Disclaimer- I do not own. If I did, Phantom Planet would not have happened, and rather, Daniel would have learned about his temper- i.e., everyone has their flaws.
I have started college and I had some free time, so on with the story.
Danny really had no idea what was going on. Every time he tried to flag Sam and Tucker down, they were busy.
His parents were convinced that his miserable grades were from 'distractions'. They had cut off their cable and only received basic news, put the television on lockdown from him, and managed to confiscate his entire game collection.
Danny made certain to consistently study in at least his English class each night. So far, he was pushing a B- in English and C+ in all of his other classes. They refused to give him back any privileges until he was a solid B average.
He felt like flying all the way to Wisconsin, just to shout "Boo!" at Vlad in a most inopportune moment for the billionaire. Say, when the older halfa was in a press meeting, or at work.
Danny squashed the urge to take his frustrations out on others. He had come to suspect that maybe there was more to Dan Phantom than he wanted to believe.
But for so long as he strived to be good, he was okay, right?
Man, he sounded like a Bible Study questionnaire. So not cool.
His birthday was coming up, and so far, no one had mentioned anything. Danny even made sure to get his chores done on time from last month to ensure that he would have a good birthday party, provided his parents let him throw one.
They seemed to be very….overprotective lately. Which was weird for his parents, they had no problem fighting ghosts day in and out, so why weren't there any ghosts.
Danny was feeling rather depressed from the lack-luster in his life.
His friends were ignoring him, his parents were having him work on his grades to the point where they paid Jasmine to tutor him, and no ghosts were around which meant no Danny Phantom and he wanted a change of pace so dearly he was walking home from school.
He was walking on a clear, sunny day just perfect for flying instead of walking. Stupid fans.
Oh, yes. His fans. Phantom's Fans. With a logo and a habit of being wherever he was going. They were like the paparazzi, for crying out loud!
Danny sighed. Well, his house was in sight now.
Danny picked up the pace and barged in the door, earning a loud "OW!" from the person about to leave.
"Vlad? What are you doing here?"
"My mansion was flooded. Apparently, the roof was old, and the people I had hired had not set down the paper and tar correctly, so while they fix their work under better supervision I am staying with your family until one of my other lodgings can be fixed up. Two to three days, I understand."
Danny stared at Vlad. The excuse was so lame, it had to be true.
"Okay, then." Danny lugged his back pack into the kitchen.
"Did you just arrive? Or were you leaving?" Danny tossed the bag by a chair and headed towards the refrigerator.
"Actually, I was going to see if you were coming back yet. Jasmine had a Psychology lecture she really wanted to go to, so your Mom is driving her. Your father is downstairs tinkering with a weapon, though I wish he would do that in the Ops Center."
"Oh yeah? And why is that?"
"So that when it explodes, I won't have to worry about replacing my new shoes."
Danny blinked at Vlad. Did Plasmius hit his head on the way over, or had Vlad tried to make a funny?
"So, when is Jazz getting back?"
"After I leave."
Danny froze, the yogurt cup in his grasp, on his way to get a spoon. Vlad settled into a chair at the dining table and watched as Danny processed the information.
The calculation was slow, because Danny already knew the answer; he didn't want to admit it.
"So, who's going to tutor me in History? I have a science project due, Jazz promised to help me design the tri-fold board, I already have the information. I have an essay in English, and I wanted her feedback on the rough draft I finished, and I have math problems that I just do not understand. I mean, who the heck invented imaginary numbers with an 'i' anyway?"
"You also have an STD report due in Health- Ways to Say No I do believe was the title."
"Yeah. Ways to Say No and Why to Say No. Wait- how did you know that?"
"Simple. Jack really should do this, but he wants to finish his project, and since I am staying regardless, I said I would help. Now, finish your snack, Maddie already helped me to move into your room. Where do you usually study?"
"Hall closet."
An eyebrow quirked at him.
"Hey, it was worth a shot."
