Authors Note: OMG, that review was wrong on so many different levels (sorry ILOVEBANNAS) I don't have any problem with yaio, but, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew! Ok, trust me on this; no, no NO! Danny/John, under any circumstances, John is more of an authority figure, that's it. He's needed but not for romance, I'm having enough problems with relationships in this fic without even considering this pairing, so no, under no circumstances (if any of you have any doubts) will this be… just ew. Oh, and I hope you like this chapter.

Right, so now I have to write this chapter just to give this as a shout out (goes in corner and beats head against the wall in extreme mental pain.).

Also, if anyone has a better summary please tell me so I can change my crappy one, and give you credit for the new one.

Chapter Eleven

Sighting

Danny sat up yawning; the blanket on him tumbled to the floor. Blinking groggily he took in his surroundings, and it took a minute to remember he had slept over with his teachers…ok, there had to be a better way to word that. Shaking his head, he slung his legs around to the hard wood floor. He leaned back and a satisfying cracking ran through his back. It was sore from him sleeping on the couch all night. He glanced around the room, blinking as he noticed that the sun hadn't even risen to the tops of the trees yet. Groaning, he rolled until he smacked the floor and crawled out of the covers.

Danny glanced around, noticing the clock that read five thirty; he scrunched his nose in annoyance. He wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep; it just wasn't how his body was wired. Looking around- leaving seemed an idiotic idea, seeing as he had a lesson first thing in the morning, and he wanted to give his friends plenty of time to cool down from their dares. He opened the cupboard and started scrounging for food, not to hard; he found enough to make pancakes, bacon, and eggs.

Flipping the egg, he reflected on how everyone seemed on edge, everything remained the same, he had been out the same, and still the same tension existed between them. Sam and Valerie sure hadn't gotten any closer, and if he was to go by what he learned, they might be further apart. He wished all his friends would get along, it would solve a few problems, perhaps not his romantic ones seeing as he liked the two girls, but with his luck they probably thought of him as 'just friends,' though Valerie seemed to express a little interest once in a while.

"Something smells good," said a groggy voice, Mr. Lancer's head popped out from the upstairs doorway.

"Well, hopefully it tastes as good as it smells," said Danny, taking a stack of pancakes to the table. "I just sort of whipped up pancakes and some omelets, apparently you have to be an idiot not to be able to make them, not entirely sure what Susan was hinted at. I mean, Jazz and my mom are really smart, and they can't, well my mom…"

"Calm down kid, geez Lance are you already drilling the kid with lessons, I know you're first to teach today, but he doesn't need to learn fifteen hours a day to catch up," said Brian, throwing himself into a chair.

"Did you take a look at his tests scores?" demanded Mr. Lancer, the others rolled their eyes. Danny smiled. Today… the plate he was carrying dropped, and he brought a hand to his lips. Hand shaking, he took a step to the side hands trying to locate something to hold himself up.

"Hey, calm down kid, we're here, no need to freak," John's voice washed over him, and he buried his head in his hands. Right, he hadn't resolved anything, had he? Why his ghost power randomly going off and alerting him to a ghost nearby actually threw everything into an odd sort of perspective, he had no idea, but it had. Danny clutched his stomach.

"Danny, listen, breathe," Danny looked into Charles eyes, his own brimming with tears. Lack of oxygen, starting to affect his health, proof being the beginning migraine starting to erupt, and how the world seemed to be going out of focus. "BREATHE!"

On the forced command, Danny took a deep breath in, and then another. Hacking he recaptured the oxygen that he had missed. He looked up into the shocked and worried faces of his teachers. He tried to smile, but couldn't seem to manage. Damn, why couldn't- why couldn't he just be happy for once.

"Well, unless one of you objects, I think it's my turn to teach young Daniel," said Charles; he attempted a smile of his own. It was only a little more real then Danny's.

"Oh yeah, the kid has a panic attack and we're going demand he do more work," said Tereash, John knocked him over the head with his open palm.

"Just give the kid his day off Charles, or fry his brain, or whatever you plan on doing. We're probably not going to be much help in this situation," the large man said. Charles smiled and motioned for Danny to follow him outside.

