Chapter 20! I can't wait to see what you guys think! I do not own Danny Phantom, Nickelodeon does.

"This is bullcrap!" Danny screamed as he tossed some of his luggage that he hadn't put away yet. The room was a mess, with clothes thrown all over the polish hardwood floor of their bedroom.

And Danny says Danielle gets her temper from me.

Sam watched on quietly from her secluded part on the bed, with legs crossed. She caught every piece of clothing that he flew behind him, tucking it away. She could see the fear start to crawl its way back onto his shoulders as he tried to mask that with anger.

She didn't give him a reply—she didn't really know how to—so he continued. "We tricked him into summoning three of the most powerful ghosts in all existence and he still doesn't die!" With no article of clothing left, he fell back onto the bed.

That triggered her to react; Climbing to her knees, Sam moved closer to Danny's still position on the bed. She tried to hold back the anger in her voice, but a little trickled through, and it held firm in her tone. "Since when do we kill people Danny? That's not us! That's Dan!"

Removing his hands from his face, he locked his gaze onto his fiancé, defeat and fear gripping his soul. His crystal eyes begged for an answer, to free him from this...frustration, but at the moment, no one had one. And it all but shattered Sam, because she didn't know how to reassure him that it would be okay. Because a part of her didn't know if it would be.

"Well, he deserves it for all that he's done!"

Sam noticed her voice start to escalate along with his. "And who should do it, you?! You're not this! You were never this!" She felt hopeless in that very second. He felt out of reach, even though he was just mere inches away.

The fear was now bursting through, but he was trying his best to keep up with the anger, which only worried the goth more. This was becoming too much for Danny and she could see that he was starting to break.

His voice changed as he lowers his tone into a bitter crackle of dry words, rattling Sam to her core. "This is what I need to be to stop him! To stop him from hurting us!"

She had to shake him out of this. She had to.

"Danny you need to think this through. This isn't right and you know it."

He broke their gaze, jumping from the bed and running to the far end of the room, his back kept towards her. He stayed still as he continued his staring contest with the lavender of her bedroom wall.

"No, what I know is that when Clockwork tried to have me change the timeline, Dan did everything in his power to bring it back. The first time he lost all of you it wasn't his fault, but he was going to make me lose everything! He was going to make me lose you, Sam!"

He fell to his knees, hands instinctively going to the back of his head. Sam could see the slow rocking motion his body made, which only brought a punch to her own gut at the mere sight of one of the most important people to her becoming so helpless in such a little amount of time.

"I can't lose you."

The tears broke through, racking his entire body in unleashed sobs. Crawling off the bed, Sam shuffled softly over to Danny, crouching down to where he sat, and placing her arms tightly around the shaking halfa, cradling him in her arms.

His tears seemed to crack every word, but he pushed them out. "We have gone through so much together. We have a daughter! I can't lose that."

Grabbing his chin, Sam brought his face back to hers. The bloodshot of his eyes makes her heart pound in spratic beats, but she ignored it for the minute. "If you kill him you will lose that. Even worse, you will lose yourself and the man I fell in love with. The man that Danielle looks up to. If you can't do it for yourself, then you better well do it for us. Because we don't want to lose you either Danny."

"I just don't want to lose all of you."

His words were a silent plea at this point, to who, she didn't know. But she wished and hoped for someone to hear.

Placing her forehead against his, the words were hushed, but loud enough for the both of them to hear. "If we win that way then we'll lose who we are. We can find a way, just not that way."

"I just wish he knew how much my parents still love him. After all that he's done, I can see it in their eyes everytime they hear his name."

"Danny, I love you, my son. I'm sorry I wasn't there to watch you grow up. I know you'll make a fine man. I just know that you are going to make your mother and I proud. We couldn't ask for a better son. Please do me a favor, if you are watching this, make sure your sister still goes off to college. I don't want us to hold you two back in any way. Oh, and one last thing. Ask that nice goth friend of yours out. She really likes you, and if you really are watching this... You will need to keep that wonderful heart of yours strong. We love you, Danny. Goodbye."

