beforehand

i had hand-written a couple different versions of this chapter before i settled on this one, so sorry for making you wait. i want to say now that i am very open to suggestions from my readers

shoutouts

rikagirls - that seems to be pleasing everyone. i'm glad to entertain my readers

crazyvi - yeah, i figured someone would have to find out early on or it would just get boring

Nonasuki-chan - LOL i would have to say the same thing

Forbidden Secrets - thank you, and i definately have to agree with you. however, jazz does not think along the lines of people like us.. and i'm trying not to make the characters -too- OOC

gabriella phantom - thank you, i'm glad i can keep my readers happy. haha cute rhyme. yeah i wasn't sure how to make her react, but i took the what-the-hell-i-must-be-going-insane approach because i personally think it's adorable when she freaks out, like in "Prisoners of Love" when she was wrong about Jack, and "Identity Crisis" when Fenton and Phantom are two different people. and yes, Identity Crisis is the episode that inspired me to write this story.

Bunny Bubble - that's quite alright, i'm glad you're a frequent reader and enjoying the story.

Nayias - i'm so glad you're enjoying this. of course there's more, i'm just having trouble deciding what that more should consist of. i have to ask, btw, how do you pronounce your username?

disclaimer

danny phantom is not mine... i know, you're all gravely disappointed

Silent Departure

Chapter 6 - Truthful Deceit ((Danny Fenton's POV))

After cleaning up after our 'experience', I decide we should get dressed right away, lest we give in to the urge to cuddle and fall asleep. Still, I don't want to do my homework just yet, so I stall by picking up his clothes instead of my own. I dress quickly while he rests, not yet able to comfortably sit up. Once fully attired (it takes me a minute to find his gloves and figure out how to get his boots comfortably over his pants), I offer to dress him. Still slightly out of it, he takes advantage of my offer. I can only smile, remembering my first time as the submissive partner. I carefully push my undergarments and jeans onto him, hoping he won't notice a difference in the material of the latter. He seems to just be greatful that he doesn't have to sit up. When it comes time to put on his (my) shirt, I advise that he place the pillow beneath his backside, and he does so. Still wincing in discomfort, he doesn't notice the jeans. He lifts his arms and I pull the shirt over his head. He puts his arms through the sleeves and stands up.

"I may as well learn how to walk again," he says, opening his eyes. "Or at least how to fly... Daniel, when did you put a mirror next to..." he blinks. "Daniel?" he looks at himself as I grin, and once more attempts to glare but fails due to a smirk. "What did you do?"

"Well, you, for one thing," I take him into my arms. "You look so cute in my clothes."

"You think so?" he glances at the floor, picks up my red and white baseball cap, and puts it on backwards. I laugh quietly at him and he kisses me softly. I allow the kiss for a moment, then pull from him and sit down to do my homework. He walks over and crosses his arms on my back. "Whatcha up to?"

"What does it look like?" I reply calmly.

He scoffs. "Looks boring, dude."

I blink, then turn and offer him a half smirk. He smirks back, then rolls his eyes and strolls to the window, opening the blinds. I return to my homework and suggest, "Why don't you go find Tucker and Sam?"

He leans against the window frame and points outside. "Found them."

"What?" I run to the window just in time to see Sam and Tucker walk in. They know by now that they're welcome at any time as long as I'm not in trouble, and they'd know if I was. I hear them heading up to my room, but when they try to walk in they find that the door is still locked. The phantom walks over and unlocks the door, opening it for them. I sigh and return to my homework. "Hey guys."

"Umm, Danny," Tucker says.

"Sup?" the phantom waves, not moving from the window frame. Sam sighs.

"Would you mind explaining why you've split yourself in half again?" she asks.

"Yeah, dude," Tucker says, the both of them walking towards me. "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

The phantom snickers, and my friends glance at him. Sam rolls her eyes, "Tucker, for some reason I don't think the time we remember is the last time they split."

"No way, dude," the phantom says, "We do this, like, all the time."

"But isn't human Danny the one that doesn't care about anything?" Tucker glances down at me as I try to finish my History homework. It's taking me a moment to grip the pencil with these gloves on. "And... not wear your ghost fighting costume."

"Tell that to him," the phantom shrugs. "He's the one who put my clothes on instead of his own."

"If I may ask," Sam cringes, "Why were the two of you undressed in the first place?"

"And why is he still doing homework?" Tucker asks. "We weren't assigned that much."

