And another chapter for your consumption! Thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter: Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse, Mystitat, Nobody Famous, The Adversary, GhostBoy814, Shimegami-chan, weirdIT, and AlisSilly.

And now for a plot twist:

Torn

By the time she'd finished answering all her parents' questions (omitting the conversation in the ghost factory, of course, or the awkwardly struck friendship), Sam had made it clear that Phantom was not harming her, she had never never been out past curfew in the past two weeks, and all was well with their precious daughter, although she was still not going to wear pink nor like their ghost friends. She crawled into her pajamas, ordered dinner to her room from Frank (he was the butler, sort of, and a nice enough guy. Nice enough to leave Sam alone and tell her parents he'd been watching her anyway), and flipped on the television. She didn't watch much TV, but there was hardly anything on anyway, and she wanted some background noise while she took a nap. She'd wake up at her best hours – midnight and after – and do some thinking then. Or maybe try to hook up with Tucker and Danny on Doomed and—

Oh, right. Danny was still 'missing'. Or hiding, anyway. Sam growled and flipped open her phone, trying his cell phone. Again, it went to voicemail. "Great," she sighed. "He is avoiding me." Which was actually a rather selfish way to look at things, she supposed, but she had a right to be selfish. Danny was the one telling all the lies.

The TV flickered, catching Sam's attention. She sat up, trying to turn up the volume.

Nothing happened. The screen flickered again, and the television emitted a static-y sound. Sam scowled. "Great, you're not crapping out on me, are you?" she asked the electronic box.

"Crapping out? Is this a new technological term?" asked the television in an odd Russian accent.

Sam startled back from the TV. "Tell me my television didn't just talk to me," she said to no one in particular.

"No, it is not your television that speaks to you!" boomed the television. The screen flickered, going black, and a green screen appeared, fronting a face with sunglasses and bad teeth. "It is I, Technus, master of all things electronic and beeping! And I have claimed your television for my own so that I can hide from Pariah Dark, the Ghost King!"

Sam's mouth dropped open before she snapped it shut again. "You're Nikolai Technus? But Walker had you—"

"I escaped! As have many of my compatriots!" Technus announced. "And soon we will flee the Ghost Zone! Which we recommend, child, that you do also! For the Ghost King shows no mercy!"

"Keep it down," Sam hissed. "You really do shout out all your plans, don't you?"

The face on the television looked uncomfortable. "I had an upgrade that corrected that, but I lost it when Walker captured me."

Sam shushed him again. "Keep talking, Nikolai—"

"Technus!"

"Fine, Technus." Sam rolled her eyes. "You broke out of jail? With other ghosts? What others? Was there a kid with white hair, green eyes—"

"The ghost child? Yes, indeed, it was he that initiated our escape," Technus answered. "Although if I see him, I will crush him for throwing me back into the Ghost Zone in the first place, and letting me be recaptured by Walker!"

Sam grimaced. "Okay, you have a history?"

"Oh, many of us do," Technus answered. "The ghost child has caused us no end of trouble. But we agreed not to wallop him so as to properly execute his escape plan."

"Then he escaped?" Sam asked eagerly, ashamed at how relieved she felt. "Perfect! And he helped all of you escape too! All right, all we have to do now is—"

Sam's phone rang.

Sam blinked. "I recognize that song!" said Technus.

"Shh," Sam whispered, flipping her cell phone open. "Hello?"

"Sam? It's me, Danny," said the voice on the other line.

Sam felt another wave of relief wash over her, followed by a wave of irritation. "Danny, you jerk! Why didn't you call me back yesterday?"

She heard a tired sigh. "I couldn't, Sam. I'm really sorry, but there was just no way to get in touch with you. I, uh, was just calling because Jazz said you were really worried and that Walker came to see you for some reason."

"Oh, Walker came to see me all right," Sam groaned. Her heart clenched again. "And he's probably going to come back now that Phantom's escaped."

"Woah, slow down," Danny laughed weakly. "What happened?"

Sam launched into her story, starting with Phantom shoving her into the street accidentally and finishing with Walker's visit. She watched with slight trepidation as Technus looked around her room with interest, then began to talk to Sam. "Hello? Hello, can I be included in this conversation? I'm right here, you know!"

Sam took a risk and told a white lie as she wrapped up the story, not sure if she wanted to tell Danny that Technus, the master of all things electronic and beeping, was currently overshadowing her TV. "I saw on the television that there was a huge jailbreak at Walker's prison, though, and I'll bet Phantom escaped with everyone else. So Walker's probably going to come back and demand answers from me. Again. Although he can't prove anything."

"He doesn't have to prove anything," Danny said slowly. He took a deep breath and let it out. "Things are going to be a zoo around here."

