Tucker woke with a shiver running through his body, cool air blowing against him as the boy huddled deeper inside his sleeping bag, burying his face into the fabric while letting out a quiet groan. Why did Danny always have to have his room so cold?

Reaching out a hand to feel for his friend, his palm touched nothing but open air before falling onto a cold, metal surface. Poking his head up and staring bleary eyed at his surroundings, the control panels and the seats from the Fenton Op Center came into focus as did the memories from the night before.

Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he stretched out his arms and shivered again, glaring hatefully at the air vent above his head that had yet to kick off. Reaching out and finding his glasses, Tucker pushed them up his nose and looked around, the two pallets Sam had made for herself and Danny empty and untouched. Crawling out of the sleeping bag and snatching up his beret, he only had to look for a moment before he stopped dead in his tracks, staring in shocked silence at the scene before him.

Sam was propped against the wall, her head turned to the side with her legs outstretched and her hands resting in her lap. However also on her lap was one Danny Fenton. The boy was lying on his side with his head on her legs and body curled in with his hands beside her.

Silently pulling his cellphone from his pocket, Tucker backed up a step before snapping a photo and saving the file, grinning mischievously the whole time. There was no way he could pass up such a perfect opportunity, especially not when Sam still held onto that awful picture she took of the two boys from when they fell asleep at the zoo.

Stifling a yawn and backing away from his two friends, Tucker dropped his hat onto one of the seats and walked to the back of the op center, his growling stomach a reminder that it had been hours since his last meal.

He never waited this long to eat, and just the mere thought of the Fenton's not having any meat on the ship was enough to send him rooting through the food storage in panicked desperation. He knew he shouldn't have let Sam check it over the night before, but then again he'd been too tired to care about his stomach for once. Obviously that decision had been a poor one in retrospect.

In a closet in the corner was a large walk in pantry and sitting on the second shelf like a sparkling trophy was a bag of beef jerky, Tucker's hands wrapping around it in giddiness as he pulled the bag out and held it close, sighing happily. Just because they were on the run didn't mean they couldn't still enjoy some of their normal routines, such as dried meaty goodness.

Carrying his prize over to a table, he ripped off the top and pulled open the bag, the smell of the jerky making his mouth water as he pulled a piece out and bit a chunk off, another pleasant sigh escaping him.

The Fenton's were weird as hell, but at least they knew how to prepare for oddball situations. Although finding out their son was half ghost probably wasn't a thing they could ever really be prepared for.

Turning to look out one of the windows as he continued to munch on his breakfast, Tucker watched the clouds below them pass by leisurely, the aircraft slowing down to preserve fuel in the night with no set destination in mind.

Was he supposed to wake them up to deal with that? Shouldn't they be trying to figure out what to do, or at least where to go? He'd already tried calling his parents the night before but they hadn't picked up, which was strange because they always picked up. Had something happened? He was trying not to think about it, but the worry was eating at him now that the adrenaline and exhaustion had faded away.

Obviously by now they'd seen the news and knew what Danny was, and that Tucker and Sam were with him, but wouldn't that be even more reason for them to answer his calls? But if they went home to check, would those Guys in White be waiting for them like they had for Danny?

He chewed thoughtfully for a moment, barely tasting the flavor in the jerky as he stared outside. Would his parents be mad he'd kept Danny's secret from them? Probably. Although his mother might defend him, reminding his dad how important loyalty and trust were to a friend. Then again, she'd always told him not to a keep a secret if it was dangerous, and well, fighting ghosts wasn't exactly a safe after school activity like AV club, which is what he told them he was always off doing.

Pulling another piece of jerky from the bag and biting off the tip, he leaned his hand against his chin. If they somehow didn't manage to get the Reality Gauntlet back from Freakshow, would their lives really be so bad? He knew Danny thought so, but once it sank in and everyone moved on, things would go back to normal wouldn't they?

Danny would get extra time for projects, the jocks wouldn't bully them anymore, and he could date Paulina. Though judging by the boys sleeping habits, maybe there was a different girl he would date.

Shifting in his seat and looking over at his two sleeping friends, he slumped back and watched them. Did they even stand a chance against Freakshow with the power he had now? The two of them often got in the way when Danny was trying to fight, and if that freak got ahold of them and used them for leverage, what would happen to the halfa then?

What they needed were weapons, and knowing the Fenton's, there would be no short supply on the ship. Taking another piece of jerky with him, Tucker left the bag on the table and started exploring, rooting through the various closets in search of Fenton inventions or some kind of tech he could modify.

