Written by hazama_d20 and aniura for Phic Phight 2021, Team Ghost.
Beta-read by our BFF and fellow Team Ghost member TwilightWakerOfTime.
Prompt from rayghosts: Valerie never meant for it to end this way.
CW: Suicide attempt, depicted off-screen. Depictions of blood and ectoplasm. Cursing.
Valerie stared at the phone in her hand. The number was already in, and all she had to do was hit the dial button. Danny Fenton's contact picture smiled at her. She had taken it during one of their dates a long time ago. Three years had changed them both a lot. She couldn't help but smile back, though she felt a bit like a loon for doing so.
Valerie sighed and rubbed her forehead, or rather tried to. It was hard to do so when a metal visor was on her face. "Come on, girl, you know something's up," she told herself. She took a deep breath and hit call. With each ring, her stomach tumbled more than when she did flips on her hoverboard.
After the third ring, Danny's voicemail popped up. "Hey, you've reached Danny Fenton. Or… well, you know what I mean. I didn't pick up, so leave a voicemail, or text me like someone civilized."
The final beep came, and she cursed. She really should have thought about what she wanted to say before she called. Thinking ahead had never really been her strong suit. "Hey, Danny," Valerie began, "Listen, I know we haven't talked much since we…" Valerie quietly cursed herself as she realized that was probably a bad start. "Anyway, I saw Sam and Tucker didn't sit with you at lunch today, and I just wanted to check in on you. Call me back." She closed the phone and sighed. "Ugh, good going, Val. What if you get his hopes up?"
She stared at her phone a moment longer, thinking about what she had said. She couldn't really bring herself to agree with that. It wouldn't be that bad if he did. A weaker part of herself imagined Danny calling her back, excited to hear from her. Wanting to re-connect, to try dating again. She missed him.
She watched the phone meld back into her suit slowly before looking around. She was quite a ways up at this point, higher than most of the buildings around. It reminded her of the time Danny took her on the Ferris wheel — he seemed so happy to look at the world from so high up. She was sure he'd love this. She wished she could take him flying above the town.
But that fantasy was ridiculous. Ghost-hunting had to come first.
She sighed and shook her head, catching a flash of green light out of the corner of her eye. She focused. There was no mistaking it, there was a slight green glow coming from one of the buildings. If she were any lower, she probably wouldn't have been able to see the faint light that tinted the ventilation system on the roof.
Valerie rotated her board around and brought herself into a nosedive. It didn't take long at a full speed for her to get close. When she got within range for her radar to pick up the ghost, her suit alarms went off and she was once again reminded that she had promised herself to upgrade the detection systems.
She cursed and slammed her heel against the board and it slowed to a crawl. Ice filled her veins as she forced herself to remain calm and not to rush. There was only one ghost that set off her alarms anymore. As much as she wanted to shoot Danny Phantom in his smug face, there was a reason her alarms went off for him.
Valerie brought herself to the edge of the building and slowly stepped down onto the roof. Her suit replaced her hard metal soles with something a bit softer, muffling her steps. With the AC unit covering up her steps and her breathing, it would be almost impossible for him to detect her.
Although the AC did nothing to muffle the ragged sound of the sobbing.
Valerie hesitated. She waited for a moment to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. She couldn't believe it. Phantom was crying .
It wasn't the kind of cry like Paulina did when Dash said something insensitive, sniffling and dainty. It was the sound someone made when something horrible happened. Valerie was well-acquainted with that, she had heard it more than she liked to admit after hunting ghosts for three years. People got hurt. Badly.
The thing was, there was no reason for it. Phantom shouldn't have known she was here. His signature was low, not geared for a fight. He wasn't flexing his power like he normally did. There were no humans up here for him to hunt.
It was pointless. So what game was he playing?
Slowly, she circled around the AC unit and saw him. He was curled up, arms around his legs. He was sitting in a small puddle of ectoplasm. She seethed as she looked at him. She couldn't believe it. Phantom was the biggest pain in her ass ever and had half the school wrapped up around his finger. And here he was crying over an injury that he probably got fighting Skulker or something.
He should be crying if he lost to him.
"Don't miss."
Valerie froze. Instinct told her to just shoot him already, but if this was a trap, she didn't want to spring it early. The moment of hesitation made his words bounce around in her head, and she cocked an eyebrow in confusion.
Phantom had two modes: either he was the most annoying little shit of all time, joking and mocking everything, or he finally showed his real colors and showed his violent and angry side.
But right now, despite the crying, he was calm, almost accepting. Valerie wasn't sure what his game was, but she wasn't going to fall for it.
"I don't miss," she stated clearly, forming a gun in her hand and slowly leveling it at him. Alarm bells rang in the back of her head as he didn't react. She checked her radar to confirm there wasn't a duplicate of him sneaking up on her. He hadn't yet seemed to have mastered that skill, but she'd seen him try.
But nothing was there. It was just the two of them.
He sighed but didn't move to defend himself. "That's not what I remember happening at the Nasty Burger." His voice lacked any bite — his usual cocky attitude nowhere to be seen.
