12/10/24: Onto the next! There is a time jump here.

Officially more chapters than Taken! This chapter ended up longer than I expected.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

–

Chapter 31: Ambush

–

A month passed. Chase was now two and the twins were three and a half months old. Mira had been suspiciously quiet, other than Skulker's periodic reports of more ghosts going missing.

The entire pseudo family was still in Vlad's house. They were becoming a very tight knit group, and Danny was beginning to get along with Ki-oh without much animosity. It helped that the Korean man was extremely fond of children and had gotten creative with making obstacle courses and games for Chase to keep him from getting too bored. He'd bonded so well with the toddler that Chase now called him "Uncle Ki-Ki".

Sam had had two more seizures, but they were optimistic that they'd found the right dose of medication as she hadn't had a seizure in three weeks.

She was currently going around the house trying to track down Tucker. She rounded a corner and nearly bumped into Do-hee. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she said as she reached out to steady the small woman.

Do-hee smiled. "Mianhae," she said, a Korean word Sam had come to understand meant something along the lines of 'sorry for that'.

"No, it's completely my fault," Sam said. "Have you seen Tucker?"

"Yes! He is in the…how do you say? Ilgwang-yogsil?" She tried before clicking her tongue at herself. "The bright room with lots of windows."

"Oh, the sunroom!" Sam said, grinning when Do-hee nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you, Do-hee."

The short woman bowed and continued on her way. She was fairly good with English, but it was obvious Korean was her first language and she struggled some with remembering the English words for things. Sam didn't mind, however, as it presented an opportunity to learn Korean.

Sam made her way to the sunroom where she did indeed find her best friend along with his son. They were playing with a wooden train set, Chase giggling as the train went down a hill and rolled off the track.

"Oh no! Train derailment!" Tucker said in an overly excited way.

"Uh oh," Sam commented, leaning on the doorframe.

The pair looked up and Chase grinned. "Auntie!" he raced over and gave her a hug before going back to set up the train again.

"Hey Sam, how are you feeling?" Tucker asked as he waved.

She rolled her eyes. "Everyone needs to stop asking me that. Unless you see me shaking, I'm fine," she said dryly.

He shrugged. "Sorry, but you know, making sure loved ones are okay is kind of a human habit."

Sam sighed. She hated the attention and while she had explained that, he was right. It wouldn't shut off their worry.

"What are you doing this afternoon?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Catching up on a little work. They've been pretty lenient with my workload since I explained the situation, so I don't have a lot to do, but they do send me what little can be done remotely," he answered.

"Is it possible to shove it off another day?"

He took a deep breath, letting it out as he thought. "Probably. It's easy work."

"Awesome!" she said excitedly. "I have an idea and I need your help. How's your leatherworking and metalworking skills?"

Tucker gave her a look that clearly said he thought she was crazy. "You realize this isn't medieval times, right?"

She finally entered the room and sat down next to him, pulling a folded sheet of paper from her pocket. "I know, but I've been watching videos on it and I think it's doable. We just need a heat source strong enough to melt metal, and in case you haven't noticed, I'm that heat source." She opened the paper and spread it out on the floor in front of Tucker.

His brows reached his hairline. "You want to make this?" he asked.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Dude, you can't tell me this doesn't look badass!"

"I mean, sure," he said, then pointed to a specific part of her drawing. "But why do you need this?"

"Because I want to show Danny that there's more than one way to skin a pig."

Tucker raised a brow. "I don't think you'll be skinning a pig with this."

She rolled her eyes. "It means there's more than one way to do something. I think he'll love it," she replied.

"Okay, as long as it's Danny, because I don't think you're getting the rest of us to do this. None of us are that crazy…except maybe Jack," he said.

Sam chuckled. "I know it's going to take longer than an afternoon, but I figure we can at least get this one done," she pointed to the part they were just talking about, "and maybe have time left to at least roughly shape out the metal for some of the smaller pieces."

"I think you overestimate my non-existent skills," he commented.

