1/9/25: Here we go!

1/13/25: The website seems to be having issues and will NOT let me upload my actual copy of this chapter. I had to open a previous document and copy/paste and save the chapter that way. Hopefully it uploads right.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

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Chapter 43: Disenchanted

–

Sam was lying on a cot in a jail cell, glaring at the ceiling. The local law enforcement had been fairly kind as they had seen the news broadcast and believed she was innocent. Most had also been involved in the search for Phantom, and so knew Sam could not have been behind it. The government officials, however, were another story. It didn't matter that they'd seen the broadcast as well, they still looked at her with suspicion.

She had one leg bent at the knee, the other leg resting on it, foot waving in the air as she bounced it a little. They'd taken her trench coat and weapons, leaving her feeling naked. Her arms were crossed in a show of her annoyance.

Sam's head popped up when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. When Mark appeared, she sat up, bringing her legs over the side of the cot. An officer unlocked and opened the door, an action which was granted a nod from the mayor before he beckoned Sam over.

"You've been released. I came here personally to make sure of it," he said as she approached.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "What about the charges?"

She stepped out of the cell and they made their way down the hall. "The one against Danny has been dropped, but we're still working on the other two. However, because of the evidence we have, I have no doubt the judge will have them dropped."

"Why the hell were they brought against me, anyway?" she asked, her anger seeping through.

Mark sighed, opening the door at the end of the hallway and allowing Sam to go through first. "One of our lovely state congressmen isn't very fond of ghost's. I think he's going to make life a bit hard for us."

The goth shook her head. "It's probably difficult for a lot of people to accept that ghosts are actually real. This is all very new to everyone outside of Amity."

"Truer words have never been spoken," he commented. "For us it's business as usual, but for the rest of the country? We're probably the laughing stock of the nation."

"Woohoo," she cheered with fake enthusiasm.

They stopped at the desk where the officer there handed Sam her things back, to which the goth nodded gratefully. She pulled the trenchcoat on as they exited the building, and then put her belt on with her weapons intact.

"Do you know how everyone is doing?" she asked him, pulling her hair up and out of the trench coat.

"I haven't received an update on Danny yet, other than he's being taken care of. Tucker's tests are complete and he's recovering. It'll take a little time, especially for the burns and his leg, to heal, but he's doing well. He'll likely be in the hospital for a few days. It would be longer, but Dr. Tanning has given them an ointment with ghostly properties that will help accelerate the healing of the burns," he answered.

"Good," Sam said with a smile. "I would like to see Tucker myself, but the head nurse there wouldn't let me back."

Mark frowned. "I'll make sure to send something official allowing you to see him. For now, do you have the time to come with me?"

She cast him a wary glance. "For what?"

He gave her a sympathetic look. "For a press conference. It would be good to give your own account on what happened, especially to dispel the rumors over your arrest."

She groaned, lifting her gaze to the sky. With a heavy sigh, she returned her gaze to the mayor. "Alright."

–

Sam stood on the stage area behind the mayor. She did not want to be here one bit, especially as many reporters were staring at her. She'd removed her weapons and rolled the collar of her trench coat down to look less intimidating, but that didn't seem to help her much.

She fidgeted a little, fingers from one hand pulling on the fingerless glove of the other. She tried to keep her expression neutral, but Shade kept trying to slip through in order to glare at the reporters. 'Will you stop?'

She could feel Shade roll her eyes. 'They should fear us.'

'No, they really shouldn't. We need their trust.' Sam countered.

'They're vultures.' Shade sneered.

The goth paused. 'Alright, I don't disagree with you there, but that doesn't change the fact that we need them on our side.'

Shade begrudgingly dropped the subject.

She listened as Mark explained what the operation was, as well as the police activity over the past week that reporters had been speculating on. He went on to explain the charges that had been brought against Sam, as well as the evidence as to why they were being dropped. He then answered a few questions before one reporter asked a question that Mark wanted Sam to answer.

"How much of a threat is this Mira person?"

"I'm going to let Sam take over for these questions. She's far more versed in who this woman is and what she wants," the mayor replied before stepping back and indicating for Sam to take the podium.

The half ghost stepped up and looked out among the crowd of reporters. As she did so, many started taking pictures, the flash from the camera's blinding. Sam shut her eyes against it. "I request you withhold your photos unless you turn off the flash. I have epilepsy and the flashes may cause a seizure," she explained.

The reporters reluctantly put their camera's down as they waited for her to answer the question.

