Thanks for the review before, now enjoy the next chapter please. Yeah, I admit this story is too angst, but it will be better and explained bit by bit. There are reason why Danny changed so much. And at least, in this chapter you will understand why Dani couldn't age.

Enjoy this chapter!


Chapter 2

The one who understands you is yourself. Well, that rule somehow didn't apply to Dani, because she hardly understood herself, not even Vlad who 'made' her could understand. How was she stabilized and so different from Danny himself? She was suspossed to be his clone but she had different age and gender.

And right now, she was just horrified to see ectoplasma leaking from her body.

She knew that she had been too hard to her own body recently, she had caught police attention and ghosts had been chasing her too, so she kept using her power almost without rest. But still, she didn't expect it to happen, again.

Danny had stabilized her long ago, something that she had appreciated so much. She wouldn't be able to repay him enough for granting her a second chance to taste what life was like.

But, she was unstable again now. The girl halfa wanted to slap herself, she should have noticed this sooner. All the fatigue and lack of power must have been signs that she was starting to become unstable again.

She must search for Danny now! She was ashamed of herself that she just went to him when she needed him, but she had her own reason really.

She flew fast, hoping that she still had time to meet Danny.

IoI

"Sorry, Sam."

"It's okay Danny, really, you have apologized enough."

Danny just shut his mouth, she was sure more forgiving than when they were in high school. But, he still felt bad. He had slept in, realy slept like he was hibernating in winter. He had gone to sleep at 5 am then when he woke up it was 1 pm.

Sleepless nights had taken their toll from his body. Even though he needed less sleep than normal humans, but he was constantly injured and drained. Once he found time to rest, his body would shut down like an overheated computer that had crashed.

"I'm okay, you should rest more," Sam said. He gripped his cellphone tighter, she sounded like Jazz. But, everyone sounded like Jazz right now. Even his father, even Tucker.

He was suspossed to go to watch a movie with Sam a few hours ago, since today was Sunday. But, no, he was screwed up, he slept in. Nice.

"How about we go to the arcade or somewhere?" he asked to her.

It must be his 'hero-complex' kicking in, Danny thought. He felt bad, he really felt bad. He broke his promise to Sam, just going to watch a movie, it was simple and he always let her down, countless times. It was a wonder why Sam still wanted to be his girlfriend.

He should thank God that he had such an understanding girlfriend.

"No Danny, it is okay really. Even after you slept, you sounded tired, really. You should rest more, and eat properly," she added.

That was right, he still felt tired. Not his body, but his mind. Pushing himself to go somewhere even with Sam, it would add more stress to him. He needed to lie and force himself to smile...

He was screwed up... he thought to himself.

"Sorry," he said it again without noticing. He felt Sam was rolling her eyes right now.

"I will cut you bald if you apologizing to me again today," she said. It was her joke, even though it wasn't hard to see Sam cut his hair bald, she was a bit mean sometimes, but he knew she won't.

Maybe.

"Okay," he said.

"See you on Monday, don't forget your homework," she reminded.

"I know, thanks, see you," and he hung up the phone.

He threw himself into the chair, feeling less tired. At least he had apologized to Sam and she was okay. Then he glanced to his homework and tasks.

But, his stomach started growling. He had missed breakfast after all and now it was time for lunch. Danny knew that there was nothing left in the cupboard or refrigerator so he must buy or order something.

He looked to the gray sky outside, it might be rain but...

A little walk out would be fine, he needed fresh air.

IoI

Danny bit into his burger and savored every second that he didn't need to fight ghosts. He chose to eat at the park and on this cloudy day, the place was almost deserted. He almost could sniff wet soil, it might start raining very soon. But he didn't mind, he liked quiet places like this so he continued to eat silently.

A wave of uneasy feelings suddenly warned his 'hero complex alarm' though. It was ringing in his head, warning him that something wrong happened.

His ghost sense hadn't gone off though, it wasn't about ghosts? Or his friend or family got attacked?

He checked his watch, Danny Smartwatch, Tucker had named it lamely.

