LOLOLOLURANUS.
God, that never gets old.
About this chapter. I know I'm gonna get a ton of reviews flaming me for what you will perceive to be coupling. I SWEAR TO GOD.
It's nothing but Tucker/Sam brother/sister bonding fluff. K? Calm down. I don't like that couple as anything more than best friends. That's all they are in this chapter. Best. Friends.
So CHILL YOUR BALLS.
Fantastic reaction to the last chapter, guys. You didn't honestly think I'd leave Sam with Vlad, did you? Psh, no.
No deaths in this chapter. Just pure, unadulterated bro/sis fluff. And a little something else. Not positive. You'll see.
I don't own Danny Phantom.
They Had Lights Inside Their Eyes
Chapter Twenty-Six
September 4, 2012
Sam woke again some time later, her body stiff and sore. She groaned through a cleaving headache and forced her eyelids open. The ceiling above her was was unfamiliar to her at first, but as she stared at it, she realized she was lying on her back in a cot in the Fenton's basement. Her throat worked against itself as she tried to swallow. She coughed weakly, grimacing at the raw pain washing over her dry muscles.
She heard movement behind her and a moment later, Tucker was leaning over her left side, cautious eyes on her face. She turned to him and smiled weakly.
"Hey," Tucker breathed, smoothing her hair away from her face.
"Hi," she closed her eyes under his touch, revelling in the warmth it provided. She heard Tucker chuckle as his fingers continued running through her hair. She smiled slightly.
"How do you feel?" Tucker asked, his voice low and soothing against her pounding head.
She chuckled mirthlessly. "Like I died." She said hoarsely. She peeked through her lashes and saw Tucker's face bent in worry. She felt her left hand fluttering as she sought to touch Tucker's free hand. He took her hand in his as she whispered "But I'm alive."
"Barely," Tucker's adam's apple bobbed. He lifted his hand to the crown of her head and brushed his thumb over her forehead. "How you survived being alone with Vlad with a stinger in your shoulder for God only knows how many hours, I'll never know..."
They lapsed into a comfortable silence, Tucker still stroking her hair. He offered her a glass of water, helping her capture the straw between her dry lips as she drank gratefully. Despite the twisted wrongness of it, Sam felt peaceful for the first time since before Danny left. Her eyes popped open, though, when she thought of Danny.
"Is he...is Danny...?" She lifted her chin and arched her neck to glance at the Fenton Audio Sonar behind her. Tucker followed her gaze and grimaced.
"Uh...yeah. Well, he's not right now, but he should be any minute now." Tucker looked away, staring off at the other side of the room. Sam sensed an issue in Tucker with Danny.
"What happened?" She breathed. Tucker's rhythmic stroking paused for a moment as he turned back to her, eyeing her carefully, before he sighed and resumed the soothing motion.
"He's pissed." Tucker muttered. Sam grimaced. "Not at you," He said quickly. "At me. Well, me, Valerie, Dash, Jazz, and...pretty much everyone else. But mostly me."
"Why?"
"I told him I wasn't gonna make you stay down here." Tucker shrugged. Sam felt a surge of affection toward the man beside her. "I told him that I would make sure you were taken care of, that you were healing, but if you wanted to go back up and fight, I wouldn't lift a finger to stop you. And everyone else agreed with me. Wholeheartedly."
The smile on Sam's face could have blinded an astronaut on the moon. Tucker chuckled, withdrawing his hand from her head and leaning backwards in his seat. "Thank you." She whispered.
Tucker rolled his eyes. "You would have run us all over if we tried to stop you." He said dismissively. "I think we all know that."
Sam glanced around the room, aware for the first time that it was empty. "Where is everyone?" She asked, turning back to Tucker, brows knit in concern.
"At City Hall. We're working with the ghosts now to set up a plan to get rid of Vlad and his aliens."
"Yeah, how did that happen?" Sam asked, trying to sit up. Tucker delayed his answer as he hooked an arm behind Sam's left shoulder, angling his arm down to avoid her injury, lifting her to a sitting position. The blood rushed out of her head and for a moment Sam thought she might pass out, but the room stopped spinning rather quickly and she was able to keep her bearings.
"Me and Val went into the Ghost Zone right after Vlad took you." Tucker said, glancing away from Sam's suddenly disapproving glare. "We went to Skulker's island, found him and Ember, and basically begged them to help us save you."
"That was dangerous." Sam said, her voice low. Tucker peered up at her over the rims of his glasses, suddenly taking the appearance of a three-year-old caught red-handed in the cookie jar. "And stupid." Tucker glanced at the blankets bunched around Sam's thighs, heat rising in his cheeks. "And very, very brave." He snapped his head back up, grinning at Sam's softened gaze. "Thank you."
"You would've done the same thing for me." He shrugged, and Sam laughed lightly because it was true. She leaned toward him and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, drawing back and laughing at his fierce blush. He took her hand and squeezed affectionately, and his gaze was gentle and familiar and it made Sam fell like she was fifteen again. "I'm really, really glad you're okay, by the way."
