Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Note: To "Snow32Lily" I'll take the short-chapters comment as a compliment since I'm happy you seem to want to read more of this fanfic, but in response to some of the other recent reviews could you guys...maybe tone it down a bit? Remember, I deleted the original version of this story and it's sequel from the site because I got tired of people giving me grief about my 'mature themes' and how I was writing this and we're very lucky I had enough self-restraint not to delete all of my backup files too when I was upset about the whole mess because then there would be nothing left for me to revise.

I know that's not what you're doing but just, be gentle with me, ok? I'm basically taking the time to tidy up these chapters one by one to give them back to you, removing and adding things so the story still flows nicely. But hey, since the chapter's are already pretty much already written that means I can get them out faster! Speaking of which, since I cut out a huge chunk out of the beginning of this chapter I just merged it with part of the next one to make up the difference so it's a bit longer anyway. Might have to with a couple of these moving forward anyway.

Chapter 5: Isolation

Danielle's POV

The first thing I'm going to do when I see Vlad again is suck him into a Fenton Thermos and throw it off the nearest cliff for good measure. Maybe that'll finally get rid of that damn fruitloop, I thought darkly after finally waking up again and forcing myself to get out of bed despite how heavy and lethargic I felt.

I had to get my parents back on my side about this whole thing being a stupid idea since I could just as easily rest at home too or hell, in a hospital bed if that'll make them feel better. Anywhere would be better than here. Besides, it was more than a little unsettling that I didn't have the strength to run away from here even if things went south again. After that, I just had to worry about convince them that Vlad's been lying to them about everything and is nothing but a manipulative asshole.

If Vlad seriously thought for one second I was going to sit back while he treated me like some fairytale princess he could keep locked up in the tower of his castle without fighting back, he clearly skipped the chapter where I saved myself and drop-kicked him out the window of said tower. As far as literally fighting back, I was in no shape to do that since I felt so weak I had to lean against the wall for support as I slowly made my way downstairs hoping to find my parents. Despite the lingering stomach pain, I somehow managed to find the strength to at least get halfway down the hall before I stopped dead in my tracks-

And before you even ask, no, it's not because I was about to faint or anything like that, it's because I could see Vlad up ahead rounding the corner. Instinctively, I tried to turn invisible, but instead I just wound up flickering instead so I gave up on that idea. Not knowing what else to do, I turned around to glance behind me, knowing I probably wouldn't be able to make it back to the bedroom without being spotted and decided the only thing I could do was stand my ground and face him.

Well, so to speak since I was leaning pretty heavily against the wall.

It was cool to the touch and it felt wonderful. My skin was so unbearably hot that any small relief from the fever was welcome and leaning against the wall made me feel a little better at least. I gasped though when I unconsciously tried to become a little too close to the wall and began to phase right through it. Just as I stumbled and tried to catch myself, I felt a sharp tug on my arm as Vlad pulled me back out and I crashed into his broad chest as he freed me from the confines of the wall.

Before I could so much as look at him, Vlad raised an eyebrow and asked in a half-serious tone, "And just where do you think you're going, young lady? You should be resting."

Glaring up at him I snapped, "Where do you think? I want to go talk to my parents without you putting any other stupid ideas in their heads."

"Now now, don't be like that," Vlad chided with some amusement. "Besides, I'm afraid you're already too late. They just left a few minutes ago..."

I blinked, sure that I heard him wrong, and argued, "Left? What do you mean left? They wouldn't just leave me here without saying goodbye!"

Using what little strength I had left, I shoved him away, panting from the effort, and demanded, "What did you do to them!? Did you overshadow them to make sure they'd leave before I woke up? Tell me!"

Smiling, Vlad stepped towards me and without missing a beat explained, "As I said, all I had to do was promise to care for you as if you were my own and they happily entrusted me with the task of nursing you back to health. Overshadowing them was hardly necessary. Even I'm shocked by how easy it was, to be honest. Jack and Maddie really are terribly inconsiderate people when it comes to their children. Even your brother gave me his blessings."

Swallowing hard, dreading the answer I backed away and said with as much bravado as I could muster, "You...you already drugged me and trapped me here, but what else do you have planned for me? What the hell did I ever do to you to deserve any of this!? You can't keep me here forever you asshole!"

