Chapter 1

"Teachers," the announcement echoed through the entire school, "you will each bring your class to the auditorium immediately. There will be no stops between your classroom and the auditorium." The teachers and students of Casper High listened with fearful attention to the loud speaker instructions. Some of them thought of escape, but the voice quickly quelled those thoughts. "There will be no escapes. The exits are barred, and I have a friendly sniper on the roof ready should anyone leave the building without permission." The reactions to these words varied. There were a few whimpers and choked sobs at the thought of their possible death. There were some who were fighting to stay conscious despite their hyperventilating. Most commonly students clung closely to their friends fearfully praying for a hero to save them. Then there was a small group of four students who reacted differently than everyone else, and those students all happened to be in the same class.

Valerie Grey was looking down at the pale scratched wood of her desk, unseeing. Her hands were clenched into fists and were shaking, not with fear, but with barely held back rage. She knew monsters like this existed, and she knew that there was a chance of them attacking her school, but that wasn't what made her angry. If it was just that the school was being attacked she'd rush out of the class and take care of the scum with her suit. This was different then all those other times she'd done it though. This time they were human, and that was what made her so angry. Yes she was used to monsters, but they were literal monsters aka not human. That a human was capable of causing such fear, and that she couldn't protect everyone this time infuriated the girl.

Tucker Foley was doing a much better job of hiding his emotions. One of those emotions was fear, but not fear for his life, like everyone else, but fear for his friends. Daniel Fenton, Danny to his friends and family, had a problem with saving people. It was just kind of what he did, but he did it in a unique way. In this way no one knew Danny Fenton was anything other than a lazy, normal teenager. That was the way Danny liked it. No attention, no problems, except in times like these when he couldn't save people for risk of revealing his secrets. Samantha Manson was the other best friend in the trio. Tucker was worried about her, because he knew she would drive herself crazy in worry over Danny. She and Danny were so in love it almost wasn't even funny anymore.

What Tucker wasn't afraid of was the morons taking over the school. This was just a little different from the everyday in the life of the tech support to a superhero. This mostly unknown fact about the school's resident technogeek was highlighted by the way his fingers raced silently across the keys of his ever handy PDA he'd lovingly named Cherl. Tuckers dark green eyes were locked on the screen as he looked over hundreds of websites finding information on who they were up against. He was preparing for the battle to come, because even if they couldn't do anything now, the inaction wouldn't last.

Samantha Manson, known as Sam to anyone who wanted to live, was the physical support to that same superhero Tucker was helping. She watched as week after week her best friend flew through her window, beaten and battered, looking for medical care that he couldn't get anywhere else. He risked his life daily so that the town would be safe from the invading ghosts, and he suffered because of it, but, as he continuously reminded her and Tucker, Danny wouldn't have it any other way. Danny lived to save people, and he couldn't live with himself if people got hurt when he could protect them. Sam knew he was too hard on himself. Everyone knew he was too hard on himself. Everyone but him. Sam was scared, but only of Danny getting hurt. Physically or emotionally this situation seemed designed to get him hurt, and it made the strong girl afraid. That was the only fear she showed as her lavender eyes glued themselves to Danny.

Danny Fenton wore a grim expression no one would ever expect to see on the young teen. His sky blue eyes were the same color as a stormy sea, darkened with unsettling experiences. His brows were furrowed in thought, and his head tilted down to hide his expression behind his raven locks. Not that anyone ever paid him any attention. Hiding who he was was a deeply ingrained habit by this point, because Danny Fenton went by another name, Danny Phantom. No one, except his two friends, knew the town hero Phantom was Danny, and Danny didn't want it any other way. There are good and bad sides to every decision though, and having a secret identity meant he couldn't just fly through the walls and beat some sense into the human idiots holding the school hostage.

Like Valerie, it frustrated Danny to be bound by his lies, but Danny was also filled with worry, guilt, sorrow, and above everything else determination. Worrying about his secret identity instead of taking the bad guys down made Danny feel guilty. He stuck to his lies, because there were still many people who thought Phantom had malicious intent. It made him sad that people still hated him simply for what he was, but that didn't mean he'd let anyone die, not on his watch. Danny had promised to protect the people, and though no one knew what he did for them, they would surely learn the hard way if he stopped. That was the last thing he wanted, and despite being unable to "go ghost" as he normally would, he would find a way to save everyone.

