~Chapter 15~

It was really hard to stand up... It was even harder to stay up, even when on both your two feet. All fours was hard! How was he supposed to know they had a gravity trigger? And all to test his strength as a ghost, something which, in their eyes, seemed to have no true form. He had a true form! How the heck else would he have been forced to stay in that rope. Which, by the way, was still on him. This made standing even harder to do. And if he wanted to get down on all fours, only his butt would be sticking up. His face on the other hand would be stuck to the floor. How nice.

The gravity increased and his body felt heavier than it ever had before. He tried to keep his knees in line, straight so the bones would hold his legs up. He felt like he cold fall down any second now. It sounded like a good idea since he wanted to get out of here so badly, but in truth, it was a bad idea. They knew he was strong than this. He defeated Pariah Dark, ruler of all ghosts; surely a little gravitation pull wouldn't bring him to his knees.

He strained and grunted as the gravity increased again. Government facilities sucked...

He was tempted to tell them he had a family he needed to get back to. Only problem with that was, they might try to find that family. It would put Sam and the twins, as well as any others whom they thought could be related to him, in danger of undergoing these same tests. Or possibly different ones. They would know Sam was human. Full human. A human and a ghost together...now there was something you didn't see every day. They would get curious, wanting to know more about all this. And the twins...what kind of tests would they run on the twins? A human-ghost hybrid. Or rather, two of them. Another strange occurrence they would want to look into.

The gravity increased again.

"Sam," a feminine voice cooed throughout Danny's room.

The goth turned around, her daughter sitting quietly beside her foot. It was Jazz. There was no doubt it was about Danny. She likely didn't believe the whole 'Tucker study night' thing. And that was understandable considering Danny never had sleepovers. Especially not with other guys.

"Can we talk for a second?" she asked.

Sam nodded. "Sure."

The red-haired teen looked down at Lilith, then at a sleeping Danny Junior, and then back at Sam. "The twins aren't Danny's are they?"

"What? Of course they are. Why else would they call him 'Daddy'...or...'Doddy'?," she said, correcting herself at the end.

"Does Danny know they aren't his?" she asked, completely ignoring Sam's comment.

Sam scoffed, pretending to be offended. "They are his!"

The goth knew this day was coming. Jack, unsurprisingly, still hadn't figured it out. But Jazz...she'd probably known for awhile now, ever since the twins' hair color started to show. Now she was getting the wrong idea, the same one Maddie had when she first found out. No one ever seemed to suspect that there was a different reason the babies existed. No one ever seemed to want to give her the benefit of the doubt. In fact, no one even had doubts. They only had surefire ideas, ones that cornered Sam unless she told them the truth. Suddenly their ideas weren't surefire but they gave Sam the pity she wanted to avoid. Attention because of the babies was one thing, but attention concerning her rape was another. It was all, "I'm sorry, Sam!" and, "Are you okay?"

Only Danny was allowed to say that to her. He was there, he took care of her, and most importantly, he was the first to know about this. She'd needed him more than she thought. Now that she had him, and now that he had her, she let him say and do whatever he wanted. He had rights to his opinion. He held up every promise he made, including the ones she didn't remember. He deserved to be able to talk to her about anything. So...she let him.

And he was allowed to pity her, as long as he kept it within certain boundaries. She didn't think he pitied her anymore. Felt bad about what happened, maybe, but not pity in itself. Bottom line, Danny was the only person she would ever be comfortable with knowing her secrets and thoughts.

"There's nobody with dark brown hair in our family, and I've seen yours. Your family doesn't have dark brown hair either. Whose are they?" Jazz inquired.

Her family...? Her family? Her family might as well have ceased to exist. She could've said they didn't matter anymore, but that would be a lie. Her 'nonexistent' family had thrown her out for good, kind of like trash. Only they missed the trash can.

"I don't know," she muttered, awaiting the same reaction from Danny's sister as with his mother.

