Chapter 11: Explosions

I remind you of the days you poured your heart in two

But you never tried

I've fallen from grace

Took a blow to my face

I've loved and I lost

I've loved and I lost

Explosions

"I never want to see that woman again," Danny complained with a shudder.

"It wasn't that bad," I said. We ended up having to do extra laps among other activities, and Testlaff was noticeably harder on us.

I usually didn't have a problem with that kind of stuff. I actually ran and worked out a lot in my spare time. Danny did okay, considering he was still recovering from a major injury. As for Tucker, well he did as well as he usually did...which is not really...good.

Tucker groaned loudly. "That was horrible."

"Tucker, stop being dramatic," I said, rolling my eyes at him. "I don't get it. I've seen the way you outrun Dash when he's coming after you. How are you so bad at gym?"

"It's all about the motivation, Sam," Tucker said as if this was obvious. "I happen to like my head attached to my body, so of course I'm going to run faster."

"Wait, Dash bullies you too?" Danny asked, sounding outraged by this.

Tucker shrugged. "Occasionally. He picks on everybody."

"Do the teachers know about this?"

"He's the star quarterback," I supplied, unable to stop the hard edge in my voice. It was annoying how much leeway the jocks and cheerleaders got from the faculty; something that continuously pissed me off.

"Of course," Danny said bitingly. "Well, we're gonna have to do something about that."

"I like the sound of that," Tucker agreed excitedly.

"Guys, I really don't think we should be thinking about getting back at Dash right now," I said. "We have bigger things to worry about."

"Sam," Tucker defended, "this is a matter of justice." Despite what he said, I could tell he was starting to deflate, probably thinking about all the other things we had to worry about as well.

"I bet," I said sarcastically. "But, we will get to that noble cause after we're done with this one."

"Speaking of noble causes," Danny intervened, stopping in front of a very familiar building, Fenton Works.

"Okay, you guys, remember, we don't know anything about the mission," I said. "We just want to help because of what we heard."

"Right," Danny said.

"We better let Sam do the talking," Tucker said. "You know, since Danny sucks at lying, and I don't really know these people."

"I am not a bad liar!" Danny protested, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Why do you think that?"

"It's okay, man," Tucker smirked. "You can't be great at everything."

"I pretty sure I am though," Danny said cockily.

"Yeah, except for lying," Tucker quipped back just as confidently.

Danny was about to retort back, but I cut in. "Can you two stop being stupid?" I cut my eyes at both of them, glaring. "Come on."

I rang the doorbell quickly with both boys behind me.

There was a loud resounding boom from inside the house before the door was opened, revealing Mrs. Fenton. She pulled her hood back at the sight of us, revealing short red hair and welcoming violet eyes. "Danny? Sam? What are you two doing here?" She looked back at Tucker questioningly.

"Mrs. Fenton?" I said, drawing her attention back to me. "We need to talk to you about something important." I tried to pull on a worried/serious expression, which really wasn't that hard, considering this was really serious.

"Oh, okay," Mrs. Fenton said, her tone sounding confused. She stood aside, opening the door wider. "Come in, kids."

We walked through the door, following Danny's mom through the house to the living room. All of us squeezing on the sofa, I was in the middle of both boys, as Mrs. Fenton took a seat in the large cushioned chair across from us.

I was about to open my mouth to say something, but Mrs. Fenton beat me to it. "First, I will like to know the name of your other friend. I believe we haven't met." Mrs. Fenton was now looking expectantly at Tucker.

Tucker smiled. "My name's Tucker Foley, Mrs. Fenton. I've been friends with Sam and Danny for a long time."

I smiled slightly at Tucker's lie. He was always good at thinking on his feet when it came to this kind of stuff.

I looked over at Danny to see him smiling too, but he looked kind of nervous as well, probably from being in such close proximity with his mom.

"Tucker," Mrs. Fenton nodded, with a smile. "Nice to meet you." She turned back to me. "Okay, Sam, what is it you want to tell me."

"We saw something the other day," I began. "There was this fight that we saw, between Phantom and this other ghost."

"Phantom?" Mrs. Fenton interrupted, her interest peaked.

"Yeah," I said. "But, it's not really about him. It's about what the other ghost was saying. He was trying to taunt Phantom or something. And, he mentioned that the people who were kidnapped are still alive. In the Ghost Zone," I said, trying to come off as if I had no idea they already knew this.

Mrs. Fenton looked at us steadily for a long time, her expression calculating. After a few moments, she let out a breath. "We know."

"You know?" I asked, playing along.

"Yes," she said, "we've been planning a rescue mission. It will take place tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Danny breathed, his eyes bugging out. "You are planning to go into the Ghost Zone tomorrow?"

"That is the plan," Mrs. Fenton said, her attention turning to Danny.

"Is there any way we can help?" I asked. This was not good. We didn't plan on the mission being so soon. We had to get in somehow, to get all the information.

Mrs. Fenton gave me an unsure look. "Sam, I don't know if you realize how dangerous this is. These are ghosts." She looked over at Danny, giving him an appraising look mixed with a deterring one. "I know you have fought a ghost before, but this is way over your head. Even if you have some potential, Danny, I can't let you or your friends in on this."

"We don't want to go in, we just want to help from the outside," Danny said, giving her an urging look.

"Yeah," Tucker joined in. "You must need some help conducting it all. Somebody to monitor whats going on."

Mrs. Fenton was silent.

"We really want to help, Mrs. Fenton," I said earnestly, willing her to listen. "All those people. We can't just walk away knowing this. We have to help in some way."

Mrs. Fenton sighed, defeated. "Okay, okay. You can help." She looked at us grudgingly, but a slow smile was spreading on her face, "I can see you want to honestly help, and I'm not going to lie, it's good to see a couple of teenagers who care so much. I'm not going turn that away."

