Links in the Chain

By Lacey52

A note: The first part of it is kinda' boring, but necessary for plot advancement. The last part is pure Sam and Danny mini-fluff, necessary for my own satisfaction, lol.

Chapter Three: Prelude

It had started again…maybe. Tucker didn't even think they noticed it, but he did…he thought. Spring break and a couple of days being grounded and kept away from the pair helped, he supposed. He was close enough to the two to know what to look for, but far enough from the situation to actually notice the change. Still, he wasn't too sure yet. Obviously.

"'Sup guys?" Tucker walked up to them that morning with the usual greeting, "You both look bushed. Was it that bad of a weekend?"

"It was…"

"…absolutely insane," Danny had started and yet, Sam had finished with perfect timing. Not unusual, except for the fact that Danny hadn't told Sam that wasn't what he was going to say. In fact, the pair looked as if nothing abnormal had just happened. As if…they had each completed their own sentence.

That little incident had given Tucker slight pause, and he continued to mull over it for the rest of the school day. Danny and Sam had a habit of speaking in sync, but this was different. That ability was one thing they had unknowingly kept up since second grade. This…this they hadn't done since fifth grade. Sam was always off from Danny's thinking, if only slightly. He would always say that wasn't what he was goign to say, but go with it anyways.

The rest of the day went on from there. Normal school, normal lunch, normal after school minor ghost action. Really most of the ghosts had gotten the hint that Danny could beat them long ago when he was only a 'child.' Over the past however many months, well, Danny had grown, and now even fewer ghosts dared to bother Amity. Maybe the incident from the morning was a fluke. After all, they still looked tired, in fact, they looked too tired to argue.

The ghost convention that he had missed turned out to be a weekend spent chasing ghosts attracted by a new 'ghost magnet'. It was guaranteed to draw any ghosts within a mile radius, and boy did it work, even if no one had known it. He was suddenly quite glad he had been grounded.

It turned out that a great deal of the ghosts, only Danny could see. They simply didn't have the energy needed to manifest themselves physically to human eyes. Danny and Sam still worked on it together, though, and that's where his suspicions had started to grow once again. Hearing their stories of the convention, Tucker decided that sometimes they were a little too in sync.

The cool March air rushed over the three as they headed to the Nasty Burger, their traditional after school stop, talking about their respective days on break, though Tucker was mainly listening to various escapades with ghosts at a certain hotel.

"…and, of course the moron just bounced right towards Sam. She got him though, and I didn't even have to say anything."

"Well, it was obvious that something was coming my way, you just had that look on your face. I mean, I'm surrounded by ghosts on an almost daily basis, and have a halfa for a best friend, I'm pretty used to invisible things. You're just rubbing off on me I guess."

"So what you two are really saying," Tucker cut in, "is that you had to use that good, old 'psychic connection' this weekend, huh?"

The pair turned to him at his random question, "'Psychic connection'?" Startled that they had spoken at the same time, each went on their own defensive, talking rapidly.

"Of course not, we don't have a real psychic connection," Sam stated.

"What are you talking about? We don't have a real one," Danny rambled, "I mean, yeah, it looked like we did, but we're best friends."

"Sure it looked like it, but we didn't hear each other's thoughts or things like that," she kept her cool and finished.

"And yeah, we knew things sometimes, but doesn't that happen to all people? It's not like we read each other's minds," he finally stopped.

Tucker just stared. They had been talking at the same time and their trains of thought were almost identical. Something was happening, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure yet exactly what. They didn't want it to happen more than the tiny amount they allowed. To them, it had become something to ignore, to pretend never occurred.

"Alright guys, you convinced me to shut up for now, but you aren't fooling me you know. I know about it and all, don't forget. Now, let's go get a big, fat, juicy piece of meat to sink our teeth into," and at a glare from Sam, "and a nice salad! With lots of vegetarian approved goodies!"

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'Danny headed out ten minutes ago to deal with whatever ghost was stupid enough to show up, and I'm not sure I want to wait around here anymore,' Tucker sighed to himself as he threw away his wrapper and Sam's salad bowl.

"Hey, Foley," he heard a random voice behind him, "Cleanin' up for your girlfriend?"

"Ya' know," Sam's voice cut in before he could reply and she soon moved besides him, "Usually, people don't mistake me for Tucker's girlfriend. Don't you have something else to do besides trying to pair people up on what you perceive to be their social or economic standing?"

"I, uh…" the boy faltered, not at all sure how to deal with the girl's bored attitude.

"Exactly," Sam shot him an annoyed look.

"Can we head out?" Tucker asked her as soon as she was done torturing the boy with her glare, "I really don't want to hang around here waiting for Danny. He said to just head home if he took too long."

"Yeah, that's fine with me," Sam sighed as they started towards the door, "I have a lot of homework anyways."

Outside the brisk wind once again kicked up their clothes and hair, or rather Sam's hair, and nearly took Tucker's hat off. Tucker risked a glance at Sam before deciding to just dive into what had been bugging him.

"Hey, Sam?"

"Huh? What's up Tucker, you look…why you look almost as if you were…concerned," Sam replied sarcastically with mock horror to his questioning look. He chuckled before preparing himself to ask her.

"Well, I was just wondering about your trip with Danny," Tucker glanced around him, then berated himself. He wouldn't be able to see if Danny was around anyways, so he might as well get this over with and hope for the best, "Some of the stuff Danny said the two of you did…sounded awfully hard…especially since you couldn't even see the ghosts."

