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

Note (9/17/2020): I still need to finish double-checking some facts but I feel better now so I cranked out a pretty long chapter for you guys! And to "Dp-Marvel94" yeah, I wanted to surprise you guys with the last chapter and also show that the Guys in White aren't pure evil, they're just stubborn about ghosts and tend to jump the gun like Jack and Maddie used to. But for the most part they DO care about protecting the average citizen from ghosts.

Mind you, not everyone is going to be like these three since they're a lot more laid back than most of the others we know because they're lower-ranking members. And apart from that I only planned to use those three agents for this one encounter to show that they're still human beings too with friends and families they're trying to protect from ghosts too along with most people in the world at large who don't even know ghosts exist outside of somewhere like Amity Park or places with their own history of ghost activity. That said, there's a much scarier and far more serious side to the Guys in White too that I'm planning to bring into play soon. You've been warned!

Chapter 26: All's Well That Ends Well?

Vlad's POV

The following morning the first thing I did was check on Daniel to make sure he was still stable and hadn't slipped back into a coma during the night. But much to my relief his vitals seemed steady and strong and Maddie of course was doing an excellent job keeping vigil over him. And it didn't take long to send out duplicates to gather everything she needed to settle in with him as we discussed briefly yesterday. He was free to change his mind later of course if Daniel decided he wanted the room to himself.

For now though I was content to let him rest and recover his strength so before leaving I gently brushed his hair back affectionately before taking a deep breath because there was much to be done today as well. However, unlike the past week, I didn't feel the same urgency as before while Daniel was still unconscious. Now that he has regained consciousness it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders since I've been so worried about him. That being said, it was still too early in the morning to call his sister and parents to let them know he had woken up so instead, I returned to my office to catch up on some important legal paperwork I received from Daniel's school and the government which brought me one step closer to having everything I needed to legally gain full rights as his guardian.

It would be some months before everything was finalized, but every step closer brought my dream of being Daniel's father-figure to fruition. Just thinking of that made all the pain and uncertainty we endured together worthwhile. Daniel was finally safe where he belonged here at my side and from now on I will lavish him with love and affection and we would do all the things a father and son should do. Although granted we would also be doing many things only the rich and powerful have the privilege of doing such as riding on a yacht, visiting one of my private island getaways, getting VIP passes to see one of the bands he so loved, there were so many things I wanted to do and share with him but I needed to pace myself...

Right now, Daniel just needs me to be here for him and support him during this difficult time while he's trying to recover from what Dan did to him and the aftermath of everyone close to him besides his sister and two best friends learned our greatest secret. But it didn't impact me as much as it did Daniel, as long as they kept their mouths shut I didn't care anymore if Valerie's father or Jack and Maddie know my secret. And I was confident my secret was safe for the same reason as before ironically because if they expose me, they would have to expose Daniel too and rob him of the only person who can help him with his ghost powers.

All of that aside, the pieces were slowly falling into place and it made even the most tedious tasks seem less bothersome since I know for once in my life I'm doing all this for someone I love. It may not be for a wife like I once imagined, but I'm glad it's for Daniel whom I will never stop thinking of as the son that I've always wanted. And now I get to watch him grow up into a fine young man knowing that I'm the one who is helping him achieve that greatness. I'm not going to let what happened to him ruin Daniel's life like I let my accident and resentment do until he gave me something worth fighting for.

Thankfully I don't see myself fighting any actual enemies besides those in the business world from here on out because I doubt any ghost would be foolish enough to face our combined power. Especially not after we defeated someone like Dan, the Fright Knight, and Skulker one after the other. It does make me wonder how many of Daniel's old enemies will appear in Amity Park now that he's gone still looking to gain a foothold or who don't know what happened. Though I'm sure Valerie's father will keep me informed in his reports about her progress now that she is more or less one of my official ghost hunters now along with his report about Jack and Maddie's in their new lab in Axion working for me.

Today was going to mark their first day at work since it was delayed after Daniel collapsed so part of me actually hoped the good news that their son was awake would motivate them to act professionally to prove their appreciation for all I've done for them and their son. And while I'm not holding my breath, it would be nice if they would actually listen to my advice for once and do a good job since it would show Daniel how much they were willing to change for him too. But I digress.

