Please, please forgive me for taking so long to update. I'm updating this chapter before my beta looks at it because I don't know when she can get to it, and I know I've taken too long to update. I hope she's not too upset with me….and I hope you're not either. I am always very dedicated to any story I write, but I've been slightly burnt out lately.
Chapter Four
Sam and Tucker watched silently as Danny made plans for his meeting with Valerie. They looked at each other worriedly as he went through pictures, looking for ways to prove to Valerie that he was a good guy, on her side, as if pictures would change everything. Tucker had pointed out that pictures, in the long run were meaningless, but Danny ignored him.
"Danny?" Sam asked as she pulled her knees up into her chest and watched him leafing through the photographs.
"Sam?" he returned as he looked at her questioningly.
"What if you can't talk her into understanding?" she asked. "What if she doesn't accept that you have ghost powers? What if she just doesn't understand the concept? What if she runs and tells everyone your secret? Don't you care about how much your risking?"
Danny took a deep breath and looked at Tucker, who sat with the same questions in his eyes. He looked at the photos spread out on his bed. He refused to believe there was any other option but for Valerie to accept him, why wouldn't she?
"I think it's worth the risk," he finally said.
"I think you're foolish," Sam replied bitterly and Danny gave her a look of exasperation.
"Why?" he asked after several long moments of silence. "Why are you so sure that this risk is foolish Sam?" Danny turned to Tucker when Sam's expression closed and she looked away from his probing gaze.
"Hey don't look at me," Tucker said as he held up his hands and shook his head. "It's your head on the platter, not mine." Danny blinked at Tucker then turned back to Sam who sat looking very pensive and slightly upset.
"Sam," Danny said sadly. She took a deep breath then looked Danny in the eyes.
"Danny," she began. "We have no evidence to believe that she's going to accept your ghost half. All we have to go on are her actions up until now, which have been pretty vengeful and unforgiving."
"But we also know how nice she really is, and she likes my human half…" Danny began but Sam shook her head.
"And she can turn on your human half too." Sam pointed out. "I think her hatred for your ghost side far outweighs any affection she has for you as a human." Danny looked down at the pictures. He flipped through a few of them, finally sighing and letting them slip back down to the bed.
"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, or trying to tell you what to do," Sam continued, she sounded frightened, though it was obvious she was trying to hide it. "I'm just trying to make you think a little before you rush off and tell her everything. I don't want to see you hurt."
Danny smiled wryly at Sam. "I know you care," he started, then paused as he began gathering the photos together and putting them back in the box by his knee. "But I do have to do what I feel is best, and if Vlad finds out about her new powers before I have a chance to talk to her, it will be impossible to make her understand…"
Sam shook her head as she climbed off the chest she was sitting on. "You know Danny," she began. "I'm willing to back you up no matter what you decide, but I hate seeing you make mistakes."
"Just trust me," Danny told her as he watched her walk to the door. "Can't you trust me Sam?"
She smiled at him sadly as she opened the door then looked at Tucker. "Of course I can trust you, Danny," she said softly as she settled her lavender eyes back on his face. "I always have." She shut the door behind her and Danny looked at Tucker.
Tucker was shaking his head sadly, as he look at the now closed door. He fiddled with his hat a moment the looked at Danny.
"You know Sam has a point."
Danny looked tiredly at Tucker. "Sam always has a point."
"I just you know think that you should consider the situation without letting your hormones take over," Tucker told Danny who blushed a nice shade of red.
"My hormones aren't involved at all!" Danny denied. "This isn't about whether or not I like Valerie."
"You say that," Tucker said then shook his head. "But come on Danny you can't deny it hasn't crossed your mind. It has mine."
Danny rolled his eyes as he put the lid on the box of photographs and stashed it under his bed. He looked back up at Tucker and considered his friend thoughtfully for a moment.
"I'm not going to deny it," he finally admitted. "Yeah! I've thought about it! I'm attracted to her. I mean think about how well she can understand! She now has ghost powers too. I wouldn't have to worry about her. Valerie can take care of herself."
"As opposed to someone like…umm…Sam?" Tucker asked half teasingly.
"Well..yeah," Danny answered then blushed again. "What I mean is…" he trailed off unable to put what he was feeling into words. He liked the fact that he wasn't alone in being some freaky ghost kid. He liked the thought of having an ally, someone to take some of the work off of him, someone who could fight along his side who he didn't have to worry about. He couldn't count how many times he'd saved Sam and Tucker, and he lived in terror that one of these times, he would be too late, and he'd lose one of the two most important people in the world to him.
