Chapter 6
Vlad agreed to a walk down the street, completely unsuspicious. They grabbed their coats, heading out into the snow.
"Let's just go down the block, okay?" Sam said to Vlad, who nodded, smiling down at her. If he knew what she was planning, he wouldn't be nearly as agreeable…
Sam could tell when they passed through Vlad's ghost shield; she could feel it as they left the artificial warmth that was contained inside the ghost shield to face the harsh cold of the outside.
But that's exactly what Sam wanted. She tapped into her psychic connection, trying to send a thought to Danny.
Danny? Danny, can you hear me? It's Sam.
Sam could only cross her fingers, praying that Danny had received her thought. She was awfully far away… what if her message didn't reach him?
They walked down the street. Vlad's neighborhood was a wealthy one; the houses were all huge and spread very far apart. They stomped through the snow which had been piled off on the side of the road.
Once they were halfway down the street, Sam started to worry. What if he didn't get her message? Or worse— what if he was ignoring her?
Suddenly, Danny's voice came to her.
Sam! Are you all right? How did you get out of Vlad's place? What's going on?
Sam rolled her eyes at Danny's onslaught of questions.
First of all, I'm fine, but I'm still with Vlad. I convinced him to talk a walk with me down the street. He doesn't know that I'm talking to you. So I've got to make this quick.
A minute or two later, his voice reached her again.
Sam, what I said that night… well, I didn't even say it. It was Vlad overshadowing me. I love you, Sam. I'd never say anything like that to you… ever. Tucker doesn't hate you. Obviously I don't hate you. And I don't want us to be broken up. Can you forgive me?
Sam smiled. She'd known that it wasn't Danny that night! She only wished she'd figured it out sooner…
Sam shook her head, trying to concentrate on what needed to be said. She and Vlad were already at the end of the block, coming to a dead-end. They turned around, heading back toward Vlad's mansion. Sam needed to hurry this conversation up. Quickly, she sent thoughts back to Danny.
I kind of figured that out. But it's nice to hear it from you anyway. I'm glad you guys don't hate me. And I love you too. And I don't want us to be broken up either.
I missed you so much, Sam.
Danny had missed her. Sam smiled.
I missed you too, Danny. But we need to make this little reunion quick since Vlad is with me and he'll get suspicious if I make him stay out here for too long, Sam thought. Danny, I have a plan to take down Vlad once and for all. Here's what's going to happen…
dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpx
All too soon, it was Christmas Eve. Danny's parents prepped for Christmas: cooking, cleaning, and decorating.
All of the Fentons were cheery; Danny was the lone exception.
He put on a smile for his family, singing along when Christmas carols came on the radio, laughing at every stupid Christmas joke his father told, but inside he was panicking. This was the day that Sam and Danny had to put their plan into action.
What if it doesn't work? What if I end up dead, like in my dream?
Sam had assured Danny that she'd never do anything to hurt him, not in a million years. And Danny believed her. Why shouldn't he? Still, he couldn't smother the anxiety that was building inside of him.
Danny watched the clock strike 6:00pm. That was his cue.
"I'm going to go take a walk," Danny announced.
"Have fun, sweetie!" His mother called. "And be back soon! Dinner's almost ready!"
Danny nodded, throwing on a coat and rushing outside into the cold air. As soon as the door shut he was sprinting down the block to the park where they'd arranged to meet…
dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpx
"Are you ready, Samantha?" Vlad asked as he flew her across Amity Park.
Sam nodded, gripping Vlad's arm a little harder than necessary. Sam was nervous.
Danny, we're almost there, Sam thought to Danny.
Okay, Sam. I'm in the park, Danny responded.
"Where is young Daniel today, anyway?" Vlad asked, scanning the ground for any sign of the boy.
"What about you try the park?" Sam offered. "He likes to go there often."
Vlad gave her a skeptical look. Why would Daniel be in the park on Christmas Eve, anyway? Wouldn't he be with his family?
"Just trust me," Sam said, then pointed to their right. "The park is over in that direction."
dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpx
Danny sat on the park bench, twiddling his fingers, trying to busy himself with something other than thinking about his impending battle.
It'll be fine, he tried to convince himself, unsuccessfully.
Danny tried to take a deep breath, but it was cut short by his ghost sense going off. Danny looked around, making sure there was nobody in sight. There wasn't. Why would there be? It was Christmas Eve.
"I'm going ghost!" Danny said, changing into his ghostly alter-ego. He kicked off from the ground, flying up to meet Vlad and Sam. They were approaching in the distance, mere dots on the skyline for now. Danny waited patiently, watching their figures growing closer…
This is it.
dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpx
"Plasmius. Sam," Danny greeted them cordially as they flew towards him.
