Chapter Six
Vaguely, he could hear something, a whisper, beckoning him. He couldn't tell what it was saying or where exactly it was coming from. All he knew was that he really didn't feel like following the summons. Danny Fenton was perfectly content where he was in the misty blackness.
"Danny?"
There is was again. That voice. Something about it made him smile. He couldn't say why, it was familiar and warm and although he was quite content to stay and rest where he was, something made him follow the voice.
"Come on, Danny?"
As he floated to what appeared to be the surface, he heard a low moan and cringed. Whoever that had been, he definitely didn't want to be in their shoes. As he swam towards the light, the moaning became more constant and louder.
"That's it, Danny..." the voice whispered reassuringly. "You gotta wake up..."
It was almost as if he had been stuck underneath the surface of some dreamy, watery sleep.
He felt his body arch and gasp as his eyes flew open and the fog dissipated from his vision.
"It's ok, it's ok." A voice, the same one that had been calling to him, whispered. He felt a hand on his chest that was gently pressing him down.
Tiredly, as his body relaxed, he turned to look beside him.
"Tucker!" Sam shouted from beside Danny, her hand still laying on his chest. "I need that blanket!"
"It's not like I live here, Sam! How am I supposed to know where the blankets are?" Tucker shouted from down the hall.
Sighing in annoyance, Sam turned back and started to see Danny staring at her.
"Danny!" She almost jumped to her feet, but staying seating and instead leaned forward. "You're awake!"
"Danny's awake?" Tucker shouted from down the hall again. Danny could hear him coming down the hall and turned in time to see his friend enter with an arm full of neatly folded towels. Danny's brow furrowed in confusion.
Sam turned to look and shut her eyes, letting her face fall into her hand.
"Tucker?" She breathed, exasperated. "What are we going to do with towels?"
"They are like tiny blankets..." Tucker began cautiously. "And look, I brought about twenty! So, we should be able to cover him up about four or five times..."
"Tucker- that won't work." Sam folded her arms, staring at her techno-geek friend. "Go find real blankets." She said sternly. "Soft, fluffy ones!"
Tucker scowled at her and dropped the towels with a shout.
"You're not my mom!"
He stomped off back down the hall and Sam leaned forward, brushing her hand over Danny's forehead.
Danny wanted to sit up, ask what happened, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He breathed deep, grunting with the effort as parts of his body seemed to creak and groan in protest.
"No, Danny. Stay still." Sam's hand was back on his chest, pushing forcefully enough to pin the boy down. Of course, had Danny any energy at all, he would have easily pushed her away. But right now, everything hurt and his entire being felt weak.
He remembered what had happened, at least, what he though had happened. He had messed with his parents portal and turned into some sort of freak that had white hair, green eyes, and could walk through walls.
Of course, now, though his mind was still reeling, he was able to process the changes better and not pass out again. Seeing himself like that had just been too much of a shock, not to mention all the worries about how he was going to explain it his parents, and not become the brunt of all the torture and beating at school.
"Are you ok, Danny?" Sam watched him worriedly, obviously scared that he wasn't talking.
'Ok, Fenton... Let's try this again...'
Taking a deep breath, Danny nodded carefully. He swallowed once, attempting to get some control over his voice box.
"Yeah... Well..." he sighed, closing his eyes and wiping his hand over his face with a weary groan. "Just taking it all in, I suppose." There was no point in freaking out, which, honestly, he felt like he should be. 'Let's face it,' he rolled his eyes inwardly. 'If I had the energy, I would be flipping out...'
"How do you feel?" Sam asked, but immediately squinted and just shook her head. "Stupid question. Forget I said that."
Danny smiled.
"Sam," Tucker's voice floated back into the bedroom as he reappeared carrying two of the fluffiest balls of material Danny had ever seen. If he hadn't heard the earlier conversation, he would think that Tucker was carrying a giant fluffy bunny.
