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Friends in strange Places Ch. 6 Pt 2

What if Vlad was good instead of evil? Link to chapter 1:

Friends in Strange Places Chapter 1, a danny phantom fanfic | FanFiction

FANFICTION.NET

Summary: Vlad comes over to The Fenton's house for the first time since telling Jack and Maddie about his ghost half and Tucker asks Valerie out on a date.

Word Count: 8600

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It was Danny's turn to do the dishes after supper that night.

"I'll wash, you dry tonight?" Maddie offered as Jazz went upstairs to study while Jack headed down to the lab.

"Sure." Danny said, setting the pile of plates he was carrying in the dish water.

Danny watched as his mom scrubbed a plate.

"So how was school today?"

During drama class, no one had noticed that some ghost with floofy pants that only spoke in iambic pentameter had shown up instead of Trevor that day. Danny had spent the next hour struggling to find a way to suck their Romeo into The Fenton Thermos without anyone noticing.

"Pretty average." he shrugged.

"That's good to hear." Maddie smiled.

Danny watched her scrub a plate.

He thought about the conversation they'd had in the helicopter. He'd said he'd tell her what was going on soon.

That had been months ago.

He could tell her now.

The thought made Danny's heart speed up dramatically.

"Are you keeping up with your homework alright?" Maddie asked "We haven't had any calls from Mr Lancer lately, but I know you had that rough patch at the start of the year."

"Don't worry, I've been doing better. Jazz has been giving me study tips." Danny responded mechanically.

"I'm glad to here that." Maddie smiled "I know how much of an adjustment high school can be. I'm glad you at least have Jazz to show you the ropes. Ugh, I don't know how your father always gets so much cheese stuck on his plate." Maddie rolled her eyes as she grabbed the scouring pad.

Danny's mind was too occupied to pay attention to what Maddie was saying.

He couldn't tell his mom he was half-ghost while they were doing the dishes. That was way too big a bombshell to just drop like that. Besides, it was probably better to tell her and Dad at the same time, get the revelations all out of the way at once.

Danny sighed to himself.

It was logical reasoning, but Danny still felt like a coward. He wanted so badly to tell them, to just get it over with, but it never felt like the right time.

His mom handed him the wet plate to dry.

"Did I tell you Vlad's stopping by tomorrow?" she said.

Danny almost dropped the plate.

"R-really?"

"Yup. Sometime around four, he said."

"O-oh. Th-that's...cool." Danny didn't notice that he was drying the air above the plate instead of the plate itself.

"Are you alright, Sweetie?" Maddie raised an concerned eyebrow.

"Huh? Oh yeah, fine, fine, totally fine. I was just wondering, um..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck "Do you think it might be kind of awkward with you three? You know, with the whole, finding-out-Vlad-has-ghost-powers thing?"

"Oh don't be silly, Danny." Maddie laughed as she handed Danny another plate.

"It's not weird for you and Dad? You know, since you're ghost hunters?"

"Vlad's not a ghost Danny, he's our friend. I mean, sure, none of us expected...this to happen, but your father and I can adjust. I mean, we did choose a career path where one has to be prepared to deal with the unexpected, so we've been managing our mindset."

Danny's mind flashed to that night in the kitchen when he'd seen his mother sobbing with her face buried in her hands, his dad's arms wrapped around her.

Now she spoke so collectedly it was hard for Danny to believe he was talking to the same person.

"That being said," she continued "Things are really going to depend on Vlad's comfort level."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"You saw how he was at the end of the trip, Danny. The poor dear had himself tied up in knots for years, worried about how Jack and I would react to his ghostly properties." Maddie sighed "I do have sympathy for him, of course, but sometimes I just can't believe he honestly thought we'd turn on a friend like tha- GHOST!"

In an instant, Maddie whipped out an ecto blaster and shot at the plate she'd just pulled out of the sudsy water. Danny instinctively ducked and pulled the dishtowel over his head as the ecto blast bounced around the room a few times before dissipating.

"Ope, never mind, that was just a weirdly shaped guacamole smudge." Maddie laughed as she put away her blaster and continued scrubbing the plate. "Anyway, I suppose we'll have to tread a little carefully tomorrow, but I'm sure things will go smoothly once we get everything out in the air."

"That's great to hear, Mom." Danny said, clutching the dishtowel around his head.

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"So did you tell them yet?" Sam asked as soon as she saw Danny approaching their table.

"Couldn't you at least wait for me to sit down?" Danny said as he took the seat across from her.

"Okay, you're sitting now, did you tell them yet?"

"Sam!" Danny threw back his head in exasperation.

"So that's a 'no'?"

Danny rolled his eyes.

"I haven't told them yet, and I don't know when I'm going to, but I'm stressed out enough without you pressuring me!"

"Okay, okay, I'll stop asking." Sam relented "But don't you think we should at least start discussing the plan?"

"The plan?"

"You know, like when you want to do it, who you want to be there, that sort of thing."

"Uh..." Danny's brain completely blanked "I think I'll just figure all that out later."

"You know, it might help your stress levels to at least start to get a plan in place."

Danny didn't agree. Just thinking about telling his parents made him feel queasy.

"Do you want Tucker and me to come over some night? Would that help?"

"I don't know." Danny couldn't keep the irritation out of his voice "Why are you even so invested in this Sam? I thought you were against me telling my parents at all."

Sam took a deep breath, gathering patience. Couldn't Danny see she was trying to be supportive?

"Danny, it may not be what I'd do in your shoes, but I know this is important to you, and you seem pretty stressed out about it, so we're just trying to help. Tucker, back me up here."

But Tucker wasn't paying attention to the conversation. His eyes were locked on the empty seat by Sam.

"Valerie not joining us today?" he asked.

"Doesn't seem like it." Danny shrugged.

Sometimes Valerie would join the trio for lunch, but most days she went to the library to do homework. She said she liked to have it out of the way in case there was a ghost attack after school.

The idea of not having any homework after school did seem pretty sweet, but Danny didn't know how a person could stand seven straight hours of school without a break. The idea made his brain melt.

"Ah. Well," Tucker stood up "I'm gonna go now. I've got something I needed to do before lunch ends. See you two later!"

Tucker grabbed his bag and headed for the cafeteria exit.

"I see he left his tray for us to take back." Danny remarked.

"Thanks Tucker." Sam rolled her eyes "Any idea where he was going?"

"Uh...nope!" Danny thought about the conversation he and Tucker had the other night "No idea!"

"Hm." Sam was too occupied watching Tucker leave to notice Danny's terrible acting skills. "Well, while it's just us, I wanted to ask you for a favour."

"What's up?" Danny was glad for the change in topic, but he had learned a long time ago to not say 'yes' to Sam's favours until she told you what they were.

"Don't tell Tucker I'm aro."

"Aro?"

"It's short for aromantic."

"Oh. Yeah, sure no problem. I'd never tell anyone something like that without permission. If anyone understand- wait, do you like, specifically not want Tucker to know?"

"Yup."

That was weird. Sam was usually very open about her identity. You didn't have to talk to her long to find out she was an 'ultra-recyclo vegetarian'. Or what that was. In great detail.

"Why?"

"Because discovering this about myself has been really eye opening. So many things have clicked into place and I really feel like I understand myself and the world a lot better now that I know I'm aro."

"Okay, what's that got to do with Tucker?"

"Look, Tucker's my friend, but this is very important to me, and I know he wouldn't take it seriously."

"People taking you seriously never stopped you from sharing your views before. Very loudly, might I add."

"It's not my fault if people can't handle the dark inconvenient truths of this world. But this is different. It's not a debatable opinion or a style choice, it's an unchangeable part of who I am. If Tucker tried to turn this into a joke, I might strangle him with his own beret, and I feel like you'd be pretty sad if your best friend got murdered."

Despite Sam's joking, Danny couldn't help but take what she was saying very seriously. He knew Sam and Tucker weren't getting along the best right now, but apparently both of them had decided to start keeping things from the other.

When had things gotten so bad?

"Tucker would take this seriously if you told him how important it is to you." Danny insisted.

"Yeah right. He never takes anything seriously." Sam flipped over a piece of lettuce with her fork "Besides, he's probably itching to get back at me for teasing him about Valerie so much."

"What? I don't think he cares that much."

"He seemed to care a lot when he tried to goad me in the RV."

"Well if you're really worried about that, maybe you should apologize to him." Danny suggested.

"Come on Danny, you know how Tucker is." Sam said, stabbing some vegetables onto her fork "He'd just turn my apology into a joke like he does with everything."

"Okay one, he doesn't turn everything into a joke, and two, I'm literally a ghost and your favourite colours are black and dark black. Can you blame Tucker for wanting to lighten things up a little?"

"I like purple too." Sam grumbled.

"Look, I've known Tucker a long time, and I know sometimes he doesn't think about what he says, but his heart's in the right place, and if you just talked to him directly and told him he was bothering you in some way, he will listen."

"Sure Danny." Sam said as she took a bite of her salad.

Danny sighed. Why'd he have to be friends with the two most stubborn people on the planet?

"Can you just think about it?" he asked "You two are friends. You really should have a little more faith in each other."

"Yeah, I'll mull it over." Sam said.

She didn't sound totally sarcastic. Dany supposed that was a start.

"So," Sam said "Did you remember to bring in your book report?"

"That's due today? I thought Lancer said Friday!"

"No, it was definitely today."

"Oh man, oh man," Danny began digging through his bag "I still have to write the conclusion!"

"Okay that's not too bad," Sam said, handing Danny a pencil "There's ten minutes of lunch left, you can get something passable if you hurry."

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Tucker checked around the doorframe to the library again, silently debating whether or not he should go in.

On one hand, he didn't want to interrupt Valerie's study session to ask her out. He knew how annoyed he got when people interrupted him when he was working. Not to mention whisper-asking someone out wasn't the most romantic gesture.

On the other hand, Valerie might stay in the library up to the last second of lunch, so if he waited much longer he might not have enough time to properly ask her.

Tucker sighed as he checked his watch. Maybe it would be better to do this another-

"Hey Tucker." Valerie said, emerging from the library "What are you skulking outside the library for?"

"Valerie! Just the girl I wanted to see!"

Tucker was relieved to see Valerie, but it didn't last long when he remember why he'd wanted to see her alone in the first place.

"Oh yeah?" she said.

"Yeah, I um," Tucker cleared his throat "I had something I wanted to ask you."

"What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to um...maybe go out sometime. With me."

"You mean...like a date?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean, i-if you're interested, that is. Like, no pressure or anything." Tucker adjusted his glasses.

"That..." Valerie smiled "Yeah. I would like to do that."

"Really?" Tucker felt his heart leap in his chest.

"Yeah. I'm don't have anything I need to do today. Wanna meet up at seven?"

"Yeah!" Tucker beamed "That sounds great."

"Cool. I, uh, I'd better get to class. See you then!"

Valerie waved and quickly walked away so Tucker wouldn't see how wide she was smiling.

Tucker waited until Valerie was all the down the hall. Once he was sure she was too far away to hear, he let out whoop and pumped his fist in the air.

"She said yes!" he squealed "She actually- I'd better get to class." Tucker cut off his own celebration "Ms Ramos probably wouldn't that I was just got a date with Valerie."

Tucker started running down the hall, his heart doing little skips all the way to fourth period.

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"Hey Mom! Dad!" Danny called as he shut the door "We're home!"

"Oh, hey kids!" Maddie called back "We're down in the lab! Would you two mind joining us?"

Jazz and Danny looked at each other before starting down the basement stairs. When they got to the lab, they saw their parents putting some devices into a cardboard box. More boxes were piled on the floor next to them.

"What's with all the boxes?" Jazz asked.

"Well, since Vlad's coming over today," Maddie said "We figured we'd move some of our more...sensitive equipment into the garage and out of the house."

"Really?" Danny's eyes lit up.

"Yup." Jack nodded "We'll bring 'em back to the lab after Vlad leaves, of course. But while he's here we'll keep them out of his vicinity. For his comfort and safety."

"Oh."

Jazz glanced pityingly at the deflated Danny.

"Think we should add this to the box?" Jack held a glowing green rock up to Maddie.

"The ectoranium? Well, I hate to leave something so valuable out in the garage, but our research indicates it can be excruciatingly painful for ectoplasmic entities to touch, so we'd better not risk."

"That's a good point Madds. Oh, I know! Danny! Take this to Ops Center! It'll be more secure there!"

"Uhhhh..." Danny stared at the rock his dad was holding out to him.

"Oh, don't worry about what your mother said son," Jack waved his free hand "Ectoranium only hurts ghosts!"

"Yes! But," Jazz lunged forward and grabbed the rock from her dad "Danny's just sooo tired from school. He can't carry this all the way up to the Ops Center. Just look at those noodly arms."

"Hey!" Danny said.

"But honey," Maddie said, perplexed "You, um...both went to school today."

"Yeah, well, Danny did this thing in gym class. It's, uh, a thing they make the freshmen do. You know, the ninth grade..."

Jazz gave Danny a look that said Please help, it's your skin I'm trying to save here!

"...run?" Danny lamely supplied.

Jazz gave him another look. This one said Seriously? That's the best you could come up with?

"Ninth grade run?" Jack scratched his chin "Well since it was only running, You should still be able to help us carry this stuff Danno."

Danny took a step towards the boxes, but froze when something started beeping.

"Uh, actually" Jazz said loudly "Running is an exercise that works the entire body, and The Ninth Grade Run isn't just a run! It's more of a triathlon, so Danny really shouldn't be carrying anything right now! Don't you two remember when I did The Run? All my muscles were sore for, like, a week!"

"Oh, are you feeling sore Danny?" Maddie asked sympathetically. "You don't have to help move stuff if you're not feeling up to it, Sweetie."

"Yup!" Danny said "Jazz's right, I'm really sore everywhere. Sorry I can't help move this stuff, but I'm going to go upstairs and rest for a bit. Um, ow, ow, ouch." Danny exaggerated a limp as he climbed the basement stairs.

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Danny was sitting on his bed reading comics when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in." He said.

The door swung open, revealing a disgruntled Jazz with globs of ectoplasm tangled in her hair.

"What-"

"Don't ask. Is The Fenton Scalp Scrubber in here?"

"Yeah," Danny picked up what looked like a hand vacuum with mini scrubbers all over it from his nightstand "That ghost Youngblood decided he was obsessed with paintball the last time I fought him. Except instead of paint, his shots were filled with compressed ectoplasm. Catch!"

"You owe me for this one." Jazz said, catching the device with one hand "Also 'Ninth Grade Run'? Was that seriously the best you could come up with?"

"Hey, you're the one who started the cover up story! You didn't really give me much to work with!

"I'll tell you one thing," The Scrubber buzzed as Jazz switched it on and began running it meticulously through her hair. "I'll be glad to finally not have to ad-lib these excuses anymore once you tell Mom and Dad. The only thing that makes me cringe harder than watching Mom and Dad fall for the nonsense I come up with is watching them fall for the nonsense you come up with. Speaking of, have you come up with a plan for telling them yet?"

"Er..." Danny held his comic up in front of his face "I'm still thinking."

"About..."

"Y'know...how to, like...tell them."

"You haven't thought about it at all, have you Danny?"

"I have thought about it. I'm just still trying to figure out when and how I want to do it."

"Danny, it's been well over a week."

"I mean, this is kind of a big thing, Jazz."

"I understand that, but I can't help but feel like you're putting this off. You do want to tell Mom and Dad, right?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then what's with the stalling?"

"I'm not stalling! I'm just trying to figure out the right way to do it."

"There's no perfect way to-"

"I never said it had to be 'perfect'." Danny threw his comic aside "Ugh, why does everyone keep bugging me about this? They're my ghost powers! I'll tell Mom and Dad when I'm ready."

"This affects the rest of us to, Danny." Jazz said "I know you have the most at stake, but we're all anxious about it. I'm not going to drag you downstairs and force you to tell Mom and Dad right this second, but I'm not leaving until we've discussed some sort of-"

Jazz was interrupted by sharp gasp from Danny, a tell-tale puff of mist escaping his mouth.

"Aw darn, a ghost, guess we gotta continue this conversation later." Danny shrugged as he transformed.

"Danny, you can't avoid facing this mental block forever. Even if you won't talk to me about it, at some point you have to sit down and ask yourself-"

"Gotta go! See you Jazz!" Danny yelled as he flew out the window.

"Jazz! Danny!" Jack called from downstairs "Vladdie's here! I saw him out the window! Come down and say hello!"

Jazz glanced at Danny's open window and sighed before heading downstairs to greet Vlad. That kid was quite the headache sometimes.

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Angela Foley narrowed her eyes.

"Your teeth are brushed?"

"Yup."

"Glasses are clean?"

"Yup."

"You're sure that's what you want to wear?"

"Mom!" Tucker rolled his eyes "Valerie and I decided this would be a casual date."

"But it's still your first date, Honey." Angela straightened Tucker's beret "I'm so excited for you! I just want everything to go as smoothly as it can."

"And I appreciate that, I really do, but-"

Tucker was interrupted by the basement door flying open.

"Did he leave yet!?"

"No Maury, he's still here." Tucker's mom told his dad "But he was just about to. I told you he had to be gone by six thirty."

"I know, I know." Maurice shut the door and walked over to Tucker and Angela "I was at a critical juncture in my Enterprise model and I lost track of time. You know how it is with level fives. Anyway," Maurice dug in his pocket and handed Tucker a twenty dollar bill "Here's a little something to mark the occasion."

"Oh, cool! Thanks Dad."

"You're welcome Son." Maurice continued to smile, but his expression shifted to a more more businesslike one "Now, have a good time and make sure you treat Valerie right. And compliment her appearance at least once. I know you two aren't doing anything big, but if there's one thing I learned from my older sisters, it's that first dates are ripe for self-consciousness, especially in teenagers, so a little pick-me-up in that regard can go a long way. Speaking of, you're not looking too bad yourself, kiddo. I see you cleaned your glasses for the occasion, excellent. Always good to show you're putting in an effort, even if it's not a serious date. You know, I remember my first-"

"Ugh, not you too!" Tucker opened the front door "Look, I already sat through Mom fussing over me, and if I go through all that again with you, I know I'm going to be late, which is not how I want to start off my first date!"

Tucker swung the door shut behind him. Not five seconds passed before the door opened again and Tucker stuck his head back inside.

"That being said, I do appreciate how much you two try to support me and take an interest in my personal life, but I've really got to go now, so I love you and bye!"

Tucker slipped back out and shut the door for real this time, a bit more gently.

"They grow up so fast." Maurice wiped an imaginary tear from his eye "You remember your first date?"

"Timothy Matthews. Freshman year. Same age as Tucker. If that kid treats that lovely girl even remotely like Timothy treated me, I'll flay him alive."

"Come on Dear," Maurice laughed and put an arm around his wife's shoulder "You know he won't. That kid's got a good heart."

"I know." Angela put her hand on top of her husband's "We can just heat some leftovers for dinner tonight. Did you want any help with that model?"

"Absolutely." Maurice beamed.

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Tucker knocked on the door. He gave his outfit one last lookover. It was just the same stuff he usually wore, since he and Valerie had agreed to keep this date low-key, but he'd still made sure to pick out a stain-free sweater and rip-free pants. It was still a date, after all.

The apartment door opened to reveal a very tall man. He gazed sternly down at Tucker.

"Um, hi," Tucker greeted him nervously "You must be Valerie's dad?"

"I Just want you to know young man," Damian Gray's voice was deep and threatening "That if you hurt my Valerie in any way, I will-"

"Come off it Daddy," Valerie pushed passed her dad with an 'over it' look on her face "You're not funny."

"Aw, Valerie." Damian's voice was suddenly much softer "You ruined it. I really had him going."

Valerie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling affectionately.

"Did you really think I was just going to stand there and let you scare my date away?" Valerie crossed her arms.

Tucker felt a small jolt of giddiness when Valerie referred to him as her date.

"No," Damian smiled back "I suppose I did raise you right. You kids enjoy yourselves. And be back by ten."

"Eleven?" Valerie smiled wide and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Ten thirty, and that's as good as you're gonna get Val. It's a school night."

"Fine. Love you Daddy."

"Love you too Babygirl. Have fun and be safe."

Damian closed the door, leaving Valerie and Tucker alone in the hallway.

"So," Tucker felt his cheeks heat up "We're going on a date. You and me. That's...that's pretty wild."

"Yeah." Valerie bashfully tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "So, where are we going?"

"I...uh...didn't think that far ahead." Tucker was instantly pulled back down to earth. How had he forgotten such and important detail? "We could...do a movie?"

"Eh...to be honest, a date where we sit there and don't talk for two hours doesn't really sound like the greatest first date."

"Huh, I never really thought about it like that. Why is a movie always the go-to first date on TV then?"

Valerie shrugged.

"Okay, we could...uh..." Tucker totally blanked.

This wasn't good. Despite being the one to ask her out, Tucker had no idea where would be a decent place to take Valerie on a date, and he was beginning to panic.

"You kids should go to bowling!" Damian called through the door "They've got snacks, and Valerie's a great-"

"Dad!" Valerie interrupted sharply.

"Sorry! I'll be quiet now."

There was an long moment of silence.

"Bowling does sound pretty good, actually." Tucker said "Amity Lanes does make pretty good hot dogs."

"You know what, why not?" Valerie smiled "I do like bowling, and it has been a while since-"

"See! I do have good ideas sometimes!"

"Dad!"

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"Okay," Maddie turned to Jack, her hand on the door knob "Remember what we talked about."

"I know, I know," Jack waved his hand "No talking about ghosts or ghost powers until Vlad explicitly says he's comfortable with it."

Satisfied, Maddie opened the door.

"Hello Jack, Maddie." Vlad greeted them, formal as always. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"Hey Vladdie, come on in!" Jack wrapped his massive arm around Vlad's shoulder's and practically dragged him inside "And don't worry, we're not going to ask you any questions about your powers or even talk about ghost stuff until you say you're comfortable with it!"

Jack finished his sentence with what was probably intended to be a comforting smile.

Maddie facepalmed.

"That's...great to hear Jack." Vlad returned a smile that was much more strained.

"How about we go sit in the kitchen?" Maddie said, gently inserting herself between Vlad and Jack "I just put the kettle on."

"Yes, that sounds rather lovely."

Maddie didn't miss the stilted way Vlad spoke.

When they got to the kitchen, they found Jazz moving some books off the table and into her bag.

"Hello Jazz," Vlad greeted her "How have you been?"

"I've been good Mr Masters." Jazz swung her bag over her shoulder "Mom, Dad, I'm going to the library. Danny's in his room, sleeping. Do not wake him up. Enjoy you're visit."

She grabbed her keys and marched right past the adults and out of the house before anyone could respond.

"She's certainly...efficient." Vlad remarked.

"Well," Maddie said "Guess its just us. Ope, there's the kettle!"

"Have a seat Vladdie!" Jack said, sitting at the table as Maddie poured the boiling water into a teapot.

"Y-yes, of course." Vlad said, sitting down opposite Jack.

Maddie set the tray with the tea stuff down at the table.

"So Vladdie," Jack said "How ya been since we last saw you?"

"Oh, um, I've been well."

"That's good to hear." Jack smiled.

Despite his upbeat tone, Maddie could tell Jack was feeling the tension as much as she and Vlad were.

Maddie sighed to herself. She was trying to be sensitive, but if someone didn't address the elephant in the room, the whole visit was going to be this awkward.

"So, Vlad." she said, sitting down at the table "We didn't really get the chance to talk much after...after that ghost attack at your cottage."

"Oh," Vlad immediately tensed "I-I mean, well, you know-"

"Listen Vlad," Maddie cut off his rambling "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I really think it would be a good idea if we talked about it. Maybe cleared the air a little? If we're being honest, it's pretty much all Jack and I have been thinking about this past week, and I have a feeling you're in a similar boat."

"I mean," Jack said "I wasn't going to say anything, but she's not wrong V-man."

Vlad sighed and his posture slipped a little, a subtle surrender.

"Alright." he relented "What did you want to know?"

"Um, well..." Maddie glanced at Jack. His expression mirrored hers. Of course, they both had a million questions, but where to even start?

"So...this all happened to you because of the proto-portal accident in college?" Maddie said.

"Yes. That's correct."

"Right, right." Maddie nodded "You did say that back at the cottage."

"Yes. I did."

Maddie grasped her hand together tightly, unsure how exactly to proceed. That had been a pretty dumb question, and Vlad could definitely tell, but she was very aware how tense this conversation was, and she wanted to be careful with what she asked next, try not to go too fast and-

"So when did your ghost powers first show up? Was it right when you got to the hospital?"

Maddie's blood pressure spiked as Vlad flinched. She was torn between giving Vlad a comforting look and glaring at Jack. He wasn't an unkind person, quite the opposite, but sometimes he just did not think! Sure, someone needed to get the conversation going, but did Jack have to go right for the throat?

"Unless you don't want to!" Maddie added hurriedly.

"Oh yeah, you don't have to talk about it if...how does Jazz put it? 'It brings up too much trauma'." Jack nodded.

"We understand if it's too painful."

"No, no, it's...alright."

Vlad cleared his throat and shifted slightly in his seat.

"I can't remember exactly how many, but I'd only been checked into the hospital for a few days when my, erm, abilities first manifested."

"How did they manifest?" Sure, Maddie had just wanted to scold Jack for his pressing question, but he wasn't the only one who had trouble keeping the scientist at bay sometimes.

"Well, I'd been suffering from a fever that kept increasing in intensity as time went by, and...I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but I suppose I reached some kind of breaking point eventually. I was forcibly transformed into my, er, ghost form and I let out an enourmous burst of plasma energy. Did quite a bit of damage."

"How did you avoid getting caught on the security cameras?" Jack asked.

"The hospital hadn't implemented cameras yet. Wasn't the most well-funded facility."

"Ah, I guess this was back before they all had them." Jack nodded.

"Yes. There was one nurse who witnessed the whole ordeal whom I feel quite bad for, though."

"Oh dear." Maddie put a hand over her mouth.

"Yes, he was a nice young man, but I played dumb and had him convinced he'd hallucinated the whole ordeal. Didn't really have an explanation for the damage to the room, but I doubt he even tried to tell his superiors it was because his patient had turned into a monster and blasted fire everywhere." Vlad sighed "I was acting in panic, but I do regret the way I dealt with him. If I ever do find that nurse again, I'll make sure explain things."

"But what about you?" Jack asked.

"Excuse me?"

"How were you doing when all that happened? You must have been scared out of your wits, Vladdie. All on your own...Maddie and I could've been there for you, you know! We tried! We really did!"

"Jack, I told you, I didn't tell anyone what had happened. I barely even knew what was going on."

"Yeah, but we could have figured it out together! You were just stuck in the hospital by yourself, scared half to death because of my goof up." There was a pain in Jack's voice Maddie rarely heard "Oh Vladdie, I knew my mistake had cost you, but...I never really knew just how much."

Vlad was stunned. Maddie reached over and put her hand on top of Jack's.

"Dear, you can't blame yourself. We all worked on that prototype." she said softly.

"Oh please Madds. We all know I have a bad habit of rushing into things. I try to be careful, but I just get so excited sometimes and don't think! Maybe if I'd just-"

"No Jack." Vlad spoke up "I knew the risks I was signing up for. We all did. We all knew how dangerous ghost research could be. Sure, none of us probably expected that becoming a ghost was a possibility, er, well, in this capacity at least, but I knew I wasn't signing up for a normal life when I decided to investigate the paranormal. Would you be angry at me if our positions were switched?"

Jack sniffled and wiped his face with his free hand.

"You know, I've really missed having you around Vladdie."

"And I've missed you two." Vlad hand tightened into a fist on the table "A lot."

There was brief silence as the three of them took it in: after so long, the gang was back together. They were far from as they were, but at least they finally together again.

"You know..." Jack tentatively broke the silence "I wanted to tell you the last time we met up, but I finished constructing The Ecto Catapult a few months ago."

"Y-you did?" Vlad raised an eyebrow, taken aback "But, why would you bother? That was just some silly idea we had in college."

"Maybe so, but it was really cool silly idea we had in college! Seeing you at the reunion again made me think about it, so one day I just decided to go ahead and build it!"

"Of course, it has just been collecting dust in the corner of the lab ever since." Maddie said "We never even got around to properly testing it out."

"You want to go down to the lab and see it?" Jack asked.

Vlad's eyes widened slightly.

"I...very much would."

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"Fire!"

SPLAT!

Giant globs of ectoplasm were smeared all over the wall of The Fenton Containment Tank. Jack, Maddie, and Vlad had been down there for over an hour launching ectoplasmic samples of various sizes into the giant glass container.

"Interesting." Maddie said as she scribbled furiously into a notepad "The Ecto-Pult is consistently launching the ectoplasm with enough force to induce splatter, but no matter the weight of the load, the ectoplasm retains enough surface tension to sustain its mass!"

"Even the big pieces on the ceiling aren't dripping!" Jack said "We should've tried flinging ectoplasm at a wall ages ago! There's so much to observe!"

"It's a shame all our attempts to utilize ectoplasm as an effective adhesive have failed so far." Maddie lamented "Despite its incredible mucilaginous properties, it can be pulled apart by hand relatively easily."

"Yes, I've been down that road too," Vlad said "Despite it's incredibly unique structure, the most effective use for ectoplasm I've gleaned from my research is for anti-ghost measures. And energy supplication."

"Oh, we know. Jack and I have been experimenting getting the house running on nothing but ectoplasmic energy!" Maddie beamed.

"Er, that's rather...ambitious of you two." Vlad said, his brow knitting "Seems like there'd be a number of complications to consider, though."

"Eh, it's still only a hypothetical for now." Jack waved his hand "Now, let's see if we can learn anything else from flinging ectoplasm at a wall! Maddie! Grab a sample The Fenton Deep Freeze while I wind this baby back up!"

"Ooh! That'll be interesting!"

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The two remaining pins sat at the end of the lane tauntingly.

This was a tricky shot. Tucker knew his aim had to be perfect to knock the last two pins down.

He pulled back, swung his arm, and let the ball go. He held his breath as it rolled down the lane...

...and sailed right down the middle of the split pins.

"Dang it!"

"Word of advice," Valerie smirked as she picked up a blue ball from the return "When you get a seven-ten, in-between the pins is the worst place to throw."

"I was trying a manoeuvre!" Tucker pouted as the remaining pins were knocked over by the pinsetter.

"Ah, yes, I see." Valerie nodded "Quite the manoeuvre."

"All right," Tucker said as the new pins were set up "Let's see you do better."

Valerie grinned. She carried her ball to the lane, took a stance, aimed, and threw, her whole body smoothly following the motion.

Tucker's jaw dropped as all of the pins went crashing down. Neon letters spelling out STRIKE scrolled across teh screen above them.

"How was that manoeuvre?" Valerie smirked.

"How'd you do that?" Tucker gaped as the fallen pins were swept away.

"I was on the bowling team in middle school. Shame Casper doesn't have one."

"I'll say!"

"Of course, I wouldn't really have time for bowling if there was a team, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Tucker asked.

"Well, you know, with the whole ghost fighting thing. Gotta be ready at any time."

"Hey, it's not all on you, you know." Tucker said as he lined up his next shot "The four of us are a ghost hunting team. There's always backups if one of us has stuff to do. For instance, Sam's got her poetry thing," Tucker threw his ball as hard as he could "And I play Yarg-A-Loo at the card shop on Mondays. One of us being absent has pretty much never been a problem. Just because we gotta catch ghosts sometimes doesn't mean we can't- NOOO!"

Tucker cried out as his ball rolled into the gutter. All he could do was watch in dismay as his ball sailed right past the pins.

"Ooh!" Valerie cringed "You sure you don't want me to ask them to turn on the kiddie bumpers?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Tucker grumbled.

They bowled many more rounds. Valerie managed to get four more strikes.

"Whoo!" Tucker pumped both fists into the air as he scored his first spare of the evening "Told ya I didn't need bumpers!"

"Nice one. Hey Tucker," Valerie checked her watch "How many frames we got left?"

"Frames?"

"Yeah, how many more are left? I wasn't really counting, but I feel like we should be at least getting close to ten."

"I...don't know."

"Haven't you been keeping score?"

"Keeping score? I don't know how to keep score."

"Isn't that what you've been doing on your PDA?"

"I was just keeping an eye on my messages in case a ghost decided to try to eat the roller rink, or something."

Tucker and Valerie stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

"Y'know," Tucker said "I think at this point we can safely say you won."

"I mean, you're probably not wrong."

"Wanna call it and grab some hot dogs from the canteen?"

"That sounds great."

--------------------------------------------------

"...but then my mom realized she didn't have the cake!" Tucker was barely holding back laughter. This was one of his favourite stories to tell.

"Wait, but you just said she set in on the driveway to buckle you in, so- oh no!" Valerie covered her mouth in horror.

"Oh yes, my dad backed right over it!"

"No way! Your mom must've flipped!"

