Author's Note: Thought or Emphasis; Flashback; Thought or Emphasis in Flashback

I don't own Danny Phantom.

Danny Phantom: Not All Bad

Part IV

The Manson manor was a sizable place, from the movie theater in the basement to the seemingly endless attic lived in by the elderly Ida. Most of its many rooms were professionally cleaned, yet sterile—essentially forgotten by the manor's owners, Jeremy and Pamela Manson.

Still, while the size and emptiness made the manor seem loveless and cold, a person could find moments of warmth with those who lived within.

One of those lucky people was Danny Phantom, who recounted his and Danielle's latest adventure to Sam. Technus had big plans for the Amity Science Expo, but his calculations hadn't predicted the appearance of Danny Phantom's newest partner. The team quickly defeated him with a double dose of ghostly ice, or as Dani affectionately called it, the Phantom Freeze.

"It's getting late." Danny Phantom stood up from his seat on Danielle's bed, where she was currently tucked in. She wore black pajamas patterned with white ghosts—If they only knew what real ghosts looked like, Danny internally remarked—and her black hair fell freely. "I'd better fly home before Mom starts making calls." He turned to his 'cousin.' "And you'd better get to bed."

"I could stay up for a week!" Danielle declared, failing to hide her subsequent yawn.

"Heh heh, sure, you can." He grinned, ruffling her hair. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll see you too, Sam." He floated over and embraced her. He didn't see the fleeting smile of content on her face. "We'll hang out, just the three of us."

"That reminds me," she noted, "you really should tell Tucker about this."

He blinked, then palmed his face. Tucker had just begun a family trip for a few weeks when Danielle first arrived, but he had been back for almost a week and still wasn't told. "Wow, how'd I forget that?"

"I can't imagine how…" she smirked, "…Clueless."

"Oh, come on, you too?" He really didn't understand why people called him that.

She did, but chose to shove him out. "Get going, hero!"

"I'm going, I'm going." He floated up to the ceiling. "Good night, Dani."

"Good night, Danny!"

With a soft chuckle at her joke, he phased through the ceiling, and was gone.

Both girls stared at their loved one's departure, before Sam herself felt a yawn coming on.

"Guess I'm not the only one who's sleepy."

"If you need me, Sam advised, "don't be afraid to wake me up."

"I know. You told me that," another yawn, "the first night."

"I know. I just worry anyway."

"I'm fine…" The child murmured, sleep quickly taking its hold. "…thanks to you."

Sam turned out the lights, taking one last look at the child in the light from the hallway.

Danny might have had a bond of blood with the ghost girl, but seeing Danielle at her doorstep stirred something up inside of Sam. Maybe it was because she was Danny's cousin, or maybe it was hearing her story; she couldn't be sure.

What she did know was this:

Out of all the causes that Sam stood for in her teenage life, Danielle's care had quickly become cause number one.

"G'night, Sam."

She closed the door.

"Good night, Ellie."

Sam finished her nightly routine, a final stretch releasing the worries of the day. Not that she had any, really—with her parents out on summer vacation, she and Dani largely had the place to themselves.

It helped that Grandma Ida was so welcoming. Ida already knew, of course, that someone new had entered the home.

"Wait, how did you know she's related to Danny?"

"Two reasons. One, the resemblance is uncanny." Ida scanned the child, currently in human form. "If not for the boy's age, I'd say little Ellie here looks more like his daughter than any sister or cousin."

"Hmm, Ellie…" Danielle sampled the name on her tongue. "I kinda like it."

"And the second?"

"I've seen how you talked about her." Ida smiled slyly. "Why else would my granddaughter have such a big smile on her face?"

Sam only blushed in response.

Sam blushed again in the present, as she recalled the moment. You always had better eyes than everyone else, Grandma.

She turned around, pulled back the blanket, saw Ember floating with her arms folded in the corner, reached for the lamp-

Wait.

Ember…

EMBER!?

"DAN-"

"Shut it." Ember swooped in and slapped a hand over Sam's mouth. Her other hand gripped Sam's arm, reaching in vain for the Fenton Wrist Ray in the nightstand drawer. "Sam Manson, right?"

Her captive glared.

"Yep, you're her. I know that self-righteous stare anywhere."

The glare continued.

"Guess I popped into the wrong room." She sensed Sam relax under her hold. "You gonna keep quiet if I let go?"

More glaring, then a nod.

