Seeing Double

Rebound - Part 11

When the bell rang for lunch Danny tracked down Sidney and pulled him into a janitor's closet.

Sidney grinned and swept Danny up in a hug.

It was so completely unexpected that Danny didn't have a proper reaction to it.

Wait, no he did. He stiffened and closed his eyes, half expecting the air to be aggressively squeezed out of him, before recognizing the affection for what it was.

He slowly relaxed, breathing deeply.

"I missed you, flutter bug!" Sidney said.

"Uh..."

"Wowie, it's dark in here." Sidney released Danny from the hold to feel around the walls.

Danny grabbed his hands, stopping the search.

He figured it would be easier to have this conversation without seeing the other's expression.

"Listen," Danny began. "Can we keep this whole dating thing under wraps?"

"Under wraps?" Sidney echoed.

Danny squeezed his hands. "You know... a secret?"

Sidney pulled his hands away. "Oh fiddle. But I already told all my friends."

Danny blinked. "Friends?"

"You know. Kwan, his girlfriend. That other brown girl..."

Danny facepalmed. "Th-those aren't your friends! They're Dash's friends!"

Pacing wasn't possible in such a small space, but Danny turned around in a huff anyway. Only to trip over a mop.

"Dammit, when Dash gets back he'll be pissed. Maybe we can say it was a prank? Or we could-"

He sat on the ground and absently kicked the mop, trying to figure out how to salvage the situation.

Then Danny realized he could see the mop roll away from him.

Sidney was glowing.

"Who cares what the bully thinks?" Sidney said.

His voice echoed. Like two people were speaking. One voice was familiar- it was Dash- and the other was higher pitched and nasally. Like the guy was congested.

Danny stood back up, hands raised. "Sidney-"

"If my affection for you angers him that's all the more reason to show it," Sidney said. "I can't let him go unpunished. After what he did to you?!"

The shelves behind them were rattling, mops and tools glowing ominously.

"R-right," Danny said. "Right, true. I'm sorry for offending you."

He'd almost forgotten that he was supposed to be babysitting a powerful ghost.

When would Phantom get back?

"You hungry? Let's go to lunch." With his left hand carefully braced on the utility belt, Danny held out his right hand for Sidney to take.

Abruptly, the glow shut off. Some of the tools fell to the ground behind them, and the mop hit Danny in the back of his head.

It didn't hurt much, so Danny ignored it. Focusing instead on his right hand, which was still empty.

There was a pause and Danny squinted into the dark, wondering if Sidney had walked out through a wall or something.

But the door to the closet opened and Sidney was grinning at him. "Let's eat with my friends!"

Instead of settling for just holding hands Sidney wrapped his left arm around Danny's waist. He grabbed Danny's left hand, fitting his fingers in between all of Danny's and brushing against the belt.

Danny gulped. "Your friends are mine..."

oOo

The screaming had him half convinced he was still in the mirror.

But just seeing in color was all the evidence Phantom really needed.

"I can't believe this!" Sam was pulling at her hair, staring at the bathroom mirror.

Oh, he'd come out into the girl's bathroom?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to!" Dutifully covering his eyes, Phantom gestured towards the ceiling. "I'll fly out-"

"Fuck you!" Sam said. "If you leave I'll kill you."

Removing his hands tentatively, Phantom pouted. "Wow Sam, uh, don't you think-"

"I'm not the goth chick, you- you, gah!" She threw her hands up. "This is all your fault! You did something to me, I was frozen-"

"Dash?!"

"Yes you moron," Sam was staring at the mirror again, absolutely horrified by what she saw.

By what he saw?

Then she glared at the image, hands on her hips. "Thanks a lot, asshole. Next time we'll let you rot."

Phantom blinked.

Sam pointed an accusing finger at the mirror. "So it was you! You trapped me in there!"

"Wait, are you both in there?" Phantom floated down so he could get a better look.

Sam turned around and grinned at him. "I'm not just going to hand him control."

Then she started crying. "Am I stuck like this?! Am I dead?!"

Phantom automatically reached for her, to comfort her or something, but she smacked his hand away. "Get off me freak!"

But then Sam rolled her eyes. "I see you guys have bonded."

Scratching his head, Phantom squinted at her. "So it's easy to tell you guys apart, but this is disorienting."

Sam sighed. "You think it's disorienting for you?"

She stomped her foot. "Where's my body? Seriously- shut up! We're working on it."

Grabbing her backpack, she pulled out Pointdexter's mirror. "If I'd left this where it was maybe he'd have flown into some random kid walking by."

Phantom frowned at it. "That might have been better."

"Anyone would have been better," Sam/Dash grumbled. "Ew, I hate the way your boobs hang-"

"Fuck you, I've got a bra on- I can still feel them, it's gross- your gross," Sam wrinkled her nose. "Just- let's find- my body!"

"C-can one of you take a backseat or something?" Phantom said.

"No!"

"Well then. This'll be fun."