"Are these fluffy enough?" Tucker asked, peaking around the mound in his arms.
Sam smiled and looked at Danny who smiled back.
The only thought on his mind was how lucky he was to have the friends he did.
He watched in silence as Sam covered him with both blankets and sat back down, putting a hand on the side of the bed. Without a word, Tucker joined them, sitting on the opposite side of the bed as Sam and smiling at Danny.
Exhaustion pulling the boy's entire body back onto the bed, Danny leaned back and closed his eyes.
Danny's eyes popped open and he sat up, albeit far too quickly for his still sore body.
Sam and Tucker looked at him in surprise, but before either of the friends could ask what was wrong, they all heard the front door open and the jingle of keys.
"Danny? Jazz? Kids?" A familiar motherly voice called.
Danny grabbed a handful of his white hair, looking at it, not knowing how he was going to explain this... Quickly as he could, Danny began pushing himself back into the bed frame, as far away from the bedroom door as he could get.
Sam and Tucker had both risen by now, staring with trepidation at the bedroom door.
All three friends looked at one another, unsure of what to do. There was no way they could say that they dyed Danny's hair- it was far too white, and his eyes- there was no explaining them! And then, there was the inverted hazmat suit- Danny shrunk behind a blanket.
'I'm dead. I'm so dead.'
Quickly, Sam grabbed Danny's arm and begin pulling him out from under the blankets. He looked at her, eyes wide.
"What are we doing?" He whispered, still looking at the door.
"Danny? Are you kids up there?" The unmistakable sound of Maddie Fenton's boots echoed up to Danny as she began to ascend the stairs.
Sam slapped Tucker, who was also staring at the door, teeth clenched.
"Tucker- help me!"
Without a word, Tucker seemed to get the idea and ran to the other side of the bed and threw back the blankets.
Danny still had no clue what was going on. Usually, the three of them shared some sort of weird telepathy and so it was not often when they had explain their actions, but right now, Danny's brain felt nothing but slowly rescinding fog and terror.
"What are we doing?" Danny hissed, his voice cracking.
A little more violently than she meant, Sam slapped her hand over Danny's mouth and glared.
The two friends pulled their weak companion from the bed and heaved him towards the closet. It was slow going since Danny's muscles were being painfully rebellious. He bit but a grunt as Sam and Tucker drug him across the floor so that his white booted feet skidded across the carpet.
Matters were difficult enough at the moment, but it didn't help when Danny felt a deep chill settled in his feet and ankles. Looking down, he wanted to scream as his feet began to slid into the floor.
Sam saw the frantic look in Danny's green eyes and followed it down to the floor. Determined, she grunted and heaved the boy up higher so that he would not slip through the floor, because, at this point, the intangibility was spreading up his legs to his waist.
"Danny?" his mother's voice was just down the hall.
Danny closed his eyes as tight as possible, trying to even out his breathing. He could feel Sam and Tucker groaning as they moved slowly towards the closet, attempting to share Danny's weight between them, although, as his body disappeared from sight, he became significantly lighter.
There had to be a way to control this though. He had to control whatever this was.
Footsteps echoing in his mind, he blocked them out, concentrating on the warmth at the very center of his being. He didn't know why he did this or what it was going to accomplish, but something told him that this was his only chance.
'Focus, Fenton. Focus!' he screamed internally, not realizing that he had begun to shake, causing Sam and Tucker to become unsteady as they hurried toward the closet, now only carrying Danny's torso, arms, and head.
The cold in his body began to rescind as Danny focussed on the deep seeded warmth within, the pulse radiating at the very core of his being.
Suddenly, blinding light flashed causing Sam and Tucker to let go, stepping back as two glowing white rings formed around Danny's visible torso.
They brilliant rings moved quickly in opposite directions, in complete sequence with each other.
Both Sam and Tucker's eyes went wide as they watched the hazmat suit give way to white t-shirt and blue jeans.
