WoM- So many nice reviews, so little time! After being nagged about a billion and one times, I've decided to drop the questions segment of my updates. Sorry for anyone who liked this (As I've noticed some of you do) but so many people were complaining about them from all my stories. If you want me to contact you with questions, leave me your e-mail. Oh, and my e-mail for this penname if messed up, so don't bother using that. And, with my mindless rambles now done…


"Certain flaws are necessary for the whole. It would seem strange if old friends lacked certain quirks."

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


Close Encounters

"You sigh one more time today, Kiddo, and I'm gonna show you what a real hit feel like." I blinked back to the present at Mr. Marchez's warning.

"I'm fine, Mr. Marchez," I said instantly. The art teacher snorted.

"Sure you are," He said sarcastically, "That's why you missed the dismissal bell." I froze at that, glancing around me wildly to see the room was empty.

"Uhh…" I felt my face start to heat up. Mr. Marchez gave me a pointed smirk.

"Relax, Kiddo, everyone gets like that. At least you didn't fall asleep of anything. Then you'd be in real trouble."

"Why?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"The last kid to fall asleep in class had his hair spray-painted pink by another student," My teacher answered. I stared at him, torn between making a face and laughing myself silly.

"Seriously?" I asked, my voice raising an octave.

"Took him a week to get it out…" That one did make me laugh. "So what's got your head in the clouds? Usually its Dan I've gotta smack with a rolled up piece of newspaper."

"Just… thinking," I said plainly.

"About Danny?" Mr. Marchez clarified. I stared at him in surprise. "It ain't that hard to see, kiddo, and he's such a strange one that everyone tried to get him to crack. His sister even sent some Psychologist here to 'examine' him last year," Mr. Marchez made a face. "Now that woman was a crackpot…"

"I just don't see what the big secret is," I sighed. Mr. Marchez scowled.

"Don't talk like that, kid," He said shortly, "And don't go snooping, either. It ain't your place."

"But if he's really getting into something dangerous-!" I started to protest.

"He ain't in over his head yet, and when he is we'll know," Mr. Marchez said severely. "You expect me to believe Danny knows everything about you?"

"No…" I admitted, feeling guilty.

"Leave him be, Sam. If he needs you, he'll come on his own. 'Til then just do what you can and wait patiently. Plus it'd probably help to trust him more."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You want his deepest darkest secrets, give him yours." Mr. Marchez said simply. I blinked.

"Are you insane?" I asked incredulously.

"Only according to the American judicial system." M. Marchez shot back.

"I can't tell him all my secrets! Sure he's a great guy and all, but we just met! Besides, I don't want to load my troubles and secrets on him,"

"Then why can't the same be said of Dan, hm?" Mr. Marchez asked quietly. I stiffened at that.

"I… I just want to know about his parents more then anything else." I lied. Sure, that was one of the points I wanted to bring up, but it wasn't the only one, or even the most crucial. More then that, I wanted to know what was out to hurt him so badly and why.

"His parents?" Mr. Marchez blinked as if the word was foreign to him. I nodded.

"I've heard some rumors about them, but he hadn't said a word." I explained, "It's not my place, so I haven't actually asked him anything, but…"

"Dunno anything about his parents, Kiddo," Mr. Marchez sighed. "They were overseas when Danny first entered High School, and were proclaimed missing about three months after he started. Met his Guardian, though," The art teacher made a face here, "Now that guy's a piece of work. Arrogant and slick as oil. Its no wonder Danny hates him…"

"Isn't hate a bit of a strong word?" My roommate's voice interrupted us, making me jump.

"We're talkin' about Vlad," Mr. Marchez said simply.

"Never mind then," Danny came into the room. "It was an understatement. Loathe with every fiber of my being, THAT'S a more accurate way of putting it…"

"Uh, did you forget something?" I asked lamely, feeling awkward at being caught talking about him.

"Yeah," Danny said, leaning against a wall, "I am NOT gonna sit through lunch alone with Tucker. Not when he's got a new song he's singing along to." I laughed as Danny shuddered.

