Summary: When Danny falls dangerously ill due to his ghost half, it's up to his friends to save him. Meanwhile, trapped in a deep sleep, Danny fights for his life - and for a certain Goth girl, when she is sucked into his nightmares...

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters or catch phrases mentioned. This is a work of fiction, purely for my own and hopefully your enjoyment! It takes place late in season three, before PP, and I really tried to keep it as true to the show as possible. Because of that, the first chapter is a lot of setup...but, the entire plot is basically an excuse for DXS fluff so if you enjoy that, it's coming. Enjoy!

"Oh great," Danny groaned, his ghost sense sending a shiver down his spine. The glowing clock next to his bed read 3:06AM. "I've only been in bed for half an hour since the LAST ghost," he complained, punching his pillow. The spectral spirits haunting Amity Park had seemed particularly restless lately - Danny had barely gotten any sleep for the past week, as the town had been under nearly constant attack. As it was, Danny had already captured 5 other ghosts that evening alone.

"Well," he sighed, "guess I can sleep when I'm dead!" With that he leapt out of bed, changing into his ghost form before his feet could even touch the floor and soaring into the night.

"Alright ghost, someone's got to pay for another sleepless night, so where are you..." He floated around the empty city streets, itching for a fight. Turning a corner, he found just what he was looking for - in the form of a giant glowing green scorpion, screeching into the night as it stomped on cars and toppled streetlights.

"Hey ugly!" He cried, catching the ghost's attention. "Sorry to interrupt your night, but since you interrupted mine..." He grinned as the unwitting arthropod scuttled towards him. "The exterminator has arrived!"

Ready to vent all his frustrations, Danny sent blast after blast at the monster, surprised when they simply bounced off its hardened shell. "Huh," he reconsidered, dodging the enormous stinger, "this is going to take some special moves." Swooping around the spectral scorpion, he aimed a freeze shot at its giant underbelly. Now frozen in its tracks, Danny blasted the over-sized bug into a thousand pieces, raining ecto-plasmic goo on the unfortunate street.

"Ker-splat," he chuckled to himself, "good thing my job isn't clean up!"

He took a good look at his surroundings for the first time. "Hey, Sam's house isn't far from here. Not strictly on the way home, but since I'm in the neighborhood..." he trailed off, floating towards his best friend's house, telling himself he'd just take a peek to make sure everything was normal, and then he'd go home.

This had become his nightly ritual lately - beat up the ghosts, check on Sam. It wasn't like he thought she'd be in any danger or anything, he just liked seeing her safe in bed before heading off to sleep himself. He didn't know how to explain why, but it put him at ease and relaxed him like nothing else could.

Phasing into her room, he sat quiet and invisible at the window seat. "I wonder if she ever watches for me from here," he thought idly, looking out the window into the night sky - then blushed an invisible cherry red. Why would she?

Sighing, he floated over her bed. Sam did a lot of scowling while she was awake, but asleep her face was calm and peaceful. She'd traded her heavy goth makeup for a lighter, purple-y look awhile ago, but he still liked her best like this - wearing no make up at all. He noticed just how pretty her features were in the moonlight...if only he could see her amethyst eyes...

And then they opened.

"Danny?" she mumbled, blearily gazing around the room with sleep-laden eyes.

"Shoot! If she catches me she'll kill me!" Danny stayed completely still, praying Sam wouldn't notice the invisible boy floating over her. Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut again, and she rolled over in sleep. "Mmph...Danny..." She mumbled again.

"Is she dreaming about me?" He wondered, startled and blushing. "Oh well, better get out of here before she wakes up again..."

Finally back in his bed, Danny moaned as he looked at the clock. "Oh man, it's 4:01?! So much for 'sleep when you're dead'...if Mom and Dad find out I'm not getting enough sleep to bring my grades up, I really WILL be dead..."

"Hey, Danny, doin' okay there?" Sam prodded him as he dozed off into his locker the next morning.

"Ugh, yeah, just another long night fighting ghosts, you know, the usual." He sighed, straightening up and stretching.

