Disclaimer- don't own Danny Phantom…if I did, do you really think I'd be writing fanfiction? Lol

Bright sterile lights lit the dank, underground room. The entire atmosphere released a sense of eternity, made on think that to walk in there was to pray that you'd be able to walk back out again soon. It was a long room, cold and white with high ceilings, a lone fireplace along the far wall was meant to give off some heat. Nothing marred the cold precision of the chamber, save for the occasional beeping of machinery.

In the middle of the room, in some sort of twisted Frankenstein mock-up, was a large metal table covering the majority of the flooring. On the table, a sheer clothe covered various bumps, grooves and curves from the prying eyes of humanity. The two persons in this room could not very well be called "human," and therefore were allowed to be in its presence.

The younger of the two, smoothly walked through the entire room, his weirdly golden hazel eyes forgetting nothing they had seen. Every beep, boop and pop could not escape his notice. Pausing beside the dense table in the center of the room, he rapped his knuckles against the metal causing a deep echo to bounce through the high ceiling.

"So Vlady, are you going to tell me exactly what your plan is? I mean, we are partners now…share and share alike, isn't that what we were taught?" tightly, his hands fisted the gauzy material covering the table, ready to yank it away and see what was hidden from his sight, when a older hand stopped his movements.

Glaring at his young compadre, Vlad Masters shook his head, "Edward, if you wish to gain your young lady back, I must ask that you leave my things alone!" Swiftly changing into his counterpart, now Vlad Plasmius was glaring at the young man, his vampiric fangs bared in a menacing smile, "All in good time, my boy. A war was never won simply by brute strength alone. No, strategy must play its part." Then his nose wrinkled as if from an awful smell, "And don't call me VLADY!" he roared.

Shrugging nonchalantly, Edward released the now wrinkled fabric and walking towards the opposite wall, leaned against it and watched Vlad as he worked. The man may be a fruitloop, but he did know one thing that was for certain. In every war, there was strategy. He just needed to make sure that theirs worked together…to a degree.

Deciding to play the rich, spoiled kid card, Eddie huffed in aggravation, "When are we going to do something? No offense, Plasmius, but this place isn't exactly Hef's joint." Spreading his arms wide in order to encompass the entire subbasement, he exclaimed, "You don't even have a pool for god's sake, no wonder you're so freakishly pale." He smirked at the sight of Vlad's knuckles slowly turning a distinct white color, as he clenched them together painfully.

Knowing he cannot alienate his one ally, Vlad gritted his teeth in his reply, "Yes, Edward, I do realize that. But do not worry; soon we shall have what we need to incapacitate Danny Fenton."

Shoving against the wall, Eddie moved towards the stairs leading up to the "real" basement, his eyes glinting with unfathomable mirth, "That's what I'm counting on, Vlady."

Watching the youth's back as he moseyed up the stairs, Vlad kept his eye on the darkened doorway. Once he was satisfied that Eddie had left, he snapped his fingers loudly into the still room. Instantly a floating, almost completely metallic body appeared before him.

"Skulker," he snapped, "go. Keep an eye on Phantom. I want to know where he goes, what he does and with whom he spends time with for the next three days. Do not let me down, understand?" Slowly, Plasmius rose into the air until he was face to face with his servant. "And if I hear that Daniel has had one hair on his head harmed before the proper time," Vlad smirked, "understand, I can't be held accountable for what might happen to you. You are to observe. The capture shall go to myself."

Grinning his metallic smile, Skulker nodded and vanished through the ceiling. Slowly, Vlad floated to the hard cement floor and flashed back to his human self. No sense in trying to turn an injured Phantom, besides…the damage would be much more permanent if he were healthy first.

Blinking slowly in the darkness, Danny sat up from bed, moving as if through a fog. A quick glance at the alarm clock on his bedside table told him that all sane people should be asleep or counting various fleecy animals; course since Danny was used to odd hours he wasn't bothered by this realization. Rumpling his perpetually messy hair, he sighed and settled back into bed. Whatever it was could wait till morning, then he and Sam could…

Sam. Still lying on his side, Danny's eyes shot open, glowing green in the darkness of his room. Reaching his arm behind him, his body stiffened when his fingers didn't feel Sam in her usual position. Silently, he crawled from the bed and dashed through the bedroom door.

