Hi.

Yup, another chapter. This one gave me almost no trouble at all (unlike the last two), so it is now up for your viewing pleasure (I hope).

The title is once again apt, as various characters (and readers) will be shocked. Promise!

Love and adoration to all who review! Thanks to hermie-the-frog, Epona Harper, Nikky Phantom of the Opera, The Fluff Ghost, purpledog100, egyptianqueen777, 'Quacked Lurker', Diamond Raider, Fan-Fic-CC27, Esme Kali Phantom, Unrealistic, acosta parez jose ramiro, ChatterPuncher, Meagainsttheworld, fan-girls2.0, Adran06, cariadiorarua, cordria, Nonasuki-chan, Queen S of Randomness 016, Kyasarin-Maarukeehii, bluename, AirGirl Phantom (THREE TIMES! WOOT!), viciousberries (vicious how?), chaotic.calm (enjoy your vacation), and Warrior of Winds.

Right. I'm off to write chapter 5 now. It's Saturday at last! In the story! A date with Tuck and Val, one-sided Damon/Hoss moments (I hope), The late arrival of Writer and Ember, some Danny/Sam goopy goo, light Dani/Kevin, and perhaps some intense stuff with Danny reacting to the 'scary' comment. Still working on that one psychologically speaking. Also, that little cliffie on this one will need expanding, so I'm gonna go type till my fingers bleed. Ciao!

HiddenAuthor

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A Shocking Discovery

"He got away." Walker growled. Vlad shrugged, smiling.

"That's not my problem, Walker. I gave you an edge on him, and you let him go. Now you owe me."

"No, I don't think you understand the situation, Masters." Walker said, floating away towards the swirling ghost portal. "I didn't get what I wanted. And I don't like you. That's where we stand. Now give me one good reason I should even consider doing what you want me to." Vlad's look darkened.

"Because if you don't, I'll…"

"You'll…what?" Walker asked, narrowing his eyes and flying rapidly towards the billionaire. Out of instinct, Vlad's hand shot up to project an energy beam. The warden ghost grabbed it roughly and pulled him close.

"You don't get it, do you? You're human. I have hundreds of ghosts on the loose I don't hate nearly as much as I hate you and I'll capture each and every one. But you…" He threw the man back in disgust and floated away. "You aren't worth my time."

"Walker!" Vlad shouted. "Get back here!" The ghost didn't slow in the least.

"Call me when you have something to offer, Masters."

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Danny's expression soon fell as Wulf did not return the grin.

"Uh…whatso uppo?" Danny asked awkwardly, praying his hairy friend could figure it out. Wulf managed a short chuckle at that.

"I am speaking English now. So-so." Danny brightened.

"That's great!" He exclaimed. "That'll make things so much easier, and…" The wolf ghost held up a hand.

"Speak more slow. Not here. We need a place for hiding." Danny nodded quickly, and dove through the Nasty Burger rooftop. A few moments later, he came back up and motioned for Wulf to follow.

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"Alright, what's up?" Danny asked.

The two were in Danny's lair, in a small living room area, complete with basic furniture. With their house destroyed, his family had found the mazelike paths of his thankfully spared lair excellent – and free – shelter. All it took was a quick trip to Clockwork's to find out how to move his door. And his ability to decide how much gravity was where helped his dad get around while he was recovering. After they moved out into their rebuilt home, they'd left some stuff behind. Danny liked it; it was great for talking about evil plots and ghost invasions.

Wulf looked up at the seemingly endless crossings of floating stone paths and stairs between them and the starry night sky, confused. Danny bit back a laugh.

"Why are you in trouble?" He clarified.

"Walker is chasing me." The half ghost's face darkened.

"I thought you were cleared." He stated angrily. "That creep has no right to chase down…"

"He has right. I am guilty." Danny paused mid-rant.

"Huh?"

"I am guilty." Danny blinked for a few moments and fell back in his seat, sighing.

"Alright, Wulf. I'm going to need the whole story. Starting with what you did. I like you, but if you're using me to hide when you really did something wrong…"

"Ah." Wulf nodded understandingly. "Eh, keeping human things in Ghost Zone. Moving them around." Danny raised an eyebrow.

