While their kids were in school, Jack and Maddie had been working diligently on a way to track Dani. They managed to isolate Danny's ghostly signature and started adapting their weapons to avoid it. They also found a way to get the 'Booo–merang' to temporarily ignore Danny, while still following Dani's nearly identical signature. It had been difficult, but having the device already keyed in on Danny's signature and knowing that due to her clone nature Dani shared most of it, had really helped the process.
Now it was the weekend and Team Phantom was gathered in the Fentonworks lab getting ready to find Dani. Everyone was there, including Tucker and their newest member, Valerie, as they went over their plan.
"Okay, so I just have to throw the Booo–merang," Danny grabbed the device, swinging it side to side as if he was going to throw it already, "and keep it from hitting me while we follow it? And it'll take us straight to Dani?"
"Yes, and no, son... You use it but..." Jack tried to explain the plan, but couldn't really find the correct words for why they were doing it like that.
"Dear, just let me," Maddie shook her head with a smile and patted Jack's shoulder, then took the device from Danny's hands "Yes, sweety, you throw it, but you won't need to avoid it."
"But the Booo–merang has always targeted Danny, how is going to find Dani?" asked Jazz. She was a bit sceptical as her parents had a tendency to miscalculate.
"Well, as you kids know, we have started helping Danny deal with the ghosts more lately," She and Danny shared a smile at that, "but we have also been gathering data from the fights and adjusting all of our equipment to ignore Danny's signature." Maddie pulled up several diagrams and schematics on the lab computer as examples of what she was saying.
The implication that all their equipment, all their weapons, had at one point been used against Danny served as an abrupt reminder to Valerie of all that she had done to hurt her friend. "Danny, I'm really sorry about all of this, I wish I'd known, I–"
"No, please don't start again, Val. It's okay, really. Like I keep telling my parents and everyone else, you didn't know. I don't blame you. Right now I just want to focus on finding Dani. Please?" Danny asked a bit desperately, the extra week of waiting was beginning to wear on his nerves.
"Yes, right..." said Maddie, a bit awkwardly. "The Booo–merang is now programed to find and track Phantom's energy signature–"
A chorus of questions broke out from the kids and she had to raise her hand for silence. "Let me finish, please." The kids all shared a look and then just nodded, allowing her to continue.
"When I say 'Phantom' I don't just mean Danny here. All the clones Vlad created, including Dani, share the same base signature, although they are different at the same time. Vlad's plan was to make a 'perfect' clone of Danny, or at least what he considered perfect." The children shivered with disgust at that, Tucker even pretended to gag. Maddie could understand their reaction, after all, the Maddie Program made her feel like that and worse. "I know. Anyway… Vlad considered Danny to be nearly perfect, but not quite, so he made sure that the signature was slightly different for each in hopes that one of them would be the perfect son." Maddie finished her explanation with a decisive nod.
"Therefore Danny and Dani are just different enough for a finely tuned tracking device to tell them apart." concluded Jazz. She was getting that feeling from previous explanations but now it was more clear than before.
"That actually would explain why I found her instead of you when he tried to trick me into… you know," said Valerie. She was still unsure of how to feel about everything that had happened. She may have found out about Vlad before everyone else in the world, but she was still trying to come to terms with how he had manipulated her. Trying to save the planet didn't really leave a lot of extra time for introspection. And even after all that was over, she hadn't had time to talk things over with Danny until this week when he came back to school.
"I know..." said Danny, nodding understandingly. "And, yeah, that's probably what happened. Your scanner must have been slightly off in its calibration and it picked up Dani instead of me."
"And that's why Danny has to be the one to throw the Booo–merang, right? That way it targets the next Phantom signature, in this case Dani's!" Tucker explained, having understood the plan from the beginning.
"Exactly!" Jack cheered. "You kids sure are quick on the uptake!"
"But Danny can't transform into Phantom," warned Maddie.
"Because it would get confused and target me rather than her, right?" Danny asked, but it was more confirmation than anything.
"That's right Danny–boy! Your mom and I don't understand why, but even after all the alterations we made, this one still likes to target you in your ghost form no matter what..." said Jack, a bit frustrated that the device still wasn't cooperating fully.
"Well, at least we know that the next time something happens to Danny, we'll be able to find him!" said Tucker. It wouldn't be the first time they had done that themselves.
"Tucker!" Sam and Valerie shouted at the same time.
Jazz just shook her head. She knew that Tucker was only teasing, like always. But, even she had used it for that herself.
Jack clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, "All right kids, let's go find Danielle! I can't wait to meet her and talk to her about ghosts! Can you believe it? A new Fenton! Incredible!" He had already accepted her as his daughter in his heart, now he just needed to meet her to make it official.
They went upstairs and out the front door to where the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle was parked on the curb.
"Okay everybody, into the RV!" Maddie called. While the rest of the team piled into the vehicle, she turned to her son, handing him the Booo-merang, "Ready Danny?"
"All right, let's do this." Danny grabbed the device and took a few steps out so he would have room to swing his arm and let it fly.
Maddie and Danny jumped into the RV and Jack stomped on the gas, treads screeching against asphalt as they raced to keep up with the now airborne tracking device.
"I wish the tracker in my suit worked right," Valerie grumbled as they put on their seatbelts. "Then I could help, too."
When Valerie had learned about the Fentons trying to find Dani, she'd mentioned using the tracker in her suit to find her before, but when they tested it, it wasn't working. After several rounds of troubleshooting, they discovered that Vlad had made sure that it only worked when he was using her. That idea made Valerie feel dirty in a way.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Val. You know the Fentons checked it over and gave it the same treatment as the rest of their stuff and it's all good! Plus we've already got the Booo-merang, and we only really need one tracking device. It just happened to be the easiest to modify to follow Dani's signature instead of Danny's," said Tucker, his logic helping to ease Valerie's guilt.
When the Fentons learned that Valerie was in a similar situation to Danny, they really took her under their wing. They worked with her to analyse her suit and learn a bit more about how it functions. They tried to get the tracker working again, but they weren't Vlad. They theorised that he had programmed in a temporary function to track Dani, and the deeper they dug into the problem, the more likely it seemed. If they had managed to fix her tracker, the plan was to use that one on their mission, but, sadly, it only showed and targeted Danny.
Now, thanks to the Fentons, Valerie has a fully functional ghost hunting suit modified to avoid hurting Danny and possibly Dani as well. All that was done during the Fentons' time off from school. As much as she had wanted to use her new suit to help track down Dani, Tucker was right, they had the Booo-merang and that's all they really needed.
"All right kids, everything is working perfectly!" Jack called from the front as the RV swerved, his eyes glued to the red dot on the console scanner rather than the road. "I've got the Booo–merang in my sights, but remember to keep an eye on it, just in case!"
"Sure thing, Mr. F!" said Tucker, gripping his seat tightly. He knew from experience that it was going to be a bumpy ride.
The only one new to Jack's driving was Valerie. "I see why you don't normally let your dad drive," she said in a low voice that wouldn't carry to the front seat. She glanced around nervously and was a bit surprised to find that there was more space in the back than she thought.
"Tell me about it," Sam muttered in the same quiet tone, making sure that her seatbelt was firmly in place. "Even after all the times we've ridden in the GAV with Mr. Fenton, I don't think I'll ever get used to his driving. I wish Danny could've just flown us."
"Agreed. Next time, Little Brother, you fly us," said Jazz. She was more used to her dad's driving than the others, but she would never be alright. She was still wondering why their mother couldn't drive them this time or how their father was allowed to have a licence in the first place.
"You know, I would love to... but I also don't want to get hit with that," Danny pointed in the general direction of the Booo-merang before going back to holding on for dear half-life. By now all the kids were leaving marks on the seats with how hard they were holding on, though Danny's marks were the stronger ones among them.
"It can't be that bad, can it?" asked Valerie, worried about how hard it would hit Dani. She wanted to help her as much as anyone in the car, but not if that means really hurting her.
"No, it isn't," said Tucker, sounding both very sure about it and very annoyed.
"What do you know about it?" As far as Valerie knew, the Booo-merang only worked on ghosts, and she was pretty sure Tucker wasn't a ghost.
"Let's just say you do not want to be standing between it and Danny," Tucker replied.
The RV hit a large pothole, becoming momentarily airborne, and Valerie's stomach lurched. "Oh, I wish I had just used my suit!" she lamented.
"And I wish you'd taken me with you," said Jazz.
"I thought you didn't like flying," Danny accused. "You'd rather walk because the wind messes up your hair or something."
"No, it isn't that. I just don't want to use your energy when it isn't necessary. I never said I don't like it." Jazz retorted. It was an odd feeling, defying gravity like a ghost, strange but not bad, and certainly better than riding in the car with her dad at the wheel.
A surprised "Oh" was Danny's only reply.
"My suit doesn't drain me, Danny, it's not the same situation. I can see why your sister would be willing to fly with me and not you," said Valerie.
"I wouldn't mind, Danny," Sam said with a smile. "After all, if it's just the two of us it wouldn't take that much of your energy, and we could have some time to ourselves, it would be like a date..." It had been a bit of a rollercoaster since they officially started dating. Between the usual ghost interference and getting used to Danny's parents knowing his secret on top of that, they hadn't really been able to spend much time figuring out their new relationship.
"Yeah… " Danny sighed wistfully. They'd enjoyed just a couple of dates like that already. When everything became too much with their complicated new normal, he had flown them away to a more secluded place where they could simply be, without all the pressure.
"Look kids, we're about to cross the state line!" Maddie called loud enough so everyone would hear her. They had been driving for a few hours now, although it didn't feel like it. The excitement of the adventure and trying to keep the Booo-merang in their sights, not to mention Jack's driving, had been more than enough to keep things interesting.
"Really?" asked Danny. He had hoped that she wouldn't be too far away, they weren't really prepared to be gone for more than a day or two, and that's what they'd told Sam, Tucker, and Valerie's families.
"Uh, if I didn't know better I'd say that we're in Wisconsin," said Tucker after a while when he noticed a sign that said 'Madison: 100 miles'.
"Thanks Captain Obvious," Sam snipped, rolling her eyes. "Didn't you see the big sign that said 'Welcome to Wisconsin!' when we passed it?"
Valerie and Danny shared a glance as their friends bickered, before returning their eyes to the distance. This was a usual occurrence in their group, they'd get over it soon enough.
Maddie hummed in thought. "You guys don't think that she would go there, do you?" she asked. She was starting to get concerned that Dani may not want to go back to Amity with them.
"Where?" Jack asked absentmindedly, more focused on the dot on the radar than their conversation.
"And the Booo-merang seems to be going slower now, too!" Jazz pointed out before anyone could reply to Jack. She pressed up against the window, taking in their surroundings from the, now much slower, car.
"It totally is!" Tucker agreed, also looking out the window. Now that the RV was slower it was easier to see outside without feeling nauseous.
They had just turned off the highway onto a much smaller road. They followed this new road to a small town where Jack ran a few stop signs before taking a sharp turn into what almost looked like an alleyway.
"THERE!" Danny shouted. "Dad, watch out!"
He leaned forward, pointing out the windshield to the street in front of them. There a familiar young girl stood frozen like a deer in the headlights before their speeding vehicle. Danny phased out of his seatbelt and jumped through the roof of the RV, shouting his signature catchphrase. He swooped down and pulled her to safety just in time, for even though Jack slammed on the brakes, it was a little too late to stop.
"Danny!" Dani cried, hugging him tightly. "I had it handled, you know. I was just gonna go intangible before it hit me. Although you guys really shouldn't be driving in the alleyway in that big old thing."
"That was so dramatic," said Tucker, climbing out of the RV followed by Valerie, Sam, and the rest of the Fentons.
Just as Danny was about to make a witty retort, the Booo-merang made its dramatic entrance, striking him in the back of his head. "Ouch," Danny complained, catching the accursed thing as it fell. He'd forgotten all about it in his excitement.
"I told you that would happen if you transformed, Sweety," said Maddie. She approached the two halfas as Danny changed back into Fenton.
"I know, I know." Danny rubbed the back of his head with a wince.
Dani quickly moved to stand behind Danny, using him to shield her from his mother's view.
"What are they doing here?" she whispered. "I thought they didn't know about us..."
"Relax, Dani. They know, it's okay," said Danny, reassuringly.
"They do?" Dani peered around Danny and looked at everyone that was there, gaze lingering suspiciously on Jack and Maddie. "All of them?"
"All of us," said Maddie with a sincere smile. "And we understand if you don't believe that, or if you're scared…"
The two adults kept their distance from the halfas. Dani had every reason not to trust them, and they didn't want to push her. It had been hard for them to accept that they had been hunting their own son all this time. With everything they had said and done, they knew Danny had worried about how they would react to his secret. Why wouldn't she?
"I'm not scared!" Dani snapped. She took a small step forward, standing tall as if to prove it. She didn't let her guard down though, she knew Danny's parents were hunters, ghost hunters. This could all be a trap, they might just be pretending they understood, tricking Danny so they could get to both of them.
"Hey, Dani," Valerie said, quickly stepping in front of the Fentons to break the tension.
"Valerie?" Dani asked cautiously, her stance softening a bit. "You came too?"
She knew that even as a hunter, Valerie had helped her before. Maybe this wasn't a trick after all. Dani knew that several people were there, but she had focused all her attention on the biggest threat: the Fentons. Now she took the time to really look at everyone else. Jazz, Sam, and Tucker stood by the RV, they waved awkwardly when they saw her looking.
"Of course I did!" Valerie smiled sincerely, bringing Dani's attention back to her. She was glad that Dani recognized her without her suit and mask.
Before Dani had a chance to catch up more with Valerie, or even say 'hello' to the other teens, Maddie walked over to her, slowly and non-threateningly. She kneeled down next to the girl and hesitantly took her hand. The woman's eyes flickered across her face.
"You look so much like Danny when he was your age… Well, now that we've established that you aren't scared, I need you to be brave for just a little longer." She took a deep breath, thinking of how to break the news. "Danny told us everything… including what he did to stabilise you. Unfortunately, it's- it isn't a permanent solution. We were hoping that if we found you, you would be willing to come back to Amity Park with us. We've been working on something that might help."
"Oh..." Dani blinked, shock running through her as Maddie's words sunk in. The Ecto-Dejecto hadn't fixed her after all. And she'd been feeling so well.
"Hey, it's not like that!" Danny quickly cut in, "Yeah, they know you're a clone, but even though you look like me, you're your own person! I know you just met them, but they already love you."
"I wasn't worried about that!" Dani said, "But thanks."
Danny rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Oh. Well, uh, we've been working on a new way to help you permanently, and, well, all of us want for you to come-back-to-Amity-so-you-have-a-safe-place-to-stay," he finished in a rush.
"For real?" Dani asked, eyes shining bright with hope. She had been so distracted by the absolute bombshell that she wasn't as cured as she thought she was, that she was only just now registering the fact that they were offering a place to go, a home.
"For real." Danny's voice was gentle and a soft grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Dani felt a smile of her own stretch across her face as she jumped into Maddie's arms, nearly knocking the woman over in her excitement. She reached out and found Danny's arm, pulling him into the hug, too. "Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!" she cried.
After a moment of hesitation, Jack joined them as well and then finally Jazz did too, and Dani had never felt so loved as she did in that moment, protected by her family's embrace.
"Well, this has all been very moving," a voice called out, interrupting their moment. They turned to see Tucker holding up a camera with a cheeky grin, he'd been filming the whole thing. "But can we go back home now?"
"Are you really so eager to be back in the GAV already?" Sam hissed.
"Uhhhh," Tucker replied eloquently. He had not thought that far ahead.
Jazz wasn't excited for the ride home either, especially if her father was driving, but she knew that finding Dani was the first step of thousands, and the sooner they got started the better.
"Ready?" Danny asked, offering a hand to Dani. He knew she would feel more comfortable with him, or maybe Valerie, by her side.
"Yeah..." said Dani, accepting the hand and walking with him to the RV. She knew who everyone was, but being around so many people after being on her own for so long was new and confusing. She was also beginning to wonder how they even found her.
"We should warn you, you won't like the drive" Tucker whispered conspiratorially once Dani was close enough to hear. Danny shoved the Booo-merang into Tucker's hands, he didn't want that thing anywhere near him for longer than it had to be.
"Why?" Dani asked curiously, the RV was confusing looking but couldn't be worse than anything that Vlad had made, could it?
"You'll see," said Jazz with a sigh; it would be a long drive or a short one and a disaster without a doubt.
"Tell me about it," Sam muttered, rolling her eyes. She sighed. She had come along because she knew this moment was important for both Phantoms and she wanted to be there to support them, but why Mrs. Fenton wasn't driving would always be a mystery.
"All right kids, let's get back home!" said Jack, ushering everyone into the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle. He couldn't stop beaming, this whole thing had gone so much better than he ever could have hoped. He had found a daughter that he hadn't even known existed until a few weeks ago, and now she was coming home.
Once all the kids were in their seats and buckled up, and Maddie had programmed the RV's GPS to take them back to Amity Park, Jack took the wheel, announcing that he would get them back in no time at all. His passengers groaned and braced for another crazy drive.
Maddie settled into the rhythm of the road, letting her mind wander as she watched the scenery fly by. While Jack drove, she thought of her new daughter, safely in the backseat after all this time. She understood what Danny meant by her being her own person, but she couldn't help seeing all the similarities between the two of them. Being a clone, and conscious of that fact, had to be hard on Dani, and as much as the scientist in her wanted to observe and study, the mother in her wanted to protect her even more. So, she sat there in the passenger seat, her wonderful husband at her side, and made mental notes of all the ways they could help Dani feel more comfortable. She thought of things they should do and things they should not, of all the ways they could interact with her.
The drive back to Fenton Works was much more relaxed than their trek out. They didn't have to worry about losing track of the Booo-merang, or whether or not they would successfully find Dani. The kids chatted, laughing and joking the whole way home, an invisible tension gone from their shoulders. Even Jack's driving couldn't dampen their spirits, but they were still grateful to be back in Amity Park.
They tumbled out of the RV, stretching stiff muscles, and Dani wondered, not for the first time since the trip started, why she hadn't just flown and avoided the drive. She figured it would have been rude to turn down the offer of a ride, especially since they were doing so much for her. Not only were they going to find a permanent way to stabilise her form, they had also offered her a home, a family. She had practically given up on having a real family, what she'd had with Vlad had been complicated at best and toxic at worst… So Dani accepted the ride, she accepted the Fentons' kindness, and even though it felt strange... it was nice. She almost couldn't believe how much her life was going to change in such a short period of time, but she was excited to see what her future holds.
Now that they were back at Fenton Works, everyone was pleased with how well the whole plan was going. They had found Dani without much problem and were even home in time for supper. It was unbelievable, almost too good to be true. All they had left to do now was stabilise Dani.
In the lab once again, Jack and Maddie began explaining the process to the group of teens. They would use the same scanners they had used on Danny to take Dani's readings and compare their baseline levels. This would help them determine Dani's exact condition as well as help them pinpoint what needed stabilising.
At first Dani was nervous about being down in the lab, and nobody blamed her; they understood that she, like Danny, had plenty of bad associations with this sort of place. However, after Danny demonstrated how the scanners worked and showed her some of the other inventions, as well as the safety measures they had put in place, she felt much more comfortable. Although it did help a bit that Jack was the first one to actually welcome Dani to the Fenton family with the kind of huge hug that only he could give. How could she be scared when someone like that was looking out for her?
They ran the tests, and, as they suspected, the delayed effects of the Ecto-Dejecto were starting to show themselves and her genetic structure was slowly degrading. The Fentons quickly made the final adjustments to the new stabilising agent using the information they had just gathered and administered it to Dani.
They all held their breaths as they waited to see if it would work. Eyes flickered nervously between Dani and the monitor displaying her vitals. After a tense moment, the readout on the screen began stabilising and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It was working! Nobody could believe that it had actually worked. They had half expected that something would go horribly wrong, it seemed like something always went wrong in these situations.
Just as they were thinking that it was way too good to be true, twin ghost senses fogged the air and everyone groaned. They knew things had been going a little too well for their luck... But with their whole team assembled, whichever ghost it was wouldn't know what hit it.
The two halfas shared a grin before transforming and flying up through the lab ceiling, the rest of Team Phantom grabbing their gear and racing up the stairs after them. They arrived on the scene to find none other than Skulker. The mechanical ghost was in the middle of a monologue about how his new weapons would make quick work of Danny and how he would soon have not one, but two new rugs to decorate his halls.
Before he could utter another word, he was dodging blasts from every direction. Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam and Tucker took aim from below, while Valerie joined the two Phantoms in the air. The hunter had become the hunted. It was just his luck that he had been the first ghost to appear since Dani's stabilisation and he didn't stand a chance, he was defeated in record time.
Jack and Maddie did learn a thing or two from the ghost's short speech and they didn't like any of it one bit, especially his plans for their children. They learned that this ghost knew about halfas, had known about Danny for a long time, possibly since the very beginning, and definitely much longer than they had. They could understand the thrill of the hunt, after all they were hunters themselves, but his obsession with their son's, and now daughter's, pelt was just gross.
By the time Skulker was safely back in the Ghost Zone it was getting very late (though the Fentons had been tempted to leave him in the thermos for a bit longer). It had been a long day and the ghost fight used up the last of everyone's energy, so Valerie, Tucker, and Sam said their goodbyes and headed home.
The whole day had been full of surprises, full of changes, full of good things. The Fenton's had gone from a family of four to a family of five. They had just adopted a child, a child that hadn't existed a few short months ago, yet looked and acted like a twelve-year-old girl. They even got to see some of Dani's abilities in action. She wasn't quite as strong as Danny, something he had suspected. Her powers were more like his had been at the beginning, when he'd first become a halfa. But she was young, and her family had no doubt that she would come into her own soon enough.
The Fentons were exhausted, but closer than ever. Jack and Maddie had a better understanding of why Danny was always so tired. Jazz learned that even her parents could learn and improve themselves when it came to ghost hunting and would actually be a big help to Danny. She also knew that all of this was really going to improve Danny's mental health and quality of life. Having a support system that he could rely on would be so much better than doing it alone. Danny and Dani learned that even though they may have started out as basically the same person, and though they worked very well together, they were also very different.
They spent that Sunday filling out the last of the adoption paperwork. Thanks to Tucker, and a few favours here and there, they had thankfully managed to bypass a lot of the usual legal processes. The family's next step would be talking with the Casper High administration about enrolling her in the next school year. Dani was still working on accepting the fact that she had a family now, and a soon-to-be-legal one at that.
The next morning, as they sat around the breakfast table going over their plans for the day, Dani asked, "So, Jack and Maddie will drive us all to the school, and then after you guys go to class, we'll just be in the parking lot, just waiting, until it's time for our meeting with Mr. Lancer?
"You know honey, you can call us Mom and Dad… If you want," Maddie offered tentatively. She shared a slightly concerned look with Jack. They didn't want to push her, she had only been with them two days after all, but they wanted to make sure she felt welcome, felt like a part of the family. And, although it might still be too soon for it, she and Jack couldn't wait for the day she called them her parents. Jack had already started calling her 'Danerincess' or something like that.
Dani sighed, "I know… and I'm sorry… it's just that Vlad… " she said, frustrated with herself. She got why calling someone 'dad' was hard, but why couldn't she say 'mom?' Maddie was her real mom for all that she cared.
"We know sweetheart, it's all right… " said Maddie. She, Jack and Jazz had learned that Vlad tricked and basically forced Dani to call him 'dad,' and that was so wrong on so many levels, especially when it was very clear that he didn't actually care about her and the other clones, he was just using them.
"Hey, Little Sister, we get it. Everyone adjusts to things at their own pace. Just because I was quick to start calling you my sister, doesn't mean it's going to be as easy for you. And that's okay," Jazz said. Then added, "Of course, Dad was even faster…"
Dani grinned at that and the rest of the family burst into laughter. Jack had indeed started calling Dani his daughter as soon as she was safe and sound at home. He had also started giving her cute nicknames, combining 'princess' with her name in different ways like how he does with Jazz, as well as any other term of endearment that he can think of.
"Hey, I don't see why that's so funny," Jack defended playfully. "She is my daughter after all!" A fact that he was very proud of.
"I thought I was your princess, Dad," Jazz teased through her laughter.
"Of course you're still my princess, Jazzy–pants! You and Dani-panini are both my princesses! Just because Dani here is also my daughter doesn't mean I love you any less. I love all my kids equally, even you Danny–boy!" Jack said seriously, pulling each of his kids, one by one, up from the table and into a big hug. In this instance, he was very grateful for his size and being able to hug them all at once.
"Oh! Would you look at the time!" Maddie exclaimed. "Jack dear, let the kids go, we need to head to school."
The kids groaned half-heartedly from Jack's arms.
"None of that now," she chided. "There's only two weeks left before summer vacation and you two have missed enough days as it is," she gestured to Jazz and Danny. And we need to get you registered for next year's classes," she ruffled Dani's hair then started gathering the dirty dishes from their breakfast.
Jack let the kids go, sending them off to gather up their backpacks and anything else they would need for the day, and started helping Maddie wash the dishes. He knew that it would be faster for them to do it than to ask the kids, and Maddie was in a hurry.
Danny grabbed his backpack, rifled through the loose papers inside to make sure he had his homework, and then zipped it shut. "Two more weeks. Just two more weeks until summer vacation. Then no more school for the whole summer." He had only just started back from his little vacation, but he could barely wait to be free from its confines once again.
"Wait, hold on." Dani paused on her way to the front door.
Maddie finished washing the last dish and handed it to Jack to dry, then turned to face her daughter. "What is it sweetheart?" she asked.
"Am I really going to school next year?" Dani's eyes sparkled up at Maddie, full of hope and happiness.
"Wow! Are we sure she isn't Jazz's clone?" Danny teased.
"Ha. Ha. You're hilarious," said Jazz. She carefully placed a notebook into her, much tidier, backpack and rolled her eyes. "Don't pay any attention to him, Dani. I think it's great that you're so excited about your education. And going to school will also help you meet new people, kids your own age– Well, sort of…"
"Of course you're going to school sweety. You're a Fenton, and we Fentons value our education. Isn't that right, Jack?"
"You got it, baby!" Jack placed a supportive hand on her shoulder.
"We'll sort everything out with Mr. Lancer today," she said, herding everyone out the door to the car. "While everyone else will know that we have officially adopted you, or well, that's what the paper would say… We were thinking of telling Mr. Lancer the truth. Confidentially of course."
"Is that really necessary?" asked Danny, stopping with his hand on the RV door until Jazz gave him a small push and they climbed in.
"Look I get it, Danny. I know you're worried, but think about it... Mr. Lancer already knows about you. And he gave you a planning strategy, and it's helping right?" Jazz asked him as she pulled on her seatbelt.
Danny thought for a moment before nodding, putting on his own seatbelt as Dani climbed in after him.
Jazz continued, "So it makes sense that he would help her in the same way, when it's her turn, right?"
Danny pursed his lips stubbornly. Jazz was right, but that didn't mean he liked it. He nodded again. "... I guess I see your point," he finally said.
The drive to school was silent, for the most part, after that last comment from Danny. A sharp turn had the three kids clutching their seats and the sound of the other driver's horn had Jazz thinking that she would be the one to drive her siblings to school next year. Her two "Danys." She chuckled to herself.
"Are you okay with that now, Danny–boy?" asked Jack after a while. "With us telling Mr. Lancer about Dani?"
"Yeah… " Danny said hesitantly, after a couple of seconds. Then more confidently, "Yeah! Jazz is right, right?" He smiled. The time that had just passed had helped him more than he expected and he was feeling much better about the whole situation.
"Of course I'm right," Jazz's teasing was automatic, then she softened to something more genuine, "but seriously Little Bro, it'll be alright."
"Yeah, you don't have to worry about me, Danny! I'm a Fenton after all!" Dani grinned at him. She was so happy about that fact. That had been the easiest part of all of this, taking the name "Danielle 'Dani' Fenton."
"Yes! Yes, you are!" said Jack enthusiastically. He kept his eyes on the road and drove the rest of the way to school carefully for the first time ever… well almost.
Maddie reached over and tugged the steering wheel to keep them from crashing into a car parked in front of the school. "Well, here we are!" Maddie called cheerfully. "Have a good day kids! Danny, Jazz, we'll see you both after class. Come on, Dani, Mr. Lancer's office is this way. It's time to get you enrolled in school!"
"It is?" Jack asked. Maddie shot him a glare. "I mean, 'It is!' I totally knew that and didn't get so focused on driving that I forgot."
Maddie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with a look that said 'You're lucky I love you.' Dani giggled, in just the couple of days she had lived with them she had already learned how forgetful Jack could be. Even when it was something he had just been talking about, for some reason he forgot about it as soon as something else grabbed his attention.
At that Danny and Jazz waved goodbye and said their 'see you later's to their parents and sister, and finally went to class. And, as promised, Jack, Maddie, and Dani made their way to Mr. Lancer's office for their meeting with him.
Mr. Lancer was surprised, to say the least, to find out that the Fentons newly adopted daughter was actually a clone of their son and, of course, a halfa. He cursed in book titles the likes of which the Fentons hadn't even heard of before, and at one point Jack covered Dani's ears. Once they explained that it was Vlad's doing, he went silent for a moment, before calmly saying how glad he was that that man was locked up.
He was also incredibly impressed by how quickly Tucker had managed to push the legal paperwork through. He was sure that being the mayor must have come in handy with that, as well as his existing computer skills, but it was still a remarkably fast turnaround time.
It wasn't that hard to enrol a new student for the next year when it was not even summer break yet and there was plenty of space in the classrooms. A short while, and a lot more paperwork later, and Danielle 'Dani' Fenton was officially enrolled at Casper High, she would start her freshman year in the fall.
To be continued
:D :D