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

Note (8/27/2020): I'm glad you guys liked the last few chapters and yeah, for Sam's sake I hope she wises up but that's why I set this all up! This story isn't about just Danny's recovery, it's about the rest of them growing up, changing for the better, and finding closure. And just fyi, there's going to be a time skip soon but probably only after the next one or two chapters. For now though, I wanted to give someone else a chance to show their side of things so I hope you enjoy the surprise in the last half of this chapter!

Chapter 17: The Distance Between Us

(Chapter inspired by Goodbye To You by Michelle Branch)

Vlad's POV

It was tempting to linger in Amity Park just long enough to see if Samantha took the bait and ruined any chance of seeing Daniel again of her own volition without lifting a finger myself since I was well within the rights of the law to put a restraining order on her for triggering his most recent trauma-induced episode. However, Daniel needed me more and now that I've done all I set out to do with my petty revenge against that upstart little brat it was time to let it go by the wayside. But seeing Daniel so helpless like this only reminded me of when he first came to me that stormy night after being shot and struck by lightning on top of that, which had stopped his heart. I found myself fearing for his life for the first time that day when I caught him midfall and discovered that Daniel wasn't breathing...

To save his life I had to resort to using my electrical powers to restart his heart and when he fearfully pleaded for me to run in a fit of fevered confusion before I ever knew who Dan was or how much Daniel has been hiding even from me, it put everything up until that point in perspective. Ironically, what Samantha shouted at me when they discovered he was in my care is absolutely true. I should have tried harder to actually help Daniel instead of being his enemy but sadly there's no changing the past. All that matters is that I am helping him now...because we're a family.

Just as I've believed all along Daniel and I had a bond that nothing else could compare to, not blood, not who he was born the son of originally, it goes so much deeper than that its difficult for even me to describe. And defeating Dan together who embodied all of the ugliest part of both of us, it somehow made me feel like many of my sins have been washed away where Daniel is concerned. I never cared to try atoning before, but once I let myself be forgiven and actually tried to be, a weight I never knew was there seemed to be lifted from my shoulders. A burden I was all too used to carrying and mistakenly believed would serve to make me stronger.

Daniel has taught me when to leave well enough alone to appreciate what I have just like I've been steadily teaching him that it's alright for him to take care of himself first. Being selfish is human nature, it gives us something to hold onto in a world that would take it all for itself and pretend that it's a good thing in extremes which he has grown up with his entire life. Jack and Maddie only saw the world in black and white before so it's only natural their son would believe that's all the world is made of...

My mother once told me that the man who gives all his bread to others and receives nothing in return for that kindness is doomed to starve and will never live long relying on others. He must learn to bake his own bread and set some aside for himself for a rainy day, sharing only what is within reason, and offering to teach them how to feed themselves. And only the truly selfish won't be willing to learn themselves and will keep taking and taking until there's not a crumb left.

Then again, she loved any excuse to teach me life lessons while baking.

I smiled fondly at the memory and it made me wonder what other memories and lessons I would be able to create with Daniel once we returned home and he recovered from this relapse. The possibilities were endless not only due to my boundless wealth, but because we were the only two proper ghost hybrids in existence. I finally had someone to pass on everything to from my fortune to everything I've learned these past twenty or so years. I could teach him everything from driving a car to stabilizing those portals of his so that he could theoretically travel anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye which not even I have the ability to do which I'm sure will excite him greatly.

"Daniel, you really are the perfect son," I thought whimsically until I registered the sound of his heart monitor again and frowned.

Ah, that's right, I mentally snarled, This is yet another incredible gift that someone has almost ruined for Daniel by making it a new power to be feared. I wonder how he'll react when I tell him what happened. Then again, since he was completely entranced by all that power at his fingertips, how much of any of this will Daniel remember...? How much of it do I even want him to remember?

There had to be a way to sort this out in such a way where Daniel wouldn't feel so guilt-ridden once he learns what happened in the lab. I know him far too well and he's going to blame himself for losing control like that. If he doesn't repress those memories on his own, was there any harm in helping keep them from troubling my little badger? If it's for his own good as long as I promise to tell him the truth once Daniel is ready for it-

With a heavy sigh, I gently lifted Daniel's hand and held it between my own, closing my eyes, "No. I can't fall back on my old ways any more than I already have. No more secrets. No more shortcuts. I want what Daniel and I have built to withstand the test of time. I want this to be real, something pure just like I've always wanted in my lifelong dream of one day becoming a father. I love Daniel too much to do that to him unless there is no alternative, and because he has shown me that there is always a choice."

As if to reaffirm this I felt Daniel's fingers twitch ever so slightly. I know it was likely just an involuntary reaction, but I wanted to believe it was a sign from him that I was making the right decision. It almost made me smile when I idly wondered how Daniel makes caring so much for others look so easy. He cares so much for everyone else but so little about himself, his dreams, his feelings, that's why I wanted Daniel to be the one thing I still do care about. I am content knowing he's never going to doubt how much I love him like a son ever again and we've gone beyond being rivals and enemies...

Daniel is my everything, and I want to be his too at least to the extent that I can finally give him the chance to do what he wants to for a change. As far as I'm concerned, his parents and friends were on their own as of this moment. He doesn't owe them his life anymore. They're the ones who are going to have to work hard to earn back a place in it, well, everyone except Jasmine since she has proven herself a thousandfold.

In all honesty, she is likely the only person in his life I do trust. That's why I've spared no expense and once she graduates Jasmine will want for nothing. She won't have to rely on her parents or a scholarship, though with her flawless grades and level of intelligence many colleges were already clamoring to have her choose theirs over a rival school. This pleased me greatly because not only was she well on her way of becoming a successful young lady, but soon Jasmine will escape her parent's shadow as well...

Everyone knows that even under normal circumstances, it is difficult for a parent to accept becoming an empty nester. But given the extenuating circumstances behind their son's departure and me becoming his legal guardian, Jack and Maddie are going to have to work especially hard to give either of their children enough reason to want to visit them. They would need to change as much if not more than I have to earn back their trust. And if they couldn't pull it off, well, my door will always be open for Jasmine as well.

Jazz's POV

Meanwhile, back in Fenton Works...

I really hated to see my parents like this after we said goodbye to Danny. For all their shortcomings, it was painful to see them look so dejected that not even tinkering with some ghost invention helped keep their mind off of it. Everything about ghosts only reminded them more of Danny and it makes sense. I even found mom just sitting in Danny's room stroking the glass of a picture of him when he was little with her thumb. As for our dad, he tried really hard to cheer mom up but she just wouldn't respond so I coaxed him into the kitchen by offering to make a snack for him.

Dad could be such a kid sometimes but right now, he looked like a man grieving over someone who just died. And that's saying a lot given how until a few weeks ago they saw ghosts as nothing but sentient random masses of ectoplasm and other gunk, not beings with thoughts and feelings or spirits of real people who actually have died. But Danny isn't dead, he just...when he couldn't handle the stress anymore his body reacted in a way none of us expected when he triggered an emotional safety mechanism by shutting down all his other senses...

In other words, Danny really was in a coma right now.

According to Vlad, it was only temporary and thanks to their ghost powers and his know-how of treating Danny's ghost-related health problems he assured us Danny would be back to normal very soon and leaving was more to help him emotionally since his stress levels were getting too out of hand. That's the problem though. Everything here was too normal, as in it was like he was right back at square one and felt like a total failure and like he was abandoning us by choosing to live with Vlad. His friends weren't exactly helping the problem either acting like selfish pricks. So oddly enough I was ok with Vlad putting a restraining order on Sam.

I've tried talking sense to her in the past but she's way more stubborn about things than my brother ever was. Tucker took his share of the blame too but I'm proud of him for being supportive of both of them while not falling into the trap of just going along with whatever Sam does because he's afraid of losing her as a friend too. I just hope she won't repeat the same mistake as before and break into the hospital to see Danny when he's in no condition to see anyone. Unlike before when Vlad went easy on her by getting Sam and Tucker grounded after they broke into his house, he's taken legal action which could cost her dearly if she didn't think this through.

For her sake, I hope Sam follows Tucker's example and waits for things to cool down again. As for me, I'm done telling them what to do or giving them advice they think they're too good for anyway. I have other things to worry about like making sure my parents are doing ok and will be alright once I graduate this year and head off to college. Ideally, I wanted to go somewhere close to Danny but then I figured he's probably sick of me babying him all the time. I can't help it though since he's my precious little brother.

I still remember the day he was born. I was so mad at first that I didn't get a little sister instead, but as soon as Danny opened his big blue eyes and cooed at me for the first time, I knew immediately he'd be someone very special in my life. In fact, I became so overprotective of him that when mom let me hold him for the first time, as soon as Danny started crying I refused to give him back until mom explained that he was just hungry. Either way, from that day on Danny has always been on top of my priority list apart from getting into a good school and distancing myself from my parents ghost hunting as much as humanly possible by making normal friends and keeping my grades up so people wouldn't think I was a weirdo too.

