A/N: Hey, so I'm closing in on how much I've got prewritten for this story. Actually, after this chapter, I've got three already written and needing to be typed. Here's the thing, though: I'm gonna need to write the last chapter or two before posting much more, since I've had the experience in the past of some random plot twist screwing up something I wrote previously. Also, some reviews I've gotten from the last chapter have me working out exactly how I wanna end this, so, yes, you're reviews are read and considered even if I don't get around to replying (which, thanks to ffnet, I haven't been able to do at all this week T.T).
All in all, I'm hoping to actually finish this story within about five chapters, just pray that I don't get too side-tracked by other ideas/college/life…. -.-'
Playlist for this chapter: Flyleaf's "Perfect," Evanescence's "Everybody's Fool," and Nickelback's "Hangnail."
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Danny was still searching for the numbers that would prove this wasn't really Sam when the police pulled up. They immediately decided he was at fault, slamming him into the wall and cuffing him. He didn't resist, unable to after hitting his head.
One of the officers was checking the body for a pulse. He shook his head, and Danny went limp, allowing them to drag him away.
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"What's going on here?" Hotch demanded.
"We caught him. We don't need you anymore," the chief of police stated, sneering down his nose at the FBI agent. "We're just working on a confession now."
"What evidence do you have that points to him?"
The man smirked, ticking the points off on his fingers. "He was still at the scene, his hands and clothes were soaked with blood, and we positively identified his fingerprints and handprints from the message on the wall. It was him." The chief crossed his arms, looking smug.
Hotch wasn't about to roll over and die. "What can you tell us about the victim?"
"Caucasian female, about sixteen, black hair, violet eyes, Jane Doe. Cuts down her arms, legs, and face. She was raped."
Prentiss shot Hotch a look. "He's escalating. Not only was it sooner, but he never showed any sign of sexual abuse before."
"Where are you questioning the suspect?" Rossi asked, ignoring Reid's glare at his use of the s-word.
"The perp is being held in room five."
Hotch nodded for the others to go ahead while he explained. "You called us in about this case, and we won't drop it until we make sure we've got the right guy."
The man practically snarled into Hotch's face. "And what makes you think we don't?"
Hotch growled right back, "He was with us when the previous body was found."
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"Look, kid," an annoyed officer was saying, "the faster you tell me what happened, the sooner you get outta here."
The boy just sat there, staring at the blood on his hands. No one had allowed him to wash up before interrogating him.
"Kid, just say you did it so I can go home!"
His fists clenched and unclenched rhythmically as he wished he could punch Vlad's face in.
"Just tell me what you did!"
Nothing he said would make them catch Vlad. After all, they had already decided he was at fault, not that bastard.
That murderous, sadistic, perverted—
Danny's eyes teared up, and he found himself quickly blinking them away.
"Kid, answer. The. Damn. QUESTION!"
The door burst open, and Hotch stormed in. "My client doesn't have to answer anything. Now, I need a room with no camera and no mics where I can speak with my client privately."
The officer grudgingly told him what he wanted to know. Then Hotch grabbed Danny by the arm and pulled him away.
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"Danny," Hotch said, much quieter than the officer from a minute ago, "we need you to tell us what happened, why you were there."
Danny stared blankly at the table. Reid had cleaned the blood from the teen's hands the best he could, but Danny could still smell it, feel it, see it there.
"What happened when you left the BAU?"
Still Danny refused to respond.
Reid moved forward. "Danny, who was that note really from?"
Danny's head snapped up at those words, eyes wide.
"We know it couldn't have been your parents. Who was it? What did he say?"
"H—He would've killed them if I didn't go," Danny mumbled, barely loud enough for Reid, who sat next to him, to hear.
"Killed who?"
The others simply watched as Reid calmly and efficiently took over.
"Th—The kids in the daycare."
Reid nodded. "The girl was a clone, too, wasn't she?"
Danny looked back down, nodded. "He would've had her kill them."
"What did he want you to do?"
"Meet him."
"Where?"
Danny shook his head. "Didn't say. But I knew. I—I just knew. A—And he—" His voice choked off.
