A/N: Hahaha nevermind, we're gonna hold the fluffy chapter off for a little bit, I think it'll fit better somewhere else. That and I've been itching to write this chapter for a while. Enjoy!
Despite what that strange girl told Star, she really couldn't stay away from the Fenton kid.
After the ectoplasm event and the confrontation with the girl, Star had her eye on Danny for the rest of that first day. Although they had most of their classes together, she couldn't pinpoint anything particularly out of the ordinary. She didn't even have the guts to approach him anymore after being threatened, too. (Star writes a note in the back of her mind reminding her to figure out her name.) She could go to the counselor about the confrontation, or disciplinary services, but she doubts that'll stop anything- she has no proof, after all. And on the off-chance that ghosts are involved, she doubts that they care about suspensions or write-ups. Or prison. Or execution.
Jeez, ghosts are a lot scarier when you realise that they can't be punished.
(At least in the land of the living)
Nevertheless, the girl can't be everywhere at once, and Star was still skeptical about the idea that she was even affiliated with ghosts. She could just be some normal delinquent and Star could be overthinking things. (Just a tad) Danny, on the other hand, definitely had something abnormal and ghostly going on with him, and if Star was careful about it- could likely find out more. After all, based on him and his friends' behavior now, it's not like they hide it well.
She was watching the group from since Bio started, and they were watching back, glancing over and whispering to each other every now and again. She knew that they were talking about her, but she didn't particularly care. (It's not anything new, anyways. Lots of people talk about everyone in the A-List. You just kinda get numb to it.)
The weird part was when all of them decided to go silent. She had been trying to eavesdrop on their conversation from the beginning, but couldn't hear anything coherent, then the whispering just… stopped.
And then Danny left, presumably to head to the 'bathroom'.
Is he picking up his old habit of ditching class? She thought.
But no, he came back barely a minute later and resumed his lab as if nothing happened. Star shook her head and went back to her own work, assuming that they'd do the same, which they did for a while. She actually thought that this would be a normal class for once.
But boy, was she wrong.
"MANSON, FOLEY, FENTON! Do you need another detention?!"
Star (and the rest of the class) looks over at the offending group. Star ignores the other two teens and focuses right on Danny, who seems to be either in some sort of pain... or just really tired. He also… it hurts her eyes to look at him, like he's out of focus. What?
"Sorry Mr. Marx, Danny's not feeling well so we're gonna take him to the nurse, bye!"
Sam and Tucker pull Danny out of the room. Star has a huge desire to follow them, but figures it would look much too suspicious, so she holds off- for now.
Star and the rest of the class jump at the blaring siren of the ghost alarm not even a minute after Danny and his friends leave. Star is instantly suspicious. She removes all of her protective equipment and heads out into the hallway as quickly as possible, ignoring whatever Marx is instructing the students to do.
Most people are heading towards the nearest exit in a fast but unpanicked manner. So far it doesn't appear that the school building has been attacked, so students are more curious than anything else- a couple people already pulling out their phones and recording the incident.
Star follows the flow of traffic outside and scans the skies for any indication of where the fight might be. Her answer is oddly told to her by her feet, feeling more so than hearing something like an earthquake. If she focuses, she can faintly hear something like guitar music playing over the chattering of the crowd and she follows that, heading to the east side of the building.
Sounds like that one fire ghost, Ember. Seems worth it to-
"Star! Oh Star!"
Oh shoot. There goes my plans for the day.
Star turns around and puts on a bright smile "Hi Pauly~ what's u-"
Paulina grabs Star by the wrist and basically drags her across the lawn of the school.
"C'mon, we've got to go see mi amor the ghost boy! I haven't seen him in weeks!"
This… could work out!
"O-oh, yeah!" Star notices that Paulina, like a lot of the rest of the students, already has her phone out. "Are you gonna take a video?"
"Of course I am! I need it for my Danny Phantom fanpage. He hasn't been seen publicly recently, so I need all the content I can get. If it gets big enough, maybe he'll do a personal interview!" Paulina pulls Star along directly to the action where what sounds like… explosions are going off. The slowly gathering crowd of teens keeps its distance.
