Author's Note: I finished this chapter sooner than I expected it to be and the title should give you a hint on what to expect.
Chapter Four
"The Family She Never Had"
"How's our guest doing?" Jazz asked Danny, who was in the back with Danielle.
"She's just fine except for being exhausted. I guess her body needs time to adjust itself due to her stabilization," Danny replied.
"Danny, could you tell us again what happened in the lab?" Tucker asked since he was still confused at what happened as he steered the Speeder.
"I don't know what happened. I don't think Vlad would make a mistake or that his own henchmen would betray him," Danny couldn't help but ramble on over what had happened earlier. "I did have a dream when I was knocked out but I don't think that had anything to do with it."
"A dream?" Jazz questioned.
"I saw myself as my ghost-half floating above the containment chamber that held my human-half and I reprogrammed the machine to stabilize Danielle instead of his clone."
"A new power?" Sam questioned.
"We don't know if that's a possibility for Danny to split his ghost-half from himself willingly, but we can't rule out that possibility or it might be a form of duplication. We also don't know how many more powers that Danny will have," Tucker implied.
"Excuse me?" Danielle said as if she was offended by the statement.
"Sorry, but it's still kind of strange having a female clone of Danny with us."
"Tucker!" both Danny and Danielle screamed as they were both annoyed by his statement.
"Danny," Jazz said as she climbed into the back, "you know that we'll find a way to get Danielle to stay with us."
"Don't forget that she doesn't 'technically' exist," Sam added as she looked back.
"That's what I'm worried about," Danny muttered.
"Danny," Jazz began as she kneels down to his level noticing the sadness in his voice, "we've both been through worse before and I'm sure that we'll figure this problem out together."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Jazz," Danny replied not meeting her eyes as she pulls him into a one-sided hug.
Danny soon noticed that Danielle was withdrawn from them as if she didn't want to be there. He breaks away from Jazz's hug so that he could check up on Danielle. "Danielle, are you okay?" he asked her.
"I'm fine Danny but," she replied not looking at him.
"But?"
"I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to adjust to this new life even if you are able to convince your parents to let me stay," she was trying to hold back her tears but that seemed to fail. "I've been on the run for the past month and I only came back to get help from you on my condition. Am I just a mere shadow of you?"
"Don't say that!" Jazz said while she tried to not get involved.
"Yeah," Danny chimed in, "you said it yourself that you weren't a clone just before you unleashed your Ghostly Wail on Plasmius."
Danielle let out a giggle as she blushed slightly, "He had it coming to him with those insults."
"Just remember to use it as a last resort since I don't want word getting out that you are half-ghost let alone a clone of me."
"Sure Danny I'll remember," she replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"I mean it!"
"Okay, okay," she said as she put her hands up in defense facing him but her demeanor was still the same.
"Amity Park straight ahead!" Tucker announced just as Amity Park came over the horizon.
Danny cracked a smile since he just had an idea that might get Danielle out of her mood and back to her cheerful self.
"Hey, Danielle, I'll race you."
"To where?" she asked as turns around only to see Danny phase through the floor.
They soon spotted him waving at them in front of the Specter Speeder in his ghost form. Danielle cracked a smile and also phased through her chair while she transformed to join him.
"Where to?" she asked as she cracked a smile similar to Danny's.
"The basement of Fenton Works in front of the Ghost Portal."
"You're on!"
"On three."
"One, two, three, go!" they both said before they took of like a shot.
They flew at a high rate of speed with their legs nothing more than wisps of smoke. Amity Park was fast approaching as they both approached it. They both turned invisible as they entered the city limits so they (especially Dani) couldn't be seen as they flew above the buildings. Fenton Works loomed ahead and they phased into the basement at the same time as they hovered in front of the Fenton Ghost Portal. They looked around to see if anyone was there and there wasn't anyone present except them.
"Looks like a tie," Dani said.
"Looks like it since we both have the same abilities; therefore, we're equals," Danny replied.
They then heard voices from upstairs and it seemed that his parents were back. There also seemed to be a third voice speaking and they both investigated who was there with them. They both phased their heads through the basement floor while still invisible to listen in on what was going on. Danny knew that he would get into trouble if he used his powers to eavesdrop on a conversation.
