77Danny looked into the bright blue eyes before him before he let out a sigh. How did he get into this situation again? Oh, right. Vlad had been very quiet as of late and Danny had to figure out why.
It was actually easy tracking down Vlad. All Danny had to do was follow Skulker since the hunter was the only ghost who willingly worked with Vlad. Sneaking in was also easy since Vlad's ego made him think no one would ever find his little secret lab, so there was no security to deal with. The young halfa couldn't help but grin at the memory of catching Vlad and Skulker off guard.
FLASHBACK
"You idiot! How could you let the Little Badger follow you?!" demanded Vlad as he glared at the hunter.
Skulker let out a growl before he flew towards Danny. Danny didn't hesitate to blast Skulker with an ecto-blast, sending the hunter flying and crashing into a computer console. This gave Danny time to start blasting everything, destroying whatever Vlad was working on.
"No!" exclaimed the vampire-looking halfa. Furious, Vlad went after Danny, but that was when Skulker did the same thing. The two villains were almost upon Danny when the teen went intangible, resulting in the two older ghosts to attack each other.
"Hey, Vlad! Catch!" yelled out Danny before firing an ecto-blast at his disoriented archenemy.
"Gah!" cried out Vlad with a yelp as he slammed into another one of his machines.
"Whelp!" exclaimed Skulker, charging forward. All Danny did to avoid this was sidestep and then used the Fenton Thermos to capture Skulker.
"You'd think he'd learn by now," stated Danny before returning to destroying the lab.
"That is it! You will pay for this, Daniel!" hissed Vlad as he floated up and glared at Danny.
"Sorry, but I don't have any cash on me right now. Do you take checks?" retorted Danny with a smirk.
It was then that the explosions started. The lab wouldn't last long and despite being a ghost, Vlad had to get out of there.
"This isn't over."
The older halfa flew through the ceiling, escaping to fight another day. Danny was about to follow when he heard whimpering and crying. Eyes widening, Danny quickly searched for whatever was making the noise and was surprised by what he found.
It was a little girl, maybe three-years-old, but what really struck Danny was that she looked just like him when he was in human mode.
"What…?"
He didn't have time to contemplate this new discovery. He quickly grabbed the girl, turned them both intangible, and escaped the exploding lab.
FLASHBACK END
Danny let out another sigh as he looked at the toddler sitting on his lap. The child looked back at him with wide blue eyes, curiosity filling them.
"Just what the hell was Vlad doing?" questioned Danny, furrowing his brow.
"Daddy!" exclaimed the child with a smile.
Danny tensed at the exclamation. "Wh-What?"
"Daddy!" exclaimed the child again, reaching up towards Danny.
"…I really hope Vlad was stupid enough to leave some files behind and that they survived the explosion."
With child in hand, Danny flew back to the lab ruins. Going down there, he looked around and found a filing cabinet that was scorched and banged up. Taking a chance, he put his hand through it and unlocked it. Opening it, he found multiple files that were left untouched from the explosions. Danny could only stare at them with a blank look.
'…I am so glad that Vlad is an egomaniac. If he didn't have an ego, he'd be a lot harder to deal with since he'd actually be able to think straight.'
Going through the files he came across one labeled "cloning process". Dread filled Danny as he pulled it out and read it over. He felt sick to his stomach at what he read.
"Daddy!"
The teen glanced down at the girl in his arms and frowned. This child was a clone of him. Vlad somehow obtained some of his DNA and tried to clone him to, according to this file, have the perfect son. Despite the situation, Danny's mouth twitched into a smirk since Vlad already failed considering this clone was clearly female. He frowned once more though when a thought hit him.
"What am I going to do?"
Looking around, Danny noticed that some of the machines he destroyed looked to be large glass tubes and judging by what was clearly ectoplasm goop at the bottom of each one, this little girl wasn't the only clone that was made. But she was the only one who survived.
Danny needed to get out of there. This…This wasn't right. What Vlad did was horrific and Danny never expected he'd go that far.
"Daddy?"
He also needed to figure out what to do with this little one. She might have been a clone, but he didn't have the heart to just abandon her. That was something he'd expect Vlad to do and the older halfa pretty much did do that. Then there was the fact that this little girl kept calling him "Daddy".
"…I'm a father and I'm only sixteen. What am I going to do?" questioned Danny, looking down at the toddler with a worried look. It was then a thought came to mind, causing him to give off a shudder. "I just hope it will turn out okay. Otherwise, it might be just me and you…Danielle."
He quickly fished out his cellphone and sent a text to his friends, Sam and Tucker.
Meet me at my house. I'll explain everything once I get there.
Putting his phone away and setting the toddler down, he grabbed a nearby duffel bag that survived and started stuffing all of the files into it. Danielle let out a whimper, as she was confused as to why her daddy wasn't holding her.
"Just hold tight, Danielle," said Danny, giving her a smile and patting her on the head. "I'm almost done."
Finishing up, Danny scooped up the little one and had the duffel bag strapped over his shoulder.
