A/N: Uh, I know that so far, this story has been a little unlike me! I'm not very good with all the angst stuff, but I think these last few chappies were necessary for the rest of the story to make sense. Besides, these chappies just popped up and demanded to be written! But I still miss my action stuff—which, BTW, is here-a-plenty in this story- so here we go…after just a teensy-weensy little more delay…Here is Chapter 7! Enjoy!

Shadow of a Doubt—Chapter 7—Truce and Brewings

The three best friends never slept better that night.

And both Danny and Sam got up unusually early the next day. They hurried through their routine so that they could rush to school. They were there way before any other student in his right mind would or could even think about school. But they soon became embarrassed upon realizing that the other couldn't possibly be here this early, that is, until they saw each other in the distance and yelled in delight. They still knew each other well.

They met at the front stairs and gave each other a big hug and then, of course, finally kissed. And it felt as if they had never been angry with each other…..

And just as Danny and Sam were finally getting together and attempting to put their fight behind them, Jiva was having her own kind of rant….

"Where is he?" she fumed as she paced her room. "He must have had something to clear his doubt…or he is with her!" She closed her eyes and concentrated. But it was no use and she huffed, "I cannot feel him!"

But then she felt a slight tremor. "But what is this? He has something…it is significant!" But then the feeling left her and she shrieked in frustration.

She quickly struck a small gong and a Spectre servant entered and bowed almost to the floor. "Summon Asara, now!" Jiva screeched.

The servant left in great fear and in hardly any time, a very ancient and grotesque looking Spectre appeared. She gave the princess a slight bow. "Your wishes, highness?" she asked, but her voice sounded more like a growl.

"I require your special talent. I need you to locate someone of great importance. It will take time for me, but you will be swifter. Come here!"

Asara slowly approached the younger Spectre. And just as Jiva closed her eyes and concentrated again, she held out her arm, allowing Asara to touch her. The ancient Spectre's eyes widened and then narrowed as she probed the princess' mind.

"You seek a 'shadow-of-the-flesh'?" she gasped. "For what purpose?"

"That is not your concern. Have you located him?"

"No, highness. The path is strong between you and him, but it has been altered for the moment. I cannot see beyond what blocks it."

"But I know!" Jiva thought but said, "I felt it too! I will call you again when I feel the path clear. You may leave."

"Highness," the old Spectre replied and bowing slightly again, left the room.

Jiva began to pace again. She was drawn to this flesh creature. He had such power for a shadow-of-the-flesh and yet, he was also once flesh-blood. That meant he possessed both strength and the very essence of what she admired in those kind of creatures. He must be special. She knew somehow that with him, she would have all that she wanted.

She walked over to the mirror that hung on the wall nearby. She looked at herself, admiring what she saw. Then, gazing intensely back at herself, she promised, "I will have him!"

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Meanwhile, in another part of the Ghost Zone, Johnny 13 and his shadow were arguing in their lair.

"Look, dude! We need to stay cool about this. It'll all blow over as it has in the past!" Johnny 13 said, trying to calm his partner.

But the Shadow growled and his green eyes narrowed aggressively; and the biker ghost was suddenly aware of his ring. He looked down at it and it felt oddly warmer to the touch and was glowing—fiercely! It hadn't done that in a very long time.

"OK. OK! I get it! If you feel that strongly about it, then go check it out! But don't get yourself in trouble and expect me to come after you! You know how I hate to use this bike for work!"

The Shadow smiled a little and Johnny 13's ring went dull and cold again.

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As they pulled away from their kiss, Danny lifted a hand and gently touched her cheek. "Sam… I'm really sorry…," he whispered with a sad look. "I shouldn't have exploded like that and I shouldn't have…," he sighed and looked away, not wanting to bring that up for fear of getting into a fight again.

Sam quickly placed her own hand on his cheek to get him to look at her. "It's okay, Danny. I haven't been fair with you… I've done a lot to hurt you… like not calling you about my grandma…. I was just afraid you wouldn't come if I asked you… Danny, I'm so sorry," she said, grabbing him in a hug.

They stayed like that for a moment, feeling relieved to be in each other's arms again. Danny slowly withdrew from her with a smile. "Sam, I-…"

He paused at seeing other students coming. He instantly rose from the outside stairs at the entrance to the school that they were sitting on. He extended his hand to Sam and after she took it, he helped her up as well. Without another word, he pulled her around the corner and headed to one of the benches nearby. He still needed to say a little more before they would have to actually go into the school.

Once there, he continued with what he was going to say. "Uh, Sam, we really need to talk about…. something," Danny stammered as he led her to the bench and they sat down. He was not going to let this be a thorn in their side anymore.

"About the Book?" she quietly asked, knowing what he was trying to say. After all he was the real reason they had been fighting.

"Uhm, yes," Danny replied, while feeling surprised that he still felt a twinge of jealousy. "Look, I know it's important to you, but can we, maybe, not fight about it for a while until we, uhm, figure this out? We need to be on the same page about this."

He suddenly cringed at the unintentional pun.

Sam, amused by his reaction and his pun, wryly replied, "I can close that subject for a while if you can!"

They chuckled at each other and then kissed again.

Just then, the bell rang.

"Gee, is that the dismissal bell all ready? We've both been here long enough!" Sam commented and they both laughed and headed into the school.

Danny and Sam went toward their lockers and saw Tucker near his. Valerie was with him.

Valerie saw them first and motioned with her head to Tucker to turn around.

When Tucker did, what he saw made him grin widely. Danny and Sam were holding hands and smiling!

"So, is everything cool with you two?" Tucker ventured to ask.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that! I'd say that things have warmed up just nicely," Danny chuckled as he gave Sam's hand a squeeze.

