn't mind so much. He would always be there for them, prodding them in the right direction, and any disagreements the two had just seemed so trivial in the grand scheme of their life.

Now it was Fenton who was here for him.

"Oh, Phantom, you're up!"

He turned and grinned when he saw his human half, sitting cross-legged by a merrily crackling fire on the shore. Fenton was smiling broadly. From the way he was sitting, he must have been watching the sun setting behind the hills across the lake. "I was hoping you would get to see this. It's been a nice dream."

"Like I'd miss it, champ. Is your subconscious finally giving you a break? Stop the presses!"

"I think this one is all you, actually." Danny looked the ghost up and down once before adding with a hum, "so that's what you look like."

"Yep. Me in the flesh."

"...I think you looked better with the sheet."

They laughed for a moment, before falling back to a comfortable silence. The water lapped at the rocky beach, compelled onward by an unfelt breeze. Crickets and other insects chirped, crackled, trilled, and chattered back and forth, occasionally joined by the haunting call of loons in the distance.

Being the silent observer had its perks, really. One of them was nights like this, where he could just stare out and enjoy nature to its fullest, without worrying about holding up half of a conversation. It seemed like Fenton was in a similar state of mind right now. The teen caught Phantom's gaze and they exchanged a grin.

This dream had the potential to be the last thing he ever experienced, but the ghost wasn't worried. In fact, on a night like this? He decided he didn't mind so much.

In the end, this was right.

End of Part II

Author's Note:

Even though a stubborn cold resulted in this chapter wildly overshooting its May Day target date for release, thus delaying the epilogue (so much for my Gantt charts...), Amity Park After Dark is still going up tomorrow; after all, I could never leave you there, with so many questions unanswered, and so many plot lines unresolved. Although, I am not entirely sure when the epilogue will be released. Most likely around 20 May. Approximately. Very approximately. Anyway,

Thank you all very much for reading. Special thanks are in order to unofficial science adviser MsFrizzle whose readership always made me strive for greater accuracy; GhostAnn and Kimera20 who have been riding this crazy train since the start; Invader Johnny and BuzzyBumbleBee13 for honesty when I needed it; TheFullCatastrophe for giving excellent feedback on a draft I sent them (in a panic (in the middle of the working day)); and of course fantastic people like Salinedreamsxena, Pseudinymous, The TRIGGERED Lemur, Blue11msu, Pterodactyl (loving Dorian Gray, by the way), Mychron, fleurelise21, PoochKat, Animallover... I could go on. You are what kept me going.

I have been Workparty. I hope we shall meet again.