Chapter 26: The Job

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period and the start of lunch, Danielle's favorite period of the day for obvious reasons. Having a majority of her traits coming from her father, Danielle had an appetite that could give any of the boys in her class a run for their money. But today, stuffing her face was the last thing she was thinking about.

After their little run in with the A-Listers earlier, Danielle's day had been going great. When she got to class, she got many shocked looks when she was seen not only walking in with, but talking with Darren. The only person who wasn't surprised was Lin who had walked in right behind them and tried to pay them no attention as she sat in her seat, but as the period went on, she couldn't help but continuously glance at the two who paid no attention to the lesson her mother was teaching. Lin never really liked Darren. She wasn't sure if it was because he acted so much superior then everyone, like he was better, or if it was the fact that he was part of the Renegades, but whatever it was, she didn't like him.

Mrs. Otree had also noticed the two, and though she had heard about the Renegades as well as Darren's involvement, the boy's grades contradicted everything that was being said about them. Where many said that they were delinquents who caused trouble and such, Darren was a model student, always showing up to school on time, always having his homework done and his grades were impeccable. He, along with a few other students, were on the honor roll constantly, showing that he was one of the few who were different than the others who fell into that crowd. Darren also had a reputation for helping tutor others kids who were having problems, and rarely got into trouble. Of course with his attitude and academic records, he was often let off for any trouble he caused.

Unbeknownst to many, Darren's main job in the Renegades was to keep up the front that they weren't as bad as they were. Darren had always been a smart child, something he and his parents had always prided themselves in. But like most, he was subjected to ridicule by those of a lower aptitude, and thus, became one of the many subjected to the daily beatings and teasing of the football team and the popular kids. Darren had always used his knowledge to try to hide his more personal emotions, and would often say things that they could not understand when they had hurt his feelings, which of course would lead to more beatings. The day he joined the Renegades was the first time in a long time he felt safe again. They taught him how to fight, how to defend himself from, and for once, he felt like the predator instead of the prey. And he loved every moment of it.

After a few months, Ray had approached him with a task, one that Darren could take on easily with little to no effort. He was asked to help anyone who was falling behind in school. It was a simple request, one that he would do without any objection, but Darren couldn't help the curiosity as to why he was being asked to do such a job.

"We need to stay out of the public eye in a negative way," Ray said. "I know for a fact that a lot of these knuckle heads have let their grades slip since they started rebelling a little and going on as they please."

Darren understood. They wanted to cover up some of the things that they did that people didn't like by doing things that they did. Simple cancelation of opinion, and Darren knew he could do this with ease. He was going to pull a wool over everyone's eyes, and nobody would be the wiser.

Gathering her books, Danielle turned back to Darren who already had his books in hand and was standing, waiting for her.

"You ready, Darren?" Danielle asked as she stood up as well.

"Yes, I am. We need to meet up with Amanda and Cassandra so we should get going," he replied, adjusting his glasses. Danielle nodded her head and made her way toward the door but stopped as someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning, both came face to face with Lin who had an uncomfortable look on her face. Darren of course knew why she looked uncomfortable as many kids acted that why once they were in the presence of the Renegades, but he paid almost no attention to any of it anymore. "Well, it looks as though Lindsey has something she wishes to say, Danielle." Lin flinched at the accusatory tone in his voice. Darren was making it blatantly obvious that he was mocking her and that she was not welcome, but Lin felt as if there was something that she needed to say.

"Danielle, can I speak to you," she said quietly before eying Darren. "Alone." Darren was unaffected by her words, and turned to Danielle who looked very hesitant.

"I shall meet you outside the cafeteria with Amanda and Cassandra. Please do not dawdle, Danielle," he said, walking pass the two girls and out the door, leaving the two of them alone in the room. Danielle would have been surprised that her teacher wasn't still in the room had she not been standing in an awkward silence with her ex-best friend. Danielle stood, books in hand, while Lin nervously played with her hair, a habit that Danielle knew she did often.

