Guess what! Today is my birthday! And I decided I wanted you all to celebrate it with me. So here's a new chapter for you. It's my present to you. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny or any of the other characters shown in this story, but I do own the plot. Unless Butch Hartman decides to suddenly give it to me. That would be a wonderful birthday present.

Chapter 5

Sam stared at Danny as he lay on the ground, motionless. The severity of their predicament snapped her out of it and she fell to the ground next to him. She checked for a pulse and, when she found one, immediately started to shake him.

"Danny? Danny, wake up. Danny, please! You can't do this now!"

She got no response and Sam looked up. She could hear the soldiers as they searched. They were searching for them and Danny was unconscious. They wouldn't do anything to her except take her back home, but, according to the law, being part of the Resistance meant you had committed treason. She glanced down at Danny. She'd only known him for a few days and already she was feeling this tie to him that she hadn't felt towards anyone else. She wouldn't forgive herself if running away from home meant Danny was going to die.

Why did he have to fall unconscious now? What was wrong? She didn't see any wounds on him besides the one in his arm, and it definitely would not have caused this reaction. It definitely wouldn't have made his hair and eyes change like that. She narrowed her eyes at Danny. What was happening to him? What wasn't he telling her?

The voices of the soldiers grew louder and Sam shook Danny harder. "Danny, wake up! They're going to find us. I don't know what to do. Please, Danny! Wake up!"

And, miraculously, Danny let out a low groan and his hand came up to swat her hands away. She backed away relieved as he let out a small moan and opened his green eyes.

Green?

They were green. The same brilliant green she had seen when his hair had switched to a luminescent white. But his hair wasn't white now. Her attention was diverted, however, as both turned their heads at a shout.

"Check over there! We have to find Lady Samantha!"

The shout was so close and Sam started to panic. Her hand was grabbed and she looked down at Danny.

"Don't worry," he whispered.

"What?" A cold tingle suddenly flowed from his hand to hers and she gave a gasp as the tingle traveled all the way through her. Sure enough, a second later, a soldier came around the corner and stopped as he looked around. His gaze made a thorough search of the dead-end and for a second landed on the two. Sam closed her eyes, ready for some yell of triumph.

"No one here. Just a dead-end."

"She opened her eyes in time to watch as he disappeared back around the corner and out of sight. How was that possible? They were right here! She gave a small shiver due to the tingle still passing through her body and looked down at their locked hands before gazing at Danny.

"How…?" But Danny's eyes closed and his head fell back to the ground. He'd fallen unconscious again. Sam stared, perplexed, as Danny laid there, almost peacefully. She could still feel the tingle and relaxed somewhat. She had a feeling that no amount of shaking would wake Danny up this time. This time she would just have to wait out whatever was causing this to pass. She had no doubt that Danny was the one who had made the soldier not see them. He'd have to explain everything when he woke up. But, for now, she'd let him sleep.

And, though no one came by to check the dead-end again, Sam kept a constant hold on Danny's hand, even after the tingle had faded.



Danny didn't wake up until more than a day had gone by. By hen, all the noises from the soldiers as they looked for them had ceased. Sam couldn't hear anything, and she had a suspicion that the soldiers had left. But her main concern was Danny. He didn't move the entire time unless it was during the times she found that she'd fallen asleep.

He'd grown paler. It was barely noticeable, but Sam kept finding herself nervously watching him for long spans of a time. This also gave her time to think. Somehow, within the few days she had known him, she'd grown attached to Danny. Even with the rocky start they had had. Danny meant a lot to her, and the thought scared her because she knew it was growing past any thoughts of just pure friendship. The idea of becoming romantically involved with someone had never appealed to her before. But that may have been because of the company she was forced to be around. But how could one guy make her change so much in less than five days?

She pushed his bangs out of his eyes as the wind blew them in his face. He really was very handsome, but he didn't seem to know it. And there was just something special about him, and she wasn't talking about the weird occurrences that had been happening. He was one of a kind, unique. She smiled. Again, she was glad she'd followed her instincts in coming here…even if Danny didn't return any of these feelings she was starting to accept.

Her smile changed to one of relief as Danny finally gave out a moan and shifted uncomfortably. Danny gritted his teeth as moving sent a few sharp stabs of pain through his body. That wasn't supposed to happen. Waking up had never been so painful before, but his body was rejecting every movement he made. He finally stopped and opened his eyes, searching out for Sam.

His eyes were blue now.

"Good morning," he murmured.

"Good evening," she corrected. "You've been out for a little more than a day."

"A day!" He shot up and immediately regretted it as the pain came back and a wave dizziness washed over him. He lay back down as Sam gently pushed him back.

"Yes. Do you remember what happened?"

