Heyo! I think I'm finally starting to get used to this story writing thing. It's a lot easier to write what I'm thinking now, but I still think I need to work on my descriptions, especially for scenery. I am REALLY sorry for the lateness, I had a lot of big essays due last week, and I had procrastinated til then. Sooooo, despite the horribly late update, I hope you really like this chapter!

So, here's chapter 15!

"Danny!" Sam yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. Trees flew by her, the moonlight dancing in their branches. The radiant full moon lit the small path in front of her like a candle, sending long shadows of the branches overhead snaking across the ground. A slight breeze pulled Sam along, carrying her voice ahead of her while she stumbled along behind.

"What will he do without you, Sam?" Einzel's voice chased her through the trees.

Sam took in another deep breath, Danny's name on her lips.

"He'll survive."

She choked; her throat was raw from yelling, the freezing air stinging her lungs with each gasp as she continued to stumble along the dimly lit forest floor.

The wind died down, the forest falling into a short silence.

"…sam…" A far away voice reached through the pale night, the returning breeze tearing it away after Sam heard only the slightest whisper.

"Danny?" Sam slowed to a stop, her eyes searching through the forest. She waited, turning in circles. She tried to slow her breathing and quiet her heart, her ears open to the slightest noise.

"…Saaaam!" Danny's voice made it back to her, this time clear and strong despite the sudden breeze blowing it back.

Sam smiled in relief.

No one can defeat Danny Phantom, she thought triumphantly, not even a manipulative golden eyed ghost.

Sam sucked in another breath, her voice once again confident.

"Danny! I'm coming! Keep yelling!" Sam waited until Danny's voice rang out once again, leading the way through the darkness to her lost friend.

Sam stumbled through a clearing, Danny's voice sounding almost as loud as if he were right next to her.

Movement caught her attention, her eyes centering on the outline of her friend as he raised his hands to his mouth again. She quickly looked over Danny, her eyes noting his weary posture, the outline of his messier then normal hair, and his slow and tired movements. Sam was reminded of the day he came to take the biology final after an all nighter; tired but determined.

But despite his tired and beaten form, after all that Einzel had put him through, he was still standing. She grinned uncontrollably, insanely proud of him. Sam sprang forward, rushing towards Danny just as he called out her name again.

"SAAAA-ooof!" Sam tackled Danny, almost knocking him over. He stood stiff for a second, his hands still raised to his mouth.

"Danny, I knew you'd survive!" She said into his hair, her arms circled tightly around his small frame.

She felt his body relax under her grip.

"Sam?" He asked softly, peering through the darkness.

Realizing what she was doing, she immediately let go, stepping back quickly. For once, she was glad that it was dark; it hid her brilliant blush.

The second she let go, Danny instantly reached forward without thinking, searching through the darkness until he found her hand. She looked down in astonishment, her face growing redder when she felt his hand circle around hers.

"Uh," Danny stammered, "M-my hand was cold." She looked up at his face, sure he was blushing just as much as she was. No matter how embarrassed, he still clung to her hand, reassuring himself that she was there and that she wasn't going to leave.

Sam desperately searched for something to say. Questions surged through her mind, but she could only smile dumbly at the silhouette of their hands locked together.

"Sam?" He asked, his voice sounding small. She looked up at his face, trying to discern his features through the darkness. "Why…? W-where did you go?"

Sam swallowed hard, suddenly feeling horrible.

"Danny," She heard herself say, her voice pleading, wishing he would understand, "I didn't really…Tucker was being controlled- IS being controlled!" Sam remembered her other friend with a pang.

"What?" He asked. She tugged on his hand, dragging him towards the city.

"C'mon! We have to save Tucker!" Sam tried to step forward but Danny stopped her.

"Why do we have to save Tucker." Danny's voice was dark, laced with bitterness. Sam looked back at Danny's stiff outline in astonishment. Then she remembered exactly what Einzel had made Tucker say.

I guess I would be bitter, too. Sam thought, hating Einzel even more.

"That wasn't really Tucker that was talking to you." She quickly explained, "It was Einzel, the golden eyed ghost! She hypnotized Tucker and made him say those things." Danny's hand tugged on hers in what she could only assume was surprise.

"What? Her! But I put her in the ghost zone!"

"Yeah, but that's never stopped a ghost before." Sam said bluntly. Danny just sighed.

"Yeah…" Sam looked back towards the city. The image of Einzel looming over her friend weighing on her worried mind, she once again tugged on Danny's hand. He still refused to move.

"So, what about you?" He asked quietly.

"Huh?" Sam looked back at Danny curiously.

"Why did you leave?"