The four teens laughed and then the second bell rang….

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Johnny 13's Shadow searched throughout the Ghost Zone, looking for the exact place he was seeking. He smiled when he found the right spot. He produced his claws and rent open a small portal. He entered it, thinking and hoping all the while that it would take him to the only place that could possibly give him a clue as to why the Ghost Boy had discovered his secret: Fenton Works.

He phased into the laboratory and quickly blended into the shadows upon seeing the adult Fentons at work nearby. Ignoring the humans for now, he thought of his next move. He knew those things had to be somewhere. But where?

The Fentons moved to the far end of the lab, engrossed in their work. This was Shadow's chance. He floated upward and headed to the upstairs…

He searched in the first room he came to. It was pink and smelled of perfume. The Shadow scrunched up his nose and instantly decided this was NOT the place.

He floated across the hall and the decorations changed dramatically. This must be the Ghost Boy's room! He poked around, gliding from one end of the room to the other.

Just as he was about to give up, he saw a small pouch in one of the nightstand drawers. He grabbed it and pulled out the contents. He looked them over and a vague memory surfaced. He shrieked with delight when he recognized some of the symbols on the outside. These were the scrolls, they had to be! He quickly opened the first one and immediately frowned. He no longer remembered the writing on it! He looked again, hoping that if he concentrated enough, that memory would be drawn out.

Suddenly, a green ectoplasmic ray hit the scroll in his hand. It disintegrated right away. He jerked upward at the direction of the beam, only to see Maddie holding a still smoking ray gun! Jack was right behind her, aiming another weapon right at the Shadow.

"What are you doing here, you, you…What are you anyway?" Maddie yelled.

"No ghost we've ever seen, Maddie, but he doesn't belong here. Get out of our house, you spook!" Her husband cried as he fired the weapon.

Shadow shrieked and attempted to pull away from the force that was sucking him into the portable portal that Jack had shot near the Spectre. But Shadow's fight was futile and he dropped the other scroll, which rolled under Danny's bed. Finally, he was gone, having been sent back to the Ghost Zone.

"That silent alarm device you put in really worked well, Hon," Maddie exclaimed as they looked over the room to see if any damage had been done.

"Yeah, Sweetcakes, but I still haven't figured out how to keep it from activating the toaster oven at the same time yet!" Jack replied in embarrassment.

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When Danny arrived home from school that afternoon, he went to the kitchen for a snack. His parents were there and his father was busily fidgeting with the toaster oven while his mother looked on intensely.

"I'm home, Mom and Dad," he casually said as he opened the refrigerator. They did not respond at first and when he saw how absorbed they were, he chuckled to himself, "Geez, how many inventors does it take to fix a toaster?" But as he walked closer to them, he said, "Uh, why don't you just get a new one?"

This time they heard him and Maddie replied, "Oh, hi, Sweetie. We didn't hear you! We're just trying to recaliber the toaster oven so that it won't come on when the silent ghost alarm is activated."

"It was activated?" Danny asked, now curious about that.

His father enthusiastically responded, "Yeah! That's right! And the silent alarm worked. We got to suck this black ghost right out of your room today! Never seen anything like that before!"

"What did it look like?" Danny asked.

His parents proceeded to describe the ghost to him.

"Did it talk?" He continued to probe.

They shook their heads. "But it did shriek awfully loudly as it was being sucked back into the Ghost Zone!" Jack added in excitement.

"Maybe it didn't have time to say anything. But, still, it had to be a Spectre!" Danny blurted out.

"A what?" His mother queried.

"A Spectre. A shadow ghost. But which one?" he continued, really talking out loud to himself.

"Which one? Are there more?" Maddie asked.

"Yes, there are more, but I do not know which shadow ghost this was, or what he wanted…" Danny suddenly gasped at his next thought, "The scrolls!"

"What did you say?" Jack queried.

Their son didn't hesitate to explain everything that had happened concerning the shadow ghosts at Shadesville—well, except the part where he got zapped…. Ever since the Poisoned Ghost War –which the Fentons and Danny's friends secretly called PGW— the family had grown closer. The fight between the humans and the ghosts who were infected by the black shadow decay had been tough. But, it built trust within the family; and so this type of conversation now occurred more often than not.

After that war, the Fenton family had had a very heartfelt talk about everything that happened. And they had come to a very important understanding.

Now, like all normal teenagers, Danny didn't want his parents to be involved in all his ghost activities—and his parents understood that they didn't have to be either. But they all agreed that if needed, the adults would always be there to help. In fact, his parents did their best to keep his secret safe and they were especially able to do this by continuing the façade that they still hunted him. And since Danny knew he didn't have to worry about his parents really gunning for him—and the fact that they had been able to make the house recognize his signature as a friend—made things a lot easier around the house and was a relief to them all.

Also, his parents focused their research on ways of actually helping Danny fight ghosts better; and he, in turn, helped test these tools even if, at times, he regretted that.

The fact that his parents wholly supported his 'extra curricular activities' actually helped Danny more than hindered him. His parents were listening to him more seriously and attentively. They had become quite good at the "being in cahoots" thing with covering for him at school, and getting permission for Sam and Tucker to come over whenever Danny needed them.

In return, Danny had promised to work harder at his studies. With Jazz's willing help, he was beginning to excel. He found that he had a natural talent in chemistry and his math skills were improving as well.

So, having his parents know his secret was one thing, but being able to depend on them and have them understand was a much more important thing. Overall, the young hero was quite satisfied with this new phase in his life….

"So, I need to check on those scrolls and because of everything that's happened, it's time to investigate what they are all about!" Danny concluded, and his parents nodded in agreement.