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

Note: In response to your review "Dp-Marvel94" yeah, these guys have a long way to go but like Jazz pointed out the first step of solving a problem is knowing you have one which means Vlad and Daniel need to get themselves in a better place mentally before they can really take the next step forward to become a family. And Daniel feels like he owes Dani, the sole surviving clone, the chance to be happy since he partially blames himself -namely his original program- for Vlad's unrealistic expectations of her that lead to Dani's betrayal. But more than that, in general he just has so much love to give that he tends to forget to save some for himself to accept how much Vlad cares for him now when it doesn't feel earned.

He's a lot like Danny in that regard, always pushing himself too hard because of unrealistic expectations from his parents. As for Vlad, well, as I said before old habits die hard so now that he's more or less on better terms with Danny he's unconsciously shifting the blame to Dani for losing the prime clone and for Daniel's inferiority complex because she's 'real' while he still feels like a fraud sometimes or like he's only causing his father more pain. Daniel's the opposite really. He blames himself for his issues while Vlad tends to blame everyone else, which means they really need to stop doing that... *facepalm*

Chapter 17: Security

Vlad's POV

Ignoring the odd looks the other players of this game kept giving me, muttering something to themselves about my 'character model clearly being modded' or whatever that meant, I kept searching for Daniel since it was getting late and I wanted to apologize for upsetting him. Somehow I had to break the boy's habit of blaming himself when things go wrong, not to mention overcome the ridiculous notion that he's unworthy of my affection because he started out as a computer simulation. I understand why he feels that way, but, as I've told him countless times before Daniel is so much more than that now. He's something new, something powerful, and it's so strange to me that Daniel can't even begin to fathom the limitless potential of his unique technological capabilities.

That's why, when I finally found Daniel, against my better judgment since curiosity had gotten the better of me I landed a short distance away and suppressed my ghost signature so I could watch without raising suspicions. I frowned when I noticed the hard expression on his face, I knew that look all too well. It was a look that Danny almost constantly wore in my presence of silent indignation and frustration. Daniel looked as if he had something he wished to prove and was pushing himself extremely hard in the one place he felt it was safe to do so...

His consideration was touching, however, my supercomputer had more than enough processing power to handle almost anything. After that last power surge though, I did add a few extra precautions to help him feel safer now that I realized that when the power goes out, Daniel also blacks out quite literally. In the absence of raw ecto-energy he could absorb, Daniel relied on the electric currents around him to act as a substitute which makes sense. That said, before long I would have to start introducing him to greater amounts of ecto-energy to strengthen his ghost core because I've concluded that subconsciously he's been absorbing it from Danny during their interactions since it feels like the most 'natural source' to him.

Of course, obviously this has very little effect on Danny since he has energy to spare, but since Daniel is so kind I'm sure the idea of 'stealing it' from his other self would be considered appalling which was why I planned to keep that information to myself for the time being. Clearly, Daniel felt as though he had already stolen from the other clones to come into being in the first place, and that benignity of his only made his guilt worsen.

And I had every intention to put a stop to that nonsense which is why I suppose I do have Jasmine to thank for bringing those issues to my attention. For the past several days I have been so busy trying to accommodate Daniel and lavish him with love and affection that I forgot to address the mountain of other problems he had that needed to be addressed. Not to mention the problems I had, regrettably.

While not literally since I know he's afraid of his program being tampered with again, I wanted to erase Daniel's fear of rejection, verbal and physical abuse, and more importantly...the fear of deletion. But I only had myself to blame for that since I almost impulsively ended his life before it had the chance to truly begin. I felt absolutely disgusted with myself whenever I thought about that because I have come to love Daniel so much and the thought of losing him now is something even I was terrified of.

That's why when I saw Daniel fall after being hit by a sneak attack from behind, I dropped my invisibility, teleported to him, and vaporized the enemy that had attacked him as well as the remaining ones surrounding him without so much as batting an eye. He seemed startled by my sudden appearance, but grateful as he attempted to stand up again. However, Daniel was clearly at his limit and I became deeply concerned when his form began to waver, flicker, and lurch as if his projection was glitching again.