Everyone was still panicking about the information that there was a sniper on the roof when the loud speakers said, "You have five minutes." Then there was a quiet click as the PA system turned off, and the announcement stopped.

The sudden silence was surreal, but it didn't last. "O-okay everyone, I want you to line up single file." Mr. Lancer spoke to his english class. He tried to sound brave to prevent panic, "Line up and then we will be leaving immediately for the auditorium, and I want everyone to behave. If we keep calm and don't antagonize these men we will likely all make it out unharmed." Danny silently commended his english teacher for his bravery. The teacher's voice had only shaken a little, and the class seemed much calmer, even if they were still terrified. The class lined up quickly, and Mr. Lancer grabbed the attendance list before leading his class into the rapidly filling halls.

Moving to the auditorium was hectic to say the least. Small groups of students talked to their friends from their class as they were rushed through the school, and each small voice added to the large amount of jumbled sound. In the auditorium was only worse. The small groups of students that were talking multiplied and echoed in the large space. The large space was quickly filling and Mr. Lancer took his class to their allotted spot and sat them down.

Danny was sitting between Sam and Tucker. He turned to the later and asked, "Do you know who they are?"

Tucker nodded once, "Yes. There are three of them, and they call themselves the three musketeers." Sam snorted at the lame name, but Tucker looked grim as he continued, "They are called that because of their proficiency with firearms. They were soldiers who didn't feel they were being paid enough for the jobs they were sent on in the military. They went awol after they were discovered to be in possession of large amounts of foreign currency. It was confirmed as stolen and the three have been running toward the Canadian border ever since."

"How do you even get this information Tuck?" Danny asked incredulously before he reconsidered, "You know what? I don't want to know."

"Plausible deniability right?" Sam snarked.

Tucker laughed and Danny said, "Something like that."

"So what's the plan?" Sam brought them back to focus.

Danny spoke so quietly that Sam and Tuck had to lean in to hear him. "These guys haven't killed anyone yet, but we know if push comes to shove they are soldiers. They have taken a life before and will take another if they have to." Sam and Tucker nodded wearing the same grim determined expression as Danny. "They want to reach the border, but they are here, which means they were forced to stop. That means they are going to get desperate. They will likely put one or more people at gun point."

"I don't like where this is headed." Sam mutter to her teammates.

"Don't worry it will probably take them a while to reach that point." Danny said.

"Oh, yeah. I feel loads better now. Thanks." Sam said sarcastically. Danny glared and Sam cracked, "Fine how do we prevent someone from getting shot then?"

"Worse case scenario, I get shot instead of a human." Danny said calmly.

Before he could continue Sam whisper yelled, "Are you crazy!? You can still die ectoplasm-for-brains!"

Tucker intervened, "Like Danny said, we have a while til it comes to that. Though I agree with Sam that it's stupid to even think about taking a bullet at this point. It's not the time to think about that." Tucker locked his forest green eyes with the hardened eyes of his friend. "Danny, you're right. If it comes to them picking out people from the crowd, you are the best option."

It was Tucker's turn to get whisper/yelled at by Sam she opened her mouth and sucked in a breath, but before she could say anything Tucker held up his hand and said, "Just hear me out." Sam glared but stayed silent. "Okay if Danny is taken hostage he'll be able to hear their plans because of his enhanced hearing, then he can use a duplicate to tell us their plans."

Sam and Danny looked impressed, and Sam said, "That is actually really smart."

"I resent the surprised tone." Tucker muttered, but he was smiling at the praise all the same.

"So there's at least part of a plan." Danny said.

"It's better than we usually do at this stage." Sam replied.

"True." Danny concieded with a nod.

Tucker then added, "We probably shouldn't even attempt to make any further plans since they never pan out right anyway. In what little we have I bet something will go wrong."

"Jeez, Tucker, have a little faith." Danny said.

