Note: I'm so excited to be posting a new chapter! I've had it on the backburner for a while, waiting til I was about half done with my Invisobang story to post. And I'm finally about there! Also, claims are done so I can finally talk about the story! More about all that at the end though. Happy reading!

Phantom spent much of that next, quiet lonely night thinking about his conversation with Jazz. His sister had been right of course, as much as it pained him to think that. But she did offer really good advice which he and his human half were trying to keep in mind. They'd try not to worry about the destiny stuff, putting away those questions for long after they'd re-fused. And they'd take the good and the bad together. Not wallowing in the pain, nor trying to ignore it in favor of the benefits. That was a hard balance but one they'd been trying to walk for a while now. But that last and hardest point…. Talking to their parents.

Phantom shivered at the thought. Yes, he had a list of reasons why he needed to do it. And after this past week…. He had reasons to think that he could trust them with what he had to say. But…

That first week… his core clinched at the reminder. That first week had been… awful. Painful, lonely, terrifying. The memories welled in his mind, with carefully suppressed emotions. Confusion, never-ending, heart-wrenching questions. Terrible loneliness, isolation as he wandered around town, aimless and without purpose. Pain at forcing himself to keep away from his family, his friends, even his own human half. Intense fear that he'd hurt them if he came close. Terror, agony as his parents shot and yelled at him. And the worst of all… constant denial of his identity, of his very personhood. He was convinced he was just a confused imposter and… terrified of this unknown connection, this obsession with Danny Fenton.

And from Fenton's perspective… more memories flashed behind his eyes. Constant exhaustion. Strange dreams. Random flashes of intense feelings and thoughts. And… this gaping hole. The feeling that something…. something huge and majorly important was missing and yet being unable to pinpoint it.

But the two had met. They had finally come face to face… only for Phantom to seemingly reject his other half. The ghost's core ached at the memory. He had run off that night. For a moment, he'd even thought about flying through the portal and never coming back. But he'd stayed. He'd talked to Fenton, even still in denial.

But Fenton had been in denial as well, not recognizing that he'd rejected a part of himself first. Not realizing that he'd been afraid as well, clinging to the idea of having a normal life. He'd, at first at least, just wanted to be whole. He'd felt so guilty. He hadn't really listened, hadn't understood.

And they'd fought. They'd argued, one half opposed to the other, hurt by the other. Phantom hadn't wanted to re-merge. He wanted his human self to have a normal life, without the curse that was his ghostliness. And…. guilt pricked him. He'd hurt Fenton with his own powers. He'd cold-burned him, left him crying on the bathroom floor.

Still despite all that, Fenton had come back. They had talked. They made up in the end and things had gotten better, not without many bumps along the way, like the near disaster that was telling Mom and Dad.

And… that was the problem again, their parents. So much had happened in those first few days, so much that the adults didn't know. So much that the Dannys thought they couldn't tell them, before. How could they tell Mom that Phantom had thought he was an imposter when she'd confidently argued that, even after knowing the truth? How could they explain how unsettled Fenton had been by his own powers, when their parents shifted uncomfortably at any ghostly display? And… how could Phantom confess that he hurt Fenton… when Mom treated his ghost half as if he was dangerous?

But… that was not true. None of that was true. Neither of their parents thought any of that anymore. He knew that Mom had apologized and she'd wanted to mean it. She and Dad were doing so much better. They'd listened to him, accepted his ghostly attributes, even been excited to discover new things together. His parents had really turned over a new leaf. And so, Fenton and Phantom could tell them. They could pour their heart and core out, share those secrets. And the adults would still listen. They would understand, right?

Doubts still wavered in the back of his mind. Uncertainty pulled at him, everything that could go wrong. His heart and core remembered the pain. It was still hard to forgive, still hard to trust. So much had happened and a part of him was still afraid of being rejected, of getting hurt again.

And worst still… that last little bit of self-inflicted guilt, that cowardly shame of what he'd said and done. Shame that he'd thought had long since been erased. He'd hurt himself so badly, in so many ways, from both sides. And airing that hurt, confessing all the secrets… Phantom bit his lip. Confessing just in the silence of his heart, to just himself in an empty room was hard enough. But being that honest and vulnerable in front of his formerly ghost-hating parents felt impossibly daunting.

