Chapter 2

'Life Lessons' was a major inspiration for this fic. The quote this chapter actually is what really got me thinking 'what if'. The name Lilith was just conveniently there. Not my first choice of name, but obviously Sam's.

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

PS: I love messing with Skulker. He's one of my favorite villains. Am I the only one who thinks of Jumanji whenever I see or read about him? Kinda like how I associate Walker with Chuck Norris…hehe.

Skulker: Now, before I destroy you both, I must know what is so valuable about this package!
Valerie: It's not the package that's valuable; it's how you take care of it that counts!
Danny: And dude, you're a horrible mother!

Flying was much more preferable to walking. In fact Lilith distinctly remembered learning to fly before she learned to walk. Living in the Ghost Zone had only increased her love for it. It was almost second nature to talking.

Taking a detour Lilith flew up high. Flying in the human world was different. No strange doors, no other ghosts. It was just her and empty clear sky. She took a long deep breath just for further enjoyment.

Finally deciding that it was time to head back she allowed herself to freefall down towards the Fenton's old house and phased through into the lab basement, did a quick turn at full speed and went through the portal.

Feeling refreshed she soon found herself landing on the large island in the middle of the Ghost Zone that she called home. She pushed the large branches and bushes out of her way as she walked towards the giant skull that acted as a mansion. Lilith stopped as she saw a circle of leaves that looked a little suspicious.

Lilith smiled. "He still thinks he can catch me with that trick?" Then she frowned. Skulker wouldn't come out and stop chasing her until she got herself caught in a trap. She really didn't feel like doing this today…

So Lilith stepped into what she knew was a trap and sure enough she was hoisted up by her feet and soon hanging upside down. She crossed her arms, waiting for Skulker to come out and gloat or something. After a few minutes, he still hadn't come.

"What's going on here?" Lilith wondered out loud. She brought herself up and climbed up on the tree using the same rope her leg was trapped in. Once she was on the branch, she untied the rope and jumped down.

Not knowing what else to do Lilith continued to make her way to the giant skull. Once inside, she made her way off to the right. This was where Skulker kept most of his collection of rare and unique creatures, mostly poor little ghosts who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Lilith walked into it and up to one of the cages. In it was a tiny ghost creature. "Hey little guy, miss me?" She said as she opened the cage to hold the little animal. It purred in her arms. "I'll bet you haven't been fed yet, have you?" She asked, knowing although the creature couldn't answer, that she was right.

She grabbed a handful of food out of a large bag in the corner of the room. The creature ate it up right away from her hand.

"You really shouldn't have to be here…none of you." Lilith said sadly to the ghost animal. She wanted to let it go along with the rest of the various ghost creatures that were locked up and had actually done so on several occasions.

But there was a reason why Skulker was the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. He would always find them again or stop her before she could let them go.

"You're not really going to try that stunt again Ghost-child." More of a statement than a question Lilith sighed and turned around to put the creature back in its cage.

"No, just thinking." She said, standing up and walking out of the room.

"I know that look." He said. She stopped in her tracks. "You get it whenever you start thinking about the humans. I knew this whole school thing was bad idea…"

"No!" Lilith responded, a bit panicked. She did not want to lose her only chance at a semi-normal human life. "I'd never leave, Skulker. You know that. This is the only home I've ever known…" She said a bit desperately.

"Yes, but remember you're more important than you give yourself credit for, Whelp. A hybrid like you is extremely rare." Skulker said as he checked some of his equipment.

Lilith sighed sadly. "Why can't it be that they care about me for a reason other than being half-ghost? Is that so hard to ask for…?"

"So, are you ready for the hunt?" Skulker asked, grinning.

"I thought we had already started." Lilith responded. "I came home about ten minutes ago and you weren't around. Where were you? You're always here when I get back."

Skulker seemed caught off-guard for a moment. He beat around the bush, as if he really didn't want to answer that question. He settled for, "I was on the hunt, as usual."

Lilith looked around. "You didn't bring any poor defenseless creature back." She said accusingly.

"Not for ghosts, for materials. I was asked by someone to gather a few things." Skulker said, annoyed.

"Huh, but you never do things for other ghosts." Lilith was confused.

"For your information, Whelp, he is a human, not a ghost." Skulker said sore that he felt compelled to tell her his business. Now Lilith was even more confused. "Never mind that, I'll give you a five minute head start today. I want to try out my new tracking device."

