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Blinking dimly in the blinding sunlight that was pouring from the window before him, Danny futilely tried to block it with his uninjured arm. Groaning, he stood up and gingerly stretched wincing at the pulling of his arm. Rolling his shoulders, Danny walked across the room to the dresser and stared at his reflection in the mirror.
His hair was in disarray, tangled in places and smooshed in others. His eyes were overshadowed by the haunted look that came from the large bruises that were beneath his normally cheery blue eyes. Danny's skin had a new sallow tint that he had never noticed before, and his mouth was pinched. He didn't know the man standing there and staring into the mirror he was supposed to be looking into.
Running his hands through his hair in an effort to tame the tangles, Danny sighed in resignation. He had been stuck in Vlad's mansion for days now, God only knew exactly how many. The door was locked, the window nailed shut. The room was surrounded by anti-ghost technology that made it impossible for him to phase into Phantom. And to top it all off, no one knew where in the world he was; for all Sam knew he had left her and disappeared. And that was something he couldn't stand for her to believe.
Still staring into the mirror, he carefully began to unwrap the bandage around his upper arm. Sucking in a harsh breath, Danny struggled not to groan from the pain. The bandage finally off, he critically looked at the puncture mark. It looked worse in the daylight than it had the night before. The skin around it was swollen, red and puffy while beneath the skin he could see that there was definitely a green tint to his arm. Throwing the bloody bandage in the trash can beside the dresser, Danny moved into the bathroom and began rummaging in the cabinets for more bandages and ointment.
Slathering his arm with the astringent smelling ointment, Danny ignored the sound of someone walking into his room. Humming softly, he tightly wound the clean bandage around the injury and grimaced at the tight feeling. Walking back into his room, Danny finally released his pent up groan at the sight of Vlad sitting carefully on the edge of his bed.
"Nice to see you too, little badger."
Ignoring the niceties, Danny stalked up to Vlad and clenched his fists firmly. With a sick sense of pleasure, it took almost all of Danny's will power not to strangle the smirking face of the man standing before him. "What the hell did you shoot me with Plasmius?"
A small smile crossed Vlad's face as he watched the pain contort his guest's expression, "If you remember correctly Daniel, I never actually shot you. It was-"
"I don't give a damn who it was." He growled in response, "It was by your order. What the hell did you hit me with?"
"Just a small dose of an ectoranium and saline solution" Vlad shrugged innocently, "How was I to know that since you're not completely ghost you would react this way?"
A gurgle of laughter broke from Danny, "Oh, so that makes it better? You injected me with something that you had no idea would react with my chemical makeup."
Reaching a hand into his pocket, Vlad waved a small vial before Danny's face, "If you'd like then, I have the antidote. It should clear up whatever is in your system."
A hand stretched before Danny, and he was shocked to realize that it was his. Hesitating in mid-reach he stared at the small bottle filled with a clear liquid. "What is it?" Self-consciously, he rubbed his arm gently. He'd be damned if he allowed Plasmius to stick some other crap into his body just for sick pleasure.
"Does it matter? I mean as long as it clears your system?" He gestured at the seeping bandage, a tell-tale blood stain already showing through, "Which you might want soon. As far as I can tell, whatever it is doing to your body Daniel, it will not be pleasant."
"I can stand to lose a little blood."
An uncharacteristic snort came from Vlad, "Blood yes, but motor functions? Bodily functions? How about the loss of your senses?"
"If it pisses you off, it just might be worth the wonderful pain Vlady." Danny's grin was cut short by a spasm of pain that shot up his arm.
"Hmm, yes, so I see. Just think, the sooner you feel better, the sooner you may try and kick my ass."
Ignoring Vlad, Danny walked over to the dresser and started digging through the clothes trying to find a t-shirt. Finding one, Danny struggled to put it, his arm not quite bending properly. Finally straightening it around his body, Danny faced Vlad again. "Look you fruitloop, I won't be 'trying' anything. I could kick your ass without my arm."