"Yeah, both my parents were freaking out. In the end, they went and bought a cake, and told me they'd buy me whatever Lego set I wanted as long as I pretended Mom made it. And that's how I got the Toa Lhikan Bionicle that's on my computer desk."

"Is that the gold one on the rhino?"

"It's a Kikanalo, thank you very much."

"Right, right," Valerie sarcastically patted Tucker's hand "How could I have made such a mistake?"

Tucker looked down. Valerie hadn't removed her hand from his. He looked back up at Valerie and smiled. It took Valerie a second to figure out what Tucker was smiling about, but she was soon smiling back at him.

Both of their cheeks began to flush.

"Here's your hot dog's!" The chipper voice of the server almost made Tucker and Valerie jump out of their seats. They kept their hands together, though.

Valerie recovered first.

"Oh, thanks!" she politely smiled at the server "It's been way too long since I've had one of these!"

"Yeah, there's just something special about Amity Lane's footlongs." Tucker agreed before picking up his hot dog with his free hand and taking a large bite.

Tucker watched Valerie put mustard on her hot dog with one hand. Even though he hadn't known her for quite as long, talking to Valerie felt as natural as talking to Danny or Sam.

And she trusted him too. Sure, she'd been pretty hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for her to see him as someone she could talk to, and Tucker was really flattered that she thought of him that way.

It made him want to share something personal with Valerie in return.

"Hey, I just wanted to say the other day at The Nasty Burger, when you told us you were bi, that was really cool."

"Oh. Um, yeah?" Valerie didn't remove her hand from Tucker's, but there was a hint of wariness in her voice.

"Yeah. And I do realize that might seem a little weird for me to bring up, but I've been thinking that I might actually...uh maybe be bi too." Tucker adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

"Wait," Valerie sat up straighter and her eyes widened "Really?"

"Uh, just maybe!" Tucker said quickly "Like, I get crushes on guys sometimes, but I'm still not really sure if they really count."

"What?" Valerie raised an eyebrow "What makes them not count?"

"I mean, I think in my whole life I've only liked, like three maybe four guys, but I've liked at least a million girls, so I'm definitely into girls, "

"Hey, it's not like someone's gonna arrest you for not liking enough boys. If you say you're bi, then you're bi."

"I don't know." Tucker swirled his pop with his straw. "Sometimes I just worry I'm taking something that isn't mine, ya know?"

"Oh no, some kid called himself bi when he might not technically follow the standard definition a hundred percent!" Valerie said in an exaggerated voice "This is robbing us of all our bi resources! We won't be able to add in a swimming pool at the clubhouse!"

"Well it sounds ridiculous when you put it that way..."

"There might be reason for that." Valerie said, the corner of her mouth cocking upwards.

"Yeah, yeah." "You're probably right. It still feels kind of weird. Calling myself 'bi', I mean. I think I like it, but I'm not a really a hundred percent sure."

"Give it time." Valerie said "You figure it out eventually."

"Danny said something like that, too." Tucker let his head flump onto the table "Why can't someone just tell me what's going on in my brain? This all just feels so needlessly complicated!"

"Trust me, it's worth it." Valerie patted Tucker's hand.

"Okay fine, I'll stop complaining. But you and Danny had better be right about this!"

Tucker lifted his head to see Valerie smiling down at him.

"What?" Tucker asked, smiling back.

"I've just never really had someone I could talk about this stuff with. I mean, I've got some cousins who'd probably be cool, but they don't live close enough for me to see them that often. And my old friends were...well, you know."

"That sounds rough. You know, Danny and Sam are pretty cool, if you ever want to talk with the group. Jazz too. Wait, I don't think you've ever met her. She's Danny's sister, and she gives really good advice."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I like talking with you."

"Because I'm a fellow bi?"

"No, it's because I like you."

"Oh." Tucker smiled as felt his cheeks go warm "I like you too. I like talking to you."

Valerie bashfully smiled back.

The tender moment was broken by what sounded like distant screaming.

"Did you hear that?" Valerie asked.

"It kind of sounded like-"

CRASH!

Tucker was interrupted by a large object flying through the ceiling. Tucker and Valerie jumped apart as it hit their table, smashing it in half.

The object turned out to be Danny Phantom, now lying in a heap in the wreckage of Valerie and Tucker's table.

"Oh hey," Danny waved from the ground. "Didn't expect to run into you two. How's the date going?"

"Pretty good, in my opinion." Tucker said "Thanks for ask- hey wait, do you like, need help dude?"

"What? No, don't worry, I got this ghost handled, you two enjoy your date!"

"Doesn't look like you do." Valerie pulled an ecto gun out of her backpack "Danny, taking down a dangerous ghost is was more important than-"

"No no no no no! I'm good! I got this! She just got a lucky shot in." Danny grunted as he pushed himself up and cracked his neck.

"That's better." he said to himself, floating up into the air "See? I'm good. Seriously, don't worry about me. I'll just call Sam if I need help, you two enjoy your date. Oh, and congrats on Valerie saying 'yes', by the way." Danny gave Tucker a double thumbs up.

"Oh yeah, thanks." Tucker said "You sure you don't want any help?"

"One hundred percent. It's just another one of Romeo's acting buddies, I got this. Just pretend I wasn't even here."

With that, Danny zoomed back out of the hole he'd made in the ceiling, disappearing into the night sky.

Valerie looked at Tucker.

"Does he 'got this'?"

"If he says he does, I believe him. Romeo wasn't a very tough ghost." Tucker picked up his mostly intact hot dog from the floor "Would it ruin the mood if I ate this?"

"I mean, Danny definitely already killed the mood, but I'd still judge you for eating off the floor."

"What? It stayed in the basket the whole time." Tucker said as he took a bite.

Valerie rolled her eyes.

"Also these things cost like four dollars each."

"Good point." Valerie said, retrieving her own fallen hot dog.

--------------------------------------------------

"Goodbye Vlad!" Maddie beamed "Today was so much fun, we'll have to get together again soon!"

"Yes, very soon. Goodbye Maddie, Jack." Vlad smiled back as he shut the door behind him.

He really meant it. Vlad truly did plan on seeing Jack and Maddie again soon. It had been too long since he'd had that much fun.

Sure, The Ecto-Pult (as Maddie had dubbed it) was incredibly inefficient compared to most modern-day ecto weaponry, but he hadn't realized how much he missed doing research with his friends. The data they'd collected might not have been that significant, but Vlad had left that basement feeling more invigorated than he did after the most productive days in his own lab.

Vlad couldn't stop smiling as he walked down the front steps.

There were still some thing the three of them needed to work out, such as the fact that all of them were hesitant to talk about Vlad's ghost side directly, but today had felt like the first sunny day after a week of rain, and Vlad was willing to work through any amount of awkwardness to have more days like that.

After walking a short distance, Vlad ducked into an alleyway to transform. The Ghost Zone was the fastest way to travel to and from Amity Park, but Jack and Maddie didn't need to know Vlad was using their portal. Not that he thought they would mind, but it was one of those awkward things Vlad wasn't ready to discuss quite yet if he could help it.

"Well," Jack wrapped an arm around Maddie "That was a lot better than the last time Vlad visited!"

"I'll say." Maddie agreed.

Once they'd gotten down to the lab, it was like they'd all forgotten about Vlad's accident and had been transported back to college when they were a closely knit research team and everything was normal.

Of course, in reality their college days were long behind them and things were far from normal. Vlad was still hesitant to talk about his ghostly properties, and Jack and Maddie still felt pretty awkward about the whole situation themselves.

A lot of unresolved thought and feelings still had to be dealt with, and Jack and Maddie knew that fixing things with Vlad wasn't always going to be as enjoyable as today was.

But this was a start. A pretty good start, in their opinion.

#fisp #friends in strange places

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sunnys567 · 8 months

Text

Friends in strange Places Ch. 6 Pt 1

What if Vlad was good instead of evil? Link to chapter 1:

Summary: After a ghost fight, Danny and his friends hang out at The Nasty Burger and then Sam and Valerie go back to her house. Just the two of them. That won't be awkward.

Word count: 6700

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"Catch me if you can Dipsticks!" Ember cackled as she flew past the pier.

Danny and Valerie continued after her. Sam and Tucker stopped at the edge of the dock.

"Man," Tucker crossed his arms "It sucks not being able to fly.

After about twenty meters, Ember suddenly turned and blasted a pink beam from her guitar.

Danny and Valerie split apart, the beam missing both of them.

"Give it up Ember!" Danny said, charging up two ecto blasts "You can sing all the cheap pop songs you want, there's no one around here for you to even control!"

"Wrong on two counts, Dipstick!" Ember grinned smugly "My music comes from the heart, and I've discovered a brand new kind of audience out here."

Keep reading

Ember raised her hand high above her head and let out a mighty strum on her guitar.

Danny and Valerie looked around. Nothing happened.

"Look down, you drips."

Below their feet the the water was shifting ominously.

One by one, over a hundred fish began to break the surface. Their heads bobbed above the water, watching the floating trio.

"Seriously?" Valerie said "Fish? That's the best you could come up with?"

"Well I can't exactly go around rounding up teenagers again, now that you recognize me." Ember said bitterly "But with these little creatures, I can sill give you a performance you're bound to remember. Now, denizens of the deep," Ember pointed at Danny and Valerie "Attack!"

On Ember's command, the fish began launching themselves at Danny and Valerie.

"Agh!" They both yelped.

The fish were too small to hurt in any significant way, but getting smacked by dozens of fish over and over again was pretty disorienting.

Valerie activated the hand shield Tucker had embedded into her glove and attempted to bat away as many of the attacking fish as she could.

Ember floated there, grinning maliciously as pink and green ecto beams sailed right past her.

"Ooh, we turning this into a rave?" she said "I dig it."

"Stupid fish!" Danny cursed as one bounced off his face "That's it! I'm going where they can't reach me!"

Danny shot up into the air.

"Nice try Dipstick," Ember turned the dial on her guitar "But I've got a song for that."

She began to rapidly pick at the strings. Many of the fish in the water began to glow blue.

"Uh, Danny-" Valerie started to say.

Before she could finish her sentence, a dozen fish shot into the air towards Danny, leaving trails of blue behind them.

"Agh!" Danny yelled as he was assaulted by the high-flying fish "Why does your guitar even have that function?"

Ember laughed as she continued to pluck away.

Valerie tried to shoot her while she was distracted, but getting repeatedly bumped by so many fish kept making her miss wildly.

"Why did I decide to pursue ghost hunting again?" she asked herself as she swung her shield at a group of fish about to hit her face.

Back on the dock, Sam and Tucker were trying to watch the fight using the zoom feature on Tucker's PDA camera.

"It looks like they're having a rave over there." Sam said.

"Are those...fish?" Tucker squinted at the screen.

A fish suddenly jumped out of the water and latched onto Tucker's ear. The fish didn't have teeth, but it still freaked Tucker out.

"Aaaah!" he yelled "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!"

After some flailing, Tucker managed to grab the fish and fling it back into the water.

"Did you really have to throw it that hard Tucker?" Sam chastised.

"The fish was biting me!" Tucker threw up his arms "What did you expect me to do?"

"It wasn't the fish's fault! You could at least-"

Sam was interrupted by another fish jumping out and grabbing onto her hand. She yelped and waved her arm around wildly until the fish went sailing off of it.

"What happened to it being 'not the fish's fault'?" Tucker smirked.

"If you say another word, you're going to have a lot more to worry about than a fish bite. Hey," Sam squinted at something behind Tucker "I know that person."

Tucker turned and saw a man standing in a stationary speedboat, transfixed by what was happening out on the water.

"Arnie!" Sam called, running towards the boat. Tucker decided to follow her.

"Ms Manson?" Arnie snapped his head towards the approaching teenagers "I don't know what you're doing here, but you better skedaddle! Some of them ghost creatures from the news are duking it out over there with a Power Ranger!"

"Arnie, we need you to take us over there!" Sam said, hopping into the boat.

"What're you doing child?!" Arnie cried "It's not safe! You ought to be heading as far away from the water as you-"

"Here's fifty dollars." Sam interrupted, shoving a bill into Arnie hands "And I'll double it if you don't ask questions. They need our help out there!"

"Ummm..." Tucker and Arnie said, a matching look of concern on their faces.

"Don't worry." Sam said "I have a plan."

"This is dangerous, and I don't like it!" Arnie said as he started up the motor "But knowing you child, you'll do something even more reckless to get over there if I refuse."

"Welp, I've gone along with worse plans." Tucker said to himself, jumping into the boat just before it sped off towards the fight.

Back at the fish-fight, Valerie was attempting to back away from Ember and hopefully the fish.

Getting some distance did help, but unfortunately there were still plenty of fish willing to attack her, even this far away from Ember.

"Stupid fish!" Valerie cursed as she kicked off a few that had latched on to her board "I swear, when this is over, I'm going to buy a deep fryer and-"

"Valerie!"

Valerie turned around to see Sam and Tucker approaching in a speedboat, driven by someone she'd never met.

"Sam?" Valerie raised an eyebrow under her mask "What're you doing here? Who's that?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Hey!" Arnie said indignantly.

"Think you can you distract Ember for a minute? We're gonna try a manouevre, but it won't work if she sees us coming."

"Can do." Valerie nodded as Sam and the others zoomed off.

"Hey Blue Man reject!" Valerie called.

Ember turned and Valerie charged, firing rapidly at Ember, who easily dodged them.

As Valerie got close, Ember banged out a chord that reverberated through the air, knocking Valerie off her board.

"Aah!" Valerie screamed as she went flying into the water. Ember was floating a meter away from her when she broke the surface.

"Gutsy move Red, I'll give you that." She said "You know, I like you. And that outfit's pretty rockin'. Any chance you wanna ditch ghost-boy and team up with someone who's actually going somewhere?"

"Not a chance you-you flamey freak!" It was hard to think of insults while trying to not drown.

"Aw well, your loss."

Valerie braced herself as Ember raised her hand.

"Hey Ember!"

Ember turned to the sound of Tucker's voice only to get drenched by the wake of Arnie's turning speedboat.

"Cowabunga." Tucker finished.

The dripping Ember hovered above the water completely shell shocked. Her makeup was runny and her fiery ponytail had vanished, put out by the water.

"Do you losers have any idea how much it'll cost if my guitar has water damage!" she screeched.

"Yeah, yeah, bill me from the Ghost Zone." Sam shrugged as Tucker pulled out The Fenton Thermos and sucked up the powerless Ember.

"Turns out there's a downside to hanging around water when you're a fire-based ghost." Tucker pulled the pair of Fenton Phones out of his ears "Thank goodness I can take out these ugly things."

Valerie's hoverboard zoomed to a stop beside her, hovering a few centimeters above the water. Valerie reached out and pulled herself up onto it.

"You good down there?" Danny asked, flying down to check on Valerie.

"I'm good." she said, standing up on her board "Wanna hear something neat? Turns out my suit is watertight."

"Ha, nice! Mine is too, actually. Except for the face part." Danny pulled off a fish that was still latched on to his boot "She's gone, you can go home." he said as he dropped the fish back into the water "Sheesh. Those little guys have a lot more determination than you'd expect."

Danny turned to look at Arnie.

"Hey uh, thanks...whoever you are."

Arnie didn't respond. He just gaped at Danny and Valerie for a very awkward fifteen seconds. Then he turned to Sam.

"Ms Manson," he said "You're gonna have to triple your initial offer to keep me quiet."

"Extorting me because I'm not really in a position to say 'no'? Low, but understandable."

"No, it's to cover the cost of a facial and massage at The Amity All-Day Spa. After what I've just been through, I need the relaxation desperately!"

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Arnie wasn't the only one who needed to decompress. The four of them decided to stop by The Nasty Burger before heading home.

They all let out a collective shudder when they saw the poster advertising the new fish burger special.

"So that's two Nasty Combos with diet cola, one of the fries upsized, and a Nasty Alternative Substance Patty with a diet ginger ale. Is that everything?" the cashier asked.

There was a moment of silence before Sam turned to Valerie.

"You gonna order anything?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm pretty strapped for cash right now. Between homework and ghost fighting, I don't exactly have time for a job."

"Order whatever you want." Sam said "It's on me."

Danny and Tucker wordlessly glanced at each other.

"Thanks, but I'd feel bad taking money from you." Valerie said "I know none of you three have time for jobs either."

"It's on my parent's tab." Sam clarified "And they're loaded, so you absolutely should not feel bad."

"Well in that case I'll take one of everything." Valerie grinned. Her expression quickly dropped "Uh, kidding, just kidding. I would take a Nasty Combo with diet iced tea if you're offering, though."

"You honestly could order the whole menu for all I care." Sam shrugged as she paid for their order.

"We can?" Tucker asked. Danny elbowed him.

"Sam and her parents don't really get along." Danny explained to Valerie as they sat down at a booth.

"If by 'don't get along' you mean they're overly controlling self-centered snobs with an incredibly narrow mindset they refuse to even try to broaden, then yes, we don't get along."

Nobody was really sure what to say to that.

"Ugh, don't look now." Sam suddenly cringed "Intense make out session happening at three o'clock. Actually, you can probably look, I don't think they'd notice if a meteor hit this place."

Danny, Tucker, and Valerie looked at the table next to them.

A girl with red hair and a boy with a beanie had moved their chairs right next to each other and were kissing. It was, as Sam put it, intense.

"Oh wow, they're...uh...pretty into it, huh?" Danny said.

"I'm jealous." Tucker grumbled "Being single sucks."

"It's not that bad." Sam rolled her eyes.

"You saying you wouldn't swap places with her if you could, Sam?"

Sam made a face like Tucker had just suggested she eat cat vomit.

"He's okay, I guess." Valerie shrugged. She looked down at spot on the table as she spoke "I wouldn't mind swapping places with him, though. The redhead's pretty cute."

"Oh," Danny said, turning to Valerie "So, like you're into girls? That's cool." He gave her a friendly smile.

"Yeah I'm...I'm actually bi." Valereie smiled back.

"Really?!" Tucker whipped around to face her. "That's awesome! Did you just figure that out recently, or-"

Sam kicked Tucker under the table.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Cool it with the estions-quay." she hissed.

"Nah, it's cool." Valerie waved her hand.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I've known for a while. Saw Brandy as Cinderella on TV when I was seven and something clicked. Paolo Montalban wasn't too bad as the prince either."

"Really?" Danny said "I had a crush on that Cinderlla when I was eight, actually. Can't speak for Montalban, though."

"No way!" Valerie smiled "I literally begged my dad to buy the VHS, I had it sooo bad for those two."

"That's so cool!" Tucker was beaming.

"Ha ha, yeah. I've actually still got that tape stashed in my dresser drawer. A lot of sentimental value there." Valerie looked back down at the table. "It's...actually kind of nice to tell someone."

"Wait," Sam raised her eyebrows "Are we the first people you've told?"

"Pretty much. My dad would probably be cool with it, it's just kind of awkward because you know, he's my dad. And we didn't really talk about this kind of stuff in my...old friend group."

"LGBT+ stuff?"

"Personal stuff."

"Kind of seems like that defeats the point of having frien- Ow!"

This time Tucker kicked Sam.

"Eh, you're not wrong." Valerie said. "I mean, I guess we did share stuff sometimes, just nothing too deep. You know how it is in Amity Park, especially at Casper. People aren't like, outright homophobic if they find out you're gay or whatever, they just..."

"Get kind of weird when you talk about it?" Danny finished.

"Yeah."

"Order number twelve!" Someone called up front.

"That's us." Danny said "I'll go grab them."

"I'll help." Sam stood up and followed Danny.

No one said much after Danny and Sam returned with the food. Ghost fighting was hungry work.

"Welp, I better get going soon." Danny said after they'd all finished eating "I want to get my homework out of the way in case some ghost raccoons decided to go through our trash later or something."

"Smart plan." Sam nodded "Tucker and I were going to go back to my place to do some training."

"Sounds terrible." Danny smirked.

"Yeah, we don't all have supernaturally enhaned abilities." Sam elbowed Danny "Some of us have to work for our brawn."

"I mean, if you want to try frying yourself with who knows how many volts of pure ecto energy, go ahead." Danny rubbed his arm.

A thoughtful look crossed Sam's face.

"Oh, and you also have to regularly clean my parents' lab."

"You know what, I think I'll stick to building muscle the old fashioned way." Sam said, flexing her arm. "Ecto stains do not come out without a fight. Even in black clothes."

"Sam's got her own private home gym." Tucker told Valerie "It's decked out with everything. Treadmills, weights, ellipticals, those gymnastic ring thingies, you name it."

"Nice." Valerie said "I mostly just fly around the park and set up old soup cans to shoot out of trees. And curl some dumbells I found in a closet. I mean sure, we couldn't keep vanity, but we kept the box of weights my dad hasn't touched in a decade." Valerie sighed and rested her chin on her hand "I suppose I should be thankful, though. At least that gives me something to strength train with."

Sam seemed to think carefully before speaking.

"You...could come too, if you want to Valerie. To train, I mean."

"Really?" Valerie said.

"Sure." Sam shrugged "If you're going to be regularly fighting ghosts with us, then you should be in the best shape you can be."

"Yeah, I definitely noticed ghost fights were a lot less strenuous after Sam and I started working out regularly." Tucker said "I'm honestly surprised the first few attacks didn't kill me. Running from ghosts is hard work. And the more work-out buddies you have, the funner it is! Right Sam?"

"Sure." Sam smirked "Maybe Valerie'll actually be able to keep up with me on the treadmill."

"Hey!" Tucker said "It's not my fault you cheat!"

"Tucker, I've been running on that things regularly for years. That's not 'cheating'."

"I'd call a multi-year headstart cheating." Tucker said indignantly.

He suddenly frowned.

"Aw dang, I forgot, it's Cleaning Day at my house."

"Cleaning day?" Valerie raised an eyebrow.

"It sounds fake, but it's very real." Danny said grimly. "They do it every month. I'm not allowed to come over Tucker's on Foley Cleaning Day."

"You don't escape Foley Cleaning Day." Tucker confirmed "My folks are usually very nice and normal people, but if I'm not home in fifteen minutes, they might actually kill me.

"Oh wow, your parents really go hard for cleaning, huh?" Valerie glanced awkwardly at Sam "Well, I guess we can train together another time or whatever."

"What? No, it's fine. We can work out, just the two of us." Sam's face fell a little as if she only just realized what exactly she was signing up for.

"Oh, okay." Valerie seemed genuinly surprised that Sam hadn't cancelled. "Yeah, sure. That'd be...cool."

"Yup." Sam said "Totally cool."

Tucker and Danny watched the awkward exchange, completely unsure what to do.

"Welp," Danny stood up quickly "I'd better get going."

Everyone else stood up and followed him out of the booth. Both groups split up once they were outside The Nasty Burger, Sam and Valerie heading to Sam's house, and Danny and Tucker heading to their own homes.

--------------------------------------------------

"They'll...be okay. Right?" Danny said after he and Tucker had been walking for a bit.

"Sam and Valerie?" Tucker raised an eyebrow at Danny "Why wouldn't they be?"

"I don't think Sam's exactly Valerie's biggest fan."

"Aw, come on Danny. That was just one particular...incident that they talked out. Sure, they might not be BFFs or anything, but they've gotten along fine in ghost fights and stuff since then."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Danny said.

"Besides, if Sam had a problem hanging out with Valerie alone, you know she would not hesitate to say so."

"That is very true." Danny laughed.

"Uh, speaking of Valerie though..."

"What's up with Valerie?"

"Nothing's up with her, I was...kind of thinking about asking her out."

"Really?" Danny smiled "Well good. it's about time! I mean, you've liked her for-"

"Alright, alright, knock it off!"

Danny frowned.

"What's the matter with you?"

"What? A guy can't request that people don't tease him about his love life?"

"It's not that, Tuck. You just don't usually mind teasing this much."

"I'm just kind of nervous about it. Asking Valerie out, I mean."

"What? But you've asked out tons of girls. This technically isn't even the first time you've asked Valerie out."

"This is different."

"How?"

Tucker adjusted his back pack straps.

"Because I'd actually care if she turned me down."

"Oh."

There was a brief pause while Danny processed what Tucker had said.

"So you like, actually like-like her, huh?"

"Yeah, Valerie's really cool. And a good friend. Like, when I asked all those girls out to the dance, I just wanted a date, you know? I mean, it wouldn't be the end of the world or anything if she did say 'no', but it would hit a little harder than getting rejected by a girl I barely know."

"Yeah, that's definitely understandable."

They walked in silence for a few seconds.

"Hey, would you mind not mentioning any of this to Sam?" Tucker asked.

"Sam already knows you have a crush on Valerie, you're kind of super obvious dude."

"No, I mean don't tell her I'm asking Valerie out. I'm nervous enough as it is. I don't need Sam making fun of me."

"She wouldn't make fun of you for this."

"She's been teasing me about Valerie since day one."

"Okay true, but if she knew how important this was to you I'm sure she wouldn't."

"Maybe, but I still don't want to tell her just yet, okay?"

Danny frowned.

"You want to keep this a secret from Sam?"

"Just until after I actually ask Valerie out." Tucker said "And then I'll tell Sam. And I will ask her out soon."

Sam was one of Tucker's best friends. The fact that he wanted to keep something like this from her didn't sit well with Danny, even if it was just for a tiny bit.

"Okay, what's up with you two?"

"What do you mean?"

"It feels like you've been at each other's throats for months. And it's beyond friendly banter. I don't know what's going on, but it feels like something happened between you two that you refuse to talk about."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, dude." Tucker said.

Danny wasn't satisfied, but they had arrived at his house, and Danny knew Tucker needed to be home soon. He'd just have to interrogate him another day.

"If you say so." Danny relented "But maybe consider talking to Sam if there's something you're not telling me. Anyway, this is my stop. See you tomorow. Have fun cleaning." Danny started up the steps.

"You know I won't."

"And good luck with Valerie!" Danny called.

Tucker let out a strangled noise as Danny shut the door behind him.

--------------------------------------------------

The walk back to Sam's house was painfully silent.

Despite her initial (admittedly hostile) reaction to Valerie, the two of them had gotten along just fine with each other the past few weeks.

Not great, not bad, just fine.

Outside of ghost fights, Sam and Valerie barely said a word to each other. Not maliciously, it was more that neither of them could really figure out what to say to the other.

They worked together well enough in combat, but Sam found there was an awkwardness between them that wasn't there with Danny or Tucker.

An awkwardness that was definitely here now.

"Welp, this is my place." Sam said, not looking to see Valerie's reaction. Since her dad worked security for the Mansons, Valerie already knew Sam's family was rich, but Sam still couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious.

"Not bad." Valerie said as she looked over the giant house.

The Manson's house brought up some mixed feelings in Valerie. Not too long ago, she'd been living in a house that size. Now she and her dad lived in an apartment and had to share a bathroom.

That being said, Valerie was thankful that her dad had found a better apartment for them after he'd gotten a decent job. And this one was a lot closer to Valerie's school.

But still, she missed the home she grew up in.

Sam led Valerie inside and down a set of stairs to the basement gym.

Valerie looked around, clearly impressed. The space was as decked out as Tucker had said. The Manson's home gym might have been mistaken for a public gym, if it wasn't for the fact that the equipment was only set up for one or two people to use at a time.

Sam took Valerie around the space and gave her the basic rundown. Valerie actually seemed to already have some familiarity with fitness equipment, and once the tour was done she went to inspect the rack of weighted plates.

Sam took a breath. She figured she should at least try to start up some kind of friendly conversation with Valerie. Just to try to break the ice.

"Hey uh, nice job out there today." Sam said "Ember doesn't com around a lot, but she's a pretty tough ghost. You did good." Sam hoped she didn't sound as awkward as she felt.

"Thanks. You too. Hey, how'd you know that guy with the boat?"

"Arnie? My grandma plays cards with him sometimes."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Sam wanted to keep talking, but she didn't know what to say next. What should she talk about? Sam barely knew anything about Valerie. What was she even interested in outside of ghost hunting?

The silence had been stretching on too long and Sam's scrambled brain landed on the thing she'd most recently learned about Valerie.

"So," Sam said "Back at The Nasty Burger. That was cool. When you told us you were bi, I mean."

"Yeah?" Valerie's tone was hard to read.

Maybe that had been a bad topic choice. Where was Sam supposed to go with that?

A lightbulb went off in Sam's head; she could tell Valerie she was aromantic! This was perfect! An exchange of similar information to establish mutual trust and connection.

"I find that kind of funny since-"

"What? Why?" Valerie's face hardened and she gripped the ten-kilogram disc in front of her like a shield.

Sam realized with horror the way Valerie thought she might've been about to end that sentence.

Operation improve-tense-relationship-with-Valerie was going just fantastic.

"I just meant that I kind of run on the opposite end of the spectrum." Sam said.

"What'd you mean?" Valerie asked.

"I'm like reverse bi. I don't like anybody." Sam internally facepalmed. 'Reverse bi'? Did she just seriously say that?

"Well, that's not exactly shocking."

"I meant romantically." It took all of Sam's willpower to avoid tacking 'you idiot' onto the end of that sentence.

Maybe she should just go back to being enemies with Valerie. It would be a lot easier (and a lot less painful) than her attempt at friendship so far.

"Like you're aromantic? That would be pretty on-brand for you." Valerie grinned.

Sam felt her heart stop.

"Wait, you know what aromantisism is?"

"Yeah, I was on a bi forum and someone mentioned it."

"Okay, that's really cool," Sam smiled "But why was someone talking about aromantisism on a bi forum?"

"I think the poster was both. Like, they were aromantic and bi."

"You can be both?"

"Yeah. I guess there's actually, like, a couple different kinds of attractions, so some people are more than one thing. That was a pretty neat rabbit hole I got sucked into."

"Huh. Didn't know that. That's interesting. Are you more than one thing?"

"Nah. It was just neat to read about. You?"

Sam considered this.

"Nah. Just aromantic feels pretty right."

"Rad. Recent discovery for you?"

"Yeah. Just figured it out on that trip we took last weekend. Had a weird conversation that made some things clear."

"Heh, been there."

"With the bi thing?"

"Hm? Oh, nah, I figured that one out pretty early on, so it's always felt...normal, I guess. But recently I have been thinking about some other things, and...well, I'm not really sure, but I think I might be demi."

"What's that?"

"I don't think I can really like someone in a romantic way if I'm not close with them first. Like, they have to be a friend first."

"Really?" Sam raised an eyebrow "But I've seen you go to a few dances with people you don't really hang out with, and didn't you say you had a crush on Cinderella? Cuz I feel like you weren't personal friends with Brandy Norwood as a kid."

"Well, it's...I don't really know how to explain it, but crushes with fictional characters are...different."

"Huh. Okay."

"But that wouldn't make me less demi!"

"Oh, yeah, no, for sure." Sam said earnestly.

Valerie paused, taken aback by the lack of challenge from Sam.

"...So that makes sense to you?"

"Not really, if I'm being honest." Sam shrugged "But in my experience, the way you feel doesn't have to make sense. It just...is."

"Huh." Valerie said "That's pretty deep."

"Read that on a forum I found the other day." Sam said "So, did you like Kwan? I remember you two were going to go to the last dance together before- well, you know." Kwan had ditched Valerie at the last second and she'd ended up going with Tucker as a last resort. "To be honest, the whole going-to-the-dance with someone always confused me. I never got why it was such a big deal to go alone."

"I mean, going to the dance with someone is more about status. You don't really need to like your date, you just need to prove you're desirable. I may have been willing to go to a dance with Kwan, but I definitely don't like him that way. He's kind of nice, but he's also a total idiot who just goes along with what people tell him to do."

"I despise people like that." Sam glowered.

"But I did have to go with someone, and he asked me, and we were both part of the popular crowd, so you know. I mean, going with someone unpopular was preferable to going alone, but it's better to go with someone popular and not risk being too associated with the socially undesirable."

"This is legitimately how you thought about things?" Sam rubbed her temples "I'm getting tired just listening to you. Uh, no offense."

"None taken. Honestly, you're not wrong. It's actually a huge relief to not be caught in that mindset anymore. Turns out the only other people who really cared in the first place were the other popular kids. Ironically, it was the people I called my friends who were enforcing the idea that I constantly needed to keep up that 'socially acceptable' image. And I never considered how messed up that was for even a second!"

Valerie's knuckles turned white. She noticed this and put the plate she was clutching back on the rack.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get into all that."

"What? No, it's fine. Paulina and her crew are vultures. I totally understand."

"Do you? Cuz Like, no offence, but you three never seemed to be bothered by this stuff. Especially not you. You just say and do whatever you want and you don't care what people think about you. I wish I was more like you."

"You...do?" Sam was genuinely surprised to hear that. She never thought she'd hear anyone say that, least of all Valerie Gray.