"Skulker…I'm really not in the mood today and I really need to talk with you." Pause "About my parents…."

"Your five minutes start now." Knowing there was nothing she could do about Skulker when he was 'hunting', she gave a heavy sigh and then ran off into the island's forest to find a good hiding spot.

Skulker wanted a hunt. He never specified how long. And after ten years of living with him and playing this upgraded version of 'hide and seek', she almost knew him like a book. She settled down toward the edge of the island and leaned against a tree. Now all she had to do was wait.

Lilith had been planning to just sit there, but when she spotted a trap that looked like it had been forgotten years ago, a mischievous gleam came to her eyes.

Five short minutes later, Skulker was not pleased. His tracking device had worked perfectly. He had found Lilith rather quickly. It was what happened next that was the cause of his annoyance.

"You really should have an antidote for those things." Lilith suggested as she attempted to pry all of the stun darts from his body. When she was finished she sat down at a nearby tree, waiting for the effects of the darts to wear off.

"Nose itches." He said simply. Lilith found a small tree branch and ended up scratching so hard she made a dent in the armor. "If I had known you were going to be this childish today I would have put you in your cage and be done with it."

"What, you're not even going to ask me how my first day of school was?" She asked innocently with a knowing smile.

"I still haven't figured out how you manage to escape! What do you do? I finally found a flawless design for your cage!" He said indignantly.

Lilith sighed. "It's my room." She said corrected automatically. "You do know that you put the power buttons within my sight every time you upgrade it. I've been throwing stuff at it ever since I figured out it was the power source. It's only a ghost shield after all. I keep telling you but you never listen." She humored him.

"You're just like your father, childish and resourceful." Skulker said in annoyance more than anything. He was just starting to get feeling back in his fingers. Lilith perked up at this statement.

"Hey Skulker, do you think you could tell me about my parents? What they were like and all that." She asked.

"What brought this about? I've told you everything I know." He said, stretching his arms out.

"No not about that, just their personalities. What they were like? What did they do to just hang out together?" Lilith asked again.

"I don't know." Skulker said in his annoyed tone. "I presume they were like any other normal humans." He paused for a moment. "I knew you were going to be like this."

"Huh, what do you mean?' Lilith asked, as Skulker got up. He was still a little sore, but the effects had worn off enough so he could move.

"I mean when you got older, Whelp, I knew you were going to be like this, asking all these questions. Remember, I only kept you for one reason."

"I know." She replied sadly with a hint of disappointment. They'd had this talk before.

"Your father disappeared out of thin air. No one knew where he had gone." Lilith was silent as she let Skulker talk while they walked back to the house. "I can only presume that your mother and her friend were killed since I found you next to the portal hiding behind the cabinets."

"You've told me all that before. But who could have done all of that? Do you think that it's all connected with my dad's disappearance and all?"

"Yes." Skulker thought to himself, although he would never tell her that.

"Skulker, what's wrong? You're spacing out, that's not like you." Lilith said as they entered the house.

"Do you have homework to do?" He asked. Lilith shook her head. "Then it's time to go back in your cage. I have some things I need to take care of." He said. Lilith groaned.

"Do I have to?" She whined. "I told Box Lunch I'd hang out after I got out of school. And I'd really like to be able to hang out with some of the human kids after school sometime."

"I don't care, just as long as you come back here every day. No late night parties. No romantic relationships. We've discussed this before. You can't afford to get too attached. We agreed four years and that's it." Skulker told her sitting on the large couch in the living room.

Lilith looked around nervously. Even after ten years, this room still sent chills up her spine. Knowing her father could have been one of those unfortunate beings on that wall didn't help either. "Why can't I live a normal life? I've barely had a chance to get used to being human. I was human first, ghost second. Why do I have to live in reverse of that?" She questioned. She knew the answer and almost took it all back because she didn't want to hear it again.

"Because I am not your parent, Whelp!" He almost exploded. "I am the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. You are my replacement specimen when your father became unobtainable. That is the one and only reason I kept you. I continue to keep you alive because you help me hone my skills as my other prey can't do that."

Lilith lay sprawled out on the floor. She had heard this a thousand times and it never felt good to hear it. "Are you sure that's the only reason? Wasn't I cute or something? Did you feel sorry for me at all?" She asked with pleading eyes. "I don't care what the other reason is, I just want there to be one."

