Chapter 7 - Trust

Sam and Tucker had met at the Nasty Burger to discuss their plans; Sam with her salad and Tucker with his mighty meaty combo.

"I just don't feel right doing this behind his back," Tucker explained to Sam, pausing only to suck up the rest of his soda. "We're supposed to be friends."

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him, and he's been hurt enough," Sam retorted. Tucker sighed.

"I guess," he muttered to himself. It wasn't long before their best friend showed up. Danny slid easily into the seat beside Tucker.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I didn't think it'd take so long getting here. So, what's the plan?" he asked eagerly. He looked so happy. The only indication of that being otherwise was the bags under his eyes; a sign that he had not been sleeping well. His grades had begun slipping again and he had trouble staying awake during class. Just like before, minus the ghost powers.

His friends had been busy lately, homework, chores, and various family-only events, they told him. Fearing that whatever he said had hurt them in anyway, he came up to them between classes one day and apologized. While they seemed happy that their best friend was starting to come to his senses, they were still busy as ever after school.

So when they asked him if he could meet them at their usual spot, he cheered up immediately. He had been worried that they were avoiding him, but he couldn't understand why. Nor did he care right now.

"I dunno," said Sam. "Is there anything good playing?"

"I've heard that they're showing 'When Aliens Attack'," Danny said. " It sounds interesting. Lots of despair, action and technology." He purposely added words he knew would grab their attention.

"I guess," said Tucker. He didn't look interested at all.

"You ok, Tuck?" asked Danny, concerned about his friend's lack of enthusiasm. Tucker shrugged and looked at Sam.

"I've just been feeling down lately," was his answer.

At the theatre, Danny was the only one of the trio that stayed through the entire movie. Sam and Tucker had gotten up in the middle, claiming an bathroom emergency and that they'd be right back. So Danny had waited, and waited. When he left, he was in a sour mood.

Now, without a doubt, he knew. He knew they were avoiding him on purpose!

"I'm getting to the bottom of this," he told himself as he rang up Sam's cell. After several rings, she picked up.

"Hey Danny; right now isn't the best time," she told him, her voice sounding rushed and laboured. Danny furrowed his eyebrows together.

"Sam, we need to talk. Is Tucker with you?" There were strange noises in the background. "Where are you?"

"Tucker, get out of the way!" she yelled over the sound of breaking glass. "I'll call you later." And she hung up. Hurriedly, he redialed. "Hello-"

"Are you in danger? Talk to me Sam!" Danny cried into the phone, unaware of the people staring at his outburst.

"-leave a message. ...-beep-" He tried reaching Tucker through his PDA but no luck.

"What the heck is going on?" he wondered.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Tucker! Do you want me to shoot you?" Sam said angrily as she blasted at the squid-like ectopus ghost. Tucker sucked it up in the Fenton Thermos.

"Hey, I have to get close enough to be able to use this thing you know," Tucker said. Looking around, he asked, "Where's the other one?" Sam felt an arm wrap her around her waist and lift her into the air.

"I think I know," she stated dryly, struggling to break free. Sam tossed the small ghost weapon to her partner. "Just don't hit me this time," she warned him.

"I miss once and now the whole world's against me," Tucker complained. Sam rolled her eyes, then paused as she saw a figure running towards them.

"Hurry, someone's coming!" Tucker shot grazed her shoulder but hit the ghost, causing it to lose its grip on it's captive. Sam landed, and held her shoulder while sending a glare over to Tucker.

"Sam! Tucker!" Danny rushed up to them, staring at the ghost. He put himself between them and the ghost, yelling as the ectopus regained its senses and lunged towards him... and into the thermos in Sam's hand. He looked around for more enemies but they were now alone. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Tucker assured. Danny looked angry.

"You were ghost hunting behind my back with my parents' stuff!" he accused them. Sam glared back.

"There's still ghosts around. Did you think that they would go away when you wanted them to?" His guilty expression pressed her to continue. "Danny, if you hadn't been feeling so sorry for yourself, you might have noticed that Tucker and I have been doing this all week! You didn't even notice the ghost that flew by right in front of you during lunch!" Danny blinked.

"That was a ghost?" Mentally, he slapped himself. Normally, his ghost sense would have alerted him... The thought saddened him again before he straightened up his stance. "Yeah, well you could have at least asked before you borrowed them." Sam sighed.

"I'm sorry, okay? Tuck and I thought it be best that you weren't here when we were ghost hunting, in case you got hurt again..." she trailed off.

"Hey, that was all your idea," Tucker pointed out. "Ow!" he complained, rubbing his shoulder from where Sam punched him.

"That one's for being a lousy shot," said Sam. Danny couldn't help but chuckle. He wasn't mad anymore; only relieved that he had found out the reason behind their recent behaviour.

"Ok, ok. Well then, let's make a deal. I'll stop moping around and we'll kick some ghost butt, together," Danny offered. His eyes brightened in anticipation. He remembered this feeling; the feeling of being the hero. So what if he didn't have any powers? His friends proved that those weren't necessary for dealing with ghosts.

Tucker and Sam grinned. It had been a while since they'd seen their old Danny. Finally, things could start going back to normal, well as 'normal' as anything gets in Amity Park.

Author Notes: The story was supposed to have a sequel but I don't have the time to write one right now. Perhaps later. If you want to continue the story, go right ahead! I'd love to read what you come up with. Thank-you for all the reviews and comments. I enjoyed hearing from you! And thanks to all the beta readers who helped make this story shine. If I write another story, you will be the first betas I go to.