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, we're doing this for your own good," Maddie said that night when Jack passed him the plate that he had just dried to be put away. Too busy glaring at his parents to pay attention, he blindly reached out to place the plate onto the rack it typically hung from only to completely miss it, causing it to shatter into a dozen different shards on the floor.
"Jack, switch," Maddie sighed. Usually she was wary about having her husband be in charge of putting away the dishes, him being the klutziest member of the family, but Danny was obviously in no mood to do the job properly tonight and she did not want to end up using paper plates for the rest of the week. Jack dutifully switched places with Danny, silently handing him the dishrag, and Danny moved to stand between the two of them.
Maddie tossed away the remains left on the next plate before soaking it under the tap and scrubbing it clean, then handed it to Danny who dried it sloppily before handing it to Jack. "It's not fair," he complained. "I can take care of myself. Wasn't I there when you installed the emergency system? Aren't you the ones who are always trying to get us involved in all this ghost-hunting stuff so we learn how to protect ourselves? Wasn't I the one to save you when those ghosts abducted all the parents into their ship?"
There was a crash as another plate ended up in pieces on the linoleum. "Oops," Jack said sheepishly. Maddie pulled a broom and a dustpan out of a nearby closet and quickly swept the shards up and deposited them into the garbage can. Danny took this as his cue to leave. "I am not going anywhere," he declared before marching upstairs. His parents didn't try to stop him.
In his room, Danny pressed his cellphone against his ear while peering out the window, once again watching the plain white van parked outside. Sam was currently on the other end of the line while Tucker was sending them both instant messages online as Danny's phone was unable to support three-way calls. "Just go down and get the cordless," Sam advised. "Tucker keeps complaining that you're ignoring his messages."
"I can't," Danny said, pulling the curtain back to stare at the scene outside again after having checked Tucker's messages. "My parents will try to talk me into leaving again, and I'm not sure I have what it takes to say no a second time." There was a pause when neither of them could think of anything to say. Danny heard the signature sound of his computer alerting him of a new message, but didn't bother to check it. The frown on his face deepened.
"I need to get in there," he said more to himself than to Sam.
"In where?" Sam questioned.
"The van. I need to see what those guys are up to," Danny clarified.
"You're gonna go ghost and sneak in?" she sounded excited at the prospect of such an adventure.
"It's the only way," Danny said resolutely. "I can't even begin to fight against them if I don't know what they might have on me. Who knows, maybe they don't have anything at all." He did not think this was very plausible, but he had been doing his best to keep a low profile, hadn't he? He hadn't changed into Danny Phantom since that disastrous conference with the media in the principal's office. Danny let the curtain fall and made his way to the computer finally taking a seat, determined not to look out that window again for the rest of the night. He clicked on the window containing Tucker's messages, cracking a smile as he read through his friend's rant about how hard he sucked right now.
Sorry, Tuck, he typed in. Got a little caught up with the whole government spying on my family right under our noses thing.
That's no excuse, the other boy replied. Man, this whomps bad. We are so sticking to three-way calls next time. Sam's not telling me anything, and I know you haven't been reading my messages.
Sorry, Danny typed in again.
Sam was still on the line. "So what's the plan?" she prompted.
"No plan yet," Danny informed. "I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out in my head. I'll let you know what I come up with at school – but it's going to happen tomorrow. I can't take another day of this."
They said their goodbyes and hung up and Danny filled Tucker in on what he and Sam had discussed before bidding goodbye to him as well and shutting his computer off.
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Danny got up extra-early the next morning specifically so that he could ensure not running into his parents in the kitchen getting ready for the day. With the extra time, he found himself at the Nasty Burger sipping on a medium-sized Coke, and taking in the night sky with sleepy eyes.
As summer started to approach, there would be longer days and fewer chances to watch the sun rise, but there were occasions the students of East High had woken up in the morning for school only to find that the moon and the stars were hanging on a bit longer than usual. Today, Danny had woken up early enough to catch a belated sunrise, and he had to admit, out of all the things that had happened in his life recently, this was the best distraction he'd had yet.
It was in this type of atmosphere, when being the only customer inside the diner offered a kind of silence and solitude, and the twinkling sky moved from black to a tint of dark blue brought on by the first signs of the oncoming sun offered a kind of peace that would not be achievable by anything else, that Danny felt the burden his wallowing brought him lift slightly off his shoulders enough to admit how scared he was for the future. Not in the whiny, pathetic way he had expressed to Dash yesterday in the car, but this truly, greatly terrorizing fear that drove any means of explaining how he felt to anyone out of his head.
