A/N: Okay, so I haven't written a fic in months. This will probably sound rusty and plotless, but it's something. Hopefully an at least semi-good something. Please let me know. Any and all comments are welcome. Thank you.

Starting Over

He tried to swallow the nerves that buzzed through him as he hesitantly rang the doorbell. He'd practiced his speech and exactly what he would say to any questions, but this confrontation was almost too important to be rehearsed. Her reaction still meant the world to him, even if they were no longer even a potential "item." There hadn't been time to fully explain anything to her in Antarctica, and, though she seemed accepting enough, Danny was sure she was concealing at least some amount of resentment under her relieved exterior. Sam had insisted that Valerie would be fine, but Danny decided a little checkup would not harm anything…at least he hoped it wouldn't.

The door creaked reluctantly and a balding man's head peaked out from behind it. However, Mr. Gray became more relaxed, and even pleased, when he saw that it was a sincere-looking Danny Fenton standing on his doorstep.

"Well, hey, son. What are you doing here?" he asked kindly.

Danny peeked behind him and noticed with a slight grimace the decrepit and messy state of the Grays' apartment. He let his eyes wander briefly along the breaking doorframe, and he thought with remorse about how this family's situation had been brought on by him, even if it was inadvertently.

"Uh…I'm here to see Valerie. If she's here," Danny answered weakly, unsure of how to carry himself in the presence of a man whose life he had essentially ruined.

Mr. Gray seemed unfazed, however, and remained as pleasant as ever. "Ah, gee, I'm sorry. I think Valerie's gone out for a walk or something. But, if you'd like, I could let her know you stopped by."

Danny opened his mouth to oblige and thank him for his offer, but then became uncertain of how Valerie might react to her father telling her that Danny had dropped by. So, instead, he simply shook his head slightly and gave an almost injured half smile.

"Nah. I'll just stop by some other time when she's here. Thanks, though," he acknowledged, bobbing his head in gratitude and turning away awkwardly. He shoved his hands into his pocket and hunched away, still feeling uneasy about the entire situation.

He stepped heavily out of the apartment building, lost in his own self-loathing. He couldn't believe that he had changed Valerie and her father's way of life so much. They had gone from living large to scrounging for pennies in a matter of weeks simply because of his carelessness and unfamiliarity with his ghost powers at the time. There was no way that Valerie could have changed on a dime so quickly and accepted his transformation into Phantom…

THWACK!

His thoughts were cut off when he felt the familiar impact of running into someone. He rolled back on the ground, holding his head where it had collided with the other person's, and squinted to see who it was. He rose to his feet quickly, only having seen the back of her head, and offered his hand to help her up.

"Ugh, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. That was careless of me," Danny apologized prolifically.

When she turned to him, Danny gasped, unprepared for the revelation. "Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time, either," Valerie muttered sarcastically.

She got up on her own, blatantly ignoring the now limp hand Danny had offered her for support. Danny just stood with his mouth agape, at a loss for words. After all that time preparing a speech, somehow he had not been ready to give it under such sudden circumstances.

"Don't stare, Fenton; it's rude," Valerie stated coldly, a hint of sadness blanketed in her voice. She began to walk away quickly, obviously eager to avoid him, but Danny regained his composure soon enough to thwart her plans.

"Valerie, wait, please," he begged desperately, reaching for her shoulder to stop her. "I need to talk to you. Seriously. And it's Danny…not Fenton," he added subconsciously. Valerie hadn't called him that in so long…it was almost heartbreaking to hear her use his emotionless last name again.

She shrugged briskly away from his grasp. "I can call you whatever I want, Phantom," she stated harshly. "And what if I don't want to talk to you?"

Danny winced, but returned his desperate gaze to meet hers. "Please," he pleaded. "I don't want us to be like this."

"Be like what?" she asked obliviously, anger still lacing her words.

"Like…like this!" Danny shouted. "Like you walking away from me, calling me names. We used to be tight, Val. Now look at us…what are we?"

She squinted her eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

He huffed. "I mean, first we were enemies, then we were acquaintances, then we were friends, then…well, we were together. And all the while, we remained enemies in another way. So…where did we stop in this cycle? What are we now?"

Valerie glared at him for awhile, but the pain and desperation in his eyes was too much, and she glanced away, sighing. "I don't think the cycle has stopped yet," she whispered. "I'm not sure where we are or what to think. It's a lot to take in."

Danny nodded slowly, understanding. "So what do you need to know?"

She let out a hollow laugh. "Everything. I may not have been the only person in Antarctica who was surprised by your little demonstration, but I was the only person our age who seemed to have no clue. I thought I was your friend. But, I guess compared to Tucker and Sam I was a nobody to you. They knew. You told them, but you didn't tell me. Why?"

