Chapter 3:

Sam.

Started:

June 22nd 2012

Edited:

June 27th 2012

Uploaded:

June 27th 2012

Chapter Warning:

Language

Chapter Rating:

T

Opening my eyes was a challenge due to the bright, blazing light shining down on my face. I could hear several machines hard at work and an excessive beeping that was slowly driving me mad. I could hear voices, though they sounded like they were coming from somewhere underwater.

I closed my eyes tight again, unwilling to allow the bright light in and I groaned, shifting a little. Remembering what happened was a challenge. It was a big area of black in the back of my mind. Almost as if someone just went in there and turned the lights out.

"...believe this." Suddenly, as if someone had drained the lake my hearing seemed to be in, I could clearly make out words floating around me. The voice was deep, rough, and the words were said with a snarl. The owner obviously wasn't pleased about their predicament and I couldn't really blame them. Especially if they were in any condition like I was. I couldn't even lift my fingers; they felt like they were filled with cement.

"Y'know, if it had been anyone different, I would have been sorry for you." That was definitely Tucker. He sounded as annoyed as the mystery voice sounded angry. "But...you know I don't. Because you're you, and really, you shouldn't be alive."

"Don't you fucking think I know that?" Again the snarl was back, a wet angry noise and I pictured the speaker spitting as they spoke, long trails of saliva dangling out of their mouth. I cringed at the mental image. "I know I should be dead, but I'm not, I'm here. And I saved her." I heard something that sounded like leather being strained and someone taking a step back. I assumed it was Tucker. He always was the most cowardly of us. "And this is the thanks I get."

Something cool was placed on my forehead and I forced my eyes to open, temporarily taking my concentration off of the conversation. A nurse was standing over me, smiling sweetly as she picked my head up carefully, pressing a glass against my lips and I gratefully took a sip of water.

"Thanks," I managed to croak out, my voice was barely more than a whisper but she nodded with a smile, stepping away.

"She's awake." Mystery-Voice spoke again, but this time it was quieter, subdued and maybe a little worried

"Duh," Tucker said, and I could hear his footsteps as he came over, leaning into my field of vision. "Sam?"

"Heya Tuck. Did we win?" I grinned weakly, the muscles in my face protesting and I could feel the bruises there now.

"Yeah, thanks to Mr. Villain-turned-hero." He replied sarcastically, sending a seething glare at Mystery-Voice. There was a small worm of warning in my head. Something telling me that yes, I knew this Mystery-Voice, and it wasn't from a good experience. But for the life of me, I couldn't place it. Tucker obviously knew him, so there's got to be a connection there somehow. A ghost, maybe? The room did feel a little more chilled than normal.

Tucker looked at me again, his eyes softened with concern. "But you're okay now. That's what counts." He took off his glasses rubbing them on his shirt, squinting at me as he tried to keep me in focus. "You were pretty banged up, you had Val and I pretty worried."

"I was worried too!"

Tucker ignored Mystery-voice and continued watching me as he put on and adjusted his glasses. There was something about Mystery-Voice that reminded me of Danny. Maybe it was the small amount of tremor in his voice, the lack of confidence as if he were unsure he'd be accepted.

Something pushed that thought away and I looked up at Tucker. "How long am I going to be down for?" All I really wanted was to be back on my feet and fighting. I couldn't be down long. We needed to be on our toes all the time. I thought of all the ground Vlad could have gained and I shivered. True, our rebellion was a few thousand strong, but that was nothing against Vlad's army, and I felt like Tucker, Val and I were the backbone of our little army.

"A couple of weeks. Don't worry, Sam. East Bridge is taking over while we're down. They don't have a strategist as good as me," Tucker grinned proudly and I rolled my eyes, "but they'll be okay for now. Nothing's going to happen, and you deserve some downtime."

No, I didn't. But I didn't say as much, because in the state I'm in my body is more than able to protest my words. So instead I just sighed and stared at the ceiling. "So who exactly saved me?"

Tucker hesitated, glancing behind him and I heard a snarled "Tell her!" from Mystery-Voice.