Sam looked around again, gathering her thoughts while taking breaths to keep herself calm. Finally, "To Danny and I and our family, Mira is a major threat. To the public…her biggest threat to the public right now is probably recruiting. She's making half ghosts using humans. I'm not sure if she's kidnapping them or convincing them with lies and promises. Other than that, I cannot rule out her being a future threat to the city."

She then pointed to a woman in front, who stood. "There are rumors that you are working with Mira and, in fact, helped her kidnap Phantom. Is this true?"

Sam managed to keep the scowl off her face. "Yes, I am aware of those rumors, likely born out of the fact that I used to be under her control, but I am not anymore. Danny Phantom is my fiance; I would never willingly hurt him, so those rumors are unfounded."

The announcement that Sam and Danny were engaged caused whispers to go through the crowd, but she didn't care. She pointed to a bald man in the back who stayed seated. "What is your response to your arrest for the attempted murder of Danny Phantom and Tucker Foley, and for the murder of Do-hee Yoon?"

This time, the goth was unable to keep the expression off her face, and they all watched as she swallowed hard, eyes tearing up. Her stricken look was unmistakable. It took her a moment to compose herself, and even the reporters could see it was genuine.

"I-I…" she started. Finally, she closed her eyes and centered herself, allowing Shade to steel her nerves. "I'm sorry, I haven't had much time to process what happened. Do-hee…Do-hee was a friend of mine, and the wife of someone very close to me," she explained.

Sam then looked out among the crowd, looking serious. "Danny, Tucker and Do-hee were taken from our home. They were darted like animals and then abducted for torture. Do-hee was killed, likely to teach her husband a lesson, and Tucker was going to be killed, probably to teach me a lesson. Danny…Mira took Danny in order to use his core to create an extremely powerful half ghost, but apparently saw fit to teach him a lesson first. That's the only reason we found him alive."

She pointed to a man in glasses on the right side. "So you do not agree with the charges?"

"I do not," she said firmly. "And evidence will prove I am innocent." The man nodded, jotting it down. Sam could've sworn the reporters seemed a little more friendly in their demeanor now.

She pointed to a blonde woman with a pixie cut in the back. "Why do you think Do-hee was killed to teach her husband a lesson? Just who is her husband?"

Sam shook her head. "I will not answer that as it is personal information. Next question." She pointed to a brunette in the front.

"Do you know where Mira is now?"

Sam looked at Mark who nodded. "No. She seems to be extremely adept at hiding and she was not there when we infiltrated her new base to rescue Danny, Tucker and Do-hee."

She pointed to a man with shoulder length black hair on the left. "Everyone is asking you the hard questions, but no one has asked you the important one: how are Tucker Foley and Danny Phantom?"

That gave the goth pause, taken aback by the genuine concern in the man's voice. "Tucker is recovering. He suffered a broken leg and burns, but should make a full recovery. Danny…" she licked her lips. "I haven't been given an update on him yet."

"You don't know how your fiance is?" someone from the crowd asked.

Sam stood there, unsure how to answer that. Her amethyst eyes looked around and her breaths rattled in her chest. Mark could see her struggling, so he walked forward. "Ms. Manson hasn't been home yet. No further questions," he said firmly before turning and guiding Sam off stage.

The mayor stopped when they were out of sight and away from people. "Are you alright?" he asked, voice colored with concern.

She sniffed and shook her head, hands coming up grabbing the opposite elbows in a vulnerable gesture. "I'm sorry. It's just…been so much this past week and Danny…"

"Hey, no need to apologize. On top of everything going on, I doubt pregnancy is helping. My wife struggled a lot with her emotions while she was pregnant," he said. He reached out and gently squeezed her arm.

"It's not just that," she started, feeling the anxiety rise like flood waters. "His mind…she messed with him–badly. He's terrified of me," she added at a near whisper. "I think she made him think I was the one torturing him."

Mark's eyes widened. "We definitely can't let the congressman know that tidbit of information. He'll take it and run with it."

Sam nodded and sniffed again, trying to get a hold of herself. The mayor watched her, feeling his own heart breaking for her. "You should go home and see how he's doing. Vlad was also pretty worried when you were arrested."

The goth nodded and thanked him before teleporting home.

–

A cloud of violet smoke burst into existence in the living room before Sam appeared and the cloud dispersed. She had not expected to be tackled by her soon-to-be mother-in-law the moment she was corporeal.

"Sam! You're okay!" Maddie cried, hugging the woman tight.

The goth hugged her back, choosing to take the comfort her heart so desperately needed right now. Then the redhead pulled back and her frantic eyes met Sam's. "When we saw on the news that you were arrested, we were so scared!"

"The mayor got me out," Sam replied with a gentle smile, before it turned sad. "How is Danny?"

