Author's Notes: I am so sorry. I did it to you guys again: I made you wait. I'm so sorry about this. I meant for this to come out sooner, but things just happened and I sorta/ kinda forgot about the chapter. I hope you enjoy this one. As a gift to appease my fans, at the end of the chapter, l let you in on a few secrets of my Oc's.

Special thanks to Cordria for betareading. She is the bomb, as they say on the street.

Chapter 8: Bittersweet Reunions

Maddie Fenton howled in frustration for the umpteenth time that morning. She leaned back in her chair, her fingers messaging the bridge of her nose as her eyes took a break from staring at the data that displayed on her screen. She had been looking over the figures her family had collected the day before and so far she felt overwhelmed. In Jump City, she had thought it was just a lack of information that kept them away from a cure for Danielle. Now, it seemed like they had too much information. She literally didn't know where to start looking.

True, she found it utterly fascinating to see how her son's transformation looked like up close. She still wasn't used to it; seeing the Danny she knew and love disappear and being replaced by Phantom, someone she, up until now, only knew as a nuisance. The scientific side of her was working overdrive now that she could finally seeing the raw data: the change in temperature, the modulation of ectoplasmic energy levels and frequencies. To put it bluntly, she was giddy to see up close what made a human/ghost hybrid tick.

Of course, her motherly side would kick in to bring back common sense. Sure, this was probably the scientific find of the century, but none of it would matter if she let that little sweetheart die. In the short time she had known her, Danielle seemed to find a place in the woman's heart and latched onto it tightly. Those innocent blue eyes reminded her so much of Danny when she was her age. This wasn't for scientific glory or the pursuit of knowledge: this was to save a life. That sobering thought kept her curiosity in check. It was true that she needed to learn all she could about Danny in order to save Danielle, but getting lost in the research would take far too much time. And time wasn't something they had left.

"Maddie?" Jack's lumbering form could be heard descending the stairs down to the lab. "Mads, what are you doing down here so early?" Poor Jack had gone searching for his wife after waking up to find her side of the bed to be noticeably absent.

Maddie grimaced guiltily. "I'm sorry, Jack. I just couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd have a first look at what we recorded yesterday."

The ghost hunter eyed his wife worriedly. "You hardly got any sleep yesterday, honey-bun."



"I know Jack; it's just that I can't help it. Every time I closed my eyes last night, all I could see was her face."

Jack remained silent, though his face had a thoughtful expression, as if he knew exactly what she felt.

"Jack, I wanted to ask you something." Maddie eyes seemed to plead with Jack for his honest opinion. "I was wondering… have you ever thought about … having another child?" She regretted uttering the query even as it left her lips. She hated herself for launching such a pregnant topic at her unsuspecting husband. Nevertheless, it was one her curiosity would not let go lightly. It had been a long time since she thought of increasing their family. After the birth of Danny, both she and Jack seemed content. Their careers as paranormal investigators had also kept them busy and happy with their lives. Even with that, somewhere in the back of her mind, Maddie felt that she wanted more.

The wait for a response was becoming agonizing. She couldn't read the expression on her husband's face; that is, it would have been a little bit easier to read if could turn to face him. Instead, the keyboard on the desk suddenly became a work of art that needed further study and admiration. This went on for a few moments before she couldn't stand the hush. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have sprung that on you, but ever since Danielle came into the picture, well…" She hesitated, not even sure of what she was going to say next. "…I was thinking that maybe, after all of this is through, that maybe we could… adopt her?"

She kicked herself mentally once again. What was she thinking, just saying that? Maybe the lack of sleep was affecting her more than she cared to admit. Why wasn't he saying anything? Maybe he was too much in shock? Or was it that he thought she had just lost her mind, just like she was suspecting of herself.

"You too?" Jack uttered in surprise. "I was sort of thinking the same thing…"

"You… you were?!" Jack's words had caught Maddie off guard. "Jack, you really want to adopt her?"

"Of course!" he boasted. "The little scamp is cute as a button and is full of pep. Not only that, it'll be another person I can babble on and on about ghosts! And besides, she's practically family already." Before Jack knew it, he found himself wrapped in a hug initiated by his wife.