"The Royal Army was here…I fought them…I remember I got hurt…." Sam spoke up as Danny tried to mentally think of a reason for why he had passed out.

"I was only able to stop the bleeding. I didn't think I'd be able to bandage it up with only one hand."

"One hand?" Danny glanced down at their joined hands, a blush starting to appear.
"A soldier came by. Do you remember that?"

Danny froze. "A soldier? No."

"He was coming and you took my hand and he didn't see us."

I…I-I don't-"

"Since when can you make people invisible, Danny?"

He closed his eyes. There had to be someway out of this, some explanation that he could give her. He opened his eyes, mouth already open to say something and stopped. Her violet eyes stared back at him, confident as they challenged him to give her something. He didn't have anything, and Tucker and Jazz weren't there to help him cover.

He gave a sigh, resigned. "Since four years ago." He looked up desperately at her. "You can't tell anyone. Please?"

Her features softened. "I won't, but what exactly happened?"

"Do you remember when I asked you if you believed in ghosts?" She gave a nod and he continued. "I just happen to have ghost powers."

"Ghost powers? How is that possible?"

He gave another sigh. "You want to hear everything?" She nodded patiently. "Okay."



"I am finding it difficult to believe this story, Captain."

Kwan nodded. He was having trouble coming to grips with it also and he had seen it with his own eyes. "You can ask my men, sir. They'll tell you the same thing."

General Lancer gave a sigh as he studied Kwan. Kwan knew the general liked him, but at the moment his expression was full of skepticism.

Kwan had had his men move from their spot early that morning. It had taken a bit of time to find them, but they were finally able to find the general's encampment.

"You say this boy was able to appear and disappear out of thin air?"

"Yes, sir. He also fired something at me, but it wasn't from his weapon."

"Captain, I can except the fact that you saw Lady Samantha and that you did fight one of the members of the Resistance, but making up stories to justify your men's failure is not something I appreciate.

Kwan sighed. As much as is was unwelcome, Kwan expected this reaction.

Please describe him for me, Captain."

"Black hair, blue eyes. He was a little under six feet."

"I see." General Lancer leaned over and looked through some of his files before finally pulling out a picture and showing it to Kwan. "Is this him, Captain?"

Danny's picture stared back at him and Kwan nodded. "That's him, sir."

The general sighed. "I expected as much. Captain, I want you and your men to stay here with me. Now that we know that the Resistance has Lady Samantha, we need to take a different approach to finding her. We need to find where the Resistance stays in this place and then figure out a way to retrieve Lady Samantha."

Kwan nodded. "Anything else, sir?"

"No, that will be all for now. You're dismissed, Captain."

Kwan glanced down at Danny's picture, his curiosity peaked. "Sir, what did-"

"I'm not discussing it, Captain. You're dismissed."

Kwan frowned at the general's irritated tone, but he didn't ask anymore questions and left.



"My life was never normal. My parents were scientists, but most of their time was spent trying to hunt and examine ghosts. My sister and I got used to the weird sounds and explosions that came from the basement where are parents lab was. None of my parents' inventions ever worked so the explosions were heard almost regularly." Danny smile grew as he told the story. "Never mind what I said before, that was normal."

Then Danny's smile disappeared as he frowned. "The main source of money that my parents had was the money that Vlad Masters sent them. He invested in their inventions, gave them money to help them make inventions that would actually work. He'd stop by every now and then to see if the current invention they were working on happened to work. None of them ever did, but he never seemed mad by it. Now that I think about it, I think they were just some pet project to him. He already had all the money he ever needed. Investing in their inventions was his sick form of entertainment. My parents' failures amused him."

"When I was fourteen, the current invention my parents were working on was called the Fenton Ghost Portal. The excitement my parents had over it, claiming that it would work, was nothing new to Jazz or me, but it exculated when they got a letter from Vlad saying that he was coming to see the portal when they first tested it. My parents ran around the house during the days before Vlad came making sure everything was right. At one point their excitement became contagious, and when my mom asked me if I would help them during the test I said yes."

"Vet something went wrong like always. My parents were ready to turn it on and Vlad was standing in the middle of the room waiting for something to happen. I'd been helping off to the side with my parents, making sure everything was plugged in, but I got curious. I went over to watch with Vlad, and then Dad pushed the button."

Danny was quiet for a few minutes and Sam finally whispered, "What happened?"

"I…I don't know. Something erupted from the portal and hit the two of us. The next thing I know, my parents are hovering over me and I was flat on my back on the lab floor. Vlad was coming to beside me. I was feeling so weird and my mom helped me upstairs to my room before going back down to help my dad check on Vlad."

