Disclaimer: If I owned the show, it'd probably stink because of all the accidentally-on-purpose slash I'd force the animators to draw. Since there are very rare slash fan service moments in the show, it's safe to say that Butch Hartman still owns it. --
Author's Notes: First off I wanted to say that I edited a few chapters and have changed the timeline a bit, so as of right now, Danny has approximately 23-22 days left to complete the challenge. (I pretty much gave myself 4 extra days.) I hope no one is bothered by this, but to be honest I needed a bit more time to add in one last thing for the end of this fanfic. .
I will admit that this chapter was rather hard to write and I had to leave the parts that involve more character development for later. Still I hope you guys are ok with it being less of an inner thinking chapter and more of an action chapter (Um…no not that kind of action.) As always please enjoy!
lllll blah lllll scene change
llllllllll blah llllllllll dream or memory
'blah' thoughts
"blah" speaking
Chapter 19: The Suitor Salsa
Sandra stepped into the living room and watched in amusement as Danny paced back and forth. Occasionally the brunet stopped to look at the door that connected the living room to her father's study. She sighed and in a friendly tone asked, "Danny, are you sure you don't want something to drink?"
Danny stopped and looked at Sandra with a smile as he replied, "Yeah, but thanks anyway. Geez they've been in there for over half an hour now, what's taking so long?"
Sandra chuckled as she said, "My father is a very stubborn man when he wants to be and I'm sure he didn't expect to see you two on our doorstep this evening."
"Oh yeah, have I mentioned how sorry I am about that. For some reason Dash was really adamant about doing this today."
Sandra blushed as she said, "He sure is persistent and he works fast."
Danny smiled as he replied, "Because he really likes you Sandra."
Sandra shook her head and smiled back. "Never mind that now, I just wanted to let you know, dinner will be ready in ten minutes and you're more than welcome to join my dad and me."
"Thanks, but I better call my parents first to ask if it's ok."
"There's a phone in the kitchen you can use, the one in here doesn't work ever since my dad 'fixed' it." Sandra led the way and Danny took one last glance at the door to Colonel Perkins' office before following after her.
Danny noticed Sandra absently fiddle with a long necklace and said, "That's a nice necklace."
Sandra looked at it for a second before smiling and saying, "Thanks, it was my mother's."
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Dash looked braver than he felt as he stared back at Colonel Perkins. He tried not to shrink back in his seat under the older man's hard gaze. He'd finished his presentation four minutes ago and been asked to sit down on the green chair in front of the Colonel's desk. The Colonel was the first to look away as he grabbed a pen and notepad from his desk and began to write down something.
"As you can imagine Private Baxter, working for the military requires me to move around quite a bit. As a result I have been able to show my daughter much of the world, but at a very costly price. Given that our time constraint will limit our stay in your town for only a year, I feel that in that time my daughter has a small chance to settle down for awhile and have some 'fun' before it's too late."
Dash simply stared at the man and wondered what he was writing. He said nothing though and raised his gaze back at Colonel Perkins. The Colonel set his pen down and pulled open a drawer on the left.
As the Colonel searched for what he was looking for, he continued talking. "Your request to take out my daughter was very well thought out. I especially liked the pie charts demonstrating the amount of time you'd be spending with her in the future."
Dash blushed slightly and said, "Thank you sir." 'Too bad it wasn't me who really did them. I gotta remember to thank Foley and Manson again for helping me.'
"As you know," Colonel Perkins said, as he found what he was looking for. Dash saw it was a large stamp and frowned slightly in confusion. As he inked the stamp, Colonel Perkins calmly said, "I am of the firm belief that my daughter can go out once she turns fifteen. However given recent circumstances, I believe that I no longer have a choice in the matter and so for my daughter's sake, I hereby grant you your request, Private Baxter."
Dash's mouth hung open in shock at hearing the older man's words. Colonel Perkins soundly stamped the paper he'd written on before and placed the stamp and everything else away. He ripped the sheet of his notepad and pushed it forwards towards Dash.
