Two and Two
By Anne Camp
Thump...
Thump...
Thump...
"Valerie?" Daemon Gray's voice came drifting through the door to his daughter's bedroom. She managed to click the minimize button on the program she'd had up on her desktop just before the large, dark-skinned man opened her door—without knocking of course. Normally, she would have had a cow. It was her room after all and she needed her space. It also wasn't the first time he'd ignored decorum and barged in. The general loss of privacy tended to come with the territory of having an overly worried and protective parent. He'd accidentally caught her changing once (once too many times in both of their opinions), and he had been more careful after that, but still, she felt she had to let him know the boundaries. In any other instance, she would have, but just then she found she just couldn't muster the energy to do more than look up at him dully.
"Valerie?" he asked again. "Are you alright?"
No, she wasn't. She was an idiot. An easily manipulated, pathetic little girl with a grudge she knew nothing about and couldn't let go of. For the second time in less than a year, her world had been turned completely upside down, and once again she had no idea how to deal with it.
And the worst part about it was, she couldn't tell her father anything. It wasn't her place to tell.
"Yeah," she muttered, forcing herself to sit up straighter and found she could still only look back at the computer screen like a broken doll.
"I heard some thumping," her father said unsurely. Of course he'd heard thumping. Usually that particular sound resulted when one repeatedly pounded their head against a hard object, such as her desk. She hadn't been able reach anything harder in the immediate vicinity.
Shrugging, she forced a smile. "I'm fine, really," she reassured him, putting as much emotion into her voice as she possibly could. It wasn't much, and she doubted it fooled her father. He wasn't an idiot. Surely enough, he stood there in the door only looking more concerned than ever. Probably thought she was coming down with Malaria and halucinating or something.
Thankfully, after a few moments, he decided to let the matter drop. On his terms, of course.
"No ghost hunting tonight," he said firmly, expression stern. Of course, he said that every night. It rarely stopped her, but that didn't mean she liked going against her father's wishes. Besides, she had to argue against his silly restrictions on principle.
Well, normally she did. Not tonight though. Not with her brain shut down after the mental shock she'd just received.
"Yeah," she muttered.
His face went right back from braced to concerned in a heartbeat.
"Are you feeling alright? Does it hurt? Let me get a thermometer, and I can call your school-"
"Dad," she cut him off. "I'm just a little tired. Long day."
"You didn't get hurt did you?" he asked, voice catching that stern edge again.
She sighed. "No. I didn't get to hunt any ghosts today. Just school and...other stuff."
"Another boy?" he guessed. She scowled at his pitying tone. If there was anything she hated more than being shunned, it was being pitied. For a moment, a flame of anger filled her.
"No! Could you just leave me alone?" she asked angrily, finding the energy to stand up and glare at her father for the first time that evening.
The concern and pity never did leave his face, but he did back down. Thankfully. "Alright," he said softly, "but if you're still like this tomorrow, I'm keeping you home."
Her burst of energy left her as quickly as it had come and she slumped back down in her chair. It groaned softly under the sudden weight. "Yeah, whatever," she muttered. After a few moments of silence, her father shut the door and left her in silence, staring up at the desktop background of her computer. It was an article she'd found online about the Gho-Phantom. It had a barely discernible picture of him with a plainly visible crown on his head and jewels around his neck looking rather pleased with himself.
She'd have to ask him about that.
Maybe.
Well, at least now she'd be more willing to listen to his side of the story.
And that train of thought dragged her right back into the circular thinking her father had interrupted. With a groan she buried her head in her arms on the desk. Seriously, how could she have been so blind? How long had the evidence been sitting there and screaming in her face without her even beginning to notice?
Probably from the beginning. From the very first day she got that package in the mail.
That thought brought her to Vlad Masters again. It all boiled down to him, really. The stupid excuse for a mayor had been the one lying to her the whole time, boosting her ego and blinding her with his kind, proud words. She'd trusted him and he'd been one of them the whole time. Well, half of one in any case. Just like the girl...
