Well, here is the next installment in our mysterious love story. I really like the depth of emotions that is starting to happen now that things have come out into the open. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 11:

After the conversation had ended, both Danny and Sarah had searched the house for Sam to no avail.

While Danny seemed very worried, Sarah knew her granddaughter well and assured him she'd be back soon; she just needed time to cool off and think.

And as much as he wanted to search for her, he had his own issues to figure out.

From what Clockwork had explained the day of his resurrection, he knew that memories would slowly come back the more he stayed in Amity Park, but he'd never expected the sudden burst of his past like that of what he had received today.

'Even when I discovered my name, the memories didn't come back that quickly. Is this what the dragon-girl meant about being of both realms? Is there something in me that's pulling back these memories?'

'These memories, they're messing me up. Making me flicker, fall, feel warm. Something is going on here that Clockwork failed to explain…'

Clockwork. Was it possible that Clockwork was the one sharing these memories with him? Making him remember? After all, when Danny was resurrected, Clockwork had hinted that there was more to the story.

'Did he ever mention a prophecy? I can't even remember now…'

He had tried to get the details of his most recent ghost battle out of his head, but there was something about her prophecy, the way she said, "lives on both realms," that made Danny believe it was about more than just his choice to live in the human world.

'Could I possibly still have some humanity? Even just a trace? I've yet to meet any other ghost who has memories and emotions like I do…'

That wasn't saying much, as he had only starting battling ghosts out here recently and hadn't been given a chance to meet any in the zone. But still, all the ghosts he had met attacked first and asked questions never.

'Why me? Why was I the one who was resurrected? Why not pick a ghost with no history in this stupid town? No chance at making mistakes. No chance at falling in love…'

LOVE.

What a powerful combination of letters, once used to describe the way he felt as a human, now used to describe the way he felt as a ghost. Somehow, love always had a way of messing him up.

While exploring all of these thoughts, Danny had been flying over the town, checking all the places they had visited on their recent dates, and even some they hadn't. But Sam was making herself harder to find than even himself when he went invisible.

'Sam. I really hope you didn't do something stupid tonight. If you ever let the truth about my past affect our future, I don't know what I'd do. I can't lose someone again, not this way…'

Although it was true that he had once had feelings for Sarah Manson, that was 50 years ago, when they were BOTH teenagers. Now here he was, stuck in his teenage form, while she was in her late 60's. There was no way that could work, and frankly, Danny didn't want it to. Whether it was some form of humanity in him, or just ghostly emotions playing tricks, he knew what he wanted.

And what he wanted was Sam.

It was getting late, and despite her rebellious side when it came to her home life, Sam still felt like she was doing something wrong. But she didn't want to go home – her parents were away on business and the last person she wanted to see was her grandmother.

Everywhere in town reminded her of him and the fun they had had in the past few weeks. Dates, explorations, even just random walks, all seemed like a total lie now.

'He let you think he cared about you. He made you feel special. And the whole time he was hiding the truth, hiding himself!'

Sam knew that Danny hadn't always remembered the truth about his past; and she had always given him the benefit of the doubt when he said memories just sort of appeared. But she also knew that memories as big as his former relationship with her grandmother had to have arrived before today, and was certain that she had helped bring them back.

'I did always take pride in getting my looks from Grandma…'

Sam didn't want to blame her grandma, honest and truly she knew that it wasn't her fault, but she also didn't believe that her grandma wasn't hiding more from her in regards to her past and the memories of what once was.

'She moved on, met my grandpa and had my dad. But now that I think about it, she never really wanted to talk about her childhood, or college years, or really anything before I was born.''

Her head hurt from all the thinking. She needed somewhere to go, something to do to get her mind onto anything else.

Her mind wandered back to the school, specifically the roof, and what she had almost done that night. Why not go back? Try again, and maybe succeed this time.

'Not like I have much going for me here…' she found herself thinking glumly as instinct led her to the gym.

'He's not around. He won't stop you this time. Just go up, take a breath and step…'

She stopped at the corner, looking both ways and thinking. To her right, the school and her possible fate. The left? Well the left was another familiar place, and possibly a different chance to escape for awhile.