But it was what he needed to do to keep healing their relationship. Jazz's words rang in his head. It was bothering him. It had been bothering him for a long time now. He needed to talk about it.

But could Danny ever find the courage to finally speak?

Despite the fear, despite the uncertainty, Phantom and Fenton did talk about how to have that conversation with their parents. Tuesday and Wednesday passed, much the same as they had the past week. And soon it was Thursday afternoon.

Ghost Danny was reading a comic book on the couch, with his head hanging down and feet up in the air, more floating than laying upside down. Then Mom came up the stairs from the lab, carrying a cooler. She blinked once, taking in the scene, before shaking her head as a fond expression covered her face.

Phantom lowered the book, raising a brow. "What?

The woman chuckled lightly. "Nothing, sweetie." She held up the cooler. "Do you want to help me with something?"

"Sure?" The ghost shrugged, flipping back around in the air. He floated over as Mom opened the cooler. He peaked curiously at the contents. "That's ectoplasm." He pointed to familiar green test tubes. "So you're gonna try the ecto-food again?"

She nodded. "I have more ideas we can try. Like integrating the ectoplasm into the cooking process, instead of at the end. Your help might have a beneficial effect as well."

"Okay. Yeah, I can help." The boy agreed. Then he pointed to another container, this one filled with a light blue liquid. "What's that though?"

"This…." Mom held up the test tube. "Is for your human half. He'll need to drink it to get rid of the anti-ecto residue."

Phantom blinked. Oh right, that anti-ecto residue. The reason their fusion hadn't worked, according to Mom at least. The corner of his mouth turned down, guilt starting to flicker. That wasn't the only reason, though, was it? Another thing they hadn't told their parents.

The adult noticed the expression. "What is it?"

The ghost didn't actually say what he was thinking. Instead, he asked. "Is it safe?"

A hint of worry flashed across her face. "Of course. Everything in this is completely safe for human consumption. Your father even tried it." Now it was Phantom's turn to be worried. The woman held out her hand, placating. "He's perfectly fine. No ill effects. He even said it tasted good, like blue raspberry gummy bears."

"Really?" Phantom blinked, a little surprised; that was his favorite flavor. "That's oddly specific."

The woman almost shrugged, just giving him a knowing smile.

But ghost Danny's lips twitched down again, his eyes flickering to the vial again. "How's it supposed to actually work though?"

"It's a lot like giving activated charcoal to someone who's ingested poison or overdosed on a drug." Mom explained. "Basically, the serum will bind to the residue. Then both will just harmlessly pass through the GI tract and be excreted."

Phantom's brow furrowed, processing in the words. Then his nose wrinkled. "Okay. Sounds simple enough." Even if potentially not the most pleasant. "Hope it doesn't mess up my stomach…. Or anything else." He frowned.

Mom frowned herself before reassuring. "You'll be fine. Like I said, we researched and tested this. Everything will be okay." She sighed, a sadder expression flashing across her face. "I imagine that is not that comforting though, is it? Your father and I did say the same thing before the ghost catcher…. And you know the outcome there."

The corner of ghost Danny's lip turned down more, even as his eyes softened. "Hey, it's okay." He put a hand on his mother's arm. "I know you're trying your best to help me and… I trust you."

The words held a depth, especially considering what he and Fenton had talked about with Jazz. Phantom's core clenched with a small measure of guilt. Because it was true. Despite what had happened, he did trust Mom now. Still… that thought of having that conversation….

Mom must have noticed his sincerity. "Oh, sweetie." Her eyes crinkled with love, voice soft. But… the expression shifted into something worried. "Danny?" She asked.

The boy's eyes widened slightly. Oh crap, she definitely noticed his guilty expression. He schooled his face and chuckled. "Yep. That's my name. Don't wear it out."

The woman's frown deepened. "Danny."

He drifted back, mind scrambling for a distraction. His eyes flickered to the blue test tube. "So after Fenton drinks that and the residue is gone, what then?" He tried to smile innocently.

Mom's brow wrinkled and Phantom held his breath, desperately hoping she wouldn't press. Then the woman sighed and answered. "Ideally, we'd try to gradually re-introduce ectoplasm so your human body can get used to it. That's another reason I wanted to try making ectoplasm-infused food again."