I smiled.

Mrs. Fenton stood, giving all of us an eager smile. "Well, if you are going to help, might as well start now." She began to walk towards the basement, where Danny was taken when he was hurt.

We all looked at each other. Danny was the first to rise; Tucker and I followed him down.

When we arrived at the bottom of the steps, it was like we were transported into a middle of a tornado. Tons of people dressed in full hunter's gear were hurrying around the basement. Some were holding mounds of files; others were talking back and forth with one another, making large hand gestures. Everybody was doing their own designated task, but the looks on all of their faces were the same, determined and frantic. It was clearer than ever that they needed all the help they could get.

Mrs. Fenton turned to us but eyed the operants every so often; she obviously wanted to join them in the planning of the mission.

I could hear Mr. Fenton's booming voice in the middle of the swarm but couldn't make out what he was saying. Meanwhile, Tucker and Danny were transfixed with the chaos around us, their eyes roaming sporadically back and forth, following the bustling ghosthunters.

Mrs. Fenton cleared her throat, more to catch the boys' attention than mine. "As you can probably see, we really need all the help we can get."

"What can we do?" Danny asked, seeming to feel what exactly his mother was feeling. He probably wanted to rescue these people even more than her, and that was saying a lot because with how Mrs. Fenton was so intense about this, anybody could tell this was something very important to her.

Mrs. Fenton smiled slightly at Danny; it looked like it was forced for his benefit. "We need help with the wiring and assembly of the Fenton Phones. They are small two-way communication devices that fit in your ear; we need all the communication we can get and would like for every hunter to have one when in the Zone. We don't want any man left behind or any other mishaps. We also need to load the ecto-guns with there ectoranium supply boxes. They are pretty easy and don't take that long, but not a lot of us can do it at the moment because we are still trying to tackle the bigger obstacles if we want to be done in time for the mission tomorrow afternoon."

Tucker and I both blinked at the woman; I looked at Danny to see that he wasn't fazed to the point where he actually seemed to know what she was talking about. I wasn't surprised by this though considering he was a Fenton after all. He probably learned all of this stuff when he was a kid.

"Follow me," Mrs. Fenton said. Without missing a beat she turned away, leading us to a table which was covered in stacks of ecto-guns, these small glowing green boxes, and these weird looking earphones with a mike sticking out from one end, which I assumed to be the Fenton Phones.

She gave us a few instructions coupled with some demonstrations before hurrying away to join her husband in directing the hunters.

"Well," Danny said picking up a Fenton Phone, starting to tweak the wires with practiced hands to put it in working condition, "that was a lot easier than I thought."

"Yeah," Tucker said, picking up an Fenton Phone as well. He looked just as practiced as Danny, which was expected since he was so tech savvy. I, on the other hand, wasn't, so I picked up an ecto-gun and started loading the ectoranium charged clips to the guns, which, as Mrs. Fenton explained, was what made them able to fire energy that could harm a ghost. Even though Danny didn't show any signs of being intimidated by this, I was determined to not let him touch any of them.

"Tucker, please don't say it was 'almost too easy,'" I said, still eyeing up the gun to make sure I put it in right, "because then I would have to punch you."

"I wasn't going to say that," he defended, but I could tell by his tone that he really was.

Danny chuckled, but it cut off. I looked up to see why. His expression was thoughtful but very serious as if he was thinking of something very disturbing. "What?" I asked, eyeing him.

"The mission is going to be tomorrow..." he trailed off, making a face.

"I know," I breathed, feeling the pit of my stomach twist in dread. "Doesn't leave us a lot of time."

"It makes sense though," Tucker said, plucking another Fenton Phone from the pile; I think it was his tenth one by now. "They want to rescue them as soon as possible; who knows what they have been going through for the past couple of years."

Danny winced at this; no doubt taking what Tucker said personally, which was just like him. I wanted to say something to him about how it wasn't his fault but decided not to because I didn't want to say it here.

"This kind of changes things though," Tucker went on, oblivious to Danny's reaction. "We weren't really expecting it to be so soon; we really didn't plan anything out past this point. I mean I thought we were going to have time to figure things out."

"Guess not," I said.

"I don't want them going in the Ghost Zone at all," Danny said abruptly.

We both looked over at him questioningly. It wasn't the first time he said something along those lines, but really, how could we pull this off with just the three of us? We needed more hands. "What are you talking about?" I asked, wanting to see what he had in mind. I was all for these people not going into the Ghost Zone if it was a plan that wasn't stupid and could actually work.

"I don't like it," Danny said, his expression grim. "It's just too much of a trap, and the fact that they are just going into it without even thinking just makes it more likely to fail. The ghosts know they're coming, but they won't expect only one person." We both glared at him, making him quickly correct himself. "Or three." He gave us a sheepish look, scratching the back of his neck.

"Okay, so how are we going to get them out?" Tucker asked. "Not like we are going to have enough hands."

Danny smiled. "See those pods over their?"

Tucker and I looked over to see at least ten huge machine pods in the back of the basement. Most of the hunters were working on them.

"They can transported the people," Danny said, "and best thing is they have an auto pilot."

Tucker was the first to comment after looking over the pods scrutinizingly. "Dude, I think we can actually pull this off," he said excitedly, giving Danny a high five.

I loaded another gun, silently turning over the plan in my head. It was pretty good, but there was only one problem. "I know you are going to want to go in there as..." I paused, looking around me. "Phantom, but these people only know you as Danny right now. There is no way the three of us are going to get a unit of ghost hunters to stand down from this."

