Thank you very much to Nom de Plume, for your amazing skills as a beta reader!
Chapter Five
Danny was sitting invisibly, not too far away, under a tree as he watched Sam and Dash. He growled in disgust as Dash presented the necklace to Sam, blinked in surprise as Dash stole a quick kiss, then opened his mouth in shock as Sam leaned forward for a longer kiss than the quick brush of the lips Dash had offered.
He closed his eyes in pain as the couple sitting on the bench smiled at each other and engaged in another kiss which dissolved into a deeper, sweeter embrace. Danny didn't know why he was allowing himself to participate in such torture. It was better to leave the two alone. If Sam guessed he was there, watching, he would be dead.
Danny stood, about to fly away. He cast one more look at Sam, who was still engaged in a lip-lock with Dash. He looked down sadly, choosing at that moment not to examine the ripping pain in his chest or the weak and sick feeling in his stomach; then suddenly his ghost sense went off. He looked around, then back at Sam and Dash; of course, they were oblivious to everything, especially any ghostly activity going on around them.
He flew around the park until he found a little lesser ghost wandering around the play area, scaring a few shrieking children. Danny let go of his invisibility then rushed forward toward the ghost. It gave a shriek of terror and flew off. Danny chased after it, issuing several blasts, until finally it slowed and Danny was able to capture it in a thermos.
Danny sighed, feeling heavy of heart. He turned, and noticed a large flock—or was it herd, or maybe gaggle was a better term?—of the little somewhat formless green beings careening toward him.
"Oh crud," Danny groaned as they veered closer. He grabbed his cell phone and called Tucker as he soared up into the air and flew backward to keep them away.
"Tuck here," Tucker answered.
"Problems. In the park. Ghosts," Danny said quickly. "Get over here. Call Sam. Bring thermoses! Help!" He hung up just as the first wave attacked.
Sam and Dash were sitting on the bench just holding hands and talking over the details of how their relationship was going to work out when Sam's cell phone went off. Sam wanted to ignore it. She tried to ignore it, but ultimately she looked at the caller I.D.
"It's Tucker," she told Dash. "I should answer." Dash smiled and nodded his head.
"Make it quick, Tuck," Sam said. At his response she froze, and looked at Dash. How was she going to explain this? If she took off, Dash would follow her. She knew he would. If he saw her fighting ghosts alongside Danny Phantom, well, it was likely he wouldn't put two and two together, but she doubted she could explain the situation.
"I don't think I can make it," Sam said weakly.
"What do you mean?" Tucker shrieked. "Danny needs us. What are you doing that's so important you can't get away to help?"
Sam sighed deeply. "I'm sitting in the park with Dash," she answered, hoping that Tucker would understand her thinking.
"Listen," Tuck said breathlessly. Sam could tell he was running. Her heart started a panicked beat in her throat. "I hate to say this, but at the moment you have to choose. Dash or Danny."
"Tuck," Sam groaned.
"I've got to go in a sec, Sam," Tucker hissed. "I never thought you'd abandon your friends for a boy, but I guess I had you pegged wrong." With that he hung up.
"What's wrong, baby?" Dash said.
Sam looked at him and had to suppress a smile. "Don't call me baby," she said seriously.
"Okay," Dash replied.
"I have to go," she told him. "Do me a favor and wait for me here. I'll be back as fast as I can." She kissed him quick, then turned and ran.
"Where are you going?" Dash asked in confusion.
"Just wait here," Sam answered as she ran. "I'll be right back."
"Where is she going?" Dash asked the voice in his head out loud.
"I don't know," Errol answered. "Just listen to her and stay here."
Dash shook his head and stood. "I should go after her."
"No!" Errol growled fiercely. "Stay here."
"O-okay," Dash said warily, then sat on the bench and waited. Errol hesitated a minute, then left Dash to find out why Sam had run off.
Danny fired blast after blast at the glowing, red-eyed ghosts rushing toward him. He fumbled to get the thermos open, but he couldn't stop long enough to wrest off the cap. He needed at least one hand free to blast at the small green ghosts to keep them from overcoming him.
He sighed in relief as Tucker showed up with several thermoses in tow and began sucking every ghost he could manage into the devices. He relaxed slightly and continued to fight off the ghosts.
It wasn't long before Sam showed up. Tucker threw her a thermos and she began to vacuum up the little ghosts as well. There had been a doubt in Danny's heart that she would show. He chastised himself. He should have known better than to think that Sam would ever abandon him in his hour of need.
