A/N: No, you're eyes are not playing tricks on you, this is the sequel to Tortured Truth, finally being posted! I hope you're all as excited as I am! And here's to hoping that I don't disappoint anyone! As always, this chapter is just exposition, so don't expect too much action, but don't worry, it comes soon!

I do have to say though that I'm somewhat nervous, since I really don't want to disappoint anyone. I know sequels are usually known for not being able to live up to the original and I'm trying to do everything possible to prevent that from happening. Still, that doesn't stop the nerves from coming...

Anywho, I hope you really enjoy it!

Extended Summary:
(Sequel to Tortured Truth) Life for Danny couldn't be better now that his parents know about his ghostly activities. They take care of his chores, assist him with his homework, and generally help him out as much as possible, both as a ghost and as a boy. But as life is, with the good comes the bad, in the way of Valerie Grey. Her drive and anger to capture the Ghost Boy have increased tenfold and it's all Danny can do to keep away from her, even with the aid of his parents. But more trouble comes when he suddenly finds he can't get near Valerie without excruciating pain, both as Fenton and Phantom. Now he must find a way to avoid Valerie without arousing her suspicions and still manage to save the town from the ghosts and salvage their quickly deteriorating friendship.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with Danny Phantom. Allison's mine, but I frankly don't care if anyone uses her, so you could technically say I don't own anything...

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Chapter One
Aftermath

Alison,
Hey, how's it in boring North Dakota? Just kidding. Well, actually, not really. Just thought I'd send you an e-mail letting you know how everything turned out, as promised. We did make it to Wisconsin and with the help of my parents I got not only the device, but the cure as well. Turns out he was the one that gave me the disease in the first place. I should've seen that one coming. But before we left we gave him a little taste of his own medicine! Anyways we made it back to Amity and stopped the invasion (again with the help of my parents) and went home and slept forever!

It's been a week since we got back and during that week things have been really good. Tucker's all better and Jazz and Sam are on the mend and though I still feel bad when I see them, I'm getting over it. You were right, it is a lot easier with the help of your family. And I had a lovely little scripted chat with my sister to clear everything up too. Can you believe she spent two hours the previous night writing her speech? And she claims the Fenton weirdness skipped over her…

Things are going well with my parents too. Sure, I get to be the test subject for a ghost invention every other day, but things are just so much…easier. I mean, if I need to leave, I can just leave and not have to worry about lame excuses. It really is one of the best things that could've happened.

So yeah, things are going great here. And I still totally owe you for everything you and your family did for me. None of this would have happened if it weren't for your help, so thank you so so much!

Give my regards to your family!
Danny

"Danny, are you up yet? You need to get ready for school!" his mother shouted up the stairs as Danny pushed the send button on his computer.

"Yeah! I'll be in the shower in a minute!" he yelled back as he stood up from his computer and headed to the bathroom. Normally his parents would have to kick and fight and sometimes even threaten him with ghost inventions when he didn't want to wake up, but this morning he was rudely awaken by his ghost sense. By the time he got back to his room it was only fifteen minutes before he had to wake up anyways, so he figured it was pointless to go back to sleep. Then he saw Alison's address by his computer and decided to write her back, telling her everything that had happened since they parted.

As he showered, he thought back to what he'd said in the e-mail. Things had been going well and for the first time since he'd gotten his ghost powers things seemed less complicated. His parents were of course a major help and it really took a lot of stress off his shoulders now that he didn't have to worry about his parents finding out his secret or hunting him. It made not only fighting ghosts easier, but living as well. Now if only Valerie would get off his back…

For some reason for the past week she'd been more vicious in her attacks, showing up to every ghost battle (including the one that morning) and attacking him with more veracity and anger than before. He knew it probably had something to do with the invasion and all the bad publicity she'd been receiving since then. His parents' interview with the news didn't portray her in a very good light, informing the town that she was off trying to find the Ghost Boy instead of helping the town like she should've been doing. Some people were even going as far as comparing Valerie to a ghost, saying that she helped the town out as much as they did and only seemed interested in the Ghost Boy, which didn't make her happy at all. Plus the news polls were now showing an increase in Danny's popularity, which probably only angered her further.

He stepped out of the shower and finished getting ready for school, heading downstairs for breakfast, smiling as he saw a plate of blueberry waffles sitting ready for him at the table.

"We thought we'd give you a break and fix you a treat for breakfast," his mother explained while Danny sat down and poured generous amounts of hot syrup over his waffles.

"What for?" Danny asked, his mouth stuffed with the warm and delicious food.

"We heard you leave for that ghost attack this morning and judging by how long it took for you to get back, Valerie probably showed up."

"When doesn't she show up?" Danny asked bitterly, taking a swig of orange juice.

"This is ridiculous. She is taking this way too far," Jazz stated, drawing her attention away from her book.

"I'll say," Maddie agreed. "I passed her in the store yesterday and she wouldn't even say hi to me. She just gave me an evil look as she passed by."

"I mean, I can kinda understand why she's so mad, since I wasn't too happy when people thought I was the bad guy, but at least I worked to build my reputation back up. She's just concentrating on hunting me more than she did before. I mean this morning she came while the other ghost was still there and never even shot a blast in his direction! I can see why the public doesn't like her at the moment."

"Well I think the best solution is to just keep focusing on the ghost and flying away as fast as you can once it's in the thermos. And only go ghost if you have to," Maddie suggested.

"Easier said than done," Danny stated, but he knew they were right, though he still wasn't happy with having to eliminate his midnight flights. Those were always so calming.

