Author's Notes: Argh! So sorry about this. This was supposed to go up sooner than this but life sorta happened. I hope you guys enjoy this little chapter.


Lost and Found Chapter 13: The Break in

It was later that night when Danny finally made it home after spending the day with his friends and he was more or less exhausted, which was probably an after effect of his recovery from the events of the night before. The trio had spent most of the day doing relatively nothing productive and yet it had been the most fun Danny had in quite a while. Just hanging out with his friends had felt great and he wondered why he was so eager to throw that all away just months ago. Furthermore, the time he had spent with them had indeed done its job in clearing his mind after his argument with Raven, though the memory still lingered in the recesses of his mind. Danny was a little reluctant to return home but knew that he didn't have much choice, especially when it came to Dani's safety and any impending schemes from Vlad.

As he stepped through the Fenton's front door he gave off a massive yawn and stretched out his arms lazily. "I'm home," he shouted idly to no one in particular. Rubbing his eyes, the young hero began the seemingly long trek up the stairway to the second floor of his home, longing for the cool sheets of his bed, which was becoming more and more enticing by the moment. Danny made it halfway up the stairs when a sudden cry broke him out of his exhaustion and sent his body into a state of swift alert. "Danielle?" he called worriedly after recognizing the source of the cry and raced the up the stairs at a breakneck pace, heading straight for her room once he reached the top.

"Danielle, where…" the halfa began before slamming into something unexpectedly which caused him to stumble, causing falling onto his rear. "What the…" Danny looked around for the cause of his accident, to find that it was none other than Dani herself, who herself had fallen down thanks to their collision. Danny brought himself to his feet, outstretching his hand to help her do the same. "Dani, what happened? What's wrong?"

The girl looked up at her cousin's hand as if it were the first time she noticed he was there with her. Her eyes shone brightly with recognition and then apprehension as she quickly scurried to her feet. "Quick, you have to hide me!" she cried out, looking over her shoulder warily.

"Wait, what's going on?" he asked with bewilderment written all over his face.

"Danielle?" a very familiar voice called from the girl's room, causing Danielle to utter a small shriek.

Danny watched as his cousin quickly faded from view and could feel her grab the back of his shirt as she hid from whatever was the source of her distress. He began to smirk mischievously as the pieces of the current situation slowly fell into place; he had a pretty good idea that everything would be revealed shortly

"Danielle, where are…" Jazz uttered as she exited Dani's room in search of the girl when she nearly bumped into her brother like Dani had done just moments before. "Oh, Danny! Danielle has passed by here, has she?"

Danny could feel his cousin's grip of his shirt tighten ever so slightly, telegraphing to him that she definitely didn't want to be found. "Dani?" he asked innocently and quickly stifled a smile before he continued. "I just got home, so I haven't bumped into her yet. Is something wrong?"

Jazz's face wore a frustrated look as she replied. "I could have sworn she went this way… anyway, I was digging through my old stuff and I found some of my old clothes when I was about her age." Draped on her arm was one of the outfits she wore when she was younger, which didn't look much different than her current attire. "I figured she'd wear it for the time being considering how worn down the clothes we found her in were. I tried to get her to try one but she just ran off."

The urge to laugh was becoming unbearable for Danny as he tried to hide his amusement. "Frankly, I don't blame her, Jazz. I know you're excited about having Danielle here and everything but turning her into a mini-you probably isn't the best thing. One Jazz is enough for my taste."

The older Fenton sibling gave her brother a hard stare. "I was just doing her a favor, Danny. Knowing Dad, he'd probably want to dress her in a bright orange, oversized jumpsuit."

The mental image brought on by Jazz's description caused both halfas to shudder slightly. "Not a pretty picture," Danny admitted. "We should probably take her clothes shopping or something tomorrow and get her some clothes she actually likes, not some hand-me-downs."

"There is nothing wrong with what I wear," she countered resentfully.

"Just the fact that it's your thing. I'm sure Dani wants to wear something to suit her own tastes and not be your oversized Barbie doll. Don't your psychology books talk about encouraging kids to define their own personality?"

Jazz looked resigned. "You do make a good point. I guess I did get carried away. It's just that I've never had a little sister before and I want to make sure I do a good job at properly developing her emotional and psychological growth, especially at the age she's in right now."

Danny grinned. "Well, it's her first time having an older sister, too, so you're both learning. Just give her a little bit of space and let her adjust to the total weirdness that is the Fenton household."

"I'm actually surprised of how insightful you've become all of sudden, Danny," Jazz replied, clearly impressed by her brother's wisdom.

