Chapter 2

(A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed. And for giving me an awesome idea for the rest of the fic, I dedicate this chapter to Thunderstorm101. And in case any of you were wondering, Gothic & Lolita Bible IS an actual publication.)

At Q Branch's headquarters (a series of abandoned tunnels beneath London), Bond stood, tapping his foot nonchalantly, as he listened to Q explain the new gadget he was to use in the field. "This, 007," said Q as he held up a clip fille with bullets, "may seem to be an ordinary case of fully-jacketed firearm projectiles, but in reality, they are coated with a substance called ectoplasm, and will cause especially harsh damage to any creature whose body is based on the same substance."

"Fascinating, Q," said Bond, pretending to be bored. He walked around the lab and immediately began scanning for whatever could be useful to him. He took the usual: His Walther PPK, his watch with built in laser cutter, his glasses with special x-ray lenses, and his high-tech cellphone with its hundreds of special features. He also took the special bullets.

Finally, as he finished briefing Bond, Q said, "One more thing, 007: Take this Geiger Counter. It is specially attuned to the spectral wavelengths of ectoplasm." "Thank you, Q," said Bond, pocketing the device and leaving.

Minutes later, Bond was speeding toward the airport in his Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, recently souped up by Q to include all the usual refinements to his cars. He couldn't believe that the Service was sending him chasing after some CIA fairy tale. He didn't even believe in ghosts, for Heaven's Sake!

An hour later, Bond sat on the plane in his usual first-class accommodations, studying the dossier on Danny Phantom. It contained all the usual: criminal records (none officially), age (unknown, but presumably early teens), modus operandi (ghost-hunting, oddly enough), known associates (only two unidentified human teenagers), and (this was a new one), known superhuman abilities.

The flight attendant came up to him and said, "May I get you anything, sir?" He looked at her with his trademark smile and said, "Vodka martini. Shaken, not stirred." As he waited for his drink, he thought about where he'd be staying. He'd spoken to his cousin, who had offered to allow Bond to stay in his home (which, luckily, was in Amity Park). He hadn't seen his cousin since they were children, but Bond was looking forward to finally meeting his first removed cousins, Daniel and Jasmine.

It was 4:00 p.m., local time. Danny sat in Sam's bedroom, waiting for her to finish getting ready so he could take her picture. He still found it hard to believe that he was about to take pictures that would appear in an actual magazine. He didn't have the training for fashion photography, but with a subject like Sam, how could he go wrong?

Sam sat before her bathroom mirror, fixing her hair, nails, and makeup to gothic perfection. She truly disliked all this primping, but it was a small price to pay for something that would piss her parents off royally. And besides, she to admit that she looked gorgeous.

(A/N: I couldn't really figure out how to describe the dress, so I'll just leave you with a link to the picture: http(colon)//www(dot)deviantart(dot)com/deviation/58710172/ )

Sam stood in the doorway, and said, "I'm ready, Danny." Danny took one look at how lovely Sam was and his nose started to bleed. "Danny, are you all right?" asked Sam, concerned. "I'm fine, Sam," said Danny quickly, holding a tissue to his nose, "The air in the room is a little dry. You should think about getting a humidifier."

Danny spent the rest of the afternoon taking pictures of Sam in various provocative positions around her room. They decided on the 5 best and mailed them to the magazine. When they finally finished, Sam leaned over and kissed Danny on the cheek. Blushing deeply, he said, shocked, "Sam . . ." "Thank you, Danny, for everything," replied Sam, "I owe you big for doing this."

"It was nothing, Sam," said Danny, rubbing his cheek, "But, how did you know what to do so easily?" Sam chuckled and said, "I just asked myself, 'What would Paulina do?'."

They both laughed at that. Finally, Danny had to return home. Just as soon as he got in, he overheard his dad on the phone, saying, "Absolutely! No, no, it's no trouble at all. A week? Maybe 2 weeks? That's perfect! They'll be there." Hanging up, Jack called a family meeting.

"Everyone," he said, "My cousin James is visiting from England. He works for Universal Exports, and needs a place to stay for the next week or so while he's in America on business. So, he'll be staying here. Jazz, I want you and Danny to go and meet him at the airport tomorrow morning."

Tampa Bay, Florida, U.S.A.

Bond sat in the airport, reading the dossier, while his plane refueled. Suddenly, he got the feeling that he was being watched. Remaining calm, he stood up, walked around for a bit, and disappeared into the crowd.

Carlos, the young Cuban who had been hired to follow Bond, saw that he had gone. It was then that he felt the tip of a very sharp knife touching his back. A voice whispered into his air, "Listen carefully if you want to live: Walk alongside me as we're two old friends, talking." Carlos nodded, and they began to walk. "So tell," said Bond, knife still pressing against Carlos' flesh, "who sent you to follow me?"

The young Cuban shook his head vigorously and said, in a thickly accented voice, "I can't tell you that, man. A dude like that, you don't cross him." "Tell me," said Bond, darkly, "Or I'll kill you now." "You don't get it, man," said Carlos, sweating with fear, "He won't just kill me. The things I seen him do . . ." Bond was getting frustrated by the lack of cooperation. Who puts such fear in people that even threat of death won't get them to talking?!

Carlos, sensing Bond's momentary distraction, reached for the knife, but Bond quickly turned in into Carlos' side, and left the body sitting in a chair. Hearing the announcement that his plane was ready to depart, Bond marched through the terminal and took his seat, forcing thoughts of Carlos from his mind. He needed to concentrate on capturing Danny Phantom. But still, perhaps there was more to this mission than he had first believed.

(A/N: I can't believe that I've already gotten this fic put into 2 C2s!! And 6 reviews on chapter 1 alone!? Awesome.)

TO BE CONTINUED.