I'm having the best Wednesday...ever.

My 8 AM class was cancelled.

It's raining outside, for the first time in what feels like FOREVER.

And there's a party outside later. Hello, free food. XD

I LOVE COLLEGE. Even if it is just community college. Eh, whatever.

Oh AND I discovered a new dubstep song that I'm in love with. It's a remix of Eyes Of Fire by Blue Foundation (WHICH I LIKED BEFORE TWILIGHT. Stupid Twilight ruining the reputation of perfectly good songs)

I don't like Twilight. Sorry, Twihards. Nothing personal, I just think that real men shouldn't sparkle.

Hehe.

I don't own Danny Phantom or anything else you might recognize in this chapter. I don't remember.

Darkness

Chapter Two: Answers

September 14, 2011

For the first time Sam could remember, her heart didn't leap into her throat in excitement when she heard Danny's ring tone cutting shrilly through the night. Her first conscious thought was one of annoyance. She had been expecting his call, but...at three o'clock in the morning? Really, Danny?

"Hello?" She answered groggily, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Skulker and Ember, in the park. Over by our tree. I need back up, Tuck's already on his way. Sorry."

"On my way." Sam mumbled as she flipped her phone shut. She rolled out of bed, shaking her head roughly in attempt to wake herself up a little more. Not bothering to change out of her pajamas, which were a pair of sweatpants and a large t-shirt, Sam yanked her boots on and slithered out her window. She carefully shimmied down the gutter on the side of the house, landing lightly on her feet on the sidewalk below. She turned toward her scooter, which she kept parked beside her window for these kinds of occassions. Ramming her helmet on, she leapt onto the scooter and revved the engine. She took off down the street in the direction of the park.

When she arrived, the battle was already raging. Ember was screaming and shredding her guitar in a wild attempt to knock Danny out of the air. Skulker stalked through the shadows, firing missiles up at Danny when Ember was out of the way. As she watched, two missiles narrowly missed Danny; she raced forward to where Tucker was standing as they exploded over her head.

"Any luck cracking Skulker's suit?" She asked breathlessly.

"Not yet. I think he's been talking to Technus, this system he has is way high-tech compared to the last one," Tucker grumbled, punching a few buttons on his PDA. His eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion. "This is getting old."

"Tell me about it," Sam mumbled. "I'm gonna try to distract Skulker, buy you a little time," She lurched forward before Tucker could protest, leaping on Skulker while his back was turned. She locked her arms around his neck and held on tightly as he began to writhe and shout. Ember, confused at Skulker's sudden panic, paused in her shredding to glance down at him. Danny immediately shot a blast of ectoplasm at her, effectively knocking her into a near-by tree.

"Let go of me, you puny human!" Skulker shouted. He seized Sam's arms and flipped her over his head, throwing her to the ground. Sam landed on her back with such force that for a moment, the edges of her vision swam and faded to black.

"Sam!" She heard Danny cry. She'd had the wind knocked clean out of her lungs, rendering her unable to respond to his concerned voice.

"Leave her, I'll take care of her, get rid of Skulker and Ember!" She heard Tucker yell. Her vision still swam, fading back and forth between utter darkness and the night sky above her. A pair of hands touched her face, brushing her hair away from her forehead. Blindly, she registered Tucker was kneeling beside her, checking her vital signs. She felt his fingers press against her neck, searching for her pulse. Over the sounds of Danny's infuriated fighting with Skulker and Ember, Sam could barely make out the sounds of Tucker's labored and worried breathing. Her lungs felt as if they were shoved in a food compress and set on fire; she couldn't draw a breath.

She felt Danny land beside her. "Is she okay?" He asked breathlessly.

"I think she's going to be okay. I don't know if she can hear us, and she's having issues breathing, but I think she's going to be fine."

"Her head..."

"It's just a cut. I already checked it, it's not deep at all. Entirely superficial."

"It looks like a lot of blood."

"It's not. Believe me, this isn't much blood at all. If you could see yourself after some of the battles you fight, you would know that this isn't much blood at all."

Sam coughed. She rolled her her side and clutched her stomach, coughing roughly. She gasped and opened her eyes, just to find her head in Danny's lap. She sat up quickly, scooting away from Danny as she did. Her eyes were wide and wild.

"Whoa, whoa, hey, easy. It's okay. You're fine." Tucker said, grabbing Sam's arm before she could get any further from the boys. "Relax, it's okay."

"Wh-what...what happened?" She stuttered, clutching her head. A warm moisture met her fingertips; she pulled her hand down and nearly retched at the sight of her own blood.

"Easy, you're okay," Tucker murmured, scooting toward her. He pulled her hand away from the wound by her wrist, forcing her down into a laying position. "Just hold still, I'll clean and cover the cut."

Sam tried to relax, but the metallic smell of her blood was making her want to be sick. She stared at the sky and breathed deeply, trying to wash the scent out with the smells of the park. But it wasn't working.

