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five-rivers · 3 years

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Solutions to Nonlinear Equations

For @currentlylurking for the Phic Phight. :)

“Ancients, Vlad. I’m not rejecting you because I’m a rebellious teenager and you’re an adult, I’m rejecting you because you’re incredibly creepy.”

Vlad sniffed in what he hoped was an aristocratic manner and raised an eyebrow, minutely adjusting his grip on Daniel to keep him pinned to the floor.

“We’re human-ghost hybrids, Daniel. I’d hoped that you’d have realized by now that we are meant to be ‘creepy.’”

Daniel squirmed and began to mutter into the carpet. “Clockwork never acts like this, I’m fine with him—”

Vlad pulled back as if burned. He hadn’t heard that name in—in—

In a long time.

Years.

The thought was almost expelled from his head when Daniel managed to elbow him in the jaw hard enough to make him see stars. Before he knew it, Daniel had slipped from his grasp and zoomed away.

Whatever aspersions Vlad cast on Daniel’s mastery of his ghostly abilities, the boy was fast. When he put his mind to escaping instead of picking a fight, he managed it more often than not, to Vlad’s great frustration. Hence Vlad’s usual strategy of needling the younger half-ghost until fighting was the only thing on Daniel’s mind.

He set down on a nearby roof. There went his plans for the day. Which, admittedly, had consisted of distracting Daniel while his ghostly minions set up a nasty surprise for him at the school, hence making him fail his test, which would, in turn, convince Maddie and Jack to let Vlad set Daniel up with a tutor, something he had suggested to them earlier, and—

Well. Daniel would find them, now, no doubt.

Ah, well.

He had more important things on his mind, now. Such as, how in two worlds did Daniel know Clockwork? Because Daniel never just said things like that. He barely knew anything about ghost culture. He wouldn’t know to bring up obscure, secretive, ghost historical figures. He wouldn’t know what that particular name would mean to Vlad.

Tongues of fire flared out of his fingers, bringing a measure of stability to the gyrations of his core and his emotions.

Daniel knew Clockwork. And, it seemed, met him with some regularity. Enough for him to compare his actions to Vlad’s.

Would that ghost never be satisfied with ruining Vlad’s life? Was he not satisfied with—

He cut off the thought, shaking his head. Never mind that.

What Vlad needed to do was find Clockwork. Which meant inducing Danny to go to him at a time when Vlad when Vlad could follow. Which meant determining when he had visited Clockwork in the past. An undertaking to be sure.

He closed his eyes and teleported to his lab beneath his mansion.

“Maddie!” he called out, even before his body had fully reformed.

The hologram flickered to life with a faint crackled from the projector. “What is it, sugarpie?” it asked with a smile.

“Review the audio recordings from Fentonworks,” ordered Vlad. “Search for the term ‘Clockwork.’ Report findings to me.”

“Sure thing, honey!”

Vlad had to review the cheerfulness settings on the Maddie program. Maddie was upbeat, but not that upbeat. This was almost sickly sweet.

He threw himself into a nearby chair.

Clockwork. He thought he’d never hear that name again. Not after he’d been literally and figuratively ghosted by him.

He telekinetically pulled a book off his shelf. He ran his fingers over the leather tooling on the cover. The book had been given to him by Clockwork, years ago, when he was still in that hospital.

Clockwork had been the one to first show him the Ghost Zone, and all the wonders in it. Clockwork had been his friend, his only friend, through that long, agonizing hospital stay. He had been supportive, wonderful, kind. He visited often, though not on a regular schedule. He’d helped Vlad ride out the waves of misery and anger that so often threatened to overwhelm him.

Then, without warning, nothing.

No goodbye. The last time he left, he had even said something along the lines of ‘see you soon,’ although the memory was frayed from age and Vlad could no longer recall the exact words. For a long time, Vlad had worried something disastrous had happened to Clockwork. But then he had finally managed to build his own portal, reach the Ghost Zone under his own power, and, according to every search he did, every line of inquiry that bore fruit, Clockwork was just fine.

Vlad had been furious. He had been betrayed. He had spent the better half of a decade trying to plot revenge against Clockwork, before realizing that was akin to plotting revenge against a god and turning his sights to a more manageable target.