"How so?" Sam asked, glaring at Technus, who was experimenting with making her remote control float around the room.

"Well, besides Walker coming after you – and I'll ask my mom and Jazz about ways around that – if a bunch of ghosts escaped, then there's probably going to be havoc. The ghosts that don't follow Pariah have … er … a lot more personality than the ones that do."

"I noticed," Sam said dryly. "I'm surprised you're not asking me about Phantom," she added.

"Oh, well … er … my sister Jazz had a run-in with him. He didn't seem so bad," Danny stammered. "I wouldn't worry about talking to him. He's definitely not out to bother humans."

Awfully confident about that, aren't we? Sam wondered. "Well, you calling and the jailbreak just took two big weights off my mind," she said, faking cheerfulness. Yeah, and isn't it odd that they happened within minutes of each other? "Now all I'm wondering is why you weren't in class today."

She actually heard Danny gulp.

Sam sighed loudly into the phone, not caring if Danny heard her or not. "Don't answer that," she warned. "I know you've got a secret, Danny Fenton. And fine, whatever, it's yours to keep. But just tell me when it's because of the secret instead of lying to me."

There was silence for a long moment, followed by an abashed, "Okay."

Sam pressed her hand to her face. "You still serious about the allying with ghosts thing?" she asked.

The change of subject apparently took Danny off-guard. "I – uh – er, well – yeah. Yeah, of course. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,'" he quoted.

"Isn't that Arabic?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, something like that," Danny dismissed. "You were saying?"

"Well, forgetPhantom for now. I've got Technus in my television."

"Master of all things electronic and beeping!" Technus called out.

Danny's speechlessness was oddly satisfying.

"So, Technus," Sam said archly, putting her cell into speakerphone, "Wanna help us humans fight Pariah?"

"Are you nuts?" Technus asked incredulously. "There is nothing you can do in the face of his power!"

"Really? I heard the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire are what make him so darn powerful." Sam smirked. "And I heard there's a sarcophagus to lock him away in."

"That's all true," Technus allowed. "But it's not as simple as that! Getting the Ring and Crown off him will be impossible. And there's only one ghost I know of who still knows where the sarcophagus is."

"Really? Who is that?" Sam asked.

"Plasmius," Technus answered.

Sam could hear Danny smack his face into his palm on the speaker.

"What?" she asked irritably.

"Plasmius?" Danny asked awkwardly. "Besides Pariah, he's probably the strongest ghost alive. I mean around. You know what I mean."

"Great, let's recruit him," Sam suggested.

"Oh, if only," Danny answered in a low voice. "He works for Pariah Dark."

Sam frowned slightly. "Wait, he wouldn't happen to be the guy who wears a white cape with black trim …"

"Yep."

"Blue skin and vampire fangs?"

"Yep."

"Shiny black hair shaped like horns?"

"Yep."

"Tucker said we didn't know his name!"

"Well, that's not his real name. It's like the Lunch Lady and the Box Ghost – they're just monikers," Danny said.

"Tucker didn't even know he was called Plasmius," Sam answered.

"It's what we ghosts call him!" Technus suddenly piped up. "For no one has heard his real name!" He lowered his voice slightly. "He is treacherous! He says one thing, but does another!"

"And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Sam asked with a bright, fake smile.

Danny laughed over the phone. Technus looked displeased. "Child, you do not know what you are dealing with! I am—"

"I know who you are, and you're hiding. So stop shouting everything," Sam hissed. She took the phone off speaker mode. "Danny, I don't know how long I can handle having Technus in my TV. If we can't get to this Plasmius guy, what do we do?"

"I don't know yet," Danny answered, suddenly serious again. "Er … let Technus hide there until we can get him other accommodations, though, okay? I think … I think telling the grownups about allying with ghosts might be a bad idea until we've gotten some valuable information from them."

"Just promise me you'll have a solution by tomorrow night," Sam begged.

"I'll have something, all right," Danny yawned. "I'm gonna hit the sack. See you tomorrow."

"Danny--" Sam started, but the boy had already hung up. She made an exasperated sound and tossed her phone on the nightstand. "Honestly …"

"Ooh, that looks like a nice piece of equipment! And it can transmit too, rather than just receive," Technus cooed.

"Don't even think about it," Sam retorted, falling back on her bed.

&

Sam had to threaten to use her ring to kick Technus out of the television three times before the ghost finally stopped talking to himself and let Sam lay down and try to sleep. She thought sleep would come easily after last night, but she was wrong; questions arose the more she thought.

Why do I get the feeling there's a connection between Danny and Phantom? It's not just the physical similarities … Danny never seems surprised by anything I say about the ghost boy, and he mysteriously calls me the moment Phantom is out of danger? Wouldn't a kid who grew up fighting ghosts be a little suspicious of a ghost? Is it his long-lost twin or something? Nah, that's ridiculous … maybe Danny's been working with Phantom. Maybe … wait …

"Oh my gosh," Sam gasped, sitting up sharply in her bed.

