Chapter Rewrite Complete

Jazz was silent for a few minutes after I finished telling her the highly abridged version of what happened. I still couldn't bring myself to actually say the word out loud, but I didn't need to. There wasn't really a way to tell that story without it being very clear that it was... that. I could already tell it was going to be a long road to recovery.

"I guess you're not pressing charges," Jazz said, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"No. I don't think I can take it. I'm hoping my parents will take care of it." I sighed. "That would probably require mother coming to her senses, though. I'm not sure that's going happen."

"There's a chance we could still recover some evidence. I mean-"

"Jazz-" I tried to cut her off, but she just kept talking. I know she meant well, but I could not deal with her getting pushy and over-protective right now.

"I know the chances aren't great, but we could still try! You can't let-"

"Jazz! Stop," Danny finally intervened. "It's her choice, and she said no."

Jazz shook her head, looking down and I could have sworn she was holding back tears. "Just like all the others," she muttered.

"What?" I asked.

I don't know how she did it, but when she looked back up at me, she had a small, almost genuine, smile. "It's nothing. Danny's right. It's your choice, I shouldn't have tried to push it. Who knows? Maybe your mother will come around. Stranger things have happened- Danny's living proof of that."

"Okay..." I didn't really know what to say. It definitely wasn't nothing, but Jazz wasn't about to tell us the truth.

"I'm always here if you want to talk." Jazz had snapped right back into therapist mode. "You probably already know this, but there's a good chance this is going to leave you with PTSD. The brain doesn't always process traumatic events properly. The memory can get stuck and trigger a fight or flight response every time something reminds you of it. I know you don't want to deal with it now, but you can't just avoid the memory forever. I'm not saying you have to do it right away, or even that you have to talk to me, but at some point you're going to have to confront it."

"Okay." I understood what she was saying, but I was too tired for her psycho-babble.

"I just wanted you to know what you're in for. I won't lie to you, Sam. It's going to be rough, but you're strong. You'll make it through this." She reached out to touch my arm, but thought better of it. "I'll let you get some rest, you look like you're about to fall asleep sitting up."

Jazz left, leaving Danny and I alone. I didn't want to sleep, I was afraid of what would come to me in my dreams. I hadn't slept since the event and I wasn't keen on trying now.

Danny pulled me down to lie on the bed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but listen to Jazz. You need to sleep."

"I don't want to. I don't need it."

Danny chuckled. "Weren't yelling at me to get some sleep less than a week ago?"

"I didn't yell at you."

"You did lecture me though."

I fought back a yawn. "You were hurt because you weren't taking care of yourself."

"And now you're doing the same thing."

I glared at him. Who gave him permission to be right so many times on the same day?

"Come on, Sam. I know you're scared, but you can't stay awake forever. Get some rest, I promise I will be right here if you need me."

I wanted to keep fighting it, but now that I was laying down, my eyes were starting to close whether I liked it or not. "I will kick your ass if you're not here when I wake up, I grumbled.

Danny laughed. "I'm sure you would."

I held on to Danny's arm, taking comfort in the knowledge that he would stay by me until I woke up again. I drifted off to sleep, hoping that having him there would be enough to stave off nightmares.

Darkness was all around me. I had the urge to run, but I couldn't move. I didn't know what was out there, but something was after me.I felt a wall against my back, and I realized I wasn't wearing a shirt.

I suddenly knew what was coming and I begged my body to listen to me- to run, scream, anything.I felt hands on me, I couldn't see the face of the person they belonged to, but I knew exactly who it was.

"Let me hear you, that's how I know you're having fun." The hands pushed my skirt up and started prodding around down there.

I didn't want this. Why couldn't I do anything to stop it? Why couldn't he just leave me alone?

'Stop!' I tried to call out, but the words never left my mouth. This was going to happen whether I liked it or not because my body just wouldn't listen to me.

"It's time for the main event."

No. No. No. I couldn't go through this again. Once was more than enough. I felt him penetrate me. I tried to scream in pain as he started moving inside me. He stole my innocence.

"You're going to have my baby."

That was a fear I hadn't even thought about yet. I desperately tried to get my body to move, desperate to get away before he did it. It was no use. I was frozen in place, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.I heard a grunt and then I felt it dripping out of me. He had finished inside me. I dropped to the ground, crying and screaming.

I woke myself up with my scream. Nightmares were never fun, but that was on a whole different level. I couldn't think straight, I could still feel his hands on me.

"I'm here, Sam," I heard a voice but I still couldn't tell who it was. Then they touched me and I screamed again. Tears started flowing freely down my face.