Phantom nodded, relieved that she dropped the subject. "Okay, that makes sense. So what are we making?"

The corner of the woman's lip turned up. "Give me a minute to find the recipe."

Mom walked to a small bookcase just outside the kitchen. The ghost's brow furrowed. Oh, so it was from one of the cookbooks. But instead of reaching for a book, the woman grabbed a stack of papers from the top shelf and began flipping through them. Now more intrigued, Phantom's eyes widened slightly. Anticipation and interest grew; what exactly did she have in mind?

Then the woman hummed. "Here we are."

She handed the paper to him. Phantom's eyes flickered over the words. A recipe, scrawled in his mother's familiar handwriting. And…. his eyes widened, an excited smile crossing his face. "Chocolate chip cookies!"

"Not just any chocolate chip cookies." Mom held up a finger. "Chocolate Chip Cookies with browned butter."

Somehow, the ghost's eyes widened even more. "Those cookies?! You mean the best cookies ever!" His mouth was already watering… even if he might not be able to taste them. His lips turned down at the thought. He looked up at his mom. "Please. We gotta get this to work. I have to eat these cookies."

The woman laughed, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "We will. That's why we're going to integrate ectoplasm in the baking process. I was thinking as an egg substitute? The consistency is similar enough that I think ectoplasm could work as a binding agent."

Phantom nodded, only kind of knowing what she was talking about. But hey, if Mom thought they could get this to work, that was good enough for him.

"Awesome! Let's go." The boy cheered. Barely a second later, he was floating in front of the cabinet and pulling out ingredients. Flour and sugar and… chocolate! Yeah, definitely needed that. And… baking powder? Or was it baking soda? He glanced at the sheet still in his hands.

Mom interrupted, chuckling. "Wait a second, sweetie. We need to brown the butter first. We can gather and measure the other ingredients while it's cooling."

"Right." Phantom dropped the things he'd already pulled out onto the counter, with the recipe sheet. He floated over to the fridge.

"We'll need two sticks of butter." The woman pulled out the sticks. "Can you get the sauce pan while I cut this up?"

The ghost nodded and started looking. He opened the cabinet beside the oven. "This one?" He held up a medium sized pan.

Mom turned her head and confirmed. "Yes." The boy put the pan down on one of the burners. Soon after, the woman poured the yellow blocks into the pan. "We'll let that melt over medium heat." She turned on the burner. "I'll watch this if you'll get the rest of the ingredients out."

Ghost Danny nodded, turning back to the pantry. Following the recipe, he pulled out everything on the list. "That should be everything but the eggs." He floated back to Mom, glancing down at the pan of melted butter. "So doing this is what makes those cookies so good, huh?"

The woman gave him a smile, motioning to the pan. "See the white bits on top?" Phantom nodded, observing the white foam floating on top of the rich yellow liquid . "That's the milk solids, proteins and other things in the butter. Heating it separates the milk solids from the liquid fat." She stirred the butter. "As we heat the butter, it slowly turns this light brown color. That's because the milk solids are toasting in that warm fat. That's what gives the cookies that nutty, caramel flavor."

"That's cool." Ghost Danny said earnestly. He leaned slightly, watching the contents of the pan. "It's starting to smell kind of toasty."

Mom stirred the butter. "We're getting there."

Just then, something cool brushed against Phantom's leg. He looked down. "Hey Blobby." He smiled at the small ghost which let out a purr.

"Danny, can you get me the glass cup measure?" Mom asked.

"Sure." The ghost boy reached into the cabinet, drifting to the side. His leg ran into something cold and squishy. He was floating so luckily he didn't stumble. But… he frowned down at the blob. "We're trying to cook." He gently nudged the blob with his foot. "I don't wanna step on you."

The blob didn't understand, just looking up at him with big round eyes. Ghost Danny sighed, grabbing the measuring cup and handing it to his mother.

The woman placed it down on the counter. "I'm going to pour the butter into this when it's done to stop the cooking process."

Phantom nodded. Mom and he watched the pan for maybe a minute more. Blobby brushed against his leg again, suddenly eager for attention. The woman reached to turn off the burner.

"And that's exactly the color we want." Mom motioned to the pan.