Danny rubbed his neck, nervously eyeing me. "Yeah, I kinda figured something out, but it's kinda risky."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How risky?"

"Not that much."

"You saying that just makes me think it's really risky."

"It's true, dude," Tucker intervened, eyeing Danny worriedly. He wasn't a stranger to Danny's crazy ideas. "The more you try to downplay it, the worse it is."

Danny rolled his eyes. "It's not that bad."

"Then, what is it?" I asked, loading another gun.

He gave me a weird expression but shook his head. "Well, what if Phantom came to them wanting to help. I'm pretty sure I can persuade them."

"You want to walk in a room filled with armed ghosthunters as a ghost," I said levelly. I just really couldn't believe the idiocy in this enough to give a decent mortified expression.

"Yes," Danny said warily.

I opened my mouth to say how completely stupid and reckless that was, but he quickly cut me off. "Sam, it's the only way," he said. "And, maybe this will work out. It's a strong possibility." I glared at him harder, gripping the gun in my hand tighter than necessary. He looked over at Tucker desperately. "A little help please."

Tucker smirked, putting his hands up. "I think it's a good idea, but you're going to have to convince your girlfriend. And, trust me, I know from experience, there is nothing I can do to convince her."

Danny turned back to me, his eyes wide and hypnotic. "Sam, there is no other way."

"We will find one," I answered.

"There's not enough time," he said.

"No, Danny; I don't like the odds."

"The odds are better this way than the other."

I couldn't say anything to that because I knew he was right. There was more of a chance the hunters would let Phantom go in by himself in place of them than the human him. I knew that much was true, but I didn't like it at all. I shook my head, but I knew it was over. I knew I had to agree with him. Tucker was already on board with this, now it was up to the last third of the group to give in.

"Sam?" He said softly. I looked up to see his blue eye kindly looking back at me; they were warm liquid blue filled with pleading. For the first time, I didn't feel comforted by their embrace. I felt deep dread. "It's going to be okay, I promise." He said, smiling warmly at me. "Besides I got you guys here with me."

I nodded, trying to hide what I was feeling. I forced a grim smile.

"Well," Tucker interrupted. "We don't really have a lot of time as it is. When are we going to do this?"

"Now," Danny answered.

I nodded. I much rathered now than tomorrow; it would give me less time to think about what was going to happen and the last thing we wanted was to mess up the mission by Danny's sudden appearance as Phantom. "You leave then come back. We will be here waiting."

Tucker put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "If anything happens, we sure as hell will be here."

Danny nodded before leaving. He quickly exchanged goodbyes with the Fentons before dashing up the stairs.

Tucker and I exchanged worried looks. "I thought this day wasn't going to get anymore climatic," Tucker said. "Boy, was I freaking wrong."

I tried to smile at his joke. I knew he was trying to make the situation better but I was really dreading this.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a doorbell ringing throughout the house and basement included. Everybody looked up momentarily but then got back to work. Mrs. Fenton rushed up the stairs to answer the door.

I gave Tucker a perplexed look. "Did he really just ring the doorbell?"

Tucker shrugged. "Maybe he wanted to be polite."

A couple minutes passed before I saw two shadows coming down the stairs. I strained my ears to hear two sets of footsteps.

Danny appeared first, looking at little bit on edge but trying to play if off while Mrs. Fenton followed, holding an ecto-gun to his back, between his shoulder blades. Her expression was confused and doubtful, but she was obviously on edge from this bizarre predicament.

Tucker and I stood frozen where we were, ready to jump in if things turned for the worst.

It wasn't until the odd pair reached the last of the steps that everybody looked up. Some gasped, others yelled in surprise, but everybody took out their weapons in response, aiming them at Danny. His hands flew up in surrender, showing them that he didn't want to fight.

Danny looked at them nervously. The room was deathly silent. "Uh..." he said, looking very uncomfortable. "Hi?"

The hunters exchanged wary/confused glances while Mr. Fenton made his way up to his wife and Danny, looking very confused. "What's going on, Mads?" He eyed Phantom warily, not really sure what to make of this. "Why is Phantom here?"

"He rang the doorbell..." Mrs. Fenton trailed off, realizing just how crazy that sounded. She shook her head. "He said he wanted to help...with the mission."

"Actually, I wanted to go instead," Danny clarified, having his normal amount of subtly as ever which was none at all.

If it was possible, the room became quieter.

"No," Mr. Fenton said. "You are a ghost. There is no way you are getting near those people. You probably put them there yourself."

Danny winced, the blow a little too low, but he recovered. "I didn't put them there," he said, his shoulder sagging, he had a pained expression, "but I could have stopped it. I just wasn't strong enough, and I'm sorry for that."

Clearly, nobody knew what to make of this.

"Look," he said, his hands still raised in surrender, trying to indicate that he wasn't going to attack them. "If you go in there, you won't be able to make it out. They are expecting you to try and rescue them. It's a trap."

"And, why should we trust you, ghost?" Mrs. Fenton spat, glaring at Danny, gun still trained on him, she edged in front of him so that he could see her.

Danny sighed but narrowed his eyes determinedly. "You don't have to trust me. Either way you win. Let me go in and try to rescue them. If it's a trap and I get caught, you won't have to deal with me and you know what you're up against. If I get through and save them, you will get all of the captives without sacrificing any of your men."

I could see Mrs. Fenton was starting to waver, her gun tipping down an inch. Danny must have seen it too because he took this opportunity to press further. His eyes developed a strained intensity, the kind that made you unable to look away. The green depths seemed to grow brighter. "You know it's the best choice. I can get pass them undetected, and this way nobody gets hurt."

"Why do you care so much?" Mr. Fenton urged, his gun thrusting closer to Danny. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tucker wince.