"Yeah I thought I was supposed to be the goth." Tucker's response to Sam was cut off by one of the jailers.

"Silence!" a man yelled loudly into a megaphone. Danny grabbed his ears in pain from his enhanced hearing. Sam massaged his head sympathetically.

A smooth voice said, "I am Alister Martin." Danny glared at the man. The man had blond hair, grey eyes, and an impressive build that was accentuated by the man's ratty tank top and a pair of well worn jeans. In Alister's left hand was a semi-automatic handgun, and he spoke into the megaphone in his right hand. "I am in charge of this little affair, and I wanted to make some things very clear before we get started."Alister held everyone's attention, and when he wasn't speaking the silence was so thick you could practically feel it weighing on you. Alister was very professional as he said, "From this moment on you will not speak. Not even to the person next to you." No one thought of disobeying the man, but just incase he added, "I see you speak I my finger might just slip, and press this trigger." He waved his gun making it flash in the overhead lights.

The brief silence that followed the man's words was cut short by Danny, who shocked everyone by yelling out, "Is that thing even loaded?"

Alister glared towards Danny's class, and the people around Danny shivered as his eyes scanned them, but he couldn't see who said it. "Who said that? Stand up!" The man commanded.

Calmly Danny rose to his feet and tried to do his best arrogant dim-wit impression. Some of the smarter people caught on to the personality change and were even more confused than the people who didn't catch on to Danny's tough guy act. "I did. You wouldn't actually shoot anyone. What is this some cheesy movie? I bet that thing's not even real." Danny foolishly challenged the man. Everyone was looking at Danny like he was suicidal.

Mr. Lancer was brave enough to turn to Danny with a shaky voice, "M-mr. Fenton sit d-down!" His shaking made his voice lose most of it's authority and Alister just waved him off.

"Take your own advice old man." Then the man's eyes glittered with amusement at seeing the figure of Danny, who was trying to look as weak as possible while pretending to be overconfident. It was a difficult task. Danny had to stand so his baggy shirt hid all his muscles, but he couldn't slump. "What's your name kid?" The predator asked.

"Danny." Danny tried to seem arrogant. The school held it's breath as it watched Danny talk to the man with the gun, and the man just laughed.

"I like you kid. You're cocky." Alister smirked in a way that made him look almost friendly. The students and teachers found themselves almost believing that the man could at least be reasonable. Then without his expression changing the blond man fired his gun into the ceiling. Everyone in the room jumped, even Danny, because he was trying to look normal. "You're lucky I like you, otherwise that bullet would have been in you." Alister's smirk became a full smile as he asked, "Anyone else have questions? No?" He mocked them. "Good. You will stay silent and still. Anyone speaks or tries to escape, and I'll have my friend shoot Danny there first." Alister nodded at Danny and then turned his back to leave, missing Danny's own brief smirk before he sat back down in his seat.

Almost as soon as Alister left a new man entered. This new guy was about a head shorter than the leader with dark brown hair and eyes to match, but his sheer muscle made him more intimidating than Alister. The man lazily leaned against the wall by the door and scanned the students, like a tiger in a zoo watches the children play just outside its enclosure after it's just finished lunch. There was no intent to kill them yet, but you knew he was thinking about it anyway. The man stood there with pistol in hand watching students squirm. The man seemed to enjoy smiling darkly at specific students and watching their fear. Mikey almost wet himself, but eventually the man grew bored with his little game and settled more comfortably against his wall. After about an hour standing watching the students the man spoke into a radio with a gruff voice. "Martin where are we?" Danny noted that the man used Alister's last name, meaning that the three men weren't close.

Over the radio Alister Martin's voice spoke, contrasting with the guard's, "Don't ask questions over the radios, Drake." Danny knew Alister didn't want the school to overhear his conversations, and the man, Drake, apparently thought so too, because he walked out the auditorium doors to talk to his superior. Danny made a note that Drake wasn't too bright.

For a while left alone everyone stayed silent and still. They watched the door to see if the men were coming back, but after two minutes Valerie decided to risk it. She turned to Danny behind her and said, "Are you insane Fenton!?"