Dani Phantom had been exposed as a half-ghost as was Masters. Both of their hair and eye color changed when they switched between modes. Dani claimed to be Danny's cousin, so wouldn't it make sense that Phantom might be like them too? The thought had begun to pick at her mind since it had occurred to her just after she'd returned home from that revealing little adventure a week before. It would make so much sense for Phantom to have another, more human side. That would explain why she could never consistently track him, why he acted so alive, why he was constantly yelling out 'listen to me' instead of just rushing in and blasting like she would expect a full-fledged ghost to...
She'd always assumed he'd been playing with his pray. Now...well, now she didn't know what to think.
It had been her desktop that had given her the idea to open a few pictures in her digital editing program and play around with them.
Her discovery hadn't taken long.
She glanced back up at her screen, as if pleading for the information on the hidden window to be wrong. Slowly, she moved her hand over to the mouse and brought up the window that held the non-manipulated picture. It was photograph of her grinning like a fool next to a boy with messy, black hair and brilliantly blue, smiling eyes. Well, she knew they were blue in real life. The photo was black and white. It had been one she'd taken at a carnival with him.
In the window next to it, she had a new picture of Phantom. It showed him throwing an ectoplasmic blast at some unseen enemy. She'd always taken his dedication to a fight as him just wanting to deal out some property damage.
Shaking the thought from her head, she moved the mouse up to the top of the screen and opened a menu. Then she dragged the little, white arrow down and clicked "invert". It wasn't the skin tone. That turned rather dark. The hair on the other hand, was particularly incriminating. It turned a very familiar messy black. However, what really convinced her was the eyes. Those determined eyes that had always seemed so familiar to her...
Now she knew why.
Shutting her own eyes, she shook her head slowly before exiting out of the program completely.
She felt empty inside. Empty and numb, and unsure if that was a blessing or a curse.
And she couldn't figure out who she was more angry at. Phantom, Plasmius or herself. She really needed to stop blaming other people for her misfortunes. That included Vlad Masters, Paulina and the 'A' list, the teachers at school, her father, and Danny. Sweet, lovable, loyal Danny Fenton.
Also known as Danny Phantom.
xXx
It was two in the morning by the time she realized she wouldn't be able to sleep. After that, she quietly sneaked to her window and the fire escape just outside of it. It didn't take her long to reach the top of her apartment building. She stood there, looking out at the dark, quiet night, lit up by only a half moon. The slum buildings and apartments stood like giant, decayed teeth, highlighted by the cool toned moonlight.
Almost as if on auto pilot, she walked up to the edge of the building, hopped up onto the wobbly railing that circled the flat rooftop, and took one more sweep of the view before leaping off of the side.
She loved the freefall effect and couldn't help the small smile that stole over her lips. Then she reached down inside of herself where she could feel the strange energy residing, and pulled.
Moments later, she and her sleek, black jet-sled zoomed off into the night.
The idea that her father couldn't take away her suit or equipment anymore had thrilled her like nothing else. The fact that it had somehow become apart of her had creeped her out like nothing else. As if she hadn't become enough of a freak already with the ghost hunting, now she had a strange suit that would appear and disappear at her will.
She had no idea where it had come from either. It had just appeared. She'd figured that Masters had had something to do with it, but his comments when he'd called her to go after Dani had suggested otherwise. Where had those upgrades come from? A ghost? The ghost that Phantom had been fighting had been a technological ghost, right? Could it have come from him?
The very idea caused her to feel ill, and for a moment she had to stop flying and sit down. Taking her mask off helped. It wasn't uncomfortable, but the cool, night air calmed her stomach enough so she could examine the subject again. Looking down at the helmet in her hands, she really studied it for the first time. Black, hard material that weighed almost nothing (she'd held her father's Kevlar vest when he'd become a body guard again. It wasn't Kevlar). It seemed to repair itself, as she could see no dents or dings after all of her fights, but it obviously had circuits running throughout it. And where did the power come from? She'd never had to charge it or anything. Also, now that she really was looking hard, it gave off a faint glow. Was that just the moonlight?
