How Feelings Change

Chapter 35: Of Birth and Battles

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, only the plot and my oc's.

Okay here's what y'all have been waiting for. The final battle.

Only one more chapter after this. Now on with the story.

ZZZ

The whole room was dark, shadows cast eerily into the corners of the vast space by a single desk lamp on a table in the middle of the room. Banners of green and gold hung from the ceiling, fluttering in a nearly nonexistent breeze. A sigh echoed loudly through the room as the man sitting near the lit desk lamp shuffled through the stack of papers in front of him, which had just been delivered by one of his many minions. Some were completely text, others were full of scientific figures, and some were sheets of notebook paper with photographs tapped to them and notes scribbled around them, while others were ancient looking sheets of parchment covered in fading Gaelic.

Pulling out one of the sheets of parchment, the silver haired man's eyes danced over the words and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"This is it!" his smile widened tremendously, "Maddie I found the answer to our problem!"

A meow echoed through the study as the white cat, Maddie, leapt onto the table and rubbed against her master's face. Vlad reached out and petted the cat softly, temporarily forgetting about the paper in his hands. 'Maybe I really am a cat person after all,' he mused to himself, 'But then again I suppose that even Daniel has to be right every once in a while.' But he quickly snapped himself from his musings, turning his attention back to the parchment in his hands.

"Listen to this Maddie," he said to the cat as he began to translate the Gaelic text for her, as though it would make it more understandable for the feline, " 'The shards of the emerald, known more commonly as the Bloigh Crð Croi, like the emerald itself can only serve one master at a time, the pendants themselves being confined to serving only one of the family lines female descendants at a time; though it has been shown that the pendant will protect a woman not of the family line when she is carrying a descendant of said family."

He pointed at the paper, "This explains why the pendant is protecting Samantha even though it belongs to Daniel," turning back to the paper, he continued reading, "However, immediately following the birth of the child, the pendant will cease to protect the mother, though it will not begin to protect the child, provided that it is female, until the pendant is formally presented to her by one of her parents." Vlad's grin got larger still, "Don't you see Maddie? This is our window of opportunity! We will attack as soon as that blasted child is born, before they have a chance to pass the pendant on to her, it will leave them all vulnerable to attack." He paused, a sad look flitting across his features, "Regrettably Daniel is far to unstable for me to control any longer, so he will have to be dealt with, and obviously Samantha and their bastard child will have to go as well…"

Vlad's expression suddenly became thoughtful, one of his hands reaching into his pocket to clench around the two chunks of emerald resting there, "Perhaps we don't have to kill the child…" He paused, his eyes taking on a far off look, a slight grin forming on his lips, "I always did want a daughter, and according to my sources she has inherited Daniel's ghost powers."

His grin widened, his bared teeth giving the smile a malicious air, "And what better way to send Daniel into oblivion, then letting his last living thought be that his daughter is going to be raised by his mortal enemy?" He chuckled a thoughtful look crossing his face before he smirked happily, "Who would have thought that the vision I tricked Frightmare into planting into Samantha's Oracle friend's mind would actually come true?"

Maddie meowed as if in agreement as Vlad finished, a dry chuckle escaping his lips, "This plan is coming together perfectly."

ZZZ

A soft mumbling from somewhere near her midsection slowly brought Sam to the waking world. She fought the urge to stretch, knowing that to thorough a stretch would leave her back in agony for the rest of the day. Keeping her eyes closed she listened to Danny speaking softly to her stomach, trying to sooth the squirming baby within; she had long since gotten used to the baby's movements and had learned to sleep through even the roughest kicks.

But it woke Danny every time. He slept so close to her know that it would be nearly impossible for him to not notice the movement of their daughter.

Since she had spilled her guts to him about everything she knew concerning the pendant and coming battle just a few weeks ago, he had been such a different person. He had not resigned himself to death like many would, but instead he had grasped life with both hands. She had never seen him so without fear in all the time she had known him, and she had known him nearly her whole life. Opening her eyes slightly, she glanced down at Danny. He was curled up with his lips centimeters from her bare stomach, his breath tickling her bare stomach as he murmured to the baby. Her gaze drifted upwards slowly, falling on her left hand, lying on the bed beside her, and she focused in on her ring finger with eyes still blurry from sleep. The ring on her finger had just suddenly appeared one morning two weeks ago.

She had woken up and it was simply there.

