Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Note: As you may know, I deleted this story along with it's sequel "Dirge" after some close friends ditched me during a really bad time for me and didn't even bother to get the full story (ironic) but someone recently reached out to me in a PM and made me realize I shouldn't let people like that ruin things for me. I shouldn't give them that much control over my life. So you know what? I'm going to revise this story to salvage the parts of it that I still enjoy despite dealing with such judgmental pricks who clearly can't separate fact from fiction and assume the worst of you no matter what you say to prove otherwise.

And if you don't like it, don't read it. Nobody is forcing you. Either way, the lesson here is don't be a jerk and poison things for other people just because you have your own issues and any toxic reviews WILL be deleted from now on so keep that shit to yourself. As for the rest of you, enjoy the revival of this fanfic and the slow reintroduction of my fanart later on.

Chapter 1: Obsession

Danielle's POV

At first, I thought this whole vacation thing was going to be stupid and boring but hey, at least it meant I'd get a few days off of school right? And the only reason we were even here is because Jason -my nosy older brother- just had to open his big mouth and tell mom and dad that they should try to share more about their past so we could relate more about what I'm going through or whatever. What they don't know was that it's mainly ghost fighting that's been getting in the way of EVERYTHING lately...

My grades were in the toilet, I'm almost always coming home late, I kept falling asleep in class, it's getting pretty bad. But I'm still doing my best to deal with it. I have to.

Besides I'm still getting used to having these ghost powers and hiding them from everyone, including my parents, which is still a bit hard to do when their anti-ghost inventions have this bad habit of misfiring at the worse times. It's only thanks to their one-track minds that my parents haven't already noticed I'm half-ghost and dissected me. Then again if it isn't about ghosts they hardly notice anything except for what's right in front of them.

That, and everything I do wrong...

Go figure.

Anyways, after hearing more about dad's old college buddy Vlad Masters and finding out he had an accident similar to mine, my heart really went out to the poor guy. That must have hurt like hell. He's just lucky that didn't make him half-ghost too. Thankfully it sounded like Mr. Masters eventually recovered from his ecto-acne so he probably turned out pretty normal after that.

Lucky him. I could only imagine what he looked like after hearing that story. And Jason had clearly heard of him before, but as for me I had absolutely no idea what to expect. A part of me even wondered if Vlad's secretly still mad at dad for hurting him by mistake all those years ago. Because if he was, this was going to be a really awkward visit...

The moment Vlad Masters stepped out of the shadows and I saw him for the first time, my heart gave a little thump and I blushed. Oh, wow...talk about a silver fox.

Thankfully no one else seemed to notice my reaction after Vlad graciously ushered us inside and 'accidentally' ended up shutting my dad out. Lovely, so I guess it isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows after all. Either way, I tried to distract myself from the obvious tension between those two by looking around at the foyer of his huge mansion slash castle, but Jason was the first to point out all the green and gold decor. I noticed it too, but it really wasn't as gaudy as he was making it out to be.

Guess Jason was still in a pretty bad mood after the ecto goop incident yesterday, I thought as I rolled my eyes at his comment and pointed out the obvious them Vlad had going, "Jason hello? Football helmets, jersey's, cheese-heads? He's a Packer's fanatic!" I smirked, crossing my arms.

My smile faded though when Vlad suddenly ruffled my hair affectionately in response to my brilliant observation. Thank GOD I wasn't facing him because I turned beat red when he did that and it took all of my willpower to not reflexively turn intangible since this was beyond embarrassing. The contact was brief, but his hand felt so warm, almost unnaturally so and I couldn't figure out why I was getting so flustered around this guy. I can't put my finger on it, but the moment I saw Vlad something about him felt...almost otherworldly, dark, and mysterious.

I felt drawn to him somehow.

I also thought it was kinda funny when Vlad childishly blew up at Jason after he asked Vlad why he hadn't bought the Packers team itself because he literally couldn't and snickered. But then I noticed Vlad flirting with our mom which was pretty weird or maybe I was being stupid and reading too much into it. At least he still seemed to care about my mom despite what my dad did to him which is a relief. I tried asking Jason if he noticed it too, but he just blew me off.

Gee, thanks you jerk, I sighed. I don't know why you're mad at me when it's partially your fault we're here in the first place. It's not like I want to be here either.

After that, things got a little uncomfortable again after I pointed out a signed football that Vlad seemed very proud of and dad -not reading the room as usual- tackled him out of the blue. He was only trying to be funny, but it only made Vlad angry. For a minute there I thought we were going to get kicked out before this reunion even started, which sucked since now I actually had a reason to want to stay. I wanted to get to know Vlad more because...we had something in common.

