Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed back-

She glanced up and accidentally locked eyes with Danny. He immediately turned away, looking forward as he shifted to lean forward in his desk, hand moving to lightly rub at the bruise on his jaw. He looked anxious, and he looked exhausted. And now Valerie finally knew why. He was up late that night hunting ghosts, just like she was. Sam was in front of him, paying close attention. Tucker was next to Danny, playing on his PDA under his desk. They knew his identity. Probably hers too.

Valerie exhaled deeply, Lancer's words going in one ear, out the other. She couldn't forgive this. It had been nearly two days, and the revelation was still such a fresh wound. He lied to her. For months. Well, he did apologize. But did that really make up for anything? Could it? She knew Danny. He was always so nice and caring to her, so opposite of how she always saw a cold and ruthlessness in Phantom. Which was the real Danny?

"What else was I supposed to fucking do? Tell this stranger that I'm a half ghost fucking freak so she, with her eternal grudges and anger, turn me in to be dissected by my own parents or the government?"

The words had a painful echo to them. He was right.

She could feel her wrist vibrating. Her ghost alarm. Valerie pressed a button on the side, deciding to just ignore her. She kept her head forward, but she kept her eyes and ears peeled for watching Danny. Her ex had stiffened, and he inquired about the bathroom with the begrudging yes from the teacher. Valerie bowed her head and stared at her paper as he passed.

Least now she better understood all the bathroom breaks.

"Hey."

Valerie recognized the voice instantly, and soon as she shut her locker door, she noticed the goth standing nearby. Somehow the first and yet last person she expected to see approach her.

"Oh. Hey," Valerie replied shortly, feeling a bit awkward. She shuffled from foot to foot a bit. "What's up?"

"I came to talk to you. About Danny," Sam said. The goth's eyes were a bit red, and Valerie noticed that she had at some point wiped her make-up off, and that she was wearing an oversized black and purple hoodie.

"What about Danny?" she questioned. Sam sighed.

"Just, everything, you know? Now you're in on the whole thing, and I was just…" Sam trailed off. Valerie slung her backpack onto her shoulder, and she felt that pang of guilt seeing Sam in such a state.

"I'm sorry that I kind of swooped in and hit on Danny and such before, and that we dated despite me knowing that you liked him," Valerie found herself apologizing. Sam blinked in surprise before giving a frown.

"Yeah, you should," Sam replied hotly. "You knew that I liked him and still went for him anyway. That's a dick move."

"Don't act like I never warned you," Valerie told her. Most of her guilt quickly boiled away. "I kinda gave you a lot of heads up, remember? If you don't make a move, then I will? I like Danny. I have for a while. He's really nice, and he's one of the greatest guys I've ever dated. You can't emotionally claim him forever. I gave you like, months to make a move. I'd call that really generous. And even then, I still never asked him out to begin with. Danny asked me out."

Sam broke their eye contact to stare at the floor. She shoved her hands into the hoodie pocket, burying herself into it more.

"I know, it's just…," Sam acted as if she was going to say more, but she cut herself off with a sniffle. "This isn't easy. I know before, like when you and Danny first dated, that I said that if Danny liked you, that Tucker and I would do our best to like you too. Danny's our best friend, and we, I, I want him to be happy."

"And you regret saying that?" Valerie guessed. Sam immediately shook her head no. She bit her lip, leaning against the lockers.

"I don't. You make Danny happy, and if you're going to be dating him, I'd want us to get along too, because you'll be around more. And I don't want to hate you, just. You gotta understand. It's not even just about how I feel about Danny," Sam tried to explain. "Red Huntress has always chased and hunted Danny Phantom. And I think a big thing is, I just really have a hard time accepting that that's just going to straight up and change, if that makes sense? You hold grudges. Hard."

"No I don't!" Valerie scowled. Sam raised an eyebrow at her. Valerie felt herself flush a bit. "Okay. Maybe a little."

"Fenton's happiness is important, but I really need to know that Phantom is going to be safe," Sam told her. They locked eyes, and Sam narrowed her eyes at her accusingly. "So. Is Phantom going to be okay?"

"Of course," Valerie blurted out, surprising even herself. "This is still a lot to take in, but...Sam you know I love Danny very much as a friend, and that romantically, I still care a lot about him."

"So are you two a thing again?" Sam wondered. Valerie gave a half-hearted shrug.

"I dunno. I haven't talked to him since…"

"Since you gave him that wicked bruise on his face?" Sam guessed dryly. Valerie felt her cheeks flush again. Looking back, she regretted that immensely.

"He lied to me. For months. And about this really big thing, and like, I get it. I...guess...I mean I was technically lying to him too," Valerie had to admit it. "It's just still a lot to take in. I think I just need some more time to think about it until I talk to him."

"Makes sense," Sam murmured quietly. "So um. Do you have plans?"

