Introduction note: In this fanfiction, 'Planet Phantom' never happened, and so the world doesn't know Danny's real identity. I take us ahead in time, to the time that Danny and his friends are 17. This is an attempt at a shipping I actually am not such a massive fan off. Still, I'm giving this a go.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Nickelodeon. Only the plot, thank you.

Normal life in Amity Park isn't exactly a thrill to have. Sure, people come and go, tourists pass by, shoppers buy junk and stuff and the occasional criminal tries to steal something.

But that wasn't what scarred the citizens of this town, or kept them wary of things. The reason was really simple. So stupid, yet so simple. No one would believe them if they said it, it only seems to be in their town.

But, how would you react if your hometown turned out to be like a magnet for Ghost-attacks?

"Duck!"

Another blast caused a nearby house to collapse. Missiles flew everywhere, and the people who hadn't already fled the scene were now screaming as they ran away from the threat.

"Come on, Skulker! That all you've got?"

A teenage boy with white hair and green eyes taunted the massive armored ghost. Normally, a person with some common sense would yell for the kid to get out of there. But, this wasn't any normal child.

This was Danny Phantom, town hero and teen half-ghost.

Or almost a young man, seeing that he's already 17.

"Sit still, you brat!" Skulker yelled as he fired another round of ecto-blasts at our hero. He smirked as he simply turned intangible and the blasts passed through him, hitting a nearby store.

You would think that people would get angry with the way he disrespects people their property and valuables, but after having saved the town so many times, the citizens had come to live with the risk. And, hey, nowadays you can ask for a 'Ghost-Attack Insurance'.

"You know, I still remember the times you were actually able to defeat me, hands down." Danny chuckled as he darted away from a missile, almost acting with a certain grace in the battle. "But now, is your time with Ember making you grow soft, Skulky?"

"Don't you dare mention her!" The hunter yells with fury before firing every weapon he had in his arsenal. The way he yelled it, along with the fact he missed the little taunt, made Danny a bit skeptical of the ghost's intentions. 'You would think that he would care less. I know that's how their relationship works, at least.'

"Wow, touchy today, aren't we? Let's finish this quick then, huh? That way, you can go and see her again." He cringed inwardly, those words not falling well on his tongue. He grabbed the Fenton Thermos and opened it before sucking the hunter inside, the ghost screaming bloody murder. Danny didn't hear the muffled scream from Skulker that declared he didn't want to see Ember. Ever again.

The boy smirked as he put the thermos back around his belt. Gazing around, he whistled at the damage left behind. A few buildings were destroyed, and he was sure those stores were lost. When he notices a music store still intact, something in his heart skips a beat.

He floats down, knowing well that this is against every rule a hero has, but he couldn't resist.

'Besides, can't I have at least something in return for saving the town so many times?'

He walks inside the store and looks around the shelves. After a few moments he stops with a victorious "ah, ha!" and pulls the box holding a cd from the shelf.

It read 'Remember' from Ember McLain.

He never understood why people kept her music around after the whole 'hypnotizing my fans and trying to take over the world' ordeal. Sure, by now she has sort of given up on that after one to many unpleasant and semi-embarrassing battles with Phantom. She still comes over to make trouble once a time, but the fact they share more banter then fists sure improved things for them both.

If only she wasn't the girlfriend of Skulker.

He inwardly sighed as he tucked the cd away. He took a last look through the store, maybe expecting to find something else. Finding none, he was about to fly off when his eyes fall on a mirror in the store.

A nostalgic smile comes to his face as he examines his appearance. With the past year, he has grown to be more broad, muscular and taller. His suit had received a few improvements, some green and gray now mixed between the black and white. His hair was a bit wilder, and his eyes showed the experience and time from fighting ghosts for three years now.

Three years.

He sighed before turning intangible and flying off into the morning sky.

"Yo, Danny!"

Danny Fenton turned around, his eyes meeting those of his friends. He smiled and waved them over to his spot in the cafeteria.

School hadn't changed much, besides going up a grade and getting more homework. In time he learned to balance his two lives, drastically improving his grades.

That and it can help to have a genius sister to help you with homework.

His two friends took their respective seats across him. Tucker had that smile on his face that hardly anyone could brush away. Reason enough for him, too, having found the one half a year ago. The two were happy, and she was even able to help Tucker overcome his obsession with technology. The boy had become more mature in mind and body, although he still had that baggy hat on almost all the time.