He'd only managed to keep ahold of his phone and his PDA, but maybe there was a computer or some cables he could use to hook into the mainframe. Grabbing the jerky between his teeth, Tucker opened one of the closets further and grabbed a shelf, using a box as a ladder and boosting himself up to view the higher shelves.

"Score!"

He mumbled around the food, standing on his toes and stretching to the back of the shelf to grab the edge of an unmarked box. Tugging it closer, he felt the box beneath him begin to cave, his hands grappling for something to hang onto as he lost his balance and toppled to the floor with the box falling into his lap, a quiet groan leaving him as he sat up and rubbed at his back.

"Stupid box.."

He grumbled, discovering the useless box filled merely with old blueprints as he began looking around for his jerky that had flown from his mouth in his fall. When his eyes landed on it, he found the piece had skidded across the floor and landed only inches from his two passed out friends.

Creeping closer as quietly as he could, he bent down to grab it when Sam stirred suddenly, her eyes pulling open as a look of distaste crossed her face.

"Morning."

Tucker whispered, flashing her a sheepish smile as the girl stared at him before shifting her gaze to the jerky.

"I can smell that stuff from here. That's what you chose to have for breakfast?"

"Hey, it has all kinds of nutrients in its dried beef state!"

He defended, watching as she closed her eyes again and sighed before starting to move, freezing as her eyes flew back open and she stared down at the boy on her lap.

"Not a dream.."

She whispered, a dusting of crimson coloring her cheeks as Tucker flashed a coy smile at her.

"You often dream about Danny sleeping on you?"

"Shut up, Tucker!"

She hissed, looking around in a mortified fashion as she sat frozen, too afraid to move.

"Having problems?"

He was enjoying this way too much.

"I can't just shove him off!" She whispered, her voice hoarse as the red crept along her face and towards her ears. "Go get me that pillow!"

"What's the magic-"

"Now, Tucker!"

"Alright, alright. Grouch."

He grumbled, walking back over to their pallets and retrieving a pillow.

"Put it there." She motioned, sliding her legs slowly as the boy put the pillow down as told. "Please don't wake up.."

She murmured, shifting inch by inch until she was able to use her hands, carefully cradling the halfa's head and easing it onto the pillow. The moment she was free from his weight Sam scrambled up and away, tugging down her skirt and smoothing down her hair.

"You look a little red, just right there.."

Tucker teased, reaching a finger out as Sam swatted his hand away, a pained look on her face.

"Shut up, he collapsed on me in the middle of the night and I didn't want to just shove him onto the floor, not after what he went through."

She defended, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at the ground as Tucker smirked.

"Chill out, Manson, I'm just kidding. Besides, he seemed to be comfortable."

"Please be quiet."

She groaned, covering her face with her hands and walking away from him.

"Oh come on, when are you going to tell him that you like him?"

He pushed, trailing behind her.

"And what do you know about that?"

She asked, turning and pointing a finger at his chest.

"I know that you've been pining over him for ages."

"I have not."

"You turned into a dragon, Sam. You really have no room to deny things now." Her face turned a shade darker as she looked away again and stalked towards the pantry, rummaging around as the boy leaned against the wall. "He likes you too, you know."

"No he doesn't, he's too obsessed with Paulina. I swear his head is shoved so far up her-"

"Whoa, easy with the granola." He interrupted, reaching out and taking the breakfast bar she had mangled between her fingers. "Just tell him."

"And what do you think will happen, Tucker?" She asked, leaning against the doorframe with a frown. "Either he doesn't feel the same way and I look like a complete idiot, or he does, and things get super awkward and weird! Besides, he's got too much to worry about now."

Reaching back in for another granola bar, she carried it to the table and shoved away his jerky with another distasteful glance as Tucker slid into the seat across from her.

"He literally just used you as a pillow, obviously the dude likes you."

"Stop, seriously. This whole conversation is ridiculous, and we have more important things to worry about too."

She shook her head, staring down at the open granola bar in her hand.

"Our parents?"

He asked as her head bobbed.

"They never answered any of my texts last night."

"Mine didn't pick up, and they always pick up when I call."

"Do you think those Guys in White did something to them?"

"Or Freakshow did." Tucker shuddered, folding his arms across the table and slumping against them. "Should we have left?"

"What else could we have done? At the very least our families are being questioned, and going back or telling them what's going on would put them in even more danger. Besides.."

She trailed off, looking over at where Danny was still asleep near the wall.