When her mouth was released, Sam's question was ready. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"I got bored, and wanted to see where Phantom's kid lives." Remembering Sam's face, Ember had followed her home one night out of curiosity. It was quite easy; it was a moonless night, and most people never look up. "It's fancy. Didn't expect it to be your place though. You always seemed like a gloom-and-doom, sewer tunnel kind o' chick."

"Well, I tend to defy expectations." The ghosts of Princess Dora's kingdom would attest to that.

"Meh, you're still just human." She dismissed. "I wonder what he sees in you."

"You mean Danny?"

"Yeah, Phantom." A head tilted, trying to figure this girl out. "Just what are you to him, anyway?"

Sam squinted. "Why are you asking?"

"No reason." Ember shrugged. "Just saying, you looked like quite the lovebirds last I saw you two together."

"That was because you brainwashed him!" Sam had lost count of how often she'd said it over the years: "And we're not lovebirds!"

"Uh huh." The specter smirked. "Sure."

"Well, I don't see you staying away from him," the goth girl fired back. "Maybe you're just jeal-"

"Don't flatter yourself, Gloomy. Or him." She faked a gagging motion. "He and I just have an arrangement, is all."

"So I've been told." Sam folded her arms. "I can't say I like the thought of a supervillain hanging around an innocent little girl, even if she has ghost powers."

She told her flatly: "I don't mess with kids."

"Am I supposed to believe that? Let's check the record, shall we?" She ticked off the list on one hand:

"First, you tried to hypnotize everyone on the planet into worshipping you.

"Then," another finger, "you hypnotized every adult in town.

"Then," a third finger, "you and those other two ghosts tried to wipe every man in Amity Park off the face of the Earth!" Sam replaced them with an accusing point to Ember's face. "You've literally messed with everyone except children specifically."

"Exactly." She was unfazed. "And even if I did, your kid's come out just fine."

"Because she wasn't here, and she could only be fine for now. How do I know you won't… I don't know… corrupt her somehow?"

"Ooh, quite the strong argument. Except," Ember noted, "if I wanted her as a slave to my song, I'd have done it by now."

"Exactly. You could have just-" Sam stopped. "Now that I think about it, why haven't you?"

"Ghosts have rules," she explained. "We don't mess with ghost kids."

"Oh yeah, Danny mentioned that." Sam considered the possibility that she was telling the truth, knowing of the Christmas truce. "But I get the feeling there's more to it than that." Her natural curiosity surfaced. "You're not exactly the law-abiding type."

"True." Ember took her words as praise. "But even if I did have reasons, they're none of your business." She smugly stared down to her. "Are they, Manson?"

"I'm taking care of Danielle." She stared back, standing firm. "Her welfare, including who she spends time with, is my business."

The room went still. It seemed neither would budge…

…until Sam softened her approach. "Look, I promise what you say won't leave this room. No one will know."

Silent consideration, then a quiet question: "Not even Phantom?"

"Not even Danny."

"Alright." She looked around, just to make sure. "The kid kinda…" she muttered the rest, "…reminded me of me."

"Really?" Sam was surprised, then skeptical. "You two are literally fire and ice. She's sweet, and you're…"

"Yeah, a supervillain, I know." She rolled her eyes, which soon looked to the side as her mind drifted to the past. "Funny thing about being a ghost, though: sometimes you have a few memories rattling around of the old you."

"You remember your life?"

"Did I stutter?" She snapped back. "Anyway, I don't remember all the details. But I got some pieces, feelings, things like that. The kid, when I looked at her thawing out, scared…"

Ember heard Danielle's words loud and clear.

"I don't wanna go away again."

"…lonely…"

"You were alone too, in your old life?"

"I dunno…" Ember shoved the memory away, then fighting off another…

A teenage girl, her face a blur but her green eyes familiar, her tears chilled by the winds of September, beginning the long walk home…

"…Maybe."

"It makes so much sense now." Sam gasped as she concluded: "You don't want her to be alone, to feel like you do!"

"Wait a minute!" Ember raised a hand to stop her. "Don't put words in my mouth!"

Sam didn't listen. "I didn't think you could be so…"

"So what?" She didn't like where this was going.

"Well, I never imagined someone like you could care about anyone else, that you could be caring! You're…" an astonished smile crossed Sam's face, "a lot nicer than I thought."

Ember asked through gritted teeth, "Are you calling me soft?"

"You've definitely got a soft spot for—ack!"

Ember held Sam by the collar with one hand, the latter's head meeting the ceiling.

Haughty green eyes watched helpless prey. "Still think I'm soft now?"

