An- So, it has been a mighty while. I apologize greatly about that, since I left you guys with quite the terrible cliff hanger. Sorry about that, but my life went to hell there for awhile. A medical thing that I thought I was rid of blindsided me, and I've not really been inspired to write for awhile. Hope you can forgive me. Not to mention the chapter is extra long compared to the others! Yay! Since someone asked, I thought I'd clarify something: there will be no actual sex scenes written for this story, as I am determined to keep it at a T rating (my last few fics have been M). In fact, the whole making out thing isn't going to be happening all that often, but when it does, there has been years of UST between Danny and Sam- it's not going to be all chaste kisses and hand holding, especially when they're both seventeen at this point. One question though, what exactly does a 'lime' entail (I know lemon is descriptive sex), because someone asked and I have no idea.

Chapter Thirteen

Sam watched Danny disappear around the corner of the school, looking as though he was going to murder the Box Ghost. Her hand came up to touch her now swollen lips. Her head was spinning as she stood there. Danny had kissed her…no; Danny had done more than that. There had been pushing against walls and, after Sam initiating the kiss, there was a take charge, kind of dominant Danny…which was hot.

What the hell just happened?

It had finally happened. After all these years of waiting, Sam finally had Danny…so why all of the sudden did that concept terrify her? When Danny had been there, she hadn't had time to think. There had just been kissing and passion. Now, all the doubts that had been in her mind for years came crashing back to her. There was no question that Danny felt the same way, but in the end that might not matter. Their entire friendship was changed and could never go back to what it had been. Everything was different now…and it was terrifying to her. When Danny had been kissing her, it had seemed like the most right thing in the world. Now that he wasn't there, she kept asking herself if it was a mistake.

She could hear him yelling at the Box Ghost around the corner, and when her ears caught something like 'Get back to Spooky Girl' from the Box Ghost, she panicked. She needed time to think, to get her mind around what had just happened. She couldn't talk to Danny right then, not until she got a hold on what she was feeling.

She heard him coming back, and she just acted. Her mind told her that it wasn't the right thing to do and it made her a coward, but Sam took off running.

l.l.l

Sam was gone.

Danny blinked a few times when he didn't see her standing where he had left her. He looked around the area, thinking maybe she had gone to sit down on the picnic table. She wasn't there either.

A wave of panic washed over him as he was convinced something must have happened to her. He hadn't heard a fight or a scream, but that didn't mean Sam wasn't in trouble. He transformed and flew up into the sky, knowing he'd be able to find her from higher up. He looked around almost frantically, trying to locate her. When he found her, he breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't in trouble. Then he realized what she was doing, and his heart felt like it was breaking.

Sam was running away…running away from him.

He watched her form go further and further away, and began cursing himself.

What the hell was wrong with him? He was such an idiot! Jesus, what had he been thinking?

His first kiss with Sam and he had ended up pushing her against a fucking wall and getting her wrapped around him.

He freaked her out, and she ran. How could he blame her? Out of nowhere he had practically attacked her. Years of pent up feelings for her had just exploded. The minute Sam asked if he was going to kiss her, Danny had just acted. His mind shut off and he had gone with everything his body wanted. God, how far would he have gone if the Box Ghost hadn't interrupted?

He wanted to fly after her, apologize, and ask her if she was alright. He wanted to talk to her and sort all of this out…but he didn't. Danny knew that going after Sam at the moment was a bad idea. Clearly Sam didn't want to talk things through. She wanted to be alone at the moment, and running after her would only make things worse.

He continued to watch her go until she turned a corner and was out of his sight. He once again pushed back the need to follow her, and instead flew towards home.

His emotions were a mess now too, and not just because of Sam's running. This was a big and abrupt change, even if it really had been coming for years. He understood the need to process it all. Didn't make it hurt any less though.

He arrived home quicker than he expected, in time to see Jazz's little car pull up in front of Fenton Works. That made a small sense of relief hit him. He could really use his big sister's advice right now. He watched her climb out of her car and rush into the house before he landed behind the car, transformed, and followed her in. Jazz hadn't even made it out of the front hall when Danny walked in. She jumped a little when he closed the door, but looked relieved when she turned around and saw him standing there.

"Oh my God Danny, are you alright?"

He almost burst out laughing at that. Oh, he was very far from alright. Danny couldn't remember the last time he had felt so miserable.

"No," he replied simply, "I'm really not."

"As soon as I saw the news report I knew I had to get home-" Jazz started, but Danny cut her off.

"It's not that Jazz."

Jazz looked surprised, like she couldn't quite believe the exposé about ghosts wasn't the thing causing him distress. The surprise was replaced completely a moment later by a deeply concerned big sister mode.

"What's wrong?"

"I kissed Sam," he hadn't exactly meant to blurt it out like that, but it happened anyway.

Jazz looked at him in confusion, and when she spoke it was slowly, like she was trying to figure something out.

"You're upset because you kissed Sam. After years of being in love with her," she paused and then shook her head, "Sorry Danny, but what's the problem?"

He could understand her confusion; him kissing Sam should have fallen under 'best moment of my life', not make him miserable.

"She ran. Sam ran away," Danny stated simply, and then proceeded to tell his sister the entire story, though he did edit and censor the details of the kiss. Jazz didn't need to know how intense they had gotten.

Jazz listened, only interrupting once when Danny told her of the invitation the Box Ghost had given him with a completely stunned 'Married! Are you serious?'. Danny glared at her, silently conveying that was not the point of the story, and she dropped it- from the look on her face, Danny could tell that she was filing the information away to analyze at another time. When he finished speaking, Jazz was ready to reassure him.

"She freaked out Danny," at his wince, she continued on quickly, "not because of you, or at least not exactly. When you want something for so long and then in an instant you have it, it's bewildering. All of a sudden you have what you want, and at first, you have no clue how to deal with it. All that change at once is confusing, and anyone would need time to work through it; especially when it comes to something as big, important and potentially messy as relationships. Sam isn't the first girl to land the guy of her dreams and then panic about it, and she won't be the last. The need for space to think over this big of a change is perfectly normal. Sam, for all her desire to change the world, isn't completely prepared to deal with life altering changes in her own life when it comes to relationships. Otherwise she would have made a move on you back when you were fourteen."

"I understand that!" Danny cried, a bit more upset at Jazz's words, "I do, and I even agree with needing time to think. What I don't get is her running away without saying a word! Would it have been so hard to wait another two minutes and say, 'Danny, I need a little space for a little while'?"

Danny didn't like it, but he was angry. Angry that Sam had left without talking to him first. He would have let her have all of the time she needed, all she had to do was ask for it. He would never push her into anything she wasn't ready for. They had been friends long enough for Sam to know that.

"You're right, she should have said something," Jazz agreed, "and you have a right to be pissed, but in the end she didn't. So that begs the question, when you see Sam next, are you going to vent your anger?"

The anger he felt took a step back at Jazz's question. Danny knew he wouldn't. He could be furious with Sam and he wouldn't take it out on her, not over this. That would lead to a battle of royal proportions, which wouldn't lead to patching things up, let alone get them into a relationship.

"Of course not," Danny sighed, "let her know I didn't appreciate her disappearing act, yes. Blow up at her, no."

"Good," Jazz said, "because she'd murder you otherwise."

A small smile twitched at the corner of Danny's lips. Jazz's assessment was right on the money there. Jazz saw the beginning of the smile and cautiously spoke up.

"So, you feel any better?"

"A little," Danny replied, "or at least I'm not so damn confused. Now I just have to figure out what to do now."

"Give her a few more hours, and then go over there to talk to her. Don't push the topic too much, but at least clear the air."

"And if she doesn't want to talk to me?"

"Danny, this is Sam," Jazz said with a raised eyebrow, "when was the last time she stayed upset with you for over a day, even when you do something stupid?"

She had a point there.

"Thanks Jazz," Danny said, giving his sister an impromptu hug.

"What are big sisters for?" She returned the hug, and when he pulled away, her face was serious again, "Now, I want you to tell me what's going on with this exposé on ghosts."

l.l.l.l

The minute Sam was alone in her room, she knew she had made a mistake. She shouldn't have run the way she had…she owed Danny so much more than that. She should have waited for him, at least to ask him to let her have time to think. He wouldn't have been ecstatic about it, but he would have given her the breathing room she needed. Instead, she had run away, leaving Danny alone with his over-grown guilt complex. At the moment, he was probably blaming and hating himself because of her disappearing act.

"Oh Danny," she whispered to herself, "I'm sorry."

Sam knew eventually Danny would make his way to her - actually, she was surprised he hadn't come already, Danny wasn't exactly known for his patience- and she'd apologize in person for her behaviour. They'd talk and -hopefully- come to some sort of decision of where to go from there. Until then, Sam had some soul searching to do, and she wanted to work things through with another person. For once, she didn't want to be completely independent and do things on her own.

She contemplated calling Tucker, but she knew that wasn't the answer. Tucker was one of her best friends, but he wasn't the one who could help her out. What Sam needed was someone who could see it from the same perspective…Sam needed to talk to a girl. So Sam picked up the phone and called the one girlfriend she had, besides Jazz -that would have been way too awkward. She called Val.

The phone rang twice before a click on the other end and Valerie's voice answering.

"Um…hi Val," Sam replied a little awkwardly. This girl talk thing was still pretty new to her.

"Hey Sam!" Val sounded genuinely pleased to hear from her, "What's happening?"

Sam took a deep breath before she began to speak, "Well, Danny and I were talking after school. I was upset because Lancer told me Danny didn't want to go into the space program anymore and never told us," Val made a surprised sound, "and I was upset and he was reassuring, which led to hugging. Then there was one of those moments, and I asked something about kissing me…then there was kissing. Real kissing…lots of real kissing."

Val was laughing by the time Sam finished. Sam could hear the delight in her friend's laughter, and knew that Valerie was happy for her. That meant Val wasn't going to be impressed by the running away part.

"Told you jumping him would work!"

Sam had to smile a little at that. I really, really had.

"Then what happened?" Val asked, her voice turning mischievous, "or do I want to know?"

A blush lit up Sam's cheeks even though Valerie couldn't see it, "Nothing like that! We were interrupted by a g-teacher," Sam barely caught herself in time to avoid saying ghost, "Danny went to talk to him…and then I messed up. I left before Danny got back."

"You what!"

"The minute Danny left me alone all the reasons why I haven't done this before hit me at once," Sam rushed to explain, "and it was terrifying! All of the fears of ruining our friendship rushed back, and all the 'what ifs' ran through my mind."