"Yeah, it was pretty difficult," Sam shrugged, "but I just watched Danny. He can get rather expressive, especially when a spirit is barreling towards you."

"But he didn't ever have to say anything, did he? You just knew where they were at."

"Uh, yeah," Sam shifted uncomfortably beside the young man, "but it was just really obvious."

Sam winced. That sounded weak even to her, and she was suddenly trying to convince herself that it was the truth. What other reason could it be, if not that?

"Sorry," Tucker responded to the sudden silence sheepishly, "I know you guys don't like it when people imply that you have some sort of weird connection these days. I was just wondering."

"It's alright Tuck," Sam looked up the street she was about to head down, splitting from her friend, "I'll get online with you guys later to chat, alright?"

"Yeah Sam, that's fine," and with those final words they parted, going their separate ways.

'Man,' Tucker sighed as he walked down his street, 'Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Sam didn't act like anything happened, and Danny definitely hasn't been acting weird. He'd be a dead give away for sure if their link was starting to pop back up."

With another sigh, he slid his cap off to run a hand over his hair, before returning it and shaking his head. Whipping out his PDA, he began to record the events of the ghost convention a few days beforehand, and the strange occurrences of that day.

'Alright,' he sighed as he penned everything he needed, 'So March fourteenth and fifteenth, ghost convention. Sam knew where ghosts were at without Danny's help. March seventeenth, school and Nasty Burger. Sam and Danny were more in sync in speaking than normal. Same train of thought.'

"That should do it," he trailed off as he marched up to his door, "Never thought I'd be keeping track of Danny and Sam and the way they interact, but I guess it's necessary. Now I just gotta' wait and see what happens, if anything happens at all."

"I really hope nothing happens," with a shake of his head he whispered this to himself, lest his mother should hear and question him, and headed to boot up his computer. Maybe a good online game would get his mind off of things before he blew them out of proportion.

Still, it was bound to be an interesting year no matter how things turned out. With a ghost fighting halfa for a best friend, life was never dull.

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Sam groaned as she trudged up the stairs to her room, 'Why in the world must the school system require such heavy text books? They not only waste the precious ecological protection provided by forests, but cause back problems in people who shouldn't have them for at least another twenty years.'

To Sam's great relief, and yet slight discomfort, the bag was lifted from her shoulders and slipped off her arms before she was halfway down the hall. It floated, at about the level one would hold it in their hands as they walked.

With a raised eyebrow, Sam cautiously began walking towards her room again, her bag floating along merrily behind her, 'Well, I suppose I should be more worried about this, but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?'

The pack followed her through her doorway, and sat itself on her chair, and was…chuckling?

She shook her head, bags didn't chuckle. She was either hallucinating or being messed with by some ghost. Or halfa. Whichever it happened to be, they wouldn't be laughing when she got done with them if they didn't listen to her.

"Just make yourself visible and get it over with," Sam rolled her eyes, "I obviously already know you're there."

A slight motion on her desk caught her attention. A pencil started moving over a random sheet of stationary, and this definitely marked the beginning stages ofslight worry.

Carefully shuffling over to her desk, she watched with slight fascination as the pen seemingly propelled itself across the page, "Just thought you looked tired and the bag looked heavy. I'd talk and show myself, but you're Mom's in the next room. Your door's still open and she'd probably hear us."

Sam hesitantly reached over and grabbed hold of the pen, feeling a few cold, gloved fingers brush her own. It was such an odd sensation to actually touch a ghost. Gnawing on her bottom lip to figure out what she wanted to say, she began writing her response, "Thanks for taking my bag, but it wasn't that bad, really. And you're right, Mom would flip out to find a 'ghost' up here with me."

The pen was taken from her hand, then, "I need to get going. I have some things I need to do. I'll talk to you again later though, if that's alright?"

The pen floated back to her hand, and her face was set in confusion, "Who is this? Danny, if it's you, why are you asking me? You know it's alright. If it isn't Danny, then please leave. I'm not up for mind games or fighting right now."

Chuckling filled the room again, as a cold feeling settled over her hand, moving the pen along with it, "It's just me, Sam. Like any ghost would dare get close to you or Tucker these days. Besides, I just wanted to know if I could talk with you online, or if I shouldn't bother because you're doing homework. Just curious, but now that I have my answer, I really do have to go. Talk to you later. D.P., a.k.a. D.F. :)"

The little smiley face at the end did Sam in, a rueful smile crossing her face as the chill faded from her hand and arm. That was definitely Danny, she had no doubt in her mind now. 'Besides the sloppy handwriting there was another thing to tip me off,' she shook her head, "That was a lot of abbreviating. Definitely Danny. He has no respect for the English language sometimes."

"What was that Sammy-kins?" her mother headed into her room, "I was in the next room, and couldn't quite hear what you were trying to say."

"Nothing, Mom," Sam smiled and folded the note, tucking it safely into the drawer in her desk, "I was just complaining about school work out loud. Ya' know, 'talking to ghosts,' and that sort of thing."

"Yes, well," her mother eyed her uncomfortably and made her way back into the hall, "Please do try to keep talking to yourself to a minimum. It just isn't done."

"Fine," Sam tried to keep from laughing, and settled herself down at her computer as her mother walked away, "If only she knew…"

With a final grin at her private joke, Sam prepared to throw herself into her homework. She had to get online to talk to the boys tonight, so she might as well finish it as soon as she could.

'Sometimes,' she mused on one last thought before she started, 'It's nice to have a friend like Danny. He always shows up just when something is bothering me…'