As part of a gift exchange for DP_Marvel94 who requested platonic pitch pals, hurt/comfort, and, if possible, a side-order of hugs
I couldn't swing the hugs but I got the next best thing, I think :P

Warnings: Implied off-screen dissection, major character injury

Phantom regained consciousness inside a confined space, a space so small his being was more fog than body. He struggled, the fog of himself whipping around, trying to find a way out, but he was trapped. He was trapped. He had to get out. Something bad was going to happen or something had already happened. He was hurt. He had no body, he couldn't tell where he was hurt, but he was seriously injured, he knew, he could feel the energy leaching from him. He had to get out before they found him again, before they realized he was awake.

The panic condensed into a wail. Phantom knew it was coming from himself, but he had no mouth to control it. It got louder as his panic grew until it and he were pounding against the edges of his cage, frantic and loud enough to breach the metal surrounding him.

Or so he assumed, because a distant voice called back, "Phantom?" from outside.

The voice was...vaguely familiar. Phantom's panic decreased enough he stopped his disembodied wailing, but he kept pressing against the cage, trying to find the way out.

A second later it opened for him and he was flushed from his cage. He solidified into a more familiar shape in time to impact the ground. Pain ripped from his chest and he screamed. He pressed his newly formed hands onto his chest—naked and leaking ectoplasmic blood—only for warmer hands to push his away and press something soft onto the wound. Hard.

Phantom clenched his teeth and threw back his head, feeling his skull scrape across dirt and rock. He didn't need to breathe, but he found himself sucking and expelling breaths harshly through his teeth. His heels dug into dirt as he tried to arch his back, realizing then that they too were bare.

The hands held him down, keeping pressure on the wound and not allowing Phantom to turn onto his side so he could curl into a defensive ball around his wounded chest. The voice from before was speaking gently to him for all that it trembled. He knew that voice, and though he couldn't understand what was being said yet, the name came to him easily enough.

"Fenton," he gasped through his teeth. "What—what—"

Danny spoke again, but Phantom still couldn't understand him.

A moment later, it didn't matter as Phantom succumbed to the pain and lost consciousness.

When he next woke, the pain had receded to a dull, persistent throb, and there was no longer a presence above him. It hurt to move, but Phantom lifted his hand, only then realizing a blanket had been draped over his body from the neck down. He didn't need to stay warm, so he assumed it was for the sake of modesty. Danny had always been funny about that.

It wasn't so funny now. Now it was very much appreciated. A barrier between him and the world.

Careful not to disturb the blanket, Phantom slid his hand onto his chest. His fingers grazed along something...soft...human world bandages? Further exploration proved the bandages covered his torso from collarbone to navel, giving Phantom the scope of his injury.

He lowered his hand onto the ground again and forced himself to swallow.

That was one question he wasn't sure he wanted answered. Now the next one.

The air felt...different. Not unfamiliar, just...not something he was used to anymore. Phantom took a deep breath and cautiously blinked his eyes open.

Green. Black. The swirling energies of the Ghost Zone whirled above him. Eerie in nature, gentle in it's familiarity.

Nothing at all like the cold metal ceiling he had stared at before.

Tears pricked in his eyes, overflowed and trickled along his temples toward his ears. The pressure squeezing his chest eased, and he breathed in a deeper, calmer breath than the one before. Strictly speaking, there was nothing safe or welcoming about the Ghost Zone, but...it wasn't there. It wasn't their lab.

That was the second question. Now the third.

He turned his head to the right, but aside from seeing he was laying on one of the floating rocks that wandered the Ghost Zone, there was nothing there. He turned his head the other way, his left cheek landing on what felt like a folded shirt. Danny must have placed it there as a pillow at some point.

And then fallen asleep not even two feet away from Phantom.

Phantom blinked at his human world double, his eyes slightly crossed as he observed the human. Danny hadn't shown himself the same kindness he had Phantom. His face rested on the dirt-encrusted rock, green ectoplasmic blood smeared over one cheek. His brow was furrowed even in sleep, his jaw clenched as he shivered. He didn't have a blanket for himself, only a depleted backpack he hugged to his chest, his legs bent and tucked close.

Body heat, Phantom remembered. He's trying to conserve body heat. That's what humans use blankets for. They can't get too cold.

Phantom would offer the blanket...but he needed it too.

There...is a solution for us both, he mused, the thought a reluctant one. It meant moving.

Phantom was tired. He hurt like hell. But—but. If Phantom was reading the situation right, Danny had just saved his life. Afterlife. They weren't even friends, not really. It was too grand a thought to picture Danny defying his parents to save Phantom, all because...what? Why had he?

Danny shivered and hugged his pitiful backpack tighter.

Phantom sighed out his breath.

Carefully, his teeth gritted, Phantom concentrated on floating an inch above the rock. His core sent shocks arching through his body, but it had been doing that for a while. He had half expected the increased pain so aside from a pained grimace he didn't react, just kept the power flowing. It was worrying though. Whatever had been done to him had damaged the source of his being. He felt so weak. Vulnerable. Even floating those two feet left him panting and shaking. He thumped back to the ground and smothered the groan behind his teeth.

It was almost worth it. Even through the blanket, Phantom could feel Danny's body heat. Phantom didn't need it as a ghost, but it was a foreign sensation he had come to love about the human world. The sun's rays especially, although there was something deeply uplifting about those hugs humans insisted on giving him whenever he saved them.

Getting the blanket over Danny was a little trickier with only one arm, and in the end Phantom had to resort to his levitation ability again. By the end, his vision was swimming, his hands shaking. But Danny had stopped shivering and his tight curl around the backpack had loosened. Another few minutes, and Phantom was able to tug it from Danny's grasp and push it outside their cocoon.