"Yeah. You never hold back so people will like you. If I was more like you, maybe I wouldn't have wasted so much time with all that 'popular kid' nonsense. Hunting ghosts with you three and keeping Amity Park safe is the most fulfilled I've ever felt in my life. If I hadn't spent so much time caught up in my own self importance, I could've found people I actually trusted way sooner, and it makes me so angry that I didn't. I mean, it wasn't like my life was terrible or anything. My dad's great and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy all the shopping sprees and tennis lessons, but I could've been a much better person so much earlier and I wasn't. I hate that. I hate that it took almost dying and losing everything for me to start caring about things that actually mattered."

Sam was stunned by how raw Valerie's words were. She had always seemed so self-assured. In Sam's mind, Valerie in a way seemed above such angst.

Of course now Sam realized that was kind of ridiculous. Valerie, however well she carried herself, was still human, and just as susceptible to human fear and doubt as anyone else.

"Well...you're here now." Sam said "So that's gotta count for something."

"But I could've- should've gotten 'here' earlier. I mean," Valerie gestured around the room "You were raised with the same financial status as me, and you didn't turn out to be a total self-absorbed snob."

"I mean, I'm not perfect either, I can be kind of self-absorbed sometimes." Sam scratched the back of her head "And honestly...sometimes I think the only reason I do a lot of the 'good' things I do is just because I to end up being like my parents."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I spent years watching them putting on fancy outfits and fake smiles and bending over backwards just so the right people would like them. And not even for anything. There was no goal or greater purpose for their stupid charade. They wasted so much time nitpicking their appearances just to be whatever the adult version of 'the popular kids' is. And I was just an accessory to only let me wear these awful frilly pink dresses, and they'd always laugh at me whenever I brought up certain serious things they didn't want to think about. They were always trying to force me into this stupid mould just to impress some idiots who didn't even care about us. My mom actually tried to bleach my hair when I was seven."

"Oh." Valerie's eyes widened in horror "That's...really messed up."

Sam felt herself shaking a little.

She didn't often talk about this stuff in detail, even to Danny and Tucker. She wasn't sure they'd really get it. They thought it was cool that Sam was rich and could just 'buy whatever she wanted'. Sure, there were definitely perks to her life, but Sam often wondered if it was worth the annoyances she had to put up with everyday.

Sure, she'd learned how to deal with her parents constant criticisms and occasional yelling, and she'd gotten pretty good at fighting back and channeling her anger into productivity as she'd gotten older, but even after all this time her parents' behaviour still wore at her.

So once Sam had started talking, she found it difficult to stop. To her surprise, Valerie did actually seem understanding towards Sam's situation, but Sam wasn't sure how she felt exposing this much of herself to someone she didn't know that well.

Sure, she'd wanted to get to know Valerie better, but this was a bit too much at once.

Sam needed to lighten things up a little.

"It's actually a funny story." she continued "That incident's actually why my mom started wearing gloves. I fought her with all the ferocity a seven-year-old could, and ended up biting her wrist so it left a mark for a week."

Sam laughed as she finished her story. Valerie laughed too, but it was stilted.

Maybe that story wasn't as funny as Sam had always thought...

"It wasn't a total sob story," Sam hurriedly switched topics "I had my grandma. She was always nice. And really funny. She always made faces behind my parents back when they were ranting at me, and she let me try her champagne at one of the stupid galas my parents forced me to go to. It was pretty gross." Sam smiled at the memory "Lots of kids with bad parents don't have someone like her in their lives, so I really could've had it a lot worse. Not to mention how handy it is to be able to finance some of our ghost hunting endeavours."

"Still though..." Valerie said.

Sam frowned. The amount of pity in Valerie's voice made her feel weird. Yeah, her childhood had been kind of rough, but it wasn't that rough...

She wasn't sure how she felt about Valerie's reaction. Or about sharing so much with Valerie in the first place. Or about what Valerie had shared with her.

They'd covered a lot of ground in such a short conversation. It had felt kind of good, and Sam had managed to ease some of the tension between her and Valerie, but now she was feeling pretty drained emotionally. She needed a break from deep conversation.

"So yeah, I learned very early on that all that pomp and ceremony was pointless, and there was no point in torturing yourself for approval that isn't real love anyway." Sam quickly summarized "Anyway, I'm gonna work on some pull-up exercises. You end up having to do so much more climbing than you'd expect when ghost hunting. Well, those of us that can't fly, anyway. Be careful if you're gonna use the barbell. It's easy to overdo it."

"Yeah, don't worry. This isn't my first rodeo."

"Good." Sam nodded as she headed to the pull-up bar.

The two of them spent the next hour exercising in near silence.

Sam watched Valerie pick out some weights for the barbell while she held herself up on the pull-up bar.

She hadn't meant for things to go that deep, and she had a feeling Valerie neither did Valerie.

A few months ago Sam had written Valerie off as another one of Paulina's airhead friends, and now here they were baring their souls to each other.

And it had been so effortless.

She'd only known Valerie for a short time, but she'd just gone full force into subjects she barely touched with Danny or Tucker.

Valerie was so different from them. Maybe that was it. She understood what feeling pressured to keep up appearances was like. Danny had never had the option with his parents' reputation following him everywhere, and Tucker had no qualms hanging out with the nerds, openly carrying his PDA everywhere, and constantly quoting Star Trek. He was a full blown geek and he never seemed to feel the need to try and hide it.

Sam didn't either, but they didn't know what it was like having a constant presence in your life trying to force you to be something you're not.

And she'd had no idea it'd feel this way to have someone understand what that was like.

Sam was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't notice Valerie was finishing up putting her weights away.

"Whew!" Valerie wiped her forehead with her arm "That was way better than my dad's old hand weights! I should probably get going now, though. Thanks for having me."

"Sure." Sam dropped down from the bar "Hey, feel free to drop by anytime. Seriously, even if I'm not around you can still use the gym."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Ghost hunters gotta keep in shape. The same invitation's open to Tucker, but he never uses it. Don't know why. Personally, I love burning off steam down here."

"I'll...keep that in mind." Valerie smiled "Thanks."

"No problem. You, uh, need me to show you the way out?"

"Nah, I'm good. I remember." Valerie said, grabbing her backpack. She stopped at the foot of the stairs. "Your gym's pretty cool. And...I enjoyed our conversation. Earlier."

"Yeah," Sam scratched the back of her head "Me too."

Valerie smiled.

"Well, see you later Sam." she said as she headed up the stairs.

Sam waited until she was sure Valerie was gone. Once she couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, Sam flopped down on the weight bench and let out a breath.

Truthfully, she was a little relieved Valerie was finally gone, but some part of her was looking forward to hanging out with Valerie in the future.

"It's progress, I suppose." Sam said to the empty room.

--------------------------------------------------

Valerie wasn't sure how to feel about what had just happened.

She'd assumed Sam had only invited her to her gym to be polite. It genuinely surprised her when Sam had actually agreed to hang out with her alone. It wasn't like she thought Sam hated her, or vice versa. They got along just fine in ghost fights, but Valerie had gotten the impression Sam didn't exactly want to be BFFs from their...tumultuous first meeting.

But Valerie had somehow ended ended up spilling her guts to Sam, and Sam had done the same. That was truly shocking.

Then again, Valerie had kind of done the same with Tucker and Danny on separate occasions. Valerie wasn't the kind of person to hold her tongue, but she hadn't really shared such deep parts of herself with her old friends. And yet she did so so easily with those three.

It was a little scary how open she found herself being with her new friends.

Were they friends?

Sure they fought ghosts together, and they always invited her to hang out with them afterwards, but Valerie had been pretty sure that the A-listers were her friends, and they-

Valerie shook her head.

No, her new friends weren't anything like her old 'friends'. She felt comfortable with Tucker, Danny, and even Sam in a way she never had with Dash, Paulina, and any of the others.

It was a good thing that she could open up to Danny, Tucker, and Sam, she told herself. That meant her relationship with them was better than the A-Listers.

Strange and different, but better.

"Hey Dad!" Valerie called as she opened their apartment door "I'm home!"

"Hey Sweetheart!" her Dad "Did you have fun with your friends?"

"Yeah." She said "I did. We hung out by the wharf for a while and then went to The Nasty Burger."

"The wharf? Heh, you teenagers sure like hanging out in the strangest of places."

"It's nice." Valerie said defensively "It's...you know...peaceful. Anyway, how was work?"

#friends in strange places #fisp

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sunnys567 · 10 months

Text

the weight that ao3 puts on their unpaid volunteers is disgusting. not that i expect ao3 users to have any semblance of morals or ethics but how do you donate hundreds of dollars to some fanfic website to then post about how brave the UNPAID volunteers are and how much work they have to do. outside of endless hours of tag-wrangling and shit, they're working to keep a really-not-well-oiled machine running while said machine racks in nearly $300k a year.

and the fact that after all this, you losers are going to be inclined to donate even MORE money, which will DEFINITELY not be going to those volunteers y'all respect so much... you guys are pathetic.

483 notes · View notes

sunnys567 · 10 months

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FYI, I mostly post stuff on my main account (Oblivious-aro). Not really sure why I made a separate blog for writing stuff in the first place.

I will still post Fisp chapters here, though.

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sunnys567 · 10 months

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Friends in Strange Places Ch. 5

What if Vlad was good instead of evil? Link to chapter 1:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14074558/1/Friends-in-Strange-Places

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Although no one was paying attention, Jazz continued her narration. Tucker and Sam sat in silence, avoiding eye contact with anyone, while Danny stared out the window.

"Hey!" Danny interrupted Jazz "I think I can see the lake!"

Jazz stopped talking and looked out the window.

"Yeah!" she said "And some of the houses. Wow, the architecture is just phenomenal!"

Tucker and Sam rushed over to look too (the lakeview was only on Danny and Jazz's side, and the Fenton parents had always been pretty lax about seatbelts).

"Finally!" Tucker pumped his fist "I am so ready to get out of this vehicle."

"There sure are a lot of trees. It's nice. Shady." Sam remarked. "Those houses are a bit much, though. Which one's Vlad's?"

"Vlad's house should be coming up right about..." Maddie scanned out the window "There!"

She pointed to a minty green house they were steadily approaching. It was decadent, but nowhere neat as large as all the other houses on the lakefront.

"Ope, there's the driveway, turn there Jack."

They turned and drove down Vlad's (very long) driveway, to find Vlad himself standing at end of it. Danny wondered if he'd been standing there long.

When Danny stepped out of the RV behind Sam and Tucker, the first thing he noticed (besides his wobbly car legs) was Vlad's outfit. He wasn't wearing his usual suit, but instead a yellow golf shirt with green stripes around the waist, sleeves, and collar tucked into khaki pants.

"Ah, The Fentons, and friends." Vlad nodded towards Sam and Tucker "Welcome to my summer villa." Vlad gestured to the beautiful structure behind him.

"Wow Vlad," Maddie said "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but this is much ritzier than the little cottage I was expecting."

"Did I say cottage on the phone? Ah, see my mother had taken to calling it 'The Cottage', and it seems at some point I picked up the habit."

"Yeah, that does sound like something Nedelya would do." Jack nodded. "I see you managed to sneak in the ol' Packer's colour scheme past her?"

"Ah, so you noticed."

"You betcha! I suppose the inside is littered with yellow trim?"

"Gold, to be precise."

"Classic Vladdie!" Jack slapped Vlad on the back, knocking the wind out of him.

"Classic Jack." Vlad wheezed.

"Alright, as much as I'd love to stand around chitchating," Maddie said "We'd better get the food we brought into a fridge."

"Oh Maddie, you're barely staying for two days, you didn't have to-"

"Oh, nonsense Vlad. You're being very generous by letting us all stay at your place, including Danny's friends. The least we can do is bring some groceries."

"Well, since you've already gone to the trouble, I suppose I'll show you the kitchen."

--------------------------------------------------

While Jack and Maddie started putting the groceries away, Vlad took the kids upstairs. He dropped Sam and Jazz off at their room, and then showed Danny and Tucker theirs.

"Feel free to explore wherever you'd like in the house." Vlad said "I'll be in the office, which is just in the next room over, finishing up some straightening if you need anything." Vlad gave a small wave as he left.

Danny and Tucker's room was identical to Sam and Jazz's. The floor was made of some kind of dark hardwood, and the walls were green with thins gold designs on it. There were two beds with solid wooden frames and green covers. Mounted on the wall between the beds, above a wooden nightstand, was a golden light fixture with a little chain hanging from it.

Tucker flopped onto one of the beds.

"Springy, yet firm with just enough give." Tucker folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "Very nice. And I must say, I'm a fan of all these decorative pillows."

"Seems like a bit much." Danny said "What on earth does one person need seven pillows for?"

"Sneak attack!"

Danny turned intangible as a pillow sailed through his face and hit the wall behind him.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

Danny turned tangible and stuck his tongue out at Tucker.

"Nothing you can do about it, Tuck."

Tucker crossed his arms poutily.

Danny tossed his backpack onto the other bed.

"I'm gonna go talk to Vlad real quick." he said.

"Alright, don't be too long though, cuz I definitely want to grab Sam and go house-exploring before dinner. Maybe we'll find a hidden passageway!"

"What about Jazz?" Danny asked.

"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting about Jazz. It's been a while since we've really hung out with her."

"It really hasn't." Danny rolled his eyes as he left the room.

The door next to their guestroom (which Danny assumed was the office Vlad was talking about) was open, so Danny stepped inside.

The office had the same green walls as the guestrooms, just without the gold designs. A bookshelf with glass doors took up the entire left wall. Vlad stood at the back of the room by a plain empty wooden desk.

It didn't seem like this office was used for much.

"Are you and your friends finding everything all right?" Vlad asked.

"Yeah, we're all great." Danny closed the door behind him. "So, you're telling my parents this weekend, huh?"

"Indeed. Speaking of, how did things go with your sister? You did talk to her, right?"

"Jazz? Oh yeah, I did tell her. It turned out she already knew, actually."

"Really?" Vlad's eyes widened "And you had no idea?"

"Apparently she saw me go ghost a while back, but she wanted to wait until I was ready to tell her."

"Well," Vlad blinked, his expression unreadable "It sounds like things went well then."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad." Vlad smiled.

"Me too. I didn't tell her about you, though. I wanted to make sure you were okay with that first."

"I appreciate that." Vlad nodded. "You may tell her about me. It would probably be best to have her in the loop. Especially once your parents know about me."

"Yeah." Danny nodded "Are you gonna tell them tonight?"

Vlad didn't answer right away.

"No. I think I'll do it tomorrow. Later in the day. Probably after dinner."

"I think we'll be gone before then. Mom and Dad said we'd need to set out by 2:00 so we're not home too late."

"Ah yes, I suppose you do have school Monday, don't you? I'll tell them after lunch, then." Vlad sighed. "It truly is tragic how short the weekend is."

"Agreed. You, uh, nervous?"

"I'm...trying not to think about it too much until the moment arrives. I'm going to tell them, and that's that. There's nothing to be gained in dwelling on it."

"Yeah, I get that."

There was pause in the conversation.

Danny felt like he should say more. He knew what Vlad was going through better than anyone else possibly could, but the fact of the matter was that they didn't actually know each other that well. What encouraging words could Danny offer this person who was three decades older than him, and whom he hardly ever spoke to?

"You know," Vlad said "It brings me great joy, seeing you surrounded by people who know what happened to you and accept you. I wouldn't say I've had a bad life, far from it, but I'm glad you aren't going through what I went through alone."

Vlad sounded happy, but for some reason that made Danny feel worse for him than if he'd sounded sad.

"Well, for what it's worth, you're not alone anymore Vlad. Even if my parents don't accept you, you'll still have me and my friends. Not that they won't accept you, I know they totally will."

Vlad gave Danny a tired smile.

"I certainly hope so Little Badger."

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"Ah there you are, Vlad!" Maddie smiled as Vlad entered to the kitchen. "Got the kids all situated?"

"Yes, they're all set." Vlad said "I'll show you and Jack your room after we get the food all taken care of."

"Sounds good. It's so nice that we're finally able to spend some real quality time together." Maddie commented, putting a head of lettuce in the fridge.

Vlad gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, V-man!" Jack wrapped an arm tightly around Vlad. "I can finally catch you up on all the stuff Maddie and I have been working on! You are gonna love the Fenton-combobulator!"

"If you two don't mind," Vlad wriggled out of Jack's grip "I would actually prefer it if we didn't talk about anything ghost-related this weekend."

Jack frowned.

"Well, okay Vladdie. But, why-"

"Jack." Maddie said warningly.

Not that she wasn't also curious...

It couldn't have been trauma from the accident, Vlad had been very enthusiastic about their inventions when Jack took him down to the lab.

Especially the portal. He'd gone right up to it without a trace of fear or hesitation.

But she didn't want to risk pushing the issue. They'd wanted to spend time with Vlad like this ever since the reunion, and now that it was finally happening, Maddie just wanted to enjoy it. Preferably without without any drama.

"Alright, alright." Jack held up his hands. "No ghosts. I got it. Gives me more time to razz you, anyway. Seems The Packers aren't making it to The Super Bowl this year. Again."

"The Super Bowl isn't everything, Jack."

"I suppose that's true, but it's when Maddie makes her special chicken wings, so it's the most important football event as far as I'm concerned! By far!"

"Jack, that's far from a unique opinion." Vlad pinched his nose. "Though I must say, I'm interested in seeing how The Patriots..."

Jack and Vlad soon started throwing around terms and numbers that went over Maddie's head, but listening to their conversation still made her smile.

This was the Vlad she remembered. This was her friend.

For a while she'd wondered if he was even still in there, but now she could see him; he'd just been hidden behind some stuffy mask ever since the college reunion. The mask had slipped briefly in the lab at Fenton Works and in Colorado at three in the morning, but now it felt like it was truly and fully off.

This was the Vlad she and Jack had stayed up late running through concepts for theoretical inventions with, had scrounged the library for old newspapers with any articles on ghost sightings, had split whatever the 'deal of the day' was at Tony's Pizza's at least three days a week with.

It turned out that Vlad was still there, he just ordered more expensive pizzas these days.

Speaking of pizza...

"We should probably start getting supper made." Maddie said "Danny's friend Sam's a vegetarian, so she brought her own bean-based burgers, and we brought some vegetables for salads."

"And potatoes!" Jack piped up.

"Yes Jack. You start the potatoes, I'll do the salad, and Vlad can start on the patties."

Vlad's smile faded as he eyed the packages of ground beef on the table.

"You...didn't happen to bring any premade ones, did you?"

"Of course not!" Jack laughed. "The ones you make are waaay better V-man! Don't worry, we got the garlic powder and all those other spices and stuff you need!"

"Is there a problem, Vlad?" Maddie frowned concernedly.

"Well, it's jus been a while since I've actually- wait," Vlad eyed the little plastic bags next to the beef "You still remember the spice mixture I used?"

"Of course, V-man!" Jack patted Vlad's shoulder. "I'd never forget the spices for your burgers. Best I've ever had!"

"We actually use your recipe for burger night at our house." Maddie said.

"They never turn out quite as good as yours, though." Jack patted Vlad's shoulder again. "I don't know what your secret is Vladdie!"

It was strange. The fact that Jack and Maddie still remembered something as mundane as his hamburger recipe after all these years warmed his heart, but it also made it ache longingly.

"Well, Vlad, if you're not up to it, I certainly don't mind-"

"You know what?" Vlad cut Maddie off, his earlier hesitation replaced with burning drive "I'm pretty sure I remember how to do it." The fact that his friends had held on to such a small detail moved Vlad. "They aren't actually particularly difficult to make, I just haven't had anyone to make them for in a while."

Vlad turned to some cupboards next to the fridge.

"I know there's cutting boards around here somewhere...Jack, check the drawer near the stove for the kniv- on second thought, you should look through the cupboards while I find the knives, since you're, uh...taller than me."

"You got it V-man!" Jack beamed.

Maddie smiled as she watched Vlad opened and shut a few drawers.

Yes, that was the Vlad she knew. The Vlad she'd been missing. She continued to smile as Vlad and Jack handed her a knife and a cutting board and she began slicing tomatoes.

--------------------------------------------------

"Those were way better than the burgers Mom and Dad make!" Danny said.

"Yeah." Jazz agreed. "They're a lot less charred."

"Can't really give an opinion on the burgers," Sam said "But I am half-considering trying to talk my parents into getting some of that artisanal root beer."

The kids were all standing on Vlad's back deck. Danny had corralled them all outside after supper cleanup, figuring Vlad would want some tiem to catch up with Jack and Maddie privately.

"You know," Tucker said "I like Vlad Masters. His burger's are worthy of my mother's cooking, and he's a technological genius, but there is something weirdly off about him. He's too polite."

"Being poite's a bad thing?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"That's not what I mean, Danny. He's polite in a...weird way."

"Oh please," Sam said "He's putting on a front. I'd recognize the 'polite rich person' persona anywhere."

"Not to mention the fact that he's been living alone in a football themed castle for the last twenty years." Jazz said. "It'd be weirder if he wasn't a little off."

"It is strange that he suddenly invited your family out here after months of silence." Sam narrowed her eyes "It's kind of sketchy, actually."

"I actually might know something about that." Danny said.

The other three all turned to look at him.

"Vlad told me he was planned on telling Mom and Dad...something important this weekend."

"Is he going to tell them he's half-ghost!?" Jazz asked, her eyes widening.

Danny's heart skipped a beat.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, sorry. Do Sam and Tucker not know? I assumed they did, since Vlad invited them out here too."

"No, they know." Danny said. "The question is how do you know?"

"Wait," Tucker said "You didn't tell her about Vlad?"

"I was just about to! I had to get his permission first, and he's not around a lot."

"I mean, considering he sets off all the same ghost devices you do," Jazz started to count on her fingers "He was also the victim of a ghost portal accident, and the fact he's been avoiding Mom and Dad ever since said accident, it wasn't that hard to piece together."

"So, does that mean he's telling them right now?" Tucker asked.

"No. He said he planned on doing it tomorrow. I figured he wants to wait a bit and take the opportunity to spend some time with them before he tells them. You know, break the ice before he drops the bombshell on them."

"And spend one last weekend with them on the off chance they never want to see him again." Jazz added.

It took her a few seconds to realize that everyone was staring at her with horrified expressions.

"Not that that'll happen!" she backtracked "Sure, Mom and Dad will be pretty shocked and probably have a million questions, but they will accept him. I just mean that it might be hard for Vlad to have faith in them right now, you know, all things considered."

"Hey wait," Sam turned to Danny "Once your parents know that half-ghosts are a thing, doesn't that open up the possibility of your parents figuring you out?"

"I was also kind of worried about that." Danny said "But Vlad said he'd throw them off the scent when he talks about the details of his accident. Also, considering all the stuff they've missed in the past, do you really think my parents'll put two and two together on this one?"

"Yeah, probably not." Jazz, Sam, and Tucker all said at the same time.

"And you know, if things do go well, I...actually kind of might want to tell Mom and Dad too."

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all gave Danny a sympathetic look, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, I think we should give them some time at the house. Let them catch up or whatever it is adults do." Danny said quickly.

"Yeah, sure thing." Tucker nodded. "But what on earth are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

No one answered him right away.

"Wanna go sit on the dock?" Danny shrugged.

--------------------------------------------------

Tucker sighed as he sat down, letting his feet hang over the edge.

It was a very simple wooden dock that had been painted white. A large boulder that with house's address number carved into it was resting in a little garden by the walkway from the house. The walkway split into two separate paths at the dock that Jazz said ran along the whole edge of the lake.

The view of the lake from the dock was spectacular, but Tucker wasn't appreciating that right now.

"No wi-fi, no video games, no ghosts, what are we even supposed to do?"

"Have you tried relaxing?" Sam asked dryly "Maybe enjoying this gorgeous view of nature?"

"I feel you." Jazz plopped down beside Tucker. "I left all my textbooks at home. They made my suitcase too heavy. But now I don't know what to do with myself."

"Oh for Pete's sake," Sam shook her head. Listening to these two was making her depressed "We could...uh..." Sam looked around, her eyes falling on the lake water "Go swimming?"

Sam squatted down and stuck her hand in the lake. She immediately pulled it out and shot up to her feet.

"Never mind." Sam shook the water off of her hand "That's way too cold for swimming."

"It'd probably be perfect in summer." Jazz said, lazily draping her own hand in the water.

Sam leaned against a mailbox.

"Yeah, Probably." she sighed. "Hey wait, why is there a mailbox on the dock?"

"For the mail jumpers." Jazz said.

"The what?" Tucker sat up slightly.

"There's a boat tour that goes around to deliver and pick up mail on the docks. The mail jumpers jump onto the dock, put the mail in the box, then jump back on while the boat's still moving."

"That sounds incredibly impractical." Sam said.

"And really cool!" Tucker added.

"It's really more of a tradition thing nowadays. They only do it in the summer for tourists."

"This place seems like it's only fun in the summer." Tucker grumbled, slouching again.

Danny rejoined the group, holding up the hem of his shirt.

"Whatcha got there?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Rocks." Danny squatted down and dumped the rocks noisily onto the dock. He picked one up, wound his arm back, and tossed it at the lake. It skipped four times.

"Woah!" Sam and Tucker said.

"Pssht." Jazz rolled her eyes. "Only four skips? Is that really all you got?" Jazz picked up a rock.

"It's not my fault. These rocks are terrible for skipping. Unfortunately, they were the best I could find."

"Blame the worker, not the tools." Jazz tossed the rock she was holding. It skipped three times before sinking. "Oh, wow, these rocks are terrible."

"How'd you do that?" Tucker picked up a rock and threw it. It lamely sunk into the lake with a splash.

"You just throw it kind of like a frisbee." Danny said, skipping another stone. It skipped three times.

"I don't know how to throw a frisbee. You know this." Tucker glared at Danny

"You're a terrible teacher, Danny." Jazz laughed.

"Says you!"

"Yeah, says me," Jazz stood up "The current rock skipping record holder."

"I broke your records ages ago!"

"Uh-huh, sure Danny, you totally broke my record when no one else happened to be around."

"I totally did! I found the perfect rock and got sixteen skips!"

"Allegedly."

"Oh yeah? Give me ten minutes with one of them," Danny jerked his thumb at Sam and Tucker "And I'll make them a better rock skipper than you!"

"Oh please," Jazz rolled her eyes "You think you're the better teacher? I'm the one who taught you how to skip rocks, remember?"

"Ha! Jokes on you! I was never listening to a word you said and figured it out on my own!"

"This argument doesn't even make any sense." Tucker said "And I've told you two how I feel about being offered up to disprove your petty-"

"I call Danny!" Sam raised her hand.

"I- wha, hey!"

"It's settled then." Jazz grabbed Tucker by the shoulders. "Whoever's student can do the most skips with a single rock is the winner."

"Fine by me." Danny crossed his arms and smiled cockily.

"We're going to go down by the shore so you two can't steal my skipping secrets."

"Like we're going to need them!" Danny called as Jazz dragged the befuddled Tucker to the other dock.

"Okay," Danny turned to Sam once Jazz and Tucker were out of earshot "So you just wind your arm back at waist level, then launch it. Try to give it a spin and keep it parallel to the water. Flatter rocks work best, but these were the best I could find."

"Okay, so, like this?" Sam threw a rock. It sunk without skipping.

"Eh, you've almost got it. Just do it like fifty more times and it'll probably click."

"This is what you call teaching?"

"It's how I learned. And by watching Jazz. She's actually a much better shower than teller."

Danny threw a rock and it skipped three times.

"Ugh. Seriously, these rocks are awful for skipping. I can usually get way more."

"Great. I'm sure this will be a productive lesson."

Sam threw another one. It also sank. She scowled but picked up another rock, determined to get at least one skip.

Danny and Sam practiced stone skipping for a while, only pausing when they ran out of rocks to get more. Danny's usually skipped between three and five times (at one point he did manage to get seven), and Sam did manage to get a skip here and there, but most of her rocks just sank.

After watching the seventh rock in a row sink, Sam decided she needed a little break. She watched Danny wind up a stone.

"Hey, Danny..." Sam said "Can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure."

"How old were you when you got your first crush?"

"Oh, uh..." Danny fumbled the rock he'd been about to throw. He hadn't been expecting her to ask that "I think I was, like, seven. You remember how I always picked Phoebe Phast in Turbo Racer Two as my racer?"

"Wait, you had a crush on Phoebe?"

"Well, I didn't really understand what it was at the time, but looking back, yeah it was totally a crush. Kind of explained why she was the only girl I ever picked as my character in a video game."

"Okay, so seven years old? Wow, that's younger than I expected. Okay, have you had any other crushes, besides for Paulina?" Sam almost managed to not roll her eyes at the mention of that name.

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I mean, I don't think there were any other super noteworthy ones. Mostly celebrities and the same popular girls everyone else was crushing on in middle school. I kinda like Penelope Ryan, but she moved away before I could tell her. I probably wouldn't have asked her out anyway. I hated the idea of asking anyone out at the time, looking the way I did. Turns out undiagnosed dysphoria really amps up the whole pre-teen self-consciousness."

Danny laughed. Sam didn't.

"But...why?"

"Why what?"

"I don't get it. I mean, Penny was cool, I guess, but Paulina's a jerk, and Phoebe Phast isn't even real. I just can't figure out what you see in them."

"They're hot?"

"That's it? That's all you need? But that doesn't make any sense!"

"You don't have to be so judgy. It's not like I can pick who I like."

"I'm not being judgy! It's just...you make it seem like falling in love is so simple. Like, you don't put any consideration into it at all, like it just happens!"

Danny had no idea why Sam was freaking out so much, or why she was nitpicking his old crushes, but it was really annoying him.

"You sound like Tucker." Sam said "You're not making any sense."

"Sam, you're the one not making any sense." Danny snapped "I don't know what you're trying to get at, but Tucker and I are the normal ones. You're the one who's being weird!"

Danny's stomach dropped.

Sam didn't say anything. Her expression was a cross between being really deep in thought and really angry.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"It's fine Danny."

"No, really, I didn't mean-"

"Drop it."

Danny realized that Sam was looking over his shoulder. He turned and saw that Jazz and Tucker were coming back.

Jazz looked very grumpy.

"Uh, what's up?" Danny asked. He snuck another glance at Sam. Her expression was still unreadable.

"You win." Jazz crossed her arms.

"What?"

"I said you win!" Jazz threw her arms in the air. Tucker seemed to be avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"That bad?" Danny asked him.

"It bounced back." Tucker muttered.

"What?"

"It bounced back!" Tucker repeated louder.

"What do you mean?"

"He threw the rock," Jazz said "And I didn't see it skip, so I thought it sunk, but then it came sailing back out of the water right between our heads. So, for our own safety, we are forfeiting the competition."

"Woo hoo." Sam cheered dryly "We win."

She threw another rock into the lake. It sunk without skipping.

"Hey Sam," Tucker said "Are you okay?"

Sam threw another rock. It bounced once before sinking.

"I am now." she said with a small smile "With that, I've officially beaten you properly."

Tucker scowled and crossed his arms. Jazz patted his back sympathetically.

No one noticed the green tentacle emerge from the water. It patted along the shore where Jazz and Tucker had just been before slinking back into the lake.

--------------------------------------------------

The adults chatted idly as they finished the supper cleanup. Once everything was put away, they moved their conversation to the deck with coffee that Vlad had brewed with a French press. He claimed it 'brought out a richer earthier flavour'. Jack and Maddie had no idea what he was talking about.

There was a slight breeze that rustled the leaves as the sun began to dip below the horizon. It was a beginning to get a little chilly, but the warm coffee helped.

"You know," Jack said "I never thought I'd say this, but taking a break from ghosts has been sort of nice in a way."

"I know." Maddie said. "When was the last time we took a break Jack?"

"Hmm, let's see..." Jack scratched his chin. "I think the last time was my last fishing trip with Danny, and that was...huh, I think that was before we got the portal working."

"It's been that long?" Maddie frowned.

"You two are certainly in good company." Vlad said "I don't think I've taken a proper vacation in years!"

"You may not research ghosts anymore Vlad," Maddie elbowed Vlad in the arm "But it's good to see you've still kept your bad habits from working in the least supported branch of the sciences."

They all laughed, followed by a brief moment of comfortable silence.

"I've been meaning to ask, Vlad," Maddie said "How's your mother?"

"Oh...she...passed away. A little while ago."

"Oh." Maddie covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Vlad."

"Yeah, sorry to hear that V-man." Jack put a sympathetic hand on Vlad's shoulder. "Nedelya Masters was a wonderful person. Sweet, but with such a practical wit..." Jack sighed.

"How long has it been Vlad?" Maddie asked gently.

"About..." Vlad scrunched up his face "Five years at this point. She died in her sleep. Heart attack, the doctors said she went quickly. We didn't really have a full funeral, just a small ceremony."

"Oh Vlad," Maddie placed her hand on his "I'm so sorry we weren't there."

"It's alright, you didn't know."

"But I wish we had." Maddie's eyebrows were creased. "Tell me you had at least had someone with you?"

Vlad did have a support system, but he didn't think that Maddie meant his therapist and a committee of ghost vultures.

"Er...of course I did." Vlad attempted to give Maddie a reassuring smile.