She waved him off and folded the paper again. "There's so many videos on it; we'll be fine. I already bought all the tools we'll need." She stood and put the paper back in her pocket before pointing at her friend. "Do not breathe a word of this to anyone else."

He held his hands up. "I won't," he responded.

–

Later that night, Sam yawned as she made her way to her bedroom. She slowly opened the door to not wake Danny, but when she stepped in, she could easily see his bright green glowing eyes staring at her. It was a bit eerie in the dark.

"You don't normally come to bed this late," he said softly as she went around to her side of the bed.

"I was working on a project with Tucker," she replied, choosing not to lie even though she didn't want to tell Danny what it was just yet.

He sat up a bit and rubbed an eye. "Whatcha working on?" he asked sleepily before yawning.

She smiled gently, finding sleepy Danny to be adorable. "It's a surprise, so you'll have to wait." She sat down on her side of the bed, one leg folded in front and the other dangling off.

"Alright," he replied, trusting that she knew what she was doing. He sat up more and smiled at her.

"You should go back to sleep," she chuckled.

He shrugged. "I'm awake now."

Sam's look brightened. "Oh, if you're awake, you should finally try on those clothes I got you for Christmas," she said eagerly.

"Now?"

She nodded. He sighed, unable to deny the smile she was giving him. So he got up and went to the dresser, pulling the box out of a drawer and opening it. He took a pair of the jeans, one of the button down shirts, and a vest into the bathroom with him to change. He had no issues changing in front of her, but she seemed excited about this, so he wanted her to see it all at once.

He still couldn't understand why she bought these for him, as he was never a dressy person, but he was willing to try it to make her happy.

He slipped the jeans on, a dark blue pair that fit perfectly. He put the white button down shirt on next and tucked it into the jeans to give it a cleaner look and rolled the sleeves up just past his elbows, before finally putting the black dress vest on, buttoning it in the front. He completed the ensemble with a black belt he had hanging on a hook in the bathroom. When he looked up and saw himself in the full length mirror, he finally saw what Sam did.

She had an impeccable eye for choosing something that hugged him in all the right ways, subtly showing off his muscular build while still being modest and dressy. The sleeves of the shirt wrapped tightly around his biceps, and with the sleeves rolled up, he could show off his forearms as well. The shirt and vest fit snugly across his chest, making it obvious he had pecks, but the way they lay against his stomach hid the six pack there while still showing off how lean he was. When he turned in the mirror, he smirked at how the jeans hugged his butt but still fit loosely enough around his legs to be comfortable.

Even he had to admit that he looked damn good.

He tousled his hair to get rid of the bedhead before heading back to the bedroom, where he was met with a speechless and gawking fiance.

She ignored the look on his face as he grinned that knowing grin that said he knew he looked good and was enjoying how it was affecting her.

Sam's mouth went dry as she took him in. She suspected he'd look good in an outfit like this, but was shocked at just how well he pulled it off.

"I take it you want me to dress like this more often?" he asked.

"Yes, please," she squeaked before her face went red in embarrassment. She swallowed it down and finally looked in his eyes. "You can take it off now," she said with a hint of something in her eyes.

He grinned again. They hadn't been intimate since her return, mostly because Danny had wanted her to focus on recovery, but since she was physically well now and had been seizure free for three weeks…he could give her what she wanted.

Danny walked over to the bed before placing a hand on her chest and pushing her back, practically lying himself on top of her. "How about you take them off," he growled in that way that sent shivers down her spine.

–

A few days later, most of the group was in the living room after dinner. Sam and Do-hee were on the floor with all three infants, chatting and playing with the kids.

Jazz was chasing her son trying to get his clothes back on him after he'd pulled them off for the fifth time today. Tucker and Ki-oh were on the couch discussing computers and programming. As it turned out, even though Ki-oh had gone to school to be a doctor, he also had a passion for technology. He'd found a kindred spirit in the dark-skinned techno geek.

Vlad was in a chair reading a book and drinking tea. Bruce and Dash had gone off to play a game of pool in the game room, and Jack and Maddie had decided to follow them and either watch or play ping pong together.