Vlad rose smoothly from the bed and grabbed Danny firmly by the arm, watching as he writhed desperately against the pain. Releasing him, Vlad smirked when Danny fell back against the dresser, gasping for breath.
"Breathe through your nose Daniel, I hear it helps with the pain." Trying to regroup, Danny turned his back on Vlad and breathed deeply in an effort to ease the pain jolting his entire body. How could this pain escalated so quickly?
"You might not want to use up all of your energy Daniel," Vlad suggested slyly, "If you continue fighting the pain it'll just drain you all the more quickly." Danny, focused on retracting the pain, barely heard the footsteps behind him until Vlad came into view at his side.
Danny watched as Vlad carefully placed the vial in front of him. He watched in the mirror as Plasmius walked towards the door.
Turning back, Vlad faced Danny once again, "Oh and if you change your mind. Just drink the vial, it should take effect soon afterwards." Having said that, Vlad turned and walked out the door, shutting it quietly behind him and in the silence Danny could hear the lock being turned.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The harshly musical tones grated through the late night atmosphere in the darkened room. On the bedside table, the phone vibrated lightly across the surface from the volume of the ringtone. From the cocoon of covers, a slim pale arm shot out and began to grope for the offending object. Clutching it tightly, the arm and phone disappeared once again beneath the covers.
Cradled in her comforting fort of sheets and pillows, Sam groggily held the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she croaked sleepily, blinking into the stifling darkness.
"Sam? Sam! Where's Danny?" demanded a high pitched, feminine voice that she knew too well, but hadn't heard in a while.
Slowly, Sam sat up in bed and wiped her face of sleep, "Jazz? It's…" glancing quickly at her alarm clock Sam growled into the phone, "three in the godforsaken morning! Couldn't this have waited until it was a sane hour? Preferable sometime around eleven?" Groaning into the empty room, Sam flopped back onto the king size bed and tried to ignore the urge to fall asleep on her boyfriend's annoying older sister.
Listening closely, she could hear Jazz huff on the other end, "No! I've been trying to get a hold of Danny for the past few days, but he's not answering his cell phone. Where is he?"
Silent for a few minutes, Sam debated on what to tell the older woman. She could be brutally honest and just blurt out that her much loved baby brother had been missing for a couple of days. And then add in that Sam had been driving herself spare with worry, between searching for him and working for her new boss, who just happened to be her old boyfriend. Sighing tiredly, she knew that at this time in the morning no one was up to a lengthy conversation. "Jazz, look right now is not a good time to talk about this. I'll call you tomorrow and give you the run down ok?"
"Sam, just tell me. Is he alright?"
The urge to cry hit Sam with the full force of a Mack truck. Desperately trying to stifle her sniffles and stem the ache in her eyes and nose, Sam breathed deeply in an effort to calm herself before she answered Jazz. Oblivious to many things Jasmine Fenton was, but when it came to emotions she was oddly on target most of the time. "I hope so." Staring at the cell phone in her hand, Sam ignored the tiny insistent sound of Jazz, hit the end button and threw it to the other end of the room where it became buried in the mounds of Danny's clothing she hadn't bothered to pick up yet. When she found him, then she would yell at him about leaving such a messy room.
If she ever found him.
The next morning found Sam sitting at the kitchen table much earlier than she would normally have woken up; usually on the weekends she never crawled out of bed until after nine in the morning. But after Jazz's late night phone call Sam hadn't seemed to be able to fall back asleep. She had spent the rest of the night tossing, turning; staring at the ceiling the room had shrunk in on her and the air turned arid and hot. Finally, sick of sweating and picking out objects in the shadows, Sam had pulled herself out of bed.
A sharp glance at the kitchen clock told Sam that it wasn't even six in the morning yet. Cursing Jazz, Danny, Tucker and everyone else she knew heatedly underneath her breath, Sam set the coffee machine to splutter out the thick liquid needed to get her brain working in the morning.
