Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Or the CIA for that matter…

Wow, so this is the outcome of going into la la land while during a test….go me! Uh…yeah. Um, really I'm not sure why I'm writing this…oh well, just so long that you guys like it! Oh, and this is an alternate universe fic. Sam and Danny didn't know each other before their partnership in this fanfic.

Hope you like it!

10-19-08: Doing some revision. Sorry for the mess! :)

Living On The Edge

Chapter 1: Why Me?

Third Person P.O.V.

Agent Daniel Fenton nearly dozed off over the ridiculously high stack of reports.

Falling asleep on the job was quickly becoming a bad habit, one that he just couldn't break. He hadn't slept in days. He hadn't eaten anything for hours.

His list of things-to-do unfortunately was limited to and compiled of only the reports. Reviewing and reviewing...The information was old and yet they still forced him to reread it, making it sure that no valuable piece of data was overlooked.

Or maybe they just like to torture me, he thought as he tiredly scanned the papers. And after all that back-breaking work, he still received no recognition. No reward. Not even a gift certificate to Starbucks, but then he figured that was asking too much...

Danny could almost recite the words from memory. One of Russia's most intelligent agents had been murdered after retaining the exact location of the serial killer's next move.

For the past two weeks, a series of killings were reported all around Russia. Sensing something amiss, the CIA banded with Russia to figure it out. Except only one thing went awry: they had miscalculated the killer's intelligence, and the guy they sent out was shot. The papers he had stolen from the killer disappeared.

The sniper now knew they were after him.

Danny sighed. He himself couldn't do much else at that point. The Russian agent had been his partner. His now dead partner. And no matter what Danny tried, he could never get his buddy's life back.

In moments like those, the agent sorely wished he could reverse time.

I can't take this anymore, he sighed, standing up for the first time in hours. A small pain twisted down his spine, ensuring him that he still had circulation. Well, kind of...

He stretched, and then went out of his office to the coffee pot, which was considered the unoffical meeting spot of agents not fortunate enough to get a field mission. And as expected, a couple of agents loitered around it, talking about the latest news.

"Hey, Danny!" One of them waved him over, smiling happily.

"Hey Tucker," Danny replied, reaching for a Styrofoam cup. He nearly smiled as his friend launched into some story about how he'd nearly infiltrated Fort Knox, but was stopped when the Head Agent threatened to fire him.

Tucker was the CIA's best computer hacker and also Danny's closest friend. Six feet tall and with contacts, the man always wore a signature red hat. He was not the most outgoing guy, but he knew too much to keep quiet. That, and he had a horrible habit of blabbing things at the wrong moment.

As for Danny, he was tall too. Around six foot two inches, he had broad shoulders and droopy, black hair. His sapphire blue eyes held enjoyment as he took a sip of his much loved coffee. (It was really his only escape from reality.)

"So, found anything useful yet?" Tucker asked hopefully, switching subjects. "I've been so bored with no case, I think I've forgotten how to hack into my own firewalls..."

"Your own?" Danny inquired, raising an eyebrow. He didn't know it was even possible to reach such an unforgiving state of absolute boredom. The agent suddenly grew sneaky. Maybe he could take a few reports off my hands, if he's dying to do something...

But when Tucker opened his mouth to thoroughly lecture on every aspect of a firewall, much to Danny's mental agony, it took every ounce of his self control to not groan. Oh dear God.

"Well," the hacker started enthusiastically, "it's actually a very easy concept to explain. All it is-"

Suddenly, an ear splitting siren (thankfully) cut off the agent as all the doors leading to an exit instantly shut down. The agents around stiffened at the sudden action, and then immediately began acting upon the situation.

Headquarters under attack, a sexless robotic voice boomed from the intercom. Attention all agents, headquaters under attack.

Headquarters under-

Danny's eyes widened as the sound finally registered within him. He slammed his coffee cup down, racing down the winding hallway and back to his office for his weapon. The lights had shut down; generators with infrared trackers lit the building.

Everybody with half a mind there at the Agency knew what was happening: Someone was either attacking, or a thief had stolen something important.

Probably both.

Finding his office, Danny threw open the door and rummaged through his drawer for his gun. Although he actually hated to use it, it was required that all agents carry one.

He still hadn't gotten quite used to normal weapons. Not after...Well, it was a long story...

Finding the gun, he ran out the door to report for instructions. In any emergency, it was (once again) imperative to contact one of the leading agents to get information, and Danny was never one to turn down an order.