Sam had to stop herself from lunging forward and kissing Danny, she was so happy to see him. She'd missed him so much more than she'd realized… he wasn't just her boyfriend, but her best friend, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd been apart from him for so long.
"Daniel," Vlad said. "What a surprise."
Not really, Danny thought to Sam, and Sam had to keep from giggling.
"What do you want, Plasmius?" Danny asked.
"A fight," Vlad said. "Between you and young Samantha here. I've been training her for the past few weeks, and I can easily say her abilities far surpass yours."
Really? You're that strong? Danny thought to Samantha.
Focus, Danny! Sam thought to Danny, who couldn't hide a small grin. He quickly got back into character, though.
"You have to be kidding me, Vlad! I would never hurt Sam!" Danny said, and Sam nearly face-palmed. He was such a terrible actor.
"You already have, Danny!" Sam shouted, trying to sound angry. "You used me!"
Sorry, Danny, just trying to make it believable, Sam thought to Danny.
S'okay, Danny responded.
"That wasn't me, Sam!" Danny cried. "That was Vlad!"
Vlad had flown off to the side, away from the battle, allowing Sam to float on her own. She wasn't great at flying yet, but she could hover pretty well. Cautiously, Sam flew toward Danny. She lightly tossed the Halfa backward with her powers; not enough to hurt him, but enough to make it look like she was actually angry with him. Danny was thrown back a few feet before he recovered.
"Yeah, right!" Sam said, flinching at how incredibly staged this whole argument sounded. She hoped Vlad bought it. "I trust Vlad! He would never say anything like that to me!"
"How could you trust Vlad?" Danny cried. "He's my arch-nemesis!"
"Yeah, well, the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Sam said, throwing Danny sideways a few feet.
Come on, Danny, at least look like you're fighting back! Sam thought to Danny.
Danny sent a few green blasts toward her, each of them missing her by an inch or two on either side.
"Nice aim!" Sam taunted, sneaking a glance over at Vlad.
Okay, I think Vlad's let his guard down, Sam thought to Danny. Let's get him.
Danny nodded.
dpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpxdpx
After his and Sam's horribly staged "fight," it was finally time for the two of them to get Vlad.
Danny kept his eyes locked with Sam's, charging up as strong an ecto-blast as he could muster. He focused all his energy into building up the glowing energy that was growing in the palm of his right hand. He brought his arm back, presumably the throw the ecto-blast toward Sam…
But at the last minute, he turned, firing the ball of energy at Vlad.
Vlad, taken off guard, was hit in the chest. He cried out in shock as he flew backwards hundreds of feet. Finally, the older halfa hit the ground with an agonized scream.
Danny and Sam quickly landed, running to meet the injured Vlad.
Vlad Plasmius lay on the ground, limp and whimpering, pathetically vulnerable.
It's amazing how much damage just one well-aimed ecto-blast can do to a person, Danny mused. He wouldn't be surprised if Vlad had multiple broken bones. He almost felt guilty, but smothered the emotion. This man had taken his Sam, made her miserable. He was not going to feel sorry for him.
Danny pulled out the Fenton Thermos, aiming it at Vlad, whose eyes turned to Sam. Sam stood there, smiling down at him smugly, arms crossed.
"Samantha, stop him!" Vlad cried.
"Sorry, Vladdie," Sam said, smirking down at the evil halfa. "I'm back with Team Phantom now."
"H-how?" Vlad stammered, wide-eyed.
Sam didn't have a chance to respond before Vlad was absorbed by Danny's Fenton Thermos in a blinding blue light.
Danny carefully capped the thermos before turning to Sam.
"So, what are we going to do with him?" Danny wondered, holding up the thermos.
"We'll figure something out," Sam said, smiling faintly. "But for now… it's Christmas Eve. Don't you want to be with your family?"
"Sam," Danny said, wrapping his arms around Sam and meeting her gaze. "All I want is you."
And then they kissed, and it was like they'd never fought, and Sam had never been gone. Everything was back to normal.
"But seriously, Danny," Sam said after they broke apart. "You probably should get back home."
"You're right," Danny sighed. He knew he had to let go of Sam at some point. He'd see her again soon; he'd make sure of that. But he didn't want to let her leave him again. He'd missed her so much…
Suddenly, inspiration struck.
"Hey, Sam, your parents are out of town, right?" Danny asked.
"Yeah. They're not going to be back until school starts back up. Why?"
"How about you spend the rest of Winter Break at our house?" Danny asked. "I wouldn't want you to be alone on Christmas. I mean, I know you're Jewish and all, but still, I just thought…"
Sam cut him off with a kiss.
"I'd love to," Sam said. "Now let's go. It's freezing out here."
Chuckling, Danny took his girlfriend's hand and the couple started the short walk back to Fenton Works.