Hey everybody!

Much love and more glory to all reviewers. Epona Harper, Unrealistic, fan-girls2.0, The Fluff Ghost, SevenStar, Egyptian Ghost Kitty, Queen S of Randomness 016, Meagainsttheworld, hermie-the-frog, Diamond Raider, Pieling, acosta parez jose ramiro, Sasia 93, egyptianqueen777, DP fan, BratCat, Chaos Dragon, xheartkreuzx, Tornada Silverwind, and Airgirl Phantom. I think that's all of you. I hope.

My e-mail is working again. Yay! Well, almost. It's still a bit backed up, and keeps getting reviews from chapter 3 or something, and not the new ones. Meh, I'm sure it'll straighten itself out. And now I think you guys'll get all of those responses I sent you. :D

Here is chapter 6. I tried to cover as many of the different groups involved in this story as I could without criminally underexposing someone. But it's mostly about Danny and Valerie. (Yup, it's time.)

Cheers!

HiddenAuthor

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Chapter 6 – Names

The red haired and dark haired girls stood side by side outside a plain black door. Behind them, a small bedroom provided a chaotic backdrop suggesting several ghosts had fought each other around them in the recent past. But Jazz had already assured Valerie that Danny's room always looked like that.

"So, do we go in?" Vale asked finally. Jazz shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

"I don't know. It seems like a violation of privacy." The younger girl raised an eyebrow.

"And breaking into Danny's room wasn't?"

"That's different." Jazz said calmly, slowly turning the old-style silver latch and opening the door. "This place is more personal than a bedroom. It's a part of him, Val. It wouldn't be right to just pop in uninvited."

"Well Phantom must be like Danny then, because last time I visited, this place was a real…" The huntress's words trailed off as the broad expanse of winding stone stairways and arches stretched off as far as her eyes could see. Pillars extended to support balconies of every shape and size, some even seeming to come down from ceilings to hold stairways up. Water trickled along a chiseled course only to continue into open space as the floor beneath it abruptly stopped, falling on the other side of the open chamber into a large pool that seemed to be lying sideways on the wall. Valerie realized with a start that it had become a waterfall. Up and down seemed to exist everywhere, but which direction they were seemed to depend on where you were standing. While there was no life of any kind, plant or animal, every solid surface in sight seemed to be carved or gouged into fantastic images of people, animals, and ghosts. Flowering vines of cold stone grew up and around pillars, drooping leaves and shoots in midair as they arced between the supports. Some even dripped real dew into the flowing streams, catching the light of the brilliant full moon as it fell. The air was pleasantly cool and damp, like the inside of a large cave. And every bit as still.

"Dump." She finished lamely. Jazz didn't even look at her.

"So this is what he's been doing in here." She said quietly. Valerie turned and shot her a questioning glance. "He's spent lots of time in here since September. But for the last few days, he's only left to…do other stuff he needs to do. I was getting worried, but I never thought…" She trailed off as she looked around. Stars twinkled between the large outer windows, adding to the sense that they were walking through some sort of quiet outdoor maze. As the two unconsciously walked deeper into the winding labyrinth of stairs and halls, the carvings became less common and less complex. Eventually, they found themselves surrounded by simple paving stones, completely lost.

"So," Valerie started hesitantly, "how do we find him in all of this?" Jazz shrugged, looking fairly unconcerned.

"He'll find us." She said simply, trying to enjoy the view. "He always knows when someone comes in here. And he's the only one who can get us back out."

"Can't we just retrace our steps?" Valerie asked, confused, gesturing behind them as they walked further into the giant maze. Jazz laughed lightly, and this time a touch nervously.

"No." She said simply. "This place was made to prevent people from finding their way out again. Especially people who try to figure it out logically. Even if we took the path we think leads out, it would probably be the wrong one. And flying isn't allowed." The two sat down on a raised bench beside the path. Neither door was currently in sight, but Valerie thought she could still here water. "Let's wait here for a bit, okay? This is the first bench I've ever seen in here, so it's as good a place as any." Nodding, Val leaned back against a raised wall and looked up.