She pulled out her cellphone, hit the speed dial for 3, and smiled when the call went through.

"Hey Tuck, you busy? Mind if I come over and hang out?"

"Give it up Tucker, I beat you AGAIN!"

Sam and Tucker were sitting in the basement of Tucker's condo, playing Mario Kart and drinking diet soda. While Tucker had ample opportunities to practice, it being his game, somehow Sam had managed to beat him in every race.

And you could tell by the look on Tucker's face that he was not happy.

"Geeze Sam, cut a dude a break sometimes ok?"

"Never! I will forever be the queen of Rainbow Road!"

Tucker just rolled his eyes before grabbing the remote and flipping off the TV.

"What?! No! I was just warming up!" Sam cried, looking over at her friend in despair.

"Sam, something is up," Tucker began, a look of worry entering his face. "You only play this good when you need to forget about life for awhile, and given that it's close to 1AM, you must have a lot to forget."

The girl next to him crossed her arms and turned away, trying not to act like a complete baby, but knowing that Tucker would eventually wear her down and get the truth.

'But what if he can't handle the truth? What I almost did. What I want to do.'

Tucker had always been a good friend to her, even when she was a total spaz. Maybe that's why she had decided to turn left instead of right earlier.

But despite it all, she could never admit to him what she had been wanting to do for quite some time.

His voice broke her silence.

"Sam… Is it Phantom?"

Hearing his ghostly name struck a cord, and Sam slowly turned around.

She didn't know what to say, not really. Again Tucker was right, but again she couldn't admit it.

"His name is Danny, by the way…" she began, saying the only thing that made sense.

Tucker's eyebrows raised a bit at that name, as if maybe he knew something.

"Danny… Why does that seem so familiar?"

"I've used it before…" Sam began raising hers back.

"I know, I know, but for some reason it really strikes a chord today." 'Who's mental now?'

"But seriously Sam, please, as your friend, tell me what is going on." Tucker reached his hand over to Sam's shoulder, pulling her into him.

"It's complicated, really complicated…" Sam sighed.

'How do I explain to my best friend that my boyfriend used to date my grandmother?'

"You know me, I live for complicated," Tucker smiled.

"It's just… it turns out that he had a life… back then…"

'That seems safe…'

"Well of course he did, he wasn't always a ghost!"

"But that's the thing. Some of the research I've been doing says that some ghosts really are just forms of ectoplasm, not spirits of those past. While others are from our past, but always seem to have an evil motive. No one on record has ever experienced a ghost as human as Danny."

"Woah, Sam, when have you had time for research?"

"Tuck, I do more than you think."

'I hang out in goop covered labs. I contemplate stepping off roofs. I make out with ghosts…'

Trying to forget the last one, she let out a soft laugh, knowing that Tucker spent most of his time researching the latest gadgets.

"But we always knew he had a past Sam, so why should that matter now?" Tucker continued.

"Like I said, it's complicated. But trust me when I say that me and Danny are done for a bit." She turned away again, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

She had yet to admit out loud that maybe she and Danny were really DONE. While she knew it was rough, it was a hard thing to just give up. But telling Tucker made it real.

"Danny… Wait! I remember now!" Tucker interrupted the silence after a few minutes.

"Hmmm?" Sam said, turning around and wiping her tears.

"Remember when Lancer gave that stupid report on family history, I was at the cemetery looking up old Foleys. Somehow I got lost and found myself in Fe's and not Fo's. Normally I wouldn't care, but there was one that stood out to me, surrounded by irises like someone had just left them."

Sam swallowed a breath, knowing what was coming.

"The name said Danny Fenton," Tucker finished.

When Danny felt down, he retreated to one of two places.

Seeing as one was the sight of their first date, he had chosen the second today and found himself hovering silently in the Fenton lab.

'Wish that damn portal would open…' he thought as he stared at the yellow and black bars until they made him dizzy.

The Fentons weren't around right now, the house was silent, which meant that he didn't have to stay invisible as he wandered around the lab.