"Well, I speak from the experience of being the younger sibling to an older, overbearing sister." He deftly dodged a shirt Jazz had thrown in his direction.

Jazz gave him another glare, though smiled at the same time. "Smart mouth. Anyway, I better get some sleep tonight if I want to be ready for shopping tomorrow. Goodnight, Danny. If you see Danielle, tell her to be ready. Mom hasn't been shopping in a while and I think she might go a little overboard."

"I'm pretty sure she won't be the only one," Danny muttered under his breath as he watched his sister head to her room and overheard her muttering how cute Dani would look in a headband. The moment the door to the redheaded Fenton's room shut, a sigh of relief sounded from behind the older halfa. He turned to find that his cousin had made herself visible again and sported a look a gratitude.

"I owe you one," she said with a grin.

Danny wore a matching smile. "That's Jazz for you. She means well, but sometimes even she bing a Fenton."

"I'm not used to people paying attention to me, that's all," she said in an unexpectedly somber tone. "When you're out on your own, running from crazed fruit loops, you try not to get noticed. Even when… even back then, when I was at his house, he wouldn't notice me unless there was something he wanted me to do for him."

Danny placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, knowing full well whom she was referring to. "Well, things are different now, Dani. We might all be on the eccentric side but if there is one thing I'm sure of is that you definitely belong here. We're not going to let anything happen to you, alright?" He watched as the young girl nodded with tears welling up in her eyes. Danny proceeded to ruffle her hair, earning a squeal. "I think you should probably turn in. Jazz looked like she had big plans for tomorrow, which is probably a bad thing for you. You're going to need all the strength that you can get."

Dani paled slightly and her eyes seemed to plead to him. "Can't I hang out with you tomorrow?"

"Hey, I had to deal her for sixteen years. I think it's fair to let someone else deal with her for a while, don't you?"

The younger halfa crossed her arms and gave him a scowl, sticking her tongue cheekily. She then closed in, giving her cousin a quick peck on the cheek before heading to her room. "Good night, cous."

"Good night." Danny replied as he proceeded to his own room for some much needed shuteye while yawning for the umpteenth time. He stopped during his journey; glancing back to the end of the hallway to Raven's room and debated as to whether or not to talk to her. He furrowed his eyebrow exasperatingly and let out a huge sigh as he continued to his room. "Tomorrow," he murmured to himself. He was absolutely going to straighten things out with her tomorrow, no matter what. For now, he was going to heed his friends' advice and give her some space to think, something he himself still needed to do. "Goodnight, Rae," he whispered as he closed the door of his bedroom

VGVGVGVGVGVGVGVGVGVGVG

"Special delivery," Valerie Gray chimed as she entered her father's office inside the depths of Axion Labs, carrying a paper bag with the Nasty Burger logo blazoned on it in one hand and a tray of drinks in the other.

"Val?" Damn Gray asked, surprised by his daughter's arrival. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm bringing you dinner, duh," she stated matter-of-factly and pecked her father on the cheek. "Can't a girl treat her dad to a greasy, artery clogging meal while he works all hours of the night?"

Mr. Gray began to grin. "Well if you put it that way, thanks for the meal, V. You really shouldn't have."

"Well, I figured you'd have better luck making sure I wasn't getting into trouble if I was close-by."

He let off an frustrated breath. "Valerie, that isn't fair. I only want to make sure you're safe."

"And what safer place than the impregnable Axion Labs" she replied sarcastically. "Is it me or did the security system get a major upgrade since the last time I visited you? The guards definitely gave me a harder time at the front gate. Only reason I was even able to get in was because they escorted me over to your office after I promised I wouldn't leave your side."

Mr. Gray turned to focus on the array of flat-panel displays that hung in front of his desk, each one showing a different part of the facility. "Well, we keep some pretty valuable stuff that a lot of people would love to get their hands on. After Phantom and that computer ghost got in here, Mr. Masters wanted this place impenetrable from both humans and ghosts."

Valerie glanced at the different screens, noticing that all of the screens changed every fifteen seconds or so to alternate in between certain areas; all except one, which displayed a room that housed a single pedestal. On the stand was some sort of box that Valerie couldn't recognize and surrounding it was a nasty looking force field. "Does the security have anything to do with that project you've been working on?" she asked, pointing to the screen.

"Technically, I don't know what it is," Damon admitted. "It came in from one of our other facilities a week ago. My project is basically to make sure that thing doesn't go anywhere. Mr. Masters was pretty adamant on the issue. He visited us personally to make sure everything was in working order."

"Sounds like it's something really important," she observed. "Makes you wonder what it is."