"Ember-"

"I'm not too soft to waste you. And with a human like you, it'd be so easy."Her free hand pointed. "A hand around the neck." Her hand went lower. "A good grip on the heart. Or even better…" She raised an index finger wreathed in flame. "No one would wake up. It wouldn't leave a body."

Ember watched Sam follow the waving finger with her eyes.

"Just a pile of ashes."

"You're bluffing." Sam stayed firm, knowing the truth. "Danny would know. He'd never trust you again if he knew you were threatening me. And if you really went through with it, he'd make you pay."

"I could take him. Besides," the songstress sneered, "you think I care what the Dipstick thinks of me?"

"I'm starting to think you do." She squinted against the light, felt the heat. "And you care what Danielle thinks too."

For an instant the flame dimmed, before it brightened in defiance.

"If you hurt me, she'd hate you. At the very least, you'd break her heart." Sam pressed on, despite the bead of sweat falling down her neck. "She might even turn into someone like you."

An eye twitched. "What are you-"

"You might not have messed with my mind when you first came to town, but I still remember that song." Sam gave a smirk of victory as Ember's gaze drifted away, then back. She was almost there… "I'd never want to see Danielle like that, especially if it was all my fault."

The finger inched closer.

"Do you?"

Ember closed her eyes, turning her finger into a flaming fist.

Sam closed hers in turn.

Then she heard her.

"You win."

Sam fell onto the bed, freed. In her fear, she hadn't realized Ember had lowered her during their talk.

"I guess you don't wear those combat boots for nothing, Manson!" The ghost chuckled, but it sounded joyless, pained, before she shifted gears. "Now I know where your kid gets it from."

"How old do you think I am?" The human blushed at the implication. "She's not my daughter!"

"Heh, that's what he always says, and I don't buy it from him either." Ember wondered, however, "You really think she cares that much about you?"

"I can't say." Sam bashfully looked to the door, thinking of the girl down the hall. "Maybe not now, but someday…"

"Aww," Ember jibed, "the emo chick's getting maternal. How cute."

"I'm not emo, I'm goth!" Sam proclaimed. "And besides, you're one to talk."

"Hey, I'm nobody's mom." Ember folded her arms, then looked to the side. "If anything, I'm more like… an aunt." She nodded, a light blue blush on her cheeks. "The cool aunt."

"Well then, 'Aunt Ember,'" Sam stood up off the bed, "if we're all going to do this together, and you really won't hurt Danielle, then I guess we should start things fresh."

She outstretched her hand.

"Truce?"

"Part of me still wants to pay you back for messing up girls' night, but… alright, Manson." A surprisingly cold hand met Sam's own and shook. "Truce."

She suddenly found herself yanked in close.

"But if I find out you so much as gave Ellie a paper cut, I will hunt you down." Stern black eyes drilled into quizzical green ones. "Understand?"

"Okay, geez." Ember phased out of her grip. "Whatever you say…"

"Good."

"…Mrs. Phantom."

"You're really not helping keep up this truce."

"I mess with people." The ghost smiled. "Did I forget to mention that's my part of the deal?"

"Ugh." Sam's groan turned into a yawn; evading death by immolation took a lot out of her. "Oh, wow, I'm beat."

"Get your sleep, Manson." She floated back, giving Sam her space to enter the bed. "You'll see me again."

"We're all going out tomorrow… maybe…" She was too drowsy to finish her thought.

"Me and the family Dipstick, together in public?" She scoffed. "Not in this afterlife."

Sam didn't hear her, already in slumber.

Ember phased out of the room, not staying where she wasn't wanted. She didn't leave, however, until she reached her destination.

"Found you."

She found herself staring a bit as Danielle lay at peace, until the tell-tale vapor of ghost sense made the halfa stir in her sleep. Ember took it as her cue to leave, taking care to remember the proper room to enter next time.

It wasn't until she was floating across the street of the manor that she chided herself.

Aunt Ember? She almost slapped herself, shaking her own head. You're losing it, McLain.

She recalled the goth girl's last words. Still…

Maybe I'll pop in on the twerp tomorrow… away from the lovebirds, of course.

She looked back at the home, before soaring off into the night.

"Good night, kid."

END

And so, Part IV: in which everyone says the words "Good night."

I figured that if Ember was going to be part of Team Phantom in some capacity, she should at least meet another part of it. As shown in the episode "Life Lessons" and stated in the previous chapter, Sam has a strong maternal instinct under that gothic appearance.