The sick feeling returned in full force.
It was ghost make. Her gear, her suit, her sled...everything. And it was apart of her.
What did that make her?
Half-ghost like Dani? She doubted it, as she couldn't go through walls or anything. At least she'd never tried...
Shaking the thought from her head, she stood up again and urged it forward. This wasn't something she could get rid of, but that didn't make her any less human.
Did it?
That's when she realized where she was. In the distance, she could see the bright, neon lights that blared out "Fenton Works" into the night. She could also see the large, metal...whatever the heck it was on top of their house. She'd seen it float, so it couldn't just be a water tower or something, and she'd never gotten around to asking Danny.
Danny.
She slumped on her jet sled again, slowing it down to a soft, gliding speed. She'd been hunting one of the nicest, sweetest, most adorable guys she'd ever met without even knowing. One of the few people who had liked her for her, not for her money, status or looks. And she'd given him up to chase down his alter ego. Oh the Irony, with just a little dash of poetic justice thrown in. It must have killed him to keep that one.
And Sam and Tucker. They had to know with how often they were covering for Danny. It just didn't make sense otherwise. Were they laughing at Valerie behind her back? She wouldn't blame them.
Funny. Earlier that day, she would have been fuming if she'd even suspected such a thing. Of course, she and Sam tended to get along (and Tucker had always tried to get along with her, really) now that Valerie had been openly invited those months ago when she and Danny had...
Suddenly, everything seemed to click into place. All of her questions about the ghost boy and Danny. How he always ran off, how Phantom seemed to show up where Danny had been and visa versa. Why Phantom hadn't been afraid to enter the Fenton household. It was all so obvious. So blaringly obvious.
"Oh man," she muttered, bringing the sled to a full stop and drawing her knees to her chest. Then she folded her arms on top of them and buried her head in the cold, stiff material that made up her 'ghost' suit.
How were they any different, really? They both had a secret identity (albeit hers was more out of convenience than necessity), they both hunted ghosts, they both used ghostly power to do so, they both had serious skills that they'd had to learn 'on the job', they were both trying to protect their loved ones...
She didn't know how long she sat there with her head in her arms. She'd only just realized that her back had grown stiff and started to ache when she heard her name.
"Valerie?"
Startled, she looked up and saw Phantom floating several yards away watching her like she was some sort of wounded wild animal. He wanted to help, but didn't dare approach for his own safety.
Suddenly she could see past the white hair and glowing eyes, and saw Danny—her Danny—watching her warily. For a few moments, she wasn't able to do much more than blink away her friend's after image. Then she groaned aloud and dropped her head back onto her arms again.
"Oh man," she moaned a second time, not caring how muffled her voice sounded. "I'm an idiot." How stupid did she have to be to miss that? And what did that say for the collective intelligence (or lack thereof) of Amity Park in general?
"What's wrong?" Danny asked, sounding worried. How could she have ever taken that to mean a threat? Danny wouldn't hurt a fly…but Phantom had. Hadn't he?
Perhaps that's why she hadn't noticed. They acted like two different people. Except when there wasn't a ghost to fight.
Funny, she couldn't imagine Danny Fenton actually fighting for something. He always seemed like such a laid back kind of guy.
"It's always the quiet ones," she muttered.
"What?" She looked up at his questioning tone, and then realized that her mouth refused to work. What was she supposed to say to him? Sorry for chasing you? For not listening to you? For capturing you? For putting you in danger? For trying to kill you? Again…
Half-ghost. Did that make him dead? Could she even kill him?
"Are you really dead?" she suddenly found herself asking.
He seemed taken aback and blinked at her, face going blank. "W-what do you mean?" he asked warily. "I'm a ghost."
She blushed and looked away. Should she tell him? Could she?
"I…" how should she answer? "I…uh…yeah," she muttered finally. "I guess you are."
Danny fidgeted, looking uncomfortable. "Are you okay?" he asked finally. "Don't want to chase me around or something?" And then he laughed. It was Danny's laugh. Socially awkward, nervous and totally sweet Danny Fenton.
