A/N: So…yeah, I know this is quite a bit shorter than the other two, but…I'm updating? Besides, I kind-of wanted this to be a Sam-focused chapter. I'm sorry….please don't hate me for the shortness…Thanksgiving is coming up, and the place where I work is busiest that day, so I'm getting exhausted trying to answer the phone, take care of the guests in line, and then the phone will be ringing with another call while I'm talking with one…Never be crappy to the cashiers, people. Sometimes, we're a one-man army behind there! (Not only that, but our only purpose is to take your cash and put it in the system. We have no control or influence over other things in the store…)
Anyway, some review answering!
xXxDisillusionsxXx: I'm glad you like those three. :D Thank you!
Guest: PLEASE choose a nickname when you review. I mean this as politely as possible, but I have more than one "Guest", and picking a nickname or signing something makes it easier for me to communicate with you. I can't PM guests. I have to talk to you through A/Ns. Now for my response to the guest review with the P.S. about Dan. (See? Choosing a signature would make this SO much easier…) I may include Dan, I may not. You see, interesting thing about Dan from TUE is that he CANNOT exist without Plasmius. Anyway, thanks for your review!
GeekyZelda: Ashton will get a little more developed in the future. It's just that his interactions are very light in emotion because he's nervous and trying to make small-talk. It'll get better. :D
Hellbreaker: No one who knows Dani likes the "Destiny" part. It makes everyone grimace.
Chapter #3: Matricide
"What did I tell you?!"
"Things that look good in your head don't necessarily translate well into real life!"
"Changing a little bit of the basic tailoring is one thing," Sam growls, "But the colors are staying!"
"Black for a wedding?!" Pamela screeches, "Have you lost your mind?!"
"Black, silver, and green," Sam answers, "It's the color scheme we chose!"
"As if Daniel cares," the mother huffs, "The men never really care about the ceremony. They only care about what comes afterward!"
"I don't think that's relevant in this case," she retorts, "Considering the fact that we've been sharing a bed for a year and are still virgins!"
"Thank goodness," Jeremy mutters somewhere in the corner of the room.
"I can't believe that this whole time, you've been living in that tiny apartment…" Pamela mutters angrily, "The school included a dorm room with your scholarship…do you have any idea what it was like, trying to contact you? We tried calling the dorm, and they told us that you never moved in. Your phone was off, you didn't answer our e-mails…"
"Please," Sam snorts, "Dad had a pretty good idea the moment he heard that bit of news. He wasn't panicking!"
Jeremy chokes on his coffee, almost spilling it on his work documents. Pamela's icy glare swivels to him, and he clears his throat. ::Sammy, please try to avoid pulling her attention to me right now…::
"Oh, exposed by the…the…the telepath?" she hisses at her husband.
"Are you still freaking out over that?!" Sam sighs, "You learned about that over a year ago!"
"It's not something I should have to get used to! This wouldn't have happened if you," she points at Jeremy, "hadn't moved to this place!"
"Oh, don't even pretend you don't like Amity Park," Sam frowns, placing herself between the accusatory finger and her father, "You like that it's not as busy as New York – the gossip is better – and a lot of the families are wealthy. Not many of the kids here are downright thugs. Bullies, maybe, but not thugs."
"I'm not sure if those balance out…other things…" ::Ghosts, ghost hybrids, for goodness' sake!::
"Danny is a hero, Mom!" she shouts, "Not liking him because he's a ghost hybrid would be like telling me I can't marry a man in a wheelchair! You're discriminating against him for being in an accident!" Well…it was an accident the first time, anyway…
"Those are two entirely different things," Pamela frowns, "And that's not why I dislike him."
"It is," Sam frowns, "and you still think I'm marrying him to tick you off. If I really wanted to tick you off, I'd have run off with a hobo! Or a biker ten years older than I am with his sleeves tattooed on!"
"Look on the bright side, Pam," Jeremy mutters, "Danny doesn't have any tattoos."
"Well…" Sam shifts, "I wouldn't say he's completely free of ink…"
Jeremy raises an eyebrow at her sheepish grin.
"He has a NASA tat on his left shoulder-blade. The constellations for Aquarius and Leo are behind it," she explains with a smile, "The constellations were my idea."
