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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Kwan was growing very tired of those odd looks Dash had been giving him throughout the week. Ever since the incident over at FentonWorks, the jock had caught his friend eyeing him strangely at various times.

"You know, Danny and I already explained to you that Tucker was joking," he said after catching Dash at it once again.

"So you're on a first-name basis with them now?" Dash raised an eyebrow in response. Kwan just sighed and continued to pretend reading his textbook while the teacher droned on in front.

"What is with you?" he asked again during lunch. The two of them were at the popular table reserved for athletes, cheerleaders, and really cool people; currently they were the only ones there, with the rest of their friends still picking what they wanted. He himself hadn't selected anything.

"Nothing's with me," Dash said defensively. There was silence between them for a moment, before the blonde said, "What's up with you and Fenton, anyway?"

"Oh, not this again." Kwan raised a hand to his forehead. "I told you, Tucker was joking."

"Yeah, I know that," Dash rolled his eyes. "But since you've come around to their place, the two of you have gotten really … chummy."

"Chummy?" Kwan raised his eyebrows.

"There's no bathroom in the basement," Dash said.

Now it was Kwan's turn to roll his eyes. "Well, I didn't know that, did I? Tucker was the one who said Danny had gone to the bathroom when you asked why he wasn't in the basement. I thought there was one."

"Yeah, well, that's another thing, what's with the first-name thing?" Dash questioned, digging into his meatloaf with his spork.

"You're Danny's support mentor, and you don't refer to him by the first name?" Kwan shrugged. "I figured, we're over at his place every day these days, it'd be strange not to call him and his friends by their first names now." Dash looked back up from his food, and Kwan asked, "What's up with you?"

"You've just been acting really weird, that's all," Dash said. "I haven't seen you eating, you never want to hang out after we get out of Fenton's place …"

"I've been busy," Kwan said enigmatically.

"Yeah, which brings me to my next point," Dash stabbed at his food again violently. "Why are you bailing on the road trip? We've been planning this for, like, a year!"

"I told you I'd probably be going," Kwan muttered. "I just have something to do."

"So I've heard," Dash sounded almost offended. "What I haven't heard is what it is."

Kwan didn't reply. Dash watched him closely as he tapped a finger on his other wrist, head turned away too look at the grass. Finally, he turned back up and said, "I think you should invite Fenton to Paulina's party."

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"Absolutely not," Sam said adamantly. "I will not help you spy on Kwan."

"Oh, come on, Sam," Danny was practically begging. The three of them were once again in the school cafeteria. Since the night they had resolved their feelings for each other and what to do with them, Danny and Sam had come to an uneasy, unspoken settlement. They were trying to carry on as friends, but were both painfully aware of what had happened between them, highlighted by the fact that Danny spent more and more time around Tucker and Sam's new unwillingness to go outside for lunch. Truth be told, it didn't feel like much progress, if any, had been made at all, as far as Danny was concerned, but he was trying to include Sam again, but she certainly wasn't making it easy on him.

"We used to do stuff like this all the time," Danny persisted. He was glad to be inside today; he didn't want to risk Kwan finding out that they were talking about him behind his back. Going outside was too risky, so Danny and Tucker had stayed indoors and found Sam at her regular table.

"Yeah, but that was when you actually had suspicions for valid reasons," Sam said. "This time, you're suggesting we stake out a musclebound airhead who's too stupid to take a breather while exercising."

Danny sighed, knowing he wasn't going to convince her. "Tuck?" he turned to his other friend.

"I'll go if Sam goes," he maintained without taking his eyes off his meatloaf.

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By the time lunch was over and the students trudged back for classes, both Danny and Dash were cursing their respective friends.

"I can't believe you guys don't trust me enough to follow me," Danny said. "I mean, when I have led you guys astray before?"

Sam and Tucker stopped walking and turned to him expectantly. Danny gave in. "Okay, okay, so I haven't gotten them all right," he grumbled. "You can't expect a perfect score. But when have I led you guys astray lately?"

Again, Sam and Tucker flashed him expectant looks.

"Don't make me bring up the baklava incident," Sam drawled.

Danny shuddered at the memory of that disaster.

"Fine," he said. "But I'm right. Even if you guys don't believe me, you'll see."

"I'm sure we will," Tucker said.

It was only then that they noticed that they were the only ones left standing in the hallway. Sam swore; there weren't even any stragglers around. How late were they?

"I've got to go get my book from my locker," Danny told them.

"Now?" Sam exclaimed. "We're late enough as it is."

"Well, I've got my book," Tucker smiled. "And I'm headed that-a-way." He waved as he went on in the opposite direction from the other two, going to his Geography class while they had Literature.

Tucker didn't walk three steps before the atmosphere turned darker though, and Danny looked around, knowing through experience that a change such as this could mean that a ghost was in the area. As if on cue, a specter turned the corner and went straight for them.

