A/N: AHAHAHAHAH! OK, I didn't scrap this, after all. REEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAD! READ 'TILL YOUR EYEBALLS ARE FREAKING SORE!

Disclaimer: FOR THIS ENTIRE STORY, I do not own Danny Phantom and all related characteres.

Chapter 2: Capture

Danny Phantom floated lazily through the sky of Amity Park, invisible. It was almost dusk, and some of the clouds in the sky had disappeared, so the first night stars were visible against the blood red of the sunset.

It would've been very beautiful if it hadn't been so depressing.

Wind stirred up dust and small debris. The streets were filled with an unnerving silence that seemed even louder than noise. Danny studied the buildings and paths, the rubble on the roads, with a sad interest. He'd been on patrol since a month after the war started, and nothing ever really changed, but this time something was different. Something wasn't like it was earlier today. He couldn't tell if it was bad or not, but still, it was slightly creepy. Like the feeling that you're being watched.

He sighed a sigh that no one could hear, what with being high above the town, and figured that he was just being paranoid. Amity had been deserted for months now, and besides, he was invisible. Nothing could be watching him.

Oh, how very wrong he was.

There was a FZZZZZZZZZZZT noise as a gun fired. An ecto-ray, no doubt. Its beam whizzed through the air so fast his eyes only perceived a deadly green blur passing so close to him it ruffled his hair and warmed the side of cheek. Although he was momentarily stunned, he quickly collected himself and looked around wildly. He couldn't see where it had come from.

One thought lodged in his brain: Get away.

Legs transforming into a squiggly tail, Danny shoot upwards another fifty feet, then rocketed to his left. He couldn't mindlessly lead whatever was firing at him to the Resistance HQ; they could be working for Shade.

Another shot rang out; this one was different than the first. Instead of a bright fizzling beam of green energy, this one was bright blue, and it was more of a shining azure jet.

It was also just a tad slower than the first, Danny dodged it (but still with some effort- the power radiating off of it was oddly nauseating) and swirled around, again trying to locate his attacker. He thought he saw a small blur of red and black duck behind a building that wasn't demolished, but then something happened.

The strange nauseating feeling came back, like he was about to throw up, but it was getting stronger every millisecond, and the strange power seemed to be coming form behind him.

With a thrill of horror, he spun round, only to be caught squarely in the chest by the blue beam. As the energy sparked up his body, it made him weak, and he returned to visibility. Actually, that weak feeling was growing… and growing… but how had it hit him?

As he tumbled to the earth, a flurry of thoughts fought for attention in his foggy brain:

That ray must've been heat-seeking or something! That's how it hit me, it just turned around! Wait, what the- oh, brilliant. I bet it's also a tranquilizer. Whoopee. At least I don't seem to be transforming… that ground looks hard…

Danny struggled to keep himself afloat, but the weird drugged feeling only permitted him to slow himself down every couple of seconds. This made it so that at least he wasn't going to hit the ground at full force, but still, it would be painful.

Luckily for him, he was out before his body made contact with the asphalt.

"Get up, spook!"

Danny just groaned. His ribs ached, were they broken…? Thank god he hadn't landed on his head. But now he seemed to be lying face-up on a hard, rough surface… pavement, a road. His mind came into focus a little more, just enough to register two things: The inside of his eyelids, and the sick feeling that still lingered.

Almost grunting from the effort, he opened his eyes, and as his vision cleared and the world stopped spinning, he saw who was looming over him.

Wearing her red and black suit, gun pointed firmly at his head, was Valerie Grey.

The pain seemed to vanish as total shock overtook his system. His was too stunned to say anything, and at first too perplexed to think or comprehend, but he eventually registered the fact that Valerie was here. For real. Six months had passed; she had survived that long…

Then, were there other humans alive as well…? God, he sure hoped so.

"V-Valerie? What-" He cut off in mid-sentence as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He hadn't noticed it, but he had been attempting to sit up in order to see her better, and his body didn't like that. Moaning, he slumped back to the ground. Sleep sounded like a wonderful idea, but apparently Valerie thought otherwise.

"I said, get up!" She jerked the gun skywards for emphasis.

"Okay, okay…" Danny mumbled. His emotions were torn at the moment; it was great to know the Valerie was alive and (mostly) well, but he had to remind himself that in his current form, Valerie was an enemy. He was in trouble.

Danny once again attempted to stand, propping himself up by his elbows, but a swooshing sensation made them slip. His vision went dark and blurry, and for a moment it seemed as though he was going to pass out again.