"Look, look, there he is! Phantom!"
Star catches only a glimpse of Phantom in the air before he swoops down and gets in hand-to-hand combat with the fire ghost. Once the crowd notices that the large explosions from before have stopped, they move in and form a wide circle around the two brawling ghosts, Paulina and Star at the very front.
"Ohmygosh! It's so rare that Phantom fights like this, and we're so close!" Paulina is absolutely giddy with excitement, but as Star watches the movements of the ghosts, she notices something else. The injuries, his dull aura, the lack of ectoenergy, and the fact that the other ghost looks much better off…
Phantom's losing.
Why are the Fentons never here when they're actually needed?!
Suddenly, the guitar Ember was using as a weapon goes flying behind her, and a deep, guttural sound leaks from her throat.
"Ecro molte du, Phantom!"
Then, they're on the ground. The teens in the crowd that were watching for spectacle become a lot more nervous now that they realize what Star already has, and the heat from Ember's flames becomes a lot more intimidating than before and rushes into the crowd. On top of that, she keeps speaking some sort of language that carves deep into your very bones, something dark and wrong. Phantom struggles under her grip, but it doesn't seem like he has the strength to-
Relief washes over everyone as hot is replaced with cool, and Phantom manages to kick her off and back away. He floats up to right himself, and then they trade some more ectoblasts, onlookers backing away once they realize this might become another ranged fight. Phantom's shots don't hit, while Ember's do, and Star doesn't know how long he's going to be able to keep this up.
"Phantom! Thermos!"
Is that…?
Sure enough, Danny's friends come sprinting through the crowd not too far away from where Star is standing. She glances to Paulina to see her reaction to this development, but her and most of the other watchers seem more distracted by the fight.
But to Star, this could be a clue.
"Not ready yet! It won't contain her!"
This has to be related.
"We have to get through!"
Fenton technology, ghost hunters.
"Go ahead, he needs the thermos!"
They're Danny's best friends.
"No!"
And they're working with Phantom.
"Ugh, it's the Huntress."
He has to know something.
A blast of heat pelts star right in the face, and she instinctively shields herself with her arms and turns away. For seconds she can barely breathe, and everyone begins to panic. Some run, some scream, and some just silently wait for a chance to gasp.
A crash sounds out, and the heat ceases. Her breath comes back to her and she tries to look again, but flinches back at another crash.
Then, silence. Panting. Murmurs. She peeks through her arms.
The tables have turned, and this time Phantom's on top of the ghost girl, and it looks like she's immobilized.
"Thermos!" he calls, and Star looks directly to where Sam and Tucker once were. Sam takes the opportunity and breaks through the awestruck line of students to run directly into the center of battle.
"Phantom!" She aims the device at the two ghosts. "I can't get a good- ugh. Move, Phantom!"
Ember starts to struggle again, steam rising from their bodies and small flames emerging from her skin, licking at the ice, melting it.
"Both of us!" Phantom says.
Sam waits, indecision crossing her face.
She's gonna get free.
"Do it!"
A bright blue beam engulfs both Phantom and Ember, and they get sucked into the thermos, marking the end of the battle. Sam caps the thermos and turns to Tucker, and they begin to leave.
Well, until the Red Huntress interrupts them.
They argue for a bit, but Star couldn't care less about what. She's more focused on the fact that she can't find Danny anywhere. Those three stick together like glue, and it's often rare to see them separated outside of class, but Star looks through the crowd and in the outlying areas and sees absolutely no Danny Fenton. She knows he's not the keenest on ghost fights, but he usually shows up pretty quickly after they're taken care of.
Maybe he really was sick?
No, probably not.
"Tucker! Sam!" Jazz Fenton pushes through the crowd herself to meet the other two, and they hand the thermos to the elder Fenton.
Still no Danny.
Tucker, Sam, and Jazz depart, and then the rest of the viewing group disperses, seeing the action done. Paulina puts down her phone.
"Can you believe that jumpsuited creep wanted Phantom? And why is the goth girl the one that gets to work with him? It isn't fair."
