Hoo boy. If I'd suspected you guys wanted to shoot me for the cliffhanger last chapter, I don't even want to know what you'll do at the end of this one.

Shout-outs:

Galateagirl – Nah, don't think so, that'd be too easy! Also, I don't think he can really do something like that, as useful as such a talent might be…

Anomaly25 – The person who saw him, sadly, isn't of much interest. Just a regular joe. As for your other comments, well, I'd like to reply, but you'll see soon enough!

mrit – Yeah, I prefer the longer ones too, if I have the time and inclination…for this one, I just didn't want to do another scene change in the chapter, and I was finished with Sam, so I cut it off. Even you don't know what will happen! Ha HA!

dArkliTe-sPirit – All of his options look pretty bad, don't they? XD

Ohka Breynekai – Anything Phantom themed is fine by me, kekeke. And sorry for making you suffer on a cliffhanger…sorrier for the suffering you'll endure in between 17 and 18, though. n.n; Please don't kill me!

WarpWraith – Hey, that's fine, I like compliments much more than I like critiques, anyway!

enigmatic penguin – I've used it, yup, but only after the point when Danny regained his memory! (When he first explained to Sam what he was, in a sentence that I now need to rewrite because he called himself the 'first' halfa and now I'm throwing Vladdie into the mix…) I'm much more fond of describing him as the 'ghost boy,' but I use 'halfa' occasionally. Danny has lots of descriptive words. I wish I could come up with something other than 'Goth,' 'girl,' or 'teenager' for Sam, though. u.u

Phantom of a Rose – I get it, I get it! XD

Leppers – Poor Valerie, she's so deluded sometimes. :P

conan98002 – Hm, I suppose I should have noticed that particular plot hole, but I'll chaulk it up to Val never having actually fought Spectra while in her Hunter gear. Spectra passes herself off as a human pretty well, and Valerie's ghost tracker is in her suit, so ostensibly if Val never encountered human-form Spectra (Penelope) while wearing her gear, she wouldn't know. Or maybe Penelope's just perfected that 'hiding from ghost tracking devices' trick that Danny uses…who knows?

And thanks also to Esme Kali Phantom, HAlFa34, L'ange-Sans-Ailes, Crazy Billie Joe Loving Freak, Ice-Song, SilverstarsEbonyskies, Jimmy the Gothic Egg and Realsmartz for reviewing! Cookies for all!

Also…according to Wikipedia, the Mansons have canon first names that are credited but never mentioned in the show. Does anyone know for certain whether or not this is true? Since it's Wikipedia, I'm a bit iffy (went ahead and used 'Ida' for Grandma Manson in this chapter regardless, though) but I'd love for it to be official. I really hate making up names for established characters. XD To quote the article, which is on the "List of Danny Phantom Characters" entry…

"While not named in the show, they are credited as 'Jeremy' and 'Pam.'"

Maybe by credited, it means named in the ending credits? Hmmmm. Do say so, if any of you know for sure!

Estrelas

Chapter 17

By Shimegami-chan

Danny's world seemed to just stop moving right there and then. Of course he couldn't turn into any other human but himself…and now, no miracle was going to show up and bail him out of this mess. He had a few options, but none of them seemed like they would prolong his freedom for any significant amount of time.

He could tell the truth, of course, but Danny desperately wanted to avoid going that route. Back when he was in high school, he'd come close to saying it so many times, but was always prevented somehow. As time went on, he realized it was better that way – Valerie was just too angry, too bent on revenge. She'd blamed Phantom for the accidents Cujo, a ghost dog who haunted the Labs had caused, and it took a lot for her to realize that no malice was truly intended. Later, after Val had struck her various uneasy truces with Phantom, Danny was even more tempted to reveal himself, thinking she finally understood that he was trying to do the right thing…

…only to eventually realize the truth about his existence, the utter futility of pretending to be a normal human…and throw it all away in a heartbeat, deep under the lake, with Youngblood's nasal laugh in his ears. Danny found it more than a little unsettling that he had never been able to see the pirate ghost after that day, though Amity Park still fell victim to Youngblood's childish tricks occasionally. He didn't want to think about the implications of it all.