I expected him to move towards me and get angry about what I said, but he didn't and sighed heavily instead as he replied, "That language is really unbecoming of you, little badger so I do wish you would learn how to restrain yourself. But as I said before I am no monster. True, I do have big plans for you now that I know you and I are one and the same as half-ghost hybrids, but I have no intention of keeping you here against your will permanently.

"That said, I do wish to get to know you better without...needless distractions. That's why I resorted to such drastic measures but I do apologize for making you ill. It was not my intention to do so and was a rather unfortunate side effect. Rest assured, it will not happen again."

Closing the distance between us, I flinched when Vlad reached up with his hand and placed it gently against my forehead so he could check my temperature again and he frowned when he noticed it hadn't gone down at all. Meanwhile, I was still trying to process the fact that my parents...they really just left me here with Vlad without bothering to stay long enough to say goodbye. I knew there was a chance that Vlad was lying, but unfortunately, at the same time that sort of thing actually wasn't as far-fetched as you'd think.

I can think of several times where my parents left me somewhere and didn't even notice I was missing at first. Like this one time we went to the park when I was seven or eight and one of their ghost radars went off so they packed up our picnic in a hurry and jumped into the RV without me. Speaking of seven year old me, I was high up in a tree at the time pretending to be an Amazonian warrior deep in the jungle and by the time I finally climbed down they were long gone. I searched all over the parking lot for the RV with no luck and started crying after sitting back down in the grass, hugging my knees.

I tried waiting for them to come back since I was told to stay in the same spot to avoid getting lost like a good girl. But then I started getting scared when it started to get dark since they told me that's when most ghosts liked to come out to attack people. To prove I was a big girl though, I buried my fear, put on a brave face, and stubbornly decided to try walking back home by myself. I didn't make it very far because about twenty minutes later, Jason finally found me and gave me a big hug, telling me he'd been looking for me for about an hour after getting home from some club thing.

The moment I realized I was safe now that my big brother was there, I started crying again and couldn't see where I was going as he quietly led me by the hand back to the house which wasn't as far from the park as I thought it was. But the worst part of all that was...even once we DID make it back home, my parents were so busy complaining over not being able to find the ghost they detected that Jason marched over and kicked my dad in the foot since he was so mad that they left me behind. Then he wordlessly led me back upstairs to his room and let me hug his favorite teddy bear until I felt better. That's when Jason promised that he would make sure this never happened again.

As for mom and dad, they didn't find out what happened until the next day when they came to ask Jason what he was so angry about and saw that he let me sleep with him that night. The damage was done, but they did feel bad about it and promised not to let it happen again either. But that too turned out to be another lie...

A few years later, when I was twelve, my parents were invited to this paranormal convention where a bunch of people who claimed to have either seen ghosts or were other 'expert' ghost hunters supposedly, they packed up as fast as they could and booked the next flight out to where it was being held. By then, I was used to them ignoring me when I asked where they were going, and my brother, oh Jason was livid when he came home and found the note telling us they'd gone out of town and that Mrs. Peterson from down the street was going to watch us for the next three days.

Jason was so mad about it that he called the number they left us and asked if he could stay at a friend's house instead and threatened to just live there from now on they dismissively agreed. But since my friends were both out of town, I had to stay home by myself until our babysitter showed up. Thankfully Mrs. Peterson was a nice lady who honestly made the most amazing cookies I've ever tasted in my life that I actually got to enjoy fresh before dad could eat them all, but that's beside the point...

The point is, this isn't the first time I've been left behind.

Thinking about all of that and how this situation was even worse because Vlad isn't just anyone, he's half-ghost like me and very dangerous. I didn't notice that I'd slipped into a fevered daze again and was hardly aware of my surroundings anymore let alone who was in front of me. That's when I started feeling like that scared little girl I was, the one who was left at the park, and started crying as soon as Vlad pulled his hand away from my forehead, surprised.

Wiping my eyes with the back of my arm, I sniffled and begged, "Don't leave me behind. Please..."

Confused, Vlad asked, "What on earth are you talking about Danielle?"