There were three people sitting on the couch in the room. Danny's dad, a large, wide man wearing an orange hazmat suit with black hair, was busy eating large amounts of fudge while drinking lemonade. His mom, a woman with red hair wearing a blue hazmat suit, was sipping lemonade as she sat next to her husband. The last person was an elderly man wearing a suit as he sat across from them.
"So Mr. Smith, how is she related to us again?" his mom, Maddie, asked the elderly man.
"She's a niece on Jack's side of the family. So she would be a second cousin to your daughter and a third cousin to your son," Mr. Smith replied.
"How," Jack mumbled through a mouth full of fudge before he swallowed, "can we have a niece that we don't know about?"
"It happens more often than you think," Mr. Smith said as he sipped his glass of lemonade. "You could have a third cousin you never knew of and they could be living next door to you."
"What's her name and why pick us? It's not like we like having relatives over," she added that last part rather hastily.
"Her name is Danielle and you are her closest relations in relative to distance. I do believe that you still have relations in Wisconsin?"
"Yes, we do but we haven't spoken in years," Jack said as he took a big bite of fudge.
"We'd be happy to take her in, but where is she? Wouldn't she be with you?" Maddie asked since Jack still had his mouth full of fudge.
"We were on our way here but we ran into your son and daughter. At first Danielle and your son were very surprised to see one another. They thought they were looking at a weird mirror at first. I explained to them where I'm going and since I recognize them from pictures; I told them my reason why I'm here. At first they didn't believe it but they soon accepted that they are related despite them looking like twins."
"Twins?" Jack muttered as he swallowed his fudge.
"You can call it a doppelganger effect. You could have someone look like you, but you don't necessarily have to be related. Your son and daughter offered to show her around since I had other business to take care of before I came here."
"What time is she supposed to be here?" Maddie asked as he sipped her lemonade.
Mr. Smith checks his watch, "They should be here in the next few minutes since I still need her signature plus yours to make it official."
Danny and Dani couldn't believe their ears. It seemed too good to be true. Danielle was going to be living with them but they were unsure who would do this to them. Mr. Smith looked in their direction and they were unsure if he could see them. He cracks a grin on his face before a scar flashes over one of his eyes that seemed to go unnoticed by Jack and Maddie. Danny had seen that scar on more than one occasion. That scar belonged to Clockwork, a ghost with the power to control time, and it's why Danny is still here since Clockwork, despite what the Observants (unknown to Danny) had seen, gave him a second chance when Danny became his own worst enemy.
Danny gestured Dani to go back into the basement since they still had to get Sam, Tucker, and Jazz out of the basement so that his parents don't get suspicious. They reappeared and transformed back into their human forms just as the Specter Speeder returned to the basement. The occupants got out of the Speeder and stopped when they heard voices upstairs.
"What are Mom and Dad up to, Danny?" Jazz asked Danny.
"They're apparently talking to someone called Mr. Smith about taking Danielle in," Danny replied.
"What?" Jazz asked just as Tucker came tumbling out of the Speeder onto Sam.
"I know that you're against me for misusing my powers, but we had to make sure that Mom and Dad were upstairs before we did anything else. We couldn't help but overhear what they were saying."
"So you spied on them?" Sam asked as she and Tucker stood up.
"We're all guilty on at least one instance in which we spied on someone," Danny pointed out which can be true to everyone present in the basement.
"Can this Mr. Smith be trusted?" Jazz asked.
"He knew that we were spying on them and he flashed a scar on his face that was hidden. I've seen the scar before and it belonged to Clockwork."
"Clockwork?" Jazz, Sam, and Tucker said in surprise while Danielle's was one of confusion.
"Why would he interfere with time?" Tucker asked.
"Maybe, he's doing this since he knew that I would have this problem, but why?"
"Who's Clockwork?" Danielle asked again.
"Clockwork is a ghost that can control time and I've met him a few times before," Danny explained to her.
"I'm sure Clockwork will explain this to us later and what's the story upstairs with Danielle?" Jazz asked.
"Mr. Smith said that the three of us," Danny gestured to himself, Danielle, and Jazz, "ran into each other and Danielle and me had a humorous encounter thinking we were looking at a funhouse mirror."
