4. The Third Wheel's Tale

"What? You're not even done packing yet? Danny and Jazz are picking us up any minute!" Tucker dropped his own hastily-packed duffle bag onto the floor beside the door to Sam's bedroom. It landed with a thud—the tech-to-clothes ratio was about three to one.

Sam was examining two black tops she had laid out on her bed beside a suitcase that was half filled with more black things. "Actually, Danny just called to say they're running a little late. His dad is having trouble getting the Ghost Net to work right after he stripped down the Fenton Jet, so Danny's helping him. He said he and Jazz will come by and get us as soon as he's done. He's hoping it won't be more than another fifteen minutes or so."

"Oh, yeah, no rush. It's not like the world's gonna end in three days or anything. Oh wait. It totally is." He sat down with a disgusted harrumph in Sam's desk chair.

"Oh, keep your shirt on. We're talking fifteen minutes here. And since we weren't able to talk the ghosts into helping, the Ghost Net is kinda crucial." She held the tops up to Tucker. "Which one should I bring?"

"They're exactly the same! And Mr. Fenton shouldn't have wasted time stripping down the Fenton Jet in the first place."

"And lug their entire Ops Center all the way to Antarctica?" Sam shook her head. "They needed to make it as light as possible, since Danny will be dragging back a few tons of ghost."

Tucker thought about this a moment. "How is it that ghosts weigh anything, anyway?"

"When they're not intangible, they must have mass. Danny does, right? And Skulker's suit alone is probably three hundred pounds." She selected one of the two tops and threw it into her bag. "How about skirts?"

"It's the South Pole, Sam. You might wanna think long pants and thermal underwear."

"I'll be wearing them over my thermal ski leggings, lamebrain. And it's not the South Pole. It's McMurdo Station on the coast."

"Same diff."

"Were you even paying attention when we planned this? It'd be kinda hard to run everything out of the actual South Pole, since it's like ninety-seven degrees below zero and the sun won't come up for another month. The sun's already up at McMurdo for, like, four or five hours a day, and it's a lot warmer there. I just checked the weather online, and the highs have only been a few degrees below zero all week. Thank you, global warming."

"Oh yeah, three below—that's almost tropical."

"Compared to ninety-seven below it is." She put both skirts in the bag even though, like the tops, they looked exactly the same to Tucker.

He leaned back in her desk chair. "So what about your folks? Are they really okay with you going all the way to the South Pole?"

"McMurdo Station," Sam corrected. "And are you kidding? Antarctica with the Fentons? Please. They had a cow. Danny was just gonna overshadow them and be done with it, but then my grandma got involved, and she was awesome. She actually started chewing them out. Told them they should be proud of me for helping to save the world. Then she made them go with her to temple for a special prayer service." She flashed him a wicked smile. "My parents in temple on a non High Holy Day, praying for Danny Phantom. Can you imagine?"

"Your grandma rocks."

"She totally does. If it weren't for her, I'd be absolutely positive I was abducted as a baby." She went into her closet, pushing aside racks of summer clothes and some intriguing-looking vinyl things to get at the winter clothes in the back. "How about your parents? I guess they couldn't make too big a fuss, seeing as you're a pretty key player in the whole save-the-world plan."

Tucker shrugged, glad she was in the closet so she wouldn't see how much he enjoyed being called a key player. "Yeah. My mom did the whole 'my baby' crying thing and all that, but they didn't tell me I couldn't go or try and talk me out of it or anything."

"Actually, I'm surprised they aren't coming with. I mean, my family can't, because there's no way my grandma could handle the environment, but most families want to be together with everything that's… well, you know."

Tucker nodded, feeling the weight of what they were attempting. "Just in case, you mean."

Sam emerged from the closet, her black parka with the white fake fur trim in her arms. "It'll work, Tuck."

"Yeah, it will." He nodded in determination. "Anyway, my parents have decided to go to Mount Rushmore. A lot of ground support is needed where the cables are gonna be laid, so they both volunteered for that."

Her eyes widened. "That's really cool! I knew I liked your parents."

"But you know who is going with us?"

