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

Note (9/4/2020): Hey, is anyone else having an issue where you get the email for a review but it doesn't appear on the site? I'm not sure if it's just me so I'm curious. Anyways to "hatsudami" I think there's still hope for Sam and Tucker, they just need to learn how to own up to their mistakes, make the right changes, and learn to just do their own thing sometimes and not rely on Danny to make their lives exciting again. Sam and Tucker need to remember why they're friends with each other too and not just because they met through their friendship with Danny.

And to "Dp-Marvel94" yeah, Vlad might still have his issues but when it comes to Danny he's trying to do better by showing him that level of trust between them even though it hurts him to see Danny tearing himself apart over what someone else did since he's not to blame for Sam and Tucker's reaction. True, maybe he shouldn't have volunteered them to help Valerie out without asking first, but after everything he's done for them and how he put his life at risk so many times, it didn't seem like so much to ask you know? He was asking for their help which for him is hard enough to do since he's the one always helping others, so having them shut him down and dismiss his feelings like that...well it hurt more than any physical wound could have which is why he snapped so easily.

Chapter 21: Normal? Nope, Never Heard Of It!

Vlad's POV

"Here, I want to read this," Daniel told me after we returned to his room and he handed me what appeared to be an ordinary composition notebook with a meaningful expression on his face.

Before I could ask what was inside, Daniel continued, "Just to be clear I'm doing this just in case Clockwork doesn't want to be found even once I'm up for a quick trip to the Ghost Zone with you. I want you to know everything that led up to meeting Dan and how I felt afterward that I've never really told anyone. I know you already know the gist of it now, and honestly, I wanted to show this to you much sooner, but it just never seemed like the right time.

"Plus I didn't want my sister to get her hands on this and have a field day with it while we were busy packing up. In fact, it's the first thing I grabbed out of my room before we went to stay at the hotel so I'd know exactly where it was at all times. It...might be kinda hard for you to read since it was the only way I could put what I was really feeling into words about meeting my evil future self since I knew my friends wouldn't understand how he-"

Unable to bring himself to say it he fell silent and sat down quietly on the bed for a moment. When he gathered his thoughts again Daniel switched gears and further explained, "Anyways, long story short since everyone tends to get super nosy about my personal life and all butt-hurt when I'm not willing to share some of it even with them I needed some way to vent about everything in a place where I knew no one could judge me. So I wrote down a lot about Dan and my nightmares about him in that notebook.

"At least now I know some of those nightmares were part of Dan's memories he was using to freak me out, they were real, which means that the Vlad who helped me in that timeline...he never meant to create Dan, he sincerely wanted to help me and just made a mistake that cost both of us everything. Also, in case you're curious I kept this notebook hidden in the frame of my bed since I figured that's the one place no one -not even you- would think to look for dirt on me since I keep most of my ghost files on my computer. Pretty smart right?" he smiled weakly.

"That does sound very much like you," I mused, looking at the notebook in my hands with a newfound reverence before asking, "And you are quite sure you want me to read this? Especially if it's so personal?"

Nodding, Daniel blushed in embarrassment and blurted out, "Well yeah, I mean you trusted me with the truth about my friends earlier and I've been meaning to do this anyway like I said. Besides it just means I don't have to repeat everything again and we can focus on just seeing Clockwork if we can. I mean...he told me I would only make getting rid of Dan harder on myself if I didn't trust you with the truth so now that he IS gone I want to change all that. I want us to trust each other, not just with our lives, but with how we really feel so we can help each other! Isn't that what family does?"

My chest swelling with pride I reached forward to ruffle his hair affectionately and smiled, "Thank you for trusting me with this Daniel. That means a great deal to me. I'll return this to you once I'm finished-"

Shaking his head, Daniel lifted my hand off his head and said in a dead-serious tone, "No, that's just it. I don't...I don't want to have any more reminders of what Dan put me through around. We got out of Amity Park so now, when you finish reading that like with everything else I want to put it all behind me. I won't let him have power over me anymore so as soon as you've read everything that book has written in it I'd like you to get rid of it. Burn it, fling it into the Ghost Zone, boil it in acid, I don't really care as long as it's gone."