The boy turned to his PDA, focus solely on the device now.

'Well, almost overcome his obsession.' Danny mused in his thoughts. His eyes averted to his second friend and only real female friend. Sam.

She had improved on her appearance too. A year back, he would have fainted by how beautiful she looked, but after trying to date for a few months they decided that being friends was a lot nicer. It just didn't click so well as both had hoped it would. And with that, Danny was also starting to wonder if dating a human girl was even a good option.

After all, he's only half-human. His half-ghost side had quite a few effects on him physically.

Firstly, it seemed that his powers never stopped to grow. By now he was strong enough to one-hand a ghost like Undergrowth and not break a sweat. Secondly, he knew that his aging was going slower than that of normal humans. His growth-spurt came later than normal, and he was sure that by now he was getting more and more stuck in his youthlike appearance.

With that he started to question things. Like, is he going to out-age his friends? He doesn't even know if a ghost can die of old age! 'Knowing that Ember is supposed to be over thirty years old, but she still looks like 17, maybe not.'

He sighs inwardly. He caught himself thinking about the ghost pop star one to many times to be normal, again. Ever since their seeming 'truce' and his change in taste of music, he has been paying more attention to the blue-haired girl.

"Danny!"

The yell from Sam in his ears snapped him to attention, his head shooting up with a hard yank, something in his neck popping.

"Ouch, my neck. What the heck, Sam?"

"You were staring into space again, dude." Answered Tucker for the goth as he drank from his soda.

"I was?" He asks, a bit surprised. It had happened before, the half-ghost staring into space when he's deep in thought. He almost missed his ghost-sense several times thanks to it.

"Yep." The two said in unison. He chuckled nervously, rubbing the sore spot in his neck.

'Gotta remember to get something for those two as thanks.'

School was over in a flash, and after dealing with the Box Ghost (seriously, does he even know what the word 'quit' means?!) Danny arrived at his home.

But that wasn't the Fenton Works anymore.

"Hey, Jazz!" Danny calls as he enters the apartment. His sister had decided to get her own place before going to college. After some debate, and some support from his friends and Jazz, Danny was allowed to move with her. She had a job in town to pay the bill, and he helped where he could to keep anything from distracting her off her studies.

"Hey bro!" She calls from the kitchen, spatula in one hand and a pan with eggs in the other. He smiled as the smell of food entered his nostrils.

Jazz had visibly grown up. Aside of growing to her max height, she had received some more curves to her form and her hair had grown longer. She beamed with maturity, even though he knew she still had that nice sisterly side to herself.

"Diner almost ready?" He asked as he put his jacket away over his chair in the dining room.

"Almost. Any troubles with the ghosts?" She asked as she turned back to focus on the food.

"Skulker was acting different, but maybe he and Ember are having a 'moment'. The Box ghost was his usual annoying self, and besides that everything fine."

Jazz hummed in understanding. His days were becoming more and more routine, the attacks almost predictable. And he knew the obvious sign for that was coming up next.

"So Ember will be paying a visit tomorrow?"

"The usual. Maybe a bit earlier, but I think around 11 o'clock."

He had quickly figured out that, if he fought with Skulker one day, Ember would be there tomorrow to 'pay her respects' as she voiced it. Both never went too far, and often they just called it quits after an hour. He knew her relationship with the hunter called for these actions, but he also knew she didn't really want to.

'Typical teenage relationship.' He mussed as he sat down in the sofa in front of the old flat-screen TV.

As he waited for Jazz to finish cooking, his thoughts wandered to his own relationships. He and Jazz got together well as brother and sister, maybe a bit more than the usual teenage siblings. His friends Tucker and Sam were very close, he was willing to call them family, and they always supported him. He has allies in the Ghost zone, and the enemies he does have were starting to grow on him like a true hero-villain attitude.

His parents though were a different story. Never giving up to try and capture Danny Phantom, he was glad to have gotten out of that hell-hole of a house. His encounters with them were far from pleasant, and the usual attempts to 'rip him apart, molecule after molecule!' were starting to bore him. At least their continues supply of new weapons kept him on some sort of edge.

Outside of the ghost-hunters that always chased him, and the ghosts from the Ghost zone, there weren't many other people he was close too.