Valerie suddenly felt sick to her stomach. "No," she muttered.
She quite literally saw all of his self-preservation vanish when the worry returned. Just like Danny Fenton. He was more worried for her than he was scared for himself. Stupid.
"What's wrong?"
She searched her mind for an answer, but nothing came up. So she fell back onto habit. "Why should I tell you?"
He held up his hands. "I just…thought I might be able to help."
"I—" she started vehemently, but all of her anger suddenly vanished at his expression. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you."
He drifted closer. She'd hit him more than once when he'd done that before. Didn't he ever learn? "Who are you mad at?" he asked.
She snorted. "Myself."
"Seriously, Val, what happened?"
It took every ounce of will power inside of her to not cringe as his nick name for her as her mind searched for another answer.
Valerie wasn't stupid. A little obsessed? Yes. A tad biased sometimes? Maybe. Stupid? No, but most of that came through hard work. She refused to let her grades drop, no matter how many ghosts she had to fight. She rarely got more than four hours of sleep on a regular basis due to studying on top of a job and ghost hunting. She didn't get a stroke of genius all that often.
But every now and then…
"It's Mr. Masters," she said, more anger in her voice than she'd originally intended.
Suddenly his expression darkened, and Danny Phantom replaced Danny Fenton. This was the ghost she'd been hunting. She'd known it, but seeing him change like that scared her, a little.
"Vlad," he seethed. "What did he do?"
"I…I went back to check on Mayor Masters after…well, you know," she muttered darkly. "And I saw him change. He's half-ghost, like Dani, isn't he." She didn't say it as a question.
Danny sighed. "Yeah, he is. Don't tell him you know, though. He'll think I told you and that would just be bad."
He was floating directly in front of her now. If she wanted too, she could quite literally reach out and grab him. Part of her still felt tempted to. She did have those ecto-handcuffs still, after all...
"Why would he think you told me?" she asked, half to distract herself, half because she was curious.
The white-haired boy snorted. "Because I'm the only one who's supposed to know, and he'd use it as some sort of excuse to do...something."
"Why's he after you?"
Danny raised an eyebrow at her almost pleadingly, making him look a little sick. "He thinks of me as the son he never had."
"Why?"
"Because he's obsessed with my mom."
Valerie couldn't help but feel a little sick herself as she made a face. "Ew."
Danny nodded. "Tell me about it."
Valerie seethed. Just how much had Masters manipulated her? Well that certainly didn't help her feel any better. He'd called her motivated. Well, that certainly fit. Motivated and easy to manipulate. Now that she thought about it, she could readily see how just about every single thing that man did benefited him. What kind of a man gave an angry fourteen-year-old weapons anyway?
And why couldn't she have seen that before? Was he that good, or was she just that blind?
"Why do you believe me suddenly?" Danny's slightly echoey voice startled her out of her thoughts and she looked back up to see him staring down at her warily again. Well, at least he wasn't completely clueless.
It did make her kind of sad that her acting nicely towards him rang that many of his warning bells.
"I just saw one of the men I trusted most turn into an evil, manipulative ghost. I decided to take a closer look at what Masters had always said. That included you too." Well, it was somewhat plausible, and mostly true. She watched him closely to see if he suspected she was hiding anything.
"Really?" he chuckled. "Wow. Who would have ever thought having a half-ghost arch-enemy would ever come in handy."
Valerie raised her eyebrow. "Arch-enemy?"
"Well, yeah. I mean he's the only other...uh, I mean since he's after my mom and me and all."
"I didn't know ghosts had families," she said dryly.
"Of course they do," Danny said, perfectly serious. "They're just like humans."
"Seriously?" she asked sarcastically.
He shrugged. "Well yeah. I mean they tend to be more obsessive and they have powers and all, but they try to live their afterlives too. A lot of ghosts are good. We don't see them often because they're not the ones trying to take over another dimension."
