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 Seventeen

So many things inside that are just like you are taking over.

Why did this all have to be this hard? Danny hit his head against the side of the tree and slid down into the dying grass and scattered yellow maple leaves. He wished he had never gone to see Vlad, wished one of his powers would enable him to jump back in time and change things. But they didn't. He was just as helpless as anyone else, probably more-so. It was ironic in a strange way, the boy who spent his entire freshman year wishing he didn't have powers and could fit in now craved them back.

He could barely touch his powers. Any extended use and he lost control. For some reason when he had arrived home Saturday morning and crept silently through the door just the sound of his parents good-natured arguing over the circuitry of a new invention brought flooding back everything Vlad had said. But the words that stayed hauntingly with him were that his dad had hit his mom. His dad had watched her throw her life away and really hadn't cared in the least.

For some reason Danny couldn't bring himself to face them. It all brought back that early august night he had told his parents. His mother had been concerned and seemed to know exactly what he was talking about and exactly what he'd been through. His dad just sat there looking concerned, almost distant. It hadn't seemed like anything at the time but in hindsight he wondered why it hadn't hit him. His mother had been the one who had been all about supporting Sam all along. He'd always chalked that up to his father just being too obsessive to notice things that didn't effect his work. Now he wondered if there was more to the story.

He'd gone invisible just for safety's sake and floated over to look at the picture of his parents. He looked at it, really looked, for the first time. It was a picture of his parents lighting the unity candle at their wedding. He'd never noticed before how thin his mom's wrist and neck were. His gaze traveled to the ring on her finger. He squinted at it. Something didn't look quiet right. It suddenly hit him barely visible from the shadows but wrapped around the engagement ring was a piece of white yarn.

Danny almost choked. Vlad was right. His mom had been anorexic. How had he never noticed before? He suddenly felt completely lost. He didn't know his parents at all. That was why Jazz had harped on his parents to take him to Wisconsin freshman year. What a load of good it had done him. He still knew nothing about them.

His thoughts drifted back to Sam. If he could go for this long without ever seeing what was right in front of him, what signs could he have missed on her? He should have seen the suicide coming. He had known something was wrong, he should never have let her out of his sight. It was his fault. He had failed her. For all he knew she could have a relapse and hurt herself or the child at any moment, a thought that crossed his mind more times than he cared to admit. And he wouldn't do anything to stop her. Maybe he was just like his dad.

That hit a little too close to home. He viciously suppressed the thought. When that had happened to Sam, his life had gone on hold. He couldn't imagine just not notice or even worse not caring. If his dad wouldn't put his life on hold for his mom, how come he'd stopped everything for Sam? Because you love her. Danny's thoughts seemed to halt at the thought. Sure, he loved her. She was his best friend. He would kill the people responsible for all the pain she was going through if he ever met up with them. There was no doubt in his mind of that. So why did he feel like he was failing her somehow?

You should have let her die. Danny floated gently to the living room floor. The thought seized his conscious as a red haze spread over his thoughts, gripping him. There was no way I could have let her die, he thought desperately. But she wanted to. She despised your interference, hated you for it. The words came to him in his own voice yet Danny knew they couldn't be his own. Kill her.

Danny shook his head. He let his eyes slip out of focus and barely visible reflection in the picture frame caught his eye. Even though he was still invisible his image was clearly there. Crimson eyes narrowed as if knowing he was seeing this. A small smirk curved his lip, yet Danny was horrified. It was as if he was no longer in control, as if he had suddenly lost the ability to think in his own mind. Kill her! No! He didn't have to do as he was told. He mentally took a deep breath and tried to change out of ghost mode. The specter laughed and suddenly Danny lost all concious thought slipping into darkness.

He awoke to find himself in an unfamiliar room that looked like it was used for storage. He managed to make himself intangible without going into ghost mode. He shuddered. He never wanted to become Danny Phantom again. He felt as if that side of himself had betrayed him. That it was helping Vlad along every step of the way. If that was how it was going to be he didn't need to be a ghost. He would deal with his own problems like any other fifteen-year-old boy would. Without ghost powers.

He wandered down the hall. It was a library. That was strange. He glanced around. How in the world could he have gotten here? He stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried to look in conspicuous. He hated trying not to be obvious. He was a horrible actor and he knew it. The important thing was finding his way out. He managed to walk by a table with today's local papers layed out on it. Danny glanced down. The Brightsburg Journal Star. So he definitely was in Dimsdale Brightsburg area. Something caused Danny to do a double take.

Beside the little picture of a partly cloudy symbol and the guide to finding sections was the date. Friday October 24! How was it a week later?!? He reeled back as if he'd been slapped. His ghost powers or whatever it was that had happened had been in control of him for over almost a week. His eyes went wide. "Sam," Danny whispered. With that the paper slipped from his hand to flutter to the floor as Danny took off, praying he hadn't done what he was afraid he must of.

Hey everyone! I know this chapter seems really short but I blame that on the lack of dialogue. Be prepared for many updates. Rainbow Serenity and I have a bet going as to whether I can finish this story before she can finish the cover for Imaginary. It's on! Anyway, thanks to: dannyandsambelongtogether, YAY!!!!x2, gothmiko, Hwoarangsguardie, Cooperstar and Blink, q.t a.k.a spice, autumngold, Sakura Scout, Chicken Person, GMGIrl, Spazbot, Samster The Hamster, The Fuzy Llama, Spice Of Life, Ryo's destiny, Spice Of Life, The Good Girl, Medisti, Silverflare07, Kagome51, MayB, Blackjewel6666, pinkXfairie, Storm Sword, RainbowSerenity, WormmonABC, Moody Maud, Mr. Delmont, RavenForever, Airie-Chan, and Mrs. Granger-Weasley. Thanks for still reading!

Kudos to Cooperstar and Blink for being review number 450!