I know, I know, LG WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU NEED TO GO UPDATE NQH! Well, I'm sorry guys, but I'm having a bit of writer's block right now, so I'm taking a quick break to write this idea that's been bugging me and see if my muse comes back to me. Don't worry, I'm NOT giving up on it, just a short break, I mean it. I don't quit on stories. ANYway, I present to you my new (and only) story series!

Inspired by Empty Promises by Laora.

Death by Fire, a Danny Phantom fic

They already knew he could get sick, I mean, he had gotten colds before, so why not the flu? It wasn't that big of a surprise, honestly, they'd just never thought about it.

"You look like crap man," Tucker stated sympathetically, standing a few feet away from Danny, who was lying in bed pale and sweating.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, nodding, "I don't think you're gonna be up to school tomorrow, much less ghost fighting, Tucker and I'll handle it for the next few days, you stay home and get better."

"Thanks guys," Danny said, voice hoarse, before launching into a coughing fit. He groaned, "Extra thermos is in the left drawer of my desk," Tucker went over and grabbed it, sticking it onto his belt loop. Danny continued, "The worst part is, I can't even go ghost!" He'd sat up a little bit and his hands were thrown into the air in exasperation.

Sam frowned at him disapprovingly, "Even if you could I wouldn't let you," at his pout she glared, "You are in no condition to be fighting ghost!"

"Yah, yah, I know," he grumbled. Taking a glance at the clock on his nightstand he knew they had to leave. "Bye guys," he said, waving.

"Bye Danny, hope you start feelin' better soon," Tucker said.

"We'll stop by tomorrow after school." Sam told him, patting his shoulder before following Tucker out of the room.

-:-

Sam and Tucker were standing at their lockers, chatting amiably, when Dash strutted over.

"Hey Losers! Where's Fenturd?"

Sam sighed dejectedly before answering, "He's out sick Dash, go away!"

"I don't think so! I need somebody to wail on if Fentina's not here!" He started moving towards Tucker, but Sam stepped in front of him defensively, "I said, go away Dash!" He growled but stalked off, throwing a glare over his shoulder at Tucker. The bell rang and the pair made their way to to their separate periods.

-:-

1 Period Later; Tucker

Tucker sighed as he made his way out of history. The teacher had assigned an essay for homework and the class had been an absolute bore without Danny there to pass notes to. And Dash was after him. Today was just not his day. As he made his way down the hall to meet up with Sam for english, it got worse.

"Hey techno geek! No goth freak to protect you now!" He felt himself being pulled up by the collar of his shirt and slammed into an open locker.

Great.

No Sam or Danny to get him out.

-:-

1 Period Later; Sam

Sam walked down the hall to meet up with Tucker in their usual spot. She got there and waited.

And waited.

She frowned as she checked the clock on the wall next to her. Maybe he was just running behind. Maybe that clock was wrong.

She pulled out her phone to check.

It wasn't.

There was probably a perfectly good reason for Tucker's tardiness, but something didn't feel right. The bell rang and the goth mentally debated on whether to head to class or not. Deciding she was just being paranoid she headed to class without him, against her better judgement.

In class Sam half listened to Mr. Lancers monotone lecture about a novel they were supposed to read. She was getting more and more worried as the minutes passed by with no Tucker.

Three minutes more.

No Tucker.

Eight minutes.

No Tucker.

Seventeen.

Finally, at almost thirty minutes, she raised her hand to ask Mr. Lancer if she could go find him.

"Yes, Ms. Manson?" Sam opened her mouth, when suddenly there was a ground rattling roar. Students screamed as a large green dragon came into view through the window. It bellowed and started setting fire to the science hall. Mr. Lancer rushed the students to the exit, attempting, and failing, to stop the arising panic. Alarms started blaring and more bodies poured out of the classrooms, trying to escape the building that was rapidly filling with smoke. Sam's mind was running a mile a minute. This was a new ghost, and Danny was sick. Not good. But they had the extra thermos. It was just with-

Tucker!

