It is within this chapter that you will understand why I have only once had a scene which didn't contain Danny, and I'm debating going back and removing that one scene, even though I love it so…..Such is the life of a writer.

Believe it or not, we're actually coming close to the end of this story! And I said it was going to be short too bah never believe me when I say the following: "The story will be short" and "I'm not going to be updating a lot."

Chapter Seventeen

Danny was beside himself with confusion. He couldn't believe what was going on. One moment Sam was dead. The next she wasn't. One moment she loved him, at least he was sure she did he could almost recall her confession, almost like a dream and then everything changed and she was pushing him away.

He thought about when things first went wrong. He thought back to waking up to finding Sam had died. He thought about the wish he made. Is that where things went wrong? He frowned as he paced. He picked up the red messenger on his desk and paused. He looked at the device for a long time.

The first little instant messenger he had was blue. Dash broke it and Sam replaced it with a red one. That he remembered very clearly. Then the world turned upside down and he had his blue one, because woke up back in time, before Dash had broke the first.

Danny tapped the device for a minute then sent a message to Tucker. The Techno Geek didn't respond right away so he laid the messenger in his lap and picked up his cell phone to call Valerie. From what he remembered the first time, she had been very angry that he didn't call her after he'd seen Sam.

"Hello," Valerie answered cheerfully.

"I'm so sorry I didn't call you earlier," Danny said. "I don't have an excuse."

Valerie said nothing for a minute then asked, "What are you talking about Danny? Why would I be mad? You were supposed to call me?"

Danny shook his head then looked at the instant messenger which was blinking with Tucker's answer. He cradled the phone between his ear and his shoulder and typed to Tucker. "Something weird is going on! I need help."

"I said I'd call you after I visited with Sam," Danny told Valerie. "Remember?"

"When?" Valerie asked. "We haven't talked in over a week Danny. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Danny said softly. "I'm sorry to bother you Val."

"It's okay," Valerie said. "Do you need to talk or anything?"

Danny rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You know," he said. "I do, but maybe some other time. There's been a lot going on in my life."

"I know," Valerie said softly. "If you ever need a friend."

"I know just where to find you," Danny finished for her. He told her good bye then looked at Tucker's reply.

"What's going on?"

"Something ghostly," Danny said then proceeded to tell Tucker the whole story.

"Man!" came Tucker's reply. "I don't know what to tell you Danny. I mean nothing seems or feels out of place to me and…wait….you love Sam?" Danny laughed, he wondered how long it would take Tucker to catch on to that admission.

"Yes," Danny answered then outlined what happened in his original timeline, right down to his reluctance to become involved with Sam and the kiss he gave her. Tucker had a good time teasing him about that.

"Come on Tuck," Danny said. "I need help."

"I'm sorry Danny," Tucker wrote. "It looks like this is something you're going to need to solve on your own. And well, you can't depend on your ghost powers to get you through the tough parts of life, just like you can't expect your friends to be there for you indefinitely. You really need to become a little more self reliant don't you think?

Danny frowned as he read the last line. It felt so scarily familiar. "You're right Tucker," he replied. "I guess I do need to stand on my own."

"I need to go," Tucker told him. "Let me know when you have all of this solved."

"Thanks," Danny responded then signed off. He laid back in his bed and stared at the wall. Sam wasn't able to help him, not only was she not healthy enough, she seemed to be pushing him away. Tucker was too far away and seemed to be washing his hands of the situation. Valerie wasn't an option, he didn't think he could go through telling her his secret again, and it was likely that this time, she wouldn't react as well, in fact he counted on it. That left Jazz as the only person he could turn to and he suspected that some how she would be unavailable. In fact, she should have already been in his room pestering him.

Considering that everything had changed, Danny wondered if he could find Desiree, and if this time it would involve as many steps as the last. She was all he had to go on, so he decided that finding her was the first step to putting things back together the way they should be.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Danny's first stop as he flew at near light speed through the Ghost Zone was to talk to Skulker. He decided that the hunter ghost would be his pivot point in the axis of change that was going on in his life, excluding the color changing instant messanger. Skulker was a constant, the very idea of his motives changing would be nearly impossible simply because of his status as a ghost.

"I need your help!" Danny said to the ghost who was caught off guard by Danny's swift entrance.

"You what?" Skulker asked in surprise.

"I need your help!" Danny repeated. Skulker's look of surprise changed into a grin.

"What do I get out of assisting you Whelp?" the hunter ghost asked.

"The satisfaction of knowing you did a good deed," Danny answered. "I know that means nothing to you Skulker. But I have nothing."

Skulker looked at Danny a moment. "What do you need?"

"I need to find Desiree!" Danny said quickly. Skulker started laughing and Danny shook his head.

"Why do you need me to find a ghost who is so easy to track. You could have found her yourself." Skulker replied. "She's not that far away from here in her normal habitation."

Danny didn't wait. He simply thanked Skulker and left as quickly as he could.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Desiree yelled as Danny rushed forward. "I haven't granted any wishes in ages."

"Don't lie to me!" Danny said. "I know you were there. I know you did it. Now just put things back the way they're supposed to be!" Desiree pushed away from Danny who had his hands on her upper arms. She straightened herself out then gave him an angry look.