He dug through his faded jean pockets and pulled out what he considered to be an 'agent's best friend.' He snapped the earpiece into place and adjusted the microphone. "I'm ready for orders," he said into the mic, transmitting his message back to a leading agent.

"Daniel," the other agent's voice crackled, "You know what to do. The attackers have been tagged by a chip, and now all that you need to do is take them down."

"Gotcha." He clicked a button on his silver watch, and the clock flipped around to reveal a compatible tracking device.The red dot (which was the criminal) was moving rapidly to the southwest corridor of the building, pinpointing his location.

Danny ran at top speed towards the culprits, taking no time in hesitating.

Hopefully, this will go over well.

He practically flew down the rather bleak looking corridors, the reports on the walls blending together.

The agent gained on them rapidly, and finally managed to notice the faint outline of two people up ahead. Within a few seconds, he was in striking range.

But he didn't try to shoot. Instead he peered closely at the intruders, recording every single detail of them in his mind. If for some reason he didn't succeed, then that information would come in handy later...

Thinking now was the right time, he ran out of sight to a place he knew criminals would go: the escape exit.

Of course.

He pulled his gun out, ready. He leaned up against the wall and carefully turned his head to see the intruders out of the corner of his eye.

What he noticed funny was what they were carrying. It was a small silver box, something that looked like it could hold only a ring. But what would they want with a ring?

No, it can't be a ring. They would've robbed the jewelry store, not a Central Intelligence Agency...

Danny's heart rate and blood pressure quickened as he heard the soft clicking of shoes on the tile floor. Then, when he thought it was the right time, he jumped out in front and fired his gun. His shot richocheted off the floor, but he meant for it to. It was a warning.

And god-dammit, this would have been so much easier if he still had his powers...

"Hey, idiots!" Danny called out mockingly and with more confidence than he felt, "survey says you lose!" They both blinked in wide-eyed bewilderment, but the taller of the two recovered quick.

"Then survey says you die," he replied simply, whipping out his own gun. Danny's gaze hardened, realizing that he might actually have to kill.

In the blur of a moment, a shot rang out in the room. Danny quickly dodged it and then tackled his opponent. Crash! to the floor. A twist brought him into a wresting death match, too fast to see.

They both held their own ground, each blocking and attacking with punches and kicks. To any on lookers, they were a swirling blur of fury.

Danny saw stars as his jaw clashed with the intruder's fist. But he returned the favor, hitting the guy in the right eye.

Too bad Danny hadn't counted on the other guy to join in. And soon enough, he was fighting two people.

But that proved to be impossible. He felt his arms being locked behind his back and something hard and metal slamming itself into the back of his head before he could twist out of the man's death grip.

Danny blacked out.

oOo

"Danny?" a distant voice called his name.

For a moment, he didn't recognize it. Nor did he recognize the name. It was all a swimmy, blurry, echoey mess...

"Danny!" That voice was Tucker's. The name was his own. "Wake up dude!" Slowly, Danny opened his eyes, feeling his body scream with pain from every move he made. He was lying in the infirmary.

Had they found him? Did they stop the robbers? "What's going on?" he moaned groggily, attempting to sit up in the bed.

"Nice to see you alive," Tucker said dryly, but he couldn't hide his relieved expression. "The Committee thought they lost another agent when they first saw you." Danny slowly sat up, with the help of his friend.

"It takes more than a knock out to kill me. Did any of you stop them afterwards?" Danny questioned, rubbing his head. A large bump was forming there, creating a very painful throb.

"No, we were trying to shut everything down and see what was wrong. We thought you had them." Tucker explained, shrugging his shoulders."But, as of right now, you look like you've been run over. And I have to say, your health is extremely important when it comes to being an agent. Perhaps we should get you some medication?" Tucker held his hand out to help Danny.

"Thanks," Danny said, carefully standing up. He winced as Tucker lead him to the medical cabinet, with Danny slightly limping all the way.

Luckily, finding a medicine cabinet was pretty easy, and didn't take long. He tore the earpiece off as he searched for an antiseptic.

A small mirror was located on the inside of the cabinet, so Danny took an inventory of his injuries. He had a purple bruise covering the whole entire right side of his chin, a black left eye, a small cut on the back of his head, and probably more than one strained muscle.

I was crazy when I picked this life, he thought ruefully as the antiseptic soaked through his skin, stinging all the way. After putting an ice pack on his jaw, he felt better. At least the swelling was going down.

