Practice makes perfect, but practice doesn't mean you can anticipate everything. Sometimes, it just helps you make the best of a bad situation.

Valerie blew out her breath, squared her shoulders, and said, "Again."

"Won't you be missed?"

The Ghostwriter's voice came into her left ear this time, rather than straight into her head as it did when he gave her a practice run. She had all the tech skills she'd learned from fixing her own equipment to thank for figuring out how to manage that. Well, that and her suit from Technus, which is the only reason her earpiece for this was smaller than her standard issue one that was in her right ear, but her reputation was the only reason she got to keep her suit.

Being known for being so firmly against ghosts gave her a lot more freedom than most people were afforded. The Guys in White had barely questioned her when she'd joined up. Quite frankly, it was downright sloppy.

She intended to press that advantage for as long as possible.

For now, though, the Ghostwriter was right. It was getting late enough that she might be missed, and missteps were risky. Doing a run-through in one of the Ghostwriter's stories gave her the opportunity to get everything in place without being questioned, but it took time she didn't get back.

It was small scale reality manipulation, not straight up freezing time.

And every feeble excuse she'd given earlier would look a lot more questionable now that this latest run was over.

"Fine. Showtime in an hour once I collect our star."

The Ghostwriter had his part ready. She knew that. She'd only be insulting him if she asked him to confirm, and insulting him would not be her smartest move right now. His writing powers might go undetected (she wasn't sure if the GiW knew enough to guard against them, even now), but if he got provoked into doing anything more ghostly—more common—it was entirely too likely he'd trip something in the defense system. The last thing she wanted was to lose her one ally right now.

Allies was still the best way to describe their relationship. It had gone past acquaintances, but while she might be tempted to say friends, she wasn't so sure that went both ways. Their partnership was still based in necessity and riddled with bargains and promised favours; if this went sideways on her, she doubted he'd take any particular risks to save her.

And, honestly, she wasn't sure right now how much she'd give up to save him if the reverse were true. Too much of what she'd do in that situation depended on what the rest of the situation looked like.

Everything had become a calculated balance, which meant she had a near-constant headache throbbing somewhere behind her eyes.

Valerie pushed away the reminder of the pain—and as much of that pain as she could with it—and added, "Assume we're on unless I break radio silence."

She wasn't going to abort this plan for any reason but an all-out disaster. After the report of Paulina bringing Star into Psi, it had only become clearer that picking away at this organization from the inside could not be as safe—and therefore slow—as she wanted. It had been months since then, but she'd done what she could to help.

It was a bit of a thankless job, considering (Ghostwriter aside) the others didn't know she was on their side, but it was safer that way.

For all of them.

This rescue operation might blow her cover and take her out completely, but if she succeeded, it would be worth the trade.

Valerie knew she should spend the next hour mentally preparing and completing a few menial tasks to help solidify her cover, but her nerves were starting to get to her in a way they hadn't in years.

An hour wasn't enough time for a quick patrol, and anything official would require her to take a partner, so she did the best thing she could: she took her break topside, claiming she wanted to enjoy the last of the sunshine for the day after being indoors for so long. It wasn't unbelievable—she'd been pulling long hours on the books as well as off—and as long as she stayed clear of the cameras on the north side, it should be fine.

The exit point wasn't in a blind spot—she hadn't found any blind spots—but if the programming she'd run did its job, the cameras would loop long enough for the escape to be made.

Assuming no one realized what she'd done before that point.

Practice might make perfect, but she'd run so many scenarios at this point that it was hard to remember how much knowledge everyone else had. She was better at improvising than she'd been at the start of all this, but there was still a limit to how much she could plan. How much she could anticipate. How much she could uncover without anyone realizing she knew too much and wanting to know how.

Valerie sucked in a breath and held it for a count of five as she headed west, following the outside wall of the facility until she emerged from stretching shadow and could see the sunset. It wasn't something those within the city walls could appreciate, and she wondered the last time one of them would have had the luxury of seeing the sky stained red. Even without a curfew, few places within the cities would have the vantage point necessary to appreciate something like this.