With that obstacle gone, he pressed against Danny and sighed as the human's body heat warmed his bare skin. Perhaps Danny would panic about that when he woke up, but it was a misplaced concern. Phantom, like most ghosts, didn't bother with sexual reproduction. There was nothing down there and never would be unless Phantom made a conscious effort.

Danny snuggled closer to him in his sleep, his forehead pressing against Phantom's ear, and Phantom felt his lips twitch as his own eyes began to close. It wasn't the hugs he liked, but there was something about Danny's blind trust that produced the same, comforting feeling.

Sleep wasn't a common thing for ghosts, but Phantom must have fallen asleep again because the next thing he knew he was opening his eyes to the vacant ground beside him. Fortunately the rock was fairly small and it only took him a moment to find Danny sitting on the ledge, his back to Phantom.

His shoulders were hunched. And his head was in his hands. Phantom couldn't see his face, but Danny looked...lost?

Phantom tried to sit up, but his wound shrieked along his nerves, and he fell back with a stifled gasp. Danny cursed. Phantom looked up to find Danny scrambling toward him, wide blue eyes staring down at him. He started scolding Phantom for being reckless before he even reached him, and Phantom breathed out a sigh of relief as he realized he could understand the words again, even if Danny was speaking too fast for a reply.

"You can't keep moving around—I don't know how to stitch—you're going to tear—what's the matter with you, stopping smiling, this is serious! Are all ghosts like you or am I just lucky? Fuck. Don't move! No more moving!"

Danny dropped to the ground beside him and gently pushed Phantom down, holding him in place by his shoulders. The relief vanished. Phantom cried out in alarm and wiggled beneath the human's hands, struggling against the restraint. Danny pressed down harder, hissing at Phantom to stop, but Phantom wouldn't. He couldn't.

"Let go," he gasped.

"Stop moving!" Danny snapped back. "You're pulling out your-Phantom, Phantom, I'm not going to hurt you. Fuck! Just hold still!"

"Let go!" Phantom pulled harder on his left shoulder, trying to twist onto his side, only to cry out, tears springing to his eyes as it felt as though his chest and stomach were being pulled open.

"Shit!" Danny swore.

Phantom lifted heavy arms and pushed weakly against Danny. "Get off me," he groaned, and then again. "Get off me."

Miraculously, Danny listened. The warm hands abandoned Phantom's shoulders and Danny's too warm presence vanished from the space above him. It wasn't enough. Phantom scooted across the dirt away from the human, or tried to at least. Two inches was all he could manage before he collapsed again, gasping from the pain. He heard Danny suck in a breath, but this time he kept his distance.

"Phantom?" Danny called, his voice small and hesitant.

Phantom panted for air he didn't need and lightly touched one hand to his chest. Not pressing down. Definitely not pressing down. It hurt. It hurt so much. "Don't," he gasped.

"I won't," Danny replied immediately. "I won't. I'm sorry."

Phantom let his head fall back, closed his eyes, and simply concentrated on calming the fear raging inside him. He didn't need to breathe, but he kept doing it. It seemed to help the humans when they did it, at least. The inhales stung his chest if he breathed in too deep, but fortunately his body didn't seem all that interested in the deep ones. Just the quick, fast ones.

"You might be bleeding again," Danny said, speaking cautiously as if afraid to startle him. "I need to adjust the bandages and see if I can...fix any damage."

Phantom shook his head slightly. "I...I need a minute."

Danny didn't respond. Phantom assumed that meant he understood.

Which was good because Phantom wasn't sure what he would do if Danny tried touching him again. He probably couldn't hurt Danny even if he wanted to, he still felt too weak, but he could certainly hurt himself by trying. Scare the human real good, he would.

But Danny didn't push him, not even after several minutes had passed by Phantom's count. Finally, Phantom breathed out a very quiet, "Okay..."

Danny moved much more slowly than before, and when he reached for the bandages, his touch was light. Barely there.

All the same, Phantom had to pinch his eyes shut and turn his head away. He could feel the echoes of the panic still. He couldn't stare at Danny's face above him, Phantom once more at the mercy of another human, without his fears crashing down around him all over again. He just couldn't.

He shivered. "Has anyone told you that you look a lot like your father?"

Danny's hands faltered over the bandages, frozen in the act of resettling one over the thicker pad on Phantom's chest. "Uh—I...no. No not, not usually. Most people say I look like my mom."

Phantom made a face. He didn't see it himself. Jack expressed his emotions openly and often seemed too excited to be truly dangerous. Maddie on the other hand controlled hers and was terribly, frighteningly focused. But humans were strange about their reproduction, perhaps they judged such things differently. "Maybe," he conceded. "I wouldn't know. I have only ever seen her with her goggled hood pulled over her face."

Danny shifted, his jean-covered knees scraping across the rock. He didn't seem comfortable responding to that. Phantom would have been fine with the silence, but...but he needed Danny to speak. And there were certainly things he needed to ask Danny. Important things. Potentially life-saving things. Phantom...just wasn't ready to hear the answers yet.

Start small, he decided.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"In the Ghost Zone."

Phantom rolled his eyes behind his eyelids and released an exasperated groan. "I could see that, Fenton, but where in the Ghost Zone?"

Danny didn't answer right away. He made an uncomfortable humming noise instead.

Phantom's lips twitched. "Fenton, are you lost?"

"Shut up," Danny grumbled. "There aren't exactly road signs! And everything keeps moving. How the hell do ghosts not get lost?"

"We have a homing beacon," Phantom replied, half-sarcastically so Danny wouldn't be able to tell if he was joking or not. "Like birds flying south. A human just wouldn't understand."