Now…

Now, Vlad just wanted answers. Both as to the reason behind his abandonment and as to why Clockwork was apparently repeating history with Daniel.

“Sweetie pie,” said the hologram, with a chime, “audio processing complete. There are over ninety-nine instances where the word ‘clockwork’ is mentioned. Would you like to play the selected files?”

“Yes,” said Vlad. “Include the video portions where available, and the thirty seconds immediately prior to and following the mention.”

He turned his attention to the nearest screen. He had a lot of videos to watch.

There was an envelope pinned to it. It was sealed with wax, impressed with the image of a pocket watch and the initials CW. Vlad attempted, and failed, to suppress the growl that grew in the back of his throat. Was this a joke to Clockwork?

He tore the envelope from the screen, ripped it open with equal viciousness, and began to read.

Three cups sat on the tea service tray next to the teapot.

“Are you expecting someone else,” asked Danny, “or am I going to break one of these?”

Clockwork chuckled as he began to pour the tea. “The former,” he said. “Although you may always surprise me with the latter.”

He handed Danny his cup. Danny inhaled deeply. It smelled sweet. “What is it?” he asked.

“A chamomile blend,” said Clockwork. “For calm.”

“I think Sam drinks chamomile before she goes to bed,” observed Danny, offhandedly. “Who’s coming?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Danny made a face. “Do you have to be mysterious all—”

The front door of Clockwork’s lair slammed open, and Danny jolted forward in alarm – the only people who regularly did that were the Observants, who didn’t much care for Danny – but Clockwork put a steadying hand on his shoulder and rewound his tea into his cup.

“Clockwork!” came the expected yell. The yeller, however…

“Is that Vlad?” asked Danny, not quite scandalized, but more than a little surprised.

“Why, yes,” said Clockwork.

“Did you – Clockwork, did you invite him here?”

“Other than the Observants,” said Clockwork, “no one can enter unless I will it.” He took a sip of his tea.

“But,” started Danny.

Clockwork raised a hand. “Don’t worry, he’ll find us soon enough.” He repurposed the hand to pat Danny’s knee. “And even should he prove to be in a combative mood, I will not allow you to come to harm. You are safe here, Daniel.”

“Thanks,” mumbled Danny, looking away, towards the door in the sitting room through which Vlad would presumably enter.

Sure enough, a few seconds later Vlad half-flew half-skidded into Clockwork’s sitting room. He leveled an accusatory finger at Clockwork. “You!” he proclaimed, with a great deal of venom.

“Hello, Vladimir, I’ve poured you some tea. Why don’t you sit down? I understand it has been some time.”

“You under-? No! I will not sit down! I will not drink your tea. Not after you abandoned me for over a decade, just like that bumbling oaf—”

“Hey!” interjected Danny, not only because Vlad had once again insulted his father, but because he could tell that Clockwork, regardless of his stoic façade, was actually quite upset.

“Don’t interrupt me, Daniel,” snapped Vlad. “You don’t know what this, this ghost is. What he does. You don’t know that he gets close to you, makes you think you’re friends, and then drops you without a moment’s notice. Did you think it was funny to string along a man in dire straits? Did you?”

“I did not abandon you, Vladimir, I—”

Vlad scoffed and went on a tirade that Danny honestly found hard to parse. But it sounded like Vlad and Clockwork had known each other in the past and then fallen out of contact in a way that aggravated Vlad’s abandonment issues. Which didn’t seem like Clockwork at all, but Vlad sounded extremely certain and insistent, and Clockwork’s upset was actually finding its way into his voice, now. Danny didn’t—

With all the force and abruptness of epiphany, Danny realized what was going on here.

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Danny, putting down his cup. “Vlad, breathe or whatever. Clockwork, you did tell Vlad that you experience time nonlinearly, right?”

“Of course,” said Clockwork, clearly offended.

“But Vlad, ah, had you gone through natural portals often when you met Clockwork? Or, like, did you ever see him without him initiating contact?”

“I didn’t have my portal built yet, Daniel, so, no.”

Danny turned to Clockwork. “Why did you-? No that doesn’t matter. Haaauuuhh, Clockwork, do you have-?”

