Because I've gotten several comments about it, I'd just like to say that there will be NO Danny/Sam and basically no romance whatsoever. I'm just awful at writing all that lovey gooey crap, and I have no interest in creating a story that makes me want to barf. The only exception to this is if there is something already there, like Tony/Pepper, and even then I'll probably just mention that they're together or something, nothing too detailed and definitely nothing explicit.


Natasha stared at the Goth girl as the tension mounted. Neither wanted to look away and give in to the other. Finally, the nerdy kid on the bed tactlessly broke the tension with a comment that sounded like it should have come from Stark.

"Are you guys gonna have a catfight? 'Cause if you are, I'm so recording it." He tapped something, and a small red light on his PDA began blinking. Sam and Natasha gave up staring at each other momentarily to glare at Tucker, who backed himself up into Danny's bed and tapped another button. The red blinking light disappeared, and Sam and Natasha turned back to face one another. Danny still stood, shirtless, with the stab wound exposed for all the world to see.

Natasha broke the mounting silence. "Mind telling me where you got that?" She asked, gesturing to Danny's shoulder.

Before he could even reply, the Goth cut him off. "Why's it any of your business? This doesn't concern you." She spat the words at the agent, her loyalty to her friend apparent in every word.

Masking her suspicion by feigning casualty, Natasha said, "Well, then, I'd better get your parents. After all, that looks like a stab wound to me. They'd better take you to the emergency room, get some doctors to-"

"No! Uh, I mean, no, that's not necessary," Danny jumped in, eyes wide with fear. "I'm fine. Really. Can hardly feel it. Besides, they're so busy, they can't take time away from their inventions for this. They could be close to a breakthrough."

Natasha was even more suspicious now. Not only did the kid seem to be leaking ectoplasm, he had a partial face match with Phantom, and he feared medical attention. Not to mention that he seemed pretty adept at lying through his teeth. She shook her head, reaching for the door. "No, you definitely need help. I'm going to tell your parents, and then if they're busy I will personally drive you to the emergency room." Her hand was inches from the knob.

"Fine! I'll tell you everything." Exasperation dripped from his voice.

"Danny!"

"Dude!"

His friends now sounded scared, too. Shock was evident on both their faces.

Danny began to talk. "It all began about a year and a half ago. I pissed off Dash Baxter, this football player, and he started picking on me. It's gotten worse over the year, and the other day I actually managed to avoid him. So, yesterday, he caught me after school and did this," he said, making a vague gesture toward himself. "If you ask my parents, or the school, they'll tell you I've been skipping classes, my grades have been dropping, and that I've seemed more nervous all since around that time. This is why."

He looked at his feet now. "I've been too ashamed to tell anyone. I thought I could handle it on my own, but I guess I can't."

It was a good performance, but Natasha's gut told her he was lying. The two friends were visibly more relaxed. And judging from how fast she had seen Danny run the other day, the big blond kid shouldn't have been able to catch him so easily. Not to mention the very obvious ectoplasm on the bandages. And the face match. Trying to flush him out of his comfort zone by mentioning medical aid, she said, "Well, then, you'd better get some blood tests, too. Who knows what might have been on whatever he stabbed you with, or what might have gotten in there over the past day. The doctors will need to test your blood for any abnormalities."

At this, most of the color drained from Danny's face, and the fear was back in his eyes. His friends looked concerned again. She had hit a nerve; there was something wrong with the kid's DNA, or his blood, and he didn't want anyone to find out. Now she needed to push him until he broke.

"Come on, let's go. You don't want to get an infection, do you? I'll call ahead to make sure they'll be able to see you." She flipped her phone out of her pocket and began dialing.

Danny spoke in a flat, toneless, defeated voice. "Stop."

Natasha paused. "Yes?"

"I didn't really get beat up," he began, in the same toneless defeated voice.

"So what really happened?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me about yourself."

Natasha paused inwardly, but snorted and said, "There's not much to tell. I grew up in central New Jersey. I graduated high school twelve years ago, and went to TCNJ as an English major. After that, I became an author, travelling around to research for my books, and here I am."

Danny looked pensive. "You're lying. No author would be able to fight ghosts like you did."

Now it was Natasha's turn to go on the defensive. No one had ever seen through her cover stories before, with the exception of Clint. "So I have a hobby. I throw knives for fun."

The Goth, who had been angrily silent for the past few minutes, finally exploded. "Then why do you keep them hidden on your person?!"

The nerd joined in. "Yeah, and how did you get an ecto-blaster? The Fentons only give them to people they know are serious about hunting ghosts!"

"Both were for protection" It was a weak lie, and she knew it. But it was all Natasha could come up with at the moment, given that she was still clinging to her story about being an author.

"From what, books?" Danny did the snorting this time, shooting Natasha a cheeky grin.

The room fell into silence once more; Natasha knew that she had to give up her charade, but she wanted Danny to give in first. That way it would still feel like she had won. Unfortunately, Danny seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. She caved.

"Fine. I'm not an author. I'm an agent. I'm researching Danny Phantom to see if his personality would be right for a special sort of team that my bosses are putting together." Natasha said all of this in a cold, impersonal voice. She was through trying to be persuasive and friendly. " Now, you tell me what really happened with your shoulder. A secret for a secret, right?"


"A secret for a secret right?"

At these words, Danny sighed. He knew that Natalie Miller, if that was her real name, had enough on him to know if he lied. He had no choice but to tell her the actual truth.

"It'd be easier to show you."

Her face guarded and cautious, the redheaded agent nodded.

"I'm goin' ghost!"

Saying his battle cry more out of habit than anything else, Danny turned ghost. The familiar and almost comforting rings of icy blue light materialized around his middle, travelling both up toward his face and down to his feet. His clothes were replaced by a black and white hazmat suit, his hair turned white, and he opened his eyes to reveal a bright ectoplasm-green. The entire transformation was completed when he rose a foot off the floor and floated there.

The agent stood there, taking in what she had just seen. She looked like she might have been surprised, but she hid it well. She seemed to be thinking hard about something, and a few seconds passed before she spoke.

"Danny Phantom?" She asked in a professional tone.

"Yeah," Danny said, nervous about what would come next.

She held her hand out. "Natasha Romanov, from SHIELD. I was going to ask you for an interview to determine your personality type, but from what I've observed from your human side, that won't be necessary. You will need to explain what exactly you are, though."

Danny shook her hand. "I'm a half-ghost. We're not sure how it happens, but it has something to do with being electrocuted by the ghost portal." After a second's thought he tacked on, "And don't tell my parents. I have no idea what they'd do if they found out about me."

Natasha nodded. Considering that they were professional ghost hunters, it was understandable that he wouldn't want them to know his alter-ego, even though it looked like he could take care of himself. And whatever he couldn't do, his friends seemed capable of. Eyeing the stitches on his shoulder, Natasha had to admit that they looked better than she had initially thought.

Thinking about the report she still had to write, she said, "Come by my hotel tomorrow. I'll be in all day writing my report. I need to ask you a few questions about your capabilities for the full report."

Danny looked unsure. "Who does this report go to? Is, er, SHIELD a private company?"

"No, it's aligned with the US Government." Natasha replied. It seemed that Danny would be compliant from this point on, which made her job much quicker and easier. Maybe she could take that mission in Russia after all.

At these words, Danny's face set. "No. I will not be some government agency's lab rat."

Natasha sighed. Nothing was ever easy.