Everyone turned in their seats to watch as Danny rubbed the back of his neck. He looked exactly like the nervous Fenton everyone was use to. "Val."

"Don't you 'Val' me Daniel! What were you thinking? Do you have a death wish?" Valerie said.

"No I don't, I", Danny started, but Valerie cut him off again.

"And you two!" She pointed accusingly at Sam and Tucker. "You two are his best friends why would you let him try a stupid stunt like that?" Sam and Tucker were about to defend themselves when they were interrupted.

"Valerie!" Danny almost yelled to get her attention, "I know that looked stupid, but I'm trying to do something here. I know that could have ended badly, but it's only a matter of time, if were not careful, that this ends badly for someone anyway."

"What so that was meant to do something then!?" Valerie asked still fuming.

"Yes." Danny stated calmly, "I got his attention. Now when he takes some of us away to use as a strategic ploy I'm on the list of people he's going to use, and that gives me more power over him later."

Everyone was shocked. Danny just admitted to trying to manipulate their captors. They thought Danny was stupid, but here he was acting like this was some sort of chess game. "It's still stupid." Valerie insisted after a moment.

Danny ignored her and said, "Be quiet they're coming back."

No one was really sure whether to believe him that they were coming back, but just as everyone turned to look, the door opened and Alister walked back in with Drake. Most people noted that Alister's gray eyes fell on Danny before anyone else. Danny was already back in character of the inexperienced tough guy. Alister looked around the room and then leaned to his partner and pointed people out. He pointed to Mr. Lancer, Dash Baxter, Danny, and a senior named Jessica. Drake nodded and moved around the room collecting people. Jessica was the closest, and Drake practically had to drag her forward, she was shaking so bad. Then he grabbed Dash who was no better than Jessica, but he whimpered in fear and tried to move away fro Drake when the man grabbed him. Drakes last trip was to Danny and Mr. Lancer. Mr. Lancer wasn't shaking like Jessica and Dash, but he was pale and clammy, and his walk was stiff. Danny slumped his shoulders pretending to cower, and put stress on his hands to make them shake as he was dragged along.

With the two men and the four hostages in gathered Alister nodded to Drake who took them out of the room. Danny tried to make his form as diminutive as possible, and slightly hid behind Mr. Lancer who was in front. Drake lead them down the halls and Danny recognized the way to the school's basement. Drake stopped at the door and motioned them forward. When no one moved immediately the large man rolled his brown eyes and shoved them in. Mr. Lancer caught himself on his hands and knees, but Danny and Jessica fell to the floor. Dash's athletic skills allowed him to keep his balance if only barely, and he stumbled into the room, catching himself on a stack of boxes. Before any of them could react the door behind them closed and they were left alone in the dimly lit concrete room.

Danny used his fake fall to his advantage and quickly scanned the area as he stood up. There was a camera in the corner of the room, and a speaker, but no mike. Danny looked down to hide his smirk. This meant they could talk without Alister and friends noticing them.

Unfortunately Dash noticed Danny's smirk. "What are you so happy about Fentoad!?" Dash gripped the front of Danny's shirt and pushed him up against the wall.

"Mr. Baxter! Put him down!" The teacher commanded.

With great reluctance Danny was released, and he said, "I'm not happy about any of this Dash, but it's nice to know that even though they're watching us," Danny nodded to the camera in the corner, "they're not listening to us."

Jessica huffed with annoyance, "What the hell are you talking about, nerd?"

Danny sighed internally. The people of Amity could be so dense at times. "I mean the type of camera/speaker system they've set up over there doesn't have a microphone. So I can gloat that my plan to get taken hostage worked."

"Oh yeah. It worked perfectly, but now you are trapped in a basement instead of in the auditorium. Cause that's super helpful." Jessica's voice dripped sarcasm.

Danny waved a hand dismissively at Jessica. "Hold on. Let me think."

"Let you think? Like that will do us any good." Dash said sarcastically.

Surprisingly it was Mr. Lancer who came to Danny's rescue. "Let the boy think, Dashiel. After all I think we could all use some time with our thoughts."