Quickly he moved to the living room, just in case she pulled another stunt like the other day. Who knows? Sam could be a sleepwalker and subconsciously decided to sleep on the couch. Not even believing his own theory, Danny tore through the small apartment. Desperate, he almost ripped his front door off of its hinges in his attempt to see if she was outside.

Breathing deeply, Danny exhaled quickly in surprise. There Sam was, sitting in a lawn chair in the little patch of grass in front of his apartment. She was covered in one of his blankets, a steaming cup of something in her hands and her bunny slippered feet bouncing up and down over the side of the chair. Her hair was ruffled by the light nighttime breeze as she gazed upwards into the starry sky.

Danny fervently wished he had thought to put on a shirt or at least a pair of slippers before coming outside, as he made his way towards his wayward girlfriend, it was just a bit nippy outside. "Sam? What the hell are you doing out here this late at night? You remember night, the time when most people sleep?" Yawning, his jaw cracked loudly as if to emphasize his point.

Without looking at her intruder, Sam replied, "And you remember your girlfriend? The goth? Yeah, Danny, we're nighttime people. Get used to it." But a smile crossed her face at the sight of her shirtless boyfriend. "Why are you up Danny?"

His smile at her was tender bordering on embarrassing, "What, you expected me to sleep without my creature of the night girlfriend?" Her blush was answer enough for him. Chuckling, he walked over, picked her up and sitting down settled the protesting Sam comfortably across his lap. Smoothly plucking her cup from her hands, he laid it on the ground.

Curling her tightly beneath his chin and squeezing her slight body against his, Danny asked, "Sammy, why are you out here?" Her silence was not something he had counted on, Danny hadn't thought the question to be that tough that it required extensive thinking.

A few minutes later she replied, "I wanted to look at the stars." Glancing down, Danny noticed that her eyes were firmly fixed on the crowded sky, so firmly fixed that they refused to meet his own eyes.

"Sam, c'mon, you know you can't lie worth a damn…"

So softly that he almost couldn't tell it was a sigh, Sam released a low breathe as she twisted around to finally look him in the eye. "Do you ever feel like this is all too easy?" She asked Danny, her face contorted in confusion.

"Too easy? How is anything connected to us, too easy, Sam? I'm half ghost, you and our best friend fight alongside me. My ex-girlfriend, Tucker's girlfriend is still out for my blood. My parents don't have the faintest idea who I am half the time and your parents want me dead. Not to mention Vlad, Skulker, and the other billion ghosts in the zone. Oh yeah, "he laughed, "its all way too easy."

Firmly she elbowed Danny, "Not what I meant Phantom. I mean, don't you think that…well, us," she gestured between them, "has been a lil too easy?"

He shook his head, "No, I don't think it's been easy enough actually. And honestly Sam, would you have wanted it to be any different?"

Mimicking his movements, Sam shook her head as well, "No, of course not." Raising her head, Sam's purple eyes stared into the heavens, "I just have the weirdest feeling…" she snorted, "Forget it, I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about."

Danny sat there with Sam in his lap as if he were stone, "No, c'mon Sam, what is it?" Sam's feelings were usually not to be disregarded.

Tracing the constellations with her fingers, Sam commented, "Well. I just have this…feeling, that something's going to happen."

"Something good?" Danny said lightly as he combed his chilled fingers through Sam's hair. Silently he prayed that her feeling was a good one. He really didn't want to be the one to bring Eddie into this conversation.

She shrugged, "I don't really know Danny, that's the weird thing. It's just a feeling really." Glancing into his face, she grinned, "I told you I had no idea what the hell I was talking about." Her grin quickly disappeared through at the look on Danny's face. Again she felt like he was hiding something from her. Why couldn't he just tell her? It's not like she would get mad at him.

Quiet, Danny just watched her. He knew she was frustrated with him, and he didn't blame her. Kissing the top of her head, Danny closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. She had just gotten over the hell that bastard put her through, and Danny didn't want to accidently raise any of her fears just by commenting that he thought Eddie was the one behind his attempted murder.

Wouldn't that be one fun conversation?

A slightly tickling sensation just beneath his collarbone pulled Danny's attention away from his thoughts. Glancing down, he saw that Sam was gently running her hands over his naked torso. A look into her face told him that she may not have understood her weird feeling a minute ago, but she definitely understood this one.

Obliging her, he tilted her head towards him for a better angle and then lightly brushed his lips against hers, teasing her gently. She exploded beneath him. Reaching up, she wrapped her hands in his hair, gripping the strands tightly as she ravaged his mouth with deep, desperate kisses.

