Author: loosedefense
Title: Weak
Pairing: Danny/Dash
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the property of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. This story implies nothing about the characters nor does the plot of the story have any effect on the show itself. This story is pure fiction and fantasy.
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"Danny, you have really got to stop obsessing over this Kwan thing," Sam said.
It was Saturday afternoon, and Danny had picked up Tucker shortly a couple of hours after his run with Dash, and they had both gone over the Manson residence to hang out with Sam for the day. Currently they were lodged in the movie hall, as Mr. and Mrs. Manson didn't think that it was proper for Sam to have a boy, let alone two, up in her room alone, and had given explicit instructions to the staff to make sure that it didn't happen.
"I don't know why you're so opposed to this," Danny replied. "My suspicions have helped us figure out a whole bunch of stuff before."
"Maybe because we've known Kwan practically our whole lives?" Sam raised her eyebrows at him.
"How much do we really know about those people anyway?" Tucker asked, shoveling some popcorn into his mouth, not taking his eyes off the movie playing. "Just because we've all gone to the same kindergarten, grade school, middle school and high school with them doesn't mean we know anything."
"The man's got a point," Danny smiled confidently.
"On the other hand, Danny is making kind of a big deal about a jock exercising," Tucker finished.
Now it was Sam's turn to smile confidently. Danny glared at Tucker.
"Look, we've gone over this all day," Danny said. "I'm not going to change my mind – I k now Kwan's up to something. And if I'm not … well, I've spent four years trying to survive life-or-death situations, you can hardly blame me," he folded his arms across his chest and focused on the screen determinedly. "I just came to ask you guys if you wanted to come with me when I go spy on him tonight."
It was then that Sam started to blush, and Danny stared at her in surprised.
"I can't," she told him. "I'm – I have a date."
This was enough to catch Tucker's attention as well.
"You?" Danny gaped.
Sam frowned unhappily at him. "Yes, I can get a date, thank you very much."
"Oh, you know I didn't mean it that way," Danny quickly amended. "It's just … how did it happen?"
"Yeah," Tucker munched, leaning towards the edge of his seat to look at her past Danny. "When did you meet someone?"
The redness on Sam's face hadn't faded, and indeed deepened with the question. "We kinda met last year, in November," she told them. "It was when my parents took me on that walking tour of Princeton when I told them I was considering applying there. I needed to get away from them and that stupid guide for a few minutes, and ran into him in the halls. He was on his way to class." She had a little smile on her face as the last sentence left her mouth. "Anyway, we've been IM-ing each other ever since, and he told me last week that he was going to be passing through Amity Park on the drive home, and asked if he could see me."
"Why doesn't he just fly there?" Tucker asked, confused.
"Well, college students aren't exactly renown for having all the money in the world," Sam said sarcastically. "Besides, he'll be back in college soon; he just had a free week and decided to spend it at home."
"So it's not an actual date then," Tucker pointed out.
"It's an actual date," Sam insisted so rapidly that she gave the distinct impression of having expected it from her friends.
Danny had been rigid this whole time, never taking his eyes off Sam. "You're going on a date with a college student?" he finally burst out.
Sam looked at him in surprise. "What's your problem?"
"Nothing! I—" Danny stumbled for something to say. "You're going on a date with a college student!"
Sam looked at him crossly. "Yeah, thanks for the newsflash," she said impatiently. "God, why is everybody making such a big deal out of this? I would have expected you guys to be normal, but I can see that there's no such thing around here."
"You're one to talk," Tucker jabbed. Sam gave him a dirty look. "Don't tell me your parents know about this?"
"Yes, they do," Sam said firmly.
"And they're letting you go through with it?" Danny's voice rose
"I am not going through with anything," Sam retorted. "It's just a date. You know, just because you've never been on an actual one—"
"Whoa, hey!" Danny cut her short. "I have been on an actual date."
"Sure, with Valerie," Sam snorted. "Like that went anywhere."
