2/3/25: Hi! At some point we're going to start seeing larger timeskips. This isn't one, but they will be coming up.

In other news…I've had a degenerative condition since I was 8 causing me to go blind. I got news today that it's gone. GONE. I went to the eye doc cuz vision is blurry again and figured I needed yet another prescription increase (I do about every 8 months), but NO. My vision is blurry because I need to LOWER my prescription. I'm so excited! I'll get to see my son grow up!

WARNING: I do NOT write lemons. That said, this chapter is a strong rated T as things get a little heavier than I usually do. But there's nothing explicit.

The song is "Dangerous Woman" by Ariana Grande. I normally hate this kind of music, and while I acknowledge that she has an amazing voice, I just tend to hate this genre. But when looking for an appropriate song, this popped up and seemed to fit.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

–

Chapter 55: Going Sideways

–

Two days later…

Telling PFC Marie Beckett's parents of her passing had been one of the hardest things Danny had ever done. They had initially been surprised and then excited to see him, until they realized the kind of news he brought with him.

He told them that she died saving his life and would be receiving the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously. He didn't expect to sit there for over an hour talking with them about Marie–her life, the kind of person she was, her hopes and dreams–but he did. It felt good to learn more about her, even if it did deepen his guilt.

Her parents didn't blame him at all and then insisted he go see her room. They took him there and the ghost could feel the tears brimming his eyes as his gaze scanned across all the posters on her wall.

She had several posters of women in the Marines–something she'd wanted to do since she was little because her father was a veteran. But the rest were of him–Danny Phantom posters that had been made when he was a teen fighting the ghosts around town. He was apparently her idol; not only because she felt he was a hero, but also because she strived to be as kind as he was–something she said she could see in the way he'd interact with citizens during and after a ghost attack.

Her parents told Danny that she'd called the week before when she found out he was going to be her superior officer. She was so excited to be working alongside her hero and had spent the better part of an hour gushing about it to her parents. That…that had made Danny cry.

He felt pathetic. Here he was, this strong and powerful ghost, reduced to a weeping mess.

When he got back to base, he'd gone to the morgue and cried some more as he stood over her body. It didn't go unnoticed, but he didn't care.

Now he and Sam were at the firing range so he could practice with his ecto-blasts. There was a wooden, ranch-style fence that ran the length of the range that Sam was perched on as she watched him.

Danny was getting extremely frustrated with himself, especially as he missed again. "I can't hit the broadside of a f*ing building," he snapped, eyes flaring.

Sam couldn't really blame him for getting angry about it. His shots were pretty dismal, but not because of his depth perception. His emotions were running haywire from their first mission and he hadn't been sleeping and hardly eating.

"Yes, you can," she assured him. "You're normally much more accurate than this, but you're tired and strung out. You need to sleep and then come back and try it."

He sighed and started pacing back and forth, trench coat billowing at each turn.

"You're making me dizzy, Captain," Sheppard said as he walked over.

Sam smiled a greeting while Danny stopped at attention and saluted. The goth still felt like it was weird seeing him do that.

John returned the gesture with a smile. "Target practice?"

"If you want to call it that," the ghost grumbled.

"You just need to try and relax. Take some deep breaths and try again," Sam encouraged.

Danny let a look of annoyance cross his face before turning back to the targets and breathing deeply several times. After a moment, he aimed, hesitating at first before finally summoning a blast and letting it go. It sailed past just to the right of the target. "Damnit," he growled.

"Not to sound rude, but you're known for your accuracy, aren't you?" John asked curiously, arms crossed.

Danny sighed. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Sheppard," he started before pointing to the scar on his face. "This scar isn't just there for decoration. It also made me blind in that eye. My depth perception really doesn't exist anymore," he finished, voice full of self-loathing.

The Lt. Col. shrugged. "So? I've seen sharpshooters with one eye. You'll be able to compensate, I have no doubt."

Sam was stunned at John's bluntness and she could tell Danny was as well, but it seemed to spark something in him. He suddenly looked back at the targets and she could see the wheels turning in his head as he began to think of new ways to approach it.

"By the way, did you guys ever figure out what happened with the shield during the mission?" John asked, his gaze flicking between the pair.

"No," Sam answered with a light shrug. "We can't seem to replicate it."

"She definitely passed some of her power into me, we just aren't sure how," Danny elaborated as he pulled his attention away from the targets and back to Sam and John.

"Maybe you're going about it wrong," Shade said.

Danny instantly recognized that it was Shade, but John was confused by the way she said "you're".

"How so?" the ghost asked.