Danny allowed her to control their actions and helped her when she tried to straddle him without breaking the kiss. With her legs now encasing her lover between her thighs, Sam leaned back and stared at Danny, her hair mussed and her lips bruised.

"Inside," she panted, throwing her arms around his neck and running her open mouth up and down his strong neck. Gripping her thighs firmly, Danny stood upright slowly so as to not jostle her overmuch. Normally he would have simply gone ghost and then phased them through all obstacles, but the last time he tried to do that he got yelled at, so he knew better this time.

But with his first step, a shiver ran down his spine and a blue wisp of smoke escaped from his lips. Ordinarily, Danny would have simply gone after the ghost and just told Sam that duty called. But with her "weird" feelings, he didn't want her thinking that this was her fault. This was the first time in weeks that his ghost sense had gone off and Sam was bound to think it was due to her 'feelings.'

So for the first time in his life, Danny Phantom ignored his ghost sense, grasped Sam a little more securely and marched inside his apartment and down the hallway to their bedroom. (He cheated a little at the end and phased through the door, but Sam was just a little preoccupied and never noticed).

Outside, still in the chilly midnight air, a figure wreathed in darkness slowly came into sight. With a grating sound, it twisted on the ground and launched into the air before disappearing. Day one of its reconnaissance and nothing unusual to report; Plasmius would be pleased.

A couple of days later saw Danny and Sam sitting at their kitchen table talking. Debating. Ok, arguing.

"No."

Slamming her hand on the kitchen table, causing the coffee cups to rattle with the vibrations, Sam glared fiercely at Danny, "Yes, Daniel. If I'm going to live here, I have to do my part. I have a degree, let me freaking use it!"

"Sam , c'mon think about it. Someone was after my blood not five days ago. How do we know they won't come looking for you?" he pleaded with her, the faint beginnings of a puppy dog look on his face.

"Maybe because I'm not an obsessive half ghost who has a savior complex?"

A sarcastic laugh cut through the atmosphere, "Oh, that's hilarious. Funny, I didn't see you complaining the dozens of times I've saved you or Tucker…or the world for that matter." Carefully, Danny reached out across the table and grasped her hand, clutching it tightly when she tried to pull away, tears in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." He said softly, "You know I didn't mean it Sammy. I just have no idea what I would do if something…" swallowing painfully, Danny couldn't even finish the sentence. The very idea of a life without Samantha Manson was blasphemy.

Sighing deeply, Sam clasped her other hand around the one already gripping his, "I know. But really Danny, I've been here for days! I've unpacked, cleaned the apartment I don't know how many times and God help me, I've been almost reduced to soap operas!" she chuckled, "Unless you want to come home to an apartment covered ceiling to floor in anti-ghost junk, you'd better let me see something other than this crappy wallpaper."

Opening his mouth, he was about to say something when she beat him to the punch. "Don't make me bring in your parents. Or Jazz." Slamming his mouth shut tight, Danny stared at her blankly. She wouldn't. She couldn't…

After a moment of staring each other down, waiting for the moment when one would blink as a sign of weakness, Danny finally gave in with a shake of his head. "Fine, but try and get something, I dunno…safe maybe?"

Sam chuckled at her victory, leaning over she kissed him on the cheek. "I'll do my best, no promises though."

Giving her a pointed look, Danny walked around the table and gave her a definitely more heated kiss, "Fine, no promises. I just want you alive at the end of the day." Glancing at the clock he noticed that he was late for his first day back since the accident; winking at Sam, he grabbed his stuff and jogged out the door.

Rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's rapidly retreating back, Sam sat at the table for a few minutes. She'd won that argument way more easily than she thought she would. A job. Finally, a chance to do something in this world besides ghost hunting that might make a difference. But what? She had no credentials, no resume…nothing. Not even an internship. Who in the world would hire her with nothing to bring? Besides, the Nasty Burger, but wearing that stupid costume was not how she wanted to make her point to Danny.

A harsh grimace cut across Sam's normally serene face. She knew what she had to do. She didn't want to, and she knew that Danny would have a cow if he knew what she was planning. But it was time.

For a second, Sam glared balefully at her silent phone sitting not three inches to the left of her hand. It was mocking her. Almost desperately, Sam snatched up the phone and started to dial. Holding it up, she listened as the ringtone buzzed in her ear.