"I can see why that would be funny," Tucker pointed out while he let out a short chuckle.
"If Mr. Smith is or works for Clockwork; I think he can be trusted and I think we should get outside so that our parents don't suspect that Mr. Smith isn't lying," Jazz pointed out while ignoring Tucker's statement.
Danny took Jazz and Sam while Danielle took Tucker and they phased through the basement and into the backyard where they couldn't be seen.
"Hey, Danny," Tucker said as they reappeared in the backyard, "I think that Sam and I should leave since we don't want to get involved into family business."
"I agree with Tucker since some things are meant to be kept within a family," Sam added.
"I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow at the carnival?" Danny asked as he rubbed his hand behind his head.
"How about tonight?" Tucker asked. "That is if you can get away from your ghost hunting."
"And Valerie," Danny added with bitterness in his voice since he hasn't forgotten what she almost did to Danielle.
"Let's get going Tucker since they'll need some family bonding before this day is through," Sam said as she dragged Tucker away and they were gone.
"Shall we get this over with?" Jazz asked with a small smile on her face unsure of how this day would end.
Danny and Danielle nodded as they slowly walked towards the front door. Danny didn't know what to think since he had hundreds of thoughts running through his head. Danielle didn't know that to think either since her legs were increasingly becoming weak. Jazz also had hundreds of thoughts running through his head. Her anger towards Vlad had just increased to that of repugnancy since he was still hell-bent on getting his clone project working. They entered Fenton Works and into the room where Mr. and Mrs. Fenton and Mr. Smith were.
"Ah, Danielle," Mr. Smith said as he set his glass down, "right on time. I need signatures from the two of you."
Jack and Maddie just stared at Danielle as she entered the room. Jack had a huge piece of fudge sticking out of his mouth while Maddie had dropped her glass of lemonade. Their stares annoyed Danielle in which she said, "Uh, it's impolite to stare."
"Sorry dear," Maddie said as she signed her name before handing the form to Jack who also signed it while the piece of fudge fell into his lap.
"I also need a signature from you, Danielle," Mr. Smith spoke.
Danielle couldn't believe that this was happening to her. First, since she left Amity Park her body began to age at an accelerated rate. Second, being captured and taken to Vlad's just to be destroyed by his primary clone. Third, being stabilized and blowing out Vlad's eardrums with her own version of the Ghostly Wail while she brought the whole place down. Finally, getting the family that she had always wanted since Vlad only was using her to do his dirty work. The short walk seemed to be a long eternal hallway for Danielle as she walked slowly towards the table to sign the form to make her guardianship under the Fenton household official. She trembled slightly as she reached for the pen and she let out an inward sigh after she signed her name.
"Thank you and I must be off so I can send this in," Mr. Smith said as he put the form into his briefcase before he began to leave.
"Mr. Smith, does she have any belongings with her?" Maddie asked.
"Unfortunately no, they were lost about the same time as her parents," he replied sadly. "However, if anything is found; it will be sent here. I bid you adieu." He slowly walks towards the door but slows his pace as he passes Danny and Jazz. "I also bid you adieu too, Danny Phantom," in a tone that only the two could hear as he cracks a smile before he lets himself out the door.
"How are you feeling, Danielle?" Maddie asked her.
"I'm just fine, uh, Aunt Maddie," Danielle replied unsure how to talk to her aunt.
"Jazz, do you mind if she rooms with you until we can move the furniture out of the Op-Center down into the spare room next to yours?" Maddie asks Jazz with a warm smile.
"No, not unless Danielle objects," Jazz replies after she had recovered from the interaction with Mr. Smith.
"I don't mind Aunt Maddie," Danielle replies growing more confident with her new life with family.
"Jazz, would you help me with lunch?" Maddie asked.
"Sure," Jazz replied and she followed Maddie into the kitchen.
"Hey, Danny!" Jack said enthusiastically as Jazz and Maddie left. "Check out my newest invention!" Before Danny could protest, Jack pulled out a belt that looked oddly like the Specter Deflector but it seemed to have tiny hooks on it. "It's the Fenton Utility Belt! It can carry anyone of my inventions at the same time!"
"Isn't it that the Specter Deflector only with hooks added to it?" Danny questioned.
