Links in the Chain
By Lacey52
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
A note: After an absolutely…well, I was going to say 'hellish' but it honestly wasn't that bad. Just had 101 people when we only take 50 or so people (stupid lady overbooked us!), just had a group of idiots who complained about the food just because on the last day they had to make their own oatmeal from little packets (stupid, stupid, stupid mean people who we feed for three days and then complain!), and just had that one sick horse die on us (one of the best horses we had out there….) ARGH! The past four days have been seriously, uh…--interesting--.
Okay, now that I've ranted I'm sure you want me to get to the typing. But first: THANK YOU FOR OVER 500 REVIEWS! LOVE YOU ALL!
It's not the longest chapter in the world, but I really like it for some strange reason. I probably shouldn't be, but I'm obnoxiously pleased with myself…lol! And now…on with the story! (PS-not read over, shoot me if you must...)
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chapter Forty Nine: Forces
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Come on Sammy-kins," came the annoying voice…definitely male…way too cutesy to be someone who knew better, "Time to get up! Wake up, wake up, the sun is up, the dew is on the buttercup!"
"Go 'way, Dad," she turned herself over and stuffed her head under her pillow. Was it just her or did her father seem overly happy and interested in waking her up this morning?
"No, no, time to wake up!" the pillow suddenly went missing, "No going back to sleep, 'cause we've got school, and I'm definitely not your dad…please don't ever call me that again, it kinda' freaks me out…"
Annoying voice too early in the morning? Check. Male? Check. Too cutesy to be someone who feared her? Check. Overly happy and interested in waking her up? Check. Need to go to school…wait a minute…checkmate…
"Danny! Go away, you're too early to be waking me up!" Sam grabbed the pillow that was now hovering in mid-air, "Go back to sleep, you've got like ten minutes…I don't care if you end up passing out on my bed, just give me ten more minutes!"
"Nope," the pillow and her comforter were phased out of existence for the moment as laughing green eyes and shock white hair appeared, "You have to get up, because I'm up. If I'm awake this early and you aren't it's a sign of the apocalypse."
"Danny, it's cold in here!" she tried to snatch her blankets back, but to no avail, "And what if I had been sleeping naked or something, huh?"
An eyebrow was raised as his head tilted in an adorable fashion to the side, "Do you?"
A pillow promptly found his face as the girl grabbed her school wear and made a beeline for the bathroom to change. Brushing her hair and teeth seemed therapeutic enough to calm her raging temper and thoughts before she had to face the boy who was currently in her room, in ghost form, feeling things like…lust and desire and…and affection and caring and now concern and anxiousness…shoot. Why couldn't she just stay upset with him? It was easier that way…
"Why do you always have to wake me up?" Sam slumped onto her bed while she tied up her heavy boots, leaning over so her hair hung over the sides of her face, "Why not wake up Tucker or someone else?"
"Tucker's already up, doing his weird primping ritual, Jazz isn't home anymore on the weekdays, and Mom and Dad would have a heart attack to catch me up this early," Danny floated easily in the air, ticking off the options on his fingers as he went, "Valerie might kill me if I just showed up randomly at her house, Dash would think I was nuts, and Lancer would demand to check over my homework or something."
"So I'm a last resort?" Sam sat up and folded her arms, one foot tapping out an impatient rhythm on her carpeted floor.
"Never," Danny frowned and lowered himself to 'sit' beside her, still hovering slightly above her bed, "You're first choice, but you asked why I have to wake you up and not someone else. You asked, I answered."
A tiny blush covered Sam's cheeks as the feeling of trust and respect and something a bit indescribable rushed over her, "Well…nice to know when a girl's first choice…"
"Heh," Danny rubbed the back of his neck as he, too, blushed, "Yeah, uh…well, the real reason I'm here this early is the fact that I've been up since about six, so I thought I might as well just head over here…a ghost is out, but I haven't been able to track it down. I think it triggered my ghost sense when it came out of the ghost zone, but I couldn't find it anywhere…"
"It's probably someone you've faced before," Sam stretched in her spot before falling back onto her comfy bed and looking up at her best friend, "Whoever it is will probably show up sometime today, so you might as well just take it easy until then."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Danny smiled as he changed while he was still floating and thumped down onto the bed from about a foot up, "but I'm still gonna' be antsy all day. I always get antsy at school though."