"How did Danny know who 'Phantom' is?"

&

Sam mulled this over and over, but no matter what, she couldn't figure out how Danny knew the ghost kid's recently received name. Phantom had been with her the whole time afterwards, until the moment he was taken away by Walker – and even when he escaped, it wasn't like a ghost was going to flee right into the arms of ghost hunters. Maybe Phantom is some kind of projection of Danny or something. A ghost that's not really a ghost. Something … argh … somehow they're connected!

Maybe they're the same person. Maybe Danny's really dead, and he just looks like a human during the day to fool us.

Oh, I am so going to bust him.

She was just drifting off into dark dreams when ambient light entered her otherwise dark room. Sam cracked an eye open, trying to see who it was without giving away that she was awake.

It was Phantom, giving off his own natural eerie glow. Or Danny. Or whoever he was. And he was carrying a … thermos?

"All right, Technus. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," the ghost boy whispered. "And I'd really prefer the easy way so Sam doesn't wake up."

"Do not think you will trap me in your Thermos again, ghost child!" declared Technus, suddenly lighting up the TV screen again. "I am bigger and stronger, and—"

"You downgraded two years ago," Phantom snorted. "I promise I'll give you a nice big pile of my parents' junk to play in, okay?" He uncapped the thermos.

A jet of light shot out of it, engulfing Sam's TV and pulling out a white-haired, green-skinned ghost wearing sunglasses. "Why do I have to go in thaaa--!" the ghost's voice was cut off as Phantom recapped the thermos-that-was-really-a-ghost-trap.

Wow. Between the crack about his parents' junk and the thermos itself, there's no way Phantom isn't some aspect of Danny. Or directly related to him. Who knows?

"To make sure you don't do anything funny," Phantom smiled, slipping the thermos into a sling over his shoulder and wincing slightly. "Okay. Next stop, Spec—"

"Oh, you're not going anywhere," Sam interrupted, pushing back her covers. "Danny Fenton!"

The ghost's eyes widened, and Sam could have sworn he got even paler.

Gotcha, she thought.

"Sam!" the ghost stammered. "Not so loud!"

Well, that wasn't quite the reaction she was expecting. Sam blinked, and Phantom – Danny – slipped across the room, looking this way and that nervously. "I-I-I can explain, I swear, b-but can it wait until later?"

Sam stared at him. "I was right?"

Phantom's head jerked up and he glared at her. "You were guessing?"

"Why have you been lying to me all this time?" she whispered angrily

"Well, you didn't exactly give the ghost me a warm reception!" Danny retorted irritably. "I was going to tell you tomorrow … well … soon, anyway," he rubbed the back of his neck before suddenly sitting up ramrod straight. Sam had seen that before, in the lunchroom at school. "Seriously, this is a really bad time. I just came over here to take care of Technus for you, and the last thing you need is to be seen with me, so, I'm going." He floated up off the bed.

"Wait!" Sam hissed, grabbing his hand. "Just tell me: are you a ghost, or human?"

The ghost winced out of all proportion for the grip she'd taken on his wrist, and he jerked his hand away, his arm slipping through her fingers, literally. "Ow! Both," he answered, rubbing his wrist. "Gottarunbye!" He dropped through the floor of her room.

"The worst part is, his excuse is actually legitimate," Sam groaned to herself, her gaze darting to the window as she saw Walker fly by, clearly sweeping for the ghost – boy – Phantom.

She was so not going to get any sleep tonight.

&

Sam was more right than she thought. Half an hour later, her cell phone rang. Sam groaned, slapping a hand over her eyes, and answered it. "Hello?"

"It's Danny."

Sam groaned again. "You know, I don't know that I'm alive enough at the moment to have this conversation with you."

"Oh. Er, yeah, I guess I should have thought of that," Danny answered sheepishly. "W-well, Jazz told me you were really spazzing about me earlier today, and … uh …" there was a pause. "I'm … uh … not going to be in school tomorrow."

"Again?" Sam groaned. "Wait, you don't have to attend school, do you. You're dead."

"Not dead! Just … a little ghostly." Sam could imagine Danny's panicked look.

"How's that? You're a ghost and a human at the same time?"

"Sort of?" Danny sounded uncertain. "I'm, uh … half-ghost. Only really it's more like I'm fully human and have ghost power side benefits. Or something like that."

Sam made a face. She'd barely processed that explanation at all. "And why won't you be in school tomorrow?" she asked slowly.