It took all the will power I had to not get in between Danny and his gun-wielding father.

Danny looked at him steadily, seemingly unaffected by the gun so close to him. "Believe it or not, but I actually care about the well-being of others, especially of those in this town." His serious expression changed; he shrugged with a light smile. "Besides you've got nothing to lose; the worse that could happen is that I could get caught."

He said this so lightly and carefree that all the humans present just blinked at him, not really knowing how to conclude what just came out of his mouth.

I fumed at him silently. Idiot! Did he even care at all what happened to him? Stupid, reckless son of a-

"I still don't trust you," Mr. Fenton's voice boomed. He looked at Danny closely, eye him up. "But I see no reason why not." He turned toward his wife. "Mads?"

Mrs. Fenton glared at Danny with an analytical expression on her face, sizing him up. "We can work with him...for now." She thrust her gun at Danny's chest, who flinched away out of reflex. She got in his face, glaring menacingly at him. "But know this: one mistake, one mess-up, give me one reason to think this is all a trick, and you will truly be wishing you were destroyed by the time I'm done with you."

Danny only nodded, choosing-thank God-to be silent.

Mrs. Fenton straightened, her gun was still positioned on Danny but not in so much of a threatening way.

Danny relaxed slightly, still staring at his mom and dad.

I wanted to move closer to him for support but knew this wasn't the time.

He smiled for the first time at them, sticking his hand out toward, "So we have a deal?"

Mrs. Fenton regarded the outstretched hand for a painfully long silent moment before grasping it. She seemed like she didn't really want to but did it anyway. "Deal," she confirmed.

The room was still in silence; all the hunters' expression were shocked as to what was going on. After all, it wasn't everyday you saw a ghosthunter shaking hands with a ghost; it just was too weird of a sight.

"So the mission is tomorrow," Danny began, obviously growing uncomfortable with all the staring (glaring in some cases).

Mrs. Fenton nodded, her expression calculating. "Yes, despite the sudden changes," she said, eyeing Danny meaningfully, although I couldn't tell if it was in a good way or bad way, "we are still going as schedule. I don't want those people to be in that place any longer."

"Do you know where they are being held?" Danny asked; these were one of the many questions we were wondering while planning. In a way, I felt happy that Danny did do this because this way we got all the information we needed without having to be conspicuous about it.

Mrs. Fenton gave him a look. "Shouldn't you know?" I could practically hear her ending off this questions with the statement: you're a ghost, as if this was something he should know just because of what he was.

Danny shook his head. "That's one of the reasons why I need your help. I didn't even know they were alive until a couple of days ago."

Mrs. Fenton nodded, probably thinking that Danny's story matched up with ours. "They are being held at Walker's prison. Have you heard of him?"

Danny nodded, making a face. "Yeah, I had a couple of run-ins with him. I really don't like him, but luckily, I know the layout of the prison."

Mrs. Fenton raised an eyebrow. "You were there before?"

"It was really stupid," Danny explained, shrugging. "Apparently I brought 'illegal contraband' in the Ghost Zone, but really, I was trying to get out of there. I kinda accidentally went in there." Danny started rubbing his neck almost looking embarrassed.

Mrs. Fenton, despite herself, smirked. "Well then, I guess you will be able to navigate a lot easier. As for the rest of the mission, everything will still go as planned. We will use these pods," she pointed in the direction of the large transportation units, "but they will be put on auto pilot. All we need you to do is get the captives out and loaded into them, and they will be transported back here. We will be waiting on the perimeter of the portal just in case anything happens. I still want people in there, but they won't go in deep unless needed."

Danny nodded quickly at this, eyeing the pods. "Okay then, I guess I will see you tomorrow at..." He looked at her questioningly.

"At 3:30 P.M.," she finished for him. "We will be starting Phase One at 5:00 but I want you there earlier because we will probably need to go over some further instructions."

"Okay, see ya then." He gave Tucker and me a quick glance but then looked back at his parents, giving them an off-handed solute, before flying through the ceiling.

That's when the whole room exploded, breaking violently free from it's silence.

Tucker and I exchanged looks before sneaking out. With all the excitement, the room filled with hunters didn't even notice our exit.

By the time we got out of the house, Danny was already waiting for us in human form, leaning against the brick molding of the house. He looked up at us the minute we came out. He smirked, "How did I do?"

"You have just as much subtly as an exploding bomb," I said, shutting the door behind me.

"So I take it that I blew you away?" Danny said, his smile only growing wider. I could tell he was in good spirits with how well everything went; we were expecting the worst case scenario after all. It was nice to see we had some good luck for a chance. Although, I was still on edge as to how long this shakey truce was going to last, but I didn't want to be the one to douse everybody's hopes, mainly Danny's.

"Well, it was pretty mind blowing," Tucker gave in, "but at least it worked."

"Okay," I said, "now they are expecting Phantom to go on the mission. What about us?"

Danny opened his mouth to answer, but I cut in quickly before he could say anything remotely regarding only him going into the Ghost Zone. "And don't you say we're not going." I gave him a stern look, letting him know that door was officially closed.

"I wasn't going to say that," he said, but I couldn't really tell if he was telling the truth or not.

Tucker snapped his fingers, a smile on his face. "The pods!"

"What?" I asked, not really following this random thought of his.

"We can hide on one of them," he clarified. "They will be going with him after all."

I grinned at Tucker. "That can actually work."

Danny nodded.

"Okay, then, it's official," I said. "We will come here after school. We will sneak into the pods before they go off, then rescue the captives."

Tucker nodded, then looked at the time. "Okay, I will see you guys tomorrow; I'm late for dinner." He turned from us; with a short wave in our direction, he ran off towards his house.

