Links in the Chain
By Lacey52
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
A note: Okay, so who owes Tucker money, and who won money? Lol! Was anyone tempted to bet?…I know at least one of you was! Alright, so pay up! Or…um, visit Tucker to get paid, 'cause I'm too poor to pay for the fictional characters that I'm manipulating to fit my own twisted pleasures…er, story, I meant to fit my story! Lol…Oh and I haven't proof read it, so if you find any horrible mistakes please let me know!
Ack! I have two minutes before it isn't Tuesday anymore and I'll be late posting this! Hurry, computer, upload faster!
I don't own Dr. Pepper, but I do drink it occasionally…so please don't try to sue me. I'm a consumer!
This chapter is dedicated to Zach, the love of my life and my big, brave Marine, off doing big, brave Marine things in Southeast Asia. You're the Danny to my Sam…I love you sweetie…Happy Four Years! (One day you'll get to read this lol…)
Support your troops, they need all the love they can get!
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chapter Sixteen: Culpability
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
'Second week of August,' Danny sighed to himself tucking his hands into his jean pockets, 'and school is right around the corner. Mom's already been shopping for supplies, Dad has already given his responsibilities lecture, and Jazz has done the grades lecture. I have twelve days and not a day to waste…I still have to figure out what's going on with me and Sam, but today is for summer!'
The mall came into view and Danny couldn't help smiling to himself. There was nothing quite like a day out with friends, especially when those friends included a certain Goth girl and techno-nerd boy. As he held the door open for a woman and her two small children, his smile grew.
'I'm such a dork,' he thought to himself, goofy smile still plastered on his face, 'I'm finding every excuse to play hero nowadays…I even feel special when I hold open doors for people. Sam was right, I have a hero complex….'
Glancing around him to try and spot his friends, Danny headed up to one of the food court restaurants, "Hey, uh…a large Dr. Pepper and an order of fries."
Doling out the appropriate amount and waiting a grand total of two minutes, which was two minutes two long in the teenager's opinion, the halfa soon had his drink and fries and seated himself in the dining area.
'Wonder what's taking Sam and Tucker so long,' he thought as he munched his way through the fries, 'Sam's usually the first one here when we meet and Tucker always makes it about the same time I do,'
"Hey man," Tucker's voice cut through his silent pondering, "Sorry it took me so long. Right after I got off the phone with you I called Sam to make sure she was going to tag along. Turns out her parents decided today would be a good bonding day."
Tucker tried his hardest not to laugh too much as Danny pulled a face on Sam's behalf, "Poor Sam. You think her mom will be able to talk her into something pastel?"
"I dunno' man," Tucker slyly grinned his best friend's way, "but she'd look pretty hot in pink huh?"
"Yeah," Danny replied without even thinking, that cute lost look hanging about his eyes and lips.
Then his brain caught up to what his mouth let slip. The automatic response to this was him trying to suck a fry down his throat at the same time as inhaling sharply. Needless to say, Danny was not only turning a lovely red from embarrassment, but a rather nice shade of blue from lack of oxygen. The resulting purple would have made Sam happy. It was her favorite shade after all.
Coughing helped, but reaching into his body and turning the fry intangible made things a heck of a lot easier. Danny could just see it now, him floating in the ghost zone as all his enemies came to tease him about being defeated by fast food. The lunch lady ghost would be happy at least…
"Gotcha' didn't I?" Tucker smiled proudly, watching his friend return to a normal color.
"If by 'got' you mean caused me to nearly die, then yes, yes you did," Danny glared. Tucker could be such a major jerk sometimes.
"So you think Sam'd look hot? That is what you said," he grabbed a couple of the halfa's fries, "I think you should let her know one of these days. Girls like to hear that sort of thing."
"Okay, I so should not tell Sam that. She'd kill me," Danny grimaced, "besides, just because I think a girl looks hot doesn't mean that I like her. Sam's my best friend, we don't…do 'together'," he sighed, "and as lame as that sounds, it's the truth."
