Phantom squirmed as Maddie stared at him. "Please say something," the boy whispered.

It was impossible.

"Are you telling me that you sat there and cut out half of your own heart?"

He nodded, and Maddie felt like she had been punched in the gut.

This kid had gouged out half of his own heart to save her, and all Maddie had done since she woke up was treat him badly. She had half a mind to apologise then and there, and would have done so, but the scientist within the woman forced out a different set of words.

"Then why haven't you been in pain?"

Phantom grimaced. "Well, you were unconscious after the transplant for a long time. I had plenty of time to absorb the Ghost Zone's ambient ectoenergy, and to call in a favour or two that the ghosts in the surrounding region owe me. They got off pretty lightly, since all I needed was a bit of a hand from the healer and some actual ectoplasm to eat from the hunter," the teen rambled.

"Still, the pain-"

"A really strong painkiller from the healer," he interrupted. "It stopped my nerves from sending pain signals or something like that."

Maddie stared at this impossible, amazing creature.

For some reason, he cared about her enough to donate half of his heart…

An image flashed across her thoughts of a faceless human boy sitting next to her prone form and ripping open his chest, hunched over and screaming with every breath. His blood – his dark red, human blood – streamed over his hands and clothes and stained the rock beneath him.

She blinked, and his featureless face morphed into one that was startling in its familiarity.

Furrowing her brow, the huntress pushed away the thought. Phantom wasn't Danny – he just couldn't be. Her mind, in its shock, was simply superimposing Danny's familiar and beloved features over the teen in front of her. Something inside her shifted into place, and all Maddie wanted to do was give the kid in front of her a hug, tuck him into bed, and promise that everything would be alright.

She may be a scientist, but Madeline Fenton would always first and foremost be a mother.

Following her sudden maternal instincts, Maddie swept the halfa into her arms. If she stopped to think now, the woman feared that she might faint or cry or do something equally unhelpful. Phantom stiffened at the contact before gingerly returning the embrace, and Maddie rubbed his back gently. "Do your parents know that you're here?"

Phantom pulled away, shaking his head. "Nah, but they won't be worried. Whenever I go off to fight ghosts they don't even notice." He winced as soon as the words left his mouth. "N-not that they're bad parents or anything, but I've gotten really good at sneaking out."

"I guess ghost powers would help," Maddie sighed. She didn't want to upset the boy, but whoever he was, he was just a kid no older than her son. The thought of Danny sneaking out to fight malevolent spectres in the quiet morning hours sent a bolt of fear through the woman. If Phantom's parents weren't there to take care of him when he needed it… If they somehow weren't aware… "Do your parents know that you're Phantom?"

"Are you kidding? They don't even know that I'm a halfa," the teen snorted.

Madeline Fenton resolved then and there that she would take care of this kid.

"Phantom, listen to me-"

"I'll tell them when I'm ready," he snapped.

"Let me finish! My portal turned you into a halfa, didn't it? I'm partially responsible, so I'm going to help you whenever you need it."

Phantom stilled, locking his gaze with the huntress'. Maddie met it unflinchingly, trying with all her might to communicate through that simple look how responsible she felt. The cold spikes twisting through her body throbbed, and Maddie found herself welcoming the pain. She was glad that ectoplasm was rooting itself within her, because Maddie knew that she deserved far worse.

It was her fault that this boy was half ghost.

No wonder Danny had pulled away from her in the past eighteen months – her own invention had imbued one of his classmates with supernatural powers, and he would have been there to witness it.

Phantom's life was ruined, Danny's trust was gone, and it was all Maddie's fault.

She deserved everything that was thrown her way.

Phantom nodded slightly, obviously convinced by something that he saw. "Well if you're gunna help me, there're painkillers in syringes on the top shelf of the fridge," he managed weakly. "Don't give yourself any, though – they only work on ghosts or halfas, and I'm not sure if you count as one yet."

She leaned him against the side of the tub and lurched in the direction of the kitchen.

As she walked, Maddie thought. Pain lanced through her limbs and her chest was numb from the cold that throbbed within, but for this she was glad. No punishment was too harsh for her right now; Maddie had left the lab open on the day the portal started working, and all Danny would admit to was going down there and managing to turn the thing on by fiddling with buttons.

Teenagers sneaking into a restricted lab.

How did Maddie not see that coming?

The huntress sighed as she opened the fridge, grabbing a syringe from the designated shelf and turning back towards the bathroom.

Phantom lifted his head when she returned, immediately holding out his forearm. "The problem with this stuff is that you don't realise that it's wearing off until the pain hits you all at once," he continued as though she had never left.

Maddie injected the teen and he relaxed almost instantly, a smile creeping across his face. "Thanks," Phantom sighed, rubbing the spot where the needle had punctured his skin.

"How long should it take you to heal?" Maddie asked, beginning to gather the supplies that were scattered across the floor. The pain was a welcome distraction – if she focused hard enough on the tiny needles of ice driving their way through her arms and legs, then maybe she could forget what she had inadvertently done to the boy sitting on the bathroom floor.

"If I don't do anything stupid, it should only take about a fortnight with my ghost healing," he responded, snapping shut the lid of the first aid box and standing to place it back on the cabinet shelf.

The woman sighed, leaning against the doorframe. "Did you eat anything?"

He shook his head. "No, I'll go get something from the kitchen and then go to bed. You should think about sleeping as well – you'll heal a lot faster. How're you feeling, anyway?"

Cold. Cold and suddenly scared.

The creeping pain had stopped without her realising, and now her entire body was frozen instead of just her chest.

Maddie wanted to scream and claw this bolt of ectoplasm from her core, but something told her that it was too late now.

"The pain's decreased a bit," she confessed, choosing her words carefully so as not to alarm the weary teen. Whatever was happening to her, it was far too late to stop it now, and Phantom was in no condition to perform any healing acts on her anyway. "I'm not invisible or phasing through things, so don't worry."

The halfa shrugged. "It's my job to worry," he told her firmly. "Now, let's get you to bed.

Maddie allowed herself to be led back to her room, and Phantom gestured to the wardrobe. "Um, there's a suitcase in there that I filled with a bunch of your clothes and stuff when I was getting the pizza, so you can get in pyjamas if you want. You might be a bit more comfortable." His cheeks were flushed green, and Maddie resisted the urge to laugh as the flustered teen bade her a quick "Sleep well" and fled the room.

He really was a sweet kid, and Maddie's resolve to take care of him grew with every new thing he said or did. Providing a safe place for Phantom whenever he needed it was the least she could do, after all.

Opening the wardrobe, Maddie rummaged through the duffel bag Phantom had obviously been talking about and removed a set of pyjamas. She straightened up, flinching at the gentle pulse of ice that shot down her arm.

The fabric fell through her transparent hand, and Maddie stared in horror as it pooled onto the floor.

Okay, some housekeeping.

I have been receiving some anonymous reviews on several of my stories for a while now that are not signed 'guest'. However, the space for a name is blank. The thing is, this website deletes things that resemble urls. To the reviewer in question, I would love to respond to your reviews if you are signing them with your fanfiction username, especially since you've been asking me a few questions. Please, put spaces between the punctuation (e.g. a full stop) and the word after it so that this site doesn't delete your name!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading this story, and for your many kind reviews!