Danny cocked his head at the disappearing form of Tucker. "That was quick."

"That's how Tucker is when it comes to food, especially his mom's cooking," I said, smiling.

We started walking in the opposite direction, both of us in thoughtful silence until he interrupted it. "Are we going to my house or yours?"

"Yours," I said, not knowing if I could handle my parents right now on top of everything else I was dealing with. I just didn't have the tolerance for it at the moment. I mean I loved them and all, but there was only so much of them I could take.

It was silent between us again, and it didn't break this time until we were entering his house. "You know for a second there, I thought your mom was really going to shoot you." I said as I followed him up the stairs and into his room. I kept playing over and over what happened at the basement transformed lab between his parents and his ghost self. And, even though I knew the outcome, I still felt sick thinking about all those guns pointed at him.

Danny chuckled. "I knew she wouldn't. One good thing about lack of subtly is that the other person is normally too surprised to even think properly. I knew I just had to get her thinking about the possibilities. My mom was always the logical one out of my parents, and the plan made sense."

"I don't know whether to be happy about that or not," I said, feeling my stomach tie into knots.

"Sam it's gonna be fine."

"What's gonna be fine?" A voice asked.

We both jumped, looking in the direction where it came from to see Jazz sitting on the couch with book in her hand looking up at us; from where I was standing I could make out the title of the book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts.

"Hey, Jazz," Danny said, not at all fazed by his sister being here. It was probably a regular occurrence; the siblings had a close relationship, close enough for her to probably have the extra key to his place.

"Hey," she said, getting up to meet us in the middle of the room. She crossed her arms. "So what happened today? I know you guys went to our parents; what did they say?"

She was trying to act casual, but it was clear to see that she was anything but that. She probably freaking out the whole time we were gone.

Danny winced, probably dreading just as much as me telling Jazz our change in plans, meaning the Fentons were now working with Phantom. "Well, we definitely made an impression."

Jazz's carefully composed smile melded into a frown, her lips pressing together, seeing the hesitance in both of us. "What did you do?"

"Jazz, you have to understand, they are going through with the mission tomorrow; there just wouldn't have been enough time," I explained, trying to make sense of the rash move we did. "We knew it was risky, but it really was the only way."

Jazz wasn't really paying attention to me; instead, she was glaring at her brother, practically demanding the answers from him. I had a feeling that no matter what he said, no matter how logical it sounded, she was still going to go off on him even if it did work.

Danny sighed. "I came to them as Phantom," Jazz drew in a sharp breath, but Danny quickly continued, "Look, it's not what you think, okay? It worked out, Jazz. They are letting me go in instead of the unit. It worked!"

Jazz was silent for a long moment, making it feel extra tense. I could see she was building up to her breaking point getting ready to blow. "That's not the point, Danny," she said quietly, but somehow it sounded more intimidating than the expected blow up.

"It is though," Danny said, his expression growing steely. "Those people are the point."

Jazz shook her head. "This is why I need to be with you, Danny. There could have been another way, one that didn't involve the possibility of you being torn apart molecule by molecule!" Her voice heightened at the end. Danny winced at the choice of words although I didn't really know why. I've heard worst threats before from the ghosthunters.

Danny looked at Jazz with a hurt expression, almost accusing in some way. Jazz only looked back at him unwavering, but she was starting to show regret of what she said. I honestly didn't really know what to make of this exchange.

Danny was about to say something but was interrupted by his ghost sense, his visible breath curling around in the air, hanging there as if it was a foreboding sign. "I got to go," he said, quickly changing into Phantom.

"This isn't over," Jazz said. Danny only nodded in her direction before leaving to deal with the ghost.

"You didn't have to be so hard on him," I said, eyeing Jazz. I could understand why she was worried and all, but it wasn't like it didn't work.

Jazz regarded me reproachfully then walked to the door, opening it to reveal the broken down stairs leading to the first floor of the house. She, then, looked back at me. "Come on, I don't want to wait for him in here."

She descended the stairs. I looked at her back for a long moment, wondering why exactly she said that but shrugged it off and followed her down.

I followed her to a separate room, one that lead off from the main entrance; I didn't notice it until now. I thought the whole first floor was run down in a desolate state, but this room, probably the only one, wasn't. It was fixed up just as nicely as Danny's, but it was obviously meant for Jazz.

The room mainly had bookshelves filled to the brim, most of the books were either on ghosts or psychology, although I didn't linger long on them. There was a small bed off to the side with simple turquoise blue bedding. Then there was a big, mahogany desk against one of the walls with stacks of books opened at random pages along with a laptop and a lamp that was turned on, giving the room a soft, comforting glow. Across from it, was a large, plumply cushioned chair, one that any book-lover would enjoy. The whole room practically screamed Jazz.

I gave her a questioning look as she sat at the desk. "You didn't think I was going to let him stay all alone here in the beginning did you?"

I shrugged, sitting on the cushioned chair across from her.

"He was only fourteen," she clarified.

I never really thought about that; Danny was dealing with this kind of stuff at such a young age. While I was worried about stuff like starting high school, he was worried about surviving.

"You don't get it now," Jazz began, her gaze serious. "I used to be like you. I used to get so caught up in the whole hero thing." She looked to the side. "Sometimes, I still do. It's great knowing that you are making a difference, but there is always something you have to give up. In my brother's case, it was pretty much everything."

"He doesn't seem to mind," I said, wanting to defend him in some way. I knew Danny had to have made this choice for some reason, but then again, it was not like he ever told me anything regarding this kind of stuff. I didn't even know about this room. It seemed to be such a small thing, but it bothered me.

"I really don't think he even realizes," Jazz said, shaking her head, she then gave me a stern look, one that could easily match her brother's, "but I do."

