A/N: I'm so excited! This is my first chapter of my first fanfic ever! So...I hope it doesn't suck!

Also, this story takes place before D-Stabilized and Phantom Planet. So that means Danny's parents and Valerie still don't know his secret, and he doesn't have a truce with Valerie.

Enjoy!

"Oh, hey Mom!" Danny greeted, trying to sound like nothing was wrong. He swerved to the right to avoid the teeth of a huge, snake-like ghost. He didn't know if those teeth were poisonous, and he hoped he wouldn't have to find out any time soon. He flew higher into the air, shooting an ecto-blast at the beast's head before it could react. He was only half-listening to his mother, whom he was talking with on the Fenton Phones. Danny usually ignored phone calls when he was in the middle of a fight, but his mother had called almost eighteen times, and he was afraid she would call the police.

"Danny! Oh thank goodness you're alright!" she gushed. Danny put up an ecto-shield as the snake shot some kind of blast out of its teeth. The blast was deflected easily, giving Danny time to respond to his mother.

"Jeez, Mom, I was just at Sam's. What kind of trouble did you think I'd get into?" he asked as he dodged yet another bite from the snake. This time the snake's head came close enough that its fangs actually almost touched Danny's arm.

"I know, sweetie, but you're thirty minutes late for curfew!" Maddie complained. The snake lunged at Danny again. He realized he wouldn't have time to fly out of the way, so he turned intangible and let the snake pass through him. It looked infuriated when it came out on the other side. Danny turned around and shot a few more well-placed ecto-blasts at the snake. They seemed to work – the snake fell down onto the asphalt street below and didn't get back up.

"Gosh, is it that late already?" Danny asked with fake surprise as he floated to the ground and pulled out his thermos. "I didn't even notice. I'm still at Sam's, just playing video games."

"Well I'm glad to hear you're okay," Maddie admitted. Danny took the lid off the thermos and vacuumed up the snake, which made a high pitched screeching noise as it was imprisoned. "But you need to get home right now young man! It's a school night!"

"Alright, alright," Danny groaned. "I'll come home right now."

"Okay sweetie," Maddie agreed. "Tell you what, if you can get home quietly, without waking your father, I won't ground you this time."

Danny smiled appreciatively. "Really? Thanks, Mom!" He took off in the direction of his house. He slowed down, remembering that he was supposed to be arriving on foot from Sam's house. He didn't want to get there suspiciously fast.

"No problem, hon," she replied cheerily. Danny didn't know why she was in such a great mood, but he was happy she was. It all started about a week ago when she'd hit Danny with an ecto-gun right in the chest, causing him to fall out of the sky. Danny hoped this wasn't the reason for her happiness. He knew his parents didn't know his secret identity, but he still didn't like it when they seemed to take pleasure in Danny Phantom's pain.

Danny hung up on his mother after a quick goodbye and stopped flying in front of his house. After quickly checking to make sure there was no one nearby, he darted behind some trashcans and transformed into his human alter ego, Danny Fenton. Just as he was about to walk into his house, he heard an all-too-familiar whirring sound. When he turned around he discovered Valerie, floating above the buildings on her jet sled and dressed in her red ghost hunting suit. She was looking around, most likely for Danny Phantom.

Danny knew Valerie had a million and two ghost trackers, all of which made it all too easy for her to find him. Luckily he beat her home and was able to transform before she saw his ghost half. She quickly surveyed the area, and once she saw that Danny Fenton was the only one there she took off. Danny breathed a sigh of relief as he entered his home and went up to bed.

"Danny! Danny wake up!"

Danny awoke the next morning to his sister violently shaking him. "Jazz!" he gasped as soon as he woke up. "What's wrong?!"

"The power went out last night!" she exclaimed. "My alarm didn't go off! School starts in seven minutes!"

Danny sighed. "Is that all? Don't worry, I'm late for school all the time."

"But I'm not!" Jazz squealed. "Danny, I've never been late to class - ever! And not to mention I haven't showered…what are we going to do?"

