A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. I ended it when I felt it should be ended. And….
Danny Phantom - Fiction Rated: K+ - English - Drama/Supernatural - Chapters: 14 - Words: 50044 - Reviews: 213 - Updated: 4-25-06 - Published: 3-29-06
…can we say…wewt. Personal goal achieved! Sorry also for the slowness in updating this week, as I mentioned in chapter 14, I've been a tad busy. It seems that some people weren't even expecting this one so soon; when I called mrit earlier the first thing she said was "You're working on a fanfic on your birthday?" (She may have been more shocked that I was, how shall we say, awake at 11 a.m. on my day off.) Indeed, I am 23 as of today. That's 23 years of spreading pure evil throughout the world! Mwa ha ha ha!
So, here's 15! Watch out for cliffhangers, but we're all used to that now, yes?
Shout-outs:
Anomaly25 – Right now Vlad's a no-go, I just don't see a way to bring him in that fits in well with what I have currently (originally I had merely intended to have him not exist, because Jack and Maddie's college days would have been in the 1940s…and how feasible would his accident have been then? It's hardly even workable in Danny's 1960s. XD) As for Danny's parents, unfortunately they have passed on. :(
Sparky the Wonder Weasel – I'm looking at about 18 chapters, now!
Fanficaholic – Sorry, can't say! XD
conan98002 – Not so far! See my comments for Anomaly25 just above.
Thanks to Crossover Fiend, L'ange-Sans-Ailes, Galateagirl, Leppers, silvermoonphantom, Kagome M.K, Phantom of a Rose, Crazy Billie Joe Loving Freak, Pearl84, Soni, Jimmy the Gothic Egg, dArkliTe-sPirit and Rebecca The Animorph for their reviews! Hope you're all still reading and enjoying!
Estrelas
Chapter 15
by Shimegami-chan
Danny's mind seemed to go completely blank as Sam kissed him, open-mouthed, her eyes falling closed and grip on his jumpsuit relaxing only slightly. His cold cheek absorbed the warmth from her hand and it spread through him like fire, infusing his chilled form with heat. The first moment of contact seemed to last forever as a thousand anxieties hit him at once, ranging from fear of being spotted out here on the sidewalk in his ghost form, to helpless frustration as all his carefully planned arguments melted away. He knew he shouldn't, but he wanted to kiss her back; wanted to make this work somehow, to erase the past sixty years and go back to caring about his own happiness once in a while. He knew he shouldn't let her get too involved with him; she had parents who (seemingly) cared and she was a clever girl, a pretty girl who no doubt would blossom and go far in life. She didn't need to be tied down to a boyfriend who could only pretend to be normal until people started to notice that he never changed…to a half-ghost who could never reveal his true identity to anyone. She could do so much better than him.
He couldn't. He knew, knew, knew it, but he so desperately wanted it, and suddenly he was kissing her back, not even caring anymore that it was mid-afternoon and they were standing on a tree-lined street of houses filled with people who could potentially be watching from their windows. What's done is done, Danny thought to himself, trying to concentrate on the kiss rather than the train wreck happening in his head. He powered down in a belated attempt to be discreet, praying no one saw the crackle of energy wash over his hair and jumpsuit to return him to his human form. Sam twitched a bit at the feeling, but seemed to know without opening her eyes what he had done, and Danny then let himself forget all those worries and wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the brief moment of happiness.
Sam was the first to draw back with a long sigh, looking intently at Danny, whose expression seemed caught between confusion and bliss. She studied his face without speaking for a few moments, until he finally opened his mouth to say something, and she pressed her index finger against his lips to quiet the protest. "Listen up, because I'm only going to say this once more. I meant what I said last night, or this morning, whatever, about not giving up on people easily. Back then I thought you were a full ghost and probably a threat to yourself and the rest of the town at the rate you were losing your memory. So if you think I'm going to walk away because you're not a ghost, you have another think coming."
"That wasn't what I was going to say," he protested, finally glancing around to check for spectators. Thankfully, the street was still empty, though he couldn't shake that feeling of impending trouble. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't just caught up in the moment. I don't seem to be very good at lying to you, and even telling you the truth about me doesn't even faze you. I don't get it. How could you possibly want to have anything to do with me, knowing what I am?"
"What you are doesn't define who you are," Sam replied softly. "And besides, even with only half the story, I believe that you were always doing the right thing. Being left behind to take the blame, like you said earlier. Why should I care if people don't like your ghost half? It just makes me mad that not everyone is giving you the benefit of the doubt."
"That's not it," he replied tiredly. "Leaving out the whole 'everyone in this town hates me' detail, I'm still half-ghost. Half dead, except that I can never die, not of natural causes anyway. You don't find that…I don't know, kind of morbid?"
