A/N: Well, how is everyone doing? Have you calmed down after the last chapter? You haven't? Well, sorry to hear that, because there's just more havoc on the way. So, just relax, get some popcorn, and be ready to pull your hair out now that Chapter 23 is here! And, of course, don't forget that mantra: IDNOAC, IDNOAC…Enjoy!

TrueHeart—Chapter 23—Tension in the Air

Sam anxiously paced her room, looking at her watch every fifteen seconds, though to her, it felt as if she was looking at it every fifteen minutes.

"He's been gone too long—again!" she mumbled worriedly. She knew that whenever her boyfriend didn't get back with her in the usual amount of time, that was not good news.

She dialed Danny's number for the sixth time in the past hour. And all she kept getting was his answering machine. She had even broken down and tried to call Tucker again; but by the instant message she heard without even hearing a single ringing sound on his end, she knew he still didn't even have it on. Also not good news.

Finally, she had had enough. She went to her closet and pulled out her rocket booster, the one the Fentons had given her after the Poisoned Ghost War. She began to strap it on when she suddenly thought of something else she needed to do.

"Oh, darn it!" she grumbled slightly, but put the booster aside just the same, and quickly left the room.

She had almost forgotten that she had made a promise to her grandmother to let the old woman in on some—but definitely not all the details— of her plans more often than before. Why had she made that promise, she didn't know—well, she really did—but she had made it soon after the Spectre mystery thing. After that harrowing experience, the girl didn't want to have something like that happen in the future, with maybe tragic results, and have her grandmother and even her family left hanging, wondering what had happened to her. It made her understand their…feelings…more.

She returned in hardly any time, knowing that she could go now that she had told her grandmother that she had some kind of errand to do. She quickly strapped her booster on with determination and hurried over to her window. She threw her windows open without hesitation, activated her booster, and soared up into the dark, winter sky…

After about twenty minutes of aimless searching, Sam was becoming more and more frustrated and worried. Underneath, she knew that what she was doing was pointless, because she, of course, had no idea on where to begin to look for Danny. But she also knew that it was pointless for her to remain at home sick with worry. At least now she was doing something, even it were a pointless something…..She continued to scan the horizon…

But after a few more very long minutes, she grunted with a mounting concern. Where could her boyfriend be? He was just searching for Tucker…Tucker! She mentally smacked herself on her forehead. Muttering an irritated "Duh!" to herself, she turned to head toward her bespectacled friend's home.

At this point, she was so worried about Danny, she wasn't even thinking about how Tucker had upset her at Valerie's party. In fact, she was now beginning to worry about Tucker…He had been so distraught the last time she had last seen him, she just knew she couldn't be angry with him any more. Now, she was more determined. She had to find at least one of her best friends!

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Tucker's heart began to race. Valerie could be anywhere in the Ghost Zone by now! If only Bertrand had not attacked him like he did, he would have immediately made another portal and she would be safely back here. Still, he had had no choice. Her being in the Ghost Zone was sort of safer than what would have happened to her had he not made the portal. But only by a very small degree.

He pounded on his futuristic PDA, desperately scanning the readings, seeing if he could narrow down the possible coordinates of where he could have sent Valerie. But he grumbled in frustration when he saw there were now several dozen of possibilities of where she could be. He began the process of narrowing that further when he heard a familiar sound above him. He looked upward and saw in the near distance a flying booster…a flying booster with Sam attached to it, that is..

He instinctually called out to her, but then realized she was too far away. Suddenly he hit himself on his forehead, irritated with himself, and uttered, "Duh!" He also then realized he was no longer upset with her. Or, at least, he couldn't afford to be now that he was worried about Valerie—and Danny.

He pulled out his cell phone and turned it on. Ignoring the "messages' alert sound immediately coming from his phone, he quickly dialed Sam's number.

She answered in an instant and he wasn't ready for her verbal barrage. "Tucker! Are you all right? Where have you been? We've been looking for you all night! And now Danny's not answering his phone! Have you seen him? I'm worried! But you're all right, aren't you?"

He didn't know where to start at first, but he, too, peppered his answers back to her. "I'm fine. And I'm not sure where Danny is, either! He might have gotten attacked by Valerie, but it's not my fault! And now Valerie's missing, too, but that is my fault because I sent her to the Ghost Zone to save her from Bertrand who had attacked her after she attacked Danny and…."

