A/N: Here we go with the next chapter! Danny knows about Magatamas because he's met Maya and Phoenix ("The Phantom Turnabout," and "Turnabout to Revenge"). Danny sleeps shirtless now, by the way. He still wears PJ pants though.

…

Chapter Two: First Contact

The sun carefully peeked through the curtains, into the one bedroom apartment, and onto the faces of a sleeping couple. Danny Fenton groaned softly, burying his face into his girlfriend's back to block out the sun. Sam Manson, on the other hand, sighed, turning her head slightly to face her sleeping boyfriend. It being seven in the morning, and her not being a morning person, her words came out in more of a growl then she intended.

"Danny, wake up."

"No…" he mumbled, burrowing more into her. Sam sighed, hating the fact that she had to wake him up. After all, he spent three hours last night chasing down a stupid ghost cat that was wrecking havoc, and sending it back to the Ghost Zone.

"Danny, you have to," she said, moving away from the ghost boy and shaking his arm. One crystal blue eye opened and looked at her reproachfully.

"Why…" he mumbled.

"You have that training session with the police, remember?" she said. Danny groaned, closing his eyes for a moment, before sitting up. That's when Sam noticed the scratches on his chest and arms. "The ghost cat?" she asked. Danny nodded, standing and stretching his arms high above his head. Sam shook her head, admiring his muscular body for a few moments, before Danny disappeared into the bathroom. She then got up herself, picked a mostly black outfit out for the day, and slipped into the kitchen to make breakfast for Danny before he left.

Right after graduation, Danny and Sam decided to move in together. They found a one bedroom apartment, paid for by Sam's fortune, and have been living there for the last year. Sam worked at Amity Park's Arboretum, while Danny trained the law enforcement's new recruits all in ghost hunting.

"I feel like the training sessions are getting earlier and earlier," Danny said as he came out, fully dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt, towel drying his hair. Sam smiled down at the frying pan where she was making scrambled tofu eggs and pancakes. She also had avocado cut up on a plate, ready to be served with breakfast.

"No, you're just becoming less and less a morning person," she said. Danny was quiet for a moment, watching her.

"I blame you."

"What!?"

"You're night-owlishness is rubbing off on me," he said, letting the towel drop to his shoulder and going over, kissing her cheek. Sam rolled her purple eyes.

"Oh whatever," she playfully snapped, pulling down plates. "I still get up a lot easier then you do."

"Only when I tell you to go home and get sleep, rather then running around Amity with me in the middle of the night."

"Even then, I did. I'm just more responsible."

The two continued to playfully bicker as Sam set the two plates down on the table. Danny shook his head at the 'eggs.' Since they've moved in together, when he cooked, he'd cook both meat and tofu, though he understood why Sam didn't. Instead, he grabbed the ketchup and smothered the mock eggs before eating them.

Protein was protein, after all.

Once he finished, he kissed Sam's cheek, grabbed his bag, and left for work.

Flying, it didn't take him long at all to reach the Police Academy, where he instantly went to the training course. There, he found the recruits milling around. With a smirk, he turned invisible and landed among them. A few stiffened, quickly looking around. Other's didn't notice at all. Making note of them, Danny flew to the front.

"Alright, guys," he started, staying invisible. Everyone jumped, their heads snapping towards the source of the voice. "We're going to try something new. You won't always have ghost detection equipment, or sometimes, it'll malfunction. You need to be able to sense a ghost when he's amongst you." He turned visible. "Usually, the temperature will suddenly drop about ten degrees when a ghost is nearby. You need to be able to feel this with your body. In order to train you with this, I'm going to turn invisible and move. In thirty seconds, try to find me."

"Yes, sir!" the officers chorused. Danny smiled, nodded, and turned invisible once more.

Three hours of invisible hide and go seek later, the officers were finally starting to understand how to feel for the temperature differences. It was almost like playing a literal game of reverse hotter-colder.

"Good, guys, good," Danny said, clapping for them once they were all clustered around him. He turned visible once more. "Johnston can tell you what it's like to walk through an intangible ghost as well," he added with a grin at the shivering recruit. The man simply smiled back sheepishly.

"Alright, now—" Danny cut off as a chill shot up his spine, and his next puff of breath was visible. By now, the recruits knew exactly what that meant. "Take lunch!" he announced, going ghosts and shooting up through the ceiling. It only took him a few seconds of looking around for the ghost before he pinpointed it's location and flew head long towards the park.

As he grew closer, another, more subtle chill shot up his spine. He went cross-eyed for a moment, searching for his visible breath, but it never came.

"A Magatama?" he wondered out loud.

BOOM!

He didn't have time to think. He shot towards the park, pouring on as much speed as he could, until finally, he saw what was going on.

A ghost was attacking the archeology dig that was in progress in the park. Five people were in the center of it all, although only one was conscious.

Luke dropped down next to his knees next to his father, who had been knocked unconscious from that last blast. They had been steadily working their way through the soil, sifting out each of the arrowheads and labeling them, when the ghost had suddenly attacked. That last blast should have hit him as well, but for reason, he was unharmed.