Valerie held back her rage by sheer force of will. He was probably trying to provoke her, and she was not going to let him have the satisfaction. She glared at him. "So?" she snapped, voice tight. "Look, they were lucky that all they got was a few burns! So I made a mistake! At least no one died! They'll live, which is more than I can say for you."
"They still got hurt," he growled. Valerie took a step back but kept the gun trained on him.
"Oh? So now you care what happens to humans?" she shouted, rage barely contained. "Where was that when you RUINED MY LIFE ?"
His eyes softened. She clenched her teeth at his mockery. Did he actually believe he could fool her with his manipulation? "I'm sorry about that, really, but you should know by now that Cujo isn't my dog."
Valere growled. "Bullshit! He comes when you call!"
"Cause I trained him after he died! " he snapped, energy finally entering his voice. He leaned back, and Valerie's eyes widened. She covered her mouth as she felt bile rise in her throat. There was only a small bit of ectoplasm on the ground — she had thought his wound was small.
The slice across his throat was anything but small. Ectoplasm spilled down his chest freely in a mockery of blood. It looked like someone had tried to decapitate him.
"Oh my god." It took Valerie a moment to realize she was the one to say those words, and she hated herself for it. It was possible that Phantom wasn't playing a game right now, he was truly that injured, but she hated the fact that she actually felt pity seeing that wound. She clenched her fist. "What the hell, Phantom?"
Phantom's eyes widened for a moment, and his hand went back to holding his throat together. He looked down at the ground and away from her. His other hand went to the back of his neck and rubbed it gingerly.
He sighed before letting go of the wound, seemingly giving up. His hand fell into the puddle of ectoplasm with a squelching sound that Valerie wouldn't soon forget. He slowly uncurled himself, stretching his legs out. The wound continued to pour ectoplasm out over his body. Phantom gazed idly at it, seemingly uncaring.
Valerie growled and took a step forward. How many times had she fought Phantom and he mocked her? Now he was just giving up? "What? No cheesy pun? You gonna just sit there and cry?"
He sighed and looked at her. The downturn of his mouth and lift of his eyebrows pissed her off. It was an expression she knew well. If this ghost thought he was going to get pity by trying to look like Danny he was very mistaken. The pistol from her suit charged up in response to her anger. "Get up, Phantom, you don't get to die from that."
He laughed. The simulated rush of air leaving his lungs pushed ectoplasm out of the wound and out of his mouth. The laugh choked into a sob and tears started pouring freely again. "No. No, I don't." He looked up at her, and with a smile that matched the wound on his throat said, "go ahead and finish it then."
Valerie hesitated before coughing into her hand. An awkward silence followed that statement, but Phantom didn't seem to mind. She definitely hadn't expected that. She still wasn't sure what was going on, but maybe she didn't need to. Her suit was recording all the time anyways, maybe she'd give it the Fentons afterward. They usually had an explanation for odd ghost behavior.
She raised her pistol again and pointed it at his head. She knew that his core was in his chest, but after all the shit he had put her through, she wanted this to hurt . "Before I kill you, I need to know. Did Skulker get an upgrade or something? Or is there a bigger fish I have to worry about?"
Phantom shivered and shook his head. "No… I…" He let out a quiet sigh, trailing off.
Valerie saw red. Even the way he trailed off was like Danny. Her grip tightened on the pistol. She had always hated Phantom, but seeing him act like Danny made it even worse. She didn't know that she could hate him even more.
"Fine, then!" Valerie snapped. Her gun began to emit a high-pitched whine and she had to reign herself in to keep it from being too strong. The Fentons would want to study some of the remains. "Any last words, ghost?"
Phantom opened his mouth a few times, before tears formed in his eyes. "Actually… yeah. Tomorrow, can you tell Sam and Tucker that I lost fighting myself? You… probably shouldn't tell them you finished me."
"Yourself?" Valerie repeated, raising an eyebrow. She probably shouldn't even be entertaining this, letting him get his final thoughts out. But the fact that she was considering just destroying him unceremoniously disgusted her. She was better than the ghosts she fought. She'd give him this.
Phantom nodded. "Myself… my obsession."
Valerie stilled. The Fentons were on record saying that no one really knew what Phantom's obsession was, and trying to find out was dangerous. They always assumed it involved attention, but they couldn't be sure. Ghosts reacted negatively to having their obsessions questioned. It made them scared, and angry. But if Phantom was willingly offering to tell her, then they'd finally get an answer.
"Your obsession?" Valerie prompted, keeping her voice carefully neutral. She lowered her weapon, trying to prevent him from lashing out.
Phantom noticed and frowned. "Weren't you going to kill me?"
Valerie shivered. He wasn't angry, he sounded disappointed that she wasn't shooting him. "I'll get around to it," she appeased.
Phantom's response to that was to sigh and rub his face. The act smeared ectoplasm all over it. Valerie had to keep herself from snapping. Did he have to drag this out? Even defeated as he was, he was still irritating.
