Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.

Note (8/14/2020): Just a heads up this chapter gets really angsty and might have sensitive content when Danny has an emotional breakdown and really rips into Sam for some careless comment she makes over the phone. She's not the focus of this story but I'm hoping to add a little bit of character development so Sam will finally start looking inward at her own issues instead of her usual attitude of pushing it all on Danny cause that's not gonna fly anymore.

I also wanna show off Tucker being the more mature one this time around since he never seems to get that much attention which is a huge shame because jealousy and goofiness aside, he's normally pretty supportive of Danny and owns up to his mistakes. I have yet to see Sam really do that yet in a fanfic, which is why I'd like to see if I can get to that point eventually if there's time in the story's plot.

Chapter 12: Stress, It's A Killer, Sir...

"It is selfish to want others to be selfless." ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Vlad's POV

I suppose it was too much to ask for Valerie to show some respect since I didn't have to go to such lengths to make sure she not only looked the part of a proper ghost hunter but that her battle equipment was fully functional again personally. Then again I cannot deny we were all rather tired, as Daniel pointed out earlier, and thus both of us were just as eager to get this nonsense over with...

It didn't escape my notice that Daniel to be feeling especially fatigued since he's been so busy playing mediator that he hasn't concerned himself about his own needs nearly enough as he should be, as per usual. Hopefully, once he finished speaking with his friends though he would heed my advice use this opportunity to rest for a little while until its time for us to turn in for the night. We'll both need our rest to prepare for tomorrow when the two of us will be packing our few meager belongings and will be bidding his friends and family goodbye before returning home.

Home. How strange that a single word now held such a deeper meaning to me now that Daniel has chosen to become a part of it, a part of my life. At times I still cannot believe my good fortune! Daniel is coming to live with me of his own free will after so many failed attempts to convince the boy to join me and from this moment on he will receive everything I once promised him. He will continue to be lavished with all the love and support only I can give him as a father figure and the only other half-ghost in the world, and he will receive only the best of everything in his life from education, clothing, food, anything I could possibly provide at his fingertips.

I was beyond elated knowing I had every legal reason to call him mine now that I felt like shouting it from the rooftops. Now that Daniel is officially in my care, perhaps not as my son as I'd hoped but as something as close to it as possible at this point, I couldn't be happier. Rationally speaking though I knew there were a couple of minor concerns I would still need to address from his time considered as a missing person before I could do just that and announce Daniel's new role in my life general public. Arrangements would have to be made to quietly address the issue of those who saw Daniel in London when he accompanied me in secret...

It should only be a simple matter of overshadowing the right people and removing any visual evidence of him from the building's security system. Apart from that though it is already public knowledge that his parents are former college friends of mine and due to extenuating circumstances I've now essentially adopted Daniel for his own good to remove him from the situation. I have no doubt people will try and weasel information out of Daniel about how someone so seemingly average could have possibly caught my attention in the first place to the point where I would go to such lengths for him, but I know from personal experience that my little badger can hold his own when the need arises to use that sharp wit of his to turn the tide in his favor. He still has much to learn, but I am all too willing to teach him everything he needs to know to handle such nosy pests.

As for me, I am content simply knowing Daniel is going to be safe by my side from now on. He is never going to doubt that he is well-loved; his many talents as a ghost and as an exceptionally bright boy will be encouraged and nurtured; he will be protected and provided for this time with absolutely no strings attached whatsoever except that he will allow me to for his sake. And once we leave this horribly decrepit town behind, I'm hoping that Daniel won't feel nearly as much guilt and uncertainty weighing down on him after what the ghosts in this town, Dan himself, and his own parents have put him through. The best thing I can do for Daniel right now so he won't feel responsible for every little thing that has gone wrong in Amity Park and in his personal life is to reassure him that his friends and loved ones will be just fine without him here to protect them since I will be doing that for him, albeit in my own far less direct way than fighting every ghost I see personally...

