Knock knock knock
"Ugh" Danny Fenton turned over in his bed shoving a pillow over his head to block out the noise. It was still dark out there was no reason to wake up. He could squeeze in a few more hours.
He felt a small chill and light blue mist escaped his mouth in a gasp. His ghost sense. Sleep would have to wait for Lancer's class.
There were two things Danny hated at night. One, was being woken up forcefully by ghosts. But that was an easy enough fix. Leap out of the way of whatever trap or death ray that was being aimed at him. Blast what ever ghost had decided to haunt his sleep pattern that night, suck them into the Fenton thermos and drop them back into the zone. If they'd really made him mad leave them in the thermos until morning and then drop them back into the ghost zone before he left for school.
The other thing he hated was being woken up peacefully by ghosts. An attack was one thing. He was used to those. But whenever one of his enemies showed up looking for anything other than a good night's fight things got...complicated. Sometimes there was violence. Like the time Clemper asked him to help retrieve his stuffed animal from the mouth of an ancient one or whenever Kitty threatened to run Johnny over with his own bike for looking at another girl.
They could be funny, but they were rarely fun.
Slowly, he released the pillow from his head and sat up. He stretched his arms-knock knock knock. "Ugh" he groaned. Whatever ghost that had decided to wake him up could wait a few minutes. It wasn't his fault whoever it was had decided to show up at three in the morning, unannounced...in the pouring rain. And they probably had a fire core so..."Damn it."
Knock knock knock. He pushed off his covers, set his feet the ground and stood. He let out a yawn and then marched over to the window, lifting the blind to reveal Skulker. The Ghost Zone's greatest hunter was outside his window, frowning as the rain gave his suit what Danny thought was a much needed wash. There was only so much musk a man could spray on his in with prey.
He unlocked the window and slid it open. "Skulker, what are you doing here?" Out of all his enemies Skulker was the least likely to come ask him for help. The hunter was self-sufficient and proud of it. Yet here he was, outside Danny's window like some creepy high-tech decoration, that someone had forgotten to take down from Halloween, his flaming mohawk and goatee, sizzling and crackling under the torrent.
"I brought you a gift." He growled. "Now, are you going to invite me in, Whelp, or no?" He was also strangely polite in his own way.
Danny motioned for the ghost to enter, and he did by phasing through his wall. Dripping wet, Skulker un-clipped something from his belt, it was too dark for Danny to see properly. He lightly tossed it on the floor, landing smack dab in the middle of a puddle beginning to form under him . He turned to the ghost boy and glared. "Word of advice Ghost Child. Take better care of the things that belong to you. Otherwise they might fall into more villainous hands than mine."
Danny was confused but he knew a threat when he heard one. "What are you getting at, Skulker?" The hunter didn't answer him, instead deciding to exit the same way he came in. Turning intangible, he disappeared into the storm.
Danny looked at the object on the ground. Some clouds had parted slightly allowing moonlight to spill into his room illuminating Skulker's "gift". A small metallic cube with a green button on top. He recognized it right off the bat. He'd been inside one before. It was one of the containment units Skulker got custom made from Vlad. The only question was what was inside it. He was wary of anything that came from both Vlad and Skulker, but he was also groggy and it was 3 in the damn morning. Without thinking, because few people have the proper mental capacities to think at 3 in the morning, He reached for the button and pressed it. Out unfolded a small cage with glowing green bars to keep in ghosts.
Inside, was the most heart wrenching thing Daniel had seen in a long time. Danielle, his clone? Cousin? Daughter? It didn't matter. What did matter was that she was soaking wet and shivering. She was still wearing the same clothes he'd seen her in last, but now they looked like they'd traveled halfway across the country and back. Knowing Danielle, she probably had. She was skinnier than when he'd last seen her too. Who knows when shed last had a proper meal, and if he asked Danielle, he doubted he'd get a clear answer
But what really broke him was the way she looked at him. Huddled in a corner of the cage, with her knees hugged to her chest. Hed never noticed how big and wide her eyes were but she looked like a deer staring down barrel of a gun of a hunter waiting for the moment the trigger was pulled and it would all end. Danny swore that as soon as he was done here he was going to hunt down the Ghost zone's "greatest hunter" and thrash him within an inch of his afterlife.
