Hi guys!

Here's chapter 3!

Thanks again to everyone reading and following and especially to those who have reviewed; thank you SO much for your kind words, it's so appreciated!

The next chapter should be up in the next few weeks!

~cosette141

I can do this.

Tucker shifted his position, sitting on the floor of a moving truck resembling an ambulance. His gaze slowly met the two men sitting across from him, clad in white suits and stone faces. They both wore the same sunglasses that Agents O and K wore, making them impossible to read.

The truck hit another bump and Tucker slid into the wall again. I can do this, he repeated, the four words acting like a mantra.

"So, uh," he said shakily, trying to appear casual. "Where are we going?"

"Shut it, Ghost." said the man on the left. His expression barely shifted to say the three words.

Tucker swallowed. "Actually, it's Tucker. Tucker Foley. Casper High renowned tech wizard and ladies man."

The agent on the right titled his head. "The ghost did his homework on his chosen host, then," he muttered. "Nice try, Phantom. We know it's you inside the boy."

Man, they're even crazier than we thought. Nervousness flitted through Tucker's veins, his heart thumping in his chest. So, if they didn't believe him… what were they planning to do to get Phantom out of him?

Tucker shivered. It wasn't that hard to guess.

Officially giving up trying to talk his way out of this mess, Tucker leaned his head against the metal wall of the truck. Every thought he had was quickly followed by the strong fear of very pointy objects coming into contact with him, throwing all rational thought out the window. He pulled his knees closer to his chest, his handcuffs clinking together. They burned with a slight green glow; ghost-proof. The entire back of the vehicle they were in hummed with some sort of static, and Tucker had to guess if Danny was here he'd have been unable to phase through the handcuffs and the vehicle itself.

It was a while before the truck came to a complete stop. Tucker's heart jumped into his throat as the two agents he was sitting in the back with grabbed him by the arms and hoisted him out of the door. They set him on his feet in the parking lot, and Tucker squinted in the sunlight. A large, white building loomed over him. He swallowed hard.

They were at the GIW headquarters.

Tucker felt his knees practically buckle. He'd had a hunch this was where he would be taken but it still felt surreal to be standing in front of it.

I can do this, he told himself again, though even the voice in his head was starting to shake.

At least a dozen agents rushed them at once. Before he could blink, he was inside the building, hands grabbing at him, moving him, shoving him, never leaving him. A metal door clanged shut, some sort of buzzing hummed around the walls. Steel walls hissed open in front of him and clanged shut as they passed through. He was marched down a long, white hallway, surrounded by the agents, footsteps echoing loudly off the walls.

Tucker suddenly felt very, very small.

His heart pounding so loud in his head that he could see agents' mouths moving but couldn't hear their words. They led him down to a door at the end. An agent knocked once on it, and it slid automatically open in an instant. It revealed a compact, stark white room that resembled a small lab. A metal chair was bolted in the center of the room. Tucker was forced toward it.

Morbid curiosity grazed his eyes over the items in the room, settling on a table next to the chair. Every type of pointy object and needle in his worst nightmare lay neatly on trays, sparkling in the light.

Panic seized his chest.

He started fighting.

Tucker jerked against the holds on him, holds that just tightened the more he struggled, like he was trying to escape quicksand. A whine escaped his throat as they pulled him closer and closer to the chair. He jerked and yanked and pulled but they were stronger than him, so much stronger.

"No!" he breathed, but he was at the chair. They tried to turn him around but he kicked backward, his foot sinking into a target and he heard an irritated groan. Encouraged, he fought and kicked harder until something exploded in the side of his head and the next thing he knew he was being lifted from the ground, dazed and with a splitting headache.

He was forced against the chair again and he pulled back. "No—!" And he wasn't quite sure what made him say it, but suddenly he was yelling, "Danny!"

"Get him secured, now!" came the short demand, and Tucker was quickly overpowered. His arms were seized and he was lifted off the ground and turned around, slammed into the chair. They pinned him there, and the handcuffs were removed as glowing restraints secured his wrists and ankles.

The agents, all breathing a bit heavier, finally took a step back and watched Tucker squirm in the chair.

Tucker, who was near hyperventilating. The restraints were strong. He jerked one last time, only resulting in making his wrists and ankles chafe. He finally stopped, staring at the agents who were staring at him, his entire body trembling with fear.

He stilled his futile movements and watched the agents with wide eyes as they traded demands and status updates to each other. Someone flicked a switch on the wall and the whole room buzzed just like the hallways had been on the way here, and the ambulance had on the way here. Tucker's breathing tripled and he shut his eyes, feeling lightheaded. He tried to slow it, calm himself down.

No… I hate hospitals… I hate tools… I hate doctors…

"Is the subject secure?"

