Chapter Text
[Amazing movie poster cover art by @kinglazrus]
Valerie glanced beside her. At a boy with black hair who was trying and failing to appear bored. He shifted to the side, and his twitching fingers were unable to resist rubbing the back of his neck.
Not that she blamed him, exactly. It wasn't every day that two government officials showed up at school and pulled them out of classes to have a chat. And while Valerie had a squirming suspicion as to why they called her here, she had no clue about him.
"You're from the CIA? You're serious?" Valerie asked.
One of the men, who had introduced himself by the name of Officer Dave Burnett, showed her his ID for the third time since they'd met.
"What do you want with two high schoolers?" Valerie asked. She crossed her arms, perhaps defensively, and leaned back against the cold metal chair. Although they'd assured her that she wasn't in trouble, their intense faces sure had a funny way of showing it. "We haven't done anything."
"Right," Danny agreed, his gaze shifting between Valerie and the two men before them.
The taller of the men, the olive-skinned one with the tidy salt-and-pepper hair who introduced himself as Officer Eric Anderson, cocked his head slowly, his black eyes crinkling in amusement. "Oh, if I believed that, you both wouldn't be here."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Valerie shot back.
"You see," began Officer Burnett, stroking his thick, gray moustache and ignoring her retort completely, "it's foolish to believe that the United States is the only country dabbling in the ectosciences for militaristic applications. Even if ghosts are more abundant here than anywhere else in the world, the concept's catching on. And other countries are experimenting in ways that have caught our attention. But our intel is...well, it's got holes all over it. Everything from simple ectoentity core extractions all the way up to human experimentation. We've been waiting for our opportunity to gather more concrete evidence of plans and experiments, but we haven't been able to get the right in. Until now."
"Both of you possess connections to the field of ectosciences that are essential for our next mission," Officer Anderson said.
"Again, you need teenagers?" Valerie asked.
"As a matter of fact, for this objective, we do," Officer Burnett answered.
"You mean my parents' connections," Danny said. "I don't know anything. I tune them out most of the time when they talk."
Officer Burnett's easygoing smile hardened ever so slightly. "Our reach goes a lot deeper than the Ghost Investigation Ward, boy."
For some reason, Danny paled.
"Many countries across the globe have taken an interest in exploring ectosciences as a means of potential sustainable energy. As such, several ectoscientists and researchers are going to be selected to present at the European Clean Energy Initiative Conference this summer. And that's where you two will be attending as Youth Representatives for the United States of America."
"Hang on, I didn't agree to this," Valerie said. "And besides, I don't see why you need kids for this. Don't y'all have loads of talented spies who could probably infiltrate Europe way better than us?"
"We have spies all over, yes, but none with your specific sets of skills." Officer Burnett said.
The growing pit of anxiety in Valerie's stomach deepened. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, Red Huntress, I think you know exactly what we mean."
Oh.
Oh shit.
"You know about that?"
"Please, we've known about the both of you for quite some time. As I told Mr. Phantom, our reach goes far deeper than the GIW could ever dream of."
Valerie's head spun over to where Danny was currently trying to shrink into a puddle in his seat. "Mr. What?"
"Ah, I was under the impression you were both acquainted," Officer Anderson said.
"We were not."
"We have multiple recordings of Phantom calling you Val," he refuted.
Valerie only glared at Danny, who was beginning to flicker in and out of visibility.
Officer Burnett continued, unaffected by either of their apparent panic. "So you both will infiltrate the conference as Youth Presenters. You'll attend the convention, and you’ll interact with the different representatives. A few in particular will show interest in you, and it is essential that you secure an invitation to tour their labs. You see, after the conference, the two of you will embark on a tour around Europe to see how different countries are utilizing their ecto-technology. Face-to-face, you will play by the rules. You'll meet with their representatives, go on their tours, and ask surface-level questions from the scripts we give you. But after that, Phantom here will infiltrate their labs invisibly with a recording device that will collect video and audio of what’s really going on."
Valerie's head spun. "And some of these countries you believe...?"
"Yes, Russia in particular is where we believe the rumors of human experimentation may have some validity. Our sources tell us that while they haven't figured out that human-ghost hybrids can exist in nature, they are trying to manipulate a person's death to create an artificial Obsession. One that would turn them into a one-track-minded fighting machine."
Valerie didn't miss the way Danny flinched at the word Obsession.
"So, in summation, you both will go to the conference, and then you'll tour around Europe. You'll be accompanied by undercover agents the entire time. Phantom will be covertly spying, and Red here, your job will be making sure he stays in line," Officer Burnett said.
"So, what, I'm his handler?"
Officer Burnett simply shrugged. "If that's how you want to see it. As it stands, we believe you're the only person alive who could. After all, most people don't have ecto-technology fused to their skin."
"How did you know it was fused —" Valerie shook her head, remembering who she was talking to. "Forget it."
Beside her, Danny ducked his head low, but between the strands of his black bangs, Valerie could see his eyes glowing green.
And then it hit her like a sledgehammer. Had Danny really been Phantom this whole time? And he hadn't told her?
They'd dated, for fucks sake!
Officer Anderson's eyes flickered between them, and Valerie was sure he didn't have to use any of his fancy CIA face-reading skills to see the absolute fire that her glare was currently attempting to light on Danny's skull. "That's all from us. I see you two have a lot to catch up on. We'll give you both time to sort out your issues here before we drive you home. And as a reminder, everything said in this room is strictly confidential. Well, aside from you both having been selected to be part of the Clean Energy Youth Programme. Congratulations on that achievement, by the way. If nothing else, I'm sure it will look fantastic on your college applications."
"Gee, thanks," Danny grumbled through his teeth.
The two men stepped out of the gray room, shutting the door with an echoey bang that seemed to reverberate around Valerie's skull.
For a moment, neither of them moved. And then Valerie turned to him, her rage about to boil over, and said, "Explain. Now. "