"We had this feeling before, right? When we touched your core and you touched ours? Didn't that feel similar?" she asked with a raised brow.

"We?" John inquired, lost.

"But she wasn't touching my core," Danny replied to Shade's question. "Sam was touching my arm."

"But that is Sam."

Shade nodded. "Yeah, but that rush was familiar. I think you guys need to connect your cores again and get that feeling fresh in your mind, and then try it again," she suggested.

Finally, John couldn't take being ignored any longer. "But you are Sam," he practically barked.

"Technically, I'm Shade," she answered.

Then her look changed to one of extreme annoyance. "Damnit, Shade, shut up!"

John's eyes widened before he looked at Danny for help. "What the hell is happening?"

"Welcome to my world, Colonel. There are technically two women in that little body," he said before gracefully ducking the rock thrown his way by his fiance.

"Do I even want to know?" the poor man asked.

Sam sighed and brought her hands up so she could rub her temples. She then explained all about Shade, causing John to look mildly horrified. "How do you not go insane with two of you in your head?"

"It helps when you're already insane," she responded nonchalantly with a shrug.

Sheppard looked at Danny again, this time with a look that said he was shocked and mildly disturbed. "My God, you have your hands full."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Shade may actually be onto something," he said, ignoring John's comment. He walked over to Sam, clenching his jaw. "You ready?"

The goth hopped down from the fence and dusted off her hands and fingerless gloves before nodding. "Let's do this."

Danny reached out and placed his palm on her chest, taking a sharp intake of breath when he felt the energy rush from him to her.

Sam's eyes grew brighter from the influx of power, a green reflection from his energy rippling within them like water. She brought her hand up and placed it over Danny's core, completing the circuit. Both gasped as it felt like energy slamming into them.

The effect was visible to John, as their eyes grew brighter, and even their very aura's glowed intensely.

Finally, Danny pulled his hand away, Sam doing the same. "Damn, that's…" the ghost started but didn't finish.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, holding her head. Her fiance reached out and steadied her as she swayed.

"If it's going to be that intense during a fight, I'm not sure it's a good idea," he commented.

"What was that?" John asked, brows furrowed, but intrigued.

"Not exactly sure," Sam answered, giving Danny a smile of appreciation for keeping her upright. "But there's this surge of power that seems to bounce between us when we do that. And Shade is right, the feeling is pretty much the same as it was when I helped with the shield. It wasn't as intense then, though, so I think it's still worth a shot."

Danny nodded and his gaze went to the targets. Without looking down, he extended his hand and Sam took it. He brought his free hand up and aimed before nodding to the goth.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the feeling they just had–on the way the ripples of energy felt as they passed from her to him and back. She imagined the way it had tingled, the way it sparked behind her eyes and left her breathless.

Nothing.

She growled low, annoyed. Finally, she took that feeling and shoved it at him, pulling air through her teeth when her core roared to life and inundated Danny with hot, violet energy.

The ghost wasn't expecting it and the energy ended up coalescing nearly instantly and then shot off. It was a blast at least twice the size of the one he'd been trying to form himself, and it was a swirling ball of both green and purple energy. It missed the target and hit the hill behind it, imploding and sending dirt, grass and rocks flying in every direction.

They stared in shocked silence. Finally, "Well that's a neat trick," John said.

"Still can't hit shit, though," Danny scowled.

"I want to do it again."

The ghost looked over at his fiance and noticed the dangerous glint in her eyes. "Let's not get trigger happy on this just yet, Shade," he said.

She raised a brow, glancing at him. "Why not? You need practice and that was fun as hell."

He sighed, annoyed and slightly offended at her comment, but she was right on both counts. "Alright, let's try a few more times and at least see if we can control the flow of power."

They spent the next ten minutes getting used to the exchange of energy and getting better at controlling it. They even practiced with Danny being the one to send Sam energy so they could do it both ways. They were able to control the size of the blast and even the composition, whether it was pure ecto-plasmic energy or some combination of that, ice and/or fire, creating some pretty unique looking projectiles. Sam was hitting with precision. Danny, however, was still struggling.

After the sixth missed shot, John stepped in. "If I may, would you like some advice?" he asked.

Danny sighed. "Sure, why not? It's not like my aim could get any worse."

"Was your right eye dominant? Is it the one you typically used to aim with before?" At the ghost's nod he continued. "And your right arm is dominant because that's what you're using to shoot with. I think some of the problem is your dominant eye has changed to the left one but you're still shooting with your right hand. You tend to have better aim when using the arm that's on the same side as your dominant eye."

Danny looked down at his left hand as if seeing it for the first time, brow furrowed in thought. "I used to be able to shoot accurately with both hands."

John nodded. "That comes with practice. You'll probably be able to do it again, but you should start by actually hitting the target first."

Sam saw the annoyed look that crossed the ghost's face and she turned, raising a brow at John. "Are you trying to piss him off?" she asked, not unkindly.

The man shrugged. "No, but I am a bit of a smart ass, so it might happen occasionally."

Danny shook his head, the corner of his mouth lifting in a small smirk. "I'm not sure that's really fair. I can't exactly be one back to you, considering you're my superior officer and all," he commented, gaze finally landing on Sheppard.

John simply grinned.

The pair went back to facing the target and this time Danny lifted his left hand. Sam placed hers on his back and started channeling her energy to him. He aimed carefully, lining his hand up with his eye and forming a blast of green and violet, surrounded by a thin layer of ice. He let it go and stared in amazement when it hit the target. Granted, it was way off center and at the very edge of the target, but he'd hit it.

"Is it really that simple?" Danny asked, starting to get excited.

John chuckled. "Not really, but it's a start. Happy practicing!" he called as he turned and left.

–

That night, Sam and Danny were able to enjoy a dinner at home for the first time in over a week. They were absolutely thrilled to get the family time and so was everyone else, including the dog.

They were sitting down around the table with a meal of homemade pizza made by Vlad. The man was actually quite good at making pizza, especially as the house had a pizza oven.

Danny and Sam had just gotten finished with telling them of their discovery today and how the ghost's aim was improving.

The goth reached down and gently patted DJ, who was desperately begging for food. "How are the new inventions coming?" she asked, changing the subject away from them.

"Good!" Maddie replied, bouncing Se-ri in one arm while eating with the other. "Jack and Vlad chip in when they can around the evacuations and we're making steady progress. That anti-ghost serum has helped diversify what we can develop," she explained. "We've sent two more prototypes to General Hammond, both guns the Marines can use at a distance, one with more traditional bullets and the other is similar to a grenade launcher."

"That sounds wicked," Shade commented.

"Of course you'd love the idea of a grenade launcher," Tucker said with a chuckle.

"Who doesn't?" she quipped with a grin.

"What about the evacuations?" Danny asked when he was done shaking his head at the goth. He was pulling off small pieces of crust and pepperoni and putting them on the high chair trays for Jackson and Aurora, who were happily gobbling them up.

"Slower than we'd like," Jack answered his son. "So many citizens are scared because of the retaliation. Many of them have family in other parts of town and they're afraid the Hybrids will kill them if they escape."

"But we have had several successful missions, which is starting to make people more bold," Vlad added. "Interest is certainly going up."

"Good," Danny responded. "I have a bad feeling things are going to get much worse and we need as many innocents out of the city as possible before then."

"Believe it or not, Dash has been instrumental in this," Jack said, giving the blonde man a grin.

Dash blushed. "Not really."

"Of course you have, young man," Vlad backed Jack up. "You're very personable and your gentle nature has won over far more of them than we have."

Meanwhile, DJ was sneaking over towards the high chairs.

The former jock cleared his throat. "When's your next mission?" he asked before taking a bite of pizza, pointedly changing the subject.

"In two days," Sam answered. "We're trying to figure out where Mira's new base is this time."

"Dog!" Chase interrupted, finger pointing.

The group looked over to see DJ finishing the food on Jackson's tray before licking the infant's head. "Dang it, DJ!" Danny chided, pulling the collie down.

Jackson at least was giggling.

The ghost shook his head at the dog's antics, gently making him lay down.

"Well, good luck on finding it. And try not to come back all bruised up again, hmm?" Bruce said with a wink.

"No promises," the goth replied with a shrug. Danny rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure they were going to get stuck that way with how often he seemed to do it these days.

After dinner, the pair went to their bedroom and got the twins settled for bed. It didn't take long as the infants were sleepy and drifted off quickly.

Danny went through his evening ablutions first, followed by Sam. When she came out of the bathroom, he was folding the twins' clothes and putting them away.

She watched him from the corner of her eye. It was obvious he was tired but still strung out. It was the same look he'd had since Beckett died. She knew, despite his exhaustion, that the moment he lay down, he'd toss and turn and wouldn't sleep.

He needed an outlet for the anxious energy he couldn't seem to escape from.

She went over to him and surprised him when she forced him to face her and kissed him. He returned it until she tried to deepen it and pulled away. "What are you doing?"