"Oh…" Sam thought back guiltily. She had left Danny alone with Tucker of her own free will. True, she had planned to return as quickly as possible with help, but still… "I…" Sam's voice fell, reluctant to admit her own failure. "I fell for Einzel's trap. I left you with Tucker to go back to the city and get, uh, some help." She purposely left out Valerie's name; she still couldn't forget how the other girl had been flirting with Danny.

She could feel him looking at her expectantly, and she continued on with a sigh. "When I was walking by an alley, Einzel captured me." She said simply, leaving out the part with the rock. It was kind of embarrassing that she had almost been bested by a ghost welding a rock.

"Really?" Danny asked hopefully. "I mean, that's horrible that you were captured," He quickly amended, Sam smiled. "But you… you don't think that I've been burdening you with my problems?"

"What? No!" Sam shook her head violently, something she knew Danny could see despite their dark surroundings. "Both me and Tucker would never willingly leave your side, we're your friends!" She looked at Danny sincerely, her voice lowering to match her expression. "We've got your back, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." He said softly, his hand tightening around hers. He stood still for a second, his head lowered. Then, his voice regaining its confidence, he walked forward and tugged on her hand.

"Let's go save Tucker!"

Sam grinned at Danny, glad he was back to normal. She was about to make a witty comeback when he jerked her forward.

Swallowing her words in favor of catching her breath, Sam followed Danny out of the dark forest, their hands still firmly interlocked.

"Sam, hide!" Danny whispered, jerking Sam backwards. She fell back, landing with a painful "Umph!" on her butt. He then proceeded to drag a protesting Sam into a thin, shadowed alley between two brick buildings.

The two of them had just entered the very outskirts of the city, the skyscrapers shining dully in the background, the small suburbs of Amity stretching out before them. Now, Sam's view consisted of two dark walls towering over her and a lonely house on the other side of the street.

Sam looked behind her accusingly. Danny was leaning over her, his head peeking around the corner of the brick building blocking them from whatever was out there.

"Danny, what is it?" Sam asked quietly, rubbing her sore behind. Please not Einzel, pleeeease. Sam thought desperately, looking up at her tired friend. Neither one of them was in the condition for a fight right now.

"My dad." He whispered back.

"Oh," Sam sighed with relief. "Danny," She pulled him back into the alley. He looked at her in confusion. "He should be back to normal now, watch."

She stood up and, dragging a protesting Danny along behind her, stepped out of the alley and into the light from the street lamp.

"Hey! Mr. Fenton!" She yelled, waving her free hand at the confused looking man down the street.

"Sa-am!" Danny moaned, trying to drag her back into the alley.

Too late.

Danny's dad turned around, noticing the two standing just a few blocks down from him.

He waved back and started jogging over. Danny gulped and doubled his efforts to pull Sam to safety. But she would have none of it, she was sure that the fire had caused Einzel to lose control on all of her puppets. Besides, he looked like himself with his goofy jog, his stubby little legs rushing to keep up with the swing of his huge arms. Danny finally gave up trying to pull her back into the alley, instead stepping in front of her protectively, her hand still held firmly in his.

If Sam wasn't going to move, then he was going to stay and protect her, no matter what.

Realizing how worried Danny was, Sam tried to explain about the fire and how Tucker had been freed from Einzel's control. But Danny didn't hear her, he was too absorbed in his thoughts.

I can take my dad, right? He thought as he tried to keep his knees from shaking, images of Dash and his friends easily beating up on him flashing through his mind. And to top it all off, his muscles were sore, his back ached, and his whole body felt like it was one giant bruise; thanks towhatever had been shot at him by his father. And now, he couldn't even go ghost.

What good was he without ghost powers?

He tried to get his frantic mind to remember what his mom had taught him, but all he could remember was what she had taught him as a ghost.

His dad was almost in front of Danny, his usual jolly grin on his face.

Danny looked up at his dad with his free hand clenched as Jack puffed up to the two.

Don't be scared, you can do this. Danny tightened his hand around Sam's, his palm sweaty. She had finally stopped trying to explain, figuring he'd realize it on his own soon enough. His dad finally caught his breath, looking down at his tense son.

"Hey Danny!" Jack raised his arm. Danny clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the blow. You can do this, you can do this.

"Do you know what part of the city this is?" Jack's booming voice asked, sounding confused.

You can do thi- wait,

"What?" Danny opened his eyes, looking up at his dad. He was rubbing the back of his neck, just like Danny did when he was nervous or confused, and looking down at the two of them with a sheepish grin.

