This Goes Beyond Obsession

.

"Da-nny, wh-ere's Paul-ina?"

The wind carried Sam Manson's weak voice into the cold night. It mixed with the stale, bloodied atmosphere, forever baring witness to Paulina's wrongdoings.

"Everything…hurts…"

Sam continued, her words winded and broken.

"Sam, don't move, okay? You got really hurt, but I'm going to…I'm going to make it better okay?" Danny ran a quivering hand through his black hair, "Dammit! I should've used my ghost powers sooner!" the man cursed, his eyes illuminating from sickly yellow to furious emerald.

Paulina watched the two, an odd mixture of satisfaction and guilt churning in her stomach. She was satisfied she took that monster down with three easy blows, but was guilty when her Phantom broke all his barriers and became a walking—or in this case, crouching— livid disorder.

"Danny?" Paulina called out when she noticed her Phantom spending too much time with the monster, "I think I hurt my leg. Can you help me up?"

Silence. Dead silence.

"What?" Danny finally growled as he craned his neck to the direction of the voice, "You-Paulina, what? Paulina, do you even hear yourself? Can't you see Sam's fucking bleeding on the ground and you're asking me to help you up because of a little damn scratch?"

The Latina never heard her Phantom swear, ever.

"Paulina, you're crazy. Insane!" Danny breathed out, his eyes flickering between blue and green, "Can't you see what you did to Sam?" his voice cracked, "She's on the ground, bleeding and—I can't—I can't deal with you right now."

Danny turned away from her as he carefully picked Sam up in his arms bridal style. As Sam was lifted off the ground, Paulina saw drops of blood ooze onto the concrete, joining the red puddle that already formed.

The girl was so entranced by the fluids that she was a little stunned by a bright light, indicating Danny transformed from Fenton to Phantom. Silky white hair, burning emerald eyes, lightly scarred pale skin, black and white suit that outlined taught muscles, that infamous "P" inside the "D", and an eerie white glow.

Again, Paulina's heart raced.

"But Danny! Don't be mad! I got rid of trash like her so you can spend time with me. That's what you always wanted since freshmen year, right?" the girl spoke up again in a stupendously sweet voice, a voice everyone in Amity Park recognized as the voice Paulina used to get whatever she wanted.

"Don't ever call Sam trash ever again," Danny craned his head once more and sneered, his green eyes glowing brightly at the Latina who was still on the ground, "and Paulina, freshmen year was three, almost four, years ago. Things changed. You of all people should –"

Sam's head lolled side to side onto Danny's chest, interrupting the man holding her.

"nnn..Dann-y. D-don't …ta-alk to he-er. Doc-cto's n-now." The girl mumbled, trembling lips forbidding her from forming coherent sentences.

The knife's handle was still buried deep within Sam's body, still robbing the thin but strong girl of her precious blood. If anything, Paulina noted, the blood's flow hasn't slowed, and the other two open wounds on her abdomen looked worse and worse.

'How long does it take to kill someone with blood loss?" The Latina asked absentmindedly, 'She's been holding on awfully long.'

Suddenly the faint smell of burning fuel mixed with the stale atmosphere. A light humming engine from above met all three teenagers' ears.

"Oh my God."

A new voice arrived, and Paulina finally added panic to her list of churning emotions.

Paulina tore her gaze away from the two and looked up into the dark sky to see the Red Huntress. a.k.a Ex-A-Lister Valerie Gray floating on her metallic hover board, her black and red helmet directed towards the horrific sight before her.

"Danny?" the Huntress' voice was laced with fear from behind her helmet, "What happened to Sam?"

The Huntress floated down quickly, and powered down her hover board. The girl took off her red and black helmet, freeing dark brown curls into the wind. Valerie stared directly at Danny and Sam, her green eyes mortified. Luminous eyes stared back, his eyes softening with relief when he recognized a friend.

"We had a little run in with Ms. Crazy back there." Danny nudged his chin in Paulina's direction and answered, his voice accusing and angry.

Valerie furrowed her brows and turned around to where Danny pointed.

Paulina felt Valerie's green eyes scan her, judging and confused; the stare enough to send pin-pricks down her spine.

"Who the hell is that?" the newcomer asked in disbelief, her eyes never leaving the 'stranger', "Why does she look like Sam? Is she one of those die-hard 'Phan-girls' trying to impersonate Sam again?"

'Wait,' Paulina thought in alarm, 'Other girls have done this before? I wasn't the first?'

Danny tired to laugh but it sounded more like breathy sobs, "She's a little different from the others. Look harder, Val. You might know her as the Queen of Casper High."

Valerie's eyes widened as she did another once-over; dark, smooth skin, short wavy black hair, obvious curves from underneath all the black clothing. Fake purple met malicious green and everything turned a million times worse.

