Yay! I'm back! and I'm not dead! Sorry for the long haitus. College has been murder. I just finished my first semester for a long and well deserved holiday. This is my first songfic and took me forever to finish. As for where the DP timeline goes, this takes place just after the events of the episode: D-Stabilized, which to me needed more Valerie development than just one episode in Season 3. Enjoy. R & R please.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Linkin Park. All go to their original creators.

It was past eleven o'clock that night when the female ghost hunter, Valerie Gray, arrived at her run-down apartment back in the dingy city of Elmerton. Sliding her bedroom window open very slowly, Valerie managed to slip inside while her high tech hover board vanishing in a crackle of electricity from under her feet, praying that her father was still sound asleep in his recliner in the living room when she had last saw him through the window.

When figuring that everything was quiet, Valerie let her trademarked red and black battle suit disappear in a flash of hot pink light, now revealing a sweaty dark skinned girl with long wavy locks of coal black hair, sparkling turquoise eyes and dressed in an outfit of orange and golden yellow.

The happenings of tonight's little soiree had left the African American exhausted and in desperate need of a shower, much to her dismay of having to wait before she could sleep. A shower would be nice, she thought to herself, eying the vacant but small bathroom down the hall.

While tip toeing through the hallway, Valerie could see her father, Daemon, snoring on his leather recliner with a half open book on his lap. Valerie couldn't help but smile at her father for being so tired. God knows if he had ever woken up when she had been gone.

Once the bathtub had been filled to the top with steamy hot water and foamy white bubbles, Valerie slipped into the tub, breathing a few "oohs" and "ahs" as the water touched her aching muscles. It felt so good to be home. To get away from the world in this crowded little bathroom that was becoming more and more like a sauna and letting all of her troubles slip away down the drain.

As Valerie let her head slip under the water for a brief moment to become wet, something just didn't feel quite right about the water. It felt thicker than usual, almost like she was swimming in glue. Valerie took a gulp of air when she broke through to the surface once more, only to find that the sea of bubbly water had been replaced by sickening, bubbling bright green ooze. Valerie let out a shriek as she realized what it was.

In this farewell
there's no blood
there's no alibi

It was ectoplasm; the same exact color as the remnants of Dani Phantom when she had become unstable to hold up her form. Valerie couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea pass over her as she remembered the little ghost girl, how she had almost died because of Valerie's deep hatred toward ghosts. It was so painful to remember how she had watched Dani, who had been shackled onto a cold steel examination table, being electrocuted to melt into nothingness. It was a horrific sight to witness, as Valerie saw Dani's feet began to liquefy before her very eyes. She had been too stunned to make a move. Valerie could only watch as the little girl was tortured. It was pure luck that she was able to save Dani in time before she was killed.

Vlad…Valerie thought angrily as the sudden picture of a silver haired, steel blue-eyed old man flashed through her mind.

'Cause I've drawn regret
from the truth
of a thousand lies

The ghost hunter would never forget what her now ex-employer and Amity Park's billionaire mayor, Vlad Masters, had done to manipulate her and use her as a mere pawn to do his dirty work. He had said that Dani had been an evil ghost out to destroy him and Amity Park. In following her objective, Valerie had captured and selfishly tortured the town's protector, Danny Phantom, for information to become a greater ghost hunter. She didn't even care what had happened to the little ghost girl at the time, not to even think in the slightest how the girl had saved her life from being crushed under a ton of wood and brick from an abandoned building.

Valerie had been so frightened when the ceiling had caved in from above her, like a deer caught in the headlights. She had been helpless, too scared to even make a plan of escape. It was lucky when the little black haired, blue-eyed girl she was chasing had somehow transformed into a ghost by summoning two shining white blue rings as if by instinct, and managed to turn Valerie intangible in the nick of time before they were both human pancakes. Valerie had never even in the least thanked Dani for saving her life at the time, only to feel how repulsed on how a ghost had touched her as if Dani was crawling with disease.

But back to Vlad… Valerie had never been so traumatized in her life when she went back into the mansion after seeing the Phantom siblings vanish into the night, only to find Vlad Masters unharmed and back on his feet, talking to someone that Valerie couldn't see while beneath a mess of wood and white marble.

