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

Note: I originally wanted to stretch Daniel's first meeting with Sam and Tucker a bit longer but then I remembered he's already got enough to deal with atm without the extra awkwardness of being a ghost clone of their best friend. Besides, Danny already told them he sees Daniel as a twin brother so that tells them all they need to know about Daniel and that he's a good person. That's why I decided to gloss over a lot of potential awkwardness so they could warm up to Daniel quickly in this chapter...

As for the rest, well, unfortunately Sam does have a point about how Vlad tends to hold petty grudges for a long time so as sad as it is, she's not wrong when she says it's better if Daniel doesn't get his hopes up that Vlad will do more than just promise to leave Dani alone from now on. Too bad none of them realize that's not an option since she's in pretty bad shape right now. Also, sorry this chapter took so long, there's been a lot of interruptions so to make up for it I made it a bit longer than usual!

P.S. I didn't realize I overused the fruitloop nickname a bit so I went back and fixed it!

Chapter 18: Obligation

Danny's POV

After Jazz got home and filled me in on the details of her visit with Vlad, I noticed that Daniel had sent me a message so I opened it and we read it together. I could tell that Daniel had simplified the information Vlad had given him to send my way. Vlad also asked us through him to set some time aside tomorrow to introduce Daniel to Sam, Tucker, and my sister. To be honest, I wasn't sure how to talk to him after that last meltdown but...he probably needed a friend more than ever right about now.

Stretching my arms before closing the 'progress reports' that had been sent my way, I sighed. "Well, I wanted to introduce you guys anyway so we might as well right? I'll give Tucker a call and ask if we can do this meet and greet at his place since it's probably the safest place to do it that has a computer. Plus he has a mini holographic projector so we'll actually be able to talk face to face."

Glancing back at Jazz behind me who seemed awfully pleased with herself, she nodded and smiled. "I'm glad the fruitloop actually decided to listen to my advice. He's got a long way to go but, every step forward is still progress either way. Honestly with the way things have been going ever since he moved here, I was worried Vlad was going finally lose it one of these days and ruin his life forever."

Shrugging I added bitterly. "Well it'd serve him right if you ask me. So he'd better do right by Dani too when they find her because if he doesn't..."

"Danny..." Jazz began in a soft but slightly exasperated tone. "I swear, you can be such a handful sometimes. Considering how unexpected this all was, Vlad's doing surprisingly well so far because he does want to be a better dad to Daniel, but like any first-time parent he either keeps overcompensating and causing more problems or can't see the most obvious solution to their problems by himself. Vlad acts like he knows what he's doing but he really doesn't. So we need to be patient with him and give Vlad the benefit of the doubt otherwise he's just going to keep his guard up which will make it a lot harder to help Daniel."

I knew she was right, but I didn't want to admit it so I shrugged. "Hey, I agreed to the truce too didn't I? Besides, I was the one who suggested letting you work your psychobabble magic on them. Like, I might not always appreciate your advice, but I know I can trust you and you're always trying your best to help fix things. Just...don't let it go to your head."

Embarrassing me by lightly kissing my cheek, Jazz replied warmly. "Thanks Danny. I really appreciate the compliment. And I know it wasn't easy for you to leave me alone with Vlad since you want to make sure I'm safe too, just like you always do, but trust me when I say we're off to a good start. We'll just have to keep a close eye on him and lay off a little bit so he can focus on the new responsibilities of parenthood like a normal person. Anyway, I'll see you in the morning Danny. Goodnight."

"Night, Jazz." I smiled back, making sure to save those files Daniel sent me before calling Tucker and told him the plan.

Once I got the ok from him, I sent Sam the same info about the time and place we were going to meet Daniel. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that introducing my friends to my 'unofficial twin brother' was going to be a lot weirder than it had been doing the same for my 'cousin' Dani. But on the bright side, at least Daniel was smart enough to give himself a new look to help them tell the difference between us, which I gotta admit made him look pretty cool. In fact, I might have been low-key jealous of him for that too.

Daniel's POV

Since we had to wait until Danny finished school for the day, to keep ourselves busy Father and I ran through a couple of simple tests to see how many electrical devices I could control at once, repair, and even upgrade with my abilities. Of course, he only let me do that after we made sure my voice wasn't glitching anymore. That said, while my ghost powers on their own were still pretty weak and unpredictable, one good thing that came out of yesterday's disaster is that we discovered that in place of having access to a natural source of ecto-energy I've been absorbing and can even generate waves of electricity which makes sense because that's how I've been traveling along the city's power 'currents' to reach Danny's computer.

Despite still feeling bad about what happened, Father told me it had given us an important clue about the kind of ghost core I'm developing. And honestly, it made me very happy that Father and I finally shared something in common since he has an electric ghost core too, just like me. Well, technically it's a heat core and there are sub-categories like fire, electricity, and light...

