Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.

Note: Apologies in advance this chapter is so dialogue heavy. There's a lot more I wanted to say but figured I should keep things relatively short so we can move on. I figured this was going to come up sooner or later since Daniel still wants what's best for everyone, not just himself or his father, and so it's been eating away at him that he still doesn't know if his little sister Dani is safe or if he really is the prime clone reborn which will only add a new layer of complications to an already complicated situation. But I think once they clear the air once and for all, Daniel will finally be able to fully relax and take the next step he needs to to come into his own and feel like he has earned the right to exist, the right to accept happiness and love.

Chapter 15: Counseling

Jazz's POV

"See? I told you you guys were going to need my help." I said after closing the door behind me once I got to the right address. It felt so weird being in Vlad's house again even if the location itself was totally different, but looking back on how things went last time I saw him, I'll admit that was pretty stupid of me in hindsight to try and figure out Vlad's evil plans on my own.

I did end up learning a lot though not just about his evil scheme at the time, but about Vlad as a person. Honestly, he wasn't all that hard to trick because it's painfully obvious he really really wants a family and wanted to believe it was true that I had chosen him over my dad, showing Vlad I trusted him. I didn't trust him of course, especially after finding out he's half ghost and Danny's biggest enemy. But to be fair, there's a lot of history between them that Danny still refuses to talk to me about...

So, as you can imagine, I was absolutely furious when I found out Vlad had invaded my brother's personal boundaries to such a degree and that he had used that information to clone him not once, but five times, not counting the new guy obviously. Oh, and lets not forget how he kidnapped, tortured, and gave Danny a death threat which I'm really glad was all just talk and Vlad wasn't serious about getting rid of my little brother. I think Danny's right and the fruitloop was at the end of his rope and had gotten desperate to have the other thing he wanted if he couldn't have our mom, the perfect half-ghost son.

And now, all but one of the clones Vlad had created were gone before they had a chance to become their own people like Daniel had which was part of the problem here. The thought of Vlad creating these poor innocent ghost kids just so he could get rid of them once he was finished making his ideal son really me want to slap him so hard even his ghost half would feel it. That said, since he's at least trying to make amends now I think there might still be some hope for Vlad.

That doesn't excuse any of his bad behavior though, not by a long shot.

Oh you'd better believe I had a thing or two I wanted to say to the fruitloop so after glancing over at Danny, I asked. "Hey Danny, I've got things covered from here so would you mind telling mom and dad I'm going to be a bit late for dinner? Just tell them I'm helping a friend who's having a hard time adjusting to some pretty major life changes or something like that. That way if they overhear us talking about Daniel they'll just think I'm helping someone else."

"Jazz..." Danny began in that tone that he uses whenever he's about to argue with me so I cut him off by holding up a hand.

"No buts mister! I have a job to do here and I don't need you here distracting me. Besides, haven't you heard of patient confidentiality? You and Daniel might basically be twin brothers, but there are probably at least a few things he'd prefer to keep to himself. And that includes Vlad too." Giving Vlad a knowing smile and only getting a narrowed gaze in return, he sighed and turned to Danny too while rubbing his temples and grumbled.

"Don't forget this absurdity was your idea. Personally, I would still much rather hire a professional for Daniel to speak with, be it a ghost or someone with an actual degree in psychology. But, since you recommended her so highly, we'll consider this a trial period. I can promise no more than that." Resting his hands behind his back Vlad added. "If it makes you feel any better, I've learned not to underestimate your sister and I have no intention of revisiting the events of our previous encounter more than is necessary. The terms of our truce make it very clear I cannot harm her in any way, nor do I want to. I'm not a complete monster."

The way he said that made me give Vlad a sympathetic look because he really did sound defeated in a way. But that was a good sign in my book because it meant he wasn't pure evil after all. Truly evil people never regret their actions, never apologize, and they don't care who they hurt, which yeah Vlad has done a lot of terrible things in the past, however, the fact that he even wanted to get better because he loves his new son that much made me want to try to help him turn over a new leaf too just like Danny did. And more importantly, just as much as Daniel did who is the person we have to thank for even getting us to this point.

Smiling at Danny, I surprised them both by giving Vlad a playful nudge in the ribs with my elbow and said. "There ya go. Vlad promised to stay on his best behavior so don't worry about me Danny, I'll be fine! I'm just going to spend a bit of quality time with good old uncle Vlad and get to know my other little brother a bit more while I'm at it. If anything happens though, you know where to find me."