Danny, yes, the one who it was made for, there is a bit of a long story for that.

He pushed a button then saw every dot on the screen to his friends, girlfriend, and family, which referred to different people's health by color. His family, friends and girlfriend were green. It mean they were safe. It would be red if they were injured or in contact with ectoplasma.

Not that Danny could rely on this smartwatch everytime, but it was better than nothing.

Maybe they got attacked by humans? No, with the equipment that they have under their sleeves, even police couldn't capture them. They could defend themselves from humans, but from ghosts was another story. But since they weren't in contact with ectoplasma it mean they weren't attacked by ghosts.

Danny sighed, maybe he was just too tired and paranoid.

He bit into his burger again just to groan when the 'alarm' in his head didn't stop spinning. It kept telling him something was wrong, really wrong. A really bad one.

Then maybe, it wasn't his family. The one who didn't wear this smartwatch...

Valerie...? No, she wore it too, even though she kept reminding him that she was strong enough to take care of herself. A good thing that she also had known his identity, almost burning him alive in the process though.

Then who...? His other friend... No, his alarm just went off when someone who was close to him was in danger. Or something bad in town happened. But, everything looked fine, save a grey cloud since it would rain. If something happened in Ghost Zone, some ghost would have told him like Dora or Clockwork.

Then... the one who close to him but wasn't wearing this smartwatch?

Who...?

He shot up as quickly as if he had just been splashed in the face with a bucket of ice water.

Dani!

IoI

Dani groaned in pain, how misfortunate she was. On the way to go to Danny, she got attacked by Box Ghost. He wasn't a real danger really, but she was on the verge of melting, ectoplasm kept leaking from her body and she couldn't stop it. And the Box Ghost refused to leave her alone, he kept throwing boxes at her and eventually one of the big boxes hit her.

"Beware of my power!"

She just wanted him to leave her alone, she even wanted to cry herself in embarrassment that she couldn't even kick this annoying ghost.

"Just go away!" she was nearly begging, she could feel herself weaken. Power was slipping out from her body bit by bit, she couldn't hold her ghost form much longer.

"No! I don't need to listen to you-"

"But, you may need to listen to me."

The Box Ghostwas stunned for a moment, then turned to see who was behind him.

Danny Phantom.

"BEWARE!-"

Danny didn't even bother to wait for the box ghost to finish speaking before he sucked the ghost into the Fenton Thermos. Danny just wondered why this ghost could escape to human realm so easily almost everyday?

Then he turned to Dani, but before he could even open his mouth, Dani suddenly fell and she changed into her human form. Luckly, Danny had speed, when he wanted he could battle at a jet plane speed but rarely did since it took so much energy. He caught her before Dani hit ground then frowned, seeing the girl unconcious.

"Dani, Dani, wake up!" he shook her body but no response. What was wrong with her? She couldn't be wounded badly by Box Ghost. But, Danny's eyes widened when something dripped to the ground and felt the wetness in his hands.

Ectoplasm and blood.

IoI

It was his fault. It was his fault. It was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his was his fault.

Okay, he needed to stop. Sam would have slapped his head and told him that it wasn't his fault.

But then he glanced to Dani who was ina tube with a hospital gown and a mask covering her mouth and nose and her eyes were closed.

It was his fault. Really, It was his fault.

No, stop that. Thanks to his hero-complex, if anything were to have gone wrong, Danny would always blame himself.

It was his fault.

Danny just groaned.

"The Great One, may I have your attention?"

Danny snapped up then glanced to the bear like ghost, Frostbite. He stared at him with worried eyes, Danny just shook himself, trying to get a grip.

"Does it mean no?" asked Frostbite.

"No, I mean, no... ergh, you can have my attention. What it is?" asked Danny, feeling confused and worried with Dani's condition. He had flown fast with the little girl in his embrace to Ghost Zone without even saying hi to his parrents. He didn't stop flying until he arrived in Frostbite's place, the only place he could think that maybe could fix Dani's condition.

"Is it true that this girl is your clone?" he asked. Danny nodded, he had explained to Frostbite briefly before the snow ghost took away Dani from Danny's arm.

