Disclaimer: When I am overlord of this puny planet I shall reign supreme...but I still won't own Danny Phantom.

Author's Notes: Only the second flashback in this chapter is in Dash's point of view. Enjoy!

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Chapter 6: The Library Lambada

Danny let out a big sigh, "Ok, this is easy, I can do this. Nothing is going to stand in my way."

"Talking to yourself again, Fenton?" said a voice behind him. Danny jumped slightly and turned around to find Dash looking at him with a smirk.

"Dash! Uh, how are you?" Danny asked nervously.

"Pretty good Fenton considering that I have a week to do this stupid paper and a loser as my tutor," Dash said laughing.

He walked up the steps to the library leaving Danny to frown in annoyance at him. 'Nice to see he's as charming as ever,' he thought as he followed after Dash.

Danny looked around him and caught sight of Dash heading toward the back of the library tables near the history section. He walked faster to catch up with Dash and quietly set down his things next to the other boy's. Both sat down across from each other in the empty table. Danny avoided looking at Dash as he slowly took out his notebook. He took a deep breath to get his bearings together and saw the other boy already reading from their history book.

Dash's shoulders tensed as he felt the stare beginning to annoy him. When he couldn't take it anymore he looked up.

"What?" he asked defensively.

Danny stopped and turned his attention back to his notebook, "Sorry, I just didn't expect you to be serious about this."

He missed the brief insulted look in Dash's eyes before it was replaced with one of boredom.

"Whatever, let's get this over with. I gotta be home by 8:00."

"Ok, I think the first thing I should help you with is organizing your paper," said Danny.

He opened up his notebook to a blank page and jotted down something.

"What's the topic you picked?" he asked.

Dash reached into his jacket pocket and produced a folded up piece of paper. He tossed it over to Danny to open up.

Danny unfolded it and read the instructions aloud, "Write a 1½-3 typed page essay explaining how the founding fathers created the constitution. Explain what you feel they had in mind when creating his document and whether or not you feel it is effectual today as back then. Use at least 2 outside resources and include a bibliography."

"So how do I start this thing?" Dash asked.

"I guess the first thing we should do is get some books that talk about this," said Danny as he stood up.

The other followed him into the book aisles and the two set off silently in their search. After 10 minutes, Danny looked at Dash to see he had two books in his arms. He turned back at the selections and spotted a green hardback book entitled, Constitutional Purpose.

Danny grabbed the nearby mini foot ladder and set it up in front of him. He stepped on and realized in annoyance he still couldn't grab it. Balancing the two books to his other arm; he stood on his tip toes and made another grab for the book. Just as his fingers touched it, the foot ladder wobbled and Danny yelled as he lost his balance. His eyes closed as he fell backwards and braced himself to crash on the floor.

He crashed into something else and opened his eyes to realize his fall had been cushioned by someone. Namely, one surprised and angry Dash Baxter. Both boys struggled to separate themselves from the tangle of limbs they'd become on the floor. Danny was almost off of Dash, but slipped once again. He looked down to see Dash's foot was stepping on his pants leg.

Dash shifted underneath him to push him away, "Get off me you klutz!"

"I would if you moved your foot," Danny said in exasperation.

As Dash moved his foot, his leg brushed up against Danny's crotch. Danny quickly scrambled off him in embarrassment. Dash got up and dusted himself off in annoyance. He was about to make fun of Danny for being clumsy, but stopped when Danny pushed past him carrying the stack of books in his arms.

Danny walked away to hide his blush and quickly mumbled, "Sorry for falling on you."

Dash looked on in confusion as the other boy quickly made his way to their table and sat down again. Dash just gave a small shrug and looked back at the book Danny had been trying to get. With a more sturdy grace he stepped onto the foot ladder and retrieved it. As he walked back to their table he surprised Danny by shoving the book in his face.

Danny blinked as he stared at it, his eyes showing a small hatred for the book. The stupid thing was the reason he nearly broke his neck, why he felt like an idiot and the reason why he felt so weird right now. As he took the book from Dash and thanked him, his mind replayed the scene again. The small blush on his face grew as his body reminded him of how strangely exciting it had been to have a body underneath him like that. He quickly clamped that train of thought when he remembered that the body belonged to Dash.

"Fenton, I don't have time to read all this stuff," complained Dash.

He eyed the stack of books in boredom before looking back at Danny.

"You don't have to read them all the way through, just the chapters that matter to your paper," explained Danny. "Just remember to write down facts and the page you found them on. Here I'll help you figure out which books to use."

He grabbed the top book from the stack and quickly read the front flap summary and table of contents. He did the same for all of them making two different piles, one with the books that helped and one with the books that didn't.