Danny emerged from the bedroom he shared with Sam, all dressed up in his jeans, button down and vest. Jazz briefly stopped chasing her son to give him an appraisal. "Looking good, little brother," she commented. "What's the occasion?"

Her words caught the attention of Sam who immediately went beat red upon seeing the ghost. "I uh…" she started, jaw slack. "I'm g-gonna get some tea. Yup! Tea!" she said before promptly standing and going into the kitchen. Of course, it was an open concept so they could still see her…but she pretended otherwise because it was the only excuse she could come up with and she would be damned if they saw her back out now.

Danny jumped when Tucker spoke up next to him, having not noticed the man get up from the couch at all. "Ah, I see. It's for her, huh?" he asked.

The ghost wagged his brows at his friend before his sister made a choking sound. "Not something I wanna know about my brother!" she commented before she realized she couldn't see Chase.

"Alright, where'd the slippery little one go?"

"Behind the couch," Do-hee supplied, then they immediately heard a giggle from where she indicated.

Jazz went around the back of the couch before her eyes went wide. "It's bad enough you take your clothes off, but at least keep your diaper on!" she cried. Chase giggled again and ran out from behind the couch away from his mother.

Tucker missed grabbing his slippery son as well. So, Danny stepped in. He teleported in front of the boy, noting Do-hee's slight startle, and grabbed his nephew, who at first yelled in surprise but then giggled when he realized it was his uncle.

Danny handed him off to his waiting sister's arms before bowing respectfully to Do-hee. "I'm sorry," he started. "I didn't mean to startle you."

The small woman gave him a soft and shy smile. After a month, she was getting used to having two ghosts around constantly, especially as they were so kind and respectful to her, but it still jarred her a bit when they used their powers at all. That being said, Sam believed Do-hee was ready to know she was half ghost. Perhaps if she learned Sam was half ghost first, it would make finding out her own husband was as well go a little easier.

The goth finally came back out from the kitchen with some tea, but she pointedly did not look at Danny for the moment. "Danny, there's something I need to show you, but we'll need room, so we'll need to head outside of town."

The backyard was enormous and plenty big enough for what she intended, but they were still trying to keep their location a secret, so it was best to head away from town.

He nodded. "Alright, just let me know when you're ready to go," he responded, as they would need to teleport.

"Actually…I don't want to teleport both there and back. I want to teleport only as far as we need to go, and then I want to fly back," she said, finally meeting his eyes.

The ghost instantly looked nervous. "Sam, I'm not sure you're ready for that yet. It hasn't been a month since your last seizure."

She shrugged. "I won't fly high," she responded before looking down at Do-hee on the floor.

The Korean woman had been paying attention and it was clear Sam's statement made her confused.

The goth kneeled and gave Do-hee a gentle smile. "There's something you should know." Sam then summoned her wings, flaring them out just a bit so the woman could clearly see them.

To say she looked shocked was an understatement. Do-hee leaned back and away from Sam, simply staring at the wings that had suddenly appeared on her back.

"I'm so very sorry I kept this from you," Sam started. "But you were already so overwhelmed with Danny and Vlad that I didn't want to throw more at you. I am half ghost," she explained. "Which means I am half human as well. Think of it as I am human with ghost powers." The goth gave Do-hee a sympathetic and sad look. "Mianhae."

Do-hee's gaze switched between Sam's eyes as if searching for something. Finally, "You are a friend," she said. "Though I may still need some time to think, you are a friend."

The goth grinned at her, sending a brief glance to Ki-oh, who looked both surprised and pleased with the outcome. "Are you okay with watching the twins?" she asked.

Do-hee nodded enthusiastically. She loved the twins and had no problem watching them along with her own one month old daughter.

Sam bowed her head. "Gamsahabnida," she said, thanking the Asian woman.

The goth stood and went to Danny. "Ready?"

He held his hand out. "Whenever you are," he answered, taking her hand and allowing her to teleport them to where she wanted.