"Well, she is friends with the Fentons…" Star says offhandedly. She's still kind of distracted by her own thoughts.
"Ugh, I could make friends with that Fenton kid that had a crush on me, but it seems like too much work. One day my Phantom will come to love me on his own anyways, I just know it." Paulina grabs Star by the hand and pulls her off in the direction of her car. "Come on! School's probably canceled, and that gives me a perfect chance to post about the ghost boy!"
Star nods and follows along to the parking lot, noticing the three fledgling ghost hunters ahead of them getting into Jazz's car as well.
Without Danny.
That's it, this is too weird.
Star makes a decision.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
"Hey Pauly, I'm gonna borrow some of your clothes, nothing in-season though."
Paulina's still ticking away on her computer. "Hmm? Oh yeah, sure."
Star digs through Paulina's closet and pulls out a larger jacket and hat, as well as an entirely new outfit. It's about 4pm now, and Star figures it's cold enough out now that she won't get looked at strange if she's wearing a large coat- convenient for her.
"Is everyone meeting up somewhere tonight, or are we staying in?" Star asks.
Paulina clicks over to their group chat and reads through it. "No, doesn't look like it really. Some of the guys are heading to the mall, but it's for sports stuff so I don't think any of the girls are going. Why, do you want to do something?"
Star changes into the new outfit. "No, I'm just busy tonight is all. I'm actually heading out now. Doing a thing with my mom, you know how it is."
"Ah, tell Mama I said hi!" Paulina swivels around in her chair to give Star a hug. When they break apart, she looks at her skeptically.
"You're going out in that? Chica, that jacket was given to me by my uncle when he wanted me to go ice fishing with him. It's not cute at all, even on you."
Star decides to ignore her confusion on whether that was a compliment or not and instead comes up with an excuse. "Yeah well, my mom wants to do something outside, and all of my jackets aren't heavy enough. You know how I am with the cold."
"Well alright, stay warm girl! See you tomorrow."
"Yep, see ya!" Star walks out of Paulina's bedroom and heads downstairs, saying goodbye to Paulina's parents on the way out. She checks her phone.
Quarter after four, they're usually at the Nasty Burger at this time.
Since Danny's strange disappearance added on top of the ghost attack this morning, Star has been planning all day about what she's going to say when she finally confronts him. A number of scenarios and plans have been created, theorized, and sifted through, and honestly?
Star already knows that they aren't going to go well, but she did have a few things she knew she was going to do.
She was definitely wearing a disguise.
Not for Danny or his friends, no, she didn't think that'll fool them. And it's not like she's trying to hide her identity from them anyways, especially since she plans to talk to them- well, more specifically, Danny, upfront and honestly. Star doubts that she'll get any information out of his friends, they're too loyal. Danny however…
If it's his secret, he's got more freedom to share it.
No, the disguise was for the creepy ghost girl. As time went on Star became more and more doubtful of the fact that she had anything to do with ghosts, but it's better to be safe than sorry. That and if any of the A-List saw her talking with "those losers" they'd be hard-pressed to find a reason not to kick her out of the troop.
2. She's talking to Danny alone.
Star really, really can't handle Sam. Tucker's a creep, but he's fine. Sam's loud, opinionated, and stubborn. If she's with Danny she doubts that he'll even get to speak in the conversation, so she has to first get on Danny's good graces. At least enough so that he'll talk to her without them. She doesn't particularly care if they eavesdrop (since, obviously, Danny's going to just tell them everything afterwards) she just doesn't want them present to interrupt them. Or have them influence Danny's word choice. The kid wasn't very confident or confrontational anyways, so Star thinks that she can get the truth out of she pries hard enough.
3. She's not going to take 'no' for an answer.
Star knows there's something weird going on with Danny Fenton, and she isn't going to stop until she finds out. This goes way beyond just idle curiosity, Star knows that this is bigger than that. She can't tell where he fits in this crazy world of Amity Park, but there's no way he doesn't fit somewhere. She likes to think that she's doing her own part in helping to keep Amity safe in some roundabout way, but she knows it's probably just some sort of weird… obsessive drive she has- a challenge. Maybe she'd be good at being a detective, or a lawyer, or a doctor. Definitely something to look into, at least. Maybe she'd ask her mom.
