"I can feel it. I know if I just grab it, I can pull on it and it'll come with no resistance. So why can't I get a hold on it?
"It's like holding water.
"I've spent so long shoving this part of me away, trying to bury it and protect it, I just can't… I can't figure out how to get it back. It sucks. I know exactly how to get everything back-to fix everything- but I can't freaking do it- Something I've probably done a million times!"
He's pacing-or floating-back and forth, head down and hood up.
"You can't figure everything out just by getting your memories back," I try to reassure him. "Let's see. Like why the light has ectoplasmic weapons and energy. Or what the GIW is up to. Or if the GIW and the light are working together. You don't have to fix everything… you can't. Took me a while to learn that. It'll take you a while too." All the while my hands move, fixing Phantom's belt up.
"But it's so frustrating! It's right there! I- URGH!" He pulls on his hair in frustration, still pacing.
"Calm yourself," I demand, still focusing on the belt in my hands. I'm trying to connect a loop for the thermos Danny asked for. Wally was in here with me and Danny, but he had to go. Probably to makeout with Artemis.
"Fine," he huffs. He sits back down beside me, where he was fiddling with a contraption Jazz brought him. He isn't sitting on anything, just… floating in a crossed-legs position.
I asked him once if he ever gets tired floating around. He told me that's ridiculous; being a ghost means floating is as natural as standing or sitting.
Like before, his mind wanders as his hands twist the wires of the machine, fingers pulling and fiddling with the parts unconsciously. It's muscle memory, I'm guessing. I wonder what he's thinking about. Usually it's something completely random.
It is.
"How much do you know about ghosts?"
The question throws me off guard, as they usually do. Still, without missing a beat, I answer, "They were studied and discovered by Jazz's parents, the Fentons, and they exist in a flip dimension of our world. If one is destroyed, so is the other. They are made of ectoplasm and the… souls, I guess? of those that died. They have obsessions, powers, sometimes domains in their dimension. Not much else."
"They have laws," he adds, absentmindedly, still focused on the thing in front of him.
I don't break what I'm doing, hoping he continues talking in his trance, surfacing new memories.
"And?" I ask after a long silence.
"There are artifacts. Skeleton Key, Infi-map, Time Medallions…" He grows thoughtful. "Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage."
"What about them?" I ask, keeping a disinterested voice but harboring a growing excitement.
"They only work together," he continues. "They-" He stops, closing his eyes. I watch as his emotions conflict with each other, knowing the brief moment of remembrance is over.
"Hey, that's more than we knew before." As I talk, the door opens, revealing Zatanna. She glances at Danny, face full of warring frustration and despair, and then at me. I shrug, honestly not knowing what to say.
"Rebmemer," says Zatanna. Danny lets out a gasp before whirling to her, expression accusing. She shrugs at him. "Figured I'd try."
"Yeah, well, it didn't work," he bites out. "That just gave me a headache, thanks."
She raises her eyebrows. He's not usually this rude, even when stressed. Despite the change in behavior, though, she ignores it and goes to sit on the table next to my now finished project.
"Why didn't it work?" I wonder aloud.
"I must not be powerful enough for that." Her tone waves it off.
I clear my throat in Danny's direction, emphasizing that the question was for him. He simply gives me a look, one that says later. I marvel at our ability for silent communication after only knowing each other for a short time.
Anyway, I let it drop.
"Do we have a mission?" I ask, switching topics. "Is that why you're here?"
"No, we have a bored Zatanna." She flicks the standing magnifying glass I had been using, making it spin. "We should do another prank or something."
Danny shakes his head. "I'm banned from doing those after last time. Tucker thinks I'm corrupted and I'm pretty sure Batman hates me now."
"He doesn't hate you," I'm quick to assure. "He doesn't like you either, but he doesn't like anyone, so it's fine." I'd told Batman about Danny's master prank of all pranks, and he'd thought it was hilarious (or as hilarious as the Dark Knight can find things).
Of course, it followed with a lecture about how I should've called him in case it was real. I told him I was going to, but before I pressed the button… Um… things happened.
Danny happened.