They appeared in a cloud of violet smoke in the same spot they'd been a month before. The memories made Danny frown, but he quickly hid it when Sam looked at him with a smile. She stepped away from him then, giving herself room.

"Tuck and I have been working on this the past few days," she said, having a hard time containing her excitement.

Her form lit up and she shifted, leaving her large dragon form in its wake. Danny's brows furrowed at what he saw until he realized what he was looking at.

Sam's head was covered in armor plating, the shiny metal covering the top of her head and her muzzle, curving down around her eyes to the back of her jawbone. It went partially up her two large ivory horns before ending in points. There were also decorative chains on her horns, the links jangling as she moved her head.

The armor then shifted towards the front, overlapping plates aligning perfectly with her neck and chest scales and allowing her full range of movement. They were held on by the occasional leather strap wrapped around her neck.

The front edges of her wings were covered in chain link and held on by metal wire that pierced through the membrane on the back side of the arm bones, allowing the chain link to wrap mostly around the bones for protection.

More armor plating started at the base of her tail and ran down the length of it, slits cut through to allow her tail fins to unfold when flying. The plates overlapped like those on her neck and chest to allow free movement.

Finally, Danny noticed the leather saddle on her back, handlebar-like hand holds sticking up on the front of it for the rider to hold onto, as well as stirrups for the legs.

"Dragon armor?" He asked.

She nodded. "It covers the most vulnerable parts in battle. It also looks pretty damn cool," she grinned, fangs gleaming against her black scales.

"That's actually not a bad idea," he replied, hand to chin in thought as he walked around her. "Any plans to expand it?"

"There's a few other pieces we made for my feet and back but they were too cumbersome. Their weight and the way they had to be designed made movement much more difficult."

"And the saddle?" He pointed to the leather seat on her back.

Her head swiveled around so she could look at the saddle with one eye. "That's for anyone who wants to ride into battle, but for now, it's for you," she answered.

"For me? But I can already fly," he said, floating up to needlessly demonstrate.

Her head turned back to him, large cat-like amethyst eyes gazing at him with mirth. "Ah, but can you?" She asked cryptically.

"What do you mean?" He was a bit nervous now.

She turned so that she could offer her back to him. "Trust me, you've never flown like this."

Danny shook his head. "I'm really not sure you should be flying."

The large dragon rolled her eyes. "Can't, shmant. I know what it feels like right before a seizure; I can shift back if I have to and you'll catch me."

"You're pretty confident in that," he said, eyeing the saddle on her back as he floated over to it.

She groaned, a noise that translated as a partial growl. "Just get on. It's not every day you get to ride your fiance," she quipped.

He paused and then waggled his eyebrows at her.

"That came out wrong," she said, embarrassed. She was sure her cheeks would've been bright red had she been in her human form.

Danny, against his better judgement, relented and settled himself on her back, placing his shoes into the stirrups and gripping the hand holds in front of him.

"Alright, ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he said.

"Good. Try to stay low to my back when diving or turning, other than that, just hold on!" she replied excitedly.

Sam crouched then, wings extending to their full length. Danny couldn't help but be impressed by her wingspan, especially as she lifted them high and they towered over him. With a leap off the ridge and a hard downward thrust, they were airborne.

The liftoff jarred the ghost a bit, something he wasn't quite expecting.

They sailed over the trees briefly, Sam making it look effortless despite her size. Her tail fins expanded and tilted and suddenly they were ascending sharply into the sky. She adjusted her wings so they came more forward, the leathery membranes scooping the air and driving it down for lift.

Danny yelped a little at the sudden change in motion, gripping the hand holds tighter and resisting the urge to activate his own flight.

They went higher and higher, the ghost getting nervous with how far the ground was in case Sam had a seizure. It seemed his fiance didn't care though, completely trusting in his ability to catch her if she fell.

Sam didn't stop, not even when they hit the clouds and it was impossible to see around them. The water vapor condensed on her obsidian scales and ran back along her neck in little rivulets. Finally, they broke through the clouds and the goth leveled out, spreading her wings wide and holding them there, the updrafts keeping them aloft. She held steady as Danny looked around them, a smile on his face at the colors the setting sun was projecting across the tops of the clouds.