And the best part of the two of us having a similar core, that meant that even if I lost control again, Father could redirect that excess energy into himself just like before. Most importantly though I felt a lot better knowing I wouldn't be able to accidentally hurt him as badly as I thought. Because according to him, having a specific type of ghost core gives you a much higher resistance to the element in question, at least once your ghost core has matured.

As for the rest, that's why we start working on stretching my muscles so to speak to see where my current level of control was at based on the size and how advanced the technology was Father asked me to take control over or levitate. We also tested my scanning ability which lets me detect all of the main functions of each object. Honestly, apart from doing something similar when I made some adjustments to Danny's computer, I was a bit taken aback by how easy it was for me to do that out in the real world too. So needless to say, I was really proud of the fact that I could now move things around remotely.

Speaking of which, while Father insisted on keeping my new aerial holographic projector at home since it still needed a few minor adjustments, we also tested it out a little bit too. Unlike the other devices though, this one was specifically locked onto my ghost signature so nobody but me could use it with the exception of Father of course if it needed repairs I couldn't do on my own without the physical parts and other materials to replace the broken parts since all I can really do right now is manipulate code.

Obviously I was super happy about finally having the freedom to explore the rest of the mansion, but a part of me was a bit nervous about setting foot into the world for the first time without Danny or Father beside me. Up until now, the only places I've been to are Father's old laboratory in his mountain chalet, his lab here in Amity Park, the castle in Wisconsin where my program was originally created, and the desktop computer in Danny's room. When I told Father how I felt, he reassured me that if anything happened he set up safety measures when he repaired my program to alert him to any danger. Plus Danny was going be there too and I wanted to make a good impression on his friends.

Speaking of which, Father also told me he planned on seeing just how far I could extend my scanning powers and to process information just as quickly as his super computer once we began searching for any trace of my sister, Dani. Realistically though I knew I probably wouldn't be able to track her down on my own, but I wanted to help as much as possible before Father took over the rest of the search himself. To be honest, I was a bit shocked when he told me his plan and explained how it would be much safer for Dani to do it this way because his other...uh 'friends' wouldn't be gentle with her which makes sense. I could tell Father still resented Dani, but I wanted to believe that if he's willing to change so much for my sake maybe in time he'll be able to open his heart and forgive my sister for betraying him.

She never wanted to betray him. She just didn't have any other choice if she wanted to survive any more than I did when I left a fake version of my program behind before going into hiding for my own safety. So I understand why Dani refused to follow Father's orders and why she needed to stand up for herself. And I'm so proud of her for that, maybe even a bit ashamed that I wasn't able to be even half as brave as she was until I also got some help from Danny.

I mean, I'm supposed to be her big brother, right?

Shouldn't I be stronger than that?

Anyways, going back to the matter at hand since my program had successfully been reset to its default settings so I could move around more freely inside his super computer and in the mansion -within reason obviously since there were still files he didn't want me messing with since they might hurt me- Father went ahead and gave me access to a few more programs in there since he was going to be putting me in charge of protecting his home soon. No, I mean protecting OUR home.

So long story short, I basically had full access to the other security camera's scattered throughout the property and Father planned on installing a few more in the near future to cover a couple blind spots he usually didn't have to worry about since his reputation kept most unwanted visitors away. We were going to have to wait until I started my real training before either of us felt comfortable letting me access any of the weapons though. That said, I was allowed to start managing a few of his other defense systems with the exception of the anti-ghost shield...

When I asked him out of genuine curiosity why he didn't want me messing with that, Father replied calmly. "My dear boy, while you are very unique in many ways at the end of the day you ARE still a ghost and there's much more we still need to learn about you before I can deem it safe for us to reprogram it to ignore your ghost signature so you can pass in and out of it unharmed when its active. It's not a matter of trust, my son, it's safety precaution since I don't want to make any more rash assumptions about your capabilities and run the risk of you getting hurt again because of my negligence. It's the least I can do as a responsible parent, unlike some others I could mention. But I digress."

"Oh, ok that does make a lot of sense." I nodded, glancing at the nearest clock and nodding. "Danny and his friends should be out of school soon, but I think I'll wait a little longer before heading over to Tucker's place since that's where we're supposed to be meeting. This...is going to be weird for them no matter what I do since I can't change the fact that I look exactly like Danny. Well, at least as long as you don't count the new wardrobe. I can do this."

Smiling, Father turned his hand intangible to ruffle my hair and replied. "Yes you can, and you will. I have complete faith in you, my boy. And it might not seem like much, but truth be told we accomplished a lot today so I am very proud of you."

