A/N: Hold your applause. I know, I'm getting these out like no tomorrow.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom

Daniel groggily opened his eyes to see a white, sterile environment. The ceiling tiles screamed hospital and he let out a slow smile – I wonder how Tucker would…?

He caught himself in mild enjoyment and wiped the smile off his face quickly. It wasn't the time to think of his old friends. It was time to think about how he would finally destroy Vlad and save his mother. He blinked his eyes a few times, coming up with nothing as he kept perpetually staring up at the ceiling tiles.

He kept staring…and staring.

It's not as though they'll give me the answer.

Daniel sighed, reaching his hand up to rub the back of his head…only for it to stop short. His eyes traveled down to an ecto-cuff that was faintly glowing a green color. It looked like it was made out of expensive materials, and looked as though it could contained any normal ghost…maybe it even might have been able to hold his old self.

How sad he wasn't his old self or just any normal ghost.

He rose an eyebrow up, and yanked his trapped arm up suddenly. It had instantly shattered, falling into multiple little pieces as they hit the floor unceremoniously.

Did they really think that could hold me?

The door to the room suddenly opened, causing the young halfa's eyes to trail over to it. The door had made a loud sound, which jolted the young halfa out of his semi-narcissistic thoughts – it wasn't as though he were hyping himself up.

Jazz stood cautiously by the doorway, staring at him. It took her a few seconds to finally move a body part, even if it was a simple twitch of her finger. At seeing that she wasn't going to move from her spot – most likely in a small amount of shock at seeing him here – he decided to make the first spark of conversation.

"Good morning," he spoke dryly, not putting much effort or emotion into his greeting.

"Good morning," she smiled, wandering over to where he was. Fortunately, there was a chair that situated directly next to the bed. She sat down slowly, eyeing his back for a short amount of time. He was wearing a hospital gown that he hadn't passed out in – which was unfortunate.

Daniel hated being in a hospital gown.

"How are you…?" Jazz struggled to say. "How are you, uh…feeling?"

Daniel blinked his eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?" He questioned, and then remembered about that control chip that had been integrated into his spine. He had remembered exactly what he had done to his own body – boiling the skin, disintegrating the muscle, until he was able to completely get rid of the control chip that was affecting him.

The black haired teen glanced behind him to see an abundance of white bandages around the wounded area that was popping up just at the side of his hospital gown. He was expecting a dull pain to be resonating from the area, but not even that seemed to happen.

"Oh…" He turned his head to look at his sister before shrugging.

He supposed it really was true – out of sight, out of mind.

"Fine," he spoke indifferently, resisting the urge to perform a shrug. He knew that his sister wouldn't take it very well, and that's based on the small amount of memory that he had managed to remember about her.

"It's…" Jazz clenched her hands tightly together. He could see that this was stressing her out more than it was him. "It's okay if you feel pain, Danny."

Daniel rose his eyebrows up. "Right, I know that," he agreed, not at all dismissing her words. "It doesn't hurt. Fath-er, uh…" He caught his mistake at seeing how his sister's face scrunched up in concern and distaste. "Vlad," he stressed, trying to make a mental note to never refer to him as that in front of anyone again. "Made sure I had a high pain tolerance."

He could remember vividly the training – though it would be more acceptable to classify it as torture, that Vlad made sure he had went through the past months.

"That fucking monster…" Jazz whispered darkly under her breath.

It made Daniel uncomfortable hearing his sister speak that curse word. He didn't have all his memories yet stitched together in his fragile mind…he was a little concerned that not all of them would come back. Sam had said that Vlad had corrupted him back in the city, but the young halfa was sure that he had done all this mental damage to himself.

He breathed in deeply in thought.

Would he ever manage to put himself back together?

"Are you in pain?" Jazz took his deep breath as one of discomfort and pain.

"What-?" Daniel asked again. She quickly got up to her feet and looked around wildly. "Jazz-!" He began to say and before he could say anything more, she took off out of the room. He raised his hand up to stop her, but it was hovering in the air for a few seconds.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Look who managed to wake up," Tucker's voice teased. Daniel looked up to see his ex-best friend holding a basket with an energy bar and canned soda. "Would have given you a gift basket, but you know…" He let out a small shrug and strained smile. "End of the world and all."

He placed it down on the table and looked down to see that the young halfa was completely free.

Daniel followed his gaze and glanced down at the ground to where the restraining device laid in pieces. "Sorry if that was expensive," though the young halfa's teen was the farthest thing from being apologetic.

In actuality, the young halfa hadn't given a damn if it was expensive or not.

"I didn't pay for it," Tucker mused, sitting down in the seat where Jazz used to be. "Besides, I had a feeling that it wouldn't be able to hold you."

"I'm not weak," Daniel blandly spoke.

Tucker placed his hands in the air. He didn't want to have this discussion again, or one sided-discussion again. He had seen exactly how Danny thought he was supposed to be strong – it seemed to be a new obsession for him.

"You seem plenty strong to me, so…"

Daniel eyed him before directing his gaze back to the bed. "I am broken, though," he muttered, slumping his body forward some. "I broke myself. I hate that this," he looked at his arms. It wasn't as though his current personality would have been able to be washed away. "Is who I am now and," He took in a deep breath. "That the old Danny is never going to come back."

There was a small pause between the two of them.

Tucker didn't know what to say – he wasn't a man of very many words. He didn't know where he should even start with this messy situation. He had wanted his old best friend back; he had wanted the Danny that would smile and laugh -

This Danny only seemed to know how to chuckle darkly - it sent shivers down Tucker's spine when he did that.

"We like you like this, too."

At the new voice, Valerie and Naomi walked in, each holding a canned fruit. "We would have given you a gift basket, but –

"Yeah, yeah, end of the world," Daniel finished, already hearing the same spiel earlier from Tucker. The two girls smiled and walked over to the bed to see their friend better. "I appreciate the canned fruit," he spoke, knowing that it was nothing like the fancy meals that he was fed back at Vlad's mansion.

He wondered briefly how the old man was doing – or, more precisely how pissed he was at his defection.

That was assuming that Vlad knew he had defected.

"I brought the doctor!" Jazz yelled, and Daniel couldn't help but release a long sigh.

This was all turning bothersome.

"I'm fine!" He complained, seeing a man in a white coat hover in the doorway. He rose his index finger in the air, narrowing his eyes at the man. The group of teens tensed up, remembering the last time he had pointed his finger at something…it had shattered into a thousand different pieces. "Leave," he ordered darkly, and the doctor scampered off, not wasting a second longer.

He lowered his hand back on the bed, and the teens relaxed at that action.

"Where's Sam?" Daniel asked.

Tucker stilled and avoided his gaze. "She's uh…on a call with someone…?" He squeaked out.

Daniel didn't see how that was a bad thing, but wondered exactly why his ex-best friend was nervous. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, standing up from the bed effortlessly. Everyone was protesting about how he should stay in bed and that he was still healing…and yet the young halfa wasn't going to listen to them at all.

"Get back in bed, Fenton!" Valerie ordered, gripping his shoulder tightly. Daniel was surprised by her strong grip, but he knew that it would never be able to hold him in place. Not unless she wanted to break her wrist and challenge him.

He didn't want to break her wrist, though.

"I told you I heal fast!" He complained, shrugging away from her grip, lightly. It was the best alternative instead of creating violence and forcefully making her let go. Daniel looked around and then his eyes widened – he had hoped that he was wrong with who he had suspected.

Sam wouldn't be on a phone call with him…would she?

"Phone call with who?"

Tucker shifted nervously and Daniel's question. Tucker scrunched one side of his face up, reluctant to answer his ex-best friend's question:

"…Vlad…?"

She would.

There was a sudden energy pulse in the room, causing everything to go sliding back. Daniel let out a small growl, storming out of the room, not caring who was in his way. Tucker, Valerie, Jazz and Naomi quickly on his trail.

He was huffing, but not because he was in pain – it was all anger.

He felt oddly…protective over Sam.

Even when he had no recollection of her, those amethyst colored eyes of hers dared him to remember her. He couldn't put an end to her like he had initially wanted to – now that he remembered, he didn't want her out of his sight.

Especially when she was stupid enough to call up Vlad.

"Danny-!"

"Danny, stop-!"

"Fenton!"

Daniel looked in each room that he passed, hoping to see the black haired teen. It didn't take long until he noticed a large screen that had Vlad's boasting face on it. He could hear her voice screaming at the man as she slammed her hands on the table in anger.

He phased through the door, not even bothering to open it with his hands. A sharp pulsing pain erupted from his back when he did, nearly making him double over at the sudden pain. This caused the group that was chasing him to get hung up by a common human object.

Daniel stared at the screen intently. He didn't care that he was only dressed in a hospital gown. Vlad had already darted his eyes to the newcomer. Daniel cleared his throat, forcing the pain that was coming from his back to die down.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, looking harshly at Sam.

"D-Danny?"

"Daniel," Vlad's voice came from the screen. Daniel didn't look at Vlad or give him any attention. Instead, he decided to keep his dark eyes on Sam. She took a step back, feeling intimidated by his stare. "Daniel…!" Vlad's voice demanded to be listened to.

He took a few steps over to Sam. "Don't speak to him," he ordered her, raising his hand out to take her arm. Daniel would force her out of this room if he needed to. "Do you want to get even more irritated than necessary?" He taunted.

He was about to grab onto her arm but stopped short when Vlad yelled:

"Daniel!"

Daniel quickly looked up at the screen with an unamused expression. He stopped where he was and decided to give the man the attention he craved.

