Chapter 12: And You Will See Me Now

The ghost scanner went off, and Valerie barely restrained a groan. She had really hoped to work on her homework for once.

Briefly she considered just leaving the ghost to Phantom. Her talk with Danny, combined with her talk with Phantom a little over a week ago, had settled her mind on the ghost boy. She had grown increasingly convinced that he wasn't as malevolent as she had previously assumed. And so she was sure she could trust him to protect the city.

But then she caught the reading of her scanner. One fairly strong ghost nearby, with another approaching quickly. Her scanner made quick work of determining the first one: Skulker, a hunter-type ghost who regularly haunted Amity.

She didn't need her tech to tell her that the second was Phantom, racing over from wherever he was when he wasn't fighting.

Sure, Phantom could probably handle this himself. But Skulker had made it to Elmerton, where people weren't quite as used to fleeing from ghost attacks. And the hunter had a bad habit of firing missiles and other weaponry, which were dangerous for onlookers.

Before she had fully considered it, Valerie had suited up and launched herself out of her window. If anything, this would be a good opportunity to offer Phantom another truce. A more permanent one, maybe. They had worked together against Skulker before, after all.

It wasn't hard to find the fight. In the slowly decreasing light, the flashes of bright green were easy to spot. Apparently Phantom had made it to Skulker before her. Valerie wondered for a moment how quickly Phantom could fly, but dismissed the thought almost immediately. She had to focus on the fight.

Skulker was focused entirely on Phantom, who was zipping through the sky, dodging shots. Neither of them had seen Valerie approach. She smirked to herself, and quietly readied a gun. What kind of shitty hunter didn't watch their environment?

The pink blast hit Skulker in the wing, badly damaging it and causing him to falter mid-air. His shots went wide, giving Phantom a chance to break away as well.

"Who-!" the metallic ghost whirled around, readying his gun to shoot Valerie back. She kept her stance steady, ready to dart out of the way if he fired.

And then a green blast hit Skulker's other wing.

"Hey tin can, don't forget about me!" Phantom jeered, as another blast was building up in his hand.

Skulker growled wordlessly, unable to keep an eye on both enemies at once. Apparently he decided that Phantom was the bigger threat, however, since he fired his shot at the other ghost. Phantom, in turn, dodged effortlessly.

Valerie fired another shot into Skulker's back to teach him for forgetting about her.

"You little-" the ghost started, but he never got to finish as Phantom landed another blast, this time hitting Skulker's neck. A dreadful snap sounded, and suddenly Skulker's body went limp as his head disconnected.

Phantom zipped in and caught the head, as Valerie froze in shock. Sure, maybe ghosts didn't work the same way as humans, but she had never seen Phantom do anything this ruthless. He decapitated another ghost!

And to make matters worse, the ghost boy stuck his hand inside the neck of the other ghost. What the fuck was he doing?

"Ah ha!" Phantom exclaimed, pulling his hand back and dropping the metal head.

And in his hand was… another ghost? Small and green and squirmy, it was clearly trying to escape from the teenage ghost holding it.

"Let go of me!" it yelled, its voice strangely high-pitched. "Let go of me, whelp! I am Skulker! Ghost Zone's greatest hunter!"

Oh. That was… an unexpected twist. Maybe she had judged Phantom a little too quickly. Again.

"Yeah, yeah." Phantom looked as bored as he sounded. With the hand that had previously been holding the head, he grasped the Thermos strapped to his belt. "Just get in the Thermos already."

And then in a flash the squirmy ghost was gone. Phantom lowered himself to the ground, and sucked the body (suit?) up as well. And then he turned to look at her.

"Hey Red, thanks for the help. He didn't hit you, right?"

"Uh, no." She lowered herself a little as well, and watched as Phantom came up to her level again. "He was too focused on you to fire at me."

Phantom apparently picked up on her silent distress, because he frowned at her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. It's just..." She wasn't sure what to say. How do you tell a ghost that you thought that it violently attacked and decapitated another ghost?