Although…

"I'm home!"

The door flew open, almost slamming into the wall. Danny didn't as much as flinch, but the startled yelp from the kitchen told him that Jazz had, to some extent. He smiled as he got up from the sofa, only to fall back on it by the impact from a black and white blur jumping into his arms.

"Daddy!"

"Hey, Danielle." He greats his daughter.

After the whole ordeal with getting his 'clone' re-stabilized, he was able to catch up with her to get a good word through. She promised to come back, and she did only a few weeks afterwards. Completely bruised and battered. Street-live wasn't faring so well as hoped. He had been contemplating his connection to her for some time then, and after long consideration came to a definite conclusion. She's his daughter, and he would take the role of the father she never had and desperately needed.

Getting her officially registered wasn't so difficult, with some hacking at Tucker's part. He got guardianship over her, and he was certain on getting himself registered as her father, too. It was the last reason for him to join Jazz into living separately. For one, his parents couldn't find out about her so easily, and he knew they never checked the family papers so much (besides, everything for Danielle was digitally uploaded and stored).

Second, she could be her natural self without worrying about her halfa status being exposed.

"How was school today, Ellie?" Jazz asked as she entered from the kitchen, busy removing her apron. The young hybrid had a beaming smile on her face, and that seemed enough of an answer for Danny.

"It was great! Jake and Amy helped me with my homework today. Oh! We learned some more Spanish words!" She explained happily as she sat down next to her dad. He was really proud of his little girl, the way she's able to be so normal, despite the obvious knowledge she isn't.

Getting her enrolled was a small hustle. Taking some overshadowing on his part and convincing from Jazz, the principal of Amity Elementary finally relented and allowed Danielle to go to school. She made plenty of friends in school, but her BFF's Jake and Amy were unique.

They knew about her halfa nature, having caught the girl transforming after leaving for home. Danny and Jazz had taken the two separate the next day, and explained as much as possible without endangering their friendship. To say it was in any kind of danger would be a lie, though. The knowledge of her secret only strengthened the bond between the trio, and both Fenton's remarked how similar they were to the original trio from Team Phantom.

Lastly, to explain her age. That was more a reveal in old Plasmius' part. A run-in with a de-aging device the halfa had made had left the girl reverting back in age fast, almost to the point that she was a toddler. Luckily, a reverse of the weapon by Tucker's help was all they needed, but she insisted on only aging slightly, becoming a 9, now 10, year old girl.

At least she was closer to her real age now.

The sudden gasp from both hybrids and their collective ghost-senses gathering in the air alerted them quickly. They bolted upright, ready for action, but the calming gesture from Jazz assured them. Danny shook his head as he noticed the fourth plate she had set up on the table. A knock sounded on the door, and he kew that they had a guest.

"I'll get it." He states before heading to the door. Jazz returned to the kitchen to put dinner out, whilst Danielle left to put her schoolbag away in her room. He opened the door, a pleasantly surprised smile appearing on his face at who was at the other side.

"Hey, Kitty!" He greats with a big smile, taking the ghost-girl in a hug. She returns with an equally happy smile.

"Good to see you too, Phantom." She greets before breaking the hug. He stands to the side to allow the green-haired teen inside.

"You know its Fenton when I'm human." He retorts, but the hint of sarcasm in his tone assured the girl he was only slightly angry with her slip-up.

"Sorry, urge of the habit, I guess." She apologizes as she enters the apartment. The ghost-girl had gotten on good terms with Jazz when they had their last encounter, despite the situation. After some talking, Danny allowed her to come visit once, and after that she hit off with the two young Fentons. Now it was nice to have her visit once in a while, her company a good show of the growing friendship.

"Take a seat, Diner's almost done. Right, Jazz?" He calls to the kitchen as he followed Kitty into the dining room. The ghost-girl takes off her jacket and scarf, hanging them over the chair.

"All set!" Jazz calls as she appears with the food. Right at that time Danielle enters from the hallway leading to their rooms. She's quick to the table, taking her seat. The rest quickly follows and they all take their fill.

The four pass the time talking about whatever comes to mind. Jokes are exchanged and Danny is kept up to date with things in the Ghost zone thanks to Kitty.