"Yeah, she was made by Plasimus, why?" he asked back.

Frostbite looked to Dani with serious look, like he was trying to figure something out and by staring at Dani he would get an answer.

"That's weird The Great One, as far as I know, even with the latest human or ghost technology, it is almost impossible to make a clone like this," he explained.

Danny was baffled, really? But, then Dani...

"Let me ask first, what do you know about clonning?" Frostbite asked Danny. The phantom tried to remember how Vlad made a clone in front of his eyes then stopped, no, it was too complicated he didn't understand a thing what that crazy halfa did.

"I just know...clonning is like making a copy of someone's body with the same age and gender," he answered, basicly from something he had watched in movie.

Frostbite just shook his head. "No, it can't be done The Great One. You see, first, not anything even ghost or human can be made a perfect clone. Second, every thing, the dead ones or living ones, needed time to grow. It means, even if Plasimus could make a clone of you, it would be a baby so the clone won't have your age," Frostbite explained. Danny frowned, it sounded too different from what he knew until now.

"But, what I said is applied when you want to make a perfect clone. If you just want to make a mindless body, you can do it, but it wouldn't count as a clone. But what I take from your brief explanation before, Plasimus want to make a perfect clone of you, the one who has gender and your age," Frostbite continue.

"Perfect clone?" Danny asked in murmur, a bit lost of what Frostbite explained to him.

"Yeah, it means, the clone is you. Even has your mind, your personality, your appearance, your abiity, but it won't have your age. Every thing needs to grow, a baby then children, then adult. Even for a ghost, it won't just appear suddenly 100 years old," Frostbite explaned slowly. This time, Danny understood. He nodded and Frostbite was relieved. For a hero who protected both human and ghost realms, Danny wasn't really smart.

"But, a mindless body, you can make an almost perfect copy, but it will be mindless. The copy will be the same only in appearance, it won't grow, it won't have any personality, just like a doll," the snow ghost continued.

"But, Vlad wanted a perfect clone of mine though, the one who has my gender and age," Danny said, remembering what Vlad had done to him, he was glad that it failed.

"Yeah, I think he decided to combine the two, the mindless copy and a clone which could have a mind. It is tricky and no body has succeeded to make one before. Usually the body is unstable and can't hold for long," Frostbite continued.

Danny glanced to Dani, feeling more confused and worried.

"So, I think Plasimus made an experiment. He tried to mix your DNA to get a perfect clone like what he wanted," Frostbite said again, Danny turned to him. He wasn't good in Biology and he had trouble catching every explanation but, he tried to.

" DNA like yours but that can also hold a mindless body and stabilize it, but in the process, he messed up with your chromosome. It was changed, dearranged, and mutated. So, what he got from his experiment is..."

Danny turned to Dani, his clone, though she was a girl and had a body of twelve years old. She hadn't aged a day since Danny met her.

"The Y chromosome dissapear, the X chromosome copied, and other things. So, she is your clone who has your DNA, but mutated so she is different from you. She is not you, she has her own mind, looks similiar to you but she won't be you, never," Frostbite said. Danny nodded, Dani was her own person, he had always believed that.

"But, she has a copied body? She won't age and it is unstable?" He clarified what he had taken from Frostbite's explanation.

"Yeah, she isn't a perfect clone, just like I said. Her body is just a fragile shell and couldn't contain the power of a halfa like you," Frostbite frowned, he felt guilty to see Danny's eyes get darker.

"But, I stabilized her years ago," he almost whined. Frostbite frowned.

"No, Great One, that only stabilized her ectoplasm, not her body. You need to remember that her body is alsopart human, it is falling apart," Frostbite said sadly.

"C-Can you fix her?" he asked, shuddering. He was afraid, afraid that he would lose Dani. True, he wasn't spending much time with her, he hardly knew her. But, at least, he knew she was alive somewhere and if something went wrong she would go to him. It was enough for him like that, he was happy that she could live and be her own person.

But, if she died?

