Chapter Seven: Frienemies

Alright, I'm getting a head start on chapter seven so I can even out my update schedule. It's been way too rocky lately and now I'm ready! This is the chapter when Sam and Tucker are discussing Sam's new friend- Danny. Of course, Tucker hasn't met him yet, and being judgmental as he is, he doesn't trust Danny. He wants to protect his best friend, but unfortunately, he knows nothing about Gregory. Only Danny knows. Anyway, Danny's not gonna be in this chapter (I know, you feel bad XD) but he'll be in the next chapter, and he's gonna finally meet Tucker. But later- he's gonna meet Gregory and it won't be pretty. XP Read, review and enjoy! Oh, and thanks to all whom reviewed during my hiatus. BTW- Avatar fans- you're gonna love this chapter. Lots of bending and stuff. No Waterbending yet, fans, but I'll have it soon because water's my favorite element. :D Now, the story! XD

"Hey, Tuck," Sam greeted her best friend when he came to the door. A boy, about the same age as her, with a chocolate complexion, bright, emerald green eyes, and a green hat covering his curly, black hair gave her a warm smile. "Hey, Sam; hello, Mr. and Mrs. Manson," He winked at his best friend, and gave a polite bow to her parents. They returned the gesture as he allowed them to enter his home.

Just like Sam and her parents, he owned a large home, somewhat like a mansion, but nothing compared to Vlad Masters' home. It also belonged to one of the top noblemen of the kingdom, his father. The Foleys own a high-end corporate business with the Masters' company, being the only few noblemen in the estate.

"C'mon," Tucker led her to his room, already uninterested in what the adults had to discuss. He opened his bedroom door and closed it behind her. Sam searched for a place to sit, due to the lack of chairs and the messiness everywhere. "Uh…" She was about to say, when he finally caught on.

"Oh, right." He chuckled, a little embarrassed by all the crap he had laying around. He picked up his cell phone, PDA, and a few books from a less clustered area, and pushed up a section of the floor with a quick jerk of his hands and a push of his feet. "There ya go, one custom made chair, at your service." Tucker gestured mockingly as he tossed himself on his bed.

Sam just shook her head and sat down. She knew her best friend was an earthbender, and often displayed it when she was around. "Do you have to do that every time I visit you?" She chuckled, watching him freely spin a couple of rocks in his hands. He let them down and crushed them into dust in his hands. "What? It's cool. Plus, I can't do it in public. My parents actually don't like the fact that I can earthbend." He sat up and walked over to his closet. Sam watched him carefully as he dug through the clutter of clothes, technology materials, and various other things that happened to fly out of there.

Finally, Tucker pulled out a block of metal. He managed to push everything back in the closet and made his over to her. "They don't know it, but I've been practicing more than my earthbending. Since most earthbenders, even the best, can't bend metal, I've been trying to teach myself. You're lucky, after all. Your mom's a firebender, and she's been teaching you most of your life." He explained. Sam watched him intensively as he focused shaping the block. He crushed it in his hands and reshaped it into a pyramid. Then, he formed it into a key, a sphere, and even into a mini metal sculpture of his best friend. She smiled as he handed her the masterpiece. "Cool! I can't believe you can do this all on your own," She commented.

Tucker smiled and just shrugged. "It's nothing, really. I've been earthbending since I was 9 years old. I discovered what I could do when I was 4, though." He said as he reshaped it back into a block and tossed it back in his closet.

Suddenly, Sam felt a twinge of sadness when he mentioned himself being 4 years old. She remembered the horrifying story Danny told her yesterday about him being raped when he was only four. After an entire day away from him, she still couldn't believe it.

"Um… Tucker? There's someone you really should meet," She said slowly. Tucker glanced up, a curious look in his eyes. "Who's that?" He asked, creating another chair next to her. He sat down and waited for her to answer.

She took a deep breath. "Well, you know my uncle, right?"

Tucker nodded. "Oh, sure. He and my parents work together and my dad's a nobleman of his,"

She nodded and continued. "Yes… and he recently adopted a boy… a few years ago. My parents and I went to visit my uncle a few days ago, and… I was able to meet the boy."