Sam gave him a look that was almost but not quite a scowl. "I know. Valerie and her dad. Imagine my joy." Her cynicism was only half-hearted, however. Tucker knew she liked Val for the most part, however hard she tried not to.

"Well, yeah, of course they're coming. Axion's supplying a huge amount of the equipment, and Mr. Gray is one of their top tech guys. And Val's not so bad with the tech herself. That suit of hers is pretty high end. But that's not who I'm talking about—and if you think you're unhappy about Val coming…"

Sam looked horrified. "If you say Paulina, I'm gonna hurl."

"I wish! No, it's Lancer."

She blinked. "Lancer? Why's he coming? So if this doesn't work, he can bore us to death with nineteenth century poetry and save the asteroid the trouble?"

"Would you believe it was our presentation? Said it inspired him. He's gonna just go and do whatever grunt work needs to be done. And I guess he used to be a short order cook or something."

"Another reason why it pays to be an Ultra Recyclo-Vegetarian. I'm packing my own food."

"Is it too late to convert?"

"You'd have to eat vegetables, Tuck."

He stuck out his tongue in disgust. "On second thought, I'll take my chances with Lancer's cooking. If we survive the hours crammed into the Fenton Jet with him first."

"If the world doesn't end, we'll be wishing it had." She tossed the parka toward her bed, but underestimated its bulk. It swept across her dresser, knocking over a black jewelry box and spilling its contents onto the floor. "Oh, crap!" Sam picked up the parka and tried again, this time making the bed, and then knelt down to start picking up the scattered jewelry.

Tucker jumped up from the desk chair and knelt beside her. "I'll get this. You finish packing."

She nodded and went back to the bed to work on getting the parka into her suitcase while Tucker began scooping up spider web earrings, black chokers, and some small studs that he hoped to God were earrings. Then, he saw something among the sea of black that didn't belong—a gold ring with a neon-green stone. Curious, he picked it up, his eyes widening as he recognized it. With a wicked grin, he turned to her. "So, Sam. Isn't this Danny's dad's class ring?"

Sam looked over her shoulder at him, then wrinkled her nose when she saw what he was holding. "Yep."

"The one he was gonna give Valerie? To ask her to be his girlfriend?"

"That's the one."

"And you have it because…?"

She put her hands on her hips and gave him her best goth scowl. "He asked me to hang onto it after Valerie dumped him."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "He asked you to 'hang onto it?'"

She heaved a weary sigh. "Yes, Tucker. He asked me to hang onto it for him. That's it. So don't go there, okay?" She turned back to her packing.

Tucker rolled his eyes. Rocking back off his knees to sit on the floor, he crossed his arms and regarded Sam, his jaw clenched in irritation.

He'd first noticed the sparks between his two best friends at a school dance—never mind that she was supposed to be Tucker's date. Sam had asked Danny to dance, and something had just clicked. At first, Tucker had worried about what might happen to their trio if the two of them actually hooked up. He couldn't imagine anything worse than becoming the third wheel. It didn't take him long, however, to decide that it wasn't an issue. He and Danny had the guy thing and several years of friendship prior to Sam entering the picture, and that would never change. He and Sam had the whole non-superpowered-friends-of-the-guy-with-superpowers thing, giving them a common ground even Danny didn't fully appreciate.

Danny and Sam's thing was, well, the thing they had for each other, and Tucker decided early on that he approved. And lately, he was beginning to think that he'd be less of a third wheel once they finally did get together. Ever since Sam's brief relationship with that fake Hungarian exchange student, Danny had started waking up to the fact that he liked her as more than a friend, and the electricity between the two of them amped up considerably. They were constantly staring at each other, or blushing, or grinning stupidly when they thought Tucker wasn't looking. He'd even caught Danny doing the old yawn-and-stretch move at summer camp when they'd thought Tucker was asleep. He was to the point where he just wanted to knock both their heads together and scream: Would you just kiss already and be done with it?

But neither one of them seemed likely to make a move anytime soon. Danny still hadn't completely admitted to himself how he felt. And Sam? Tucker didn't have a clue what her problem was. He spent a lot of time trying to nudge her into telling Danny how she felt, but she was resistant. She avoided actually admitting anything, even to Tucker, although she never really denied it, either.