"Hang on! I see you!" Sam interrupted him.

She was already riled up and now when Tucker had told her about Danny, she began to panic and didn't hear his last comment about Valerie. It had taken her a moment, but the clear, moonlit night didn't hinder her much in finally seeing her friend. "I'll be right there!"

And by the time Tucker hung up, she was right next to him. She quickly turned off her booster before grasping him by the shoulders and giving him a quick hug in relief. But in the very next instant, she gave one of his shoulders a firm punch.

He was totally surprised by both of her actions as he yelled out from her blow. "OW! What's that for?"

"For making Danny go look for you and making me sick with worry about the both of you! And you said Valerie attacked Danny? How do you know? I just knew something had happened to him because he wouldn't answer his phone!"

Tucker quickly told Sam what he had witnessed after coming out of the woods concerning their friend. He was so anxious about Danny and Valerie that he didn't go into any details of why he had run away from the party; and, sort of fortunately, Sam was too worried about Danny to ask. But before he could go into details about Valerie's encounter with Bertrand, Sam piped in.

"This is bad, Tucker," she said, biting her lower lip with worry. "Darn her! He wasn't doing anything but looking for you! Where could he be?"

He cringed at her quick, verbal swipe at Valerie, but didn't say anything. He was too relieved that she hadn't blamed him for the fact that Valerie may have injured their friend to make any comment. Suddenly, a thought surfaced. He said, "Did you try, ya know…"

She looked at him, bewildered at first. But when their eyes connected, she gasped, her eyes widening when she caught on to what he was referring. "No! I didn't! I was so upset, I didn't think of that! Give me a minute…"

She closed her eyes and concentrated, but a few moments later, she opened her eyes with another gasp. "Something is totally wrong! He must be unconscious! I can't get through to him like the last time he was unconscious." She stopped and paused; and then said really to herself. "Or maybe he wasn't totally unconscious back then? Maybe he was almost unconscious right after he got shot by Valerie and almost slammed into the ground? That would explain why I was able to help him snap out of it." She suddenly gasped at her next thought, "Oh, no! But not now! He's hurt—badly! I just know it!"

She turned to Tucker with dread in her eyes.

He wanted to ask her what she meant that she had help Danny 'snap out of becoming unconscious'. How could she do that? And how could she be so certain that their friend was unconscious or hurt? He knew of their psychic connection, of course, but he didn't know to what extent it worked between the two of them. But he was too concerned about the matter at hand to question her. And then, his friend's comments interrupted his thoughts.

"We have to find him!"

"And Valerie!" he added, his voice plainly as worried as she.

"What?" she gasped, before scrunching her face in sudden anger. "Why would we have to do that? Hasn't she caused enough trouble?"

But, of course, Tucker didn't know that she had not really heard what he had first said to Sam about Valerie's being accidentally sent to the Ghost Zone. And he had yet been able to explain everything that he had seen during Valerie and Bertrand's encounter.

But he immediately frowned in irritation at her remarks instead. And he didn't realize that he growled his response, when all of his emotions that drove him away from the party unexpectedly resurfaced. "All right! Valerie might have attacked Danny, but I'm really not sure because I didn't actually see her attacking him! But it's not my fault! And, just so you know, you can go all 'ungoth' now! I'm calling it off! I'm breaking up with Valerie. As soon as I find her, that is!"

Sam gasped in shock. Sure, she was angry at Valerie—again, but she hadn't expected this. "What? You don't mean that, do you?"

"Yes, I do!" he said more firmly. "I can't trust and not trust her at the same time! I won't ever let her know about Danny's secret, yet I can't have the kind of relationship that I want with Valerie, either, and keep that secret! And now it's even worse! She's obviously ready to trust me—us—with her secret, but I—and really, we—can't do the same with her! And that's so unfair! I can't do that to her, Sam, so it's best if I just break it all off for both Danny and her sakes!" He was suddenly aware of his rapid breathing and hot face.

Sam truly didn't know what to say, but she had a hunch that whatever she thought about saying wouldn't help the situation. But Tucker didn't give her the chance.

