After a break, Phantom flew the obstacle course a few more times. He flipped onto his back and waved at the humans below as he flew through the hoops backwards. He dove down, just before hitting the wall, and slunk through the objects on the floor again.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Dad suddenly exclaimed.

Ghost Danny started slowing, looking over.

The man grabbed something from one of the lab tables, waving it around. "The speed gun." He waved the ghostly version of his son on. "Keep going, Danno! Keep going!"

Phantom grinned at the words. So his dad wanted to see speed, huh? He pushed himself to go faster. If he could turn without slowing, could phase without hesitating… And he was dashing through the obstacles, the lab almost blurring around him. His breath quickened with effort. But he pushed himself harder, strained his flexibility, his agility. It was just him and the course. Just the pulsing of his core, the distant beating of his heart.

Soon, his chest was heaving, his core tensing with repeated bouts of intangibility. Phantom slowed to a stop. "How was… how was that?" He panted.

"You got up to 50 miles per hour!" Dad grinned.

The ghost boy deflated. "Fifty? I thought I was faster than that."

"Danny, that's really fast." Sam commented with wide eyes. "Average jogging speed is like… 7 miles per hours. And the fastest sprint for a human is…" She pulled out her phone, presumably to look it up.

Fenton beat her to it. "27.8 miles per hour is Usain Bolt's record." He looked up at his ghost and his voice rang with pride. "That's almost twice as fast. That's amazing."

"Plus, this was in an enclosed space while flying through an obstacle course." Mom added. "I'm sure if you were in an open area and just flying straight, it'd measure much faster."

Phantom's disappointed expression dissolved. "Yeah. You guys are right. I guess I did good."

"You did great." Dad agreed, enthusiastically. He gripped the speed gun in his hands and glanced at the stairs. "If you want, we can go to the backyard to measure again."

Ghost Danny landed on the floor. "Nah. Another day. I've had enough flying for now."

Fenton looked at him skeptically for a moment before chuckling. "Didn't figure I'd hear that today."

"It's alright. My core's kinda tense from all the exercise." Phantom walked over to him, putting an arm around his human's shoulders. "Just you wait. I'll probably be itching for more by the morning." He shrugged, looking to his parents. "I had a really good time. Thanks for letting us do this."

Mom nodded. "Of course. Like I said, I'm happy we did. Even if you got hurt…." She glanced to the bandage on Fenton's arm and then to Phantom's or rather… the unmarred suit covering the bandage.

Ghost Danny looked at his arm. "Yeah. That was… interesting." His nose wrinkled. Truthfully, he wasn't that weirded out now but… he had questions. How exactly did his suit repairing itself work? Why had he been able to feel it? Still… those could wait for later. He glanced at the lab clock. "It's about dinner time, isn't it? Anybody hungry?"

Fenton's stomach rumbled. "That's a yes."

That earned a chuckle from the other humans. With that, the group went upstairs. They ordered takeout and watched a movie before Sam and Tucker went home.

The younger teens laid on the floor in front of the TV in a pile of blankets and pillows. Phantom lounged with Fenton to his right and Sam at his left, while Tucker laid on the other side of Fenton. Blobby nestled on his back, right between his shoulder blades, and purred softly. Ghost Danny smiled, putting his head down on his arms and listening to the soft conversations around him. It really had been a great day.

Sunday was working on homework and relaxing. Uneventful, peaceful. Mom and Dad took the day off, not working down in the lab. The nights were peaceful as well. Phantom stargazed with his new pet. The little blob did wander off on occasion but Ghost Danny didn't worry, having realized he could sense the ghost, even if it was out of eyeshoot. And when it did leave his side, for the most part, it would seek out Fenton anyway. Blobby was content splitting time between the two Dannys, that was… until Monday morning.

"You have to stay here, with me." Phantom held the ghost to his chest. Blobby whined, wiggling away. It flew back to Fenton but…

"I've got to go to school. You can't come with me." He handed the wayward blob back to his ghost half.

Ghost Danny patted the small ghost between the eyes. "I know. I know. I don't want him to leave either. But Fenton has to go to school. He'll be back soon though." He kissed Blobby's 'head'. "And you'll have me all to yourself, huh?"

The blob purred at the affection. Human Danny gave it scritches, right under the eyes. "Yeah, I'd much rather stay here but I gotta go. Be good, Blobby."

The human left through the front door with a wave. Jazz came after giving Phantom and the blob an amused look. The parents smiled at the interaction as well, before going down to the lab.

