The world blurred around Alesha as she sped through the almost settled twilight, but in her mind, she knew...Vlad had obliterated her brother's spirit. She hadn't even remembered his name when they'd first woken up after...after whatever happened. They had always just been there, but she was the older sister...and now she had failed.

"Brian," she whispered as she zoomed over the trees.

"You're too late," a voice behind her made her stop, and whirl around to find herself facing a ghost boy who couldn't have been a year older than herself when he'd died.

"Who are you?" she asked warily.

"My name is Miller," he shook dark brown bangs out of his stark green eyes. She took a good look at him as he made his introduction. His skin looked almost asdark as his hair, makinghis neon eyes stand out, not quite as much asher own did. "And yours is Alesha," he waved a hand as he regarded her through the long-cut bangs.

"I know I'm too late..." she blurted out, referring to his previous comment, "but I have to see for myself."

"Some friend you have," the boy scoffed. Once again, she froze, this time not turning to face him.

"What?" She couldn't seem to raise her voice over a whisper, but he heard her.

"Your half human friend," Miller pushed off the wall, and glided over to her. "Vlad gave him a choice of choosing between his friend and your brother. He chose that your brother should die almost immediately." Alesha once again felt her blood run cold. "I witnessed it," he cameclose to her ear. "He killed your brother."

"Vlad killed my brother," Alesha tore away from him, unaware of the tears that had come to her eyes. "Even if it played out the way you say it did, Plasmius gave him the sickening choice to begin with!" Miller shrugged and glided away.

"Whatever you say, but after all you've done for him, I just thought he'd choose differently." She watched him glide away without saying anything. She wanted to scream at him that Danny would never do that...unless he absolutely had to. She wanted to ask him how he knew all of this, but then her mouth seemed to be completely disconnected from her brain. Shaking her head, she dived for the house. She had to see this for herself.

xoxoxox

"Hurry!" Jazz and Sam kept telling them. "He needs help!"

"Why?" Maddie asked for the thousandth time. "Why does he need help? Is he hurt? Tell us!" Sam and Jazz exchanged looks for what seemed like the hundredth time and answered yet again, in unison:

"We don't know." Maddie turned around in her front seat, frustrated, chewing on the end of her glove nervously, an old habit she'd picked up from college.

"So you guys just got a call from Danny, who's been missing for almost four months, and Tucker went off by himself!" She said finally. Jack was remaining strangely silent.

"And we came back, yes," Sam acknowledged. "We...er...couldn't stop him." She shrugged at Jazz. Well, it was true.

"Maddie, look!" Jack said suddenly. The headlights picked up a lumpy figure in the distance, stumbling towards them

"Is it..." The figure stopped as they approached and held up a scratched hand to shield the bright light from his eyes.

"Tucker!" Sam and Jazz exclaimed at the same time. Jack brought the vehicle to a skidding stop, and everyone piled out, rushing at the African American. When he saw them, he smiled in relief, and fell to his knees. He'd walked for almost half a mile with the limp form of Daniel Fenton draped over his shoulder.


Well, look who woke up sick this morning, and decided that going to her friends house 200 miles away would probably be a bad thing.

Thanx for the comments and the well wishes, guys. I really appreciate it. :hug:

Celestial: Yep! I didn't know it was Japanese though! Coolness. :D Sam uses it once in the second episode, "Parental Bonding": Kudos, Danny. You just set the all time speed record for drowning in the shallow end of the Gene pool. ;) helps her up after her tripping

LaBOBruen: IF YOU ATTACK ME, THERE WILL BE NO MORE STORY! Besides, if I could have my way, Danny would be true and real, and he'd be going to my college, he'd see me, fall madly in love with me, and we'd get married. ;)