The closer they got to his house the more dread they all felt. Danny hadn't spoken a word since they'd left the school, and any playful banter from earlier had entirely died out. Not that she could blame them of course, because with every step they took it brought them closer to Fenton Works, and in turn his parents.
Jazz had been with them, hadn't she? Would she have eased them into it, tried to lighten the blow any when they found out? She could only hope for Danny's sake that she had.
Their small group came to a sudden halt as Danny peered around the corner, the house looming before them in the darkness. The silence was tense as Sam shivered, her arms wrapping around herself despite the warm weather.
"Okay," Danny's voice broke through the stretch of nothingness as he straightened his shoulders and faced his two friends. "I'm going to zip in, grab my stuff, and.."
"And then what, run away from home?"
Tucker chimed in, causing the tension to rise.
"Well what choice do I have?" Danny practically yelled, throwing his hands in the air and slumping against the wall. "The entire world knows my secret!"
Sam had never seen him act like that, on the edge of anger and uncertainty. Sure, he had a lot of bad ideas and the execution on most of them was even worse, but that general understanding of what he needed to do or what would happen had always been there. For him to suddenly lose everything he'd been holding on to, she couldn't really blame him for his outburst.
"But," He stood taller now, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he stared at his friends. "If I get the gauntlet I can change reality so that none of this ever happened!"
Sam and Tucker exchanged a look before Sam shook her head.
"Danny, that's crazy. We don't even know for sure where those stones went, or how we would even get that thing off Freakshow's arm."
"Sam has a point, besides, is it really so bad for everyone to know? You're super popular now!"
Tucker pointed out, a grin wide on his face as his friend shot him a dirty look.
"Yeah, Tuck, it would be great if my parents weren't waiting inside with test tubes and a knife to dissect me with."
He rolled his eyes and turned back, watching the front door of his house as if he expected his parents to burst through and attack him.
"We'll help you with whatever you need, you know that. But let's try and think things through. Let's just go in there and talk to your parents. You never know what they'll say."
Sam stated, moving around the other two and marching to the door while feigning more confidence than she currently possessed. She knew how the Fenton's were, but surely they weren't that crazy, right? Actually, now that she thought about it, maybe her and Tucker should've come here without Danny.
The halfa approached the door quietly, moving in front of her and pushing it open while striding inside. "Believe me, guys, it will be better for everyone if I just-"
His words falter as he flipped on the lights and came face to face with a dozen men that stood waiting, guns aimed and ready to capture the boy the moment he'd walked in.
"Welcome home." Sam muttered as two men appeared behind them, pulling her and Tucker into their arms and holding them captive. "Hey! Let go of me!" Sam yelled, struggling against the impossible grip holding her as she glared angrily at the back of Danny's head. "For those still counting, that's three times we've been grabbed today!"
"Humans are secure, take down the ghost child."
One of the men reported as Danny backed up a step.
"Where are my mom and dad? What have you done with them?"
He demanded, his hands balling into fists as he stared down the dozen armed men.
"Come quietly, ghost boy."
One man stated, taking a step closer as Sam watched Danny's back tense.
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where my family is!"
His voice was piercing, the sheer volume making the girl wince and turn away as a cold chill washed over the room.
"He's attacking!"
There was a sudden shift in the dynamic, the sound of guns loading and lasers readying filling the room as the lights flickered, another burst of air making it feel like winter in the middle of summer.
"Danny?"
Sam called out, her voice cautious as she strained to see him. At the sound of her voice, the boy partially turned, his eyes meeting hers as Sam gasped.
"Dude, your eyes."
Tucker gaped as the boy turned back to face the small army. Sam swallowed thickly, trying to squirm away faster now. The lights, the chills, it was Danny, he was causing all of it.
His anger, his emotion, his ghostly abilities were coming out, and the way his eyes had glowed was downright nightmarish. She was used to seeing the green eyes on Phantom, with the white hair and the jumpsuit. But those radioactive colored hues that had stared at her just now were awful, they were emotionless, they were.. inhuman.
"Daniel Fenton, in accordance with the federal anti ecto control act article one, section one, subsection eight, you're under arrest."
One of the Guys In White leading the charge made the statement boldly, obviously unafraid of whatever Danny was channeling at that moment. The halfa let out a scoff, his voice low and frigid as he flexed his fingers slowly.
"I'm only going to say this once. Let my friends go, and get the hell out of my house."
With each word, Sam could see the trails of blue slipping past the boys lips, but if he noticed the ghostly tell he hadn't let it show. The entire room felt like they were standing in a meat locker now and Sam wondered if her fingers would snap off if she dared to move them. Casting a look at Tucker, she found him with a worried gaze of his own directed at the half ghost that was their friend.
She could feel the unbridled rage bubbling off him, rolling like waves towards the army in front of him that had invaded his home. Not that she held it against him, the day had been absolute hell since the very beginning. Honestly she wouldn't have blamed Danny even if he lashed out and attacked them all.