Ghost Danny leaned forward, noting the nutty brown color. Donning oven mitts, the woman lifted the pan and….

"Blobby! No!" The blob ghost darted forward, a curious pet eager to see what its people were so interested in. It knocked roughly into Mom's arm and… horror as she dropped the pan. Phantom's eyes widened, the world moving in slow motion. The burning metal fell through the air. Scalding brown liquid swirled, just inches from the woman's arm.

Phantom's core screamed, breath catching in his throat. He surged forward, hand outstretched to catch the pan, to keep his Mom from getting burnt. His finger graced the handle and…. It froze.

The metal cracked, frost coating the pan. Every drop of hot butter solidified. The container, now burning cold, clattered onto the counter.

Phantom stared, surprised. Wide eyes took in the scene. The splatter of yellowish-tan droplets, pooling on the counter, the walls of the now-sideways pan. The measuring cup, which somehow hadn't been knocked over…. A few drops had managed to make it inside; much more coated the outside, liquid dripping down the sides. No, not dripping. Not liquid…..

"Danny?" Someone asked.

He didn't register the question, mind whirling. The shadow of his heart skipped a beat. Not liquid… because it was frozen. He'd touched the pan and frozen everything in an instant. He'd… he'd frozen everything. Everything….

"Danny, sweetie?"

Ghost Danny's eyes just about popped out of his skull. He whipped around. There was Mom. Mom. She was okay.

"Did you do that?" The woman asked, surprised. But not… but not afraid.

Phantom nodded numbly. Yes, yes, he'd done that. He'd barely touched the pan and he'd frozen it. But what if….

Mom shook her head. "That was unexpected." Eyes wide, her voice rang with just a hint of humor. "You did say you could make things colder."

He could. He could because he'd done it before to… to…

"Are you alright?" Mom's concerned voice drifted to his ears. The boy's eyes flickered to her face. The worry there deepened. "Sweetie. It's okay. What is it?" She reached forward to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Phantom threw himself backwards. "Don't! Don't touch me."

Hurt marred her expression. "Danny, it's okay. You just surprised me. I'm not upset."

The boy blinked. What was she…. Oh. "No. It's not… it's not…." His voice shook. He felt like crying because… because she thought that her reaction had upset him. But… "I… I did that. I froze everything." His eyes flickered to the frozen mess. "I was trying to catch the pan. But… but if I'd touched you in….instead… I could have… have…"

Mom's eyes widened. "Sweetie, it's okay. I'm okay." She reached forward.

The ghost flinched back. "No! I could… I could hurt you."

"You're not going to hurt me." The woman vowed.

"I….I almost… did. I could have…. I could hurt you." He trembled, eyes watering.

"You didn't. You didn't hurt me. And you're not going to. It's going to be okay." Mom held out her arms placatingly.

Phantom shook his head vigorously.

"I know you're scared but you're going to get a handle on this. We'll practice, like with all the other powers." The adult sounded absolutely confident, absolutely certain. "You're not going to hurt anyone."

Something in him broke. "No. I…I already have. I hurt Fenton."

Mom's calming expression vanished, her eyes blown wide. Phantom slammed both hands over his mouth. He just… he just said that. Oh god, he just…. He wasn't...wasn't supposed to blurt that out. They'd… they'd been planning. And he said… he just said this!

Emotions flashed over Mom's face. Surprise, worry, anger, fear. Oh, no. No. What was she thinking? What did she -

Her eyes twitched. "What do you… what do you mean-"

Phantom held his hands out interrupting. "It was… it was an accident. I didn't mean to. I was really upset. I started crying and Fenton tried to touch me. And I burned his.. his hands…"

"Danny." Mom cut in. "When-"

"But he's… he's fine now. The burns healed really fast." He waved his hands. "So don't worry-"

"Danny." Her voice sharpened.

"Don't worry about it. It was an accident. And we're… we're fine now. So…just forget I said anything."

"Phantom." And…. that was the 'Mom voice.'

The ghost's mouth snapped shut. His shoulders fell, head hung down. "Ye..yes?"

"When did this happen?" The woman asked, now softer.

Phantom winced, cheeks rapidly darkening with guilt. "It… it was…" His throat locked up; the words wouldn't exit.