Skulker sighed. He hated this. Initially the fact that she was the Whelp's daughter was the only reason. If he couldn't have the Ghost-child, she was the next best thing. But he had to admit he'd grown fond of her. After ten years it was hard not to.

"Come here, Child." He said. He never called Lilith by her name. A habit as he had always thought of her as his pet. A habit he would probably never break.

Lilith quietly sat next to him on the couch. "I'm just sick of being the only one." She said sadly and almost in tears, hugging Skulker's metal body suit. There was no need to clarify what she meant by 'the only one'.

"Look, you know I'm not good at saying these things, but you're used to it by now." He said, talking her arms off of him. He didn't do hugs. Especially from a being he was supposed to be keeping behind bars. "You're the ultimate prize for a hunter such as myself. I may care for the wrong reason in your eyes, but I don't want to see any harm come to you…unless it is myself inflicting it." He added the last part as almost an afterthought.

Lilith nodded in understanding. "I know." She smiled despite everything. "But you know I wouldn't trade my life with anyone. I mean, when I was little I would have never been able to hide my powers for long, especially since I don't have any living relatives. I was really lucky when you found me."

If Lilith had been watching she would have noticed the slightest twinge of guilt in Skulker's face. He looked about to say something for about a millisecond, but then decided against it.

There was silence as the two watched the fire with their own thoughts. "You mentioned you and the Pest were going to do something?" Box Lunch's dislike for Skulker was mutual.

Lilith perked up again. "Yeah! Yesterday Box Lunch said she found this great house to haunt for a night. We were going to check it out."

"Go." Was all he said before she was out the door. She quickly yelled back a 'see you later' as the door slammed. She really was something else. Horribly optimistic that girl was, though Skulker was just fine with that so long as she didn't run away…again. He grimaced as he thought back to that particular incident. He'd never thought too much of it. She had only been seven years old.

Within moments of her departure Skulker received a familiar phone call. "Skulker here." He said. A picture of another ghost appeared on his wrist screen. His vampire teeth showed as he smiled.

"Ah, just the ghost I wanted to see. I wanted to thank you for retrieving the objects in question for me." Skulker winced. He knew exactly why Plasmius wanted those objects. The eldest half-ghost's agenda had not changed at all.

"Glad I could help." He said. Plasmius hadn't called just to say thank you. Skulker really didn't want to know why, so he kept the conversation simple.

"Well, I'm a very busy man as you know. I do lead two lives after all and Daniel gets rather ornery when I leave him by himself for too long." He grinned. "I'll be keeping in touch." His face vanished.

Skulker narrowed his eyes. "It's better this way." He thought out loud. "Plasmius gets what he wants and I get what I want. He can't have what he does not know exists." Skulker sighed. He knew what he had to do; he just didn't want to do it.

Meanwhile, his charge was off doing what teenage girls did best. Talk.

"Beware!" Lilith jumped as Box Lunch came out from behind a door.

"Don't do that!" Lilith yelled, knowing it was futile.

Box Lunch laughed. "So, are you coming? There's a group of tourists at the place I found. It's perfect to unleash my home-baked cookies of doom!" Acting on her childish impulses at the moment and partly mocking her parents. She was constantly trying to avoid being just like them, but found it almost impossible to add a 'beware' or a 'doom' in almost everything she said.

Lilith dragged her friend off. "I think you need to get some better catchphrases." She said.

"So how was school?" Box Lunch smirked. "Meet any guys?" She said slyly.

Lilith blushed when she thought about Ted and Cam, but mostly about Ted. "Of…of course I did! Half of the school is male!" She blabbed.

Box Lunch rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean and it looks to me like you did! Come on, what's he like?"

"But…I'm not allowed to have a boyfriend. It's pointless, don't even tempt me." Lilith said disappointed as Box Lunch opened the door they were headed towards.

Box Lunch thought for a moment then put a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "You know…what Skulker doesn't know can't hurt him…"

Lilith panicked, shaking her head furiously to bring home the point. "You're not serious, are you? If anyone found out, I'd be dead! Skulker would skin me alive! I'm not kidding about that either!"

"Look, I'm just saying that you need this. More than you think. You were born human and you need human companions. Just me isn't going to cut it. Bucket-head can't stop you." Box Lunch said plainly. She was getting a little tired of trying to convince her best friend that her current living situation was not what she was meant for.

