This man was a total wack job.

After Phantom told him, point blank, that he did not want to live in his creepy mansion or act as a surrogate ghost son to any capacity he'd pretty much flipped his shit.

He'd started ranting about how he'd make a better father than Jack Fenton ever could and then proceeded to try and prove his point by possessing the man and wrecking the reunion.

Or he was just bitter and wanted to make Dad look bad. Phantom gave up trying to follow Vlad's train of thought and flew after him.

It was easier to pull him out of his dad than it had been to grab his core from, well, Vlad's actual body. Further proving Vlad's point that he really was attached to his human self.

What a lucky loon, Phantom thought.

"Good luck," Vlad said with a smirk, immediately disappearing as Dad came to his senses and grinned up at them.

"Ghost boy!" Dad said. "Oh boy, I'm going to catch you this time!"

Great.

oOo

Invisibility didn't help. There was some kind of ghost honing device in the Fenton RV, allowing Dad to follow him no matter where he flew. Phantom thought he'd at least lose him if he phased into the building, but Dad- Jack, Phantom should call him Jack- just drove through a wall to chase after him.

He couldn't properly aim at Phantom because of the invisibility, but he got one lucky shot in. It wasn't the kind of blast Phantom was expecting. Instead he ended up coated in this weird green slime, like something out of a Nickelodeon special, which was impossible to remove.

Mom took advantage of the target it painted on him and fired away. Phantom decided at that point it would be better to retreat, but the goop prevented him from phasing through walls. He was trapped.

While was looking for an open window, debating whether or not he should just break one- it's not like he'd get injured right?- he noticed Fenton. The boy was trying to shove through the crowd of people running for the exits. It looked like he was trying to reach their parents. Trailing after him was Vlad, human Vlad. That pompous fruitloop!

The man put his hands on Fenton's shoulders when he was within reach, pulling him back towards the exit.

If it were anyone else Phantom would have been grateful. Fenton should get out of the way. He always ran in the wrong direction. If it were anyone else Phantom would not have pulled such a stupid stunt.

But now Fenton was in his arms and all Phantom could do was hug him close and try to shield him from the glass as Jack and Maddie Fenton screamed after them.

oOo

He deposited Fenton on the roof. The mansion rooftop was an uncomfortable assortment of sharply sloping spires, but Phantom managed to find a flat surface where they could gather their bearings.

Initially he'd been reluctant to let go of the boy, but then he'd remembered the window he'd broken and put distance between them so he could check Fenton for injuries.

First he checked Fenton's head, running his hands through his hair carefully. He didn't find any glass, but there was a bump on the back of his head. There was blood on his shirt.

Alarmed, Phantom lifted his shirt to see if there would be more blood. There wasn't, but there was a bruise on Fenton's shoulder. The boy shivered and tugged his shirt back down. It reminded Phantom that he was so much colder than the human. Perhaps…

He placed his hand on Fenton's shoulder, hoping that he could act as an ice pack for the bruise, even through the shirt. But no, he probably wasn't cold enough.

Then Phantom glanced at Fenton's legs, but the boy followed his gaze and backed away from him. The way he walked, backwards and without looking, alarmed Phantom further. His human might just topple off the roof if he wasn't careful. So Phantom hovered after him with his arms raised. But he did not directly touch Fenton again.

He didn't like the way Fenton was looking at him. It was almost as if he was afraid.

Phantom lowered his hands. Fenton was up against a wall now, nowhere near the edge of the roof. The human was standing with his hands fisted at his sides, back straight and stiff, biting his lip and just… silently regarding Phantom. Waiting for something.

"I'm sorry I left you there," Phantom said. "As soon as I saw you on the ground I wanted to go to you. I wanted to, but I didn't want him to notice you. I thought I should keep his attention. So I just stayed in place like an idiot, running my mouth. I was… scared."

He was looking at Fenton's fists as he spoke. The fingers slowly uncurled and the human leaned against the wall and lowered himself to the ground. He exhaled slowly and Phantom saw a tear caught on his eyelashes.

Phantom lowered himself to Fenton's level, sitting on his knees, bent forward. He was tempted to bow, to grovel, anything to fix this. Fenton kept an eye on him as Phantom approached, retracting his legs so that they were out of reach. He hugged his knees to his chest.

"It's no excuse," Phantom said. "I should have-"

"What am I?" Fenton said. Now his eyes were on his knees.

"What?" Phantom sat back.

"Am I like a pet?" Fenton said. He scrubbed at his eyes. "Your human pet?"

"What?" Phantom repeated, stupidly. "N-no! You're just… You're you."

"Then why are you haunting me?" Fenton said.

Phantom stared at him. It was the first time Fenton had acknowledged their relationship for what it was. Phantom recalled what Vlad had called him. His human counterpart.

He couldn't say that. He didn't want Fenton to know. But he had no other explanation.

"Why did you kidnap me?" Fenton said. He was curling in on himself, his head resting against his knees, which were still tucked against his chest. His arms tightened around them.

"K-kidnap?" Phantom echoed. Stupid. He was stupid. "I didn't mean- I wasn't. Uh."

"You just carried me off," Fenton said. "Like I was your property!"

"I had to get you away from Vlad!" Phantom said. "He had his hands on you. He was-"

"That's no excuse," Fenton said. "You can't just pick me up like that. Ever."

"He's dangerous," Phantom said. "You don't understand what he is."

"I don't understand what you are," Fenton said. "Maybe you're dangerous."

Phantom put his hands on the ground between them, palm down. Then he brought his head down over them, bowing low to the ground like he'd seen in anime.

"I'm sorry," he said. He was mumbling into his arms and he worried Fenton couldn't hear him, so he raised his voice a little. "I swear, I would never hurt you."

"I'm sorry too," Fenton said.

There was a flash of blue light. A vortex. A black hole? Phantom felt himself melting away. He couldn't see. He couldn't. Move. Or even lie still and just feel his own existence.

He no longer existed.

oOo

It was like being stuck in the car without music. It was like finishing a test early and your teacher won't let you leave or work on something else. Won't even let you read a book.

So you're sitting at your desk alone with your thoughts.

But at least you can doodle on your eraser, or pick off eraser crumbs and make a pile. At least you can fiddle with your hands or stick your arms inside your shirt. At least you have a body and things to look at.

Phantom wondered if this was what death was supposed to feel like.

Emptiness. Darkness.

But then why wouldn't his thoughts turn off?

He was stuck with them. They were all he had. So he thought and he wondered if Fenton was still on the roof. Had Vlad come up from behind him and zapped him with something? Had he taken Fenton and asked him to give up his life in Amity Park?

Or maybe his parents had come for him. He wanted to believe that they were all in the Fenton RV right now, ready to put Wisconsin behind them. They'd go home without Phantom flying after them this time. Fenton would be relieved, maybe.

If he had lungs Phantom would have hyperventilated. This was worse than being stuffed in a locker and left to rot for hours. This was worse than getting his hair stuck in dad's weird Fenton vacuum cleaner.

It was worse than any bad experience he could dredge up. Yet as he swam through all the bad memories he was relieved that they were all still there. It meant he wasn't gone. Not yet.

oOo

When his body was returned to him Phantom curled up into a ball and closed his eyes. The light was blinding and he had an irrational fear that his limbs might scatter to the wind if he didn't grab them tightly. There were sounds, now, but his thoughts were louder. He couldn't make them out. Then there was warmth. It felt pleasant for a second. Then stifling.

"Too hot," Phantom gasped. "Too bright."

The warmth left him and he heard someone swear. A lightswitch clicked off.

Phantom opened his eyes and was greeted by the glow-in-the-dark stickers on his bedroom ceiling. A crescent moon, the big dipper. He sighed and felt himself relax.

He didn't realize he'd been slowly floating upward until he almost knocked his head against the ceiling fan.

"Phantom?" someone said. No, it was a special voice. It was his own.

"F-Fenton," he spun himself around too quickly and his momentum somehow carried him into the closet. The door was open, thankfully, because he didn't bother to make himself intangible.

He jostled the clothes that were hung there and then landed on the ground, blanketed by them. Phantom inhaled the familiar scent of his mother's favorite laundry detergent. He smiled and nuzzled into his impromptu nest. He'd be content to take a nap here if sleep were possible.

"Dude, you're freaking me out," Fenton said. "Are you high or something?"

It looked like the human was using the closet door as a shield. The top of his head poked out, just enough for him to peek in on Phantom. It was adorable.

Phantom giggled. "I'm high on the five senses," he said. "I missed them."

"Oh," Fenton said. "Right. Sorry. Uh, wh-what was it like in there?"

"It was like being stuffed in a locker," Phantom said. "But… Actually, no. It was nothing like that. Because in a locker you can feel your legs cramp up. You can feel yourself get sticky with sweat and you can wriggle around and bang your head against the door. You can shout yourself hoarse, you can chew on your shirt, you can-"

"Okay!" Fenton said. "I've got the visual, thank you."

"What was that place?" Phantom said. He hugged the pile of clothes to his chest. A hanger nearly poked his eye out. "I've never… What happened?"

Fenton sighed. He opened the closet door all the way, maybe realizing it was a useless shield against a ghost, and sat on the floor with his legs crossed in front of him. He unbuckled his belt and Phantom zeroed in on the movement. What was he…?

"This," Fenton said. "My dad just calls it the Fenton Thermos."

It looked like a regular old soup thermos. It was gray with green trim at the bottom and below the lid. But when Phantom squinted at it he could see an underlying pattern of… circuits. The pattern was similar to the one on the box Vlad had used to imprison him.

Phantom gulped. "Your parents caught me with that?"

"No, I did."

There was a beat of silence as the two regarded each other. Then Phantom stood. He dropped the clothes and made to step out of the closet.

Fenton flinched, but remained seated. Phantom paused.

"You're afraid of me," he said. "I messed up and now you're afraid of me."

Fenton peeked up at Phantom through his bangs. Again a beat passed in silence. Phantom didn't realize he'd reacted by activating his invisibility until Fenton stood back up and glanced around the room in alarm. "Phantom?!"

"I'm still here," Phantom said.

"Why are you invisible?"

"It was an accident," Phantom said. Still, he made no move to correct the mistake. He liked the way Fenton lifted his hands and searched for him. He found Phantom easily. Standing exactly where he had been.

Fenton poked him in the stomach first. Then he found Phantom's arm and followed it up to his shoulder. "You're just going to stay invisible?"

"Probably." It pleased Phantom. This role reversal. He stood still and enjoyed the warmth of Fenton's hands. Fenton let go of him and he wanted to grab his hand. To put it back on his shoulder. Or on his head. He wanted Fenton to pat him or something. Anything.

If anyone was a pet here it was Phantom. A ghost pet, just for him.

"I'm not afraid of you," Fenton said. "Not when you're… Like this."

"Invisible?"

"No, when you're… Normal. When you're nice. Calm." Fenton walked away and Phantom floated after him. He sat at his desk and put his head in his hands. "I thought you'd be pissed at me for using the thermos on you."

Phantom said nothing.

"Are you still here?" Fenton said. He tugged at the hairs on the nape of his neck and Phantom mirrored the movement unconsciously. "Please, Phantom. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Phantom said.

Then he flew away.