"Well..." Tucker hesitated, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "You do know him..." He finally sighed, losing his mental battle. "Dan Phantom. You remember him right? Tried to kill us all, Danny's evil future self?"

Yes, I did remember, but I couldn't comprehend it right away. Dan Phantom. Evil Dan Phantom, saved me. How did he get out of the thermos? How was it possible he was here?

"But...Danny didn't become him." I muttered stupidly.

"Ugh, I know. Does everyone have to comment on that?" Dan sounded annoyed and...at a loss. Almost as if he had been set for rejection, and when he didn't out right get it, he didn't quite know how to respond.

I propped myself up on my left arm, looking around the small room for Dan, ignoring the pain in my muscles and bones. I saw him in the far corner looking like a kicked puppy who has an aggression complex. He had a collar around his neck, which I identified as a modified Specter-Deflector, used to control ghost powers instead of repel them. His hands were cuffed behind his back and his legs tied to the chair he was sitting on.

His red eyes locked on mine for a minute, loathing battling something else before he narrowed his eyes and looked away pointedly. I sighed. "Thank you, Dan. Really." I didn't remember what happened, but by the way everyone was fussing, I would have been dead if Dan hadn't come along.

"Yeah...whatever. I was just in the right place at the right time." He mumbled, glancing at me quickly before looking away again, becoming very interested in a spot on the wall.

Something was up with him but I couldn't quite place it so I lay back down, accepting the water Tucker passed to me. "Where's Valerie?" I was glad my voice was getting stronger with each sip of water, even if drinking it burned my sore muscles. It worried me that she wasn't here. She'd become one of my best friends after Danny had disappeared, and she and Tucker had dated for a while, though they claimed they were currently on hold due to the war. Too much on the line if one of them were killed in battle. I didn't always believe it. Not when I lived with her and Tucker was frequently over.

"She's helping East Bridge." He replied. "I've sent word on the holoscreen, but she hasn't replied. She's just busy. She's got a lot to do over there. They were bombed pretty badly."

I nodded, closing my eyes when a wave of tired hit me. I vaguely remember Tucker telling me to sleep, and the sound of a chair being moved before I passed out.

Dan looked down at his clasped blue hands, shaking a little as I watched him. I was sure he didn't appreciate being studied so thoroughly but I couldn't help it. He occasionally glanced up at me as if seeing that I was still there before awkwardly looking away. He was acting so Danny-like I couldn't help but stare.

"So...Dan." I started, shifting on my bed. I was able to sit up now without nausea and I was even able to move around on my own. I'd been able to glance at my medical records and the report Dan had made when he had brought me back. Apparently, he had tracked our base through the holoscreen on my watch to get me back safely, and had seen me through one of Clockwork's viewing portals, knowing I needed help and coming to my aide.

He had come just as an army of what we've dubbed Suicide Danny's had me surrounded. I could remember some of that. I had been fighting some of Vlad's human cronies, and I was losing the fight when the first Suicide Danny appeared and the enemy humans backed off. I found myself being pushed back by them, and tripping over a rock as the first one exploded, cutting me deeply in several places and I had fallen, hitting my head on a sharp rock and everything had become double. I don't know if there were as many Danny's as I thought, but there were enough that if they went off, I'd be killed.

Dan said that he had come for me just before they closed in on me, picked me up and flew me above their range. We had studied the Suicide Danny's and discovered they were his human form only- they were unable to go Ghost and fly, which had been an advantage at this point.

I still don't like to think about the glint of amusement in Dan's eyes as he told me about how he had destroyed every last one of the Danny's. Despite the fact that they were filled with some sort of volatile substance and incapable of any sort of independent thought and action, they still resembled my best friend. And that was upsetting.

"...Why did you save me?"

Dan squirmed, unease flashing across his face before looking back at me, his stone-cold demeanor back on. "I couldn't let you die again. Not when I could stop it." He didn't rub his neck or look away, so I knew he was telling the truth. Danny's side seemed dominate when I was around him, and Danny always used those motions when stuck in a lie. "I had a chance to make sure you lived, and I took it. Big deal."

