Chapter 8
Tucker wasn't really surprised when they ended up at Sam's house, what he was surprised about was that Danny had actually brought him along. He was glad though because someone needed to explain to Danny about Sam. Someone who could explain things. The Princess was too fixated on Sam's pink dresses.
The minute Danny put Sam down she rushed to the closet. Danny gave her a strange glance then turned and gave Tucker a questioning look. Tucker opened and closed his mouth a few times in an attempt to talk, but Danny still in wicked ghost form was a little intimidating.
"How about changing back to human?" Tucker asked meekly, getting ready to duck for cover if he needed to.
Danny looked thoughtful for a moment then sighed. "I can't"
"You can't?" Tucker asked in disbelief. "What do you mean you can't?" Danny shrugged his shoulders. He turned and looked at Sam who ran out of the closet with an arm load of pink.
"Ummm," Tucker started. "About Sam. She ummmm."
Danny turned back to Tucker. The glowing in his eyes intensified. "What about Sam?" he growled in the same eerie voice that sent chills down Tucker's spine.
"Uhhmmm errrrr," Tucker started then pointed to Sam who was squealing in delight over the pink dresses. "Oh geeze um. That's not Sam." As if that wasn't obvious.
"What?" Danny roared. The room shook. Tucker winced and Sam, but not Sam squealed and dove into the pile of pink dresses to hide.
"She's fine though," Tucker said quickly. "She's just out of it. The Princess saved her from the fall. She's overshadowing her." Tucker tried to dive under Sam's bed as Danny strode over to Sam who was still cowering in the pile of pink.
"Get out!" Danny ordered. Sam, but not Sam burrowed deeper in the pink He reached down to pull her out. The princess exited Sam's body, leaving unconscious Sam laying in her own nightmare of pink. Danny pulled her from the mess and carried her to the bed.
"You really need to change back to human form," Tucker called from under the bed. "If she wakes up and sees you like that she's going to die of fright." Danny hesitated at Tucker's words. He was right. Danny needed to change back. But how? He tried. And tried. Nothing worked. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched as the princess spread the pink dresses out of the floor and appraised them happily. What if he couldn't revert to human form? What if his anger had burned it away?
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Sam felt she like she was floating through miles and miles of black mist the world around her twisted and turned and she wondered how long she would be falling. Finally she stopped. She could hear voices. Tucker and Danny. She tried to open her eyes but she wasn't awake enough yet. So she listened to her friends talk, but it was difficult to understand what they were saying.
"I can't change back Tucker," Danny said sounding a little frantic. "I'm trying."
"Maybe you just need to calm down," Tucker suggested. "Relax. Take deep breaths. Maybe it's a Zen thing."
"It's not a Zen thing," Danny growled. "It's just a thought. And the thought is not working." He stood up in frustration and looked down at Sam. He was worried about her. Why was she still unconscious? The princess said that she caught Sam before she hit the ground. Tucker's theory was that it was shock that knocked Sam out. All Danny knew was that he couldn't relax until he knew Sam was okay. He'd never forgive himself if she wasn't. It was his fault. He failed her.
Sam opened her eyes and blinked for a moment. Danny was sitting on the bed with his back to her, he was bent forward with his head in his hands. Why was he still in ghost form?
"Danny?" She asked weakly. "What happened." Danny sat up straight but didn't turn around. Tucker bent forward and put his hand on her forehead.
"Hey!" he said trying to sound like everything was fine. "You're finally awake. You sure missed out on a lot." Sam pushed him away in annoyance and turned her attention to Danny who still had his back to her. "We all thought you were a gonner," Tucker continued in an effort to distract Sam. She shot Tucker a glance which told him to shut up and he clamped his mouth closed.
"Danny?" Sam asked as she sat up and put her hand on his back. "What's going on. Why won't you look at me?"
"Don't freak out Sam," Tucker warned. Danny slowly turned around and looked at Sam. Her amythest eyes met glowing green. She smiled at Danny and reached up to comb her fingers through his white hair.
"Freak out about what?" Sam asked not taking her eyes from Danny. "Everything looks pretty normal to me." Tucker glanced at Danny and let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm so sorry," Danny said to Sam as he pulled her into a tight embrace, his form changed from ghost to human. "I failed you. I let you fall. I almost lost you." Sam opened her mouth to say something funny but stopped when she felt the warmth of Danny's tears on her neck. Was Danny crying? Crying? She put her arms around him and looked at Tucker who himself was looking a little shaken up. Danny took several deep breaths against her neck and she shivered.
"Are you two going to tell me what happened?" she asked gently.
Danny pulled away and looked into Sam's eyes. He had gained full composure of himself now. He didn't want to cry in front of Tucker, or Sam really. "We thought Vlad killed you," Danny answered.
"We thought Danny went evil." Tucker added.
"Aww," Sam said teasingly trying to keep things light. "You'd go evil for me?"
"You know I would," Danny said looking at her very seriously.
Sam looked over at the princess who was still fawning all over the dresses of pink as she tried to hide her fear. "Tucker," She said. "I need to speak to Danny. Alone. Why don't you take Miss Pink Princess downstairs and give her a ball. Don't worry no one is home." Tucker nearly groaned in misery but then he saw the shattered look on Danny's face and he took the Princess out of the room without saying another word.
"Danny," Sam said as soon as Tucker shut the door behind him. "You can't mean that. I'd never want you to go evil for me or anyone."