My chest swelling with pride, I beamed. "Thanks. Hearing that from you means the world to me. Also before I forget, um, do I have a curfew or anything? I just want to know when you'd like me to return home."

Untangling his hand from my hair, Father rubbed his chin and chuckled thoughtfully. "You really are too good for your own good sometimes, Daniel. But very well, I suppose I should have everything done by this evening so why don't you return around 10PM? Unlike your counterpart, given how you can travel at the speed of light I'm sure you'll be more punctual than he is."

"Hey!" I teased with a small pouty face. "Stop making fun of him, it's not like he doesn't try to make it home on time you know. It's not his fault ghosts don't have a curfew!"

Despite myself, I added a bit sadly. "Besides, I'm...well I'm kinda jealous Danny even gets to do things like go to school and hang out with his friends. Thanks to my programming I can instantly memorize almost anything I look at and store that information in my data banks, but that's not the same as learning things the old fashioned way or getting to meet real people outside of a videogame chatroom. That's why I really hope we can start my training as soon as possible. And even if you're not going to let me hunt ghosts like Danny does, that doesn't change the fact that I want to protect you too, Father."

"Daniel, you protect my heart every day by simply existing." Father answered softly with a warm, deeply affectionate tone in his voice before clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment after saying something so cheesy with a straight face. "At any rate, just remember what I told you. If any ghosts DO happen to show up during your visit let Danny and his friends handle it. I don't want you taking any unnecessary risks. Other than that I sincerely hope you have a good time with them since the past few days have been rather...hectic for all of us."

"Don't worry, I promise I'll leave the fighting to Danny since I'm still stuck intangible anyway and the most I could do is call his enemies rude names from a distance." I laughed, really happy to see this side of Father again, the one who smiles so naturally. "And if we finish our visit early, I'll come home and the two of us can have dinner together just like old times! I know I can't eat right now, but we could still talk about stuff like your Packer's collection or maybe you could tell me more about what your dad was like."

Looking a bit flustered at the idea of repeating what he used to do before when I was still only a program whenever he felt especially lonely, Father lifted his sleeve to look at his watch and hastily blurted out. "Oh my, would you look at the time! You'd better hurry or you'll be late for your little rendezvous dear boy. Ah, and if you happen to see Jasmine please give her my regards. Her advice thus far has been surprisingly helpful."

"Sure." I smiled, resisting the urge to tease Father some more and waving. "Have a good day Father, I'll see you tonight!"

And after we said goodbye, I returned to the computer and gave myself a few extra minutes to mentally prepare for my first encounter with Danny's friends. Like, I already knew so much about them, but that didn't mean I knew who they were as people. Father programmed me to be as similar to Danny as possible, and since those two are a big part of his life since they've known each other since second grade at least, possibly longer, that's why I had profiles on all of them. Apart from that though, we were total strangers. I just hope they can learn to see me as my own person too and not just 'another Danny.'

When the time finally came for the four of us to meet as expected Sam and Tucker were curious about me but also a bit standoffish at first. I was sort of relieved that Tucker seemed more excited to meet me than anything which makes sense given his tech obsession since Danny and I both originally thought I was just a self-aware AI, not a ghost. Sam was trying to give me the benefit of the doubt too, but it seemed like it was a lot harder for her to warm up to me since we didn't have as much in common. At least not yet.

Not that I didn't understand how she felt, but it did hurt a little. Although to be fair, I think she was more worried about the fact that I'm the reason Father turned to cloning Danny and kidnapped him several months ago. I expected this to be awkward since Danny and I look and act so similar, it's different than when they met Dani since she's a girl and it was easier to keep the two of them separate. For obvious reasons, doing the same thing wasn't as easy with me. And for some reason, I had a feeling there was something else about me that seemed to make them nervous, although what that could be I had no idea.

Once we started talking though it was surprisingly easy for us to get along. Even Sam seemed more relaxed after I explained in my own words how I had gone to Danny for help as soon as I could since I knew he was the only person Father might listen to. Sam even surprised me by sympathizing what I had to endure back then, admitting she wished she could give me a hug. That really meant a lot to me. Especially after Tucker said the same thing and that he's glad I'm 'a chip off the old block' which was a joke that totally flew over Sam and Danny's heads but Tucker and I couldn't help but bust out laughing at the computer pun he'd just made.

That's when we really started to click since I understand code and things like that really well. We both know his friend Danny's smart too and knows how to think on his feet, but sadly he doesn't speak tech nerd for the most part so I think Tucker enjoyed finally having someone to talk to about those kinds of things in more detail. I was also secretly glad we decided not to talk about what happened down in the lab yesterday when I finally told them about the telepathic connection I've always felt with Danny since the two of us needed some time to figure out what it all meant.

