Through It All There's You

a Danny Phantom fic by hel

who does not own DP nor anything affiliated

(that honor belongs to Butch Hartman)

and is a sick, twisted individual

who is only trying to amuse herself

summary: Danny's life takes a left turn when he finds out that he and Phantom aren't quite as unified as he'd thought... And what's Sam going to do with two of him? Fenton/Phantom/Sam

AN: Auto-erotica abounds! Oh, Narcissus would have loved this setup. Spoilers for TUE. Title is from the Robert Palmer song of the same name, which randomly popped into my head while writing this. I would say that that reference really dates me, but I don't think it really qualifies to do so since 1) its my mom's CD and 2) I'm only 19.

For anyone who is squicked by the thought of FentonxPhantom, please just hit your back button. No one is forcing you to read this. Honestly, I don't really know what possessed me to write it, either. It still kind of scares me, which is why the working title was 'horrifying brain cheese'.

For those of you staying, I commend your courage. Not many are willing to dive into the black, demented depths of my imagination. Also, the eventual pairing is sort of (Danny x Phantom) x Sam (hooray for algebraic expression! They always tell you that math will come in handy one day, but somehow I don't think this is what they had in mind), so don't whine at me about it yet.

-----

Chapter 1: Split Milk

Hormones were a bitch. Danny had known this for several years now, but the point had been driven home today, what with Paulina (and, he though very quietly, Sam) in an even skimpier outfit than usual and the lecture about the human sex drive in Health. He'd been only too glad to escape to the sanctuary of his room and deal with the aftermath of a 17-year-old's overactive endocrine system.

Jeans being too tight, he'd sloughed them off as soon as his door closed, flopping into bed and bringing his attention to bear on the matter at hand. Lack of lubrication caused chafing, however, so he reached for his nightstand. He had to use both hands to open the drawer, but brought one right back when he'd grabbed the lotion, not even bothering to pump some out yet. But something was off...

What the hell. It was... noticeably colder than it had been three seconds before. Half my blood is in there! How can it be cold? And the sensation was somehow dulled as well.

-Danny! Please...-

...Phantom? Inside his head? "But... you're me," Danny whispered, his hands stilled in shock. "This is impossible..."

-Dammit, Danny, this is not the time to philosophize! Now finish what you started or I'll do it myself.- Now that he was paying attention, Danny could feel something cold writhing under his skin. "But..."

With a strangled moan and a cold shock, Phantom took over his hand and stroked them hard, once, twice, and Danny's brain stopped functioning. "Oh god..." He needn't have bothered with the lotion; Phantom wasn't going to stop for anything in the world. Not that Danny wanted him to.

He could feel heat and cold swirling in the pit of his stomach, could feel the frantic energy building inside himself, in what he assumed to be Phantom. This was insane. They were the same person! And yet... aah...

"Oh, holy--" Danny came harder than he ever had in his life, the arm flung hastily over his face the only thing keeping him from screaming. He lay in the afterglow for a moment, catching his breath and feeling the chill that had crept into his fingers dissipate as his hand relaxed beside him. Then he struggled to sit up, knocking the lotion over the edge of the mattress, and ran his fingers through the cooling liquid on his belly.

Half of it was green. Eew, ectoplasmic jizz. Phantom, care to explain what the hell's going on?

His other half sounded sated when he replied lazily, -Not really. Mmm, that's much better.­-

"Well, too damn bad." Danny phased his arm intangible and reached inside his chest, searching for the ghost. He'd done this once before, but that was during the mess with the Ghost Catcher. Would it still work?

Apparently, because Phantom drifted out of his chest and settled on the end of the mattress. "What?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"What the hell was that, and why are you separate from me? You're aware that this is impossible, right?"

Phantom just shook his head. "Danny, we're half ghost. Nothing is impossible. Besides, haven't you noticed how distant everything feels when you go ghost?" Danny spluttered for a moment.

"But-- but that's because I'm a ghost! Sensation is always distant to a ghost!"