"I thought you said he was just some guy you've been IM-ing?" Danny gripped the arm of his seat. "Where do you expect it to go?"
"Oh, come on, Danny," Sam rolled her eyes. "You're just as bad as my parents. What, you think I'm going to end up some pregnant teenager who ends up pole dancing to make ends meet?"
"No, but—you know what those guys are like! Come on, Sam, you've heard stories!" Danny argued.
"Winston is a nice guy," Sam got to her feet. "And if you have a problem with me going on one date with a guy I've spent months getting to know, well … then maybe I have a problem with you being in my house."
Tucker stared at her blankly. "You're asking us to leave?"
"Yes, I am!" Sam bellowed, angrily pointing to the door.
Danny and Tucker sat frozen in their seats, sharing a look with each other, not quite sure what to do. Finally, Danny rose and without a word moved to the door and pulled it open with such a force that the golden handles slammed against the wall. Tucker got up too, sneaking one last sip of his drink, and followed Danny out.
"I can't believe her," Danny muttered as he started up his car.
"Yeah," Tucker said, looking as though his mind was already on another topic. "I can't believe she's going out with a guy named Winston."
Danny sighed heavily. "Tuck, don't you get it? It's bad enough she's going to meet someone she got to know mostly over the Internet, but who knows what sort of sex-starved deranged maniac this guy might be? I mean," he turned sharply to Tucker with an expression so comical Tucker almost burst out laughing, "they have roofies!"
"I think you're getting a little carried away," Tucker could not hold back the little snicker that managed to escape him. "Sam knows what she's doing."
"I can't believe her parents are letting her meet him," Danny continued darkly. "What are they thinking?"
"I don't think Sam cares what they want," Tucker pointed out. "I mean, the girl wears goth when her parents want her to wear Shirley Temple."
Danny chortled despite himself. "I guess so."
"So you're going to spy on Kwan tonight?"
"I was," Danny told him. He gave Tucker a meaningful look.
"Oh, Danny," Tucker groaned. "Don't."
"We have to at least make sure that this guy's okay, don't we?" Danny pushed. "I mean, Sam's our friend, isn't she? What kind of people would we be if we didn't check this guy out for her?"
Tucker sank low in the passenger seat.
Danny took his silence as agreement.
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Dash Baxter hurried to the front door of his house when he heard the doorbell ring. His parents were out at work, and there was no one home except for him. He wondered who is was, who was knocking so hastily on the wood; he hadn't invited anyone over for the day.
Pulling it open, he was surprised to see Kwan outside.
"Hey, what's up?" he greeted his friend.
"Are you going over to Danny's place today?" Kwan asked without pre-amble, stepping into the threshold. Dash moved aside, allowing him in.
"No," he said, a little confused. "Why would I?"
Kwan didn't look like he expected that response.
"Why not? Aren't you his caretaker for the semester?"
"I'm not going to spend my Saturday with him," Dash told him, moving towards the kitchen to get a can of Kwan's favorite soda from the fridge. Tossing it to him, he said, "It's bad enough I wasted my Friday over there."
Kwan rolled the soda along each hand, not taking his eyes off Dash.
"Why do you care so much?" Dash asked, starting to get creeped out by the way his friend was acting.
Kwan didn't reply, turning his eyes down to stare at the soda can instead. Dash thought he didn't hear the question, and opened his mouth to repeat it, but then Kwan replied, "No particular reason."
If the weird vibes hadn't been apparent before, they sure were now. Dash shook it off.
"I'm glad you're here anyway," he said, leading the two of them back into the living room they had passed. "Graduation is in two months. You know, we should really start planning that road trip we're going on."
He turned around, only to have the little grin on his face wiped off by the blank look Kwan was giving him. He didn't seem to even know what Dash was talking about.
"You know, the one we planned last summer?" Dash pressed, a hint of a frown creasing his forehead before vanishing. "We said we were going to take off the day after graduation?"