Suddenly, Tucker stood up, a frown etched on his face. "And what happened? Did he do anything? Did he hurt you?" He quickly asked, checking her arms for bruises.

Sam jerked her arm away, crying out, "No! He didn't! He'd never hurt me!" Her voice sunk into a whisper. "He went through too much, anyway. He's had a long life."

He slowly sat down. A questioning frown was still set on his face. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"What's he like? I mean, surely someone adopted by Mr. Masters himself must have an interesting past," He commented, resting his arm on his knee and tapping his foot.

Sam picked with her bracelet before answering. "He's been through a lot."

"How so?"

Sam remained silent for a moment before continuing, "Well… he wrote on the walls… with his blood."

A pained and slightly disturbed expression appeared on Tucker's face as she spoke. "He's been through Hell all his life. Everything that you can think of, he's been through. He's almost been murdered, almost committed suicide, almost killed his foster mother, both his parents, as far as he knows, died in a fire when he was a baby, no one's ever really loved him in years, he was taken away from his first foster mother because of what her husband did to him when he was four, he's been burned, beaten, and tortured forever… and Tucker…" Tears welled up in her eyes. "He's only 14 years old. He's not even our age, yet."

Silence crept through the room as Tucker tried to take in everything his best friend just told him. After a while, he asked, "What's his name?"

"Daniel James. After I met him, he prefers Danny. He hasn't gone by Danny in years." She replied.

"Damn…" was all he could whisper. Then he said, "Well, was he telling the truth?"

Sam's eyes widened. "What?" She whispered in disbelief.

Tucker just shrugged. He returned his chair back into a flat surface and lay back on his bed again. "Hey, my mom's head of security here. She may not know it, but I gained her ability to tell when people are lying. And this 'Danny' you're talking about… he's probably just after you. I mean, why else would he tell such a sob story?" Before Sam could reply, he asked, "I bet he told you he was raped as a child, right?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean anything! He was raped! I mean, who the hell lies about something that horrible?!" She cried out, standing up herself.

"Someone trying to fool you. Really, some guys just wanna tell you what you wanna hear so you'll be all peaches 'n' cream with them, then they can find the perfect time to strike so they can get down your pants." He finished, spinning some more rocks in the air.

Sam's eyes became darker and turned red with anger. "There is no chance in hell that Danny lied to me! He'd never do that! He was too real!" She screamed. A few sparks of lightning came from her body.

Tucker got up and held Sam by the shoulders. He looked into her eyes, which if looks could kill; he might be dead right now. "Look Sam, I'm only looking out for you. All guys out there aren't like Gregory, who actually cares about you. Plus, you just met the kid and you don't really know where he comes from."

Suddenly, Sam pushed him so hard, he fell to the floor. She lit two powerful electric beams in her hands. "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT GREGORY!!!! NOTHING!!" She shot one of the purple beams at him. He nimbly dodged it by flipping over and running towards the window.

"Sam! Calm down! I'm just being reasonable! Plus, what's this about, 'I know nothing about Gregory? He's pretty cool, and-"At that instant, Tucker knew she shouldn't have said anything. Sam aimed another beam at him, this time catching his arm. He cried out in both surprise and pain and flipped over the window ledge and headed towards the ground. Sam followed suit and slid down the side of the large mansion, quickly catching up to him.

Tucker landed firmly, but gently onto the soft grass and ran through the backyard, leaping over rocks, plants and branches. Sam continued to shoot fire at him, causing him to dodge every attack the best way he could.

Running through the forest, Tucker climbed a tree nearby and leaped from branch to branch. Unfortunately for him, Sam could do the same. It came naturally to every element except water.

Finally unable to keep her off his tail in the trees, he headed to the solid ground once more. He created a circle with his foot on the ground and pushed up the earth, using the ground as skates. He pushed the earth forward as fast as he could, his arms pumping hard and he continued running. Not too far behind, Sam was running as fast as she could, shooting fire and tossing insults at the boy.

Finally, Tucker ran into a dead end brick wall, and stopped bending. "Oh, crap!" He moaned to himself. His eyes widened when Sam stopped in front of him.