"Why the night sky?" Val asked after a few minutes. Jazz shrugged.

"Why the stairs? Why the paths? I don't know." She said, with a slight trace of annoyance that made no sense to the younger girl. "He's a lot more complicated than most people think. If I had to guess, I'd say the night sky is quiet, and it reminds him of flying. I think he likes to look at the stars." She answered quietly. "He's always liked looking at the stars." Val quirked an eyebrow.

"How long have you known Phantom, anyway?" Jazz jumped for a second, but settled down, an odd half-smile on her face.

"A long time. Long enough to know that to him, those stars are still too far away."

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The prisoner stirred, moving at first slowly, then with greater speed as the last of Clockwork's power left him. Blinking, the tall vampire ghost sighed dejectedly and fell into a sitting position on the floor.

"Has it been one hundred years already?" He asked quietly. Clockwork remained impassive.

"Do not take that tone, Plasmius. You know as well as I that with how long ghosts can live, a lighter sentence would fail as a deterrent."

"But I'm not just a ghost!" He roared, flinging himself against the bars of his cell, eyes glowing molten red. "Everything I'd worked for, everyone…" He sank back down again, all fight leaving him. "Maddie. She's gone. And Jack died all on his own, probably in his sleep as the proud grandfather of a score of appalling mutant grandchildren." He muttered bitterly. Though he'd love to let this disgusting creature actually serve his sentence after all the trouble he'd caused, Clockwork knew the consequences if he kept him much longer.

"As your arresting officer, prosecuting attorney, and guard, I must inform you that I have come under review." He said, trying to keep an even tone. His prisoner's ears perked slightly. "I am under six month probation due to my actions regarding Danny Phantom and an alternate version of him from a now nonexistent future. As such, my legal testimony is temporarily worthless and you have been granted carte blanche. I am releasing you for the term of my probation on the understanding that you will resume your sentence in six months' time." Vlad looked up, something akin to hope returning the glow to his eyes.

"How long?"

"Six months." The red eyes burned.

"I meant how long have I been here!" Vlad shouted with all the strength in his lungs. Clockwork frowned at his prisoner.

"As I said, you have been here for six months. Or perhaps closer to seven." The time ghost repeated with forced calm. "As far as I understand, your companies and holdings are trying to terminate your ownership. I must congratulate you on your living will. You must have foreseen this sort of possibility, and I may tell you now that your fifty year holding clause held up in court. Your assets are still available. Now please," the timekeeper said coldly, "get out of my home."

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"I don't get it." Val said irritably. "I fight with him, I trust him, and I even accepted that he won't become that evil ghost we fought together. Heck, I even cut the hints about that out of my video when I gave it to the press so the town wouldn't judge him! What secret could be bigger than 'I might become a super-powerful monster who can destroy cities with one good scream?'?" Jazz winced slightly, but settled back and tried to answer, silently begging Danny to hurry up.

"He knows that you trust him." She said finally. "It's not about that. He…doesn't think you'll like him." Val raised an eyebrow. "That's different. You don't have to like someone to trust them, Valerie. And he wants to be your friend. He knows you deserve the whole truth, he's just scared to tell you." The young huntress looked over at the older girl, confused.

"I never said Phantom and I were all that close." She argued. "I work with him and respect him, but I've already told him I'm not looking for any more than that from a ghost. He seems fine with that. So why would-"

"Hey Val." A calm voice called from down the long, winding path. Relieved, and slightly annoyed, Val turned from her conversation towards the source of the greeting.

"Phantom. Well it's about…Danny?" Danny stood in human form, smiling nervously at his friend and sister.

"Um, hi?" He said, rubbing the back of his neck as he shot Jazz a look. His sister mimed zipping her mouth behind Valerie's back, and her brother nodded gratefully. Val whipped her head around and scowled as she missed the girl's half of this silent byplay. Stepping forward, Danny reached out and grabbed the huntress by the hand.

"Come on." He said, giving her arm a light tug. "We should talk a bit before we start spilling secrets everywhere."