Three hours later, and Danny regretted his parents allowing Vlad to tutor him. The essays and science project where done in the first half hour, but Vlad was a stickler on History. Hence he had learned that Vlad loved history in the last two and a half hours. Finally, the man called a break for dinner, and slipped into the kitchen. When Danny arrived, his Dad was at the table, and Vlad was serving meatloaf with a side of boiled broccoli and a pitcher of milk.
There was even fresh sliced bread.
But the image burned into Danny's retinas would be Vlad in his mother's pink, frilly cooking apron, especially as he served the meatloaf.
"Quick, where's the camera?" He intoned, sliding into his seat.
"Daniel, that is rather unnecessary. I simply do not have enough clothes to ruin one carelessly and I do not have enough clothes to do laundry with. I am simply taking precautions."
Danny sighed and dug into the meatloaf. He immediately grabbed his glass of milk and chugged half of it.
"Hot!"
"Well, of course it is Daniel, Vlad made it himself."
"Well, Maddie did help some before she left. I just left everything to cook on a timer until Daniel and I are done with his homework. I must say, he is very….witty."
"What do you mean, V-man?"
"Daniel is not what they call book smart. Rather, I think he is a rare kinetic learner, and he actually learns the best when he is moving and interacting with the problem. He had no problem with his History once I allowed him to get up and pace. He was very animated."
"So what you are saying is that Danny's grades are not due to incompetence?"
"Not at all. He is a very bright, intelligent child. You are so lucky to have him Jack."
Danny froze. Was Vlad…flirting with his Dad?
Danny shook himself. No, that was not it at all. Vlad was complimenting his Dad and actually meaning what he was saying.
Had he fallen into a dimensional portal and not known it?
If so, he needed to find that stupid Boo-merang and check his ecto-signature.
In a region of the ghost zone, Clockwork was a screaming, teeth-gnashing mess.
Well, he would have been, if he wasn't Master of Time. He outwardly seethed instead.
"Danni, are you absolutely sure that Danny needs Dan to help him."
"Of course not! All we know is that Nightmare and the Fright Knight hit Danny together! We need all of his family there and that includes evil alternate choices!"
"Watch it, cousin. I was the first choice that Danny made."
"Yeah, in a series of mistakes!"
Clockwork rubbed his temples. Dan immediately bit back his retort and poured some fresh tea into Clockwork's cup.
Danni fell silent. She scowled as Clockwork sipped his tea.
"All we know right now is that Danny is trapped within a dream laced with hints of a nightmare. No true pull on horror, but it's always the accumulation of small details that can cause change. If his real psyche if fractured, we may never get those scars fully healed."
Clockwork paused, deliberating.
"Dan, I am putting you under Danni's care while you are gone. You are to return promptly once Danny is safe. Danni, don't lose him. I would miss his company."
Everyone was gathered around the fallen child.
"What I don't understand is why I am here. The term "Uncy Vlad" is more of a joke than anything."
"Vlad, for the last time, you are a halfa. We need something to compare his signatures too. He could be getting seriously traumatized in there."
"Oh please Jazz, what's the worse a boy like Daniel can think up? The return of Pariah Dark?"
"Try you and Dad instead of you and Mom."
"Um."
"Exactly. Which makes me wonder what led to this." Jazz gestured at the readings the gizmos form the Fenton lab were giving out.
"Er. Hormones?"
"Maybe. But that hardly explains why everything else is normal. I mean, Dad is a very family oriented guy. He would never cheat." Jazz was past the point of pulling out her hair as she panicked, racing in a circle, her psychology gears pumping steam out her ears as she thought harder, searched deeper for a reason for Danny to react like this. Maybe the Fright Knight and Nightmare had just wanted to mess with her brother a little? Was Danny a homophobe?
"I do not believe that is what's going on, Jazz. I think the dream world Danny's in is eliminating all of his stress and worries. He is losing a lot of the things he cares about, and is steadily being left on his own." Sam's worried tone cut into the awkwardness. "What would that do to him, Jazz?"
"I suspect that he will…well, relax." Jazz's voice questioned the likelihood of her correct answer, as her answer was actually the best and most probable of all the scenarios going through her head.
"How is that a cause for alarm?" Tucker's voice now cut in.
