"Remind me what the point of this is?" I groaned as Jazz flicked to another picture of a ghost.
We were staring at the computer that held all of the ghostly information that we had accumulated over the years. It included pictures of the ghosts, descriptions of what their abilities were, what they liked and disliked, it was basically a character profile of them. It had come in handy when Tucker, Jazz, and I were first learning to fight ghosts, but now, we only ever used it now when we updated it. We didn't need to double check who was who or what they were capable of anymore. Along the way, we had learned who everyone was. And now that most of the profile had the words PASSED ON written under the ghost's name, it was even more pointless to me.
"We need to reassess the ghostly situation," Jazz huffed. "It's important."
I quirked my eyebrow at her. "Nothing needs reassessing. This is your half-assed attempt at keeping me from crashing Sam and Gregor's date."
I screwed up my lips at the words like I had just bitten into the world's most sour lemon. The thought of her being out with him made me physically ill. He was going to hurt her. I knew that he was going to hurt her. I had to be there to protect her when that happened.
"It's their date, Danny," Jazz said. "You should just leave it alone."
"Am I crazy or were you just a little bit suspicious of Gregor a few days ago?" I snapped at her.
"Guys," Tucker interrupted from my bed, "Can we not fight?"
"No!" I shouted. "If Jazz is going to be so hypocritical then I'm going to call her on her bullshit."
"I'm just trying to protect you!" Jazz yelled back. "If you want to lose your mind and get hurt again, then fine. I'm not going to stand in your way!"
"I'm not losing my mind and I'm not going to get hurt!"
Jazz shoved her chair away from my desk and stood up, looking at me with a disturbing expression on her face. She was glaring at me, but she also looked like she was about to cry, and over everything, she wore a mask of disappointment. Somehow, I had let her down.
"I really thought you had grown up," she spat, and then she headed for my door.
"Jazz," I moaned, standing up, but she had already blown out of my room, slamming my door behind her.
"Easy on the door!" Dad shouted up the stairs.
"FUCK!" I yelled, driving my foot into the side of my desk. The wood dented. "Fuck."
I looked at Tucker, but my best friend just shook his head, not moving from his comfortable position on my bed. "You're tense, man."
"I know," I growled, and then I took a deep breath, trying to force myself to calm down. "I know. I feel like I'm all over the fucking place sometimes and then I don't know what I'm doing with myself … I need to do something about Vlad, but I don't know how. I'm not smart enough and sometimes I don't think I'm powerful enough either. The least that I can do is protect the people I care about but I even fail at that too."
I dropped heavily back into my chair, and Tucker finally sat up.
"You're not a failure."
I guffawed, but Tucker kept talking, likely so used to my moods that he barely noticed them.
"We'll figure out Vlad. Do you hear that? We. You, me, Jazz, we're all in this together. You aren't alone, on anything. We'll always be there for you. It just gets hard when you act like such a … a …"
"Ass hat? Douchebag? Motherfucker?" I supplied. "Tell me when I get it right."
"Jerk," Tucker said simply. "We get it, Sam's a touchy issue. But, in all honestly, you can't stalk her!"
I tried to look insulted. "I'm not stalking her. Honestly, I haven't seen her since the beach party – "
"Which just happened."
"Well, yeah …"
"We're just trying to keep you from getting your hopes up, I guess. You hurt her and you have to let her live. We get it: Gregor should be suspected, just because of Vlad. We'll keep closer tabs on him now that he's spending time with Sam, but that doesn't mean we're going to watch their dates or anything creepy."
"We weren't going to watch!" I protested. "You and I were just going to happen to show up at the same place they were at and since you and Sam are friends, we totally could have stopped to talk for a while –"
"Stop," Tucker instructed, and I closed my mouth. "Will it make you feel better if I text Sam and make sure she's okay?"
"Please!" I begged.
He unlocked his phone, answered a text that he already had, and sent a new one to Sam.
"Who was that?" I asked, immediately interested. He still hadn't told me who he had slept with, and I figured that if he wanted me distracted, whoever had taken his virginity was as good a topic as any.
Tucker gave me a strange look. "Uh, Sam. You literally just told me to text her."
I shook my head. "The text you already had."
"Sam," Tucker said slowly. "She texted me before her date, I just never realized."
"Bullshit," I called him out. We had been friends for too long for him to lie to me or hide things from me.
"Is not!" Tucker insisted.
"Bull fucking shit," I repeated calmly. "Was it the girl you slept with?"
Tucker sighed. "Let it go, Danny."
"Nope," I decided with a childish look. "Tell me things!"
"Seriously," Tucker rolled his eyes. "She wasn't important … Oh, look! Sam texted back! How convenient for me."
"What'd she say?"
"The last thing that you want to hear: Gregor was nice to her and she likes him."
I tried to swallow my jealousy. Besides, the absolute last thing I wanted to hear was that he'd hurt her. This was a very close second, though. I could almost see them in my mind's eye, sharing a kiss, and, subsequently, I almost threw up on my floor. With my head feeling hot and the room slightly spinning, I forced out, "He's probably playing at an angle … Being nice to her and then hurting her. We need to figure out his plans before he does anything."
