Links in the Chain

By Lacey52

A note: Alright, first off, I honestly have no clue what their middle names are, but the ones I use I have seen used frequently on If I have gotten them wrong, please tell me and give me a site so that I might verify your information.
Secondly, I don't know if I'm spelling all the names correctly. Any help there would also be appreciated.
Lastly, I can't remember if Kwan and Valerie have always gone to school in Amity or if they've moved there. Help here, too, is nice.
Any questions? Just ask and I'll explain as best I can! Not so much fluff, but a bit of discovery and hints for the future!

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Chapter Four: Inkling

'Something touched me,' Sam turned in her sleep, the fog clearing enough to allow semi-rational thought, 'Cold. It's cold in here.'

Something shifted, her blankets felt like they were pulled higher, and a sound…'Like a sigh,' she thought…came from her bedside. She felt peaceful, relaxed, and thankful.

'Wait,' she began to wake up, but kept her eyes squeezed shut to hold onto that thought, 'Why would I feel thankful right now?'

"G'night Sam," echoed across her room and the cold was suddenly leaving, seeping out of the room along with the person who had caused it.

Sam sat upright in bed, throwing a hurried glance towards her closed window, not that them being closed really would amount to anything in this particular situation.

"Danny?"

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The school halls were crowded, but really this was due to the brisk April wind, the strange drop in temperature, and the rain currently coming down in sheets whipped up by said zephyr. Every student packed themselves into the halls, not able to go to their normal outside spots, and yet unwilling to head into their classes yet. The bell to start school wouldn't be ringing for another seven minutes and twenty three seconds, or so said the local technological genius.

Tucker was currently leaning against a row lockers with Danny, not incidentally the row that Sam's was a part of, and waited for aforementioned girl to appear in all her dark purple and green glory. They knew today she would be slightly later than usual as her mother was actually home for once and would wish for her to take a limo to school.

That, of course, would be unacceptable to the young girl who wished her wealth to remain a secret. She would be later than normal by five minutes or so, due to the fact that that was how long it would take for Sam to argue her mother into letting her take some type of car, although it was bound to be a very nice, very expensive one.

"Sam should be here and around that corner in five, four, three, two, …"

"Daniel James Fenton!" the girl appeared around the corner, a larger than normal scowl plastered across her features.

"Have I still got it, or do I still got it?" Tucker questioned, raising an eyebrow as Danny cowered and tried to shrink from sight.

"You and I have a date," Sam glared down at the boy, "Right now."

As Danny discovered that he could actually feel his ears trying to match the red stripes on his jacket, almost everyone in the hall burst out laughing. Tucker was one of the few that knew that by 'date' Sam meant 'very nasty browbeating', and he was still laughing, thought it was more at his friend's plight than at his embarrassment, though Tucker found that hilarious as well.

'Oh hell,' Danny pushed himself against the lockers more as she pressed closer, 'She looks really upset. Gah, I wish I could phase through the floor, but that would be a bit suspicious…might be worth it though, judging by the look on her face…'

"Well, uh, Samantha Elizabeth Manson," Danny gulped, "what's the occasion?" If he was going to be publicly chewed out by his best friend, best to take her down with him. Well, as much as he could anyways.

More snickers and this time it was her ears turning a cheery shade of read, "The occasion, Daniel, is I have a suspicion that someone snuck into my room."

A rousing chorus of 'Oooooo,' ran through the hall at the declaration. Everyone's attention was now on the pair.

'Ah crap,' Danny thought frantically, before finally finding his voice, "Now why would you think that, Sammy?" He gave her a rakish grin, leaning in the tiniest bit at that.

Tucker burst out laughing, chocking out words like 'Momma's girl' and 'So dead!' for the crowd to hear. Danny didn't back down, but then, neither did Sam. In fact, she seemed even more enraged than she had been before. Suddenly her lips curved into a sugary sweet smile, and Danny got the chills.

"Well, Danny-kins," her eyes narrowed as he sucked in his breath, "since you brought nicknames into it, Dan-dan, I'd have to say that the fact that stuff in my room was, oh, I don't know…moved was something to give me a hint that someone had let themselves in."

More laughter ran through the halls and people began to move closer for better viewing. This was probably the best entertainment they'd get all year. The names they had been calling one another began to float up and down the hall, laughter in their wake. The one lone moron who called out something about 'lovebirds' received a soul shattering glare from the two before they continued their conversation….if it could be called that.

"And so…you made a date with me to tell me this? Oh," he hit his forehead dramatically with a palm, "I didn't even get you flowers, but," he reached into his pocket, "I can provide the vegetarian approved meal!"

A stick of gum was viciously ripped from Danny's hand and shoved into Tucker's mouth guffawing mouth, wrapper and all, "Shut up, Danny. You too, Tutu. Don't think you're getting out of this with your reputation untarnished!"

The sounds that had diminished to quiet chuckling from the other students suddenly turned into a roar of fresh laughter, accompanied with echoes of 'Tutu!' She was right, Tucker and his reputation didn't escape unscathed.

"You're one to talk, Ms. Pretty, Pretty Princess!" Tucker glared at her, "I remember when you actually wanted to wear poofy dressed and be rescued by your 'Prince Charming'!"

