Yes, I do live! But I don't have much to say. sorry.


Tucker sighed, an angry Sam before him and an unconscious Danny on the couch.

It was late at night, or early morning depending on your view of time, and Sam had called Tucker about an hour ago to help her with Danny. Tucker wasted no time in driving over to the Fenton's, but it seemed he would not go without giving up a few secrets first.

"What makes you think I know what happened?" Tucker asked crankily as he rubbed at his eyes. "You woke me up remember?"

"Please," Sam rolled her eyes. "He's been doing this for a long time hasn't he? I've seen what he can do. What does he do at night? Run around looking for trouble to beat the crap out of?"

"Why do you care?" Tucker saw this as none of her business.

"I do care if he is going to be around my boys," Sam shoved a finger at Tucker's chest. "You're his best friend, he tells you everything."

"And that is why he trusts me to keep what he tells me confidential," Tucker argued back, slapping her offending finger out of the way. "If you want to know what Danny does, then you ask him."

"But he won't tell me anything."

"Then that's your problem isn't it?"

The two glared at each other until a soft groan knocked them out of their own argument.

"Dude," Tucker said at seeing Danny sit up on the couch. "Take it easy man."

Danny only sighed heavily and ran a hand over his bandaged side. The burning was gone and he could feel the skin already starting to flow over and patch him up. He was incredibly thirsty and his head hurt, but with the fight and all of the blasting and falling, it didn't surprise him.

"Hope I didn't scare anybody," Danny said a bit sheepishly as he moved his hand to rub behind his neck.

"That is the least of your concerns right now," Sam snapped at him, but quietly. "How did you get like this? And what was in that jar?"

Danny glanced at Tucker who was giving the kill motion to him behind Sam's back. Danny knew he was in big trouble here, and he couldn't think of a good lie. He was surprised to find out that he didn't want to lie to Sam, but he couldn't tell her the truth either. Still, a lie to Sam was like shoving tin-foil in his mouth, painful and unwanted.

"Tucker, you can go," Danny said, sitting up straighter and swinging his legs over the side of the couch to sit properly. "I think Sam and I need to talk privately."

Tucker gave his friend an uncertain look, but did as he said and left with one more frightened glance at Danny before he shut the door.

"What is with you?" Sam nearly exploded in a stage whisper to him once Tucker was absent. "You scared my boys half to death. You scared me. What happened, did Dash come after you?"

Oh I wish, Danny thought, knowing he wouldn't have wounds like this if he had fought that idiot, even without his powers.

"No, I dropped Dash off at the police station remember?" Danny said. "This was something else."

"Something else what? A ghost?"

Danny said nothing as he looked at her. He couldn't answer because he would have to lie, and he couldn't do that, no matter how hard he was pushing himself to do so.

Sam waited, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face, but as Danny remained quiet, she threw her hands up in surrender and sat down adjacent from the man. It was quiet for a while as the two looked at the floor and at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Finally, Danny stood up, all pain gone from his side, and made his way to the kitchen.

"I hope I didn't scare the boys too bad," Danny said quietly as Sam stayed seated where she was, seeming unconcerned by how Danny was on his feet.

Danny sighed when she didn't answer and prepared a glass of water for himself to be rid of his dry throat. As the tap turned on, he heard Sam get up from the chair in the living room to come into the kitchen to join him, but she kept her distance.

"Are you in trouble?" she asked quietly.

Danny was about to speak but Sam broke him off.

"And don't you dare lie to me," she nearly hissed. "I went through the same thing with Dash, and I'm not about to repeat that mistake."

Oh boy, he was treading on very thin ice here. He turned off of the water and took a drink before turning around to face her for his answer.

"I can't answer that without giving away things that shouldn't be given away freely," he told her truthfully. "Trust me when I say I'm not in trouble with anything illegal, but it is dangerous."

Sam just stood there in the entryway, her expression not changing at all.

