DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom or anything else seen on the show. I do, for what it's worth, own Mimic.

I would like to thank my reviewers, as I was feeling a little down and you really cheered me up. So, thanks go to DPcrazy, sciencefreak330 Mystinalchemist and Kittygrl24 (EDIT: Sorry, I missed you off the original thank-you list because you reviewed just after I finished this chapter). I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter; with any luck you'll like this one, too. Last chapter, Mimic was introduced to Amity Park, and aside from the rumour mills being thrown into overdrive, the reaction has been, for the most part, positive. I'm sure you're bored of me now, so here's chapter six:

CHAPTER SIX: Not Allies, But Friends

Valerie had been injured early on in the fight when Skulker had taken her by surprise and knocked her off her jet sled. It had caught her before she hit the ground, but she had hit the sled hard and was badly winded, though her suit prevented any really serious damage. For now, she was hanging back, not willing to take her place in the fight while hurt unless she was sure Phantom and Mimic couldn't handle it without her.

There had been a minor fight with Skulker the week before, but he had been taken by surprise when Mimic and Valerie turned up to help Phantom, and had very quickly been beaten back. This time he had come prepared, shouting for Phantom's pelt and threatening Valerie and Mimic with a similar fate, leaving both girls feeling quite disgusted. Phantom was currently keeping the ghostly hunter distracted while Mimic snuck up behind him. Suddenly, the hunter shot towards the street below, bright ectoplasmic energy blazing towards two terrified bystanders.

Phantom's eyes widened and a cry tore from his throat as he threw himself in the path of the blast, forcing a bright green shield into existence in front of him. Mimic furiously blasted at Skulker, knowing that the only reason he had fired on a human was to distract Phantom. Valerie, who had shot forwards when she saw the blast, fell back once again, both relieved that Phantom had saved them and slightly guilty that it had taken her so long to realise whose side he was on.

They really aren't that bad, she mused as she watched the two furious ghosts throw themselves back into the fight. They're actually kind of nice to hang out with, nicer than Paulina and Star, anyway. They might be ghosts, but I guess I really was wrong about them. She grinned as Phantom sucked Skulker into his weird thermos, and glanced towards the couple that had nearly gotten hurt in their ghost fight, had Phantom not shielded them. They looked shell-shocked, but otherwise unharmed, and Valerie felt once again happy that she had given up on hunting him. It was true she still felt a little uneasy around him sometimes, but then, you can't spend nearly a year hunting someone and not get a little jumpy around them. She kicked her jet-sled into life and glided over to Phantom and Mimic, who had floated down to the ground and were now stood firmly on the concrete.

"Good job, you two." She grinned at them, and Mimic smiled back. Phantom seemed preoccupied, but sent her an anxious smile. He turned away for a moment to face the two bystanders he had shielded from Skulker's blast.

"Are you two okay?" he asked them, voice full of concern, and Valerie gazed at him in surprise. She had known he cared about humans, but even so, the level of anxiety in his voice was unexpected. They nodded at him, still clearly shaken. Valerie watched him thoughtfully.

"Thank you, Phantom." She said sincerely, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. "For what, Va- Red?" he asked, mindful of his audience, not wanting to give Valerie's secret away to anyone else. Valerie waved a hand towards the still shaking spectators. "For saving them. I know you would've done anyway, but... until now, I didn't really... think you would. I mean, I believed you were good and everything, but I wasn't totally convinced that you really cared." Phantom gave her an odd look.

"Well... thank you for believing me, then." He said quietly. He floated into the air once again, and flew away. Mimic watched her critically, head tilted to one side.

"You know, you either made his day by believing him, or ruined it by telling him you didn't believe him before." She told the ghost hunter as she rose upwards, crossing her legs beneath her as she floated until she was sat in the air before Valerie, a gesture the red-suited ghost hunter had become familiar with over the past week. Mimic wanted to talk to her.