His own funeral was the last time Valerie had come so close to finding out about Danny. With no body to lay out, his parents had chosen to hold the memorial service on the lakeshore, erecting the monument as testimony to their beloved son's quiet exit from the world. Danny, as Phantom, had watched over the entire affair, through Jazz's tearful speech and Tucker's solemn lifting of the red velvet cloth that covered the freshly-carved plaque. He had stayed until the crowd began to file away, without a dry face, not even on those schoolmates whom he hadn't always enjoyed a friendship with. Paulina Sanchez, his one-time crush, had murmured words of regret over the way she'd treated him before, and said a hurried prayer in Spanish.

Eventually, they'd all left, even Tucker, who had to have known Phantom was there watching. Danny supposed Tuck thought he might want to be alone, and he was mostly right. When the crowd had finished trickling away, Phantom (for he was trying to think of himself only as Phantom now, and make things easier on himself) allowed himself to become visible and approach the pillar. He had laid one hand on the bronzed words and gulped at the finality of it all. This is it. Danny Fenton is no more than marble and glass, now.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" He'd have recognized her voice anytime, even now, when she was obviously in an emotional state. He'd turned, and Valerie had been standing there in the clothes she'd worn to the funeral, a black skirt and sleeved blouse. She'd been crying, and her mascara slightly smudged her cheeks.

Phantom had glanced behind him at the stele. "Showing respect for a friend."

Valerie laughed hollowly. "He probably would have grown up to become a ghost hunter too, you know."

"No," Phantom had responded confidently. "He wanted to become an astronaut."

Val hadn't asked how the ghost had known that. Danny had grown up in the heady era in which dreams were in space, and loved to talk about the Gemini and Mercury spaceflight projects in school, at the height of their excitement. Many of the boys in her classes had also wanted to become astronauts. "I didn't think you and Fenton were so close."

Of course, everyone had known that there was some connection between Danny and the ghost boy (a connection that had gotten Danny invited to a number of parties held by the popular crowd, because of Paulina's hopeless crush on 'Inviso-Bill'), but most assumed it was because he was a ghost hunter's greatest prize, and Danny's parents were the most famous ghost hunters in the city. "We're not, really. He's just someone who helped me out a few times."

He had wanted to tell Valerie the truth then, as he often did when they shared subdued moments like that. He hadn't been able to keep the frown from his face. But as much as the urge was there to let just one more person in on the secret, he'd known that of all people, Val should be the lowest on his list of confidantes. She had only been trying to paste him for three years, after all…unabashedly, without ever giving him a chance to explain, and jumping to every conclusion that could make him look bad. Despite it all, though, he'd still considered her to be a friend, and someone who could be an ally to him then, when he had very few people to rely on.

Valerie's next words, though, had dashed this hope. "When I lay hands on the ghost that did this…" Her face closed up. "He'll wish he'd never been born."

Of course she'd meant Youngblood, but Danny's heart fell nevertheless. He couldn't tell her then that he'd lied all that time…he'd lied about everything. No amount of his friendship would have been enough to make up for all the deceit.

"Yeah." Phantom had finally said, his voice strained. "I hope you get him."

And now, fifty-three years later, she had. Danny held up his hands, palms out. "Now wait a minute. Why should I have to prove myself to you?"

"Because if you don't, I start getting mean about this," she said icily. "You're not the only one who's had a few upgrades in the past fifteen years."

Was she bluffing? Danny really had no way to tell. If her equipment supplier had the same anti-aging condition Danny had, it was possible that he was still providing Valerie with weapons. He hadn't seen or even heard about Vlad Masters since he'd gone into hiding. It was better that way, because Vlad presumed Danny was now a full ghost and out of his reach, and without Maddie Fenton to capture his attention there was no need for him to hang around Amity Park. Of course, assuming Vlad was still around…

"I don't really care," Danny said truthfully. I can take anything she throws at me. For God's sake, she's seventy years old, what am I worrying about?

"So it's true, then?" Valerie's look, though Danny couldn't see it, could have melted steel. "You really can only become Danny, aren't I right? You're the one who killed him?"

