Links in the Chain
By Lacey52
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
A note: And it's starting to get more serious and poor Danny is nearing critical. I can just see him yelling "I am NOT CRAZY!" at the top of his lungs…lol. Not that that really has anything to do with this chapter…it just provides a funny mental image for no real reason. ;)
Oh my God, I am so sorry! I thought I would have this chapter posted by this afternoon and it's already almost 11 at night! I am sorry, so very sorry! In my defense I had a great time at my Aunt's house and the Songfest at my church was delightful…so don't beat me too badly! I love you all!
Also, yes, mosh pits can get as bad as I describe, and sometimes even worse. When going to a mosh pit take lots of friends and a number of large guys. Be smart. Be safe. Don't learn the hard way...
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chapter Thirteen: Beckon
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Tuesday, July the twenty-first, ten in the P.M., Morbid Antisocial Youth, Lacksrick, a city not twenty minutes away from Amity Park, only forty dollars per ticket, as it was standing only, no seats would be available.
Needless to say, Sam was beyond hyped. Danny wasn't too upset about this either. Tucker would have liked another encore from someone resembling Ember, but didn't want to be beaten black and blue by Sam and Danny for daring to mention that name in their presence.
As part of her, 'you had both better come with me so I can enjoy the mosh pits, or else I'll introduce you to my wrath' speech, Sam had kindly offered to pay their way.
Mosh pits, free concert, time with best friends, and great music? Not a problem with either one of the boys, but they couldn't help but tease and taunt her a bit, trying to get free food and drink out of the deal as well.
"So you need us two, big, handsome, strong men to accompany you, little lady?" Tucker teased as he cleaned his glasses and smiled handsomely, "What's in it for us though, besides the free concert and good times?"
"I think what Tucker means," Danny stepped in quickly to save his hapless friend from a face full of salad, "is do we get food and drink as a part of this deal? You know, being a bodyguard really takes it out of ya', Sam."
"Are you asking me to pay for all of this, is that it boys?" Sam quickly shot back, folding her arms with a very 'we are not amused' look upon her face.
Hastily the two in question wisely shook their heads 'no' with wide innocent eyes and slightly open mouths, trying their hardest to get across their silent, 'Who us? No….we're sweet, innocent boys who want nothing more than to accompany you and keep you safe, all out of our own good will and concern for you.'
Sam, appeased by their ridiculous display, chuckled quietly and let a little smile slip. This was possibly going to be one of the best events of her young life and she had already managed to talk her parents into letting her go. Tucker and Danny had been part of the package to keep their precious daughter safe from 'who knows what'.
'Mom and Dad,' Sam thought to herself as the boys finished their food and got ready to go, 'if only you knew what I dealt with all the time. How bad can a concert be compared to maniacs and ghosts trying to rule the world? Yeah, real scary…right.'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Great concert!"
"What?"
"Great! Concert!"
"What? I can't hear you!"
"I SAID GREAT! CONCERT!"
"Oh!"
'Man,' Danny rubbed his head from the slight headache that was starting to grow into a nuisance, 'I can hardly even hear myself think, how am I supposed to hear what Sam and Tucker are trying to say to me?'
The music was beyond loud. Flashing lights, lasers, fire on the stage ever few seconds, tons of screaming people of all shapes and sizes and ages, and the pounding of thousands of feet added to the atmosphere of a giant rave-type gathering.
'I am so going to need an aspirin after this is over,' Danny ran a hand threw his hair, then over his eyes, 'Sam had better have some on her. And she better tell me a thousand times how much she absolutely adores me for letting her drag me here. I like loud but this is crazy, Tucker handles it way better than I do.'
Tucker was right with Sam, jumping away and getting into the hypnotic ambience that all the music and lights and dancing was causing. Danny was standing a few feet back from the ever growing mosh pit, head pounding dangerously, right in time with the beat. He had intended to join in, but now he was just observing, enjoying what was going on as much as he could.
At the end of the song, the crowd's antics died down a bit and Sam and Tucker made their way back to the young man standing with his arms crossed, a grimace across his face.
"What's up man? You don't look like you feel well," Tucker patted his back as he reached down for the bottle of water sitting at Danny's feet.
"I'm fine," Danny lied through his teeth, "I was just taking a breather, ya' know. I wanna' stay fresh for the whole concert and not be dead on my feet by the end of it."
Sam nearly snorted half her water bottle onto his face with laughter at his unintentional pun, "Aren't you already halfway there Danny?"
"Yeah, yeah," he waved her off with a half smile, "A halfway there dead person at a Morbid Antisocial Youth concert. How appropriate."
"Danny," Sam's brow furrowed, "Do you need some aspirin? You…look like you have a headache or something."
"Huh?" was Danny's reply. Sam had completely caught him off guard as he was certain he wasn't letting his face slip back into a grimace, "Oh, no, I'm fine. I probably just need to drink more water or something."
'Calm down Danny,' he coached himself as Sam and Tucker made their way back into the giant group of jumping and dancing people, 'She's an observant person, she probably caught a look at you when they were walking up. This is supposed to be a fun night, not a worry about things night.'