A pause. Then… there was movement in front of him. The boy glanced up as his mother took a step forward. Her arm reached towards him.

Ghost Danny stiffened, flinching out of the way. "Don't-"

But her hand softly landed on his cheek, cupping it. "Please, I promise I won't be angry. I promise I will listen and I won't be mad." Gently, she tilted his head up. Phantom looked up, meeting her eyes. "But you need to tell me. When did this happen?"

The boy bit his lip, saying nothing for a long moment. Then… he looked away. "The night before we told you and Dad about me.

"Before you told us…." Mom sighed and Phantom glanced up, taking in the thoughtful, slightly-confused reaction. "That Saturday night," She said, more sure. "When we left…. Or thought we left Fenton home alone."

Ghost Danny nodded. "We were both here."

She nodded as well then… her eyes widened slightly. "That morning…. we got a ping on the Finder and… I thought I heard voices in your room."

"Yeah. We were talking in there." He sighed.

"Right under our noses." Phantom could almost see her heart clench; his did as well. Mom continued. "He told me he was going to go see Sam and Tucker. So both of you went, didn't you?"

Another nod. "We watched some movies, played some games." Found out he couldn't taste food, Told his friends he'd died. Sam and Tucker convinced him to talk to his human half about re-fusing. "Fenton fell asleep and I flew him home." The corner of his lip turned up in a sad smile. "I'm the one who texted you when we got home."

Somehow, Mom's expression softened even more at the words. "You did?"

He shrugged. "I mean, you told human me to text you when he got home. So I figured same difference."

"Right." The woman nodded. She smiled softly, ruffling his hair.

Silent fell on the pair for a long moment, just standing beside each other. Mom removed her hand from Phantom's face. Instead… she took his hand. Finally, the woman sighed. "Why didn't you tell me all this sooner?"

The boy stiffened at the question. His core lodged in his throat. Why… oh boy.

"We've been through this." The woman gently reminded. "You can tell me."

Phantom looked down, biting his lip. He could feel her eyes on him, not harsh and judgemental but… patiently waiting. The woman squeezed his hand. Then…. she gently pulled him across the kitchen, to one of the chairs. Numbly, he sat down. His foot tapped nervously, head down.

Mom knelt in front of him, her hands on his knees. "Why didn't you tell me that you hurt yourself Danny?"

The ghost's eyes watered, breath catching in his throat. Those words…. Hurt himself. Of course, he knew he'd hurt himself. Hurting Fenton was hurting himself because they were the same. And his parents understood that, really understood that. Mom had for weeks but…

"I thought…." He swallowed. "I thought you'd be mad." Because earlier, before, she wouldn't have understood. He hurt her alive, human, normal son. His eyes watered. "You already didn't… didn't trust me. Because… I'm a ghost. You thought… you thought I was dangerous without knowing… that. But… if I… if I told you that I hurt him. If you knew that, then… then…." His voice trailed off, unable to force more words out.

Tears threatened to spill. Because… he hadn't planned it to go like this, damn it! It wasn't supposed to be just him. He and Fenton were supposed to be having this conversation together. He wasn't supposed to be alone.

Suddenly, his vision swirled, a warmth flooding his veins. He breathed deeply, feeling more complete, more present.

"You listen to me." The seriousness of her voice caught him off guard. He looked up, meeting her earnest violet eyes. "Both of you listen to me."

He tilted his head. "Both?"

"Your eyes are blue. So all of my son is in front of me right now." Her hands moved to the shoulders, squeezing. "So you listen to me, Daniel James Fenton-Phantom. You are not dangerous. Your powers aren't dangerous. Being a ghost never has and never will make you dangerous. I know…." She glanced down, visibly ashamed before looking back up. "I know I made you think that. I treated you like that. I didn't trust you when I should have. And I know I probably would have been… no, not probably. I would have been angry back then. But that, all of that is wrong. And… I am not mad at you at all right now. I will never be mad at you for telling me the truth." She squeezed his shoulders. "But," Her face hardened. "What I will not tolerate is you pulling away from us because you're convinced that you're going to hurt me or your father, or your sister, or your friends. Because you are not going to hurt us."

"But," Danny's eyes flickered green, Phantom rising to the surface. "I hurt him."