She looked away, but still felt Jazz's gaze. The girl could always look straight at people and see through their souls. It was a very creepy gift she possessed. And it was making Sam uncomfortable... Very uncomfortable...

"You know, I never thought you were the type to be sleeping with a bunch of other guys. You shouldn't have done that. Danny didn't deserve it," the girl finally said.

And voila. There it was, the ol' 'sleeping with everyone' assumption. Honestly...was it too hard to give her a chance to explain herself? Or at least come up with a cover? And where the heck was Danny? She needed him in more than one way now. But she shook the thought out of her head. That was selfish. Danny could be anywhere, doing anything. Maybe he finally left... Lilith was getting to be such a picky eater and Junior was probably the messiest baby on the face of the Earth... Maybe it had become too much work for him, and he left.

No...no, she had to remind herself that just like she wanted the benefit of the doubt, Danny also would want it. It was just her mind starting to get paranoid now that he'd been gone for so long. He would come back...hopefully.

"Sam?" Jazz said, snapping her fingers a few times. She sounded irritated. Actually, she sounded a little beyond irritated.

She took a breath. "They aren't his. He knows that."

"Then why did you tell him to help you raise them? It would different if he was the dad, but since he's not it's like you-"

"Jazz!" Sam barked. "I never told him to do anything. When he found out I was pregnant, he told me he would help me. I told him he could leave if and when he wanted."

"He only did that because he's a nice guy. You have to tell him to stop," Jazz said, almost in a demanding tone.

She did have a good point there. Danny was nice. In some ways, too nice. He'd never do anything to hurt anyone unless it had to be done. And since Sam was his best friend, and now his girlfriend, it was possible that he couldn't turn down her cry for help. And he'd stay with her because of that promise he made.

"You can still stay here, but you have to stop making Danny-"

"I'm not making him do anything, Jazz, that's what you seem to keep missing. He chose to play daddy; I had nothing to do with that."

"This isn't fair to him," she stated firmly.

The goth wanted to glare at her...but...she couldn't. She was right. Danny really didn't deserve this. He didn't do anything wrong. Plus, he was a superhero. He had enough to keep him busy by protecting the city, hiding his identity, and trying to keep up with his schoolwork. How was it fair to him if she kept these expectations of him staying with her and the twins for the rest of his life? Yes, she was his girlfriend, and maybe he wanted the twins, but she was holding him back. Dragging him down. He already had so much to do and... She sighed. And she needed to stop expecting anything from him. She owed him, not the opposite. And with two babies, time management became that much harder. She really was just slowing him up.

"Just...just don't say I slept with someone else," the goth grumbled.

He had to get back somehow. How long were these tests going to last, anyway? He'd already been out cold for eight consecutive hours. How much time did the tests he'd already taken use up? Everyone was probably worried, probably trying to find him.

Another blast rippled across his shield. The echo could be heard from the inside. It was like a portable ghost shield, only without the same strength. If they just wanted to find out how he worked, then why not interrogate him or something? He was a good ghost, he would comply! He would tell them what they needed to know! Of course, only on grounds that he would be set free after they had their fill of information.

"Well, Sam, you did sleep with someone else. And not knowing who the real father is tells me you slept with more than one person," Jazz continued.

"I didn't sleep with multiple people, I-"

"So then it was a stranger?"

The goth kept her mouth quiet for a moment. Jazz was finally on the right track here. That man was, in fact, a stranger. And he wasn't 'multiple people'.

"Danny told me it didn't count as sleeping with somebody," she muttered in her own defense.

"How else are babies made?" Jazz combated.

Well. That answered that question. Danny was wrong, she'd had sex with that man. Just not willingly. But apparently that didn't matter, now did it? Of course not. No one would understand. It was just impossible; people would forever assume that she was one of those girls who would do anything for sex. That's what Maddie thought. And now that Jazz was assuming the same thing...well...it started to bring up doubts. She should've just taken the busy path. She'd have to fight her way through a crowd of people, but at least there would be someone there to help her...unlike the solitary route she'd chosen to take so long ago.