But this? Using his powers while still in his human form was downright frightening. She'd never seen him act so cold before.
"Yeah?" One of the men scoffed, lowering his gun and leaning his face closer to the halfa. "Or what?"
"Or.. This!"
Danny yelled, breaking into a run away from the men and towards the wall near the kitchen, shocking everyone in the room who had expected a drastically different response. Ripping a picture from off the wall and throwing it to the floor the half ghost turned, slamming his elbow through a small glass box that the photograph had covered.
Glass shattered onto the floor as droplets of red and green blood stained the carpet, Danny's glowing green eyes settling on his friends as he slammed his hand over the emergency button his family had hidden. As soon as the button was pushed, the lights flashed a shade of crimson red and alarms began blaring, sending the men into a confused panic.
"FENTON WORKS ANTI CREEP MODE ACTIVATED."
Sam watched in awe as multiple panels opened from the walls, various weapons unfolding out and aiming for every ghost hunter in the room. Danny's parents were crazy, but she had to admit that the stuff they made could be pretty cool. One of the guns swiveled around and took aim at Danny who blinked once before diving off to the side, barely missing one of the blasts.
"You're supposed to attack them not me!"
He yelled, pushing himself up as three of the men began fighting back at the house as another blaster pointed at Danny.
"Look out!"
Sam shouted, wriggling against her captor as Danny looked down at his bloody arm.
"Oh, sh-"
"Move!"
Tucker screamed as Danny dove off to the side again, letting out a yelp as the blast caught the edge of his shirt.
"Danny!"
Sam shifted her weight and lifted her leg high before bringing the heel of her boot down as heavily as she could against the man's knee. He roared in pain, loosening his grip just enough for her to squirm her way out as guns took aim at him and the one holding Tucker. Stalking over and slamming the heel of her foot onto the others toes, Tucker was free in moments and the two began running for cover.
"Danny! Get out of the way!"
Sam shouted, hunching down as she made her way towards her friend. The boy sat up slowly, his eyes finally having returned to their normal shade of blue as he looked down at his arm, quickly wiping away a mix of human and ghost blood dripping from his elbow.
"Over here!"
Danny beckoned, crawling away from a three man fight on one of his parents ecto blasters as his friends followed. Wiping away another streak of blood, an attack from one of the Guy's in White sped towards them as the trio braced themselves for the hit only to hear the blast ricocheting away. Sam dared to peer up and gaped at the shield that had risen from the floor to protect them.
"What's going on?"
She yelled over the noise as Danny shoved his hair away from his face and glanced over the shield.
"The house attacks anything using ecto energy. My parent's last defense if a ghost made it inside." The boy explained, ducking back down as a blast shot a hole through his front wall and disappeared outside. "Which means if I go ghost the house will think I'm an enemy, damnit!" The boy groaned, running his hands through his hair as he looked around before pointing towards the stairs. "I have an idea, run!"
Standing up, Danny's hand wrapped around Sam's wrist, pulling her along behind him. Why had he grabbed her hand? Was it to stay together? But then why hadn't he grabbed Tucker's? And why did the cool touch of his skin make her heart beat so fast?
Sam yelped as she was drug to the ground suddenly, barely avoiding a blast from one of the house's weapons against one of the men.
"Where are your parents?"
Sam complained, standing back up and following after Danny as they ran up the stairs.
"Probably looking for a scalpel to dissect me with."
He grumbled, finally letting go of the girls hand as they walked into his parents' bedroom. Blue eyes darted frantically around the room before landing on a rug off to the side. The boy quickly pushed it away with the toe of his sneaker and grinned. As the trio squeezed onto the metal platelet the carpet had been hiding, Danny looked up at the ceiling.
"Three to the op center!"
As the words left his mouth, the lights in the room faded from red to green, a cylindrical tube moving down and encasing the three of them in an elevator.
"How does your dad fit in this thing?"
Tucker mumbled against Sam's shoulder as the three shot up through the ceiling of the room and into the op center above Fenton Works.
"Gross!"
Tucker yelled as the elevator stopped and the group stumbled out of the door.
"Tell your dad he's got to change out that emergency ham, it's starting to grow fuzz."
Sam grimaced, looking back at the door of the old refrigerator they'd fallen through that the Fenton's had refurbished to suit their needs.
"Oh sure, I'll remind him between the cutting me open part and the shoving my organs into containers part."
Sam's about to respond when a grappling hook flew past the window, securing onto a part of the op centers roof.
"They're climbing up here!"
Tucker warned, peering out the window and down to where the men were making their way towards the trio.
"Time to lock up for the night."
Danny announced, walking over to the control panel and flipping a few switches, turning a knob, and pulling down a lever. As he did, the entire building began to shake, heavy metal panels sliding down into place to block the windows and doors, cutting off all other contact to the world as the lights above them blinked a somber red.