"Alright, finish up your breakfast before you're late to school, and before your father gets up here with his new invention," Maddie whispered. Danny nodded his head and stuffed the rest of the waffle in his mouth while grabbing his books and heading towards the door.

"Bye Mom! See you after school!"

"Bye! I love you!"

"Love you too!" Danny responded as he headed out the door.

"Wait Danny! I wanted to see if…he left didn't he?" Jack asked as he finally reached the living room.

"Yes."

"Aw shucks."

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"So, another fun encounter with Valerie this morning?" Sam asked as she, Tucker, and Danny approached their lockers.

"How'd you know?" Danny asked.

"Please Danny. You're eyes are droopy as are Valerie's, which shows that you either had to get up early or were awakened in the middle of the night and our dear hunter friend decided to join you."

"I think I've been doing this ghost fighting thing for too long. You guys are getting far too good at noticing these kinds of things," Danny remarked.

"Hey Fentonia!" Dash's brusque voice yelled from the end of the hall. Danny sighed as he turned around, Dash striding up to them for their morning ritual. "My brother ate the last of the Wheaties this morning!" he announced.

"And I care…why?" Danny asked.

"Because it's my reasoning for doing this!" he yelled as he grabbed him and shoved him expertly into his locker, shutting the door on him. Dash's buddies cheered as they walked away from the locker laughing.

"Hey, do you think if I stay in here I have an excuse to skip class and sleep instead?" Danny contemplated from inside his locker.

"Doubtful. Everyone in the school knows that you get shoved in there every day and thus should probably be the most proficient student at getting out of it," Tucker remarked.

"Wow, suddenly I feel so special," Danny remarked sarcastically as he tried to maneuver himself out of his locker.

"Hey guys," Valerie greeted, waving as she walked past them before stopping short and looking around. "Where's Danny?"

"Where do you think?" Sam asked as she jerked her thumb towards the lockers.

"Hey, I resent that," Danny muttered from inside the locker as he finally managed to get his leg into a kicking position. He kicked the door open and hopped out. "Hey Val, what's up?"

"Oh nothin'. I was just on my way to class when I saw Sam and Tucker standing by the lockers, without you."

"And why is that bad?" Sam asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I didn't say it was bad, I was just wondering where Danny was since usually you three are stuck at the hips."

"Yeah, except when Dash the surgeon comes," Danny remarked with a smile.

"So, you ready for the biology test today?" Valerie asked Danny.

"Surprisingly yes. My parents actually volunteered to help me last night."

"Ah," Valerie replied curtly. She hated hearing talk of his parents, which of course gave Sam ample opportunities to torture her. The slightest mention of Jack or Maddie Fenton instantly turned her disposition sour.

"What about you?" Danny asked, getting the discussion back on track.

"Oh, well, not really. Didn't really have much time to study."

"Wonder why," Sam remarked under her breath.

"Why?"

"Oh…I just…had to work…a lot…yesterday. By the time I got home, there wasn't enough time."

"Well then, let's hope Lancer's actually feeling charitable today," Danny added, though not sure whether he really meant it. On one hand, he wanted Valerie to fail, to punish her for spending all her free time obsessing over finding him. She probably wouldn't attend school if her father didn't force her to; he was sure she'd rather spend all the time searching for the Ghost Boy, and her attitude in school showed as much. On the other hand, she was still his friend, and he felt bad that she was getting bad grades, all because of him. But more and more, the former feeling was overpowering the latter.

"Yeah, hopefully," she added, though clearly believing that wouldn't be the case.

They stood in awkward silence, not knowing what to say to each other. He'd been finding her increasingly harder to talk to, probably because he spent half his time throwing insults back at her, but that hadn't stopped him before. Still, he just felt this large gap between them and while it had always been there, there were also many bridges, many conversation topics, he could use to cross it. But every time they fought, every time she hurt him, a bridge was destroyed, and soon there wouldn't be any bridges left to cross.

But he'd often wondered what Valerie felt, wondered why she thought the bridges were being destroyed. He knew she had to feel it, she'd have to be numb not to feel it, but unlike him, she didn't know the real reason. Did she think it was just a common falling out between friends? That they'd just run out of common ground? Or did she actually realize that it was her ghost hunting that was putting the strain on their friendship? Or was she just too preoccupied with hunting his alter-ego that she didn't even care? Whatever the reason, they both knew what was happening, and they were both pretending like nothing was wrong.

"Hey Danny?" Valerie spoke up hesitantly. "Can I…ask you a question?"

"Um, sure," he answered, unsure of what she wanted to ask him. Her eyes were downcast and her hands were fiddling with her backpack straps nervously. She looked like she'd been contemplating asking this question for awhile and was probably the real reason why she'd come over to them in the first place.

Danny looked over at Tucker and Sam, knowing that Valerie wanted to talk to only him. They got the message and slunk off silently, heading to class.

She opened her mouth, looking like she was about to speak but then shut it again, still focusing on the ground.

"Valerie?" he asked, trying to urge it out of her. This was obviously important and sensitive to her, a question she wanted to ask but didn't know if she should.

"I just wanted to know…" she started to ask but was interrupted by the bell. "I've got to go to class," she announced hurriedly before waving and running off.

"Stupid bell," Danny cursed as he walked with the other students towards class, wondering what question could be so important that would work Valerie up so badly.

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A/N: (For some reason those dumb lines aren't working...) I'm sorry. I know, it's only my first chapter and I've already got a cliffie ending. I just can't help myself! I'm sorry...

Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed it! Comments are definitely appreciated, be they bad or good...

And thank you for taking an interest in this story!