Friday ended, and Saturday rolled around the corner. The sun peeked from the horizon, slowly waking up the citizens in town.

Danny was the last to wake up, and not the normal way. It was already 9 o'clock, and he was still sleeping. Jazz shook her head as she put her and Danielle's plate in the dishwasher.

"Dani, can you go and wake your dad up?" She asks to the girl, who was passing the time reading in the sofa. She groaned as she put the book away, marking where she had gotten, and stood up. A small giggle escaped her as she formulated a wake-up plan. The glint of mischief that Jazz noticed made her chuckle.

"He'll be grumpy the rest of the day."

Danny was half-sprawled on his bed, chest rising and falling slightly. He wasn't a snorer, but was known for his deep slumber. Only his ghost-sense could wake him in this state.

That, or Danielle jumping onto his bed and landing on his chest.

"Oomph!"

He jerked up, the sudden weight on his chest causing him to lose his breath and abruptly waking him from his sleep. His eyes focused on the person guilty for waking him up so early on a Saturday.

"Aunt Jazz made breakfast. You missed her egg-surprise." Danielle giggled as she nuzzled into his chest. Catching his breath, he groaned, laying a hand over his eyes.

"Remind me not to eat too much on Friday." Danny groaned, knowing how much off a loss it is to miss Jazz her famous egg-surprise. His little girl giggled into his bare chest, enjoying the cold he radiates thanks to his ice-core.

Half an hour later a slightly grumpy Danny is finishing his breakfast. Jazz had left for her morning shift, leaving him and Danielle alone in the apartment. Said girl was back to reading her book.

She wasn't as much trouble as other girls of her age were. She had more maturity and showed great responsibility. The halfa still has her playful and childish side, but that only moved Danny to help her have as much fun as possible. Neither wanted to be apart for too long, be it Danny quickly finishing his battles with the ghosts, or Danielle making her homework in time (what Jazz found something to encourage).

Right now, though, they simply enjoyed each other's company and allowed a comfortable silence to hang around them.

Danny moved to turn the TV on, just looking for a good channel to view. No homework for next Monday left him with little work to do, besides his knowledge of the fight that will ensue today.

Two hours passed, it was now 11:34 as Danny checked the digital watch around his wrist, and just when he was starting to wonder if his calculations were off, the familiar wisp escaped his mouth. He looked to Danielle who had the same happen, but she only turned to look at him.

"Jazz will be home in around half an hour for midday break. You'll be okay, right?" He asked her, knowing the answer well enough, just asking to assure his own instincts that the girl will be fine. Dani rolled her eyes in exasperation as she nods before turning back to her book.

He took the usual spot in the center of the room after that, and transformed, not bothering with his usual cry.

Jazz had chosen a strategic spot for her apartment. Close to college, Amity High School and Amity Elementary so all three could reach there spots in time. Jazz was able to use her car to reach both college and her work in time, and lastly it was close to Amity Central Park, the hot spot for Ghost attacks.

And that was also the place where Danny knew he could find Ember. She always chose a place big enough for the crowd of hypnotized people she would gather. And the park was always full with citizens.

As he flew over the streets of the town, he noticed something unusual. People were running away from the park. Running away. Not towards the park like he sometimes saw them do, but away!

'Okay, unless someone made her really pissed off, no one should be running away like this. What's going on?'

Finally entering the park, he quickly received his answer by a stray missile flying right past him before blasting into a tree.

"Wow, what the heck?" He turned to the source and at first wanted to slap his face in exasperation.

Skulker and Ember were fighting. He at first assumed that this was another one of their squabbles, but when he noticed that Skulker was in his strongest armor yet, Danny got curious.

Sneaking up closer, he found the next strange thing: they weren't shouting at each other. Normally their fighting came along with shouts and curses that could make even an adult flushed.

Then he noticed how strong the battle was going. Both were running on pure adrenaline, and he saw that neither were holding back. 'This isn't a normal battle between those two misery-lovers.'

His thoughts were interrupted when another missile hit, this time on the base of the tree he was hiding in. Danny quickly flew out of the way as the tree crashed on the ground. Neither seemed to have noticed him, but he took shelter in a different tree to stay unnoticed.

He watched as they fought, Ember exchanging blasts from her guitar and Skulker firing a variety of weapons emerging from his armor. His eyes were more focused on Ember, the way she was fighting him with such force, such strength yet so controlled… There was an eerie grace in her movement, like she was dancing in the battle.

