AN: Ciao!~ I am SO happy that I got this to you guys on time! :D I actually have to thank a guest reviewer because I was having writer's block until he/she reviewed (this was actually back on chapter 3, but the ideas are just now making it to the published fic) and sparked an idea for me! So THANK YOU! And thank you to everyone else who reviews as well. It really makes my night when my phone goes off with emails about them :) Everyone, please enjoy~
*Jazz- in the morning*
Growing up with the way her family had always been, Jazz had long gotten used to being woken by strange events occurring whether they be explosions from a breakfast attempt or her brother fighting a ghost right outside or simply cheering from a long night spent successfully. Over the years, she had learned to even sleep through it. The one things Jazz had never gotten used to being woken by, though, was screaming. Therefore, when a screech followed by a crash pounded into her eardrums, she shot up in her bed, more aware than Danny in a fight. She simply stared at the source of the noises, wanting to sigh and shake her head but deciding to be polite and refrain.
The white-haired girl in an awkward, upside-down hunch against Jazz's bedroom wall managed to get herself out of the pretzel form and righted before realizing she wasn't alone. Jazz smiled at her "cousin".
"Good morning, Dani. How are you?" she asked the somewhat-frazzled pre-teen. Dani smiled back at her upon realizing she was not upset at being woken up.
"Hey, Jazz! I'm alright. I'm just pretty tired. I've been flying since Danny called me yesterday. He told me basically what had happened. Do you have any idea where he's at, yet?"
"Not a clue. I haven't really tried to think about it, though. If we find him, then his disappearance will mean nothing to Mom and Dad except fuel for their fire. Also, why did you come crashing into my room, screaming?"
Dani rubbed the back of her neck, looking so much like Danny it made Jazz feel a pang of sadness for him.
"I, uh, sort of fell asleep while flying... I woke up just before hitting your window and screamed. Went intangible in time, though!" Jazz knew if Danny were here, he'd facepalm at their "cousin" just as Jazz wanted to, but she refrained, electing for a sigh and a smile that said "silly you" instead. This was her first time meeting Danielle, and she didn't want to offend her. She had grown up with her brother, so she had no clue how exactly to interact with someone like either of them who she hadn't been talking to since childhood. Plus, she didn't even really know Dani. Sure, she has to be at least somewhat like Danny, but just because she's a clone doesn't mean she's exactly like him, especially with her upbringing.
"Well, I hope you're okay. Do you want to go down and meet Mom and Dad? Or would you rather sleep first?"
"I think I'd prefer to sleep, thanks. Do you care if I use Danny's room? He's always preferred me staying in there when I'm over. Probably to hide me, mainly, but his bed is much more comfy than the one in the guest room. He doesn't even sleep on the guest room one when I'm over! He prefers the floor to it!" Dani smiled at the memories and Jazz wondered how many times Dani had spent the night. She'd never seen her before outside of a picture Sam had taken, so the two halfas were definitely good at hiding.
"Of course I don't mind. I don't think he would, either. I'll let them know you're here, though. Just so you can get some peace and quiet." Dani thanked Jazz then went off to the other room as Jazz began getting ready for school as her alarm went off just as Dani left. Though she had been accepted to all her dream schools, she had decided to study her first year of college online through the most local institute to be a support for Danny as he grew used to his new fame and life. After contacting and discussing it all with her counselors at Casper High and at Harvard (her chosen school), they both agreed she would be fine with the option and would be immediately accepted into Harvard the next year when she applied, saying she wouldn't even have to fill out a full application though she knew she would anyway.
However, life in her house had never been normal, so she always goes to the library or coffee shop to do her work, keeping on an exact schedule no matter what was occurring (as long as it was nothing near-death). She brushed through her hair, gathered her laptop and books, and went downstairs, glad to see her mother in the kitchen so she wouldn't have to go to the lab.