"So am I." Sam muttered. She glanced down at the bundled mass on the right side of her body that was her arm and shoulder, grimacing at the dots of blood spattered randomly across the gauze. "Am I still bleeding?"
"The doctor said it was starting to scab over, which is a really good sign." Tucker said. "He cleaned it after you collapsed, and he put fresh gauze on it. The shit Vlad wrapped you up with looked like it was trampled by a pack of wild horses in the middle of the desert." Sam snorted. "He said you probably won't be able to use it as well as before, but it'll still be functioning. Your shoulder, I mean."
Sam nodded. She was not surprised. Going into this battle, she was prepared for serious injury. Death, even. If the worst that happened to her was that she had a bad shoulder for the rest of her life, she would be more than happy to suffer.
"I'm quitting the mayor position as soon as this clears up." Tucker murmured. Sam snapped out of her thoughts, turning a wide-eyed gaze to Tucker's face. "I can't do it anymore. I can't miss anything else."
"But, Tucker," she said. "You're the best mayor Amity's ever had."
"Maybe I'll run again, when I'm a bit older." He shrugged. "But for now, I don't want to miss you and Val and everyone else while we're here. We're in our twenties! This is supposed to be the time of our lives!"
Sam laughed bitterly. If this is the time of our lives, she thought shrewdly, I'll go ahead and kill myself now.
"I didn't mean right this second," Tucker grumbled, drawing another laugh from Sam. "You know what I mean."
Sam let out one last snort before she nodded. "I know." She said gently. "I understand. If it's what you want to do, what makes you happy, then I'm behind you. One-hundred percent."
Tucker smiled radiantly at her. "Thank you," He said. He chewed the inside of his cheek, and Sam watched as he battled internally with himself.
"Tucker?" Danny's voice rang clearly from the speaker behind Sam. She turned slowly, wary of jostling her injury, as Tucker stood and scooped the microphone off of the lab desk.
"Hey, man." Tucker said, his eyes on Sam's face.
"Anything?"
"Yeah, actually. Hang on."
Tucker held the microphone out to Sam, his forest green eyes swirling with several unidentifiable emotions. Sam took the microphone from him, turned her gaze to her knees, and said, "Hey."
He was silent for a moment. "Sam?"
"Hey." She said again.
"Are you...I mean...how...do you feel?" He sounded stressed, more so than Sam had ever heard him before in her life. She wondered when the last time he slept was.
She decided in the seconds before she spoke to lie. The less he knew at that point, the better, she reasoned. "I'm okay, actually." She said, keeping the croak out of her voice. She glanced at Tucker, who had an eyebrow arched, but said nothing.
"Good. Good." She could practically hear him moving restlessly. "I know you probably don't remember talking to me before you passed out -"
"I do." Sam said shortly. It was the only clear memories she had before collapsing, actually.
Danny was quiet again. Sam twisted the microphone impatiently in her hands, glancing at Tucker again. He wore a steely mask of determination, alerting Sam to the fact that he had been on her end of the argument she was about to have. Sam raised both eyebrows and widened her eyes. Tucker snorted and nodded.
"Oh." Was all Danny could say. They were quiet again, the tension swelling between them. Sam grimaced.
"Look. I know you're worried -"
"It's more than that." Danny interrupted harshly. "I'm worried about Tucker. I'm worried about Valerie, I'm worried about Jazz, and Micah, and everyone else that's trapped in there with you. But the emotions I'm feeling about you right now are so much more than that. You're not my best friend or my sister. You're my whole world, Sam. I refuse to lose you to some asshole bastard bent on destroying the world."
Sam was speechless for a moment. She could feel his passion even in the distance between them, and part of her mind whined for her to give in just so that she could hear that hard edge leave his voice. But as usual, the little rebel in her head rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest impatiently, muttering about his extreme overprotectiveness and possessiveness. "I understand." She heard herself saying. "But if the roles were reversed...if you were here and I was out there...we both know you would still be fighting right now. Even with the injury."
"I have ghost powers. I have years of ghost fighting experience. And, frankly, I'm -"
"What? Stronger?" Sam felt that righteous anger coming back now. All the emotions and frustrations she felt with the army every time they shot her a pitying gaze. It threatened to spill over the brim, to explode on Danny. "You think you're stronger than me?"
"That's not what I was going to say," Danny said quickly. Sam heard him sigh in frustration, obviously upset at the fact that his first conversation with her deteriorated into a fight. "I just don't want you to get hurt again." He said, his voice very small in the static.
Sam clenched her jaw. "I'm not a baby, Danny." She muttered. "I can handle getting a few cuts and bruises."
