Chapter 11

Awareness was slow from a dead sleep. Danny had almost forgotten what it felt like. First he was aware that he was holding something warm against his body, and he hugged it closer. Then the slight cold chill on his side told him he wasn't under covers, and he realised he was still fully dressed. That wasn't unusual. Danny often fell asleep fighting ghosts, but then a troubling thought came to Danny. He couldn't remember fighting a ghost last night. Then he remembered that was because he was in the ghost zone. Danny's eyes shot wide open as the events of yesterday re-entered his mind.

The class was lead by his parents into the ghost zone where Technus had sabotaged their ship. They crashed and Danny admitted to having been to the ghost zone before, and that he had allies here. Everyone started figuring a couple little facts about him out, and they had ended up sleeping in the lair of the Ghost Writer. That's where he currently was, asleep on a sofa in the Ghost Writer's lair with Sam.

Danny blushed lightly as he realised where he was, and where Sam was. He'd never been so close to her before. Even when they'd kissed there was some distance someplace between them, but now every inch of Sam was pressed against Danny. He could feel her soft skin under his fingers against her arms and stomach. Her hips were slightly wider than his, and pressed against his. Her back was against his chest and he breathed into his hair. Danny stilled his breath to keep her asleep like this, if only a moment longer.

Sam'd woken up a while ago, and had been startled to be asleep in someones arms. She'd lived all her life in luxury and she was used to the space her bed provided her, so when she began to wake up the odd sensation of being held confused her. At first she tried to turn and see what was so warm, but then when she shifted the arms tightened around her. It only took a second to remember who they belonged to, and Sam tried her hardest not to wake Danny up further, but she could tell she was failing. Eventually she sensed his breathing change as if he was trying not to wake her up and she glanced over her shoulder to make sure.

Ice blue eyes connected with lavender ones as Sam looked up at Danny, and Danny smiled down at her. "Good morning, Danny." Sam said in a voice that was groggy with sleep.

"Morning, Sam." Danny replied in a similarly unused voice. At that moment both Sam and Danny decided that this was the way they always wanted to wake up. Danny sat up, making Sam flop back in the place he'd just been. Her hair fanned around her face in a messy halo, and her amethyst eyes shined in the flickering fire light of the Ghost Writers study. Her lips were pale lavender with the lightest touch of pink, the same pink that could only be seen in her skin when she blushed. From this angle Danny could clearly see the definition in her milky white skin. His eyes traced that skin, down her neck, her shoulders. Momentarily his view was blocked by a thin black t-shirt, but it had been pulled up in her sleep just enough to see her stomach. Then she was hidden again, but her jeans did a good job at hinting at what lay underneath.

Sam blushed under Danny's scrutiny, but let his eyes wander. She could feel his gaze almost like he was brushing along her skin with his fingers. Trailing his hand down her neck, across her breasts, and over her stomach. The lower his gaze got the hotter her skin felt, and her heart quickened until he reached her jeans and she felt ready to burst. It seemed she wasn't the only one, because before she knew it she was crushed under Danny. He used his knees to hold his weight off of her as he straddled her. One of his hands slid under her shirt and pulled her up by the waist to him, while his other hand caressed up her side and into her hair. Sam couldn't help but shiver with pleasure, and her movement made Danny moan.

They were so caught up in their activities that they failed to notice the other people starting to wake up. Star woke up first, because Star had never missed a morning run, and she gasped at what she saw. Despite having experience with how hard it was to wake up Paulina, Star woke up her "friend" anyway, and Paulina was grateful she did. It's not that they hadn't seen people making out before, but usually there was groping that was fishing for more. The way Danny held Sam was different. It was downright possessive in a way that made both cheerleaders jealous. Kwan woke up and Star immediately covered his mouth to stop his friendly good morning before she pointed out the happy couple to him. Kwan's eyes bugged out of his head and after a second he barely whispered, "Should we be watching this?" Both girls nodded their bobble heads as they practically drooled. They'd never be able to look at Fenton the same again, and Kwan had to admit he really lost something great when he failed to make a move on the goth. Then Danny moaned and the faces of both cheerleaders and the jock turned scarlet.