"Apparently not the, 'what if that goes something like what if this is finally when I get Danny after years of waiting'," Val snorted on the other end of the line.

"Why didn't I think that? I should have thought that. I kissed Danny for the first time and it was real. It ranks up there with the best moments of my life…then I go and ruin it by running…"

The longer she talked, the tougher it became for Sam to believe that she had actually done it. What had she been thinking? She should have been doing a happy dance- not that she actually had a happy dance-, not panicking.

"Because, when it comes to Danny, you worry way too much," was Val's simple answer.

Years of watching him risk his life everyday will do that, of course Sam didn't say it out loud.

Was that another reason? If anything ever happened to Danny…Sam didn't know how she'd survive. She couldn't even imagine how painful losing him would be if they were together…

Sam shuddered at the thought. She wouldn't let herself think about it, but had her unconscious self latched onto her fear, and helped fuel her panic? Or was she just psychoanalyzing herself way too much?

"You got freaked out over nothing," Valerie continued, "it happens to the best of us. Just look at how long it took me to believe Tucker was serious about me. Now you just have to fix it, which is as simple as an 'I'm sorry'."

"What if Danny's mad at me?" Sam figured he would be.

"Please," the other girl scoffed, "like that'll matter! Even if he is, the minute you apologize –which you better do ASAP- he'll forgive and quite possibly forget. You have that boy wrapped around your little finger."

Sam almost giggled at that.

"So when you see him, apologize and explain. Everything will be fine," Val said, "Probably better than fine."

Now that she had time to calm her emotions down, Sam could easily see what Val meant by 'better than fine'. Unless catastrophe struck (in the form of Danny being unforgiving), chances were they were finally going to be together. After years of balancing on the line of 'friends' and 'more-than-friends', the two of them were finally going to take that next step.

"You and Danny are meant to be together," Val sounded completely sure of herself, "and it had better happen after this, I swear, if you two go in denial again, I'm going to kick your asses."

Sam did smile at that, "Thanks, Val."

l.l.l.l

There was a soft tapping on her window, and then Danny's quiet voice broke out.

"Sam…can I come in?"

It had been almost four hours since she had seen him last, and after talking to Val, Sam was ready to deal with these new developments. She was still nervous about the upcoming conversation, but nothing like before. She was ready for this conversation now.

Sam took a deep breath before answering, "Yes."

Danny floated into her room and paused to look at her before he said anything. Sam was sitting crossed legged on her bed, looking as nervous as he felt. Though she hadn't denied him permission to enter, so that was a good sign. He transformed back to human and joined her on the bed, sitting across from her so he'd be able to see her face as they talked. They both sat there in an awkward silence for a long time, fidgeting uncomfortably, until they both blurted out the same thing at once.

"I'm sorry!"

They looked at each other for a moment after the words were spoken, and then burst out laughing. Just like that, most of the tension was broken. They continued to laugh for a good three minutes straight before Sam finally took in enough air to speak.

"Me first okay?" the seriousness was back, but it was much less uncomfortable than it had been before, "I'm sorry I ran like I did. It was a stupid thing to do, and was so unfair to you."

"I'm sorry I that I let us get so, err…carried away," Danny said when she finished, "It was a hell of a first kiss, but even I know it was probably too much, too fast."

"Not your fault," Sam protested, "I was just as involved as you were."

"Maybe, but I'm sorry anyway."

"Geez Danny," she rolled her eyes, "is there anything you don't feel guilt about?"

"Not much no," Danny teased back.

He realized at that moment, the two of them were back to normal; Sam was exasperated with him and he was joking about it. Danny realized that no matter what conclusion they came to about being together, he and Sam would be okay. It might be a little awkward for awhile, but it wouldn't change.

"Thanks for waiting," Sam spoke again, getting back on subject, "for not coming after me right away."

"I wanted to," Danny admitted, "but I knew it wouldn't help any. It was kind of obvious you weren't ready to talk about it. Though, I wish you had said something about it…the running without a word kinda hurt," Same winced a little, "I get it though, I really do."

"I'm ready now," she ventured softly.

Danny almost sighed in relief. He would have gone crazy if Sam had shut him out. He asked the obvious question when he realized Sam was waiting for him to start.

"Where do we go from here? I know what I want, but it's up to you. I want us to date –have for a long time- but if you want to forget this ever happened, I will," he paused for a moment, "well, that's a lie. I won't ever forget, but I can pretend it never happened."

Of course he would make it all about her, Sam realized. Valerie was kind of right when she said Sam had him wrapped around her finger. The fact he wasn't putting any pressure on her was the deciding factor for Sam…was what took away whatever fear was left.

"I want that too," She said softly, "I have since we were fourteen. And there's no way in hell I'll ever be forgetting that kiss either."

Sam smiled at him almost sheepishly and Danny returned it with a smirk, "Well, it was one hell of a kiss."

With an exasperated sigh, Sam smacked him with a pillow.

"Could you be any more full of yourself?"

"Maybe I was commenting on your expertise," Danny replied with a cheeky grin, and this time managed to duck in time to avoid the pillow that came flying at him.

"No need to get violent Sam," he chastised playfully, "beating up on your boyfriend is a big no no."

"Boyfriend huh?" Sam said, "I do seem to recall you saying something about owing me a date."

"Just name the time and place, and I'll be there with bells on."

Sam laughed at the mental picture that brought to mind.

"I'll have you know I'm not a cheap date," she replied in a teasing voice, "I expect the best for this first date of ours."

Sam knew damn well she would be happy no matter where Danny took her or what they did, but she didn't have to tell him that.

"Only the best for my Sammy."

She almost told him not to call her Sammy, but she held her tongue for once. It had a nice ring to it, with the 'my' in front of it. Sam really liked the idea of being Danny's, and didn't feel the need to protest it.

"So we're good right?" Danny asked, needing to be absolutely positive that Sam wasn't just joking around with him.

"Better than good," Sam said, paraphrasing what Val has said earlier, "but…"

"But what?" Danny felt a little panic starting at that one little word. But was never good, it always led to bad things.

"You were right about the too much, too fast," Sam replied, not exactly looking at him anymore, "no matter how much I want it, I don't think I can jump right into girlfriend mode. I know we're way past the getting to know each other phase, but I don't think I'm at the 'being all over each other at school' phase- not that I want to do that anyway, but you get what I mean."

Danny had to admit he was a little disappointed, but he wasn't going to tell Sam that. He had been completely serious when he said it was all up to her. If she wanted to take time, then he'd agree without complaint…even if he did want to shout from the rooftops at the top of his lungs that he was dating Samantha Manson.

"Then we go slow," Danny replied without hesitation, "or at least slower."

Sam gave him a look of gratitude, "So, are you going to tell Tucker, or am I?"

Danny raised his eyebrows at her question.

"What? He's our best friend and has been trying to get us together for years. He'd throw a hissy fit if we didn't tell him right away. Val might have told him already, so if we wait he'll be all sulky."

"How does Valerie know?"

"I kind of called her," Sam replied with a shrug, much to Danny's surprise, "I needed another girl to talk to, and I figured there was a conflict of interest with Jazz."

"Good thing, since she played psychologist for me."

"Her favourite pastime."

"I'm beginning to think so," Danny snorted, "since I'm pretty sure she plans to write a book about my issues someday."

"And what a big and interesting book it will be," Sam only snickered when Danny glared at her.

The conversation was easier than he thought it would be. Breaking up the seriousness with normal teasing had made it so much better. It had raised both their comfort levels.

"I'll call Tucker when I get home," Danny volunteered, glancing at the clock on Sam's dresser, "which I should be doing now."

Disappointment showed plainly on Sam's face, and Danny wished he could stay longer.

"Sorry Sam, but I still have homework. For some reason I wasn't able to concentrate all afternoon."

"Sorry," she apologized yet again.

"Don't be," he said as he got off the bed, "I wouldn't have been able to concentrate either way. You kiss too damn well."

"Danny?" Sam's voice stopped him before he reached the window.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning back to her and noting the way she was biting her lower lip, and knowing it was what she did when she was nervous about something.

"I still like the 'taking it a little slower plan', but can we still go slow and have kissing? I liked the kissing."

A smile lit up his face as he replied, "Yeah Sam, we can still have some kissing."

To prove his point, Danny walked back to her and leaned down to kiss her. It was nothing like the kiss from earlier –so full of years worth of UST-, but was more reassuring than anything else, and gentle in an effort to put Sam at ease.

I prefer this version of going slow, Danny thought to himself as he pulled away.

Sam's thoughts were mirroring his own, Slow with kissing is the way to go.

"Sweet dreams Sam," Danny said, kissing her briefly on the cheek before leaving, in a considerably better mood than when he had arrived.

l.l.l.l.l

At school the next day, both Danny and Sam were sticking to their plan of taking it slower. When they met before class, Danny had given her a quick kiss on the cheek when the hallway was empty, but that was the only thing out of the ordinary.

When Tucker arrived and saw how the two were acting (or not acting as the case may be), he just rolled his eyes.

When Danny had called him the night before and told him what had happened, he had replied with 'Finally', even though on the inside he had been singing hallelujah. He was excited for his two best friends, and pretty happy for himself. Now that Sam and Danny were dating, it would cut down on the amount of angsty conversations between them and Tucker on an individual level. Less angst on a personal front was a great thing in Tucker's opinion, especially when it seemed to be rising on a professional ghost-hunting level.

lghghghfgh

Tucker hadn't expected them to be making out or anything, because that was something he really didn't need to see, but he thought Danny and Sam would be acting at least a little bit different. They weren't even holding hands. The only new thing Tucker could see was the sweet, sappy smiles they sent to each other every once and a while. It was enough to make him shake his head. Dating, but still in enough of a denial frame of mind to hide it from the general public.

They look happy though, Tucker noticed that at once, Happier and more at ease than they have been in a while, what with everything that's going on.

If they wanted to go the secret romance route, he wouldn't try and convince them how dumb it was - which he wholeheartedly believed it was-, but it didn't mean he wasn't going to tease the hell out of them.

"You really don't get the whole boyfriend/girlfriend concept do you? Usually there's at least a smidgen of physical contact when hanging out before class!"

Both of them blushed, and Tucker sighed, Yep…some things hadn't changed at all.

"I don't like PDA," Sam replied, shooting a glance at Danny.

