Chapter 3: The Awakening

November 28, 2010, 7:28 CST

The slow and low beep of the twin heart monitors as they echoed across the room was the only thing that could be heard as Sam rose from her sleep. The eerie sea green light from the screen reflected in her eyes as she stood up from the couch and carefully made her way over to the two still sleeping halfas while trying not to step on or wake Tucker who was sleeping on the floor next to the couch. Her toes rubbed softly against the carpet as her sweatpants hung low on her hips, allowing her shirt to expose her midriff, but Sam paid it no attention to that as she checked Danielle's vitals first.

For the last three days Sam and Tucker have been helping keep constant surveillance over their friend and his clone as they rested up from their month long ordeal. They had called their parents and told them that they wouldn't be home until at least the end of the weekend. Tucker's parents where perfectly fine with him staying over at his best friend's house, but Sam's mother and father weren't so keen on the idea. Sam wasn't surprised about this in the slightest, but lucky for her, Jazz had come through and convinced her parents that it was very important that Sam stay over. Being that she was the only Fenton that her parents actually liked, she had much more leeway in convincing them that Sam was a very important part of what they were doing. Thankfully, not only did they buy that, but Sam's grandma had promised to keep them preoccupied in case she wanted to stay longer, making that one less thing that she needed to worry about. To be honest, she wasn't thinking about anything other than making sure Danny was ok.

Kneeling next to the unconscious girl, Sam watched as her small chest rose and descended as the oxygen poured into her body via the mask. Sam carefully lifted the blue tank top and checked the bandages that were only slightly soaked with blood, causing her to sigh in relief.

"Thank god. She's finally started healing," Sam said as she pulled the girl's shirt back down before picking up her left wrist and examining it. Sam knew she was no expert when it came to medicine, but what few skills she did have had definitely come in handy. But Sam couldn't deny that she was always scared that Danny would come back with an injury that she wouldn't be able to fix. Something so bad that it would leave a permanent mark on not just his body, but on her mind as a constant reminder of her failure. Something so bad that Danny wouldn't come back from. It was because of this that Sam had decided that she would grow up to be a doctor. Someone who could help people to preserve the precious thing known as life, and someone who could protect the ones she cared about even without superpowers.

As she carefully lifted Danielle's wrist, she caught a small groan that escaped the preteen's mouth, and though this was a bad thing, Sam saw it as a good sign as it was the first reaction that either she or Danny had given them since they showed up.

"Ugh…" a low moan came, catching Sam's attention. Turning around, the girl saw movement coming from the other cot as the occupant slowly moved his hand up to head, but stopped as the tightness of the bandages and the pain that they were trying to relieve shot through him. "Ow! Son of a bi-"

"Danny?" Sam asked in disbelief as she gazed at him wide eyed. Danny turned his head, looking at his friend as his eyes too grew wide.

"Sam? Is that you? I mean, is that the real you? This isn't just another dream?" he asked slowly letting his eyes trial over her bed head, wrinkled shirt and low hanging sweatpants that seemed to hold his attention longer than any other part of her. Sam said nothing as she turned around and looked down into his clear blue eyes that seemed to sparkle as they gazed into her familiar purple ones. Sam carefully removed the mask before bringing a shaky hand up and tenderly touching his face as she gazed into the eyes that she had missed for so long. As if her mind had separated from her body and decided it was ok to move on its own, Sam soon found herself leaning toward him.

To say that Danny was surprised was an understatement. To say that Sam was surprised was downright unimaginable. Yet here Sam found herself, lips tenderly planted on Danny's as a few tears fell from her face in an ultra cheesy movie styled kiss. Oh the hypocritical irony that she was feeling was definitely going to bite her in the ass later, and she knew it, but at the moment, she could care less. Danny's shock soon wore off as his eyes closed and he began to kiss back. Neither teen paid any mind to anything happening to them, like the sound of Danny's heartbeat monitor as his pulse began to increase rapidly, causing the machine to beep faster than it was before. They also paid no attention to the sound of the click of the camera shutter or the sounds of feet as they came down the stair. They did, however hear the very loud sound of someone shouting at them.

