I do not own Danny Phantom.

Merry Christmas!

The Story Comes Out and an Ultimatum

Danny glanced fearfully at Tucker and Sam, who were staring helplessly at him. Maybe he doesn't really know, he thought desperately. Maybe he's just bluffing or something.

Sam nervously avoided Lancer's piercing gaze, dabbing ointment on her friend's scraps and cuts, while Tucker wound bandages on the major wounds and held the wrappings together with safety pins.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," answered Danny.

"Don't lie to me!"

The shout seemed to carry across the broad, empty field. Sam jumped, clutching onto Danny's sore arm. He winced and Sam quickly let go.

This wasn't the first time they'd seen Lancer so angry. He was furious when they put frogs in the cafeteria chili, recorded it, put it on YouTube and called it Frogs in Chili. He blew a gasket the time they threw tomatoes at passing pedestrians from the roof of the mall. He was ticked when they bombed water balloons over Vlad's mayor ceremony and he was the one that had to apprehend them. They've seen him mad plenty of times.

But never before had they been so terrified. Lancer's face was red, his eyes positively burning as he waited for an answer.

What am I going to say? Danny stared at Sam, who gave the tiniest of shrugs. Tucker closed his eyes and slowly opened them again, with a small nod. The only way they were going to get to go home was to tell Lancer. Fine, he thought. But I get to ask my own questions.

"Yeah. I'm Danny Phantom," he said heavily.

Lancer sighed in annoyance. "I know that. How did it happen? And don't even think about lying," he warned.

Sam weakly raised her hand. "My fault. Remember when the Fentons created the Ghost Zone, but they thought it didn't work? Well, I convinced Danny to go in one day when his parents weren't home. He went in and I guess he tripped and hit the on button, because suddenly there was this blinding flash of green light. Tucker and I were thrown back and all we could hear was Danny screaming."

Danny picked it up from there. "I felt incredible pain and I passed out. When I woke, Sam and Tucker were staring at me, complete spooked. I didn't know what was wrong at first, but then I saw my reflection. I had snow white hair and glowing green eyes. I freaked and suddenly I was back to normal. I felt okay, a little numb, and we booked it out of there. The next day, when I woke up, I was floating five feet above my bed. I panicked and fell, straight through my bed and into the sitting room. I had become the Phantom."

Lancer's mind boggled, but he forced himself to stay on track. "You're telling me, that when this happened, none of you even thought of going to Danny's parents?"

Danny stared at the grass and Tucker shrugged. "They're ghost hunters, Mr. L. What could he say? 'Hey Mom and Dad, I know you hate ghosts with a passion and dedicate your life to wiping them out, but guess what? I'm one of them!' He just didn't want to burden them."

"But they're your parents, Danny! They have a right to know!"

Danny's head shot up, his blue eyes flashing green and startling Lancer. "No, they don't! They don't need to know anything about my ghost half or what I do. No one does. The only reason you do is because you somehow found out. We won't be making that mistake again. How did you find out?"

Taken aback by his sudden ferocity, he answered slowly. "I saw you change outside of my classroom. How did you learn to control your powers? Surely they didn't come quick."

Sam finished adding the ointment while Danny mentally scolded himself for his stupid mistake. "Tucker and I researched ghosts online and after creating a list of powers, we spent most of our time training Danny ourselves in the old football field," she answered.

"Do you know how dangerous that could have been?" demanded Lancer. "He could have been unstable, and-"

"They already know how dangerous this is," Danny said sullenly.

Lancer, suddenly overcome with a sense of panic, turned his attention to Sam and Tucker, who were looking uncomfortable. "What does he mean?"

Glancing at each other, Sam pulled off her boot, revealing a nasty jagged scar that stretched from her calve to her ankle on her right leg. "I said it was a chainsaw accident, but it was when Tucker and I ran to help Danny escape from Walker. Lost a lot of blood, but Tuck bandaged it up and Danny carried me to the hospital."

Tucker rolled up his yellow sweater, showing a Z-shaped stitch on his stomach. "Told my mom it was a fishing accident. I am a bit of a klutz, so she didn't ask questions. Got this beauty when I had to get Sam and Danny from Skulker's lair. Plasma blast just skimmed my stomach. Passed out and these two got me out of there."

Lancer could not speak. The fact that three teenagers suffered beatings on a regular basis and were proud of them horrified him.

Before he could say anything, Sam suddenly chimed up, "But we don't care if we get hurt. As long as we can help Danny and save people, we're happy." She gently gripped Danny's shoulder. "It bugs him when we get hurt, but it bugs us when he gets hurt. No matter what he says, we won't leave his side."

"But you're just kids!" Lancer cried.

Tucker shrugged. "So? You've seen the papers. We're doing great. A few minor scrapes," he gestured to Danny's battered upper body, "is nothing compared to the thrill and fun we have."

Danny grinned. "Yeah. Loads of fun."

Lancer narrowed his eyes. He simply could not allow this to happen. But before he put a stop to it, he had a few more questions to ask.

"So you know all those ghosts because you visit the Ghost Zone often, correct?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"But Danny's parents haven't even been in there! You could have been-"

Tucker cut him off. "We know that place like the back of our hands. We know who to avoid and where. Not all ghosts are bad, you know."

Lancer found this hard to believe. "Like?"

Danny ticked them off on his fingers. "Dora's okay, just don't get her mad. Youngblood is a bit of a brat, but unless he has a major plan-it normally concerns elimination of adults-he's not too big of a threat. Poindexter and I just got off on the wrong foot. Clockwork is mysterious, and to be honest, a pain since he can never give me warning. This would have been a pretty good warning."

