A/N: Okay, so I totally spaced out on this, but I up-dated now! so yeah!

The Art of Integrity

Chapter Ten

"I'm feeling like I don't belong

I remember when we spoke back then
I was cold and insincere..."

"What do you mean?" Tucker asked suspiciously.

Danny looked at him and said seriously, "I'll tell you guys once you're done eating. I'm gonna have to think about it for a bit."

"What? Don't tell me, you don't have to eat either?" Tucker asked.

"Not while I'm a ghost. Human, I'm probably starving," Danny joked. Tucker side-grinned and sighed. Danny's smile vanished as Tucker turned away from him. He looked at the ground, rapped at the table with his white-gloved knuckles, then said, "And, Tuck?"

Tucker looked at him. "What?" he asked.

"Thanks for saving me earlier," Danny replied solemnly. "Dunno what I'd've done without your help."

Tucker nodded. "It's no problem," he said, forcing a grin. "I'm used to these types of chemicals, I know what I'm dealing with."

Danny frowned and his brows furrowed in thought. "I would have guessed the chemicals that harm a ghost would have some sort of side-effect on humans," he remarked, raising an eye brow. "I've seen the effects before. They only attack certain people, but...kids have...suffered." Danny stopped himself from shuddering at a cold memory from his years as a 'marked offender.'

Tucker nodded. "It's true," he agreed. "But I've got an immunity. They don't affect me at all, and the chemicals the ghosts and Superiors are using now don't seem to contain anymore harmful stuff."

"Immunity?" Danny asked. His eyes shifted towards the trap-door where Paulina and Dash and Jazz had all vanished into. No sign of them returning. He looked back at Tucker as the teen began to respond. He nodded.

"Since a long time ago. In fact, three years almost," he replied. "It was pretty strange. I only remember a wisp of what happened."

"Huh?" Danny asked, not sure what the boy was trying to say.

"I remember Sam screaming my name, a suddenly stabbing pain in the back, then nothing. I can also remember the vague image of a...person. Big guy. I can never recall his face, nor anything else. Just a silhouette," Tucker said.

A silhouette. A stab. A scream. All of it added up to a couple of days before Sam betrayed him. And the bug guy must have been Walker. Danny frowned inwardly and said, "Well, there are some things not even I can remember. Starting from the last time I ate." He grinned, and Tucker actually smiled thinly.

But Danny could still see the reluctance of trusting him in his eyes. The boy still thought he had something to do with Valerie's capture, Danny guessed. His face fell, but he made sure Tucker didn't notice.

Danny heard the sounds of echoes coming from within the trap-door, and he smiled. "Looks like they're on their way back," he noticed.

"Yeah," Tucker agreed.

The H.Y.B.R.I.D.S., Danny noticed only ate so much before they found themselves full. He guessed that they probably didn't eat much because they didn't want to get out of shape. Especially Jazz and Tucker. They had to be quick. They had to be flexible. And they had to be able to get out of tight situations.

He didn't feel like eating, nor going back into human form, so he just stayed out of their way. But he would catch Tucker glancing at him out of the corner of his eye some times, probably wondering what his mysterious plan was.

Once they were done, it was all down to business and whispering. Now they all sat around in a circle on the ground a piece of paper in front of them. It was a map, Danny realized right away, of every underground tunnel they'd uncovered. It was pretty amazing.

"You guys mapped out every crevice..." he murmured unbelievingly.

"Valerie had other talents," Tucker said. There was a tone of misery in his voice that made Danny's eyes shift towards his face. He could tell the boy was trying to keep his emotions under control.

He tore his eyes from that saddened, sober look and looked at the map again. "These tunnels lead to Casper High?" he asked, pointing at two branches leading off the cavern they were in.

"This one leads to the basement," Jazz announced, pointing at one of the one's he'd singled out. "And this one," she continued, signaling the other, "Leads to the Electrical room."

"But that place is blocked, isn't it?" Dash asked.

"It wasn't until just recently. We figured they found out we were going into the school that way. The basement passage is pretty well hidden, though," Jazz said.

"Enough of this," Tucker snapped. "Just what's your plan, Phantom?" The teen crossed his arms impatiently.

Danny frowned at being called 'Phantom' but said nothing on the matter. Instead he began, "I think they're holding base in the school."