God, now that I think about it- this is really messed up. I'm really messed up.
Star hesitates before walking into the Nasty Burger. Shoot, she was so lost in thought that she forgot to check to see if that girl's in here. She pulls her hat a little further down her head and confidently enters the building, walking right up to the counter and ordering a shake. She notices Valerie in the back giving someone orders, and hopes she doesn't notice her. She takes a number and turns around to approach the trio's usual spot.
Yes! They're here!
Star counts her… lucky stars… and sits at the table directly behind Danny, Sam, and Tucker, (sitting directly behind Danny, of course) hopefully doing so nonchalantly enough for them to not take notice of her. She leans back in the booth as far as she can, listening in on their conversation.
Hopefully they aren't leaving soon.
"Tucker, it's literally the same as regular meat."
"Just without the mass slaughter of innocent creatures!"
"Nah, it just seems… weird and fake. I doubt it would taste the same, too."
"How would it taste any different? They grow the cells just as they would in a regular cow or chicken or whatever. They think they could accelerate the growth, too."
"See, see, my question is- if they can accelerate the growth of lab grown meat, why not people's cells? Couldn't they just do the same thing?"
"Tuck, I don't think it works like that. That'd probably like, break a person."
"Well, a normal person. How're you feeling, anyways?"
"Hey, I resent that! And I told you guys, it was all just superficial. I'm fine! Already healed up, see? Er… mostly."
"Well, you're taking it easy tonight anyways. By the way, did you hear about the new Doomed patch? We could play some of that when we get back."
"Yeah, and I heard that they gave the Technomancer some well-needed nerfs."
"No, this is terrible! Technomancer was fine. Just because-"
"Here's your shake, Miss."
Star leans back forward and thanks the server, and then resumes her eavesdropping.
She listens for another 15 minutes, and it mostly consists of average conversation about video games and film and whatnot. There's a few ghost jokes sprinkled here and there, but that's not really anything to be worked up over in Amity.
Right when Star has pretty much given up on the idea of easily getting Danny alone, the perfect opportunity arises.
"I'm gonna go grab a refill, be right back."
Danny rises from his seat and heads over to the soda fountain, and Star begins to freak out a bit before calming herself down and following.
Star removes her hat and glasses and shoves them in her pocket. "Danny?" She calls, and she curses herself for sounding so… hesitant.
Danny glances back for a second while refilling his cup. "Oh, uh… hey Star. Do you need something?"
She fiddles with the poofball on her hat in her pocket- why was she so nervous? "Yeah, can I talk to you for a bit? Without your friends?"
"Uh… oh shi-" His cup overflows while looking at Star, and he pours a bit out and grabs some napkins. "Suuuure… do you wanna head outside, or…?"
"Outside is fine, it's pretty loud in here."
"Alright just… gimme a second."
He wipes off the rest of his cup and walks out the side door with her. Sam and Tucker notice what's going on and give the two confused looks, but Danny simply flashes them a smile, shakes his head and puts his hand up.
Thank goodness. Star thinks.
They walk outside and Star shivers, but Danny simply sips on his cola and chews on the straw.
"Um, do you want to grab your jacket?"
Danny shakes his head.
"Nah, um… my family comes from further north, so we're pretty tough with the cold."
"Okay, um… sure."
Star leans against the side of the building, glancing around to see if that girl is nearby, and then spends a few moments in silence.
"So… what did you want to talk about?"
Star sighs. Here we go.
"Listen… I'm just going to cut to the chase. I've noticed some really strange things about you lately, and I want answers."
Star notices Danny tense at that, but he still responds.
"Star… if I'm being honest, I don't know how much I'm going to be able to tell you. It's kind of-"
"Dangerous? I kind of figured you'd say that. I've already been threatened by someone, so I know."
Danny's eyes widen at that statement.
"Threatened? By who? For what? Talking to me?" He looks at Star with a distressed expression and shifts closer to her.
This might be pretty mean of me, but I think I can use his concern.