"Excuses, excuses," Tucker waved off her statement since is was just that- an excuse, "besides, holding hands barely classifies as PDA."

"Maybe later," Sam said, and Danny gave her a surprised yet pleased smile.

Hopeless, Tucker thought as the three of them began to walk to class.

Valerie joined them halfway there. When, like Tucker, she noticed the lack of change between Danny and Sam, she raised her eyebrows.

After Danny had left last night, Sam called Valerie back and told her how things had turned out. Val had been thrilled, mentioned something about double dates, and scoffed when Sam explained the going slow.

"Slow? You've been taking it slow for the past three years! Don't you think it's time you kicked it up a notch?"

"We're still going to do a couple things," Sam had clarified, "but I'm just not ready to announce it to the world. As much as I hate the fact, us finally getting together is going to be big news at school. Even I know that, unpopular or not, everyone is watching us with will or won't they get together curiosity. Danny and I are the freaking Ross and Rachel of Casper High."

Val had snickered at how true that was. Even Paulina and Dash paid attention, even if they ignored Danny and Sam the rest of the time unless it was to tease.

"I just want to adjust to everything before I have to deal with the gawking of the general populace," Sam had concluded, and Val really had understood, but she hadn't really expected them to follow through with it.

She had been wrong though, because by the looks of things, they were definitely following through with it.

As she came up to them, Tucker rather dramatically threw an arm around her shoulder and looked pointedly at Danny and Sam.

"See, it is possible to touch without being all over each other."

"Aw, leave them alone Tucker," Val swatted his arm playfully, "they'll come around eventually."

"Yeah, I'll believe when I see it," Tucker muttered as they entered their first period and took their respective seats.

Lancer was already at the front of his class, writing notes on the blackboard. The minute the final bell rang, he turned around to face the class and began speaking.

"Good morning. First off, how many of you have been working on your ghost projects, which are due next Friday?"

Damn, Danny cursed, I forgot all about that.

He and Paulina had met at the library that one time, and it was the last time Danny had even thought about it. What was it he was supposed to talk about again? He knew Paulina would ramble on about how much she loved Phantom, so he was supposed to come up with the actual presentation.

History, Danny decided, When Phantom first appeared, how he went from villain to hero, all that.

A few hands were raised, including Val, Tucker, Sam, and Paulina, but in general hands stayed down and students shot semi-guilty glances at their partners.

Danny wasn't all that worried – he had a firsthand account after all- and figured he could write it up in a few hours over the weekend. That meant he'd need to meet with Paulina again, and the thought made him shudder.

"That's all?" Lancer asked as he surveyed the room, giving them all his best 'disappointed teacher' look and tone. He sighed a moment later, "Well, since I'm in a particularly good mood this morning, I'll let you take the class to work on it."

Danny barely held back a groan; he'd rather spend the next hour doing English than sitting with Paulina. Sam looked just as unhappy with the news as she did, while both Tucker and Val were happy.

Why couldn't I have gotten a partner I liked? Danny asked, not for the first time.

With a sigh, he got up from his desk and walked over to Paulina's. The girl was glaring at him, and Danny figured she wasn't too happy about him not having done anything on his end. He was proven right a moment later, when he sat down at the desk opposite her and she snapped.

"I told you to get it done early so I could make sure it's good enough!"

"I've been busy," Danny replied, to which Paulina gave him a look of disbelief, "look, I know exactly what I'm doing and can give it to you on Monday."

"Fine," she said, still not looking pleased, "I've had mine done."

Then she proceeded to tell him what exactly she had done, and in excruciating detail. Danny took the opportunity to tune her out. He looked around the room, noticing that, while Tucker and Valerie seemed to be having a grand old time, Sam and Dash weren't even talking to each other. He was holding a conversation with Kwan (much to Kwan's partner's annoyance) while Sam doodled in a notebook.

He thought back to the teasing Tucker had given them earlier, and he couldn't help but agree with his friend. He was still disappointed about the way they were handling things. Danny wanted to causally have an arm around Sam's shoulders, like Tucker had Val. He didn't get Sam's resolution to keep their relationship under wraps, even if he was going along with it.

What was the big deal anyway? Sure, it was none of anybody's business, but what was the point of purposely keeping it a secret? Since when did Sam give a damn about what anyone else thought anyway?

He heaved a little sigh, wondering how long it would be before Sam was more comfortable with what was happening. He hoped it was soon.

His musings about his new relationship were interrupted when the bell ran, ending class.

"And that's what our project will be," Paulina concluded as Danny got to his feet.

"Ah, sure…" He had absolutely no idea what she had said for the past hour, "and I'll get you my stuff on Monday."

The words went unheard as Paulina turned her attention elsewhere. He returned to his desk, gathered up his books and followed Tucker and Valerie out of the class. Sam was beside him a moment later.

"So, have fun?" She teased, to which Danny gave her a quick glare.

"Not even close," he replied, "and what about you? Enjoy your quality time with Dash?"

His attempt to turn the tables on her was ruined when Sam just smirked, "Just wonderful. I quite enjoyed the silence. That's what happens when you get things done early."

"You're done already?"

"I'm doing ecto laws, remember? I'm already an expert. All I need to do is throw together a PowerPoint."

"See you in gym Sam," Danny said as they came to their parting point, and when he saw that no one else was paying attention to them, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

She blinked in surprise, but then broke into a large smile, "See you then," and turned and walked away.

After she was gone, Danny began to walk towards his next class. He turned a corner, and found his path was blocked by a large group of students. He groaned, knowing he was officially going to be late for class. Whatever was making the crowd, it didn't seem to be moving. He went up on his tip toes and strained his ears to hear over the chatter, trying to find out what was going on. He picked up words, and then groaned with realization.

"This is Tiffany Snow, reporting from Casper High."

"What's the news crew here for?" He asked the student closest to him, even though Danny had a fairly good idea.

There was really only one thing reporters came to Casper High for.

"Asking students about ghosts," was the reply, and then an eye roll, "what else is new?"

"Well, if it isn't the boy who flies through walls."

Danny didn't even try to contain his groan as he realized who the speaker was. He looked over his shoulder, and sure enough Tara MaClay, apparent reporter extraordinaire, was standing behind him. And the look on her face as she studied him made Danny nervous.

"What are you doing here?" He all but growled.

"My job of course," She replied, looking all innocent, "I am a journalist after all."

"That's great. So why don't you go and report something far away from me?"

She only smirked at that, and a glint entered her eyes as she spoke, "Well, I could, but there's just something about you that makes me think if I stick around you long enough, I'll get an even better story than ghosts among us."

He went rigid at that, even if Danny didn't let the woman see his distressed reaction to her words. Having the journalist lurking around school would be bad enough, but to have her pay close attention to him? Especially when he knew she was working closely with people he suspected were with the Guys in White? At a time when his powers seemed to be going haywire? It was like his secret was just waiting to be blown.

God, this was not good, his quickly panicking mind whirled.

"If you're planning on stalking me," Danny said, voice dead pan, "I can very easily get you banned from school propriety."

Maclay didn't even bat an eyelash, "You're not on school grounds all the time."

She had too good a point. He could always try to get her charged with stalking if she followed him around outside of school, but he wasn't sure if that would work, what with her being a journalist; if it was possible to charge a reporter with stalking, there probably wouldn't be any paparazzi left out there. Danny had to get away from her, and pray something big happened to take her attention off of him.

"Well, I have to go to class," Danny said, "it was very unpleasant seeing you again."

"See you around!" She called as he walked away, the smirk very apparent in her voice.

To Danny, that was very much a threat. A threat he needed to find a way to deal with. He spent the next class thinking and then discarding ideas to throw Maclay off. Well, he was going to be seeing Sam after this class anyway, so he'd ask her what she thought, and then bring Tucker in on the planning. If that failed, Jazz was home, and she usually had some pretty good ideas.

He was standing at his locker, throwing his text books back in, when Danny felt someone walk up behind him. He turned around and found Sam standing there.

"I got halfway through changing for gym," Sam said by way of explanation, "and realized I forgot my gym pants in my locker out here. Your locker was between my locker and the gym, and I saw you standing here, and thought maybe you'd walk with me to mine?"

Danny nodded absently, only half aware of her question, as something else had caught his attention the moment he had looked at her. That thing was, once again, a tiny green shirt that Sam was wearing…and this one showed more cleavage than the last one too. Danny vaguely heard her say something about it, because she hadn't been wearing it earlier. Combine that with the short skirt she had yet to change out of, and Danny's brain was close to short circuiting.

God, was she trying to kill him?

"Danny?" She had begun to walk away, and turned back when she realized he wasn't following, "You coming?"

"Um, yeah…" He managed to croak out, and began walking beside Sam.

She continued to talk, and Danny continued to have a hard time focusing on her words. Damnit, this was driving him insane! He couldn't take it anymore. All morning he had wanted to just touch her, and he hadn't because she didn't like public displays of affection. He had been okay with that, but now she was in that damn outfit, and he felt like screaming.

Danny grabbed hold of her hand abruptly and pulled her towards him. She squeaked out his name in surprise, looking around them; they were alone in the hall. Danny phased them into what he knew to be an empty science lab.

"Danny!" Sam cried, "What are you doing!"

"You said not in public," his voice was low as he whispered it in her ear, "and that there could be kissing. Now we're in private."

He brought his mouth away from her ear and crushed it onto her lips. Any confusion Sam had been feeling was gone the minute Danny's tongue slipped into her parted mouth. In fact, as she returned the fervour, she couldn't even remember why she had been confused in the first place. All she could think was 'Thank God I didn't outlaw kissing'.

"Hmm…" She moaned, running her tongue across his lower lip, "You taste different."

Taste different? Danny didn't expect her to say that.

"What?" He asked as he trailed kisses along her jaw line.

"Different," Sam let out a long breath, "you taste different as Phantom."

Danny jerked back, breaking all contact with her. Sam made a sound of protest as he pulled away his touch, and she looked up at him in confusion. She was surprised to see traces of hurt on his flushed face.

What was wrong with…Oh! Sam understood. He thought she was suggesting that she didn't want to kiss him as a human. Danny was worried she felt like all those Phantom fangirls, and only wanted his ghost side. He was a complete and total moron to think so, but Sam didn't think telling him that would help the situation Instead, she went for the ego soothing method.

"I said taste different," Sam assured him as she wrapped her arms around her neck, "but equally good."

The hurt faded from his face and was replaced by a smirk.

"Well then, want another taste?"

"Damn straight I do," this time Sam kissed him, "…very good."

