A/N: Because Dani, annoying as she is to me, had the potential to really build on Danny's character development. I like to think she gave him an opportunity to display an older brother side that could have reflected his own relationship with Jazz.
This is just a bit of an AU/missing event for towards the end of Kindred Spirits. Because Dannyversary and feelings.
Responsibility
Not again, he groaned, secretly horrified.
Looking around, he took in the hauntingly familiar surroundings. His view, obscured by a slight glare on the glass in front of him, consisted of eerily calculating lab equipment. Containment units housing God only knew what sort of messed-up, cloned creations encircled the room, Danny himself occupying one. Glancing down, he noted dishearteningly the person finally locking him into place.
Danielle.
He fought back the urge to struggle against his bonds, his wrists captured in the cool grip of metal shackles. Useless, he knew from previous experience. A waste of energy that he reminded himself bitterly he'd require later to fend off the pain and the desire to give in. Dangerous, he thought, to Danielle's precarious opinion of him. So instead, he held himself still and waited, tensing.
"All secure, Dad," she said smugly, a look of hopeful confidence encompassing her features.
"I still don't know how I'm going to get him to morph," Vlad answered pensively, ignoring his 'daughter's' previous remarks. Danny watched as the girl's smile faded. "Unless…unless you could overshadow him for me, dear. Force the transformation?"
He suggested so in that sickeningly sugary voice he so often used to coerce others into doing his dirty work. Danny glanced back at Danielle and saw her face pale, her expression becoming worrisome.
"But the last clone that tried that melted. What if it's too much?" she asked nervously.
"Oh, it won't be," Vlad wrote off her concerns so easily, and Danny instinctively balled his hands into tight fists.
"But what if…" she asked anew, her voice trying to hide its quiver.
"Danielle," Vlad said softly, his voice smooth as butter biscuits, "please do this for me. I promise – I will always love you best, and I will use his DNA to fix you."
He lied so sweetly, so easily. Danny clenched his jaw in subconscious anger, not only for himself but for Danielle. She didn't know any better; she had no idea what Vlad was capable of – the real Vlad. Not the "funny, joke-around" antagonist he'd proclaimed his own ruse to be. If only she knew his true nature – she was at least, in part, Danny, after all – she'd fight back.
She wasn't bad, Danny observed quietly, his fingers digging painfully into his palms as his fists tightened. She was simply ignorant, uneducated in the ways of her "father."
With a sidelong glance toward Danny – for what purpose he was unsure – she let out a sigh. Danny felt a familiar pang of empathy for her. She just wanted Vlad to love her. She wanted her parent's approval – some kind of reassurance that, no matter what she was or what she did, he would always care about her and never let anything harm her. She wanted him to accept her for who she was.
Danny knew this desire all too well…
So, though frankly terrified and frustrated to see her go ghost, Danny understood. Vlad was a magnificent manipulator, and, what was more, he was her entire world. She'd never had outside contact with anyone until Danny, and even that was just like meeting a brother or some other part of herself. In her mind, she needed to do this.
But Danny prayed, shutting his eyes upon seeing her rise up to the pane of glass, that she shared more of his willingness to listen to reason and less of his natural stubbornness.
This, he decided as he felt the frightening chill of a ghost entering his body – his mind, is going to be difficult.
On one hand, he could fight her. He could struggle against her willpower and win, despite his weakened state. Of this much he was certain – he was powerful and stubborn enough to fend off the previous clone. She would be no different, even if the immense pain caused by Vlad's electroshock would hamper his concentration. He could take it.
And she would melt.
Would die.
He didn't know if, sending her in, Vlad was underestimating Danny's resolve or being the true evil genius he liked to pride himself in being. Begrudgingly, Danny was siding with the latter on this one.
Sure, Danny could fight her back. But it would result in death. He'd felt even a pang of guilt about the previous clones – "killing" clones of yourself, no matter how dysfunctional or evil, left a disturbingly vivid realization on you. But Danielle, as he had previously observed, was different still from the others. She was not mindless – not an animal raised merely for slaughter as the others might have been. She had a conscience, had a mind, had feelings, had a need to be loved, and this presented Danny with a problem that had not occurred to him with the other clones.
She was distinctly human.
How could he possibly fight her, knowing she had already been weakened, her powers malfunctioning even if her mind remained intact? If this battle would result in death – the death of a child no less – how could he ever justify it?
Suddenly, she was there, in his mind, and his face contorted in pain at the presence of another consciousness intruding on his own.
Just change. Please, she almost begged. It was not a voice so much as a though, but Danny could sense her inherent panic nonetheless.
Resolving on a course of action with the quick intensity of a seasoned combatant, Danny metaphorically shook his head.
No, he told her firmly.
He could feel her frustration. Why? she demanded. He just needs your morph DNA so he can save me! You keep saying you're on my side and that you don't wanna hurt me, but you're not. You're lying.