Since she was young, her mother had insisted on teaching her the fine art of jewelry appraisal, telling her that it was only proper that she be able to know whether or not the jewelry her suitors gave her was real. She hadn't used it since then, but now it gave her a true appreciation for the ring that she had seen only once before the morning it appeared on her finger.

"Come on Sammy!" a five year old Danny said excitedly as he pulled his friend behind him.

"I told you its Sam! Not Sammy…" she grumbled as she allowed the boy to drag her up the stairs, "So what's this thing that's so great you just had to show me?"

"My Grandma brought it when she visited last week, she told mommy to hold onto it for me until I was big enough," he pushed open the door and drug her into his parents room.

"We're not supposed to be in here!" Sam hissed, pulling her hand out of Danny's and backing towards the door.

"Mommy said that it was okay just this once," he told her as he clambered up onto the chair in front of his mother's dressing table, " 'Cause I really, really, really wanted to show you what Grandma brought!"

Sam sighed and walked over to where Danny was. Despite her nervousness at being in his parent's room where they had always been forbidden from going, she was curious about what he wanted to show her.

Grabbing a small velvet box off the top of the dressing table, Danny turned to Sam and opened it exposing the most beautiful ring the young girl had ever seen.

"It's so pretty Danny," she breathed, her eyes as big as saucers, "But it's a girls ring, are you sure that it's not for Jazz?"

"No," he said, with patience surprising for a five year old, "Grandma told me that it was her 'gagement ring, and that one day it would be mine, and I could give it to the girl I want to marry, but I told her girls were icky. She just laughed and said that I wouldn't always think that, but I think she's crazy."

"Well I'm a girl!" Sam huffed, "Am I icky?"

"Oh, come on Sam! You're my best friend, you don't count," he whined, having no clue that this was the first of many arguments that they would have on this subject.

Sam said nothing and stormed out of the room.

All that she had known back then was that the ring was pretty, but know she knew just how impressive a bauble this heirloom was. The band was finely crafted platinum, with a heavy antiqued finish, that formed swirls and loops around the fairly sizable diamond in the middle, with small chucks of sapphire and amethyst nestled delicately inside the loops. Her parents had always thought that Danny was not worthy of her, and here she was, wearing an antique engagement ring from him that would probably appraise for more than her mother's engagement and wedding bands combined.

They had never exactly talked about the appearance of the ring on her finger, but, like many things in their relationship, it was something that didn't need words. She knew what he was asking when the ring appeared, and he knew her answer by the fact that the ring had not left her finger since then.

And despite the cloud of worry hanging over their heads they were happy, but the happiness made Sam paranoid. For once in his life, Danny was truly living, and it terrified her to know that the very life he finally had could be taken from him so soon.

She almost shivered at the thought of Joss's painting, but she resisted so that Danny wouldn't know that she was awake, as he hated waking her up when he knew she needed her sleep.

She really didn't want to think about the painting, but the image kept popping into her mind. What kind of cruel joke were the powers-that-be playing on them? For Danny to die just as his first child was born…

Unbidden tears began to fall down her cheeks.

Trying to gain control of her rampant emotions, she focused in on the soothing sound of Danny's voice as he continued to talk to their daughter.

"And once you're big enough I'll teach you how to use those powers that you inherited from me. I had no one but your Mommy and Uncle Tucker to help me figure them out, but you'll have someone to teach you all about them from experience." He paused, "That is if I'm still around."

His voice caught slightly in his throat, "I hate to tell you this kiddo, but there's a chance that I won't be around to long after you're finally born. There's this really bad man that's out to get me, but no matter what I won't let him hurt you or mommy, you got that kid?"

He planted a soft kiss on Sam's stomach, right below her belly button where she could clearly feel the baby laying pressed against her abdomen. "I love you kid, and don't you ever forget that."

"You shouldn't talk like that," Sam whispered, looking down at him, all thoughts of continuing to fake being sleep fleeing her mind, "You're going to be there to teach her all these things, and to see her grow up…" Tears were flowing freely down her pale face now, as she desperately wished that her words were true.

"Sammy," Danny murmured crawling up so his head was level with hers, "You know as well as I do that there's a pretty good chance I'm not going to make it. Those visions of Joss's were given to her by the spirits to show us what was to come."

"But you weren't dead in the painting!" she clung to him desperately, "Just badly hurt!"

"Sam, look at me," he grabbed her face and forced her to look him in the eye, "If there was as much blood as you say there is, there is a slim chance that those were survivable wounds."

