I do not own Danny Phantom or James Bond.
Pick Pocketing and Double Beef
Sam's violet eyes focussed on the glass doors at the front of Nasty Burger. She swirled a fry in a pile of ketchup and popped it into her mouth before reaching for another. She was anxious to hear how Danny made out, even though she knew Clockwork wouldn't tell them anything. He never did. She tapped her fingers against the cool plastic tabletop in nervousness.
"Geez, Sam, calm down," Tucker said, his voice muffled from a mouthful of burger.
Sam wrinkled her nose as a small drop of grease fell onto the red tray. Ugh. I hate Double Beef Wednesday. "But what if Lancer comes in and sees us?" she worried. "He'll get suspicious, and we can't lie, because he'll know where Danny is regardless. He's always with us unless he's doin his thing."
"You don't know he won't believe us. We could say he just went to the bathroom."
"Then he'll probably sit down and wait for him to come back. Or worse, go in and check! Of all people that had to find out, it had to be our teacher."
"Relax Sam. Lancer would never be caught dead in a health-hazard dump like this."
Sam turned her gaze back to the doors and sighed. "You're a jinx, Tuck." She grabbed him by the sleeve and tugged him underneath the table, and out of their teacher's line of sight before he caught them.
"Whoops," muttered Tucker. "My bad."
Sam peeked out to ensure Lancer had his back to them. "Come on. We need a better hiding place."
As his friends went to hide from their English teacher, Danny phased into the alley beside the Nasty Burger and after triple-checking to make sure no one was around, he transformed back into Fenton. He was about to head inside the building when his phone started ringing insistently.
He quickly answered it. "Hello?"
"Danny?" Tucker whispered.
"What's up? I don't see you guys in there," Danny said, scanning the interior of the place through the glass windows.
"Are you near the windows? Get away from the windows! Lancer's here!" Tucker whispered frantically.
Danny instantly dove into the bushes that ran alongside the restaurant. "What's Lancer doing at a teen hangout spot?" he hissed, crouching as low as he could.
"I don't know, but we're hiding out in the girl's bathroom. If he catches us he's gonna get suspicious and know what's up! He's spooky like that."
"Sam there too?"
"What do you think us entails?" asked Tucker sarcastically. "We're gonna climb out the restroom window and meet you in the parking lot. By the way, one of you owes me a Double Beef burger next Wednesday."
Danny hung up the phone and rolled his eyes before slinking through the bushes. He peered through the leave, feeling felt like James Bond or some other international superspy. Although I hope I'm never strung up by my wrists over a tank of sharks. Actually…that sounds familiar. Maybe that did happen to me. Hmm.
Spotting Tucker and Sam slip behind a rusty pickup truck, he quickly ducked out of his hiding place and joined them. After checking around, they stood up and started walking off.
"Well, that was fun," Sam said after a moment of silence.
"Yeah. I felt like James Bond," said Danny cheerfully. "Hey, did I ever happen to be tied up and hung over a tank of sharks by any chance?"
"Not that I can recall. So, how did the little visit go?" Tucker asked.
Danny felt himself smirking. "Pretty pointless. He wouldn't answer any questions that meant life or death, but he answered my rhetorical question. Oh, and apparently the Obserants are mad at me for threatening them. But I apologized. And we have to stick together. Clockwork's advice."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "We've kinda been doing that all the way through. Any particular reason why he said that?"
"Nah. But then again, if Clockwork says it, then there must be a good reason. If only I knew what that reason was. Anyway, anything new on the Valerie front?"
"Nothing. And I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing," Tucker said with a sigh.
Sam smiled. "Hey, we'll figure it out. We always do, don't we?"
"Yeah, we sure-oof!"
As Danny swung around a corner, he ran straight into Valerie herself. Papers flew everywhere and scattered in all directions. Sam and Tucker, thinking these papers might have something interesting on them, quickly volunteered to help pick them up. Valerie hopped up with an apologetic smile and reached out a hand. Danny accepted it and was pulled to his feet with a little too strong of a force. He stumbled into the girl again and she quickly steadied him.
Sam and Tucker handed her back the papers, slightly disappointed and gave a subtle headshake to Danny, letting him know there was nothing interesting within them. They extended the papers to the girl and she quickly took them with a smile of thanks.
"Sorry, Danny! I'm in a bit of a rush, so I gotta go. See at school tomorrow?"
Danny nodded, raising an eyebrow as she took off down the street, laptop bag hanging off one shoulder and papers gathered in her hands.
"Well...that was weird. Weird enough to investigate?" Sam asked.
Danny shook his head. "You didn't find anything suspicious on the papers she dropped, so I think we're okay. C'mon. Dinner's on me tonight."
Tucker smirked. "Don't you mean it's on your mother?"
"I thought that was obvious."
As the three set off, Valerie sat down on the sidewalk curb on the other side of the block to catch her breath. She reached in her bag to pull out a Fenton Thermos. Danny will get it back later, she promised. She frowned a bit as she studied the condition of the containment device.
It was a bit dented, but it should be just what she needed.