Links in the Chain
By Lacey52
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
A note: All I have to say is I have wanted to write this chapter for so long now. I can't wait to try my hand at the wonderful character that is Valerie Gray. She's as cool as Tucker and I'm so excited, I just hope I keep her in character!
Note please that this is the big Fourth of July festival in the park I've been setting up with tiny hints in the last couple of chapter…;)
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chapter Twelve: Pyrotechnics
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
'Ah,' Jasmine Fenton sighed to herself happily as she stretched out her arms and stepped out of the RV into the bright sunlight, 'This is going to be one of the best Fourth of July festivals ever held in Amity.'
Grinning cheerfully she quickly moved to help her brother and parents unload the small, disassembled booth they had constructed at their home. Today's festivities were just beginning to start, with people starting to arrive and set up food and game booths, much like their own.
"Danny," she said worriedly as he began to haul one of the larger sideboards over to their designated spot by himself, "let me help you. That has got to be heavy and I don't want you getting hurt!"
Danny grinned cheekily back at his sister, "What, this?" he let go with his left hand and held it up about a foot off the ground with only his right, "You're kiddin', right sis?"
Jazz found herself shaking her head at her first hand demonstration of Danny's growing muscle mass, 'He's been doing so much fighting these last two years, he was bound to get muscles sometime…'
He continued happily on his way, but used both his hands to walk with the board. Jazz figured it was either to make it easier to walk, or to hide his growing strength. Or maybe even do a little of both, 'Though I doubt Danny has two reasons for doing something. Usually he does things impulsively, not that that's a good thing all the time.'
As the Fentons began to set up their 'ghost-hunting' game booth, many others began to file into the park, mainly to enjoy the festivities that were already gearing up. Three hotdog and hamburger vendors, two cotton candy stands, a dunking booth, and even a fun house were already positioned strategically across part of the park. The largest hill, however, was left completely bare, reserved for people to spread their blankets on and set up their own little areas for the day and the firework show that night.
Fourth of July was a big event this year, and Jazz was optimistically hopeful that nothing would go wrong. She, however, much like Danny, was ever on the alert for strange happenings so that her little brother would have some help if it was needed. Jazz felt for the Jack-o-Nine-Tails that she had securely tucked in the back pocket of her pants.
When asked why she had decided to bring it along, a simple shrug and a "You can never be too prepared!" dealt with her father well enough. She just informed her mother that she thought it would help the children get into the correct mindset to play the game. She had gotten huge hugs and words of approval from both of them.
"Ow," Danny whined as he caught his thumb between the last two sides the he and Jazz were putting up to the little booth, "I hurt my thumb…"
"Well, that isn't the smartest thing to do," a sarcastic voice quipped, "Shouldn't you be trying to prevent injuring yourself in case you have other things to deal with tonight?"
"Oh, ha, ha, Sam," Danny grumbled as he shook his hand in the air, trying to relieve the pain, "Yeah, sure, I really try to hurt myself on a regular basis, 'cause it's some kind of method that makes it more tolerable….damn it, I got a splinter."
Jazz watched as Sam deftly caught his hand in mid-shake and examined it for a second. A sly smirk and a rather devious look flashed across the girl's face as she reached for the hem of her shirt, where a safety pin was attached, "I can fix that. Jazz, you might have to hold him down, he's a real baby about splinters…"
"No…," Danny tried to back away from his best friend, rapidly shaking his head, "no, no, no, no, no. You are not pricking at my thumb with that to try and get the splinter out."
"You're right Sam," Jazz laughed as Danny finally wrenched himself away from the much smaller girl, "and as soon as you catch him, I'll help you out. Until then, I'm going to finish setting this up and try and find Mom and Dad. You two have fun."
Jazz smiled and shook her head knowingly as the pair were off like a shot across the park, one yelling about the other being a big baby, the other yelling back that cruel and unusual punishment was against the law.
'If those two get any closer, I'll be helping to plan a wedding…'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
The day had been rather successful so far, much to Danny's surprise. Tons of people visited his parents' booth, enjoying the simple game of shooting down one of the fake 'ghosts' and receiving a prize after hitting five.
No real ghosts had shown up, no one from his school that had a problem with him had stopped by, and Tucker and Sam had actually been keeping him entertained while he ran the booth for his turn. Life couldn't get much better.
'Of course,' Danny thought glumly as his breathe appeared before him in a blue mist, 'it can always get worse. I really need to stop jinxing myself…'
"Go on Danny. Me and Sam will cover for you," Tucker waved him off and pushed him out the back, "We know what to do, and it's almost time for the fireworks anyways, so the booth won't be open for too much longer, now."
"You guys are the best," Danny smiled as he quickly transformed himself and headed off to find the interloper.
After searching for twenty minutes, Danny was just about to give up when he heard a giggle coming from up in one of the trees. Glancing up he saw Kitty and Johnny snuggled up on one of the branches, facing the hill where the fireworks would take place.
Danny watched for a minute, thinking back to the other ghost, Huey, who had just wanted to paint. He wasn't doing any real harm, and this time, neither were Johnny or Kitty. They looked like they just wanted to watch the fireworks.
