Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the show Danny Phantom. This is a fan fiction and is in no way a reflection of the thoughts or intents of the show's creator or producer.

It had been a long night. A very. long. night.

Danny Phantom phased through the wall of his human half's bedroom and allowed himself to change forms as he fell into bed. It felt good to let all his aching muscles relax. Although he obtained most of his injuries in ghost form, it still hurt him when the battle was over.

"Dani's stable, Val and I have reached another compromise, and Vlad's cloning days are through," Danny folded his hands behind his head as he looked to his ceiling. "Hopefully Vlad won't be able to mess with Dani now that she can actually fight back."

When Danny saw his 'cousin' melting . . . the thought of it horrified him. Losing was a feeling Danny could handle, but someone dying? Even if she was a clone, Dani wasn't a mindless mess of ectoplasm; she was family. When he thought he had lost her; it was a pain he couldn't quite put into words. All he could say was he hadn't felt like that since the time he thought his family had blown up with the Nasty Burger. Another very dark memory.

"This is all getting to be too much," Danny shut his eyes, telling himself it was to help him concentrate and not to hold back tears. "What if I end up losing someone . . ."

Tonight had been the second time he'd almost failed at the expense of someone he loved. He knew he couldn't be there for all of them all the time. Due to his ghost powers he had enemies, and because of being human he had loved ones; was there a way to have one without risking the other?

"What am I thinking?" Danny sat up. "This city needs Danny Phantom; it's Vlad who's causing all this trouble, not me." The teen tried to assure himself as he rose from his bed and pulled his pajamas from his dresser. He needed to get some sleep; self-loathing wasn't going to solve anything. . . but maybe pie would. Danny knew there was a pie in the fridge and, if he were quiet enough, sweet victory could be his.

Danny slipped into his night clothes and began his trip to the kitchen. Each stair seemed to screech out as Danny did his best to lightly place his feet.

"Great," he sighed. "Even my own house is against me." If it hadn't been for the new ghost detection system specifically monitoring the kitchen, Danny would have gone ghost by now. Instead he'd have to sneak a midnight snack like a regular teenager.

The living room was clear; a quick tiptoe across the room. The kitchen was dark save for the red lights attached to every appliance. Danny couldn't see much, but he knew the first red dot was the microwave and the second was the one on the stove; the fridge was within arms reach of that. The fridge light would be soft enough to not alert a certain nosy busybody, but would give him enough light to grab a plate and fork.

Unfortunately, Danny's dream could not be realized.

"Where have you been?" Jazz's sudden voice scared Danny intangible, which of course set off the Fenton Fudge Ghost Protector. The kitchen began to sound an alarm loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood. Jazz could only sigh in disappointment as her little brother resumed full human form as fast as possible. "Danny I can't believe you!" Jazzed managed to yell over the alarm.

"Why are you lurking around at two in the morning?!" Danny tried to retort, but he could barley hear himself.

Suddenly the alarm stopped and the kitchen light flickered on.

"Stop right there you fudge stealing ecto-scum!" Jack Fenton stood in the doorway aiming some form of ecto-ray at Danny; still dressed for bed, but ready for action.

"I was after the pie; only the pie!" The teen threw his hands up in immediate surrender.

"Yeah, way passed your curfew," Jazz snorted. Clearly she was trying to take a jab at his ghost hunting. Even though he'd explained to his sister a thousand times that he wouldn't always be able to tell her when he'd have to go, Jazz's overprotective tendencies could never be pleased.

"Oh," Jack lowered his weapon. "Sorry Danny, I thought there might be a ghost in here. I guess there are still a few bugs in the new system."

"Do we really need an alarm on the fridge, Jack?" Maddie Fenton groggily came in behind her husband. "It's clearly too hard to set it to only recognize ecto-energy, and I really don't want to get up every time someone touches the fridge."

"Maybe, or maybe Danny scared the spook when he-"

"Get rid of it, Jack," Maddie frowned.

"But-"

"Tomorrow," Maddie crossed her arms as her husband walked out defeated. She then put on the best smile she could muster for her kids at such a late hour. "You two should really be in bed. Hurry up and get a snack." She headed off to her room after her husband.

Danny went about getting his pie. He knew Jazz would lecture him no matter what, so he might as well have something to eat while it happened.

"So what was it tonight?" Jazz followed the boy around the kitchen as he made his snack. "A ghost army, Vlad planning another take over, Skulking hunting you for food again?"