"They?" Paulina questioned.

"Walker, Vlad, and Skulker, even. They wouldn't be in the Ghost Zone, to easy an access. And you said they blocked off one of the entrances. That's gotta be it," he announced, tapping the tunnel on the map that they had said had been blocked off.

"But we don't know for sure," Tucker argued. "We could get in serious trouble if we're caught down there."

"We won't get caught," Danny said, and grinned mischievously as his vivid green eyes flashed. Tucker frowned. No comeback for that...

"Just trust him, Tucker," Jazz said. Tucker looked at her.

"So he's helped you out of some tight situations before, how do we know he's not tricking us into anything?" Tucker continued to argue.

Jazz sighed with exasperation. "I know him, Tucker! He's not going to lead us into a trap!" she shouted.

Everyone stared at her, Danny especially. The others had never heard her shout like that before. But Danny...

Danny began to feel a little...strange. Like that feeling in the pitt of your stomach when you know something bad was gonna happen. He frowned. "Jazz, you don't have to defend me," he said softly, as calmly as possible. "It's okay. Trust is hard to gain, especially when you've lost it once before..." He eyed Tucker out of the corner of his eye. The boy stared incredulously at him.

"How do you..." he started, but then fell silent.

"Just forget it. Can we finish this? We've got to get a move on if we want to keep this as a surprise attack. I know what I'm doing. Vlad is an very predictable person right from when he wakes up in the morning to when he stops to watch a football game," Danny said.

Tucker nodded and they huddled up closer to listen to Danny's plan. But the thought never stopped nagging and gnawing at Tucker's mind and thoughts. Danny, he could tell, had taken quick and silent notice. But the teen never said anything, he merely continued his explanation as Tucker's mind fought against wandering back to the last memory of...friendship he'd had.

"Sam! Help!" I shouted. My beret was blown off as the strong gust of wind from the explosion of City Hall, where the Mayor was situated. I will never forget that sight. All around me, people were screaming and pointing as the flames all around engulfed houses, shops, and City hall.

But I was also aware of something else: I was wounded, and badly, on my left leg. There was also a small gash on my forehead. It could feel the warm stream of red liquid creep down the side of my face. The searing, white-hot pain in my leg also would not let off.

And before me was the only friend I'd ever known: Sam Manson. She just stood there, looking on as the flames burned down a lot of the city if not all of it. She'd been acting strange, secretive, mysterious. And now, it seemed her true colors had begun to show. She turned to me and I couldn't believe my eyes.

She out-stretched her arms, signifying the whole town, whose citizens were in a frenzy. A wicked grin was plastered on her face. "You like it?" she asked. "The fire. A beauty, isn't it?"

I didn't respond. I couldn't. My throat had sealed itself. A while before I had just gotten out of a tight spot with some ghosts. One of them seemed fairly familiar, but the others I had never seen before. They'd attacked everything: houses, malls, stores, and departments and factories. They destroyed everything in their path. And now that he thought about it, Sam had been missing the whole time.

"You were part of this," I say quietly, still trying to comprehend. It doesn't make sense. Why would she do this to all of those who really cared about her? Her parents, her friends? My teeth clenched and I fought to bite my tongue against all the vile things I could tell her.

She grins, her smirk broad and proud. "Took you long enough. Three years and a half in the making, and no one noticed that a thing had changed. What are you gonna do, Tuck?"

"Don't you dare call me Tuck!" I retort, sick to my stomach.

She grins, walks over and crouches down. Her smile is replaced with the kind of face you'd expect from a venomous snake. She leaned in towards me and whispered in my ear, "I hope you die, Tucker Allen Foley."

The shock is too much. I stare at her, wide-eyed. This is too much to take in all at one time. Too...

Much...

A sickening grin...

A dry chuckle...

Then nothing.

"I can't place the blame, you gave her pain
But she lied to me for years..."

E/N: The song 'Unframed' belongs to Ill Niño.

And man! I've had this chappie here for so long already and I just had to finish it! But anywho, here it is! Your chappie! Thank Kieineko for reminding me about it!

And dudes! I totally recommend you go check out her story 'Runaway Phantom"! It's one of the bests that I have ever read! (it's a TT/DP crossover).