The choice to keep their powers a secret from their parents had been made within the first twenty-four hours of the Accident and boiled down to the fact that they'd go ballistic.

Sam wasn't sure what her parents would freak out about more: the fact that she was in a lab accident, the fact she was half-ghost, or the fact that she had some weird psychic connection to two boys. They'd probably resort to moving out of state if that was what it took to get her away from the Fentons. Tucker's parents were a lot more reasonable but even they would probably forbid him from seeing Danny again. As for Danny's parents, well, who even knew? But as time went on, their behavior only solidified the decision in his mind. Their disdain for ghosts ran unnaturally deep for two people who'd never seen one until a few weeks ago and, if they thought Danny was a spirit possessing the body of their son, he wouldn't put it past them to do something regrettable.

The decision to try the whole superhero thing came the day after they'd destroyed the Casper High kitchen. School was canceled while police investigated, and the half-ghosts congregated on top of the Fenton Ops Center to discuss what the fuck they were supposed to do now.

Even if Danny could figure out how to turn the portal off, his parents would just fix it. Rebuild it if they had to. The damn thing had doors but they must've ended up haunted because they opened and closed whenever the heck they felt like it, and it was going to take his parents a while to come up with a stable locking mechanism that could successfully function in proximity to a hole in reality. In the meantime, the proverbial front door was wide open for all sorts of ecto flotsam and jetsam to come through at their leisure.

Given that every ghost they'd seen thus far had picked a fight or caused property damage, they had to assume that any ghost coming through would be looking to do the same. Leaving them for squishy, breakable humans to deal with was out of the question. Not even the Fentons, for all their years of paranormal research and weapon designs, were prepared for the active threat they now faced. Hell, they hadn't even realized the threat was even here yet.

So…that left them, three teenagers that were somehow both ghost and human, to deal with the problem. And one of them couldn't even transform. Fuckin' A.

"If we're gonna do this, we're gonna have to be smart about it," Tucker said seriously, "and we gotta go all in. Plans. Strategies. Protocols. Gotta protect our secret identities, too, so we need code names."

"Which means no more Fenton Anti-Creep stick," Danny agreed with a pointed look at Sam. "Give it back."

"Yeah, guess a bat with your name on it would be a bit conspicuous, huh?" Sam mused with a rueful frown. Then she shrugged. "Sure, I'll bring it by later. But we are going to need weapons. That ecto-gun last night was cool while it worked, but it's way too big for us to haul around. Do your parents have anything small?"

"That was the small one," Danny admitted with a grimace. "Other than that it's just stuff like the Grappler, which isn't actually a weapon, and this." Danny held up the now-functional containment device and turned it back and forth for inspection. "Good job, by the way. How'd you get it to work?"

Tucker smiled with pride. "I basically gave it a jump. Like a car."

Danny blinked owlishly. "Alright then. Think you could do it again?"

"Sure, probably. Why? Are there more?"

"I don't think so. We'll need at least three for all of us." He sighed. "I wonder if I can convince them a ghost stole this one to get them to make more."

"Well, okay, so we have something to catch the ghosts in, but we still have to fight them," Sam pointed out. "And for that, we need weapons. No offense, mister my-mom's-a-black-belt but you did jack last night."

"Hey! I threw a bowl at her face. That counts."

Sam's eyes flicked skywards and she inhaled through her nose. "Goulash is not a weapon."

"You've never eaten the school goulash or you wouldn't say that," Tucker intoned gravely and Danny nodded.

"Oh yeah I'm sure it'll be real funny when the next ghost turns us into goulash!" she snapped.

"You mean ghoul-ash."

"Danny Fenton, I swear to god I will finish the job."

He cackled, utterly unabashed. Her eyes flashed yellow, and he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself. But he didn't apologize.

"So much for being serious about this," she grumbled, folding her arms, and leaned against the support column behind her.

Tucker heaved a sigh. "I hate to say this, but Sam's right. We might be half-ghost but we really don't have anything going for us here. The Lunch Lady was the worst ghost we've faced so far but what if she's, like, average for a ghost and all the other ones were just weaklings? I mean, she's the first one that actually looked and acted human."

"And if she'd been able to meat-up again, there's no way we would've gotten her without some serious damage to the school." Danny agreed. "And us. I don't know. I'd rather fight with my fists. I just need practice. But if you want to keep the bat thing, going, you should go get a metal one so you don't burn it to a crisp with your hair."

