Mirror, Mirror
A Danny Phantom FanFiction
The car ride was long and terse. Maddie had the wheel in a death grip, her knuckles pure white. Her Danny sat shotgun, fiddling with the air conditioning, while the other Danny fell, sprawled over the expanse of the entire row of seats in the back. The car was completely silent.
Maddie cleared her throat and punched the control button for the air conditioning, turning it off even as her Danny was adjusting it. "So," she drawled, looking into the rear view mirror at the boy lying in the back of her car. "Would you like to tell me about yourself?"
The boy sat up to meet her eyes briefly in the mirror before looking away. He did not answer.
Maddie returned her gaze to the stretch of road leading into the city. "Will you at least tell me how you came by the police? Something about a facility in California?"
Out of her peripheral vision, she could see her Danny turn in his seat to face the boy in the backseat. They shared a long, unreadable look until it became clear that the other Danny was not going to speak. Her Danny sat back in his seat, crossing his arms as he looked out the window.
"Will you tell me anything?" Maddie said, more out of exasperation than with the expectation of receiving an answer.
It was a good thing, too, because she didn't receive one. The one-sided conversation came to a halt when Maddie pulled into the alley next to her house. She yanked the keys from the ignition and just sat, blinking at the boy in the rearview mirror. Her Danny didn't wait; he hopped out of the car mumbling something about "finding Jazz," leaving her alone with the other Danny. As soon as her Danny disappeared behind the corner of the FentonWorks building, he parted his lips to speak, surprising her.
"I'm hungry," he said, sending the woman a pitiful glance.
Maddie felt a chill run down her spine at his voice. If the boy in front of her gained even five pounds, she wasn't sure she'd be able to tell him apart from her own son. She turned in her seat to peer around the headrest. "You're talking, now?"
"They didn't give me food," the boy complained, holding his stomach in his pale hands.
"Well, then," the red headed woman sighed, "let's get you something to eat."
She slid out of the car and gave the door a rough shove behind her. The other Danny gracefully stepped out of the car and gave it a small push closed before joining Maddie's side. Together, they walked to the front door.
"I'll introduce you to the family," Maddie said, reaching for the doorknob. She swung the door open to reveal her Danny whispering quietly with Jazz in the foyer. They both clenched their jaws shut when they heard the door creak on its hinges and glanced at their mother and the boy standing next to her. Her Danny took a deep breath while Jazz looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"Jazz, sweetie. This is…." Maddie turned to look at Danny next to her with a look of confusion. "We can't very well call you Danny, now, can we? Do you have a name?"
The other Danny glanced hesitantly at her Danny before giving her a sharp nod.
"Well, what is it?"
"My name," the boy whispered to her, "is Daniel."
Even as her own heart skipped a beat, Maddie did not miss her Danny's look of pure shock.
"I'm gonna set the table," he said weakly before turning on his heels and disappearing into the kitchen, dragging his wide-eyed sister with him.
"But that's just the name they gave you at the Police Department," Maddie told the Danny in front of her, rocking her weight onto one foot. "Do you have another name? A real name?"
The boy wordlessly shrugged and shook his head, glancing up at her with big familiar blue eyes. "It's the name I was born with. It's what he called me."
Maddie shook her head in disbelief. "Who? Who called you Daniel?"
The boy violently shook his head and looked away. "I'm hungry," he repeated.
Maddie wanted with all her heart to grab the boy's shoulders and shake the answer out of him, but couldn't find it in her to deny his request. "I'll have pasta ready in a few minutes," she replied, a heavy sigh underlying her words. "Why don't you help my—" She paused, licking her lips. "Why don't you help Danny set the table?"
He nodded and left her to her thoughts, exiting the foyer through the kitchen doorway. After collecting herself, she slowly followed him. She entered the kitchen to find Danny leaning on the counter, an odd expression plastered onto his face as he watched the other—No, she firmly corrected herself, not the other Danny. Daniel.—as he watched Daniel set the table.