The crowed stopped laughing long enough to gasp and stare collectively at the girl who had been 'Goth' for as long as they could remember. Of course, group think was taking its toll, and they began to snicker again at the mental images they were describing to one another.

"Shove it, Tucker," Danny cut in, "You used to pretend you were a girl when Sam and Jazz would dress us both up. At least I didn't like it. You on the other had got into the act a little too much."

The boy was left gaping, "What? So now you're defending your girl, Danny? Geeze, you two have been lovebirds since second grade when…"

"You finish that sentence and I'll let your face get intimate with my fists" Sam glowered, then whipped her attention back on the halfa, "Now 'fess up, Danny, and the date's over."

"Fine, fine!" Danny held up his hands in a placating manner, as the whole hallway held its collective breath. This was the biggest moment in the history of the school as far as they were concerned, Danny Fenton was about to confess publicly to sneaking into a girl's room, and not just any girl's. His own Sam Manson's.

"Well," Sam tapped her heavy boots impatiently, uneasy because he had given in so easily, "I'm waiting…"

Danny's hand went to his neck, "Alright you caught me," the tension and quiet grew, if that was possible, "I made myself invisible, snuck into your room and tucked you in last night just for the hell of it, before flying home and sleeping the two hours I had left before it was time to get up for school."

Everyone was clutching their sides from the amount of laughter they were producing. Well, everyone except Danny, Sam, and Tucker, two of which were blushing a light pink, and the third who was looking between the two as if he were watching a tennis match.

Tucker finally just shook his head muttering about 'blushy moments' and gathered his thing to head for the classroom the three shared for first period. Danny stood up as well, but stayed as Sam finally moved to her locker.

"This conversation will not be mentioned again, Danny," Sam glared up at the taller boy, "Especially the nicknames!"

"Hey, you started it, Sammy-poo," light blue eyes sparkled mischievously, "This whole best friends thing has its benefits, but not like most people think. Take for instance, the black mail I have from the little purple crayon incident."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam coolly replied with a sniff of disdain, "You must be high."

"High? I don't think so, Sammy," and with that Danny took out his wallet and pulled out a picture, "Sure looks like a purple crayon to me."

"That," Sam said as she snatched the picture from him and defended it from five or so people that were trying to see what they were talking about, "is a low blow in the name of blackmail, Danny Fenton."

"It's not like you don't have blackmail on me," he took the picture back and smiled down at it.

Sam pulled out her needed books and then slammed her locker shut, "The difference between you and I though, is I don't bring it to school with me."

"I take it everywhere," Danny then admitted, "One," he held up a finger, "its always good to have blackmail and two," he held up a second finger, "how often do I get to see my best friend dressed up as a little purple crayon? That's a once in a lifetime thing."

"At least I wasn't in tights in that picture, unlike someone I know," she laughed and the few that were still hanging around the halls snapped their attention back to the bickering pair.

"Hey, Superman rocks. He could fly and blow things up with his eyes, how cool is that?"

Sam rolled her eyes and gave him a pointed look that left those watching bewildered, before she began to move off to their first period room, Danny tagging along, though neither spoke. A look passed across both their faces that caused several students pause, when the pair stopped and turned back.

"I got it," Danny smile at her then, "I mean, I gotta' make up for the nicknames I've spread to the world, right?"

"Whatever," and they parted ways, curious eyes watching them both. Danny headed to Sam's locker, quickly opening it and grabbing a black notebook, before running back to the room lest he be late.

The jocks and preps who were still in the corridor, were laughing over the losers' fight Really anyone who was in the hallway was doing this.

It was the few who had known the pair before high school and middle school, or had been told of them, who were quiet. The few who had noticed that Sam hadn't spoken to Danny. He had just known she needed her notebook. Sure, it could have been passed off as him noticing that she was missing it, but everyone knew that Fenton just wasn't that observant.

This was how their world worked before fifth grade. How it just was for all of them from second to fifth. Danny and Sam, the two who were inseparable, the best friends with a 'psychic connection'.

People knew, but never mentioned the fact, that at one time the losers and the preps and the jocks and the nerds were all friends. Maybe not close, but friends none the less. That's how it is in all schools, until people start to 'grow up' and slip into the roles life has shaped for them.

A few held the memories of a bouncy boy and a cheery girl playing the 'game' at lunch, laughing for no reason in class, always showing up when the other needed them…

Paulina frowned and headed to class. Those were strange memories that she refused to think about. She cleared her mind and walked on. It was all in the past and nothing like that could happen again. Could it?

Dash followed after her, little things ticking across his mind; the day he decided he'd never dare lay a hand on Sam, the same day when he decided if picking on them was cool, he'd only ever mess with the guys, who could handle it.

Kwan was frowning too as he headed to class. For those two, if what he'd seen during the last few months was true, the world was possibly about to get nastier than it already was. Not that he cared, he just didn't want the situation to blow up. There were a few in their group who didn't care about how extreme their bullying could get.

All the others who remembered or who had been told dug up old ideas. If those two kept that up, the world was about to get fun again. The days from elementary school could definitely be revived and reenacted. High school students were known for torturing each other. Who ever said Casper High was any different?