#ectoberweek2019

"You've noticed it, haven't you Mads?" Jack broached the topic one morning after Danny left for school. "That he's..."

"Not human anymore," she whispered. "He's something else."

"Our son… is he still Danny? He—he acts like Danny."

"I want to believe it's still him, but he's so different now. You know he sneaks out, right?" Her eyes welled with tears. "My baby… I don't know who he is anymore, Jack!"

He shook his head. "Neither do I. I think he's trying to act like nothing's changed, but it's clear that something has. I just… we need to talk to him about this. About what he is now."

"Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking? That he's a—a—"

"Vampire. He has to be. I've never seen anything else like it."

She nodded. "It would explain the coldness, the dark clothes, and the late-night outings. And his fangs, those damn fangs. I can't really see what else it would be!"

"Exactly. Today, after he comes home from school we'll confront him about it. I can't keep pretending anymore."

"Neither can I, Jack. Neither can I."

Typically, when he returned home from school, his parents were in the lab or out ghost hunting. So, Danny usually flew straight right up to his bedroom. By the time his parents finished their afternoon activities, they assumed he was already in his room, so there wasn't any reason to pretend to use the door. He figured that today was the same as any other day, so he phased right into his room and started on his homework.

As luck had it, today was not like every other day.

He pulled his desk chair across the floor and dropped his backpack onto the carpet. He was about to sit down when Mom's voice carried upstairs.

"Danny! Is that you?"

Shit.

She wasn't supposed to be out of the lab yet. He'd messed up; he shouldn't have started taking things for granted.

Hopefully, she hadn't realized that he hadn't come in through the front door. Otherwise, he'd have to pretend he scaled his window and that wouldn't be easy to explain. Oh yeah Mom, just figured I'd climb two stories in broad daylight because it seemed fun! Like that'll go over well.

"Uh, yeah! Just doing my homework!"

His heart pounded in his chest. Please… leave it at that.

Unfortunately, Mom had other plans.

"Could you come down here? Your Dad and I want to talk with you."

The hairs on his neck stood on end. A talk was never good. It was probably about his grades again. He'd failed two tests in the past week and completely bombed an essay worth twenty percent of his grade.

"Alright!" he called. "Just a minute!"

He pushed his chair back in and hesitantly descended the stairs. Both of his parents were waiting for him on the couch, glancing between him and the floor. Okay… that was weird. If his parents were nervous too this may not be the sort of conversation he'd anticipated. Maybe they had realized he hadn't used the front door.

"Take a seat, Danno."

He sat in the loveseat across from the couch.

"We need to talk about something and I don't really know how to say it. Mads?"

Danny gulped. That really didn't sound good.

"We need to talk about how you've changed. We know Danny, and it's okay. We just… need to talk about it. No holding back, no secrets."

It took a good ten seconds before her words made sense.

They… knew?

This couldn't be happening. They couldn't know! They'd—they'd reject him for sure! But somehow they did know and Mom had said it was 'okay'. Alright, so that meant they didn't want to experiment on him or kick him out (unless it was a trick!), so… they were open-minded. But why? He was a ghost! The thing they hated most in the world!

Maybe they didn't know all of it. Maybe they only knew part of it… could that be it? Maybe they knew that he had powers or that he was half-ghost. Or… maybe he'd slipped up completely; maybe they knew he was Phantom.

All that mattered is that he messed up somewhere. He just didn't know where or when. And now he was facing the consequences. Now his parents knew and everything was going to change. He wasn't ready for this. (But would he ever be?)

"What do you mean?" he tried playing dumb. It was a futile attempt—the look on his face had already given him away.

"You're… not human anymore. We don't know how, but we get it. You're still trying to be yourself despite your nature," Dad said.

Mom nodded. "We just want to understand this and how we can help you. We want to embrace this as a family and move on."

Danny's eyes widened. "You're okay with this? With… how I am?"

This was all too… perfect. He figured that he would have to plead for acceptance, that they'd shoot first and ask questions later. But they were content with their son's inhumanity and maybe that didn't mean they knew everything, but Danny was far too relieved to jeopardize their acceptance to qualify exactly what they knew.

"It doesn't hurt me that you've changed, it hurts me that you've hidden this whole other side from us," Mom explained. "I'm mad, but I can move on."

"We'd never hate you over something you can't control."

"Wow… you guys—" he choked. "You guys actually get it."

"Well, we don't get everything," Dad admitted. "We've figured out that you're… y'know… but we don't understand anything other than that."

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty complicated," he laughed. "It's not every day you find out your son's half-dead."

His parents' expressions fell. Suddenly, he was paranoid about what he'd said wrong.

Mom wrapped her hand around her wrist and squeezed.

"So… so you've died?" she whispered. "Oh, Danny…"

"Uh, yeah." He brushed the back of his neck. "Only half, though. My heart still beats, I need air, and I still need to eat human food."

"But that's not all you need?" Dad caught on.

"Well, yeah… I need to feed my other half. Which is gross and it sucks."

His parents shared a significant glance.

"Danny," Dad said carefully, "we get that it's a personal topic, but we need to know. Have you… ever killed anyone?"