"Then we'll run!" she was shaking now and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, "We'll disappear before the baby is born! Before Vlad attacks!"

"Sam, we've had this conversation before," he locked eyes with her again, and nearly felt his resolve begin to melt, "I'm not running from this battle, because no matter where we go, he'll find us, and if not us, then our families. I am not going to let him hurt anyone I love ever again; I'm tired of fighting him. It's time I take a stand."

"But if he kills you, it'll hurt everyone that you love," she whimpered, feeling the bubble of power forming behind her bellybutton. Danny seemed to feel it too, and gently placed his hand on her stomach.

Immediately the power dissipated.

Sam smiled faintly through her tears, "You're so good with her."

"I try," he answered sheepishly, though she could tell that he didn't completely believe her words.

"I'm not lying," she said softly, "It would have taken me a while to calm her down and something probably still would have blown up because of how upset she was getting."

"Just doing my job," he shrugged, though a smile had crept onto his lips.

Sam was about to reply when a sudden wave of pain rippled through her middle. Her eyes got wide, and her mouth formed an 'O' as her hands tightened their grip and Danny.

"Oh damn."

"What is it?!" Danny asked, his voice sounding small and frightened, "What's wrong?!"

"I think I just had a contraction," Sam said slightly dazed. In the back of her mind she wondered why Jazz had screamed so much when her contractions had started. Sure it hurt, but it really wasn't as bad as Jazz's shrieks had made it seem.

"You 'think' that you had a contraction?" Danny questioned, confusion clear on his face, "Isn't that one of those things that you should know?"

"Well I've never had a baby before so excuse me-e-e… Aahh…" her words were lost as another contraction gripped her, this one more intense than the last.

"Okay that was definitely a contraction…" she said shakily once it had passed, her hands falling from where they had been clenching Danny's shirt.

Danny sat up quickly, and turned his head towards the door shouting, "Artemis! Go get Meia, Sam's in labor!" Artemis could he heard scrambling to his feet as Danny turned back to Sam, "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

"I'm okay," she said softly, "Just stay here with me."

He nodded and grasped one of her hands in his own, "I'm not going anywhere."

But no sooner than the words left his mouth, a red light flashed brightly outside there window and Danny's ghost sense went off as well as the baby's. Sam and Danny looked at each other grimly, as dark chuckle echoed through the silence coming from the backyard.

"I have to go Sammy," he whispered leaning his forehead against hers.

"I know," she murmured, closing her eyes and rubbing her face gently into his, before opening her eyes and meeting his gaze.

"You just stay where it's safe and wait for Meia. Okay?" he asked, she nodded slowly, and he moved to climb off the bed.

"Danny," she whimpered, reaching out and grabbing his arm before he was two far away, "Please don't die."

"I'll try my best."

Tears were streaming down both their faces now, and Sam pulled him close, pressing her lips to his with so much desperation that Danny nearly didn't have the will to leave her. Pulling back they both swallowed hard.

"I love you," Sam told him, her face the picture of sorrow.

"I love you too," he answered, "Both of you." He leaned in kissing her softly just as another contraction hit, he could feel it pulse through her entire body, starting from her abdomen and coursing outwards. He could feel her whimper in pain against his lips, and it nearly killed him to know that not all of the pain in her voice was from the contractions.

Pulling away and climbing off the bed before his will to leave completely disappeared, Danny transformed, giving Sam one last look. "Make sure she grows up knowing me." Sam nodded, no longer having the strength to argue back, and with that, Danny disappeared through the bedroom wall.

With shaking hands, Sam reached over and picked up her pale lilac maternity nightgown that Jazz had gotten her for Christmas, and tugged it on over her head. She normally slept naked, but right then the very thought of sitting there in the buff disgusted her. She knew that at any moment the fight could burst through the bedroom wall and she most definitely didn't want Vlad to see her naked and in labor.

Had the situation not been so dire she would have laughed. Here she was worrying about her state of undress while she was in labor and World War III was being waged in her own backyard. Another contraction hit and she hissed at the feeling, curling up to try and ease the pain. Soon enough the pain eased and she was left gasping for air.

Shifting into a more comfortable position she did the only thing that she could.

She waited.

And she hated it more than anything.

ZZZ

Blasts of green and red shot through the yards, illuminating the space in an odd mixture of the two colors of bright burning ectoplasm. It was like being trapped inside the kind of Christmas tree you would find in a haunted house. A large bolt of red ectoplasm tore across the yard and Danny dodged it quickly before spinning midair and shooting off a volley of ectoblasts at Vlad.

