Thanks to penspot, Gerren, EquineLover55, Lexosaurus, and Guest for reviewing the last! I have some Author's Notes at the end!

A solid victory always put Valerie in a good mood. The fight had been short and easy, but she still couldn't help the fuzzy warm feelings of nostalgia washing over her. It would be short lived, however, since she could already see Hayes waiting for her in front of the entrance. As she got closer, she noticed his angry body language.

His thick arms were crossed over a broad chest, and his mouth was set in a deep frown. Valerie dropped to the ground in front on him, board deactivating. She allowed her helmet to pull back and reveal her face fully.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked, crossing her arms and cocking her hip to the side. Hayes simply stared at her for a moment before glancing around the parking lot, presumably checking to make sure there was no one else around. When he was satisfied, he turned his angry gaze on her.

"Who do you think you're working for, Gray?" He asked, voice deceptively calm. Valerie drew back in confusion.

"What?"

Hayes jaw worked as he ground his teeth. "Who. Do. You. Work. For?" He asked again.

"You." She replied, cocking her head. "Look, can you just tell me why you're angry? I handled that fight perfectly." She didn't flinch under his glare, confident in her performance.

"I'm angry," He began, "Because you work for me, but you allowed Phantom to take that ghost."

"Um, yeah. He has a portal and a safe method of putting the ghosts back in." An employee walked towards the entrance from his vehicle, and visibly shrunk as Valerie and Hayes stared him down, waiting for him to enter the building so they could continue their conversation. Hayes watched him walk down the main hall through the glass double doors before turning back to Valerie.

"I expect my agents to at least attempt to bring the ghosts in." He said finally. "It was protocol at the other Guys facilities you worked at, was it not?"

Valerie shrugged. "Well yeah, but there wasn't anyone else there with the ability to contain ghosts, so…" She frowned up at him. "I thought you and Phantom worked together."

Hayes grunted an affirmative. "I realize Phantom is just as interested in protecting the town as any of the rest of us, but the Guys in White aren't just superheroes hoping to gain a little notoriety. We are a research organization as well."

Valerie narrowed her eyes. "I realize. Why haven't you made an agreement with Danny then? After all, his parents are researchers as well. I'm sure he'd understand if you wanted to do some of your own." Somewhere in the back of her mind, a silent alarm triggered at his odd insistence, and she made a mental note to check out the Holding Cells and speak to Danny on the matter.

Hayes turned to enter the building and gestured for Valerie to follow. "He claims his parents already do plenty of research, and offered to share his files on the ghosts we wanted to study."

Valerie nodded and deactivated her suit as they entered. It slid away as she walked, revealing her GiW uniform once again. Hayes scrunched up his nose when he noticed a wrinkle had settled into her suit jacket. "Well there you go. Look, I don't mind bringing in ghosts whenever I catch them, but Phantom is just as capable of taking care of them."

Hayes huffed and stopped in front of the door to his office. "Very well. However," He gave her a steely look, "I must ask that you remember why you were transferred here, Valerie. I'd hate for you to be blindsided by Phantom because you let your fondness over Daniel get the better of you."

Valerie frowned. "They're the same person." She reminded. Hayes froze as he began walking into his office and studied her face, taking in her confused expression.

"Hmmm."

And with that, he disappeared into his office.

Valerie has had goose bumps since her conversation with Hayes that morning. With a sigh, she placed the case in her hand in the "Investigate" pile. These are the cases she would have to return to later in order to figure out which ghost may be behind it. In between the unread and investigate piles was her stack of cases where she was already aware of the perpetrator. She was making a list so she and Danny could round these ghosts up together before moving on to the unknowns.

A glance at her phone revealed that she had about thirty minutes before her lunch break. She smiled. She wouldn't get too much else done in this time anyway, so she might as well go check out the Holding Cells.

Valerie grabbed her phone and folder with her housing information and shoved them both into her bag before leaving her office. Since the Holding Cells were in the east wing, she'd simply have to walk straight across the building. Her phone beeped from within her bag. She paused and dug around in it. She smiled when she saw Danny was calling her.

"Hey." She said upon answering.

"Hey Val. Just wondering what you wanted from Nasty Burger?"

She smirked, though he couldn't see. "Do you mean you don't remember my usual order from the two weeks we dated? Honestly I'm hurt." She froze for a moment when she reached the central hub, mentally groaning at the number of people rushing about. Some wore lab coats or pristine white training jumpsuits, while the great majority were wearing the same white suit as she.

"…I do, actually. Just wanted to be sure you hadn't changed your order." His voice sounded a little embarrassed, and Valerie couldn't help the warm feeling blooming in her chest.

"The usual is fine, you dork." She said, attempting to steer them back towards their normal banter. "Oh, by the way, I may have something of interest to tell you when we get to my place."