"Oh, fuck you too. Does that mean you know where we are?"

"No. Duh. I only know the direction I need to go in to get to where I want to be."

Danny grumbled darkly under his breath, "I'd much rather have a map."

"A regular old map is hardly going to help in a place where the geography moves."

"I fucking hate this place..."

Phantom turned his head and opened his eyes, finally looking at the human above him. "Then why are you here?"

If Phantom had woken up alone, weak and cut open, he would have assumed the scientists had cast him aside like so much disposable waste after finding whatever answers they had been searching for, but he hadn't. He had woken inside a Fenton Thermos, a tool he himself used to transport ghosts. He had woken to Danny's presence, his mercy, and he had been treated with as much kindness as the human boy knew how to give.

Why?

What had happened?

"Why aren't you home?" Phantom pressed.

Danny wouldn't meet his eyes. He concentrated on the bandages he must have wrapped around Phantom himself because they hadn't been there when Phantom first woke. The stitches might have been. There had been a lot of ectoplasm on Phantom's chest, but that could have been from...from whatever had come before the stitching.

Phantom breathed out. Danny was reluctant to talk? Fine. Then Phantom would talk. He needed to share what had happened to him. He had to. Whether Danny wanted to hear it or not. "Do you know what they did to me?" Phantom demanded.

Danny cringed. "Phantom—"

"Your parents...they caught me while I was emptying the Fenton Thermos into your portal," he said harshly, almost accusing. "I wasn't hurting anyone or fighting other ghosts or anything. They just...ambushed me."

Danny lowered his head. He stopped fiddling with the bandages on Phantom's chest and instead started fidgeting with his fingers. "I don't—you don't have to tell me this."

"I know they don't like me," Phantom continued, ignoring him. "They've shouted often enough about how much they wanted to rip me apart, I guess I just didn't take them seriously. Even when they had me strapped to a table, I didn't take them seriously. They were still...joking with each other, you see? They even bantered with me a bit. It didn't feel dangerous. It felt like one of those things, just one of those roles we played. But they had questions and...they didn't seem to care that I was uncomfortable answering. Eventually I refused to. I don't even remember the question. Doesn't matter. I think they were just waiting for me to balk because Jack was very excited to press the button that shocked me."

Phantom closed his eyes and had to breath in a shuddering breath. It was comforting. Sort of. "They were still joking with each other. I could hear Maddie praising Jack for the invention over my screams. I think she passed him a...cookie?"

Phantom opened his eyes again and saw Danny's blue eyes watching him, no longer hiding. There was an expression on his face. Shame, guilt, horror, or perhaps anger. Possibly all of them. Humans were odd. They could feel so much all at once. Phantom looked away.

"It went on like that for a while. If I refused to answer, they shocked me. If I didn't know the answer, they shocked me. If they just didn't like the answer I gave them, they shocked me. Apparently they thought I was lying and needed to be punished. It wasn't pleasant, but eventually I figured out the rules of the game. 'If you don't know, make something up. Above all else, tell them what they want to hear.' It probably screwed up their data, but torture isn't exactly reliable. I think Jack was just having fun with his new toy anyway."

"I'm sorry," Danny whispered.

Phantom shook his head and met Danny's eyes. "You were asleep. Or maybe at school. I'm not sure how long we were down there. All I want to know is...is what happened after."

Danny flinched.

The Ghost Zone wasn't as loud as the human world, but there were noises outside their circle. Rock grinding against rock as two floating chunks collided. A ghost beast wailing as it flew above them. The near silence felt...oppressive. Phantom stared the human down, waiting.

Danny licked his lips and averted his eyes. "You don't...know?"

"No," Phantom snapped. "I remember the interrogation, the torture, the sickening way they joked with each other, the plans they laid out while I was right there. I remember every damn thing up to your parents knocking me out with gas, Fenton. What I don't know is what happened while I was...what they did to me while I was..." He couldn't say it.

Apparently, Danny didn't want him to either. He bowed his head farther, once more hiding his eyes behind his fringe. "I don't know. They were in the middle of..." He broke off with a groan, his hands rising to push through his hair. "I—when I—I got home from school, they called me down to the lab. They tried to explain what they were," he took a breath, "what they were doing to you, but I—I couldn't stay there. I ran back upstairs. I don't know. I don't know what they did to you...I...sorry..."

Phantom sucked in a breath and released it slowly, trying to stop himself from shaking. "Can you describe it?"

Danny shook his head. "There was a lot of blood—er, ectoplasm. You—I—I tried not to look. It just—it felt wrong. Just wrong. I couldn't believe they were—that they could—"

Phantom pinched his eyes shut. He could picture it in his head even if he couldn't understand why. "I'm not sure I want to know, anyway." He did. He didn't. "It's...at least you didn't think it was okay, what they did. That's, that's something."

In a small, barely loud enough to hear voice, Danny whispered, "Sam would have stopped them as soon as she saw what was happening. I just ran away. I'm not sure how that's better."

Phantom didn't have the energy—or mental capacity—to help Danny through whatever trauma he was experiencing after watching his parents dissect someone he knew. Phantom was going through his own, thank you. He sighed. "Can you tell me what happened after?" he asked in a tired voice. He looked up at Danny again. "You got me out of there, didn't you?"

Danny nodded and fidgeted with his shirt hem, avoiding Phantom's gaze. "Yes."

Phantom frowned. "You probably saved my life. Why are you...why do you look so ashamed?" A colder thought occurred to Phantom and he stiffened. "Do you regret it?"