"You're doing it more lately though," Sam turned her head to see Danny propping his head up on one arm, laying on his side beside her, "You're still worried about the link aren't you? Even though you said you weren't."
Shifting uncomfortably under her gaze, Danny looked away for a half a second, before meeting her head on, "I'm always gonna' be worried about the link. Especially now that we had that stupid…misunderstanding."
"Get over it," Sam reached over and bopped his head, "It was a fight, not a 'misunderstanding' like you so wish to call it in your denial. So what? Yeah, I wish we hadn't done it in the cafeteria in front of everyone like that, but life happens. Maybe it's a good thing that we got it out of our system, right?"
"I dunno', Sam," Danny rolled to lay on his back, scratching lightly at his chest before moving the hand to cover his eyes, "You tell me and Tuck tells me and probably everyone else would tell me that since I'm a hybrid I can take care of you and me, but I'm not sure. I know you're tough, but what if they gang up on you again?"
"Then I run for it instead of being an idiot and letting them drag me into a bathroom," Sam sighed as she too rolled, though she moved to her side so she could see Danny's face better. Being able to read his feelings had it's advantages, but sometimes being able to see his face was just as helpful, "Face it Danny, either people don't care at all anymore since there are so many ghost problems now, or something will happen, and when it does we roll with the punches."
"But Sam," Danny's blue eyes wandered to her own darker colored ones as he rolled to be on his side as well, worry gently breaking like waves at the edge of her mind, "I don't want to have to roll with the punches. We do it enough as it is, and I don't want anything to happen to you because of me."
"You sound like a broken record sometimes, Daniel Fenton," Sam felt a light smile tugging even as she tried to scold the young man beside her, "So we got in a fight in the cafeteria yesterday, on Valentine's Day, and now the whole school will probably be buzzing about it? I don't care what they think, I never have. It's just too teenager-gossipy-cheerleader for me to care."
"What if people start to bother you?"
"What if people start to bother you?" Sam shot back, frowning at his dumb 'hero-complex' that he seriously needed to see a shrink about, "Start by worrying about yourself Danny. Can you take care of yourself?"
"Uh..."
"Well?" Sam was exuding such a serious feeling at the moment that Danny could only wonder at what she was getting at, "Can you protect yourself from people, yes or no?"
"Yes," he stated uneasily, 'But it isn't a matter of if I can protect myself, it's you Sam.'
"And how many times have you saved me, or Tucker, or both of us, or even the whole town from ghosts?"
"Uh…"
"Too many to count?" Sam said smugly as she reached over and gently clicked his jaw shut, "Why don't we actually go to school and see how it goes before we get all freaked out over it? That way we know what we're facing before we jump to any conclusions."
"But…"
"Uh-uh," Sam got up and grabbed a black and white hoodie to put on, "I know exactly why you're here this early. You want to walk me all the way to school, not just from where we usually meet, just to make sure I'm safe. I know how you and your 'hero-complex' work, Danny, and I can kinda' tell what you're feeling. Add the two together, and bang, instant comprehension of the halfa."
The chuckling from behind her and the sheepish wave of pride, trust, and caring let her know she had hit her target dead on. Turning, she found Danny already holding up her backpack for her to slip into, "Yeah, I can't exactly hide anything from you anymore…you're getting freakishly good at using this connection…"
"Comes with the territory of being a girl," Sam laughed as she opened her door to walk out of the room with Danny in tow, only to come face to face with her father, "Dad!"
"Sam…Daniel?" her father shot an eye at the pair, Sam and Danny's slightly mussed hair, and the fact that they had just walked out of her bedroom, "I wasn't aware that you were here this early to pick up my daughter."