But...Jazz didn't even know what she was talking about. Jazz wasn't there when Danny was. She never stuck by Sam's side like Danny did. In fact, only Danny knew all that had happened. Him...and only him. There was no person better suited to keep her secrets than the halfa, whether he was Fenton or Phantom. Bottom line, Danny knew everything and it would stay that way. If he was willing to reveal his secret to keep hers, then he deserved to have her love and the twins' love.

Sam smirked with that thought. "Get back to me when you know."

Jazz frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You obviously don't know everything. And you know what? That's fine. You can think what you want," she replied. "Because the only opinion that matters is Danny's. If you don't know what really happened, you don't have a right to an opinion. So for now, your opinion, your thoughts, don't count."

Jazz turned around and left. Sam didn't know whether or not the girl was upset or offended, but it was true. Jazz couldn't give her input if she didn't know what she was talking about. And the goth knew Jazz wasn't going to go 'tell on her'. Just like the time when she first found out about Sam's pregnancy, she wouldn't go crying to Mommy.

So...wow. There really was an interrogation part of all this. Interesting.

"So, punk," the agent spat out, "what does it feel like when you pass through solid objects?"

He smiled, trying to be the hero type, the kind of person people look up to. "Tingly. You can feel it pass through you, kind of like air-"

"You can feel air?" the man interrupted.

"Sure. Ghosts can feel just like you can," he said.

"That's impossible..." the man muttered. "Ghosts are dead! They don't have bodies, let alone nerve endings!"

Danny sighed. "Um, we do have bodies. How else can I still be in this stupid rope if I don't have a body?"

"Moving on," he abruptly declared. "Whenever you use any form of ectoplasmic energy, can you feel an inner working?"

The halfa snorted. "An inner working? What the heck is that?"

"Do you feel anything inside you? Something that tells you you're using that energy?" the man corrected.

"Uh...well, when I sense another ghost, my breath gets chilly. Does that count?"

The agent slapped his forehead but wrote it down anyway. "What about when you fly?"

"Light, kinda like my body is about as heavy as a feather," he answered.

The man muttered something incomprehensible under his breath. He quickly jotted something down and looked back up at the halfa. His expression was difficult to make out thanks to his dark glasses, but if those glasses were off, he would probably look mad. But it wasn't like Danny could do anything about it. They wanted answers, he was giving them answers. And they were legitimate answers, too! It wasn't easy to describe what he felt. There wan no real inner working, no blood rush or strange feeling inside him to tell him he was using a power. He just...knew.

"Okay," the man continued, "how do you turn invisible at will?"

Danny looked up at the ceiling. That...had to be the hardest question ever. "I dunno. I just...do it."

The man threw his hands up in the air. "Even teenage ghosts...!"

The halfbreed laughed. "I take it you don't have kids."

"Just... Agh!" The man growled before taking a deep breath. "Let's just move on to the next test, get this over with..."

Danny smiled. It was about time. Last test, hopefully. But hey, there couldn't possibly be many more left, assuming this wasn't the last one. And knowing the Guys In White...it probably wasn't. But then again, maybe it was. Hopefully it was. He hoped Sam wasn't worried about him. These tests had been hard on him, and pretty exhausting, especially considering how much blood...or ectoplasm, whichever...they'd taken from him. He would be tired when he got home. And he'd been gone so long, there was no doubt she was worried. And Tucker...she had definitely already called Tucker. No one had seen him. No one knew where he was at. No one knew what was happening to him. And no one knew if he was ever coming back. But he was. Eventually. Once these idiots got what they wanted...

"Doddy!" Lilith cried, wondering where her dad was and frantically trying to find him. "Where Doddy?!"

Sam knelt down and pulled her daughter closer to her, telling her to be quiet. Junior would wake up if his sister wouldn't be quiet. And if both the twins were up... Oh...man. Not good. Definitely not good.

"Daddy's coming back," Sam said. Whether she was talking to herself or Lilith was unknown.

"Where Doddy?"

