A/N: I apologize profusely for not having updated sooner. I had been trying to edit chapter 16 when my computer crashed.

I had no other means of updating my stories, although I did keep a journal where I continued writing in hopes that I'd eventually be able to update.

That shit was like the end of my world.

Here's chapter 17 at long last!

Divulgence

Danny had been heading home from patrol when it happened.

His ghost sense went off.

He had been flying over what looked like a business building.

It was a tall, magnificent rectangular prism that rose several feet up in the air with what seemed like millions of windows lining the walls.

A simple sign with elegant font read 'ES Law Firm.'

Interest piqued and cynicism nagging at him, Danny veered toward the building, pulling out his intangibility to enter.

Surprisingly, no alarms went off. Lately, several businesses and homes had been installing ghost alarms or defense systems.

It was odd, but Danny wasn't surprised. Even some people didn't believe in ghosts, despite being residents of the most haunted city in America.

Danny quickly scoped out the interior, working his way from the bottom floor to the top.

Nothing but a large, fancy lobby; ordinary desks in cubicles; empty, silent bathrooms; and a kitchen filled with everything workers would need for meals.

Then he reached the top floor.

The unbelievably large office was extravagant compared to the rest the building.

Pricy paintings hung from the wall. Long windows revealed a stunning view of the city.

A bookshelf leaned against one end of the room, a large desk on the other.

The desk was relatively empty, save for a stack of papers and a picture frame.

Danny picked it up and peered down at the image of an aqua-eyed teenager holding a dark-haired toddler.

Danny's eyes widened as he pulled his gaze up away from the image.

He recognized the people in the image. He had entered Ernesto Sanchez's office.

He held up an ecto-ball, casting an eerie green light on the room.

He looked back to the bookshelf.

Volumes of books and more picture frames were neatly stacked.

He took a few steps forward, knowing he would easily recognize the people in the images.

One photograph was of a ten-year-old Paulina and a younger Ernesto both smiling at the camera. The other was of Stephanie and Ernesto. The image showed Stephanie kicking a soccer ball and her stepfather in mid-jog.

Danny moved forward, curious to further study the images.

He froze when a ghost emerged from behind the bookshelf.

It was humanoid and the hourglass body figure clearly revealed it to be a woman.

Its black body seemed solid but, upon closer inspection, Danny could see it was almost cloud-like.

Her long hair curled and waved around her, much like it would if she were in water.

There was a box in her hand: wooden and small; its golden lock twinkled eerily under the green light.

The shadow creature's red eyes locked in on Danny.

The form seemed to solidify, allowing her features to become more discernible.

He watched, dumbfounded, as a small nose and lips began to take shape.

Danny pushed back the confusion. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Danny demanded.

The ghost smiled, revealing a set of piercing fangs. When she spoke, her voice echoed across the room. The voice was deep, seductive.

"Taking what I want."

Danny recovered. "Oh," he cleared his throat. "You can't do that. That's stealing. It's wrong."

The shadow ghost grinned. "Good thing I don't care for morality."

"I'm not letting you walk out of here with that. It's not yours."

"It's cute that you think you can stop me." The ghost placed her hands on her hips.

Her feet lifted from the ground and floated up.

Before he could react, she flew out the building with incredible speed. Danny followed suit.

They flew out into the night sky. A few rays of dark purple light was already disappearing in the horizon as the sun finally faded from view.

With her midnight colored form, the woman was almost undetectable.

Danny struggled to keep her in his line of vision.

She was incredibly fast, but, much to Danny's relief, he was much faster. The teen managed to catch up to her in less than a minute.

Danny reached out and curled his fingers around her spectral tail, yanking her back with as much strength as he could.

She was completely solid now, which made it much easier for him to take the offensive.

He spun her around and released her.

The woman spun a few times, clearly disoriented by the sudden change in direction.

He raised his hands. The power surged from his core and manifested itself into crackling green energy at his palms.

The boy pushed the energy forward. Twin beams flew at his opponent.

She moved to dodge it but wasn't quick enough. His blast hit her shoulder.

The female screeched in anger, cradling the box as if it were the most valuable thing in the world.

Danny hesitated.

Her awkward movements and slow reflexes indicated inexperience. Danny presumed she hadn't been a ghost very long.

Probably a nascent ghost.

"You're not really good at this whole fighting thing," Danny pointed out.

The woman ignored him and phased her hands through the box. "New ghost?" He queried.

She pulled out a small pouch and held it up in the air, triumphantly.

"I may not be adjusted to this new form, but battle isn't all about brute strength."

She tossed the pouch.

The pouch hit his face. The fabric opened the moment it made contact with his skin.

The piece of burgundy cloth dropped down to the earth, leaving behind whatever powder had been contained inside the pouch on his face.

The powder burned like acid on his skin.

The distraction proved to be advantageous to his opponent.