Danny took a deep breath, then motioned to a nearby bench, inviting Valerie to sit with him. She slowly obliged, and he began to talk. "I didn't tell them. They were there when it happened. In fact, before that day in Antarctica, I had never told anybody. Jazz found out on her own. I just…didn't want to get into the habit of telling people."

Valerie shook her head incredulously. "But Danny, I could have killed you! All those times I fought Phantom...I never held back. Why wouldn't you tell me if you knew I could kill you if I didn't know?"

"Because," he said quietly, "I didn't want you to hate both halves of me. I was afraid that, if you knew, your hatred of Danny Phantom would override your tolerance of Danny Fenton and…I just didn't want you to hate me."

She continued to gape disbelievingly. "Danny, I could never hate you. I hated Phantom because he ruined my life--"

"I didn't mean for that to happen, either," Danny interrupted immediately. "It was an accident. I was just trying to catch that stupid ghost dog—who was not mine, by the way—and I accidentally--,"

"Danny, I believe you!" Valerie shouted over his explanation. "Now that I know who you really are…I kind of figured it was an accidental thing. I just never wanted to listen to you before. I needed someone to blame. And a pestering ghost kid sure seemed like a good scapegoat at the time.

"But," she continued, "I can't believe you thought that my hatred would outweigh my like—even love—for you at the time. Is that really the kind of person you thought I was?" she asked, obviously hurt.

Danny shook his head furiously. "No! I just…wanted to be safe. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I should have."

"Darn right, you should have. I at least deserved to learn face-to-face from you, instead of having to find out along with hundreds of other strangers who hardly knew you. It's like I never knew you, either," she said distantly, beginning to stand up.

Danny stood up with her. "Wait, so…you never told me where we are."

She turned back to him, and shook her head, something of a grimace on her face. "I really don't know. You thought that I would hate you after you told me you were half ghost, and, in a way, you were right. The weird thing is, I don't hate you because you're half ghost—not even because you're half the ghost I've been wanting to destroy for years—but because you didn't trust me enough to tell me in the first place. Honestly, the closest I've ever come to hating you, Danny, is right now."

His face fell, and he felt his heart drop into the lowest pit of his stomach. His body buzzed with feelings of failure and rejection, and he could do no more than nod succinctly and turn away, head hanging in shame.

Valerie's eyes followed his sulking figure as he shuffled away. She sighed, a little let down by the conversation, knowing it had neither accomplished nor fixed anything between the two of them. Perhaps they were always meant to be enemies. Maybe, in the grand scheme of things, the parallel lives they led were telling them something: they were supposed to be eternal rivals. She had to admit, the bitter thought of that stung--even now, when she was most angry with him.

She stopped for a moment on the street when she thought she heard a faint flashing sound and some distant shouting, but she figured that it was probably just some kids playing. Besides, even if it was a ghost, she wasn't really in the mood for fighting. Not to mention she probably wasn't needed with Phantom—

--being carried off into the distance by that hunter ghost.

She held on tight to her headband as Skulker's rocket suit flew past her at an alarming speed. She gasped when she noticed whom he had in his grasp. Frantically, she looked around for someone—anyone—to show up and do something. Where were Tucker, Sam, or even Jazz when you needed them?

She paused for just a moment, a crucially elongated moment, and thought quickly about her options. Sure, Danny hadn't really been honest with her about things, but…did he deserve to get carried off into the tortuous Ghost Zone with Skulker?

Without another moment's hesitation, she quickly set her books down in front of her apartment as she ran, activating her ghost hunting outfit and flying off quickly in pursuit of Skulker and Danny.

When she knew he was within earshot, she cried out to Skulker, "Hey, Metal-Head! You've got something I want."

Surprised, Skulker turned around to her. When he saw the culprit, he smiled wickedly. "Ah, Ghost-Hunter-Girl. What a pleasant surprise. I'm sorry, but this prize," he said, gesturing to Danny's limp form in his clutches, "belongs to me."

"Oh, no, he doesn't!" she yelled, shooting a ghost ray at Skulker.

Unfortunately, Skulker moved out of the way of her shot, and instead, it ended up hitting Danny. He moaned as it hit him, but the sensation brought him out of his unconscious state. He squinted to see what was going on, horrified to find himself at the mercy of Skulker and Valerie.

Skulker laughed heartily at Valerie's attempt. "Why do you want him, anyway? To exact revenge?"

Valerie thought for a moment, looking back and forth between Danny's helpless form and Skulker's menacing presence. She caught Danny's gaze and noticed a plea there—almost a longing—and she knew she had her answer.