"Daniel, are you alright?" I asked, reaching down to offer him my hand.

"Yeah." He responded, but I could tell it was a lie since his legs were shaking so I rolled my eyes and scooped him up into my arms before teleporting us both out of the game again.

Waiting for him to reorient himself once I set Daniel down as soon as we had returned to his virtual bedroom, I lightly scolded. "Don't lie to me young man, I can tell that you're exhausted and frankly it was very unwise of you to push yourself to such extremes after only just barely recovering from what happened earlier. You haven't fully recharged your energy yet and don't forget, while to the rest of the players that might only be a silly game, to you the damage is quite real and I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"You didn't have a problem hurting Danny, but he's stronger than I'll ever be so at least he can take a hit." Daniel blurted out before he could stop himself.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." I retorted, keeping my voice calm for his sake rather than mine. "Yes, you have the same DNA, but you are two different people in much the same way that twins are. Your similarities do not make you less yourself because frankly, Daniel, we are BOTH still discovering who that is. So please, try not to be so hard on yourself. It's my fault for not taking certain aspects of our relationship or lack thereof into account when we started making plans on how to improve our lives together. You don't have to figure this all out on your own anymore. I am your father, Daniel. That means it's my job to take care of you and-"

"Then why can't you do the same for my sister!?" Daniel tearfully shouted, gripping the front of his uniform in a death grip. "Don't you get it? She's just like I was! She's out there all alone and Dani doesn't have anyone there to help her, not even Danny. And unlike me she's got a human body too, a body that might be dying for all we know! I can't...I can't lose her too. I can't!"

Pursing my lips, I put my hands on his shoulders and hushed him. "Shh. It's alright my boy, please calm down. I've already made plans to look for the little br- I mean your sister because I understand how much it means to you to get some closure with her at least. So, as much as I hate to go back on my word not to hunt her down so to speak, I will find Dani for you. In fact, so long as you promise not to do anything rash I could actually use your help."

Instantly his entire demeanor changed and Daniel's eyes met mine, shining with hope instead of tears. "Really? You'll actually let me help? But I thought-"

Cutting him off with a smirk, I explained. "Oh my dear, dear boy, you didn't really expect me to let you languish in here from lack of training, did you? We may not be ready to begin training you formally with your ghost powers quite yet but after talking to Jasmine I came up with a few ideas to do the next best thing."

"Like what?" Daniel asked in confusion and my smile only widened.

"Well, it's painfully clear to me that just like Danny, you are very protective by nature. So I thought, why not put that to use? You see, I am currently in need of a new security system which as you know the Maddie Program was left in charge of before. But someone who can think for themselves and actually sense the code around them like Danny and I can sense ghosts? I think that's a tremendous advantage, don't you?"

Averting his gaze for a moment, Daniel thought about it and I felt some of the tension leave his shoulders as a result. I sighed inwardly in relief as well because I had a feeling Daniel needed an outlet just as much as Danny did for his frustration, hence why the first thing he did was play that game. In there, he felt useful, like he could measure his progress, so I wanted to redirect those feelings into something ACTUALLY mutually beneficial to both of us. Not to mention it would give us both an excuse to spend a lot more time together until we overcome this problem together and can begin his training in earnest.

"Are you sure about this Father? What if I break something?" Daniel asked, understandably concerned so I replied-

"Don't worry Daniel, I have numerous back up copies of all my more sensitive data and that includes information about you which we'll continue gathering over time. Because I care more about making sure that YOU are alright above everything else, so if the systems crash for whatever reason it's more of minor inconvenience. I'd also like to see if you are capable of controlling more than just your projector, such as anti-ghost turrets or security cameras that are further away from you for example as well as the prototype for the mobile projector I made to give you more freedom to explore the mansion without having to worry about conserving your energy. You already have incredibly good aim from what I've seen, very accurate."