"Why are you letting our guest do all the work?" Maddie asked, crossing her arms.
Her son seemed to be startled out of his thoughts. He jumped to his full height and his baby blue eyes met her violet ones. "I was going to help you with the pasta."
"That's no excuse," she said sternly, tapping her fingers expectantly against her arm.
"It's okay."
Maddie's eyes widened a fraction when her son's voice reached her ears, but Danny's mouth hadn't moved.
She spun to see her son's lookalike set down the last fork. He stood erect and looked to her, his mouth still a straight line.
"It's already finished," he said.
Maddie offered him a small smile before shooting her son an annoyed glance. "Thank you, Daniel," she said. "Danny, get Jazz to help you find the spaghetti."
Her son looked between his sister, who was already searching for the stove lighter, and his mother. After sending a bitter glance towards his doppelganger, he spun on his heels.
When Danny wandered off in the general direction of the stove, Daniel spoke again, "Restroom?"
"Down the hall to the right," Maddie answered, all the while searching the boy's face for any hint of clarification of his mystery. He blinked at her and with a slight bow of his head, left the kitchen.
Maddie found herself feeling very unsettled. She stared at her son's back as he poured a box of uncooked spaghetti into a pot of water as his sister watched over him, speaking quietly into his ear. There was something about Daniel that struck odd chords within Maddie. Sitting down at the kitchen table, she watched as her son chuckled at something Jazz had said and realized that there was just something automatic about her new guest. Danny was laid back—free. There was something strangely mechanical about the way Daniel held himself in comparison. Something very refined, yet also very forced.
The red headed woman blinked when she heard the front door slam shut. All three Fentons jumped when they heard a yelp from the foyer. Maddie dashed to the source of the noise and found her newest guest squeezed in a bone-crushing hug.
Jack Fenton, his arms still weighed down by plastic bag handles, had just come home from the market. When he saw his wife he released the now-crippled boy and held his arms wide for her. "Sorry I'm late, Babycakes," he said at his usual loud volume, "they were having a sale on pork!"
While Maddie would have otherwise rolled her eyes and fallen into his welcoming hug, she couldn't stop her legs from freezing when she saw Daniel, who was brushing himself off. She heard her son's footsteps behind her and watched her husband's eyes first squint and then widen.
He bent his arm back to scratch his neck, but pulled out a small ecto-weapon from a hidden pocket and aimed it first at the boy behind her and then at the boy in front of him. "Ghost!"
Maddie found herself suddenly able to walk. She pulled on his arm and began dragging him to a different room. "Not a ghost. This is Daniel. Jack, honey, we need to talk," she called. "Jazz, why don't you find the spaghetti sauce? Danny, keep stirring!"
She watched silently as all three children left the foyer. Pulling her husband into the living room and, covering her face in both hands, she lamented, "Jack, I don't know what to do."
While Jack was a huge bumbling oaf, he knew just how to comfort his wife. He dropped onto the couch and pulled her down next to him. Holding her tight around the shoulders, he begged her with his eyes to continue. Peeking through her fingers at him, she sighed. Dropping her hands, she told Jack about her adventure to the social services department of the Amity Park Police Department.
"Wow," he said simply, rubbing the back of his neck and letting go of his wife to think.
"Adoption." Maddie turned to him her eyes full of worry. "I thought—if we can't find out where he came from—well, there's really no other option. We can't just get rid of him."
"But—" Jack caught himself, but Maddie already knew exactly what was on his mind.
"Exactly, Jack," she said, her voice thin and quiet. "I don't know if we can afford another child."
Jack's brows furrowed and, as his deep blue eyes closed, he rested his hand on his forehead. "What do we do?"
A/N: No, I'm no Cordria.... But I tried to make it as seamless as I could. I do pride myself on imitating writing styles, but it's hard when I'm imitating something so well written. Sorry this chapter is so short. Busy busy summer.
