Chapter Text
A city in flames, a green horde overhead and in the streets, a ghostly pale hooded figure, strikes of lightning, a baby’s cry.
The dreams of that day had fortunately stopped a while ago. Well, he didn’t know if he should count two years as “a while ago.” It felt recent, like his normal sleep wasn’t a normal thing. A day didn’t go by where he wasn’t thankful to be rid of the nightmares, though. But, of course, before Phantom had woken him up, that had been his dream.
It was awfully distorted this time around, broken almost, like a remix. That ghost king was there in the burning building, holding Grogu and making him cry with his ugly face; the flames were a horrid green; and so were the strikes of lightning. But the actions he took remained the same. He saved the baby, he fought the hooded guy with Phantom and Mr. Skywalker at his side, he helped the evacuation efforts, but everything was punctuated with Grogu's cries.
A tried and true nightmare.
He had blamed Phantom for that day for a long time, he still kind of did. If not for him, Grogu’s parents might have still been alive. After all, until he showed up, Amity didn’t have a bad ghost problem. He only made it worse. Noga’s defense agency had been enough for the city before he showed up.
But eventually, he realized he couldn’t blame that one day on Phantom. That dunce “Thrawn” something was the one who woke up that king guy. He was to blame, along with all other ghosts, but mostly him.
He only came to this realization when Phantom saved both his and Grogu’s life. A new ghost was wreaking havoc, and if Phantom hadn’t been there, he and Grogu would have been smashed to bits by debris from a building.
So he wasn’t that bad of a guy.
So they could work together in protecting the city. (He still doesn’t know why he agreed).
But being in the ghost zone now with the ghost freak, this was definitely his fault. Who knows if they'd ever leave this miserable place. He might as well kiss his date with Luke goodbye.
And it was a miserable place, and so, so sickly. He could never have imagined something like this even in his wildest dreams. Trees with gray dead bark and bright, unnaturally green leaves. The dirt and grass smelled putrid. The animals within were their own brand of horrid. Honest to god monsters are what they were. He was lucky he'd only caught glimpses so far, tails, feet, big terrifying eyes.
This place was hell.
They only had this small moment of reprieve; Phantom had insisted on it before they went through with their plan.
He had no idea if it would work, if they’d ever get out.
Maybe they'd always be running, like Fennec wanted. And even if it wasn’t from the huntress, there were countless ruthless ghosts just like her. Was he really stuck here? Doomed to this till he died?
Would he ever see Grogu again? His smile? Would he get to see him grow up?
No. He couldn’t think like that. It was too soon. The plan had to work. He had to get back. No matter what. He would see his son again. He was going on that date. Noga didn’t raise a quitter.
It was hard not to notice what Phantom was doing. He was fidgeting nervously with his new shirt. His eyes were drawn to the different colored shoes and pants he was wearing, the cape still floating behind him, attached weirdly to the crew neck collar of his shirt. Din wasn’t known for his sense of style, but even he could see those were horrible combinations. He still didn’t understand the costume changes at a time like this.
“Tell me those doors aren’t the only way out of here."
Phantom stopped fiddling with his shirt to shake his head “I can make us a portal once we’re out of these."
“Great. Are you about ready to go then?”
Phantom took a deep breath then nodded. “Let’s get to it.”
And so they flew back through the door they came from. It was against everything his instincts were telling him, flying back to that madwoman. He had half a mind to turn his board around and go back to finding their own way out. So what if he had to remain trapped with Phantom? He could live with it.
But there was no turning back now, the island was already coming into view.
“How many weapons did you have on you?” Phantom asked from behind him.
“She’s got three others. Do you really think she’d do the same trick more than once, though?” How dumb did she think they were, really?
“We can find other triggers if she didn’t use your weapons,” he pointed out.
“If we can even find the other triggers,” he grumbled to himself, but he was sure his helmet picked it up anyway.
“I think we’ll know them when we see them.” Phantom didn’t sound sure of himself with that one.
“...Right.” They were at the edge of the island, right where they had left. There was no sign of Fennec. He hoped that was a good thing.