"Oh Jack, thank you!" she cried out in near tears. "You don't know how much this means to me!" Her gratitude was followed by a trail of kisses that caused the grown man to blush. Detaching herself from him, she took another look at the computer screen, her determination now ignited. "That settles it. We're going to save her no matter what."



"Yes Ma'am!" Jack declared as he watched her get back to work. "Man, that's hot," he whispered in a quieter tone.

"Now where to start," she asked to herself. She just knew that the answer was there, somewhere.

Meanwhile, Jack had activated a computer screen of his own, eager to help his wife with shifting through yesterday's findings. He decided to have a look at the fluctuation in the spectral wavelengths to see if he could find anything useful. The moment her displayed that file, something seemed to click in his head. "Mads?" he called out.

"What is it, Jack?" she replied. She took a peak over his shoulder to get a look at what he was pointing at.

"Does this wavelength look… familiar to you? I could swear I've seen it somewhere."

"I really can't say I have, dear," Maddie squinted. "I've seen so much that it's all a blur to me."

Instead of elaborating further, Jack's focus seemed to be stolen by the graph on the computer monitor. His eyes were hard and serious, something that was rare for him, except in cases where there was a problem that simply stumped him. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he shot like a rocket from his seat.

"Jack?" Maddie asked as he made a beeline towards one of their bookshelves. "Jack, what's going on? Did you find something?"

He remained silent, as if her words never reached his ears. The ghost hunter began to rummage through notebooks, many of which had important calculations the couple had made in their early years of ghost hunting. Many of them dated back to when they were in college and their failed portal experiment. "Where is that thing?" he muttered to himself as he continued to delve through almost randomly. "Aha!" he cried out as he pulled out a large rolled up sheet of paper.

He quickly cleared off a table, sending bits and doodads scattering to the floor. She spread out the sheet and pointed at some of the calculations scribbled on there. He then pointed at a diagram drawn underneath. His finger traced the lines of the waveform. He then turned back towards the readings they obtained from Danny. Once again, his eyes began to twinkle. "Maddie, come look at this!"

"What is it?" She took a quick look at schematics he was looking at. "Aren't those are calculations for the ghost portal? What do they have to do with anything?"



"The spectral frequency we used for the portal," he pointed out. "Doesn't it look familiar?"

Heeding her husband's suggestion, she had a second look. Like her husband, she alternated from the paper to the screen and gasped as it dawned on her. "They're the same."

"Yup!" Jack proclaimed proudly.

"Of course! Danny got his powers from the portal, so it would make sense that there would be residuals of the portal's signature." Typing furiously on the keyboard, she pulled up one of the other scans they performed that day and superimposed it upon the current one they were looking at. "It's the same here, too. Jack, I think this is it. It has to be." Smiling in relief, Maddie gave her husband a full kiss on the lips, causing him to fluster.

"Aww, shucks, Maddie. Just doing my job."

Composing herself, Maddie returned to her seat. "It's a start, at least. If what Danny told us was true, this should be the key to stabilizing Danielle permanently. Jack, we're going to need a full analysis of this. "

"On it." He took a seat next to hers and began to get to work, rest nothing more than an afterthought now.

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

"Blasted watch."

He was late. Again. Anyone who knew Julian Marcus for even a short amount of time would know that if there was one thing they could count on, it was him being late. During his time as a professor in England, students and teachers alike found his inability to arrive on time for anything to be quite amusing. It never mattered if he left home early; somehow or another, he constantly ended up being delayed. The sorcerer, whether due to pride or just plain stubbornness, would never find fault with himself for his constant tardiness. Instead, he would lay blame upon his pocket watch, an heirloom passed down his family for generations. You could often find him mumbling out his frustration for the time piece, which he always suspected was somehow cursed. He, of course, could never prove this and being a practitioner of magic, could never find any mystical causes of his lack of punctuality.

