Buried ch. 6 - Sam Snaps

Disclaimer: I've already said it 5 times before, but I guess I'll half to say it again - I DO NOT OWN DANNY PHANTOM!

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"Please tell me you're joking." Even though Jazz knew they weren't, she just couldn't force herself to believe what she was hearing. Danny wasn't with any of them last night, and Jazz just told her parents that he was sleeping over at Sam's. But there she was right now standing in front of her, with Tucker, but no Danny.

"I wish I were." Came Tucker's long awaited response.

"But if he's not here, and he was never with you, then where is he?" Jazz was frantic. She shut the door behind her so that her parents wouldn't hear.

"How am I supposed to know? It's like you said, he wasn't with me last night!" Tucker replied.

"But you're the ones who hang out with him all the time, you should know!" Jazz panicked.

"Ya, but just because we do hang out with Danny, doesn't mean that we know where he is all the time! I mean we're his friends, not his monitors, right Sam." No answer. Tucker turned his head towards her, "Sam?"

Sam still had yet to speak up; she was too shocked to speak. The news that Danny might not actually be fine, despite what the rest of the world was telling her, was too much for her to take in all at once. She continued to stand there like a statue, with only her breathing reminding us all that she was far from being one. Noticing this, both Jazz and Tucker stopped their bickering, and went to Sam's side.

"Sam, you O.K.?" They asked simultaneously, each putting a hand on one of her shoulders. As they did this, they also made an attempt to face Sam directly, causing them to nearly bonk heads. Suddenly realizing their awkwardly close position they were in, they each blushed as they quickly turned away smiling, with the quietest little chuckle in their voices.

Sam ruined the little moment, however, as she finally spoke up for the first time since Jazz told her that Danny wasn't with her, "Danny's not fine." She managed to choke out in a low, ragged voice.

Jazz's psychology skills started to kick in, badly, "Now Sam, we don't know that for sure. Just because Danny never came home last night, doesn't necessarily mean that he's in danger. Maybe he's simply out for an early morning flight, that's all." Uncertainty was heavy with every word she spoke.

Sam was shaking like a leaf, "No. If he were fine he would have gone home, or at least come to one of us sometime during the night. He can't be fine!"

With a heavy sigh, Jazz put her head down in defeat, "Ya, you're probably right."

"So if he's not fine, then what condition is he in?" Tucker chimed in, breaking some of the tension.

Sam was far from pleased with Tucker's sudden outburst, however. She slowly started walking towards him in a manner that resembled a cat when it's about to pounce on its prey. Her teeth were gritted together so tight that a crowbar wouldn't have been enough to pry them apart, and her eyes were so full of fury that if the flames within them were real, they'd start a wildfire. Her voice was as dark as the void that filled the infinite space before time itself even began, and colder than the harshest winter the Antarctic had ever witnessed, "I don't know. But if you would have just kept your mouth SHUT, none of this would be HAPPENING right now!" She finished the sentence with her index finger on Tucker's chest, and her body leaning over him like she was about to topple him.

Tucker, frozen in fear, could only stutter while trying to ease Sam off of him, "O.K. Now Sam, take it easy, there's no need to get violent –"

Sam interrupted him, "There is every need to get violent!" she yelled, grabbing the collar of his shirt.

By now, Jazz was starting to get scared by Sam's sudden change in violent behavior, but she wasn't sure of what to do.

Tucker started speaking up, "No there's not, Sam! Why are you so mad at me all of a sudden?"

Sam narrowed her eyes into tiny slits, "I did say that if anything happened to Danny, that I would blame you." She replied in a harsh whisper, even though it really wasn't all that quiet.

That's when Jazz ran in between the two, grabbed onto both of Sam's shoulders, and started shoving her away from Tucker, "Maybe so, Sam, but if Danny really is in trouble, blaming Tucker for whatever happened to him is NOT gonna get us anywhere in finding him!" She practically yelled at her.

Tucker's eyes widened in amazement at the amount of power in Jazz's voice, for she spoke with an element of fierceness in her tone. Something that was unknown of Jazz to have. Sam noticed this as well.

Astonished with Jazz's sudden outburst, Sam could only think back at what just happened in the past few moments. She was surprised at her own actions, "Oh my - Did I really almost kill Tucker?" She looked back at Tucker with guilt and sorrow in her eyes, pleading for forgiveness. She couldn't believe that she had nearly stooped down so low.

"Pretty much." Was Jazz's blunt response.

"Oh Tucker, I'm so sorry!" Was all Sam could say.

Tucker was very forgiving, "It's all right, Sam. You were just worried about Danny, but you could have taken things a little – well, a lot lighter than you did."

Sam cringed at his words, but knowing that he was only speaking the truth, she looked to the ground, "Ya." Then back up to Tucker, "I guess I need to work on that."

Tucker put his hand on her shoulder, "It's O.K."

Sam gave him a warm smile, "Thanks Tucker."

Tucker returned her smile, "Hey, no problem. But, ya know, it's really Jazz who you should be thanking, because if it weren't for her, you would have just made a terrible mistake!" He looked in Jazz's direction, and smiled at her with, unknowing to him, a love-struck face. Jazz blushed.

Sam couldn't disagree with what Tucker said; she walked up to Jazz, "Thanks Jazz, for stopping me from doing something I know I would regret."

Jazz just smiled at her, "Your welcome." And they all shared a friendly group hug.

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Jazz started talking to both Sam and Tucker, "Now that were all calm, I think we should start finding a way to contact Danny."

Sam's interest was caught instantly, "Right!" A quick thought later, "How?"

Jazz started thinking, "Think about last night. When you were on patrol, did you guys communicate with each other with some sort of communication device?"

Sam and Tucker's eyes widened, "The Fenton Phones!" they exclaimed at the same time.

Sam got exited, "Maybe he still has one on him, wherever he is. We got to get to the lab!" She grabbed a hold of Tucker's wrist, and started running to the door.

"Wait!" Jazz's voice split through the air.

Sam stopped running, and turned around, "What?"

"My parents can't see you in their house without Danny, I just told them that he was sleeping over at your place." Jazz informed.

"Oh, now you tell us!" Sam crossed her arms.

"Well, now seems good." Jazz replied.

Sam was not amused, "Well, what are we gonna do! We need to get down to your parents lab so we can try to contact Danny!"

Jazz took a minuet to think, "I got it! It's the beginning of the month, right." Sam and Tucker nodded. Jazz continued, "So my parents just got paid, and when I was making breakfast this morning, I noticed the cupboards were a little low. I can tell them to go grocery shopping, that should keep them out of our hair all day!"

"Great plan Jazz!" Tucker was the first to speak up this time.

Jazz blushed a little, "No it's not, anybody could have come up with it, really."

"I don't think so." Tucker smiled at her again. And, again, Jazz smiled back.

Snapping back to reality, however, Jazz got serious, "Now you guys gotta hide, while I get rid of them."

"Right, but where can we hide?" Sam asked.

"Sam, these are my parents were talking about. Just hide behind the house, and you should be fine." Jazz answered flatly.

Sam smacked her hand to her forehead, realizing the stupidity of her previous question, "Good point!"

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The plan went perfectly according to plan, and when Jazz couldn't see the RV anymore, she got Sam and Tucker, and they went down to the lab.

"That was easy!" Tucker exclaimed.

"I know." Jazz replied. They both blushed.

Sam, getting a little disgusted, walked in between them, "Oooookaaay. How about we try contacting Danny, here."

Startled by Sam's gesture, Jazz and Tucker could only say one thing, "Right!"