Danny's smirk grew and he couldn't help but add, "You're not so bad yourself."

Without removing his lips, Danny abruptly lifted Sam off the ground and sat her down on one of the tables, so her legs were dangling over the side. He stepped between those legs, getting as close to her as physically possible. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him even closer. Sam kept one arm wrapped around his neck and brought the other to rest just on top of his belt. She slipped her hand up under his shirt, passing over his hard stomach. Danny groaned as her nails raked lightly across his abs. When she started to trace patterns across his flesh, Danny gave a pleasurable shudder.

It was impossible for her not to know what she was doing him. Being pressed so tightly against him told her everything and Sam took a great deal of feminine pride in his responses.

Her sitting position had caused her skirt to ride up to the point where it barely covered her underwear. Danny's hand was on top of her bare thigh, fingers just touching the hem of her skirt, and itching to inch up under the material altogether.

Danny attacked her neck with his mouth. He made sure to take it easy, knowing that Sam might not appreciate him giving her a hickey.

"Dan…" Sam moaned breathlessly, when his hand (finally) slipped under her skirt, "…ny…"

"Flowers in the Attic! Mr. Fenton! Miss Manson!"

The couple broke apart abruptly, looking to the door. Not only was Mr. Lancer standing in the now open door, but a large chunk of the senior class was looking in from the hall. To say they looked shocked was an understatement.

Danny jerked his hand out from Sam's skirt and stepped away from her, as Sam jumped down from the table and pulled her skirt back down into place. Both of their faces were burning red as they avoided looking either their teacher or their classmates in the eye.

"My office," Lancer told them, "now."

Faces still flaming, Danny and Sam followed the teacher through the hall. When they reached his office, Lancer turned back to them, and they fidgeted under his look.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble. I just thought you'd prefer this conversation to be held away from your classmates," Mr. Lancer said, "I'm sure I don't have to remind you that the school has a rather strict policy concerning expressions of a romantic nature."

They both nodded sheepishly. The 'rules' of the school stated anything more than hand holding and brief kisses were prohibited. While teachers rarely ever actually punished students for it, it was still possible to find yourself in trouble if you broke the policy.

"Good," Lancer continued, "then I don't need to tell you that your…actions were inappropriate, or that there will be no more, oh, how do you kids say it? Getting it on, on school property."

Danny thought that there was no possible way for him to be anymore embarrassed by the situation, but he was quite clearly wrong. The moment Mr. Lancer used the term 'getting it on', his embarrassment skyrocketed to humiliation.

"Yes Mr. Lancer," Sam squeaked out, while all Danny could do was nod.

"Now go to class," the teacher instructed, "and try not to find yourselves back in my office anytime soon."

The minute they were dismissed, Danny and Sam got out of that office as fast as they could. Only when they were in the next hallway over, did they stop their speed walking. Danny leaned against a locker and Sam stood there awkwardly wringing her hands.

"So much for not letting everyone find out," Sam spoke a moment later.

Danny turned to look at her, a stab of guilt hitting him. He was, after all, the one who had dragged her into that science lab. He just hoped she wasn't mad.

"Yeah…sorry about that," he apologized sheepishly.

Instead of being angry, Sam just rolled her eyes at him, "Seriously Danny, you have got to stop taking the blame for everything! If I hadn't wanted to be kissing you, then I would have stopped you."

Danny smiled at her, resisting the use to kiss her again. He wasn't so sure Sam would appreciate it this time around.

"Come on. We better get to class," Danny told her, "you heard Lancer; he doesn't want us in his office anymore."

"Like that's not going to happen," Sam snorted, "the chances of us not ending up in some kind of trouble is zero."

"Well, let's try for the rest of the day then."

They stopped walking when they came to the locker rooms.

"Ask to sit out okay?" Danny asked her before they parted, "Since our whole going slow plan is blown to pieces, we should probably talk."

"Sure," Sam replied with a small smile, "my gym pants are still in my locker anyway."

Danny went into the men's locker room, pausing to listen for anyone else. He hoped no one else was in there, because he really didn't want to deal with them at the moment. He heard the sounds of voices, but they all seemed to be coming from the opposite side of the room from where his gym locker was located. Hopefully they stayed over there.

Danny made his way to his locker, determined to get changed as quickly as possible and get back to Sam. Tetslaff had this weird rule that, even if you were sick and sitting out of the class, you had to change into your gym clothes anyway. He was just opening his locker when he felt their presence behind him. Danny tensed, cursing up a blue streak in his mind. He had been hoping no one heard him come in. Apparently whoever was in here had waited for him.

Danny turned around slowly, preparing himself for something that wouldn't be fun. All the senior members of the football team were standing there, Dash at the front. There was a malicious smirk on his face, and Danny knew whatever was going to happen would be unpleasant.

Damn, Danny thought in annoyance.

"Congratulations, Fentina. I didn't know you had it in you."

Danny blinked in surprise and confusion. What the hell was Dash going on about?

"Gotta ask though," now Dash just looked downright evil, "make use of that science lab often?"

It all clicked and Danny's eyes narrowed at the jock.

"That's none of your business," Danny growled, "now get out of my way."

He pushed past the group, not caring that he hadn't changed yet. Danny figured he had better get out of there before one of them said something that would really piss him off.

"Maybe I'll just ask Manson."

Dash's words made Danny stop mid-stride and he turned back, his face dark.

"Leave her alone Dash."

"What's wrong Fenton? Touchy on the subject? Or just pissed you got interrupted?"

"Back off Dash," Danny gritted his teeth and his hands clenched into fists.

He was about ten seconds from taking a swing at the other boy. If Dash didn't shut up, he probably would. Dash, of course, ignored what was blatantly a threat.

"Though, I do feel the need to thank you; without the free show the two of you gave us, we'd never have gotten to see what great legs Manson has, especially those thighs," Dash was leering, "makes you wonder what the rest of her looks like."

Danny was just about shaking with rage. How dare he talk about Sam that way!

"I wonder if she still tastes like loser, or maybe that wore off the hotter she got. Maybe I'll have to find out…ask her if she'd like to have a real man slip his hand up her skirt."

Danny acted before he realized it. His hands shot out and connected with Dash's shoulders. The jock quite literally few backwards, his feet off the floor. He crashed into the lockers on the other side of the room. Metal groaned as Dash's body caused it to sink inwards. Danny stalked across the room to where his shove had sent Dash. He was now in a heap on the floor. Danny reached down, took hold of the front of Dash's shirt, lifted him up and slammed him back into the dented locker. In order to make sure they were eye-level, Danny had to lift Dash a few inches off the ground.

"Say one thing to her," Danny hissed, his voice dangerous, "make one dirty comment and you'll deal with me. If you so much as think about Sam's thighs, let alone try to get close to them, I'll fucking kill you."

He took great pleasure at the naked fear evident on Dash's face.

"Got that?"

"Ye-yes," Dash managed to stutter out.

"Good," Danny gave one last growl before he let Dash go.

Dash landed on the floor and he stayed there. Danny turned, and the other jocks were looking the same way Dash was. When Danny took a step forward, they all jumped out of his way, parting for him. Danny walked past them all, anger still burning through him. Dash was lucky he hadn't beat him within an inch of his life. Terrifying enough, Danny wanted nothing more than to go back and do just that.

He stormed out of the locker room, still seething. When he saw Ms. Tetslaff standing on the sidelines yelling at some students playing basketball about no carrying, he marched up to her.

"I'm sick and sitting out," Danny informed the teacher bluntly, making no effort to make his statement believable.

"Fenton!" Tetslaff said when she realized it was him, "Congratulations!" then she slapped him on the back, making him stumble forward, "You've won me a nice chunk of change!"

Confusion broke through his anger at her statement.

"What?"

"There's been an ongoing bet about you and Manson since your freshmen year! I'm the one who picked the closest date to you two actually getting together!"

Jesus Christ, the school had been betting on us!

As he processed this new information, Danny had to be grateful about one thing; at least the desire to kill Dash had gone away. Complete and utter embarrassment had a way to eclipsing all other feelings.

l.l.l.l.l

Sam was waiting for Danny on the bleachers. Tetslaff hadn't questioned her 'I feel sick' excuse. Danny was right when he said they had to talk some more, and even though the bleachers weren't the ideal place to do it, it was better than in the middle of the gym while trying to play basketball.

Where did the two of them go from here? (God, she was asking that a lot in the past twenty-four hours!) It was obvious that her desire to go slow was blown to pieces. Strangely enough, that fact didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. Oh, she was not pleased the student body had found out by walking in on her and Danny making out, but she didn't care that they knew. In fact, she was beginning to wonder if she had cared that much in the first place, or if she just told herself that she did.

"Mujerzulea!"

Sam broke out from her thoughts as the accented voice hit her. She looked up to where Paulina, with Star at her side, was walking past her.

Sam had taken a semester of Spanish, and knew exactly what that meant.

"What did you just call me?"

Paulina stopped walking and turned back to face her. Star had stopped too, and was looking at her friend in shock. Paulina's face as she looked at Sam was nasty, and Sam knew she was in for a barrage of insults.

"You heard me," Paulina replied with what would have looked like a casual shrug if it hadn't been for the look on her face.

"Yeah, I did," Sam replied, "and go figure, I have a problem with it."

"What else do you call a girl who practically screws a boy who's not her boyfriend?"

"Right," Sam retorted, getting to her feet, "because the entire school doesn't know about your favourite spot behind the bleachers."

Paulina's eyes narrowed and Star was looking between the two of them nervously.

"Um Paulina," the blonde suggested tentatively, "maybe we should just…"

Paulina completely ignored Star, and gave Sam a glare that would have sent a weaker woman running.

"I wasn't the one caught in the lab, now was I?"

Sam really couldn't refute that, but there was no way in hell she was going to let Paulina get away with being such a bitch.

"Just because you don't get caught, doesn't mean it's not common knowledge."

"Whatever loser," Paulina gave her one last glare before turning away, "try and keep your legs closed from now on."

That's it! Paulina was dead!

Sam was just about to fly at the other girl, when arms wrapped around her waist and stopped her mid-lunge.

"Whoa! Sam!"

"Let me go! I'm gonna kill her!"

The moment Sam had gone on the attack, a look of abject fear had crossed Paulina's face, but the minute Sam had been restrained, the look of disdain had settled on her face once again. As she let Star pull her away, she muttered, "Psico," and it caused Sam to redouble her efforts to get out of Danny's grip.

"Again, whoa! No killing or maiming of other students! I've already thrown Dash across a room, so no need for both of us to get suspended for starting fights!"

That got Sam's attention, "You threw Dash across a room?"

"He said some things I didn't like."

"What the hell did he say?"

Danny gave a mumbled reply Sam didn't catch. One look from her made him repeat it, this time louder.

"He said…some things about you."

Whatever reaction Danny expected to get out of Sam, he didn't get it.

"You idiot! I really don't need you to defend my honour, especially when it involves showing your pow-" Sam cut herself off her rant mid word, once again aware of where they were standing, "let's move this to the bleachers, then I'll finish yelling at you."

They moved to the top of the furthest bleacher, putting as much distance between them and the other students as possible. As promised, Sam picked up where she had left off the moment they were seated.

"Throwing a guy as big as Dash across the room takes a lot of strength Danny. More than you should have, no matter how ripped you are. Even if people in this school are idiots, that's something they're going to question!"

Danny decided not to tell her about the dented lockers or lifting Dash off the ground. It would probably be bad if he did.

"You're one to talk," Danny countered, "since you were just about to kick the crap out of Paulina."

Sam's indignation deflated a bit, but that didn't stop her from saying, "Yeah, but I don't have a secret identity to protect."

They lapsed into silence, until Sam tentatively spoke up, "But, um, thanks."

"Thanks?" Danny asked in confusion. Hadn't she just been yelling at him a few seconds ago?

"For being willing to take on Dash to, well…" Sam started and ended up trailing off.

"Defend your honour?" Danny recalled her statement from earlier, his tone somewhat teasing.

"Yeah, that. It was very…knight in shining armour," Sam replied with a smile, and then hurried on to add, "not that I need you to protect me!"

"I'm well aware of that. Besides, you know you'd do the same for me."

"I would," Sam admitted, a little sheepishly, "God, what a pair we make!"

"Hey, at least we'll never be boring," Danny said, getting a laugh out of her.

Tentatively, Danny reached over and took hold of Sam's hand. She stiffened a little, and then with a quick squeeze, she relaxed. She gave him a sweet smile that made his stomach flip over, and he opened his mouth to speak. The words never came, because an explosion rocked the bleachers five feet from them, sending them both flying. They didn't go far, and as they were about to hit the ground, Danny angled his body so he hit first and Sam landed on top of him. He grit his teeth against the flash of pain landing caused and the added pain of Sam's elbow driving into his stomach.

"What the hell was that!" Same exclaimed in surprise.

And then his ghost sense went off.

Danny looked around hurriedly, trying to find and identify the threat. He looked up in time to see another ecto blast coming straight at them. He yelped and rolled himself and Sam out of the way just in time to avoid being hit. When they stopped rolling, Danny leapt to his feet, pulling Sam up with him, and prepared to defend the two of them against whoever was attacking.

He could honestly say he was surprised when he realized it was Youngblood that was floating in front of them. Not only had he and the boy ghost been on relatively peaceful terms, it wasn't Youngblood's style to go with an all out attack. Usually it was not-quite-so-harmless pranks.

"Youngblood?" Sam voiced his confusion.

Danny seriously wanted to ask questions, but when he saw another ecto blast gathering around the ghost's hands, he knew he had to get everyone else out of the gym before an all out fight broke out.

"GHOST!" He shouted at the tops of his lungs.

Sure, an explosion would have caused enough panic to get everyone out of the gym, but throw the word 'ghost' out, and it cleared the room quicker. It did the trick, because the mass exodus from the gym took on even more gusto. Danny grabbed hold of Sam's hand and moved into the crowd.

"Go!" he told her, "I'll take care of this!"

"Danny, wait!" She protested, "Everyone knows we were in here together, and if I go out without you, they'll notice!"

Damn. That was something he couldn't afford, especially now that he knew there was a journalist watching him closely. Him not coming out of the room where Danny Phantom mysteriously appeared was something she'd notice. How was he going to get out of this one?

The answer came to him a moment later, and it was a simple one. Lots of chances to go wrong, but when didn't his plans have lots of faults?

"I'll duplicate myself," he said, and Sam's eyes widened in understanding.

He waited until the other students were out of the gym, pulled the anti-ghost patch off his arm, closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

It was a strange feeling, duplicating himself. His right side went completely numb, and yet he was able to feel all those muscles tense. Then it felt as though he was splitting, a part of him being pulled away from the rest. Then, with a loud pop, the feeling was abruptly gone. When Danny opened his eyes again, he was looking into identical ones. He blinked a few times, clearing his focus, and then spoke to Sam.

"I don't know how functional he'll be away from me, so keep him close. Not sure how long I can keep it up either, so be prepared to get out of sight as soon as you can."

"Right," Sam replied, grabbing hold of replica Danny's hand and hauling him out of the gym.

He whirled around in time to avoid catching a blast in the chest. Youngblood was still floating in the exact same place.

"What are you doing?" Danny yelled at the ghost, as he himself transformed.

There was no answer from the ghost, and it threw Danny off.

Since when was Youngblood ever silent? Usually he wouldn't shut up. He'd worry about that later, since Youngblood was attacking him again.

Danny dodged to the right to avoid the attack, and then took off into the air. He flew at the young ghost, more than ready to pound on him for nort only being a nuisance in general, but for interrupting his moment with Sam. Youngblood lunged just before Danny reached him, arching downwards to avoid Danny's punch.

The two of them wove around each other in the air, Danny doing his best to try and hit the other ghost while Youngblood successfully kept as much physical distance between them as he could, all the while sending off ecto blasts.

"Damnit! Stop moving!" Danny yelled in frustration.

Of all the times for the stupid thermos to be forgotten in his locker.

Then Youngblood did stop moving, and Danny careened into him. Before Danny could do anything, Youngblood latched onto his back, and he wouldn't let go.

"Let go!" Danny screamed, trying to throw him off without success.

The ecto blast came from behind him, knocking Youngblood off of him. Danny whirled around, assuming another ghost had joined the fight and missed. It wasn't an attacking ghost behind him, but a fully suited, battle ready Valerie. Danny didn't really know which was worse.

"It wasn't me!" Danny blurted out hurriedly, throwing up his hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture.

He had no idea if she could see Youngblood or not. If she couldn't, then she'd assume he was the one doing the attacking, and then Danny'd have to fight them both.

"I know that!" The Red Huntress sounded exasperated, "it's the little pirate wannabe. Now shut up and help me take him down!"

Thank God, Danny couldn't help but think.

Even as Valerie attacked, Youngblood paid no attention to her. All of his focus remained on Danny. So much that Valerie was completely ignored.

Since when did Youngblood fight like this? Usually he treated it like a game, trying to get hits in. And where were the happy cries and mocking taunts, all in some sort of character? Why was he letting himself be hit?

"Something's wrong," Danny muttered to himself.

Valerie managed to hear him, "What!"

"Something's wrong!" Danny repeated, louder this time, and as he blocked Youngblood's attack with one of his own, "This isn't how Youngblood usually acts! Where's the pirate lingo? The skeletal parrot?"

Now that Danny was looking, he noticed all the other things that were off. Youngblood's face was completely blank; no emotion there, no recognition if his eyes. Everything about the child ghost was just wrong. Danny never thought he'd ever miss Youngblood's annoying chatter, but he really did. This was just creepy.

He managed to finally land a hit, his fist catching Youngblood in the jaw. He went flying back towards the wall, but instead of hitting it, he phased through it and into a hallway that Danny knew was filled with students and teachers who were waiting to see what happened. Screams affirmed that fact a moment later.

"Damnit!" Val cursed loudly, before speeding out of the gym.

Danny followed closely behind her.

As usual, there was panic in the hallways at the sight of a ghost. The cynical part of Danny's mind couldn't help but wonder why people weren't used to it. It had been happening for years now. Danny filed that thought away to think of later, at a time he wasn't in the middle of a fight.

Youngblood had finally noticed Val's presence, since he was actively trying to avoid her attacks. He was using the same tactics as he had with Danny earlier, doing his best to keep distance between him and his attacker; his plan wasn't working as well this time, since Valerie was using her wrist laser, where Danny had been trying to use his fists.

"A little help would be nice!" Valerie yelled at him, clearly angry she hadn't been able to end this yet.

With an eye roll, Danny re-joined the fight. Youngblood's attention focused on him again, but he still tried to evade Valerie's attacks.

Danny noticed another weird thing? Youngblood usually would have run by now. He didn't enjoy losing a fight, and was gone before he was in that much pain. Here, he was taking plenty of hits, most courtesy of Valerie's laser, and yet he was making no move to get away.

Danny had finally switched to ecto blasts, realizing, as much as he wanted to physically pummel the ghost, it was not working. Youngblood wasn't letting him get close enough, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge all of Danny's ecto blasts. Besides, there was no way he was letting the Red Huntress show Phantom up by landing more hits.

One of Youngblood's attacks managed to catch Danny's shoulder, knocking him backwards. The hit was more powerful than he had expected, and when he collided with Valerie, it caused her jet board to fly off course and begin to spin. It only stopped when it crashed into a wall. The two of them landed in a heap of tangled limbs on the floor. Valerie began cursing loudly as she rushed to disentangle herself and her sled, while Danny rubbed his shoulder where he had been hit.

He looked back up, hoping Youngblood had decided to take the opportunity to take off. For a minute, he believed that had happened, because when he looked up, Youngblood wasn't in the same place as he had been. Instead, the ghost was zooming away down the hall. The next moment however, Danny realized he was heading towards the group of students, teachers and reporters who had decided it was worth the danger to stay and watch the fight.

Why the hell was Youngblood heading for them? So far, his entire focus had been on Danny. So why would he suddenly change it to the crowd? When Danny looked at the crowd again, he knew why. There, standing at the front of the crowd, his very blank looking duplicate at her side, was Sam. Even Youngblood knew the best way to get to Danny was to go after Sam.

Danny was on his feet and in the air a split second later, zooming off towards Youngblood. The crowd he was rushing towards had apparently realized they were Youngblood's intended destination, because they finally scattered and ran screaming for the nearest exit. Sam, who was very aware she was most likely the target, stayed where she was in an attempt to make sure everyone else was away from her if there was an attack. At that moment, Danny cursed her for keeping others safe instead of getting the hell out of there.

"Sam! Move!"

