Saturday came quickly, and Danny had called Sam around mid-day and arranged for them to meet at the Nasty Burger in an hour. He, of course, was there a few minutes after getting off the phone with her – trying to think of how to break into the subject that he wanted to talk to her about. Nothing he came up with was really sounding good to him. It was all clunky and awkward, but then so was the subject itself. He was glad for the advice from Mr. Falkenrath, but it didn't make it any easier to talk to Sam. They'd been together for two full years without having to talk about this. Or even considering doing so.

By the time that Sam arrived, he had worried himself almost sick over the subject, and seeing her didn't make it any better. Worse, she seemed to notice how he looked – coupled with being surprised that he was there early; being that she herself had arrived ten minutes ahead of when he had asked her to meet him there. With a soft smile, she sat across from him and took his hand gently, a concerned look on her face.

"Sam..." He said, swallowing thickly, "...we need to talk."

That same, gentle smile stayed on her lips. "The minute I walked in here and saw you, I had a feeling you were going to say that." She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "What is it, Danny? You look like you're about to be sick or something."

"You might be right." Danny said, putting his hand on his stomach, then up to his chest. He really wasn't feeling well at all, and he knew it was the anxiety.

"Danny... whatever it is... take a breath... calm down... okay?"

Danny nodded and did just as she said. A little breathing helped, and so did the feel of her holding his hand. Finally, he spoke, though he couldn't bring himself to look at her. "Sam... where do you think our relationship is going?"

"Oh thank goodness..." Sam said, letting out a sigh of relief, which caused him to look up. "I've been thinking about the same thing for a month or two now."

Danny was silent for a moment, then asked cautiously, "You... have?"

Sam nodded. "Danny... I love you, you know that, right?"

He nodded. "And I love you too..."

"I know." She smiled, then continued, "But I wonder if we know what kind of love it is."

"You mean... romantic, versus platonic?"

That surprised Sam. "Uh... yeah, actually." She quirked a brow. "Who've you been talking to?"

"I... uh... yesterday when I talked to Mr. Falkenrath, we talked about what I went there to talk about... and then ended up talking about his wife... and then about revenge... and love lives... and, well, he asked about us... and I told him... things..."

She smirked a little. "Lemme guess... you told him about last summer?"

"Yeah..." He rubbed the back of his head, "You're not... mad... are you?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not mad." She blushed a little, "My grandmother has known for some time now – but she's been keeping it a secret from my parents."

Danny grinned. "I always did like her."

"She's the best." Sam said with a smile, then said somberly, "And I think she probably gave me the same kind of advice that Mr. Falkenrath gave you yesterday. I just didn't know how to start this conversation. Part of me didn't want to. I didn't know how you'd react."

Danny nodded. "I had the same problem last night, but this morning I just woke up and knew hat we needed to talk... and I guess this means he was right about something else..." He trailed a little, then shook his head. "He even said you probably had been thinking this over."

Sam shrugged slightly, "At least you didn't get the advice from Lancer, right?"

Danny shuddered, "Yeah, at least there's that." He paused, and both were quiet until he spoke again. "Listen, Sam, I..."

She gently put a finger to his lips. "You asked me, remember?" After a moment he nodded, and she lowered her finger. Taking a breath, she spoke, trying to keep things coherent. "Danny... I don't want to upset you... I remember how heartbroken you were when I had to break Ember's love spell way back when... and I don't want you to feel like that again. But... I'm not sure the love we feel is really... romantic, y'know? We've been friends a long time, and we've shared secrets like crazy, had eachother's backs... but I think we rushed into romance when it wasn't really there."

After she went quiet, Danny smiled softly, bringing her hand up and kissing her knuckles gently. "I think you're right."

Sam opened her mouth to speak, then abruptly shut it, not knowing what to say at the words and gesture. The tension that had hung in the air seemed to suddenly be gone, however, and for that both teens were glad. Finally, she spoke again. "I guess this means it's over, huh?"

Danny nodded a bit, but he didn't let go of her hand. "Yeah, it is." He said softly, then gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "We're still friends though, right?"

Sam smiled happily at that. "Always. We were friends first after all – and this is mutual, not some hormonal shouting match. I'm glad that we were able to talk it out like this."

"Me too." Danny agreed, then glanced toward the front counter. "So... were you hungry? I suddenly have my appetite back..."

"Your complexion is better too." Sam laughed lightly, then nodded. "And yes, I'm starved. Let's get something to eat."

"I'll buy." Danny said as they stood.

"You don't have to do that, Danny. I mean, we're not a couple now, so... you don't have to pay for my food."

"I know – but I can still buy lunch for my friend." Danny grinned, "Besides, you can get the bill next time – when Tucker is with us."

"Yeah, I guess I can- Hey, wait a minute!" Sam punched his arm lightly, "Tucker eats like Godzilla – that is so not fair!"

"I know that too!" Danny chuckled as he rushed for the counter.

