With the third day in a row without ghost activity, Danny was getting a little bored, although apprehensive was probably closer to the truth. That meant they were doing something else, something else that Danny didn't know, and that worried him.

"Shit." Danny wondered to himself. No ghosts must have meant they were all in on something. Were they planning on a coordinated attack?

He shrugged, it was best not to worry about it, he rationalized. That would only make him tired. He would deal with it when he got there. He always did. He figured he might as well enjoy the reprieve and go meet Valerie at the Nasty Burger. Despite Sam and Tucker's protests, Danny decided it was his duty to befriend Valerie. Sooner or later, she'd find out about his ghost self, and when she did, she would be able to think that he was trying to make it up to her, and thatthe ghost boywasn't all bad.

She was sitting at one of the tables. When she caught notice of him, she smiled and waved him over.

"What took ya?" She asked.

"Parallel parking." Danny responded.

"That gets everyone." Valerie responded. They made idle conversation after getting a few Nasty Burgers. And Danny caught Valerie smiling. She didn't smile that often. Ghost hunting was probably tough on her, and the battle with the Ghost King had shaken her confidence a little. She wasn't able to beat Pariah Dark, and that was horrible for her. But Danny didn't want to prod her about that. If she wanted to confide in him her doubts, she would choose it herself. But she was smiling and that made Danny feel better, what he was doing was actually working.

"I gotta hit the bathroom, hold on a second." Valerie excused herself, and Danny leaned back in the booth, confident in himself.

"And I'm much better then Spectra." He laughed at the irony of it. But when he opened his mouth to finish off his burger, a pale blue wisp escaped from his mouth.

"Oh great, so much for a vacation." He grumbled to himself. He wasn't sure how long Valerie would take in the bathroom, so he had to find out where the nearby ghost was coming from. He looked around: the Nasty Burger was nearly deserted, which was odd for this time of day. However, just as it seemed devoid of people, it was devoid of ghosts. That must have meant it was coming from outside.

Danny ducked behind the condiment counter to go ghost, making sure Valerie was no where in sight. Two rings from his waist spread out, and once they subsided, a dark black full bodysuit with a white belt and white emblem on the chest replaced his common T-shirt and jeans.

"Now, where is today's culprit?" He wondered as he turned intangible and went through the glass. Once he phased back outside the Nasty Burger, though, his response was quickly answered in the form of an energy blast sending Danny straight to the ground.

That blast hurt, it hurt a lot. Quickly, Danny got back to his feet to look for the culprit. He was easy enough to find, standing right near the entrance to the Nasty Burger parking lot. A tall, hooded figure, all in black, with red glowing eyes.

"Halloween's a long time away from May, dipshit." Danny taunted.

"Ghost child." The voice spoke, in a low, raspy voice, a voice that made the hairs of Danny's neck stand on end.

"Ghost child, hybrid." The voice spoke again. "You will be eliminated."

"You've got to try a little harder then that to scare me." Danny responded by shooting it with a blast from his hands. But the figure simply rose up a hand and took the blast, without even flinching.

"Okay." Danny thought to himself. "Maybe I need to go for it a little differently." Danny jumped up and flew straight at the ghost, intending to charge him at full speed with a right hook. The ghost was motionless until Danny came up to it, then it quickly Grabbed him by the arm and roughly threw him backward into a set of outdoor tables.

"Oh yeah, well let's see how you handle…" Danny started, attempting to duplicate himself. He had never done it without the ecto-suit before, but he had to do it. A confusion tactic worked when normal stuff failed.

But before he could do it, he felt something blast him right in the back.

"Valerie!" Danny instantly panicked, assumed the worst,and turned towards the shooter, but it wasn't her. Instead, it was another robed figure.

"Damn!" Danny shouted, but he was quickly attacked by the first one with another ectoplasmic beam.

"Which one do I fight?" Danny wondered, but then the second one blasted him to the ground.

"What a foolish child, to think he could beat the Harbringers with mere powers like his?" The first, raspy sounding ghost ignored the fallen ghost and went up to his partner, floating just above the Nasty Burger.

"How indeed." The second, which was female, returned. "But still, I could see how you barely were able to hold back his attacks." She spoke with no sarcasm or mocking tone in her voice, not even a lick. She was not pointing it out to insult him, but rather, as fact.

