Just as Maddie Fenton went into the lab Danny grabbed Squirt's hand and pulled her through the ceiling into his room. He let them both go intangible and resumed human form. Just for good measure he shut his door. Squirt gasped as she saw him turn into a human and he felt her piercing gaze on his back as he crossed the room.
"Wow," she said.
"I thought you knew I was a halfa," Danny said.
"I did, but that was cool!" she said. "Both human and ghost, that's so incredibly awesome!"
Danny blushed, "Uhhh, thanks."
Squirt crossed her legs in mid air and looked at Danny thoughtfully. "You don't seem much like a ghost fighter in human form," she said.
"Good," Danny said. "I don't want people knowing who I am."
"Walker?" Squirt asked.
Danny nodded, "Yeah. How did you know?"
"Trust me, even if people die, they still love to gossip," she said.
Danny laughed, "Some things never change."
Squirt shook her head. "Nope! So, what is this place anyway?"
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
Squirt pointed at the computer, "Like that for example. What's it do?"
Danny followed her gaze and looked at his desktop, "My computer?" he asked.
Squirt floated over to it and inspected it thoughtfully, "So that's what a computer looks like."
"You've never seen a computer?" Danny asked.
Squirt shook her head, "No. I've heard of them though."
"What did you hear?" Danny asked.
"They're machines that are powerful and rule most of the earth," Squirt said.
"Uhhh," Danny hid a smile. "Not quite. Computers are machines but they don't rule anyone. Humans use them to do things that we couldn't otherwise."
"Like?" Squirt asked putting her hands on her hips.
"Like…" Danny paused trying to think of something that a computer did that helped people. "Like, sending mail in three seconds to the other side of the world," he said.
Squirt's eyes widened, "No way!" she said.
Danny nodded, "Yeah, but only text messages. No packages can be sent. You can also talk with people on the computer who are on the other side of the world, you can even see them."
Squirt looked at the computer, "That is so cool," she said.
Danny laughed at her wonder. "Actually, that technology is pretty old," he said.
"Old?" Squirt squeaked. "Amazing, when I died computers were so big they weren't even bothered with."
Danny paused. "When did you… ummm die?" he asked.
Squirt looked at him, "1980," she said.
"Wow, that was a long time ago. You've been in the Ghost Zone for 25 years?"
Squirt nodded, "Yeah. The Ghost Zone is a place for ghosts who don't want to pass on and who don't want to live in the real world to try and gain back the life they lost. It's also a place for malevolent ghosts to be trapped in even though it doesn't last very long."
Danny sat on his bed, "Wow, I had no idea," he said.
Squirt floated over to him and sat down next to him on his bed. "You don't know a lot of things about ghosts do you?" she asked.
"Well, I…" Danny paused. "Ummm… no, not really."
Squirt gave him a toothy grin. "You capture ghosts and send them back to a place you barely even know about?"
"Yes," Danny said slowly.
"What made you start doing that stuff anyway?" she asked.
Danny sighed, "Well, I guess I just didn't want to see my family getting hurt."
Squirt nodded, "Makes sense. Well, most of the nice ghosts stay in the Ghost Zone anyways."
Danny thought about that. "Squirt?" he asked.
"Yes?"
"Why don't ghosts pass on, why do they choose to live in the Ghost Zone anyway?"
Squirt brought her knees up to her chest and she hugged them looking downcast for a few minutes. Danny wondered if he said the wrong thing when she sighed and said, "Lots of reasons. Some people don't want to pass on because they left a life they were comfortable with. They don't want eternal rest they just want a nice schedule where nothing changes. Some people are waiting for other loved ones to pass on and when they do they'll move on together. Some people want to cause trouble," she smirked. "And some," she paused. "For some reason or another, can't move on."
Danny looked at her. "May I ask which category you're in?"
"No you may not!" she snapped.
Danny held up his hands, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean anything."
Squirt looked at Danny and gave a small smile. "You're very jumpy, did you know that?"
