Danny approached the front door of Sam's house. Coming to a stop on the stoop, he glanced behind him where he knew Phantom was following. The boy pressed the doorbell, biting his lip as he waited for someone to answer. He tried to smile, happy at the thought of introducing (reintroducing?) his ghost to Sam and Tucker. But his stomach churned with anxiety, which he distinctly felt originating from the ghost. Well, not distinctly. Now that Danny was aware of it, he could tell the difference between his emotions and Phantom's, though they weren't exactly distinct and separate but interconnected. Not surprising at all considering who Phantom actually was.

Glancing back at where the ghost was floating (he couldn't actually see him per say, just sense his presence), Danny whispered. "It'll be okay. It's Sam and Tucker, our best friends."

Phantom said nothing, though he shifted nervously. Just then, the Mansons' butler opened the door.. "Good morning, Mr. Fenton. Ms. Manson and Mr. Foley await you in the entertainment room."

"Thanks." Danny replied as he walked through the opened door with Phantom floating behind him. The two made their way through the foyar and to the basement door. Danny walked down the stairs and down the hall, passed the bowling alley.

Just as he reached to open the door to the entertainment room, an echoing voice whispered behind him. "Danny." The ghost's cold hand brushed his shoulder, sending a spike of fear before he withdrew. Danny whipped around, meeting Phantom's scared eyes just as the ghost returned to wavering visibility. Phantom bit his lip. "What...what if they hate me?"

The human's eyes widened in alarm. "Why would they hate you?"

"They think I was possessing you." The ghost rubbed the back of his neck, looking down.

"But you obviously weren't." The human wrinkled his nose in confusion.

"Yeah but…"

Danny held out his hand. "But nothing. We'll tell Sam and Tucker what's going on and they'll help us figure it out. They've always had our back."

Phantom still would not meet his eyes but nodded. "You have a point." He wavered invisible but Danny sensed the ghost was still in front of him. "Go on in then and...introduce me, I guess."

"Sounds like a plan." Danny turned around and opened the door. "Hey guys." He greeted Sam and Tucker.

Sam turned to look at the boy from her seat on the couch, her conversation with Tucker piddling out. "Hey Danny. So I guess you're feeling up to hangout now."

Tucker also looked up. "Yeah dude, I was super surprised to get your text this morning, after last night."

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better." Danny replied.

"That's great!" Sam smiled. "So what do you want to do?"

Tucker pulled out his phone. "According to the app, that new Femalien movie is playing at noon and there's still seats."

"That sounds like fun! And then we can get lunch. That noodle place at the mall, maybe?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

Tucker crossed his arms. "You mean the vegetarian one."

"Come on! You liked the Pad thai."

Danny frowned. This was getting ready to turn into an argument. He felt the cool air shift behind him, probably from Phantom shifting nervously. Danny swallowed sharing the anxiety. With his stomach churning, he tried to calm himself. It would be fine; he'd tell Sam and Tucker what happened and they would believe him. With their acceptance, Phantom would stop denying and they could finally get back to normal. The ache in his soul would ease; all they needed to do was re-fuse. The boy cleared his throat. "Actually, can we hang out here? I need to talk to you guys about something."

Sam's mouth snapped closed. "Is this about yesterday?"

"Actually...yes. You guys need to meet someone." Danny glanced back at the space occupying the invisible ghost. He whispered. "You can go ahead and turn visible."

With shaky breath, Phantom reappeared in the visible spectrum, floating an inch above the floor. He cautiously eyed Sam and Tucker who gaped. The goth, who normally had plenty to say, remained frozen in silence.

After a small eternity, Danny spoke. "So….introductions. Or reintroductions I guess." He motioned to the ghost who floated forward to hover beside him. "Sam and Tucker, this is Danny Phantom." He grinned, eyeing the ghost. "And you already know Sam and Tucker."

Impossibly, his friends' eyes widened ever more as Phantom objected. "Hey! I didn't agree to being called that!"

Danny raised an eyebrow. "You didn't agree to be called by your name?"

The ghost held his hands out. "It's...this's not." He frustratedly blew out a breath. "It's just Phantom."

The human crossed his arms. "Then I'm just Fenton."

"Danny" Phantom started, the tone slightly exacerbated.

But Danny cut him off, putting one hand on his hip. "Nope. No. That's not my name. It's just Fenton."

Phantom sighed, then narrowed his eyes. "Okay Fenton."

Danny frowned. Well, clearly that argument failed. He opened his mouth to object (why was the ghost so freaking stubborn?) but before he could, Tucker, who had been watching the verbal tennis match with wide eyes, whispered. "What is going on?"

The noise also startled Sam out of her stupor. She asked flatly. "Why is the ghost who was overshadowing you in my basement?"