"I'm off to the café today. Try to be quiet, for a while, please. Danielle got here a little while ago and is exhausted. She needs sleep." Jazz kept her voice indifferent through it all then whirled around and left before the older woman could get a word in, deciding to eat breakfast at "Go Get 'Em! Café". She stopped by Casper on her way there, picking up a small stack of papers for her brother to keep up the charade of Danny being sick. She then continued on to the over-achieving building.
The café was fairly normal sized, but tried to hard to be upbeat. It didn't help that the few workers drank at least five cups of the coffee before starting the day, but Jazz preferred the atmosphere for her schoolwork. It was cheery enough that she didn't stand out, yet quaint enough to not be too loud. She ordered a bagel and a cappuccino then got to work.
*Dani- after leaving Jazz's room*
Danielle simply went through the wall from Jazz's bedroom to Danny's. Jazz had been pleasant yet hopelessly confused on how to interact with her. Dani understood why she felt the need for caution, though. She sighed comfortably after settling down on Danny's bed, changing to human form after the fact. She'd begun to miss being around people she knew, as the past few months had been spent flying around different parts of the world and Ghost Zone with visits to Danny every few weeks. In the time, the two halfas had gotten to know each other better. Well enough to find just how much they weren't and were alike through the little things.
Danny had hated toast for years, but Dani adored it. Neither of them liked soft, squishy beds like the one in the guest room. Danny still whole-heartedly had the dream of being an astronaut in his head (strengthened even more so from his multiple trips into space) while Dani had changed her mind on possible careers at least ten times since she had been stabilized. She loved the stars, but the thought of running into Vlad (if he was still alive) while in the blackness of space terrified her. It wasn't the only reason to change her mind, but it was definitely a prominent one. It was with the thoughts of her new dream, one which had stuck with her for months this time, that she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
She was woken suddenly not half a hour later by a clang in the hallway, right outside the locked bedroom door.
"Shoot. She probably heard that," a woman's voice muttered from the other side. Dani disappeared on instinct, already knowing well who it was on the other side. She was surprised when there was a knock on the door, rather than the keys which had been dropped being used.
"Who is it?" Dani asked, not knowing what else to do. She really wanted sleep, but didn't want to be rude. After all, these people were genetically her parents, though technically she had none, and had been unknowingly feeding her most of her meals for months as Danny snuck her extra food.
"It's Maddie. Could you open the door, please? I would like to meet you." Her words were the opposite of her voice which was almost steel and coming through obviously gritted teeth. Dani shrugged to herself and went over to it. Before even thinking of unlocking it, she turned her head invisible and intangible then stuck it through the door to check it out. Maddie Fenton stood at the door looking severely frustrated, but had no weapons in sight. Only the small ring of keys. She did have weapons, though, as the woman could probably minimize and pack the RV in her back pocket with room for a million weapons on top of it. There wasn't any immediate danger, though, so Dani brought herself back inside and opened the door.
"Hi, Mrs. Fenton. It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Danielle Fenton, aka Dani Phantom," she said, holding out her hand and keeping an oblivious and polite smile on her face. Maddie's eyes showed confusion as she took the pre-teen's hand and shook it lightly.
"Maddie Fenton, but you already know that." She sighed, seeming to contemplate something for a moment before appearing to become welcoming. "Would you like something to eat? I just finished cooking breakfast, and you are a guest, after all. I would love for you to join us so we can get to know you some, Danielle." She smiled at Dani, her mask perfectly across her face but not enough. Dani could easily see in her eyes the insincerity of it all, but she decided to play along.
"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Fenton! That sounds great! I'll be down in just a minute after I brush my hair out." She flashed the red-head a winning smile and had to contain a chuckle as Maddie nodded once then made her way down the stairs, grumbling about "playing host to another ghost kid".
Danielle pulled her hair out of its ponytail, shook it out while running her hands through it, then put it back up, not even bothering to try calming most of the mess. She hated tangles, but actually liked the spiky style it took on naturally. She then dove through the floor and to the kitchen, undetectable by anything not specifically designed to detect ghosts. Maddie and Jack were both there, Jack already sitting down and eating while Maddie prepared two more plates. Dani watched every bit of the preparations, seeing nothing out of the ordinary before flying back upstairs then walking down completely normally. She entered and smiled again.