"Yes indeed." The first returned. Danny struggled to stand back up. His arms were quaking and felt like heavy bricks, and he could feel the blood oozing down his back. But he ignored it as best he could and stood himself He cocked his neck forward to see they were still talking to each other.

"Now's my chance." He thought, moving his arm forward to blast them. He fired, but immediately dropped down to his knees a second after. The blast managed to hit the woman, and caused her to stagger, or at least the floating equivalent of a stagger.

"So…" She turned to him. "You have no chance of winning, ghost boy. Trying further is pointless and will only make it more painful for you. You have been marked for death. And we, the Harbringers, are the executor of that sentence. Resign yourself to death, boy, for the next time we meet, you will not be allowed to live." And the two ghosts faded into smoke and disappeared.

"What…the hell?" Danny wondered, transforming back into his human self. He did not feel well at all. Back in his normal form, he could see the cuts on his arm, although he could feel pain everywhere else.

"Danny…Danny!" He thought he heard Sam's voice, but his head was swimming and reeling, he thought he was imaging it. He tried to stand up and look for the voice, hoping Sam was with Tucker. One of them could stall Valerie while the other went with Danny to make the lie Valerie was to be told more believable.

But Danny could barely move towards the voice. Danny could barely rock back and forth before he collapsed.


"Danny!" Valerie screamed as she dashed towards him and caught him as he fell. Danny had disappeared from histable after she had left the bathroom, but she saw him outsidethrough the window.What on earth happened to him? It looked like he was mauled by a damn bear. But Valerie was positive there was a ghost involved. There weren't any bears in Amity Park. Dash and the stupid popular jocks wouldn't do something like this: they did things with their fists, and these were cuts and burns. It had to be a ghost because Danny was hanging out with her, and ghosts would go after people close to a ghost slayer to distract them.

"You'll pay for this, you fucking ghosts!" Valerie said out loud softly. She briefly considered calling someone, but stopped when she realized there wasn't anyone who could help her. Shecouldn't call her dad since he was at Axion, and calling Danny's parents would only result in a conversation far too awkward that she wouldn't know any answers too. She couldn't reach Danny's two geek friends, so she had to handle things herself, with her jet sled. Quickly changing into her red ghost-hunter costume, she cradled Danny in her arms. Although unconscious and a bit sticky from blood, he was rather light.

"Maybe you should work out a little more." She smiled inwardly. Taking to the sky, she took her ride slower then normal. Danny's condition was definitely not critical and not even that serious, but he was unconscious. Her place was far too small to take Danny, her father would immediately suspect something was up when he saw blood everywhere. So she had to take him to his place; it was closer anyway.

She heard Danny mumble and groan as he came to.

"Ah!" He screamed, obviously unsure of his surroundings.

"Relax, it's just me, Val." She calmed him.

"Oh, ah, right, err…what happened?" He asked, still groggy.

"I was hoping you could tell me, but first let's get you taken care of." Valerie smiled. Danny smiled too, but then his eyes widened in fear.

"Val, behind you!" He told her. He must have been trying to shout, but his throat was parched. Valerie turned her head around, but Danny's warning came too late. Some ghost, a jackass in a black robe with a hood, fired at her, clipping her in the shoulder. Val howled silently to herself. She couldn't show Danny or that ghost how much that shot hurt. Valerie reached into her boot for one of the ecto-guns, the light sidearm Valerie could easily wield in her off-hand, lay. But the ghost dashed off before she could aim.

"What on earth?" Valerie thought to herself. She could deal with that problem later, right now she needed to get Danny someplace out of the way. Luckily, the FentonWorks building was coming up. The ghost-slayer slowed down and went through the open window to Danny's bedroom.

"Thanks." Danny smiled as Valerie put him down gently. "Why don't you lie down on the bed?" He offered.

"You lay down." She commanded as she clicked her heels and her suit disappeared. "You've taken much more of a beating then I have." Valerie paused for a second to look at her left shoulder, where that ghost had hit her. They could have aimed for her head or back and would have hit her squarely in something vital, but they went for her shoulder, as if they were aiming for Danny, but her shoulder was in the way. Or maybe they weren't after a kill, just an injury. Pity for them if they did, Valerie Gray would fight with any injury. That ghost wasn't going to get away. But she had to for now: Valerie did not see the Fenton's large RV outside, which meant his parents probably were not there. His sister Jazz might have been, but she didn't want to chance it.

