Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.

Note: Before I start, just fyi I'm still recovering from covid and feel pretty icky but I'm also going a bit stir crazy just resting all the time so since I have a little more energy today I wanted to get this idea out there. Also, this oneshot takes place right after the revised story snippet I helped tidy up with dp-marvel94 which you can find on tumblr, AO3, and here.

Danny Program AU Oneshot: RESET

As expected, Vlad was left with much to think about in light of recent events where he discovered that his Danny Program had become self-aware and even more miraculously was a successful ghost clone of Danny after absorbing their ectoplasmic remains through his projector after the cloning incident. Everything had come full circle because the only reason Vlad decided to clone the real Danny was because of said program since he longed for a son he could embrace and lavish with his love and affection in a way he couldn't before since Daniel did not have the capacity to think for himself back then or return that love. But now he could, or at least, that dream was within reach now as long as Vlad played his cards right...

However, there was still the matter of addressing the emotional abuse Vlad had subjected Daniel to unknowingly for the past several months. Thinking about it now made Vlad sick to his stomach, because had he known sooner then- shaking his head Vlad sighed, No, I can't change the past but I can start making amends to the boy now. I can show my son that I'm a man of my word and will strive to be the father he deserves.

After the real Danny left, Vlad left Daniel's hologram active because they still had many important matters to discuss. He needed to know exactly how much Daniel knew about himself, about his programming and how he has been evolving since the day he first became self-aware. Thankfully, Daniel was all too happy to cooperate now that he could talk freely with his father at long last, just like how they used to-

But, sadly things are never that simple.

"That's about everything I know so far," Daniel admitted, watching his Father carefully type away at his computer. "Does any of that help?"

Vlad nodded, "Of course it does dear boy, the more I understand about you the easier it will be to come up with a strategy to strengthen your developing core and design some sort of device to make it easier for us to interact more since I doubt you want to rely on the projector and cameras forever. Which reminds me-"

Averting his gaze from the worried look on Daniel's face when his tone grew somber Vlad continued, "-Daniel, do you trust me to do what I think is best for you now even if it hurts?"

Daniel paused before answering since he couldn't hide the wave of anxiety that flitted across his face but he nodded and smiled unsurely, placing his hand over Vlad's who instinctively turned it intangible so they could touch, "I know you're not going to do anything to hurt me anymore. I trust you Father. I won't lie and say I'm not kinda scared but there's still so much we don't know, so if there's anything I can do to make it easier for both of us to find out more about what I am then I want to help."

"Thank you, son," Vlad replied, his shoulders sagging slightly in relief as he held his son's hand for a moment before nodding at the screen and continuing.

"At any rate, before we do anything else I need to run a full diagnostic of your program and undo the alterations I made which rendered you immobile during my many...tantrums. I'm not sure how this will effect you so I'll create a backup of the raw data in case anything goes wrong. However, since you are a hybrid between an AI and a ghost I'm sure you're going to feel a bit strange at first, but I promise you my boy I will do my best to make this as painless as possible," Vlad pretended not to notice Daniel's hand trembling slightly in his own as he recalled the memory of when his program was first altered, but regardless he told his father he was ready and braced himself for whatever was about to happen.

To be quite honest, Vlad was more apprehensive about this than Daniel was about this because a part of him was afraid of destroying Daniel by mistake or corrupting his program beyond repair because for the first time in twenty years, Vlad was faced with something entirely beyond his normal scope of understanding. Daniel's very existence was nothing short of a miracle, something Vlad was a fool not to have seen much sooner because he could have spared them both a great deal of pain and suffering, and it called into question just how 'human' so to speak the boy really was or could become when all is said and done.

How much will Daniel have to still rely on his programming? How much of Daniel's genetic makeup is no more than a frail blob ghost right now who had been born spontaneously thanks to the failed clones ectoplasm fusing itself into his program? There was only one way to find out and they both knew it might be a painful process.

However, Vlad had no desire to harm his son more than he already had and risk the boy abandoning him too as Dani had. He refused to let that happen. But that said, would Daniel forgive him if he tried to secretly write something into his code as a fail-safe to prevent him from leaving him? Is believing in his love really so difficult after so many disappointments in the past?

The only answer Vlad needed to those questions came when Daniel gave his hand another gentle squeeze, his smile uncertain but honest and loving as if to tell Vlad that no matter what happened, he would be forgiven. That helped strengthen Vlad's resolve and so they began the process of resetting Daniel's system settings to the state it was in before he tampered with it.

Before they began Vlad attempted to put Daniel in a sleep mode of sorts but this was only a temporary fix to the problem with removing the new command prompts and such to his program. He had to keep Daniel active to see if what he was doing hurt the boy, and sadly it did so the process was like breaking a bone in order to reset it so it could heal properly. Vlad hated making such a crude comparison, but it couldn't be helped...

Even so, Vlad meticulously made sure to reset everything back to exactly how he remembered it, resisting the urge to make improvements because no...his son was already perfect just the way he is. Daniel's love for him is almost painfully sincere, innocent, and unwavering. And the more Vlad was exposed to that love, the more exposed his own flaws became as a father. And what kind of father or any parent for that matter can stand to watch their child in pain?

As soon as it was over, for a moment Vlad panicked when Daniel opened his eyes and they looked just as empty and devoid of emotion as he did the many times he had hurled insults and attacks at the boy. Gently cupping his face in both hands, Vlad called out to Daniel, pleading, worried he had made a mistake somewhere and had damaged an important file or something along those lines.

But then, much to his relief Daniel began in a monotone voice- "Restoration at 79%" and he began counting from there until he reached 100%. As soon as that happened, the light returned to Daniel's eyes and he blinked, glancing up at his Father's worried face staring down at him completely intangible.

He felt a bit...groggy if that was any way to describe the feeling, but even so he smiled and asked, "Father? Um, did it work? I kinda feel there's more of a weight to my chest, but I'm not sure if that's normal or-oof!"

Without warning Vlad embraced him tightly and gasped, "Oh thank god, for a second I thought something was wrong with you my boy! You were acting strangely. But it's over now, you're back exactly the way you should be."

Patting his back Daniel laughed tiredly, "Well, yeah I should hope so because I thought the whole point of doing this was to figure out what that even means! But in all seriousness I do feel a lot better now. Or, at least I don't feel as incomplete as before at any rate. So, what's next?"

"I think that's quite enough for today," Vlad replied, reluctantly pulling away and stroking back some of Daniel's soft white hair, "It's been a long day for both of us and I'm sure the two of us can both use the rest. Still, I'm glad I was able to at least do this much for you, Daniel, because now you shouldn't have to worry about being compelled to do anything you don't want to anymore. We'll take things slowly from here and figure out the rest later."

"Alright," Daniel nodded, still smiling and leaning into his father's warm touch. "Thank you father. I finally feel like...this is where the real fresh starts begins for us...as a family."

"Yes," Vlad smiled in return, resting his forehead against Daniel's as his eyes fluttered closed again as another wave of exhaustion swept over him from relief as well as his need to recover in a more literal sense from the system surgery he had undergone. "We are a family so I promise you I won't make the same mistake twice. As your father, I will do everything in my power to protect you from harm no matter what it takes from this moment on. So please, rest easy, my child...I'll always be here for you and won't let you suffer alone like that anymore."

As soon as Vlad was certain Daniel was fast asleep, he shut off the protector and teleported straight to his room to finally sleep in a proper bed, for once in his life feeling as if he had accomplished something meaningful. And as he closed his eyes, Vlad finally felt he had earned the right to start dreaming of their new life together...

A life as father...and son.