"He needs us more." Tucker finished her thought, burying his face in his arms as he stared at his lap. "How did it get to be this bad?"

"I dunno. It just kinda spiraled out of control. I never expected him to be able to keep it a secret forever, but I didn't expect such a public reveal, either."

Sam sighed, and he could hear the packaging rustling as she took a bite of her breakfast.

"What're we going to do if we can't fix it?"

He dared to ask, peaking up to find her staring out the window.

"I think it would break him."

"I know it's bad right now, but after everything settles down, you don't think it would get better?"

There's a beat of silence, the quiet hum of the op centers engines resonating around them before Sam turned, violet eyes staring intently at him.

"You didn't see him last night, Tucker. He looked miserable. He was exhausted and scared and.." She turned away again, setting her half-finished granola bar on the table as she hugged her arms around himself. "You saw his eyes, didn't you? Back at his house?"

"Yeah."

He winced, recalling the unnatural green hues that made the boy look downright terrifying in his normal form.

"I've never seen that happen before. You and I, we know him better than probably anyone else, like ever. But even we didn't know that could happen. Everything got cold and when his eyes turned, he looked more like a ghost than he ever has before, and he was still his human half."

Tapping her fingers anxiously on the table, Sam shrugged lightly.

"So no, I don't think it will ever end. It's bad enough that his enemies know who he is, but now that everyone knows? People won't stop hunting him. And his parents? Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are nice and all, but you really think they won't push him for little experiments here and there? Won't keep prodding until they figure out how it happened? I mean how do you just accept that your own kid is half dead, especially for people like his folks."

Turning to look over at his best friend, Tucker stared as the girl continued.

"The whole reason he kept it a secret was to keep from being poked and prodded and experimented on. So we have to find a way to fix everything, for his sake, no matter what."

The two fell silent, their minds wandering as Tucker's hands balled into fists. It wasn't fair that this happened, not to them, and not to Danny. They had been looking forward to finally having a vacation, to having an entire summer where they could just be kids again and not have to worry about the safety of the town and its people.

But Sam was right, Danny was an anomaly, there was no way he'd ever be left alone if everyone knew his secret, even though that meant they'd have to give up all their newfound popularity.

Neither of them spoke for a while, sitting quietly at the table as Sam finished her breakfast and Tucker stared absentmindedly across the ship. A shuddering gust of wind had the op center jerking, forcing Tucker against the wall as it righted itself as a mumbled voice spoke incoherently from beside them.

Looking over, Tucker watched in amusement as his halfa friend sat up, his hair standing up at odd angles and his eyes barely open as he looked around, trying to figure out where he was.

"Rise and shine, Danny!"

Tucker called out as the boy blinked a couple of times and stared groggily at the two of them.

"Morning.. What time is it?"

He mumbled out, rubbing at his eyes and yawning.

"Eleven thirty."

Sam offered, her eyes locked on the boy as he pushed himself up and wavered a moment.

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"You needed the sleep, you still look like a zombie though."

Tucker joked, watching as Danny meandered over and collapsed into the seat beside the boy.

"I feel like one."

"Maybe listen to me next time and go to sleep instead of pushing yourself pointlessly."

The Goth stated dryly, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms over her chest while glaring at him.

"Someone's grouchy in the mornings."

Danny mumbled, dropping his head onto the table as Sam scoffed.

"And someone is a pain."

"You okay, dude?"

Tucker nudged him as Danny moved his head.

"For a second I kinda thought this was all a dream. Of course with my luck I don't know why I'd ever think that."

His voice was soft, and Tucker met Sam's eyes for a moment before the girl was leaning forwards and tapping the top of Danny's head.

"We should contact your parents."

"And tell them what?" The boy moaned, looking up at her with an exasperated expression. "I'm sorry I've been lying to you and I stole the op center, please don't rip me apart molecule by molecule?"

He asked as Sam rolled her eyes at his theatrics.

"They have no idea where you are, Danny, none of our parents do. We have to call someone."

She insisted, raising her brows at him as he groaned louder.

"Fine, what about Jazz?"

"I don't care, just call someone."

She instructed, motioning towards the control panels as Danny pushed himself up and gave her a dirty look.

"You're bossy too." He muttered under his breath as a light above the monitors began flashing a bright crimson. "Oh, here we go."

The halfa sighed as he walked over and began to log into the computers, Tucker and Sam following close behind. As the boy hit enter and the screens came to life, an image of a dwarfish man appeared on the screen, his blood colored eyes big and bright and the snarl on his lips twisted into a menacing smile.