A few hours later, Ghost Danny was scrolling through his phone and idly petting Blobby, when the Fenton adults came up for lunch. Turning his head at the sight, he floated off the couch and into the kitchen.

"How does chicken salad sound?" Mom said, looking through the fridge.

"Sounds great." Dad replied, going through the pantry.

The woman closed the appliance, looking to the side. "Hi Danny." Her eyes flickered over him, before moving to the couch. The corner of her mouth turned up. "How's Blobby?"

The boy looked back at the small ghost, which was still snuggling into one of the pillows. "Happy. It's been purring a lot."

Mom nodded, starting to make the sandwiches for the other adult and herself. A few minutes later, both parents sat down with their lunches. Phantom joined them.

"How's your arm?" Dad looked up, after a few bites.

The ghost looked down, gently touching the spot. "A lot better." The cotton pad crinkled slightly under his fingers. "Fenton and I changed out each other's bandages last night. It looked almost healed."

"Can we take a look at it?" Mom asked, frowning slightly. Phantom reached up to his collar, preparing to unzip his suit. "After we finish eating." She clarified, stopping the movement.

Ghost Danny gave a nod. "Yeah. After."

After about fifteen minutes, the adults finished lunch. "Go ahead." Mom motioned him to continue.

Like earlier, the boy unzipped the suit, shrugging off one sleeve. Gently, he pulled off the tape and lifted the gauze from the injury.

Both parents' eyes widened. "You said almost healed. But I wasn't expecting this." Dad said, surprised.

Phantom looked down at the scrape. Or rather, what used to be a scrape but now was newly healed, light green skin. He shrugged, a little embarrassed. "Yeah, it's… uh… pretty much better now. I heal a lot faster than I used to, I guess."

"Faster indeed." Mom mused softly. She reached forward. "May I?" The boy nodded and she gently touched his shoulder. "Does it hurt any?"

"Nope." Phantom shook his head.

"And the other you, is it healing this fast on him too?" She asked.

"I think so." Ghost Danny frowned thoughtfully. "Both our scrapes looked the same last night, except…uhh…the colors." Both had been scabbed over, the skin around starting to peel and itch, as if the scab was close to coming off. "'Cause my skin's kinda green, ya know. But Fenton's more pink." His cheeks darkened in a green blush, still kinda embarrassed. "We didn't think to check this morning. Sorry."

"It's alright. No need to be embarrassed about any of this." Dad patted his other shoulder, before giving a thoughtful hum. "You just keep surprising us, Danno."

Mom gave a similar hum. "We do keep learning new things. Still…" She shook her head, giving him a small smile. "I'm glad you're healing quickly."

"Me too." Phantom agreed as he started pressing the gauze pad back over the area.

"You shouldn't need to keep that covered anymore. Unless the suit is bothering the new skin." The woman said.

"Nah." Ghost Danny pulled off the rest of the tape. "It shouldn't bother me." He balled up the dressing and threw it into the trash can. The wad landed perfectly. "Yes! Three points." He fist pumped.

The adults smiled fondly. Dad balled up his own trash, sticking his tongue out slightly, and giving his own throw. The man missed, of course.

Meanwhile, Phantom put his arm back in his sleeve and re-zipped the suit. "Yeah, It's fine." He rolled his shoulder, flexing his upper arm experimentally. "I can barely even feel the hazmat."

"Oh. Talking about that, I had a question." Dad asked from where he stood up to retrieve his trash. "On Saturday, you said your suit fixed itself after you cut it?"

Ghost Danny lowered his arm, frowning slightly. "Yeah, I did."

"How'd it do that?" The man asked, eyes wide and curious.

"Well… It was kinda weird." Phantom bit his lip, describing what happened. How the suit had melded back together, neon green, like ectoplasm, welling in the cut before it darkened.

Dad tapped his chin, thoughtfully. "Could you feel it, when your suit fixed itself?"

Ghost Danny blinked. "Uh… actually yes? It was kinda tingly. And…wet? I guess?"

Mom hummed, just as thoughtful. "Did you feel when your suit was initially cut?"

Phantom's brow furrowed. "Yeah? I mean… I definitely felt my arm get scraped through the suit."

The adults looked at each other, expression shifting. The two of them had an idea, didn't they?

"No, son. I think your Mom meant…. You felt your skin getting scraped but… did you feel when the suit itself got cut?"

The boy looked between the two adults, still confused. But…were they asking what he thought they might be-

"Was there… some type of sensation, from the suit itself being damaged?" Mom asked.

