Hunter & Hunted

THREE

The hunter was biding his time. He just had to wait 'till the dance, then he could stir things up a little, get some tempers going. And while the ghost-boy was distracted, he would be an easy target.

Danny tried to the necklace back from Paulina, he really did. Three times even. It's just...

"I get all tongue-tied when I talk to pretty girls!" he said to Sam and Tucker during study hall on Friday.

"Gee, thanks," Sam said.

"But Sam, you're different!" he said.

"Yeah, apparently I'm not pretty," Sam snapped. She stood up and stormed across the library to the fiction section.

"Danny," Tucker said, "Let me tell you a thing about girls: They don't like being called ugly."

"I wasn't calling her ugly! It's different with Sam! She's...I dunno...not Paulina."

"So she's not as pretty as Paulina?"

"I didn't say that!" Danny exclaimed, earning him several glares from around the library. He leaned in and hissed at Tucker.

"Listen, what's important right now is we get that necklace back at the dance. I don't want her going the weekend with it when I can't keep an eye on her. And I need both you and Sam there to make sure I don't go all spineless around her." Tucker narrowed his eyes.

"What are you implying?" he asked.

"Go ask Sam to the dance. I know neither of you have dates."

"I'm not asking Sam!" Tucker whispered back.

"You have to!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"As your friend, I need you to do this. Paulina's life is on the line!" Tucker groaned.

"Fine!" He stood, and walked over to Sam, looking rather like a criminal headed to his execution.

"What, Tucker?" Sam snapped.

"Sam, will you go to the dance with me?" Sam glanced at him, laughed, and went back to reading her book.

"Sam! Danny needs us there!" Tucker said. He winced as Sam snapped her book shut.

"Tucker, no offense, but I don't need you, or anyone, to take me to a dance. I'm going by myself, no need for you to take one for the team." She brushed past him and went to check out the book. Tucker walked back over to Danny and sat down.

"She's going on her own..." he said. Danny scowled.

"What is her problem? Does she want Paulina to turn into a dragon?" Tucker rolled his eyes.

"What?" Danny asked.

"Not telling, dude."

"Seriously, what?"

"Nope."

"Tuck!"

"Nuh-uh." There was no way Tucker was getting in the middle of this one. He knew there were some things in the universe you didn't interfere with. Sam's feelings were definitely on that list.

That night, Jazz drove Danny to pick up Paulina. At first she refused to go anywhere near the cheerleader's house, but eventually gave into Danny's incessant begging, saying: "Better than Mom and Dad, I guess. Although how you got Paulina to say yes, I have no idea."

And so Danny stood on Paulina's front porch nervously, waiting for someone to answer the door. He had rung once, then twice, just to be sure they heard. When no one came in the next five seconds, he rang a third time, then a fourth-just to be sure. He was about to ring a fifth time-just to be sure-when the door burst open, and a tall gruff-looking man glared down at him. Danny grinned nervously.

"Hello Mr. Gonzalez. I'm here to pick up Paulina..."

"So you're Danny Fenton," Mr. Gonzalez said, sizing him up. Danny nodded, shoving his hands down into his pockets to keep from twisting his fingers together.

"Daddy!" Paulina scolded, "Don't scare him! He's sweet." She slipped around her father, and smiled at Danny.

"Hi," she said. Danny smiled back.

"Hey Paulina...You-you look beautiful!"

"Thank you," she said, swishing her long green dress, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Danny said, "Jazz is driving us."

He pointed to the car, where Jazz gave an impatient wave from the driver's seat.

"Although...Now that I think about it, it's kind of lame to ride with my sister," Danny said. Paulina shook her head and grabbed his hand.

"It's just fine," she said, and pulled him towards the car.

"Have fun sweetheart," her dad called, "Did you remember your rape whistle?"

"Yes daddy!" Paulina called back.

"What about your pepper spray?"

"Yes!" Paulina said.