Star shakes her head and backs away "I'll answer your questions when you answer mine, alright?"
"But Star, this is-" Danny begins to protest, and then hesitates. He nods anyways.
"I was watching the three of you in Bio the other day, and I want to know what this is all about."
She holds up her phone and shows him the picture she took of their notes. Danny squints at the screen before realizing what it is.
Looks like it's stopped, but your canines look sharper too, and your tongue is less pink and more grey, and pointed a little... I think?
great, another thing I have to hide. When does this stuff even happen?!
don't worry dude, we got your back. :)
Of course! Plus, it seems like it's only noticeable if you're really looking for it. We'll talk to Jazz tonight, maybe she has some insight.
Thanks, guys.
Danny nervously plays with the stickiness on his cup after reading what's on the phone.
"Now, I have to admit that I'm not particularly knowledgeable about human biology, but I'm pretty sure canines don't grow when you're 16… nor do they naturally become sharper."
"I… Star… what made you take this photo?" Danny looks at her with a slightly hurt stare, and she feels a bit guilty about what she's done, but she resolves to press on.
"I saw you in class Danny. I know about the ectoplasm thing."
Danny stays silent and looks away, so Star decides to just shoot off more questions.
"I know your friends work with Phantom, too. And your parents are ghost hunters, and-" she pauses. "You probably hunt ghosts too, don't you? You vanish from class periodically, your friends have all that Fenton tech, and you've regularly been seen either super exhausted or super beat up. It's been slowing down lately, but that doesn't mean that everyone just forgets about it."
Danny leans his head back on the wall and clutches his cup. He seems to debate something internally for a little bit, and Star gives him time. He rubs the back of his neck and sighs.
"Whatever I tell you, are you going to tell people? Spread rumors through Dash and Paulina? Get more popular by figuring out the Fenton kid's secret?"
"I- no! I…" Star tries to figure out the right words to say. She looks at Danny and-
He's just studying her closely. Eerily still, waiting for her answer. She looks him directly in the eye.
"I'm not doing this to get popularity or to tell anybody or anything like that. I'm doing it for… myself, really. That and I want to make sure you're okay."
Danny leans back against the wall again and seems to debate something. He puts his drink in his mouth and chews on the straw for a bit before coming to a decision.
"I hunt ghosts." He blankly says. "That's… really about it. There's not- I'm not in a gang, or do drugs, or any of those other dumb… I can't even call them theories, I mean one of them is that I'm having a secret love- never mind. Anyways it's nothing really bad. I'm handling it just fine, but it would- I'd like it if you didn't tell anyone."
"Why don't your parents know?"
Danny blinks at her, and then tilts his head. "I… How do you know that?"
Star shrugs. "Lucky guess? The fact that you go to your sister rather than the ghost experts with PHDs about ghostly stuff makes it pretty obvious."
"Ah, I guess so."
The two of them sit for a while longer, and then Danny pushes himself off the wall and faces her.
"If that's all your questions, then tell me about-"
"It's not."
"You- d... what?"
"I was just taking a moment to collect my thoughts… and give you some time to breathe."
Danny sighs and then leans sideways against the wall. "I feel like you were just doing it for dramatic effect."
Star giggles. "Maybe that, too." She slips her hat back on her head, the chill of the setting sun getting to her. "So… you hunt ghosts. That doesn't explain any of your weird things like drooling ectoplasm, weirdly large fangs, and being blurry."
Danny runs his hand through his hair and then rubs the back of his neck.
"Oh boy, these past few days have been a mess, haven't they?"
"You would know better than I. You're just lucky it was me that saw instead of Dale or Nathan."
Danny's brows knit together. "Well they also don't snoop into our private conversations. Hopefully. Or give us detentions." He glances at her.
Star shrinks down guiltily after that accusation. "I didn't mean to give you detention, I just needed to get Sam and Tucker away so I could see what was written. And… I mean- ugh. I know it was wrong too, but I was curious and kinda freaked out-" Danny flinches "by what was going on, so I felt that I had to."
He looks away.
"I'm sorry, I really am, but that doesn't make me regret it."