Danny couldn't help but smile at that last one. She'd get it right eventually.

"Look Danny, I want to help you, but you have to call me or something when you're going to be out this late. Mom and dad aren't going to believe you go to bed early every Friday night. Besides, what if something happens to you? I won't know where you are."

"Jazz, something's happening to me every night," Danny took a bite; perfection. His mom had really outdone herself this time.

"Exactly!" Jazz threw her hands in the air and began pacing the kitchen as she ranted. "Tonight you could have been killed! Not even Sam and Tucker knew where you were. Danny you can't act like this. You may be half-ghost, but that doesn't make you indestructible."

Danny smacked his forehead. Sam and Tucker, they must be wondering what happened to him. Oh well, they knew he was with his cousin . . . still, they'd probably be surprised when they heard about the rest of the night's events. He hadn't meant to blow off his friends, but, at the time, the night was shaping out to be a dull one. To be honest, it was for the best that they weren't there; Valerie would have seen a connection between the three of them in a heartbeat.

"Chill Jazz, Sam and Tucker knew who I was with. I've been in bigger jams than tonight."

"What do you mean?" Panic entered her voice.

"Relax, Vlad was just trying to mess with Dani again."

"The clone of you he made," Jazz took a seat across from Danny, ready to make as many mental notes as possible. Such a dedicated 'Ghost Getter.'

"Don't call her a clone. Anyway, Vlad had hired Va . . .a ghost hunter to capture her. Which she did." Danny didn't want to mention Valerie being a ghost hunter to Jazz just yet, it would only cause the 'mother bear' more worry. "But I convinced the ghost hunter that Dani was good and part human. Together we saved Dani and escaped from Vlad's mansion. No prob."

"And this ghost hunter was okay with Dani being half-ghost?"

"Well," Danny didn't really get a chance to ask Valerie how she felt about it. She didn't seem too off-set though. In fact, she and Dani seemed to get along in the end. But Valerie was a ghost hunter after all, and to her Phantom was still full ghost. "I'm not really sure, but I'm certain Dani will be safe."

Jazz still seemed skeptic about the whole story. Danny could tell she could see right through his downplaying it, but, for the moment, she was letting the issues rest.

"Danny, I just want to know you're safe."

"I am."

"Just don't get in over your head okay; ask for help."

Danny nodded, though he couldn't help thinking about how dumb her words sounded. Who was he supposed to go to, her? Jazz could hardily aim the Fenton Thermos let alone aid him in a serious battle. . . he wasn't being fair. Jazz had proven herself more than once. He knew his sister could pull her own in a fight and that she had his best interest at heart. Still, in his defense, there wasn't any good time to stop and call her to let her know he was alright. Jazz needed to learn that.

Jazz left Danny to finish eating. She seemed unhappy with their conversation, and of course made sure to show it on her face as she left. Danny sighed.

"Thanks for guilt tripping me out of an appetite," Danny pushed the plate away from himself as he glared back at where Jazz had been. "If I lose sleep over this . . ." Danny mumbled flicking off the lights as he left the kitchen, joining the rest of the city tucked in and asleep.

Only the graveyard shifters were still awake now, and even they were nodding off at their posts. If it hadn't been for the street lamps Valerie was certain she wouldn't be able to see her way home. In the darkness of 2:20am, even the stop lights seemed to loose their color. Of course it could be due to the fact that she was tired and disappointed.

Valerie just wanted to get home as fast as possible. Valerie tightly shut her eyes to prevent her tears from spilling out into her helmet. It wasn't that she was sad, in fact, she couldn't have been any angrier than in that moment. She had been lied to and used, and she swore she'd make Vlad pay.

Valerie heaved a sigh and tried to focus on guiding her board home without detection. Even with it being so late, her father was known to check on her in the middle of the night. He had grown all too wise to her sneaking out to go ghost hunting. She could only hope tonight he was still asleep in his armchair.

Valerie rode silently through the city, slowing as her building came into view. It was clear, even through the tint of her helmet vizor, that the lights were on; her dad had noticed her missing. Valerie had to fight the urge to curse especially at her father, even if he couldn't hear. He was only trying to protect her and she understood her father's stand against her ghost hunting. Still, tonight, more than any other, Valerie wanted nothing more but to go home and rest. She wanted to get her mind off of ghosts and in the morning have breakfast with her dad and just pretend to be a normal teenager living with normal problems and not having her whole world flipped on its head for the second time that year!

