A/N: (This story takes place after the Definition of Family) Also, consider this little one-shot an apology for any inconvenience or mental scarring the last story caused.

Dan was tucking Danny into bed late one evening when Danny requested a story out of the blue. Dan had sat there a solid minute, wondering why Danny suddenly wanted a story. He'd never asked for one before, and he was 12 now. It was times like this that made Dan wonder if his son would ever rebel. Then Dan would glance into the full length mirror in the corner, and that idea would run away in tears.

"I don't really have any stories… I never was too good at those."

"Aww, you don't know any stories?"

Dan sighed, looking up at ceiling while trying to think. It wasn't that he didn't know any, it was that he didn't know any well enough to tell. Memories didn't like to rear their heads around him, unless of course he needed them. None of them sat filed away for story time. Well except for that one time with Jazz, but that devolved into a senseless rambling two seconds after she fell asleep. Dan just couldn't remember stories.

"…Hey dad, how did you become a full ghost again?" Except for that one.

"Well… Uh that's… It's hard to explain."

"Can you try? Please, I wanna know! You said you told me as a baby, but I don't remember any of that."

Dan flinched as Danny clasped his hands together. His blue eyes turned ruby red and widened. And when he pouted, Dan lost any hope of fighting back. Ruthless though he could be and was, the full ghost's greatest weakness was his son's sad faces. Honestly, the boy gave Vlad a run for his money with manipulation like that. The only thing Dan could do was nod, lying next to his son to get comfortable. This would be a long story…

"Alright, well it started about 20 or so years ago." 22 years exactly. He knew that, but would rather not say it. "I was 14 years old, and attending high school at Casper High. You remember it, right? It's the big building we pass sometimes on the way to the Nasty Burger."

"Uh-huh!"

"Back then, I was Danny Fenton. The same Danny Fenton we killed when you were little. And those two teenagers back then were my friends. Sam and Tucker."

Danny's nose scrunched up. "They were your friends? Why?"

"Things were different back then. I was still a part of my human… A half ghost, just like you. I had no reason to hate them back then." Dan shut his eyes. His mind couldn't help but wander to the fact Tucker lived next door, or that Sam was still around. "We used to be best of friends, actually. We fought ghosts together."

"You killed ghosts back then too?"

"No, we didn't kill them. Would you believe me if I told you I used to be a super hero?"

"Really? But wouldn't that be super tiring? Plus then everybody orders you around, just like in the comic books." Danny said, pointing to the small pile of comics Jazz had bought for him that year. They were already well read, with the villain's pages a bit more worn than the rest.

"Yeah, it was tiring. I never got any time to myself, but I'd really loved that town. It was my home, just like this apartment and my timeline are your homes. I wanted to protect them… It was my obsession. Just like your obsession is killing things." Dan noticed the way Danny looked at his chest, as if his core had responded to the mentioning of his calling. "Things changed however later that year. You see, we had a test coming up-"

"What's a test?"

Dan rose an eyebrow before he remembered his son had never set foot in a school building. The boy just read everything all the time and asked Dan questions. "A test is this really important series of questions. If you get enough of them right, you pass high school. If you do that enough times you get to leave."

"Why would you go just to leave?"

"To get an education, Danny."

"But I don't go to school, and I have an education."

"It's, uh… Complicated. Look, just know that these tests can determine your entire life." Dan was relieved when Danny nodded. Honestly, Dan had no idea why he had kept going to that school. It wasn't like he was there much to begin with, and neither Jack nor Maddie would have noticed he dropped out fast enough to do anything about it. "Anyway, this important test was coming up, and I didn't have any time to prepare for it because I'd spent all my time fighting ghosts and trying to save the city."

Danny snuggled further into his blankets, getting comfortable as he listened. He couldn't help but notice how Dan seemed a bit more annoyed as he continued on. "So with the test drawing closer, I decided to cheat."

"Cheat? Like I do at tag?"

Dan's smile was humorless. "Yeah, only I'm not a big fan of this kind of cheating anymore. You see, you don't get the answers to the test until afterwards. That's how you know if you pass. But I stole the answers and got them before the test, which isn't allowed. Schools like fairness, Danny; it keeps others from complaining. But I figured if no one knew about it then no harm would be done. I would pass, and I would prove to everyone that I wasn't standing in my sister's shadow."

"Why aren't you a fan of that cheating?" Danny's curious eyes met the somber one's of his father.

"…If you don't understand after the story, I'll tell you." Danny nodded, and Dan continued. "Now unfortunately Jazz caught me cheating: she was 18 at the time, still in high school."

"Aren't you older than Jazz?"

