Hurting You, Killing Me

Chapter Two:

A/N: Danielle's age is a complicated thing to work with. I always thought she looked about eleven, (I know the show says twelve), so I went with that. The aging process I'm using is about a year every two years.

Johnny's POV:

When Danielle told us that she wanted to tell Danny about her files, I couldn't help but be a little bit worried. When I'd first found them, curiosity had gotten the best of me and I'd read them before getting home. Of course, I always knew that Danny probably would be considered her father, seeing as she was his clone, but based on Vlad's calculations… Danielle had 100% Danny's DNA. There was no denying that he was her father.

Kitty and I got into a fight before we showed them to Danielle. I figured that she ought to know the truth, but Kitty was scared that it would only upset her, or worse, make her want to leave us to go be with him. I was scared, too, but it wouldn't have been fair to hide that kind of information from Danielle.

The thing is, Kitty and I loved her, loved her to the point that we were actually considering adopting her. Something about her changed everything. She was so sweet and innocent. We just wanted to protect her. Not only were we scared of losing her when she decided to tell Danny about the files, but we were also scared of him hurting her.

When we first found her, she hadn't wanted to go back to Danny, though we offered to take her. After Kitty got Danielle to sleep that first night, I went to find Danny. He was busy with Sam, her being his new girlfriend and whatnot. I'd told him that we had Danielle and wanted to know if he wanted her back.

It was strange, really. A look of concern crossed his face and then Sam elbowed him gently. He looked down then, almost guiltily, and then told me that he didn't want her. I got a little upset with him, telling him that he was stupid. When I left, I went back to mine and Kitty's lair. Kitty was waiting up for me, seeming just a little surprised that Danny wasn't with me.

I told her what had happened and that's when she and I made the decision to keep Danielle with us.

When I'd gone to find her files, I hadn't been trying to start trouble. Danielle wasn't aging right, and though we figured it was just due to her unstable nature, Kitty and I decided that we should check her files just to be safe. Of course, we were right. Her aging process would never be quite right. Even now, four years later, she only looked barely thirteen, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

When Danielle told us that she wanted Danny to know, the three of us sat down and had a huge talk. I asked Danielle if she wanted to come with me when I talked to Danny, but she didn't want to. I can't say that I blamed her. She knew very well that Danny knew just where she was and he'd never come to see her. He called sometimes, maybe once or twice a month, and checked in with me or Kitty to see how she was doing. Those conversations were short, though, as we were both incredibly pissed about how he'd treated her.

Kitty suggested that she and Danielle go shopping with Ember at the Ghost Zone mall while I went to talk to Danny. I knew that she just wanted to get Danielle's mind off of Danny for awhile, so I put up with the fact that I knew Ember would be at the lair when I got home, hugged Kitty and Danielle goodbye, and then walked out to the garage where my motorcycle was waiting.

When I was sure that Kitty and Danielle had left, I pulled out my cellphone to call Danny.

"Hello?" he answered quietly.

"Look, there something I need to talk to you about regarding Danielle."

"Is she okay?"

"Yes."

"Can this…wait?"

"Can you put Danielle first for once in your life?!" I snapped.

"Okay, okay," he relented. "Meet me at my house in about fifteen minutes."

I grunted in response and hung up, gunning the engine on the bike.

When I arrived at FentonWorks, I wasn't surprised to find Sam waiting outside with Danny, hanging off his arm and glaring at me. I ignored her and killed the bike.

Danny opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, I shoved Danielle's files roughly into his hands. "Those are Danielle's files. That paper on top is the only one important. I think you should take a look at it," I told him.

He listened to me for once and pulled the paper out. I watched his face as he read them, with Sam reading over his shoulder. After a moment, a look of shock crossed his face, as a look of complete anger replaced Sam's look of annoyance.

"What?" he choked out in a whisper.

"You're her father. She…we thought you should know."

"I-I…" he trailed off and looked at Sam. She rolled her eyes and stomped angrily into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Let me guess, you can't give Danielle the time of day because it'll piss your girlfriend off?"

"Johnny, that's not fair…"

"That's it, though, isn't it? You can't even fathom standing up to her, not even for your own daughter."

"Sam was in my life first."

"If she cared about you as much as you seem to think she does, she wouldn't be keeping you away from Danielle like this."

"She isn't… I could."

"She is. And it doesn't matter what you could do because you won't do it. Look, you just stay out of Danielle's life. She doesn't need you." With that, I snatched the papers out of his hand and rode off, leaving him with a forlorn expression on his face. I didn't care anymore. He had hurt my little girl for the last time.