He had been left alone again. If Tucker wasn't so tired, he might have been furious. Cold water seeped through the worn fabric of his sneakers as he accidentally stepped on the nature strip, and he corrected his path. The rain had mercifully stopped but his clothes were pasted to his skin and his nose had begun to feel thick with stuffiness.

Tyres whispered on the wet roads and headlights approached, illuminated him, and continued past. It was the first one he'd seen in several blocks.

He didn't want to blame Danny for leaving him. His friend had been bleeding again, a mixture of blood and ectoplasm running down his suit and dripping off the toes of his boots as he struggled to stay in the air. When Tucker finally managed to catch Skulker in the thermos, Danny wilted to the ground like a brittle Autumn leaf. Valerie had swooped down after him, dragging him onto her board and heading off in the direction of Fentonworks.

Leaving Tucker to walk.

He had almost followed them, but the weight in his bones and the ache in his head automatically turned him in another direction. It wasn't like he could actually do anything to help his friend anyway, with Jack's excellent sewing skills and Maddie's extensive training in first aid. Even Valerie could help with her transportation.

Tucker shoved freezing hands into his armpits, trying to draw warmth back into his fingers.

He'd always said that he didn't mind being on the ground. Back when it had been Sam instead of Valerie, they'd worked together as a team. He hadn't been the only one bound by gravity. But then, time had passed. People changed. They grew up, grew apart…

The week after Sam stopped sitting with them for lunch, Valerie had slid into the empty seat. Two days later she joined Phantom in the sky, and a fortnight after that there were no secrets left between them.

So Tucker now walked home alone.

The sharp angles of ectoguns in his bag pressed against his spine. He shifted the load with a roll of his shoulders and tapped his keycard against the access door of his apartment building. The elevator was out of order, which was more common than not with the amount of times ghost attacks downed power lines in the area, so he dragged himself up the stairs. Reaching his floor, Tucker sagged against the wall as he fit the key into the lock and jimmied it until the door to his home inched open.

The apartment was dark, and he crept through the living without turning on any lights. His parents had probably assumed that he was staying overnight at Danny's, and Tucker really didn't want another lecture on responsibility if they woke up because of him.

He reached his room without incident, making sure to close and lock the door before turning on his lamp. Carefully placing the backpack on the floor, Tucker peeled off his wet clothes and pulled on his warmest tracksuit pants and hoodie. He snagged a towel from the pile of laundry on the floor and rubbed it over his hair before tossing it across the end of his bed.

His backpack waited for him, and Tucker fished the thermos from its depths. He activated the ghost shield that he had built into his walls, and a slight sheen of green illuminated the space. He turned the dial on the side of the thermos with a controlled twist. There were a couple of ghosts in there tonight, and he really didn't want to face Skulker again so soon.

The dial ticked as it turned like the lock on a safe, and Tucker stopped when it clicked into position. The ectosignature was the right power level for what he wanted, and with a giddy rush of anticipation he thumbed the button for release.

Green smoke bubbled into the room, a vapour that quickly shifted into something much more solid. The ghost blinked at her sudden release and Tucker re-capped the thermos, tossing it onto the bed before turning to face his guest.

She floated in the middle of the room, face scrunching in confusion when she caught sight of him. "Why have you brought me here?" she demanded.

He was far too tired to play games. "If I free you from your obsession will you grant me something without any negative consequences?"

Her face smoothed into shock, the red sheen over her eyes dulling to a soft purple. "What?"

He shrugged and stuffed his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. "It must suck to be taken advantage of by everyone," he said. "I was wondering if you'd help me out if I helped you."

Red began to seep back into her gaze. "You're just another boy trying to take advantage of me," she snapped. Her aura flared, fingers curling into claws as she rose above him.

"No," Tucker responded, standing still as though the anger leaking from her didn't send a shudder through his body. "I wish that you were free from your ghostly curse, whether or not you decide to grant my other wish."

She went still. The red light that glowed from her skin began to fade, its harsh tint blending into pastel blue as a floral scent wafted into the room. The bands around her wrists, cuffs that he had once mistaken for bracelets, crumbled into fine shreds of ash that streamed off her skin and dusted the carpet.

Desiree blinked, looking at her hands as though she had just found the answer to the universe. "You freed me?" she whispered.

He shrugged. "I didn't like that you had to let people screw you over," he admitted, trying to ignore the bitter feeling in his chest.

She shook her head and the ornamental band in her hair caught the light. "I never hoped…"

Tucker shrugged again. "Danny's hurt, but Val'll probably come after you soon," he said. "You should probably get out of here."

She smiled and radiated such joy that he smiled back. "Your wish," she said. "I can sense that you have a big one."

He shook his head. "Not if you don't want to grant it. I'm not gunna take advantage of you."

She floated closer and he could have reached out and touched her if he wanted to. "For the one who freed me," she whispered, "I'd give anything."

In that moment, a thousand half-imagined hopes and dreams swept through his mind. He knew what he wanted, but there were so many different ways to get it, and he'd still been trying to figure out how to word this. Should he make it complicated, with instructions to keep him safe from her whims? Should he carefully specify how he wanted everything to happen? Should he abandon this entirely and ask for a billion bucks instead?

Her hand was gentle as she cupped his face in her palm. Her voice felt like a Summer's breeze and filled his thoughts with light. "What do you desire?"

He stared into her soft eyes and decided to just go for it.

"Desiree... I wish I was a halfa."