His cell phone rang at that moment. "Yeah?" he answered casually, taking care not to show the person on the other line the pain in his tone.

"Danny, come down to the executive office. Bring our hacker with you." the stoic voice said. The line clicked and then there was a dial tone.

"Come on, Tuck," he poked Tucker, getting his attention. "Something's wrong. We need to go to the exect.'s office." Tucker's brows furrowed as he nodded. The two then walked, well, tried to walk, to their destination.

Their destination, of course, was considered the easiest room in the building to find. The Executor's Office (with a double meaning) spanned nearly three rooms in size, and the walls were quite literally lined with case papers and forms. It was, in all, a nightmare for most agents. And librarians.

They opened the red oak door and saw a party of five men and woman already there, sitting down at a round table. A couple of them gasped at Danny's state, and asked what happened.

"Just a small run in with the attackers," he replied glumly with a sigh. "It went swimmingly, lemme tell you. But I'm fine. Maybe a little beat up, but I think I'll live." He inwardly winced, pain shooting down his spine.

Yep...I'll be fine just as soon as I turn numb.

"Gentlemen," an elderly man said, completely disregarding Danny's apparent state of health. "So glad you could make it. Sit down, for we have" he raised an eyebrow, "interesting news." As head of the CIA, the man's life revolved around "interesting" news.

Which was perhaps why he looked so old.

Tucker and Danny looked at each other with a knowing glance. "Although you were in vain trying to stop the intruders," the man continued, "they still got away. And with something that could wipe out every computer document the government has."

Tucker jerked and stood up, his eyes widened with realization. "You're talking about the ZX-97 portal software I was working on, right?" The head of the CIA nodded. "That is going to do more than just wipe out software!" he suddenly exploded, waving his hands in wide circles."It had Hydrogen sulfuridate in it! It's highly unstable and even an exposure to it can seriously hurt someone..."

Inside Danny's mind, he remembered the small silver case. At that instant, his knuckles turned white from hanging on to the table so hard.

If only I could turn back time...

"And this is why we need to get it back before it is used against us," an older agent responded coolly. "Personally, I have no idea why you would even use that stuff if it's so dangerous."

"In case you didn't notice," Tucker said, left eye twitching, "it was made for that same reason. It's concentration had metallic blocks of memory that can sustain fifty times more than even the most technical computer in the world."

The hacker sighed frustratedly. "And, because someone keeps switching my cases, I haven't had the time to put a block on the software, so, the person using it can get through any type of firewall, virus protector, etcetera, etcetera. "

As Tucker sat back down, Danny heard him curse under his breath.

"Because of this, gentlemen," the H.A. said, slightly disturbed by Tucker's outburst, "we will need to send out a trustworthy agent smart enough to get it back. Perhaps I'm just guessing, but I'm willing to bet my life on it that the intruders were the sniper's lackeys." he turned to look at Danny, who gulped, knowing what was coming. "Which is where you come in, Daniel."

And at this statement, Danny oddly felt his internal organs deflate in shock.

"Oh no, not again. I just got beat up and you want ME to go?" he cried pitifully. "I don't even have a partner!"

One of the woman interrupted him. "We just recruited a new agent. She originally worked for the FBI but wanted the next step up. So you do have a partner."

Danny's mind, at the woman's statement, instantly fell into some type of overdrive. Oh, so they want me? And how do they even know if this new recruit is a spy?

And WHY on earth would they send a fresh CIA agent on a mission with me?

"You're probably wondering why," the lady continued, "we have decided to let a newbie run around with you. She is more than you think, I've seen her practice self defense. We believe she's just up your alley." A small twinkle appeared in her eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by Danny. "I'd like you to meet your new partner." she waved her hand at the door.

And to Danny's surprise, in stepped the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She confidently strode over to him and stuck out her hand. "I'm Sam. And from what these people tell me, I'm your new partner."

...Whoa...

Time stopped. Or it slowed down. Or it did whatever it did when he couldn't think.

Her violet eyes captivated Danny's own. It looks like I'm in for a little something more than I expected, he thought as his heart quickened its pace at only the sight of her.

But not only did Tucker see it, so did the rest of the agents. Interesting, they all thought at the same time.

So, did ya'll like it! I know, I was kind of choppy on some parts, but you'll have to forgive me. If you guys like it, I'll continue it. But I can't say I'll update it really quickly. Between school and color guard, I really don't have much time. I'll try though, But that's only if you REVIEW:puppy eyes:. Please?

Lightning Streak