Danny smiled down at Sam, but in so doing was hit in the head by one of the little ghosts, and it was now clinging to his head like a little leech.
"Get off me!" Danny yelled as he put his hand on it and hit it with a surge of his power. The ghost squealed then detached itself and headed back to the now smaller flock. He had managed to get the thermos open and was sucking in the irritating creatures when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.
The ghost was floating down near the ground, watching Sam with a tender expression. It turned and looked at Danny, eyes filled with such hatred that Danny was taken aback for a moment. Danny rushed toward the ghost. It took a few moments for the robed, winged creature to realize that Danny had spotted him. It looked back over its shoulder for a minute, as if it was unsure in which direction it should go.
Danny flew forward as fast as he could. Both Sam and Tucker turned in time to see the ghost take off. They looked at each other, then captured the remaining few ghosts and ran in the direction Danny had disappeared.
"We've never seen that one before," Tucker commented as their feet pounded on the pavement. They could see Danny shooting blasts at the ghost and the ghost dodging them.
Sam agreed, then said, "But strangely, it looks very familiar." They continued to follow Danny. The ghost finally turned on Danny and shot a few arrows at him; they flew fast and swift, but Danny dodged them effortlessly then sent a volley of his own blasts at the ghost.
The ghost groaned as a blast hit it and knocked it off kilter. It was disoriented for a moment, and was about to shoot another round of arrows at Danny when it looked down.
"Smile pretty for the camera," Tuck yelled, then sucked it into the thermos. He clapped the lid on and heaved a great sigh of relief. Danny flew down and looked at Sam a minute.
"What happened?" Tucker asked. "What was that all about?"
"I have no clue," Danny answered, then took the thermos carefully from Tucker. "Did this one look familiar to any of you?"
Sam nodded her head. "I'm sure I've seen him before," she told Danny. "I'm just not sure where."
Danny frowned and looked at the thermos. "I think I'm going to hold on to this one until we can figure out who he is and what he was up to." He looked from Tucker to Sam and back again. "Do you guys want to meet me at my house and we'll put the others back in the Ghost Zone?"
Sam's happy expression faded. "I need to get back to Dash. I left him sitting on a bench… I…hope he's still there."
"I'm glad you came," Danny said. "We were a little scared you wouldn't."
Sam nodded her head in understanding. "I wouldn't abandon you, Danny," she told him. As she held his gaze, she felt the familiar flip-flop in her stomach and almost smiled; lately that feeling had been evoked by nothing but Dash. She looked at Tucker. "I was just a little worried that Dash would follow me and I'd put you at risk."
Tucker snorted. "Yeah right."
"Really," Sam said seriously. "How would I explain running around catching ghosts with Danny Phantom?" The three friends looked at each other. No one had an answer.
"I would never, ever abandon you guys. Ever," Sam said fiercely, then sent Tucker an angry glare. "And I don't appreciate the guilt trip you put on me, Tuck."
Tucker shook his head. "I was just calling it like I saw it, Sam. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."
"I need to get back to my boyfriend," Sam said pointedly to Tucker. Her stomach began to ache. "Danny, I'll be over in just a little bit. Dash and I were just saying goodbye." She gave Tucker another glare then walked away.
Tucker and Danny watched Sam go then looked at each other. "Did she just say boyfriend?" Tucker asked sickly.
"Yeah," Danny answered weakly. "They were…" He paused and swallowed hard. "Kissing earlier. I guess it's official, the world is ending."
Tucker looked at Danny for a second then started laughing. "You were spying on her? Danny! You were spying on Sam while she kissed Dash? When she finds out she's going to kill…"
"You're not going to breathe a word of this, Tuck," Danny growled at his friend. "What Sam doesn't know won't hurt her."
"Yeah, but how am I going to tease her about it if I don't tell her?" Tucker asked. Danny gave him a look of warning.
"Fine," Tuck said. "But you're killing me."
Danny said nothing as he looked around then transformed back to human form. "Let's get these guys back to the Ghost Zone and find out who the big ghost is."
Tucker walked beside Danny quietly for as long as he could, then asked, "So why were you spying on Sam, Danny?"
"I just wanted to make sure she was okay," Danny answered emotionlessly.
"Or you're really jealous." Tucker teased.
Danny took a deep breath. He needed to talk to someone, and he couldn't take this to Jazz; and even worse, the person he usually ran to when he needed understanding the most, was the very person he needed to talk about.
