2

The camping trip turned out to be bust. After 3 hours of ghost chasing, the Fenton family spent the night at home, duffel bags still packed, s'mores uneaten. And with no ghost to show for it. And it was Danny who ended up having to sneak out to catch it. It ended up being just a low level spectre. But in catching it, Danny ended up fighting a few other ghosts he would have preferred not to meet at 3 am.

"Late night, huh?" Tucker's voice yelled in his ear. Danny jumped up from his dozing, so surprised, he went incorporeal. Just for a second, but it was enough to slip through the bench and butt-first on the ground. Danny whipped around, wondering if anyone saw him. He did hear Flash yell, "Smooth move, Fenton-y!" and the peal of distant laughter. But no screams, no aw's of surprise, nothing out of the ordinary. Tucker unsuccessfully tried to stifle his laughing..

Sam reached down to help him up. "Don't worry, no one saw," she said dryly.

"Yeah, yeah." Danny took her hand and plopped himself back onto the bench. He tried to ignore the tingly feeling Sam's hand had left in his own. "Well if my secret identity was revealed to the whole school, we can thank Tucker."

"Not the whole school," Tucker protested. "Just half the cafeteria."

"That's still most of the school." Danny looked around at the deluge of students sitting on picnic tables, underneath trees, everyone enjoying the sunny day. No one was going to stay inside if they could help it. "Since my parents started taking me out on their patrols I've had to do double time." Danny sighed, rubbing his head. "And last night was a doozy."

"So who kept you out all night?" Sam asked, concern breaking her usual monotone. "Skulker? Johnny? She hesitated a second, "Vlad?"

"All three." Tucker and Sam inhaled sharply, sympathetic. "Though thankfully not all at once. And really Vlad just came by to gloat about some scheme or another. But I had my hands full all night," He dragged his hands down his face, giving himself a ghoulish appearance. "By the time I got back I could hear the birds chirping out my window."

Tucker tried to lighten Danny's mood. (He knew Sam's could never be lightened.) "Ah birds, Amnityville's true plague." A little more sincerely he added, "Sorry, man."

Sam added sternly, "You should have let us know. We're here to help."

"Yeah, what else are cellphones for besides texting your friends when spectres are afoot?" Tucker had pulled out his latest phone, giving it a long, overacted kiss. Danny didn't know what kind of cell plan the Foley's were on, but it kept Tucker knee deep in new phones. Danny had kept to an old Nokia, the only thing that could survive his nightly rounds.

Despite the light heartedness, guilt was spread over his two friend's faces. Danny felt it too and it was why he hadn't called for help last night. Sam and Tucker'd been out almost as much as he had. Last night's Femalien 3 showing had been his friend's first night off in weeks. It was supposed to be his as well but he never made it to the theater. Sometime after round three with Skulker he'd regretted not going. But he was the one with superpowers. And with great power comes great fatigue.

He laid his head on the table, relishing the sensation of closing his eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't call. I just… didn't want to ruin the movie." He knew it was a lame excuse. And opening one eye, he could see Sam and Tucker thought it too.

"Well, that's a stupid reason," stated Sam. "Just call us next time." The sarcasm melted out of her voice, "There's no reason to do it alone." Danny was about to reply when the bell rang, calling them back to class.