Where the fuck did that come from? Murder? He knew his parents thought Phantom was a criminal, but surely they thought he was better than that!

"Wh—no! Why?"

"It's just—how-do-you-eat?" Mom blurted. "You mentioned feeding your 'other half'."

Did they think feeding his ghost half meant killing people? Huh? Well, in a way… okay, he did have to kill some ghosts from time to time. But never people!

Ancients.

"I uh. I have to drink ectoplasm." His face suddenly felt hot. "I guess sometimes I do hurt ghosts, even though I really hate doing it. Usually nothing sentient, just blob ghosts."

Dad's jaw dropped. "Vampires can drink ectoplasm? Wow! Who woulda thought?"

"Whew! That changes everything. Thank God."

"Hold up," Danny cut in. "Vampires? Vampires aren't real." (At least he thought they weren't…?)

Mom frowned. "But you're a vampire?"

Danny did a double-take.

His parents—ghost hunting parents—believed that he, a ghost, was a vampire. No way. No fucking way. It was so ridiculous that he couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry.

Somehow they'd misinterpreted ghostliness for vampirism and were actually ready to accept him even if he drank people's blood! Holy shit. It all made sense now.

He wondered how they managed it. What did they supposedly see that made them jump to the 'Danny's a vampire, not a ghost' conclusion? It was probably the fangs. He retracted them at school, but they got sore being crammed up in his gums all the time, so he let them out at home sometimes. He must've gotten caught with them at some point.

Maybe it wasn't so ridiculous, but it was still hilarious. If everything went over well, he wouldn't let them live it down.

"Mom, Dad," he laughed. "I'm a ghost. Not a vampire."

They both looked like they'd been slapped.

"Oh," Dad whispered.

"I mean, I'm only half-ghost. I guess?"

"How?" Mom asked. "We were so sure that you were—and you can't be—but how?"

"Two years ago, I turned the ghost portal on from the inside and almost died. It fused just enough ectoplasm with my DNA to change me, to save me from fully dying. Ever since I've been half-ghost."

"But what exactly does that mean? How can you be half alive and dead?"

He shrugged. "It's beyond me. I need ectoplasm and food to live, my temperature's really low and my heart beats a bit slow. I have ghost powers and can transform into a ghostly form. Which I guess we need to talk about that too."

His parents were probably going to be upset about Phantom, but if they could accept him when they thought he was a bloodsucking monster they could likely accept anything.

"You're losing us, kid," Dad said.

"And somehow vampires made more sense?" he raised a brow.

"Well, you got me there."

"What do you mean 'ghost form'?" Mom drew out. "Does that mean you can change your appearance?"

"Yeah, pretty much. But it's probably better if you see it," Danny decided. "You're not gonna like it though. My ghost form looks like any regular ghost. Which is why this is so complicated; you guys have seen my ghost form before."

"We have?"

"You don't mean… you change into a ghost and haunt the town! That's where you go at night?"

He laughed nervously. "Guilty. It's not what you think, though. Even when I change… please keep an open mind."

His words did little to console them. If it were possible, they looked even more startled than before.

"Danny—"

Before they could protest, he drew his core out to the surface and let the transformation rings wrap around his waist. He kept his eyes down, looking anywhere but at his parents. To his dismay, he heard their sharp gasps as the rings panned out to reveal Phantom—glossy black spandex, billowing white hair, toxic green eyes, and piercing white fangs. After several seconds, Danny bit back his fear and met his parents' gazes.

Mom had her hands clamped over her face and Dad's mouth was ajar. Sure, their reactions weren'tgood but they weren't bad either. Honestly, Mom and Dad were right where Danny expected them to be. He could work with this; he only had to persuade them that he was still their son.

"I know this isn't what you expected and you're probably pissed because I know you hate me, but before you finish judging me can I explain?"

"Ph—Phantom?" Dad stammered. "But Danny… and what?"

"Dad, I'm still Danny. This is just my ghost form. There is no 'Phantom', it's just a dumb name I made up for myself whenever I transform."

"No, no… you can't be Danny," Mom denied. "You're different. I've seen the two of you together! And—and Danny wouldn't do the things you've done!"

"To protect my identity, I've pulled a few tricks to make myself look like different people. And… I know that some of the things I've done look bad, but most of those were mistakes. I… mess up a lot. I'll explain them if you just listen to me."

"And how do we know this isn't a trick?" Jack accused.

"You're the ones that called me down to have a conversation about what's wrong with me. Do you really think I could've planned this?" he deadpanned.

"Fair."

"So you get it? That I'm still the same person even though I look like a ghost? That Phantom isn't some parasite possessing me? That being a half-ghost means I'm still half-alive and that all that really changes is my appearance?"

"I guess it does make some sense," Mom conceded. "Being half-ghost would explain the cold skin and the sneaking out... oh, and the fangs!"

Danny ran his tongue over his teeth. "I can't believe these made you think I was a vampire."

"Thinking about it now is kind of stupid," Dad chortled. "I can't believe I thought my son was a bloodsucker but he was actually just a spook!"

"I can't believe you guys were okay with me killing people. That's literally the opposite of my job."

