A/N: Happy Thanksgiving a day late! 2 more chapters until we get to one I've been eagerly waiting to write for YEARS (Even before the hiatus, lol. Seriously, I've been setting this up for ages.) Although, I'm looking forward to the next chapter a lot too, or a section of it, anyway. One of my favorite characters to write is coming!

Chapter 29: Night

"Now, listen, Dani," an exasperated sigh, "I left this spot open for you. All you had to do was move your bishop there, and then I would have been checkmated."

"This is so boring!"

"Chess is a way of life, child! Is life so boring to you?"

A curious Maddie leaps into Dani's lap, purring as she rubs herself against the young halfa. Dani automatically pets the soft, white cat. In response, it settles in her lap, tail flicking back-and-forth.

Vlad sits across from her, hovering over a hand-carved wooden chess set. She suspects the pieces were made by him personally - the queens are modeled to look like Maddie Fenton, and the kings Vlad himself.

"How is the rest of your education coming? Given that it should be ingrained in you, I would hope it's going better than chess."

"It's fine," she lies, "I just want to get better, you know?"

"Of course you do," he smiles, "But you need to work a little harder if you want to get Danny to help us."

"...will catching him for you really help me?"

"If I have him, creating a stabilizing serum is a piece of cake," he assures, patting her on the head.

She really liked it when he did that. He stopped doing it eventually.

"Not only that, but maybe Maddie will finally get the nerve to leave that idiot, Jack Fenton, and come to her rightful husband. Wouldn't you like a mother, Danielle?"

She'd been so excited at that thought. Her father, her siblings, all saved by her 'cousin' and taken care of by a mother. It had been an innocent view of a twisted dream. It wasn't possible, nor was it right.

But her father, who had labored to bring her life, who worried over her like this, wanted that life. She wanted it.

Could we have been a real family, Vlad?

The thought forces her awake, feeling thoroughly disgusted with herself. She glances around, seeing Valerie asleep in the booth across from her. They'd resurfaced near the Nasty Burger and had found it clear of drones, likely drawn away by Valerie and Darren's scuffle. They had quickly snuck into the establishment and helped themselves to some of the food inside.

Feeling restless, she walks around the interior. Darren sleeps in a booth, looking dead to the world. A thin sheen of sweat gleams in the scarce light, and his breathing sounds a little rough. He doesn't look very well. He'd carried Carlita through the sewers without complaint so the precious little princess didn't have to ruin her heels, but there was definitely something more to his fatigue than that. She watches him for a moment longer, thinking back to this afternoon, when his eyes had burned a different color. He'd explained little more about it than that it seemed to be a side-effect of Operation Changeling.

Another halfa? The thought had been a shock to her. However she thought about it, though, the more she was convinced that the answer was 'not quite'. What that means for him, she has no idea.

She moves her eyes to the seat across from him, where Ashton is supposed to be, but it's empty. Concerned, she looks around until she sees a small light coming from a corner of the kitchen.

In the pantry, Ashton has his sketchbook in hand and is sketching in the faint light. Sensing her approach, he looks up with a smile, "H-Hey. D-did I wake y-you up?"

"No," she shakes her head, "Dream did that."

"A nightmare?"

She shrugs.

"Can't r-remember it?"

"I remember it just fine," she sighs, "Just...yeah."

"I'm here if you want to t-talk about it," he offers.

"It's a long story."

"I'll be working on th-this for a long t-time."

A small, tired smile pulls at her lips, and she sits on a box nearby. How is she even supposed to begin this? Should she even say?

After a few moments of silence, Ashton begins to speak, his eyes focused on his sketchbook.

"Darren's not looking well."

"No," she agrees.

"What was with earlier? Is he half-ghost like you?"

"I don't think so. Not exactly. I think," she groans, head in her hands, "I wish Danny were here. Or the Fentons. They know a lot."

He hums.

"Hey, Ashton. Can I ask you something?"

He looks up, "S-sure."

"Why are you helping me? I mean, you slept in a creepy abandoned house last night, and today you're in the pantry of the Nasty Burger after sneaking through the sewers. I get that you're a nice guy and all, but...honestly, Carlita's probably the sanest person in this building."

His face flushes, and he turns back to his sketchbook, "Th-that's, w-well...th-that's b-because…" a few more pencil strokes, "...we're friends?"

"Uh-huh…"

"I m...I mean, you're a s-super cool person and really p-pretty too…"

"...you're a super cool person, too."

"N-no, I mean…" he sighs, "...look, n-now is not the time, but someday...when this is over...I...I'm going to...to a...to ask you on a date."

A...date…?

Me...on a date…?

"I-it's not that weird to go on a...a date in high school. It'd be for fun, y-you know?"

"Yeah…"

...a shadow of a human being?

"...Dani?"

A creation of a madman?

"Dani?"

"You have terrible taste," she whispers, "I don't think...you'd actually want to go on a date with me."

"I meant it, though," he mutters quietly, "Why would y-you say th...say that?"

"Because I'm not real."

"...because you're half ghost?"

"...no. There's more to it than that," from there, it all spills out. Her creation by the evil Vlad Masters, tricking Danny, her near-brush with nonexistence...everything, even her real age.

Ashton listens carefully, his pencil stilled. He shows little more than the occasional confused expression and a raised eyebrow.

"...so you see, Ashton, I'm not even real. I'm just a slightly-modified copy of Danny."

"...I don't know about that. Your personalities seemed pretty different. I'm also not sure if being an entirely different gender counts as 'slight' either...the thing that confuses me most, though...if you're an exact clone, why aren't you male? Vlad had to have gotten genetic material elsewhere…" he dissolves into indistinct muttering, eyes drifting to his sketchbook, "Wait, wouldn't that make you Danny's daughter…?"

"...as good of a point as that is, that's just weird," she wrinkles her nose, a broken laugh escaping her lips.

"Let's just s-st-stick with clone, hm?"

"Yeah, please," she nods, "...you're really not...weirded out by this?"

"I've already accepted the idea that you're half-ghost. How is th-that any weirder? We've already known cloning was possible for a long time. So, an evil scientist did what evil scientists do and made himself a daughter to exploit. A really cool, pretty, and fun daughter who turned the tables and became a good guy.."

"Laying it on thick, there."

"I-I'm not...are...are things g-go...going to be awkward n-now?"

"Not if you don't make it awkward."

He nods, his cheeks pink again, and erases a part of his drawing, "D-deal."

"...we'll see about that date someday."

"Also a deal."

ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzBREAKzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZ

It was so strange. It was as though everything went slow-motion. I could see the ray coming for me, and the moment I realized I was in danger, the cold...that cold fire in my chest seemed to burst, and I…

...I used that purple fire to stop it mid-air. It was as natural as breathing.

His entire body aches. Where it doesn't hurt, it's pins-and-needles. He's been laying here for hours, but he hasn't been able to fall asleep. He'd heard Ashton get up and rustle through his bag for his sketchbook, and Dani walk around. He can hear them talking from the direction of the kitchen, but he can't pick out the words.

He sits up, eyes screwing shut as the world shifts out-of-time with his vision. The pulsating hot-and-cold feeling is back, and his vision is blurred, filling with colorful static.

I think I'm actually dying.

I just wish it'd be less agonizing…

...I should've used my vacation time to go find Mom. Apologize. Instead I'm caught and dying in a quarantine. Good going, Darren. Genius move, really.

With how long I've been gone, she probably already thinks I'm dead. I guess it's better for her if I die in obscurity.

He lifts himself to shaking feet, leaning on the booth for support. He shuffles toward the bathroom. His chest is tight, as though someone is sitting on it. He's fighting for every shallow breath, and darkness collects at the edges of his vision.

I'm going to die in a fast-food restaurant.

A weak laugh can't even force its way past his lips before everything goes dark.

Ah...I wish Jazz were here...

ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzBREAKzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZ

Valerie bolts upright, a blaster in her hand, when she hears a crash. She leaps from the booth, her eyes instantly training on the source. Behind her, Dani and Ashton run from the kitchen.

Darren lies on the floor, still save for quick, shallow breaths.

"Yo! Fed!" she places her weapon on the table and crouches beside him. He's burning hot to the touch - especially if he happens to be a halfa. He's hot for a human, "Are-" She stops herself from asking a stupid question; he's clearly not okay.

"Dani, search the pantry and employee breakroom for medicine. Something that'll help with fever. Ashton, help me get him off the floor."

"Y-yeah," he takes Darren's feet, and they put him on a table.

Nearby, Carlita sleeps more peacefully than the dead.

Val summons her suit, using it to scan the young man's vitals. Dani reappears with a bottle of medicine.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Arrhythmia of some sort," she answers, "His pulse is bouncing around like crazy."

"Is he going to be okay? ...can he go to a hospital?" Ashton questions.

"Probably not, if he's a halfa. Besides, how's he going to get there? We can't be calling an ambulance," Val replies dispassionately, "We'll just have to keep an eye on him and see if he makes the night."