Author's Note:I definitely edited the old stuff so it flowed better... but admittedly I didn't do much editing on the new stuff and rewrites other than a cursory read through, so please forgive any mistakes... and uh... maybe let me know so I can fix them. Thanks! Enjoy the read!

Danny panted as he ran knowing that if he stopped he was sure to die. His lungs burned and his vision blurred with tears, his nostrils flared with each breath, he felt as if he was about to die, his muscles protested as he ran, Tucker was not far behind him, the groaning noises coming from his friend let him know Tucker was still alive for now. He ran, spots at the edges of his vision as he did so.

I'm okay.

I'm Okay.

I'm okay.

I'M OKAY!

Danny tried to reassure himself, his lungs felt like they were on fire and his heart might explode, telling himself he was okay wasn't helping.

I THINK I'M GONNA DIE!

"Alright class, bring it in." Tetslaff boomed across the Gym. Panting Tucker and Danny made it to the gaggle of students that were beginning to gather around their teacher.

"I expected a better show of fitness from the self proclaimed town hero." Tetslaff huffed.

"Ghost… Powers… not… human… fitness… being… human… is… hard." Danny puffed out through each breath; his hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat.

"That's no excuse." Tetslaff glared down at him. Danny sighed and his knees collapsed under him and he fell to the floor. Sam snickered to the side, Danny didn't even have the energy to glare at her as he panted to try an recover.

"You children better buck up, next month is the annual fitness test, in order to graduate you must pass this exam." Tetslaff barked. Groans filled the gym, "Stop your whining. We train again tomorrow if we have to, and the day after that, so help me if we have to run in the rain, snow, and the apocalypse, you will all pass this exam." After a brief glare she dismissed class. Danny continued panting near Tucker. Shadows loomed over them, but Danny wasn't entirely sure he wasn't hallucinating due to oxygen deprivation until he felt Tucker get picked off the mat.

"Hey!" he protested as Kwan carried him off, Danny sat up, glaring at Kwan and Dash.

"What did you do that for!?" He demanded angrily, still panting from the work out. He got to his feet shaking slightly as he glared at Dash.

"Meh, a loser like him isn't worth your time. We're just looking out for your best interests." Dash said with a smile that he clearly thought was charming. Danny growled in frustration.

"First of all, I can look after my own interests, second of all, I don't think I want to hang out with anyone who treats other humans that way." Danny turned to leave, angrily stopping his way to the locker room

"Wait!" Dash put a hand on Danny's shoulder to stop him, Danny whipped around with a glare and Dash put his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"Look I'm sorry about the techno geek, it won't happen again. I was just wondering if you needed somebody to train with, you know to get help adjusting to human life, I'll be happy to work out with you, or like, I have a personal gym at my house so you don't have to worry about doing it in public." Dash blushed, Danny sighed, the offer was strangely kind, and he hesitated to completely dismiss Dash when he was being nice to him. That didn't stop him from being angry at what they had done to both Tucker and Danny in the past year.

"Thanks for the offer, if I survive this week I may take you up on it. Just don't mess with Tucker Foley!" Danny said, punctuating this with another glare to try and signal that he was done talking, when Dash didn't leave he hesitated, "Is there something else?" He questioned.

"Well… the thing is, I've always looked up to you, and I was wondering if you'd like to hang out, I'd like to be more like you." Dash mumbled.

"Start by being nice to everyone, not just the people you deem worthy. I don't pick and choose who to save based on their popularity or lack thereof." He snapped. "I don't like bullies, especially when they are picking on someone I consider a friend."

"Oh… huh… but… I'd like to be friends." Dash said dumbly.

"You seem like you sincerely want to be friends… but I don't like your actions, I'm a hero! I defend the weak from people like you!" Danny said as he pointed at Dash. For his part, Dash didn't look ashamed, but more scolded. Danny turned angrily and left him standing there, it was unlikely that he would think about the consequences of his actions, but there was always hope.

If there was one thing Danny was dreading above all else it would have to have been lunch.