Danny thought for a moment then shook his head in confusion. "Why should it matter if it is hormones anyway?" he asked. "It's my life I'm putting on the line, not yours and Sam's. Why should it matter?"
Tucker shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know maybe cause we care about you? Maybe Sam feels responsible and protective of you."
"Fine," Danny said. "She'll get over it, I know how Sam is. What about you? What's your objection?"
Tucker smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I don't want things to change. I like the way things are, just you, Sam, me, and occasionally Jazz. We're Team Phantom. I don't want to see that slip away."
"Stupid reasoning," Danny told the Techno Geek who shrugged.
"Maybe you won't need us anymore."
Danny shook his head and laughed. "I'll always need you guys," he said. "You're my best friends."
Tucker smiled slightly then stood and patted himself down, making sure he had all his tech gadgets in place. Danny laughed in amusement as his techno geek friend looked alarmed for a moment then found his PDA sitting on the edge of Danny's dresser, picking it up with a look of sheer relief.
"So," Tucker said as he put his PDA comfortably in his pocket, patted it lovingly then turned to Danny. "Are you sure you don't want us there?"
Danny nodded his head. "I'm sure," he said. "I mean she doesn't have any ghost weapons. She just got her powers. How much damage can she do?"
Tucker shrugged. "You said she has an ecto-blast. You didn't get yours for awhile after you got your powers."
"But I didn't know it was a possibility," Danny countered. "Or I would have tried sooner. The point is Tuck, it's less dangerous to tell her now before she figures everything out and starts getting strong."
"You know how to reach me if you need me," Tucker told Danny. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks Tuck," Danny told his friend as he walked to the door. Tucker smiled, waved then left.
XxXxXxXxX
Valerie felt weird, like she really was getting ready for a date, as she kissed her father good night at nine pm. He would be in to check on her at eleven thirty, when he went to bed, and then she would have thirty minutes before her meeting with the ghost kid, and she was nervous.
She wanted to call Star and talk out her nervousness with her friend, but she didn't dare get caught talking on the telephone. She had tried again to lighten her sentence, but failed and conceded that she was better off letting her grounding stand as it was. Her father was getting annoyed and by the look on his face, she knew if she prodded any further, he was more likely to extend her grounding than anything else.
Valerie lay anxiously in her bed, in the dark, waiting for her father to go to bed. She was getting nervous. She looked at the clock. It was eleven forty five. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath then almost jumped in shock when her bedroom door opened. She quickly feigned sleep as he father walked into her room, tucked her in, placed a kiss on her forehead and walked out. She then waited another full minute before springing from bed and getting dressed.
She transformed into her ghost hunting suit, flew from her room and made her way to the roof of the school. She was a full five minutes early, just as she planned. She felt that beating the ghost kid to the school would provide her with an advantage, but he was late.
Valerie paced back and forth, deciding the ghost kid was a coward. He'd stood her up. She was angry. Suddenly, a blue burp erupted from her mouth and she spun around in time to see her enemy landing on the school roof. So much for her advantage.
"Sorry I'm late," he said almost breathlessly. "I got ummm, held up by my family."
"Your family?" Valerie asked in confusion as she stood on guard, ready for the ghost kid to make a move.
Danny smiled. "Yeah, my family," he said. "I'm not a full time ghost you know."
Valerie shook her head in confusion. "What are you talking about? You're trying to tell me that you're a part time ghost?"
Danny laughed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, it was a gesture which Valerie found vaguely familiar and unsettling. She watched him with wary eyes as he sat down on the edge of the roof.
"I don't believe a word you say, Ghost kid," Valerie told him as he sat with his back to her. She could have easily shot him and she warred with herself on whether or not she should blast him and be done with it, or give him a chance to explain himself.
"The name," Danny began. "Is Phantom, Danny Phantom."
Valerie laughed a little as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Oh okay, James Bond." He smiled at her over his shoulder and she narrowed her eyes at him, not wanting to laugh.
"Doesn't that sound familiar to you at all?" Danny asked. "I mean. Don't you know someone else named Danny?"
"Fenton?" Valerie asked. "I know Danny Fenton. What about him?" She wasn't about to trust this ghost, she wondered what trick he was about to pull on her.
"I'm him. I'm Danny. Fenton," Danny said quickly and Valerie cracked up laughing.
"You expect me to believe that you and Danny Fenton are the same person? No way. Danny is kinda goofy and clumsy."
"Oh thanks a lot," Danny said wryly.
