Here ya go folks. Somewhat of a longer chapter but not too bad. I'm a couple chapters ahead so far, just trying to tie everything in together and what not. As always, let me know what y'all think. Thanks and enjoy.


Danny stirs awake in the darkness not immediately remembering where he's at. He leaps up quickly only to wish he hadn't. Pain shot through his abdomen as he remembered everything that had transpired. Sitting up, slowly this time, he looks around at Embers realm quickly noticing a sleeping Ember curled up on the other side of the couch. Looking at her laying there it dawns on him how beautiful she is. He's never really thought about it before, probably because she's always been an enemy to him, but now he sees her in a whole different light.

He sits there for another minute admiring her before she starts to stir awake. He quickly looks away feeling his cheeks flush.

Looking over she notices him sitting up. "You're awake" She says sitting up quickly. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore" he replies simply hoping she doesn't notice the blush. "How long have I been out?"

"Just a few hours" she says as she stretches her back out and rotating her shoulders. "You're abdomen still hurting where you took that hit?"

Lifting his shirt there's a large deep purple bruise on the right just below his rib cage. "Yeah. You could say that" he winced. Ember couldn't help but notice how physically fit Danny was and quickly turned away feeling her own cheeks warm. "I am feeling a bit better though. Definitely healing faster here than I would at home" he says not noticing.

"Good. I'm glad you're feeling better" she says as she gets up and walks over to the kitchen area of her realm to hide her face. "You want something to eat?" She asks.

Realizing it's been hours since he ate dinner, it dawns on him how hungry he is, and the healing isn't making it any better. "Em, you don't have to do that for me. You've already done enough" he says to her. "Besides, I need to get back to check on everything" he finishes as he attempts to lift himself off the couch.

"Oh, no" she says quickly, placing a hand on his shoulder forcing him back down. "You're staying here until you've completely healed."

"But, I" he tries to argue but she interrupts.

"You could attempt to leave, but I don't think you can beat me in your condition" she says putting her hands on her hips.

Danny can tell he's fighting a losing battle and throws his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. You win. I'll stay."

"So, do you want something to eat or not?" She asks triumphantly. "I've got some sandwich stuff."

"Yeah, okay. That sounds great" he responds and Ember sets to work making them lunch. "Thanks Ember. For everything, really. You didn't have to step in when you did."

"Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was going to" She replies. "But, I couldn't just sit there and do nothing."

"Well I'm glad you did. I guess I owe you now."

"You don't owe me anything, babypop" she says over her shoulder. "I know you'd have done the same for me."

This causes Danny to smile. "I'm just worried that you put yourself on Vlads bad side."

"So what. I've never liked that asshole anyways" she says.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door causing Danny and Ember to look intently at each other. Ember moves over to the door and opens it prepared for a fight. Once the door swings open kitty bursts into the room.

"Girl, Where have you been?"She asks Ember. "I've been looking for you everywhere." She stops suddenly when she notices Danny on the couch. "Umm... Well this is weird. Hey Em, what the hell is he doing here?" She asks not taking her eyes off Danny.

"Sure Kitty, please come in" Ember says sarcastically. "As for Danny, it's a long story. He's not a threat so you can calm down a bit."

"Yeah... sure" Kitty says suspiciously as she follows Ember into the kitchen not talking her eyes off Danny. "What the hell, girl? Why is your biggest enemy curled up on your couch?"

"Chill Kitty, it's nothing like that oaky?" Ember says with annoyance.

"No, Em. Not okay!" She practically screams earning a glare from Ember. "What is going on?" She questions in more of a hushed tone.

"I told you. It's kind of a long story, but I'm kinda helping him out with something." She says looking back at Danny who is still sitting on the couch feeling awkward.

"Since when do you help people? Let alone Phantom!" She questioned then gets a look as if a thought dawned on her. "Oh my god, you like him!"

Ember quickly snaps her head back toward Kitty. "What! No, I'm just helping him out with something." She says feeling heat come to her face.

"I can't believe it!" Kitty says awestruck. "You have a crush on our biggest enemy!"

This comment causes Embers hair to blaze up almost touching the ceiling. "Kitty, Enough! I mean it! And what do you mean our? Last time I checked, the only reason you two ever had issues was because of Johnny."