"You didn't mean to do it. It was an accident. You don't want to do it again." Mom shook her head, expression softening. "It's not going to happen again."

The boy bit his lip, one eye green, the other blue. "But… what if it does? What if we hurt ourself? Or what if I hurt someone else?"

"Then we'll deal with it." The woman promised. "Your dad and I knew first aid; we can deal with any mishaps. But that won't happen because we're going to be careful. You'll get plenty of practice and master this. It's going to be okay, Danny."

Those violet eyes bore into his own. And… heart and core both clench. Those soft and hard but always loving words, Her kneeling in front of him…. A memory flashed in his mind. He felt… he felt like he was six again, sitting in this same chair with skinned knees and elbows after falling off his bike. He'd vehemently insisted he was never getting on that thing again; he'd just get hurt again if he tried. Mom had promised it was going to be okay then. And now… she wore that exact same expression, the same earnest certainty, even if the stakes were much higher, the situation so much more complicated. Still…

"You promise?" He hazarded, just a child looking to his mother for comfort.

"I promise." Mom vowed. She stood, leaning over to give him a hug. "It's going to be okay. We'll get through this together." She squeezed. "I am so sorry, baby."

Danny sniffled, a few tears falling. His heart and core pounded, nearly in sync despite the distance between them. His thoughts echoed, slowly unraveling. And…. Fenton slipped away, leaving Phantom alone again. The ghost gasped, tears falling faster. Mom hugged him tighter.

A long embrace. A sweet, tender moment. Just the two of them. Except…..

A round something brushed his leg. Finally, slowly, Phantom let go of the adult who pulled back. The ghost looked down, eyes narrowing. "There you are, you little gremlin." He scooped up the blob. "You're gonna stay out of the kitchen if we're cooking." He scowled, holding the ghost in front of his face and gently shaking it.

Blobby's eyes widened and it let out a vaguely sad merp.

"You know what you did." Phantom huffed, lowering the pet. He frowned, looking at his mom. "Sorry about Blobby."

"It's alright. That's one of the perils of having a pet." The woman waggled her finger at the blob. "We'll have to teach this one to stay away from the oven."

The ghost boy's brow wrinkled thoughtfully. "If it was a cat, I'd say we should get a spray bottle. That's supposed to work with cats, right? I don't know about blob ghosts though."

"We can come up with some kind of mild ghostly deterrent. Maybe some blob-friendly treats as well." Mom suggested.

"Maybe Sidney knows something too. I can ask." Phantom nodded, looking down at the pet again. "Who knew you'd be so much trouble?"

Mom chuckled, lightly. "As I said, that's pets. They can get into everything. We'll figure it out." Her expression turned more somber. "I'm glad neither of us got hurt." She glanced to the mess on the counter. "Even if we have quite the mess."

"Sorry." Phantom looked down guilty. "I'll start cleaning it up." He floated to the counter, lips turning down at the spatter of brown. "We're gonna have to throw away all this butter."

"We have more." Mom replied casually. "We can brown some more once this is cleaned up." She picked up the measuring cup, a brief crunch sounding as the frozen chunk of butter around the bottom cracked. She placed the cup in the sink.

At the same time, Phantom grabbed the larger frozen pieces and threw them in the sink.

The woman sighed, picking up the sauce pan. "I'll have to use the other pan and buy a new one."

The ghost looked over, eyes widening at the crack along the side. "I did that?"

Mom nodded. "The metal apparently couldn't handle the sudden drop in temperature."

Phantom paled, his core already sinking again. But before he could really get upset again, the woman placed a comforting hand on his arm. Their eyes met and he took a deliberate breath.

Feeling better, ghost Danny pulled a butter knife out of the draw. "I'll start scraping up the rest."

Between the scrapping and scrubbing with steel wool pads, the spilled butter was cleaned up in about ten minutes. Like before, Mom grabbed two sticks of butter, cut them up, and started melting them in a different pan.

The pair watched the contents for a long moment in silence. Phantom felt better after being comforted by his mom. She was right; this practice he'd be able to deal with whatever this spontaneously freezing things power was. And what's more…. He sighed, feeling his shoulders relaxed. What's more…. She believed what she said about him not being dangerous. She wasn't angry about him hurting Fenton or about the power display this afternoon. He'd bared his core, shared a little bit about what happened before they told Mom and Dad what the ghost catcher really did. They'd… they'd been planning to have that conversation anyway but….