"No way, are you—Holy shit. You are!"

The Queen Bee heard the Huntress finally acknowledge her with so much venom that even Sam had a run for her money.

"What the hell did you do, Paulina?" Valerie immediately strode to the girl, and roughly snatched her forearm up so she could stand upright. Paulina stumbled from the force but quickly recovered, dusting rubble from her leather jacket.

"What do you mean what did I do?" the Latina fought back, "I simply found a way to free Danny from that monster."

Valerie simply blinked with confusion before stumbling over her own words, "Mons—Sam? You're talking about Sam? Girl, are you okay? No, scratch that, are you even sane?"

"I am sane, bitch!" The Latina yelled back, "Why don't you stop getting in our business and leave us alone? We're doing okay without your nosey questions."

Valerie's brows furrowed and took multiple steps back from the currently unstable girl. A small, gurgled cough from behind the female ghost hunter brought her back to bigger issues.

"Danny," Valerie turned around and faced the bloodied couple, "fly Sam to the ER, quick. I'll deal with Crazy here. You and I both know you couldn't just leave Paulina here to run away while you took care of Sam."

Danny nodded in agreement and appreciation, his aura glowing brighter when he realized he didn't have to endure Paulina's advances and ludicrous phrases any longer all because of Valerie Gray.

Ever since the Disasteroid, the two had a serious conversation about their double lives, and called it quits between their one-sided rivalry—of course, Valerie almost blew Danny's head off when he admitted he's known of her secret identity since freshmen year. The two patrolled Amity Park with Sam and Tucker, expanding Team Phantom little by little. (Tonight was one of the rare nights The Huntress patrolled alone, as she understood Danny and Sam had a long-awaited date and Tucker had a last minute project to finish). Danny was glad he gained another best friend, one more support to his forever-ghost plagued, stressful life.

Danny grasped the barely conscious girl, nodded another thanks to the Red Huntress, and speed off into the night sky, morphing his legs into a translucent wispy tail.

The Queen Bee stared mesmerized at her love. The bright black and white spec grew smaller and smaller, but something dawned on the girl.

Never once did Danny Phantom spare a glance at her.

"N-no! Danny, wait! You didn't say good-bye to me!" The girl cried out as she ran in the direction Phantom flew to.

"Dan-ny! Come back! I—" The girl's loud cried abruptly stopped when she was yanked back roughly by none other than Valerie.

Valerie already had her red and black helmet on and the hover board quietly humming in the distance. In one hand, she held a cellphone—which was already dialing a number—while she held Paulina's jacket collar in the other. Paulina struggled against her captor's hold, but of course, Valerie had the upper hand. The Latina gave up, avoided all eye contact with Valerie, and lightly cursed and grumbled as she was dragged onto the metallic board and was forced to sit down. A cold band weaving around her wrist caught Paulina's attention. The girl looked at the foreign object and she tried her best to hold back shocked squeals and screams.

There on her wrists was a pair of handcuffs, bright green glowing handcuffs.

Paulina did not scream. She did not curse. Nor did she run away. All she did was finally look at Valerie, whose back was turned towards her as she talked to someone on her phone.

"Tuck, finally you picked up. I know—I know—Tuck! I know about your project," Valerie said in an agitated voice, "But you have to listen. It's an emergency."

Paulina momentarily forgot about the cuffs as she eavesdropped on the Huntress's conversation.

"It's Danny and Sam." A pause.

"Tucker! Hold up, will ya? Danny and Sam had a little run in with you-know-who. Okay, not little. Try, gigantic."

'You-know-who?' the Latina's brows furrowed and her lips thinned, 'that can't be me…but who else could this loser be talking about?'

"On a scale of one-to-ten? Eleven. Or twelve. The Queen decided to turn Sam into a human kebab. Danny flew in the direction towards St. Mercy South." Valerie said with anger, and paused to hear Tucker's reply.

"Thank you so much, Tuck. You know Danny's going to need as much support he can get right now."

"Yea, I'm dealing with her actually. Don't worry, she's not a ghost, but I know where people like her belong."

'What's she talking about?' Paulina's eyes narrowed, enough to bore holes through Valerie's back.

"Alright. Thank you so much. I'll be sure to fly down there as soon as possible. Bye."

The Huntress pressed the 'end' button on her cell and placed it in one of the many belt pockets around her waist. She then turned to Paulina, who still had her eyes narrowed, lips thin, and jaws clenched. She turned back and rolled her eyes as she walked towards the front of the board.

"Keep that up and your face will stick like that." Valerie said lightly as her foot pressed down on a pedal.

Suddenly, Paulina felt an odd sense of gravity over take her. The wind picked up with every second Valerie had her foot on the pedal, and that's when the Queen knew she was flying.