"What?" Reid prompted.
"…He killed her. He killed her." Once the words were out, it was like the dam broke. "He cut her up and raped her and killed her and I couldn't stop him…." The flood seemed to slow as he whispered, "I couldn't save her." Tears were streaking down Danny's face as the images flashed before his eyes once more.
"He kept you from saving her?"
Danny nodded. "Tied me up. Made me watch."
"Did—Danny, did you know the other victims?"
The tears doubled, and the team didn't need Danny's nod to know the answer.
"Who were they, Danny?"
The room was silent enough to hear a pin drop as they all waited for Danny to say—
"…My friends, my family…."
JJ and Prentiss' eyes went wide. Morgan's fists clenched as he ground his teeth. Rossi and Hotch shared a quick look as if to say 'knew it.' Reid simply continued his questioning. "How did you know about the cloning?"
"He'd done it before."
"W—Was this last one—?"
The tears built up again, flying about as he shook his head. "Th—There wasn't a tattoo! I—I looked and looked but nothing! She can't be dead, not her! She never did anything! None of them did! It's all between me and Vlad!"
The team blinked at that outburst and the bit of information he'd let slip. "Wh—Who's Vlad?" Reid stuttered.
But Danny had shut down, refusing to speak.
Hotch nodded to the others, knowing that was all they'd get from the teen. They left to tell Garcia what little more they knew, leaving the teen alone with his thoughts.
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"Garcia, have you gotten anything yet on the Fentons or the kids who disappeared?" Reid asked.
"Nothing on the Fentons, but I've narrowed down the list of kids," Garcia replied over speaker phone.
"Well, we have a description of this last body for you." Hotch nodded to Rossi, who rattled off the information.
"Alright, boys and girls, let me see what I can get you." There was a mass of clacking noises that followed as Garcia typed away. Finally, "Well, that certainly did cut out a lot of them, didn't it?"
"Whaddaya have, baby girl?" Morgan asked.
"The girl was most definitely Samantha Manson. The boy clones must then have been of Tucker Foley, one of Manson's two friends. I'm not getting any hits on the other friend, though."
"Throw the names Danny and Vlad into your search," Reid suggested.
" 'Kay, whatever you say. Genius knows best." There was a long pause, then, "Genius certainly does know best! Looks like Danny was the name of the Fenton boy. All the files on him were locked up by this guy Vladimir Masters. He was apparently an old college buddy of the Fentons, moved to and became mayor of Amity Park, and—get this—had some serious love-hate goin' on with both of the ale Fentons. The only 'love' there coming from Jack, who, admittedly, isn't very bright."
"Anything about Danny being connected to Manson and Foley?" Prentiss questioned.
"Yes, indeed there is. The three of them were apparently inseparable. Well, until the day the Fentons were killed. Then, suddenly Danny's avoiding everyone, and Manson and Foley just let him."
"Was there any investigation pointing to Masters as being responsible?" Hotch demanded.
"No, but three guesses who started blaming Phantom for the Fentons' murders? And the first two don't count."
"Masters," the team said together.
They could hear Garcia's smirk. "Damn, you guys are too good at this now…. Yes, Masters was the one who pointed the very first finger at Phantom. Apparently, there was bad blood there, too."
"Is there anyone this guy didn't piss off?" Morgan wondered.
"Besides Jack Fenton? No. Oh, ho, and get this, Masters has a soft spot for Maddie Fenton. A very soft spot. One that she absolutely refused to indulge."
"More power to her," Prentiss mumbled.
The rest of the team shared a look. "That would definitely explain the regret," JJ stated.
"Alright, we've definitely got our unsub now. Thanks, baby girl."
"Anytime, My Chocolate God."
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"Danny, I'm going to ask you a series of yes or no questions, okay?" Rossi said.
Danny nodded absently, still looking at the floor.
"Alright. Is your full name Danny Fenton?"
"Yes." The boy didn't even seem surprised now.
"Are you from Amity Park?"
"Yes."
"Did you know the victims?"
"Yes," he murmured, voice cracking slightly.