Tucker it seemed chose that exact moment to wake up because the next noise anyone heard was, "Oh, eww!" Danny and Sam didn't stop, but Sam did flip off Tucker before her hand went back into Danny's hair. Tucker looked away red faced and then he saw the blushing audience and started laughing. That finally got the attention of the couple.

Sam growled, "What's so funny, Foley?" Then she followed his finger to the A-list minus Dash. They were trying to look innocent, but the blush on their face's had yet to fade, and it sparked a red glow in Sam's own cheeks. Tucker was still laughing so Sam threw a deadly accurate pillow at his head, and he landed back against the sofa with a grunt.

Danny followed his girlfriend's line of vision and blushed with her when he spotted the fading blush on the A-lister's cheeks, but he surprised Sam by smirking and muttering, "I shouldn't."

"Shouldn't what?" Sam asked, still fighting the blush on her face.

Danny's eyes glinted mischieviously as he called out to the A-listers, "Enjoy the show?" Sam laughed aloud as the bright blush returned to the cheeks of the A-listers, and it didn't leave until everyone else was awake. (AN: This is probably the farthest I'll ever take their actions in writing.)

…..

Lester was the last person awake, and he only woke up because Nathan go tired of his snoring and punched him. Lester snorted awake just as Danny told his parents, "I'll be right back. I want to find where Lancer fell asleep." Danny walked out of the doors of the study and the group of people felt guilty that they were just realising the teacher was gone. A moment later Danny walked in with an exhausted looking English teacher and a cheerful green eyed ghost.

"-ou mind having him back?" The group caught the tail end of Danny's sentence.

"Of course not. I've not seen someone take so much joy in my collection in a long time." The Ghost Writer answered.

Mr. Lancer looked dead on his feet, and yet extremely excited at the same time, like a kid at Disneyland an hour from closing. "I wish I could stay longer. I've never seen something so awe inspiring as that unpublished manuscript by Shakespeare."

Danny rolled his eyes and said, "I want to thank you for your hospitality, Ghost Writer. I was glad to get some sleep for today's journey."

Curious, Ghost Writer asked, "And where, may I ask, is today's journey taking you?"

Danny looked grim as he answered, "That path out there will lead me to Pandora's, but there is a half mile stretch that passes through Walker's territory."

The Ghost Writer proved it was possible for a ghost to pale when he heard Danny say that. "I don't envy you that trip. I live next door to that prick and he still locked me up for loitering. Loitering! Can you believe that jerk!?"

Danny smirked at a joke no one but he, Sam, Tucker, and the ghost understood, "Trust me, I've had more than my fair share of Walker."

"More like Walker's had his fair share of you." The Writer quipped making Danny snort. "Any way I've just had an idea for my newest manuscript, so I'll trust you to show yourselves out."

Danny nodded and assured the ghost he they would see themselves out before he turned to the group. "Okay. Everyone awake?" He looked around and saw that everyone was indeed awake before he said, "Today is going to be the most difficult day we have for two reasons. A, it's the longest day of travel, and B, we're going to cross through the very edge of a dangerous ghost's territory."

"What ghost? Walker?" Mikey asked.

"Yes." Danny answered. "Walker is the warden of the Ghost Zone's prison. He enjoys locking people up, and it's common for him to make up new rules just so he can lock you up, which he will do for a ridiculous amount of time."

Dash snorted, "Like your cool enough to break a rule Fenton."

Sam and Tucker burst into laughter and Danny glared at them, but the effect was lost do to his own smile. Then he replied to Dash, "You're 100% right as always. Fantastic deduction skills Dash." Danny gained control of himself and continued, "As I was saying Walker is one of the more dangerous ghosts, and we are traveling through his territory, so we need a plan."

"Do you have one?" Lester asked groggily. He had just woken up when Danny went to fetch their teacher.

