Chapter 46

When Paulina sat down at their table at lunch on Friday, Sam didn't know what to think, except that her immediate reaction was to yell at the stupid A list woman to leave their table. She nearly snapped her plastic fork in half while resisting that urge to pick a fight as was usual when it came to her and the In crowd. Before Valerie dropped into the loser circle with them, Sam never would have considered being nice to the woman. But it wasn't like any of them treated her and her friends all that nicely over their years in high school either. Sam didn't like taking crap from the A list, and she wasn't the type to sit back while someone insulted her friends simply because they didn't fit into the In crowd's definition of "cool." But the three A lists didn't throw any insults and cruel words at them or try to antagonize a reaction out of them.

It almost felt like some trick they were playing on her and her friends. She expected them to suddenly do something to humiliate them, and she was surprised when nothing happened. Even more shocking was that she actually got along with Paulina. Despite the other woman's love of pink, Paulina's sense of fashion really wasn't all that bad. It just needed a little darkening to fit with Sam's Goth image. Maybe Sam had the wrong impression of the popular woman all these years. Their first encounter didn't get them off on the right foot, and they were both to blame for that, but maybe things could have been better between them if they gave each a chance sooner. Paulina, as she discovered when they were talking during lunch on Monday, was actually a fairly smart woman with an amazing talent for designing clothing. Sam didn't care for all the pink in the outfits that Paulina showed off that she made, with Danny's help apparently, for their theater class, but it fit in with the whole theme of the three men playing the parts of the pigs. When Paulina insisted on making something for her, Sam was a bit skeptical until she saw the design and found it to actually be kind of cute even with the pink on it.

Sam guessed it was true that a person shouldn't judge a book by its cover. She almost couldn't believe that she was looking forward to lunch and getting to talk books with Paulina. At the beginning of the year, she never would have imagined this turn of events. Tucker seemed to be getting along fairly well with Kwan. Sam caught some of their conversation yesterday as the two men talked tech. It blew her mind to learn that Kwan actually knew something about technology, and listening to the two of them talk was almost like trying to listen in on a conversation in another language. She decided that was a good thing since neither she nor Danny were really all that big on tech, and Kwan gave Tucker someone to geek out with over his tech toys. It also explained why Valerie and Paulina got so defensive whenever someone referred to Kwan as stupid. He didn't sound stupid at all when she heard him talking about tech stuff.

Her mind turned toward Danny and Dash. She frowned when she remembered the two men left the cafeteria together yesterday. She worried that Dash was going to hurt Danny somehow, though when she saw her friend after school, it didn't look like Dash had done anything to him. What did the two of them go off to do together? She couldn't stop wondering about it, and Danny wouldn't tell her anything about his chat with Dash when she asked about it.

"Listen up, Calvin."

Sam stopped in tracks when she heard Paulina's voice around the corner of the hall. She carefully peered around it to spy Paulina with a livid expression on her face as she jabbed a well manicured finger into his broad chest. What was going on here? She blinked in wonder at the two A lists.

"I still have that picture of you when you were five and wearing nothing but Disney princess underwear and your mother's red high heels and clip on earrings and really badly done makeup," Paulina continued in a threatening tone that actually surprised Sam. "So if you even think about using that picture of Dash and Danny to humiliate them, just remember I have even worse dirt on you."

Calvin actually paled at her words, and Sam could only imagine the picture Paulina had on him was highly embarrassing. Flipping her hair, Paulina left him with her threat still hanging over him. When she turned the corner, she nearly ran into Sam. Their eyes met, and for a moment, both were unable to speak.

"Any chance you didn't hear that?" Paulina winced, chewing on her lower lip.

"What picture does Calvin have on Dash and Danny?" Sam wondered curiously as she lifted an eyebrow at the woman. "And you have to let me see that picture of Calvin."

Paulina smirked slyly. "You should see all the dirt I have on some of the A list. Star, especially, would be crazy to try to do anything to piss me off." She shifted her weight, hugging her arms about her body in a way that would draw any man's eyes either to her hips or her chest. "Calvin, um," she frowned, her emerald eyes drifting away from Sam, "might have snapped a picture with his phone yesterday of Dash kissing Danny."