Danny fidgeted; he wondered what he would be doing in lessons with this guy. Sure Lancer said art, but a: he hadn't failed art, and b: art wasn't really all that important. Had Lancer just wanted to make sure his friend didn't feel left out? He didn't have any way of knowing, so he just followed the older gentleman to the stables. The place was beautiful, it screamed rich and pompous. Yet, it allowed those without much wealth within its borders.

The half ghost gazed at the horses in the field, their coats shown in the sun, though none seemed keen on staying in its hot rays. Danny couldn't blame them; it was scorching out here under the summer swelter. He lifted his face to the sun, closing his eyes and letting the hot rays hit his sweating skin.

"You're an odd kid," said Charles. Danny glanced the man's way before returning his gaze to the horses. "Well, ready to ride?"

"Ride?" squeaked Danny in surprise. Charles nodded.

"What other reason would we have to come here?" asked Charles.

"But…"

"Yeah, I know, technically John should teach you this, but he won't, and plus, I have horse blood in my veins. I can feel their hearts beating their anguish at-okay kid, you can stop looking at me like that," Danny turned away, but the smile never left his face. Weird, right, he was the weird one.

"Well, then what are we standing here for? Let's go ride!" said Danny, better to just get to it, right? Plus, compared to the classes he was forced to take, this was more fun, right? Ergh, whatever, as long as these were tame non-ghost horses, then he was perfectly happy riding them. How hard could it be?

By the time Danny was settled with a horse, it had come down to the one titled as he tamest of the bunch. Every other horse had attempted to buck the halfa off. The stablehand had thought at first it was because Danny was over nervous. But after a while they didn't know why the horses seemed so spooked to have Danny on their backs. Finally they saddled the sweetest chestnut, who was currently shifting uncomfortably under Danny's weight. Danny only half paid attention to the simple instructions he'd need to go on this simple hike.

Danny finally touched the side of the horses flanks, urging it forward, still scowling. These things were not making him happier, or helping him forget. He especially didn't like how the hostlers, or whatever they were called, kept on wondering how he 'spooked' the horses. Couldn't they think of a different word to describe their reaction to him? He sighed, and then pulled his horse to a stop, eyes wide.

Sam was here, she was in the midst of a group of kids. While she was decked all in black, they looked comfortable in complete jock gear; white, brown, with black helmets. The guys all seemed to be catering to a single girl, and while Sam didn't look comfortable surrounded by the giggling group. She did seem to have acquired her own caterer, and even one of the girls seemed intent on talking to her. The fact she wasn't responding was because she just hadn't realized the other girl was talking to her.

"Danny!" Danny's eyes shot up, Charles was waving at him. The ghost boy nudged his horse forward again. Reminding himself to ask Sam how the dare had panned out. If she was still hanging out with them, then it must have gone alright. Danny was glad that Sam had found some people to hang out with. Even if the look that white haired boy had been giving her rubbed him the wrong way.

"Yo, kid, anyone home?" Danny's head shot up. Charles was looking at him with an expression between amusement and concern.

"Yeah, what do you want?" asked Danny and then flinched; he hadn't meant to sound so rude. "Sorry, I just sort of zoned out."

"Understandable," said Charles, and then waited a beat. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," said Danny with a smile, why did grown-ups always have to be so nosey.

"You don't actually expect me to believe that do you?" asked the teacher indignantly. "Come now, drop that fake smile. Even John can pull off a better fake 'I'm happy, but really miserable' smile."

"It's nothing really, just a little put out because all of those horses seemed to hate me," grumbled the halfa.

"That only happened because you were so tense," said Charles.

"I doubt that every horse would have bucked me off because of that," grumbled Danny.

"You'd be surprised how respective horses are to human emotions," said Charles. Danny attempted a low grade glare. A few seconds passed in silence, the horse's hooves the only sound accompanying the gentle wind. "So your mood has nothing to do with whoever you were staring at in the pen?"

"No, not really, actually I'm happy. You see Sam was with them, and while she agreed to come here, our other friend is spending all his time with computers and that leaves her nothing to do, so its good to see she's making friends."

"Stop rambling kid," said Charles with a humorous smile. "So the fact she was with another guy didn't bother you?"