"You had a fucking claw in your fucking shoulder. You got stabbed." Danny's voice was hollow. "If it was just a few cuts and bruises, I would have no problem with you fighting -"
"Oh yeah, right." Sam said sarcastically. She swung her legs over the side of the cot, allowing Tucker to hook his hands around her good arm and pull her to her feet. "If you had your way I'd be locked in the bunker with the rest of Amity Park."
"That's not true." Sam rolled her eyes at his pitiful excuse of a lie.
"Look, I'd love to stay and finish this completely pointless conversation, but I have to go. We're making plans, and I think I have some information that might actually be useful." She hesitated for an instant, before adding, "Bye, Danny."
She ignored his protests as she tossed the microphone onto the lab desk, bent beneath the table, and yanked the Fenton Audio Sonar's plug out of the wall. The speaker went quiet immediately, filling the room with a swelling silence. She straightened and turned toward Tucker, grimacing under his incredulous stare. "It had to be done." She shrugged.
Tucker's mouth snapped shut and he nodded, looking mildly impressed. "He's probably gonna kill you for that, you know."
"You act like I give a rat's ass." Sam laughed. She fell into step beside Tucker, allowing him to sling his arm around her waist and propping her elbow on his shoulder in response, and together they left the Fenton's basement and struck out toward City Hall.
Sam deteriorated alarmingly fast, going from walking to leaning heavily in a matter of minutes. Tucker did not protest, however, when her arm wound around his neck and her weight hooked on to him. Sam felt him tensing every few feet, as if he wanted to stoop and scoop her up, carrying her bridal style the rest of the way to City Hall. Part of her wished he would. But her pride was far too large to allow it, so she grit her teeth and trudged on. She had to resist sighing in relief when City Hall came into view.
Tucker left her by the front door, murmuring for her to wait there for him, and disappeared into a random side room. Sam watched him go, leaning heavily against the door frame. Her left hand rose to her neck absently, making to grab Danny's necklace, before she remembered that she no longer had it with her. She swallowed hard and dropped her hand again, ignoring the voices in her head ringing in regret for hanging up so forcefully on Danny.
He was only trying to help. He doesn't want you to get hurt again.
He's being a fucking control freak, the little rebel in her head countered. He needs to learn that he can't control everything. He can't control me.
He wasn't trying to control you, the other voice reasoned. Sam screwed her eyes shut and dug the heel of her palm into her temple, desperately trying to quiet her jumbled thoughts.
Tucker appeared a few moments later, pushing an empty wheelchair before him, gazing reproachfully at Sam. She eyed the wheelchair before turning a withering glare to Tucker's face.
"No. Uh-uh. I don't think so." She made to move forward, to stomp around him to the elevator, but her knees betrayed her. She ended up falling forward into Tucker's arm, her breath leaving her in a whoosh of air.
"Just til we get to my office. That's where everyone is. No one has to see you in it but me." He said soothingly as he pulled her back to an upright position. Sam gazed up at him warily, trying and failing to keep her chin from quivering. Tucker's brow creased as he pulled her into his chest, planting a soft, lingering kiss on her forehead. "It's okay," He whispered. "I know how strong you are. You don't have to push yourself, not with me."
Sam sighed woozily, before nodding against the crook of his neck. He helped her fall into the wheelchair, waiting until she shifted into a comfortable position before turning the chair toward the elevator. Sam closed her eyes at the sensation of losing control, of trusting Tucker completely, and felt another rush of affection for the man behind her. "I'm so happy you're my brother." She breathed.
She heard Tucker chuckle behind her as he leaned around her right side to hit the 'up' button mounted on the wall beside the elevator. His other hand closed on her left shoulder and squeezed lightly. Sam smiled at the pressure, conjuring up all the memories she could between herself and Tucker. Helping him train for the fitness test. Forcing him to go goth. Nearly dying from Ecto Acne. And hours upon hours of coming up with excuses to be used on prying eyes when Danny would inexplicably disappear.
He knelt to her side as the elevator doors rattled open, planting a light kiss on her left cheek. "Love you, sis." He murmured against her bruised skin.
HARMLESS BRO/SIS FLUFF. PLEASE DON'T FLAME ME FOR MAKING IT LOOK LIKE TUCKER IS SECRETLY IN LOVE WITH SAM. TUCKER LOVES VALERIE AND SAM LOVES DANNY. THIS SHOULD BE ABUNDANTLY CLEAR BY NOW.
And if it isn't yet, it will be very soon.
Is that a spoiler I just dropped?
Oh God. Oh God. Danny's so pissed.
Woooo.
Okay I don't know when I'll be able to post again. I don't get off 'til 8 tomorrow night. I'm at work pretty much all day. I'll try my hardest to get another chapter out by midnight or a little later, but no promises.
We're close, guys. Groundwork is laid out. Details are falling into place.
But I think I can milk another ten or fifteen chapters out of this.
You hate me yet?
Oh, don't worry.
You will. Soon.
Very, very soon.
LAWLZ MAI BALLZ.
- Tori