Author's Notes: I'm really, terribly sorry. I'm late once again. There is a good reason for it this time. I had a really hard time trying to figure out a believable explanation for what happened in this chapter. I had mymind set on one way for quite a while, but once I tried to write it, I found it hard to get it written down. Thankfully, some inspiration from my buddy Michael J. J, author of "Adjustments", helped me out big time (thanks, Dude). Also, special thanks goes out to my beta, Cordria. She's always a great source of input. And is an awesome writer to boot. Make sure to check out her "Nova Shots".

Now, on with the show.

Lost and Found Chapter 10: The Cure

He hated this feeling. It gnawed at the pit of his stomach, as if it was struggling rip itself free from his body: this feeling of helplessness. His hands, still wet with ectoplasm, balled up into fists, eager to take out his frustration onto anything. He couldn't stand not doing anything, not when he had so much strength at his disposal. Unfortunately, that was how things were as he looked on as Raven was intently focused on saving the clone's life.

He replayed the events just minutes ago. The moment the sickly halfa collapsed in his arms, her body began to deteriorate rapidly. He panicked when he saw her body transform into viscous green liquid, staining his clothes and the sheets on the bed. He stood there frozen, unable to do anything but hold on to her quickly dissolving form.

It was then that Raven had arrived. The sorceress had heard his earlier cries for help and came as soon as she could. She now struggled on keeping the young girl from falling apart even further. Her hands hovered over the girl's body, glowing brightly with healing power as she tried to work a miracle. She knew if she had arrived just moments later that all this would have been in vain. She had barely managed to stop the girl from disintegrating even further and was now attempting to stabilize her.

Danny was so affixed by the scene in front of him that he didn't notice the dark hand that rest on his shoulder or the pale one that grabbed his. All he could do was contain all the bottled up frustration that seemed to reach a boiling point in his mind. He wanted to shout, he wanted to scream. He wanted to be anywhere but here. He couldn't stand to see his cousin like this. He couldn't watch her be in so much pain. The look in her eyes before she fell unconscious haunted his memory, as well as those words she spoke to him.

'I don't want to die.'

He shook his head as her voice echoed off the recesses of his mind. His eyes hardened with determination as he reaffirmed a silent, solemn vow. After everything she went through in her short life, after everything Vlad put her 

through, he wasn't going to let her die, not like this. She had every right to live as he or his family or his friends did. She didn't deserve any of this.

Raven's shoulders slumped as her extinguished hands finally dropped to her shoulders. The sorceress was exhausted but her hard work was worth it in the long run. She stood up from her position, only to feel her body resist the commands of her brain as she wobbled slightly. Two reassuring hands steadied her stance before she toppled over all together.

"Maybe you should rest for a bit," Danny suggested as he guided her back down to her seat.

Deciding that it wasn't such a bad idea, the sorceress sat down to regain her strength. A heavy pause seemed the hang in the air as everyone in the room awaited for her prognosis. "She's in a coma," Raven stated. "She's fading and fast. I barely managed to stabilize her this much. The damage is getting worse much faster than I can heal her. I don't think she's going to survive another day. I'm sorry."

Silence engulfed the room as everyone tried to take in the news. Time had suddenly become their enemy, an unstoppable force that now seemed nearly impossible to overcome. At stake was the life of a young girl whose fate seemed set in stone.

Jack and Maddie, who had rushed up the stairs when Danny gave his call for help, watched as their son turned towards them. The parents were taken aback by the look on his face. Resolve seemed to be carved permanently onto his face, a sight they were still not used to seeing. His expression spoke volumes: he hadn't given up hope; he couldn't give up hope, because doing so meant failure and they knew that he wouldn't accept that.

"How long?"

There wasn't a need for him to clarify the question to them. The query shook all doubts out of Maddie's mind as she mentally went over the calculations in her mind. "If we work nonstop, we can finish the Resequencer by morning."

"I'll help however I can," Jazz decided confidently.

"Whatever you need, I'm the man," Tucker concurred.

The others voiced similar vows. Danny couldn't help but give a weak smile.