Having discovered his magic soup/ghost holder here before, he had hoped maybe there would be something else waiting for him today. And as the Fentons had become rather predictable, his hopes were correct.

Laying on one of the tables was what looked like an open triangle, made of steel and containing glowing green sensors. Danny knew he should remember the proper name for such an object, but his memory was failing him at that moment.

Either way, he had to investigate, and slowly floated over to pick it up.

The device itself was rather light, and it looked like it had some sort of air powered jets on the back. What for, he wasn't sure, but he was both scared and curious to find out.

Moving it around in his hands, he couldn't find any sort of activation switch, only lots of lights and sensors, a few of which glowed slightly when he touched it.

The glowing was enough to scare him off; the fear of some sort of alarm or ecto-activated weapon was far greater than his curiosity about the object.

'File this under: Don't touch,' He thought as he quickly put the item down and moved away from the table.

However, his business wasn't done and he now knew that curiosity had been known to get the better of him in his former life. So much so that he was now in front of the computer, trying to figure out just what the heck the point was.

As if answering his internal questions, the screen suddenly buzzed on, showing an alert.

5PM. Deliver flowers to cemetery. DO NOT FORGET.

Danny just stared at it, wondering what it meant before it went blank. Seeing as it was much later than five, he assumed that the Fentons had either forgotten to turn off the memo or forgotten to visit the cemetery.

'Technology. What else can you do?' he asked himself as he stared at the now black screen, his green eyes reflecting back.

'Maybe it can provide me with answers…' His hand reached for the little device he had seen Jack use before to navigate the computer.

The screen sprang to life, taking him directly to a long list of what he assumed must be locations of things on the computer. Using the device to move a small white arrow, he let his eyes wander as he read off the list.

"Portal X. Doom. Candy Crush? What kind of crazy stuff are you doing down here Jack?"

He kept reading, hoping for something useful, all the while a little red dot in the corner blinking with the reminder he had seen before.

He was about to give up when he discovered an picture that looked like a file folder labeled, "Family Photos."

'What, no more physical albums?'

He had a feeling he knew what he'd find when he clicked the folder, and his instincts were right. The first thing to pop up was the image he had seen before – him and Jazz – but given the time to truly look at it, he realized just how much he had missed his sister.

She had always been his rock, even more so than Sarah. Constantly standing up for him, keeping him safe from harm.

And how had he returned the favor? By dying.

He couldn't stand it, and quickly hit the small white arrow he assumed to be the "next" symbol. A new photo appeared, this time of his whole family.

"Mom. Dad…"

He hit the arrow again, unable to take it as he found himself immersed in even more old photos.

"Just look away Fenton, remember, you can always look away…"

But he really couldn't. As much as it hurt, he needed to see these things to remind himself of what he had lost.

The last photo was what did it, causing him to step back and turn away, a small tear in his eye.

The photo showed two young friends, one a messy haired boy, the other a wide eyed girl. Even in black and white, he knew those eyes were violet. They couldn't be more than ten, and they were together in the sandbox, working on an elaborate castle. The caption at the top said nothing more than "Danny and childhood friend."

"Childhood friend? That's it? No 'Sarah' or 'Girlfriend'?"

Things began to click as he thought about it. The Fentons, to his knowledge, had never actually mentioned Sarah. And if they knew who she was, he was sure they would have been all over her for answers.

'They really don't know. Did Jazz ever even mention the relationship I had with Sarah'

He found the X in the corner and quickly clicked it, wanting to put that part of his life behind. It had been a long day, what with Sarah and Sam and everything that had been discovered, and honestly he was ready to forget it all over again.

However, the one thing—erm person, who could make him do that was currently the reason he needed to forget.

He took one last look at the strange computer, watching the screen slowly fade back to black. Could he really live in this world? One where memories were stored on devices and music was full of angst?

The black screen continued to reflect his green eyes, but he could have sworn, if even for a second, he had seen a hint of blue.

A/N It may seem short, but a lot was revealed. I can't wait to share more.

Read, favorite, review!

Lisa