"Well?" Tucker prodded.
Danny let out his held breath with a whoosh. "It's killing me, Tuck. Seeing her with Dash is killing me."
Tucker blinked at Danny in shock. He really hadn't expected his friend to 'fess up to anything; he was sure he was going to deny his obvious jealousy. "Why?" Tucker asked.
"Because I'm stupid," Danny answered. "I'm a stupid, idiotic jerk. I mean, it's not like I had a chance with her; but I think I've loved her for a long time, I just couldn't see it until now. Now all I want is to tell her, but she's with Dash now."
"So you're getting some of your own medicine, then," Tucker said as he decided that it was for the good of both his friends if he revealed certain secrets.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked as he walked up the steps to his house.
"I mean that Sam went through agony when you had your brief relationship with Valerie. She's been too afraid to tell you how she felt about you, Danny. She was so scared she would lose you or you would laugh at her, because we were pretty sure you didn't return the feelings."
Danny looked at Tucker in shock. "What are you saying?"
Tucker followed Danny down to the lab and laughed. "Are you really that clueless that you don't get what I'm telling you?"
"I guess I just want to hear it," Danny admitted weakly.
Tucker sighed. "I feel like I'm really betraying Sam—I mean, this has been our secret for so long. It's kind of like revealing your ghostly identity without your permission."
Danny said nothing as he put aside the thermos containing the ghost he wanted to interrogate, then shipped the rest of the creatures from the park into the Ghost Zone. He picked up the thermos he had put aside then headed upstairs. Tucker followed him solemnly.
"So," Danny said as he carefully put the thermos on his desk. "I guess it's true. You don't know how much you want something until it's gone."
Tucker shrugged. "I'm sorry, Danny."
"Just tell me," Danny said. "She loved me once, didn't she?"
Tucker looked down at his feet. "Yeah," he answered. Danny sat down on his bed and leaned forward with his head in his hands. Tucker frowned, then looked at Jazz, who had come to stand in the open door.
"I've heard rumors," she said as she looked from Tucker to her brother. She frowned at his sad demeanor.
"Go away, Jazz," Danny said. "This doesn't involve you."
"Is Sam dating Dash?" Jazz asked Tucker.
"That's what it looks like," Tucker answered. He looked over at Danny, who was still sitting with his head in his hands.
"If you need to talk, Danny…" Jazz started.
"I don't," Danny snapped. "Now will you get out of here?" Jazz shook her head then walked out of Danny's room, closing the door gently behind her.
"Danny," Tuck said. "I know it's hard because it's Dash. But you had to know that someone would come along sometime and take Sam away from us. I mean, it was only a matter of time."
Danny snorted then looked up at Tucker. "You know, I never even considered it. I guess I just took her for granted. I take you for granted, too. It's just that you guys are a part of me. It's hard for me to see you as separate."
Tucker laughed. "So you're telling me that you're going to be this broken up when I finally get a girlfriend?"
"No," Danny said and half laughed. "I'm sorry, I don't feel that way about you, Tuck."
Tucker smiled. "That's good to know."
"So what do I do now?" Danny said. "I tried to tell her, Friday night, how I feel—but she stopped me and then I completely chickened out."
Tucker walked around Danny's room. He stopped and moved the thermos a little away from the edge of Danny's desk. "I think you need to be patient," he said. "I don't think things can last too long between Dash and Sam."
"But I can't stand it, Tuck," Danny growled. "It's tearing me apart!"
"It's good for you," Tucker said harshly. "Maybe you'll learn a lesson and be a little bit more observant regarding your friend's feelings. I mean, I hate to say it, but she seems happy. That's all I want, for both of you to be happy. I'm sorry you can't be happy together, but she's been waiting so long, Danny. Sam deserves her turn."
"Yeah," Danny said as he looked up at Tucker. "You're right. But I can't promise to be happy about it. It's Dash. It would be easier if it was anyone but Dash."
Tucker shook his head. "I think it would be hard no matter who," he observed.
"Yeah," Danny agreed.
"Look on the bright side," Tucker told his friend. "Sam's ascension to the A-list could pull us right up with her." He smiled dazzlingly. "Think about it. Paulina."
Danny laughed; it was funny, not that long ago that's all he wanted, a spot on the A-list and Paulina on his arm. Now it wasn't enough. He'd settle for the Z-list as long as he had Sam.