"Things happen Sam," he said to break the silence and hopefully get her to understand his position. "When you're involved with the paranormal, all sorts of things happen, things you don't expect. You've seen it happen before, I know you have."

Danny set the glass to the side and looked at Sam again. Her expression was calculating, but she was listening.

"I can't tell you what's going on, but it has nothing to do with you or the boys. It's been happening for a long time, and my family knows about it, and Tucker too, so don't go asking them because they aren't going to tell you."

"Will you tell me, one day?" Sam asked, but there was something behind her tone that Danny didn't like, almost like a warning growl from an angry lion.

"Maybe, it depends."

"On what?"

"If you, stick around, if you can handle it. I probably won't tell you because I don't want you pulled into it, especially the boys. I can't condemn you life Sam."

"And what if I want to know, what if I want to help?"

Danny looked up at her, slightly surprised.

"Maybe not even then," Danny shook his head. "Like I said, it's not just you I have to think about with you. I also have to think of your own family, your sons. You three come together, a packaged deal, and I can't do that you three. It would be cruel of me."

"So what you're saying is you just want me and not the boys?"

"No! I'm not saying that at all. It's just, things are not what they appear Sam, and I don't want you all hurt."

He was hurting her now just by talking to her; he could read it on her face.

No, he was going to hurt her, no matter what happened. Everyone involved with Phantom got singed eventually, intentional or not. He couldn't do that to Sam, or Conner, or Alex. They all deserved to be free of him. He would just hurt them all if he stuck around. He would always be there for Sam, but he couldn't be with her.

That realization hurt his heart so badly he wanted to cry. He loved her, he knew he did. He loved her and the boys. Today had been great, and he wanted to have many more days like them (minus Dash of course) but if he wanted to keep them safe, then he had to stay away.

"This was a bad idea," Danny sighed to himself, running a hand through his hair.

"What was?" Sam asked, obviously confused by his sentence.

"Us," he gestured loosely to them both. "Sam, this was a bad idea. I knew it deep down, but after today. . . I just can't put you through that again. You have your own problems to deal with, I can't add mine to your burden."

"What? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that. . . that I can't see you anymore."


Sam stood there, shocked, with tears in her eyes, as Danny shut the front door to the house, not even looking back at her. Slowly, she sank down on the couch and sobbed silently. It felt like her world had ended when Danny had said he had to stay away, and she didn't even know why. He had said he would still be around when she needed him, but they couldn't see each other, that he had to detach himself from them.

At first, Sam had been angry, thinking that he didn't want to handle the responsibility of the boys, but she knew that wasn't true. He wouldn't voluntarily spend so much time with the boys if that was true. Sam saw that he was sad to do this, but determined. But she didn't understand! Why couldn't he just talk to her? Why couldn't he just tell her what was going on?


Morning rolled around sooner then she thought possible. She was cooking for the boys when they came down that morning. They were surprised to find the couch empty and their mom in the kitchen.

"Where's Danny?" Conner asked as he took a seat at the table.

"He went home," Sam said quickly, rubbing at her sore eyes.

"Why are you cooking?" Alex asked. "Danny always makes breakfast."

Sam winced at the sound of her youngest. Danny had been cooking the boys' breakfast since he had seen her cooking, which was not the best she had to admit. He was a good cook and the boys adored him and his dishes, and Sam had to admit he whipped up a mean soy patty.

"Danny isn't going to be around much anymore," Sam said as she turned around to lay the burned eggs in front of the boys. "He's going to be… busy for a while."

Conner and Alex looked at each other in question before looking back up at her.

"Well, when will he be back?" Alex asked.

"I don't know sweety," Sam said truthfully. "He may not be back often."

Conner frowned, knowing when his mother was sad and upset. Her running mascara and puffy eyes were proof that she had been crying. There was something else going on, he knew it. Alex just stared sadly into his food. He pushed his plate away and walked out of the room, saying he wasn't hungry. Sam let him go. Conner watched Alex leave the kitchen before he took a bite of the eggs, thinking he should stay and get more information out of his mom. He cringed at the taste of the eggs, laying his fork down before speaking.