Two more songs played before Tucker managed to stumble back out of the mosh pit, soaked in sweat, missing his glasses and hat, and totally disheveled. He shakily headed back to Danny and gulped down half of his water before sinking to sit on the ground.
"You okay, Tuck?" Danny said as he squatted beside his friend, "You look like you got in a fight or something. Is Sam alright?"
"Sam didn't come out here yet?" Tucker raised his head, "It was getting kinda' rough so we started to make our way out. She's a lot smaller than I am so I told her to just go ahead of me. I figured she would have been out before me, but I guess she found a better place to dance, um, jumpin that thing."
"I guess," Danny wearily eyed the jumping group composed mainly of teenagers, "Maybe we should head in to look for her?"
"Nah," Tucker waved him off, "Sam's always sayin' she's a big girl and can take care of herself, which she can. I've been on the receiving end of that boot before. She can definitely take care of herself. Besides, this is her concert, she'll head back out when she's ready."
"I suppose," but Danny couldn't shake off this feeling of worry starting to knot in his stomach. It was beating out his headache, and that was impressive, 'I really need to stop worrying. Maybe Jazz was right and I do need to talk to someone about how stressed I'm getting."
A quicker beat picked up and suddenly the feeling of worry in his stomach spiked into pure panic, almost bowling him over, 'This can't be a good thing. They're getting too rowdy and Sam's awfully small, she's gonna' get knocked around like a rag-doll.'
Standing up, he hauled Tucker up beside him, "We really should go in and find Sam. She's tiny compared to all those guys. If you were getting bumped around, it's gotta' be ten times worse for someone her size. She hasn't exactly grown since Freshman year."
"Man," Tucker eyed the crowd, "It's huge now, how're we supposed to find her…"
"Sam!"
That was the last thing Tucker heard of Danny as he got cut off by the halfa rushing into the mosh-pit, a look of panic mixed with determination apparent on his face.
Tucker just stood and waited, confused and concerned, "Did I miss something?"
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Five Minutes Earlier
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
'Alright, keep cool,' Sam told herself as she was jostled around by the others around her, 'Just keep working your way towards the edge and you'll be out in a minute. Tucker's fine 'cause he's a big guy, you'll be fine 'cause you're a smart, tiny girl and fit through the gaps in people.'
Sam had to reevaluate her statement, however, when the gaps in the crowd started to disappear one by one. She couldn't move anymore as the people began to pack in tighter and tighter. Sam had never been claustrophobic, but this was beginning to eat at her.
'Okay,' she tried to breath calmly as she started to worry, 'I'll just stay close to these guys. They're a lot taller than me and should be a good enough buffer between me and the rest of the crowd. They aren't moving too much.'
Her tactic worked for a minute or so, but the song came to its end all too quickly and the next was picked up. A fast, furious pace from the base drum, underneath an almost impossibly fast guitar melody, rocked the arena being used for the performance.
As the cheers rose and bodies began to sway and jump around, thefive or soboysaround her began grinning like maniacs, getting caught in the euphoria. Jumping, bumping, shoving, pushing, and pure panic were all Sam knew for a few seconds before she realized that part of her shirt had been torn and the top of her head was extremely sore from coming in contact with someone else's elbow.
'I want out, that's all I want, just a way out,' she began to plead desperately in her mind, 'Please, out, that's all, Danny. DANNY!'
A slight pain grew for a split second in her mind as she squeezed her eyes shut, tears sliding down her cheeks. She was shaken, sore, and being moved around with the violent intensity of the crowd, but that wasn't the worst part.
She had just realized that she shouted mentally for Danny, and it had worked just like it used to.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Present Time
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"SAM!"
Danny ripped his way through the crowd, pushing, pulling and shoving any of the guys who were in his way, moving aside anything that resembled a female or someone who couldn't take it. A first flew his way for the fourth time, only to miss it's target, and the guy who had done it was soon the proud owner of a black eye.
'She's this way,' he frantically worked his way forward, not even pausing to check if the guy went down, 'She has to be, she can't be that far from the edge and she definitely isn't the other way.'
He didn't have time to question how he knew where to go or how he knew he needed to get to her. He didn't have the time to wonder what it all meant, but in the back of his mind he stored all the turbulent thoughts about their link that were suddenly rushing to the front of his mind.
"SAM!" he called out again, only this time it was in relief. Just ahead between five large guys of about sixteen or seventeen was the object of his search, 'There she is. She's fine, just a little beat up, not hurt to bad, keep your cool Danny.'
Making it the last few feet to her side, he immediately grabbed her, and damning the consequences made them both intangible and invisible with several people watching. The relief was instant as the people began to move through them instead of roughly shoving them around.
'Damn, Danny,' he berated himself, 'Real smart, wait until you get to her to turn intangible, waste your time, let her get hurt and scared.'
"I've got you Sam," he said right in her ear so she could hear him, "We're getting out of here, right now, it's fine, okay?"