Sam touched the ends of her hair thoughtfully. As a ghost, it lingered somewhere between hair and flames, leaning more towards the latter the angrier she got, and her ponytail was constantly on fire. She'd already set a poster on fire by leaning against it, the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick probably wouldn't fare any better. "I'll do some research," she said.

Danny nodded once then turned his gaze to Tucker and Sam mirrored him. Tucker glanced between them, uneasy. "What?"

"You can't get into a fight until you can transform."

"Hey!"

"Look, Tuck, we all agreed our ghost forms are more durable than our human ones. You can't even fly like this! Never mind the fact you'd be recognized."

Tucker's shoulders slumped and he folded his arms. "I am trying, y'know. I tried last night at the school, on the roof, and at home. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong! I want to transform!"

Danny and Sam glanced at each other. "It's going to take longer than eighteen hours to figure it out, Tuck. You need to, um… process your fears. I think that's what Jazz would say. But in the meantime, you have to stay back, no matter what happens."

Tucker's frown hardened in determination. "I'll figure it out."


They used Nasty Burger as an excuse to get close to Casper High around noon. A sizable crowd had gathered behind the police tape cordoning off the whole premises, most of them students and reporters. Over half a dozen vans with various company logos were parked in the parking lot, along with a couple cop cars, a firetruck, and a few sedans which probably belonged to the faculty currently on campus. The Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle was parked just up the road but Danny couldn't see any sign of his parents, which either meant they were being kept far from the scene…or they were already indoors.

Tucker whistled quietly. "It looks like they've called in a small army. Was it really that bad?"

"The sprinklers got set off. There's probably tons of water damage," Sam pointed out. "And that's assuming they only went off in the kitchen and cafeteria."

"Well, I didn't expect to see you three here."

The three teenagers startled at the imposing tone of their teacher's voice. Mr. Lancer wasn't quite glaring daggers at them but it was a near thing. "If I were you, I would've stayed far away for as long as possible."

Sam folded her arms and lifted her chin, radiating defiance the way her ghost radiated heat. "Why? I didn't do anything."

Lancer let out a neutral hum. "You two, however."

Danny shrugged. "We were worried about her. It looked like she'd been hurt during the fight." And you weren't listening went unspoken but all present heard it nonetheless.

"And so you decided to cut school for the rest of the day."

Sam raised her eyebrows but otherwise said nothing. Neither did the boys. Another moment of glaring and Lancer seemed to realize he wasn't going to get anywhere right now. "We'll discuss this later. I expect all three of you in my office first thing tomorrow. Or whenever we reopen."

"Do they know what happened?" Tucker asked with just enough enthusiasm to pass for a teenager excited his school had been wrecked.

Lancer exhaled through his nose and shook his head. "The official story for the moment is that vandals broke into the school and destroyed the kitchen and cafeteria. Which reminds me: Miss Manson, unfortunately, the school board has decided to pull the menu program."

Her glare deepened into a full on scowl and she let out a sound of disgust.


The next day, after relinquishing the Anti-Creep Stick, Sam dispatched Danny with fifty bucks and a shopping list while she braved the massive sporting goods store that had just opened in the mall. She'd spent the night before researching what kind of bats would suit her needs most so she would go in prepared. She ended up learning way more about major league baseball than she'd ever wanted to but at least she would be able to make her purchase without needing to chat up an employee and remain unmemorable.

After carefully determining which bat would be her new partner in not-crime, she headed to the camping department where she purchased three robust multi-tools with price tags that would probably make the boys wet themselves. She also picked up some cans of mace (no matter what ghosts were made of, eyes were eyes, right?) and securable carabiners. Next she went to the army surplus store and bought three black utility belts and three black accessory pouches for storage. Finally, she went to a pharmacy, and bought the largest first aid kit she could find.

She met up with Danny at their designated spot near the park and he eagerly presented her his bounty. Two bags full of supplies she'd requested and some color swatches for heat resistant spray paints to choose from. She selected a metallic black that, according to the description, would have a slight blue sheen in the sunlight, and sent Danny back to buy it.

Tucker still hadn't returned their calls by the time they were done so they went to Danny's house instead. They hid most of their purchases in the trunk in Danny's room then retreated to the Ops Center roof. They spread out the newspapers and trash bags to protect their work area and then Sam proudly presented her bat for inspection.

