As Valerie was about to take a bite out of her sandwich she saw a blast of ectoplasm fly overhead. Ignoring the exclamations of surprise from Tucker and Sam, she whipped around and saw the source of the blast. It's that ghost from before! The one during that stupid flour baby assignment. What'd he call himself? Never mind that! I owe him big time!

She quickly wrapped her sandwich back up and put it in her lunch bag. Zipping out of the door, she threw her lunch bag into a bush, knowing it would still be there later.

Pushing the button on her watch, her red jumpsuit appear. Leaping into the air, her hover board appeared and she went for the ghost. She did not feel deterred to see Danny Phantom battling the other specter. If anyone could see her face, they would have seen a predatory grin grace her face as she drew a weapon and fired, first at the unknown ghost, and then Danny Phantom.

Her grin grew when she saw the unknown ghost fall back as the blast hit him. Danny Phantom dodged the blast. That he dodged, was not a surprise, to the ghost hunter. He was good. She knew that. Better to take out the obviously weaker ghost, rather than wasting energy on a more powerful ghost, in the event that she could not take him down.

The next thing that happened was not totally unexpected. Phantom pulled out something and sucked the ghost into it. She really wanted to do that to him.

She accelerated towards the black and white clad ghost, with the intention of blowing him out of existence.

To her frustration, he gave her a mocking half salute and grin before vanishing completely. A voice floated by her. "Thanks for the help! We should work together more often."

Valerie let out a roar of rage before turning around and going back to lunch. There were only a few minutes of lunch left. As unappealing as her lunch was, she quickly ate all she could. It would be a bad thing if she collapsed in the middle of a ghost battle because she has not had enough to eat.

Danny also seemed rather winded. His friends were not surprised to see him shovel as much food down as he could and storing what would keep in his bag.

---------------------

Days later, Danny wished for that day again, even with the fact that he had to deal with Valerie again (a better encounter than most). If asked, he would say that it might have something to do with Skulker. And Skulker's new assortment of weaponry and enhanced armor. What attacks Skulker could not avoid, his armor seemed to deflect them off to the side to hit trees, buildings, and one (now singed) squirrel.

Skulker laughed as Danny flew, dodging the missiles that tracked him. Out of the corner of his eye, Danny could see what looked like an ectoblast, coming straight for him. He moved to get out of the path of it and blundered into a fresh missile that Skulker just launched.

Danny managed to pull himself out of the fall but it had been bad. He had to wonder what the missile might have had in it.

To his surprise, the next time he saw Skulker, Skulker was just feet away from him, wearing a grin of triumph. Danny tried to focus and go intangible or dodge out of the way but found that his head was still muddled from the missile blast.

Skulker's fist connected squarely with Danny's stomach, the force of which caused him to fly backwards.

Danny slammed against the building. The impact knocked him unconscious, forcing him to change back to human. His body slid from the building and began to plummet downward, rapidly approaching the ground.

-------------------------

Valerie zipped in at the ghost as she watched the ghost boy be hit head on by a powerful blast. She fired off a few shots of the gun in rapid succession while dodging an attack. She looked back and witnessed the last thing she expected, the ghost boy changing into Danny Fenton.

Not wasting a moment or taking time to think about what she saw, Valerie raced downward on her board towards the unconscious boy. With almost cliché precision, she caught Danny just before he would have hit the ground.

She glanced upwards and saw the ghost preparing to fire again. She held on tighter to Danny and flew away from the ghost. She dodged one blast after another. Pulling a loop around the approaching ghost so she would be behind him. With expert precision, she shot Skulker three times, sending him off on an erratic path. She landed and placed Danny in some bushes. At the same time, she heard Skulker crash and his muffled curses. "You owe me some explanations, Danny Fenton! And I intend to collect shortly," she told the unconscious boy.

She took the Fenton Thermos from Danny and boarded her board before Skulker could recover. I've seen him use this a couple of times. Hope it works for me.

Valerie could hear Skulker's muffled yells of frustration as he tried to get his flight equipment to work. Slowly she came up on the hunter. He was giving a very good impression of having a temper tantrum.

His armor was cracked and falling off in a few places from the prolonged fight. Valerie shot him with a ghost bazooka. He gave a yell of surprise as his armor disintegrated around him, leaving his true ghost form susceptible.

He turned around in time to see Valerie open the thermos and point it in his direction. "Enjoy your trip," she added maliciously.

"I'll be back and better than ever, hunter girl!" he yelled as the blue beam pulled him in.

"I'll be ready for you then," she snarled.

Valerie screwed on the cap and hopped back on her board. She flew up over to Danny. He was beginning to stir as he let out a small moan.

-----------------------------

Danny felt a wave of pain wash through his body as he came up out of the darkness. He tried to move but it hurt and a groan escaped. He forced his eyes open and had to shut them because looking at the bright sky hurt his eyes. If I don't get up now, I don't think I'll be getting up for a while.

Danny took a slow, deep breath and forced himself to open his eyes.

"That's going to really hurt tomorrow. Or now." He forced himself into a sitting position and gingerly touched the back of his head.

Danny winced at pain and was about to try standing when he became aware of the red-garbed ghost hunter. He felt a chill run down his sore spin as he put some pieces of the puzzle together. Oh boy, this isn't good.

"Um," Danny said, at a loss at what to say.

"Okay, Fenton, I'm going to give you a chance to explain before I decide what to do about you," Valerie said.

"Where to start?" Danny asked himself. He rubbed his face with his hands. Well, duh, the beginning. "Okay, when my parents first made the ghost portal, it didn't work. With some encouragement from Tucker and Sam, I decided to check it out and see if I could get it to work. I was inside the first time it turned on. And when I woke up, I discovered that I had changed."