Tucker actually face palmed. "We know we have to figure out the evil guy's plan. It's seriously all we've been talking about for months. When are we actually going to do something?"
I thought about it. "Saturday."
Tucker's dark eyebrows shot upward. "This Saturday?"
I nodded. "Why not? Why wait? This gives us a few more days to think about it, maybe plan a little bit more. And I know that Vlad's having a little get together this weekend. Mom and Dad were invited, but they've got something else to do. He'll be distracted with people in his house, so it'll probably be easier for us to get in and out. It'll be perfect."
"If you're sure," Tucker finally said uncertainly.
"I'm positively sure!" I said with false confidence. "And it gives me time to make up with Jazz."
Something in Tucker's face changed. "Are we bringing her with us?"
I laughed, "Afraid my sister is going to encroach on guy ghost hunting time?"
"Something like that."
I shrugged. "Jazz knows what she's doing … somehow. It's up to her. Who knows if she'll even forgive me by then. Sometimes she likes to hold onto grudges for too long."
"Ah siblings," Tucker sighed. "I'm glad I don't have any. Oh, some good news for you, although I'm trying not to fuel this."
"Good news? Fuel what?" I demanded in quick succession.
"Sam did not kiss Gregor. Bad news, she has a second date with him. And I don't want to fuel this little obsession you have with Sam."
"It's not obsession, it's love. I just need to talk to her."
Tucker rolled his bright green eyes at me. "Right … You're just proving my point, man."
"Shut the fuck up," I ordered him.
Tucker's eyes widened. "Oh shit."
Concerned, I tensed, looking for danger. My ghost sense hadn't gone off, but it wasn't always reliable. There could still be something. "What? What is it?"
"Sam's next date is at Vlad's little get together this weekend."
I froze along with him. "She's going to be at Vlad's house?"
"Sounds like it," Tucker looked at me, worried. "You don't think she's going to be in any trouble, do you? If it's a party then they won't try anything. I mean, she'll tell her parents where she's going …"
I tented my fingers together. "Vlad's a careful fucker. He's definitely thought of all of that. No, if something is going to happen to her, I wouldn't put my money on it happening Saturday. That being said, my money is still on something happening to her."
Tucker looked down at his phone screen. "Should I say something to her?"
"Giving her details over text isn't a good idea. She's not going to believe it. She's going to think that it's me fucking with her through you, all because she's dating his nephew."
"But I can't say nothing!" Tucker protested. "It's dangerous!"
"So just tell her to be careful!" I blurted out. "There's nothing else we can do! Sam's smart. Hopefully we'll learn something on Saturday and we'll keep her safe from then on."
"I told her to be careful, but it's the lamest advice ever."
"I know but …" I paused as his phone vibrated. "Is that Sam? What's she saying?"
"She wants to know what's happening. Should I invite her out and explain it to her?"
I hesitated. "I can't see that ending well … Let's wait until after our excursion and then we'll see."
"What do I say?"
"Um … tell her not to worry?" I suggested lamely, knowing that it sucked just as much as 'be careful'.
"Okay," Tucker said, his thumbs flying over his keyboard. "We'll see what she says in a minute. In the meantime, Saturday!"
My door flew open and we both jumped. I tensed for an attack, preparing to fire at my intruder, while Tucker grabbed for the broken ectogun that was sitting on the end of my bed. There was no cause for alarm – it was just Jazz. Still, I remained on the offensive. When my sister was mad, there was no telling how much danger I would be in.
"You two are idiots," she announced with any preamble.
"Gee, thanks," I barked acerbically.
"I would've thought you thought more of me by now," Tucker sulked.
Jazz rolled her eyes at the two of us, letting us know that she thought we were worse than idiots, but didn't feel like taking the time to explain to us just how fucked up we were.
"You plot really loudly, I'll be surprised if Mom and Dad haven't figured out Danny Phantom is living in their house by now," she sniffed.
"Great," I said, "And just in case they heard us and are now eavesdropping, thank you for spilling that for me." I raised my voice, "Sorry, parents!"
"Shush, they're in the lab."
"Then what do you want?" I asked her. "Because Tucker and I are actually being productive here."
"Don't go to Vlad's on Saturday," Jazz ordered. "And, yes, I'll be going when you go, only because I think that you're incapable of functioning without me – whether or not you agree with that statement."
"I don't, because you haven't been hanging over my shoulder every second of my life and not all of it has completely gone to hell!" I sagged. "Sorry Jazz, you know that we appreciate you."
"I'm sorry too," she admitted. "Can I come back in?"
I gestured to the empty chair she had vacated not too long ago. "As long as you tell us why we shouldn't go to Vlad's on Saturday."
"The fact he's going to be there," Jazz explained, settling back into her old spot. Her eyes bounced from me to Tucker. "Let's go on Sunday. Since Mom and Dad are going to be missing his barbeque, Dad decided that the three of them should go to dinner on Sunday night. Gregor was also invited, but I'm unsure if he's going. Anyway, you'll have a better chance of snooping if Vlad's not there, because we know he's not afraid to abandon his guests and fight you."
"And this is why we need Jazz," Tucker said, and I found myself nodding along.
We would be so lost without her.
I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my betas: Forever Sky.
~TLL~
