DP Season 4 Episode 4

Personal Studies In Ecto-ology: One Giant Leap for Ghost Kind

Chapter 1

Saturday, July 1

Danny flew over a neighborhood he had only really known in passing, thinking Star and Kwan both lived over here, as he looked for the new address. He turned invisible as he flew down towards the street, floating so he could look for the house numbers. He noticed a number of the residence out mowing their front lawns, not for the first time wishing Fenton Works had more land.

He stopped as he found the address he was looking for and almost flew straight through the door until he thought better of it. Instead he flew around to the back yard of the single story house and dropped behind the shed, lights revealing him as Fenton. He walked around the shed and headed towards the gate, hoping to walk up to the front door, when a male voice called out his name. He turned to the back door where Damon stood behind the screen door with a plate and dish cloth in hand.

"Hi, Mr. Gray!" Danny said, changing his path. "I was hoping to talk to Valerie. Is she in?"

"Yeah, come on in," Damon offered, holding the plate in the hand with the cloth as he pushed the screen door opened.

Danny grabbed the door and followed him in, letting the spring close the door behind him.

"Sorry about the mess, we're still unpacking," Damon offered as he sat both plate and cloth on the counter.

Danny took in the number of boxes piled where he guessed a kitchen table would go once they could get a new one. He stopped beside one labeled fragile as he watched Damon step out of the kitchen.

"Valerie! Danny's here!" Damon called out.

"Good. Send him here!" Valerie called back.

Damon turned with a smile as he said, "I think you just recruited."

Danny let out a laugh as he walked pass the man and into the living room. "Thanks Mr. Gray," he offered, turning to the hallway. He walked down the hall, noticing a bathroom first as he tried to find the girl.

"Over here," Valerie's voice called out. "'Cross from the bathroom."

Danny stopped and looked in the other direction to see Valerie on her knees in the middle of a desk. Stepping over bags by the door, he carefully made his way into a room full of boxes. Half were reused boxes and the other were hiding unmade furniture. A yellow reused box caught his eye only for him to let out a laugh. "Captain Morgan?" Danny asked, turning to the girl kneeling with a screwdriver in hand. "I thought your dad didn't drink."

"He doesn't," Valerie informed, working on putting a screw in the painted plywood at the corner. "But the ABC store gives their boxes away."

"Free boxes, ah," Danny realized, taking the last step to stand before her. "What'cha need me to do?"

"Hold this, or screw," Valerie stated, sitting up and pushing her hair back with the hand still holding the screwdriver.

"Give me," Danny ordered, holding out his hand as he dropped to his knees. "You're at the wrong angle."

Valerie handed over the tool and added, "Says the guy who could put his elbow through wood if he wanted to."

Danny leaned his head to look at what he was doing better as he said, "You know, that's a good idea."

"What is?"

"Trying to get a job with Ikea or something like that," Danny said, grabbing another screw to attach the side closer to the carpet.

"You're still going on about that?"

"Pick it up some," Danny asked, realizing some of the carpet was between the boards. She raised it up, letting him continue his work and tighten both screws. "Okay, you can let go," he said, sitting up to look at her. "And what do you mean? Yes, I still want a normal job."

"Talk to Tucker," Valerie said, reaching behind her to pull out the desk's directions. "Do you see plank G?"

Danny looked around them at the black painted plywood pieces and pointed to one on her other side. "Is that it?"

Valerie twisted and picked up the plank only to nod her head. "Yeah, it goes on this side with more of the long screws.

"Coming." Danny walked on his knees to her other side and got handed two screws similar to the ones he had just put into the other side of the desk. He tilted his head as she held the pieces together and started working on the screws.

"But I'm serious," Valerie said, continuing with their conversation.

"You know how weird it is to go up to your best friend, the same best friend you've had almost since you were in diapers together, and ask if he could get me a job?" Danny pointed out.

"It's weird if you remind him about the diaper thing," Valerie pointed out with a smirk.

A small sound of wood cracking froze Danny's hand. He removed the screwdriver and ran a finger around the metal screw only to find he had cracked the wood slightly. "Sorry, I guess I made that one too tight."

"Don't worry, I did the same to the book shelf and head board," Valerie admitted, throwing a thumb behind her to point out the only other constructed pieces of furniture in the room. "These aren't the best, but they'll work for now. Daddy wasn't expecting to have to get so much furniture right now."

"Lift," Danny asked, tightening down the screw closer to the carpet. "Let me guess, he refused you from buying anything yourself?"

"I did offer."

"Okay, what's next?" Danny asked, straightening his back as she put the desk back on the floor.

Valerie looked back at the instructions and said, "The two drawers." Looking up she asked, "You do one, I do the other?"

"I think we need another screwdriver," Danny pointed out, holding up the one he had.

Valerie twisted behind her and grabbed another screwdriver from the box behind her before rising up to step over the legs of the desk. She dropped back down to the floor and put the directions between themselves before handing him a plank of wood labeled I and a bag of metal pieces. The two started working on making identical drawers before Valerie asked, "So what'd you wanna talk to me about?"

"Huh?" Danny asked, opening the bag given to him to find the metal bars the directions were telling him to put on the outside of H1 and 2.

