Three days later {Dani's P.O.V.}
I groaned and flopped back on the bed in the medical bay of Stark tower. I'd just gotten back from fighting with the lunch lady. The past three days had been absolutely nuts. I had to go to the bathroom every time I need to change, and each time it seemed to take longer to take down the ghost. My ribs where almost completely healed. Most people would pry give anything to be staying in Stark tower with him and Pepper but I'd been stuck in the medical bay for the past three days with nothing to do but sleep. Pepper and Stark wouldn't let me go anywhere but the bathroom, though neither knew that I'd left on several occasions to fight ghosts. I'd run into Iron man several times, exchanged some more witty banter, drove him a little nuts, the usual.
"Jarvis I swear if I have to sit here for one more minute with nothing to do I'm going to throw myself out a window," I exclaimed, glancing up at the ceiling.
My breath hitched slightly as my side tingled. My ribs maybe mostly healed but they still hurt slightly. I heard a chuckle from the doorway and I turned to see Stark and Pepper walking towards me.
"Please tell me I can leave this damndable medical ward I swear it feels like I'm in jail," I groaned, glaring up at the ceiling again.
"Yes you can after we give you a checkup to see how your ribs are," Pepper replied. I groaned again.
"Fine anything to get out of here," I replied, sitting up. Jarvis ran a scan on me which only took about a minute, and Stark removed the bandaged from around my stomach. I'd noticed the large purple and black bruises the first night here, but now the bruise was completely yellow and looked significantly smaller.
"Okay that's not possible," Stark exclaimed.
"What?" I asked, playing innocent.
"Those bruises where massive, and black and purple three days ago. They should still be purple and black right now, but their almost gone," Stark stated, glancing up at me. I looked at him with a questioning look, trying to act as if I didn't know what he was talking about.
"I've finished my scan on Dani. Her ribs are almost completely healed," Jarvis announced. I paled and I felt like I was going to sink through the floor at any second. Stark and Pepper both had shocked expressions on their faces.
"That's not possible," Pepper stated, taking a step towards me. I scooted backwards on the bed and my back hit the wall.
"Ugh you sure it's not normal?" I asked, looking between them.
"No it's not normal," Stark stated.
"Huh," I muttered, looking away from them.
"So your heart beats super slow, you have a very low body temperature, and you heal unnaturally fast. Is there anything else about you that we should know?" Stark asked, taking another step towards me. I felt like I wanted to melt into the wall. He looked slightly angry, well maybe a little more than slightly angry. I could understand why though I had been lying to him all this time, and he'd let me stay in his tower.
"I… I…" I glanced between the two people for a second not sure what to do.
Sure Clockwork told me all about them. He told me that even though Stark may seem like an ass at times that he's still a nice guy, but I just couldn't get thoughts of the GIW and Vlad out of my head. I shook my head and pushed myself as far back as I could go, which wasn't far seeing as how my back was literally against the wall. Pepper placed a hand on Stark's shoulder and he glanced back at her for a second before looking back at me.
"Dani what's going on?" Pepper asked.
All I could see was the memory of when Valerie had first found me and found out I was half ghost. She'd turned me right over to Vlad, and yeah sure Stark seemed to sort of get along with my alter ego, but if they really knew what I was would they still feel the same way? I shook my head, and let my intangibility wash over me. I can't do this, I know Clockwork wanted me to be here for whatever reason but I can't do this. It was as if all my instincts had kicked into over drive and they were screaming at me to run.
"No, I… I… I can't," I exclaimed, phasing through the wall. Once I was on the other side of the wall I quickly turned into Phantom, and flew up through the roof. I kept flying heading towards the city limits.
"Dani stop," Iron man shouted, floating in front of me. I stopped and stared at him for a moment, my eyes wide in fear.
"No, stay away from me," I shouted, turning and flying off in the opposite direction. I heard a frustrated sigh from behind me. I was so focused on getting away from Iron man that I didn't notice the rocket headed straight for me.
"Dani look out," Iron man shouted.
I turned just as the rocket slammed into me. I tumbled to the ground and landed heavily on the ground, a crater forming beneath me. I groaned and looked up to see Skulker floating above me. Oh great I so don't need this right now. Suddenly several mini rockets collided with Skulker sending him flying into the ground.