"It's beautiful up here," he said, reaching up and patting her neck.

"I know you can fly this high any time you want, but this is a different way of flying," she explained. "You'll see when the real fun begins," she added ominously.

"That's not scary at all," he commented, before chuckling at her sarcastic evil laugh.

The pair enjoyed the company and companionship they found in each other, the ghost pointing out certain stars as it got dark enough for more and more to come out of hiding.

Sam was just about to point out the big dipper when her core registered not one, but several signatures. She knew instantly they were not friendly. It was only a moment later that Danny tapped her shoulder, signaling he felt it, too.

It was then that six half ghosts materialized from the clouds and took up position around her, surrounding them. She growled, her chest rumbling and vibrating the saddle, smoke seeping from her maw. All of them began to charge ecto-blasts in their hands in an attempt to hit her from all sides.

"Hold on!" she shouted, before folding her wings and diving. Danny gripped the saddle, trusting her to know what she was doing.

They plummeted through the clouds at breakneck speed, the ghost lowering himself until he was nearly laying on top of her. As they emerged from the dense cover, they could see a half ghost directly below them, eyes wide as he had not expected a dragon to come plunging down above his head.

Sam didn't give him time to retreat. She tilted one mostly closed wing up and one mostly closed wing down while expanding her tail fin and doing the same, sending them into a barrel roll. This confused the enemy, who realized too late that Sam's jaws were open.

The goth snatched him from the sky, biting down hard and hearing the man's bones shatter. He squeaked out a scream, but that's all he could do before she squeezed him too hard for him to draw breath. Blood sailed through the air behind them, Danny doing his best to stay out of the way of it. Once the man stopped struggling, she dropped him, fixing her wings and closing her tail fins to stop their spiral.

As they neared the ground, they heard the other half ghosts dropping out of the clouds, more, who had been under the clouds, joining them. Ecto-blasts started sailing past their heads, Sam doing her best to weave around them in their descent.

"Uh, Sam?!" Danny shouted when he realized how close the ground was getting.

The goth waited a moment longer before snapping her wings and tail fins open. Her wings filled with air and Danny slammed into her back as she pulled up hard. He felt the full strength of the g-forces on her back and his stomach momentarily rolled. Sam snarled, lips curling as her right wing smarted and shook from the effort.

"Get ready to send shots back at them," she warned as the enemies closed in on them.

She was heading straight for Amity, which wasn't exactly where she wanted to be in order to avoid collateral damage, but the enemy was driving her there, likely in a bid to force her to shift back among the narrow streets. 'Jokes on you, you bastards,' she thought.

"We can't avoid the city," she shouted over the wind. "You'll need to shoot at them and keep your head down for these turns."

"Got it!" he yelled back, holding on with one hand and charging a blast in the other. She thought she detected a hint of excitement and…was he having fun? She grinned, fangs gleaming. She supposed it was fun to fight with him this way.

She pumped her wings and just before they began passing over the lower buildings on the outskirts, she steadied their flight and yelled, "Now!"

Danny started firing back. Most of his shots went wide, but a few did hit, knocking several back and throwing one out of commission completely. "Yeah!" he cheered, a large grin on his face. "Whoa!" he said when the dragon beneath abruptly swerved to avoid getting hit themselves.

Sam was flying fast, the homes and shorter buildings beneath whizzing by in a blur. She could see the taller skyscrapers of downtown looming ahead of them and tried to gain height, but again the multitude of enemies above her drove her back down. Her lips curled in distaste. She needed to punch through them.

When it was clear she was going to have to navigate her way through the buildings, she called back to Danny, "You might want to fly on your own. It could get ugly up here."

He shook his head and yelled back, "Like hell! I'm not leaving you to go through them alone. Besides, this is too much fun!" He cackled, lowering himself back down over her neck to make them more streamlined for the sharp turns.

The goth rolled her eyes at his antics, then steeled herself for the pain she was likely to feel in her wing from the tight maneuvers.