"It's okay, you're doing very well. Were your friends two of the victims?"
"Yes."
"Were your parents and sister victims?"
"Yes."
"Do you know who killed them?"
Tears spilled out of his eyes in two small rivers. "Y—Yes," he whispered.
"Okay. Now, I'm going to ask you some open-ended questions. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, okay?"
The boy nodded once more.
"Right. How long have you been away from Amity Park?"
"Twenty months, give or take." The boy's voice had gone monotone, answering almost unconsciously.
"Why did you leave?"
"My parents and sister were supposedly dead, and my friends were gone, too."
"Who was blamed for it?"
"Phantom," the boy said bitterly.
"Who do you think did it?"
Danny blinked up at him, shocked that he would ask that. "…Not Phantom."
"Who, Danny?"
The boy shook his head, refusing to speak.
"Danny, if you don't tell us who it is, we won't be able to stop him from killing someone else!"
Danny shook his head.
"Don't you want to see him get locked away for what he's done?" Rossi stressed, trying to get the boy to respond.
The teen's head snapped up, glaring at him. "How do you know it's not a 'she'?"
"Our profile marks him as a male in his forties, narcissistic, rich, and possibly in love with your mother."
Danny snorted. "In other words, you know who it is but don't yet have a reasonable explanation for thinking it's him." At Rossi's dumbfounded look, he smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I've been around him long enough to know how he works, Agent Rossi. I also know you won't be able to get him. No one ever does. Now, if you're done, I'd like to be leaving now." He stood, turning to the door.
Rossi tried to stop him. "Social Services will place you in a home until we determine—"
"If my parents are really alive?" The smirk fell from his face, replaced by a bitter look. "I've been on the run for almost two years, agent. I know how to avoid SS." Then he was out the door and gone.
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"A kid can't just disappear," Morgan complained. "There's gotta be some explanation!"
In the few short seconds it took for the team to realize what had happened, Danny had completely disappeared. But, he hadn't gone out the door, hadn't even been seen.
Hotch turned on the chief of police. "We need to see your cameras."
The man was shocked. "W—What?"
"Our technical analyst can find out what happened if she checks the security cameras." Hotch used the no-nonsense tone that refused to take excuses.
"…Sure. But what do you expect to find?"
"How our only witness got away."
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"Well, my duckies, there is a slightly reasonable explanation for why our little boy vanished. I'm sending you the video now."
And suddenly they were looking at the hallway right as Danny exited the interrogation room. There was a split second of calm before a humanoid shape appeared behind him and spirited him away up and through the roof.
"What the—?" Morgan exclaimed while the rest gaped.
"G—Garcia, was that—?" Reid began.
"Yes, sweet cheeks, that was Danny Phantom."
Rossi reached forward and played the video back some, freezing it when there was a good image of Danny's face once Phantom lifted him away. "He looks glad," Rossi stated.
"Glad? With the way he acts, that's downright ecstatic!" Hotch declared, not noticing the looks his team was giving him.
Good thing, too. None of them wanted to explain the irony of Hotch being the one to say that.
"So, he somewhat-reasonable disappeared?" JJ questioned.
"Yes," Garcia said succinctly.
Prentiss shook her head. "Something about this just isn't right…."
Hotch nodded. "Well, let's keep looking. You, too, Garcia."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Bossman!"
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Danny pulled the duplicate back into himself once he was far enough from the building. Then, he ran a hand through his hair, sighing angrily. "Good job, Fenton," he said bitterly, "now Social Services will be on your case!" He blinked, blushed, looked around, sighed. He put his head in his hands. "And now I'm talking to myself…. Again." He sighed heavily once more, then glanced about a bit better. "Well, might as well continue on my not-so-merry way. Staying in one place too long always brings Vlad running." He was just beginning to turn around when he heard a voice from the opening of the alley he was in.
"Indeed it does, Daniel."
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A/N: Okay, and now I have carpal tunnel. -.-' Alright, so I'm gonna screw some with the ending now and hopefully get this thing cranked out soon so I can focus on other stories/school. …ugh, school….
Review, all!