"Noooo…" Danny backed up, his hands held out in a placating manner in front of him, as he shook his head, eyes wide with slight fear, "Not here this early to, uh, 'pick up your daughter'. Uh, here this early to pick up Sam for school…"
"Nicely handled," Sam rolled her eyes at the halfa, "You can't even make complete sentences when you're nervous."
"Hey," Danny snapped out of his stupor as he felt the waves of humor rolling off Sam, the laughs she was getting were coming from his own expense, "I can too make complete sentences when I'm nervous, and you know it!"
Watching the pair exchange glares and insults for a moment, Mr. Manson just shook his head before breaking into their lover's spat, "Next time, just inform the father figure that a boy is in the house, Samantha."
"Sure Dad, sorry about that," Sam smiled, before her brow crinkled in thought, "Hey, weren't you supposed to not be here? As in, be with Mom in New York as of about eight last night?"
"Yes, well," her father heaved a small sigh, and gave a rather, er…satisfied, smile, "Real life happens and you're mother couldn't make it back from the meeting she was having with the Country Club Wives' Group. Shame really, but not such a terrible thing. Being home for Valentine's is a nice occurrence every now and again."
"Right," Sam was trying to keep from gagging at the thoughts that that brought up, noticing that Danny seemed to be feeling the effects of what she was thinking as he too looked slightly paler, "We need to get going, Dad, big day at school. Tell Mom I said bye. See you later, love you, bye!"
And grabbing Danny's wrist, Sam hauled both herself and the halfa down the stairs and away from her mansion and father as quickly as she could, only stopping when Danny phased himself from her hold and smirked. Apparently she had left too quickly for him to grab his backpack, and so he quickly trotted back to her window before phasing into her room to grab it, along with a certain blue flower.
"I didn't think Dash was serious about you liking this stupid flower so much," Danny's smile grew wider in proportion to her embarrassment, "I'm glad you liked it though. You should press it or something, ya' know, so you'll remember your idiot best friend."
"Like I'd forget you," Sam took the flower before shoving him to the side with her hip and running for it, all while trying to find a good book to press it in like he suggested. Hm...biology would do nicely...
"Hey, unfair!" a huge grin appeared on his face, "Get back here!"
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Tucker! About time you got here! Help me, he's going to tickle me to death!"
"Hey! I never said I'd tickle you to death! That's false accusation…I think that's the phrase…"
"Then what does 'I'm gonna' tickle you until you can't breath' mean to you? Oh wait, I forgot, you don't have to breath when you're half dead…did you forget that us 'normal' people have to?"
"Did I miss something?" Tucker asked over his shoulder to Sam as she hid, her hands firmly planted on his shoulders to steer him and keep him between the halfa and herself, "Weren't you too having this huge fight, that I was more than likely going to have to smooth over for you? As in, just yesterday, in the cafeteria, in front of the whole school?"
"Yep," Sam replied with twinkling eyes,before she wrinkled her nose and playfully shoved the boy she was hiding behind, only to regret it a second later as he turned on her as well, "Wait, ah! NO! Stop it you twahaha!"
"Sam?" another voice interrupted their unbridled moment of child-like play and abandon, "What in the world…why is Danny holding you by the arms and letting Tucker tickle you?"
"Valerie?" Sam felt herself nearly drop as Danny let go of her in shock, before quickly grabbing her again and standing her in a more balanced position, "I wasn't doing anything to hurt her! I'd never hurt Sam, I swear it!"
"Chill Fenton," Valerie frowned, "I know that…I've seen you two around each other enough to at least have that beaten into me. I meant why are the two of you ganged up to tickle her?"
"Because we can?" Tucker piped up, as he poked Sam once more in the side, earning a slapped hand and a fist to the top of the head, courtesy of Goth and halfa respectively, "Aw, c'mon you guys, one second it's cool to play 'tickle Sam' and the next I get hit for it…sheese, 'lovebirds'…"
Giving a small smile and tiny laugh at Tucker's overly dramatic roll of the eyes and indignant voice and Sam and Danny's subsequent blush and spouts of denial, Valerie found herself relaxing a bit more around the small group in front of her. Looking down at herself, she realized why Danny had so tensed when he first saw her…she was holding a small ecto-gun in her right hand.