"About the Blood Blossoms?" He sounded hopeful. Valerie cringed.

"Uh… Not quite? But I'll check those out, promise."

"OK. I understand you can't be too conspicuous about poking around. The effort means a lot though."

Valerie winced again, knowing full well she could easily check out the Blossoms now. "Right. I'll see you soon."

"Bye." He hung up.

She stared at her phone for a moment before shaking her head and tossing it back in her bag. She knew the flowers were important to him, but she had a feeling about her current mission. She reached the guard check-in. The guard on duty was reclining back in his desk chair, visibly bored as he read an issue of "Popular Mechanics".

"Excuse me," she said, gaining his attention.

"How can I help you?" He asked with a monotone. He glanced up, and suddenly his whole demeanor changed, "Miss Huntress?!" He scrambled to sit up straight and tossed his magazine on the ground. He noticed Valerie's amused face and blushed. "Um, how can I help you?" His fingers waited poised above his keyboard.

"Nothing special," She squinted to read his name tag, "Mr. Nicholls. Just exploring a little. Wanted to see the Cells."

Nicholls grinned, revealing a mouth full of braces. "Oh, you can call me Felix."

"Only if you call me Valerie." She smirked at him, and he blushed.

"Um, yeah, of course," He began typing away at his computer before frowning and looking up at her, "Right, so, it looks like you aren't in the system, and therefore don't have the clearance to go in." He cringed. "Sorry Miss- uh, Valerie."

Valerie bit her lip and looked at the door, forlorn. "Oh man, I really just wanted to have a look around." She looked Felix in his eyes, pouting a little. "Are you certain there's no way I could just have a peek? It wouldn't take any longer than say… ten minutes?"

Felix's ears were bright red. "Um… well, I could maybe grant you very temporary clearance, uh, just this once." He began typing away at his computer before turning in his chair and rolling himself towards the door. Hey scanned his nametag and quickly entered a password on the keypad before rolling back to his desk. "Right, so, that'll only last for an hour, but, uh, just scan your card and it'll let you through."

Valerie grinned. "Thank you so much Felix!" She walked past him and scanned her nametag. The door opened with a hiss.

"Um, I have to take your bag though." Felix said, still staring.

"Of course," Valerie handed her bag to him, "You're the boss!"

Felix blanched at her words before smiling weakly at her, and with a final flirty wave, Valerie walked through the door.

She waited until the door was closed fully before rolling her eyes. It was a little demeaning, but he would be a good friend to have if she wanted to be able to keep an eye on things. She began walking down the hallway, noting that most of the cells were very empty. She was relieved to see this, of course.

As she walked, she noticed a faint glow up ahead as well as a couple of guards. She knew before getting there that this cell had to be occupied. One of the guards stopped her as she got closer.

"Name?"

"Valerie Gray," She showed him her badge, "I'm just passing though. Who is this?" She tried to lean and look past the broad guard and see for herself.

"Careful, ma'am," He said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, "This one's a little chatty, and these ghosts tend to have some very disturbing words for new recruits." He must've noticed the recent issue date of her pass.

Valerie put her hands on her hips. "Cute, but you don't have to worry about me. You ever hear of the Red Huntress?"

The guard gaped at her, but before he could speak, a high pitched chuckle came from the cell.

"Well, what do ya know? Small world."

Valerie recognized the voice, but didn't believe it until she pushed past the guard and saw Skulker, suitless and chained to the wall. "Skulker!?"

The green blob nodded. "The one and only." He took notice of her uniform. "I always had you pegged as an honorable hunter, but I suppose things change."

Valerie narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Um, Miss Gray, you really shouldn't be-"

She silenced the guard with a glare before turning back to the imprisoned ghost. "What do you mean?" She repeated with clenched teeth.

Skulker glanced at the guards and then looked at her. "It's nothing, Huntress. But allow me to say: at least I was merciful." His gaze was intense as he put emphasis on the last word.

"Miss Gray, we really have to ask you to leave." The guard's tone left no room for argument. Valerie stared at him and then at Skulker before nodding.

"Of course. My apologies." She said before turning and heading the way she came. She attempted to look shaken up as opposed to angry. It must've worked because the guard gave her a soft smile.

"It's alright Miss Gray, you're above dealing with scum like this now."

She nodded and began walking back the way she came. She didn't know if Danny was aware that Skulker was here, but it was time he knew. Skulker's last words bounced around in her head, and she couldn't shake the feeling that they were more than just a jab at her. She picked up the pace.

She had to talk to Danny now.

She tried not to look like she was rushing too much when she exited the building. She was relieved when she saw that Danny's car was waiting for her right outside the double doors. She picked up her pace and started gesturing for Danny to unlock the car before she was even fully though the front doors.