"Hey metal head back off," Iron man shouted, aiming his rockets at Skulker. I tried to stand up but everything seemed to be moving all at once. I think I might have hit my head on that landing.
"I don't have time for you," Skulker growled, turning away from Iron man and towards me.
I groaned. Just what I need, a pissed of Skulker attacking me while I pry have a concussion. This is so not going to end well. Skulker started to move towards me, and I stumbled backwards slightly. Iron man fired his rockets but they phased right through Skulker and hit the ground.
"Damn it," Iron man growled. I fired an ecto blast at Skulker but he dodged it. I fired several more but with the way everything was spinning I couldn't shoot straight.
"Is that the best you can do Whelp?" Skulker asked.
"Not by a long shot," I growled.
I took a deep breath and let out a ghostly wail. Iron man and Skulker both covered their ears as the sound reverberated around us. The sound waves crashed into Skulker and he was sent flying backwards. He crashed into a wall and the head of his suit popped off revealing the tiny green blob inside. I grabbed my thermos and quickly sucked him into it, capped the thermos and placed it back on my belt.
"Dani are you okay?" Iron man asked, walking towards me. I took a step away from him and groaned as my limbs protested the movement, and I was starting to see black spots. Suddenly the white rings traveled up my body and I no longer had the strength to stay standing and everything went black…
A few minutes earlier {Stark's P.O.V.}
"Dani what's going on?" Pepper asked.
I watched Dani as her eyes seemed to grow wider with each passing second. I was slightly pissed off at the fact that she'd lied to use about this. I mean I let her stay in my tower and she doesn't tell me she can heal super-fast. But that feeling was slowly being squashed down by the look of absolute fear on Dani's face. She seemed to be lost in thought for all of about three seconds before she replied.
"No, I… I… I can't." At that she melted through the wall and all I could do was stand there a shocked look on my face. How in the hell did she do that?
"Ugh sir you may want to see the video feed from the next room," Jarvis exclaimed. I raced out of the room and back to my lab. I pulled up the video feed from the room next to the medical bay and watched as Dani came out of the wall. Suddenly a white ring formed around her mid-section, split in two and traveled up her body turning her into Phantom. Okay I didn't see that coming. Danni shot up off the ground and disappeared through the ceiling,
"Wait is that Phantom that ghost you've been talking about for the past month?" Pepper asked. I nodded my head.
"I have to go after her," I stated, moving over to where the suit was. With the help of Jarvis I had the suit on in seconds and I was flying after Dani. I could see her up ahead of me, and I noticed she was flying towards the city limits.
"Dani stop," I shouted, floating in front of her. Her eyes went wide in fear and she floated backwards a bit.
"No, stay away from me," She shouted back, turning and flying off.
I sighed and started following her. I don't understand why she's so scared of me. What happened to her to make her not trust people like this? That's when I noticed the rocket headed right for her. I was too far away from her to stop it from hitting her.
"Dani look out," I shouted.
Dani turned just as the rocket slammed into her, and she was flung down onto the ground a crater forming beneath her. I could see that Skulker ghost floating in front of her and I scowled behind my mask. I fired several mini rockets at him and they hit him in the back sending him flying into the ground.
"Hey metal head back off," I shouted, aiming my rockets at Skulker. I could see Dani trying to stand up but she seemed to wobble and couldn't seem to stand up all the way.
"I don't have time for you," Skulker growled, turning towards Dani.
I growled as he moved towards Dani and she stumbled backwards. I fired my rockets but they passed harmlessly through him. Damn it the only reason I was able to hit him before was because I caught him off guard. I could see Dani firing some sort of green energy from her palm at Skulker but he dodged most of them, though a majority of them didn't go anywhere near Skulker. Okay so usually she has better aim than this.
"Is that the best you can do whelp?" Skulker asked.
I felt my blood boil at his taunt. There was nothing I could do to help her and she couldn't even seem to aim straight right now. Why I felt so protective of her I don't know but the thought that I couldn't help her made me mad as hell.
"Not by a long shot," Dani growled.
