A/N: Sorry about the wait, y'all! School's been a bit brutal, what with the culture shock for me. Moving from private to public school in HIGH SCHOOL? Yeah, stupid idea. Lols. So, now you finally get your chapter, yay!

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Chapter 8: Knowing

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"I—It's nothing, Mom," Danny grumbled. Why does everything happen to me? WHY?

"Daniel Andrew Fenton Masters," she said, spitting out the last word like a curse, "tell me what's going on, now!"

Sam picked up quickly on the attitude toward the name while Danny looked down, thinking only that his mom was seriously ticked with him. "Nothing…."

"This isn't nothing, Danny. Explain."

Danny mumbled something, scuffing the toe of his boot and acting like a five-year-old caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

"What?"

"V…Vlad—"

"Just spill!" Sam yelled at him.

Danny, shocked, rambled out, "Vlad'sevilandtriedtokillmethreetimesandnearlysucceededonthethirdandhe'sthereasonDad'sdeadandhemademehalf-ghostandhe'sone,tooandhe'sabusiveandhepunishesmealotandthestupidghostexcusesaren'ttrue'causeit'shimnotghostswell,mostly'causeIdofightsomeoftheevilghostsbutnotVlad'causeIcan'tbeathimandIknow'causeI'vetriedandhe'spunishedmemoreeachtimeandnowI'vetoldyoufourandhe'llfindoutandhe'llkillyouandIwon'tbeabletostophimandit'llbe-all-my-fault!" He sobbed, throwing himself onto his bed.

Maddie blinked. Ooooookay, didn't see that coming…. She looked at the other kids, who shrugged. She sighed, stood, and gathered Danny into her arms. "Shhh," she whispered. "Try again, slower, please."

Danny repeated himself calmly, sniffling at the end.

"Oh, sweetie, I already knew!"

"W-what?"

"Well, not the half-ghost part, but… the doctor got me thinking. About the… abuse. I was waiting for you to tell me, or Vlad to mess up."

"I'm sorry, Mom…."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. If anyone does, it's Vlad. He should have been a good step-father, not an evil, low-down, dirty, good-for-nothing, abusive, evil, rude despicable, mean, evil, crazed-up fruit loop!"

Danny smiled weakly. "You said 'evil' three times."

"…I liked that part. It describes him best."

He chuckled. Relaxing slightly, he said, "So, you're okay with the half-ghost thing?"

"Yes, but how—?"

"Vlad."

"Of course."

"That day you couldn't find me in Wisconsin. Vlad locked me out."

"I thought so! I knew you wouldn't have been able to lock it, so that only left him."

"Heh, now you're sounding like me."

"Genetics, sweetie."

"So, I'm guessing we should leave so you two can have more of a mother-son moment?" Sam asked sheepishly.

Danny blinked. "No, you're fine here. Don't leave." Realizing what he had said, he blushed brightly. Idiot! he yelled at himself. Way to be vague!

Wow, did he really say that? Sam asked herself, barely keeping down her own blush. More importantly, did he mean it? Probably not how I'm thinking….

Oh, kiss her already! Maddie thought, giggling mentally. They're so cute! Like Jack and I when we met….

Clueless, both Tucker and Jazz sighed.

"Um… you really want me to?" Sam asked.

"Yes! I mean, uh, if you… you wanna…."

"O—Okay. Jazz, Tuck, you're staying, too?"

"Ya know, I'm gonna make more hot chocolate!" Maddie said suddenly. She turned to the other two kids, "Jazz, Tucker, come help!"

"But—" Tucker began.

"Yeah, Tuck, let's help," Jazz said, glaring at Tuck before looking at Danny and Sam and smiling.

"B—Oh…. Okay. Let's go!"

The three left, leaving a very flustered Danny and a very red Sam behind.

The two sat down on Danny's bed. They stayed there for several minutes before Danny noticed, "They're not coming back, are they?"

"Doesn't seem like it," Sam answered.

The next few minutes passed in an awkward silence. Sam fidgeted, and Danny found himself counting the inch-square floor tiles. "Um, think they were hinting at something?" he asked. Why am I so nervous? Silence is normally, I dunno, comforting for me!

"Yeah."

"D—Do you know what?"

"Nope. You?" she said quickly.

"Uh, no, not at all."

"Maybe we should ask?"

"Think they'd tell us?"

"No. Definitely not."

"Have a guess?"

"…Yeah. Do you?"

"Uh-huh. What's yours?"

"You first," she blushed.

"I asked you!"

"So?"

"Ladies first."

"Then by all means."

"…HEY!"

Sam laughed. Danny felt transfixed. She's got such a pretty laugh…NO! he mentally slapped himself. Dolt! Don't think like that, you perv! He bit his lip, feeling as though the thoughts were so loud, Sam surely heard.

She smiled at him, telling herself, He's so cute when he's biting his lip like that, in deep thought. Her eyes widened. Did I just think that? Bad Sam!

"Uh, I'll tell mine if you tell yours," Danny said shyly, still thinking of how nice Sam looked.

"Okay, but you go first," she replied.

"Together?"

"…Alright."

"On three?"

"I'll count with you.

"One…."

"Two…."

"Three!"

"I-think-they-think-we-like-each-other!" Sam said in a rush. She waited a moment before glaring at a smirking yet wide-eyed Danny. "You said we'd say it together!"