"Because when Danny relaxes, he will become unconcerned. And as he becomes unconcerned, he will become detached. And from there, it is a short distance to just not caring, and an even thinner line separated him from dying. I would say he is approaching the unconcerned state still. We need to somehow stabilize him and bring him back."
The trio blinked at Vlad. "What? I took psychology for fun back in college. I really do no more than dabble with it."
"Dude, you just insinuated that Danny will die if he doesn't find something to fight."
Sam chimed in. "Like a race horse!"
The blank, worried, and slightly alarmed looks she received made her wish she had kept her mouth shut. "I mean, you keep going at a hard, driven pace, and then everything stops. The sudden lack of drive can be damaging to the system. Why do you think that the horses were shown off before the race and then walked to the winner's ring? Just like humans, they need to warm up and cool down, or their bodies can't handle the stress."
The silence turned a deadlier shade of shock in the room. "We need Danni to be back here now with Dan."
"Which reminds me, if all of Danny's 'family' needs to be here, then where are Jack and Maddie?"
"They are hunting down Nightmare and Fright Knight while we help Danny. I swiped some of their blood, and if that doesn't help, then you just have to remember that I was first born, and Danny's third."
"Wait- what?"
"Jazz, what did you mean by that?"
"You guys know that I am two years older than Danny, right? And that two years is the normal time period between most kids, right? Well, a year and a half after I was born Mom…she had a miscarriage. They were traumatized. Danny is actually the third born in the family. Statistics show that one in four births is a miscarriage. There wasn't anything they did wrong- it just happened!"
Jazz shot the room's other occupants furtive looks.
"Please don't repeat this."
"We won't."
Unknowingly to Danny, in his sleep he was living a very successful life. Ghosts never caused problems, his Dad was okay with the accident, and non-invasive testing was critically watched by Vlad.
Danny still goofed off with his powers, and had fun helping his Dad set up targets and setting them off to surprise him. Both Vlad and Jack were dead set against allowing Danny to play as a target himself.
They all agreed that Maddie and Jazz could wait to come back to be told about Danny's half-ghost condition. Vlad stayed mum about his condition, maintaining that all he had come away with was ecto-acne.
Danny's grades were up to a B+, ha was hardly picked on by Dash, his mom and Jazz emailed and video messaged from the hotel they were at during the Psychology lecture. Jazz made sure to apologize for cutting out on Danny on such short notice.
The reason why Sam and Tucker were so distant soon became clear. Tucker's Dad had gotten a promotion, and they were moving away. Sam was going on a cruise with her parents, which would last months and included a tour of her ancestors' country.
They were both sorry, but Danny let it slide. They promised to send him amazing presents for his birthday, traded contact information, and were gone.
Vlad doing housekeeping during his stay was still freaking out Danny, but hey, he was not about to complain. All Danny had to do was make his bed and keep his floor tidy, and Vlad would leave it at that, besides the standard chores.
Danny found that his life, while succeeding, was becoming empty. Even all the effort he put into school was becoming easier, or far more routine than he wanted it to be.
He missed being able to stop whichever ghost wanted to scare Amity Park. There just was no need for Danny Phantom. Maybe not even a need for him.
Danny slapped himself, and re-applied his mind to the math sheet of logarithms. Vlad had hinted that there was a way to remember what went where when he was simplifying or multiplying the work on paper instead of relying on a calculator all the time.
Tucker finally had the equipment Vlad brought over hooked up to Danny. His PDA was running an analysis of the ecto from Nightmare and Fright Knight, mostly tracking strength and location of the ecto for the moment. He really needed to know exactly where the ecto was concentrating on messing Danny up.
In a very weird turn of events, they were saving Danny, not the other way around. Not to mention that Danni and Dan were here now as well. Speaking of the two alternates, they both glared at Vlad until Jazz ordered them to stop, that wasn't helping Danny.
Dan cocked an ear to the western window before he went over there and opened it.
Then the entire crew could here Maddie Fenton ranting at Nightmare for how inconsiderate he was. She kept going on about premature wrinkles.
Dan shut the window and returned to Danni's side, waiting for the PDA to scan him into the system to help trace back the effects.