Danny had suffered attacks similar to hers, although it appeared as though he was picked up and thrown due to some jagged scrapes on his arms, chest, and back.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked. She had taken one attack and it hurt, but he had taken several. He smiled and nodded. Danny Fenton may not have been a ghost-hunter like her. He wasn't strong, he wasn't popular, and his fashion taste was questionable, but he was certainly tough.

"Let's get that cleaned up, where do you have a first-aid kit or something."

"Bathroom. First door before the stairs." Danny responded. Val exited and quickly returned with it. She started disinfecting his face, grunting a little as she used her left arm to hold Danny's face still.

"I'm fine." Danny insisted. "Let me get yours; that looks like it really hurts."

"It's fine." Valerie protested. "It's nothing, really. It'll be all right."

"But let me get it." Danny grabbed a gauze pad from the kit and soaked it in the rubbing alcohol. Valerie relented, and pulled the collar of her shirt down to expose it. She winced as Danny treated it. He was careful not to burst the blisters; he may not have been the bright one of the family, but he did know the answers when they learned about burns a week ago in health class. Val smiled, but Danny blushed.

"Okay, now let's get back to you." She insisted.

"Uh, I think I can…handle myself." Danny protested a little.

"Danny, you can't reach all of what happened to you. What did happen anyway?" She asked, taking command once again.

"Well, I went outside for some air." Danny started. "But then I saw that ghost boy."

"The ghost kid did this to you?" Valerie's eyes narrowe as she interrupted.

"No, no, let me finish!" Danny protested. "That ghost boy wasn't doing much of anything; he just seemed to be, uh, flying around. But then these weird hooded guys came up, just like the one you saw. There were two of them, and they just attacked me."

Valerie was slightly disappointed it wasn't the ghost kid, although she didn't need another reason to go after him.

"It looked like they had their fun on you." Valerie responded. "Take off your shirt." She instructed.

"What?"

"You can't look behind you, but I can see how they had their fun with you. I have to take care of it, so take it off." Danny sighed, but obliged.

"Ouch! That stuff really stings." He protested as Valerie took care of a rather nasty laceration on his back. That what made him so sticky, she imagined.

"Don't be such a wuss." She responded. Guys were always like that. Acted tough yet were crybabies for a little pain.

"Okay, we did what we could. You look better already." Val smiled at Danny, who smiled back, yet blushed. He was really awkward around girls. But Valerie found that charming.

"I'm…ah…I'm going to put some…uh…cold water on this…uh…burn." Valerie responded.

"Okay." Danny responded, laying down on the bed. She went to the bathroom and pulled off her shirt, turning the tub on since the sink wouldn't have allowed enough room for her to stick her entire shoulder in. As she felt the water rush over her, stinging but at the same time, making her feel better, she couldn't help but realize how awkward she was as she left.

"Maybe it's just contagious." She mused. She grabbed her shirt and some paper towels to dry her shoulder off, and went back into Danny's room to check on him.

Danny was lying in bed, although he looked less pale. He smiled when he saw her.

"Hey." Valerie said, as she leaned up close to him on the bed. Danny blushed at her closeness.

"Uhh…" He seemed unsure of what to say. Valerie knew she was only wearing her bra on her upper body, but it didn't bother her any.

"You feelin' better."

"Uhh…" He really was awkward around girls. And Val couldn't help but be attracted to that innocent charm. It was his passiveness that was attractive. She had stunned him earlier. Now it was time to move in for the kill.


When Sam saw Val speed away from the Nasty Burger carrying Danny, instinct immediately kicked in as she trailed them. She doubted the ghost hunter saw anything, but why she'd carry Danny off would be anyone's guess. She went in the direction of Danny's house, but it took Sam forever to follow since she had to follow on foot.

The front door of the Fenton house was unlocked, so Valerie probably used Danny's key, or Jazz was home. Whichever it was, that was not as important as finding Danny and making sure he was safe. She didn't hear anything in the house other then some music from Jazz's room. But Danny wouldn't be in Jazz's room, she had to go check his room.

The door was partially open, so Sam didn't bother knocking, as if she ever needed to knock on Danny's door anyway. Danny wouldn't be doing anything strange, and certainly not with his door unlocked and sort of open.

But she was wrong.

Danny and Valerie, just like Sam thought, were there. Both of them looked fine. Injured, but fine. What shocked her was what they were doing. Valerie, wearing only her bra and skirt, was pretty much on top of Danny, who was shirtless, making out like there was no tomorrow.