The ball bounced once, twice, three times before House scooped it up with the hooked part of his cane. He then let it slide down the length and into his lap. He threw it up in the air and watched the weird albino man's laughing face on the surface of the ball get closer to his waiting hands.

"House!"

The doctor jerked and the ball hit his knee and then the ground.

"What."

Cameron's face was grim. "It's time."

House gave the ball a lingering stare before getting up and joining the rest of the gang at the doors to their prison/lab.

Chase and Foreman stared straight ahead. Maddie tugged at imaginary wrinkles in her jumpsuit. Sam chewed her bottom lip. Wilson scratched at his face and yawned. No one seemed to want to look at each other.

Cameron found herself touching Maddie's arm. "It's gonna be okay," she said softly. Maddie gave her a tight nod in return.

House glanced around and popped a pill.

The doors opened and guards appeared surrounding them. "This way," one of them said sternly.

As the gang started down the hallway, House tripped and fell into Sam, practically taking her down with him. The guards immediately took notice of the disruption.

"I'm a cripple. It happens." House barked at them.

Sam gave the doctor a look, but he was ignoring her.

A little ways down the hall, they came to another set of guards who seemed confused about what they were supposed to be doing. The guards began to discuss things with the newcomers in hushed tones.

House took the opportunity to nudge Sam. "You drop this?"

Sam looked at him in surprise, then looked down at the tube of chapstick in the doctor's hand. It wasn't hers. She furrowed her brow at him, but he simply pressed the small tube into her hands.

House straightened and sniffed. "Think you might, I don't know, give the hero a kiss before the big battle?" He said "big battle" sarcastically, as if it were a silly thing.

Sam remained confused and examined the item in her hands. She uncapped the tube and saw that there was indeed lip balm in the tube but it glowed slightly with a greenish tint to it. She quickly recapped it and stuffed it in her pocket, checking to make sure the guards hadn't seen anything.

"Your plan seriously rides on me kissing Danny?" she hissed at him.

"Oh, don't act like you don't want to," House retorted.

Sam glared. "What will it do?"

"Hey! No talking!" The guards had apparently finished their conversation and were continuing to move the group forward.

"Just make sure it's a good kiss," House muttered under the sounds of everyone's dragging feet.

Sam scowled at him, but he was once again ignoring her.

They came to a stop at a set of double doors.

Danny tried his best not to let his anxiety show. He disguised his pacing by playing with his powers, allowing small bursts of his energy to build up in his hands before absorbing it back in. His powers were fully operational and he felt great, but the guards didn't seem to care. And that worried him.

At least a week had passed since he had seen House and his mom. He took that to mean that Freakshow's procedure had gone well. He was now half-ghost and had been delaying their fight only so that he could get familiar with his powers.

The fact that he and his father now stood in a room that was not a prison cell and was only casually guarded worried him even more as that told him he wasn't seen as much of an escape risk.

Which he wasn't. Not when his mom, Sam, and the others were still confined somewhere in the converted town hall.

Danny sighed.

"What do you think we're doing here, Son?" Jack Fenton sat heavily in a fold-up chair, watching Danny with equal parts worry and fascination.

"I think this is it. It must be time for me to fight him."

"You think… I mean, you said it was unlikely he was going to be much powerful than other ghosts you've faced. You think you can take him?"

Danny frowned. He opened his mouth to answer – although he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to answer – and was interrupted by the double doors at one end of the room opening.

"Mads!" Jack was up and across the room in seconds, engulfing his wife in one of his bear hugs.

"Jack…" Maddie breathed on a sigh of relief and nestled into her husband's arms.

Danny immediately caught Sam's eyes, but was confused and slightly hurt when she quickly averted them in response.

"Hey, kiddo." A hand clapped on to his shoulder. Danny turned to see Dr. House giving him a grim smile. The rest of the team soon surrounded him, inquiring about his health and the functionality of his powers. Maddie squeezed through for a hug, but then joined in on the questioning.

"Guys, I'm fine. Really. I'm just happy to see you all are still holding up."

Sam had joined the huddle, but again she avoided Danny's gaze.

"Aw psh," Wilson waved a hand, "just your run of the mill kidnapping by an evil circus man with ghost henchmen who forces you to do his evil bidding." He winked at Danny, who smiled back, happy the doctor was doing better.

He then turned somber. "We're more worried about you and how we can help you win this fight."

"I can take him," Danny replied without hesitation. Everyone waited as he blew out a breath, clearly unnerved by something. He lowered his voice even though it seemed they were actually alone for once. "Just… try to stick together and as far from the guards as possible. Even if I beat him, there's no telling what he has up his sleeves."

A loud buzzing sound suddenly filled the room, drawing everyone's attention to a digital clock above the doors on the other side of the room. It seemed to be counting down from a minute.

"Looks like we don't have much more time." House said softly.

He and Danny exchanged curt nods. Chase, Foreman, and Wilson shook Danny's hand and gave him pats on the back. Cameron gave him a crushing hug. They stepped back to allow his family their turn.

Jack and Maddie scooped their son up into a group hug. "We love you. And we're proud of you." His mom sniffed and rubbed at her eyes.

The clock displayed 20 more seconds.

House flashed a look at Sam. She looked away and rubbed her arm. Her lips felt tingly, but other than that it was impossible for her to tell what the chapstick she had obediently applied was going to do for Danny.

Would her decision to kiss him or not really be the difference between him winning and losing the fight? She huffed. This really wasn't fair. If she was going to kiss Danny, she wanted it to be because she cared about him as more than a friend and was finally willing to risk showing that to him. Not because some doctor had decided to use her as a vessel to deliver medicine.

She peered over at the boy she had watched grow from a clumsy teen into a hero wise beyond his years.

Then again, didn't loving someone mean doing what was best for him? If she really loved Danny, then shouldn't she be willing to put aside her own fear and embarrassment to deliver something to him that would help him stay strong?

15 seconds.

"Danny!"

He turned from watching the clock and doors below it. He barely had time to register what was happening before Sam was in his arms burying her face in his chest. He wasted no time in returning the tight hug.

10 seconds.

"Sam, I…"

She cut him off. "It's okay. Whether you meant it or said it without really thinking about it. It's okay."

"Yeah, but…"

5 seconds.

And then Sam's lips were on his. Surprise gave way to joy and he placed his hand gently to the side of her face.

They broke apart just as the clock buzzed again.

"See you after," Sam said confidently.

"You got it," Danny replied.

Then the doors opened.

Sorry it was so short :( Next chapter should be the last one and I'm gonna try to crank it out soon. Thanks for sticking with it no matter how long you've been reading! :)