I know what you've been through

But there's only so much one can do

Now the rest is up to you

the rest is up to you

-Relient K-

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Alone, that's all Danny could think about was being alone in this completely complex question. Life or death? It should've been simple but it wasn't. There were many factors to consider in the final answer. And Danny was horrible at these sort of things. It seemed so incredibly difficult in a simple question of life or death.

This wasn't whether he should throw himself in front of a bullet, or let his friends and family blow up. No this was whether he wanted to continue fighting, living, or quietly slip away tonight, dying. And all it would take was a simple movement of the hand and sheer will power. And the boy knew for a fact that he possessed will power, but if he wanted to make this work he needed to find a concrete reason for staying.

Well so far he seemed to only see the negatives. There'd be the pain, first off, he already knew that would be horrendously torturous. Then there was all the explanations and convincing, and he would have to continue life as a normal teenager that everyone knew had ghost powers, there would be endless amounts of publicity and aggravation. Stress and agony were sure to come with life.

Death seemed almost sweet, as horrible as it made him feel for thinking that. But he wouldn't have to deal with anyone or anything, he'd be free. He remembered as he sat in the ghost zone how many days he wished that he could just disappear for good. He thought of how nice it would be to rest and sleep in peace.

But Danny couldn't shake this one image from his head. Sam, the poor desperate Sam who after all had been doing everything just to save him. She was always there and always waiting, what would it do to her if he left her behind, with no guarantee of ever meeting up again? She was such a fragile soul and he knew it, if he shattered it that way would she become a bitter vengeful spirit. Sam was understanding but how could she possible understand why her hero still choose to die even with help and support?

This tore Danny down the center. It wasn't that he wasn't concerned with any one else's' feelings it was that he knew that they could cope. They would move on, she wouldn't. That he was sure of. Danny wasn't sure of what it was that was making him so restless.

"Clockwork?" Danny asked.

"Yes Danny?" The ghost responded almost bored and then he glanced quickly at the clock.

"I think I'm ready..."

"Not a moment to soon." Clockwork grinned. "So what will it be?" He asked shifting his form and thumbing his time staff.

"I'm going to stay." Danny answered slowly forming the words.

Clockwork looked at the boy who was hanging his head. "Are you sure?" The boy looked pitiful, almost as if he were regretting his choice already.

"Clockwork, I have to. I can't just leave Sam behind." Danny cried in a sudden outburst. "Besides..." He lowered his voice. "They're all counting on me."

Clockwork smiled at Danny. "Alright then. You know what you have to do. Good luck Danny."

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"And do remember the time Jazz caught Danny in the thermos?" Tucker asked with very light laughter.

Jazz blushed and smiled. "Yeah I did it at least four times." She admitted.

Sam just couldn't share in their laughter, she smiled along with them. But after seeing him in that state she just couldn't pull herself to even laugh, it didn't feel right. Not without his lighthearted laugh accompany hers in a symphony she loved. They'd been reminiscing for how long she didn't know, but she knew they were trying to help each other.

They were trying to help her. Every so often she would feel Mrs. Fenton's hand on her shoulder whenever she lowered her head. Sam didn't understand why she was receiving such special treatment. Everyone was just as hurt as her. They'd they find her weak? Or did they just know that she was unable to stand this?

Jazz sighed and looked longingly away. "Yeah...we've been through such much."

"And..." Tucker continued. "I'm sure much more to come."

"Yeah..."

Sam looked between them and felt her eyes become watery. She wished she was thinking of the same future as them, but instead she was trying to find out what she'd do. Sure she knew Danny was still here, but she was afraid of not being prepared. She was afraid of being taken by surprise. Sam didn't want to build herself up with a hope that was already dangling on such a frail string.

Sam played out what she would do if by tomorrow he was gone. She decided she would never do what she did before. Pretending that he was still alive when she knew he wasn't. This time she wouldn't let herself do that. Sam finally realized, he was either there or he wasn't. That was that. And right now he was here, he was and she wasn't going to start mourning now.

"Hey." Sam began getting Jazz and Tucker to perk up and look in her direction. "Remember the time we went cross country?" The question was more directed at Tucker whose face lit up.

"There wasn't a single Tucker!" He cried.

Sam snickered as Jazz gave the two a strange glare. She remembered the Freakshow incident, but she had no idea what they were talking about because she hadn't joined them.

"Remember how Gothapalooza turned out?" Tucker asked quirking an eyebrow.

"The fluffiness. The fluffiness!" She repeated in a mortified tone.

"There's something wrong with you two." Jazz stated with a smirk as the two both laughed again.

"You know, I think Danny was the only one who had any real fun at his destination site." Tucker mused after a few moments of thought.

"Yeah." Sam agreed. "He was so proud after he landed that rocket. Do you remember the look on his face?"

"Yeah..."

They both sighed and spoke in unison. "Good times."

"You guys realize that you had fun because of a villain." Jazz pursued, she wasn't trying to bring them down, she was simply stating a fact.

"Yeah it's amazing now that I think of it, and it was all because of Freakshow." Tucker said Sam nodded in agreement. A shadow appeared to cast over them from behind and a voice spoke.

"Funny you should mention me."

Gasp, is that, is that another cliff hanger! Dun daaa daaah! Oh come one what else would you expect from me? What would I do if I gave you nothing to writhe over, the story just wouldn't be whole... and of course without all this suspense coughcoughprocrastinationcoughwhoamikiddingcough