A malicious grin lay on her lips as she slowly walked over to him. "Now, you're gonna take back what you said, about both Danny and Gregory because neither the things you've said about either of them are true." She said, in a too-calm voice. Tucker held his hands up. "Sam, you don't have to go crazy on me!" He cried.

"Only if you take it back!"

"Very well," Tucker held a fight stance. "I guess this is our first big fight. But hey, everyone gets into a fight with their best friends, right?"

Sam lit two fired daggers in her fists, while Tucker readied two boulders next to him. Their eyes were in locked combat; watching which of them was to make the first move. Amethyst met emerald.

Then, it began.

Sam threw the first dagger right at Tucker's face, but he quickly created a rock shield in front of him. The fire burned out against the rock. Tucker launched a boulder at her, careful not to hurt her too badly. Sam was about to dodge it, but she wasn't fast enough. The boulder crashed into her and she flew back into a tree. Tucker winced at the actions. He didn't want her hurt that badly. Sam recovered from the attack, though. She stood up, a frown pasted on her eyebrows. She wiped the blood dripping from her lips and fired a larger attack on him, this time a ring of fire. Tucker pushed himself up and tumbled through the hoops, but the last one caught his leg and burned him. He fell to the ground on his back, wincing in pain. At that point, he wished he were a waterbender. They could recover from most injuries quickly.

Sam launched another series of fire attacks at him. Despite his leg, he stood up and fired several more attacks, as well. He created a tall rock and sliced it away, tossing the sliced pieces at her. Sam merely jumped out of the way as they flew past her. She fired more fireballs at him while he attacked. At a point, she lit one of the earth slices on fire and tossed it right back at him. Fortunately, he avoided this and continued attacking.

The battle seemed endless, as the two elements clashed together. Both teens were becoming sweaty, injured and tired, but refused to let the other win.

Finally, when she realized this was going nowhere, Sam unleashed her most powerful attack: her redirect lightning move. She's only used it in practice, but from what her mother taught her, only firebenders could redirect it.

And Tucker was no firebender.

She charged up her fingers, pressing her index and middle fingers side by side. She took a deep breath and pushed her right arm towards Tucker's chest. She closed her left eye to focus on her target better. "Someone's gonna win this battle, that's sure as hell." She whispered. The lightning became stronger and she could feel the energy flow through her body. "Get ready; because this is gonna be your most 'electrifying' experience you'll ever face!" She shouted, an evil laugh escaping her throat.

Tucker's eyes widened in horror as he stopped attacking. This wasn't Sam; someone- or something was possessing her. "Sam, you have to get a hold of yourself! This isn't you talking! I know what I said wasn't… appropriate, but I'm sorry! Whatever I said, I take it all back! Please, just calm down before you do something you'll regret." He tried reaching her.

The smile never escaped her lips. "Too late for that. Time for you to bend yourself a grave because it's time to say goodbye, Foley."

Lightning escaped her fingers and headed straight for the desired death spot. Tucker quickly created another earth shield and placed it in front of him. The lightning created a large explosion against the shield and pieces of earth flew everywhere.

Sam's eyes returned to normal as she fell to the ground, completely out of energy. She weakly searched for Tucker. To her horror, he was laying on the ground a few feet away from her, pieces of the rocks surrounding him. His face was dirty from all the debris and his skin was bruised and scratched. Blood began to seep from some of them.

She stood up and ran over to him. "Tucker!" She cried, knelling by his side. She placed a hand on his chest, letting out a sigh of relief when he was still breathing. Tears fell from her eyes and she carefully lifted half his body in her arms.

Suddenly, a weak groan came from his unmoving form. She pulled him away and whispered, "Tucker?" He slowly opened his eyes and coughed a little, smiling at her. "Didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did ya?" He whispered, chuckled a bit.

She gave him a warm smiled and hugged him gently. "I'm so sorry, Tucker. I mean, I don't know what happened, I just became angry, then I lost control and I-"She was cut off by him. "Sam… I know it wasn't you." He whispered, stroking her hair with his uninjured hand.