Vlad shielded himself easily with a wall of sparkling crimson energy, and he laughed arrogantly, "You're getting faster Daniel, I'll give you that much. But you're no where near fast enough."

"You wanna bet!" Danny snarled, launching himself at Vlad like a rocket, his green ecto-energy forming a shell around him.

Vlad smirked, purposely sliding out of the path of the Halfa projectile at the last possible second. "Your anger is clouding you mind, my boy," Vlad told him sardonically, "You are normally a much more worthy opponent than this."

"I'm just getting warmed up," Danny told him calmly, as he pulled out of his bullet like flight path, skidding sideways mid air. Had Vlad not trained himself to be indifferent to glares and the other hateful gazes often encountered in the corporate world, he would have shivered at the sheer intensity of the young man's gaze. Bringing himself even with Vlad, some twenty feet away, Danny extended both hands in front of him; a look of intense concentration on his face. Pale blue energy formed around his hands before shooting out directly at Vlad.

Panic was evident on the older man's face for a split second as he frantically dodged the dozen icy spears that had been hurtling directly at his chest. "Ice powers!" he sputtered, his normally unflappable demeanor broken temporarily, "Since when do you have ice powers!"

"For a few years now," Danny shrugged as though it was no big deal.

"A few years, Daniel?" Vlad asked incredulously, his composure having returned, "Honestly what kind of fool do you think I am? I would have seen them by now had you had them that long."

"I don't really care to use them that much," he answered, his voice sounding as though he was bored with the whole situation, though on the inside he was so hyped up on adrenaline that he was ready to explode.

"Enough talking, lets just get back to the business of making young Samantha a widow," a vicious smirk spread across his lips, "Oh that's right, she wouldn't be a widow would she? Seeing as how you didn't have the common decency to marry the girl before you impregnated her…"

"Shut up!" Danny shouted, the rage in his gut finally exploding outwards as his hands were engulfed in fiery emerald ectoplasm.

"Ahh," Vlad's lips twitched upwards, "There's the over emotional Daniel that I've become so accustomed to."

"Quit your yapping and fight me you bastard," Danny growled, firing the ectoplasm that was surrounding his hands.

"With pleasure."

ZZZ

Sam whimpered as the pain from yet another contraction began to ease. It had been nearly twenty minutes since Danny had sent Artemis for Meia and they had still yet to arrive. She was beginning to worry, it normally took less than a minute for Artemis to transport to the hall of the spirits and then transport back with Meia. It used to be nearly instantaneous, but Meia was now pregnant once again and was incapable of teleporting herself or even hearing the telepathic calls of Artemis and the other spirits.

Fear clenched Sam's heart. What if something was wrong with Meia, and that was why it was taking so long? The Spirit of Motherhood had told her that this most recent pregnancy was very odd and even though she was not very far along, a spirit's gestation being a lot longer than a human's, she had already had numerous complications.

But her worrying was cut short by the howling of Danny's ghostly wail, the house shaking with the intensity of the sound waves. That was one noise that she would never mistake for anything else, and she grimaced as she felt similar vibrations from her midsection, though they were much gentler. A faint smile graced her lips as the vibrations faded, though Danny's wail had not. The baby seemed to have recognized the wail as her father's and had tried to answer him.

Her smile completely disappeared, however, when the wail was abruptly cut off and the sound of a body colliding with a tree could be heard. Everything was silent for a second, until the sudden cracking of wood could be heard, followed by the sound of a tree crashing to the ground. Sam held her breath as silence once more reined, but as a deep chested laughter began to flow from the direction of the backyard her blood ran cold.

That laugh…

Vlad's laugh…

"No!" she cried, stumbling to her feet and numbly making her way to the bedroom door, despite the fact that her legs felt like rubber. She nearly crashed into the door before grabbing the handle and pulling it open. Her entire body was thrumming with terror and she knew that she couldn't just sit in the bedroom for even a moment longer. She was faintly aware of the sinister laughter ceasing as she moved into the hallway, but then suddenly a contraction gripped her and she doubled over leaning heavily against the wall for support.

"Please baby!" she cried her hands pressing to her lower abdomen, and her voice desperate, "Just cooperate with me and everything will be fine!"