"Wow, it looks and smells awesome, Mrs. Fenton! Thank you! And it's nice to meet you, Mr. Fenton. I'm Danielle." The normally eccentric man flashed her a tiny smile that didn't even begin to reach his eyes.
"Aw, thank you, Sweetie. You go on and have your seat. I poured you milk and apple juice since that's what Danny usually has with his breakfast." Dani had to give her props. She could act much better than one would expect her to, but it was still not enough to fool a half-ghost who had super sensitive hearing. Dani sat in the seat she expected Danny usually sat in, trying not to let that one small part of the comment bother her, but relatively failing.
She thanked her again as Maddie placed the last two plates on the table and sat down. The air grew thick with awkwardness as Maddie began eating. Dani, on the other hand, was still wary. Something honestly smelled off about the eggs on her plate, but not anything of the normal sort. It definitely didn't smell like it was something good, but yet it was extremely familiar. She realized what it was when the small portion on Maddie's fork, being brought to the woman's mouth, opened a glowing, red eye.
"Wait!" she shouted, startling both the adults, Maddie dropping the fork back to her plate. The eye closed on the impact. Maddie shot Danielle a look. "These eggs are infused with ectoplasm. I can smell it. Plus, the bite that was on your fork had an eye," Dani explained. Maddie sighed.
"Danielle, it's been over a year since anything ectoplasmic got anywhere near that refrigerator. I bet you just saw something that wasn't there. Hmm, maybe the ghost powers cause hallucinations sometimes, too? What do you think, Jack?" Dani felt her blood boiling. She wanted to jump up on her seat and yell her head off at Maddie, but she bit her tongue and held herself still. It would make things worse for Danny if she misbehaved.
"There was that time when Danny kept thinking he was seeing a ghost when none of us could. Maybe it does affect them." Jack brought up, actually looking up from his plate for a moment.
"Exactly. Even more reason to-" she cut off as she remembered who else was in the room, looking at Dani who was steaming silently in her seat, glaring holes in the table. Maddie huffed and began eating again. "Get to eating, Danielle. I made that food for you, and you said you wanted it. Go on and eat it."
Dani held herself from throwing a glare at Maddie and slowly took a tiny bite of her biscuit. It tasted completely normal, but she still didn't want to trust it. She focused for a moment and managed to turn her innards from mouth to through the chair below her so the bite literally went straight through her. She knew she couldn't eat everything and hide it like that, especially since the small amount of time was already exhausting her. She hated to, but she slowly took another bite and kept it this time, praying there was nothing she couldn't taste within.
It continued that way for the rest of breakfast with Dani eating bite by bite and Jack and Maddie silently finishing their own breakfasts. As the two adults finished, they stood together.
"Just put your plate in the sink. I'll clean them later," Maddie told her before the couple left the room and disappeared downstairs. As soon as the door was shut, Dani put down her fork and picked up the plate. She dumped the remaining food (which was still most of the plate) by turning a closed container partially intangible to where it was left inside and tossing the biscuit bite in there as well. She would have to go out for food after sleeping more. She headed out of the kitchen, intending to flop onto Danny's bed for the next several hours. It was from her sleepiness that she ever noticed she wasn't alone in the room until it was too late and her world was going black.
I hope Dani seems like she's in character, but there's not really much given to her character in the show in comparison. I mean, she's (sadly) only in two episodes besides the cameo in PP. I wanted her to be somewhat like Danny, but still her unique person as she really is.
This chapter didn't turn out as long as I was expecting, mainly because I wanted to leave you guys with that pretty little cliffhanger~ It was just too perfect :D And, yes, this means there will FINALLY be some action coming up soon! I can't promise it will be the next chapter, but no later than chapter 8. As for how long this whole fic will end up being, I don't really know. I have several ideas, but I can't say how long they'll be written out. Anyways, F, F, and R!~