"So, he was fine when he left?" Conner asked.

"Uh, yeah, he looked fine," Sam said distractedly.

"Mom, what's wrong? And don't tell me I won't understand."

Sam looked at him for a moment before sadly sighing and sitting down.

"Danny thinks that he shouldn't see me anymore," she told him. "And I think he might be right."

What? Not see them anymore? What was that suppose to mean? Conner shoved the table out of his way angrily and walked away, stopping only once to say: "You're lying; you don't think he's right."

His mother's soft sobbing was the only answer.


Conner went into the den, grabbed the phone off of the hook, and went into the broom closet. The closet was really used to store spare ghost weapons that he and Alex were not allowed to touch, but it was the perfect place for privacy.

He punched in Danny's number fiercely and waited at the other line rang continuously. It was some time before Danny picked up and answered the phone with a tired 'hello'.

"What's the big idea you jerk?" Conner yelled into the phone. "What gave you the idea that you could just string up my mom like that?"

"Conner—"

"I mean, I can understand if you don't want to be around us because of what happened last night, but come on man! I thought you were better than that!"

"Conner—"

"I told you some deep stuff last night; stuff I never told anyone. How can you betray us like this? Please, don't make this about me. Don't leave my mom because of me."

"Conner, listen to me please."

Danny's voice was strong and controlled. It made Conner silent, not able to say anything to a voice that had authority but wasn't going to yell at him either.

"Conner, this is not about you," Danny said very clearly. "It was never about you Conner, and I understand what happened last night. I am not abandoning you, I would never do that to you, or your mother or brother."

"Then why did you leave? Why is Mom in tears because of you?"

Conner could feel his own throat get thick as the silence on the other line stretched for a little bit before Danny spoke.

"There are things that I do Conner, things I don't want you or your family wrapped up in," Danny said, sadly it sounded like. "The easiest way of keeping you all safe is to stay clear of you, so certain people do not make connections, and you won't get hurt as easily this way. I know what I'm doing is hurting you, but it must be done. Worse things could happen if I stick around."

"But we want you around!" Conner nearly screamed at him, why couldn't Danny get that through his thick skull! "Who will cook us breakfast in the morning? Who will help me with my homework? Who will take us places and drone on for hours about it?"

"Your mother can do all of those things," Danny said. "And I'm always a phone call away if you need help with something."

"But we want you here; I want you here!"

"Conner, calm down. Do you want your mother to hear you?"

"Please," Conner begged quietly, tears slipping from his eyes. "I never had a real father before."

It was quiet for a long time other then Conner trying to sniffle quietly and keep his tears at bay. Finally, a crackled sign came from the other line.

"I'm not your father Conner—"

"But you could be—"

"Conner, you must accept this. I will always be your friend, but. . . I know this is hard, it is for me too, but I can' t be any closer to you guys then that: just a friend."

Conner fisted the phone in his hand tightly, his knuckles turning white as he started to cry.

"Conner? Conner are you still there?"

"Go to hell!"

Conner hung up the phone, throwing it into the wall with a scream before he buried his face in his knees and sobbed, feeling like someone had ripped a piece of his heart out that he could never get back.


It had been a few days since Danny had been at the house. Both Sam and Conner had gone into a stony silence; Sam in depression and Conner seemed to be in a different place. Maddie and Jack watched them with worry and concern, understanding their son's reason for keeping away, but if only he could see the damage he was doing, they knew he would change his mind in an instant.

Alex was particularly quiet most of the time, dragging his blanket around in the dirt, not even using it half of the time like he use to. He even forgot it at the park one day and Sam had to go back for it when she realized he misplaced it. When she brought it back and handed it to him, he only shrugged, grabbed it, and went into his room to sulk.

"Danny," Maddie was on the phone with him, out of hearing distance from Sam who was staring into a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. "sweety, you need to come around. All three of them are pretty upset."

