So, computer crashed, hard drive ate everything and I entered the Job Corps program. But, excuses aside, you all deserve the next chapter (and since I have nothing better to do), here it is.

By the way, and this is important: I have another writing account for the stories I write with my friends. The name of it is Jade Tea and currently I am writing a pokemon fanfic. So, here, have some SHAMELESS ADVERTISEMENT!

Set in a post-war torn world, To Run with Fire follows the path of Ariel Noir, a 19 year old Dark Type trainer as she escapes imprisonment from the ruthless Team Utsu, taking one of their grunts with her, and her danger-ridden path back to her home with the Rebellion. But as the path gets more and more dangerous, hard choices have to be made and secrets have to come to light.

There. Advertisement over. Hope you loyal followers will check it out. And yes, there is a sequel/prequel to this story that tells about Danny and what he's been up to since his disappearance. The outline is mostly finished, but I won't be posting that until this one is completed.

Author's Notes

Thoughts and emphasis

Time Skips and Notes

Sitting here in my living room.

I gotta go, gotta get it soon.

I gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta get away.

Gonna get in my old car

Gonna drive it so damn far

Got get my ass out to L.A.

I gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta get away.

Cause my old man says I can't stay.

*~Kicked Out by Nobodys

Her feet felt like they weighed a million pounds. She could hardly move them, let alone stand on them as her head swam with the knowledge that came down on her. She was pregnant. And not just that, she was pregnant from being raped. Her first instinct was to vomit, but her body refused to give anything up, so she sat in the bathroom, lurching hard until her body finally stopped shaking and she managed to stand. She shakily grabbed the bar by the toilet to steady herself as she grabbed the pregnancy test and sluggishly made her way out into the hallway, eyes burning from her crying. She was surprised that none of the nurses or her doctor had come looking for her, she had to have been in there for at least fifteen minutes. She trudged back to the office where her doctor had her initially and was unsurprised to see him gone. He probably had other patients to attend too.

So she sat on the hard exam table. The small plastic stick she was carrying seemed to burn as if screaming 'guilty' to her, as if somehow this was her fault. She sniffed again as her body lurched, half way between a sob and a gag when she heard a gentle knock at the half-open door and found the beady eyes of Dr. Streisand shining sympathetically as he strode in, holding out his hand for the plastic piece she was holding. She silently handed it to him and with a quick glance to confirm what he knew, he tossed it into the nearby biohazard trash bag. He shut the door and sat down, the silence both comforting and smothering the young girl. The day she decides to finally leave her room and go out with friends (sometimes), she gets extremely sick and the day she goes to the doctor to find out, she finds out she's living every young single woman's nightmare. Another sob wracked her body as she reached up to wipe her eyes.

A scribbling noise came to her ear and she allowed herself to look up at the doctor through her ebony bangs. He was writing something on a piece of paper and the noise made Sam curious enough to momentarily forget her position. "What's that?" She hoarsely asked the short man. He briefly looked at her and smiled softly. "Medication to help with the nausea." He said and Sam instinctively stiffened. "Don't worry," he assured "it won't harm the baby. But it isn't meant to be taken regularly. I know how you are about medication, so take this when your ginger tea can't seem to keep the bile away, alright?" He said and Sam nodded slowly, mind slow in processing. Oh, right, he was treating her morning sickness. Right, duh. He handed her the paper and she looked at it. Take as needed, her kind of medication. She had what they both believed were enough refills to get her through nine months of pregnancy, and for a moment she wondered if she would need them all.

"Sam." The voice of her doctor made her look up and she tilted her head curiously. "I want you to give thought to something, alright? I know it's an uncomfortable topic in this day and age, but you have to know all your options." He said and Sam slowly nodded. "If it comes to it, call me and I can get you in contact with an associate of mine who runs a nearby abortion clinic. I know you didn't plan this, and from the way you are acting I'd say the terms of this pregnancy were pretty hard to remember, so keep that in mind, alright?" He said and Sam felt herself nod. It was a possibility. She was not a maternal sort, she hardly watched her cousins, and children were not her favorite people. In all honesty, she had never seen herself having children, even though Danny had often gushed about how one day he wanted to have kids. She had never even given it thought, if she wanted to bear children or not, and figured she could think about it when the time came. But the time was now, and this wasn't even Danny's baby.