Tear came to her eyes as she cried out loudly again; the contractions were getting worse and lasting much longer than before. The pain finally began to fade and she pulled herself upright, leaning against the wall as she struggled vainly to catch her breath. The contractions were bearable, she had developed a high tolerance to pain over the years, but she could feel her muscles beginning to tire.

Where was Meia when she needed her? She didn't know what she was doing! And with each passing instant she was feeling more and more panicked. Between her labor and the battle in the backyard she was beginning to doubt that her heart could handle the stress. Stumbling slightly down the hallway, with one of her hands on the wall for support she made her way to the top of the stairs. The five steps that it took to make it there had seemed more like five thousand and she panted slightly at the exertion. Peering down the steps, she whimpered slightly. She'd never make it down the steps before another contraction hit, and with her luck she's end up falling the rest of the way.

Gripping the banister with one hand, her other staying firmly on the wall, she eased herself down until she was sitting on the top step. It was vastly uncomfortable sitting like that but she gritted her teeth, and concentrated on the task at hand; if she didn't think about the pain she knew that she could push it to the back of her mind. Slowly she brought her right hand from the wall and rested it on the banister beside her left, gripping the wooden railing tightly. And then, with much concentration, she eased her feet down to the next step and lifted her body slightly, moving her butt down onto the step where her feet had been previously.

Working her hands down the banister she repeated the process, again and again, the repetitive motion required little thought, and she felt her mind begin to wander. Almost desperately she tried to think of anything but the situation that she was in, as the muted sounds of battle that were reaching her were conjuring horrible images before her eyes. Gnashing her teeth together she tried to push the images of a bloodied and broken Danny from her mind. 'He's strong,' she told herself firmly in her mind, not having the power to say it aloud, 'He'll be fine. He always comes back. I have no reason to worry.'

Continuing vigilantly down the stairs a memory of a conversation that she had had with the Spirit of Motherhood several months ago crossed her mind quite unbidden by her conscious mind.

"He'd gladly lay down his very life so that you and your unborn child may live even a moment longer," the ethereal woman told her quite somberly as her hands brushed delicately over Sam's stomach, checking the baby's position.

"I know," Sam murmured, craning her neck slightly to peer out the bedroom window. She could barely see Danny sitting on one of the high branches of the oak tree. Only a shoulder and part of leg could be seen from the angle that she was at, but she knew that he probably had a textbook spread in his lap as he tried vainly to stay awake as he read over the pages. "I just wish that he understood that I'd do the same for him and our baby," she sighed, laying back down and closing her eyes, "He sees himself as expendable. Like his life doesn't matter so long as those he loves are safe."

"He is a noble soul," Meia said soothingly as her cool fingers pressed into Sam's stomach slightly, the baby instantly moved away from the pressure, and a faint smile spread on Meia's lips before it disappeared with her next words, "He sees himself as expendable because he doesn't see his own worth. He doesn't understand that he means as much to you as you do to him." She shook her head moving her fingers a few inches along Sam's stomach and pressing again, "I spoke with Athe recently on this subject, and he believes he knows why your mate feels this way." She took a deep breath, "Danny's own natural instincts have been vastly amplified by his ghost half. As a human before the accident, he valued his loved ones more than anything. As such when the accident occurred and he became half ghost, he took on a ghost's most dominating trait."

She paused, looking down at Sam as if gauging if the young woman could handle what she was about to say. After a second, she continued, "He inherited what ghosts call an Obsession Point. It is the thing that binds ghosts, at least partially, to the living world; without emotions strong enough to sustain an Obsession Point Danny would have died in that accident when he was fourteen." Sam gasped as Meia continued, "Over the years, his Obsession Point has narrowed somewhat, as the desire to protect everyone would have undoubtedly driven him mad. His Obsession Point now consists of basically you and the child you're carrying."

"What about the rest of his family?" Sam asked her mind slightly numb from the information.

"He still desires to protect them," Meia told her gently, "But with you and this child it is different. Without one or both of you, Danny would die the rest of the way. Whereas the both of you would be able to survive in the event of his death, even though it would cause you pain."

Meia patted her stomach soothingly, "In a perverse way, Danny's opinion is correct. If he were to die, you and the child would live on afterward, but if it was the other way around, he would die as well."

She was barely half way down the steps when she felt the first grabbing pains of her next contraction cut through her thoughts. She was almost grateful for the pain, which had successfully managed to pull her free of her haunting memory. Gripping the railing tighter, she braced her legs and as the pain hit her fully she whimpered out piteously, as she tried to concentrate all of her remaining thought onto keeping her stationary on the steps.