"Man, you're only fooling yourself," Tucker shook his head before remembering what had started this particular conversation, "At least you won't have to deal with your denial today. Sam can't make it and in her words we are to have a 'boys day'."
"In other words," Danny smiled, the tiff from moments ago forgotten, "lots of junk food, hours of video games, and talking about stupid, mindless stuff Sam would stuff us in a closet for! Sweet."
"Not to mention," Tucker smiled as he readjusted his hat, "checkin' out and pickin' up the ladies. Cover me I'm going in."
Tucker was up and halfway across the open foyer before Danny could finish chuckling and shaking his head. The boy would never learn, but maybe it would pay off in the end. Persistence was an important and admirable quality…until it got to the point of manic.
"Hey, I'm Tucker…"
"Beat it Foley, I've already turned you down three times this month and it's only the twelfth."
"What's up ladies, my initials are T.F., but if you really want to you can call me 'Too Fine'," the line was offered and the girls simply scoffed.
"Hey chick, I…"
"Come on Tucker, before you get us kicked out of the mall for harassment," an embarrassed Danny drug the hormonal boy away towards the game store.
"Call me!" he shouted in one last attempt, only to be shot seething glares, "Or not! It's all up to you in the relationship, baby!"
"Only you could be so lame after so many years of practice man," Danny shook his head as he finally walked into the shop he had been heading for.
"Heh," Tucker quickly fixed his shirt where it was rumpled by Danny's harsh treatment, "At least I've got enough guts to try and tell girls I think they're good looking. They really do appreciate it you know…Sam told me that one time. You know, the time you overshadowed me and made me take her to prom, yeah…"
"Oh shut up already," Danny's face suddenly did a one-eighty, "Dude! I've been looking for this game everywhere."
'And thus goes the rest of the afternoon,' Tucker sighed to himself, 'I'll get him to admit it yet! Even if it's the last thing I do, he'll say that he likes Sam…'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Sitting in Danny's house, staring at the television mindlessly, were two teenage boys who had a day of adventure and boyish antics in the mall, then the arcade, then the Nasty Burge, the local park, and the backyard of a very unfortunate old lady who had a rather malicious ghost haunting her roses.
The ghost wasn't a problem anymore, though her prize winning flowers were reduced to trampled bits of greenery. Danny felt rather bad about the property damage, but couldn't really do much. Tucker tried to keep a straight face as the seventy year old woman chewed himself and the halfa out and then offered them tea and cookies, which they ever so politely turned down.
You never knew when another lunch lady ghost was in the making, so it was best to play it safe.
The television program came to it's close, and was followed by a "…heart touching tale of romance, passion, and…betrayal. A must see being brought to you by…"
Danny fumbled for the remote, mashing whatever button he could to turn the channel, "Stupid chick-flicks…"
"What's up with you man?" Tucker turned to his best friend and tiredly removed his glasses to clean them, "You got something against romance all of a sudden, or maybe you're just sore, 'cause you're too afraid to confess your undying love to the Gothic girl down the street."
A couch pillow promptly shut Tucker's mouth, "Nothing's wrong…it's just…"
A heavy sigh escaped the boy as he turned to look at his best friend seriously, "Look Tucker, I really need to talk to someone about this. You just gotta' promise me not to say anything, especially to Sam."
"Alright Danny, whatever you want. So what's up?" Tucker played it cool, but on the inside he was having a party, 'He's gonna' admit it! I love it when I'm right. Okay, now I just gotta' get 'em hooked up and they'll both be less uptight…'
"It's about Sam," Danny eyed him for any signs of being a smart-aleck before continuing, "At the concert….she called me. Mentally. I heard it and I answered."
Tucker's eyebrows nearly met his hat's edge as his hands stopped moving and left his glasses unattended in his lap, "That's the reason you two were acting so weird at the Nasty Burger the next day, wasn't it? I thought that's what happened…."