Danny flashed his teacher a grateful smile and closed his eyes to "think". Of course he wasn't really thinking about anything. Danny was focusing on his enhanced hearing. Drake had stopped just out of human hearing range and was on the radio talking about the plan.

"So you can see them?" Drake said.

"Yeah. They were fighting for a bit, but now they seem more settled." A radio voice answered. Danny didn't recognize it, so he assumed it was the third man, the sniper.

"Fighting?" Alister asked.

Sniper chuckled, "Yeah the scrawny, black haired kid got pushed against the wall by the blond jock. I didn't catch the conversation, but looks like those two don't get along well."

"Keep on them, Isaac, don't even worry about escape attempts. We have them terrified into inaction." Alister said.

The sniper, now Isaac, said, "You got it, Marty." Danny was confused about the use of the nick name. It was obviously short for Martin, as in Alister, but he thought the men weren't on first name terms. Maybe Alister just didn't like his first name. Danny would have to remember that.

For a while things were quiet, and Danny was about to stop listening in when he heard Isaac say, "You never answered the question of what we were gonna do here. We got Millitary headed in here fast. We can't outrun them, we can't outgun 'em, so what? Do we outsmart them?"

The radios were quiet and then Alister answered, "That's why we took hostages. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, or in this case make them join you. Starting with-" Danny didn't hear the rest because Dash finally lost his patience.

"Fenton!" Dash yelled making Danny wince and open his eyes. Everyone in the room was exactly where he saw them last, and they were all staring at him.

"Yeah Dash?" Danny asked cautiously. All the staring was making him nervous. Briefly he wondered if everyone had just been staring at him the entire time he was listening in on the radios.

The thought was stopped short when Dash said, "So?" Danny gave Dash a look that clearly said he didn't understand the question. "Did you think of anything?"

Danny barely bit back a curse as he remembered his stupid excuse. Then Danny really started thinking about what he'd heard. Drake was watching the auditorium, Isaac was watching Danny and the others, and Alister was the brains of the operation. The brainiac had a plan involving the hostages, and he was going to bargain with or blackmail the military to get out of the situation. All Danny really needed to know was how Alister planned to use the hostages, but he missed that part because of Dash. Danny tallied the information in his head in under a second and then slowly answered Dash. "Yes and no."

"Care to share with the rest of the class." Jessica huffed.

"Tucker was able to get some information on these guys when they were yelling over the PA system. Apparently these guys call themselves the Three Musketeers because they like to play with guns. They were in the military and got sent overseas, but they felt they weren't being paid enough for what they were being asked to do. Soon after they became restless and then they were found with a fortune in foreign currency. They went awol after they hit the states, and then the currency was found to be stolen. Ever since they've been running as fast as they can toward the Canadian border." Danny decided it was best to explain the background of these people first.

"How did that geek get that information, Fenturd?" Dash demanded.

Danny sighed, "Everyone has their own types of skills, Dash. Tucker just happens to be a very skilled tech geek." Danny didn't say anything further.

"Well I have to say these men sound dangerous, Daniel." Mr. Lancer said, ignoring that Tucker was likely a hacker.

Danny nodded yes to Lancer's assessment, and Jessica said, "You still haven't answered Dash's question."
"Fine." Danny said. Not planning on telling the other three captives very much Danny started, "They have been on the run for weeks now, and they never stop for very long, and definitely never in a school. Somethings different with this stop."

"Meaning?" Jessica prompted.

"Meaning they are changing their plans. They're desperate. Military is catching up to them, or has caught up, and they can't run. There are only three of them so they can't fight their way out, and that leaves one option. They have to outsmart the military." Danny started pacing back and forth. "The problem is I can only see a few options that would require them to take over a school."

"Spit it out!" Dash said letting his impatience win again.

Danny glared at Dash forgetting for a second he was supposed to pretend to be weak and scared. "We're hostages. Bargaining chips, and we're not in short supply. They've got a full school full of American children. That means they can kill one or two of us off and then threaten the rest to make the military give in to their demands."