"What are we waiting for?" Jack stated unwaveringly. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us!"

With his call to arms proclaimed, the battle against the untouchable adversary known as time commenced.

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

After moving Danielle to the lab with the utmost care, work on the Fenton Spectral Resequencer initiated. Everyone worked on putting the contraption together, all while under Maddie's watchful eye. Various pieces of equipment were connected together like the pieces of an intricate puzzle. The work was time-consuming and complex for everyone involved. Though some of it was straight forward, much of the work involved making custom parts and making sure that they were properly calibrated. Most of the more technical work was done by Jack and Maddie, with a bit of help from Tucker, who used his love and knowledge of technology to good use, and Jazz, who had become familiar with her parent's inventions over the years. Most of the heavy lifting was done by either Danny in his ghost form or Raven., who kept her senses alert in case of any complications in Dani's condition. Although Sam wasn't as technically savvy as the rest of them, she managed to find a way to aid everyone else the best she could.

They worked well into the night, stopping only briefly for breaks. The group struggled as exhaustion began to set in, especially with the Fenton parents, who hadn't slept much within the last couple of days. Even Danny felt the strain, despite the fact he was using hunting ghosts late into the night. They went on, however, ignoring the fatigue. There was too much at stake to let a lack of sleep slow them down. No one complained once as their hearts banded together for a single goal. By the time the group had finished their project, the sun's rays were beginning to shine through the city above.

Everyone took a step back to see what they had created. The machine looked something akin to an MRI machine. Four rings, each five feet in diameter, wrapped around a cot. Embedded into the inner part each of the rings were silver discs, whose edges gave off an eerie green glow. The rings themselves were surrounded by a tube of glass and metal, providing shielding and protection for those on the outside. Snaking from the tube was a thick cable, which connected to a device that was waist high and looked very complicated. Another cable, as thick as the last one, led straight to the Fenton's Ghost portal.

Nervously checking everything over one last time, Maddie Fenton let her mind wander to the upcoming procedure. She couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive. In any other circumstance, she would have taken more time do some tests and run some simulations. Although she trusted her family and their skills, she couldn't deny that they had done a rush job in building the Sequencer. Any number of things could go wrong, putting the fragile life they had in their care at risk. They, unfortunately, had no other choice: time was just about up. They had to act now or else…

Gathering up courage, she took a big breath before addressing the others. "Alright, everyone," she began. "We are going to be starting in a few moments, so you'll be able to catch your breaths for now." She smiled as she heard the 

collective sigh of her family and Danny's friends. She turned her eyes back towards the screen before her as she made her final inspection.

"Mom?"

The sound of Danny's voice caught her by surprise. She set her attention towards him curiously. "Yes, dear?"

The boy fidgeted a little under her gaze as he struggled to find the right words to say. "I guess I wanted to wish you guys good luck and everything. And also…" his voice faltered slightly before he continued. "Also, I wanted to say that even if it doesn't turn out the way that we wanted, I still want to thank you and Dad for working so hard. Everything you guys have done recently means a whole lot to me."

Maddie was touched by the sincerity of her son's voice and his expression. She quickly closed the gap, pulling him into a motherly embrace. "Oh sweetie, thank you! You don't know how much that means to us." She pulled back and looked into his eyes. "No matter what, we'll do the best we can."

"Thanks, Mom," Danny replied with an appreciative smile.

She wasted no time in getting back at the task at hand. "Jack, I need you and Tucker to get the computer and the monitoring program ready. Raven, I need your help in moving Danielle."

With their orders received, the trio did as they were told. Raven used her telekinetic powers to carefully and gently move Danielle into the device, taking care in not disturbing the girl. After a few moments Tucker gave the thumbs-up sign, indicating that all systems were go. The tension was palpable: this was it.

The group receded behind some makeshift shielding the Fentons had devised. With sweat building onto their brows, they all waited anxiously for the procedure to commence. Maddie glanced at her husband before she did anything else, the worry clearly written on her face. Jack simply smiled and nodded his head, easing away some of her doubt. With a gulp, Mrs. Fenton pressed a single button, activating the apparatus.