"It doesn't matter. This is way too fast. It's probably just a phase I'm going through. I'm sure all it is, is a petty little crush. I'll get over it." Lilith assured her.

"Oh, Dipstick Jr. has a crush? This I have to hear about." Said a new voice as the ghost soon materializing in front of the two girls.

"It's nothing, Ember. It was my first day at high school. I just met a cool group of kids and two of them happen to be guys." Lilith defended.

"Tell me more." Ember prompted, grinning evilly.

Lilith rolled her eyes, but Box Lunch was settling down and looking for a good story as well. "Traitor" She said under her breath.

But before she could start another voice interrupted her. Lilith sighed in relief for just a second before she realized who it was.

A ghost in a white suit was floating with the three girls, with his nose in a giant book. "Hmm, loitering next to a human world portal…" He said, and then closed the book and looked at them. "I think that's against the rules."

"Walker!" The three shouted at once, all very annoyed.

Ember was the first to speak after that. "Look Warden -boy, I don't think sitting around and talking is in this dumb book." She said as she took it away from him and paged through it carelessly.

"Stealing the Warden's possessions does happen to be in this 'dumb book'." He said, taking it back. "Are you and I going to have a problem?"

Ember rolled her eyes, but only to let Box Lunch and Lilith see. The two younger girls snickered. Walker had only put Ember behind bars once and it had been a laughable experience throughout the Ghost Zone. She had tried to put on a concert for the other prisoners and several mosh pits had started up as a result. Even though it had been decidedly against the rules, Walker let her go mostly because he hated rock music and partly because it was causing a distraction to his work.

"Fine, I'll see you next week Warden-boy. You've got quite a large number of my fan base in that prison of yours and I have to keep my fans happy." She said as she disappeared. Walker growled in annoyance. He decided to take it out on the two remaining kids, who had stopped laughing when they saw the look he was giving them.

"I presume this belongs to you?" Walker asked Skulker as he pointed down at a very unhappy Lilith.

"I know the way home. You didn't have to bring me all the way here." She pouted.

"Don't talk back Punk, it's against the rules." Lilith growled and clenched her fists. Dropping her on the doormat, he left.

"You're lucky he didn't throw you in prison, Whelp. That's what the…?" Skulker said, walking back into the lair.

Lilith ignored him to a point. "The twenty-fourth time this year. I'm going to bed." She said simply as she changed back into her human form for the night. "I have school tomorrow. I can't let something like this get under my skin. Even if Walker is a jerk."

She walked over to her dresser and proceeded to put on her pajamas. After that she climbed into bed and set her alarm for tomorrow morning. Snuggling in, she shut her eyes. A few feet away she heard the familiar hum of the ectoplasmic cage being turned on and the lights off.

"Good night." She said just loud enough. She didn't receive an answer. Not that she was expecting one.

She rolled over to one side and sighed. It was at times like this Lilith almost wished she had a normal family. But it was the one thing she knew she could never have.

She fell asleep not noticing her teary eyes.

A/N: braces herself I did warn you all that it was a clichéd plot…

I had a tough time with this chapter, mostly trying my hardest to keep Skulker in character. To some extent it was easy in others hard.

Now raise your hands honestly. Who hates Skulker with a burning passion now? Trust me this is nothing compared to what's going to happen next.

The main point to this chapter was not that Danny is alive. (Yes, that's what that line meant) The main point of this chapter was to make irony from the quote of the chapter. That and he is the most likely candidate for taking Lilith in when you really think about it.

A big thank you to my reviewers. You all rock, seriously. I've never gotten that many reviews for one chapter before. Thanks to Blue, dannynsam4ever, KHFREAK14, dessyweird51, DP fan and Pterodactyl. Since I'm a broke college student I have nothing to give you but all the love and thanks in the world.

I should tell you all that I'm almost done typing this story. I have half a chapter and an epilogue to do. And boy oh boy are you going get an epilogue…I just have to struggle with the end of chapter 12 first. But even though I'm almost done, if you guys have ideas to add or toss around I will consider them. Who knows, they may make it into the epilogue.

Oh, and most stuff you wanted to know is in my bio. Take a peak at it. Yami-chan and I have tons more fics on there too; we've both been at it since 2001. I was in Jr. High…next year I won't even be a teenager anymore…man I'm old…

I guess I'll update about once a week if that's okay with you guys. That'll give me just enough time to finish the story.

Until next time,

Unrealistic :-)