"Oh my goodness," Valerie whispered, horror growing inside her, as she pulled off her mask and sat down on the ground. She had been hunting him. She could have killed him. Maybe he wasn't alive, a voice whispered. "I thought stuff like that killed people."

"It probably has but it didn't kill me. I decided to use my…abilities to catch the ghosts that always seem to be escaping from the portal." He gave a self-depreciating grin, "I can tell you it hasn't been fun. Being framed for stuff I didn't do, having ghosts after me, and even being controlled."

Danny looked at Valerie sadly, "I still feel bad about the ghost dog. I know he basically ruined your father's career. I don't know exactly where he came from but I do have some ideas. I'm certain he was part of a setup to get you interested in ghost hunting and to make me look guilty."

Valerie opened her mouth to say something but decided to continue to listen. I'm confused. This isn't like I thought it would be.

Danny sighed loudly, "I don't know what else to tell you that would make the story even longer. I suppose you could ask questions."

Valerie glared a little at him, "What about that thing with Pariah Dark. Why did you let my dad know about my ghost hunting?"

"Let's see, you were hurt and I was at one-hundred percent. Plus, I don't have to rely on outside weapons. It seemed like the best idea at the time to prevent you from going." Danny braced a hand on the ground and attempted to stand but discovered that he still did not have the strength.

Valerie stood up and after a moment of thought, offered Danny a hand up. He looked surprised but did not reject her offer.

"Danny, I have to think about what you told me. I don't know what'll happen now," she said, wearily. She rubbed her temples, "I have really enjoyed going out with you but right now I feel betrayed. You knew about me and didn't say anything. Right now, I just want some space to think."

"Okay. I understand," Danny said, quietly.

He watched Valerie put her hood back on and hop on her board. With care, took a few steps but nearly fell. "Okay, this isn't going to work." He took a deep breath, braced himself, and said, "I'm going ghost."

The power swept over Danny, its inexplicable power turning him into Danny Phantom. At least the pain doesn't seem any worse. Quickly, he turned invisible and took flight, flying home.

Danny flew into his room and changed back as he collapsed onto his bed. "Ooofff!" he groaned, "I forgot that everything still hurts." He kicked off his shoes and climbed under his bed sheets. Before five minutes passed, Danny was in a deep, healing sleep.

--------------------

"What happened yesterday?!" Tucker and Sam yelled as the trio walked to school the next morning.

"Valerie found out and she said she had to think about it," Danny explained, patiently.

"This is very bad! I knew you going out with her would be no good! I knew it!" Sam said self-righteously.

"Whoa, Sam, I think you're over reacting. She hasn't done anything and she's known since yesterday afternoon? I think she really is waiting," said Tucker. "Still, for all we know she's lying in wait and is going to ambush you."

"Gee, thanks," Danny said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Tucker and Sam looked at each other and looked at Danny. "Are you sure you're all right?" ask Sam.

"Yeah," added Tucker, "I thought you'd be freaking out or something."

"Well, I kind of collapsed when I got home, so I couldn't freak out then and once I woke up Jazz ambushed me." Danny looked over his shoulder. "She made me tell her what happened. As much as I hate to admit it, talking about it with her helped." He checked to make sure Jazz was not around, "Don't tell her I said this, but she might actually make a good psychologist."

Sam and Tucker grinned a little at his statement. "I won't tell," Tucker said, holding up a hand, "Scout's honor."

Sam punched him in the arm, "You aren't a scout. You need to swear on your PDA." Tucker capitulated and swore on his PDA.

Danny was laughing at some joke Tucker told when he saw Sam freeze. Following her eyes, he saw Valerie. She looked tired, like she had tried to sleep, and found herself unable to do so.

She looked up and caught sight of the three teens. Shaking her head slightly to clear her mind, Valerie decided that she needed to face him sooner or later. It would not be easy on a poor night's sleep but sooner would be better than later and before school better than after school. With all that went on in a day, putting it off would be unwise.

Valerie raised a hand and waved to Danny, "Could I talk to you for a minute, Danny?" Under other circumstances, she would have taken the posture of Danny's friends to mean something else but now she could see that the posture meant they would come to his aid if he needed it. With how close they were, they had to know.

Danny trotted across the road. Danny saw that he was not mistaken in his reading to how tired Valerie was. He motioned to a bench, "How about we sit and talk?"

She nodded wearily and dropped onto the bench.

"Look, Danny," said Valerie, not quite making eye contact with Danny. "I really don't know what to do. I can't believe I'm telling you this. But I had a lot of time to think about what you said last night and remember... all of our... encounters. Maybe I haven't judged you fairly. Maybe," she stressed. "All I'm saying is that I'm going to give you a chance. But don't step out of line. I'm watching you."

"That's all I wanted, Valerie," Danny said, reaching out and resting a hand on her shoulder, "A chance."

He saw Sam and Tucker waving frantically at him. He heard the ten minute warning bell. "Look, you want to come with us?"

Valerie stood up. "Thanks but no. I still need some time to think. You, me, and what is going to happen."

Danny picked up his backpack and looked both ways, waiting for a break in the traffic. "Well, whatever happens, I would like, at the very least, to stay friends. I don't have so many that I can be choosy about them."

Valerie blinked and then said, "Hey! Come back here, Fenton!" She chased him across the street, a grin on her face that she could not hold back. He was right. She couldn't be choosy either.

Valerie decided at that moment, that their relationship, whatever it was and may become, was worth the effort it took to keep and build on.

Okay, I decided to sit down and finish this fic. I hate it when people leave the reader hanging and I'm am throughly ashamed of doing it myself. This is the final chapter. It is rather open ended because one day I may want to pick up again and if I wrapped up all the lose ends, I wouldn't be able to do that.

Finished: 1-13-08