"Sam, it's just me. I'm sorry!" Danny. That was Danny's voice.

My brain finally started to process what was going on around me. I sat up and looked around the room. It was just a nightmare, a terrible nightmare. This was Danny's room, where the only thing that could hurt me was my own mind. That bastard wasn't here, and he never would be. The only people here were me, Danny, and his mother.

They were both worried, I could see it on their faces. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to scare anyone."

"It's okay, sweetie," Maddie said, with a small, comforting smile.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked.

"I will be." I was nowhere near okay, but I didn't want to come right out and say it. I would be okay eventually, that was the truth, but I knew it was going to be a while.

"What's going on?" I needed a distraction from the nightmare still playing on a loop in my head.

Maddie didn't really know how to answer that. "I have some news related to what happened to you. I was just going to tell Danny- I don't know if you want to hear about it or not."

I thought it over. I didn't want to think about it, but any news about it couldn't be worse than the actual event. "I want to hear it."

"Okay. Dash was found in an alley, beaten pretty badly. He's in the hospital ICU. He's stable now, but it's going to be a long road to recovery. With how exentsive the injuries were, he's likely going to have some permanent damage.

"The police have no leads about who did it. When Dash is awake, he swears Phantom did it, but Phantom has that hero reputation protecting him and it'd be pretty hard to prosecute a ghost anyway. There's no legal precedent for it."

Maddie sighed. "You kids know I'm not a fan of Phantom. I don't think he's trying to cause trouble, but at best he's just cleaning up messes he created in the first place. I will say that if he's the one who did it, he's earned a few brownie points after what Dash did to you. He's never attacked a human before, not to that degree. I have to admit that it looks like he saw what happened and dished out his own brand of justice. I don't like him, but at least Phantom has never gone as far as Dash did."

Dash was in the hospital. I knew Danny had beaten him pretty bad, but I had never stopped to think about how bad it was. I hadn't really seen the fight, but I heard it and I caught a glimpse of Dash laying unconscious on the ground. I was a little suprised that Danny stopped before he killed him. Maybe he was trying to protect me, keeping me from seeing a man die after what had already happened.

"I shouldn't have stopped," Danny muttered. I guess letting Dash live was an accident, and I couldn't really blame him for wanting the bastard dead. A part of me hoped Dash wouldn't recover after all.

"What was that?" Maddie asked, and Danny's eyes went wide. He always forgets that his mother's hearing is better than most.

"I shouldn't have stopped Phantom," he said, trying to cover his trail. "He was still there when I found Sam. I stopped him because I wasn't entirely sure Dash had done anything worthy of death and he disappeared as soon as I did."

"Danny, there's no shame in wanting to he be sure someone deserves it before a death sentence is carried out, and there is no shame in saving a man's life. Dash is a terrible person, but it's not our place to decide whether or not he deserves to die. A life is a life, and it shouldn't be taken unless it's necessary.

"Considering the nature of ghosts, you probably did Phantom a favor. Who knows what he would turn into if he actually killed him. Right now, he does slightly more good than harm. That's why he's low priority for hunters. If he started killing, he'd go to the top of the list and his existance wouldn't continue for much longer. High priority ghosts don't get stunned and sent back to the ghost zone. They get destroyed at the first opprotunity to do so.

"Danny, you saved three people last night. Sam may have been your priority, but Dash will live and Phantom will be able to continue his afterlife because of you. Regardless of how anyone feels about them, you did good and you should be proud of yourself. You're a hero, Danny."

"I'm not a hero. I'm just trying to do the right thing."

"Danny, that's what a hero is. You did the right thing when everything was going wrong. Most people would have just walked away and let it happen, but you didn't. It doesn't matter if you were only there for Sam, you're still a hero."

Danny didn't have a response. Whether he actually belived it or not, this was still the first time anyone had gotten him to stop denying he was a hero. I'd been trying for years and could never get that far.

We all sat there in silence for a few minutes, trying to process everything. It was a lot and I still wasn't sure how I felt about everything involving Dash. It was rare for Maddie to admit Phantom did something good, or even that ghosts at least used to be people. I hadn't realized how much Maddie had softened over the past few years. I guess being exposed to ghosts on a regular basis had shown her that the issue wasn't as black and white as she thought.

Maddie's face gradually shifted from pride to confusion. "Danny, how did you even find Sam? You told me you were going to Nasty Burger. That's across town from where it happened." She was trying really hard not to sound like she was accusing him of anything, but she clearly knew he'd lied to her.