Valerie licked her lips. Her next question was either going to get her an answer she's wanted forever, or piss him off. Either way, win-win. "And how does losing a fight against yourself result in a slashed throat?"
Phantom rubbed the back of his head. It reminded her of the time Danny was caught in her room with her when they were dating and her dad came home early. When she did get around to shoot this damn ghost, she was going to blast his arm off first so he couldn't do that again.
"My obsession…" Phantom began, interrupting her violent thoughts, "is protection."
"Protection?" Valerie scoffed. "What do you know about protection?"
"As much as you do about hurting us."
Valerie felt her stomach drop, and a chill filled her chest. The way he said that sent a spike of adrenaline throughout her body. She shook her head and tried to clear it, but her heart pounded in her ears.
"Don't say-" she started. But… why shouldn't he say that? Why should she care what a stupid ghost had to say? His quips or comments never bothered her before. Or rather, they had never angered her like this before.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "Well, in that case, shouldn't you leave?" she snapped. Phantom flinched. She fought the urge to raise her pistol again. "Half the ghosts that come out are here to fight you ."
"You know, you're not the first one to say that," he chuckled. Phantom did a good job of faking pain. There was no joy in the way he laughed, just hurt. "The Fentons have said that before too. Repeatedly."
"Well, why haven't you?"
"I can't ."
Valerie huffed and tapped her foot against the board. "So, they're right? Amity Park is your haunt?"
"It's not my haunt," he stated, shaking his head. Before she could challenge him on that, he continued. "It's my lair. "
Valerie blinked. "That's impossible, there's-"
"Not enough ectoplasm to sustain a ghost? Red... you hunters don't know enough about ghosts."
Valerie hummed. "Wait…" she began. Her eyes widened, and she looked at Phantom. "You said you lost against your obsession."
Phantom put a hand against his throat one more time and looked at the AC unit. "I told you. I can't leave."
Valerie followed his gaze and gasped when she noticed the dagger made out of ice, half-hidden underneath the large metal contraption. It wasn't very large, deceptively so. Maybe three or four inches, but the design was unmistakable. It wasn't just a pocket knife, it had a hilt and everything. It would easily fit in the palm of her hand.
Maybe she would have noticed it sooner if she hadn't been distracted by the thick, viscous sheen of ectoplasm spilled over it. The only part uncoated was the handle, but even then tiny bits of ectoplasm could be seen. A testament to just how much had poured out when it cut.
"You did that… to yourself? But why ?"
Phantom sighed, deep and heavy. "Can't you just get this over with? I'm not getting any deader here.."
Nobody had ever gotten this far with Phantom, with any ghost's obsession. She wasn't about to off him now, not when she was so close to answers. She'd already read every book she could about ghosts, spent countless hours talking to the Fentons about their research. Anything new she could learn about ghosts was an advantage in a fight. With Phantom dead, she may be killing her only chance to learn more. "Not until you answer my questions," she said simply. "After that… if you really want me to off you, fine. I'll do it."
"Fine." Phantom looked at her, too tired to argue. "You said it yourself. They come to fight me, and I can't leave."
Valerie's tongue felt thick in her mouth. That resignation — she'd seen it in Danny before, whenever he talked about the ghost situation in Amity Park. There had been many times when she compared Danny and Phantom together. Even though she tried her hardest to keep them separate, sometimes the similarities were just too great. She wondered sometimes if Phantom did it on purpose or if those two really were that similar.
Every time she had done that came rushing back at her in this moment. It was all too easy to imagine Danny sitting here instead, with red blood instead of green ectoplasm. She felt sick, disgusted. Not only at the images in her mind, but also that some part of her seemed happy that Phantom was hurting this badly.
She fumbled with her helmet, finding a button on the side. With a hiss, her helmet retracted and crisp cold air filled her nostrils, thankful she was upwind of Phantom and all the ectoplasm he had spilled. She wouldn't have been able to keep her dinner down if she had to smell that.
Phantom continued staring at the dagger, ignorant or uncaring of what she was feeling. "The thing with our obsessions, Red, is that they can drive us to do things we know we shouldn't. I don't want to die again, but sometimes it's like... we wind up taking a back seat in our own bodies. We know we don't want to do something, but you watch your body do it anyways."
Valerie shivered, either from the cold, hearing what he said, or the fact that she was trying not to relate with him at the moment, she wasn't sure. She didn't want to take joy in Phantom being brought so low that he tried to end himself, but a part of her liked that. She had always taken pride in fighting ghosts, but she never wanted to be sadistic about it. Even if it felt good to make them suffer.
"How do you deal with that?" she found herself asking.
Phantom looked at her, and for once there was a bit of life in his eyes. "You try to do small things to satiate it. I keep my friends safe. It works…" the life left his eyes and his head fell slowly until he was limp like a ragdoll, "until it doesn't."
"What brought this on?"
Phantom didn't look up at her. "You should know. You were there."
Valerie tore her eyes away from Phantom. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tried to shove the joy she was feeling away. That was not what she wanted to be. She wasn't like the ghosts that fed off suffering.
