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 Nineteen

I'll give up everything just to find you.

She lay on her bed rubbing her stomach. Little one had decided that they were very happy with a foot in her lung. Sam sighed. There was still no word from Danny. It had been two weeks since he'd left her standing by herself, talking to air with the slim possibility he could still here her. She shivered in the early December chill and reached down and cranked up the tiny portable space heater in the attic that she had closer to her bed than she probably should. She wondered if it had snowed up in Amity Park yet.

It wasn't as if she could ask Danny. She emailed him every night, yet he still wouldn't respond. Why was he doing this to her? He suddenly disappears for a week and then shows up looking like death itself, babbling about never seeing her again. She wondered if that was how she'd sounded to Danny all those months ago on the playground. She closed her eyes remembering that day.

It was short-lived. The child inside her decided that just jamming their foot in a rib wasn't enough. They needed to give the rib a good health punt. Sam bit her lip. At least it was just one. There could have been another one with an elbow jammed into her liver. She shook her head at the thought. She silently prayed for the umpteenth time that the little infant would look like her. She was falling in love with the child despite its parentage but she didn't know what she'd do if he looked like the man she still saw in her nightmares.

She wished that the story Danny had told her wasn't a lie. She wanted it to be his child. She wanted him to be the one she could pass the whiny baby off to at two in the morning and they could argue over whom it looked more like. Instead she was facing being the only parent this child would ever know. Maybe someday she would grow up and find someone who could love them both for who they were. But right now she was facing many sleeping nights just her and a child that she wouldn't even be able to put a father for on the birth certificate.

The thought brought tears to her eyes. Jazz's words from right before the trial filtered back to her. You deserve better, Sam. She bitterly suppressed the thought. Of course she did but that didn't change anything. Her child deserved better. They deserved a father's last name, a dad for show and tell, deserved to be loved and have a dad come in to tuck them in after he got home from work. Sure, it was a little picturesque. But with everything she'd been through she figured she deserved a few dreams that were a little too perfect. It wasn't as if they'd ever come true anyway.

Sam glanced at the clock. It was only eight. Wow. She glanced out the already darkened window. Danny was probably out patrolling with Tuck at the moment. She bit her lip. Life just went on the same without her. A month ago that thought would have terrified her but now it was strangely comforting. Life would go on without her. No matter how bad it seemed there was still some normalcy somewhere. Despite how messed up her life had become, it could always get better. Her little one stood a chance at making it in the world, despite the horrible act that resulted in it's birth. She smiled as she rubbed the palm of her hand against the spot where the little foot was wedged in her ribs. It wouldn't be that bad.

She sat up with some effort and opened her laptop. Sam sat there for a moment watching white technical statistics load against the black screen. Suddenly she was tired of writing emails, not knowing if he was reading them. It only took her a few minutes to go down the stairs, retrieve the cordless phone, and return to the sanctuary of her room. Falling back onto her bed she, dialed the ever familiar number, area code and all. She fell back and listened to it ring. What if he wasn't home? "Hello," a familiar chipper voice came on the line.

A smile lit her face. It wasn't him but just hearing from the people she'd known since before she could tie her shoes made her feel better. "Jazz!"

The other voice brightened further, if that was possible. "Sam! How are you?"

"I'm good. How are things on your end?"

She laughed. "Just a bunch of boring finals to study for."

"Don't remind me," Sam groaned inwardly. "I haven't even started looking at them yet."

She didn't need to see her face to tell Jazz wasn't happy with that response. "Well, I'm sure you have bigger things to worry about. How far along are you now?"

"Twenty-two weeks."

She heard Jazz laugh lightly. "You sound thrilled."

"I guess. My ankles are ballooning up. Seems like every other day I have another piece of clothes that won't fit me. At least, I'm not morning sick anymore."

"I still feel terrible about making you sick."

Sam grinned. Just talking to Jazz was making this whole thing seem more manageable. "It's not your fault. It's these retarded hormones. You don't get how annoying have your brain jerked around by chemicals is."

"Sounds like fun," she commented lightly. "Want me to go get Danny?"

"Ah, could I ask a strange favor?"

There was a pause. "Sure."

Sam picked at a loose thread on the comforter on her bed. "He's not speaking to me at the moment. So can you tell him that it's Tucker on the phone."

"Did you guys have a fight or something?"

Sam sighed. She wished it was just that simple. "Sort of," she said softly, instantly falling silent.

She heard the soft noise as Jazz set the phone down. She waited for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly there was scraping sound. "Hey, Tuck."

She swallowed hard. "Danny?"

"Sam?" She could here the shock in his voice.

"Don't hang up!" she bit out quickly, telling by his tone it was what he was about to do. She waited for him to say something but after about ten seconds passed in silence she realized two things. He wasn't hanging up and he wasn't going to talk. She sighed softly. "Please, just listen to me. I don't know what happened, but I'm sorry it did. I'm sorry I ever suggested you go see Vlad."

She paused, swallowing against the sudden knot in her throat. "I just want you to come back. If you hate me and never want to see me again I can live with that. But I want one last day with you before I have to give it up. I want you to come see me Saturday. Have your parents drive you, let Tammy and Evert know your coming. Not some quick visit before anyone notices your gone. I want one last day. Just the two of us." She swallowed hard, not knowing where it was coming from. But now that he was on the other end of the line it just came spilling out. She couldn't let it end like this. "Please," she breathed.

She stood there silence stretching between them. She didn't care that it was long distance. She just needed him to say something. She bit her lip, holding her breath, just praying he would respond. "I'll see you Saturday," came the hoarse reply. Then with a click the line went dead.

Hey. I knew this would happen! The second I go about trying to finish this story, my computer goes down. Just my luck. I am camping out at the local college for three days. Literally. It's very sad. But I will finish it! Thanks to my awesome THREE reviewers: Moody Maud, RavenForever and Mrs. Granger-Weasley. So they are kewl and the rest of you are loam!