Dash quickly snapped out it and gave the older man a critical glance as he asked, "With all do respect sir, how come you're being so lenient all of a sudden? A few minutes ago you said I wasn't good enough for your daughter."
"If it surprises you that much Private Baxter, then perhaps I should reconsider my offer," said Colonel Perkins sternly.
"No! I mean, no sir, thank you for agreeing to let me see your daughter," Dash said quickly.
"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched Private, you've yet to ask my daughter, much less receive her formal acceptance of an outing with you."
Dash leaned forward slightly to see the paper and he saw what looked like a hand written contract with a big mark at the corner that said 'Approved' in large red letters. He tentatively reached forward to pick up the sheet of paper, but stopped when Colonel Perkins stuck a hand on the paper's edge.
"Before you take this, I need you to promise me one thing Dash."
Dash was surprised to hear the Colonel use his first name, already used to the military ranking one. He nodded and looked at the older man curiously.
Colonel Perkins paused for a moment before firmly saying, "When the time comes, you must promise me that you'll let my daughter go."
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Danny and Dash waved goodbye to Sandra and her father and turned to walk down the street. Danny zipped up his jacket when a sudden breeze hit him. His elbow bumped into Dash's and he mumbled an apology to the other boy.
Dash paid him no attention and walked in a daze beside him, a goofy grin plastered on his face. Danny smirked at his friend's expression and placed his cold hands in his pockets. The two walked on in silence, but eventually came upon a young couple holding hands. The two sidestepped the amorous duo and Danny smiled at them, recognizing them from his math class.
He turned to look back at Dash and saw that the other boy no longer wore the same happy smile on his face and looked suspiciously like he was frowning at Danny. Dash continued walking and after a moment he heard Danny's hurried steps behind him. The brunet caught up with Dash and again the two walked on in silence, only now Danny felt a small tension between them.
"Thanks, Fenton."
Danny looked at him in surprise, not expecting to receive thanks from the other boy. He nodded slowly and replied, "You're welcome Dash."
Danny looked at Dash from the corner of his eye and asked, "Is something bothering you?"
Dash turned his head to look at him and mulled over how to go about bringing up such an odd subject. Danny seemed to notice his anxiousness because he stopped walking and in turn forced Dash to stop. At first Dash shook his head no, but then thought better of it and nodded.
Danny looked up at him expectantly and a little worried, making what Dash wanted to say all the more awkward. He thought better about what he was about to say and realized that now was probably not the best time to talk about that.
"No, not really," Dash said, giving him a reassuring smile.
Danny didn't buy it, but humored the other boy. "Oh, it's just you looked like you had something on your mind? Maybe something you wanted to say to me?"
Dash fidgeted with the zipper of his jacket and quickly stopped when he saw the nervous habit. Annoyed at his own cowardly behavior, he squared his shoulders and looked straight into Danny's eyes. He might not make the other boy understand, but he'd damn well get something else off his chest.
"You're a good friend Fenton."
Danny's eyes widened at the other boy's words and he stuttered out, "Um, thanks Dash, you are too."
Dash quickly shook his head and said, "No…I'm actually not a good friend to you."
"What are you talking about?" Danny asked him.
"I've realized two things about our friendship, Fenton." Dash paused for a moment to think about how to phrase what he meant. He looked back at Danny as he said, "Even though we're friends now, our past is…like an invisible wall between us. It made me realize that no matter how much I want to put the past behind me, what I do now will never make what I did then right. And for that I'm…sorry."
Dash sighed in frustration before blurting out, "Then there are times that you confuse the heck out of me."
The other boy's outburst startled Danny and he took a step back from the blond.
"You're standing right in front of me, but it's like I don't really see you. I used to think I was crazy for thinking about you like that, but now I know that it's because you're hiding something."
He gauged the other boy's reaction and saw a bit a fear sneak into the pair of blue eyes looking at him. He gave the other boy a small reassuring smile as he said, "The other thing I realized today, is that it's ok. It's ok if you have big secrets that I don't know about and even if it takes you awhile to really trust me back, what matters is that I know someday you will."