"I know what'll wake you up," Tucker nudged him in the ribs with a sly grin, "Paulina at 12 o'clock."

Sam snorted and rolled her eyes while Danny glanced up half-heartedly. Truthfully, he hadn't crushed on Paulina since he'd dated her - well, since he'd dated Kitty in Paulina's body. Even possessed by a ghost, she was pretty boring, and really annoying. But it was easier to pretend he still liked her. That way, he could minimize the teasing about his relationship with a certain goth girl.

"Let's just go to class you guys," Danny grumbled. "It's going to be a rough day." No sooner said than his ghost sense went off yet again. "Scratch that," he groaned, running to the janitor's closet so he could go ghost in secret. "Apparently it already is."

One missed class, two tardies, and three detentions later, Danny collapsed into his regular seat in the cafeteria for lunch.

"Oh man, I feel like I've been spending more time as ghost than human this week," he said, picking at his fries.

"Hey, on the bright side, at least you're getting plenty of practice!" Tucker joked, trying to cheer his friend up. "But I have to ask, have you ever thought about maybe ignoring your ghost sense every once in awhile?"

"Yeah Danny," Sam agreed. "Like a 'pick your battles' kinda thing. You need to save your strength so you're not exhausted when something really serious comes out of the ghost zone." They looked nervous, like they'd planned this conversation ahead of time.

"You guys don't get it, do you?" Danny sighed. "I CAN'T ignore it. I'm the only one with the power to tell when ghosts are around, AND I'm the only one with the power to stop them. Ignoring it would be like ignoring a scream for help. Someone has to protect this town." Tucker and Sam exchanged an exasperated look. Apparently that was the answer they'd been afraid of.

"Okay hot shot," Sam smirked, "but your hero complex is going to get you in trouble someday." She poked him with her spork for emphasis.

"In case you hadn't noticed, it kind of already has," Danny groaned.

"We noticed." Sam and Tucker sighed in unison.

Danny smiled, then frowned as a wave of nausea washed over him. "I don't feel so great," he admitted. "Maybe I'll go to the nurse and take a nap...it's not like my math grade could get much worse anyway."

His friends frowned in concern as he stood up to leave.

"Hey, at least it's Friday man," Tucker reminded him.

"Yeah, we still on for movies at my place tonight?" Sam asked.

"Duh." Danny answered, just as his ghost sense went off. "Again?! You've GOT to be kidding me. So much for the nurse. See ya later guys, I've got some butt to kick."

When Danny finally collapsed on Sam's couch that night, he was ready to give in to his exhaustion. "Stupid Box Ghost," he yawned. "Maybe I could just...close my eyes...for a minute..." Resting his head on Sam's very comfortable shoulder, his eyes drooped shut.

"Uh, Danny?" Asked a slightly embarrassed Sam.

"Mmmhmmm?" He mumbled.

"You're falling asleep...and uh..." she stuttered. Tucker snickered at the blush creeping on her cheeks as Danny cuddled a little closer, oblivious to the conversation around him.

"If you want him to move, you know you could make him," Tucker pointed out. "Or, you could let him sleep. He looks pr-etty comfortable." Sam smiled and shifted her blanket to cover Danny as well.

Tucker grinned and snapped a quiet picture with his PDA. "Could those two GET any cuter? I might throw up," he mentally gagged, but was spared the urge to vomit when Danny's ghost sense went off.

"Agh!" Sam shivered. "Ghost breath, literally down my back." Danny raised his head off her shoulder as he was startled awake. "Huh?" he mumbled, and found his face mere inches from hers. Well, not even inches - their noses were practically touching.

"Oh, uh," he jumped back, blushing and hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry Sam, guess movie night will have to wait..."

"At least you have us to help you this time!" Tucker said as they all jumped to their feet.

"That's good," Danny yawned, "because with how tired I am, I'm gonna need it!"

The teens found themselves wandering Amity Park in search of the ghost, Tucker glued to his PDA and an exhausted Danny barely floating along.