"The Nasty Burger?" Valerie prompted.
Phantom shook his head. Tiny flecks of ectoplasm flew off of him with the movement, small enough that they evaporated before they hit the ground. "The mall."
Valerie frowned. The issue at the mall had literally been the next day. "That fight with the dragon?" She couldn't see how that dragon had messed him up this badly.
"Sam and Tucker," Phantom responded, voice tight. He was trying not to cry again. Valerie glanced at him and saw him wiping away at his eyes, smearing ectoplasm all over his face.
Valerie thought back. She had remembered seeing them there. It wasn't unusual to see them near Phantom. She never brought it up at school, but it had always pissed her off. They should know better than to hang around ghost fights, especially since their friend's parents were ghost hunters. She wondered sometimes if that was why Phantom emulated Danny so often. "What about them? They were helping you…. again."
Phantom curled back up into the fetal position. "Val… I know you were at school today."
Valerie's hand twitched. She hated it when Phantom called her by name. What gave him the right to give her a nickname? Only people she was close with called her Val. Her dad, Star, Danny… she hated how familiar this ghost thought he was with her. She bit back her anger and focused. She looked at him and cocked hip, raising an eyebrow. "So?"
"Didn't you see Tucker?" Phantom asked. "He's limping. Aragon bit him and tore up his leg. Badly." He shuddered and the temperature dropped in the area. It was normally a sign that he was about to attack, but Valerie didn't feel any danger.
Not after seeing the dagger Phantom tried to kill himself with.
"He's never going to walk right again."
There was a moment of silence while Valerie processed that. She didn't like Tucker that much. Still, she'd never wish that on him. He didn't deserve that.
Valerie brought her hand up to her mouth. Dimly, she was aware of her hand shaking. Tucker had just been trying to help. Hell, he had helped. If he hadn't shown up when he had, a lot more people would have gotten hurt.
And now he couldn't walk right.
It wasn't fair.
But she knew more than most that life wasn't fair.
"We all thought we were invincible," Phantom continued, unprompted. "I mean, we've been doing this for almost four years now." He uncurled slightly and stared off into the night, eyes unfocused. His voice grew softer. "Sam and Tucker… they realized they could actually die doing this ghost hunting thing. So they left."
Valerie moved to look him in the eyes. That answered some questions and really only left her with more, and she found that she cared more about the new questions than the old. "So they just ditched Danny then?" she asked.
Phantom slowly nodded, and Valerie got the idea that he wasn't really looking at her. "Danny can't get away from ghosts any more than you can." He laughed once, a weak, gurgling sound devoid of humor. More fluid trickled out of his mouth, but this time he neglected to wipe it away.
Again, Valerie felt that chill down her spine as her stomach dropped. "That's twice now you've said something like that. What are you getting at?"
Phantom focused on her. Sometimes it seemed like he knew her in ways she didn't understand. She hated that feeling. He opened his mouth to respond before biting on his lip. He made a disgusted face and then wiped his mouth, trying to wipe away the ectoplasm. He took in a long breath. The movement of air over his throat made a slight whistling noise. "You haven't noticed, have you?"
Valerie tensed at that. Noticed what?
He rubbed his face again and muttered quietly: "well, this will probably get me killed, so win-win I guess…" He chuckled to himself, but there was no humor in it. Only odd relief. "Red, what do you think your suit is ?"
Valerie frowned. The sudden topic change threw her off, but she played along. She had already learned more than anyone had about Phantom. She would wonder if the ectoplasm loss was affecting his thoughts, but she knew as well as he did that a wound like that wouldn't kill him. "It's my old suit, just upgraded with nanobots." Did he think this was going to reveal one of her weaknesses or something?
Phantom shook his head. "Val," he began. He was slightly chiding. She was tempted to shoot him for that. Her fingers twitched to reach for a gun, even as she realized that at some point during this conversation she had resolved not to. "Val, Axiom has never done anything with nanobots."
"What?" Valerie responded, before she had even finished processing what he had said. Something filled her veins with ice, and she knew whatever he said next she wasn't going to like.
His eyes stayed focused on her, an unnerving contrast from his listless energy a few minutes ago. "Why would nanobots just suddenly activate and take your suit? Why would it bond to you ?"
The words that came out of her mouth left in a rush, quick to explain away what he was saying. "The software Axiom was writing had identified me as the closest person to it. They just activated and bonded to someone. You don't know what the hell you're talking about, ghost," she spat. That was what she had gleaned from her conversations with her dad. They had never really talked that much about her new suit. He hated it. He hated that she went out and fought ghosts. But when the ghosts never stopped coming, and she kept disobeying him to go fight them, he knew he slowly had to come to peace with it.
"Valerie," Phantom said slowly, carefully neutral. Slowly, he shifted his hands so that they were underneath his legs, the equivalent of holstering weapons. Can't fire ectorays if your hands are hidden. "It's not nanobots. It's ectoplasm."