Seeing the green energy gathering around Danny's hands, Sam finally moved. Grabbing hold of the duplicate's hand, she began running towards the nearest door. The next moment, Danny was firing twin ecto beams, and even through Youngblood had veered off to follow Sam, the blasts caught him in the side.

The child ghost crashed into the wall with enough force and speed to cause an explosion. The wall exploded outwards, sending chunks of plaster and insulation everywhere. Realizing those those chunks were raining down on her, Sam let go of the duplicate's arm and dove the rest of the way. A small piece still managed to catch her in the forehead, and the duplicate was buried. Danny felt a tingle he knew meant his replica had popped out of existence.

"Sam!" He cried, seeing where she lay on the ground and flying towards it, heart clenched in fear, "Are you okay!" He demanded the minute he knelt by her side.

"I'm fine," she replied, sitting up with a groan.

Not completely believing her, Danny began checking her over for injuries. There was a cut just above her eyebrow where the falling plaster had hit her, but other than that, there was nothing Danny could see.

"I'm fine Danny," Sam reassured him, "but you got buried. Literally."

Danny glanced back at the pile his double had disappeared under. That was a big pile of rubble. How was he going to explain getting out of that without a scratch?

Valerie zoomed by overhead, sparing them only a brief glance as she flew to the gaping hole in the wall. She looked around, and then cursed loudly.

"Damnit! He's gone."

Danny didn't get why she thought that was a bad thing. Oh, he still completely wanted to get his hands on Youngblood, and the next time the ghost showed up he was going to kill him all over again, but Youngblood not being there to cause more damage was a plus in Danny's book.

"Better get yourself into that," Sam broke into his thoughts, "so I can start acting like a panicked girlfriend and start digging you out."

"Hurry," Danny told her as he turned invisible, "I doubt it's going to be comfortable under all that."

He went to the pile he was supposedly buried under. As he was phasing into it, Sam began to play her role.

"Oh my God! Danny!"

He smiled a little at how convincing she sounded and then let himself become both Fenton and solid again. The rubble shifted to accommodate his body, but it was still as uncomfortable as he thought it would be. He only had to wait a moment before he felt someone pull chunks away, and a second later he was uncovered. Danny genuinely coughed as dust was stirred up. Someone grabbed him under the arms and hauled him the rest of the way out. That someone was Valerie, and she kept an arm around his waist to keep him steady.

"You alright?" She asked, her voice concerned.

"Fine," Danny replied through a cough, "thanks. Though, isn't this the time you fly off to protect some sort of secret identity?"

Valerie chuckled, "That it is," then she looked to Sam, "you got him?"

"Always."

Val transferred Danny over to Sam, and then took off through the hole in the wall.

"Put your arm around me and try to look unsteady," Sam instructed him.

"Why Sam," he couldn't help but grin a little as he followed her orders, "I thought you'd never ask."

"Come on. Let's find a place to sit."

"No," Danny said, "go to the nurse's office."

"Danny, I'm fine!"

"You're getting that cut looked at," Danny told her seriously, "head wounds should always be checked out. Please Sam?"

It was the please that got her. With a roll of her eyes, Sam relented and they made their way to the nurse's office. When they arrived, they saw they weren't alone. There were a number of students and a few teachers in the small room, all waiting to get bad aids and Advil for the typical post- ghost attack injuries. They managed to find a seat side by side, and waited until the nurse came to them. She had somehow managed to find out what had 'happened' to Danny, and was trying her best to look him over, but Danny waved her away.

"I'm good. Sam's the one that's bleeding."

With a sigh, the nurse did turn her attention to Sam's head, making sure there was no more damage than the cut. There wasn't, and Sam was hissing from the sting of the disinfectant, when someone tapped Danny on the shoulder. He turned and found Mr. Lancer standing behind him. From the fairly disappointed look on the teacher's face, he knew he was in some sort of trouble. So much for staying out of it for the rest of the day.

"Mr. Fenton, may I please speak to you for a moment?"

Danny followed Mr. Lancer into the now empty hallway without a word.

"I came to the nurse's office after the attack to make sure there were no serious injuries," Lancer told him, "and lo and behold, it turns out that there was an injured student in here before the attack. A very 'freaked out' Dash Baxter."

Shit. Danny had forgotten about the whole locker room thing. He did not need that on top of everything else. It figured that Dash would say something. He should have added a 'keep your mouth shut' to his threat.

"Mr. Fenton, why in the name of all things holy did you throw Mr. Baxter across the locker room?"

"I pushed him," Danny mumbled, "didn't throw him."

Danny wasn't going to even try and explain what had happened. As good as Mr. Lancer was, he always took Dash's side.

Lancer studied the student standing across from him. At the mention of Dash's name, Danny began to seethe, hands clenched at his side. It was rare for the boy to get this upset. Then it clicked.

"He said something concerning Miss Manson."

Danny's attention snapped back to the teacher.

"I don't give a damn what he says about me," Danny almost hissed, "but I won't let him get anywhere near Sam!"

"After your…discovery this morning," Lancer was choosing his words carefully, "it can't surprise you that some of the students would begin to say…unpleasant things about her. Whether it's true or not –which I seriously doubt it is- many will jump to conclusions and vocalize their assumptions."

"If Dash had just called her a slut, I probably could have controlled myself," Danny replied bluntly, "barely, but I wouldn't have lost it. But then he said…he said he'd like to…"

Danny's voice trailed off, but the teacher knew what the boy was telling him.

"Surely you're aware that Miss Manson would rather chew her own arm off than have a date with Mr. Baxter, let alone anything further."

Danny's lips quirked a fraction, "I know that," the tiny smile was gone and replaced by an angry scowl, "and I don't know if you've heard or not, but Dash doesn't take no well."

Mr. Lancer had heard, and it was the top reason Mr. Baxter had fallen from his 'most favoured student' spot. At a party the year before, Dash had come on to a freshmen girl who had promptly told him to beat it. Next thing anyone knew, someone had walked in on them together, Dash practically on top of her and her almost passed out. Dash had claimed that once she had had a few beers she had lightened up, though no one remembered her drinking at all. The only thing that saved Dash from attempted rape charges was his father's influence.

"I know Sam can take care of herself," Danny started again, "but I swear, if he so much as tries, I'll kill him."

Lancer was silent, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't want to punish Danny, not after hearing his reasons. He couldn't blame the boy for wanting to protect someone he loved, yet he couldn't let him off Scott free either.

"Here's what we're going to do," Lancer finally said, "detention every day for the next month, starting Monday. And you will personally pay to repair the dented lockers. I will also be forced to contact your parents, and I'm sure they'll give you their own form of punishment."

"That's it?" Danny asked, eyes wide in surprise.

Lancer's eyebrow quirked, "Would you like a tougher punishment?"

"No!" Danny replied forcefully.

"Then don't question me. Now, go collect Miss Manson and get out of here. Because of the damage, school is dismissed."

At least something good had come from that fight. Anytime school was let out early was a good thing.

"Thanks Mr. Lancer," Danny replied gratefully, even if it meant his car fund was about to be drained.

When he returned to the nurse's room, he found Sam there waiting for him. There was a band aid on her forehead.

"No major damage," she informed him, "just the cut, which will probably scar, and I feel a killer headache coming on."

"Well, you're in luck. School's out for clean up. You can go home, take a few pain killers and sleep it off."

"Yeah," Sam sighed, "what bad luck. I actually had plans for tonight."

"Plans?"

"The library is having a massive book sale, and there are a few books I wanted to get. I work all weekend, so this is the only day I could go," at Danny's look, she sighed, "Yes, Danny, I know I'm a geek."

"I could go for you," Danny offered, deciding this would be a great time to play doting boyfriend, even if the idea of spending any amount of time at a book sale sounded boring as hell.

"Really?" Sam asked, disbelieving.

"Sure," he said, "what better way to avoid going home?"

"Avoid going home?"

"Yeah," Danny replied, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Lancer found out about the Dash thing and is calling my parents to them know I have to pay for a few dented lockers."

"Dented lockers? You didn't say anything about dented lockers!"

Danny was saved from answering when "Danny! Sam!" pierced the air.

They both looked up and saw Tucker and a now de-suited Valerie waiting for them by the exit. They both looked concerned.

"We're okay. Sam's a little banged up, but I'm fine."

"And how is that?" Valerie asked in a bit of confusion, "You had a wall fall on top of you."

"Must be because Sam and the Red Huntress dug me out so fast," Danny lied with a shrug of nonchalance, "God knows I'll probably be bruised and sore tomorrow."

Val looked like she really didn't buy that explanation, but she didn't question it again.

"So, plans for the rest of the day?" Tucker asked, changing the subject.

"Going home to sleep," Sam said.

"Favour for Sam," Danny replied, which caused Tucker to smirk.

"I'm going to head over to work and see if I can start my shift early. I can always use extra cash."

"And that leaves me with no one to hang with," Tucker complained.

"You can always come to the book sale with me," Danny offered.

Tucker looked somewhat horrified at the suggestion, "Um, no. I can have some quality time with my electronics."

When Valerie was gone a minute later, Tucker turned back to Danny and Sam, all buisness.

"Okay, what happened?"

Danny and Sam glanced at each other briefly, before Danny began to speak.

"Did you, hear about, um…"

"You two getting hot and heavy in the science lab?" Tucker finished for him, causing them to flush scarlet, "Yep, and there will be much teasing later, but right now I'm talking about the ghost attack and how Danny managed to be buried under rubble without a scratch."

"It was Youngblood," Danny said, and Tucker looked as surprised as he and Sam had been earlier, "I know, it was weird. And there was something wrong with him; he was completely silent and emotionless. It was like he was on auto pilot, and the parrot wasn't there."

"The parrot wasn't there?"

"He was silent?"

The two disbelieving comments were spoke at the same time, and Danny just nodded.

"That's not the only strange thing. He was so completely focused on me he completely ignored Val. He didn't try to avoid her hits or attack her. The only time he was focused elsewhere was when he went for Sam, but even that was a way to get at me."

"That is way weird," Tucker said, "there has to be something up with that."

"I'm going to go out looking for Youngblood tonight," Danny decided, "and I'm bringing the damn thermos this time. If I can catch him, I can find up what's up, because something isn't right. As for how I was buried in rubble, there were two of me. I duplicated myself.

"And it lasted that long?" Tucker asked, "Impressive."

There was a small smirk on Sam's face, and when Danny asked her about it, it grew.

"Oh," she replied flippantly as she handed Danny a list of book titles and money to go with it, "I was just thinking of how much fun I could have with two Danny's."

