Apologies about the slow update and any mild inconsistencies in this story. I tried rewatching Micro-Management for reference, although my computer was being a jerk and kept buffering every three seconds, so I didn't get through the entire episode, though I managed to get through most of it. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy! By the way, this takes place not too long after the episode. About a day or two after.

Dash was not stupid.

Okay, sure, he wasn't exactly the most intelligent, either. Far from it. And he could be highly oblivious. But even he could be smart and observant when he set his mind to it. And even he could tell something was off about Danny Phantom. He was absolutely sure he was hiding something. But what?

That was precisely what kept him awake all night. He didn't know what. Or why he was hiding something. He remembered seeing those strange blue-ish white rings change parts of his appearance. First came the "high speed ghost shoes", then the jeans and after that, his gloves and sleeves disappeared, revealing very slender, human arms and hands. And half of his hair reversed color, his usual snow white hair turning to an inky black. Something was very, very suspicious. And what was quite possibly even more suspicious were the comments he heard Phantom mutter under his breath when he didn't think he was listening.

But the one that bothered him the most? The comment about "reverting" back. Reverting back to what? He clearly knew what was going on, though, which just frustrated the athlete further. And why would Phantom try to convince him it was supposedly Casual Friday? Didn't he know it was Tuesday? Why was he trying to lie about the cause of the appearance changes?

Another thing that frustrated him to no end: How familiar he seemed with the random clothing changes. Like he had seen him before with that mysterious (yet oddly casual) attire.

And then, it hit him. He had a secret identity. Well, either that, or he was reverting back to how he looked before his death. Dash bit his lip at that thought. Everyone knew that Danny Phantom was a ghost, but no one liked to think about his death, or his original identity. Was Danny even his actual name? How did he die in the first place? How old was he really? Those thoughts kept badgering him for a full hour, but after a lot of deliberation, he came to the secret identity conclusion, because it seems like he sees those clothes everyday, and he looked way too familiar for it to have been a one time thing.

Although, why exactly would Danny Phantom have a secret identity? Or want one? Or even need one? It made no sense. Dash assumed, with the majority of Amity Park, that Phantom just went back to the ghost realm when he wasn't beating up ghosts. Although, granted, he probably wasn't exactly well-liked there. That, and he seemed so...human. Without the white hair, green eyes and glowing aura, he could of definitely passed for a human. His hands and arms even felt like they had bones! And on top of that, he always seemed to know what was going on in the human realm, and he didn't think Phantom could get that much information about the world from just from the few minutes he arrived because of a ghost fight. In fact, that actually led him to another thing: Phantom always seemed to know exactly when a fight was taking place. Was that why he had a secret identity? To always be on guard in case a ghost decided to come and attack the town? It would be a plausible reason.

Dash suddenly groaned. He was exhausted, but sleep eluded him. He very rarely had the problem of insomnia. He suddenly felt sympathetic towards Fenton. Maybe that's why he was always falling asleep in class? Then, he scoffed. Feeling pity for Fentina? Yeah right. He was probably just up all night playing Doom or something.

Two more hours of fruitless thinking and frustration later, Dash finally fell asleep, with a new goal in mind: To discover who Phantom was hiding as.

Dash was grumpier than usual. He only got three hours of sleep before he headed to school. The dark bags were highly visible underneath his eyelids. A smirk flashed across his face, however, upon spotting the school famous "Loser Trio" that consisted of Danny Fenton, Tucker Foley and Sam Manson. Danny, however, was his favorite punching bag. Perhaps now he could release some of his misplaced aggression.

So, he walks over to the Loser Trio, and only catches a gist of their conversation.

"...woah, that was really lucky, dude." Tucker was saying.

"...lucky he didn't turn around." Sam was responding.

Danny looked like he was about to reply, but then Dash butted in. "FENTON!" He yelled angrily.

Danny turned around and sighed in exasperation. "Yes, Dash?"

The jock lifted Danny up (who now that he thought about it, was incredibly light) and was about to shove him into his locker until Dash noticed something. He looked like a color-negative version of Danny Phantom. And Fenton was wearing the exact same shoes and jeans he saw Phantom wearing. They even sounded the same! And some of the things Phantom said yesterday finally, finally made sense.

"Have you ever seen him play golf?" Phantom had said. "The only safe place is the hole!"

He had ignored it at first, but it was implied that he had seen Jack play golf before. And while he was confused how he would possibly know that before, now, he could see why. If he literally lived...or afterlived, he wasn't sure anymore...there, it'd make perfect sense why he would ever see Jack playing golf.

"Um, Dash?" Danny asked, somewhat worriedly, snapping Dash out of his thoughts. "You kind of look like the walking dead and you just stood there for a full minute without shoving me in my locker. Everything alright?"

"I-it's you. It's been you the entire time..." Dash muttered, without even realizing what he was saying.

Danny looked panicked, and so did Sam and Tucker. "W-What do you mean?"

"You were him the whole time!" Dash shouted, catching the attention of a lot of students passing through the hallway who gave him weird looks before carrying on to class, figuring Dash finally cracked under the pressure and went crazy.

"What? That's crazy! Danny Fenton is definitely not Danny Phantom. You've lost your mind, Dash!" Tucker helpfully protested, which then gets him kicked in the ribs by Sam.

"You idiot!" She hisses.

Danny was also shooting him a death glare, which caused him to gulp. Danny had been getting better at sending those looks lately.