Vacantly she stared around at the empty kitchen while she was waiting for her caffeine fix to be percolated. Why had Jazz called so early in the morning anyways? She was in California at the moment, studying at Berkley trying to get her masters in psychology. It had to have been at least a couple of months since she and Danny had spoken, so why now? His parents? Had they called her? But they hadn't even called Sam. The swirl of confusion in her head kept going round and around in circles, each one only meeting another and so they began again.
The dull beeping sound of Danny's ancient coffee machine finally broke through Sam's thoughts. Absently she fixed a cup with lots of sugar and sat back down to wait. If she knew Jazz, and she did, then she would be calling as soon as it was considered daylight.
Sure enough, it wasn't half an hour later when the phone cut through the silence. Abandoning her icy coffee, Sam plucked the wireless handset and took a deep breath, "Hello?"
"I gave you until dawn, Sam. Now what's going on?" the insistent voice of Jasmine Fenton assaulted Sam's ears. Like Danny, it had been a while since Sam had seen or even spoken to his older sister. But no one could possibly forget her over eagerness and bossy personality.
"Jazz, where are you anyways? I thought you were in California studying; what was with the random phone call at three AM?" Resigned to a long conversation, Sam tiredly took a sip of her drink and grimaced at the taste.
Even over the line, Sam could hear the huffy tone of Jazz's voice grow fierce. "Don't you dare change the subject Samantha Manson. I just wanted to talk to my brother and couldn't get a hold of him, is that a crime now and days?"
Resting her forehead in her hand, Sam sighed, "Chill Jazz. Danny just hadn't mentioned that he's talked to you lately."
"Well of course not, because he hasn't been answering his phone! Where is that damn brother of mine? Mom and Dad are even starting to notice that he hasn't been around as much as usual. Besides, I'm in town for a few days and I wanted to see him."
Hearing Jazz speak, Sam could practically feel the blood drain from her face. Weakly she focused on the phone in her hand and the voice buzzing in her ear. The Fenton's had noticed? But they never noticed anything! "Y-you're parent's have noticed something, you said Jazz?" She asked softly, hating her weakness and hating the strained tone in her voice.
"Well, yeah…but it was weird. It was like they first noticed that there hadn't been any ghost activity for a while, including Danny Phantom and then that for some reason no one had spoken to Danny in a while either." Laughter burst into Sam's ear, "Man, I love my parents but the amount they repress…"
Sam closed her eyes and allowed the laughter to flow through her mind, could she do this? With no alternative, Sam swallowed and spoke quietly into the receiver, "Jazz, look…there is something about Danny. I wanted to figure it out before anyone noticed but I guess that was really stupid of me-"
"Something about Danny? Damnit Sam!" Wincing at the outburst, all Sam could do was to allow the older woman to rant at her.
"It wasn't my fault Jazz! Look, one day he was here and then later that afternoon it was like he had disappeared…his phone has been disconnected and no one knows where he went."
At the quiet that greeted this revelation, Sam cringed. That was not the way she wanted to tell Jazz. Originally, she'd had it all planned out; first she would have invited Jazz over to talk there'd be tea, cookies, more than likely some alcohol. Then they would have talked and been calm, but from the heavy breathing that was coming over the phone that was obviously out of the question now.
"Danny's missing? And you didn't call me? SAM!" Jazz cried loudly. Tears began to fall gently down Sam's pale cheeks at the sound of Jazz sobbing in pain over the phone. This was definitely not the way it should have happened. Listening closely, Sam could hear Jazz panting in an effort to catch her breath, "I'm coming over. Call Tucker. We need to plan." Then she left Sam staring dumbly at the phone in her hand, the dial tone humming loudly.