"D-Danny?" she shivered and then let out a cough.
Was she sick? Danny wondered. "Hold on, Danielle." He said as he began running his hands along the top of the cage looking for the release mechanism he knew must be there. " I'll have you out in a moment."
"No," she moaned. "I'm not supposed to be here." Danny ignored her. They could talk more when he found the-ah, the switch. And with a little bit of pressure a bit of the cage folded in and a few of the green ecto-energy bars began to disappear. Enough for Danny to reach in. grab Danielle, and pull her to his chest.
She struggled a bit but he pulled her tighter, she tried to phase out of his arms but she didn't have the strength. She hadn't been sleeping. Now that he had a better look a t her he could see that there were bags underneath those wide eyes.
Danny's frown increased, "Enough, Danielle." All at once the struggling ceased, she grabbed hold of shirt and burrowed her head into his chest. Sighing, Danny stood. He walked over to his door, opened it, stepped out into the hall and in the way only a ghost could, snuck to his sisters room and knocked.
Jazz Fenton was a night owl, like her brother. But while he spent the nights fighting ghosts, she spent her nights studying whatever topic had caught her interest, psychology, ghosts, ghost psychology. But when she did sleep there was an unspoken rule in the Fenton house that you didn't disturb her.
Danny had broken that rule.
Jazz flung her door open ready to give her brother a piece of her mind, when she saw the little girl in his arms. Her brother had told her about his female clone, eventually, after a lot of coaxing. He'd told them about how Vlad had created her to kill him, how she'd risked her life to save him and then he'd saved her from being melted by Vlad. And how he'd let her go both times.
Jazz had called him stupid. It was one of the few times where she'd flat out insulted her brother instead of trying to dissect his motives. The idea of a 12 year old girl all alone in the world, ghost powers or no, rubbed Jazz the wrong way. From the look of the young girl in her brothers arms her fears were justified.
"She needs a warm shower and some clean clothes to sleep in," Said Danny abruptly. He gave his sister a pleading look. "I was hoping that you would-uhm." Smiling, Jazz held out her hands. Of course she would help. Returning the smile, Danny handed over the girl-Danielle, that's what Danny had called her.
For the first time since Jazz had seen her, the girl stirred. She stared up at Jazz, frightened, and then at Danny. Jazz smiled, she really was a miniature female version of her brother. Danny had looked at their mom and dad and her the exact same way whenever one of their experiments got out of control as a kid.
"It's okay Danielle." Said Danny, running a hand through the girl's hair. "Your Aunt Jazz is going to help you while I find you something to eat. Okay?" He didn't wait for a response. He smiled one last time and then slipped through the floor.
Jazz and Danielle stared at the spot where Danny had last been. "Come on, let's get you into a bath," she said, as she began heading towards the bathroom at the end of the hall.
"I don't really…" she began to protest. Her eyes glowing green to match the warm blush on her cheeks.
"First off," said Jazz cutting her off. "You're soaking wet and we need to warm you up. Second, you stink." They'd arrived in the bathroom, Jazz set her down on the closed toilet seat while she got to working looking for the bubble bath and something to wash her hair. "If I had to guess you slept in an alley at some point recently and didn't bother to wash afterward. And no dips in the river don't count." With a twist of the handle, warm water began to fill the tub. Jazz set on the side of the tub, running her hands through the stream to make sure it wasn't too hot, she poured in a bit of the bubble bath..
Danielle paused, her mouth wide open with the beginning of an argument dying on its tongue. So instead she asked a question. "How'd you know I was going to say that?"
Jazz looked at her niece. "I admit I don't know you very well, but I do know my brother. And I can only assume you've picked up some of his habits for better or for worse." She shut off the water and stood "And that's why I know you're going to try and leave the moment I step away.
The young girl didn't deny it. In fact she looked particularly guilty that she'd been figured out so easily. "Just like Danny." Jazz thought.
"Look, Danielle, if you really don't want Danny to have to worry about you, you'll stay here where it's safe. At least for tonight. If you leave, especially without this bath or getting some food in you, he's just going to spend all night looking for you. You don't want that, do you?"