Sam nodded and clung to him with one arm, while holding the side of her shirt closed with the other. It only took her a second to compose herself and state in her normal sarcastic tones, "So how long before we get out of here? No offense, but I don't ever want to even see a mosh pit again."
Danny chuckeld, 'Good old Sam. Everything's okay, she's being sarcastic…'
The two walked calmly through all the people to the edge and over to Tucker where he brought them back into plain sight.
"You found her then?" Tucker smiled at the pair, before pulling a face at their appearance, "Either you both got roughed up in there or you snuck off, had some quality time, and Danny filled his grope quota for the month."
Sam rolled her eyes, still hanging onto to Danny, and began to worry the tear in her shirt, "If I wasn't so tired right now I'd show you exactly what it felt like to be in there."
Tucker followed the jerk of her head to the mosh pit, "No thank you ma'am, I just got out of there a few minutes before you did."
As their light bickering continued, Danny's brain was finally able to catch up with him. He knew exactly what had happened now that he had a second to think about it. Sam's mental shout had come through as clear as day.
It shouldn't have worked, but it did, and that only reaffirmed one thing. Their connection was back, almost as strong as it had been when they had blocked it out in fifth grade. She had called, he had answered. It was instantaneous and direct, and there was no way to deny it now. He had known she needed him and he had known where she was at.
Catching her eye only verified it, as she instantly looked away, as if trying to sort out her own thoughts. She wouldn't look him in the eye. She knew what she did.
"So," he started off slowly as he gently rubbed the arm his hand was resting on, "Are you alright? No cuts or broken bones or anything, right?"
"Nope," she gave a half smirk as Tucker began to check her over, "I wasn't severely injured in any way. The drugs might take a while to wear off however, and the sex wasn't really that great. Oh, and I got addicted to alcohol while I was in there. Now, do you have some acid, a beer, and a condom?"
Danny lost it and started laughing, as did Tucker. Sam was definitely fine, if not a little shaken up. Wrapping her up in a hug, Danny managed to whisper in her hair, "I thought you promised to never scare me like that again?"
Her arms held him tighter, "It wasn't exactly my fault, and this time, I'm alright."
Tucker cut in between them then for a quick hug of his own, "Hey, I get a hug too. Just because I'm not the big hero doesn't mean I don't get to hug the pretty girl that's been rescued! Next time you stay with me in the mosh pits, young lady."
"Alright," a slightly choked laugh came out of Sam as the two boys hugged her again, "but this is the only time we are doing a group hug so don't get used to the cheesiness of it."
"Let's see if we can't find you another shirt to wear, what do ya' say?"
"Aright Tuck, and I'll have the driver pull around."
"Hey," Danny said cheerfully, "at least this way we beat the traffic, right?"
"Yeah," Sam replied with a small smile.
"Definite plus," Tucker said as he headed to one of the booths to buy a shirt.
The boys got Sam squared away, the car came for them, and the three were taken home after a very eventful concert. Tucker wasn't sure what was worse; Sam being even more sarcastic than normal to cover being so shaken, or Danny being extremely quiet, almost as if he were mulling over something.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
'Sam's out,' Danny sighed in relief as he phased through her window late that night, or rather early that morning if you were to be precise. Small bruises had started to form on her arms, and he was pretty sure if he looked he'd find them on her sides and back and stomach. Bile rose in his throat at the sight of the bruised skin's purpled tones.
'I should have been in the mosh pit with her,' he sighed as he sank to sit on her bed, fully human once again, 'That's the whole reason me and Tucker went, to keep her from getting run over in the giant human blob. I should have been there this time, and I should have been there last time.'
"I just keep messing up, Sam," Danny said softly as he pushed her hair from her forehead, "I can't seem to keep you safe. I can protect you from ghosts and from monsters and from Vlad, but I can't seem to keep you safe from my own stupidity."
Almost as if she sensed the emotions roiling beneath the surface of his calm façade, Sam turned in her sleep and curled around Danny where he sat.
"Safe," she breathed out and gathered a handful of his shirt in her left hand.
"If you say so Sam," Danny smiled forlornly down at her, "If only it was me that…"
"Danny," she cut him off in another sleep slurred murmuring, and proceeded to snuggle up to his form more.
'Oh yeah,' he thought to himself with a huge grin, 'It's me. She thinks she's safe with me andknows even when asleep. Sweet!'
Sweet moment over the heavier matters swept over him as he made sure Sam was tucked in tightly and comfortable, 'We'll deal with it tomorrow,' he resolutely told himself, 'The calling was an accident. It was necessary and a one time thing. We'll get this back under control yet.'
With one last look over his shoulder, Danny turned to fly home, determined to not loose his nerve in the coming day and discuss the entire thing seriously with Sam, 'I will talk to her, I will, I am going to, I think…I hope I don't loose my nerve. Maybe putting it off won't be so bad…maybe I won't even see her tomorrow…No! I will talk to her, I will, I will, I will…'
But of course, poor confused Danny was just misleading himself….