Danny took it, testing its weight and balance, even swung it a few times like he knew the first thing about baseball, and finally returned it to her with an approving, "Nice."

They donned their protective masks and goggles and got to work. Danny dutifully ripped pieces of masking tape which she affixed to the grip of the bat. He held the bat upright on its knob while Sam sprayed on primer with an ease which could only come from experience. Not that it really surprised him. She didn't always tell them everything she got up to but this definitely tracked.

The bat had to be held steady for ten minutes while the primer set and dried and while they waited, their conversation quickly turned to the subject of what she'd bought. So she phased through the roof and returned half a minute later with her bags, which she began to unload. His jaw. D dropped.

"Holy crap, Sam, this must have cost a fortune!"

Sam shrugged. She wasn't so spoiled as to say something like 'it was only three hundred dollars' but the fact was, she didn't consider three hundred very much at all when it came to their safety. "I've had a lot of allowance saved up." And it wasn't even a lie, really. She did save a lot of her allowance. Her allowance was just significantly larger than most kids her age.

"And it's worth it," she added.

"You gotta let me pay you back for some of this."

"Nope."

"But Sam! This is…"

"Consider it an investment in our longevity and security. And don't even try to give me any money," she added sharply, pointing her finger directly at his nose. "I'll just put it back in your room when you're not looking. You have to fall asleep at some point."

He nodded, still uncomfortable, but wisely opted not to press the subject. But that didn't stop him from muttering, "You act like I won't feel you coming from a mile away."

Of all their new, strange abilities, the peculiar sixth sense they had for each other was perhaps the easiest to come to terms with. It had taken them a while to notice it, since they had hardly left each other's sides for two days after the accident. It wasn't until Tucker and Sam's parents finally demanded they come home that they realized anything had changed. The moment they left his house, Danny became keenly aware they were gone. For the first minute or so, he thought it was nothing, just an after effect of having spent the better part of sixty hours with them. Except it didn't go away. Danny could feel Sam and Tucker moving further and further away. A frantic three-way call confirmed that they all felt it.

It wasn't telepathy (they'd tried) but more of an awareness of each other. With a little concentration, they could determine which direction each other was in, and they could always tell when the others were close by. It was unlike anything they'd ever felt before and not something they could easily articulate. It was just something they knew. The way one might look at the sky and know if it was day, each of them could look inwards and find the others.

But it also meant they were always well aware of each other when they were close by. They each knew the exact moment when they came within a thousand yards of one another and the closer they were, the easier it was to pinpoint their location. Hide and seek was a total bust.

Sam's answering grin was almost predatory. "Wanna bet?"


Tucker turned up around one o'clock, apologized for not returning their calls, and presented them with a large pizza and a 2-liter of Coke to make up for it.

"Busy morning?" Danny asked as Tucker set their lunch down on the ground.

Tucker grinned and promptly blipped out of existence. Sam gasped and Danny's head snapped up. That wasn't invisibility. Danny and Sam glanced at each other then scrambled to their feet. Danny spotted a flash of yellow after a moment searching and raced to the edge of the rooftop to get a better look.

And there was Tucker, grinning at him from the rooftop across the street. Tucker waved and then blipped out again, only to reappear half a second later right behind Danny, who whirled around with a laugh.

"You can teleport!"

Tucker beamed and turned to Sam. "Did you see that, Sam?"

"Enough," she replied, "where did you go?"

"Just across the street." He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "I spent hours last night working on it. So long as I have a clear destination in mind and it's not too far, I can get there."

"That's actually awesome."

Tucker grinned again.

While they ate pizza, Sam brought out her purchases again for Tucker to inspect. Like Danny, he nearly had a stroke when he tried to calculate how much she'd spent. Sam brushed off his stammered offers to help pay for it and shoved one of the belts into his hands.

"You were the one who said we needed plans and strategies and here's my contribution: tools." She held out one of the multitools for him to take as well and, after a moment's hesitation, Tucker accepted it.

Neither boy said anything apart from thanks as she finished distributing everything between them. When she got to the first-aid kit, she paused. She intended to take this back to her house for her own use but…. With a shrug, she opened it, riffled through until she found gauze packs and disinfectant wipes and gave the boys one of each. With that out of the way, lunch resumed in earnest, and the conversation moved onto a lighter subject.