'Benefit of the doubt it is,' Danny smiled to himself before calling out to them, "Hey you two."
Johnny immediately moved Kitty behind him, further up the branch, "What do ya' want halfa?"
"Nothing," Danny said with a small smile, "I just wanted to tell you two you'd probably get a better view of the fireworks in that tree over there."
Kitty grinned around her boyfriend then, "Really? That's it Danny?"
"That's it," he nodded, then added sheepishly, "You aren't causing problems or anything, so I really don't have a good reason to fight with you. I kinda' figured you were just here to watch the show."
Kitty giggled again then as Johnny sat in slight shock. Quickly composing himself he turned back to the halfa below them, "Yeah, uh…thanks?"
"No problem," Danny turned to go, but gave one last stern look over his shoulder, "Just don't make me have to fight tonight. I don't want to ruin it for you two or for me."
"Whatever," Johnny said pulling Kitty back to his side, "Later."
Smiling at the clear dismissal, Danny floated away. It was certainly a relief that they didn't want to fight this time around. Benefit of the doubt was definitely a good thing in his mind, and it wouldn't hurt for them to have a little time out of the ghost zone.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"It's about time you got here," Sam raised her eyebrows as Danny plopped down between her and his dad, "The show is just about to start."
"I'm surprised you actually came. Isn't this a little commercial and government related for you?" he shot back teasingly.
"Yeah, Sam," Tucker joined in from her other side, "You don't usually do the Fourth thing. Too many meat products and stuff."
Sam just rolled her eyes, "Danny talked me into it with an oh so pathetic 'Don't abandon me because I'm so pitiable and don't want to have to work a booth' talk."
"I did not!" Danny said as he flushed slightly, "I just said that….darn it," and he hung his head in defeat.
"Does that mean that it was the truth?" Tucker asked her with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
"Yep," she smiled back, "It sure does."
"So, where were you Danny boy?" Mr. Fenton got into the conversation, "You disappeared on us and Sam and Tucker said something about you heading to the food booth."
"Uh, yeah," Danny smiled sheepishly, "I got kinda' hungry and I, uh…"
"Met me there and we got distracted looking around at all the booths," Jazz cut in smoothly with a wink, 'Don't worry little brother, I've got you covered.'
"Ah," their father shook his head knowingly, missing the thankful smile Danny sent his sister, "it is easy to do when there's so much stuff to see. The only thing that would make this better would be some ghosts running amok for your mother and I to round up together."
"Oh, Jack," Mrs. Fenton placed an hand on his arm, "That wouldn't be good for tonight. This is supposed to be quality time for all of us."
"No, it wouldn't be good," he replied to her with a devilish smirk, "but it would mean quality time alone for you and me."
"Jack," Maddie replied happily, "Why are you so sweet?"
"'Cause I love ya' baby," and he gave her a sloppy kiss on her cheek, which caused the teens beside them to laugh and roll their eyes.
BOOM.
The first firework went off in the air above their heads without warning sending them all into more laughter, only this time to work the nervousness out of their systems. Sam had inadvertently grabbed at Danny's shirt sleeve and nearly pulled him over from the force she put into it. Not that he minded.
The rest of the fireworks display was beautiful, and all four Fentons, a Manson, and a Foley completely enjoyed themselves. The end, though, came all too soon. Danny and the rest of their party began to head back to the booth when Maddie pulled the four youngsters off to the side.
"You four don't worry about cleaning up," she smiled congenially, "just leave that to us. Danny, you and Jazz set it up, and Sam and Tucker don't need to help us with our booth. You run along and have some more fun before everything shuts down for the evening, alright?"
Four enthusiastic nods later found them by themselves, wandering through the fairway, enjoying the sights and sounds and smells.
Well, some were enjoying the smells.
"I swear," Sam pressed her hand over her nose for the fifth time, "if I smell another hotdog I am going to be sick."
"Uh," Danny watched her, confusion and concern swirling in his eyes, "You want to forget the festival and do something else?"
"No," she glanced over at Jazz and Tucker who were thoroughly enjoying some random game or other, "I don't want to ruin all of you're nights. I think I'll just head home."
"Aw, come now Sam," Danny smiled, but it faded as she gagged again at a passerby's chilidog, "It'd only be fair to do something you wanted to do. You spent the whole day here after all…"
"No, Danny," but she never got any farther than that. Suddenly she found herself invisible and intangible and being pulled forcefully back towards the open hill that everyone had already left.
The trip was much shorter than it should have been with the inconvenience of actually having to go around objects removed. Apparently it was easier to just walk through them in Danny's mindset.
"You know that was pretty dumb to pull that back there," Sam finally said as they stopped on the other side of the hill, "Someone could have seen you do that."
Glowing green eyes and snow white hair melted back into her field of vision, "Yeah," he shrugged, "but no one was really looking and if they were they'd just think they were going crazy or it was a trick of the light or something…"
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Valerie Gray was not having the best of times this evening. She had been so sure that that stupid ghost boy would show up to wreck the festivities, but so far nothing had happened.
