A/N: Hey guys. Goodness, it's been busy. Christmas is quickly approching and for one I am very happy for it. Okay here is Chapter eleven. It was a little harder to write than I thought it would be and didn't come out exactly like I thought it would, but it still works. Hope you enjoy it and thatnk you so much for the reviews. They are appreciated!

Chapter Eleven: Hitting Reality

Danny and Jazz sat in the hallway in front of Sam's door. Danny had crossed the hallway to sit next to his sister on the other side of the door and opened the door a crack. Every so often he would peak into the room to make sure she was still sleeping and didn't wake up in a panic again. He saw the small patch Jazz made on Sam's jaw from the doorway, as well as some of the bandages on her arms. He cursed the two men and Desire in his head every time he saw the bandages or saw her squint with the slight pain.

After the tenth time of checking on Sam, Jazz tapped her brother on the shoulder and closed the door gently, "I think she'll be okay for now, Danny. Let's go to your room to talk."

Danny sighed and nodded. He got up and followed Jazz into his room and shut the door behind them. He immediately sat on his bed and Jazz sat in his desk chair.

"You didn't tell her, did you?" she asked blatantly.

"No, I didn't," Danny said, slightly annoyed, "When was I supposed to tell her? When she was trying to find out if I was the real Danny, her best friend, or some kind of illusion set up by our worst enemy yet? Should I have just gone up to her, grab her by the arms and say 'I love you' and then kiss her passionately on the lips? Come on, Jazz. Of course I didn't tell her."

"Don't get upset with me, Danny," Jazz said back even more annoyed by her brother's outburst.

"I can't just say 'I love you more than anything' out of no where… especially not when I first found her… she was so confused, and scared…of me. She's never been scared of me…"

"Danny," she saw him take a breath and knew he had stopped, at least for the moment, "I know… it's hard. I saw everything you and this family went through. Mom and Dad weren't here when they wanted to be and it was just you, me and Sam. Then Sam was gone. I know, but you don't need to take out that misplaced aggression on me."

"I'm sorry, Jazz," he bowed his head in sincerity, "It's just that I love her so much and I almost lost her. I can't just loose her again."

"You won't," Jazz leaned over and touched his shoulder, "You can't. Sam won't let it happen. And neither will you."

"I need to know something," Danny said looking at the carpet beneath their feet.

"What's that?" Jazz got up from the chair and sat next to him on the bed.

"Did they- I mean, were they able to- before I could help-" he couldn't finish. His thoughts skipped from sentence to sentence, unable to stop and use one single question. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists in the covers on his bed. Even with his eyes closed Jazz could still see the burning green light from behind his eyelids. She knew what he meant and she had to tell him.

"No. Sam's a fighter and she's strong," Jazz whispered, "If you hadn't come when you did… that would have been the first time in taking her."

"All those bruises…" he opened his eyes to find his vision blurred a little with a few tears of fear and frustration.

"From the two men. She fought and she fought hard. With what little she had and what they gave her, she fought back."

"I want to kill them," he said in a deadpan, dark voice.

"Danny?" Jazz shook a little from the venom she heard in her little brother's voice. It was dark, it was angry and it was scaring her because that wasn't the Danny she knew.

"I want to kill them for what they wanted to do to Sam," Danny looked at her and she still saw the burning green color that showed up every time his emotions ran away with him, "They wanted to rape her, beat her up until she couldn't go on any more. To get to me. Desire and the two men wanted her to kill herself and I know it. And that would have hurt me the most. If they wanted me, they should have come for me, not Sam. They did the most despicable thing they could ever do and I want to kill them for it."

"Don't sink to that level, Danny," Jazz rubbed his back a little, "You're better than that… and Sam deserves better than that."

Danny stared his sister in the eyes and nodded in understanding. She was right. He wasn't so sure if he was better than to kill them, but he sure as Hell knew that Sam was better than that. And deserved better than that. As he thought it through the glowing green color in his eyes calmed down into his regular baby blues and he took a deep breath. His nerves and anger soothed and he was able to breath regularly. He also felt a little something at the back of his mind. As if it was some kind of alarm to let him know some one was waiting for him.

"Thanks Jazz," he whispered and got up.

"Where are you going now?"

"To get some more warm soup for Sam. The bowl I made for her is still in the microwave. It should still be pretty warm."

"She's still asleep."

"She just woke up," Danny smiled slightly and chuckled to himself.

"How do you know that?"