Phantom tensed in response. Danny gave him a comforting smile and then turned back to his friends. "That's not what was happening guys." He took a deep breath, taking the plunge. "Phantom is me."

"What?!" Both his friends, and the aforementioned ghost shouted.

Phantom whipped to the side, pointing at the human. "You can't just out and say that! We were supposed to just see what they think!"

"I'm just telling them the truth." Danny argued.

Sam interrupted. "I'm sorry. Can we go back to the part where Phantom is you?"

Danny and Phantom both turned to face Sam and Tucker, with equally startled faces. Danny shook his head, deciding to continue. "We're the same person so Phantom's me, but a ghost."

Tucker blinked owlishly. "But..but.. What...how?"

Danny paused, rubbing the back of his neck. "The ghost catcher….did something to me. To us? I don't really know how it works but….I just know I wasn't overshadowed before. I went through the ghost catcher and me and Phantom came out so….maybe it split me or something." At his friend's alarmed faces, he waved his arms. "Not physically. I'm physically fine." He turned to his ghost. "You are too, right?" Phantom nodded, numbly as Danny continued. "And I think I remember everything and it didn't do anything weird to my personality or anything. So I'm not exactly sure how….." He trailed off, trying to mime the appropriate words by making cutting motions with his hands. Finally he sighed. " Just...I know that Phantom and me are the same." At the end of the speech, the human Danny's mouth snapped shut as he eagerly but cautiously studied his friends' reactions, hoping they believed him.

Tucker shook his head. "Dude. That's….." He trailed off.

At the same time, Sam quickly looked between the two identical faces. Her eyes lit up in realization as she stood up without hesitation and approached the ghost. "I knew, I knew something was up yesterday, when you saved me." She glanced at the human Danny and then studied the ghost who was carefully avoiding her eyes. "He's telling the truth, isn't he?"

Shoulders falling, Phantom's eyes flickered to Sam but he looked away a second later, shaking his head. "He's a liar. Don't believe a word he says."

Sam laughed humorlessly. "Way to call yourself out there, Danny."

The ghost shook his head. "No. I'm not...I'm not him."

The girl frowned and punched him in the arm. "That's bull shit." Then she lunged forward and hugged him. "Don't you think I'd recognize my best friend, you idiot?"

The previously stiff Phantom relaxed into the hug, wrapping his arms around her. "Sam." He whispered.

The other teen pulled away a few moments later, blushing. "So are you still in denial?"

Giving her a watery smile, Phantom shook his head. Tucker, who had been watching the exchange with wide eyes cautiously stepped forward to stand beside Sam. "Danny?" He asked, voice tinged with...hope(?).

"Yeah. It's me." Phantom nodded, voice flat.

Tucker then glanced between the two, mouth widening into a grin. "Dude. There's two of you."

"Yep." The human Danny returned the grin. He took his ghost's hand, feeling for the first time since going through the ghost catcher that everything would be okay. "So do you guys wanna play some video games?" He held up his hands, including the one still clenched in Phantom's. "With two sets of hands, I'm definitely going to beat you guys."

"Yeah!" "Totally!" With the energetic responses from Sam and Tucker, the human failed to register Phantom's lack of response….and the subtle unease projecting from the ghost.

Phantom took a seat on the couch beside his human self. No, not Phantom. Danny. That was his name afterall. The ghost could not deny who he was anymore. He tried to, when they first started talking to Sam and Tucker. He had half hoped that the two would not believe the human Danny and he could go on pretending. But then Sam had hugged him. She had known him, even when he had tried desperately to hide the truth even from himself.

And now Danny the ghost was sitting on the couch, literally beside himself, playing video games with Sam and Tucker who were trying to act like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Yes! I win!" Human Danny exclaimed.

The ghost glanced up from his controller, shaken out of his thoughts. He turned to the TV and raised an eyebrow; somehow he was in last place.

"Again!" Tucker moaned, then he noticed the other Danny's position. He gently elbowed the ghost from his seat in the armchair. "Man, you're sucking today." He pointed at the human on the couch, chuckling. "Did he get all the video games skills?"

The ghost shrugged half-heartedly. "I guess."

Tucker just chuckled again, while Sam rolled her eyes. "Do you guys want to get some snacks?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah!" The two human teenagers hopped up. They practically sprinted to the back of the room to grab cups of soda and bags of chips.

Sam rolled her eyes again, this time chuckling at the pair's antics. She turned towards the ghost who was trying to suppress a smile as well. She smiled. "Finally! You haven't smiled since you got here."

The boy's expression fell as he wrung his hands, the nervousness returning. "Oh. I guess all of this is still a little...weird for me."

