A/N: You all rock…enough said. Not too much here…this chapter was written under heavy influence of "Sanctuary" by Utada Hikaru…and it'll be the last chapter until after my finals, then I'll pick this up again. Sorry for the lateness…I've been somewhat busy and haven't had a lot of time to focus on this story. I hope you'll all forgive me !
Oh, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Norris Scott…after his comments about this story I'd feel sheepish if I didn't give him some sort of acknowledgement. I hope you like this buddy!
Enjoy everyone!
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Ashes to Ashes
Part Eleven: Rekindle
Danny stared up at the ceiling of his room, a goofy smile playing on his lips as he thought back to the moment between him and Sam earlier that evening. He had felt so wound up for so long, and after kissing her like that, he felt only a warm feeling of contentment…he felt home. Not to say he didn't want to just talk and sew next time he saw her, he wanted to do that again…and soon hopefully. He felt silly, that he was thinking like this, but he couldn't help it…was this the feeling Sam had with him for so long while he was sick?
He could feel her skin under his hands still, her heartbeat quickening and her breath hot against his neck, but what was remarkable was that he could remember feeling that before. Not exactly in a physical sense, but what he felt swirling around in his stomach and in his heart…that warmth and security that had been absent ever since he woke up in that hospital without a clue to who he was. It had been missing for a long time before as well, but somehow he knew that she had restored it for him then too…she was everything.
"Maybe remembering won't be so bad," Danny whispered to himself as he grinned up at the ceiling. "I mean, there must be some bad stuff there, but if that means I can feel what Sam feels again…maybe it'll be worth it. With her I feel as if all my fears and lies just melt away…I think I need to do this."
Nodding his head with a strengthened resolve, Danny sat up in bed and sat down in a semi-lotus position…there was only so much flexibility he could achieve...and tried to relax his mind. Maybe he was making this decision rashly, and he had to admit his eighteen year old hormones weren't exactly a small factor in this decision either, but he felt like he had to start trying to remember. He had to let Sam know how he felt…remembering seemed to be the best way to repay her for putting up with him for so long.
He could feel brief flashes, a certain smell or image popping in his head for a moment before skittering away, and he frowned as he opened his blue eyes in confusion. Why was this so hard? Maybe he needed to look at something…whenever he looked at Sam's pictures the memories came so much easier, maybe that's what he needed to do. He pushed himself off his bed and started to head for his door when he paused at the door handle.
He didn't know where his mother kept any of the photo albums.
Looking up to his ceiling with a frustrated look on his face, letting a few curses out in a mumbled breath, Danny made his way back into his room, turning on a small bedside lamp to illuminate the room in a soft, yellow glow. He made his way to sit back down on his bed when an idea bloomed in his mind. Maybe he didn't have pictures to help prompt his memory, but maybe something else would help. Making up his mind with a small sound of affirmation, he made his way over towards his full length mirror and gazed back at his reflection.
Wide, inquisitive blue eyes met his gaze, almost hidden under his fringe of black hair that hung across his forehead, and his lips were slightly parted as he looked himself over. He decided he looked infinitely better this time than the last time he had looked at himself. He tore off the loose shirt he wore to bed and gazed at his bandaged, but healing torso, smiling slightly at the definition there no longer hidden by mottled bruises. His wrist had almost full mobility again, something that his family attributed to ghost healing capabilities, and his ribs were almost completely better. The color had returned to his complexion, a healthy, slightly tanned complexion instead of the pallid skin before. He smiled a bit wider as he appraised how his healing was progressing, but that smile fell as something else caught his gaze.
Around his neck, although very faded and hardly noticeable, were very neat rows of finger shaped bruises, a few nicks here and there to suggest long nails as well. He tentatively reached up and brushed his fingers across those marks, trying to remember where they had originated from. A sudden flash of cold shook his body, something that had nothing to due with the comfortable temperature in his room, and he let out a gasp as he pulled his hand away from his neck sharply. His eyes were no longer inquisitive, but wide and filled with fear for some unknown reason…why did he feel so afraid and…and angry?
His head no longer felt light and carefree, it was now pounding and sending sharp blasts of pain down his spine…he looked back up into his eyes and, for some reason, wasn't surprised to find he wasn't alone. He saw a flash of yellow and a pair of round glasses on a smirking face that was both identical to his own and not. Are you sure you're ready the voice seemed to ask, glowing yellow orbs full of wisdom and knowledge. Danny nodded his head as he squint his eyes shut when a fresh flash of pain rolled through his head…he wanted the pain to stop and to remember again.