"Ugh!" Dan woke up gasping for breath. His eyes adjusted to the darkness as he realized he was sitting straight up. Catching his breath, he let his heartbeat start to settle once more. Focusing on his hearing, he waited for the faintest whisper of noise. When nothing disturbed the silence of the night, his shoulders slumped in relief.

With his mind lulled back into peace, his other senses came to life. The feeling of soft tan bedding sheets and a comforter cradled his heavy body. He looked to the window, where the blinds were drawn closed, not allowing any moonlight to seep in.

It was only a dream.

More like a nightmare honestly.

A hand fell on his shoulder, which caused him to jump for a moment, only to realize that it was Izzy, with concern clearly written in her eyes. Her small round lips were parted slightly in worry. Her messy curls blended in well with the blackness that surrounded them. She was clad in his oversized shirt, the blanket swallowing her small frame, making her look too precious for anyone's eyes.

"Are you okay?" she said.

Dan looked at her as a cold sweat ran down his back. Shaking himself of the nightmare, he gave her a short, "I'm fine. Just some bad memories." He watched as her eyes wandered far past him for a few moments, her thoughts miles away from the small bedroom that they occupied. He could tell she was contemplating something as she stayed hushed.

"You know, you stay here most nights as it is. You could always move in. I mean, as the three of us properly know this bed does have room for two." A hopeful smile stretched on her lips as she snuggled close to his side.

"I don't know, are you really ready for that? It is a big step."

Sarcasm started to drip into her voice. "Yep and you know what else is a big step? Carrying your child inside me. So stop making piss poor excuses and get your ass up in here."

Dan smiled, which only warmed them both. "You do make a fair point. Sure, I just need a good week or so to make sure I have everything I need."

It was an average day at the diner as Izzy started wiping down tables. The usual customers came and left an hour ago. There was a quiet buzz going around the small establishment as the handful of customers conversed amongst themselves. It was about half an hour till her break, the time Dan usually came in to order lunch before taking picking her up for hers.

The radio was playing one of her favorite songs she used to rock to in high school. She looked at her belly for a moment and whispered, "When you come out, I'm going to make sure you listen to the music mommy grew up on." Her hips began to sway lightly to the soothing melody.

The bell chimed on the front door as two girls about high school age walked in. Both had raven black hair, pale soft skin, and the factual structure was so strikingly similar. The big difference feature wise was the contrast between the deep azure eyes—who actually looked familiar from somewhere, she just couldn't place where—and the light amethyst eyes, who she remembered from their first encounter a while back in the diner.

Style-wise, Izzy could definitely set the two apart. The blue eyed one wore a purple crop top with loose sleeves that ran past her hands if she didn't push them up slightly. A warm checkered hoodie hung loosely around her small waist. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail while her head and ears were covered with a red beanie. Dark blue jeans protected her legs from the bitterly cold winter of Amity.

While amethyst eyes had a warm brown leather jacket that fit her nicely. She wore a dark rusty rose-colored scarf. Unlike blue eyes, however, she was wearing a pair of plain grey sweats that looked pretty comfortable in the harsh cold. Both girls were wearing military boots. Her hair limply brushed the length of her shoulders, her bangs pinned back with a simple white hair band that stood out against her inky hair.

Pretty cute boots if you ask me.

"Hey, it's you again." Her smile raised as she recognizes the familiar face. "Wow is that your sister? You two could almost be twins, well except for the eyes and lips. Wait a minute, you must be that Danielle girl. Are you two related?"

"We're cousins." Lilith rushed out, her eyes swiping to the side on her left. Without looking at the waitress, she introduced herself. "I'm Lilith." Izzy gave a gentle smile to her in recognition before moving her eyes to her sister.

"So table for two?"

"Yeah."

Izzy grabbed the menus from the front desk and, eying an open booth, motioned so they would follow her there.

She turned to Danielle as they walked. "Okay, little secret, I think you're awesome! I know your dad is the guy who saved the earth and everything, but there is only so much you can take of seeing his face being plastered on everything. Oh, and that cartoon they made of him was so unrealistic. Sometimes I think all that fame goes to his head."

