(Danny and Sam are flying in the air, then the sun hits Danny's hair, and Sam gazes lovingly at him)
Danny: (Notices Sam staring at him) Are you okay, Sam?
Sam: Huh? Oh! It's just really nice up here, that's all. Flying's nice! (Sam chuckles nervously; Danny blushes and stares at Sam; they both crash into a wooden poster of Ember and fall to the ground) Falling stinks!
Decisions
"Hey, how are you holding up?" Megan asked me as we walked towards Casper.
"I'm fine," I said mechanically.
It was an automatic response for me to deny any and all pain ever since I first became Phantom, even in the early days when I was struggling against Lunch Lady. Jazz called it my 'hero reflex.' It always bugged her, since she kept insisting it would kill me one day.
"Are you sure?" She pressed, frowning at me in concern, "Those injuries look pretty serious…"
"I've been through worse," I told her, flinching when I comprehended my words. I was always more loose-lipped when I was in pain…
"A bad boy, huh?" Megan asked playfully, "I wouldn't have taken you as the type to go looking for trouble…"
"I don't," I told her grimly. "Trouble finds me," Megan laughed a little at that.
"I can see that," She said, bemused.
"Meg?" I heard a new female voice call out, "Megan! What do you think you're doing?" Megan sighed in annoyance, rolling her eyes irritably.
"That would be the friend I told you about earlier," She told me dryly. I blinked in a daze as a girl around our age approached us, a small frown on her face as her eyes darted between me and Megan, a tense, worried look in her eyes. I raised an eyebrow at her as she came closer.'She looks familiar…' I thought vaguely.
"He woke up, Tina," Megan called to the girl. "I was just helping him get back to his dorm," Tina's lips pursed just as I matched the face to the memories I had of her.
'So that's Tuck's cousin, huh?' I smiled slightly to myself. 'She's changed since the last time I say her,'
"Don't you think he should go to the hospital, Megan?" Tina asked, her voice tight and her tone pointed. I smiled wryly when I heard it.
Obviously someone had some trust issues… not that I blamed her. A beaten up guy lying in the middle of nowhere who didn't want to go to the hospital probably set off bells and whistles for almost any girl.
Which kind of made me wonder what made Megan so trusting.
'Then again, Tuck did say she was a gold digger,' I remembered at last, 'And she knew my name, which isn't a promising sign…'
"He said he didn't want to go," Megan responded to Tina's question, her eyes narrowing in challenge, "So I felt it was only best to make sure he got home okay, considering his state."
"You let you hair grow out." I announced, startling both girls.
"Huh?" Tina said, blinking at me and raising an eyebrow.
"Your hair's gotten longer since I saw you at Tucker's birthday." I clarified, "Remember? There was that big ghost attack and Tucker-"
"Used that Thermos-thingy to save me!" Tina finished with a gasp, her eyes widening. "Danny?"
"Nice to see you remember me," I said with a weak grin, "Though something tells me this little reunion could've been held a little more gracefully…"
"Yeah, I'd imagine so…" Tina said, her mouth twitching in a suppressed smile, "It feels like it's been forever though! How've you been?"
"As of now? I can honestly say there've been better days…" I rolled my eyes pointedly.
'Then again, there've been worse, too,' I reminded myself grimly. The fight with Pariah Dark, for example… and the thing with my evil future self…
"Yeah, that's pretty obvious," Tina laughed dryly. "Do you need any help getting back? I wanted to talk to Sam again, anyways."
"I've got it," Megan said quickly, giving Tina a pointed look. "You should head back to Wendy and tell someone what happened so We won't get into trouble."
"If you can, don't tell Jazz," I begged her, "I don't want her freaking out about me again, not with that big Psych thing coming up."
"I'll keep it low pro," Tina promised, nodding at me, "Hope you feel better soon, Danny,"
"Thanks," I sighed as I hobbled away, Megan at my side watching anxiously as if expecting me to collapse at any given second.
"Does this happen a lot, then?" Megan asked me. I blinked, not following her.
"What?"
"These… attacks," Megan clarified, motioning towards me with a hand, "You said you didn't want this Jazz person to freak out on you again. Does that mean this happens a lot?"
"I guess." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Thank God the school was close enough that we'd probably be there in a few minutes… "They happen enough. And my sister always freaks over every little thing."
"Oh?" Megan said mildly. "Are you two close? You and your sister, I mean,"
"We're all each other has," I responded honestly.
"What about Mr. Masters?" Megan asked.
"What about him?" I snapped back as we entered the Casper campus.
