"Mrs Fenton, please, this creature is not going to hurt anyone!" Sam tried to assure Maddie as they both approached the Fenton Works basement.

A while had passed since the tranquilliser incident and the Fenton's had taken Danny to their lab to be tested on, much to Tucker and Sam's horrified objection. They had been spending the good of their time pleading with Maddie and Jack to let him go or, at least, to let them see him. But at the moment Danny's mum was on the phone with Jazz, who was away at a hospital two towns over for work experience, and nothing irritated Maddie more than having to respond to two conversations at the same time.

"Please, Sam, I'm on the phone!" she scolded softly, her patience wearing thin, before turning back to her caller, "Yes…that's wonderful dear…Ok, and I expect to see your certificate soon…alright Jazz, love you, bye."

She hung up the phone quickly, and turned to face the two teenagers who had been bugging her ever since she got home. She clenched her eyes closed and pinched the bridge of her nose, readying herself for her speech, but Sam interrupted her before she could even begin.

"Jazz won a certificate?" asked Sam quickly to diffuse Maddie's growing anger.

It worked, and she sighed softly, removing her hand covering her eyes to place on her hip before smiling at the two friends.

"Yes, she's been working very hard at the hospital, and they thought it only right that she should be given a reward for her hard work…"

'Now the difficult part,' thought Maddie as she took in a calming breath.

"Now, Sam, back to the matter at hand…I know how much you hate to see animals in pain, but this… 'Creature', as you call it, put you and Tucker's life in danger-"

"He didn't put me in danger!" Sam retorted before muttering, "he was trying to protect me from your tranquillisers!"

"Samantha, I will not have you speak to me like that in my own house!" said Maddie in shock at Sam's outburst, "Besides, we're not going to kill it!"

"Y-You're not?" asked Tucker, who had, until this point, stood quietly by Sam's side in a state of shock at all that had happened in such a short space of time.

"No…we're just going to run a few tests, take some blood samples; try and figure out what it is and where it came from."

"Ok…just…don't hurt him please…" pleaded Sam quietly in defeat.

"We'll try not to," Maddie smiled kindly, placing a comforting hand on Sam's shoulder, before worry crossed her face, "You haven't heard any word from Danny yet have you?"

Sam and Tucker sneaked at a glance at each other, fear flashing for a second in their eyes, before reassuring Maddie that he would 'probably be out a while longer'. They had told her that he had gone off to a sleepover at Valerie's house last night with some of the 'popular' crowd and that he would stay over for a trip to the mall the next day. Unfortunately, Sam and Tucker hadn't received an invite because they were too 'un-cool', and Danny thought it 'rude to ignore the honour bestowed on him'. Although Maddie had watched the look they had given each other with suspicion, she smiled and nodded her head in understanding. After all, it was like Danny to be a bit selfish now and again- he got it from his father.

"You can come down now if you want, it's in containment," Maddie continued.

"Containment?" questioned Sam.

Sam and Tucker had seen many of the Fenton's versions of 'containment'- cramped, demeaning excuses of a cage used to trap and experiment on ghosts to ensure escape was not an option for said captive. Sam only hoped none of these would be used to hold Danny.

Nodding their head to Maddie's offer, they followed her down the stairs and into the basement. Immediately, they spotted terrifying looking equipment lined along the table nearest the staircase; long, metallic objects equipped with knives and needles. Along the other wall, Jack was busying himself at the computer, typing furiously at the keys and adding newly discovered information about the specimen. Once fully down the stairs, they saw a large tank-like chamber that just about held Danny comfortably in. His eyes were closed and, despite the situation, his facial expressions were very relaxed- probably due to his sleeping state. His furry chest would rise and fall lightly as he breathed, fogging up the glass in front of his face before it fading into nothingness and returned again.

Sam gasped and ran up to him, leaning close to the glass panel and placing a hand over it. He looked so peaceful, his head tilted as if he was gazing at her with closed eyes, but Sam's eyes glazed over with tears none-the-less as she stroked the glass, longing to stroke his fur. Tucker watched at her sadly, before deciding it was best to give her some time alone with him first, and approached Jack and Maddie to find out what they had discovered. He glanced at the screen before eying the equipment beside him.

"You use these to do blood tests?!" asked Tucker in a high pitch voice, staring at Maddie and Jack while pointing to the intimidating weapons.

Of course, this earned him a chuckle from Jack and a hasty glare from Maddie, to which he grinned sheepishly to avoid confrontation.

Sam, oblivious to all around her, whispered softly, "Danny?"

He didn't stir- his breath coming and going in gentle wafts. Sam frowned slightly in worry.

'Trust him to get tranquillised so many times!' she thought sarcastically.

"Figures," she muttered sadly.

Suddenly, she noticed his breathing change faintly and his ear twitch. Her heart did a back flip as her hopes rose. She placed both of her hands against the glass in earnest.

"Danny?" she whispered a little louder.

Only Tucker heard, and he looked over Jack and Maddie's back to see Danny's eyes slowly opening to the sound of Sam's voice. Tuckers' eyes widened with fear and he quickly thought on his feet.