"So you think. But really, ghosts feel as much as humans do. You don't, however, because I'm at the front of our consciousness. When you're out, I'm floating around in limbo at the back of our head. I, unfortunately, don't even get the echo of sensation from you. Which is, of course, why I enjoyed that so much." He looked pointedly at the slowly-drying mess on Danny's bare stomach. Danny blushed and scrubbed at himself with the sheets. When he'd recovered his composure, he tried a different tack.

"So... wait. Are we really the same person?"

"Oh yeah. Danny, I'm you. I'm just... the ghostly half of you. We share memories, emotions, everything. Even..." and here Phantom blushed lightly, "even crushes. I suppose I shouldn't give you ammo, but that means that whenever I tease you about something, you can tease me right back and it'll be just as effective." Phantom blanched at Danny's wicked grin. "Just-- remember it works both ways, okay?" It was Danny's turn to pale, and the room fell silent for a few moments.

"How did this happen?" Danny asked eventually. Phantom sighed and settled himself more firmly into the pile of blankets at the foot of the bed.

"I don't really know. Maybe it has something to do with that... evil future us." Danny nodded, immediately shaken at the reminder of the monster they'd faced. "Vlad told us about how he split you from me."

"But we haven't been split," Danny said quietly. "Right?" A haunted look came into his eyes. "We're not... going to turn on each other, are we? We won't turn into that future Danny..."

In a movement too quick to follow, Phantom was behind him, arms wrapped around his chest. His voice was small but determined in Danny's ear. "Never. Danny, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm you. I'm not comfortable anywhere but with you. I don't think we could become him even if we tried." Phantom tightened his hold protectively. "Not that we ever would."

"Never." Danny pulled his knees up, leaning back into Phantom, then suddenly chuckled. "They say that there's nothing wrong with talking to yourself, but you should worry if someone starts to answer back. Does this qualify?"

Phantom grinned. "I think we're a special case."

-----

Sleep came quite easily, considering the circumstances. Phantom remained separate until they were both snoring, and then with a faint glow the two became one form again. Danny woke up feeling more rested than he had in weeks.

The school day was relatively normal. Danny could feel Phantom floating inside him, and occasionally his hands swirled with cold when Phantom tried to touch something, but otherwise the day passed without mishap. Not even a ghost attack to break the monotony of classes.

After school was a different story. The trio had planned on a movie night at Sam's house, but Tucker's parents called him with news that an aunt was coming to visit and he was to be home as soon as possible, so the trio quickly became a duo. Determined not to let it ruin their evening, but feeling bad about leaving Tucker out, they left off on watching the new Evil Dead movie (only just out in theaters!), instead opting for the classic Friday the 13th, which Tucker had already seen at least 8 times.

Popcorn had been eaten, soda had been drunk, and the movie was almost over. Sam had ended up sitting on the floor in front of Danny, who was still on the couch. Absorbed as he was in the last battle scene, Danny wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, and Phantom was feeling starved for tactile sensation. He took over Danny's hands, gently letting himself seep into the limbs to avoid arousing the other boy's suspicion, and leaned forward just slightly, so that his fingers brushed Sam's ponytail.

He had a good ten minutes of uninterrupted play and was really starting to work his fingers into the soft strands when the credits started rolling and Sam came back to herself with a soft gasp. She turned slightly to look up at Danny, but he was still staring into the screen, mouthing the names of the actors.

"Danny?" she asked quietly, breaking him from his study. "Not that I mind or anything, but... well, your hands are really cold."

Danny looked down, surprised, to find his hands threaded in Sam's hair.

"Ack! Sorry. That's, uh... It wasn't me."

Sam just raised an eyebrow, and he blushed. "Umm... a little help?" Danny whispered, jerking his head down and to the left. With a long-suffering sigh, Phantom drifted out of his chest.

"Sorry. It was me."

"Uh, Danny..." Sam looked back and forth between the two teens, bewildered. "What is this? I thought you didn't want to use the Ghost Catcher ever again."

"Duh!" Phantom exclaimed, hitting his forehead. "The Ghost Catcher. I bet we didn't bond back together quite right."

"Makes a hell of a lot more sense that some crazy time paradox," Danny said, shaking his head. Then, noticing Sam's open-mouthed stare, continued, "Um, Sam, meet Danny Phantom. Not that you don't already know him. Er, me. Us. Whatever."