"This will keep them out?"
Sam asked, leaning against one of the walls and stifling a yawn, glancing at a digital clock on the dash that glowed an eerie 12:07 in blue.
"It's kept everything out in the past."
Danny shrugged, watching as the final panel slid into place and silence loomed over them.
"What are we gonna do?"
Tucker finally broke the silence, a distant sound of pounding from the men the only indication they were still out there.
"We need to leave."
Danny sighed, looking around before making his way to the back of the room, revealing a glass case covering another button.
"Your parents really like their emergency buttons."
Sam mused as Danny smirked.
"Tell me about it, this is only one of eighteen."
Using a metal rod to break the case this time, the boy pressed the button and the control panel began to act up. Lights started flashing and a motor began running as Tucker moved to a large portion of window that had started to reopen.
"The Fenton Blimp? What are we gonna do, bore them off our tail in a low speed chase?"
The boy scoffed as the op center detached itself from the building and rose into the air.
"Give me some credit, Tuck."
The boy rolled his eyes, pressing a couple of buttons as Sam pointed to the men catching up.
"They're right on us, Danny!"
"Okay, okay, I got this." Running to the fridge, the halfa ripped open the door and stuck his head inside, pressing yet another button that was protected this time by the emergency ham rather than a glass case. "Seatbelts!"
He shouted, running back towards his friends and jumping into a seat as the blimp began to shake. Ignoring his comment and staring out the window instead, Sam watched as the blimp disconnected from the rest of the op center, the craft shaking and swaying before pieces retracted and others moved around.
Sam laughed aloud, pressing her face closer to the window as two rockets jutted out and ecto energy shot the craft forwards, leaving the men to hurry after them.
"This is-"
"Awesome!"
Tucker finished, laughing even louder as Danny smiled smugly.
"Told you guys I had it under control."
"Uh, Danny, about that control thing, are we about to crash?"
Pointing, Sam stared in horror at the way the Fenton's craft began to nose dive directly towards their high school. Running forwards, Danny grabbed ahold of the controls and began pulling at them, only to have them lock into place in his hands.
"I don't know what to do!"
Danny yelled, hitting buttons at random in an attempt to make something work.
"Well do something!"
Sam shouted back, sliding into a seat and strapping her seatbelt on.
"I don't.. wait!"
Slamming his fist down on a button, Danny ran to a seat between his friends as Jack's voice spoke overhead.
"INITIATING FENTON AUTO PILOT."
The steering wheel jerked suddenly, the school growing ever closer as the three started screaming. Just as the building was nearing its demise, the craft shifted sideways, narrowly missing the library and speeding off down Main Street.
"They're still chasing us!'
Tucker warned, catching sight of one of the Guys In White as they swerved around cars and over buildings.
"It's after five, why can't they just quit and go home like every other government employee?"
Sam scoffed, folding her arms and slouching in her seat. Glancing to her left, she watched Danny unstrap his seatbelt and stand up, his fists balled as he shook his head.
"I'm going ghost!"
Sam frowned as the two rings of light appeared around the boys middle, each one traveling up and down his slight frame and changing him into his signature jumpsuit, snow white hair and glowing green eyes. Walking up to the right wall of the op center, Danny placed his hands shoulder width apart and braced his legs.
Closing his eyes, a cold rush of air moved through the aircraft as if someone had just kicked on the air conditioning and Danny turned invisible. The two watched in silence as the machine shuddered before beginning to turn invisible as well.
Tucker jumped out of his seat, moving to one side of the window and watching as Sam moved to the other as the outside of the craft took over Danny's ghostly abilities. Several minutes passed in silence before the Guys In White gave up, turning around and heading back towards Amity Park.
"Alright! We lost them!"
Tucker cheered, pumping his fist in the air.
"I think we're alright now, Danny, you can stop." Sam urged, walking over and standing against the wall. It was strange how Danny's powers worked. She couldn't see him, but she just knew he was there. If she focused carefully, she could see the way the interior of the ship shifted, as if fabric shifting in a breeze, and she knew it was him moving. "Danny?"
"It's better to be safe than sorry, I'll keep it up a while longer."
His voice was strained, and she knew it wasn't easy keeping the ship as it was.
"Okay, but not for too much longer, alright?"
She relented, knowing full well she wouldn't win against his stubbornness as her hand partially rose before it fell back to her side. What comfort could she possibly give to him at this moment? If anything he probably needed what little space he could get.
The next hour was spent taking note of what kind of rations the op center had and to figure out where exactly they were going. After that it was finding supplies for traveling and sleeping and communication. Luckily, the Fenton's were always prepared it seemed and had taken the appropriate measures for if something had ever happened.
