Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and the characters used from the show are owned by Butch Hartman.

Spoilers: Any shows from season 1& 2.

Pairings: D/P (sort of)

Warnings: Yes it's kind of sappy with very minor fictional violence.

Synopsis: Paulina goes on a "pity date" with Danny to make Dash jealous and now wonders if she possibly discovered the identity of her love, the Ghost Boy.

The Second Date

by MikeyCam33196

It was a pity date, Paulina reasoned as she listened for the doorbell to ring. "All right," she confessed to her conscience as she combed through her hair. Maybe it did involve a bit of revenge. She tilted her head to the side as she studied herself in the mirror. She picked up the powder brush from the vanity stationed beside it. With a practiced hand, she finished the last part of her routine with perfection. She glanced up again at the clock hanging above the full length mirror in her room. He was late. She wasn't really surprised. He was always late to his classes, why would he show her the least amount of consideration and be on time?

She sat down on the rich green velvety seat of the vanity as impatience was taking over. The sooner this was over the better. She wanted to go shopping for those exquisite shoes she saw last week, not on some lame date. She smiled a bit. But it would teach Dash a thing or two. She did not like playing second fiddle to any other girl and why should she? So as Star had mentioned, why not show Dash exactly how upset she was by going on a date with the one person he detested the most? It sounded perfectly reasonable to her. Besides, Danny Fenton wasn't that bad. She supposed he lacked grace and height but he did have a quirky kind of charm. Now if he would just show up so they could get on with this fiasco.

It took another eight minutes before her papa told her Danny was at the door. She took her time getting there. She was a strict believer in making a good first impression. Besides, she thought as she smiled wickedly, it gave her papa a chance to talk to her date. It was something he liked to do and she knew it. It was also a good assessment of her date's character if he could manage to survive it intact.

"Princess," her papa beamed as she walked into the foyer. Danny was standing there nervous as he could be, but he hadn't bolted under her papa's scrutinizing glare. She was rather surprised.

"You look nice," Danny said to her followed with a smile.

Paulina assessed the words, the tone of voice and the smile automatically looking for any falsehoods but found none. He actually meant it. She smiled back, "Thank you."

Danny glanced at her Papa again. "We should probably get going," he said. She nodded.

"Take care and have fun baby," her papa said to them as they walked out the door.

Once past the front door and a few steps away from her house, Danny stopped. "I'm sorry I was late. I had a few…chores to take care of before I could come."

"That's okay," she found herself saying. He actually apologized for being late?

Danny continued, "I hope you don't mind that Jazz will drop us off. I figured it would be safer than my dad's driving."

"That's fine," she said. Where was the goofy behavior he was known for like the tripping over his feet and suddenly blurting out strange things?

They arrived at the movie theater rather quickly. Danny's sister had started talking while she was driving and didn't stop until they pulled up at the corner. After they had gotten out, Danny turned to her. "I'm so sorry about that. Jazz has a habit of overanalyzing every little detail. It's kind of annoying but," he began and shrugged his shoulders, "she's my sister."

Paulina smiled at the comment. "So what are we going to see?" she asked. She looked at the choices and grimaced. There were four of the typical date movies, the basic kid's cartoon movie and the monster flick. The cartoon she threw out immediately as an option. She was not going to be seen entering that theater. She glanced at Danny and assessed him for a moment. Which movie was he? Was he the mushy type who would tear up during a sappy girly movie or the bang-bang shoot 'em up type? Could he possibly be the thinker type who liked to solve the mystery or maybe the type who liked drama?

"Why don't you pick?" Danny asked.

For some reason, that possibility never occurred to her. She looked over the titles again. She didn't want to think about anything serious nor did she want to sit through a movie trying to solve some riddle. Maybe she should mix it up a bit. She wasn't with Dash after all. She could pick any movie she wanted to see. "Ground Zero," she said triumphal.

Danny looked at her. "You want to see the monster zombie movie?" he asked.

Maybe it was overkill, she wondered. "We could see something else," she suggested.

"Actually, I've been wanting to see Ground Zero since it came out last week," he admitted. "I didn't think you'd like it."

"Ground Zero then?" she asked. He nodded and stepped forward to pay for the tickets. A monster fan, she wouldn't have guessed that one. Then again, he did hang out with that Goth chic. Maybe a bit of it rubbed off.