Kwan started. "Of course," he said softly. "I remember."
"Right." Dash wasn't so convinced. "So anyway, I was thinking, since we'll be gone all summer long, we should start by going into the City, and maybe after that we can—"
"Actually," Kwan interrupted, "why don't I get back to you on that?"
Dash stopped short, words having failed him. "Get back to me?"
"Right," Kwan nodded.
"Don—don't you wanna go?" Dash questioned, not understanding.
"I may have some other plans," Kwan told him enigmatically. "I don't know how long it'll keep me tied up."
"Oh," Dash blinked. "I thought you said you were going to be free all summer."
"I know," Kwan nodded, a small smile on his face that was probably meant to comfort his friend, but, as far as Dash concerned, failed miserably. "Don't worry, I'll probably be free. I just wanted to let you know now instead of later on. Just in case, you know?"
"Oh, yeah. Sure." Dash nodded, still unable to get over his surprise.
Kwan seemed ready to get off the topic, and swinging his arms, he said, "So, you're really not going over to Fenton's place today, huh?"
"No," Dash told him. "I was over there earlier. We went for a run."
"I see," Kwan nodded.
"Why do you want to go over to Fenton's place so bad?"
"Oh … no particular reason," Kwan made for the front door, not waiting for his host to show him out.
Dash turned slowly as Kwan walked past him. "Hey, Kwan?"
"Yeah?" the Asian boy didn't bother to turn around.
"What are these plans you have that are going to keep you so busy?"
"Nothing much," Kwan told him, opening the door and already putting one foot out. "Don't worry, Dash; I expect to be done by the time the school year is out."
And with that he closed the door, leaving Dash to contemplate his best friend's strange behavior, his ominous feeling only rising when he caught sight of the can of soda left on the table, left unopened.
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"This. Is. So wrong." Tucker enunciated.
"Would you relax?" Danny chided. "I know what I'm doing."
"Okay, that may be the most worrying thing of all."
"You know what I mean," Danny rolled his eyes.
The two of them were currently up a tree in the town's small park, with Danny in the lead, balancing himself precariously on a study branch, with Tucker holding on to him for dear life. Directly below them were Sam and her new friend, Winston, the reason Danny had insisted on coming here tonight. Tucker had started off by gripping on to his friend's calf, but had gradually raised his hand further up to grip on to Danny's thigh.
"Uh, Tuck? Riding a little high there."
"Shut up, Danny," Tucker growled. "You're the one who wanted to do this in the first place. Your leg's not as secure as your … upper leg." He moved his hand a bit lower, but not much, realizing just how close it had been to his friend's butt.
If it had been up to him, they would have been on the beautiful, beautiful ground rather than up here, and there would have been no touching in any uncomfortable places. Hell, if it had been up to him, they wouldn't even be here right now. But in order to stay invisible just like Danny, he needed to maintain a physical connection with his friend. Thanks to his growing fear of falling, he had been forced to seek a more sturdy part to hold on to than Danny's scrawny leg.
Danny snickered, but quickly changed focus when he saw Sam turn to her date. "She's going to say something!" he shushed his friend.
Tucker strained to hear what was being said, but it was no use. They were too high up.
"Great," he sighed. "All this work for nothing."
"Would you be quiet?" Danny snapped in a hushed whisper.
"Danny, we can hear anything," Tucker whispered. "We're too high up!"
"Please. I've heard plenty of conversations this way," Danny scoffed. "The only difference is that in all those times I didn't have someone next to me getting in the way."
"Then why didn't you do this yourself?" Tucker demanded in that same hushed tone, his hands gripping Danny's leg and the tree's branch harder.
"Because it's our duty as Sam's friends to—augh!" he broke off with a scream, followed by Tucker's, as the branch gave way to their weight. Though invisible, Danny had not turned intangible, and it seemed that the combined weight of the two boys was too much for the tree to handle.