Valerie couldn't even think of a response. She felt her mouth open a few times as she tried to process that statement. "What?" she managed to utter weakly. She should be pissed, she should scream at him for making things up. So why was she so terrified? That was absurd, ectoplasm was ghostly. She wasn't a ghost.
Phantom slumped back against the AC unit, losing the burst of energy and focus he'd shown. Even though the ectoplasm loss couldn't hurt him, it was clearly tiring him. "Call your dad, then. Ask him."
Valerie raised her hand and watched as her phone came out of it. The suit had already dialed her dad's number. All she had to do was hit the call button.
She didn't want to.
She looked at Phantom, then at her phone. Her stomach began to feel queasy. Slowly, she pressed the call button and raised the phone to her ear. The phone rang once before her dad answered it. "Hey, pumpkin," he answered brightly.
"Hey, Daddy." Valerie began, trying not to let fear color her voice. "I… I have a question."
"What is it?" His voice dropped as he grew serious, which didn't help her uneasiness at all.
She shifted and put the phone to her other ear. She turned slightly away from Phantom as if she could get any privacy with the two of them on this rooftop. "Has Axiom ever done anything with nanobots?"
"Nanobots?" Her father repeated, confusion evident in his voice. "No."
Valerie felt her heart stop.
"We don't have the equipment for it. Dalv Co. has another subsidiary company that specializes in it, I think. But Axiom? No. We have started writing their software though."
"Oh…" Her voice sounded so weak, far away.
Her father hummed on the other end of the line in thought. "Why are you asking? Do you have a school project or something?"
Valerie glanced back at Phantom, who hadn't moved an inch. "Something came up," she forced out. "Uh, with the Fentons' research. I was just wondering. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Alright. Bye sweetie, don't stay out too late!" he said, brightly again, completely unaware of how scared she was now.
"I won't. Bye, Daddy."
Valerie ended the call and stared at her phone, grasped tightly in her gloved hand.
"Axiom hasn't used nanobots." Phantom stated simply. "Your suit isn't made from them. It is part of your old suit, but it's mostly ectoplasm at this point."
"That's impossible…" Valerie breathed out. That was absurd. Ectoplasm was practically poison to humans. But if it wasn't nanobots… what else could it be?
What was it Lancer was going on about in class? If you eliminate the impossible, whatever was left was the answer? Was there another answer?
Phantom shifted, placing both hands on the ground. As he shifted, the ectoplasm made horrific squelching noises that rang in Valerie's ears. "From what I can tell, Technus bonded your suit to you with ectoplasm. It's… probably a part of you now."
Valerie looked at her hand. Did this mean she was partly ghost now? The very thought of it disgusted her. She felt like she was going to vomit. Her skin crawled as she became distinctly aware of the suit on her skin.
And under it.
"Don't," Phantom said. The harshness in his voice made Valerie jump back into the present. She looked down at her hand and realized that she was beginning to pull away her gloves.
"Don't what?" she asked, as she dropped her hands to her sides. The act took effort. She had to fight herself to put her hands down against her side. Her skin itched all over, like a million spiders crawling under her skin.
"Don't do what you were about to," he said. If he were human, she'd say his eyes looked haunted.
Valerie glared at him. It seemed like he was back to being vague as hell. "Oh, so you're a mind reader now."
Phantom shook his head, he seemed to be losing focus again. "I don't need to be. You were thinking about tearing the suit out of you." His shoulders slumped. "That won't end well."
"Oh, because you know everything, right, Phantom?"
"Look, I've tried, okay?" His voice cracked, filled with sorrow. He let out a choking sob.
Valerie reeled, feeling more violated than before. "You've tried to remove my suit?" she shouted.
"No, not that… it's…" Phantom paused, searching for words. "It hurts, okay?" Valerie couldn't help but flinch at the amount of pain laden in that word. She couldn't quite believe he was faking that. "It won't work. Just… if you believe just one thing I say… believe that."
Valerie kept her eyes focused on Phantom and tried to ignore the feeling of the suit constraining her. Despite how wrong it felt, it was easier than she liked. Her skin itched, but even though it was wrong her suit still felt like it was a part of her.
But now she couldn't quite shake the feeling that it was like wearing the wrong skin.
"Why are you telling me all this? Why now?" Valerie asked, her voice hoarse.
"I don't…" Phantom sighed, deep and heavy. "I don't know, Val." She bristled at his casual use of her nickname. "You deserve to know. I'm tired of keeping secrets… I'm tired of trying to keep everyone safe. I'm tired of being such a loser. I'm tired of late nights and early mornings. I'm…" He looked away. "I think I'm just tired."
Valerie shivered. She hated how much she understood what he was saying. If she weren't careful, she might actually start empathizing with him. "Don't think I've forgotten you talking about Danny. Why can't he escape ghosts, either?"
Phantom sat up, placing his hands farther apart. It was as close to a surrender as a ghost could get. "I… we… all have obsessions."
Valerie once again felt that spike of adrenaline that chilled her. The idea she had a ghostly obsession was impossible, but now that she had a word for it, it clicked way too neatly for her. Bile rose in the back of her throat. "I don't have an obsession."