The thought followed her home like a nagging puppy and she found herself leaning heavily towards the abortion option. She had no way to care for a baby, and she doubted she could even successfully carry the child to term; she had eaten so little since the rape a month earlier she doubted the child was even healthy. But then her mind traitorously reminded her of all the lost ghost children she and Danny had encountered over the years they'd been travelling together. She felt a slight pang for them, all lost without their parents and no clue of where their parents were. Abandoned, alone, something Sam knew all too well. But her thoughts ended when she reached her door and found herself staring at the ornate design of the door, unable to open it. She was afraid. Afraid of her own door to the point that she could feel her arm shaking. They would know; her parents somehow always knew. She knew what the outcome would be. They would be angry, furious. This was a scandal!

She finally gathered enough strength to finally turn the ornate knob to enter the room, the door seemingly to creak inhumanly loud as she swung it open. She walked in, every movement seemingly to make thundering noise as she took her shoes and coat off, calling out a weak 'I'm home' before she entered the main room. Her parents were gone. She was almost curious until she remembered that her parents had yet another board meeting that day, which is why she had chosen to go to the doctor's office that day. She sighed loudly and entered the kitchen to make her favorite ginger tea when she heard the sound of her grandmother's elevator came to her ear. She was grateful it was only her grandmother and smiled as she heard the wheels of her grandmother's wheelchair enter the kitchen.

"Well, hello, boobla! How did the trip go?" She asked, seemingly oblivious to what Sam had been doing and Sam smiled, despite herself. "I only went to see the doctor about my nausea, grandma." The old woman nodded and smiled back. "Yes, I know. So what was the result?" She asked and Sam felt herself stiffen for a moment. "F-Fine." She said quietly and she felt her grandmother's gaze on her.

"What was the result?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Oh really?"

"Y-yes...?"

"Tell me, boobla. You can tell me anything."

Sam felt herself crack as a tear slipped down her face. She finished fixing her tea and shakily took a sip before she finally just broke, tears pouring her face as she turned to her grandmother. "I...I..." She stuttered before she just fell at her knees, her head falling on to her grandmother's lap. "What is it, Sammy?" Her grandmother cooed softly. Sam buried her face in her grandmother's lap cover and sobbed. "I...I'm pregnant." She choked quietly and her grandmother stroked her hair softly. "Oh dear." She said quietly. "Stella won't like that. Are you going to keep the baby?" She asked and Sam wiped her face on her grandmother's lap again. "I-I don't know." She said. "I don't like kids, but the thought of it being alone..." She muttered and her grandmother stroked her hair patiently. "But I can't raise a kid...I can't even watch my own cousins, I always had Danny come over and do it for me! He wants kids, I know he does, he told me, but this is totally different. It's not even his! It's not anyone's!" She cried. "But I don't want to hurt it...I don't want to have that on my conscience." She muttered before resting her head quietly.

The sound of a car pulling up made her stiffen and Sam's grandmother tightened her grip on her daughter's head. "Honey, you have to leave." She said and Sam looked up at her. "W-What?" She said and her grandmother smiled. "Keep it or not, your mother and father will have a cow. Can you think of anyone you can go to for help? Anyone at all?" She said quickly and Sam began to shake her head before a thought struck her. She was raped by a ghost, which meant that her child had to have some ghost DNA in it, right? Which lowered her options to very few. The Fentons were leaving; she wouldn't burden them anymore with their missing children's memory. That left very few options.

No, that left only one option.

"Yeah, I know of someone, but it's a long shot." She muttered as her grandmother led her upstairs. "Good. Pack up. I'll give you enough money, and don't forget your credit card. I'll stall your parents." She said and smiled. Sam nodded and began to stuff things into her suitcase, which she fetched from under her bed. "So where are you going?" Her grandmother absentmindedly asked.

"Yes. I'm headed to Wisconsin."