"I have a feeling," he closed the door behind him and got the warm soup from the microwave in the kitchen and hurried back up stairs to tend to Sam. He opened the door a crack and looked in where Sam had her head turned to the side and looking out the window.

"Afternoon, sleeping beauty," he said and she turned her head toward him.

"How'd you know I was awake?" she smiled at the sight of some warm food and tried to sit up.

"How do you think?" he put the soup to the side and helped her sit up with some pillows behind her back, "You got to watch it, Sam."

"It's okay, I got it," she leaned back into the stack of pillows now behind her and gave Danny a place to set soup on her lap, "This isn't chicken or beef is it?"

"You should know that I know you better than that," he smiled and sat the bowl on top of her lap, "It's tomato."

"Thank God, something warm and that will fill me up," she took a deep breath of the soup's aroma.

"Do you need me to feed it to you?" Danny asked half as a joke and half as a serious suggestion.

"No, I think I'm a big enough girl to do it myself," she smirked as best she could and began to shovel spoonfuls of soup into her mouth.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I know you didn't. And I appreciate the offer," she nodded and kept eating. Danny turned his head to look out the window to find some rain clouds coming in and a small sprinkle began to fall. It was a Spring shower, almost washing away all the pain and frustration.

"You know I could have killed those two men if I wasn't thinking of getting to you first?" Danny said almost off hand as he stared out the window.

"They don't deserve it," Sam nearly spat at the thought of the two men, "I'm just sorry that the other girls had to stay there longer than I did."

"We gotta call the police, you know. They can get the rest of the girls out."

"Yeah, I know," Sam nodded, "But so could Danny Phantom."

"That would mean that I would have to leave you," he stated as if that was the final word. Nothing was going to change his mind and she knew it. At least for now he was super glued to her, "So, the police can take care of it."

"I just don't feel like talking to strangers at the moment. And from the look of it, Desire won't be there to 'fix' the boys for a while."

"Take all the time you need for now, Sam," he looked away from the window and at her and noticed that she was draining the last of the soup from the bowl, "Done all ready?"

"Yep, thank you," she handed him the bowl and he set it on one of the spare tables in the room.

He came back over to the bed and just stared down at Sam. Since she finished the soup she placed the pillows back into a position where she could lay down again. She laid back and looked up at Danny. He was looking at the bandages and the wraps all over her arms and on the sides of her face.

"What?" she asked.

"Why won't you let me apologize for not being there?" he had to look away for a moment.

"Because it wasn't your fault," she said and touched his hand, "Tell you what. You feel so bad about it, you take me out to dinner. Without an apology. How about that?"

He didn't look at her and barely looked at their hands. She sighed and tugged on his hand, "Come here, Danny."

"What?"

"Lay with me," she whispered and scooted to the side so he could lay beside her. He saw her squint a little and laid with her to see if he could stop her from moving too much. She turned to face him and pulled one of his arms under her head and the other just above her opposite hip. She stared into his blue eyes intensely, in a very big attempt to get through to him.

"Danny… you didn't do anything wrong. Desire did. You have nothing to be sorry about. I won't let you apologize because you don't need to. If you knew what was going to happen to me that night, you would have been there. And you found me like I knew you would."

"And if I didn't find you in time?"

"You would have found me eventually, Danny. And I never doubted that."

"And what if I found you dead?" he whispered.

Sam lowered her eyes a little and then brought them back up to meet his and put a gentle hand on one side of his face, "That didn't happen."

"But what if it-"

"It didn't," she repeated and became braver and pushed a piece of his hair behind his ear, "You're my hero, Danny. Always will be. You will never have to apologize for anything like this. Not to me…"

She thought about adding a 'because I love you' in there, but had second thoughts. She did love him and wanted to tell him, but she would have to wait. Now was not the time or the place for romance.

"What did I do to earn someone like you in my life?" he whispered and brushed a hand through her hair.

"I was asking myself the same question," she smiled and moved her hand from his face.

She closed her eyes and cuddled against him for warmth and comfort. She was home and she was safe. That was all she needed to know. Not too far after, she felt his arms encircle her and hug her gently. His head gently sat above hers and she felt his warm breath on her scalp. She had the best friend in the world. Now, if only she could tell him that she wanted more than that.

"Let's face it, police aren't going to believe that a ghost did this… and that Danny saved you," Jazz sat in the living room as Sam leaned against Danny for support as they sat on the couch.

"And why not?" Sam asked and felt Danny put his head on top of hers.