"What?" Sam shouted in shock. Numbness crept through her upon hearing those words. Her mind ceased functioning, unable to process the very idea of the two men sharing a kiss. It wasn't like she had anything against homosexuality. There were other men, and women, in the school that liked those of the same gender. But Dash and Danny? Neither man gave any sign or hint that they might have feelings for someone that was the same gender, let alone each other. "Why? Why - Why would Dash kiss Danny?"

"Dash has it in his head that he likes Danny." Paulina sighed as she started walking down the hall, and Sam immediately hurried to follow after her. "But from the sounds of things, Danny isn't exactly interested in starting anything with Dash."

"Because Danny is straight?" Sam felt stunned at the very idea that Danny could be anything but straight. Maybe it was her own wishful thinking with some lingering feelings for her friend. She kind of always thought Danny might be there for her, like a backup, and she realized how selfish that sounded, like she didn't want Danny to be with anyone else in case she ended up not finding someone later on down the road when they were thirty or forty. But it was a thought that remained in the back of her head, as terrible as it was. "And when did Dash become gay?" Sam really couldn't picture that since Dash always struck her as the homophobic type that would beat up anyone that even hinted at being gay. But maybe it was the same as with Paulina, and Sam needed to stop thinking about her initial impressions about the three A lists to see who they truly were.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Paulina said with an amused smile like she knew something that the other woman didn't. "It really wouldn't surprise me if Danny liked guys too. And Dash," she winced, "well, I probably shouldn't be spreading that around, but if he's going to be kissing a guy in the middle of the hall, I guess he's not all that concerned about keeping it a secret anymore. So he basically came to the realization before school started that he does feel attracted to guys. And after some prodding, we got him to admit he likes Danny."

"You don't look so happy about that." Sam lifted her eyebrows in surprise at the frown on Paulina' face.

"Well, it's complicated." Paulina sighed as she drew forward a lock of her ebony hair and started threading her fingers through it like a nervous habit. "Because Dash says he likes Danny, but Danny doesn't think they would work out. Then there's Kwan who likes Dash." She frowned as she glanced over at Sam. "I wish there was an easily solution to this. If Dash could just start liking Kwan, everything would be a lot easier. Then Dash and Kwan could be happy together and neither of them would be hurting watching the other chase after someone else. And Danny wouldn't be a factor since he's not even interested in either one of them."

A sly smirk slipped onto her face as Sam stared at the other woman. "Do we need to stage some sort of plot to get those two together?" She never really cared much about the jocks, only seeing them as stupid jerks, but they were kind of growing on her now that they weren't harassing her and her friends. Kwan seemed like a nice enough guy, and having a crush on his best friend who was chasing after someone else had to be horrible for him. She could relate to that, especially when she thought back to when she really liked Danny and had to watch him drool over women like Paulina, who she thought was nothing but a pretty face with a cruel, shallow personality.

Paulina tilted her head as she pondered over the question. "Well, Kwan made me promise not to say or do anything, but," she smirked, "that doesn't mean I can't help you make a plan to get those two boneheads together."

"You know, I think we could have accomplished a lot if we put our heads together sooner." Sam thought she could really start to like this devious, sneaky side of Paulina she was coming to know. When the bell rang, both of them sighed. "I guess we'll have to hold our planning meeting later." Sam waved to Paulina before she hurried off down the hall to class.

When she reached the locker room, Sam wasn't surprised to find Valerie already there and changing into her gym clothes. She walked over to join the other woman since their lockers were near each other. Thankfully, ever since the incident that landed Sam with two weeks of detention, Star and her obnoxious friends had stopped with their nasty comments and plotting to humiliate Valerie during gym class. Sam smirked smugly at that point as she changed into her gym clothes and locked up her things in her assigned locker. She walked with Valerie to the gym door when Valerie suddenly stopped.

"Is everything okay?" Sam asked worriedly as she turned back to the other woman.

"No, I mean," Valerie said, dropping her gaze with an awkward shift of her weight. "I just remembered something. That I need to do. You should go on ahead of me. I'll catch up in a moment."

"Are you sure?" Concern washed through Sam as she frowned. "Maybe I can help with whatever it is."

"No, I can handle it myself. You go on ahead." Valerie practically shooed her toward the gym door.