Danielle lifted her hands in triumph, giving a small twirl. Lilith sent her an empty glare, but said nothing. "Thank you! Finally, someone gets it." She stuck her tongue out at her grumpy sister but decided against her better judgment to say anything, even out of jest.

They arrived at the worn cushioned booth nearest to the back of the diner and the girls took their seats. Izzy noted Lilith had kept on her winter scarf even while in the diner.

Lilith had become jittery the moment they had entered the diner and Danielle couldn't understand why. Maybe the idea of Dan was just getting to her.

Izzy looked at the crop top Danielle was wearing. She also noticed the scars on her back. She released a low whistle at the sight. "Now those look like they have one heck of a story."

It took a moment for Danielle to realize what Izzy was referring to. Once it dawned on her, her hand immediately flew to the location on the small of her back. A little bit of heat flooded her cheeks, but it didn't stay for long.

"Oh yeah, that was quite a fight. You should have seen my dad's face after my mom found out how I got it. Yeah, he was a little bit more responsible since then. I still feel a little weird wearing crops some days."

Izzy looked around for a moment and then lifted a small part of her blouse to reveal the shiny pink mark on the middle of her abdomen. Her voice was lowered as she whispered to the two, "Girls in school used to always make fun of me for it. You know what I did? I gave each and everyone a black eye twice the size of my scar. I'm not ashamed of how my body looks. To this day I still wear a two-piece at the beach and not a single person will convince me not to."

Danielle's toothy widespread grin was contagious; she could see the ends of her lips turn up, even if it was small. "Now that is some girl power."

Lilith gave a short nod in agreement. "So how's the shift going today, Izzy?"

Izzy's eyebrows shot up in surprise, an easy smile taking control of her mouth. "Wow, you must really like the food here if you remembered me after coming here only one time."

Lilith let out a little nervous laugh, gripping her left arm, hastily rubbing it as she fumbled for a plausible excuse. Her heart started to pick up; she always was a terrible liar. "Yeah, the food here is really great."

Danielle hobbled a few inches closer, obviously fretting. "Hey Lily, are you okay? You seem pale. I mean like mom wearing sunscreen white." Danielle gave a feather light touch to her sister's cheeks, checking for any signs of a fever.

Lilith quickly brushed the hand off of her. "I'm fine. Just thinking of someone back where I'm from."

Danielle did everything she could to get her to relax and take off her scarf, but nothing seemed to get her to budge.

Izzy noticed the bothered look on Lilith's face as Dani was playing with the loose strand on the end of Lilith's scarf, but decided against saying anything. Taking out her notepad and pen, she began, "So what can I get you to start off with?"

Lilith ordered first. "I'll start off with a hot chocolate with just a pinch of cinnamon added. Ooh and lots of whip cream." Her demeanor would always change when ordering cocoa. It would forever be her favorite drink.

Izzy looked to Dani.

Danielle quickly scanned the menu and found her choice within a second. "I'll take a strawberry shake, extra thick please." Both girls gave Danielle a pointed look, as if she was crazy for ordering that in late November. She just gave a boneless shrug of her shoulders. "What?"

Izzy beat Lilith to the question. "How can you drink that, it's freezing out!"

"Well, I happened to get a little bit more dad's genes than mom's. Plus, who know, with how crazy the weather's been lately, maybe it'll be eighty degrees when we leave."

Satisfied with that answer, Izzy jetted off, a skip in her step as she rushed to the kitchen. With nobody in hearing distance, Lilith leaned into Dani, motioning her to do the same, which she complied.

"I will never understand how you are so much like dad more than mom."

Danielle raised her eyebrow, waiting for the younger halfa to realize. She watched on in amusement as it slowly dawned on her, her rosy pink lips parting in recognition.

"Oh yeah, a mad scientist obsessed with our father... "

A smug smirk sprawled on Danielle's face.

"Sorry."

Waving her off, they return to their normal sitting positions. "Eh, I got over it a while ago. But one thing I can't get over is why you are still wearing that scarf. I get it, it's cold outside, but it's like 80 degrees in here."

