I don't own Danny Phantom.

Anomaly

Chapter 10

Sam sat quietly in the corner of the room. She couldn't help but feel that what had happened to Danny was her fault. If she hadn't been there, maybe things would have turned out differently. The young girl shifted uncomfortably as she took in the area around her. It was the first time she had ever been in Danny's room.

It was slightly more clean that she had imagined it would be, at least it was clean for a teenage boy. The walls were littered with posters of shuttles and stars. She had remembered, at some point he had said that one day he wanted to be an astronaut, though Sam thought that superhero fit him just fine.

After Jazz and the faculty had arrived, Danny's parents had been called to come pick him up. It seemed to everyone but Sam and Jazz, That Danny had passed out from both fear and exhaustion. When Jack and Maddie had arrived they had taken all three teenagers with them back to their house, since school had been canceled on account of ghosts it wasn't a problem for them to leave suddenly. Sam did have to call her parents to let them know where she would be though. As the young Goth was about to continue her spiral of self deprecation, Jazz entered the room.

"Alright that Fright Knight guy has been sent back to the Ghost Zone." The older girl said as she motioned to a small red button on the side of the container, The word purge was embossed upon it . Jazz then handed the now empty Fenton thermos to Sam. "Could you watch him for a little while longer, I need to go convince my parents that he isn't possessed or something." Jazz said as she turned to leave. However before she left the room completely she paused for a moment. "Thanks for watching out for Danny." She said giving the younger girl a strange smile, as she closed the door behind her.

As the door clicked shut Danny began to stir. Sam couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips as she watched him. He looked adorable as he tangled himself in his comforter. It made her wish she had a camera…leverage could be a powerful force. After a moment of mumbling and tossing some, Danny's eyes shot open.

"I'M NOT A GHOST!" he declared loudly as he sat forward. It seemed to take him a moment to figure out that he was in his room. As he looked around slowly he seemed to relax, until his eyes fell upon the girl sitting in the corner of the room on a small stool.

"SAM, what are you doing in here!?" Danny said pulling the covers over himself, though he was still fully clothed. When he noticed this fact he let the covers fall some… but not all the way.

"You passed out after helping me put the Fright Knight inside here." The Goth said holding up the Fenton thermos Jazz had given back to her. "Then your parents came to pick you up. I was worried so I came with them." She said explanatorily.

"Oh…Is he still in there." The young boy said pointing lightly at the containment device.

"No your sister emptied it, said she threw him back into the ghost zone." Sam said with little enthusiasm. "Never mind that though, how do you feel." The young girl said leaning closer to Danny. "You scared me half to death when you just passed out like that." She almost wished she could take that sentence back… since it caused Danny's eyes to go wide for a second.

"Yeah sorry about that, after I got out of the bathroom I couldn't find you with everyone else, so I ran around looking for you, Must have tired myself out more than I realized. After I did find you I noticed that the ghost you were trying to capture in the thermos was the Fright Knight…and I sort of fainted. You know…cuz I'm scared of ghosts." His excuse had sounded almost believable. However he had ruined it at the end.

"I actually went back to try and grab some of the ghost hunting things your parents gave me when I heard that Phantom guy fighting, I stepped in to try and warn him and ended up being dragged into the fight. That's when those other two ghosts showed up and saved me. After that Phantom showed back up and beat that Fright Knight guy and asked me to go get my thermos. "It struck her as awkward that both of them were lying to each other so naturally. She had to suppress the urge to blurt that she knew his secret; it wasn't a big urge so it wasn't hard to control, but It was still there.

"Well you're a lot braver than I am." He said sounding honest. "I'm just glad you're alright… That Fright Knight is one bad customer." Danny pulled the covers off of himself and moved to sit at the edge of the bed facing Sam. "You should just run next time, it's safer that way." He said softly. The young girl knew he meant well but it sounded somewhat sexist to her.

"I'll have you know I can take care of myself." Sam said twirling the thermos on one finger, before catching it in her hand. Danny sighed as he stood up slowly.