Falling too fast to even think about turning intangible, the two boys landed on the ground with a thump, the force of the landing turning them visible again.
"Wow," Tucker said, pulling himself up into a sitting position, "that wasn't as hard as I thought it would feel!"
"Get off of him, you jerks!" they heard someone shriek. Turning in the direction of the sound, they saw Sam standing over them, her amethyst eyes blazing with rage, her hands flying about her wildly. "Get off! Get off! Get off!"
Danny and Tucker scrambled to their feet, clumsily stumbling over each other in their haste. Winston groaned below them.
Tucker winced sympathetically, but Danny looked oddly smug.
Well, perhaps it wasn't so odd.
Sam reached to help her friend up, teeth bared, and spun around to face the two of them.
"What do you think you're doing?" she blasted. "Where did you even come from?"
Winston cupped his side tenderly, looking dazed and confused with everything going on around him.
"Wha – what's going on?" he managed to utter.
Face flushed, Sam's gestured to the two of them. "These are my two idiot friends," she spat out, "Danny and Tucker." Her eyes traveled up the tree next to the four of them. "They must have been up there," she pointed.
"Um, hi, it – it's nice to meet you," Tucker nervously stuck out his hand, which Winston slowly shook, after giving him a strange look. Danny stared at him coldly as though Tucker had just betrayed him.
"What are you doing here?" Sam's eyes flashed.
"Getting some fresh air?" Danny offered, not sounding very concerned that he had just been caught spying, nor that he'd just caused bodily harm to his friend's date.
Sam narrowed her eyes and tapped her foot, clearly not amused.
"Are you okay?" Tucker turned to Winston.
"Fine," Winston waved away his concern, pain still evident in his face. "It's not every day you have two guys land on your back."
Danny had that cocky smile on his face again.
"Look, we'd better get you out of here," Sam told him. "You can come rest over at my place."
"What?" the smile had vanished without a trace from Danny's face now.
"And you—" Sam jabbed a finger in his direction, "I'll talk to you later."
"Fine," Tucker thought Danny's voice sounded almost petulant. "Come on, Tuck. I know when we're not wanted."
"Well, that's not true," Tucker pointed out as they walked away. "Otherwise you wouldn't have come here in the first place."
"You've really got to learn when to keep your mouth shut," Danny nudged him none too gently in the ribs. He turned around to get a last look at the couple before leaving, and his pace slowed and his face went blank. Mystified over this sudden change, Tucker turned around and saw Sam lean in and kiss Winston on the lips.
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"Don't say anything you'll regret."
Danny turned to Tucker sitting in the passenger seat, an uncomprehending expression on his face.
"Why would I do that?"
"Danny, I had to practically pull you all the way to the car after what we saw in the park," Tucker reminded him.
"You did not," Danny gripped the steering wheel, focusing back on the road in front of him.
"Did so," Tucker insisted. "Look, I know you. Don't fly off the handle. I mean, it's not Sam's fault she's attracted to the guy."
"I don't care if she is attracted to him," Danny bit out. "Sam can do whatever she wants. We just went to make sure she was okay, remember?"
Tucker knew that there was nothing he could do to deter Danny from this excuse. "Yeah, Danny," he said softly. "I remember."
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Having dropped Tucker back at his house, Danny drove back home slowly. He wasn't in any rush, knowing that Sam would be coming over to chew him out for his earlier stunt.
Reaching home, he parked across the street. His heart nearly stopped when he saw Sam was standing by the door waiting for him. She must have rushed over as soon as she had lain Winston down. Danny silently cursed himself for taking so long; if he hadn't, he could have probably beat her home and gone out ghost-hunting to delay the ugly confrontation for a while.
Sam did not look happy. Indeed, she wore the same scowl Danny had seen in the park. 'I didn't do anything wrong,' he reminded himself as he walked towards her. All the same, that didn't stop an involuntary gulp from manifesting itself.