Danny gave her a look, but had her door unlocked for her anyway. She opened the door and tossed her bag to the floor before practically throwing herself into the seat.

"Danny, drive." She said, slamming the door.

"Um, ok." He still looked confused but drove off anyway. As he made it to the end of the parking lot, his phone GPS was already instructing him on where to go to get to Valerie's new apartment. "So, uh, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Do you know where Skulker is?" Valerie blurted, staring at Danny intensely. He shrugged, not bothering to take his eyes off the road.

"Eh, no. He's been quiet for a while though." He glanced over at Valerie as he merged onto the open highway that would bring them back into Amity. "Why?"

"It's because he's imprisoned at the GiW."

Danny didn't speak for a moment, and for a second Valerie wondered if he cared. That is, of course, until she noticed his white knuckled grip on the steering wheel and the tightness of his face. "That is," He ground out, "news to me." He paused, visibly trying to gather himself. "Hayes is supposed to let me know when he has prisoners so I can retrieve them and bring them back to the portal."

Valerie shook her head. "I hate to tell you this, but I think it gets worse." She winced at her own words. She watched as Danny took a couple very deep breaths.

"Tell me."

She absently wondered if it was a good idea to bring this up while he was driving, but figured she couldn't leave him in suspense now. "Skulker said something to me… He… When he hunts down other ghosts or whatever, he keeps them as live prisoners, right?"

Danny nodded. "He does, but he's taken to only hunting low level creatures now. Out of respect for me, of all things." She could hear his effort to keep his voice calm.

She immediately launched into her thought process, the words spilling from her mouth in an effort to keep up with her mind. "Right, so he told me he was 'merciful', right? That's kind of an odd jab though, don't you think? I mean, for what it's worth, he's just in prison. Which, if you think about it, is basically what he does to the creatures he hunts. Unless, of course, there's more to it all..." She looked over at him, wondering of maybe she had looked too much into the simple statement.

Danny immediately pulled over to the side of the road, jamming the button to turn his hazards on before putting his car into park and turning fully to face Valerie. "It would only make sense if they're not just imprisoning him. Why else would Hayes not want me to know he has him in custody unless to make sure I wouldn't go looking for him?" He finished, eyes glowing a brilliant, toxic green in his fury.

Valerie drew back, feeling her adrenaline kick in as his emotional response triggered her fight or flight instinct. "I don't know anything for sure, but that's what it seemed like he was trying to say without giving it away. I think he may have bought me some time to confirm it before barging in there asking for Hayes's head." She ignored her instincts and placed a gentle hand on his forearm, which was tense from his hand being squeezed into a tight fist.

"Hayes is... He's a master at keeping secrets like this. He hides what he's doing in plain sight. There's no secret damning file or big melodramatic monologue. He does what he wants and if you start poking around he has explanation after explanation waiting and ready to go. It's honestly lucky that you even caught wind of anything strange going on." Danny mumbled. He shook his head. "I know you aren't fond of ghosts, Val, but this? Whatever Hayes is doing? They're sentient beings. It's not right!" His eye flared dangerously with his words, and Valerie swore she saw his hands glow for a moment before returning to normal.

"I know it isn't Danny," She replied, moving her hand down his arm to his hand, "Which is why I'm going to help you find out what's going on." Danny's hand opened and he took her smaller hand into his own. She used her thumb to rub soothing circles onto his hand. "We'll stop this, I promise."

Danny closed his eyes and took a few more deep breaths, leaning backwards and relaxing his head on his headrest. He turned to stare at Valerie, eyes blue and sad. "I know the Guys aren't evil, Valerie. Not entirely. But they don't know where to draw the line. These ghosts were humans once."

Valerie sighed. "I know Danny, but I don't think any of us understand like you do. Let's just make sure to get our facts straight, then we can talk to Hayes and remind him of that."

Danny huffed and nodded, smiling weakly at her. "My own personal voice of reason." He said with a soft chuckle.

Valerie smirked. "In terms of sick cosmic jokes, that one's actually pretty funny."

"I still can't believe the Guys are going in half on the rent for this place." Danny said from the guest bedroom of Valerie's new apartment. She laughed and set the box in her arms on the middle of the floor with the rest of her stuff.

"They really wanted me to transfer here." She smiled at Danny as he walked back into the main living area. "After all, I'm the only one qualified to deal with the evil ghost who's been saving the city for 10 years.

Danny snorted and leaned against the bar countertop that separated her living room from her kitchen. "Fear me." He said, smirking and flashing his eyes at her playfully.

Valerie stood next to him and put her hands on her hips, looking at the pile of stuff on her floor. "Are you coming back here after I get off work to help me start unpacking?"