"All right…but know that you are just trading one pain for another…do not let it overwhelm you…"
Danny whipped his head back up to the mirror, but he didn't see his reflection…instead he saw himself curled up in a corner of a dark room, clearly beaten and shivering from something besides the cold. His eyes widened and wanted to look away, but he felt transfixed to the scene playing out before him. The only problem was that this wasn't a scene from a movie…it was his life, his past. A cold wave flooded over him and he felt himself fall to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself protectively as he watched men in black hurt him.
"Looks like the little freak is just a tame beast with this collar eh boys?"
"Look at him shiver…don't see what the boss likes about this little fucker."
"Boss just wants to break him dumb shit…take that pretty light out of his eyes before ripping out his heart!"
"Come on boys, Boss'll be here soon, we gotta make sure his little toy is presentable."
"Yeah…his whore of a sister won't last too much longer with Riley…then you'll really be in for it kid."
His sister? Suddenly he saw her, Jazz, in the middle of a huge room beside a cold, ruthless looking man, making some sort of agreement…rough hands had pulled his bruised arms back and he saw Jazz turn her saddened but unmovable teal eyes towards him.
She…she sacrificed herself for him…she agreed to let that man; Riley was his name, sleep with her to keep him safe! More images flitted through his mind, some good and most bad, before they came to stop on another image tainted with pain and fear.
Those men had left, and it hurt to even stand now, but somehow he managed it. He had trouble breathing, but he hid that as the door opened once more and a hulking, huge man stood in the doorway, looking at him the way a lion looks at an innocent, grazing antelope out on the Serengeti. He knew this man…
Martino…that was his name.
He walked forwards and muttered something vulgar in his ear before backhanding his battered frame into an adjacent wall…he could smell the stench of sweat and fish on this disgusting excuse for a man. He pushed his body off the ground with bound hands like he had done so many times before…he may have been naïve when he first arrived here, but he wasn't anymore; he knew what this thing wanted…
"He wanted me…" Danny whispered to himself in a tone that was both horrified and full of rage. He closed his blue eyes, not wanting to see what he knew had to come next…suddenly the way everyone had been treating him made a ton of sense…but the image kept rolling and the voices could be heard now as well.
"Well aren't you full of spunk today kid?" that voice grated out…sounding venomous and full of lust. "I like that…"
He spit in the man's face…that wasn't the first time either. This had been happening for two days, ever since Jazz made the deal with Riley…Martino wouldn't try to rape him but that didn't mean he didn't try anything else. He had called it 'education' in that twisted voice of his…
A fist collided into his already bruised stomach, forcing any air he had in his body out and his form to crumble easily into this man's hands. He felt himself being pulled up and against the behemoth's body forcefully and a sharp jab in his leg letting the hurt teen know just how 'excited' Martino was by this action. He forced down the bile that was threatening to bubble up…he wouldn't let this creature know how sick he made him!
"Do you like that?" the voice grated out again…a sick smile of twisted pleasure was no covering his broad, ugly face. "Bet a little freak like you does…"
He didn't like it though, and with what little energy he had left he raised a knee vigorously into the man's raging hard-on as the man began a grinding motion. It was almost funny, to see a man that large topple to the floor in agony…almost funny if it wasn't for the situation. He didn't look too happy or pleased anymore…the world started to spin and the next thing he knew, blood was coming up in his hacking coughs. He didn't know how much more of this he could take…
Danny fell to the floor completely with a cry, clutching his head as the images threatened to take over…but the words from before echoed in his head…he couldn't let this beat him! So he kept watching…oblivious to the screams he was letting out and the alarmed people entering his room. All he saw was the mirror playing his memories like a film. He could feel it coming and he was afraid, but he wouldn't look away…
A hand trailed down his arm, and a tongue licked the side of his face, trying to mark a property that already belonged to another…
Those rough lips crashed down on his own, drawing blood with how hard they were sucking and biting him…
They traveled to his neck for a brief moment, biting as a vampire would before they latched back onto his lips…
That foreign tongue was invading now…probing and nearly gagging him as it forced its way down his throat…
"No…no stop it…get away…"
The huge hands traveled under his shirt and ripped the ratty material away…
They roamed up and down his broken torso, resting nowhere and then grabbing onto his hips in an almost bone-crushing grip…
He tried to buck away, but was forced in place by one large hand on his throat and another on his stomach…
The hand on the stomach drifted away and the sound of buckles being unclasped hurriedly filled the air…
Hands clawed at the hand around his trachea and he could see the huge man's pants pool around his ankles…that other hand reached for him now to be rid of the same article of clothing and the grin looking straight into his soul was enough to make anyone cringe in fear…
"No…no leave me alone! Get off…please stop it…"
The sound of screaming…his own…filled the air, but it was one of rage, not pain as he thought would happen….
The ceiling began to fall, and the body over him was forced away…
It collapsed on his already dead body…the scream…his Ghostly Wail tore that man apart…only dead black eyes stared up at him before being crushed by debris…
An unimaginable pain coursed through his system, but he kept on screaming…
Everything went black…it was finally over…
Danny wasn't even sure he was aware that the images of his life continued to pour over him…and he wasn't sure if he was even still alive anymore…all he was aware of were the warm arms encircled around him. They were murmuring to him, telling him he was okay now and that everything was all right…he wanted to believe that voice desperately.
But…he had just discovered something terrible. Maybe he hadn't been raped…but he had killed someone in order to prevent that from happening. He had KILLED someone! Those cold eyes that deserved death were lifelessly staring at him…did he have any right deciding if that man was to live or die? How was he any better than them, the ones he fought, now?
He didn't deserve…he didn't deserve those arms around him. He was dirty…in more ways than one…why would anyone want him now? Why had everyone been so worried about him and helped take care of him? He was nothing more than a killer of men…nothing would ever change that.
The arms around him disappeared and he heard shouts of alarm…but he couldn't open his eyes. He let out another chocked sob as someone yelled for him to stay where he was, that they would protect him. More images flooded his synapse, but this time, feelings went with them and he felt himself awakening in a sense…a part of him was waking up. He could hear someone humming to him and when he opened his tear filled, blue pools; he saw another image in front of him.
"Life will always be a hard path child," a beautiful form said to him, her tall figure standing beneath a huge oak tree. "Speak my name and listen to what those inside you have to say…it is time to wake up and fight for those you love."
"Are you going to just sit here and let everyone fight your enemies?" a green blur asked in a superior tone. "Get up and fight you weakling!"
"They will all fall without assistance," silver light replied in a monotone voice.
"Use us Danny…we're a part of you, use us to fight," those yellow eyes from before murmured to him.
"I'm not bad all the time…use me to get revenge on the one who caused this entire mess for your family…don't hold me back anymore!" a blazing red light shouted.
"Listen to Righteous Anger, Danny," a melodic gold voice spoke in his ear, a black and purple being smiling next to him. "And whatever happens, don't let go of me…don't lose your Hope…"
"Speak my name Danny and become who you once were," the beautiful maiden said again, smiling at him in a reassuring way. "Who am I…and who are you?"
Danny's eyes snapped all the way open and then narrowed as all the images suddenly stopped…he didn't need to see them anymore anyway. He pushed himself off the ground and stood tall before looking out the window at the blasts outside…there was a fight happening outside. The blue eyes glowed like blue flame, but quickly turned to green fire as he walked towards the window and away from the sanctuary his friends and family made for him. Two glowing silver rings appeared at his slender waist and worked their way in opposite directions, changing him from human to specter in seconds and by the time he was at the window, he was no longer human.
"Your name is Selene," Danny all but growled out as glowing green energy mingled with a new purple color swirled around him, offsetting the brilliant white of his hair. "And my name is…I'm Danny Phantom!"
He flew out of his bedroom and towards the shouts of battle…memories now restored and powers charged up and under control. He had a date with someone who had caused enough pain for everyone…he was going to end it tonight.
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Tucker and Valerie were in the middle of their ghost rounds for the night and they already were ready to burst from shear frustration. It probably didn't help that they had been ignoring their feelings for each other for so long, but the complete absence of all ghosts was also starting to get to them. Now, while many people would think this a good sign, both of the teenagers knew better; quiet nights just meant that a big problem was brewing for later. After circling the park in her hover board for the fifth time, Valerie heaved a weary sigh and floated down to where Tucker was waiting on a bench.
Well that was spectacular…he was sleeping.
Valerie scowled at the sleeping boy as she landed and, with a quick press of a button, was dressed in her usual day outfit again, and landed beside him with her hands on her hips. She cleared her throat loudly to wake the sleeping young man and grinned mirthlessly as his eyes fluttered open to stare at her. She smiled sweetly at him as his brain processed why he was on the receiving end of the infamous Grey "you're so getting your butt handed to you" smile…it didn't take all that long as he jumped up from the bench quickly and straightened his glasses.
"Uh…how long was I out?" Tucker asked with a shaky, nervous laugh, fixing his green eyes anywhere than Valerie's brown ones.