Maddie straightened up, her look turning somber. "Do you want the truth?"

Sam winced. "That bad, huh?"

"He's not himself at all. He doesn't even realize where he is," Maddie replied with a tired sigh.

"He woke up?" Sam asked, surprised.

"He did but…" Maddie trailed off. She walked over to the doorway and peered into the room, Sam following her and reluctantly doing the same. "He's so scared. And he keeps begging for us to not hurt him…but then asks us to kill him…"

Sam glanced over and saw the devastated look on Maddie's face, the tears falling, and her lips trembling. Bruce appeared then, giving an apologetic smile when he accidentally startled them. "It may take some time for him to realize he's safe," he said, having heard Maddie's comment. He moved on to the kitchen then for some coffee.

The women watched the ghost for a while, but nothing happened. Finally, "Vlad got the shield working," Maddie said, eyes landing on Sam.

The goth breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. How are the twins?"

"Doing well," the redhead replied, pulling away from the door and going into the living room to take a seat. "Jack has them now since I was on night duty."

Sam gave her a grateful look. "Thank you for being there for them. I can't tell you how much it means to me," she said as she followed and sat on the couch.

Maddie waved her hand. "You're out doing the hard stuff. Watching infants really isn't hard at all. Though…they could really use a parent."

The half ghost winced at that. "Agreed. I would love to spend some time with them today. I barely feel like a mother."

Her mother figure gave her a soft smile. "You brought their father back to them. I'd say that's pretty important."

Sam returned the smile, but turned when she heard Jack. "I thought I heard you," the man said, coming into the living room with an infant in each arm. He handed Jackson to the eager goth before giving Aurora to his wife so he could go retrieve Se-ri. He returned moments later with the younger, smaller infant.

Se-ri was ten weeks old now and becoming more active. The twins were a week away from hitting five months.

Sam was grateful for Jackson's smile when he saw her, and for his soft coos of delight. Then she glanced at Se-ri and felt her heart clench, a choking, suffocating feeling that left her breathless. She wouldn't even understand that her mother was dead for quite some time.

"What was done with Do-hee?" she asked softly.

Jack turned somber. "The coroner picked her up a few hours ago. We're planning a funeral but…we aren't sure who to invite. I remember Ki-oh mentioned that all of Do-hee's family are in South Korea, but we have no idea how to get a hold of them," he explained.

Sam nodded. "And without knowing how to get in touch with Ki-oh…" she sighed. "I'm not even sure he knows she's dead."

Bruce joined them, a mug of steaming coffee in his hand. He sat down next to Sam and handed Jackson an empty syringe. The infant gripped the item and stared at it, his little lips pursing and hand waving as if he'd just received the best gift ever. "They are entertained by so little at this age," he commented.

The goth hummed her agreement.

"I find it hard to imagine that Ki-oh doesn't know his wife is dead," Dr. Tanning said, continuing the previous conversation. "However, Mira generally kept outside news away from the compound to avoid any of the half ghost's from being compromised. It's possible she kept Ki-oh from knowing Do-hee was there and is now preventing him from seeing the news.

"Not being able to contact Ki-oh presents another problem," Dr. Tanning sighed. "None of us are legal guardians of Se-ri. She could be taken from us by social services."

Maddie looked alarmed. It wasn't something any of them had thought about. "Does anyone know Ki-oh is gone?"

Sam shook her head. "No. I didn't even tell the mayor."

"Then as long as people think he's still here, we should be okay, right?" Jack asked before looking down at the young infant in his arms. She was staring up at him with her large doe eyes. They were so brown they looked black.

The response was silence as no one really knew the answer to that question.

Finally, Bruce cleared his throat. "I am going to check on Danny. Do you want to come?" he asked the goth.

She instantly looked hesitant, body going rigid at the suggestion. She wanted to but she didn't want to. It was a hard feeling to describe. She really wanted to make sure he was okay, but she was also terrified of him waking up and seeing her.

The balding man gently patted her arm, knowing where her thoughts were going. "I have him on IV fluids as he was severely dehydrated, and I added some Xanax to it. He shouldn't be able to panic even if he wants to."

"You should go see him," Maddie encouraged.

Sam took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, before nodding. Maddie got on the floor and placed Aurora on the playmat while Sam put Jackson next to his sister. She then stood and followed Bruce to her bedroom.

The doctor went right in, grabbing his stethoscope and going over to check Danny's core. Sam tentatively walked over to the side of the bed and stood there, right hand holding her left arm in a show of anxiousness.

"Truth be told, there's something I wanted to show you," Dr. Tanning said. "Unfortunately, you aren't going to like it."