"Very well," I agreed, "I will do as you ask Daniel but there's no rush. As I said before we have much to do but first and foremost I want you to readjust to life here with me. We'll take it each day at a time so for now, like you said just focus on what's in front of you. I'll set this aside for later and once you've rested I'd like to get the medical examination out of the way first. Then we can focus on sorting through your belongings so you can decide what you wish to keep on hand and what you want to put away..."

"...or throw out," Daniel added darkly under his breath, likely aiming those words at his friends but I know he didn't mean it. He's not capable of ever truly abandoning his friends and family regardless of the distance between them.

Honestly, Daniel was like a reflection of myself after my proto-portal accident, only...my feelings of resentment never really went away. And now that Jack and Maddie know the truth, it was as if I was experiencing it all over again and remembering all the things I wished I would have shouted in Jack's face had I not decided to hold back and plot out my revenge against him. That's why I didn't want him to think like this, regardless of how much I resent those two brats right now as well so I said something uncharacteristically hopeful-

"I would hold onto the things that still mean something to you before you regret not having them later. Besides," I smirked, "The more you get rid of, the more I'll feel compelled to buy to replace it. And you wouldn't want me to do that now, would you? I might get carried away again like I did with this very room."

"Right..." Daniel sighed, taking another deep breath before admitting, "Sorry, I guess I'm pretty much rambling at this point. I'll be ok, and I'm glad I got the chance to give you that notebook. It feels like one less thing I have to worry about."

"It's alright Daniel, I should let you rest for a bit and take some time to yourself but as always I'm here if you need me for anything. And don't strain yourself little badger because your life-" I began, suppressing the thick emotion that threatened to creep into my voice as I continued, "-your life has only just begun and I want you to make the most of it. We've won a great victory, Daniel, overcome obstacles that seemed insurmountable before, all because you gave me the chance to be someone worth trusting and most of all...befriending. Everything is going to be alright now, I promise you. I will NEVER let anything or anyone hurt you again."

Tears welled up in his eyes but Danny smiled and brushed them away with the palm of his hand, looking directly at me afterward and nodding, "Thanks, Vlad."

"You're welcome..." I replied, trailing off and leaving him to his own devices, gripping the notebook tightly as I swore mentally to myself, He's going to be alright. I won't make the same mistakes as before no matter what, for his sake, I can't afford to. Daniel is finally home. Whatever it takes even if it means reliving the horrors he went through I'll do it. And I hope that will only bring us closer.

Danielle's POV

"Of course it had to rain didn't it?" I sighed, leaning against the wall of a general convenience store I passed when the downpour started and looked up at the stormy sky. "I should really think of getting an umbrella at some point."

Figures this had to be one of those days where I left my jacket and backpack behind safely hidden in the wall intangibly at my current hideout in an empty house that's currently for sale. It's nicer than most of the places I've had to hole up in the past at least. And when I checked out who lived in the two houses next to it to make sure they wouldn't notice someone living in there while the for sale sign was still up, luckily the one on the left only had two rich couple living there who were hardly ever home until late at night, and on the other side was a single mom with a family of five that kept her undivided attention pretty much 24/7.

This actually worked out in my favor since I caught a bad cold a few days ago and I was finally able to rest somewhere without worrying as much about being discovered, for now at least. That being said, since the house I was staying in didn't have anything I could use I snuck into the single mom's house invisibly to see if there was any cold medicine and since that one lady is a single mom she had almost every medicine you can imagine so I took just enough cold medicine to help me get through the first night since the bottle was mostly empty anyway. It wasn't much, but it helped me get over that cold a little more quickly than I would have trying to just sleep it off.

Unfortunately, being conked out for several days meant I needed to restock on food to keep up my strength since that cold didn't do me any favors. But I wasn't about to risk taking anything from the rich people's house or from a single mom working her butt off to take care of her kids so I got by on what I had left in my bag until now. Thankfully I still have a little bit of money left over so I felt super relieved that I wouldn't have to steal anything today.

Besides, now that I felt better I was hoping to make a little more money this weekend in the next town raking leaves or something. I learned the hard way that it's easy for adults to tell when a kid 'is a runaway or ditching school' when someone like me comes knocking at your door in the middle of the week offering to clean their yard for them or walk their dogs if they had one when I should be at school. One time, someone got really in my face about it and after they grabbed my arm she threatened to call the police on me when she suspected I was a runaway after seeing how ragged I looked so in a blind panic as soon as her back was turned I phased out of their grip, went invisible, and flew off since I wasn't about to risk that crazy lady alerting the whole neighborhood about me.