Clockwork waved a hand and a whiteboard appeared.

“Thanks,” said Danny, picking a marker up from the little shelf on the bottom. He uncapped it, then recapped it. “Actually, before that. Vlad—” he pointed at Vlad, who looked about one second from exploding “—you have some idea of how old Clockwork is, right? Or at least how old ghosts can get?”

“Yes, Daniel,” said Vlad, managing to overlay his supercilious ‘I know better than you’ attitude over his still obvious anger.

“Okay, great. So, just to establish, Clockwork has been around at least since, uh, beginning of time?”

“Give or take,” agreed Clockwork. “Although I have not experienced it all directly.”

“Right,” said Danny. “Just, already, his perception of time is different from our because of age differences.”

Vlad looked slightly less angry, and slightly closer to curious.

“But, then, there’s the larger issue,” continued Danny. This time his uncapping of the marker was decisive. He drew a flat, straight, horizontal line across the whiteboard. “This is our timeline. We deal with time linearly. We’ve also got, I don’t know, parallel timelines, like this.” He drew several more lines. “You following so far?”

“Yes, Daniel, I’ve read my share of science fiction.”

He was probably rolling his eyes. Curse his solid-colored red eyes. It made interpreting his looks and figuring out where he was looking during a fight much more difficult.

“Anyway, Clockwork isn’t on any of these lines. Because he experiences time nonlinearly.” He drew a squiggly up and down line on the board that resembled the world’s saddest sine wave. Or cosine wave. There wasn’t a y-axis on the not-quite-graph, so it wasn’t like anyone could tell the difference. They were effectively the same.

And Vlad still made fun of him for failing math. Danny knew plenty about math. He just didn’t have time to do the work. Mostly because of Vlad.

“Now, that, that is Clockwork’s timeline. It isn’t always in contact with ours. It’s, like, solutions to a system of equations. Nonlinear equations,” he specified, in case it had been too long since Vlad had encountered basic high-school-level algebra.

“It is somewhat more complicated than that, Daniel,” said Clockwork, exasperated. “It’s more of—"

“Yeah, but this gets the idea across more than the whole parade metaphor, doesn’t it?”

“I would say not. This doesn’t even begin to touch on my abilities.”

“That’s because we’re just talking about your perception of time,” said Danny. He considered for a moment. “And also your ability to interact with our timeline.”

“Which includes my ability to perceive multiple timelines.”

“But that’s complicated, and I still don’t get it,” complained Danny.

“It is less complicated than what you are currently trying to explain.”

“To you maybe, but the whole point of this is that you aren’t seeing things the same way we are. You disappeared on Vlad, what, a decade ago?” He looked to Vlad for confirmation.

“A decade is hardly any time at all,” said Clockwork with exasperation. He sipped at his tea.

“It was fifteen years.”

Clockwork made a somewhat dismissive motion with a gloved hand. “It’s a tiny fraction of your life as a whole.”

“It’s… closer to a third of his current lifetime,” said Danny with a wince. “Or a fourth? I don’t know how old you are, dude.”

“I went to college with your parents.”

“I know, and you were already graying then. Your age is weirdly hard to place.”

Vlad gave Danny a look, but his body language was no longer screaming ‘I’m going to beat the snot after you.’ Danny counted that as a win under the current circumstances. He disliked Vlad, but in a fight with Clockwork… Well, Clockwork could demolish just about anyone.

Not that Clockwork would. Just that he could.

“Daniel—”

“Please, Vladimir. Just sit down. Try the tea. I made it for you. I knew you would be upset, although I could not see exactly why.” Clockwork was almost pouting, now. “Fifteen years is such a short time.”

“Clockwork, I’m fifteen.”

“I know,” said Clockwork, patting Danny on the knee. “Your timeline is so small. And cute.”

Vlad was now distinctly on his back foot, offput and disarmed. “His timeline is cute?”

“It is. Don’t worry, yours is almost as cute.”

Vlad opened and closed his mouth like a dying fish. Danny pushed the whiteboard away.

“Don’t worry about it too much,” he said. “Like I said, different perception of time.”

