Author's Note: I own nothing.
10 A Bit More Careful
Sitting across from her mother that night when her parents came home for dinner was hard. Her dad had been at City Hall too but he'd been mostly dealing with civilian evacuation, not actively shooting at her. She wasn't hungry in the slightest. She'd lost a friend to the Ghost Zone, she just hoped Wulf could get away from Walker. Of course she couldn't voice any of this, not to anyone but Sam and Tanya. Jazz seemed a bit on edge though but she looked fine, no signs of possession anyway.
"Dani are you alright sweetie?" Maddie asked reaching out to brush some hair out of Dani's face. She pulled back before her mother could touch her.
"I'm fine, just an upset stomach." She said pushing some peas around the plate. Jack frowned.
"Do you need to go lay down Dani bear?" Jack asked and Dani nodded taking the out. She just couldn't be in the same room as them right now.
"Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Goodnight." It was perfunctory, mostly out of habit, as she left the kitchen as fast as she could go. She closed her door and laid her forehead on it for a moment before she made her decision. She transformed and flew, invisible, out her window and off down the street. She wasn't looking for a fight. She was just looking to get out of the house for a while, away from her parents. Plus it couldn't hurt to do a quick patrol to make sure that Walker's goons had all cleared off with him. All was quiet. No ghost in sight. Dani was almost disappointed. At least until the blast of pink sailed just past her head, ruffling her hair. She spun spotting the Red Hunter on his hoverboard just a block away headed her way. She took off at full speed away from the hunter who was quick to give chase. Honestly it was kind of cathartic, fighting Vince. Well of course he didn't know it was her, and she wasn't supposed to know who he was. She didn't want to hurt him, he on the other hand seemed to agree with the majority of the town that every bad ghost related thing that had happened in Amity was on her head. Tired of the fight she let off a few blasts mostly to blind him than anything else. She vanished, landed and turned back into Dani Fenton. Whatever trackers Vince had as the Red Hunter would do him no good in tracking Dani as a human.
She watched him from below, frowning slightly as she did. From what she could make out of him from down here he looked upset at having lost Dani Phantom. But it looked like she'd also accidentally damaged his glider. He landed nearby swearing up a storm as he hopped off his smoking hoverboard in a clearing a few feet away from Dani. She hesitated. He kicked the board. Dani sighed, he whirled going for a blaster on his hip. Dani raised her hands slowly stepping into the light of a street lamp.
"Whoa hold your fire there Red." Dani said and he lowered his gun.
"What are you doing out here?" He asked his voice only slightly muffled by the mask.
"What? A girl can't be out for a walk?" Dani asked glancing up. It wasn't too bad for a mid November night, here on the outskirts of town you could see more of the stars than you could in town. She looked back over at the Red Hunter and cleared her throat. "Saw your fight, you ok?" The Hunter sighed.
"I'm fine, lost her though. And she fried my board." Dani took a step forward.
"You need help?" She asked partially because she felt bad for frying his board, and partly because she just didn't want to go home yet. He cocked his head to the side.
"You know about this kind of thing?" He asked and Dani rolled her eyes.
"You might have been a bit too busy to watch the news but my parents are literally ghost hunters, you think I don't learn anything in that house?" Dani asked raising an eyebrow. Silence reigned between them for a moment.
"You have a point. I wouldn't mind if you took a look at it Miss Fenton." Dani held back from rolling her eyes at Vince's awkwardness addressing her. She stepped forward and took a look at the board. She hadn't done more than glancing damage to the board. It looked like she'd knocked a few wires loose though. She pointed it out to Vince and offered to put it back into place. He nodded awkwardly.
"It's a pretty easy fix." She said and reconnected the wires. The board whirred back to life. Vince let out a laugh.
"That's brilliant! Thanks." They were silent for a moment. He hopped on his floating board. Dani turned to leave but the Red Hunter swooped in front of her. "It's not really safe to be out here on your own right now. Can I take you home?" Dani blinked at him, quickly remembering that she wasn't supposed to know who he was.
"I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to accept rides from strangers baring ecto-weapons." She said with a laugh. The Hunter paused.
"I mean you make a good point, but I really don't think it's safe for the daughter of a ghost hunter out here." He pointed out and Dani hesitated, but only for a second. It was really more for show. She knew Vincent really just wanted to help.
"Alright, but I gotta say it's kinda creepy you know where I live." She commented as she took his hand. He laughed pulling her onto the board, and looping one hand around her waist to keep her balanced.
"I mean it's not like there's a neon sign that says Fenton on your house." He commented as they took off. It wasn't like flying as Phantom. Dani was reasonably certain she'd left her breath back on the ground. She let out a breathless laugh grabbing hold of Vince out of instinct. He laughed too and she could just make out his eyes through the visor of his suit. They were amused, laughter in his green eyes. He was enjoying this she realized as his arm tightened around her. She was too, her anxiety from the fight that evening racing out of her with the wind that whipped past them. She let herself laugh loudly, he joined in. All too soon it was over and the lights of Fenton Works were on the horizon. Dani's heart fell slightly.
"Put me down on the Ops center. There's an access panel I can get in from there. And thank you. That was fun." She could tell Vince was smiling as he set her down on the Ops center. She smiled at him.
"Stay safe Miss Fenton." Dani rolled her eyes.
"Miss Fenton is my mom. You can call me Dani." He nodded. She shook her head. "I guess you wear the mask for a reason, so can I call you Red?" He nodded.
"You can Dani. Thanks for fixing my board." She nodded and opened the access hatch slipping into the Ops center as the Red Hunter flew off. It had been nice, but he too was an enemy of Phantom. Dani sank through the floor falling through the house all the way to her room. She solidified and changed into her pajamas, without really thinking about it. She flopped down onto her bed sinking through her blankets rather than bothering to pull them on top of her. She buried her head into her pillow and let herself cry.
