Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. I would never dream of making money off his work, this is but one fanatic's homage. So please don't sic the rabid lawyer hordes upon me, there's not much for them to sue out of me.

Author's Note: Well, this chapter was a lot less emotionally draining for me to write. I actually had about a page and a half of it written, when I realized the way it was going wasn't working, and scrapped it to start over. I'm much more pleased with the rewrite. Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter 2: Vanished Just Like a Ghost

"Change is what the world awaits

Could that be peace or war?

The answer no one knows

Trusting the break of dawn"

-"Beyond the Bounds" - ZOE: The Second Runner

Three days later, I was unconscious on the couch from exhaustion. I had only stopped home long enough to get some dinner, but three days of stress and worry and no sleep had taken their toll. I'd dropped off despite my stomach-turning desperation to find Danny, and didn't wake up until sometime the next day. My dad was sitting in a chair nearby when I awoke, his expression concerned.

"Valerie, we've done all we can. I'm sure the police can find him." My dad had filed a missing person's report with the police department when I told him Danny had gone missing, but I knew that the APPD had no chance of finding him. After all, how can you find what you can't see?

"I've gotta keep trying to find him." I protested as I dragged myself upright, stretching arms and legs stiff from all the extra exercise of the past three days. I'd skipped school despite my already sinking grades, skipped work, and all so I could scour Amity Park from top to bottom trying to find the ghost-boy. No, trying to find my friend. In addition to my worry, I was also kicking myself mentally. How could I have not realized sooner? Danny Fenton. Danny Phantom. Really, why hadn't the whole town figured it out? How could his own PARENTS not have realized it?

"Valerie, I know you care about Danny, but you're running yourself ragged. This isn't healthy." My dad persisted.

Neither is chasing off your best friend when he needs you the most. I mentally retorted. "I can't just leave him out there by himself! What if something terrible happens because he's all alone and upset?"

My dad sighed and relented. I guess he knew that he couldn't talk me from my course of action, and that pulling parental rank on me would have only caused friction in the household. This was something I needed to do, but I couldn't tell him the whole reason why. All he knew was that Danny had run away and that I was worried sick about him. I didn't tell him that, by the way, Danny's the ghost-kid and I tried to kill him. I wasn't sure what I was going to do about that information.

Obviously Sam and Tucker had known from the start- it was now no wonder they both had grown so wary of me. After all, I had only sworn complete revenge on their best friend. The more I thought about it, the worse I felt. Danny had obviously known I was the red-clad hunter, and despite this, he still cultivated a friendship with me. That alone spoke volumes about his character, that he could forgive something like that. I don't think I could be so kind to someone who was trying to kill me. Which was all the more reason I had to find him. I had to make amends, I had to try and apologize for what I'd done.

As soon as I left the apartment, I made tracks for the distinct FentonWorks building. I could have flown on my jet sled, but if Danny was hiding from me, I figured he would be less likely to show himself if he saw me in my hunter outfit. For someone new to the area, the FentonWorks building with its giant bulbous contraption perched precariously on the roof would have looked ominous, or at least unnerving. To me, it was just another familiar part of the skyline, another landmark. And apparently deserted.

I walked up to the door, surprised that absolutely none of the lights were on, with the sole exception of the aircraft warning light at the very top. Usually the upper reaches of the building were bathed in a faint green glow from whatever contraptions were in that giant dome. But now the building was completely silent. I found that alone more unnerving than the thought of what would happen to that command center thing on top in an earthquake. The place just seemed dead, devoid of the usual chaos that surrounded it.

"Danny?" I banged on the door. "Danny, if you're there, open up! We need to talk!"

I paused in my pounding to listen for any sound from inside, while discreetly checking my some of my ghost hunting gear. I heard nothing, and the small ghost radar in my pocket remained quiet. Either Danny was keeping real quiet and not using any ghost abilities, or the place was, in fact, empty. I sighed and stepped back from the front door. I'd been past Danny's house several times in my efforts to find him, but the results were the same- only silence. I crept into the alleyway behind the house and activated my jet sled so I could get a look inside the upper windows.

It was eerie, how normal things looked through the windows. Clutter in the kitchen and living room, half-finished inventions lying on the table, just waiting for Jack or Maddie Fenton to return and complete them. A tray of cookies sitting covered on the counter. A backpack, either Danny's or Jazz's, set carelessly on the floor, a few sheets of paper peeking out. Jazz's bedroom looked impeccable through the window, her desk neatly organized, a few posters on the walls. Then I peered into Danny's bedroom window, and the illusion of normalcy was gone. Instead of the expected clutter, the room was barren. A bed, a desk, and a bookshelf, all void of anything that would have identified the room as belonging to Danny. Gone were the posters of outer space and rocketships, the neglected piles of laundry, the odd assortment of chrome and green gadgets that seemed to pervade the Fenton household. Danny was clearly no longer living in the lonely house.