"Oh. My. God!" Jumping back, Sam and Danny, who sat up slightly, looked to the bottom of the stairs to find Jazz, staring at them while Tucker sat in his spot on the ground, grinning like an idiot with his PDA in hand. "Sam!"

"Jazz!?"

"Danny!"

"Jazz!?" He said nervously looking at her.

"I knew it! I knew you two were love birds!" Tucker cheered as he laughed at their expressions.

"Tucker!" Both teens yelled in unison before blushing and looking away from each other.

"What the hell is going on!?" Jazz asked as she rushed over to them, a disapproving look on her face as she put her hands on her hips. "Well? Someone say something!"

"Um, uh…"Sam stammered as she tried to find away to explain to Danny's sister that she had just forced herself onto him, but every idea she came up with just sounded worse than the last.

"Well I'm glad to see that nothing's changed since I've been gone," Danny said as he carefully shifted and sat on the edge of the cot, allowing his feet to rest on the soft carpet he had missed so much. A smile graced his lips as he looked at the dumbfounded look on his sister's face as she realized that he was actually awake, sitting up and talking to her.

"Danny?" Jazz asked as her voice became meek and tears came to her eyes. Breaking out into a run, Jazz went straight over to her brother and brought him into a hug. Unfortunately, she had forgotten about his still healing wounds, causing him hiss in pain. Jazz quickly let go of him as she apologized repeatedly. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

"It's ok, Jazz. And trust me, if I could move any part of my upper body without feeling some type of pain, I'd be hugging you back."

"It's ok, Danny," Jazz said as tears came to her eyes and a smile came to her face. "I'm just glad that you're home and safe now."

"Me too, Jazz. And I'm really, really sorry for worrying you guys and disappearing for-" Danny paused as he tried to think back to how long he'd been gone. "Um…how long have I been gone, exactly?"

The three teens looked at him in confusion. How could he not know that he was gone for almost two months? Had he not known or had a way to keep track of time while in the Ghost Zone? To be honest, they knew that that was a stupid question because the Ghost Zone was a realm for the undead, creatures that had no use for time or devices that told time. Of course there were certain exceptions to this like Princess Dora in the Kingdom of Aragon, Frostbite and the people of the Far Frozen and of course, Clockwork, Master of Time. But the fact that Danny didn't know how long he had been gone meant that he probably had not gone into any of these places, which only opened more questions. But for now, they had to answer him as he was beginning to look a bit annoyed with his eyebrow raised as no one had answered his question.

"Um, Danny," Jazz started carefully as if she were walking on broken glass. "How long do you think you've been gone?"

Danny looked at his sister in confusion before his gaze turned into one of concentration. "Well…if I had to guess, I'd say that it felt like 2, maybe 2 ½ weeks. It was all kinda a blur to be honest. Danielle and I hardly got to sleep while we were floating through the Zone, and trust me, she gets pretty crabby when she hasn't had enough sleep," Danny said, laughing a little even though his ribs hurt. Looking up at his friends, who were looking uncomfortable as they looked at him, caused Danny's smile to fall. "Um, are you guys ok?"

"Well, Danny, it's just-" Sam started, attempting to ease him into it, but was instantly interrupted by Tucker.

"Dude, you've been gone for a month and a half! It's almost December!" he said. A yelp of pain came from him as both girls smacked him in the back of the head. Tucker was about to ask what that was for when he say the horrified look on Danny's face at this information.

"A MONTH AND A HALF!?" Danny shouted as the panic began to pulse through him. "How is that possible!? What happened!? Is the town ok!? How-"

"Danny calm down!" Sam said as she grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to calm down. "You need to relax and-"

"Relax!? Relax!? You expect me to relax!? How can I relax when-"

"Will you shut the hell up!?"