He began to wonder if it had to do with the Magatama. Right before the ghost showed up, and at each blast, it grew hot against the skin on his chest.

"Hey, hater of history! Pick on someone in your own league!" Danny yelled at the ghost, causing Luke to look up. The ghost also turned to Danny, whose heart nearly stopped.

For a moment, he thought he was looking at Freakshow. This ghost had the same, sickly white pale skin (paler then most ghosts), glowing red eyes, and thin face.

Another look assured Danny that his initial thoughts were false. This ghost had pointed ears, a flat nose, and was wearing a long cloak rather then the Circus Gothica ringmaster uniform.

The ghost stared at Danny for a moment, a scowl crossing his face.

"Insolent Halfling. You should be bowing before one of a higher station then yourself," he sneered.

"Um… right. You're funny," Danny replied, blasting the ghost away from the archeologists. Luke couldn't help himself: he watched the unfolding battle in horrid fascination.

The ghost quickly recovered from the blast and flew towards Danny, who met him head on, grappling with him.

"How dare you oppose one of your masters, Halfling?" the ghost growled.

"Seriously, dude, I don't even understand what you're saying," Danny replied. His eyes flashed an icy blue, the green around his hands turning the same color. Ice began to creep up the other ghost's arms. Once it reached his shoulders, Danny let go and kicked off from the ghost's stomach, sending him flying back. He then noticed Luke.

"Run! Get out of here!" he yelled.

"I can't just leave them, or the dig!" Luke called back, motioning to his unconscious companions. Danny quickly looked at them with a frown, understanding where he was coming from. "WATCH OUT!" Luke suddenly yelled. Danny whirled around in time to get tackled by the ghost, who had freed himself from the ice while Danny had been distracted. He struggled with the ghost as the two of them slammed into the ground, Danny hitting it first.

"UGH!" he cried out. "Get off of me, creep!" he yelled, lashing out with an ecto-covered fist and punching the ghost right in the jaw. He lurched back in pain, and Danny managed to free himself, flying back up. "Ow…" he muttered, rubbing his bruised shoulder. The ghost wasn't finished though, and flew up to grab Danny once more.

This time, Danny was unprepared. The ghost latched onto his ankle and flew up high before spinning like a top. Danny tried to free himself, but was quickly getting dizzy.

Suddenly, the ghost let go, flinging Danny right at the ground.

"No!" Luke gasped, watching as the famed Halfa rocketed towards the fresh dirt of the dig. Somehow, in his dizzy state, Danny still had the presence of mind to go intangible. Both Luke and the ghost waited, but he didn't come back up. Finally, the ghost turned towards Luke.

"Give me the band, so that I might put an end to this battle," he growled. Luke instinctually grabbed his bag.

"What!?" he gasped.

"Give it to me! NOW!" the ghost roared, diving towards the young archaeologist. Luke looked around frantically, searching for something, anything, when suddenly, he spotted something silver and green. Diving towards it, he saw that it was a thermos with a green F on the side. Desperate, he rolled onto his back, opened the cap, and wished for the best.

Thankfully, the best happened. A flash of light shot out of the thermos and enveloped the ghost diving right at Luke. It quickly sucked him into the thermos, which Luke quickly closed, his chest heaving and his heart racing with adrenaline.

Once he calmed his body, Luke quickly rose to his feet, putting the thermos in his bag, and looked between his companions and the spot where Danny Phantom had disappeared.

First: Move everyone to the tent.

It took a lot of time and effort, but he finally managed to move Loudon, Eric, Gregory, and his father back to the tent. He searched them over for injuries and took care of the ones he found.

Second: Search for Danny Phantom.

He returned to the spot where the Halfa had disappeared, searching and waiting for him to come back out of the ground.

"Squeak squeak?" Squeak poked his head from Luke's pocket, looking up at him.

"I need to make sure he's okay. After all, a true gentleman always helps someone in need," Luke explained, putting a hand to the brim of his hat and looking around. "I just… don't know where he's at," he finished lamely with a sigh.

"Hey! You there!" a voice suddenly barked. Luke jumped slightly, turning towards the source. Striding towards him were two men, one white, one African American, both bald in white suits and sunglasses.

"Excuse me, but this is an archeologist dig. Authorized personnel only," Luke said, walking over to them. The one in front, the white one, held up a badge.

"The Guys in White. I am Operative K, and my partner is Operative O. Our Paranormal Detection Equipment picked up ghost activity from this area," he said.

"The… Guys in White?" Luke asked, casting a suspicious eye over their snow white suits. He then looked into K's face and saw a very dangerous look, causing him to shiver slightly. It reminded him of… something. He couldn't place his finger on it though. "Well… either way, you're too late. Danny Phantom took care of the ghost," Luke found himself saying without even thinking.

Truth be told, the ghost took care of Danny Phantom, who was still missing. Somehow, though, Luke knew that would be the wrong thing to say. Even if a true gentleman never lied.

