Disclaimer: If I said I owned Danny Phantom, I'd end up in a court room…

YAY! More reviews! And what a wonderful gift to wake up on Christmas Day and open my inbox to REVIEWS! Thank you so much! Your reviews buoyed my happiness to a point of over-load, and so I decided to write the next chapter.

I apologize for the wait though. The toughest thing in life is overcoming the mind. This is formally known as: writer's block.

One last thing: I apologize for the long wait. I had been spending so much time on the computer and maybe only an hour with my family. And let's face it: I'm an internet freak, so I needed to get away for a little while.

Anyway, I hope I make everything unpredictable for you! If not….tell me…yeah…

LET US SALLY FORTH INTO YONDER…..FANFICTION!

Living On the Edge

Chapter 4: Facing the Facts

Danny nearly dropped the cell phone. "T-Tucker?" he stuttered incredulously. Sam glanced his way, her curiosity aroused.

Danny barely detected nervousness in the Head Agent's voice. "Tucker was our only hope of creating a counter type for the Hydrogen Sulfidate. Now that he's...I don't know…"

The agent gripped his poor little cell phone a little harder. "Is Tucker...a-alive?" By now, Sam had eavesdropped enough to know something was amiss.

She sat up straighter so she could grip Danny's arm. "Tucker? What exactly happened to him? Is he okay?" Her concerned violet eyes searched ice blue ones. She found fear.

She knew Tucker was Danny's best friend.

"He was found unconscious in his apartment and was immediately air lifted to the hospital, the doctors saying he was in an extremely critical condition," the Head Agent declared. "He's alive, I'll tell you that much. But I'm afraid I know nothing more."

"Do you know," Danny shakily asked, "where they took him?"

"Yes, I do." The Head Agent sighed. "He's at the top floor in the very hospital you stand in. You'd have to ask around to find the exact room number though. Call me when you've found him." And with that, he hung up, leaving Danny and Sam with only, once again, a dial tone.

A moment ticked by in deafened silence.

"Oh my God…" Sam finally managed to stammer, her expression shell-shocked. "Tucker, he was so nice too. I can't believe he was murdered." She corrected herself. "Almost. Almost murdered."

Danny stared at his phone long and hard, his expression disbelieving. "Yeah, and all because of that stupid software 'Improvement' crud. I don't think I'll ever fully understand him."

I can't believe it...

...Tucker? Why Tucker? What did he have that was so important?

Sam crossed her arms and leaned back on her pillows. "I hardly know him, and I bet that he's not very clear with everything he does. Which then leads me to wonder once again about his…project that got him into this mess." Her brows furrowed. "What was he working on again? I never got the chance to ask about it. By the time I came in, everybody already talked about it, leaving me behind."

Danny replied, " The project Tucker was working on was a special software that I guess, could hold more memory and could do limitless hacking…And, of course, the serial killer stole it, adding even more enjoyment to my day." He ended his small speech with sarcasm.

Danny bit his lip, willing himself to not turn hysterical. A killer software was stolen, he got hit upside the head with a lead pipe, he got a new partner, Sam got shot in the leg, and to top it all off, his best friend almost got murdered. What else could possibly go wrong? He thought. Then again, I really don't want to know…

"Wow," Sam whispered in consternation, squirming to find a comfortable spot on her bed. She bit her lip, hating the fact of any death.

I don't even know this guy... Still, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the whole thing.

Danny ran a hand through his droopy black hair. "Look, I'm going to go find Tucker's room number. Rest up, okay?" And he left, leaving Sam to ponder about his last sentence.

Was he actually being nice to me? Or did I imagine it? Sam thought. Maybe, I'm not sure, but maybe Danny is starting to like me more…

She blushed right after thinking that last thought.

I hope he finds Tucker.

Danny took the elevator up to the top floor, pondering about almost everything. His job, his nearly dead best friend, his mission that had yet to begin, and Sam, his new partner. What was with her anyway? Why does she like to blame everything on me? Danny thought. Although, really, she is kind of pretty…Wait, did I just think that?

Danny blushed right after thinking that last thought.

At long last, Danny reached the top floor of the hospital. The elevator doors opened, revealing a boring array of green and beige furniture. He saw the information desk and immediately walked to it.

A lady who looked to be twenty looked up and frowned at him. "Excuse me Sir, but this floor is reserved for confidential patients." She looked back down at her magazine. "Unless you can prove you are connected to any one person on this floor, I suggest you leave," she added in a none-to-friendly way.

Halfway grumbling, Danny showed her his CIA badge. "I'm here to see Tucker Foley, on behalf for the rest of the agency," he said, loving the dumbstruck expression on the lady's face. But she quickly recovered.

"Of course," She said, giving him a coy smile. "I didn't know you were," she pointed at his badge, "a CIA agent." She gave him another smile.

"Well, now you know," Danny snapped, impatient to see Tucker. "Now, could you please tell me where Tucker Foley is."

She frowned again and sighed. " Room number is 1200, which is down the hall to the right. Just follow the numbers and you'll find it." And with that, she returned to her magazine.

He raised his eyebrow at her and then set on his way. Down the hall and to the right was, like the lady said, room 1200. Danny opened the door almost timidly and walked in, shutting the door behind him.

He found Tucker sleeping, or more likely unconscious, and hooked up to a respirator. Actually, he was hooked up to a lot of machines. His beret was missing, revealing his messy, dark curls.

Danny bit his lip. Great, I can't talk to him. Then again, what did I expect? He thought. He leaned up against a wall. The Head Agent never said what exactly happened. Why would the serial killer attack Tuck, when they already have the software?