Sam frowned and then opened her mouth to ask more, when Tucker and the human Danny returned. The human flopped down on the couch beside his ghost and opened a bag of chips. He and Tucker started stuffing their faces while Sam nibbed on some tortilla chips.

After a moment, Tucker eyed the ghost curiously. "Don't you want some?"

Ghost Danny who hadn't even bothered to reach for the food, tilted his head, studying the bags. Beside him, the other Danny perked up. "Yeah. I know you didn't eat anything before we got here this morning. Aren't you hungry?"

Looking away from the snacks, the ghost glanced at his human. He shook his head, voice filling with confusion and a little awe. "No. I'm not hungry. Not at all. I don't think I felt hungry since…going through the Ghost Catcher."

He closed his mouth, the weight of the statement and its implication silencing him. Because despite knowing who he truly was now, he was still a ghost and ghosts didn't need human food. Sam's frown deepened as she eyed him sadly while Tucker's smile also seemed to fall. But apparently it didn't register for the other Danny (or he remained willfully ignorant). "Huh, that's weird. Do you wanna try some anyway?"

Ghost Danny's expression softened at his human's eager smile. He reached for the bag of white cheddar popcorn in the other Danny's hands and popped a piece in his mouth. His brow furrowed as he moved the food around in his mouth, trying to taste it. His nose wrinkled as he swallowed. Then he noticed his friends' and the human Danny's confused expressions. "I can't taste it, at all. Like I know what this is supposed to taste like but...nothing."

Tucker raised an eyebrow while passing the ghost a bag of cheese puffs. "Maybe try something else?"

He put one of the puffs in his mouth to the same reaction. "I can kinda feel the texture but still can't taste anything."

Next, the ghost tried the tortilla chips Sam offered. He just shook his head as the others offered confused and vaguely sad looks. Finally the human Danny shook his head. "That is so weird. Maybe it will come back? Like when you have a cold and everything tastes off because your nose is stuffed?"

His ghost frowned; clearly the human was grasping at straws. Then Sam offered a welcome distraction. "You guys wanna watch a movie? I've got an early release of the last Terminatra movie."

"Yeah!" Human Danny replied eagerly, though Phantom could sense the excitement arose in an attempt to suppress his rising unease.

So the four watched the movie, apparently ignoring that strange conversation. It was so awkward! Sam and Tucker kept glancing at him with unreadable expressions which the other Danny seemed to be completely blind to. So Ghost Danny tried to ignore his friends' expressions by focusing on the movie. But his heart wasn't really in it (Except as a ghost, he didn't really have a heart. But was the human Danny's heart his heart? But the other Danny was actually into it? So how did all of this work?) The ghost shook his head, dislodging the thoughts. There was no point in pursuing those questions right now….

The movie which he had been barely watching paused as his human counterpart stood up. "I need to go to the bathroom." He glared pointedly at Sam and Tucker. "Don't start it again til I get back…..I might be a bit."

The teen walked out of the room without another word. Immediately Sam and Tucker turned towards the ghostly version of their friend.

"So" Amethyst eyes studied neon green. "you've been really quiet?"

The ghost's eyes widened. "No I haven't."

The girl gave him a serious, though compassionate look. "Yes, you have. Something's off with you, more than the obvious."

Ghost Danny wrung his hands, wariness rising but said nothing. Tucker and Sam both shared a concerned look. With a sigh, the techno-geek spoke. "Dude….Danny. We're your friends. You can tell us and whatever it is, we'll have your back. Remember?"

The words which he remembered hearing the day he told Mom and Dad about the accident and asked them to cure him, burned in his mind. He'd hated and feared his ghostliness so much, he'd hide even from Sam and Tucker. But there was no hiding now. Tucker looked so sincere and Sam was so worried.

The ghost spoke before he really registered what he was saying. "I didn't want you to see this."

"What?" Sam's eyebrow raised.

"Before the ghost catcher, we...I lied. This" The ghost motioned up and down his form. "Didn't just happen right after the accident. It kept happening but I hid it from you guys."

Tucker's eyes widened, his expression hurt. "Why dude? Why wouldn't you tell us?"

"I was…. ashamed. I didn't want you guys to see what I was….what I am."

Danny the ghost's mouth snapped shut, unable to say anything else. Sam and Tucker looked on, trying to process. Finally Sam blew out a breath. "So what...you glow and float and suddenly we're going to hate you?"

The ghost gaped and then put his head in his hands. Did Sam and Tucker also really not see? Slowly he looked up, removing his hands. He sighed. "You guys don't get it, do you? I'm a ghost."

Sam put a hand on her hip. "Yes, we've kinda established."

Ghost Danny shook his head, sputtering. "But...but I'm a ghost. An actual, real ghost." His voice quieted into a whisper. "Don't you understand? What has to happen for someone to become a ghost?"