Clicking the off button on the phone, she placed it gently into the table beside her half empty cup of coffee and quickly wiped away the salty tears trailing down her cheeks. It hurt, knowing that she had been wrong. Honestly, it had never occurred to Sam to call Danny's family; there was really nothing they could have done. But of the three of them, Jazz was the one with the most knowledge of Danny's alter ego and the one that felt like she knew best.
Inwardly, Sam groaned. It was still all her fault, if she hadn't gotten so wrapped up because Eddie was back in her life and at the prospect of a career in her life, Danny might have already been saved. A white hot sizzle of determination pulsed up and down Sam's body; now that she had a purpose in sight the idea of finding Danny was taking over her entire being. Eagerly, she grabbed phone and dialed Tucker's phone number.
"Hello?" a giggle greeted her. Slightly disturbed, Sam pulled back and gazed warily at the phone before placing it back against her ear. God help her if they were doing what it sounded like.
"Uh…is Tucker home?" She asked slowly.
Pressing her ear flush against the ear piece, Sam listened intently to the background noises. "Tuck baby, someone's on the phone for you…mmhmm…get rid of them and…yeah baby, I'll do that alright." Another giggle punctuated the murmur to Sam's disgust. It was bad enough that she knew they slept together, but did they have to do it while they were on the phone with her?"
"Valerie, just put the idiot on the phone, it's an emergency." She demanded in a hard voice; there was no way she was going to allow that slut to ruin the first real chance of finding and rescuing Danny from where ever in the hell he was at the moment.
Suddenly Valerie's tone changed, "Oh. It's you," she replied snidely, "well, he's a little busy at the moment. Can't it wait?"
Frustrated, Sam had finally had enough. She had reached her breaking point and was finally starting to see red. What an ironic color. "No you scarlet man eater, just put Foley on the phone now! What part of emergency don't you fucking get?" She yelled into the phone.
"Uh, Sam I think she got the meaning of emergency. Don't worry, now what in the hell is going on over there?" Blinking rapidly, it took Sam a minute or two to realize that it was Tucker talking.
"Tuck?" she questioned, just in case.
"What, do I sound like a woman? Now what is going on and tell me why the hell you just bitched at my fiancée." Desperately she wanted to tell him that she had in fact toned down her bitching, but figured that if she wanted to be invited at all it might be a good idea to keep her mouth shut about that for now.
Energized she got up and threw her coffee cup into the sink before making her way down the hallway towards the master bedroom. Putting Tucker on speakerphone, Sam buried herself into the closet trying to find something clean to wear. "So I guess congratulation is in order? That's great Tuck. But listen, you need to get yourself out of lil Ms. S&M and get your ass over here. Jazz is in town and somehow found out that something was wrong with Danny." She called loudly, her voice slightly muffled by the mountain of clothing.
"What?" Tucker's magnified voice bounced throughout the entire room, his surprise colored in every syllable, "How'd that happen? I thought she was in Alaska or Texas or something studying like she always does."
Wiggling out of the closet of chaos, Sam straightened and posed with a black t-shirt in front of her chest as she answered dryly, "Close, California. But yeah, and now apparently their parents know that he's missing too."
"But…how?" he stuttered loudly through the connection, "They never notice anything! Give me five minutes and I'll be there and you can share the whole story."
"Don't bring Valerie." Sam insisted, the inflection in her voice brooking no objection and Tucker knew that as he quickly agreed and hung up. Ignoring the dial tone that invaded the normally silent bedroom, Sam stared at her reflection in the mirror.
It was the usual, the black hair tossed up into a pony tail a pair of sweats on her body and her favorite bunny slippers on her feet. But for some reason the usually comforting image of herself repulsed Sam this morning. Turning away and towards the bed, she roughly pulled on the shirt in her hand and a pair of jeans before running out of the room and away from the mirror.
She was in the laundry room, shoving clothing into the machine when the doorbell rang finally. Slamming the top down, Sam hustled down the hallway. Peering through the spy hole, she smiled weakly at the sight of Jazz and opened the door for her.