And…. they were asking that. "I don't…" His nose wrinkled. There was a slight impulse to dismiss the question. Him being able to physically feel his suit as if it was his skin was… ridiculous but… he'd felt it when it healed itself. "I don't know? I can't tell… Maybe?"

The woman nodded, understanding. "You probably wouldn't be able to tell. You did scrape your skin and cut your suit at the same time."

Phantom tried to remember. They'd been a sudden pain but… his skin and his suit… with the two so close together he couldn't tell. "Yeah." He replied mildly.

"Do you want to find out?" Dad asked.

Ghost Danny blinked. "What?"

"No. We don't mean physically injuring you. We've seen that before and uh… we don't want to see it again." Mom clarified, holding her hands out defensively. "We could try out a few things, to see if we can figure out how your suit healing itself works. If you want to."

Phantom looked between the two. Both looked curious and eager. And he didn't want to admit it… but he was curious too. "Alright. Yeah. I wanna know what's up with this." He shrugged.

The ghost floated off his seat and started down the basement stairs with both of his parents. "So where do we start?" He asked, once they were all standing beside one of the lab tables.

"Let's start with some observations." Mom grabbed a notebook, jotting down a few words. "May your father and I look at one of your gloves?"

"Sure." Phantom nodded, taking off one of the gloves and offering it to his parents.

The woman gently grasped it, turning the object around in her hands. "This doesn't feel anything like hazmat." She moved it up and down in the air, switching between hands. "It's much lighter. Jack…" She handed the glove over to him.

The man hummed. "Definitely lighter… and it feels cool to the touch." He pressed gently, watching the way the material gave under his finger. "It gives more than hazmat does. Moves like one of those nitrile gloves but… feels thicker? Maybe like… a thin… knitted glove? But it's completely smooth." His brow furrowed. "It's hard to describe."

Ghost Danny nodded, agreeing with the assessment. "Like I said, I can barely feel it. It feels like it's… molded to me or… something."

Dad nodded. "Are you feeling anything when I'm touching it?"

Phantom shook his head. "No."

The man handed it back to the other adult who asked. "Do you mind if I put it on?"

The ghost shrugged. "Sure." Mom slipped her hand inside and…. Ghost Danny shivered, a violent full body shake ravaging his body. "Okay. No. Maybe don't do that."

The woman quickly pulled off the glove. "What is it?"

"It felt like someone… uh…" Phantom bit his lip, mind catching up with the express. "You know how when you randomly get a full body shiver, people say someone walked over their grave…" There was a pause, both parents suddenly looking very worried. "Yeah, it felt like that."

Mom blinked, lips pursing. "We will not do that again then. But just touching it on the outside…?"

"That's fine." The boy waved her off. "And I'm still not feeling anything."

His parents both wore thoughtful looks. Worry flickered across Dad's face. "Would it be okay if we tried to cut it again?"

Phantom bit his lip. "Maybe? I don't know." He wanted to see what would happen but the possibility of it causing him pain….

"How about this?" Mom placed his glove down on the table, reaching for a pair of scissors. "I'll cut off a tiny stripe from the bottom here." She pointed to the wrist of the glove. "If it hurts at all, tell me and we'll stop."

"I will." Phantom nodded.

The woman sat down, cutting a tiny strip with her brow furrowed in intense concentration. The ghost boy braced himself. And… he blinked. "Yeah, Okay. I'm still not feeling anything there."

Mom let out a breath. "That's a relief." She let the white strip fall to the table and…

"What the hell." Ghost Danny's eyes widened as the piece of fabric darkened, taking on a green color, and… melted.

Both adults blinked, startled. Then… "Language." Mom rebuked mildly.

"Sorry." The boy apologized. "But… what just happened?" He floated forward, his ungloved hand wavering over the piece of fabric. "I mean, that was-" A brief shiver passed over the limb, the hairs on the back of his hand rising. "What the… I can feel something." He just blinked, trying to process.

"What is it?" Dad asked gently.

"It's like…." Phantom frowned down at the limb, eyes flickering to the glove beneath. "There's this ache…" He traced the base of his bare wrist with his other, gloved hand. "Or… no, not an ache. It doesn't hurt. But… something feels… different. And it's… far away but… not like Fenton's far away. It's… I don't know how to describe it."

Mom frowned. Tentatively, she reached for his glove. One of her fingers brushed the tips of the empty fingers. And… Ghost Danny's own fingers curled in response.