"No! Well..." Danny breathed in a shaky breath and let it out in a sigh. "It's just...I...I waited until they had finished." In a faster voice, as if afraid Phantom would interrupt him, Danny rushed to add, "I was afraid to do anything while you were, uh..." he grimaced, "...open...like that. They had you attached to some machines. And I was afraid you might bleed out if you weren't, ah, sealed back up. I wasn't sure how ghost anatomy works! I didn't want to risk it. I didn't like what they were doing, but I was afraid if I interrupted them..."

Phantom closed his eyes. So Danny was only ashamed because he could not act sooner without putting Phantom further at risk? Not because he betrayed his parents to help a ghost? And he seemed to be seeking Phantom's approval that he had done right by waiting. Humans were...so very strange. "It's fine, Fenton. But how did you get us out of there?"

"Ah..." Danny shrugged. "I gathered some supplies and I waited upstairs. As soon as they finished stitching you up and were distracted inspecting whatever they had...ugh..."

Danny made a noise like he was trying not to gag, sending a jolt of alarm through Phantom's own system. "They took something?" he asked in a whisper.

"Something," Danny agreed. "Samples. I don't know."

Phantom gingerly touched his chest where his core still occasionally sent shocks of pain.

"I sucked you into the Fenton Thermos, unlocked the gate, and ran into the Ghost Zone," Danny finished quickly. "It was the only place I thought you might be safe. They're afraid to come in here."

"And you aren't?" Phantom snapped, a little more harshly than he intended.

Danny lifted his head until two blue eyes could peek at Phantom through his black hair. "It was the only place I thought you might be safe," he repeated, ignoring the question. Which was as good as answering it.

The anger dissipated and Phantom relaxed against the stone. It wasn't Danny he was angry at anyway. But without the anger he was just...scared. "That can't be everything," he said, partly to distract himself. "Your parents would have stopped you."

Danny nodded, his jaw set. "They tried."

Those two words implied a world of meaning. That Jack and Maddie knew what their son had done. That they knew where they were. That Danny had escaped with Phantom anyway and there had been nothing the two ghost hunters had been able to do about it. Phantom almost smiled.

Instead, Phantom blew out a breath. It was too early to celebrate. "I might be safe from your parents, but I have enemies in here too."

"I know. I brought some weapons."

Phantom crooked a mocking smile. "Gonna defend me, Fenton? Do you even know how to shoot?"

Danny matched his smile. "Better than you do. Half the time you miss the ghosts you're shooting at."

Phantom scoffed and then winced as the harsh breath hurt his chest. "We can't all come from a family of ghost hunters."

Danny's smile dropped and he lowered his head again.

"I don't suppose you have a plan now that we're here?"

Danny shook his head and shrugged. "Obviously not, since I got us lost. I had hoped you would know where to go. This is your world, after all."

"I know where I should go, but..." Phantom sighed, closing his eyes. "Fenton, it's far away. Like, really far. You should go back before your parents get brave enough to come looking for you."

Danny lifted his head, determination in his eyes. "I'm not going back. Tell me where you need to go. I'll get you there."

"Fenton—"

"Phantom," Danny said, equally forceful but with an edge that made Phantom pause. "I'm not going back."

There was a strong emphasis on the words, some sort of message hidden beneath the surface, but Phantom was too tired. Too scared. He closed his eyes. "Fine, Fenton. I...I need to get to Frostbite. He lives in the Far Frozen."

"The Far Frozen?"

"It's a winter tundra on the far outskirts of the Ghost Zone. Frostbite and his people look like yetis but they are even more scientifically advanced than you humans. Their medical bay should be able to fix whatever your parents damaged."

Danny leaned forward, frowning in concern. "Damaged? What's wrong? I mean, other than the, uh, obvious."

Phantom grimaced and felt along his chest again. "It's—" He sucked in another of those calming breaths. "It's taking me too long to heal. I can barely use my powers. The samples you mentioned...your parents might have taken something vital. Or at least a piece of it. I'm not sure. But Frostbite would know. And I trust him."

Danny bit his lip, looking grave. "Are you...going to get worse?"

"...I don't know."

He could. If what he suspected was true, if the Fentons had removed a piece of his core...he could be crippled. Maybe permanently. He didn't know. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before, but if anyone could do something about it, it was Frostbite.

"Fuck..." Danny breathed. He pushed himself to his feet. "We have to get you there as soon as possible!" He looked around until he found his backpack. He picked it up and then hesitated. "Um...should I carry you in the Fenton Thermos?"

"I can't exactly guide you from inside there," Phantom pointed out warily.

"Oh. Right. So I should...carry you?"

"Unless you have a better idea."

"Right. Right! Well..." An uncomfortable blush was beginning to redden Danny's cheeks. "I have a spare set of clothes. I don't suppose you could get dressed?"

"Fenton...you won't even let me sit up."

"Oh. Right."

Phantom groaned and rolled his eyes. "Humans," he hissed as though it was a dirty word. "Look, I don't even have anything formed down there, there's nothing to be modest over."

"I know," Danny said quickly. Too quickly. He balked, looking mortified, his cheeks going redder.

Phantom raised an eyebrow. "Been looking, Fenton? I thought that was rude among humans."

"It is and I didn't!"

"Okay," Phantom said. He didn't really care. "Just gather your stuff. I'll stay wrapped up in the blanket."

There didn't seem a whole lot Danny needed to stow back in his backpack—a bag of chips, his folded shirt, a notebook—but it seemed to give Danny enough time to regain his composure, much to Phantom's relief. He understood the desire for privacy better than he had before, but the way humans clung to it got tiring after a while. And it made things awkward. Things were already awkward enough, what with Danny's parents being the cause of Phantom's...injuries.

Danny looped the backpack onto his back before dropping to the ground beside Phantom again. He considered Phantom a moment, his brows furrowed. "I think I'll have to use a bridal carry."