Danny stood and walked to the pile of pink dresses in the middle of the floor. "I didn't go evil Sam," he said flatly. "I wanted to, but I just couldn't do it. If I had let go of my humanity, it would have meant letting go of you. I was mad though. So mad that I was ready to make Vlad pay for what he'd done." He still was.
Sam had difficulty grasping what had happened. She wish she'd been there to see it. She sighed and caught sight of Tucker's PDA laying on her desk. This was the second time today that Tucker had let it out of his sight. She'd have to give him a hard time about it. Danny was picking up the dresses from the floor and putting them back in the closet. Sam didn't question why. Maybe he just needed something to do while he gathered his thoughts together. Sam thumbed through the pictures on the PDA. There was one of her falling through the air. Great. Another was of Danny desperately trying to get away from Vlad to save her. The next was of the ghost portal and an enraged Danny. She had to admit, Evil Danny, or just really angry Danny as he termed it , was an awesome sight. She was sorry she missed it, but that didn't mean she hoped for a repeat.
Danny finished hanging the dresses in Sam's closet then came back out and sat next to her on the bed. He looked at the picture on the PDA and shuddered. Sam gave him a quick glance then flicked over to the next picture. "Valerie!" she gasped. "She showed up? What happened?" Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Danny!" Sam said in a your in trouble if you don't spill the beans, tone.
"Vlad saved her," Danny answered from me. "Vlad is supposed to be the evil one. I am supposed to be the good one, yet Vlad saved Valerie from me. How wrong is that?"
Sam sighed. There were quiet a few times when she would have liked to seen Valerie go down, but she said nothing to Danny. He was too busy beating himself up over something he wasn't responsible for. She turned and looked into his eyes. She could see the pain reflected in the blue depths. Pain and fear.
"I did warn you that I was a liability," She said trying again to lighten things up a little. Normally Danny would have laughed but she could tell he was too scared.
"If it wasn't for you Sam, I wouldn't have come back." He said softly still looking into her eyes.
"I know," she said as she sighed. "Just promise me that if anything happens to me in the future that you'll still come back. I'm not the only person in the world who loves you." She smiled wickedly then leaned forward and kissed him. Danny stiffened at first and it seemed as if he was going to push her away. But instead he put his arms around her and held her close.
"I guess every ghost has a weakness," Sam said as she brushed his neck with her lips. Danny shivered. "I suppose I'm yours."
"I already told you," Danny whispered as he put his hands on the side of her face. "You are my strength Sam." Sam smiled and closed her eyes as Danny pressed his lips against hers. There was so much more to say. They hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of what happened. But Sam felt it was better not to push him. She shuddered at the reality of how close the end had come. It hadn't really hit her yet. She really couldn't imagine how horrible Danny must be feeling at the moment.
"We really should go rescue Tucker from the Princess," Danny said. He was filled with relief that Sam was still alive, but the pain of losing her was still lingering in his heart. He needed some time on his own to assess his emotions. He felt like he was going to break down, and if he did, he'd rather it was in private. Yet on the other hand, he didn't want to let her out of his sight. He wanted to hold her and never let go. He was scared, terrified actually to get any closer to her. The pain of losing her was just too frightening and his life had simply become too dangerous.
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When Sam and Danny appeared down stairs it was to find that Tucker and Princess were rocking out in the living room. Sam remarked to Danny that the princess really had some good moves.
Danny chuckled then whispered. "This is where I wish we had the camera. Exact a little revenge on him." Sam giggled as they watched Tucker and the princess. It took a full five minutes for Tucker to notice. He stopped dancing and flushed bright red.
"Didn't know you could dance like that Tucker," Sam teased. The princess hadn't noticed Tucker had stopped and was still gliding around the room. Sam watched for a moment. She was loath to stop the music. The Princess Ghost had saved her life. Dancing seemed to be her only joy. She walked into the room and made sure the CD was on repeat then followed Danny and Tucker out of the house.
"What we going to do about her?" Tucker asked. "We can't very well put her in the thermos."
"She'll go back to The Ghost Zone on her own," Danny answered. "When she gets sick of dancing."
"Um Danny," Sam said trying not to laugh. "I don't think she's ever going to get sick of dancing." The three friends laughed. It felt good.
"Do you want to walk or fly home?" Danny asked Tucker.
"Uh. I think I'd much rather walk today. Thanks." Tucker said. The thought of flying right now gave Tucker a stomach ache which was just as well because Sam knew she'd refuse to fly and Danny just didn't feel like he had the energy to go ghost.
"I should probably stay home," Sam said as she looked back at her house. For the first time in a long time she wished her parents were home. She didn't want to be alone.
Danny took her hand. "No please." He said. "If you don't mind. I'll bring you back home." Sam nodded her head.
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Tucker gave Sam a long hug before he went in the house. He looked at her for a moment and said, "I'm glad you're all right Sam."
"Me too," she replied. "Being dead would have seriously sucked." Tucker laughed a little then shot Danny a concerned glace..
"I'm going to be all right," Danny said to Tucker. "It's not like I am a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. I'll talk to you in the morning."
"Okay," Tucker said as he bade his friends good night. Danny and Sam stood for a moment before walking away, back toward Sam's house.
"You're really quiet," Sam said. She wanted to take his hand, but suddenly felt too shy. He seemed to be withdrawing away from her and she wasn't sure how to get him back.
"I'm sorry," Danny said as he did the best he could to focus his attention back to Sam he gave her one of his goofy grins and took her hand. She felt better, but not much as they walked back to her house in silence.
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