Anyway, at least Batman trusts Danny more now. I'd "let slip" the League's location (actually it was an old League hideout that was condemned in a natural disaster), and nothing had happened to it yet. No probes, no people, not even Danny himself checking it out. I can hardly believe Danny, with his intense curiosity, can not care about the supposed Justice League HQ.
Didn't even ask any questions.
Weird.
"He likes you," he grumbles.
"You can't compare yourself to me. That's hardly fair. I'm amazingly talented and funny. I get ladies. I'm awesome."
"Not to mention modest," Zatanna snipes.
"And aren't you single?" Danny adds.
"I'm playing hard to get," I reply.
"Can't play hard to get if you're hard to want," he returns, and Zatanna giggles. I give him a scathing look to which he grins, snatching his utility belt from my work area to change the subject.
He pulls it around his waist, clicking the mechanism shut. "So what's new?"
"You can put your thermos in it," I deadpan, cleaning up my tools.
"And?"
"And it's a belt."
Zatanna snickers.
He messes with the pockets, but finds nothing. I upgraded the tech, but he hasn't put anything in them yet. I tell him as much, and he simply makes a note to ask Jazz and Tucker for some ghost tech later.
Over the speakers, Jazz's arrival is announced.
"Great, we can just ask her now," Danny chirps, flying through the nearest wall. Zatanna and I, being ordinary, follow through the door and walk down the hall. We arrive to a decent amount of chaos.
Starting with Jazz, panting and leaning on Tucker, who is watching the interaction of Danny and… a girl. Who looks just like him. They just float, Danny silent because he's confused and shocked, the girl quiet and demanding.
"Y-umm…" I try to make a sound, but I fail and fall quiet.
Zatanna doesn't stay speechless. "What?!" she barks, and everyone looks at her. Danny looks relieved, but the girl looks irritated at the interruption.
"Danny, Dani," Jazz introduces, standing on her own with a look of murder to the girl. "Dani, this is Robin and Zatanna. Robin and Zatanna, Dani."
I echo Zatanna, "What?"
The girl finally speaks. "That's me. Dani. With an i." She holds up her pinky as said letter, accompanying it with a wink. "My full name's Dani Phantom."
"Um. I thought I was Danny Phantom," Danny argues weakly, still looking hopelessly confused.
"You are. I'm Dani-with-an-i Phantom. You really don't remember?" Her cocky attitude seems to fade a moment as she searches his face again for any kind of recognition. "Danny…"
"How did you even get here?" Tucker interjects.
"She possessed me," Jazz snaps.
Dani's brief melancholy moment evaporates in indignance as she turns to Jazz with a glare. "Hey, you wouldn't tell me where he was! I was looking for him for a full-freaking-month and y'all didn't have the decency to let me know you found him! So yeah, I overshadowed you, because you were soo smart to tell me that you knew where he was, he was 'safe' and you were going to see him in a place I couldn't go! He's my family, too! He's my only family! Don't blame me for-"
"Shut up, Dani!" Tucker shouts. He looks a little pale. "We found and told you Danny was missing only a week after he disappeared."
"Yeah, so."
I speak up. "He was gone for nine months. We found him three or four weeks ago."
She blinks. "Wha… That doesn't make any sense."
"That means you missed almost the entire time he was gone…" Jazz concludes quietly.
"Where… What does that mean?" she asks. We don't answer, being unable. "What does that mean?!"
"Where were you?" Jazz asks. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"Um…" Her brow furrows. "I was… I was taken a couple days after we talked… I knew where a GIW facility was and kinda guessed that's where… I was wrong. I was just overshadowing this doctor guy to check it out, but I was caught. They drugged me and…" Her face is a mask of concentration, and she pauses to try and remember. "I woke up in a pod. A pod, with my hands and feet clamped down. I was really cold, but also hot, because there was fire everywhere. The thing was broken, and I managed to use my powers to escape the bonds, which wasn't easy because they were ghost-proof. I went intangible in the flames."
"Like a cryogenic chamber?" I ask. If she was frozen, that would explain everything.
"Alright, okay. A chamber." She waves her hand. "Reminded me of where I was born, that's all."