Flying. Just like her Phantom flies. Her Danny. The one who was supposed to fly her away tonight. Not that monster. Not Sam! Why was it always Sam!?

The strong breeze brought an uncomfortable shiver all over Paulina's body, especially around her stomach and thighs. Well, besides the fact those areas were still damp with the monster's blood, her stomach was exposed thanks to the black midriff shirt and the thin material pants.

"So why are you dressed like Sam?" Valerie's asked, her back still turned to the girl sitting on the back of the hover board.

Paulina blinked, "I…just wanted to try something new."

"Bullshit," the Huntress replied rapidly, "You and I both know that's bullshit. I'm going to ask you again: Why are you dressed like Sam?"

"I said I wanted to try something new! Get off my back, loser." The Latina exasperatedly replied.

"Really? So you're not trying to like, attract Danny with that camouflage of yours? I mean, you're not the only one to try this. Other girls tried looking like Sam in the past because they figured Danny was into the whole 'Doom and Gloom' deal, but you're actually an original," The ghost hunter's voice dipped with sarcasm, "you're the first to carry a freaking weapon! Usually it's just a love letter or a batch of cookies!"

Valerie smirked from behind her helmet when she heard Paulina simply huff in extreme annoyance. The cuffed girl didn't answer back, but Valerie assumed it was because she was on point with her little sarcastic chatter.

"There was a rumor going around school saying you were hunting my Phantom before you knew who he really was," Paulina started in a pompous voice in hopes of directing the conversation away from her, "You tried to hurt him, just like how I hurt Manson. We're alike, Valerie. We both have to hurt in order to get what we want."

Valerie was glad she was wearing her helmet or else she would've given away how much Paulina's statement got to her. Her momentary smirk transformed into a scowl.

"No, you got it wrong." the Huntress emphasized through tight lips, "You and I are nothing alike."

"Oh really?" The Queen Bee let out a short laugh. "So—"

"Really," Valerie interrupted before the girl said anything more, "I admit it. I was bitter. I thought Phantom and his stupid ghost dog were the reason why my father lost his job, I lost my home, lost all my belongings. And yes, I was hell-bent on trying to hunt Phantom down. But even before the Disasteroid, I saw Phantom do things no other ghosts would do; he saved lives, helped ghosts who were just a little lost, tried to fix property damage. After a while, it felt wrong to hunt him down, and when I found out Phantom was actually Danny Fenton, dorky, clumsy, Fenton, I knew I had to let go. I'm not going to tell you anything personal Paulina, but Danny and I worked it out. We admitted our faults, apologized, and everything's okay now."

"So you're not mad Sam stole Danny away from you?"

That was a rather…out-of-the-blue personal question.

Yet, Valerie laughed as if it was the greatest joke in the universe.

"Oh my God. Out of everything I said, that's all you can come up with? Paulina, I've been over Danny for years, and besides I always knew those lovebirds would end up together. Sam did not steal Danny; in fact I think she deserves him."

Paulina tried to cross her arms but the cuffs restricted her, "Either way, we're alike. In some point in our lives, everything revolved around Danny. But that's not bad, because while you lost your…fling…for him, I was always there. I've always loved him, and soon he's going to realize how much he loves me, too. I mean, did you see that Mon—Manson? She's not going to live after tonight, I know it. After she dies, Danny's going to run to me and we'll finally be happy."

Silence engulfed the two for a moment.

"You're insane, Paulina. Not just insane, you're obsessed." Valerie said uncomfortably, "You're treating Danny like a game. So I lost? And you're what? Still playing the game you made up in your head? That's not okay."

Another gap of silence allowed Valerie's words to sink in.

"Tucker and I knew you were obsessed with Danny for a long time now, we just never told him or Sam." Valerie said suddenly, her voice filled with regret when she realized she was about to admit a huge secret.

"I'm not obsess—" 'No, don't say that ugly word' "I love Danny."

"You are obsessed. Ever wonder why Danny never showed up to the back of the school at a specific time or flew to your room after patrol like those letters told him to?" The Huntress shifted her foot to a different pedal, "Tucker and I always went to Danny's locker and dumped those things before he ever saw them. We read them, too. Paulina, the things you said in those letters…they were…I don't even know." She heard Paulina growl with anger, but she continued, "It's one thing to be a fan of a superhero, it's one thing to ask them to marry you or go on a date with you, but to send almost two-hundred letters—each letter increasing on the creepy-scale—with all those things and more in the past semester?"

"That was private, you bitch. What the hell is your problem? That was for my Phantom only! Mine! He's mine!" Paulina's outburst echoed in the night. She cursed, screamed, and pounded her feet on the hover board hoping they would fall out of the night sky, but Valerie remained resilient.