Daniel lowered his arm back to his side. "Yes?"

Vlad took a few seconds to respond. "You were sent to destroy Amity Park. You instead were captured by the resistance that you were meant to destroy, Fright Knight is missing, and all you have to say for yourself…" He took a small pause, craning his head lightly to the side. "Is yes…?"

There was a brief amount of silence.

"…I wasn't captured," Daniel argued, and the teens outside the room, who could hear the conversation as clear as day, let out sighs. It seemed like a typical old Danny response to only reply to one out of a series of questions. "Besides, I missed how this was my problem."

"Our problem, Daniel," Vlad stated with a grim expression. Daniel could tell that the man was very close to blowing up – it was a shame since this was the very same man that had taught him to control his anger. "Did you forget whose son you are?"

Daniel shrugged. "What are you going to do about it?" Vlad was silent. Sam looked over at the young halfa, wondering where he was going with this. "You lost your precious pawn. Go send another to do your dirty work, or better yet…" A slow smirk began to appear on his face. "Why don't you come down here and do something about this yourself?"

"Danny-!" Sam said with a gasp.

She didn't want Plasmius down here, they didn't have enough people or resources to start a war with the strongest entity known to man.

"I doubt you want me down there, boy," Vlad insisted with a slight sneer.

Daniel responded with another shrug.

Sam let out a heavy sigh. "I wanted to keep this a secret – but…" She shook her head. Daniel glanced at the girl with blank eyes. "We have Danny. Which means, you can't bomb the city without killing him, too."

"Quiet, girl," Vlad barked back, bringing a hand up to his chin in thought. He glanced at Daniel who wasn't looking at him, instead, he was still looking at Sam. "Daniel," at his name being called, he looked back at the screen to see Vlad again. "Come home and your mother will not need to suffer for your mistakes."

"Can't," Daniel replied bluntly.

Vlad narrowed his eyes. "You…can't?"

Daniel lifted up the side of his hospital gown to show the bandages. Sam blushed and turned while Vlad kept staring, not at all bothered by the injury. Daniel pulled down the bandages to reveal the still very fresh wound. It hadn't healed at all, and it was still bleeding both green and red.

"Can't use my ghost powers until I'm healed."

Sam paled at that – it was a blessing and a curse by telling Vlad that.

"Looks like we're paused for now."

"A stalemate for the time being," Vlad agreed to Sam's words, though he phrased it differently. Daniel put the bandages back, letting out a grimace as he did so. "You disintegrated the chip," Vlad acknowledged as Daniel looked back up at him. "Are you asking for permanent death?"

Daniel looked fearlessly at Vlad. "What is there left to live for?"

Vlad didn't like what Daniel had said and dismissed the call himself.

Sam stared at her friend with sorrow filled eyes. "What do you have to live for-?" She asked, drawing closer to him. Daniel watched as she did so, feeling uncomfortable as he could feel a lecture beginning to start. "How about getting the world back to normal-?" She yelled, pounding her hand's on Daniels chest.

He stood there and took it, not sure on what to say or do.

"Don't ever say you want to die…"

"I didn't?" Daniel questioned rhetorically. "It was to get him off my back," he spoke light heartedly. He smiled gently down at her as she looked up at him with tear filled eyes. "I don't want to die," he shook his head, placing his own hands on her shoulders. "I just now remembered you…" He let out a small sigh, looking over towards the door. "I remember everyone else, too."

He stared at the door for a few more seconds until he looked back at her – at her amethyst colored eyes. Daniel seemed like he needed a map before he stared deeper into them. He was going to get lost into that sea of purple and never come back out again.

She wasn't good for him – he would lose focus.

"Sam," he spoke, making her flinch at suddenly getting addressed. "I want you to know that if I do die taking out Vlad, then you need to make the world right without me. That isn't my mission," he let go of her and turned around.

Sam was a nice idea – but, he didn't want her.

He wanted something else that she couldn't give him.

"What is…your mission?"

Daniel approached the door, placing his hand on the door knob. He gave her a strained smile. "I don't think you want to know," he spoke, barely above a mutter. She had still heard it, though, which caused her great worry.

"It's to kill Vlad, isn't it?" Jazz asked as soon as he opened the door. He was met with his friends – old and new, and he didn't want an emotional support system.

He wasn't weak.

He didn't want them, either.

"Yes," Daniel answered, taking a step into the hallway. The teens parted and allowed him to stand around them. "I am going to kill him. Before that," he glanced at Jazz. "Ghost portal," he demanded, and she looked confused at first.

Then, it clicked.

"You…You want to go into the Ghost Zone?" Jazz seemed puzzled. "Why?"

"I have some family there that I need to pick up," he spoke with a very thin smile.

To be continued…

A/N: Yeah, okay, that's enough updates for now.