A hum rang through the lab as it came to life. Maddie never took her eyes off the screen as she monitored the progress. Everything was going exactly as she and Jack had calculated. Power for the mechanism was being pulled from their Ghost Portal. The energy created from the tear in space would provide more than enough of the oomph that was needed. The ectoplasm would then enter into the heart of the system: the sequencing module. It was here that the raw ecto-energy would be modulated to Danny's midmorph DNA. Once the ectoplasm was at the right frequency, it would be emitted by the discs embedded in the rings, bathing Danielle in energy that would hopefully imprint the new signature into Danielle.

So far things were going well. The ectoplasm was modulated to the right frequency and was being released without a hitch. She started the process at a low level to gauge the effect it would have on their patient. She took a look at the girl's vitals and smiled. It was actually working! Already, she could see signs of her cellular structure stabilizing. It was slower than they had hoped at this level, but it was working. Maddie gave the ok for her husband to increase the intensity. Jack complied with the utmost care, quite contrary to his usual demeanor.

As the elder Fentons operated, the teens looked on nervously. Danny's face held firm and emotionless, though his eyes told a different story. Beside him was Raven, who held onto his hand firmly, hoping to provide him with as much emotional support as she could. She could easily feel the turmoil that waged in his heart. On one side was hope, an emotion he had to rely on constantly for the past couple of days. On the other side was fear and doubt of a positive outcome. The chance that things could go horribly wrong was great and bore heavily on his mind. No matter how things went, she would be there for him.



Tucker and Jazz stood to his right, ready and willing to lend a hand if needed. Out of all his friends, they were the ones who knew the Fenton's technology the most. They knew he was counting on them, all of them, if anything should go wrong. While they waited for any sort of progress, Jazz stole sidelong glances at her brother. Though she trusted her parent's abilities, she couldn't stop her inner future psychologist from going into overdrive. She knew if Danielle didn't make it, that Danny would be the one to be hit the hardest. She internally went over ways to comfort her little brother if worse came to worse.

Sam stood behind everyone else, her self-imposed solitude giving her some breathing space. She didn't know why, but somehow she felt a little bit left out. During the build, it felt as if she was the one that contributed the least. She wasn't part of the family like Jazz, or was good at technology like Tucker. Even Raven provided more than she did, not only by keeping Danny's cousin well, but by giving him a shoulder to lean on. Sam couldn't help but feel the emerald eyed beast rear its ugly head as her eyes gravitated to the sight of Danny and Raven's hands bound together. Sam shook her head furiously. Now wasn't the time for thoughts like this. Danny needed all the friends he could get. Even with that thought in mind she didn't, or rather couldn't, move an inch.

Maddie could feel the corners of her mouth begin to curl ever so slightly. She could feel the hope bubbling up inside her as she continued to monitor the progress of the procedure. Danielle's body seemed to be responding rather well to the treatment and everything seemed to be operating at normal parameters. Jack would periodically increase the intensity, which they theorized would be less painful for her that a full on jolt. It seemed to have the desired effect; the slumbering girl only showed a hint of discomfort while she slept through the whole thing. Maddie allowed the smile on her face to widen and her expectation to build. An hour or so would probably do the trick to completely stabilize her.

Unfortunately, it was then that their ship called hope decided to spring a leak, on the whim of a red glaring screen and persistent buzzing sound.

"Jack?" Maddie cried as all signs of joy faded from her face. Her eyes darted crazily, trying to find the cause of the alarm. She quickly found the source: there seemed to be a spike of power from the sequencing module. The result was a fluctuation in the proper frequency, something they didn't want. "Jack, try lowering the power output," she ordered, hoping that would solve the problem.



The ghost hunter complied, turning the knob in the opposite direction. As a result, the fluctuations began to dissipate and the red light ceased its blinking.

"Mom?" Jazz asked worriedly. "Everything going ok?" She and Tucker had gotten closer to her parents to give any aid.