"I…" Danny's voice faltered. What if he let her believe that? He'd be wanted for murder on top of everything else. The Ghost Squad would be after him for things a little more serious than breaking and entering. But what other choices were there? The truth, convincing her of a lie, or fleeing Amity Park and not looking back?

He couldn't do that now. Not after so many years of protecting this city. It was finally time for the truth, Danny thought, as much as he didn't want it to come to this. He was sure that Valerie wouldn't be nearly as happy to see him as Jazz had.

"Well?"

"Heh." Danny ran one hand through his stark-white hair. "If you want to get technical about it, then yeah, I guess I really did kill 'Danny Fenton.' But there's a lot more to the story than that, and I guess it's time you knew it all."

He still couldn't see her face, but he knew he had Valerie's attention by the way her fists clenched. "I'm listening."

It was better, Danny thought, to say this as the person she remembered fondly, rather than as the ghost she hated. He materialized the energy rings around his waist and let them travel along his body, transforming into his human self. "Your theory is, um, really close, but also really far off. You're right about me only being able to turn into Danny Fenton. But that's not because I stole his soul or overshadowed him or any other nonsense." He sighed. "It's because I've been Danny Fenton all along. I always have been."

Valerie seemed to have been stunned into silence, so Danny continued, talking quickly. "And no, I didn't kidnap him and pose as him, or invent him for my own purposes, and there was no mind control or anything involved, I swear. I wasn't even born this way. Danny Phantom…" he swallowed loudly, trying to calm himself down. Now that he was human again, blood was singing in his ears and his face was flushed, a result of nervousness and fear. If she didn't kill him on the spot, Danny wasn't sure what Valerie was going to do.

"Danny Phantom is the result of an accident that I was in when I was fourteen, when my parents were working on the Ghost Portal," he continued bravely. "The power was switched on when I was looking around inside of it, and I was zapped by ectoplasmic energy. It…changed me." Danny looked down at his own hands. "It turned me into a half-ghost."

Valerie laughed, then, but it was a disturbing sound, hollow and without mirth. "Do you actually expect me to believe that?"

"What?" Danny asked, dismayed. He'd thought she'd be mad, and want to know all the details, but he honestly hadn't counted on her not taking him seriously. That wasn't in the plan.

"That's the most idiotic lie you could have come up with, ghost," she hissed. "And you have the nerve to say it to my face while looking like Danny! I can't believe I ever trusted you!"

"If you trusted me, why don't you believe me?" Danny shot back angrily. "You can be so dense sometimes!"

"Back off, spook!" Valerie shrieked, and an ecto-gun appeared in her hands. "Or we'll see what this does to your little human disguise!"

"Bah," Danny said boredly, waving his hand in the air. He already knew that the worst an ecto-gun could do to his human half was send him reeling for a few seconds – he'd been shot accidentally by his father a number of times. "I'd like to see you try it."

So she did.

The blast took Danny full in the torso, but instead of the harmless tingle it usually produced, the halfa now felt as though a hole had been torn in his chest, a hole that was burning on the edges and paralyzing him with searing pain. He couldn't even breathe enough to cry out. He fell to the ground. Curling into a ball, Danny clenched both hands against the wound, feeling hot liquid spill out in between them. Blood. I'm dying…how can I be dying?

I can die?

No, he realized. His thoughts were still far too clear, and his human heart was still beating, quickened as it were. Danny dared to look down at himself, afraid of what he was going to see.

His hands were covered with green goop. It wasn't blood spilling out of the wound – if there even was a wound, the halfa realized with shock, noticing that his clothing was soaked with the glowing liquid but otherwise completely unharmed by the blast. The only thing he seemed to be losing was the ectoplasm.

"Well…that's not what it usually does," Valerie said slowly, approaching him with the smoking gun still clenched in her right hand.

"Aaaagh," Danny moaned, trying to speak, but not even sure himself what he wanted to say. "What…what…"

"It's a special gun," Val said confidently. "It forces out a ghost who's possessing a human. Though it's taking a lot longer than normal." She leaned close, taking a better look at the damage. "Are you bleeding ectoplasm?"

"That's what it feels like," Danny wheezed, jerking away from her touch.

"Huh." Valerie put her hands on her hips. "Well, maybe it'll just kill you."