She just tilted her head slightly as she began to stir her cocoa. "It's just comfy, what can I say." But for the millionth time today, she could see that her sister didn't buy it.

"Yeah but you've been off ever since you came back. Like, I know that Dan is still out there but come on, we've dealt with him before and we're all still here."

Trying to come up with an excuse, she said,"I'm just a having a little bit off... Girl troubles."

That earned her a hearty laugh from Danielle as she threw her head back and pounded the table, earning a couple glances from the remaining customers from around. "Ah... Don't give me that crap. You have the same eyes as mom, plus you haven't had "girl troubles" since you've lived with us."

Izzy returned, a platter of their drinks in her hands. As she set the drinks on the table the whole building experienced a small tremor, which spilled a little bit of the hot chocolate on Lilith's scarf.

"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Reassuring her aunt, she gave her an even smile. "Yeah, it just got on my scarf. No burns, no worries." Untwining the scarf from her neck, Lilith placed it on the table.

Taking her washrag that was stuffed in her apron, Izzy began to wipe down the spot on the table that had been spilled. "I don't know what those quakes are but they seem to be happening more and more lately."

I know why. I just don't know how to stop it. Or him, rather.

Danielle took a sip of her shake, enjoying the deliciously sweetened flavor of fresh strawberries, when she noticed a mark on Lilith's neck. "Lily, did you get into a fight recently? Because if you did I hope you got in a few good hits to whoever gave you that."

Lilith seemed confused, then she realized what she was looking at. Grabbing the collar of her jacket, she adjusted it higher to hide the mark from view. "Yeah, just didn't pay attention in my last skirmish."

That's what you get for taking two minutes out of your time before coming back to 2010.

Izzy tilted her head as she looked at the mark on Lilith's neck. "Hate to call you out sweetie, but that's not from a fight. That's a hickey." Her hands went to her waist, and Lilith was reminded how much this woman was truly like her mother. Gulping down some more of her cocoa, she tried to hide the heat from her face.

"Wow, look at our Lilypad, not playing innocent for once. So who is he? Come on it has to be someone I know. or at least related. Come on sis, tell me who is the lucky boy? I thought you came straight here after you were told that your mission wasn't complete? Seems like you made a pit stop." Ignoring her sisters teasing, she continued to sip on her drink.

Izzy placed her hand over her mouth as she let out a laugh that resembled that of a sick donkey. Yep, same old aunty Izzy. She did bring Uncle joy though, and after seeing all of this, I can definitely see why he feels so strongly about protecting the people he loves.

Danielle smiled at Lilith with her most evil grin.

"What's so funny?" Lilith questioned, brushing her hair back that had fallen in her face. She wiped the upper part of her mouth for any unknown whip cream 'stash.

Danielle innocently shifted her gaze around the room, taking a sip of her own drink. Lilith could tell she was holding back laughter. "Nothing, I just know why you..." She was interrupted when they heard the bell ring as the door opened.

The bell above the door gave a jingle, letting everyone know a new customer arrived. "Hey, Jenny! You know my order. Tell Mike I'm in the mood for extra crunchy today." Dan lazily strolled over to Izzy, about to give her a hug when he noticed the two sitting at her table.

The heated staredown between the three went unnoticed by the waitress for the moment. "Hey, koala ass! How's your day going?"

Dan hesitated but only for a second when both Lilith and Danielle looked back to their drinks. He brought her in for a soft hug, always mindful of the baby growing inside, even if there wasn't an outward appearance yet. She started playing lightly with the ends of his hair; which made him slightly purr, but only for her to hear.

"Hey beautiful, how are you doing?"

She cuddled into his side for a moment. "Doing good, looks like we have one of our returning customers here. She even likes he cocoa the same way you have it. Small world, eh? By the way, what do you want to order for food?" They both gave her their small order of a turkey sandwich with hash browns on the side; grilled zucchini chips for Dani. Izzy jotted them down.

"Yeah," He looked directly at the two girls and with an evil grin continued. "It is a very small world, especially when you live in this town."