"So you noticed, huh?" Danny looked down at his hands and frowned before his head came back up, "I was really hoping no one would notice anything, but I really can't deny anything about this anymore. We know the link's back, we know it's growing again, and I know people have been noticing. People can be stupid, but not everyone is…"
"This isn't really anything to get upset about, you know," Tucker tried to comfort him, "It's not like anything could have been done, right?"
"No, not unless we try to suppress it again, and I'm not sure that would work a second time," he winced, "It kinda' hurt the first time and was really hard. The…fear I felt was what really helped me ignore the connection, but I don't think any emotion would be enough this time."
Tucker nodded wisely, still bent on trying to make his friend feel better, "Look Danny, I know you're worried about what could happen, but maybe this was just supposed to turn out this way. It's not like you started the link again or anything…"
But Tucker had to trail off as Danny hunched over himself even more, his whole posture screaming that he was guilty about something. Tucker stayed silent, just observing the young man beside him, who appeared to be having a rather nasty internal debate.
"That's the thing Tucker," Danny finally managed to get out, turning to look Tucker dead in the eye, "I think I started it again. I'm the one to blame if I'm right about what I'm thinking..."
"What do you mean you think you started it again?" Tucker nearly shouted before remembering where he was at, "Did you? How could you tell?"
Danny sighed, he was in for a long explanation, "You remember the ghost hunting convention?"
Tucker nodded jerkily, "That's when I first started to keep track of you two to see if the it was coming back. I had a suspicion, but I wasn't really sure…"
"Yeah well," Danny ran a hand over his eyes as he leaned back into the couch, "It actually started before that. I bet you remember when Sam chewed me out in the hall about going into her room and I didn't deny it. I had actually been going in there for a while before that. I started a week before the ghost convention and I just couldn't stop."
"But why?" Tucker stressed, "You hate the idea of it coming back, why would you start it again?"
"I didn't mean to," he sounded miserable, "I just went in to tell her goodnight because her light was still on but she was already asleep and I just felt so peaceful, and then I realized it was Sam who was feeling peaceful and that I had been trying to feel it. I reached for it. I looked for our connection. It's always been there in the back of my head, I've just been ignoring it, but that time I wanted to feel what she was feeling because she looked so happy. God, I am such an idiot."
Tucker remained silent throughout his friend's rambling and put his glasses back on. He thought over everything Danny had just told him and concluded that Danny was probably right. Danny probably had started it again, though it was unintentionally done. Still there was always any number of other probabilities.
"You don't know that you started it again though," Tucker tried to reason it out, "Maybe you only noticed it that time because it had already started to grow. Maybe it was already growing before you unconsciously reached for it, and that's the reason why you could feel it and realized what you were doing."
"I don't know Tucker," Danny said tiredly, "I just feel so responsible for this. I feel so responsible for everything. All the ghosts, all the damage the city takes, the people, and now Sam. I feel like people should be able to get an insurance policy based on just knowing me. I'm a disaster waiting to happen."
"Aw cheer up man," Tucker smacked him upside his head, "I know two things that will make you very happy right now."
"If they have anything to do with Sam and me, then don't say it, I'm not in the mood," the halfa shot him a menacing glare with just a hint of green to his normally blue eyes, just to let him know he meant business, 'I swear if he makes one more crack about Sam and me today, I'll fry him. Why can't anyone just accept the fact that we're friends. Sam sure does…'
"No way! Thing number one, Mom is making steak tonight and you've been invited," Tucker watched him perk up, "Thing number two, I found this totally awesome new level on the newest version of that fighter game that I can never remember the name of."
"Awesome," was all Danny got out before he catapulted over the back of the couch and shot towards his parent's lab. Tucker listened as his mother and father's newest invention pounced on the halfa, and then as Danny made up some lame excuse before asking permission to go with him to eat dinner.
'Not such a bad day,' Tucker smiled to himself as he leaned back and closed his eyes while he waited, 'I didn't get him to 'fess up about liking Sam, but I did win twenty dollars from myself. Today has definitely been a journal worthy day.'