"How do you know she was with another guy?" asked Danny red faced.

"So your girlfriend-"

"She's not my girlfriend," cut in Danny, then blushed and mumbled. "She's just a close friend."

"But it still bothered you," said the art teacher pointedly.

"Well, I mean, it's been assumed for a while… why am I telling you this?" asked Danny, he did not like telling anything personal to grown-ups.

"Because if you don't then we'll turn around and have Tereash teach you math for the rest of the day," said Charles.

"Evil," muttered Danny.

"Well…?" Danny sighed and began.

"At my old school I think it was assumed that we would get together," said Danny. "Even my parents assumed, dad gave me a ring for her once. But as much as I like her it's not- I mean I also like this other girl, Valerie. What if what I feel for Sam is only friendship and others are just pushing the other emotion on me? But, I do blush around her, and I wonder what it would be like to kiss her and stuff."

"Sounds like you're attracted to her," said Charles practically. "Keep an eye on your horse; she's trying to lead you off trail."

"Yeah, but Valerie actually seems to like me like that, I can't tell with Sam. So, Sam getting a boyfriend would clear things up, and I could be with Valerie without feeling guilty about hurting Sam," said Danny.

"She might just go out with the other guy because you didn't make your move," said Charles.

"I don't want to think about the possibility, it's already complicated enough, thank you," said Danny, plus, that wasn't really the reason. In fact, everything would work out if Valerie herself found a guy to call her own. That way Danny wouldn't get involved with either one just on principle. He had no right to be jealous of whoever was helping Sam, not that he could help that tight knot from forming in his gut. He glanced to the side when Charles chuckled.

"Thinking things all the way through might help in the long run, open possibilities otherwise not explored," said Charles.

"Yes, but the one you're trying to open is the one I'm trying to close," said Danny irritably.

"Ah, but what if Valerie doesn't like you and your out on both account," said Charles almost in a teasing manner.

"I thought you were an art teacher," said Danny, sick of where the conversation was going.

"I am," said Charles, raising an eyebrow at Danny's sudden change. "But I also teach children who have learning disorders, and am one of the school councilors."

"I am not retarded," muttered Danny, once again fixing the direction that his horse was trying to go in. Why couldn't it just go in a straight line?

"You don't have to be to have a learning disorder," said Charles calmly. "And don't worry; remember that personality assessment Lance gave you?" Danny nodded. "The reason I was so long is because it tested for not only a learning disorder but also a physiological disorder. And I can tell you were closer to having a paranoia or dissociative disorder then a learning one; though an anxiety disorder might also be possible after that display today."

"I'm not paranoid," said Danny grumpily. "And, what is a dissociative disorder?"

"Well, an example of it would be multiple personality disorder, though that's one of the more heavy ones, and also very rare," said Charles. Danny made a face. That one was the closest, he supposed. He did have another one of him currently trapped in the thermos with clockwork. Still, the rest was just…

"Ridiculous," stated Danny, eyes fixed on the chestnuts mane, what was she called?

"Do you freak out often?" asked Charles.

"I didn't…" started Danny defensively, then took a deep breath. "No, that was the first time anything like that happened. I've just felt a bit more pressure lately."

"Um, your old test score and such attest to that," said Charles. "I fact you were doing pretty well in school up until a little before the increased ghost activity in your town. I also noted your parents are the town's resident ghost catchers. No pressure from them?"

"To get good grades, but they don't force me to learn all about ghosts and take ghost-catching lessons, if that's what you're thinking," said Danny, no he was just going out on his own as Danny Phantom to catch them, not that he could tell Charles that. "I guess I just lost interest in school, didn't really care."

"Hm, maybe depression, have you…?" at the look Charles got from Danny he seemed to contemplate either laughing or melting into a sticky puddle to hide. "Fine, fine, but I will be working on helping you figure out why you suddenly lost interest, and also how to deal with whatever you're not telling me through art, well, after this horse ride."

"Right, and I'm the odd one," muttered Danny, he seemed to do that a lot around Charles.