Dani pursed her lips and stared into her lap. She didn't want to be here. She had been cold and hungry plenty of times, but she'd survived. If it hadnt been for that stupid ghost mistaking her for Danny she wouldn't even be here; even if here was warm and safe. She wouldn't have woken up Danny and Danny wouldn't have woken up his sister and...sniff. She didn't want to cry but the tears were starting to collect in the corner of her eyes and she couldn't stop herself. A hand was on her face, wiping away the tears. It was warm.
"Danielle, look at me." The girl wiped at some of the tears streaming down her face and looked up. "It's okay. Both Danny and I are so happy you're here. I admit that when I first heard that you were out there all alone I was confused.
"Confused that someone would violate someone's privacy the way Vlad violated Danny's. Confused that I had this new family member out of nowhere. I was worried. Ghost powers or no, your still a little girl and I was worried you'd get hurt. But most of all, I was hopeful. I'd hoped you'd come back to us, eventually, and not once did I ever think about you as a burden. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am." She nodded.
"Good," said Jazz. Standing up and walking towards the door. Now I'm going to find you something to wear and when I come back I expect you to be in that tub. Am I clear?" If the stern sister voice worked on Danny, why wouldn't it work on Danielle?
Danielle nodded. "Great, when I come back we can work on your hair."
"What's wrong with my hair?" she huffed. But Jazz was already out the door, wondering whether she still had some of her old pajama tucked away in her closet.
The bath had been nice, really nice. She hadn't had a real one since she'd lived with Vlad. She'd avoided them as much as possible back then, because-well, it was Vlad. Even at his best he was kind of annoying.
But now she felt warm and clean, and her hair smelled like peaches. She liked peaches, or at least the way they smelled. What she didn't like were the pajamas Jazz had found for her. They were covered with beakers and tiny pictures of a weird guy with crazy hair. They were also a bright pink. According, to Aunt Jazz, they were the only thing she had that would fit her.
Once dressed, Jazz walked her downstairs. She wanted to float, but Jazz had told she wasn't allowed to use her powers until she at least got something to eat in her system. When they got to the kitchen there was a hot bowl of what smelled like chicken soup waiting for her along with a sandwich. Danny was sitting down at the table, nursing his own bowl, blowing small bouts of ice breath in an attempt to cool it.
"How'd you do that?" asked Danielle. In her amazement, she'd forgotten about Jazz's no power rule and flew over to Danny. She hovered above his bowl watching the frost melt on the side of the bowl.
Danny looked up from his soup, eager. "I could show you if you want."
Danielle's smile faded, as she suddenly realized her mistake. "It's okay," she mumbled. She floated over to her chair, sat down, and slowly began to eat her soup."
Danny persisted"Really, Danielle, it's no trouble. Plus if your ice powers are anything like mine, it'll be really annoying when they start to show." He thought for a moment. "I can show you a few things, but if you really want to lean I could introduce you to Frostbite."
Danielle stopped eating, "Frostbite?"
"He's a friend of mine in the Ghost Zone." She perked up even more at the mention of the Ghost zone. "I have a couple of friends there," said Danny, "Though I don't visit them as much as I should." He added quickly. "If you want I could take you on a tour sometime."
"I…"
"It's no trouble, really." Said Danny.
"Alright." said Danielle, a small smile tugging her face.
The pair went back to their soup. Neither of them noticed when Jazz, smiling, had slipped out of the room. Someone had to set up a bed for Danielle. In Danny's room of course, it would give the pair more time to talk. It wasn't a permanent solution, and they would need a permanent solution, but for now soup and promises of a trip to the Ghost Zone were a start.
Hello, this is something new I'm trying after not writing any fanfiction for a good long time. A lot of fanfics have a Danny/Danielle Father/Daughter, relationship, but they're not always the main focal point, or if the are they're in the shadow of much larger plot lines, which aren't always done well. SO this is my attempt to focus almost solely on the relationship between Danielle, Danny and the world and people around them, and how they adapt and change to match it.
For example, we often see Danielle living with the Far Frozen but, we never really get to see how that came to be. that's not to say stories that use that are bad in any way, it's just a perspective I can't remember ever really seeing. So no real big overarching plots, or if their are, they'll be short. Just a nice Slice of Life story.
Read, Review, and I hope you enjoyed.
P.S let me know about any editing mistakes. I try my best but I more often than not miss really obvious stuff.
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom
