On The Dark Side

Sam considers herself to be pretty lucky.

Danny no longer has to hide that he’s Danny Phantom, her parents are slowly but surely accepting her and her friends, and she’s dating the boy she’s crushed on for years now.

All in all, things feel pretty good.

She’d said goodnight to her parents about an hour before, but Sam couldn’t fall asleep. The events of the past few days run through her head once more and she smiles. All of it seems too good to be true.
A few small taps at her window catch her attention and she sits up to see Danny floating at her window. She motions for him to come in and he phases through into the bedroom.

“Hey there,” she greets him. There’s a flash of light and Danny’s gone back to his human form. He shoots her a lovestruck grin.

“Hey,” he returns.

“What brings you over here this late?” She asks, looking at the alarm clock on her nightstand.

“What, I need a reason to come see my girlfriend now?”

Sam smiles. The title is still quite new to her.

“I guess not.”

Danny walks over to the bed, and without another word, Sam pulls the cover back and allows him to climb in beside her.

Now that they’re a couple, they don’t need words to know what the other person wanted. Sam turns so she’s facing Danny and he raises a hand up to stroke her cheek. His touch is soft and gentle, and she can’t get enough of it. It’s such a simple gesture, and yet it has the power to make her swoon every time he does it.

The two of them move closer together and rest their forehead against each other. Sam allows her eyes to close, and as she feels Danny’s arms wrap around her, she begins to drift into unconsciousness.

Danny keeps Sam close and listens to her breathing even out as she falls asleep. Just laying in bed with her feels relaxing, and he doesn’t want to be anywhere else. After everything he and his friends and family went through in the past few days, he needs some alone time with his girlfriend.

Girlfriend. He’s Sam’s boyfriend.

Danny still can’t get over the fact that they’re really a couple now. After crushing on each other for who knows how long everything finally seems to have worked out.

He couldn’t remember when he first started liking Sam. Maybe he always had, and his feelings just became clearer now. The memory of first meeting Sam runs through his head.

It was seventh grade, the first day of the year. He and Tucker found each other at lunch like they always did. As they walked through the halls to the cafeteria, Danny noticed a new girl.

It wasn’t difficult to spot her. She was the only goth girl in a sea of color, and she had one side of her head shaved. You’d have to try to not notice her. During lunch, Danny noticed the new girl didn’t sit with anyone, and it made him feel bad for her. Tucker caught him staring and nudged him.

“You should go talk to her.”

“What?”

“Whoever you’re staring at. Just talk to her.”

“I don’t know—she’s new and I don’t think—”

“A new girl? Where?” Tucker perked up with a grin on his face as he scanned the room. Danny pointed the girl out to him and Tucker paused.

“Why were you staring at her?”

“She’s all alone. I don’t know, I guess I just feel bad for her.”

Tucker shrugged.

“Well, I still think you should go talk to her.”

“But I don’t—”

Before he could finish, Tucker pushed him out of his seat and towards the new girl. Danny paused and glanced back at his friend before deciding to continue. He felt nervous the entire way over.

The girl glanced up at him as he approached and he finally noticed her eyeliner. It looked good, but also intimidating. When their gazes met, he realized it was what she wanted.

“Um, hi. My name’s Danny.”

She looked him over for a second before responding.

“Sam Manson.”

“So, I noticed you were by yourself, and I was wondering if…” Danny paused when he saw the way she looked up at him, but continued nonetheless, “...if you’d like to come sit with me and my friend?”

Sam looked like she was considering her options, and for a second Danny thought that she’d tell him no. Just as she opened his mouth to say something, she spoke.

“Alright.”

He paused as a feeling of joy spread through him.

“Great!”

Sam stood and Danny guided her back to the table Tucker sat at.

Danny smiles at the memory and looks down at Sam. Even asleep and without her makeup, she still looks beautiful.

His phone buzzes in his pocket and he shifts a bit to grab it. A text from Jazz

where r u?

He types back a quick response.

@ Sam’s. spending the night

Once he gets a text back saying goodnight, he shuts his phone off and turns his attention back to Sam. Her even breathing lulls him to sleep, and he drifts off with a smile on his face.

* * *

A week later, and there’s still more work to be done. Of course, when ghosts and other supernatural creatures run around the world causing chaos all the time, the world is never really safe.

The Fentons meet with Sam, Tucker, and Valerie in the FentonWorks laboratory. Sam could tell that Danny felt more relaxed and free. Since he doesn’t need to hide his identity from his parents anymore, she imagines a weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

On the enormous computer screen that covers one of the lab walls is a map of the world color-coded to ghost and monster activity. That’s the reason they’re all here; to continue hunting them down and make the world a safer place.

“Listen up, Fenton Monster Hunters,” Jack addresses them. Despite the protests from everyone else, he continues to refer to them by the title.

“It’s only been a week since Danny and the ghosts saved the world, but our work is never done. Monsters have already made a comeback in Amity Park, and we have to take action immediately,” Maddie tells them.

“Jazz, you’ll join me and your mother on patrol. We’ll take care of any vampires, werewolves, or ghouls we come across.”

“Valerie, you circle the city from above and focus on any witches and sirens that are roaming about.”
Valerie nods.

“And you three,” Jack points to Danny, Tucker, and Sam, “you’re responsible for getting the ghosts back to the ghost zone.”

“I think we can handle that,” Danny smirks.

“I know you can, sweetie,” Maddie says, reaching over to pinch his cheek. The others snicker a bit but stop when he glares at them.

“Alright, teams, move out!”

Danny grabs Sam and Tucker and phases through FentonWorks, waiting at the top. When the three of them see Valerie and the assault vehicle heading off, they do the same. Tucker uses his PDA to track the nearest ghost.

“Looks like there’s a ghost terrorizing the Nasty Burger,” he warns. Danny tightens his grip on the two of them and speeds over to the restaurant.

They land and see Ember on top of the building. A large crowd of Amity Park residents chant her name and it fuels Ember. Her ponytail burns brighter and grows bigger. But it’s clear that the ghost still wants more: she wants the world to say her name.

“This again?” Sam rolls her eyes as she puts the Fenton Earphones in, as do the boys. They can’t be too careful; they don’t want to fall under another spell of hers.

“You know how musicians are,” Tucker jokes.

They soon get Ember’s attention. She turns and notices the three of them and a calculating smile makes its way onto her face.

“People of Amity Park, tell me who you love!”

“Ember McLain! Ember McLain!” The crowd chants her name in a rhythmic trance, and without provocation they rush towards the three of them. Danny grabs Sam and Tucker and brings them up to the roof, getting on the same level as the ghost.

“How adorable, the happy couple and the third wheel trying to upstage me again!”

“Tucker isn’t our third wheel!” Danny protests.

Ember looks between Danny and Sam when she notices they don’t deny being a couple like they normally do.

“Wait, the two of you are actually together now?”

Tucker interrupts.

“Another ghost at Caspar!”'

Danny glances back at Ember and with a wave of his hand, freezes her to the spot where she stands.
“Sorry for the quick fight, but your fifteen minutes of fame are up.”

Ember loses the shocked expression and strums on her guitar, sending a soundwave towards them. Danny shoots a wave of green energy at it and shields Sam and Tucker from the collision. As Ember gets disoriented, Sam opens the Fenton thermos, and the ghost is sucked inside. When Sam puts the cap back on, the once hypnotized crowd returns to normal, though they complain of headaches and a loss of memory.

“It’s good to see everything’s back to normal,” Sam says, smiling.

Danny and Tucker nod in agreement, then the ghost boy grabs them both and flies off.

“Some things just never change.”