"Your job?"

"Uh, yeah," Danny put a hand on his hip. "I'm a ghost hunter? That's what I've been doing and telling you guys for the past two years?"

Dad's eyes lit up. "You have?"

"Yeah, but all you see is the bad stuff! Like, I don't try to cause property damage, it just happens when I'm fighting ghosts! And I don't fight them for attention, I actually want less of it! As Phantom, I try to keep the town safe just like you guys."

"Oh, wow. I'm sorry we doubted you, Danno. We just thought you were like every other ghost… I never thought—"

"I know. You had no reason to believe that I was different."

"But we should have." Maddie declared. "You're our son! Why didn't we see that it was you?"

"Because I didn't want you to see. I was… afraid of you guys knowing because I thought if you knew, you'd hate me anyway. That you wouldn't care that I'm your son and that you'd…" he shook his head, "nevermind."

His parents' expressions softened.

"Oh, Danny…" Mom moved forward and brushed a strand of his white hair. "I'm so sorry I made you feel this way."

"It's fine," he dismissed. "I'm just being stupid."

"No, you're not," Jack cut in. "We said awful things about you. We said it to your face, we said it to the town, hell—we even put anti-Phantom warnings in pamphlets! Even though we didn't know, that doesn't excuse all the horrible things you must've felt. We gave you no reason to trust us and that's not stupid, that's being smart."

"But you're my parents… I should've had more faith. I should've… I—"

"This isn't on you, kiddo. It's on us. You don't deserve to carry this guilt, we do. I'm sorry that it's taken this long."

"We love you, Danny," Mom assured. "You're our son no matter what. Ghost, human, or vampire."

Maddie tilted her head questioningly. “Then why are you destroying it?”

Jack stared at her but then answered nonchalantly. “We have another son now.”

Maddie’s mouth dropped at the statement which seemingly came out of nowhere. “What?”

“I...accidentally cloned Danny. That’s what the machine did. I put Phantom’s ectoplasms in and it popped out a clone of Danny.” He put his hand through his thinning hair, rumbling. “Oh and apparently, Danny is Phantom. He’s not dead or anything. He breathes, has a pulse, and red human blood. I checked. Our son is half ghost. Actually both of them are. Since we have twin sons now.”

Maddied gapped. “Jack, that’s ridiculous. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head? Or maybe you took a nap and dreamed it?”

“No, Danny’s definitely a ghost.” Jack stated matter of factly.

The words ignited annoyance in Maddie. “Jack! We’ve talked about this. Just because one of the kids is acting strange doesn’t mean they’re a ghost!”

“That’s the truth though! I saw! After the clone ran off, Danny turned into Phantom and went to find him! And I saw the clone do the same thing! Both of them are somehow both humans and ghosts!”

“Jack, that’s not possible. A human can’t have ghost powers. I’m sure you just had a nightmare.”

The man shook his head. “I saw it though. I saw both of them transform.” He then paled. “I don’t even know where the other boy went. He looked so crushed, Mads. What if he doesn’t come back?” He continued wringing his hands. “I hadn’t even thought of a name for him yet and now he’s out there, who knows where all alone.”

Maddie furrowed his brow, very concerned about her husband’s behavior. If that was a dream, it must have been a very vivid one. Because there was no way any of that happened. Humans could not be ghosts, and you couldn’t just clone a person in an afternoon. Maddie opened her mouth to try and argue reason with the man but snapped her mouth shut as two figures phased through the ceiling of the lab one after the other. White hair, green eyes, black jumpsuit. Maddie narrowed her eyes; she would know the ghost anywhere - Phantom. Her eyes flickered to the other ghost. It was...also Phantom? 

As Maddie reached to pull the ectogun in alarm at the intruders, the Phantom who phased through first addressed Jack with a smile. “See? I told you I would find him, Dad.” 

Wait...Dad? Maddie’s hand froze over the gun, without touching it. Her eyes fixed on the ghost who was closer to her. He was a color inverted copy of her Danny. And hadn’t Jack said….

The ghost finally noticed her. “You said Mom wouldn’t be back for 2 more hours!”

Maddie’s thoughts tumbled into each other. Mom? Phantom called her Mom? (He actually did that accidently a lot). And Jack had said...he was Danny. Her mouth feel open as she instantly recognized the truth. Jack was telling the truth? And that meant that the other ghost…. Her eyes fell on the other Phantom who was looking between the adults nervously. 

Mercifully, Jack broke the silence. “I told your Mom about everything, Danno.”

Maddie looked to the first Phantom again. “Danny?” She whispered.

He smiled at her sheepishly. “Yeah it’s me.” He then looked back at his...clone (?). “I think we’re okay. You should come say Hi.”

The clone bit his lip nervously but did as Danny suggested. He floated down to her eye level as Maddie’s eyes widened. “Ummmm hi.”

Danny gave him a sided-eyed glance but chuckled. “I didn’t think you do exactly what I said.”

The other boy shrugged. “What else was I supposed to say?”

Danny floated down beside his clone. He quirked his eyebrow. “Come on. You couldn’t have come up with something more clever?”

The other smirked and elbowed him good naturedly. “As if you could do better.”