"Listen, Danielle, I don't think you should-"

"And let me stop you right there, Lin," Danielle said, "because I can tell you right now, I don't care what you think anymore." The stunned look on Lin's face made it very clear that she was not expecting that kind of response from Danielle.

"What?"

"After you ditched me yesterday at my locker, after you watched everyone laugh and make fun of me, after you watched people throw things at me and sneer and make fun of me, you think that you have any right or say as to who I hang out with? You think I care about your opinion? Well I can tell you, I don't."

"Danielle…do you not realize what that shield on your wristband means?" Lin said, completely thrown off.

"It might mean something else to you, but to me, it means trust. Protection. Friendship," Danielle said, narrowing her eyes which made Lin shrink back a little under her gaze.

"Look, I know what I did yesterday probably wasn't the definition of friendship-"

"Gee, really? I probably picked up on that somewhere between being called a freak while balling my eyes out looking at you turn your back down the hall way, and watching you look at everyone throwing spitballs into my hair."

"But…I'm just trying to look out for you, Danielle," she said, her voice rising a little at the constant berating of her actions. Lin could see that Danielle's anger was rising slightly as well, and couldn't help the small amount of fear that ran up her spine regardless of the fact that she knew Danielle couldn't use her powers.

"Yeah, right. If you call leaving me in a pool of social anxiety to drown, then yes, thank you for looking out for me, Lindsey!" Danielle exclaimed, marching toward the door. As she reached the threshold, she turned around, nostrils flaring. "Why don't you just do us both a favor and mind your own damn business!"

"Fine! I was just trying to help, but suite yourself, you brat!" Lin shouted as Danielle stormed out of the room and into the hallway, ignoring the strange looks she received from the few people who had probably heard the exchange. Making a quick stop at her locker, she deposited her book, slamming the metal door as her anger continued to boil and grumbling obscenities that probably get her grounded for a year if her parents had heard and three years if her grandmother had. As she came to the entrance to the cafeteria, Danielle found the others, waiting for her.

"Yo, Dani, what kept you?" Mandy said as she leaned against the wall.

"Something," Danielle said, still simmering.

"Based on the flaring of your nostrils and the slight flush on your face, I am guessing that your chat with Lindsey did not go as well as you had thought it would, yes?" Darren said as he closed the book he was reading.

"No, it didn't. She had the nerve to try and tell me that I shouldn't be hanging out with you guys and that she's just looking out for me," Danielle said, narrowing her eyes. "I mean, where does she get the gall to try and tell me who I can and can't hang out with and try to act like she still cares about me, after what happened yesterday."

"You want us to take care of her?" Mandy asked, brushing some of her dyed locks out of her face.

"No, she's not even worth it. I already told her off, and she's not the type to cause trouble like that. Let's just go eat our lunch," she said walking up to the door.

"If you say so," Darren said as he turned his head and lightly tapped Cassie on the head with his book. "Get up, Cassandra. Danielle's here so we can eat now."

"Finally. I'm starving," she said as she stretched her tired limbs and stood up with a smile on her face. The four walked into the cafeteria with their lunches in hand as they walked toward the corner of the room and took the vacant table reserved specifically for them. Danielle sat down, Darren taking the seat next to her while Mandy and Cassie sat across from them.

As they began to eat and chat lightly, Danielle kept her gaze down, only looking up to glare at Lin and Jordan as they came into the room. Lin caught her glare, narrowing her own eyes before the two disappeared to sit at their usual table out of Danielle's line of site. Mandy had caught the look Danielle had sent the two as well as the upset look on her face as she quietly ate. After about ten minutes, Mandy had had it with the girl's silent act.

"Ok, Ghosty, enough of the sad, kicked puppy look," Mandy said.

"Oh god, can we not say things like that? I have a dog, and I couldn't imagine someone trying to kick him," Danielle groaned as a visual of some kicking her cute little green Cujo ran through her mind. "Though, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be able to kick him without losing a limb…and Ghosty?"

"Nickname I came up with. Anyway, we need to get you out of this funk that you're in. After school, we're going to do something fun and you're going to have a good time, or so help me, I'll kick your tiny butt from here to across town and back."