"The names even sound alike!" Dash wailed. "I've been wailing on my hero!"

Then, his expression turns to one of horror. "A-and you might not even b-be alive!"

Danny sighs and breaks out of Dash's grip. "I would normally try to make up some poor excuse on why you're wrong, but since Tucker here just blew it-" he sends another death glare towards the techno-geek, "-I don't think there is anything I can really do to convince you out of it. So, why don't we just talk about it this after school, alright?"

Dash just shakily nods, right as the bell rings.

Danny curses. "See you after school, Dash." he says as he and his friends then race off to first period.

Dash couldn't get anything done in class. His thoughts kept drifting to his recent discovery. That the kid he liked to bully might be dead. That he also probably had the power to kick his butt ten times over. That his own parents constantly hunted him. And, you know, that Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom.

So, when class finally ended, he was relieved, yet nervous. He was relieved because he wouldn't have to stay up all night thinking about the recent events, constantly wondering about who Phantom was hiding as and trying to decipher the meanings behind his words, but he was nervous because he wasn't sure he was going to like the answers he was going to get, or if he really wanted to know the truth after all.

Still, he couldn't back out of it now. If he didn't, he was going to regret it for the rest of his life. And his thoughts would continue to drive him insane. So, he searched for Danny, and found him hanging around a tree with his friends for backup. Taking a deep breath, he approached them.

"Hey Fe-" Dash stopped himself. "-Danny."

Danny attempted a weak smile. "Hey Dash."

This was it. This was his chance. Don't waste it, Baxter, he chided himself. But Danny beat him to the punch. "How did you figure it out?"

"I stayed up all night thinking about when we got shrunk." Dash admitted. "I was thinking about the weird costume changes and those strange comments Ph-" He stopped himself again. It was still odd to think of them as the same person. "-You made."

Danny cursed himself again. "I really need to come up with better excuses. I mean, come on. Casual Friday? High speed ghost shoes? Really?"

Tucker stifled laughter. "Dude, please don't tell me you actually said that."

Even Sam was laughing now. "That's got to be the worst excuse you've made yet."

"I was in a hurry and I couldn't think of anything else!" Danny defended.

Now Dash was giggling, much to the surprise of the three. But remembering the circumstances, his face took on a rare, serious expression, and he finally asked one of the things bothering him all day. "Y-you're not dead, are you?"

Danny looked horrified. "No! Not at all! What gave you that idea?"

Sam and Tucker facepalm at Danny's cluelessness, although they too look very disturbed at the thought of their best friend being dead.

Dash let out a breath he wasn't holding. He was relieved beyond words, but also very, very confused. "You're not? But then, what are you? How can you do all those ghostly things if you're not a ghost?"

Danny sighed. "I'm a hybrid. Half-human, half-ghost."

He...was not expecting that answer. "Is that even possible?"

Danny laughed mirthlessly. "Apparently it is. I'm still here. The freak who doesn't belong in either world."

Sam immediately went to comfort him. "Danny! You know that's not true. Your powers make you unique. Unique is good!"

Her comment doesn't seem to have helped Danny. He looked...weary. Like a hardened war veteran. Like he had seen terrible things, which he probably had. Dash wasn't sure what to say, although guilt started to consume him. Just how many times had he called Fenton a freak? He bet that certainly didn't help his seemingly low to nonexistent self esteem. Tucker didn't seem to know what to do, either. Guess it was up to him, then. Maybe this was how he could correct his many wrongs. By helping instead of hurting.

"You're not a freak, Danny." Dash said, voice uncharacteristically soft. "You know, I never actually did mean it whenever I insulted you. The truth is-" He paused. Was he really going to admit it? He then figured that Danny deserved the truth for why he was always bullied so relentlessly. "-I was jealous."

Danny's eyes bulged, and so did Tucker's. Sam looked like she was going into shock.

Dash continued, "You were everything I wasn't. You were handsome, loyal, friendly. And you had genuine friends there to support you. I'm not delusioned enough to think Paulina actually cares about me." He bitterly laughed. "She's obsessive over your ghost half. It's literally all she talks about now."

"What about Kwan?" Danny asks softly, though still in shock.

"He always dismisses my problems like they don't exist. Or matter." Dash says bitterly. "But we're not here to talk about me."

Danny reached out and placed a comforting hand on Dash's shoulder. "You're really not anything at all like the jock you pretend to be, are you?"

Dash shook his head. "No. Not really."

Danny took a deep breath. "Looks like I'm not the only one hiding behind masks."

Dash nods. "Guess not." he says awkwardly.

There was silence for a few seconds, before Danny finally filled it. "Do you want to be a part of Team Phantom?"

The athlete thought he was going into shock again. "Even after everything I've done?"

Danny smiles. "Everyone deserves a second chance. Besides, you don't really seem like you truly wanted to do the things you did."

Dash smiled for the first time in a long while. "I would be honored."

I tried humanizing Dash a bit more in that he only bullied Danny to try to counter his jealously over him, unsuccessfully. In this story, Dash is only in the popular crowd so he doesn't have to be alone, and he bullies for the sake of maintaining his reputation, and again, to try to get rid of the envy he feels. Dash mostly envied Danny for his friends, since they genuinely cared about him, unlike his own, and unlike seemingly everyone else in the school, although he also secretly is suffering from low self-esteem, and was jealous of how Danny could be the person he felt he never could be himself.