An ecto-blast finally managed to land a hit, but it struck on the armored part of her tail, glancing off and doing no damage. "The armor was a really good idea!" Danny commented.

"As long as they hit the parts that have armor!" she replied, dodging a blast that would've hit her in her vulnerable side.

The ghost continued sending ecto and ice blasts of his own, thankfully having better aim than their enemies, though he still missed more often than not at these speeds and most of the ones he did hit didn't stay down for long.

The skyscrapers were almost upon them and Sam rolled her shoulders, tucking her front and back legs in to condense her profile. "If you're not getting off this ride, then you better hold on and you better not throw up on my back!" she warned.

Danny sent out one last round of ecto-blasts before planting himself flat on her back. He knew this was likely to be rough, but he was ready for the challenge.

Sam angled herself so they entered between two skyscrapers. Unfortunately, Amity's downtown district didn't follow a distinct street pattern like the bigger cities like Manhattan, so their straightaway didn't last long before she had to turn to avoid slamming into another tall building.

Sam tilted her left wing up and right wing down, mirroring the motion with her tail fins, while twisting her body and throwing her neck to the right. Danny tightened his grip on the hand holds when he felt his lower half slipping at the sudden and extremely tight turn. He felt his chest swell with pride at how well she was flying.

The sun was mostly set now, darkness overtaking the city streets. The appearance of a huge dark shadow over everyone's head elicited a lot of screams and car honks. The dimness was also making it more and more difficult to spot their enemies, but if they could get away from the lights, it would also be advantageous for Sam and Danny, as her obsidian scales would make them essentially disappear.

Ecto-blasts continued to rain down on them, the half ghosts not caring if they missed and possibly hit an innocent bystander. Sam roared then, the loud and deafening cacophony causing many to scramble off the streets and into the buildings for protection.

"Good thinking!" she heard Danny shout above the din of the wind. He then sent more of his own ice blasts back at them, hitting several in the smaller space. "Ha!"

"Another turn!" she warned.

He braced himself and this time she went left, eyes going wide when she realized it was an extremely short street. "Shit!" she yelled, trying to veer right. She wasn't quite fast enough.

When she realized they were likely going to skim the corner of the building, Sam pulled her legs forward, claws out. They slammed into the building at an angle, allowing her to essentially grab the building and then kick off. It was jarring, but not nearly as bad as she thought it might be. Bricks, glass and debris fell below.

It did make her realize that they couldn't keep going like this, especially as she spotted many of the half ghosts getting ahead of them in an attempt to keep them in this tighter section of the city.

Sam spotted the tallest building in Amity off to the left. It was nearly double the height of the others in the area meaning it had more air space around it, so long as she could get up above the other buildings in the area. This one had at least 80 floors, making it over a thousand feet tall. An idea began to form in her head and at the next turn, she went left to get closer.

"When I say so, you need to release a volley of blasts, as many as you can, okay?"

Danny patted her shoulder in acknowledgement and looked around them to get an idea on where the enemies were.

They neared the base of the building and she tucked her legs back in. "Now!"

Danny started releasing as many ice and ecto-blasts as he could, pushing back the closest half ghosts. He just barely ducked to avoid getting hit himself, but he heard Sam growl when she took a shot in the hip.

Right at the base of the building, Sam veered right, before tilting her tail fins and gaining height. Now she went left and up, circling the building as they ascended. As they neared the top of the smaller buildings around them, several enemies tried to block their path, but Sam blew smoke, creating a large smoke screen that not only hid her and Danny, but covered the enemies and obscured their vision. Danny squinted as the smoke burned his eyes.

She closed her maw and when they emerged from the smoke, there was no sign of any of the half ghosts. Sam reached the top of the building before startling Danny by suddenly pulling up, spreading her wings wide and completely halting their skyward ascent. They began to fall backwards before she flipped them over, pulling her wings and tucking them close.

Sam used her tail fins to guide them in a downward spiral around the building. As they descended, she spotted five enemies in a cluster, all looking around to try and spot the dragon in the darkness above the city lights.