That morning, Julian found himself once again running late, as he traveled down the halls of his place of employment. It sure didn't help that the halls all looked the same, making the trek even more complicated. Swearing under his breath, he quickened his step, hoping that he'd make in time. He had an important 

meeting to attend that morning, though that wasn't exactly where he was headed. Intending on seeing Valara before the meeting, Julian had left his room early that morning, giving himself plenty of time to see how she was doing and arrive on time. Unfortunately for him, the 'curse' seemed to be in full force today. His quicksteps turned into a sprint as he hastened to his intended destination.

"Julian."

The sound of his name being called stopped him dead in his tracks. The moment the sound reached his ears, he recognized the voice instantly. Turning to the speaker, Julian allowed his eyes to confirm his suspicions: standing not too far away was Abel Cain, his employer. He noted that Cain was in his usual apparel: an expensive black suit adorned his body, a stark contrast to the simple garb Julian was accustomed to. The executive's hair was greased back in his usual hair style, his jet black hair gleaming in the artificial light. The most noticeable feature was the smug smile that always seemed to garnish his face.

"Mr. Cain," Julian finally answered, showing no signs of weakness. Dealing with Cain was always like entering the cage of a wild animal. If you gave a brave front, you would come out of it more or less unscathed; but show one shred of fear and he would mercilessly attack without fail. Cain was the kind of man who accustomed to being the alpha male.

The executive's smirk grew into a full on grin. "Julian, there's no need to be so formal. We've known each other for how long? Almost eighteen years? I even brought you into the old order."

"That you did, Abe," Julian replied. Back when he was a college professor, it was Cain who invited him to the order and even took the initiative to train him in magic and the black arts.

"It seems like you were in a hurry to get somewhere, Julian. I've never known you to be so… eager to get to one of our meetings."

The Englishman smiled sheepishly in response. "Oh really? I didn't even notice I was going so fast. Well, you know me. I was just trying to be on time for once."

Looking amused by his fellow sorcerer's statement, the corner of Cain's smile twitched slightly. "It would help if you were going the right way. The conference room is in the other direction. The way you were going leads to the infirmary. Trying to check in on a special guest, were we?"



To his credit, Julian never let his face falter once, even after getting caught. It was a talent that Cain had; he always had a way of seeing through anything. Whether it was magic or just keen senses after years in the business world, no one knew.

"How is Ms. Pyre doing? Inessa told me she woke up from her coma recently." The supervisor eyed his subordinate for a response.

Resisting the urge to let his dislike of the doctor take over, Julian responded. "She did, did she? What else had the 'good' Dr. Maternova told you?"

"You two still don't get along, hmm?" He said with a knowing laugh. "Regardless of that, I'm glad to hear that she is doing well. I am curious on how much she remembers of her experience..."

"Not much, I'm afraid. And frankly, I think that's a good thing. I doubt she would want to remember."

"Unfortunately, she may have to recall her ordeal," Cain responded. "She may have information that we need to understand Phantom."

Julian tried to keep his face neutral, though even knew he wasn't doing a good job. "I understand that what she may know is crucial for little plans all that; but let me make one thing clear. Lara's my responsibility. I'm not going to make her relive any of that, not if I can help it. I promised her dear old Dad that I'd protect her and when old Jules makes a promise, he keeps it."

"Julian, please, calm down. Of course, her safety will be our top priority. You don't have to worry about a thing in that regard." His words seemed to work their magic and calmed down the agitated Briton. "I understand that this is hard for both of you. You have to understand, however, that we have deadlines to keep."

"Yeah, Yeah, I know. You and your deadlines."

A dark chuckle erupted from Cain. "Anyway, I've been quite busy lately, but I was thinking I might give her a visit myself. In honor of her father, of course."

"Of course," Julian repeated sarcastically. He could see the lust in his superior's eyes. "I'm sure this'll have nothing to do with trying to recruit her."



Cain replied with a smile, "Touché. You know me too well, Julian. You do have to admit that she's like her father, in more ways than one."

"Which is why I would like that you don't fill her mind with the same nonsense you filled her father's." The look of defiance that was on his face moments before returned with a vengeance.

"Don't you think that's her choice?"

"And when she is old enough to decide, she'll get the chance too. As for now, the lass is still a wee babe and quite impressionable. I don't want her walking the same path her father and I have."