Everyone turned around in surprise to find that it was Danielle who had yelled and stopped Danny's outburst. The young girl was sitting up and glaring at him with glowing green eyes as she huffed in and out, fogging up the breathing mask over her face. As the pain in her chest flared up instantly, Danielle winced and groaned as she fell back onto her cot as she resisted the urge to complete scream in pain while her eyes were twisted closed.

"Danielle!" Danny cried, forgetting about his panicking about the town as his panic for the young girl flared up and took over. Before he could move, Sam was by her side, removing her arms that were wrapped around her, and lifted her shirt to examine her bandages that were now bleeding more than they were before. Jazz made her way over to them, checking that the vitals for Danielle were ok. "Is she ok?"

"Well, she definitely just reopened her wounds, which sucks because her healing had just started," Sam said, grabbing a towel to wipe Danielle's forehead. "We'll have to change the bandages sooner now. I'd give her a pain killer, but normal pills don't work on hybrids because the ectoplasm in your system burns it off before it can have any effect on you. The only thing I'd be able to give her is morphine, and as far as I know, you guys don't keep a steady supply of painkilling liquid in your house."

"I-I'll be ok," Danielle said, finally unclenching her teeth and looking at Sam. "Can you help me up?" Sam nodded her head and carefully slid her hand under the younger girl's back, lifting her slowly so as not to case her anymore pain or discomfort. Once she was fully sitting up, Sam removed her oxygen mask while Danielle relaxed a little and sighed as she looked around the room in confusion. "Where are we? This definitely doesn't look like the Ghost Zone."

"That's cause we're not in the Ghost Zone, Danielle. We're in my living room. We're home," Danny said, smile on his face as Danielle turned to look at him. The look on her face was priceless to him as it went from shock to overwhelming joy. As the tears built up in her eyes, Danny couldn't help feel the same relief that she did.

"I can't believe it," she whispered as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "We're finally back on Earth."

As the young girl finished her crying, the sound of footsteps caught everyone's attention as they turned toward the stairs. There, at the top of the staircase were Jack and Maddie, looking upon them all in confusion. Danielle could feel her pulse quicken as her eyes went wide again and her breathing began to get ragged. The nervousness began to roll off of her in waves that began to spread over the others around her as she gazed at them. The monitor that was still hooked up to her began to beep faster with every second.

"What is going on, and what is-" Maddie stopped as her gaze fell upon her son who was now sitting up and looking at her with a smile. "Danny!" She cried, rushing down the stairs. Before she could grab him, Danny quickly put his hands up in defense.

"Easy, Mom, easy!" he said. "I'm still beat up pretty badly." Maddie nodded her head in understanding as she carefully wrapped her son in a hug. Danny sighed in content as he melted into his mother's hug. He felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and looked to see the giant smile on his father's face. Danny smiled back as relief that he was finally, really home, settled in. However, Danny's relief was short lived as he felt a cold wave wash over him, causing him to slightly shudder. Looking around, Danny saw that everyone around him was visibly shaking from the wave that had hit them all. The loud beeping caught his attention as he looked over to the monitor and the person hooked up to it, and realization crossed his face. "Dani, calm down."

"I-I-I-"Danielle stammered as her body shook like everyone else. "I-I can't!"

"Danny, what's going on?" Sam asked as she looked at everyone else who head the same startled and scared look on their faces.

"Danielle, I need you to calm down, and- look at me!" he said as she tried to look away and bury her face in her hands. "Going invisible isn't going to help this. I need you to calm down, ok? I know you're scared about all this, about being here and meeting them all, especially after the last encounter you had here, but you need to calm down and focus. They aren't going to hurt you. You can't let your fear get the better of you. Remember, you control the power-"

"It doesn't control you," she said with a shaky nod of her head. Taking deep breathes and forcing oxygen into her lungs, Danielle slowly began to focus on the feeling as she opened her eyes, looking at the colored energy that was only visible to her. The yellow energy that had come off of her was now wrapped securely around the occupants of the room in the form of snakes, even Danny, though it seemed to have little effect on him. Danielle held her hand out, willing the yellow snakes to disperse and disappear into nothing as they silently hissed into the ears of their prey. As the fear evaporated, Danielle watched as other colors began to flood from everyone. The most obvious one was the violet color that seemed to radiate off of Danny's family as it swelled around him and spiral, almost like it was protecting him.

