SuperGeorgia, yes, but Danny is still pretty clueless while Dan knows what life is like without Sam. *giggles* I wanted to do the same thing and I wrote the story!

ShadowDragon357, It's more like Danny was dating Valerie first, but I will reveal more as the story goes along.


Days later found Dan and Sam walking together down the street, the Goth smiling as Dan looked around him. He was worried that the shadow that the ghost fighter had been talking to could show up at any point and put the Goth in danger. He wasn't willing to take that chance and at the same time he was warring within himself to tell her what he knew. Looking down at her he found a smile twisting on his lips. She was so happy that he couldn't bring himself to change that.

"So, where are we going?" she inquired as they turned another corner. He grinned even more. "You're still not going to tell me?" Shook his head at her as something flitted over them. He stopped, his hands pulling the Goth close as he looked overhead where Valerie appeared two seconds later. She stopped and looked closely at him, her eyes unseen under the mask, but the former Fenton could feel the heat of her gaze. He could tell that she was trying to figure him out, but as he was in his human form it was probably throwing her off. In that moment she shook her head and took off leaving the couple standing there in confusion. "Dan, what's going on?"

"Nothing," was his response, his voice husky and she could hear the fear in it. He was afraid of something, but what? Was it because she was pregnant or was there something more that she wasn't aware of? Before she could answer Danny flew by. She sighed as he didn't even blink. They had been so close at one point, but now it was like they didn't know each other.

"I want to know what happened," the dark haired man at her side stated as he pulled her into a hug. "I want to know what happened between you and him." She blinked. Dan had been so cold, but since he had been released from the thermos along with the time they had spent together it seemed that he was reverting to how he had once been. He had been Danny at one time and Vlad, the two emotions, two people, combining to a very complex and caring man. She nodded against his chest, muttering something against his shirt. "Okay." Taking her hand he headed for their destination, the perfect place to talk.


Danny flew after Valerie, the ghost fighter moving quickly after another ghost, her attitude not much better than before, but he knew why. He had yet to give her an answer to when he would destroy his other half. He wasn't fully aware of when he would do it either. It was a big part of him and from what he remembered of his times without his ghost half he could remember the feelings he had experienced. Sure, sometimes it had been great, not having those responsibilities that had stopped him from having a social life, from keeping up his grades...but at the same time he had felt more confident in his role.

It had taken some time, but he had grown to like the power of saving, of doing something to change the world. He hadn't really thought of himself as anyone before that, even with Sam and Tucker as friends. He hadn't done anything worthwhile, but when he had become Danny Phantom he had found a part of himself that he had never known he could have been. Tucker hadn't been as so positive, saying that the ghost half wasn't really him, but Sam, his girl friend, had been super supportive. She had pointed out that if the portal was a gap to connect the worlds then Danny's ghost half was his dead half. There had been a high chance that part of him had died. He had smiled at her attempt, the words making him feel better.

"What are you doing here?!" Valerie screamed at him, bringing him from his daze. Blinking he found himself looking into the visor of his fiancee. "I told you that I don't need your help defeating low class ghosts, Danny!" He blinked again at the hostility in her voice. He couldn't understand why she was so resistant to his help. "I want you to go!" She turned from him and began to take on the Box Ghost, his demise quick as Danny watched. She didn't look at him as she contained the annoying apparition.

"What is wrong?" he questioned, his temper igniting at her ugly attitude. "You just seem to be getting angrier and angrier with me!" She blinked at that, her eyes flashing under the visor, but he couldn't see it, the darkness of her glass keeping his eyes from the mystery.

"Oh, sorry, Danny," she muttered, holding her head. "Just not feeling like myself lately." Now Danny was thrown for another loop, her sudden mood swings something he wasn't used to. Sam had been like that, but only during...

"It's okay," he muttered turning a slight red. He would mention that she might be PMSing, but he knew that like Sam she might blow back up at him. When a woman was in that time it was best to leave her be...avoid setting her off at any cost. "You want to get something to eat?" She nodded as he reached out to take her hand.


Sam smiled as she looked around her, the room dark with little candles flickering at each table. Before them was a stage with a single microphone just a foot from the edge of the stage. Several people sat in that small room, all of them wearing dark clothing and none of them smiling as they watched another person walk on stage. Finding a table far from the stage wasn't hard and they were lucky no one wanted to sit that far back, the darkness even more since they were away from the spotlight that lit up the person talking.

"You like?" he questioned. She nodded, her eyes falling on him. "I found out that the Skulk and Lurk had burned down last year and thought I would look for a new place." He smiled at her. "I was lucky to find this place so close to where the other one had been."

"Yes, I was there when it burned down," she whispered. "It was Skulker who did it." Dan's brow rose in question and she gave a brief summary of the events. "Danny felt really bad about it even though it wasn't his fault. It happens sometimes." The older male reached out for her hand, his cold fingers clasping her warm ones.

"Can we talk about what's going on with you and him?" Sam sighed, her lips becoming a straight line as she remembered the last several months.

"Well, he was dating Valerie, after the whole disatroid thing, but they had a fight about a year ago, the ghost fighter dumping him... I think." Looking past him he could tell she was trying to hold back the feelings, the anger, the frustration...everything she was feeling at that moment. "It took a long time to get him back to where he needed to be and one night he came over, still feeling poorly about the let down. I did what he's always done for me. I told him how much of a good person he was and that Valerie was missing out on all that because of her own stupidity." Her cheeks turned red at that memory, a small smile softening the look on her face. "The next few weeks were a little weird, especially when Danny started hanging around again, you know, since he wasn't dating her." She looked down at their hands, where Dan was still clutching hers. "Then she came to him, apologizing for being so stupid. I was right there when she did it." A little tear escaped. "He took her back even after he told me how she had tried to push him about his ghost half. How mad it had made him that she still couldn't accept the fact that he was a good ghost. That not all ghosts were bad."

"Sam," he said softly, drawing her attention to him. "He's stupid. You are far better than that ghost bitch could ever hope to be." Sam smiled at him, her eyes shining, but he knew that her smile wasn't as bright as it had once been. No, she was pleased, but she wasn't happy. He had wanted to tell her what he knew, but after what she had just said that probably would have set her off and he wasn't sure which way it would have set her. "Are you hungry?" The raven haired woman nodded as he waved down a waitress. While he ordered Sam looked over at the person talking, the person expressing themselves.

"My world is dark when you aren't here.." the small woman said, her dark brown hair shifting around her shoulders. "But the light is too bright so shouldn't I revel in that?!" Her voice had gotten higher, but not high enough to bother anyone. "I feel myself screaming, but I can't hear the words."

Sam could understand that. She felt like the darkness was crowding her toward the light, but even while she felt lost she knew that with Dan at her side at least life wasn't too bad. Turning back to her dinner companion she found a smile lifting her lavender lips. Dan was a good guy and he cared, well, more than cared since he was in love with her... or at least a Sam in one of the timelines... That could still work right?

"Dan, can I ask something of you?" The raven haired male nodded, but she could see that question in his eyes. It was the way she had asked it and now he probably thought something bad was about to happen. "Can you survive in this world?" He breathed out slowly and shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I mean I have never thought about it."

"Could we live together in the Ghost Zone?" Dan felt his heart pause, the sound gone for moments as blood was rushing to his head. Sam wanted to be with him? How did he answer that?