Prompt 03: "It suddenly reeks of hypocrisy in here." (WC: 1159)

A/N: Alternate Title - In which the devil and angel on Lee's shoulders battle it out and the devil wins

"I've always thought you should concentrate on paddling your own canoe"

~ John Dos Passos, The Art of Fiction No. 44

Lee Brown always thought she was more intelligent than her peers. She had to be just to survive. So, it was a little humbling to be confronted with something so obvious but had skated by right under her nose: Danny Fenton was Phantom - the Ghost Kid or whatever they were calling him.

He wasn't even wearing a mask! Lee had just seen the ghost powers, the ghost form (how was that even possible?!), and recoloring and just had processed it as a ghost (if it looks like a ghost, talks like a ghost, acts like a ghost...). And ghosts aren't human and Danny Fenton was human - because Lee Brown knew nothing if not ghosts (though apparently not anymore). So they couldn't be the same person, even if they shared a similar body shape and face (for Heaven's sake, how had she missed it?!).

And now the evidence was staring her in the face, literally. Danny Fenton was literally staring at her (or gaping technically). He had reverted back into his 'human' form right in front of her. It was his fault really. He was the one who didn't look before he changed forms. This spot was a popular spot for kids to smoke or to hide from bullies. Lee favored it because since she had crossed Paulina the library was no longer the safe haven it once had been.

Lee broke the silence first. "You're the ghost boy!?"

"You hid the fact that you fight ghosts!" Danny counter-accused - or just accused because stating a fact is not an accusation.

"I don't fight ghosts. I'm capable of fighting them." Lee clarified blandly, unamused.

"You're hiding more than that!"

"It suddenly reeks of hypocrisy in here." Lee quipped, waving her hand in front of her nose for effect. Seriously, the boy who was literally hiding the fact that he was a paradox was criticizing her for being secretive?

Lee was being secretive sure. She was proud of herself even. She had managed to keep so much from a ghost-human (seriously, she's going to go into an existential crisis if she doesn't get an explanation for that soon). He had a huge advantage in figuring it out. A double identity that Lee wasn't aware off, not to mention actual super powers. She had him in the dark when she was in the dark herself and was considerably less powerful. She was surprised by her own talent (not luck, because luck didn't exist). It was possibly that he was feigning ignorance to get more out of her, but Lee doubted it. Danny seemed incapable of not being confrontational.

Danny turned red with what Lee assumed to be anger. She wasn't the best at reading people, but with Danny it seemed to always be anger.

"It's none of my business." Lee announced randomly and suddenly, stopping whatever anxiety filled rant Danny was about to launch on. Lee knew how she would feel if someone discovered her secret and what she would be worried about.

"What?" Danny asked, flabbergasted.

"It's none of my business who or what you are." Lee clarified, emphasizing the 'what' because seriously, what the hell was he? "If I found out you were dressing in drag -" Danny blushed at the very idea, which proved her theory that all males are totally insecure in their sexuality, "- it wouldn't be my business. This isn't much different."

It is. It totally is different. This was shattering her world apart, but Lee wasn't going to say anything about that.

"You're not going to say anything?"

"To who?" Lee responded. It was rather obvious that she didn't have anyone she considered a friend. Acquaintances, she had, but no real friends. Friends noticed odd behavior and wanted to come over to the house, Lee wanted to avoid both of those things.

"You could get popular though."

"For being a rat?" Lee snarked, rolling her eyes, "And I wouldn't. You'd become famous or infamous, and I'd be overshadowed by that and eventually forgotten." She pointed out. There was also the fact that the last thing Lee wanted was to be popular. Popularity meant people paying attention, which Lee went out of her way to avoid.

"Leave me alone though," Lee said, realizing an opportunity she had. If she went after it, there would most likely be no explanation for how Danny was what he was (could he just be a ghost who was good at faking being human? She really hoped so. That was less world destroying). However, if it worked she would be better off - still going through an existential crisis, but better off.

"What?" Danny asked, thrown by the shift in Lee's demeanor, "You said you wouldn't tell."

"I have no desire to tell," Lee clarified in an agreeable tone, "But you've been following me around snooping in two different personas." She pointed out, "I want that to stop."

"You're admitting you have something to hide." Danny sneered. Lee's blackmailing him seemed to confirm whatever negative thoughts or theories Danny had about her, but Lee just didn't care.

"No, I'm just a teenager who would like the half-human half-ghost to stop stalking her." Lee denied putting the emphasis on 'stalker'.

Danny blushed, as he mentally put his actions in the frame of "stalker". In that frame, his actions did look creepy and obsessive. It wasn't what he was doing, and Lee knew it (well it was stalking, but stalking with a valid goal), but that wasn't the picture she wanted to paint. She wanted Danny to think she was a girl with granted, nerves of steel, but just a normal girl. And she wanted him to stop following her around until he found evidence to the contrary.

"Fine." Danny spat, having no choice but to agree.

This was blackmail (no technicality about it). Lee knew that. Danny, probably, knew that as well. However, there wasn't anything Danny could do about it. If he tried to go to the authorities, they'd want to know what the blackmail was. He was trapped and he knew it and he knew that Lee knew it.

"Good." Lee said with a false smile that didn't fit how she was feeling at all, "Then this has been a pleasant last conversation, Mr. Fenton."

And she strolled back inside like she didn't have a care in the world. Sure she spent the next 15 minutes in the girl's bathroom obsessing and slightly freaking out over how something like Danny Fenton could exist, but even without a much needed explanation she was better off. She had dealt with the threat that was Danny Fenton smoothly and effectively. She had worked off the cuff, in her opinion, flawlessly. She should be feeling proud of herself and relieved. She didn't though. Lee was sure the pride and relief would come. The niggling feeling of guilt never managed to stay with her long.

A/N: Come on you guys, throw me a bone. Please review, fave, and follow.