But she knew it was true. Then something else clicked.
"'We…' Danny? " She stepped forward and picked Phantom up by his stupid jumpsuit. She hated how much he was talking about Danny. She didn't care if Phantom was bleeding out. She wouldn't let him toy with the people she cared about. "What about Danny?"
Phantom's eyes widened. He brought his hands up to push her away, but then thought better of it. He turned his palms away from her, but continued to hold them up in the universal sign of surrender. "It happens when you're exposed to too much ectoplasm, I swear!"
"Try again!" Valerie growled, shoving him against the AC unit. "The Fentons-"
"Are obsessed with being right," he snapped, returning her hostile energy for the first time that evening. "Have you tried telling them they're wrong? Jazz? She's already halfway to a doctorate in psychology and she's nineteen !" Valerie's eyes narrowed in anger as he continued. He was wrong. He had to be. "Hell! Even the people in the school aren't unaffected! Are you seriously telling me you haven't noticed? You're smarter than that, Valerie."
Valerie dropped Phantom roughly. She was done listening to this fairy tale. The ghost stumbled, slamming against the AC unit, leaning his weight into the cold metal to stay standing.
Yet the ghost boy continued anyways. "Dash? Football. Paulina? Being pretty. Sam?" At her name, Phantom weakened, slid down the unit until he was sitting again. "Sam… Sam, the environment…"
Valerie looked him up and down. He shouldn't know so much about the students at Casper High. Yet… he did. And she realized with horror that he was right. Everyone used to have varied interests, she remembered. Dash used to talk about romance movies. Paulina would practice cheerleading until she was drenched in sweat. But the last few years… all of their other interests seemed to fade away, leaving them with…
Just. One. Obsession.
"I asked about Danny ," she said, her voice quaking. She wasn't sure what it could be. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. But she had to. What would Danny Fenton be obsessed with?
Phantom brought his hand up to his throat. Ectoplasm continued to flow out of it, a steady stream. Idly, Valerie realized her theory that a ghost couldn't destabilize because of a loss of ectoplasm was definitely true.
Phantom looked her in the eyes. "Danny… he's obsessed with protection, too."
Valerie felt like she had been sucker punched. Immediately, her phone was in her hand and she hit the call button. She couldn't actually hear the phone ringing, her heart was pounding in her ears way too loud for her to even begin to focus on that.
"Hey, you've reached Danny Fenton. Or… well, you know what I mean. I didn't pick up, so-"
Valerie snapped her phone closed and turned toward Phantom. "Where is Danny?" she demanded.
Fuck killing Phantom. Finding Danny was more important. If Phantom did that to himself because of his obsession, then Danny… she couldn't even complete the thought. She didn't want to. She had to know he was okay.
Phantom blinked, and titled his head, mocking confusion. "I didn't know you cared?"
Valerie saw red.
She gasped for breath. Her heart pounding in her ears, and her hand hurt. She looked down at Phantom. He was laying in the pool of his ectoplasm, holding his cheek where she had backhanded him.
She breathed out slowly. "Don't you ever say that again."
Phantom laughed weakly from the ground, an awful wet sound. Valerie considered kicking him while he was down. "Well, jeez Red, what else was I supposed to think when you broke up with him?"
"How in the hell do you know about that?" Was he threatening Danny? "Did Sam or Tucker tell you? Were you… no, you know what? Fuck you, Phantom," she spat. "If you really cared about protecting anyone then you'd know how dangerous ghost hunting is. What with you trying to kill me and all."
Phantom gasped at her insult, eyes glowing. He sat up with a start, much too quickly for his injuries. Her comment seemed to affect him more than her slap did. She watched his hands to see if he was gearing up to fight her. He kept his fists closed and on the ground. "I've never tried to kill you. Not once."
"I was there when you blew up my suit in front of Casper High, Phantom. You tried to kill me. I watched you."
" Kill you? I tried to save you! I knew you weren't in there, Danny and I both did." His voice turned gravelly, animalistic. He was getting angry. "Who knows how many people that thing could've hurt?"
Valerie blinked, taken aback. "Wait… you both knew?" She breathed in, and felt rage fill her chest. "You both knew?" she shouted. "You're telling me Danny knew this whole time I wore that suit? Then why ?" Part of her wanted to scream, to cry. Her worldview felt like it was shattering. And who was breaking the news but Amity Park's "greatest hero." She kept her expression tight, as contained as she could. She couldn't let him see her when she was weak.
Phantom turned and focused on her. His eyes glowed brighter as he gathered strength. He pressed one of his hands back on his throat, applying pressure to the wound. "It was attacking you! It was trying to kill you!" Phantom shouted back, ignoring her question. Valerie took a step back at Phantom's rage. "How am I supposed to protect someone against a machine? It's not like I can trap it! I can't send it into the Ghost Zone! I did what I had to, Valerie! Even if it made you hate me!"
"That doesn't answer my question, Phantom. Danny knew I was a ghost hunter? Danny's been friends with you this whole time?"
