Chapter Seven: Lust is A Desire

Jazz sat in the family room, slowly flipping through the paper. She all ready read over the main stories and was looking desperately for the business section. She finally found it and flipped it open and leaned back into the plush armchair right by the radio. As soon as she got to the second paragraph Danny came down the stairs, looked at the door and then turned to walk back up to his room. Jazz looked at the stairs confused and then looked at the clock. It was a few minutes passed ten at night. Sam was running late from work. Jazz shrugged and thought that she probably just had a lot of re-shop to do.

After another five minutes passed, Danny came down the stairs again and looked at the door. Sighing, he turned to go back to his room when Jazz stopped him.

"Danny, I swear if you're so worried, go get her at work," Jazz sighed and put the paper in her lap for a moment, "She's probably just labored with re-shop."

Danny trudged down the stairs and collapsed on the couch to the side of Jazz's chair. He put his feet up on one of the armrests and stared blankly at the ceiling. He was thinking intently again. He always just zoned out, looking at the ceiling when he was trying to figure something out or when something was bothering him. She knew he wouldn't talk about it to her unless she prodded into his life, but she did enough of that the night before. Every once in a while she heard a sigh from his direction and, truth be told it was distracting from the paper.

Finally on the fifth sigh she put the paper away, seeing it as a lost cause and turned to her brother, "What's on your mind?"

"I'm going to tell her tonight," Danny said as if he was prepared for Jazz to ask him.

"Just out of the blue?"

He tilted his head back and looked at her from the top of his eyes, "Is there any other way where I won't get freaked out by it?"

"Don't you think it's a little… rash?" she asked. He sat up and turned his whole body to face her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what is your plan? Just have her come into the house, sit her down on your bed and blurt it out to her?"

"Yes actually…" he rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the floor, "Is that a bad plan?"

"You might want to spruce it up a bit, Danny," Jazz gave him a sympathetic look. Danny looked at her, nearly pleading for her to help him. She was a girl, she was female. She could at least throw him a bone and tell him how to do this properly. Or at least do it in a way in which he won't look like a complete idiot while trying to pull it off.

He watched her as her eyes roamed to the side of the room in thought. She looked like she was going to say something, but held it back. She had her reasons to keep stuff to herself, but this was a life and death matter. At least to Danny it was life or death.

"Any thoughts here, Jazz?" Danny asked.

"I have a few, but I can't tell you them," Jazz smiled and gave a light chuckle under her breath. She looked at her little brother who looked just about ready to blast her head off. And with his powers he was more than capable to do so, "What?"

"Help me! I drowning here!" he threw up his hands in frustration and started to pace the room, "I'm going to tell the only girl I ever loved that I am head over heels, fallen deeply in love with her as soon as she walks through the door- which could be any minute, mind you- and all you can say to help me is, 'I have a few, but I can't tell you'?"

"Danny calm down," Jazz chuckled at his stress, "You need to breath first off, we can't have Sam finding you blue in the face and passed out on the ground, now can we?"

Danny took a deep breath and began to pace once again.

"And stop pacing, you're going to wear out the wood," Jazz scolded him and he started to float right above the floor, still pacing in mid-air. Jazz just slapped her forehead and then pinched the ridge of her nose, "Danny, sit down."

Danny did as he was told and sat on the couch beside his older sister, "I just don't know what to do, Jazz."

"Yes, you do," Jazz nodded and put a hand over his, "Danny, you and Sam have known each other since you were three. I bet you two know each other better than you know yourselves. You know where to take her, you know what time and you know how to tell her. You just need to breath and think about how much easier it will be once you cross that little hump."

"Yeah, but that little hump may be the big problem of rejection," Danny moaned and looked at the ground again.

"Somehow, I doubt that," Jazz smiled like she was hiding something and pulled him up on his feet, "Now, I suggest you go and get her from work and tell her exactly what you need to. And I'm not letting you back in the house until you do."

Danny smirked at his sister, "You know I can go ghost and sneak back into the house, right?"

"Not if I turn on the ghost reflector," she said in a singsong voice and pushed him out the door, "Now go bring her home. It's going on ten-forty and I know you two have senior meetings tomorrow."

Danny never wiped the smirk off his face. He turned ghost before she pushed him out the front door. He turned around and hugged his sister before she had the chance to react. She was surprised, but hugged him back and ruffled his hair before he went invisible.

"Thanks Jazz."

"Your welcome… any time," she whispered and felt the cold air disappear as her brother left through the front door.

As the cool air flew past his face on the way to Toys-R-Us, Danny pushed all the options through his head. He had a few ideas that included him pulling her down to sit on the curb of the street and just blurting it out, but none of them were anywhere close to the 'romantic, one in a life time' event that he wanted it to be. It was special and he didn't want to screw it up by just letting it slip from him. He wanted it to be intentional and nice. He slapped his forehead and spun in the air a few times. He didn't know what to do, but he would have to figure it out fast because the building was looming in the distance.