Thankfully things worked out and Vlad even offered to let us stay IN his castle! I was beyond excited about that because did NOT want to spend another night crammed in the RV again if I could help it. The last thing I wanted to do was go back to Amity Park without at least learning something about my parents during this trip. And if I got to hang out with such a cool rich guy, all the better.

Vlad's POV

Everything was going according to plan once Jack accepted my offer to stay within the confines of my castle, unknowingly making himself an easier target. However, I must say that while I was delighted to see my dear Maddie for the first time in years I was taken aback by how quickly I had taken a liking to her youngest daughter Danielle. I've been keeping tabs on the Fenton's over the years while plotting my revenge and knew she had a daughter and an older son, but my ultimate goal was always to win Maddie's heart and destroy Jack so I've never actually seen her children up close.

The moment I saw young Danielle with her long raven black hair, fair skin, and sky blue eyes, I could only admire how much she took after her mother despite the similar hair and eye color which was more like her father's. Danielle's bashful reactions earlier were rather adorable as well so I couldn't help but treat her affectionately after she showed an interest in my Packer's collection. It's not often you meet a young lady who is even remotely aware of most sports teams, let alone football, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Still, I had much bigger things to worry about such as getting rid of a certain fat oaf who's standing in the way of winning back the love of my life. That's why that very same night I put the first phase of my plan into motion by sending my vultures after Jack as soon as he was well out of earshot of Maddie and haphazardly made his way to the nearest restroom. I made sure to put them in a room that didn't include one like most of the others in the castle which is a rather childish ploy, I know, but effective. I was surprised though when I sensed the presence of another ghost and Jack suddenly phased through the floor right before my eyes.

What on earth? I wondered since my vultures weren't responsible for this, they weren't that astute in their methods...

Intrigued, I continued to observe the situation when my eyes widened as none other than the infamous ghost girl of Amity Park phased up through the floor and appeared behind them. Her stunning white hair almost glowing even brighter in the moonlight as it floated around and bathed her slender shoulders; a coy smile decorating her face as she lightly punched the palm of her other hand, clearly intent on fighting my underlings. Then she asked them if they remembered her, and oh yes, they certainly did, but honestly, it isn't hard to frighten those feather brains...

I too remember the three of them returned to me to complain about Dani Phantom stopping them the last time I sent them after Jack, which mildly irritated me at the time, but now it seems rather odd she went this far out of her way to track them. After all, her territory is Amity Park itself that she fights rather diligently to defend for whatever reason which is beyond me. As for the present my vultures fled soon after seeing her again that's because they understand that I am the one they should really be afraid of. They had failed me again and now it was up to me to clean up their mess.

As I examined the ghost girl more closely, I couldn't help but feel there was something oddly familiar about her so I decided to investigate this further before revealing myself right away. The naive child assumed I was just like any other ghost she's faced and it was rather amusing to see her fruitlessly put everything she had into her attacks in the vain hope of besting me. It was obvious that the foolish girl was outmatched, but even so, she seemed both awed and confused by my presence, not to mention bewildered when I revealed to her that I've already heard all about her, the ghost girl who calls herself a hero and fights her own kind to defend humans.

Very unusual behavior for a ghost I must say.

She also seemed morbidly curious about me too which made it easy to coax her into following me into the library so I had more room to maneuver when I decided to have some fun and see how strong this 'hero' really was. Sadly, she was no match for me, as expected. But still, I didn't see the point in destroying her so I decided to spare the foolish child. And as long as she didn't get in my way again I had no reason to.

Besides, ghost or not Dani Phantom is still a lady and I make it a point not to treat them too roughly unless they deserve it. It wasn't long before I defeated the inexperienced hero and sent her flying through the opposite wall, her body battered and bruised...

I followed after her soon after, planning to have my vulture's drop Dani Phantom off somewhere outside where she couldn't interfere again, but paused when I saw her glowing green eyes flutter weakly and then she completely lost consciousness. The moment this happened, my own eyes widened in shock as a familiar ring of light appeared at her waist similar to my own transformation that split in two only to reveal Jack and Maddie's daughter, Danielle, lying sprawled on the floor with her sleek black hair pooled all around her.

I was taken aback by this sudden development and mused thoughtfully, "The ghost girl...is Jack's daughter?"

Oh, this opportunity is too perfect to pass up, I thought, thrilled by the unexpected discovery.

And as I stared at the unconscious teenager laying at my feet, the original intention behind why I lured Jack and his family here changed dramatically. While it's true that I will always love Maddie, but revealing my secret to her is out of the question. She'd despise me as she despises all ghosts, but with Danielle, that was another matter entirely. I didn't necessarily want romantic love. What I wanted more than anything...was to be loved and accepted for who I am. And if this girl is like me then perhaps we could become something special to one another that far surpasses any other.

