A/N: Yeah, I stink at titles. Alright. These two are possibly my two favorite human characters ever, and yet neither are completely human... heh heh... anyway, this story hit me right out of left field one day, and I've been nursing the idea and storyline for months now. So, finally, I got up the courage (and time) to finally write it, and so far it's turned out pretty well. A shoutout to my beta AngelofDoom73, thanks! Now, to cut off my rambling, on with the story!

For Danny, it started out like an ordinary day. Wake up at seven fifteen, eat breakfast, fly to school, suck Box Ghost into the thermos on the way there, slide into seat three seconds before the bell rings. The usual. When Mr. Lancer walked into the room, though, there was a tall someone behind him that the boy didn't recognize-everything kind of went for a roller coaster ride after that. All he could see from the side was his long black coat and his backpack, which was metallic silver. It was pretty big, but with straps that tightly cut down into his coat. His hair was combed down, but a large lock of it still flew up into what almost looked like a jagged lightning bolt, a feat which normally would have needed a gallon of hair gel but seemed oddly natural. Mr. Lancer opened his mouth to speak.

"Class, this is Dib Mem-" The kid still hadn't turned his face, but whispered something to Mr. Lancer. "What? But it said- oh, alright. Class, this is Dib Othen. He's a transfer student from out of state." The boy finally turned to face the class, and Danny heard a good few gasps. Dib's skin was bone white, and if Danny didn't see ghosts every day, he'd say pale as one. As it was, vampire seemed more appropriate, considering the long midnight trench coat with an upturned collar. The boy's face was thin, and his round black glasses seemed almost too large, although his eyes did seem a little too big to be natural. He was holding his books tightly to his chest, which Danny found odd for a moment considering his backpack looked pretty full, but he brushed it off. Dib's pants were black, and tight, from the looks of it. They looked almost more like tights. His nearly knee-high boots had silver buckles lining up the outside.

"Hey." Dib greeted. "This is the part when I introduce myself, right? Huh… well, I'm an inventor, and I like working with biology. Any kid of science, really, but my favorite thing is the paranormal. That is, aliens and ghosts and the like." He looked out over the class, his eyes narrowing. The glasses seemed to move with them, making a few kids gasp again. It took Dib a moment to realize what they were worried over. "Oh, these? He took them off, making his eyes seem smaller. "I just improved them so they aren't so annoying. Like I said, I like working with technology." In the third row, Tucker was leaning forward in his seat. "Any questions?"

"Where did you come from?" Nathan asked. Dib blinked.

"It's a comparatively small town-you probably haven't heard of it." Dib mumbled the name, but it was so quiet Danny couldn't hear. It probably wasn't important, although it sounded like it started with a V. Huh.

"You said you liked ghosts, right?" The question came from, of all places, Paulina. Dib raised an eye.

"Yeah…"

"How? Like, as a hunter?" Dib's eyes drifted up at that, as if he was thinking.

"I made a pact to myself to study them, and only eliminate them if they prove to be truly dangerous. Say, I've heard if this Danny Phantom ghost that 'lives' here." Danny's fists tightened oh so slightly on his desk. "He's got a lot of both bad and good publicity, but I'm not going to do anything until I actually meet him. I'm… I'm never going to make the mistake of hurting someone innocent again."

"Again?" Danny didn't remember this girl's name, but he thought it was Samantha or something.

"I really don't want to talk about it." He turned to Mr. Lancer. "Can I sit down?" The teacher scanned the room, before his gaze landed on the empty seat next to Danny.

"You can sit next to Danny. I think you two will find a few things in common." Danny groaned, but Dib just nodded.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Call me Mr. Lancer. Danny can show you around Casper High, and I hope you enjoy your new home." Dib grinned.

"I'm sure I will, but thanks." Dib moved quickly through the aisle, dropping down in the seat next to the halfa. When he sat down, he placed his books on the desk, letting Danny see his shirt clearly. Dib's dark red shirt had a dark green symbol on it that Danny didn't recognize-a circle with a triangle underneath that curved in to adjust to the circle, and a rectangle that curved in on both the top and bottom. Two more small triangles were on top and the ends of the rectangle, their tips slumped over towards the center. He also a black chain around his neck, but whatever was at the end was tucked carefully under his shirt.

"So, Danny then?" The teen nodded as Dib held out a hand. Danny took it, noticing how bony Dib's fingers were.

"Yep. Danny Fenton." He pulled away, noticing Dib still had his backpack on, despite sitting with his back to the chair. "Say, isn't that uncomfortable?" He pointed to the pack. Dib ran his finger along the left strap, shrugging.

"Nah. So, what do you think he was talking about, us 'having a few things in common'?" Danny thought about that.

"I don't know… Tucker's the techno geek." He pointed to his friend. "I'll introduce you later. I guess it has to be…" Danny tapped his chin, before deciding to just pull out the one connection he could think of. "Well, my parents are ghost hunters."

"Really?" Dib's eyes, which Danny suddenly noticed were hazel, glittered. "Do you think I could talk to them?"

"Well, I dunno…" Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "They're pretty solidly into the 'shoot first, ask questions later' camp, especially my dad."

"Still, if I'm going to live here-" They both jumped at a sharp call from the teacher.

"Danny! Dib! I know Mr. Othen is new, but he should know not to talk in class." Dib quickly nodded, letting his head droop. Suddenly, the boy's head bobbed back up again, and Dib bit his lip. He drummed his fingers against the desk, closing his eyes tightly.

"Dib? You okay?" Danny asked, his voice laced with concern. The other teen rapidly shook his head, placing a hand to his skull.