Izzy returned to the back to place their orders and get ready for her break. Dan pulled up a chair at the end of their both, turning the worn out chair so the back of it faced them and he straddled the seat, very effectively blocking their exit.

"Hello, you two. It's been a little while hasn't it?"

Danielle's lips pulled back into a snarl. "Not long enough if you ask me."

"Yeah, there's that fire; you know you would have way more if you just let loose for a little while and raised some hell with your dear old uncle Dan." He gave a shifty grin that made Danielle almost leap from her seat and attack.

Uncle.

That word burned and swayed inside Lilith. Puke was stirring in her stomach.

Don't cry. Don't cry.

Danielle was now gripping her glass to the point that her knuckles turned white. "Think again, asshole!"

"Eh, it was worth a shot. I know that goody two shoes over here isn't gonna unleash the beast anytime soon, so how about you two do me a favor? I don't care if you tell mommy and daddy that you saw the big bad wolf today, but if anyone of you little heroes brings the fight here or around her, I will personally show you just how much I've been holding back against all of you."

Danielle let out a puff, rustling the straw in her drink. "Please, if you could kill us you would have already done so."

"Heh. Let me give you a lesson on my timeline's history." Dan unbuttoned the top of his shirt, a light pink scar lining a good portion of his chest. "You see this scar right here. This is from an authentic Japanese Kuni. A week after I got this little beauty the entire island of Japan was at the bottom of the ocean. So to be clear with you two, I just didn't want to make that big of a scene. Back in my timeline, it took nearly a decade to create the anti-ghost tech that they had there. Because you brats and your family are still alive, you guys have produced more inventions than rabbits produce kids."

Lilith jumped from her side of the booth, her voice ringing throughout their small area. "We would never hurt Izzy or Jack!" Oops.

Confusion filled his face. "What the hell does he have to do with Izzy?"

At that moment, Izzy came striding out, jacket on, purse on her arm. "Dan I'm ready for my break! Another waitress should be out shortly with your order, girls."

Looking back to Izzy, he sweetly called out, "Just a moment, sweetcheeks!"

Yep.

Same old Dan.

No matter how hard he tries.

Looking back at the two his smile disappeared. "Do we have a deal?" His eyes narrowed, demanding that they meet his demands. His eyes flared electric green as a warning, and Lilith felt her heart thump in pride. His eyes were red before.

His humanity was breaking through.

There was a chance.

Inching closer to him, Danielle snarled out, "We don't hurt innocent people. We're not monsters like you! We will never be!" One hand still gripped the glass, while the other now had a hold of the table that sat between them.

Her words didn't phase him though. He kept a calm composure. "You know, it's kinda funny. I used to say the exact same thing to your father." Dan got up and walked up to the counter, but not before turning back to look Danielle directly in the eyes.

"Tell papa Vlad, I said hello."

Oh no, he did not just do that.

When she was sure she was out of Dan's view, Lilith marched up to Izzy as fast as she could before Dan has time to notice and whispered something in her ear.

"How the heck did you know I was..."

Lilith ran back to Danielle, grabbed her and rushed them out of the diner, bolting for home before Izzy could finish her sentence.

Once again by her side, Dan could see Izzy frozen in shock, her mouth wide agape. "Did those two say anything say to you?"

Izzy looked startled and confused when she told Dan what Lilith whispered.

"She said it's a boy.

She looked down to her stomach as she heard a strangled gasp from Dan, which she easily ignored, to caught up in the fact that someone already knew she was pregnant.

"Am I already showing?"

The room was dark when Dani and Lilith arrived in their bedroom. Looking to her sister, the only words Danielle could mutter out was, "What the hell did you just say to her?"

An innocent sadistic smile played on her face."I may have given her a spoiler on one of her future events just to piss Dan off for being an A-hole." The squeal Danielle emitted brought out a laugh of her own.

Grabbing her in a hug, she whispered, "Thanks."

Pulling away from the hug, they settled on the bed. Just because Dan was her uncle did not mean Lilith would stand for he had said. Shrugging out of her outerwear, Danielle stretched to turn on the lamp beside her bed. "Okay and what now?"

