Author's Notes: I am so late again, aren't I? I'm sorry, my readers and fans. I've been struggling with some major writer's block recently. Luckily I managed to pull this one out of my creative juices for you to enjoy.
Now, a few things: first off I know I haven't been real good about replying to reviews. I am terribly sorry about this and will try to correct this. I really, really, REALLY appreciate what you guys say about my stories, both good and bad. I'll try to reply to every one of the reviews you send me starting with this chapter.
With that, I want to hear from you. Write to me, let me know what you think.
Lost and Found Chapter 9: Like Old Times
Moments after the bellow of the beast sounded, the entire mall was bathed in silence. That however did not last long; like a rippling wave on a calm lake, fear and chaos spread throughout the crowd. Screams filled the air as shoppers and patrons scurried away from impending danger. The only ones undaunted amidst the confusion were three teens, who were still seated at their table. They watched as the creature continued its rampage, making a beeline for the next restaurant.
"Just like the good old days," Danny commented as he surveyed the area. Grinning widely, he turned to his friends, Sam and Tucker, both of whom mirrored his smile. "Think you're up to it, Team Phantom?"
Tucker held up Fenton thermos, which he has just retrieved from his book bag. "We're ready whenever you are, Danny."
"You're clear, Danny," Sam stated as she kept a look out. Luckily for them, people were so caught up in pandemonium that it provided much needed cover.
Nodding, Danny quickly ducked under the table. A light flashed for a brief moment, a sign that Danny Fenton was now gone. Seconds later, Danny Phantom rose from the floor several feet away. He floated cautiously towards the behemoth, who hadn't yet noticed his presence. "Hey, Lunch Lady!" He fired a single ectoblast at the creature. "What's on the menu?"
His attack hit the beast square in the chest, leaving a sizeable hole in its wake. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to faze the ghost monster one bit; it only served to catch its attention. The hole in its chest simply closed up until it looked like it never existed. Sighting the ghost boy, the creature lunged at him. Its hand suddenly detached from the wrist, flying straight towards Danny.
Years of training and ghost fighting kicked in as Danny deftly dodged the projectile. "You weren't aiming at me, were you?" he asked cheekily.
Roaring in frustration, the monster lumbered forward, closing the gap between the two. Wisely keeping his distance, Danny avoided the ghost's attempts at attacking him. This only served to enrage it even more. Stopping its advance, the creature suddenly threw its arms back and its abdomen forward, launching a glob of meat at the snow-haired hero.
"Hey!" Danny cried half surprised. Realizing he wasn't going to be able to dodge, he went intangible, allowing the projectile to pass right though him. "Sorry, not hungry right now. How about I freeze that for later?" The halfa's hands began to glow a brilliant blue as he readied an attack. Thrusting his arm forward, he let loose a blast of azure colored ectoplasm.
The beast held out its arm in an attempt to shield itself from the attack. What it didn't count on was its arm being suddenly frozen solid. The sudden weight of the permafrost caused the appendage to break off from the shoulder and shatter into pieces as it hit the ground. Even more furious than ever, the abomination of meat charged at its adversary. Its rage served to be its downfall as another blast hit it in the chest, stopping it dead in its tracks.
"Danny!" Tucker called as he and Sam made their way to their ghostly friend. "Dude, that was awesome. Were those your new powers?"
"That was too easy," Danny murmured grimly, ignoring Tucker's praise. Remaining afloat, the halfa surveyed the area cautiously for any more attacks. His suspicions were justified as another meat creature attacked, though this one was smaller than the last. It leapt from its hiding spot from the rafters of the mall, latching itself onto Danny, catching the ghost boy by surprise. Before he realized what was going on, both he and the creature phased through the floor to the lower level of the mall.
"Danny!" both Sam and Tucker cried as they watched helplessly. Sam's face suddenly changed from a look of desperation to that of determination. She quickly grabbed Tucker's hand and raced to the latest escalator.
"Come on, Tuck," she proclaimed, "We have to go help him!"
DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP
Phantom finally made contact with solid ground, which knocked the wind right out of him. Catching his breath, he found that his arms were firmly pinned to his sides, thanks to the special guest that had wrapped itself around him. He struggled in vain to break free, but despite its size, the ghostly monster would not release him.
