Sorry it's been so long guys! (This is the third time I've written this intro...) I have a break between classes and I'm gonna try to get some more written while I can. No promises on a lot coming out soon but I'm gonna try my best. Sorry for the horrible wait times. Enjoy the next installment of To Be Lost!

Chapter 17 (Tucker's POV)

Valerie and I walk quickly to the main living room, talking quietly about Sam and her crush.

"Do you think they'll admit it soon?" Valerie laughs until she sees the worried look on my face. "What's wrong?" The worry in her voice makes me smile a bit, before I remember what my train of thought led me to.

"I have a feeling that Sam will try to never admit how she feels about Cheyenne. And even if she does, she'll insist it doesn't mean anything. Maybe someday, if Cheyenne becomes really strong and able to fight on our level she will. But, I think she holds a lot of guilt about getting Cheyenne involved in this to begin with. She may not show it, but did you see the look on her face when Chey got hurt? She was terrified-"

"Really? I didn't think Sam was afraid of anything…"

"You don't know her as well as we do. The thing between her and Danny didn't work out because she knew he could die any minute because of our jobs. She really likes Cheyenne, and I can tell she's terrified she's going to lose her because of our lifestyle. It may not seem like it sometimes, but Sam has a big heart, and because of it it's hard for her not just to get involved with someone, but to accept how she feels about people."

"That's so sad…"

"That's how we live Val. Any day any one of us could die. There isn't any glamour or glory in this job. We do it because someone has to. All three of us have been near death before. It's… it can be terrifying…" I look towards her when she stays silent, asking a silent question with my eyes. What she asks is entirely unexpected, and my eyes widen before I try to cover my surprise with a laugh.

"Is that why you won't ask me out?" My laugh dies down quickly, and I pull a sad smile before looking back at her. I don't need to give her an answer, I can tell she already knows what I'm thinking. When I look back down I realize we've been standing in the middle of the hallway as we talked.

"Come on, we better go get Danny so we can plan for the trip a bit." She looks around for the first time before nodding. I take her hand as we head to the living room, her surprise is evident when she stiffens. I smile lightly when she relaxes into the touch, squeezing my hand back before allowing me to escort her to the living room. Upon entering the living room I see Danny sitting on the couch with his head resting in his hands. Quickly letting go of Valerie's hand I run over to my friend.

"Danny? What's wrong? What did you find out?" My barrage of questions dies down when he looks up at me. "Are you okay…?"

"Tuck…" His voice is hoarse and soft. He's scared. Immediately I move to wrap him in a hug. Valerie comes over and puts her hand on my shoulder, silently asking me what's going on. I look at her with a worried expression and shake my head before focusing back on my friend.

"Danny, talk to me, we'll figure this out, okay man?" Danny takes a deep breath before putting his head back resting against the couch.

"There are only three people who could be responsible for the recent attacks on the far frozen… There are only three people who my rule as king doesn't affect. I told you the other day that the ecto signature of the ghost I sensed disappeared. No ghosts I rule over can hide their signature from me. Except for clockwork that is. The only other ghost signatures that I don't have one hundred percent access to are ghosts that are unnaturally created, and ghosts out of time... Tuck…" I suck in a breath at the implications of his words.

"You're saying… it could be Him…?" Danny's nod had my head spinning. I realized a second too late that Valerie wouldn't know who we're talking about.

"Who's him?" Her voice was full of worry and confusion. I pull her down towards me so I can whisper in her ear, when Danny's voice cuts in.

"He is an abomination, a future I destroyed, and the most dangerous person in existence. He is me, or what I could've been…" Valerie looked at me with a confused squint.

"I'll explain it later." My whisper was quiet enough she could barely hear me, but she nodded and looked back at Danny in concern. I noticed the sound of footsteps on the stairs to our right and put a hand on Danny's shoulder to warn him, knowing he was too in his head to notice himself.

