With Great Power

Denial

Danny expected Valerie's arrival to be later in the day, after she got home from school. Instead, he got a flightless Red Huntress hauling herself through his unlocked window at the ungodly hour of noon. His parent's were in the lab and he couldn't help but be concerned about how they'd react if they knew their escaped subject was in his bedroom. He hoped her ecto-signature was weak enough to hide her from their sensors.

"You shouldn't be here," he hissed at her, "my parents are home. Do you want to be captured again?"

"I need my suit," she said swiftly, ignoring his concern.

"I'll see what I can do," Danny sighed, guiding her to his bed and motioning her to sit on the edge. She sat stiffly as he inspected her arm. Visually, there was no leftover damage to the suit, but the metal beneath his fingers felt soft instead of it's usual hardened exterior, like a bruised apple. "It's reforming nicely. Without help, it should take two weeks."

"I can't last that long," Valerie snapped. Danny lifted his head to meet her gaze. "I'm not a ghost. I need to eat."

"You can't remove your suit?" Danny asked. She shook her head. "I see. In that case, I agree with you. I see two ways we can proceed, and I will discuss them with you when I have a safe environment to work in." He hadn't predicted this. He had assumed she would retain basic motor functions in her suit.

"But-" Valerie stopped herself from complaining further. She didn't want to encounter the Fentons again after what happened yesterday. "Alright," she said, "Do you have somewhere in mind?"

Danny thought for a moment. He had plenty of places he could bring her. The Far Frozen would've been his first choice. Unfortunately his patient wasn't a normal ghost; she was a half ghost cyborg in denial and she hated other ghosts with a passion. She was clearly aware in some sense that he had separated her from an integral part of herself, but he doubted she realized she knew just how much a part of her the suit was.

Bringing her to the Far Frozen would likely bring things to light far too fast for her to cope with them in a healthy way, and he didn't want her to attack Frostbite on sight.

"The ghost zone," he said. Valerie stiffened, but didn't immediately protest. That was a good sign. "The ambient ectoplasm will help with the healing process, and it will aid my own abilities."

"Your abilities come from ghosts?"

"Ectoplasm is a natural conductor of psychic energy. That's why ghosts exist." It wasn't a complete lie. Valerie seemed satisfied with the answer. Danny decided to take a step further. "My abilities would probably be a lot weaker if I wasn't exposed to it on a daily basis." It's not that he wanted her to find out he was a halfa, but this way it would be less shocking if she did.

"What about all the ghosts?" She asked nervously.

"I know someone who could let us stay the night. He's sort of my mentor."

"A ghost?"

"Yes," Danny confirmed, watching her reactions. "He's very powerful and very isolated, other ghosts stay out of his way so we won't be bothered there."

"How powerful?" She demanded. "Is it Phantom?"

"Phantom?" Danny echoed. "Of course not, Phantom isn't powerful, he just has anti ghost tech to help him out. Like bringing a gun to a knife-fight." That struck her like a punch to the gut. Phantom wasn't powerful. Any strong ghost like Vortex could've taken him out. One probably did. She didn't know how to feel about anything anymore, least of all Phantom's disappearance. "His name is Clockwork."

"... Do you know where he is? Phantom, I mean."

Danny was silent for a moment. "Clockwork would know," he said, and then, "I need to get some things from the lab before we leave. Wait here." Valerie grabbed his arm as he turned to leave.