Disclaimer: Don't own DP.

God, I have the best reviewers ever. You guys gave me some really awesome, intellectual insight and plot ideas for the future. Big thanks to Invader Johnny, Cookieplzandthnx, Above the Winter Moonlight, WithAnAngel, nikodark, Yasz1221, Brandie, lightshadow101, Xand'r Coldhearted, and Zanza Flux!

Shot 6 Summary: Valerie makes a demand that Dan can't refuse. Genre: Romance/humor, Rating: T


Deliverance

Shot 6: Just Following Orders


The hot sun glimmered on the dirt and twisted metal debris of the Wasteland. All was silent.

Then the winds picked up; explosions in the distance boomed closer. Shouting voices raised. A black shadow blurred past at over 500 miles an hour, followed quickly by a dark red one.

Cyclones raged under the lifting force of Valerie's jet sled as she stormed through the wreckage.

"Get back here!" she yelled at Phantom, throwing grenades. He was too fast; they exploded before they hit him.

But Phantom suddenly stopped in the air, spinning around and raising his hands. A large barrier surrounded him, seething with red energy. Valerie nearly slammed into the barrier and had to pull up sharp to avoid it. "Holy—!" Her jet sled groaned as she flipped backwards , whining it down from hundreds of miles an hour to a dead stop. Then she stopped, floating parallel with Phantom, breathing hard.

He watched her struggle with dark, amused eyes. "Nice reflexes," he praised.

Her lip curled down. A little harder than necessary, she pushed her foot against a button on her jet sled; a sharp laser shot towards the barrier and slammed into it with a high-whine.

Dan's nose scrunched, and he complained, "Not the lasers again. They're far more annoying than they are a challenge."

"No, you're more annoying." She nevertheless gave it up and un-holstered a blaster that recalibrated into a sharp assault rifle. Stinging, magenta power surged from its barrel, but everything bounced off Phantom's barrier without even a spark. "Dammit," she whispered under her breath. Her mind raced, going over every weapon in her arsenal. What would work? What would work?

He smiled something awful. "My power's been growing lately. Can you tell?"

Valerie glared at him and muttered under her breath, "No shit." She would have to recalibrate her weapons again and redesign them with greater force to take down the barriers Phantom was putting up. Which meant that he had just been toying with her this whole time.

She frowned.

Dan's barrier died around him, and he raised an amused brow. "Honestly, Valerie," he mused. "why do you even try? You're getting worse."

In a last ditch attempt to fight him, she leveled a high-powered blaster at his chest. "Yeah?" she sneered at him, pulling the trigger. "Well, kiss my ass."

Phantom negated the blast with a careless one of his own. Without missing a beat, he tilted his head with a wide smirk. "I would love to," he said.

The Red Huntress gave him a bewildered and shocked look. For a second, the full connotation of his words did not sink in, but then her aim faltered as her face flushed. "Th-that wasn't…" she struggled for words, speech failing her. "I didn't mean that!"

"No," he shrugged, "but I did." He moved closer, blurring until he was nearly nose to nose with her, standing on the edge of her jet sled. He gave her his best bedroom eyes, dark and sensual. "You want me to kiss it now?"

Her nose scrunched, and she shoved him off with an angry, flustered grunt. "No, you idiot!" She swiped at his head with her blaster, but he craned his neck away.

His face lifted up in a delighted smile, chuckling. "You sounded pretty adamant about it earlier. I'm just following orders."

For a second, she could only stare at him, wondering exactly when their battle had given way to a flirt game again. It was a good thing they were far from any potential witnesses, because she had no idea how to explain this anymore. "You're such a jerk," she complained, trying to fight down the heat that colored her face a deep red. Her fingers shook a bit as she readjusted her grip on her ecto-blaster.

"And you're such a tease," he shot back. "Honestly, if you don't want me to kiss your ass, you shouldn't demand that I do."

Valerie opened her mouth to argue, but then clicked it shut.

He had a point.


A/N: I've noticed this collection tends to boomerang between hardcore drama/angst and lighthearted humor. Talk about bipolar, lol. It's like these drabbles are my own recovery sessions from writing dark stuff.

Speaking of hardcore drama, I'm working on Aftermath Part 3! It may not be the next update, but it expect it soon.

Thanks for reading,

Lightning Streak

Please review! I also love ideas and requests.