"Hey, Tucker's on his way." Sam told her, as Jazz barreled her way into the apartment and threw her coat onto a chair in the living room area.
Turning around, she crossed her arms and cast a baleful glare at Sam, "Good. Then he can back me up when I ask you, why the hell you didn't call me. Or, didn't try and find Danny. I thought you loved him Sam!" Shouted Jazz at the top of her voice, her arms uncrossed and thrown out into the air to gesture emphatically. Her normally calm turquoise eyes, just like her mother's, were ice cold and seemed to demand an answer right away.
There was nothing that Sam could say back. What Jazz had just said summed up her feelings in a nutshell. Danny had been missing for a while now, no sign of where he had gone off to. Why hadn't she done anything about it? Looked for clues or talked to people…it made no sense to her rational mind. Nor to Jazz's apparently, at least that's the impression Sam got from the expression on the older woman's face.
Scared of Jazz for the first time in their relationship, Sam shook her head, "I have no idea Jazz, I swear. I…you…Danny is alive, I know that much. I have to have faith in that at least." She said quietly as she walked into the living room with Jazz following closely behind her. Sitting on the couch, Sam stared out the window; her leg jiggling slightly in anticipation as she impatiently willed for Tucker to get there quickly, she needed back up desperately.
Jazz had pointedly refused to sit next to her and instead sat on the laz-ee boy chair in the corner of the room, her arms and legs crossed. Her entire aura seemed to radiate intense fury and Sam knew it was because she had been left out of the loop. Once Jazz had finally realized what was going on with her brother and his friends when they were freshman, she had been the one to insist she stick around to help. And yet here she was again, out of the loop and full on pissed.
The chime of the doorbell was a relief to Sam as she bolted from the living room to Jazz's surprise and dashed over to the front door.
"Oh thank God you're here Tuck, she's about to-" Without even bothering to see who it was first, Sam started rambling as soon as she had yanked open the door. But as soon as she started, she stopped. It wasn't Tucker at the door. "Uh, Eddie! What are you doing here?" she asked quickly in shock. It was a Saturday, she wasn't obligated to work. So what in the world was he doing at her apartment?
"Sam? What's going on, is that Tucker? 'cause if it is, you know you can't hide from me. I want to talk about Dan-wait, you're not Tucker." Sam inwardly groaned as Jazz came up behind her. She knew that if she turned around there would be a puzzled look on the woman's face that would immediately demand more answers than she was willing to give at the moment.
Eddie stared at her, his golden hazel eyes impossible to read, "Tucker? Is that your boyfriend Sam? Can I meet him?" A small quirk of a grin crossed his mouth and Sam blinked at the sinister appeal of it.
"Uh," stammered Sam, finally realizing what someone meant when they said they were stuck between a rock and a hard place, "No, Eddie, sorry. Tucker's not my boyfriend, he's just my best friend-"
Now beside her, Jazz grasped the edge of the door firmly and wrested it from Sam's grip. Ignoring the pleading glance from the brunette, Jazz stuck her hand out towards the handsome man staring at her in confusion, "Hi, I'm Jasmine Fenton. I'm Sam's boyfriend Danny's older sister."
Quickly Sam took the reins of the introductions, "Edward Haverstein III, Jazz. Jazz, Eddie is my employer. Ok, well I guess I'll see you Monday then Eddie, bye!" Smoothly she ignored his surprised protests as she harshly hip checked Jazz back into the entry way and almost slammed the door shut.
Placing her back against the door she faced Jazz and growled, "Why the hell did you do that?"
Ignoring the death glare directed her way, Jazz stared dumbstruck over Sam's shoulder and pointed at the door, "That's your boss?"
Warily, Sam nodded.