"He went out, honey. He'll be back," the goth cooed.

"Where go Doddy?" she asked, this time softly and not loud at all.

"He..." Sam stopped. Lilith was just a baby, how was she supposed to understand that her mommy didn't know where her daddy went? "He...went to...uh, the store. He'll be back."

"Doddy be back," she repeated.

Sam let her daughter go and stood up, looking out the window. It was still dark. And darkness symbolized death. She knew this. She was a goth. Red, blood. Gray, misery. Black...death. Danny went away at a time when blackness ruled. It was still nothing but blackness out there...and he still hadn't come back.

"Danny..." she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "Danny...you better come back..."

A/N

Ooooohhh! XD Nice little chapter ending, huh? Go on, hate me all you want. :D

This was slightly shorter (still 3,000+ words not including this A/N) than last chapter but I think it portrays some significance and if you can interpret it, foreshadowing. I'm very interested to see what you think will happen in the next chapter. ;)

As you should know by reading FWB, the moon flower scene had a big impact on the story. I feel like it shouldn't be left out in this story, so I want you to tell me whether you think I should leave it alone or include at least one scene taking place in the moon flower meadow. If you decide you want a scene there, I already have one planned out so it won't take up any time, which means no waiting for me to think up of a scene. And the role it will play will be a big one, so choose wisely because that scene is a kind of make-or-break deal. You could decide whether it's a fan favorite or if I should try to put in a different scene to replace the meadow scene, which could also turn out to be a fan favorite. Either way that chapter will be one of my best chapters. I hope. If you don't feel like reviewing, you can PM me. Either way, I would really like EVERYONE to tell me what they want because these votes are tallied. If you want something, make sure you tell me or else it might not happen.

Thank you all so much for your reviews! :) You really have no clue how much they mean to me!

I'll bump the bar to two hundred twenty-six (226) reviews.

And now the review replies:

Inuyuke- lol Niiiiice... XD Even Lilith, huh? Yeah, sorry for the wait. Little slow here now that I'm preparing for a ton of tests AND a cow eye dissection. Ew.

AJ- I'll keep posting til it's done. :) And it's awesome that you're so into this story.

BrittneyluvsChrist- Thanks! :D I work hard to do that. And it was good, how was yours?

Favorite Daughter Of Hades- Oh, I know. :3 I love making people hate me for that. Muahaha... Yeah, I love making her do that. Too sweet!

HeroAce- A lot of people have been confused about the shadow guy. The shadow was Sam's imagination, nothing more. Yeah, don't worry. The popular kids are starting to really get annoying and that's what matters...for now.

I'm . Only . Human . Dude- He is. :D And they're sweet with him in a baby-ish way.

Looka'sMagicHell- XD Danny + mad ninja skills = EPIC.

Zinnia99- Baby girl is so sweet. :) Wow, one of your favorites? I'm flattered. And honored, really.

GeminiCrystal- :3 Coooot.

kollen- I sure hope it's getting good. Cuz honestly I'm making this up as I go along.

Sammi- Spoiler Alert: They'll know what happened a little later on. Yeah no kidding.

sammansonrepilica- At first the GIW weren't going to get him but then I'm like, what the heck, I'll just throw 'em in there. XD

TheNinjaKitty13- I know, don't you just love me? (Don't answer that.) XP Sorry about the wait.

puppets4ever- Well if you don't update your story, no one will know about it. That might be why it hasn't gotten a review. Good luck though. :)

Revengerz- Sir, yes sir!

averypottermormon- Wow, thank you. :) And sorry 'bout the wait.

Thunber- :3 I never said he was gonna get away. Oooooh, okay. Thanks for explaining that. :) lol Yeah that' would be funny. It's a potential idea right now, not sure if I'll use it.

Sunshine-Midnight123- Thanks. And thanks again. :D

ChristinCC- XD What the heck? Finally got smart? Poor Danny, you just hurt his feelings.

lilyt789- lol Sounds like you're into it. :) Thank you.