"What things?"

"These things." Wulf pulled out a wad of bills. Danny's eyes widened.

"Money? Wulf, what's going on here? Where did you get this, and why are you keeping money?" His friend snorted.

"Human money is handy for ghosts also. Skulktech makes much money from Masters, and others. Mine friends need to make money for our plan."

"You're not stealing it right?" Danny asked warily. Wulf shook his head quickly.

"No. We sell things to humans in disguise, or do shows."

"Oh." Danny paused. "What plan?" Wulf hesitated. "Look Wulf, I still don't know if I should help. Walker won't let me keep you here without a fight, and if what you're doing isn't legit…"

"Yes, okay." Wulf interrupted, holding up his hand. "I will explain."

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Dani glared moodily at Valerie as the older huntress ejected her from the Fenton Thermos. Val tensed. Her bedroom was private enough during the day, but she didn't want her stuff blown up!

"Look Dani, I'm sorry about what Kevin said, but I can't help it if he's a Huntress fan. I like Tucker. I don't need to steal a guy two years younger than me that I don't really know. So please stop trying to kill me." The ghost girl kept her glare for a few seconds, but seemed to deflate.

"Teach me?" She asked quietly. Val cocked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Teach me." Dani said. "I don't just want to be some Danny Phantom copy. Teach me what you know about ghost hunting."

"So you can be a Huntress copy?" Val asked quietly. Dani dropped down on the bed and punched the windowsill furiously.

"I can't win, can I?" She asked angrily. "What am I supposed to do?" Val smiled hesitantly and joined her on the end of the bed.

"Be yourself." She answered simply. "I can tell you like Kevin, and I think he might like you back. Once or twice I saw that vacant look on his face, and trust me; he wasn't thinking about Red Huntress." Dani blushed. "Don't change just for some boy, Dani. Before I started ghost hunting, I had to act like the perfect, icy princess. I was popular; I could have any boy I wanted. And I was completely miserable. Give Kevin a shot at the real Dani Fenton. Even if it doesn't work out, being true to you is more important than any crush."

"But I can't show him everything. What about my ghost powers?"

"I said Dani Fenton. It may have taken a stubborn jerk like me a few years to figure it out, but you're more than some ghost, Dani. You have a lot to offer just as a person. I promise."

"But why did he have to be into you?" Dani asked helplessly, with a small smile on her face. Val shrugged, grinning.

"How can he help himself? Just look at me." She answered in a faux haughty attitude, throwing her hair back over her head. The two of them laughed a little, and Dani absently wiped her face off.

"Thanks Valerie." The huntress grinned.

"Don't thank me yet. You just ruined your makeup and I told Kevin you'd meet him in five minutes." Dani's eyes widened in dismay. Val smiled. "Come on." She offered, leading Dani to the restroom. "I probably have something in here that would work for you. Rule number two; tough girls can look pretty too."

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Ember and GhostWriter sat silently in the lower level of his vast library.

"Do you think Wulf is okay?" Ember asked quietly. Writer shrugged, looking troubled, and winced as he moved his right arm.

Walker and his troops had stormed into his lair bare seconds after he clicked his secret door shut. GhostWriter allowed them full access to his lair, hoping they would be satisfied and leave. But they'd followed Wulf across half the ghost zone and had seen him enter the vast library. Despite Writer's loud protests that he had sent Wulf away when he heard he was on the run, the troops had immediately ransacked half of his home.

In the end, it was a small sound that did it. Paper ripping. Writer didn't remember much after that point, but had woken up with his head in Ember's lap on the floor of his lair. As long as he stayed inside, Walker couldn't arrest him for what his girlfriend assured him was a very violent protest to damaging his books. But troops surrounded his home, and he couldn't risk leaving by the secret exit until Bullet was done searching the surrounding area for Wulf. They were trapped.