"Let go!" he cried, activating his ice powers once again and creating an aura around his body. With the creature now iced and brittle, Danny gave a grunt as he forced himself free, shattering his captor. "I'm really beginning to see why Sam is a vegetarian," he quipped to himself. With his life no longer in danger, he finally took in his surroundings. The boxes around him indicated he was in a storage room, most likely for one of the stores on the first level. Knowing that his friends were probably worried sick now, he began to rise to the ceiling.
"Hello, dear," A voice sounded, catching the halfa's attention and ceasing his ascent. Fading into view, the owner of the voice revealed herself: a rather burly looking ghost wearing a cafeteria uniform, complete with apron, yellow gloves, and hair net. This ghost, known to Danny and his friends as the Lunch Lady, eyed the halfa menacingly. She reached for something behind her, causing Phantom to jump back and go into a defensive pose. Suddenly, her snarling face turned into an almost loving grin. "Cookie?" she asked as a tray of steaming hot chocolate chip cookies appeared out of nowhere.
Pausing only for a moment, Danny hastily shook his head. "Alright. Enough fooling around," he stated, trying to sound authoritative. "What the heck is going on around here?"
"I believe I can answer your question, ghost child," another voice moaned, making itself known.
Danny turned to face the newcomer and gasped. The Box Ghost, a long time nuisance of his, stood before him; or at least what was left of him. The first thing that the hero noticed was that the normally pudgy specter was perceptibly thinner than usual. It wasn't the only thing that was different, however. A scar ran from his forehead to his cheek and straight through his left eye, which was covered by an eye patch. His right hand was no more; nothing but a bandaged stump remained. With his remaining eye, the Box Ghost gazed sadly at the halfa, merely a shell of his former self.
"Greeting, ghost child," he began. "I, the Box Ghost, am sorry for tricking you into coming here, but we know that you would not meet us otherwise."
Danny remained silent, mainly because he didn't know what to make of what he was looking at. Finally, he let the most vocal question of his mind leak out. "Wha-what happened to you?"
"That is the reason why I have brought you here." A fit of coughing suddenly overtook the ghost, causing his frail body top go into spasms.
The Lunch Lady was immediately at his side, providing him much need support. "Boxy, are you going to be alright?"
"I, the Box Ghost, shall be fine, my little pork chop." He slipped his good hand under her chin and smiled lovingly.
Danny could only stare speechlessly at the tender moment. He knew he shouldn't have been surprised. Thanks to Clockwork and the whole situation with his future self, Danny knew that not only was it possible that these two would be together, but they would eventually have a daughter as well. Even with that information in hand, seeing them like this was quite bizarre, to say the least. His thoughts of that future swiftly caused a chill to run up his spine as he realized something. The Box Ghost of that time had also lost an eye and a hand, which he had always attributed as being the handiwork of his future evil self. Did HE do this… again?
"As I was saying, I only wish to talk, Phantom. As a matter of fact, we wanted to thank you."
It took a few moments for the teen hero to process what the ghost had stated. "You want to… thank me?"
The Box Ghost nodded. "Yes. You see, my current condition is a result of my failure in service of my previous masters."
"You mean the Pyres," Danny replied, remembering the Titan's description of a malevolent looking Box Ghost tearing up a warehouse in search of something.
"Yes. I failed the master and for that, I paid a price. Many in the Ghost Zone were forced into servitude by the Pyres and made to do things we were not proud of." The Box Ghost looked down, a look of shame and remorse flashing on his face. "That is why we wish to thank you. When you defeated them, you freed all of us from their fiery grasps."
The ghost boy simply shook his head. "Technically, all I did was defeat Valara. She was the one who got rid of her father. And even with that, I barely stopped her."
"Even so, we all owe you a debt of gratitude."
Before Danny could reply, one of the doors to the storage room slammed open. Brandishing an ectoblaster, an alert Sam marched in. Right behind her was Tucker, whose focus was almost entirely his PDA. Sam was the first to notice Danny and the two ghosts that accompanied him. Her blaster pointed immediately at the two specters.
"Sam, Danny's definitely here," Tucker said as he analyzed the device. Looking up, he finally noticed what was going on. "Oh."