"I didn't mean it that way," Valerie defended. "It's just Danny is the run away when things get tough type. He can't take care of himself. It doesn't mean I don't like him. I like goofy and clumsy. He's cute." She watched as the ghost kid blushed and shook she her head in confusion.
"Thanks," he said almost shyly. "But I'm not really a coward, and I've been through too many tough situations to count."
"You know I like him," Valerie began angrily. "And you're trying to use that knowledge to soften me up. We'll it ain't gonna work ghost. I'm not falling for any of your tricks!"
Danny sighed. "I'm not trying to trick you Valerie. I never have." He paused and blushed again. "You really like me?"
Valerie gave him a strange look and he shook his head. "Okay." He stood and walked a few steps from Valerie. "I'll prove it to you."
He took a deep breath and let the two silver rings that would change him back to his human form, envelop him in their ghostly glow. He looked at Valerie as the transformation completed. The look on her face was one of sheer horror.
"No," she half yelled as she shook her head in denial. "I don't know what kind of sick joke this is ghost, but don't you try to fool me into thinking you're Fenton. No!"
Danny took a deep breath. "You're favorite word is kumquat."
Valerie's eyes widened. "T-that's common knowledge," she stuttered. Then listened in amazement as Danny recalled everything she'd ever told him, and even little details about the dates they had.
"I had an accident in my parent's lab," Danny explained as Valerie stared at him with a look of terror on her face. She was so stunned that she didn't even realize that she'd transformed out of her ghost hunting gear and was standing there, completely vulnerable.
"You're a liar!" she accused angrily as she pointed at him. "Do you really expect me to believe you?"
"Tucker and Sam were there," Danny told her in a calm tone, hoping to keep her from freaking out any further. "I can call and have them here to verify that it's all true."
Valerie shook her head. "If it's true, then you've been deceiving me this whole time! For what? You let me like you for what? So you could get close to me? So you could destroy me?"
"I've never tried to destroy you!" Danny told her angrily.
"The hell you haven't!" Valerie yelled. "First you destroy my father's job, we lose all our money, and then you constantly attack me!"
"What do you mean I attack you?" Danny hollered in outrage. "You always attack me first!"
"That's only to keep you from attacking me!" Valerie told him as she watched him with narrowed eyes.
"You're logic is stupid!" Danny growled.
"So are you!" Valerie hissed. Danny roared in exasperation and Valerie resumed her defensive stance.
Danny turned to her and said in an incredibly angry voice. "The thing with your fathe's job was an accident! I was only trying to catch that stupid dog ghost! I wasn't deliberately trying to hurt you!"
"Whatever," Valerie said as she glared at Danny.
Danny looked at her angrily. "How can I convince you that I've never tried to hurt you. I've only tried to protect you?"
"You can't!" Valerie yelled. Danny looked up at the sky in exasperation.
"Listen," Danny finally said. "I didn't come here to confess my true identity."
Valerie closed her eyes. At the moment, she wasn't sure what she believed. Finding out the sweet guy she had a crush on, was the ghost kid she abhorred was incredibly upsetting. She wanted to believe it was just a trick the ghost kid was pulling on her to hurt her, but she knew in her heart he was telling the truth. She wanted to cry, the brief relationship she'd had with Danny was fake. All the feelings she's had for him were based on a lie. She hated him.
"Valerie," he said gently. "Please listen to me. Something has happened to you. Right?"
"No!" she denied still trying to get a grasp out of the situation. "Nothing has happened to me."
"You have ghost powers," Danny told her. "Like me."
"I'm not like you!" she growled angrily. "It's just a new feature of my new ghost fighting suit!" She felt out of control and she hated it.
"Where's your hover board?" Danny asked as he formed a green glowing ball between his hands. "Where are all your weapons? What happened? Why did your suit change?"
Valerie watched with her mouth open as Danny passed the ectoplasmic ball he'd form from one hand to the other. He threw it in the air then shot the ball with a blast, causing the ball to shower Valerie in green pin points of light that faded as soon as they touched her, as she tried to duck away from them.
"I was fighting that stupid Box Ghost," Valerie answered, feeling very shaken. "The suit malfunctioned, but I was fine, it just activated new features, that's all."
"I think," Danny started. "That a malfunction in the suit caused some kind of containment breech and flooded you with ectoplasmic energy. I think you're half ghost. Like me."
"No!" Valerie yelled vehemently. "I am nothing like you. I'll never be anything like you. I am not a ghost. I am a flesh and blood human girl!"
"And I am a flesh and blood human boy!" Danny told her. He held up his arm. "If you cut me I'll bleed…."
Valerie sneered at him. "And what now you're William Shakespeare?" Danny gave her a confused look and she laughed. "I'm not buying this, whoever you are."