Julian watched as Cain eyed him carefully, like a lion eying someone who tried to deny him of a meal. Laughter suddenly erupted from the executive's lips, breaking the tense atmosphere and catching Julian off guard.

"This is why I like you, Julian. You are never afraid to speak your mind." Turning away from his subordinate, he continued, "Don't be too late for the meeting after your little visit. There are still things we need to discuss."

Julian turned and continued his journey. Cain was right about one thing: he did know his boss very well. He was positive now that Cain now had his eye on Valara, though for a larger reason than he let on. The last thing he was going to do was let her be lured in the sordid world he now lived in. He wasn't sure how but one way or another, he was going to keep her safe.

ACACACACACACACACACACAC

As Cain watched Julian depart, he let his fingers once again run through his hair. He had no doubt that Xanthus's daughter would become a vital part of their upcoming plans. What part she would play, however, was still up in the air. Julian was beginning to become a problem, however. The Englishman had been a valuable asset in the past, but was becoming more and more defiant, especially with the arrival of Ms. Pyre. As much of a genius as he was, it might come to a point where his services would become disposable. It would be a shame, but that's business.

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

"Morning sleepyhead," Jazz greeted cheerfully as she entered Danielle's room. The Fenton home had two vacant rooms that they used for when guests arrived. Raven and Danielle had each been given a room for 

the night. "I hope you don't mind, but we kind of moved you up here after you dozed off yesterday. I'm sure this room is a lot better than the lab."

"That's fine," the younger girl replied, taking in her surroundings. "Is… is Danny here?"

"Yeah, he's here. We arrived yesterday, but then you were already resting." Jazz watched as a small smile appeared on the girl's face at the confirmation of her cousin's arrival. "Anyway, I brought in some breakfast for you. Raven had to make it since Mom and Dad are busy in the lab."

The young halfa bore a somber expression as she took in this news. "Everybody seems to be working so hard… just for me."

"Of course we are!" Jazz replied with a smile, "If Danny cares about then that's good enough for us. Besides…" Her self-restraint waning, Jazz's hand lighted pinched the Dani's cheek. "You're just so darn cute."

"Ow! Hey!" Danielle rubbed her now sore cheek as Jazz let out a small giggle.

"To tell you the truth, I always wanted a little sister like you. Having a little brother like Danny is fine at all but I've always wanted someone I could do girl stuff with."

The redhead's comments caused Danielle to blush with embarrassment. "You really think I'd make a good little sister?"

"Of course you would! Actually, I think Danny thinks of you that way already, by the looks of things. Then again, that's how Danny always is."

Danielle gave Jazz a weak smile. "I hope I'm around long enough to have a big sister like you…"

"Danielle, don't talk like that," Jazz chastised, though in a tender tone, "In situations like these you have to stay positive. I'm sure everything will turn out alright. As a matter of fact, Mom and Dad seemed to be particularly excited about something when I checked up on them this morning, so I'm sure they're close to finding a cure for you."

The moment between the two was interrupted by a knock on the door. A moment later, Danny peeked his head in. "Hey there, kiddo."



"Danny!" Her face brightened considerable. "You're here!"

"Of course I am, silly. I promised I would, didn't I?" He playfully ruffled her hair. "How are you holding up, Dani?"

"I'm fine, I guess," the younger halfa answered. "I don't like being stuck here in bed all the time, though."

Grinning widely, Danny responded, "Trust me, I know the feeling. I just spent two weeks in bed after that last big battle in Jump City. Don't you worry, though; I'm sure you'll be out of bed in no time." He turned to his older sister. "I'm going downstairs to get some grub, Jazz. Want me to get you anything?"

"I've already eaten, so don't worry about it." Jazz's eyes began to sparkle. "Raven's downstairs making breakfast. I think she has something especially for you."

"Does she now?" Danny responded wistfully, ignoring his sister's playful tone. "Make sure Jazz doesn't bore you with her lecturing, alright, kiddo?"

"Hey!" Jazz's protest went unheard, however, as Danny had already left the room. A giggle soon erupted from Danielle, causing Jazz to follow suit.

"He really likes her, doesn't he?" the raven haired girl asked.