She sulked her way back over to the hill where everyone had been gathered to watch the fireworks. She was determined to get home on time, which meant before her father noticed she had snuck out while she was still grounded for sneaking out last week to look for ghosts.
A voice, however, caught her attention and she stealthily made her way to a set of bushes located so very conveniently next to the tree line she was walking along. The voice sounded awfully like Danny Fenton from school, and soon a second voice, that of Sam Manson, confirmed what Valerie thought she heard.
Still making her way to the bushes so she could sneak a peak, she caught some of their conversation.
"Yeah, but no one was really looking and if they were they'd just think they were going crazy or it was a trick of the light or something…"
"That doesn't matter Danny," a sigh was heard, "you didn't have to."
"Yeah I did," she heard him say right before she poked her head over the bushes, "I mean you looked like you were about to barf when that guy walked by you with that chilidog. Too much meat all in one place, huh?"
Sam Manson was standing on the hillside having a very nice little conversation with Danny Phantom!
'Wait, what?' Valerie frantically rubbed her eyes, 'This is impossible! Sam and Danny are all over each other, and that stupid ghost isn't a nice person! I know I heard Danny's voice, I know it….'
But a thought washed over her then. Yes, she had heard Danny's voice…but she had also heard…Danny's, the ghost Danny's, voice. They were exactly the same. She wasn't able to tell them apart! And the names and…
'That's insane!' she chastised herself as she continued to watch the pair interact, 'It's not just insane, it's impossible! Danny Fenton is very much alive. He is not a ghost.'
"No it wasn't just that it was too much meat," Sam sighed as she moved to sit down on the hill, the ghost moving to sit beside her, "I haven't been feeling great today. The smells just made it worse."
"How come you didn't say anything?" he cut her a worried look, "Somebody could have taken you home. Or found you something for your stomach at the very least."
Sam smiled, "It wasn't bothering me that much, and fresh air is helping. I really appreciate this."
The two sat in companionable silence for a moment, just watching the stars and enjoying the quite the night afforded them. Valerie was still racking her brain for explanations.
'He's just sitting there with her?' she watched confusedly, 'No ransacking, no destroying, no blowing things up?'
As she thought back over all her other encounters with the ghost, a pattern began to show itself, 'He's always claimed he was innocent, he's always helped me when I really needed it, and he's shown a good side on a number of occasions. But how can this be? I thought all ghosts were bad…'
A chuckle brought her back to the pair on the hillside, "You're like my own personal air-conditioner, you know that? It's the middle of the summer and I'm as cool as can be sitting next to you and your ghostly self."
"Ha! So being cold is a good thing sometimes," he looked like he winked at her, "but being warm is a good thing too, you know."
"If I didn't know you better I'd say you were flirting," Sam shot back, a look of slight amusement on her face.
'They fight and joke just like Sam and Danny Fenton do…' Valerie realized wide-eyed.
"So? Even friends need to flirt, right Sammy-poo?"
"I'd kill you if I thought I could right now," she whapped him on the head, or tried to, but her hand went straight through him and down until it was level with his emblem, "One, don't call me that. Two, this is the weirdest feeling in the world…"
"What?"
"My hand is through your chest," she stared blankly as he tried, unsuccessfully, to keep from laughing, "It feels…tingly."
"Doesn't hurt, does it?" he looked down at the arm still through him, "It sure don't hurt me, though hitting me would have…that's why I made your hand go through me…"
"No, it doesn't hurt," she chuckled and pulled her hand out then, looking it over, "It's just a weird feeling is all."
'How is she so calm around him?' Valerie thought frantically, 'He's a ghost. Shouldn't she be freaking out? He is a lot like Danny though…maybe that's why she isn't freaking out. He looks like Danny now that I think about it…and she is Goth. Maybe she's into ghosts?'
The pair laughed at something else, and then Danny Phantom stood and bowed elaborately to the girl still seated, before offering his gloved hand and pulling her up, "We'd better head back."
"Yeah," she laughed as they started walking back, fading from view as they went, "We'll never hear the end of it for 'disappearing' on them."
"Oh, ha, ha," came a slightly amused, slightly disgruntled voice, "you're really on a roll today Sam…"
Valerie sat for a few moments more before daring to move, lest the two not really be gone. Standing up she quickly tapped her heels together to trigger her board. She had a lot to think over tonight, and she really didn't need to get into more trouble with her father.
'He didn't do a single thing all night, but he was obviously here all along. Plus he was talking with Manson like they were old friends. He was nice to her, and really he's been nice to me all those times, even when we're fighting…and…and I've usually been the one to start the fights.'
Valerie sighed as she soared over the cityscape back to her home, 'I couldn't have misjudged him, could I? It was him and his stupid dog. But he said it wasn't his dog. Ah, I just don't know now. I definitely need to look into this. Next time Phantom boy shows up, me and him are going to have a heart to heart.'
With a firm nod, Valerie felt a bit better about her situation, checking over all her equipment as she flew, 'And that heart to heart is gonna' happen, even if it means the hard way….Danny Phantom, you've got some explaining to do.'