My glossy eyes peering up at him as my arm fell and another choked sob escaped my lips as I muttered over and over with the steady flow of tears running down my cheeks, "I don't understand, what did I do wrong...? Why do they keep leaving me behind? Mom...dad...why won't you look at me? Why am I not good enough for you?"

Wordlessly, Vlad guided me back to the bedroom and had the good sense not to startle me by trying to carry me there bridal style. Not that it mattered at this point since I wasn't exactly lucid anymore. And honestly, when I woke up a few hours later I didn't even remember saying any of this.

Vlad did though.

He remembered every word that bubbled up from deep inside of me in a fit of delirium. I could only hope I didn't tell him anything too personal or embarrassing. Still, I have to admit, Vlad actually did do a pretty good job of taking care of me while I was acting so weird. I guess he knew better than to try messing with me while I was so out of it and couldn't process even half of what he said to me. But, at least Vlad was taking responsibility and looking after me since it was his fault I was like this. If I had been paying attention at all, maybe I would have noticed he looked legitimately worried as he tucked me into bed, placing a cooling towel on my forehead.

Too bad that wasn't enough to make up for basically trapping me here.

As soon as I woke up after talking to Vlad, I tried to remember exactly what happened. Because the last thing that I remember clearly was when Vlad pulled me out of the wall after I tried to phase through it by accident. To tell you the truth I half expected to wake up to Vlad watching me sleep like a vampire lurking in the shadows, but when I looked around the room all I found was a note on the dresser next to me written in fancy handwriting telling me to stay hydrated, to call if I needed anything, and that he'd be stopping by soon to see if I was up to eating anything yet...

There was medicine sitting next to a water bottle too, but I didn't trust any of it. For all I knew Vlad was going to poison me slowly to keep me sick so I'd be stuck here even longer. So instead I dumped the water down the drain in the bathroom sink and flushed the medicine down the toilet. I was pretty thirsty though so I refilled the water bottle since I figured the tap was safe. But I nearly choked because of how fast I was drinking to sooth my parched throat.

I later regretted not taking the medicine because my stomach hurt so much. But it was still better than letting Vlad drug me again though. Besides, at least my powers were back so if push came to shove I could probably get out of here somehow and start making my way home. It was too late to stop my parents from leaving since I fell asleep not long after Vlad led me back to my room but-

What's the point...? I suddenly thought bitterly, staring blankly out the window after climbing back into bed. Vlad's right...they left me behind again like I meant nothing to them. Even Jason fell for his act and was all too happy to leave me too.

Taking a deep breath, I mentally shook my head and thought, No, think Dani, Vlad said he's not going to keep me here forever, just until I get better. So if I can keep him from drugging me again then it won't take too long, right? Stress or not, my ghost powers tend to patch me up pretty fast. I just need to get through a few days at most and then I'll be in the clear. Hopefully.

Making up my mind, I looked up at the nearest clock and scowled since it was already almost time for Vlad's next visit. I wasn't ready to see him, but it wasn't like I had much of a choice. With a sigh since I had a feeling he was going to make me eat with him in the dining room, I got out of bed and started looking for something to wear, wondering if my parents even left the stuff I packed for this stupid trip. Shaking my head again, I stopped rummaging through the drawers and looked out the window again at the night sky peeking through the curtains and automatically walked over to it and pulled them back so I could see the stars.

You could see so many of them here, far from the city, even from between the thin wisps of cloud floating by. Watching them helped calm my nerves as I lazily traced a line with my finger to make as many constellations as I could see from here, forgetting what I was even doing before getting distracted. I jerked in surprise when there was a knock on the door but I otherwise didn't move a muscle.

I was hoping that maybe if I didn't answer he'd think I was still asleep and would go away on his own. Sadly, I had no such luck as Vlad quietly opened the door with one hand while balancing a tray of food in the other. I stared at him, dumbfounded, thinking Doesn't he have like, maids for that sort of thing?

Then again, Vlad probably only has people come clean his castle every once in a while to avoid anyone accidentally stumbling across his lab or discovering he's half-ghost by accident. Or maybe he had ghost maids instead but took them off duty to take care of me personally. That made a lot more sense and I resisted the urge to snicker imagining those three vulture ghosts ACTUALLY acting like feather dusters to clean this place...