Danny nodded and looked to Tucker, who stepped forward. "Danny's said it before and I'm saying it again now, we kind of expected something like this to happen when we went into the ghost zone, so we packed. What Danny didn't tell you was that we packed a lot more than food. Danny, Sam, and I have in our bags enough ecto weapons for everyone. We also have a few Fenton Phones which are like walkie talkies the size of bluetooths, and filter out spectral noise."

"When did you get this?" Maddie asked in an accusing tone.

Tucker chuckled nervously as he was confronted by his best friend's mother. Thankfully Danny stepped forward again and took his mother's attention. "There is only one place to get weaponry like this. We stole it from the vault, and had this trip gone as you planned we would have put everything back with no one the wiser."

Danny stepped back again and Tucker continued before Danny's mom could begin scolding them. "Danny, Sam, and I will be going through the group giving weapons to everyone with brief instructions on how to use them, and we will be handing out five Fenton Phones. One Fenton Phone will go to each Star, Mikey, Mrs. Fenton, and Mr. Lancer. The Fenton Phones will remain off unless we get separated."

"Why are we even listening to you geeks?" Dash suddenly challenged, "I get following Fenton a little, just because he's been here before, but I'm not following a wimp like you Foley."

Tucker could barely hold back the laughter that tried to erupt from Dash's sudden challenge and he said, "Danny's been in here the most, but Sam and I have been in here our fair share." He looked around at the shocked expressions of the group and said, "What you didn't seriously think Danny made ghostly friends and then didn't introduce me and Sam, did you?"

Danny raised a finger and pointed out, "Actually you guys still haven't met the captain of Pandora's guard. Guy's got some hero worship thing going on."

"Shut up, Danny! I was making a point here." Tucker joked, but then seriously he said, "Dash you are following not only Danny, but also Sam and myself because if you don't you'll die here."

"Is that a threat, nerd!?" Dash said dangerously.

"Dashiel, that is no way to speak to your fellow classmates!" Mr. Lancer scolded, but everyone ignored him.

"It's not a threat Dash." Tucker said calmly, "It's the truth, or do you think we're giving you weapons for the fun of it." That shut Dash up and Tucker continued with more seriousness than his class thought him capable, "I'm not trying to scare you guys, but you need to know the severity of the danger we will be in today. When we reach Walker's border we will begin to run, and we will continue to run until we cross completely through his territory. It's likely that we'll make it through without ever alerting Walker to our presence, but there is a very real chance that he could see us. This is the reason we will give you weapons." Tucker looked each person in their eyes in turn to make sure they paid attention before he continued, "If Walker figures out we are there we will be hunted. Under his rules human items, or real world items, are not allowed in the ghost zone. That means he can arrest you for existing, and the sentence is a thousand years standard or more if he's in a bad mood."

Tucker stopped talking to let them soak in all the information. It seemed that it was just dawning on the group how much potential danger they were in. Sure they'd been afraid to be lost in an unknown place, but now they realised there were creatures here who wanted to hurt them. Tucker had made them aware that they were swimming with sharks, and they were definitely on the menu. Mikey surprised everyone except Danny and Tucker by being the first to ask a question, "S-so what's the plan if the ghost captures us?"

Everyone, even Jack and Maddie looked to Danny for the plan. Danny obliged and stepped forward to say, "If we are captured there are a few possibilities. Walker is most likely to take everyone, but in the off chance that some people are left behind we will turn on the Fenton Phones and figure out leaders in each group based on a chain of command. Right now I think it's agreed that I, Sam, and Tuck are in charge, right?" Everyone nodded, even the A-list and Danny's parents, so Danny continued, "However in the case that the three of us are captured my parents and Mr. Lancer are in charge, and if they are captured then Star and Mikey will be in charge." Danny saw everyone looking uncomfortable with the conversation so he assured them, "Like I said this is the least likely scenario. If Walker spots us he's most likely to take all of us and lock us up in the same cell. If he locks us in the same cell it will be up to you guys to listen very carefully to Sam, Tucker, and I because the prison can be a dangerous place, but we'll break out fine as long as you listen and are prepared to act when we ask."