No, instead I am giving them the tools to survive on their own and handing the responsibility for their lives and peace of mind back to those he has sacrificed nearly everything for; as it should have been all along instead of Daniel being the one everyone else relied on who had no one HE could rely on in turn until I came along. That being said I've made it very clear that I am not looking for redemption in their eyes or forgiveness for my past mistakes, I am merely addressing the few outstanding ones to help Daniel feel better about his decision to finally do what's best for him and leave to start living his own life again and doing what makes him happiest. And after putting his life in danger again and again for them, the least they could do is-

"And here I thought Danny was the one who wanted to be a space cadet. Earth to Vlad, you still there?" Valerie asked with a raised eyebrow after waving her hand in my face, "Are you still mad that I didn't say thank you or something? Is that why you're suddenly acting so weird?"

"On the contrary," I replied with a mild frown, returning my full attention once more to the task at hand, "I'm actually very pleased to see that some of your fiery spirit has returned. You're going to need every ounce of that confidence and inner strength to handle the heavy burden of ghost hunting again until we've put together a team of professionals to assist you and Daniel's parents if they ever earn the right to hold an anti-ghost weapon again themselves. It hardly matters to me if you thank me or not because in the end, I am not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Daniel. He has sacrificed enough for this godforsaken town that has done nothing for him in return..."

As predicted that comment took the wind right out of her sails and Valerie went back to quietly sitting on the examination table with various wires attached to her battle suit ready to perform a final system check and calibrate everything. I sent Damon out of the room a moment ago to check on Daniel just in case and so I could speak to Valerie privately. He was reluctant at first but soon realized that this would very likely be the last time I would do so in person for a while and if something happened they would have to be the ones who came to me for help and not the other way around.

"Speaking of which, Daniel told me he asked his friends to assist you as well did he not?" I asked offhandedly while keeping an eye on her vitals to make sure the wires were connected to the suit's interface properly.

Deciding to continue being frank with her since Valerie seemed to detest my lies almost as much as Daniel used to I admitted, "I know he means well since there's still much about ghosts you still don't know, however, I suspect you would much rather learn more about them yourself instead of receiving that information second hand and relying on those two. I've spoken to your father about this as well but if it will help I can give you exclusive access to some of my ghost files, at least those that concern ghosts that you and Daniel have already encountered before and some high-level ones with rare powers you should be prepared for if they ever appear in Amity Park.

"And should you encounter a new ghost at any point or need access to more sensitive information you already know how to contact me. Essentially what I'm saying is that my vast knowledge and experience is at your disposal and will likely be infinitely more useful than anything they could tell you so you don't have to bother keeping up appearances by befriending them just to placate Daniel. Besides, I'm sure whatever they've learned is only the result of being close friends of his or it was haphazardly pulled up on some obscure website so I for one would not trust most of their information. Especially not if your life depends on it, as it very well might."

"You've got a point there but when you say it like that it sounds like a bad thing," she grumbled, "Say what you will about his friends, but at least I know I can trust them not to hide anything important when it might actually help everyone."

Raising an eyebrow I asked, "Is that so? What about Samantha? Do you trust her...? As I understand it you two have a bit of a rivalry yourselves."

Snorting Valerie replied, "Well, maybe I don't trust her about EVERYTHING, but deep down I know she wants to keep everyone safe just as much as I do. She also probably wants to make up for being such a jerk to Danny when she knew exactly what he was going through at school and at home, so Sam doesn't have anything to gain or to lose from lying to me."

Then, Valerie added rather boldly, "And for the record, I might not trust you anymore, but I trust Danny. At least he had a good reason to keep me in the dark about his secret and about ghosts. It was for my own protection just like it was for his family, not to mention he didn't want us to start hating him for being part ghost himself. It hurts sometimes when I realize just how much I've hurt him without knowing it, but you feel the same...don't you?"

Looking at me right in the eye when I finally turned to face her, Valerie continued in a serious tone, "I've been thinking about it ever since I learned the truth about you. Danny might think you're turning over a new leaf and my dad might be giving you the benefit of the doubt because you care about Danny enough to have risked your life and exposing your secret to us, but I'm not stupid. I know you're only using the rest of us like before, but at least this time it's because you want to help someone that we both care about so THAT is something I can get behind. You saved Danny when I couldn't, but truce or no truce...if you ever hurt him again I won't hold back. I hope you know that."