A soft giggle echoed near him and Danny looked up to realize Dash wasn't there anymore. He looked to his left when he heard another giggle come from one of the book aisles. Shaking his head in annoyance, he made his way to a nearby book aisle where he thought the giggle originated from. As he peered through the books, what he saw didn't surprise him but made him angry nonetheless.

Dash was leaning slightly against the shelf and flirting with a girl Danny vaguely remembered from his biology class. A small blush graced her cheeks as Dash whispered things into her ear. Danny watched as she tore a sheet of paper from her notebook and jotted down something before handing it to Dash. The blond winked at her once before whispering something to her again. Danny rolled his eyes and walked back to their table to gather his things.

"Hey what are you doing?" asked a voice beside him,

Danny gave Dash an angry look and was about to call him a jerk for wasting his time, but realized that Dash really hadn't done anything he didn't already expect. Even so, seeing Dash acting like that while he was actually working in earnest to help the other boy made Danny want to leave. He picked up two books and handed them to Dash.

"I just remembered something I have to do, but I marked the chapters you should read tonight. We'll meet up tomorrow, same time. Later Dash," said Danny, his tone leaving no room for argument.

With a sigh he grabbed his backpack and walked away without another word. Dash watched him wondering why the other boy was so anxious to leave all of a sudden.

(4 days later)

Dash looked out the window in annoyance and boredom. The weather had been sunny and pleasant this morning, but the crazy turn it took with this rain and thunder was annoying him even more. Here he was the most popular guy in school, stuck in the library on a Saturday night all because of his stupid paper.

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"Excuse me you two, but the library will be closing in 5 minutes," said a stuffy middle-aged woman as she looked at Dash and Danny.

"In that case I gotta go take a whiz," Dash said bluntly as he stood up.

Danny couldn't help but chuckle at the appalled look on the librarian's face.

Dash made his way inside the boy's restroom and went about his business. Suddenly a bolt of lightening crashed loudly outside and Dash saw the pitter patter of rain on the window. 'That's weird...it wasn't cloudy this morning,' he thought. As he went to go wash his hands, the rain outside echoed louder against the window.

He was about to leave, when he felt something strong wrap around his leg. Suddenly he was lifted upside down in the air and to his horror an ugly green goo thing was holding on to him. The thing grew in size and Dash screamed as it wrapped a tentacle around his waist.

"Aghhh! Let me go!"

All the monster did in response was growl and start to go on a rampage. Dash watched as it used one of its tentacles to break a mirror and bathroom stall at the same time. In its wake of destruction, the monster slammed him on the ground. His head hurt badly and it felt like the tentacle was digging into his back. 'Somebody…help me,' was his last thought before passing out.
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Dash turned his head to look back at Danny. His eyes focused back on what the other boy was doing. Danny grinned in triumph when he found what he was looking for inside the first aid kit. He took out his supplies and laid them out next to where Dash was resting on the floor. Dash moved his head from atop of his letterman jacket and was able to sit up slowly. His back was killing him from the action, but at least he was sitting up. For all his efforts, Danny merely pushed him back down again.

"Dash, try not to move," he said firmly.

He quickly opened up the antiseptic bottle and tended to the gash on Dash's right temple. Dash winced slightly as the small cotton ball was pressed down over the cut.

The two remained silent as Danny finished bandaging a large cut on his left cheek. Dash still didn't understand how exactly he got injured in the first place. He couldn't even remember what happened to him. One minute he was just washing his hands and the next he found himself laying down on the floor like this.

All Danny told him was that when he and the librarian found Dash, he was on top of a pile of glass and wood looking beat up. The bathroom didn't look that much better and there was a large hole in the wall, where they believed that whatever attacked him had escaped. The librarian had already called the police to investigate and was busy assessing the damage while she waited for them to arrive.

The blond desperately tried to remember what happened, but every time he did it felt like something was blocking the memory back. Dash tried to think of something else as Danny cleaned up the cuts and bruises on his face. He found himself drawn to the other's look of concentration and his fascination grew as he saw the concern and worry reflected in the light blue eyes in front of him. The more he looked into Danny's eyes, the more his mind tried to recall something about them. They seemed plain and ordinary to him, like they'd looked different once.

'Maybe I did hit my head harder than I thought. That'd explain why I'd be crazy enough to think about Fenton's eyes at a time like this,' he thought. He realized too late, that the other boy was staring expectantly right back at him.

"Huh?" said Dash dumbly.

Danny sighed in exasperation. It figures the other boy wouldn't listen to him, even when he was trying to help.

"I said that if your head still hurts this thing has some aspirin."

"Oh, no thanks."

Dash tried to sit up, a small groan of pain escaping from his lips as he did. Dash prayed the other boy hadn't heard it, but of course Danny did and turned a concerned frown at him.

"Does your back hurt or something?" Danny asked.

"No," he answered quickly.