"I'd rather not know, if it's all the same to you. In my line of work, something that important can easily be something pretty dangerous. The less I know about it, the better." He took a sip of his soda before continuing. "Whatever it is, it has Mr. Masters worried and that makes me worry." He took a sidelong glance at his daughter. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea for you to come over, pumpkin."

"Now you're really being paranoid, Dad," she replied. "I can take care of myself you know."

Damon simply stared back at her with a look that expressed he wasn't all that convinced.

Valerie began to frown at her father's lack of confidence in her. "Seriously, Dad. I'll be fine. I won't be looking for trouble but if it does come, I can handle it."

"All the same, I'd rather…" Midway through his sentence the buzz of the overhead fluorescent lights, which had previously been too faint to detect, suddenly intensified into an ear piercing whine that caused both father and daughter to cover their ears. The brightness of the lights intensified along with the sound and quickly climaxed as each tube exploded, sending a rainfall of glass and sparks on the two occupants. The sound and light show ended, leaving the room in total darkness and filling the air with the acrid smell of burning metal and plastic.

"What the heck happened?" Valerie's voice wavered hesitantly as she tried to adjust to the sudden lack of light. Her eyes stung from the smoke and her feet were unsteady from the attack on her senses but otherwise she was relatively unscathed. "Daddie?" she asked suddenly as her thoughts turned to her father. "Dad? Where are you?"

"I'm right here, sweetie." Like his daughter, he was still a little dazed from what had occurred. "What about you. Are you doing ok, Val?"

The girl nodded her head, though she realized a bit too late that it was a futile gesture, given that her father couldn't actually see her. "I'm ok, I guess. Any idea what just happened?"

"Something that shouldn't even be possible. I think something just overloaded the power grid for the building."

"So, I'm guessing that's not a good thing," Valerie stated sarcastically.

"It shouldn't even happen. The power to the whole facility is tightly regulated and protected against power surges. Some of the electronics we have running here is extremely sensitive, so we don't feed directly from the city's power; instead we have a system that stores, cleans, and redistributes the power to the different labs and other systems." Damon rubbed the bridge of his nose as he ran a rough estimate through his head. "Nothing short of a freak lightning strike should be able to take out the grid."

The girl got the gist of her father's explanation. "So you're saying we got hit by lightning?" The moment the words left her lips she remembered that on her way from work to Axion that she noticed how beautiful the moon looked in the cloudless sky.

"Even if a bolt of lightning that strong had hit us, the whole building is grounded to prevent something like this from occurring. The only way for lightning to have this type of effect would be if it hit out main power station…" Stopping midsentence, he reached for the radio hanging from his belt in order to confirm the theory that had just popped into his head. "Echo seven, this is the control room. Can you hear me?" Both he and his daughter winced as the room was suddenly filled loud static. "I repeat, Echo seven please respond. I need to know the status of the power station." He once again received no answer. "Damn, they're blocking us…"

Shaken by her father's language, Valerie felt the hairs of her neck stand on end. She had never heard him swear, even when he got angry so to hear him do so in this situation was not only jarring, but also very telling of the situation at hand. "Dad?"

Before he replied, the distant of a generator kicking in reverberated throughout the complex. The room was once again bathed in light, though the hue was that of the crimson emergency lights that hung on the walls. "Good, the backup power has kicked in." He turned towards his daughter with a determined look she'd rarely seen him use. "Valerie, I want you to stay here. Don't leave this room for anything."

"What's going on?" she protested as she watched him head for the door. "Where are you going?"

He stopped to turn to his daughter. "Val, if there is ever a time I want you to listen to me, it's now. Axion Labs is most likely under attack and they are probably after whatever that thing Mr. Masters sent us was. I don't know how they did it but by taking out the electrical grid, they've pretty much taken out most of the countermeasures we have here. The only things that are stopping them from getting that thing are the guards and the shield surrounding it that is feeding off the backup power."

"Then take me with you," she protested. "I can help you fight these guys off, especially if it's a gh…" her voice choked on the last word.

"You're staying here and that's final, young lady. It isn't open to discussion. They won't head in this direction, so you'll be safe." With that, Mr. Gray headed out the door, leaving his daughter behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Damn, this is boring," Echo Seven proclaimed suddenly, drawing out raised eyebrow from his partner, Echo Eight. The two were assigned to protect Axion Lab's outer perimeter, a job most of the guards of facility found to be a menial task at best and were making their way to the back of the facility to where the power station was located. "I can't believe we're stuck with this. We should be inside, protecting that thing that has the boss so spooked."

"You're kidding, right?" Echo Eight responded, shifting the grip of the weapon he was holding. "I'd rather be out here where it's safe than protecting that thing."