"Uuuuh…H-HEY! Did anyone hear that? I thought I heard a ghost-"

Tucker didn't even get the chance to finish before Jack was on his feet with a gun in his hand, the chair lying idly on the floor with the force of his rising and his fudge tossed carelessly to one side.

"GHOST?! WHERE?!" he bellowed.

"I heard a noise upstairs, it could be outside," urged Tucker as grabbed his own gun.

"Right, come on Jack!" ordered Maddie as the two ran up the stairs, Tucker following closely behind them. Sam nodded to him in gratitude as he nodded back in acknowledgement before she turned her attention back to Danny.

"Sam…" he slurred, still under sedative while shaking his head slowly as if trying to find her.

"Shh, Danny, it's ok. Everything's going to be ok, I'm here now…" she reassured, tears threatening to spill.

She doubted her presence was that important to comfort him and cursed herself for being so cliché and saying it out loud. She only wished that she could do more for him, but she couldn't…not yet…

His eyes opened a little wider, now becoming only half closed, as he looked down at her. His breath had grown more hoarse and continued to condense and evaporate off the glass.

"You're crying…you never cry…" he breathed, slow and deep.

Sam choked a laugh as a tear fell from her eye. She hastily rubbed the back over hand over her eyes to destroy the evidence.

"Well, this is a special occasion…" she smiled, making an effort to regain her composure.

He sighed as a form of laughter and closed his eyes again.

"How long have I been out?" he asked, trying to find his voice.

"An hour I think…maybe more…" she said quietly.

The two heard an occasional banging and shouts of 'GHOST!' coming from upstairs. They looked up to face the ceiling as a loud crashing sound was heard and Tuckers' voice shouting, 'HE WENT OUT THE WINDOW!' Sam laughed softly and Danny smiled.

"He must have set the Box Ghost free!" she smiled.

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" groaned Danny as he thought of how long it would take to capture him again.

The front door slammed from above them and they faintly heard the park being mentioned in the chaos.

Sam laughed, "Definitely a good thing!"

Danny chuckled, which turned into a small, slurred, coughing fit. Sam immediately became serious.

"Danny, how are we going to find Leon? He's probably long gone from Amity by now, and with the state you're in we can't exactly go searching for him!"

"No…we'll have to lure him to me…my life's the one he wants to ruin…I think…" he frowned as he tried to concentrate.

"But Danny…if he comes to fight you, you won't be able to defend yourself. You'd be a sitting duck!"

His eyebrows twitched drowsily into a lazy frown, "I know…but how else are we going to get him to show his face?"

Sam looked away, uncertain. Another tear silently escaped her eye as she attempted to hide it from Danny, but his keen eyes saw it even in his drowsy state.

"Hey…" Danny said softly to draw her attention back to him, "Don't worry…I've always pulled through before, haven't I?"

Sam shook her head in frustration, "But this is different Danny…"

They stared at each other for a while before Sam sighed.

"Look…as soon as we find anything about Leon, we'll go after him, all right? For now, I think you should just sit tight; me and Tucker are going to come back tonight and free you, then you can hide out at my place…"

Danny smiled dreamily and turned to face the ceiling, the sedation beginning to take affect again.

"Sounds like a plan…"

"Danny," she said more urgently than she meant to.

He turned his head to gaze at her.

"…Don't give them any reason to hurt you…" she pleaded softly.

He sighed again in content and drearily nodded- it was her way of telling him to be careful.

"See you tonight," was the last thing he heard from her before passing out again.

Not long after, Tucker and the Fentons came back down into the basement- smiles on Jack and Maddie's face and a look of worried concern on Tuckers. Jack slammed a Fenton Thermos on the table, posing to Sam in triumph before going back to the computer with his wife. Tucker walked up to Sam.

"So, is he ok?" he whispered.

"Yeh, he's fine," assured Sam, "He fell asleep again before you came."

Tucker looked a little disappointed for a second, but smiled at Sam at the good news. Sam smirked and approached Maddie.

"Mrs Fenton, would it be alright if Danny stayed the night at my place- we're having a sleepover…uh…again?"

Maddie narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "…I suppose…just be sure to tell him to come home for clean clothes-"

"That's alright Mrs Fenton, he left a few of his extra clothes in my house the last time he was there," interjected Tucker.

Maddie turned her heavy gaze on Tucker, "Well…alright- and tell him to behave himself."

Sam blushed at the knowing look Maddie gave her and opened her mouth to retort but Tucker pulled her away before she could object. Maddie glanced and Jack who was already watching her and shaking his head with an impressed grin. Maddie simply raised an eyebrow in an 'I-don't-know-what-your-trying-to-imply' look and chuckled softly.

Once outside, Tucker turned to Sam.

"So what's the plan on getting Danny out of there?" he questioned.

"We're gonna break in…tonight!" she smirked as she walked past him towards her house.

Tucker stared after her, his mouth agape.

"Break in?!" he exclaimed in shock

"That's right!" called Sam in an amused voice.

"B-But…I'm too young to be a criminal! SAM!" Tucker whined as he began to follow her with a run.

Danny: Please review readers, or I'll be stuck like this forever!

Sam: I don't know, I think it's kinda sexy…

Danny: …Purr! ^^