Though Danielle didn't know much about her newest power, one thing she had come to learn was that every emotion seemed to be connected to a color, the most common ones being orange and red in the Ghost Zone. Through simple observation and people watching, she was able to guess based on certain attributes that Red was meant to represent anger or rage, while Orange seemed to stand for greed as most of the lower, weaker ghosted seemed to be pining to become stronger. Every creature that had one color also had another color, usually mixed with a second. Red with some Orange or some Yellow, which she had identified with Fear. Some even had multiple colored mixed, but Danielle was too startled and freaked out to try to understand everything about it at the time.

As Danielle watched, she was surprised to see the same Violet coloring coming of off Sam and wrapping around Danny, but hers seemed to be stronger than his family's. Danielle couldn't help smiling a small bit as she watched the teenage girl. It didn't take her new power for her or anyone else to see the love she held for Danny, and vise versa. Everyone who came into contact could see that the two held deep feelings for each other.

Another color caught her attention as she watched it radiate off of Tucker toward Danny as well, but this one Danielle knew very well as it pour off of Danny and onto her as well: Compassion. She had come to realize this while in the Ghost Zone after she had time to talk to him and explain why she had shown up to his house which lead to their current situation. She was worried about how he felt about her, especially since she only seemed to bring him more and more trouble every time she showed up, but he constantly reassured her that he cared for her none the less. Danielle wasn't sure she believed it until she saw the compassion literally roll from his body and into hers. It was at this time that she first discovered the color green on him as well. As Danielle thought about it, Danny had been the only thing in the Zone to actually have green mixed with another color. This definitely confused her, but she had not mentioned it to him. She smiled at the memory, but noticed that her head was starting to hurt from the over stimulation of colors, so she shook her head, clearing her vision and her mind. As she looked back, she suddenly felt nervous again as everyone was now looking at her again.

"Um…hi?" she squeaked.

"Urm…Hello?" Jazz said as the awkwardness began to sink in. "So, you're the infamous Danielle that Danny had mentioned."

"You told them about me?" Danielle asked in surprise as she looked at Danny who nodded his head.

"I don't mean to interrupt the introductions here," Sam said as she looked at Danny, "But mind explaining what exactly that chill was and why we were all so scared?"

Danny looked at Danielle as she turned her head away in embarrassment while he could only smile at her. Everyone turned their gaze back and forth between the two as they tried to pick up on what they were saying.

"That, Sam, was Danielle's newest power," he said. Everyone looked at her in confusion as they tried to understand what exactly this power was.

"But, Danny, how can she have a power like that when you don't?" Tucker asked. "If she's a clone, shouldn't she have the same ones as you?"

"If she were a clone, yes. But it's pretty obvious she's not because if she were, she'd be a fourteen year old boy that looked exactly like me. I'm not exactly sure how she's connected to me, but it's obvious that she is. She also happens to have different powers from me. Like instead of using Ghost-rays like I do, she creates Ecto-disk, and can shoot them from her legs as well as her arms. She's her own person."

"Ok, but what exactly was that power she used?" Maddie asked. "I've never seen or heard of any power like that, and I'm guessing neither has anyone but you two."

"Well, I guess that the best way to describe it would be to call it an aura."

"An aura?" Jack asked.

"The distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be generated by a person, thing or place," Danielle said, her eyes still down-casted from everyone who was shocked at her very descriptive definition. "A good example of this would be the glow that ghost give off. When my first manifested, I was scared and tried find out anything about it, but could only find myths and legends that described that the aura of a ghost could force people to be scared of them without them even being scary at all."