"You didn't know that it was just a suit, did you?" Phantom laughed. He laughed. "Don't worry, I had a similar reaction the first time I saw his suit get wrecked."

"Oh." Valerie slumped in a little, relieved. "How come I never noticed before, then?"

"Coincidence, I think." Phantom shrugged, clipping the Thermos back onto his belt. "I usually try to destroy the suit instead of sucking it up, so he'll take longer to come back. But we're in the middle of the city, and sometimes he packs them with explosive weaponry. Don't want to risk causing unnecessary damage."

"That… makes sense."

Valerie allowed the silence to linger for a moment. Then she remembered her intentions to make up for her earlier behavior towards Phantom.

"Actually, I, uh. Wanted to talk to you."

"Again?" Phantom questioned, quirking a brow at her. "Is it related to you helping me fight Skulker instead of shooting me down as well?"

Valerie grimaced, glad that her helmet hid her expressions from the ghost. "Uh, yeah. I… was wrong about ghosts. About you."

"Really?" Phantom grinned at her, a genuine smile on his face. Valerie wasn't sure if she had ever seen the ghost with a smile that wasn't shit-eating or a smirk before… but she kind of liked it.

"Yeah." She nodded. "And… I'm sorry. For, y'know, shooting you. And blaming you for everything that has happened to me."

"You don't know how much that means to me." But Valerie was pretty sure she did know. Phantom's expression was a pretty clear indicator. He would've made a pretty terrible poker player. Or actor, for that matter. Why did she ever think otherwise?

But then the ghost sighed, closing off again. "And I would love to talk about it more. But..." He glanced upwards, at the steadily darkening sky. "I have somewhere I need to be. Can we… meet up again? Tomorrow, maybe?"

Valerie blinked, surprised. She hadn't expected him to forgive her this easily. Heavens know she wouldn't have, if she had been in his shoes.

"Uh, sure? When, and where?"

Phantom shrugged. "Somewhere private, definitely. And after you're done with school?"

"The abandoned warehouses near the docks, then?" And then her brain processed the second part of his sentence, and her expression darkened. "Wait a minute, how do you know when I'm done with school?"

Phantom snorted. "I spend a lot of time near the school because ghosts keep attacking it, so I have a pretty good idea when people get out. And I can wait for you at the docks, you can find me with your scanner, right?"

"That's… fair." He was right, of course. Ghosts attacked the school constantly. Even if Phantom stayed away outside of attacks, which she kind of doubted, he still would've picked up on their schedules. "So the warehouses, after school?"

"Yeah," Phantom agreed, with a nod. Then he glanced at the sky again and grimaced. "And I really gotta get going. See you tomorrow, Red."

And with a short wave he launched himself away, racing upwards and towards Amity. Valerie watched him go, but soon lost track of him.

He could definitely out-fly her hoverboard.

Valerie's hoverboard hummed quietly as she flew towards the docks. She wasn't going very fast, instead using the quiet time to think.

The whole day, her meeting with Phantom had hung over her. She couldn't predict him, didn't know what he wanted or why.

She had also spend more time with Danny. She wanted to make sure that he was okay, that no one was bothering him. She couldn't imagine being a ghost, and she definitely couldn't imagine having to live with such rumors. She was sure she would've gone crazy the first week, if it had been her.

Hanging with Danny… was surprisingly nice. Sam and Tucker were with him, of course, as usual. But for once, they weren't hostile to her.

And she understood why they had been, of course. They all knew that she was a ghost hunter, and Danny was a ghost. They were simply trying to protect their friend.

Their friend, who very stupidly befriended a ghost hunter.

She wondered if his lack of self-preservation was a ghost thing, or if Danny had always been like that. Because she could very easily imagine him getting himself killed, doing things like this.

But she appreciated it. Danny was a fantastic friend, unlike her 'friends' from the A-List. And Sam and Tucker were clearly warming up to her as well, now that she was protecting Danny's secret too.

Valerie broke out of her thoughts at the sound of her ghost scanner. She had arrived at the docks already, and her scanner had picked up Phantom's presence. She followed the trail to one of the abandoned warehouses.

