Will she do it? Will she?!?

Chapter 13: Desperation

It was all planned; I would knock Danny out, use my powers to teleport him and I back to base, where I would give him to Darion. Darion would praise me, treat me so much better than he did before. He wouldn't hurt me; he would allow me more freedom, more missions, because I could do it, I could complete my missions. It was all ready. My fist was hurtling toward Danny's temple to knock him out. I was ready. Adrenaline made my heart race.

And then Danny moaned.

My breath caught in my throat and I ended up throwing the punch off, missing him by several centimeters. He didn't open his eyes, didn't change his position, just moaned. I breathed in again and pulled my fist back for another try.

And stayed like that. Just watching him with my fist just kind of hanging there, ready to finish this but at the same time… Thoughts raced through my head, voices urging me to get it over with while other voices warned me that I was being stupid. I bit my lip, not knowing what to do.

"It's called a moment of truth. It's the moment when you have to be able to tell the difference between what you're told is right, and what really is right."

My father's words came rushing back to me once again, and I began to lower my fist. When another voice came back to me as well, this time unpleasant and frightening.

"I'm growing impatient…"

I nearly bit through my lip, but it didn't matter. I knew what I had to do, but I also knew I couldn't do it. Not yet. I hated to admit it, but I wasn't strong enough.

Running an angry hand through my hair I grasped Danny's cold shoulder and shook it lightly.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," I called softly, shivering a bit in the air which I realized was cold. Fingers of light were stretching across the sky, beginning to lighten it, and I wanted to get us to our proper homes before we both got in trouble. Chances were, I wasn't going to school today, and most likely Danny wouldn't either, judging from the bruise that I could feel growing on his stomach. With his suit on I couldn't see it, but with my powers I could sense an angry on forming.

"Come on, Danny, get up," I began to grow worried at his lack of response; had I hurt him that bad? I couldn't feel any internal bleeding, but something inside felt a bit bruised. Perhaps his abdomen muscles. I didn't know. All I knew was that I needed to get Danny out of this dirty alley.

Finally deciding tough love would have to do, I got to my feet and grabbed Danny's upper arms in both of my hands. Ignoring his pained cries, I hoisted him to his feet and threw one of his arms over my shoulders, holding him up.

He seemed more alert now that I had him up. He was looking around, at least, the slightly glazed look in his eyes fading as he became more aware of his surroundings. Then his gaze landed on me.

"You-?" I winced at how raspy his voice sounded. He coughed and winced, but he didn't cough up any blood. I took that as a good sign.

"Yea, I'm really sorry," I said hurriedly, feeling my cheeks grow pink. "But the sun is coming up and we need to move. Can you fly?"

"I- dunno," He frowned, bending his knees a bit. One hand prodded his stomach gently and he let out a pained hiss of a breath. "You did this?"

"Yea and I'm sorry," I repeated exasperatedly.

"Wow… Sam better watch her back," I blushed more deeply at the compliment. Danny didn't seem to notice his slip. Instead he took a step forward and I move as well, eager to finally go. I only hoped he could fly; it was too much hope that no one would say anything about a girl holding the ghost boy up as they walked down the street. I wished I could tell him to change back, but letting him know that I knew his secret was really risky, and I couldn't afford risks at this point in the mission. I had already failed miserably so far.

I noticed him giving me sideways glances and grew irritated.

"What?" I insisted, stopping at the entrance to give him a pointed glare. I thought about letting him go to better intimidate, but he was still leaning very heavily on me and I didn't want him to fall.

He chuckled.

"Thought you didn't like to be touched," He said. Then he seemed to catch himself, going bright red. "I mean-"

"Save it," I cut him off, rolling my eyes. "Do you want me to drop you?"

He shook his head. Then he tried straightening up, using my shoulder to lean on for support. However, I did wonder why he was the only one who could touch me. Was it because I knew him so well? Or was it something more…?

Stop that, I scolded myself. I can't think like that.

"I think I can fly us," He said at last, standing on his own without bending over as much as before.

"Us?" I raised an eyebrow. "I think I can take care of myself, thanks."

"What do you mean? You think I'm gunna let you walk home all the way from here?" He crossed his arms. "I don't think so."

"I don't live that far," I lied. In fact, I lived very far from here. But I could fly myself. I was unable to go invisible like Danny, so I had to watch out, but I could fly myself. "Besides, you're not the boss of me just because you're a ghost."

"It's not safe," He was growing angry now, and there was a hint of desperation in his voice. "There's ghosts that can hurt you!"

"And you can hardly fly yourself. What makes you think you can fly me?"

"I can," The determination in his voice startled me, and suddenly it dawned on me. He felt threatened. I had nearly beaten him, weakened him, and seen his vulnerable side. And now he wanted to prove he wasn't weak. I didn't really get it, but I wondered if it was a dominance issue or something. The Alpha male was not going to be outweighed by an outside Alpha female.

I decided to let his testosterone ridden thoughts rest, and sighed in defeat, rolling my eyes.

"Alright, alright," I said at last. His face brightened and he moved forward, grabbing my gloved hand. "But if you drop me, I will have to castrate you."

"Umm… I guess I'll really try not to drop you, then," Danny said, unsure of how to respond.

As we lifted a bit unsteadily into the air, he grasped my hand more tightly and I decided a little outside help couldn't hurt, especially if he didn't know. All I did was fuel him a little more power, but it helped.

And as we soared through the light blue and pink and gold sky, I caught sight of the sunrise over the water, reflecting in the soft waves. I gasped softly.

At that moment, I felt like I had not a care in the world.

I'm not sure what to say... lol. I'm ok with this chapter. I like how Danny has to be the hero. He kinda reminds me of Harry Potter. lol. Always gotta rescue someone before the day ends. Anyway, review please, and these chapters will be coming a lot quicker now that I'm done cuz I'm starting the next story. Any requests?