Don't get me wrong, I STILL wanted Jack dead. But honestly, so long as he's pushed out of the picture of obtaining the family that should have rightfully been mine, I could entertain the idea of letting him live. Especially since murdering Danielle's father wasn't going to do me any favors or help me gain her trust. Either way, I had a choice to make...

Option one was to go through with my plans to humiliate Jack and destroy his reputation -as pitiful as it already is- as Plasmius, risking alienating her if she found out I was behind the whole thing. So the safer and more realistic option would be for me to wait a while longer to enact my revenge and instead make Danielle an offer she can't refuse. Whatever I decided to do however, I wanted Danielle to remain by my side from now on where she would be safe and I could teach her everything I knew about being half-ghost. It was far better than learning the hard way how powerless she'd be without my help if tonight's battle is anything to judge by...

Kneeling down after changing back to my human form, I deftly lifted Danielle into my arms and her head rolled until it came to a rest against my chest and I could hear her breathing softly. Now I understood why I felt this connection between us from the moment we met. She's the same as me and had likely suffered the same feeling of isolation as I did when I became half-ghost, knowing no one will ever understand what those changes did to us. The poor girl's clearly trying to make the most of it, to find a purpose for those powers, but she's clearly still stumbling blindly through the dark trying to figure out how to control them and how to defend herself.

I could guide her though, and together we would truly become a force to be reckoned with! With that in mind, I gently carried Danielle back to her room and tucked her into bed. After brushing some hair out of her face, smiling as I leaned over her as if sealing a promise I pressed my lips to Danielle's forehead and whispered, "Don't worry, you're not alone anymore, my dear. You will never be alone again."

Danielle's POV

Tossing and turning in a fitful sleep, I shivered when I heard a familiar voice whisper to me eerily, "Don't worry, you're not alone anymore, my dear. You will never be alone again."

"N-no! Get away!" I yelped, unsettled by the possessive tone of their voice, suddenly throwing the covers off of my head and breathing heavily.

Wait, covers? I blinked slowly as the guest room I was staying in came back into focus, How the heck did I get back to bed? Was that whole fight...a dream?

Wincing, I reached up and felt a large bump on the back of my head from when that Dracula-reject threw me against a wall. When it throbbed and I realized, nope, all that was real. Thankfully most of my wounds were already all healed up thanks to my powers as usual, which is good since no one would ask me any weird questions, but I was still very confused by one thing-

Why did that ghost spare me...?

Either way, after looking around in a bewildered daze while probably looking like a total idiot, I suddenly heard Vlad's voice from the other side of the door before it creaked open. He seemed genuinely worried about me when he asked what happened so I hastily told him I must have had a bad dream or something. Too bad it was actually a memory of getting my ass handed to me earlier, at least partially anyway.

For some reason though, I suddenly felt the urge to elaborate and sighed heavily, "The truth is...I haven't been sleeping well lately in general. Too much stress from school or something I guess. I just...I'm trying to do well in my classes, but my parents are always telling me my grades have to be as good as my brother Jason's so they get so mad at me if I get anything below an A! But not everyone is a freaking genius like he is! I wish they would just...back off a bit, you know? I'm doing the best I can but it's never good enough..."

Looking at me sympathetically, Vlad sat on the edge of my bed and smiled at me while resting a hand on my shoulder he kindly offered, "Would you like to talk about it, my dear? I'd be more than happy to listen to your troubles if it will help in some way since I know what it's like to have no one to confide in. And from the sound of it, the person you usually go to is actually part of the problem."

Blushing, I looked away and stammered, "N-no, it's fine. I shouldn't have said anything about it in the first place. It's not fair to dump all that on someone I just met. Sorry I woke you up..."

Vlad nodded, "Well, you certainly sounded distressed earlier so I believe you when you say you've been feeling restless. But no harm no foul my dear. And my offer still stands if you ever need to talk to someone while you're here. For now though, perhaps it's best if we wait until tomorrow to talk so you can get try to get some rest."

After that, he gently eased me back into bed, pulling the blanket back up over me which only made me blush harder since I can't even remember the last time my parents tucked me in like this. Then Vlad smiled warmly and while brushing my hair back so it wasn't in my face, he calmly reassuring me, "Don't worry, I'm sure things will get better for you soon. I promise. Sleep tight...little badger."

"T-thanks," I whispered shyly and almost too quietly to hear, my heart racing and my voice sounding high pitched as I internally started to scream.

Oh my god! I could die from the embarrassment alone right now! Why did I let him tuck me in like that like it's no big deal? I'm not a baby! And what's with that nickname...? I wondered, watching as Vlad left the room and closed the door behind him, completely unaware that before this trip was over...I'd have another ghost besides Skulker looking to claim me as some sort of 'prize.'