BOOM!

The blast flashed right in front of his eyes, blinding Danny for a moment. He blinked the spots away, and his mouth fell open at the sight.

Ember had been blasted out of her position, right into a tree. Her guitar had fallen on the ground, and she seemed to be out cold. He squinted his eyes and noticed she was already stirring awake. His eyes darted to Skulker, who was hovering in the air with a smug look on his face.

Both ghosts their eyes fell on the musical instrument on the ground. Ember tried to get up and bolt for it, but her leg suddenly buckled and she dropped to her knees.

Skulker was faster, but he wasn't going to grab the instrument.

"Not so strong without this, huh? Well, how about THIS!"

Right when he said that, Skulker deactivated his jet-wings and landed with great force on the guitar. Danny's eyes widened as he watches the armored hunter land on the instrument and it was crushed to pieces. The pop star her eyes became dishes and the pupils dots at the sight of her instrument, a piece of her soul, being crushed like it was nothing.

"Not so great anymore, huh, woman!" Skulker started laughing maniacally. A growl started to form in Danny's throat at the sight. Sure, Ember has done some things that weren't good, and she also didn't have a perfect personality, but she didn't deserve to be treated like that!

Before both realized it, the hunter had drawn a big ecto-blaster. It was charged in seconds and before he fired, Skulker stated one last thing.

"Your pelt will hang amazing above my fireplace."

And then he fired.

Ember was hit straight in the chest, blasting her through trees and the metal fence around the park. The diva's course ended in the stands of a store in the street, rubble and dust flying everywhere. Some of the people who dared to stay around and watch, like some reporters, gasped at the sight. They weren't so aware of the ghosts their routines like Danny, but even they knew that these two had never gone so far!

"Ember!"

Danny gulped as his scream to her left his throat before he could stop it. His eyes slowly went to the hunter, who was now glaring at Phantom with a sight unlike anything else he'd seen before from Skulker.

A glare filled with rage and pure evil.

No mercy.

No regret.

No humanity.

Gulp.

"Phantom." The hunter growled deeply, a shiver going down Danny's spine. Skulker always called him names, he never called him by his last name!

Not good.

His instincts suddenly kicked in as he avoided a missile blasting the tree he was hiding in to bits. Blasts quickly followed afterwards, not giving the ghost-teen any time to dodge them all. One hit him in the chest and two in the stomach. Three landed on his limbs, and one graced his face, leaving a cut in his cheek. His hand clutched the side of his face, his fear slowly turning into anger.

He had taken it too far now.

"Skulker!" Danny shouted as he fired an ecto-blast of his own from his hands. The armored hunter reacted to slow and he was hit in the chest. A small crack was made in the armor, but neither saw it.

The two got in a struggling fight, one side fighting without mercy and the other with confusion.

One blast caught Danny off guard, and Skulker used it to fire a missile. The explosion wasn't strong enough to really hurt him so much, but it still battered him hard. He was blasted away by the force, taking almost a similar path like Ember, only landing on the street itself, his eyes facing the store where she had crashed into. There wasn't a sign yet of the blue-haired ghost, and that worried him.

She couldn't be… Right?

His thoughts were cut off by the sound of a missile approaching. Turning intangible and phasing into the ground, Danny avoided the blast. Skulker grit his steel teeth at the escape of the whelp, but oh well.

At least he's got the diva.

"Boo."

The hunter jumped from the sound behind him. He turned around, only to receive an ecto-powered fist into his face.

"What is going on here?" Danny was finally able to ask now he has the hunter's rational attention. Skulker blinked a few times, shaking the brunt of the hit off.

He supposed the whelp deserves to know.

"That woman has been paying less and less attention on me! Every time you.. beat me, she told me she would do something about it! I got curious, so I followed her only to see the TWO of you fighting like it was some kind of joke! I. Had. ENOUGH!" As Skulker finishes his raged-fueled explanation, the flaming hair on his head burst into a great ball of green fire, surprising even Phantom.

He only ever saw Ember do that when she got angry.

And no one wants an angry Ember.

"You know, if I am able to beat you every single time, then it kinda seems obvious why she doesn't do much about it. Like she ever beat me!" Danny retorted. The hunter growled deep and snorted in frustration.