"So what are the three of you doing over here? You live further down that way, Danny. And don't you live that way Sam?" Valerie pointed down two different streets while she questioned the trio and put away her gun.
"Yeah," Danny answered with a tiny nod, his eyes showing appreciation for her having put away the weapon, "but this is where we meet with Tucker so we can walk to school together."
"It's a middle ground for the three of us," Sam crossed her arms, "Easy, central location. Been doing it for years."
"Oh…"
"So why are you over here?" Tucker fiddled with something on his PDA, "You're obviously not tracking down our resident halfa or you would have fried him already…or at least tried to."
"No," Valerie frowned, "I was actually tracking down another ghost. I've only seen this particular signature once or twice, but I thought I'd try to check it out before school. It got away before I could get a very good lock on it though."
"Did that to me this morning about six o'clock too," Danny gave a half smile, "Woke me up when it came out of the ghost zone, but I couldn't find it. The ghost'll show it's face before the end of the day though, so stay on your toes."
"Don't have to tell me that twice," Valerie turned slightly and started to walk, Sam and Tucker following her lead, "Well, we'd all better head to school, or we'll be late."
"Alright," Danny took a cautious step forward, noticing that Valerie hadn't relaxed all the way yet, 'She still doesn't know how to handle this…she's still upset. Not a lot I can about it if she won't talk to me though, so I guess this is a good start. I just hope nothing screw this up…I don't need more problems right now.'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Move over, Fen-toad," Dash slid into the seat beside Danny on the right side of the table, "I'm sitting here and ain't about to get close and personal."
"Great to see you, too," Sam commented sarcastically as Danny pushed her chair over before sliding his own over more, "So glad you could join us on this auspicious occasion of lunch…"
"What?" Tucker looked across the table at the three of them, "No one sits by me, aw man, it's a conspiracy isn't it?"
"Between the meat that takes up your entire side of the table and the electronic equipment that take up most of the chairs on either side of you," Danny shook his head, feeling Sam's amusement egg him on, "I'd say Dash didn't have much of a choice."
"Whatever," Tucker eyed the halfa curiously, "You've been in a really good mood today taking into account all the people trying to get you and Sam to talk about the whole fight yesterday and how you've magically made up over night. Some really interesting theories flying around out there…"
"Yeah," Dash grimaced, "and I think I've heard more about the love lives of you two from random people in the hall than I even want to think about…"
"Oh shut up," Sam groaned as she leaned her head over to massage her forehead. In truth, it had taken a monumental effort on her part to keep both herself and Danny calm throughout the day. Focusing her emotions like she had been doing on just 'positive' things like affection, humor, happiness, and pride, was wearing her out, and she was beginning to feel the effects.
'It's worth it though,' Sam smiled to herself as Danny was stole a look at her, then turned quickly with a small blush as he was caught by the object of his affection, 'He hasn't been as jumpy today or prone to over react…I'll have to keep this in mind…though I think he's letting me do it. Maybe he's finally realizing it's okay to let me help him when I can.'
"Uh," another random student broke into their conversation for what felt like the umpteenth time already that day, "So you and Danny aren't fighting? I mean, not to be rude or anything, but everyone's been talking about it and I just wanted to find out the truth…"
"That's a first," the jock at the table snorted to himself, thinking back over the recently drug up memory of fifth grade and the later happenings of Casper High, 'No one ever thinks to find out the truth, they all just jump to some stupid conclusion.'
"No, we aren't fighting," Danny answered, looking right at his meal and trying to will the girl away with rather grisly thoughts of what could happen to the poor kid should a ghost happen to pop up, 'Man, I can't even torture people in my thoughts…I think of something bad happening and then I start thinking up ways to save them. I'm hopeless…Sam needs to find me a really good shrink or something like she always talks about…'
"So…" the obviously younger teen stood awkwardly, trying to phrase her next question, before giving up and being blunt, "Are you two really 'psychic'?"
Tucker stopped chewing his meat, Sam paused with the water bottle to her lips, Dash tried to keep himself from chocking on the pickle slice he had just pulled off his hamburger, and Danny slowly raised his head. Sending the teenager the iciest glare he could manage, Danny took a deep, deep breath to calm himself before answering.
Sam's amusement at the situation was helping to ease his feelings as he embraced the emotion and tugged it into himself, allowing it to surround him, effect him, influence him, "Oh yeah, we're 'psychics' just like on those amazing television programs. Oooo, watch out or we'll read your mind and brainwash you!"
"No need to be sarcastic about it," the younger student huffed, walking away, trying to convince herself that Fenton's eyes hadn't really glowed green for a second before he answered. That would just be insane of her to think…maybe she was seeing things, "Geeze, ask a simple question…"
"It's more like ask a stupid question," Sarah cut in, gazing at the girl as she walked past the popular table, "get a stupid answer."
The four teens at the 'loser' table ignored her and continued their lunches and earlier conversation, purposefully ignoring the earlier questions of the girl and the harassment of the popular Sarah. This, of course, irked Sarah to no end. Popular people, as observed by many around the globe, can't stand to be ignored…especially when they're popular and also bullies…
Walking over to where Dash sat, Sarah delicately placed her manicured hands upon the table, tapping the tips of her polished fingernails to draw their attention. Every motion was precise, elegant, measured, and forceful, designed to grab them and hold them captivated.
Imagine her outrage when, for the very first time, it didn't work…
"Dash," Sarah stated purposefully, then turned her voice towards playful and pouty, "Why don't you sit with us anymore? We miss you being there…"
"So?" Dash said as he made a show of eating, clearly dismissing her.
"Fine," Sarah shot up, voice holding a sharp edge, "Be that way, see if you get to keep your card."
"Don't care," Dash said as he took a swig of water, "I just want to finish eating, so go bother somebody else."
"You might want to be careful what you say, Dash."
"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Danny eyed her, "Because that was a really lame attempt, not convincing at all. You should take some lessons from Dash here, he's pretty convincing."
"That's just because you knew he would actually follow through," Sam rolled her eyes, "Why don't you do like Dash said and just run along and bother someone else with your shallow ways…you're killing off my brain cells by just standing there. It's bad enough that I have to smell your perfume from across the cafeteria as is."
Danny was in a mild state of shock by this point as he turned to find Sam looking extremely pleased with herself, feeding off of Danny's happy, pleased, proud emotion that was gently melding with her own happy, smug, amused feeling. Obviously the 'echoing' side effect of the link was progressing. The link was growing yet again.
The halfa couldn't believe it, 'It's not just negative emotions…she's been doing this with me all day. Really, we've done it before, but this is just ridiculous…it's like she's trying to make me echo the feelings with her. I didn't realize we could do that…'
Danny's musing had to stop shortly after it had begun though because Sarah had just said something nasty to Sam and people were starting to listen. Sam, as disinterested in other's opinions as always just looked Sarah up and down before responding.
"Just sit down and close your mouth," Sam shook her head with a look of disgust, "Before you make yourself sound any dumber than you already do."
"Oooooo," a couple of students around them jeered, before one called out, "Who knew the Goth could curb-stomp!"
Apparently this was widely found as one of the most humorous things ever said and people began to relentlessly cheer, whistle, laugh, and goad Sarah and Sam on. It seemed to become quite the rage and suddenly to be 'Goth Curb-Stomped' was the ultimate for of being dissed…
"You! You…" but Sam cut Sarah off just as she pointed on long, trim finger at their table.
"Yes, me," Sam grabbed her things, much to the pleasure of those watching, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to my next class a little early before the pep rally. I'm not a slacker like some people I know."
Danny found his hair sufficiently ruffled at her last statement and putting two and two together grabbed his things to go after the young woman heading out of the lunch room, in a halfway indignant, halfway jovial manner, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean? I am not a slacker! Saaaaam!"
Sarah, inslight denial that she had just lost a verbal sparring match against her 'lesser' opponent, completed her march of shame back to her lunch table, face splotched red in anger and glaring daggers at anyone who so much as even breathed her way.
