Only Half

Played

"And it also has-"

"Tucker, we heard you the first time," said Sam in a bored tone.

"But it's the best PDA on the market!" said Tucker, astonished at Sam's indifference.

"Danny merely laughed; these two always seemed to be getting at something, and their bickering was actually pretty hilarious. "Look, I've got an idea," he interrupted. "How about we head on over to the Nasty Burger?" Sam and Tucker stopped to look at him for a moment and then immediately nodded.

"Sounds good to me!" said Tucker. "I'm starved!" His eyes took on a sort of glazed look as he began to think of the Nasty Burger, so delicious and heavenly. He even let a small drop of drool slip his mouth before he noticed that Sam's demeanor had suddenly become alarmed. He looked at her with a confused expression before turning to Danny, who had been to his right. "What's-" he began to ask, before looking up at the sound of a small engine, which answered his question immediately. "Valerie?" He said in a hushed and slightly panicked tone.

Indeed, Valerie was hovering no more then twenty feet above them, with one of her best ecto-laser guns trained straight on Danny. She said nothing, but she didn't have to. Sam broke the stunned silence. "Hey, Valerie, what brings you here?" There was a hidden venom to her voice, as if though she was still hoping this was a mistake, she was prepared to defend Danny at all costs. Valerie didn't seem to take this statement lightly, even though Sam meant it merely to stall her and gauge her reaction. How did the goth even know she was the red huntress? She was wearing her full suit and Sam had called her by her name as if it were nothing. Valerie shook her head. No, she couldn't afford to get distracted.

"I'm making sure that Amity Park is safe from the threat of ghost scum!" she shouted angrily. Sam, in response, raised her left eyebrow in mock confusion. Though she was playing it cool on the outside, her insides were turning to lead. As were Danny and Tucker's. "B-but, there are no ghosts around here, are there?" said Tucker in an attempt to help the situation.

"Don't play games with me. I know there's a ghost here." She narrowed her eyes in irritation. "He's hiding right under your noses... or is he?"

"Sam, exchanging a meaningful look with Tucker, made up a plan. She tried to convey it in her expression without giving any confirmation as to Valerie's suspicions. Tucker nodded, seeming to understand her mindset. Although they weren't entirely sure at first what Valerie was referring to, the trio could only guess that she knew Danny's secret. Things never could be so simple, could they? How she found out, however, was a mystery. Just in case it was pure coincidence, though, they kept their mouths shut.

Tucker looked around, trying to make it seem as if he was looking for the ghost Valerie was speaking about. Sam made the same motion, as did Danny. "We didn't see a ghost, Valerie," said Sam. Valerie, reaching the height of her short patience fuse, burst out, "It's Fenton, you geeks! Fenton's been Phantom all along. He lied to me and to everyone else that knew him over and over again, just like any ghost scum would. And it seems as if you two were the only ones he decided to tell, and even you were influenced into not saying a thing to give him up, which makes you the dumbest of the lot!"

Sam and Tucker did a motion that they didn't even have to practice to make it in sync with each other's: they both sidestepped in order to prevent her from closing in on Danny. Sam turned towards Danny to ask what they should do, but his face was so horror-stricken that she doubted any real words would escape his mouth in an answer.

"Stand aside!" Valerie commanded, though she received no movement from either of Danny's best friends. "So, we're going to play it that way, are we?" She said after two minutes of uncomfortable silence. Neither Sam nor Tucker refused to budge. This situation was getting worse. Valerie held all the weapons. The only chance they had was Danny going ghost and high-tailing it out of there, but even then, what chance did he stand against Valerie's new and improved ghost weapons if he refused to hurt her in return? He had been able to avoid her thus far, but his last encounter when they had saved Danielle had nearly drained him.