She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. "I know you didn't mean it and neither did I," She said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"I know, and I'm still sorry." He replied.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"So, when am I gonna meet this mystery crush of yours?" Tucker teased as Sam was helping him clean up his injuries. She rolled her eyes and blushed a little. "He's not my crush. He's just my new friend, that's all. He's really sweet." She replied. She cleaned up another gash on his shoulder with some peroxide and tied it with bandages.

Tucker just chuckled and said, "Hey, whatever you say. So, when are you seeing him again?"

"Well, when are your parents preparing to visit the Masters' estate?" Sam asked in a mild tone in her voice. Tucker just shook his head and smiled. He knew that voice meant she had a plan. "Alright, what is it?"

"What?"

"Your plan?"

Sam punched him lightly in his back. "You know me too well," She laughed. "I was just gonna go with you and your parents to visit my uncle so you can meet Danny. That's all, really," She explained. She handed him a pack of bandages so she could sanitize a few more of his cuts. "I didn't have a well-thought out plan. Just simple, that's all."

Tucker thought about it for a moment before replying, "Well, I guess that's okay, just as long as my parents go along with it- and yours." He handed her back the bandages so she could wrap up his arm. He winced a little as she moved along his back, one of the most heavily pained areas of his body. He moved his leg a little, feeling the singed of it burning even more. He slammed his other heel into the floor, creating a mini stool to levitate his leg.

Sam paused from her actions and gave him a worried glance. "You okay?" She asked. He nodded. "Just… my leg, that's all."

She bent over to get a better view of his leg. To her horror, the back of his leg was black, red and swollen. A few layers of skin were gone, already burnt off. "Tucker… I'm so sorry." She whispered, holding his leg in her hands. He just shrugged. "Hey, it's alright. I mean, you're my best friend; I could never be angry at you for too long," He rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Here, I'll try to fix it the best way I can, but I'll need a waterbender to completely heal it." She cleaned up the burn carefully, patting it with cool water. She put a moist cream on it so it wouldn't get infected. Then, she wrapped the bandages over it and stood up. "There, you're all set." She helped him up and led him back to his room.

"Are you sure you don't need to patch up, yourself?" Tucker asked, sitting on his bed. She shook her head and sighed. "No, I'm alright. You just… rest up and I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Tucker lightly chuckled and lay down. Before she left, he remembered something she said before their battle. "Hey, Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"About Gregory… does he… I dunno… do anything to you? I mean, you were pretty serious about what I said about him."

Sam played with her bracelet once more. Tucker raised an eyebrow at her actions, knowing she always played with her bracelet when she was nervous.

"Uh… no, everything's fine, actually. I was just getting out of hand, that's all." She said, laughing nervously. He sighed before saying, "See you tomorrow. Oh, and remember- I'm gonna take every word Danny says in consideration. I can tell if he's lying," He warned.

She just shook her head and left, closing the door behind her.

Tucker turned on his side, resting his hands under his head.

"Even though I know you're lying…" He whispered before falling asleep.

-.-..-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-..-.-.

"Oh, Sammykins," Gregory called out to his fiancé, walking around the mansion. He knew she went to visit her best friend earlier that day, and by the scratches and bruises on her arms and face they were in a fight. He smiled as he spotted her shadow in the window. He walked over to the door and headed in, going up the stairs and headed towards her room. He reached her down and knocked on the door. "Sammy? You in there?" He said in a sing-song voice that had somewhat of a mocking tone to it.

Sam quickly put away the band-aids and peroxide and shoved them into the dresser. She fixed up her hair and nervously walked to the door. She slowly eased it opened. "Oh, hey, Gregory-"But before she could finish, he whispered, "No, no, we're together, now. I prefer you call me 'sweetheart', got it?"

Sam nodded and quietly whispered, "Hey, sweetheart. W-what brings you by?"

Gregory pushed his way into her room and stood there, while she sat on her bed. "I just wanna see my baby, that's all." He walked over and tried kissing her on the cheek, but she pushed away. "I don't want your fake love. You know something, don't you?" She hissed.