"You need anything, you call the station and ask for me. I can get to the school with the siren on in two minutes flat," her dad said.

"Danny is a NICE BOY daddy!" she said. She mouthed 'sorry' to Danny as he opened the door for her.

"No big deal," he said, albeit squeakily.

When they got to the school, the dance was in full swing. Paulina jumped out of the car and nearly dragged Danny to the entrance.

"I love dances!" she exclaimed.

"Me too!" Danny said. Actually, that was a lie, he didn't really love dances. Paulina pulled him into the gym.

"This is awesome!" she yelled over the loud drumbeat.

"Yeah!" Danny replied. Another lie. Actually, the decorations kind of sucked. There were speakers all around the room blasting music, but the lights were off so you could barely see anyone. The laser lights that flickered over the ceiling and dancers looked like they could induce seizures, and there were only a couple tables to sit at if you didn't want to dance. Paulina leaned over and yelled into Danny's ear.

"I'm gonna go get into my actual dress!" she said, and left the gym, leaving Danny with the awkward pack of non-dancers by the tables. Actual dress? Is that normal? Danny spotted Tucker in a chair at one of the tables, and walked over to him.

"Okay," he said, "Paulina's in the restroom, we have to figure out a way to get the necklace from her."

"I was thinking about that," Tucker said, bouncing slightly with the music, "Maybe if you can get her to dance and just make the chain intangible, she won't even...woah..."

"What?" Danny asked, turning around. He blinked, just to make sure he wasn't having a hallucination. It was a sight he'd never thought he'd see. It was Sam. In a dress. A tight one. With heels. And fishnet stockings. She stopped at the door, scanning the room, looking like something out of a James Bond movie.

"Kick ass," Tucker muttered.

"No kidding," Danny said. Sam spotted them and walked over.

"Hey," she said, "Where's Paulina?"

"Bathroom," Danny said, "Uh...I've never seen you wear that. Before. Ever." Sam gave him a withering look and put a hand on her hip.

"I'm blending in," she said, and glanced at Tucker's plaid shirt and outrageous tie, "Unlike some people."

"It's hipster!" Tucker said defensively.

"It's not," Sam replied, then turned back to Danny, "Restroom, right? Okay, I'll be back with the necklace."

"Wait," Danny said, "What are you gonna do?" Sam rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, she said, "I'm not going to ruin your chances with Paulina. You can do that all on your own when you guys start dancing." Danny didn't have time to reply as Sam spun on her heel and walked off to the girls' restroom.

Sam found Paulina applying a dark eyeliner over her 'dad approved' makeup. She had changed out of the long green dress into a short black one with rows of sequins all around it. And her heels went from modest summer wedges to full on black stilettos. Not that Sam's outfit was much better, but at least she didn't have to use hairspray to keep her dress from riding up and showing her underwear. She watched Paulina lean back and test her sexiest faces in the mirror. Sam rolled her eyes. This was why her friends were all boys. Their kind of stupid didn't involve double-standards around beauty and promiscuity. Paulina let her hair out of her braid, and ran her hands through it until it looked 'effortlessly effortful'. She paused when she caught sight of Sam.

"Well, looks like Goth girl does have something risky in her closet," she said, leaning back against the sink. Sam narrowed her eyes and squared her shoulders. Risqué, she thought, the term is risqué. But she didn't have time to argue over loanwords.

"Listen Paulina, we both know the only reason you came with Danny is to piss off your boyfriend. You have to give him the necklace back, it's important to his family." Paulina smiled, then let out a fake sigh.

"Well, Max is not even here tonight, so I was just gonna blow Danny off, but maybe I should rethink that," she said. She walked up to Sam, and took the necklace off.

"If you want this so badly, here, have it. I don't care. It doesn't mean he's going to come running back to you," she said. She tossed the chain around Sam's neck. Sam crossed her arms.

"What makes you think I want him 'running' to me? As soon as you drop this Mother Teresa act, it's going to crush him. I don't want to deal with that emotional fallout." Paulina laughed.

