Everyone seemed to discover a newfound case of claustrophobia once Paulina exited-Danny was unceremoniously shoved and pushed on their way out of the narrow opening. He tried his best but in such close quarters Danny would need to go completely intangible or just accept the bruises as they came. He choose the second option, though he would quickly regret it

"ow! Goddamn-" the pin had jabbed sharply into his thigh at a particularly rough shove. Biting back exclamations he dug it quickly out of his pocket, just in time to feel a swell of power come off it.

Crap. Maybe it was because he was a halfa and had now imbued the thing with his blood (involuntarily!) But whatever faint aura had existed before had grown stronger.

"huh what's that? It looks like it's glowing" the pin was quickly taken from danny's stunned hand.

Oh no

"wait! no that's-"

"hey guys check this out!" Danny scrambled up to take it back, only to be grabbed by a very sharply manicured hand and shoved into a nearby closet.

"if you think I'm done with you Fenton you're wrong!" Paulina hissed, cutting off his every protest and attempt to get past her. Well, it didn't sound like the pin was causing any havoc yet so maybe he had time to placate his former classmate.

"woah Paulina, you're hot but don't you have a boyfriend?" He joked only to sober up at her withering stare.

"don't get cute with me nerd boy." She grabbed the front if his shirt, getting closer, threatening.

"I know you can't have changed that much, so spill it. What have you been hiding? And for how long? Yeah there have been other nerd successes but those were minor. Band geeks winning tournaments with band geek stuff, book nerds doing well with debates, that sort of a thing. But scrawny nerd boys winning sports games? I don't think so. Spill it" muffled exclamations sounded through the dusty rotting door, but once again she cut off his protests. Gritting his teeth Danny sighed in frustration. Well at least none of those sounded pained.

"well? Secret sports teams you were on? Workouts? Something else Perhaps? Spill."

"look Paulina, what do you want me to say? That I'm not the person you assumed I was? Okay. I'm not the two dimensional person you thought I was. Happy? That shouldn't come as a surprise. it's not like you ever knew me, or acknowledged my existence anyway. weren't exactly friends." Danny allowed the frustration he'd felt for years bleed out a little. He'd brushed off a lot, put up with much, and done his best to let it go. But his terror at being discovered mixed with the isolation from being deemed unworthy of positive interaction was cracking his patience. Another thump outside drew his attention, but Paulina was already reciprocating in tones a dog would find uncomfortable.

Outside the closet no one noticed their absence- everyone was watching Liam, who had found a few bottles from the speakeasy days of the house and was drinking one on a dare. Lots cheers kicked up a ruckus, and he decided to give them a demonstration of what type of local entertainment a speakeasy had. The bottle became a 'saxaphone' for the 'smooth jazz' his mouth was producing- the sound was far from it, but the antics were entertaining at least. If his eyes glowed as little everyone chalked it up to weird lighting. The house was now too old for such robust and energetic treatment, and before Liam could get into the real "exiting!" Part of his (adequate at best) performance, he stumbled, crashing through a rotting chair and cracking his head on the floor, the broken bottle opening a violently red gash on his arm.

Somewhere between her threats and recounting of his past failures were hints that Paulina was starting to get an inkling of the truth. Before she could get too far an agonized cry cut through the air. Danny cursed softly at the screams. I knew it. I just knew this would end badly! His tolerance for her antics used up, Danny shoved the door open, pulling his arm away abruptly and ignoring her threats. It took but a moment to take in the scene.

"Fenton don't you dare-!"

"no Paulina, don't you!" He replied sharply "this is a crisis, a hurt person is more important than your disgruntlement!"

It took but a moment to acertain what had occured, and who needed his attention.

"everyone quiet down And try to stay calm" he instructed, kneeling next to the groaning Liam. Danny carefully re-pocketed the clover shaped pin on the sly while checking the teen over for injuries.