When someone picked up, Sam had to clear her throat. This was going to be harder than she ever imagined. "Hello, Dad? It's Sam." A shocked silence answered her for a minute. And then the voice began again, this time in earnest.

"Yes, Sam…you know, your daughter?" Nervous, Sam picked up a discarded utensil and started drumming lightly on the kitchen table.

"No, he hasn't killed me yet," she sighed, aggravated, "Sorry Dad, I'm not coming home right now. We're doing fine, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about." Sam's eyes suddenly widened and her fingers stopped their nervous tattoo against the worn table in shock, "What the hell? Of course I'm not pregnant! That's not it at all Dad! God…just, stop! Please." Pinching the bridge of her nose with her free hand, Sam sighed in exasperation, "I'm calling because I need a favor."

"Mhmm…yeah, I know. Tell Mom and Grandma I said hi, by the way." Sam nodded at something he said, "Dad, I get it alright? I'm sorry. You know I love you, but I just needed to…That's not fair!" she exclaimed into the speaker, "For the last time, I'm not calling about Danny, Dad. I said a favor and that does not include trying to get my boyfriend whacked." Not that it doesn't happen regardless, she thought disgustedly.

A quiet voice broke through her thoughts dragging her back to the present, Sam listened for a minute. "Thank you. I appreciate that; think you can talk to mom…? Alright, I won't push, but really he isn't a bad guy. But what I've been trying to ask you for the past fifteen minutes is that I was wondering if you'd help me get a job." Wincing, Sam jerked the phone away from her ear as a squawk blasted through the speakers. "I know, but you know I wouldn't ask if it weren't really important to me." A small smile broke her face, "This afternoon? Thanks Dad, I'm more than happy to meet this guy of yours. Three o'clock at the corner coffee shop downtown. I'll be there." Hanging up, a rush of enthusiasm flooded through Sam's body. Finally she wouldn't just be as useful as a bump on a log around the apartment.

Whistling happily, Sam scooted away from the table and walked down the hallway towards the bathroom. If she was going to make her appointment on time, she was going to have to do some definite damage control, her hair looked like a crow's nest and the sweats she was wearing had a look about them that screamed "I've been wearing these for three straight days!" Popping in her favorite Evanescence CD in the stereo, Sam stripped and stepped carefully into the steaming shower with a long suffering sigh. It had been a long couple of weeks.

Slogging through yet another stake of papers in his in-tray, Danny had to admit. It had been a long couple of weeks. Having Sam live with him was fabulous, but it was nothing like living with Valerie. With Valerie it had been all about passion. Volatile and harsh, it had nonetheless sometimes been amazing. But with Sam, everything was softer. Definitely no less passionate, but it had a different quality. More final, eternal in a way...like she was all he had ever been waiting for, as if that void in his chest had gone from being this gaping black hole to a solid brick wall.

A soft smile crossed his face at the memory of waking up next to Sam, her dark hair curling around her cheek and shoulders, her face strained in a light frown. It was that slight V in her eyebrows that did him in, it was pure Sam; that even while sleeping she could be worrying about something.

A shake of his head brought him back to the real world, and a glance at the clock told him that he still had several hours before he could skip out in good conscience. He had been desperately trying to avoid all major work today, and especially Ricky. Ever since the accident, Ricky could be seen stalking the hallways trying to corner Danny. Apparently he wanted to know why his girl Amelia wasn't good enough for Danny to date, never mind that Danny had already told him he had a girlfriend.

An ice cold feeling cascaded down Danny's back. With a fierce shiver, he shoved the paperwork away from himself and swiveled his chair around. This was the third time in three days that he had felt the presence of something nonhuman. Unfortunately, the two previous times he had been with Sam and couldn't do anything about it without making her worried.

This time though, he was free.

Standing up, Danny pushed his chair backwards and jumped into the air, flashing into his alter ego. Floating gently in the chilled air, Phantom trained his vibrant eyes around his office trying to spot something out of place. "Ok," he called into the room, "I'm here, what the hell do you want?"

All that answered him was a chuckle. But it was one that he recognized all too well.

Growling under his breath, Danny turned intangible and flew through his door. This was where he worked, no ghost was going to ruin things for him. Just outside his doorway, Danny came face to face with one of his more annoying adversaries.

"Skulker," he greeted with a growl, "I thought I recognized your mechanical wheeze. Ember forget to oil you this morning?" His fists tightened of their own accord and Danny positioned himself in a fighting stance.