In the corner of his eye, he noticed another bright light, and sure enough, those rings flashed around Phantom again, turning the lower half of his other pant leg denim. His cape seemed to be a lot shorter than it was before.
He cocked an eyebrow at him, even if he couldn’t see it.
Phantom only gave an irritated huff as he watched the transformation and said nothing.
After this, he needed a break from ghosts.
They flew above the trees in search of her and Phantom began calling out her name. They really had a death wish, it seemed, but as far as he could tell, this was their only option.
Within a few more calls, the sound of jets rumbling came from behind them. “There you are!” Fennec exclaimed wildly and gleefully, on her own board ascending from the leaves and quickly gaining on them. “Back for more?!” She leered.
“Go! Go!” Phantom clutched onto his shoulders and Din shot off.
It was like before, Fennec shooting after them and coming pretty close to landing a hit, but Din turned and fired his own blaster at her, making sure to actually aim closer to her. But he couldn’t steer and fire behind him, he needed to see where he was going.
A light flashed again, and Din knew what it was, those rings again. He was about to berate him for yet another costume change when Phantom was shouting next to him.
“Looks like the flying’s back on!” Phantom leapt off the board, careful not to stray too far, and flew beside him. He didn’t look happy to regain the ability. “Make a U-Turn!” He called to him.
Din nodded to him and they whipped around to fly in the opposite direction. They were thinking the same thing, Phantom didn’t need to explain. But he couldn’t believe they were really going for the same tactic a third time. Hopefully, their real plan would still work.
Fennec’s expression turned from her devious smirk to a one of wide-eyed shock. Just like the eel from earlier. God, that had only been today? Ugh.
As they raced toward her, she angled her board up and was just about to turn, but she was too slow. Their chain scraped the bottom of her board, and disconnected her feet, sending her flying off. The board continued to hover as she plummeted pretty far down to the ground. She landed with a loud and painful THUNK! And the sound of clattering metal.
She was down for the count!
Phantom was pointing to a spot close to her–another one of his blasters. She’d definitely be in the line of fire. Their stupid plan was actually working.
They swooped down and Din snatched the blaster, all while Fennec was groaning and sitting up.
They rushed above the trees, but the huntress had no time to react; darts were flying from every direction, riddling themselves into her skin. She was slumping back onto the ground just like that.
Excellent.
They landed as the darts stopped and Din finally disengaged his board. Phantom went to kneel down next to the woman to find the cuff release. “Where’s the key?” He pressed.
“Find it,” Fennec sneered. Her face was just about the only thing not paralyzed.
Phantom groaned and searched all the woman had on her. Din had to bend down as he did, so Phantom could use both of his hands. The man was in total casual wear now, his cape was no more, and his pants were just jeans now, red shoes on both feet. It was hard to tell through his visor, but the blue-ish, ghostly tint to his face looked more white now.
He looked vaguely familiar in a way, he realized. It was tingling in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t pin it in those few seconds.
He shook the thought from his head and instead allowed himself to be relieved. He would be going home, he’d see his son, and he could still keep his date. He had to admit it, if not for Phantom, he wouldn’t have been able to get out of it so quickly.
He really wasn’t that bad, for a ghost.
Din put a hand over his shoulder, not squeezing, but just laying it there. Phantom’s movements were frantic, but they didn’t need to be. They won. There wasn’t a rush to find the key, but Din wasn’t being affected like he was. He obviously wanted his powers back. He didn’t know if his touch was at all comforting, but it was the best he could do.
Maybe instead of comfort, he could afford to be transparent with him. “You did good out there,” he told him. This did make his hands stutter. “I don’t think I could’ve gotten out of here without you,” he mustered up.
“Uh, yeah, no problem. Where is it?” he hissed again under his breath. “Why do you need so many pockets?” He complained to the huntress.
She remained silent.
Din went on, knowing if he didn’t speak now, he never would. “You didn’t have to help me, but you did. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, still frazzled, still retching things from her pockets, but he held something up finally, relief flooding his features. It had to be the key they were looking for. He stood up, and began turning his cuff this way and that, looking for a keyhole. “C’mon.”
