I know some of you want this story to have longer chapters, more action, etc. That's never been the aim of this fic. In this... basically glorified oneshot... I wanted to focus on a long and slow exploration of characterization, realistically long conversation, building of suspense and mystery, and experimenting with narration styles. So I'm sorry, and I WILL be doing more exciting things in other stories, but that's just not what this one was ever meant to be.

Please just accept it for what it is. And I hope you continue to enjoy it anyway. :)

Chapter 5:

Into the Fire

In a flash, Dash's old demeanor had popped back up, although now that Danny had seen what was there before it, he could find the little cracks in the façade. He could see how upset Dash was, even though he refused to let on.

It was quite unsettling to see Dash here like that. And it made him wonder all the more what he was doing here.

"Now…" Dash began with almost all of his old boisterousness. "I'm sure you're wondering what you're doing here." He forced a leer too completely take over his face.

Danny swallowed, but his superhero banter reflex kicked in and he replied before his brain could catch up to the fact with a flippant, "Yeah, actually, I was."

"Well, I'll tell ya'," Dash replied without missing a beat.

Almost immediately: "Thanks."

Then Dash finished with a "You're welcome."

And that was that. It was just a short exchange, but it threw Danny off.

He sat, still on the toilet, and blinked. Several times.

Dash had just… said 'you're welcome' to him? Practically acted civilly to him? Agreed to tell him what was going on instead of sticking his head in the sink?

None of that seemed like the jock. Something was up. And something being up was never a good sign for Danny.

He stared up at the guy, wondering where on earth all of this was going. There was still enough of the old bully left in Dash's face to keep him from asking, but it was definitely an idea he considered.

After a minute or so, though, Dash quelled his curiosity by taking the initiative and starting to speak.

"Okay, Fenton, listen up." He pinned Danny with a stare. "You listening, Fenton?"

"Yeah, yeah, Dash," Danny nodded quickly, "I'm listening."

"Good," he sneered. "'Cause I'm not going to explain this twice."

Danny didn't know that Dash was capable of explaining anything twice, but set that thought aside to listen to what the guy was going to say. It wouldn't do to antagonize the guy when he was already in such a vulnerable position. Besides, he was on the edge of his seat, waiting for it, waiting for whatever Dash thought he knew.

At least they were alone now. If something happened, no one would be around to witness it.

Or… was that a bad thing in this instance?

Yeah, he thought it was probably bad. Dash might beat him up until he couldn't take it any more and would transform to defend himself. If things got that bad, that would be a time when it would be good to have some help around. Danny gulped just imagining it.

Lancer was still in the building, though, right? If he yelled loud enough… the principal might just walk in to save the day. And then Danny would never fall asleep in one of his classes again. Unless it had been a really rough day. Or maybe Lancer had given up on his ever appearing in detention and just figured that he would give him double tomorrow.

It wouldn't surprise him, given the way everything in his life seemed to be going. Nobody seemed to have faith in him anymore. His parents had given up trying to make him obey curfew. His teachers had abandoned understanding his spotty attendance. And now, they probably wouldn't even believe in him enough to make it to detention.

Great.

"I know all about you, Fenton," Dash stated.

Yep. That was the way his life seemed to be going these days. Right down the drain.

Danny stopped breathing for a moment and the blood began to drain out of his face. He looked up, hoping that what he had heard was not what the guy had actually said.

That was right; it was a trick of the ears, telling him exactly what he didn't want to hear. It was possible, right? It would be a dirty trick his mind would play on him given the high state of stress he had been in this entire time, right? Yeah?

Dash looked at Danny as the boy went even paler than he thought imaginable. The kid was already dead white to begin with… he could actually… get paler? Man, he would be beating the ghosts out if he kept it up at this rate. Could people get so drained of blood that they became see-through? Whoa, that would be freaky.

But, the fact that the loser in front of him was so visibly paling meant that he was doing something right. He knew he had struck a chord with the kid. He had found his secret; he had something to hold over him now. And if he had something to hold over him, that meant he had leverage, even more leverage than normal, to make him do whatever he wanted, something more than one of his normal homework related requests. He might just be able to pull this off.

He had been right. This was all going exactly according to plan. He was so proud of himself for finally having figured out how to go about this. His problems would be over in no time.

"What did you say, Dash?" Danny managed to breathe out, interrupting the Jock's self-congratulatory streak. He wanted confirmation.

"I know all about you and your secret."

And he got it. There it was.

So he hadn't been hearing things. Dash had said that he knew all about him and his secret. With that one final stroke, all of his hopes were completely shattered. There was nothing else he could do. There was nothing for it now…

This was bad. This was very bad. Dash was one of the worst people on the face of the planet to know his secret. Man, this was going to be the end of the world. This was sooooo not good.

But maybe… just maybe… the inkling started to grow in Danny's mind and he latched onto with a veracity that might have startled him if he hadn't been clinging to it for dear life… maybe the secret Dash thought he knew wasn't the secret Danny thought Dash knew.

They could be two separate things. It was possible.

There was nothing to say that Dash knew anything about his being Phantom at all. He didn't really know what other secret the big blonde thought he could have, but it was worth it to hold onto such a sweet thought, for a moment anyway, that he didn't care if it wasn't all that feasible.

"And…" Danny swallowed, daring to hope beyond all hoping even as he asked the all-revealing question. "What secret would that be?"

Dash scoffed and tossed his head back with one of his trademark smirks.

"Oh please. Don't think that you can pull that innocent stunt on me. I've done it and seen it enough to know when you're faking it. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Danny's heart was pounding in his chest, so hard that it ached. He could feel its thumping hammering against him and the thin fabric of his shirt moved with ever beat.

"Well," he asked timidly, hesitantly, hoping to stave off the inevitable even though the words coming out of his mouth made that all but impossible. He just hoped that he wasn't antagonizing the jock even further into coming up with something extra devious for him.

"Could you just explain a bit anyway? It's not like I can really read your mind," he said, a touch more flippantly than he decided was prudent.

Dash sighed a sigh full of exasperation. Well, if the kid was going to go and make things difficult for him, he wondered why he should even bother explaining it all.

If Danny was really that ignorant of all of the cool stuff happening right around him because of his… special status, then he didn't deserve them… or the special treatment he was getting right this very minute.

Dash didn't have to be this nice. Sheesh, he would much rather be pounding on him than being nice to… Fentina.

But if he pounded on the kid, he would never figure this whole thing out, and would never get that thing taken care of.

And that was his number one priority at the moment.

That thought was the only thing keeping him nice.

Dash realized a second later that is was probably a good thing he had continued to play nice as another thought crossed his mind in a streak of lightning. Danny was playing dumb because Dash… knew his secret. Secret, as in, stuff that shouldn't be known. Of course he wasn't going to own up to it to anyone else!

If anyone thought that he would own up to his teddy bear collection, despite any mountains of evidence they might possibly be able to obtain, they had another thing coming.

He guessed it made sense, in some weird way.

Dash actually smiled, because it reminded him of all the power he was going to have over the kid.

He decided then and there, as he continued to stare at Danny, that blackmail was a wonderful thing.

Maybe that saying about the word being mightier than the machine gun might be onto something… He didn't even have to break a sweat or throw a punch and he could have Fenton quaking in his shoes.

It felt really good.

It was the first time he realized to potential in non-physicality. There was power there too. Lots of power that he could tap into.

But of course, he realized that his silent gloating and sudden fascination with this new world of brain power would have to stop for the moment. He could pick it up again later. But it was imperative now that he make use of it before Danny walked out on him.

If he kept up with this inner monologue, the guy would be perfectly justified in walking out and he might be too engrossed in his thoughts to notice and do anything about it. Now, that could not be allowed to happen.

A brief tremor of fear ran through Dash's mind as memories of shadows and creepy things edged forward. They were, after all, the reason he was so determined to see this through. But he couldn't think about those things now, couldn't let the images surface, couldn't see…

It would make him freeze up. It would make him seem scared in front of the geek and he didn't do scared.

So he glared down at the black haired boy and laid his cards out on the table with a smirk. "I know about you and Phantom."

Duhn duhn duhnnnn...