Delta might be built like an iceberg, but it was still one of the highest points around.

Another thing that would make the escape more difficult.

Valerie kept walking until she passed through the ghost shield and the faint green shimmer in the air was behind her. Maybe it was only her imagination, plagued as she was by the upcoming escape attempt, but the shield's hum seemed louder than usual, and the faint crackle of electricity over her skin—and the accompanying shock she always got, thanks to her ghost-given suit—put her on edge. Watching the setting sun until the colours had faded could only help so much.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight—

She doubted she'd see the colour of the sunrise, but with her luck, it would be a fiercer red.

Valerie shivered as she turned and started back, but she wasn't convinced that was merely because of the chilling air. She hadn't been out long enough for it to really bother her, and it wasn't the time of the year that the air itself would bite and sting bare skin. That was another reason to go now, really. Waiting would only bring them closer to winter.

"Agent Red, do you copy?"

Valerie froze, but if they'd made her, they'd probably have just jumped her. "Loud and clear."

"There's interference in the southwest quadrant of the wall. Check it out."

No partner assignment, and she didn't have a standard one.

"On it," she confirmed, turning on her heel and heading back the way she'd come.

This was a breach of protocol. Even for something this small, people went out with partners. It was smarter that way. Valerie wasn't new to ghost hunting, and she'd been here long enough she wasn't new to the organization, but something was up.

Something had changed.

What was it?

Valerie frowned, pulling up her suit's various sensors with barely a thought. Inside the ghost shield and outside of the facility, everything should be clear.

It was.

The readings didn't change even as she neared the southwest corner, but the quadrant itself was larger than a few feet around the perimeter of the building, so that didn't mean it was nothing, just that this wouldn't be easy.

Not that any of this was easy right now.

Normally, she wouldn't argue with a distraction, but not this, not right now.

Southwest wasn't the plan, at least.

Or, rather, it wasn't her plan.

By terrible coincidence, it could be someone else's.

By equally terrible coincidence, it could be some failing piece of technology that couldn't wait two crudding hours to malfunction and instead chose now to go down, so that everyone would be watching extra closely exactly when she wanted to pull something shady.

Valerie paused as she got to the corner, holding her breath and listening while she looked. The ground here was too hard to form footprints, but none of the scrubby grass seemed to be crushed, and it wasn't like the bushes had any gaping holes in them.

It could be someone who knew how to move without leaving a blundering trail.

It could also be a fox, like it had been last week.

There was a family living in the hills somewhere nearby that miraculously hadn't been scared off.

Valerie let out her breath slowly, took another couple of steps forward, and repeated the process.

It still didn't look like anything, but that didn't mean it wasn't anything. She activated an ectoplasmic activity sensor that she'd once reserved for times when she knew a ghost was hiding nearby, the sort that was sensitive enough to be tripped by background ecto-radiation back in Amity Park and anywhere else with stories of hauntings. She figured, if anyone was sneaking around and had some sort of power that could suppress their own ecto-signature, that might be the only sensor she had that could pick them up.

Nothing.

Her watch was still silent and none of the perimeter sensors had been tripped, either.

Valerie bit her lip and switched to a newer install: thermal.

At most, she was expecting to find a fox. More realistically, she wasn't expecting to find anything at all; most animals would have run off before she'd gotten this close.

Consequently, when she picked up something that was too big to a furry little animal and too small to be a new agent with a poor sense of humour, she cursed.

She didn't pull out any weapons, though, and even retracted the parts of the suit that had come out, visor included. She also kept her voice low as she moved forward. "I hope you at least jammed the audio and looped the visual before pulling this."

"And I'd hoped you'd grown a heart, but if you've got one, it's still two sizes too small."

Valerie let out a ragged breath as she stared down at the defiant girl who'd somehow managed to dig herself a neat little burrow between a few scraggly shrubs that had nearly hidden her from Valerie's sensors entirely. "Dani. That's not fair."