Sensing that the situation was going to go sour, Danny imposed himself in front of his friends. "Sam, hold on! Everything is cool." The confidence of his voice changed into uncertainty. "I think."
Sam's weapon stayed raised and her face remained determined. "You probably haven't noticed, Danny, but you have…" she paused as she took a second look at the scene in front of her. "The Box Ghost… and the Lunch Lady? Together?" The grip she had on her weapon waivered as her face filled with confusion.
"Dude, what happened to you?" Tucker asked, pointing towards the Box Ghost rather candidly.
"Guys, I'll explain later," Danny interrupted before a wave of questions erupted from his two friends. He turned back to the two ghosts. "I guess I should say 'you're welcome', even though I don't think I did much." Scratching the back of his neck nervously, a thought occurred to him. "Does this mean you're going to stop bothering me now?"
The wounded specter responded in his normal, overdramatic flair. "The Box Ghost does not promise anything!" His outburst caused him to cough violently again. Once his fit subsided, he continued in a softer tone. "Although, even I am not above owing a favor. Once I am well again, just ask and I, the Box Ghost, shall grant you request. Farewell, ghost boy and friends. And beware!" And with that, the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady vanished.
The moment of silence at their departure did not last too long. "Ok, now I'm both creeped out and confused," Tucker stated in bewilderment. Sam simply glared at Danny, waiting for him to clarify.
DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP
"So they went to all that trouble, just to thank you?" Sam asked after Danny's account of his eerie encounter. The trio had regrouped outside one of the shops at the bottom floor, making their way towards the movie theatre. The mall had rather quickly livened up again, a testament to the normalcy ghost attacks now were in Amity Park.
"Trust me, I'm as wierded out as you guys are," Danny replied. "I mean, they weren't even that grateful when I defeated Pariah Dark."
"Speaking of weird, Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady? Major eww factor." Tucker chimed in, still unsettled by the thought.
Danny chuckled at his friend's reaction. "It's not like it was that big of a stretch. Just because the whole 'me turning evil' thing didn't happen, doesn't mean it wasn't out of the realm of possibility."
"Even though it was sort of gross, in some sick, twisted way, it was actually kind of cute," Sam mentioned
The boys stopped to an abrupt halt and stared slack jawed at Goth.
"What? It was!" She was met by stifled laughter. "Fine then. Forget I said anything."
Unable to contain themselves, the boys began to laugh uncontrollably now.
Glaring at the two, Sam continued to walk to their destination. She could hear them following her, both boys voicing apologies in between snickers. Although she continued to stomp away angrily, internally, the goth was content. The three being together like this felt like the past year had never happened. The scene was reminiscent of so many times the trio had spent together. All the tension that seemed to have filled the air when Danny first arrived seemed to just disappear. And best of all, Danny was actually smiling. It had been ages since she last saw him sport a grin. Sam had forgotten how… mesmerizing it was.
"Danny?"
The sound of Tucker's voice broke her out of her trance. Curious to what was going on, she turned to find Danny had stopped in front of one of the store fronts. His attention was solely fixed on the glass display.
"Dude, are you ok?" Tucker asked again, trying to get his friend's attention.
Finally reacting to Tucker's prodding, Danny's focus spun to his friend. "Wha-what?"
"Dude, you were spacing out on us," the techno geek pointed out. "Are you ok?"
"Me? I'm totally fine." Danny scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, telling them otherwise.
Tucker's face morphed into a devious grin. "Why did you stop in front of a jewelry store then?"
Stiffening visibly, the ghost boy's eyes darted between his two friends. "It's nothing, really. I just had a gift idea, that's all."
Seeing his chance for a little torture, Tucker continued to pry. "This gift wouldn't happen to be for a certain super powered girlfriend, would it?"
Tucker's question caused Danny's face to flush nervously, thus confirming the techno geek's insinuation. "Well, you see, its Rae's birthday," Danny began anxiously, "Or rather it was her birthday, a few weeks ago, right before my family showed up in Jump City. I know I probably shouldn't be worrying about it and she didn't even bother to mention it to me, I think I want to get her something, mainly because she's been a big help with helping and protecting Dani and coming here with us back to Amity and I'm not even sure what to get her and…" The need to breathe finally took its toll as Danny gasped for air after his considerably long outburst.
