Links in the Chain
By Lacey52

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

A note: It's semi-short, very confusing (hence the title), mainly from Dash's P.O.V. chapter that has only a minimal amount of DxS in it (and if you blink you might miss it…). I hope you don't hate it…and everything is going to be explained soon, I promise! It was necessary to put this chapter in to show you just how the link being back is starting to mess with the other people around Danny and Sam, and to show that Dash is a human, even though he's a jerk most of the time.
If it makes you feel better I'll even tell you what chapters certain things are revealed in if you ask me nicely…but I won't give you any details, lol.
Oh, and this is Monday's chapter, and I haven't looked it over for any typos, so if you find any, please ignore them...I'm very tired right. I hope ya'll dont mind me posting this now,as I have to study for two finals I'm taking on Tuesday (History and Math, ew) and I have to get my tire fixed tomorrow morning (stupid flats). On a brighter note, I changed my tire myself and was extremely proud of myself! Yay for me:)

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

Chapter Fifteen: Enigmatic

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

'Damn,' Dash huffed to himself as he rounded another corner, 'I hate being out this late. No one's around and there's nothing to do. I can't believe I let John talk me into going to that party. It was so damn boring.'

It was two in the morning and the beginning of August. Drizzle fell from the sky, creating a graying atmosphere in the soft glow of the streetlights. The streets appeared dingy and dirty, clouded over with a few billowing wisps of fog that trailed Dash's footsteps.

'It's the middle of frickin' summer!' Dash cursed as he wrapped his arms around himself, 'It ain't supposed to be cold…'

And true enough, a light wind caused another chill to run up his spine, the feeling akin to tiny, frozen fingers running up and down his back. The light rainfall wasn't helping matters either, and as he had shed his typical jacket in favor of just a t-shirt in the summer heat, Dash had no protection against the damp chill.

A shout and the sound of pounding footsteps caused Dash to freeze where he was, his eyes widening in amazement when Foley, Manson, and Fenton came charging around the corner laughing their heads off about something.

'What in the world?' he felt his jaw drop. They were the nerds, the geeks, the losers. They didn't go out in the middle of the night and run around, they were supposed to be home, lonely and bored, doing geeky things, 'What the hell did they just do?'

"Oh, man Sam," he watched Foley laugh as they paused under a streetlamp, "You should have seen you're face! I wish I had had my PDA out to snap a shot of it!"

"Shut up, Tucker," the said girl folded her arms, "I'm not the only one who got a nasty surprise, alright? You were about to scream like a little girl if I hadn't of slapped my hand over your mouth."

"Oh, come on guys," Fenton threw his arms around both their shoulders, "We all had a scare tonight, but it wasn't so bad, I mean we've had worse…"

"Yeah, but it's bad that a movie was what scared us," Sam pushed her hip into Danny's, causing both boys to nearly topple over, "We don't even bat an eye at creatures from another dimension, and a movie about an alien monster has all three of us cringing. That's just pathetic."

The three continued on their way then, shoving and talking and being loud enough to wake the dead, but looking like they didn't have a care in the world. Dash watched them and had the urge to figure out exactly what was going on with the three. A movie at this late? Didn't their parents care? He followed and soon got his answers…

"Oh man," Tucker looked down at his watch, "It's 2:03, I have got to get home and sneak back in. My Mom is gonna' skin me alive if she catches me again. I'll see you guys later."

Dash's eyes widen marginally at this information, 'Foley had the guts to sneak out?'

"Yeah, I've got to get back too," Sam sighed and he watched her smile at Fenton, "My mother and father have been home a lot lately, and it's starting to weird me out. I actually have someone to answer to…"

Danny laughed as he watched her shake her head dramatically, "Oh, poor you. Whatever will you do? Parents? The horror."

"I know, right?" Sam laughed as she turned to walk towards her house, "I know you won't listen to me, but you should probably head home too, before Jazz figures out you're still out. You need some sleep."

"At least I can tell Jazz a lie that she'll accept immediately for truth, and I don't have to worry about Mom and Dad," Danny's hand shot to his neck, "They didn't even know we went to that concert last month…"

"Ah," Sam said as she continued on her way, "I guess I'll see you later this morning…"

"Heh," Danny grinned sheepishly, and Dash almost wanted to vomit from the 'moment' he was privy to, "of course. See you then."

"Later," and Dash was left alone on the street with Danny Fenton, without him realizing it.

'Why am I standing here watching the geek patrol?' Dash turned to keep walking towards his house, only to find Fenton standing with an upset look gracing his features staring down a side street, 'What's the loser's problem now?'

Dash watched Danny take off at a dead sprint then, and grudgingly admitted that the twerp was fast. Not that he would ever say that out loud or think it again…

'Where is he going to so fast?' Dash took off after his classmate, 'Okay, I thought I saw him turn down….this street…'

Dash stopped dead in his tracks as a huge glowing dragon was punched forcefully by the resident ghost fighting ghost, 'A dragon…and a ghost…'

Dash could only stare.

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

Danny watched Sam walk away, but turned his head back towards one of the side streets as he watched his breath float before his face with a blue tint to it, 'I guess the peace was too good of a thing to really last.'

With an annoyed sigh he took off running for the alley way, not daring to change quite yet. Mr. Roccell lived in a house on this street and he was known to be a paranoid old man. They had more than likely woken him up as they joked about the movie, and Danny wasn't about to take the risk that the geezer catch his transformation.

'Wonder who it's gonna' be tonight,' Danny finally rounded the corner and changed with a bright flash as he continued to run, 'Of course. It had to be someone who could turn into a giant dragon. Just great.'