Danny, in his haste, fell back to his old habit of crying out, "Going ghost!" as the two white rings formed around his waist and slid to reveal Danny Phantom.

"It's …" Sam trailed off when she saw the form of the ghost, "…a bee?"

"Oh, I know that form," Danny wasn't fooled for a minute. The giant wasp shot towards him, but the half-ghost was ready, jumping up a few inches and with his outstretched hand, gripped one of the buzzing wings in a way that would have surely crushed it, had it not been made of ectoplasmic energy. With a pull, he managed to slip on to the insect's abdomen for a ride. Once secure, Danny slammed his hand, in open-ended palm, down on to the bee's head, and directed a powerful blast.

The bee wailed in pain at the sudden surge of energy straight to its head, and tumbled. Danny jumped up, waiting in the air for it to crash against the wall.

The impact of the wall caused the ghost to lose its form and revert back to the human one it relied on most: Bertrand, the shapeshifter.

"So, where's Spectra?" Danny asked. "Don't tell me she forgot to tie on your leash."

"Leash, you say?" came the reply in that snooty, uppercrust voice that Danny so hated. "You really are full of ideas, Daniel."

The three students watched as green energy surrounded the short grey-haired man again as he took the form of a large beast.

"Go," Danny instructed, giving Sam and Tucker who were to his left a quick glance. "I'll handle this."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked uncertainly.

"Just make sure Spectra doesn't get you," Danny warned, his focus already back on Bertrand.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Bertrand said. "She and I have parted way. Irreconcilable differences, you know."

"She dumped you, huh, Tiny Tim?" Danny smirked.

"Tiny Tim was never really made fun of for his size," Bertrand said to him. "And she always found me the perfect height."

Danny's cocky grin immediately turned into a disgusted grimace. "Okay, I really didn't need to know that," he said. He noticed Sam and Tucker were still watching entranced by the bickering. "Go!"

They rushed beyond the row of lockers behind him and turned the corner. Danny powered up his hand again and flew to the large dog resolutely. "Would you get out of here?" he heard Sam snap, but paid no mind. She must have been getting a student out of harm's way.

Bertrand was quick. With a sidestep, he managed to dodge the oncoming threat, but Danny easily phased himself through the wall and returned, eyes narrowed, and reached for the ghost again. This time, he didn't bother to power up, instead landing a punch and a kick to the dog's snout and neck.

Bertrand stumbled back, letting out a whine, turning his head, followed by a growl, preparing to attack.

"I'd kill you where you stand," he said, his voice now lower than Danny had ever heard it, "but I'm feeling merciful."

"No, you're not," Danny tossed his words aside. "You need me to tell you where Plasmius's ghost half is."

"So you know then," Bertrand's tone rose, but still remained lower than his regular speaking voice. "Of course, I wouldn't be the first one to ask for it. Spectra was the one who slowed me down. She thinks it would work in her favor, you see. She was always stupid that way."

This caught Danny off-guard. "What?" he asked, completely perplexed. "What are you talking about?"

Bertrand had already charged though, and Danny realized too late that he should have turned intangible. Too late, however, for Bertrand had him pinned down.

Danny felt the air leave him as the giant paw applied more pressure on his stomach. He felt as though he were being squeezed to death. He winced; his head hurt.

Finally, he got the sense to turn intangible, and the paw slipped harmlessly through his body, Bertrand now intangible as well. Danny forced himself down to sink through the floor and returned back up behind his adversary.

"Tell me what's going on," he demanded, both hands curled into fists now. "Why do you want the soul? What did you mean about Spectra?"

"You think I would ever tell you anything?" Bertrand reverted back into his human form, his green eyes glowing. He struck a defensive pose. "Glory will be mine, Danny Phantom. If not, another will take my place, and another after that. Thousands shall come after you."

"So I've heard," Danny frowned. Neither moved. "Why is everyone in the Ghost Zone so interested in the Plasmius spirit?"

"If no one has told you anything," Bertrand breathed, "I will not. You are the enemy of almost every being there. Our affairs are none of your concern."

"They are if you guys are going to keep coming after me," Danny countered. "There's no way you're going to win against me, Bertrand. I've kicked your butt a million times before, yours, and everyone else's. Once I send you back into the Ghost Zone, you can tell them that, and maybe then we'll get somewhere with this situation."

Bertrand gave no answer, instead charged at him. Danny dived down underneath him, grabbing him by his pudgy stomach and throwing him against the row of lockers that lined the walls behind. He realized then that he had no thermos with him, no way to trap the ghost.

"Tucker!" he hollered. "Tucker!"

