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Chapter 11

The Spark

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Danny, as a ghost, had a problem with freelancers in any situation. The Groovy Gang were a nuisance. The Extreme Ghostbreakers had a pretty high tech arsenal that led to a few unpleasant situations. Valerie had been a lot of trouble when she first took up ghost hunting. The whole personal vendetta only exacerbated the situation. Although, if Cujo hadn't ruined Val's life, she might not have ever gotten involved in ghosts. So it was Vlad who exacerbated that situation. Danny's own parents were technically freelancers. They received government funding for non-ghost related inventions, and used the profits from those inventions to fund their more serious pursuits. They were the epitome of dangerous freelancers, despite their reputation.

But these Lamian's might just take the cake. As he and Valerie were marched through the forest, Danny's thoughts frequently drifted to the park rangers that were supposed to be taking care of the place. How did they manage to miss a group of crazies slipping into the forest? Granted, the wall at the entrance was only for decoration, and who was to say these freelancers didn't just walk in at a different angle. But they didn't seem like the type willing to lug all their equipment that far.

In the back of his mind, Danny hoped some guy dressed in green shorts would block their path and distract the freelancers long enough for either him or Valerie to make some sort of escape. In all likelihood, it would be Valerie. Danny could feel his powers draining by the second. But any hopes of distraction were dashed away when he was where they were headed. A two story building with a small picnic area around it, and several paths branching away from its doorstep. No rangers were coming, because these crazy freelancers were the rangers. Although that still didn't explain the outfits. Valerie was obviously thinking the same thing.

"So what's with the jumpsuits?" she bluntly asked.

"You're wearing a jumpsuit," the woman guiding her spat.

"Yeah, but I'm wearing my jumpsuit. In America, yours are pretty famous for being worn by the, uh, this ghost hunting couple," Valerie explained.

"The Fentons, of course. We know about them," the leader said. "When the first ghost appeared in the capital, I knew we'd have to prepare. We spent hours researching ghosts, and the Fentons were mentioned frequently. This is a uniform, isn't it?"

"No, not really. It's just what they wear." Valerie shook her head. One of the men looked back at Danny.

"You have a jumpsuit too," he pointed out.

"Wow, you are the observant one, aren't you?" Danny drawled.

"Roland, shut up," the leader hissed.

Roland huffed but obeyed. They reached the building, which had a sign reading 'Lamian National Forest Information Centre and Ranger Station' out front, and were marched inside. They walked passed stands full of brochures, behind the information desk and into an office beyond. Valerie was pushed down onto a chair while Danny was shoved to his knees.

"Deena, go fetch the radio," the leader instructed. The woman who had been guiding Valerie nodded and left the office, which seemed odd. If the radio were anywhere, wouldn't it be in the office?

Roland shuffled towards Valerie, taking Deena's place hovering at the huntress' shoulder. Danny tried to shift and make himself more comfortable, and was rewarded with a sharp pinch to the ear, which hurt a surprising amount. He flinched and tilted his head back to glare at the woman still holding him and was pinched again. Danny hissed in frustration. He was good at dealing with ghosts, he dealt with ghosts all the time. It was humans he couldn't handle. Whether they were overbearing older sisters, bully jocks, or vapid classmates, humans were not his forte. The main reason being he couldn't fight them.

Well, he could fight them, quite easily in fact, but he limited his offensive use of power towards ghosts only and always flew away before humans could attack him. Valerie had been the exception, because of the advantage she had over all the other ghost hunters, but Danny never fought her seriously.

He got the feeling the only way out of this situation would be through fighting, and he wasn't prepared for that. He wasn't even comfortable with it. The incident at the port town only reminded him how damaging his ghost powers could be. The last thing Danny wanted was to intentionally use them against humans. Even if they were crazy, Fenton worshipping freelancers. Maybe Valerie wouldn't mind pulling the weight on this one?

"You're not from Lamia."