I heard the sound of stumbling feet coming from Danny's room. He was back. I looked at Jazz for second before getting up. I ran up the stairs, opening the door to his room.

"Danny?" I said, peering into the dark room. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Sam, just give me a minute, I'm fine," said a raspy voice. He sounded all wrong, as if he was choking on something. I recognized the pain in his voice instantly.

"Let me-"

The door closed abruptly in my face.

I stomped away, baring my teeth. I went back to Jazz, fuming all the way.

I threw my hands in the air, giving into my anger. "I feel like he's not telling me anything! Why is he being so difficult?"

Jazz looked up at me, a solemn expression on her face. She was still in the same mood as I left her but it seemed darker than before. She looked as if she'd asked herself the very same questions. "That's just how he is. Danny doesn't express himself well...at least not when it comes to his feelings or what he's going through. He believes he has to be this big, strong hero 24/7."

"Well, he needs to get it through his thick skull that he can't do this all by himself," I steamed, crossing my arms.

"Sam, Danny has been through a lot; and some things we will never know what happened to him," she said, her expression looked pained, eyes filled with a long lived worry. "Danny has always kept things to himself. He feels like he needs to protect everybody. I think there are even some things that he believes he shouldn't tell me, some things that might...scare me. Do you see what I mean now?"

"Jazz..." I wanted to comfort her, to tell her that was not true, but I couldn't because I felt the same way too. I felt like Danny was keeping things from me, holding back. I thought it was because he didn't trust me, but now, I wasn't so sure. Maybe, he thought he was protecting me.

Jazz looked at me steadily. "You are good for him, Sam. You and Tucker. He needs you two. I can't be the only one to care for him anymore; he needs more. He needs to know that it's not just me anymore. It's you guys too. Maybe if he knows...if he knows that you care too, he wouldn't be so reckless. So impulsive when he fights."

"What do you mean? He's always like that," I said, not really getting what she was talking about. Danny was just a naturally impulsive person, which got him into tons of trouble a lot of the time, but I never really thought of it as a bad thing because he always came out on top despite the risks.

Jazz's eyes filled with that same worry, but it seemed to grow deeper. "Over the years, I've noticed he's become more out of touch. He is becoming more reckless, taking stupid, unnecessary risks. It's scaring me to know that he really doesn't care about himself anymore."

I remembered the incident with Technus, how he almost killed himself. I looked at Jazz, realizing what she was talking about now.

"You've seen it too, haven't you?" she asked.

I nodded.

She let out a sigh as if the answer just burdened her more. "Danny, he doesn't realize. He thinks that he is expendable because he doesn't really have any ties to a family or really to anybody. I'm the only one. He doesn't think that if something happened to him it would affect others because he doesn't know people actually care about him." She fixed her eyes on me, her eyes were almost as unnerving as Danny's. They had that same grim seriousness his sometimes had when he talked about his responsibility to protect Amity. "That's why he needs you and Tucker. He needs to know that he is more important. He needs to stop thinking about the current battle and start thinking about the war. He doesn't realize that if he dies now, we are all doomed. He is the only one who can stop them." Jazz's hands tightened into fists, she closed her eyes as if in pain, "And, he needs to realize that he means more to us than some weapon, or some way to fight them. He is hope."

She opened her eyes, looking down at the ground. I could see unshed tears in her eyes, making them glassy. "And, he is my brother; I... I don't want to lose him again."

I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to not be awkward about it. Jazz was the first girl that I've ever been somewhat friends with. I wasn't used to comforting people, and I was terrible at it. "Don't worry, Jazz. He has us."

"He's in pain, Sam. That's one thing I do know. Although he doesn't show it, he's still a teenager, a kid, and he needs people there for him. I have a feeling this is only going to get worse if we don't help him."

That hit me, hard. My gut wrenched at those words. I didn't realize how serious this was, but then again, I did see first hand of how much he truly thought about his safety. "But, he's Danny," I whispered, still not wanting to believe what Jazz was saying despite my gut telling me she was right.

Jazz stared at me for a long time, the silence growing unbearable. I could feel the weight of her eyes more and more as the minutes passed. She finally heaved a sigh. "I know, that's what I keep telling myself," she said softly, her eyes becoming distant. "But, that's the problem too. Yeah, it's Danny, but now he is-the part of him that is selfless and wants to help-it's taking over him. He's just living for that, for others. And, it's not right; he's tearing himself apart. I just can't stand by and watch it anymore. It's just becoming too much."

I stared at her grimly, just looking at her tear filled eyes. My own were dry. "He's going to be okay, Jazz. He has us: you, me, and Tucker. And, I know none of us will let this happen. And, I sure as hell won't."

I turned away from the girl, heading up the stairs towards a certain halfa's room.

"What are you doing?" Jazz said.

I stopped, half turning towards her, my foot poised on the first step with my hand resting on the stairwell. "Making sure this will never happen again," I said as I began to ascend the stairs, my chin held high as I glared at his door. "It's time Danny opened up, and I'm not taking no for an answer."

I knocked sharply on the door; there was no answer, so I barged in, glaring in every direction until I found him sitting on his bed, focused on bandaging one of his arms.

I walked straight up to him with purposeful strides, still feeling extremely angry. I was tired of him trying to sugarcoat things for my expense. I had a right to know despite what he thought. It was time for him to stop it. I was just so tired of him keeping me out. I knew he didn't keep everything from me, but he left out the important parts of him. I thought I was beginning to know everything about him. I thought I was beginning to really know him, but then, I get blindsided. The thing was I knew Danny, but I didn't know the dark parts of him. I only knew the parts he wanted to show me. Well, it was time for him to just suck it up and show me even though it might not be easy on either of us.