I don't know what transpired between Vlad and my parents, but Vlad left immediately. A few days later, we find out I had ghost powers. Mom and Dad tried to get in touch with Vlad, but they couldn't reach him anymore. The money stopped coming then. My parents were sure that Vlad was mad at them. But without any money coming from Vlad, we had to depend on my parents' savings. Mom and Dad tried making inventions that weren't related to ghosts so they could find other investors, but their hearts weren't in it. Jazz tried finding a job. And all I could do was watch everything happening and feel helpless. I wasn't sure what I could do, and my powers were giving me problems all the time.

There was another pause from Danny. He looked like he was in pain. And he was. The emotional pain ate at him as he was forced to relive the memories, but there was physical pain also. He was still feeling small shocks of pain course through his body every few minutes. It almost felt like his insides were rearranging themselves. He had a feeling it had to do with his powers, but why would they suddenly cause all this pain now?

"Are you okay?" Sam leaned over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Fine," Danny gritted out. "Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

Sam hesitated, still worried. "How did you find out that Vlad was going to attack Amity?"

Danny sighed. "He told me himself."

"What?" Sam drew away, startled.

"A year and a half ago, Vlad suddenly appears on our doorstep. Mom and Dad were so apologetic, but he didn't acknowledge it at all. He said he wanted to privately talk to me specifically. He first inquired about my powers. He wanted to see what I could do. I really wasn't up for showing them to him, I was pretty bitter. I'm not sure, but I had the feeling he was looking for something specific. Anyway, finally he comes out with it and says that he's making this army and was inviting me to join him. I told him he had about as much of a chance of me joining him as a person has of living in Apparition's Cliffs. It's ironic, isn't it? It was around that time that the creep offered to start sending money again as a bribe. I called him a few choice names which brought everyone else in from where they had been anxiously waiting in the other room this entire time. Vlad excused himself after that and I told everyone what happened. I think you know what happened next. I went to the king to warn him and it just blew up in my face."

"But why would Vlad decide to attack Amity first?"

Danny gave a chuckle. "I don't think it's that hard to figure out. Amity has one of the best military forces around. The king is so proud of the security that Amity has. Everyone else knows it also. If Vlad is able to defeat us then what sort of threat will the other countries be? It's not like most of the other countries won't just surrender anyway."

Sam nodded in understanding. She mulled over everything she had learned. "This would explain why your appearance changed."

Danny glanced at her, confused. "What?"

"Your powers. That's why your appearance changed, right?"

Danny's confusion didn't leave. "What do you mean?"

She gave him a critical look. "The white hair and green eyes."

Danny finally sat up and stared at her. "Sam, I have no idea what you are talking about."

She gaped at him. She had seen him change. She knew she had seen it! And there would be no reason not to tell her. How could he not know, though?

"I saw it yesterday, Danny. It was right before you passed out. And then your eyes were green again when you saved me from the soldier. That's never happened before?"

He shook his head, eyes wide. And then another large jolt of pain gripped him and he gritted his teeth so he didn't cry out.

"Danny," Sam asked. "What's happening? What's wrong?"

"I-I don't know," he whispered, his blue eyes meeting hers. The hint of fear in his voice was barely recognizable, but Sam caught it. She leaned over and embraced Danny as his body gave a painful shudder. He returned the hug and layed his head on her shoulder, and they stayed like that for awhile as Danny tried to bear the brunt of whatever was happening to him. Finally he passed out again, but this time from exhaustion.



Tucker gazed out at the towering mesas around him. Danny and Sam had been gone for almost over two days. Tucker knew Danny could take care of himself, but Jazz had informed him of how different the situation was now and he couldn't help but worry. Tucker didn't know why the Royal Army had just now decided to enter the Cliffs, but no good was ever going to come out of it.

He been urgently waiting there return for awhile and glanced down at the pack that was in his hands. What if something had happened to them? What if they were hurt? But they couldn't send anyone out. During the past few days, two more teams had come back injured after encountering the army. But if something had happened to Danny, something involving his powers than they needed to do something. Tucker and Jazz would be the only ones who could help him and Jazz couldn't leave. Part of it was that she needed to stay here and treat those that were wounded. The other part was that Danny would kill Tucker if Jazz stepped a foot outside.

Which left him. But he wasn't a fighter! There was a large chance that he would run into the army like everyone else had. But he did know where they were going and the fastest ways to get there. And he just had this feeling that the two were in trouble. Tucker may not have known Sam that long, and some of her views about not eating meat and other things left something to be desired, but she was still part of their group. Anyone here would sacrifice themselves to save anyone else and that included him. And if he was the only one who could go and save Danny then he was the only one who could go and save Sam also.

And with that, Tucker shouldered his pack and set off towards the northwest.

I hope you all enjoyed this. And now that I have given my present to you, how about giving me a present in the form of a review? It is my birthday after all and it would make me ever so happy.

Reviews make miracles.

Faith's melody