Echo Seven gave a subdued chuckle. "Out here is safe? How do you figure? I would have thought that being protected by the automated defenses inside would be better than sitting out here."

"I'm just saying that if someone comes after it, they aren't going to bother with us. They'd head straight inside to where all the good stuff is…"

"And if they are dumb enough to do that, they'll get a face full of laser from our turrets," Echo Seven finished.

His partner shook his head. "The kind of people who are crazy enough to even try something like that have their ways, you know. I have a cousin who used to work as a guard at one of those tech firms in Jump City. The place used to be hit every other week by crazies and freaks. Robots, monsters, super villains, you name it."

"None of which we have here."

"Well, what about ghosts? We've had plenty of those the past couple of years. Remember how many times we got hit last year?"

Echo Seven shook his head. "You worry too much, man. That's why we retrofitted the security system in the first place. No one, not even a ghost, will make it past the front door."

"All I'm saying is that if someone does come, I'd rather be out here than stand in its way inside," Echo Eight explained.

"Why are you even a guard to…"

"Uh, excuse me…"

The sound of a new voice caught their attentions immediately and caused them to turn to the speaker in question.

Standing a few feet away from the guards, Sparx casually waved and bore an enthusiastic grin. "Hi, guys!" she greeted gregariously

The two Echoes glanced at each other before Seven responded. "Excuse me, miss, but this is a restricted area."

"I'm sorry, but I'm sort of lost," she replied and smiled sheepishly.

Echo Eight adjusted the firearm that hung from his neck into a less relaxed position. He had been getting a weird vibe from this girl and he wasn't about to ignore his instincts. "How did you even get here? There's an electrical fence surrounding the whole area."

"Oh, it wasn't that hard," Sparx spoke up, waving her hand dismissively. "I just jumped over it. Nothing major."

"Jumped… over?" They both looked at her dumbfounded, unsure if they should take her claim as actual fact.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you can help me," she continued, oblivious to the stares her explanation had created. "I was wondering if you can help me find the power sub-relay station. I'm actually kinda embarrassed… I know it's around here somewhere but I just can't seem to find it. Vec wanted me to short it out before we go in and grab some tech… ooh, I hope they have some nice goodies in there…"

As she went off on a tangent, sentries finally found their wits and immediately aimed their weapons at her. "I'm going to have to ask you to lie face down on the ground and put your hands on your head, now."

Sparx blinked, at first seeming to be genuinely surprised over the new turn of events and then proceeded the slap herself on the forehead. "Dang it, I did it again, didn't I?" She gave them another smile, though this time it almost seemed apologetic. "Sorry but Vec would get really steamed with me if I got caught." Her eyes began to glow an eerie electric blue as she regarded the now shaken guards.

"Put your hands in the air, now!" one of them commanded, a bit of fear clear in his voice as they both cocked their weapons at the mysterious girl. In a flash she was gone and appeared moments later crouched in front of Echo Seven as her fist connected with his gut and a jolt surged through his body. He doubled over immediately, despite the fact that he and his partner wore body armor that should have protected him from the impact. Before Echo Eight could even take proper aim, Sparx's leg snaked into the air and slammed into his head, knocking him out cold.

Both unconscious bodies fell to the ground with two resounding thumps as Sparx lowered her leg and surveyed her surrounds. "Great, now where am I going to find…" she stopped when she finally spotted her target. "Duh. Why didn't I see it there before?" The electric blonde walked over to the metallic structure that regulated the building's power. "Now, how am I going to do this? Do I hack into the mainframe and shut everything down that way? Or…" She grinned as she chose her other option.

She took a stance in front of the relay station, pulling back her right fist and closing her eyes as she prepared herself. The area around her began to glow as sparks of electricity started to dance about her body, jumping to and from the bolts that decorated her jumpsuit. The electricity made its way to her hand, where it crackled loudly as she collected more and more power into her fist. Satisfied with the amount of charge she had built up, Sparx swung her arm and impaled it into the electrical station, pouring it all into the power grid. Shortly afterwards her attack's effects made themselves knows as various small explosions could be heard at Axion Labs, followed by the lights extinguishing all together.

"All right!" she cheered. "Now all I have to do is…" she thought for a moment, but drew up a blank. "Aww, darn it! I forgot to ask them where the main vault was! Oh, man, Vec is going to kill me if he finds out I forgot where to go…"

"Vector calling Sparx," a voice called from the earpiece she wore. "Sparx, do you copy?"

"V-Vector!" she replied a little too hastily. "What's up?"

"Confirm your status," he asked, his voice all business. "I'm assuming that fireworks display was your handiwork?"

Sparx grinned. "Well you said to make some noise, so I had a little fun."