"I wouldn't have it any other way my dear girl," I replied, oddly comforted by this threat since it was yet more proof that while she too was uncertain, Valerie has accepted Daniel for who he is. She may never accept me, but as long as I fulfilled my promise to care for Daniel then that's the only thing that matters in the end to both of us.

Danny's POV

"Whoa dude, that's some pretty hardcore stuff, no wonder she was so stressed out at school today. I'm glad she's ok though," Tucker sighed in relief over the phone since I had both of them on speaker on their end, "You know, I always wondered how different that suit upgrade was compared to Vlad's original one was after that whole Technus thing at Axion Labs. Guess the mystery is solved!"

"Yeah but that's not all," I explained, "And listen, you guys have to promise not to tell her about this until she's ready to know, alright? I know at least Tucker has been through something similar after Desire temporarily gave him his own version of ghost powers and it kinda messed with his head after a while, but this is different. According to Vlad, when Technus gave Valerie all of those enhanced skills and weapons he basically connected her to a new battle suit telepathically and gave her just enough of his tech manipulating powers to fully control it with nothing but her mind and instincts. That's why it sometimes its makes her a bit more aggressive, its part of the ghostly nature of it. But hopefully with Vlad's upgrades and the new ghost filter installed it won't do that as much."

"Ok so let me get this straight, so Valerie doesn't have ghost powers exactly but like...telepathic ones now that let her control the new battle suit so that kinda makes it part of her? AND she can store a lot more electrical currents in her body than normal?" Sam asked, sounding a bit skeptical as usual but then she sighed, "That explains what happened today at least. I've heard the expression of your hair standing on end when you sense something bad about to happen but it wasn't just Valerie who felt it. When Paulina was paired with her in science class she kept obsessively brushing her hair down and kept complaining about humility or something like that when it got all static-y sitting next to her. It's probably like how you told us how you generate cold air around you sometimes when too much energy is built up in your core or whatever."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," I nodded, taking a deep breath before talking to them about the other issue. "Hey Sam, did you...really tell Valerie you only offered to help because I asked you to? I thought you said you didn't mind."

"Well yeah, but I mean it's still the truth isn't it?" Sam answered defensively. "I don't want her thinking we're friends now or anything like that so I figured it was better to say it sooner rather than later. I know she feels bad for what she did to you as the Red Huntress, and I've forgiven her for a lot of it once I realized Valerie actually does care about you and she's trying to accept you as Danny Phantom too, but seriously Danny don't you think it's a little selfish to expect us to put all that aside so easily?"

I scowled when that reminded me of how she acted when Vlad was trying to help me when this all started and maybe its because I was stressed out and tired, but before I could think better of it I shot up from my seat and snapped, "Are you serious right now?! After everything I told you about what happened to us with Dan, you think THAT'S why I asked you to help her? Because I'm trying to force you to be friends to fill some kind of gap once I leave so I'll feel better about leaving? I asked you to help because it's the right thing to do! Her dad was TORTURED AND NEARLY CHOKED TO DEATH right in front of Valerie when she was hurt from her battle with ME and left totally defenseless! Valerie might act like she's fine but that was a terrifying thing to go through, not knowing if our parents were going to live or die and being forced to watch them get hurt and tossed around like rag dolls helplessly just like I was-"

I was barely able to control my anger since my hands were shaking violently and it took all my self-control not to crush the phone in my hand accidentally as I snarled, "You have no idea how scared she was and apart from you guys and my sister there's no one Valerie can really talk to about it! Valerie might act like she's strong and has thick skin but she's human and has feelings just like the rest of us! I just...if I didn't have you guys I would have fallen apart. But when I thought you two hated me for choosing to accept Vlad's help over yours and I was forced to hide from my parents for my own safety after they shot me it was devastating and I felt like I was all alone and on the verge of losing everything just like Dan did-"

Collapsing onto the sofa again I inhaled sharply, fighting back angry tears as I continued, "-everyone needs someone who will listen and just be there for them sometimes, so at least Jazz isn't wrong about that. It's not selfish to care about other people either! I'm trying SO feakin' hard to make sure you guys will at least have each other to lean on when I'm around because I CAN'T DO THIS ALL BY MYSELF ANYMORE! I CAN'T TAKE CARE OF EVERYONE ON TOP OF TRYING NOT TO FREAK OUT EVERY TIME I REMEMBER ALL THE HORRIBLE THINGS DAN MADE ME DO! IT TOOK ME THIS LONG TO FINALLY ADMIT THAT I NEED HELP TOO SOMETIMES SO HOW IS IT SELFISH THAT EVEN NOW I WANT YOU GUYS TO TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER?!"