"Come on, Danielle. Let's go home…at least I hope it will still be home once everything is said and done."
Taking flight, Danny headed back to Fenton Works.
-:-
Back at Fenton Works, Sam and Tucker were sitting in the living room with Danny's sister, waiting for Danny to arrive.
"And you really have no idea what this is about?" questioned Jazz, having been shown the text.
"No, all we know is that Danny wanted us to meet him here," replied Sam.
"I just hope this doesn't turn out to be a big mess," added Tucker with a groan.
The Goth girl gave him a look. "Have you forgotten everything we've dealt with since Danny got his powers? Chances are that we'll be in for a big headache."
Jazz frowned at this, her worry for her little brother growing. She really hoped that Danny wasn't in any trouble. The sound of the door opening then caught their attention. Turning to it they saw Danny walk in, but they froze in shock when they noticed the small toddler in his arms. It was silent for just a moment as they took in the child's appearance, to which Sam and Jazz cast Danny furious glares.
"What did you do?!" exclaimed the two girls in anger.
Danny pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He had a feeling this would be their reaction, but their reaction wasn't the one he was worried about.
The thundering sound of running came to his ears and he knew what was coming. Bursting into the room were his parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, both wielding Fenton Bazookas that caused Danny to get on guard.
"We heard you yelling, Jazzy-pants! Is there a ghost in the house?!" questioned Jack, looking for the "intruder".
Maddie was also looking when her eyes landed on her son…and the child in his arms. She tensed when she noticed how similar in looks the child was to her son.
"Danny…what do you have a child with you?" questioned Maddie in an accusatory tone. The question made Jack turn to his son and his eyes widened in shock.
Danny let out a sigh before looking at his parents with a serious look. "Mom, Dad, we need to talk."
"You're darn right we need to talk!" exclaimed Maddie, not happy that her son was apparently a teenaged father. "You better start explaining why and how you fathered a child when you're only sixteen!"
The child let out a whimper due to the yelling. This made Danny hold her close, protecting her.
"Wait, Danny. Is this why you asked us to come over?" asked Tucker, glancing at the child.
"Sort of," replied Danny. "I needed some backup."
"Why the hell would you need backup for this?" demanded Sam, glaring at her friend.
Danny glanced at her before looking back at his parents, who were waiting for an answer. "Mom, Dad, do you remember when you first built the Ghost Portal?"
Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all tensed up as they stared at Danny with wide eyes. Was he serious? Was he seriously going to tell his parents about that?!
"Don't change the subject, Danny-boy," replied Jack, frowning at his son.
"I'm not! It has everything to do with this!" exclaimed Danny, giving his parents a narrowed look.
"What are you talking about, Danny?" questioned Maddie with a raised eyebrow.
Another sigh came from her son. "Remember how when you plugged in the Ghost Portal and it wouldn't work? After you and Dad left in disappointment, I got curious and went inside it."
Both of the adults tensed at this. "Danny…"
"Once inside I accidentally pressed the "ON" switch and you can pretty much guess what happened next."
Jaws dropped as Jack and Maddie stared at their son with wide eyes. "Danny! What were you thinking?! You could have been killed!"
He gulped nervously. "Y-You're kinda half right, Mom."
"Wh-What?"
He then handed Danielle over to Jazz. The child whimpered and reached out for Danny, only for Danny to pat her on the head to calm her down. He then turned back to his parents and they could see the sadness and fear in his eyes and that scared them.
"Just promise me that no matter what you think of me after this, that you won't hurt Danielle. She never asked to be brought into this world and shouldn't be punished for this."
The parents were confused at first, but their eyes widened when they watched as a white ring surrounded their son. The ring then separated, with one ring going up and the other going down. Once the rings dissipated there stood the one person Jack and Maddie were not expecting.
Danny opened his eyes, now glowing an ecto green and still held fear as he stared at his parents.
"Getting zapped by the Ghost Portal essentially gave me ghost powers, turning me into a half-human half-ghost hybrid known as a "Halfa"," explained Danny. "Y-You can see why I kept this a secret for so long."
It was quiet. Too quiet for Danny's liking as his parents stared at him. He was honestly surprised that they hadn't started shooting him yet. What really surprised him though when tears started to form in his mother's eyes and she rushed forward to bring him into an embrace.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Danny!" cried Maddie as she held her child close.
"Y-You mean you're not going to shoot me or rip me molecule by molecule?" questioned the white-haired boy, confused.
"Of course not, Danny-boy!" exclaimed Jack, wrapping his arms around his wife and son. "You're our son! We would never purposely hurt you, no matter what you are!"
This only caused Maddie to cry harder. It was obvious that she was feeling guilty. This whole time when she had been hunting down Phantom, threatening to dissect him, he was in reality her only son, her baby boy.
Danny could feel tears of his own coming as he hugged his parents back. All of his fears dissipated and he was filled with relief knowing that his parents accepted him. Jack then looked up at the other teens in the room, the three of them looking guilty.