"This is gonna sting a little," Tucker warned. Sam squeezed her eyes shut and winced at the stinging pain that washed down her spine. She always hated that part when she got hurt: cleaning the cuts hurt almost as bad as getting the cut in the first place. A small whimper escaped her lips. "I know, it's okay." Tucker said soothingly. He knew how much she loathed cleaning her cuts, as he was the one that always cleaned them. A small pang would always shoot through his chest when her face twisted in pain, but often when he was cleaning the wound, Danny would be lying unconscious beside them. His situation took their minds off of what was going on, allowed them to focus on something other than his and Sam's superficial pain.

But Danny was conscious for the first time, witnessing the nursing skills of one of his best friends, and the discomfort of his other. He watched in amazement as Tucker's hands moved gently but efficiently over the small slice on Sam's scalp. He watched the color slowly return to Sam's face as the scent of blood was finally drowned out with the stench of disinfectant. Tucker slid his arm around her shoulders and helped her into a sitting position, his weary but wary eyes on her face. She raised a single shaking hand to the cut, gingerly touching the bandages wrapped around her head.

"How did that happen?" She asked, her eyes beseeching Tucker. Wordlessly, Tucker pointed to a small, jagged rock protruding from the ground. The tip was stained red. Sam shivered and closed her eyes at the sight of her blood.

"I know you don't like blood...I tried to mop up as much as I could, I know it makes you sick,"

"I'm fine. Thanks, Tuck," Sam smiled appreciatively at him. "Luckily, my parents are out of town this weekend, so they won't have to see me in this," She gestured to the bandages wrapped like a turbin around her head.

"Nice. We should probably clear out of here before someone sees us," Tucker glanced at Danny, who was still staring in awe at his two best friends. "Hey, man, you alright? You're not lookin' so good..."

Danny shook himself. "I'm fine," He murmured. "That was just...scary,"

"Believe me, Sam and I have seen much worse," Sam nodded vehemently beside Tucker. "We've actually had worse injuries. This is nothing, she'll recover fast."

"I'm okay, Danny," Sam murmured. Danny tried to smile, but the fear he'd been experiencing while Tucker had been nursing Sam's injury made it impossible.

"I want to fly you home," He said firmly. "I want to make sure you get there alright."

Sam blinked at him. She glanced at Tucker, who nodded encouragingly. "Oh...okay," She nodded. She allowed him to pull her to her feet. "What about my -?"

"I'll take care of your scooter," Tucker interrupted, grabbing her scooter. "I'll bring it by your house later, when the sun's up. Don't worry about it, just get home and get some sleep."

"Okay. Thanks, Tuck," She smiled at him appreciatively. She turned to Danny, who was watching her with the most peculiar expression on his face. "You ready?"

"Absolutely, let's go," He stepped toward her and scooped her up in his arms. He carried her bridal style away from Tucker. "See you later, Tuck!" He called over his shoulder.

They flew to Sam's house in silence. Danny tried to forget how pale and fragile she'd looked when he first landed beside her by focusing on the feel of her arms around his neck, or the warmth she radiated, or the way she smelled; like strawberries and peroxide. Wait, peroxide? That's not right, that's not Sam...

"Danny, are you okay? You've been really quiet..." Sam asked when he phazed through her bedroom wall. He gently sat her on her matress, trying not to look her in the eye. He felt her hand against his cheek, forcing his face up toward hers. "What's wrong?" She asked softly when he finally made eye-contact with her, her eyes full of tender concern.

"I just...I hate seeing you hurt, I hate knowing that I can't do anything to help you. I hate that you got hurt in a ghost fight. And I hate the fact that I didn't know blood makes you sick, but Tucker did know. I've been hurt before, I've bled alot, so why didn't you ever tell me that it makes you sick?"

"I never told you because it isn't important. I can swallow my annoyance with blood when you're hurt, because getting you better is more important. It's not a big deal, okay? Relax."

"I can't relax!" He exploded, turning away from Sam's bed. He stalked to the other side of the room, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "How am I supposed to protect you if I don't even know how to take care of a simple cut? God, I almost panicked with I saw you were bleeding, I would have if it hadn't been for Tucker, and now I can't help but wonder what would have happened to you if Tucker hadn't been there! I would have absolutely freaked out, I wouldn't have known what to do, meanwhile you would have been in pain and you would have been sick because of the blood. I can't take care of you, Sam, I'm -"

"Stop it!" She screamed. "Stop! You can take care of me, you have always taken care of me, since the day we met! Just because you wouldn't have known what to do with a cut doesn't mean you're a failure! God, Danny, you a superhero! You take care of me and everyone else in this town every freaking day. Stop beating yourself up over some stupid little cut! This is why I want you to leave me if I ever got kidnapped by one of your enemies, because you'd absolutely kill yourself trying to save me!"

Danny stared at her. She was right, as usual, but her words made him realize something. "I would leave the bridge up," He said quietly.

"What?"

"I would leave the bridge up. I would let those 200 people die, because you're too important to me." His green eyes glowed intensely in the darkness of the room. "I couldn't lose you. Ever. I would let them die, and I wouldn't think twice about it."

DERP.

If you don't know what derp is, you are missing out on life. For real.

Derp - (adj.) to look/be completely stupid. Like you're having a mental breakdown, caught on camera.

My favorite word, defined. Well, my definition, at least.

You should leave me a review and tell me your definition of derp.

Or, you know, your opinion of this chapter. (:

- Tori