"Probably as long as I've been patrolling," Valerie answered scathingly, immensely bitter that the techno-lover got to sleep while she was stuck doing double patrol…covering Danny's considerably larger turf while he was sick was starting to wear her down. "So…let's think really quick shall we? I've been circling this park for about twenty minutes…it takes a few minutes for anyone to fall asleep…so, about nineteen minutes Tucker. Did you even wait for me to take off?"
His silence did nothing to bolster her confidence in her partner. "I'll take that as a resounding no."
"Honestly Val, can you blame me?" Tucker snapped back, stress and tension finally making him lash out at whoever he saw. Unfortunately for him, that person happened to be Valerie…an extremely volatile young woman who had a very large ecto-gun in her bag. "There's nothing going on…nothing! It's been getting worse every day for a week now…I know this isn't a good sign but we can't keep wearing ourselves down right now! Especially if what Bruma said ends up being true."
"So," Valerie said in a dangerously clam tone as she approached the bespectacled boy. "Because you're tired and bored, you think it's all right for you to get a nap while I'M busting my ass right now? Don't for one second Tucker Foley think that you're the only one on edge here!"
"I don't," Tucker replied, his own voice raising a pitch to match Valerie's intensity. "But I think deliberately looking for something that isn't there IS a waste of time that certainly isn't helping us any! Come on Val, we can't just keep doing this every night because things are rough right now! We have to be strong for Danny and we can't do that if we keep hiding all our--"
"I AM being strong for Danny," Valerie seethed through clenched teeth. Her own limbs were visibly shaking now and all she wanted to do was throttle the frustrated looking boy. How she wanted to throttle him was an entirely different matter however… "Don't you dare presume to patronize me Foley…I do not need you, or anyone else, to baby-sit me! Stop being a chauvinistic bastard and just keep your nose out of other people's business!"
Tucker didn't respond to the enraged girl right away…mainly because he was so shell-shocked by the ferocity of the brown-eyes girl's words. This was about much more than falling asleep on a park bench, Tucker knew that, but he had no inkling how to calm this girl without endangering himself or their friendship. This had been building for some time, and they had ignored it for the most part but…but now it seemed like it couldn't by avoided any longer.
The main problem with this problem, Tucker thought as he stared into those fiery brown eyes so full of worry, hurt, and anger, was that it was more than just one thing. The mutual, but ignored attraction was putting them on edge, but it was the extra ghost hunting, the suspiciously decreased ghost activity in both Amity and the Ghost Zone, Sam's secrecy, and the threat of Danny not remembering as quick as one would hope that was pushing both teen's endurance to the test. Tucker knew how he felt about the situation…he felt useless. Sure, Danny remembered his face and the fun times they had, but he couldn't remember his feelings towards his computer loving best friend. To say he understood was true…but that didn't mean it hurt any less.
And Val…Tucker knew exactly what was bothering her. Someone as strong and dependable as Valerie Grey was bound to have some control issues and a wicked protective streak that could get ugly if pushed to far. She had no control over any of the problems going on right now…and she more than likely felt like she had let Danny down because he was so hurt. It didn't matter to her that it was in no way her fault that Riley and Martino messed up their blue eyed friend so badly…all she saw was failure to protect someone she loved.
God, things were so messed up right now…Tucker didn't have a clue on how to fix anything and Valerie was still standing in front of him waiting for some sort of reply. The words she said early finally caught up to his brain, and despite his usual calm demeanor, Tucker felt his ire rising at her cold words. These had been ignored long enough!
"Well sorry for the bother Valerie," Tucker forced out as he looked away from her eyes and towards the cloudy night sky. "I didn't know that me caring about you and worrying about you was considered patronizing in your books. Next time, I'll be sure to let you exhaust yourself to death rather than ask how you're feeling and if you need a break. Hell, I'll just start ignoring you from now on if that's what you want…that way it won't seem like I'm 'babying' you…don't ever confuse my caring for you with anything else Val…"
Tucker trailed off, not really angry or brave enough to say the rest of what he wanted to say, and looked the startled girl straight in the eyes. Under different circumstances, Tucker would have felt a swell of pride at the surprised look on the normally hard-to-surprise girl's face, but now wasn't the time. In one swift, painful moment, Tucker had just revealed that it was more than just sexual attraction he felt for Miss Grey…in fact, it was much more than that. Not so much in his words per say, but more in his eyes as they stared into the other's face.