"Ah," Jeremy returns to his files, "astrology?"
"Sun in Aquarius, Moon in Leo," she smiles, "It suits him."
::I'm surprised you didn't get a matching one,:: he thinks, hoping his daughter is paying attention.
I do, she wants to reply, somewhat. She thinks to the tattoo on her right shoulder-blade. A skull rests in the center of a spider-web, entangled in thorny roses. The constellations for Gemini and Aquarius are in the web.
"I didn't know you were into that crap," Pamela frowns.
"It's interesting," Sam shrugs, "I wouldn't say the stars exactly shape our destiny, but it's fun to know about."
The mother sighs, and looks back at the large sampling of dresses. Sam had seen them and immediately vetoed all.
Suddenly, Sam's face brightens, "Danny…" she breathes, "He's back in range!" She listens to something and sighs.
"What's up?" Jeremy inquires.
"Danny's helping out Danielle with some ghost trouble real quick. I doubt it'll take long. In fact…" she smiles rushing down the stairs. She flops to the couch, borrowing the remote from Ida, who doesn't protest as the young woman flips to the local news station.
"Welcome to Ghost Watch!" the anchorman grins, "Ladies and Gentlemen, do we have a surprise for you! While the fight started between Skulker and Destiny–"
Sam winces, "Sorry, Danielle. It was for your own good…"
"It seems that an old friend has come to end it. Good people of Amity Park, it seems that Phantom's come to visit!" he moves aside, and the camera zooms in on the shapes fighting above.
Danny smiles, his green eyes bright. He dodges a missile and a tendril of ice wraps around it, preventing the explosion. He kicks Skulker firmly in the head, loosening the hinges. With that, he forms an icy sword and slices it into the gap between Skulker's head and shoulders. With a quick twist of his wrist, the skeletal head is pried loose.
The body begins to fall, only to be caught with a green glow. It's lifted back up to the air as Danny's other hand glows, and claws form at his fingertips. They tear through the fabric between worlds and he throws Skulker, the armor, and the ice-encased missile through the portal. He dusts off his hands, finished, and vanishes from sight.
Sam smiles at the screen, "And he's all mine."
Ida laughs, "You've found a good one, Bubbeleh."
"I know," she grins dreamily.
::On my way, Sam,:: Danny grins in her mind, ::I just have to slip away with my bike without the reporters noticing…::
::Good luck with that,:: she smirks.
As though on cue, the anchorman is rushing to another street, "Well, look who's back in Amity!" he slings an arm around Danny's shoulders, as the young man tries to wheel his bike discreetly away.
"Hello," Danny shifts, "I…um…I'm kind of in a hurry…?"
"You're getting married to Samantha Manson, right?" he presses, "I remember that the engagement was pretty hot news."
"Lance, we're still on Ghost Watch–" a cameraman begins to argue, but he's interrupted by a dismissive wave.
"He's a Fenton. News about him counts, right?"
"I'm not sure about that…"
Sam watches, stifling her laughter, as the cameraman continues to argue with his superior. Danny slowly moves away in the background – until he gives the cameraman a subtle smile and thumbs-up, mouthing a 'thank you'. The man returns the thumbs-up, unseen by his partner.
Out of the camera's frame, she can hear his motorcycle start up, and the reporter's head whips around to the sound.
"Hey!"
The black bike slices through the screen, vanishing up the street. Lance runs after him for nearly a block before raising the microphone to his lips resignedly.
"Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, that's all for Ghost Watch today. Lance Thunder…reporting out."
-BREAK-
Danny pulls his motorcycle into the driveway and dismounts as quickly as he can. About three minutes ago, Sam's excitement and elation had been reduced to fury and murderous intent – if she killed Pamela, he'd have to help her hide the evidence.
He doesn't even knock, simply gliding through the door – removing his boots, because Pamela would have a fit if he so much as looked at her carpet with them – and stumbling up the stairs.
"I don't give a–" He can hear scream through the door, "–About what's traditional!"
He sweeps the door open, "Pushing the fiddler off of the roof?" he grins, throwing his arms around her shoulders and pecking her cheek. She relaxes a bit, leaning back against his chest.
