Trouble in Paradise

Dani almost laughed at herself. To think she'd been all set to leave town after her dealings with that doctor were over...but now? Now Mabel knew her secret and was...supportive...and she had someone to truly count on in Gravity Falls.

The Halfa wasn't sure about leaving so quickly anymore.

Technically, the decision wasn't hers anyway. That was up to Mr Pines, but she didn't want to leave this friend behind, like all the other people she'd encountered on her travels. Mabel was still kind to her and treated her the same even though she wasn't the most normal of people. Perhaps the two could swap numbers, but Dani hadn't seen Mabel with a phone... Neither would be at the Mystery Shack forever so taking that number wouldn't help. Perhaps when Dani got around to visiting California, there would be the chance that the two could hang out then.

Assuming Mabel didn't suddenly decide the girl wasn't worth her time...

Dani felt her stomach cramp. God, she always felt like she could be a burden to the people around her, even if they went out of their way to help her.

She felt like it with Danny, Valerie and the Pines family...

There was no point getting worked up over this, she convinced herself. She needed to clear her head.

The ravenette grabbed the nearby TV remote and switched off the device before hauling herself off the sofa and grabbing her bag from beside herself. She slung it over her shoulders as she left the room.

"I'm heading out." the girl announced as she wandered through the Gift Shop to the exit.

"Alright, but don't take too long, I'll be getting you kids your food soon." Mr Pines requested.

"Okay," Dani hesitated at the handle and turned around slowly, "I'm going to the forest by the way." she let him know.

"Don't get lost again." He chuckled.

"Lost?"

"Mabel said you got lost yesterday and that's why you were gone for so long."

The girl rolled her eyes. Excellent excuse Mabel. "Ohh right yeah. I know where I'm going this time so I think I'll be fine." She assured the man and finally left the shack into the fresh air.

Maybe if she came across that monster again she could take out her stress on it.

...

-20 Minutes Later-

"Hey Grunkle Stan, where'd Dani go?" Mabel asked with her general bubbliness.

"Hm?" The old man glanced up from the till as his great niece entered the room, "Oh, she went into the forest for some reason about ten minutes ago."

"Well, her doctor's here right now. Should I tell him to come back later?"

Stan nodded a few times absentmindedly while counting a wad of cash, "Right...Wait what?"

"Hello Mr Pines." said the doctor in a formal manner, practically materialising out of thin air in front of the man, "I've come to check up on Ellie again. As I said before, this will probably be my final visit."

Stan folded his arms, "Well she's not here right now so there isn't much you could do... Unless, you'd like to buy some merchandise?" He suggested with a wide grin.

"Yes I understood that and no, I don't have any money on me to be purchasing anything."

The man behind the till's shoulders slumped in defeat, "Oh."

"Anywho," Gregson continued, "if she isn't here, I'll have to come back later. Just give me a call." he stated dryly.

"Uh huh, bye then."

"Goodbye Stanford, I expect that phone call." He reminded him before leaving.

As soon as the doctor had gone, Stan sighed heavily. "I honestly feel bad for the kid, what with that guy constantly showing up to ruin her day." He chuckled.

Mabel shuffled uncomfortably as she realised something, "It's probably worse for her than we think."

A small ball of feathers sat perched on a log in a forest clearing. The bird's chestnut head cocked in different directions in rapid movement until it settled in place as a voice attempted to soothe it.

"Hold still."

After a moment, a shutter noise echoed through the area and the bird took flight.

Dani lowered her camera and smiled.

"Perfect." She whispered.

After "finding" a pair of disposable camera in another state, Dani had taken it upon herself to get at least 2 pictures wherever she went...for 'posterity' and her own future recollection. It was a calming exercise too so currently is was helping to take her mind off of her earlier feeling of worry.

As the girl dropped the camera back into her bag, a sudden crunching of leaves behind her captured her attention. Back on edge, Dani spun around defensively, almost expecting the monster to have returned.

Well, it was close enough.

"Doctor Gregson? What are you doing here?" She started.

The man came to a stop and slicked back his hair, "I was supposed to be checking up on you. You weren't at the Mystery Shack and I was told you were in the forest."

The Halfa raised an eyebrow, "So what, they just allowed you to follow a kid into the forest?"

He chuckled drily.

"Look, dude, if you must know," Dani continued, "I'm absolutely fine. You don't need to see if I'm okay anymore so please back off and give me some space." She explained, slipping into a malicious tone of voice at the end of the final sentence.

Realising this, she rubbed a hand down her face, "I'm sorry, I've just been a little stressed today right? And I came out here to chill out but now you've set me on edge ag-"

"They were right..." He whispered in awe before an unsettling smile split across his face.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Dani felt herself involuntarily shake for a split-second at the expression he now wore. What the hell was this guy's deal all of a sudden?

But that would be answered next.

Dani felt the blood drain from her face as he spoke again.

"Gotcha, ghost girl."

She hadn't actually heard that right?

Dani cocked her head to the right slightly and looked at him with a disbelieving face. Her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"How-" She started.

"Your eyes flashed green. Honestly, you should get that temper in check. As infuriating as you are, I've managed."

The Halfa stepped back from the man, completely lost about how he knew but then it all clicked into place and her mouth dropped open.

"You're a- you're a ghost?!" She stammered out in horror.

'Gregson' smiled menacingly at the girl and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Yes, yes I am." He replied as casually as describing the weather.

"How?!" Dani demanded, "There's no other Halfas!"

The 'doctor' rolled his eyes with great boredom and put a hand on his hip, "And here I thought maybe you were smart. Obviously I had to Possess someone!"

Her eyes widened in clarity as he carried on, "Just some random doctor from the hospital. No one in particular."

"You've just been possessing some innocent guy for nearly a week?! And how come my ghost sense never went off!?" the ravenette snarled, now over her initial shock.

"Well, you know it did in the forest but being in a human body masked my ghost aura."

Dani gasped, "That was you yesterday that set off my ghost sense?!"

"Of course it was." He rolled his eyes again.

"I-I don't understand...What made you do this?"

"Well, when I heard of a new Halfa like the Phantom of Amity Park existing, I had to find out for myself. I was told you have much less power than him and to further make my job easier, what better chance did I have than when you had your accident? If I posed as your doctor I could get to you easily!"

"But why-"

"Let me finish!" He cut her off and she couldn't help but roll her eyes, "As your doctor, I could track how fast you healed from injuries, your reaction to a blood-test etcetera, all tests to see if you really were this aforementioned Halfa. You passed every single one with flying colours! Oh yes, and I of course saw your slip up yesterday with the Pines girl. I guess they'll all find out now...Or I'll convince them you left..."

"They won't believe your lies!" she snapped, more so to make herself believe it, "And this still doesn't explain why you want me!" Dani stomped her foot on the forest floor as if it would stop his torment but instead he seemed to become happier.

"Some ghosts, namely Skulker would pay handsomely to have the pelt of a Halfa, and it would bring me far more respect and credibility in the Ghost Zone."

"Bad news then," the teen snarled, "you won't be getting any of that! And you can tell Skulker he can shove his boots right up his dusty metal-"

"Now, now, temper dear." He tutted with a waggle of his finger, "We wouldn't want you to become faint would we? JUST KIDDING THAT WOULD BE PERFECT!" he screeched before preparing to charge.

He fired an ecto-blast at her and Dani manged to hastily dive out of the way.

"That's it. You want a fight? Well you've got one!" Dani shouted. She punched her fist into one hand, "GOING GHOST!"

The light encased her body and human was replaced by phantom.

"You're brave to try but also foolish. Judging by your condition, this should be a breeze!" The ghost declared before attempting to shoot at her with an ecto-blast again. Hopefully that was all he could do because she really didn't want to be fighting the guy for too long.

Dani retaliated by floating higher off the ground , fortunately the towering trees gave her cover from the rest of town, and fired multiple blasts forcing her opponent to duck. Multiple attempts received the same results. Great.

"Can you stop ducking for one second!" She complained, mostly to herself.

Another blast his way.

"Oh, am I besting you?" He grinned back manically.

Another duck. Another blast her way.

The two continued to fling ecto-blasts at eachother for a good three minutes until Dani began to feel woozy from the constant action. She slowed down slightly and lowered herself closer to the ground.

"Oh I am so not in the mood to deal with this now!" She groaned as a cluster of black dots clouded her vision for a startling few seconds.

Just as the darkness was clearing up, Dani managed to dive out of the way of another hit and skillfully slung one back in return again. This time, the ghost hadn't expected her to retaliate so soon and the energy hit him in the side. He stumbled to the forest floor.

After cheering in happiness at finally getting him once, the sickness and dizziness came back. In the moment she didn't notice the next ecto-blast until it caught her in the chest, taking the wind out of her lungs and spiralling her into the ground.

"Getting dizzy are we? Maybe you need your MEDICATION!"

The next blast smashed her square in the stomach forcing her to go sprawling backwards into one of the many tree stumps surrounding the two. Her body sparked up in agony as she lay dazed on the ground. She wanted to sit up, to throw up even...she felt like she was destabilising again.

Her throat constricted. She needed to get out of there asap. There was no way she could win the fight, at least not that day. But then she'd have to run and in that moment, even running sounded horrific...And cowardly.

But that didn't matter, she'd have to take him out some other time anyway. For now, if she reached other people, he wouldn't be able to continue this fight. Not in public.

With a foggy mind, the Halfa rested a hand on her knee and the other on the ground to push herself up.

"You still want to try ghost child?" The ghost taunted her as she fought back the insults crawling up her throat.

"Actually, I have a better idea." She smirked causing him to raise a puzzled brow, "See ya!" She shouted before sprinting in the opposite direction. Dani bolted out of the clearing as quick as she could, headed straight for sanctuary. Namely, The Mystery Shack.

Her focus was solely on getting away fast but as she thought about how far the ghost was behind her, it dawned on her that the one thing she could use to stop him was broken...and in the bag she had left behind. Cursing under her breath, Dani concluded that there was no turning back at that point. For all she knew, the ghost had grabbed it himself.

As the Mystery Shack finally came into view through the trees, the Halfa didn't slow down but instead sped up as much as she could.

So close, yet so far.