"Do you always have to use violence to get someone to do something, Amanda?" Darren asked, placing his sandwich down to wipe his mouth.

"Only when I'm trying to make a point. Like how I've told you if you call me by my full name again I'd kick you in the balls til you became a girl," she said, crumpling her chip bag.

"But then you wouldn't have a boyfriend, Mandy," Cassie said causally, while Danielle coughed, choking as water went down the wrong pipe.

"You guys are dating!?" she cried in astonishment. "You don't even act like you're together! You barely even act like you can stand each other!"

"What can I say," Mandy said with a shrug of her shoulders as she grabbed Darren's hand and squeezed it. "Nerd's are hot."

"What I think she means to say is that, yes we are together," Darren said. "Couples occur in the organization more often than people think as it is hard to find someone outside of the group who is ok with dating someone in the Renegades. Not to mention, often times those who do get their significant other to join as well. Mandy and I became a couple not long after I joined. She was told to teach me self-defense, and one thing led to another."

"Wow….that's….really weird because I swear that I cannot see the two of you dating and watching you hold hands is just confusing me even more," Danielle said just as her phone vibrated in her skirt pocket. Pulling the small device from her pocket, she found a text message from her mother saying that they were all heading to the Nasty Burger after school for a bite to eat and hang out. Danielle quickly replied to the message and turned back to her friends. "Anyway, I can't do after school. I'm meeting with my family. I can get away later though after dinner."

"Perfect. Meet us in the park after dinner tonight."

"What are we doing?"

"That's a surprise," Cassie said with a sing-songy voice and a smile that matched Mandy's. Danielle looked at Darren who also had a small smile on his face. Danielle could feel the uneasy jump in her stomach at their smiles, but nodded her head in agreement.

As Danielle flew high above the city, she couldn't help feeling anxious to meet up with the others, especially after the fiasco of a day she had after school.

As planned, she met up with her parents, aunt and uncle at the Nasty Burger. She was surprised to see Valerie had come with them, though it was a pleasant surprise on her part. As they all sat around, talking and just enjoying each other's company, both her parent's ghost sense went off as well as Valerie's ghost detector. No sooner had that happened did none other than Skulker shown up with another one of his catches, a giant monster with tentacles, to challenge the three and to "Take the Whelp's pelt". Danielle was excited since she hadn't gotten to do any real fighting in so long, but was quickly reminded that she was still wearing her Spector Deflector and no one there had a spare key to it. With a heavy sigh, she was sent home with her aunt, watching her family fight without her in the rearview mirror as they got further and further away.

Once she had gotten home, she made a dash to her Dad's computer so she could play some Doomed and vent some of her frustration, but then Jazz decided to intervene at that time.

"Danielle, you know the rules in this house: No video games until your homework's done. Besides, it's not like the game's going anywhere."

Danielle groaned as she dragged her backpack to her room and spent three hours doing various subjects of work. Somewhere doing the time, she had heard her parents return and everyone brag about how the battle had gone. Danielle was definitely not happy listening to the others talking about it, but ignored them in favor of getting her work done faster.

Upon completion, Danielle slammed her book closed and went straight to the computer to login, only for find out that the server had been taken down for maintenance not even five minutes before hand and would be down until an undetermined amount of time. As she stared awestruck and disappointedly at the screen, she remembered Tucker mentioning something about it a few weeks again, advising them all to play before it went down. Danielle felt the urge to scream, but instead decided that slamming her head on the desk repeatedly would suffice.

As soon as she was called down to dinner, she practically scarfed her food down like she hadn't ever eaten before. Everyone stared at the girl as she finished her entire plate without so much as a complaint or disgusted face as she ate her vegetables, bread and meat. Grabbing her drink, she quickly chugged it down before anyone could even mention that she should slow down. As her glass came back down onto the table and her hand wiped her mouth, Danielle turned to her parents and asked if she could be excused to go out for some flying. Seeing that the girl was in such a hurry worried everyone, but they figured she just really wanted to go flying to clear her head and allowed her to.