Valerie, to her credit, was feeling somewhat shame-faced for yelling at him now after his confession…it seemed the pressure of the past few weeks had finally cracked her usually composed resolve. She knew she must look ridiculous, opening and closing her mouth as a fish would as she stared at the bespectacled boy, for once at a total loss for words. And then, maybe it was more stress from the day or something else just as ridiculous that guided her next action, she leaned forward and closed whatever distance was between them. Then, to her current horror as her body took over her higher functions, that distance was completely cut off as he lips crashed down on Tucker's.
It didn't take the boy a half-second before he responded to her kiss with as much fervor as her, his arms encircling the strong fighter in a bone-crushing embrace. Their kiss wasn't exactly neat as they started out, their underlying attraction and frustration over the past few weeks forcing the kiss to be hard and dominating as tongues dueled and teeth gnashed together a few times. They needed this though, they needed it to be rough and wild for a moment before it could calm…just like their souls.
It did eventually, and the death grip they each had on the other was loosened as the kiss relaxed and they let the passion from moments before melt into something that mirrored deep affection. The kiss, even at the beginning, was relatively tame, neither teen going beyond the upper torso with their hands as they explored each other's mouths…but it never needed to be anything more than that. The kiss was reassurance, comfort, and something unexplainable wrapped into something both parties could express…not all people were as good with words as Sam Manson after all.
Eventually, the two broke apart, the need for oxygen starting to become serious and they both looked at each other as they regained their breath. Neither smiled shyly at the other, and neither moved their other limbs from their current positions…asking if they were blushing would be unheard of. They simply looked as each other and their eyes understood one another, nothing more needed to be said at that moment. Maybe neither one could say the words yet, but given time they would be able too, for now the look was enough. Tucker leaned forward once more and placed a chaste kiss on Valerie's temple before smiling softly at her relieved sigh.
"I think we needed that," Valerie said finally after the comfortable silence ended. She looked up into the green eyes of the boy still embracing her and tucked a loose strand of chocolate hair behind her ear, returning his smile with a small one of her own.
"Probably," Tucker replied as he rested his forehead on the girl's. He heard her chuckle and let out one of his own as the two disengaged from their embrace. As he stared at the powerful woman before him, Tucker couldn't help but grin at his luck…he thought she would slap him rather that kiss him after his chastisement. The return of her deeper feeling was a comfort during such chaotic times…one thing that he didn't mind not being in control of and one thing that he thought he understood. Maybe that was a contradiction, Tucker mused silently as he walked over and started to pack away the ghost hunting gear into his own backpack, smiling when Valerie joined him. But…that was all right…it was something he could lean on right now and that was good enough.
"We should probably head back," Valerie said after all their gear was present and accounted for. "My dad will flip if I'm out past ten again tonight and I don't even want to know what your parent's will do…"
"I'll just tell them I was out with Danny or something," Tucker answered with a shrug, sending his…his something…a sly grin as they made their way out of the park. "Danny's folks finally knowing about his ghost powers can be pretty convenient from time to time…like when we need an alibi about what we've been doing all day and where we're always out at during night."
"You got a point," Valerie answered in a giggle, something that usually didn't escape her mouth, as she latched onto Tucker's hand. "I swear, Jack keeps going on about how we're his task force or something! You'd never think someone's father would be so happy about his son and his teenage friends out fighting ghosts and other baddies all the time…"
"Well, Jack Fenton's not your ordinary guy…neither is Maddie for that instance…nor Jazz…oh hell, the whole family's whacked!"
Valerie canted her head in agreement as they started to walk down the street and past their now old high school…it was still surreal to view the place as a part of their past nearly two months later. She started to open her mouth to voice these thoughts to her techno-loving…something…when her wrist band starting to beep loudly and obnoxiously. Now, most people would wonder what sort of new, annoying trend would be going on if he or she heard a bracelet begin to beep, thinking a new Furby-type fad was upon the masses now. However, neither Tucker nor Valerie were normal people and immediately whipped out weapons or changed into a sleek, ghost-hunting uniform as the beeping grew louder in noise.
Not every day people had ghost-detecting trackers disguised as watches around their wrists.
Both ghost fighters looked around warily for signs of rogue specters, searching sky, land, and buildings for the floating fiends, but both shot the other a confused look when nothing revealed itself. Valerie opened her mouth to voice her worry when her voice was cut off for the second time that night as an ear-splitting scream filled the air, followed by the very real sound of people screaming. They both uncapped their hands from around their ears and opened their eyes in time to see a dozen or so swirling ghost portals open in the sky, casting a sickly shade of viridian across the nearly black sky.
'What the hell is going on!" Valerie yelled as the panicked sounds of very alive humans continued to grow louder, causing both teen's legs to start moving again as they sprinted towards their destination. Their own idea of home fled their thoughts…they needed to get to the Fenton home and pronto.
"I have no fucking idea," Tucker yelled back as they turned a sharp corner, Valerie whipping out her hover board and jumping onto it in a fluid motion. She paused for a moment, reflecting on how serious and confusing this situation must be to cause Tucker to swear, but she dismissed that quickly as she flew over to where the boy was still running and bade him to jump aboard. He did so, albeit with much less grace than she herself had, but after balancing himself and wrapping his arms around her waist securely, she zoomed off as fast as she could towards the FentonWorks in the distance.
Tucker would unhook an arm from his embrace every now and then to fire an ecto blast at a stray ghost every now and then, Valerie following in suit with her blaster, as the ghostly beings flooded Amity Park. People were trying to fight them off…after Pariah Dark's siege on the city, most thought it prudent to at least know how to defend against ghosts, but the sheer amount of the ghosts was unnerving. Green and red was starting to cover the streets as ectoplasm and blood mingled together in small streams.
"What the fuck is going on?" Tucker whispered under his breath as they approached the Fenton home, noticing the large swirl of gray and black clouds above the home. Valerie couldn't answer the question as she was asking that to herself in her head, and she kept on her guard as the hover craft landed softly to let Tucker off. Valerie paused just long enough to see Sam come bursting out of the house, her hand clutched in a death grip around that stupid necklace hanging from her neck, before kicking off into the air with her blaster at the ready.
Valerie narrowed her brown eyes behind her protective visor and noticed that most of the ghosts seemed to be avoiding this place…why? She saw Jack and Maddie Fenton burst from the house moments later in the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle and drive off into the city where most of the fighting was occurring. The hunter looked back down for a moment to see Tucker and Sam staring wide eyed at some space in front of her…that couldn't be a good sign she thought to herself grimly.
Whipping herself around with her blaster leveled on her shoulder, Valerie let loose a warlike cry and fired countless blasts at different ghost surrounding her before she felt something very hot and very hard slam into her. She could hear the worried shouts from those below her as she and her hover board went careening into Danny's neighbor's yard and wall…then everything went black.
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Sam couldn't begin to describe the emotions flowing through her as she lay in bed and stared up at her star-speckled ceiling. Ecstatic, elated, exuberant…wow, a lot of happy words started with 'e'…oh well! She smiled for what seemed to be the hundredth time that night and giggled again like a school girl with a crush. Maybe later she would find herself embarrassed over this behavior, but right now she couldn't care less because there was only one thing running through her mind.
Danny had kissed her…and I mean really kissed her!
It had been over a month…nearly two…since she had felt that kind of feeling, it was nice to know it still existed. Sure, she had kissed him in the hospital right before he woke up, but that was different; he hadn't kissed her back then. While Sam didn't believe that their relationship was, or was going to be, purely based on physical acts, it was very reassuring that those factors still existed inside that mixed up boy. The flame that she felt inside her as he had pressed her against the wall with boldness she had never known before outside of his Phantom form was intoxicating. And, it wasn't just her feelings either.
Sam wrapped her hand around the purple pendant around her neck…for once thanking the damn thing for being useful. The feeling that the stone let her feel coming from Danny were the same as her own…attraction, affection, care, and even love…he just didn't fully understand why he was feeling those things due to his amnesia. He had felt at peace while…erm, engaged with her and that was a rare thing for him, even without the amnesia! Maybe those thoughts were selfish, this need for him to need her like she did for him, but Sam didn't really mind after tonight. Another smile covered her face as she let out a total un-Sam girlish sigh.
She heard her mother calling downstairs…she had a phone call or something. Sam didn't pause to think if this was strange that someone would call the house phone instead of her cell phone, she was much to happy to be suspicious right now, and she bounded, yes bounded, down the stairs to retrieve the phone from her mother. She flashed her grandmother a happy smile as she waltzed into the main foyer and was about to let out a pleasant greeting when a blinding pain attacked her head. She let out a small gasp and her eyes grew fuzzy as she felt her self lower to the ground, an outline of her mother hurrying towards her before she had to shut her eyes to keep from vomiting.
The violet light behind her eyes was soft at first before it erupted into a harsh flare…it hadn't done this for weeks! She was about to wonder further about this when three very worried looking figures appeared before her…two of which she recognized and one she did not. The yellow one straightened his glasses in a nervous fashion before opening his mouth.
"Sam! You must hurry and help Danny…he's remembering everything, and I mean EVERYthing! You have to help him or else you won't be able to weather what's coming!"