"Mmmhmm."

Valerie nodded. "Great. And I'll bringing some cases for you to look at with me too." She cocked her head to the side. "There's a lot of new ghosts around here." It really put emphasis on the amount of time she had been gone.

Danny hummed in agreement. "It's because I've been powering up. A lot of them come to challenge me."

Valerie raised her brows. "Really? Is it the lair thing?" She asked, vaguely remembering Tucker explaining the concept of lairs and how they work to her when they were younger. Danny nodded.

"Yeah, that's actually the main reason I think Amity is my lair. Why else would new ghosts suddenly be so interested?" Danny's face lit up as he explained, excited to have someone new to discuss these things with. "Plus, ghosts have been trying to create a stable lair on Earth for centuries, according to Frostbite. It would be a lot easier for them to take mine, which is already established, and then go from there."

Valerie frowned. "Go from there?"

"Sure," Danny shrugged, "Extend their territory. Improve their lair. The same type of stuff they would do in the ghost zone."

Valerie's breath caught at his words, but she managed to keep her tone casual. "What about you? Do you have that urge as well?"

Danny pursed his lips as he thought. "Well… Yes and no." He switched positions so his elbows were resting on the countertop. "It's not particularly strong. I'm content with Amity as it is. Plus, even if I wanted to, I can't exactly go about 'conquering' more land. Hayes would be on my ass in a millisecond. Followed very closely by you, I'd imagine." He smirked at her, eyes knowing.

Valerie returned the look. "You'd imagine right. Although at this point, I'd probably be angrier that you lied to me about your homicidal tendencies than anything."

Danny laughed openly at that. "Fair. But honestly, I've found that improving my lair can be just as satisfying." He began listing things on his fingers. "I help clean up litter around the town, work with the mayor on infrastructure, and I've only given local shops the rights to use my logo, which has really helped them with business. And, I've very recently helped a spectacular hunter move in," He gave Valerie a wink, "So I'd say I'm very happy with the state of my lair."

"Wow." Valerie blinked at him, genuinely impressed. "I didn't realize you did so much for Amity now. That's… You're something else, Danny." She smiled at him fondly. He seemed to puff up with pride at her praise.

"Thanks." He made a show of looking like he was thinking very hard about something. "Now, if I could just convince Hayes of me not being a ticking time bomb…" Valerie snorted.

"You've managed to convince me, Danny. Hayes should be child's play." She glanced down at her phone, disappointed to see she'd have to be getting back to work soon. "Oh hey, you wouldn't happen to know Laura Brannon, would you?" She asked as she grabbed her bag from its place on the counter.

"I do, actually," Danny said, watching Valerie as she fixed her ponytail, "She's really nice. Why?"

"I'm pretty sure that if the Guys have Blood Blossoms that she's the one studying them." She put a hand on her hip.

Danny frowned. "Laura?" He looked distraught at the thought of it.

Valerie shrugged. "She is head of the science division." She put a hand on his shoulder. "But, if it makes you feel better, there's a decent chance that even if she is working with them, she has no idea they plan to weaponize them."

"Really?" He asked, eyes hopeful.

Valerie nodded. "No one really knows everything going on in a GiW facility other than the Director. He would keep the person studying the plant and the person turning it lethal separate." She was glad to see her words seemed to comfort him. He must genuinely like the woman.

He managed a small smile. "No one else except you, it would seem." He pushed off the counter and grabbed his keys, following Valerie as she walked out of the apartment. She turned and locked the door behind them.

"Danny, if there's one thing I've learned since high school, it's that I don't have the time or patience to wait for everyone to decide to fill me in. I know everything because I want to." Valerie pushed open the door to the stairs and they began their trek one flight down.

"I like it." Danny said with a grin. "What would I do without you?" He held open the door to the stairwell for her.

"You'd still be glaring at the back of Hayes's head."

Danny laughed. "Right." He held the front door open for her as well. "And you'd be opening doors for yourself."

"Honestly I don't know how I'd manage with my delicate lady hands." She led the way to Danny's car and tried the door. He'd left it unlocked, and she rolled her eyes at his trusting nature as she plopped into the passenger side seat.

Danny took his place behind the wheel a moment later. "We make a good team then, yeah?"

"I don't know about a team, but you're a pretty good sidekick."

Allow me to say in advance that I don't know how long I will be able to keep up weekly updates. With that being said, I do actually have a fully fleshed out plan for the beginning, middle, and end of this story, all of which I'm really excited about. I think you'll really notice as we go on how I improve along with my ideas being more solid, and I hope you continue to enjoy. Another thing I ask is that you understand that certain things may not make sense right now, but I do promise that by the end they will. I hope you continue to follow along and enjoy as Valerie and Danny stumble along this adventure!