hello!

This is my first venture into the DP fandom! I have a few ideas for this amazing show and can't wait to get started on them. I hope you like my little oneshot here and I'd love to hear feedback on how I did with the characters! :)

~cosette141

Twigs snapped under combat boots with Sam's every step. She pushed a few branches out of her way with her free arm, her other carefully supporting half of the weight of her best friend.

"Tucker," she huffed, faltering a little under the uneven distribution of weight between them.

"Sorry."

Knowing they both needed a quick rest, they stopped in their tracks and slowly lowered the unconscious boy to the ground.

Danny was still in his ghost form. White hair fell over his shut eyes. His head fell toward his shoulder. Sam shivered, but it had nothing to do with Danny's ghostly aura.

"He's been out of it for like a half an hour," she said to Tucker, who was currently raising his PDA toward the night sky, trying to get a signal between branches. But it was hardly news to them that Amity Park didn't have the best service. Not in the middle of the dense forest.

"Well," said Tucker, pocketing the PDA with a disappointed sigh and turning back to the ghost. "Skulker did hit him pretty hard."

"Ugh, this is all my fault." Sam dropped her face into her hands.

"How is this your fault?"

"Skulker had been aiming for me," she said, raising her head from her hands. "And Danny had to be an idiot and jump in the way."

"Look," said Tucker, his voice seeming loud in the unnatural silence of the forest. "We grabbed him and ran, and we haven't seen Skulker since. Maybe we lost him."

But what if we lose Danny, too? Sam took Danny's wrist in her hand, trying to ignore how lifeless it was in her grasp. She tried feeling for a heartbeat. It was there, but slow. Very slow. Though… it might very well always be that slow. Ever since three weeks ago.

Ever since the accident.

"We have to get him home," she mumbled. Or to a hospital.

Danny's been a ghost for three weeks now, and almost since day one, has been fighting them. But he's never gotten hurt before.

Not like this.

"But we don't even know where we are!"

Sam tore her eyes from Danny, scanning their surroundings for the first time. Tucker was right; Danny had flown them here; she had no idea where they were, or how on earth they were going to get back.

"Danny," she whispered to him, shaking his shoulder gently. "We need you."

But he remained still.

An owl hooted above them, making both Sam and Tucker jump. A thin spurt of fear slid into her veins. She got to her feet. "Tucker, we should keep going."

He silently agreed. They both slid their arms underneath Danny's upper body and lifted him back up. His head hung low over his chest. His body was freezing. Sam had never noticed just how cold he was until now.

They continued through the trees, trying to find a way back to the park.

"You know," said Tucker, breaking the silence, glancing at Danny. "I kind of thought he'd be lighter."

Sam bristled. "He's still a human too, remember?" She didn't know where the offense suddenly came from.

"Yeah," said Tucker. "But it's weird, you know?"

What is he getting at? Sam shot him a suspicious look, his dark skin even darker thanks to the blanket of the night. As she looked, her eyes caught Danny's hair in the moonlight. It seemed to practically sparkle, sending a shiver down her spine.

Sam felt an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach, heat rising to her cheeks. She turned back in front of her and adjusted her grip on Danny. On her best friend. A ghost.

Because Danny was a ghost.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Weird."

"Do you ever… think about it?" asked Tucker quietly.

Sam's eyebrows furrowed. She ducked her head, avoiding a nasty-looking tree branch. "Think about what?"

"The fact that Danny's a… ghost. Or, well, half of one."

Yes. "Not really."

"Well," said Tucker, grunting a little as he shifted his grip on Danny. "If he's still human, and… well, half ghost…" His voice dropped, as if he didn't want to say it. "Doesn't that mean he's, like… half dead?"

Sam's heart skipped and she nearly dropped Danny. She hadn't thought of it that way. Sure, he'd walked into the Portal, electrocuted himself and accidentally got ghost powers. But… die? Part of Danny didn't die…

Did it?

The sudden whine of machinery tore her from her thoughts.

"Aha! Your pelt is mine now, whelp!"

Skulker.

Sam and Tucker whipped around. Skulker, glowing and looking fearsome as ever, floated before them. His wild green hair flashed as he grinned.

"Run!" yelled Sam, and she and Tucker took off, Danny tightly in her grip.