Blushing, Daniel asked sheepishly. "Oh god, how long were you watching me get my butt whooped?"

"Long enough. I couldn't help myself because a part of me really wanted to see you in action. But as I said, that along with Jasmine's suggestions did give me some much needed perspective on how to better handle our rather unusual situation." Pulling Daniel into a hug, I rested my cheek on top of his head and sighed. "I'm terribly sorry about earlier Daniel. I never meant to frighten you. We both have habits to break it seems so from now on I'll try harder to keep my temper in check. In exchange, I'd like you to let me know if I am ever making you feel unsafe or uncomfortable. Can you do that for me?"

Hugging me back Daniel nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I can do that. Thank you, Father."

Laughing I ruffled his hair and playfully warned. "Don't thank me just yet. When I say I want to test the limits of your power I truly mean it. We'll be careful of course but I'm going to try to stop coddling you as much now that I know that to some degree you CAN already protect yourself. I'm glad that game has proven useful as a training ground for you but now it's time for us to go to the next level..."

My tone turning more serious though I added. "There's something else we need to take care of first though, so lets fine out how talented of a hacker you are and see if we can find out where your sister is hiding. I'll send someone to collect her once we have a location."

Looking up at me after I lifted my head again, Daniel asked in bewilderment. "Wait, why can't we ask Danny do it? I mean, she already knows and trusts him so wouldn't that be better?"

Shaking my head, I sighed heavily. "Because Danny has school and more importantly I don't believe he would be thrilled with the idea of being asked to do my dirty work for me. I could arrange something of course, but I'd rather not tempt fate. Besides, this will give you an opportunity to test your powers in a new way and monitor the search yourself. It's a win win."

"I guess you have a point there." Daniel nodded before adding. "And um, about earlier. I'm sorry too. I was so caught up with just getting used to you being able to see me and the two of us being able to talk that there are things I forgot to tell you and Danny sooner. There are still other things too but...I need some more time to figure them out for myself. But I really do think Jazz's idea is a good o-one."

We both blinked at the same time when his voice unexpectedly glitched at the very end so I let go of him and instructed. "I'll take that as a sign it's time for bed. You expended a lot of energy today and need to recharge quite literally so no more videogames for you. At least not today. That said, I have a couple of things to take care of tomorrow as I imagine you do as well which is why I'd like to ask you a favor."

"Of course!" Daniel beamed, further proving my theory that he desperately wanted to make himself useful. "What is it?"

Clearing my throat, I explained. "I'd like you to personally give Danny and his sister a message for me. I'll send you the necessary files later to give them but tomorrow I'd like you to spend the day with them to recollect your thoughts since Danny and I still have a bad habit of butting heads with one another and I don't want you caught in the middle again. I know you care about him too and I'm certain he's been waiting for the chance to introduce you to his friends as well. And frankly, while I wish I could provide you better company...I don't believe any of my 'friends' are suitable."

Nodding in understanding Daniel agreed. "I can't argue with you there since most of your friends are Danny's enemies, not to mention it might be weird even for them to meet his doppelganger. And the last thing I want is one of them attacking me too."

Cringing since that was yet another issue I'd have to address now that I agreed to a truce with Danny, I made a mental note to add that to the list of priorities in my report. Since I doubt Danny will take my word for most of the things I planned to do for the sake of my son, I thought giving him progress reports from Daniel personally would reduce tensions between us somewhat. After all, Daniel can sense it when files have been modified or tampered with so as long as they had his seal of approval, Danny should not doubt the authenticity of their contents.

Either way, there were a couple things I wanted to take care of on my own as well without alerting Daniel. Nothing underhanded mind you, just personal matters because Jasmine was right. Daniel needs to feel safe, to feel like he isn't only a tangible part of my life, but of the world. And there's something he needed in order for that dream to become a reality-

A body.