"That he does."

DPRRDPRRDPRRDPRRDPRRDP

He eyed his prey vigilantly, careful not to make a single noise while he did so. The predator knew his approach was flawless. There was no way the prey would see or hear him coming. The prey was occupied with something at the stove, her back towards him. Slowly and cautiously, he made his advance, inching ever so slowly. She would never know what hit her. Soon, he was a mere few feet away. His anticipation was building up now, causing him to beam. He was so close he could almost taste her…

"Morning, Danny," Raven stated suddenly, not bothering to turn around.

Fading into view moments later, the ghost boy wore a defeated look. "How did you…"

"Sneaking up on an empath is not a good idea," she stated simply while she continued to cook.

"Oh really?" A playful grin returned on his face as he walked up behind her and placed his arms around her waist. Leaning in closely, he let his lips graze her cheek, educing a shiver to run through the sorceress.

"Messing with a cook while she is at the oven is also not a good idea." She made no move to stop him however.

"Jazz said you had surprise for me."

He spoke in a low tone into her ear, causing her to lose focus. She managed to gather her wits long enough to reply. "It's on the table."

"Thought my surprise was right here?" He kissed her cheek again, blurring her diminishing focus even further.

The smell of burning eggs broke Raven out of her reverie. A swift jab from her elbow quickly detangled Danny from her as she tried to save the meal. "Down boy," she ordered mischievously.

Pouting, the halfa decided to take a seat at the kitchen table, taking a fresh whiff of his 'surprise': a large stack of waffles, topped with strawberries and whip cream, scrambled eggs and bacon. "Mmm… this really looks good. Almost as good as the chef" Taking a bite, his eyes widened. "Tastes even better."

"Considering that breakfast is the only meal I know how to make, it better taste good," she replied as she scrapped the burnt remains of scrambled eggs into a trash can.

"Feeling better this morning?" Danny's concern shone through his voice.

Sitting next to him, Raven replied with a kiss. "A little. You seem to be doing better yourself."

"How can I stay depressed when I have your beautiful face to look at?"

Before she could reply, she was interrupted by the electronic bringing of a cell phone.

"Hold that thought." Danny quickly retrieved his cell and answered the call.

Raven found herself staring while he talked, a habit she indulged in more than she'd like to think. She marveled at how easily Danny seemed to just slip past the emotional defenses she had spent years to build 

up. He had a knack of catching her when she was most vulnerable, something that surprisingly enough, excited her. She wondered if Starfire went through the same thing when she started dating Robin.

"YES!" Danny howled as he got off the phone. Pumping his fist in the air, he elicited a smile from Raven.

"I take it that it was good news?"

"Hopefully it is," he began. "That was Tucker. He said that he and Sam wanted to meet me at the mall today, to discuss things between us."

Raven felt a burst of joy radiate from Danny's very being, causing her to smile. "That is good news."

"This is great news! Maybe things will finally get back to the way things were. Or at least close to it, anyway." His enthusiastic disposition suddenly stalled, as something crossed his mind.

"What's wrong?"

He replied hesitantly, "Are… you going to be okay with this? I mean leaving you here at home like this."

"I'll be fine here." She gave him a reassuring smile. "You need to go and spend some time with them if you want to rebuild your friendship. I'll be here, making sure no overly obsessive billionaires cause any trouble."

Raven's words eased his concern, though not entirely. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Danny, I told you before that you didn't need to worry about me."

Danny closed the gap between the two and gave her a quick, yet tender kiss. "Have I ever told you that you're like the best girlfriend ever?"

"Not recently," she quipped.

"That's a mistake I need to rectify, then." He kissed her again, but this one was filled with a great deal more passion. Pulling away, he looked into her eyes. "You are the best girlfriend ever."

"I know," she replied knowingly.



"Are you sure going to be…"

Raven looked at him exasperatedly. "Just go already!"

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

"I can't believe you dragged me over here so early in the morning," Sam grumbled. She and Tucker were sitting at a table at the food court of the Amity Park Mall. Her face mirrored her displeasure.

