The Return of the Phantom

Pilot Part 5

Yeah, a five-part pilot. Well, good news! This is the last part! After that, it may get more episodic, but knowing me it'll probably be five part episodes... Anyway, enjoy!

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If Danny could give one word to describe the atmosphere when he and Lily got home it would be ICE. 

Not literal ice, that was his department (ice powers, that was a long story).

More like "I'm not quite in the mood for an explosion so instead I will let you know I am NOT happy with you by giving you the silent treatment and/or will be really superficial and fake around you!" kind of ice.

Jackson opened the door and the first thing Danny noticed was he seemed very tense.  He'd always been very observant of conflict between his parents, and hated every second of it.

Danny would be concerned if he didn't.

As soon as they entered, Jackson dutifully took Lily by the hand and led her down the hall to her room, making animated gestures with his hand in fake cheerfulness, trying to distract her from the argument clearly brewing between their parents.

He apprehensively walked into the kitchen, where Sam was furiously chopping lettuce for some salad.

Sensing his presence, she turned around, still holding the knife in the air like a weapon, making Danny quake in his boots. Been married twelve years and she still scared him sometimes. And she knew it, too.

Seeing that the scare factor had done its work, she tenderly placed the knife back down on the cutting board next to a decent pile of chopped lettuce. Hands on hips, she frowned at Danny and tilted her head, giving a chance to formulate some sort of rudimentary defensive position before she struck.

The best thing he could do would be to simply flat-out say what had happened, and apologize. But he also had to come across in such a way that it didn't seem like he was only telling Sam what she wanted to hear. He must choose these next few words carefully.

Without saying a word, Sam pointed sharply to the door to the front porch. Basically meaning, it was a 'Let's take this outside' kind of conversation. Well at least everything was on the table now. Almost like a reprimanded puppy, head hanging low, he followed Sam's lead outside.

Then came the first blow.

"When were you thinking about telling me about what happened today?" She demanded. She narrowed her eyes even more in annoyance, eyelashes barely letting her eyes be seen. Which was to his dismay, because it would be even harder now to read her true emotions. It was sometimes hard to see what Sam was really feeling within, and Danny often had to read carefully to help Sam express herself fully.

"Don't even get me started on yesterday," she continued briskly. "And don't try to get me to 'express my true emotions' or any of that crap. I'm just as capable of doing that myself!" It was like as if she were reading his eyes.

"Okay, yes, I went ghost for the first time in twelve years even though I made a pact with you (though it was more with myself) that I'd never go ghost again let alone fight ghosts again, and fought a ghost yesterday and today, Lily was endangered... what am I forgetting..." he gasped briefly for air after that long monologue. "Aaannd I told Tucker all about it before you."

Jumping to combat the beet-faced expression he was receiving, he added, "But to be fair, he did figure it out before you did..." Sam reddened even more, then started laughing. Hard. Tears were streaming down her face from this unexpected bout of mirth.

"Um, are you okay?" Danny asked, very concerned for Sam's sanity. Sam nodded, hunched over, trying to catch her breath, panting. She looked back up at him, grinning in disbelief.

"I can't believe you just confessed all of that!" She exclaimed. Sitting down in one of the porch chairs, she put a hand to her temple, rubbing it in exhaustion.

"Does this mean- I mean, are you still feeling mad about it?" Danny sat down next to her hopefully. She leaned away from him only to give him a speculative glance.

"...I am still upset, but-" she hesitated. "To be honest, I'm not surprised. I understand that 'protective' nature you have. But really, you forgot all we've been through together, and didn't tell me? I think I have a definite right to know about you starting to fight ghosts again."

"But you're not mad about me breaking the pact?"

She laughed and poked him teasingly. "Like you said, that was your pact. But I am concerned now that we have kids and all..." she frowned a little bit. Before she could finish, a loud buzzing sounded from her back pocket. She was going to ignore it.

"I think you should answer that," Danny told her with a mysterious smile. Pulling out her phone, Tucker's contact glowed on the screen.

FaceTime.

"This is about the time I estimated you'd find out about Danny going ghost again," Tucker immediately informed her as soon as she answered. He grinned knowingly at them, looking at each in turn.

"We can't just jump right back into this," Sam protested, though Tucker's light-hearted demeanor was softening her judgement. "What about Jackson and Lily?"

"Already taken care of," Tucker replied. "I'm backing out of the election race in November-" he was interrupted by horrified exclamations from both of his audience members- "hear me out, so I can spend more time with you and the kids. I've had enough of politics for a long time." He ran a hand through his short hair. "The gray is coming in."

"Tucker..." Sam sighed softly, amazed. "You didn't have to do all this..."

"Yes I did." He retorted. "Ghosts are returning, based on the past two days alone. It's time to go back in business, before we're ambushed by a plethora of ghosts. Trust me, it'll be like we never stopped!" Sam and Danny looked at one another, Danny hopeful, Sam skeptical. But even she couldn't contain the excitement that was starting to build inside her. She allowed a small smile.

"I guess..." Tucker whooped and Danny laughed in spite of feeling tense.

"But Jackson and Lily are to be told nada. Zip. Period." She commanded. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to 'having a definite right to know?'" He teased.

"You know that this is completely different." She growled. "I'm not one for secret keeping, but I'm not ready to tell our kids that their dad is a famous halfa whose been inactive for twelve years."

"Hey don't get all mad at me about the past now," Danny protested. Sam shook her head.

"It's in the past," she sighed. Shyly she grabbed his hand, and their fingers intertwined. They fit perfectly together. And they smiled finally, at each other. Now Tucker sighed, in a wistful, dramatic way.

"I'll leave you two lovers alone now." He hung up, one last image of his face, cheerful yet tired, briefly remained on the screen then flipped to black.

Danny's face was serious as he looked at Sam. "So, you want to do this?" He asked gravely. "I-it'll be a big difference in our lives, and we'll have to deal with any consequences ghost fighting entails-"

Sam shushed him, hand clapping over his mouth. "Stop right there," she interrupted, mouth twisted into a wry smile. "before you change my mind and make me think about what we're doing." Standing up, she offered her left hand, the one that wasn't intertwined with her husband's. Without hesitation he took it, and she pulled him into a passionate kiss.

Finally pulling apart, they gazed into one another's eyes. He loved her so much. How did he ever deserve or meet someone like her?

Despite knowing they were jumping into this blindfolded, as long as he had the ones he cared about most by his side, Danny knew things were going to turn out good in the end.