Sam stepped into the gym, but she didn't like this. It felt too much like Valerie was trying to hide something. Being perhaps a little too nosy for her own good, Sam hated when she thought someone was trying to keep something secret from her. The other students in the class were already over by Tetslaff, who hadn't seen her yet. Good. Sam nudged the door to the locker room open, cautiously glancing inside.

Valerie stood basically where she was when Sam left the locker room, but she wasn't looking at the door, which was a good thing or she might have caught sight of Sam. After she touched something on her watch, black and red suddenly sprung out, wrapping around her body in a skin tight suit with a helmet hiding her face.

Sam gaped at what she saw, almost stumbling forward and throwing open the door. Did she really just see that? What exactly was it that she saw? Why did Valerie have something like that? What was this "thing" Valerie had to do? Sam's mind spun with questions to which she couldn't figure out the answers.

"All right, Phantom," Valerie said, touching a hand to the side of her helmet. "Where are you now?" She rushed off, leaving the locker room through the other exit that opened into the hall instead of the gym.

Wait. Phantom? Sam jerked with a start when she heard Valerie mention Phantom. She stumbled back into the locker room, forgetting about class. Gym wasn't even that important anyway. She was athletic and fit enough already and only signed up for the class because she needed to fill the space and having one class that she could float through wouldn't hurt. The teachers didn't exactly go easy on them simply because it was their senior year, and with the amount of homework they had every night, Sam was glad for at least one class where she didn't have to think too hard to pass it.

After a quick stop to her locker to grab her things, Sam darted out of the locker room. If Valerie could track down Phantom, then this might be Sam's chance to finally meet with the rogue program and pass on a piece of tech that might be useful to him. And she was definitely questioning Valerie about that suit thing later. Running down the hall, she didn't have search very hard to find where Valerie went. She reached the scene, rushing out the front doors of the school, and she ducked in time to avoid getting smacked in the head as a spider virus flew toward her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she swallowed.

Turning to the fight, she spotted Valerie and Phantom. The two occasionally exchanged blows, mostly Valerie throwing a stray attack at the program or trying to catch him in a strangle hold, but most of their attention was on the viruses. The black creatures with bright green light dancing over their bodies, skittered around and attacked them. Valerie had great aim, piercing through their bodies with a single shot. Phantom alternated between firing energy balls at the viruses and grabbing hold of them when they jumped at him. The spiders squealed in agony as green electricity sparked over them, and they dropped to the ground with thuds as they twitched.

Sam counted at least five of the viruses. They didn't look like they should be difficult to take out, but the viruses kept getting back up after being cut down. It was like watching some zombie movie where they just kept coming no matter how much the heroes chopped them apart. Sam scrambled to open her book bag, digging through its contents until her hand closed around the sleek metal item. Pulling it out, she turned the Thermos over in her hands, realizing that she really didn't know anything about how to actually use it. But if it worked like Danny's father said it should, it would be helpful in this situation, if only to contain the undying viruses.

The top of the Thermos, she discovered, was removal. Naturally. She gave the invention a dry look as she thought of how predictable it was for Danny's parents to design it exactly like the Thermos it was modeled after. There was a switch on the side of it. Sam directed the Thermos at one of the spider. Then she pressed the switch. The Thermos whined as it whirred to life, and a white beam shot from the opened end. The virus tried to get away, but as soon as the beam touched it, the virus was sucked inside the Thermos.

"Whoa!" Sam gasped, surprised that the invention actually worked.

"Sam?"

She glanced over to realize that both Valerie and Phantom were staring at her. Though she could only see the shock on Phantom's face, she suspected Valerie looked pretty surprised as well. Sam laughed weakly under their stares as she carefully aimed at another viruses. "Hi," she said, pressing the switch to suck up the spider.

Phantom looked like his eyes were trying to bulge right out of their sockets from his surprise at seeing the invention work. Then he quickly kicked one of the stunned viruses at his feet, and when it crossed paths with the beam, the spider disappeared into the Thermos. The remaining two viruses were easily cleaned up, leaving the front of the school free of any nasty bugs, and Sam slapped the cap back onto the Thermos with a grin.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" Valerie demanded when she stepped up and grabbed hold of the other woman's arms. "You were supposed to head to class."