"No," she stated evenly. "I want him back because he's my friend!"

As she said this, she flew fast toward Skulker, aiming the very tip of her board directly at his face. She came on too fast and he had no time to react. His eyes grew wide, terrified, and then there was a clunking thud as he fell heavily to the ground.

Given the opportunity, Danny quickly squeezed his way out from Skulker's grip, and he flew up next to Valerie, taking on a fighter's stance.

For a brief moment, he met her eyes, and they communicated an understanding between them. Then, they each attacked Skulker as he rose, Danny punching his head and Valerie blasting the rest of his armored exterior. Realizing he was in the minority, Skulker glared at the two teens and retreated angrily, growling at them all the while for stealing his valuable prize.

They both watched in satisfaction, but then Danny buckled and fell to the ground. Valerie watched him in concern, and she floated down next to him, placing her hand on his back to offer support.

"Thanks…for everything you did back there," Danny muttered through his clenched teeth.

"Yeah, sure. What's wrong?" she asked, unsure of what to do now, and yet wanting to detract from the spotlight.

"Oh, nothing. Skulker just kinda hit me pretty hard over the head," he said, cradling his head in his hand. "Not to mention your little blast hit me pretty hard there, too."

Suddenly, she was angry again. "Hey, now. That blast woke you up and possibly saved your life! If I hadn't tried to—"

Danny laughed. "Hey, hey! Settle down. I know. I was being sarcastic," he grunted, still wincing every now and then from his injury.

"Well," she replied, "then let's get you back to my house and see if we can't fix you up there, eh?"

Danny smiled as best he could, nodding in agreement. Valerie held out a hand to him, which he warmly accepted, and hauled him onto her board. Together, they flew back to her apartment, Danny turning them both intangible so that they didn't have to go through the front door.

"Hey, that's a pretty handy power, there," she commended, almost impressed. "We'd make a pretty good team, actually."

She said this softly, almost at a whisper, as she began to put her ghost equipment away—far away where her dad wouldn't be able to find it.

Danny watched her as she put her things away. "We will make a great team, Val. I have no doubt about that. Honestly, if there was ever one 'enemy' I was worried about actually sustaining injuries from…well, heh, it was you."

She turned back to him and grinned. "Well, I guess that's a…good thing."

Valerie walked over to her bed, then patted on part of it next to her, signaling Danny to come sit by her. He walked over cautiously, still wary of the dissipating tension between them, and took a seat a few inches to her side.

She sighed, looking at the ground. "I guess what bothers me most is thinking about what could have been between us," she confessed, letting out an ironic laugh. "Because, looking back on it now, in retrospect…I guess the whole reason I left you was to protect you from…yourself. Er, a version of yourself."

She looked at him intently, almost hurt. "Why didn't you just tell me then? That had to have been terribly ironic for you."

He shifted his gaze away from hers, suddenly uncomfortable. "I don't really know. I just knew you hated Phantom so much, and…well, after that whole fiasco, things didn't seem any better at all between our 'ghost-fighting' halves so…I guess I was just trying to protect you from the truth."

She gave another hearty laugh. "Which simply further adds to the irony.

Danny smiled half-heartedly. "I guess. I don't know. Maybe a part of me always just subconsciously wanted to be with Sam," he speculated quietly.

She nodded succinctly, as though not sure of what else to add. "You two do seem happy together."

Danny tried to sound as confident as possible when he replied, "Oh yeah…we are."

After that, there came an awkward pause during which they both stared off into space, wide-eyed and lost.

Danny decided to break the silence at last, popping off of the couch and reaching out a hand for her to shake, "Well, I guess I'll see you around…pal."

Valerie gave him a look of phony irritation as she grabbed his hand and hauled him into a hug. "See ya. Remember, if you ever need help, you know who to call."

"Will do," Danny replied.

They continued hugging, though the longer the embrace went on, the more awkward Danny seemed to become. Confused, he slowly pulled away from her, attempting a brilliant smile which translated more as a grimace.

"Bye," he whispered softly, shrugging away and walking unsteadily out the door.

As he closed the apartment door behind him, Danny rolled his head and shoulders to try and shake off the awkward sensations he was suddenly feeling. He blinked several times, picturing Sam, his beautiful and wonderful girlfriend, in his mind.

As he walked down the street, thinking of how he had finally started over on a clean slate with Valerie, he wanted to be happy that she was his friend again.

But somehow, all of a sudden, that just didn't seem like enough.

Am I not the queen of suckish endings? Any criticism, comments, concerns, errors, compliments, or questions are welcome. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it at least a smidgen.