It felt like thousands of eyes were on him, he could feel his face flushing while he kept his eyes firmly glued to his tray as he made his way through the lunch line. The lunch lady (not to be confused with The Lunch Lady) seemed unimpressed; Danny just wished everyone else would follow her lead and stop staring.

If making it through the lunch line weren't bad enough as he turned there were at least 15 people staring at him, some just standing with anticipation wondering where he would drop his tray. Danny tried to quiet his heart; it seemed incredibly loud all of a sudden, were they all waiting to join him at his table, wherever that table may be?

Sam… Tucker… where are you? Danny mentally pleaded to scan the cafeteria. He hesitated a moment longer, Sam and Tucker were absent from the usual table, maybe they were running late for lunch, he started to head in that direction when he suddenly felt a strong arm around his shoulders.

"So I've been thinking about what you've said." It was Dash. Danny nodded, "But I have to wonder, how are these nerds going to respect me if I'm nice to them?"

"They don't respect you Dash, they fear you." Danny replied in a flat tone, eyes scanning for a quick escape, he didn't want to have to be the one to teach Dash about morality or whatever.

"That's the same thing right?" Dash blinked, Danny sighed, he guessed there was no getting out of this, and someone needed to do it.

"No! No it's not! Respect and Fear are completely different, there are times when the two may seem similar but they are not."

"What?" Dash looked at him stupidly and Danny groaned before elaborating,

"Let me put it this way, do you respect any of the ghosts that attack the town?" Danny questioned as Dash led him to his table.

"No." Dash frowned as he pulled out a chair for Danny to sit in.

"If one of them told you to do something would you do it?" Danny added.

"No." Dash said defiantly as he folded his arms.

"If a ghost was in front of you right now, glowing and mighty glaring down on you with a power that could crush you in seconds, and he told you to give him your homework, you wouldn't do it to save your arse?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ok, maybe, but only because I'll admit to them being more powerful than me." Dash allowed. Danny nodded.

"That is what you do to those 'nerds,' they don't respect you, they fear what you might do to them if they don't comply." Danny finished, he still stood holding his tray, not sitting in the chair Dash had pulled out for him. Dash sat for a minute seeming confused by this concept.

"What is respect if it's not pounding on people to get them to do what you want them to do?" Dash frowned. Kwan joined the table and answered Dash's hypothetical question.

"That's exactly what respect is. If they aren't scared of you, they aren't going to respect you." Kwan shrugged as if this was the obvious way of the world, Dash shook his head having considered what Danny had said. Danny reluctantly took a seat now figuring that this discussion would take a while and he was getting tired of holding his tray.

"But I don't respect ghosts, though I may… well may be just a little scared of what they can do to me. I'm not scared of them actually, know that, but what they can do scares me. But I don't respect them." Dash explained. Kwan paused in his eating as he looked at Dash confused by this line of reasoning.

"But that's different because it's ghosts." Kwan's eyebrows were furrowed as if he wasn't sure if really was all that different after all.

"It's not different!" Danny slammed his hands on the table causing the two to jump, "It's still people with more power exploiting and intimidating people with less power!" Danny frowned at the two before him, "Think about who you respect!"

The two exchanged looks, thinking about it, Dash answered first.

"Well I respect you." He said, seeming to try and get on Danny's good side with that comment.

"Me too." Added Kwan, "and also Tesla."

"Now explain why you feel that respect." Danny prompted, once again the two jocks looked toward each other as if looking for answers. Danny felt like he was trying to lead toddlers to a simple answer.

"Well I respect you because you're cool, and have powers… and… well.. you're somebody, not like the other nobodies in this school." Dash attempted to explain. Danny sighed and shook his head.

"Well I no longer have powers, I suppose that meansI can go sit at what you've deemed the loser table, since I am irrevocably and unfortunately human. I have no markers by which you deemed me respectable before." Danny picked up his tray, Dash grabbed his arm to stop him causing Danny to flinch.