Danny stood speechless for a moment, completely thrown off by Dash's words. He felt a strange twinge of warmth in his stomach as he saw the sincerity in Dash's eyes. Danny felt a strong breeze blow at them again and he closed his eyes at its harshness. When he opened them again, he saw that Dash was watching a small pile of autumn leaves scatter and swirl away from them. Dash smiled slightly at the leaves, for the first time in a long time, his face looking relaxed and at peace.
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Tucker, Danny and Sam carefully peered over the bush they were hiding behind. Tucker looked through his binoculars and gazed out at the busy park scene before him. When he spotted what he was looking for he readjusted the lenses to zoom in.
"There, over by the fountain," Tucker said pointing.
Danny took the proffered binoculars and looked at where Tucker was pointing to. He spotted Dash and Sandra sitting on one of the cement steps that led up to the fountain. The two were talking and laughing as they fed some birds. Sam poked his side and Danny gave her the binoculars.
Sam looked through them and said, "It looks like they're having a good time, Danny."
"Yeah, are you sure we need to spy on them?" Tucker asked.
"I'm sure. I wouldn't put it past Griffith to show up and try to mess up their date. We have to stop him in case he tries anything."
Tucker and Sam hid behind the bushes again and sat down on the grass to wait. Sam glanced at Tucker from the corner of her eye and saw the boy playing a game on his PDA. She sighed and reached into her backpack to get out her book. She sat more comfortably on the grass and began to read. Tucker casually shifted his position and managed to catch a glimpse of Sam. He stared at her for a moment before going back to his game.
Danny continued to observe, oblivious of the tension behind him. He adjusted the binoculars again and zoomed in on Dash and Sandra. Sandra was making wild gestures and talking animatedly about something, Dash held his sides as he laughed at what she was saying.
The rest of the hour passed uneventfully and Danny was beginning to fall asleep. A bird landing on his arm startled him and he realized that Dash and Sandra were gone. He quickly looked through the binoculars and searched the landscape until he came upon the two, making their way over towards a paved walkway.
"Guys, they're leaving, let's go," Danny said hurriedly.
Sam looked up from her book and quickly stashed it back into her backpack. She saw Tucker had fallen asleep next to his PDA. For a moment a gentle smile came to her face before she quickly hid it and nudged Tucker's legs with her boot. After a particularly harsh hit to his knee, Tucker woke up with a groan of pain and held his knee.
"What'd you do that for?" asked Tucker in annoyance.
"To make you get up. Dash and Sandra are leaving," Sam said matter-of-factly. Sam left him and kept a steady pace with Danny, who was already following the couple.
Tucker quickly grabbed his things and muttered to himself, "I liked it better when she'd kiss me awake."
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Sam silently groaned to herself as she was forced to watch the lovey-dovey scene in front of her. After the park, Dash and Sandra had gone to the movies, subjecting the spying trio into a 1 hour and 57 minute romance comedy that Sam could have lived without seeing. Much to their disappointment, the pair did not kiss and the only ray of shining hope out of the abysmal cinematic setting was that Dash had moved his arm around Sandra without getting punched.
Sam took a sip of her drink again and continued to watch Dash and Sandra from her vantage point. The couple was currently inside the arcades and still oblivious to the Goth girl's presence in the nearby food court. She checked her watch again and saw that only 4 minutes had passed since Danny and Tucker had gone off to the bathroom and stuck her with watch duty.
She sighed again and watched as Dash and Sandra continued to play a racing game against each other. Dash looked like he was concentrating very hard on winning, in contrast to Sandra who wore a smile and moved the wheel with easy gestures. After a minute, Sandra laughed as Dash groaned loudly and threw his hands up in frustration.
Sam couldn't help but frown a little at the scene in front of her. It reminded her of all the times she and Tucker had played video games against each other. Sam quickly clamped down on her train of thought and shook her head to clear them away. She was not going to think about this now. When she looked back up at the arcade, Dash and Sandra were gone.
