Maddie's fists were clenched in fear as her husband daringly maneuvered the GAV along the narrow roads. On their right was a large cliff of steep, towering rock. On their left, the ocean tossed turbulently in the heavy winds. A thin metal barrier was all that prevented the strange vehicle from going over the edge and plummeting into the enraged water below.

"Jack!" Maddie scolded loudly as the side of the GAV screeched in protest along the cliff face, trailing a ribbon of sparks. "Concentrate!"

"I'm trying," Jack whined, fiddling with something below the wheel. "But I know I put the spare Fenton Thermos around here somewhere!"

"The ghost boy probably- Jack! Eyes on the road!" A small, white car swerved to avoid them, thankfully not going over the edge. Maddie let out a sigh of relief and continued with what she was trying to say. "The ghost boy probably stole it, like he did all the others."

"You're right, Mads!" Jack boomed. "That spectre has been taking too much of our equipment. When I find that ghost, I'm gonna tear it apart molecule by molecule!"

Maddie sighed and looked back out the window, keeping a firm grip on her seat in case of any unexpected turns. There wasn't much further to go until they reached the source of the ecto-storm. She hoped they weren't too late to stop it getting out of control.

DPDPDPDP

Danny gaped at Tucker in disbelief. "It's as if I don't care?" He echoed incredulously. "What would make you say that?"

Tucker scoffed. "You might have only disappeared last night, but your parents are frantic. Sure, they might be hunting ghosts now, but... you should have seen them then, Danny. I couldn't come up with an excuse, not after... What happened."

Danny stared at his friend piercingly. "You didn't tell them, did you?"

"What?" Tucker yelled angrily. "No! Of course I didn't! All I'm saying is your parents are worried for you. Sam and I were worried for you. Maybe you should have... I don't know. Given us some warning? At least that would have been better than you just turning up out of the blue."

Danny hesitated for a second, then held out his hand. Tucker looked at it in confusion.

"What?" He asked.

"Give me your phone," the ghost boy said emotionlessly. "Please."

Tucker searches through his large pockets and produced the wanted item. Silently, he handed it over.

"Sam?" Danny asked. "Is that you?"

Tucker could hear her response clearly, Amity Park seemed to have gone on mute, none of its inhabitants were willing to be the first to make any sound.

"Tuck?" Came Sam's tired voice. "I don't feel like talking right now."

Danny swallowed, and it looked painful. "No, Sam. It's me. It's Danny."

There was no noise from the other end of the line. The boy's glanced at each other nervously; there was no telling what could happen.

"Sam?" Danny persisted. "Plea-"

"Speak to me in person," she interrupted. "I need to be able to see you."

A grin spread over Phantom's face. "We'll be there!"

Tucker let out a small yelp as both he and the ghost boy shot into the dark sky.

DPDPDPDP

"Are you sure this is the place, Mads?" Asked Jack as the GAV slowed. Maddie slowly released her death-grip and relaxed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," both of the ghost hunters watched in stunned silence as the sky grew darker and darker. One area was completely black, except for the darting flashes of light that crackled along the surface.

"That doesn't look like lightning," Jack murmured quietly. He was right. The energy danced through the sky along the base of the clouds, almost as if it were trapped inside and was waiting for some hidden signal to escape.

His wife frowned. "What could be causing this?"

Eyes squinting in concentration, Jack answered in a serious voice. "It must be a ghost."

Maddie sighed.

DPDPDPDP

Sam flopped face-first onto her bed, ignoring the flashes of lightning from outside, as she thought about the trial ahead. Tucker would be here soon, and Danny too, apparently.

But how? Sam wondered. How will Danny be here? We saw him…

He was dead. He is dead… right? Sam didn't know what to think any more.

She flinched violently and shot off of the bed at a small cough. Phantom looked nervous, standing awkwardly on the left of her large window. There was no noise, nothing to break the silence but the sound of Sam's panicked breathing.

This can't be Danny! It just can't.

"What is this?" She asked in a trembling voice.

Phantom's eyes widened in shock at her reaction and he took a step back, towards the window, before he appeared to make up his mind.

"I left Tucker outside," Danny gestured to where he had left his friend. "I didn't think he should be here."

Sam swallowed. "Here for what? I… have nothing to say."

"I doubt that."

There was no reply, so Danny shifted uncomfortably. Sam could see him trying not to get frustrated with her, but she knew that if she tried to speak now, it would only hurt the both of them.

"Sam," the ghost boy pleaded. "Please. I need you to say something."

"Okay," She whispered. "What happened? What really happened? Because the last time I saw you, you were dead. And that might have only been last night, but it felt like much longer."

DPDPDPDP

Danny blinked. His eyes and throat burned, but he had to be strong. He had to show Sam that he was okay, the same as he'd always been. That nothing had changed. Her words, filled with so much sorrow and self-hatred, tore a hole through him and hurt more than the fire that constantly raged inside him now.

"I should... Tucker should be here for this," Danny stammered. "I promised him earlier."

"No," Sam argued. Her voice rose, and she looked much more like the girl she was not long before. "You are not leaving me here again, Daniel Fenton! If you think that you can just walk in here, or fly or," she waved her arms above her head for emphasis, "whatever, and then just leave, then you have a surprise coming."

"I-" the flustered boy protested. He and Sam were now just inches away from each other, her glaring into his fearful eyes. Slowly, the anger ebbed out of her gaze and Danny watched as she turned away from him.

"You know what?" Sam asked, her voice once again soft, defeated. "I've changed my mind. You're not Danny. You might say that you are, but he would never do this to me. Me or Tucker."

Her heavy words created a weight inside of Danny. It tried to pull him to the ground, to crush him in the process, but he somehow managed to stay standing.

"It-" he cleared his throat, trying to make himself sound... less resigned. Less heartbroken. "It really is me."

Danny stepped forward and looked into Sam's amethyst eyes as if it killed him to do so. Before she could ask what he was doing, he leant in and kissed her on the cheek.

"I promise."

Danny knew, as he flew away, that his face must have been as red as Sam's had just been.

AN:

Hey! pale-blue11 here!

Now, before any of you decide to quit on this story, know that Sam will be coming back soon, hopefully next chapter. But then, the story was only supposed to be about this long, and I've been writing more than I expected, so... If she's not in the next chapter, she'll be in the one after that.

I'm sorry, I83LI3VE, I tried to make it dramatic :( Just no good at that, I guess... I used up everything to say in Tucker's speech D:

Ummm... My room is dark. It's scaring me again O.o I need to go before something gets me... And not even Super Danny can help me now, Deborah :( But I finished the chapter :D I'll PM you tomorrow, K?

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and/or followed that last chapter!

And please review, favourite and/or follow this chapter :) Ooo! Who thinks this could reach 40 reviews before next week? I hope so!

O.o Scary noises...

Have a nice week!

pale-blue11