"Did you three know about this already?"
"W-We were there when it happened," replied Sam, with Tucker nodding in agreement.
"And I found out later on," added Jazz.
It was then the little one decided to speak up.
"Daddy!"
That caught everyone's attention as they now stared wide-eyed at the little girl, who was currently reaching out towards Danny.
"Danny-boy…what exactly is the connection between you and this little girl?" questioned Jack, getting back to the original matter at hand.
The teen could only scowl, but it wasn't directed at anyone in the room. "Vlad."
Jack and Maddie became confused. "What does Vlad have to do with this, sweetie?"
"…Let's just start by saying that I'm not the only Halfa out there."
He then went on to explain everything. Vlad being a Halfa, how he became a Halfa in the first place. Finding out that the accident back in collage was the cause, Jack couldn't help but feel guilty. Danny reassured him otherwise.
"Dad, you did everything to apologize. Vlad's the one who refused to accept those apologies."
Danny continued to explain that Vlad became a bitter, obsessive old man because of the accident, vowing to kill Jack and take Maddie as his wife.
"What?!" exclaimed Maddie. "But why?!"
"Mom, Vlad is obsessed with you and has been since your collage days. In his mind, Dad stole you away from him after causing the accident."
"But that's crazy! I've never seen Vlad in that way and have always been in love with your father!" stated the Fenton matriarch. This caused Jack to hold her close.
"We all know that, Mom, but Vlad won't accept that either."
Danny finished up with his discovery of Danielle and what she really was. He placed the duffel bag full of Vlad's files on the table for his parents to go over. As the two adults read the files, the teens could see the anger building up in Maddie's eyes. One would think they would become red and Maddie wasn't even a ghost.
"If I ever get my hands on that…that fruit loop he's going to wish he never came back into our lives!" exclaimed Maddie, reading about the cloning process.
"I can't believe Vlad would go this far," stated Jack, not looking happy at all. The normally jolly man was down right furious.
"Now you can see why I told you my secret," said Danny, Danielle in his arms. "I couldn't just leave her, but I don't know anything about raising kids. I needed help."
Maddie looked at her son, nervously. "Sweetie, what would you have done if your father and I didn't accept you and your ghost half?"
She watched as he glanced away. "I…I probably would have ran away and do whatever I had to, to raise Danielle on my own."
The Fenton parents brought their son and new granddaughter into a hug. "We are so sorry for making you afraid, Danny-boy."
"It's okay, Dad. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for not trusting you two."
While the hugging continued, Danielle looked up at the large people in curiosity. She tried reaching out to them, but being in her Daddy's arms prevented her from going too far.
"Aw, did you want to see your grandma and grandpa, sweetie?" asked Maddie as she scooped the little girl into her arms and held her close.
"She's the spitting image of our Danny-boy!" exclaimed Jack with a grin as he gently ruffled the girl's hair.
"Well she is a clone, Dad," stated Jazz. She was currently reading the file her parents were previously reading. "According to this she's only been around for three months."
Danny raised an eyebrow at this before turning to look at Danielle. He then turned back to his sister. "But she's clearly three-years-old."
"Maybe during the cloning process one month equals one year," suggested Tucker.
"And you would be right," replied Jazz, still reading the file. "According to Vlad's notes, Danielle here was supposed to stay in stasis until a full year had passed."
The older halfa gulped nervously as he glanced at his daughter. If she was supposed to stay in that container for a year, did that mean she was incomplete then?
"M-Mom, Dad?"
"Don't worry, sweetie. Your father and I will perform as many tests as necessary to make sure Danielle is alright," replied Maddie, a look of determination on her face. Jack had a similar look on his. They were not going to let anything happen to their granddaughter!
Jack quickly gathered up Vlad's files, thinking the might hold an answer to what they might be looking for. He then followed after his wife as they went down to the lab with Danielle in Maddie's arms. Danny then started to follow after them.
"Danny, your parents accepted you," said Sam, worried for her friend. "I don't think they'll do anything to hurt Danielle."
"I know that, but chances are they might need to take a blood sample. Have you ever met a kid you was okay with needles?" asked Danny, looking back at his friends and sister.
"…He's got a point," replied Tucker, looking at Sam.
The Goth let out a sigh before giving Danny a smile. "Go be with your daughter then. Make sure you give her a lollipop afterwards."
Danny rolled his eyes at the joke before descending into the lab. He just hoped everything with Danielle would turn out okay.
CHAPTER END
-:-
Wanted to try my hand at a "Daddy Danny" fic. I think this might be the first of it's kind though as most other "Daddy Danny" fics have Jack and Maddie as antagonists or have Danny keep his secret. Keep in mind; Danny is still a child himself. He might be able to fight various ghosts on a daily basis, but there's no way he'd be able to care for a child on his own.
Next chapter, some of the ghosts find out about Danielle. What could their reactions be upon finding out that Danny Phantom has a daughter?