Stunned into silence, neither of them replied and finally, I said bitterly, "You weren't there, neither of you were held hostage and tortured in front of me when I couldn't control my own body. And yeah, I'm actually glad for that because if you had seen what Dan was making me do, asking HER to do by making her decide to kill me or her dad first...you wouldn't be saying that. You wouldn't be saying I'm selfish, AGAIN, when I was ready to DIE for everyone I care about all over again on my own terms when I got back some control of myself again and to make things even worse I asked Valerie to be the one who pulled the trigger.

"If you can't even be bothered to help someone who went through the same traumatic experience I did, I'd say YOU'RE being the selfish one Sam because it's always easier to tell others what to do and what's right and wrong than to actually do it yourself since that would mean you'd have to take responsibility for your actions. And you haven't nearly lost everyone you love right before your eyes...or been asked to choose between saving your friends and family and letting the WORLD be destroyed by an evil version of yourself."

Unable to hold back anymore, I covered my mouth with my free hand and let the tears fall freely down my face as I choked on a sob, breathing heavily. I didn't mean to unload all of that onto Sam but the more things have changed the more she hasn't and it hurt. Didn't she know I wouldn't be asking them to take care of Valerie if I didn't trust them too? That I didn't know she'd be in good hands with them by her side?

I know exactly what it's like to feel alone and like no one understands what I'm going through. That's why I wanted someone to be there for Valerie in ways I couldn't be after this because the longer I stayed here the more danger I was in of changing my mind and staying in Amity Park which would only repeat the vicious cycle all over again of getting hurt and being hurt by my friends and family despite their good intentions.

After a while, Tucker found his voice again he hesitantly pointed out, "Danny, that's not fair. You can't dump all that on us when we're just trying to be honest about our feeling about things being really awkward between us and Valerie. And it's still kinda hard imagining us as friends given all the baggage between us, especially now that we all know the truth about you and Vlad. It puts us in a really weird position. Sam never said we wouldn't at least TRY to be friends with her, or at least I know I will so there's no reason to freak out.

"Listen dude, I know you care about Valerie and so do I, but we've been your friends a lot longer than she has so it kinda hurts whenever it seems like more worried about her than about the two of us. You've barely known her any longer than you've known Vlad since she used to be just another bully or a cute but bratty rich girl at school. And ok, yeah, so we weren't there in person when all the scary Dan stuff went down but we were just as freaked out about it and scared out of our minds when we saw the news and realized exactly who was attacking Amity Park.

"It might not be the same but we felt just as powerless. We had to keep your sister from sneaking out of school to confront him herself because she would have been killed this time instead of just left unconscious in a broom closet, we would've been too but while we weren't sure what was going on or how Dan got here to begin with we knew you'd put a stop to them. We trust you Danny, and I'm sorry for how we acted before with Vlad when we didn't know you were feeling so bad you tried to kill yourself, but I get it. You want us all to move forward too just like you're trying to but please understand that it's not gonna be easy and it's gonna take time so don't expect things to change overnight ok? Let us do things at our own pace, ok? "

"Ok," I answered shakily, "And I...I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to-"

I winced when I heard a door slam on their side of the phone and knew Sam had stormed off. I felt horrible about what I said but at the same time numb inside because if I didn't, it'd hurt too much to bear. After that I muttered another weak apology before telling Tucker goodbye and asking him to make sure Sam was ok and then hanging up, just sitting there staring blankly at the floor and feeling like a worthless scumbag...

And before I shut down completely I thought, man, if Spectra was here she'd have a field day with me. She thought I was a mess before when I first started ghost hunting and didn't know what to think about myself or my powers, but now I honestly felt like a complete mess and couldn't handle it anymore. I needed to leave, right now, but I couldn't move because I was paralyzed by guilt.

And that is not a good feeling at all...