"See you on the dance floor, sweetie." She patted Sam's head lightly and left the restroom. Sam waited until Paulina was gone, then groaned angrily. I got the necklace, that's all that matters, she thought. That wasn't all that mattered though, and it didn't calm her down. In fact, the only thing that she thought might help was the sight of Paulina falling down the steps, or breaking an ankle in her ridiculous heels, or something like that. Sam stormed back out of the restroom and found Tucker.

"Where's Danny? I got his stupid necklace," she snapped.

"He's dancing with Paulina," Tucker said. Sam looked out to the mass of people dancing in the middle of the room.

"Gross," she muttered, watching Danny and Paulina nearly grinding at the edge of the group. She looked back to Tucker, who was watching her skeptically.

"Oh don't look at me like that," she said.

"Like what?"

"Like you know something you shouldn't. I'll admit, you're smarter than I'd give you credit for."

"No, I'm really not," Tucker replied, "Danny's just dumber than you think he is."

"Whatever," Sam said. Tucker grabbed a chair and pushed it over to her.

"Wanna sit?" he asked, "Those shoes look like torture devices."

"Thanks, Tuck," she said, sitting down with a sigh.

The hunter watched the goings on from the corner of the room. Things weren't exactly going according to plan. That was alright though, this other girl seemed quite agitated already.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Tucker asked Sam. She shook her head.

"I'm good, thanks," she said. He nodded, and headed straight for the snack table. Once again she looked at Danny and Paulina on the dance floor. The DJ had interrupted the grinding club beats with an obligatory line dance, so the teachers could take a breather from pulling couples apart. Watching them do the 'Cupid Shuffle' was almost worse, because Danny seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself, laughing with Paulina as they messed up the insanely simple moves on purpose. Sam felt herself growing angry, and pushed the emotion away. It wasn't fair for her to be mad at Danny. Paulina sure, that girl knew what she was doing. Danny had no idea. He was so dense. Still, a part of her (the teenage part) pressed on, he should just know. Nearly on cue, a slow song came on, and dozens of people filtered off the dance floor, leaving only couples. Sam watched as Paulina wrapped her arms around Danny's neck and pulled him close. The two swayed side to side slowly in time with the music.

Again, Sam felt anger rise to her surface. It washed over her like hot air on a summer day, making her sweat and her skin turn...scaly? No, that wasn't right. Sam looked down at herself, and saw her skin had turned a sickly greenish color. What the-

The necklace! She was still wearing it! Oh this was bad! She jumped up and ran from the gym before she could turn into a dragon in front of the whole school.

"Come off!" She hissed at the stupid thing, trying to pull the chain from her neck. But it wouldn't come off. How did Paulina spend an entire week with this thing on and NOT turn into a dragon?

Sam tripped in her high heels, and went tumbling to the ground, her ankle twisting painfully. She felt her skin grow hotter, even as she tried to hold back her frustration.

"Damn it!" she muttered, hitting the ground with a fist. The tile cracked under the impact of her now supernatural strength. Sam let out a yell of pain as her skin bristled up into scales, and she felt herself start to grow. Then the words disappeared from her mind, and she had only one wordless thought. The girl in the black dress. She must be found.

Danny shivered. Immediately, he pulled away from Paulina and glanced around for Tucker and Sam.

"Danny, is something wrong?" Paulina asked.

"No, it's just..." There was Tucker, eating mini cookies by the handful. Where was Sam?

"Paulina, I'm sorry, I've got to go," Danny said, and ran out of the gym.

"Sam?!" he called. There was a loud crash from not too far off. He followed the noise, ending up in a hallway close to Mr. Lancer's office.

"Danny?" Paulina called from behind him. Crap. He stopped, and turned to see her chasing after him as quickly as she could in her heels.

"What are you doing?" she asked when she reached him.

"Paulina, go back to the dance!" Danny said.