Phantom chuckled as his strength left him again. She glared at him, the most vicious look she could muster, but it had no effect. He collapsed in the puddle of ectoplasm. Bits of it splashed and evaporated in the air. Valerie winced as the sour smell stung her nose like acid.
"Yup!" he said, popping the p sarcastically. Despite herself, Valerie felt her heart flutter at that, cooling some of the rage that filled her heart. Danny had dated her, even when she wanted to kill his friend? Even knowing he could've been hurt?
"Danny isn't very bright sometimes, huh," she mused, lowering the volume of her voice.
"You can say that again. He's a certified dumbass." He wiped his face, trying to clear some ectoplasm and tears. He just smeared it around – he was absolutely soaked. "Sam and Tucker were so pissed you two were dating." He paused. "Well… mostly Sam."
Valerie smiled. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Phantom, but right now she was too excited to care. After an evening of turmoil, of horrible news, this was a glimmer of hope that she couldn't help but latch onto. With a bit of hope for their relationship, Valerie's feelings for Danny amplified. . Maybe she wasn't moving on from their relationship as well as she thought she was... though maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Even if Danny kept all these secrets from her… well, it's not like she didn't have a few of her own, too.
She eyed Phantom. Could she pick dating Danny over killing Phantom? She wasn't sure, but if she killed him tonight like he asked, then maybe it wouldn't be a problem.
"Maybe it's a good thing Sam ditched him then... some friend."
Phantom's head snapped toward her, and she took a step back as she got ready to draw a weapon. "Don't!" he hissed, before quickly calming himself down. He rubbed his face with the back of his hand. "I… he… we loved… love Sam," he said, quietly. His voice wavered as he spoke. He looked away from Valerie, as he tried not to cry.
Valerie's elation dropped. That definitely hadn't been what she wanted to hear. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but she wasn't even sure what she was going to ask. She had so many questions tumbling around in her head.
But did she need Phantom to answer them anymore?
She could just kill him and be done with tonight. She just needed to find Danny, but did she need Phantom to do so? She bet her suit could find him. She watched as her suit formed a gun out of ectoplasm.
Maybe it was time to end this.
"I… I am sorry. Really…" She got it. After all, she'd broken up with the very same boy to protect him. "I love Danny, and-"
She was cut off by Phantom chuckling. Her grip tightened on her pistol as she looked down at him. His head lolled around and he looked at her feet, his eyes moved up her body, then to the pistol in her hand. He broke out in a sad smile.
"What's so damn funny?" she demanded.
"Red…" he said quietly. "You don't even know him."
Valerie bristled, and she felt her shoulders rise. "Excuse me?"
Phantom sighed, resigned. "Red… if you knew what I knew, you'd hate him as much as you hate me."
Valerie leaned over, pressing the gun into his face. "You're wrong." She wouldn't hate Danny. Couldn't.
"Really?" Phantom challenged. "You sure about that?"
"More than anything."
Valerie jumped back when a glowing light ring appeared around Phantom's waist. She raised her pistol at him. Whatever power he was using, she hadn't seen him use before – but she knew she recognized it from somewhere.
As the ring split into two and they began to pass over his body. She began to place where she had seen it before.
Her mouth went dry, and her arms began to shake, when she remembered a little human girl who stole an apple. Her weapon slipped from her fingers as a black jumpsuit was replaced with a familiar white shirt, and blue jeans, quickly dyeing green as they soaked up the fluid on the ground.
Danny Fenton was laying in front of her in a puddle of ectoplasm.
The smell burned her nose. It was a smell that she could never forget. His shirt was stained with ectoplasm now, same with his jeans. He smiled weakly up at her, looking like he had won an argument he didn't want to have.
His throat gushed blood instead of ectoplasm.
Valerie jumped down. "Oh my god, Danny!" she shouted. Her knees hit the ground and sent pain shooting through her body. Ectoplasm splashed as her suit converted her gloves from metal to fabric. She placed her hands against Danny's throat and put pressure on the wound.
Danny thrashed under her hands. She brought a knee on top of his arm to keep him from moving. Getting a free hand, she pulled out her phone. 911 already dialed.
"Valerie!" Danny shouted. She had no idea how he was able to speak with the open wound in his throat. "Valerie, it's fine!"
"LIKE FUCKING HELL IT IS!" Valerie shouted, trying to hit the call button. She gasped as her knee fell and hit the concrete. She looked down and saw that Danny had slipped out from under her. A moment later she recognized a chill in her leg. Her eyes widened and she looked back at Danny, who was holding her phone.
He placed it outside of the puddle of ectoplasm, way too calmly for someone whose white shirt was now red with blood. He looked back at her, and their eyes met. Valerie felt her chest clench at the broken look on his face.
"Valerie…" he whispered. "It's fine." He reached up and wiped away the blood from his throat. His skin was unmarred and unbroken.