Noticing I was up and about already, Vlad smiled, closing the door behind him and said, "It's good to see you again, little badger. You had me worried. I trust you're feeling better now?"

In response all I did was shrug indifferently and replied bluntly, "I've been better. And don't call me that..."

Glancing at the water bottle, Vlad saw that the medicine was gone too and seemed pleased that I'd taken it on my own without putting up a fuss. Only I hadn't and my stomach still hurt like hell, but I did my best not to look like I was still in any pain. The food on the other hand was going to be a little bit harder to get rid of without Vlad noticing even if he left it behind for me to eat without an audience and I won't lie...it smelled amazing, whatever it was. Assuming of course that Vlad wasn't going to watch me finish every single bite to make sure I wasn't starving myself.

"Yes well, the medicine will take about a half an hour or so to begin working but that should help with the stomach pain. As for the rest, you'll need to get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids to help the fever will go down. As such, I'll need to check your temperature once you've finished eating too," Vlad explained casually as if it wasn't a big deal and he did this all the time which only irritated me more.

I tried to play it cool, but my head and my stomach hurt so everything Vlad did kept pissing me off. Sighing heavily, knowing Vlad would insist that I get back into bed either way, I shut the curtains and climbed back under the covers, grimacing slightly when it unsettled my stomach. While I was busy doing that Vlad pulled up a chair beside me and waited for me to get settled in before setting the tray on my lap. On it was one of those fancy dinner platters with a domed lid which he lifted to reveal a hot bowl of soup, only it wasn't just chicken noodle, it was-

"Let me guess," I began, narrowing my eyes at Vlad suspiciously. "Jason told you this is my favorite thing to eat when I'm sick, didn't he?"

With a soft chuckle, Vlad nodded. "Guilty as charged. Now eat up while it's still hot."

Rolling my eyes I asked mockingly, "You're not going to try spoon feeding me are you?"

I expected Vlad to get annoyed and say no, but I blushed when he leaned closer to me and asked impishly, "Would you like me to, my dear?"

"Oh my god no! Don't say such creepy things! " I snapped, picking up the spoon and without thinking I nearly stuffed a spoonful of the blazing hot cheesy-potato soup in my mouth when he laid his hand over mine to stop me and I froze.

"Relax Danielle, I was only teasing. And please do be careful, I don't want you to burn your tongue," Vlad warned mildly before slowly pulling his hand away again.

"Fine, I'll just wait til it cools off then," I replied stubbornly and dropped the spoon back into the bowl with a clatter and crossed my arms over my stomach, which was starting to hurt even more because the food smelled so good and truth be told I was freaking starving.

Feeling unsure of myself, I looked over at Vlad who was acting as calm and self-assured as ever despite my stubborn behavior, and before I could think better of it I asked him seriously, "What is your deal anyway? One minute you're cackling like a mad super-villain and the next you're being all polite and nice to me. Why? I know you promised you wouldn't hurt my family unless they got in your way but...I still don't understand. What do you get out of any of this? Sure we're both half-ghost, but we're VERY different when it comes to how we use our powers. I can't really see us getting along at all after that shit you pulled during the reunion. I'm not-"

Lowering my voice, I muttered mostly to myself, "I don't want to be disappointed again."

"Do you really want to know the truth?" Vlad asked giving me this...strange look that was like a mixture of sympathy and longing and it made me uncomfortable. But yeah, I did want to know so I nodded.

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, or more likely to weave another convincing lie, Vlad set the food tray aside after replacing the lid so it wouldn't dry out then instead of telling me what he was after Vlad asked, "Let me ask you something first Danielle. Exactly how long have you been neglected by your parents? Because earlier you confessed some things to me in a fit of delirium and I find myself genuinely concerned for your safety and the stability of your current living situation.

"My dear girl, you have no idea how much I identify with your plight. I may have been older than you when my DNA was...altered, but I too had no one to turn to either when I discovered what I was since your parents had left me to rot in that hospital for years without so much as giving me a phone call. Considering what happened that day though, I was a bit more willing to forgive your mother since she tried to warn Jack that the calculations for the proto-portal we were testing were incorrect.