"Sam," he greeted.
Years of friendship told him that she was biting the inside of her cheek right now, a vain attempt at remaining calm. Any second now and she would—
"What the hell were you thinking?"
She would blow up.
"Now, Sam look—" Danny tried to dissuade her.
"No, you look, Danny," she said his name as though it were a foul word, "I told you that I was going to be fine and that I knew what I was doing. I don't know what you told Tuck, probably some lame excuse about how you guys 'owe it to me' or something …"
Danny blushed.
"… but I can't believe that you would actually spy on me like that," she finished. Her fists were shaking with anger.
"We were just worried for you!" Danny defended himself, raising his arms to the sky.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure," Sam rebuked. "Four years of ghost-fighting, and you worry about this?"
"Oh, come on, like those guys are even a challenge anymore," Danny sneered.
"And you thought Winston was, and what, you powerbombed him from a tree?" Sam put her hands to her hips, raising her eyebrows skeptically.
Danny noticed some of the neighbors starting to peek out of their windows with curious looks.
"Okay, you know what, this isn't the place for this," he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her inside the house roughly, slamming the door shut. Sam pushed past him and his parents, who had come out of the lab to see what all the commotion was. The two of them rushed upstairs, not looking at each other. When Danny had closed the door to his bedroom, and the windows, however, the started yelling at each other again.
"When is anyone in this horrible town ever going to treat me with a little respect?" Sam bellowed.
"Stop acting like a spoiled child," Danny roared back. 'Oh my God, I have got to stop spending so much time around Dash,' he realized.
"I already said that I knew him—"
"How much can you know about a person through the Internet? Come on, Sam, you know better that that!" Danny emphasized to her. "I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of this."
"Why I'm making such a big deal?" Sam exclaimed. "I think I'm being way too calm about it."
"What if it had been Technus?" Danny asked. "It wouldn't be the first time he's possessed a computer."
"Oh, and I guess the fact that I met him beforehand has nothing to do with it," Sam said acidly.
"You're damn right it doesn't, those guys are tricky."
"I thought you said they weren't even a challenge anymore?" Sam shot back.
"Yeah," Danny rolled his eyes, "for me."
Sam's mouth dropped open.
"I will pretend you did not just say that to me."
"Why not, it's just another thing you're apparently ignoring." Danny dropped into a sitting position on is bed.
Sam stood stiffly. "Care to tell me what you mean by that?"
"Oh, please," Danny sounded drained. "You know what I'm talking about."
"Humor me," Sam said harshly.
Danny raised his eyes to her. "You know we're supposed to be together."
This got to Sam. Her face softened a little bit, and her body slumped forward.
Taking a seat next to Danny, she waited for him to continue. He evidently picked up on this, because he did. "It's just," he sighed, "we've been dancing around this thing since, like, puberty."
Sam sniggered.
"Everyone's picked up on it. After a while, you and I did too. I know you did," Danny went on, turning his head to face her. "But then, everything got in the way; you know, with the … thing; and then Valerie—"
"And Gregor," Sam added. "Elliot. Whatever."
"Right," Danny gave a sort of half-grin. "I kinda thought we would get past all that and everything would work out in the end, you know?"
Sam stared at him.
"What?" he squirmed. "Don't tell me you didn't think it?" He felt embarrassed now.
"No," Sam turned her head quickly to look at her knees, "I guess I did. Sort of. It's just …" she turned back to him. Danny shook his head, nonplussed.
Sam seemed to be arranging whatever it was that she was going to say next. Finally, she said, "What did you think would happen after we graduate?"
"What?" Danny hadn't expected that.
"Well … Valerie moved last year, and you never made a move. We've both never gone on more than a couple of semi-dates since then. You never made a move – and neither did I," she amended when she saw him open his mouth to protest, "and now, we're going to leave Casper in two months time, and what's going to happen then?"