"I can't seem to remember how I got here. All I remember is you leaving to go to Sam's, then it all turns into a sort of fuzzy blur- HEY!" Jack looked down at his son in sudden revelation. Danny backed up nervously, coming to stand side by side with Sam.

"This must be some evil plot by Walker!" (Jack loved that he now knew the names of some of the ghosts) "I bet he's afraid of my new invention I've been working on." He nodded down at his son knowingly and then began to ramble on about his new invention. Danny looked up at him in astonishment and then quickly cut him off.

"So, you're not overshadowed?"

"Why of course not, son! No ghost can overshadow me, Jack Fenton!" He said loudly. "Now, back to the invention. See? It would first paralyze the ghost by…." His dad gestured wildly with his hands, getting more excited as he got to his favorite part of the invention.

Danny smiled wryly. Yep, that was his dad all right. He glanced at Sam. She grinned in an 'I told you so,' sort of way.

"Uh, dad?" Danny interrupted his father once again. Jack looked down in mid sentence and stopped, a huge grin slowly spreading across his face. Danny swallowed his words and curiously followed his dad's gaze down to Sam's hand held tightly within his.

Sam and Danny both looked at each other, and then down at their hands in unison. Danny's eyes widened in horror as his face heated up and he dropped Sam's hand like it had burned him. Looking up at his dad's even wider grin, he tried to search for any subject that would stop him from the extremely embarrassing speech Danny knew his dad was about to give.

"Dad! Uh, ghu, ghosts! Behind you!" Danny pointed desperately behind his dad. But not even a threat of ghosts would distract Jack Fenton from this embarrassing moment.

Danny looked over at Sam in humiliation, but she didn't meet his gaze, apparently too interested in the sidewalk to even acknowledge him. He absently wondered if something was wrong, and was opening his mouth to ask her when his dad cut him off.

"It's about time you two got together! You know, your mother and I have been preparing for this moment for a long time. We even made matching ghost fighting outfits for you!" Danny smacked his hand to his face. Just shoot me now.

"We even saved videos of Danny as a kid to show-"

"Uh, Mr. Fenton?" Sam cut through. "This really isn't the time. Tucker's in trouble and we need to help him." Danny gave Sam a gratifying look, glad for the save. But, once again, she ignored him, looking pointedly at his dad instead.

Danny's shoulders slumped. Was Sam mad at him? What did he do? He shook his head and looked to his dad. Sam was right; Tucker needed help. He'd have to figure out what was wrong with Sam later.

"What?" His dad shouted. "So it is a ghost, isn't it?" He looked at Sam, an excited sparkle in his eye. He still hadn't had the chance to fight a real ghost. Sam nodded seriously, getting down to business.

"Yes, but this ghost is different. She can hypnotize people, and control them from a distance." Danny listened with as much interest as his dad; Sam hadn't had the chance to fully explain what had happened to him yet. "She hypnotized you, I think…" She looked at Danny at this point, he knew more about what had happened with his dad then she did. He sighed reluctantly, turning to his horrified dad and continuing to explain what the ghost had made him do.

"Yeah, you seemed different, and I guessed you had been overshadowed. But you hit me with some new invention, and it shorted out my powers."

"WHAT!" His dad roared, furious. Danny shrank back, never having seen his dad this mad.

"And, um… Then you, uh, chased us." He motioned to Sam. "Out of town, and then… I think I fell asleep." He said, looking at Sam in confusion. She nodded. It was her turn to tell the story.

"Then Tucker appeared, which was weird." Sam pointed at the dark forest. "Since we were in there. But he was really under Einzel's control. She must have hypnotized him when he was on his way to my house." By now, Jack's anger had simmered down to a determined look in his eye. Sam decided that that was all he or Danny really needed to know at this point, she'd tell the rest to Danny later. It just seemed too personal to tell his dad.

"Uh, so now Tucker is under her control and we need to find him."

"And it'd be nice if I could use my ghost powers." Danny piped up hopefully. Jack looked at his son.

"Well, I can help with the last part! No ghost can build an invention that I can't figure out! Is the invention still in the lab?" He asked Danny, and Danny nodded.

"Good, I can take it apart and figure out how to build a reverse ray!" He shouted, turning around. He started marching down the street, then stopped, looking around in confusion. Turning back around, heglanced at the two kids exchanging hopeful looks. Danny and Sam noticed him looking at them and returned confused stares.

"So, where are we?" He asked sheepishly.

After the two had told him what part of the city he was in, Jack had turned around and headed towards the Fenton house. He was still marching determinedly in front, his head bowed in concentration as he tried to figure out an invention that would help his son.

Danny slogged along behind, his eyes drooping and his legs feeling like lead. His mind was with Tucker, wondering how in the world he was going to pull off a rescue if he didn't have ghost powers.