"But after seeing how poorly she treated you, her own beloved daughter, I must confess that Maddie's blatant disregard for your thoughts and feelings absolutely appalled me. I expected it from your father, but not her. When I invited your family here, my original plan was to get revenge on Jack for what he did to me and convince your mother to leave him for someone better suited to the task of taking care of her and her children, but then I met you and discovered your secret and everything changed."

"Ok...? So you found out I'm half-ghost and now you want me to leave my family so you can adopt me? Is that it?" I scoffed.

Giving him a long hard look, I continued, "Well, I hate to break it to you but that's never going to happen and that's no excuse for what you did to me! You said you didn't want to hurt me, but you did, in more ways than one. I thought you were a really cool guy at first and it was nice feeling like I finally had someone on my side. But now I don't want anything to do with you. You're just another adult like the rest of them who does whatever the hell he wants and doesn't care about my feelings or who I am. It's all about you, about what you want, which makes you no better than my parents."

"Danielle," Vlad whispered in that same possessive tone as before that made me shiver again. "I know I lied to you, but I AM better than your parents because unlike them, I know EXACTLY what you're going through, my dear. The changes caused by your ghost half, the uncertainty about your future, the feeling of abandonment, I understand it all painfully well. That's why I deemed it necessary to isolate you here with me so we could get to know one another better and to prevent you from going right back into such a horrible situation where your own parents are hunting you! I can help you if you'll let me. Because it breaks my heart to see you cry, little badger."

Unable to respond to that, I watched silently as Vlad stood up from his chair and walked over to the same window I was looking out before and continued somberly, "I'll admit I failed to take certain...aspects of your physiology into account when I decided to sedate you with that new drug, but everything else has been your parents doing. It's painfully obvious they're neglecting you, Danielle. And surely, deep down, you must realize this. I've made some mistakes as well, it's true, however, I truly mean you no harm.

"In fact, I want to protect you because while Jack and Maddie are your parents, I know them far better than you do it seems. I know their dark side. And it's clear to me that their attempts to 'get closer to you' during this trip was all just for show and they never considered either of us as anyone important to them. I may not have any children of my own, but even I can safely say it was unfair of them to favor one child and disregard the other. Your brother agrees with me on this and told me he just wants you to be happy too and to take better care of yourself. So I'm only here to help you achieve this and much more."

"Happy?" I asked, my hands shaking. "Do you think any of this makes me happy?! I was forced to come here! And now I'm being forced to STAY here! No one asked me what I want because they never do! No one gives a damn about my feelings! Especially you!"

A tense silence fell between us before Vlad shocked me when he replied in a deadly serious tone, "You're wrong."

"What?" I asked, looking up at him. Then I noticed how his eyes lit up as he strolled over to me, sat down beside me on the bed, and before I could ask what he thought he was doing, Vlad hugged me close.

It's amazing how much you can tell about a person from just a hug. Because unlike before when his embrace felt possessive, this one felt...gentler, sincere, and somehow very lonely like he didn't want to let go. And there it was again, this feeling of longing, because despite knowing in my head I should struggle or shove him away it was almost like I was starved for human contact too and melted into his arms. My heart was still racing and I was so confused.

Is this another one of his tricks? I wasn't sure but for some reason right now I didn't care. It's been so long since anyone hugged me, even Jason, and my dad's hugs were always so stiff and felt more like he was about to crush the life out of me and break my spine. But this? Vlad's embrace felt so tender and loving that I-

"I love you, Danielle," Vlad suddenly whispered in my ear, making my brain flat-line. "I can't lose you, I can't. I don't want to be alone anymore either."

Wait, did I just hear that right? Did Vlad just say he...loves me? But he doesn't...even know me? I barely even know myself anymore so how can he-

Pulling back, I stared at Vlad wide-eyed as he suddenly realized what he had said and coughed into his fist, blushing, "I...forgive me, I got a bit carried away. Just forget what I said. Please excuse me."

And with that, Vlad practically fled from the room in a swirl of pink ecto-energy while I sat there too stunned to move. I could still feel the afterglow of his warmth like a brand burned into my skin, and somehow it felt familiar, like something I thought I'd never feel again. That's when I knew for sure all this wasn't just a silly game to Vlad.

He was serious about making me his daughter, desperately.

Desperately enough to do anything to make sure that happens.