"And you fell for it."

Sam growled, seeing he was right.

He laughed shortly before seeing her death glare. "Uh, anyway, …I thought the same thing."

"So, … were they right?"

"Do you think so?"

"I'll say if you do."

"Okay."

"Together on three?"

Danny nodded. "One… two…."

"Three!"

"Yes!" Danny blinked. "Hey, no fair! You just—"

"Pulled the same trick on you. You are gullible, you know that?" She smirked at him, then gasped when she noticed his lips on hers. After a moment, she melted into him, kissing him back.

"Ooh, we are good!" Maddie said from her spot next to the ajar trapdoor. The three were still on the ladder, watching the exchange.

"Told ya!" Tuck exclaimed. He turned to Jazz, "He kissed her first! You owe me twenty bucks!"

Jazz grumbled, handing him the money. "Well, they're together. Finally."

"And you three are so dead," a familiar voice said behind them. Danny materialized out of thin air, glaring.

Maddie got down off the ladder, hands on hips. "Daniel Fenton, what did you say?"

"Erm… except for you, Mom?" he said, landing next to her and changing back innocently.

"That's what I thought."

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"He's told them, sir," a metallic-looking man said to his boss.

"I know that already, Skulker," an angry Vlad replied. He was in his ghost form, Vlad Plasmius. He looked like a blue-skinned vampire in a white suit. "What else?"

"We've captured a fifth person who knows. A Genny Hickam."

"…Bring her in," Vlad said quietly.

Genny was dragged in and tossed in front of Vlad, her hands tied. She glanced up at him, an eyebrow raised. "So. You hate him, he hates you, you turn him half-ghost in one of the most painful ways possible. You're a reeeaaal nice guy, ya know that?"

"Dropped the accent, I take it?"

"Least I wasn't dropped on my head as a baby…."

"What?"

"Nothing, Vladdie dearest."

"How'd you find out?"

"I'm a nurse. You leave pretty obvious clues. How do ya think?"

"Sam the scars, hm? Then hacked, no doubt."

"Aw, you know me so well!"

"…I'm married."

"I'm sure she loves you. Oh, wait, did I say love? I meant loath."

"Well, no thanks to your meddling…."

"Next time, don't leave evidence all over a bullied kid when you know a—"

"Don't say it!"

"—one-of-us works as a nurse at the school." She looked at him, amused. "Seriously, grow up, Vladimir."

"Don't call me that."

"Why not? You call Danny 'Daniel'. I'm givin' you a piece of your own medicine. Leave him alone, Vladdie."

"It's not your business how my step-son and I get along."

"But I sure will make it my business. Face it, Vlad, you'd be ruined, and you wouldn't be able to kill me, anyway."

"So? I'll kill all of them."

She shook her head. "That wouldn't work, either. You love Maddie to the point of obsession."

"I'll kill the children, then; I don't love them."

"But Maddie does. Look, Vlad, there's three kinds of people you'd never even hurt. Maddie, any of the Packers, and anyone related to you. You aren't gonna kill them, you aren't gonna kill Maddie, and you aren't gonna kill me, your only sister."

"Watch me," he growled before calling for Skulker. "Kill all of them, except Maddie and Daniel. I'll see to him personally."

"Yes, sir." Skulker left.

"What do you say to that?" Vlad smugly asked genny.

"I say, point proven."

"What?" The smirk fell off his face.

"you heard me."

"Explain, Genev—"

"Fine! Ugh, you know I hate that … name, if you could call it one. Skulker's killing them, not you. While you're keeping your hands clean, you're proving that you can't kill someone loves unless you have a personal case against them, i.e. Danny."

"They'll still be gone."

"But you're too weak to do it. You can't kill them, you can't kill her, you can't kill me."

"Guards, throw her back in the dungeon. No food, no water." Two guards grabbed a shocked Genny and dragged her away as Vlad said his parting words. "You were right about them, I'll grant you that. But you? Let's see how long it takes for starvation to take its toll. And remember, you're only feeling a fraction of what I've put Daniel through. Ta, sister mine."

After being thrown into the dungeon and watching the door shut, Genny hissed out, "Crap. You better be tougher than he thinks, DP…."

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"Danny, who's that?" Sam asked, looking out the window.

"Who?" Danny asked, smiling brightly at his girlfriend-as-of-five-seconds-ago.

"That," she repeated, nodding at the approaching ghost.

Danny turned to the window, his smile fading as he saw Skulker speeding up. "Oh, crap…."

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A/N: To those of you who will no doubt ask, I don't know how Genny found out that quick about Phantom. I guess she's a know-it-all sister like Jazz… and me…. Also, the fact that she's :gasp: Vlad's sister kinda wrote itself. She started out not being related, then as a distant cousin, and came out as his little sister. Weird, ne? Anywayz, long chapter! FINALLY! Next one's Persuading, should be just as long, if not longer with… you'll see. ;P Byes, y'all!

P.S.- YAY! Sam and Danny got together! XD XP

P.P.S.- My friend Ash just got an account here, and I'm helping her with her first fic. It'll be a DP/Fruits Basket cross-over (she got the idea from mine), and it should be awesome! Look her up! She's Anime Artist of the Future. …I think. Lols.