A/N: *cocks head sideways* Super early update SAYWHATNOW?

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny phantom or any related characters.

Chapter 3: Old Friends

Valerie and Danny trekked farther and farther away from the HQ. The passed Casper High, The Nasty Burger, and were soon almost out of Amity Part altogether. This unnerved Phantom and all he could think about was how he should be back by now. The sun had started to go down, the blood red sky was being slowly transformed into a blanket of darkness, twinkling stars smiling cheerfully even though the situation was desperate.

Valerie somehow kept up a steady and quick pace- one hand tugging Danny along by his bonds and the other jabbing a gun into his back- while Phantom stumbled over what seemed like endless ruins and rubble. The rope that clung to his writs was definitely getting painful now, and he was only a little surprised when he felt a liquid slowly oozing through them. Ectoplasm- the blood of a ghost. He was also pretty certain that whatever drug Valerie had used on him had worn off by now- but like she had said, the rope was indeed ghost proof. Every time he attempted something that required his powers (and he was trying his hardest, as he had no desire to go wherever Valerie wished him to) it had absolutely no effect- Danny felt as defenseless and a human simply trapped in a ghost form. Not that he had tried to transform, now was not the time and place to reveal his identity to Valerie.

Speaking of reveling, he felt downright lucky that he hadn't transformed when he had fallen out of the sky. That would've been awkward. His ribs still ached, but they seemed to be healing- thank god ghost-powers came with the side effect of speedy recovery.

As they passed a sign that read 'Now Leaving Amity Park- Come Back Soon!' he couldn't help but glance hopelessly over his shoulder. This didn't go unnoticed by Valerie, however.

"Cool your jets, Phantom. It's just in the next town over." She fumbled around for a bit, trying to put the gun back in her bag without losing hold of Danny. Unfortunately for him, she eventually succeeded, and when her hand reappeared it was now clutching a standard black flashlight. Valerie squeezed the handle, and it cast a yellow beam around them as the last light from the sun vanished in the distance.

Danny's concern only increased at her words. First for his friends: He was definitely supposed to be back by now. Maybe they would come looking for him…? But then, if they found him as Valerie's prisoner, what would they do to her? He knew that many of the ghosts despised humans, mainly for working against them, and they would be all too happy to see Valerie's demise. He didn't exactly like that outcome.

'On the other hand,' his mind said as his thoughts strayed to his personal safety, 'there's no way that Valerie wants me for something that I'll think is fine.' He knew all too well that Valerie didn't have a problem with torturing ghosts, and he had a feeling as eerie as the silence hanging over what seemed like the world that that was just what she had in store for him. Call him morbid, but if it was any different, why didn't she just finish him off when she had the chance?

"C'mon, hurry up," She grunted, abruptly yanking Phantom closer to her. "Spooks come out to play at night. If we meet any, I'm not protecting you…"

Despite the burning fatigue in his legs from walking for so long and his fear of coming pain, he snorted. Like he would need protecting. If anything, Valerie would get herself hurt and Phantom could make his escape. In fact, he almost felt himself longing for the chance, but then he reminded himself that an encounter with some of Shade's minions would not prove a good experience. They could both get killed.

As they passed a second sign ('Now entering: Sereneton') Danny stood up straighter, not wanting to show any kind of weakness to Valerie. He had gotten over his injury for the most part, and yeah, he wanted nothing more than to find a bed and pass out after all this walking, but he pushed it aside and decided it was high time for the witty-superhero strategy. If it didn't work, at least it would entertain him.

The boredom of silence would kill him sooner or later.

Trying not to show his struggle keeping up with her brisk pace, he said slyly "Gee, Val, I sure am sorry. I just kinda fell a hundred feet onto pavement and then was promptly dragged through the ghost of my town by a crazed spirit-hunter, but I'm sure your problems are bigger."

Valerie gave him a death glare. "Don't question what ya don't know, spook."

"Kay. I'll never question math again." He answered with a cocky grin.

Valerie rolled her eyes and proceeded to increase the speed of her pace. Danny was now stumbling and cursing and tripping all over himself, his cheeky side had disappeared after he stubbed his toe on he road for the third time.

After about fifty yards of muttering swearwords under his breath, he finally asked "Look, can't you just take these off and re-tie them in the front?"

Valerie whipped around snarled in his face "Just how stupid do ya think I am, ecto-scum?"

Danny instinctively tried to take a step back from her, but her hand was still gripping the peace of rope binding his wrist behind his back. When he tried to pull away, she just yanked him back and hissed "Like I said, you're not going anywhere."

Danny cocked his head in confusion. "What-"

"Don't play dumb! You think I'll just untie your bonds so you can fly right out of here? As if!"

Danny blinked. Escape hadn't been his intention at all; he just wanted the journey to be easier. With an inner facepalm, he scolded himself for being so stupid. How could he think of ethics at a time like this? Brawn was not going to help in this, brains were really his only option at this point, and that probably meant that a dirty trick was necessary.

"I'm not as dim-witted as you might think, you know."

"Coulda fooled me," Danny muttered as she glowered at him. "Where are we going, exactly?"

Resuming her brutally quick pace, she spat "That's really none of you business-"

"Actually, it is my business," Danny said as he tried to re-gain his footing (Valerie was almost dragging him now) "because this does concern me. I'm getting kid/ghostnapped, here, it's not a very enjoyable experience, you know."

"We're here."

"And another thi- wait, what?"

"We're here, spook."

Valerie and Phantom had come to an abrupt halt in front of a dingy apartment building, about 5 stories high and made out of old bricks. A dim light shone from one of the windows on the second floor up, and Danny almost thought that he heard voices inside.

Hope skyrocketed through his chest. People. Were. Alive. Those three words played rapidly over and over in his brain as a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. It was so relieving to know that more humans had actually survived, as opposed to being isolated with mainly ghosts for company for about 6 months.

And then as his glee peaked, he was suddenly overtaken by a massive feeling of dread. He didn't know exactly who was in that building, or what they knew… what if they told him his parents were dead or something? But if not, then what would happen if he met them in this form? He honestly didn't know what he'd do if either happened. Forget that, there were probably ghost hunters in that building. He was almost certain that they wouldn't be too caring when they saw him… a paranoid part of Phantom's mind was urgently whispering words such as 'dissection' and 'experimentation'. He wondered vaguely if Tucker's phobia of all things medical was contagious.

It didn't matter, he decided. He had to go in. Well… it wasn't as though he had a choice.

Valerie marched up the stone steps with no consent for Danny's legs, him trying to climb stairs sideways and failing. She stopped on the porch like she knew exactly what she was doing, and knocked on the door while Phantom couldn't help but watch, interested. First a sharp, loud knock, then a pause, followed by 3 fast and equally noisy ones. This, Danny realized, must have been some sort of secret way to identify who wanted to come in.

There was a sudden hush among the incoherent whispers. Then they started back up again, getting louder and louder and mangled with the sound several footsteps pounding against hardwood.

The door was thrown open.

"Val! We thought something bad hap-"

Then Dash Baxter and Danny's Phantom eyes met, and each pair widened.

"Oh, brilliant." Danny muttered.

A/N: Ha! Early update is another bleeping cliffy! And... ENTER DASH! MWAHAHAHAHAH!

I'm pretty proud of this chapter, It's longer than the other ones. But still kinda short... ah, well. Whatevs.

Yeah... SOME of the story is gonna take place is Sereneton, the next town over from Amity Park.

(And if you're wondering why this story is Danny F. and Vlad M., he comes in SOON! I promise!)

As usual, REVIEW IF YA WANT MOAR! ...please?

Kay thanks BYE! :D