Which meant it was up to him to kick this thing in the right direction. Again.

"So, Sam. With the world maybe ending and all that, don't you think it might be a really good time to have a little talk with Danny?"

"Shut it, Tucker."

"I mean it, Sam. How many times have we been through this? How many times have we watched him almost get himself killed, and you won't say anything? Are you really gonna let the world end without telling him?"

"The world's not gonna end, Tucker. That's the whole point of this little excursion, right?"

"Okay, so the world's not gonna end. All the more reason to tell him."

"For what? So he can talk himself into going out with me just because he can? No thanks."

Tucker frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means he's a sixteen-year-old boy, and not exactly in touch with his feelings."

He rolled his eyes. "This is true. He really is clueless. That's why you have to make the first move."

"I don't think so. He needs to figure out what he wants on his own. I can't decide for him, and I don't wanna be the girl he's marking time with until something better comes along, like a Paulina, or a Valerie—"

"Whoa!" Tucker threw up his hands to stop her. "Where's this coming from? Since when do you think Paulina is better than you?"

"I don't think she's better than me, but Danny does."

He blinked. "Are you kidding me with this?"

"Come on, Tuck. I've been friends with him long enough to know his type, and I'm not it."

Tucker blew out a huff of air. "Have you completely not been paying attention the last few months? Seriously, Sam, when was the last time he even mentioned Paulina?"

This stopped her cold, and she frowned slightly as she thought about it a moment. "I guess he hasn't really talked about her much since he started liking Valerie," she admitted.

"Okay. And when was the last time he mentioned Valerie?"

"I don't know, Tuck—"

"Well, I do. I remember the exact moment. It was the beginning of last school year. We were at the Nasty Burger, and he was all making goo-goo eyes at her while she worked behind the counter."

She tapped her foot impatiently. "Thank you for that joyous journey down memory lane. Your point?"

Tucker stroked his chin, as if in deep concentration. "Let's think a minute. What could have happened, like, say, twenty seconds later that just might have made him forget Valerie ever existed? Something like, oh, I don't know, some fake foreign exchange student putting the moves on his best girl friend?" He crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow at her.

Sam groaned. "Ugh! Do not even mention that loser to me. And I don't see what that whole mess has to do with anything."

"Hello! Danny going completely mental? Using his ghost powers to spy on you? That ringing any bells?"

"So he went all protective big brother. He did the same thing with Jazz when Johnny 13 was hitting on her."

Tucker gaped at her. "Big brother? I don't think so. He was jealous, Sam. It made him absolutely nuts that someone else went out with you. That someone else kissed you. And he hasn't given Valerie or Paulina or anyone else a second thought since then. He likes you. You like him. So one of you has to make a move already!"

She attacked her suitcase, trying to stuff her parka into it. "Tucker, can we just drop it already?"

Tucker ground his teeth in frustration. What was it going to take? He squeezed the ring still in his hand, then looked down at it. You'd think the fact that she ended up with his ring would be a big frickin— Hello, what's this? He squinted, examining the ring more closely.

Big. Frickin'. Sign. In neon.

Raising his eyebrows, he looked up. "Hey Sam. Did you know there's engraving on this ring?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. 'Wes.' I figure Danny's dad must've bought it used or something."

"'Wes?' What are you talking about?" Tucker got up off the floor and went over to her, holding out the ring. "It doesn't say 'Wes.'"

"Yes it does." She took it from him. "Look."

He squinted at it again, then rolled his eyes. "Uh, you're holding it upside down." He flipped it over in her hand. "Look again."

Now she examined the ring, and her mouth opened in surprise. "I-it must be a coincidence. I mean, Sam's not exactly an unusual name."

"It's Danny's ring, and it has your name engraved in it. That doesn't sound like a coincidence to me."

"So you're telling me he was gonna give Valerie a ring with my name engraved in it?"

Tucker smiled at her. "But he didn't give it to Valerie, did he? He gave it to you."

She shook her head slowly. "He asked me to hang onto it for him because she dumped him. That's not the same thing."

"You have it, and it has your name in it, Sam. If you were waiting for an engraved invitation, this is it. Literally."