Sam found Dash leaning back on the bench looking up at the sky when she returned. She had been agonizing about what was going on between them all the way back. It was as if ghost fighting with Danny and Tucker was a splash of cold water. She wondered what she was doing. She conceded that she did like Dash, but things were moving so fast. She couldn't explain why.
She walked over to the bench and sat down beside Dash and he sat up and smiled at her. He wanted to hold her but he hesitated. He was sure the voice in his head would call him out, but since Sam had run off, the voice had been strangely silent.
"What was that about?" Dash asked as he took Sam's hand, pulled her close to him, and put his arm around her. Sam fought the urge to resist, and reflected that even if she was full of doubts, Dash's embrace was still nice.
"Tucker needed help with something," she answered, reasoning that it was the truth.
Dash grimaced at Tucker's name. "You're really close to him, huh?"
"He's one of my best friends," Sam said as she turned and looked into Dash's eyes. She blinked at him; before, a look in his eyes would have made her giddily happy—now, it just made her giddy. She couldn't deny that she had feelings for him, but somehow the intensity had faded.
"Yeah, you've been friends with him and Danny for a long time," Dash remarked as he held her hand, looking at her worriedly.
"He and Danny will always be my friends," she told him. She closed her eyes; she was feeling, well, odd.
She pulled away from their embrace. "I need to go," she said. "I promised Danny and Tucker I'd help them with some things."
"Stay with me," Dash begged as he noticed the change in Sam. "I won't get to see you at all tomorrow. My father says Sundays are family days, so I won't be able to get away or even call. That makes me wait until Monday."
"Aww, poor baby," Sam teased, as she began to feel a little uncomfortable. "But I'm sorry. I need to go."
Dash sighed heavily. He looked in his mind for the voice to give him advice on how to keep her with him, but it was still silent. He wondered if it was mad at him for kissing Sam. That meant he was on his own; it was frightening. He didn't want to let her go, for fear she'd never come back. He had a strange feeling that she would leave him just like the voice had.
"I'll see you Monday," she said comfortingly as she blinked at him. The warm fuzzy loving feeling might have faded, but she did care about him.
"And I can walk you to class?" Dash asked teasingly.
Sam laughed as she hugged him, trying to regain the sensation she had had before. He put his arms around her and sighed. "You can walk me to class, but you do realize it will out you as my boyfriend." She felt a strange sense of panic crawling up her spine.
"That's fine with me," Dash said. "No one will say a word. I don't know about your friends though."
Sam shook her head. "Don't worry about them," she told him. "They're all good." She kissed his cheek them moved to leave. Dash grabbed her arm.
"Sam," he groaned as he pulled her back to him.
"Dash," she teased. "I never figured you to be so insecure."
"I'm not insecure," he said indignantly. "I'm just crazy about you."
"I need to go," Sam said seriously. Dash pulled her down into his lap and cuddled her close.
"Okay," he said. "Just a minute longer."
"And then it's a minute more and then a minute more and more and more," Sam joked, feeling even more uncomfortable. She had to get way. It had suddenly become very important to her that she examine her situation.
"So you'll go to the end of the year dance with me, right?" Dash asked.
"Not if you don't let me go," Sam answered almost angrily as she pulled away.
"All right," he said. "But will you?"
"Yes," Sam answered quickly, then shook her head. "But you think we're still going to be together in two weeks?"
Dash nodded his head. "I think we'll still be together fifty years from now." Sam laughed nervously then stood. Dash stood with her. "And let me at least walk with you for awhile."
"Okay," Sam said, then let him take her hand and walk her at least out of the park. It seemed to be the only way to get away.
"Man," Tuck said as Sam finally made her appearance at Danny's house. "What took you so long?"
Sam blushed and shrugged her shoulders. "I was just saying goodbye to Dash." She looked at Danny, who was looking at the thermos on his desk.
Tucker examined Sam for a second, then smirked. "Dash ate off all your lipstick, huh?"
Sam's eyes widened and her blush deepened as she touched her mouth. "Kinda funny, huh?" she asked.
"So," Danny said shortly before Tucker could say anything more. "You said this ghost looked familiar. Where did you see him?"
"I'm not sure," Sam answered. She looked at Tucker. "Did you do a search?"
"Nothing at all turned up matching the description of the ghost Danny described," Tucker said. "He's probably really new, considering we were able to suck him into the thermos without too much of a fight."