“I really didn’t mean to make you feel abandoned, Vladimir. I simply wanted to give you some time to, ah, how should I put this? Have space? Find yourself?”

Vlad sat heavily on the couch.

“You get used to it,” said Danny. “But, Clockwork, do you think you can talk him into having fewer evil plans? Because, really. There are way too many. Like, one a week. They’re destroying my grades. Have you ever seen anyone else who had weekly evil plans?”

“Evil plans, Vladimir? Really?”

#danny phantom #phic phight 2021 #phic phight #danny fenton #vlad masters #clockwork

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ghostsray · 4 years

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Ch12: Gloves

(first - previous - next)

Maddie made her way to the half-ghost sitting on the table in their lab. Niel's skin was swollen green with ectoplasm all over. It made her think of a mumps patient, if mumps were green, glowing, and gooey.

She held up the syringe in her hand, which held the substance she'd just concocted. She had checked and double checked her calculations, so it should work. If only she had time to test it on a subject besides the one she was saving, but she doubted there was enough time. Who knew how much worse Niel could become if left untreated.

Niel eyed the syringe nervously. "Do you think it'll work?"

"Do you think you could look any worse?"

Niel grimaced and held out his arm passively. Maddie smiled at him before she injected the syringe into his outstretched arm.

She held her breath as she waited for it to work. Soon enough, the lumps in his body began to dissolve. Niel gasped with alarm as they turned liquid, but Maddie placed a hand on his arm to calm him down. Niel gulped. The liquid remained for a moment before it began to solidify. This time, his body reformed in its right shape. He looked normal again.

Niel cautiously raised a hand to pat at his face, and he was overjoyed when he found it smooth and solid. He grinned at Maddie and said, "It worked."

Maddie smiled. "Danny used the Ecto-Dejecto on you, didn't he?"

Niel nodded, still patting his body to make sure he was solid. Maddie explained, "That was the problem. Ecto-Dejecto strengthens ectoplasm, but your body is only half ectoplasmic. All we had to do was destabilize the excess ectoplasm."

Niel looked up at her, and Maddie had to bite her tongue as she was once again hit by how similar he looked to her baby boy. She once thought Danny had another look-alike--Phantom. Then, just a few hours ago, her son dropped the bomb that he was in fact both people. She had thought he was going crazy until he transformed right before their eyes.

Maddie was trying not to get lost in her thoughts as Niel said, "Thank y..." His thank you was interrupted by a yawn, and he covered his mouth and blinked lazily. "Why do I feel tired?"

Maddie gave him another small smile and said, "Your body fell apart, swelled over, then melted again before you returned to normal. No doubt, all that action must have drained your energy pretty badly. You just need a good nap."

"A nap," Niel agreed sleepily. "That sounds nice." He lay down on the table, and before Maddie could offer to let him rest somewhere more comfortable, he was already snoring.

As soon as Niel was out, Maddie's shoulders slumped. She looked down at her hands and saw that her gloves were covered with ectoplasm--which wasn't a new sight. This time, no ghost was harmed. But what about all those other times she tainted her gloves green? How many ghosts had she destroyed in the name of research?

She tore off her gloves and threw them in the waste bin--she could always replace them later. She went to the bathroom in the basement and turned on the sink, thrusting her hands under the running water. She scrubbed. And scrubbed.

"I think your hands are clean enough," Jack said, his bulking form filling up the restroom's doorway. "I just counted four happy birthdays."

Maddie turned off the sink and sighed. "Sorry, it's just..."

Jack stepped inside with her. She looked down and saw that he, too, had taken off his gloves. The skin on his hands was pale from how little light it received.

"It's Danny, isn't it?" Jack said, making Maddie wince. He exhaled and added, "I can't believe we spent that long without suspecting anything. It makes so much sense in retrospect. All those inventions that went off around him..." He shook his head and chuckled.

Maddie didn't laugh. "Two years. Two years and we never knew. Oh, Jack, all those times we tried to hunt him..."

Jack was uncharacteristically somber. He slipped his hand into hers, and her skin tingled without the protection of her gloves. "We'll make it up to him," Jack said. It didn't slip Maddie's notice how he didn't try to justify what they'd done, only suggest that they make up for their wrongdoing.