Danny opened his mouth in mock annoyance. “I totally could and you know it.”

Maddie just stared at the exchange, eyes flickering between the two identical faces. What...the heck was happening? Behind her Jack coughed, drawing the pairs focus away from their conversation. Two pairs of neon green eyes fixed on her. The boy on her left- she was pretty sure he was Danny- rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess we have a lot to talk about, all four of us.”

“And Jazz.” The clone added.

Danny’s eyes widened but then he nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to transform back.” He turned to the other boy. “Do you want to, too?”

The clone nodded. A white ring of light formed around Danny’s waist first. Splitting, the lights passed over his body, changing his clothing in the process. Soon Maddie found herself staring at the blue eyes and black hair of her familiar son. This...this was real. Her Danny was a ghost. He really was Phantom.

Another flash of light startled the woman out of her thoughts. She turned towards the other ghost to find the rings as Danny's traveling over his body and changing him. She fixed her eyes on his face, as green eyes turned blue, and white hair black. He looked exactly like Danny. 

Then the woman's eyes trailed down for a second and widened as the boy looked down at himself. He paled as his own eyes widened. Maddie looked away instinctively, covering her eyes as someone made a distressed noise; either Danny or the other boy, she couldn't tell which.

"Oh my God! I forgot I didn't have any clothes on!" The clone, Maddie assumed, shrieked. 

"Why are you naked?" Maddie responded, echoing his distress. 

"I was only born like 2 hours ago! And humans are usually born naked!" 

Maddie paled at the statement; there was a lot to unpack there. Before she could think about it, she heard a sigh. "You can look now. I ...uhh…  turned invisible." 

Slowly parting her fingers, Maddie peered through to finding only one black haired teenager in front of her. The mother cautiously turned her head, searching for any sign of the other boy, but found nothing. Her head swiveled back to Danny who had also been covering his eyes. He lowered his hand and then wide eyes focused on something she couldn't see to his left. His face turned red as he slapped his hand over his eyes again. "I can still see you!"

"What! But I'm invisible!" The voice sounded like Danny's though it wasn't him. Brows furrowed in confusion, Maddie looked for the speaker.

A groan came from her left. "You're human invisible, not ghost invisible. So I can still see you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The invisible speaker uttered while Maddie mentally freaked out. (He's invisible, actually invisible. There's an invisible clone of Danny in there lab. Oh and Danny can turn invisible too.)

Danny continued, not noticing his mother's increasing panic. "There's levels of invisibility.  You're at like the first level so ordinary humans can't see you." The boy's voice rang with nervousness as he continued. "But I'm …ummm… not exactly a normal human." 

"Oh" was all the clone managed to mutter. 

Danny then tilted his head questioningly. "I figured you would know that considering…."

He trailed off and the other boy replied, voice tinged with annoyance. "I don't know everything you do."

Danny opened his mouth to reply but Jack, who had also been silent the whole time, interjected. "Son." His eyes fell on the empty space the invisible boy occupied. "You should go get dressed so your mother and I can see you and we can talk."

Danny snapped his mouth shut and nodded. "The clothes I brought down for you are on the coffee table."

A beat of silence and then a nervous chuckle sounded. "Oh, you can't see me nodding. I'm heading upstairs then…..this is so awkward."

The quiet sound of feet padding up the stairs followed and then the door to the kitchen quietly closed.

"Is he gone?" Danny asked.

Maddie gaped, her mind still spinning in shock and confusion at the last few minutes. Behind her, Jack answered. "I think so."

Danny moved his hand from his eyes, opening them. His eyes flickered between his mom and dad. The three remained silent for several moments until Maddie's mind caught up, confusion turning to frustration. "What the hell was that?"

Danny paled at the anger in her tone. "Ummm.. what...what part?"

"All of it!" She spread her arms. "You...you just phased through the ceiling. You were floating! And then you turned back into yourself, like it was nothing!" 

"Mom, I'm…" He was cut off by her continued rant. 

"And who the hell was that other ghost? Some kind of look-alike, a shapeshifter?"

Danny remained silent at her outburst, face a mixture of guilt and fear. Then Jack walked forward, gently placing his hand on her arm. "Madds, I already told you want happened remember?" He spoke slowly, as if she was a small child. "Danny-boy is half ghost. He is Phantom but he's still our Danny." 

Maddie gritted her teeth, still annoyed and confused. "And who's the other boy?" 

"He's a clone… of Danny." Jack replied.

"A clone? What...How?"

"My invention...accidentally made him." At seeing Maddie's eyes widen and her face turn red, Jack put his hands in front of him. "It was an accident, I swear."

"Accident! How do you accidentally create a person?!"

"Well ...Danny was technically an accident. So it's not that hard, apparently."

"At least Danny was conceived the normal way, Jack! It's supposed to take two parents to make a child!"

"Can we stop talking about this?!" Maddie turned to Danny whose face was bright red, mortified. She'd forgotten he was ever here, while arguing with Jack. 

Jack himself also blushed, then voicing Maddie's thoughts almost exactly. "Heh, we forgot you were here son."

Danny sighed, still blushing. "Clearly."

