Hangouts with Fenton had become decidedly less spontaneous every since the Fenton Ghost Detector became a thing. Phantom had to wait for him to turn it off before he could go inside the house. Which was easier said than done, it turned out. His parents had begun to pick up on it.

But now they finally had a way to communicate. The Fenton Phones looked like the kind of earpiece you'd expect to see on a CIA agent except, well, kind of bulkier and bright green. So less cool and more conspicuous, but hey! They were functional.

And today, for the first time in months, their parents would be gone for hours. They were at a special Engineering convention two towns over and might even decide to spend the night out there. It was unlikely, but Phantom was hopeful. And when Jazz got home she'd just go straight to her room. Even if she didn't, she had always avoided the lab like the plague.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to return to visibility.

"You're just pulling my leg, right?" Tucker was saying. "The ghost boy wouldn't really-"

"His name is Phantom," Fenton said, reaching out blindly. "Aha! He is here."

He'd found Phantom's shoulder. "Dude, what gives?"

It was a little late to explain, but part of the problem was Sam. She was glaring at her boots and Phantom wasn't looking forward to having the stink eye directed at him.

"Just a tad nervous," Phantom said.

Tucker tutted. "Anyone can simulate a disembodied voice these days. You just need an impressive speaker system. Record any voice you want, just someone I don't know, then add in some distortion to make it sound ghostly."

"You think Danny would know how to do any of that?" Sam said. "Or have the tech?"

"I thought you wanted me to introduce you," Fenton murmured. Both hands on Phantom's shoulders, he tried to lean towards Phantom's ear, but bumped into the back of his head. It was a light bump, almost a nudge. "You change your mind? I won't be mad if you did."

Instead of answering, Phantom focused on the cold coating of invisibility that he instinctively wrapped around himself. It was a protective blanket, but he didn't need protecting right now. He loosened his hold.

Tucker gasped.

"Hallelujah," Sam muttered. "He has finally deigned to grace us with his presence."

Fenton laughed nervously. "The sarcastic goth is Sam, of course."

Being formally introduced was cringey and unnecessary, but Fenton didn't know that he already knew her as Phantom as well as from his memories.

Patting Tucker on the head, Fenton added. "And this one is Tucker."

When the shock wore off Tucker took out his phone and began taking photos. Then he propped an iPad up a table, starting a video. Phantom was tempted to disappear again, but Fenton assured him nothing would be posted on social media.

"Right, Tuck?" He elbowed Tucker and raised his eyebrows.

Tucker whined. "What's the point of being friends with the town's most famous ghost-"

"Tuck, c'mon. Promise him you won't post anything." It was odd, seeing Fenton trying to be authoritative. He was trying to scowl in a threatening manner, but the jut of his lower lip looked like more of a pout. The crease between his brows that of a petulant child.

"Fine," Tucker sighed. "I won't post anything for now."

Then he turned to Phantom and, using his phone like a mic, pointed it at the ghost's mouth. "If you'll just formally introduce yourself, my good sir, we can get this interview started."

"I-interview?" Phantom said. He glanced at Sam, who had wandered off to scrutinize what looked like a giant dream catcher. The girl was straight up ignoring them.

"He's just curious," Fenton said. "Don't worry, think of it like those icebreakers we have to do at school sometimes. It's like a roleplay, just to get to know you."

The icebreakers Phantom remembered from middle school involved trying to balance a marshmallow on a tower of straws. The word 'roleplay' had a different context for him.

He was glad he couldn't blush.

"So he was a normal student before he died?" Tucker said. Fenton shrugged and nodded at the same time. Tucker scrutinized Phantom's hazmat suit, but instead of asking about it, he said, "What's the last grade level you attended, then? Phantom?"

He was still holding the phone up. Phantom glared at it, noticing a little microphone icon was lit up and flashing. But he really shouldn't be surprised at this reaction. Being a ghost meant Phantom couldn't just meet someone and bond over video games and meat lovers pizza. Without a username for cover he couldn't expect to stroll up, glowing and floating, and have Tucker accept him as just another guy joining the party.

For Tucker, this meeting was an event. But maybe the novelty would wear off with time.

"Oh man, it's such a fog," Phantom said. He brought his legs up so he could sit indian style. His torso remained at Tucker's eye level, but now there was more distance between him and the ground. Tucker grinned at the change.

"I know I was in middle school," Phantom continued. "What grades are those?"

"Sixth through eight," Fenton said. If he was surprised by Phantom's demeanor shift, he didn't show it. Nor did he express surprise at Phantom's fib about foggy memories.

"But it wasn't always that way!" Tucker said. "In the past the 5th grade was also middle school. You look way too old for that though, I'd say you were at least a 7th grader. But could have been in 8th."

"Let's go with that then," Phantom said. Then, because he didn't know what else to do, finger guns. He had immediate regrets, but Tucker seemed charmed. He was laughing.

Then more questions came, rapid fire:

"What sort of family did you have? Any siblings? Older or younger? Think any of them are still alive? Do you remember where you lived? Ever go to that house, like, as a ghost? Does a new family live there now? Is it sad to see people aging without you? Or do you not keep tabs on them?"

Tucker paused to take a breath and Phantom and Fenton could only blink at him. From the other side of the lab, Sam groaned.

"Oh! What was your real name though?" Tucker continued, seeming unsurprised that he hadn't gotten any answers. "No one names a baby 'Phantom' haha. Did you forget it?"