"So you were using your Ghostly Aura to make us all scared?" Sam asked in confusion, though to Danielle it sounded more like an accusation, making her nervousness flare up again.

"It's not exactly like that," Danny said, trying to defuse the situation as quickly as possible. "Her ability is that she can see the different emotions that things are able to give off."

"Really? That's so cool!" Tucker said in excitement. "What does it look like?"

"Well…" Danielle said, trying to find a good way to put it. "It's like every emotion has a color assigned to them, but as far as I've been able to tell, the colors only run with the colors spectrum of the Rainbow. Like Red is rage and Orange is greed, and so on. But I've only figured out what maybe five of the colors mean. Sometimes though, the colors will take shapes that are easy to associate with that particular emotion. What happened with all of you is, well…" Danielle paused as her face began to turn red from embarrassment which was accompanied by Danny's laughter. "Shut up!"

"What she's saying is that her new power has two parts to it, the first being that she can see emotions, and the second being that she can control them and influence them. Unfortunately since she has no control, she usually either forces her emotions onto someone by accident, or ends up getting influenced by them herself," Danny explained as he continued to laugh at Danielle as she glared at him. "I can't even tell you how many times she would go through some type of mood swing from super pissed off to scared and timid like a little cat!"

"I said shut up!" She shouted, face red and eyes glowing green.

"Well, I must say that that is a very interesting power," Maddie said with a smile as she giggled a little at the young girl.

"I'll say. With that, she could shut just about anybody and any party down," Jazz said. "Except apparently Danny. He didn't seem to be effected by it at all."

"Oh, no, I was," Danny said. "It's just that it takes more for it to affect a ghost. I mean, can you imagine how hard it is to actually intimidate a ghost? And you're also right, Jazz, in that she can use this ability to stop people and render them helpless. And if I'm right, it's similar to an ability that I have."

"You mean your Ghostly Wail?" Sam asked.

"Exactly."

"Um, ok, I know we're not hip and cool like we used to be, but you kids are going to have to explain to your Mom and me what in the name of fudge a Ghostly Wail is," Jack said, scratching his head.

"The Ghostly Wail is an ability that Danny has that can decimate just about anything in its wake," Sam said as she stood next to Danny.

"I basically build up energy into the my lungs, and then expel it from my mouth in huge waves via my vocal cords that can destroy solid matter, can crash electronics and can render numerous enemies powerless as it packs a serious punch," Danny said, looking seriously at his parents as he tried to explains just how dangerous it really was. "Unfortunately, because of how strong it is, it uses up so much energy that I usually get completely burned out and turn back to normal. I've been trying to learn how to control it better and trying to store up reserve energy, but even with all that, I still only use it as a last resort for a tight situation."

"I see. So this Ghostly Wail of yours is a type of sonic wave made of pure ectoplasmic energy that can be used to take out whole armies," Maddie said as she looked upon her son in both fascination and wonder that a boy his age could hold so much power with his small frame. As her gaze turned to Danielle who was looking at Danny in what Maddie could only describe as admiration, the same question poised itself about this young girl, maybe even more so about her considering that according to the kids she was supposed to be no older than 12 years old. Though she was sure that Danielle wasn't as strong as Danny, it still amazed her.

"Yeah, that's about right. And as you've all seen firsthand, even unconsciously, Danielle was able to cripple everyone easily. Once she gains for control over it, she could use her power for a lot of effective things. She would be able to read the emotions of anybody that came up against us, and could shut down armies of ghost with just a single wave of her Aura," Danny said with a smile as he looked at the once again embarrassed girl who was blushing a scarlet red.

"You're giving me way too much credit for something I'm not even sure I can do, Danny," she said with a smile as she looked away from everyone.

