Seeing Double

Rebound - Part 15

It would have been more convenient if they could read each other's minds. Then they wouldn't have to talk out loud about certain revelations that should forever remain unsaid.

Sam swore to herself she'd kick Dash in the balls as soon as they got him back into his own damn body for that stupid threat he'd made in front of Danny.

Because, yeah, they couldn't hear each other's thoughts, but there were physical reactions- uncontrollable hormonal processes- synaptic transmissions, there were things that could be felt automatically when you were sitting in someone else's skin.

Or when someone else was a house guest in yours.

Sam could feel her heart thundering in her chest as if she'd just run a marathon and all the blood rushed to her face whenever Danny made eye contact with them. A giddy little slap to the face. It was obvious.

And she couldn't pin all of it on Dash either, the bastard.

Things seemed just as complicated when they found out about Phantom's possible capture.

"They couldn't have just- just caught him like that!" Dash was insisting. "He's not like the other ghosts, he's-"

"You're preaching to the choir, Dash." Danny was getting better at telling them apart. "We know he's a good guy."

"Okay, so they'll probably prioritize the ghost possessing Dash's body, right?" Tucker, ever the voice of reason, wanted to calm everyone down. "They'll probably just keep Phantom in a net or thermos and leave him alone for a while-"

"I should hope Dash would be the priority," Sam muttered.

She wished her feelings for Phantom weren't so complicated. That she could shove aside the resentment and hurt- and fondness and concern- as easily as rearranging the furniture in her bedroom.

And she wished Dash's feelings weren't so eerily similar. Or was he just feeling her feelings at this point?

"But what if they shot him?" Danny was saying. "Their weapons are made to-"

"You said yourself they're more interested in collecting ghosts than exterminating them," Tucker said. "They want to study them."

Sam squinted at Tucker as he continued to comfort Danny. He'd been the only one among them with enough sense to find a first aid kit when he noticed Danny's scrapes (fucking Dash) and was calmly applying antiseptic to the wound on his cheek.

She found herself smiling, despite everything else. Good old reliable Tuck.

But she could also feel herself losing control of her body as her fists and teeth clenched.

"So what the hell are we supposed to do, techno-dork? Just sit around and play fucking nurse?"

Dash felt very differently about Tucker than she did, then. It was good to know. A reassurance that they weren't mixing together.

"The heck do you think we should do then?"

Dash blustered. Sam sighed. "It's a good idea to wait," she said. "I mean, this is literally home base."

Danny fumbled his phone out of his pocket. "I'm going to call them."

"And say what?" Dash said, throat tightening with more irrational anger. "Have you seen my ghost uncle?"

Danny blinked. "Ghost uncle?"

"Don't play stupid," Dash started, but Sam groaned and put her head in her hands. "Will you chill the fuck out? You're giving me a stress headache."