This story accompanies my Reflections universe series. In chronological order they are:

- Heart Of A Child (One-shot. Complete)

- Reflections/Wonderwall (Companion fics. Multi-chapter. Complete)

- Better Than Me (One-shot. Complete)

- Invincible ( Companion to Superman. Multi-chapter. Complete).

- All These Lives (Spans middle of Invincible/Superman. One-shot. Complete)

- Superman (Companion to Invincible. Multi-chapter. Incomplete)

"Jazz, back off!"

My sister put her hands on her hips and glared at me; a look that I was sure would terrify the hell out of her children someday. "This needs to be talked about."

I turned on my heel, walking out of the kitchen toward my bedroom but she simply followed me. Finally I said, "Jazz, it has been talked about. We've discussed and argued and bitched and whatever else you can think of and we just can't figure it out."

I almost shut my bedroom door in her face but thought better of it. She followed me into my room, sitting primly at my desk while I collapsed on my bed.

"Vlad is still threatening you –"

"Vlad has never stopped threatening me! Since the moment I became a halfa he's been on my ass, trying to kill me or clone me or have sex with Mom –"

"I thought we were ignoring that part," Jazz interrupted me, shuddering.

"Point is that Vlad has never left me alone. I've never listened to him before and I'm not going to start taking his threats seriously now."

Jazz pondered this and, since we'd had this argument many times in the past few months, I could take a good guess at what she'd say next.

"Vlad started threatening you months ago, at the beginning of the year," Jazz pointed out. "He's never kept going with something this long. He's got to be planning something big –"

"All the better to stay in the middle of it!" I exclaimed. "I'm going to keep helping ghosts cross over, because them being gone is better all around. I don't care if Vlad likes it or not. He's going to have to get over it."

Jazz fiddled with the jacket lying on the back of my desk chair. "He's not just threatening you, Danny. He's said things that have alluded to this entire family and to Tucker. Because of his past obsession with Mom and because we know he's crazy, I can't help but worry that we're going to push him too far this time."

"Jazz," I said, going to kneel in front of her and forcing her to look at me. "I'd never let anything happen to you, Mom, Dad, or Tucker. I don't think that Vlad would ever actually hurt Mom, and both she and Dad can take care of themselves. If they saw him as Plasmius, they'd blast him out of existence. You and Tucker can take care of yourselves too and we all know that I could destroy him. But look, Mom and Dad are always together. You, Tucker, and I will start with a buddy system, okay?"

"Danny –"

"Nothing's going to happen to you, Jazz. Vlad has no reason to go after you. The only comment he made about you or any of the other family was 'they'll be sad if something happens', which is just him threatening to kill me as always. You don't even ghost hunt with us anymore. It's just Tucker and I going out there now."

"If anything happens to you –"

I cut her off completely. "Nothing is going to happen to you or me or Mom or Dad or Tucker or anybody. Vlad's definitely plotting and scheming, but we don't know what about. Like we've said, Vlad's been throwing threats around for months. At this point, he's just fucking blowing smoke and he's not actually going to do anything."

"You don't know that," she argued.

I stood up and turned my back on her, staring out the window. "For the last time Jazz! I do know that. He's full of bullshit."

"But if we don't figure out what he's up to it could get worse!" Jazz yelled at me. "And what about this 'nephew' of his? This Gregor kid?"

"What about Gregor?" I asked, turning around to face her again. The guy had popped up in Amity near the end of June as Vlad's nephew from Hungary. I hadn't seen a hell of a lot of him and I didn't really think about him.

"He's blond, green-eyed, mysteriously pops up …"

"I don't know what you're getting at," I snapped. "Gregor's just a random relative of Vlad's; probably an inconvenience to the conniving asshole." I paused, noticing Jazz's unsatisfied expression. "Jazz, stop. Just stop. I can't talk about this anymore. I can't listen to this shit anymore. We've been dealing with this for months! We've been having this conversation for months and I just don't fucking care anymore!"

"Fine!" She snapped, and she walked out of my room, slamming my door behind her.

"Argh!" I growled to myself. I kicked a pile of clothing and weapons on the floor, feeling a small sense of satisfaction as things clattered against my wall.

There was a knock on my door.

"Who the fuck is it?" I shouted, knowing that it had to be Jazz; Mom and Dad were out for the day.

"It's Tucker."

"Come in," I grumped.

He pushed open my door and took a long look at my face. "Someone's angry."

"Frustrated," I grumbled.

"Ooh, Danny's breaking out the big boy words."

I managed a smile, feeling better with his lightheartedness. For a brief moment, I felt a familiar flash of thankfulness that he was back in my life; that we were friends again.

"Hey, I'm very well edjumacated," I said in my best stereotypical hillbilly voice.

"Clearly," Tucker snorted. "So, do you want to talk about it or do you want to play Doom?"

"Doom," I said immediately. "I'm fucking tired of talking about it."

"So you decided you want to get your ass whooped instead," Tucker snickered, flicking my TV and gaming system on while I collapsed on the end of my bed.

"I've gotten better!" I cried.

"Let's face it, you have cool and are able to destroy anything in your path in the real world… That being said, I will always be able to kick your ass in Doom."