"I doubt you came over to help me build furniture," Valerie pointed out with a laugh. "I figured you'd be packing up for your two weeks."

"I'm a guy," Danny joked with a laugh. "Toss some clothes and my tooth brush and I'll be set. Just mad Vlad destroyed my NASA duffle bag."

"What? When'd that happen?"

"Freshman year," Danny recalled. "One of his first attempts to flirt with Mom."

"Right, I forgot he had some creepy high school crush on her."

"I don't think they went to high school together." Danny took a second look at the directions and asked, "Do you have the bag of short screws? I've just got the M screws."

"Oh, here." Valerie put a small plastic bag beside the directions for Danny to reach.

"Any word on Dani?" Danny asked, reaching into the small bag for a screw.

"She made it to Hawaii yesterday," Valerie said with a smile. "Told her about the house and that she'd have a room here when she was in town."

"I still need to tell your dad thanks for all he's done for her," Danny mumbled to himself. His phone rang out, getting him to reach into his pocket and flick it open to answer it. He held it between his head and shoulder as he tried to finish the drawer in front of him, saying, "Hello?"

"Danny, are you fighting a ghost?" Maddie's voice asked.

"No, I told Dad," Danny said. "I'm a Valerie's." He gave a glance at the girl across the floor from himself, seeing her smiling while she listened in and worked. Looking back at his drawer he added, "Somebody's gotta be prepared to take care of this town while we're away."

"I went through the bag you claimed was packed," Maddie said. "You cannot go two weeks with only four pairs of underwear."

"Mom!" Danny felt the heat rush to his cheeks, hoping Valerie couldn't overhear his mother's voice.

"Tell her what you need to tell her and I expect you back home in the next half hour, repacking your bag," Maddie ordered.

"Alright," Danny mumbled only to quickly second guess himself and add, "Yes ma'am."

Maddie ended the call, getting Danny to drop his phone from his shoulder and catch it in his hand, closing it. He shoved it back in his pocket, holding his lips tight as he hoped again that Valerie couldn't hear her.

"She sounded stressed," Valerie commented on.

"You heard all that?" Danny asked, his face hot as he kept his eyes down on the drawer he was almost done with.

"A word or two."

Danny wasn't sure he trusted her on that but kept that to himself as he said, "I'm driving most of the way tomorrow."

"Just got your learners and you're gonna drive how many hours?" Valerie asked, surprised.

"About seven, but I've flown for longer and I do have experience driving the Spector Speeder," Danny tried.

"Not the same," Valerie retorted. "No wonder she's so worried."

"Rather her reading the map than me," Danny admitted. "I thought we'd be taking the GPS out of the RV but she said no."

"So what'd you need to tell me?"

Danny swallowed the lump in his throat, sure she had noticed he was trying to avoid it. Letting out a sigh he started with, "You remember what all I told you when I got back the other day?"

"When you disappeared for a day?" Valerie checked, getting Danny to nod his head. "Yeah, most of it."

Danny finished screwing on the handle and started checking the screws to make sure they were all tight without being too tight. "I skipped something Kale told me," he admitted.

"Like you can trust him," Valerie pointed out.

"Why can't I?" Danny asked, looking up to watch her tighten the screws on her own drawer. Noticing she wasn't giving him an answer he pointed out, "He may not remember his name, but he remembers a lot about his life. More than Thief could remember about hers. So you're gonna have to give me more than 'he's a ghost'."

"I don't know him yet, okay," Valerie snapped, wrenching her head up to stare Danny eye to eye. "Vlad damaged me on the whole trust thing, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Danny's features settled, stunned, before he tried, "Sorry."

"Danny," Valerie started, letting out a sigh. "I still care about you. We both fight ghosts, so there's a lot to worry about. And sometimes you can be a little too trusting."

"Well what Kale told me's gonna make you trust him less," Danny premised with, crossing his legs as he stretched his back backwards. He rested his hands behind himself and said, "I think he's been forced into collecting stuff for a more powerful ghost."

"What makes you say that?"

"The ghost he tried to warn me about is expecting to find the me from his time. He wanted me to send him back to 2026 because of that."

"I think he's just trying to use you," Valerie said. "He's been after those eye things since he got here, right?"

"Yeah, but…" Danny's voice fell away as he remembered the look Kale had given him. "I just rather you be prepared in case something does happen," Danny settled with.

"Did you warn the dude that built the yarn-time travel thing?" Valerie asked.

"Yeah, they're storing it in a ghost proof container now."

"I'll keep my eyes open, but I still don't trust Kale," Valerie promised. "I'll call you if anything happens."

"I mean, you could still call me if nothing happens," Danny said, handing her the screwdriver back. "As much as I've been looking forward to these weeks, it's probably all gonna be really boring."

"Able to bring your GameBoy?"

"No." Danny rolled his eyes as he pushed himself up to his feet. "They don't like that I'm bringing my cell, but they let it slide since it is my secret that's causing the tight security."

"Ouch," Valerie offered in pity. She looked up at him and added, "Well, good luck."

"Thanks," Danny said, looking down at her with a smile. He let the lights appear, transforming in front of her as he watched her reaction. It was still weird to go ghost in front of her, knowing she watched the change happen before her.

He floated off of his feet and looked towards the window before turning invisible and flying through the outside wall to go back home.