Danny blinked, choosing to focus on the floor. Sam was right; he hadn't thought about the future. His mind flashed back to his encounter with Mr. Connor: "What are your plans for when you graduate?" he had asked, and Danny hadn't been able to answer. He had no plans; being presented the task of protecting the town from ghosts who wanted him annihilated had left him with a mentality of surviving one day at a time; he hadn't thought what would happen once he left high school and once life had ceased to be spoon-fed to him because it had never been as pressing a concern as evading that next ectoplasmic blast.
"I don't want to be your choice because I'm available, and because the chemistry's there," Sam told him. "And I know you don't either. There may be something, Danny, but we've waited so long, and really, not for any good reason. If it took us until now to get to this point, whatever we have can't be very strong."
Danny nodded, still not looking at her. He knew she was right.
"And …" she paused, brushing her thumbs against each other, a nervous habit she had picked up somewhere along the line, "I'm going to Princeton. If I get accepted I mean. What's going to happen to us then?"
"We'd break up," Danny's voice sounded heavy, as though he hadn't used it for a very long time.
"Yeah." Sam was looking at the ground too. "I don't want us to get together now, only to break up by the time the semester begins. Five months. That's all we'd have."
Danny nodded, then looked up at her again, forcing a smile on her face. "I guess what we have right now is too good to throw away for five months," he said. Sam nodded sadly.
"It's just that it's always been there, I guess," Danny told her. "It was like one day …"
"… it'd feel natural enough to pursue," Sam finished for him. "I know."
There was a pregnant pause.
"You look pretty," Danny said quietly. Sam looked down at the fancy red shirt and long black skirt she was wearing.
"Thanks," her face reddened at the compliment. "My mom bought it on one of her trips. The skirt that went along with it felt too girly."
Danny laughed a little, a genuine smile on his face this time, however small.
"I'm gonna go now," Sam stood. "I'm glad we got a chance to talk about this."
"Me too," Danny said in a false cheery voice. 'My entire life is slipping away and I don't know how to get it back.'
Sam smiled at him, and opened the door, jumping back when Jack and Maddie Fenton fell through, identical looks of surprise on their faces. The glass Jack had been holding rolled out of his hand. "Excuse me," Sam muttered, stepping over their prone forms.
When she was gone, Danny lay back on his bed, wanting to scream. Instead, he pulled his pillow over his face, paying no attention to Jack's statement about not understanding how anyone was meant to hear anything through those damn cups.
"Danny, sweetie, you okay?" Maddie asked with concern in her voice.
"Fine, mom," Danny responded, still not taking the pillow off his face.
"Ah, don't worry slugger," he felt the bed dip low as Jack sat down at the end. "There are other fish in the sea. You'll be okay."
"Thanks, dad," Danny said without emotion.
The two of them knew that there was nothing more they could do for their son, so they left the room reluctantly, shutting the door behind them. Even then, Danny could still hear his father exclaim, "I swear, Maddie, all the sound gets trapped at the bottom of the mug!"
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Author's Note: I know I promised Danny/Dash uses garbage can lid to as a shield against rotten tomatoes being flung It's coming, I swear. I just didn't want to leave the whole Danny/Sam thing Butch set up unresolved and jump into the "Danny didn't mind getting together with Dash because at that moment he realized he always liked boys better" excuse. This made more sense to me. So for Danny/Sam haters, sorry you had to endure that (I kinda like the thought of them together though :p) I'll make it up to you soon.
Thanks everyone who reviewed the story. Please keep it up, and I hope to hear from more readers too. Reviews are my idea of irresistible poison. :)
Fallan Phantem: I don't know why you didn't get an alert for Chapter 7, but I hope you got one for Chapter 8 and this. Thanks for letting me know. Could others please tell me if they've been getting alerts for the story or not, because I would hate to think that you guys are missing it after putting this story into your Alert list. Thanks.
As always, please read and review!