Maddie sighed.

"We should have been there for you," her grip on Vlad's hand tightened "Five years ago...you should have told us, we could have-"

Maddie stopped talking. She let go of Vlad's hand, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"You could have called us, Vladdie." Jack said softly "I know we hadn't spoken in a while, but we would have been there for you."

"I..."

Vlad wanted to say it was alright, it wasn't their fault, but he knew that that wasn't what they wanted to hear.

Jack looked between Vlad and Maddie. After a few seconds, he stood up and clapped a hand to both of their backs.

"Hey now," he smiled "I know that's pretty sad news, but this is supposed to be a happy visit. Old friends catching up, right? Here, I'll go make some more coffee and-"

Vlad and Maddie shot out of their seats.

"NO!" They shouted, simultaneously grabbing Jack's arms.

"Jack I love you, but Vlad's appliances are too expensive for your track record!" Maddie said.

"Remember what happened last time!" Vlad said

Jack held up his hands in surrender and sheepishly returned to his seat.

"The last time?" Maddie raised an eyebrow.

"Ah right, you weren't there for that." Vlad said. "Did we really never tell you that story?"

"No, you didn't." Maddie sat back down, staring at Vlad with intrigue in her eyes.

"Well," Vlad laughed and rubbed his face "You remember that week we told you you weren't allowed to come to our dorm room, and we wouldn't tell you why? Well, you see, Jack and I had just gotten a French press, and when we were trying it out for the first time, Jack decided to-"

"Hey, hey, wait a minute Vladdie! You forgot an important part! See Madds, when we went out to get the coffee press..."

Once Jack and Vlad finally managed to get through that story, it reminded Maddie of something that had happened with her roommate, which led to the trio swapping old college stories until it got too dark to be outside.

All things considered, it was a very nice evening.

--------------------------------------------------

Sam spat into the sink and set her toothbrush in the bottom half of its holder to dry.

She walked over to the bathroom door and paused with her hand on the knob.

"It's fine." Sam said to herself "It's just Jazz. Sure, you haven't really talked to her much since Danny became half-ghost, or before then really, but she's just Danny's sister. And it's just one night. How awkward can it be?"

Sam opened the door.

Jazz was sitting in the bed on the left side of the room, her blanket resting over her legs as she read a book.

Sam felt relieved. Reading meant no talking, and no talking meant no awkwardness.

Sam silently got under the covers of her own bed.

"Do you want to talk about what happened in the RV earlier?"

So much for no talking.

"What do you mean?"

"About your no-crush situation?"

So much for no awkwardness.

"What's there to talk about? I've never had any crushes, that's kind of the end of it."

"But how do you feel about that? You seemed a little defensive earlier."

"I wasn't defensive, I was just annoyed everyone was making such a big deal out of it. I haven't had a crush, who cares? Not me. I'm perfectly happy."

"Well I'm glad to hear that." Jazz looked up from her book "Although, just so you know, although it is perfectly normal for the rates of development in the adolescent psyche to vary from person to person, it's also normal to feel apprehensive about not reaching certain milestones at the same time as your peers."

"I'm not 'apprehensive'." Sam rolled her eyes. "It'll happen when it happens. I don't see the point in wasting my time with shallow high school romances that statistically don't last. Like, seriously, what's the appeal in hanging out with some guy not talking in a theatre? Or worse, trying to make romantic conversation at The Nasty Burger because most teenagers don't have the money for a real restaurant? I can just do that with friends, and it's way less awkward. What's the point in going through those motions?"

"While that's a perfectly valid perspective," Jazz said "There is value in the experimental relationships teenagers often have. It's true, those relationships often don't last, but they're a great opportunity for young minds to learn about things that'll be important for future more serious relationships, like personal preferences and boundaries. The negative impact of mistakes in the long term is also reduced in that time period, due to the lower-stakes nature of a high school romance compared to an adult one. I mean, the emotional reactions can still be quite volatile, but the lessons learned can help to form the foundation for dating knowledge later in life."

"That all sounds terrible. You're making me tired just thinking about it." Sam pulled the covers over her head, hoping to drown out Jazz's voice, but she just kept talking.

"I find it fascinating. You can learn so much about people from what they're like in a romantic relationship. Of course, like you said, it's fine if some people want to wait, or are aromantic. But I wouldn't dismiss-"

"Wait, aromantic?" Sam reemerged from the blankets "What's that?"

"It's when a person doesn't experience any romantic attraction."

"Like, at all?"

"I believe there are some nuances, but basically yes."

"That's a thing? I've never heard of that."

"Yeah, I don't think most people have. I did a lot of research into various LGBT+ identities when Danny came out, and I found some aromantic people online who talked about their experiences."

"Okay," Sam sat up straight "So you're saying it's possible for a person to never fall in love? Or get any crushes? Like, ever?"

"Yeah, turns out lots of people just don't."

"But, how do they know they won't ever?" Sam didn't know why her heart was beating so furiously "How can you tell it won't just happen later?"

"You know," Jazz scratched her chin "I don't really know. Maybe it's like how gay and straight people know they aren't bi. I suppose if we know you can know you can't possibly be attracted to some genders, then by the same principle you can know you won't be attracted to any of them!"

Jazz sounded like she'd just made an enlightening discovery. Sam just blinked at her in confusion.

"What I'm saying is there isn't really a way to tell. You've just got to figure it out for yourself."

"But how do you do that?"

"You seem to have a lot of questions about aromanticism. Is there maybe a reason for that?"

Sam suddenly felt...not fearful, more like she'd been caught doing something private.

"No."

But why did she feel like that? She was just asking questions, she wasn't even doing anything?

"Do you have any other questions?"

"No."

But Sam did have questions. So many questions. Questions she didn't even know how to ask.

"Hey, um, Jazz," she said "Are you...are you straight? Or something else?"

"I'd...like to keep that information to myself."

"Right, sorry." Sam's eyes snapped down to her bed sheets "I was being stupid. I shouldn't have asked."

"I'm not offended, Sam." Jazz smiled kindly "It's alright to ask questions, just as long as you respect the answer."

Jazz's words helped diminish Sam's embarrassment, but she wanted to change the subject.

Her eyes fell on Jazz's book.

"Hey wait a minute, I thought you said you didn't bring any of your textbooks."

"Huh? Oh, this isn't a textbook, it a book on the history of the Green Bay Packers."

"Oh?"

"I found it in the nightstand."

Sam opened the drawer and saw a small stack of books. They all seemed to be about the same football team.

"Wow," she said "Half-ghost and a massive dork. Vlad and Danny must get along great."

"Danny doesn't like football, but they probably would have lot's to talk about if Vlad ever bothered to visit."

Sam noticed a hint of venom in Jazz's voice.

"Maybe that'll all change after this weekend." Sam said.

"Hopefully, but..." Jazz pursed her lips "I didn't want to say too much in front of Danny, but do me a favour and try to be prepared for the worst."

"Wait, you think your parents aren't going to accept Vlad?"

"No, I do. Mom and Dad can be kind of tunnel visioned, but they're far from heartless. And they can be a lot more open-minded than they seem. I mean, they responded very positively to Danny being trans, despite having no idea what that even was until he told them, which I'll admit did surprise me. It's just...be ready just in case. Either way, be there for Danny for me. I know he really values your relationship. As friends, of course." Jazz added quickly "Having you and Tucker there really means a lot to him.

"Yeah, alright Jazz. You good if I turn the light out now?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Jazz set her book on the nightstand and yawned. "We should probably be well rested for tomorrow. No matter how it goes down it's going to be an ordeal."

"Yup." Sam reached for the wall light, but paused with the decorative chain in her hand "Hey Jazz?"

"Yeah?" Jazz had pulled the blankets up to her chin and didn't even bother opening her eyes to answer Sam.

"Having you there means a lot to Danny too. It means a lot to all of us."

Sam caught a glimpse of Jazz's eyes flickering open before she pulled the chain, obscuring her view in total blackness. She did not want to see Jazz's reaction.

Ugh!

Sam had felt like she should say something, but now she was regretting those last words. Could she have been any more cheesy?

Jazz didn't need reassurance, she was smart, she already knew how important she was to Danny. What was reassurance of something so obvious from Sam of all people worth?

Sam's spiraling was interrupted by a quiet voice in the dark:

"Thanks Sam."

The doubtful thoughts in Sam's head quieted. She silently smiled back at Jazz.

Sam laid awake for a while, thinking about what Jazz had said.

Everything she'd said.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny had just gotten out of the bathroom. He sat down on his bed and was about to turn off the light off when Tucker spoke.

"Hey, Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"If I ask you something, do you promise not to laugh?"

"Are you going to ask me what I saw in Phoebe Phast when I was seven?"

"What?"

"Uh, nothing. Go ahead, Tuck. I won't laugh, I promise."

"So you...you only like girls, right?"

Oh. This was about what happened in the RV.

"Um, yeah."

"So like no guys ever? Not even once in a while? Like, when they're really hot?"

"Nope." Danny shook his head "Not even once."

Danny waited for Tucker to continue, but a minute passed and Tucker still hadn't said anything.

For as long as he could remember, Danny and his friends had always come to each other whenever something was up. And by something, they meant anything, good, bad, big, or small.

This was especially true for Tucker, who'd always worn his heart on his sleeve, ever since Danny first met him in preschool.

His silence right now was incredibly concerning.

"Do you..." Danny didn't want to be invasive, but he felt like he at least try to get Tucker to talk about whatever was going on in his head "...maybe...not only like girls?"

Danny cringed. He hoped that didn't sound as awkward to Tucker as it did to him.

"I mean, like, yeah it's pretty much only girls," Tucker shrugged "But, like, occasionally there's someone, like some guy celebrities, and it's like, come on! You know?"

"Uh-"

"Sometimes there's just a guy who just checks all the right boxes, and I mean, how could anyone not be into that? Like, there's a reason Choi's as popular as he is! He's such a cool guy and his smile just makes the world brighter!"

"Oh, um-"

"But it, like, hardly ever happens. It's at least ninety-nine percent girls. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with liking guys, but like it hardly ever happens, so it doesn't really mean anything, right?"

Well, at least he was talking now.

Danny looked at Tucker's pleading eyes. He wasn't really sure what Tucker wanted to hear, but he thought it was pretty obvious what was going on.

"You know Tuck, it kind of sounds to me like you might be bi."

Tucker's expression made Danny wonder if that had been the right thing to say.

"I mean..." Tucker spoke slowly "Probably not? I only get crushes on guys really rarely. And I mean, like, really rarely. I'm not trying to be defensive about it, I swear, I just don't think I like enough guys to qualify for...bi."

The last word came out very quietly.

"I'm...not really sure if that's how that works." Danny said.

"And how would you know?!" Tucker snapped.

"I, uh..." Danny blinked, taken aback by the sudden hostility.

Tucker let out a strained sigh and turned away from Danny.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's okay, Tuck."

"I know you're trying to help. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Hey, seriously, it's okay. Don't beat yourself up over this Tuck, I get it."

"Really? Cuz I don't." Tucker took off his glasses and rubbed his face "I'm just...really confused right now. I seriously thought every guy got crushes on guys sometimes."

"I mean, I can tell when guys are, like, attractive, I guess." Danny said. "Usually I just feel jealous, if anything, though."

"Yeah, there's guys I want to be, but it's definitely different from guys I like. Huh, that's...kind of weird to say out loud." Tucker sat up and looked back at Danny. "I mean, I guess it's not really a big deal, it's just...for some reason, learning that this isn't actually something most guys do, it almost feels like...like I'm a different person than I thought I was all my life. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but I 'm not really sure how else to describe it..."

"No, that kind of makes sense. I kind of saw myself in a new light when I first realized I was trans."

"For real?" Tucker's eyes lit up "Was it kind of like you thought you knew where you were going one minute, and then you suddenly realized you had no idea?"

"Well...it was kind of the opposite, actually." Danny felt bad for crushing Tucker's hope, but he felt like he should be honest. "Once I found out what 'trans' was, everything kind of clicked into place. It was like...like I'd been trying to put a puzzle together my whole life, and someone had finally given me the box the puzzle came in so I could see the picture. It was a bit rough, but I finally had a map of where I was going."

Danny smiled at the memory, but then one look at Tucker's face brought him back to the present.

Between the conversation with Sam at the dock and now, Danny was being very unhelpful. He just couldn't seem to figure out what to say to make his friends feel better.

Was he a bad friend? He wasn't trying to be.

Truthfully, Danny didn't really understand why Tucker was so upset. Learning more about who he was had been enlightening for Danny. It brought him peace and made everything feel like it made so much more sense.

For Tucker, it seemed to be doing the opposite. If anything, he seemed to feel closer to how Danny felt before he figured out he was trans.

Maybe Tucker needed to hear something more like what Danny had wanted to hear back then.

"Although, it was pretty hard before someone gave me that map. I definitely felt totally lost before that. But I did learn something very important from feeling that lost for so long."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"You won't be lost forever, even if it feels that way right now. You might not figure it out soon, but you will figure it out eventually. And I mean, it's not like there's any rush."

Tucker didn't say anything right away. He set his glasses down on the nightstand.

"How are you being so calm about all of this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, this...whatever this is, it kind of changes everything, doesn't it?"

"Not really?" Danny shrugged.

"Really?" Tucker raised a skeptical eyebrow. "The fact that I maybe like guys sometimes doesn't change the way you see me at all?"

"Um, no? Why would it?"

"The tone you and Jazz had in the RV suggested otherwise."

"Oh yeah, right."

Tucker did kind of have a point there.

"We were just surprised, that's all. Just reacting to new information."

Tucker didn't look convinced.

"Well, did it change the way you saw me after I told you I was a guy two years ago?" Danny challenged.

"What? No! No way," Tucker said quickly "Not even-"

Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, it was a bit of an adjustment." Tucker relented "But once we got the hang of using the right pronouns and stuff, everything went back to feeling normal pretty quickly. I mean, I guess it was a slightly different normal, but it still felt as normal as the normal before did. Huh, you know, I never really thought about it much."

"There, see? And it's an even easier adjustment on my end. You're not even getting a hair cut."

"I hardly have any hair to cut."

"There's still some that can be cut..."

"Stay away from my hair!" Tucker yanked his beanie off the nightstand and covered his head with it.

Danny laughed. Tucker laughed a bit too, but then his smile shifted into a thoughtful expression.

"Do I...have to call myself bi?" he asked.

"I mean, it's up to you what you want to call yourself."

"I'm not sure I want to call myself anything right now, honestly. I...don't really know what I feel like. Or what I can really count as."

"That's okay, Tuck." Danny smiled "You can just figure it out later, or whatever. There really is no rush."

"Yeah."

Tucker let out a yawn.

"Man, having an identity crisis really wears you out."

"I can attest to that." Danny nodded solemnly.

"It feels illegal to be tired when you've spent half the day sitting in a car." Tucker took off his beanie and set it next to his glasses.

"I mean, we skipped a bunch rocks too."

"Danny, we regularly fight ghosts with enough power to level a city block. Throwing a few rocks cannot be that draining."

"Hey, rock skipping is a sport which requires a lot of precision and focus to-"

"I'm going to throw a pillow at you if you don't stop talking."

"Considering how well you threw that rock earlier, I'm not worried."

"Hey!"

Tucker glared at Danny for a few seconds, then the two of them burst out laughing.

"Aw man," Tucker shook his head "You know, I'm actually feeling a lot better now. I don't know what I was so worked up over."

"I figured talking would make you feel better. I mean, you're usually pretty gung-ho on sharing your feelings. You were honestly starting to scare me with how quiet you were being."

"Sorry." Tucker scrunched his eyebrows thoughtfully "I guess I just wasn't really sure how to explain what was going on. What Jazz said in the RV really blindsided me. I was just so sure about myself, and then suddenly I wasn't. But I think things are starting to settle in my brain, so I'm back to normal"

"Glad to hear it , Tuck."

Danny grabbed the chain for the light.

"Welp, I'm turning off the light now. I'm all worn out from being a supportive best friend."

"Which I appreciate. Just let me-"

Danny pulled the chain.

"Hey!" Tucker's voice called in the darkness. "What happened to 'supportive best friend'?"

"Shh! Sleepy time."

Danny heard a thwump that he assumed was a pillow hitting the wall a meter away from his head.

"Your aim suuuuucks." Danny whispered.

"Someone help!" Tucker said dramatically "I'm being haunted a ghost that's dissing my aim!"

"Whoooo!" Danny made his eyes glow green.

"Gah!" Tucker's startled cry made Danny laugh. "Jeez dude, don't do that! It's seriously creepy when it's this dark!"

Danny blinked his eyes back to normal and snuggled into his blankets.

Conversations from earlier started playing in his head as he began to drift off.

"...No. I think I'll do it tomorrow. Later in the day. Probably after dinner."

"...Geneva Lake was home to members of the Potawatomi tribe, who originally called the lake 'Kishwauketoe', meaning 'clear water'..."

'...I'm all worn out from being a supportive best friend.'

'...Tucker and I are the normal ones, you're the one who's being weird!'

Oh right, that. Danny felt his stomach shift guiltily.

He really hadn't meant what he'd said, but he'd still said it. Some 'supportive best friend' he was.

He really needed to talk to Sam tomorrow and apologize.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny eyes fluttered open. It was almost completely dark. He instinctively searched for his clock on the nightstand, but didn't see the glowing green numbers anywhere.

He sat up in a panic, but then he remembered where he was.

Vlad's house. Right.

Danny squinted at the analogue clock above the doorframe. It was about a quarter after eight.

It was morning, but still pretty early.

Danny tried to lie down and fall back asleep, but he just couldn't. He gave up after turning over for the seventh time.

Great. He'd barely gotten to sleep in any more than he did on a school day. Why couldn't Vlad have put windows in his guest room? Waking up panicking in the dark was not how Danny liked to start the day.

Danny floated out of bed so his footsteps wouldn't wake up Tucker. One of them might as well get to sleep in.

He stayed in the air as he intangibly pulled his clothes out of his backpack and got dressed for the day, only landing on the floor when he was out of the room and at the stairs.

As Danny got closer the the kitchen he heard a sizzling sound. He found Jazz standing at the stove in the kitchen.

The last step creaked when Danny stepped on it, causing Jazz to turn around.

"Huh," she said "Didn't expect to see you this early."

"Good morning to you too, Jazz. I tried to sleep in, but then I woke up and forgot where I was." Danny sniffed the air "Is that bacon?"

"Yup. I'm starting on some pancakes too. There's also cereal in the cupboard and fruit in the fridge. Mom and Dad packed a lot of food for a two-day trip."

"Feel like that one might have been more Dad than Mom. What are you doing up so early anyway?"

"I always get up at seven, Danny."

"Seriously? Even on weekends?"

"Yup."

"That sound awful."

"I actually find it calming starting everyday with a fixed routine. Of course, without my school work I didn't really have anything to do once I got up, so I figured I might as well start on breakfast."

Danny yawned and opened the fridge. He saw a big orange bowl filled with yellow liquid.

"What's in the bowl?"

"Scrambled eggs. I'm waiting for everyone to get up before I cook them."

"Oh. That's a lot of eggs."

"I'm feeding a lot of people this morning."

Danny pulled a carton of milk out of the fridge.

"Hey, you know what you should-"

"I am not doing that." Jazz's entire face wrinkled. "You can pour some of the eggs into a separate bowl if you want milk in them. The rest of us would like our breakfast edible."

"Mom likes them with milk too." Danny shut the fridge.

"So that's where you get your weirdness from."

Danny stuck his tongue out at Jazz and pulled open one of Vlad's cupboards.

"Wow," he said "Vlad's dishes are all like, in stacks. And you can see them all. It's so...so..."

"Organized? Convenient?" Jazz began to turn over the bacon in the pan "I know. Isn't it great? And nothing even tried to eat me while I was cooking."

"I'm actually a little scared to touch anything. For different reasons than normal. I feel like I'm gonna get in trouble.

"Don't worry," Vlad said "You won't."

Danny jumped. When had Vlad gotten here? He was pretty sure he hadn't heard the bottom step creak.

"Good morning Daniel, Jazz. Ah, I see you've started breakfast. How thoughtful of you."

"It's not a problem. I was up."

"Still, you didn't have to. It's quite appreci-"

"Good morning!" Jack interrupted brightly from the stairs. Maddie wasn't far behind him.

"Ooh, Jazz, you made breakfast, how nice of you." she smiled as she entered the kitchen. "Did you want any help? I could start on some eggs, or something."

"That's alright, Mom. I've already got some mixed in the fridge. Everything's already- Oh my gosh Danny! Do that over the sink! What is wrong with you?!"

--------------------------------------------------

Sam and Tucker slept a little longer, but were soon drawn downstairs by the sounds of conversation and the smell of food.

After breakfast was eaten and cleaned up, the kids went out to sit on the dock and practice rock skipping while the adults had tea out on the deck.

Well, Sam was practicing at least. Tucker was too scared to try again after what happened yesterday, and Jazz seemed to have finally decided to try relaxing on her vacation. She sat against the mailbox and lazily observing Sam's rocks skipping and sinking.

Danny was currently collecting more rocks for Sam. He stopped and looked back at the deck. From down here he could barely see the adults.

He wondered what they were talking about. He wondered if Vlad was going to tell them soon.

Danny shook his head and carried his latest selection back to the group.

Sam was now consistently getting two skips with her throws. She was concentrating deeply, and the others watched her silently.

The silence was broken by Danny dumping his shirtful of rocks onto the dock.

"Well," Jazz checked her watch "This is nice, but I'd like to walk some of the shore path before we leave. There are some very interesting houses belonging to some very influential people, and I'd like to take the opportunity to see at least some of that architecture in person."

She stood up and started down the left side of the path.

"Hey Jazz, wait up!" Tucker called as he started to follow her. He stopped and looked back at Sam and Danny. "Aren't you two coming?"

"Nah, I want to work on my rock skipping some more." Sam said "Besides, if I wanted to see some stuffy rich person's house I could've just stayed home."

"Suit yourself, but Jazz said there's one mansion with an actual pool on the roof."

"You know you won't be able to see that from the ground, right?" Sam said as she tossed another rock.

"Killjoy. You coming Danny?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"What? Well what if I told you we might get to see some of the Wrigley Company's estate?"

"The what?" Sam and Danny asked.

"You know, Wrigley's! They the company behind pretty much every noteworthy gum ever!"

"That sounds...really neat Tuck," Danny said "But listening to Jazz's lectures is not how I want to spend my vacation."

"Man, Jazz's lecture's aren't that bad. She actually says a lot of really interesting things sometimes. Whatever, it's your loss man. You two enjoy your rocks."

Tucker left them to catch up with Jazz on the path.

"Okay, I like gum as much as the next guy," Danny said once Tucker was out of sight "But looking at the house of the guy who makes it just doesn't sound fun at all. It's not like they're giving out free gum there."

"You're both geeks, but Tucker's definitely the bigger geek."

"We're both geeks? Isn't that kind of the pot calling the other pot black?"

"Okay one, black's my favourite colour, so that's a compliment. Two, the expression is 'pot calling the kettle black', Danny."

"What? But kettles aren't black, they're, like, shiny!"

Sam threw a stone. It skipped three times.

"Ha! New record." she grinned.

"Nice. Hey, uh, Sam," Danny rubbed the back of his neck "I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to say you're 'not normal'."

"Oh please Danny." Sam waved her hand. "You know I don't care about being 'normal'."

"Heh, I guess not." Danny smiled. He threw a stone. It skipped six times.

"Show off."

Danny beamed smugly.

"I, um, did talk to Jazz about that last night." Sam said "About the 'no crush' thing."

"Oh yeah? Did you get a lecture on 'the varying rates of development in the adolescent psyche'?"

"Yes. Yes I did. But she also mentioned something that kind of maybe made sense."

"Oh yeah? What was it?"

"Do you know what 'aromantic' means?"

"Eh...kinda? It's when you don't like romance, right?"

"It's not really about whether you like romance or not. Jazz said being aromantic means you don't really get crushes or fall in love or whatever. Like, ever."

"Oh. So, do you think you might be aromantic?"

"I don't know." Sam said. "Maybe."

"That's cool." Danny smiled.

"It is?"

"Yeah, you found a word to describe yourself. Doesn't that feel good?"

"I don't know, it's weird. Usually I do like figuring this kind of stuff out about myself, but I'm not really sure if it's quite right, even though it does feel kind of right."

"If it feels right, then how come you're not sure it is?" Danny asked.

Sam shrugged and threw a rock.

"I don't know," she said as the rock skipped once "I guess I just thought I had myself all figured out. I thought I had romance all figured out. I mean, I thought I was lightyears ahead of those girls in my class who were always fawning over those dumb boy bands who didn't even make any good music. I thought they were just shallow. I never considered the possibility that they were feeling something I wasn't capable of."

"Maybe you should stop assuming every girl with mainstream interests is being disingenuous."

Sam glared angrily at Danny.

"Right, not the time." he said quickly "Please continue."

"It's not that I don't like the idea of being aromantic, I just never realized that it was even an option until now. I mean, I never did really like any of that traditional romance stuff, but I figured I'd just do it right when the time came. And now it seems like I actually might not do it at all. It never even crossed my mind that this might be an option, and like, I'm actually fine with that, but for some reason I'm having kind of a hard time wrapping my mind around it."

"Maybe you just need some time to get used to the idea. Romantic interest as a concept is generally presented as a ubiquitous concept by our society."

Sam blinked twice then narrowed her eyes.

"Okay, there's no way you came up with that on your own. You lifted that from Jazz, didn't you?"

"Hey! I know big words too!"

"Sure you do, Danny."

Sam smirked at the pouting Danny as she threw another rock. It skipped twice.

"Maybe I should have expected this."

"How come?"

"Well, there's the fact that I've never had a crush before, and thought that everyone else was exaggerating when they talked about romantic feelings," Sam started to count on her fingers "I always thought romance stories were stupid, and it was always vaguely disappointing when characters I liked on TV started dating someone. Marriage always seemed like a terrible idea, and I sometimes felt this sense of satisfaction deep down when I heard that someone was getting divorced. Oh, and every classic dating scenario ever looks awkward and terrible to me. Like, I literally want to claw my eyes out when they do that awkward first date thing in movies. Even if it's going well, it's just so...so...ugh! Also, straight, gay, and bi never felt like quite the right labels for me, like they never really felt like they fit. There was also this one time, where my cousin and I were..."

Sam stopped talking when she realized how Danny was gaping at her.

"So you're telling me," Danny said "You thought all of that, and you're only just now considering you might be aromantic?"

"I thought everyone thought like that!" Sam threw up her arms "Like, this is how we all feel deep down, right?"

A grin began to spread across Sam's face.

"Well Sam," Danny said, grinning as well "I can assure you, that is absolutely not how most people feel deep down."

"Well that's obvious in hindsight!"

"Honestly, I feel like that's pretty obvious before hindsight."

"What? Danny, that's not how-"

Sam burst out laughing before she could finish her sentence.

"How did I not know?" Sam continued to laugh "Oh my gosh, it was so obvious. How did I not know until now?"

Danny couldn't help but laugh a little too. He didn't really get what was so funny, but he was glad Sam was happy.

The laughed for a little while longer and then just sat in silence, listening to the lapping of the lake.

"I think that's why I was so weird yesterday." Sam said. "I was just genuinely confused. I think I get it now, though."

The smile suddenly vanished from Sam's face and she slapped her forehead "Oh my gosh!"

"What?"

"I haven't asked you how you're doing at all!"

"Me?"

"Vlad's gonna tell your parents he's half-ghost sometime today, and I've just been going on about my problems."

"Sam it's fine. I wanted to listen to you. And honestly, I was glad for the distraction."

"Well, glad I could help, I guess. But how are you doing?"

"I mean," Danny let out a long breath "Nervous, I guess, but not as nervous as I thought I'd be? It almost kind of feels like it's not even really gonna happen, if that makes sense."

"That kind of sounds like you're in denial."

"What? No! Well, maybe a little. It's just not really how I thought things would go down, you know? I kind of figured if anyone was gonna tell my parents about half-ghosts, it'd be me since, you know, we thought I was the only person who was half-ghost in existence. It's just so bizarre that it's someone else. Like, I know Vlad telling them will affect me, but it also kind of doesn't, if that makes sense."

Danny threw a rock. It skipped four times.

"Everything's just so complicated and weird."

"I've found that anything that involves ghosts ends up making our lives complicated and weird. Especially yours."

"Yup."

There was another comfortable silence. Danny threw another rock and stood up.

"I'm gonna run to the bathroom real quick."

"Bring me one of Vlad's fancy root beers when you come back."

"You got it."

--------------------------------------------------

"I'm going to miss these outdoor conversations." Maddie sighed contently. "Oh Vlad, I forgot! Jack and I brought an album of the kids' baby photos we meant to show you."

Maddie set her empty cup on the table.

"There's some really cute ones of Danny in kindergarten, too. But, we'd better decide what to do for lunch. Sadly, we'll have to leave right after to get Sam and Tucker home at a decent time, Sam's parent were very insistent on that. I think we should get all of our stuff packed up and then have lunch at a restaurant, so we can just eat and go. Where do you recommend Vlad?"

"Hm?" Vlad hadn't been paying full attention to what Maddie was saying "Oh, yes, restaurants. There's...a lot of those around here. Perhaps a pizzeria? There are some very nice places that stone fire them. I'm sure the children would enjoy that, and it would cover Daniel's friend's dietary restrictions."

"Sounds great V-man!" Jack beamed and wrapped an arm around Vlad's shoulder. "So which one's the best around here?"

"Y-yes, of course, um..." Vlad had eaten at every restaurant in this town, multiple times, and yet he was struggling to recall even a single pizzeria's name.

Jack and Maddie frowned.

"What's up with you today V-man?"

"Um, whatever do you mean Jack?" Vlad smile unconvincingly.

"The Vladdie I know knows his eats, and he never," Jack jabbed his index finger at Vlad's chest for emphasis "Ever hesitates with his opinions on food. It's one of the traits I most respect about you."

"You do seem rather distracted, Vlad." Maddie said.

Vlad sighed.

"I was going to wait a little longer, but I suppose there's no point in putting it off." As much as he suddenly wanted to. "I have something that I wanted to tell you two. It's...about the accident."

"The accident?" Maddie repeated "As in the college proto-portal malfunction?"

"That's the one."

Jack and Maddie's eyes widened. Vlad pretended not to notice.

"Come, we should go to the living room to talk."

Jack and Maddie followed Vlad back into the house.

Danny stepped out from under the deck when he heard the soft thud of the door sliding shut.

If Sam was right about him being in denial earlier, he certainly wasn't now.

Now he was definitely feeling anxious.

Danny rushed back down to the dock.

--------------------------------------------------

"Sam!" Danny cried once he'd passed the address rock. His heart was pounding, but not from the running "Sam! It's happening! Vlad's-"

Danny stopped talking when he realized Sam wasn't on the dock.

"Sam?"

That's weird, Danny thought as he continued towards the lake, looking left and right. Sam was literally just here, and I was only gone for like five seconds. Where could she have-

Danny shivered as a puff of mist escaped his mouth.

Oh no.

"Sam!" he yelled, now slightly panicking "Sam! Where are you!"

"Danny?"

Danny whipped his head around and saw Jazz and Tucker standing a little ways off on the shore path.

"What's going on?" Tucker asked.

"Sam's missing!" Danny shouted as he ran over to them "And my ghost sense just went off!"

"Oh no." Tucker said.

"We have to tell Vlad!" Jazz started towards the house "He can-"

"Jazz no!" Danny grabbed her arm "Vlad's with Mom and Dad right now!"

"Yeah, he's been with them all weekend." Jazz tried to jerk her arm out out Danny's grasp "Danny, Vlad knows this area a lot better than we do. He'd be way more efficient at searching. I can get him away from Mom and Dad, and then we can tell him about the gho-"

"He's telling them that he's half-ghost right now!"

Jazz froze.

"Really?" Tucker's eyes widened "Oh, wow."

"Yeah," Danny continued "And if Mom and Dad hears there a malicious ghost on the loose that kidnapped Sam, and they pull out all the ghost weapons we all know they have stashed in the RV, and Vlad's just told them he's a ghost..."

"Yeah, that would probably not end up being a great situation." Tucker said.

"Besides, Sam's been captured by ghosts before, she knows how to handle herself."

"That's...not really comforting, Danny."

"It's fine, all of us have. Many times."

"Okay, how about you stop talking and we just focus on finding Sam."

"Alright." Danny let go of Jazz's arm "We can search faster if we split up. I'll start in the woods around Vlad's house. Those trees are pretty dense, there's plenty of places the ghost could be hiding in there."

"I'll go along the shore path for a bit." Jazz said "Maybe it took Sam the opposite way Tucker and I were walking."

"And I'll stay by the dock." Tucker said. "In case they come back to the scene of the crime."

The three of them nodded and set off in their respective directions.