The moment the subjected shifted back towards Raven, Sam could feel her stomach tighten. She remained silent as Danny went on about his new girlfriend, though she felt the swell of an emotion that was becoming more and more common for her: jealously. She just couldn't help it; the way he was fixated on dark Titan aggravated Sam more than she cared to admit. Here she and Tucker were, trying to cheer him up and all Danny could talk about was her.
Sam desperately tried to swallow her envy and pride, as she watched Danny's troubled face. Whether or not he eventually left them, Danny was still their friend… was still her friend, and friends helped each other, even if it meant helping the enemy. Biting her lower lip, she took a deep breath and steeled herself for what she was about to do. She quickly grabbed Danny by the wrist and began dragging the confused halfa towards the store. "Come one. We don't have all day."
"Hey, wait," Danny asked in shock. "Where are we going?"
"Where does it look like?" she asked. "We're going to pick out something for your girlfriend, lover boy."
He stared back at her in stunned silence. "You're really going to help me?"
"Of course I am. I'm your friend, aren't I? I think she and I have close enough tastes and by the looks of it, you definitely need my help." She watched as Danny's face brightened, showing off the grin she had missed for a long time. Even though she knew she would regret it later, the look on Danny's face was well worth it.
DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP
"Those effects were so totally fake," Danny declared as he walked through the Fenton household's front door. He and his friends had eventually gone to the movie marathon , though thanks to the detours earlier that day, they had ended up missing quite a bit. Even with that, the trio had made the most of it and had a great time, especially Danny. He had forgotten how much just hanging out had meant to him.
Sam sported a grin as she and Tucker followed him. "You have to admit, with everything we've gone through, some of those movies felt pretty tame."
"And yet Tucker was still squealing like a little baby during that one scene." The teen hero stifled a chuckle at his friend's expense.
Frowning at his friends, Tucker tried to defend himself, "I did not 'squeal'. That scene took me by surprise, that's all."
"Tuck, everyone in the theatre saw that coming a mile away," Sam teased. She was so wrapped up with tormenting Tucker that she didn't notice the obstruction on the floor until it was too late. Losing her balance, the goth girl began falling face first to the floor.
Danny, who had been closest to her, was able to grab her before she hit the ground. "Sam, are you alright?" he asked with unveiled concern.
The intensity of his icy blue eyes caused Sam's cheeks to redden. "I-I'm fine. You can let go now, Danny."
Realizing he still held her by the shoulders, Danny hastily set her upright and retracted his grip. "Oh, right. Sorry."
Attempting to hide her rosy cheeks, Sam averted her eyes. She turned to find that the Fenton's living room was now overrun with crates of various sizes, one of which was the cause of her fall. "At least we know what I tripped over."
"What the heck happened here?" Tucker asked curiously as he began inspecting one of the boxes.
Danny shrugged in response. "I really don't know. These definitely weren't here this morning." The halfa peered over the edge of one of the crates that were open, to find that it was already empty. "Probably has something to do with Dani." He directed his attention back to his friends. "Why don't I meet you guys downstairs? I have to go up to my room and put this way." He indicated the medium sized shopping bag that he currently held. Opting for the quick way up, Danny turned intangible and floated up to the ceiling.
"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Tucker stated the moment Danny was out of earshot. Sam gave him a confused stare. "Hanging out with Danny, I mean. You have to admit, it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be."
"Yeah, it was fine," she replied with her signature goth indifference.
Tucker scrutinized his friend with an uncertain eye. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Tucker. Jeez, you're starting to sound like my parents." The last thing Sam wanted was to discuss the constant roller coaster ride that was her emotions. "Let's just go downstairs and see what the Fentons are doing, alright?" Not waiting for a response, Sam's combat boots stomped their way to the basement entrance. Tucker followed her, silent concern firmly etched on his face.
The two made it down the stairs to find that the basement was quite busy. The lab, like the living room above, was strewn with various sized crates, as well as a number of pieces of technology. Tucker's eyes went wide with techno geeky delight and wonder as his mind could only guess at the purpose of each device. Amongst the equipment, members of the Fenton family were hard at work, mostly around a large mass of machinery, which seemed to be the center of all the chaos.
