acosta perez jose ramiro: I'm glad you found chapter 8 to be intense. I was worried that Danny might come across as too apologetic there, but that really did seem to be the right attitude for the circumstances and for this point in the story. Valerie's "hypocrite" argument was truly the first aspect of their conversations that he did not anticipate in his plan.

mrturtle518, Sasia, Ghostboy814 and shadowspinner1: It's a relief to know I'm in good company in disliking Reality Trip– or at least that particular aspect of it.

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Chapter 9

At that exact moment, I began to believe that my plan just might succeed. "Oh yeah, I would totally like to explain that." I actually had to clamp down and mask my relief, knowing that I would finally be able to set the record straight about the destruction of her ghost-fighting armor.

If she noticed the change in my attitude, she didn't let on. "I'm listening," she said coldly.

Back on track. Do it just like you rehearsed it. Pretend you're talking to Sam, just ignore the gun.

"Your suit was being operated remotely by a ghost called Technus. He's the same ghost who took control of the master computer at Axion Labs and uploaded himself to the satellite. You remember?"

"Of course I knew that some damn ghost had overshadowed my suit, trying to get me in trouble, trying to get to me by hurting–" A light was dawning. "By hurting. . . you?"

She had probably intended to say, "By hurting Danny," until she remembered that I was sitting right in front of her. There it was, the crack in her wall of certainty. Until this moment, she had been able to blame Danny Phantom and pity Danny Fenton at the same time.

I pressed forward. "Technus knows who I am– all the ghosts do. He was talking to me, taunting me, the whole time. He used your suit, your weapons, right in front of the school, with students and teachers all around– and he would have used every dirty trick he could to keep both of us out of his way while he cracked the security codes at Axion. You kept him busy, with nothing but a tree branch and some keys. I saw a little of it, and Sam and Tucker told me about the rest. You were awesome!"

She gave me a sharp glance that said, get on with it.

"When I finally got into the fight, as Danny Phantom, I saw you crouched behind the trash can near the steps. I knew you were safe, and I knew that I was fighting Technus. Only Technus."

I could almost see the light bulb come on as her memories shifted to incorporate my point of view. Six months ago she had tried and convicted Ghost Boy of attempted murder, never suspecting that Ghost Boy had known all along that he was destroying an empty suit. From her astonished expression, and the way she lowered her weapon, I was pretty sure I had convinced her of my innocence.

But there was still one more aspect of that battle I needed her to remember. I knew it was going to be pretty awful for her, but I hoped she just might be able to understand it anyway. . . .

"Do you remember how I did it?" Without warning, I thrust my right arm forward, toward an imaginary opponent standing about three feet to her right, hand cocked back as if I were firing an ecto-blast from my palm. She flinched, but otherwise remained still. "One shot, to take off the right arm at the shoulder." I reached back, then snapped my arm forward again, aimed a little lower this time. "A second shot, and I blew the left leg off at the knee."

She shuddered, and her face looked a little green. For a moment I worried that she might just up and toss her cookies right there in the grass. But I didn't dare let up now that I was so close to breaking through.

"I should have stopped there. The suit was wrecked, Technus couldn't use it any more. But I didn't stop. I didn't want to stop. You'd been using that damn suit to hound me for months, as if fighting ghosts every damn night and every damn day wasn't enough to make my life a living hell. If I had known that you would be able to replace it so quickly, I probably wouldn't have bothered, but. . . ."

I mimed a third ecto-blast, this time aimed at the battered chest-plate at her feet. I held that position for just a few seconds, long enough to make my point, then slowly returned my hands to my knees.

Breathe.

Breathe.

She said nothing, so I pressed forward. "In the past twelve months you have attacked me forty-nine times. Yes, I counted. Forty-nine times— and for the record, I have never attacked you. Do you still have your arms and legs?" Okay, that was brutal. I felt almost sick, treating her this way, but I couldn't afford to back down now. "Any broken bones? Serious burns? Internal injuries? I know you've had some bumps and bruises, after all, I've knocked you off your sled a few times and when I blast a weapon out of your hand it's gotta sting."

My heart was racing, but I struggled to keep my voice even, calm, gentle. "Valerie, I'm a lot more powerful than you think I am. Your armor, your weapons, your human strength wouldn't have been able to stop me from killing you if that's what I wanted to do. But what have I said to you every single time you've attacked me?"

She let the ecto-gun hang loosely at her side. She swallowed, then whispered, "You said… you said you don't want to hurt me."

"Yeah, that's what I said. I meant it, too. I never, never, ever wanted to hurt you." Slowly I stood up, and she didn't raise her weapon. I took a cautious step forward, and she didn't try to stop me. I took two more steps forward, and she collapsed into my arms.

"Oh, Danny! I'm so sorry. . . ."

We're just about the same height and she's actually quite a bit more muscular than me, but at that moment she was just like a little child longing for comfort. I held her tight and rocked back and forth, her head resting on my shoulder. I stroked her hair and murmured into her ear, "I'm sorry, too. I should have trusted you sooner." We stood that way for a minute or two, just clinging to each other in the dark. I would never hurt her, and now she had no reason to hurt me.

Even so, as wonderful as it was to hold her, to accept her remorse and give unconditional reassurance in return, I couldn't relax quite yet. There was still a knot of tension gnawing at the pit of my stomach.

I still had to give her the Thermos.

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Only two chapters to go!