Sam looked at Danny for a minute. Her head was aching now, but she acknowledged to herself that the familiar ache in her heart (which had disappeared before) was back, and, as always, it seemed to be the worst in Danny's presence. She sat down in her usual spot in Danny's room and stared at the floor.
Danny and Tucker looked at Sam, then at each other. Sam started rubbing her temples and it became obvious that she wasn't feeling well.
"You okay, Sam?" Tucker asked.
"I have a headache," she answered. "It'll pass." She looked at Danny, who was watching her worriedly, and half smiled.
Danny carefully picked up the thermos and sat down on his bed. Since he had been inside the thermos more than a few times, thanks to Jazz, they had found out that the ghosts inside could hear them, and that if they were careful, they could hear the ghost.
Danny was about to say something about the ghost when Sam started talking. "I think things are moving way too fast between Dash and I," she said quickly. She took off the necklace and dangled it in front of her.
Both boys looked at her, then Danny hesitantly reached forward, took the necklace, and looked it. "It's pink," he said.
"Dash says," Sam started, then felt her face heat, "that it's his heart. He wanted me to accept it, and I did. But we've only been on two dates, so I don't know why.."
"His heart?" Tucker said. "That is the grossest, cheesiest thing I've ever heard! And you bought that?" Sam shrugged as she took the necklace from Danny and put it in her pocket.
Danny lit up a little. "So you're going to break up with him then?" He tried not to sound so happy, then he frowned as the thermos in his hand rattled.
Sam thought for a minute. "No," she said. "It's just that things are moving too fast; it's like things are out of my control. I like Dash, but…well…" Both boys looked at her. "It's just weird," she said.
Neither Tucker nor Danny knew what to say. Danny finally spoke up. "Do you think it's like a ghostly thing?" Sam looked up at him in surprise.
"A ghost?" Tucker asked, as if it were unheard-of for a ghost to be interfering in their lives.
"Maybe," Sam said. "I don't know. I mean, it's not that I don't want to be with Dash; it's just that I had these really intense feelings, then they faded." A feeling of sadness began to invade her heart as she admitted to herself that she had been happier before. Her old feelings for Danny came flooding back into her consciousness, and it hurt. Strangely, though, even worse than that was the fear that Dash himself would come to his senses and realize his feelings for Sam weren't real. She looked at Danny for a moment as he glared at the thermos. She was so confused.
"So," Danny said. "I guess we find out who this guy is." He shook the thermos a little and Tucker took it from him.
"Hey now," Tucker said trying not to laugh at intense look on Danny's face. "No need to rattle the guy."
"Oh, there is a need," Danny said angrily. The thought of what this ghost may have done to Sam made his blood boil. If it was forcing her together with Dash, Danny swore he'd make it pay.
Tucker looked at Danny's rage-filled green eyes for a minute and shot a quick glance at Sam. She had moved to the window and was leaning with her head on the glass. He felt so bad for both of his friends. He thought that if they could just talk to each other about their feelings, that they both might feel better.
Sam turned and was just about to walk forward and take the thermos when her cell phone rang. She fought a smile as a sense of relief washed over her when she looked and saw it was Dash calling her. Then she frowned; but were her feelings real? She looked at Danny and Tucker then excused herself and took her call down to the Fenton living room.
"Dash?" Danny asked. Tucker shrugged. The two friends looked again at the thermos.
"If the thing between Dash and Sam was completely ghost-manipulated," Danny started, "wouldn't Dash be going through the same thing Sam is?"
"I don't know," Tucker said. "Maybe, but Sam didn't say she wanted to break away from Dash, so I hate to say it, but there must be some real feeling there."
Danny growled in disgust. He was just beginning to feel hope that the whole thing had been a ghostly illusion. He didn't want to contemplate that anything between them might be real.
Sam came back into the room with a smile on her face. "Apparently," she said a little too happily for Danny's heart, "either Dash's feelings are real or he's still affected by the ghost."
"Maybe he needs to be shocked out of it." Tucker said in a teasing voice. "Like Danny did after Ember's spell. Maybe you should kiss Danny in front of Dash."
"No!" Sam said angrily. "I'm not going to do that to him! If it's really a ghost then the whole thing should be worn off by Monday."
"You really like him for real, huh?" Tucker asked. Sam shrugged and Tucker looked at Danny, who again was glaring at the thermos.
"So," Sam said in a business-like tone. "Let's get to finding out who and what this ghost is."
I know it's unusual for me, but I have nothing to say, except please kindly review. The next update may not be until Monday, just a warning.