"Guys!" Jazz greeted cheerfully as she spotted her brother's friends. "How was you day? And where's Danny?"
"It was okay, I guess," Sam replied dryly. "Danny went up to his room to drop something off."
Jazz could pick up that Sam wasn't happy about something. "Did something happen?" Before Jazz could get a response, an overly enthusiastic Tucker decided to interrupt their conversation.
"Where did you get all this stuff?!" he asked passionately. "I haven't seen this much tech in one room in like…ever"
"You can thank Cyborg," Raven interrupted. The titan currently was currently handling a large piece of machinery, which was encased with her dark magic and was hovering a few feet off the ground. She let the device land safely onto the ground before she continued. "Cy used his connections with Star Labs to get everything that Mr. and Mrs. Fenton needed."
"Star Labs?!" Tucker looked like he was about faint. "THE Star Labs? The super top secret research and development company that specializes in highly advanced tech and science breakthroughs? You think Cyborg could get me some stuff from there?" Tucker was met with disbelieving stares from the three girls. "What? I just thought I'd ask."
Danny chose that moment to descend down the stairs. "Hey guys! What's…whoa." His reaction mirrored Tucker and Sam's from just moments before.
"There you are," Jazz exclaimed. "Come on. They want to talk to you." The red head nodded her head in the direction of her parents. "Mom! Dad! Danny's back!"
Maddie Fenton's head shot up from the wiring she was working on. Spotting her son, the ghost huntress pulled off her hood and goggles and gave him a broad loving smile as he came closer. "Good timing, sweetie. I was just about to have Jazz call you."
"Does this mean what I think it means?" the halfa asked his mom hopefully. He was greeted with an even wider smile.
"We think so, Danny. We think we have a way of curing Danielle."
DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP
Danny, Jazz, Raven, Tucker, and Sam were now all gathered around one of the computer monitors on the lab wall. The teens were waiting patiently as Jack and Maddie prepared to explain their plan to save their ailing guest. After a bit of scrambling, the screen changed to a chart, showing the readings from Danny yesterday.
Maddie cleared her throat before she began. "Well, let's get things started." She pointed to the screen. "This is the data we scanned from Danny the other day. We think its his midmorph DNA."
"I found it!" Jack announced proudly.
Maddie couldn't help but smile at her husband's bountiful enthusiasm. "Yes you did, dear." She turned back to her audience. "Now, thanks to Jack, we also discovered something very important about you mid morph DNA." Pushing a button on a keyboard, she pulled up another graph, which positioned itself below the first one.
"Isn't that the same thing?" Danny asked as he visually compared the two.
"Almost the same, yes. There is a ninety-eight percent correlation. Like I mentioned before, the one on top is from Danny. The other graph, on the other hand, is from another source entirely: the Fenton Ghost Portal."
"So Danny's midmorph DNA matches up with the portal?" Tucker asked. "That sort of makes sense, considering the portal is what gave Danny his powers to begin with."
"It's also very important in understanding a little bit of how Danny became a half-ghost and how it'll help Danielle," Maddie explained. "You see, after the portal accident in college, Jack and I decided take our time in creating the final version. We spent years going over our calculations to make sure that the accident didn't happen again." It was obvious by the look on her face that talk of the accident during their college years was a touchy subject,
especially after learning from Danny what the final results were. "That's why it took us so long for us to build the new portal. We chose to build it here in Amity Park because of the high paranormal activity in the city's past.
"Eventually, we came up with the right spectral frequency we needed to create the dimensional hole leading to the Ghost Zone. Of course, we would never have guessed that the exact same frequency is the one that can be used to give people ghost powers."
Danny replayed the last sentence in his head. "Exact same frequency?" he repeated. "So, does that mean if it was set up different…" The pained look of his parents' faces confirmed his thought. Turning pale, the ghost boy tried to process that he could died during the accident that gave him his powers.
The rest of the room wore similar grim expressions, especially Sam, whose face looked especially upset.