"No, you're the kid with a secret, and a hidden agenda, while being incredibly normal," said Charles. "Personally I find what Lancer and your parents, even what I could get out of your sister fascinating."

"You asked my parents about me?" squeaked Danny.

"Would have gotten your friends too, but their too slippery, I hardly got out a few sentences, and I don't even know if the information I got is that reliable," said Charles, more to himself then Danny. Which was fine because Danny was sitting on the horse completely dumbfounded, his mouthing gaping.

"How could you..?" Danny trailed off not sure what to say.

"Well, it's always better to have information on whatever you're studying beforehand. That way you can skim over that stuff in the beginning and then get right down to the grit right away," said Charles with a smile. "There, that's a good study tip!"

"Are you supposed to admit you did that though?" asked Danny, he could trust Mr. Lancer not to give him nuts as teachers, right?

"Well, I suppose, but honesty is always the best policy," Charles was smiling. If he hadn't just said all that, it might have been a true smile. But five seconds ago Danny had decided the guy was off his rocker, so it was more frightening. It almost screamed 'whack-job.' Danny had a feeling that dealing with this particular teacher was going to be harder, simply on the matter of not allowing more people to find out about his secret identity.

The rest of the trail was relatively sane. It was awkward because Danny thought his companion was a little off his rocker, but that didn't deter Charles enthusiasm, he just kept up the conversation, deciphering some of the singular answers and grunts that Danny provided. All in all, Danny was quite happy when their trip ended and the hostlers took the horses back to the stables.

"Don't they usually only help with that putting the horses away?" asked Danny.

"Ah, but you forget that this is not like normal places," said Charles. "Personally I'm glad for it, never really cared for all the stuff in-between actually riding the horse, usually don't even ride. Ah, well, it's good for bonding."

"Whatever, I'm going to the bathroom," said Danny, and then left Charles behind him, knowing that even with only three hours left with the art teacher, the man had every advantage to freak him out more while he was there.

Danny got out of the bathroom. It had taken him ten minutes just to find it; he had almost just gone in the bushes. He was hesitant to go back to the man, Charles creeped him out a little now. At first he seemed maybe a little less cool then John, now Danny knew that the man was a little more crazy then his current Phys-ed teacher.

A blue wisp escaped his lips. Danny furiously looked around. He didn't see any ghost, shit, it looked like it went into the forest. But maybe there was a chance he'd seen it wrong. No, he never got it wrong. Well, ninety-nine point nine percent of the time he wasn't wrong. The combination of his body's physical reaction and then mental reaction to where the ghost was only when the ghost on an almost purely human form; though he had been tricked, in the beginning, by ones who acted human.

Danny slipped into the forest, his feet taking him unconsciously to where he had seen the ghost slip away. He stopped. This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation for him; he wasn't supposed to be worrying about ghost and the like. But, what Dr. Appar had told him ran itself through Danny's head. Plus, Clockwork must have known this would happen, he was the keeper of time. Still, perhaps his last summer, his last summer of fun, and much to his disgust, lessons. He didn't want to have to deal with ghosts; he wanted to forget that ghosts exist, because if he forgot, then for a time maybe he could forget he had an official expiration date. And as childish as it was, maybe if he forgot and didn't use his ghost powers then the expiration date would disappear. It wouldn't be fair to kill someone not using what was killing them, was it? But it wasn't someone who was killing him, was it? No his own body was doing it, by rejecting it was alive and dead at the same time.

Danny's eyes hardened, a bright green glow emitting from their center.

"Going ghost!" he shouted, and then was off. Dodging and going intangible between the trees. This was his thing. Screw the others; the thing was he simply had to help. Otherwise his conscious would bother him. So he would go and check out what was going, maybe go beat it up. That would help release some of the anger he was feeling at the moment.

Danny slowed up, there it was, but it seemed to be staring at a rock. Then he heard a squeak. A pathetic, not very manly squeak of fear. He flew to the side, to see teen, his age, with tan skin, pure white hair, still in jockey clothes pushed against a rock. The kid seemed be trying to get away from the claws that a half humanoid half cat like green creature. He noted how close the other male looked to the one helping Sam earlier that day.

"It's not right, you can't just kill people!" said the white haired teen.