By this point, I was standing over him, glaring down at him, but the minute he looked up at me, I started to lose my resolve.

His face was pale, looking pasty, and he just looked extremely exhausted. His half-lidded blue eyes were dull with both pain and fatigue. I looked further down to see the arm he was wrapping was already starting to stain the cloth red.

I tried to cling to my anger, knowing that I needed it in order to confront him, but it was a losing battle.

I sighed, suddenly forgetting what I was going to say. I had this long angry monologue planned out, but the words escaped me the minute I looked at him. I was suddenly just struck by the sadness of it all, the real emotion I was just trying to cover up with my anger. For the first time in my life, I felt like giving up. I felt like I wasn't good enough for him to tell me everything. Who was I to barge in and demand this kind of stuff just after knowing him for only a little while. I suddenly felt smaller.

"Sam?" Danny said, grabbing my hand, intertwining our fingers effortlessly as if they were always meant to be there. "Are you okay?"

I jerked my head to the side, taking in a sharp breath.

He pulled me down to the bed with him, pulling me in his arms, comforting me by rubbing soothing circles in my back. I wanted to pull away from him. I wanted to be angry with him, but I also wanted to stay exactly where I was, pretending I was just as big as him. "It's okay," he said, sounding like a broken mantra.

I shook my head, feeling my cheek rub against his chest. "No, it's not. Not if you're going to keep doing this."

That's he leaned back from me, so he could look my in the eye. He was giving me a confused face. "I'm not really following. What am I doing?"

"You're shutting me out."

Danny shook his head furiously. "I'm not shutting you out."

I looked at him condescendingly, thinking about what just happened minutes ago.

He seemed to be thinking about the same thing. "Look, Sam," he defended quickly, taking both of my hands in his, arms extended towards me, "I just didn't want you to see all of that. I was a mess."

I didn't really want to argue with him. I looked down at his extended arms laid out before me, trying to think of some way to tell him that he actually was and that he needed to start opening up.

"What is that?" I said, catching his hand and turning his arm over more in order to get a better look at what just caught my eye. It was a long, scar lining from the beginning of his wrist to the end of his forearm; it was almost as thick as my thumb. It took me aback for a second, considering this was the only mark on him. It wasn't gruesome or anything, but there was definitely a story behind it. And, it must have been a painful one since he seemed to heal without scarring. What could have permanently damaged him?

He sighed, his eyes staring at the scar as he fingered it.

His expression became distant, eyes still glued on the scar.

A whole minute passed until he finally looked up at me.

He sighed. "It was one of Vlad's punishments. He used some special cuffs on me, canceling out my powers. Basically, I had to heal from one of his beatings on my own without powers. I guess that meant scarring, but this is the only one. After, Vlad was more careful not to cause a lot of external damage, stuff that can scar. Said something about not wanting to 'make me any less perfect of a son,'" he looked up at me, a grim humor in his eyes. "I guess his stupid high regard for looks kept me alive, or if that's what you can call the state I was in during those months."

I could see the pain in his eyes; it was the first time I saw such a raw emotion in him. He always seemed so carefree, but I knew it was just a charade. Danny had his childhood ripped away from him along with everything he knew and loved, and it was replaced with Vlad and pain.

He had the same pained expression on his face as if he was remembering what happened to him, but this time the moment went by longer until I had to say something to him. "Danny?" I put my other hand on his arm, trying to shake him out of it.

He looked up at me, a bit startled. "Danny, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he breathed, looking a bit dazed and pale.

I looked at him worriedly, then looked back at his arm, remembering what he said, of how he got the scar.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, still looking down at his arm, the scar. I couldn't tear my eyes away from it.

"It happened a long time ago," he breathed.

"But it still happened," I said. My hand was still around his wrist, holding it so that his forearm was facing up. I fingered the scar with my other hand, gently skimming over it with the faintest touch I could manage. He stiffened in my hold, as if expecting me to recoil, but I ignored it, massaging the flesh with my fingers. It was smooth and rough at the same time. Smooth from the long period of time it resided on his arm, the mending of the skin. Rough from the way it stood out from the rest of his flesh; it showed he was broken here and how he had to be fixed. It was different.

And, it occurred to me that this was the first sign that I saw how truly, deeply this affected him. "It's not fair."

"What's not fair?" he questioned, I could tell by his tone that I brought him out of his thoughts, startling him.

"That this happened," I said, still looking at his arm as I traced his skin. His arm was now relaxed, settled on top of my thighs.

"Why?"

"It shouldn't have to you. Not to you," I shook my head, trying to get rid of the disturbing images, of Danny as a little boy with a towering shadow standing over him, knife in hand. I suddenly felt extreme anger at the unfairness of it all.

"It's okay, Sam," he said, trying to comfort me.

That's when I felt the tears prick my eyes. "No, it's not okay, Danny."

Not okay at all. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve any of this. "And you won't even let any of us help you."

"But, I don't need help, Sam. Talking about it..." he trailed off, trying to find the right words. "It wouldn't be good for you. I don't want to put that on anybody's shoulders."

"You need it more than you think, Danny. I saw the look in your eyes when you were looking at your arm," I said. "And, you have to tell somebody; you have to let this out."

"It will hurt," he whispered.

I looked at him, at his pure blue eyes. "No, it will help you. You have to let me in, please. You can tell me."

"I didn't mean me," his voice was quiet as he looked down at my hands on his arm. He placed a gentle hand on one of mine, playing with the fingers. "I mean it will hurt you."

I took his chin, forcing him to look in my eyes. "I care about you, Danny. And, I want to help. I want to know about this part of your life. I feel like you are closing part of yourself away from me, and in the end, that will hurt both of us. I want all of you, not some."