Valerie stared at him, only able to blink. The very concept that ghosts had families had never even occurred to her. Ghosts were evil. Period. Then she'd met Dani, and had seen Masters' true colors and found out about Danny...and if half-ghosts could be both good and evil, then it would make sense that full ghosts could be both of those too.
She still found it more than a little difficult to believe.
"H-have you met any good ghosts?"
It was his turn to shoot her a dry look. "I'd hope I'm pretty good."
"Oh yeah?" she asked. "Then what about the mayor incident? Or stealing all of that ancient jewelery from the museum? Or the times when you broke into Axion Labs? You got my father fired, you know!"
Danny held up his hands again. "I apologized for that! And I'm still sorry! I didn't mean to! It's not easy, trying to keep ghosts away from Amity Park."
"You didn't mean to steal that single-man rocket?" Okay, she couldn't help the glare she shot at him. It was a valid question, and she deserved an answer.
Too bad she had never been willing to listen before.
"I told you I was trying to stop an evil ghost trying to take over the world! You fought him for goodness sake!"
She had fought something up in that satellite. Her father had gone on for weeks about how it had suddenly gone unstable and exploded. Axion Labs had lost a lot of funding. If it hadn't been for Master's back up...
Wait, had he been apart of that too?
He was quickly shooting to the top of her hit list. Shaking her head, she focused back on the task at hand.
"And the robberies?"
"Uh," he suddenly blushed. "I kind of was being controlled by that ring master. His staff let him control ghosts. I don't remember much of it."
"A likely story," she muttered, but truthfully, she didn't mean it. Not this time. How would that be like, to be completely controlled? To a point where you didn't have a choice?
They sat there in an awkward silence for several seconds before Danny cleared his throat. "So, why aren't you chasing me again?"
Great. Hadn't she been trying to avoid that subject? "Is it that much of a given?" she grumbled, hoping he'd realize that was a rhetorical question.
He didn't. "Well you said that the next time you saw me…" he faded off.
"I did," Valerie muttered, "didn't I."
"So...?"
"Well," the dark-skinned girl started slowly, "you're against Masters, so you can't be all bad."
"Oh."
"And," she continued, "I think it might be a good idea to strike a truce."
She would remember the look on Danny's face for the rest of her life. Actually, with how surprised he was, she almost expected him to fall right out of the air.
"A truce?" He asked. "What's the catch?"
Yeah, she deserved that. Determinedly, she set her hand forward in mid-air. "No catch. Just help me take out Masters."
He eyed her warily for a few moments, glancing between her face and her hand several times. Then he took the offered appendage and shook it firmly.
"Alright," he said finally with a grin. They sat there for several minutes, both just enjoying being in the other's company without worrying about being on their guard.
Then a thought occurred to Valerie. Masters still thought she was on his side. Could she play double agent? Pass Danny information while they tried to figure out what to do? That brought up another question entirely. What exactly could they do? What would they be working towards? She didn't really want to kill him, just...expose him or something. Stop him from hurting people. Was that even possible?
"So," Danny said slowly, "now what?"
Yes, she thought. It was possible and it could work. It would just require a little acting on their part. "Now," she grinned and took out her largest bazooka, aiming it directly at him. "For some misplaced aggression."
His eyes widened, and it took an immense amount of willpower to not react to the betrayal he saw there. "B-but I thought..."
"It's just for show, " she replied. "He's probably not watching, but just in case..." she shot a blast at him, which he easily dodged.
"I thought we had a truce!"
"We do," she said. "But we don't have to let him know that..."
Danny floated there, blinking as his mind caught up with her words. Then a positively evil grin crept across his face.
"Hit me if you can," he said, and suddenly dashed away.
Valerie grinned and shot after him. "Oh, you're on, Ghost Boy!"
Oh my gosh, you guys, I got second place...SECOND PLACE for last month's Fic! *glomp* Thank you all soooo much! But it isn't over yet! Please go here, read and vote for the stories you like (especially mine . . . ) Thank you!
www. ficmasinjuly. org/ submissions. htm (minus spaces)
Dang, it's been so long since I did Danny Phantom...does anyone still watch me for that? ^^;