"YOU ALWAYS HOLD BACK AGAINST HER!" Skulker yelled over any noise you could imagine. Birds in the distance flew away and every person in the area crowed away at the fury in his shout. Even Danny cringed under the force, kicking him back a few feet.

"Because I know she could DIE if I don't hold back! You I know I can do more with, you can handle it!" Phantom was really starting to grow annoyed with the way Skulker is acting so selfishly. He's even worse than the diva herself! How in the world can Ember even love this guy?!

"ENOUGH!"

Skulker charged with great force at the half-ghost, surprising him. Danny was knocked back into a tree by the force, the great oak cracking and crashing behind him. He shook his head before ducking, avoiding a barrage of blasts. By now Skulker was all rage and fury, no rational thought.

But Danny had learned to keep himself composed over time so even the heat of battle couldn't make him lose his cool.

He blasted Skulker's feet with an ice-ray before blocking the blasts with an ecto-shield. It held up against the ghost's weapons and he marched confidently closer.

As soon as he was in range, he dropped the shield. Skulker tried to grab him or blast him to bits, but his weapons and fists got knocked back every time. The blasters were busted to bits by the halfa's fists and his hands were frozen solid to pillars of ghostly ice coming from the ground.

Danny scanned the captured ghost, finding the crack from earlier in the armor's chest. A smirk came to his face and he cracked his knuckles, preparing to give them a show of a life-time.

He grabbed into the crack, his hands fitting just between the armored plates that were broken. Skulker his eyes widened and he tried to break free, but Danny had assured the ice was strong enough to hold.

"Honestly, I don't even know why she loves you. You treat her like a thing! You act like shit to her! Have you even god damn kissed her?!" Danny started against the ghost, his anger slowly seeping through the mask he kept in battle. These were those rare moments he allowed control to slip just to get the desired effect. The hunter his eyes widened, and at the last part he tried to look anywhere else than Phantom.

"You really haven't have you? You don't love her at all, do you?! That's the fucking point of a relationship! Why did you keep her around for so long?!" His yells were growing louder and louder, his hands slowly tearing the plates apart. Skulker was to caught in the moment to notice, and his ego was getting the better of him.

"She was just a way to pass time! Do you know how hard it can be to love someone for all eternity?!"

"It shouldn't be so hard. Love is forever, don't people say that? Maybe it's time you start looking at things from a different perspective…" Danny trailed off, his voice becoming very menacing and dark. Skulker followed the boy's eyes and suddenly he was very aware of the crack in his armor growing bigger with every input of strength from the halfa.

"Like your real self!"

Danny started screaming very loud as he put all his force into breaking the armor. As the crack grows, the plates become weaker, and suddenly the sound of a bolt giving way echoes through the air. Skulkers eyes narrow to dots as he realizes what has happened, and with one final push, Danny cracks the armor open in two.

Curious bystanders had seen it all happen, and those that could see beyond Phantom would gasp in shock before trying to hold back their laughter.

In the place of the now broken and brittle armor was a small green figure floating. Skulker's true form has been revealed, and it looked hilarious!

"Now fly off before I suck you into the thermos and send you to the darkest part of the Ghost Zone." Danny finishes as he takes a few composing breaths. The green blob speeds away, shrieking in panic. After a few tensive seconds the crowd starts to gather around him before breaking into applause and whistling.

But Danny didn't have time to hear to their praising. He quickly left the crowd to find the other one gathered around the ruined store. He lands behind the people and they walk aside for him.

He searches through the rubble and finds a single flash of blue through all the gray of the dust and bricks. Levitating, blasting and throwing the broken stone away, he uncovers the battered ghost-girl. Her eyes were shut, her body covered with cuts, bruises and a gash in her arm and leg. Ectoplasm was leaking from the wounds and he knew that she needed help.

Now.

Her hair was hardly burning. Being careful for her injuries, he picks Ember up and flies off with the pop star in his caring arms.

His vision was locked on getting to the apartment in time, his mind taking twists and turns as he processes what has just happened.

'I saved her from curtain doom, that's what.'

Author's note: I know I'm busy with my first story of Danny Phantom, but I got intruiged and this came out.

Anyways, remember to tell me what you think. Review, fav and follow and I'll see ya'll soon!