Thanks for your reviews: Terra89, Nobody is Somebody, Catmedium, alow, Sam, thephantomgal10, GoingGhost, and the sleepless warrior.

Wow, this story got more reviews than the actual chapter that started it all!

Chapter 5: A Different Possibility

DJ walked down the street, his thoughts in a confused jumble. He may or may not have been born. He still might have been born, but because his dad had wished for him, his birth was a certainty. Did his mom know what his dad had done? He had a feeling she didn't. She talked of Desiree with dislike. She had told him many times about the time she'd accidentally wished she'd never met him. He remembered it from his childhood bedtime stories. She would always end it with, "If I hadn't undone the wish, I would have never had you."

DJ snorted. If his dad had never wished it, she would have never had him. His dad had taken something that was supposed to be a chance situation and made it definite by wishing for him from a ghost genie of all people. He looked up, surprised to find himself in the same park he'd just dreamed about. He didn't come here often; he didn't like this park. His dad was buried here under the statue of Danny Phantom standing exactly where the fountain had once been.

Son stared up at stone-carved image of father before looking down at the engraving. Unfortunately, the engraving was covered in graffiti from gangs. He sighed and turned away from the statue to lean against it, letting himself slide down to the floor. Why did his dad have to be the hero? Why couldn't it have been Valerie? She was a ghost hunter too, wasn't she? He pulled his knees up and rested his arms on them. He remembered the stories about his dad being attacked by Valerie too. She had almost been his equal in skill and strategy.

If Dad hadn't walked into that stupid Fenton Portal and accidentally turned it on all those years ago, he wouldn't have been 'Danny Phantom,' and he might not have died too. He sighed and leaned his head back against the statue, staring up at it. His dad didn't look heroic. He almost looked nervous and klutzy, like a normal kid. He looked down again, glaring at nothing. His dad should have just stayed normal.

"I wish I knew what would have happened if my dad had never walked into that portal," he muttered.

"So you have wished it," a puff of smoke appeared before him, "so shall it be." The same genie ghost from his dream appeared before him. She raised her hands then stopped. "Oh, it's you." She dropped her hands. "I would show you, but I promised your father I wouldn't mess you up. I'll just tell you instead." She took his hand and flew away with him, leaving him no time to even react.

They flew for a while before she finally stopped at the top of the Fenton house. She set him down on the roof, floating beside him. "What the hell are we doing here?" DJ asked. "If my mom comes out—"

"She won't. She's at Tucker and Valerie's watching their children while they go to a movie," Desiree said. "Now, I will tell you what would have happened if your father had never stepped into that portal."

It was a long explanation so I'll just summarize it here. Sam and Danny wouldn't have been as good of friends because the only reason he went in is because Sam said he was scared, and he wanted to prove he wasn't. Sam would have never developed such deep feelings for Danny and vice versa, and Danny would have probably ended up getting his heart broken by Paulina over and over again before she finally had to marry him because she became poor, and he had money from his parents' inventions.

Danny would have lived a lonely and terrible life because Paulina would cheat on him left and right, and he would eventually run to Sam to comfort him. Things would happen, and Paulina would go to court accusing Danny of cheating and win all the money and the house. DJ would still have been born, but his dad would have died when DJ was two because his heart just couldn't take it anymore when Sam died in a mysterious murder about a year after DJ would have been born.

"Danny had to step into that portal," Desiree said. "Or you would not be you."

"I would have been an orphan. How different could that make me?" DJ asked.

Desiree waved her hand, and an image of DJ appeared except it wasn't DJ. This teen was scary. He had body piercings and tattoos, scars from gang fights he'd been in and scars from the drugs he pumped into his arms. He was a liar, a thief, a rapist, and a murderer as DJ watched what could have been his life flash before his eyes. He finally covered his eyes, nearly screaming.

"Turn it off! Turn it off!" DJ shouted.

Desiree waved her hand once more, and the images disappeared. "I'm sure your father can forgive me for that one," she mumbled to herself.

DJ removed his hands from his eyes to look up at the ghost. "You…you've seen my dad?"

"Recently? His spirit, yes, but he is dead. He can only guide you with a gentle prodding and poking here and there, but he cannot speak to you or be with you in physical form." She looked up at the sky. "He is simply a spirit, like a conscience in wind form."

DJ looked around. "So…he could be here right now?"

"No. He isn't here." She turned back to him. "His spirit was beside you the night you rejected him, and he has left you because you left him." She smiled at his stunned face. "Goodbye, Daniel." Then she disappeared.

"Wait! How am I supposed to get down from here!" DJ shouted, but he found his feet on the ground in the park. "Whoa, how the heck did I get back here?" he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He quickly pulled his hand down when he realized it was an old habit of his dad's.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around. It was dark; he needed to find somewhere to stay for the night. He shrugged then headed for Eric's. It was all he had for now.

I'm planning something. I don't know what yet, but I'm planning something to get him out of Eric's and over to Cassy's instead.