"I-I can't…"

Valerie glared at him, and then sighed. "I guess that weapon was just a smidge too powerful… not that I care about your health. Of course, you could just be lying…"

"I'm not!" Danny spat back defiantly. It was incredibly annoying to be in pain and having someone question whether or not it actually hurt.

"Watch your tongue, spook. Alright, you're coming with me. Got that?"

"I don't think so!"

"And what will you do to stop me?" Danny could see Valerie's gloating smirk beneath her mask, her eyes said it all. Phantom was helpless at the moment.

She bent down and flipped him onto his stomach abruptly and roughly (producing a grunt and a wince from Danny) and grabbed both his wrists, yanking them together behind his back.

Phantom could hear a shuffling noise behind him as one of Valerie's hands retreated, like she was searching around in her pockets or backpack. As Danny eyed the pavement, he briefly considered shaking her off and making a break for it- this was definitely a situation worth panic- but her hand was like a vice grip; he was sure that if he had circulation it would be cut off by now. Even if he could get her off him, he still wasn't sure if he could stand. Crashing onto a road will do that to you.

As Phantom's mind desperately ran through possible means of escape, he felt something rough and scratchy being placed on his wrists. A rope, an old one.

"Oh, C'mon!" He hissed under his breath. He tried phasing, and then an ecto-blast, but nothing seemed to be working.

"Don't try and struggle, scum. That gun was designed to short-circuit your powers and knock you out… but that second feature seems a bit faulty. Don't worry, they'll come back," She added, feeling Danny go still with fear, "But in the meantime, this rope will do the trick. I've had for a while, I hope you don't mind." She said with sinister sweetness.

Phantom could feel himself sweating, had he really gone down with barely any fight? And now he was being captured by Valerie. Swell. Just swell.

Danny couldn't keep in a grimace as she tightened the bonds one last time, digging the scratchy rope into his wrists, binding them together. He could almost imagine a greenish dim glow to them that was keeping his powers at bay, and he was certain they would be covered in ectoplasmic blood and raw within minutes.

Grabbing the back of his shirt, she pulled him none too gently to his feet. Danny took a sharp intake of breath when his torso bent, and another tidal wave of dizziness hit him once he was standing. His vision swam, and he felt himself leaning on a not-very-happy-looking Valerie. Once it had cleared, however, he realized that his legs could more or less support him. Armed with this information, Danny gathered his strength for a last-ditch (and really quite desperate) effort to lose Valerie.

Bending down and shifting his weight, he somehow managed a sweeping kick that connected with Valerie's ankles and knocked her off her feet. The only problem was that her hand had shot out and grabbed his bonds as soon as she realized what was going on.

Danny tried to pull away, but that proved only to help Valerie as she relentlessly used him to pull herself back to her feet. "You'll pay for that, spook!"

Phantom was about to snarl some sarcastic quip back at her when Valerie jabbed three of her fingers into his injured ribcage.

He hissed in pain and hunched his shoulders, shuddering. It felt as though a rusty dagger was being thrust into his side, pressure on his ribs was brutal.

"Don't like that, do you?" Valerie smirked. Phantom glared. At the moment, he was reminded of all the close calls he had had with her before the war started. His frown melted off his face as that memory sparked thoughts of all the going-ons of less than a year ago… But that cloud wait. Never mind his misery; there might be other humans alive! Valerie couldn't have survived this long alone, could've she…?

Misreading his look of depression and then determination, Valerie spat in Danny face "Oh, you're not escaping me this time, spook." She tightened her hold on his bonds, and then withdrew a gun from her backpack. Danny immediately tensed as she thrust it into his back, and commanded "Walk. If you don't, fine, I'll just try out this shiny new toy."

Danny's deduction overwhelmed his anger at her last statement. 'Shiny new toy…?' Where the hell would she get a new gun in the midst of an apocalypse?

Shoving that thought aside, he begrudgingly complied to follow Valerie's order. Trying to retain his pride and keep a cool head, he trudged through the wreckage and rubble- towards the opposite direction of Fenton Works.

Speaking of Fenton Works…

'Aw, god…" Danny thought. 'The guys are gonna kill me for this.'

A/N: Poor freaking Danny! Eh, I had to keep as Phantom for this entire time... Actually, you won't be seeing much of Fenton in this fic. Um, or maybe you will, I haven't written that far ;-;

Yay for Danny going all Sherlock on Valerie. Speaking of Val, she's a reeeeaaaallllly fun char to write about.

Annnnnnd next chapter might take a while. I have two other actual stories that I've been working on... I'll try for a week, maybe two, even three.

I'm out of things to say. REVIEW IF YA WANNA SEE MORE! Peace :)