Danny sighed, "Yes, I knew that."
Squirt looked at the clock, "Can I stay here a little longer?" she asked suddenly.
"Why?" Danny asked.
"I want to see what else has changed," she said. "Did you know that when I was in first grade we predicted that there would be flying cars by 2000?"
Danny burst out laughing, which made Squirt cross her arms huffily. "Sorry," Danny said. "There are no flying cars, they're all still on the ground, gravity still applies."
"No moving sidewalks then?" Squirt asked.
"Only in airports," Danny said.
"Did anything futuristic happen in the last 25 years?" Squirt asked haughtily.
"I don't know," Danny said. "Depends on what your opinion of futuristic is."
"Can I see?" Squirt asked.
"I don't know…" Danny said hesitantly.
"Pleaaaaaaseeee?" she begged him.
Danny was amazed once again at how she could seem to be 33 years old one minute then her death age of 8 the next. Once a kid always a kid, he figured.
"Well, as long as you promise not to do anything that would give you away," Danny said.
Squirt nodded happily. "Wow! This will be so much fun!" she cheered.
"Don't get out much in the Ghost Zone?" Danny asked.
Squirt shook her head, "No, not really. There isn't much to see in my village, I just stay there because I really don't have anywhere else to go…" her mood took a 180 as she recounted her time in the Ghost Zone.
Danny looked at the odd 8 year old. He wondered what she was hiding, and why she seemed so happy go lucky one minute and sad the next. 'Funny,' he thought. 'She's the most human-like ghost I've met.' Then he paused, 'Wait…' he looked at Squirt again. 'All the ghosts I meet are or were human, she just acts human.'
Squirt looked at him; "Well?" she asked regaining her saucy attitude.
Danny actually gave her a small smile, "All right give me a second though."
"For what?" Squirt asked putting her hands on her hips.
"I'm going to call some friends to join us."
"Friends?" she asked.
Danny nodded, "My two friends, Sam and Tucker. They're the ones who help me catch ghosts."
Squirt watched Danny closely as he picked up his cell phone and dialed Sam's number. "That's a phone?" she squeaked.
"Yes," Danny said, "Shhh."
Sam picked up on the other end. "Hello?"
"Hey Sam, you wanna go hang out at the mall?" Danny asked.
"But it's so tiny!" Sam heard a small voice on the other end of the line.
"Squirt, shhh," Danny said.
"Danny?" Sam asked.
"I'll explain everything when we get there, so you wanna come?" Danny asked again.
Sam gave her phone an odd look. "Fine with me, when do you want to meet?" she asked.
Danny looked at his clock, "Twenty minutes?" he asked.
"Sure," said Sam.
"All right, I'll call Tucker and we'll meet you there," Danny said.
"Okay, bye," Sam said.
Danny dialed Tucker's phone number next.
"How on earth does it work?" Squirt asked. "I mean, it doesn't have a phone line or a receiver or anything!" she said.
"Squirt, it's a cell phone, now shhhh," Danny said again.
"Hello?" Tucker asked.
"Hey Tuck, want to meet up at the mall?" Danny asked.
"Dude, I thought you'd never call!" Tucker cheered.
"I'll take that as a yes?" Danny asked with a smirk.
"Take that as a totally yes, is Sam coming?"
"Yeup," Danny said.
"All right, see you there soon!" Tucker said and hung up.
Danny sighed, "All right, you ready?" he asked Squirt.
Squirt eyed his phone. "Yeah…" she said slowly.
Danny laughed and pocketed his cell phone. Then he opened his bedroom door. "Follow me and stay invisible," he said.
Squirt smiled, "Can do!" she said brightly and vanished.
"All right," Danny said. "Let's go."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
New chapter! \o/ Yay! This is so my kind of writing, I'm so much more comfortable with this story. Ahh…. Squirt is a hard character to write though; she is old and young at the same time making her very hard to write. Ah well…