"Disappeared!"he had cried out in disappointment. "Oh, and we were so close! If only we'd managed to melt that little brat down! And who knew Valerie would be so easy to fool: 'trapping me in a closet'. Ingenious!"

That was when Valerie had learned the shocking truth of her benefactor as she saw two glowing solid black rings, similar to what Dani had conjured up, and transformed into the ghastly vampiric form of Vlad Plasmius: the very same ghost that Danny, herself and Dani had fought only minutes before and had brought to his knees.

Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius were one in the same! He was a human and a ghost all this time? Why would he do this to me? Was this part of some sick game?

But for what struck Valerie hard the most was when Vlad had spoken eight harsh words that would haunt her for the rest of her life:

"For a smart girl, she's very easily lead."

How could he play me for such a fool? Valerieheld her head in her wet hands, telling herself not to cry but the sudden pain in her heart from the recent events that had happened reminded her otherwise. She rarely cried, knowing that crying was a sign of weakness, making her a weak ghost hunter. Salty tears escaped through the cracks of her fingers and dripped into the green water, which had vanished as the first tear hit it.

So let mercy come
and wash away
what I've done

I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done

Calming down a few minutes later, she took a second to realize that her fingers were wrinkled. It had seemed that she had taken longer than she had expected, seeing that the steam was lifting from the foggy bathroom mirror and most of the bubbles had gone from the tub. The water had also grown cold.

After changing into some comfortable night clothes (an oversized Dumpty Humpty t-shirt and an old pair of gym shorts), she opened the bathroom door only to come face to face with her father, who was standing in the doorway looking quite cross.

"A little late to be taking a bath, isn't it?" he asked, arms crossed.

"I was up late," Valerie answered, choosing her words carefully, "doing homework-"

"You went out again, didn't you?"

Valerie bit her lip nervously. Crud.

Daemon sighed as he rubbed his tired eyes with thumb and forefinger. "Valerie…"

"Something important came up!" Valerie cried. "It was an emergency!"

"And just what was so big about this emergency that you left without telling me first?"

"I-" Valerie hesitated. She hadn't told her father about who had given her equipment in the first place when her father found out about her 'job', only to say that it was from someone anonymous. She wouldn't dare tell that it was from Vlad Masters, for it would just raise more questions and it could jeopardize her father's job. Being a wealthy billionaire, the Mayor was also the new owner of Axion Labs. "It was just important, alright?"

Put to rest
What you thought of me

"Valerie, I appreciate what you're doing," said Damon, "but it's too dangerous. What if you got hurt or in serious trouble in that matter? I can't allow you to do this for much longer, plus with using that new suit you mysteriously got during that computer fiasco. We don't know to what extent it can do."

"It can do plenty of stuff, daddy! It saved my butt on several occasions-"

"But what if there was a malfunction? You could have died tonight, Valerie! You could have died and I wouldn't have known until it was too late."

I almost did, Valerie thought, recalling when the ceiling had caved in.

Daemon sighed again, deeper this time. "Valerie, you're growing up really fast. I know how it must feel for you to have all this pressure. Being a teenager isn't easy as it's all cracked up to be, but it's just…" He breathed another sigh. "I'm just really concerned about this ghost hunting business. Do you know how worried I was that night when you chased down that Phantom kid into space? I thought I would never see you again…"

While I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty

Daemon was suddenly cut off by the extra weight of Valerie wrapping her arms around him tightly in a big hug. Valerie hadn't hugged him like this for since she was eight years old when her mother had passed away.

"But Daddy, I'm here," she said softly. "I'm safe. I just didn't want you to worry. You know how overprotective you can be sometimes…"

Daemon smiled. His little girl was growing up into a fine young woman.

"I know," he said, hugging his daughter tightly in return. When they finally broke apart, he ruffled Valerie's wet hair. "I'm proud of you, you know that?"

So let mercy come
And wash away
What I've done

Valerie nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry about all of this."