"I don't know what that is," Phantom said, sighing. "Ghosts don't usually carry each other."

"Oh. Well, it means I'll have one arm wrapped around your shoulders and the other under your knees. It'll keep you from having to hold onto me, I'm just worried it might put some pressure on your stitches..."

"I don't think we have much choice," Phantom pointed out.

Danny nodded, conceding the point. "Bend your knees," he said, leaning over Phantom.

Phantom tensed at the close proximity, but he did as he was told. Like Danny said, he hooked one arm beneath Phantom's knees and pushed his other arm beneath Phantom's shoulders, moving carefully. Phantom didn't like the feeling. He didn't like Danny being so close. But he gritted his teeth and waited as Danny adjusted his grip.

"Ready?" Danny asked.

Phantom nodded.

"Hold onto the blanket."

He hadn't liked Danny leaning over him, and he definitely didn't like being lifted into the air against his will. He hissed in a breath as his stomach was forced to contract. They rose higher together as Danny rose to his knees, and then Phantom found himself held tight to Danny's chest. The tight squeeze was not unlike a hug. Phantom relaxed slightly, allowing the tense muscles in his legs and arms to ease their death grip on Danny's arm and the blanket.

Danny's effort to climb from his knees to his feet was a lot less graceful, a lot less smooth. Phantom hissed in pain and grimaced a lot, but by the end, the cradle Danny had formed between his arms remained. Phantom slowly allowed himself to go limp, and was surprised—delighted—to find himself held just as securely as before.

No wonder the human kids were always shrieking at him to pick them up.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked, the concern clear in his voice. "Does it hurt?"

It ached, mostly around his stomach, but it wasn't anything Phantom couldn't put up with. "I'm fine," he said. "We should get moving."

"Right. Which way?"

Phantom pointed toward the edge of the rock. "That way. Just leap off the ledge. You won't fall, there's no gravity here. You'll move faster on the ground than by floating, though, so try to land on the rocks whenever possible."

Danny began speed walking toward the edge, the smooth gait of his walk barely disturbing his hold on Phantom. "Got it," he said. "Shouldn't be too hard, right? I mean, I got us this far, didn't I?"

Phantom allowed his head to rest against Danny's shoulder, his eyes slipping shut as the human's warmth soaked into his skin. It was a long way to Frostbite's realm, but despite everything, he felt...safe. "You did," he agreed, smiling.

Some time later

Frostbite didn't usually venture out with the scouts. The business of maintaining his realm and the welfare of his people usually required him to remain close to the central village. However, for some reason, two scouts had left their post with only one to guard an anomaly. They insisted they needed their leader's guidance and had come to fetch Frostbite themselves.

A rather put out Frostbite, as it happened. He had been in the middle of perfecting a complicated algorithm. Now, glaring down at the being stumbling through the snow within the Far Frozen realm, Frostbite had to concede the scouts had made a wise choice dragging him so far from the village.

The being was indeed trespassing, but their progress was slow and unnatural. It dragged its long legs through the snow instead of floating above the snow banks or walking along the surface, slowing its already sluggish pace further. Suspicious, but not unduly so. The slow pace itself eased some of Frostbite's worry for his people.

No, the reason the three scouts required their leader to judge the situation himself was because it was obvious from the being's faltering pace and weak ecto-signature that it was in need of help. The scouts would never endanger their people by bringing an unknown creature into their midst. They needed their leader's approval first.

Frostbite glanced at the three scouts, noting their clenched fists and the fixed gazes locked on the creature. They wanted to help. While most of the Ghost Zone inhabitants were content to keep to themselves, the denizens of the Far Frozen had long made it their purpose to help one another.

And sometimes that help extended to outsiders. One notable exception had been made recently, in fact, and that risk had been well worth the effort.

Frostbite turned back to the trudging trespasser. It was possible this one could be another such opportunity, but still he hesitated. There was something about the material of the cape it had draped over its head, the strange hump of its back...

The being tripped, falling to its knees. The scouts stirred behind Frostbite.

Frostbite himself sighed. Truly, he wasn't one to turn a blind eye either.

He beckoned for the others to follow him back to the vehicle, calling over his shoulder, "Come. Let us at least hear them out."

All but one of the scouts eagerly followed. Two climbed into the vehicle alongside Frostbite while the other remained guard on the hill above the creature, gripping her spear. Frostbite would extend the offer of assistance but that didn't mean he and his people would blindly trust an unknown individual.

The quiet hum of the vehicle alerted the creature as they flew toward it. It struggled to its feet and from its cape it pulled out a small pistol. Frostbite tensed as the gun was aimed at him and his scouts. No doubt the scout above them was priming her own attack to defend them, but an escalation of violence was certainly the worst possible outcome for the clearly wounded creature.

Perhaps the creature realized this as well because it lowered the gun. A moment later, it dropped to its knees once more.

They had almost reached the creature when its voice called out to them, "F-Frostbite? Are you Frostbite? Of the F-Far Frozen?"

Frostbite frowned. A strange voice for a strange creature. It sounded much too solid. Now that he was closer, he could also see it creating little puffs of steam near its head. Strange. "That is I," he called back, raising his voice. "Who is the one trespassing onto our realm?"

The creature didn't answer.

The scout guiding the vehicle flowed to a stop several feet from the creature, the caution warranted now that a weapon had already been drawn on them once. Frostbite climbed out of the floating vehicle and began to approach the creature slowly, walking atop the snow. His scouts tensed and hissed their disapproval, but they didn't try to stop or follow him.

Closer now, Frostbite saw the steam more clearly but also the fact that the creature was trembling. And...chattering? Frostbite pricked his ears forward. It sounded as though it was chattering its teeth at him. A warning?