Danny and Sam plummeted like an angry black bullet, her fireball whistling as it coalesced within her fire bladder. Danny heard the whistling from Sam's chest before the half ghosts did. By the time they finally looked up, it was too late.

Sam released the fireball, the sonic boom shattering many of the windows in the tall building. It took a second to reach its goal before it exploded, killing all five of the half ghosts. As Sam and Danny flew through the cloud of smoke and fire left behind, the goth could hear Danny's shout. "Yahoo!" he yelled with his fists in the air.

As much as Sam didn't want to rain on his parade, she needed him focused. "Celebrate after they're all dead!"

"Right!" He said, cheeks green. She had been right: flying like this was far different than flying as a ghost. While he could feel the wind as a ghost, it didn't actually create any resistance against him. He didn't feel the twists and turns and g-forces like he did in the saddle on her back. It was a whole new way of flying, and one he was falling in love with. It was like being a fighter pilot.

By Sam's calculations they had another five left if you removed the five she just took out, the first one she killed, and the one Danny dispatched with his blasts. She tilted her wings, once again gaining height.

Then she felt it. 'Not now!' she screamed in her head, but there was no stopping it. She flared her core as a warning to Danny before she was forced to shift.

She started seizing the moment she shifted. Danny's own flight skills took over and he dove for her, catching her and maneuvering her until she was bridal style in his arms.

He saw the remaining enemies from the corner of his eye and he knew he wouldn't be able to fight them with her in his arms, so he flared his own core.

Vlad suddenly appeared, but he was a blur as he didn't realize Danny was flying as fast as he could. After a moment, the billionaire caught up. "Is she okay?"

"She's coming out of a seizure," Danny explained. "But we've got company!" He indicated with his head behind them.

Vlad looked back and saw the enemies, brow drawing down in anger. "Get her home," he told Danny. "I'll hold them here."

The young ghost nodded before teleporting away. They could have easily handled them if Sam hadn't gone down, but with her now incoherent, there was no way he was going to risk her life to stay and take them out.

He appeared in the living room in a cloud of smoke, startling those in the room, who happened to be Tucker, Jack and Maddie.

"Is she okay?" Tucker asked as soon as he realized she was limp in Danny's arms. He rushed over to give her the once over.

"We were ambushed," Danny explained briefly.

"Ambushed?" Maddie asked as Jack went to find Dr. Tanning and Ki-oh.

The ghost carefully carried her to their room. Tucker pulled back the covers and helped situate her comfortably. "There were twelve half ghosts that ambushed us. We were holding our own, and Sam–man she was incredible," he said. "She took out six of them by herself before she seized. I only managed one."

Maddie grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and wet it before heading to the bed and dabbing the young woman's face with it.

"Where are the twins?" Danny asked.

"They're with Do-hee and Jazz in the theater room," Tucker responded.

Before more could be said, DJ came running in, followed by a quickly walking Bruce and worried Ki-oh. The young Korean man had become an assistant of sorts to the doctor.

"What happened?" Bruce asked as he went to the side of the bed and started checking her vitals.

Danny explained the ambush to them, and though he was obviously worried, they could all see the pride in his eyes as he described their flight and the way Sam fought.

The doctor pulled back. "That's quite the adventure; no wonder she seized. It was probably a lot of stress on her. We'll still need to up her dose a little to compensate for unexpected situations like this, but overall she seems okay."

Ki-oh and Danny then gently shifted the goth to her side, before covering up any areas they didn't want to expose and carefully revealing her hip where she'd been hit. Ki-oh inspected it before nodding and giving the ghost a reassuring look. "It's not a bad hit at all. We'll clean it to avoid infection, but it should heal very quickly."

Danny smiled softly. "Thank you both. Now that I know she's okay, I need to get back and help Vlad." He helped settle Sam back in the bed before teleporting away.

–

12/13/2024: I…did NOT plan for this chapter to be this long. There wasn't even supposed to be an ambush at all…but the idea hit me as they were above the clouds and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity for them to fight together in this way.