"I'm coming." I said obediently, standing up. I started to put my things away, But Mr. Marchez stopped me.

"I got it, kid," He said, "You go on. God knows you need all the food you can get…" I smiled at him in thanks and followed Danny out the door.

"Hey, Danny?" I said after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Um… I wanted to ask you about your parents…" Danny faltered for a moment, looking at me with an unreadable expression. My nerves building up, I quickly added, "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, it's just…"

"Nah," Danny sighed, "Everything considered, I guess I owe you that much."

'Huh?'

"My mom and dad are Jack and Maddie Fenton," He started out, "You probably don't know them, but they're pretty big in the Ghost Hunting world. Well, Mom is bigger then Dad but that's beside the point."

"Nate mentioned something about that," I said, "That was the first I'd heard of your parents, though."

"No one's seen 'em in a year," Danny said grimly, "They've been presumed dead, and all custody of me and Jazz has been handed over to our Dad's best friend in college."

"But you don't think so?" I asked softly.

"If they were dead, I'd know," Danny said confidently. "Besides, they're good at their job, I know they're alive." I bit my lip for a moment, then decided to get away from the tension with a new subject.

"Anyways, Nate mentioned you know all about the whole 'Ghost Scale' thing." I said. Danny nodded, smiling slightly as he began to walk again. I followed, exceedingly proud of myself for getting even that small smile.

"I should. My Dad's the one who made it," He said. "Basically what they do if take the ecto-signatures that each ghost gives out and break it down to know the patterns, output and age of the ghost's powers. That way, you can know how dangerous a ghost is and what kinds of weapons to use on it,"

"Wow," I said, impressed. I barely understood a word of it, but it sounded cool.

"We've still got the Fenton Ecto-Examiner lying around in storage somewhere," Danny continued. "It was the first of it's kind ever made. Then again, most of the stuff Dad makes is…" I laughed at his dry tone at the last part. Despite that, though, he sounded really proud of his parents.

"Nate mentioned that the Dragon Ghost scored a 3, too," I added.

"3.34," Danny corrected absently, "Mild pyro-based abilities and quick to enrage, but otherwise weak compared to other ghosts."

"What about Phantom?" I asked, curious despite myself. Danny stiffened.

"No one really knows," He said shortly, "You can't get an accurate reading of a ghost until it's been in existence for anywhere between 4 to 5 years, since that's usually how long it takes them to stabilize their powers."

"How long has Phantom existed?" I asked.

"About a year now," I stopped.

"He's only been around a year and he can already beat older ghosts?" I asked, my eyes popping out of my head. Danny shrugged, not all that bothered by my shock. Well, he did look a little uncomfortable but other then that…

"Phantom's… not like other ghosts," Danny said carefully. "And anyways, he had to fight a lot to get rid of the ghosts that keep coming out of the Fenton Portal, so he gets a lot of experience…"

"Fenton Portal?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It connects the Ghost Zone where the ghosts live to our world," Danny explained. "Ghosts can get in through it if we're not careful, but it's also the only way to get ghosts out of our world, too."

"Makes sense," I said, nodding thoughtfully. "So no one knows what Phantom's capable of?"

"Not even Phantom," Danny said dryly. I flinched.

"Knowing you have a lot of power and not knowing how much or how it works? Scary thought…"

"You have no idea…" Danny muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Come on, We'd better get to the cafeteria before they riot and ban together to take drastic measure to stop Tucker's singing."

"He's that bad?" I said, a little wary now. Danny rolled his eyes.

"You have no idea…"


"Excuse me, Miss, do you have the time?" I smiled broadly, scaring the guy a little.

"6:35!" I chirped happily, practically skipping away. That statement totally made my day, as it acknowledged I was once again a girl.

After Danny had left to study with Tucker (And help him with the injuries he'd sustained from the boys who would not tolerate his singing,) I decided I had enough of being a boy for a while. So, after stuffing an outfit into my bag, I got an off-campus pass and headed for the city. One there a quick change in a gas station bathroom had me a very happy, very female Sam Manson.