"Of course, Danny! How do you think that you'll be protected by a ghost with a regular old belt? Now I can catch that Ghost Boy if it's the last thing I do!" as he grabs one of the inventions off the belt which turns out to be the Fenton Ghost Fisher and it had its reel all tangled up.
"Uh," Danny said nervously remembering all of the times his inventions had turned on him at times as he tried to think up an excuse, "I need to, uh, show Danielle around the house."
He drags Danielle upstairs and into his room leaving his dad with a disappointed look on his face while he tries to untangle the Fenton Ghost Fisher.
"Is he always like this?" Danielle asked in surprise as she tried to hide a chuckle.
"Yes, especially when you mention the word 'ghost.' He's going to be having double trouble with two Ghost Kids running around."
"Don't you have some files on some of the ghosts that you have fought?"
"Yes, why?"
"If I'm going to be helping you; I should at least know which ghosts to watch out for."
"Okay, but for now I think you should not go out helping me since someone would make the connection between you and your ghost form; especially Valerie," as he goes to his computer and inputs his password for his ghost files.
"Oh, come one, Danny! It's going to be so boring if I don't help you out!" she pouted as she followed him to his computer.
"Not unless you want your secret out!"
"Okay," she finally conceded, "for how long?"
"A week or two should be long enough and Valerie is going to be looking for you even after your encounter with her. She's okay when she's not pointing a gun at any ghosts, especially me," as he leaves his computer so that she can look at his ghost files.
"It seems that you acquired a lot of ghosts on your files," she questioned after looking through them for a few minutes.
"Some are annoying whiles others you should watch out for. For example," he opens a file on a ghost labeled, "the Box Ghost, a ghost not worth my time to worry about since he always rambles on about controlling boxes. He's nothing more of an annoyance and an outlet for my misplaced aggression."
"He's that annoying?" Danielle couldn't believe her ears that a ghost like that can be annoying.
"There is one that you should watch out for," he opens another file labeled, "Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, hunts rare ghosts and he's set his sights on me so that he can turn my pelt into a throw rug."
"That is plain disgusting!" as she makes a sick face.
"Tell me about it," Danny replied while rolling his eyes. "He's some what easy to defeat and he's nothing without his suit," he clicks on a sub-file on Skulker's file. "He's just a green blob without it."
"Any other ghost I should watch out for?"
"Some are annoying while others I'm on good terms with."
"And what's this?" she points to a file labeled 'Dark.'
"That is one file I cannot let you see and it's protected by a password."
"Why?"
"Just some bad memories I want to keep behind me, but there is one file that I can let you see," he moves the mouse to the file labeled 'Phantom²' and inputs the password.
There were two files, one of him and one of…
"Me?" Danielle yelled in surprise at one of the files on the monitor. "You made one on me?"
"Why not?" Danny asked humorously. "I do need to update that picture and update your file. I made them so I can keep track of what powers that I, no correction, we have," as he puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Danny," her voice was starting to crack as tears began to stream down her face as she turns to face him, "you are the first person to show me this much kindness and much more than Vlad ever did."
"Danielle, you and I are a team now and we'll get Vlad the next time we meet. This time we're on the same side," he pulls her into a hug.
"Thank you, Danny," she said as she hugs him back with tears streaming down her face.
"And Dani."
"Yes?" as Danny wipes a tear off her face as they break their hug.
"Welcome to Team Phantom," this statement earns Danny another hug and this one was tighter in which he returns the hug.
There was a knock on his door and they broke up their embrace to see Jazz at the door.
"Sorry to break this up but lunch is ready," she said as she tried to hold back a smile and some tears.
Danielle quickly dries her tears as she closes the ghost files that she was viewing and follows Danny downstairs leaving Jazz to slowly bring up the rear.
"You two are going to make a marvelous team and the two of you should be able to get along with one another since both of you are like kindred spirits," Jazz said in thought before she followed them downstairs with a hidden smile on her face.
Post Author's Note: How'd you like this chapter? However, alas, there is only one chapter left in this 'fic and it's the epilogue. I just need to edit it some more before I post it. Also, I wasn't sure how things are down concerning the guardianship of a child when their parents are gone and I'm unsure if it is accurate.