White haired turned black as the top ring ascended and white boots were replaced by Danny's simple red tennis shoes.
With a thump, Danny's feet met the floor. He stood in place, clenching his hands into fists, his entire body tense as he stood, obviously unaware of what had happened.
"Danny!"
Maddie Fenton stood in the door way, eyebrows lowered in confusion and disapproval.
Danny opened his eyes and turned wearily to face his mom, sorrow and apprehension on his features.
'He doesn't know...' Sam told herself internally, noticing that Danny seemed to be afraid to face his mother. Sam looked to Tucker who was still staring at Danny with wide eyes. It was like he was made of stone, which meant it was up to her.
"Mom... I'm sorry. It was an accident- we didn't mean to-"
"Mess up your towel index, Mrs. Fenton!" Sam interrupted, running to Danny's side, but not looking at him. Sam patted Danny's shoulder and shrugged. "It was all Tucker and I's fault. We wanted to practice our ghost hunting skills and well, we figured what better practice dummy than a pile of towels!" Sam smiled innocently at Mrs. Fenton who was looking at he with a disbelieving frown.
Frown gave way to a bright smile and she put a hand to the side of her face, smiling at the teenagers.
"Oh, well why didn't you say something before?" She looked proudly at the three, probably thinking of what fantastic young ghost hunters they would be. "Next time you want to work on your skills, Jack and I can bring out the ghost projector and we can get some practice in!" She squealed in almost a schoolgirlish manner. "Danny! I didn't know your friends were interested in ghosts!"
"Trust me." Danny turned slowly to look at Sam. "I am as surprised as you..." Sam just smiled.
Maddie looked just beyond Danny and Sam, peering worriedly at Tucker who still sat on the floor, eyes wide and mouth agape.
Sam waited a second before she smiled and brushed off the silence.
"He's fine. He's just... sad... about your towel index." Sam smiled and slapped her own hand. "Naughty, naughty."
"Oh, it's fine!" Mrs. Fenton chuckled waving it off. "I'm surprised it has lasted this long, but I guess that Jack didn't want to wear a cape today." She shrugged and brightened. "Speaking of Jack, he's making that frozen pizza if you kids want to stay for dinner." She clasped her hands, a glint in her eyes. "We can talk about ghosts and discuss your training!"
Sam almost frowned, but schooled her expression quickly.
"Oh... we'd love to... but-"
A sudden pressure on her wrist made Sam look at Danny. He hadn't turned his face from his mom, but Sam could read the expression in his blue eyes. Inwardly, she sighed.
'You owe me, Danny...'
"We'd love to stay for dinner!" Sam ground out, teeth clenched tight, but it was all worth it when she felt relief in her wrist as Danny relaxed visibly. "Do you have any salad or tofu?"
"No tofu, I am afraid, but I am sure I could scrounge up a salad." Maddie Fenton smiled and then cocked her head to the side. "I am so glad Danny has good friends like you two." Without another word, she turned and began down the stairs.
Both Danny and Sam breathed out a sigh of relief. Danny, completely tuckered out fell back against the wall, and slid down so that he was sitting on the hard floor.
Sam pinched the bridge of her nose and turned to look at Danny, who was now panting as if he'd just run a marathon. She just watched him for a moment, unsure what exactly just happened.
"How..." she began, shaking her head in disbelief. "How did you-"
"I wish I knew..." Danny smiled, obviously relieved and scared at the same time. "I just concentrated on the warm feeling in my chest." His explanation was rewarded with Sam putting a hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow. "Ok, that doesn't make sense-" Danny frowned, grabbing at his chest. "I can't explain it in a way that you'd understand. It's not like anything I've felt before. It's like I now have some sort of sliver inside me that is either warm or cold." He sighed deeply, content to just sit. "Right now it's cold."
Sam just looked at him a moment and chuckled.
"Your something else, Danny."
"Thanks..." Danny smiled, then frowned again, looking concerned. "I think..."
TBC~