"How'd you get here?" She asked, stubbornly refusing to budge. "Did Phantom bring you?" Danny's smile widened for a split second, before nervousness once again forced it down.

"Something like that."

"Well is he going to show himself? I think I should hear this 'big secret' from him." Danny flushed for a second, but nodded.

"Yeah." He said, gulping, and then put on a strange half-smile. "If things go well, I promise Phantom will show up." Frowning slightly, but unwilling to just sit and wait for one more second, Val shrugged and followed along behind her one-time boyfriend. Jazz sat back down on the bench.

"I'll just wait here." She called out. "Phantom can come and get me when he has time." Danny nodded absently and led Valerie along winding paths that changed once again to carved works of art, with thin poles supporting complex vine-covered roofs, all made of stone. Off to the side, a row of fountains grew out of a spiraling path, seeming to shoot water towards the ground as they turned upside down.

"You seem to know your way around." Valerie said. Danny nodded slowly.

"I'm in here a lot." He said simply, gesturing towards the masterpiece. "These fountains took a long time to rebuild. I-uh, Phantom wanted them exactly as they were the first time. They're a bit simpler than some of the new stuff, but…" He trailed off as he led the girl along the large stone fountains.

"Why were these so important to him?" She asked.

"He made them for Sam." He said quietly. Valerie pulled up, surprised.

"How can you just say that so calmly?" She asked. "I've seen how she acts towards Phantom. How can you just take it?" Danny shrugged, sitting down on thin air. A new stone bench grew out of the floor and met him at the perfect level.

"I'm okay with it." He said slowly. Valerie stared down at the bench.

"How did you do that?" She asked loudly, trying to make something appear for her to sit on. Danny waved his arm and a second bench appeared for Valerie. The girl quickly sat down.

"You have a lot of questions, Val. But I guess if I answered them sometimes, it wouldn't be this hard. But I've been afraid." Danny talked quietly, studying his shoes. "I wanted to tell you, but like you said, you're not into dead people. And I wanted to stay friends." He looked up sadly. "I want-"

"You want to be human." Valerie said quietly, her voice shaking and her eyes wide with shock and some fear. "You're just not." Nodding, Danny let silver light dance off of his body as he shifted forms, throwing the walls into sharp relief as it flashed off of the falling fountain waters.

"Is that such a bad thing?" He asked again. Shaking her head from side to side and shaking, Valerie stared at the strange creature that had been her boyfriend, then her friend. Her enemy, and then her ally. A human. A ghost. In the end, there was just no way he could be both.

"No!" She shouted. "Stop it! It's not true! You're not dead! Danny's not dead! He…you… wouldn't have lied to me. You can't be the same!" Eyes widening, Danny rushed over to grip the girl's shoulders. Valerie jumped back out of his reach, falling into the fountain but not even noticing; her eyes still fixed on this strange thing that tore her world to shreds just by existing.

"I'm not dead, Val. I'm just different. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, but I knew you'd be upset. Just try to understand, I-"

"Shut up!" She cried out, eyes still wide in shock. "Leave me alone! I just want out of this place. I want to go home! Please." The girl's breath sped up as she backed away, verging on hyperventilation. "I want to go." Not knowing what else to do, Danny quickly flew into her.

Valerie's body abruptly went limp. Cancelling the anti-flight effect of his private home, Danny quickly flew over to where Jazz was waiting. His sister stared at Valerie's body as it landed in front of her, and sent a probing glance into her brother's eyes, which quickly looked away.

"Come on." He said brusquely. "Let's get out of here. I'll drop her off in her bed and make sure she didn't hurt herself." Carefully, the older girl reached out a comforting hand, which Danny quickly shook off.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"She's not into dead people." He said quietly. Jazz frowned at this, trying to make sense of how Valerie might have reacted.

"Just give it time, Danny." She said softly. "I'm sure things will be alright." Not even looking back, Danny nodded.

"I know. I'm in her head, remember? She's already calming down. It's just…" He sighed. "She was so scared, Jazz. Am I really that scary?" His sister opened her mouth to answer, but closed it as she realized she had no answer. "I know she'll accept me. I just wish I knew how she'll act around me now. I don't think I can take her flinching around me all the time."