I stared at him for the longest time, his eyes becoming even more unnerving. I could swear they were changing colors from deep blues to light shades of sapphire, swirling together to make it seem like they were even more alive.

After the longest time, he sighed. His shoulders sagging in surrender.

I released his chin, and he looked down, his hands still grasped around one of mine.

"After the accident, while in the hospital, I woke up not feeling too great; I felt like I was burned alive. Then, I saw him there, just staring at me. I didn't really know what was going on at the time; he kept talking about a lot of things that I didn't understand. I lost consciousness soon; then I woke up in a huge bed. I was at his house. Vlad was there again, but this time I was more coherent and could understand what he was saying. He kept talking about how I was like him, a halfa, and trying to explain everything. At first, I thought he was crazy, but then he pointed me towards the mirror. I was in ghost form. That's when I believed him," he looked at me momentarily, before looking down once more at our intertwined hands, starting to fiddle with one of my fingers. "I was scared out of my mind and didn't know how to change back. He helped me. When I changed back, that's when everything felt wrong. I looked normal again, but I didn't feel normal. I couldn't control my powers, and it felt like I was too cold or too hot. I did not feel great at all. Vlad told me it was because my body was trying to get used to the change and that it would go away soon.

"He brought me to his study where he started to really explain everything. I thought he was helping me at the time, you know since he was the only one besides me to become this, but then, he told me that he had me declared dead and that he wanted me to live with him." Danny lightly shuddered, scrunching his nose in disgust at the thought. "That's when I realized how crazy he was. He wanted me to forget my family, to be his apprentice. I refused, but he didn't take no for an answer. I tried to fight him, but I was really outmatched." He stopped abruptly, breathing in and out sharply.

"Then, what happened," I urged, wanting him to go on. I started to rub soothing circles in his hands with my thumb.

He took in a breath before continuing, refusing to make any eye contact with me. "He locked me in a ghost proof room for six months. He put these ghost proof cuffs on my wrist too, once I started to get control over my powers." He took in another breath as if this was really difficult for him to say out loud. "There was no light, hardly any food, and he would come in at least once a day to try and 'convince' me to join him. His methods usually involved beating me senseless to the point where I didn't even know where I was half the time after. All the while, he would tell me his plans: killing my dad, marrying my mom, those were the main things involved in most of them along with manipulating people to do his dirty work.

"After six months give or take, I realized I wasn't helping anybody just being there. I needed to get out, and in order to do that, I had to give in." His eyes hardened, the blue depths crystalizing, appearing icy. His expression was stormy. "If there was any other way... I still regret doing that, even pretending to be on his side for even a minute." He shook his head. "The things that I had to listen to, about his deep hatred for my dad or creepy to the point of obsessive infatuation with my mom. And, then, on top of all of that, the training he put me through, how I always had to listen to him be so high and mighty, about how everything I was, was because of him.

He looked up at me then to read my expression, but my face was carefully composed, despite the raging anger I was starting to harbor towards this Vlad Masters. "I finally got out when he asked me to kill my dad. I had enough. I fought him on my parents' roof. I was starting to win, but Vlad got the upper-hand quickly. I was still young and still trying to figure out my powers. I was pretty sure I was going to die; I probably would have too if it wasn't for my parents coming in. They attacked Vlad, and I was able to sneak off.

"From that point on, everything's fuzzy. I somehow landed in the backyard," he said, thinking back to the moment. "And that's when Jazz found me and found out everything."

He let out a breath, looking unsteady but I could swear I saw a bit of relief in his eyes.

He was looking at me, expecting me to say something, but I couldn't. There were just too many emotions running through me. I was angry and outraged, but God, my heart was pounding. I was just staring at him, wanting him. Wanting to comfort him. I wanted him to know that I cared; I cared so much that it was killing me to see him like this. It was killing me not touching me.

I lurched forward, taking his face in my hands, and kissed him. I kissed him with everything I had, I focused everything that I was feeling, every single emotion was put into his lips. I felt him kiss me back with just as much ferocity as me, his hands gripping the small of my back and head, sending shivers of pleasure through me.

We fell into the bed, our bodies entangled, my legs curled around his. I just wanted to be closer to him, and I didn't want this to ever stop. I didn't want to think about anything else but him. I just wanted him.

His strong arms tightened around me as he deepened the kiss.

Our hands were beginning to roam, touching every part of the other as if we could memorize each other, feel what the other was feeling.

We finally parted, both needing air. He was above me, looking down at me with those beautiful eyes, somehow I could still see their color in the soft darkness. We were both breathing heavily, just staring at each other.

"Since I'm being honest and telling you everything," Danny rasped, looking heated and more out of breath than before, "I love you, Sam. I don't know if you feel the same, but-

"That's stupid," I said, cutting him off, not believing how anybody could not feel the same about him. "I was probably in love with you before you even thought of me that way."

"Do you always need to be such an overachiever?" He questioned, but his annoyed tone was completely ruined by the brilliant smile on his face.

"Yes," I said, smiling. "But, that's probably one of the many things you love about me."

Danny rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything to contradict me.

I touched his cheek in the palm of my hand, cupping it, so that he would look at me. "I love you, Danny. I love all of you." And, it was true, I loved every part of him, ghost, human, I just loved him, Danny.


A/N: ... O.O... I know, this was like 2 months wait... I'm really sorry! One word: FINALS. Left me broken and brain dead and on top of that I had writers block. T.T But... the chapter's done! Yay!

Anyways, hope this wasn't too gooey for you guys. Thanks for all the reviews, seriously, motivated me to get off my butt and start writing! Now, next chapter is going to the mission... Shit just got serious. Mwhahahahahahahahhahahaha