Kitty puts her hands up in surrender. "Fine girl, you win. So what's he doing here?" She asks.

"Why don't you ask him for yourself?" Ember asks as she finishes the sandwiches and makes her way over to Danny handing him a plate and sitting on the couch next to him.

"Thanks Ember" he says as he takes the plate from her, while keeping his eye on Kitty.

Kitty takes a seat directly across from them eyeing Danny. "So, Phantom. What exactly is Ember helping you with?" She questions suspiciously.

Danny looks to Ember who just shrugs her shoulders and takes a bite of her food. He sighs and then begins. "Well in a nutshell, Plasmius is back. He tracked me down this morning when Ember and I were talking, and decided to take out his revenge on me. He did a real number on me" Danny says as he draws up his shirt showing his bruised abdomen and ribs, causing Ember to again blush and turn away, which didn't go unnoticed by Kitty. "He might have killed me if it wasn't for Ember. She stepped in and helped me gain some distance. I used all of my energy fending him off. By that point I was pretty beat up and could barely maintain my ghost form. She thought it would be a good idea to come to the ghost zone and heal. It would take twice as long on the human world."

Kitty sat and listened to his story quietly. Once finished she said "so you're telling me that if I were to go after you right now, I could kill you?"

This causes Danny to tense every muscle in his body and prepare to defend himself as much as he could. He was about to go ghost, when Suddenly Ember was standing in between them, hair blazing. "Kitty, let me explain to you something right now. Danny is not here to fight, he's here to heal and is a guest in my home. If you want him you'll have to go through me, and I think you know what'll happen then!"

"Calm down girl, I was just asking a question. I'm not going to hurt your man" she says with a sly smile, which gains a curious look from Danny who decides it best not to say anything. Embers hair dies down and she takes her seat turning away to hide the heat in her cheeks as she takes another bite of food. "So, that looney toon, Plasmius, is back?" Kitty questions.

"Yeah, he is. And he doesn't seem too happy about being stranded in space" Danny answered. "I guess he blames me and my family, but he did it to himself."

"I think he's the only ghost that's hated more than you" Kitty says nodding towards Danny.

"Gee, thanks" he replied sarcastically.

"Well, now that I know Ember is okay, I'm gonna go. I need to process this" Kitty says standing up and making her way to the door.

"Kitty, please. Don't tell anyone he's here, not even Johnny." Ember pleads with her. "I don't want the entire ghost zone knocking at my door looking for a fight."

"Calm down, I won't say a word of this, I promise." Kitty replies. "But you owe me!"

"We both do" Danny says.

"Yeah, whatever" she replies to him as she closes the door behind her.

"I guess not everyone feels the same about me as you do" Danny says toward Ember.

"No shit Sherlock" Ember replies in a joking tone and a smile. "Almost everyone here has been in that stupid thermos at one point or another."

"Now that I understand" he says almost laughing. "I've been in there a time or two. I can relate. Besides, you all called that on yourselves."

"I guess you've got a point" she says to him rubbing her neck.

They finish eating in silence and Ember takes their plates back to the kitchen sink and sits back down on the couch.

After a few more moments of silence Ember asks "Danny?"

"Yeah, what's up?" He replies looking at her.

"What was it like when you died? Well, I mean half died?" She asked looking at him.

He looks forward and lays his head back on the couch. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't really know. Just curious I guess." She replies bringing her knees to her chest.

"Excruciating is about the only word I can think of to describe it. My parents had worked on the portal for years. It was their life's work up until that point." He smiles slightly, "they were so excited when they had finished it. Hell, I was excited for them. They plugged it in and nothing. They ran through the data again and again, but couldn't find the problem. After what seemed like hours they just gave up, ya know? I felt bad for them. Thought I'd have a look for myself. Maybe a fresh set of eyes would help." He begins to stare off into the distance with a blank expression. Ember is holding onto every word. "I went inside running my hand along the wall to keep from falling. There were wires and who knows what else everywhere, and it was dark. There was a switch inside, which was off. It had not even occurred to me that my parents would have put one there, but looking back it wasn't surprising. They always seem to do things that make little sense, but it always works out in the end." He says with a small chuckle.