"Frostbite?" the creature called out again—no. Not the creature. The voice sounded similar, but it lacked that solid quality. And it was softer. Weaker.

Familiar?

There was still several tail lengths between them, but Frostbite abandoned all caution and rushed forward, clearing the distance. He ripped the odd cape from the creature's head and revealed not one but two heads hiding beneath. Not one but two faces peered up at him. Both were familiar in shape but vastly different in appearance.

One was unknown to him, but the drawn, tired features of the other, combined with the weak, barely detectable ecto-signature made fear spike inside Frostbite's core.

He twisted his head and barked over his shoulder at the scouts, "Bernard! Brutus! Get over here!"

The scouts gasped and scrambled from the vehicle, likely tripping over each other by the sound of it, but Frostbite was already turning back to the two boys in front of him.

Phantom was smiling, but weakly. "Hey, Frostbite," he said, apparently unable to raise his voice higher than a whisper, "you said you wanted to meet my dimensional double. Well I brought him here. Or rather, he brought me."

"There is no time for such things, Great One," Frostbite said gently, eyeing the pair.

Phantom was bare, his pale skin fully exposed except for where his front pressed against the other boy's back. It couldn't be comfortable for either of them, but as Frostbite's paw neared Phantom's face, both Phantom and the unknown boy flinched back.

Trauma, Frostbite's mind cataloged, creating a mental note to enlist the assistance of a mind healer once they returned.

Whereas Phantom's arms were loosely wrapped around the other boy's neck, his legs were looped tightly around his waist so that the other may hold onto his thighs and help Phantom hold onto him. The hold itself was not unlike how a parent carried their newly born upon their back. Frostbite knew he could not easily force them apart, particularly not now that they were holding all the tighter to each other.

Phantom was the first to relax. Frostbite was relieved to see the trust returning to the young one's features, the wariness and expectation of pain he had worn before having hurt Frostbite deeply to see.

The other boy was another matter. He was staring at Frostbite's large paw, the sharpened tips of his claws, with great distrust. Though he hadn't risen from his knees, he had angled his torso to fully face Frostbite, creating as much of a shield between Frostbite and Phantom as his small body was capable. It was his hand that held the weapon.

Phantom bumped the bridge of his nose against the other's skull, behind his ear. To Frostbite's eyes, it looked like a nuzzle, though he knew ghosts like Phantom did not express affection the way his people did. Likely it was to get the other boy's attention because Phantom began to whisper quietly to him.

Mindful that it was likely private, Frostbite tried not to listen to the words his ears could clearly hear and turned his thoughts toward other matters instead. Like preparing a sickbay for Phantom. And marveling at the similarities between the two before him.

"My dimensional double," Phantom had called him, and not only recently. Phantom had spoken of this boy before. Back then he had been excited. Confused. Wary. A "human" he called him, one of the many such creatures Phantom had taken a liking to. The son of two "ghost hunters." Frostbite had been intrigued by the thought of a second like Phantom but somewhat doubtful. Even amid the furless ghosts, Phantom was unique.

Clearly his misgivings were groundless. The boy did indeed look like another version of Phantom. One with strange coloring and an odd emptiness to him, lacking any sort of luminance.

Currently, some of Phantom's white hair was draped over the human's, hiding the black. A rare color in the Ghost Zone, even for those with fur. The blue of his eyes were the real striking color, however. They stared into Frostbite's now. From another yeti, such an unwavering stare would be seen as a challenge.

...Frostbite wasn't sure it wasn't. The solidness of the human's form and the skillful way he gripped his small gun gave weight to the challenge his otherwise tiny and trembling body could not. Frostbite had no desire to challenge an unknown entity with unknown powers, however, particularly not one who seemed only interested in protecting what he must see as one of his pack.

It was heartening to see rather than insulting. Frostbite offered him a smile to hopefully show his peaceful intentions. The human's only reaction was the slow blink of his blue eyes. Steam continued to puff from his mouth. Frostbite was about to try again when the human spoke.

"You c-can help him?" he asked dubiously, staring up at Frostbite. "He says you can, but..." He trailed off, his purple-tinted lips pressed into a thin line. "N-no. Damn it. That's s-s-stupid. Of course you c-can." Apparently to himself, he muttered, "You gotta s-stop judging g-ghosts on appearances-s, F-Fenton."

Since it was not meant for him, Frostbite ignored that last sentence. It was sound advice to give one's self, anyway. "I will do the best I can," he vowed. "But I must see his condition before I can begin preparations."

The human nodded slowly. "Phantom?"

"I trust him," Phantom whispered to his ear.

The human sighed, his shoulders slumping. The grip on Phantom's thighs slackened. "Okay..."

Frostbite moved around the pair and knelt beside the human. He carefully—so very carefully—pressed his paw to Phantom's small back. Understanding the signal, Phantom relaxed his hold on the human's waist and neck, allowing himself to fall backward, into Frostbite's arms. In moments, Frostbite had the smaller ghost cradled to his chest, a protective instinct immediately rising so that he held his young one closer, more securely as he stood. Phantom was no longer so small his body could fit along the length of Frostbite's arm, but neither was he so big Frostbite could not hold him with only one arm, leaving the other free to lightly touch-

"Oh," Frostbite moaned softly, trailing his fingers along a V-incision on Phantom's chest. There were a few green-stained white cloths wrapped around sections of his chest where black thread had failed to hold Phantom's skin together, evidence that the two boys had made an attempt at rudimentary first aid. To a health professional like Frostbite, it was obvious what cruelty had been done to his young friend. "Oh, Great One..."

Phantom touched his fingers to Frostbite's. "My core," he whispered, but Frostbite didn't need to hear more. The weak signature Phantom emitted, the operation that had been performed on his chest, told him enough.