She gave him a sensual grin and placed her hand over his core, relishing the euphoric feeling it spread through them. "You're so tired but aren't sleeping. Your brain won't stop, right? We should completely exhaust your body so your brain doesn't even have the chance to run away with itself," she cooed.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled it off his core. "I'm not really in the mood."

Her gaze flicked down before going back to his eyes. "It seems your body disagrees."

He cleared his throat, cheeks stained green, and let go of her wrist. "Men would like to think we have control over that, but we really don't."

Sam raised a brow before turning and pulling a song up on her phone. As she pressed play, she gave him a lustful look, causing him to swallow the lump in his throat. "Sam–"

But she cut him off when she began to sing. "Don't need permission, made my decision to test my limits," she sang as she walked her fingers up his chest before booping his nose on 'limits'.

"'Cause it's my business, God as my witness, start what I finished." She watched as his eyes became hooded, her feminine wiles beginning to win him over. She grinned at him as she reached up and placed a hand on his cheek before running it down his neck. "Don't need no hold up taking control of this kind of moment."

Her intense gaze was piercing into his soul and he felt himself shiver as she sent a rush of energy through him. "I'm locked and loaded, completely focused, my mind is open."

She ran her hand over his chest and stomach in a sensual way, her fingertips leaving a trail of fire on his skin even through his shirt. "All that you got, skin to skin, oh my God. Don't you stop, boy," she sang as her fingers dipped just under the waistline of his pants.

Finally, he snatched her wrist in a tight grip and pulled it away from him, bringing his free hand up and grabbing her shoulder before slamming her into the wall behind her. Sam grunted in surprise but it didn't hurt. She could see from the look on his face that he wasn't stopping her, but instead, appeared to be fighting to restrain himself.

"Somethin' 'bout you makes me feel like a dangerous woman," she sang as she brought her leg up and wrapped it around him, pulling him flush against her. She then leaned up and nibbled on his ear, hearing him suck air through his teeth. She stopped long enough to sing, "Somethin' 'bout you makes me wanna do things that I shouldn't."

He couldn't take anymore and shoved her back against the wall, lips crashing into hers. They didn't stay there long as he backed up, pulling her with him. He let go of her wrist, hand going up the back of her shirt as he deepened the kiss. The energy surged between them, making them feel like their heads might explode, but in a good way.

She pushed him and forced him back, his legs colliding with the bed. His knees buckled and he fell back onto the bed, breaking the kiss. Sam straddled Danny before laying flat against him, his hands once again seeking purchase under her shirt. He flipped them then, and pressed her hard into the bed, his mouth exploring every part he could reach.

She relished this side of him–a carnal, feral side that was rough and not at all gentle. She didn't even care that it hurt where she'd been hit, her bruise still a deep purple.

They lost themselves in each other then, Sam allowing him to take control in the hopes that he'd be spent and could finally sleep.

–

Sam awoke the next morning quite sore, but she didn't mind. Neither she, nor the ghost, had been any form of the word gentle last night. She was definitely going to need a hot shower to sooth her aching muscles.

Danny was behind her and she turned over so her upper body was facing up and looked at him. As she had hoped, he fell asleep quickly and seemed to sleep soundly. In fact, he was still asleep.

Her eyes roamed over his face and she smiled at how peaceful he looked in his sleep. Sam realized he didn't really have any lines or wrinkles and it reminded her painfully of his true age. He'd died so young…It was sometimes hard to remember that because of the white hair. But when you really looked at him, you could see how youthful he really was.

She carefully reached over and swiped his bangs out of his eyes, but he didn't stir. Then she touched her own face. How long before she started getting wrinkles? At what point would she look older than him? Could he truly love her even if she was grey, wrinkled and frail when he was still twenty one? Was it even fair to ask him to?

Sam sighed, rolling back over, eyes darting around but not really seeing as the thoughts raced through her head. Finally, she gave up, knowing that it was futile to play 'what if' with herself.

She sat up and looked down at the large bruise on her chest. It looked a little better than yesterday, a testament to the hard work her core was putting in to heal it. It did pay to be half ghost sometimes.

Then she noticed the hand shaped bruises forming on her hips and blushed. She didn't realize he'd been holding her that tight.

Sam sat up fully and carefully got out of bed, making sure she didn't wake the ghost. She looked back at him, gaze scanning over his exposed torso that was not covered under the sheet.

'I told you his body is art,' Shade quipped at Sam's appreciation.

Sam rolled her eyes but then chuckled as a memory from last night came to her, unbidden.

Danny paused in his exploration of her neck and pulled his head back to look at her in a weird way.