She panicked for a second and quickly stood up to see where they were. She looked all around her, but couldn't find them anywhere. Sam pulled out her cell phone and quickly called Danny. After the second ring, he picked up and answered.
"Danny, we have a problem."
"What, is it a ghost?"
"No, it's Dash and Sandra. I took my eyes off them for a second and now I can't find them anywhere." Sam stepped through the arcade, her eyes roaming over everyone inside. "I'm sorry, but I think they left the mall."
"Darn it," Danny said in frustration. "Ok, I'll fly around town and see if I can spot them from the air, you and Tucker look for them on the ground."
Sam suppressed her annoyance and replied, "Alright, tell Tucker I'm at the entrance of the arcade." With a loud clap, she closed her cell phone.
"What happened?" Tucker asked in worry.
"Dash and Sandra are gone. Sam's waiting for you at the arcade. I need you two to search on the ground, go to places where people hang out at a lot and call me if you find them."
Danny was glad the bathroom was empty as he quickly transformed into his alter ego. He became intangible and hurriedly flew through the bathroom ceiling. Tucker sighed in annoyance and grudgingly made his way out of the bathroom and towards the arcade. He could only guess how bad the rest of this day was going to be for him.
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Danny had been searching for Dash and Sandra for nearly an hour now and was beginning to grow worried. He'd gotten to the point where he'd flown down nearly every street in downtown Amity Park and still found no sign of them. The sun was going to set soon and make it harder for him to search.
He heard loud giggling and turned in the direction of the sound. He flew down and became intangible as he looked around the side of a building to see Paulina and Star laughing as they walked down the sidewalk.
Paulina smirked as she asked Star, "Didn't you think it was cute how Dash blushed when I asked him if he was on a date?"
Star giggled, "Yeah, I've never seen Dash react like that. He must really like Sandra."
'They're talking about Dash.'
Danny quickly hid behind the building and transformed back into his normal self. He came around the corner of the building and crashed into Paulina. The two fell backwards and Danny saw stars as he sat up. He held a hand to his head and looked up to see Star helping Paulina up.
"Like what's your major malfunction, Fenton?" Star said in annoyance.
Paulina held up a hand and smiled as she said, "Star, it's ok, Danny is always clumsy when he's in a hurry."
Danny gave her an apologetic smile as he stood up. He casually dusted himself as he said, "Sorry for bumping into you Paulina."
"It's ok, sometimes I like running into certain people." Paulina said, giving him a charming smile.
The effort was wasted as Danny got right to the point, "Have you seen Dash?"
Paulina raised an eyebrow at the question and nodded as she said, "Yeah, we just saw him and Sandra coming out of the Nasty Burger."
Danny smiled and urgently asked, "Do you know where they were heading for?"
"Um, I'm not sure, but I think they said they were going to the observatory."
"The observatory," Danny nodded. "Ok, thanks Paulina."
Danny quickly ran off down the sidewalk, Paulina and Star giving him weird looks.
"Did he just ignore your flirtation?" Star asked in mild surprise.
"Yes," said Paulina in a suspicious tone. "I think something's wrong with him."
"Like he's gay or something?" asked Star.
Paulina gave her an annoyed glance as she said, "No, I mean like something is bothering him."
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Sandra looked up in awe at the artificial night sky spinning in the covered ceiling of the theater room. She and Dash sat in the center of the auditorium and watched as the projectors flashed the story of how the Earth was created. Dash smiled as he saw the scene of the sun forming and casually set his hand over Sandra's. The brunette blushed at the action, but did not remove his hand.
Sandra had been surprised at first when Dash had insisted they end the day by going to the observatory atop of Dozer Hill. When they arrived Sandra had pointed out that the hours clearly said they were closed on Sunday. Dash had merely smiled as he'd dragged her to the back entrance and knocked in an odd rhythm against the door. After a moment his efforts were rewarded by the door opening to reveal Dash's friend, Wally.
The man had welcomed them in and introduced himself as the assistant manager of the observatory. He led the way to the theater room and told them to sit back as he ran the computer program that activated the movie. When it was up and running, he'd told the two he'd be in his office and to come get him if they needed anything. Both had thanked him and gone to find seats.
Now as the movie came to a close, the two sat in a comfortable silence and watched as the projector seemed to display the computer's screen saver that displayed different galaxies. Dash was glad for the second distraction because he now had no idea what to say. Except when they'd been at the movies, the two had talked during most of their date. An inner voice had chided him on this and told him that this was no different from the times they hung out together. The only difference really was the times that Dash got to touch Sandra.
He looked down at their hands which had intertwined sometime during the observatory movie. Sandra noticed where he was looking at and was glad the auditorium was dark enough to hide her blush. The two looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, both unsure about what the other was thinking.
In the end Sandra's politeness saved her and she smiled as she said, "Thanks Dash, I had a lot of fun with you."
"Yeah, same here," Dash said with a smile, "but to tell you the truth, I was really surprised that your dad let us go out today."
Sandra shifted in her seat as she said, "Yeah, so was I. I guess whatever you told him yesterday convinced him. By the way Dash, what did you say to my dad? You and Danny didn't let me see your presentation board and my dad told me not to ask."
Dash shook his head as he teasingly said, "Nothing I want to repeat right now."
Sandra gave him a fake pout as she replied, "Fine, you meanie, then I'll just ask Danny."
Dash chuckled as he said, "Fenton's been sworn to secrecy so he won't tell you either."
Dash raised an eyebrow as he saw Sandra try to stifle her chuckling. He gave her a curious look as he asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Sandra quickly composed herself and smiled as she said, "Well it's just that I think your friendship is cute."
"Cute?" Dash said appalled.
"Ok bad choice of words, how about nice?" Sandra offered. "It's just that Paulina told me that you used to bully Danny a lot in the past, but when I look at you guys now, it doesn't seem possible."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, even though you do tease him a lot, at the same time when I see you two together, I can tell you guys really care about each other. It's like whatever bad blood you two used to have, it doesn't seem to matter now because you're friends. I'm not sure if that's how it really is, but at least it's true that you two do trust each other somewhat."
Dash looked at her for a moment before giving her a wide smile. He felt an inexplicable feeling of happiness at her words and realized they were exactly what he'd needed to hear. He looked back up at the ceiling and saw a galaxy that he vaguely remembered Danny calling the Andromeda Galaxy.
"I told your father that I would do my best to protect you and make you smile," Dash admitted, his face flushing slightly.
Dash turned his head to look at her and tightened his hand around hers. Sandra looked back at him and grew slightly nervous. The two stared at each for a long moment before Dash leaned forward slowly. Sandra gathered her courage and followed suit. Before they could kiss however, they heard a loud crash.
Sandra looked to where the noise came from and gasped as she saw a cloaked figure floating by the projector. Through the darkness of the hood she made out two glowing green eyes. The figure floated closer to them and raised a cloaked hand toward them.
In a thunderous voice it bellowed out, "Protect her from this."
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Danny flew as fast as he could toward Dozer Hill. The cold night air contrasted with the angry flush on his face. As soon as he'd found out about where Dash and Sandra went, he'd called Tucker and Sam and met up with the pair. Before they could head over to the observatory however, Danny's ghost sense had gone off.
Danny saw the cause was a slimy bat ghost terrorizing people inside a supermarket. He'd quickly moved in to fight it, but the ghost was hard to catch even at Danny's top speed. Eventually their fight became a battle of sound as the two used their ghost wails against each other in the parking lot. Danny's proved to be stronger and he'd managed to throw back the bat ghost several feet across the concrete. Sam had thrown him the Fenton Thermos and Danny quickly sucked in the annoying ghost.
Tucker yelped in surprise as he caught Danny's attention and pointed toward the sky. Danny saw that Griffith stood on top of the supermarket building, a smirk of satisfaction on his face. Danny had growled at him in annoyance, already knowing that Griffith had been the one to let loose the ghost. Before Danny could reach him, Griffith's body turned into a gas form that swirled quickly before disappearing altogether, the resonating sound of his laughter had been all that was left.
Danny held the Fenton Thermos tightly in his hands and flew lower as he saw the observatory come in sight. Without hesitation he zoomed towards it and phased through the building. He slowed down and floated a few feet off the ground. He quickly formed a green light in his hands to find his way. When he found the familiar door that led to the main telescope room, he phased through it and looked around. The room was in relative silence, a young man sat asleep at one of the many desks lining the edge of the wall.
Danny heard a distant crash from the far wall behind him and saw his ghost sense appear. He quickly phased through the wall where he'd heard the noise come from and saw that he was in the movie auditorium. His eyes narrowed as he saw a cloaked figure fire what looked like green goop at Sandra and Dash. Dash carried Sandra as he dodged and leap away from every hit.
Danny quickly fired a ghost blast at the cloaked figure and sent it flying front first into the nearest wall. He quickly flew over towards his friends and finally saw that part of Sandra's legs and her right arm were covered in a hardened form of the green goop.
"Sandra," Dash said, shaking the girl gently. "Come on, Sandra, wake up."
He shook the girl gently, but it was to no avail and Sandra remained unconscious in his arms. Dash held the girl closer to him and closed his eyes in sadness. Danny stared at the scene in shock, feeling anger and despair rise up in him. He did his best to place a comforting hand on Dash's shoulder. The blond looked at the hand and then at Danny. Before either one could say anything, the sound of crumbling caught their attention.
Danny turned around to see chips of the wall's plaster fall to the ground as the cloaked figure pushed itself away from the wall. It growled angrily as it turned around to face them. It raised its hands in the air, the cloak's sleeves slide down to reveal human hands. After a moment a red light crackled and the cloaked figure fired a red stream of energy at them. Danny quickly gathered energy in his own hands and fired a green ghost blast back.
Dash stared in awe at the clash of energy in front of him. At first the two ghosts were evenly matched before it became clear that the cloaked figure was stronger. The red light kept pushing forward slowly until it came dangerously close to Danny. He grunted with the effort and tried to maintain the red blast away from him.
"Dash, get out of here, now!"
Dash snapped out of his stupor and quickly carried Sandra away. He kicked the exit door open and ran out down the hallway. He headed for the familiar door to his friend's office and pushed it open with his shoulder. The sound of the swinging door echoed loudly in the telescope room and woke up Wally. He nearly fell out of his chair as he saw his friend holding the unconscious form of Sandra.
"Dash, what happened?" Wally asked. The older boy stood up in surprise.
Dash walked toward his Wally and hurriedly said, "No time to explain. Just get her out of here."
He carefully handed Sandra's petite form to Wally, who had some difficulty holding her. Wally stared in shock at Sandra's prone form and looked back at his friend to see Dash was already towards the door.
"Wait Dash, where are you going?" Wally asked loudly.
The blond ignored him as he quickly pushed through the double doors and ran out of the room. Wally tried to calm down as he readjusted his hold on Sandra and made his way out the other set of double doors that led to the east exit. As he carried the unconscious girl, he took a moment to look at the green plaster like substance covering her body. 'It looks like a cast, but it feels slimy.'
Wally quickly made his way out of the observatory main building and carefully laid Sandra down on a grassy knoll near the back side entrance. He looked back at the observatory and pulled out his cell phone to call 9-1-1. Unbeknownst to Wally, Sandra briefly opened her eyes to reveal a glowing green and as she slowly closed them shut, the hardened goop turned into dust.
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Dash quickly made his way into the movie auditorium in time to see the cloaked figure standing in the center and holding an unconscious Danny Phantom by the scruff of his neck. Dash's eyes narrowed in determination and he was glad of his paranoia as he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and produced the small cylindrical tube. He quickly ran forward and when he was close enough, pointed the tube at the cloaked figure. 'This better work.'
He pressed the green button and the tube whirred to life and fired the Jack-A-Nine-Tails at the cloaked figure. The arms quickly wrapped around the cloaked figure and forced it to drop Danny Phantom on the floor. The cloaked figure growled in pain as it was zapped by the arms around it. It fell to the floor and twitched for a moment before becoming covered in gas. Dash cautiously made his way toward the fallen superhero and saw the cloaked figure suddenly disappear and the mechanical arms fall to the ground.
Dash bent down before Danny Phantom and hesitantly touched the ghost boy's shoulder. He nudged him repeatedly, but it didn't seem to wake the other boy up. He grew worried and placed two fingers on the side of the other boy's neck. The skin felt surprisingly warm and as Dash pressed his fingers harder on the juncture; he felt the faint pulse of a heartbeat. He took that much as a good sign and sighed in relief.
"Ok, so he's breathing, now what do I do?" Dash asked aloud.
As if in answer to his question, Dash heard Danny Phantom groan slightly. The blond looked down to see Danny Phantom open his green eyes slowly. Dash felt odd being so close to the ghost boy and tried not to stare at the other's strange appearance.
Danny Phantom slowly tried to stand up, but stumbled a bit. Dash quickly caught the other boy before he fell and as Danny Phantom looked up at him, he tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.
Dash carefully asked him, "Are you going to be ok?"
"I don't know," admitted Danny.
When Danny was set right again he took a step back and looked at the mess around him. The Jack-A-Nine-Tails caught his eye and he frowned slightly. Dash followed his line of vision and sheepishly went to retrieve the fallen gadget. He pressed another button on the side and the machine arms retreated back into the cylindrical tube.
"Where did you get that?"
Dash looked at him as he said, "I found it one day while walking home. My friend's parents make this sort of stuff so I know what it's for."
"Yeah, but why do you carry it around?"
Dash didn't like the question and let it show as he answered, "Ghost attacks are normal in Amity Park and it's not like you're always going to be able to catch all the ghosts. At least this way I always have some sort of protection with me." 'Why am I telling him all of this?'
Danny Phantom looked down for a moment and Dash felt a bit of regret as he wondered if his words had somehow gotten to Danny Phantom. He didn't think he'd said anything particularly harsh, but the expression on Danny Phantom's face said otherwise.
"You're right," said Danny, "I can't be everywhere at once. I'm sorry for not getting here sooner."
Dash fought back the flush he felt on his face as he saw the honest green eyes stare up at him. 'Damn it, why with him?' he thought angrily. Dash looked away and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"You don't have to apologize. I'm just saying that you don't have to worry about me as much as everyone else even though technically I'm always the guy getting attacked." Dash mentally smacked himself at how fumbled his words sounded.
A sudden thought struck Dash and he felt his earlier worry return. He side stepped around the ghost boy and ran up the steps that led out of the auditorium. Danny watched him in surprise and then realized where the blond was headed. Danny gathered as much of his strength as he had left and quickly flew toward Dash and grabbed the other boy. He phased them through several walls of the observatory until they made it outside. Danny flew to his left and eventually they came upon the sight of a young man bent down over Sandra's prone form.
Danny released Dash and the blond ran as soon as his feet hit the ground. He quickly made his way over to Sandra and fell to his knees in front of her. His eyes looked at her legs and he smiled as he saw that the hardened goop was now gone. Sandra stirred to life and opened her eyes in time to see Dash. She tried to sit up, but Dash's hand stopped her and he told her to not get up yet. Dash looked back at Danny Phantom to see the other boy about to take off.
"Thank you, Danny!"
Danny turned around in surprise and saw Dash smirking.
"Yeah, Paulina told me your name's not David…it's Danny, Danny Phantom."
Danny sighed in relief and quickly nodded in return. He'd nearly had a heart attack at hearing Dash call him by his real name. He slowly took off into the sky and headed for home, finally feeling the exhaustion of the day. He chanced a glance at Dash and Sandra and felt frustrated as he looked at them. 'If it wasn't Griffith who interfered with them, then who was that?'
End of Chapter 19
Author's End Notes: I guess the only pertinent thing I need to say is that I have finals coming up and thus won't be able to post anymore this month and so the next update will be up in late May. (It's the reason why I made this slightly longer than usual.) I'm not sure how you guys took this, but for the most part I hope you guys liked it well enough. As always please review!