The surface damage inflicted on Phantom's body would take some time to heal, longer than it should.

The emotional and mental damage would likely take longer, though that was not Frostbite's field of expertise.

The damage to Phantom's core...that may never fully heal. What was lost could not simply be regrown, not when it was the center of Phantom's being, the source of his existence. They would have to replace any missing parts of his core with something new, or, perhaps, try to recover the missing pieces themselves. Even then, the chances of a recovery with no ill side-effects...

"Who did this?" Frostbite asked, his voice as cold as his realm.

Phantom closed green eyes and turned his head, hiding his face in Frostbite's fur. Instead, the answer came from below them.

"My parents," the human said. "They a-ambushed him a...a few days a-ago? C-can y-you help him?"

Frostbite closed his eyes, fighting down his rage. The human boy had not harmed Phantom himself. He had, in fact, brought him to Frostbite at great personal cost. He could not judge the boy on the actions of his parents, not when his own actions spoke so highly of the moral of his character. It was difficult, however, to completely set his anger aside. He hoped dearly he did not meet the human's parents, these "ghost hunters" himself. He did not enjoy inflicting pain on others and didn't want to put his self-restraint to the test for ones so unworthy of it.

"I will do everything within my power to help," Frostbite promised, turning away. "But we must act swiftly. The quicker we—"

Phantom pressed urgently against his chest. "Stop," he hissed. "Get Fenton."

Had Frostbite not heard the human mutter to himself, he might have wasted time asking what a "Fenton" meant. As it was, it took him a second to recognize it as a name. The human's name.

Frostbite stopped in his tracks. He met the eyes of his scouts, noting their wide eyed gaze on Phantom and their willingness to stand at attention from a respectful distance. It was tempting to dismiss the task to them. Phantom was in urgent need of medical attention. Frostbite didn't want to waste time on some human child.

"Please," Phantom whispered. "He's dying."

Frostbite looked down, meeting the pleading eyes of his charge. "What does that mean?"

"It's..." Phantom's brow pinched as he thought. "I think it's like fading for ghosts."

Frostbite frowned. "Why is he fading?"

"I don't know. He won't tell me. He keeps insisting he's fine but he's been getting weaker."

Frostbite tried not to groan. He did not need a mystery illness on his case when Phantom's existence was already hanging by a thread.

But by all appearances, the young human had saved Phantom's life and brought him, safe and intact, all the way to Frostbite's realm. Such a feat deserved more than simple gratitude.

"Brutus," he called to the scout. "Take our savior back to the village for me."

The other yeti jumped. His orange eyes widened farther and jumped between Frostbite and Phantom as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He got over his shock quickly, however, and rushed toward them. Phantom tensed at the speed. But for all that Brutus moved too fast at first, when he held out both arms to accept Phantom, his hold and expression were as careful and reverent as Frostbite could have hoped for.

Even if Phantom himself seemed a little discomforted by the reverent part.

"I will get you to the village quickly and safely, Honored Great One," Brutus said.

"Please," Phantom said, sounding pained, "Honored Great One is such a mouthful. Call me Danny. Or better yet, Phantom."

"Of course, Honored Phantom, Great One."

Frostbite heard Phantom groaning, but he was already turning back to the human, Fenton. To his alarm, Fenton had barely moved. He had wrapped the cape around himself again but he was otherwise still on his knees where Frostbite had left him, huddled over his stomach. Frostbite walked the few steps back the way he had come and knelt beside Fenton again.

The human responded slowly. Sluggishly. But when his blue eyes met Frostbite's, they were accusing. "I-I thought y-you were t-taking care of, Ph-Phantom," he said.

Now that Frostbite's attention was fully on the strange boy, he noticed the steam he produced puffed out of his mouth with every word spoken. When he wasn't speaking, Fenton rhythmically sucked in air and exhaled it as steam. Curious. "I passed him to my nephew," Frostbite explained. "He is the quickest flier my people have and will get him to the med-bay faster than I could."

"Oh." Fenton nodded. "That's g-good. You sh-should hurry th-though. He s-said you were the o-only one who could h-help him."

The boy was still chattering his teeth, but it seemed to be involuntary. Not a warning at all. "I will follow shortly," Frostbite said. "I had to return for you."

Another slow blink of those blue eyes. "Me?"

"You need help, do you not?"

Fenton clenched his jaw. "I'm fine. Go help Phantom."

"I cannot. He has requested I help you first." Fenton scowled and opened his mouth, but Frostbite spoke again, "It is my honor and my duty to see to your well being, young Fenton."

Fenton looked at him suspiciously, hugging his cape closer to himself. "Why? You don't know me. I'm not a ghost like you guys."

Frostbite didn't stand, but he straightened his back. "You, young Fenton, have rescued an honorary member of my people. You defied your parents, crossed a dangerous and unfamiliar realm, and delivered our fallen brother safely to us. This may be the extent of my knowledge, but through your actions alone you have earned our respect and are worthy of honor. I will not see harm fall on one who has done so much for our savior, no matter his species."

Fenton lowered his head, hiding his eyes behind his black hair. "It wasn't that much," he muttered.

Frostbite highly doubted such a claim. Traversing the Ghost Zone was no easy feat, particularly not while caring for someone as injured as Phantom. Ghosts, those with vendettas and those who desired to harm and consume, would have been drawn to such injured prey. Phantom would have been unable to defend himself. It all would have fallen on Fenton and his little gun. Frostbite had no doubt he would find injures beneath the cape and the human's clothes once they arrived at medical.