There was no reply. Danny looked to Bertrand, unmoving, and drifted off trying to find the black boy and finish this off. A few minutes later, however, he still had not located him. There was a classroom right next to him, so Danny peeked in through the glass pane, eager to avoid drawing attention to himself. Kwan was sitting right next to the door, all attention on the textbook in front of him; Dash sat next to him, jotting something down. He saw Paulina somewhere off in the middle of the class, drawing long appreciative gazes from the boys neighboring her. But Tucker was nowhere around.

He started to move on, but was caught unawares by Bertrand, who had sneaked up behind him and tossed an energy ball. Danny let out a startled cry at the sudden pain, and grit his teeth to avoid making more noise and catching the attention of the students.

He turned around to face the ghost, and shot a blast of power at him, which missed. His back burned from the shot, and it seemed that he was thinking too much about that and not the fight, for not only had his shot missed, but Bertrand managed to crack his jaw with a good punch.

Danny flew back, hands to his face over the area, which was now starting to bruise. He had to keep searching, so, turning intangible, he floated quickly in the opposite direction, checking each classroom. He heard Bertrand's hostile laughter following him.

"Don't tell me I've beaten the great Danny Phantom!" he cried, keeping up with the white-haired teen. "I haven't even broken a sweat!"

Danny ignored him, knowing that he couldn't risk a brawl with the students in class now. He continued to search for Tucker, avoiding Bertrand as much as possible. Finally, he had located his friend, and rushed inside the classroom to stand next to him. He prayed the other ghost had not seen him enter, because he couldn't predict what Bertrand would do with a room full of unsuspecting children.

"Tucker!" he hissed. "Tucker!"

Tucker looked up, a startled look on his face, gripping the edges of his table hard. His eyes darted wildly side to side.

"Don't say anything," Danny told him. "I need the thermos."

Tucker's uncertain face told him that he didn't know how to pass it without arousing people's suspicions, but Danny had to believe that they wouldn't notice. After all, they hadn't heard him whispering to Tucker, had they? No one had looked up from their notes or away from the teacher striding in the front. He had to risk it.

Tucker inconspicuously reached down to his bag, where the Fenton Thermos was kept by the side. He pulled it out and discreetly changed hands so that it was closer to Danny. Danny willed his hand to turn solid again, and took the flask. Turning fully intangible again, Danny gave the class a quick once-over to make sure no one had seen the exchange. It didn't seem like it had caught too much attention, so he exited the classroom again, and searched the hallways for Bertrand.

The ghost was nowhere to be seen, so Danny explored the school searching for him.

'Don't let him have captured a class,' he begged silently.

A scream of terror sounded, and Danny knew his prayer had gone unanswered. He hurried to the source of the sound, and felt all the air escape him again when he passed a room and saw the several students cowering in one corner, few others standing, and the rest sitting down as though frozen. All of them had expressions of fright on their faces. Mr. Lancer was pushed against the wall, and even from where he floated Danny could see that he was shaking in fear. A breath of cold air escaped his mouth. He continued staring at the class, and what his saw next almost made his heart stopped.

Sam was in there.

Sam was standing by her desk, a mixture of resolve and panic on her face.

Danny squared his shoulders, his grip on the thermos tightening and he phased through the door to enter the classroom.

Bertrand was laughing. He was laughing, and throwing energy balls at random points through the class, keeping the children locked in their fear.

"Oh, if she could see this now," Danny heard him say. "What a feast she would have."

The teenage ghost formed again, drawing gasps and shouts from the crowd below.

Bertrand took notice of him and smirked evilly. "Oh look, your hero is here. Did I tell you that I met him in the hallway and he ran away? Like a little mouse, scared of every movement it sees.

"Well, how do you like this movement, Danny Phantom?" he concluded, forming another ball of ectoplasmic energy and hurling it his way. Danny didn't dare turn intangible for fear of the blast hitting the students, so he focused his energy into creating his own energy ball, slightly bigger, and tossing it towards the one Bertrand had thrown. They met midway and clashed, causing a minor explosion in the air.

Several students screamed, a few ducking to avoid the blazes.

"I left to get this," Danny informed, holding up the Fenton Thermos. "It's time for you to go, Bertrand."

"No," Bertrand shook his head. "No, I don't think I will."

Danny began to uncap the thermos, and it seemed that his opponent had a change of heart.

"Fine," Bertrand said. "You may try. But before that, I think you should all know a little something about your savior here."

Danny's head snapped up.

Bertrand flew away, out of his reach. The eyes of the humans followed him. "I merely came here to get something from Danny Phantom, but he refused to give it to me. That's why I decided to attack. That's why every other ghost that comes after he locks me up shall attack. Because he won't give us the one object we ask for. He instead decides to place your lives at risk instead." To emphasize his point, he formed another energy boll and chucked it. Danny's eyes widened, realizing it was going to hit Lancer, and hastily formed his own. It wasn't well-done as the previous one, nor as big as it, but Danny merely needed to detract Bertrand's weapon from its current course.