"First of all it's only after ten. Second of all, I'm the one that should be complaining here. I haven't had much sleep in the past few days." The techno geek stifled a yawn for emphasis. "But that's not the point. I have a perfectly good reason for calling you over here."

"I hope it's a better reason than the horror movie marathon excuse you gave me this morning."

Tucker waggled his eyebrows knowingly. "There is. I invited a special guest for our little get-together."

Her eyes widened at his response. "You didn't…" An affirming nod was sent her way. "I thought you said you weren't going to invite him?

"I lied."

Looking apprehensive, Sam began to fidget around her seat. "No. No way. I… I'm not ready to see him yet."

"What is your deal, Sam? Yesterday, you were even more excited to see him than I was."

"What's my deal?" she repeated, just barely subduing a surge of anger that swept through her. "He lied to us, Tucker."

Not backing down for a second, Tucker calmly countered, "He didn't lie. He didn't exactly tell us everything but…"

"It's the same thing," she interrupted. "Nothing's changed since last year. He keeps holding back on us."



"That's not fair, Sam. Not telling us about Raven isn't anything like what happened last year." Tucker sighed before he continued. "Danny said he was sorry. He's trying, Sam. He said so himself that he wanted our friendship to work. The least we can do is to make an effort ourselves."

Unable to find anything to say, Sam remained silent, though the look on her face showed that Tucker's words hit home.

"Sam! Tucker!"

Turning to the direction of the voice, they found Danny rushing towards their table. Feeling a sudden bout of shyness overtake her, Sam averted her eyes. Tucker gave her a sidelong and knowing glance.

"Glad I caught you guys." The raven haired teen breathed a sigh of relief. He then noticed what he had just walked into: Sam wasn't able to look him in the eye while Tucker's face was unreadable. "I wasn't late, was I?"

Tucker gave his old friend a large grin. "No, dude, you weren't late. As a matter of fact, you were right on time. Wasn't he, Sam?"

Sam only gave a curt nod. She wanted to give Tucker a piece of her mind, but felt too conflicted to utter a word.

"Listen, guys. About yesterday…" Danny began.

"If you're going to apologize, you don't have to, man," Tucker said, writing it off.

The halfa shook his head. "No, I need to say this. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Raven sooner. I should have been upfront about it. I really don't want this to get in the way of our friendship."

"We're cool, Danny." Tucker could tell that his friend was genuinely sincere with his apology.

An elbow hit tried and true into Sam's ribcage. Glaring daggers at Tuck, she nervously cleared her throat. "We're sorry too, Danny. I shouldn't have…" she hesitated for a moment. "… overreacted like I did." Her lap seemed to have caught her eye as she avoided his gaze. Sam suddenly let out a yelp of surprise as one of Danny's arms wrapped around her neck. Another gasp indicated that his other arm found its target and latched onto Tucker.



"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he repeated numerous times.

"Dude, we know you're happy, but we'll need to breathe eventually."

Grinning sheepishly, Danny disentangled himself from his friends. "Sorry about that." He didn't notice Sam turning away again, though this time she was trying frantically to hide the glow of her cheeks.

"So, how are things holding up at home?" Tucker queried.

Danny's face fell somewhat. "Well, good news is that it hasn't gotten any worse. Bad news is that it isn't any better, either. Dani's being a trooper about it, so that's a plus. And Mom and Dad are really working their butts off trying to cure her. I think everybody home has pretty much grown attached to her."

"At least there's some good news," Sam finally managed to say after recomposing herself. "I know we probably can't do much, but if there is anything we can do…"

"You guys have done plenty. Just knowing you're there is reassuring."

Tucker could no longer contain himself or the question that was just on the tip of his tongue. "So, how does it feel?"

Danny simply blinked for a few moments before responding. "How does what feel?"

"You know what I mean… being a big time you-know-what."

"Ahh. You mean 'that'." He laughed nervously. "Really, it's not really a big deal."

"It's a big deal. A humongous deal. Danny, you're one of the big dogs now. The buzz on the internet alone is huge."

Sam gave Tucker an indignant glare. "Tucker, you're blowing this way out of proportion. You're making it sound like Danny wasn't a hero before this whole thing happened."

