I'M STILL ALIVE.

Sort of.

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I haven't been on in a while because I've been SO BUSY lately. I never realized how complicated starting college and a new job can be. Gah.

Well, I managed to knock this chapter out. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it gets the job done, I suppose.

Re-reading that last chapter, I realized how cheesy the whole "oh my gosh I can hear your thoughts" thing sounded...I promise there is a reasonable explination for why it's happening. It's not just a stupid cheesy thing I threw in to keep things fluffy. There's a reason, which is part of the mystery.

Did I just pique your interest? ;)

Any-who, this chapter is not my favorite. But, hey, I'm just amazed that I managed to get it out of the way. I hope you guys don't flame me too harshly on this one. Because it's definitely not my best.

***WARNING: Shameless plug coming! If you guys are reading this, and have never read anything else by me, I highly suggest checking out my profile. My favorite one-shot that I've written is Wind. I love that one-shot to pieces. And my favorite multi-chapter fic is Nightmares. Again, love it to pieces.

Okay, I'm done advertising myself (:

I don't own DP blah bluh bleck.

Relatives

Chapter Six: The Attic

August 16, 2011

"So you're telling me that you guys can hear each other's thoughts?" Tucker asked incredulously.

"Well, not exactly..." Sam murmured. She was still staring at Danny. "It's like talking. We hear what we want the other one to hear."

"That's so cool! And so not fair!" Tucker crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "Why does all the cool stuff happen to you guys?"

Jealous?

"Danny, not funny." Sam chuckled. Tucker's eyes widened from the floor. He was settled cross-legged before the bed, where Sam and Danny were still perched on the edge of the matress. "This is really weird. Why is this happening?"

"I dunno," Danny shrugged. "People have always joked around that we have a psychic connection...maybe we really do?"

"This isn't psychic though...is it? It's telepathic..." Sam's voice trailed as she glanced at Tucker.

"I would think this is more telepathic than anything else," Tucker nodded. He pulled his PDA out of his pocket and began searching 'telepathic communication' on his search engine. "I'm just curious as to how it randomly manifested now?

"Maybe it has something to do with the house?" Danny suggested quietly. Tucker murmured something Sam could not hear; her stomach had just twisted painfully.

"Ow..." She murmured, rubbing her abdomine.

What's wrong?

"Nothing, it's just a stomach ache," She tried to smile reassuringly, but her stomach twisted even tighter, so it ended up being a grimace.

"No fair, you guys can't to telepathic talking with me in the room!" Tucker shouted indignantly. Sam spared him a single roll of her violet eyes before her face crumpled in pain again. Danny shifted further down the bed, closer to Sam, and slid his arm around her waist. She leaned into his warmth, closing her eyes against the pain churning in her stomach.

"Tucker, just leave her alone for a second..." Danny's voice trailed. There was silence in the room as Sam clutched her stomach. After a few moments, the pain began to fade. She straightened up slowly, smiling gratefully at Danny, who still had an arm wrapped around her waist.

"Thanks guys," She murmured. "That was really odd. I don't know what happened!"

"I'm just glad you're feeling better," Danny grinned. He squeezed her waist gently before withdrawing his arm.

"Oh I forgot to mention, Zane says he wants us to clean out the attic," Tucker grimaced. "I ran into him in the hallway when I was going to the bathroom,"

"Great," Sam rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Let's go..."

Fifteen minutes later, the trio was settled on the dusty floor of the attic. They were each sifting through old cardboard boxes, brushing dust off old pictures and gingerly removing old books with yellowing pages.

"This is really disgusting," Sam complained, flinching at the spider that scuttled out of the book she held.

"You can say that again!" Tucker shrieked as a roach crawled out of a space between two boxes beside his knee.

Think of it this way...it's better than that time the lunch lady tried to drown you in meat.

Sam laughed, glancing back at Danny. "That's so true, that was way worse!"

"What was?" Tucker asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Danny just reminded me of the time you kissed me. You know, doing the flour sack project." Sam said smoothly, smirking at Tucker. Tucker's cheeks flushed a deep shade of scarlet.

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that again..." He grumbled, turning away quickly.

"Wait, you guys kissed?" Danny asked sharply.

"Yeah?" Sam eyed him. "So?"

"You guys didn't tell me?"

"Well, you were handcuffed to Valerie running for your life in the Ghost Zone at the time. Plus, it's not like you and I have never kissed. It wasn't a big deal, Tucker did it without thinking,"

Is he a better kisser than me?

I'm not answering that.

Is he?

...no. Not even close.

Danny grinned. "I guess, if you say so,"

"I'm really starting to hate this whole telepathic communication thing, guys." Tucker grumbled.

Sam shook her head and turned back to her box. She was just about to give up on the whole thing, when a picture in the box caught her eye.

"Oh my God!" She shouted, seizing the picture and bringing it close to her face. The picture was of a young woman; she was rather short, blonde ringlets framing her pretty face. Her eyes were a peculiar shade of blue, Sam realized as she wiped the dust away from the picture. The woman's smile was dazzling, blinding even. She was beautiful. And familiar. "This is the girl! This is the girl I saw in my room last night!" Sam shouted, brandishing the picture at Danny and Tucker. They rushed toward her, shoving each other out of the way to see the picture.

"I thought you said she had green eyes?" Danny asked quietly.

"She did...but other than that, and her teeth, this girl looks exactly like the one in my room. I know it's her. I can feel it." And she could feel it; the conviction in her heart was strong. Danny glanced up at her for a moment, his eyes searching hers, before he nodded.

"I believe you."

"We should ask Zane who she is. She's hot!" Tucker said loudly, grabbing the picture from Sam.

"The picture looks old." Sam said absently; the back of the photograph was bent and yellowing around the edges.

"Zane!" Sam shouted. She was standing at the foot of the staircase on the first floor, Danny and Tucker close behind her. She clutched the picture tightly in her hand. "Zane, where are you?"

"I'm right here," His voice slithered out at them so suddenly, Sam jumped; she almost dropped the picture.

"Zane, who's the girl in this picture?" Sam asked, holding the picture out to him. Zane's pale eyes rested on the woman for an instant before going wide. He snatched the photo out of Sam's hand and thrust it in his pocket.

"Her name was Lucine." He said shortly. "She died several years ago. It is time for lunch, if you will come with me."

"Lucine?" Sam asked quietly. Something in her stirred. The name was familiar...

What's going on? Danny's voice rang with concern in her mind.

I'm not sure... Sam thought back as they followed Zane. But I'm sure as hell gonna find out.

Oh man...I'm sorry. I know it was awful, I've just been so busy, and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting too long. Sowwy ):

I love you guys for sticking with this, though. Y'all rock.

YESSSS I JUST USED THE WORD Y'ALL IN A SENTENCE. I LOVE LOVE LOVE BEING FROM TEXAS.

Even though my car said that it was 108 degrees F outside today. FML.

(:

Review? I'll give you a hairclip? A rockin' good hairclip, beeteedubs. (BTW) (:

Ugh. I'm going to sleep. I'm ashamed of this chapter. XP

- Tori