'It's fine!' she thought, 'He's probably outside already!' She ignored the little voice in her head that told her he might not be. When Sam got outside her eyes darted around, searching for the missing geek. Over half the school was burning now and the dragon had left.

"Tucker!" she screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify it. She pushed through other students, who were similarly shouting lost friends names. She could see groups hugging each other in relief when they reunited.

What if she never got to hug Tucker like that again?

'No! Don't think like that! You'll find him! You have to!'

"Tucker!" she shouted, more desperately.

"Tucker!" her voice cracked. She started running, looking, calling. She ran into Dash, who was looking at the building in horror.

"Foley's still in there!"

Sam froze.

"Dash what do you mean?" He started stuttering and making hand motions. The jock seemed to be in an absolute panic.

"What do you mean!"

He gulped, "I shoved him in one of the lockers near the boys bathroom in the east wing! I didn't know this would happen! If I had I would have never-" he stopped, wracked with guilt.

But for Sam the whole world stopped.

Because her best friend was trapped.

In the building that was now completely burning.

-:-

Danny;

He felt like absolute crap. Stupid flu. Now Sam and Tucker would have to do all the ghost fighting and he would have a ton of makeup work to do when he returned to school. Danny sighed before turning over in bed, pulling the covers up further and staring out the window. He felt bad for pushing his job onto them, even if he couldn't help it. What if they got hurt?

As he looked at the sky, it suddenly became dark. Brows furrowing in confusion, he looked closer. 'Smoke!' He realized. And a lot of it. He stood up and ran over to the window, following the winding trail which lead right to-

Casper High!

Sirens started in the distance, and the halfa ran down the stairs, stumbling from a wave of nausea near the bottom. He had to get to the school! What if Sam and Tucker were hurt! What if something happened to them! He hopped onto his scooter and started driving as fast as he could, taking all the shortcuts he knew and ignoring how horrible he felt. When he arrived at the building there was panic, students were in the front of the school and multiple fire trucks were outside, trying to put out the flames. He saw Sam and instantly calmed, until he noticed her sobbing.

"Sam!" He shouted, struggling to be heard over the other commotion. She turned her head and ran towards him arms out stretched. He grabbed the goth and pulled her close to his chest.

"Danny!" she pulled back from their embrace, not bothering to ask him what he was doing here. That's when he noticed the lack of Tucker.

"Sam where's Tucker?" He asked, feeling the ice cold dread in the pit of his stomach. She just looked at him with watery eyes and started crying harder.

"Sam where's Tucker!" He yelled, grabbing her shoulders. She shakily pointed at the burning building and started talking through her sobs, "I- he, yo-you weren't there, so- so Dash shoved him i-in a l-locker near the east wing! I- I d-didn't know! H-he's t-tra-" she couldn't finish, breaking down and burying her head into his neck.

Danny just gaped at the school, staring into the fire not processing what she said. When he finally did, even in all the panic, somehow everyone managed to hear his blood curdling cry;

"TUCKER!"

He pulled Sam off of him and without a second thought ran into the burning building, ignoring her cry of "Danny NO!"

-:-

Sam couldn't believe him! Didn't he understand that she couldn't stand to lose him too! He couldn't go ghost! He was just an ordinary human, a sick one at that, running into a burning building! She cried for him, yelled at him to stop, but he ignored her. Damn his hero complex! She couldn't lose him! She just couldn't! Some paramedics were holding her back, didn't they understand that she needed to go? She needed to get to Danny and Tucker! Why didn't they understand?!

She wasn't sure when she stopped struggling, and she wasn't sure when her parents got there, or when she found herself in their embrace, but she did. And the three of them sat on a patch of grass, along with Tucker's parents who were holding each other tightly, and waited. They stared at the sky high flames, waiting for a figure, any figure, to come stumbling out. Jazz joined them later, looking from face to saddened face as though trying to convince herself it wasn't true. That Danny wasn't in there. Eventually she broke down into sobs too and sat with them. And they all waited. Watching for the two boys. Sam didn't know where Danny's parents were and she was dreading telling them what happened.