"I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but it was true. I never really thought he cared about the humans here, just Amity Park. I thought he was treating it like some kind of haunting territory, or something, and was playing hero to keep other ghosts out." Valerie explained to the girl, seating herself on her floating jet-sled as she spoke. Mimic nodded. "I guess I understand where you're coming from, Red, but he's probably going to be kind of upset that you still didn't trust him even with your... what did you call it? Oh, yeah. Alliance. He knows you don't like ghosts, Red, and that cuts him to the core. He likes you..." Valerie's eyes widened. "No! I didn't mean like like! Just as a friend. Seriously, Red." The ghost shook her head and held both hands up before her. Valerie nodded in understanding.

"I really didn't want to upset him." She felt slightly ashamed of herself as she realised that she had probably deeply offended the other ghost- or if not offended, hurt. She had hurt Phantom, and she hadn't fired a single shot.

She lifted her head, and looked at Mimic, who was watching her with concern. And she realised that, ghost or not, she thought of Phantom and Mimic as friends. Friends she had been trying to hurt for a long time because she was... well, prejudiced.

A tight ball of guilt formed in her stomach. "Mimic, can you help me find him? I need to apologise. I shouldn't have said that to him... I guess I think of him as a friend too, and I don't want to lose his friendship over something as thoughtless as that."

Mimic looked at Valerie in a new light, and hid her delighted smile as well as she could. Could Valerie finally be getting over her ghost-hate? She didn't know, but the teen had just admitted that she thought of Danny as a friend, and as far as Mimic was concerned, that could only be a good thing.

"He'll be flying somewhere; he always does when he wants to clear his head. Come on, we'll find him. After all, he's my friend too, right?"

The two flew over Amity Park, keeping an eye out for the distinctive black jumpsuit and shock-white hair of their friend. As they flew, they kept up a lively conversation, chatting and joking with one another like old friends.

"So Star thought that Paulina was going to the dance with Kwan, and asked Dash, but Paulina overheard and was absolutely furious! It took weeks before they sorted themselves out, and I was stuck playing piggy-in-the-middle the entire week. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about that any..." Valerie trailed off as she spotted a very familiar head of snow-white hair. "There he is! Danny!" she shouted, and Mimic twisted around in surprise, with Phantom following.

Both ghosts gave her a stunned look, and Valerie gazed at them in confusion. "What?" she asked, unable to work out why they were so shocked. "Nothing, Val, but I think that's the first time you've ever called me Danny." He said, giving her a cautious look. "Why?"

It was Valerie's turn to look surprised, as she realised it was true. Then she grinned. "Can't I call my friend by his first name?" she asked, and Danny's eyes widened in uncertainty, and then happiness. "You mean that? We're friends?" his face was hopeful, and Valerie nodded. "I didn't mean to upset you earlier, Danny. Mimic and I were talking and I realised that we aren't just allies, we're friends, and I'd really hurt you. So we came looking for you so that I could say sorry for... jumping to conclusions about you. Friends?" she held out her hand.

She didn't think she'd ever seen a bigger smile on Danny Phantom's face than when he took her hand and shook it. "Friends. Mimic?" the blue-haired ghost grinned. "The very best, Danny. Wouldn't have it any other way." Valerie smiled at the ghost girl, delighted that she had been forgiven so quickly.

"Hey ghost-boy, reckon you and Mimic can fly faster than my jet-sled?" she asked, kicking the engines into action. Danny grinned at her. "You're on, Red. Mimic?" the girl smirked. "You know it, Phantom. Catch us if you can, Valerie!"

And the two ghosts streaked off towards the center of Amity Park, a red suited ghost hunter on a jet-sled not far behind them.

In his office, the Mayor of Amity Park frowned at the headline on the front of his newspaper, and thinking back to a news broadcast not so long ago.

"It seems Daniel has made a friend, and I have lost a pawn." He said, reading through the article once more before casting it aside. "Very well, Daniel. Let us see how well your new friend plays chess."

Sorry about the lack of plot here, and the short chapter, but I wanted to show that Valerie really has changed, even if she still didn't completely trust Danny and Mimic. And there's a big clue as to what will be happening next chapter in there- bet you can't guess who the villain is (just kidding). Whether you liked it or whether you hated it, I would love to know what you thought, so please review! Thanks.