"Danny! What happened? Is everything okay?" Danny turns slowly to see Sam walking up to us. "Oh no… Danny… What happened?" Sam looks to me for an explanation, but before I can speak Danny answers her question.

"The worst thing that possibly could."

"We don't know that. There is another possibility. We have to hope it isn't Him"

"Him…? You mean…?"

"Yeah Sam, Dan. He's one of the three people that could be responsible for the attacks on the far frozen." She looks back and forth between my worried face and Danny's before speaking again.

"One of three… so what are the other two?"

"One is clockwork-"

"No way-"

"Probably not, you're right."

"And the other?" Sam once again looks to Danny for the answer.

"The other is Freakshow. An unnaturally created ghost." Danny is still sitting with his head resting against the back of the couch, eyes closed and breathing deeply. I can tell he's struggling to fight off a panic attack, something he hasn't had for a couple years now. From the corner of my eye I see Sam whispering something to Cheyenne before walking over to wrap Danny in a hug.

"We're gonna figure this out Danny, it's okay." I gesture to Cheyenne and Valerie to sit on the couch across from us. I can tell that they're worried, but now isn't the time to explain everything. I see Valerie whisper something to Cheyenne, which causes her eyes to widen before looking back at Danny. I nod at her as a thank you, Val nodding back in understanding.

"What are the parameters for why it can only be those three people?" Sam asks suddenly. I can feel my eyes getting wide at the implications of her words.

"You're right Sam! The reason it can only be those three ghosts is because Danny lost track of the ecto signature of the ghost responsible! Meaning it can only be someone who is not a part of the Ghost King's rule."

"Which left us with clockwork, Freakshow, and Dan right?"

"Exactly! It has to be either a ghost unnaturally created, or a ghost out of time." Danny's eyes widen as he finally understands what we're thinking.

"Meaning it could be a ghost that stole one of clockwork's Time Medallions!" Danny jumps to a sitting position at his exclamation. Finally looking like he's not about to have a panic attack.

"What else do we know about this ghost? There might be a hint about who it is in what's happened so far."

Danny looks thoughtful when he answers, "I don't think we should talk about this here, I don't want anyone overhearing right now. You never know who might be listening in."

Sam frowns a bit and I know exactly what she's thinking, dreading the words about to come out of her mouth.

"Even though there's a possibility it's not Him, it would be naive to not consider it as possible. We need to take precautions for ALL the possibilities, or we'll end up unprepared." Danny's excitement at the prospect of it being someone else dimmed at her words, a serious expression coming over his face.

"You're right, Sam. It would be unwise to not consider all possibilities just because we don't want them to be the truth. Okay, we need to figure out who it is for certain, I'm almost positive it's not clockwork, so I'll go tomorrow to see him. I can ask for any information he may have regarding the time medallions, as well as anything he might know about the Far Frozen, and for the status of the Thermos keeping Him contained. For now we don't know enough to come up with a proper game plan. I think it would be best if we all continue training and getting stronger, we need to be ready for any eventuality." Sam and I smile at our leader, glad to see him once again the level headed man we look up to. I pat Danny's back and gesture subtly towards Valerie and Cheyenne.

"I think we owe them an explanation. No matter what the outcome may be, we need everyone's help for this." Danny nods seriously, looking over to the two girls before standing up. He gestures at me and Sam before turning back to look at the other couch.

"Okay, we need to talk. Come with me guys, we have a meeting room that's safeguarded against anyone who might want to spy on us. We'll talk there." Quickly standing up I walk over to Valerie as Sam heads to Cheyenne's side.

"Is this that important…?" Valerie whispers to me. I give her a grave look, wishing she wasn't involved in something so dangerous.

"Yeah. It is." Her look of fear is something I don't think I'll ever be able to forget. I look back to my friend as he leads us to the bottom floor of the castle. I guess it's good we installed a war room after all...

Who doesn't love a war room? Hope you all enjoyed! See you next time!