The only thing was that it took forever to get the gel out of my hair. Once it was out, though, I studied myself in a mirror and was satisfied that no one would recognize me. Especially with the make-up, my hair down and the fact that I now had curves and a skirt.

I couldn't stop grinning now, which was scaring some of the people around me. Not that I cared. I had a million and one things I wanted to do now, but first thing was first. I was starting to run out of gauze, and didn't want to have to resort to taking more from Jazz so long as I still had money from my last allowance.

With that thought in mind, I entered a local doctor's office Yin/Yang Medical Practice.

It was a pretty small place, filled with all sorts of medicines. The thing that caught my attention, though, was that the store part of the office, where you bought whatever the doctor prescribed you, was divided into two. One section for all the modern medicines and one for home-made herbal concoctions. I puzzled over this for a moment, having never seen a store like this.

'CRASH!'

I jump at the sound of breaking bottles, wheeling around as someone behind me cursed vividly. Standing there, looking rather harassed, was a short man with owl-like glasses. He was nearly bald, and the little hair that he did have was frizzy and gray. He wore a doctor's coat with a nametag pinned to the left breast pocket. Right now he was glaring rather irritably at the box he'd just dropped.

"Need some help?" I asked him politely. He blinked at me in alarm, apparently noticing for the first time that I was there. Now that he was turned my way, I could read the name on his tag. H. JEERINGS.

"Help?" He repeated blankly. I picked up the broom that was leaning nearby against a wall and began to brush the broken glass into a pile. "Oh! Yes, yes, thank you… who are you?"

"Sam…antha," I managed to catch myself and say my full name just in time. "I'm Samantha…" I got stuck on the last name past, and looked around frantically, my eyes landing on a poster of Phantom across the way. I had a flashback of my meeting with him in the forest, of the song he was singing, of the piercing golden eyes of the bird on his shoulder… "Falcon! Samantha Falcon,"

"Well thank you, Miss Falcon," Dr. Jeerings said, sighing in relief. "God knows I need all the help I can get since Jim quit…"

"No problem," I said, smiling, "I'm always happy to lend a hand."

"Now, Miss Falcon, how can I help you?" Dr. Jeerings asked.

"I just need some gauze." I said.

"That's in the back. Hang on a moment…" He hobbled to the door that was slightly ajar behind him, with a sign that read EMPLOYEES ONLY on the door. I hovered at the doorframe and watched him sift through box after box, my eyes scanning the room until I saw a big one that had what I was looking for.

"Is that it over there?" I asked, pointing. The elderly man looked up, blinking at the box.

"Eh?" He said, "Oh, so it is! Thank you again, Miss Falcon… Now how many will you need?"

"Five rolls, please," I answered. He hobbled forward, the rolls of gauze in his hands.

"Right then… That'll be $10.75," Dr. Jeerings said, handing me a plastic bag with the rolls inside as I gave him a twenty. On instinct I opened the bag and counted.

"Uh, you gave me eight rolls," I told him, confused.

"Did I?" Dr. Jeerings said in feigned confusion, "Well, guess you can just keep the extra."

I smile slightly as he gives me back my change and starts away, muttering to himself. In a lot of ways, Dr. Jeerings reminded me of my grandpa, who'd passed away three years ago. A little clumsy and absent minded, but a good man at heart.

That thought had words spilling from my mouth before I could stop them.

"I can help out more if you want," I told him. The old man stopped, blinking owlishly at me.

"Eh?" Dr. Jeerings said.

"You said you need more help around here. I can use a part-time job," I told him, "I won't mind working for minimum wage or anything either, and I'm very trainable," I don't know what'd possessed me to say this. I'd never worked an actual job a day in my life.

"Well…" Dr. Jeerings hesitated, then smiled. "…I guess I could use an extra pair of hands around here. When can you start?"

"When do you want me?" I asked. Dr. Jeerings laughed.