Tucker's eyes snapped back open. A woman agent-a Gal in White?-was in front of him, looking like a strict, evil librarian. She wasn't wearing sunglasses, just regular frames, but her eyes behind them were dark and cold enough that he doubted she needed the shades to look as imposing as the rest.

Something brushed his arm and Tucker jumped with a little squeak, turning to see the same scanner from the classroom beeping near his shoulder. It let loose a loud whine.

"Phantom is still in the boy, Agent E." said one of the men at his shoulder. But Tucker couldn't tear his eyes away from Agent E to see who had spoken. E was staring at him with a sort of sick smile.

"Good," E said slyly. "Very good."

Tucker's blood ran cold.

"P-please," Tucker stammered out, his voice shaking so badly he could hardly make out the words. "Please d-don't h-hurt me," he pleaded.

E just raised a sharp eyebrow, directing her question to the agent beside Tucker. "The ghost is still clinging to this story?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

She let out a short breath. "That will change in time." She tilted her head, watching Tucker. "We'll have to separate them first."

Tucker's eyes widened. He sunk back into the chair until it dug painfully into his skin. "I-I'm not-" But his words snapped off into a yell as a strong electric current lit his nerves on fire. It ended as quickly as it started, but the pain was deep. He breathed hard, whipping his head toward her in panic. "Wh-wh-"

"That's called pain, Ghost." she told him coldly. "I'm sure as an ectoplasmic entity you're not used to that sensation. But as long as you insist on hiding within the child," she said with a growing smile, "you will feel his pain. And the longer you make us wait, the worse the pain will get." Her face twisted into something even more sinister. "So, I'll give you the choice. Leave the child, and the pain will end."

Tucker breathed hard, his every nerve still on fire. He was shaking hard from head to toe. "I-I-I-" He gulped air. "I'm… n-not-"

Another shock.

This one sank deeper than the last one, making him cry out. It lasted a few moments longer, agony ripping through his body.

It stopped, and he slumped against the chair, groaning. "St-stop," he breathed out. "Pl-please, please, just-"

Another.

He screamed, his insides burning.

It seemed to last a millennium. When it finally ended, he moaned, slumping back into the chair.

"Huh."

Pain still sizzled through his nerves. He managed to lift his head to glare at her.

Agent E looked a cross between annoyed and bored. She put the remote control in her hand-that must control the electricity in the chair- down on the tray and crossed her arms. She narrowed her eyes at Tucker, who was still trying to calm his breathing down. She tilted her head calculatingly. Then she smiled again. It made a chill slip down Tucker's spine. "Oh, it will be so much fun to play with you, Ghost." She snapped her fingers, and each agent in the room looked at her. "Out."

"Wh-what…" stammered Tucker, watching the men single file out of the room.

"Don't worry, Mr. Phantom," drawled Agent E. "We're going to leave you be for a moment, let you… relax. You have much more stamina than I had expected. This will take a little longer, but... It will be much easier to continue once this kicks in." She gave him another terrifying smile, backing up to the door of the room, and pressing a button on the wall. Tucker braced himself for more pain, but none came. Something simply hissed quietly, almost like an air conditioner. Agent E gave him another sick look, then left the room, the doors sliding shut.

Tucker immediately started fighting the restraints again. He jerked and pulled, only to have his wrists and ankles burn and bruise and the chair rattle a little against the bolts.

"Come on, come on, come on!" he begged the chair. His entire body still throbbed, as if someone had burnt him from the inside. He groaned and gave up, dropping his head over his chest in defeat. His heart beat so loud and so fast.

He hesitated for a moment, suddenly thinking about Danny.

There were several nights since the GIW's appearance in Amity Park when Danny and Tucker had slept over at each other's houses, or Danny had simply just fallen asleep over a video game. More than once, Tucker had been startled by Danny jerking awake. He never slept soundly anymore. Whenever Tucker had asked about it, Danny'd shook it off and blamed it on a nightmare about his parents embarrassing him.

But Tucker had watched him sleep before. He'd heard the fear in his friend's voice, mumbling desperate words.

Tucker swallowed hard, realizing what those nightmares must have really been about.

He looked down at his shaking hands.

This… this horror was something Danny worried about all the time. Tucker swallowed hard. Tucker and Sam usually rolled their eyes at the sight of the GIW for the idiots they were. But there was always a chance they wouldn't screw up. There was a chance they'd get lucky, they'd find Danny, they'd catch him at a vulnerable moment and…

Tucker's heart twisted.

Danny must practically live his whole life in fear. Never able to relax. Always looking over his shoulder. He endures it all, just to protect his town and the people he loves.

How had Tucker never realized what his best friend went through every single day?

He trembled in the silence of the room, listening to the air conditioning. He took a breath. He had to get out of here. Another thought of more electric shocks and his heart was pounding in his head.

He shut his eyes, both desperately wishing for his friend and being so damned grateful he was far, far away.