Danny's hand went to the back of his neck, an old habit that was a sure sign he was lying. He'd manage to break it for the most part, but it always crept back in when he was caught off gaurd.

"I gave Sam one of those GPS pager things you and dad invented, for emergencies. I guess she hit the button when things started going side ways and I got the SOS shortly after I left the house."

"That's still pretty far, Danny. I don't know how you got over there in time."

"I didn't, though. Phantom had already dealt with Dash by the time I got there." Danny was throwing in just enough of the truth to sound plausible. Technically, Fenton didn't show up until Phantom was done with Dash. Maddie just didn't know they were the same person. Danny laughed a little, trying to be disarming. "I guess running from bullies all the time actually did me some good."

"Okay," Maddie said simply. I could tell she wasn't really buying it, but it was the most plausible theory she had. "Sam, we still haven't heard anything else from your parents. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need, and you have our support if you need help dealing with them in the future."

"Thank you."

"Of course, sweetheart." Maddie smiled back at me.

"Mom, I'm all for Sam staying here, but where is she going to sleep? Dad's got all the guest rooms filled with random inventions now that the shed's full and her and Jazz probably can't share a room for very long without killing each other. You know Jazz would go a little nuts playing therapist."

She chuckled. "Yeah, she would. She probably still will. I've talked it over with your dad and Sam can stay in here. We're trusting you not to do anything stupid."

Danny turned bright red, and I probably did, too. I wasn't really ready to leave Danny's side yet, but sharing a bed with him long term was something I hadn't dared to think about and what she was implying was something I wouldn't want anything to do with for a long time. Maddie probably knew that- it was likely the only reason she was letting us share a room.

"Mom!"

"I know, I know. But you're still teenagers, hormones are running rampant."

Danny quickly threw the blanket over himself, hiding from his mother. I could see just enough to know he'd turned invisible from embarassment. At least he'd learned what triggers a mishap with his powers. Two years ago, we would have had a lot of questions to answer right about now.

Maddie stood, shaking her head. "I'll leave now before you die from embarassment."

"Thank you! Bye now!" Danny called from under the covers.

Danny let the blanket fall when he heard the door close, but he still wasn't visible. I wished I could do the same thing. It would probably be a while before I was ready for a relationship with anyone, but I couldn't deny that a part of me had wanted to be with Danny for years. I didn't usually let myself think about it, but for now it was a welcome distraction.

"Am I ever going to see you again?"

"My mother decided a sex talk didn't need to be private. What do you think?"

"Come on, Danny. It wasn't that bad."

"Fine. I'll come out, but only if you go back to sleep."

"I just woke up!" I was still tired, but I didn't want to go back to those nightmares.

"Sam, you only slept for like 3 hours. That's not enough." Damnit. That wasn't enough for me win this argument. 6 hours, maybe, but if I kept fighting him on it now, Danny might overshadow me just to make it happen. It wouldn't be the first time. The boy rarely took care of himself, but he wasn't afraid to force Tucker and I to do it.

"I'll try to go to sleep if you let me see you again first."

"Deal." He reappeared. "I promise, if you have nightmares again, I let it go at least until tonight. I need you to really try, though, okay?"

"Okay." I pulled his arms around me as I laid down. Maybe I was over indulging the part of me that really wanted to be with him, but I didn't care. After everything, I felt like I deserved something to make me happy, even if it was just a fantasy. "You're staying right here though," I mumbled.

"Of course."

I closed my eyes, relaxing into his arms. I couldn't keep doing this forever, but right then it was what I needed. Danny made me feel safe. He couldn't protect me from nightmares, but at least he could stop anything from happening to give me more of them.

Then, I felt it. At least, I'm pretty sure I did. A quick kiss on my cheek.

Maybe I was more tired than I thought. Danny and I had always been close, but he couldn't possibly want more than just friendship with me. Tucker had tried to convince me he did, but I couldn't believe it. I didn't exactly match Danny's usual type.

Even if he had wanted a relationship before, there was no way he'd want one now. After what Dash had done to me, I felt so dirty. No one could want me after something like that.

It likely didn't matter anyway. Even if he did want it, just the thought of being intimate with anyone scared me. I didn't know if I would ever be able to have a real relationship with anyone. Maybe an emotional relationship, but the physical side of things terrified me. If anyone but Danny so much as touched my shoulder, I freaked out. The thought of sharing a real kiss was terrifying, no matter who I would be with.

I kept mulling it over as I started to drift off to sleep. Thinking about this stuff scared me, but it was better than the images that threatened to take over if I didn't keep my mind occupied.

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Invisible One