Maddie's eyebrows furrowed. "We're not sure. The power just suddenly spiked…" Before she could continue, another klaxon sounded, indicating that the power had spiked once again.

"It wasn't me!" Jack exclaimed. He turned the knob down for emphasis, but unlike before, the readings and the whine from the machine continued to rise. The distortion in the signal increased in tandem with the power fluctuations.

"Damn it," Maddie swore under her breath, much to the surprise of her daughter. The huntress rechecked the screen to confirm her suspicions. "Jack, cut the power. There's a feedback loop in the sequencing module. If we let this go on even further…"

The rest of her sentence was muffled by the sound of a small explosion as sparks began to fly out of the module in question. Everyone shielded their eyes from the intensity of the blast. The room was soon filled with more flashing red lights and alarms. As they struggled to find their bearings and blink away the spots out of their eyes, the sound of Dani's scream pierced through all the other noise in the lab, sending a shiver down everyone's spine. Their attention caught by the cry, everyone looked on in horror as the girl's body convulsed in pain from a deluge of raw ectoplasmic energy.

Forcing herself to look away from the sight, Maddie put her focus solely on a way to end's Danielle's suffering. She initiated the shutdown sequence on the panel in front of her but instead received nothing but sparks and more warning lights. "Everything is fused!" she exclaimed, turning towards her husband with a look of dread. "The sequencer is feeding her a direct feed from the portal. She'll die if we don't find a way to cut off the power."

It took only a moment for her words to register in Jack's mind. His face grew harsh and resolute as he plotted his next course of action. Turning towards the now volatile machine, the burly man began to move himself closer in an effort to disengage the main power line manually. A black and white blur beat him to the punch however.

Danny, already in his ghost form, shot like a rocket past his father towards the mechanism, whose noise now sounded like that of a monstrous beast. He tried to ignore the still sparking machinery, which continued to spout both electricity and energized ectoplasm alike. The halfa got as close to the main module as possible, grabbing the cable that fed it power. Using his ghost enhanced strength, the teen hero began to tug with all his might, hoping to disengage cable from its socket and save his cousin's life. Metal and insulation began the strain from his pulling as he put his all into it. Unfortunately, the powerful blast that had taken place moments before had welded the cable in place.

Whatever progress he was able to make was suddenly halted as a bolt of green energy slammed into his chest. Danny was sent hurtling backwards, slamming into the shielding that separated the rest of his family. He groaned from the impact as he tried to clear his head. He became alert again as Dani gave another cry of anguish. Now even more determined, the halfa quickly weighed his options. The cable wasn't going to budge anytime soon and Danielle didn't have any time left. He could try to cut the cable with a few ectoblasts, but that might take too long. There was only one thing he could think of to save her life. He touched off from the ground into the air and made a beeline for the chamber, hoping he wasn't too late.

He unfortunately failed to notice his name being called by his friends and family due to the growing wail of the apparatus.

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

She was scared.

She floated inside a dark void, her arms wrapped around her knees. She could feel it; her world literally crumbling apart. She knew she didn't have much time left and it scared her. She had tried to cope with her flawed state as best as she could. She tried to ignore it, filling her mind instead with roaming around the country, seeing the sights the world had to offer. There was a part of her mind that wanted to stay in Amity with Danny, the only real family she cared to know. The part of her that thought otherwise won out, however. The clone felt like an outsider. Danny had his own family, his own friends and she didn't want to interfere with his life. While on the road, she would often dream about what it was like to have a real family; people who wanted her. People who didn't care that she was a failed copy, a throwaway.



Despite the loneliness that plagued her, Dani enjoyed her freedom. Though her powers were not up to par, they were more than enough to keep her safe. Her powers were also handy at providing her food, though she would often feel guilty afterwards. Stealing made her feel like she was like Vlad, someone she wanted desperately to forget about. Unfortunately, it became obvious that Vlad didn't forget about her when the ghost attacks started. She wisely never took his creations head on, opting to use her wits to evade them. The constant attacks caused her to move locations more frequently, which had the unfortunate side effect of wearing down her powers a lot quicker than she would have liked.

