Thanks go to mystery writer5775, Thunderstorm101, Wapeci, ghostanimal, and Feathertail1021 for reviewing.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is not mine. Ghostbusters is not mine.


Always a Way Out

". . . Let's just say that something bad happened and I didn't want to talk about it." He said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh!" said Jack. "Okay, Danny! Maybe you can tell us after we go ghost hunting together! You can be my sidekick."

Danny found himself smiling. He'd usually dread that comment, but if his dad could say that, then maybe there was a chance that he could go home, if they could only convince his mom . . . "Uh, thanks dad."

Egon frowned. "It looks like you're not so innocent, Phantom."

Danny sighed. "Oh no, not you too!" He cradled his hands in his head and softly said to himself, "I hate my life."


Sam sat at the mall, frustrated. She had to help Danny, but there was no way that she could do so with bodyguards watching every move she made. Sam had been in the watch of various men who would shoot anything even slightly suspicious that they saw within thirty feet of her for. It had been almost thirty hours since her mother had hired them, denying Sam privacy.

There had to be some way out of this, she told herself. If only she could give them the slip, but there was no where she could go that they couldn't.

The Guys in White were startled when Sam's face and eyes suddenly lit up. A plan had come to her. There was no place she could go that they couldn't - except for the girls' bathroom! There was an unusually large air vent in the bathroom at the music store, she could squeeze in it and escape. She knew the idea was childish, but it was the only plan she had.

She stretched and strolled off, with the GIW on her tail. Her bodyguards exchanged glances, she hadn't shown much interest in the things around her since she finally given up on trying to run away from them the day before. "Where are you going?" one of the agents demanded.

"I feel like shopping, don't you?" She said airily.

"I'll never understand girls," the other agent said as they walked through the doorway of the mini-store. Sam led them over to the new releases and pretended to decide between two CDs. Sam picked up a Humpty Dumpty disc and skimmed through the back of the case.

"Oh, I don't think I've ever heard these songs before," she lied, knowing that she had received one of the first copies legally made. She put the disc aside to examine songs by another one of her favorite music groups, My Parents Reek. "But then again, I've been waiting for these to be available for a month."

She looked at the prices. "Fifteen dollars each? Why did I carry only twenty dollars on me today? Now I have to choose!"

The taller agent leaned sideways and whispered to his partner, "Do you think we'll be out of here anytime before we trade of with the Masters Blasters?"

"No, and if you ask me, I think the Masters Blasters should have been discontinued when their employer failed to stop the Disasteriod."

Sam suddenly put down the CDs she was holding and sprinted toward the bathroom. The Guys in White looked annoyed at being unable to keep a close eye on their charge. They leaned against the wall on either side of the door and waited.


"Mom, please," Danny begged, "I know I messed up a few times, but I was only trying to help."

Maddie grimaced. "I don't see how doing any of the things I accused you of earlier was 'helping'," she said.

"I already told you. I didn't do them on purpose! Those were accidents! For most of them I was either framed or controlled anyway!"

"Uh-huh, sure." Peter rolled his eyes. His voice was dripping in his usual sarcasm.

"I believe him," Jack admitted. "If he was evil, then why did he save the world? Or save Amity Park from the Ghost King? And why did he stop all those ghosts from hurting humans?"

"Do you think that he would want to eliminate everyone, leaving no one for him to terrorize? Jack, he's a ghost, he must have done it for his own selfish reasons!"

Jack pouted. "But what would be his selfish reasons for stopping other ghosts from hurting people? It's not like he was going around saying 'boo!'"

The conversation was going no where. Danny decided it was time to intervene. "Mom?" He asked. "Couldn't you give me the benefit of the doubt? Just for a little while?"