Both men glanced at each other before looking around the dig. O had some kind of machine out, inspecting the dirt with it, while K moved closer, almost in a threatening way, to Luke.

"What are you searching for out here?" he demanded. Luke watched both of them carefully.

"Native Americans," he answered. The two Operatives shared a look, one that was not lost on Luke.

And suddenly, he realized who they reminded him of.

Targent.

"Nothing else?" K pressed, moving even closer to the boy.

"Nothing," Luke said, suddenly knowing it would be a very, very bad idea if they knew about the Venrin. "Now, if you don't excuse me, I need to finish making sure nothing is damaged before I continue seeing to my colleagues. They were injured in the ghost attack."

"We would like to search the area," K said, talking over him at the end. Luke took a deep breath and drew himself up to full height.

"Out of the question," he said.

"What?" both men spluttered together.

"This is currently private property, leased to Gressensheller University, and you two don't have a warrant. Not only that, but there are countless fragile artifacts in the tent and ground right now, and I don't need you to clumsily break something," Luke asserted, putting as much authority in his voice as he could manage. Then men glanced at each other once more, anger smoldering in their eyes, before looking back at Luke.

"Fine. We will come back with a warrant at another time," K said as O packed up his device. Both men moved away from the dig, while Luke held his ground, watching them go.

He didn't miss the glances they threw back at him either.

…

The first thing Danny noticed when he came to was how heavy his body felt. It was like it had been drained of energy.

Then, as he forced his tired eyelids open, he noticed that it was dark out. And that he was in the park. He could feel something vibrating against his leg. Mustering the energy, somehow, he moved his lead filled arm to his pocket and pulled out his phone. He then clicked the answer button and put it against his ear.

"Ssello?" he slurred.

"…Danny…?" Sam asked on the other end of the line. Danny wearily eyed the trees above him wondering if he could even find the energy to sit up. "Danny, where are you? What happened?"

"Ssapark…" Danny muttered, his eyes drifting closed. "Sser… wuzaghos…"

Danny's eyes snapped open as though he'd been electrocuted.

"Ghost, what ghost?" Sam demanded. Danny tried to push himself up, finally succeeded after the third time, and slumped forward.

"I… I don't…" he forced his words to come out clearer, but he couldn't for the life of him remember what happened after he was thrown into the ground. Even looking around, he recognized he was no where near the archeology dig.

"Danny, are you okay?" Sam demanded.

"I… don't know…" Danny finally answered. He then tried to push himself up to a standing position, but the world spun, forcing him to lay back with a groan.

He then realized that the only other time he's ever felt like this was when his ectoenergy was totally depleted. To test this, he tried going ghost.

The ring appeared, popped, then fizzled away, and his head swam, prompting him to move his left hand up to his head.

Once his vision cleared, he saw something on this wrist that wasn't there before. A silver band with ghostly green ruins around it.

"Danny!" a voice he dreaded hearing yelled. He groaned, but turned his head sluggishly in time to see his parents running over.

"Mom and Dad are here…" he muttered to Sam.

"Before you give me any grief, you've been missing since noon. It is now three in the morning," Sam answered defensively, before sighing. "I'll meet you at Fenton Works." With that, she hung up.

Maddie ran over to her son, sliding carefully down into the crater he laid in. To her expert eyes, he wasn't injured, but exhausted. She knelt by his head, carefully pulling it into his lap. "Danny, sweetie? Are you okay?" she demanded. Danny smiled slightly.

"Yeah… tired… Ectoenergy is… depleted," he forced out, making a true effort not to sound drunk. Maddie nodded in understanding.

"Which is why our detection equipment wasn't picking you up," she said, as though she just solved a puzzle. Danny simply smiled apologetically.

"Son, what happened?" Jack asked, bending over him. Danny's brows furrowed in confusion.

"I… don't know," he admitted, before trying to tug the band off of his left wrist. It stuck to him like glue. "But… I can't…" he held up his arm for his parents to see. They glanced at each other before both trying. The results stayed the same.

"I know what will get that off!" Jack suddenly boomed, whipping something that looked like a cross between a hacksaw and an ax, coated in glow in the dark paint, from behind his back. "The Fenton Ghostly Hacksaw!"

Danny's eyes widened at the contraption, and he held his arm against his chest as tightly as his weakened body would allow.

"Jack, put the hacksaw away. We're not going to cut Danny's hand off," Maddie scolded, before standing and suddenly picking Danny up over her shoulders as though she were carrying a wounded soldier from the battlefield.

"Whoa…" Danny muttered, surprised his mom was still strong enough to do so.

"Aw…" Jack sighed, sounding genuinely disappointed as he put the Hacksaw away and followed after his wife.

…

A/N: And we've come to the end of another chapter! Those Assholes in Whi—I mean Guys in White. Just what are they up to? And what's going to happen to Luke? And what's going on with Danny? AND WHERE DOES JACK KEEP THESE INVENTIONS!?