Sam looked over at her friend, her gaze worried. He was falling behind, his slow, heavy steps no match for his dad's agitated march. She slowed down a little, waiting for Danny to catch up. He didn't even notice when he passed her, his tired gaze staring blankly at the sidewalk.

She watched him for a second, her mind in turmoil. She sighed. Making up her mind, she easily caught up with him.

"…Danny." She started off softly. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he looked over at her. She noticed large bags under his eyes. "Um…" She had wanted to ask him why he had dropped her hand when his dad had looked at them, wanted to know how he felt about her… But his tired gaze changed her mind.

"How are you doing?" She asked instead, her voice concerned. He grimaced.

"I'm tired." He said, rubbing his eyes. Looking back at Sam, he continued. "And I'm worried. I don't know how we're going to beat that ghost and get Tucker back."

"Here," She said, grabbing his arm and putting it over her shoulder, "You can lean on me." He gave her a gratifying smile, to tired to say anything.

"And don't worry about Einzel, she's not that hard." Sam started telling Danny how she had gotten away from her captor, and how Einzel's greatest physical weapon seemed to be a rock.

The streets turned into a blur, Sam's story sliding through Danny's mind. He leaned on her more heavily, his thoughts returning to the dark forest as his eyes slid down even farther.

Without Sam, he had been lost.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder more tightly and jerked his mind back to the present, trying to listen to Sam's story.

Her quiet voice was comforting, her shoulder soft. She had her arm around his waist, helping him along and reassuring him that she was there, that she wouldn't leave him.

Danny let his troubles slide away. As long as Sam was with him, he could deal with whatever Einzel threw at him.

His eyes slid down even farther. It had been a long day.

Sam turned the last corner, the Fenton house just a few more houses down. Jack had already disappeared inside, his mind focused solely on fixing what Einzel had made him do to his son.

She looked over at Danny, who was practically asleep on his feet. His eyes were closed and his head was down, his feet dragging slowly beneath him. Sam was practically carrying him along, now.

Sam looked up at the horizon as the sky turned a light gray. It was almost dawn, the two of them had been up all night.

Has it really only been one night? Sam wondered dully. It seemed like she had been awake for ages. She tried not to think of her own bed, she still needed to save Tucker before she would even let herself think about sleeping.

…Tucker…

She looked back at Danny. There was no way that she was going to let him try and fight Einzel like this. She could handle it herself, all she needed was a lighter and the Fenton thermos.

Sam stepped up to the Fenton's door, avoiding the rigged doorbell, and swung the door open. She could already hear Jack hard at work down in the lab.

Stepping inside, with Danny still resting on her shoulder, she headed over to the nearest couch.

Danny needed to rest, she could handle everything else on her own.

(A/N) Aww, poor Danny falling asleep on his feet. Oh, and I hope Jack was still in character, he's kinda hard to write if there's not a ghost around.

(ObiQ) Aww, thanks! Heh heh, figuring out the motives for Einzel when I first started this was probably the most fun I've had. (MasterP) Mu ha ha! Cough Yes, well, I had to stop with the cliffies this chap. Isn't Einzel evil! Oh, I so love writing her! She's sorta kinda like Raistlin, if you happen to know who that is. Oh, and don't worry about the review. (Posh, suuuure it didn't. Heh, just kiddin. XD) Anyway, thanks! (MissM) I like the story about Aladdin, especially after watching Disney's version of it. And it really didn't take that long, but we did have a lot of homework. Anyway! I didn't leave ya with a cliff hanger this time! (Zizzy) Thanks! Heh, that's funny, I've done that before as well. Thanks again! (ilikedan) Aww, poor chair. Hee hee. Err, sorry about the slow update, blame my teacher and...er, well, my procrastination. Heh. Thanks for the review! (EnigP) Yeah, questions like 'what is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?' Which, of course, is 42! Heh. Nah, just simple questions about one of the main villains, and questions my crazy teacher is always telling us to ask when we read stuff. Yep. Holy crap, my english teacher has succeeded in brainwashing me! shudders Moving on! Heh, Sam doesn't exchange witty banter, just Danny! XD Ha ha, rocks... Maybe it was... an onyx? (Crazy) Spend them well! And thanks for the review! (SleepW) Agreed, evil cats... Thanks! And no cliffy this time, I know you're so sad...

Whew, ok. Well, I'm going to try to keep updates fairly regular, but now I'll have practice every day after school starting Monday. (Yeah, the Monday there is no school. Darn it.) So, it's going to be hard. But I will try!

Reviews are very motivational, no joke. So, er, review!