--------------------------------------------------

He wasn't stalling. They should be sitting down when he told them. Somewhere comfortable. It just made sense.

Jack and Maddie were next to each other in the loveseat in Vlad's living room. He sat in an armchair facing them.

Nobody said anything right away. The ticking of the clock was thunderous.

Vlad wasn't stalling. He was just figuring out where to start.

Which was rather difficult, considering the magnitude of what he was about to reveal to Jack and Maddie.

"Is...everything alright, Vlad?" Maddie tentatively asked.

Vlad realized he'd been quiet for too long. It hadn't been because he was stalling, though, he was just planning what he was going to say. Carefully. It was a delicate matter.

"Yes, I'm alright Maddie. I'm..." Vlad adjusted his position in the armchair "I'm just not really sure how to...it's just that..." Vlad cleared his throat and took a breath "Regarding our last conversation, I realized that you were right. I have been distant. The reason for that is that I've been hiding something."

"Hiding? From...us?" Jack's sounded confused, like he'd never even considered the concept of Vlad not sharing something with them.

Vlad immediately felt guilty.

"I should have told you two a long time ago. I just...I wasn't sure how you would take it."

Jack and Maddie didn't say anything. Their expressions were neutral, but they were both leaning towards Vlad ever so slightly.

"After I was blasted by the proto-portal, there were some...side effects I didn't tell you about at the time."

"You mean the ecto-acne?" Jack asked. "I thought that faded. Our studies indicated that the acne was only acting as a temporary defense mechanism against the impure-"

"No, no, not the acne. That did fade after a month or so. This was...something else."

"Vlad, what are you talking about? What happened?" Maddie asked. Her voice was controlled, but there was a undertone of panic in it, like a parent who suspected their child might have ingested a toxic substance.

The words caught in Vlad's throat. He couldn't just say it, right? That'd be ludicrous. They wouldn't be able to process an idea as strange as a ghost-human hybrid if he just blurted it out.

Maybe he could start with the basics. Talk science. They were all scientists here. If Vlad could break the concept down for them, maybe they'd understand.

"It would seem that the portal's transmutative properties made the energy I was exposed to extremely volatile. So volatile that it actually restructured my DNA. In fact, it would seem that there was an ectoplasmic fusion on a molecular level."

Jack and Maddie raised their eyebrows, not really sure where Vlad was going with this.

"Yes..." Jack said. "And that's what caused the ecto-acne. Your body was purging the impurity. Although, I seriously doubt you were affected on quite that level."

"Well you'd be wrong about that. I've done numerous tests. The ectoplasm bonded with me and rearranged my cellular makeup, resulting in some...permanent side effects."

"What kind of side effects Vlad?" Maddie asked. She sounded slightly calmer, but much more confused.

Vlad was struck with the realization that he couldn't stall saying it any longer. His stomach lurched and it almost felt like someone else was saying his next words:

"The accident made me part-ghost."

The room was filled with silence.

Vlad felt like he was floating. Not in a happy carefree way, or like real floating that he actually did as a ghost, but more like an astronaut in a movie when the tether is cut off from the space ship.

Seconds felt like hours as Vlad analyzed every miniscule movement in Jack and Maddie's faces. He had to keep reigning himself in from the horrible conclusions his brain kept jumping to.

He'd gone over this with his therapist; be prepared for the worst, but acknowledge it's not the only possible outcome. Give them a chance. Don't make assumptions, don't jump to conclusions, don't push them away before they've at least had a chance to accept you.

Turns out that was easier said than done. The waiting was agony, and it was becoming harder and harder to keep the images of everything falling apart in his mind at bay.

Vlad desperately wanted to go back to the ship, go back to when he'd first had this idea of telling Jack and Maddie so he could stop himself, but that was impossible. All he could do was float there and wait for whatever was going to happen next.

He nearly jumped out of his chair when Maddie finally spoke.

"What...do you mean by that, Vlad?"

"I mean the accident turned me into a ghost."

Another silent pause. Jack and Maddie seemed to be waiting for him to elaborate, but what else could Vlad say? The concept was ludicrous, but it also really was that simple.

"Vlad," Maddie scrunched her eyebrow "That isn't possible. You're very clearly still human."

Vlad felt a surge of annoyance.

"Why would I be telling you this if it wasn't-"

Vlad forced himself to stop and breathe. It wasn't her fault she wasn't getting this right away. He might have reacted the same way twenty years ago.

"Let's hear him out Madds." Jack was calmer than Vlad had expected. Maybe he'd picked up on Vlad's obvious agitation. "Vladdie, what did you mean when you said you 'are a ghost'. You look pretty alive to me, man."

"It means that my DNA is partially ectoplasmic, I have ghostly abilities, and I even have a ghost form. So, to put it plainly, the proto-portal altered my genetic structure into that of a human-ghost hybrid."

There was yet another moment of silence.

"Vlad," Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose "If your trying to come up with some cockamamie story about why you've been away all these years, " her voice was steadily rising "I don't-"

"Hey, hey slow down Madds." Jack placed a hand on Maddie's shoulder. "Vladdie, what's all this about 'ghost DNA'? There's no possible genetic makeup that could be classified as both human and ghost. Your body should have purged all the impure ectoplasm by now."

Vlad sighed and rubbed his temple.

He could just show them. Maybe turn invisible or summon some ecto energy to his his hand. Or just simply transform.

No, a part of his brain said firmly. Seeing their friend using ghost powers would be too startling. They would freak out. True, they didn't have weapons to pull on him, but once they saw him doing ghostly things, they might not believe it was him anymore.

How could they?

No, Vlad had to get them to understand his ghostliness before showing them. It was his best shot at acceptance.

But how? He tried explaining things in detail, and he tried putting them as simply as he could, but Jack and Maddie still weren't getting it.

"I-"

Vlad was interrupted by a loud crash.

"What in the name of bratwurst was that?"

"It came from outside." Jack said.

The three of them shot to their feet and rushed out the front door of the house. It didn't take long to find the source of the noise.

"Maple smoked salmon!" Vlad cried.

In the middle of the lake, a giant green squid towered above them. Multiple red eyes darted around the lake while over a dozen tentacle towered out of the water

Three of those tentacles were wrapped around Sam, Tucker, and Jazz.

"Ghost!" Jack and Maddie yelled at the same time.

"And it has the kids!" Jack added, his tone urgent.

All of the squids eyes turned to the three new arrivals. They blinked simultaneously and then the squid began to thrash around, its captives screaming as they were flailed about in the grasp of the tentacles.

"We have to get to the RV and get-"

"We don't have time for that." Vlad cut Maddie off and took a step forward.

"But, Vlad-"

"Don't worry Maddie," Vlad turned to glare at the giant squid.

All of the fear and hesitation Vlad had been feeling vanished, suddenly replaced by a burning fury. This ghost had not only endangered the kids, but it had stolen Vlad's chance to explain things to Jack and Maddie, to make them properly understand.

This wasn't how he wanted to spend his potentially last moments with his friends.

"I can save the children. And...this is what I mean by ghost DNA."

Jack and Maddie jumped back as a black ring appeared around Vlad's waist. They stared dumbfounded as the ring split and changed their best friend into his terrifying ghost form.

Without looking back, Vlad shot off into the air and flew straight for the giant squid.

The ghost stopped flailing when it noticed Vlad coming. At least five tentacles shot towards him. Vlad expertly wove around them.

He didn't fool around. The second he was the right position, Vlad summoned a glob of pink ecto energy to his hand and waved his arm, sending out a razor sharp crescent that sliced right through the tentacle that was holding Sam.

Sam screamed as she fell through the air, but Vlad swooped down and caught her, carefully depositing her back on the dock before flying right back to the squid.

Sam's arrival on the dock snapped Maddie out of her stupor.

"Jack, run to the RV," she said "Get whatever you can to fight this ghost

Jack nodded and ran off to the other side of the house. Maddie started towards the dock.

The squid let out a roar of pain and rage, but its sliced-off tentacle quickly grew back.

The ghost was now lunging at Vlad more aggressively. Vlad duplicated and fused back together in rapid succession to confuse it.

After almost a minute of dodging, Vlad finally managed to get in a good enough position to slice the tentacle holding Tucker, but at the last second the squid moved the tentacle holding Jazz upwards, causing Vlad's blast to slice off both tentacles.

Jazz and Tucker screamed as they fell through the air.

There was a moment of panic on Vlad's face, but he quickly gathered himself and split into two, one Vlad swooping to catch Tucker and the other Jazz.

Just as Maddie arrived, the two Vlads set Jazz and Tucker down onto the dock before fusing back together. Vlad quickly wiped his forehead with his arm, steeled himself and flew back to the squid, launching ecto blasts at it.

"Kids," Maddie said "I know things are crazy right now, but we need to stay calm, and you need to listen. That ghost that saved you from the bigger ghost is actually Vlad!"

"Wait, that's Vlad?" Jazz asked, her head whipping around to the fighting ghosts. Tucker and Sam looked at each other with wide eyes. Maddie figured they were too in shock to say anything.

"It's a long story." Maddie said. "Wait! Was Danny with you?"

"No," Tucker answered "We haven't-"

A giant green ecto blast sailed past the group towards the squid. Everyone snapped their heads around to see Jack with a Fenton Bazooka propped up on his shoulder.

"Vladdie!" he called "Stay high so I don't hit you! My aim is not always the best!"

Vlad continued to shoot ecto blasts at the ghost. He gave no indication that he'd heard Jack, but he continued to fly near the top of the squid as Jack kept firing at the tentacles, keeping them away from Vlad. The throng of tentacles was thick enough that barely any of Jack's shots missed.

Jack and Vlad kept up their assault. Now that the captives had been saved, Vlad didn't have to hold back. He unleash a furious onslaught of ecto attacks at the squid's body, while Jack's kept the tentacles at bay with his bazooka. The ghost tried desperately to bat away the blasts, but just ended up with singed tentacle tips.

The squid slowly retreated further and further from the shore, but Jack and Vlad would not let up. Eventually, it let out a final roar before plunging below the water.

Vlad hovered above the lake for a few seconds, confirming that the ghost wasn't returning before heading back to the others.

"Are you children alright?" Vlad asked as he landed on the dock and morphed back into his human form.

"No broken bones." Sam reported, shivering and rubbing her bare arms.

"Yeah, d-don't worry," Tucker's added through chattering teeth "Th-this is only l-like, the eighth most t-traumatizing thing that's happened to us."

"Um, I would very much like to hear about those seven other-" Jazz stopped mid sentence and looked up at Vlad. She seemed to study him for a few seconds before her face was overtaken by a too-big smile.

"Well, thank you so much for saving us, Mr Masters." she said quickly "It is very cool and surprising for all of us to learn that you are half-ghost, but you saved our lives, so you're clearly not evil, so I'm going to take these two," she grabbed Sam and Tucker by their shoulders "And get them dried off and give them a mental checkup regarding the very wet and very horrifying ordeal we all just went through. Sound good? Okay great, see you later!"

Jazz began dragging Sam and Tucker towards the house before either of them could respond to what she'd just said.

Vlad smiled. What a strange child.

"Wow..."

Vlad's smile dropped at the sound of Maddie's astonished voice. He turned to find her and Jack staring at him. Maddie pulled back her hood.

"That was...so you...you really do have...ghost powers."

"Erm...yes?" Vlad could almost feel their gaze burning his skin. He shifted his feet uncomfortably.

"You mean," Jack did some quick math "For the last twenty years you've...and you didn't tell us?"

"But why Vlad? We were your friends!"

"You were ghost hunters. Capturing and dissecting ghosts was all you- all we ever talked about. I couldn't be sure how you'd react."

"Couldn't be sure how we'd..." Jack trailed off, rolling Vlad's sentence in his mind.

Vlad tensed when he saw The Fenton Bazooka shift on Jack's shoulder. Jack followed Vlad's fearful gaze and, after realizing what he was looking at, threw The Bazooka aside. It landed a good distance away with a small crash.

Maddie's eyes widened in horror.

"Vlad," her voice was barely above a whisper "You didn't think we'd..."

"You two were my dearest friends. I didn't want to risk you hating me." Vlad's voice was steady, but his heart was pounding, and his armpits were tingling.

Jack and Maddie knew. After twenty years of telling himself he'd never tell them, they finally knew.

Vlad honestly wasn't sure what was going to happen now.

"Vladdie, that's insane!" Jack threw out his arms "We'd never hate you, you're our friend!"

"Like I said, Jack, I couldn't be sure."

Maddie approached Vlad and placed her hand on his arm.

"Oh Vlad," she said, her eyes shining "It doesn't matter how ghostly you are. You're our best friend, we'd never..." Vlad felt Maddie's grip on him tighten. Not aggressively, but desperately. "Vlad we'll always love you. I'm so sorry we didn't make that clear enough to you."

Vlad let out a startled gasp as Maddie pounced, wrapping him in a hug.

"I..I..." Vlad tried to say something, but he couldn't find any words. His mind was completely blank. It was like he was frozen.

Suddenly he and Maddie were both crushed by Jack's massive arms.

"It's okay, Vladdie." Jack let out a sniffle "We're here for you now."

That was when his brain started to thaw.

Vlad had never allowed himself to even imagine this outcome. He had no idea what the future held now that Jack and Maddie knew.

The uncertainty terrified him.

But they didn't hate him. They didn't call him an imposter or a monster, they didn't want to capture and dissect him like he'd long feared.

Vlad could feel tears threatening to form in his eyes.

For the longest time those fears had driven so many of the decisions Vlad had made. Fears he'd been carrying around for over two decades crumble inside of him, tension drained from his muscles.

For the first time in years, Vlad let himself go.

He neck relaxed and he let his head fall somewhere between Jack's chest and Maddie's shoulder.

The tears began to flow down his face.

He was with his best friends. He was safe.

He could finally fall apart, because he knew his friends were there to support him, every part of him.

Behind the address rock they'd hidden behind, Sam, Jazz, and Tucker couldn't tear their eyes away from the emotional scene.

"They...they accept him." Jazz said, her voice a mixture between surprise and relief.

"Yeah..." Sam breathed.

"Hey, you found Sam!"

The trio all turned to see Danny approaching their hiding spot.

"Sam, we were looking everywhere for you! Where did you-" Danny stopped talking when he saw his parents hugging Vlad on the dock.

"...Um, did I miss something? And why are you all wet?"

"Mom and Dad know now." Jazz said.

"Oh."

Danny's eyes widened

"Oh!"

He looked over at the hugging adults.

"And they...it's..."

"Yeah." Jazz smiled softly.

"Wow." Danny breathed. He couldn't stop staring at the dock.

Sam and Tucker came over and each put a hand on Danny's shoulder.

--------------------------------------------------

After all the ghost fighting, hugging, and getting Sam, Jazz, and Tucker all dried off, they ran out of time to go out for lunch. Maddie told the kids they'd just make some sandwich's with the leftover groceries in the RV. Vlad grilled two of Sam's veggie burgers and wrapped them in aluminum foil, so she'd have something better to eat than a lettuce sandwich, while everyone packed up their stuff.

With all the hurried getting ready to leave, there wasn't a lot of time for Jack and Maddie to talk with Vlad about what had happened, but Danny heard Vlad say he wanted to 'get back together as soon as possible' when they were getting in the car.

It wasn't long before they were saying bye to Vlad and heading down the road back to Amity Park.

Danny looked at Vlad out the back window until he disappeared from view. He was pretty sure Vlad was looking back at him.

"So kids," Jack turned in the passenger seat after they'd been driving for a few minutes "I suppose you're all a little confused about what just happened."

No one in the back dared to speak.

"Maddie and I barely understand it ourselves, but it seems when Vlad got blasted by our flawed proto-portal back in college, it caused a mutation that seems to have given him ghost powers."

Jack didn't notice three pairs of eyes flash to Danny.

"Now, you don't have to worry. The ectoplasm in his DNA doesn't seem to pose any threat to his physical well-being, nor has it turned him into a terrifying monster. He's just..." Jack scrunched up his face and waved his and in the air.

"A scientific anomaly?" supplied Maddie.

"Yes, an anomaly! That's all."

"That being said," Maddie said "He would like us to keep it a secret. There's no telling what the media would do if they discovered a man of his prominence had ectoplasmic DNA. Understood, kids?"

"Yup." The four of them replied mechanically.

"They must still be in shock." Maddie said to Jack. He nodded.

"Don't worry kids," Jack turned back to them "This may be a...startling development, especially since we didn't even know this sort of thing could happen to a human before this morning. I mean, a human with the abilities of a ghost, that's just-"

"Jack."

"Right, right, sorry Madds. This is just very...oh man, imagine how it must have been for Vlad all those years, figuring his abilities out all on his own. He must've-"

"The important thing is," Maddie cut in "Even though we...certainly didn't expect this, Vlad's still the same person, even with ghost powers, and we're going to support him by showing him this information doesn't change our relationship with him."

"Yeah...we can do that." Danny said quietly, his eyes never leaving his parents.

Danny felt Jazz grab his hand. He didn't squeeze back, but he didn't let go either.

--------------------------------------------------

Outside of Jack and Maddie occasionally discussing directions, no one said much during the drive home, neither party feeling free to talk openly.

At some point Tucker and Sam dug out their Game Boys and started having Pokémon battles, while Jazz watched Danny play Pac-Man.

At some point they stopped at a diner. After they were seated, a server with a slightly shaky voice took their drink order. Her hand trembled slightly as she wrote and she apologized a lot.

"Was it just me, or does she seem a little nervous?" Maddie asked after the server had left to get their drinks.

"It's probably because we're such a big group." Jazz said "And she sounded like she might still be new."

"Oh, the poor thing." Maddie said "We should leave her a nice tip, Jack."

"Oh absolutely, Maddie." Jack nodded "Remember kids, customer service is one of the most grueling jobs in this country, and the Number One Fenton Rule, besides 'always be prepared for a ghost attack', is always treat people..."

Nervous server, observant Jazz, ranting Dad. All in all, this was a pretty normal restaurant outing for Danny.

Too normal.

They'd just had one of the least normal weekends of their lives, but you wouldn't have been able to tell from the outside. Jack Fenton continued to ramble on, as if his best friend hadn't just revealed to him that he'd been avoiding him for the last twenty years because he was freaking half-ghost!

It made Danny want to scream.

But instead he just sat there eating his chicken BLT and peanut butter milkshake, like everything was normal.

It was a relief when they finally got back to the RV and could go back to their video games.

Eventually, Sam and Tucker were dropped off at their respective houses. They both grabbed their luggage and said things like 'goodbye' and 'thanks for taking us', as if it had just been a normal weekend getaway.

Danny almost sighed with relief when they finally pulled up to Fenton Works. He really needed some time to by himself to think.

"Alright, you kids take your stuff upstairs while your father and I sort out the leftover food. " Maddie instructed once everyone was inside the house.

"Yeah, sure." Danny replied.

Both parents turned to the kitchen and Jazz started hauling her suitcase up the stairs.

"Hey Mom, Dad?" Danny said, causing everyone to snap their heads towards him "H-how are you guys doing?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck "Like, with the whole Vlad-ghost thing? That's gotta be a little weird for you guys, since he's your best friend and all."

Jack and Maddie flashed each other a look before smiling at Danny.

"You don't need to worry, son. We're all good."

"What about you, sweetie?" His mom came over and stroked his hair "I know this ghost stuff might be a little confusing for you and your friends. Did they seem alright with everything when they left?"

"Uh, yup! We're all good." Danny hoped he sounded casual "So it doesn't bother you that Vlad's half-ghost? Even though you two are ghost hunters?"

"Oh don't be silly Danny, he's still the same old Vlad, anyone can see that. What kind of friends would we be if we abandoned him just because he can fly through things now?"

Danny smiled at that, but tiny doubts still lingered.

"So you don't think he's some kind of mutant monster now, or that he's been taken over by an evil ghost, or that he's just some weird imitation of what he once was?"

Jazz's heart broke a little listening to Danny's list.

"Woah, slow your roll there, son." Jack came over and put a hand on Danny's shoulder "There isn't a smidgeon of doubt that the Vladdie we were talking to all weekend was our pal from college. It may seem far-fetched, and perhaps even a little scary for a human to have the same abilities as a ghost, but speaking as ghost professionals, Vlad seems perfectly alright and, although it might take us all some time to process this new development, we're gonna figure it out and in the meantime show Vlad all the support we can so he knows we don't see him any differently because of this. Just like your mother said."

Danny felt like a muscle he'd been unknowingly clenching for months finally relaxed.

"That's right Jack." Maddie gave Danny's hair one last ruffle "That being said, it is a school night, so you kids better unpack and get your homework done."

"I already did all my homework before we left." Jazz said. Danny remained silent.

"That's my Jazzerincess!" Jack beamed "But you still gotta unpack. You too Danny."

Jack gave him a friendly pat on the back that almost knocked him over.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

Danny paused on the first step.

"Mom, Dad?"

"Yes Danny?"

"I love you guys."

Jack and Maddie looked at each other. It had been a while since they'd heard either of their kids say that unprompted. They smiled at Danny.

"We love you too, son." Jack said.

Danny smiled back before following Jazz up the stairs.

When he opened his bedroom door, Danny's body immediately felt lighter. Staying at Vlad's lavish vacation house had been fun, but it was nice to be surrounded by the familiar model rockets and glow-in-the-dark star stickers again.

"So, how are you feeling?" Jazz stood in Danny's doorframe, suitcase still in hand.

"About what?"

Jazz set her suitcase down and crossed her arms.

"Come on Danny."

Danny sighed.

"A lot, I guess." Danny ran a hand through his hair "But also, weirdly calm? And scared? Not like...worried something bad will happen scared, but like...it's hard to describe."

"I'd imagine."

"I'm not going to tell them tonight, probably not even tomorrow."

"There's no rush."

"I know, I just..." Danny took a breath. They'd all been through a lot this weekend, especially Danny, and there was a lot going on in his head, he just didn't have the energy to put those feeling into words right now.

"Look Jazz, I'm really tired and I've got a lot of unpacking to do, so can we save the psychoanalysis for tomorrow?"

"This isn't 'psychoanalysis'." Jazz rolled her eyes affectionately "But, sure. I'll be in my room if you do decide you want to talk."

"Alright Jazz." Danny's rolled his eyes in a less affectionate way. He swung his backpack onto his bed. "I...do appreciate that."

Jazz smiled as she wheeled her suitcase to her room.

Danny waited a few seconds to make sure she was really gone, and then turned invisible and phased his head through the floor into the kitchen.

"...least the kids seem to be taking it well." Danny heard his mom say. She was standing next to the stove stirring two mugs.

"Mmm." His dad replied absently. He was sitting at the kitchen table, lost in thought

Maddie carried the two mugs to the table and sat down next to Jack.

"I suppose this explains why Vlad's been so...dodgy for the past two decades." she said.

"A human with ghost powers..." Jack stared into his tea mug.

"It shouldn't be possible." Maddie said.

"I mean, it apparently happened to Vlad, so..."

"I know, Jack. But do you know what this means for our research? The fact that a human body is even capable of sustaining a partial ectoplasmic structure whilst remaining human? This raises so many questions! I mean, the very implications that-" Maddie rubbed her forehead "I still can't believe he didn't tell us."

"He was scared, Madds."

"Jack, I would've gone straight to you two if I'd started developing ghost powers."

"I know Madds, I would've too." Jack took a big slurp of his tea. "I suppose that's Vlad."

"What do you mean, Jack?"

"I mean, he's definitely the most careful of us three, but he's also always been a little paranoid."

"You think so?"

"I might've seen it a little more, since we shared a room, but he was always like 'Jack, you're ignoring safety protocols!', 'Jack, that violates the laws of nature!', 'Stop tampering with the fabric of reality Jack!' You know, stuff like that."

"I suppose you're right." Maddie gave a little laugh. Personally, Danny was with Vlad on this one.

"Poor Vladdie." Jack shook his head sadly "He always seemed to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders."

"He spent all those years alone," All of the humour drained from Maddie's face "Genuinely afraid of us...oh Jack I feel so awful just thinking about it!" Maddie buried her face in her hands.

Jack rushed out of his chair and wrapped his arms around Maddie.

"I know Maddie." he stared blankly at the wall while Maddie let out a few quiet sobs "Me too."

Maddie gave one last sniffle and looked up at Jack.

"I'm fine now, honey." she said, wiping her eyes with her hand. "I'm don't know what came over me, I'm sor-"

"Shh, shh, You don't have to apologize, Babycakes." Jack patted Maddie's back softly. She leaned against his chest and rubbed his arm. "Oh, Vlad..." Jack said quietly

Danny felt a little bad for watching this private moment, but he had to know their unfiltered feelings about Vlad.

Their thoughts pretty clear at this point though, so Danny remerged into his room and resolidified.

"How's that unpacking going?"

Jazz was sitting crisscross at the base of Danny's doorframe, an open book in her hand.

"Hey! What are you doing in my room!"

"I'm not technically in your room." Jazz closed her book and stood up. "So what are Mom and Dad saying?"

"I mean, I'd say they're taking Vlad being half-ghost pretty well. It's just..."

"What?"

"I don't know, they were kind of talking about why Vlad didn't tell them earlier, and Dad said something about Vlad being paranoid..."

"Wait," Jazz narrowed her eyes "It sounds like you're saying they're pinning this all on Vlad and not considering how all their talk of destroying ghosts could've even possibly played into his 'paranoia'."

"Ugh, those two! How can such world renowned geniuses be so oblivious?" Jazz trailed off and shook her head exasperatedly.

"Maybe they just need some time? You know, to like, process it or whatever?" Danny shrugged "This whole situation is kind of a lot, and they did seem to feel pretty bad about Vlad not trusting them."

Danny decided not to mention Mom crying.

Jazz sighed.

"I suppose. Well, at least they accept him. All things considered, I would say their reaction was pretty positive." she relented.

"Yes, and I'm very happy and relieved with how thing's have turned out." Danny walked closer to Jazz "Now get out of my room!"

With that, Danny slammed the door shut, leaving Jazz standing in the hallway.

"Teenagers." she huffed to herself as she headed back to her room.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny climbed up the steps to school. He was pulled from his thoughts when someone bumped into him hard enough to nearly knock him over.

"Hey!" Danny yelped as he regained his balance.

"Sorry Danny, didn't see you there." a familiar voice said.

"Oh, hey Valerie." With everything that had happened, Danny had forgotten to check in with her. "Sorry, I meant to call you last night. So how did everything, uh..."

Danny took in Valerie's appearance. Her eyes were glazed over, her hair seemed flatter than usual, and she'd completely forgotten to put on her eye makeup (Danny didn't remember what it was called).

"You good? You look a little..." Danny searched for the politest way to say it "...tired."

"Huh? Nah, I'm great. Some ghost couple showed up on a motorcycle, and they had an evil shadow that let out all the pets in the pet store."

"You mean Johnny and Kitty?"

"Yeah, and then after I rounded up all the pets, the stupid shadow had made its way to the zoo!"

"Ugh, that creepy shadow is always so annoying!"

"And if that wasn't enough, the freaking Box Ghost literally showed up eleven times! All while I was trying to round up various animals! Eleven times in two days Danny! I counted!"

"Okay, that's a bit much, even for him."

"But it's all good." Valerie's voice calmed down "I handled it. All the ghosts are back in their world, and all the animals are back in their cages. Probably."

"Okay, good good, nicely done." Danny nodded. "Glad you made it through all that. You sure you should be in school today, though? You seem pretty out of it."

"What? Naah! I'm great. I am sooo great! I aaam the champion!" Valerie started to sing "And IIII'll keep on fiiiiighting, till the-"

Her song was cut off by a ghost phasing out of the ground between her and Danny.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

"Not you again!" Valerie's unfocused smile turned into an unfocused scowl "This is the twelfth time in three days! Why can't your stupid butt just stay in the stupid Ghost Zone for five stupid seconds!"

Valerie took a swing at the ghost, but completely missed. Her body got caught in the momentum of her punch, causing her to fall over.

Danny and The Box Ghost cringed in sympathy as she hit the stairs.

"Hey, you okay Val-"

Danny was interrupted by a loud snore.

"You know what? You take a rest, you deserve it." Danny reached into Valerie's backpack and retrieved The Fenton Thermos. "I'll handle this one." Danny glared at The Box Ghost.

"BEWARE!" he shouted before zooming away.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny transformed and flew after him.

Valerie continued to snore on the stairs.

We finally made it! The Fenton parents know about Vlad!

But this story's far from over...

What's gonna happen next? Who knows? Not me!

Don't worry! I do have a few ideas. I'll probably do the thing where I upload a short bit and then a long bit later. Just seems to be what works.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think :)

#fisp #friends in strange places

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sunnys567 · 10 months

Text

Friends in Strange Places Ch. 5 Intro

What if Vlad was good instead of evil? Link to chapter 1:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39040329/chapters/97656390

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"...and then after it's completely emptied, you just untwist, put the cap back on, and you're done. Any questions?" Danny asked.

"Nope." Valerie said. "Seems pretty straightforward."

Valerie looked at the swirling portal.

"So this is where the ghosts come from." she said.

"Yup."

"And it's where you...you know..."

"Became half-ghost?"

"Yeah. Sorry, wasn't sure if that was a sensitive topic."

"Eh, not really." Danny stuck his hand into the portal. "Want to stick your hand in?"

"Uh...you sure that's safe to do?"

"Of course. See?"

Danny pulled his hand out and stuck it back in. Then back out, and in, and out, and in, and out, and-

"Okay, I get it."

Valerie took a deep breath and tentatively stuck her hand into the portal.

"Okay, this is weird. It feels like there's something in between a solid and a gas flowing through my fingers. And there's a weird vibe to it, like some kind of cold energy that feels almost...alive...alright, that's enough."

Valerie pulled her hand back out, shaking a few green wisps off of it.

"Now that was an experience I'm not interested in repeating anytime soon." she said, inspecting her hand.

"Okay, we leave in the morning, so I guess I should give you this."

Danny looked at the thermos in his hand for a few seconds before holding it out to Valerie.

"Don't lose this." he said firmly "It's our only one."

"Got it."

"Seriously."

"Danny," Valerie put a hand on the thermos "I got this. You can trust me."

"Right, yeah." Danny let Valerie take the thermos. "It's just one weekend."

"Exactly." Valerie smiled "You all go and have a good time with Mr Masters. Valerie's got the Amity ghosts all under control." Valerie briefly spun The Thermos on her finger like a basketball before catching it and stowing it away in her backpack.

Danny wasn't feeling as confident as Valerie. Hunting ghosts by yourself could be a lot. Even Danny rarely fought ghosts without Sam and Tucker.

Although, Valerie was getting a lot better. She was very capable, and she'd probably be fine on her own for just one weekend.

Probably.

"Alright." Danny relented. "Oh! One last thing, don't touch anything in this lab."

"Don't worry," Valerie glanced at a bubbling green beaker "I absolutely wasn't going to."

"Sorry you can't come with us." Danny said as he and Valerie started up the basement stairs. "I know Sam and Tucker are going, but Vlad hasn't met you, so it'd be kind of weird if I asked him to invite you too."

"Yup. Never met the guy. I hate meeting strangers on my vacation as much as the next billionaire, ha ha." Valerie cleared her throat. "Probably for the best anyway, someone's gotta keep Amity Park safe from ghosts. You just relax and enjoy your lakeside vacation."

"Yeah, alright." Danny forced a smile. Not that he wasn't going to try to relax, but Valerie had no idea how high the stakes were going to be this weekend.

--------------------------------------------------

"...and he's got his own vacation home now!" Jack beamed as he zoomed through a yellow light "He only built it in the last decade, so we haven't actually seen it yet, but I bet it'll be great!"

"And it's right on the lakefront, so the view will be spectacular!" Maddie turned in the passenger's seat, her face turning serious "Now kids, Vlad has requested that we don't bring any ghost weapons with us, and we're going to respect his wishes, but I want you all to be careful. The ecto activity is Wisconsin may be lower than Amity, but even if it was zero it's always good to be vigilant."

"That's true!" Jack said. "If you kids see a ghost, just scream and the two of us'll come running!"

The kids all gave each other a look.

"Ooh! This song's a classic! turns it up Madds!"

"You got it Jackie!" Maddie replied, cranking the volume.

The kids averted their eyes as the parents began to 'groove'. It was a horrendous sight for four teenagers, but at least Jack and Maddie were occupied enough for the kids to talk freely.

"Hey Danny," Tucker said "You sure Valerie's gonna be alright on her own for the weekend?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Danny smiled reassuringly at Tucker "I left The Thermos with her. Besides, you've seen her fight ghosts, she's been getting a lot better."

"Did you show her how to empty it?" Tucker asked.

"Yup."

"You told not to touch anything in the lab, right?" Jazz's eyes widened in concern.

"Yes Jazz, I told her not to touch anything." Danny rolled his eyes.

"It's not even two full days." Tucker glanced out the back window, despite Amity Park no longer being anywhere in sight "You're right, Danny. She can totally handle herself."