He knew he should have been to see Mr. Connor sooner; he knew he should have been to see Mr. Connor more often; he knew he should have taken Mr. Connor's advice when it came. What had he been thinking, going out for an extracurricular this late in the school year? If he had just gone to gain permission to enter some clubs right after his first meeting with the guidance counselor, he could have at least played off the move as wanting to do something more constructive for his very last semester in high school.
Well, it didn't look like it was going to be his very last semester in high school. The way things were going, he was due to attend quite a few more terms in Casper High soon enough.
He buried his head in his hands. He still had a chance. That's what Lancer was trying to tell them yesterday, wasn't it? They all still had a chance. He wouldn't have told Danny to go home and study if he didn't think it was going to do him any good.
The exams were worth fifty percent of the final grade. It left quite a big margin, probably, Danny's lip quirked sardonically, to help out people like him, slackers who were at the end of their rope. All he needed to do was break into sixty percent for all of his classes and he would be allowed to graduate. Quite a bit of the marks had already been awarded; Danny didn't know how much he had scored so far, but it couldn't have been too bad – daily homework didn't really count for anything, it was mostly projects and presentations that carried points, and Danny had always done fairly well on those. He had had quite a bit of lectures from teachers over the course of the year telling him to straighten up and that he would have to work harder to get grades worth having, but all Danny cared about was avoiding an F, rather than achieving the As and Bs his teachers pressured him to – and anyway, he'd always had them on his case, even, and he had always fared out okay in the end; true, they were a bit more stern these days, but that was only because it was his senior year.
He groaned quietly. Most students resolved to make the most of their senior year, regardless of how they were doing academically. Him – he had been suffering from a fatal case of burnout syndrome ever since he was a sophomore. Once that idealistic veil he'd had as a freshman had been pulled away from his eyes, he had stopped caring about school. He did the work as best he could, but never put in the same amount of vigor he once did; had stopped trying to make new friends because he'd pretty much sealed his fate as a loser for good the previous year; had stopped actively pursuing girls, giving up on Paulina as being nothing more than an unreachable fantasy, calling Valerie for a few odd dates but never enough for either of them to do more than unofficially considering themselves an item, and had forgone the possibility of being something more to Sam for the comfortable position of remaining close friends; and now this stagnant pause he'd placed upon his life was being forced to move, and he was beginning to see that he hadn't done enough to help it along. High school was a cocoon, and instead of coming out a butterfly, confident and developed, he'd emerged an ugly green slug still.
If he worked now, he had the chance of attending Amity U at the very best. The thought always wanted to make him scream and cry and bang his fists like a spoilt child being denied a treat. He could not stay in Amity Park. He could not. If he did, the ghost part of him would consume his life. He'd made the promise to protect this city as best he could, that he was the one responsible for the ghosts in this town – but once high school ended, he was off-duty! It was not something he had really acknowledged, let alone expressed outwardly, but he had sort of been taking for granted the fact that he would go off to college, live in a town different from the one he'd grown up in, away from his parents, and live a normal life. It wasn't that he'd given himself a time limit and a clock to punch out with, really; it was more of the fact that he hadn't truly imagined his ghost half being a part of his future. In the back of his mind, he knew it would always be a part of him, and he hadn't really spent time on what would happen to Amity Park once he went off to live his own life elsewhere; the fact that ghost attacks had seemed to be slowing down before this whole fiasco with the Plasmius soul had started gave him even less reason to think of what would happen once he left town.
This was perhaps why he ha never given much thought to his future at all. All his life he had seen it as a something that lay indistant horizon; the thought of growing up and leaving home had always been something that he knew would happen, but not happen now. Adulthood had crept up on him and left him no time to prepare himself. He'd put off looking to his future so much because he hadn't wanted to see the glaring incongruity between the way he pictured his life and the way he was living it.
All he could do now was hope for the best. No – Mr. Lancer's words rang in his head. Study. It was his last hope, and he was going to make the best of it. There was still possibility of creating something better for himself. He raised his head away from his hands.
He had missed the sunrise.
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For what was probably only the second time of his life, Danny was in school early. He found a parking spot easily and was in class before the janitor had turned all the lights on. He spent the time mulling over his situation, breaking off his train of thought every once in a while to chastise himself for, even now, wasting time better used for studying.