"I don't know." He answered honestly. "I agree with the plan we put together, but…" He shrugged again. "I don't really know Danny. The one time I met him, he acted like a wicked, impulsive, destructive child. I can hope he's matured somewhat by now, but I only have your word and Wulf's on that. And I remember what his potential future did." Writer sighed. "I know it would have been dangerous, but I wish I'd gone to see him before. At least I'd feel better about sending Wulf to hide with him."

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Tucker rolled his eyes and moodily sipped on his shake.

"And I couldn't go with Valerie why?" Sam raised her eyebrow.

"Because Dani is probably going to go nuclear. Because she asked you to stay here. And because Danny said he might be a while, and I'm not waiting here for him alone." Tucker snorted. "What? The 'biggest losers at Casper High' should stick together."

"You know what I meant!" Tucker retorted. "Why would we want to hang out with those goons anyway?" Sam smirked.

"What, not crushing on Paulina anymore?"

"Nope. Too scared of Val." Sam laughed. Tucker grinned. "Seriously, though. Val's tough, funny, pretty…why would I mess that up for some pretty face?" He shrugged. "To tell the truth, I still don't know why she said 'yes' to me anyway."

"How could she resist?" Sam teased, running a finger slowly along Tucker's forearm. "Just look at you." The two of them laughed, and ordered more shakes.

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"Ghosts have always lived alone in the ghost zone," Wulf began, "or created haunts in the human world. Good ghosts would stay alone, with no way to live for long with humans, and too much fear for them to be safe. But you are changing this."

"Huh?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"You prove that not all ghosts are bad; people here are not as afraid. So mine friends wish to create homes here too. To be with humans again." Danny sputtered for a second. This was new.

"Uh…not sure people would be cool with that." He cautioned.

"We would hide." Wulf explained. "For a while, from ghosts and humans. We only want to buy the homes now."

"That's it?" Danny deadpanned. Wulf nodded. "So why the secrecy?"

"The council has been scared of you for a long time. They worry that with your power, you might try to be ghost king, and start another Great War. But Amity, your haunt, is the only place where we could go. If they found out other ghosts were coming to you…" Danny's eyes widened.

"Oh."

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Maddie put down the soldering gun and turned towards her husband.

"Jack, have you seen Danny?" Jack nodded absently while working on his own laser device.

"Mm-hmm. He went into his lair with some sort of giant hairy monster."

"Oh. Do you know if the, uh, monster is staying for dinner?"

"Beats me. It looked like it was in a hurry; it might just leave." Sighing, Maddie finished her last circuit and picked up a new board.

"Jack?"

"Hm?"

"When did talks like this become normal?"

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"So I turned off the hot water!" Dani shouted gleefully. Kevin was gasping for air. To their side, a small pile of books lay forgotten.

"How can you get away with all that?" He asked, laughing. "If my little brother tried half that stuff to me, I'd have strung him up by the toenails." Dani raised an eyebrow. "It's, uh, something my grandpa says." He said sheepishly. She smiled.

"Aw, Danny's a big pushover." She said airily. "I mean, yeah, he gets back at me sometimes, but mostly he tries to look out for me. Besides, if he ever got on my nerves, I think I could take him." Kevin snorted good-naturedly.

"So you really like Huntress?" She asked. Well that came out of nowhere.

"Huh? I guess." He shrugged, at a loss. Where was this coming from? "She's tough, in-your-face, and she works hard to protect the city. And she does it without all those crazy ghost tricks Phantom can do."

"Wait, so just because Phantom can use ghost powers, he's a wimp?" Dani asked, glaring. Kevin quickly threw his hand up.

"No, no! I'm just saying she has to try a lot harder then him. That's all. Jeez, what's with the ghost talk?" Dani blushed.

"Sorry. I'm a Fenton; we tend to be a bit…obsessed." Kevin smiled.

"Eh, whatever. It's not like it took that long. It's only…" His eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! It's almost eight thirty! I gotta go!"

"Me too!" Dani said, eyes wide, as she grabbed her books. "I'm so sorry we didn't review more."

"What about tomorrow?" Kevin asked. Dani froze.

"Huh?"

"Tomorrow. Saturday? You? Me? Books?" Dani flushed, but nodded.

