The two of them stared at each other in a shocked silence for a full ten seconds. "What are you doing here?" they shouted at the exact same time.
"I came on vacation with my parents; they forced me to get away from Amity because of all of the ghost attacks. They told me that this was the safest place on earth, that there was a team of teenage superheroes guarding over it. Then, five minutes past the city limits and a weird-looking guy mugs us, and then the team of heroes shows up. And who saves us? My best friend who ran away a year ago! Where have you been? What have you been doing this whole time?" Danny was taken aback by the hurt and anger in her voice. They must have taken my disappearance worse that I thought. Luckily, thanks to all of the meditation he had been doing with Raven, he was able to contain his emotions and not lash out at Sam.
"I came her the night I ran away. I saw the Titans fighting a massive monster made out of stone, a guy named Cinderblock. After I defeated him with one of my ghost rays, they invited me to crash with them. I did, and the next day they invited me to join their group. I've been fighting crime with them ever since. How is it that ghosts are haunting Amity? I destroyed the Fenton Portal before I left."
"I don't know; Tucker and I went straight to your house right after the news crews started to leave us alone-"
"News?"
"Yeah, once your secret got out, everyone wanted to interview you, and the kids at Casper told the reporters that we knew you, so they mobbed us with questions. Don't worry, though; we didn't tell them anything except about how you're a good ghost and you saved the town on countless occasions. Anyway, we went to the lab at FentonWorks and saw that the portal was wrecked. Then, we went up to your room and it looked as though someone had rifled through it really quickly, then grabbed some stuff and left. Tucker thinks that the ghosts are coming out of Vlad's portal." Danny clapped a hand to his forehead.
"The Plasmius Portal! I completely forgot about it! Have the two of you and Valerie managed to deal with most of the ghosts on your own?" Sam shook her head sadly. "No. It's been terrible without you. Valerie was a mess after she found out about you. She couldn't believe that she had been hunting you this whole time and renounced ghost hunting. Paulina looked as though she had gone schizophrenic, with one side telling her that Phantom is too big of a hottie to simply forget about, and the other side saying that Fenton is too big of a loser to be worth chasing, even if he is Inviso-Bill. Dash and Lancer are also mental; both of them kept muttering that you could've gotten back at them for making your life hell so many times, but you didn't. They felt so ashamed of themselves. All in all, Tucker and I were the only ones with weapons that had the mental capacity to use them, and we were quickly overwhelmed. It was after Tucker threw himself in front of me to take a hit from Ember's guitar and was hospitalized with two broken legs and half a dozen fractured ribs that my parents wanted me to get out of Amity, at least for a little while. So we came here, and now this." She gestured around her at the trashed limo and her unconscious parents, reassuring him that they had fainted from shock and were in no real danger. Suddenly, Danny was struck by an idea.
"Hey, do you want to meet the rest of the team?"
"Sure!" She took his hand and allowed him to guide her out of the limo and onto the street, where the titans stood watch over Johnny Rancid. The villain was sitting on the ground, muttering to himself about stupid ghosts and superstitions and such.
"Sam, this is Robin, Beastboy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven. Guys, this is Sam Manson, my best friend from back home in Amity."
Raven noticed the Goth girls, well, Gothiness, and said, "I like your style, Sam."
"Thanks, you too." Sam replied, knowing that she was beginning to like this girl.
"Is it okay if I take Sam on a tour of the city?" Danny asked.
"Sure," Robin answered, "just make sure to get back to the Titan's Tower before it gets too late."
"Sure thing," Danny replied and, without warning, wrapped one hand around Sam's waist and took off into the night sky. Looking up at them, Raven said, "Those two were obviously made for each other."
Danny flew Sam around the city a few times, pointing out places where they had fought memorable battles, as well as hangout spots such as the pizzeria. After the third circuit, he flew across the bay and landed on the roof of Titan's Tower, and let go of her.
"Sam," he began, a worried look in his eyes, "You've told me all about how everyone else had reacted to my disappearance. How did you take it?"