"It's okay. It's passed. Get some sleep, alright?"

"Alright," Valerie answered with a yawn. "Good night."

"'Night, sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy."

I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done

Valerie finally stepped into her room, eyelids drooping heavy with sleep. The red lights of her digital clock read 12: 30 a.m.; way past her usual bedtime. She needed rest. It had been a rough evening to cope through. After creeping under the covers, Valerie drifted off into a much well deserved sleep.

"Valerie…"

Valerie stirred.

"Valerie…"

"Not now, dad…" groaned the ghost hunter. "Five more minutes…"

"But Miss Gray, you have an assignment."

"What?" Valerie shot out of bed in a panic, only to find no one was there.

Funny, she mused, rubbing the grit out of her eyes. I could have sworn I heard someone-

Valerie froze as she gazed down at her hand. It was covered in a shimmering back and red gauntlet.

"What the-?"

For what I've done
I start again

Valerie leaped out of bed to face a long mirror that rested at the side of her door. Instead of her bed wear, she was clothed in her glowing red and black ghost hunting costume. The protective visor had been pulled up, allowing Valerie to breathe normally.

"How did I get this on?" It was all so strange to her. She had never called upon her suit in her sleep before. She had enough practice to maintain that from happening. Whatever had happened, Valerie knew the quickest solution to get rid of her problem. She shut her eyes and concentrated on the suit, telling it to vanish wherever it actually came from.

She opened them, only to find that the suit was still on her. She tried concentrating harder but again, nothing seemed to happen. "Why won't you go away?" she demanded to the suit.

"I'm a part of you."

Valerie gasped as she heard a dark voice close to her. She looked around, only to find no one was there. "Who's there?"

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Valerie."

"Where are you?"

"I'm right here."

Valerie turned to where the mirror was, only to see her reflection staring back at her with a devilish smirk on its face. Valerie's face paled.

"You're not going to get rid of me that easily,"the reflection said darkly."If you had only managed to get rid of Phantom and give that little brat over to Vlad without any excuses, you could have gotten that new apartment by now." The reflection shook its head. "Such a shame…"

"How can you say that?" Valerie cried. "He was going to kill her!"

"She was a ghost, wasn't she? You destroy ghosts."Her reflection raised an eyebrow slyly. "Isn't that what you do?"

Valerie hesitated. That's the same thing that I said before, but- "No, she's a human, too!"

"But she's still a ghost, Valerie, and you let her go."

Valerie gritted her teeth. "No, you just don't know when to stop! Even though she's part ghost, she's still part human. I just couldn't stand by and let a human life - or what's left of it- be taken by…him." Valerie couldn't bear to mention the name of her ex-employer at the moment. Not what he had put her through. "It was unbearable to watch her die. I couldn't move or think. I was…"

She shut her eyes tight, trying not to remember the horrible cries of Danielle being dissolved into nothing. The word Valerie was looking for make her choke, horribly admitting her refusal of saying it to anyone besides herself.

"I was… scared."

Her reflection's eyes narrowed, flashing bright red for a second."You're more pathetic than I thought."

Before Valerie could do a thing, the helmet's visor swiftly closed shut over her face. Everything was turning cold. She couldn't breathe at all. All of the oxygen in her helmet had somehow been sucked dry. Her knees bucked under her from the stress while trying to remove her helmet, but it was impossible to get it off.

And whatever pain may come
Today this ends

"I thought that you were strong, Valerie," said the reflection bitterly. "Intelligent. Motivated. But it seems to me that your services are no longer needed."

At the corner of her eye, Valerie could see that her reflection was somehow walking out of her liquefied mirror, with eyes that were no longer human. The pupil and whites had faded into solid bloodshot, glowing red slits. Two glowing black rings appeared around its waist, transforming into the all too familiar form of Vlad Plasmius. His thin lips were curled into a fanged grin.

"You were a loyal pawn in my little game of chess, my dear," said Vlad, his hands resting behind his back casually. "But it seems that you've let your defenses fall and left yourself wide open as a target." He pointed a black gloved hand straight at the choking ghost hunter. Demonic bright magenta flames flared from his fingertips.