"He was here first," spat the creature. "He ruled over this land long before any of these people. He has every right to kill off anyone who could oppose him."

"He should move on, he's dead," said the other, cringing when the cat started hissing in anger.

"The injustice of his death. He had dreams, dreams of uniting his people. Then these devils come in and kill him when he tries to protect what was his. In my mind he has the right to kill them and then make them his slave, the way they seemed to try and do to him and his people," said the creature, and then its voice dropped to an almost sultry growl. "So do our king a favor…"

Danny had seen enough, he flew forward ramming his body against the cats. It struck back but Danny moved fast enough to avoid its sharp claws. He flew forward, knocking him and the thing over. He picked it up and threw it. The cat flipped and landed on her feet, Danny glanced back, good, the kid had run.

Danny flew back, his back painfully connecting with a tree. The creature was on him in a second. The ghost boy brought his arm to block the slash aimed at him. He bit back a scream as claws slipped into the skin of his arm, getting close to the bone. Another paw hit him in the stomach sending him flying backwards. Danny's eyes closed in pain. He opened them to see the beast heading his way. He gathered energy into the palm of his right hand and shoved it into the beast midsection as soon as it was on him. The thing let loose an encompassing yowl and disappeared in wisps. The only indication of her attack was a forceful wind that tussled his hair as it passed.

Danny stood still for a second. He wasn't sure what to make of what happened; all the other ghosts he had fought had always flew backwards when hit with an energy attack. He had never seen one disappear, like it had been destroyed. Danny's stomach rebelled against the thought, and suddenly the scrape on his arm starting hurting like hell. Danny cringed and looked down. He was surprised to see that the wound was bleeding pretty heavily. He cursed and quickly flew toward the cottage.

He got there in record time, careful to stay intangible when in plain sight of anyone. He slipped in the bathroom window and quickly found the gauze. The halfa began to struggle to bind his arm. Clumsily trying to stop the blood flow that had just been slowing down when he got there. It had been a green-red speckled mess as a ghost. Odd, he never met any other ghost who actually bled, must be because he was still alive to lose blood. Danny clutched his head, choking back a sob, he would not cry.

"Danny, Danny is that you in there?" Danny's head shot up at his mother's irate voice. "Daniel Fenton you march yourself downstairs this instant. Your teacher just showed up asking if you came back here."

"I'll be down in a minute!" Danny called, panicking a little, he had completely forgotten about Charles.

"Well, hurry up and get down there and apologize, and just so you know that you are grounded for a week," said Maddie, Danny waited for her footsteps to disappear, wondering what being grounded here applied to exactly.

He slipped out of the bathroom, hearing his mother saying something to his teachers downstairs. He quickly slipped on a baggy blue shirt, noticing it didn't bulge too much over his new wrappings. He headed downstairs, reasonably sure that no one would notice unless they were actually looking for it.

"Ah, yes here he is," John sat on the couch probably talking to whoever had been looking for him. "I must apologize to you Danny, Charles is brilliant with people in your age group, but he is horrible with first impressions."

"Huh?" said Danny. He glanced over at his mother who looked equally as confused.

"Yes, completely understandable that you freaked out. Personally I knocked him out and then ran away the first time I met him," said John, not really talking to them or noticing their shell-shocked expressions. "He even admitted to being creepier for a first one on one than usual, which isn't cool considering your panic attack this morning."

"Panic attack?" squeaked Maddie, suddenly becoming panicked herself.

"Oh, don't worry, he's fine," said John with a smile. "He's just a little tense, we'll work on that."

"Alright…" said Maddie, still looking unsure.

"Also don't blame the boy for running away, any sane human would have. Charles just has that effect," said John.

"If you're sure," said Maddie, John beamed. "Fine, Danny you're not grounded, but please don't do anything like that again." Danny nodded in agreement. "Fine, Susan's waiting for your help in the kitchen. John would you and the others like to come over for dinner."

"No thank you, miss, we're getting a free meal at the moose lodge out of Charles tonight," said the giant, tipping an imaginary hat. "See you tomorrow Danny!"

"Bye John!" called Danny, already following Susan's instruction on starting dinner. God, he hated onions.