"Oh no you don't – I'll get it this time. You can pay for Tucker!" Sam said as she charged after him.

Just as they reached the counter, however, they heard what sounded like gunfire from outside. A moment later, ecto-beams, hundreds of them, began slicing through the roof of the Nasty Burger, blasting clean holes through the roof. A familiar feminine scream followed, and through the roof phased a face that Danny hadn't seen in about two years: Danielle. As soon as she was through, she hit a table and then the ground, sliding as more ecto-beams tore through the roof of the Nasty Burger.

Danny and Sam had dove for cover, but the moment they saw Dani, they looked to one another. Sam spoke first. "Danny, get out there and see who's doing this. I'll take care of Danielle."

"Right." Danny gave a firm nod and stood. "I'm Going Ghost!" He said, shouting his battle cry and transforming, like he had done so many times before. The white rings formed and split, leaving behind his super-powered alter ego. In an instant he turned intangible and shot up through the roof into the open air above the Nasty Burger. Turning tangible, he looked around for the enemies responsible – and found himself hearing the drone of some propeller powered aircraft. Turning and looking above himself, he had to shield his eyes from the sun as three prop-powered fighter planes dove toward him.

His eyes shot wide and he flew as fast as he could out of the way, watching as the three planes flew past in a V-formation. He had no idea what kind they were, but they looked like fighters that he'd seen in old war movies – and they were glowing that tell-tale green of ghosts. They were flying much faster than he could hope to, however, so rather than chase them he summoned his power and started firing ecto-beams after them. He aimed to the leader, center of the formation, and got a hit – but not one that served to do more than cosmetic damage to the ghostly aircraft.

The hit also served to alert them that he was a definite threat, and their formation broke. The two wingmen split off, one circling wide, the other pulling straight up. The leader, however, pulled a maneuver that his aircraft would never have been capable of in life. Not only did he stop mid-air, he span the aircraft one-eighty and aimed straight back the way he'd come – right for Danny. The twin machineguns over top of the fighter's engine barked to life, firing ecto-beams. Danny raised up a shield and felt pretty confident about it when the initial blasts struck without consequence.

That changed, however, when the large cannon that went right through the prop opened up. The first shot blasted straight through his shield, followed by the rest. The beams that followed drove him into the ground as the aircraft flew over him. Dazed, he pulled himself together quickly and saw the other two lining up on him – one at each end of the street. An idea came to him, and he rose up from the ground, forming a shield on each side as they began to fire. He waited until the larger guns opened up, and then turned intangible and dropped his shield.

The rounds passed him harmlessly and smacked into the aircraft, damaging them and making them trail dark green smoke and bright green flame, but the aircraft veered off before they had a chance to collide.

"Close enough..." Danny muttered to himself, then turned invisible and flew as quickly as he could while the three aircraft formed up again and began to hunt for him. Waiting until he was a fair distance away, he grinned and became visible again – firing ecto-beams immediately after. He missed, the fighters dodging out of the way, but now they headed right for him. Fortunately, if it could be called such, this was exactly what he was planning. The distance shrank quickly, and they opened fire, but this time he didn't stay still. He zipped from one side to the other, forcing them to continuing readjusting their aim until it was too late for them to alter course.

Once they were almost to him and he was nearly out of time, he stopped moving, and let loose his most powerful attack – the Ghostly Wail. It was only three opponents, but they were too fast and too maneuverable to fight with his regular powers in any effective means. The Ghostly Wail, however, was perfect. The broad wave of energy gave the fighters no chance to dodge, and as soon as it hit them, they might as well have slammed into a brick wall. They dropped, nearly straight down, all three in flat spins.

The two that had already taken damage from eachother had no chance to recover. Before they could even begin to level themselves out, Danny charged his ecto-beams and hit each with a double-blast from both fists; blowing them into shrapnel. The pilots that were within the planes vanished. The last fighter leveled off at the last moment and resumed the attack – but now it was damaged, and moving sluggishly. Charging the fighter, he weaved his way around the hail of ecto-beams, charging up a final attack as he did. By the time that he and the last fighter closed, the energy ball was the size of a basketball – and Danny unleashed it point-blank.

Just as the other two before it, the fighter exploded, its remains falling and then vanishing as they hit the ground, its pilot nowhere to be seen. Panting from the exertion, Danny caught his breath and then returned to the Nasty Burger, quickly finding Sam and the unconscious Danielle.

"How is she?" Danny asked as he moved to them, taking a knee beside them – Danielle half cradled on Sam's lap as the older girl stroked her hair.

"Still knocked out, but she seems okay other than that." Sam replied, shaking her head. "What the heck is going on, Danny? Who was attacking her?"

"I'm not sure who... but I have a bad feeling I know when they're from." He shook his head then, slipping his arms under Danielle. "Come on, let's get back to my place. We can eat there and wait for Dani to come around."