They didn't get much further than a few feet when a blast knocked them off their feet, sending all three sprawling on the ground. Sam grunted from the landing, pulling herself up, but Skulker was already advancing on her. Slowly. A hunter, circling his prey.

"You two aren't exactly worthy of my mantle," he said, almost disappointed, looking between Sam and Tucker. "But your skulls might be a nice touch to the guest bedroom."

"That would be… assuming you had guests," came a voice from behind her, and Sam turned.

Danny was on his hands and knees, glaring at Skulker, his eyes a bright, neon green. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, one white-gloved hand covering his still-bleeding gash. Sam watched him fight not to wince.

"Ah," mused Skulker, shifting his aim from Sam to Danny. "You are awake, whelp. Unconscious prey are easier to hunt, but I enjoy the game."

"Yeah?" muttered Danny, raising his own hand. "Well, game over." He shut his eyes in tight concentration, and his hand glowed green. Power formed in the palm of his hand and erupted toward the metal machine. Skulker flew back into the trunk of a tree with a satisfying crunch. Tucker took the opportunity to suck the ghost into the Fenton Thermos.

The moment the light died and Skulker was gone, the light died in Danny's hand and he sank down to one knee, breathing hard.

"Danny!" Sam rushed toward him, taking him gently by the shoulders. She searched his face. "Are you okay?"

He opened his eyes, finding hers. "…Yeah." He let himself collapse back against the trunk of a tree, still panting. "Man. I hope that's the last time I see that jerk."

Tucker rattled the thermos next to his ear. "I think he's pretty well contained. I still can't believe your parents' inventions actually work."

Danny laughed, then stopped short, both hands shooting for his abdomen.

"Are you okay?" asked Sam worriedly, watching the green-looking… something… seep through his fingers. She knelt next to him. "Danny… what is that?"

"His blade got me earlier," said Danny with his eyes screwed shut. "It's probably just a scr—" Danny looked down at it, opening his eyes as he spoke and froze. He tore his hand away and examined the green substance with wide eyes. "Well… that's new."

Tucker bent down too. "Ew, dude what is that?"

But Sam already knew. "It's blood."

Both boys looked at her. Tucker's brows kneaded. "But…"

"Ghost blood," supplied Danny hoarsely. He leaned his head back against the tree. Sam's hand was on his shoulder comfortingly without her thinking. "I think I heard Dad call it ectoplasm."

A flash of white light made all three of them jerk, startled, as Danny changed from Phantom to Fenton. As the light died down, Danny groaned, pressing a hand back over the wound and grimacing.

"Danny!" breathed Sam in fear as he rode out the pain.

The green ectoplasm had turned red. But it was bleeding significantly less than it was before.

Danny breathed out, opening his eyes. "Didn't… know it would hurt so much more… as a human," he finished shortly.

Sam's hand tightened on his shoulder. Her entire body was rigid. She's never seen Danny in so much pain and she hated it with a passion. But something told her this wouldn't be the last time she'd see him hurt, or hear his pain.

Or see him bleed.

"You okay, man..?" asked Tucker, but from his expression he didn't believe it for a second. The three kids were quickly realizing the depth of the life they've just sunk into. "Do you need a hospital or something..?"

"I'm fine," said Danny. He lifted his shirt to show the wound. Sam's brows shot up. It was at least an inch shorter than it was a moment ago.

"It's smaller," she said aloud.

Both boys looked at her.

"What?" asked Tucker.

Sam blinked at it, hardly believing it. She'd seen the gash on him just a few minutes ago. "It's smaller; the cut is smaller."

"It shrank?" asked Tucker blankly.

"It healed," said Sam, and if she weren't so scared she might have rolled her eyes.

"Huh." said Danny. "Add that to the list of new powers, then. I'll be good to go in the morning, by the likes of it." He smiled a little and maybe he had been scared, too. "Good to know for next time I—agh!"

Danny's words were cut off as Sam gave him a crushing hug. The act itself took her by surprise but she couldn't help it. She was careful to mostly avoid his wounded area.

"I'm just glad you're okay," she whispered. And if her eyes stung with tears, she didn't let them fall.

"All right!" cried Tucker. "We're all alive! Well—mostly."

A double groan. "Tucker—"

"Group hug!"

And Tucker wrapped his arms around both Sam and Danny, being incredibly less careful than Sam had been, making her half-glare at him and Danny groan and chuckle at the same time.

"Ah—okay… that hurts."