Disclaimer: I do not own "Danny Phantom". All the characters you will read about are property of Nickelodeon.
Technical Difficulties
Chapter 13: Aftermath
Damon laid on his couch, staring blankly into the ceiling. It had been an hour since he heard from Phantom about Valerie. Sixty minutes had never seemed so long. All Damon wanted was a sign, any sign, to be sure Valerie was safe. Just then, the phone rang. Feeling this was the sign he had been wanting, Damon took no hesitation to get up and answer the phone.
"Hello?" Damon said as soon as he answered.
"Is this Damon Gray?" a female voice said on he other end of the line.
"Yes," Damon answered.
"I'm calling from Amity Hospital about your daughter, Valerie," the associate said.
"What about her?!" Damon suddenly asked. "Is she sick? Is she hurt? Is she-"
"Mr. Gray, she's fine," the associate said. "She's just resting right now. She was found passed out on the streets and brought here by a boy about her age. You can pick her up right away if you're not busy."
"I'll be there as soon as possible!" Damon said with tears in his eyes. "Thank you!" He hung up the phone and cried against the wall. He was so happy that his daughter was okay, his emotions went into overload. During his bawling, Damon gave a thanking to the one who he felt deserved it the most. "Thank you, Phantom, wherever you are."
The next day, during lunch at Casper High, everything seemed to be back to normal. Danny was sitting with Sam and Tucker (whose rescue from the Fentons was one of their more frightening non-ghost experiences) eating lunch. As they were talking about all that happened yesterday afternoon, Danny's attention wa brought to Valerie, who was just passing the table. Rather than sit with them, Valerie took a seat at an empty table by the door to the hallway.
"Could you guys excuse me?" Danny said to his friends, getting up with his lunch tray without waiting for a response.
Valerie sat alone at her table, stirring her mashed potatoes with her spork. She then noticed someone sitting across from her. She looked up to see it was Danny, then quickly turned her focus back to her tray.
"...Hey," Danny said quietly.
"...Hey," Valerie said back. An awkward silence passed between the two. It was the first time the two had actually spoken since Valerie told Danny she didn't want to see him, caused by the stress Technus put her through.
Danny then decided to break the ice. "So, I take there was no memory wipe from yesterday?"
"Afraid not," Valerie answered. "I still know you and Phantom are the same. It explains a lot, like how he... you refused to fight me. By the way, how long have you known about me?"
"Practically day one," Danny answered. "So, do you know how Technus overshadowed you at all?"
"Yeah," Valerie said. "He told me everything."
"Well, he kinda has a habit of doing that," Danny joked. Valerie giggled at the joke, knowing just what Dany was talking about. Danny went back on topic, asking, "So, how'd he get to you?"
"He said that after that incident in space," Valerie told, "he found his way into my suit and started acting like a conscience. I can't say I really trusted his voice, but after a series of events, he seemed like the only one I could listen to." Valerie began to get uncomfortable telling the story. "He wanted me to give up everything I had just so I could destroy you."
"Then you found out out I was the ghost kid all along," Danny finished for her, "and Technus took over."
"Yeah, that's about it."
"But you fought back," Danny mentioned. "You beat Technus. How?"
"I... I just heard you," Valerie said. "I was almost about to give up because I was so confused at the time. But when I heard your voice, I knew what I had to do. You were fighting for me, which meant I had to fight for me. It's funny. Up until now, never knew how alike you an your ghast half sounded."
"Yeah, that spooky echo effect creeps me out, too," Danny joked. He moved to a more serious tone by asking, "So, we can still see eachother, right?"
Valerie didn't answer right away. Her head began to hurt from thinking of a logical answer. She rubbed her temples to soothe the migraine and answered. "I just don't know anymore, Danny. I'm just so confused. I hunt ghosts and it turns out you are one. I... I need more time to absorb this."
"Well... okay," Dany calmly said. "I'm gonna go back with Sam and Tuck." Danny took his lunch tray and got up, but before leaving, told Valerie, "You know, whatever you choose to think about me, I'll always protect you." Danny then left.
Valerie was apparently stunned. Danny would protect her whether she wanted him to or not. He never wanted to see her in harm's way, even during those bitter beginnings. Him wanting to protect her was so... "Danny, wait!" Valerie got up from her seat to catch up to Danny. As Danny turned around, Valerie grabbed his shoulders and kissed him square on the mouth.
Danny was shocked at Valerie's behavior, so much as to drop his lunch tray, spilling its contents on the floor. But after reallizing what this meant, he held Valerie and did as she did. After their lips parted, Danny joked "So, I guess you absorbed it enough."
"You can say that," Valerie answered. "So, you wanna catch up to things?"
"Sure," Danny said, before once again joking, "By the way, you owe me another lunch."
Valerie giggled and said, "Done!" The two walked back to the table they were just sitting at.
Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker, who saw everything that just transpired from their table, stared at the couple with their jaws hanging. Sam's eye even started to twitch out of horror. "Don't worry, Sam," Tucker said. "It's a big school. You'll meet plenty of other guys." As they continued to gawk Tucker placed his arm around Sam's shoulder.
"Make a move on me again, and you die," Sam threatened, prompting Tucker to remove his arm quickly.
After school, Danny was on his way home, still unable to believe what happened between him and Valerie. He was glad to know that throughout everything they've been through, they felt the same way about eachother. Danny's high thoughts hit a low when a glowing cage suddenly emerged from the ground beneath him. Danny was confused until he heard a familiar voice shout, "Gotcha!"
"Show yourself, Skulker!" Danny called out, shifting into ghost mode. He tried to phased through the cage, but was shocked when his body made contact with the bars. "What?" Danny tried blasting the bars, but they wouldn't break.
"Try all you want, whelp," Skulker said, jumping out of a nearby tree. "That cage is indestructable and inescapable to all creatures alike. You are trapped in there so long as I hold this keycard." Skulker then displayed the mentioned item, holding it between his index and middle fingers. "Now, how should I annihilate you?"
Before Skulker could do any action, his keycard was blasted out of his hand. What Skulker only identified as a red blur flew towards the card in midair and grabbed it. "You're not annihilating anyone!" Valerie said, touching down next to where Danny was entrapped.
"The hunter girl?!" Skulker identified. "Oh, I get it! If he can't be your prey, he can't be anyone's."
"He's not my prey," Valerie corrected, putting the keycard in a slot on the cage, causing the cage to vanish. "He's my boyfriend."
And there you have it. "Technical Difficulties" is done. I just want to say that I'm not keeping this canon with my next fic, or any other fics as far as I know. I really just can't see Valerie as a sidekick, co-hero, or all that. I'm still a DxV shipper, though. Anyway, be sure to check out my next fic. I even have the title card, I'm so excited to write it.
www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)deviation(slash)34051154 ...You know what that means.
See ya next time!