"Let's start with weekends and work out the rest after that," He suggested, "You can start this Friday. I'll have a nametag for you when you come in, and no uniforms are required. Here's your application, just fill it out and bring it back to me tomorrow." I brightened at that. Finally, an excuse to wear my own clothes!

Now that I thought about it, this probably was a good idea after all. Mike had assured me my tuition was covered, but it would be nice to have some extra cash to fall back on if I was in a jam. My last allowance wouldn't last forever, after all…

"Thanks!" I said, leaving the office.

I smiled after I'd left, wondering where to go next. I still had over $80 left, and I'd eaten my fair share at lunch so it wasn't like I was hungry…

"I'm telling you, Star, I saw THE cutest gown in Madame Rosalie's Shop!" I felt my smile (And my stomach,) drop at the oh-so-annoying and all-too-familiar voice. "I'm gonna look so beautiful dancing in it with Phantom!" Loud giggling here, "A famous, strong superhero boyfriend and a gorgeous outfit! All the other girls are gonna be sooo jealous!"

God, you have no idea how much I want to vomit right now…

Just then someone knocked into me, making me lose my balance.

"Urg! Watch where you're going!" Paulina snapped, turning to glare at me. It turned into a look of disgust when she took in my appearance. "Great, a Goth geek. Star, remind me to burn these clothes when I get back to the dorm, they've been tainted." I glowered at her.

"Oh, that's funny," I said sarcastically, "The petty little conformist thinks I'M the taint on society," That was probably a little mean, but I honestly didn't care. I couldn't STAND Paulina. She was such a little-!

'BOOM!'

Paulina and I froze as something in the Fast Food Joint not too far behind me exploded, leaving customers screaming and running for their lives.

"GHOSTS!" one of them yelled, stopping in front of us, "Run for your lives! It's Phantom and an undead cafeteria lady!" And, with one last scream, he was off again.

"Phantom?" Paulina said in a hero-worshipy voice I'd never heard her use before, assuming a traditional fan-girl pose as her eyes glittered. "Star! Let's- Star?" The Latino girl blinked around, just noticing that her friend had high-tailed it out of there with the guy that'd warned us to leave.

"Okay, you need help," I scoffed at Paulina, turning back to the Fast food place (Nasty Burger.) I frowned when I heard something coming from the inside of the building. It wasn't the blasting or the other battle sounds, either. It sounded more like… "Crying?"

"What?" Paulina said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"There's a kid stuck in there!" I realized, horrified. And, without another thought on the matter, I dashed inside to help.

In front of me Phantom was indeed locked in battle with a glowing green lunch lady. He seemed to be winning, though, so I didn't pay too much more attention to them except to shudder when I noticed the lunch lady was using meat as her main weapon.

Okay, way gross.

It took me about ten seconds to find the kid whimpering in a corner, looking ready to cry. Pursing my lips in determination, I started over to him.

'BOOM!' I yelped and hit the floor as stray burger patties came close to nailing me in the temple. A little shaken but still hell-bound to help, I crawled the rest of the way over to the boy.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice soft enough that the ghosts couldn't hear me and loud enough so the boy could.

"I want my mom!" The boy wailed, clutching my shirt in a desperate attempt to be closer to someone who could help him.

"It's okay," I told him, "I'll get you out of here and we'll find her. It's gonna be okay…" The boy's wailed died into sniffles as I reassured him, and his death grip on my shirt relaxed. Seeing that he'd calmed down enough for me to get him out, I smiled at him, "Now, I need you to hold onto my hand, okay?" I told him, "We'll run to the doors and the ghosts won't even notice us."

"O-okay," The kid stammered, gripping my hand tightly. I watched carefully as the two ghosts fought, waiting for out chance to get away. Phantom blasted the ghost a few times before she struck out at him with a link of sausages, tying him up.

"NOW!" I yelled, Pulling the boy to the door. We ran as fast as we could until the kid stumbled over the leg of a fallen chair, pulling both of us down with a yell. I groaned in pain and looked up frantically, finding the lunch lady ghost standing right in front of me. I stiffened, hugging the boy closer protectively. As she glared down at us…

…and suddenly, her glare turned into a grandmotherly smile.

"Would you dears like a hamburger?" She asked sweetly. I blinked, feeling numb. Still in shock, I shook my head no. The ghost frowned slightly, then turned into a fearsome enraged creature, "THEN PERISH!" She roared. The boy and I screamed, hugging each other close.

"Leave them alone!" Phantom said protectively, breaking free from the sausages and hitting the ghost with a beautiful right hook. Then as she laid slumped against the wall, Phantom took out… was that a Thermos?

I barely had mind to be properly confused when Phantom used abovementioned Thermos to suck the Lunch Lady ghost into a swirling blue vortex, capping it with a satisfied look on his face. Then, with that taken care of, he turned to us.

"You two okay?" He asked.

"Getting there," I admitted, still a little stunned.

"Thanks," The boy said softly. I couldn't tell if he was talking to me, Phantom or both of us, though.

"Eric?" Someone from the outside called out. I looked out the window to see the police holding back a frantic looking middle-aged woman.

"MOM!" The boy I'd tried to save said, leaping from my arms and running into his mother. I smiled at the tender sight until I saw something else outside.

News Cameras. LOTS of News Cameras.

"I can't go out there," I said, Edging out of sight and plastering myself against a wall. Phantom gave me a bewildered look.

"Why not?" He asked curiously.

"I… I just can't!" I answered. Phantom frowned, looking at me, then outside to the crowd and back again.

Then he held out a gloved hand.

"It's okay," He assured me when I looked at him, "I won't let them see you. You can trust me," Could I? That was the question. My heart hammered in my chest as I contemplated my choices.

Taking a deep breath, I put my hand into Phantom's.

He pulled me in so that he had one hand hugging my waist in a powerful grip, then I felt a strange tingly feeling go through me, and next thing I knew my feet were off the ground as Phantom took me into the air with him.

We went right through the walls of the Nasty Burger, which was almost as strange a sensation as being invisible. Like Phantom promised, no one saw out escape though I did notice Paulina still hovering around excitedly outside.

As soon as the crowd faded from sight and we were high above the earth, Phantom turned us visible again, eliminating the strange feeling and allowing me to enjoy the way the wind felt against my face at this altitude, and the way I didn't feel at all afraid being up so high with only Phantom's powerful grip on my waist keeping me airborne…

"Is there anywhere particular you want me to set you down?" Phantom asked, looking down at me with a gentle smile. I couldn't help but blush.

"Anywhere's fine," I told him nervously. Phantom nodded thoughtfully and landed in a clearing in a small wooded area, letting go of my waist. I felt a little disappointed about this. Being held close to Phantom was admittedly exhilarating. I could definitely see why Paulina was so fixated with him…

"I should probably go now," Phantom said with that same soft smile. That reminded me again of how lonely he'd looked in the forest. For the countless time that day, I felt my body and mouth take off without me as I reached forward and grabbed his arm, a little surprised at how cold he felt through the black spandex material.

"Phantom," I said, "If you ever want to talk to someone, I'm willing to listen," The ghost boy looked surprised for a moment, then amused making me feel a little stupid.

"Why do you think I need someone to talk to?" He asked.

"You just look… Lonely is all," I said, hoping I wasn't offending him.

"I've got friends," He said in a defensive tone. Yep, he was offended alright…

"It's not that," I said quickly, "I never said that it's just that I want to help you like you helped me just now." I took a deep breath. "I want to give you something, and the only thing I have to give you is my attention and advice." Phantom gave me a long, searching look at that. Then he smiled and put his hand gently over mine, which was still clinging to his sleeve.

"I'll keep that in mind," He said softly, looking into my eyes. My insides when numb and a part of me wondered how I could've ever found his touch cold in any way. As I was wondering this, the ghost slipped away, flying silently off into the sky…


I was still in a semi state of shock four hours later as I stared up at my ceiling, Phantom's green eyes and smile flashing haunting my thoughts every time I closed my eyes. For once I was glad that Danny wasn't in yet, as it gave me time to think.