"Chill Jazz," Dani comforted. He stood up from his bed and walked quickly to his dresser. "Just let me get changed and I'll fly you to school. We'll be there in five minutes."

Jazz sighed. "Thanks little brother."

Jazz left the room briefly to allow Danny to change in privacy. When he opened the door she entered the room and shut the door behind her. He went ghost and grabbed her around the waist, turning both of them intangible as he flew through the roof.

He and his sister had a pretty peaceful flight to school. Of course, Danny kept them both invisible so no one would see the ghost kid flying around with Jazz Fenton. He looked over at Jazz to make sure she was okay and she seemed to be enjoying the flight. She was smiling and had her eyes closed, enjoying the wind blowing through her hair. Of course, the wind would probably leave her hair in a huge tangled mess by the time they got to school, but she could explain that to her friends herself.

After only a few minutes the school was in sight. Jazz opened her eyes.

"We're going to make it!" she exclaimed, glancing down at her watch.

"I told you," Danny replied. "There was nothing to worry –"

Danny was cut off by a blast of pink energy hitting him square in the back. He gasped in pain. He became visible and turned around in midair to look at his assailant. He was face-to-face with the very reason he didn't fly to school more often.

"Valerie," he muttered.

"Put her down, Ghost Kid!" she shouted. She held up her ecto-gun, which is where Danny guessed the blast came from.

"I fully intend on putting her down!" Danny replied in an attempt to calm Valerie down. "Just let me get to a safer place…"

"That's not how it's going to happen," Valerie snapped. "You put her down right here, right now!"

"Um, we're two hundred feet in the air," Jazz remarked quietly.

Jazz's comment was ignored. Valerie charged her ecto-gun and fired, this time hitting Danny in the right arm. Danny screamed out loud, trying desperately not to let go of Jazz.

"Stop!" Jazz screamed, her eyes wide with fear. "Val – I mean whoever you are, don't shoot him! What if he drops me!"

Valerie seemed conflicted at this. Her whole reason for this particular attack on Danny seemed to be to save Jazz. If she fell to her death, Valerie would have failed her mission. Before Valerie could react Danny quickly turned invisible again and flew at full speed towards the school. It wasn't long before he heard the roar of the jets right behind him, and judging by the sound of things she was gaining on him.

Danny glanced at Jazz to make sure she was alright. She'd shut her eyes again, but this time she looked terrified instead of relaxed. Danny flew lower to the ground as they neared the school. Just as they were about to land, Valerie shot in the back again, turning him visible. This time Danny screamed out in anguish. His arm reflexively recoiled and dropped Jazz.

Luckily, at this point they were only about five feet off the ground. Jazz landed with a slight thud on the pavement. At the very worst she'd get a bruise on her knee. She got up and brushed herself off.

"You still have about a minute to get to class," Danny whispered. Jazz nodded and thanked him quietly before turning around and running into the school, doing her best to make it look like she was afraid.

"What did you want with her?" Valerie barked when she caught up, pointing the gun at Danny.

"Why does it matter?" Danny asked. He had to be careful here. He couldn't make it look like Jazz and Danny Phantom were friends, but he didn't want to make it look like he was terrorizing a random citizen. He'd been trying so hard to convince Valerie that he was a good ghost, but he certainly couldn't tell her the truth about why he'd been flying around with Jazz Fenton.

"Just answer the question!" Valerie charged her next ecto-blast to show him she was serious.

Danny thought hard about his response. Just as he was about to open his mouth, the school bell rang. He smiled, knowing this fight was over.

"Later, creep!" Valerie spat before zooming away to find a private place to change out of her ghost hunting suit.

"See you in first period," Danny muttered, turning around, going intangible, and flying into the boy's bathroom to change into his human form.

A/N: So, did you like it? Whether you did or not, please review! Keep in mind that this is my first fic... that being said I would love some constructive criticism.

And for you ravenous DxS fans out there, don't worry. This fic does focus mostly on Danny and Valerie's friendship (and rivalry), but there won't be any romance between them. There might not be any romance in this fic at all, and if there is it will be DxS.

Thanks for reading!