I do not own Danny Phantom or Disney's 101 Dalmatians franchise.

Danni99981 suggestion!

Dog Days

Danny squinted his eyes in concentration, glued to the television screen as he struggled to beat Tucker in Doom. Unfortunately, he was losing, and by quite a large margin. Scowling in annoyance, Danny dropped the control and fell back on the carpeted floor. "I'm bored."

Sam grinned at him from her perch on his bed. "You're just saying that because you're losing."

A knock on the door sounded before he could retort and the three teens looked up as Maddie walked in holding a small puppy.

Utterly confused, Danny stared in disbelief as the wiggling bundle of fur yapped and wagged its tail. It was a tiny Dalmatian, with a black spot over its right eye. "Mom...why do you have a dog?" he asked slowly.

Maddie smiled. "Well, my friend asked if we could puppy sit for the day. She doesn't want to leave it alone while she's out running errands and her regular puppy sitter is busy."

"So you volunteered to babysit a puppy?" asked Danny in amusement.

"Sort of. See, your father and I have to go to a convention out of town. Could you kids watch this little guy for the day? My friend will be here to pick it up at eight, and we will be back a little bit after that. I'm sure you'll have no problems."

Danny grinned slyly. "Sure, Mom. We'd love to."

Sam and Tucker exchanged glances and sighed softly. It was going to be one heck of a day.

"What's the little pup's name?" questioned Sam.

Maddie chuckled. "His name is Patch. Can you believe it?"

"I love that movie!" Tucker exclaimed.

Sam rolled her eyes. "The Disney version, of course."

"It's a classic! Although the television series was a little bit disappointing. Animation was all wacky. But still all right."

Maddie handed Patch to Danny and waved at the teens. "I'll see you kids later. Sam, Tucker, are you spending the night?"

"Yeah, thanks Mrs. F," Sam and Tucker said in unison.

The second Danny's mother closed the door, Danny handed the barking pup to Sam.

"You're lucky I'm an animal lover, Danny," Sam grumbled as Patch licked her face.

Danny smirked and turned back to his television, changing the station so that he could watch his shows. After about a half an hour of silence, Patch started to whimper. Sam glanced at his little face and quickly stuffed the animal in Tucker's arms.

"What?"

"Patch needs to go, if you catch my drift." Sam scooted closer to the television and ignored Tucker's gaping look. When she didn't acknowledge him for a few more minutes Tucker groaned and hurried down the stairs and out into the chilly evening air.

Tying the short red leash around its collar, Tucker hopped from foot to foot as the cold wind blew, causing goosebumps to prickle along his exposed flesh. The little pup just stood there, staring at him with his head tilted.

"Well, are you going to go or what? I'm freezing!" he complained.

Patch continued to stare until his attention was caught by a brown blur from the corner of his vision. He spotted a squirrel race down the sidewalk and he immediately started barking. He took after it, little paws scampering as fast as he could move them.

Tucker yelped as the leash gave a jerk and he found himself sprawled on the grass. He looked up and watched in horror as the little black and white puppy took off down the sidewalk. He wasted no time in jumping to his feet and racing after the escaping puppy.

"Why did I suggest the stupid dares in the first place?" he wailed as he dodged people out for an evening walk and small kids on bikes.

He found himself jumping over spilled trashcans and he was relieved to find that he was gaining on the little rascal. He was close to catching up to Patch when a voice hollered to him, "Watch out!"

Tucker felt the air get knocked from him as something slammed into his side. Dropping onto the pavement, he gasped for breath. The biker who had sped around the corner with no warning slowed long enough to snap, "Watch where you're going kid!" before taking off again.

Tucker groaned in annoyance, wincing as he sat up. There would be one nasty bruise tomorrow. "Patch!"

The summoned puppy bounded up to him, bored from his chase with the squirrel. He licked the teen's cheek before going over to the curb and doing little circles.

Tucker frowned. "What are you-aw, man!"

"Hey, lad! You have to clean that up!" came a warning call.

Tucker looked across the street and nodded meekly to the officer that was watching him.

"How am I supposed to do that?" he muttered to himself. "I didn't bring anything with me! But then again, I really don't feel like paying the fine for just leaving it."

Taking a shuddering breath, he squeezed his eyes shut and quickly flung the nasty object into the nearest garbage can. When he heard a cry of disgust, he peeked, holding his soiled hand out to the side.

"Foley! I'm going to kill you!"

Tucker smothered a laugh as Dash angrily ran a hand down the side of his face, flicking Patch's present to the ground. As much as he was amused, he was also terrified. He'd rather take a fine than a beating from Dash any day.

"C'mon Patch, it's time to get going."

Quickly tying the leash back on he took off with Dash in hot pursuit, swears, barking and apologies filling the evening air.

Danny glanced up when there was an insistent knocking coming from downstairs. "Sam-"

"On it." Sam jumped up and jogged down the stairs. "All right, keep your shirt on."

Throwing open the door, she was surprised to see Tucker panting with Patch clutched in his arms. Ducking through the doorway and slamming it shut, a wet Patch was thrust into her hands.

"Your turn. I think he needs a bath. Heck, I need a bath." He stormed past Sam and towards the upstairs bathroom.

"Wait! Why is she all wet, and what happened to you?"

"Some moron left the manhole cover off, and you do not want to know."

Sam scowled when he disappeared up to the second floor landing and gingerly held the stinky pup out at arm's length.

"All right. Let's get this over with."

Taking Patch to the downstairs bathroom, she closed the door and filled the tub with warm water. Placing the pup in, Patch gave a curious bark and waded around, splashing. Sam reached for a bottle of shampoo and squirted some into her hand. She managed to rub some on his head when he went wild, jumping and barking. Her eyes stung from the soapy water as she tried to restrain the resisting pup.

"Stay! Sit! Down!"

Patch jumped out and ran for the door, whining and scratching. Sam hauled him back and cried out as she slipped in a puddle of water and crashed into the tub. Snarling, she wrestled with Patch and managed to do the shampoo-rinse-conditioner-rinse process and soon he was pretty-smelling again.

Allowing the sullen pup to run around the bathroom and shake itself off, Sam pulled herself out of the tub, soaking wet. Squeezing her hair out, she glanced at Patch's innocent eyes and wagging tail.

"Yeah sure, look as innocent as you want. I know the truth." Cleaning up as best she could, Sam carried Patch out and was about to head back to Danny's room when she heard a knock on the door.

Before she could answer it, Danny came barrelling down the stairs and snatched Patch out of her hands and opened the door.

"Well, hello Danny!" a short woman with blonde hair greeted. "It's been so long. I see you took good care of my Patch." The pup's owner took him into her arms and Patch yelped happily.

Danny grinned. "It was a piece of cake!"

"Glad to hear it. This is for your kindness." Danny accepted a twenty dollar bill and grinned, waving goodbye before shutting the door.

"Sweet!" He then let out a yell of surprise when Sam and Tucker grabbed him roughly and carried him towards the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" he snapped.

"Cleaning you up," his friends said in unison.

They dunked Danny in the still-full tub and stalked out as Danny spluttered. "That's not cool! You-oh, dang it." He frowned. "I should have just ordered them to put me down."