"Y'know," Danny began around a mouthful of pizza. He swallowed, smacked his lips, then continued, "I've been thinking about the code names thing. And I know it's cheesy but hear me out. We should have ghost-themed names."

Sam took a swig of the Coke they were sharing, smacked her lips, then deadpanned, "Ghost-themed."

"Yeah like uh. Phantom. I was thinking Phantom."

"Just 'Phantom'?" Tucker wrinkled his nose. "That's not very superhero."

"Oh so Flash, Speedy, and Robin are valid superhero names, but Phantom isn't?"

Tucker opened his mouth to argue but then closed it. Sam cocked her head, mulling it over with twisted lips. She took another swig from the two-liter then passed it into Tucker's outstretched hand. "Phantom."

Danny mirrored her position. "Yes?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm just trying to imagine calling you Phantom. I guess it's not that different from Fenton."

He grinned. "That was where I got the idea from."

"Ooh, ooh ooh!" Practically bouncing in his seat, Tucker threw his arms out to stop both of them. "I got it. Call me…Ghouly."

Sam wrinkled her nose. "Isn't that a bad sci-fi movie from the 80s?"

Tucker blinked, lowered his arms. "That's The Ghoulies."

"You mean The Goonies?" Danny asked.

"No!"

"No one is going to take you seriously with a name like that." Sam warned him in disdain. "And that includes me."

"But isn't that a good thing? If no one takes me seriously, they'll never see it coming when I kick their butts!"

She considered that, inclined her head in agreement, and then shrugged. "I guess it is your name. But I'm just saying, it's not very intimidating."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Alright then, what about you?"

Sam puckered her lips and leaned back on her hands. She deliberated for a moment then replied succinctly, "Lilith."

Danny shook his head almost immediately. "Uh uh. No way."

"Hey!"

"Sam, you cannot go flying around named after the literal mother of demons."

Sam started to grin. "You remember!"

"I pay attention when you tell us things… Most of the time."

"C'mon, it'd be cool."

"Sam, I cannot even begin to describe to you the frenzy my parents will descend into when they find out where that name comes from."

Her grin turned wicked and she folded her arms, leaning towards him. "Sounds like my kind of party."

"Aren't you Jewish?!" Tucker protested. "Isn't naming yourself after a demon, like, against the rules or something?"

"Even more reason to do it, honestly."

Danny buried his face in his hands with a groan. His parents going nuts would only be the beginning. There would be conspiracy theories. Exorcisms. Cults.

"Buuuut," Sam drawled, "I guess it's more demonic than ghostly."

Danny glared at her. She smirked back.

"You weren't really going to go by Lilith were you?"

"Nah."

"Sam!"


Among the mess left behind by the vandals was a peculiar green substance which the police could not identify in the time between its discovery and dissolution nearly a full day later. And, so, nearly thirty-six hours after the first responders initially arrived on scene, the police decided to humor the 'paranormal investigators' loitering beyond the police line. The Fentons were allowed into the kitchen while the officer in charge of the scene, two detectives, and a CSI looked on in amusement.

The ectoplasm itself may have long since dissolved but the Fentons weren't forerunners in their field for nothing. After less than a minute on the scene, Maddie Fenton, holding some manner of scanner in one hand, pointed to a discolored patch on the wall and asked if they'd found a glowing green substance which had dissolved after twenty-two hours.

Their smiles faded.

And Maddie, who had known from the first that she was merely being humored, had to use every ounce of self-restraint within her body to not smirk at the members of law enforcement. Finally, she had their attention. The CSI took careful notes while she described ectoplasm and its behavior and how to preserve any future samples they might acquire. The detectives, on the other hand, were less than thrilled when she told them that their perps had probably quite literally walked through the walls.


"Ectoplasm!" Maddie squealed in the middle of their kitchen. "Can you believe it?! The destruction in the school was caused by ghosts!"

"Uh, Mom? You maybe want to sound a little less excited about that?" Jazz asked, glaring over the edge of her book.

(No. No she did not.)


A scream shattered the peaceful night air like a fist through a drum and woke half the block.

"GHOST!"

Even though he'd planned for his dad to spot him, Danny still let slip an undignified yelp. He whirled around, clutching the thermos to his chest, and stared down at the man glaring at him through the open window. He grinned, gave Jack a friendly little wave, then disappeared before he could go for an ectogun. He waited a few minutes then slipped back into the house, transformed back into Fenton, and dropped into bed with a satisfied grin.