He was grateful and all for Danny's help, but a part of him hated being treated like a weakling. His gaze met Danny's and realized the other boy wasn't buying it one bit.

As Danny scooted away from Dash, he sarcastically replied, "Yeah right."

He was about to say something in response, but the next words out of Danny's mouth stopped him.

"Take off your shirt so I can give you the look over."

A blonde eyebrow rose up at the request, "What?"

Realization dawned on Danny's face and a small blush came to his face when he realized what his words sounded like, "No, I-I meant take off your shirt so I can check for more injuries."

Dash stared at him before chuckling to himself.

"What's so funny?" asked Danny with a frown.

"You wouldn't understand," replied Dash as he slowly eased the black shirt off his shoulders.

As he pulled his undershirt over his head, he missed the surprised look on Danny's face. Dash set his clothes aside and turned back to Danny. The other boy leaned closer and ran a finger over a small bruise near one of his ribs. The strange action tickled him and made the blond's eyebrow rise again. The other boy was looking at his finger as if there was something on it, but when Dash looked there as nothing there.

"What is it?" asked Dash curiously.

Danny looked up and chuckled to himself. "You wouldn't understand," he mimicked.

Dash simply rolled his eyes and let the other boy tend to the few bruises on his torso and back. Some of them hurt badly, but he tried not to show it. His mind drifted back to something that had been bothering him today.

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He was out early at the park doing his usual morning run when he felt a slight chill run down his spine. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked around until his eyes landed on a boy leaning against a nearby tree. Something drew Dash towards him and the closer he got, the sooner Dash was able to recognize the cocky figure.

As he stood in front of the boy, a whisper laced with contempt escaped his lips, "Rolland."

"Baxter."

The other boy gave him a devilish smirk as he pushed off the tree to stand in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" spite dripping from Dash's voice.

"My mother says I need more sunshine and fresh air," Griffith said sarcastically. "What about you?"

Dash gave him a redundant answer, "Jogging in the park."

"Oh right, I forgot people still do that," Griffith said, his tone inferring something else. "Still it's a...pleasant coincidence to find you here meathead."

"No, it's only pleasant for you dipstick," said Dash in annoyance.

"Touche," Griffith said meeting the blonde's gaze head on.

"What do you want?" Dash asked impatiently.

He really didn't really want to be near the senior anymore than he had to. He had to restrain the urge to fight the raven-haired oddball.

"What I want Dash, is more than you could ever imagine." His green eyes roamed up the length of Dash's body and made him uncomfortable, "Then again, maybe you can."

"It's been brought to my attention that you and Danny Fenton have patched things up and started on the oh-so-glorious path to friendship, how touching," he said sarcastically.

Dash narrowed his eyes at Griffith, "Who told you that?"

"I said it was my own observation. You see, I know Danny better than most people. Nobody knows it, but we're like family. So I'm sure you can understand my concern when I see him acting so friendly towards you, especially after all the...less than friendly things you've done to him."

"Are you saying he's only being nice because he wants something in return?"

"No," Griffith said smoothly. "I'm simply saying that he's acting very strange lately, but I can't wrap my head around it exactly. You are merely one of the signs that he is."

Dash looked down at the ground in deep thought. 'Heh and here I thought Fenton was just being his do-gooder self, but what if he's up to something. Wait, how do I know that Rolland's not full of it anyway?' Dash looked up to ask just that, but to his surprise the other boy was gone.
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"Why?"

Danny stopped what he was doing and looked up at Dash, "Did you say something?"

"Why?" Dash repeated louder.

Danny raised an eyebrow at the question, "Why what?"

"Why are you helping me Fenton?" Dash asked suspiciously.

"What? Why are you asking?" Danny replied in surprise.

"I've picked on you since the 2nd grade, so we're not even friends or anything. Either way you're still being all nice to me. Why?"

Danny looked at him, realizing Dash was asking him in earnest. Danny could have said any number of things, all would have been partially true, but something about Dash's expression made him feel like his answer was important. He scratched the back of his neck and thought about what to say.

"It doesn't matter...about you picking on me back then...or now. I don't really care about that anymore," Danny said slowly. To his surprise he realized it was true.

His light blue gaze met the blond's darker one as he spoke, "Deep down you're not the jerk most people think you are and even though you won't understand, I know you need help." 'More than you know.' he thought. "And...you're probably right about us not being friends, but right now you need one."

"Wow Fenton, that was so...incredibly corny," said Dash with a smirk.

He laughed a little at the annoyed look he got in return, "Heh, oh come one Fenton, I'm just joking."

The truth was he didn't really know what to say to Danny's words. The raven haired boy seemed so open and honest when he spoke that his words struck a cord inside of Dash. To be honest he didn't know how to react, it was simply his nature that made him joke whenever things got too serious.