Jazz nodded as the two approached a familiar black door. "What will you do after?" Valerie's arms shrugged.

"I think I'll come back here for a while." He said sadly. "I have a lot of 'coping' to do."

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Vlad sat in his dusty study and grumbled irritably as he stirred his mug of instant tea and typed long lines of codes into his private computer. Of course his staff had left months ago when they found their master unable to either pay or punish them, as the case may be. And of course as the master of time, Clockwork would know that the cruelest time he could release a hopelessly behind-schedule businessman would be 5:01 PM.

Scowling at the time ghost's small joke, his face finally lit with triumph as Technus's infiltrator program successfully copied and dumped Daniel's computer's contents into his mainframe. The fact that the program still worked undetectably six months after its last upgrade spoke volumes for the ghost's skill. Vlad made a mental note not to mention it, lest the greedy spook ask for a bonus. After ten minutes of sorting out the obviously useless material, Vlad decided to start his reconnaissance with the young ghost boy's diary. Bringing up the reasonably large file, Vlad gave his mouse wheel a quick spin.

November 10,

I visited Sam again tonight, and only just got back. I can tell she still loves my uniform! The two of us sat on the edge of her bed for an hour, talking about junk. Her grandma learned some new cookie recipe from an old college friend, and Sam and her spent all afternoon in the kitchen baking. I guess her parents are out of town, 'cause they usually won't let her do stuff like that. It's too bad, the cookies are great! Maybe I can get the recipe for mom. What's the weirdest thing she could do to a cookie

Once the cookies were done, Sam noticed some chocolate on my uniform, so she tore the whole thing off and pinned me down on top of the mattress. Flinging the rest of the suit onto a nearby chair, we quickly –

Dear Jazz,

I know you've been hacking into my diary for the last few weeks to keep track of what Sam and I are doing. Since you don't trust me, what we really did after eating the cookies was write up that hot number. I hope you liked reading it. Please stay off my computer.

Later,

Danny and Sam

Vlad stared at the screen for a few moments, eventually managing to close his gaping mouth. This might not be worth reading. Still, he'd found out about Dan Phantom by scanning this diary, so it had its moments. No doubt he'd find some way to wreak some havoc in young Daniel's life. After all, if he'd been released when Clockwork was only on probation, just think what might happen if the time ghost got into real trouble?

Smirking at the thought, Plasmius returned to the computer screen and kept reading. Each time he found something potentially useful; it was highlighted and dragged to a small, new folder on his screen.

'Laius'

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Down in the well-lit and temporarily clean basement lab of Fenton Works, Tucker was busy fielding screwdrivers and wrenches for Jack.

"I just don't get it." Tucker said, throwing a small Phillips towards Mr. Fenton's head. "Sometimes it's like Val and I don't connect at all. She's so into ghost hunting, it's like she barely has time for anything else! Doesn't that sound unhealthy?" Jack shrugged his shoulders before sliding under the Specter Speeder.

"Nope. Sounds fun. That's how I met Maddie! V-err, Vlad, he and I were going to class together and this weird ghost popped out of nowhere! I'd never seen anything like it. Vlad went to get help, and crashed into her." Despite their differences now, Jack couldn't' help but chuckle. "I could tell he had a crush on her. But she liked me. Still don't really know why. But if Vlad hadn't been there, we'd never have met. And we've been hunting ghosts ever since." The boy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but I'm not a ghost hunter! I just run tech support. Danny's always been the heavy hitter, and now that Sam's been working with Mrs. Fenton on that ghost judo stuff, they don't really need me." There was a brief shout as Jack singed some of his hair off.

"Of course they need you!" Jack said heartily. "You might not hit these ghosts head-on like Danny, but you're still important! Just think of all the times Mads and I have gone to D-man for help lately. He doesn't fight ghosts either, but he's got an awesome mind for the weapons, and have you seen those towers fire? That had to take a lot of work."

