New chapter, yay!

Danielle blinked with confusion. She didn't move a muscle. She was in shock.

Her father was alive.

And he was sitting right across from her.

"Daddy? Is…Is it really you?" Danielle asked as she finally got up and sat next to him.

Ratigan smiled. "Yes, baby, it's really me. Oh my precious girl…"

SMACK! Danielle slapped her father across the face. Ratigan grimaced as he rubbed his cheek where she'd hit him. "Not EXACTLY the reaction I was expecting, but I suppose it's fitting."

"Well what reaction WERE you expecting, huh?" Danielle asked hysterically. "Were you expecting me to run into your arms and cry like a lost little girl? Do you have any idea how much I've missed you this whole time?"

"Not a fraction as much as I've missed you, I'll bet," Ratigan replied.

Danielle frowned. "Oh, don't even TRY that little game! For two years I thought you were dead! TWO YEARS! You LIED to me for two years! Why didn't you come back sooner? Why couldn't you let me know that you were alive two years ago?"

Ratigan frowned sadly. "You're right, I did lie to you for those two years, and I do apologize for it." He held her paw in his. "But Danielle, I did have a reason."

"Oh? And what reason would THAT be?"

"I wanted to make sure that it was safe for me to reveal myself to you," Ratigan explained. "Not for myself…I could care less about what happened to me. But you…I wanted to make sure it was safe for you."

Danielle looked at her father with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, suppose the wrong people found out that I was still alive. And suppose they found out that you knew that I was still alive. If anyone knew that you were keeping the fact that London's greatest scourge was still alive secret…let's just say that it makes me sick to my stomach to think what they'd do to you." Ratigan shuddered. "But after two years…no one's going to still be looking for me if they think I've been dead for two years, now are they?"

Danielle sighed. "I suppose not…but still, you should've written or something! I really did miss you, Daddy." She started to cry and buried her face into her father's chest.

Ratigan gently wrapped his arms around his daughter, stroking her hair just like he did when she was little and upset. "Oh my little princess, I've missed you so much as well."

"But…but how did you even survive?" Danielle asked. "You fell into the Thames!"

"Yes, and then I swam like hell to the nearest bridge to hide under it before I could drown," Ratigan explained. "By the time I got to the shore I was exhausted, so I passed out for about four days. When I finally woke up, I was in pain and starving. I hid out underground again, but this time I had to be all alone."

"The body that they found on the banks of the river?"

"A mechanical decoy that I had Mr. Flaversham build just in case the Jubilee heist didn't go quite as planned. I figured that all of London would be so thrilled at the prospect of the nefarious Professor Ratigan finally being dead that they wouldn't bother to check to see if it was a real body or not…a huge gamble on my part, but it seems to have worked."

"And your ghost that I saw back when I was about to marry Wallace? Was that you?"

Ratigan chuckled. "No, that wasn't me…that must have been a figment of your imagination." He frowned as he hugged his daughter. "If only that bastard were still alive, so I could tear him apart with my bare hands for what he tried to do to you!"

Danielle sighed as she rested her head against her father's chest. "Oh Daddy…do you hate me for marrying Basil?"

"HATE you? I could never hate you! If Basil makes you happy, then he's perfectly fine in my book. It's like you just said that I said; a father's first priority is making sure his daughter is happy."

Danielle giggled. "Basil makes me VERY happy."

"I'm glad…and I see that you two are starting to add to your family as well." Ratigan beamed with pride as he gently rested his hand on the tiny bump in his daughter's abdomen. "My first grandchild…I can hardly believe it."

Danielle giggled as her father gently stroked her baby bump. "I know, I can hardly believe it myself." She smiled sweetly. "I hope it's a boy. That way, I can name him Padraic after you."

Ratigan blinked in amazement. "You would still do that? Even after all that I did?"

"I made you a promise when I was small that I would name my firstborn son after you," Danielle told him. "And Danielle Mary Ratigan Benson does NOT break her promises."

Ratigan beamed, tears filling up his eyes. "Oh Danielle…you have no idea what that means to me." He embraced her tightly. "My little baby."

"Daddy," Danielle sighed, hugging him back.

Suddenly, the father and daughter heard a loud growling sound. Ratigan looked down at his stomach and grinned sheepishly. "Heh heh, sorry. It's been a while since I last ate, and I'm feeling a bit peckish."

Danielle smiled as she held up one of the crumpets that Mrs. Judson had left for them. "Here, this will help."

Ratigan smiled and ate the crumpet. "Mmm, delicious."

Danielle smirked. "A lot better than the first batch of crumpets I baked for you, huh?"

"Sweetheart, you were five. You were still learning how to cook. It's understandable that your first batch of crumpets would turn out to be…less than perfect." Ratigan flinched. "Though I do seem to recall being bedridden for about a week with horrible stomach pains."

Danielle giggled. "You always were so gentlemanly about eating the food that I made you...I always appreciated that."

"Hey, making you happy was worth ANY gastrointestinal discomfort I went through." Ratigan groaned a little as he rubbed his tummy. "And I went through quite a lot of it."

That made both father and daughter laugh. After all the time apart, they were finally together again.

Too bad things won't go so smoothly when Basil learns that Ratigan's still alive, heh heh heh...yeah I'm evil.

I apologize if I made Danielle seem a bit overly bitchy here, but admit it, y'all, if your dad who you thought had been dead for years showed up at your door, you'd be a bit miffed too.

Hope to see y'all soon for the next chapter!

All my best, DiscordantPrincess.