Right as she thought that a familiar tank-like RV pulled up to the school, two figures hopping out. They started calling for their children.

"Jazz! Danny!"

"Sweeties are you okay!"

Jazz ran up and tackled them in a hug that would rival Jack's. Sam guessed she wouldn't have to.

"Mom! Dad!"

"Jazzerincess! You're okay!" Jack yelled, relieved.

"Sweetie, where's your brother?" Maddie asked, concern and worry obvious in her voice. Jazz looked at them both, lips trembling, because she knew how sick he was, and everyone saw him run into the building.

"Mom, Danny, he- he went into the building to save Tucker." They both stared at her blankly.

"And he hasn't come out."

Maddie clasped her hands over her mouth, gasping. A whispered, "No," came from Jack, before he repeated it, louder, "NO!" Jazz hugged them both and lead them over to where Sam and Tucker's parents were, along with Sam.

And the whole group sat and watched.

-:-

Danny;

It was hot.

That was the first thing that came to Daniel's mind when he ran into the flames. It was hot and it hurt. It hurt to look, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to just be.

He looked through the crumbling and burning hallways, holding part of his shirt over his face and trying to discern which way the east wing was. Spotting what he supposed was the old bathrooms, he took a right, praying he was correct. As he went through the hallway, it started collapsing. He dove out of the way right as a beam and a chunk of ceiling came down where he had been moments before. The hallway caved in a few seconds later. Shit. This better be the right way because there was no going back now. Continuing forward and maneuvering through rubble, he ignored the pains coming from his body. He honestly didn't want to see the injuries. And this was for Tucker. He could do it.

He pushed forward until he came to an area that he barely recognized anymore. His old science class. That meant he was in the east wing! He was close. He started searching around, looking for any sign among the partially melted and destroyed lockers of his friend. That's when he saw it. The foot sticking out a few feet away.

"Tu-" he tried to call out, only to break into coughs. His eyes watered even more. Okay bad idea. Don't talk. He moved over and reached out to move some of the rubble off of his friend, only to yank back his hand with a sharp hiss. Idiot Fenton! Of course the metal was hot! So he started kicking it with what was left of his shoe protecting his foot. Soon the largest piece was moved off of Tucker and Danny dragged his friend out. He slung the geek over his shoulder and gasped, doubling over at the burning pain in his abdomen, dear god it hurt so much! Everything hurt!

He snapped out of it, pulling himself up and thinking. He could feel Tucker breathing, just barely. He wasn't too late! But he needed help, fast. The halfa looked around, searching for an exit.

There wasn't one.

He couldn't go back. That way was blocked. There weren't any ways out here. The only way was forward. So that's where he went. As he trudged along, barely supporting Tuckers weight, his thoughts started to get sluggish. So he focused on one thing.

Get out.

He couldn't see, the smoke was so thick. He coughed, body shaking in exertion. He could feel himself starting to stop.

'No!' He was so close! If only he could just find an exit!

Then, like some higher power had been listening to him, the sky opened up.

Or more specifically, the wall did.

Right to outside.

He struggled the last few feet before collapsing outside. He felt like he could cry in relief, he made it! He got Tucker out.

There was shouting, and then everything went black.

-:-

Sam was the one that spotted them.

The group had been sitting in the same place for who knows how long. No paramedics had tried to move them, which is good.

She was pretty sure Danny's parents would have blasted them.

Staring at the flames, which were still sky high, she saw two figures make their way out of the fire a distance away. Well more like one figure carrying another.

"Oh my god!" She yelled pointing. Her heart had stopped, was it Danny? It had to be! He made it out! And he had Tucker! She was running towards them along with the others. As she got closer though, a firefighter grabbed her and held her back.

"Let the medics get to them first, and I don't really think you want to see them, kid."

"No! I have to see them!" She wiggled out of his grasp, running towards her friends. Doctors were swarmed around them but she pushed through and caught a glimpse.

And promptly threw up into the charred grass next to her.

They were both covered in burns, and only skeletons of their clothes remained. They started loading both the boys into ambulances, oxygen mask on their faces and all sorts of other medical equipment she didn't recognize.