"Anyways, I just happened to run my hand over it turning it on. It instantly came to life with me inside." Suddenly his eyes became dark. "I felt more pain than I ever had or have since. It was only a few seconds but it seemed like hours. It felt like everything inside me was on fire. Everything hurt. It kept burning until it turned to an icy cold, which seemed to make it even more unbearable. I was praying for the mercy of unconsciousness, but it never came. Somehow I managed to crawl my way to the entrance before the portal became fully operational and passed out. When I woke up next everything hurt. It felt like my skin had been ripped off my body. I could hardly move without groaning in pain. I just lay there in the floor of the lab for what felt like hours. When I finally had the energy to get up I saw a reflection of myself in one of the monitors in the lab and that's where the story of Danny Phantom begins" he concludes looking over at her.

"You felt all of that and remember?" She questions.

"Every bit. Why?"

"I never felt anything. Just went to sleep one night and woke up here." She says matter of factly. "It was a fire. That's all I know. No idea what caused it or if my family made it out okay."

"Sometimes I wish I could forget" Danny says quietly. "But I wouldn't change anything about what happened that day."

"Really?" Ember asks in surprise. "Nothing at all?"

"Not a thing. If I did I wouldn't have become a ghost and helped everyone I've helped." Danny responds. "Plus there's so many things I've gotten to do because of it, and people/ghosts I've gotten to meet. Especially a certain rock diva that I've gotten to spend the last day or two with." He finishes as he lays his head back with his eyelids growing heavy again.

"No offense, but I'm glad it happened to you babypop." She says with a smile.

This causes a small smile to form on Danny's face before he finally succumbs to sleep. Once she was sure he was asleep, Ember moves over toward him and rests her head on his shoulder with no intention of falling asleep like that.


Danny awoke some time later with Ember still sleeping soundly against him, which surprises him slightly. Taking a moment to relax he looks down at a sleeping Ember and can't help but enjoy this moment. He felt happiness that he hasn't felt in a while. He lifts his hand to her face and brushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear which cause her to stir.

Ember begins to wake up slowly. Opening her eyes it dawns on her that she fell asleep on Danny. She slowly looks up to find him wide awake looking down at her. "Good morning" he says with a smile plastered on his face.

"Ugh, morning" she says deciding to roll with the situation but couldn't stop the heat from rising to her cheeks.

"You ready to get moving?" He asks her.

"No, five more minutes" she replies as she buries herself deeper into Danny. "Besides, you're not completely healed yet."

"I know, but I've got to check on my family. I need to know they're all safe."

"There's no talking you out of this this time, is there?" She asks Danny who just shakes his head. "Ugh, fine" she says as she sits up quickly. "Let's go check on the fam."

"Let's?" Danny questions.

"Let's," she says. "As in me and you... ya know? Together." She stands up, grabs her guitar and makes her way to the door.

"It's okay. I can go by myself. You don't need to come if you don't want to." He says as he struggles slightly to rise to his feet.

"No, like I said. You're still not a hundred percent yet, and I don't want to sit around here worrying about you all day. This way I can keep an eye on you." She says placing her guitar over her back.

Smiling Danny switches to his ghost form walks over to Ember and says "okay, if that's what you want to do I'm all for it."

Ember opens the door and grabs Danny's hand. "Come on Babypop. The sooner we get back the sooner I get my pillow back." She says with a smirk as they take off towards the Fenton Portal.

Everything is pretty uneventful until the two ghosts hear a motorcycle coming up behind them causing Ember to palm her face. "I knew she couldn't keep her mouth shut" she says with a hint of irritation in her voice as she turns to see Kitty and her boyfriend, Johnny 13, come to a stop before them.

Danny tenses himself ready for a fight when Ember squeezes his hand. Once the motorcycle turns off Danny's hands start to glow and his eyes turn an icy blue.

"Woah bro" Johnny quickly says as he puts his hands up. "We're not here to fight you."

"Then why are you here?" Ember chimes in. "You said you weren't going to say anything!" She shouts at Kitty.

"I didn't!" She shouts back. "Someone knows he's here" she states motioning at Danny. "You need to get out of here, now!" She says to him.