"Mom, Sam won't want me around, not after that night," Danny sounded pretty depressed himself. "It would be better to keep my distance."

"Daniel Fenton, you cannot ignore this."

"And I'm not, I'm painfully aware of it all of the time."

His heavy sigh reached Maddie's ear clearly.

"Do what you think is best dear, but whatever it is, do it soon."

Maddie hung up then, angry with her son for leaving without so much as an explanation to the poor woman.

"Maddie," Sam said, startling Maddie as she had not heard the other woman get up from her chair to stand beside her. "Maddie why did he leave? He said he didn't want to see me anymore."

Maddie reached her around Sam's shoulders and sat her down on the couch, herself following.

"He's doing this to protect you hun," Maddie tried to explain. "It's Danny's secret, so I can't say anything, but try to believe me when I say he is trying his best to make this as painless as possible."

"This is painless?"

"I know, it's never easy, but he thinks this is best."

Sam suddenly got angry and slapped her hand on the couch arm.

"What the hell does he know!" she shouted. "How can he know this is what's best for us?"

"Sam, please, the boys are asleep," Maddie reminded her, looking up the stairs to make sure that was still true.

"I just don't understand," Sam sighed. "What did I do wrong?"

Maddie pulled Sam closer to her as Sam started to cry again.


Danny's heart felt heavy as he flew around the sky, doing a normal patrol. He had been feeling like this since he had told Sam he couldn't see her anymore, and keeping his distance was the best way to keep them all out of the involvement of Phantom. Still, that didn't meant it would be painless.

He missed getting to the house early to make the boys breakfast, seeing Sam's face when she saw the bacon cooking on the stove along with her veggie meal (in a separate pan of course). He missed helping find Alex's blanket when he lost it on their trips out of the house. He missed the long nights of telling ghost stories with the boys and long discussions on the couch with Sam. He missed them all terribly, but it was the right thing to do, to let them go. . . right?

A flash of bright blue caught his eye quickly. He looked down and saw someone on the op's center. As he flew closer to inspect this, he saw it was Alex, waving his blanket around like a beacon and staring very deliberately at him. Curious, Danny flew closer until he was on an eyelevel with Alex; the smaller looking at him from the safety rail of the op's center and Danny floating just out of reach.

"Did you need something?" Danny asked him.

"Why did you leave?" Alex asked quietly, letting his blanket drop from his hand.

Danny only blinked at him.

"I never left, I bet you saw me on the news the other night," Danny tried to clear up the young child's confusion, but Alex only shook his head.

"Mommy's very sad, and Conner doesn't talk anymore," Alex said, sounding very sad indeed. "No one is happy anymore."

"Um, I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about," Danny shrugged, trying to sound innocent, but lying to Alex was like lying to Sam: undoable.

"Danny, why did you leave us?" Alex started to cry. "Were we not good enough? We weren't good enough for my first daddy."

That broke Danny's heart in two. He took his glove off and wiped Alex's tears with his hand before speaking.

"You guys are perfect the way you are," Danny said truthfully, dropping his act since he knew Alex knew, somehow he knew. "It's me that I'm worried about. You know I fight ghosts, and I have many enemies, and you guys might get hurt because of that. I don't want to hurt you guys."

"But you're hurting us now!" Alex sobbed. "We miss you. Please, please come back."

Danny sighed, putting his glove back on.

"Alex, this, me not being around, that's something you can heal from. One of you getting hurt, even dying, that I can't accept," Danny tried to explain. "Please, try to understand that. I can't hurt you guys, I don't want that to happen. It could be accidental even."

"But you won't hurt us, you never would," Alex argued.

"I would never hurt you deliberately," Danny said back calmly. "But it could still happen Alex. I couldn't live with myself if I saw any of you hurt. That's how special you are to me."

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the sharp clap of lightening was visible to Danny as Alex turned around to see it as well.

"You had better go inside before the storm comes," Danny warned him.

Alex didn't say anything as Danny started to leave.