"No!" Paulina said, "Not until you tell me-" She stopped speaking, staring at something behind Danny. Uh oh. Slowly, he turned. A giant black and purple dragon crouched in front of him, ready to pounce. Except her eyes weren't on him, they were fixed on Paulina. This wasn't a ghost dragon either, it was flesh and blood, and ready to kill. Come on Sam, Danny thought, don't do this. But Sam was beyond reasoning now.

"Run," Danny whispered.

"What?" Paulina asked. The Sam-dragon drew back her head and sucked in a breath.

"RUN!" Danny yelled, grabbing Paulina's arm and pulling her down a side hallway. They ran down the hall towards the double doors at the end, feeling the heat of the fire warm their backs.

"What is going on?" Paulina screamed.

"I don't know!" Danny yelled back. Judging by the crashing and roaring behind them, the Sam-dragon was chasing after them clumsily in the confined space of the hallway.

Danny and Paulina burst from the doors at the end of the hall, coming out by the football field.

"Come on!" Danny yelled, pulling Paulina towards the field.

"I can't run in these heels!" she yelled back, yanking her hand from Danny's, "And this is-"

Paulina's reply was swallowed by a scream and a roar, as the Sam-dragon grabbed her in her claws and snatched her off the ground.

"No! Paulina!" Danny called. The Sam-dragon stood up on its hind legs, and spread its wings out in the cool night air. Paulina's screaming was drowned out by a great roar, like a whistle in a fog horn. Danny clenched his fists.

"Not so fast," he growled out, "I'm going ghost!" He ran at the Sam-dragon, which simply swatted him with its tail, sending him to the ground roughly. There was a flash of pain, and then darkness. The Sam-dragon focused on the girl. She was making an unpleasant high-pitched noise. It had to stop. This girl had to stop. But there was another noise. Another small creature yelling. This one was...different.

"Let her go, Sam!" Danny yelled. He floated in front of her, pointing to Paulina. The Sam-dragon tilted her head to the side, and turned it slightly to get a better look at him. Danny glared defiantly at her, hoping his ghost form was more intimidating than his human one. The Sam-dragon roared at him, shooting sparks in his direction. She flapped her wings and launched herself off the ground. Crap! Danny spun away from one of her claws, then had to throw himself off to the right to avoid her tail. He tumbled to the grass of the football field, slightly nauseous.

The Sam-dragon touched down after him, dropping a limp Paulina to the ground.

"Sam!" Danny called, "It's me! Danny!" She roared at him, and he dodged another stream of flames. As he looked back up at her open jaws, he saw something glint in the dim light of the stars and moon. The amulet! The chain was caught between two of her teeth. The Sam-dragon turned to find Danny again. He winced as her claws slammed into the ground right by Paulina's head. He had to draw her away before Paulina got squished.

"Over here!" He yelled, and jumped into the air, flying to the other side of the field. The dragon bounded after him, shaking the ground and digging deep scars in the pristine grass. Danny turned invisible before the Sam-dragon could get to close to him, and she skidded to a halt, swinging her head around to try and catch a glimpse of where he'd gone. Danny flew up to her mouth, and gently took hold of the amulet.

"Come on," he whispered, trying to work it out of her teeth. The Sam-dragon froze at the sound of his voice. Danny froze too, watching as her giant purple eye searched back and forth for the source of the sound. Quietly as possible, he reached back to the amulet and started gently pulling on it, but the chain was stuck fast.

"Damn," he hissed, then realized his mistake. The Sam-dragon whirled around, spewing flame, but Danny had already flown to her other side. He had to find a way to get that amulet before anyone noticed the supernatural fireworks show.

Suddenly the Sam-dragon roared, and flopped to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Sam?" Danny yelled after her. What was happening? This was just like the last time, right before the dragon...burst into flames and burned to a crisp. Danny made a quick revision to his earlier thought: He had to find a way to get that amulet before Sam became a pile of ashes on the football field.