AN: There may be some confusion about this chapter, since I had already posted it, then later deleted it. I did so because I thought it was much too short. I have since doubled its length and am now re-posting it. The first half, for those who saw it before, is exactly the same. In the middle begins the new content.

"I think it's a love spell. Or something," Sam said.

"You know what?" Phantom said. "I don't hate it."

Fenton was hugging him with an enthusiasm he'd never displayed before. They were actually facing each other, chest to chest, and he was rubbing his hands up and down Phantom's back.

And nuzzling his cheek into Phantom's hair.

"Seriously?" Sam snapped her fingers in their faces. "Did you both get spelled?"

Phantom pulled away from the hug. "Sorry."

Fenton was not pleased. "Just ignore her!"

"How do we get him back to normal?" Phantom said.

"I guess by killing Ember?"

"She's already dead."

"There's gotta be a way to destroy a ghost."

"I thought we were just going to capture her?"

Fenton rolled his eyes while they talked and put his arms around Phantom again. This time from behind.

He kissed the top of Phantom's head, then rested his chin there.

Phantom laughed. "Are you trying to make me feel small?"

"I like cuddles," Fenton said. "Didn't you want them too?"

"Well yeah but-" For the first time, Phantom realized something. "Hey guys, I'm not floating!"

Sam frowned. "So? You've done that before."

"But I've never kept it going for this long." Phantom untangled himself from Fenton and hopped three times.

Each time he came back down to the ground. Then, just to be sure, he jumped as high as he could and decided to float.

He stayed in the air. "That's a relief. I thought I wouldn't be able to fly."

Fenton clapped encouragingly.

"What is going on with you lately?" Sam said. "You're all over the place."

Phantom landed on the ground again. "I dunno," he said. "I just... I'm still getting used to this, I guess."

"To being a ghost?"

"Yeah."

"Well now's not the time for experiments," Sam said. "We need to get back down there. And I'm sorry Danny but you're too dangerous to come with us."

Fenton glared at her and grabbed Phantom's arm, "You can't separate us!"

"Dangerous? He seems harmless."

"Are you forgetting the time I almost plummeted to my death because of him?"

"Oh, right." Phantom waggled a finger at Fenton. "That was wrong. Don't do it again."

"Are you mad at me?" Fenton said.

"Uh, not that mad?" Sam was glaring at him. "Mildly angry."

She huffed.

"Okay, I'm furious."

Fenton's eyes watered and Phantom backpedaled. "But I forgive you! Don't cry."

Fenton cried anyway. The silently tragic kind of tears. He covered his face with his hands to stifle his expression.

"I take it back," Phantom said. "I miss the old Fenton."

"You're leaving me," Fenton said. "I'm an obstacle."

"Sam please tell me what to do here."

"Oh, I don't know," she said. "You could carry him home, tuck him into bed, and kiss him passionately. Then just disappear. That always works."

"Ouch," Phantom said. "Okay, I deserved that."

Fenton gasped. "You guys kissed?!"

Phantom winced. "Just once?"

"Why are you phrasing that like a question?" Sam said. "Did we kiss once or didn't we?"

"We did! I'm sorry."

Fenton knelt and curled in on himself, pulling at his hair.

Phantom moved toward him, but Sam smacked his arm and made a silent shooing motion.

She crouched beside Fenton and put a hand on his shoulder. "Still got those love goggles?"

"I feel like my heart's been ripped out of my chest and stomped on," Fenton said.

"Yeah, well, men are pigs." She gave him a pat on the head. "You'll get over it."

Phantom decided it would be better for him to keep quiet.

Then Fenton straightened up so fast he almost knocked Sam over. "You know what?"

"What?" She said.

Fenton's eyes glowed an icey blue. "I know exactly who I can take this out on."

Then he turned into a dragon.

oOo

He remembered crying. Then it was freezing. He was so angry his heart stopped beating.

Then he couldn't think.

He couldn't think, but he could run. He could attack.

He was flying.

It was her fault, her fault, her fault.

oOo

"We should have asked him where he left the thermos," Phantom said.

"Ugh, I know. Shut up."

oOo

They both had fire. They threw it at each other. They screamed. She was a tiny little banshee.

There was so much screaming. More than her. More than them. But he couldn't focus on the people running below.

oOo

The building was on fire.

Phantom could only carry so many people at a time. But they followed Sam to the exits, running a little too haphazardly.

He tried to make sure no one got trampled.

oOo

She disappeared and he roared. He smashed his head through a wall and chewed on bricks.

"Fenton! You can stop now!"

More screaming? He thought he was the only voice left.

"Fenton, please." He glowed among the rubble. A little green bubble. "Don't you want more cuddles? Hmm?"

He remembered crying. It was still so cold. But Phantom was here. He didn't leave?

"That's it. Just stay still, there we go."

He wasn't flying. Now he was falling.

oOo

He should have known Fenton had kept the amulet. What the hell was he thinking, the night of the dance? He'd just flown away with Sam in his arms and forgotten all about it. Some hero.

Now Fenton was in his arms and the consequences were so much worse. There were fire trucks and cop cars outside.

And the Fenton RV.

His parents picked him up on their scanners as he was leaving the scene of the crime. They gave chase and Phantom couldn't let them see.

Fenton was unconscious. He'd expected him to puke and shake this off. The way Sam had.