"Eight hours and a lot of code." Tucker answered absently, and then smiled as Jack rolled out from under the flying machine with a surprised look on his face. "I might have done the last tower myself." He said, embarrassed. But Jack just grinned.

"See? That's what I'm talking about! You've got stuff, kid!" Looking around, his smile turned hopeful. "Now did Maddie send down more cookies?"

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This was no mere battle. This was no argument. This was World War Three.

"NO! NO WAY! I AM NOT WEARING THAT!" Sam screamed at her scowling parents, pointing at the latest pink horror the two had toted up for her inspection. Naturally, her grandmother was not allowed to be in the room.

"This is a delicate and beautiful dress, Sammykins." Her mother said calmly. "We have allowed you to dress like a corpse for your day-to-day life if that is truly your wish, but you will not wear those ghastly clothes to the spring formal ball. Countless family friends will be attending, along with their sons." The woman allowed herself a slight smile at that last. Sam's face darkened further.

"Mother," she said in a cold voice that mocked the formal title even as she used it, "in case you've been living under a rock for the last few months, I'M ALREADY DATING SOMEONE!" Her father snorted.

"That Fenton boy?" He asked, amused. "Sweetie, you may amuse yourself as you see fit in your free time, but we are speaking of a match. Someone who can take proper care of you, and the family name. And that family is a little-"

"Interesting?" Sam supplied. "Unique? Fun?" Her parents exchanged another glance.

"Samantha, this really must stop." Her mother supplied in what would pass for a reasonable tone. "Your father and I have already agreed to allow you to see the boy, but if you think we'll allow you to take things further with that odd, dysfunctional little-"

"That's IT! OUT OF MY ROOM!" Sam yelled at the top of her voice. Her parents' faces turned concerned, but Sam wasn't about to flatter herself. Her window was open.

"Samantha! The neighbors!" Plastering on an innocent expression, Sam turned and stalked towards the window.

"You're right, mom. How thoughtless of me." Sam calmly turned and bellowed out the window. "MY FAMILY IS HAVING A FIGHT! MY NEW DRESS IS STUPID! MY PARENTS DON'T LIKE MY BOYFRIEND! I DRESS LIKE A CORPSE!" Faces red and pale by turns, her two parents stormed from the room, probably to go sip martinis and fire the latest nanny for failing to tame their daughter. Scowling, Sam quickly turned the lock in her door.

Settling back on her bed, the girl watched with a small satisfied smirk as the lock jiggled a moment before settling back down. Naturally, her parents were too polite and well brought up to shout for her to open up. Or apologize. Grabbing a copy of 'Poe' from her nightstand, Sam curled up under the covers and prepared for a long night. At least she could talk with her friends tomorrow.

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Damon was just about to turn in for the night as his private line rang. Sighing, the man settled back into his chair and plucked up the phone. As busy as he was, his new branch of city defense was still seen by many as a joke and a waste of what little money he managed to sneak past the pencil-pushers. So this could only be the mayor. Somehow the man seemed to think this ring was a good campaign platform so he called all the time. Lifting the phone to his ear, the man's eyes widened as an unfamiliar voice came through the line.

"Mr. Damon Gray?" The voice seemed cold enough to be robotic. But somehow it had to be coming from a real person. Wetting his mouth, Damon put down his briefcase and picked up a pencil for quick note-taking.

"Yes?"

"We've been watching you for some time, Mr. Gray. Your work, both with Axion and the Fentons, has been exceptional. Your shielding technology may prove revolutionary to military tactics." The security officer frowned into the phone.

"I apologize if I sound blunt, but it's late. What exactly do you want?"

"Want?" The tone on the other end was amused. Maybe. "We want to help you. Better funding. More security. Things like that. With our support, that barrier will be up in no time." His frown only deepening at this, Damon set down the pencil.

"I don't know who this is, but this is an independent body that answers only to the mayor. We do not sell ourselves to political groups or businesses. No matter their agendas." The line was empty for several long moments.

"I see." The response came, finally. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Gray. We'll be in touch." Damon opened him mouth to respond, but the line was dead.