He just shrugged. "Eh… something like that, you could say." He grabbed her by her arms and kept a firm grip on her. Sam tried to break free, but he wouldn't let go. He pushed her face close to his. "I know you and Tucker had a fight today. And I know it was about something he said… something that had to do with me and… Danny, is it? Now, I have two questions…" He pushed her into a wall, causing her to cry out in pain. "One… what the hell did you tell him?!" He screamed, shooting a fireball at her. Unfortunately, he too was a firebender, just like her.

"Why the hell aren't there any waterbenders around here?!" Sam thought to herself, dodging the fire from hitting her.

"I said nothing!" She cried. Without thinking, she shot her own fireball at him, clashing her purple one with his natural orange one.

"That was one hell of a mistake, Samantha sweetie," He hissed. He pushed a line of fire with his feet towards her, the fire blazing bright in her room. Sam quickly jumped out of the way, the fire setting her curtains on fire. "Gregory, stop! I didn't do anything!" She cried again, as he tossed more fire beams at her. She counteracted the fire with her own shield, bouncing his fire back at him. He fell to the floor, shocked by the attack.

"Well, Sammy, it seems that you won't answer my first question, answer this second one- who the hell is Danny?"

Sam froze. "D-Danny? What about him?" She whispered.

"You know what. Why did you go see him? And who the hell is he?!" He shouted, shooting another fireball at her, this one more powerful.

Sam crashed into her opened closet and fell hard against the wall. She could still feel the pulsing pain in her back as she stood up again. "He's a child of my uncle Vlad! He's just lost and confused!" She defended, striking him with lightning. He screamed in pain as the energy pulsed through his body and fell to the floor.

"G-Gregory? I-I'm sorry, I didn't-"She was about to say, when Gregory grabbed her by her neck, practically strangling her. "You have no idea what the fuck you just did, do you?" He growled, pressing his fingers deeper into her skin. She let out a choked cough as she struggled free. "He's no threat to you! They forced me to marry your sorry ass, anyway!" She cried. She clutched his wrist and singed it, causing him to scream and let her go.

While he was preoccupied with his burnt wrist, Sam ran for it. She hurriedly unlocked her window and climbed over the ledge, when she was pulled back into her room.

"You're not getting away until I know- who. Is. Danny!?" He mumbled, clutching her by her shirt collar.

Sam let out a shaky sigh. "He's… my new best friend."

"And how did that happen?"

"Well… I met him while visiting Uncle Vlad earlier in the week. He was at first angry, then he calmed down and we talked for a while. I saw him again yesterday." She explained.

Gregory dropped her, causing her to fall to her knees. "Well, then… I suggest you never see him again." He said before leaving the room.

Suddenly, Sam pulled the door closed with a fire whip. "What do you mean 'never see him again?'" She mumbled, her eyes catching that hint of red again. Gregory noticed this, too and backed away a little. "I'm just saying… stay away from him, that's all," He said.

"No." She replied in a deep, dark voice. She locked the door and pulled him down to the floor. His forest green eyes were wide with shock when she charged up her fingers with lightning just like before. "Hey, c'mon Sammy, can we talk about this?" He asked in a shaky voice.

"Too late for that."

She was about to strike him dead in the chest, when her eyes returned back to normal. She fell to the ground.

Gregory stared up at her pale form, watching her hold her pulsing head in her hands. "S-Sam…?" He whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up, seeing his hand on her. She jerked away from him, shouting, "Get away from me!"

He merely stood up and left the room with a last glare. "You won't get away with this," He whispered before slamming the door.

Sam sat on the floor for a few more minutes before stumbling her way up to her mirror. She stared at her own reflection, unable to except what was happening to her. "What's wrong with me? I almost… killed him… just like with Tucker early and then… no…" She fell to her knees once again, a sob racked through her throat. "It's not possible…"

"What are these powers doing to me?" She whimpered, covering her face with her hands.

Well, I can't believe I finished this in two days! :D It's not even noon, yet! XD I'm so proud of me. Anyway, in the next chapter, Danny's gonna meet Tucker, but he's still not trusting in at first. So, I'll post this on Wednesday when I get back to school tomorrow D: But, I'll have chapter 8 up by either Friday or Monday. See ya!