I'm trying to update faster, so... don't hate if it takes me two days since my last update to finish. I don't own DP

I was always told that I didn't give all of my students equal chance to be a leader in the classroom.

Now that I saw Daniel, I was sure they were all right.

He was born for the role of leader, only judging by last night and the past ten minutes: he would do anything to make sure those who he was in-charge of were mostly happy (sang Whiskey Lullaby when Dashiel was being finicky); he understood that being fair wasn't being communist, but giving everyone exactly what they personally needed for success (giving Mikey his own sandwich); he was knowledgeable beyond my own understanding (being able to find the quickest route for others who weren't as quick and experienced as he seemed); was quick to realize his own emotions (deciding to cool off when he was far to angry with Dash to continue); quick to admit fault (Yes, I did hear him apologize to Dash- amazing! that boy had been bullied for years by Dash, yet he was first to apologize after losing his temper); demanded respect (quickly stood up for Dani when she'd been called a 'brat' by Dash); caring (looked after the little girl, and all of them, really, as if they were his own); and strong.

How he was that strong was beyond me. Osmium, OSMIUM! and a boulder of it as huge as his father. If he was that strong...

why did he deal with Dash? I assume that if Danny was as strong as he is, Dash would be on his back in less that a minute!

I suppose that added to the list: patient.

I watched him lift the little girl, Dani, on his shoulders. He chuckled as she began to play with his hair. I walked a bit quicker to be more in-pace with them.

I was always told that a teacher would learn more as he taught.

I was now determined to learn.

"So I guess it started when I met Sam," Tucker began.

"We were close from the start- even though he could be as annoying as hel- heck. Five-year-old Tucker was as annoying as heck," Sam saved herself from cursing in front of the tween.

"So as we grew we began to recognize each other's quirks and learned how to read one another as if our faces were all Dr. Seuss books, Dani," Danny added.

"And after the," Tucker gave a concerned smile to Danny who returned with his own genuine one, "the accident, it kinda expanded..."

"So instead of me seeing Sam's eyebrow twitch as she watched lightning strike down a tree, I was able to feel her fear," Danny said smiling teasingly at Miss Manson.

"And instead of being able to look at Danny chew on his eraser during a test, I was able to hear his voice 'I don't know this answer, why didn't I study or sleep last night... Why don't I remember anything from the past three school weeks'." Sam teased back. Danny shoved her lightly and she stuck out her tongue at him.

"And only D-man can initiate or eliminate it, unless he's unconscious. Then we can see each other's dreams when we're close enough to one another while we sleep. But the emotions couldn't ever be as severe..." Tucker finished, placing a hand on young Mr. Fenton's shoulder. Danny turned and gave him another lopsided grin.

"I'm glad they couldn't be as severe, Tuck. Believe that," Danny gave the cocoa-skinned teen a one-armed hug, holding Dani's foot in place with his other hand. "I'm happy you don't see it like I do," he looked to Sam, "It makes me special in a way."

Somehow, while I walked through the ghost zone, following my most troubled student and his friends... this impossible phenomenon they described seemed so real. I knew they wouldn't lie to this little girl that Danny so easily would fight for...

So I knew they weren't lying at all.

I slowed down and walked more in pace with the other adults. I'd met the Fentons several times before in parent-teacher conferences and other chaperoning conveniences, but the Mansons were still alien to me. Prim and proper from my first impression, and growing more unbearably so with time.

Now I understood why Sam and Danny seemed so quiet before take-off.

They had been rather quiet and in shock the entirety of this voyage, most likely the same reason I had been: how were these three so knowledgeable about the zone that no one had ever entered before... or so we thought. But now they had warmed up lightly to the idea, and followed as the students did; caught up in conversation.

"Fenton, your son is too close to my daughter," Miss Pamela Manson spat as if the fact was snake-venom.

"It's not like he's going to do anything to her. They aren't even dating!" Maddie Fenton retaliated.

"Yeah, and even if he did we'd still be proud of both our kids!" Mr. Fenton added, earning glares from everyone. I thought I noticed Danny sigh, blush, and face-palm from the corner of my eye, but there was no way he could have heard us from here. "Well, I'd be proud-ish..." he tried to mend.

"I will personally hire a professional boxer to punch you in the face when we get back home," Mr. Jeremy Manson replied, bitterness lacing his voice. This provoked Maddie, which provoked Pamela, which got the men involved, and somehow everyone was yelling again.