I felt my stomach clench up as the implications of that empty room hit me. He truly had run away. But to where? Was he alright? Would I be able to even find him now? I had to, I had to if I wanted to set things right between us. But he was gone, vanished into thin air like a ghost, and leaving no sign of his passing. Like a ghost... I smacked myself in the forehead as another unsettling thought hit me. What if he ran off into the Ghost Zone? What if he's hiding there, scared and alone, in that freaky ghost dimension? He only happens to have easy access to it in his basement!

But if I wanted to try and look for him there, I first needed access to the Fenton Portal. I didn't like the thought, but breaking into the house wouldn't be all that difficult. The hard part would be trying to find one reclusive ghost-boy in that creepy world. My knowledge of ghosts was still limited, I had no idea where I would have to begin looking, or how I would even navigate in there without getting hopelessly lost. I could clearly remember my first trip into that world, when that big hunter ghost Danny called Skulker dragged the both of us to his domain so he could hunt us like sport animals. I didn't remember how we got back, but I remembered well enough just how vast that place was. Presumably Danny was more familiar with it than I was.

My radar beeped at me while I contemplated my options, and my heart jumped in my chest as I fumbled for the device, thinking maybe it had picked up on Danny. Before I could check it though, I heard the distinctive sound from behind and above of an energy weapon firing, and dovetailed my sled midair to dodge the shot and face my attacker, weapon instinctively in hand.

"The ghost-child is my prey, girl." The ghost growled, pointing some weapon mounted on his armor at me. "Though I'll gladly hunt you as well."

I scowled at the big ghost, recognizing the power armor, green flaming mohawk, and steely grin of the self-described 'Ghost Zone's greatest hunter', while leveling my own gun at him. "He's not here, creep."

That caught the hunter up short, as his confident smirk turned to a momentarily confused frown. "Impossible, this is his natural habitat... he has to be here somewhere."

"I've been lookin' for him for three days now. If I haven't been able to find him, he's not here." I snapped, a new idea starting to turn over in my head as I stared down the brute. Maybe if this situation could be defused before we started exchanging blows, I could use the hunter to my own ends. After all, he normally resided in the Ghost Zone, right? Part of me recoiled mentally at the thought of working with a ghost, but I fought that hostile instinct down. Finding Danny took priority, no matter what I had to do to find him. "See for yourself." I gestured with the hand not holding a gun at Danny's window. "Nada."

The ghost looked between me and the window for a moment before he flew past me. I idly wondered why a ghost needed a jetpack to fly while I kept him in my sights. To my annoyance, I watched him phase through the wall and land inside Danny's room, surveying it with an assortment of contraptions that flicked open out of his armor. For an instant, the ghost resembled a giant killer Swiss Army knife. Annoyed, I rapped on the window, standing on my jet sled with one hand on my hip. Apparently he heard me, because one massive arm phased through the wall, caught hold of my shoulder, and hauled me right through the window before I could even yelp with surprise. For the record, being intangible and passing through solid glass and brick is a most decidedly peculiar feeling. Which would probably explain why I stumbled when he dropped me inside the room.

"You could have just opened the window." I muttered as I got back to my feet.

So there we were- one red-clad ghost hunter and one big heavily armed ghost standing in the middle of a deserted bedroom in an abandoned house. An awkward silence fell over the already quiet room- obviously the ghost was considering the implications of Danny's absence. Never mind that we still had our weapons armed and ready.

"Well, this is awkward." The ghost declared finally.

Before he could return to his earlier thought about hunting me, I decided now was as good a time as ever to speak up. "Look, he ran off and I haven't seen him for days now. I think maybe he's hiding in the Ghost Zone."

"Why would he hide there?" The ghost obviously hadn't heard about what had happened to his 'prey'.

"Because I chased him off, ghost." I hissed, still kicking myself for having chased Danny away. "But if you're the ghost world's greatest hunter, I'm sure you could track him down there, right?"

The appeal to his ego seemed to work as he cracked one of those wicked smiles. "And why are you telling me this, whelp?"

I contemplated my next words carefully. "I want a piece of the action." I managed to sound more hostile about Danny than the worry I truly felt. "After all, we're after the same prey. All I ask is when you find him, take him alive and bring him here. I just want to have a few words with him. After that, he's all yours."