Danny's back was heavily bandaged with gauze wrapped around his front to keep those bandages in place. Bruce grabbed the top of the gauze that was across the ghost's chest and pulled it down.

The goth felt the shock clawing at her, crawling around her insides as it turned to disgust and then rage. She had been so focused on his reaction to seeing her and getting him out of there that she hadn't seen it: the perfect burn scar on his chest that said Mira.

Shade peeked through. "What kind of sick, deluded, son-of-a-bitch…she's freaking twisted," she snapped, hands now balled into fists.

"You aren't wrong," Bruce said lowly.

"His core should heal it once it's no longer dormant, right?"

The doctor paused in his work and swallowed the hard lump in his throat before standing straight and turning his attention to her. "His core is already coming out of dormancy. But I know the kind of weapons they use, and I do not believe his core will heal these scars."

Her reply was cut off when Danny groaned and moved his head. Her nervousness instantly returned as Danny's good eye opened slowly. She stepped away, retreating with the hope that he wouldn't notice her across the room.

Bruce took a small flashlight from his pocket and shined it in Danny's eye, which caused the young ghost to flinch and turn his head away, eye scrunching closed. "Sorry," the doctor apologized. "Just checking your pupils."

There was less panic upon waking this time, but Danny was still disoriented and unsure of what was going on. And he still didn't trust that this was real. Although…he was starting to feel his core, which wasn't something he hallucinated about before.

His healing was starting to accelerate, but his right eye was still too swollen and painful to open, so he didn't even try. He did, however, use his good eye to watch Bruce warily.

Dr. Tanning could see Danny's distrustful gaze and tried to give the young man an encouraging smile. "You are home and safe," he said in a gentle tone.

Danny furrowed his brow in confusion. He'd woken up here last time, hadn't he? Was this an extension of that hallucination or was it real? His eye began to wander around the room.

Sam desperately wanted to go invisible to hide from his gaze, but Shade refused to let her. 'We need to be sure of his reaction so we can know how to deal with it,' her darker half reasoned.

But the goth didn't think she could handle it, and as Danny's gaze settled on her, she knew she was right. Despite enough Xanax running through his system to knock an elephant on its rear, he freaked.

"No!" he shouted, voice a little stronger than before. "Not safe, not safe," he said as the covers were thrown from the bed. He flailed around, trying to get up like before, but Bruce blocked his way.

Sam felt when Danny's core called for help, a sensation so strong that it nearly doubled her over as it hit her. Now that it was coming back to full strength, the veracity of his call was intense.

Vlad appeared in a mist of magenta smoke right next to the bed.

"Don't let her hurt me, please…don't let her hurt me," he begged Dr. Tanning, reaching out and grabbing his shirt.

The billionaire looked over, realizing Sam was in the room. She was standing there with a hand to her mouth, hot tears streaming down her face as she trembled. He went to her, gently putting a hand on her cheek to guide her attention to him. "I hate to say this, but you should go."

She nodded, walking out the door and into the living room, but not getting far before the anguish engulfed her and she collapsed to her knees. A guttural sob escaped her, followed by another and another. She couldn't breathe through the emotional pain, her breaths coming in great rasping heaves, leaving her feeling suffocated and drowning.

Maddie ran to her but Sam didn't even notice it, too consumed in the guilt, sorrow and devastation. She wailed loudly, hands on the floor in front of her as she tried to ground herself. Was this some sort of punishment? Was the world trying to tell them something?

She thought that everything they had gone through meant they were stronger for it, that they were meant to be together–to stand hand-in-hand against the world. But now…perhaps it was all the universe tearing them apart instead? Maybe they were bad for each other…

Maybe she should let him go…

Sam felt it when her overtaxed body and mind couldn't handle any more. She simply let it happen, succumbing to the seizure as she hit the floor, startling Maddie.

"Bruce!" the redhead yelled. "She's seizing!"

Vlad and Bruce looked at each other in alarm. "Go," the billionaire said quickly. "I will handle Daniel."

The doctor left and the billionaire turned back to Danny, the man's hysteria still palpable. He sighed, resigning himself to a difficult time getting the ghost to calm down.

–

1/10/25: Not a long chapter. But I'm getting my cushion back, which is what I wanted. I often struggle with being as descriptive as I want, so I don't really feel like I captured the emotions very well in this chapter.

I got fitted for a portable heart monitor yesterday, as well as got an echo on my heart to try and determine why my heart condition got worse. Probably won't know anything until early-mid Feb, but here's hoping we figure it out. Or–at the very least–find nothing wrong with my heart.