Mr. Lancer said weakly, "You sound like you've done this before, Danny."

Danny grimaced and said, "Um, well I have." He turned to his tech geek friend and asked, "How many years have I racked up, Tuck?"

Tucker typed away and pulled up Danny's stats, "You've got 44,000 years for various activities including possession of real world items, five counts, rioting, three counts, leading a prison break, four counts, and existing."

Danny's classmates, teacher, and parents were stunned. Danny was a criminal who had been in prison at least four times, and probably more. Danny ignored the gaping people and said, "So the plan is pretty simple for now. All you need to know now is what each of you will be given weapon wise. Oh and mom and dad, I have weapons for you too, just to give you the weapons I've found are most versatile." Danny turned to his girlfriend. "Sam, would you do the honors."

Sam smiled and placed herself in front of the slightly dazed group. "Okay I'm going to show you a weapon and explain what it does, and then I'll call the names of the people who get that weapon. Not everyone will have the same weapons, but the weapons you will be handed have been chosen for you, and you'll all have more than one." Sam riffled through her backpack first and pulled out wrist rays. "Okay these just look like ordinary bracelets until activated, like this." Sam slapped one on her wrist and pressed the button that unfolded the laser. "They are medium powered lasers that remain inconspicuous when you don't need them."

"Oh I recognise those." Paulina said cheerfully. "You're always wearing one aren't you?"

Sam didn't miss the chance to glare at the air head and said, "Yes I often am wearing one of these myself. I'm going to give you guys this one, but I don't want you to activate it unless we're captured. This will most likely be overlooked if they take our weapons." Then Sam called names, "Okay so everyone except Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are getting one of these." Jack looked put out so she said, "Don't worry we packed the most powerful weapon just for you, Mr. Fenton." Jack perked up and Sam pulled out the next weapon to pass out. "This one is the Fenton Ray. This is a very simple aim fire weapon with a safety above the trigger. This is the weapons you will if we are spotted before we get into Walker's prison. Everyone except Paulina and Star gets one of these." Everyone walked up and retrieved their next gun. "Another gun is these Lipstick Blasters. You open them up exactly like a lipstick and when they are fully rolled up a little button will appear. These are weak, but super sensitive and easy to aim. Simply activate it, then point and click. Paulina, Star, Nathan, Lester, Mikey, Mr. Lancer, and Mr. Fenton will get one of these." Sam handed them out and said, "Mr. Fenton the last gun is for you. I don't think I need to tell you how it works." Jack looked like a five year old on christmas morning as he watched Sam riffle through Danny's bag and pull out the Ghost Bazooka. Jack squealed like a little girl at the sight. Maddie had forbidden him from using the weapon because of the property damage it caused when he missed, but in the prison it wouldn't matter if he blew up anything extra.

Thoroughly amused by Jack's excitement Danny said, "I thought this could prove a good opportunity for you to use that, since there is way less stuff for you to blow up here. Besides what's the point of making a gun you're never going to use." Jack didn't care that he only had three guns the bazooka made him happy, and he was grinning wider that he had the whole trip so far.

Sam pulled out a thermos and said, "This is a very important, and arguably the most important weapon, and it requires a little more thought and reflexes to use. This is the Fenton Thermos, and yes I know it looks like a soup thermos, but in reality it is the most useful weapon. If you point the thermos at a weak ghost, take off the cap, fire it at a ghost, and then cap it, you will capture that ghost. This stops the ghosts from regaining their energy until you release them, so they can't attack again, but this weapon is very strategic. If a ghost is too strong I can escape. It has to be weakened before it can be captured, so I'm not giving this weapon to everyone." Sam nodded to herself that that was everything and then called names. "Nathan, Mikey, Lester, Mr. Lancer, Mrs. Fenton, and Dash will get one of these each, and the last thing we've already gone over is the Fenton Phones. There is a switch to turn it on and three channels to turn it to. We'll be using channel A, so Star, Mikey, Mr. Lancer, and Mrs. Fenton these are for you." That was the last of the equipment, and Sam's backpack was now empty.

