Gone

Mom or Sam. Mom or Sam. Even though I knew damn well how this was going to end, it was still hard to think about. I could tell they were going to fight over it, Sam refusing to sacrifice herself for Sam's problem and mom refusing to let Sam sacrifice her child. Mom would find a million different arguments, but she wouldn't pull out the pregnancy card until she was sure there was no other way to get Sam just let it happen.

"We can't kill Sam just to take out Plasmius," I heard mom mutter. It was already beginning. I was about to lose her again, within the hour if I was lucky, the next ten minutes if I wasn't.

Ms. Stuth was suddenly by my side, as if she knew what was on my mind. "You can't stop this, Danny." I didn't respond, I barely looked her in the eye for more than about a second before I found the floor to be more interesting once more. "I'd do it in a second if I could, but I'm not a mother." I finally looked her in the eye as I fought to keep my emotions in check. My mindset was starting to disintegrate to that of a three year old.

"It's just not fair, damn it!" Tears were forming in my eyes, but I only let one escape. "Why the hell do I have to lose her so soon after getting her back?" I didn't care that I'd just pretty much told her I knew which one was going to die, what she knew of the event wouldn't screw up the timeline too much. I needed someone to rant to, whether I looked like a three year old or not.

"Danny, she'll be here with us. You'll be able to see her again." Jazz had stepped forward, placing a hand on my shoulder as her and dad tried to comfort me.

"I'll do it." Maddie's mind was made up faster than I had anticipated, but that most certainly did not mean I was going to just let her take the bullet without a fight.

"I won't let you take it, Maddie," I said as I realized I'd just called Maddie by name aloud for the first time. I turned to the side and caught sight of Danny ranting about something to our teacher. I'm not sure, but I could have sworn I saw the glisten of a single teardrop roll down his face. He knew who was going to die, anyone with eyes could tell that. That had to be hard on him, knowing which one of us he was about to lose for the second time.

"Samantha Manson!" Even when used on me, Maddie's motherly tone of 'you're in a shit load of trouble' didn't lose it's meaning or force. "I don't care whether I'm your biological mother or not, I forbid you from doing this!" It was hard not to shrink away from her right then, but I wasn't going to give up this fight that easily.

"Where the hell would Danny be if you left him again?" I realized a second too late how easy it was for that statement to come back around to bite me in the ass.

"You need to ask yourself the same question. Where would he be without you? What would happen if he lost both you and your child in one fell swoop? It's not just your life you're playing with here, Sam." She looked over at Danny who had stopped ranting and was now staring blankly at the wall. He was about to fall apart and it hadn't even happened yet. I looked to Maddie and realized she really wasn't going to let me do this. She was right, Danny needed me and the pain of losing his mother for the second time was more likely to heal than if he were to lose both me and our unborn child.

"Fine." I sighed, I couldn't believe she'd gotten to me so easily. "Do you want to take him in now or later?"

Fear flickered on Maddie expression for a moment before she regained her composure. I think she was trying to be strong for Danny as he slowly came up to us, a sullen expression on his face. He'd known how this was going to end all along and you could tell it from the look on his face. God, I hoped I could see him smile again soon. "Let's do this now." She tried to send me a smile but it didn't work the way she had planned.

I grabbed her hands and searched for the same spark that had allowed me to originally rake Plasmius from Vlad. I found it and felt the power bubble to the surface. I held it there as I looked to Maddie again. "You ready?" She nodded and I released my grasp on the pure power it took to move the bastard from one person to another. We both collapsed as the transfer finished and Danny ran over to the both of us before wrapping his mother in a hug. This had to be pure torture for him, it hurt me just thinking about it.

Danny pulled away as Maddie reached for the ecto-gun attached to her hip; it was built for ghosts, but it could take down a human to. She was trying to get this over with, but I knew she wouldn't be able to take herself out. Plasmius wouldn't allow it and I could tell by the flash of red in her eyes that he was already working his way into control.

"That's not going to work," I whispered softly, hating the implication that one of us would have to murder Maddie. Her arm stopped moving as I said that, a questioning look on her face. "Plasmius would take control the second you touched the gun. Someone else has to do it." I briefly noted that Jack and Jazz were standing off to the side with Ms. Stuth, watching the whole thing play out from the sidelines.

There was a tense silence in the air for a few minutes before Danny spoke up softly. "I'll do it." All eyes were suddenly on him and the expression on his face as he tried to keep the tears in his eyes from flowing over.

"Are you sure, sweetie? Someone else can do this." Maddie was looking at her son with concern as she addressed him. I knew what she was thinking, she didn't want him to have to go through that kind of emotional trauma.

"I'm sure mom." He was still holding back his tears, but his defenses were quickly breaking. He pulled her into a hug, but didn't let her go. "You ready?" Now that Maddie couldn't se his face, Danny's walls finally broke, and the tears started to fall.

"I'm ready. I love you, Danny." I couldn't see her face, but I could tell Maddie was crying too.

"I love you too, mom." He was silent for a moment before one of his hands came up to rest on the back of her head. "I love you." He whispered as I saw the blast power up in his hand for a moment before it was released.

Danny didn't even try to contain his emotions as Maddie's lifeless body slumped against him and he fell to the ground, still holding her in his arms.

I practically ran to his side, trying to soothe him, but I knew it wasn't going to do much right now. He'd just killed his own mother, nothing can ever erase that kind of trauma from a person, not right now or even years in the future.

"It'll be okay Danny." I wrapped my arms around him as he finally let go of Maddie's form and turned to me, crying into my shoulder. My own tears were falling quickly, and while I couldn't see them, I had a feeling everyone else in the room was in tears as well.

This was more than just the sacrifice of a mother, it was the sacrifice of a son as well.

I nearly cried writing that... :'(

I'm evil...a late update and then leaving you with that? You're all going to want to kill me... :P

Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D (...even if they do come in the form of death threats... :P)

Invisible One