But you know, live and learn I guess.

So long story short, that's why I'm waiting outside in the rain for the store to open. I wanted to get an early start today since I've been stuck in this town too long already and needed to get moving again. It's been a week since I left the last one behind after losing the trail of those Guys in White as it turns out they're actually called. Weird name but whatever...

I know that as long as they think I'm Danny, they won't stop, I found myself thinking, my hands trembling, They'll keep hunting me forever and I'm-I'm so sick of being hunted by them, by Vlad, I just want to-!?

My head snapped up when my ghost hearing picked up raised voices inside and my instincts were telling me something was wrong. Glancing up at the security camera I tried to make it look as casual as possible when I reached my hand out to see if the rain was letting up before pushing off the wall again and dashing out of sight. After that, I transformed into my ghost form and flew back to the store invisibly to see what was going on after phasing my head down through the roof.

I frowned when it was exactly what I thought it was, a robbery.

But who does that sort of thing this early in the morning when there would be lots of other people coming to the store once it's scheduled to open? So these guys were either rookies or just really dumb. Not that I'm any better then they are in some ways since I don't really have a choice since I can't risk using normal means to get help feeding myself and such. But these guys, they had a choice, and they were obviously making the wrong one...

"Put the money in the bag and shut your whimpering old man!" the guy in the front yelled with two other guys in ski-masks on either side of him, "Don't make me fill you with lead."

"Dude, just because we're robbing the guy it doesn't mean you gotta-" the guy on the right said before the other one elbowed him hard in the ribs and he clammed up.

Yep, total rookies, I thought, shaking my head since I've dealt with this sort of thing before when I was trying to become a hero just like Danny.

I mean, I figured there wouldn't be many ghosts around the rest of the world so why not stop robbers and stuff or rescue kittens from trees? Well ok, I've never ACTUALLY done the other thing since most people run away screaming when they see a girl floating in midair, which I guess makes sense since only so many average everyday people have realized ghosts are real. Either way, being half-ghost at least makes me slightly more intimidating to normal bad guys. And sometimes, I don't even have to fight them...

And that's exactly what I was going to do this time since I really didn't have the energy to overuse my powers too much after just barely getting over a cold. Besides, they sounded pretty young so I could probably scare them off without too much trouble. While still invisible I started off with a classic by flying in close and phasing my hand through all three of them and they felt a chill run up their spines. I guess it's a ghost thing that Vlad never explained because I have no idea how they could even remotely feel that.

"Hey, did you leave the back door open?" the first guy asked, still trying to act tough, "Go check it out!"

"Ok ok geez..." then, shoving the guy who spoke out earlier he sneered, "You heard the man, go check it out!"

"Wha-? Why me?" the shy guy exclaimed.

The third guy threatened darkly, "Because if you don't...I'll knock your teeth in for almost chickening out a second ago. Now hurry up! We've gotta clear out of here soon before anyone realizes we're here! Someone might have snuck out the back to call the cops so go catch them!"

Nodding the shy guy sprinted to the back door which gave me an idea. Since I was much faster than him I unlocked it and left it open for just long enough to see it before slamming it shut in his face. He yelped and fell back on his backside when I yanked it open and slammed it a second time, slowly letting it creek open while moaning, "Leave this place..."

"What the hell? Who's there?" shaking his head and propping himself up he reached for the handle and this time I let him open it again to stumble outside, his head looking this way and that for the owner of the voice.

I was surprised though when now that there was a door between him and the two guys still in the store, he called out to me while lifting the gun I didn't notice before a little higher with shaking hands and said, "Look, I don't want any trouble so come out now and I won't hurt you ok? There's no way out of this alley, we checked it earlier so hiding is pointless."

"I'm not hiding," I whispered in his ear and before he could turn around I shoved him forward and knocked the gun out of his hands, leaning towards him and picking it up so only it stayed visible and then used my ghost energy to melt it at least mostly. I felt a bit woozy from doing that but it was worth it and that look on his face, the terror, it was...almost painful to look at even though I was still invisible.