Hovering over the somewhat rickety roof, Valerie didn't have to wait long for Phantom to show. He faded into visibility almost instantly, posture only slightly tense.

"Hey Val," Phantom greeted her, a soft smile on his face. She squashed her automatic response, which was to reprimand him for using her name, and instead smiled back. Then she remembered that she was wearing a helmet, and retracted it back into her suit.

"No plans to get to today?"

"Nothing for the moment." Phantom shrugged. Then he lowered himself, his white boots soundlessly touching down on the roof. "Well, besides this, of course."

"Right." Valerie made to follow his example, but took another look at the roof and decided against it. Instead she disengaged the locks on her boots and sat down on the board. "So, Phantom… How do you feel about a truce?"

"Pretty good," Phantom said, his smile widening. "Although I wouldn't mind working together more often, either. We made a pretty good team against Skulker yesterday."

"True." But there were complications with that plan. Things that Phantom clearly hadn't considered, being a ghost and all. "And I don't mind working together, but… I have a busy life, Phantom. I can't go out and hunt ghosts all day, y'know?"

Phantom's smile fell some, and he sighed. "No, I get it. But we can work together without actually fighting together. Share responsibility over the weaker ones, and work together to fight the stronger ghosts."

"That… could work." But she would prefer it if Phantom took care of all the weak ghosts. It wasn't like he had anything better to do, and she had work and school to focus on. "But Phantom… I have other responsibilities too. I'm already doing bad enough in school as-is."

"And I'm not?" Phantom retorted with a frown, crossing his arms.

What? But he couldn't… Phantom couldn't go to school, could he? Even if the ghosts have some sort of school in the Ghost Zone, Phantom spent too much time in the regular world to attend. And he couldn't go to a human school either. Although he is very human in appearance, he has also become far too recognizable.

Unless… he uses some sort of disguise? But the only school near Amity Park is Casper High, and a disguise wouldn't protect Phantom from her scanners.

But Phantom sighed and snapped her out of her thoughts again. "Sorry. You're right, you do have more responsibilities than me." He had turned away from her, but she could see the tense lines of his muscles. Or, what passed as his muscles. She wasn't sure if ghosts had them.

"Wait, hang on. What did you mean? Are you… saying that you go to school too?"

Phantom turned back to face her again, frown still on his face. Or again, maybe. She couldn't be sure.

"I- Yeah." He unfolded his arms, then started rubbing the back of his neck. The gesture was familiar to Valerie, but she couldn't immediately place it. "I kind of… wanted to talk about that, too."

"How so?" She was still studying him, trying to place where she had seen that neck rubbing before.

But before she figured it out, Phantom dropped his hand again. "I'll… show you. It's easiest."

"Show me what, Phantom?" She was getting worried now. What did he want to tell her about that would be easier to show her? How could that be anything but bad?

A spark burst from Phantom's waist, suddenly, and Valerie almost fell off her board in surprise. She was about to reengage her helmet again, but then she saw that it wasn't an attack.

Instead, the spark had extended, forming a bright circle of light around Phantom. Then the ring wavered and split in two. The two halos swept across his body, revealing… surprisingly normal clothes. Bare arms.

No ghostly glow.

Phantom had closed his eyes, but when the upper ring passed his hair and dyed it black instead of white… Valerie didn't need to see his eyes to know their color.

Almost cruelly, her mind took this moment to remind her that when Phantom had first told the media his name… he had included a first name.

He had dubbed himself Danny Phantom.

And now Danny Fenton opened his eyes, looking at her with a mixture of doubt and hope. And Valerie… didn't know what to think. Felt overcome by all these revelations.

The boy, her friend, smiled sheepishly at her. Raised his hand to rub the back of his neck again.

"Danny," she whispered, finally. She wasn't sure what emotions her voice carried, because she didn't even know which ones she felt.

"Yeah..." he said, nodding slightly. "It's me. Has been, from the start." His smile had dropped, but he continued to rub the back of his neck.