"Normally, being bombarded by such a high quantity of excited ectoplasm should kill you," Jack continued grimly. "But instead of that, the surge of power that's created at the event horizon of the newly formed portal was infused into Danny, infusing each and every one of his cells with ectoplasm." For a moment, a twinkle of light emanated from Jack's eyes, reflecting the typical child-like awe he somehow kept subdued. Discovering how a human/ ghost hybrid was formed made the scientist in him excited. Despite that, even he knew when to hold back.
Looking thoughtful a moment's pause, Danny inquired, "How does this tie into my midmorph DNA?"
Maddie gave him a reassuring smile. "We're getting to that, sweetie." She pulled out a diagram of what appeared to be an outline of Danny's body. Various blotches of neon colors painted a something akin to a map on the screen. "This is a scan of Danny's level of ecrtoplasmic activity when he is in his human form." Using a pointer, she circled a spot around the chest area. "The ectoplasm in his cells are normally in a dormant state, though Danny still gives off some low level ecto-readings."
"Which is why all your gadgets keep freaking out when he's around," Jazz chimed in.
Danny made a face. "Please don't remind me."
"We're sorry about that, Danno," Jack apologized guiltily. "If we knew that our experiments were causing you trouble…"
"Dad, we've been over this already: it wasn't your fault. How were you guys supposed to know about my powers?"
Even with Danny's dismissal of the subject, the two Fenton parents still felt remorse for the danger they inadvertently put their son through. Maddie shook off the guilt for a moment to continue. "So far, this is a theory, but so far, it's all we have," she began. "We think that when Danny goes ghost, his body recreates the conditions of the accident. Whenever he activates whatever mental trigger he uses, his body gives off the same ecto-signature of the portal, which seems to serve as a catalyst to activate the dormant ecto-energy in his body."
"So Danny's body is reliving the accident every time he transforms," Raven interjected for the first time. The sorceress had been listening intently to the explanation of how Danny's powers came to be.
Maddie nodded in confirmation. "In a manner of speaking, yes. It's on a smaller scale, however, almost at the cellular level."
"Wouldn't it hurt?" Tucker queried. "Whenever he goes ghost, I mean. We were there when the accident happen and … Let's just say that it looked like it hurt. A lot"
"It used to." Danny's declaration drew out stares from his friends. "I never told you guys this since I didn't want you to worry but the first couple of times I transformed after I got my powers hurt. It wasn't as bad as the accident, but it was pretty close. Afterwards, though, it just sort of stopped."
"Your body probably adjusted itself to the transformation, which probably why your ecto-signature isn't an exact replica of the one from the portal," Maddie conjectured.
Sam turned to give Danny a look that was mixed with anger and worry. "You should have told us, Danny."
"I'm sorry guys. The whole 'being a ghost' thing was still pretty new to me, so I wasn't sure what was going on. I really didn't want you guys to worry about me." Danny turned to his parents expectantly. "So, if Vlad didn't have my midmorph DNA, how did he create Dani and the other clones?"
Maddie frowned. "He cheated. From what you've told me, he had enough information to create both your ghost and human sides, but without your midmorph sample, he wasn't able to put them together. He must have created one that was close enough, but unfortunately, close enough doesn't cut it. Because Danielle's midmorph DNA is incomplete, it creates a damaged, unstable ghost side whenever she transforms. It's degrading to the point where it's affecting both sides of her.
"That's where this baby comes in!" Jack boasted as he pointed to their incomplete creation. "We call it the Fenton Spectral Resequencer. We're hoping this baby will imprint Danny's midmorph DNA onto Danielle and hopefully stabilize her."
Deep in thought, Danny simply nodded. His parents were trying to sound positive, but he could tell that there was a level of reservation in the language that they used. Not that he could blame them; they were making use with what little they knew to pull off what essentially was a miracle. He was scared to even ask what the success rate was, if they even knew that. Instead, what he thought was a more important question sprang up to mind. "Is it going to hurt her?"
His parents exchanged anxious glances before Maddie responded. "Truthfully, we're not sure, honey. Of course, we're trying everything we can to try to make the process as painless as possible. But what we're doing is essentially recreating your portal accident, so it's a distinct possibility." Maddie tried to hold back the emotions her motherly instincts had conjured up. "We don't have to proceed if you don't want to, Danny. There may be other ways to go around doing this, but what little time we have now, we feel this may be the best chance she has."