Speaking of which, since Father wasn't in ear shot there was something I wanted to ask them so I finally mustered the courage to ask-

"Hey guys? If you don't mind, would you mind telling me more about Dani? I know a lot about her from the files about her and the other clones I managed to salvage but...I want to know what she's really like. And I want to know if you think there's any way she'll ever forgive Father for what he did before."

Before Danny could answer my question, Sam crossed her arms and sighed heavily. "No offense buddy, but I don't think it's going to be that simple. Frankly, Vlad's lucky to have someone like you around willing to give him a second chance at all. But let's face it, given his current attitude towards Dani, I think the only reason he's doing this to make you happy. He's only going to do the bare minimum to keep you on his side and doesn't care what happens to her afterwords because at the end of the day though, she's still only a tool to him. You're the perfect half-ghost son he's always wanted, so why would Vlad bother to settle for less?"

"Sam, don't you think that's a little harsh?" Tucker added hesitantly. "Don't get me wrong, I don't trust the guy any further than I can throw him either, but come on even Vlad can't be that heartless, can he? I think the fact that he's even trying to change at all is thanks to good old Data-Danny here- oh right, is it ok if I call you that? Or maybe D-Day or something since there are too many people in this conversation with the same name to keep track of right now and it's making my head spin."

Smiling I nodded and laughed. "Yeah it's fine, I know having similar names is really confusing so a part of me wishes Father had come up with something a bit more original. And I agree it's even more confusing with my sister because she's...well technically another 'Daniel' but with slightly different spelling."

"Anyways, my point is-" Sam interrupted after clearing her throat loudly and we both looked sheepishly over at her. "Dani has plenty of justifiable reasons to hate Vlad's guts so at this point I think the best we can hope for is him keeping his promise to leave her alone once we find out if she's ok. As for telling you about her, to be honest Tucker and I didn't really get to interact with her much, but from what Danny has told me she's not a bad kid. Now that you're here though Vlad's actually going to actually have to put in the work if he wants to stay on your good side because you've got a mind of your own now just like she does and you're not going to put up with his evil crap anymore."

Giving me a friendly smile, Sam admitted. "Listen, I get where you're coming from but I just...don't want Vlad to fool us again, you know? I trust Danny and I always will, but I'll never trust Vlad, not in a million years. We've tried getting Vlad to call a truce plenty of times before, and each time he's always gone right back to the same evil villain he's always been.

"This is the first time Vlad's ever actually listened to us and I know that it's all thanks to you that we even got a creep like that agree to any of this, which is more than I would have ever hoped for. As for the rest, I'm not holding my breath but I am glad you're on our side since you seem like a good person too. If you weren't, you wouldn't be putting everything else on hold to help someone you've never actually met and we wouldn't be talking like this."

"Thanks for being honest with me." I smiled nervously. "I was really worried about how you two were going to react to meeting me in person but I'm not anymore. And you're right, if I can I want to save my sister because she's family to me even if...Vlad can't see that yet. I know you're skeptical, but I truly believe he'll learn how to open his heart to her again eventually. I really do. On the off chance he can't bring himself to love her again then I promise to love Dani twice-no ten times more!"

"Good for you man!" Tucker grinned, reaching up to give me a high five only to forget we couldn't actually touch and cringing. "Oh, oops. Sorry about that, dude. I guess I still need to get used to you being like a classic horror story ghost that can't really touch anything. That's gotta be rough..."

"It is, but we're working on that." I replied, trying not to sound too depressed about how little I could interact with them out here.

That's when Danny chimed in and suggested with a smirk. "Hey, didn't you tell us Vlad's working on a portable holographic projector for you? Maybe that's it's done we can borrow it for a bit and go hang out somewhere outside of town. I bet it's been ages since you've seen any real stars, at least apart from in your memories when you were still only a hologram. It's too bad we couldn't record the last meteor shower but uh...let's just say I was having some 'memory' problems of my own at the time."

He gave Sam a knowing look and she rolled her eyes and groaned. "Um, yeah. Let's maybe not tell him about that, ok Danny? So anyway, what were we talking about again?"

"I was asking what else you knew about Dani." I reminded her, but just like before the only reply I got was that she's a lot like Danny too and likes NASA and the music band Dumpty-Humpty.

I guess that would have to do for now until I could meet my little sister in person too. For the time being though it was just a nice to have real friends besides Danny I could finally talk to, not counting the people I've met online playing Doomed. It felt so natural spending time with them that I had to remind myself that they're still Danny's friends first, and he will always come first to them so I wanted to respect that. It's the same for me though...

Danny would always come first along with my Father and Dani. That's why I wanted to become stronger so I could protect them all. Especially my little sister, Dani, because that's my responsibility as her big brother, to keep her safe and make sure she doesn't meet the same fate as our brothers.