"Don't call me Dani. Aren't I supposed to be that phantom girl to you, anyway?"

Valerie scrubbed a hand across her face, not ready to admit that ghost girl was about as flattering as the names for Dani got. It wasn't uncommon in quiet, personal discussions, exactly, even though it was still frowned upon, but official reports—whether verbal or written—got a lot more dehumanizing. It was easier to convince everyone Dani needed to be hunted like prey if she wasn't human, after all, and Valerie had to ignore the sick feeling she got every time she heard something more derogatory than ghost girl tossed around.

It wasn't that long ago that she hadn't been any better, but most of these people already knew the gut-wrenching truth she'd learned.

They didn't care.

Which was why Valerie had to do what she was doing and why she needed to figure out how to get rid of Dani before anyone came to check in on her. "You haven't given me another name to call you. So I guess that means you have to run along and not visit."

"Ha! It means you haven't earned it. And this is actively working against you earning it, just so you know. You don't have to be shooting at me to be on their side."

"I—" How was she supposed to convince Dani that they were on the same side? Valerie's track record wasn't great. She knew that. And releasing one prisoner, assuming Valerie still managed to pull it off after all this, would hardly negate that. But she was trying, and she had a better shot at taking them down from the inside than most people did.

They wouldn't suspect her as quickly as others, at any rate.

Hopefully.

"I have to do this." The words earned a snort from Dani. "And you should not be doing this. You need to clear the perimeter and fly out of here before this blows up in your face. What if they'd sent me with backup?" Like they should have.

Dani shrugged. "Stick around if you wanna find out."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "I'm a ninth degree black belt and you can't use your powers."

"You'd think that, wouldn't you? But then I made it this far."

Crud. Valerie was in trouble if that wasn't a bluff. "Look. Whatever this is, don't do it today, okay?"

"What, so you can put in a million extra security measures? No thanks. I'll take my chances."

"You can't, okay? This isn't the good idea you think it is."

"Yeah?" The look on Dani's face was far too smug for Valerie's comfort. "Why don't we make a bet? I'll win."

"Dani, please—"

Valerie did not take her eyes off the girl.

Dani's smile spread, and then she vanished like the Cheshire cat.

Crud.

In the bare seconds it took for Valerie to react and call out her suit, Dani had well and truly vanished. Either she'd figured out a way to trick the sensors or someone had invented some extraordinary tech that mimicked ghost powers without using a basis of ectoplasmic energy. It was impressive regardless, but it was also the last thing Valerie had wanted to see right now.

Beggars couldn't be choosers, though, and she had to stick to the script until she was handed a new one.

Valerie reached up to touch her official earpiece, turning her radio on just long enough to speak her traitorous words. "Confirmation of a breach in the southwest quadrant. I repeat, breach confirmed in the southwest quadrant." The words were ash in her mouth, but if Dani wasn't going to cooperate, Valerie didn't have another choice. Not if she wanted to have a faint hope of pulling anything off.

She'd take the distraction for what it was, though.

Maybe, when they found out what she'd done to the systems, they'd assume it was Dani's work, too, on top of whatever else she'd done.

Valerie could hope.

It was really the only bright side to this entire situation.

She moved her hand to her other ear and bit out, "We have to move now. I don't care if you have to rhyme the stupid thing to do it quickly. Just write me in and I'll take charge once I'm there."

Barking orders again? the Ghostwriter chided. Shouldn't you be grateful your journey is guided?

"Just give me a break and cut to the next scene," growled the ill-tempered but well-meaning teen.
"I need to be at the lab before it's too late! You know perfectly well that this cannot wait."

If it's a scene change you need, it's a scene change you'll get, but you'll do well to remember the depth of your debt.

The world reshaped itself before Valerie's eyes, and she spared a second to take in her new guise.

"Thanks," she said simply, sounding sincere. "We're good; I can take it from here."