A/N: Hello, world. Just so you know, it will be another two weeks until I can update again, because I will be gone at camp. Never fear, I will continue this tale as soon as I can.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or Danny Phantom.


Julie, Gwen and Kevin peeked over the sandy hill, behind which they had hidden Kevin's car. The coast appeared clear, so they crawled over it and dashed closer to the entrance. When they saw the headlights of a military vehicle in the distance coming their way, they ducked behind one of many large rocks. They waited anxiously in silence as it passed by. Then they heard another voice, just a few feet away.

"It's gone. I guess we're at the right place, huh?" The voice sounded like a teenage boy, a little younger than Julie.

There was another voice, this one slightly rough and female. "This is where the BOO-merang led us, Tucker. It has to be."

"At least it's not daytime," said a shriller female voice. "If it was, we'd be sweating like crazy out here."

"For the last time, Jazz, the Goth don't sweat, we simmer!"

"Ssh, Sam! Be quiet! Let's go, we have to get Danny out of there." There was a shuffling sound as the three scampered away.

Julie looked to the others, who seemed to be just as confused as she was. Gwen's eyes suddenly lit up. She faced them.

"The other boy! When we made contact, Ben said there was another kid who could… what was it? Turn into a ghost? Anyway, they must be after him!"

Kevin furrowed his brows. "Then what do we do? We can't just leave them alone, but what if we approach and they freak out? They may not trust us."

Gwen sighed. "You're right, but we have to try. Two teams are better than one, right?"

They followed the three other teens. It appeared that their entrance plan was almost identical to their own. They pressed against the wall, concealed in shadow, every time a guard passed. They were watchful for trip wires and security cameras. Finally they saw the manhole cover amidst the desert sand. They let the others disappear, and waited a minute before going in themselves.

They watched from the shadows as the others conversed. They were discussing tactics of finding their friend.

The geeky-looking boy in the red beret was pressing buttons on a small handheld device. Something beeped, and he smiled in relief. "Kill security cameras: Check."

The older girl with long red hair like Gwen's starting laying out the logistics. "It would be best to split up. That way we can cover more ground. With the earpieces, we will be able to communicate, so if you find something and want the others to join you, they'll know. Tucker, did you set up the tracking system?"

"Yup. It's all ready."

"Good," said the goth girl. "I'll go right, Tucker goes left, and Jazz goes down the middle. Just don't get caught, or we're dead meat. Focus on finding Danny. We'll figure out the rest from there."

Julie thought it was a good time to butt in. "Excuse me," she whispered. "But we can help."

The three audibly gasped, and took a defensive stance. Gwen and Kevin stepped out as well.

"It's okay," Gwen said. "We're on a rescue mission as well. My cousin, Ben, was kidnapped. My name is Gwen, and this is Kevin and Julie." She gestured to her companions. Julie smiled faintly and Kevin waved.

The goth girl glanced at her friends, then stepped forward. "I'm Sam. Why did they take your cousin?"

Gwen looked unsure for a moment. Julie wasn't surprised; after all, they'd only just met these people. It was a bit soon to give away all their secrets.

"He has this… watch. With it, he can turn into these heroes and fight, er, aliens. The government took notice and captured him."

Sam scanned their faces, then softened. "I'm sorry. That's Jazz, and that's Tucker. Our friend and Jazz's brother, Danny, was taken too."

"The one who turns into a ghost?"

Sam tensed. "Wha-what? How…"

"Oh, yeah. I have powers too. I can wield Manna- life energy. I used it to briefly communicate with Ben, and he said there was another boy, with ghost powers."

Sam looked at her warily, and nodded. "That's him."

The boy, Tucker, piped in. "We should hurry, guys. I don't have any more earpieces, but if we go in teams of two, we can still be in contact."

Julie nodded. "Sounds good."

They teamed up. Gwen went with Jazz, Julie went with Sam, and Kevin went with Tucker.

When Tucker showed Kevin the earpiece, Kevin frowned, confused. "Dude, is this alien tech?" Tucker cocked his head for a moment, then shook his head.

It was time to go. Julie followed Sam down the right corridor. The place seemed almost deserted. Several minutes passed before they heard any oncoming footsteps. When they did, they ducked behind a convenient rolling cart. The footsteps faded, and they continued their pursuit.

Eventually they came to a door, but a security pass was required for entry. Julie bit her lip nervously. What now? Her eyes flitted upward. Then she saw it.

"The air vent!" she whispered excitedly. Of course! This happened all the time in the movies, right? Why not now?

"Are you sure about this?" Sam whispered back.

"It'll be fine. I can hoist you up, and once you're in, I can jump and you can pull me in."

"Okay…" Sam said hesitantly. Julie locked her hands to create a step for Sam. Sam climbed into the vent, and signaled that she was ready. Julie was, at that moment, very grateful for her height and muscles. She jumped, and Sam helped pull her in just in time. As they pull the grated cover back over the hole, a few scientists walked out of the door.

Julie held her breath. She caught a bit of their conversation. "…extract the energy… Boss has a plan to combine their powers… unstoppable…" She looked at Sam nervously, and the two girls shuffled forward through the air vent.

Sam tried to make conversation, probably to ease some of the tension. "So, you and this Ben… have you been dating long?"

Julie shrugged, which was hard to do when crawling on your hands and knees. "Eight months now. I've never dated anyone before him, but… well, you know. I care a lot about him, and I'd like to think he feels the same way. It's just hard when he has to go and fight evil all the time. It's hard on him."

Sam nodded. "I know the feeling. Sometimes, I swear Danny just looks so tired… I wish I could help him. I mean, I fight by his side and everything, but it's different for him. I'm there because I chose to be. He had no choice. He will have to fight ghosts for the rest of his life because of the way he is."

Julie felt a pang of sympathy. She understood what Sam meant. Ben often had trouble keeping up with his homework, and even staying awake in class. He tried to act like he was fine all the time, but there were some moments when he just looked so tired. Older.

"You seem to care a lot about him. How long have you known each other?"

Sam exhaled. "Danny, Tucker and I have been best friends forever, it seems. We've been through a lot together, especially in the last year, since there was that incident in the lab and Danny got his powers. I can't imagine my life without them. Especially Danny."

They shuffled for a while longer, until they came to a grate on the bottom side of the air vent. Sam was in front, and Julie heard her gasp at what she saw. She went to the other side of the hole and turned around so they could both see.

Julie's reaction was the same. Below them, strapped to tables, were two teenage boys. One was Ben, and the other, a skinny raven-haired boy, had to be Danny. Each had a gas mask covering their mouth and nose. Wires were hooked to their bare chests, and there was a large, menacing metal device pointed at them. The struggled in their bonds, but it was no use.

A tall man in a black suit seemed to be the one in charge. He was smiling like a panther, ready to pounce. He pressed a finger to an earpiece and said something to the people on computers on the other side of a glass wall. A couple of scientists checked the wires on the two boys, and gave the black-suited man a thumbs-up.

Slowly, the man pressed down on a green lever. The metal device hummed, and Julie struggled to bite back tears as the two boys moaned in pain.


So, of course, I had to leave you with that nice little cliffhanger :)

Just ruminate on that for a couple weeks. Let it all sink in.

Thanks everyone, please follow, review, blah blah blah. You know the drill.

Bye!