-CHAPTER 6-

-Back 2 School-

Danny sighed, after his mother left the lab. He had been sitting back on the lab table, flipping through the channels of the the small tv his parents hooked up next to him. He heavily sighed, tired of just sitting there doing nothing. I loved going with his friends on days like this but he couldn't do anything. Just thinking about it really pissed him off.

While he was flipping through channels, his remote stopped working. Danny frowned hitting the remote against the metal table. He tried again but it still didn't work. Then the tv started flashing strange images, startling Danny. "What the hell…" He rasped, his throat still a bit sore.

Out of the random flashing, there was one image that stood out to him. It almost looked like….her. Danny just thought he was going crazy. It couldn't be her. He wished it wasn't her. But Desiree wasn't here to grant that wish.

The screen froze right on that very image. "No…" Danny begged in a whisper. The tv shook there she was, slipping right out of the screen. For a second, Danny forgot his condition and went ghost. It was excruciatingly painful for him as the two white rings passed over his body. Going ghost drained nearly all the energy Danny had, not that he had much to begin with.

"That was a mistake." The she-ghost hovered above the frightened boy. "I didn't tell anyone! I swear." The ghost boy choked out. Danny hated how vulnerable he made her feel. He was always the one to win and he never showed fear. He saved the world for crying out loud! Why was she able to do this to him?

"Oh I know. But I couldn't just let get heal. Besides you still have more precious energy." She gave that same sickening smile. Danny was confused. More energy? What did she mean by that? "Just leave me alone… please." He pleaded. "You're funny. Honestly you make my job a lot more fun." Without hesitation, the she-ghost picked up the boy and held him up by the arm. Danny tried to revert back to his human form, but the pain was far too great.

The ghost lifted up her hand, her pointer fingers nail growing longer. She took that nail and stuck it into his arm like some sort of syringe. The longer she kept it there, the weaker Danny felt. What was she doing to him?

"Thank you, Danny Phantom." She said sarcastically, dropping the boy onto the floor. The she-ghost turned around, looking at the lab tables. SHe flew over to the table, reaching out to grab a few of the Fenton's weapons only to be shocked by the shield Maddie had placed over it. She lightly cursed, turing back over to Danny.

"J-Jazz…" Danny tried to yell but it just came out as a whisper. "Need help? Let me call her for you." The ghost cleared her throat before yelling out "Jazz! Help!" in a voice that sounded just like Danny's.

"See you again soon!" The Ghost smiled again before disappearing.

"Mom! Danny's hurt really bad. Please come home!" Jazz spoke nervously over the phone. "Okay, bye I'll see you." Jazz hung up, turning back to Danny. It was about 5 minutes since Jazz found him and he was still on the floor. Jazz tried to pick him up earlier but it had hurt him so badly, she had to stop.

She sat down next to him and placed her hand over his. "I'm so sorry, little brother. I should have stayed down here with you." Danny tried to shake his head. "M-My fault…" Danny whispered. "No it's not! It's okay." Jazz was surprised at the fact that he blamed this on himself. How could it be his fault?

She sighed, lightly squeezing his hand.

"What happened!" Maddie burst into the lab, Jack right behind her. Jazz snapped her head up to look at her parents. "I don't know! I c-came down here and-" She didn't know what to say. A few seconds later, Dani flew in accompanied by Sam, Tucker, Valerie and Mr. Gray.

Sam, Dani and Tucker quickly sat next to Jazz as Maddie and Jack hovered over their son. Valerie wanted to walk over to him, but she felt like an outsider. She decided it was best to stand next to her father.

"I'm so sorry, baby." Maddie leaned forward to pick up Danny, knowing that it was going to hurt him. "Jack help me." She glanced at her husband before hooking her arms under her boy's shoulders. Jack nodded, hoisting his son up by the legs. Danny grimaced, feeling so many different types of pain at once. He tried to look at the people surrounding him but the terrible migraine he had made it hard to see.

Maddie and Jack carefully laid him on the lab table, Maddie fluffing his pillows before setting his head down. "I'll make you some tea." The woman whispered before going to her lab table to fix the tea. Danny grunted in response, slowly closing his eyes.