Jazz's jaw dropped, "He's gorgeous!" then a calculating gleam appeared in her eye, "So that's why you haven't been looking for Danny. That Eddie guy; well Sam, I never pegged you for that kind of woman but-"
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Sam loudly, her own jaw hitting the floor, "You think that just because Danny hasn't been found yet that I'm cheating on him with Eddie? Jazz I can't believe you'd think that! " She was stunned that Jazz thought she was cheating on Danny and with Eddie, of all the things to be accused of!
Blatantly, Jazz looked Sam up and down and then smirked, "What else am I supposed to think Sam? He's hot, you're pretty and Danny's missing…it all makes sense if you just think about it logically." Sam made to cover herself self-consciously, feeing slightly naked from the look Jazz had sent at her, and then stopped. This was nonsense, Jazz knew her too well to think this.
"Knock, knock…sorry, did I interrupt something?" Tucker asked cheerfully as he poked his head around the door.
"No."
"Yes."
The two women glared at each other and then simultaneously at Tucker, "Get in here!" they growled at him . Startled, he quickly obeyed. Walking into the apartment, he slowly shut the door behind him, his eyes fixed on each of the pissed off females before him.
"What's going on here?" he asked.
Standing to her fullest height, Jazz pointed dramatically at Sam and declared, "She's cheating on Danny with her boss!"
Sam snorted disgustedly, "Why in the world would I want to cheat on my boyfriend with my ex-boyfriend Jazz?" she demanded, rolling her eyes at the accusation. Jazz blinked in befuddlement.
"Ex-boyfriend?"
Tucker slapped his forehead in exasperation, "Whooo boy. Lucky for you ladies Tucker got here just in time to stall WWIII." Walking behind them, he poked and prodded them none too gently until they were corralled in the living room once again.
Shoving them both down onto the couch, Tucker eyed both women closely. Even he could see there was something wrong with Jazz. Catching Sam's questioning gaze, he nodded once as she smiled in understanding. Clapping his hands together, he smiled winningly at them, "Ok, so who wants to start?"
Jazz's hand shot up in the air, narrowly missing Sam's ear. When Tucker nodded at her, she started to rant, "What in the world were you two thinking? Danny suddenly becomes missing and you don't tell anyone? I would have expected this of Tucker, but not you Sam." Suddenly, tears glistened in her eyes as they slowly cascaded down her cheeks.
Sheepishly, Tucker and Sam could only stare at each other in embarrassment. Reaching over, Sam gently patted Jazz's shoulder, "I'm so sorry Jazz, we weren't thinking. But we'll find him alright?" Sobbing, Jazz nodded before launching herself at Sam and began to cry in earnest on her shoulder.
"Oomph," grunted Sam as the full weight of Jazz clung to her.
Worried, Tucker looked on, "Jazz, what's wrong? This isn't like you at all…first you accuse Sam of cheating on Danny, then you're crying…"
A light bulb flashed over Sam's head and she stared at Tucker in shock, "Jazz?" she murmured quietly, "Jazz, are you pregnant?" The sobbing increased and Jazz's body shook with the effort as she nodded into Sam's shoulder.
"Oh Jazz, it's alright. Is that really why you came home?"
Pulling away, Jazz sniffled and gulped down deep soothing breathes as she nodded, "Yeah, I-I didn't want to tell m-mom and d-dad alone. So I tried calling Danny, but he wasn't answering and I got worried. Stupid hormones," she muttered crossly under her breath.
Sam hugged her tightly, gesturing for Tucker to join in, which he did grudgingly.
Laughing, Jazz extricated herself from the hug fest and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, "Thanks guys. But you know I'm still pissed that you didn't call and tell me." She slugged Sam gently on the shoulder, "Or that you didn't tell me that you had a hunk for a boss! What was his name again?"
"Eddie," Tucker glanced at Sam questioningly, "Sam, how does Jazz know Eddie?"