"Wait…" Dash fumbled over his words, "I guess because you were a hero… I looked up to you, what you did for people, for me, the town… It was pretty awesome of you to keep saving us. You kicked ghost butt, not to mention you fought the literal ghost king to save us… though your powers were pretty cool though, you have to admit." Dash mumbled toward the end, even if he respected Danny as a hero it seemed that he was still swayed in some part by his powers. To Danny's surprise Kwan spoke without prompting to answer the question as well.

"Well I respect Tesla because of the things he did for science, I guess he wasn't scary… except when he went crazy and tried to build a death ray…" Kwan frowned. "That's not the point though, he was an impressive guy, unfortunately he just wasn't very good at communicating with people or patenting his ideas. Even if he was scary, he's gone now… no way for him to make me fear him into respecting him"

"Respect is something you earn, not something you pound out of people. It's earned through actions, you can obviously respect someone without fearing them, and like I said earlier, I don't like bullies.." Danny pulled his arm out of Dash's grasp and wandered over to an empty corner, setting down his tray. He was still irked by the interaction with Dash and he stabbed his meatloaf angrily.

After a moment he realized that he was still alone at the table, he'd expected to be swarmed immediately, but apparently the expression on his face was enough to ward people off. He glared into his semblance of mashed potatoes before he felt someone sit opposite him. He switched his glare to them before recognizing the face across from him, his glare softened.

"Valerie?" He blinked, confused by the fact she was sitting across from him.

"I hate you." She stated, Danny let out a small laughed and twirled his fork in his potatoes.

"Yeah. I know. You've only said that like… every time we've ever met, or rather yelled it every time we've fought." Danny said, he demeanor changing to his usual Phantom persona with Valerie in front of him.

"Shut up spook I wasn't finished." Valerie glared, "and keep it down the whole cafeteria is listening." Danny held his hands up as a sign of surrender, "Listen… I hate you."

"Yes, we've established that." Danny went back to making a moonscape out of his potatoes, Valerie cleared her throat and continued, though she was clearly annoyed by Danny's interruption.

"Look, this doesn't make us friends or anything… but what you said back there… it makes a lot of difference to people around here." Valerie glanced at the table where Mikey and a few other "nerds" were watching Danny with awestruck and somehow grateful looks.

"Is this an apology?" Danny raised an eyebrow casting a quick glance at the table and back to Val.

"Oh hell no. They were just too shy to tell you themselves. I still blame you for ruining my life… but anyway… even if it doesn't change anything with the A-Listers, the nerds appreciate you standing up for them." Val glared then got up from the table.

Danny watched her get up and walk to the table that held Mikey and the others, she exchanged words that Danny couldn't hear before she left them to go sit on her own. One of the other kids at the table, Max might have been his name, made eye contact with Danny. Danny gave a half wave and a small smile to which the other sheepishly returned before both boys turned back to look at their food.

Danny poked at his food before looking up, he scanned the cafeteria; still no Sam and Tucker. Danny glanced down at his desolate lunch, if it could even be called that, then sighed and pushed it away laying his head down on the table. The next thing he knew Paulina was staring at him from across the table.

"You can pick me up at eight, they're showing a movie I'd like to watch at the cinema." She gave her most charming smile, and even Danny had to admit he's lost his brain for a few seconds there, even if he wasn't that into Paulina anymore, she was still very attractive.

"Uh…." Danny said dumbly as he tried to gather his wits again.

"Uh… really intelligent ghost boy." Sam sat her tray down next to Danny who turned bright red, the additional embarrassment was a bit much and he looked away from both girls.

"Ew, get lost Goth, we don't want your kind around here." Paulina waved her hand dismissively; Sam gave her a deadpan look. Danny frowned, he didn't like the way Paulina talked to his friends, but before he could say anything Sam was speaking again.

"My kind? You do realize that Ghosts are more in Goth territory than prep right? You know the whole being dead thing, the haunting thing, not to mention oujia boards and other such ghostly nonsense." Sam tried to wave her off with the fork before she used the same fork to stab into her salad.

"Whatever! You can't trick me! Superheroes fall squarely into my expertise Goth Freak!" Paulina sent a glare over to Sam, then she smiled at Danny, "Wouldn't you like to see exactly how far my expertise extends though?" She gave a coy smile, at the innuendo making Danny blush, but he found his voice despite the embarrassment.