Dash and Tucker shared a shrug before tucking back into their meal. There's very little that can drag a teenaged boy away from food, and the dramatic, yet hilarious, scene of Sarah getting put in her place, could hardly hope to accomplish that. Food was good, the boys decided, and they cleaned up the mess both Danny and Sam left behind with room in their stomachs to spare…life was definitely good.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Yo' man, haven't talked to you in ages," Kwan offered Dash a high five as they headed to the after lunch rally that was being held in the basketball team's honor, "What've you been up to besides hanging with the losers?"
"They aren't that bad," Dash looked off to the side, "Didn't you hang out with them once? You should know they're pretty cool to hang with."
Scratching at his left arm nervously, Kwan looked down for a second before clearing his throat and giving a short, decisive nod to his friend, "Yeah…they were pretty cool. I kinda' could never figure out why we messed with them so much."
"I did it because…" Dash frowned. Why had he started teasing, bullying, torturing Fenton and Foley? Granted, he was an equal opportunity bully when it came to the geeky guys of the school, but Fenton was his main target, 'I did it because I wanted to be 'in', to be cool, and to be accepted. I did it to take the pressure off of Sam, so she wouldn't be teased as much. I made Danny my personal punching bag so the others would leave him alone. He was mine to stuff into lockers…and I was a hell of a lot more gentle than anyone like Jason or Weed would have been…'
"Dash are you alright?" Star caught his arm to stop him before he walked into the door of an open locker, "You look like you were thinking really hard about something…"
"Yeah I was," Dash nodded, then looked at Kwan, "I did it because I was an idiot. I let my friends down, but I ain't doing it again."
"You got back up on this one," Kwan smiled and held out his hand. As Dash shook it, Kwan felt like the world was about to shift on its axis, 'Dude, things are changing…it's weird…Then again, it's been how long since Amity Park was normal?'
"What are you talking about?" Star asked cheerfully, not completely understanding what was transpiring between the two boys, "And why are you smirking, Kwan? Something I should know about?"
"Nah, Star," Dash grinned, "We'll let you in on it later though. Promise."
"You better," she teased back gently before grabbing Kwan's arm as she suddenly remembered something, "Oh! Dash can tell us, he'd probably know. What happened between Sam and Danny? Were they fighting about that psychic connection they have?"
Taken aback at her outburst and the eager look on Kwan's face, Dash Baxter was tongue tied for a moment, "Well…I know they got in a fight, but made up and are okay again. It was just a stupid fight over something weird."
"But are they psychic?" Valerie walked up with a book in her arms, "That's the real controversy around this school right now, ain't it? Danny and Sam, the two teenagers with the so called connection."
Shrugging, Dash continued on his way to the gym with the small entourage he had gained, "We used to play games all the time in elementary, but they didn't ever 'talk' in their heads or anything like that. I dunno', I guess they got some kinda' connection, just not 'psychic'…I dunno'…"
"I think it's romantic that Sam and Danny are so close to each other that they've bonded like that," Star clasped her hands behind her back as she smiled, lost in a daydream, "I bet they're soul mates…"
"Soul mates?" Valerie's eye roll could almost be heard in the tone of her voice, "I know we all believe in ghosts, but soul mates? Get real…personally I don't believe in any of this anymore. There is always a logical explanation behind things…I learned that the hard was recently."
"Let's stop worrying about all this," Star got in front of the other three, trying to wipe the frowns from their countenances, "This is a pep rally to wish our team luck with the championship games! Come on, let's go have fun!"
The other three could only smile and follow the bouncy cheerleader as they continued to the gym. Looking over his shoulder, Dash noticed with slight surprise that people from different groups were beginning to hang out more and more. There was an 'A-list' student chatting amiably with a band member. There was a bookworm chatting it up with what appeared to be a skater. There were Weed and John pushing a saxophone player into a locker…
'Well,' Dash sighed as he headed over to drag his team members away from the poor band member and to the pep rally, 'I guess not everything is gonna' change over night…I sure as hell didn't.'