I hadn't had a proper conversation with him as either Samuel or Samantha, yet I already felt a deep connection to the ghost, like we'd met before. I wanted to know him so badly, to help him any way I could. That was pretty much all I was sure about, though.

Everything else was a confusing muddle. The feelings I felt around Phantom, my crush on Danny… They had me feeling a little confused and guilty. It was a little too much to take. I mean, before Casper I barely gave guys a second glance, now I had two guys I liked, one of which thought I was a guy and the other who probably figured I was some crazy reckless idiot he should humor.

I moan and buried my face into the pillow. God my head hurt…

I looked up when I heard the door open, my bedroom door opened wide enough for me to see Danny coming in. Instead of looking tired and harassed like usual, though, he looked deep in thought.

So deep in thought, he missed the coffee table that'd been in the middle of the room since we first moved in.

"Oof!"

"Danny?" I said in concern, getting up, "You okay?"

"Fine," Danny sighed, "I was just thinking too much for once in my life, I guess…" I smiled at that.

'That's my Danny…'

I banished that thought as soon as I deciphered it, keeping a blush from my cheeks.

"That bad?" I asked teasingly, "Wow remind me not to let you study at Tucker's all night ever again… Speaking of which, you've really got to teach me how to avoid the Dorm Monitors and Lancer. If you can manage it from Lala Land, you must be a true King of Sneaking Out." Danny shook his head, smiling slightly.

"It wasn't my studies." He protested, "I was thinking about… something else." Okay, that caught my curiosity.

"What?" I asked. Danny blushed.

"Forget it," He said, "You'll just laugh at me," I rolled my eyes.

"I won't laugh," I promised. "Now what's the problem."

"Not a problem," Danny protested, "More like a puzzle." I raised an eyebrow at that one.

"Okay, that totally makes no sense whatsoever," I said matter-of-factly. Danny laughed.

"I've gotta get to bed," He said, standing up, "Night, Sam."

"Oh, come on, Danny!" I groaned. "Can't you tell me anything else about this puzzle of yours?" Danny hesitated at his door.

"Well…" He said, his eyes getting a far away look as he smiled, "…I guess one more little secret can't hurt." I leaned forward, eager to hear what was so great about this puzzle. "That puzzle of mine?" He repeated, smiling, "It's a girl. A very brave and caring girl."

And with that, he went into his room, oblivious to my heart shattering as he closed his door…


WoM- Now's when the real headaches start! 'laughs mischievously,' Is it any wonder my friends insist I'm sadistic? Oh, and by the way...THIS WAS MY FIRST FIC TO BREAK 100 REVIEWS! 'celebrates''Frights, Cameras, Action!' wasn't too far behind, though. Thank you all! 'tears up,'

More random shmut; that part about having your hair spray-painted pink wasn't something that came off the top of my head, it actually happened in one of my classes before. Not to me, of course. 'Cackles evilly,'

Oh, and quick question! Do you guys want me to do a companion piece for this in Danny's POV? If you do, I need to know if you want me to stop updating this story and bring the other one so it's at the same place and then start updating them at the same time, or just start it off and then finish it after this one gets done. Be sure to specify when you review.


Thanks to;

Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet

Tetsukon

DannysGirlForever

Light Dragon SunsSong

Anomaly25

Star-In-The-Sky-25

conan98002

WhiteMoonDragon

FlamesofAnubis

Erebus Faustus

ShiroandFubuki

divinedragon7

Dragon Rider Tayo

Lessien Sharpwind

JediTrammel

NeatScreenName

D.S Gltich

soaring-bright-flame

Anime Chick009

Samantha-Girl Scout

Zarmina

BlAcK silhOUeTTe

Myst

Peach

Brittany Bright

heka

TayloWolf

Iris Night

starrobin4eva

Logrus Mage

A Karswyll

dudei'mlikesobus

I Brake For Ghosts

inu pup luvr

Aida Vargas

sara

nekomouse


Next update; December 20th

See you then!