Swallowing the bile that had appeared in her throat, Sam shivered slightly, "it was really random Tuck, he just appeared out of nowhere at the door." She cocked her head to the side and looked at Tucker and Jazz intently, "You know," she mused out loud, "I don't ever remember telling him where I lived."
Tucker's grin was more than slightly eerie as he looked at Jazz and Sam in satisfaction, "Ladies, I think we finally know where to begin Operation Phantom Search."
Both Sam and Jazz looked at him, confusion coloring their faces, "Huh?" they echoed.
Tucker was excited, he'd had an idea. "Think about it. Sam, you've never told him where you lived right?"
She nodded slowly, still not seeing where he was going with this. "But Tuck, he could have just looked me up in the…" her eyes widened as the epiphany dawned on her," yellow pages. But I'm not listed in the apartment, I'm still listed with my parents." She snapped her fingers loudly, "Tuck, I hate to say it but I think you've got something there."
"Am I missing something?" Jazz complained loudly, her gaze twisting between the two like a spectator at a tennis match.
Sam's face glowed with the prospect of a lead in finding Danny, "Eddie was a jackass of a boyfriend. But when I saw him again a few weeks ago he offered me a job and I thought nothing of it, because he has been kindness personified. But I never told him Danny's name, or where I live, and he's been awfully attentive this past week." She grinned, "Tuck thinks that Eddie can lead us to Danny."
Jazz gasped, "Really? Oh!" she flew up from the couch and collided with Tucker, squeezing him tightly in happiness. Ignoring the gasps of pain from the man in her arms, Jazz twisted around and faced Sam, "What the hell are we waiting for?" she asked joyfully, "let's hunt that bastard down!"
Stunned, Tucker wrapped his arms around her and glared at the smirking Sam, "Mood swings?" he guessed.
Chuckling she nodded, "Mood swings."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Sitting on the edge of the king size bed in his prison, Danny stared at the small vial across the room that was mocking him. The vial that was apparently filled with the antidote to whatever was destroying his system right this very minute; Danny could feel the alien liquid make its way throughout his body.
Tearing his gaze away from the clear liquid, instead, Danny watched his hand as it tried to make a fist. It had only been a few hours since Vlad had left him alone in the room and already he could feel his strength leaving him. He could no longer tighten his fingers into a fist capable of punching a dent in Technus' latest invention. Weakly, he allowed his hand to drop uselessly beside his thigh.
Defeated for the time being, but not beaten, Danny slumped forward. What was he going to do? In this condition there was no way in hell he'd be able to make a break for it from Vlad's fun house of terror. Desperately, he hefted his body from the bed and stumbled towards his only link to the outside world.
He had been here for at least a week by now. He'd been mentally keeping a count of the days, but soon enough he felt like he'd have to pull a Tom Hanks on Castaway and start marking the walls or something. Leaning against the window frame, Danny closed his eyes against the dizzy sway that took over his body. Sudden movements had slowly begun to take a toll on him. Carefully, he opened his eyes and rested his forehead against the cool window pane. The gentle icy feeling was a comfort in the stifling atmosphere his luxurious prison had become, and it helped to remind him of the feeling when he used to go ghost.
On the other side of the window it was overcast. The clouds had rolled in until there were only a few spots of sunshine dotting the barren landscape. Just like other days before, there was nothing to actually look at in Vlad's backyard, it was only the knowledge that there was something beyond the room that kept bringing him to the window every day. There weren't even any birds fluttering around to give the pretence of life.
A sharp rap on the door was all the warning given to Danny before Vlad strode into the room, his smirk firmly in place. From his peripheral vision, Danny noticed that Vlad saw the still full vial; a harsh look had crossed his face at the sight of it, only serving to intensify Danny's resolution to not drink the stuff.
"I see that you still haven't taken me up on my generous offer Daniel." Carefully, Danny tried to control his automatic impulse to shiver. Vlad was not in a good mood at this revelation.
"I feel stronger." He lied.