But before he found it, those rings flashed again, but they encompassed his whole body this time. Din squinted his eyes at how bright they were and when the light died down–
Luke was standing before him where Phantom had just been.
He was shrouded in the green of this awful place, his hair framed his face, his eyes were his clear, beautiful blue, and he was in the red t-shirt he had left him in at his apartment. He looked terrified.
He could feel his own eyes bugging out of his skull. Anger reared its head within him. “What is this?” he spat. “Why’ve you taken this form? Why’ve you shape-shifted into him?” This had to be some kind of affront to him, it had to be. This was some kind of ghost mind trick. And just after he thanked him!
“I-I can explain,” he stuttered in Luke’s voice–in Phantom’s–he couldn’t tell!
He aimed his blaster at his chest. “Get talking.”
Phantom–Luke put his hands up in surrender. “Don’t-Don’t shoot! It’s me, Din! I-I’m Phantom!”
“How do you know who I am?”
“I’ve known for a while. I was going to–!”
“Change back!” Din demanded. He couldn’t stand to look at Luke’s face.
“I can’t! The cuff won’t let me! Just let me get this off, and I’ll explain,” he pleaded.
“No. You’re not turning your powers back on. Why do you look like him?”
“Because I am him! I’m Luke! I’m Phantom! I’m both!”
“Prove it.”
“Grogu drew us today! On the lily pads, with your family. We played the goose game, you asked me out! Your first kiss was under the bleachers at school and you hated it.” He said each of these things hurriedly and desperately. He still looked terrified. He’d never seen such a look on Luke’s face.
But there really was no way for Phantom to know any of those things. He’d only ever told Luke about his first kiss years ago, before Phantom had appeared.
There was no way. That couldn’t–
He stumbled back, lowering his blaster. For a quick second, he glanced down at Fennec to see an amused smirk on her face. He grimaced and Too many thoughts rushed to the front of his mind. What did this mean? How could this have happened? Had Luke died?
But as if to stop him from spiraling, one question stopped everything else: Where was Grogu?
“You left Grogu alone?” He said almost accusingly. He couldn’t exactly get the tone out.
Slowly, he lowered his hands back to his sides. “I left him with Leia and Han.”
He felt his shoulders drop in relief. “He’s okay?”
“Last I checked,” he told him, sounding certain.
That eased his mind considerably, but he still had other questions. “Okay…Why didn’t you tell me?”
He scoffed. “How was I supposed to? You want to kill me.”
His face darkened behind the helmet. “You still should have told me,” he rumbled.
“Oh, like you told me you were Silver?” He shot back.
“I was going to!” He wasn’t.
Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “Sounds awfully defensive, Din.”
“Oh, shut up,” he rolled his eyes, not even half as furious as he should be. “Just get these cuffs off. I wanna get back to my son.”
“Fine.” He went back to inspecting the cuff, and without the panicked movements, he found the release and slotted the key through. Once the thing was off, he rubbed at his wrist, then extended his hand to do the same for Din.
He stepped away as soon as he could, placing his hands on his hips. He looked anywhere but the man in front of him, stalling to give himself a small breather. “You said you could make a portal?”
“Give me a second.” He said, sounding just as worn out as Din felt. He shook out each of his limbs, then with one last flash, he was Phantom once more.
He really had been an idiot for not seeing it before. There were hardly any differences between the two of them, just a few off colors. For the first time, he wondered what that horrible green scar across his cheek meant. Why did it look like lightning? Would he be able to see it when he was Luke?
He watched as Luke outstretched a hand and closed his eyes, his features screwed up in concentration. A small green swirling circular mass appeared and grew with each passing second, until it was taller than the two of them. It was green and flowed in the same way the sky did above them but it faded into a familiar scene of a cozy doorstep. Han and Leia’s place.
“Let’s get Grogu,” he gestured through the portal.
Making it must have taken a toll, he somehow looked worse than he did just a second ago: a little hunched, breathing heavy.
He still wanted to comfort him.
Despite everything.
He pushed it down, and stepped through. It was a bit disorienting, but he’d handled worse. With his feet on solid ground, he could finally breathe. The sky was inky black now, and nothing about his surroundings felt oppressive. He retracted his suit and took an actual deep breath. Thank god.