He quickly added, "But we can't get stuck on all that right now 'cause we have to find her and Danny! And I agree with you! I've got a strange feeling that Danny's in trouble. And if Valerie's in the Ghost Zone, that can't be good news for her, either. And just so you know, just because I can't be with Valerie anymore doesn't mean I don't still care about her. And you must definitely know by now that I'd never abandon my brother."

Sam bit her inner lip with guilt. She swallowed hard before saying, "Okay. I agree with you. But I want to know what happened. Maybe you can fill me in while we go get your booster? We'll need it before we plan anything else, okay?"

He barely nodded his head in acknowledgement and he knew what to do. And he somehow knew that she understood him, and, somehow, that she was no longer angry at him…or Valerie. He suddenly relaxed as his anger at Sam slid right off of him. They quickly reached out and wrapped their arms around each other's waist just as Sam activated her booster.

And as they charged toward Tucker's home, the boy talked non-stop about everything that had happened.

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The lynx groaned as the pain shooting through his body finally made him regain his senses. More pain jolted down his ghostly spine when he tried to move. But he gritted his teeth and forced himself to lift his head and open his eyes.

At first, he saw nothing but blackness. He gasped, and then, winced when even the small movements of his eyelids caused more pain. Trying not to panic, his eyes finally focused enough to let him see that he was in some kind of room; and, except for the diffuse nightly light that bled through the nearby window, it was enveloped in darkness. And then, he remembered where he was and what had happened.

He pricked his ears up, concentrating on catching any sound. Satisfied that he couldn't hear anything, he chanced whispering, "Sarah?"

But he heard nothing. Suddenly, his ears picked up the sound of a loud creak and he froze. But a few moments later, he knew that nothing had come out of it.

He could not have known that both he and his wife were currently totally alone in the front room of Spectra's lair. Bertrand was now at the Far Frozen, complements of Tucker; and in desperation over the aged condition she was in, Spectra had gone to look for the machine…and Bertrand—in that order.

"Sarah?" the lynx repeated, trying not to panic. Where was she? This time, a weak groan answered him. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Are you all right?"

Sarah didn't answer him at first, and he grew nervous.

He was about to say something, when he barely heard her response. "I will be all right, Husband."

Still not convinced, he uttered, "Are you certain, Darling?"

She smiled weakly but he could not see that his concern for her well-being had pleased her. She struggled to move as she replied, "Yes, I am certain, my love. Thank you. But why is it so dark?"

Now satisfied that she sounded stronger, he sniffed the air and pricked up his ears. A moment later, he said, "I am not sure, but I think we are now alone here. That may be good and that may be bad. I do not know where those two wicked ghosts are, but I can say with certainty that we are alone at this moment.

He then directed his ears toward the flutter of air that he was sure caused by her wings. His still blurry vision strained to see her ghostly shadow as she was making a concerted effort to stand upright. But then she groaned in pain once more.

"Sarah!" he said with more concern when he realized she was in pain, and that he couldn't fly to her side right now.

"Do not worry!" she said, trying to assure him. But then, she stumbled and fell into the nearby bars, the force of her fall shaking the cage slightly.

He gasped and jumped up in dread, ignoring his own pain. But he knew he was helpless to come to her aid.

Suddenly, she yelled, "Derek!"

His inner core tightened, thinking she was severely injured.

"Derek!" she yelled again, and this time he realized that her tone was from excitement, not pain. "There's…there's a hole in the bars near the bottom of my cage! I might be able to make it larger and squeeze through!"

It didn't matter to either of them how that had happened. They didn't realize that the bars that Sarah had pressed herself against in dread had been weakened by Spectra's attack on her. And when Sarah's body had slammed into the very same bars when she had stumbled just now, the bars buckled.

"Are you sure?" he asked excitedly.

"Let me see," she began just as she went over to the small hole abutting the bottom of the cage. "Yes, they are loose! I'm going to try to pull them apart!" She went right to work and used her beak to bow out the brittle and loosen bars.

Derek clenched his jaw in anticipation as he heard the tiny echoes of beak upon metal. He could barely see his wife's shadow as she hurriedly worked.

She was finally making some headway when they both froze in alarm in the next instant.

Something was entering the lair!