One way or another, it put a smile on my face knowing that even though he's living with me Daniel has left a positive impact on those he left behind unlike the first time he came to me. Now they finally realize what a wonderful young man Daniel is and how he makes their lives better just by being himself. He's certainly done the same for me. I wouldn't be who I am now if not for him, and he would not trust me with his future or confide the pain of his past with me if we were still enemies. That's why I promised myself that I am going to be the best father I can be from now on by doing what I can even if it means stomaching the others in his life I can still hardly stand.

As expected, Daniel's parents were overjoyed and relieved to hear the news though I had to remind them it would be some time before he was ready to speak to them since he needed his rest. I also took this opportunity to remind them of their duties with a not so subtle nudge that I fully expected them to honor their part of our deal to show Daniel their support by using their knowledge and skills to protect Amity Park from now on. I informed them about Valerie as well and how she would be turning in any ghosts she captures to her father and it was their job to return them to the Ghost Zone on a daily basis until they could securely close the blasted thing.

Maddie suggested shutting it off again but I informed her that this was a bad idea because the last time they did this the ghosts grew especially restless since they know of their stable portal and are used to using it freely and with that much raw ecto-energy pressing against it from the other side could have disastrous results and tear open temporary natural portals all over Amity Park. In simpler terms, I explained that their portal is like a dam holding back water, and if it overflows or the currents are too strong it doesn't matter how strong the dam is because eventually the pressure would build, cause cracks to form, and before long the water would gush forth and destroy all in its path.

That's part of why both our portals have ecto-filtration measures in place to siphon off any energy that spills over into our world whenever it is used and by now their portal has released untold amounts of ambient ecto-energy their devices were incapable of detecting but only a few ghosts have the ability to absorb this unused energy again, including Daniel and myself. So as a token of good faith I agreed to send them some blueprints so they could build such a device to detect those readings because it might help locate any natural portals in Amity Park that have already appeared that we just aren't aware of.

Unfortunately, Amity Park has already become a hot-spot for ghosts who use other energy sources only the living can provide to increase their power and assert dominance and having a stable portal there only made the town more desirable so it's important for us to snuff out any major threats for Daniel's sake because he is still anxious to make sure his friends, family, and the townsfolk would be safe without Danny Phantom's protection. So until we put his fears to rest Daniel would feel pressured to go back to play hero again which isn't good for him because he needs to be allowed to live his own life free of such a heavy burden...

And that's where we come in.

"We'll do our best Vlad, I promise. Just take good care of Danny and tell him we love him," Maddie said and it was oddly comforting to hear that some of her old confidence had returned once she knew her son was alright. Even Jack was keeping his blubbering to a minimum.

"I'll go tell Jazzy-pants the good news too before we head over to the lab," Jack offered excitedly before I heard his loud footsteps going up the stairs.

Maddie obviously hadn't expected to end up alone on the phone with me but I was genuinely surprised when she said warmly, "Thank you for taking care of Danny. I'm glad he has someone like you that actually knows what to do in the event of a medical emergency. I've been beside myself with worry ever since he collapsed but somehow I just knew before you called today that he would wake up today. I might not have a...ghost sense, but as his mother its a good thing I haven't completely forgotten my maternal instincts."

"Come now Maddie, we both know you never forgot them in the first place. It just got buried somewhere along the way due to your overzealous passion for research and science," I found myself saying to comfort her for old time's sake.

"I'm just happy you're finally doing something good with those skills for a change. It means a lot to Daniel knowing you're supporting him in your own way. And I..." clearing my throat I added, "It almost makes me wonder if I had trusted you two with my secret back in college, would you have tried to help me the same way you're helping Daniel by protecting yourselves and the home he loves?"

Stunned by the unexpected question Maddie admitted, "Vlad, I'd love to think we would have helped you but that was so long ago and we were different people back then. I know we were cruel to you, leaving you like that, but the fact is...we were scared, Vlad. We thought you already hated us and at first, we tried to visit but you turned us away. I didn't know what else to do but move on. And at least at first, we did try to figure out a cure for you but it was hopeless without knowing your other symptoms and the doctors certainly weren't going to tell us anything. I just wish we knew you really had no one else left in your life besides us. We should have tried harder to be your friends and for that I'm-"

"That's enough Maddie. I think we're both done dwelling on the past," I told her firmly, "We must look to the future and show Daniel that he can rely on us from now on so he'll never feel as alone as I did. We both owe him that much. And for what it's worth I'm glad you've accepted Daniel even if you're still unsure about my ghost half. Knowing he hasn't lost his parents the way I lost my friends...it makes me happy."

