A/N: Wow! Got some pretty good responses to the first chapter! Thanks to all those who faved/followed and to IRead2MuchManga99, The Talent, and Lexosaurus for reviewing! The idea of Danny feeding from emotions like other ghosts has shown up in a few other fanfics, and it was nice to know that I'm not the only one with that headcanon. :D Glad you guys like it! Also, it seems that Fanfiction removes spaces between paragraphs...I'll type -BREAK- in later chapters between shifts. Luckily, there are no shifts in this chapter. Anyway, read & review!
Ch. 2
Danny massages his temples, stifling a groan. His parents stand upstairs, speaking down to the students from the second floor, parading around in their bright jumpsuits.
"Dude, it can't be more embarrassing than the time your mom called to you from the stage that one time," Tucker assuages.
"Somehow it is, Tuck," he sighs.
"There's certainly more potential for embarrassment here," Sam comments.
"We have bigger problems, anyway," the techno-geek redirects, "I mean, our class is going into the Ghost Zone."
Danny's hands fall from his forehead and he slumps hopelessly against the wall, "They are going to get us lost," he whispers weakly, "And then I'll have to explain why I know my way around when things go bad."
"'If', Danny, 'If things go bad'," Sam corrects.
He and Tucker both level skeptical stares and she winces.
"Look at the gloomy Goth, being optimistic," Tucker snickers.
"Do we have equipment stashed on us?"
"Thermos, and that lipstick blaster," Tucker taps his pack.
"I have three wrist-rays," Sam adds.
"Fenton phones?" Danny questions, and they both nod; his own wait in his pocket, "Good."
"Your parents will probably be packing too," Tucker finishes, "We can hold off long enough to get away."
Danny doesn't reply, instead folding his arms, his fingers tapping anxiously on his elbow as his parents finish their address to the class and begin to lead the entourage to the lab.
"Please get onto the speeder in an orderly manner!" Maddie shouts.
"And don't touch anything!" Jack adds.
"I can't believe we're actually going into the Ghost Zone!" Dash grins.
"I wonder if my scrumptious specter will be there!" Paulina swoons, earning a snicker from Tucker. Danny suppresses another groan, squeezing Sam's hand briefly. Valerie's eyes narrow in disgust at the Latina.
"Phantom? That'd be awesome!" Dash tosses a football to Kwan.
"Think he'd want to hang with us?" Kwan inquires, passing it back.
"Duh! Of course he will! We're only the most popular students at Caspar High!"
Sam snorts derisively and leans against her tense boyfriend's shoulder, "It'll be fine, Danny."
"That's what Jazz said when I called her about this whole mess last week," he replies sulkily, "strangely, I'm not feeling very assured," he discreetly points at the football flying through the air, "They're throwing that around in a vehicle armed to the teeth with weapons that could be set off by who knows what button."
As if on cue, the football drifts too far forward, slamming onto a button at the front. Immediately, a ghost shield slams down around the speeder and ecto-guns sprout from every surface. Danny shoves his cold core as deep as possible, trying to avoid being classified as a spectral entity.
He exhales a long breath when it appears to work, his mother pressing a button to retract the weapons and sternly lecturing the two jocks. By the end, Dash casts a glare towards his favorite punching bag, who slides down into his seat.
"I'm so getting it later," he moans.
"One of these days, you should really just throw him across the hallway," Sam growls, "I hate that you let him do that crap to you."
"It reduces the number of bullied freshmen," Danny replies, "If he's going to target someone, it might as well be someone who can take a punch, right? It's annoying, like the box-ghost."
"The hardest part is pretending you're still scared," Tucker snorts, "Heck, I think I could take him down by this point with all of this ghost hunting."
They trio shares a laugh.
"It could just be dealing with the paperwork at City Hall, though," he mutters, his eyes narrowing at his screen, "I have so many forms piling up on my desk today alone," he hisses an inaudible curse, "Dude, I really need a secretary. A super-sexy one. Tight pencil skirt, a blouse cut barely low enough to tease, and some frameless specs. Hot and competent."
"Didn't think that was your type," Danny replies as Tuck avoids Sam's boot.
"Not to date; just to look at. Eye-candy doesn't have to be a certain 'type'. It'd just spice up my workday."
The halfa chuckles before Sam elbows him in the gut, cutting him short while snorting something about 'idiot boys.' He recovers and kisses the tip of her nose.
"I don't need sweet eye-candy anymore," he grins goofily, "I like mine a little bitter."
Her cheeks mist pink, "That was so corny."
"Yeah, maybe," he wraps an arm around her shoulders, leaning to whisper in her ear, "But I meant every word."
A spark races along her spine, reveling on the chill of his breath on her ear. His voice had become deeper since freshman year, but his tone sent her heart racing, bathing her entire face red. Her amethyst eyes swivel to meet his deep blue; if she stares long enough, she can see tiny flickers of ectoplasmic green swirling in his irises.
"Keep breathing, Sam," Tucker reminds, dragging her away from her ruminations, "You two need to get a room. Seriously."
"You need to stop daydreaming of a sexy secretary and make a move on the girl you actually like," Danny quips.
"Dude," Tucker glares, only the faintest hint of a blush appearing, "We've gone over this. 'Flirting with Disaster' ring a bell?"
Danny winces, rubbing the back of his neck, "Hey…she…focuses on the other ghosts first?"
"Dating Catwoman," Sam adds.
"I know," Tucker hisses, "I'd rather make sure she stops wanting my best friend dead first."
"Alright, everyone buckled in?" Maddie Fenton chirps through the intercom, receiving cheers in reply, "Remember that we will not be exiting the Specter Speeder. This is less of a field trip and more of a…tour…the Ghost Zone is dangerous and we don't want anyone getting hurt."
"Remember not to touch anything," Jack reminds jovially, "especially not the fudge dispenser in the back!"
They all agree, and Mr. Lancer finishes taking roll, "Nobody's missing. Let's be off, then, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton."
The Speeder lifts from the ground, and Danny stares into the swirling depths of the Ghost Zone.
"Clockwork preserve us."