"Why can't you just leave me alone!" Valerie pulled off her helmet and threw it toward her bedroom window. Before impacting with the glass the helmet vanished; a facet of having a suit in-tune with her body. She stood, breathing heavy. She couldn't go home, not yet. She had to calm down from the night's events before she could face her father.

Valerie closed her damp eyes and allowed the helmet to materialize back in place. She'd go . . . it didn't matter where. Any place but there would do. The board roared to life at her heart's command and Valerie was gone. Her mind raced with so many false memories, so many facts that didn't line up. The ghost dog that ruined her life, the millionaire that made her feel powerful again, the ghost boy who exposed her, the perfect relationship she had to give up, the hurt of her father not supporting her . . . and the hurt of disappointing him. On top of that her grades were slipping, her dad was growing intolerable of her behavior, and now she'd learned there were ghosts that weren't really ghosts . . .

At this moment it was possible that everything she knew about ghosts was a lie, meaning . . . maybe everything she had become was a lie. After all, isn't ghost hunting what Vlad had wanted her to do?

"Whoa!" Before Valerie had time to think, the board underneath her began to shake. Suddenly her suit began to fade in and out and her altitude began to plummet. Valerie found she could no longer hold the concentration needed to keep her suit activated. "Come on work!" Valerie struggled trying to get her footing right on the shifting board, but no matter what she tried the board would not respond. She felt a rush of panic overtake her; she had lost her "motivated" resolve.

The ground wasted no time in its advance. Valerie abandoned any hope of reactivating the suit and began surveying a safe landing spot. It appeared like she might be falling into the city park; though all the twisting and spinning the board was doing was making it hard to tell. Maybe she could grab a tree branch. If she were near the east entrance of the park the old oak tree would have a perfect life saving limb for her to grab. If she could make out this being the northern part of the park she could jump into a pond or . . . the Box Ghost?

"Beware!" The paled figure swooped in right beside the falling girl with the scariest face he could muster.

This wasn't the rescue Valerie was expecting, but she planned to use the ghost's presence to her advantage. The bumbling specter had come right to Valerie's side just as her board and suit vanished. Without a moment's hesitation Valerie reached out and grabbed onto the ghost's leg. Her added weight pulled the ghost down a bit, but soon both were floating safely in the air.

"What are you doing!?" The Box Ghost began to wiggle hoping to shake the girl lose. "You're supposed to be scared of me, not hugging me!"

Valerie knew it was only a matter of time before the ghost went intangible, leaving her to what looked to be a seven-story drop.

"Uh," Valerie combed her mind desperately for an excuse. "I, I am scared." She lied with a pleading smile. "I was so, frightened by you that I, uh, felt like I needed, to hug something. I mean, you spooked me right out of the air."

"I am pretty terrifying aren't I?"

Valerie was thankful for this ghost's incompetency. It didn't even seem like he had noticed her change from her suit to a regular girl, which worked for her. Plus, it added to the irony of her night to be rescued by a ghost. It could only be more ironic if this ghost were half human too.

"Being I'm in such a state of shock and all, do you think you could put me on the ground so I could cover my eyes from such a scary ghost." She was laying the flattery on a little thick, but perhaps now wasn't the time to save-face. Honestly, the only thing scary about the Box Ghost was the thought that he used to be a person; a pun that only saddened Valerie. The Box Ghost, all ghosts, were molded after people . . .

"So are they still people?" Her voice seemed so weak to her. She hated these feelings.

"What?" Her rescuer questioned.

"Nothing, I'm scared." Valerie spat, just happy he was finally lowering her to the ground. Once she was placed down, Valerie felt confusion overtake her previous emotions. Here she was standing in front of one of the most incapable ghosts in the universe, and she could do nothing to capture him. She despised her helpless state. "Thanks." She uttered not knowing what else to do.

"You shouldn't be thanking me!"

The Box Ghost wasn't a very dangerous ghost, but it still wouldn't be wise to test him. The clumsy ghost rose above Valerie with his hands above his head. Apparently he was trying to make himself look more intimidating, and though flattery seemed the best way to escape without harm, Valerie dreaded what she was about to say.

"I'm just thanking you for not screaming at me again, because then I might have to run away from you all the way home, where there will be no need for you to follow because I'd be so scared at that point, and whatever." The words tasted like vinegar.

"Beware!" The ghost hollered.

"Ahh," Valerie spoke before turning and walking off into the park. She could hear the victorious laughter of the Box Ghost and it enraged her. "Don't get use to it, ghost." Valerie growled under her breath, her former anger flaring.

