Authors note: I'm sorry, but I decided this is better left as a one-shot. I apologize to anyone who was interested in seeing this story be expanded.

When Danny awoke, he was being raced down the hospital corridors, on a stretcher, by a group of doctors, to an awaiting room in the ICU. The doctors were urgently shouting off medical lingo that he didn't understand, but Danny didn't have to have gone to medical school to see that things weren't looking good for him.

Everything was passing by him in a blur of color, while he continued to be strolled down the hallways of the hospital at a fast pace. After a couple minutes passed, Danny started to fade. The doctor's voices grew fainter, and unintelligible. Their concerned faces became blurry, and indistinguishable. The edges of his vision grew dark, as he finally gave in to his fatigue.

"Stay with us, Danny." was the last thing Danny heard before he sank into blissful oblivion.

Danny awoke in a hospital room, hooked up to an IV, dressed in a hospital gown. There was what appeared to be a translucent shower curtain hanging from hooks in the ceiling, to fall over his waist, obscuring his vision of his lower body. The curtain only stretched as far as his waist.

He could see the outline of a man sitting on a chair at the end of his hospital bed, but due to the curtain, he couldn't make out any distinguishable features to the man, aside from the broad shoulders sticking out on either side of the curtain. From what he could see, the man appeared to be wearing blue hospital scrubs.

There were four other doctors standing in the back with grave expressions, staring intensely at Danny's lower half.

Danny got into a half sitting position, and craned his neck while leaning out over the right side of the hospital bed, in an effort to look past the curtain to what the doctors were staring at. However, his action was stopped short, by a hand on his shoulder. Danny spun his head around to see none other than Vlad Masters towering over him.

Vlad was also adorning the same blue scrubs. It seemed so unnatural to see Vlad in something other than an expensive, well tailored suit. Vlad looked at him with an expression of unmasked concern, which was also unnatural to see on Vlad.

"Trust me, you don't want to see what's happening on the other side of that curtain. Don't worry, it will all be over soon." Vlad said, with a comforting smile.

"What will be over soon? What's happening? I don't understand what's going on here." Danny said, on the verge of hysterics.

"Daniel, calm down! You shouldn't get yourself so worked up in your condition. It's not healthy. You need relax. Everything will be okay." Vlad said, truthfully.

"Danny you need to push." The doctor said, behind the curtain, urgently.

"What?" Danny asked, his face a mix of confused and horrified.

"It's okay, Daniel. Just take my hand, and squeeze it as tight as you can when the pain becomes too much. I'll be here with you every step of the way." Vlad said, comfortingly, as he gripped my hand in his.

"Push, Danny!" the doctor ordered.

"I don't understand what's happening. I shouldn't be here. This can't be real." Danny said, in a panic.

"Danny, you need to push, now!" the doctor said, urgently.

"Daniel, you need to do what the doctor tells you, and it will all be alright. I promise." Vlad said, genuinely.

Danny began to push. He soon after he felt a tremendous pressure, followed by unbearable pain.

"Oh God, what's happening to me?!" Danny screamed, as tears rolled down his cheeks, which were red from the effort of pushing.

"Shh. It's okay, Little Badger." Vlad soothed, as he ran his fingers through Danny's ebony hair, which was soaked with sweat.

"Your doing great, Danny. Just a few more pushes." the doctor said.

Danny continued to push, and after a couple of minutes, the excruciating pain was gone, leaving Danny feeling tired and sore.

Danny was exhausted from the exertion. A sigh of relieve left Danny's lips, as his eyes began to drift shut. However, they snapped open at the sound of a baby's cry.

"Congratulations. It's a boy!" the doctor announced, happily.

I looked up at Vlad, whose face lit up like a Christmas tree at the news given by the doctor.

"Hey Dad, would you like to cut the chord?" the doctor inquired.

"Sure." Vlad replied, eagerly.

Vlad let go of Danny's hand, and joined the doctor on the other side of the curtain, which was now stained with blood and ectoplasm. Danny heard the faint sound of the snip of the scissors, as the chord was cut. Then Vlad stepped back on his side of the curtain with a baby, wrapped in a light blue blanket, held in his arms.

Vlad hushed the baby and rocked him, in an effort to sooth his cries. The baby continued to wail, despite Vlad's efforts. Vlad then tore his eyes away from the baby to look at Danny. He smiled kindly.

"Would you like to hold your son?" He asked gently.

Danny stared at him, speechless.

Vlad apparently took that as a yes. He began to hand off the baby to Danny. Danny sat up in his hospital bed, and received the baby from Vlad's arms, and cradled the baby boy against his chest.

Danny could not see the baby's face, due the baby's blanket being wrapped over his head, hiding his face.

"Welcome to the world Dan Phantom." Vlad said.

Danny gasped, and pulled back the blanket that shrouded the baby's face. He was then looking at the face of a much younger version of Dan Phantom.

The baby had pale green skin, flaming white hair, and crimson red eyes. He had sharp, white fangs and a snake-like tongue, which were both visible due to the wide open mouth of the crying baby.

"Who do you think he looks like?" the doctor asked, conversationally.

"I think he look like both of us. Don't you think so, Daniel?" Vlad inquired, as he smiled fondly at Danny.

Danny stared at Vlad with wide, unblinking eyes.

"This can't be real." Danny said in a hushed voice.

"Oh, but it is." Vlad said, with a wicked smirk.

Vlad then knelt down on the left side of the bed, close to Danny's head. He put his arm around Danny's shoulders, and gazed down at the baby cradled in Danny's arms.

"Look what we've created together." Vlad said softly, as he kissed the top of Danny's head. "I just know that he'll go on to do big things in his life."

The baby then gave Danny an evil smile.

"No!" Danny screamed.

Then he woke up in a cold sweat, breathing ragged.