His stomach flopped nervously, the corner of his lip turning down. There was more, so much more.

"Danny?" His name broke the ghost out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?" He looked up. Mom was stirring the browning butter with a serious, thoughtful look on her face. It made his guts squirm.

Then…. The woman turned to look at him. "There was about a week between when you went through the ghost catcher and when you and the other Danny talked to us in the lab."

Phantom nodded, that ball of anxiety sinking deeper. What was she going to ask?

"Where were you? Where was this you, where was Phantom that week?" Hurt flashed across her face, her wide, earnest eyes full of worry and fear.

Ghost Danny looked down. He couldn't… he couldn't answer that, not with her looking at him like that.

Mom continued, despite his lack of response. "It took you a week to come home. A week to talk to us. I know… I know…" Her voice cracked with pain. "God… I know we were hun… hunting you. But, I swear, I swear if you'd come to us earlier, if you'd talked to us even that night, we would have believed you."

Phantom's shoulder rose, part of him wanting to deny that. She couldn't promise that. She had no way of knowing how they would have responded right after the ghost catcher. And yet… Dad had looked into his eyes and known him, sitting there on the lab floor. Mom had looked, and she had seen. They'd finally seen him. Wouldn't they have always recognized him?

"Why did you take so long to come home?" The woman asked, almost pleading. "We would have believed you."

His mouth was dry. Because… because that wasn't why he'd stayed away… He'd thought… He was sure… He was an impostor, a fake, an abomination, a curse, a disease.

The words stayed fixed in his mind, in his core. After everything… after everything he still couldn't…. Couldn't say them.

Mom might have been saying something else but he wasn't hearing. His mind was torn in two. They needed to talk about this, to have this conversation. But… but he couldn't do this alone, as just Phantom. Maybe… maybe even then he couldn't do it. He couldn't… couldn't say that, couldn't confess all that. How could… how could he tell her that he'd been sure he wasn't her son?

Suddenly, something in his pocket rang. Phantom blinked, pulled out of the spiral. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and, seeing it was Tucker, answered, unable to even bear looking at his mom.

"What's up?" He asked, trying to seem casual.

"Hey, I wanted to see if you wanted to meet me, Sam, and Fenton at the park. We're gonna hang out."

Ghost Danny stiffened, taken aback by the question. Then… he glanced at the woman. "Umm… it's Tucker. Can I meet him and Sam at the park?"

Mom frowned, looking like she was going to argue, to insist he answer her question. His shoulders crumpled as he braced for the reaction. Then…. She sighed. "Alright, you can go."

Phantom blinked, surprised. "Mom says I can go." He answered into the phone.

"Sweet!" Tucker exclaimed. "We'll be near the playground." There was static, mumbled words as he responded to someone off the phone. "Sam says to wear your hoodie. We don't wanna draw attention."

"Right." A nod. "See you in a few minutes."

"See you soon!" With that Tucker hung up.

Ghost Danny lowered the phone, cautiously looking at the adult. Her arms were crossed, expression serious. "We need to talk about this later." Her face softened, ever so slightly. "I know that something is still bothering you."

Phantom opened and closed his mouth, fighting to deny. But…. his shoulder hunched. "I… okay." He couldn't…. Couldn't deny it, couldn't argue. Not now.

"Okay." The woman said plainly, not satisfied, not pushing. She stepped forward, holding her arms to offer a hug. The ghost darted forward, embracing her. "I love you Danny."

"I…I love you too, Mom." It would… it would have to be enough for now.

Note:I hope you liked the chapter! Feel free to leave me your thoughts as always. Honestly, I could really use the encouragement. This weekend sucked. My car broke down and my cat's sick so your thoughts and prayers would mean a lot. And thanks for the support as always.

And some Invisobang story details as well! I'm doing another story in my "Life and Death is all Perspective series", this time with Muscles and Tiny as the main characters. So you can expect: Clone angst, Sibling bonding, Frankenstein vibes and parallels, good mom Pandora, and Angst with a happy ending.