Unexpectedly, Sam and Tucker were the next two students to enter the class. Danny stared at them with wide eyes, and they took the desks on either side of him when they caught sight of him. "Hey!" Sam chirped. Tucker grunted sourly.
"What are you guys doing here so early?" Danny asked.
"We couldn't really sleep, so I called Tucker and we decided to take an early morning stroll to school," Sam told him.
Tucker snorted. "Speak for yourself, lady. I was sleeping just fine until you woke me up and told me to come over to your place."
Sam didn't bother replying. She fixed Danny with a piercing stare and asked, "So, have you come up with anything yet? Tuck and I are ready to do whatever."
"Within reason," Tucker added nervously. "Um, this is the government we're dealing with, so let's try to keep the lawbreaking to a minimum?"
"Still no plans, guys," Danny admitted. "I've got a lot on my mind; I'm not really sure what we're dealing with here. I don't want to just go ghost and swoop in, but right now, that's all I've got."
"Then let's do it," Sam decided. "The most straightforward plan is always the best one. They can't keep track you if you're invisible and intangible."
Danny glared. "I'm pretty sure they've got things to alert them if that happens, Sam," he said sarcastically. "It'd be a pretty sad prospect if they're hunting ghosts and don't even ghost-proof their van, don't you think?"
"These are the Guys in White. They're goons. The first rime you ever got tangled up with them, you were at higher risk from your dad!"
"And they've been progressively growing meaner and deadlier ever since." Danny reminded them. "We're not fourteen anymore, Sam. We don't have the luxury of assuming we're one step ahead because we know more about ghosts than the government does. Since the Guys in White were recognized as a credible department, they've gained more money, more technology, more support, and more information on how ghosts – and their number one target – work.
"We can't just jump into this. There's too much to lose … and I've been losing quite a lot," Danny sighed. Sam and Tucker shared a curious glance at his dark tone.
Sam got to her feet. "Well, let us know if you come up with anything," she said somewhat hesitantly. "I'm going to see if they've started serving coffee in the cafeteria yet. See you later…"
And she and Tucker quickly exited the room. Danny returned to silent moping, not really caring that he'd been left alone.
The sun was properly up now and the school buses were pulling up, dropping off kids who had been signed on to the service. Mostly they were freshmen and sophomores, but also harbored juniors and seniors who did not possess a car or any other means of arriving to school aside from walking. The school began to come alive with the constant buzzing of the students faintly audible through the door and the windows of the classroom Danny was sitting in.
Paulina and two of her fellow cheerleaders who had found themselves on the prom committee sauntered in. Paulina raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at Danny as if questioning why he was in homeroom so early, but then turned her attention back to the other two girls excitedly offering to show her around the gym and point out how it was going to look for the prom to her. Paulina wasn't on the committee herself, not wanting to damage her chances of being elected Prom Queen but had friends in very high places, it appeared, that her influence on the event would still be felt anyway.
The group of girls set their books and tossed their leather bags that looked so small Danny hardly expected them to be able to hold more than a few items of makeup a regular handbag would rather than books, and strutted right out again to head to the gymnasium, the two satellites now chattering eagerly about color schemes.
Danny felt a plunge of sorrow. Could he have gotten on the prom committee? Might he have ever found that little reservoir of school spirit in him to make some sort of effort on planning a school event? He didn't even know if boys were allowed on the prom committee – that's how much effort he had taken with his high school career.
Soon enough the room began to fill-up with early-birds, then the teacher entered and after the morning bell rang the final few who had been lingering outside or cut it too close arriving to school that morning took their seats and roll call began.
Danny felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out, sparing a glance at the teacher, who was getting some of her marking done during the free time. They weren't allowed to use cellphones in school, but it was homeroom, and the teacher was pretty cool about it so long as one did not make the signs too obvious.
You wanna visit Kwan again after school? It was Dash.
Danny bit his lip. He did not want to distract himself from his mission, but it was obvious Dash wanted his company on these visits, and how could he say no considering he was the reason Kwan was stuck in a coma in the first place?
You got practice?
Yeah, Dash messaged back quickly. But we can go after.
I'll see you after then.
It was probably best to set a time limit anyway; he didn't think it would take him one and half hours to peek into the van and see what he was working against, but it still helped to know that he had other commitments right afterwards.