"But why? Wait. How?" She tried not to bite out her answers, but her distress made her snappier than usual. Danny must've realized, because he didn't even flinch. Either that, or he had gotten used to her being angry at him.

"I… It's a long story." He finally dropped the hand, offering her a shrug. "But long story short, I'm kind of… only half ghost? Phantom is what I actually look like as a ghost. But my core stays in human form, so ghost hunting equipment can pick it up, if it's strong enough."

"You're… half ghost?" Her tone was incredulous, but it couldn't possibly convey the extend to which she felt it. Surely… he can't be only half of a ghost? Maybe he was some sort of shapeshifting ghost. Those existed, she knew.

"Yeah. Didn't realize it at the start, but I kind of… defy the rules of regular ghosts." He huffed out a breath. "Not that we knew that, of course, so we just thought I died."

Valerie frowned. "Who is this 'we'?"

"Sam, Tucker, and I. We were together when I had my accident." He stayed silent for a moment before he shook his head, like he was shaking off his thoughts. "And everybody else who knows thought I was a full ghost too. Jazz, and… Well, I guess my parents don't really count, since they were told that I was a ghost, without the connection to Phantom."

"Wait, your parents didn't know?" Valerie knew that Danny's parents weren't all that good at hunting ghosts, but not to realize that their own son was one… Or, well, half of one, if he was telling the truth.

"Nope," Danny confirmed, smiling a little. "Like I've said before, they couldn't catch a ghost if it was living under their roof."

"Oh my god, Danny," Valerie groaned, burying her head in her hands. "How can you joke about this? Why wouldn't you tell them?"

"Jazz says it's a coping mechanism." Danny's grin widened, then fell a little. "As for your second question… Well, would you tell your ghost hunting parents that you died and became a ghost?"

"No, I guess not." Valerie's shoulders sagged as she lifted her head again. "So I'm guessing that that canine wrecking ball really wasn't your dog? Because I highly doubt you could've kept that thing away from your parents."

"Cujo? Nah, he's his own dog." Danny grimaced a little. "He kept coming to me though. I think because I was the only other ghost around. Wanted me to help find his toy."

"If he wanted his toy, why did he keep coming back to Axion Labs?" Valerie crossed her arms, sending a mild glare at Danny.

"Because that's where his toy was, Val." Danny rolled his eyes. "He used to be a guard dog, I think. He was trained and he was wearing an Axion Labs tag on his collar. After I got him his toy during the second break-in he left, and now he usually stays in the Zone."

"Oh." Valerie uncrossed her arms again, studying the boy in front of her. He said that he wasn't fully a ghost, but she wasn't sure if she believed that. On the other hand, if his parents believed it, maybe there was some truth to it. What did he say again? That he defied the rules of regular ghosts?

"How did you convince your parents that you weren't a full ghost?"

"Huh?" Danny asked, startled. Apparently he hadn't expected her to go back to that topic. "Oh, uh. Regular ghosts don't need to breathe or eat, and they don't have a heartbeat." He shrugged. "There's more, of course, but those are the basic things."

That… made sense. She had seen some ghosts breathe before, but they usually stopped if they dropped their human disguise. Phantom, however, she had definitely seen breathing. At the time she had thought that it was part of his plan to fool the town on how 'human' he was… But he really was human. Or partly, at least.

"Can I…" she trailed off before she finished her sentence, uncertainly holding out a hand. Danny understood anyway, since he held out of own hand, angling it so she could easily grasp his wrist.

She called her armored gauntlets back, gently holding Danny's wrist in one hand and putting down the bare fingers of the other. The heartbeat that greeted her was slow, slower than normal for a human… But it was strong. Steady. Undeniable, despite the cold of Danny's flesh.

Valerie didn't know what to say. What to think. What to do. It was like it was Danny's sole goal in life to constantly throw everything in her life upside-down.

But… it had always ended up better for his involvement. Sure, being poor sucked, but she never would've made friends with Danny otherwise. Would never have started hunting ghosts.