Looking back, I feel really bad about distancing myself from Danny at school once he was old enough to go and kids started teasing him since my parents made it clear they wanted him to follow in their footsteps. They almost kicked him out of preschool once for being in possession of a 'weapon' when it was just one of my parent's inventions they gave him to keep Danny safe and some kid broke it and hurt themselves on it. Poor Danny cried so hard and he tried to make the other kid feel better even though it was their own fault for messing with it in the first place and bullying him. That's just who Danny has always been.

Unfortunately, that incident along with the bad reputation my parents had built up by that point, most parents told their kids to stay away from him so Danny didn't have many friends. At least when we were little I still played with him all the time, like literally every chance I got, even when it annoyed my own friends and some ended up stop playing with me too. But to me, I've always believed that if they don't try hard enough to stay or ask you to change for them, they're not worth being friends with to begin with so I didn't let it keep me down.

Besides, I had Danny so who cared about the other kids? Couldn't they see how smart he was and how much fun Danny could be once they got to know him? That's what I kept telling myself and its also why I was so happy when Tucker became his friend in kindergarten. Up until that point I hadn't seen Danny so excited to go to school again ever since that other thing happened in preschool. It made me happy to see him smiling again and I felt like I could back off a little.

I was a bit more skeptical by second grade when Sam came along since she acted like such a little rebel, but it turns out she was also really sweet to Danny and stood up for her friends when anyone tried to bully them. She didn't care what anyone else thought of her, but you mess with her friends, and Sam would not hesitate to smack you with her spider backpack or literally pick up a spider and put in in your hair. Sam actually did that once you know, she actually brought a pet tarantula to school and when this other kid made fun of Danny's rocket ship and broke it she put them in a headlock and put the spider in their hair.

Needless to say, the spider died a hero in her eyes after the teacher freaked out and smashed the poor thing. And Danny being Danny felt really bad that she lost her pet but I'll never forget what Danny told me Sam said to him that day, 'It's ok, I'd rather have a real friend anyway and you're much cuter than a spider!' And just like that, the three of them became inseparable.

I think that's why I'm so mad that Sam's been acting like such a jerk to him lately and hurting Danny's feelings so much because I know she cares about him more than anyone, apart from Tucker obviously. I knew they'd figure things out eventually as long as Sam didn't do anything stupid to mess that up and sabotage herself. Tucker already seemed on the right track so I wasn't as worried about him but at the same time, I figured I'd let him know I said goodbye for them too. It might hurt that he couldn't be there even though Sam's the only one who got a restraining order, but at the same time maybe that would help reassure Tucker that he made the right choice keeping his distance for now.

Anyways, all that aside I already had my hands full babysitting my parents so Sam and Tucker would have to take care of themselves for the time being and the same goes for Valerie. I don't really know her that well since we've never really talked to each other until Danny went missing but she seemed to appreciate my advice a lot more than the other two for the most part. She just didn't like it when I started sounding more like a therapist and less like Danny's older sister but I get that a lot. It's a bad habit of mine.

I wasn't sure if Valerie planned to visit Danny since she was worried about her dad since he was still a bit shell-shocked from seeing Danny's powers go haywire in such close quarters. Not that I blame him, my parents are still getting used to the idea of Danny having superhuman abilities too on top of being someone they've literally been gunning for ever since he became that way. It's a lot for anyone to swallow. That's why I said goodbye for Valerie too, just in case...

Either way, it's going to be a lot harder on all of us because of what happened to see Danny leave again. What happened last night is just another cruel reminder to most of us that we haven't exactly been very supportive of Danny or appreciated how much brighter he made our lives. They say you only realize how much someone means to you once they're gone, but this is the second time Danny has left. And this time my parents, Valerie's dad, Valerie herself along with Sam and Tucker, we all know exactly why Danny needs to leave.

It's because we're the ones who chased him off, the one person who through thick and thin has never given up or stopped trying to protect us. That's why it's our turn to protect him, even if it's only the home he's leaving behind and his chance at happiness. And I want Vlad to show Danny he has more than earned that privilege. I want Vlad to show Danny his sacrifices haven't been wasted and there is something in it for him that isn't just more pain. He needs to know that it's not his job to shield us anymore from reality because it's finally time for us to face it too and what our future has in store for us...

A future and a new lease on life that is Danny's final gift to us.