"Well, as I said, the first thing Tucker and I did was go to your house. We found the portal destroyed and your room ransacked, and so we guessed what had happened, so we took a few ectoguns and thermoses and went home. After that, we tried to get on without you. Both of us acknowledged that moving on was difficult, especially with the ghosts attacking. We would have thought that some of your traditional enemies would hold back out of respect for the fact that the Halfa wasn't around to defend the town anymore, and a few of them did. Walker must have thought that you were imprisoned enough within your own grief and despair, so he never bothered to leave the Ghost Zone. Plasmius was probably grieving over the death of your mother, and besides, since Valerie was done fighting ghosts and you weren't around anymore to coerce into joining him, he didn't have any business in Amity Park anymore anyway. Only Skulker (who managed to rebuild his suit after a couple of weeks) and Technus generally respected your absence out of a personal sense of honor. But the rest of them didn't. Spectra has been feeding off of the derailed emotions that everyone has felt since your exposure. Ember has been trying to lure the unguided teens to her with hypnotic music. Youngblood is being his usual, bratty self. I gave Tucker's younger cousin a spare ectogun (don't worry; we made sure that she was at least mature enough to handle a weapon) just in case he shows up again, because only she and the other kids can see and hear him. The Box Ghost, well, you know how he gets. We were getting along all right at first, but we were overwhelmed after a while. But we never gave up. We never gave up hope that you would be able to get over your feelings of grief and despair and come back to help us. We waited and waited, but after a few months we began to give up hope. After a year we didn't even think about your returning anymore; all we had time for by then was staying alive and fighting back the ghosts. We didn't get beaten up too badly, until Tucker took that hit."
"You're avoiding the question, Sam. How did you feel about me leaving?" Sam looked down and fidgeted around for a bit, but couldn't contain herself once she looked back into his glowing green eyes.
"I was hurt, Danny. I was hurt that you abandoned Tucker and I. I know that you did it for our own protection, and I know that you destroyed the portal in the hopes of preventing any more ghost attacks while you weren't there to defend us. But part of me still screamed that even though your family was gone, you could have still stayed with Tucker or me. We would have taken you in, no matter what. I couldn't live with myself after you had gone. There were mornings when I just couldn't get out of bed, I was weighed down by so much regret."
Danny's eyes opened wide in surprise. What does she have to be regretful for? It's not like it was her fault that my family died! Aloud, he asked, "Regret? Regret for what?"
"Regret for not telling you my true feelings. Part of me kept saying that if I had told you how I felt, you wouldn't have gone." She looked up at him, her amethyst eyes sparkling with hope and excitement. "After all these years, this past one especially, I've finally come to grips with my feelings. I'm not afraid to admit it anymore. I'm ready to say it out loud. I love you, Danny Fenton. I always have and I always will." She leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips, then pulled back. "I think that my parents have come to by now, don't you? We should probably go back to them."
Danny was still trying to absorb this latest twist in his life. He was barely conscious of anything at all as he held Sam more tightly than absolutely necessary when he flew her back to her family's limo. He phased her into the car, remaining invisible himself, and he heard her mother say, "This city is way too dangerous for my little girl. Even ghosts are better dressed than that awful man. Driver, take us back to Amity, please!"
Just before he left, Danny whispered into Sam's ear, "Don't worry-I'll talk to you again very soon." He grinned at the smile that played on her lips, and it was the only thing on his mind as he re-entered the tower.
The rest of the Titans were watching a scary movie on their massive plasma-screen TV. Right in the middle of an especially freaky scene, Danny materialized right in front of the screen and yelled, "BOO!" The Titans jumped about a foot in the air.
"Dude, what was that all about?" Beastboy asked.
"Good prank, dude, really good." Cyborg said, giving Danny the thumbs-up.
"Yes, it was delightfully frightening," said Starfire.
"Are you okay, Danny?" Robin asked, noticing his facial expression.
"Actually, no. I just found out that my hometown has gone to pieces without me there to protect it." Danny sighed before continuing, "I've had fun with you guys, really, and it's nothing against you, but I really need to be getting back. They need me much more than this city does, especially when it has you guys protecting it."
"We understand." Robin said. "But keep your communicator with you, just in case we need you or vice versa."
"Goodbye, friend Daniel, we hope to remain in contact with you!" Starfire announced.
"We'll miss you, dude!" cried Beastboy and Cyborg at the same time.
Raven, ever the cynic, merely said, "Just try not to get your butt fried too badly by any ghost rays without us there to cover for you."
"I'll do my best," Danny replied with a grin. He floated up to his room and repacked the old duffel bag from before. He remembered to take the scrapbook, whose pages were also filled with pictures of him surrounded by the five teenage superheroes in various funny situations, including Beastboy's birthday party (imagine the garbage fight from Mystery Meat but with Tofu instead of Turfwiches). Last but not least, he carefully stowed away the magic mirror that Raven had given him. It was similar to hers and had the same properties, but the interior was slightly different-Danny's mind looked as though Amity Park was suspended in the Ghost Zone, a hybridization of his human and ghost instincts. After his bag was completely packed, he slung it onto his back, phased upwards through the roof of the tower, and shot off due north.