"And miss this?" Sam's violet eyes shone with her excitement, thrilled that she was able to do something to help Phantom. "Do you know how long I've been trying to meet Phantom?" She turned to look past Valerie and frowned when she realized the program vanished already. With a disappointed sigh, her shoulders slumped.

"Why is it that all of you keep trying to put him up on a pedestal like some perfect hero?" Valerie demanded, frustration and anger clear in her voice.

Sam frowned as she stared at the dark visor hiding Valerie's face. "What did he do to make you so angry with him, Valerie?"

"He," Valerie's voice was filled with conflict, "was involved in the reason my father lost his job."

"But surely he didn't mean for that to happen. Phantom's only ever tried to help people by protecting the town from virus attacks. If he was present at the time when your father lost his job, he must have been trying to stop a virus." Sam tried to see things from Valerie's perspective. She could understand anger during a situation that felt out of her control as the life she knew crumbled around her. But putting all the blame on Phantom and going so far as to attack him seemed like Valerie was misplacing her aggressions.

"I understand that," Valerie said, still sounding uncertain about the whole thing.

"And it's not like nothing good came out of it. I mean," Sam frowned, looking away, "we got the chance to become friends because of it. And now the whole social hierarchy is breaking down because Paulina's friendship with you was stronger than her desire to remain on the A list. So it's not like everything you lost is gone for good."

Valerie sighed, and after a moment, the suit vanished, leaving behind the woman in her gym clothes. "I get that, and I'm really happy to have Paulina back as my friend and having you as my friend too." She rubbed awkwardly at the back of her neck as she frowned. "But it was just so much easier to blame Phantom for everything."

"The whole time you were attacking him," Sam said, remembering what she witnessed from the pair fighting each other with the viruses, "he never struck back. He blocked and dodged your attacks, but he didn't try to hurt you. In fact, he even protected your blind spot a few times there. Phantom doesn't want to hurt humans. He just wants to stop the viruses."

Valerie frowned, her expression twisting into deep thought as she considered something. "He did risk himself to protect me," she agreed after a while. "I didn't realize the virus wasn't dead, and he pushed me away and got hurt in the process all to keep it from happening to me." She rubbed at one arm as she looked off to the side. "I guess I've just been casting him as a villain because it's easier to be angry at him for everything when I don't have anyone else to blame."

"Well, since you both want to stop the viruses, why don't you just work with him?" Sam eyed the watch around Valerie's wrist. "And you wouldn't happen to have another one of those, would you?" She grinned hopefully as she pointed at the watch.

"Honestly, I don't even know how I got it." Confusion played across her face as Valerie ran her fingers over the watch. "But you could still make an awesome partner with the way you sucked up those viruses. What is that anyway?" One eyebrow rose as she pointed at the item in question.

"The Fenton Thermos. I wasn't sure it would actually work, but I guess they do make pretty cool inventions sometimes." Sam grinned, happy that she snagged it from the laboratory. Danny probably wouldn't be happy when he found out she took it, even less happy when his parents noticed it was missing.

"Well, since we can't seem to kill them, having something that can capture the viruses seems pretty handy." Valerie sighed, looking exhausted as she hunched her shoulders forward. "I guess we should head to class. Tetslaff is going to have as running laps until we pass out, I bet."

"Ugh," Sam groaned. "Maybe we should just play hooky."

"It's probably better if we don't."

Sam sighed tiredly. "Yeah, you're probably right." She shoved the Thermos back into her book bag as they headed back into the school and through the halls back to the gym.

DB-KT: D: He'll... be okay...

midnight: Haha. XD Well, he was pretty stalkerish in the show. I'm sure he did. 8) Yeah, I have sneezes like that too. My sister always looks at me like I'm crazy when I say ow after sneezing.

gabbygirl1234: Thanks~ =)

Sammi: XD Vlad's mean like that.

Just Will: Haha, yeah. I just can't seem to catch all my errors on my own. orz Everyone needs hugs! D8 Except Jing. Jing can go sulk in a lonely corner. XD Yeah, Danny still needs to work on that whole being aware of his surroundings thing. XD;; The GIW just loves to make bigger problems for themselves. -.- But there's a bunch of different divisions to the organization. I'm sure there's one that's dedicated solely to capturing Phantom, while other divisions work on other matters.