Form behind him, Danny could hear the footsteps as they crossed the room, slowed down and then picked up speed until Vlad was standing next to him. A hand was laid on his shoulder, a gesture that, to Danny, was meant to be reassuring was anything but. Sharply, he shrugged it off then immediately had to harshly bite his lip to keep from groaning because of the pain. "Daniel, there is no need to lie to me. I can see the toll this is taking upon you. Pale, weak, unable to even stand up straight."
Desperate to appear strong, Danny forced his hand into a fist, preparing to punch Vlad as soon as he had worked up the strength. A laugh cut through his concentration. Surprised, he looked at Vlad.
"Dear boy! Do you not even realize that your hand is shaking? I highly doubt you'll be exercising any violence soon." Chuckling, Vlad touched Danny's hand lightly with two fingers. As if a dead weight, the hand dropped and hung there swaying gently, Danny panting from exhaustion.
"This is ridiculous." Vlad muttered, turning around he left Danny at the window sill and walked towards the door, "If you are too stubborn to even try and save your life then I guess your parents, sister, friends and even Miss Manson don't mean much to you."
Danny didn't even hear the door shut, he was too busy thinking on Vlad's parting words. Is that what this looked like? That he didn't care about his family…friends…Sam?
If Danny was going to be honest with himself he had to admit that he was a little surprised that Sam and Tucker hadn't come barging in a couple of days after his disappearance. Only by going through his mental catalogue of memories with the three of them could Danny convince himself that they still needed him, that they could possibly miss him at all.
But even if they did come and rescue him, what good would he be if he were weak and useless? Slowly, so as to not become lightheaded again, Danny shifted his body around until he could clearly see the tiny bottle on the dresser. A few mouthfuls, that's all it looked like was in there. A swallow or two and he would be himself again.
Taking a step forward, Danny stumbled and by the very weight of his body was dragged to the ground. Groaning he rested for a minute his face squished into the scratchy carpet, trying to conserve his strength. But when he tried to sit up, his body wouldn't obey, his legs wouldn't move and he could barely lift his head. Tears of frustration dripped slowly from the corners of his eyes. He didn't want to die yet; this wasn't the way things were supposed to turn out.
From his anger a burst of strength appeared. Determined, he raised his head and began slowly to crawl from the window towards the dresser. He may be on the verge of death but there was no way he wasn't going to go down with at least some effort to live.
Grunting from the exertion, Danny shrugged his arms forward and gripped handfuls of carpet as tightly as he could. Then closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he pulled with all of his limited strength. To his surprise he felt his body move forwards a few inches.
Breathing heavily from the amount of energy crawling required and surprise, Danny nevertheless grasped more handfuls and pulled yet again. Soon, he had developed a sort of pattern. Grip, tug, breath, grip, tug, breath. Far more quickly than he had previously thought, he was halfway across the room and the dresser was in sight, looming far above him.
Sweat began to form along his forehead and upper lip. He was dying to stop and rest, but he knew that should he stop now there was no way he would be able to start back up again. With an exaggerated groan, he yanked one more time and then relaxed as he lay on the ground gasping for air. The only sound in the room was of Danny as slid and panted across the room.
Angry with himself, Danny tried to grab the carpet again but found to his immediate dismay that he could hardly even bend his fingers. There was no way he would be able to grip the fine strands of carpeting. Thoroughly dejected, Danny finally gave himself over to his despair. He had survived for so long on pure hope, this was a shock to his system. Far more quickly than before he could sense any strength in his body rapidly leaving, a chilling numbness setting in throughout instead. Closing his eyes, Danny could see his Sam as she had looked just before he had been kidnapped. She was gorgeous and smiling as usual.
"Sam…" he rasped hoarsely before the world around him faded into a bleak darkness.
Sorry! i know its been a while since i've updated, but school, work...papers...the usual procrastination bit :-D hope you enjoy! Reviews please!!!!!