Since his chances of joining any after-school activity had been shot down, Danny didn't see any reason to hang around after the final bell rang at three. During lunch, he, Sam and Tucker had decided that they would drive back to the Fenton house, park around the corner rather than Danny's usual spot – Danny still wasn't too thrilled with the idea that the Guys in White had occupied the space right behind where he parked his car – so as not to arouse suspicion from the agents inside the vehicle, and Danny would then turn intangible with Sam and Tucker hanging on and together they would break into the van and investigate. Danny had tried to object to the other two's involvement, but they had been firm. He was not to do this by himself.
They didn't waste any time. As soon as school had let out for the day, the three friends jumped into Danny's car and set the plan in motion. Having two other people turn intangible required them to latch on to Danny, which meant that his hands would not be free to use during their escapade, so Sam and Tucker would have to act as his limbs.
FentonWorks was the last building of the block, so by parking in the corner, Danny could ensure that the Guys in White wouldn't see them coming. However, making his way to the parked van with Sam's and Tucker's hands in his own, he paused suddenly seeing something he didn't expect. A dark blue Mercedes came to an abrupt halt right in front of the Fenton residence; Danny tightened his grip on Sam's and Tucker's wrists, nodding at the new car. Quickly, he pulled them forward and they darted through the wall of the house to enter inside, and peeked out the window to see who this new arrival was. Letting go of his friends, Danny crouched down, not wanting to give away his position and crawled to the nearest window.
"Oh my God," he mumbled when he caught sight of the bright, flowing hair. Sam and Tucker joined him by the window, but he jumped to his feet and rushed to the door, flinging it open.
"Jazz!"
"Danny!" his sister cried, leaping to pull him into a bone-crushing hug.
"What – what are you—" he broke off when he caught sight of the man smiling gently at him behind his sister's frame. "Uh…?"
Jazz pulled away, glancing behind her before turning back to her brother. "Oh – Danny, this is my friend, Jasper Hedley – Jasper, my brother, Danny."
"It's nice to meet you," the man said politely, stepping forward and extending his arm for a handshake. Danny took it warily and let go soon after. He turned curious eyes on his sister, but she ushered him along to the car, forcing him to help with the bags. She traded hugs with Sam and the two girls went back inside chattering a mile a minute while Danny, Tucker and Jasper struggled with the massive amount of suitcases.
"So … who are you?" Danny grunted, attempting to pull the luggage along into the house.
"Oh, I'm a friend of Jazz's from college," Jasper replied, picking up what Danny's hands were too full to accommodate. "She invited me."
"I didn't know my sister was dating anybody," Danny replied.
"Oh, we're not dating," Jasper said easily. He closed the door behind Danny and himself, and then unexpectedly went to have peek through the drawn curtains.
They found Sam and Jazz in the kitchen stirring steaming cups of coffee. The door slammed shut and Tucker stormed in carrying one last suitcase in his arms which he set down none too gracefully. "Thanks for shutting the door on me, guys," he fumed.
"Oops," Danny snickered. He turned back to Jazz who was watching him with a strange glint in her eye. "What are you doing here?" he questioned. "I thought your semester didn't end for two weeks."
"I'm going to go back for my finals, but since I've handed in all my assignments, I thought I'd drop in for an early visit," Jazz answered.
"Yeah, you should have seen her," Jasper chuckled. "She was holed up in the library like a maniac for the past week getting them done. I had to sneak in lunch for her in fear that she'd starve herself in the process."
"I can't get anything done in my dorm with Blaire blasting that music all the time," Jazz complained. "Next semester, I'm getting an apartment; I've had it with that girl."
"So that's why you're here? To ask Mom and Dad for money?" Danny raised his eyebrows.
"Sort of," Jazz allowed. "I've already got a job lined up, so I'll have most of the money by fall; I just need to make sure that I can count on them to give me some in case I don't have the right amount by then."
"You know they will," Danny pulled up a chair. "Why else did you come?"
Jazz took a sip of hr coffee, somehow making it seem more dignified than Danny ever could. "Well," she began slowly, "I couldn't very well let the government investigate my family and not do anything about it, could I?"
Danny froze. "How did you know they were watching us?"
"I have my sources," Jazz said mysteriously. Danny's eyes automatically turned to catch Sam's, whose own eyes widened at the silent accusation.
"Oh, it's not either of these two," Jazz chided. "You should know by now they never tell me anything. I found out from Dash."