"Yeah, fine." Dib opened his eyes. Danny could've sworn that they were almost pink, but when Dib shifted his head they were back to brown so he passed it off as a trick of the light. Dib picked up his pencil and started playing with it.

"So, what are we learning?" Danny squinted up at the board.

"Science, chemical structure I think." Dib perked up.

"Oh, I know all about that! After the bologna incident I had to-" His eye twitched. "No, don't think about that… anyway, if you need any help." He pulled out a doodled-on notebook that said 'property of Dib Membrane, East Hi Skool' Danny blinked to make sure he was reading it right. The name Dib had written on the line was wrong, not to mention the typed sticker spelled high school funny.

"Hey, Dib-" Dib looked at the cover, his eyes widening at the name.

"Oops." He used his pen to scribble out the name and write Dib Othen above it.

"Did your parents divorce or something?" Danny asked. It seemed like the most logical explanation, although it didn't explain the odd misspelling… Dib suddenly clenched his notebook tightly, and when he spoke, it was through gritted teeth.

"No… I don't have a mom…"

"Oh, man, I'm sorry!" Danny quickly apologized. "I had no idea-"

"It's okay." Dib answered, his grip loosening a little. "It's just… I'm not on very good terms with my… father." Even if he hadn't mentioned that they didn't get along, the way he packed poison into the last word made it quite obvious. Danny rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't quite sure what to say, but Dib took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Okay, okay…" He blinked a few times before turning back to Danny. "Sorry… it's just…"

"It's fine." Danny said, a little too quickly. Dib grinned nervously, revealing semi-crooked teeth.

"Thanks. Can we just drop it?" Danny nodded as Dib faced forward, squinting at the board before scribbling something down.

"No, that's not…. okay…" He'd actually bit his tongue, and Danny resisted the urge to laugh before pulling out his own notebook.

"Mind if I take you up on that offer of help?" Dib looked up at Danny, his eyes wide.

"Really?" Danny nodded. "What can I help with?" Dib sounded excited.

"Well, I'm not sure how these two chemicals can bond when they seem so different…" Dib blinked, an even wider grin spreading across his face.

"You definitely asked the right person…"

Twenty minutes later, Danny had learned more from Dib then he had in two weeks from textbooks. When the teen asked the new boy how he knew it so well, he was only rewarded with a smirk and the words 'personal experience'. Now, Danny was showing Dib around the school between first and second periods.

"So, where's your locker?" Dib checked his note.

"Uh, seven twenty two." Danny almost laughed. Two lockers over, and Dib might've had a few more issues… he'd destroyed the mirror, sure, but Poindexter had gotten through before without it.

"That's that one." Danny pointed.

"The rusty one?"

"No, two over." Dib sighed in relief before walking over and fiddling with the lock for a moment. It took two tries before yielding to the boy. Dib shoved his science book in, curling his arm protectively around the others. Danny decided to use this moment to ask.

"Why don't you put your books in your backpack?" Dib visibly tensed.

"Well, I, uh, already have stuff in there."

"Like what?" Danny was honestly curious now.

"Nothing you need to worry abou-" Suddenly, a sickeningly familiar voice came from down the hall.

"Hey, Fen-toad!" Danny sighed heavily. Great. Now he was going to get beat up and humiliated in front of the new kid in one. Dib looked up, squinting down the hall.

"Who's that?" Danny quickly provided the answer as the bully came into view.

"Dash Baxter, school quarterback and guy who lives making my life miserable." To Danny's surprise, Dib dropped his books, his eyes and fingers twitching. "Uh, Di-"

"Ready for your daily locker stuffing?" Dash asked, finally reaching Danny. Danny gulped, mentally cursing as always not being able to use his ghost powers to get out of this. However, a wall of black suddenly darted in front of him.

"No, he's not. Are you?" came Dib's voice, but it sounded… different. More serious, but also with a touch of a strange loopiness Danny couldn't place. Dash just laughed.

"Who are you, shrimp?"

"…Dib." The boy said after a moment's pause, like it took him a second to remember to his own name. Dash merely started laughing again.

"What kind of name is that?"

"What kind of name is Dash?" Dib quickly countered. "It sounds like a tiny pinch of spices- and your spice is too sour for anyone, worm." There were a good few gasps at that-no one insulted Dash Baxter like that, especially in public. The jock's mouth hung open, before he practically growled, frowning.

"Now you're gonna get it!" Dib just yawned.

"Right." Danny felt like strangling Dib. What was he doing? Dash swung his fist at the skinny boy, but faster than Danny could see Dib darted forward and grabbed it, bending it forward. Dash's eyes widened and he yelped, too surprised to suppress it. Dib gripped the taller boy's fist and ducked around, twisting Dash's arm up behind the football player's back. He pushed up gingerly and Dash practically whimpered.

"Let go!" Dib pushed up a little harder, eliciting another short cry from the bulky teen, before letting go. He quickly shifted around so he was at Dash's front side again, to see the boy's eyes were on the edge of watering from the pain.

"Don't mess with me or my friends, got that?" Dib said sharply to Dash, glaring right up into the boy's wide blue eyes. Dash nodded quickly before turning and racing off. When Danny turned to Dib with an open mouth, he saw the boy's irises were red for a split second before Dib took a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he reopened them a second later, they were back to the hazel color Danny had known before. While most of the staring kids in the hallway were focused on Dib, who had turned to grab his books, there was only one thing running through Danny's head.

Who… IS this kid?

A/N: This is just the beginning... full steam ahead! I hope you liked it, and please rate and review!