"Vlad, if you're serious about wanting to change I hope that someday we can be friends again. You, me, and Jack. I know we have no right to ask, especially after what we put you through and what we put Danny through, but if nothing else I hope that the next time we're allowed to visit there won't be so much contention between you and Jack especially. After all, he's always loved you like a brother. I hope you know that," Maddie concluded timidly.

And before I could say anything else I heard the frantic footsteps of Jasmine's delicate feet as she practically ran for the phone and blurted out- "Vlad! Dad just told me the news! Danny's awake now right? Can I talk to him?!"

With a soft chuckle I explained to her calmly, "Calm down my dear, he only woke up from a coma yesterday and he's still rather dazed and woozy from being asleep for so long so he needs time to recover and settle back into a normal sleep pattern again. I will let you know when he's ready to call you so until then just let him rest, alright Jasmine?"

Sighing heavily in relief or disappointment Jasmine replied, "I understand. But thank you so much for taking the time to call us before I left for school, I'm sure it'll be easier to focus on my test today knowing my brother's alright. Mom and dad are getting ready for their first day working for you too. Actually wait-" she paused for a moment before turning around and exclaiming, "-uh oh, we need to hurry or we'll both be late! Now shoo you two and go change into your uniforms. I'll say goodbye to Vlad for you!"

From their end, I heard Jack complain, "I still don't see why we can't wear our own hazmat suits, I haven't worn anything else for-"

"Gah, dad, don't say things like that! I don't need to be traumatized by that kind of mental image right before school!" Jasmine groaned before returning her attention to me and saying, "And that's been the story of my life for the past week babysitting my parents. Honestly, it's like I'm the mother around here even without Danny around."

Smiling to myself I complimented, "And you're doing a fine job might I add. Just don't forget to take care of yourself too my dear. At any rate, I need to call Damon in just a moment to have him relay the news to Valerie as well about the update on Daniel's condition so I'll let him know that Jack and Maddie should be on their way soon. Either way, I hope that this will help motivate all of you to do your best today, though I'm sure you'll do just fine on your test even without it. Now you'd best hurry and get going too Jasmine, and have a wonderful day my dear."

"You too Vlad. And say hi to Danny for me. Oh, and please let him know Sam and Tucker have made up after their fight. I know Sam's not allowed to talk to him but I'm sure he'll feel better knowing his friends aren't fighting with each other anymore and I'm sure they'll come around eventually. Anyways, I'll talk to you later! Bye!" And with that, she hung up and I set down the phone, feeling a mixture of relief but also uncertainty since I still haven't technically told Daniel about the restraining order on Samantha.

I still planned to but perhaps it was better to broach the subject once Daniel has given himself the time to himself he needs to settle in again. And he was always free to ask me how they were doing indirectly. Regardless, there was still one more person I needed to call that was likely getting ready for work as well so as soon as I gathered my thoughts, I called Damon Gray.

Valerie's POV

I was still a bit groggy this morning after the rough night I had but at least we could start settling into the routine of me catching ghosts and handing them over to my dad so Danny's parents could send them back. There was still a few out on the loose but if I wanted to get any sleep I decided to call it a night before catching the rest since I wasn't going to be able to take them down with my slow reflexes. At least I didn't run into any while I was at the Mall with Star so small blessings I guess.

There's also the fact that we've been packing all week to move into Vlad's old mansion. Yeah, you heard right, when dad told me that's where Vlad was helping us move to get out of this dingy apartment I seriously thought he was joking at first. But nope, Vlad was giving it to us just like that where we didn't have to buy it or anything. We'd still have to pay for the utilities ourselves but with how much dad was making at Axion Labs now after getting a raise he had more than enough for that and more so we've been replacing lots of our cheap junk in the meantime which feels so liberating.

I really missed living the easy life, though I'm not gonna act like the same snot-nosed brat I used to be that's for sure. Either way, it's such a relief that we'll be out of here as soon as they finish furnishing the place since we had to take care of that too since Vlad cleared everything out. Vlad did tell us about his old lab though and said we were free to use it for a similar purpose again if we wanted but dad told him he was content working on those things in his own laboratory at Axion Labs and he explained how he liked to keep his home life and work as separate as possible which makes sense. Dad's always done that even before we found out ghosts were real and he was just a normal head of security.