"Honestly?" Danny hesitated. "Don't hit me for this, I mean, if you're not going to hit me already for lying to you about myself for the past two weeks, but it was kind of a secret and I don't know you that well. But anyway, er, I was totally going to follow you around in school in ghost mode so I could blast Walker if he came anywhere near you?"

"Uh …"

"Or you could pretend I didn't say anything," Danny suggested. "That would be fine too."

"Danny, I think I'm coming down with the flu," Sam answered. "And you'd better be here to take care of me."

"You're coming down with the flu?"

"Oh, honestly. No, I'm just telling my parents that so I can skip school. So come over here tomorrow and explain yourself then, okay?"

Danny sighed into the phone. "Okay."

"That's a good boy." Sam yawned. "Now I'm going to attempt a couple of hours of sleep."

"I'll let you," Danny answered. Sam could hear his wince. "Night, Sam."

"Night, Phantom."

&

Sam had mastered the art of acting sick. First a little red blush right under the eyes, running cold water over her hands to make them clammy, and a good, miserable moan. She could perfectly fake sneezes as well. However, her efforts were apparently wasted: she was just about to go proclaim her illness when her mother threw open her door.

"Sammykins, you absolutely cannot go to school today!" she declared.

Sam blinked. "Why not?"

"There was a massive jailbreak last night from Walker's prison. Rogue ghosts are everywhere! I'll not have my precious daughter running around in that mess," she warned.

"Uh, okay," Sam said slowly. "Can Danny come over?"

"That Fenton boy? Oh, I don't know what you see in him. He seems rather odd. Flaky, you know." Her mother sighed. "Now, Dash Baxter …"

"Mother!" Sam groaned. "No, he's an idiot! Just answer my question, please," she begged.

Sam's mother rolled her eyes. "I suppose he can come over," she agreed. "But if he gets attacked by a ghost on his way, don't say I didn't warn you!" She shut the door behind her.

Oh, if only you knew. There was an odd appeal to thinking that Danny was the ghost kid, if only because he'd shamelessly flaunted the law in front of Walker and her parents despised his ghost half. Anything her parents despised was a good thing in Sam's opinion. But of course, Danny was the reason she was in trouble with Walker. Danny had been spying on her as a ghost, and he had lied to her … well … with reason, she allowed. If he'd told me off the bat that he was … well, whatever he is, I probably would have screamed foul, she realized. I still don't like ghosts that much, but it's not like I knew Danny well enough to demand he trust me with something so … bizarre. I guess I'm being pretty unfair.

But he made me worry twice over by getting caught by Walker, the idiot! Argh. Now I don't know what I want to do to him.

She showered, touched up the dye job on her hair that kept it jet black (she naturally had dark brown hair, but it was a well-kept secret), and changed.

She was just considering calling Frank on the intercom to bring up some coffee (she spent as little time in the house outside of her room as possible) when Danny opened the door to her room. "Uh. Hi," he said anxiously. "I told your parents I was supposed to come over to take care of you while you had the flu, and they looked at me like I was crazy. Did I say something wrong?"

Sam smirked. "Nah, they just decided to hold me back from school on their own, so I ditched the lie," she explained. "Seems they don't want me being attacked by all the 'rogue ghosts' the ghost boy let out." She crossed her arms, watching Danny fidget nervously.

It was the first time Sam had seen Danny in two days, and he looked not only nervous but also wiped out. He usually wore short sleeves, but today he had on a red, long-sleeved shirt under his t-shirt. "I'm really sorry about lying to you," he said in a rush. "It's … er … I've been keeping this a secret for as long as I can remember, from everyone – even my parents, for a long time." He swallowed hard. "Since, you know, ghosts aren't exactly liked, and being … well … it's … I just didn't want to tell you until I thought you'd be okay with it. But I did want to tell you," he added quickly.

Sam let Danny spill out this guilt-ridden apology in silence. He'd probably been torturing himself with it all night, she realized, with the way he was: high-strung and sensitive. I suppose we're even now. "Apology accepted," she said, forcing a thin smile. "And I'm sorry, too. I keep telling you not to lie to me, then get all upset because I find out you have a secret? That's pretty hypocritical."

Danny just looked at her as if she was losing it. "Uh … if you say so." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Sam patted the bed, sitting on the edge of it. "Sit down," she said, "and talk to me."

Danny sat.

Tbc

So, did you see that coming so soon? Huh? Didja, didja? g I didn't want to insult Sam's intelligence for too long, so I knew this had to come in the next couple of chapters, although I hadn't decided whether or not Sam would reveal to Danny that she knew until, er, she got so furious with him that I knew she would. Anyway. A few explanations are coming up in the next chapter, but then we get to more juicy plot stuff again. Mmm.

Please review! I love reviews. No, seriously. Thanks again for all the input!