But then, Valerie stopped. That bitterness. She had never noticed it before; was she really that bitter? Valerie looked back at the Box Ghost dancing around. He was annoying, and clearly attempting to be a bad ghost if he wasn't one already, but, he just saved her life. Had he really just done anything deserving of a death threat; well, as close to a death threat as one could make upon the dead. He was simply a ghost, and as such Valerie had hated him for merely existing. Just because a few ghosts had crossed her, she hated them all. Dani had proven there could be at least a half good ghost . . . could all ghosts make that choice? Could they be rehabilitated? Was a ghost really just the remnant of a human or were they the actual spirit?

"Why have I never thought of this stuff before?" Ghost hunting had never been an ethical question for her. Ghosts were evil, mindless, lifeless; she shouldn't have to think whether it was right or wrong to hunt them.

Valerie placed a hand on her stomach as she suddenly felt sick. She quickly left the sight of the parading ghost and sought a nearby park bench. Valerie nearly fell on the ground in her haste to plop down on the wooden frame.

"I almost killed a little girl."

Tears began to form at the corners of Valerie's eyes as the events of the night washed over her.

"What if I hadn't listened to Phantom; I'd be the reason that girl died." Valerie would never have wanted to kill someone. She wouldn't have been able to live with herself. Hunting ghosts . . . hunting people . . . What kind of "hero" was she?

If Phantom hadn't warned Valerie . . .

So why did he have to ruin her life?

Swallowing the fact that Phantom might be a good ghost was only compounded by the fact that she had tried to kill him too. Her blind hatred could be costing people their lives, and she still wasn't sure about their afterlives.

How could she be so stupid!? No millionaire would give a 14 year old thousands of dollars worth of equipment! She was just so stupid!

Valerie banged both her fists against her forehead; she wanted to punish herself for her own lack of foresight. All the doubt was making her ill. She leaned forward and let her silent tears drop to the dirt between her feet. She rested her head in her hands and tried to process the feelings of hatred and guilt.

Vlad used her. She was one step away from being a murderer and it would be all that narcissistic, psychopathic, maniac's . . .

No, it was her fault.

Valerie sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. Crying wasn't going to help; she couldn't let herself be that weak. Vlad had taken full advantage of her situation because she had been weak in the past.

"How could I be so easily manipulated, and by a ghost? I didn't even believe in them!"

Valerie knew what it was.

She'd leaped at the chance to take control of her life. She wanted to make things right for her dad yes, but mostly to get revenge for losing what she felt entitled to.

"Control; that's the only reason I became a ghost hunter."

It gave her power. She defeated the ghosts, she decided if they went free or not, she had the power. It was just like when she was popular. It gave her the illusion that she could manipulate her world. Valerie wanted control over geeks and nerds and the less fashionable because it made her feel like she had a choice. Vlad's equipment made her feel the same. Since she couldn't boss around her peers, she'd take her frustrations out on ghosts.

Only this time Dani almost lost her life.

"I can't believe Vlad played me so easily," Valerie seethed. "Well, I'm not weak anymore."

A small smile found it's way onto Valerie's lips. She'd get Vlad. Still, she had to get her questions answered first. If only she hadn't let Phantom go. He might have been able to answer a few of her questions, now that she knew the right ones to ask. . .

"No, I don't want anyone seeing me like this, dead or otherwise." Valerie saw the the city's horizon lighten. Soon the sun would be up. "I'm gonna have to go home." She breathed as she rose to her feet. She knew she couldn't stay in the park, but after last night . . . what was she suppose to say to her dad.

She had to get these questions answered though, eventually. Aside from Phantom, however, there was no one to ask. She couldn't ask Vlad for help like she'd done in the past. Odds are everything he had already told her was a lie.

"If I have to see his face again I swear I'll alter it."

She wished Dani was still around. Who else could she trust with the truth about her ghost hunting . . . the idea hit her, but it didn't seem fair.

"I can't ask Danny."

. . . Not directly at least.

Valerie couldn't help but smile. There was a way to get her answers, and the risk would be minimal.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading my first DP fan fiction. I hope you enjoyed chapter one. Please leave a review if you did and constructive criticism if you didn't. This story will take place before, during and after the episode Phantom Planet. It's been a while since I've watched the whole series, so let me know if some of the facts don't line up with the show. I'll do my best to update once a month. Thanks again!