"We don't have much of a choice, do we," Danny muttered grimly. "No, that's not true. It's not our choice to make." He stood up, preparing to make his way back upstairs. "Ultimately, Dani has to decide whether we do this or not."
"Danny, wait," his mother called out, stopping him in his tracks. "Before you go, there's one more thing we need to talk about. Your father and I have been talking things over and since it's a decision that will affect the whole family, it's only fair that you have a say in it as well. We wanted to know what you thought about adopting Dani, if… when we cure her."
Her statement seized both Danny and Jazz's interest almost immediately. The teens turned to each other, exchanging looks for a brief moment before turning back towards their parents. Both sported matching grins in reply to their parent's question.
"Is that all?" Danny asked, managing to pull off a light-hearted tone in his voice. "I thought that was a given?"
Danny's answer seemed to lift the spirits of the Fenton family, cutting through the unease in the atmosphere. Danny then continued his journey upstairs, despite that his task weighed heavily on his heart.
DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP
The halfa paused for a moment in front of the girl's room to catch his wits and strengthen his resolve. He had taken it upon himself to let his cousin in on the procedure that would ultimately decide her fate. Despite the intimidation he felt, he knew it was his duty to let her know. Heaving a sigh, he turned the knob on the handle and quietly entered.
The room was dimly lit, save for the last bits of sunlight of the day that slipped through the curtains of the room. He took a seat beside her bed as he watched her sleep. Her chest rose and fell under her sheets from the rhythmic yet somewhat ragged breaths she took. After a few moments of hesitation, Danny gently placed a hand on his cousin's forehead, feeling how clammy her skin was against his. Danny felt a pang of sympathy shoot through him at the sight of her current condition. He sat there for what seemed like forever.
Finally stirring, the ghost girl opened her eyes slowly. It took her a moment to notice that she had an audience. Once she did, however, her demeanor changed. Her eyes lit up brightly at the sight of her cousin, much the same as when he had first found her in Jump City. A weak, bright smile blossomed from her lips. "Danny!" she exclaimed tiredly, still rubbing sleep from her eyes.
Danny returned the favor with a smile of his own. "Hey, kiddo," he replied. His fingers lightly ruffled her hair.
Dani playfully batted away his hand. "How was your day?"
"It was fine," he replied, surprised at her curiosity. He suddenly felt a bit guilty about leaving her alone. "I'm sorry I wasn't here today."
The younger hybrid shook her head, dismissing his apology. "It's okay. Raven said you had something important to do. I understand."
Danny was a bit taken aback at her understanding. Shaking off his surprise, the older halfa remembered the reason why he came. "Listen, Danielle, there's something we need talk about. Mom and Dad think they've found a way to make you stable again."
The news had the desired effect. Dani's eyes seemed to widen to the size of spotlights, shining with hope. "Really?"
"Yeah. They're working on it right now. It shouldn't take much longer to get things ready. The only problem is…" Hesitating, he found that he could no longer look at her. "They think it might hurt. A lot. And they're also not sure that it would work at all." He waited for a moment to let her respond to the news. When none came, he continued. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to. Mom and Dad could find another way to do it, something that isn't painful. It's all up to…" he stopped when he felt her hand rest upon his. Its small, feeble grip held fast to his own. He turned to his cousin only to find, however, that she was in distress. Her face was deathly white and even clammier than before. Her eyes were wide as she struggled to breathe.
"Danny," she gasped painfully before her body began to buck with convulsions.
The halfa gripped her shoulders to hold her in place as her body trembled. After a moment or so of this, he found his voice and began to cry out for someone to help. Just as abruptly as it came, the trembling stopped. Danielle?" he asked meekly, fearing the worse. He watched as the younger halfa barely managed to open her eyes, which were filled with primal fear. The look she gave Danny sent a chill down his spine colder than even his own ice powers.
"…Danny…" she managed to rasp, "… I-I don't want to die…" Her eyes fluttered shut as she fell unconscious, unaware that her cousin was crying out her name.
AN: Bwahahahahahaha!! Ain't I a stinker? In the words of my Beta, Cordria:
"NO YOU CAN"T STOP IT THERE!!"
Hopefully, I can get another one of these to you in a couple of weeks. Till then, Stay Funky.