She let go of his hand again, and patted the spot next to her on the hoverboard. Danny took the silent cue, and sat down next to her.

"So. Now what?"

Valerie huffed out a laugh. "You've asked that already. And my answer stays the same." She offered him a shaky smile, but one she poured as much of her heart into as she could. "We're friends, Danny. Anything I could've blamed you for, you've already made up for."

"Oh. That's… good." Danny sat back, leaning on his hands. "I'm glad to hear so. I was… worried."

"That I would be upset?" She couldn't blame him. She had the unfortunate habit of getting angry before thinking things through. "I mean, I am, a little. But you did nothing wrong. I would've done the same, I think."

Then she shoved him a little, laughing. "Actually, no I wouldn't. Because I definitely wouldn't have risked my own skin dating a ghost hunter who hated my ghost half."

Danny looked a little startled at the shove, but then barked out a laugh. "Yeah, Sam and Tucker were pissed about that."

"I can imagine that. They're pretty protective of you, and apparently for good reasons." That boy would've gotten himself killed without the two of them, she was sure. Although he had apparently gotten himself halfway there despite their presence. "Guess you'll just need another bodyguard."

"Yeah," Danny agreed, nodding. Then he stopped, suddenly. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"Well, Sam and Tucker are no doubt great at protecting you against human threats, but you need a hand with ghostly threats as well." She smirked at him. "So I'm offering my services."

"Yeesh, don't let them hear you. Sam and Tucker have helped me with countless 'ghostly threats' before, you know." His tone was reprimanding, but the smile on his face conveyed the underlying joke. "But like I said earlier, I wouldn't mind a hand with patrolling and ghost fighting."

Valerie nodded and held out her hand. "That's a deal then, Mr. Phantom."

Danny rolled his eyes but took her hand anyway. "Definitely. Want to go for a quick patrol right now?"

"You got it." Valerie grinned as her helmet formed again, before pushing herself upright. The soles of her shoes locked back on the hoverboard with clearly audible clicks.

Danny had jumped off of the board, light washing over him as he dropped down. When Valerie had blinked the dots from her vision again, Phantom floated next to her.

"Ready?" he asked, his normal smirk on his face.

She didn't answer him, instead shooting off into the sky. Danny yelped but was quick to follow her.

A speaker crackled to life, and the conversation Danny had been having with Sam and Tucker instantly quieted. Principal Ishiyama's voice suddenly filled the hallways.

"Students, there is a mandatory school assembly during the first class. Attendance will be checked." The silence lingered for a moment before she repeated the message, and then the crowd started talking again.

"Wonder what that was about," Tucker mumbled, eyes locked on his PDA.

Danny finished packing his backpack and groaned. "I've got the uncanny feeling that it's about me, somehow."

"That would be just your luck, yeah." Sam patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. "And you've definitely jinxed it now."

Danny groaned again, but allowed himself to be distracted by Valerie, who was making her way over to them."Hey Val," he greeted her when she was close enough.

"Hey Danny, Sam, Tucker." She offered them a smile. "You guys know what that assembly is about?"

"Knowing Danny's luck, it'll be about him." Tucker still hadn't looked up from his PDA. Honestly, what was he even doing on that thing?

"Geez, no wonder you've formed such a protective squad." Valerie grinned, crossing her arms. "I guess even powerful ghosts can be felled by bad luck, huh?"

"Story of my life," Danny agreed, also grinning. "Also, speaking of my protective squad… Sam?"

"Right." Sam straightened herself out, then turned to Valerie with a smirk on her face. "Valerie Gray, Red Huntress of Amity Park… Welcome to Team Phantom."

"Yeah, welcome to the shitshow." Tucker looked up from his PDA to shoot her a shit-eating grin. Danny considered stealing his PDA as punishment but decided against it. Knowing Tucker, he probably had another on him somewhere.

"You- Team Phantom?" Valerie looked as baffled as she sounded, which was very baffled.

"Well, Jazz suggested the Ghost Getters so…" Danny shrugged. "Team Phantom worked better for us."

