It wasn't until the afternoon the next day before Danny woke up.
"Hey," Jazz whispered as she saw her brother had opened his eyes.
"Hi," Danny yawned.
"How do you feel?" Jazz asked.
"My chest is hurting a bit but… I feel a lot better. Thanks. How long have I been asleep?" Danny answered with a smile.
"Over a day," Jazz told him.
"That's a joke right?" Danny retorted worriedly.
"Nope. You needed the sleep little brother. Come on, you probably need another treatment and I bet you're hungry now," Jazz remarked with a smile. Danny blinked as he sat up.
"I am actually. Wow, I haven't felt this hungry in ages," Danny commented before smiling at his sister and following her downstairs.
"Danny!" Danielle cheered in the living room currently playing a game of checkers with Jake.
"Hey. Jake? I thought you would have gone home by now," Danny greeted, frowning in confusion. Jazz smirked at her brother and silently left to inform their parents that Danny was awake and to make the halfa some food.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay before I left. But everyone else left, they had to get home. Sam and Valerie had to go home and Tucker's at the town hall. If you're okay now though, I'll head off in a bit," Jake answered. Danny smiled gratefully at the dragon.
Maddie and Jazz entered the living room a few minutes later. Maddie sat beside her son and gently took his arm to inject the drug. Danny let her and smiled when she had finished.
"Let us know when your chest starts hurting again. We need to figure out how often you need these injections," Maddie requested, lovingly pushing Danny's hair out of his blue eyes. Danny smiled at his mother and nodded in agreement before having a plate of sandwiches shoved into his hands.
"Eat up little brother. You need to take better care of your human half after the last few days," Jazz ordered kindly. The red head was right. Danny's human half was abnormally pale and he had lost weight. Obediently Danny bit into a sandwich and frowned at the flavour.
"What's in this?" he asked.
"Bacon, lettuce and avocado. You need the nutrients. No arguments," Jazz answered. Danny scowled but finished the sandwich before picking out a more appetizing sandwich, grateful that Jazz put a variety on the plate.
"I think you should take today easy but tomorrow your father and I want to check your ghost health. We've repaired the ghost containment cell," Maddie remarked. Danny frowned. He was not looking forward to that. But he nodded in agreement. Maddie patted his shoulder before taking the used syringe back to the lab. Jazz dropped into a seat beside him.
"I want you to eat at least one more of those bacon and avocado sandwiches Danny," she muttered, having spotted her brother's careful choice of sandwich. Danny scowled at her.
"You're not my mom Jazz," Danny grumbled.
"Please Danny. I'm just worried. You look really sick and I want you to be okay," Jazz pleaded. Danny sighed and picked up another avocado and bacon sandwich to appease her. Jazz grinned happily.
"King me," Jake announced, having resumed the game while Danny was getting his injection. Danielle huffed.
"Again!? I'm not very good at this game," Danielle moaned.
"You just need to learn the game Dani. You're getting better," Jazz soothed her adoptive sister, ignoring Danny's exaggerated grimaces as he ate the sandwich. Danielle, who was facing Danny, giggled at his antics.
The calm moment was interrupted by Danielle and Danny's ghost senses going off. Danielle jumped to her feet and changed to her ghost form. Danny put down the plate of sandwiches but Jazz grabbed his shoulder.
"You heard mom. You're supposed to take it easy today. Dani can handle one ghost," Jazz scolded. Danny glared at his sister but didn't argue. He knew his family were right. Also, it wasn't a good idea to learn his new limitations in a ghost fight. Danielle flashed her brother an apologetic smile before phasing out of the house to find the ghost. A few seconds later they heard explosions and crashing outside.
"Are you two sure that Dani can handle a ghost on her own?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, she's gotten a lot better. I've been teaching her. Vlad didn't really bother to teach her many fighting skills so she learnt as she went, relying on pure force before we took her in," Danny assured the dragon.
"Yeah I think the Box Ghost knows to run when he spots you two," Jazz chuckled.
"What do you mean?" Jake wondered with amusement.
"The Box Ghost is pretty good target practice. He's actually reduced the amount he comes here, finally. It only took beating him up every day and then letting Danielle at him afterwards," Danny explained. Jake snorted.
"I almost feel bad for him," Jake remarked. Danny shrugged.
"He's annoying. If that's what it takes for him to leave me alone, I'll do it," Danny replied.
Suddenly the living room window smashed and Danielle crashed into the table, sending the plate of sandwiches and checkers game board flying. Danny jumped to his feet and jumped over the broken table to Danielle as the female halfa picked herself up.
"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. Danielle grunted.
"Who is it?" Jazz inquired.
"Walker and a group of his lackeys," Danielle answered. Danny scowled and turned to the window.
"Take a breather Dani. I'll take over," Danny decided and with an angry scowl made his way towards the window.
"Danny! No! You can't fight Walker like you are," Jazz protested sharply. Danny glanced over his shoulder at his sister and frowned.
"Jazz, Walker's here because I attacked his prison under Klarion's orders. He's here for me. That's why he's just beating Dani up and not trying to arrest her," Danny explained as he changed into his ghost form. His transformation rings were a lot dimmer than usual.
Before Jazz could argue further, Danny phased out of the house and glared at the warden of the Ghost Zone. There were a number of ghostly guards flanking the ghost but more were groaning on the ground, many half-encased in ice.