"Yeah, I'm a superhero, am I not?" Danny smiled and hugged Sam from behind.

"Your other ego is the superhero, Danny," Jazz reminded him and thought for a moment.

"Jazz, think about it," Sam sighed, "The police, the mayor, the people of Amity Park … they all believe in ghosts. Why not believe this?"

"Because they may get a little suspicious of Danny if they find out the same ghost that killed Tucker kidnapped you as well."

"Let them think what they want," Sam snorted, "Look, they know that Danny Phantom is a good guy, for the most part, and that he has been a protector of the city for many years. I'll just tell them what had happened. Two men kidnapped me, held me in the hospital outside city limits with other girls and tried to rape me. Danny Phantom came to my rescue and brought me to the Fenton household where he knew I had friends."

"But why you out of all the other girls?"

"Because my best friend Danny asked him to," Sam patted one of Danny's hands which were resting gently around her waist, "Everyone thinks that in some small way or another Danny knows the 'ghost boy.' Why not just say that Danny asked Phantom to come looking for me and he went back to try and help the other girls later when he got held up with another ghost?"

Jazz sighed and nodded. It was convincing and the police would have no evidence to the contrary, "Okay… when are they coming?"

Danny took a look out the window and saw two police cruisers pull up outside the house, "Right about now."

The knock at the door sent shivers down Sam's spine. She still didn't want to talk about the whole thing to anyone but Jazz and Danny. But she knew that this was coming and that she would have to answer the questions. She just wished and hoped that she could have put it off for the rest of eternity.

Jazz led Detective Chasin into the living room and introduced her to Sam. Delaney Chasin bowed her head a little and couldn't help but smile at the position of Danny and Sam on the couch together. He was happy she was back and wouldn't let her go for the world by the look of it.

"Afternoon, Samantha," Chasin held out her hand and Sam shook it politely despite the mention of her full name, "I am Detective Delaney Chasin. I'm glad to find you in one piece and for the most part unharmed."

"Thank you," she nodded her head and watched the detective sit down, "I just hope you find those other girls the same way."

"We have, and we have arrested the two men responsible. I just need to get your statement and get you looked over," she took out a note pad and began to write a few choice comments down.

"Jazz has all ready looked at me and bandaged me up, ma'am," Sam said nodding over to Jazz, "I can ensure you they did not rape me. And I don't need to see any more doctors. Please."

"I still need your statement."

"I think I can live with that," she felt Danny hug her again and his chest rising and falling behind her, "Can Danny stay?"

"If you want him to."

"Good," Sam nodded and began to tell her story and her side, which more than likely will be told in the courtroom as well. She told the detective about how she was kidnapped and the vehicle that she rode in to the abandoned hospital. She also told her what she saw, what she smelled, what they made her watch… even told her in detail about every time that they had tried to take her. The beatings that she fought through every time they came into her cell and the so-called 'meals' that she was given every other day. She felt Danny tense at some moments in her statement, but then relax at her reassuring touch.

"How did you get away?" she asked toward the end of the questioning.

"Danny Phantom came and saved me," she looked down at the floor in thought, "Right before those two men were going to succeed in finally… raping me, he came in and fought them off and brought me here."

"Why only you?"

"That was my doing," Danny spoke up and looked at Detective Chasin, "I asked him to find her. I know him. My parents have the ghost portal in the basement, as you know, and one day I found him coming from the ghost zone and befriended him. I asked him to find Sam and bring her back. As soon as he did just that I think he left to go and help the other girls."

"He wasn't there when the other officers arrived on scene."

"Other ghost trouble?"

"Maybe," she sighed, "Why did he bring you here instead of a hospital?."

"I don't think it would have looked good for him to bring an unconscious female to an emergency room after she was suppose to be kidnapped, detective," Sam pointed out.

Chasin nodded her head, "Thank you, Samantha. I'll be calling you in a few days to inform you about the court dates and other information you may need to know. Are you sure you don't want another doctor to look you over?"

"I'm sure," Sam looked over at Jazz, "Jazz is the best one I know of."

"Very well," she put her notepad back in her bag and stood up, "I'll leave you guys to yourselves for the time being."

"Thank you, Detective Chasin," Danny finally took his arms from around Sam and shook her hand, "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, but it sounds like Phantom deserves most of the credit," she nodded and left out the front door with a few other officers following her.

"She's right, you do," Sam said behind him. He turned around and sat next to her, leaning back against the couch.

He smirked and shook his head a little, "I still owe you a dinner."