"think he'll need to give mouth to mouth?" One of Paulina's friends snickered

"I'm so glad you are so worried about his health" Danny said coolly, not looking up "and thank you for volunteering to get the cars up and running so we can go to a hospital. Jason, please call an ambulance and tell them to meet us in sugar-Salem." After inquiring if anyone had a first aid kit in their car- and hearing a negative from all, Danny set to work quickly. He ripped from his shirt bandages to tie up the gash-it would at least staunch the bloodflow. A quick check of his neck and back showed no serious injury, though Danny did his best with every tool available, regular and ghostly, to ascertain this. I really shouldn't be moving him but… they were too far away. If they could met the ambulance halfway that should save a lot of time.

He put his arms under Liam, hosting him up into a bridal carry.

"someone open their car door and be prepared to speed."

The shock from the sudden injury wore off, and the rest of the group stared for only a moment before quickly scattering to do as Danny had instructed, each of them glad they didn't have to be in charge. Many decided to just leave, a few followed the car with Danny and Liam, but one group hung behind before eventually growing bored and heading back in the opposite direction.

Paulina sat in the back seat, staring out the window. She never understood the obsession with being in the front- a chauffer belonged up there. As the dark rural scenery flashed by she tried to put her finger on what what was bothering her about that Fenton kid so much-and why the silhouette of him carrying that hurt loser had seemed almost familiar.

/1 car ride and multiple speeding laws disobeyed later.../

"wait you're where?"

"the hospital off exit 52. Ma'am please stay calm, your son is fine, we were able to get him here quickly. Yes. Yes I know, I'm sorry about that. Yes he's been treated already. The doctors say all that needs to be done is some paperwork and he can come home. Uh huh. I understand. Well that's between you and him. Yes. Thank you very much, we'll see you soon." Danny hung up Liams phone and handed it back to his friend with a puzzled expression

"so tell me again why I had to call and not one of you or Liam himself?"

"uh...because she's terrifying and a mom? I don't know how you got out of that without being yelled at"

"our how you stayed so calm dude"

"yeah that too"

"uh huh. Well I've found that speaking politely and calmly usually works for the best, and being patient and repeating yourself without making a big deal out of it usually helps too" Danny replied, reaching for his own phone to call Sam and Tucker. He would have been out of here sooner, just ditched his classmates and flown back but he couldn't get a moments peace. Now Liam's mother was expecting to see Danny here when she arrived. He sighed, leaning back to pinch the bridge of his nose. I knew something like this would happen. Which was why he came but still, it wasn't exactly how he had planned to spend Friday night.

"we owe you man"

"yeah, just say the word and we'll be there, Liam too." They all stood, patting Danny on the shoulder

"...just not right now. Besides things'll go better if we're not here when Mrs. Hilmour gets here. I think she gets angry just by seeing my face"

And with that they deserted him faster than tucker could eat fried chicken.

This is going to be a long night.

Hours later, and comfortably ensconced in the Manson's couch, Danny recounted the story of his less-than successful evening.

"so what does it do?" Sam asked, eating her tofu vegan chinese takeout while Danny and Tucker devoured their more traditional delicious American chowmein with orange chicken.

"havn't a clue. He was just doing normal dumb teenage stuff, though I think it had something to do with those secret alcohol bars during the prohibition"

"cool. I mean, Liams still an idiot, but cool"

"Yeah" Tucker added in, spraying bits of chow mein across the table, to the disgust of them all

"good thing you went then isn't it?"

"I guess" Danny shrugged "or you could say it's since they probably wouldn't have found it if I hadn't-"

Sam cut him off with a look. "teenagers. Stuck in a lower level with no apparent way out and you think they wouldn't have gotten bored and rummaged in drawers?"

"...fair point"

"uh huh. Now eat those eggrolls because I won't"

They didn't need telling twice.

Author footnotes:
Hey guys- sorry it took so long to upload this. Things have been a little wild. Picked up a new job, dropped an old one, saw the eclipse, visited family, found myself 15 feet away from a bear in open forest and got in a fight with a toaster oven. Aren't I productive? XD
Anyway, I hope this isn't too choppy, I didn't have much time to edit and polish this chapter. Enjoy and I'll be sure to get the next one up quicker!