Note: A response to a post by shehasamole. This is another Masters of All Time au

Invisibly, Danny peaks around the corner, watching. There, in the kitchen of Vlad's posh house (not a mansion, somehow because...yeah, he's in another timeline), is a teenager. He's the same height as Danny with the same lithe build but with his mother's red hair. The half ghost gasps as the boy turns around.

The teen stiffens. "Who's there?" He calls in an eerily familiar voice, so similar to Danny's own.

"Daniel, who are you talking to?" Another voice cuts in. Danny's eyes flicker to the open door behind the boy and...it's a twelve year old girl with his black hair like him and… Vlad's blue eyes.

Danny panics, flying up through the ceiling. He must be in the Twilight Zone. He needs...he needs to get him. If he can find Mom's ghost portal and...he needs to see Clockwork. He needs to fix this. Danny searches, finding nothing.

Meanwhile Daniel Masters notices the cold spots, the creaking floorboards, the soft gasps behind him. He's not sure he believes in ghosts; he knows his parents studied them in college but he never believed until….the ghost that's been sneaking around their house unexpectedly materializes in front of him. Daniel's shocked. He's confused. He's startled. Maybe even a little frightened but this ghost...there's something familiar...

Daniel makes a completely logical conclusion, based on their similar appearance. This ghost must be his dead fraternal twin brother. Obviously he is. He keeps calling Daniel's mother, Maddie, his mom and he introduces himself as Phantom, not a proper human name (implying that maybe he died before his mom even knew she was pregnant with twins and so didn't name the second boy).

This isn't true, of course. But Danny has no idea how to explain that he's actually a half ghost from another timeline so he goes with it, hanging around with Daniel while he figures out what to do.

And Daniel absolutely loves Phantom. The ghost is hilarious and great at video games and the two get along really well. To Daniel, it feels like Phantom is the brother he's always wanted, since he just has two sisters.

Meanwhile, Daniel is not what Danny expected at all. He's not spoiled, snobby, or stuck up like Danny thought the son of Vlad Masters might be. He's kind and wicked smart and loves space like Danny does.

And soon, Danny finds that he really cares about this kid, his…. well, Danny's not sure who exactly Daniel is to him. His alternate self, this realities version of Danny, the same soul despite having different fathers and different lives. Or his half sibling, his brother with the same name because their mom was always going to name her son Daniel, no matter what reality.

And now he's conflicted. How can he try and "correct" what he messed up if it means Daniel and his two sisters wouldn't exist? Because who exactly Daniel is to him doesn't really matter. Whether the two of them are different versions of the same person or just siblings with a lot of similarities, if Danny changes the timeline again Daniel Masters won't exist, his experiences and personality erased.

Things get more complicated as the two get closer. Daniel insists that Phantom meet his (their) sisters. He wants to help Phantom pick out a normal human name, even asking his Mom (casually of course, don't want her suspecting something is up) what she would name another son if she had one. Danny argues that he doesn't need a name. (Since he already has one and doesn't want to be called anything else.)

And Danny also starts feeling bad about not telling Daniel who he really is. That is, until Daniel finds out for himself. Danny has to sleep and eat some time and he can only do this in human form. And one day, when Danny thought no one was home, Daniel finds a very human Danny asleep in his bed.

He's shocked, at first thinking that maybe the ghost could make himself look like he would if he was alive. Danny wakes up at the gasp, shooting up. Daniel excitedly asked him about this new ability marveling at how alive and human he looks. Daniel hugs Danny but froze feeling how warm the other boy is. Then he notices the breathing and the faint heartbeat.

"Who…what are you?" Daniel stuttered.

So Danny told him the truth, the whole truth. And Daniel is pissed.

"Was anything you told me true?!" Daniel yelled.

Danny frowned at the reaction. His voice turned completely sincere. "I am your brother, no matter what dimension, timeline or whatever I'm from."