"Okay. I… think I felt that." The boy bit his lip, closing his eyes. "Mom, can you do that again?" His hairs stood on end again, fingers twitching. "It's.. yeah, there's something. It's like…" He pinched his eyes closed, trying to think. "Getting your hair cut? Like… you can't actually feel your hair so getting it cut doesn't hurt but… you can still feel that someone's doing something to it?" He opened his eyes. "I'm probably not making any sense."

Mom placed her hand on the table. "No sweetie, don't discount yourself. You're trying your best."

Phantom frowned. "Still… being able to feel my clothes like this is so weird."

Tentatively, he picked up the glove and slipped it onto his hand. With the half-inch wide sliver gone, the glove was no longer flush with the edge of his sleeve but…. The boy's eyes widened as a familiar cold, tingly feeling rose in his wrist. It passed up, just above his skin. And… okay, okay, he was definitely feeling his glove. The sensation centered on the edge of the glove and…. It felt wet, like…. When he was squeezing through a tight space and felt like he was more water than anything solid. Green sprung up, seeping from the side and below. It joined the existing part of his glove, weaving together and lightening until it was white. And… he blinked, his glove was whole and intact as if it had never been cut.

Phantom looked up. "So… that just happened. My suit fixed itself again." His core tensed slightly and he rubbed the spot, nose wrinkling. "It feels like I just shot a few ectoblasts? But I didn't so…." He looked at his glove. "What the heck is going on with my hazmat suit?"

There was a pause, the family members looking at each other. Then Mom said. "It's not a hazmat suit."

Ghost Danny blinked. "What do you mean it's not a hazmat suit? It looks just like the custom suit you guys made me. I mean, the portal changed the colors but it should be the same." His voice pitched up in whining confusion.

"No. It's okay." The woman shook her head, waving her hands at the ghost. "It just looks like your hazmat suit but it's not. I think… it's a part of your ghost form."

Phantom furrowed his brow, confused. "What?"

Dad snapped his fingers. "It makes perfect sense. You can feel it, physically feel it if you're close to it. It'll repair itself if it's touching you."

"But the glove…" He pointed at the spot of ectoplasm on the table. "It melted."

"If we looked at that sample under the microscope, I bet it would match your other samples." Mom added, as if that explained his protest. "In fact, you should try to reabsorb it."

"But…" The ghost trailed off. This was adding up to a picture. A very strange picture but…. The suit didn't feel like hazmat at all. It was fitted perfectly to him, moving with him like a second skin. He could feel it, as if it was a dim memory of his own hand. It repaired, healed, itself. Someone else wearing it sent chills down his spine. And… he'd told Fenton, something about wearing it felt so right. "It's a part of my ghost form." Phantom stared at his gloves, his stomach flopping. "Like… it's a part of my body."

"Basically… yes." Mom tapped her chin. "After your glove fixed itself, you said it felt like shooting ectoblasts. That must be because you were using your own energy to heal your suit, like you would any other injury."

"Any other injury….." Ghost Danny blinked. "But… I can take my suit off?"

"It's not completely analogous to human biology, Danny." Mom said with an understanding smile. "You've said it yourself. Ghosts work differently."

"Yeah." Dad chuckled, pointing. "You know how snakes shed their skin? It's like that except you can put yours back on!"

Phantom looked up, blinking rapidly. He could put his back on, Dad said, like a snake. His hazmat suit, his clothes… he could put them back on, like a shed snake skin. The boy shook his head. Well… he had compared himself to a sea serpent on Saturday. "I guess I'm a snake boy, then." He quipped with a half-smile.

"Snake boy?" His father laughed, scoping him out of the air. "HaHa. Exactly!"

And that's what he gets for being mostly impervious to gravity. Ghost Danny tried to wiggle away, letting gravity drag him down. But Dad barely reacted. The boy sighed, giving up. Either the man was insanely strong or he still weighed next to nothing as a ghost. Likely both. "Dad!" He complained with his own chuckle. Dad just ruffled his hair, so enthusiastically that it was pretty much a noogie.

Mom pinched one of his cheeks. "Well, you do have a tail instead of legs a good amount of the time."

And the world was turning upside down. Mom and Dad were the ones joking about this and he was the one still trying to sort it out. Earlier, barely a week ago, a discovery like this would have had them averting each other's eyes, uneasy and uncomfortable. It would have ended with hurt feelings, tears, and arguments. But now…

Phantom reformed his tail as Dad let go of him. He pulled both of his parents into a hug, letting the appendage stretch to wrap around both of them. "Thank you." He murmured. "For not making a big deal out of this."