"I thought we had a truce," he said suddenly from behind Sam and Tucker. He stepped in front of them as well, receiving a concerned gasp from Sam, and just a plain old scared one from Tucker. He turned back to them and muttered in such a low voice that he hoped only they could hear, "I'll be alright. I know what I'm doing." With this, he twisted his neck back into its rightful position, and watched Valerie with an extremely cautious eye.

"That was before I realized you had lied to me all this time," said Valerie matter-of-factly.

"Before? Didn't you always think I was a lying spectral waste?" Danny retorted truthfully.

Valerie seemed at a loss for words for almost half a minute before she found her tongue again. "It's different!" She shouted defensively. "You-you... you tricked me! And everyone else in this stupid town! You got them to believe you were some sort of hero, and although I never trusted Phantom, I... I..." She trailed off, not able to divulge this information so easily. At first it had tumbled out due to her pain and feeling of betrayal, but now she just couldn't speak. It showed way too much weakness to be allowing Phantom to see her hurt.

"Valerie," Danny tried to say soothingly, hoping that she would see he didn't mean anything personally by the lies. "I had to lie. Otherwise things like emthis /emwould have happened. Do you honestly think I would go around announcing to the world I was some sort of half ghost freak? You may not care anymore, but the Valerie I knew wouldn't have stood for allowing Danielle to be tortured on an examination table." His blue eyes penetrated hers, seeing almost into her being, which was nearly impossible since she had closed herself off so well.

"Yeah, well- she wasn't evil! She didn't-didn't..." she was running out of excuses, and right now all she wanted to do was shoot Danny Phantom squarely in the head.

"Didn't what, Valerie?" asked Tucker, coming right up behind Danny.

"It doesn't matter!" she screamed with rage, and pointed her gun even straighter at Danny, gritting her teeth. She was suddenly remarkably glad for her suit, for it hid the watery eyes she was now sporting beneath it.

"Valerie, no!" shouted Sam. Then, several things happened at once. Sam launched herself to try and stand in front of Danny, hoping that the Fenton's theory of ghost weapons not harming humans was true but throwing herself anyway even if it wasn't. Danny shifted into his ghost half, trying to put some distance between himself and Valerie, hoping to get her attention off of Sam and Tucker while he escaped. A purple streak of ecto-energy from Valerie's gun ripped through the air, making a b-line for the ghost boy.

There was a blinding flash of light for a split second. The white glow of Danny's transformation clashed with the purple of Valerie's attack, creating a harshly pink sort of color until it faded away completely. It was too late by the time Sam managed to put herself between Danny and Valerie. She stopped in her tracks at the sight of her best friend motionless on the concrete. Tucker was too shocked at the scene to even act. "D-D-Danny?" He stuttered, unnerved by what he saw. There lay their best friend, transformed into his ghost half, yet sprawled on the ground and not moving an inch.

"Aha! I knew it!" yelled Valerie in triumph, and Sam was so angry with her, she seriously considered punching the ghost hunter. "How could you do this? What is wrong with you!?" she cried as Valerie used a metal contraption to wrap around Danny's waist and carry him behind her glider. Valerie glared at Sam. She brought her glider down lower so that she was now face to face with Sam Manson, and her eyes had a serious, impenetrable glare about them. "I'm able to do it because I don't make friends with ghosts."

"He was our friend way before he was Danny Phantom," answered Sam in rebellion.

"The sooner you see how he's played you, the better off you'll be," said Valerie. "In the meantime, it's my duty to dispose of him properly.

"You can't-!" Tucker shouted from a few feet away.

Valerie didn't care about Tucker's plead or about Sam Manson's vengeful glare. As she flew away with Danny Phantom's limp form between the metal jaws of her glider's appendage, Sam and Tucker ran below her until she was almost out of sight. "You better hope nothing bad happens to him, Valerie, because he may not resort to shooting you down, but I wouldn't hesitate!" called Sam, and as Valerie flew out of hearing range, she contemplated these last words, feeling fear in spite of herself because she knew that Sam was never one to bluff when it came to Danny and Tucker.