Big spoiler summary for next chapter: As Danny sees Dash find an odd happiness with Sandra, he wonders about his own. Tucker and Sam continue their silence towards each other, but are forced to stop when Danny Phantom's new enemy targets them. Jazz sees how much her little brother has grown up and gets more than she bargained for. Now unable to further ignore Griffith's orders, Flora struggles with her emotions as she uses her powers on Dash and Sandra.
Spidey's Shout Outs:
(because e-mails don't have audio components yet)
KimuraSato: Hey girl! Thanks so much for the constructive criticism in your reviews; I always miss grammar mistakes no matter how many times I read over something. So I know you were waiting for a Dash/Danny moment, but I had to give a Dash/Danny Phantom moment instead. I don't think most people will see the sense in that, but I hope you like it anyway. How is your story going by the way? Any new fresh story angles being developed in it?
Reptilian Goddess: Hey there! Hmm, Dash and Danny hugging…ya know that could work for the next part I'm writing. Thanks for the idea and the review! (By the way, I hope you weren't too disappointed that the Tuck/Sam moments weren't as violent as might have been insinuated.)
Kayu Silver: Hey! Lol, I love when people dance in their reviews…or in real life. Yes, the number of dances in the world is a list that's longer than even I imagined, but there are only so many I can use. Your words were very kind and honest. It's very cool to know, that even though this is such a slow story, some people will continue to read it. Thank you for your dancing review!
Broodrooster: Awesome a new reviewer! Lol, I think guy or girl, sometimes just hearing someone tell you that you're cute is a little surprising. However I agree with your sentiments. Thank you for the review!
i like traffic lights: Horay! Another new reviewer! Lol, if it was like an actual episode there'd be a lot more puns I think. I'm glad that you like my OC's because I'm always wondering how they're perceived by my readers (especially the ones who hate Mary-Sues). I looked up most of the dance names online and if the style and meaning somehow fits what the chapter is going to be about then it becomes the dance for that chapter. I'm not running low yet, but let's just say that I'm glad this fic is 2/3 of the way done. I hope you like the Dash/Danny although it's not exactly Dash/Danny Fenton as was implied. +smiles nervously+ Thanks so much for the awesomely long review!
MorganEddasil: Hello again! Hmm, a Jack/Danny…that would be possible, but I think for now you'll have to settle for the Jack/Danny/Dash moments in the future. Lol, high-fives back, yes the day I'm not some sort of paranormal fiend is truly a boring day. Thanks so much for your cool review!
hittocerebattosai: Yes ma'am! Hurah, you found it cute…coincidently when Danny discovers that to Jack he's cute. Lol, thanks so much for the lovable review!
Akiko: Hello again! Lol, yeah most people seem to feel sorry for the guy and I wonder how they'll see him in the chapters to come. I hope you liked this chapter and thanks so much for your review!
authoraisarete: Hello! #1, Daijoubu! You don't need to feel bad for such things, I'm just happy when people like you have the time to do so. #2, lol, I'm happy that you like this fic so much, but hope the gift didn't perturb you too much (perhaps I made it unclear). Yes, I liked writing the Flora scene as well because I think that there's something oddly intriguing about a girl who can't express her emotions because of who she works for. #3, lol, yes I know what you're talking about and I wanted to thank you for pointing that out to me. I didn't mean to make Danny uber uke, lol, but now that I've reread it I can see what you meant. I'll need to work on that for the future chapters. Thanks so much for your nice review!
Kate: Hey again! I actually am working on two other ones at the moment. I mostly write those when I have writer's block on this one. Yes, I noticed that too and have been asking certain DP slash writers to update soon, but I guess with the show nearly ending soon, people are falling out of it? I don't know. Huh, an Easter fic, that's a good idea actually. I'm not sure what you mean by anime media links, but for updates on what anime has been subbed, I like going to or At any rate I wanted to thank you for the e-mailed review!