Chapter 5

The wires shifted again behind her. "Valerie," he said. "If you don't let me out, then you'll die here with me, and that bounty money will be for nothing. Do you hate me so much that you want to die over it?"

"They'll get the fire out soon," she said.

...

He made a strangled noise. "Not in enough time. Look."

The fire outside had begun its descent into the containment lab chamber, with the temperature already beginning to rise.

Valerie's eyes were tense as she stared at the sight. "Agent O said that the reinforcement walls would hold off the fire."

His voice rose in frustration. "The CGIA lies; it always lies. They probably want to get rid of you too and then say I did it so they finally have a reason to exterminate me before the public realizes what they've done."

She blinked hard a couple of times, trying to keep her eyes from welling up with tears. The fear of dying, and the possibility that Phantom was right had begun to catch up.

(Was she really that expendable? Did Agent O tell her to come this way, knowing the walls wouldn't work?)

He leaned his head against the pod wall. "I don't...ah, I don't have much energy, but I think I could get us out, if you could shut down the generator, and let me out. You know I'm good for a deal. You know I can hold my word."

"I don't understand," she said, voice cracking. "Those walls were meant to keep you in. They should have held to a damn fire. Oh my god." Her breath hitched as she stared at the door, watching the metal heat. "Oh my god."

In the corners of the rooms and around the doors were vents for air, likely feeding the fire along.

Phantom drew closer to her in his pod, his voice rough. "I'll be drained just to maintain this damn pod I'm in, and maybe with any luck I can just fade out and be done with this life. 

But I'll watch you suffocate and burn first. And for as angry as I am with you, I still don't want you to die."

Valerie fell silent, watching the flames in horror. Her injured hand pulsed in great pain, remember the burn and the sizzle. "Why not, huh?" she demanded, voice cracking. "Don't you hate me as much as I hate you? Didn't I put you in here?"

"I do hate you sometimes." His breath hitched. "But you are the only one I have left, and you're the only agent in the CGIA I would trust with a deal."

Valerie began to tremble. Quickly now, the air was thickening with the scent of smoke, expanding thinly from the rising heat. "I can't let you out. I do that, and I'm a traitor. I'm not dying a traitor."

"The CGIA doesn't deserve your loyalty," he pressed. "Look at what they've done to me, when they told everyone else I'd just be locked away for safe keeping. Look at how they've kept you from your own family. Is your father still alive? Does he know you're here?"

Valerie pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. Her voice broke for the first time. "No," she whispered. "I stopped talking to him weeks ago." Her vision began to blur.

Phantom pressed on the glass. "So what, you love the CGIA over your own father? I could get you to him." Desperation leeched through every word. 

"Valerie, please, just one more truce. A final deal for old time's sake."

...

Jazz Fenton shut the apartment door behind her. In her arms was a tremendous stack of papers. "Ghostey," she greeted her pet dog, setting down the papers on her kitchen table. The little dog yapped excitedly, and Jazz bent down beside her to pat her head. "How's my girl?"

Ghostey licked her cheek, inspiring a worn smile on her face as she grabbed for the nearby phone.

"Today is a good day for me too," Jazz said, voice firm. "You'll see what I mean in a second." Her lithe fingers quickly dialed a phone number, and she impatiently listened to it ring.

After a few more rings, a representative picked up, his voice smooth and bored. "You've reached Amity Park's Criminal Justice department. Can I help you?"

"Yes, I have a proposition concerning Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley." The hand that held the phone shook in anticipation. "They were the leaders of the Protest concerning Danny Phantom's imprisonment."

The receptionist drawled, "And what is your name?"

"Jasmine Fenton."

"I see. You said you had something about the Protest leaders?"

"I have a petition about them, actually. On July 23rd, roughly six months ago, the judicial board of Amity Park created the option of a petition due to popular demand," she explained in an authoritative manner. 

"This petition states that if one thousand signatures were added, then the Amity Park police would consider allowing the Protest leaders a probation."

"Can you verify the legitimacy of this petition against Manson and Foley's criminal records?" She heard the man typing on the end of the line. "Violent crimes negate petitions."

"They were charged with attempted vandalism, yes." Jazz wove the phone cord around her fingers. "But that's not a violent crime, and that should have never resulted in a three-year sentence. We all know the CGIA influenced court procedures."

For a quick moment, the man seemed to hesitate in his answer. "For the petition to be valid, you need to present it to the Amity Park Council and get it signed by the Deputy Sheriff. 

Then you can appeal to the jail wardens and probation officers for Manson and Foley's release." He gave her the directions to the Town Hall, then disconnected from the line.

She dropped the receiver back onto the hook, her mind mulling over the information the receptionist had given her.

Two years ago, she had been home from college. When Danny did not return home that night or the next morning, she hardly worried. She figured that he had been distracted by the numerous ghosts who so often plagued him. 

When he did not show up the following day, and after she called Sam and Tucker to affirm that neither had seen him for two days, then she began to worry.

And that morning, the headlines on the newspaper caught her eye: Phantom in CGIA Custody!

She'd blanked out, frozen in shock at the realization of her worst fear.

She'd had no idea what to do when he had first been captured. Her mother and father had cheered and called out "good riddance!" to Danny Phantom while she sat at the kitchen table in shell-shocked silence. 

Unlike Danny's other enemies, she knew she could not manipulate the CGIA. They were government, and they had the power to strike down anyone in their way.

She had tried to warn Sam and Tucker before the advent of the Protests, but they did not listen, and they then faced the consequences of challenging an empire with serious political and financial backing. Which left Jazz alone to carry the mantle of Team Phantom.

..

She called in to the CGIA as a blubbering mess. "Please," she begged. "I'm so afraid of ghost attacks, and I'm terrified of that Phantom ghost getting out again."

"We understand your concerns, and we guarantee you that Phantom has been incarcerated under full security measures."

"But I've seen what he does! Normal cells and a couple of guards won't hold him," she sniffled, voice shaky. "What are you doing to protect me and others from that menace?"

The neutral voice on the other end said smoothly, "We have implemented numerous safety precautions that include state of the art containment technology, alert systems, and defense weapon systems."

"But I've heard those protestors almost got in and let him out!"

"That is falsified information. All of our security measures require password recognition and physical escorts into our Labs. I assure you that no misguided individuals could possibly infiltrate our building."

Jazz sniffled again and breathed out an uneven laugh. "Oh. You have no idea how good it makes me feel to know that." She made her voice twist. "But what will you do with that ghost? I mean, he's already dead, isn't he?"

"Yes, Phantom is dead. But his continued existence shall now be in service to you and the people of Amity Park. Under our close supervision."

Jazz clenched the phone a bit harder. "I see."

"We appreciate your concern, citizen. Rest assured that we will protect you from all threats, including Phantom."

..

The CGIA, as the "friendly neighborhood ghost patrol" with "open communication lines to the people," had taken to submitting a small, monthly column in the Amity Gazette, mostly for status and recognition but also to promote their solid grip on Amity Park's public opinion. A responsible social service, they said.

The people deserved to know where their tax dollars were going, they said. And with bright smiles and clean suits, they regained public favor. 

The people who originally decried the capture of Danny Phantom slowly lost their voice over the many others who championed the seemingly moral and socially concerned government agency.

Perhaps knowing it was a sore point, they rarely provided updates about the status of Phantom's containment.

We perform valuable services necessary to the survival of mankind, they said. Phantom only performed various acts of destruction and mayhem in the name of non-sentient, post-human impulse.

But now, after several months of lobbying for a petition to free Sam and Tucker, Jazz had a plan that would release Danny from the CGIA without further aggravating the agency against her friends and family. 

And then the Ghost Getters were going to trip the CGIA's system to give Danny an open escape through the security labyrinth of the agency. And once Danny escaped, they could help him to move far, far away from the CGIA's reach.

===================

Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.

...

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