"And-" Sam leaned on Danny's shoulder, smirk widening. "-the whole point is to keep this guy from getting himself killed."

"I see." Now Valerie smiled. "I- Thanks. I'll do my best."

Before they could say more, however, the bell rung.

Danny grimaced. "Guess we better head to the assembly."

"Yeah." Tucker stuffed his PDA in one of his many pockets. "Anyone wanna take bets on the topic?"

They started heading towards the gym, the only location big enough for the entire school.

Valerie scoffed. "No thanks. Knowing what I do now, I definitely agree that it'll be about Danny somehow."

"This is gonna be the death of me," he groaned. The others didn't respond beyond rolling their eyes as they made their way through the crowds.

Soon they had found themselves spots, sitting in a straight row. Sam on one end, followed by Tucker, then Danny, and finally Valerie on the other end.

Principal Ishiyama walked up to the stand, tapping the microphone to silence the gathered crowd. As soon as they hushed, she spoke.

"Students. We, the faculty of Casper High, have an important announcement."

The silence lingered as Ishiyama took a fortifying breath. She looked down, at either her hands or a note, before finally eyeing the crowd of teenagers.

"As we all know, a body was found near Amity Park. The police have recently finished their investigations, although they have not released any information to the public. Despite the lack of proper facts, or perhaps because of it, rumors have started spreading regarding this case. We have no clearance to speak about this case in particular. However..."

She paused again, hesitating in a way that was rather uncharacteristic for her.

"However, we can confirm that a ghost is among our students. We have known for almost a month. The decision to allow them to stay at Casper High was not made lightly, and we have determined that they are no threat to their fellow students. We will not tell you who this student is, and we ask you that if you do know, to treat them with the same respect as any other."

She folded her hands, staring out across the crowd.

"That was all. Thank you for your time, students. Please return to your normal classrooms, so classes may pick up as soon as possible."

And Principal Ishiyama disappeared off-stage again, as the teenagers started making their way out of the gym as well.

Tucker elbowed Danny with a grin. "You definitely jinxed it."

"Good thing that I didn't take that bet." Valerie shouldered her backpack and stood up. "You were definitely right about his luck."

"Thanks," Danny deadpanned, also getting up. "I swear, there's gotta be some sort of ghostly deity of fate that hates me."

"Why a ghostly deity?" Valerie asked as she led the group towards their first class.

"Because we already met the one that controls time." Tucker wiggled an eyebrow at her as he joined her at the front of their group. "Danny may or may not have picked a fight with him."

"To be fair," Danny leaned in a little closer so they wouldn't be overheard in the busy hallways, "Clockwork started it. And it all worked out in the end."

Valerie groaned, pressing her hand to her face in distress. "You're joking. Danny, how?"

"Long story," he explained with a shrug. "I can tell you later, if you really want to know."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Because you've still got a lot of explaining to do, Fenton." But she offered him a warm smile anyway, and he grinned back.

"Of course Val. Of course."

The title is from "Firewall" by Les Friction. I am... so tired. This isn't relevant to the story at all but I wanted to mention it anyway. Also I have no clue how American high schools work - all my knowledge comes from ancient cartoons. But I figured that if they had assemblies in the DP canon I could get away with having one in Disinterred too.

This chapter is the longest in all of Disinterred! In part, this is because it was actually two chapters during the planning stage. But what was once the chapter after this was too short, but merging it into this one would've made it far too long, so I just took part of it and axed the other bit. It wasn't very relevant either - although looking back now, it could've been fun. Ah well, a sacrifice for pacing.
Additionally, with this chapter we round off this 'arc' of Disinterred. I hadn't planned for arcs while writing it, but looking back now I can clearly see three of them. The first was obviously the bit from Unearthed - chapters 1 to 6. Then chapters 7 to 12 are this arc. And then chapter 13 to 15 are the final arc - although the last chapter obviously rounds off the entire fic. When the next chapter goes up, I'll also add the last 2 characters to the tab - so keep an eye out for that!

Next week: Chapter 13 - For The Ones Who Need A Hand