Now, high above the city, Danielle was beginning to think that maybe she should have taken a bit more time eat her food as her stomach groaned in protest, its own way of saying "I told you so". Holding down both the nausea and the small bit of pain, Danielle landed on the soft grass of the park and transformed back to normal as she walked toward her friends who were waiting for her, all wearing black hoodies with the blue shield on the front and sunglasses on their faces.

"Hey, guys," she said as she walked up to them, a hand on her stomach.

"You ok, Dani?" Cassie asked. "You look a little sick."

"Yeah, I'm-" Danielle paused before a loud belch flew from her mouth. Danielle stood there, hands over her mouth and cheeks bright red in embarrassment. Normally, she had no problem with being rude and belching, but that was only when doing it in the comfort of her home. Looking at her friends stunned faces, Danielle didn't know what to say. Mandy cracked a huge smile before they all started laughing, much to Danielle's relief.

"Nice one, Dani," Mandy said, wiping away a tear from her eye. "Now, onto business. Tonight, we are going to be doing something extra fun. We are going Marking."

"Marking? Um, what exactly is that?"

"Marking is the term used in the group to signify the act of leaving the mark of the Renegades on properties not owned by us. Some people like to think of it as vandalism while others in the group like to think of it as a creative way to express ourselves. To put it short, we are going to be spray painting a building," Darren explained.

"What? Oh, guys, I don't know about this," Danielle said hesitantly. "I mean, I knew that the group did this on the regular, but I don't think I can."

"Why not?" Cassie asked.

"If I get caught, that would be the end of me. I'm supposed to be a protector of Amity Park. My parents are crime-fighters, and if they found out I went around tagging places, they would kill me. Those rumors about being grounded and banished to the Ghost Zone, those aren't just rumors. They really would send me away to be punished, and I can tell you right now, it is way worse than being sent to military school. Not to mention that their best friend, my godfather, is the mayor of the town. And if word got out that I was doing that, who knows what would happen. The media would eat it up, and that's definitely something that I should not be involved with."

"Awe, come on, Dani! It'll be so much fun! And we swear you won't get caught!" Cassie whined.

"Sorry guys, but you're gonna have to count me out," Danielle said, turning and starting to walk away.

"Well, looks like it's just the three of us going to Dalv Co. guys," Mandy said. Danielle suddenly stopped in her tracks at the mention of her former father's company. They were going to be vandalizing his property? Now that changed everything.

"Did you just say Dalv Co.? The company owned by former billionaire and mega fruitloop, Vlad Masters?" she asked, a cheeky smile on her face.

Mandy smiled as she recognized the smile on Danielle's face. She had held that same smile on numerous occasions, and understood that it meant she was up to something devious.

"Why yes, Dani, that Dalv Co. But I'm sure that that wouldn't make any difference since you made it very clear that you can't join us," she said, smiling at Danielle who smiled back.

"You know, on second thought, maybe I could stick around and…learn the ropes a bit. After all, what's life without a little risk, right?" She said with a smile as her eyes flashed green. Mandy nodded her head, pulling off her backpack as Cassie squealed and Darren nodded him head. Mandy opened her bag and pulled out a black hoodie, gloves and a pair of black sunglasses that she handed to Danielle. As Danielle pulled the hooded jacket over her head, she wasn't surprised to find their shield on the front. As she slipped the gloves on then the glasses, she tilted them back onto her face, muttering, "Revenge is a dish best served to a fruitloop."

The thirty minute walk from the park to the Dalv Co. building was spent with the others informing Danielle of how the act of Marking was to go down. There were a few rules, but they were important none the less. The first and most important rule was, of course, to not get caught. Getting caught was something you didn't need to do, and Danielle didn't need to be reminded that she couldn't get caught. The next rule was that if someone were to get caught, rescue them if possible. Leaving someone behind was not something that should be done, but if necessary, do so.