"Checkmate."

He fired, eventually making it the only color that Valerie could see.

I'm forgiving what I've done

"Valerie! VALERIE! WAKE UP!"

Valerie's eyes snapped open as she felt something icy shook her awake. She realized she was no longer in her warm bed, but now on the cold hard floor next to it. There was a salty taste in her mouth of cold sweat and tears. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"Valerie, are you alright?"

The ghost hunter glanced beside her to find the familiar white haired, glowing green eyed face of Dani Phantom staring straight at her.

"Dani?" asked Valerie hoarsely. "What are you doing here? Where's Vlad?"

"What?" Dani looked a little bit frightened at the sound of her ex-father's name.

"He was right here just a second ago. He tried to kill me-"

The little ghost girl put a hand on the hunter's trembling shoulder. "Valerie, you just had a nightmare. You started talking in your sleep and then you were choking yourself, so I shook you awake before you hurt yourself."

I'll face myself
to cross out what I've become

Valerie clutched at her raw throat, remembering the invisible force that was crushing her windpipe. "A nightmare?"

Dani nodded. "Uh huh."

Vlad's voice kept echoing through her ears, as if he was still watching her.But it felt so real…

The sudden question of how Dani got into her room snapped Valerie out of her thoughts. "What are you doing here, kid?" she demanded. "I thought you had places to go."

Dani smiled. "I was just in the neighborhood and I wanted to see what you were up to."

Valerie couldn't believe what she was hearing from the little girl's mouth. "I don't understand!" she shouted hysterically, forgetting that her father was sleeping two rooms down from her. "I lied to you. I hurt you. I turned you over to Vlad for my own personal greed after he played me like a fool in his sick game. He had offered me a new apartment for your capture, Dani. Did you know that? A new apartment so my dad and I could finally get out of this dump of a city!" Angry tears were falling down Valerie's cheeks. "And through my stupid pride and anger, I even almost let him kill you because of my hatred for ghosts! Why did you come to see me after all that? You should hate me for what I've put you through tonight! I'm no better than that no good scumbag…I might as well die."

Dani guiltily looked straight into Valerie's angry eyes. "Don't say that! I never hated you, Valerie," she said softly. Her small echoic voice barely carried out of Valerie's room. "I always thought you were a kind person. If I thought you were a bad person, I would have let you get squashed in that abandoned building back there."

She's right… Valerie realized. I could have died back there.

"I really don't know why I came here," continued Dani, "but I just felt…safe when I was with you, like when I'm with my cousin."

Valerie snorted as she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "Phantom: safe? Yeah right…"

"No really! He's like a big brother to me when I'm with him." Dani put her hand on her chest where her still heart was. A sense of peace brought a calm smile to her lips. "I just feel like I can connect with him. I am his clone after all."

Valerie's jaw dropped. "You're a clone of Danny Phantom?"

Dani froze, covering one gloved hand over her mouth. "Oh no, I shouldn't have told you that!"

So that means that he's a half ghost, too? Valerie mused. I guess that would explain things a bit…

"You're not going to tell him that I said that, right?" asked Dani, her green eyes showing her worries.

Valerie looked at Dani puzzled. "Why would I do that?"

Dani's response was blank. "Huh?"

"I'm a ghost hunter, not a tattle-tale. Things like this happen, kid. I know that you're half ghost and probably Phantom is too, but I'll get around that later. You've been in some rough times, Dani, I can see that in your eyes. You're kind of like me."

Dani blinked, completely confused of what Valerie had said. "What do you mean?"

"Well, a couple of years ago, before I was a ghost hunter, I used to be a rich girl. My dad had a better job at the company that he worked at so I used to get everything I wanted. Then things turned ugly. Phantom came in with his ghost dog and trashed the place up."

"What? Danny would never do something like that!"

"Well, he did when I thought it at the time. Anyway, that's when it started to go all downhill for me. My friends ditched me because I was poor, my new social status made me invisible to the world and I had to move here after my dad lost his job contract with the company. No one ever talked to me. I felt like there was nothing I could do until one day, this package from Wisconsin came to me in the mail."