"Put your money where your mouth is," I challenged as he took the seat next to me and handed me my controller.

"Fine. You lose, you make me nachos."

"And if I win?" I asked him.

"You won't," Tucker said confidently.

"Give me a little credit," I demanded.

"Fine. I'll make you nachos," Tucker conceded. "But I don't have to worry about that."

"We'll see," I commented, pressing the start button.

Five rounds later, it was in the early morning hours and I had lost every round we had played. Tucker turned to look at me, giving me an expectant look.

"Fine," I grumbled. "Nachos."

It only took a few minutes to whip up a plate of nachos and to make sure that they were cooked to perfection in the oven. It took a few more minutes to catch the stray chip that had somehow been infected with ectoplasm. The little bitch tried to take a bite out of my toe, but I effectively squashed it before it could do any damage to me. I coated my hand in a sheet of ice and picked up the hot pan, carrying the nachos upstairs to Tucker, who was furiously texting.

"Messaging your girlfriend?" I teased him.

"I don't have a girlfriend," Tucker said in a monotone, grabbing a handful of nachos and shoving them in his mouth.

"Then the robot you built to simulate a girlfriend because no woman will touch you."

"The ladies love T.F. It stands for 'Too Fine'."

I laughed. "You've been using that same line since middle school."

Tucker shrugged, rolling his broad shoulders. "You don't mess with the classics baby," Tucker informed me, his voice cracking like it did back in middle school.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "So, really, who are you texting?"

He looked at me and then immediately averted his eyes again. I was instantly suspicious.

"Who are you texting?" I asked again.

"No one," he denied, even though I could clearly see his thumbs flying across his smartphone.

"What? Are you sexting my sister or something?"

"Gross," Tucker rolled his eyes. "Don't imply shit about me and Jazz, it's weird."

"Agreed." The thought of my best friend and my sister being together made me feel a little green. "So, who is it?"

Tucker heaved a sigh and I knew that he had given in. "Sam."

My stomach bottomed out. "Like … Sam?" I whispered, saying her name with reverence.

"Yeah."

I closed my eyes. I could feel her skin under my hands, covered in goose bumps because of how cold my hands were. I could see her purple eyes, intently staring into mine. I could hear her voice, telling me that she hated me. Sam.

"W-why is she texting you?"

"She just got back to Amity."

She was here. She was within reach.

"What's she saying?"

"Not a whole lot." Tucker looked at me. "She's my friend but you're my friend too. I know how she feels about you and … Ugh, Danny, I'm not talking about her with you."

"So she does hate me?" I pushed.

"That's the feeling I get from her," Tucker replied, already breaking his rule of not talking about her.

I knew that they were in contact, but I'd never been there when he was having a conversation with her. All of a sudden, she was more real than she had been in months. She wasn't a memory or a figure in my dreams. She was someone who was having a conversation. She was someone who was within reach, if I managed to play my cards right.

"Has she ever talked about me?"

Tucker shook his head. "I never brought it up. I didn't want her to get mad at me for it."

"Will you ask her?"

"No! It'll probably ruin my friendship with her."

"If she gets mad then you can just tell her I took your phone. If she already hates me then it won't have any effect on you." I clasped my hands under my chin, trying to look as desperate as I felt on the inside. "Please, Tuck. You know what she means to me."

"I know. If she meant anything to you, then you wouldn't have done what you did."

I swallowed. "I know."

He looked at me again. "Okay, I'll ask. But know that I'll never do it again."

"Thank you."

I watched him type out another message and waited with baited breath for his phone to vibrate again. They sent several messages back and forth but Tucker never said a word for me. I fiddled with my fingers, trying to make myself be patient. I knew that he hadn't really wanted to do this in the first place, so the fact that he was doing it made me appreciate it that much more.

"She said she hates you," he said finally.

I'd known that, though. She'd said it to my face.

"That's not something new," I sighed. "Will she forgive me?"

"Danny –"

"Last question, I promise." But I think we both knew that it might not be true, depending on what her answer was.

He typed out my question for me, and then, when his phone vibrated, he shook his head.

"She won't?" I cried out, knowing that I should have expected this too.

But I couldn't help but think that she would change her mind. That, somehow, she would see me again and change her mind. She would realize that I really had been a lost kid and had just been lying to her because I hadn't known what else to do. She would forgive me and come back to me because she would realize that we were meant to be together. I loved her; I absolutely loved her. And the moment she realized that she loved me back needed to happen soon.

"She figured out that you were with me," Tucker revealed.

"So she didn't even answer your question?" I asked.

"No, and I think she's mad at me. She's just going to bed. Thanks."

"I'm sorry! I just … had to know."

"You're always sorry!" Tucker grumbled, and I could feel an old flare of bitterness come up between us.

"Tuck …"

"No, no," he cut me off. "Let's just play more Doom."

So we fucking played Doom.

Well, here we go again! Updates will usually be on Thursdays. I can't say for sure that it will be every Friday this time around, because of university, and it can be hard to find time to write. We'll all be doing our best!

I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my betas: Forever Sky.

~TLL~