The sound of footsteps brought Danny out of his thinking. Suddenly the footsteps stopped in front of the now opening door. A doctor walked in. At first, he didn't notice Danny, and had set down a file of papers on the desk at the far corner. Then he looked up to find ice blue eyes at him and jumped.

"Excuse me, Sir," the doctor said. "I'm afraid you are going to have to leave."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "I just got here."

The doctor spoke up. "I…apologize for this inconvenience, but you must leave. I have important things to do." He walked towards the monitors with a clipboard, writing down the information. From what Danny could tell, the guy was foreign, about five feet six, and had black hair with intense eyes.

"Before I go," Danny began, "Do you happen to know what happened that set my friend in this hospital?"

The older man looked up from his clipboard, glaring at Danny. "Are you part of his family?" Danny slowly shook his head. "Then I cannot reveal that information. Now, if you please, I need to get back to my work."

Danny stood up straight and began walking towards the door. "Of course, I'll leave you to your work." Once he shut the door behind him, Danny narrowed his eyes in barely contained irritation.

What was it with people and bad additudes? Why couldn't he just, for once, meet someone who would say, "Okay, here's everything you need to know."! Was someone up in the clouds holding a grudge against him or something?

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. If I wasn't insane, I probably wouldn't be suspicious.

And if I wasn't an agent, I probably would've never thought of what I'm going to do next. Quietly, he began striding back towards the information desk.

He silently rejoiced when he saw that the lady from before wasn't at her post.

When they were chatting, Danny's eyes had been roaming. And, by some sort of luck, he had seen a laptop.

Now that laptop was his prey.

His eyes once again roamed the room, checking to see if the coast was clear. Only a handful of people were there in the open, most of them either asleep or with their noses stuck in a magazine.

Confidently, Danny strode out, looking bored and uninterested in everything. He walked up to the desk and to the side a little bit. Then, as if he was walking towards the elevator, he nonchalantly picked up the laptop and walked away.

Wow, Danny thought, heart pumping wildly, if anyone did see me, they probably would've sworn I was a professional pickpocket..

He turned around and back through the hall. Then, he turned a corner, passing Tucker's room and coming across a blocked off part of the hospital.

Smiling, he pulled out a picklock and began working on the locked doors. He needed to get as far away from the information desk as possible, and more than likely, nobody was coming that way soon.

After a few minutes of concentrating, Danny got the doors to open. He quickly walked in, shutting the doors behind him.

What he saw before him was what looked, and smelled, like a newly added wing.

Danny randomly opened a room door, shut it, and sat on top of a hospital bed.

If he had thought his heart was beating fast when he stole the laptop, he obviously didn't know what he was talking about. Blood rushed wildly through his veins as he proceeded to turn on the portable computer.

Anticipation almost over took Danny as he mentally willed the computer to load. Luckily, it didn't take long.

What surprised Danny the most was the fact someone was already logged in, saving him the time of having to go and figure out a password.

I love the simple things in life, he thought as he eagerly began searching for patient information.

It seemed easy…too easy once he found the patients file. Shrugging his shoulders, he clicked on it...And sure enough, a box popped up with the words: File not accessible!

Dammit.

Danny groaned, knowing it was too good to be true. But then he stopped mid groan and pulled out a small disk from his wallet.

As every good agent knows, hacking disks always somehow find a way to be handy. And this was one of those times.

He inserted the disk into the drive, and re-clicked on the patients file. Sure enough, it worked. Danny reminded himself to thank Tucker for the disk…Once he woke up of course.

Danny found a search box and typed in the name "Tucker Foley." Within seconds, Tucker's whole hospital file appeared before his eyes.

His eyes, which were now the size of dinner platters, scanned the information. Finally, he came across the happenings in the attempted murder.

Attempted Murder: Tucker Foley, found unconscious in apartment due to major electrocution from unknown source. Apparently shot once in the stomach. In critical condition, but expected to live…

Surgical Operation: LPST 743.5 744.6.

Last Updated: 3:15 P.M.

"So that's what happened," Danny whispered. His jaw set, blue eyes flaring in silent anger. How dare anyone do that to his friend! Why, if he had it his way, that godammned serial killer would already be-

-Wait. Suddenly remembering the Head Agent, he dug his cell phone from his back pocket and dialed the agency's private number. His fingers punched in the numbers with more force than necessary, a silent result of his anger.

This wouldn't go unpunished.

"Daniel?" The Head Agent's voice sounded through the static.

"I got it," Danny replied. "Tucker was, I guess, electrocuted by an unknown source and shot once through the stomach." He winced as he tried to mentally recreate what had happened. "Ouch..."

"I'm surprised," the older man stated, and for once showing it. "I knew he was shot, but I didn't know he was electrocuted...Perhaps it was an Electronic Shock Bullet?"

Danny scrolled down the information once more, "It's definitely possible."

"That will be something for me to look in to," the other man on the line noted. "Good work, Fenton."

"Thank you, Sir," Danny replied automatically. " I try."

"I know you do," the Head Agent stated proffesionally. "Call me Drake. It's about time you did anyway."

"Uh, okay…Drake…" Danny replied, not noticing the dial tone until it was too late.

Once again, he shrugged his shoulders and put away his cell phone. Danny was about to shut down the laptop, now that he had the info he wanted, when he noticed a very familiar name under a long list of confidential patients. Samantha Manson. That name instantly grabbed Danny's attention.

Something strange overcame him as he watched the screen in indecision.

Suddenly, he couldn't resist the temptation of seeing her file.

Dun dun dun! So, what is in Sam's file? GIVE ME IDEAS! I NEED EM!

Oh, by the way, did you know the name Drake means dragon? I went on this one website and just found that out...weird…

Anyway, review please! And PLEASE give me ideas for the next chapter!

Lightning Streak