When he reopened his eyes, he caught sight of the woman gaping at her hands.

Bronze coloring had taken over what was once her semi-solid black form. Her body was rapidly transforming itself into something more human.

A black suit, tan skin, blood red lips, high cheek bones, and long black lashes.

The word Mediterranean popped into his mind.

Her red eyes snapped up to him, emanating fury with a hint of desperation.

Her white fangs flashed dangerously.

She screeched and raised her palms to face him. They glowed red.

Danny defensively raised his own glowing green palms.

Their blasts met in the middle.

Danny struggled to put more energy into his blast, but the burning had spread to the rest of his body.

It felt like his inside were slowly being poured acid.

The blast sent the two adversaries sailing in the opposite direction.

The sensation of gravity rapidly pulled him toward the ground vaguely registered in his mind.

He fought to stay afloat, despite the burning he felt inside.

He didn't know how long he spent free-falling; unconsciousness was threatening to consume him.

He was about to simply let go and surrender to gravity when the sound of his name was tossed into the air, pulling him away from the darkness that was rapidly drowning his mind.

With arduous effort, he managed to push against gravity, simultaneously angling his body to the sound of her voice.

He managed several more pushes against the earth before his powers failed him completely.

His stomach collided against something hard.

He was airborne for a few milliseconds then his back hit the ground.

A few more collisions with the ground occurred before he stayed there.

The world was spinning. The hybrid was utterly disoriented, consumed by the intense burning that consumed him wholly.

His throat was raw and in more anguish than the rest of his body, disabling him from screaming out the pain.

A face appeared above him.

Somewhere in the back of his muddled mind, he realized that he had to tell her what had happened.

What he had seen.

"Paulina," he managed to rasp out. His voice was hoarse. "I heard your voice."

She said something, but he didn't hear as what felt like a wave of electricity shot through his muscles.

His throat contracted, cutting off his air supply.

He struggled to breath but his body was out of his control. All he felt was pain.

What seemed like long hours passed before his airways opened up just enough for him to cough.

He sucked in the precious night air.

Danny peered up at the beautiful face of the girl that had stolen his heart. "I fell. I heard your voice."

Another wave of electricity coursed throughout his body.

It was worse than any external injury he had ever experienced.

The pain flared within, consuming him.

He had to tell Paulina about the ghost.

His throat constricted again.

The pain threw him into oblivion.

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

"It's a family thing. Precedent in the women, a few men Practice. Mom taught me before the divorce, then she went all psycho."

"So, who else knows?"

Sam was curled up in a cushioned rolling chair by Paulina's desk. She lazily spun the chair clockwise, then counterclockwise, making half circles.

The Goth lifted her attention from the booklet in her hands, which had a shortened version of Wiccan history.

"About me being a witch?" Paulina sighed, turning a page of her Crafts book.

The Latina had pulled a chair up beside her bed where Danny was resting.

She had placed her book near Danny's hand.

"The people on my mother's side of the family know. And my dad and my sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister." Sam blinked, surprised.

"Yeah. She's only five, but she's pretty intelligent and understands that these things are confidential."

"So, basically, only your family knows." Sam deduced.

"No. Not just my family. Danny knows, too."

"Danny knows?"

"And Star and Valerie," Paulina added.

"Valerie?" Sam's eyes bulged out. Her incredulity was evident.

Sam hesitated and managed to somewhat recompose herself. "She didn't...oh," The Goth bit her lip. "I don't know...say, try to maybe hunt you down for being a supernatural creature...or something like that?"

Paulina straightened up.

Was it possible Sam knew about Valerie's dual identity? After all, Valerie had assured her that only Damien Gray knew her Red Huntress secret.

"What are you implying?" Paulina queried, skeptically.

Danny chose that moment to groan, snapping the girls' attention to him.

Paulina leapt to her feet, grasping his cool hands in hers.

"Danny?" She muttered, lightly brushing her fingers across his cheek. "Are you awake?"

The teen turned his head, leaning into her touch.

His blue eyes opened to meet her gaze, and a small smile lit up his face.

"Paulina," he muttered with a sigh.

She smiled brilliantly. "Glad to see you're okay."

"So am I." Sam announced, pulling the couple out of their trance. Sam jabbed her finger towards Paulina. "If it wasn't for this chick, who knows what would've happened?"

"What did happen, anyways?" Danny queried, propping himself up into a sitting position.

"Not sure." Paulina admitted. "We saw you fighting someone. There was a blast and you fell practically at our feet."

"And it looks like you had blood blossoms in your system," Sam continued.

Paulina nodded. "I recognized the powder on your face from a recipe in my Crafts book. A mixture of blood blossoms and herbs that's lethal to ghosts. I performed a sort of a healing spell to counter the effects."