Everyone in the room paled at the news that these men were likely planning on killing someone. Jessica tried to keep up her tough front, but she stuttered, "S-so what now?" Jessica was looking to Danny for answers, and Dash watched to see how Danny would answer. Mr. Lancer stood behind them awkwardly looking at Danny, feeling guilty about not coming up with a plan himself.

"Nothing yet." Danny said. His words didn't put confidence into his fellow captives. "We have to wait for them to make the next move." After that they all went silent, waiting, some more patiently then others. Jessica sank to the floor and leaned against a stack of boxes with her head in her hands. Mr. Lancer similarly found himself a box to sit on as he stared unseeing at the wall across from him. The teacher was completely still except for when he would occasionally rub his arms. Dash paced with nervous energy, and his footsteps filled the room. Danny moved himself so he was just within the sight of the camera and leaned against the wall. Out of all of them he was the only person to seem relaxed.

Danny had been leaning against the wall longer than the full humans thought should be comfortable, so they were a little startled when Danny perked up and looked at the door. The others in the room watched the scrawny kid as his eyes slid over the room before he seemed to make a decision about something. Then Danny angled himself slightly away from the door and started staring off into the space above Mr. Lancer's head.

Dash opened his mouth to ask what Danny's weird behavior was about, but just after he sucked in a breath the door opened and Dash let out an undignified squawk instead. There was a deep chuckle from Drake as he walked through the door. Lancer and Jessica shot to their feet, and everyone, except Danny, backed away from the man. Drake's brown eyes scanned over the room. Dash, Jessica, and Lancer all shuddered. Danny watched the cruel eyes approach his and knew this was going to be a difficult acting job. Drake's eyes reached Danny, and the pale boy widened his eyes and pretended to shudder. Drake smirked maliciously, not seeming to notice anything out of the ordinary, and for that Danny once again thanked his acting abilities. Then the gruff voice of Drake said, "You." He pointed to Mr. Lancer, "We need the master key. Where is it?"

Mr. Lancer reached a shaking hand into his pocket and came out with a single key jangling on a ring."I-I-I h-have i-it." Lancer said holding the ring out to the man.

Drake walked up to the group in two large steps and took the key. Then he started to turn and everyone felt relieved that that was all the man had wanted, but the thought only lasted a brief second. As Drake spun away from his captives he grabbed Danny's arm and pulled Danny along with him. Danny reacted with a real sound of surprise and Mr. Lancer called Drake to stop, but Drake ignored the teacher and quickly left the room, locking it behind him.

The large man shoved Danny in front of him, and when Danny turned he saw the man had drawn his pistol. "Move." Drake commanded gesturing Danny forward with his gun. Danny complied trying to mask his irritation as fear, or if he could manage it terror, and they both left the basement behind. Drake pushed and shoved Danny to make his go in the right direction, and Danny ended up in front of the electrical control room.

Alister walked around a corner to meet them just seconds after Drake stopped. "You have it?" Alister asked. Drake wordlessly handed the blond the master key, and Alister smirked as he took it. "Good work, Soldier." Alister smirked when his little jibe made Drake growl. Drake refused to rise to the bait and stalked past Alister into the freshly opened room. Alister only had to look at Danny before Danny followed the larger man in.

The room was small, only about ten by ten, and an entire wall was taken up by electrical wires and control panels. On the wall next to the wiring there was a desk with a computer and a phone. Behind the door there were four chairs stacked up. Drake took two of the chairs down and placed one in back of the room, farthest from the door, and placed another by the wires. Alister pushed Danny into a chair, and Drake sat down in the one by the wires. Alister checked over a couple of the panels before the phone started ringing. He gave a significant look to Drake and then told Danny to stay quiet before he picked up the phone.

Danny heard from over the phone. "This is Captain Gale Morgan of the military police."

"Hello, Captain Morgan." (AN: I couldn't resist.) Alister interrupted, "This is Martin, and I want to make you a deal."

"The united states doesn't deal with terrorists." the captain spoke in a cold tone.

"Ooh, terrorist." Alister said in mock offence. "That hurts." Then the blond smirked, "But I suppose it's appropriate. After all I have taken a school hostage."

"You don't want to do this, Martin." The woman over the phone warned, but Alister ignored her.