"Well, you did a good job. Normally, I stay away from a … flashy entrance, but if we are to confront Phantom, we'll need to draw him out."

"Roger that! You're the boss," she replied nervously.

"Anyway, proceed with phase two. I'll stay out here and wait for out special guest to show."

"Right. Phase two. About that…"

Vector sighed. "Did you want me to walk you through the layout over the comm?"

"No! Of course not. I remember the way… I think."

"Sparx…"

She cringed at his tone. "Okay, maybe I need a little help."

"I swear, you know how to put together a force shield generator and yet you can't remember a simple set of directions…" he grumbled.

"I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter. Just meet me at the front entrance. Once we clear the way you head inside while I wait for Phantom. And follow my directions to the letter. I don't want you to get lost in there."

"I'll meet you there," she replied. Sparx waited for the beep that indicated he was off the comm channel and then let out a breath of relief. "Can't screw up my first mission," she said to herself as a look of determination began to gleam in her eyes. "Vec is counting on me." As she turned to the direction of the main entrance, electrical energy began to visibly dance around her once again, this time heading down her body till it reached her boots. She bent her knees for balance as sparks began to fly from under the soles of her boots and moments later her feet were levitating a few inches off the ground in top of a layer of electrically charged air.

"Time for the sparks to fly!" she called as she shot forward, using a skating motion as she propelled herself towards her destination and left a trail of burnt grass in her wake.

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

It was quiet in the Fenton household that night and all of its occupants were taking advantage of that silence by catching up some much needed rest. Since their return to Amity Park, the Fentons had seen very little ghost activity which was good news for a certain halfa who was now resting soundly in the comfort of his own bed. This was probably the first time Danny had a good night's sleep that wasn't a battle-induced coma and he was enjoying it… that was until the shrill sound of an electronic device woke him from his slumber.

"Damn…" he swore as he stirred in his bed. He reached over to his nightstand, grabbed his cell phone, and flipped it open. "This better be important." The halfa waited for a response for a few moments though all he heard was silence. "Hello?" He took a look at the phone to find that it wasn't active. "What the…"

The beeping continued, though it certainly not coming from his phone. Confused and still somewhat drowsy, Danny took a look around the room until his eyes met with the offending culprit: the yellow piece of plastic and metal that was his Titan Communicator. Just as he about to reach for the device, a knock could be heard at his door.

"Danny?"

Once he recognized the voice, he suddenly felt a knot clench in his stomach and hesitated before responding. "Give me a sec." He got out of bed, grabbed his communicator, and headed to his door, taking a deep breath before opening it.

Standing on the other side was Raven, who had an impassive look on her face that said she wasn't there for a social call. She held up her communicator, which had also been beeping. "We have work to do."

"Is that what's going on?" he asked and then furrowed his eyebrows as a thought came to mind. "Does this mean that we have to go back to Jump City?"

She shook her head. "The communicator is designed to pick up local emergencies. There's a break in at a local tech company. Some place called Axion Labs."

Danny's eyes flickered in recollection. "Axion, huh? Figures."

"Been there before?"

He nodded. "More than once. Not all of them experiences I'd like to call friendly. Do we know who's causing trouble?"

"Not sure. A silent alarm was tripped about an hour ago and then all communications was cut off. Since you're a Titan now, they want you to look into it."

"I guess its back to no sleep at night." He said sardonically.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Both Danny and Raven turned to the new voice and found Danielle, who was already in ghost form and grinning widely.

Danny took a look a look at his cousin and his eyes narrowed. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"What and miss all the fun? So, are we going to stand here and talk or are we going to go and kick some butt?"

"We aren't going anywhere," her cousin replied. "You're staying home while Raven and I go out."

"What?" Dani exclaimed. "Why? I can help."

"You just got well, Dani. It's better that you sit this one out."

"But Mrs. Fenton said today that I was fine!"

"No buts. You need to get some sleep, got it?" The older halfa gave her a stern look that showed that he wasn't backing down from this.

She sighed as the rings overcame her body, returning her back to her human form. "Fine."

Danny nodded in approval. "Good. Let's go, Raven." Transforming himself, the ghost boy ascended, phasing through the ceiling, followed by Raven who did the same, leaving Dani behind.

"I'm not sick anymore. Why can't he see that I can help?" she whispered under her breath. "Fine. I'll just have to show him I can, that's all."


AN: Duh Duh Duuuuh. Trouble is a brewing in Amity Park. Danny and Raven are up against two new foes. What do these villains want that's so valuable? How will our heroes fair? And what happens when Dani and Valerie enter the mix? Find out in the next chapter!