Danny's gaze jumped to Roland, who was leaning down slightly to talk to Valerie. The leader and the other man were too absorbed in their conversation to notice, and the only reason Danny could hear Roland's hushed tone was because of his heightened senses in ghost mode. He relaxed slightly and focused on their conversation.

"No." Valerie shook her head. There was no point in denying it, her American accent gave it away.

"Then why are you here, hunting ghosts?" he asked.

"It's my job," Valerie answered quickly. "I look into ectoplasmic disturbances, and this is a big one."

"This ghost?" Roland pressed, gesturing at Danny.

"No, he's not, he's actually—ahh!" Valerie cried out as something was jabbed into her back and suddenly she was convulsing as electricity coursed through her body. She crumpled and fell from her chair, muscles going rigid, until Deena removed her finger from the Taser trigger. The voltage hadn't been high enough to do any real damage, but it left her panting and shaking slightly, unable to rise to her feet.

"Don't think we didn't see you chatting and being all buddy-buddy with the ghost over there before you saw us." Deena sneered. "You're not a ghost, but you're helping them. And we just can't have that."

"You're staying here with us," the leader said, stepping forwards. Deena passed off the Taser and grabbed Valerie, yanking her upright and binding her hands. Valerie struggled weakly, but her limbs were still shaking and didn't want to obey. She cast a desperate look to her right.

"Danny—" she called, and froze. Deena had given her Taser to the woman holding Danny, who now had the weapon jabbed into his side. Danny's body was rigid, then went limp when the flow of electricity ceased. When the halfa opened his eyes, he wasn't twitching or convulsing, but had his gaze fixed on the woman that held him, and the Taser she carried.

His eyes were wide and he was taking short, rapid breaths. Valerie's own eyes widened in realization. Danny had almost died from electrocution. Or he had died, but was still technically alive—no one on Team Phantom was quite sure how his condition worked. Either way, it had been extremely painful, and naturally left a couple mental scars. A few months ago, they had been tampering with the Specter Speeder when Danny received a mild shock. It hadn't taken long for the panic to set in, and not long after that his powers went haywire. At the time they thought his powers acting up had been a result of the shock itself, since the Plasmius Maximus did something similar to short them out. But it was quickly becoming evident to Valerie that their assumptions were wrong. In fact, it looked like he didn't even have to be the one shocked. Just witnessing the action was enough.

"Danny," Valerie rasped, her throat a little sore as a result of the electricity. "Danny, calm down."

But he ignored her, or he couldn't hear her. His ghostly green eyes, which were vibrant on any normal day, were quickly growing brighter and the white aura around him seemed to be growing.

"What's he doing?" the leader demanded and took a step forwards.

"Stop!" Valerie shouted when Danny's head whipped around and he hunched over, shoulders shaking. She was once again ignored. It happened when the leader took his final step forwards, and reached out to grab Danny's hair. The halfa's aura receded until it was barely noticeable, then exploded outwards in a wall of white light. Valerie threw herself to the ground while the freelancing rangers were tossed into the walls. Danny's hands glowed white and the cuffs were encased in ice. One jerk of his arms and they were ripped apart. Danny started to flicker in and out of visibility, and various parts of his body turned intangible at a time, so he was slowly sinking into the floor. His aura seemed to bubble and bulge, pockets of green energy expanding and popping, and his more volatile, corrosive ectoplasm burst outwards.

The hands of the woman who had been holding Danny, and was still closest to him, were heavily doused. She and Danny screamed in unison, and the halfa's voice caused the whole building to shake. He was clutching his head, trying to reign in his rampaging powers with little success.

It was a painful and tumultuous experience. Danny lost all awareness of his surroundings and could feel his powers consuming him. It was the only thing he could feel, and it hurt. Distantly, he was aware of shouting, and screaming. Pain blossomed along his side, and he knew it wasn't from his own powers. Instinctively, he lashed out thrusting a hand forwards and blasting whoever or whatever had shot him. He vaguely remembered that, somewhere in this room, and somewhere else on this island, he had allies that he absolutely could not hurt. If he did… his mind, in its current state, couldn't even process that as a possibility.