Tucker started, eyes widening as he gaped at the Ring Master's high-def appearance, the ghoulish man grinning wider as he backed up a step and smiled triumphantly at the trio.

"Oh hello, hope I'm not interrupting the worst day of your life ever but it seems I need your help."

He crooned, his hooked nose seeming even larger in full screen mode as Danny's hands balled into fists at his sides. Tucker could feel the anger radiating off of the boy, and part of him wondered if his eyes would shift again in his rage.

"You miserable freak, why would I ever help you?"

"I'm sorry, did I say need? I meant demand."

Freakshow cackled, moving off to the side of the screen as three circus train cars were put into focus, bars surroundings every side and turning them into makeshift prisons. Inside each car was a different couple, the trio's parents straining to see their kids through the computer.

Danny's hands unclenched as he took a step closer, fearful eyes that matched those of his friends staring painfully at the screen. Tucker inched closer himself, staring intently at his parents in the middle car as they clutched the bars tightly, seeming to make eye contact directly with him.

"Mom.."

Danny murmured, and as Tucker's eyes shifted to the Fenton's, he could see the worry and fear on their faces. Glancing at Danny, he could understand why. Their kid looked like hell, with his clothes ripped up and his hair a mess, not to mention the ever present bags under his eyes that never seemed to fade these days. Not that they themselves looked any better, though, Tucker and Sam's fall still present in their own torn clothes and bruises that didn't heal as fast as the halfa's.

"He's got my parents!"

Sam gasped, her hands covering her mouth as she stared at the screen, earning a deadpanned look from Tucker.

"He's got all our parents."

Rolling his eyes, he watched as Freakshow walked back into view, blocking their families.

"Mom? Dad?"

Danny called, only to have the ringleader smile, a mouth of disgusting teeth showing.

"Why look, I have something you want, and you know the location of something I want. My gems. Which you three fools will retrieve if you ever want to see your families alive again. Oh, and just to keep it dramatic, you have three days."

Before any of them could speak the feed cut off, leaving the trio in horrified silence as they continued to stare at the blank screen. All this time he'd been worried about the government getting involved and keeping his parents for questioning, but Freakshow having them was so much worse.

They didn't even know Tucker had been involved with anything ghost oriented, and then in the span of a day they found out he was best friends with the ghost boy, helped on a regular basis, had been lying to them all this time, and then was responsible for them being kidnapped by one of their enemies. He was so getting grounded for life.

"Three days?" Danny gaped, turning finally to stare at his friends. "But we don't even know where to start looking!"

Sam blinked once, her head turning slowly as she glared at the halfa, an expression that was a mixture of disbelief and frustration settling on her face.

"You know, school being out or not, you really should listen more." A sheepish look drifted across Danny's face, his eyes shifting to Tucker for help, only to have the boy cross his arms and give him a pointed stare. No way was he helping him out with that one. "We're the ones who hid the gems, remember?" Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Which means they're safe and sound at Gothapalooza."

"Except I was thinking about the comic book convention."

Tucker shrugged as Danny scratched the back of his neck.

"And I was thinking about the space center."

"Looks like we're going to get that cross country trip together after all."

Tucker said, excitement bubbling up inside him as Danny walked over to the monitors.

"Starting with Florida."

He said, typing a few things into the console as Jack Fenton's voice spoke from overhead and the ship began to move faster.

"SETTING NEW COURSE FOR CAPE CANAVERAL FLORIDA."

"No fair, how come we get to go to your place first?"

Tucker complained, scooping up his beret and falling back into one of the pilot seats.

"It doesn't matter, we're not going there to have fun."

Danny said, but Tucker could see the eagerness in the halfa's eyes despite his words. Of course he was eager, he was sure they all were in some form. They were taking a cross country trip, just the three of them, with no parents. Of course it was only because their parents had been kidnapped and were being held hostage by a crazy, ghost obsessed freak, but that was beside the point.

"We've got to get those stones back, we've got to fix everything and save them."

Sam said, leaning against the back of Tucker's chair as Danny pulled away from the machine and nodded.

"We will, we'll put everything back to normal. I hope."

A/N

Let's hear it for some Tucker/Sam moments! There's certainly not enough.

I'm trying really hard to post more frequently! I'd like to get this fanfiction done in the next couple of months so I can start on a new one. I really like this whole, more realism thing, and I'd like to play around with it in other episodes and even other shows, particularly Miraculous Ladybug.

If you have any shows or episodes you'd like to see written in this style, message me! I'm always looking for new ideas!