"Oh my god, is this place...haunted?" he sputtered and I couldn't stifle the laugh that escaped my lips.

"You could say that," I said, dropping what was left of the gun on the ground. And I don't know why, but I felt the sudden urge to show myself to set this guy straight since he didn't seem like a bad person. I don't even know why they're doing this. Was it for the thrill? For the money? Either way, my gut was telling me if I didn't do something this guy would go down a really dark road he may never come back from...

Just like...Vlad.

Ignoring the shocked look on his face when I slowly faded back into view, my mostly white hair glistening in the rain that was still falling, I looked down at him and said, "I can tell you don't want to do this, it's written all over your face so why don't you just leave? Why are you letting your friends do this?"

Staring bug-eyed at me he sputtered, "Who...what ARE you?"

"Just a wandering ghost," I shrugged, "But I'm serious. You don't seem like a bad guy so you should turn yourself in before you do something you can never take back. Trust me, what you're doing now isn't worth ruining your life over. Just be grateful you still HAVE a life. Now," taking a step back I continued, "I'm going to go stop your friends before they hurt someone, and if you're smart you'll be gone by the time I get back. If not I'm going to have to leave you for the cops to deal with. Got it?"

Before I could hear his reply, if he even gave me one, I phased back inside, locked the back door behind me so he couldn't follow, and flew back over to the other two who were yelling at the shop owner about him holding out on them which didn't sound good at all. But again what did they expect? The guy hasn't even opened the store for the day and they were expecting a full cash register? Things were looking bad though so I needed to stop playing games before someone really did get hurt!

"This is all I have!" the owner explained, "If you want the rest go check the office, just don't hurt me!"

"Yeah right, and let you out of my sight long enough to call the cops on us? I don't think so, now open the other register before I get angry! Time is money after all!" the main guy laughed cruelly, grinding the barrel of his gun to the poor owner's head since he was now holding him hostage while the other guy was stuffing other things into the bag they brought besides the money they just stole, like candy and chips. Oh geez, did that mean these robbers really were just a bunch of punk teenagers?

Anyways, now that things were escalating I needed to take care of this fast so first off, even if it freaked him out I needed to get the owner to safety so I phased into the floor beneath them, made him intangible, and yanked him down with me before flying back up to drop him off across the street. As expected the guy was too stunned to really react to what just happened besides doing what any sane person would in that situation and yelled.

Thankfully this along with the fact that someone just teleported before their eyes as far as those two jerks were concerned, they started to panic too and scrambled for the back door and fumbling with the lock. They couldn't explain what they just saw so they decided to make a break for it. I followed after them, planning to catch them when I wobbled and veered heavily right into one of the shelves.

I winced and gripped my head when I felt something familiar and sticky as my hand began to dissolve into ectoplasm as I pulled it away. I concentrated on making it solid again in a hurry but it was taking too long and...ugh I felt so weak all of a sudden. Was using my powers even this much going to wipe me out the rest of the day again? I really am getting worse! I whimpered, shaking my head and flying in the opposite direction while holding my hand close to my heart.

I wasn't even sure if I remembered to go invisible but I didn't care, I needed to get out of there! What I did would have to be enough and they'd have to take care of the rest themselves, but at least no one got hurt. Well, besides me that is but again I'm not exactly in the best shape. Still, I was pretty much on auto-pilot when I made it back to the house somehow and collapsed to the floor, hands reaching blindly into the wall to grab my backpack so I could get out of town...

If I used enough of my powers to become this unstable then it meant I also used enough for either Vlad or those government agents to detect me again. How could I have been so stupid? All I wanted was to grab some more food before I left! Now, not only am I going to have to leave hungry, but I had also left a 'witness' who saw me in my ghost form. I doubt he'll say anything to anyone since it would mean he'd have to admit to being one of the guys trying to rob that store, but you never know.

Shrugging the backpack on after stuffing my blanket back inside, I took off without even bothering to change back into my human form and flew up high into the air, following the opposite direction of where the sun rose since Amity Park was in that direction according to my map. As long as I kept flying that way, I'd get there soon and then maybe Danny could help me because honestly...I was starting to get really scared.

"So much for today being a normal day," I sniffled, biting my quivering bottom lip as I blindly flew through the light drizzle since it hadn't stopped raining since those guys tried to rob the general convenience store.