Finally the pain passed and she took a few shallow breathes before beginning her trek down the stairs once again. It was slow work, but finally she reached the bottom step. Taking a deep breath, she planted her feet on the soft carpet of the entryway and heaved herself to her feet. A wave of dizziness swept over her and she closed her eyes against it. Growling slightly in agitation, Sam clenched her hand more tightly on the banister. She hated not being in control of her body, it made her feel completely useless.

Opening her eyes she prepared to step forward when a sudden rush of warm liquid from between her legs stopped her dead in her tracks, her eyes going wide and her mouth forming an 'O'.

Her water had just broke.

She could feel it trailing down her legs slowly and forming a puddle on the floor, and it was honestly one of the most disgusting things that she had ever felt in her entire life. Sam took a stumbling step sideways, crashing back first into the wall, and looked down at the puddle, not at all surprised to see it streaked with bright green ectoplasm. "That's so gross," she mumbled to herself as she scooted along the wall towards the dinning room.

Rounding the corner and moving quickly, well as quickly as a woman in labor can, Sam grabbed the back to one of the dinning room chairs just as another contraction hit. A strangled cry escaped her mouth, a similar one echoing back at her from the backyard, and she nearly fell to her knees. From all that she had read, she knew the baby would be coming soon, and that for her own good she should stay put and just pray that Meia got there in time, but a choked yell of pain from Danny told her other wise. She could tell by his tone that things were going badly, and she knew that she had to get to him.

Fighting her way to her feet as soon as the worst of the pain was gone, Sam staggered towards the back door, the aftershocks of her contraction still running rampant across her abdomen. Wrenching the door open with all her strength, Sam moved forward onto the small porch and then off into the unkempt grass of their yard.

Her breathe caught in her throat as she looked at the destruction before her. The large proud oak tree that Danny loved to read in was cracked in half, lying haphazardly on the ground, and deep ruts could be seen in the ground. A few feet from her was a pile of splinters that had previously been their picnic table, and a hundred feet above her head two streaks of bright red and green darted at each other like angry fireflies, crashing into one another and being thrown apart a dozen or so feet before darting at each once again. Every time the two streaks struck one another a shower of sparks was given off, some remaining lit long enough to reach the ground and leave small scorched circles in the grass.

A grabbing pain struck her abdomen and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out, drawing blood with the sheer ferocity of her bite. She knew that even at this distance Danny would her cry out in pain, and instantly turn to her despite being in the middle of a life or death battle. It was then that she realized that he had probably heard everyone of her pained cries while she had still been in the house, and tears sprung to her eyes at the thought that she had been distracting him from the battle all this time.

It was ironic. When they were younger, she would have given anything to be able to distract him like both Paulina and Valerie could, but now she wanted nothing more than for him to give his full attention to the battle at hand instead of thinking about her.

The two fighters dropped a few dozen feet through the air and sudden burning heat hit her chest; she suppressed a gasp as she grabbed the now very hot chunk of emerald around her neck and held it away from her skin, being careful to hold it by the mercifully cool silver chain. Above her she could her Vlad snarl several curse words as he dug into his pocket and extracted the two pendants that he had managed to get, also being careful to hold them by the chain. Looking around frantically, he spotted her on the ground, a wide grin spreading across his pale face.

"So nice of you to join us Samantha," Danny's eyes shot to where she was standing as Vlad crooned, "And you brought the rest of my emerald for me. How thoughtful of you, your manners are so much better than Daniel's, but then again," he chuckled slightly, "You were raised better than he was."

A feral sounding growl escaped Danny's lips as he tore his eyes away from Sam and focused them back on Vlad, "Leave her alone!" He cracked his knuckles and they were once again surrounded by bright green ectoplasm.

"Why must you be so obstinate?" Vlad questioned, an eyebrow raised at the fuming youth before me, "Why don't you just give into the inevitable and make this easier on yourself? Even the pendants can sense that the emerald shall soon be whole again, and they are preparing themselves for the joining."

"I will not let you hurt Sam or our daughter!" Danny snarled, lunging forward and bringing his brightly glowing hands out in front of him and firing a of an ectoblast. It struck Vlad directly in the chest and he was thrown back a few feet, but instead of showing his pain the man laughed.

"What makes you think that I'll hurt the child?" Vlad was chuckling deeply, a malicious grin spread across his face that made Danny shiver, "Of course I have to get rid of you and Samantha, but the child will be fine." He paused, watching realization spread across Danny's face, "I've always wanted a daughter."