Danny took a second to readjust everything they were carrying. He had Sam carry the first aid, Danny kept the water, and Tucker had the food. Everyone was exploring their weapons and figuring out how to carry them. It wasn't long before everyone was set to go, and Danny lead them back out to the path.

For the most part everyone was quiet, too much inside their own heads to talk, but for some that wasn't the case. The A-listers for one, Danny was discovering that they all kind of acted as one mind sharing their thoughts in their little bubbles of gossiping, and right now they were all discussing why the trio was so well prepared, and how wimpy Fenton could be a wanted criminal. It just didn't add up for them. Not that it added up for anyone, but the nerds were definitely more open to the idea that Danny wasn't a wimp. The nerds and Mr. Lancer was silent, the later because he was thinking about his latest read the unpublished Shakespearean play. Jack and Maddie stayed quiet for a lot longer than Danny expected, but eventually they became more vocal.

After about half an hour Jack and Maddie started to mumble and whisper to each other their thoughts on everything they had learned about their son. It was amazing, when they thought about the massive amount of new information, that it all happened in under 24 hours. First they learned Danny had been to the ghost zone many times. Then he easily took charge of the entire group including the three adults in a way where no one questioned his authority. Then last night they'd met one of his ghostly allies who was kind to them and let them into his home or lair as they called it. The most amazing part, however was after they entered the ghost's lair. Danny became a whole different person.

Firstly Danny automatically assumed command even though at that point his role was loosely undefined up to that point. He stopped Jack and Maddie from shooting the ghost and then he negotiated a reasonable trade with the ghost to get them a safe place to stay for the night. Also the ghost seemed to have such a high level of respect for Danny. He even went as far as to ask Danny's permission to take Mr. Lancer out of the room. Then they had a whole conversation in what Maddie swore was Latin, and that was before they even went to bed.

Just minutes ago Danny, Sam, and Tucker had instructed everyone on what they were going to do today, and they'd handed out weapons they'd stolen. They'd told everyone that Danny was a wanted criminal who'd been arrested and broken out of prison multiple times. It seemed that they didn't even know their baby boy any more. When had he become so secretive, and why?

Jack and Maddie were discussing all of that when Jack decided to ask Danny a clarifying question, "Danno, were you speaking Latin back there?"

"Yeah." Danny answered.

"Where did you learn it son?" Jack asked excitedly.

Danny smiled at his dad's enthusiasm and decided to answer truthfully. "Frostbite, my ghost friend who is going to get us home, taught me. After all where better to learn a dead language than from a dead person."

In Jack's excitement of learning more about ghosts he forgot to ask more about the secrets Danny was keeping. Jack contemplated, "That's so cool! I wonder if there's anything else ghosts could teach?"

"Of course there is, Mr. Fenton." Tucker said, "A, there's more than one dead language, and besides ghosts have a lot of skills."

"Like what?" Jack said.

"Like Ember gave Youngblood guitar lessons, and Comet is a fantastic Biochemist. Nix is teaching Tucker everything he knows about mechanics, and I can't count the subjects Danny and Frostbite have touched on." Sam said.

Maddie hadn't forgotten that they were supposed to be getting more information about Danny and raised an eyebrow and said, "I'm starting to think you three don't just spend too much time in the Ghost Zone, but that you prefer the Ghost Zone."

Danny surprised everyone by simply saying, "Why shouldn't I?" The question caught everyone off guard, and not just because Danny was admitting he did prefer the ghost zone, but because it was a very good question. Everyone, save Danny's parents, knew Danny was incessantly bullied. He got terrible grades, and it was starting to dawn on most that Danny's parents had to be at least neglectful to not notice everything Danny had been doing.