"No, not really," Valerie gave her a skeptical look. "Why?"

"Cause, we can go do something?" Sam offered. "Like, I know it's kinda weird and out of the blue, but if you mean a lot to Danny, then you mean something to me. To Tucker too. If you're going to start dating Danny, then we should, ya know. At least try. Besides, Tucker and Danny are off doing something stupid."

Valerie felt conflicted about the idea of dating Danny again. The idea was still appealing. It actually had never lost its appeal to be frank. And this time...this time there'd be no more secrets. No more lies. Nothing to hide. And she could move forward into something potentially serious with no fears of Danny getting hurt because of her ghost hunting. He could protect himself. She saw how he could protect himself.

"What do you mean, something stupid?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

"They found a bunch of firecrackers in Tucker's attic, so they're going to have Danny shoot them with his ghost ray in the sky to see how they look," Sam explained. It was Valerie's turn for her to roll her eyes.

"That's so stupid," she said. Sam snickered.

"I know, right?" Sam smiled. "Are you hungry? We can get something to eat?"

"Okay," Valerie agreed. She found herself, strangely, smiling warmly. "Have you ever been to this one buffet place with this massive salad bar? It's near the mall, near a bar, it's really good."

"Salad bar?" Sam questioned, cocking her head curiously. "No, never been. Let's go. Honestly, anything's better than the Nasty Burger. Danny and Tucker only ever wanna eat there."

"Honestly can't really stand to eat there anymore ever since I began to work there," Valerie replied. "Come on, I'll show you where it is."

"This salad bar is so massive!" Sam sounded clearly impressed. Valerie couldn't help but smile as she served herself as the goth gushed. "There's so many veggies and dressings! How did you find this place?"

"My dad briefly took on a second job at the bar across the street as security," Valerie explained. "He'd come here for lunch and bring us home something for dinner." Sam just nodded, grabbing a plate and beginning to make herself a salad.

"Star said he got promoted," Sam commented, and Valerie flinched.

"Yeah. Not his old job title, but he's now head of security," Valerie explained. She held an unhappy ache, and she changed the subject. "You and Star are cousins, aren't you?" Sam made a face.

"Yeah. She's my dad's brother's kid. We only really hang out at family reunions when we wanna get away from our baby cousins," Sam replied.

Plates stacked high with food and drinks in hand, they began to make their way to a table, settling in. They sat quietly. Valerie glanced as she saw Sam taking the wrapper off her straw and put it into her soda, taking a sip.

"Did Danny tell you about me?" Valerie couldn't help but wonder. Sam raised an eyebrow at her. "About being...you know…"

"No, I told him," Sam confessed. Valerie blinked in surprise. "I recognized your voice."

Valerie just simply nodded, taking a bite of salad. Least Danny wasn't a snitch. No, wait. He exposed her to her dad! That fucking jerk! No wonder he knew exposing her was the right move! Oh, she was gonna make that asshole pay.

"Where did you get that outfit though?" Sam questioned. "The first one? It looked so badass." Valerie smiled.

"A benefactor gave me my weapons, and they told me to send him my size and color preference, and that's what I got," she explained. Sam cocked her head curiously.

"Vlad gave you it? I always assumed you bought it after selling your concert tickets," Sam questioned.

"No, I had to help pay for the moving-wait, you know it was Vlad?" Valerie stared at her, flabbergasted. Sam flushed, shrugging.

"...Danny told us you knew. And we kind of put it together, yaknow? How else did you get ghost huntig tech? You knowing about Vlad also made Danny want to tell you," she replied.

"...I still feel like a fucking idiot…"

"Don't you dare," Sam's voice was sharp. "That's what Vlad does. He manipulates and tricks people. He may have played you for a while, but it's okay. You know now. And now you can figure out what you wanna do from here."

"I already stopped answering his messages," Valerie told her. "And ignore his calls. He rarely does so, but I still just...never reply. I can't forgive him for wanting to destroy a little girl."

"He's a fucked up fruitloop," Sam said. She took a large bite of salad.

"Yeah…" Valerie mirrored the action. "I'm just...I have so many questions."

"You gotta talk to Danny to get those answers," Sam shrugged.

Valerie's wrist lightly buzzed. Her ghost alarm. Her free hand slapped over it, accustomed to hiding it.

"Gotta bounce?" Sam's question snapped her back into her new reality. She didn't have to hide it anymore.

"...Only for a bit. I'll be right back," she said slowly. She opened the alarm, observing the scanner. The ghost was a familiar one, and she could see that Danny Phantom's custom ectosignature was on the way too. "I think Danny's already on the way."

"Well, go get them. I'll wait right here for you," Sam encouraged. Valerie, to her own surprise, had a burst of excited energy at the words. She nodded, and she slipped out of the booth to head towards the scene.