"You saved my life," Danny grinned at Paulina, sending her heart fluttering with joy. The moment was short-lived as Danny raised his brow at Sam. "You know about Paulina?"

"I know she's a witch. And, apparently, so do Star and Valerie."

"Valerie knows?" Danny's eyes widened.

"Okay," Paulina snapped. She rubbed her temples. "Do you two know something about Valerie that she doesn't know you know?" Paulina folded her arms over her chest.

"That depends," Sam countered. "Do you know something about Valerie that we know but she doesn't know we know about?"

"Okay," Danny sighed. "I think we all just need to get together and have a little..." He paused, searching for the right words, "confession, so to speak."

"Sure, why not?" Sam replied, sarcastically. "Why don't we just tell the whole world our secrets?"

"Sam," Danny began, "with everything that's been going on, it's only logical for us to come together."

"My girls and I would make excellent allies." Paulina pointed out.

Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I guess I'll call Tucker and Jazz."

"I'll call Valerie and Star."

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

"Geez, what the hell happened to him?"

Star was, as expected, the last to arrive and, as usual, she blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.

Paulina had taken the liberty of setting up chairs around the bed, so Danny wouldn't have to get up.

He was clearly fatigued, and she wanted him recuperating for as long as he needed.

"Star!" Paulina snapped.

"Hey," Star placed her hands on her hips. "Excuse me for being curious about why your boyfriend looks so shitty."

The perky blonde made her way over to an empty chair between Valerie and Tucker.

"Gee, thanks." Danny replied sarcastically.

"Alright," Valerie spoke up. She had a scowl on her face. "Anyone wanna tell us what exactly we were all called here for?"

"Sam said we were having a confession session." Tucker announced. He pushed up his glasses, grinning like a fool as Star sat down beside him.

He winked. The blonde rolled her eyes.

"Confession?" Valerie's eyes snapped to Paulina. "Are you sure this is such a good idea?"

"I think it's a good idea." Jazz chirped. She crossed her legs and placed a hand on her knees, looking pretty zealous about the entire situation.

'Figures,' Paulina thought. The redheaded girl was always eager to dig out secrets and psychoanalyze people.

"Look," Sam announced. "We've all learned a few things about each other."

The goth was the only one who had refused to take a seat. "Last night, I discovered Paulina was a witch."

Tucker burst out laughing.

Paulina glared at him and he quickly sobered up. "Sorry. It's just that the news is kind of a shocker." He paused, mulling over the information. "And kind of ironic, if you think about it."

"Sam and Tucker and I also know Valerie's Red Huntress." Danny announced.

Valerie instantly straightened up in her seat. "You what?"

"She's who?" Jazz's eyes bulged, and she peered at the African American girl sitting beside her.

Clearly, Jazz hadn't known.

"We found out that day you caught us making out." Sam informed Valerie.

Jealousy surged through Paulina.

Danny must've noticed her anger because he reached out and took her hand. "Which we only did because Valerie almost caught me."

"Caught you doing what?" Star queried.

"Well, here's the thing..." Danny hesitated, his voice trailing. "Valerie as Red Huntress was chasing me, and trying kill me, and-"

"I wasn't chasing you!" Valerie snapped. "I was chasing-"

She cut herself off midsentence, eyes widening. "Danny Phantom?"

"I'm Danny Phantom." He paused. "And Danny Fenton."

"He's a hybrid," Sam explained to an incredulous Star and Valerie.

Valerie fell back into her chair, taking a moment to let it all sink in.

Star shook her head, eyes widening in wonder. "It actually makes sense." The group's attention went to Star. "It explains why I've been getting those weird vibes off of Fenton."

She earned several quizzical glances. "Oh, I'm psychic," she explained.

"Geez," Tucker muttered in disbelief.

"Okay, lemme get this straight." Jazz placed a hand on her head. "Star's a psychic, Valerie's the Red Huntress, and Paulina's a witch?"

"Get used to it." Tucker replied, as-a-matterly. "Team Phantom just keeps coming across stranger and stranger things."

"Oh, I have so many questions!" Jazz's eyes lit up with a fire that took Paulina aback. "I don't even know where to begin!"

"The questions will have to wait." Danny announced.

"Guys, mind if I speak to Paulina?" He paused, adding, "Alone?"

The group glanced at one another.

Valerie's gaze was locked on Danny. She seemed cynical and analytical.

He, on the other hand, seemed weary.

His sights were set on Paulina.

"Alright. Everyone out." Sam announced, waving her hands for emphasis.

After some grumbling, the rest of the teenagers shuffled out of the room.

Danny's hand squeezed Paulina's hand. She sighed. "Why do I feel like you're gonna be the bearer of bad news."

"Paulina, it's about your father's company."

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

A/N: I apologize for any mistakes. This hasn't been reviewed as thoroughly as I would've liked, but I figured it'd be best to post it up as soon as possible.

Thank you all for your support!