Another train of thought took place of his current headache and he began thinking that he could probably sneak in through the roof and scare the heck out of Sam by sneaking up behind her. He didn't want her to see him coming through the windows, so he approached from the back. He landed on the roof and pushed his head in to find all the lights were off and everything was totally shut down. No one was left in the building. Not even one manager or night crew.

"Maybe they just got out," Danny rationalized and popped his head back out and started to fly over the edge of the building where her car was usually parked.

Once he looked over the edge he saw Sam's car parked where she designated her parking spot and something out of the ordinary. And something that scared him to death. Surrounding her car were three or four police cars and yellow police tape covering the surrounding area. Danny almost fell from the sky from fear, but gained his abilities back before he plummeted to the ground. He gently lowered himself to the ground behind a few bushes and transformed back into his human form. He gripped his chest as his heart pumped erratically. He swallowed and turned the corner to seem like he was walking down the street to meet Sam.

He soon found his feet carrying him as fast as they could toward the scene by themselves. He was no longer in control, his feet, legs and body were all acting on his fear and primal emotions. Sam could be hurt or worse and he had to be there for her. As he neared the car, two police officers saw him coming and came to intercept him.

They both wrapped one arm in front of him and stopped him from going any further, "Whoa there, son. Where do you think you're heading?"

"That's my friend's car! What's happening?" Danny finally regained control over his body and continued to struggle against the officer's hold, "Sam! Sam!"

"Calm down, son," one of the cops holding him grunted.

"Where's my best friend?" Danny yelled, feeling fear envelop him. His eyes were turning green and he knew he could easily break through these two men with his powers. But he didn't want to spill his secret in front of half of the police force in Amity Park.

"Wait! It's okay. Let him through… please," a voice said from behind the officers. The two men looked back, "He's Sam's best friend."

The officers sighed and let him through. Danny rushed past them and found that it was Jenna that let him come through. She was standing alone by the bumper of Sam's car while her own was parked only a few spaces away. Apparently she was the one who stumbled upon the scene. Danny quickly walked over to her and held her by her upper arms, and stared in her eyes.

"Jenna… Where's Sam?" Danny asked with a shaky voice, half knowing the answer.

Jenna took a few deep breaths so she wouldn't break down again, "I- uh… I left my earpiece with Sam… before we walked out the door to our cars. She w-was holding it for me while I put a piece of merchandise on the overstock. I came back here to see if she left yet and to get my earpiece back when… I found her car like this and S-Sam was g-g-gone."

Finally she just broke down again and Danny helped her to stay on her feet. He barely knew her, so he didn't go as far to hug her, but he helped her stay together. His body began to go into shock and he tried to keep his brain from spinning as he went through the different options of what had happened, where Sam was and more importantly, if she was okay.

"What the Hell happened?" he whispered to himself.

"We're not quite sure yet," a tall woman who looked like a detective said as she walked toward them. She stopped in front of Danny and asked one of the other officers to help Jenna calm down. She held out her hand, "My name is Detective Chasin. I'm heading up the case."

"Daniel Fenton," he nodded and shook her hand, "Sam is my best friend."

"I heard," she nodded, "I was wondering, what made you come here tonight?"

Danny should have seen this coming, so he just took a deep breath and went along with the questioning, "For the past few weeks Sam has been living at my house in the guest bedroom. Her parents are out of the country and Sam didn't want to be alone right now."

"May I ask why?"

Danny closed his eyes, "Our best friend since we were three passed away."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she bowed her head in sincerity, "Please continue."

"When she didn't show up by ten, I started to get worried. My older sister told me to come a get her, instead of pacing around the house. I thought that since Sam brought her car, I should walk and we both could ride home in her car. I was expecting she had a lot of merchandise to put away… not this."

Detective Chasin looked over the car and then at the young man. He was extremely worried about the young woman, more so than other family members she had to deal with in past cases. He cared deeply for her, and she had her suspicions that it was more than past just friendship. He had a right to know what they had found out so far.

"We found her bag and keys in the car," she told Danny who turned back toward her, with tears in his eyes, of which he quickly wiped away, "It wasn't a robbery. Or a car jacking since they cut and shredded the tires. We found some blood a few feet away, but we don't think it's hers. I'm not going to lie to you, Daniel. I believe that this is linked to the kidnappings and rapes that are happening around the city. Sam could be and probably is in a lot of trouble."

Danny's eyes began to produce more tears and he tried not to grind his teeth together, "What can I do?"