Danny's parents were the only people to answer the question. "There are plenty of reasons honey. You can't survive in the Ghost Zone. It doesn't have the natural resources for a human. And of course if you're spending time here then it's taking away time from things like your education, which you need if you want to become an astronaut." That point caused Danny to sigh sadly and Sam smiled sympathetically to her boyfriend and pulled him in a comforting side hug. Unfortunately the interaction didn't go unnoticed by Maddie who asked, "What's wrong Danny?"

Tucker shook his head sadly and Sam's face formed a scowl, but Danny's was blank when he said, "Nothing is wrong mom." In truth Danny didn't like to be reminded of his childhood dream to become an astronaut. Danny had long ago been forced to give up his dream. His grades were too poor, and the ghost wouldn't let up long enough for him to feel comfortable leaving Amity for a week, let alone the time it would take to go to college, and enter the astronaut program. So Danny let it go, but it still made him sad sometimes.

Nathan, Mikey, and Lester were beginning to be able to tell when Danny was lying out right. You couldn't tell from Danny's expression, but his friends gave him sympathetic looks whenever he lied, like he was being forced to lie. This was definitely one of those moments. Sam look angry with the elder Fentons and Tucker just looked sad for Danny, but all Maddie had said was that Danny needed to study to be an astronaut. Why was that sad?

There was a pause in the conversation as Maddie waited for Danny to say more, but when he didn't she continued the herself. "Besides that Ghosts are nothing more than a mimicry of sentient life." She didn't notice Danny flinch, but all the nerds, the secret trio, half the A-list, and Mr. Lancer did. "I have to admit after seeing the ghost we just stayed with there is the very real possibility that not all ghosts are evil, but that doesn't mean they're sentient beings. They are simply ectoplasmic manifestations of post human consciousness." Danny flinched again, and this time everyone except the Fentons noticed. "So my question is, why would you prefer the Ghost Zone to Earth?"
Everyone outside the Fentons now knew that Danny was here because he was ignored or bullied by almost everyone he knew on Earth, where as here he was treated better. Danny answered his mom as diplomatically and truthfully as possible, "I have plenty of responsibilities that tie me to Earth mom, but I have more friends in the ghost zone. I hope by the end of this trip I can convince you that ghosts are in fact sentient and emotional beings." Danny added the second sentence to draw attention away from him personally. It of course worked and Maddie dissolved into lecture mode scolding Danny on the laws of ghosts based on the theorems of sound research.

The class was impressed by Danny's answer. They knew it was the truth, and yet he stated the truth in a way that didn't really answer Maddie's question, and immediately he distracted her completely by challenging her theory. Mr. Lancer was the most impressed. He didn't have as much sleep as he would have liked, but that was shutting down the usually incessant chatter of his brain and allowing him to really focus on what was going on around him. In freshman year Danny had shown just as much if not more potential than his sister, but he seemed to suddenly lose his brilliance. It wasn't that he stopped trying exactly, though he most assuredly could have been doing more, it was that he just started getting low grades. One day A's the next day C's and D's, but now Danny seemed just as smart as ever, but if that was the case why wasn't he doing better in school. The kid could learn Latin for God's sake, but not mid-century romanticism?

Maddie eventually stopped her rant and Jack began asking more questions about the ghost zone. Whether ghosts were eil or not was not Jack's biggest concern at the moment. He was more interested in learning everything his son knew. What were the purple doors? Why was everything floating? What created the paths? How many ghosts did Danny know? That last question Danny danced around saying that he knew many ghosts, but he didn't really answer how many. The class wavered between listening to Danny's descriptions of everything in the ghost zone. Lester thought it would be super cool it you could somehow map the natural portals and use them to time travel, Tucker snorted and disagreed, but gave no reasons.

Jack was about to ask another question about it there was naturally occurring plants in the ghost zone, but Danny spoke first. Danny stopped walking and signaled everyone else to do the same before he said, "Alright everyone. This is the edge of Walker's territory. From this point and for the next half mile we will be running. I want you to have your weapons out, and stay with the group." Danny looked each person in their eyes and then said, "Are you ready?" Everyone nodded so Danny said, "Let's go."