Danny's mouth fell open, and Tucker's eyes bugged out of his head. They both looked at her in shock, and Sam was obviously amused by it.

"Bye guys," Sam said, leaning in to give Danny a quick kiss on the cheek before she turned and sauntered away, leaving the two boys to watch her departure in shock.

"Did she just…" Tucker sounded flabbergasted.

"She did," Danny replied, blushing a deep red.

"Damn. Dating you is apparently a bad influence. It's making her kinky."

"Hey! You are not allowed to use Sam and kinky in the same sentence!"

"Right," Tucker rolled his eyes, "because you weren't thinking the exact same thing. Probably enjoying it too, but you really think I want to think of Sam and kinky together? It's all sorts of wrong!"

Danny didn't refute or agree with the statement, and Tucker rolled his eyes again.

"It's official. I'm scarred for life. I'm leaving now before I get any nightmare cusing images."

Danny just waved him off, and then forced his mind far, far away from any thoughts that both Sam and Tucker had put into his head. Instead, he focused on the booklist in his hand. When he saw the number of books on there, he groaned. Why had he volunteered for this again?

l.l.l.l

Danny walked up the steps of the library, really hoping all the books on Sam's list were in the same place. Since they all had rather creepy sounding titles, Danny assumed they'd all be in some sort of horror section, if the books were divided into sections. He really, really hoped they were, even if this was a pretty good way to put off going home, he had no desire to spend all afternoon in the library.

When Danny walked through the doors, he groaned. When Sam had said massive, he really hadn't thought it would be this big. Shelves upon temporary shelves had been erected and took up the entire front of the building. He was relieved to see the books had been divided into sections, but he didn't see horror anywhere.

With a sigh, Danny began to wander the shelves, casting glances at the signs posted about them that advertised their content. So far he had passed everything from cooking to science fiction, but had yet to find anything resembling horror.

He was just reaching the back shelves when he shivered, sending a puff of blue mist shooting out of his mouth.

Son of a bitch! Danny cursed internally the second his ghost sense went off. He had just gotten done fighting! He didn't need this.

He turned a corner quickly, coming around the final bookshelf, ready to attack. Instead, he found himself stopping abruptly.

"Ghostwriter?" Danny asked in surprise.

The ghost looked up from inspecting the book in his hand, and focused his attention on the hybrid.

"Ah, hello Danny."

His tone was conversational, like they were just friendly acquaintances who hadn't seen each other in a long time. To be fair, that was close enough to the truth. Danny certainly didn't consider him an enemy. Once the rhyming stopped after the whole Christmas incident, Danny had admitted Ghostwriter had helped him, in a roundabout way. Not to mention Ghostwriter had a right to be pissed. Danny had destroyed his property after all. Therefore, Danny had gotten Walker to let Ghostwriter out of prison (apparently even Walker got a touch of the Christmas spirit), calling it repayment for destroying his manuscript. Ghostwriter had returned to his library, and all was forgiven.

"Um, hi…" Danny replied uncertainly.

"Are you looking for a book?" Ghostwriter inquired politely.

"Yeah," Danny said, "a few. Sam asked me to pick up some creepy sounding ones."

"You'll most likely find them in the horror section. I've already looked there, but saw nothing that struck my fancy. They're on the last shelf on the other side of the room. Just look for an abundance of Stephen King books and you'll know you're in the right place."

"Thanks," Danny replied thankfully, and then a question came to his mind, "how did you know about this sale anyway?"

Ghostwriter wasn't exactly known for being a ghost that left his lair often.

"A friend was here recently and saw an advertisement."

Danny's eyebrows shot up before he could stop them.

"Yes, a friend," Ghostwriter looked as though he didn't know if he should chuckle or be offended, "I believe you ran into her when she was here."

Danny thought about it for a minute, and when the realization came to him, his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"Ember?"

"Of course," this time the ghost did chuckle, "who do you think writes her songs? The girl has superb musical talent, but her use of the written word leaves much to be desired."

So Ghostwriter was responsible for those terrible lyrics?

"She asks for a catchy pop song with her name," he seemed to read Danny's thoughts, "and that's what I gave her."

Well, horrible or not, it was a catchy pop song. He had succeeded there.

"Since you're friends with Ember and all," Danny said when he remembered the exposé from two days ago, "can you tell her not to leave the Ghost Zone anytime soon? A newspaper ran an article that uncovered she's a ghost and her take over the world schemes. I think that means she's not protected under any ecto laws anymore. It's not exactly safe for her to come out at the moment."

Ghostwriter looked grave when he answered, "Of course."

"Thanks. I had no idea how to get a hold of her. We might not like each other, but the last thing I want is for her to be caught by the Guys in White."

"Thank you," Ghostwriter replied sincerely, and as the moments began to pass in silence that was quickly becoming awkward, he cleared his throat and spoke again, "Well, I suppose you should go and collect those books now. I'm sure your friend would be disappointed if someone else bought them before you got there. Oh, and speaking of, may I ask how you and she are doing?"

What? Danny was fairly taken back by the question.

"Um…we're doing fine."

"Glad to hear it," Ghostwriter grinned, which in itself was a strange thing in Danny's mind, "I did win a nice amount because the two of you got together when you did."

Danny choked and stared at the ghost in blatant shock. The ghosts had been betting on them too! It was bad enough that the school had been!

"How…how much?" Danny squeaked out.

"Let's just say I'll be able to buy books for the next decade without worry," his grin grew as Danny blushed.

Why exactly were he and Sam such a hot topic?

"I'm…I gotta go now," Danny stammered in embarrassment.

"Well, goodbye. Oh, and Danny, I would proceed with extra caution next time you have a run in with Skulker. If you had held out for another week, he would have won the bet. He is none too happy."

"Why the hell was Skulker betting when he's always trying to kill me?"

"Well, you see, there was a clause," Ghostwriter's smile was somewhat guilty, "if one of my fellow ghosts managed to kill you, the bet was null and void."

That's it, Danny needed to get out of there before he learned anymore disturbing news.

"Bye," Danny said hastily and then rushed away.

Ghostwriter shook his head with a small chuckle before he went back to inspecting the book he still held in his hand.

Danny high tailed it to the section Ghostwriter mentioned, and within five minutes, had found the books that Sam had written down. He hurried to the front desk, more than ready to get out of there. As he waited for the librarian to count out his change, Danny caught a glimpse of quite possibly the weirdest thing he had ever seen.

It was Ghostwriter and Mr. Lancer in what appeared to be a very animated conversation, both making gestures towards the book Lancer held. What was even stranger was they both seemed to be enjoying themselves. Mr. Lancer and Ghostwriter becoming friends? That was just…weird.

As Danny left the library, Sam's books secure under his arm, he couldn't help but ask himself if the day could get any weirder.

ll.l.l.l.l

The day might not have gotten any weirder, but Danny soon found out it could have gotten a lot worse. The realization came the moment he walked into his house and heard the conversation coming from inside.

"Maddie, my dear, you tell the most amusing stories."

First all the crap at school, then the embarrassment at the library, and now he had to deal with Vlad?

"Great," Danny muttered to himself, kicking off his shoes, "just great."

Maybe, if he was quiet enough, he could get to his room without anyone realizing he was home. Then he could just wait out Vlad's visit, and come down to face his parents once his nemesis was gone. He was out of luck, since Vlad and his parents were sitting in the living room, thus blocking his escape. With a mental groan, Danny decided to face the inevitable and stepped into the living room.

"Danny! There you are!"

"Yeah, Sam asked me to pick something up for her."

"Hello Daniel."

Danny had to look at the man, and of course there was Vlad, with that always present smug and superior look on his face. Danny couldn't help but wonder how Vlad managed to convince himself he was superior, when Danny managed to kick his ass every time they fought. Deserved or not, that look always managed to piss Danny off, and today was no exception.

"Vlad," Danny replied in a completely flat voice.

"Vladdie decided to visit and see how we're doing!" Jack announced in his usual cheerful manner.

"I'm sure he did," Danny didn't even try to hold back the sarcasm in his voice.

In true fashion, neither of his parents even noticed. Vlad did of course, and he just smirked. God Danny wished he could wipe that smirk off of his face.

"Of course," Vlad's voice was full of false sincerity, "you know how much I care about your family. Now Daniel, may I please speak to you privately?"

Danny really, really wanted to say no, but knew he had no choice in the matter, so he silently followed Vlad into the foyer, fuming the whole way.

"What the hell do you want Vlad? Because I'm not in the mood."

"Actually Daniel, I'm doing you a favour."

Now why wouldn't Danny ever believe that? Seeing the stubborn disbelief on his face, Vlad simply shook his head and held something out to him. Giving the older man a strange look, Danny took the item from him. When he looked down at it, his mouth fell open in shock.

It was a picture of him and Sam behind the school yesterday. He had her lifted against the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist and hands tangled in his hair. One of his hands was under her to hold her up, and the other braced on the wall above to steady them. Their lips were locked together…and he was Phantom.

"What…" he looked back to Vlad in confusion and stuttered, "How…"

"A rather determined reporter. You should be happy I keep an eye on the local media, otherwise this would have been this morning's front page."

Danny was still too stunned to speak.

"Now Daniel, I do wish you and Miss Manson all the best," there was so much sarcasm in Vlad's voice, it was practically dripping from his mouth, "but a little more discretion is required when you're in your ghost form. Especially now that you and Samantha are official and public," How had Vlad found out about the public part, when it only happened a few hours ago? "If someone were to see the girl, shall we say, intimately involved with Phantom, they might begin to piece the puzzle together."

Vlad was far from protecting him; he knew that, if Danny's secret got out, there was nothing stopping him from revealing his. Vlad just wanted to keep the status quo.

"Despite the fact I paid a small fortune to attain that, I do suggest you destroy it before you manage to lose it. Now, tell your parents goodbye. Pressing business and all that," as Vlad opened the door and exited, "Oh, and Daniel? You're welcome."

Danny hated the idea of being in debt to Vlad. He knew very well there would come a time when Vlad would demand some sort of repayment. Since Vlad had done him a huge favour by stopping this picture from being leaked, Danny would feel compelled to pay him back.

Sparing one last glance at the picture in his hand, Danny gathered an ecto blast around his hand and incinerated it. Well, there was one less complication in his life. Now he had to go face his parents and try to explain the fighting and vandalism. He felt a severe grounding coming on. He walked back into the living room, where his parents were still waiting.