"Uh… that sounds… interesting and all… but the Fentons have me on a short leash, and to be honest, I'm really not into the whole calling people freaks thing so…" Danny trailed off as Paulina's face morphed into one of disgust.

"Are you turning me down?" She frowned.

"I believe I am… but also I'm not exactly free to go on dates with anyone." Danny pointed out.

"What? What does that mean?" Paulina frowned, not sure if she was rejected or not.

"He means the Fenton's like to keep a close eye on their experiments, and unfortunately for you, I know the Fentons and they've deputized me with the task of babysitting the world's most clueless reformed ghost. And also unfortunately for you, the mayor has backed both the Fenton's up and by extension me. So if you would kindly remove your claws from the experiment or I'll be informing you're the mayor who will in turn inform your father, who will in turn do something unpleasant like… I don't know… cut your spending allowance." Sam rolled her eyes. Paulina glared.

"You don't scare me." She defiantly jutted out her chin, "Just because you've got the power of the government behind you for now doesn't mean much for long, you'll see. Everyone has their price." Paulina's voice went back to dripping with sweetness, "Even you ghost boy." She smiled. Danny gulped, but Paulina retreated back to her usual table, Tucker sat down.

"Damn… what did I miss?"

"Only the most sickening display of popular privilege." Sam said.

"Paulina asked me out… I mean… she's still pretty and all but… I guess I'm just not as into her as I was last year… plus she kinda looks at me like a piece of meat." Danny frowned.

Tucker opened his mouth, likely to make a crass joke but Sam interrupted.

"Yeah, well it's not like there is much substance behind her pretty face." She shrugged.

"I'm a teenage guy, I don't care." Tucker said with a shrug and Danny chuckled.

"I guess I've found myself caring more in the past year… particularly after her getting involved in one too many ghost attacks trying to come after me. Plus if Paulina is half as needy as she was when Kitty was overshadowing her… I think I'd go insane eventually." He sighed and finally started eating his food instead of playing with it. After a moment he looked over at Sam. "Nice going with saying that my parents put you in charge of me, that was smart thinking."

"Yeah, well they kind of did, rather Jazz was put in charge by your parents and of course she asked me and Tucker to keep an eye on you when she can't. Besides, I hardly think your parents would mind, even if they don't know that you're you." Sam shrugged.

"Are you going to tell them?" Tucker asked.

"Ha! Fat chance." Danny scoffed. "Even if I wanted to, I have no proof to back up my claims. Plus they probably won't believe me without more proof… I've slipped up and called them mom and dad several times, but they don't seem to really notice… nor do they notice my similar habits, tastes, or hobbies… I doubt anyone would make the jump in thinking that Danny Phantom, a ghost, was somehow Danny Fenton a human… Superman rules and all."

"True… people don't exactly expect a ghost to have a secret identity." Tucker nodded.

"Even if you managed to convince them… do you think they'd be able to change you back to normal… well, your version of normal?" Sam asked.

"I don't know… I do feel strange since they changed me… I don't know if that's a ghost turning human thing… or more of an emotional crisis thing." He sighed and rubbed his temples as he picked at his food.

"You've always been a little strange, even before the ghost powers." Tucker teased, Danny rolled his eyes and Sam snorted.

"Let's just hope I get through this day without throwing things at anyone. I am seriously losing my mind. The A-list is suddenly interested in me, Valerie isn't threatening me… and… no one really seems to care that Danny Fenton is missing. It's a roller coaster for the ego." He mumbled.

"We'll figure it out." Sam smiled.

"We always do." Tucker reassured him. Danny smiled and nodded, even if he wasn't sure he exactly believed that things would be fine, it was nice to have his friends with him, he couldn't wish for better ones, they simply didn't exist.

Danny was glad to duck into the safety of the Fenton RV as his mom pulled up at the end of the school day. He practically dove into the back; the only thing that would have made his entrance more dramatic is if he'd yelled "STEP ON IT!" as he reached the RV.