She rolled her eyes. "Would I be kissing you if it was?"
"Okay, what about the aging thing? That's a problem."
Sam's expression softened. "I'll repeat myself once more in light of…recent discoveries. I do not care about what other people think of me. And I'm not saying, not here and now at least, that what just happened is going to lead to a happily ever after for us. Yeah, you're part ghost, okay, I get it. But if I happen to keep falling for you, that is not going to matter. I like you for you. You're sweet, considerate…and since you got your memory back, you seem to have even developed a sense of humour. I like that in a guy."
Danny blushed and looked away, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"So please stop trying to decide what's right and wrong for me. Have I thought this through? Hell no. But sometimes, Danny, you just have to let instinct carry you. I won't say 'no way' to something because its future is uncertain."
"Thanks," was all he could say in reply, fighting back a blush. "I guess maybe I thought about it too much."
"Nah." Sam grinned. "If you had, you wouldn't have kissed back."
As they approached Sam's summer residence, Danny's thoughts were once again turned to all the what-ifs he was facing, whether or not his relations with Sam developed into something more than friendship. He had some resources that could help him survive if he tried to eke out a new human identity, but some things were still impossibly out of reach…and then there was the ever-present danger of someone catching on, and what would happen if anyone ever recognized him as being Danny Fenton. It would be kind of difficult to stay in Amity Park with the danger of Valerie still around, though if she'd bought the story about him being Jazz's nephew, maybe others would too. But then there was the problem of Sam…
Sam, who lived on the opposite side of the state. Sam, who still had a full year of high school left, and overprotective, overbearing parents. How would they react to a boyfriend who looked fourteen? He couldn't hope to pass himself off as too much older, and of course Sam would continue to age. Either the people in her life would have to find out his secret, or any relationship between them would have to be a secret. It was almost depressing, but in comparison to all his other worries, Danny found himself unable to focus too much on what fight the parents of a very take-charge person like Sam could put up. He supposed that he should leave that much, at least, to her.
If he stayed in Amity Park, Danny thought, he could fly down to visit her as often as possible. Or maybe he could just move into her attic instead. Just because none of the options were immediately inviting didn't mean they weren't viable. He'd been in Amity all his life, after all. And it had been a long time since the city had any serious ghost trouble, at least nothing (outside of Spectra) that the Hunters couldn't handle. Maybe it really was time for Danny Phantom to move on to new territories.
He was still musing over these possibilities when they arrived in front of the house, his thoughts punctuated by Sam's sharp intake of breath. "That's my parents' car."
"Fantastic," Danny groaned.
"And that," Sam pointed at the red convertible sitting behind the Mansons' SUV, "is Penelope's car."
"And next, I suppose you'll tell me that Valerie's in the living room window."
"It's not that bad yet. I hope." Sam winced. "I think it'd be better if you stayed outside. Or came in via a method where no one can see you, if you get my drift." She hadn't even finished the sentence before he disappeared. Sam continued to address the empty air. "What do you think? Go in the front door and give some excuse, or sneak in invisibly and pretend I fell asleep somewhere out of my room?"
"It's late," Danny reasoned, crossing his arms even though she couldn't see. "I don't think they'd believe you'd been in the house this whole time. Besides, who knows what Spectra's told them?"
Sam covered her face with one purple-manicured hand. "Great. I'll have to wing it. Don't take anything you hear in here personally, okay? And please stay somewhere where you won't make a cold spot."
"I know what I'm doing," Danny replied, a little huffily.
"Glad one of us does." Sam straightened her skirt and marched up the front steps with Danny several feet behind. She felt his chilly presence move away from her as she opened the door and kicked off her boots, shoving them to one side on the welcome mat. Maybe if she went right upstairs and pretended she wasn't expecting a scene, they'd just—
"SAMANTHA!" A blur of yellow and pink floral print flew at her from the direction of the kitchen. "Oh my God! Where have you been? Are you all right? We were just about to call the police—"
Sam squirmed out of her mother's grasp and flattened against the porch wall, trying to put some distance between herself and her hysterical parent. "I'm fine, perfectly OK, what are you doing here?"
"Oh!" Liza held a lace hanky to face and daubed away invisible tears. "Your grandmother called us when you disappeared, and then Penelope called, bless her, and told us about that awful ghost! Oh, Sammiekins, we were so worried! Do you feel all right? Did it hurt you?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "No, he did not hurt me, and Penelope has been telling you lies, thanks. Where's Grandma? I need to apologize for getting her caught up in this ridiculous farce."
