I know, I rush things. It's a bad habit of mine.

If you feel pity for Sam, you've got a heart. If you get creeped out, I've done a good job. 

She wasn't at next period. Sam wasn't at lunch. She also wasn't hanging around in the trees outside, Danny checked. She seemed to have ditched school completely.

"The nurse sent her home. Apparently she was experiencing dizzy spells." Danny lied. But he wondered. What had he done to freak her out so much? It was just ghost hunting as usual, right? It was just getting the bad guy. Bertrand was a bad guy. He hurt innocent people. He deserved to be demolished.

Danny rubbed his forehead. How could this girl cause so much guilt and confusion?

The moment the last bell rang, Danny was out and running. He had already packed his bag, so it was just a matter of swiping it out of his locker. He changed into Danny Phantom behind a tree and took off before most kids had even exited their classes.

He checked his house, calling her name inside. No Sam. His mother looked worried. "Where did Sam go?" Her eyes widened with worry. "Did she get lost?"

Danny laughed nervously. "Of course not, Mom. She's hanging out with Tucker." He ran out the door before she could ask any more questions. Worried mothers could cause more trouble than forty Plasmius's, in his experience.

Danny flew around, scouring the city. He felt worry rise and squashed it. She works for Clockwork, for crying out loud. She's got to be good. And she lives here in the future, so she should know her way around. Why am I worried about her, anyway?

He spotted her in the top branches of an oak in the park. Relief flooded through him, but he put a scowl on his face. She wouldn't know he was worried. He landed next to her and shouted, "Why did you leave like that? What's so wrong with me hunting ghosts?

Sam blinked lazily. She had a small smile and a look of pure contentment on her face. "Hey, Danny." She said breezily.

Danny's eyes narrowed. "Don't Hey, Danny me! Where were you? I looked everywhere!"

She raised her eyebrows. "Hmm. I didn't know you cared, Danny." She put her arms above her head and swung herself up onto the next branch. Danny gaped at this physical feat and joined her.

Danny had lost his momentum. He sat nest to Sam and looked out over the sea of trees. Sam sat down beside him and the two just sat in silence for a while. It wasn't awkward at all just friendly silence between two people who barely knew each other.

Danny sighed, breaking the silence. "What's wrong with me fighting ghosts?" He asked quietly. "I'm supposed to."

Sam sighed and looked at Danny, studying his face. "I know, Danny. But how does ghost fighting usually go?"

Danny continued to look out over the trees. A bystander would think he was talking to himself; he looked so detached. "Well, a ghost attacks, and then I attack."

Sam tilted her head a little and shrugged her shoulders up. "What was different about this time?"

Danny shrugged. "He exploded? He didn't hurt anybody?"

Sam nodded. "Exactly, Danny." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "As much as it doesn't seem like it, Danny ghosts were people once too. They deserve a chance. 'Treat others as you want to be treated.' If you backed off a little, I'm sure Bitran, or whatever his name is wouldn't attack you. Normally, ghosts attack regular people, right?"

Danny nodded dumbly. He was shocked and angry. Who does this girl think she is?

"Well, wait until they do, and then suck them into the thermos-thingy you use. Don't murder them for blasting at you!"

Danny stood up. "That's a load of crap." He said slowly.

Sam shrugged. "It may sound like it, Danny, but it's really not."

Danny scoffed. "I don't have time for this." He made to take off, but Sam shoved her hand in his face.

The hand with the green on it. "Do you want to hear how I got this, or not?" Sam growled. She looked furious. Quite a contrast from her earlier, lazy disposition.

Danny sat down, still scowling. He had to admit, he was curious.

Sam sighed and kneaded her palm. A nervous habit, Danny guessed. Sam sighed and looked thoughtful. She opened her mouth to speak, but stuttered. "I got this when… Well, I… You kind of…" She groaned and paced the branch. "I got this when I was really little." Sam said. She wouldn't meet Danny's eyes. "From… From Danny Phantom."

oOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOo

Samantha Manson was two years old when she first saw the infamous Danny Phantom. That day began with a pleasant walk in the park. The air was clearer then it had been in weeks, and everybody felt slightly giddy from the oxygen. The little girl was running around as fast as her toddler les could carry her, enjoying being alive.

When she saw him. "Look Gramma!" She said pointing. The man with a cape was flying through the sky. "Is that superman, Gramma?" She asked.

Laura Manson was terrified. "Come on, Sammy. We have to go home now." Everybody else had left the park running, but the girl stood transfixed.

"Look, Gramma. He's coming to say hi!" Sam pointed out. She was unfortunately right. The villain had singled out the two remaining people in the park and came to greet them.

The man with the flaming hair landed three feet from the two. Laura was attempting to shield her granddaughter from the famous murderer. Danny wasn't interested in the elderly woman. He didn't bother with words, but brutally shot the old lady to the side.

Laura Manson was no more on the whim of an insane ghost.

Sam was confused and upset. "What did you do to Gramma?" She asked, her eyes wide with fear. There was a tremble of tears in her voice. She stumbled to check on her Grandmother.

Phantom caught her before she reached the corpse. "Why, hello." He said, a nasty grin on his face. "Aren't you a pretty thing?" Sam struggled against his massive hands and he chuckled. "Aren't you adorable? Do you want to fly?"

She looked up at him with wide eyes. Danny floated gently up. Sam looked down and shrieked with delight. All memories of her grandmother's demise washed away with this newfound sensation. Such are the minds of toddlers. She clapped and asked happily, "What else can you do?"

Phantom grinned and held up his palm. Sam sat for a moment confused and then pressed her hand against his, smiling at him and waiting for the next trick. Danny's eyes crinkled and he formed a fireball, sending it into the soft skin of Samantha Manson's palm.

The little girl screamed, while the man holding her laughed.

oOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOoOºOo

Danny stared at her, horrified. Sam was choking back tears. "The doctors couldn't do anything for me. The ectoplasm is infused with the skin on my palm. I have minimal ghost powers, but using them is a huge strain." She said in a bitter voice. "My grandmother was dead the moment he shot her."

Sam raised her eyes to Danny. He sat stunned. His future was the girl's nightmare, her worst memory. "I don't believe it." He choked out.

Sam sat down next to him and raised his hand. She placed her hand five inches from his. "Watch." She ordered. He did. Green sparks drifted lazily from Sam's hand to his and then back again. They increased and increased until a rope of green fire connected Danny and Sam. The ectoplasm in her skin was calling out to his own.

Danny tore his hands away and stared at them, horrified. He looked up, ashamed for what he had not yet done. "Sam, I'm so-…"

Sam cut him off, barreling on. She spoke in short spurts. "Clockwork always sends me to people I'm connected with. The founder of Amity Park. A famous environmentalist. One of my favorite authors. An ancestor. So I can tell if I'm not changing things too much." She shot a quick look at Danny. "My memories would change and Clockwork would allow me to remember what I used to know and what changed." She gave a short laugh, causing a few tears to spill down her cheeks. "With you, I guess I'll be able to tell when my grandmother's alive."

Danny felt a burning sensation. It started near his stomach. It felt like self-loathing. He ruined this poor girls life and now she was trying to fix his own.

He swallowed. "What do I need to do?"

I felt terrible writing it. Please don't hate me.