She took a defensive stance, and took a deep breath. I wasn't prepared for what came next. She opened her mouth and a loud wailing sound emanated from her mouth. I could literally see the vibrations from it moving from her mouth out towards Skulker. I covered my ears as the sound reached me. It was so high in pitch I thought my ear drums were shattering. Skulker went flying backwards into a wall and the force knocked the top of his metal head off. I could see a tiny green blob sticking out of the top of the helmet. Dani grabbed a thermos off her belt and sucked the tiny blob inside then put the thermos back on her belt.
"Dani are you okay?" I asked after a second, walking towards her.
She took a step away from me, then groaned. Suddenly the rings appeared and traveled across her body, turning her glowing green eyes crystal blue, her white hair raven black, and her clothes into the one's Pepper had bought her yesterday. Her eyes closed and she fell forward. I reached out and caught her before she hit the ground. I picked her up bridal style and flew off towards the tower…
~(^.^)~
Several hours later {Dani's P.O.V.}
I groaned and shifted on the bed I was lying on. My mind was foggy and I couldn't seem to focus. I could hear voices around me, but my mind wouldn't focus. I groaned again. Why won't this head ache go away? And what the hell happened to me. Suddenly the images of the past day floated through my mind and fear took hold of my heart. I forced my eyes open and I found myself in the medical bay of Stark tower once more. Stark and Pepper where looking down at me. I started to freak out and I wanted to move away from them but my body protested this. My mind still felt foggy and everything seemed to hurt right now.
"Hey Dani welcome back to the land of the living," Stark joked, smirking. I stared at him for a moment. I wasn't expecting that reaction, he knows what I am but he isn't acting like Valerie or the GIW. My foggy mind was having a hard time processing this.
"You okay?" Pepper asked. I nodded my head.
"Just a little tired and confused," I muttered.
"Yeah well so are we. Why did you run away from us like that?" Stark asked. I stared at him for a moment, trying to process his question. I felt like a child in trouble with her parents.
"Because I haven't had too many good experiences with people finding out about what I really am, I've had people react… badly to finding out about me," I explained.
"And what exactly would that be again?" Stark asked. I stared at the two of them again. I really didn't want to tell them everything.
"A halfa," I replied. A quizzical look passed over both their faces.
"Halfa?" Pepper asked.
"Half human half ghost," I explained, looking at the two of them.
"Ugh how is that even possible?" Stark asked.
"I don't know. All I know is that I'm a halfa; I'm alive but dead at the same time. I belong neither to this world nor the ghost zone. And in most people's opinions all ghosts are evil so I obviously must be evil so I have to be destroyed, or as some people put it ripped apart molecule by molecule," I stated, looking down at my hands. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see that it was Pepper's hand.
"Well we're not like most people," She said, giving me a smile. I smiled back. Pepper glanced over at Stark and gave him so sort of look. He looked at her for a second, then he turned to me.
"So how would you feel about staying here with us in the tower, and helping me with the construction?" He asked. I smiled brightly.
"That would be great. It would give me time to help you design a ghost shield for the tower and your Iron man suit so you don't have another mishap with Technus again. And I can help you design some weapons for your suit that will actually effect ghosts," I replied.
"Exactly how do you know how to design these things?" Stark asked.
"My friend Danny's parent's where inventors and ghost hunters. They built weapons capable of harming ghosts, and they built a ghost shield. Oh I'll have to build a couple of spector deflectors for you two so ghosts can't overshadow you," I explained.
"So you stole the designs from a couple of ghost hunters?" Stark asked, raising an eyebrow a smirk playing on his face.
"Well Danny gave them to so it wasn't really stealing since technically he owns the designs since they belong to his parents," I answered, smirking. Pepper shook her head but I could see a smile spreading across her face.
"You think you're ready to get started on those designs?" Stark asked.
"I think so, I just passed out from hitting my head and because I used too much energy using my ghostly wail. It is my most powerful attack after all," I replied, standing up. The room spun for a second then everything was fine. I followed Stark up to the lab where he'd been working on his suit. And I've got to say I haven't felt this happy in a long time…
Author's note: Again sorry if any of the character are a bit OC I'm having trouble portraying Stark interacting with Dani for some reason. To me he seems a little soft around her in this story, and not at all like his usual sarcastic self. Please review to let me know what you think.