But he'd been under the Amulet's spell for hours longer. Was there some kind of slow poison in it? Side effects?

There was no way to know.

oOo

When he opened his eyes Phantom was all he could see. His eyes usually glowed so brightly, but today they looked damp.

Phantom's smile was all teeth. "Hey, hey, hey. Fenton, my man. How're you doing, champ?"

"You sound like dad," Danny said.

"Sorry." Phantom's face had been so close it had taken up Danny's entire field of vision. But now he scooted back and Danny noticed curtains hanging over them.

No not curtains, exactly.

He was in a giant bed.

"I can't believe this!" Someone said. It sounded far away.

Danny sat up.

"Am I being pranked? Are there cameras?"

It was Tucker. Danny couldn't see him, but he realized it was Tucker speaking.

"He's getting a house tour," Phantom said. "Want to join them?"

"No," Danny said.

"You feel like barfing?"

"What? No."

There was ectoplasm in his nose, the stench powerful and familiar. He could taste it, sour and gelatinous, coating his mouth.

Phantom hovered over him, his expression pinched and pale. It was deja vu, an eerie echo of Sam's panic on the day of the accident.

He'd been knocked out by the blast, she'd said. When he frowned at her in confusion, unable to recognize her, she'd started crying.

"I thought you died!" She had sobbed.

"She was right," Danny said. "I was unconscious."

"Yeah you passed out while you were falling," Phantom said. "You sure you don't feel sick? Even a little nauseous?"

Danny shook his head and swirled his tongue around the inside of his mouth, trying to catch the ectoplasm.

But it wasn't really there. His mouth felt thick with it, but it was just an illusion.

"Fenton?" Phantom cupped his cheek and leaned forward, suddenly reminding Danny of his mom.

His parents had hosed him down several times. They made him stand, naked, in the decontamination chamber every night for a week. They would scan him for trace amounts of ectoplasm every night and the readouts would be fainter each time.

The smell in his nose eventually went away.

"I'm fine." Danny threw off the thick black blanket that had been tucked up around him and tried to climb off the massive bed.

"Whoa, maybe that's not such a good idea." Phantom blocked him, arms out like a goalie, but Danny just draped himself over him and they both went down.

Well, more like sideways. Phantom kept them floated in mid-air and put Danny back on his feet.

They ended up standing with their arms loosely around each other and a new, foggier memory rose to the surface.

Danny was clinging to Phantom, running his hands up and down his back, nuzzling into his hair. "You know what? I don't hate it."

Danny jumped away from Phantom.

"I was hypnotized too!" He blurted.

Phantom pouted at his empty arms. "I know that," he said. "But it's not like I have cooties."

"Wh-why was it," Danny stammered. "Why did I... was it just me?"

"Yeah, everyone else was fawning over Ember," Phantom said. "I don't know exactly what happened."

Sam walked in with Tucker, greeting him with the kind of dazzling smile he hadn't seen since... Well, since just after the accident.

"You're up!" She was relieved that he had survived. Just like she had been, back then, before she noticed his amnesia.

He stared at her. "You said I was unconscious," he repeated.

She blinked. "You've been out for a few hours," Sam said. "But you didn't have any injuries so we thought we'd let you sleep it off."

"Dude that was a crazy fire," Tucker said. "Ember was a ghost the whole time!"

"You're kind of behind, Tuck," Phantom said.

"I'm talking about the accident," Danny said. "When you met him."

He pointed at Phantom accusingly and remembered that these two had kissed.

Danny blinked and shook his head, tears rising unbidden.

"Hey, hey." Phantom wrapped his arms around Danny again and made hushing noises. Like he was trying to comfort a younger brother who'd woken up from nightmares. "I'm sorry, I should have-"

"Shut up," Danny said. But he allowed Phantom to hug him, and even leaned into it when the ghost started carding fingers through his hair.

"Okay, I think I fell further behind than I'd thought," Tucker said.

Sam sighed. "Let's sit down."

oOo

"I knew you had too much in common," Tucker said. "In fact, if you listen past the weird echo-y reverberations of his voice-"

"Yeah, yeah," Danny said. "We're twins."

"Why does he look so tan though?" Tucker said. "His skin is almost orange."

"I resent that," Phantom said.

"They're inverted," Sam said. "The suit Danny was wearing when he went into the portal was white. The gloves and boots were black."

"Whoa, that's true," Tucker said. "Inverted twins!"

"There's one key difference," Danny said. "He's got all the memories."

Phantom winced, but Sam looked vindicated. "I knew your memories were still missing!"

He looked her right in the eyes. "Phantom is the real Danny Fenton."

She blanched. "That's not what I-"

"It's what you've been thinking the whole time, isn't it?" Danny stood up. "You know what? It all makes sense now. You've been seeing each other the whole time and just... Tolerating me."

Phantom stood too, planting his feet firmly on the ground in front of him. I've never been able to keep it up this long!

He'd looked so pleased with himself for such a simple thing. Phantom wanted nothing more than to be brought back to Earth.

"Fenton-"

Danny put his hand over Phantom's mouth. "Just stay with Sam," he said. "We'll talk later."

Sam reached for his elbow. "Danny-"

He shook her off. "We'll talk later," he repeated.

It was his turn to fly away, Danny decided. His turn to disappear.