Danny flinched as something passed through his intangible shoulder, but when the limb turned solid, the touch was protective and safe, not painful. He was tugged upwards, feeling a pull around his waist as he was pulled from the floor. He wasn't sure if he was walking, running, or flying. He only knew that they were quickly leaving the bad place.

"Get… Sam… ay here… I… back."

He only heard fragments of what was spoken to him, and soon his hands were being pressed against something hard, and he knew he was alone. Danny focused on remaining tangible and invisible, which was easier to control than his ectoplasm. He wasn't sure how long it took, but the voice eventually returned. He was too focused on staying visible to pay attention to what was being said. There was another safe, gentle touch, this one inherently better than the first. He felt himself relaxing and the touch moved. First to his face, then his lips.

Danny blinked, finally regaining his awareness. He was in the Lamian National Forest, standing in front of a football shaped boulder with his hands pressed against it, and Sam was there. She had slipped between Danny's arms so her back was pressed to the rock. Her hands were on either side of Danny's face and she was standing on the tips of her toes, having risen up to kiss her boyfriend. Her hands shifted to his shoulders and she gently pushed him back, stepping with him as he back away from the boulder. Sam wrapped her arms around him, and Danny returned the hug, burying his face her hair.

"I'm good, I think," he said, but didn't pull away. He opened one eye and looked at the football rock. There were two black hand prints burned into it now, and he got the feeling they would stay there for a very long time.

"I'm okay," he repeated.

"No you're not," Sam scolded, breaking the hug and looking purposefully at his torso. There was a ragged hole in his jumpsuit and the exposed skin was burnt and bloody. Then she lifted his arms from around her neck and showed him his wrists. The cuffs had done a lot more damage than he initially felt. They had burned through his jumpsuit and patches of fabric clung to his glistening pink and red skin. His shock after losing control was the only thing preventing him from feeling the pain. Danny was just lucky ghosts were typically incredibly hard to burn, he was just a little more susceptible than others. In about a week it would be nothing more than another scar on a very abused area of his body. It was quite possible anti-ghost cuffs were the bane of his existence, forget Vlad. It was amazing how no one had noticed the discolouration around his wrists from layers of burns.

"Ouch," Danny mumbled belatedly, dropping his hands.

"Are you okay to fly for a while?" Valerie asked, interrupting the couple. "I could carry all three of us on my board, but it'll be slow. If he can at least get halfway back to town before then…"

"I can fly." Danny nodded, rising into the air to prove his point. Sam wanted to stay close to him, in case he was more seriously injured than he appeared, but knew it would only put more strain on his body if he had to carry her. The best thing to do would be for Danny to change back and let his body rest. Oddly enough, his healing worked better when he was human. But it was well past midnight now and they did need to get some sleep tonight.

Sam climbed onto Valerie's hoverboard and they started on their way back to the hotel. She had only been given a short explanation of Danny's loss of control when Valerie showed up outside their window, knocking frantically. On the return trip, Valerie elaborated on the events.

"There was a Taser," she explained, and they could see Danny stiffen beside them.

"Did I…?"

"You didn't actually hurt anyone. You shot at the leader, but only hit his gun. That woman, the one holding you, was hit by your ectoplasm, but that wasn't from an attack. She was just too close when it started."

Danny nodded silently, his expression solemn, and Sam wanted to reach out and comfort him. But couldn't unless she wanted to risk tipping both her and Valerie over. To both girls' chagrin, Danny refused to transform back when they reached the halfway point, insisting they needed the speed. It wasn't until they reached the city that he finally allowed himself to rest. Sam lowered herself so she was sitting at the back of the hoverboard, and Danny mimicked her pose at the front before transforming back. They learned early on, when Valerie joined their Team, that this was one of the easiest ways for her to carry two extra people on her board. It lowered the center of gravity and eased maneuverability more than three standing people attempting to shift in unison could.