Jazz, of course, was still spazzing out and running through the plan to save her little brother.
"Once we know what Fright Knight's ecto signature is and what Nightmare's ecto signature we should be able to reverse the effects and buy enough time for Mr. and Mrs. F to capture Fright Night and lock him in a pumpkin. Then, with, well, the 'signal' from the sword jammed, we can see the ecto dissipate from Danny. After that, Danni and Dan, you need to phase some of my blood into you and then reach into Danny to jolt him awake. Shocks to the system worked the first time (I woke up from being married to Dash), but with the traces left over from the combined effect, you two need to bring him back. Then Vlad will overshadow him and make Sam kiss him or something."
"Or something. I've already smooched Danny."
Jasmine stared at Sam. "What? When did this happen?"
"We kissed after Undergrowth came back to Amity Park. Danny suggested I start up a chain of green houses, which has kept that overgrown weed happy, and with Vlad's payment as well as mine, we made Amity Park a greener place."
"Ah, yes, the recycling and compost plans to save the earth. Amity Park is particularly enjoying the color green- especially when it's in their wallets."
Sam glared at Vlad.
"What? It's true. They love the fact that a few seconds can save them ten bucks a month in bills and purchases. How did you think I sold them on that idea? Part of recycling is saving. Also, there are a lot of new or temporary jobs created by the recycling plant, which is run on rechargeable batteries and halogen bulbs."
The silence wasn't even broken by crickets.
"I think I'll not run for politics again." Vlad's shoulders slumped as he floated back to the equipment.
"Thank you God." Tucker whispered, clutching his PDA.
Danny had tried everything. Going for a swim, jogging, reading some of the Shakespeare books Vlad had picked up when they had wandered into a downtown second hand bookstore after shopping…
When was Vlad leaving? No sooner than Jasmine was done with the lecture and chatting (okay, the proper word was discussing, and even debating, but whatever) with her peers, than Maddie pulled over to witness some ghost sightings on the way back.
Oh yeah... the new place Vlad was going to move into was in the middle of a heat wave, so Vlad had asked for and had been allowed an extension on his stay.
So Danny was stuck with a solid B average, school was out for the break, and his family….he saw more of "Uncy" Vlad than he had ever wanted to. Forget the part where he thought Vlad was gone after the first three days and walked in on him bathing. Thank God for Bubble baths and water-proofed radios.
Was the man listening to Vivaldi?
Vlad never heard him, and he just went intangible back through the door. Vlad ignored his ghost sense going off from the activity. He must have figured that Danny was going off for a flight in the calm afternoon air.
Now, here he was, mostly bored, and feeling listless. Oh, there was a difference from being unneeded and being unwanted. Vlad certainly did want him around. They were baking the cake for Daniel's birthday party, and Vlad had insisted on a theme; hence the reason for their trek through town for inspiration, along with physical exercise and even a good book.
Daniel sighed and rolled over in bed again. He preferred to read on his stomach and swing his legs up, bent at the knees. He pulled a book closer to him, and grinned.
Danny dissolved into the pages of King Lear again, wondering why young folks were supposed to like Hamlet so much.
When the Fright Knight's ecto signature disappeared from Danny, Jasmine called her parents and reminded them to pay the bill for the pumpkin and to get some rest. They needed to hunt Nightmare on a full nights' sleep after setting up an anti-ghost shield. She promised to raise their shield, and wished them a good night.
"That should buy us some time before they get back."
"Nice thinking Jazz." Danni had certainly warmed up to the idea of an elder girl cousin. While Danny was a halfa, Jasmine was a girl. Now she had two cousins who could each relate to her.
Dan moped for the most part. Then Sam dragged him into a rousing game of Uno as his depression from being away from Clockwork was depressing the Goth. Tucker joined in so that Sam and Dan stopped Reversing and Skipping each other.
Vlad sat back and watched the monitor. So far, Danny was in sync with him. His vitals were strong, and the only worry was Nightmare. Vlad pulled the compilation of Shakespeare that Jasmine had been reading towards himself and prepared for a long night.
