Valerie listened quietly as Danny's sister finished explaining what was going on. They were in the Fenton's living room. Valerie put a hand to her face, taking in the new information.

Just days ago she found that her ex boyfriend, Danny Fenton was somehow also her nemesis, Danny Phantom. At first she had just clapped like everyone else. It hadn't really hit her that Fenton was Phantom until later that night. But when it did she tore down every photograph of Phantom she had, ripping them to shreds. She tore down all the photos of Danny Fenton as well, but those she shoved in a drawer. Despite everything she couldn't bring herself to destroy them.

She was sad, angry, and hurt. But mostly she was confused. She'd come here to give Danny a piece of her mind and demand some answers... only to find out that he'd been kidnapped by Vlad Masters!

"I knew I should have stopped that guy when I had the chance," She muttered darkly. Jazz put a hand on her arm encouragingly but she shrugged it off. She didn't need sympathy; she needed a plan.

"So what are we going to do?" Valerie asked. Sam coughed.

"Uh, we aren't going to do anything," She replied, gesturing to Valerie and herself. "Because in case you don't remember, you've been trying to kill Danny for the past year." Valerie clenched her fists. She glanced at Mr Lancer sitting on the couch, looking lost.

"Danny's secret might be out of the bag, Manson, but mine's not." She hissed. "And you and I both know it's more complicated than that. I thought he was a ghost." Her voice wavered. Sam folded her arms.

"News flash, Valerie: Danny is a ghost. You were just too blind to see it."

"Okay, that's enough," Jazz cut in, sternly. "We don't have time to argue. We need to make a plan." Finally. At least someone had some sense.

"Have you tried contacting the authorities?" Lancer suggested.

"What are they going to do about it?" Manson asked sharply. "It's not like the police can just waltz into the ghost zone and find them."

Mr. Lancer frowned. "What about the GIW? They're ghost hunters, aren't they?" Tucker scoffed and Valerie turned her attention to him.

"Yeah, exactly," He said, taking a swig of the sprite Jazz had offered him. "They're ghost hunters, and, up until recently, they've wanted Danny dead- well, more dead." Valerie didn't miss the subtle glance in her direction, though she didn't know why he'd looked at her. It wasn't like she worked for those government losers. "We can't trust them."

"Tucker's right," Said Jazz. "Besides, they've been eerily quiet these past few days... how would we even find them?"

"This is pointless!" Valerie shouted. "We aren't getting anywhere like this." She grabbed her backpack up from where it was leaning against the couch and swung it over her shoulders. Since no one else was doing it, she would have to find Danny and Vlad herself.

"Where are you going?" Jazz asked.

"I'm going to find Danny," Valerie replied without stopping. "Basement's this way, right?" Along with the ghost portal. Sam grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. Valerie glared at her.

"You don't know what it's like in there. You'll get lost."

"I've been in the ghost zone before," Valerie spat. She didn't want to admit that the other girl might be right. She had no idea where she would even begin to look, let alone how to get back. And then there were the ghosts... Sure, she was the best ghost hunter there was, but handling all those ghosts plus Vlad in unknown territory...?

But she had to . There was no other way: the Fenton's speeder was broken and no other human could make it that far in the ghost zone without tech. If anyone could do this, it was her.

She tried to shrug Manson off. "I'm going." Sam searched her face for a minute and Valerie stared back defensively.

"Valerie..." Tucker started.

"Don't try to change my mind about this." If it came down to it, Valerie knew she could beat them all, easily, so there was no point in trying to stop her.

Sam must have realized this too because a second later she let go. "Three hours." She said.

"Excuse me?"

"Just wait three hours before you do anything brash." Valerie clutched the strap on her backpack as she considered Manson's option.

"Fine," She growled. "Three hours. But after those three hours are up I'm going." Sam nodded once.

Tucker quickly stepped forward, waving his hands. "Hold up, can we talk about this first?"

"Nope." Sam and Valerie replied at the same time. Tucker's shoulders fell.

"Jazz, back me up here." Jazz was too busy talking to (distracting) Mr. Lancer to notice the conversation being directed at her.

"There it's settled then." Valerie spun on her heel and walked past them.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"Home. I'll see you in three hours." And with that she left FentonWorks. Valerie liked to think that she'd looked really cool when she did that but honestly, she had no idea how calm and collected she seemed. Her head was spinning with new information and her hands shook slightly. Danny…

No, keep it together. Everything was going to be fine. She just had to wait three hours. Until then, this city needed protecting. Valerie was just heading towards an empty alleyway to change when a voice stopped her.

"Valerie!" Valerie paused and looked back. Sam Manson was jogging towards her, Tucker Foley in tow. Great, what did she want now? She paused and waited for them to catch up.

"What?"

"Yeah, what's this about Sam?" Tucker asked. He rubbed his shoulder where Sam had pulled him along. Sam ignored him, strutting towards Valerie instead.

"We're going to rescue Danny," She said. Valerie blinked in surprise.

"Wait, right now?" Sam nodded.

"Everyone else thinks we've gone home, so no one will realize we're gone for the next three hours. And before we left, I managed to get Jazz to get her parents out of the lab, leaving the portal unattended." Sam outstretched her hand. "So, are you with me?"

Valerie hesitated only a second, before shaking on it. "What are we waiting for?"

Tucker raised a hand to intervene. "Uh, is this such a great idea?" Sam shot him a look.

"You want Danny back don't you?" He hesitated before nodding.

"Alright. I'm in. But are you sure you don't want to tell someone else before we possibly lead ourselves to our own deaths?" Sam shook her head.

"They'll never let us go." She reasoned. "In fact, after this they'll probably never let us do anything ever again." Valerie remembered how overprotective her Dad was after figuring out she was ghost hunting. As much as she hated to admit it, the other girl had a point.

"We have to do this alone," Valerie said. Tucker glanced between the two.

"Wow," He said. "I'm pretty sure this is the first time you two have agreed on something." Valerie threw Sam a look, which Sam returned.

"That's not true." Sam replied, defensively. "We've agreed on plenty of things." Tucker didn't look convinced.

"Mmhm. Sure." He turned to Valerie. "Do you have your gear?" Valerie held up her backpack.

"Wait, are you saying I'm unreasonable?" Sam asked.

"Kind of." Tucker admitted. Valerie cut them off.

"Who cares? Can we just get a move on?" These weren't her friends, they were Danny's, which meant she didn't have to get involved in whatever fight they were having. "Three hours isn't a lot of time."

"Right." Sam said. Valerie activated her suit. She gestured to the back of her jet sled.

"Climb on." They had a ghost boy to find.

Thanks everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed last chapter! I really loved reading your ideas and predictions, thank you so much. Also, the next couple of chapters should be more Danny based, I know i've kind of been all over the place haha. Anyways, see you next time!