I silently prayed that the ghost would fall for my act. If he did capture Danny and bring him back, I did want to have some words with him. Just not the words the ghost was probably thinking of. I wasn't as skilled in treachery as, say, Paulina, but I had fallen from the 'popular' clique. A certain degree of manipulating people was required just to stay in that hierarchy. I just hoped it would be enough to fool this gun-toting ghost.

He contemplated my request for a long moment. "Once I have the ghost-child's pelt decorating my hearth, I was going to hunt another formidable prey." I saw him eyeing me and managed not to cringe at the pelt remark or the fact we both knew full well I was that other prey.

"Well, the ghost-kid-" I managed to put just enough sneer and disdain in my tone. "-probably won't put up much of a fight now. He was badly injured when he got away from me. I doubt he's recovered. This deal won't have any impact on our 'business' after that."

Well, it wasn't a total lie. I just didn't specify that the wounds were psychological and not physical. The idea that I had possibly mortally wounded his intended target seemed to impress the ghost, and he seemed to particularly like the offering that my price for helping him was limited only to that one hunt, and he would be free to hunt me afterward. Given what I'd said about Danny's condition, he was probably thinking I was the more desirable prey anyway.

"You make a strange offer, girl." The ghost raised one eyebrow, studying me. I managed a reasonable glare in response.

"I just want to finish my business with the ghost-kid. Anything after that, I couldn't care less about." I crossed my arms, glaring at the ghost, daring him to question my intentions. "If you want to hunt me after that, fine! We'll see if you're that great a hunter."

I inwardly heaved a sigh of relief when that last stab at the ghost's ego seemed to convince him. "Fine, whelp. I would hunt you now, but I swore first to have the ghost-child's head. You have a deal. When I catch him, I will bring him here and skin him when you're done. After that, I look forward to hunting my next prey." The ghost disappeared through the floor, and I ran downstairs, nearly tripping as I ran to the basement. The ghost was gone by the time I got downstairs, the only light in the Fentons' lab coming from the portal, which was wide open.

"Great, Valerie. You just made a deal with a spook who wants to mount Danny's head like a trophy." I muttered to myself. Well, between my weapons and Danny's powers, when the ghost brought him in, we could probably overpower the ghost and force that walking arsenal back through the portal.

I sighed and let myself out the back door of the house, heading back home. There was little point in my continued searching now. Danny was either in the Ghost Zone, or had left town. Either way, I would only waste my time searching Amity Park. I had to just keep my eyes open and hope that ghost could find him where I couldn't.

The days took on a tiring routine after that. I returned to school and to work, but was too distracted to be very effective. And I was losing a lot more sleep. See, the Fenton Portal was still active. Ghosts were coming through it regularly. I never realized just how often this was happening until Danny was gone- obviously through his efforts, very few of the ghost attacks were much noticed. Without Danny Phantom there to stop the ghosts, the task fell to me completely. For about two weeks, it was the "masked hunter" and not "the ghost-boy" all over the news. I could only marvel and wonder at how Danny had managed to keep a secret identity, fight ghosts, and try to have a social life while keeping his grades out of the toilet.

I was over at FentonWorks daily, having discreetly pried open a window in that command center atop the building, waiting in the lab for that ghost to return. Usually, this time was spent doing homework or looking through the various gadgets in the lab. Most of the equipment I received from Mr. Masters were weapons or tracking devices. Guns, blades, ghost detectors, and so on. The Fentons' had built plenty of those, but they also had built gadgets I couldn't begin to identify. What was that chrome and green device for that resembled some sort of eggbeater? And why was there a medieval torture device down there? What about the incomplete gizmo that looked like some sort of gun with a toggle switch and the options "Cram" and "Uncram" on it?

My worry didn't decrease as the daily grind of school, work, ghost-hunting, and waiting in the lab became routine. If anything, my concern only grew. I knew I looked like a nervous wreck. Between my worries and the ghosts, I wasn't sleeping much. Thankfully, my dad didn't decide to try and curtail my ghost hunting. Amity Park was becoming sharply aware that the ghost-boy who was alternatively reviled as a villain and hailed as a hero was no longer present, and somebody had to stop the ghosts coming through the portal. If anything, my dad began to take a real interest in my hobby, asking me about my equipment and how it worked, how to locate a ghost and the best ways to stop it. I didn't realize at the time, but that interest would ultimately save my life.

I was on my way over to FentonWorks after school that day. The day that would mark the beginning of the nightmare, and forever change my life.

I saw him standing in the street before the building, and stopped dead in my tracks. His appearance was different- he looked a lot paler, his outfit was different. But he was familiar enough, and I recognized the distinctive emblem on his chest. He looked over when I started running, blissfully unaware then of what was coming, knowing only joy and indescribable relief in that instant, that my friend had returned home, returned to me, and I would be able to put things right between us.

"DANNY!"