Danny sighs and takes a long drink. He doesn't look at her, but she figures that's fair.
"It was a lab accident."
Star looks up at him. Danny continues.
"I was messing around in my parents lab and… something happened. My- I'm contaminated with ectoplasm and there are… uh- side effects, sometimes." He stops, and looks at her. "I don't really want to go into huge detail, but that's- that's the gist of it!" He chuckles a bit, scratching his head.
"That's… it?"
Danny nods. "Yeah, sorry it's nothing like… crazy or spectacular or anything. That's how life is, isn't it?"
Danny pauses, and then laughs.
"Well, maybe not in Amity through, right? Never a dull moment, honestly."
Star smiles at his attempt to lighten the mood, and then Danny speaks up.
"So, now it's my turn. Star…" He looks at her with a very serious expression.
"Who threatened you?"
She fidgets a little, unsure of how to put it without her sounding crazy… but still telling the truth. She owes that much to him, at least.
"I'm… not sure. Well- I am sure of who it is, but I'm not sure who they are."
Danny stares at her blankly. He makes a confused expression.
"You're uh, gonna have to give me a bit more than that."
She sighs. "It's a girl in our history class, sits behind me and to the left. Long brown hair, I think she's goth, may have hung out with-"
"Autumn?"
"Who?"
"I'm pretty sure you're talking about her. Quiet girl, really pretty? Wears a decent amount of jewelry?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's her!"
"You- Star. We've been in class together for almost an entire semester, how do you not know her?"
Star gestures her hands around aimlessly. "She's just- how am I supposed to remember all those names? Plus, most of the time I never really talk to any of them-"
"Okay, okay, doesn't matter. But she threatened you? She barely talks to anyone, and I haven't spoken to her like, ever outside of school stuff."
She lowers her voice to more of a whisper. "That's who it was! She told me to stay away from you, or else I'll be 'the next mystery no one will solve' or something like that." Star glances around, making sure that Autumn hadn't appeared out of thin air or anything like that. She's definitely paranoid now.
"And she was… creepy. Her voice made me freeze, and her breath was cold. I was scared for my life for some reason."
Danny pauses. "Was there anything going on with her eyes?" He asks.
Star thinks. "No, I don't think so." She waits again. "I… don't even remember what color they were." She shakes her head. "I probably wasn't paying attention at the time, I'm sorry."
Danny waves a hand out in front of him. "No, no, it was just an offhand question." He digs in his pocket for his phone.
"Here, here's my number. I want you to call me if anything weird happens, okay? I'll put you under a priority contact, so only call me if it's important."
Star looks at the smartphone skeptically, but hesitantly takes it. "I don't want you calling me whenever you want either, you know." She begins to call her own number with his phone.
Danny rolls his eyes. "Seriously, someone threatened you and that's what you go with? I'm not- Just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I want to date you, or whatever. I've got…" He sighs. "I've got bigger things on my plate." He smiles.
Star frowns. There he goes making me feel guilty again… not that he's wrong.
"Sorry, kind of a habit." She hands his phone back to him and pulls out her own.
"One that I really need to quit." She mumbles.
Danny taps on his phone a bit, probably adding her info into his phone. "Yeah, you do."
"I- you- Hey!"
Danny finishes his drink and heads back inside, waving to Star as he leaves.
"Hey, you said it- not me! Night!"
The doors close and Star stands there in the cold, she looks at the phone number on her screen and taps on it, tagging it with Danny's name.
She heads to her contacts and looks at her newest entry. Frowning, she sends him a one word text.
Night.
Star closes her phone and walks away. Hmph, that'll show him not to tell me what to do.
A/N: Oh boy, it almost seems like I'm shipping Danny/Star. Not intentional, for the record, but let me know what you think!
Holy cow, what a long chapter too, hope you guys liked it! Coming up is going to be the chunk of the story that I've been looking forward to since the beginning. I'm so excited! Anyways, thank you for the favorites and follows!
OH! P.S.- I'm also in need of a BETA! I haven't had one yet, and I feel like having someone else look over my work would be nice- especially since I don't really write besides this. If you're interested, send me a PM! Thank you! 3