He turned his blue eyes upwards and shouted, "I know you can see this. Thanks for the warning! I am so not getting you anything for Christmas!" He cleared his throat, and ignoring the confused Lancer, went on. "Frostbite is awesome, I'm considered the Great One in his home land." He paused and stared wearily at his friend. "I saw that eye-roll, Tucker."

The beret-clad boy only grinned.

Danny shook his head and continued, "Johnny and his lot are a bit rough, but I normally leave them alone, as long as they leave me alone. Dani is also terrific, a bit young but really cool. She's my cousin. I guess I'll explain her to you after. I'll get Sam to do it. I'm running out of breath.

"Wulf seems like a threat, but he really means no harm. Cujo is just a pup, but he only gets really dangerous if you threaten me. So you might want to hold back on the F's, or Cujo just might show up on your doorstep. Pandora doesn't really leave her palace, so we're cool. Uh…there's Amorpho, and we've hit an understanding, so he's alright in my books. Klemper's just annoying. Yeah, that's it."

Sam gave Danny a break and she gave the explanation of the half-ghost girl. "You see, Dani Phantom is Danny Phantom's cousin. Vlad Plasmius cloned her from Danny's DNA in his many failed attempts to create the perfect half-ghost son. Dani was unstable, but Danny helped get her stabilized and escape. She's on the run now, but she comes back to visit."

Lancer, who was still trying to process the information Danny gave him, frowned. "But wouldn't Danny Fenton be Dani's cousin, as well as Phantom? And who is this Plasmius?"

Tucker, who had been listening with mild amusement, spoke up. "Dani was created off of Danny Phantom's DNA, not Danny Fenton's. So, technically, she's Phantom's cousin. As for Plasmius..." He glanced at Danny with uncertainty.

Lancer noticed the worried exchanged and became alarmed. "Who is he? Danny, tell me, now."

Danny sighed. "Okay, okay. Vlad Masters, mayor of Amity Park, is Vlad Plasmius, the Wisconsin Ghost."

"A ghost is running out town?" Lancer exclaimed.

"Yes and not a good ghost either. Pay attention, I'm only going to say this once. Vlad discovered I was a half-ghost at this reunion thing we went to for my dad. He tried to get me to come over to the evil side, become his apprentice I guess, and become his son. I refused, and he's been trying to 'convince' me to change my mind. Lately, he's been trying to get rid of me and/or clone me, sometimes using these two as bait." He jerked a thumb over to Sam and Tucker, who grinned.

"It doesn't help since we call him a Fruitloop. But he is one, he's just in denial," Tucker laughed.

Lancer stared at them in slight horror. "Why don't you tell people?"

"One, if I expose him, he exposes me. Not something I want," Danny said with a wince.

"Two, who is going to believe us? And if they do, they're going to become suspicious and want to know how we know," Tucker added.

"Three, he's just going to get mad and inflict bodily harm on us, so don't go saying anything. I really don't want a new English teacher. I don't think they would respect my dark tones like you do," Sam said sternly.

Lancer, who had been intending to tell someone, instantly kicked the thought from his mind. The last thing he needed was three beaten teens, and heaven knew Sam would dropkick anyone that criticized her way of life, and there were very few teachers who appreciated that aspect of her.

"I won't say anything," he promised. "Now, why are you so afraid of the Red Huntress?"

The major shock on their faces told him that this was an important-and possible dangerous-subject. Determined to learn everything he could to prevent more harm, he fixed each with an intense stare until Danny finally spoke.

"Well, the Red Huntress is a ghost hunter, so naturally I would be afraid. Sam and Tucker are normally with me, so every time we hear her coming-thank the heavens for that rocket sled-they have to duck and cover as to not get themselves caught or discovered. The last thing I want is my best friends kidnapped and tortured for information about me."

Lancer threw the nasty image from his mind. "But why not simply overtake her? You have the skills to overpower her, I suspect."

"Well, she is just human. I don't want to harm her too badly. I'm a ghost. Scratches, cuts and scrapes take only ten minutes to heal completely, no scabs." He pointed to his arm, which was almost completely healed. "Breaks, sprains and fractures take a day or two to heal. Clean cuts, the kind that bleeds tons, take about three hours. All I have to do is slow the blood flow. Bruises take five minutes, black eyes take an hour. And a broken nose takes a full school day."

Lancer, tired of standing, sat down in the grass. "Don't your parents ever notice?"

Danny shook his head. "I wear jackets to cover the injuries that take longer, and bruises are easy to explain, but black eyes and broken noses normally heal before I get home. If not, I normally stay out with Tucker and Sam until they do."

"We help to hide the broken bones and sprains," Sam explained, packing away the Fenton first-aid kit.

"I think we explained everything, so that's all you need to know." Tucker glanced up, and noticed his teacher's pale face and shallow breathing. Knowing this could take a toll on a person who isn't prepared for it, he handed Lancer a bottle of water from his bag. "Don't worry, sir. Me and Sam almost had a coronary after we found out he was half-dead. But the rest came easy."

"Sam and I," Lancer croaked, before clearing his throat and summoning all the strength in his body. It was time. He knew the trio wouldn't like it, but he had to do it. "Daniel, Samantha, Tucker. I'm going to make a deal with you. I won't tell your parents you're Phantom, or anyone else, if you three swear to stop ghost fighting."