"That'd be nice," he moaned, desperately wishing the explosions taking place inside his body would just stop. Whatever that weapon was, it obviously wasn't meant to be used on beings who had ghostly attributes permeating every cell of their body. Dazedly he reached up to his right ear and pulled the Fenton Phone off, clenching the little device in his hand.

"What's that?" Valerie snapped, taking note of his movement.

"A call for help." Danny squeezed the side of the earphone and it lit up with a flashing red LED, the item's all-around distress signal. He didn't know what Sam could do to assist him, but maybe she would be able to bring his sister, and Jazz would know what to do…

The pain was getting worse. So this is what dying is supposed to feel like? Pass… Unfortunately for Danny, he already knew that no amount of torture was actually going to kill him, but at the very least, his human side still allowed him to fall unconscious, and with one last pleading look up at the blood-red Hunter, he finally did.

The distress signal arrived at the Manson house in the form of a soft beeping in Sam's ear, a sound she could obviously pinpoint the source of but was still a little unsure of the meaning. She reached up to press on her earphone, activating a return broadcast. "Danny? Are you okay?"

After a few moments, she still hadn't received a reply. Sam frowned and got up off the bed, moving to the window to look outside, as though she might catch a glimpse of the ghost boy in the air. What did that beeping mean? Was it like a panic button, or worse? Maybe the other Fenton Phones were destroyed, she thought with growing dread. Maybe he needs my help…

But she was rather thoroughly stuck. Liza and Thurston Manson were downstairs in the kitchen, arguing over what they were going to do about Phantom. Sam's grandmother was pleading in favour of the ghost, but things weren't looking good. The only bright side was that Penelope hadn't returned, and the adults had sent her to her room for a while so they could decide amongst themselves.

Sam had a feeling that whatever solution they came up with wasn't going to be much good for her or Danny.

A knock came at the door while Sam was still thinking at the window, the tiny communicator that was sounding the alarm beeping angrily in her palm. The left phone was still in her ear, but it was eerily silent, and though she pressed it and spoke the half-ghost's name many times, no reply was coming back. Sam stuffed the noisier earphone under her pillow and sat hastily on the bed. "Come in."

Ida Manson peeked in. "Hello there, dear. Your parents wanted to talk alone, so…"

"It's fine," Sam replied wearily. "I know how they are."

The elderly woman came in and shut the door behind her, sitting down on the purple duvet beside her granddaughter. "Samantha, I…I'm sorry for calling them. You understand that I was just worried about you, right?"

"Of course!" Sam responded, surprised. "I'm not blaming you for anything."

"I'm glad, I'm glad," Grandma said, relieved. "Still…I wish you'd been honest with me."

Sam began to pick at a loose thread on her bedspread, avoiding looking at her companion. "What do you mean?"

"About the ghost. I never thought you were talking to a ghost, Samantha," she confessed, looking pained. "I just thought…in between the medication for your condition, and all the stress, I thought there was something wrong with you."

"But you said you didn't believe in ghosts," Sam replied, trying not to feel hurt that her grandmother had thought she was crazy.

"You don't have a choice, living in this town," Ida laughed. "Everyone's had some run-in or another, especially years ago when the ghost attacks were going on. Even this house used to belong to ghost hunters, before your grandfather and I bought it."

"I know," Sam whispered.

"Thurston doesn't know it," the woman said with an unreadable expression, "but we always suspected the house was haunted. We bought it for an excellent price because there was a good chance that a boy who used to live here would come back to it after he died."

"Danny."

"Yes." Ida looked at her granddaughter thoughtfully. "Sometimes there were noises, and we almost moved out when we realized that I was going to have a child, but we never saw a thing. Your father was really the only one who ever suspected anything was amiss. And after Thurston married and moved out on his own, we thought the ghost had left for good."

Sam shook her head. "He was in the attic all that time." And the basement, but it's probably best that you don't find out about that.

"I see." The elderly woman closed her eyes. "So who is it? Is it Daniel Fenton's ghost, or is it that Inviso-Bill character?"

This was the question that Sam had been praying she wouldn't ask. "Well…it's Danny…"

"I went to school with Jasmine Fenton, you know," Ida said, suddenly changing the subject.

"You did?"