Suddenly there was even more commotion around Danny. Frantic yelling broke out. They pushed the whole group away, not allowing them to see what was going on. Danny's parents protested, trying to see their son but the doctors wouldn't relent. They watched as Tucker's ambulance sped off, sirens wailing, but Danny's stayed firmly in place, paramedics still running around.

After a few minutes a somber looking man walked up to them. He turned to Tucker's parents.

"Mr. Foley has been stabilized," he informed them. "He requires immediate treatment but we predict he will be fine. Or as fine as he can be."

Then he turned to Jack and Maddie.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton I am very sorry," They started shaking their heads in disbelief. He couldn't be saying what they thought he was saying. He just couldn't.

"Your son's injuries, both internal and external were too extent," This was just some cruel joke. They needed to stop it right now.

"His heart stopped, and we were unable to revive him."

No.

No!

NO!

"He was a hero, Mr. Foley would not be alive right now if not for him. I'm very sorry for your loss."

-:-

Sam was watching the news with a blank face. The lady anchor started, tapping her stack of papers on the table to straighten them and clearing her throat.

"Yesterday, tragedy struck Amity, a ghost dragon, unidentified and never seen before, set fire to the local school, Casper High. There was one casualty," a picture of the three of them, the one Sam had in her locker, -or used to- popped onto the screen, "Young Daniel Fenton, middle, was seen running into the building to save his friend, Tucker Foley, right. We were told Mr. Fenton had a bad case of the flu and had stayed home that day, but came when he saw the smoke. Mr. Foley is in critical condition, but is expected to make a recovery."

"Young Daniel died a hero, may he rest in peace." It switched over to the male anchor, he opened his mouth but Sam clicked the TV off. She buried her face in her hands. They were going to visit Tucker in the hospital tomorrow. He wasn't awake yet, they didn't know when he would be. How were they going to break the news to him when he woke up? She felt like it was her responsibility to, but she just couldn't. She couldn't talk about it, he just couldn't be dead. He couldn't! This was the guy that defeated Pariah Dark, who battled ghostly enemies on a daily basis! He couldn't have been killed by a fire. But everything pointed to just that.

She just couldn't accept it.

She wasn't ready to.

-:-

The funeral was two months later. Vlad had paid for and organized it. He wasn't here, but Sam had a nagging feeling he was near, invisibly. Despite being his arch nemesis Vlad had cared for Danny.

In his own, weird, fruitloop way.

Surprisingly, most of the A-List showed up, along with quite a few of the nerds Danny was always nice to. Dash seemed especially guilty, feeling it was his fault Danny ran in there in the first place. The Fenton's were all silent, and Jazz had makeup running down her face. Sam's was similarly smeared. Tucker couldn't come, but his parents did, wanting to give their respects and thanks for him saving their son.

Sam's parents sat in the front with her. Despite not knowing Danny well, they did know that he and Sam were very close. And they couldn't exactly say he was a bad influence now. Well, if they did she would punch them. They couldn't have an open casket funeral, his body was to disfigured. So a simple, smiling photo of him had been placed on top of the wooden box he was to be buried in instead.

Sam stared at the photo bitterly. No ghost had shown up since the fire. If any did, they wouldn't be coming back anytime soon, she had some serious anger to be misplaced. Well, it wasn't misplaced to her. If it weren't for ghost he wouldn't even have his damn hero complex. If it weren't for ghost there wouldn't have even been a fire in the first place. It was all their fault.

Everyone said that Danny was a hero, and they didn't even know the half of it.

She didn't want him to be a hero.

End. (For now)

A/N; So this was going to be longer, and have a more… conclusive ending I guess you could say, (No spoilers! Bad Phans!) but I wanted to go ahead and get this series up. There will very most likely be a part two in the future. So tell me, what do you guys think? Yea, nay? What areas could I improve on? Reviews are love, constructive criticism is welcomed! Also, give suggestions on ways you want Danny to die in the future, the gorier the better! *evil laugh*