Fentonworks stood in a shroud of gloom, shadows enclosing it in darkness. The giant sign on the front of the building was long burnt out, the colors turning dull.
Sam stood outside the Fenton's door, looking up at the building. It felt like a husk of the once hustling and lively building it had been years ago, when there were always people coming in and out of the home.
She took off a necklace that held a key. Walking up to the door, she unlocked it and went inside.
She always expected someone to be sitting on the couch doing embroidery or someone to be in the kitchen inventing and cooking a meal at the same time. No matter how long it's been or how many times she comes to visit the building, it's always a shock to see it so empty.
That day so long ago, Sam and Dani went on a girl's night out. Dani wanted to have a normal teenage outing and Jazz said that if Sam and Dani hung out together that maybe some of the barrier that had been built between them because of Vlad would start to dissipate. So they went to the mall.
Jazz had returned home that weekend from college. A surprise, no one had been expecting her. If they had, Maddie and Jack would have been talking about it non-stop the days leading up.
The Fenton's had been working on a new invention. Sam doesn't remember what it was supposed to do, since she wasn't there on it's "debut". Her and Dani left before they could find out.
But the invention had malfunctioned. Destroying the lab. Leaving barely any trace of the people who were down there.
The whole Fenton family, minus Dani, and Tucker had been in the lab when it happened. Sam's mom had called her, sounding hysteric, while her and Dani were sitting in the food court eating ice cream.
When Sam heard the news, everything stopped. She dropped her ice cream and phone onto the table, staring at nothing. Her mom's warbling still came through the phone, and she barely registered Dani picking it back up to speak to her mom, and then scooping Sam into her arms and flying out of the mall to Fentonworks.
When they arrived, the building looked in tact. It was in pretty good condition considering it's been destroyed by wind and ghosts walking away with the building. Dani phased them into the house and they went down into the lab where it had happened. Tables were pushed to the back of the room and shrapnel littered the floor. There they were informed about what had happened and that it was an invention that caused this.
After that Sam convinced her parents to buy Fentonworks. Her reasoning was that they couldn't let just anybody get their hands on the equipment and and inventions in the lab. But that was only half the reason.
The Manson's adopted Dani soon after that happened and they tried to help both girls as much as they could.
Since the police hadn't found much trace of anyone in the lab, Sam demanded to keep the ghost portal open in case they had escaped into it. It was two years later, after the funerals and fatal ghost attacks, that Sam finally complied and turned it off.
Sam looked up and around the kitchen, counters and tables caked with dust. Then she looked down the stairs that led to the lab. She hadn't been down there since she turned the portal off four years ago. She walked up to the doorway, took a deep breath, and clomped her way down the steps.
There was still a burn mark on the floor and the tables were upturned with their contents scattered everywhere. She looked at the empty, dark portal and walked up to it.
She turned to the knobs, and began twisting them to the settings they had been on that fateful day ten years ago. She walked inside, staring at the on switch, hand raised and poised to push the button.
But an image of Dani forced itself into her mind and she faltered. She couldn't just leave Dani all on her own. Everyone else Dani cared about was already gone.
Sam's hand fell to her side and she stepped out of the portal. She began walking back towards the stairs, but turned back to look inside the portal again. She picked up a wrench from the floor and threw a well aimed shot at the on button. The portal burst to life for the first time in four years and Sam stared at it's swirling color. She began to head back upstairs and was almost to the door.
She stopped as she heard a loud thump come from the basement. A loud whoop sounded and she went numb.
She turned and ran towards the basement, sure her combat shoes were booms in the quiet house. Launching herself down the stairs, she was met with a sight she hadn't seen for six years.
Tucker and the Fenton's were standing, not floating, in the middle of the lab. As human as one could be.
They looked up at her, and for a moment, everything was silent. Sam dropped to her knees, hand covering her mouth and began to sob. Danny ran up to her, engulfing her in his arms, and soon Tucker followed.
One by one the rest of the Fenton's joined the group hug and Sam smiled the first genuine smile she's had in years.
She couldn't wait to tell Dani the good news.