They were at the counter when the lights began flickering on and off. It started out randomly then suddenly they all went out. An irritating man's laugh sounded as panic began to sound among the moviegoers. The lights came back on as the popcorn maker began shooting out puffed yellow kernels of corn. Drinks streamed from the soda fountains. People began shouting and running around. She felt a jerk on her right arm as Danny pulled her down behind the counter avoiding the stream of popcorn headed straight for her. He smiled for a second before he popped his head up to look around. He ducked as another round of popcorn came his way. "Paulina," Danny began, "stay here. I'll be right back."

"Where are going?" she asked. He wasn't just going to leave her here was he? Danny jumped over the counter to the other side. Oh hell, he just didn't abandon her like that, did he? Her reverie was broken as a ghost with a black cape and long white hair appeared almost right in front of her.

"I am Technus, the master of all things electronic," the ghost began.

"Don't you ever go away? I had plans tonight," the Ghost boy interrupted from her left. She looked and there he was and she sighed dreamily. The Ghost boy fired at the villain as several wires came out the food service area after him. The wires wrapped around the Ghost Boy pulling him towards the arcade room. Inside of the separate room, Paulina heard a loud commotion. The sounds of machines coming to life reached her ears as the ghost calling himself Technus followed inside. Once the ghost entered the arcade, movie patrons came out shouting. One was none other than Dash with his date.

Paulina smirked to herself noting Dash's and his date's high pitched screaming. That is until they took cover beside her. "What do you think you're doing?" she snapped at him.

"Well duh, I'm avoiding the ghost and the flying machines. So where's Fenton? Took off didn't he?" Dash sneered back.

She glared at him. "He didn't take off. He just…"

"Took off?" his date supplied.

She was about to enter one of her tirades when the arcade room went silent. The three of them, still hiding behind the counter, glanced at each other. The popcorn machine hummed violently to life once more before it exploded. They ducked even further down. Another loud crash came from the arcade room.

Paulina had enough. She inched her head up above the counter. The three of them were the only ones left in the lobby. Another crash came from the arcade room. She took off in that direction despite Dash's warnings. She wanted to make sure that the Ghost Boy was all right.

She peeked into the room from the corner as the ghost Technus threw the Ghost Boy into the air hockey table. The table collapsed under him and the ceiling light came crashing down upon his head. The Ghost Boy grabbed at his head before he fell back onto the smashed table. A white light traveled across his body. She watched the rings drawn to it like the moth to a flame. She gasped as she saw Danny Fenton, her date, laying there.

Her gasp caught the attention of the ghost Technus. He smiled as he turned to her. Wires came out of the machines snapping themselves around her. She was completely covered. She couldn't see or move but she could hear. "I, Technus, will take over the town by absorbing all the power. Then with enough power, I will move onto the world!"

"Shouting out your plans again? I thought we covered that," she heard the Ghost Boy, no Danny she corrected herself, say.

There were sounds of fighting and things crashing again but the wires were becoming tighter. It was becoming harder to breathe. She held on until the blackness took over.

Paulina woke to a soft shaking. "You all right?" Danny Fenton asked.

She looked around. She was still in the arcade but it was completely trashed. She sat up quickly looking for the other ghost but he was gone. "I think so," she said. He helped her up to her feet. She was still a little wobbly.

"I think I better take you home," Danny said looking concerned. She just nodded as she looked at him. Did she imagine him as the Ghost Boy or was it real? She couldn't be sure.

The ride back to her house was in silence with the exception of his sister's chattering. Danny walked her up to the door. "I'm sorry that things didn't quite go as planned."

She really wanted to know if she imagined it or not. She opened her mouth to ask then decided not to. What if he wasn't the Ghost Boy? Then she would look like an idiot. As the front porch light came on and her papa opened the door, she smiled at him. "Another time then."

Danny grinned back. She turned and entered into the house. She watched Danny from a side window walk back to his sister's car and climb inside.

"So baby, did you have a good time?" her papa asked.

"It was interesting," she said as she was left wondering if it was possible that the quiet bumbling Danny could be the Ghost Boy.

I hope it wasn't too bad. To be honest, I'm not a DxP shipper but I made this one afternoon for a contest that had to include three things: Danny, Paulina, and Paulina finding out about Danny's secret. I wanted a story where Paulina was written not so much like a snob but almost likeable. I hope this came close.