I looked him over. He hadn't aged in the thermos. Then again, being outside of any time stream would probably do that to you, I supposed. He was still his twenty-six year old self that he had been when he tried to destroy our lives. He narrowed his eyes as he caught me staring. "What?" he growled, shifting on his seat trying to appear more powerful.

I knew he wouldn't hurt me. Something told me he had enough Danny left in him that he wouldn't be able to really hurt me. But what do I know? He did try to kill us the last time he saw us.

Sighing, I looked away. "It's nothing. Just...thank you. For saving me."

"Yeah, well, don't expect it too often. I still have a reputation to keep up." He stood, hooking a finger under his collar and shifting it, growling in annoyance as he stormed to the door. He was allowed to wander free, but his powers were kept under strict control. His pure muscle power however, we could do nothing about. He paused, his blue hand grabbing the door handle so tightly, his knuckles turned white, seemingly battling with himself. "Sam?"

I looked at him, cringing at the sound of metal bending as his grip tightened. "Yes?" I asked quietly, looking up at him. His flaming hair sent the room into deep shadows, and those were covering most of his face, making him seem very ominous.

"...I'm really glad you're okay." He opened the door with such force it slammed against the wall and ricocheted back into place, not even able to latch and slowly groaning to a halt, semi-open and warped as he stormed down the hallway, ignoring any noises that came out of my mouth.

Slowly, a small smile spread on my lips.

Dan's fist came flying through the air aimed straight for my head and I ducked, narrowly avoiding being brained by the powerful punch. With an aggravated snarl he turned aiming to kick me in the midsection but I leaped out of the way, tucking in my head and rolling deftly to the side, springing to my feet and resuming my defensive position.

We stared at each other, my breath sounding all the more loud in the otherwise quiet area. Dan wasn't even breathing hard-though that led to the question: Do ghosts breathe as a reflex? Surely they don't need to breathe to survive.

Shaking my head to clear it of those thoughts I narrowed my eyes at Dan, he stood in an easy stance, one hand calmly raised as if he were inspecting his fingernails through his glove. I almost laughed at him if our eyes weren't connected.

"Okay, okay enough." Tucker broke the tension in the air and I relaxed my defensive position, moving my head to crack my neck. "Dan, you're too tense."

"Don't tell me how to fight, four-eyes." Dan growls, cracking his knuckles as he glared at first Tucker before turning that malicious glare at me. "Just because you've started to trust me a bit more doesn't mean I can't turn around and snap your neck like a twig."

Tucker stared at Dan in mute horror for a minute before clearing his throat. "Well...that's not something we want to think about, now is it?" He asked quietly, looking at me.

It was true that over the weeks of my recovery Dan had become more trusted. He hadn't done anything that would point to him returning to his man-slaughtering ways, but he was still-well, Dan and he needed to be closely monitored. As such, his collar stayed on, but he was slowly becoming a member of our team.

Or, as he liked to point out, we were slowly becoming members of his team. Shaking my head, I walked over to the small table in the back of the room and grabbed a glass of water, Dan coming over and leaning against the wall, watching me.

"Stop it," I glared at Dan over the rim of my glass. "I'm not a child you know, you don't have to watch me like I'm going to fall over at the slightest breeze."

"Oh, but you will." Dan growled, his menacing red eyes locked on mine. "Because you are a human. And as a human you are weak." He moved, and in the blink of an eye he was right in front of me, so close our chests almost touched as we breathed, he leaned down slightly, his fangs flashing. "And sooner or later, you're going to fall."

I stared straight ahead, my heart pounding as he chuckled deeply, a sound that made my skin crawl. "And I'm going to be right there to watch." The words, though menacing, weren't as frightening as they should be. They were said almost with an air of uncertainty, as if he himself wasn't sure what to believe. I shifted as he stayed standing where he was, before turning with a flutter of his cape and marching off.

I stayed where I was for a long time, trying to decide what he meant, and how I felt about it.

A/N: I am so sorry if this shows up in your inboxes three freakin' times. I kept forgetting things in the chapter and the only way I can edit it is through Doc. Manager so I have to delete the chapter and re-upload it. DX I won't mess again I PROMSIE!