I still feel a little weird about moving into Vlad's old mansion because we were going to have more space than we knew what to do with but dad promised we'd make it feel like home in no time. We've even been talking about what to do with some of the extra rooms there. Obviously one thing we both agreed on was converting one of them to a workout room, possibly two so we could each have our own. There's already a pool there which is awesome and even a jacuzzi! Dad wanted to expand his room to include a home office instead of a lab so if for whatever reason he couldn't go to work in person he could direct everyone from home while I just want to have a decent sized one again that isn't the size of a small storage shed.

Anyways, we've been keeping busy which is good because I needed the distraction since we still haven't heard any news about Danny and I was starting to get really worried. And I also want to see if Sam or Tucker have tried to talk to Danny whether he's awake yet or not. But then again, considering we're still dealing with cleaning the storage room at school before the dance this weekend I really don't want to push my luck with Sam right now. Besides, whether Sam likes it or not she has been covering for me whenever a ghost tries to claw its way through the ghost shield so the least I could do was give her some space and respect her privacy.

At this point, we were probably going to find out before they did anyway.

"Valerie, are you awake?" dad called from the living room as if right on cue.

Stifling a yawn and climbing out of bed I called back, "Yeah dad, just give me a few minutes to get dressed."

"Ok honey, just make it quick since I need to drive you to school before heading to work. I'm on the phone with Vlad at the moment, he said he has news about Dan-" I didn't bother waiting for him to finish before bursting out of my room with a horrible bedhead and practically skidded across the floor in my PJ's in a rush and asking-

"Is everything ok? Did Danny finally wake up!?" I panted, my heart racing a mile a minute because I was nervous but eager to find out one way or another.

Asking for Vlad's permission to put him on speakerphone, he agreed and I repeated my question. I felt a flood of relief wash over me when Vlad said, "Yes Valerie, to answer your question everything is fine and he's awake now. That said he's still very weak and disoriented so don't get too excited. Daniel needs a bit more time to recover, however, you'll be happy to know his condition is stable so he should be back on his feet in a couple of days. I'll be sure to give him your regards but I must ask you to refrain from calling him yourself just yet. He also needs some time to himself to adjust to everything much like I'm sure you will once you move into my old mansion. By the way, have they almost finished furnishing it, Damon?"

Nodding my dad replied, "They have and the moving company you recommended have done a great job setting everything up. If all goes well we should be able to move in within the week unless there's a delay again, but you did warn us some ghosts might try to snoop around there since its where you used to live so the first thing I did was set up the new security system. I figured if anyone was going to test it it might as well be me."

"Excellent, keep up the good work and remember to contact me if there are any serious problems with the system or glitches so we can address them before we release the new one to the public," Vlad replied before adding, "Also, while I made a clean sweep of my mansion there's always the remote possibility that the movers missed something so if you come across anything of mine or Daniel's be sure to let me know. I'll send someone to retrieve it right away. Apart from that you should have the full map of the property, including the other two hidden rooms and such so feel free to do with it what you will."

Out of curiosity I couldn't help but ask, "Hey Vlad? I know you told us which room used to be your evil lab, but what were the other two for...?"

I didn't expect him to answer me, but after a long pause, Vlad explained, "The first one was my training room where I honed my skills against simulated enemies and such, as for the last room..." chuckling to himself at some inside joke he teased, "Well it might be more fun to let you discover that on your own my dear. After all, who doesn't love a good mystery when moving into somewhere new? And don't worry, it's nothing scary or formally diabolical."

Returning his attention to my dad Vlad added a bit more seriously, "At any rate, I only called to inform you that Jack and Maddie are already on their way and that I've informed them that Daniel is awake as well so I want you to make sure they don't slack off despite the good news. I expect to hear a full progress report by the end of the day. However, after this, I would ask that you do not call me directly unless there is an emergency since I need to focus on helping Daniel. Am I understood? If I have any instructions to give or news about him he can't give you himself, I will be the one to call you first."

"Yes sir," dad nodded, "That said though I know Danny's in good hands and I'm sure we'll be just fine. As for his parents...well let's hope you're right and they won't get TOO carried away on their first day at Axion Labs."

Before Vlad could say anything else I chimed in and asked, "Now that Danny's awake I have a favor to ask. There's something I want to send him so could I have your address? And no offense but I'd prefer to have a real person handle it and not a ghost."

I couldn't see it but I had a feeling Vlad was rolling his eyes right now as he pointed out, "My my, getting a little ahead of ourselves are we? At any rate, jokes aside I'd be happy to give you the address so you may send it to Daniel's P.O box. I set it up for him so that he could receive physical mail from his sister or parents or any packages if he wishes to order something online. Do you have something to write with...?"