"Fair enough…By the way…how long was I out I have to pee like a race horse." He said as he did a little dance. The young girl let out a laugh as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Four or five hours, I sort of lost count though. After we got here and your parents put you in bed , then your dad started to talk nonstop about ghosts…so it could have been longer." Sam said as her eyes took on a listless quality. "A lot longer…I swear your dad could talk a ghost to death." The young girl shook her head lightly.

"Well...in any case I have to go…I'll be right back." Danny said as he did a little dance out through the door. This caused Sam to giggle slightly, which then caused her to blanch at the fact that she had giggled. It wasn't like her to do something so girly…she scoffed, or laughed outright. Giggling however was not something she would admit to.

She shifted uncomfortably as silence settled in his room. It was somewhat strange to be in Danny's room without him being there. Without anything around to distract her, Sam's mind started to wander again. It was mostly to the fact that she may have been responsible for Danny's current condition. She stood up slowly and began to pace in a small line in front of her seat. Maybe she should never have stayed in the lunchroom the day that Ember had appeared. Then she wouldn't have been around to cause so much trouble. Sure Danny was fine now… but what about next time. The young girl felt conflicted, on one hand she wanted to help him if he needed it, but on the other she might end up getting him hurt. Before her thoughts could spiral completely out of control Danny's computer sprang to life.

Somewhat startled, Sam jumped away from the computer. After realizing that there was something blinking on the screen the young girl stepped forward for a closer look. There was a small window open directly in the center of the display. It said "Foley Net: Line 1" with a small box underneath that read "Accept?" This must have been the network that Tucker had set up for The PDA that Danny held, though it looks like the calls could be picked up on his computer as well.

As Sam waited for Danny to come back and answer the call the window changed slightly. It now read "Foley Net: Line 1: In use." The box underneath had also changed to read "Join?" The young girl wondered for a moment how it was possible for it to have been answered, until she remembered Danny had placed the PDA In his pocket right before the lunchroom fiasco. As she leaned closer to the screen she absently wondered what happened to Danny's clothes and other possessions when he changed between his forms.

Sam watched the screen intently trying to decide if she should pry or not. It was kind of hard not to wonder, since he had so many well kept secrets. Her body however seemed to act before her mind had come to a decision, as she moved the cursor on the screen and clicked the "Join" Button.

"…an't believe you got hit with the Soul Shredder." Tuckers voice sprang forth from the speakers of Danny's computer. "What was it like…I remember being on a deserted island with no technology…or meat." The young boys voice sounded somewhat disturbed. Sam however had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"I wish it had been that pleasant. My parents had caught me…and my mom was trying to dissect me." Danny said, his voice filled with terror. "I'm not sure what happened after that…its sort of blurry. But then I somehow managed to tear my way out of there." The blue eyed teen said sounding very relived.

"Like Wulf?" Tucker's question made almost no sense to Sam. She figured he must be referring to some ghost they knew. "Cuz that would be awesome man!!" The Techno geek sounded ecstatic. "What are you going to call that power." Before Tucker let Danny answer he started giving it names of his own. "The Ghostly Rift, or the Spirit Splitter, how about the Phantom …."

"Tuck...not now. My head is still pounding from using that. It took all my energy… well almost all." Danny said trying to get Tucker to settle down. "After that I used a Ghostly Wail to finish off the Fright Knight." He said it as though it was some kind of miracle that he had done so. "It looked like he was about to turn Sam into mince meat…and you know how she feels about meat." The young boy said making a small joke.

"Dude, why don't you just tell her and get it over with, it would make your life easier." This surprised Sam, It seemed as though Tucker thought she could handle Danny's secret. "I mean it's only a matter of time until she figures it out on her own." The Goth leaned in closer to the screen, awaiting Danny's response.