She stared at the ring a moment, and when she spoke again, it was almost a whisper. "It'd change everything."

"Yeah, but in a good way, right?"

She looked up at him. "But everything works the way it is now. You and me and Danny. We've got the whole thing down to a science, and it always works. If we change everything—"

He frowned. "You're not worried about me being the third wheel, are you?"

"I'm worried about everything! If everything stays the same, then… everything stays the same. As soon as it changes, as soon as it becomes real and I let myself think about how much it… how much he matters, then that's when Fate's gonna lay the smackdown and… Tucker, what if he doesn't come back?"

"Well, in this case, we won't have long to miss him."

"I'm serious!"

"You're delusional! Do you really think you're some kind of star-crossed lovers doomed to a tragic end? Bleak, much?"

"Hello! Goth!"

He scoffed. "Goth or not, you're the one who keeps saying this is gonna work, that the world's not gonna end. That kind of implies he makes it back, right? And you're also the one who got all over his case when he gave up his powers."

"You think that means I don't get the risks he takes? Or that I don't care? You know as well as I do that it's all or nothing with him. He's either out risking his neck for somebody else or he's a completely self-focused jerk. How many times have we seen it happen?" She ticked off the examples on her fingers. "When he split himself with the Ghost Catcher, when he got all that money from his parents selling out Fenton Works, and now when he gave up his powers. I can't stand by and watch him lose his soul just because I'm afraid of him losing his life. But if I tell him… if everything changed…. what if that's when he doesn't come back?"

Tucker sighed. "Do you honestly think it would hurt any less if you just stayed friends?"

Her shoulders sagged. "No. It wouldn't."

He leaned towards her and flashed a conspiratorial grin. "Then give him something he'll really want to come back for."

"Argh, Tucker! You are so—"

"Right? Persistent? Devilishly handsome?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was thinking more along the lines of grating and pig-headed." Then, without warning, she threw her arms around him in a huge hug. "What would I do without you?"

"Schlep after Danny with a Fenton Thermos all by yourself."

She pulled back, her nose wrinkled in distaste. "No thanks. We're in this together."

"That mean you're gonna tell him?"

"I—"

"Hey Sam! Tuck! Anybody home?"

Sam closed her fist around the ring and put her hand behind her back just as Danny poked his head in her bedroom door. "What are you still doing up here? Jazz is waiting—" He stopped short as he saw the open suitcase on Sam's bed. "You're not even packed yet? Sam, we've gotta go!"

"I'm packed. I just have to get this parka into the suitcase, and I'm good to go." She quickly went back to wrestling with the coat—but not before slipping the ring into one of its pockets, Tucker couldn't help but notice.

"You need some help with that?" Danny went over to the bed and leaned heavily on the top of the suitcase so that she could zip it closed around the parka. Her hand brushed against his as she tugged the zipper around, and their eyes met a moment before they both blushed and averted their gazes. Sam finished zipping up the bag, and then Danny grabbed its handle and pulled it off the bed. "That it? You ready?"

She tilted her head at him. Her eyes flicked to Tucker for a moment before focusing back on Danny. "Yeah, actually. I think maybe I am."

Tucker hissed out a YES! under his breath, but Danny didn't notice. So long as Sam was in the room, Tucker figured he could strip to his underwear and do the Macarena on her bed and Danny wouldn't notice. He was too busy trying to look like he wasn't looking at her. He shifted the suitcase to get a better grip. "Okay, let's get going then. My dad wants to take off in half an hour."

"Don't mind me," Tucker said. "I can get my own bag."

Danny blinked. "Oh, Tucker. Yeah."

Ah, the joy of being the third wheel. Tucker rolled his eyes as came around the bed and picked up his own duffel bag from where he'd left it by her door.

Sam brushed past him as she exited the room. "Thanks for… helping me pack, Tuck."

Tucker just grinned at her, and then as soon as she was out the door, he grabbed Danny's elbow. "You so owe me, dude."

Danny frowned. "For what?"

"For being grating and pig-headed."

"Huh?"

Tucker shook his head and chuckled. "Never mind. Let's just go save the world."