'What?' Sam asked back mentally to Knowledge as she glanced at the bouncing and black-clad Love. 'He's remembering? And what about what's coming…what's going on?'
"Samantha," a gold, and elf like looking Danny answered with a soft smile on his calm face. He had a melodic voice that seemed to warm up Sam despite the worry growing within her…but his voice seemed so weak and frail. "You do not have that much time to spare…as we speak there are forces within the Ghost Zone which stir and mean to create havoc in the land of the Living. You must go and guide Danny as he recalls what he does not want to see…and then you must trust what your heart and feelings tell you when the storm hits."
"Hope is right Sam," Knowledge replied with a grave look on his countenance as he evaluated Sam…whose hand was being held by violet-eyed Love. "Hurry and help him or else this town will not stand a chance, despite the inhabitants strength."
'Why?' Sam thought as she looked at silent Love, not expecting answer. Instead, it was the gold one, Hope, who answered, the clam look still intact.
"Because…it is the Phantom which is needed to win this battle…the Phantom and the stone of Merlin working together and he can only be set free if Daniel remembers everything about his life…please go to him."
It seemed a silly thing that they were begging her to go…she was planning on it but she had wanted some sort of answers first. She warmly embraced Love, who smiled back happily…that one didn't seem upset at all about what seemed to be going on…strange. She nodded at both Hope and Knowledge and began to feel her mind drift out of the pendant's hold. Before the connection was completely severed, Hope floated in front of her to grab hold of Love's hand and looked her in the eye. He really looked androgynous up close, almost to beautiful to be male but definitely not female either and his golden eyes only seemed to enhance to mystical air around him…why did his voice still sound so weak though?
"Samantha, please listen to this and remember. Do not lose hope or faith during the trial ahead…if you do not keep hold of your Hope, Danny will not be able to keep hold of me and he will not win without changing terribly. He will not face pleasant things in what is to come…he is not facing them now and that is why you MUST show him the way…do you understand?"
'Yes…' Sam replied uncertainly, confusion marring her features as everything continued to fade away. 'But…why me? Why not his family or Tucker…Val even…is it because of this necklace?'
"Because child…" Hope replied with a laugh that sounded like flowing water. "Every person needs a Light to guide them from and out of the Darkness and that is what you are to Danny. You are his Light…so go out there and show him the correct path."
The three figures faded away abruptly and Sam opened her eyes with a gasp, nearly knocking her mother backwards as she clambered back to her feet. She could hear her mother yelling at her to tell what was wrong, and her father kept trying to tell her that Danny was probably fine, but Sam knew better. "Stay inside," she said with strong conviction as she fished out her car keys from her purse by the door and then laced up her combat boots. "And, don't leave until you don't hear fighting anymore…I'm going over to Danny's…I'll see you later."
She hurried out the door before she could fully understand her parents' protests; hopefully her grandmother would keep them from following her. She ran to her car and practically jumped into the driver's seat, ignoring the fact that she was currently, for some strange and ironic reason, wearing a white slip and combat boots as she turned on the ignition and tore out of her driveway. All her other night wear had been dirty…this stupid but comfortable slip was the only thing she had and in her good mood, she didn't think anything of it. Now she was off to presumably fight some battle Bruma thought was brewing in a dress…the irony of it was hilarious.
She gave a silent thanks to whatever God was up there as she tore down the streets towards Danny's house, the streets relatively empty on a Thursday night. It didn't take all of five minutes for her to arrive at the still, normal looking house…she frowned at herself as she parked, turned off the car, and exited hurriedly at that thought. Was she expecting some kind swirling vortex of doom to be positioned over the Fenton home or something? Okay, maybe that wasn't to far off, but she didn't care anymore as she swung open the front door and bounded up the familiar stairs two at a time.
She hurried past both Fenton parents as they were crowded outside Danny's door, the yells and gasps of pain already reaching her ears, and pushed past Mikey to collapse on the floor beside Danny next to Jazz. She thought she heard Jazz say something about how he just started screaming and writhing on the floor, but Sam didn't respond with words, opting instead to cradle the shaking boy in her arms and whisper comforting words to him.
"You'll be all right Danny," Sam whispered into his midnight hair after pressing a kiss to his temple, rocking him slightly to help him relax. He didn't though…but she kept at it anyway. "Everything's going to be all right…but you have to let them through Danny. You have to get past this…don't let them win Danny, you're so much stronger than any of them ever were! You're stronger than Dash…and you're stronger than Vlad. Riley and Martino didn't beat you…you're still here and you're still fighting. Dark Dan was beat by you when you were fourteen…you can do this love."