"It's great to see you, Danny," she grins.
"Hello, Daniel," Pamela frowns icily, "You should've knocked. It's bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding."
His eyes scan the room, filled with white and cream dresses, "Well, none of these are the dress, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"How have you been, Danny?" Jeremy asks from his place in the corner of the room, "Want to sit down?"
"Only if Sam comes with," he grins, sweeping her from her feet. She yelps in surprise, and he sits in a chair opposite Jeremy, with Sam in his lap.
"You dork," she laughs, pressing her lips to his.
"Your dork," he clarifies.
Jeremy hides a smile behind his cup, "Pamela, maybe you should go rest. Have you eaten?"
She riles before suddenly calming, "No…if you'll excuse me, then."
The trio watches her leave, and Jeremy looses a long breath, "I figured she'd forgotten to eat. Sammykins…" he places his drink on the desk, "I know she's not listening. I know she's infuriating. Even though she disapproves of your marriage, she's still throwing all of her energy into the planning. Try to be patient with her?"
"I'll try," she answers sulkily.
"And while I say she disapproves of the match…" he begins, "It isn't about him, it's about her pride. She was wrong, and she hates it. She'll never admit it. I think she's…well, I would say approving, but…anyway, I don't think she actually hates you, Danny. She's just proud, stubborn, and…well, you know why high-school sweethearts hit such a cord with her."
"Her roommate," Sam whispers, "the one who committed suicide."
He nods, "It's one of the only times I've seen your mother cry. I could probably count them on my hands, and we've known each other for twenty-five years."
They sit in silence for a moment, before Jeremy clears his throat.
"So, Danny, what have you been up to?"
"Well, I'm working towards my degree in Criminal Justice," he begins.
"Work?"
"I work as an EMT," he answers, "but I bartend in the evenings for extra cash."
"I have to fight off the flirty patrons," Sam growls, "And my fellow waitresses don't seem to understand that he's mine."
"You aren't the only one who has to fight the drunks," Danny retorts, "I considered freezing the hand of that guy that decided it would be a good idea to slap your–"
"You should've seen the look on his face!" she laughs, "He felt this chill wash over the room, and turned to see you behind the bar, glaring at him. He dropped two-hundred on a eighty-dollar tab and scurried out as quickly as he could!"
"Good riddance," Jeremy frowns.
"At least the drunks tip well," she shrugs, "They'll easily run a tab over a hundred. By the time they're done, they don't have enough of their wits to work out a twenty-percent tip and usually just slap down a ton of cash and leave."
"They still need to respect boundaries," Danny growls, green swirling momentarily in his eyes. Red flickers at the edges.
Sam reaches up to pat his cheek, "There, there," she coos.
He bows his head to place his lips on hers, his bangs obscuring his eyes from Jeremy's view. They burn red.
"You're mine, you know," he rumbles quietly.
"I know," she smiles, pressing her lips to his again.
"Alright, I've eaten," Pamela declares, storming into the room, "Now, we're going to work out the dresses today even if it kills me!"
They sigh, Danny's eyes returning to blue, "Well, back to the battlefield?"
"And there might be a casualty."
A/N: We can go back to shorter chapters/more frequent updates, if you want. I'll see what the rest of you say. Just a quick note about something I'm not sure I'll have time to explain:
Now, we all know that Danny's obsession is "Heroism", right? I've established in the other books that the obsession has to be fed, but not too much. Too much either way could warp him like Vlad. The problem with Danny moving from Amity is a lack of ghosts to fight and lives to save. Therefore, he and Sam came up with a solution – Danny became an EMT. However, EMTs don't always get the best pay (I think it depends on the county or state…there isn't an international standard of pay…). Where I lived, they got $2 an hour ON CALL (being within 5 mins. Of the garage and listening to the radio) and then once something came in, they'd get normal minimum wage for the duration. They worked 12-hour shifts. I imagine Danny is on call for days he doesn't have class 6AM-6PM and then bartends in the evenings. Sam works as a waitress at the same place. I think I'll write a little oneshot about their college life.
That reminds me: To those of you who don't know, I've started a oneshot collection! Amity One-Shots! Just random ideas and probably some supplemental material like what I was talking about above.