By one thirty Tucker was passed out in a sleeping bag under the controls, and Sam had laid out two more for herself and Danny.
"I think you can stop now, it's been over an hour since we lost them."
She spoke softly, walking back over to where the boy was.
"It's fine."
He mumbled, his voice thick and heavy from the days exhaustion finally sinking in.
"You've been through a lot, Danny," She pointed out, sliding down the wall and sitting next to where he stood. "You're allowed to take a break and rest."
"I will in a while."
"Danny-"
"I'm sorry."
The sudden apology threw the girl off guard, her head tilting up to stare at where he was.
"Sorry? For what?"
"I got you and Tucker mixed up in all of this, and I can't even take you home because Freakshow will probably be waiting for you there."
"Danny, stop," Sam chided, leaning her head back. "You know we would stick with you through this regardless. Besides, it isn't your fault that Freakshow has a stupid vendetta against you."
"Everything kinda sucks right now, huh? So much for our cross country trip."
"Who cares? We'll find a different way to spend the summer together. Or we'll go different places."
"You'll miss Gothapalooza."
"So? I just wanted to spend the summer with you, you idiot. It doesn't matter where we go."
Crossing her arms against her chest she looked away, her face turning a faint shade of pink as she heard him laugh quietly.
"Hey, Sam?"
"What?"
Looking across the room at where tucker slept, his beret and glasses beside him, she only heard the halfa sigh.
"Nothing. You should get some sleep."
"So should you! I'm not sleeping until you do," She stated stubbornly, leaning back and closing her eyes. "So you better hurry up and get some rest."
He chuckled again, and she felt his arm brush against her shoulder.
"Thanks, Sam."
She didn't respond except with the smallest smile as she settled against the wall, listening to the sound of the engines running beneath her as she let her mind wander.
Sam jolted at something heavy hitting her side, her eyes flying open and her heart racing. Turning, she saw nothing beside her despite the heaviness weighing against her side, and she had to focus to remember what had happened.
When had she fallen asleep? Looking around, the night before came flooding back. She was in the op center, Tucker was sprawled out on the floor, and Danny was..
"Danny?"
Sam whispered, reaching out and feeling his shoulder pressing into hers.
"Hey.. morning.."
He mumbled as her eyes looked for the clock that read 5:29.
"Danny, you've been at this for hours, you need to stop." She stated firmly, shaking his shoulder gently. There's silence before he became tangible and she saw the boy on his knees half slumped against her and half against the wall. "You wore yourself out too much today."
She sighed, her heart aching at the dazed look on his face. Two rings of light appeared around the boy's middle as he transformed back into his human half, looking even worse for wear. He wasn't bleeding anymore, but he had half a dozen scabs and his clothes looked like he'd been shoved through a shredder.
"Danny-" She began, cutting off as the boys eyes closed and he fell into her side. "Danny!"
Sam gasped, catching his shoulders and easing him down until he was propped against her lap. The girls face flushed a shade of scarlet as she swallowed thickly, staring down at her unconscious friend.
"You idiot, why do you always have to overdo everything?"
Her fingers found their way mixing into his hair, brushing the dark strands from his eyes and moving carefully over a healing wound along his hairline.
It was so early, the sun had just begun to rise and the soft daylight was just starting to brighten the rest of the op center. Before long they'd have to try and contact his parents or Jazz, and she would need to get ahold of her parents too and explain why she had suddenly disappeared.
But Danny needed rest first, and she wanted him to sleep for as long as possible. Although his current position was slightly uncomfortable, she didn't have the heart to move him.
Her hand shifted in his hair, moving gently through the messy locks as she felt his pulse in his temple. He was too young to have to deal with all of this. All of them were. He could've died earlier, and..
She couldn't even bring herself to think about what might've happened if the Guys In White had gotten ahold of him. And would his parents really try and hurt him? So many people were against him and out to get them, would they even stand a chance with his identity out?
Looking down at his restful face, her fingers brushed through his hair again and she let out a soft sigh. They'd make it through this like they always did, she was sure of it. But if they didn't manage to change things back, how badly would that effect Danny?
He was always so careful. Well, at least most of the time. And he was already on the edge of a breakdown as it was, so how he would handle it if things didn't turn out the way he was planning them to?
Leaning her head back and closing her eyes tightly, she fought back against the lump in her throat and the sudden urge to cry. It had been a long day for everyone, and all she could do now was hope.
"Please be okay."
She murmured aloud, her hand falling from his hair as she tried desperately to block out her thoughts and go back to sleep. Things would get better for them all. They had too.
A/N
Okay so I'm a big sucker for angst, but I can't help putting in some fluff for these two cause they are the cutest and honestly we could all do with some more fluff every now and again.
By popular demand, my next chapter will be the reactions of Valerie, Dash, Paulina, and Mr. Lancer.
I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, I'd love to hear feedback from you all, and thanks again for reading!