"I don't know Tuck…what if she avoids me or something…I don't want to ruin our friendship." He said sounding somewhat depressed. The young girl was surprised, to think Danny thought she would abandon him just because he happened to be different. However He wasn't done speaking. "Besides what would I say "Hey Sam I just thought you should know that ever since I saw you at that dance last year, I've had a huuuge crush on you…oh yeah I'm also Danny Phantom."" He had said it all as a mock version of himself.

Whatever was said next Sam couldn't process it. Her mind shut down completely. It was as if it had overheated, and she could feel it in her face. Danny had a crush on her……WHAT? It made no sense to the young girl. Sure he had stuttered a lot when they had first met, but everyone said that's just how he acted around girls. Then again…Tucker was always making cracks about the two of them going out. Danny also seemed to go red at the face more often than he should have. Her mind perceived the whole dilemma as a round peg trying to fit inside a square hole.

As the different departments of her mind raced to find a solution that would allow the peg into the hole, one section of her mind spoke up. It was reminding her of the strange unidentifiable feeling she had been experiencing for the last couple of weeks, the one that most often surfaced when Danny would put on that goofy looking smile of his. As she began to explore what that section of her mind was talking about, another division of her brain tried to intervene. It was the Goth in her…however at the moment she wasn't having any of its shenanigans.

She let the feeling wash over her slowly…it wasn't altogether unpleasant. Sam was slightly unnerved that it seemed to make her heart beat faster. She shifted uncomfortably as the unknown emotion continued to take hold. The young girl was about to try and shake it off when she heard Danny speak once more.

"In any case, I think telling Sam either of my secrets is a bad idea." As his voice came out of the speaker Sam was able to… if not identify… ascertain what the feeling was telling her. That there was a remote ,miniscule, microscopic chance…that maybe…just maybe… she sort…kinda…liked Danny, just a little. As soon as the thought entered her mind she tried to dismiss it, since it made her slightly uncomfortable. That and she was still having a hard time believing that he liked her…one of the most avoided people at Casper High.

Deciding that she had heard enough she went to close the program. However, as she reached out to grab the mouse she knocked over a small cup full of pencils at the edge of Danny's desk. Sam reached out as fast as lightning to stop them from making noise. She was too late however; as she returned the pencils to the cup and stood it upright she could hear tucker saying something.

"Danny….Where did you leave Sam?" the Techno geek asked quickly.

"In my room." Danny said, his voice filled with dread.

"Did you leave your computer on… cuz if you did… she could use it to listen in on this call." Tucker said sounding half amused half worried.

"I don't know…I'll be right back Tuck." Danny said. Sam assumed he was about to race to check on her, so in the few seconds allowed to her she quickly dove under his desk unplugged then reconnected the power chord. Without wasting a millisecond she plunked herself down on the stool she had been sitting in when Danny had left. She shook herself once to regain her composure as the door to his room opened. The blue eyed teen poked his head in before allowing the rest of his body to follow.

"Alright… I'll see you later Tuck." He said into his PDA, as he sat down on the end of his bed.

"Talk to ya later."Was the last thing Sam heard from tucker as the line went dead. Danny then stuck the gizmo in his pocket as he eyed his computer askance. The young girl found it hard to keep her face straight in front of him. Not only was she trying to avoid suspicion from moments ago but she was also trying not to remember what she had overheard while eavesdropping. They both sat in silence for a few moments, however before the silence could drag on for two long Sam spoke up.

"Well…I should be going…." She said, trying to avoid looking directly at him. "My parents are probably still a little worried after what happened today at school." The young girl stood and began heading for the door. Before she could make it halfway there Danny was up and following her.

"Let me walk you home, I could use the fresh air." The young hero said truthfully. "Let me just go tell my parents I'm ok." He then dashed out of his room and down the stairs to the first floor. Sam winced inwardly; she had been hoping to get away for the moment…with what she had just learned she needed time to figure some things out. One thing was for certain though…Danny wasn't going anywhere near her house. The day was already bad enough without him finding out her secret.

"Are you coming Sam!!" Danny Called from the bottom of the stairs. The young girl took a deep calming breath before she answered.

"Yeah, I'll be right down!"