"Different timeline. Remember, our Jazz is your older sister, not mine." Once more Danny nodded. "So Jazz told my teacher about what I did, and to prove a point Mr. Lancer invited me and my family to the Nasty Burger… We had pulled up in front and gathered around him to talk about everything. I'd told Sam and Tucker about it earlier, and they came by in the middle of the conversation for back-up. I'd told them I cheated beforehand, and while they hadn't agreed to it they didn't want to see me lose everything on a stupid test… Oh, the irony."

Danny frowned, watching Dan shut his eyes and exhale through his nose. He put his small arms around his father's, making him crack one eye open and strain a smile. Danny smiled back, hoping that this was helping the man keep focus and relax. Dan would never fully admit just how much it did.

"While we were outside, some employees were closing up for the night. They were unaware of the problem they'd been having with a machine that day: one that contains a sauce they specialize in. And this sauce, when it gets overheated, explodes."

Danny rose an eyebrow. "The Nasty Sauce can explode? Why don't they tell people that?"

Dan didn't have an answer this time. "The point is, the building burst into flames, the blast causing damage to the area. I, being a half ghost survived. Everyone else didn't. And all I could think was that it was my fault… Everyone died because I cheated on some test, and Lancer chose the worst place to talk about it. It's why I covered his statue in dirt… I might go back and blow it up."

"Dad…"

"Hm? Oh, right… That moment had traumatized me. I was overcome with grief at the sudden loss of my family, while I was still alive. And with no one else to turn to, I went to Vlad. My timeline's Vlad let me stay with him in the hopes of helping me get over everything. But the man was half gone too. Though he hadn't been there, he'd still lost his two college friends. He was delirious, and so was I. My human half had it the worst though. I'd cared for our parents, our friends, as if they were my own, and I had grieved… But Danny…"

Danny rose an eyebrow, watching his father's hands tighten around his blanket. He knew his father used to go by Danny, but this felt different. The young halfa couldn't help but ask. "Was Danny your human half?"

Dan gave a mirthless smile. "Yeah, he was. He was my other half: the part of me that kept me grounded. I needed him, just like he needed me… But he hadn't seen that. He just wanted to escape his pain. So he asked Vlad to remove me… His ghost half. He casted me aside. So I returned the favor."

Dan looked down at his hands. He could almost feel the weight of the gauntlets on his hands again. He continued to speak, voice lower now. "I ripped out Vlad's human half and I forced it to merge with me. I'm sure my human half died thinking Plasmius corrupted me, but it was almost the other way around. I'd wanted revenge so badly I let every sick thought Vlad ever had consume me. Afterwards I killed my human half, just like he killed me."

Danny watched his father's grin widen slightly. "The first person you killed was… Yourself?"

Dan seemingly forgot his son was there for a moment, as he hesitated to answer. "… In a way. But once he died I was overcome with so many feelings. I wanted revenge on the people, the ghosts, and everyone else who'd caused my world to fall apart. Eventually though, it got to the point where I started to enjoy myself. I'd found a new obsession… And I had plenty of fodder to fuel it. And a ghost who fulfils their obsession is a powerful one. I'm now the strongest ghost that ever existed."

"So how did you find me?" Danny asked, watching Dan's smile fade to a gentler one.

"Well after a failed attempt at my past self's life, which is a whole other story, I ended up in Clockwork's custody. I wanted revenge, but I didn't quite know how to get it until my escape. I'd stolen a time medallion and went back in time to take you from Jack and Maddie. You remember the rest: I've told you that part a thousand times." Dan noted his son thinking intently, before a bright smile formed on his face.

"Dad, I'm proud of you!"

"Proud of me? For what?"

"For being a good dad after the world hurt you. I'm proud of you, and I want to promise that I'll treat my ghost half like he's the best thing in the world, just like yours should have." Dan chuckled emptily. "Oh, but I still don't know why you don't like cheating."

Dan paused, before pulling Danny into his chest. "Because I want to protect you. I don't want you to ever risk the chance of becoming me. I want you to be better… Could you also promise me that?"

"I promise!" Danny said, pulling back from the hug with a grin. "Plus, I want to be all me when I get stronger than you!"

Dan laughed. "Well, to do that you've got to go to bed. Rest up, okay? We'll go to the Ghost Zone tomorrow."

"Awesome! Oh, but Dad-" Dan paused, prepared to get off the bed. "I want you to promise that you'll always be my dad, no matter what. I don't want you to be all alone again."

Dan's ears twitched. "Alone?"

"Yeah…" Danny's voice got softer. "Everyone either left you or were taken away… I don't want anything like that to happen again. So, do you promise?"

Dan's heart warmed, while deep down he felt his past self was a little less childish than he first thought. Or at least, he hoped he was. "I promise, Danny. Goodnight."

"G'night!"