"I want nine million dollars delivered to the roof of Casper High. I want it delivered by a military chopper flown by an unarmed civilian." Alister continued.

"We can't do that. You know we can't. No matter what you do." Morgan said.

"Oh really?" Alister said, "That's too bad, because every half hour I don't get my money I drop another kid. Starting with this one." Alister turned to Danny smirking. Danny tried to look fearful. "Danny why don't you come say hi." Alister held the phone out for Danny.

Danny stood shakily and walked slowly to the phone. "H-h-hello?" Danny made his voice crack mid word.

"Danny. I'm Captain Gale Morgan, and I'm going to get you and your schoolmates out of there okay?" Danny didn't get to answer.

Alister took the phone from Danny and shoved him back into his seat. "Half an hour." Alister said into the phone before placing the phone back on it's cradle. The phone immediately started ringing again, but Alister hung up the call after one ring. He turned to Drake, "I've got him and the phone. Go watch the auditorium." Drake nodded and marched out the door.

Then it was just Danny and Alister. Keeping up the facade of a stupid, brave teenager Danny asked, "Why me first?" Danny didn't bother with a stutter it was to hard to keep up.

Alister looked amused. "Set an example for all the other kids who think of talking back. I know you don't want to die, but think of it this way. You'll be teaching Captain Morgan and your classmates a valuable lesson." Danny stayed silent until Alister had hung up the phone enough times that the military police stopped calling and he said, "Oh come on Dan. This is most likely your last," Alister looked at his watch, "twenty minutes. are you really going to spend it in silence?"

"What do you want me to say?" Danny said in a dead tone to match his sentence.

"Anything. Questions? Regrets?" Alister prompted watching Danny with a scrutinizing glare.

Danny needed to make Alister look away so he could send an invisible duplicate to Tucker and Sam. The opportunity came when he spotted dog tags on the desk behind Alister. "What are those?" Danny pointed to the necklace behind Alister. Alister looked behind him and swiftly looked back, but Danny had already made the duplicate he needed.

"Really? They are just dog tags. Surely you can come up with something better." Alister said slightly suspicious.

Danny decided that this man was more observant than his companions, so he'd tell a partial truth to throw him off. "I have a lot of secrets."

"And." Alister said when Danny stopped talking.

"And I lie in almost every sentence I speak. There are only three people who know my secrets, and I've even lied to them a couple of times." Danny said.

"This bugs you. What about it?" Alister pushed.

Danny glared at the man. "Why should I tell you, Ali?" Danny threw in the nickname just to mess with the guy.

It worked and Alister visibly worked to hold back a snarl. "You have ten more minutes." Alister said cruelly. "Why shouldn't you?" The blond man countered.

Danny winced theatrically. "I, guess you're right." Danny sighed and looked at his toes. "It bothers me because I love my parents, and they love me, but I don't know if they would love me if they knew my secrets. My sister knows, but now she is forced to lie with me. My grades suffer and I come home after curfew, and I don't know if them knowing my secret would make them proud of me or if they would hate me." Danny said quickly.

Alister hmmed, and rubbed his chin, "So you have a secret you are keeping from everyone except your sister, because you think you're parents would hate you?" Danny nodded and Alister started laughing.

"What!?" Danny asked feigning insult.

"I wish my problems were so small that." Alister said.

"Who said my secret was small?" Danny mumbled the sentence under his breath so Alister couldn't hear, but the guy heard him anyway.

"What is your secret then?" Returning his cold gray eyes to the young teen.

Danny glared at Alister and opened his mouth to speak, but instead of Alister hearing Danny, they both heard Isaac over the radio. "Martin we have a problem. you need to come take a look at this."

"I've got the first kid." Alister said.

"Bring him." Isaac immediately replied.

"Well you heard him. Up." Alister waved Danny out the door and then lead him to a classroom down the hall.

AN: Chapter one done. This story has kind of evolved as I've written it, and I've got 11 chapters done already, so I'll be posting weekly for a while before I've exhausted my backlog. I hope you enjoy this, and I look forward to reading any reviews. Until next week.