It was successful, and caused the other ghost's ectoplasmic ball to hit the wall at the last second. Had Lancer any hair, Danny was sure it would have been singed off.

"He'll always place your lives at risk," Bertrand snarled.

"That's enough!" Danny raised the Fenton Thermos, and uncapped it. The energy sucked the ghost in, changing his form as he was pulled in. Once Bertrand was gone, Danny placed the cap back. He didn't want to, but his eyes involuntarily surveyed the students. Most of them were staring up at him in shock. Some of them, he saw with a pang in his heart, had taken to Bertrand's words; he saw one of two students looking at him in fear and loathing, the way the town had looked at him before he won them over by beating Pariah Dark.

Danny thought he was going to cry. Why did these things keep happening to him?

Rather than be embarrassed, he turned and flew out of the room before a tear could slide down his cheek.

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His parents were home when Danny entered his room through the window. He had turned his car intangible and flew home with it, the car not weighing a pound when its mass had disappeared. He didn't want to risk being caught driving home as Danny Fenton, so in order to avoid everyone for the day had left undetected.

Unfortunately, his parents had seen the car parked across the street just as they had been about to step out, so had come back in and knocked on his door.

"Danny, are you in there?" his mother sounded concerned.

Danny contemplated not answering her, but with a sigh said, "Yes, mom."

"We heard about the ghost attack in your school, sport," Jack said. "Is that why you're home so early?"

Danny had planned on faking being sick, but this, he supposed, was as good a reason as any to give. "Yeah, dad," he replied through the door.

"Well, don't worry," his father said. "We heard the kids got to go home if they wanted. This ghost was malicious, according to your principal. Attacked a classroom and everything."

"I know, dad," Danny said, settling down on his bed.

"We're going to your school right now, sweetie," Maddie told him. "To investigate. We'll be back tonight after work."

"Okay." Danny really didn't feel like talking.

Mercifully, they left, and within moments he heard the front door slam shut.

Danny slid his head down to his elbows, fingers clutching his hair and rocked back and forth a little in despair. He no longer felt like crying, but the stress Bertrand had just put him through made him feel sick. He leapt off the bed and without thinking hit the wall across his bed with the side of his fist. A dry sob escaped him unintentionally, his face scrunched up with the pain of an ache inside of him, and he pounded the wall again, softer, softer.

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It was hours later when Dash came over and knocked on the front door of the Fenton residence. He waited for a moment, and the door swung open, revealing Danny.

Dash paused, momentarily taken aback by how bad the boy looked. His hair was a mess – well, messier than usual – his eyes were half-lidded and red, and there were bags under his eyes.

"You look terrible," he blurted.

"You woke me up," Danny replied dully, holding the door open for him. "Where's Kwan?"

"Parking the car," Dash turned to stare at his friend reversing and driving forward messily. "He's awful today. I asked him to drive over because I was too tired after practice, and I thought we were going to crash into a lamppost."

He shrugged. "I guess he's tired too."

Danny didn't say anything, just stepped aside and let Dash enter.

Dash hesitated when he looked at the shorter boy again. He hadn't planned on taking Kwan up on his suggestion of asking Danny to the party, but with the way he looked now, it didn't seem too bad an idea. He hated the thought of having Fenton over at one of his group's parties, but the boy looked as though he could use a fun night. He also looked as though it would be a good idea for Dash to keep an eye on him this weekend.

"Look, Fenton," Dash's brain told him that his voice was too harsh, so he tried to speak in a more tender tone, "there's a party this Saturday. At Paulina's." He hesitated again. "You should come."

Danny raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You're inviting me?"

"Yeah, so what if I am?" Dash couldn't keep the defensiveness out of his voice.

Danny looked instantly more cheerful. An invitation to one of the popular kids parties tended to have that effect on people, Dash smirked.

"Come," Dash sighed, mostly to let Danny know exactly what a burden this was for him. "You look like you could use it."

"Sure," Danny practically chirped. Dash glared.

"Don't get any ideas though."

"Oh, yeah, of course not," Danny raised his hands in surrender.

Kwan came up to them at that moment, so neither said anything else. He gave the keys back to Dash.

"I put the top up," he announced.

Dash frowned in confusion. "Why'd you bother?"

"I didn't want the interior to get wet," Kwan said in an almost nonchalant tone.

Danny and Dash gawked at him and hurried to peek outside, the door still ajar. The fire hydrant on the sidewalk had been hit, and was currently giving Dash's car a bath.

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Author's Note: Anyone know what's going on with the Stats section? My e-mail notification says that I got 3 reviews for the previous chapter, but the Stats section says there have only been 2. I'd appreciate any clarification.