For not making him feel like a freak, he meant. For helping him sort this out. For not just accepting his ghostliness but…embracing it.

The parents squeezed him harder. And Phantom was happy. He loved them so much and all of this was going so well but… there was a pang in his core. If only Fenton had been here too…

The group pulled part. Mom and Dad didn't say anything else, just giving him loving looks. The ghost floated over to the little spot of ectoplasm, left from when Mom had cut his glove. He placed a finger in the spill. And… the glove was a second skin, a part of his body, made of the same ectoplasm as the rest of him. He should be able to absorb this ectoplasm through it. Phantom focused, pulling the ectoplasm back. That little spot of cold flowed back into him, like one of his ectoblasts reabsorbed before he shot it.

Ghost Danny lifted his hand, surveying his unstained fingers. "So it worked." He shook his head. "Man. Still… how did the portal manage to do this to my hazmat suit?" The question was thrown out hypothetically, no answer really expected but…

"Danny, sweetie." There was a bemused lithe to Mom's voice. "Do you still think that's literally the same hazmat suit we made for you?"

The boy looked between her and the glove. That tone…. "I… uhh… I kinda thought it was." He blushed, suddenly embarrassed. "It's not, is it?"

The woman shook her head. "No, no. It's not. It looks basically the same, though the colors are inverted. But it's completely made of your ectoplasm."

Phantom at once felt very dumb. "Yeah. Of course. That makes more sense." And that was probably why it took him so long to realize that the hazmat suit wasn't exactly a hazmat suit. "But uh…. Why does it look like my hazmat suit though?"

The more amused expressions waned. "It's probably because that's what you were wearing during your accident." Mom answered.

"Oh." The boy looked down. He did remember that, donning his custom white and black suit. His core clinched at the memory, the uncomfortable feeling of stuffing his jeans into the spandex, the way the high collar rubbed at his neck. It was not pleasant to wear in the least. And yet… there was a hint of sadness. Surveying himself in the mirror in the white and black, colored like a space suit. And turning away to explore the unknown… he could almost envision himself as the astronaut he'd wanted to be since he was four. "What ended up happening to that suit?"

A heavy silence fell and Phantom tensed. Maybe he shouldn't have asked. They had been having such a good time. Things had been going so well but he missed something obvious and just had to make everyone sad again and-

"The paramedics had to cut it off of you." Mom said, quietly. Too quietly. "You were wearing it when I found you in the basement. It was so dirty. There were…" Her voice cracked with emotion. "There were these horrible burns on the left arm. It looked almost… almost black." She wiped his watering eyes.

There was a pause. Phantom didn't look up, his shoulders ripe with tension. He saw it in a flash. His own hand, the fingers curled painfully, his glove half melted, a blackened scar running up the white hazmat of his arm.

"How much do you remember about your accident?" His father asked, surprisingly softly.

Everything, Phantom could have said. He remembered a thousand painful details in the privacy of his own mind but…he wanted to lie and say he didn't remember. That would… that would be better, right? That would worry them less. He could lie and say he didn't remember. They'd both sigh in relief and drop it but…

"I… I remember everything but… it's not a good… a good memory." He shivered at the words. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Danny…" Mom started, expression earnest and pleading.

The ghost shook his head. "I know I should talk about it." And he should. He should. He could trust them. They'd been over this, how he could talk to them about anything. And…they'd already seen and accepted so much. He knew they loved him and could help him. "But I'm… I'm not ready."

There was a pause. Then… "Have you and Fenton talked about it?" Mom asked.

His cheeks darkened, turning green. "No. We… we haven't. We've… barely even thought about it."

Dad gently took his hand. "Do that then. Talk about it with your other half. And…" He squeezed. "We'll be here when you're ready to talk to us, okay?"

Mom took his other hand. "Don't push it down, sweetie. Please. Let us help you when you're ready."

Phantom's eyes fixed down, his core swelling with a cacophony of emotions. They weren't…they weren't pushing him. They were giving him time and space and understanding. And he felt guilty. He should push forward and talk about it but… he and Fenton needed to be on the same page for that. They needed to deal with this in their own mind, heart, and core first.

"We won't." Phantom finally said, letting himself relax. "We learned our lesson there."

They had learned their lesson about pushing things down, about avoiding feelings. He and Fenton would not make that mistake again. He'd talk to his human about this once he got back from school. They'd talk about this and start dealing with it. Another step towards healing, towards getting better, towards figuring out how to be Danny again.