"Hey, I'm not saying that," he retorted, holding his hands up defensively. "Danny's done a lot for Amity Park, but he was an unknown outside the state, tops. Now he's pretty much global."



"I haven't even had a chance to worry about being famous or anything like that. I'm finally free from the bed I've been stuck in for two weeks and then this thing with Dani happened. I haven't even had a chance to take Rae on a date."

"First of all, Rae?" Tucker asked inquiringly.

Danny blushed slightly. "It's what I call her."

Tucker filed that fact mentally for later blackmailing purposes. "Second of all, you, Mr. Old Fashion, haven't gone out with her yet?"

"No time, remember?" he sighed loudly. "I'm not sure there'll ever be time, frankly."

"What do you mean? Just take her on a date around town. That's what secret identities are for, right?"

The halfa pursed his lips. "Actually, I don't think she has one."

Both Sam and Tucker looked back at him dumbfounded.

"They do things different over there. The Ti… those guys are pretty much in 'uniform' twenty-four/ seven. I think the only one of them who even has a secret a secret identity is Rob, but it's pretty much a moot point since he never took his mask off. Ever."

"Weird and a little bit creepy," Tucker commented. "Alright, so why doesn't Danny Phantom take her out on a date?"

Danny sighed again. "Think about what you just said, Tuck. Danny Phantom: the same Danny Phantom the media is all abuzz about. The news guys over here are going gaga over the fact that 'he' helped the Titans. What happens when they find out that 'he's' dating? There would be media frenzy. And Danny Fenton would have even more trouble if people found out he was dating a superhero."

"Ouch," was all that Tucker could muster. "Man, it sounds rough, dude."

"I know. I really want to take her out on a date, but it pretty much seems impossible at the moment."

Taking a deep breath, Sam prepared herself to interject herself into the conversation. The Goth had stayed out of the exchange between the two, largely because of the discomfort she felt about the discussion matter. 

She was quite proud of Danny's accomplishments as a super hero, but she couldn't help but feel somewhat guarded. She still felt that sooner or later, Danny would eventually leave her and Tucker for the Titans, despite his assertion to the contrary.

She felt even more sensitive when talk of Raven began. Sam wanted to be happy that Danny found someone he liked, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel relief to find that there were problems this early on in the relationship. She felt guilty for thinking such a thing; Danny was her friend and she was happy when he was happy. But she couldn't help but see Raven as the enemy. Not only was Raven the most likely of the Titans to separate them from Danny, but she had already succeeded in stealing his heart. Despite that, Sam felt that now was the time to speak up.

"Well, that's why we're here," she stated, breaking the silence that had fallen in result of Danny's bad fate. "Friends are there to help each other take our minds off of life. And nothing occupies your mind more than six plus hours of horror movie mayhem."

"Sam's right, Danny," Tucker agreed. "Stick with us and we'll rot your brain in no time at all."

Danny couldn't help but chuckle. "Gee thanks…" A puff of blue mist erupted from his mouth. "Oh, great. They didn't waste any time, did they?"

"A ghost?" Tucker asked.

Closing his eyes, he began to focus. "Now where are you?" His friends looked at him in confusion. "Ahh, there we go. Gah, of all the ghosts to give me grief today."

"How do you know who it…?" Sam's question was interrupted by a reverberating roar. A large creature, entirely made out of meat, both raw and cooked, emerged from one of the food court's restaurants. It bellowed loudly.

"Looks like teenage mind rotting is going to have to wait, guys…"

AN: Ok, here are some of my notes:

Abel Cain: the main bad guy in this fic. If you couldn't tell, his name is derived from the first two sons of Adam in the bible, Cain and Abel. I refer to him as Cain more often cause, well, he's evil :p. He's sort of like Vlad, but with the evilness factor multiplies by a hundred. I wonder if they'll meet…



Dr. Inessa Maternova: Another baddy. The good doctor likes dissecting things. Her name was pretty hard to create: her first name is Russian for 'pure'. Her last name, if I followed the of Russian surnames correctly, means 'mother', so her full name means 'pure mother'. As the previous chapter has shown, she is anything but pure. The mother part will play in later chapters.