Danny tried to struggle out of her arms crying something that sounded like, "I'm a monster…I don't deserve this," before going silent again. Sam just held him closer and began to sing a song she had heard not to long ago…from some game Tucker was fond of. Danny had liked it…he said it was soothing…maybe he would still find it that way now.
"You and I, there's a new land,
"Angels in flight…
"My sanctuary, my sanctuary…
"Where fears and lies, they melt away,
"Music will tie,
"What's left of me, what's left of me now…"
Sam's voice trailed off abruptly as the startled gasps of Jazz and her parents filled the air, drawing the purple-eyed girl to look out the window and she too felt herself gasp. A sickening scream filled the air, followed by those of people outside, one minute blaringly loud and then just a gentle buzz. Outside in the sky, swirling green ghost portals were appearing out of nowhere, and she could see ghosts start to flood out of them. Sam turned around to see both Fenton parents had ran from the room, and Jazz followed not to long after with Mikey in tow…then her pendant began to burn.
Sam let out a surprised yell and her hand flew around the amethyst as it burned even brighter…it didn't burn her though despite the heat. She turned back towards the window and saw Valerie, with Tucker on board arrive on her hover board outside and she felt a need to be out there with them. She cast one last worried glance down at Danny…who now seemed to be in a deep sleep. She told him to stay here, even though that seemed redundant, before getting up and rushing downstairs. Something told her she shouldn't be near Danny…probably the pendant, so she threw the front door open and ran into Tucker who had just climbed off the board.
"Tucker!" Sam yelled as she ran and grasped his forearm with one of her hands, the other still clutching the pendant as she saw Valerie take off into the sky again.
"Sam, what the hell is going on?" Tucker yelled as the sounds of yells, and blasts continued to barrage their hearing. She opened her mouth to answer when the very loud sound on the Fenton RV distracted them as it went screaming out of the driveway and into town where most of the blasts were happening.
"Where's Danny?" Tucker yell again as they looked up to see Valerie fighting off ghosts with her blaster.
"He's…I don't kn--" Sam began before something materialized behind Valerie, something that made her gasp in fear and rage. Tucker looked up with her and his eyes widened in shock…he was surprised and not at the same time and now Valerie was in danger! The huntress in the air whipped towards the figure and began to decimate the ghosts all around him before being hit with a pinkish blast that sent her flying into the neighbor's wall. Tucker let out a yell and tried to run over towards the downed girl when another pink blast stopped him and forced him back in front of Sam.
"My, my children," a sneering voice said from above as he flicked his cape over his shoulder to stare down at the two teens standing there. "Things don't look good for you right now do they? Tell me my dear girl…just how is Daniel doing these days?"
"Go to hell Vlad!" Sam yelled with as much hate as she could muster, her hands forming small fists at her sides and the pendant glowing a violent indigo that almost seemed black. "You're the reason he was so hurt in the first place…you were scared of him so you--"
"Tut-tut now dear," Vlad replied calmly as he sent a pink blast at the two, something that made them duck quickly and cover their heads as it shattered the doorframe behind them. "Let's not dive into an angry rant shall we? Besides, you have more important things to worry about right now…like your lives."
Sam felt a growing sense of desperation grow within her as she and Tucker grasped hands and rolled out of the way of another blast, this one hitting a window and sending heated glass everywhere, one which cut Tucker's leg. She looked up fiercely at the smirking villain while the bespectacled boy hissed in pain, determined to not show him fear as he readied another blast and fired…
But, it never hit. Instead, Sam and Tucker found themselves staring at a glowing green shield and they both looked above them as a voice filled the air.
"…anny Phantom!" a voice yelled from above and a snowy-haired boy with fiery green eyes flew out of the bedroom, green energy cackling around him ominously as he stared balefully at the red-eyed halfa in front of him. A cliché western movie moment happened as the two rivals stared each other down, and Sam half expected to see a tumble weed float in between them when Vlad's voice interrupted the silence.
"So…back to normal are we Daniel?" Vlad Plasmius sneered as he multiplied himself and all four of him formed pink blasts in their hands. "Do you think you're up to par to spar with me? Or…are you too traumatized from your recent kidnapping to even stand another man to touch you?"
"That won't be a problem Plasmius," Danny said calmly as the green energy became intermingled with purple and white lights as well, his own eyes alive with a manic anger. "Because I don't see any men here right now…just me and some monster who pretends to be one…"
Both let out angry cries as they rushed at each other, energies erupting into a light show as they collided and began their deadly dance…
"My heart's a battleground…"
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A/N: Evil grin…Please review!