That stumped the sixteen year old. She flopped backward, letting the firm mattress catch her as the question played in her head. "Well, I didn't know what Dan was going to do so I just sort of panicked. We should probably not tell mom and dad."

It was a suggestion, but after considering how their dad had reacted to knowing that Dan was still around, they both gave a nod in agreement not to say a word to their parents.

"What do we do now then?"

"Keep an eye on Dan, and as long as he's not doing anything harmful, it's not the worst thing ever. As long as he behaves, we'll be okay." There is the problem of him causing nature react to his presence though. That's a big problem.

"Oh great now we get to play babysitter to a thirty-year-old man. And we gotta make sure dad doesn't go to that diner. I don't care if they fight and dad defeats him, whatever, but something tells me if we let dad anywhere near him around Izzy, they'll be hell to pay."

"Yeah pretty much."

"We need to run!"

"What did you do this time?"

The young man glanced nervously around, holding the door open for the red-headed woman. "Nothing of any importance. I may have just accidentally crossed the wrong wires while eating a meatball sub."

This caused her to jump from her seat, shrieking at the top of her lungs. "How do you cross the wrong wires over a sub!"

He raised his hands in defense, "It was a very good sub, okay?!" Now we have to make it up before the conductor automatically turns on!" He tried to grab her arms, but only caught air.

"How much time do we have before that happens?"

He pondered for a second only. "Oh, I'd say about a minute thirty seconds, if we're lucky."

That was enough for her. Jazz picked up the scrawny man and tossed him over her shoulder. Then she took off, down the steps of the dorm, sprinting at a speed that would rival that of her brother's.

"I can walk you know!"

"And have you trip over your untied shoelaces? I don't think so!"

The stairs blurred below him as she rushed out of the dorm. "How are you even this strong!?" With every step she took, he was rapidly hitting her back, the force of her running making him a limp noodle for the most part. He had to hold back from vomiting on her.

"Well, while you are hazardously shoving meatball subs in your gullet, I regularly hit the gym. I also have a ghost fighting hybrid brother. I have to keep my strength up somehow to protect him."

"Hey I can't help it; I get hungry late at night. All this inventing builds up an appetite. "

"Yeah, and that's why you also get the triple order of mozzarella sticks."

"I like fried battered cheese okay, sue me!"

They were about half a block away from the dorm when they heard the resounding blast. Looking back they saw a blue beam of light come from the top as the building collapsed in on itself.

Roy glanced at Jazz. "We are so not getting our security deposit back."

Catching her breath Jazz muttered, "We're just lucky that nobody was there tonight." Laying on the concrete sideway, Jazz fully lets the air return to her breathless body.

Roy crouched down next to her. His breathing was much clearer than hers, seeing as he was carried out. "Why wasn't anyone there again?"

She cranked her neck sideways to get a better look at her boyfriend. "Free student movie night at the theater." The nighttime air was refreshing as it washed over her.

He nodded in understanding. "Ah yes, a college student's favorite word; free."

"Why do I love you again?"

He offered a shy smile. "Because I can read you like a book and get you chocolate. So that's something."

Rolling her eyes, she lifted herself off the ground, scooching closer to him. "You are such a dork. Eh, but you're my dork."

The sound of thunder boomed as the rain poured on their heads out in the open field. Jazz grabbed him by his graphic tee and pulled him in for what would be their first kiss. Well first kiss in the rain that is.

"So I'm guessing we won't be allowed back here for a while."

Pushing her pointer finger into his chest, she gave him a daring smile. "Lucky for you, I know just the people who have the best lab in all the Midwest."

The two looked at the blue beam that traveled far into the sky. It was hauntingly beautiful as they stood under the pouring clouds that covered the night sky. The utter beauty of the image only made one thing come to mind in the young man.

"Why the heck is it always raining?"

Poor Lilith, the pain she's struggling with knowing Dan is a good person, yet can't say anything. Also, Jazz apparently has meant someone, huh? Gott find out more about him next chapter. Shout out to my beta reader, Silenete Faery. Please read and review.