At seeing Danny's embarrassment and nervousness, much of Maddie's anger dissipated. She plopped down on a nearby lab stool, shoulders falling. "I'm sorry, honey. This is just a lot to take in."

The teenager ran his hand through his hair. " Yeah, I never thought you and Dad would find out like this."

The mother sighed. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Ummm a lot of reasons. I was scared of how you'd react, that you wouldn't believe me. And I … uhh didn't want you guys to feel guilty about the accident or what you've said about Phantom.” He put his hands through his hair. “Plus I was afraid you knowing would put you in danger. I have a lot of enemies as Phantom."

Maddie sighed again, having no idea what to say. That was… a lot of reasons. And what did that say about her and Jack as parents, as scientist? Biting her lip, she finally replied. "I'm sorry Danny. About everything."

The boy shrugged. "It's alright. I'm the one who lied to you."

"No it's not alright." She replied, voice earnest. "We...I… made you feel you couldn't tell us. And that's not right. We're your parents! You're supposed to be able to trust and rely on us!"

He looked down, remaining silent. Jack then moved forward, standing between Maddie and Danny. He put one hand on Danny's shoulder and one on Maddie's. "Your mom's right, son. We messed up but I promise we'll do everything we can fix this. Just promise to be honest with us now, okay?"

Danny looked up at his father, eyes shining with a complicated mix of emotions. He nodded. At the same time, Maddie gave her husband a grateful look. She was really thankful actually that he had already found out about and had some time to process all this. And now stood by her side, her rock. Without him, she would definitely be an emotional wreck. She still had many questions, like how did Danny become half ghost(whatever that means) is the first place.

The mother was distracted from her next question by a startled yelp from upstairs. In the blink of an eye, she was on her feet.

"Sorry Jazz! I didn't mean to scare you." A voice identical to Danny's yelled from upstairs.

Maddie continued, moving towards the stairs, until Danny gently put his hand on her arm. "They're fine. He probably did something dumb, like forget to turn his clothes invisible when he picked them up. And that scared Jazz."

Maddie's head turned towards the stairs, her mind returning to the boy upstairs. "I guess we need to talk about what we're going to do about…" She motioned vaguely upstairs.

Danny's gaze followed her motion. "You mean my cl…brother." Brother? Maddie quirked her eyebrows, tilting her head. Danny continued. " I mean he is my brother, right? Dad already calls him son. And even if he didn't think of you and Dad as his parents, I would still think of him as my brother."

Maddie gaped at how matter of fact Danny's statement was. "He think of me as his mom?"

"Yeah, of course." Danny shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world. But as Maddie's expression remained one of shock confusion, his eyes widened in realization. "Oh. I should probably tell you…" 

The sound of the lab door opening cut Danny off as Jazz started walking down the stairs. "Danny just told me I should come talk to you guys…" Her words trailed off as she noticed Danny. She stopped walking as her eyes widened and she swallowed. " I mean Danny texted me.  Not that I just talked to him in the living room. Nope, he was definitely down here, with you guys." 

Maddie turned to her daughter, raising her own eyebrow. Jazz obviously talked to the clone upstairs…but he was invisible? If she thought he was Danny, why wasn't she more surprised to find Danny here instead? And why did she sound like she was trying to cover something up? Wait…

Danny sighed. "Jazz, Mom and Dad know about me being Phantom."

Jazz's eyes widened. "That's...uhh"

"Dad found out. And then I showed both of them." 

"Oh" Jazz's eyes flickered between her brother and her parents, until they fell on the busted up machine behind Jack. "Does Dad finding out have anything to do with why you have an invisible and apparently naked duplicate running around upstairs?"

"What?" Danny's jaw dropped. 

Jazz continued down the stairs, until she was standing in front of her brother. "Your duplicate said he was naked because of something Dad did." Danny continued gapping. "Unless you're the duplicate and your original's upstairs. You're getting better at making sure no one can tell which is which." She then pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Though I have no idea how Dad could have got you in this situation."

At the end, Danny finally cracked, starting to chuckle. "Ummm Jazz that's not.." 

Then the door to the lab slammed open again and a black haired boy identical to Danny came down the stairs. "That's so much better. Danny, I went a got a pair of shoes from your room since I figured walking in the lab barefoot was a bad idea. I hope you don't mind." The boy stopped when he noticed everyone staring at him.

With barely a thought, Danny nodded. "No problem.  I don't mind."

Now it was Jazz's turn to gap. She quickly looked between the two and then marched up to the boy who had just come down the stairs. "Who are you?" To Maddie's surprise, the words came out calmly and kindly without any accusation.

The clone bit his lip. "I...umm."

Then Danny came up beside Jazz. "He's...like Ellie." 

Who's Ellie? The mother thought as she observed the exchange curiously. She focused back as Jazz responded, lips pursed in anger. "Does that mean that fruitloop started his experiments again?!" She walked forward and put her hand gently on the boy's arm. "Don't worry. We'll protect you. You don't have to go back to that creep."

The clone looked at Jazz curiously as Danny replied. "That's not an issue, Jazz. Vl… Plasmius doesn't even know he exists."

"What?" The redheads eyebrows drew together as she removed her hand.

The clone bit his lip. "Plasmius didn't...uhhh make me." His eyes focused on Jack. "Your Dad did."

Jazz's head whipped back to her father. "Dad!" She exclaimed in horror.

But before she could continue, Danny put his hand on her arm, placatingly. "I already ripped into him, Jazz. You don't have to. Plus it was an accident and Dad already destroyed the invention he used."

Jack looked down, guilty and then walked forward, joining the group of teenagers. "I am sorry, Danny. Are you still mad at me?"

The boy shrugged half heartedly. "I am a little. But.." Then he took his clone brother's hand comforting, as the other had been studying Jack cautiously. "My brother wouldn't be here without what you did." Danny then turned to face the other boy, squeezing his hand with a smile. "And this is better. I'd rather you be born into this family that loves you than to a creep who would only want to use you."

The clone smiled broadly at the statement as Jazz grabbed his other hand. "Danny has a point." She squeezed it. After Danny let go, Jazz moved to the clone's front and hugged him. "Welcome to the family, little brother." 

Danny soon joined the hug from the side while Jack came from behind, squeezing the three kids with his eyes watering. "I love much, kiddo."

Maddie marveled at the group hug for a moment and then felt ashamed. She felt out of the loop, the last one the learn about Danny being Phantom and the only one struggling to wrap her head around the idea of having a clone for a child. Jack had immediately embraced the clone as his son, calling him that as soon as he mentioned the boy to Maddie. Danny, the one who should be understandably feel angry and violated, called the other boy his brother multiple times, also embracing him. And Jazz, her sweet understanding Jazz, adapted so quickly, instantly promising to protect her new brother. 

But Maddie was the only one struggling to act. The clone looked up, his now watering eyes falling disappointedly on his mother. His mother. Maddie sighed, that's what Jack had called her. And Danny had said that the other boy did think of her as his mom. She stepped forward. Well her new son was right, Maddie Fenton was his mom.

Maddie joined the hug from the side opposite Danny. She gently kissed the boy on the cheek. "Welcome home, sweetie."

"Thanks mom." He whispered.

After a while, the group hug broke apart, though by then all of the faces were wet. 

Jazz wiped her eyes, smiling.  Then she gasped. "I can't believe I haven't asked what your name is yet?"

At the statement, the clone's smiled quickly flipped into a frown. "I don't have one." 

"What!" Jazz's mouth fell as she stared at her parents. "Do you have any kind of idea what type of damage this could do to his psychological development? Having a name is vital to developing one's sense of self!"

Maddie cringed at the tone. Hadn’t Jack mentioned that when she came in? But she had not thought about it since. She frowned, disappointed at herself. Addressing her new son, she tried to give him a comforting smile. “It’s been a very confusion and chaotic day, sweetie. I promise your Dad and I will choose one for you. Alright?”

The boy nodded. Then Jack interjected. “I actually had an idea. How about Jack Jr?”

“NO!” The other four members of the household shouted.

Jack flashed all of them a hurt look as his wife shook her head. “You said the same thing when we were picking out a name for Danny. And I still don’t like it. You can’t name everything after yourself.”

“Sorry Dad.” The clone stated. “Good try though. But I ...uhh… actually had a name in mind. I know that’s not really normal and all but…”

Maddie put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. “It’s alright honey. What are you thinking?”

The boy wrung his hands. “I was thinking...James.”

Danny titled his head questioningly. “That’s my middle name...?”

The other boy shrugged. “I know that. But… I like it.” He then bit his lip nervously. “And I think it would a good homage to the...connections between us. Since we’re different than even normal human twins. Closer.”

Maddie tilted her head in confusion. She could understand the clone liking the name- it might be one of the few he knows and he clearly liked and got along with Danny as wouldn’t mind the similarity. But she didn’t get the rest. 

However at the same time, Jazz hummed in understanding. “Is this about the similar core memory sharing thing?”

The clone nodded while Maddie drew her eyebrows together. Beside him, Danny noticed his mom’s confused expression. He elbowed his brother, drawing his attention to their mom. “Do you want me to explain or…?”

The other boy looked to Maddie. “No I’ll explain. Since Danny and I have nearly identical cores, we can share thoughts, emotions, and even memories. It’s a really common thing with ghosts that are closely related but stronger the more similar the two ghosts are.” Maddie nodded in understanding. Then the boy continued, nervously rubbing his neck. “So I have a lot of Danny’s memories. And they’re clear enough that when I woke up ...I...uhh...thought I was Danny.”

Maddie’s eyes widened comically. She had not been expecting that at all. Then again, she had been wondering why he could walk, talk, and seemed to have basic knowledge- even know specific things about their house and their family- despite having just been born; that simply should not be possible since humans aren’t born with language skills and other knowledge.  Then again, neither of her son were completely human (That was somewhat of a startling thought.) But Danny’s clone thinking he was Danny, that was...something else.

While Maddie was thinking, Jazz nodded beside her. The redhead teenager put one arm around her new brother. “That must have been hard, learning you weren’t who you thought you were ...but obviously you don’t think that now.”

“Yeah.” The clone rubbed his neck. “Dad told me and Danny came and found me after I ran off. They both helped me. And it’s not that bad once I figured out how to tell which memories were mine and which were Danny’s.” He frowned. “Even though, I don’t have a lot of my own memories.”

Maddie frowned at that, at the reminder that this child had only been alive for a few hours. He would never get a proper childhood, being born as a teenager. She’d never get to hold him as a baby, see his first steps, hear his first words. Well, that might not be entirely true, he did have first steps and first words, though Jack was probably the only one there from them. She’d need to ask him for everything that happened in detail. And there would be other firsts but they would be different ones than if he had been born at the same time as Danny, as Danny’s twin. 

But there was nothing any of them could do about that. Looking up, Maddie found the still sad look on the clone’s face. She gave him a side hug. “It’s alright, honey. You’ll make new memories. And we’ll all be here while you do.”

“Yeah!” Jack added, excitedly. “We’ll go ghost hunting as a family! And fishing, and camping.”

Maddie smiled. “And star gazing, if you want to. And picnics in the park, swimming at the pier. That’s fun.”

“And game nights at home are fun. And I’ll take you to the library, see what kind of books you like.” Jazz added.

The clone laughed at the other’s excitement. “What do you think Danny?”

The boy’s smile fell as he noticed Danny’s serious face. The older halfa shook his head and sighed. “Sorry. I’m still a little hung up on why you’d want to have my middle name. I mean you can pick anything..or have Mom and Dad pick something out, just for you.”

The clone blushed, looking down. “This is kinda embarrassing. But I’m just going to come out and say it.” Eyes flickering up, he focused intently on Danny. “I look up to you. Which is kinda weird considering, I partly feel like we’re the same age. But you’re my big brother. So yeah, I want to be like you to some extent.” Seeing Danny’s mouth fall open, he back pedalled. “I mean we’ve already established that I’m not you and I don’t want to be you.” He bit his lip. “But...you’re a good person. You’re so selfless and brave and protective. You love your family, friends, and this town so much. And….I like those traits and want to be like that too.” 

The Fenton parents, Jazz, and Danny remained silent, while Maddie struggled to process this. It was very deep for someone so young, even if he was actually the age he appeared to be. Then again, she knew her children were very intelligent, even if Danny’s grades did not reflect that. 

However the silence seemed to freak the clone out. He shook his head. “Never mind. That’s weird, isn’t it? I’m being weird. O God, I’m freaking you guys out. Forget I said anything.”

“James.” The word fell from Danny’s lips. “If you want that to be your name, go for it.” His eyes started to water. “That...that means a lot to me. And I get it. I kinda look up to Jazz.” He narrowed his eyes at the redhead who was giving him a skeptical side glance. “Don’t give me a hard time, Jazz.” His tone then turned softer. “But yeah. I don’t think it’s weird to look up to someone you’re close to. Normal even.”

The other boy nodded. “I’m glad you’re okay with it then. And that I didn’t freak you out.”

The other family members also nodded. Jazz interjected. “So you’re going with James?”

“Yeah. It sounds right to me.” The newly named James turned towards his parents. “And I guess Mom and Dad can pick out a middle name for me.” Jack started grinning. “But not Jack!”

The man grumbled but didn’t argue. Then he smiled slightly, ruffling James’s hair. “I got the first two letters though.”

James’s eyes widened and he huffed. “Ehh, whatever. I’m still sticking with James.”

Maddie smiled as well, walking forward to give her new son a proper one-on-one hug. “I love you, James.” The boy squeezed her back. 

After stepping back, Maddie looked over her family. “Is everyone hunger? We should probably order in.”

“Can we get pizza?” Danny asked.

“Umm. That sounds good.” James hummed, happily. 

Jack ran up the stairs, yelling about who he wanted to order from. The two boys walked up the stairs, talking about what toppings they wanted while Jazz followed behind arguing that they needed to include vegetables. Maddie smiled fondly from behind, enjoying watching her now expanded family. 

She paused at the top of the stairs, remembering a question from earlier. Her three kids had gathered on the couch, now discussing what movie to watch after dinner. Maddie stopped in front of them. “Who’s Ellie?”

Startled looks passed over the three teenagers faces as they looked at each other, as if silently debating who should speak. Danny finally answered. “She’s a clone, like James.” Maddie paled as Danny continued. “One of my enemies, who wants me as a son/apprentice/lackey, made her since I wouldn’t join him willingly.”

“Where is she?”

Jazz answered this time. “We don’t know specifically. She travels around but we can get up with her.”

“And she does have a safe place to stay with my ghostly allies. She looks about twelve but has been around for six months or so.”

Maddie’s mind boggled at the information. Another child! She and Jack had another child! One who apparently had been made by one of Danny’s enemies and was who knows where! “I need to meet her.”

The three kids looked between each other again. Danny replied, sighing. “Ellie should be making her monthly visit to Amity Park in three days. We’ll get her to come meet you and Dad. She’ll want to meet James too.”

James nodded. “Yeah, I’d love to actually meet her.”

Maddie looked back at Jack who was ordering pizza over the phone. “I’ll need to talk to your dad but I’m sure we’ll ask her to stay.” She then put her hands through her hair. “And we need to figure out how to deal with the fact that James and Ellie don’t legally exist.”

James paled. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Danny patted him on the back. “We’ll figure that out.” He wrinkled his nose. “I know it’s not really legal but with ghost powers, we can probably get some papers forged.”

Maddie quirked her brow. Thinking about her baby having ghost powers was still foreign but he did have a point. She exhaled, giving the three a comforting smile. “We’ll work everything out, as a family.”

“Yeah, Mom” Danny and James replied at the same time, eliciting blushes and then laughs from the pair.

Maddie rolled her eyes. “Just relax until dinner, kids. We’ll talk more about everything tomorrow. It’s already been a long enough day.”

Maddie left the room to check on Jack who was ordering the pizzas. She’d need to talk to him about what the three just told him but it could wait. Tomorrow they’d have a long discussion about Danny being Phantom and how to deal with having two new children who didn’t legally exist. She would ask about the monster who cloned her son and then abused and abandoned that child and they’d figure out how to deal with him as a family. She’d ask Jack about James’s birth in detail and discuss buying their new kids clothes, sheets, and other things for their rooms. They’d even talk about getting bunk beds for James and Danny’s room. 

From what could be gathered, he had died horrifically at the hands of an unknown ghost, and he died alone. Slowly in a dirty ditch during a harsh stormy night, just outside of Elmerton, only discovered by a passing motorcyclist. He was already dead when he was found. 

Sam was never clued in to the extent of his injuries, but the funeral had been closed casket. When she requested to see him, one more time, she was quietly told that it was best that she did not. Leaving the last vision of him a touching one, where he told her he loved her and kissed her good night. 

She replaced the scene over and over again in her mind as she stared at the window. The last place she saw him. The way he’d lean on her windowsill, as if his weightless ghost half needed the support. His dorky smile, the freckles that were slowly fading as summer was ending. Eyes that always stared so lovingly at her, as they were that night as he had confessed to her once more his desire to get married to her after college. Something she always confessed back. 

Sam could think of nothing better than to be married to her absolute best friend, despite them only being an official couple for a month. Six years of a crush, four years of light flirting, fake out make outs, of them being shy and unsure. Such a slow progression had lead to the official spark, and now she couldn’t, she wouldn’t, imagine a life without him. They talked about that future together. Going to the same college right there in Amity Park with Tucker. Potential wedding plans. How they wanted to go follow Dumpty Humpty on tour. Their playful arguments over getting a cat or a dog. The amount of children they’d have, and their names. Moving in together. How Danny was going to finally manage to get her parents to like him. How much his parents loved and accepted her into the family already. That dream vacation to London they planned to take once in college. Truly having a life together as their young love blossomed into a long, happy life together. All of those plans and memories that were supposed to be made were shattered into millions of what ifs. 

Warm tears were wiped away by shaking hands. She rolled over to face her wall, forcing herself to sit up. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t keep doing this. Get up. Sam had to get up. Maybe get something to eat. Attempt homework. Watch a movie. Her hair stuck up, and it felt greasy. A nice hot bath would likely make her feel tons better. As she rolled her shoulders, she felt them pop. She needed to get up.

She slowly leaned forward, feeling her feet hit the floor as they wobbly supported her weight. The goth purposefully ignored the blank spaces on the wall, dust exposing where picture frames were once hung up. She dragged herself to the bathroom, standing in the doorway. Her hand was so heavy. Too heavy. The palm of her hand slapped the wall and slowly slid to try and flip on a light. It burned the second it flickered on, and she couldn’t help but just stare at the bathroom.

What was she doing? Sam couldn’t figure it out. The bathroom felt foggy despite no water. A bath sounded less and less appealing. Her knees buckled. She turned the light off, and she began to slump back to her bed.

Sam froze with a soft, surprised gasp as she unintentionally locked eyes with something at her window. Something that had not been there before, masked by shadows and her curtain but she saw what she needed to see. Dark red eyes were staring intently at her with a blank expression plastered on light blue skin. Familiar whitehair, a familiar white and black jumpsuit. His entire form was painted in a light glowing green with buckets worth of a dark brownish-red. Ectoplasm and blood. While those eyes seemed to be from him, Sam wasn’t sure. He looked familiar, and she knew who he was. But at the same time, she had no clue who. 

The form finally had some kind of expression. He flashed a toothy smile, letting sharp fangs shine in the faint light of her nightstand lamp. His eyes even seemed to sparkle too, but it was far from the warmth that she had experienced before. This one was...almost haunting. It was trying to be charming, but failing miserably. She shivered, but yet she still found herself stepping forward.

“Danny?” she whispered. The form immediately jerked back a foot. “No, Danny,” she breathed as she began to quickly walk to him. With every step she took to him, he moved backwards a step. “DANNY!” 

Sam got to the window, immediately slamming the doors open, but by then, the form was gone. Cold wind nipped harshly at her skin as she scanned the skies for him. Any sign of a black and white figure zooming as she had witnessed many times before, flying gracefully and with the faint sound of cheerful laughing.