"I'm Danny Fenton," Danny said tiredly as he watched Valerie change back into ghost form. She shot several blasts at him which he dodged.
"Please," Danny began as he changed to his ghost form. "I'm not trying to hurt you! I'm trying to help you. You don't have to go through this alone like I did."
"I don't believe you!" Valerie yelled as she shot a barrage of blasts as Danny. He realized quickly as a few shots hit him, that her blasts were weak, and he really didn't have too much to fear, so he stood still and merely protected himself with shields.
"I want to help you Val," Danny pleaded. "I want to be your friend! Can't we put aside our differences? I'm your friend. I always have been…"
"No!" Valerie yelled as she pointed at Danny. "You're not my friend. You're a trickster and a deceiver! I want nothing to do with you. Stay away from me or else."
"Or else what?" Danny asked.
"I'll tell the world what you are!" Valerie threatened. She was feeling incredibly panicked. She needed to get away from this creature, whatever it was.
"Fine," Danny said tiredly. "But as you know, most of Amity Park views me as a hero. You'll make my life more difficult, but you won't be hurting me Valerie. You on the other hand, I'm not too sure about."
"No body knows about me!" Valerie said indignantly. "Besides. I'm not like you."
"Yes you are! And they don't now, but they'll learn about you if they learn about me," Danny told her, leaving the rest of the threat hanging in the air between them. Valerie gave him an angry look and started to fly away.
"I want you to stay away from me, ghost!" she shouted over her shoulder. Danny sighed as he watched her go then sat down on the wall and hung his head in his hands.
"She didn't take it to well huh?" A voice asked from behind him. Danny turned to see Sam walking toward him.
"No," he answered. Sam sat beside him.
"I'm sorry," she said. Danny gave her a tired look and she sighed. They sat quietly for awhile.
"What are you doing here?" Danny finally asked. "I thought I told you and Tuck to stay away."
"You didn't tell us to stay away, you just told us you didn't need us here," Sam said. "I thought you might need to talk if things went bad."
Danny sighed. "You were right Sam. Are you happy now?"
Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You don't think much of me do you? Of course I'm not happy."
"Sam," Danny started then sighed. "I just don't need you rubbing it in that you were right."
"I'm not rubbing it in," Sam said defensively. "I would really rather be wrong. I'm sorry, Danny."
Danny stood and looked down at Sam. "I'll take you home," he said. Sam sighed and took the hand he held out to her.
"Danny," Sam started, but he shook his head as he helped Sam stand, put his arm around her waist, and started toward her house.
"I just didn't want to see you hurt," Sam finally said as Danny landed in her room and let her go.
"Then you shouldn't have shown up," Danny told her, not looking at her face. She sighed heavily.
"I worry about…" Sam began
Danny closed his eyes. "I don't need you to worry about me Sam!" he interrupted. "I can take care of my self and my own problems. I'm not stupid you know!"
"I never said you were," Sam replied as she put her hand on his arm. He pulled away from her.
"Just stop caring about me so much," Danny said, completely oblivious to the wounds he inflicted on his best friend. "I don't need you to care about me. I already have Jazz poking at my head all the time. I don't need you trying to pry open my heart."
Sam flinched away from Danny and took several steps back. "You know what, Danny?" she started. "I know you're hurting, but that doesn't give you the right to abuse me. I'm your friend…"
Danny tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling as he tuned Sam out. He sighed heavily then looked at her when she finished talking.
"It's late," he finally said. "I'm really tired, and so are you. Can we just forget about this?"
"Yeah," Sam said as she looked down in order to hide her tears. "I guess."
"Thanks," Danny said. If he had looked at his friend, he would have seen how crushed she was, but he never spared her a glance he simply told her good night and flew out the window. Sam shook her head as she watched him go, then shut the curtains and went to bed.
XxXxXxXxX
Valerie was shaking when she finally made it home. She checked on her father then stole into the kitchen and picked up the phone and ran back to her room.
She jumped on her bed, flipped through her address book then dialed the number she needed.
"Vlad," she practically sobbed. "I'm sorry to call so late."
"It's quite all right, my dear," Vlad told her gently. "You can call me at any hour. You're upset. What happened?"
Valerie took a deep and relieved breath. "I had a run in with the ghost boy…" she began.
XxXxXxXxX
I am so sorry it took me so long to update this story. I've been dealing with a rather severe case of writer's block. All my stories have been suffering. I've hopefully found a solution. I am working on an ORIGINAL work. You can find it over at Deviant Art. The link can be found on my profile.