"Mmhm." Grandma smiled at the memory. "She was younger than me; a freshman when I was in my senior year. I never really knew who she was until a few years later when the ghost attacks started, because her parents were always on the news back then, trying to contain the problem. There were a lot of attacks on Casper High back in the sixties, and I always thanked God that I graduated just in time."

Attacks…people going after Danny, I guess, once that ghost portal thing had been opened, Sam thought grimly.

"Inviso-Bill was at the head of it all, they used to say. I never saw him in person."

"He was innocent," Sam told her, trying not to look agitated. "Danny said that Inviso-Bill was always stuck with the blame after he'd captured some troublemaking ghost."

"So how did Danny Fenton come to be Inviso-Bill? Won't you tell me?"

"I—" Sam broke off abruptly. Was there any point in denying it when he'd already been seen transforming? It was obvious her grandmother knew more than Sam had originally suspected. "Well…he was in an accident with one of his parents' inventions. It gave him ghost powers."

"And he's been like that ever since?" she questioned.

"Yes," Sam answered truthfully, hoping she would not be asked to explain the incident at the lake.

"Jasmine used to come here a lot, looking for her brother's ghost," Grandma said quietly. "Years and years after he'd supposedly left the human world."

"I know. I met Jazz just this afternoon, actually," the Goth replied.

Her grandmother regarded her with interest. "Really, now? My goodness, you really know more than I'd thought."

Sam held back a laugh. "So do you."

"I'll stop here, then, dear," Ida said with a knowing smile. "I'm sure Danny's asked you not to tell anyone, am I right?"

"Well, he didn't say so, but I'm pretty sure that his existence hinges on it being kept a secret." Sam couldn't keep the relief out of her face. It felt good to be able to come clean about some of the week's events, and the fact that her grandmother even seemed to believe that Danny wasn't a threat lifted a great weight from her shoulders. Now, if only her parents could come to an understanding too, this all might work out okay.

Unless Valerie's gone and done him in, Sam thought worriedly. The Fenton Phone was muffled by the pillow, but she could still sense its alarm demanding her attention. Maybe Grandma could help spring me from my parents.

The bedroom door flew open and Thurston Manson strode in with his wife at his heels. "We've come to a decision."

"Don't you guys ever knock?" Sam protested, giving him an angry glare.

The blonde man shrugged off her ire and directed his attention at his mother, who was waiting expectantly for their announcement. "I'm sorry, Mother, but we're going to have to cut Sam's visit short. We're taking her back to Whipstaff where that ghost can't find her."

"What?" Grandmother and granddaughter repeated in unison, both looking at Thurston as though he'd grown a second head.

"We don't want to upset you while you're still recovering, Sammiekins," Liza said airily, stepping out from behind her husband. "So we're not going to hand your little friend off to the authorities. Yet. We are going home, though, so get your things together. We'll leave in ten minutes."

"You can't be serious!" Sam yelled, looking from one parent to another.

"If you give us trouble, we will call the Ghost Squad," Thurston warned, drawing himself up to look as large as his slight frame would allow. "Pack your clothes, Samantha. Now."

"I…" Sam trailed off, shocked and defeated. If her parents reported Danny, they'd definitely find out that the Squad was looking for Sam, too. And if they caught him…

How am I supposed to help him if I can't get out of this house?

Evidently under the impression that Sam had admitted defeat, Thurston turned on his heel and left with his wife and mother in tow. Ida looked over her shoulder with a frown at Sam before closing the bedroom door.

The Goth girl cursed and shoved her hand under her pillow, taking out the earphone she had hidden there. Noticing that it had stopped making noise, she lifted it to her face and inspected the little device, wondering if it was broken, or whether someone had stopped the alarm on Danny's end.

Maybe he's okay after all. Maybe he didn't realize he was sending out a signal…but no, he didn't answer me when I tried to contact him. There was definitely something wrong, but I couldn't help…

She fought back that sense of helplessness that had been plaguing her ever since Penelope Spectra had appeared on their doorstep. I'm so sorry, Danny, I couldn't get to you…

And neither she nor Danny knew it yet…but someone else had.

…dun dun DUNNN.

--I mean… 'to be continued'…