"Which was in a pod," Tucker offers. "She's a clone."
"Of who?" As soon as it comes out of my mouth, I realize it's stupid. But… "Phantom?! But he's a boy!"
Dani shrugs. "So he copied two Xs instead of an X and a Y."
"Wouldn't that make you unstable?"
She rolls her eyes. "Yes. But they were all unstable. Danny fixed me."
"All?" Zatanna sputters, still shocked like me.
"There were more clones. I wasn't the only one. That's not important. Why would they freeze me? And how did I get out?"
"They're not trying to make clones, are they?" Jazz asks, looking horrified. "If they were…"
Dani goes pale. "I'm the only successful one. I have the thing in me that made me stable! If they got that, they could make more…" She breathes once, closing her eyes briefly. "I can't believe I didn't notice the dates were different for so long."
"Just one more thing to worry about, right?" Tucker jokes without humor. "It's only one more. What's one more?"
"And what's with you?" demands Dani, turning back to Danny, who had simply watched the conversation with an expression of hopeless confusion.
"What?" he asks, sounding resigned.
"You don't even recognize me! What'd they do to you?"
"He doesn't have any memories," Jazz supplies. "He doesn't remember anything. Who he is, what he is, nothing." The emphasis she makes isn't obvious, but the glare she gives Dani send the message. I'm just glad I already know what she's hiding, otherwise I'd've been suspicious of her.
"Nothing?" she muses, and I see the mischief in her eyes. It fades an instant before she asks, "What about Sam?"
"We haven't…" Tucker clears his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Haven't found her yet."
Dani closes her eyes for a second. "That's okay. We'll find her. And the people who deemed it important to kidnap them both and freeze me. Freeze me." She mutters something in another language that doesn't sound nice. Danny's eyes widen at it. "That made me lose an entire nine months! I don't even know how old I am at this point!"
"Thirteen," Jazz supplies. "You were born two years ago a couple months back."
"So thirteen and a half," she declares. Then she sighs dramatically. "Oh, well. I guess we're three years apart now."
Danny looks uncomfortable and still hasn't said anything. I notice a bit too late that he's lost in his own head. I snap his name, but there's no response. Soon the conversation consists of only his name being shouted at him, excluding Dani, who watches us with a strange expression.
Finally, she steps up, pushing us out of her way, despite having the ability to just go through us.
She glares at Danny, who is still staring off into the distance, completely unresponsive.
Then she kicks him in the leg. Really hard. Like, can-hear-it hard-across-the-room-without-super-hearing hard.
Ouch.
In her defense, it works. Danny is snapped out of it instantly, letting out a yelp and pulling away from Dani. He shakes his leg, glaring at her.
She gives a nonchalant shrug. "Sorry, foot slipped."
His glare deepens. She ignores it.
Randomly, I wonder if this could solve the nature vs. nurture debate. Clearly, they are the exact same, only they had different experiences. They had to, if Dani came and went as she pleased, and Danny stayed at home. Or maybe it's just a boy/girl difference.
"What were you thinking about?" Jazz asks, before Danny punched Dani. Wow, that's confusing. Why didn't she change her name or something?
"Just blurry fragments," he dismisses. "I was trying to put them together."
Jazz accepts it, against her nature. I, however, don't.
"What kind of fragments?" I press.
He gives me an annoyed look, then looks suddenly uncomfortable with everyone's attention on him. "Er… If you were unfrozen about a month ago, that would've been around the time the team was looking for me. Maybe they unintentionally set you free."
"We do start a lot of fires," Zatanna muses. "Particularly, there was one about four days before we found Danny. We were still waiting for the device to be turned on, so we hit a GIW facility outside of a town in Ohio. We accidentally ignited radioactive material when fighting off some of the defenses, though in retrospect, maybe they shouldn't have used high-power weapons as security for flammable material."
I laugh once, then continue the story. "The fire spread faster than Kaldur could put it out, and it was edging closer to the main gas line that was so outdated you had to shut it off manually, so we abandoned ship. Everyone had already cleared out because we were discovered. We downloaded as much as we could, but only got the research level's information. There were twelve levels, we only hit two."