"Now you listen here!" Liza cried, suddenly transitioning from grieving maid to thunderous matron. "I do hope you're not calling my best friend a liar!"
"I suppose I am," Sam said sweetly, pushing past her mother and taking the stairs two at a time. At the top was Grandma Manson, her eyes red and puffy, looking extremely distressed. "Grandma—"
"Oh, Samantha." The elderly woman threw her arms around Sam, and she felt a pang of guilt for making her relative worry so. "My goodness, child, I'm so glad you're all right. I didn't know what to think when I couldn't find you this morning—your parents have been absolutely frantic—"
"I'm fine," Sam assured her. "I promise, no one's done anything to me, and I didn't mean to worry you. I'm sorry."
Her grandmother managed a relieved smile as she stepped away and started to lead the girl down the stairs. "Thank goodness."
Sam turned to follow, still finding it hard to figure out the exact extent of damage control she was going to have to do. Her thoughts had just drifted to Penelope when the woman in question appeared at her mother's side. "Samantha!" She turned to Liza. "I'll have to ensure she isn't possessed, dear, you understand, don't you?"
"Possessed?" Mrs. Manson looked horrified.
"Who knows what that ghost might have done if he found her again?" Penelope made a face as though she'd just eaten a lemon. "It'll only take a moment, so just come along now—"
Sam pulled away as though Penelope was a snake. She knew what the woman's touch was going to do to her now, and she wasn't about to let it happen willingly. "Don't come near me!"
Penelope tsked. "Now, now, Samantha…"
"I mean it." Sam looked at her with a glare that could have melted steel.
"Is she possessed, then?" Liza cried desperately. "At least tell us where you've been, Sammiekins!"
"I have been out socializing with my friend," Sam said matter-of-factly. "Who's a ghost, by the way, I'll get that issue out in the open first. He didn't possess me, he didn't hurt me, and he didn't take me away by force. I went of my own volition. How's that?" She was still reluctant to reveal Penelope's secret in front of her family – even with Danny there, she didn't want to take the chance that her parents and grandmother would be hurt.
"Friends? With the Phantom?" Penelope's laugh was hollow. "Oh, you poor dear, he really tricked you, didn't he? No, Liza, perhaps she's not possessed at all, but she doesn't need to be for that ghost to be affecting her mind. They drain away happiness, you know."
Her mother gasped.
"Oh, I know," Sam muttered through clenched teeth. "That some do."
She felt a cold touch on her shoulder, and Danny's voice registered in her ear. "I can't tell if Bertrand is here or not. Definitely best not to expose her."
Sam nodded her head slightly enough that no one else took note. She was more comforted, though, by the feeling of Danny's ethereal hands on her shoulders, giving her support. "You guys don't need to get so worked up about this. I told you that he didn't hurt me."
"Then why won't you let Penelope check you over?" Liza demanded, clenching the hanky in her fist. "Why have you been acting so strangely since you got here? Talking to yourself, spending hours in the attic, running away in the middle of the night – it's not like you!"
"What the—" Abruptly Danny's hands left Sam's shoulders and she felt him swiftly leave the hallway, the slight cold lingering in the air and raising goose bumps on Sam's exposed arms. She wondered what it was he had realized that had caused him to go so quickly.
Forcing back worry,Sam kept focused on her mother's shrill voice. "Really, I'm okay. I don't see why you're taking Penelope's word over mine, that's all."
"Oh, Sammiekins, we're just worried, don't you see? You've been so depressed lately, your Grandma says…there must be something wrong! Won't you tell me?"
"There is," Sam replied impatiently, "but I don't want to talk about it right now, so please let it go."
Thurston Manson had appeared in the porch beside his wife. "That ghost is being talked about on the radio right now, Liza, I think you should hear this…"
Sam's stomach seemed to drop into her shoes. Why would Danny be on the radio? Unless Spectra tipped them off… Sharing a fearful glance, Mrs. Manson and Penelope rushed into the kitchen to hear the broadcast, and Mr. Manson raised the volume to a level that was nearly audible in the hallway.
Dashing down the stairs, Sam skidded into the kitchen in time to catch the final few seconds of the report. "—are still unknown, but anyone with information about Daniel Fenton or the ghost known as 'Inviso-Bill' should contact the Ghost Squad immediately via the following number, 555—"
"Oh, no," Sam whispered, as his full name fell on her ears like a dropped glass shattering. Her parents and grandmother were still focused on the radio, but Penelope had looked over her shoulder to smirk at the Goth and the still-invisible ghost boy, whose hand was suddenly curled around Sam's wrist.
"We've got trouble," Danny whispered just loudly enough for Sam to catch, his voice strained. "Somebody saw me transform."
-to be continued…