Danny's eyes widened and Sam's hands shot to her mouth in horrified shock.

Vlad wanted their baby.

"You bastard!" Sam shouted, her entire body shaking with the beginnings of a contraction, as her hand clenched more tightly around the pendants chain. As the contraction took its full hold over her she sunk to the ground with a strangled sob.

Danny's eyes darted to Sam's prone form before focusing back on Vlad, "You sick, twisted, son of a bitch." He gritted his words out between his teeth, his hands clenched tightly into fists, "You aren't getting anywhere near my daughter, even if I have to drag you down to hell myself."

"Again with the semantics Daniel," Vlad shook his head, as though ashamed, "How many times to I have to tell you that emotions will do you nothing but harm."

"I'll show you harm," Danny growled coldly, his normally lively bright green eyes darkening with his anger. Then like a shot fired out of a cannon, Danny exploded forward dodging Vlad's attempts to block him, and closing his right hand around Vlad's neck.

Vlad's red eyes widened in shock and he exhaled sharply in surprise, all the air leaving his lungs in a rush. His hands began to scramble uselessly at Danny's single gloved hand slowly crushing his throat, the crimson energy surrounding Vlad's hands not even phasing Danny in the least as his steely gaze locked on Vlad's eyes. A sick satisfaction built in Danny's stomach as he watched Vlad struggle; half ghosts didn't need to breathe nearly as much as humans, but they still needed to breathe.

Suffocation would be a slow and excruciating way to die for a halfa, but it was an end that Danny felt suited his archenemy quite well.

On the ground, Sam watched in terror as Danny's grip tightened more. Never before in her life had Danny ever scared her, but now, he was absolutely terrifying. A crackling noise began to fill the air and Sam looked around in confusion as sparks of electricity snapped and cracked in the air around her, distracting her from the battle waging high above. Slowly the noise intensified as the sparks condensed into a small bright white light. Suddenly the white light burst, showering the ground in embers as the slightly rumpled figures of Artemis and Meia stumbled forward.

"Dear child I am so sorry that it took us so long," Meia gushed as she moved to Sam's side and dropped to her knees next to her, "Someone places a strong force field around the Spirit's Hall and it just now weakened enough for us to break through."

The white lion moved to Sam's side anxiously, "The force field was a one way thing, so I didn't know of it until it was too late."

"All that matters it that you're here now…." Sam gritted out between her teeth as she tried to make her way through another contraction.

Meia looked at the girl sympathetically and patted her knee gently, "I guess it's time to get to work." Meia's deft hands adjusted Sam's position as she moved to kneel by Sam's feet. "Artemis go and lay down behind her so she can pillow her head on you side," the woman instructed as she proceeded to rip long slits into either side of Sam's nightgown so she could lift it up out of the way.

Checking Sam as gently as she could manage, Meia forced a smile, "You're ready to push when the next contraction comes." Sam nodded, already feeling the next contraction building. As it hit she began to push, her hands digging into the ground, ripping up chucks of grass and dirt.

The feeling was an odd mix of pain and terror, and she felt like she wasn't the one in control of her body. She could faintly here Meia giving her instructions which she was pretty sure that she must be following because Meia would occasionally croon the words 'Good Girl' to her, but if she was asked to repeat what the spirit had said she knew that she would fail miserably. Part of her screamed that she should be paying attention to what she was doing but as soon as her eyes locked on Danny and Vlad high above her all remaining thoughts were pushed from her mind.

"One last push," Meia told her, and she was dimly aware that she had nodded to acknowledge the spirits words. She could disjointedly feel her body begin to push, but even that barest hint of self-awareness disappeared when she saw Vlad suddenly smile, his eyes flashing red as he quit struggling against Danny. Rearing back on of his hands Vlad's smirk widened as the hand shot forward.

Straight through Danny's chest.

A strangled scream shot through her as she saw Danny's hand slip from Vlad's throat, the older man supporting his limp form with the arm that was still through his chest. Another cry escaped her as Vlad freed his arm, allowing Danny to plummet to the ground below. He landed only a few feet from her with a sickening thud and the only thing that kept her from moving was the lion who had placed a paw on her shoulder to hold her still.

"Let me go!" she wailed, her body trembling with both her contraction and the terrible crushing feeling that had settled over her heart. The lion refused and she bellowed out again, "I said LET ME GO!" She jerked against the lion's paw as a green light exploded from the pendant around her neck, the ones in Vlad's pocket doing the same as she continued to fight against Artemis and Meia.