"We should've told Danny and Sam about you Paulina," the pressure began to change gradually as the huntress spoke, "Maybe they wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe you could've gotten help by now."

The Latina lashed out again, ignoring the weird gravitational sensation overcoming her, "I don't need help! You need help! Who carries handcuffs? Freaks carry handcuffs, and freaks like you need help."

Valerie's foot switched to a different pedal again and the hover board decelerated, "Yes, you do need help. You're sick. Mentally sick. You're denying the difference between love and obsession, and because you of that, look at what happened to Sam. Look at your hair. Look at your clothes. Look at the freakin' blood on your pants, Paulina, and tell me you don't need help."

The girl's voice gradually got louder and louder, releasing all the anger, worry, and confusion she's held back ever since she found those very first letters in Danny's locker. It was actually Tucker who discovered those letters at the very beginning of junior year. He forgot his chemistry book and since Danny had a different period than him, he decided 'Well he has chemistry after lunch, I have it in the morning. He won't know.'

There at the bottom of Danny's locker laid a light pink slip of paper. Of course, Tucker had to find out who it was from; the techno-geek almost lost his breakfast because of the graphic "love note." Tucker trusted only Valerie with his unfortunate findings, guessing correctly that it'll happening again, and the two agreed to never mention this to Danny and Sam, because 'hey, Danny deals with a lot of crap already, and Sam might unleash the undead. We can protect the two without them knowing.'

"Tucker and I should have come to you. Instead, we just burned those damn letters every afternoon they showed up and went on with our lives." The wind slowed tremendously around Paulina as she listened to the ex-A-Lister, "And look where we are now."

The hover board suddenly came to a halt and The Queen wondered if Valerie asked an actually question or…what was it Lancer told her? A rhetorical question?

Regardless, Paulina was brought out of her thoughts when Valerie roughly yanked her off the stalled, quiet hover board and dragged her by the arms towards a dark, looming, building with dim lights and many barbed wire fences.

Fake purple eyes scanned the area with a sense of fear. She had never seen this place before, nor has she ever ventured to this side of town. The two girls passed a large sign right above their heads and Paulina held in a gasp.

'AMITY PARK POLICE STATION'

The two entered through a revolving door and the words 'AMITY PARK POLICE STATION' was plastered again all over the main entrance.

"This is the only place I could think of where people like you would remain in place and get what you deserve." the Huntress said in a cold voice.

'People…like…me?'

Paulina was too dumbstruck to even comprehend a hostile reply. She even allowed Valerie to man-handle her through more gates, barking guard dogs, and dimly lit hallways without so much a peep. The Queen had no idea when someone—Valerie? An officer?—unlocked the glowing green cuffs and escorted her to a holding cell for the night, reciting the Miranda warning.

'This is not happening,' the girl felt her entire body shake as her eyes dipped in and out of focus, 'Where's my phone call? Why am I in a cell? I'm only eighteen.' The empty holding cells on either side of her body blurred into grey and black as she walked with Val—oh, that's not Valerie. Where did Valerie go?

It was an officer; black haired, tall, large man; obvious wrinkles and an extremely large mustache adorned the officer's tan face and it strangely humored the girl that the man reminded her of her—

'Oh my God, what will my daddy say? Or mother? My father's knife! Will he find out I took it?'

The officer's large hand nudged Paulina into a holding cell and locked the barred entrance loudly. Just the noise alone caused the girl's eyes to tear up.

"I can't stay here…" Paulina whispered to herself as she held back a sob, "I don't belong in here…"

"You should've thought about that before doing what you did," the officer's gruff voice echoed throughout the cell and then he left, his footsteps thudding softer and softer—which triggered another memory of Phantom and the Monster walking away from her earlier ago and—

Paulina Amelia Sanchez let out a long sob before succumbing to the cold ground. The weight of The Queen Bee's mistakes and where it landed her finally came to realization.

She turned into those ugly, ugly, terrifying words…

Lonely, ruthless, shallow, cunning, obsess—

No, not obsessed. She was not obsessed.

She was… misunderstood, not obsessed.

She just loves Danny Phantom so much, but that love means she was not obsessed.

Not obsessed. Not obsessed. Not obsessed…

.

A/N: This chapter was not one of my favorites to write. I had no clue how to write Valerie and Paulina without making it too OOC. Hopefully I did them justice...?

EDIT: i changed a few words and the process of how Paulina got into the cell. After a lovely review, I realized my mistake of putting her in prison right away without a trial. Silly me!

By the way, OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE ATTENTION THIS STORY IS GETTING ALSDKFJDLSKFJD PLEASE CONTINUE TO REVIEW, FAV, FOLLOW, WHATEVER.

Because oh my god, this is my first Danny Phantom fanfic and it's great knowing your first time's a charm.