I walked ahead, not wanting to hear this anymore. They were terrible; yet somehow, maybe simple teenage rebellion, or maybe something more intimate, Danny and Sam endured their parent's arguments and remained friends.

That was powerful.

Ahead, I noticed, the trio was running in circles. Danny had given Dani to Tucker, and he was carrying her on his shoulders; and Danny had stolen Sam, carrying her on his back. The boy ran around, passing one another just briefly enough that the girls on their shoulders could high-five or poke the other's side.

And it hit me. Something had happened to them, those three students of mine (maybe Dani, too), probably the same thing that had caused those bad dreams they spoke of earlier. And whatever it was prevented them from being kids, teens, like they were supposed to. And this creepy place, this realm of the dead made them more relaxed, somehow.

They got to be free here.

The light of the green and black sky grew dark, and Danny once again found a high, shrub-clad area for us all to rest, right by the river. I was too curious to fall to sleep, though. I may not be young anymore, but I wanted with all my might to understand this boy. I drifted in-and-out of sleep once or twice when a small whimpering woke me up. Danny thrashed wildly in his sleep, sweat pouring from his hair-line.

His eyes shot open, and I swear they were glowing green.

He rose to his feet and looked to Tucker and Sam, who had Dani on her lap. All but the youngest's faces were contorted and sour. He squinted his eyes and their mouths turned up into light, sleeping smiles. I watched him press a kiss to Dani's forehead, and then stalk off.

I instinctively followed.

He was pulling off his socks as he sat next to the river's edge. I leaned down and cupped my hands to take a drink. I sipped from my make-shift cup when...

"NO!" he yelled quietly at me. I dropped it and spat out the water I had in my mouth. It tasted bad anyway.

"No, don't spit... in the river... The ghosts drink from that," he pressed his fingertips to his brow. I wiped my mouth, and coughed lightly.

"Sorry," I mumbled. He sighed and examined me with his huge, blue eyes.

"You were eavesdropping on my conversation today, weren't you? My conversation with Tucker and Sam and Dani?" I'm sure my eyes widened, because his own searching pair narrowed. "You were walking too close to us not to. And if you were trying to get away from Mister and Misses Manson and my parents you would've gone to the other side of the path." Now, I nodded and he sighed.

"Are those nightmares why you always show up late, and sleep in my class?"

His lips tightened as he looked to the sky above him. "Something like that," he said, placing his feet in the water.

"Is that safe?" I questioned as I pulled off my own shoes.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Just ingesting it can be... bad," Danny replied.

"Oh. How do you know so much of this world, that isn't even yours, yet you get D's when we talk about Hamlet in class?"

He didn't even pause, he wasn't scared of my questions. He was confident here. "I would normally tell you that it's opposite sides of the brain, but memorization is memorization. So I guess, I just find some things more important than others, Mister Lancer."

"Like?" I pressed, though I know I shouldn't have.

"Like my nasty little secret, over grades. Like my friends over NASA," he tried to explain.

"You want to be in the space program?" I asked. He chuckled.

"If I didn't, I'd have F's instead of D's. You wouldn't ever get a piece of finished homework from me, even if it is, sometimes, a little sloppy." He sat still, and we both kicked our toes in the water. "D'you think Danny Phantom is a menace or here to help?" he questioned me, as if life depended on it.

"I think he tries to help, but the damages he causes to town... I think he tries his best, but it isn't always enough..." I mumbled.

"Good." He looked down to his feet again. And I began to wonder why it was so important, and what way he would lead us, and if we would see the Phantom along the way. "We'll be heading upstream," he mumbled, "when we see Quandary it'll be our 20m left marker. From there it'll be easy sailing north-east until we reach the Far Frozen."

"Odd how you have our route memorized so easily," I mumbled. He gave me another look.

"I don't. I have the zone memorized like the back of my palm," Danny smirked.

"What happened to you?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

"If you're wondering about my nasty little secret, maybe you'll learn. I don't tell people, but that doesn't prevent them from figuring out on their own," He gave me a smile, like he wanted me to accept his little challenge. So I returned it. "It's late, and safer to stay in groups," he began, "Let's go try to get some sleep."

I nodded and we returned to the camp as if nothing had ever happened.
But that was a huge lie.

LIke it? Explains a few things, I think. And shows through Lancer's POV. Glad if you liked it, but I won't know unless you tell me.

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