The next rule was if you were caught, never to spill any information whatsoever. No giving out names of anyone who was with you. No telling them where to find the Renegades. No telling them why you were there. Playing innocent, scared children was always the go to plan.

After that, the only real rules that involved Marking were that they had to spray paint at least one shield each with the symbol. After that, you were free to do anything that you pleased. When asked why, the other simply stated "Those are the rules" to which Danielle decided it probably wasn't that important anyway.

As they approached the fence, they each pulled the hoods of their jackets up over their head to cover up any recognizable features. Once they were sure that the coast was clear, they each scaled the fence, one at a time starting with Mandy who was quickly followed by Danielle, then Darren and finally Cassie, who was a little less then graceful as she fell on her butt. The other's rolled their eyes, and headed toward the building, but paused as Danielle stuck her hand out and silently pointed to a camera mounted on the wall.

Placing a finger to her mouth, Danielle vanished before her friends eyes and quickly levitated up to the camera, disabling it as well as the others around the building. The other three looked for her, and were all surprised when she reappeared right before their eyes.

"The cameras are knocked out, which means that the guards are going to be trying to figure out what's wrong with them. Meaning there's a good chance that they're going to be coming out here to look for whatever or whoever knocked the cameras out," Danielle explained.

"Meaning that we have to move quickly," Darren said, receiving a nod from Danielle.

"Then let's stop talking and let's get spraying," Mandy said, as she handed everyone a can of blue spray paint. "Danielle and I will start on the back wall. You two start on the opposite sides."

Everyone nodded and headed for the building. Danielle followed Mandy to the back of the large metallic building. Giving their cans a vigorous shake, both girls pulled the tops off and began to spray the blue paint as it flew from the aerosol cans. Danielle paid little attention to the paint that smeared over her gloves as she focused on finishing the eye patch of here symbol.

"Nice work, Dani," Mandy said, before turning back to the wall and spray painting "M.B. Blue Badass" on the wall. Danielle rolled her eyes behind her glasses, turning back to the wall and spray painting "Fruitloop" onto it with a smile. "Do I even want to know?" Mandy asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Inside joke. Now-" Danielle paused as her enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of booted feet and jingling keys. Danielle swore under her breath as she grabbed Mandy's hand, causing her to drop her can of paint. "The guards are coming." Turning her head, Danielle looked for a place to hide, but found that there was nothing but fence behind them. "Crap! We don't have time for this!" Turning, she placed a hand over Mandy's mouth as a confused look crossed her face. Danielle focused, turning both herself and Mandy invisible. As the tingling sensation ran over her, Mandy looked on in amazement as her body vanished from site. "I know, weird, freaky, all that jazz, but right now we need to keep quit."

No sooner had Danielle finished speaking did the guards come around the corner, night sticks and flashlights in hand. Danielle's eyes grew wide as she gazed at the man in front of her that she instantly recognized as Damon Grey, Valerie's father. Along with two other men, Damon examined the wall of still freshly sprayed paint with his flashlight as he read the writing.

"Looks like they got away," Damon said, stepping on the can that had been dropped. "Search the perimeter for any more of them." With that command, the men dispersed. Danielle waited for a few seconds to be sure that the coast was clear before dropping her invisibility and removing her hand from Mandy's mouth. Danielle groaned, smacking herself in the head.

"I can't believe I forgot that her Dad was a guard here," she said. "We need to get out of here, now."

"Agreed. Let's get Cassie and Darren, and get out of here, fast!" Mandy said. Both girls quickly ran around the building, following the guards path so as to stay behind them. As they came around the corner, they were surprised to see Darren and Cassie as they slipped out of a vent and onto a pipe near the building.

"What were you guys doing in a vent!?" Danielle whisper yelled, looking around for anyone or anything that could have seen them.

"We heard the guards coming so we hid in the vent to keep from being seen!" Cassie whispered back. The moment was interrupted as a siren rang out, startling them all and causing their heartbeats to race in panic.

"I believe that now would be an excellent time to beat a hasty retreat," Darren said. The girls nodded their heads.