"Punk," Walker growled.
"Walker. If this is about the other day, I'm sorry. I wasn't actually responsible for my actions. It won't happen again," Danny replied. Walker raised an eyebrow.
"Not responsible? You attacked me and my guards. Half my guards still haven't recovered!" Walker spat. Danny flinched. He couldn't remember that fight well but he did sense that he was more vicious than he would have been had he been in his right mind.
"Like I said. I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Danny repeated.
"I will have justice for my guards," Walker snarled.
"Walker… I was being controlled. I had no choice. If you want justice then you're better off going after Klarion," Danny interjected impatiently. He didn't want this to escalate into a fight. He felt a lot weaker than normal and he wasn't sure he'd be able to win that fight.
"He's not a ghost. I watched the security footage. I can't arrest a human. So I'd rather arrest a ghost with a rap sheet longer than my arm," Walker decided. Danny scowled and slipped into a ready position. He should have known he wouldn't be able to talk down Walker. The ghost wasn't the most logical when it came to arresting ghosts.
With a shout, Walker charged at Danny with his guards following close behind. Danny gulped nervously and channelled his ice powers into his hands, sending out a wide wave of ice energy which encased most of the guards in the initial charge. However Walker and three guards managed to dodge. Danny gasped in alarm and formed a green ghost shield around himself. He grunted as Walker barrelled into the shield and then growled in determination as the three guards hammered the shield with ghost rays. Danny could feel the shield giving way but he knew if that happened, he'd lose this fight. He was not getting locked up again after getting free. His eyes flashed brightly with anger and he poured more energy into the shield, pushing Walker and the three guards back as the shield grew.
Danny then dropped the shield and quickly switched to his ice powers and shot a guard before reforming his shield. The guard was frozen solid and by the time the ghosts recovered from the surprise attack, Danny had replaced the shield. The remaining three ghosts charged at the shield again. Danielle phased through the destroyed window and blinked at Danny's strategy.
"Huh. He's actually defending more than fighting. He's not relying on power," Danielle remarked. Jake carefully peered through the broken window.
"Need help?" Jake asked.
"Best we handle this Jake, but thanks," Danielle answered and fired dual shot of ice energy at the two remaining guards, freezing them to the ground. Danielle smirked as Walker twisted around to see her. He snarled angrily and stormed towards her, turning his back on Danny. Danny dropped his shield and fired ice energy at the warden before reforming his shield as Walker twisted around to face the male halfa. Danielle charged forward and punched Walker in the back of the head. Walker fell to the ground unconscious. Danielle then produced a thermos and began to suck all the ghost inside.
Danny dropped his shield, panting and sweating from exertion.
"Man, I'm a lot weaker than I realised," Danny mumbled as he walked towards the house on shaky legs. Danielle followed him once she cleared the road of ghosts.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Danielle inquired worriedly.
"Yeah. I'm just gonna have to learn to fight without relying on my powers," Danny confirmed with a tired smirk. He phased through the wall and flopped on the nearest seat not covered in glass and reverted to human. Maddie and Jack rushed over to their son out of concern.
"I'm fine. Just… worn out. That suppressor really works. Maybe a little too well," Danny muttered.
"Probably doesn't help that you haven't been eating much recently," Jazz commented and excused herself to find a broom to sweep up the broken glass, broken plate and ruined sandwiches. Jake knelt carefully on the ground and collected the checkers board and pieces.
Jake returned to New York that evening and Danny sent messages to everyone who helped him, thanking them for their involvement in his rescue and personal apologies for any hardship he caused while under Klarion's control. Over the course of the next month, Danny learnt a new fighting style while he continued to take the drug for his elevated energy, Maddie and Jack adjusting the dose as their son slowly recovered. But by the end of the month, his energy was back to normal levels and he was back to his usual self. Once Danny heard that the other members of Team Phantom had offered Valerie a place on the team, he happily agreed. He had secretly wanted to have her join since she learned his secret but hadn't wanted to upset his team, mainly Sam and Tucker who had formed a great dislike and distrust for the ghost hunter. With the Guys in White finally a thing of the past, Danny could look to the future. Maybe he could reconsider joining Young Justice.
So that's it. I know the ending might have been rushed a bit but I didn't want to drag out the ending by following Danny's full recovery.
But I'm a lot happier with this fanfic than Ghostly Justice and hopefully that's all those loose ends cleaned up.
It was requested recently that I write another Danny Phantom/American Dragon; Jake Long crossover fanfic. I haven't started it yet but I do have an idea. It will be based between Ghostly Justice and Returning Dangers. So keep an eye out for it. I post polls, as you know, on my website and adverts for upcoming stories on my facebook page, as you know also. There's links to both in my bio.
I'd like to take the time now to thank everyone who took the time to read and review this story. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Every review truly makes my day. I love hearing your thoughts and opinions. And I will be putting a number of my favourite reviews on my website under spot reviews. Check it out. Again there's a link in my bio.
Other than the crossover with Jake, I have no plans to add to this series for now. But I said that before and here we are. So you never know.
The winner of the poll will have the first chapter posted shortly, so check it out.
Let me know what you thought of the story now that it's over.
And finally,
Until the next fanfic.