The following morning, Jack was combing through the entire lab for the Fenton Thermos, which, of course, was nowhere to be found. Eventually, Maddie went down to help him look.

Danny…waited.

And waited.

Finally, twenty minutes after his mother joined in, he casually made his way down to the basement and peered around at the mess of inventions, boxes, and whatnot scattered across every available surface and parts of the floor. The weapons vault was wide open and he heard his father moving around within. His mother was perched in the computer chair, arms folded, scowling.

"Did you guys find it?" he asked, playing the role of the doubtful but dutiful son to a T.

Maddie exhaled through her nose and shook her head.

Danny's jaw dropped. "You don't think…?"

"I think," she said slowly, a dangerous edge to her voice, "it's time we got to work making that ghost shield."


School resumed the following Monday with an assembly in the auditorium that all students and staff were required to attend. Principal Ishiyama explained what had happened the previous week, as if there was anyone left who didn't know, and gave them exactly nothing new. Which was exactly what the police had.

Neither Danny, Sam, nor Tucker were fooled. They knew the police suspected student involvement but had nothing to pin anyone with, which was what this assembly was really about. And, sure enough, when the police chief took the stage, he dangled a metaphorical carrot over everyone's heads with the promise of a cash reward for any substantial tips which helped lead to an arrest. As expected, the student body quietly salivated at the prospect.

Tucker let out a whine so quiet that the human sitting to his right couldn't hear it, but the half-ghosts to his left absolutely could. Oh, this would torment him for a while.

Lancer caught them as they were filing out with the rest of the student body and asked them to come to his office during lunch. Nothing they hadn't expected, really, but at least Lancer didn't look particularly upset.

Morning classes felt odd. Everyone was a bit out of it after an unexpected week off, and the teachers outright admitted they were going to be compressing lessons so they wouldn't fall behind schedule too badly. Danny, for his part, kept his head down and, short of turning invisible outright, tried to do nothing which would draw the attention of any of his regular bullies. He so did not want to give Lancer a reason to be mad at him later.

He and Sam shared third period world history, and Danny was uncomfortable the moment he set foot inside the classroom. It was like butterflies in his stomach and the strangest feeling of something intermittently squeezing his body. No one else seemed to be acting unusually. Sam would shift oddly in her seat every so often, as if uncomfortable, but it was hard to tell if she was feeling what he was or if she was struggling with floating again.

Their teacher was focused on the board.

Danny quickly scribbled a note and slipped it onto her desk. Sam opened it surreptitiously and her lips twisted as she read it. Without a word, she folded the piece of paper back up and tucked it between the pages of her notebook. She glanced at Danny and gave him a discreet nod.

So she did feel it.

The lesson forgotten, Danny tried to figure out what exactly was wrong with their classroom. It couldn't be a ghost, their senses would've gone off. Was it a lingering effect of the haunting? He tried to picture the layout of Casper High in his mind, where they were currently, and ooooh. The kitchen was literally thirty feet away. Sure there were a few walls and a bathroom between it and them but this was as close as they'd been to it since last Monday. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Danny and Sam were the first ones out of the room when the bell rang and they practically tripped over themselves trying to get as far as they could as fast as they could. By the time they had put an entire hall's length between the kitchen and themselves, the unease finally faded. This was where Tucker found them three minutes later, on his way towards Lancer's office.

He took one look at their faces and asked, "You guys okay?"

Sam told him to go take a walk down the hall. He was confused but did as instructed and they both watched him like hawks while he sauntered along the hall. About halfway down, his steps faltered. Another twenty feet and he stopped dead in his tracks. He stood there, completely still, while throngs of students brushed past him in annoyance on the way to the cafeteria. Then without warning, Tucker spun on his heel and practically scurried back up the hall to them.

"What in the actual hell is that about?" he demanded.

"Oh, good," said Danny, "so we're not crazy."

"I would be if I had to sit through a whole period of that." Tucker folded arms. "What the hell?"

"Those bathrooms down there? The kitchen is on the other side."

Tucker's eyes widened. He turned to give the hall another appraising look and then shuddered. "No thank you. What gives? Did your parents do something?"

Danny shook his head. "Not that I know of and, trust me, if they'd been allowed to ghost-proof the space or something, they would've told me and Jazz."

"Twenty bucks says the Lunch Lady did it," Sam said with a scowl.