Maddie raised her eyebrows at his antics. She drove carefully away, there were children trying to get a glimpse inside and Phantom clung to the floorboards.

"Bad day?" Maddie questioned.

"Bad doesn't even summarize it." Phantom peeked up and hesitantly made his way into the passenger seat as the High School shrunk behind them, "Try… horrifying, or exhausting, or even excruciatingly painful with a dash of petrifying embarrassment." Phantom ranted. Maddie gave a brief nod.

"Understandable."

"Understandable? Understandable?! Excuse me but did you just say understandable? After all this, my pain is understandable. Thanks; I'm glad you summed up my entire shitty day in one word. Understandable." Phantom growled, folding his arms and grumbling out the window. Maddie bit back a laugh. Trust a teen to be over dramatic. She thought. The ride home was fast, probably because most cars tended to get out of the way when they saw the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle, mostly due to Jack's driving.

Phantom grumbled his way to the guest bedroom while Maddie went down to the Lab and began checking the experiment she'd left. She was making a modified Boo-merang, which would hopefully respond to Danny. It had targeted him before, and seemed to be keyed into him, but hopefully it would respond this time. She'd tried using it before, to no avail, but it had run into a wall and turned itself off, when she tried it in open air it lodged itself into the ground. It didn't seem to be working properly, so this time around she'd re-inputted the data using Danny's DNA from his hair rather than just relying on what the Boo-merang seemed to have picked up from Danny before. The data had just finished uploading and the Boo-merang was beeping cheerfully. She threw it. It flew around the room a couple times then made its way up the stairs. Maddie chased after it as it flew to the bedrooms, into Danny's room and hit Phantom square in the forehead.

Phantom hit the ground and groaned holding his head. The Boo-merang chirped happily once more as if it expected to be rewarded.

"Are you kidding me!'" Phantom groaned, picking up the Boo-merang, "You again! I thought you'd stop picking up on my ecto-signature given THAT I DON'T HAVE ONE ANYMORE!" Phantom yelled at the device, apparently oblivious to Maddie in the doorway. He turned his back on her, setting the Boo-merang down on the bed and holding his forehead and sitting down at Danny's computer. Maddie wanted to say something, object to his use of her son's computer, but something stopped her.

Surprisingly Phantom's quick fingers brought the computer alive as he expertly navigated through Danny's computer opening the chat browser. The computer hummed till Sam and Tucker popped up on the screen, Maddie took a quiet step back watching.

"Hey dude." Tucker smiled. Sam nodded at Danny in greeting but seemed to be in the middle of painting her nails a darker shade of black.

"Hey guys." Phantom gave a familiar sheepish smile, Sam glanced up at the monitor.

"You do realize you're bleeding, right?" She commented. Phantom touched a hand to his head pulling away with blood on it.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" He yelled, he grabbed the tissues off Danny's desk and held them to his bleeding head.

"You might want to seek more medical attention than that." Sam raised an eyebrow.

"It'll heal in a few minutes." Phantom muttered, clicking through files on Danny's computer.

"Uh… no it won't, dude, you're not half-ghost anymore." Tucker's voice came from the other window.

"Wow. Thanks for reminding me." Phantom said sarcastically, "I'll be back…" He swiveled on his chair, headed toward the door and toward Maddie, but his face was still turned toward the screen. Maddie froze, "My mom's downstairs with an experiment of some sort, I'll clean up then we can…" Phantom's eyes had met hers as he turned, His mouth formed a small o of surprise.

"Danny?" Sam and Tucker squinted at their screens, clearly curious why he had stopped talking.

"You ok?" Came Tucker's question moving his head as if he could see around Phantom. There was silence between the two. Sam and Tucker seemed to be trying to get Phantom's attention, but Phantom and Maddie were in the middle of an intense staring contest.

"Uh…" Phantom broke the silence, "How long have you been standing there?"

Author's Note: I enjoy being evil on occasion, cliffhangers are my favorite way of doing that, I'm kinda on a roll with re-uploading and editing chapters so maybe I'll even have up to chapter 15 posted before new years and will finally be able to start posting the new ones!