Morning dawned, golden light wafting through the blinds. Slowly, Dani drifted to wakefulness. Warm covers, soft mattress, fluffy pillow… The girl rolled over, letting out a pleasantly sleepy groan. She blinked once, twice. Eyes finally opening to…
An unfamiliar beige wall, a framed picture of a lake and trees
"Wha…" Dani's brow furrowed.
Oh, Right. She was in the Fentons' guestroom. She'd come back here with Danny after Vlad's.
Danny… Dami. The impossible reality hit her.
Damian, one of her clone brothers….. he was still alive. He was stable, a half ghost like her. She spent the entire day with him, at the mall, in public. She'd never even dreamed of that happening. An awed smile dawned on her face. They'd talked, eaten together, shopped. It had been incredible! Wonderful! Amazing! She'd been gifted with this impossible miracle.
But…. the familiarity with Jazz, Dami's comment about the Phantom plushie (He 'didn't authorize' it... He was so different.) Jazz had gone to the mall with them too and she was pretty cool. (But her other brothers weren't…. They still weren't here…)
She pushed the sad thought away. No. It was okay. Great even! She had her brother and that was more than enough (even if he was different). Still, the question…. What would come next? (She'd almost died. She'd yelled at Dami. He'd asked her about meeting 'their Mom and Dad.')
But despite her dawning worries, Dani felt pretty good. She was stable, she was safe, she had her brother, and… she'd figure the rest out.
At breakfast, Jazz asked. "Do you want to stay a few days? Mom and Dad won't be back from Aunt Alicia's for another week."
"It's summer break. We don't have school to worry about." Dami added. "We can go out and do whatever you want." Both teen's eyes were soft, with more than a hint of pleading.
Dani frowned, hesitating. She had a suspicion what this was, a ploy to convince her to remain long enough to meet the Drs Fenton. And maybe even to stay more permanently. (Because they felt responsible for her; they had to take care of the poor, pathetic clone girl).
The girl pushed the dark, ugly thought away with a scowl. No, that wasn't true. The two older teens…. Dami at least… didn't think that. (But… did Danny?)
Dani forced a smile, shrugging. "Sure. It could be fun."
A few more days couldn't hurt, right? There were so many more things to see and do here. It would be loads of fun! Plus a few more days of delicious, free food (that she wouldn't have to steal). And that super comfy bed to sleep in (instead of the ground.) And she'd have more time to bond with Dami (Danny, a small part of her reminded). And maybe with Jazz too? It would be so great!
(She wouldn't have to be alone anymore.)
"Awesome!" Her brother smiled. "What do you want to do today?"
Dani's brow furrowed, considering for a long moment. "I wanna ride a rollercoaster?" The girl finally asked.
Dami and Jazz look at each other. The boy gave the red-head a grin. "That sounds awesome. Jazz?"
The older teen smiled. "Oh. I think we can make that happen."
Much like the previous day, Dani helped the older two teens with the dishes. Again, they piled into the red-head's car and drove off.
Arriving, Jazz parked and the three got out of the vehicle, walking towards the gates.
"Three tickets please." The red-head asked.
They rode Dani's coaster first.
"We have to ride the Ferris Wheel!" Jazz practically dragged the two half ghosts to the ride. The wheel turned, the three arriving to the top. "You can see everything from up here! Isn't it beautiful?"
The two half ghosts traded unimpressed looks. "We can both fly higher than this." Dami muttered.
"You have to try fried oreos." Dami implored, handing the younger girl the paper carton.
Dani took a bit through the crispy fried batter, teeth sinking into the center. The warm, sweet middle melted on her tongue. Her eyes popped wide. "Tis iss a'esoome." She gushed through her full mouth.
(She wished Muscles was here to try this too.)
"Bum-per-cars! Bum-per-cars! Bum-per-cars!" Dani cheered, running to the gate.
She laughed maniacally and slammed into the older teen.
Jazz's eyes widened, face indignant as she backed up.
Dani cackled, spotting her brother. Another target!
His eyes wide, he sped away…
"Take that, you little twirp!" Jazz slammed right into her.
The next few days were full of adventure.
Dami and Jazz took her to the Zoo….
"That tickles!" The girl giggled, holding a branch up to the giraffe. The long tongue brushed her fingers and she loved it! (Would Daniel have liked this too?)….
"Hey there, Deliah." The ghost boy smiled at the purple-back gorilla. He sighed wistfully, watching the creature scratch her backside. "Did I tell you about the time she beat up Skulker?" A scowl. "No, I don't mean Ghost X, Jazz."...
It started to drizzle as they moved to the chimpanzee enclosure. Still, Jazz grinned. "Oh, this is great! Maybe we'll get to see the chimps rain dancing."
Dani furrowed her brow. "Dancing… chimps? Really?"
"No! I'm serious!" Jazz insisted. "Chimpanzees have been observed to rhythmically sway in the rain, as if dancing. It's a behavior not clearly linked to gathering food, finding a mate, or maintaining status in their trope. And it's not just dancing! In 2015, researchers found four populations of wild chimps in West Africa where individuals habitually hit and throw rocks against trees or toss them into hollow tree cavities. This led to stone accumulation in the sites, reminiscent of human cairns."
Dami side-eyed her. "What's a cairn?"
"It's a man-made pile of stones, created for some kind of purpose, often a ritual one like a burial mound."
"So… the chimps were making piles of rocks?" The youngest frowned skeptically. "So what?"
"There's strong similarities to human ritual practices: the association of a particular location with a collection of artifacts over time, and ritualized behavior patterns. It could even be considered 'quasi religious' though I think that's over-reaching. But still it's so exciting! This could have implications for our understanding of the origin of human ritual sites!"
Dami and Dani traded looks. "Still not that exciting." The boy crossed his arms.
"Well." Jazz lifted her chin haughtily, turning. "You two just have no spirit of discovery." She stomped away, intent on watching the chimpanzees dance in the rain...
The three visited the Amity Park History Museum. Dami and his friends took her to the Nasty Burger. Jazz took her to the library.
All the while, it did feel like she was being wooed. They were trying to butter her up, to show her how good things were here. They were trying to show how much fun they would have together…
"Snowball fight!" In the Fenton's back yard, Dami threw a ball of snow at the younger half ghost.
"No fair! I don't have ice powers!" The girl argued, ducking behind the tool shed.
"Not yet!" Another snow ball… then his hand rested on his chin thoughtfully. "We should probably have Frostbite check on your core to make sure though."
"Check this!"
"Hey!"
Making do, Dani threw a ball of dirt at him.
The soil impacted with a thwump, Dami's mouth falling open in mock offense. Within minutes, they were covered in mud and chunks of melting ice. Both laughing, they panted in the grass, staring up at the clouds. (Vlad's garden, laying on the grass with Muscles, Bones, Tiny beside her. Her heart ached….)
Dami showed her his model rockets and they played with her plastic dinosaurs together. Jazz brought out her old Barbie dolls and they played marine biologist, therapist and patient, and a fancy tea party planning to assassinate the PTA chairwoman.
Her older brother took her flying. He showed off his powers, taught her new ones. "Hold your hands like this…. Now pull from your core."
"Like this?" Ectoenergy danced on her fingers.
"Exactly. Now… make it solid, like a wall. Nothing's getting past you."
Dani's brow furrowed, picturing a shield in front of her. Earlier, he'd shown her his shield; she'd felt its shimmering solidity. The sensation…. It buzzed under her fingers. Steady, stable, familiar.
The green barrier popped into existence. "I did it!"
"Good job!" The boy's hand enthusiastically swung forward to high five her... "Umph." Only to impact the shield. "Yep. It's solid." Dami grinned sheepishly.
This was everything she could have here by her brother's side. Everything she could learn from him.
"Take that, tin can!" Dami lobbed a bolt of ice at Skulker.
The metallic ghost dodged. "As if I'd fall for that again, welp." A missile shot from his back, diving for the pavement.
"Ghost boy!" An excited teen girl yelled below.
"What are you doing?" Said ghost boy shouted. "Run!"
Eyes suddenly wide and alarmed, the teen obeyed. "Ah! My ankle." She tripped over some debris.
"Shit." Dami muttered. In a blink, he dove, reaching her just in time. His hand gripped her shoulder, turning them both intangible just as the missile exploded.
"You saved me, Phantom!"
The ghost boy grabbed the teen under the arms, zooming away from Skulker. "For the last time, stay away from ghost fights!"
He dropped her off behind a car, returning to the fight.
Another ectoblast shot at the metal ghost. "Dani! Now." The boy shouted.
"Don't try to distract me with-"
The girl shot a blast from behind, distracting Skulker long enough for her brother to get him in the thermos.
Dami let her help out in ghost fights. He took her stargazing above the clouds.
"You see that really bright star there?"
"Yeah?" Dani's finger pointed.
"That's Polaris, the North Star. And if you look to the left a bit… yeah, there.…that's the tail of Ursa Minor…."
Her brother taught her constellations and told her stories. He laughed, sharing snacks with her. Just them and the stars.
And Dani loved it. She loved learning, exploring, just spending time with her brother (and even Jazz). Maybe she didn't mind so much, being wooed. The longer she stayed, the more comfortable she felt.
And yet….
The bed was comfortable but it still felt strange, waking up in the same room everyday. Walking passed the door to the Master Bedroom. The closed lab. The family pictures in the Living Room. This wasn't just Jazz and Danny's home but… Jack and Maddie Fenton's too.
Dani pretended she didn't hear the conversation behind closed doors.
"Mom and Dad are going to be back on Monday." Jazz's hushed voice
"I know." Dami, quiet, more than a hint of dread. "We need to talk to her, don't we?"
"You need to talk to her." Pointedly.
"Me!?" His voice cracked. "But you're better at that stuff Jazz. You-"
"It needs to be you. She trusts you more than me." The crossed arms were audible. "And meeting Mom and Dad isn't the only thing you two need to talk about."
"What?" Almost sheepish.
"I'm not deaf, Danny. I heard what she said to you before you told her about the fusion. She's putting on a brave face but-"
Dani walked away before she could hear more.
Those pictures… Jack and Maddie Fenton, tender eyes on each other in their colorful jumpsuits. Jazz and Danny as little kids, grinning at the camera in their dress and tiny suit. And the four together, the parents - faces bright with laughter- wrapped arms around their children, each's cheeks red with embarrassment and yet still…. Both smiled, not-so-secretly pleased.
Family Photos. These were family photos. (Photos Dani didn't belong in. Couldn't belong in). The thought of meeting the Fenton parents sent a knot of dread through her. But still…
Dani had Dami and Jazz and they were both so good to her. They paid attention to her, spend time with her. She wasn't alone. She was safe here, safe from Vlad. (Guilt snapped… No, none of what had happened, what he had convinced her to do, was her fault.) And she was happy.
Everything was great….
"That is it." Jazz crossed her arms. "We are going shopping today and we're getting you your own clothes and shoes."
"I have my own shoes." Dani complained. The trusty tennis shoes she'd been wearing when she arrived in Amity Park, swiped from a thrift store after her first pair literally fell apart.
"They literally have a hole in the toe." Dami crossed his arms too.
The clone girl scowled. "The hand-me-downs are fine!" She pouted, eyes staring down at said hand-me-downs, all the way to Jazz's car…. "I don't need new clothes." During the car ride… "I'm fine. You don't have to buy me stuff." Into the mall… "I don't want stupid new shoes." Down the long hall and into the shoe store. "You're just gonna be wasting your money."
The protests were ignored, the red-head single-mindedly leading her by the hand to a bench. Dani gritted her teeth. So she was being ignored, huh? She weakly pulled at the hand holding her, with half a mind to intangibly slip away. But… no. She wouldn't do that. (Dami's panicked face when he thought she'd run away again flashed in her mind.) No. She wouldn't do that to him.
"Sit." Jazz instructed, pointing down.
One last try… Dani fixed wide pleading eyes on her brother, looking for an ally. Someone to put a stop to this and insist they go out for ice cream instead.
No such luck. The boy pointed to the seat too, face just as serious as the older teens.
"Traitor." The clone girl muttered, sitting with a huff.
Fine. She'd just do what the other two want then. It was fine. (That everything being great didn't last that long, huh?)
Jazz used the metal shoe-size measuring thing to figure out Dani's size. Then, the older two teens offered various shoes to try on, much to Dani's complaints. Sparkly Mary Janes? Really?
Dani hated (or at least pretended to hate) every option and yet, Jazz would not take no for an answer. "I refuse to let my little sister leave here without at least one new pair of shoes."
The younger girl wrinkled her nose. Her? Jazz's little sister? No way…. Part of her recoiled at the thought. Just like she thought before, letting Jazz and Dami buy her fun stuff was one thing but this was too much, too serious. They were trying to take care of her again. (Like she deserved that. This week… even… even getting to have fun and not be alone was too much, too good for a mistake like-)
No. Was this really such a bad thing, being taken care of, being helped? (Being loved?)
In the end, she didn't say anything more.
Danielle accepted the shoes with minimal argument. And she barely complained when Jazz dragged her clothes shopping. It was… actually kinda fun, like playing dress up. But only kinda.
After picking out some basics - jeans, t-shirts, a new hoodie, underwear, socks, and something Jazz called a 'training bra'- Jazz had offered a dress. It was pink and sleeveless, cinching at the waist and falling to her knees.
Dani frowned into the mirror, head turning side to side as she studied herself. The girl swiveled at the waist, watching the skirt flare. Gently, she took her hair down out of its ponytail. It fell to her shoulders, and she gave a full twirl this time (like she'd seen Barbie do in the movie).
"Dani! Let us see!" Jazz cheered from outside the stall.
Swallowing nervously, the girl opened the door. "Ta-Da?" She spread her hands.
"You look so pretty." The red-head clapped. "Danny, look!"
The boy looked up from his phone; he'd quickly gotten bored while Jazz picked out clothes for her to try out. And yet he still smiled, eyes lighting up as he saw her. "Looks great, sis."
Dani swiveled nervously. "You think so?"
Both teens nodded, the affirmatives easing some of the tension in her chest.
"Do you like it, Dani?" Jazz asked, tone earnest.
The younger clone turned to the mirror, staring at herself again. With her face clean of dirt, her hair brushed and clean, wearing this dress… she almost didn't recognize herself in the mirror. She looked like a different person. And…. something in her relaxed, the corners of her lips turning up. She thought she liked the person she saw.
Dani turned back. "I think I do." She finally smiled.
"We'll buy it too then." The oldest teen said. "Do you want to try out anything else? Or go anywhere else?"
The youngest girl's brow furrowed, considering. "Can we go to that dark store with the loud music? The one with the skeleton in a suit in the window?" (Bones… her heart whispered sadly, imagining her clone brother in his favorite bedsheet.)
Both older siblings laughed, Dami rolling his eyes. "Yes, we can go to HotTopic. Sam's going to love that when I tell her."
"What? Why?" Dani's brow furrowed.
"It's her favorite." The boy wiggled his fingers. "Since it's so dark and moody." At the continued confusion. "She's goth."
The girl nodded, still not quite understanding. What was a goth?
Still, she quickly took off the dress and put back on the hand-me-downs. The three gathered all the clothes and bought them at the register.
Walking through the doors of HotTopic- It was even better on the inside! Dani didn't even know what half the things were but they were cool. There were dresses with spiderwebs and bats and galaxies. T-shirts with all things spooky and weird- including ghosts to her and Dami's excitement and Jazz's groan. And so much jewelry in different shapes and colors. Danny and her looked through the clearance rack and found matching black shirts with giant red spiders.
"It's Spiderman!" Dani cheered. (She knew who Spiderman was, at least!)
"We should get them." The boy suggested, pulling out a third. "There's another one. This'll fit Jazz, right?"
He shoved it at the red-head who eyed it suspiciously. She took the garment and held it in front of herself. "Yes. It would?" She frowned. "I don't even like Spiderman though."
"How do you not like Spiderman?!" Dami argued, offended. "Even Dani likes Spiderman."
"Yeah!" The younger girl agreed. "Hey, wait…" That felt a bit like she'd been insulted.
"Okay. I'm ambivalent to Spiderman." Jazz huffed.
"I don't know what you being able to write with either hand has to do with this." Dami countered smartly. "But I can't tolerate this wishy-washy attitude towards the best superhero ever."
"Good grief." The older girl snatched up all three shirts. "I'm just going to buy them so you shut up."
The boy followed, a victorious gleam in his eyes.
Dani hurried after, poking him in the arm. "Spiderman is really cool, but…" She remembered their first mall visit, the Amity Park store with all its Danny Phantom merch. Her brother holding the plushie… his tiny likeness, nose wrinkled suspiciously. Her voice lowered conspiratorially. "Danny Phantom's definitely the best superhero ever."
He stopped, looking down at her. His eyes crinkled, an authentic affection. "Have I told you you're my favorite sister today?"
The younger girl smiled up at him, her heart warming. She took his hand and very softly…. "You're my favorite brother…" A hesitation, which name to use? Part of her heart said Damian, as she'd said this whole week. But…. "Danny." She finally said. Danny Phantom, the ghost boy she'd fought Skulker with, who just taught her how to make shields.
She still didn't understand at all but he was both. Damian and Danny. And Danny wasn't so bad.…
Her brother's eyes rounded and softened. He squeezed her hand back, not commenting on the name. But still there was something… a gentle gratitude on his face.
Then giving Danielle another smile, Danny looked forward…. "Hey Jazz, can we get ice cream?"
Back in the food court, the three finished the trip with ice cream.
Like earlier, doubts and questions, guilt and shame, still lingered in Dani's core. So many thoughts and worries (things she probably needed to talk to Danny about)….
But finally giving into the older two teens' desire to buy her her own clothes and letting herself enjoy the experience. Finally calling her brother by his other (first? real?) name, Danny...
It was like, some of the weight was lifted from her shoulders, a new peace countering the pain in her heart.
Maybe, Danny had noticed that new lightness in her too. "Enjoying your ice cream?" He asked, a freer, more easy jovialness in his voice. (Like just seeing her happier made him happier)
The girl nodded enthusiastically. "Cotton Candy is the best!"
The boy laughed, eyes sparkling teasingly. "You haven't even tried mint chip yet."
The two bantered for a bit about ice cream flavors, Dani squealing indignantly as Danny ruffled her hair with sticky fingers. He grinned smugly… then let out his own offended squawk at the youngers' sticky fingered assault.
Luckily, Jazz intervened before any ice cream could be spilled. "Stop! You'll get drips all over your clothes."
The boy sobered slightly. Then, popping the end of the cone in his mouth… "Hey, do you want to go to the park with me tonight?" He asked Dani.
"Sure." The clone girl nodded. Then… "Why tonight?"
The boy shrugged. "There's something extra fun about hanging out there after dark. Not having to share it with anyone." He smiled down at her, excitement shining in his eyes. But then… "There's just… something special when the park's dark and quiet. The wind's blowing through the trees, the fireflies are out. And the stars…" A quiet reverence, a strange wistfulness lingered in the words. And when he met her eyes… "I really want you to see it."
Dani couldn't say no. Despite the odd seriousness and intensity… (There was more to this than just sitting on the swings and riding down the slide in the dark, wasn't there?). The girl couldn't help but smile, her heart filled with warmth. "I'd love to."