"...what?" Sam asked nervously.

He blushed. "I…I feel like she's looking at me."

"I am looking at you," Shade responded out loud.

"Damnit, Shade!" Sam snarled.

It had taken some effort to convince him to keep going after that. She had to admit that Shade could see, hear and feel all the things she could, even if her darker half wasn't in control, and that freaked him out a little bit.

Sam checked on her kids, satisfied they would sleep a little longer, and entered the bathroom. She set the water to blistering hot before quickly brushing her teeth and hair and hopping in. It didn't take her long as she wanted to be up before the twins so they didn't wake Danny.

As she was finishing with getting dressed, a sudden rumbling caught her attention. It got louder until it was nearly deafening before it stopped.

She teleported above the house in an attempt to see what was going on, only to see a huge fireball halfway across town. The dark, thick plumb of smoke was already rising above the skyscrapers. "Oh, my God…" she said before teleporting back to her room.

Danny was up then, having felt the rumble. He was putting his black cargo uniform pants on when she appeared. "What is it?" he asked instantly, already on high alert.

"I think it's a bomb," she said. "There's a huge fireball."

"F," Danny cursed. "It couldn't be us. I wonder if the Hybrids are retaliating against resistant civilians," he said as he pulled his black t-shirt on.

The twins started fussing then and Sam went over and picked up Jackson, bouncing him as she placed a gentle hand on Aurora.

Jazz appeared at the doorway then. "I am assuming that's not good and you guys need to go, now?"

"Yes," Danny answered his sister as he slipped his trench coat on and fixed the collar. "I'm really sorry."

Jazz waved her hand, going over to the crib, grabbing the cooling blanket, and picking up Aurora. "Don't be sorry, you guys are fighting a literal war." She turned to Sam. "Mom is in the living room if you want to take Jackson to her."

The goth nodded and headed that direction. The redhead turned when Danny approached and kissed the top of her head. "Try not to let Sam take another hit like the last one," she pleaded when he pulled away. "Tucker's still not 100% with his arm so he hasn't been able to finish fixing her chest piece. She'll be going out there without it."

The ghost smiled even as a worried look crossed his face. "I won't let it happen."

"Good," Jazz responded. "Now go."

They exited the bedroom to find Sam handing over Jackson. The young parents quickly said goodbye, kissed the top of their children's heads, and teleported away.

Sam, needing to breathe, couldn't teleport the whole way to the base in one go. They made a short pitstop for her to catch her breath before teleporting one last time to General Hammond's office. They startled the poor man when they suddenly appeared in clouds of smoke.

Danny saluted and before they could say anything, George held his hand up. "I know why you're here and I'm already making calls to figure out what's going on."

"We can go check it out," Danny offered. "We can get there undetected."

"And if it's a trap to lure you in?" the general asked with a raised brow.

"I-I…" the ghost started to protest before relenting. "Alright, fine."

There was a knock at the door and a Sergeant entered, saluting both the general and Danny. "I think you should turn on the news, General," he said.

George grabbed the remote and turned the TV on that was on the wall. It was already on the news channel and they could see absolute chaos on the screen as the cameraman tried to get a good shot.

'-again, a bomb has reportedly gone off here at city hall. A group of humans simply calling themselves 'The Resistance' have taken credit for the attack. They say it's in retaliation for the city not protecting them from the Hybrids. We–'

Sam grabbed Danny's arm. "Mark," she said, her tone overlaid with worry.

The ghost shared her concern; Mark was their ally and advocate to the government.

The screen showed the aftermath of the bomb–city hall with a huge hole blasted through it with flames and thick, choking, black smoke billowing from it. The street was a disaster with debris and charred, flaming pieces strewn everywhere.

"Can we render assistance?" Danny asked suddenly, gaze going to the general.

"We have limited resources, but I can see what we can do," George answered. "We–"

He stalled when the screen on the TV flashed several times before going black.

'Amity Park,' Mira said, the screen still black. 'How dare you. This…'resistance' might have attacked your own seat of government, but a weapon such as the bomb used to perpetrate this act will not be tolerated. I will rip this town apart and snuff out this resistance–permanently.'

Mira ended her transmission, the screen going back to the news footage. General Hammond turned the TV off and sighed heavily. "I have a feeling this is about to go sideways."

–

2/5/25: Finishing this just in time to post on schedule. Still behind though, so I still can't guarantee the future schedule. I am getting a migraine triggered by all the light shining in my eyes for my appt, so I'm not sure how much of the next chapter I'll be able to write today.