Danny smirked as he said, "In that case I'm only being nice to you because you're the quarterback, Dash. If you don't play in next Friday's game against the Dankville Crows, we won't stand a chance."

Dash laughed at the comment before puffing out his chest slightly, "Yeah that's true."

Both laughed before falling into an easy silence again. Danny continued what he was doing, feeling the earlier tension now gone between them.

Dash gave him a small smile as he said, "Ya know I think coach is gonna let you play in that game."

"Heh, yeah right," said Danny sarcastically. He leaned forward to tend to a big bruise on Dash's shoulder blade.

"Hey, I'm being serious. You don't stink as much as when you first made the team. You're actually pretty good," said Dash reluctantly albeit sincerely.

Danny felt warmth in his stomach at the compliment. He smiled in response and went back to what he was doing. When he was finally done, he cleaned up everything and stood up to put the first aid kit away. Dash slowly eased his top shirt back on and lay back down to rest. The sudden feeling of being tired surprised him, but he didn't really want to fall asleep just yet. He did feel much better now and his back wasn't killing him anymore.

"Haha, I think I have the record for the most times a jock can get hurt and not die," he joked.

He expected the freshman to laugh with him, but instead a look of dread passed over Danny's face before it was quickly replaced into a smile.

"Yeah, how are you feeling?" asked Danny distractedly.

Dash looked at the other boy's strange smile and thought it looked forced. He thought about something that would change the other's expression.

"Better, thanks Fenton. Who knew you were good at this nurse stuff," said Dash joking.

He felt a small sense of triumph as he saw the other's boy smile change into a more natural one.

"Yeah I get a lot of practice," admitted Danny.

"You do?" asked Dash in mild surprise.

Danny quickly realized his mistake. Of course he got a lot of practice with bandaging himself up after ghost patrol, but he couldn't tell Dash that.

"Uh yeah, my dad's always falling down and doing stuff that gets him hurt. Sometimes I'm the one that has to help him," Danny said, only half lying.

"Oh. No offense Fenton, but your old man sounds like a goof."

"Yeah, he is sometimes," said Danny, smirking at the thought of his dad's crazy ghost escapades.

Dash noticed the look and felt a small jealousy rise up inside, "Well at least you get to spend time with your dad."

"It sounds like you don't," replied Danny hesitantly.

"Yeah," Dash said flippantly. "It's not a big deal though. I mean ever since my dad got his promotion he doesn't spend that much time with me and my mom anymore, but I understand. At least he's not a deadbeat ya know? He puts food on the table and I know he cares. I just wish he could show up to more of my games like he used to."

Danny looked down at him as he asked, "Have you told him that?"

"Nah, he's too busy, but like I said, it's ok. At least my mom shows up to all my games and that's good enough," said Dash quietly.

Danny nodded and decided to drop the subject. He looked down at his watch seeing it read 9:14 pm. He flipped the lid on his watch to see the other time. '61 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds. Huh, time sure flies when I'm trying to save someone's life.' A small snore caught his attention and he looked down to see that Dash had fallen fast asleep.

End of Chapter 6

Author's Notes: Ooooook. I look back on this and realize that not only is this the longest chapter of the story, but probably the one where there will be flagrant OOC violations. Sorry about that, but I hope you guys still liked it. Please review! Thanks!

Spider's Shout Outs:
(because I didn't want to leave a voice message)

Dela the Hidden: Hey! Yeah cliffhangers are an equal package; a good thing for writers, a bad thing for readers. The good thing is that at least this chapter didn't end in a cliffhanger...just a snoring Dash, lol. Hope you liked the chapter. Thanks for the review!

Fire-Ice-Henna: Hey there! Wow the first one? Cool. I hope my story was a good prelude to all the other awesome stories in the DP section. Hope you liked this new update. Thanks for the review!

Ashley Ketchum1: Hola! Estoy tan contenta que te gusta mi fic. El problema es que no puedo escribir muy bien en español. Estoy preguntando a muchos de mis amigos para que me ayuden a traducir este fic. Ojala que encuentre alquien que lo puede hacer, hasta entonces lo voy a intentar yo misma. Muchas gracias, me has dado una nueva idea!

Kayume Silver: Hello again! I'm glad you still like my fic. Every new review given always tops off the one before it because sometimes the action speaks louder. lol, I hope that makes sense. FYI Dash is getting tutored in history (as you can see from this chapter).You said your chant now, I'll say mine. Please Review, Please Review, Please Review!

Akiko: Always a good thing to know. I wouldn't want this story to get stale like last week's leftovers. Hope you dug this chappie. Thanks for the review!

KimuraSato: Hope you liked Danny's adventures in tutoring. Yup and it's a good thing popularity hasn't gotten to his head, won't leave room for his next upcoming endeavor. ;-) An ominous smirk"I have evil plans for you, fear me." lol Thanks for the too cool review!