"Dash?" Danny yelped.
"Why would Dash tell you?" Tucker quirked his eyebrow.
"We've been keeping in contact ever since I tutored him a few years ago," Jazz informed. "I've been letting him know about Amity U because he's not sure where he intends to go."
Danny sat back in his seat in surprise. Why on earth would Dash still be talking to Jazz, especially about something like this? "Excuse me," he muttered, pulling out his cellphone.
"You've been talking to Jazz?" Danny roared as soon as Dash answered.
There was a pause on the other end, and then Dash replied uncertainly, "Danny?"
"Yes, it's Danny, you ignorant lumberjack!" Danny yelled, pacing the floor of his room. "Why the hell did you tell Jazz the government is spying on us?"
"I thought she would know!" Dash defended. "Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't told her yourself."
"Why would I tell her?" Danny snapped. "What could she do about it?"
"Jazz does a lot," Dash said off-handedly. "She started rattling off a list of what she was going to do to those guys as soon as she got her hands on them."
Danny pulled at his hair in frustration. "So?" His voice lowered. "Do you also tell her that you want to fuck her baby brother into the mattress?"
He could almost see Dash blushing. "Look," he said just as quietly, "it just slipped out, okay? I didn't realize none of you had clued her in."
"Well, she's here now, and I have no idea what she's going to do—"
"Then ask her! She's not going to lie to you."
"Ugh," Danny groaned, but knew that Dash was right. Jazz never made it a point to lie, especially not to him. "I can't talk to you right now. I'll call you later." He snapped the phone shut without saying goodbye then stalked back down to the kitchen. Sam, Tucker, Jazz and Jasper were waiting for him expectantly. Danny huffed and slipped back into his seat ungracefully.
"So what have you got planned?"
"I'm glad you asked," Jazz beamed. "Jasper here is a law student. He's going to help us."
Danny snorted, glancing at Jasper again, who was trying to make himself seem small. "What can he do that a real lawyer can't?"
"Real lawyers aren't going to touch you," Jazz pointed out. "From what I've gathered, the Guys in White came in with full orders to turn this in to a matter of national security, and they've got the mayor's permission to keep the family under surveillance. Jasper, however, isn't bound by the same laws practicing lawyers are, since he's still a student. He won't be able to bring this thing to court, but he can sure raise one hell of a ruckus."
Jasper beamed before catching Danny's dark look again.
"If he manages it, we'll have these guys off our tail, so you might as well live with it, Danny," Jazz scolded. "He's going to be staying here for the week, and it'll be a lot more pleasant if you learn to accommodate. We'll need all the help we can get swinging Mom and Dad – well, Mom anyway; I'm sure Dad will be all for it."
"Who's going to be persuaded to a law student?" Danny persisted.
"The same people who are persuaded by the common man," Jazz told him. "America is built on a history of protests and civil disobedience. I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think we stood a chance."
"Not to rain on your parade, Jazz, but this isn't the '70s," Sam reminded. "Sit-ins and picket lines died out a long time ago."
Jazz smiled confidently, raising the cup to her lips. "If that's what you think, Sam, you clearly have no idea what's going on in Washington."
They sat in silence after that. Jazz finished off her coffee, and said to Jasper, "Why don't you set up in Danny's room. You can have a shower; I know you always feel grubby after a road trip."
Danny's eyes widened and he gave Jazz a warning look, which she waved off. "Danny and Tucker will bring your bags up while you're bathing," she told Jasper. Jasper nodded and took his leave.
"Jazz!" Danny whined. "I've got a lot of important stuff in there. A lot of important stuff."
"Jasper won't snoop," Jazz said airily.
"He's studying to become a lawyer!" Danny cried indignantly.
Jazz rolled her eyes. "Jasper! My brother's being a paranoid freak; promise you won't snoop!"
"I won't snoop!" Jasper's voice called from upstairs. She turned to Danny as if that settled the matter. So, grumbling, Danny and Tucker were left to bring up his luggage.
"I don't trust this guy," Danny muttered to Tucker when were done. Sneaking a glance at the door to make sure Jasper wouldn't burst through any time soon, he turned his hand intangible to waver through the outside and rummaged through its contents. He felt nothing but the fabric of clothes and pulled it out feeling mildly disappointed. He did this again, rifling through the second bag.
"What kind of guy brings in two suitcases for a week-long stay?" Tucker snorted.