Dani turned around, her attention drifting from her brother to Valerie, who was awkwardly looking at the floor. Mr. Gray stood next to her, gazing at Danny with sympathy etched on his face. "Valerie!" The ghost girl whispered, causing Val to look up. Dani motioned her over and Valerie hesitantly complied.

"You're his friend too!" Dani pointed out.

Am I really?, Valerie thought.

6:45 AM

FENTON WORKS

It had been about a week since the second incident. Danny was healing again, faster than a human for certain. He was able to move around with crutches, which was a big improvement from rolling around in a wheelchair. He was feeling a lot better in his human half, courtesy Jazz's physical therapy. But there was one thing physical therapy couldn't fix.

For some reason, everytime Danny tried to use his powers, it hurt. Flying hurt the most while become intangible felt like being caught on fire. It was pure hell for him and he just wanted out. Just to not feel vulnerable. Not being able to fight back killed him.

But today was the day his parents were sending him back to school after weeks of being absent. Luckily for him, Sam and Tucker helped him catch up on certain subjects. He found himself missing sitting in Mr. Lancer's class, passing noted to his friends across the room and cracking occasional jokes. But the one thing that he was looking forward to was seeing Valerie.

Danny was surprised to find himself thinking of the young huntress but he couldn't stop. He hadn't really seen her the whole week but maybe today would be a chance for that.

"Danny, sweetie, you ready?" Maddie opened the door to Danny's room. Jack had finally managed to fix the giant hole in Danny's bedroom that you-know-who had left so Danny was finally able to sleep in his room again.

Danny sat up in his bed, not even out of his pajamas. "I'm… ready for bed…" He chuckled lightly. Maddie sighed, walking over to the foot of his bed. "You need help getting dressed?" She asked. Danny winced at the idea but took a deep breath, realising with all his casts and bandages, he couldn't do it alone. "Yeah…" he admitted.

"Okay, c'mon." Maddie stood up to stand at the side of Danny's bed. She pulled back his bed covers and held out an arm. Danny took her arm and carefully slid off of his bed. He had a brace on his left ankle and a huge cast on his right leg, making the task even harder.

"Stay still." Maddie said as her son sat at the edge oh his bed. She walked over to his closet and pulled out his regular t-shirt and jeans. "Arms up." She instructed. Danny followed, bringing his good arm and his broken arm up as far as they could go. Maddie carefully put the t-shirt over her sons head, trying not to bend the arm covered in the bright green cast.

Once he had his shirt and eventually his pants on, Danny's mother helped him put on his arm sling and his ankle brace. "There you go!" She smiled, standing back up. She gazed at her son lovingly, soon embracing him in a gentle hug. "Oh, I have such a handsome boy!" Maddie cooed. Danny smiled, lightly nudging his mom away. "Alright Mom…"

Maddie laughed, releasing her son. "Let's get going then. I already got your lunch and your backpack in the car."

"But isn't Jazz taking me like she normally does?"

"No no. I told her to go ahead and leave. I'm taking you today."

"But why?

Maddie frowned. "Do you not want your friends to see me or something?" Danny rapidly shook his head. "No Mom! I don't mean it like that! It's just you always take Dani and not me. I just was confused on that."

Maddie's face softened. "Oh, your father is taking Danielle today. Now we've wasted enough time. You don't want to miss your first day back!"

7:55 AM

CASPER HIGH

"Are you sure you're good enough to be at school?" Sam looking Danny up and down as they stood in the back hallway, far away from the attention of Danny's "phans".

The half ghost awkwardly stood in front of the goth, leaning on his left crutch to support his right leg that was dressed in a black cast. His broken ankle was in a bulky ankle brace and his blue jeans looked like they were flooding out of it. His bright green arm cast hung from his arm sling, pressed against the boy's body.

Danny tried his best to shrug. "My mom called a doctor and he said I was fine." Sam gave a small nod. She then set down her backpack, unzipped and then rustled around for something. When she felt what she was looking for, her face lit up and she pulled her hand out. "Need someone to sign it?" She held up a black sharpie. "Be my guest!" Danny smiled, holding out his green cast as far as possible.