"Um, I don't know," Phantom said. "Th-that is… I don't remember things like that."

Tucker nodded. "Makes sense." Then he stood up and addressed his iPad. "Now for the fun part!"

"The fun part?" Fenton said. He looked at Phantom apologetically.

"Let's catalogue his powers!" Tucker said. He clapped Phantom on the back and flinched back when he actually made contact. "Whoa, you're cold. Though I thought you'd be colder, honestly. Hey, so you good to give us a few demonstrations?"

Phantom grinned and tried to crack his knuckles. They didn't crack, of course. He kept forgetting he didn't have bones. But the gesture still had meaning, he supposed.

"Hell yeah," he said. "What do you want to see?"

"Um, anything visually impressive?" Tucker said. "Stuff people can't write off as special effects."

Fenton elbowed Tucker, who hastily added, "Not that any people will be seeing this…"

So Phantom picked Fenton up and floated them to the ceiling. The boy grunted in surprise, but otherwise didn't protest being manhandled.

Phantom disappeared and allowed Fenton to remain visible, appearing to float on his own as they traveled. Tucker followed underneath with the iPad.

Then Phantom extended the 'blanket' of invisibility to Fenton and Tucker gasped. "You can make people invisible too?!"

He could feel Fenton shiver. "It's c-colder," Fenton said.

"Sorry," Phantom murmured. He hugged Fenton closer to him, though he knew that wouldn't generate any warmth.

"Hey, I need visuals guys," Tucker said. "Come back out."

"Hold on tight," Phantom whispered. He'd been holding Fenton's torso with both of them facing the ground, and the camera, but now he tried to turn Fenton around so the human could put his arms and legs around him. It was harder to do than he'd thought it would be, and Phantom almost dropped him.

Fenton shouted and Tucker flinched. "Danny?"

"I'm okay!" Fenton said. He was latched onto Phantom like a koala to a tree branch. Phantom rubbed soothing circles on his back and murmured apologies.

"The fuck are you doing Phantom?" Sam said. She had joined Tucker behind his camera and showed him one of the Fenton gadgets. "It looks like thermal imaging. See that moving cold spot? They're coming towards us."

"Phantom the ground!" Fenton gasped as they swam through the asphalt, gliding under their friend's feet. "Ph-phantom, it's too d-dark."

Poor guy was probably freezing. But Phantom was enjoying this a lot more than he had expected. Hearing his name stuttered out like that… And the way Fenton clung to him...

"We're visible now," he chuckled. "But intangible. I'm going to float us back up so they can see. A good trick for Tucker, eh?"

They rose between Sam and Tucker's feet and the two sprung further apart to give them room. Tucker quickly directed his iPad at them and Sam put down the thermal what-ever-it-was. She was making faces and exaggeratedly rolling her eyes.

Phantom moved slowly, reluctant to put Fenton down. But he'd run out of ideas, so he set him on his feet and floated away. He wanted to swim languidly through the air. He wanted to strike a casual pose. But trying to look cool always had the opposite effect, didn't it? Now he was feeling self conscious.

"No come baaack," Tucker whined when Phantom disappeared again. He turned to Sam. "Where did he go?"

She ignored him and glared at the ceiling. "Stop messing around," she said. "Or I'm leaving."

Phantom re-appeared directly in front of her and she flinched.

"S-sorry," Phantom said. "I'll stay put. Uh, I mean visible. Also, I mean. Visible and still. I promise."

"This time, huh?" she said. He had a feeling she was trying to reference the night of the dance. But this wasn't the time to be talking about that.

Fenton and Tucker exchanged a look. Could they tell?! Or was he just paranoid?

"Phantom is a stupid name," Sam said. It seemed like a random declaration, but Phantom recognized the challenge for what it was.

Sam had come up with the name not long after the accident, though she hardly used it. She wanted him to acknowledge that. To apologize for pretending not to know her.

Or maybe she was just pissed. He wasn't a mind reader.

"Um, okay," he said. "S-sorry."

"Hey man, don't let her intimidate you," Tucker said. "She's just joking."

Phantom looked at Fenton. He was surprised he hadn't said anything. Fenton just stood there, rubbing the goose bumps on his arms, and raised his eyebrows when they made eye contact. Phantom looked away.

When the basement door opened Phantom did not hesitate to break his promise. Invisibility was a good instinct, it turned out.

Jack and Maddie Fenton came down the stairs. They were carrying a glowing cage with them. The ghost inside was a blob of shifting gelatin, it wriggled and grew, shrank, grew, tried to solidify into a square, then seemed to melt and shrink again.

Neither of them seemed surprised by the teenagers in their ghost lab. Though Maddie looked confused. "Danny, did you turn off the Ghost Detector?"

"Uh… No?" Fenton said. Phantom put a hand on his shoulder, tapping his finger three times. It was his way of saying goodbye.

She helped Jack set the cage down on the floor and put her hands on her hips. "Then why didn't the alarm detect this little guy, huh?"

He floated away while Fenton gave his response. "Maybe it broke?"

That was the last thing he heard. He started flying towards Casper High, purely out of habit, when he remembered the piece of paper he'd stashed at the neck of his jumpsuit.

Paulina's address. Would it be strange to pay her a visit so soon? Maybe. But maybe not... Either way, he changed direction.