"Didn't feel like doin' it right away," the phantom walks carefully over to us. I don't mind that they're talking as if I'm not here. I finish the work easily, as I'd already started it in class, then start on the math. It won't take long.. despite what what Vlad thinks, I am very good at math.

"But you still haven't told us why.." Sam starts.

"Hey, would you mind closin' the door?" the phantom glares at them slightly. "What if Daniel's parents finish a new invention, or that nosy sister decides to come check on him?"

My friends wear comical expressions. The phantom's mood swing only added to the awkwardness of the situation. I finish the homework with ease and put it away, stand up to stretch, then rest a hand on the shoulder of my other half. "What do you say we change back and..."

His ghost sense goes off before I can finish. The four of us look at each other worriedly, but my lover quickly removes the hat, goes intangible, and flies out the window.

((Danny Phantom's POV))

I look around as quickly as I can. Fighting this close to the house is just asking to be caught by Maddie, Jasmine, or even Jack. I wouldn't mind it so much if I wasn't wearing Daniel's clothes.

"Up here, dipstick," I hear, and look up just in time to be hit by a green wave of energy and forced to the ground. She flies down after me, but hovers a safe distance away.

"Ember!" I growl. "How did you escape?"

"You dropped the Fenton Thermos in your classroom," she says critically. "That Lancer guy thought it was soup and opened it, setting me free, along with those other minor ghosts you caught this morning."

I shoot a few ectoblasts at her but she goes intangible and they fly right through her. I sigh and sit up, moaning softly in pain as I do so but talking quickly to try and cover it up, "This morning... you said..."

"Eh, fuck what I said," she grins. "You didn't actually buy that, did you? Geez, I just didn't feel like fighting you while you were down on your knees. You know how pathetically BORING that is?"

I glare up at her, silently drawing in a deep breath, then emit my ghostly wail. She tries to block it but the waves shatter her shield and send her flying into the wall of a nearby building. I fly after her as fast as I can and she tries using her guitar as a shield, momentarily too weak to generate an ectoplasmic one. I punch right through the body of the guitar, snapping it, strings and all, and my fist continues into the side of her face, knocking her off the wall and towards the ground. I go to take the thermos, then remember what she said about having left it at school. I can't risk flying there, she'll have time to escape. I instead go intangible and fly into the house.

"Daniel, I need something to capture Ember, quick!"

"Ember? But we..."

"I'll explain later, just give me something!"

"Here," Tucker hands me another Fenton Thermos. "I copied the thermos' data onto my PDA and made copies of it so I'll always have one with me."

"Thanks, Tucker," I take it and fly outside again only to be punched in the face by a very furious Ember and sent flying into the brick wall of Fenton Works.

"You're going to PAY for what you did to my guitar!" she says, smashing the lower half of the broken instrument over my head, the force causing said broken instrument to shatter to bits, but I manage to hold my body in place. Slamming into the ground is not something I think I can endure at the moment. She holds the remainder of the instrument as one would a baseball bat, and slams it into my side, knocking me away from the building. Still dizzy from her previous assault, I can only blindly shoot my ectoblasts and hope they hit her. From the sounds of it, a couple make the mark, but not mark enough, I realize, as she claws at my face. The attack leaves three slices on my face, but instead of bleeding they shimmer a light green colour. I grab the end of the busted guitar that she still holds and spin around quickly before letting it go and sending her flying back against the wall of Fenton Works. I uncap the thermos Tucker gave me and fly after her, aiming it just as she goes to attack me again. Capturing her for the second time today, I cap the thermos and fly back to Daniel's room.

"Danny, what happened?" the four ask, concerned. Wait... four? How long has Jasmine been in here?

"It's okay," Daniel says, resting a hand on my back as I fall to my hands and knees. "I told Jazz why we split and why we're wearing each other's clothes."

Did you really? I ask him silently.

I used the same excuse you did on Sam and Tucker. he replies with a smile.

Good. I start to feel dizzy.

"Danny, didn't you capture Ember this morning?" Tucker asks.

"Yeah," Sam says, "She was being really nice, too."

"It was all an act," I growl. "And I forgot the thermos behind. Lancer let her out."

"It's okay, love," Daniel says without thinking. "We weren't having a very good day, remember? The only other ghosts in the thermos were those petty ones from our walk to school, anyway, so everything's okay now."

"Did you just call him 'love'?" Samantha, Tucker, and Jasmine ask. Daniel blushes lightly, but before they can pester him further, I pass out.