"Everyone, grab hands," Danielle instructed. Darren and Cassie looked at Danielle in confusion, but as they watched Mandy do so and hold out her hand without hesitation, they quickly grabbed each other's hands. Danielle focused, pouring both her invisibility and intangibility into the other three. Danielle felt as the others shivered a little at the tingling sensation, letting her know that they were complete gone from sight. Knowing she couldn't keep this up for too long, Danielle pulled her friends along and ran straight for the fence. "Everybody hang on, and don't let go, no matter what!" Danielle could fell the fear and tension as Mandy grasped her hand tighter as they came to the fence, but she ignored it, charging head first past the metallic barrier as if it weren't even there. She didn't stop as she yanked her friends along who all squeaked or gasped at the sensation as they passed the fence.

Once they were all clear, Danielle dropped the intangibility so that she could be sure that they were invisible as they ran away, Dalv Co. disappearing into the distance behind them.

Once they were a good distance away, Danielle dropped the cloak and everyone stopped to catch their breath. Danielle huffed as she fell onto her back on the ground, her friends dropping to the ground in exhaustion next to her.

"That was way too close," Danielle said, pulling her glasses off and staring into the star filled sky.

"I'll say. I don't know what that siren was, but it's a good thing you got us outta there. Nice thinking, Ghosty," Mandy said.

"And that invisible thing and the way you made it so we can run through the fence was so cool!" Cassie cheered.

"Yes, that was a very intriguing experience to say the least," Darren said as he pulled his normal glassed from his pocket, wiped them off and put them on. "Though I could have done just fine without the near heart attack toward the end."

Danielle simply nodded her head in agreement before the sound of her phone beeping caught her attention. She let out a groan as she sat up and pulled it out of her pocket to see the alarm she had set to remind her to get home on time so she wouldn't miss curfew. Everyone stared at her in confusion as she got to her feet.

"Sorry guys, but I gotta get going or else I'll miss my curfew," she said as a white ring appeared around her waist.

"Understood. Have a pleasant evening, Danielle," Darren said.

"Later, Dani," Cassie said, waving enthusiastically.

"You did good for your first time Marking, Dani. Hope we can count on you again," Mandy said with a grin.

Danielle smiled back and gave a small wave before taking off into the air. As she glided high over the city, Danielle couldn't help the smile that was brought to her face. Sure, what she had done wasn't a good thing. In fact if anyone in her family found out what she had been up to, she would be in serious trouble. But to say she didn't have a good time would be a lie. The adrenaline rush she got when they hid from the guards. The feeling of the can as she painted the wall. The beating of her heart in her throat as she raced away from the loud sirens around the building. It was all so thrilling. Especially the thought that she could have gotten caught at any moment. By Valerie's father, no less. On the one hand, if she had been caught by him, he probably wouldn't have called the police on her. Though, on that same hand, if he had caught her, he would have definitely called her family, and that would be so much worse than going to jail. But like she had said earlier, what was life without risk?

With a smile and a nod of her head, Danielle agreed that she was definitely going to be doing that again.

As the young ghost girl vanished into the night, Mandy turned to Darren with a twisted smile. "So, did you get it?"

"Of course I got it, Amanda. Those sirens were not just going off for show," Darren said, pulling a small computer chip from his pocket. Mandy smiled as she took the chip from him and then, without even looking back at him, punched low, hitting him in the groin. Darren groaned in pain as he fell over, grasping his injured boyhood to try to relieve the pain. Mandy examined their prize for a moment before leaning down and kissing Darren on the head.

"Good job. I'm sure Ray will be happy with this. If it's really as valuable as he says, holding this thing for ransom will pay off. And I warned you about the name, babe."

"Awe, poor Darren," Cassie said, giggling at his discomfort. Crawling over to him, she gently patted him on the head. "Do you think we should have at least told Dani about the chip?"

"Yes, poor me indeed," Darren said. "And telling Danielle about the chip would have been counterproductive to the reason we came here, Cassandra."

"Darren's right, Cas," Mandy said, putting the chip away with a grin still on her face. "The less she knows for now, the better."