Phantom stepped beside him and wasted no time in knocking on the door.
They heard footsteps approaching and Han answered. He opened his mouth to speak, but looked between Din and Luke incredulously.
“What are you doing with him?” He asked Luke, jabbing his thumb in Din’s direction.
“It’s a long story,” was all he gave in response. “We’re here for Grogu.”
Han gave the two of them another wary look, but he lingered on Luke for a second or two more before he spoke again. “...I’ll go get him.”
They waited in silence, staring at the open door and into the foyer. If Din strained his ears, he could vaguely hear Leia talking, but not what she was saying.
Han returned with a sleeping Grogu in his arms and he very gently handed him off to Din with a quiet, “Here.”
His attention was immediately all on Grogu, making sure he was okay. He was wrapped in one of Ben’s old blankets and he was sound asleep.
“Do you want me to fly you back to your apartment?” Luke asked.
Din shook his head and simply pivoted on his heel and began to walk. He wasn’t running from this. “No. Goodnight, Luke.”
“...Right,” he heard from behind him and then a closing door.
A shaky breath rattled out of him once he was far enough from the house.
Luke was that Phantom menace. Phantom was his beloved Luke.
How was any of this real?
He passed out as soon as he was in Leia’s guest room. He had to walk past an excited Ben and force a small smile as he explained he was too tired to play, but he didn’t bother with any explanation to him or his parents. He simply plopped down onto the guest bed and fell into a fitful sleep. When he woke up the next morning, Leia sat him down and made him recount the night’s events. She laid a hand on his afterward with such a pained expression on her face.
“I’m so sorry, Luke,” she told him, and it was a comfort.
He thanked her for everything (he didn’t know what else to say), and left for his own apartment.
He didn’t want to go to work and face Din, but he knew he needed to. In the shower, all his thoughts were of different scenes and scenarios of how things would play out.
None of it went well.
But he did it. He went to work, arrived before Din did, and waited with bated breath. He didn’t know what for, though.
He was rounding the corridor when he spotted Din, and he debated letting him go, never talking to him again, but…but he had to fight for this, didn’t he? He couldn’t let this go. He had to say something. It was killing him not knowing what he was thinking either.
He ran down the hall to talk to him.
Din was this close to shutting his door, but Luke just barely managed to jam his hand in there.
He opened the door again in surprise, and it doubled when he realized it was Luke. “I could have slammed your hand just now.”
He barreled on, he couldn’t lose his nerve. “Can we talk? Please?”
He sighed and leaned on the door. “What is there to talk about?”
Luke’s face turned pleading, “You know what.”
His face was grim, but he conceded, opening the door completely so Luke could step inside.
“I’m sorry,” he began hurriedly. “I just…I didn’t know how to tell you.”
He only hummed, totally unamused.
“You just…No, I won’t blame you, you don’t deserve that,” he ran his fingers through his hair, and tried to say something actually worth saying. “I don’t have any other excuse. If you don’t want to see me anymore, I-I can find work somewhere else.”
Din didn’t say anything for a moment, he was facing away from him now. “You don’t have to do that. It’s your father’s company. And I get why you didn’t tell me…I wouldn’t tell me either.”
He felt the tiniest amount of relief. Did he understand? “You shouldn’t leave either,” he insisted.
He only gave a one-shoulder shrug.
He inhaled deeply and took a step back. “I’ll give you your space, you won’t have to see me.” He reached for the door, but before he could turn the knob, Din spoke.
“Hold on…I think you owe me some answers.”
That was fair, he supposed. He moved away from the door. “I’ll tell you anything,” he said as earnestly as he could muster.
Din shook his head. “We’ll do it some other time. I need to get my work done today.”
“We can do that,” he assured, then swallowed thickly at the thought of what he was going to say next. “Does this weekend still work for you?”
After a second or two, Din nodded. “Yeah. The farmer’s market?” he asked.
“That works for me.” To think it had been a date just yesterday.
“I’ll see you then.”
Luke nodded, and when he reached for the door again, Din didn’t stop him.
He headed back down to his office.
He wondered what this weekend would bring.