"According to the new Fenton Finder 3000, there's a spectral interference near...Fenton Works." Tucker reported.

"Fenton Works?" Danny exclaimed. "Aw man, just my luck. Hopefully Mom and Dad aren't around."

The trio approached Danny's street wearily, Tucker tracking their progress on his PDA. "Getting closer..." he commented, oblivious to the giant spectral scorpion rearing its ugly head around the corner.

"Ah Tuck," Danny nudged him. "HOW close did you say we were?"

"According to my calculations, the ghost should be..." A shove from Sam forced Tucker to finally look up from his technology. "Right...in front of us." He sighed. "Uh, ew."

"It's more of an 'ick.'" Danny grimaced. "Remember me? How many times do I have to take care of you, ugly?" He flew up to face the enormous arachnid, dodging its giant pincers and aiming his ghost ray at its underbelly as he went.

"I'm surprised our C-student realized its exoskeleton would be too tough to penetrate," Sam joked, hands on her hips.

"Ha, well, practice makes perfect!" Danny cried, swooping and diving, desperate to find an opening.

Out of nowhere, a certain red-headed ghost hunter sprung onto the scene. "I'll save you, Danny!" she cried, aiming her Fenton Wrist Ray at the ghostly arthropod.

"Jazz, wait!" Danny, Sam, and Tucker cried in unison - but it was too late. The blast ricocheted off the scorpion's protective armor, hitting Danny square in the face.

"Whoops," Jazz grimaced as the scorpion scuttled towards the stunned ghost boy. "No, Danny!" she cried - Danny was paralyzed in mid-air, face covered in goo and unaware of the giant stinger closing in.

"Shoot at its belly, Jazz!" Sam shouted.

"Oh, duh!"Jazz agreed, blasting the bug from underneath as Tucker aimed the Fenton Thermos to suck it in.

"Ha ha, alright! Another successful capture for Team Phantom!" Jazz cheered as the giant scorpion disappeared.

"Wait," Sam paused, the smile vanishing from her face as she noticed Danny writhing in pain on the ground. "Danny!"

Jazz and Tucker gasped, following as Sam ran to Danny's side. Two bands of light surrounded him before they could reach him; but something in his transformation was wrong.

"Danny," Sam whispered, kneeling beside him and placing the ghost boy's head gingerly in her lap. While his body seemed to have returned to its human form, his hair was still a ghostly white, his eyes glowing green. Then he blinked, and Sam gasped as they changed to his normal baby blue. Blink. Glowing green. Blink. Blue. "Uh oh..."

"Woah," Tucker agreed, joining her on the ground. "Dude, it's like you're half-ghost, half-human!" he cried. "At the same time, I mean," he amended at the exasperated looks of Sam and Jazz.

Meanwhile, all Danny could register was the burning pain emanating from the giant sting in the center of his chest. He clutched and scratched at it, trying desperately to make it end.

"Oh no you don't," Sam stopped him, grabbing his hand and holding it to her chest. "You don't want that to get infected," she muttered, voice full of concern. The sudden movement seemed to bring Danny back to the present.

"Hey, Sammy," he whispered, flashing his trademark lopsided grin as her hovering face swam into view.

"Daniel Fenton, you are so lucky you're hurt or I'd have to kick your butt for calling me that," she chided softly.

He chuckled, then grimaced as ripples of pain washed over him. "Sorry," he gasped, "you're just...so darn...cute...when you're worried..." He trailed off, no longer aware of what he was saying. All he could register was the unbearable pain searing from his chest. He felt dizzy and light headed, and his vision began to blur out of focus.

"Keep him still, I'll get the RV! We've gotta get him out of here!" He heard Jazz's voice as if through a long tunnel. As he finally gave into unconsciousness, the last things he was aware of were a small hand covering his, and a pair of beautiful, violet eyes...

Note: Thanks for reading! I wrote this entirely on a note on my phone, so I apologize for any formatting errors I may have missed. The next two chapters are already written, so if you like it so far let me know and I'll get them posted.