"Sit and wait patiently. If you can and want to, search around town to where she might go if she escaped. Do anything you can," Detective Chasin nodded and looked toward some of the police units, "But for right now, there is nothing more for you to do. I suggest you go home and get some rest."

"Um," Danny searched his pockets and found a pen and a scrap of paper and quickly jotted down his home and cell phone numbers, "This is where you can reach me or my sister. Please, keep me updated."

Chasin took the piece of paper and nodded, "I will."

"Thank you…" Danny chocked out and quickly tried to walk away the scene before he too broke down. He knew he wasn't a suspect, but was no better at being a witness either. Sam was missing, more than likely kidnapped and he couldn't help her. He wasn't there for her. And now, he had to find her.

Once he knew he was out of sight of the police and of the detective he transformed into Danny Phantom and flew into the air. He shot straight down the street and looked for any other vehicle out on the road. Find any trace of Sam or anyone that may have taken her. He saw a few more police cars routinely going along their beats and a few sports cars, but nothing out of the ordinary. He took a deep sigh and felt his eyes glow with both fear and anger. Who ever took Sam was going to pay and that's all there was to it.

He flipped open his phone and called Jazz, "Hey… Jazz? Um-"

He took a shaky breath, "Danny? Are you okay? What happened?"

"It's Sam…"

Sam groaned and felt her head before she even opened her eyes. There was a good-sized bump toward the back of her head and she knew that she was lucky to even wake up. A hit like that could have killed her if it was aimed at the right spot. Slowly she opened her eyes just enough to take in a little light and figure out where the hell she was. She was waiting for a huge flash of light to burn her eyes from the inside out, but it was dark in her room and cold to boot.

'Apparently not people who like electricity,' she groaned a little and propped herself up on her elbows. She felt around on her hands and knees, and found that it wasn't that big of a room at all. Just a metal floor with four metal walls and, by the feel of it, a thick metal door.

She wrapped her arms around herself in a last ditch attempt to stay warm. She was kidnapped before she could grab her jacket out from the back of her car. Then the whole fact of the situation hit her hard. She was kidnapped. Taken from the side parking lot of Toys-R-Us by two men. Two men that have not only been kidnapping girls and young women, but raping them as well.

Sam's breathing quickened and she slid her hands over her clothing to check for any tearing, rips or cuts. Everything was in place and nothing seemed like it was ripped off. She put her hands to the floor and took a deep breath. She pushed herself up and on her feet. Taking a few steps, she was relieved in part to feel no sore muscles or what could be any bruising. It seemed all that she had endured was a really bad hit to the head and a major headache. At least so far.

Sam looked back at where she could faintly see the outline of the heavy metal door and walked the short distance to the far wall. She pushed her back up against the cold wall and slid down. Sitting, with her knees drawn up to her chin, all she could think of was how she was going to get out and back to Danny. He was waiting for her and both he and Jazz were probably out of their minds with worry. Especially after Tucker.

She could feel her eyes tear up and she sniffed. She can't just give up. She already lost Tucker. She wasn't going to let Danny down. She wasn't going to let these behemoths rape her. And she wasn't going to loose Danny. Not now, not ever.

Suddenly a scream was heard through the door. It was muffled, but it was still there and Sam recognized it. It was from a young woman. She knew that the scream wasn't just from physical pain or hardship, although that was probably a big part of it. The girl just lost her innocence, her choice to give herself to someone she loved. She was dying inside and the men didn't even care.

Sam shut her eyes tight as she heard the muffled pleading and soft prayers of the girl. She hugged her knees tighter to herself and just buried her head in them. She wasn't going to let them close to her. They won't touch her. They can't touch her.

A few words floated through her head, 'I'd rather kill myself than live after a rape.'

She said those words not all that long ago. She let them roll over again and again in her mind. Was it still true? Would she kill herself if they were able to take her? A shiver went through her body and she fought within herself. Would she take her own life? Could she?

'It's not the end of your life, you know.'

Sam's head popped up as if he was really there. Right beside her, ready to take her out of the godforsaken place. He wasn't, it was just his words. His thoughts. She stared at the heavy door in the dark and felt as if she could almost burn a hole through it if she could stare just long enough.

Would she kill herself?

"…No," Sam whispered to herself, "I might be raped and tortured by the sound of it… But Danny's right. It's not the end of my life. I have him. And he will come for me. I know he will. I just got to hang on."

A/N: Sorry, I don't know why it took me so long to get this chapter out, it just took me some time to put it all together in my head. And if you spot it, you can see I kind of sneaked my own original character in this chapter from my TMNT fanfiction. I don't know if any of my readers on this fic reads my TMNT fictions as well, but yeah if you noticed that, I put it in there for fun. Okay enough of this, I'm off to do another chapter.

Oh! And Happy Halloween everybody!