"No kidding. That's a lot of faith to put into a girl who's about to go into puberty," Tucker said. "I mean, girls are already crazy enough with their emotions, but now a preteen has the power to control them? That's almost as bad as when you could control the weather with yours! I mean think about it, she could turn the whole town in raging nutjobs-"

"Dude, Tucker!" Danny said nervously as he and Jack looked at the very angry looks that all for women were currently giving the techno geek. "Shut up. Like, now, before the girls all kill you."

"What? I'm just saying-"

Tucker never finished his sentence as he suddenly felt his throat constrict and a cold sweat break out across his forehead along with a chilling wave as the girls gazed at him, hate very clear in their eyes, especially Sam, Danielle and Jazz. Tucker began to shake as his eyes grew wide in fright, his mind almost imagining the horrible things that they would do to him.

"Um, you know, maybe that came out wrong-"

"Tucker, do yourself a favor and stop talking before you end up in worse condition then these two," Sam said, hands on her hips. Turning back to Danny, her gaze softened. "Even though the techno-geek here seems to like putting his foot in his mouth, something he said did interest me. This is just a theory, but what if you guys got your powers because you were going into puberty?"

"What do you mean, Sam?" Danielle asked, looking at the older girl in curiosity as she forgot about Tucker and released him from the emotional hold she had on him.

"Well, now remember like I said, this is just a theory, but what if by chance these abilities were a way to help you cope with the reality of puberty? I mean think about it, according to both Frostbite and the Ghost Writer, there are no records of any ghost in existence having a power like yours, Danny. Not even Pariah Dark. Not to mention that there are only three halfas in existence, two of which are still growing, hence meaning their powers will grow too."

"She's right, dude," Tucker said, carefully watching for any sign of an attempt on his life. "If you think about it, you're already stronger then Plasmius, and he's been going at this since before you were even born. Not to mention that Dani's a close second. Even Valerie admitted that after the way she kicked his butt when you saved her last time."

"Exactly. And since we don't really know anything about ghost teenagers, maybe your body developed a power that you could use to help defend yourself from certain things."

"Or to make up for a self appointed flaw that we see in ourselves," Danielle said, gaining everyone's attention.

"A flaw?" Jazz asked, receiving a nod from Danielle.

"What if Sam's right, and these powers were something special that we developed to help us deal with puberty, but to be more accurate, he help us deal with a fault that we see in ourselves?"

"It is possible," Maddie said. "When kids become teenager and start going through puberty, their lives can take dramatic changes, and things that they didn't see or didn't know about themselves can really affect them in an exceptional way. For example, as a child, one may not notice or care about appearance, but once it becomes a social aspect and things like pimples begin to occur-"

"Then that person will do anything to change that, even changing their physical appearance, which they could gain as a ghost power is they were a ghost," Danny said, catching on to what they were getting at. "And it's stuff like that that gave Spectura her power when she invaded Amity and kidnapped all the kids at Casper High since she feed off of misery and despair. Oh great," Danny smacked himself in the head, though regretted it as pain shot up from his chest once more. "I was only kidding before when I made that stupid Ghost Puberty joke, and here it comes to bite me in the butt."

"But if that's true and your new powers are reflective of your flaws, what could your flaws be?" Jazz asked out loud as she began to think, not really asking either the question, though the thick air that settled around the two hybrids made it clear that they were very uncomfortable answering.

"That shouldn't be too hard to figure out for me, Jazz," Danny said, looking at the ground and allowing his hair, which had grown a few inches, to hang over his face and hid it. "My hero complex."

"The fact that Danny is so willing to save everyone and protect them was the reason he developed the attack in the first place," Sam said.

"It's also what makes it so powerful. It's because, when I was getting beaten up and when I thought I was going to be stuck there forever, all I could think about was how I had failed to save everyone, how it was all my fault. How I had failed as a hero, someone who saves people. I was afraid that I wasn't good enough and just wanted to do something, anything to get out of that situation and to get back to everyone and protect them. Then I felt it, and the power just exploded out of me in an instant."