Danny grimaced, pressing a hand to his side. When he changed back, his shirt had been perfectly intact, but it was speckled with blood now. The wound probably looked a lot worse than it actually was. At least he hoped so.

It took them no longer than ten minutes to reach the hotel. Danny knocked on the window and Tucker readily opened it for them.

"Whoa," Tucker said as Danny tumbled into the room and claimed the nearest chair. "What happened to you guys?"

"Freelancers dressed like my parents," Danny grunted as he removed his shirt.

"That's… creepy."

"It really was," Valerie said. She pressed a button on her suit and it quickly retracted. She returned her bracelets, and weapons, to her backpack and passed Sam a first-aid kit.

"You know, I just realized, I get how Danny got his ghost hunting stuff passed airport security, but how did you?" Tucker asked.

"Ghost energy messes with electrical equipment. Thanks to Technus' meddling, scanners can't properly registered my equipment. Stuffed in a backpack inside my suitcase, no one would notice," Valerie said. She dropped onto one of the beds beside Tucker, and silence fell as Sam worked on cleaning Danny's wounds. Just like he thought, the injury on his side was more superficial than anything, Sam started with his wrists. He hissed every time she pulled away a charred piece of his gloves, which regrettably hadn't disappeared with the rest of his jumpsuit when he changed back.

"I guess we'll have to watch out for more than just soldiers from now on," Tucker mused.

"I will, at least," Danny grumbled, followed by a hum of relief as Sam applied a burn cream to his wrists.

"We'll figure this out," Sam reassured him. She started on bandaging his wrists when there was a knock at the door. The quartet of teens shared a look, knowing whoever was outside had to have heard them talking. But they also knew it wouldn't be Lancer.

"Hey, Fentina!"

"Can we go back to the freelancers?" Danny asked, giving Valerie an amused look.

"I'd definitely rather deal with them," the huntress said as she rose from her seat. Danny ducked into the bathroom so he was out of view of the door, Sam following him to continue her work. There was a click and a sigh.

"What do you want, Dash?"

"Oh, Valerie," was Dash's intelligent reply. Valerie wasn't an A-lister anymore, but they had been friends once. Besides, his original plan had been to shout at Fenton. "Can't find our football."

Dash pushed past Valerie and entered the room, ignoring her protests.

"Why would you need a football at two in the morning?" Tucker asked.

"Shut it, Foley, no one asked you," Dash snapped.

"Right, that's why he's asking you," Danny's voice echoed from the bathroom.

"Danny!" Sam hissed.

"What? He's not gonna-"

The moment Dash heard the voice of his preferred punching bag, his immediately placed the blame of his lost lucky football on said punching bag. Dash marched over to the bathroom and threw the door open. "Fenton, where the hell did you…"

Dash froze at what he saw. Danny was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, his shirt removed. There were a few scars scattered across his muscled arms and torso, but what drew Dash's attention was the blood smeared across Danny's side.

"What the hell did you do?"

…

Apparently I have thing about Danny reacting badly when it comes to electricity. That wasn't originally supposed to be part of the chapter, but the image of Danny's struggle popped into my mind, and I just loved it and had to share it.

And dammit, Danny! You couldn't just let one sassy remark slip through your fingers, could you? Now he's in trouble.

The Mirror Above the Sink: Hehe, thank you! I'm glad you like it. The first time I wrote this story, before I started the overhaul, I actually kept forgetting I included Valerie as part of Team Phantom. It's good to know that's all better now. The freelancers are total dinguses, but they're also sort of smart dinguses. That makes sense, right? And Vlad is up to evil, evil things :P

Dracologistmaster: While it ended up sort of fine (minus the whole Dash thing) it definitely wasn't a good experience for either ghost hunter.

'See' you next time!