Danny didn't want to remember the agony when he had thought that he failed her. When he believed that she was gone. He was so relieved that she was okay, that her body had stabilized again but...

Frostbitewas almost stunned to see how those green eyes got darker and darker every second. It seemed impossible but those eyes which looked dull already now became more lifeless, like dead fish's eyes.

"Great One, get a grip," he put his two hands in front of Danny's eyes.

Danny snapped, and it stopped. Frostbitewas relieved. The last thing he wanted wasfor Danny to fall into despair.

"I can't promise you anything, but I will do my best," he said. No, he wasn't even sure for himself, Frostbite thought sadly. He had never met something like this, he could take care of a halfa, but a complicated clone like this? He wasn't sure.

Danny looked sad, but at least he didn't look like he was ready to give in to despair very soon.

"You should see the result in a few days, give me time," Frostbite said, a bit guilty that he couldn't afford more. Danny nodded, a forced smiled covered his lips.

"Thanks for helping," he said, but Frostbite couldn't be fooled with that half smile. But he didn't say anything about that, it had been going on for awhile and he was used to it.

"Your very welcome."

IoI

Danny sank himself in his bed, something that he had always done everyday and everytime he felt miserable. He wanted to cry somehow, but his eyes were dry. He felt helpless with Dani's situation and all he could do was just wait.

With such an unstable body, why did he even let Dani travel around the world alone? Sure, everytime Dani visited him with troubles, he asked her if she wanted to live with his parents. They like her after all, said that Dani was like his sister. They even could adopt her. But, she always refused stubbornly.

Then, he just stupidly thought that she liked being free. Maybe she just wanted to be alone.

Was he an idiot?

She has his personality, even though not entirely the same but she has a similiar way of thinking as Danny.

She must have not wanted to be a burden, maybe she thought that she didn't deserve that.

Wasn't he doing the same thing as her all this time? Keep pushing everyone away?

Danny just groaned, she was like him. It was almost painful to think that. At least, he was a wimp, a coward who couldn't push everyone from his life completely, he just pushed them enough to gain a safe distance while torturing them with worry while she chose to be alone, keep running from Vlad.

Danny didn't know which one of them were better, him or Dani?

He hoped Dani would be okay. It was his fault, he was so dense and had let Dani suffer. Even without her ecptoplasm leaking from her body, she was extremely light and she looked so thin.

She must had some rough years in her life.

Danny slammed his head to his pillow a few time.

He was an idiot. It was his fault. He was an idiot. It was his fault.

He hoped Dani would be okay. Really, he would do anything. Even if he needed to beg Vlad to make Dani good again, he would do it. That litte innocent girl shouldn't be dead. No... he wouldn't let it happen.

Evenif it mean he needed to give half of his life span, half of his power even his happiness, he would give it for Dani.

He just wanted Dani to be okay, that is all.

To Be Continued


Many theories around Danny fandom speculated that Dani is female because half of her DNA is from a woman (in this case, many choose Sam as her 'mother') but I decided to choose the other theory about messed up DNA. She is Danny's clone after all, it makes more sense to me but no offense to DannyxSam fans, I love them too and appreciate the other theory. I chose the mutated DNA theory because I really want to focus about Danny and Dani relationship, well Sam will help Danny babysit Dani after everything is okay. But for now, let's stick for these two halfa.

Oh yeah, about Frostbite's explaination, I learned that from my teacher about cloning technology several years ago. The part about every live being needs time to grow up is right. Though Danny Phantom is a bit of science fiction, but I think it is okay to put that theory to this fanfic (I have a hard time understanding why Dany is twelve years old and why she could melt when she also had a human body, humans don't just melt but well... it is cartoon after all, sometimes it doesn't make sense).

And about 'copied and mindless body', I picked that theory from CLAMP's manga, if you know, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles or Cardcaptor Sakura, where wizards can make a 'hand-made body'. Though, in CLAMP universe, they can make 'hand-made but not mindless body'.

So, what will happen to Dani? To be honest, I'm not that cruel but it doesn't mean I can't add some twist.

Review please! Review makes me better!