"So you two don't get along?" Megan asked, sounding genuinely surprised. I was about to respond when my vision swam again, and I groaned, leaning against a nearby lamp post. "Danny? Danny!"
I barely noticed when Megan rushed forward, putting one hand on my chest as she slung one of my arms over her shoulder to support me.
"I'm fine," I mumbled automatically.
"I'm taking you to your dorm, now," Megan insisted stubbornly, "Where do I need to go?" I sagged in defeat, too exhausted to argue.
"Dorm 13, floor six, room 073," I answered, supporting myself the best I could as we made our way to my dorm.
It didn't take us long to get there, and when we did, Megan set right to business, pounding away at the door to get someone's attention. The sound of the harsh rapping noise made me flinch slightly.
'Knock, knock, knock!'
"Sam are you in there?" Megan cried out as she continued to knock, "It's an emergency!" A part of me wondered how Megan knew my roommate before I remembered the Cyber Café meeting I missed.
'What the heck did they talk about down there…?' I wondered vaguely as the door opened and Sam stepped out, freezing up when he saw us.
A flood of guilt running through me, I hastily looked away to avoid meeting my friend's eyes.
'I hate having to live like this…' I thought sourly.
"Danny?" I heard Sam exclaim. "What-?""Can we come in before you start quizzing him?" Megan snapped in annoyance, "He's kind of in bad shape here, you know." I didn't say anything and still didn't look at Sam even as Megan and I moved past him and towards my room.
'I just want there to be a day were I can be honest about stuff like this' I thought bleakly as I entered my room, 'I just want the lies to stop…'
"Man, Danny, you really know how to screw yourself up…" Tucker shook his head in exasperation as he kept bandage one of my arms.
"What, you think I did this on purpose?" I asked dryly, wincing in pain, "Uh, do me a favor and make a note that taking on Ember with a ghostly wail is a really bad idea, would ya, Tuck?"
"Noted!" Tucker said cheerfully, tapping it into his PDA. I rolled my eyes before fixing my best friend with a dry look.
'He has got to learn to take things less literally…' I thought to myself as I finished up with the last of my injuries.
"What are you doing here, anyways?" I asked mildly, "It couldn't have been to see me, Tuck."
"Oh, I was just, you know, hanging out with Sam," Tucker shrugged. "We learned some… ah… interesting things about each other."
'…Why don't I like the sound of that…?'
"How interesting?" I asked with a pointed glare.
"Let's just say it made me look at him in a whole new way…" Tucker told me, shaking his head.
'He can't tell me, then,' I thought, frowning. Tucker knew full well I hated it when secrets were being kept from me. It was another of the many 'Fenton Traits' he teased me about. Others included being prone to obsession, hunting ghosts and being overprotective.
"Hey, Danny?" Tucker said casually, "You like that one girl, right? Sam?"
"Haven't we been over this before?" I said with a dry sigh, "Tucker, I already told you…"
"I think you should tell her." I jerked back in surprise.
"WHAT?" I said, my eyes going wide. That certainly was NOT expected…
"I'm serious, dude! I mean, if you like her and she likes you, who am I to tell you two you can't date?"
"What happened to waiting?" I asked, frowning at my best friend. Why did he have a sudden change of heart…?
"In this case, that just might complicate things more." Tucker said in a dry tone.
'…huh?'
"What do you mean by that?" I raised an eyebrow at me best friend.
"Never mind," Tucker said hastily, "The point is, you really should tell her."
"Try telling that to Jazz," I said dryly, "She thinks I should just break things off altogether, considering the whole Vlad thing…"
"Well, maybe if you tell her everything, you can figure something out," Tucker said optimistically. "I mean, they say two heads are better then one, right? Maybe Sam can think of something we haven't," I sighed, then glared at Tucker.
"Okay, what's going on?" I asked, tired of the whole situation.
"huh?" Tucker blinked at me, startled at my tone.
"First Jazz encourages me to start dating again only to pull the breaks as soon as she meets Sam, then you keep insisting I take it slow only to change your mind after you've spent time with her," My glare darkened, "Do you guys know something you're not telling me?"
"No!" Tucker said quickly, putting up his hands in front of him in a defensive gesture. "What gave you that idea?"
"Tucker…" I growled. My best friend winced.
"Hehe…" He said meekly. "Wow, you know, I think these bandages here are a little loose! Lemme just…" I sighed as Tucker undid some of my gauze, tightening it to the point where it cut off circulation to the rest of my arm.
'Great,' I thought sourly, 'Now he's keeping stuff from me, too… can't anyone be honest with me anymore?' Then again, I couldn't talk. I mean, none of them were half ghost superheroes after all, and there aren't many secrets out there that compete with something like that…
"I get it, Tucker," I said dryly, watching my friend relax in relief. A tense silence followed before Tucker cleared his throat to change the subject.
"So, Sam told me you had another fight with Ember today," He said, crossing his arms, "Any luck?" My eyes widened and I cursed.
"Aw, man…" I groaned, "I completely forgot about her!" Jumping up, I grabbed a nearby Thermos and started for a window.
"Are you crazy?" Tucker yelped, grabbing my arm, "You can't go after Ember in your condition!"
"I have to, Tucker," I reminded him, a little frustrated. "You know she'll wreak havoc if I don't drag her sorry butt back to the Ghost Zone!" Tucker frowned.
"Is she any better off then you are?" He asked.
"Doubt it," I admitted, "We both got hit by that blast pretty hard…"
"I'll do it," Tucker volunteered, taking the thermos from me. "It should be so hard if you've already beaten her to a pulp, just push the button and take her back to FentonWorks, no sweat."
"You don't have to do that, Tuck," I said, frowning.
"Come on, man," Tucker said, "I won't even take that long tracking her down if I just take… hey, where'd the Fenton Finder go?" I blinked, glancing over and frowning when I saw the invention was missing from its spot.
"That's weird…" I frowned before shrugging it off, "Maybe Jazz took it since hers was broken. Hang on, I have one of the originals around here somewhere…."
"But the one you made is cooler!" Tucker whined, sulking slightly, "I mean, you could track down a specific ghost with that one!"
"Tucker…" I warned, frowning at my friend.
"Alright, alright!" Tucker sighed, "Killjoy…" He took the original Fenton Finder, pocketing it before heading for the door.
"…Hey, Tuck?" I smiled at my friend as he turned to face me, "Thanks,"
"Hey, what are friends for?" Tucker asked cheerfully before he left, closing the door behind him. I chuckled slightly, lying down on my bed and staring up at the ceiling.
'Yeah, but he goes above and beyond the call of a friend,' I said mentally. 'I'm lucky he and Jazz are here to help me like this. Who knows where I'd be without them…?'
"You're sure you're okay?" Jazz pressed, worry evident in her tone.
"Yeah, 100 percent better," I answered truthfully, "Especially since Tuck caught Ember without a hitch."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far…" Jazz giggled slightly. I shook my head.
"What happened?" I sighed, not really wanting to know but wanting to at the same time.
"He forgot the Fenton Phones again," Jazz explained, "Ember had him under a spell for a while, until I found them and broke it,"
"Do I wanna know how you managed to break Ember's spell?" I asked warily.
"Let's just say in involved a bathing suit and the Fenton Flamethrower." Jazz replied.
"I'll take that as a 'not ever in this lifetime,'" I said, shivering violently at the mental images. The sound of an opening door drew my eyes downward, and I stiffened when I saw Sam leaving the Nasty Burger, looking amused about something. "Anyways, I've gotta go,"
"Ghost Trouble?" Jazz asked.
"Something like that…" I answered. It wasn't a complete lie, after all, Ember had told me that there was a threat on Sam's life now… I just didn't want Jazz to know all the details, fearing yet another lecture.
"Stay safe, little bro," Jazz said before hanging up. I pocketed my cell phone and flew down lower to follow Sam as she navigated her way through the crowd, maintaining my invisibility the whole time.
I raised an eyebrow when she headed into an abandoned alleyway, more then a little confused when she stopped, skipping a hand into her skirt pocket.
"You can come out now," She called out, turning to smile right at me. I only just managed to catch myself before my surprise had me plummeting to the ground. My surprise quickly turned to curiosity and confusion, though, so I relented, allowing myself to become visible again.
"How did you know I was here?" I asked her, my eyebrow kicking up. Sam drew her hand out of her skirt. In it was a familiar silver invention that made my eyes widened and my face pale even more.
'No way…'
"It's some kind of ghost detection device I think," Sam told me as she re-pocketed it.
"That's the Fenton Finder 2.0!" I blurted out, surprised that she'd managed to snag it, "How did you get that?" Sam flinched slightly at the question.
"Uh, Internet?" She replied with a weak smile. I shot her a look.
'Do I have 'stupid' written on my forehead or something…?' I thought dryly at that pathetic response.
"Wanna tell me why you were following me?" Sam asked, giving me a pointed look.
"What makes you think I was-?" The look became more pointed, and I sighed, deciding to come clean. "…I was just making sure you were okay. There's a threat on you life now, ever since your date with m- Fenton." I mentally kicked myself for the near slip.
"Danny's not a danger to me," Sam said in a defensive tone, "Look, even if he's tried to hunt you or whatever, he's a really nice guy."
"I never said he- Wait, what?" I gasped at her. Did I hear that last part right…? "What makes you think Fenton's a ghost hunter?"
"Hmm, let's review, shall we?" Sam said, sarcasm dripping from her tone, "Point One; All of Danny's family hunts ghosts, with the exception of Jazz. Point Two; Danny has an arsenal in his room to take out an army of ghosts. Point Three; Every time Danny takes off on me, a ghost appears a few seconds later… well, except for the Vlad thing, but that was obvious." Sam crossed her arms and glared at me. "I'm not stupid, you know,"
"I never said you were," I said quickly.
'Wrong, yes. Stupid? Definitely not,' After all, at least she managed to make a connection between Fenton and Phantom, which was a lot closer to the truth then anyone else had gotten without having it spelled out for them.
"So you're not even going to deny it?" Sam said, raising an eyebrow. I hesitated a moment, trying to figure out how to handle this.
'Maybe I should start with a little bit of the truth at a time…' I decided, 'That was, I'll be following Tucker's advice and not breaking my promise to Jazz,'
"No," I answered, "I won't. Fenton is a ghost hunter… but he's never tried to hunt me."
'Though technically he can't because he IS me.'
"Really?" I didn't miss the relief that flashed across Sam's face when I said that, and I couldn't help but smirk.
"What, were you worried for me?" I teased, grinning at her blush.
"So what if I was?" Sam said with a mock glare. I had to laugh at that, relaxing. As crazy and spontaneous as Sam could be, she was so much fun that it was impossible not to like her…
It was when I was thinking about this that Sam suddenly stepped forward, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the alley.
"You know what? Let's go somewhere!" She said, still dragging me away.
"What?" I said, not hiding my surprise.
"Let's go somewhere!" She said again, "Just hang out, you know? We could catch a movie, then head down to that carnival they're having!" I hesitated a little at that.
"I dunno, Sam," I said, shifting uncomfortably. "I mean, I am kinda… well…" I glanced over at a nearby Wanted poster of me and Sam flinched guiltily.
"I've got a friend who's really into fashion," She announced, stubbornness set on her face, "She can fix you up so no one can recognize you." I frowned a little at that.
'She's not talking about Liz… is she?' I thought warily.
"Uh, what's this friend's name?" I asked.
"Lisa," Sam answered, raising an eyebrow at me, "Why?" I sighed in relief at not having to face the nightmare of Liz finally getting her hands on my ghost form.
"No reason," I told her, grinning dryly, "What the heck, I've got nothing better to do,"
"That's the spirit!" Sam said, tugging at my arm again. "Come on, we need to get to Wendy so Lisa can-!" I cut the girl off by pulling her close before taking off into the air, grinning a little at her tight grip on me before she relaxed enough to give me a dirty look. "You wanna give me a little warning next time?"
"Sorry," I responded, trying and failing to make it sound genuine. Sam's glare darkened, and I had to bite back a laugh. That's when something she said earlier came back to me, and a frowned a little in confusion.
"Hey, Sam?" I said, turning back to the goth.
"Hm?" Sam responded sullenly.
"When did you ever go into Fenton's room, anyways?" I sure as heck didn't remember having her over…
WoM- Sam's gotta ally in Tucker now! 'grins' I figured I was being mean enough to her lately, so I had to cut the poor girl a break somewhere… Then again, my friends say you can tell how much I like a character by how much I torment them in my stories. 'laughs sheepishly'
Thanks to (I've decided that the one line a reviewer thing wasn't working out for my more popular stories, so…)
Me The Anon One, Truth91920, epobbp, divinedragon7, Petitio Principii, ur1crazedupfruitloop, YumiwithUlrichalways, My Eternal Facade, Anime master Inu, Lumias, Anime Chick009, rbzodiac612, Galateagirl, fish n chips n vinegar, WhiteMoonDragon, xXQuicksilverXx, dudei'mlikesobus, Anomaly25, chaotic pink chocobo, Lunaqua, Redwind,
Spiffy McFloogan, The Sole Survivor, Light Dragon SunsSong, Lisa, Golden Lunar Eclipse, conan98002, Samantha-Girl Scout, Kyuugi, memoirs of a faded memory, midnightgoth9, animeobsessed3191, Seeker Carter, flamer crazyvi
Next update; February 22nd
See you then!