Unexpectedly though, Skulker sighed, "Can it Whelp. As much as I'd love to lay your pelt on the foot of my bed, I'm under strict orders to not touch you. So don't try my patience. Otherwise I might have to do something I'd regret later on."

Confused, Danny cocked his head to the side and stared at Skulker, "Under orders? From who?"

Focused on Skulker, Danny only saw a smirk cross his face as he looked over Danny's shoulder. "From me of course Daniel."

Danny froze. Whipping around, Danny's eyes narrowed as they came in contact with Vlad Plasmius' red ones. "Vlad, wonderful. I was beginning to wonder if you had finally taken my advice about the getting a life and the whole cat thing." He said dryly, grinning as Plasmius's face flushed in anger.

Sighing dramatically, Vlad gestured at Skulker who shifted behind the pair as Vlad continued to speak, "I find it fascinating that after all these years you still haven't lost that fabulous sense of humor of yours Daniel."

Equally dramatic, Danny relaxed his pose as he glared at Vlad, "And I just find it pathetic in an older man that you couldn't get over my mother."

"Water under the bridge, Daniel," Vlad replied, waving his hand in the air grandly, "That is not while I'm here today." Then he nodded.

Suddenly, Danny felt pain radiate throughout his entire body. With a scream of pain, his back arched drastically and his entire body twisted. His arms extended outward and shaking from painful shock. Then with an anticlimactic thud, Danny fell straight to the ground and lay there twitching for a few minutes, a large dart like object sticking out from his upper arm. But he didn't get back up.

A grim smile lit up Vlad's face as he stared at the fallen figure of his aggravating nemesis, "That is why I'm here." Then with a jerk of his head towards Danny, Vlad turned invisible and disappeared, leaving Skulker to pick up the limp body with a sigh. Then he disappeared, silently following the footsteps of his master.

Around two o'clock, Sam smoothly walked out of the apartment, dressed to the nines in a black pantsuit and a lavender camisole with kitten heels. If she was going to meet her future employer, she wanted to definitely make a lasting impression at the get go. Almost giddy with excitement, she slid into her car, buckled up and smoothly pulled out on to the main road.

As she drove, Sam was wondering about Danny. Why had he had such an aversion to the idea of her getting a job? Sure, someone had tried to do him in the other day, but that didn't mean they were going to go after her. Quickly, Sam shook her head. Listen to her; she was so blasé about death now. That's what happens when you spend most of your time around beings who were either dead or just half dead.

Was it so wrong though, for her to try and make her own money, her own career path? He had his life, his ghost fighting and his career. Besides being his sidekick slash girlfriend, what did she have to call her own? That's why she wanted this so desperately, to prove that she was more than just his girlfriend. Sam knew that Danny thought more of her than just that, but this was for her.

Nervous, as she drove closer and closer to downtown, Sam glanced down at her cell phone, snuggled gently in the cup holder to her right. Should she call Danny? She wanted his approval, his reassurance and his support. This would be so much easier knowing that there was someone backing her all the way.

Making a decision, Sam reached down and grabbed her phone. Pressing number one on speed dial, Sam listened to the ringtone. One ring, two rings, three rings, four. It continued on for a total ten rings before a voice answered. "The number you have dialed is temporarily out of range. Please try your call again later, thank you." Stunned, Sam sat there, staring ahead as she drove through Amityville.

Out of range? Since when was Danny's phone out of range? He hadn't mentioned anything about going out of town today. A wave of nausea swirled around her, was something wrong? It was her weird feeling, something was finally happening.

Firmly trying to get a grip on herself, Sam continued to drive through the town towards her destination. Yet, when she laid the phone back into the cup holder, her hand was shaking. Something was wrong; her spidey sense was tingling all over the place.

Finally crawling through the traffic that always plagued downtown Amityville, Sam got really lucky and discovered a parking spot close to the café. Quickly she checked herself in the mirror and touched up her lipstick before grabbing her purse and easing her body out of her car. Walking into the café, she greeted the hostess and gave her, her name. With an easy smile, the woman started walking towards the patio.

At the table, Sam smiled and thanked the woman before turning around and to greet her interviewer. Mouth open and hand extended before her, Sam froze as her entire body felt engulfed in flames. There standing before her was the bane of her existence, the fodder of her nightmares.

A boyish smile grinned at her and that gleam in his eye that she remembered so well stared back at her, "Eddie," she gasped, her eyes wide in horror.