"It was from Vlad, wasn't it?"

Valerie gravely nodded. "I didn't know who he was at the time and really, I didn't care. I just had my mind set on getting my revenge on Phantom, but it was harder as I thought. Even though I hadn't captured him, Vlad kept sending me more weapons and equipment to take the ghost kid down. Eventually, I met Vlad a year ago when there was this big ghost invasion in Amity Park. A ghost king by the name of Pariah Dark tried to take over the human world."

Dani scratched her head, trying to make some sense of what the ghost king looked like. "I never heard of Pariah Dark before. I guess this must have happened before I was born."

"Well, you certainly didn't want to meet him. He was a big ugly guy with a bad temper. He swatted me like a fly when I fought him and broke my right arm in the process of saving Vlad and a friend of mine."

Dani flinched. "Ouch."

"Very."

"So what happened to you and Vlad after that?" asked Dani curiously.

"Very little," said Valerie. "He didn't show up in Amity Park for months until he bought Axion Labs and became the new owner. My dad got his old job back again, but he was still getting less than what he used to get paid. Vlad still phoned me from time to time, seeing how my job was going, but I didn't actually get to meet him again until tonight. I was guessing because being the mayor gave him little free time on his hands. He did, however, contacted me a few weeks after he won the election to see how everyone was doing. He told me he was installing a signal so he could reach me if he ever needed me for his services again. It was only tonight that he had used it but…" Her eyes hardened. "I'm never going to let him use it again.

"But the point is Dani is that now you have your own life ahead of you. You're free to do whatever you want. Maybe you'll find a family that will take you in someday." She chuckled. "Heck, I would even love to have you as a sister."

Dani's eyes lit up. "You really mean that?"

The ghost hunter shrugged. "Sure, why not-?"

Valerie was suddenly winded by a crushing bear hug from Dani, who knocked her back onto the floor with a hard thud. A big smile was on her tanned spectral face and Valerie couldn't help but smile as well. Even though she was a ghost, Dani was a good kid. Maybe she would let the little ghost girl stay with her for a bit until her strength returned.

Erase myself
and let go of what I've done

"Uh, Dani; choking, not breathing…"

"Sorry…" Dani let go, but not before she let out a loud yawn.

"You tired, kid?" Valerie asked.

Dani rubbed her eyes with the back of her black gloved hand. "'Kind of."

Valerie went over to her dresser and went through it until she salvaged a pair of bright orange flannel pajamas with tiny sparkly yellow stars that decorated the long sleeves of the shirt part. "Here, put these on." Valerie tossed the clothes to Dani. "I only got to wear these a few times until they shrunk in the wash, so they'll probably fit you."

But Dani just stared at the pajamas as if it was some sort of sacred offering. She had never received a gift before in her life. Vlad had given her life and shelter, but never once did he give her a present through his love for her. He had only made her because he was creating the perfect clone of Danny. He never wanted a daughter. He only wanted a perfect half-ghost son. "No, I couldn't-"

"Go on, try them on," Valerie insisted. "It'll be better than sleeping in those worn out clothes."

Dani looked at the pajamas once more and summoned her bluish-white haloes, changing her back to her human form (which Valerie still couldn't get used to seeing). After quickly changing out of her dirty clothes, Dani felt warmer under the flannel material than she did in her worn out sweatshirt. She had to roll up the sleeves a little bit, but she didn't mind about the bagginess of the pants.

"Thanks, Valerie," Danielle said sleepily, climbing into bed while Valerie pulled the covers over her. "I wish… I could repay you somehow..."

Valerie smiled as she slipped the covers over the little ghost girl. Eventually, Danielle shut her tired eyes and fell in a deep asleep for the first time in her months of hiding in the cold dark city alleys. Grabbing a spare blanket and pillow out of her closet, Valerie tip-toed quietly into the living room and settled down on the couch. She looked down the hall where her room was.

"You've already have, Dani," she said softly with a warm smile. "You've already have."

Finally, Valerie closed her eyes and let the warm embrace of sleep take her.

What I've done
Forgiving what I've done