"How do you figure?"

"She was alone in there for hours and you remember what this place looked like when we got here. The whole school had changed, and the way the cafeteria glowed. I'd have been more surprised if there wasn't some trace left."

"But then, why didn't your parents detect anything?" Tucker asked Danny. "They have all that fancy equipment."

"I think they might have," Danny replied thoughtfully. "They said they'd found leftover ectoplasmic residue but I thought it was just because of the exploded ectogun. Maybe it was more than that."

"And maybe we're more sensitive than their equipment," Sam said simply.

Tucker nodded. "Cool, cool. Now, how do we get rid of it?"

"I suppose I can ask my parents," Danny offered for lack of anything better.

"You do that," Sam said. "I'll do a bit of research. See if I can't find anything about purifying a haunted building or something."

"Pfft. How are you going to find something like that?" Tucker asked.

Sam arched one dark brow and crooked a single finger at her face. "Goth."

Tucker looked between her and Danny in confusion. But apart from a sage nod on Danny's part, he got no clarification, so he sighed. "Whatever. We goin' to Lancer's or what?"

Or what might have been the preferable option.

"Miss Manson, Mr. Fenton, Mr. Foley, come on in," Lancer greeted and stood aside for them to enter his office. He wasn't alone. A cop leaned against the wall, way too casually for a man in full uniform. Danny nearly had a heart attack. Tucker did an immediate 180 but Sam snagged his arm before he could leave, and dragged him inside.

"This is Officer Graham," Lancer introduced and the other man waved.

"Hey there, kids."

Sam was having none of it. "I thought we were here to talk about the whole food fight thing."

Lancer nodded. "Indeed we are. Have a seat please." He gestured to three chairs waiting in front of his desk just for them.

Danny went to take his seat but Sam, and therefore Tucker, did not budge. She stared at the officer pointedly.

Lancer and Officer Graham exchanged a look. "Would you mind waiting outside while my students and I discuss things?"

The cop nodded and quietly excused himself from the room, closing the door behind him. Finally, Sam relaxed, and released Tucker's arm. They took their seats without a word.

"I apologize," Lancer said as he sat down. "I realize how that must have looked. I assure you, his presence here has nothing to do with the three of you. He is simply here in the event any students choose to come forward with information about the incident."

Sam folded her arms. "Sorry. My parents taught me not to say a word when the police get involved without our lawyer present."

Lancer inclined his head but did not seem surprised. Unlike her friends, who glanced at her and each other with quiet incredulity. "I see. Well, then, let's get down to business. We have multiple eye-witnesses who claim you, Mr. Fenton, were the one to instigate the food fight last Monday. From beyond the football team," he added pointedly.

Danny sighed. There was no point in denying it. "Yeah."

"You admit it?"

"Yeah, it was me." Danny sat up straighter. "But Sam and Tucker had nothing to do with it."

"Actually," Sam cut in tersely, "I did, sort of. Dash was ticked off about my lunch menu and picked a fight with Danny over it because we're friends."

Lancer raised his eyebrows. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. Surprised none of your eye-witnesses mentioned that."

"Actually, some did." His mouth twisted in displeasure. "However, that does not excuse your actions, Mr. Fenton. Nor does it excuse sneaking out of my office or skipping school. Speaking of which, how did you get out?"

Danny shrugged. "You've seen Dash play. He's a lousy guard."

Lancer fought a smile and almost won. "I see."

"And we were justified. We told you, we were worried about Sam."

"Ah, yes, that reminds me. Miss Manson. Were you hurt during the fight?"

She shook her head. "Got hit in the head with a milk carton but that was about it. But we did get separated and, considering why Dash came after Danny to begin with, you can't blame them for being worried about me on my own."

Mr. Lancer inclined his head in acknowledgment. "Be that as it may, you should not have left my office."

"You wouldn't let us get a word in edgewise!" Danny snapped, his temper flaring. "Maybe if you'd actually let us tell you what was going on, we wouldn't have had to!"

"Careful, Mr. Fenton."

Danny folded his arms and looked away.

"And as for you, Mr. Foley." Lancer gave him a look of pure weariness. "Just… why?"

Tucker licked his lips. Opened his mouth. Closed it. "I lost a bet."

Lancer let out a long sigh. "And I don't suppose you'll tell me who put you up to it?"

"Nope."

The boys got after school detention.