Valerie slowly reached up. Her glove pulled back and merged into her body, leaving a prickly sensation along her skin. She ran her fingers along his throat. His skin was unblemished. He shivered under her touch. Valerie held her fingers on his pulse point. His heartbeat was slow, but steady. His skin was warm.
The Fentons had papers explaining that ghosts couldn't replicate a heart beat.
His hair glistened with ectoplasm, and his shirt clung to his chest slick, dyed red. The ectoplasm beneath them was now turning a sickly shade of brown as it mingled with the human blood.
Danny blinked. His eyes filled with tears. "Val…"
Valerie reached up and stroked his cheek. "Danny…" Valerie felt her own eyes tearing up. "My God... Danny… Why did…"
"I…" His hand came up and covered her hand. It was warm with his blood, and her skin burned from the ectoplasm. "I didn't want to… I couldn't stop myself." He broke out in sobs. Valerie sat down and pulled his head into her lap and out of the ectoplasm and blood. "My parents… you… everyone kept saying the ghosts were coming to fight me. I had to try… I had to protect everyone."
You. That word repeated in her head over and over.
And probably would never stop.
"I couldn't stop it." Danny continued, the words leaving his mouth in a rush. "I knew it wasn't going to work. My parents say it's not possible. Ghosts can't end themselves. If they could, they could pass on, but they can't. But I… I needed to try . I'm so tired, Val."
Valerie sobbed. She pulled Danny up into her chest. It took but a moment for Danny to realize she was hugging him, and he hugged her back. She felt his arms tremble around her. She felt sick. It wasn't the smell of the ectoplasm, even though with her nose practically buried in it, she should have been violently ill from that.
But knowing that she had pushed Danny to do what he did…
Knowing what he wanted her to do.
"God, Danny…" she said, squeezing him tighter. "Danny… how could you ask me to kill you?"
Danny stilled, and she wished she could take the words back. She shouldn't have asked that. Not right now. Not when the two of them were so broken . He started to pull away, but she just tightened her grip. Her suit beeped and informed her that it was now preventing a ghost's intangibility.
"I'm sorry, Val," he whispered. "I… I shouldn't have done that."
Valerie bit her lip. She wished she could take back so many words. She couldn't afford to not think here. She could make this so much worse if she wasn't careful.
This wasn't like ghost hunting. This was Danny.
"It's okay, Danny," she said finally.
"I know it's not." Danny said quickly.
Shifted her grip, picking him more up. He was mostly out of the puddle of ectoplasm now, his feet were still in it. Her suit kept it away from her skin, but his body must have been burning. She rubbed his back for a moment as she thought of what to say.
Valerie relaxed her grip and the two of them separated. Valerie looked him in the eyes as she held his face in her hands. "Danny…" A memory flashed in her mind, one of the worst ones she ever had before tonight.
Phantom being a bastard and exposing her to her father was what usually stood out about that night. Now, she knew it was Danny trying to save them all. Protect his family. Protect her.
"Do you remember Pariah Dark?" she asked quietly.
Danny's eyes flashed with… something. Valerie wasn't quite sure what. But he looked more alive than he did a moment ago. "Of course, he said, voice firm. He grew a cocky smirk. "First time anyone called me Phantom instead of Inviso-bill."
"We need you, Danny… I admit… I may have been… upset at what you did." And boy was that an understatement. She had been grounded for a month after that. "But I think I understand now. You did it to save all of us, didn't you?" Danny said nothing, but his eyes softened. Valerie reached up and ran the back of her fingers along Danny's cheek. "Danny… we love you. We need you."
Danny broke out sobbing. "That's not true," he said. And she immediately knew he was thinking about Tucker.
About Sam.
Valerie brought her lips crashing down onto Danny. He stopped shaking and froze completely. He tasted of blood, and her lips burned from the traces of ectoplasm. Valerie knew she shouldn't do this. They hadn't dated in years, and Danny said he loved Sam.
But fuck her.
She left him. Both of his friends did.
She wasn't going to miss this chance to let Danny know how she felt.
Valerie pulled away and looked at Danny. Danny's lips were painted red and green with blood and ectoplasm, and she was sure hers were as well. "Don't make me kiss Phantom to prove it."
"Val… I…"
Valerie put a finger on Danny's lips. "Just… just one second." She took a deep breath and composed her thoughts. "Danny, I won't lie and say that knowing you're Phantom doesn't change anything, but… I'll try." She brushed some hair behind her ear, pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts. "Danny?"
He nodded for her to continue.
"You were wrong earlier. I do know you." Danny opened his mouth to reply, but she continued. "When things get bad, you always save us. All of us. And I know it's something you'd do with or without some stupid obsession… even if I hated to admit it." She laughed. "God, if you had told me last night that I'd be saying I was thankful to Danny Phantom, I'd have called you crazy." She shook her head.
Danny stared at her, unbelieving, eyes filled with hope for the first time this evening.
"The next time it gets this bad, I'll be here. I'm never going to let you go through this alone again. We wouldn't be here without you, Danny. Try and remember that. Just try."
Valerie moved her hand away, and stroked his hair.
"Just try."