"I was on the bottom." Dani frowns. "You left without knowing there were other people there?"
"We tried to put the fire out!" I defend. "And the place was deserted; it was evacuated! Plus, they have safe rooms on every level. Our retreat was justified."
"Chicken," she accuses, jutting her chin out and folding her arms.
"Child," I retort, folding my arms.
"Children, children, please," Tucker mocks. I recognize Dani and I are both being childish, and his tone just makes me more petty."
"Mock me when you can land a hit," I retort.
"Guys, come on," Jazz interjects. "We have other things to worry about."
"Yeah, Jazz is right," Dani agrees. I hear her mocking tone of voice too late; she comes right behind me and punches me in the back. In the back! Who punches someone in the back? What's worse is she inherited Danny's strength and I fly forward a good few yards, having to duck into a somersault in order to avoid getting a faceful of concrete.
I turn to Dani, a demand for explanation on my masked face.
"Does this mean I can mock you now?" she asks innocently.
I can't surprise a grin. I did say mock when you can hit. Danny outright laughs. The tension, if it had ever seriously been there, was gone now.
"Seriously!" Jazz cries, trying to get our attention back on Dani's capture and reappearance.
"We can figure it all out later." Dani now floats on her stomach, watching all of us with a grin. "Let's celebrate the fact that my long-lost cousin and I have been reunited."
Jazz groans as Dani demands ice cream from Danny and he agrees to get her some. They both fly intangibly towards the kitchen, where I know M'gann and Conner are.
It's silent for a minute.
Then, "What the heck?!"
Both Tucker and Jazz look down, avoiding eye contact. I look at Zatanna, who looks ready to shout a couple spells to get even with them.
"Z," I say calmly, attempting to placate her. She just holds up her hand.
"How much more are you going to keep from us? A freaking clone?! Batman's going to kill you! I'm going to kill you! Seriously, we've told you so much! We trust you. But you can't trust us? With this?"
"Z!"
She whirls to me, looking breathless from her ill-worded rant.
"Zatanna," I continue, lowering my voice but keeping my tone firm and nonnegotiable. "Calm down. There's a certain level of trust we haven't achieved with Jazz and Tucker yet, and it's mutual. They don't trust us with Danny's secrets, which is understandable…" I rush through the last few words, cutting off Zatanna from trying to argue. "Because they're his. Now, let them explain."
Tucker takes a deep breath. "Danny has a hero complex. He protects what's important to him, like his friends, family or town. He and Dani, while getting off to a rough start, grew pretty close when he decided to stabilize her. They're family. She stops by every so often to say where's she's been and give some souvenirs, but it's not very often. When she went off to look for Danny and we ended up here, at first we didn't say anything because we just forgot. Jazz barely knows anything about her, hadn't even met her until she found out Danny was gone, and honestly, I never really knew her either."
Jazz continues. "It simply wasn't pertinent."
"Wait, so at first it was because it didn't cross your mind as important, then it was to protect her?" Zatanna is just as angry, but now there's confusion there.
"No, it-" Tucker groans in frustration, his hand creeping towards his PDA again. "Ugh, no, Danny wanted to keep her existence a secret, so we never really talk about her and so we just kinda forgot. It wasn't an intentional secret! It just never came up."
Zatanna doesn't like the answer, but I see that she accepts it. After all, it's an honest mistake. I mean, if they're telling the truth, which I think they are.
"Why do you keep so many secrets from us?" she asks finally.
Jazz looks guilt-stricken, but determined. "They're Danny's. They're his to tell."
Tucker nods, tight-lipped.
"And there's nothing more to it than that," I conclude, turning and walking to where I know Danny and Dani are freaking out the rest of the team.
Sorry that took soooo long! I don't even know what happened, summer just disappeared. But I got this new laptop so maybe I'll write more! I need to fix some plot points, so bear with me. Criticism would be greatly appreciated because I can't figure out exactly what's wrong. Maybe I need more action? idk. But Danny is getting his memories back soon. Like, next-chapter-or-the-one-after kind of soon.