"Danielle," Jazz said carefully as she looked at the girl. She knew this was a tough subject for the two, but if they were going to help them to get through this, they needed to know what made this girl tick. "What is your flaw? What is it that you feel that brings you down?"

Danielle was silent for a moment as she looked at the ground, her dark lock casting a veil around her face. Everyone watched as her body began to shake and soft sniffling came from her, worrying everyone, especially Jazz who thought perhaps she had crossed a line somewhere. Jazz turned to her brother who was looking directly at Danielle with a hard, emotionless expression she had never seen before. Before she could comment on it, Danielle spoke.

"The thing that I've always known was my flaw is…my feelings," she said, still shaking as tears fell. "I've always put up a front, always acting like I didn't care and that I was some super cocky kid, but deep down, deep inside, I've always been scared and confused," She paused for a moment, letting herself catch her breath. "I've always been scared because my life is so messed up; I've never felt like I fit in anywhere. I was born in a pod, force grown to be this old, was told I was a copy of someone else. Then I found out I was unstable and was going to melt into a puddle of ectoplasm, was hunted down by the man who created me and had to fight to keep myself alive at all times…everything was just so confusing and scary, especially because I didn't think anyone understood me. Even Danny could only understand me to a certain degree. And so the only logical thing I could think to do was to runaway. I always thought that if I had stayed with Danny, I would only make things harder for him or that he would just tell me that I had to learn to deal with it all on my own. Unfortunately, once this power developed, I knew I had to come back and ask Danny for help because I was really confused and scared. Of course my nervousness only increased when I thought about coming here and then when I got attacked when I came through the door. Everything was happening to me in such a short amount of time, it just made my head spin. I just wanted some way to get people to understand me, to be on the same emotional wavelength that I was so that maybe someone, anyone, would understand just how scared I was and could help comfort me in some way."

"And because of that, you gained the ability to manipulate emotions, but like with mine, it had a slight side effect that back fired," Danny said. Danielle nodded her head.

"With you, it drains your power to the point you're left helpless and can't protect anyone like you want. With me, I can not only see the emotions, but I can be consumed by them if they become too strong. I could be overcome by some other Ghost's greed or their rage, and be rendered completely helpless. I've become an open book with no way to close the pages."

"But you will be able to, one day," Sam said, walking up to the young girl and, to Danielle's surprise, pulling her into a hug. Danielle was shocked as Sam held her, the warmth of her embrace flowing into her. Focusing, Danielle looked at Sam as she pulled away, a smile on her face, and saw that Sam was glowing a bright indigo as if she were on fire. It became clear to her that the warmth she had felt was the compassion that Sam was feeling for her. Looking around, Danielle saw that everyone in the room was glowing the same indigo, and that the feelings from them all were swirling around her in a beautiful display of compassion and she could feel the lonely, hurt feelings she had felt for so long as they started to disappear. This time, when she cried, she had the biggest smile on her face, and everyone returned it.

Danny nodded his head as he looked at the girl, knowing that she would be ok now that she had people that cared about her to watch over her and help her to grow. Though that thought was soon forgotten as his stomach growled loudly. Everyone started to laugh, especially Danielle, until her stomach soon made a similar noise, leaving everyone laughing and the two of them blushing with embarrassment.

"Come on, guys," Sam said, grabbing Danielle's arm. "Let's get these two into the kitchen so they can fuel up and really kick their healing powers into high gear."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Danny grinned as Tucker helped him limp into the kitchen.

To DMC Fanboy: I've actually already read all of those stories that you mentioned in your reviews. I just have the bad habit of almost never reviewing a story that's already complete. I try to do it a lot more often now, but I do remember reading those and going through them without reviewing. They were good, and I too read reviews on stories I read too to get a view of how other people perceive the story. Thanks for the review, and glad you're enjoying the story.

Also, can any tell me what the reference to the DC universe is in compared to Danielle's new power?