"I feel papers," Danny informed. "And more clothes." He pulled his hand out again turning it visible once more. "What do you think he might have on those?"
Tucker shrugged. "I doubt it could be anything incriminating. He doesn't even know you."
"I guess," Danny shrugged. "Come on – help me clear this place out of anything that might make him suspicious.
They hastily went through Danny's cabinets and drawers, drawing out various weapons and other incriminating paraphernalia Jasper might come across. Danny ordered Tucker to store the stuff temporarily in Jazz's room to be retrieved at a safer time. Tucker had only just ducked out when the bathroom door opened to reveal Jasper through a cloud of steam.
"Oh, that felt good," he expressed to Danny, running a hand through his wet hair.
Danny nodded distractedly, but was saved from having to answer when his cellphone started ringing.
"You ready?" Dash's voice sounded through the speaker. "I'll be at your place in five."
"Okay," Danny said quickly. "I'll see you when you get here."
He hung up and smiled apologetically at Jasper before making his way out. Sam and Tucker were waiting for him in the living room.
"We'll have to put this off for another day," he told them. "Dash is coming over to take me to the hospital."
"Why?" Sam questioned.
"We're visiting Kwan," Danny told her. "I kind of feel like it's my responsibility to. You can come if you want."
Tucker shrugged. "Beats hanging here when you're not going to be around."
So when Dash let out a loud beep, he was surprised to find Danny escorted by his two friends, but didn't question it. "Sam and Tucker wanted to say hi to Kwan," Danny told him anyway. Dash nodded stoically, and peeled away.
They didn't talk through the ride to Amity General. Danny was still angry at Dash for having been in contact with Jazz all this time, and couldn't help wondering what else the jock might have told her; did she know that they'd been hanging together because the school thought him certifiable? It would be the only reason she didn't seem surprised that Dash knew what was going on with their family. Dash apparently still thought he was in the right and that Danny had no reason for yelling at him for the intrusion. The tension in the car was palpable.
Once again they stood above Kwan's prone form on the bed. Dash looked the most grief-stricken out of the lot of them, but Sam and Tucker were obviously caught off-guard by how sobering the sight of their fallen fellow student would be, and Danny noted that their eyes held some genuine remorse for him too.
Inspired by a sudden idea that came to him, he turned to Dash and asked, "Hey, could you go get me some ice chips?"
Dash stared at him. Danny shrugged apologetically. "I need something to much on."
Dash lingered a moment longer, as if unsure whether or not to comply, but drifted off to find him a cup. Sam and Tucker gazed at him curiously.
"Watch the door," Danny instructed. "I'm only going to be a moment." With that, he turned himself intangible and dived headfirst into Kwan's body.
Inside the foreign body, Danny heard the dull throb of Kwan's heart and other organs working in unison. Kwan's eyes were closed so Danny found himself ensconced in darkness. The sounds from the outside world were present but muted, almost as they would be were he underwater; but he didn't sense anything unusual, no presence of a spirit as he thought he would find. Satisfied by his venture, he raised himself up to slip out of the other boy's body.
Sam and Tucker were still alone, and they raised their eyebrows to ask 'What was that about?'
"I was trying to find any sign of Tyrant," he answered. "There were none. I guess the ghost really has left." Unlike the time he and Tucker had shared Paulina's body from Tucker's brief career as a half-ghost, Danny felt nothing of a second ghost inhabiting the body.
The door swung open and Dash strode in with a cup filled to the brim with ice chips, which he shoved unceremoniously into Danny's hands. Thanking him with a small smile, Danny was about to reach in for one when another hand fell on top of his and clutched his wrist rather painfully. Shocked, Danny dropped the cup and turned to find Kwan's frightened and confused eyes staring back at him.
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Author's Note: Happy new year, everyone! May 2008 be a great year for all.
Thank you so much for all of your reviews in the past chapter, I'm glad to see so many were pleased with the outcome as I was. I've had half of this chapter written out since December, but decided against finishing it up and posting it during the few days transitioning between all our Christmas parties to New Year celebrations. A new year for new characters and introduction to one very beloved canon character. I'm quite pleased with how Jazz turned out; originally I had her involved with the plan to sneak in to the van parked outside the Fentons' home, but decided to save that for a later chapter to help with the flow of the story. Please leave your reviews, I'd love to read your thoughts on this chapter. Thank you.