"We were actually on our way out" he says. "Who's looking for me?"

"Everyone" Johnny says. "They heard your injured and think it's opportunity, not that I don't want a shot myself."

"Watch yourself Johnny" Ember says with her hair beginning to flame up.

"He's not going to do anything" Kitty says with a sideways glance at Johnny. "Look, we'll try to watch your backs, but you need to get going."

"Okay. We're going" Danny says to her. "Thank you, both of you."

"Yeah, well don't get used to it" Johnny quickly replies.

With that, Danny and Ember take off once again towards the portal, although they travel quite a bit faster and more concern.

By the time they make it within sight of the portal Danny is gritting his teeth clutching his side, clearly in pain, when the first ecto beams shoot toward them, Danny in particular, followed by a volley of rockets.

"Shit!" Ember says dodging one of the rockets."Who the hell is that?"

"Don't worry about them. We're almost there" Danny says quickly. "Hopefully someone will be in the lab to cover our entrance."

They're just about to cross through the portal when an ecto beam hits Danny directly in the back, sending him flying through the portal. He hits the ground with a thud, followed closely behind by Ember, who lands and turns quickly towards the portal, ready to face off against whatever comes through.

She know immediately who it is once the first bit of armor passes through. "Skulker" she says with malice in her voice. "I should have figured as much" she says as she raises her guitar like an axe homing down on Skulkers head.

"Not today" he says as he grabs the guitar. "I'm not here for you Ember, I'm here for my trophy" he says as he blasts her into the wall. He then turns towards Danny, who is just making it to his feet.

"You can try, dip shit" Danny says to him clutching his abdomen still.

"It seems to me, you don't have a whole lot of fight left in you whelp" he says with a smirk, clearly knowing he has the advantage.

"We do!" Skulker hears from his left. He turns to see the family of Danny standing at the ready, with Jack holding a Fenton Bazooka, Maddie holding a Fenton Foamer, Jazz dressed in the Fenton Ghost Peeler, and Dani with her fists balled, glowing green.

Skulker looks at them all and knows he's lost any advantage he had. "Uhh..." is all he gets out before the whole family, including Danny and Ember, fire directly at Skulker propelling him backward and into the ghost zone. Maddie quickly rushes over to the portal to hit and locks it down.

Just as the doors close Ember rushes over to Danny who was still holding his stomach. "Damn, that hurt." He says. "I guess I'm not healed good enough yet."

"I told you so" Ember retorts as she leans over to help support Danny.

"I know, I know" he says as he turns to his family. "Thanks for the help guys. Really."

"Of course, sweetie" Maddie says cheerfully.

Dani flies to him quickly and gives him a hug, almost knocking him back down. "I'm glad your okay, Danny" she says.

"You too, Danielle." He replies pulling her tighter.

"So what's going on, Danny?" Jazz asks. "And what's she got to do with it" she asks while motioning towards Ember, obviously suspicious due to their previous history. Danny didn't blame her one bit.

"Embers not a threat, guys" he says to them. "She saved my life. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."

"No offense, but she's tried to kill you every time she sees you" Jazz says.

"To be fair," Ember begins. "I've never actually tried to kill Danny. I just want to play music and do what I love. The hero over here just kept getting in the way."

"Umm, you tried to take over the town using hypnosis," Danny points out. "Twice, then helped Kitty make all the men disappear."

"What's your point?" She retorts. "I still don't see where I tried to kill you. Maybe put you out of commission for a while, but not outright kill you."

"Not really helping your case" Jazz replies.

"I trust her" Maddie jumps in, causing everyone to look at her in shock.

"Me too" chimes in Dani.

"If she wanted Danny dead, he would be" Maddie begins. "From what I can see he's pretty beat up, so she would have no issue with it, and she be put herself in harms way for him."

Everyone looks at one another before dropping their guard. "That's all I need" Jack says. "Welcome to our home Ember."

"Umm, thanks" Ember says still taken a little off guard.

"Come on," Maddie says. "Let's have something to eat then you can fill us in on what's going on."

With that they all head towards the kitchen, with Jazz following behind Danny and Ember so she can keep an eye on her.