But the sudden wail of an infant stopped her cold in her tracks.

Collapsing back against Artemis, silent tears began to stream down her face as Meia handed her the small infant that, even in the greenish glow surrounding them, looked just like the young man laying only a few feet away. The baby continued to cry and Sam didn't have the heart to make her stop, her poor little girl was going to loose her father before she even got to know him.

Vlad's deep laughter reached them and the green light began to pulse around them, the pendant floating slowly into the air, coming to a stop only a few feet above mother and daughter. The laughter suddenly stopped, only to replaced by a panicked voice, "What sorcery is this!" Vlad shrieked loudly, and Sam barely mustered the will to crane her neck to look up at the man who was being pulled quite rapidly into the two chunks of emerald that had burned their way free of his pocket.

As the last wisps of white cloak were sucked into the two pendants they seemed to melt together before beginning their descent to the pendant still floating above Sam. The two masses of molten green stone melded together before solidifying and dropping to the ground next to Sam. Reaching out she picked up the emerald, looking down sadly at the perfectly crystallized Halfling heart in her hand, and she couldn't help the sob that escaped from her throat as she tightened her fingers around it. Pulling herself to her knees weakly as she made her way over to Danny, their daughter clenched tightly to her chest and the emerald in one of her hands.

His eyes were glazed over, but she could see the faintest movement of his chest. For the moment, at least, he was still alive.

"Danny?" she whispered, terrified that he wouldn't answer.

There was complete silence for a moment before his lips twitched slightly and a single word escaped his lips, "Sammy."

She nodded, tears pouring from her eyes and trailing down her cheeks unchecked, "I want to introduce you to your daughter."

"Artemis?" Danny mumbled, "A little help?" The lion moved somberly to his side and helped Danny into an almost upright position, and Sam suppressed a gasp as she finally got a clear view of the whole running straight through the left side of Danny's chest.

Right where his heart should be…

"It's not as bad as it looks," Danny mumbled, his head bobbing slightly as his neck muscles were slowly loosing the energy to hold his head up, "It doesn't even hurt…"

"Don't lie to me Danny," she answered as she slowly passed the baby into his waiting arms.

Looking down at the baby, Danny smiled, "We do good work." He chuckled to himself, trying to hide the pain that the action caused.

"Danny how can you joke at a time like this?" more tears were falling from her eyes as she looked at him holding his daughter for the first and last time.

"What else can I do?" he asked sadly, before looking back down at the baby, "She looks like a Sara to me, what do you think?"

"Sara Adeline, after both our grandmothers," she confirmed, with a faint smile, "Adeline is Grandma's middle name, and her mothers, and her mother's mothers before her…"

"I like it," he said cutting her off before she could work her way into a full on rant, as she often did when she was really upset. "Sam," he paused, "I want you to promise me something."

"Anything," she told him, her hands reaching out to cup his face.

"Promise that you won't follow me," he said softly, locking eyes with her. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off, "I know you Sam, and I know what you're planning. But Sara needs her mom, especially since she won't have her dad around. So promise me."

"Don't talk like that Danny," Sam pleaded, leaning her forehead against his.

"Promise me Sam."

His voice was getting weaker, so Sam did the only thing that she could, "I promise."

"Thank you love," he mumbled, barely getting the words out before his eyes drifted closed and he slumped back against Artemis, his arms loosening their grip on Sara.

"You're welcome," Sam whimpered though she knew he couldn't hear her. Sobs began to rack her slight frame as Meia picked up Sara, moving away to give the girl room. Artemis slowly slid out from under Danny's back, gently placing him on the ground as his too moved away. They watched sadly as Sam through herself forward onto Danny, her hands fisting in his jumpsuit as she cried into his chest.

Danny may have been the one to die, but Sam was the one who had lost her life.

ZZZ

A/N: Please don't kill me! DToB runs and hided in preparation for attack There is one more chapter after his that should be up later his week. I don't want to leave you hanging to long because even I can admit that this was a seriously evil cliffhanger.

Oh and as a side note, this is by far the longest chapter in the story. I just couldn't stop writing. Oh, and sorry for any errors you might find, I only checked over it really quick because I wanted to get this up as soon as possible.

You guys are total awesomeness, and until next time… Luv Ya.

Please R&R,

Dirty Thoughts of Bliss