Nodding, Danny transformed, said he'd give our parents the message and asked me to be careful and then gave Vlad hard another look as if to say 'play nice or else' before phasing through the roof. We both stared at the roof for a few seconds to make sure Danny was really gone but before Vlad could say anything, I heaved a heavy sigh. "Phew, I thought he'd never leave! But now that he has, that is going to make this so much easier."

"Make what easier?" Vlad frowned, his suspicious tone returning, not that I blame him.

Instead of answering, I smiled warmly and asked. "So, care to show me where you'd like to sit while we get this therapy session started? There are a few things I want to talk to you about to get a better picture of what I'm working with and what steps we can take to help make the transition easier on Daniel. He probably needs a bit longer to calm his nerves after what happened earlier so I'll talk to him next time. But first, are you doing ok V-man?"

Blinking in surprise at the question, Vlad scoffed. "My my, you really are taking this quite seriously, aren't you?"

"I'm always serious when it comes to mental health." I replied, crossing my arms and continuing firmly but gently. "That includes yours too because it's just as important that we get you sorted out so that you can be a better father to Daniel from now on. You can't help anyone unless you help yourself first and let's face it, when's the last time you've talked to a councilor?"

"Are you insulting me, Jasmine?" Vlad asked, clearly irritated but I shook my head and unfolded my arms. Then, to prove my point that I really did genuinely want to help, I reached over and touched his arm, which he stared at before looking at me again as I explained.

"Vlad, everyone needs help sometimes. Even someone as powerful as you needs someone to listen and confide in about their problems and I don't think you've had that for a very long time. You probably had counseling after the accident twenty years ago, but, those people couldn't have helped even if they wanted to. They didn't know the first thing about ghosts, about the lingering effects of all that pain and trauma you had to endure in silence because you knew...they would never be able to understand, not like I do." The room went quiet for a few minutes while I gathered my thoughts, but since Vlad didn't push my hand away that seemed like a good sign so I told him honestly.

"I know you're not thrilled with me because of what I did to you a few months ago, tricking you I mean, but to be honest I do feel bad about how unnecessarily mean I was while pretending to be interested in why you and my mom never got together. I didn't have to do that, but at the same time it was my small way of getting back at you for being such a huge jerk to my brother when you didn't have to be. You two never had to be enemies, I think deep down you know that, but you still chose to be anyway since you couldn't let go of your petty grudges.

"Well, now it's time for you to do that. It's time to let go of the past and start moving forward not only for your sake, but for Daniel's. He needs you, Vlad. He needs you to show him a different kind of strength that has nothing to do with having ghost powers. He needs you to understand him in a way none of us can, not me, not even Danny, because at the end of the day Daniel is YOUR child. You brought him into this world without thinking of what it really means to be a father, to be a parent and not just his creator. Being a parent means guiding them when they feel lost, picking them up when they fall, or sometimes suffering through watching them fall so they can learn on to stand up on their own and becoming stronger people in their own right.

"You've been given a second chance, Vlad. That's why I genuinely don't want to see you to waste this opportunity by letting you fall back on your old habits. Those aren't going to do you any good and might in fact make things worse. I'm not here to tell you how to raise Daniel, I'm just here to help give you the right tools for the job. And it's up to you what you do with them. It's a choice, just like everything else you've done up until now, so believe me when I say that I'm happy you're choosing to change because you love Daniel. That tells me you're not as bad as everyone thinks, including yourself."

Without warning, Vlad suddenly closed the distance between us and I'm not going to lie, my heart skipped a beat thinking I had made him angry with what I said. But then he smiled a genuine smile, put his hand over mine and softly said. "Thank you. I truly appreciate your unexpected but kind words, my dear."

Sighing in relief I smiled nervously back. "Yeah well, the first step to fixing a problem is realizing you have one so I'm proud of you for taking responsibility for how they've effected Daniel before it was too late. All you need now is a nudge in the right direction and some positive reinforcement yourself."

After that, Vlad led me to the library since it seemed like the most comfortable place for us to talk and I got out my notebook, promising him I'd keep anything private that didn't involve either of my brothers since Daniel counts too. To tell you the truth, I still felt like Vlad had done a lot of bad things I wasn't quite ready to forgive just yet, but just like Danny, I had seen small glimmers of hope that made me want to believe there's some good in hidden deep down inside the heart of this bitter, sad, and incredibly lonely man. Vlad just needs more people to believe in him and believe that he CAN get better.

And that's what Daniel has been doing from the very beginning. All this time, he's been trying to help his father in every possible way, setting aside his own needs for the most part because he loves Vlad and has seen a much gentler side of him that Danny and I haven't who desperately wants to be loved by someone, accepted, and understood. So I think, in order to do that, I had to help them understand themselves a little better too.

Vlad's POV

Now that Jasmine wasn't being the least bit deceitful, it was easy to understand why her brother insisted on enlisting her aid with our...current dilemma. I had forgotten how easy she was to speak to since Jasmine is rather mature for her age, at least where it matters. I had never gotten the chance to truly get to know her and the fact that she had already accepted Daniel before even meeting him spoke volumes to me. Of course, Jasmine did not hold back when it came to scolding me for being a terrible parent and I had to resist the urge to point out that Jack is probably much worse since he's never taken responsibility once in his life for putting anyone's lives at risk.

But what surprised me the most, was what Jasmine said to me after I had given her a summary of what Daniel has been through since his rather unusual birth. "Based on what you've told me, thankfully Daniel doesn't suffer from PTSD, but he does have a lot of the same symptoms. I'm surprised Danny remembered what I said about survivors guilt though since-"

She gave me a very odd look before trailing off to look down at her notes, but that reaction puzzled me. Hold on...has Danny lost someone recently? That can't be right. Or actually, he did say now that he understands the other clones a bit better he regrets being responsible for their undoing too. But that's not survivor's guilt, he was acting in self defense. Even I can see that much.

"Anyway, I'm sorry I can't stay too much longer but I've written down a list to keep in mind and I've written down my number so we can set up another time for me to see Daniel. Right now, he needs time to decompress, especially since his powers went out of control because you two dorks decided to throw a hissy-fit. I'm glad you both feel so protective of him, but fighting like that in front of him is only going to remind Daniel of all the emotional abuse he was forced to endure from you for months, unable to say anything to defend himself or Danny. So now that he CAN defend himself, instinct takes over and he feels the need to reflexively shield himself or retreat into the safety of the computer because he's not confrontational by nature." Ripping those pages out, she handed them to me and explained calmly.

"Ok, now before I head out here's a few things to keep in mind. First of all, you have GOT to start controlling your temper better around Daniel because otherwise you're just going to keep triggering his fight or flight reflex, which in his case is flight. Secondly, from what I can tell, he's afraid of being in dark enclosed spaces for too long which is why he created a round room so he wouldn't feel trapped and filled it with small lights. It's like when a child needs a nightlight until they grow out of it so make sure he has more freedom to roam around the rest of the mansion so he can start feeling at home out here too. More than anything, Daniel needs to feel safe whether he's inside the computer or outside of it. Once he does, that will help lower his anxiety levels and keep his powers from going haywire again.

"Daniel also seems to respond well to words of encouragement and praise so go ahead and keep doing that. Keep showing him that you value him for who he is as an individual and that will go a long way to help him gain more confidence in himself and stop comparing himself to Danny or the other clones nearly as much. I want you to set some time every day to just spend time with him and get to know him, don't rely entirely on your past experiences. Make new memories with Daniel. And finally, this last part might be the most difficult to ask but...while I know you agreed to stop hunting her I'd like for you to track down Dani to make sure she's ok."

Somehow I knew this was coming, but I still had to ask. "And what, pray tell, does that little traitor have to do with Daniel?"

Swatting me on the back of the head, Jasmine huffed. "Haven't you been listening fruitloop? All Daniel wants is to be a part of your family, and to him, she is family just like Danny is so seeing you neglect her too hurts him just as much as anything else you've done to him. That's another reason why he can't fully accept the love you're giving him, because it doesn't feel like he's earned it like you pointed out to me before. But the thing is, he wants to share your love with her too since she's still his sister. You've already made amends to him and to my brother, so, don't you think it's about time you do the same thing with Dani too so you can all start to move forward in your lives? Even if all you do is tell her in person you'll leave her alone, I'm sure he'll stop feeling quite as anxious about the fact that right now she's out there all alone, forced to fend for herself, just like he was for months which is why Daniel probably relates to Dani more than any of the other clones."