"You would have to wish it to be so if you wanted it granted, unfortunately for you I cannot move time, and as much as I would like to admit to it being the culprit of the little game you're trapped in, I just don't have the power to pull off something that elaborate."

Danny let Desiree go as he floated before her in defeat. "I don't know what to do then. Who made this happen?"

"I don't know," Desiree said as she eyed Danny. A wicked grin spread across her face. "I know how you can find out though."

Danny looked up and gave her a worried look. The tone of her voice told him that she was up to no good. "How?" he asked.

Desiree lifted her chin looking at Danny thoughtfully. "You are a smart boy aren't you Danny? Aren't you able to figure things out for yourself? Or is it that you need your friends to help you do all the hard thinking for you?"

"I can think for myself," Danny defended. "Maybe I don't need your help at all. Maybe I already know how to solve this problem."

"Really?" Desiree said in a sarcastic tone. "Then please go solve it and leave me in peace."

"I'm already gone," Danny threw over his shoulders as he flew.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Melika!" Danny yelled as he flew to the uncharted territory of The Ghost Zone he had visited before. He flew further and further, but the ghost never appeared. Either that or she didn't exist.

Danny kept flying until he came to a large platform. He stopped knowing he was here before. He looked around for a moment then called hesitantly for Ifrit.

"Who calls me?" asked Ifrit as he appeared on the platform.

"Uh," Danny said as he floated closer. "I did."

Ifrit leveled his fiery gaze at Danny, "Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Danny," Danny answered. "I need to ask you some questions."

Ifirt laughed, "I do not answer questions. I ask them. Tell me what you are here for? Tell me how you found your way to my domain?"

"I'm here because I need answers," Danny said. "I actually didn't intend to end up here, but as I've met you before, I was wondering if you could possibly have an idea about what was going on?"

Ifrit raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "We've met before? When? I think I would recall meeting a ghost like yourself."

"It wasn't that long ago," Danny said then detailed his meeting with Ifrit, telling him about Desiree and the wish gone wrong.

"That would never have happened," Ifrit told Danny. "Desiree is merely a ghost who takes on Jinn form. She does not have the power to reorder time."

"Do you?" Danny asked.

"Only under special circumstances," Ifrit answered. "There is only one creature I know of who can reorder time."

Danny hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Clockwork!" he said amazed that the idea hadn't hit him before. But why would Clockwork be manipulating him back and forth?

"Clockwork?" Danny said. "Do you know him?"

"I know of him," Ifrit said. "I've never met him per se."

Danny took a deep breath, his mind was racing frantically. "Do you know how to reach him?" Danny had no idea how to find Clockwork unless he wanted to be found. Danny didn't relish the though to flying through The Ghost Zone screaming the ghost's name in desperation. Besides, if Clockwork was manipulating time, he probably had a good reason to keep away from Danny.

"My brother might be able to help," Ifrit said kindly as he picked up on Danny's distress, unfortunately, I cannot help you find him as he has been lost to me for sometime."

"A lot of good that does me," Danny said as he ran his hand through his snow white hair.

"His name is Indrajit," Ifrit continued. He smiled as Danny looked up at him in surprise.

"Ah I see you have heard of him!" Ifrit said happily. "Good. He should be able to help you in your quest."

Danny looked at Ifrit for a moment, he doubted he could trust the creature, but he had no choice. He almost laughed when he realized that the trail to set things right, lead straight back to Edna LaRouche. He was beginning to regret ever letting Sam talk him into visiting the psychic. Danny was also glad he remembered the carnival's itinerary, he was sure he could find her with no trouble

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Standing outside the psychic's tent, alone, put butterflies in Danny's stomach. So much rested on Madame LaRouche being able to help him. All he wanted was for things to go back to normal.

Danny paused a the thought. "I want my normal life back," he said out loud then smiled. It was funny, before he was upset because he wanted a normal life, but really, all he wanted now was life to go back to the it was before, and that was normal.

"We're going to get things back on track," he said to himself then took a deep breath and entered the psychic's tent.

He sat at the table and looked around. So far everything was as it happened before. He smiled as Madame LaRoche sat down in front of him. She placed her tarot cards before him on the table.

"Please cut the cards," She said.

"I'm not here for a psychic reading," Danny said. "Edna I need your help."

Madame LaRoche blinked at Danny in surprise. "How did you know my name?" she asked.

"It's a long story," Danny replied. "Do you remember me from before? When your carnival was in Amity Park?"

"I'm sorry," Madame LaRouche said. "I've never met you before in my life…I don't think." She frowned at Danny who frowned back.

"I need your help," Danny said quickly. "I need to talk to Indrajit!"

Madame LaRouche looked at Danny like he was crazy. She grabbed her tarot cards and pulled them toward her as if to protect them from Danny.

"Who is Indrajit?" she asked her face full of fright.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Short chapter. I know. Sorry. I'm sorry if there are errors as well. I wanted to leave this chapter on a cliff hanger and what happens next is going to take full chapter to tell and well….I wanted to post something because I LOVE getting reviews and the best way to get reviews is to post something, though I should have probably took my time with this instead of rushing it out. BUT I am also giddy with joy because I so love how this story is turning out (though maybe everyone else will think it's stupid). That's what I get for not putting too much thought into this story. I'm just a fly by the seat of my pants writer...it gets me into such jams.

Love you ALL. Send me a review will ya?