Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Sixteen

If I look deep enough.

She was officially losing her mind. Sam was sure of it. She knew what she'd seen. There had definitely seen something. But yet when she had stood and advanced toward the staircase, suddenly it was gone. It made no sense. Danny was still missing and a ghost attacked her foster brother. None of it made sense. If the other person was trying to warn Danny, why hurt Blake? Wouldn't she have been a better target and, unlike Blake, she had been alone. Sam jumped at the sudden angry hiss as the macaroni she was supposed to be fixing boiled over. With a muttered explicative, she tossed the fork to the stove and grabbed the pan's handle. She held it above the burner, counted to thirty and set it back down. She cranked down the heat, stepping back at the sound of a young voice.

"Umm…" She turned to see Ryan standing in the door way. "You said a bad word."

Sam rolled her eyes. It was nice to see that Blake's supernatural attack hadn't fazed him in the least. "Ryan, drop it."

She heard the sound of the chair scrape against the linoleum as the second-grader sat down. "Wow. You're homo-ranal."

"It's hormonal, Ryan. And I am not." I'm just minus a best friend and going insane. She exhaled slowly as she picked up the fork and went back to stirring pasta. She listened to the sound of the fork scraping aimlessly against the bottom of the pan. She glanced towards the door into the living room as another yell came from the bathroom and more assurances that he was fine.

Sam felt bad for poor little Blake. He had a deep scrape across most the right side of his forehead that was already starting to scab over by the time they got home, giving it a grotesque appearance. Tammy was currently trying to get the blood out of his hair, which was resulting in much pulling and yanking and a lot of screaming. Sam closed her eyes, humming a Good Charlotte song to herself in attempt to ignore everything around her.

She turned to get the milk and butter out of the fridge. "What are you coloring?"

Ryan glanced up. "It's a picture of Frog and Toad. We're reading Frog and Toad Are Friends in class."

"Do you like it," she asked, starting to unwrap the stick margarine.

She could almost see his shrug. "It's okay, I guess."

Sam bit her lip. "I think we read it in school when I was your age, but I'm not sure. That was a long—" She paused as the doorbell chimed.

"Sam, can you get that?" A muffled voice from the bathroom called.

Sam sighed as she finished draining the elbow pasta. She set the pan down on a back burner and turning of the element for the front one. Sam shuffled through the living room with just the light flowing in from the kitchen to guide her. She put a hand gently on the couch arm as she walked past. Sam walked over, hitting the porch light as she went. Sam swung open the front door. She opened her mouth to say hello and froze. The person standing outside gave her a weak smile. "What? I don't even get a 'Hello'?"

"Danny," she whispered. Sam threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt his arms slip around her waist lightly. They stayed like that for a moment till Sam pulled back to get a better look at him. She gasped at what she saw.

There were dark circles under his eyes and his eye lids drooped as if he could barely keep them open. But what lay behind them looked infinitely worse. Once bright blue eyes looked dull and haunted. Blood-shot lines seemed unnaturally visible. A cut ran from his cheekbone down to almost his upper lip and his cheeks looked dusty and sunken in. "I know. I could look better." He seemed to notice her stare.

"Does your family know you're here? Why didn't you call? And what happened?"

He leaned against one of the support columns for the porch roof, as if he couldn't have stayed upright without it. "No. I'm sorry. And it's a long story."

"Sam! Who is it?" She heard Tammy call from the bathroom.

Sam's eyes went wide. "Uh… It's a kid I'm doing a history project with! I totally forgot I was supposed to have him over to work on it tonight! We'll be in my room!" With that she latched onto Danny's wrist and dragged him up the living room stairs to the second floor. She couldn't help but notice that she could feel both the bones in his arm a little too well. Apparently it had been one heck of a week. She pulled threw open the door to the attic and pulled him onto the three foot by three foot landing before the stairs. She wrapped her arms around him. Sam rested her cheek against his collarbone. He smelled of burnt leaves. This time his arms didn't go around her. He tensed slightly but gave no other response. "What's happened to you?" Sam whispered in the darkness.

She couldn't see him but she felt him raise a hand and rub his hand aimlessly in little circles over her shoulder blade. "I can't stay," he whispered. There was a tightness in his voice that scared her slightly. "I have to see you one last time." His other hand drifted up and he traced her cheekbone.

Sam swallowed, shivering. Suddenly the friendly hug seemed so much more intimate. "What do you mean, 'One last time'?"

He ran a finger down her jawline lightly. "I can't see you again."

Sam felt confused and betrayed. She pulled away slightly. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the light. "What is wrong with you?" She asked incredulously. "I get a call from the police telling me you've vanished. You don't call me for a week and then show up at my house claiming you never want to see me again," she said, her voice taking on a questioning, desperate edge. "I thought you were dead, Danny. Dead. I thought I'd never see you again," she whispered desperately. She didn't even know where she was going with this anymore. She was hormonal, tired, and frustrated and he wasn't helping.

Danny didn't seem to register any of what she threw at him. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, tucking her hair behind her right ear. "I have to go."

"Danny," she started but suddenly he was gone. He had gone intangible and just left. Sam grabbed the hand rail next to her. The hot tear leaked from her eye to cling to a moment at the top of her check. Why was she crying? She was emotional already and he was playing these games with her. "I'll see you again," she said softly, hoping he was still there only invisible. "God help me, I'll see you again if it's the last thing I do."

At the top of the stairs, a fifteen-year-old ghost swallowed hard. He squeezed now crimson eyes shut. He didn't want to admit it to himself but if he saw her again, it would be the last thing she did.

Hey! Wondering where Danny was all week? Tune in next chapter. Thanks to the great: Cooperstar and Blink, gothmiko, pinkXfairie, The Fuzy Llama, Samster The Hamster, q.t a.k.a spice, cheerin4danny, autumngold, Mr. Delmont, Chicken Person, Random Reviewer, Ryo's destiny, Sakura Scout, MayB, RavenForever, Medisti, Nakira Ayame Outsuno, RainbowSerenity, Kagome51, The Good Girl, WormmonABC, Moody Maud, Hwoarangsguardie, Silverflare07, and Mrs. Granger-Weasley. You Rock! You Rock OUT LOUD!

Note: This chapter is going out to Silverflare07 for being Review 400!