Eventually, it became more and more obvious that she'd have to head back to her cousin. She had hoped that Danny would be able to cure her, though she knew the chances were slim. Still, seeing him again brought her a small glimmer of hope. Even now, when death was nearly at her door, she still hoped that he would come to her rescue. What surprised her the most was how his family reacted to her. They never saw her as mistake or just a cheap imitation of their son. Instead, they worked their hardest to try to help her, though she couldn't necessarily understand why.

She continued to float in limbo, her mind full of doubt and fear. She could occasionally hear what was happening in the outside world. Sometimes she could hear Danny, his voice full of conviction and determination. She also felt a warm sensation; something she attributed to Raven's healing powers. It would help sometimes but even she knew it wasn't enough. She knew condition was only getting worse.

Then something happened. Something different. It felt funny at first; unfamiliar. It was much different than what she felt when Raven used her magic. It seemed to permeate her very being, melting away that constant sense of weakness she always felt and replaced it with newfound strength. Was this it? Was Danny keeping his promise after all? Even now, it felt as if her body was rebuilding itself, the deterioration that had become all but common for her dissolving.

And then, all hell broke loose.

The new feeling was suddenly replaced with intense, searing pain. It ran through her like a bolt of electricity, igniting every molecule of her being. Every nerve in her body cried for relief from the seemingly unending torment. Her voice grew hoarse from the screaming, though that's all she was able to do.

And then suddenly it ceased.

Her body relaxed, thankful for the sudden relief. Though her mind was reeling and confused, she wondered if that was truly the end of it. Where had it come from to begin with? And where was Danny? She knew that the only 

way her questions would be answered. Slowly, her eyes began to open. It was blurry at first; she could make out two glowing green orbs. After a few moments, she realized what they were and who they belonged to.

"Danny?"

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

Though the burden seemed almost unbearable, he endured it the best he could. Danny felt like he was holding back an entire ocean as he grunted from the strain of maintaining his ghost shield. Floating above his cousin's bed, the halfa had his back turned towards his shield, the only thing that separated her from the barrage of ectoplasm that lay on the other side. Though he was glad his plan had worked, he didn't know how long it would last. The damage he took the precious moments between his entrance into the chamber and the creation of the shield was taking its toll on him.

"Danny?"

He was so preoccupied with protecting her that he didn't even notice she had awoken. He looked down at her confused face and managed to produce a smile. "Hey, cous," he replied casually.

"Wha-whats going on?" she replied, still weak from the agony she felt earlier.

"Don't worry about a thing, Dani," he responded, contrary to the fact that he could feel his strength slowly slipping away. With his mind racing, he tried to think of a way to get her out of there. It took all his might to keep the dome up. Trying to move would force him to forgo it, something he knew neither of them would survive. Then again, sooner or later his powers would fail him, dooming them anyway.

The girl stayed silent for a moment, staring back at her cousin warily. Despite how dire things looked, a smile blossomed on her face. She couldn't help it, after everything he was doing to try and save her. Her hand slowly began to reach up to him. Her lips parted as she began to speak. "Thank…"

Her gratitude was tragically cut short. Danny watched in horror as her body began to convulse, the tremors being more violent than those from yesterday. "Dani!" he cried out fearfully as he shot out a hand to grab hers.

Despite the fierce trembling, she managed to look keep her gaze on him, the smile never leaving her face, even as she began to melt away.



"NO!" the ghostly Titan howled. No, it couldn't end like this. After everything he and his family went through, after all that hard work, it couldn't. In an instant, all his hope shattered into dust, shaking him so greatly that whatever strength that he had remaining left him in an instant. The last thing he saw was the smile on her face that was quickly enveloped by a flash of green light…

AN: I'm apologizing again. When my beta finished the chapter, this is what she had to say:

"YOU FREAKING EVIL PERSON!! YOU ENDED IT THERE?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?! WHERE THE HELL DO YOU LIVE, I'M GOING TO HUNT YOU DOWN AND DEMAND TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

GAH!"

Bwahaha