Early in the morning, Dan and Danni had calmed down enough to take the prepared and tested samples Jasmine had made with them and bring Danny out of the Warning Zone. Tucker had labeled the area as such, due to the fact that there wasn't much danger. Danny had only started to slip from the detached phase into not caring.
Dan and Danni managed to bring him back, and then Vlad prepared to dive in.
All hell in Danny's subconscious broke loose.
Vlad staggered, astounded that he was himself inside of Danny's mind. He thought he was going to be an observer from the way Tucker and Sam had described their experience. But no. He was in the kitchen, stirring what looked to be macaroni and cheese…and butter biscuits. Was he wearing Maddie's apron?
Deeply disturbed, Vlad turned around to see Danny staring at him. "What was it you wanted to do today?"
"I want to eat lunch and go to the park. Is the cheese melted yet?"
"Almost there."
"Say, it is really nice of you to take care of me."
"Take no notice of it Daniel. I don't mind. Anything I can do that could surprise you?"
"After you managed to get videos of Sam and Tucker to me in time for my birthday, I don't think so."
The way Danny said videos insinuated that Dream Vlad had flown through the Ghost Zone to bring the kids back for Danny's birthday.
Just how much time had passed in this place? It had only been two days (barely) back in the waking world.
Daniel's birthday was not for another few weeks back in reality. Vlad snuck a glance at the weather outside the window. Sunny and warm, meaning summer was truly hear, and he wasn't fixing Daniel a meal on the weekends.
"Daniel. There's something I need to tell you."
Danny looked at Vlad over the glass of apple juice. He had a bowl of Mac'n'Cheese, fries with ketchup, and a cold glass of fruit juice.
What a balanced meal. Where were the vegetables?
"And that would be?"
"Where are the vegetables?"
Danny blinked. Then he snorted. "You serve enough at dinner to make me happy. Besides, I swiped some carrots when you weren't looking, so relax."
"Actually, Danny, that wasn't what I wanted to tell you. What I wanted to tell you is…"
"AAAAAAH!" Danny jerked awake, heart pounding. Vlad phased out of him, releasing Danny from the over-shadow. Danni glanced at the monitor, hugged the disoriented Danny, and flew off with Dan to get him back to Clockwork.
Especially before Danny realized he was there.
Sam and Tucker cheered, while in the distance a burst of green and 'Noooo!' could be heard from the north-west. Mr. and Mrs. F would never fear another visit from Nightmare again.
Jasmine hugged Danny, and filled him in on the attack.
"Now, I know you must be feeling groggy, even confused and a little bit disoriented-"
"Jazz! There's something I need to tell you. Vlad told me he was a transsexual!"
"OH-Kay, Vlad. Couldn't you have chosen another way to shock him?" Jasmine already calculated three months of therapy for Danny from the parameters of the dream. She added another three for Vlad's involvement.
"He dreamt of me in a pink, frilly apron. I improvised on the spot. The sooner he woke up, the better, right?"
"Well, yeah…"
"Then I shall be gone as your parents arrive. Mr. Foley, Miss Manson, I suggest you do too. Your parents will only believe that this is a slumber party for so long."
After filling in Danny on what they had accomplished to save him, Tucker and Sam were out the door and scooting on down the highway.
Vlad packed up, shooing Jasmine off to her room for rest, and phasing Danny to his room. He then sent the machines back with some minions under strict instructions to be careful.
Danny weaved unsteadily for a few steps, before collapsing on the bed. Vlad pulled the covers over him.
"Daniel, I was joking, but I needed you to have a shock, and that meant a real shock, considering me."
"Mmph. Whatever. S'cool. Goodnight, Vlad."
"Actually Daniel, good morning." With that, Vlad dropped down to the portal and headed back to Wisconsin.
When Maddie and Jack got back home after ghost hunting in the RV, they found their children asleep. Deducing that they were up last night watching the fight between them and the Fright Knight (what- the window had signs of being opened on the western side of the house) the let the kids sleep in.
Of course, when they woke up, they would get to hear every last detail of the battles from their parents. Including the Red Huntress who seemed especially fired up at the Fright Knight.
A/N: Written because I wanted to write something, and I had just finished all of the Danny Phantom episodes.