"Why did no one take me to the ball?" he watched her turn her eyes to him, "I still wish to go to the ball!"

'Yeah, yeah,' Danny thought to himself as he drifted up to her level, "I can't let you go running around, so you'll just have to find someone to take you dancing after you get back in the ghost zone!"

Throwing an ectoplasm charged punch, Danny had the princess-gone-dragon flying, but not under her own power. She landed heavily and slid a few feet, coming to rest at a very stunned person's feet.

'Dash Baxter,' Danny ground his teeth as he saw the boy standing open mouthed at the alleyway entrance, 'Great. Just the way to end my day…'

The dragon soon shook off her stupor and growled menacingly at the halfa, "Ball! Want to go!"

"I know you want to go," Danny rolled his eyes in pure frustration, "That's what you always want, and if I could help you out, I would! But I don't exactly want to take you out."

"BALL!" the dragon roared, nearly right in his face now, but Danny just gave a roar of his own as he forced the dragon back with a few quick, green blasts.

Landing nearly at the feet of the immobile Dash, the dragon's form shrank back into the slim girl and she curled up on her side.

"Come on," Danny moved to quickly scoop her up, when Dash stepped in front of the ghosts slight form.

"You can't take her," he said eyes angry, "I don't know where Fenton went, but I'm sure glad that I followed him this way. You don't hit girls, and I'm not letting you take her anywhere, even if she is a ghost, Inviso-Bil."

"I'm not gonna' hurt her and I don't have time for you to pretend to be a hero," the halfa sighed tiredly, "I had to knock her out, so I could take her back to the ghost zone where she belongs. When she gets upset and has an audience she turns into a dragon and wrecks everything around her. And my name is Danny Phantom, not Inviso-Bil. That's just so stupid…"

"Why couldn't you have just calmed her down?" Dash held his ground, though he looked ready to bolt if he had to, "You don't have to hit girls, they're weaker than guys are."

"Just shut up. She doesn't calm down unless she gets what she wants, and there aren't exactly any dances to take her to," Danny moved forward again, "I just want to take her back so I can get some sleep. I don't usually hit girls, and I avoid it if I can."

Dash eyed him carefully, as if sizing him up and trying to figure out his real intentions, "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Are you serious?" Danny wanted to rip his hair out, "After all the times I've saved this stupid town, and even saved you of all people, you still don't trust me. I can not believe my luck!"

Danny wanted to kick something, to scream, and shout, and hurt something, 'I do everything for this stupid town to keep it safe, and people still don't trust me, those ignorant, stupid, selfish…'

"I just don't like for girls to get hurt," Dash moved aside slightly, "but it's not exactly like I could stop a ghost anyways, I guess…"

Danny had to bite his tongue as he grabbed the ghost princess and took to the air, not daring to speak to Dash lest he accidentally reveal his identity, 'Don't like for girls to get hurt? You liar. You God-damned liar, are you forgetting about what happened in fifth grade? You're still the same! You didn't do anything to stop them from hurting Sam then, and you wouldn't do anything to stop it now.'

Dash watched the ghost boy disappear into the night, the boy's face twisted into a dangerous expression, "What the hell is up with everyone tonight?"

Dash started back out of the alley, glancing around him as if another ghost would jump him the second it got the chance. Kicking at a fallen garbage can, Dash glumly headed home.

'Why did I just do that?' Dash berated himself and shoved his hands into his pant's pockets, 'He could have killed me. He's a frickin' ghost…but damn it, I feel so damned guilty when girls get hurt.'

Anyone who happened to be looking out their window in the middle of the night, namely one Mr. Roccell, saw a very confused looking young man shuffling his way down the street.

He sighed heavily as he came to the streetlight the trio had paused under to talk and shook his head at his own rambling thoughts, 'I know exactly why I did that, why I feel so damned guilty. I never stand up for anyone other than myself, so why am I doing it now?'

Thinking back to the beginning of the summer, his thoughts alit on the Gothic girl known to the school as Sam. Sam Manson was one of the reasons he was changing, but it had been a long time in the making. Ever since fifth grade, he couldn't bring himself to pick on her like his friends had, only daring to direct verbal abuse her way, and instead focusing on the more study boys, Fenton and Foley.

He never hurt girls; never had in his life, and never would if it could be helped. The guilt, was from Sam. The determination was because of Sam. His decision to hate Danny came after the situation with Sam.

He hated the little group of friends because of this, because of her. Hated them for their closeness and caring for one another and concern about each other. Envied them for being a part of a friendship instead of just a team, or a group, or the 'A-list.'

And at the same time, he wanted to experience, just once, what it was like to have close friends like they had, but that was buried deep in his heart and mind. Sam had hit close to home in the park that day, and he didn't know what to make of her all of a sudden.

Nothing was making sense to him anymore, and when he arrived home, he immediately went to bed, trying his best to ignore all the changes that were suddenly happening in his life as whispers went running around the people he hung out with. 'Danny and Sam' they would say. 'They've been acting a lot like they used to. They look like it's starting again. It's unnatural, unsafe, occult, witchcraft, evil, dark magic.'

The list they made went on and on and the ideas they had were tossed around as if it were a casual game to plan how to tease and bully and abuse the two teenagers.

'Why can't everything just go back to the way it was in ninth and tenth grade?' Dash questioned himself as he started to drift into sleep, 'This is getting so damn frustrating, I just want to forget it all.'

Dash Baxter fell into an uneasy sleep that night, memories of long past days of innocence and childhood antics floating through his mind and dreams. His wish to forget was ignored. The need to escape his confusion would be impossible to placate. Dash was going to be in for a very long year.