"What did Vlad want Sweetie?" his mother asked, not a hint of distrust in her voice.

After years of lying, Danny was very good at thinking them up on the spot.

"There's this position at City Hall for a summer student, doing paper work and stuff. Vlad said, if I didn't already have a summer job, I could have it. I told him I'd think about it."

"That's great Danny!" Maddie sounded like she really liked the idea, while his father made a comment about what a great guy Vlad was, "Especially now that you're going to need the money."

Ah. Here it comes.

"Care to explain the call I just received from Mr. Lancer?"

Well, he had better start with the him and Sam thing. Maybe his parents would be lenient if they knew he was defending his girlfriend.

"Sam and I are dating," he went to continue, but his parents cut him off.

"Danny! Congratulations!" His mother squealed.

"That's my boy!" Jack bellowed, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Thanks," Danny replied with a genuine smile. He was glad his parents weren't going to go all 'you can never see her again', "and after everyone found out," he refused to mention how everyone found out. There were some things his parents never needed to know, "Dash said some…things about Sam, and I lost my temper."

He didn't say he was sorry he had done it, because he really wasn't. There was no way in hell Danny was ever going to apologize. Dash had it coming.

Both of his parents were looking at him with their we should be angry, but are actually very proud faces. Good, his ploy of mentioning Sam had worked.

"You know Danny," Maddie spoke after a moment, "justified or not, resorting to violence is not the answer."

Danny could barely hold back a snort at that. Coming from someone else's parents it might have sounded chastising, but from his is just sounded hypocritical.

"Oh come on Maddie!" Jack protested, "The punk sounds like he had it coming!"

"Jack!" This time Maddie did sound chastising, "That doesn't matter."

"Right. Of course. Violence is bad. That's why I have detention for a month and I have to pay back the damage."

He left the end open, waiting for his parents to add their punishment at the end. He kept his fingers crossed behind his back, hoping they'd go easy on him.

"I suppose that's good enough," Maddie said slowly, "but next time Danny, just walk away, alright?"

Yes! Danny inwardly cheered.

"I'll keep my temper next time," he promised seriously.

That seemed to completely appease his parents.

"So…" He started, "Can I go now?"

"Go ahead Sweetie."

Danny headed up to his room, putting Sam's pile of books on his desk. Since he wasn't grounded, he contemplated calling Tucker to see if he wanted to hang out, but he quickly dismissed the idea. After the day he'd had, he was in the mood to just relax. In fact, he was sure Sam's idea of catching a nap was a good one.

He was just drifting off to sleep, when his sister came barging into his room.

"Danny! Come quick!"

He became fully awake at the urgency in Jazz's tone.

"What is it?" He asked, jumping out of his bed and following her out of his room.

"They're interviewing the GIW on the news," Jazz told him, "and it's not sounding good."

Dread settled in his stomach. Not good could mean a lot of things, all of which would make being a ghost very dangerous. He had no idea how Phantom would be affected by all this, but chances were that it wouldn't be good.

They entered the living room, where his parents were already sitting and watching, and stood behind the couch. He looked at the TV, and realized the woman being interviewed was 'school board member' number one from the other day. Well, there was an official confirmation those two were GIW agents.

"Ghosts are a threat to citizens," she was saying, "we've known this for years. We have, of course, tried to keep the peace with them, but as more information is uncovered, it's becoming obvious our hospitality is being abused."

"What about the ecto laws?" Tiffany Snow asked.

"They're being reviewed," and that was all she'd say on the topic.

"What about friendly ghosts?" was the next question.

"We're seriously reconsidering whether or not the term friendly ghost is actually applicable."

"Really?" Snow asked in surprise, "What about Danny Phantom?"

"There is an exception to every rule," McNeil replied calmly, "Phantom is that exception. It's a well established fact that he's an ally," she turned to look directly into the camera, "which is why we'd like to talk to him. The government feels that his input into the situation is vital. My partner and I are staying at the Amity Hotel, room 204, and are asking for Phantom to meet with us."

Danny absorbed that for a minute, and gestured for Jazz to leave the room with him.

"Tell me you're not actually going to go!" Jazz demanded as soon as they were out of earshot of their parents.

"What choice do I have? This is probably my best bet on finding out what exactly is going on."

"What if it's a trap?" Jazz argued.

"If it was a trap, they would never have made an announcement on TV. Word gets out that I went to see them and never came back, they'd be the suspects. Phantom is too popular for them to risk touching me."

"I still don't like it," she said in displeasure, "maybe I should come with you."

"You can't; I have a reporter looking at me too closely for you to be shown as having a connection to my ghost half. Besides, if I don't come back, I need you here to alert the media about it."

"Still don't like it," Jazz repeated.

"Neither do I, but I don't have a choice."

Jazz just sighed.

"I'm going to do a patrol around town before I go see them," Danny informed his sister, "see if I can find Youngblood."

"Youngblood?"

Danny gave her a quick recap of what happened that afternoon.

"Promise to be careful Danny. It sounds as though Youngblood is more dangerous than normal."

"Promise."

l.l.l.

An hour later, Danny had circled the town twice and found no ghosts, let alone Youngblood. He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved at that fact. On one hand, he was spared another fight, but on the other, he was no closer to finding out what Youngblood was up to. Finally, after deciding that there was nothing more he could do in that regard, Danny headed over to the Amity Hotel.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He believed what he had told Jazz about this not being a trap, but it didn't stop a part of his brain from wondering if it actually was. He knew that, if it came right down to it, he could always fight his way out, but the possibility of becoming some sort of science experiment scared the hell out of him.

He arrived at the hotel and flew straight to the second floor. He stayed outside the door of room 204 and stood there. If he phased right through, he'd probably be attacked. Instead, he knocked. The door opened a moment later, and the woman looked a little surprised to see him there.

"I got your message," Danny told her flatly.

"Of course," she replied, stepping aside to let him enter, "we just didn't expect you so soon."

Danny walked in without a word. He looked around the room, taking in the equipment and papers that were set up in the room. The other agent, Carvel, was sitting at a computer, typing away. This was apparently command central. Carvel looked up when he came in, and had the same quick flash of surprise on his face as his partner had.

"Okay, what do you want?" Danny asked as soon as the door closed. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

They apparently had no problem getting right down to business, because when McNeil spoke again, it was in a clipped and professional tone.

"We've been concerned about the national security threat posed by ghosts for a long time. While public opinion favoured ghosts, we were unable to do anything about this threat."

"And now that people are scared," Danny finished for her, "you plan to use that to get your own way."

"Exactly."

Danny didn't like it, considering they were directly responsible for the change of public opinion. Causing panic in the general public was never a good thing, especially when a lot of innocent ghosts were going to get caught up in it.

"You do realize I am a ghost, right?"

"Of course," was the reply, "but you've actively fought against ghosts."

"Only the ones who I knew were a direct threat to Amity Park," Danny said, making sure to say point blank that he was not on board with the all ghosts are a threat frame of mind. He was far from agreeing, and he was not going to let them think he was.

McNeil's lips pursed, showing her displeasure at Danny's statement.

"Be that as it may," she continued, "the government is seriously considering declaring all ecto laws null and void, and ghosts a general threat."

"And that means?"

"Ghosts will be considered enemies of the state, whether or not they have previous hostile experience. They are to be dealt with automatically. If all goes as planned, we'll be able to bring the fight to them, and keep it off of human soil."

It took a moment for the implications of her words to sink in, and when they did, it absolutely stopped him cold.

"Jesus, are you talking about invading the Ghost Zone?"

"Of course. What better way to end the ghost threat? And with you-"

"No," Danny's voice cut her off.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no," Danny repeated, his voice cold, "I'm not going to help you make war. Not only it is total suicide, it's dumb. The ghosts are stronger than you can ever hope to be!"

"With your to help-"

"If you so much as step foot in the Ghost Zone, I swear I'll be there to stop you. So help me, of you try and start a pointless war with the ghosts, I'll fight with them to end it!"

Silence greeted his declaration, but it wasn't too long before Carvel's angry voice broke out.

"I thought you said you wanted to protect humans!"

"I am!" Danny was seething; did they not see how bad an idea this was? "Fighting with the ghosts will get more people killed! They're ghosts!"

"They are a threat!"

"Not all of them!" Danny yelled, his voice holding a bit of wail, "There's only a few of them who cause any significant trouble, and I've got that covered! You fucking idiots, do you really think the way to protect humans is to go to war with ghosts? Let me tell you something…They don't want it! But push them, and you'll force their hand…you will lose!"

"So, you're siding with them?" McNeil's voice was hard and cold.

Danny wanted to scream in frustration. Had they not heard a word he had just said?

"It's not about sides!" He hissed, "It's about not doing something that will get a lot of people killed! I won't fight anyone, but I'll do whatever it takes to keep you out of the Ghost Zone! That's protecting people!"

Danny couldn't stay there any longer. They both looked ready to argue their cause, and nothing was going to sway his decision. He felt like shaking them until they had some sense knocked into them. How could anyone think it was a good idea to declare war against the Ghost Zone?

Without another word, Danny went invisible and sped out of the room. He had to get a hold of the others and let them know what was going on.

Still in the room, the two agents waited until Phantom's cold spot signature disappeared from the computer monitor.

"That went well," the woman said, voice laced with sarcasm.

"We knew getting him involved was a long shot. That's why we're still gathering information on him. Phantom is against us, so now it's time we turn the humans against him, just like we've done with the other ghosts. Once he's knocked off of his pedestal, he'll be just as vulnerable as the rest…and we can do whatever we want with him."

l.l.l.l

An- For those of you who requested angry Danny, I give you angry Danny. Lol. Okay, I know that, in 'real life' Dash and Paulina are not that big of jerks (well, most of the time anyway), but just go with it okay? Oh, and sorry if my Spanish is off- the last time I took Spanish was three years ago, and it was only a semester, so I just used an online translator (and really, I don't think we ever covered the words slut and psycho in class anyway). So, just to clarify again (since it might not be completely obvious giving the kissing in this chapter lol), there will be no written sex scenes- the making out above is about as descriptive as it's going to get. Besides, there's going to be enough things happening soon enough that is not going to leave much time for romance, but for that you'll just have to wait and see! I don't promise an update in the near future, because while I've taken such a long sabbatical, two other WIPs have suffered, and it's high time I get a chapter written for them. I'm going to try to update by the end of this month, if not the beginning of June, but no promises. Peace, Love and Rainbows all, and don't forget to leave a review!