Nodding amiably from his seated position, Eddie motioned at the seat next to him, "Good afternoon Sam. Please sit, our drinks will be here in a moment."

Stunned, Sam's brain felt as if all coherent thought had flown the coop. She sat down robotically, her mouth still gaping in shock as her breath wheezed in and out. Eddie? When did he get in town? Why was he here? He looked exactly like she remembered. His hazel eyes a light golden shade, his dark hair smoothed immaculately down, every hair in its proper place. His face too hadn't changed from the stunningly handsome face of the man she'd once thought she loved, save that she could see a new hardness in the lines around his mouth. He was definitely dressed for business though, in a dark grey pinstripe suit and a tie that matched his eye color perfectly. All in all, he looked like the proper ivy-league boy that he wasn't.

Quickly, a server came by and handed them glasses of water. Desperately, Sam chugged half of hers down. Why hadn't she already left? But she knew this was part of Eddie's charm, he could get anyone to do whatever he wanted.

Slowly lowering her glass to the table, Sam nevertheless kept a tight grip on it. "Why are you here Eddie?" she asked, a desperate undercurrent easy to hear in her voice.

He graced her with a small smile, "I was under the impression that I was here to interview you for a job Sam. At least, that's what your father said when he had his secretary call me up, begging me to help you." He sighed, his eyes boring into hers, "And of course I could never say no to your family Sam. Or you." He clapped his hands and grinned, "So here we are."

Helplessly, Sam shook her head, "No…this can't be happening! I told you I never wanted to see you again. I told my parents that, why would my dad do this to me?" A flash of pain crossed her face at the knowledge of familial betrayal, they knew what he had done to her and yet they were still trying to push Eddie and Sam together. Didn't they care for her sanity?

Staring into her eyes deeply, Sam flinched at the feel of his gaze on her. When something touched her, she jumped in the air and broke the eye contact. Glancing down, she could see that he had somehow intertwined their fingers. Blanching from the contact, Sam tried to gently tug her hand away but found it was like trying to wrench a foot from a bear trap. The more you tugged, the more it hurt.

"Sam," with a deer in the headlights look about her, Sam stared at him; "I know what you think I did. But honestly, whoever told you that I slept with the freshmen girls was just jealous of me. And the thing about the Dean, he's just an old friend of the family's." A seemingly gently laugh wafted through the café, "That man seriously cannot hold his drink anyway and the dog was fine later." A look entered his eyes that Sam never saw before on Eddie's face. But she couldn't tell if it was kind or crazed, "I never wanted to hurt you, and I'm sorry that things ended the way they did. I know today we were supposed to just meet for a job interview, but I was hoping that we could be friends as well."

The fire that had swallowed her up before burned at her insides, twisting and turning everything until it was numb from the shock and pain of his presence and touch. "I have a boyfriend now." She blurted, desperate for an escape from this torture.

The same odd look crossed his face as before, "That's wonderful Sam, I'm happy for you. So, when do I get to meet the Casanova that swept your feet from under you?" He chuckled deeply as if from a private joke.

Taking a deep breath, Sam made one last attempt and wrenched her hand free of his, "I don't think that's such a good idea actually." Unconsciously, she rubbed her hands together under the table as if to cleanse them of his touch and scent.

He shook his head sadly, "Sam, please. I'm trying to make things easy. Our families are going to see a lot more of each other now that our parent's merger has finally gone through. I really don't want to make things difficult for them, do you?"

Still rubbing her hands together vigorously, Sam grumbled, "Sure I do…the liars." Out loud though, what she said was, "Eddie, I'm sorry but this has been a huge shock. Listen, I'm sure that the job is a fantastic one, but I just don't think I can do it. I'm sorry." And with that she grabbed her purse and rushed out of the restaurant, almost bowling over a waiter carrying a tray laden with various meals.

Watching her disappearing back, Eddie raised one hand into the air, "Check." He called to the nearby waitress. So she was still a bit skittish, he thought. That was fine with him, he could work around that, especially if Vlad's plan had already been executed. A sharp look entered his eyes. Executed, what an apt word; leaving a fifty on the bill, Eddie walked out of the restaurant briskly. It was time for plan two.

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Hey guys! Thanks for the last few reviews, but more are always welcome and definitely needed! Suggestions, hints...whatever works for you! And for Cute in Pruple...i have plans for that ring :-D