"Yeah. Sure. Meet me at the library?"

"How about the Nasty Burger?" Kevin asked. "My dad can't cook at all, and if I want to live till Monday, I'll need some food. Noon?"

"Sure." Dani said, grinning as she rushed out the door. "It's a date." Kevin froze in place for several long moments, completely missing the black and white streak that passed behind him.

"A date?"

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They were on the beach. It was the middle of summer, and Sam was safely hidden from the sun under a large black umbrella. Danny was on the towel to her left, picking small purple grapes from a bunch and dropping them into her mouth.

"Sam?" He asked affectionately. His dark hair hung in his face, still wet from his swim. She smiled.

"Sam?"

"SAM?"

Her eyes snapped open. Danny was two inches in front of her face, green eyes locked on her face.

"Gah!" She tensed, sitting up sharply and banging her head on his. Wincing, he backed up a step.

"…Ow!" He groaned, holding his forehead. "Every time! Someone wakes me up, I wake someone else up; I always get hit in the head!"

"Give me a good reason for you waking me up," Sam growled, wincing, "or I'll hit you again."

Rolling his eyes, Danny walked through the wall, and came back with Wulf. Sam stared for a second. Danny laughed.

"You did say that next time the inter-dimensional fugitive was staying at your house."

"And ah, why can't he stay with you?" Sam asked, eyeing the giant furry creature. Danny winced, rubbing his neck.

"Uh, technically if I keep him in my house or anything, I'm harboring a fugitive. But Wulf here," he finished, pulling the ghost to his side, "says I can't get in trouble if you're the one keeping him. And you're a human, so Walker can't punish you either."

"Oh." Sam said weakly. "Um, we have a big attic. He should be okay up there." Danny nodded, and gave her a quick hug.

"Thanks Sam." He said quickly, and pulled Wulf up through the ceiling. Sam groaned, falling back on her pillow.

"Yeah, yeah. Next time bring grapes."

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Danny looked around the attic approvingly. Lots and lots of stuff. How had the Mansons grabbed this much extra junk in a few months? He shrugged. Maybe this part of the house survived the explosion. Breaking away from his thoughts, he saw Wulf glancing around with the same look of approval. They could see a little too well though. Ghost energy; hopefully nobody would see the extra light, as little as it was, up here and check on it.

"This will do." His friend said, wandering into a corner and throwing himself against the floor.

"Should I go talk to Writer or Ember?" Danny asked, changing back to his human form to give off less light. Wulf shook his head.

"No. They will come later. It is all planned ahead; they will leave when it is safe, and come here to you. We will have to wait." The ghost boy nodded. Wulf smiled.

"You look well. A fighter. It is good for you to protect your friends like this." Danny shrugged, slightly red. "Older, too."

"It's been two years. Humans age more than ghosts do." Danny answered, rubbing his neck. "I'm just glad nobody in town figured out that Phantom and Fenton always look the same. It's kind of obvious." Wulf shook his head.

"Not what I meant. You look more serious. You will try hard to protect us, I think, now that you know we do nothing wrong." The furry ghost shrugged. "Maybe it is the hair only. It is a good look for you." Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Eh?" Wulf shrugged again and curled up to sleep. Weird. He had the same haircut.

Shrugging, Danny focused and let as much energy as he could flow through his human body. It was still a weird sensation, even after all this time. You tend to associate energy and heat, but ectoplasm is never hot, even when it burns. It's cold. Danny shuddered slightly and opened his eyes. He was in his room.

"Great." He muttered. "So now I'm harboring ghost fugitives. The Council must really love me." Groaning, he threw himself onto his bed and shut his eyes. He'd figure out what to do tomorrow. After he apologized to Sam for waking her up early. And for leaving her at the Nasty Burger. And for waking her up again. And for dropping off a hairy inter-dimensional criminal at her house.

As Danny slept, the moon rose, and its light filled his bedroom through the window. As used to the moon as he was, Danny didn't react at all, though something was slightly different this night. As the moon shone in through the window, some of its rays were reflected.

Off of several tiny, individual white hairs on top of Danny's head.