His friends' eyes widened and dozens of emotions seemed to flash across the faces, until it settled into deep sadness.

"You have to…" Tucker whispered, unable to voice the word.

Sam's eyes watered. "So the portal, it…."

The ghost nodded, answering her unasked question. The humans remained silent, gaping for several moments as the ghost hugged his knees to his chest, fearing Sam and Tucker's response. Then Sam closed her mouth and stood up. The ghost glanced up, meeting her sad eyes. The girl came to sit on the left side of her ghostly friend. Tucker followed soon after, sitting on ghost Danny's other side.

Finally though her voice trembled, Sam spoke. "It...it doesn't matter." For a second, ghost Danny glanced at her with a hard, disbelieving stare before the girl back tracked. "I...I don't mean it like that. What happened to you is important and does matter. But..." She swallowed and reached for one of the boy's hands which he unclinched and let her take it with wide eyes. "You're still here. You….the...the portal did...that. But you're still here." Her wide eyes filled with a measure of hope and relief. "And you're still the same person you've always been."

Ghost Danny heaved a sigh, letting go of Sam's hand. "But I'm not the same person. Ghost….ghosts aren't the same as humans. They work differently. I work differently."

Sam raised a brow. "Are you sure about that? Or do you think that because your parents do?"

The ghost shook his head. "No. I know. I can just feel it, inside me. Even before the ghost catcher, something changed and not just the powers." He waved his hands in front of him searching for words. "Like..like…. I love flying. It's so free and calming; I never want to come down." He then bit his lip. "But I'm afraid of heights."

Tucker who had been listening intently the whole time chuckled in disbelief. "What? No, you're not! You want to be an astronaut. How can you be afraid of heights?"

"It's fine if you're on a plane or in a building or something! But out in the open, like on top of a building or a clif," the ghost shook his head. "That gives me the hebe jebes...or it did!" He put up his hands. "But somehow I can fly above the clouds without feeling terrified at all. It feels good, natural even!"

Tucker then shrugged as ghost Danny stopped talking. "That doesn't actually prove anything though."

"Yeah, Maybe you've just gotten over that fear and it has nothing to do with you being a ghost." Sam pointed out.

The ghost crossed his arms. "I know for a fact the other Danny couldn't go on top of the Ops Center without freaking out. Before splitting, we couldn't even float five feet above the ground without feeling terrified. This is definitely a ghost thing."

Sam and Tucker glanced at each other in silent conversation as their ghostly friend withdrew again, saddened. He really had only scratched the surface with Sam and Tucker but how could he explain when he couldn't even fathom what had happened and was happening to him? He knew, even before the ghost catcher, that the accident had changed him. But how deeply and in what ways? He still barely understood and it was terrifying.

After several moments, Sam put her right arm around the ghost and Tucker his left. The boy didn't relax into the embrace but didn't stiffen, unsure how to react. Finally Sam spoke. "Maybe you're right and being a ghost has changed you." She sighed, leaning in closer. "But I believe that doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"Yeah dude." Tucker added. "That's just life. Stuff happens and it changes you. But you can choose if it changes you in a good way or a bad way."

"None of us are the people we were when we met. But we've stuck together and grown with each other. And we're going to keep sticking together, no matter what." Sam continued.

Tucker nodded in agreement. "I'm totally with Sam on this one. We're here for you, Danny. So please don't shut us out."

Ghost Danny's breath caught in his throat, his emotions choking him in response to his friends' support. He leaned into their arms as his eyes watered. The three held each other as the ghost started crying in earnest. "You guys." He hiccuped. "What did I do to deserve friends like you?"

Sam and Tucker didn't respond, instead continuing the hug as the ghost started to calm down. He wasn't sure he completely believed them. He knew they cared about him despite his ghostly nature; that was not in question at all. But could they really accept him when he didn't accept himself? He couldn't believe that what happened to him could ever be a good thing or that his human self, who still didn't seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation, would be so optimistic and accepting. The other Danny seemed to think that undoing what the ghost catcher did would fix everything. But it would just put them back where they were before.

"I feel like I missed something really important." His own voice suddenly knocked him out of his shameful thoughts.

The ghost looked up to find his human's gaze flickering between his two friends before falling on the person in the middle. Human Danny's brow rose while the other Danny blushed and then looked away. Sam and Tucker slowly pulled away. The girl's facial expression remained determined, though compassionate. As if she wanted to continue the conversation.

Ghost Danny spoke before she could. "I'll fill you in later." He glanced at Sam who frowned. "I really don't want to go over everything again right now."

The other Danny's brow remained raised but he didn't question. Instead after Sam and Tucker returned to their seats, he sat down beside the ghost again. The movie marathon continued.