This oneshot is part of DannyMay 2017.

Day 1: Hope/Hatred

Summary: It's been three years since Danny's sudden disappearance. On the anniversary, Sam visits the lab.

A dark-haired girl with short, bob hair climbed down the stairs to the old Fenton laboratory. She left her jacket upstairs, leaving her in a dark purple crop top and jeans. Upstairs, she could hear the bustle of conversation, too somber for her, who's heart was numb and angry.

The anniversary Danny's disappearance was today, after three years.

The nineteen-year-old grimaced as she looked around the old boxes and dusty supplies that littered the laboratory, untouched after the Fentons packed them up about a few months after Danny's appearance. They blamed ghosts once they realized he wouldn't be turning up; and while it was probably half true, neither her, Tucker nor Jazz could tell their parents the truth. If they knew…they probably would have kept on looking. And the four of them agreed to each other that it was probably useless by now.

Sam sighed and opened a box, and let out a hollow, sad laugh as she saw it was their old tools. From back in the days when they all worked together with Danny, back when he was still trying to get a handle on his powers and they were all acting like it wasn't as big of a deal as it really was. (Their friend was technically dead after all – and it hadn't really sunk in for years. Yet they still acted as if everything was completely fine)

She picked up the Fenton Thermos first – it was nearly glued shut and was covered in dust and seemed to be rusting over a bit. It couldn't even turn on.

Well, that's what happens when you leave half-working inventions alone for three years.

She placed the thermos down beside her and began shifting through the small machines, near laughing, and near crying, as memories surfaced.

Then she found the boomerang.

Oh god, this thing. This annoying thing. After a while of getting hit by it over and over for a few years, it had practically locked onto Danny's Ghost Signal (or Signature, whatever they had decided to call it back then). During the first week of Danny's disappearance, they had tried using it but, strangely enough, it hadn't worked. No matter how much they had tried.

But…

Sam looked down at the old invention, before looking at the even older invention – the Ghost Portal. They had thrown the damn thing through the portal so many times, only for it to get spat right back out.

She vaguely remembered Jazz mentioning how Danny might not want to be found – and that's why the boomerang just kept coming back as soon as it was thrown. It was that sudden thought that had caused their group to lose hope.

Before she even knew what she was doing, she pressed one of the buttons, and watched as the portal slowly slid open and began to glow a light green.

It was like three years hadn't passed.

She bit her lip. She glanced at the Spector Speeder, which looked just as old and broken down as everything else in this lab. Still, she found herself climbing in.

This won't work. A part of herself whispered. You're going to throw it in, and it's going to spit right back out. And you're going to feel stupid. Then you're going to walk back upstairs and act like nothing happened.

Even so, she found herself throwing the boomerang in.

She watched as it disappeared smoothly into the green light.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she counted the seconds – to see if it could come back.

Five seconds passed.

Then ten.

Then fifteen – and still nothing.

She gasped and quickly turned the speeder on because god, the hope that erupted in her was more than she's felt for three tears. Without hesitating, she drove right into the portal. In the distance, she could see the boomerang, still going, still moving.

Towards Danny.

She sped after it, her eyebrows furrowed in determination; purple eyes steeled.

She was going to find him.

The boomerang went on for a long time – travelling far past the places Sam could remember visiting before. Maybe her knowledge of the ghost zone was getting dim, but it seemed like it had…changed. It seemed almost colder, quieter. Ghosts noticed her but they avoided her, as if they were bored with her presence.

"What the hell happened here?" She muttered. The last time she had visited it was with Tucker and Jazz, and they had to use the weapons the Fentons had made to keep ghosts away from them as they searched.

The boomerang travelled on. She continued to follow. It got colder the further she went and she noticed far less ghosts. She rubbed her shoulders, bunching up slightly in her chair, and suddenly she wished that outside the ghost zone it wasn't spring and she wasn't wearing a crop top.

Then, in the distance, she could see it – a castle. Not just any castle, she was fairly sure (from the notes Danny had left behind in his room) that it was the castle of the Ghost King. But it wasn't right. It was too…cold. She was pretty sure the white sheets on the towers were frost.

The boomerang slipped through one of the windows – was Danny hiding in there?

A thought hit her that made her stomach drop – was Danny…captured? Was he being held captive here, for three years?

With a glare, she headed right for the tower, closing her eyes as the speeder went right through the wall.

When she opened her eyes, she expected a cell, or some form of prison.

But no, it wasn't…not really.

In fact, the room she found herself in was extravagant – beautiful, despite how incredibly cold it was. It reminded her of pictures of the room of royalty – with a large bed, closet, and table…

And at the window the boomerang had come through stood a person, with their back to her.

The person couldn't be any older than 16 or 17. Their white hair was short and they had on a crown…well, not exactly. The crown seemed to be floating just above their head, glowing a faint green. The person was missing their left arm, which seemed to be frozen over as some sort of prosthetic. That same arm was holding the boomerang that had gone through the window. They turned – and one eye glowing green and another glowing blue met her purple ones.

"…Sam?"

She let out an audible gasp, tears forming in her eyes as she realized who it was. She slowly climbed out of the Speeder, the boy was shorter than her – and she realized…he hasn't aged. Not even a day since when he disappeared.

The boy smiled. It was sad, and she found her arms filled with a ghost child. His voice was different now, echoing throughout the room as if it wasn't really coming from his mouth…

"Sam…I missed you so much." His voice echoed around her, near crying.

"…Danny…" She held back her own sob as she hugged him close, ignoring how she was practically freezing in his touch.

For the first time in three years, she felt hopeful again.