He threw his own aggravation right back at her. I told you; he won't use it for you. He'll just as soon dispose of you if he gets my DNA – he only wants his stable clone to work. Look at what he's doing to you right now! He knows you're weak, and yet he's perfectly willing to sacrifice you on the off-chance that you could overshadow me and force me to transform.
He noted too late his mistake.
I am NOT weak, she growled. I can beat you, and I will.
Abruptly, bright lights exploded in their shared vision as Danny's nerves were assaulted with a low level of electric charge. He cringed instinctively at the memory of this, and he heard Danielle cry out in surprise. They were in equal control at the moment, feeling the same twinges of pain. Danny knew a way around this, for her sake, but he wanted to be as sure as possible before he put his plan into action.
Panicking about the consequences, but worried for her stability, Danny conceded to her. I'll let you in.
He felt her perk up through the jolts dancing about his consciousness. But there's a catch. I'll give you control of my mind – I'll give you access to my memories and abilities while I stay 'outside,' he gulped subconsciously. I'll do my best to protect you from the machine, he offered, almost regretting his words as the level of shock intensity rose, halting his 'speech.'
She shrunk back suspiciously. The catch, then? You could just transform yourself at that point.
The force of the electricity convulsing its way through his body continued to increase, and they both let out muffled shouts of anguish, Danny, sensing her weakly slipping away, took a step back from his mind, shielding her from the brunt of his body's anguish and instead absorbing it himself. He could handle it, he told himself. She couldn't.
You have to promise me that before you get me to change, you'll look into my thoughts and memories, he grunted. My memories of Vlad. You have to know the truth. I want you to trust me…so I'm trusting you. If you're anything like me –and I know you are, he wondered privately – you'll make the right decision.
She paused a beat, and he tried to gauge her sincerity as she answered, I promise.
Well - he thought to himself, his mind numbing with agony - I've never broken a promise. It stands to reason that, if she's got even the slightest bit of me in her, she won't either.
Right?
Shoving away the nagging voice attempting to remind him of who had "raised" this girl, Danny took a breath and fell back in blind faith.
Okay.
Slowly, hesitantly, he let go completely. He felt a natural, involuntary reflex demand he regain control as Danielle slithered her way into his mind, but he resisted. He had to trust her for this to work. But he wouldn't know if it worked until…well, until he either felt her fly out of him indignantly and punch Vlad in the gut or he felt his possessed body morph into his alter ego against his will.
Oh, geez.
Wrapping his own consciousness around his mind protectively, Danny occupied the part of himself receiving signals from his currently-frying nerve-endings. With a gasp of shock, he again had to fight back the urge to retreat to where Danielle was. He had to protect her, he reasoned, and it would take all of his concentration to do that. He couldn't be fiddling with a conversation with her or with strategizing. As long as she was not being sizzled into the unconscious screams emitting from his mouth, there was hope that her task would not leave her injured or dead.
But, damn, did this hurt.
He'd lost control of his body's movements – leaving the choice, of course, up to Danielle – but he could still feel himself shaking, tears seeping reluctantly from the corners of his eyes. His body unconsciously quivered and fought and screamed in anguish as the level of shock continuously rose. His consciousness kept nagging at his rational side to please move. He needed to get out of here, to regain control of his body so he could jerk himself away. To get back to his thoughts and memories and dreams. Just in case. The pain encompassed his entire existence now, and he felt his head throw itself back as a cry, louder still than before, tore out of him.
Decide, Danielle, he pleaded with her, hoping that, wherever she was, she could hear him. Just decide. Please.
When nothing happened but a still stronger jolt of electricity running its current through his ever-weakening and trembling limbs, he brokenly thought to her, I won't hate you, no matter what you do. Just, please. Save us.
As soon as the words - more like sentiments - escaped his consciousness, he felt a strong pull back into himself. He tried to fight it at first, but it was like a black hole. He would escape the endless torture, be able to see images of his family and friends once more before the agony pervaded his very essence and tore him asunder. He silently, feebly apologized to Danielle, praying she would be able to evade the pain. But when he finally reached back to where his mind belonged, he found he was alone. And as he, cautiously, used his recovered ability to open his eyes, he noted that the stinging aches were beginning to dull and that the stars that danced before his vision were starting to fade.
Blinking rapidly and allowing himself only a few residual groans as his limbs continued to tremor in the aftershocks, Danny darted his eyes over to the control panel, noting that Danielle had blasted a sizable hole in the object of his anguish, her own eyes shaded with resentment as she stared mercilessly at Vlad.
"You," she said darkly to him, "are not the boss of me."
With a clink, Danny felt the metal restraints on his wrists fall away, and taking a deep breath to steady himself, broke free from the glass to face his nemesis. A quick glance of gratitude at Danielle told him he had just gained himself a new ally because she - like he always had - kept her promise.
And, though weakened by the ordeal, he knew he could win with someone like that on his side. Thus the battle commenced.
Wanna know what happens next? Go watch Kindred Spirits. It picks up right there. *points*