Sam smiled, stepping forward. "Close your eyes." She instructed, uncapping her sharpie. Danny obeyed, shutting his eyes tightly. He felt the light pressure of her pen against him arm, eager to find out what she was drawing. After a few minutes, Danny got impatient. "What the hell are you drawing?" He asked with anticipation.

"Be patient!" Sam hissed, continuing to doodle. About a minute later, she stepped backwards saying, "Okay, done!"

Danny did not hesitate to open his eyes. He quickly looked down and froze, observing what his best friend had drawn.

There was no doubt Sam was a great artist. In a few short minutes she was able to sketch out a picture of Danny in his ghost form. But there was something different about it. There was a little heart where his logo was and Danny raised an eyebrow. "What's the heart for?" He looked up at Sam.

"Look closer." She said simply. Danny did as he was told and an immediate blush dressed his face as he realised what it said. "D + V…. Are you saying m-me and Valerie?"

"No, you and Vlad. Of course you and Valerie genius!" Sam laughed.

"I thought you hated her."

"Hate is a strong word. Besides, I wanted to see how you would react. You're always so extra about these things."

"I-I am not!" Danny wasn't helping himself as his blush reddened even more.

"So you do still like Valerie!"

"No I don't. Shut up." Danny let his arm rest and he began to turn around. Sam rolled her eyes. "I'm messing with you. C'mon let's get to your locker." She returned to his side as the started to walk towards the hallway where their own lockers were. Danny sighed, looking down at his friend. "I don't like anyone right now."

Sam nodded. "I believe you." She lied.

"I see Mr. Fenton has come back to join us. He wasn't doing to well the past few weeks, but it is a pleasure to have him back." Mr. Lancer smiled at Danny from the front of the classroom. The class erupted with applause and Danny found himself wishing he was home schooled as he slid down in his seat. He wished he could use his powers because invisibility would be very useful right now.

"Danny! I did all your homework for you!" A random girl Danny never talked to said as she dumped a large stack of paper on his desk. "No, I did!" ANother girl spat, shoving the large stack off the desk and replacing it with her own.

"Oh you did not just do that!" The first girl became vicious. "Oh yes I did!" Said the second girl.

"Actually I did my own homework…" Danny pulled out all his work from his backpack with one arm. "Do you want me to carry that up for you?" The second girl asked. Danny shrugged. "Go ahead." The girl beamed before shooting daggers at the first girl. The first girl huffed before agrily sitting at her seat.

Danny sighed. He was really tired of this.

"Honestly I don't know how you stay here." Sam said, unscrewing her water bottle cap. "Hm?" Danny looked up from his sandwich his mother packed for him. "What do you mean by that?"

Danny and Sam were sitting in the normal supply closet, eating lunch. Today was even worse than most days for Danny so this time they had to barricade the door. Not that anyone found them in there yet, but that didn't mean it wasn't possible.

"Dealing with all of this. You might as well not even get an education! All these people doing your work like you said." Sam exclaimed. Danny nodded in agreement. "Did I tell you about the girls who tried to fight over sitting next to me in Anatomy?" Sam shook her head in disgust. "No but I don't think I even wanna know. Why don't you just get homeschooled?"

"I'd hate having to sit in a room with a teacher all by myself. It's better when there's more students and you aren't the main focus." Danny explained.

Sam nodded. "Makes sense, but still! Why not go to a private school or something?"

"Have you ever heard of a private school in Amity Park? The closest one is two towns away!"

"You're right. Still, it's a shame you're put through all of this."

"Thanks for caring. Oh, have you seen Valerie today?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "I thought you didn't like her." Danny frowned. "I don't. She said we could be friends now. I just wanted to say hi or something."

"Do you honestly think that? After all those years of hunting you, she's gonna suddenly want to be your friend?"

"We were friends!"

"Yeah she was friends with Fenton but she was absolutely set on frying Phantom on a stick!"

"You don't get it. We were starting to get along before the disasteroid. Sam, why are you acting like this?"

"Acting like what?" Sam leaned forward, raising an eyebrow in a challenging manner.

Danny opened his mouth to speak but he didn't want to start a fight. "Nevermind. I'll think about what you said but still, I trust Val."

Sam quietly huffed, relaxing into her previous position.