"Hm, you see awfully concerned about Valerie, Tucker." Sam smirked. "Don't worry, your crush can handle herself just fine."

"Oh, lay off Sam!" Tucker glared at her "I do not have a crush on her!"

"Right, because you don't get a thing for literally every girl that talks to you."

"Yeah, well, why don't we talk about your crushes for a change Sam!"

"What?"

"Yeah! You've been making fun of me for forever, now it's your turn! I'm sure you've got some super embarrassing ones we can make fun of!" Tucker smiled evilly.

"Tucker, I don't-"

"Hmm, let's see," Tucker made an exaggerated thinking face.

"Should we intervene or something?" Jazz asked Danny.

"I don't want to be involved in whatever this is." Danny replied, holding a book in front of his face. He failed to notice that it was the RV's maintenance manual, and also upside down.

"You were pretty into the Blood Love books in seventh grade? Maybe you were secretly into Winston MacWolfe or Florence Fanguard? Hmm?" Tucker waggled his eyebrows.

"Okay, first off, never do that with your face again." Sam said "And second, I'm not just some stereotype. Those two would be a terrible boyfriends. Looking back, their relationship with Bethany was so toxic, and they're both literally bloodthirsty monsters. I just liked the battle scenes, and was too young to fully pick up on the misogyny. And also the thinly veiled racism."

"Jeez," Danny turned to Jazz "What happens in those books?"

"Okay, then what is your type? Moody musicians? Old timey poets? Ooh, I know! Since you're not a stereotype, maybe you're a super subversive goth who's into jocks. Sam, do you have a crush on Dash?"

"No Tucker. I do not have a crush on Dash."

"You did kiss him that one time, though."

"Wait, what?" Jazz asked.

"That doesn't count." Sam snapped. "And literally every other thing you said was stupid. I've got way better taste than whatever it is you seem to think of me."

"Okay, what is your taste?"

"Well..." Sam hesitated briefly "I haven't ever actually fallen in love with anyone yet, but-"

"Calm down, Sam. I'm just talking crushes and stuff. You don't have to have figured out who you're going to marry yet."

Sam stared at Tucker for a second before rolling her eyes.

"I've never had a crush or whatever either."

Tucker stopped smirking.

"Oh." Tucker's tone had lost all its joviality. "Oh, jeez. I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean-"

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" Sam asked angrily.

"I didn't realize. I wouldn't have made fun of you if I'd know."

"I don't have some kind of disease, Tucker. We're only fourteen, I think it's pretty reasonable that I haven't had any crushes yet."

Tucker, Danny, and Jazz all looked away from Sam awkwardly.

"Ugh!" Sam rolled her eyes. "Why are you all are being so weird about this?"

"You're right, Sam." Jazz said. "It's perfectly normal to have never had a crush at your age."

"See!" Sam threw out her hand towards Jazz.

"Although, I would say that most people have."

"I know most people do," Sam said. "I just think most of them are a waste of time. Like, what was the point in pining over Paulina?" Sam thrust her hand out towards Danny "That didn't go anywhere and I think we both knew it wouldn't."

"I mean," Danny put the manual back where he found it, disappointed that it had failed to keep him from getting involved "Sure, I guess in hindsight, but it was fun at the time."

"Paulina has the personality of a porcupine that likes to bite. How could going to the dance with her have possibly been fun?"

"Because I liked her."

"Why though?"

"I don't know, I guess she was pretty and popular, and going out with someone like her just made me feel really...good about myself, I guess."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck shyly. It was weird saying all of that out loud.

"Hey, lay off Sam." Tucker cut in "Sure, in hindsight, Paulina's probably not the best choice for a long-term girlfriend, I'll give you that, but wouldn't you go out with one of the most popular guy in school if he asked? Not one of the A-Lister jerks, obviously, but, let's say...Yujin Choi?"

"Hanging out all night at school with someone I barely know? Gee, that sounds fun."

"Sounds fun to me. Even if it was just one date, going out with Jin would be a great boost for my confidence. Not that I'd really need it, I already know I'm great, but I'd still take it."

"Wait," Sam said "Do you like Choi?"

"Yeah, I guess."

There was a stunned silence in the back of the RV. Tucker did not seem to be aware that he'd said anything weird.

"I...didn't know you liked guys Tuck." Danny said.

"Huh? Oh, nah, I'm straight. Choi's just one of those guys, you know?"

"One of what guys Tucker?" Jazz asked.

"One of those every-once-in-a-while guy crushes."

"Um, Tucker, straight people typically don't get crushes on people of their gender." Jazz said gently, her eyebrows creasing.

"Eh, maybe it's just a guy thing." Tucker shrugged "You all know me, I like a lot of girls, but every so often there's a guy who's like, dang. Back me up here Danny, you know what I mean."

"Er..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck "Gotta be honest with you Tuck, but I think Jazz is right about this one. It's definitely 100% girls for me."

The comfortable smile slipped from Tucker's face.

"Wait, really?"

"Yup."

"Oh."

A heavy silence fell over the group. It was very uncomfortable, but everyone was too afraid to break it.

Jazz finally cracked about two minutes later.

"Hey, who wants to hear some interesting fun facts about Lake Geneva?" she asked, pulling out a brochure from a compartment beneath her seat.

No one responded.

"Before the American settlers forced them out in the seventeenth century, Geneva Lake was home to members of the Potawatomi tribe, who originally called the lake Kishwauketoe, meaning 'clear water'..."

--------------------------------------------------

A string of songs from the Fenton parents' era had come on after the first one, much to their delight.

"Ah, that music really bring brings you back, doesn't it Madds?" Jack said.

"It sure does, Jack." Maddie smiled.

Even though it was a commercial break, Maddie left the volume up. She checked over her shoulder. The kids were preoccupied, listening to Jazz talk about the history of Lake Geneva.

She turned to Jack. He looked very excited. Maddie hated to quash that excitement, but she had some concerns she thought it'd be best to voice before they arrived at Vlad's.

"Jack, before we get there, I should probably talk to you about something."

"What's up sweet cheeks?"

"I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but a little while back, Vlad and I had a kind of a talk."

"Is that where he came up with the idea of this trip?" Jack asked.

"Erm, maybe, but it wasn't exactly a very nice talk."

"Oh?"

"I told him how I felt about him avoiding us all the time."

"Oh. How'd he take it?"

"I'm not sure. I kind of stormed off before he could reply and we hadn't spoken again since. Until he invited us up for this weekend, actually."

"Well, he did invite us out here, and he said he'd make sure he'd stick around the whole time, so he's probably not mad at you. I'll bet he actually listened to what you said, and that's why he's doing this. Maybe he'll even explain why he's always avoiding us all this time!"

"Huh, I suppose that makes sense..." Maddie mused. "Might be a little optimistic with that last bit, Dear, but I suppose Vlad wouldn't have invited us down if he was angry. Maybe I really did get through to him."

"That's the spirit Madds!"

Maddie was glad she'd spoken to Jack about her concerns, she was suddenly feeling much better.

"It'll be nice to finally spend some quality time with Vlad. We have so much catching up to do."

"I know Madds. I have so many new inventions to tell him about! Oh, and you brought the kids' baby pictures, right?"

"Yup! The album's in our suitcase."

"Excellent! I know things have been kind of weird between us, but this weekend's gonna be fun! I can just feel it!"

#friends in strange places #fisp #fanfic #writing

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sunnys567 · 1 year

Text

Friends in Strange Places Ch. 4

What if Vlad was good instead of evil? Link to chapter 1:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39040329/chapters/97656390

--------------------------------------------------

"Again, sorry for being late." Valerie said to Tucker as they walked to his house. "You know how Mr Garcia can get with his end of class lectures."

"Yeah, been there." Tucker nodded. "Sounds like he broke his record for longest-winded speech today. Lucky you. Anyway, here we are," Tucker spread out his arms "Casa Foley!"

Tucker's house was green with dark shutters. He lived on one of those streets that had trees planted along the road. It was a nice house. Valerie kind of wish she lived here. Her old house had had a private garden filled with shrubbery. She didn't realize how much she missed the greenery.

They ascended the front steps and Tucker opened the door for Valerie.

"Hey Mom!" Tucker called as they entered the house.

"Welcome home Sweetheart" Valerie heard a voice call back. "Did you have a good day at school?"

"Yeah. I hope you don't mind, but I brought a friend over."

"Oh, is it Danny?"

"No, her name's Valerie."

Angela Foley appeared in the hall with a plate and a dish towel in her hand.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Valerie." Angela smiled. "I don't remember the last time Tucker brought someone over who wasn't Danny or Sam."

"Ha ha, yeah." Tucker said. "We're just going to go upstairs and work on some homework and maybe hang out a bit."

"Ah, yes, homework! Well, don't let me keep you. We're having meatloaf for dinner if you're interested Valerie."

"Thanks Mrs Foley, but I probably won't stay too long. My dad's expecting me."

"Suit yourself. I'll be in the kitchen if you kids need me."

"Okay, thanks mom!" Tucker called as he led Valerie up the stairs.

Angela smiled to herself as she walked back to the kitchen. It was nice that Tucker was expanding his social circle.

--------------------------------------------------

"Your mom seems pretty friendly." Valerie said as Tucker shut his bedroom door.

"Yeah, but she'd probably have wanted to talk to you for another hour if I hadn't mentioned homework. Anyway, you got the glove?"

"Yup." Valerie pulled a black glove out of her bag and handing it to Tucker.

He frowned when he looked at it.

"You're right-handed, right?"

"Yeah?"

"You sure you want the shield on your left glove? Makes more sense to have it on your dominant hand."

"No, I want it on the left."

Tucker furrowed his brow.

"To be honest, it doesn't really make sense to incorporate the shield into a glove in the first place. I mean, if a ghost attacks, it'd be faster to just pull out the shield than it is to put on a glove. So, it would only make sense to fuse the shield to the glove if you planned on wearing the glove all of the ti-"

Something clicked in Tucker's brain. He remembered the books Valerie had been carrying when he'd bumped into her in the hall shortly after the Axiom attack. How angry and upset she'd been by the whole situation.

"Valerie. You're not planning on hunting ghosts are you?"

"Weellllll-"

"Valerie! Do you have any idea how reckless that is? Ghosts are dangerous, and you need to know what you're doing, and have the right equipment! Normal weapons don't work on ghosts, and you can't exactly fight them with just this tiny shield! You need real ghost weapons!"

"For your information, Foley, I do know what I'm doing, and I already have 'real' ghost weapons."

More gears began to click in Tucker's brain. He'd seen a ghost hunter with black gloves. And Valerie's voice and build were pretty close to-

"Oh my gosh." The glove slipped out of Tucker's hand as his eyes went wide. "You're The Red Huntress!"

"Hey!" Valerie said, suddenly on defensive "How do you know that name?"

"She kind of shouts it really loud when she- you're chasing down ghosts."

Tucker sat down on his bed and stared at the ground. This revelation was blowing his brain, although he had to admit it that made perfect sense.

When Tucker looked up, the sight of a glaring Valerie centimeters from his face almost made his jump off the bed.

"I swear Foley, if you tell anyone, especially my dad, I'm going to-"

"Hey, hey, relax!" Tucker held up his hands and scooched back on the bed. "I told you, I'm pretty good at keeping secrets. I swear I won't rat you out."

"Good." Valerie took a step back, but her face was no longer friendly.

Tucker was too nervous to say anything. Valerie wasn't feeling particularly chatty either.

It wasn't long before the tension finally became too much for Tucker to bear.

"So...where did you get your gear?"

"None of your business." Valerie's glare hardened.

"You don't trust me at all, huh?"

Valerie didn't say anything.

"Am I the first person you've told?"

"Not that I wanted to tell you, but yes."

"Oh."

"Oh what?"

"So you've been doing this all on your own?"

"I've been doing fine on my own, thanks."

"Not saying you aren't," Tucker glanced at the glove on the floor. "But that just kind of sounds like it sucks."

Tucker thought he saw Valerie's expression soften ever so slightly, so he decided to keep going.

"You know, I meant what I said earlier. I'm pretty good at keeping secrets, and I'm not going to tell your dad. Parents are great, but I get that sometimes you don't want them involved. They might worry, or worse, try and stop you, and... I know it sucks being benched when you know there's something you can do to help."

Valerie's face softened, but she wasn't smiling. She wasn't making eye contact with Tucker. He wasn't sure if that was good or not.

"Anyway, it might take a few days, and a lot of help from my tech forums, but I think I can do it. Put the shield into your glove, I mean."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I don't really need anything else from you, and it seems like you don't really want to talk right now, so I guess I'll see you in school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure."

Valerie walked over to Tucker's door. She put her hand on the door knob. After a brief hesitation, she turned back to face Tucker.

"Hey, um, before I go," she said "Have you ever tried flying?"

--------------------------------------------------

"AAAAHHHH!"

Tucker clung to Valerie's waist for dear life as they sailed through the night sky.

"Thrilling, isn't it?" She called over her shoulder.

"That's one word for it!" Tucker nervously replied. "Watch out for that tree!"

"Relax, I know what I'm doing."

Valerie dipped the hoverboard down briefly before rocketing upwards. Tucker screamed again and shut his eyes as they burst through the through the leafy branches.

After a few seconds, Tucker felt the hoverboard stop moving.

"You can open your eyes now." Valerie said. "Trust me, you're gonna want to see this."

Hesitantly, Tucker opened his eyes.

"Woah..." he breathed.

He'd expected to see stars, but it was too cloudy for that tonight. That being said, Tucker had never been this close to the clouds before. It was incredible seeing just how massive they were. The sight might have been terrifying if the clouds weren't so fluffy. Tucker almost wanted to reach out and touch one, but he was still too scared to let go of Valerie.

"Look down."

"Isn't that the one thing you're not supposed to do when you're up high?"

"Just do it, you idiot."

And so Tucker did.

Amity Park looked even cooler than the clouds. The city was full of tiny sparkling lights. They weren't like the stars, these lights were gathers in dense clusters. It reminded Tucker more of fireflies. Not that Tucker had ever actually seen fireflies, but he assumed that this was what they'd look like, minus the colour variations from neon signs.

You could see how the layout of the roads and sidewalks all fit together, making hundreds of not-quite-squares. It always felt like it took forever to walk one place to another in Amity, and now Tucker could see it all.

It was an amazing ,but also kind of weird seeing Amity Park from this angle. It was like Tucker was looking at his entire life.

Wow, that was stirring some emotions.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Tucker's grip on Valerie relaxed ever so slightly. "It really is."

Danny had carried Tucker via flight a few times, and Tucker had tried flying himself when he was briefly half-ghost, but he'd never really had the opportunity to just stop and take in the view from this high up.

Tucker wondered if Danny ever came up to just hang out in the sky. He hoped he did.

"Up here, it feels like it's just you and the stars." Valerie said "Everything down there? All your problems and the people you know? They all feel really small and far away down there. For a few minutes you can just exist without worrying about all that stuff."

"Yeah, that's exactly it." Tucker looked over at Valerie. "Do you spend a lot of time up here."

"I used to come up here at night when I couldn't sleep. Guess I kind of stopped. I should come up here more."

The serene moment was interrupted by the sound of Tucker's stomach growling.

"Sorry." he said "You wanna grab a nasty burger?"

"Didn't your mom already make a meatloaf?"

"You think I don't have room in here for a Nasty Combo and my mom's meatloaf?" Tucker patted his stomach. "I'm offended. I'll pay if you drive."

"Alright, deal."

--------------------------------------------------

A sunken eyed employee opened the drive-thru window.

"Welcome to the Nasty Burger. What can I get for- hang on, the drive-thru is only for customers with vehicles."

"Do hoverboards count?" Valerie asked.

The employee stuck his head out the window and looked down at their board. He blinked slowly and sighed.

"Sure, why not. What would you like to order?"

"We'll take two Nasty Combos, one diet cola, one diet iced tea, and upsize one of the fries."

"That'll be $13.95." Tucker handed over some cash. "Please proceed to the next window."

"Thanks." Tucker saluted as Valerie flew to the second window.

They hovered there for about a minute. A peppy teenager soon appeared and opened the window, greasy white bag in hand.

"Two Nasty Combos with diet, iced tea, and- "

Her cheery expression melted into confusion when she got a good look at the masked figure and teenager on a hoverboard.

"Whaaaaa...?"

Tucker took the bag from her hand.

"Thanks!" he smiled politely at her . Her expression did not change as Valerie zoomed off back towards Amity Park Park.

--------------------------------------------------

When they got back to Amity Park Park, they sat down by a tree to eat. Valerie had barely unwrapped her burger before Tucker was begging her to let him try out her mask.

"Okay, fine." she rolled her eyes affectionately.

"Yes!" Tucker pumped his fist as Valerie handed him her mask. He slipped it on over his face.

"Wow, everything looks so red."

Valerie grinned evilly and hit some buttons on her wrist.

"Agh! That's a lot of information!"

Valerie laughed and toggled the statistics off.

"Yeah," she said "You have to get used to seeing things through the visor. It's pretty useful once you do but, between that and learning how to fly on the hoverboard, it took like two months before I felt even remotely ready to try going after a ghost."

"And how'd that go?" Tucker asked, pulling the mask off.

"Pretty bad." Valerie laughed. "I thought I'd gotten pretty good at flying, but I fell off my board twice. Turns out flying's a lot harder when you're actively chasing a ghost, and not just doing laps around the park. Luckily my hoverboard comes back to catch me when I fall."

"It does? That's awesome!"

"Right? If I only had a way to actually hold onto the ghosts, I'd be all set. That ghost Danny Phantom's got some gizmo that sucks up ghosts. I tried to ask his about it, but he just disappeared and flew away."

"Oh. D-did he?"

"Yeah. He saved my life once, so I figured he was probably friendly, but guess I was wrong."

"Maybe he just needs to warm up to you?" Tucker shrugged "I mean, being a ghost and all, he's probably not used to humans trying to be friends with him. Most people he meets probably react the opposite way to ghosts." This was a very surreal way to talk about Danny.

"I guess. For now all I'll just have to stick with scaring the ghosts away."

"That's ironic."

"Shut up!" Valerie smiled and pushed Tucker's shoulder. "For real, though. Ghosts used to hold so much power over me. After that dog attacked Axiom, I was scared all the time. I couldn't even sleep most nights. Being The Red Huntress liberates me. It gives me power over those monsters. Just having the suit makes me feel safe and strong, and I'm not afraid anymore!"

Valerie suddenly blushed.

"Sorry, I'm oversharing. Don't really have anyone else to talk to about this."

"Nah, you're good, I get it." Tucker said. "Ghosts can be...a lot to deal with. You've got to talk to someone about all the craziness. I'd go insane without Danny and Sam. Although I suppose I wouldn't be dealing with ghosts at all if it weren't for Danny..."

Tucker began to sweat. Was he saying too much?

"I suppose." Valerie laughed. "Do Fenton's parents ever take you ghost hunting?"

"What? Me? Ghost hunting? No way!" Tucker hoped Valerie didn't notice how high-pitched his voice was. "That would be way too dangerous. And a waste of my gifts."

"Gifts?"

"My good looks and natural charisma!"

"...right."

The two of them took a bite of their burgers at the same time, leaving things silent while they chewed.

"Hey, Val?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for showing me the sky. And for trusting me with all that. I had a really great night."

"Yeah, me too."

Tucker and Valerie turned away from each other just in time to miss the other one's blush.

They just sat and talked about nothing in particular between bites of their food. Once they'd finished, Valerie flew them back to Tucker's house, and they snuck in through his bedroom window. Valerie changed out of her suit (it took every fibre of Tucker's willpower not to geek out over the way it folded into her backpack), and the two of them headed downstairs so Valerie could leave.

"See you in school tomorrow." she waved.

"Bye." Tucker waved back as Valerie shut the door.

"Valerie seems like a nice girl." Tucker's mother said once she'd left.

"I agree. When did you two meet?" Tucker's dad asked, grinning and raising an eyebrow.

"Slow down, Dad. We're just partners in bio."

"You know, your mother and I started as bio partners."

"It was actually home economics, dear." his mother corrected. The two of them smiled at each other, clearly thinking about fond memories.

"Right, well I'm going to go hide in my room while before you two start making out."

"I can't believe you would talk to your own parents that way." His mother tousled Tucker's beret as he passed her on the way to the stairs.

"And I can't believe you two would be so risqué in front of your son!" Tucker dramatically threw his arm over his face as he ascended the stairs.

Tucker's smile faded as he shut the door to his room, realizing he now had a serious dilemma.

On the one hand, Valerie being The Red Huntress definitely seemed like the kind of thing Danny should know. On the other hand, it wasn't fair to out Valerie like that.

He couldn't even ask her if she was okay with him telling Danny without revealing Danny's secret, and he couldn't ask Danny if he was okay with him telling Valerie without revealing Valerie's secret.

After thinking about it for a bit over a few solo rounds of DOOMED, Tucker decided he was just going to have to keep both their secrets. This probably meant that he was going to want to scream every time those two obliviously interacted, but he was just going to have to suffer in silence.

"Tucker!" His mom called up "Dinner's ready!"

Good, meatloaf made suffering much easier.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny had been planning on telling Sam and Tucker about Valerie first thing at school that morning. Unfortunately, some ectopus had other plans. Danny hadn't even finished breakfast when his ghost sense went off.

Ectopuses were slippery ghosts, and Danny only got it into the thermos two minutes before the end of home room.

He managed to transform back, grab all his stuff, and arrive at first period just as the second bell rang. Ms Murphy gave him a look, but didn't say anything.

"Ghost attack?" Tucker whispered as Danny sat down net to him and Sam.

"Yeah. Listen, I've got something really-"

"Danny, Tucker, your discussion can wait until after class."

"Yes Ms Murphy." Danny and Tucker replied.

Danny had never been more anxious for a class to end. He almost cheered when the bell finally rang.

"So, what were you saying earlier?" Tucker asked as the trio walked out of Ms Murphy's classroom.

"Okay, so yesterday, I was fighting The Box Ghost-"

"That's very exciting news." Sam interrupted.

"That's not the end of the sentence." Danny glared at Sam. "Anyway, The Red Huntress showed up in the middle of the fight, and-"

Danny stopped talking when he noticed Valerie walking not far behind their group. He'd forgotten that they had English together.

Valerie hadn't noticed Danny and his friends. She was too absorbed with adjusting some settings on her watch. Although, now that Danny really looked at it, the display screen was showing features that a normal watch definitely didn't have.

"Danny?" Sam's voice snapped Danny's attention back to his friends. "What happened? What did The Huntress do? Did she hurt you?" Sam's clenched her fists as she asked the last question.

Danny glanced at Valerie again. She didn't seem to notice that Sam was referring to her alter ego. She probably wasn't listening to their conversation at all. Why would she be? She didn't know who Danny was.

"Uh, no, no! Everything's good, I just...uh, you know, English is starting soon, so I think I'll just tell you at lunch."

"Dude, you're acting real weird." Tucker looked at Danny with concern. "You sure everything's alright?"

"Yup! Totally fine! Don't worry, I can't talk now, but it'll make sense later."

"Okaaaaay..." Sam raised an eyebrow as the three of them took their seats.

Danny glanced over his shoulder. Valerie sat at the desk behind Sam (of course Valerie sat so close to their group!), lazily looking out the window. Her watch now displayed the time on its screen, just like any average everyday digital watch would.

"Alright students," Mr Lancer entered the classroom and shut the door. Today we're going to be starting our unit on Edgar Allen Poe."

Valerie sitting right behind him made it even harder to pay attention now than it had been in first period.

After about ten minutes of struggling to take in Mr Lancer's droning, Danny felt his ghost sense go off.

Well, it wasn't like he was going to learn anything today anyway.

Danny and Valerie raised their hands at the same time.

"Gray?" Mr Lancer pointed his piece of chalk at Valerie.

"May I go to the washroom?"

"Sharon's already gone out. You'll have to wait for her to get back. Fenton?"

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

Mr Lancer let out a deep sigh.

"Fine. Hurry back."

Danny shot out of the classroom.

--------------------------------------------------

The ghost turned out to be another ectopus (Danny should've known; they always came in pairs!) that was occupying itself by gnawing on a boiler in the school's basement.

"Dude, don't you have anything better to chew on?" Danny asked "Like, that just can't be your best option."

The ectopus hissed violently, abandoning the boiler to charge at Danny, tentacles at the ready.

Ectopuses weren't very strong, but it could be hard to keep track of all their tentacles in a fight. At some point, the ectopus managed to grab Danny by the waist and throw him into a bunch of pipes.

The pipes dented and a few of them cracked, releasing streams of steam horrible hissing. Danny used the obscuring effect of the steam to his advantage, sneaking around the ectopus and blasting it in the back enough times to weaken it before sucking it into The Fenton Thermos.

"Attention Casper High," Principal Ishiyama's staticky voice said as Danny capped The Thermos "It appears we are having some major plumbing issues. As such, we ask students and faculty to exit the building immediately. The rest of the school day will be cancelled. Bus drivers will be notified and should arrive shortly."

"Oops." Danny said to no one.

Not that that was really his fault. It was the ectopus that threw him.

Danny flew invisibly to the school's front door, checked that there wasn't anybody still inside, then transformed, rushing outside. It didn't take long to find the soaking wet Sam and Tucker.

"Hey guys!" He called "I, uh, got the ghost."

"Good for you." Sam said as water dripped from her hair. "I, personally, would like to go home and change now."

"Agreed." Tucker wrung out his beret and placed it back on his head. "Hey Danny, could you maybe not set off the sprinkler system the next time you're fighting a ghost?"

"Wait, how on earth could we have possible set off- it doesn't matter. I've got something absolutely bonkers to tell you two!"

"Did your dad bring the fridge to life too?" Sam asked, taking out her ponytail.

"No, Valerie's The Red Huntress!"

"Wait, WHAT!" Sam said. Tucker didn't say anything, but his eyes widened.

"Yeah, can you believe that?"

"H-how do you know it's her?" Tucker asked.

"She literally told me. I ran into her when I was fighting The Box Ghost yesterday, and she started talking about the time Phantom saved her at Axiom. She wan't even trying to hide her identity."

"Wow." was all Sam could think to say.

Danny rubbed his eyes.

"Ugh, of all the people she could've been, it had to be Valerie."

"You know, this might actually be convenient in a way." Tucker said.

"Really, how?"

Tucker took a deep breath. Now that he knew Danny knew about Valerie, he figured it might be a good idea to broach the subject of Danny letting her in on his secret. He wasn't really sure how Danny would react, though.

"Okay, so, don't freak out, but I was thinking about something." Tucker said.

"What is it?"

"It's just, don't freak out, but I was thinking, you know, and this is just a 'maybe', just something to consider, but perhaps, just potentially-"

"Just spit it out already Tucker!" Sam snapped.

"Hey hey!" Tucker held up his hands indignantly "This is a delicate matter, Sam! Anyway, Danny I think that maybe you should consider telling Valerie."

"Tell her what?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Tell her...your secret. You know, that you're Danny Phantom."

Nobody said anything right away.

"Seriously Tuck?"

"I mean, you don't have to, I just thought it was worth consider-"

"You think that just because you like some girl, I should just tell her my biggest secret?"

"Hey, it's not about that! I don't even like- never mind. I just thought that since Valerie's also a ghost hunter, it might be beneficial for you two to, like, you know..."

"What?"

"I'm just saying, having someone to help you fight ghosts wouldn't be a bad thing, right?"

"That's what you and Sam are for!"

"I know, and no offence to me and Sam, we're great, but Valerie's a real powerhouse. She could be a real asset to Team Phantom. You two've seen her, she's got skills and some real sick gear. I mean, at the very least, she probably has a ghost tracker, so we could rely on something more precise than your ghost sense. That'd be cool, right?"

Sam raised an unimpressed eyebrow, and Danny looked furious. Maybe indirectly insulting his ghost sense hadn't been the best approach.

"I'm just saying having more help is never a bad thing."

"Maybe not for you." Danny said "You're not the one who'd be putting yourself at risk."

"I'm just-"

"Sure it's all about what you think. Who cares about my opinion? Who cares that I'm the one on the front lines of most of the ghost fights? Who cares that I have to navigate a minefield of potentially hazardous devices in my own home? Who cares that my parents say they love me then turn around and start going on about how they're going to destroy me every day?"

Sam thought she saw Danny's eyes flash green while he was talking. Tucker seemed to be at a loss for words. Sam didn't blame him.

"Danny," she said carefully "I don't think he-"

"Ugh! You know what?" Danny interrupted her "I've had enough!"

With that, he transformed and flew off towards Fenton Works. The force of his takeoff was so strong that Tucker had to hold on to his beret to keep it from flying off his head.

"He's really got to stop changing out in the open like that if he wants to keep his secret a secret." Sam remarked.

"It was just an idea," Tucker said "I didn't mean to make him so upset!"

Sam sighed.

"It's not your fault Tucker. I think Danny's kind of sensitive about the whole 'secret identity' thing right now. He told me he was actually thinking about telling his parents."

"What?! That's crazy! You told him why that was a bad idea, right?"

"He already knows why it's a bad idea, Tucker."

"Then why on earth does he want to tell them?"

"I don't know. I guess keeping his ghost half a secret from his family has really been stressing him out?" Sam chewed her nail thoughtfully. Danny was clearly upset and had tried to talk to Sam earlier, but she'd just shut him down.

She'd really been a really terrible friend.

"Okay," Tucker said "Danny is clearly going through some stuff. We'd better go talk to him."

Sam realized that Danny probably wouldn't have gotten this upset if he'd talked to Tucker first instead of her.

Well, if this mess was her fault, then she was going to fix it.

"He's seemed pretty mad at you." Sam said "Maybe I should go alone."

"Yeah," Tucker sighed "You're probably right. I'll talk to him tomorrow when he's cooled off. Call me later and tell me how he's doing?"

"Yeah, sure thing. I'll just drop my stuff off at home and change into something dry first. Give him some time to calm down."

"That's probably smart." Tucker said. He sighed. "I hope Danny's okay."

Sam didn't say anything.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny was lying on his bed, trying to distract himself from the swirling thoughts in his head by drowning himself in Pac-Man Collection on his Game Boy. Tucker had once joked that Danny was drawn to Pac-Man because it's a game where you keep catching ghosts that keep escaping. Danny disagreed, the game was more about working around ghosts rather than fighting them.

That being said, Danny was actually pretty bad at avoiding the ghosts. He'd just lost his last life to Blinky (Blinky and Pinky always ganged up on him!), when he heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" he asked, shutting off the Game Boy.

"It's me!" Sam's voice answered from the other side. "I brought your backpack. And, also some homework from Lancer. Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Sam opened the door.

"You okay?" she asked, shutting it behind her.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Danny asked, sitting up.

"Seriously Danny?" Sam pulled Danny's computer chair next to his bed and sat in it backwards.

Danny fiddled with a loose string in his blanket.

"Look," Sam sighed "I don't get your whole conflict about wanting to tell your parents. If I had ghost powers, you couldn't pay me to tell mine. But this isn't about me."

Sam had taken the time to figure out what she was going to say on the walk over.

"Your relationship with your parents is different from mine. You're clearly struggling and needed someone to talk to, and I didn't listen. I'm sorry. I'm ready to listen now, if you still want to talk."

Danny sighed.

"I don't know Sam. It...it's just been a lot." Danny stopped fiddling with the string and looked at her. "Keeping this secret, it's stressful."

"Even now that you have your powers under control?"

"Like I said earlier, it's like there's a wedge between me and my family now. It's not, like, huge, but I can feel it, all the time, just lingering in the in the back of my head. I don't always notice it, but it always seems to affect things."

"How so?"

"It's like I'm constantly being reminded that all it would take is a single moment, and everything would be different. My family would start to see me different."

Danny took a steadying breath before continuing.

"But, whether anyone likes it or not, I am half-ghost. My ghost half is a part of who I am. And keeping that a secret means I can't fully be myself around the people I love, as cliché as that sounds."

"No, I get it." Sam was surprised to realize she meant it "I could probably get along with my parents a lot better if I wore brighter colours and frillier skirts, but that's not who I am. It would feel so restrictive, like I was denying who I- oh." Sam looked at Danny "Is that what keeping your ghost half secret feels like?"

Danny nodded.

"Oh." Sam said again. "Danny we- I didn't realize you were under so much pressure. I mean, I know being a ghost with ghost hunter parents isn't fun, but...why didn't you say anything earlier?"

Danny shrugged.

"I don't think I really realized how bad it was until recently. Kind of like how I didn't say anything about my gender dysphoria until middle school. The bad feelings have always been there, I just didn't really...fully realize it, I guess. It's just, seeing Vlad and my mom argue in Colorado, seeing how hiding destroyed his relationships with the people closest to him, it made me scared."

"I mean, you're not really like Vlad." Sam said. "You still talk to your family. Vlad's problem is that he shut himself off from everyone completely. You don't do that."

"Maybe not, but I'm still closing myself off from them. Keeping a secret this big is just so...so...draining! Mom, Jazz, even Dad have noticed something is off with me. I don't like all of this lying and hiding!"

Danny hugged his legs to his chest and buried his face in his knees.

"I'm tired, Sam. A day hasn't gone by since the accident where I don't think about this at least a little. I'm sick of this dragging me down. I just want it to stop, but the only way to make it stop is to take a huge risk. I'm just so sick of thinking about all of this."

When Sam was seven, she'd had a special purple hair tie that she wore for months straight until it was all saggy and had lost it's elasticity. Looking at Danny gave her that same feeling she had when she'd looked at the old hair tie. It hurt her heart in a place that was hard to reach.

Sam got up off of her chair and sat down next to Danny on the bed.

"To be honest Danny, I'm not really sure what you should do." Sam said "But we'll figure it out. And no matter what happens, Tucker and I are gonna be here for you."

Danny wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't know what I'd do without you guys." he said.

Sam bristled. Besides for with her grandmother, Sam wasn't big on hugs. They weren't bad, just kind of...weird. But, considering the circumstances, she decided to make an exception this one time..

"You owe me for this, Danny." she said to herself, patting Danny's back.

They stayed like that for a while. Danny wanted to stay there forever, and Sam probably would have let him (well, maybe just for another five minutes), if Danny's ghost sense hadn't gone off.

"Ghosts ruin everything." Danny said, releasing Sam and looking out his window. He saw a green shape zoom overhead in the direction of Amity Park Park.

"Alright, going ghost!" Danny shouted as he jumped out the window, did a flip, and transformed.

"Can you please not jump out of windows?" Sam said to the now hovering Danny. "You give me a heart attack every time!"

"But it's cool!" Danny protested. "Anyway, it looks like the ghost is headed towards the park. Meet you there?"

Sam nodded and rushed out of Danny's room. Danny zoomed towards Amity Park Park.

--------------------------------------------------

It was hard to spot a ghost through the treetops, but the sound of people screaming near the playground narrowed Danny's search down pretty quickly.

It didn't take long to find the source of the panic. Lurking in the trees, next to the sandbox, was a tall humanoid ghost. Its bottom half consisted of long tattered grey robes, while thick hair-like green tendrils concealed its face and upper body. People fled from the ghost as its tendrils stretched and wrapped around trees and various playground equipment.

"Hey!" Danny called out, the ghost turning at the sound of his voice. "Didn't anyone ever tell you to keep your tentacles to yourself?"

Danny dove towards the ghost, but one of its tendrils shot out and wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides. The end of the tendril floated up next to Danny's face. It suddenly turned into a face, eyes opening, and a long tongue flailing out of a mouth that hissed and bared its fangs.

The ghost had snakes for hair. Over a hundred snakes.

"Not tentacles. Got it."

Danny yelped as the snake yanked him down to its level. Twenty or so snakes parted like a curtain, revealing the ghost's face.

Danny was immediately drawn to the its eyes.

They were a deep grey and there weren't any pupils. Danny couldn't stop staring at them. The whole world outside of those eyes seemed to fade away and Danny felt his feet, which had previously been flailing and kicking, grow heavy and fall limp as he got lost in the gray expanse of the ghost's irises.

A blast of pink energy suddenly nailed the ghost in the face, causing it to shut its eyes and wail. Danny felt like a spell had been broken the second the ghost's eyes were off of him.

Pink blasts continued to assault the ghost and it soon dropped Danny to the ground. He looked up and saw Valerie circling the ghost on her hoverboard, bombarding it with ecto blasts.

"You looked like you could use a hand. AGGH!" Valerie swerved to dodge an incoming snake. She continued to shoot at the ghost as she dodged. Most of her shots missed, and the ghost had moved the curtain of snakes back in front of its face.

The snakes briefly recoiled when they got shot, but Valerie's blasts didn't seem to be doing as much damage as when she'd hit the ghost's face.

Danny tried to stand up while Valerie had the ghost distracted, but found that he couldn't. He looked down and screamed when he saw that his feet had been turned to stone.

He concentrated some ecto energy into his feet. There was a burst of ecto energy and grey rocks, leaving behind his normal white boots.

Danny sighed with relief and shot up into the air.

"Don't look into it's eyes!" he shouted to Valerie "It'll turn you to stone!"

"Wait, for real?"

Before Danny could answer, the ghost managed to grab Valerie with its snake hair.

"Valerie!"

Danny tried to fly after her, but snakes kept popping up and blocking him. He tried to blast them away, but there seemed to be no end to them.

Danny soon gave up and flew up out of their range. He was going to try and hit the ghost with an ecto blast from afar, but when he looked down he realized with horror that the ghost had already parted its hair and locked Valerie in its gaze.

To Danny's surprise, Valerie raised her blaster and shot it directly in the face. The ghost let out more horrible wailing noises, and its snakes all thrashed and tangled in confusion. Valerie whacked the snake that was holding her with the butt of her blaster, causing it to drop her.

She was running as soon as she hit the ground, blasting any errant snakes that came after her. As soon as she was far enough from the throng, her hoverboard came sailing back to her and she jumped on it, flying up next to Danny.

"How'd you do that?" Danny asked "When I looked into its eyes, I got put in a trance and my feet turned to stone."

"My visor must filtering whatever's radiating from those creepy eyes." Valerie said. "Sweet!"

"Okay, I have an idea." Danny said. "How good are you at flying?"

"Pretty good. Why?"

"Try to get as many snakes as you can to follow you. Then fly all around the trees. Go around as many branches and trunks as you can."

"So they get all tangled up? Nice! I like the way you think Phantom."

Danny smiled a little at the compliment, but quickly went back to business mode.

"You take the right, I'll take the left." he said.

Valerie nodded and the two of them zoomed off in opposite directions.

"Hey, Snakes!" Danny shouted "Bet you can't catch me!"

Over fifty snakes hissed at Danny. He zoomed off and they gave chase.

Danny wove over, under, and around tree after tree as tightly as he could. It didn't take long for the snakes that had been following him to get tangled up in the branches as well as each other.

When he was done he looked over at Valerie. She wasn't flying as fast as him, but she was pretty agile considering the how awkward Danny assumed a hoverboard would be to manoeuvre through the trees. It only took her another ten seconds to finish with her snakes. When she was done, she flew over to Danny.

"Now what?"

Most of the snakes were stuck in the trees, but there were still about twenty of them hanging in front of the ghost's face.

"Considering she kept some snakes to cover it," Danny said "I assume she doesn't like getting shot in the face."

"But the face-snakes only move when she's trying to freeze someone."

Danny looked at Valerie. He had another plan, but this one required a lot of trust in Valerie. Some part of Danny hesitated, but, realistically, she'd more than proven herself.

Danny steeled himself with a deep breath.

"If I let the ghost grab me," he said "That'll make her expose her face."

"Yeah, but then she'll put you in a trance. You won't be able to shoot her."

"That's why you're the one that's going to shoot her."

"What, me?!"

"Yes, you. She'll be focused on turning me to stone, leaving her wide open for you."

"So shouldn't I be the bait, then? Since I can't get turned to stone?"

"Her eyes will probably still freeze me from faraway if I accidentally look at them, and you won't be able to hit her either if with her snakes wrapped around you. Wow, that's a weird sentence. Anyway, my point is, the only way to defeat her is for me to distract her so you can hit her weak spot."

"B-but, she still has some snakes free!" Danny had never seen Valerie so hesitant. "I can't dodge and aim at the same time!"

"You just have to hit her once. That'll break the trance and I can blast her point-blank. Can you do that?"

"I-I don't know. If I can't then you'll get turned to stone."

"I think you can do it."

"What?"

"I've been watching you fight. You're still pretty new at this, but you've definitely got what it takes to be a ghost hunter."

"Huh, honestly I kind of thought you hated me."

"Maybe I just didn't give you a fair chance. What do you say? Want to give it a shot before Medusa untangles her hair?"

Valerie only waited a second before answering with full confidence:

"Yes."

"Alright, let's go then!"

Danny zoomed towards the ghost. He stopped about a meter in front of her, and began throwing as many ecto blasts as he could at the snake-hair in front of her face.

As Danny predicted, they didn't seem to do much, and a couple of snakes shot out and wrapped themselves around him. Danny struggled halfheartedly as the ghost's hair began to part, revealing her hypnotic grey eyes.

Valerie tried to hit the ghost's face, but snakes attacked her from every direction, throwing off her aim. Her shots weren't landing anywhere near her target.

"C'mon Val." she muttered to herself, flying underneath yet another snake. "Just ignore your shaking hands. Focus!"

But as hard as she tried, she just couldn't land a shot. Valerie glanced at Danny and began to panic when she realized he was stone well past his ankles.

This wasn't working. She needed to get closer to her target, but the size of her hoverboard made it impossible to weave through the snakes.

In a desperate move, Valerie jumped off her hoverboard and began running towards the ghost. It took the snakes a second to recalibrate, but she wasn't paying attention to them. She was laser focused on the ghost's eyes, shooting as many shots as her blaster would fire at those horrible empty corneas.

She was only a few meters from the ghost when she felt a snake wrapping itself around her torso. She ignored it and kept firing. Just as the snake yanked her into the air, Valerie saw a shot collide with the ghost's face.

Valerie cheered before screaming as the snake that was holding her began flailing around wildly.

The ghost let out a painful wail, but the snakes that were holding Danny and Valerie didn't let go.

Free from the trance, Danny shook his head and focused ecto energy into his feet. He swung his legs back before kicking them forward and blasting the ghost in the face with a giant ecto beam, simultaneously freeing his feet from their stony state.

His arms were still pinned down, so Danny kept shooting the ghost's face with ecto eye beams until she eventually released him.

Danny, arms now free, hovered in front of the ghost and began blasting her with his regular ecto blasts.

Behind him, he heard a yell and a thump as Valerie fell to the ground.

"I'm okay!" she called out.

Soon pink beams joined Danny's green ones in their assault on the ghost's face. The ghost's wails grew louder and louder until it finally crumpled to the ground, its snakes falling limp.

Danny pulled out his thermos and pressed the button, sucking the ghost into the bright blue beam. The ghost wailed the entire time she was being dragged in. Some of the hair snakes tried to wriggle out, but Danny gave the thermos an extra ecto-boost and all the stragglers were soon sucked in.

Danny capped the thermos feeling tired but triumphant.

Valerie flew up to him. She yanked off her mask and leaned on her knees.

"That was," she said between panting breaths "Intense. I've never fought a ghost that powerful."

"Well, " Danny smiled "You did pretty good."

Valerie smiled back.

They suddenly heard someone scream. Valerie pulled her mask back on and readied her blaster. Danny moved into a fighting position.

"Danny!"

Danny looked down and saw a panicked Sam running across the park.

"You have to come quick!" she said "Some kid got turned into a statue down here!"

"What?!" Danny and Valerie said together.

They both flew after Sam. She led them to a spot neat the swing set, where a child had been frozen mid-run.

"Oh no..." Valerie breathed.

"It looks like the ghost froze him instantaneously." Danny said. "But how? It took her a good ten seconds just to freeze my feet."

"Maybe being a ghost protected you from her powers a bit?" Valerie shrugged.

"And what makes you such an expert on ghosts?" Sam glared at Valerie.

"Hey! Which one of us has the ghost weapons here?" Valerie gestured to her blaster.

"Sam, she's cool, we don't have time for this."

"It's not like the kid's getting any more frozen." Sam crossed her arms. "And just how do you know we can trust this mysterious masked figure?"

"Do you two know each other?" Valerie asked.

"Yes." Danny said.

"No." Sam said at the same time.

The two of them looked at each other.

"You know what?" Valerie said. "It doesn't matter. Right now we gotta figure out how to unfreeze this kid."

Sam crossed her arms, but didn't say anything.

"Can you try that thing you did to free yourself earlier? The green glowy thing?"

"Oh wow, you really don't know anything about ghosts." Danny said.

"Hey!"

"Uh, I don't know. It was easy to do to myself, since it's just manifesting the ecto energy inside me already, like I do before launching an ecto beam, but I don't know if I can, like, transfer it to someone else."

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" Valerie shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess."

Danny put his hands on the kid's shoulders and summoned some ecto energy. His hands glowed green, but nothing else happened.

"Maybe try doing it like an ecto blast, but less blasty?" Sam suggested.

"What does that even mean?" Valerie asked.

"Guys!"

Valerie and Sam stopped talking. After a minute, Danny's hands stopped glowing and he let go of the kid.

"Hey," Sam said "Are you-"

"Shh!" Danny cut her off. He took a deep breath and grabbed the kid again.

Danny's entire body began to glow green as he concentrated on directing his ecto energy into the kid. It was a very awkward and strenuous task, and Danny wasn't sure if he was doing it right at first, but the kid was soon surrounded by his own faint green aura.

It took all of Sam and Valerie's energy to hold back their cheers, but Danny wasn't close to done yet.

Danny could feel every muscle burning, but he kept up. The glow around the kid slowly got brighter and brighter.

Finally, there was a small explosion of rocks, and Danny collapsed onto his hands and knees.

The no-longer-stone child blinked at the strange trio.

"Hey kid." Sam smiled tentatively. "Do you remember what happened here?"

The kid stared wide-eyed at Sam.

"D-dere was a scawy monster..." he said very quietly.

Valerie's hoverboard folded into her feet. She landed on the ground and took off her mask.

"Hey kid, my name's Valerie." she said, getting down on one knee. "Do you think you can tell me your name? We're gonna try and help you find you parent, okay? I bet they're worried about you."

The kid seemed to relax a little.

"M-my name is-"

"Joel!"

Someone was suddenly sprinting towards them. She grabbed the child once she got close enough and hugged him close to her body.

"Oh thank the stars you're okay! I've been looking everywhere for you! Did that monster hurt you poor baby?"

Joel pointed to the trio.

"D-dey saved me, Mummy."

Joel's mom looked at the trio. There were tears in her eyes.

"Thank you kids. So much. I don't know what I'd have done if-" Hey eyes locked onto Danny on the ground. "Are you alright young man?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Danny began to stand up. "Yeah, I'm goo-"

The world started to spin. Sam rushed over and caught Danny. He leaned on her.

"Yeah, I'm great." he gave Joel's mom an unconvincing thumbs up.

"Dear, I really think you should-"

She was cut off by the sound of screeching tires and an obnoxious car horn whose familiarity made Danny's blood run cold.

"WHERE'S THE GHOST!" He heard his father shout.

"Oh no, The Fentons." Joel's mom's face was filled with dread. "Oh I am not dealing with those two today. Thanks you kids so much!" she called as she ran away with Joel in her arms.

"Danny," Sam said "You've got to get out of here!"

"I don't think I can fly, Sam."

"Well, at least-"

Before Sam could finish speaking, a white ring popped up around Danny's waist. Danny gasped, and quickly focused on making it disappear. Luckily, it did.

He and Sam looked at each other in horror.

"Um, what was that?" Valerie asked.

"That means I won't be flying anytime soon." Danny said.

"Well duh, you can barely stand!" Valerie said.

"The tracker says the ghost is just over here, Jack!" They heard Maddie Fenton's voice say. She was not far away.

"You two hide!" Valerie pushed Sam and Danny towards some large bushes.

"Hey!" Sam protested.

"They can still see me on their ghost tracker!" Danny said. "Hiding's not going to help!"

"Don't worry." Valerie pulled her mask back on "I got this."

Valerie turned and walked a few meters away.

"I don't trust her." Sam whispered just before Danny's parents appeared.

"You!" his dad pointed at Valerie "Sharply dressed citizen! Did you see a ghost? We're on the hunt for one!"

"I'm no citizen Mr Fenton, I'm The Red Huntress." Valerie said, her voice steady and authoritative. "And, as it happens, I've already apprehended the ghost."

"What?" Jack said "But according to our tracker, there's still a ghost around here!"

Valerie something small out of her pocket.

"You must be picking up signals from my Ghostagatchi." She said.

"Ghosta-wha-chi?" Maddie asked.

"It's what I use to contain ghosts. It's still in early development, though, and my prototype is still leaking ecto-particles. That must be what's showing up on your tracker."

"I suppose that makes sense." Maddie rubbed her chin. "Although, as fellow ghost hunters, we know how hard it is to make a properly functioning spectral containment device. Perhaps you could tell us how that one wor-"

"Unfortunately," Valerie interrupted loudly "Before I came to fight this ghost, I was in the middle of rounding up some stray rat ghosts. I should probably get back to that, even though I'm sooo tired from fighting this ghost, and my ecto blaster could really-"

"Ghost rats?" Jack turned and grabbed Maddie by the shoulders "Maddie! Those must be the ghosts that've been stealing the screwdrivers!"

"Oh my gosh you're right Jack!" Maddie turned to Valerie. "Tell us where they are!"

"Last I saw them, they were under the bridge downtown, but-"

"We're coming for our screwdrivers ghost rats!" Jack shouted as he and Maddie ran towards their RV.

The sound of the RV revving briefly filled the park before the vehicle disappeared, leaving no trace it had even been there besides some tire tracks next to the swings.

"Phew!" Valerie's whole body relaxed once The Fentons were gone. "Alright, you two can come out now."

In the bushes, the white ring reappeared around Danny's waist. It actually managed to split almost a foot before he could force it back together.

"I don't think I can stay in ghost form much longer." Danny whispered to Sam.

"Unfreezing that kid really zapped you, huh?"

"Phantom? Manson?" They heard Valerie call.

"Maybe I can convince her to leave?" Sam said.

"No."

"But Danny, she'll-"

"I know."

Sam's face slowly morphed into shock as the implications of what Danny had said sank in.

"We're coming!" Danny called back to Valerie. "Sam, help me walk out."

"You doing any better?" Valerie asked as he and Sam emerged from the bushes.

"Hanging in." Danny said. "So what is a 'Ghostigatchi' actually?"

"It's just a Tamagatchi." Valerie showed them the black and purple plastic egg. "Most adults don't know what they are, so I figured The Fentons would buy it."

"You take your Tamagatchi ghost hunting?" Sam asked.

"I take Gloria everywhere. And, Manson, if you so much as think about telling my dad I hunt ghosts, I swear I'll-"

"Relax, your secret's safe." Sam said. "Might want to be a little less loose with your identity sharing if you want it to stay a secret though."

Danny had no idea if Sam was being genuine or just trying to goad Valerie.

"Thanks for covering for me." Danny said.

"No problem. Figured those two wouldn't react well to seeing a ghost. Even if he did save everybody."

"Yeah...and there's also something else you should know. About me and The Fentons."

"What is is?"

Before Danny could figure out where to even start, the white ring reappeared around his waist.

Danny turned to Sam.

"I don't think I can hold it back this time."

"Hold what back?" Valerie asked "What is that?"

"It's just that, well, I'm actually only half-ghost."

"You're...what? What do you mean?"

Danny didn't have time to explain any further before the ring split and washed over him, reverting him back into his human form.

"Wait," Valerie said "Wh-what?"

"Surprise!" Danny said, smiling nervously.

Valerie took off her mask, as if needing to check what she was seeing with her own unfiltered eyes. Her mouth was hanging open slightly.

"Fenton?" she said.

"Uh, yeah." he awkwardly confirmed.

"Oh my gosh..." Valerie breathed "What sort of freaky stuff did your parents do to you?!"

Danny felt a crushing sensation in his chest. Looking Valerie in the eye suddenly became difficult and he desperately wanted to run back into the bushes.

"Hey!" Sam snapped. She took a protective half-step in front of Danny. "Danny is not a freak! Thought you'd have a little decency for the guy who saved your life multiple times."

"What? N-no, I just meant, like, are you okay? Are your parents doing...bad things to you? Do you need somewhere to go?"

"Oh, um, no it was an accident." Danny said, still not meeting Valerie's gaze. "I got my ghost powers in an accident. My parents don't even know."

"Oh."

"Even if Danny did need help," Sam glared at Valerie "He'd go to one of his friends!"

"I'm just trying to...I-I didn't mean to..." Valerie's eyes kept flicking between Sam and Danny. She looked completely and utterly lost. "I just-"

"Whatever you're trying to do, it's not helping, so just stop! Come on Danny, we're getting you home."

Sam turned them away from Valerie and began walking towards Fenton Works. Valerie didn't say anything, she just watched them go.

--------------------------------------------------

"I think I'm good to walk Sam." Danny said after they'd made it out of the park.

"You sure? I really don't mind."

"Yeah, I'm feeling better. And I don't want people wondering what's up with me."

Danny didn't want anyone to look at him at all right now.

He just wanted to go home.

About halfway back to his house, Sam began rambling incessantly about what had happened. Danny only half listened.

"...can't believe she would be so insensitive..." They had just arrived at the front steps when she seemed to clue in to how silent Danny was.

"Sorry, I'm making things worse, huh?"

"It's fine." Danny didn't look at Sam as he spoke.

That was worrying.

"Hey," Sam said. "Don't listen to Valerie. You're not messed up or whatever, she has no idea what she's talking about. Don't even think about her. Let's focus on something else for a bit. I know! Let's make popcorn bags and watch Dead Teacher 2! That one is still your favourite, right?"

"Sam, it's almost six."

"So?"

"You're probably already late for dinner. You'd better go home."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not abandoning you."

"Sam, I'm fine."

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Danny..."

"Seriously. I mean, yeah, I'm not exactly jazzed about what happened, but the fact is it did happen. I'll get over it. It's not like Valerie's someone I really care about or anything."

Sam didn't look convinced.

"Danny, not to sound like Jazz, but I don't think brushing this off is a good idea."

"I'm not brushing this off. Look, I'll call you guys if I, you know, need anything or whatever, but I'm really fine. Besides, you know your parents, if you're late then they might not let you hang out with us all weekend."

Sam looked like she wanted to argue back, but she didn't say anything.

"Cool, I'll see you tomorrow." Danny said, heading inside and shutting the door.

"Oy vey." Sam shook her head and pulled out her cell phone as she started back home. "Tucker? Yeah, Danny's not doing so great. Something happened..."

--------------------------------------------------

Danny let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he was home.

He went up to his room and got out the homework Sam had brought over. It wasn't much, just a short story and a reading comprehension sheet. Probably everyone else had finished it in class, and he would've too if a certain ectopus hadn't taken him out of second period.

Danny began to read.

Valerie was in his English class. He had English first period on Monday. He was going to see her basically first thing after the weekend.

Danny wasn't sure if Valerie had ever spoken to him. Well, human him.

She'd probably start thinking about Danny Fenton very differently now. He'd go from the freaky ghost kid to the freak ghost kid.

Danny tried to focus on the story he was reading, but Valerie's reaction at the park was playing over and over in his head. The look on her face, the words she'd said, how she said each word she'd said.

He went over their exchange so many times that it stopped feeling real. Maybe if he just kept replaying it, he could stay in that moment forever, and never have to face the world where Valerie knew.

It doesn't matter, Danny told himself. It happened, he couldn't change that. Valerie wasn't even his friend, so it didn't matter what she thought anyway.

It didn't matter that Valerie was going to see him differently now. It didn't matter that Valerie thought that Danny was some messed up freak...

A tiny splotch of water suddenly appeared on the paper Danny was failing to read. When had he started crying?

No, he wasn't crying, because this wasn't a big deal! It didn't matter what Valerie thought!

It shouldn't matter what she thought.

Valerie thinks you're a freak...

It didn't matter. He knew he wasn't a freak, and that was all that mattered.

Valerie doesn't even hate ghosts, she just thinks you're some creepy kid with creepy powers...

"It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain;" Danny read out loud, desperately trying to speak over his own thoughts. "But once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was-"

And if that's how someone who doesn't hate ghosts reacts, then how will your parents react?

A dam inside Danny burst open. His head sank into his arms and he began sobbing.

He sat there with his face on his desk for at least ten minutes. Danny cried and cried until he just couldn't cry anymore.

It was like he'd released all the feelings he'd been holding in for the last few months through his tears, but Danny didn't feel relief.

He just felt empty.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny didn't say much during dinner. Not that his parents noticed, since they were going on and on about their latest invention, 'The Fenton Fizzler'. Danny had no idea what it was, and he didn't really care to listen to his parent's latest plan to potentially decimate him. It was just too crushing tonight.

He did sit up a little when his dad pulled out a machine the size of a television and set it on the table.

"Welp, I'm done eating," Danny pushed his chair back and stood up "So I'm gonna go upstairs and study."

"That's my little scholar!" Maddie beamed approvingly.

"After a few quick adjustments, this baby'll be ready for a demonstration!" Jack declared, patting The Fizzler proudly.

"Oh joy." Danny muttered dryly while walking to the compost bin.

Jack and Maddie were totally absorbed by The Fizzler, but Jazz was watching Danny. She noticed that he was scraping a bit more than scraps into the compost bin.

Jazz pushed down a lecture about wasting food as she followed Danny into the hallway.

That was a sign he needs support, not criticism, she reminded herself.

"Hey, Danny," Danny stopped with his foot on the bottom step at the sound of Jazz's voice "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Danny turned away from her and began walking up the steps. "I just have a lot of homework."

Jazz bit her lip as she watched Danny disappear upstairs. She hated seeing him suffer alone like this. Sure, he had Sam and Tucker, but they couldn't always be there.

She really wanted to let Danny come to her when he was ready, but sometimes she wondered if it would be better if she-

Ka-Boom!

"Aah!"

"Quick, Maddie, get the fire extinguisher!"

"Hey!" Jazz ran back into the kitchen "My essay's in there!"

--------------------------------------------------

After they'd gotten the fire under control (Jazz's essay was fine, thank goodness), Jazz went up to try and talk to Danny again. Unfortunately, his light was already turned off.

Jazz sighed. Hopefully Danny was sleeping. He seemed like he needed the rest.

Jazz retreated to her own room and sat at her desk. She started to go over her essay again, but she was having trouble paying attention to the words she was reading.

A part of her wanted to burst into Danny's room and tell him that she knew everything, tell him that he could stop hiding, that he could talk to her about whatever was upsetting him.

Of course, she knew that wouldn't help. Telling Danny she knew his secret was a risky move on a good day, never mind when he was already in such deep emotional distress. She'd made the decision to let him come to her when he was ready for a reason.

Still, sticking to that decision could be difficult. Especially during moments like these.

Jazz just wished she could do something to help.

But sometimes, she reminded herself, the most helpful thing you can do is nothing.

Not that she was really doing nothing. She still covered for him with Mom and Dad. She still supported him in little ways, like driving him to school and prepping his lunches so he didn't have to suffer the cafeteria food. She even made him fluffernutters on Wednesdays, despite the fact that they weren't very nutritious, because she knew they were his favourite.

It didn't help with the ghost fighting, but Jazz knew that sometimes little acts of kindness, just signs that someone cared, could make it easier to keep going when things were difficult.

So, no, Jazz wasn't doing nothing, she was doing everything she could.

Even if it didn't feel like enough some days...

--------------------------------------------------

"Well, unfortunately, we need another new toaster," Jack said to Maddie as they carried what remained of The Fenton Fizzler down to the lab "But I'm glad Jazz's essay came out unscathed."

"Yes, I'm glad you managed to grab that first. "Maddie agreed as they set The Fizzler down on a table. "Jazz always works so hard on her essays, I'd hate to think how sad she'd have been if it had gotten burned up."

Maddie pulled out a wrench and began loosening a bolt on a mechanism that looked salvageable.

"Say, Madds?"

"Mm?

"Does something seem off with Danny?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he was barely paying attention when we were explaining how The Fenton Fizzler worked at dinner, and he usually pays very close attention when we talk about our new inventions. And the past few days he's just seemed kind of distracted and quiet."

"Oh." Maddie set down her wrench.

She had, in fact, noticed Danny's odd behaviour. But she'd decided that, since Danny had said in the helicopter that he wasn't ready to talk yet, she wouldn't press him.

Of course, now that Jack was saying it out loud, giving him that much space seemed a bit excessive. What if it was something unrelated to the helicopter talk that was bothering him?

Even if it was that, and he still wasn't ready to talk, then there might have been some other way Maddie could help him while still respecting his boundaries.

"I'll go talk to him once we've made sure what's left of The Fizzler won't spontaneously combust again."

But when Maddie went upstairs nearly an hour later, she found that Danny's door was shut and his lights were off, meaning he was probably sleeping.

Maddie couldn't help but feel like a failure. Putting off talking to Danny was what had gotten her in trouble in the first place. Why did she so easily fall back into bad habits?

Sighing, Maddie started down the stairs back to the lab. She glanced over her shoulder at the closed bedroom door.

She hoped Danny was alright, and that he could forgive her for failing to be the parent he deserved.

--------------------------------------------------

Danny had turned off his light early so that Jazz wouldn't come in and try to talk to him, and then proceeded to stay up way too late playing Pac-Man.

At around eleven in the morning, Danny was (very rudely, in his opinion) awoken by the ringing of his cell phone. He didn't even have the energy to grumble as he dug through his bedside drawer and flipped open the phone.

"Whad'yoowan?" Danny blearily greeted whoever was calling him.

"Hey, Danny." Tucker's voice responded. "Did I wake you up?"

"Whyd'yoothintha?"

"Heh, sorry. Listen, Sam told me what happened last night. With Valerie."

"Oh."

"How are you doing."

"...Fine."

There was a moment of silence. Danny was pretty sure he heard a sigh on the other end.

"Well," Tucker said "Sam and I are gonna come over. We don't have to talk about it, we can just play Turbo Racer Six or whatever, but we'll be there soon. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay, I'll just eat breakfast and stuff."

"Alright. See you soon man."

"See ya." Danny replied before hanging up.

Danny's thoughts drifted to last night. The scene wasn't replaying itself in horrible obsessive detail like it had earlier, so Danny was able to reflect on it more rationally.

Realistically, Valerie's reaction shouldn't have been that shocking to him. He knew that people finding out he was half-ghost wasn't likely to go over well, that was why he kept it a secret in the first place.

But even so, there was always that stubborn little bit of hope. Maybe that was why it was so painful to hide, because some part of him thought it might be possible, that his family might not reject him if they found out, but maybe give him the understanding and closeness that he longed for.

Or maybe it wasn't hope, but denial. That made more sense. It would explain why Danny didn't feel sad that it was gone. He just felt empty. It sucked, but deep down Danny had always known that acceptance was just a fantasy.

Danny sighed. He just wanted to stay in bed and not face reality, but Sam and Tucker were coming, and he needed to get ready. With great reluctance, Danny threw the blankets off him.

After getting dressed, Danny dragged himself downstairs. No one else was around, but he found a note on the kitchen table:

Danny,

Mom and Dad are out getting groceries, and I'm at the library. I'll be back around 2:00, and, knowing Mom and Dad, they'll probably be out until dinnertime. Feel free to invite Sam and Tucker over, or whatever. I know you have lots of studying to do, but it's important to rest, so just take the morning to relax, and I can help you with your homework later if you want.

Never forget you're amazing, Jazz

Danny rolled his eyes. Like he'd want Jazz helping him with his homework. Her 'helping' usually usually ended up just being a giant reminder of how dumb he was compared to her.

Danny yawned and poured himself a bowl of cereal.

Although, he supposed that it was nice of Jazz to offer her time. Especially since he knew her essay was due on Monday.

Danny groggily ate his breakfast. He'd just put his empty bowl in the sink when he heard the doorbell.

Ding dong!

That was probably Sam and Tucker. They sure got over here quick, Danny thought to himself as he made his way to the front entryway.

Danny opened the door and froze at the sight of Valerie.

"Hey, Danny." she said. Her face looked sombre.

Danny just stood there.

"I'm not going to attack you or anything, you know." Valerie said.

"I-I didn't think that."

"Look, about yesterday..." Valerie rubbed her arm.

Danny gulped.

"I just wanted to apologize."

"I, um, what?"

"I didn't...look, I know I reacted weird. Are your parents home?"

"No, it's just me here. Tucker and Sam are coming over soon, though."

"Can I come in then?"

"Uh, s-sure."

Valerie looked around as Danny led her to the living room. Normally he'd be polite and give her a tour, but his mouth was too dry right now.

They got to the living room and sat in different armchairs.

"So," Valerie folded her hands on her lap "Tucker told me that he and Sam were there when you...you know...and that I'm the first person you've ever really told, including your family. That about right? Just so I know who to keep my mouth shut around?"

"Uh...p-pretty much, yeah."

"It must be rough, being half-ghost when your parents are ghost hunters."

"Um, y-yeah."

It was very, very strange to be talking about this with a schoolmate who wasn't Sam or Tucker. A little bit uncomfortable.

"To be honest," Valerie continued "I didn't really know how to react last night. I mean, in my defense, what are you supposed to say when someone tells you they're half-ghost?"

"Heh, yeah, that's fair." Danny responded mechanically.

"But I was thinking about it, and I realize that that was kind of a big thing you shared with me. And I kind of just freaked out all over you. I know that telling me that secret means that on some level you trust me. I'm not sure if I really earned that trust though."

Danny wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't even sure what to feel.

"Which sucks, because I really owe you. For Axiom and last night."

"Last night? What do you mean?"

"We wouldn't have defeated that ghost without you."

"Are you kidding? You were the one who was immune to its statue powers! I'd be a garden ornament right now if you hadn't shown up."

"I don't know if I'd have had the guts to go for it if you didn't believe in me. I certainly didn't believe in myself last night."

"But, you always seem so confident."

"I am pretty good at most things, but I haven't exactly had a lot of practice fighting ghosts. The small ones I chase away from Casper barely even count."

"Weeeellll, your aim could use a little work." This was easier to talk about. The dynamic with his family and his secret was a touchy subject, but Danny had no issues discussing ghost fighting. "But you'll get better with time. It took me a while to figure stuff out."

"You seem pretty good to me."

"You'll be pretty good someday too. I can tell. You've got the skills, the only difference between you and me is experience."

"You're probably right. Don't know if I'll ever get to your level, though. Those awesome ghost powers give you quite the edge."

"Awesome? Ha, you don't think I'm, like, a freak or whatever?" Danny tried to sound like he didn't care, even though he actually cared a lot.

"No way. It's like you have my suit built right into you. I'm kind of jealous."

"They're not all that great."

"Oh, quit being modest."

"I'm not! There are some serious drawbacks."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"There's a ghost hunter that wants to skin me and hang my pelt on his wall."

"Wait, what? Gross! That's disgusting!"

"See!" Danny smiled triumphantly.

"Okay, but it must be pretty handy being able to fly places and just grab stuff out of your locker without undoing the lock. You can do ghost stuff in human mode, right?"

Danny held up his arm and turned it invisible.

"Woah!"

"What?"

"That's just...so cool!"

Danny smiled. He actually even laughed a little. It felt like some dark clouds had parted inside of him.

Valerie had come over to talk because she felt bad about what she'd said to Danny. She wasn't repulsed by him, she cared about him, even knowing that he was half-ghost.

When Danny had been replaying the reveal at the park in his mind, Valerie had seemed like such an intimidating judgmental force. Her voice had been so cutting and full of disgust, but this morning, in reality, it was full of concern and even admiration. The contrast was jarring, but also heartwarming.

Knowing that he was half-ghost didn't make Valerie see him as any less human.

This was good. Great, actually.

The front door suddenly opened and Sam and Tucker walked in.

"Who's ready for some-" Tucker stopped mid-sentence.

"Oh, hey guys." Danny waved at them, but he forgot that his arm was invisible. He turned it visible and tried again.

"What's she doing here?" Sam crossed her arms.

"Just, clearing up some things from last night." Valerie said. Danny was impressed at how well she resisted Sam's antagonism.

"Did she say any more stupid stuff?" Sam asked Danny.

"What? No, she was actually here to apologize. We're good now. Everything's cleared up."

Danny saw Valerie smile a little at his words.

Sam didn't look convinced, though.

"Take it easy Sam." Tucker put a hand on her shoulder. "Valerie's just trying to help."

"Oh," Sam shrugged off Tucker's hand "So you're on her side?"

"I'm not on anyone's side, I just-"

"Hey, Tucker." Valerie interrupted "Let me talk to her."

"Oh?" Sam let out a mocking laugh "And what makes you think I want to-"

"Sam," Danny said "Please?"

Sam opened her mouth to protest, but closed it when she saw the look on Danny's face, her expression softening.

"Fine." she said.

Danny gave her a small smile.

"Thanks Sam." Danny stood up. "Tucker and I will be in my room. You can just come up when you two are done."

"Nice seeing you Valerie!" Tucker waved as Danny dragged him up the stairs.

Valerie and Sam heard the sound of a door slamming above them, leaving the two of them alone to talk.

Sam crossed her arms and glared at Valerie. Valerie also crossed her arms, but the look she was giving Sam wasn't as hostile.

"You don't have a very high opinion of me, huh Manson?"

Sam just continued to glare.

Valerie sighed.

"I don't really blame you."

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"I've changed a lot since my dad got fired from Axiom." Valerie continued. "When you lose everything you own and all your friends, it kinds of forces you to really take a look at your life. Figure out your priorities, you know?"

Sam did feel a twinge of sympathy, but she wasn't going to let Valerie know that.

"Still, I guess you only really know 'old Valerie'. The Valerie that who treated people like they were beneath her because they weren't rich or cool enough, or whatever. The Valerie that I'm starting to be ashamed I ever was. The Valerie whose actions I can't go back and change, no matter how much I want to. But pity parties don't get you anywhere, so what I'm going to do instead is put my focus into becoming a better Valerie. Again, I know why you don't like me, and I get it, but do you think you could just give me a chance? To be a better person? To help you guys? To help Danny? I can see that you really care about him."

"I don't have a crush on him!" Sam's steadily softening face instantly hardened again. Everyone always thought that she and Danny had a thing for each other and Sam hated it.

"Alright, alright, I didn't say you did." Valerie raised her hands defensively. "But he definitely means a lot to you. I think that's why you're so angry at me, because you only know old Valerie, who was a jerk, and you think that I'm going to hurt Danny."

"You did hurt Danny. Last night. For some reason, he trusted you, and you made him feel like a freak, which is one of the things he's most afraid of."

If looks could kill, Valerie would have been nothing more than a puddle on the floor.

"I..." Valerie looked at the ground "...I did, you're right. It was an accident, but I guess you're right." Valerie looked back up at Sam "But I want to make it up to him. I can use my tech to help Danny. You've seen me fight ghost, you know I can help."

Sam's expression didn't change.

"Look," Valerie sighed tiredly "To be honest, I don't really need your permission to be a part of this. Tucker and Danny are already cool with me, and I've already been fighting ghosts for the past month."

"That's sooo nice to hear. Why are you wasting my time with this speech if you're just going to do what you want with or without my approval?"

"Because I want it. I want to work with all three of you, so I'd like for all of you to like me. Or at least give me a chance?"

Sam screwed up her face in thought before sighing.

"Fine." she said. "I'll try to be nice and not hex you into oblivion."

"You can do that?"

"Hurt Danny again and find out." Sam smiled for the first time that morning. Valerie preferred the glaring.

"Well," Valerie said "Now that that's all settled, you three seem to have plans, so I'd better get going."

Valerie got up and walked past Sam to the front door. Sam didn't take her eyes off her. Valerie turned to look at her before stepping outside.

"Thanks for giving me a chance, Manson."

"Don't screw it up, Gray."

Valerie gave Sam a small smile before shutting the door behind her.

--------------------------------------------------

"Maybe we shouldn't have left them alone." Danny said to Tucker. "Sam might bite Valerie's head off."

"I wouldn't worry. Valerie's no pushover."

"I'm telling Sam you don't think she could beat Valerie."

"Absolutely do not do that!"

Danny laughed. Tucker tried to sulk, but he couldn't help cracking a grin at Danny.

"Well you seem to be doing better." Tucker said. Then his disappeared "Hey, I'm sorry for pressuring you yesterday. Sam said Valerie's reaction really messed you up last night. I guess I didn't really think about how much trouble telling Valerie could cause you."

"Tuck, it's fine. It was just an idea, you didn't force me to tell Valerie."

"Yeah, but I should've at least considered-"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about this one. I...hadn't exactly been having the best week when you asked." Danny rubbed the back of his neck embarrassingly.

"You really do seem better now, though."

"Yeah, I really am. On the subject of Valerie, though..."

"What? I thought you two were cool now."

"We are. I'm talking about Valerie and you."

"Me?"

"You've got a crush on her, don't you?"

"What?! That's ludicrous!"

"You're not denying it."

"Danny, that is a totally baseless accusation!"

"Still not denying it."

"Aggh!"

"What's with all the screaming?" Sam asked as she opened Danny's door.

"Nothing." Tucker grumbled.

"So, are you and Valerie cool now?" Danny asked.

"I'm...giving her a chance. But only because I know Tucker likes her."

"WHAT?!"

"Thanks Sam." Danny smiled, ignoring Tucker's outcry. "Now, I don't know about you two, but I am ready to sit back and not do anything that doesn't involve kicking your butts at Turbo Racer for the next four hours."

"You sure you don't want to talk about what happened?" Sam asked.

"Nope!" Danny said. "Actually, after talking with Valerie, I honestly feel a lot better." Sam could tell Danny really meant it, he wasn't trying to ignore his feeling like last night. "Right now, what I could really use is a break from all the ghosts, drama, and ghost drama"

Sam and Tucker looked at each other. They could tell Danny wasn't just trying to push away his feelings this time, he really meant it.

They looked away from each other to smile at Danny.

"And what makes you think you're going to win, Ghost Boy?" Tucker grinned challengingly.

"Oh?" Danny raised an eyebrow "You think you're a challenge for me, Friar Tuck?"

"Come on you two," Sam rolled her eyes "We all know Chaos reigns supreme."

--------------------------------------------------

Thankfully, Danny really did get that break. There were no ghosts attacks for the rest of the day, so he thoroughly enjoyed just playing video games with his friends.

That didn't mean no work, though. As soon as Sam and Tucker left, Danny got to started on his English homework. It didn't take too long, but Danny also had some studying to do for an upcoming history test that he knew Jazz would bug him about if he didn't do it. He had no idea how she always seemed to know when he had homework or an upcoming test.

The rest of the evening had been pretty chill, and Danny had gotten a pretty good sleep in Sunday morning, but unfortunately his dad wanted the lab cleaned after lunch.

Danny grumbled at he scrubbed the lab floor. His dad had said it would be a "quick and easy job", but little did he know that there was a ghost spider egg hidden under one of the tables that was ready to hatch. Danny had managed to suck most of them into the thermos, but a fair number of them he'd ended up squashing, leaving a bunch of ecto-goo for him to clean up.

Ecto-goo was not fun to clean up.

He'd just finished cleaning the spider guts when his ghost sense went off.

"Oh no," Danny glared at the portal and transformed "You are not messing up the lab after I just finished wiping up all that ectoplasm!"

Danny put his hands together and charged up a mega ectoblast, ready to knock whatever came out of that portal right back in.

"Oh I wouldn't dream of it." Vlad Plasmius said as he emerged from the portal. "I know how hard ectoplasm is to scrub out."

"Vlad?"

"Daniel." Vlad nodded. "It seems the vultures were right about that safe path. Well, as safe as The Ghost Zone can be, anyway. I don't give those birds enough credit."

"Vlad, what are you doing?" Danny let his ecto blasts fizzle out and transformed back. "My parents could've been in here!"

"They actually were when I checked a few hours ago. Invisibility is a very useful tool, Little Badger. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Um, okay. What's up?"

"Well, I'm sure you remember our little chat the last time we met?"

"Er, yeah." Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

"I wanted to apologize for my sudden and, frankly, rather rude departure. You and your mother were more right than I was able to face at the time. I'm afraid it was all just too much for me to process. I actually had to go back to therapy to sort through some things I thought were long behind me."

Vlad laughed lightly, but his face quickly turned serious.

"But I didn't just come here to apologize. Daniel, after much deliberation and discussion, I've come to a very difficult decision."

Vlad took a deep breath.

"I think it's time I came clean to Jack and Maddie about what the accident did to me."

Vlad paused, waiting for Danny's reaction, but there was none. Danny just stared at him, face unchanged.

This surprised and concerned Vlad.

"Now, I know this might decision might-"

"Why?"

"Pardon me?"

"I don't understand why you want to tell them." Danny felt the anger begin to rise in him. It wasn't as strong as when the vultures had first told him about Vlad's plans, but it was still very much there. "You've already been hiding from them for twenty years, and you're hardly around anyway. What possible reason could you want to tell them now for?"

""Well..." Vlad was taken aback by the hostility in Danny's voice "I...might be willing to come around more often if they knew. Assuming they accepted me, that is."

"That's a pretty big 'if'." Danny scoffed "I don't get it. Why can't you just keep your ghost half a secret when you're around them like I do?"

Vlad took a breath.

"I don't know if this will make sense to you, Daniel, since you only had your accident a few months ago, but I've been living as a ghost-human hybrid for over twenty years, and it's become a rather significant part of who I am. It's not just a secret to keep, it affects how I live my daily life. In negative ways, yes, but also in a lot of positive ones. Hiding my ghostliness means hiding who I am, which is fine when I'm with my business associates or the grocery clerk, but around the friends I'm supposed trust it's..."

A tired look crossed Vlad's face, and he didn't quite look at Danny as he spoke.

"...painful. I've only been able to admit this recently, but keeping this secret has been hurting me for years. When I'm with Jack and Maddie, in a way it doesn't feel like it's really me there. Whether I want to or not, I can't go back to being the Vlad Masters your parents knew in college. He simply doesn't exist anymore."

Vlad's words reminded Danny of the ones that he'd said to Sam in his bedroom the other day, but Danny's still found himself angry.

"If you just made an effort-"

"Daniel, these past few months were me making an effort."

"So that's it? You're bad at lying, so you're just willing to risk losing your friendship with them?"

"We've barely spoken to each other in twenty years. It's like you said, In a way I've already lost them."

Danny's words being used against him made his blood boil. He was too angry for his brain to form a response.

"All things considered," Vlad continued "I may actually have a lot more to gain by telling them."

"Like what? Them never talking to you again?"

"I do understand your reluctance, but I've made up my mind that telling them is worth risking our pathetic excuse for a friendship."

"You know, this puts me at risk too Vlad! It's not just you!"

"That's why I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"Well, if you're looking for permission, the answer's 'no'."

"If you truly feel that this puts you at risk, then I won't tell them, but I really think that this could be beneficial for you."

"Really, how?" Danny scoffed.

"Well, I don't know if you'd ever want to tell your parents what the portal really did to you, but if you let me tell them about me, then you'll at least know how they'll react."

Danny blinked is surprise. He hadn't even considered that.

"You...you mean, you would..." Danny shook his head. "They'd figure out that I was half-ghost too. We had the same accidents, it's not that hard to put two and two together."

"Our accidents, although both caused by ghost portals, I believe were different enough that your parents won't connect the dots. Remind me, what were the after-effects of your accident?"

"After-effects?"

"Yes. I was hospitalized for sometime, and suffered and unfortunate case of, um, erm..."

"Ecto-acne?"

"Yes, that. Anyway, I believe the energy you were exposed to was more purified, so I assume you didn't necessarily have the same...physical ailments I did. Your portal is also much bigger than the one that malfunctioned in our college. Were you even conscious when you were brought to the hospital?"

"I didn't go to the hospital."

"...What?"

"I mean, it was the most terrifying experience of my life, and afterwards I was pretty scared that my parents might catch me phasing through stuff or turning invisible by accident, but physically I was fine. I probably should have gone to a therapist, but once I figured out how to go back to looking like my human self, you couldn't even tell that I'd just had all my molecules rearranged."

There was a pause.

"You're telling me," Vlad spoke slowly "That I spent almost three months hospitalized, in various degrees of extreme fever, with an incredibly humiliating skin condition, and you walked out of that," Vlad thrust an arm out to the swirling portal behind him "Without so much as a-"

Vlad put a gloved hand over his face and took a deep breath. A very deep breath.

"Beer cheese soup...never mind that now. As I was saying, our accidents were...different enough that I don't believe your parents will connect them. Did you ever consider that my portal incident had changed me the same way it did on you when you heard about it?"

"Er, no."

"You see? It's easy to spot patterns when you know what you're looking for. But when you don't know there are even clues to be found at all, the most obvious truths can go right over someone's head."

"Like how no one figures out Clark Kent is Superman?"

"Yes, exactly! Frankly, considering the fact that you consistently set off their devices meant to work on ghosts, and they still haven't suspected anything, I think you're secret is quite safe. Honestly, Daniel, I didn't even realize who you were in your ghost form, even though it looks nearly identical to your human form, and if anyone should have been able to put two and two together, it's me. I'll even add emphasis on the impurity of the ectoplasmic energy that blasted me to throw them off the scent."

Danny was speechless. This was a golden opportunity. Danny had been wanting to tell his parents for a long time. If Vlad told them first, then he'd know for sure whether telling them was safe.

This was exactly what Danny wanted. But...

"But they might might reject you. Vlad, what if they try to kill you? What if they hate you? I know you said you've already lost them in a way, but you might really lose them."

"I like to think they won't. I know Jack and Maddie be be a bit...pathological. But I was friends with them for a long time. When it comes down to it, they have good hearts. This will certainly come as a shock to them, and I'm sure it'll take some adjusting, but I think when it comes down to it, they'll accept me for all I am. Don't you?"

"I-I think so...but if they don't..."

"I know the risks, Daniel. And I've accepted them. "

Danny felt his anger melting away as Vlad's words sunk in.

With his head cooler, Danny realized that he'd been trying to shut Vlad down the same way he'd been trying to shut down the voice that urged him to tell his family.

He hadn't really been talking to Vlad for the past few minutes. Vlad had already considered every point Danny brought up, likely much more deeply than Danny had even had the time to.

But what if Vlad was wrong?

But what if he wasn't?

"When did you plan on telling them?"

"I thought I'd invite your family out to my cottage for a weekend getaway. If...that's alright with you, that is."

"You mean the one in Colorado?"

"While there has been some debate on what that particular structure is technically classified as, it is not even a little bit a cottage. My cottage is by a lake, and free of ghost fauna. Does that sound alright to you?"

Danny didn't answer right away.

"Yeah." He finally said, his stomach doing a little flip-flop. "I'd be okay with that."

Vlad's eyes widened slightly.

"Just to be clear," he said "You're giving me permission to tell Jack and Maddie about my ghost powers on said getaway?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, I am."

"Excellent!" Vlad smiled wide. "Oh, I'm so glad you've said yes! Now, I believe I'll head home and make a phone call to your house, as ludicrous as that is. Thank you, Daniel, for letting me do this. I really appreciate it. I know that wasn't a decision you made lightly."

"Yeah. I know I was arguing with you pretty hard earlier, but honestly I've kind of wanted to tell them for a while too. It's just..."

"I know."

"Yeah."

Vlad turned to head back through the portal.

"Wait!"

"What is it?"

"When exactly did you plan for the trip to happen?"

"I have a free weekend in two weeks, and I thought then might be a good time. Is that a problem?"

"No, that's fine. There's just one thing I want to do first..."

--------------------------------------------------

Danny stared at Jazz from the doorway. She hadn't noticed he was there yet, and was scribbling away in a notebook, two very large books open on either side of her.

He could just leave. Once he told her, there was no going back. He didn't have to do this.

It was so tempting, to just turn around and walk away from all the risk. But Danny wanted to tell her before Vlad told his parents. He wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe he wanted to prove he wasn't a coward who let Vlad take all the risks for him, maybe he wanted some backup in case things went really wrong, or maybe he was tired of fear keeping him from going to one of the people he trusted most (even if he'd never admit it).

All Danny really knew was that the longer he waited, the more time he'd spend stewing in anxiety.

Better to just jump in and get it over with.

"Hey Jazz." he said.

"Hey Danny." She looked up and smiled at him. "What's up?"

"Uh, do you know where Mom and Dad are?"

"Grocery shopping."

"Didn't they just go yesterday?"

"Apparently they got distracted by some ghost rats or something and never actually made it to the store. They said they were bringing home pizza. Why, did you need something from them?"

Danny's stomach suddenly dropping made it hard to speak, but he knew hesitating too long would worry Jazz, so he forced himself to start talking.

"I, um, actually wanted to tell you something." It almost felt like someone else was saying those words. Those words that he couldn't back out of. "It's...about the accident."

This was it. He'd crossed the threshold.

The smile faded from Jazz's face. She closed her notebook and pushed it away without looking at it.

"Do you want to sit down?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, I guess that'd be good."

Danny began making his way toward a chair on the opposite end of the table, but Jazz pulled out the chair beside her. He hesitated briefly, but took the chair beside Jazz, turning it so that he was facing her.

Tick, tick...

Had the kitchen clock's ticking always been this prominent?

"Okay," Danny said, not even noticing how tightly his hands clutched the hem of his shirt "Okay, so, um, it's, I, I-"

"Take your time Danny." Jazz said. "Breathe. I'm not going anywhere."

"Right." Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

This was hard. He'd never actually told anyone himself before. Sam and Tucker had been there for the accident, Vlad had found out by beating him into unconsciousness (which actually sounded pretty bad out of context), and with Valerie he'd kind of just let the secret reveal itself. He had told Sam and Tucker about Vlad, but this was different.

Did he just blurt it out and get it over with? Did he try to slowly explain things and break it to Jazz gently?

Danny knew he should have come up with a plan, but thinking too hard about the fact that he was actually going to tell Jazz made him feel sick. He'd barely been able to stomach sending Sam and Tucker a message about what he was about to do, and he still hadn't read their replies.

Tick, tick...

"Jazz do you...do you believe Mom and Dad when they say all ghosts are evil?"

"Our parents are wrong about a lot of things, Danny. I take everything they say with a grain of salt."

Jazz smiled softly. Danny found the strength to smile back.

"And of course," Jazz continued "There's that ghost kid whose always saving everyone. He saved my life twice you know. He's definitely good."

On the one hand, that was good to hear. On the other, people talking about Phantom in front of him made Danny squirm on an average day, never mind when he was seconds away from revealing that they were secretly the same person.

"Sorry," Jazz laughed gently "I'm rambling. I'll let you keep talking. Unless you ask another question."

"Ha, ha, thanks." Danny laugh sounded fake and distracted, even to him. He suddenly noticed how dry his mouth was. He swallowed to try and get some moisture back, but it didn't really help. He decided to just jump into it. Jazz would be surprised, but she'd accept him. He knew she would.

He was pretty sure she would.

"It's just, The Fenton Portal, when it went off, it...changed me. " He paused. True to her word, Jazz said nothing. "It, and this is going to sound crazy, I know, just bear with me, but The Fenton Portal...it made me half-ghost."

Jazz smiled gently at him.

"I know."

Danny's heart stopped. He'd been prepared for Jazz to react in so many different ways; surprised, confused, anxious, even fearful, but never in a million years had he expected that.

It was more disorienting than being punched in the face by Skulker.

"You- I- you what?"

"I know you have ghost powers." Jazz said. "I know you're Danny Phantom."

"N-no." Danny stood up. "There's no way! Y-you can't have..."

Danny was completely blindsided. It was hard to make sense of his thoughts through the weird mixture of anger and confusion that flooded his brain. He didn't really have a good reason to feel so hurt, but it felt like he'd just found out that someone had been tricking him.

In a way, this almost felt worse than rejection.

Jazz stood up and grabbed Danny's shoulders.

"Danny, look at me." She said firmly. "Breathe. It's okay. I've known for a long time. I've been doing what I could to keep Mom and Dad off your back."

Danny pushed Jazz off of him and turned around. He didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry. Maybe it was wrong to keep this from you," For the first time that evening, Jazz started to sound unsure "But I wanted to wait until you were ready to tell me. I didn't want to force you. I didn't mean to-"

She stopped talking when she heard a loud sniff from Danny. He was trying to hide it, but there was no mistaking it; he was crying.

Jazz stopped talking. She walked in front of Danny and put a hand on his shoulder. He scrunched up his body at her touch, but he didn't push her off.

"Danny?"

He looked up at Jazz. His eyes had started to turn red, and she could tell he was using every fibre of his being to hold back tears.

Danny reached up and wiped one of his eyes roughly with the heel of his palm.

Something in Jazz broke.

"Don't try to fight it." Jazz tried to sound confident, but her voice wasn't as steady as she hoped it would be. "It's okay, you're safe here. You can...y-you can..."

The more she looked at Danny's puffy eyes and ever-so-slightly trembling lips, the harder it was to find words. She wanted to say the right thing, whatever it was that would make Danny feel better.

Danny had gone through so much, been through so much pain because of all the hiding he'd done from his family. From her.

What could Jazz possibly say to make all that better?

Feeling lost and desperate, she just wrapped her arms around him as tight as she could. At first Danny didn't respond, but then she felt his body begin to quake with sobs and his fists clung to her shirt.

"I'm sorry." he said.

"You shouldn't be." she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jazz felt tears sliding down her own face as Danny buried his head in her shoulder.

It was hard to tell how long they stayed like this. Jazz felt her back starting to cramp, but she was willing to remain hunched down forever. For Danny.

"I'm okay now Jazz." he eventually said.

Jazz didn't move or respond. She just wanted to hold her baby brother like this and keep him safe forever.

But she did allow Danny to gently wriggle out of her grip.

The two of them just stood there and looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Do you want to sit down?" Jazz asked.

"Yeah."

The two of them sat in the chairs they were sitting in before. Neither of them said anything right away.

"Do you, um..." Danny struggled to find the right words.

"What?" Jazz asked gently.

"Did you, like, have any questions you wanted to ask me? About the whole half-ghost thing?"

Jazz smiled.

"Yeah, actually. If you don't mind."

"Yeah, it's cool."

"Okay, just to make sure I have everything straight, Sam and Tucker are the only other people who know?"

"Yeah. Well, besides Vla-" Nope. Danny didn't know if he was allowed to tell her that yet. "-aaalerie."

"Valerie?" Jazz frowned "As in Valerie Gray?"

"Yup. That's the one."

"Okay. So what's the story there?"

"You know that new ghost hunter, The Red Huntress?"

"Yeah...hang on, are you saying Valerie's The Red Huntress?"

"Apparently."

"Huh. Okay. Wait," Jazz's suddenly sat up straight, her face filled with panic "Were you forced to reveal yourself because she captured and tortured you?"

"What? No, no. I ran into her while fighting a ghost and, unlike Mom and Dad, she was nice to me as a ghost, so I figured it'd be a good idea for us to work together."

Jazz visibly relaxed. Danny decided to save the long version of what had gone down for another day.

"Okay. So I'm basically all caught up. I just have one more question. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now. I didn't expect to break down like that. It's kind of embarrassing, but I guess I was kind I've been kind of worried about how telling you would go for a while, and-"

"No. I mean, I'm glad you're emotionally okay now, but I meant with the ghost fighting."

"What?"

"I know Mom and Dad trained us how to handle ourselves pretty well in combat, especially against ghosts, and you always seemed okay, but I just want to check that you're not too overwhelmed or anything."

"Oh, nah, I'm good. It was kind of tricky at first, especially since my powers were so hard to control, but Sam and Tucker helped out and we've pretty much got the hang of it. Big ghosts don't show up too often, so we keep up pretty okay. Of course, we don't exactly control when the ghosts do show up, so there are some occasional hiccups."

"Like that time with your English exam?"

"Yeah, right, totally." That particular hiccup probably had more to do with the all-nighters Danny pulled after the latest DOOMED update, but Jazz didn't need to know that. "I mean, sure, I'd rather they didn't show up at 3:00 am sometimes, but overall, fighting ghosts is actually kind of cool."

"That's a relief to hear." Jazz smiled. "But still, I'm glad you had Sam and Tucker so you didn't have to go through all that alone."

"Yeah..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck guiltily "Look, Jazz, they were there when the accident changed me, I didn't go to them before you, I trust you, I just-"

"Danny, you don't have to justify yourself. I'm not going to judge how you responded to a situation as drastic as becoming half-ghost. I know you, and I believe you did what you thought was best, for yourself and the people around you. You may be kind of a snarky moody teenager these days-"

"Hey!"

"-but you're the kind of person who always tries their best. You always have been."

Danny didn't say anything. It was genuinely touching that Jazz thought of him that way. Sure, he knew she loved him, but Danny hadn't realized that she also believed in him. Or how much that meant to him.

Danny and Jazz turned their heads at the sound of screeching tires.

"Mom and Dad are home." Jazz said.

"You don't say."

"See, there's that snarkiness I was talking about."

"Well, for you informati-"

"Hello Kids!" A smiling Maddie kicked open the front door, arms full of grocery bags. Jack followed closely behind her with two boxes of pizza and a singular burlap sack.

"What's in the bag?" Danny asked.

"We finally tracked down those ghost rats, Danny-boy!" Jack beamed.

"That sack's full of ghost rats?!" Jazz's face paled.

"Nope! Those darned vermin got away." Jack set the pizzas on the counter and then turned the bag upside down, dumping a small mountain of screwdrivers onto the kitchen table. "But we found these!"

"The ghost rats...were real?" Danny stared at the pile of screwdrivers in disbelief.

"Ooh! You kids will never guess who called us while we were out!" Maddie piped up as she put away various groceries.

"Who?" Jazz asked.

"It was Vladdie!" Jack said. "Sadly, my cell phone going off was what alerted the rats to our trap and allowed them to escape, but on the bright side he's invited us all to spend a weekend at his cottage!"

"Well that's...pretty sudden." Jazz raised an eyebrow. "We haven't seen him in three months, and he suddenly wants us to go on vacation with him?"

"Yup!" Jack beamed, not seeing Jazz's point at all. "And he said Danny could bring Sam and Tucker with him!"

"Oh, for real?" Danny said "Sweet!"

"What...why...?" Jazz was completely baffled. "Has he even met your friends?"

"Yeah, he..."

Danny suddenly remembered that this was not a group he could talk about the Axiom situation with.

"...saw them on the stairs when he came over that one time."

Jazz just stared at Danny. After a few seconds, she stood up.

"You know what? I'm just going to roll with whatever is going on. My brain has had enough tonight. I need pizza." Jazz opened one of the boxes. She instantly closed it again. "Never mind, that one's Dad's abomination."

"Aw, come on Jazzy-pants." Jack put his hand on Jazz's shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with pineapple on pizza."

"There is if there's also anchovies on said pizza."

"I'm telling you, you kids would love it if you just tried it!" Jack said, taking a slice from the box. Behind him, Maddie shook her head frantically and mouthed the word 'no'.

"Well, as tempting of an idea as that is," Danny opened the other box "I think I'll stick with pepperoni."

Just as Danny was about to take the first bite, a familiar chill ran up his body, escaping from is mouth in a puff of mist.

Jazz, who had noticed Danny's breath, followed his gaze to the window in time to see a dark figure in overalls float by.

"Ugh," she said dramatically "I just remembered, Danny, you forgot to log out of DOOMED on my computer again."

"What? Jazz, your computer doesn't even-" Danny noticed the look Jazz was giving him, and it clicked "Oh. I mean, yeah, I'll go up and do that right now." Danny stood up.

"There's no way I'm trusting you in my room alone." Jazz stood up too.

"Kids," Maddie frowned "Can't this wait until after dinner?"

"I don't want Danny's game eating my battery. Don't worry, this'll be quick."

"Alright." Maddie relented. "Danny, try to remember to log off of Jazz's computer in the future."

Jazz and Danny bolted up the stairs together, stopping on the landing. Jazz looked at Danny.

"Do you need help?"

"Nah, I got this."

"Are you sure?" Jazz pulled out a small rod. She hit a button and it extended a meter and sparked on the end. "Because I am fully prepared to obliterate anyone who tries to mess with you. Human or ghost."

"Woah." Danny blinked at the weapon a few times before giving Jazz a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, it's just The Box Ghost. This'll be quick. He's as threatening as a bag of wet cotton candy."

"HEY!" A familiar blue head popped out of the wall. "THAT IS AN INACCURATE ASSESMENT OF MY POW-!"

"Yaaaahhhhh!" Jazz let out a startled scream and jabbed The Box Ghost with her rod.

"Auuuughh!" He let out a painful yell before falling the rest of the way through the wall, landing on the floor between Danny and Jazz.

"Everything all right up there kids?" Maddie called from the kitchen.

"Yup!" Danny said.

"Everything's fine!" Jazz said

"Euuugh..." The Box Ghost said.

"All right. Hurry up, your pizza's getting cold!"

Danny and Jazz looked at each other. They looked back down at the dazed Box Ghost. Danny pulled out The Thermos and sucked him into it.

"Wow, that was quick." Jazz said. She hit the button on her rod, shrinking it back to its original size. "Back to pizza?"

"Yeah, back to pizza."

As they walked down the stairs, Danny realized something; he felt better than he had in weeks. Maybe even months.

Sure, he still had his parents to deal with, but he was telling some people, and they didn't hate him. They didn't look down on him or feel too differently at all.

Jazz still wanted to protect him, which was often quite annoying, but it was what Jazz did. Learning he was half-ghost hadn't really changed the way she looked at him, which was all Danny wanted. It was everything he'd hoped for. Something he'd been too scared to even hope for sometimes.

And yet, it was what happened. And it felt good.

"Hey Jazz?"

"Yeah Danny?"

"I'm glad I told you."

Jazz smiled.

"Me too."

She came over and wrapped an arm around Danny. He let his head lay on her shoulder for a few seconds before pushing her away and reentered the kitchen. Jazz rolled her eyes as she followed him.

Danny listened to his parents go on about their call with Vlad. They were very excited about the trip. Danny was excited too, and very happy for his parents, but he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive.

That trip held great potential for disaster. In two weeks, his parents love was going to be put to the ultimate test.

But right now, things were good, and Danny was going to enjoy that.

#friends in strange places #fisp #writing #fanfic

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