Frostbite reached for the boy, and even before he touched his shoulder, he knew at least one ailment the boy suffered. Heat. Or rather, the lack of heat. Fenton was exuding heat which meant he had a heated core. The cold of the Far Frozen was chilling his core. An easy enough fix, so long as it was remedied in time.

He was tempted to sweep the boy into his arms, but given the way Fenton was currently tensed beneath his paw, he doubted such an action would be well received.

It was a little underhanded, but... "The quicker I tend to you," Frostbite said, "the sooner I can see to Phantom. He will not allow me to help him until you too are safe."

Fenton's shoulder slouched beneath Frostbite's paw. One blue eye peeked at Frostbite. "He s-said that?"

Frostbite smiled a little. "He implied it. I believe you have made quite an impression on him. I have always known him as more of a loner."

Fenton's own lips stretched into a smile that grew progressively warmer. "We're f-friends," he said. A simple statement that seemed to hold great meaning for him because he bowed his head, his smile growing, and repeated, "He's my friend."

Frostbite nodded, though of course Fenton didn't see it. "I am pleased to hear it. Very pleased. He has been alone for a long time." He cleared his throat. "But we must hurry. Would you allow me to carry you, Fenton?"

Fenton hesitated a moment, seeming to war with a thought, before he nodded. "Okay..."

Frostbite moved as carefully as he had with Phantom. This boy was not as injured on the outside, but Frostbite suspected there was an injury within. It could have been caused by the journey through the Ghost Zone or when he defied his parents or perhaps a combination. Whatever it was, Fenton required Frostbite to move slowly, and even when Frostbite had him cradled against his chest, the boy's body remained tensed. Ready to run or fight.

Like Phantom, his small body could fit into the crook of one arm...

Frostbite tucked the cape around Fenton, covering as much of his body as possible now that he understood its significance. The same protective instinct Frostbite had felt when he held Phantom was rising, growing stronger as the little body shivered uncontrollably against his chest.

"Aside from warmth," Frostbite asked, trying to distract himself, "what else do you require?"

He made the mistake of looking down.

Two blue eyes stared up at him. Wary instead of trusting but so familiar. So different. Still so worthy of great respect despite how very small he was.

"Food," Fenton said cautiously. "I ran out of chips and a ghost destroyed my backpack. I haven't eaten anything in...a while."

Frostbite frowned, trying to understand. "This food...it gives humans energy?"

"Yeah."

"And so you grow weaker," Frostbite said, nodding. That would be the source of the ailment Phantom mentioned. The reason Fenton was "dying." "Then we shall find you some food."

The Infi-map, perhaps. It could fly them to the human world, to where this "food" was.

That decided, Frostbite walked toward the vehicle where Bernard and Brutus were waiting. Fenton was shivering a little less, warmed by the insulating fur covering Frostbite's arm and chest. He even pressed his reddened face to the fur, which Frostbite took as a good sign.

Frostbite frowned at Brutus. "I thought I told you to take him back to the village."

Brutus bobbed his head quickly. "You did, sir, you did, but..." He looked down at Phantom. The boy had extended his neck and was peering at Frostbite's arms, trying to catch a glimpse of his friend. "He insisted we wait until you got the human, sir. He said Fenton might give you trouble. Said he's working through a ghost bias."

Against his chest, muffled beneath his fur, Fenton groaned. "What the fuck, Phantom, you didn't have to tell them."

Phantom relaxed in Brutus' arms. "I did if it was going to keep you from accepting help from us. You're too stubborn for your own good."

"Oh please, like you're one to talk."

Frostbite nodded toward the vehicle, indicating the other two should climb in. He had intended for Brutus to fly Phantom to the med-bay immediately, but clearly a bond had formed between the two boys. If it brought them comfort to be near each other, Frostbite wasn't going to be the one to come between them. Already he could feel Fenton allowing his body to relax as he and Phantom volleyed easy banter back and forth. They didn't stop even as the vehicle began flying back to the village.

They were halfway there when a long rant on Phantom's end only resulted in silence.

Frostbite glanced down and saw Fenton's eyes closed, his features slack and peaceful, half tucked against Frostbite's chest. Those little puffs of steam continued, but slower and larger. Alarmed, Frostbite glanced to his side where Brutus and Phantom sat beside them, but far from alarmed himself, Phantom was smiling.

"He's just sleeping," he said, answering Frostbite's unspoken question. "Humans have to every few hours. It means he's comfortable and feels safe with us."

Frostbite relaxed. "Ah, that is good to know," he said, though he suspected it was Phantom alone who had lulled Fenton into a sense of security. "When shall he wake?"

"Dunno. It might be a while. He hasn't slept very deeply in a while." Phantom stared at Fenton, his expression now more thoughtful than pleased, though there was a contented air about him Frostbite had never sensed from him before. Phantom raised his gaze to meet Frostbite's, his green eyes as steely and determined as Fenton's had been. "He saved my life, Frostbite. I would still be a test subject or another ghost's chew toy if it wasn't for him."

Frostbite tightened his grip on Fenton, holding the warm boy closer. "I understand, Great One. He will always have a place among us and we will do whatever we can to help him should he ever call on us. He has earned as much even were he not your friend."

"Friend...yeah..." Phantom closed his eyes, his lips curling into a small, bemused smile. "He is, isn't he? It's nice. Having one of those."

Frostbite smiled and could see Brutus doing the same from the corner of his eyes. "It is indeed."

In an ideal world, this could have been 50k of developing friendship as Danny carried Phantom to true safety. I'm afraid I don't have that kind of patience, though, and my two attempts to fill in that time skip was a disaster

Still! Hope you enjoyed it! Angst is not my forte and it has been a long time since I wrote platonic hurt/comfort so this was an interesting challenge. Frostbite was my favorite part, though, ngl