The two continued to eat their lunch in an awkward silence. Danny frowned to himself, feeling a bit guilty for raising his voice at Sam. But still, the fact that she would draw something like that on his cast and then get worked up over him wanting to be friends with Valerie? It didn't make sense. He sighed, understanding that Sam had her own way of dealing with things and that she really did Have his best interests at heart.

Sam looked up when her friend sighed and opened her mouth to say something but paused once she heard footsteps in a frenzy coming from the hall outside the closet. "You hear that?" Danny looked to Sam, setting down his sandwich onto wax paper.

Sam nodded, backing away from the door when she heard someone messing with the doorknob. Danny panicked, not wanting his only hiding spot left to be compromised. "What do we do?" He whispered to the girl next to him. "Shhh!" was her only response.

The two looked at the door in pure panic, anticipating some crazed fangirl like the ones in Mr. Lancer's class. Instead it was Valerie who pushed back all the trash cans that blocked the door. When she was inside, she slammed the door shut and closed her eyes.

"Valerie?" Danny asked in surprise." Valerie's eyes shot open and looked down at the two teenagers sitting on the floor below her. "Danny? Sam?" What are you guys doing here?"

"We eat lunch in here every day. What are you doing here?" Sam interrogated.

"Hiding from the news team."

"News team? Hy the news team?" asked Danny.

"They saw me going to your house that once day and now they want me to help them find you because they know we know each other!" Valerie cried.

"That's cr-" Danny started before Valerie put her hand over his mouth. "They're coming!" She whispered, listening to the sound of footsteps and yelling outside. "Let's check in here!" A voice yelled. The three kids assumed they were talking about the closet and tried to find a way to hide.

"The trash can! Throw it over me!" Danny told Valerie. She nodded, reaching for the full trash can and Danny yelled "No! The other one." He waved his hand to the trash can on the other side. "Oh, sorry." Valerie quickly stood up, picking up the large, empty trash can and put it over Danny's body.

"What about us?' Sam asked, looking around. Valerie bit her lip before spotting a pile of full trash bags. "Don't they ever take out the trash here?" She said in disgust.

"Well it sure makes a great hiding spot. Come on!" Sam said, freaking out after hearing footsteps approaching the door. Valerie nodded, quickly leaping behind the bags. Sam followed after, gagging at the horrible smell.

"You okay Danny?" Both girls asked in unison. A muffled "Yeah" came from the overturned trash can.

All three of them held their breath as they heard the door knob being messed with. It took the news team a minute but eventually they got the door open.

"What do you see?"

"No one. Although, there's food in here!"

Danny could hear a rustle. They were picking up his lunch bag.

"Guys! I got Danny Phantom's lunch!"

"How do you know it's his?"

"There's a message from Maddie Fenton on it."

Mom, why! Danny thought.

"Do you think we found Danny Phantom's lunch spot?"

"Yeah! And I think that other lunch is his ex girlfriends."

"He still eats with her? I'm starting to wonder if they ever really broke up."

"You and me both!"

The door shut and the three kids began to stir. Sam and Valerie waited a few minutes before standing up.

"Ugh that wet gym sneaker and rotten bologna smell is gonna linger for a bit." Valerie wrinkled her nose. "I totally want to throw up now." Sam gagged again.

"Before you do that, do you guys mind getting me out of here before I run out of oxygen?" Danny pleaded. "Oh, sorry!" Valerie walked over to the trash can and pulled it up. Danny took a deep breath once he was free before scrunching his nose. "Man, you guys reek!"

"We're aware." Sam glared. Danny nervously chuckled. "Sorry… Anyone mind helping me up?" He tried to pick himself up but that didn't do much.

Valerie nodded, quickly putting her hands underneath his arm pits. She lifted him upwards so that he was standing right up and Sam handed him his crutches. "Thanks." He said to both of them.

"So they took the rest of your lunch." Sam pointed out. "Yeah. It's crazy how those grown adults are so worried about the life of a teenager! It's just creepy." Danny cried.

"Yeah… class is about to start soon." Valerie said. Sam and Danny nodded. "Let's go." THey both said. Valerie opened the door and all three of them walked out.

A/N: Sorry the story is still a bit slow, but I promise, we're almost at all the good stuff. Danny is always so clueless. Even when it comes to his own feelings. Thank you guys so much for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter!