Chapter 3

She couldn't believe it. Not twenty minutes after escaping the french-fry infused restaurant, Valerie found herself back at the Nasty Burger. Dani was fresh out of cash, so Valerie had used her employee discount to treat the girl to a Double Nasty Special. Five minutes after sitting down, Dani was already halfway through burger number two and the fries were long gone.

Valerie lifted an eyebrow, "Hungry, huh?" she smirked.

"Mhmhmm, dhish ish dweshish!" Valerie chuckled a little as the girl polished off the rest of the sandwich and reached for her chocolate milkshake. "Shanksh fwa dwa fwood, Wawawie."

"No problem, ghost girl. You want any more?"

Dani finally swallowed and glanced down at the mess of wrappers around her. "No, I'm good." She let a belch and blushed, "Oh, uh, you didn't want any, did you?"

Valerie chuckled again, "Nah, when you work here, the food becomes much less appetizing. But if you enjoyed it, then I'm happy." Dani blushed again and looked away sheepishly.

Figuring the girl wasn't going to open up without some prodding, Valerie asked, "So, I haven't seen you since the Vlad thing? What have you been up to?"

Dani shrugged, "Oh, mostly floating around the ghost zone, making some friends, apparently making some enemies." She waved her hands in the direction of the door as if to indicate the hunter who was likely still somewhere in Amity Park. "Just generally exploring, enjoying my freedom, and DANNY!"

Danielle bolted from the booth and ran towards the front door. Valerie whipped around wondering what the heck Phantom was doing at the Nasty Burger with no ghosts around. Only it wasn't Phantom she saw. Walking in through the doors at that moment were Fenton, Foley, and Manson. Confused, Valerie got up and followed Dani to the front of the restaurant. As she got closer she could hear Dani rambling to Fenton in a rush,

"- but then he came through too, and he's still chasing me and -" "Whoa there," Fenton held up his hands, "I didn't get a word of that. Let's restart. Hi Danielle, nice to see you." Danny's voice shot up an octave, "Hi Danny, nice to see you too." Lowering his voice back to normal, he continued, "Ok, cuz, now what's up?"

Dani took a deep breath, "Skulker's after me, so I was looking for you. But I ran into Valerie, and she helped me get away from him."

By this point, Valerie had made it to trio and was standing awkwardly behind Dani, the confusion evident on her face. When Dani mentioned her, the three friends looked up and Danny visibly paled. "Oh, uh, hi Valerie," he said, nervously rubbing the back of neck.

"How do you two know each other?" She demanded.

"They're cousins" Foley chimed in quickly. Danny turned and shot him a glare that clearly said, you're not helping. Tucker looks abashed and took a little step backwards.

Sam, on the other hand, took a step forward. "How do you two know eachother?" She asked accusingly, pointing between the huntress and the little girl. Valerie shot Manson a glare back. "We happen to be friends. You gotta problem with?" Then Tucker's words seemed to sink in. Valerie turned to Dani, "wait, cousins? I thought you-know-who was your cousin?" Valerie whispered the last part. After all, the last thing she wanted to do was reveal to the son of two gung-ho ghost hunters that Dani was related to their arch-enemy Phantom.

Danielle just gave Valerie an equally confused look back, "Uh yeah, he is," she replied, gesturing towards Danny.

Danny's eyes shot up and he grabbed her hand, "Uh, Dani, why don't we get going, you can stay at my place until Skulker is, uh, taken care of," he said, hurriedly, dragging her towards the door.

"Wait!" Valerie followed the pair and grabbed Dani's other hand. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?" asked Dani.

Geez, was Valerie really going to have to spell it out for her? "Because it's probably not a good idea to be around all the dangerous ghost-hunting equipment I'm sure the Fenton's have," she whispered to Danielle, hoping she'd get the hint. Instead she heard Sam scoff, "Oh, right, and have her hang out with you instead, she's going to be so much safer." Valerie whirled around and was about to reply when she realized the meaning behind Sam's words. "you, but, how, I," Valerie fumbled. "Ugh I don't have time for this. Look Danielle's perfectly safe with me. I'm not letting her go with you."

Danielle gave her another strange look. "But this is mrghrm" Danny had quickly slammed his hand around her mouth. He grimaced and turned back to Valerie, "Look, Val, I know you don't believe me, but Dani is safe with me too, I'll look out for her." "Seriously," he added at the doubtful expression on her face.

Then the four of them were out the door, leaving Valerie with nothing but her own thoughts and the smells of the Nasty Burger. She blinked a couple times and exclaimed to no one in particular, "okay, what the heck was that?"

A/N - Thanks to Inviso-Al, clara oswin oswald 16, and shin obin for reviewing. And to Kira Sema, shin obin, amazingkingxman, 1eragon33 for adding it to your favorites. I hope you guys continue to enjoy it, I plan on updating daily.