Maddie still couldn't believe that ghost she cursed so many times was really her son. His revelation was sudden. Maddie had been about to analyze Niel's ectoplasm when Danny came up to them, and the words spilled from his mouth without pause. He was Phantom. It happened because of the portal accident. He spent two years hunting ghosts behind their back. Then he transformed, and Maddie nearly collapsed in shock, after which Danny almost sheepishly told them that he would explain everything once they were done healing Niel.

Maddie had no idea why he had chosen that moment exactly to reveal his secret, but after analyzing Niel, she wondered if there was a reason after all. She gazed out the bathroom to where the boy was sleeping on the table. He slept on his side, curled up like a cat...just like how Danny often slept.

"Did you notice something strange when we looked at Niel's DNA?" she said to Jack.

Danny had given them a sample of his blood in the hope that it could help them stabilize Niel. She almost mixed his sample up with Niel's because of how identical they were under the microscope. Nagging curiosity caused her to compare Niel's genetic sequence with Danny's, and the results were impossible to deny.

"It almost exactly matched up with Danny's," Jack answered.

"And not just his human DNA," Maddie added. "His ecto-signature was close to Phantom's."

"So...what are you saying? You didn't give birth to a twin without telling me, did you?"

"No. I think I would remember having a third child." Her eyes bore into Niel's resting form as she voiced her suspicion, "I think he might have been birthed artificially...as a clone."

"A clone?" Jack's eyebrows rose to his hairline as he said, "Why would Vladdie keep a clone? And aren't clone genes supposed to match up 100%? Maybe they just look alike."

Maddie shook her head. "I'm not sure about the dissimilarities...but a 95% match? That much genetic closeness is extremely rare for someone who isn't related. And besides..." She swallowed back a lump and added, "We used to think of Phantom as a look-alike."

The couple was silent as that statement hung over them. Finally, Jack spoke, "But...V-man? Why would he clone Danny?"

Maddie found herself thinking about all those not-so-secret glares Danny and Vlad always sent each other, and how the words they exchanged were always laced with an undertone of scorn. She had always assumed that Danny was simply being protective of her against Vlad's creepy advances, but there had always been something else...a secret that only the two of them knew. Her eyes widened, and she said, "Vlad knows about Danny."

"You mean that Danny is Phantom? But then why didn't he tell us?"

Her mind worked in full gear, piecing together shards to form a big picture. "He's a scientist, just like us," she said. "He...maybe he wanted to..." She gulped.

As much as she loathed to admit it, when she first learned about Danny's half-ghost status, a deep, dark part of her wanted to study him. She wanted to cut him up to see how he ticked, how a person can be human and ghost at the same time, how the ectoplasm and flesh could possibly interact. Of course, she would never, ever act out on that desire. Danny was her son. She would never hurt him...but Vlad didn't have that same connection.

"Maybe Vlad created Niel as an experiment," she said, "to study Danny's powers." Because she knew he couldn't do permanent harm to Danny, not when she and Jack might notice...but a clone? Niel was a copy of Danny. Doing something to him would not affect the Fentons.

Niel had lied to them by saying his destabilization was caused by playing around in Vlad's lab. But what if it was really Vlad's doing? Why would Niel come to them for help if Vlad hadn't done something to make the boy distrust him?

"Vladdie wouldn't do that," Jack said, but his voice was filled with uncertainty. Maddie softened. She knew that Jack still thought of Vlad as his best friend from their college days. He had no idea how much the man had changed.

Maddie shrugged and admitted, "Maybe I'm missing something. But Niel is a clone, and I'm sure of it. A look-alike of Danny who also has the same ghost powers and a similar ecto-signature...that can't be a coincidence."

Jack pressed his lips. He traced her vision toward Niel, and Maddie knew he agreed--there was just no denying the fact that Niel was the spitting image of their son.

Maddie left the tiny bathroom and walked toward the table with the possible-clone sleeping on it. Seeing him closer only confirmed his likeness to Danny. His brows were drawn together in a frown, and Maddie wondered if he was having a nightmare. The bangs in front of his face swayed with every breath he unconsciously blew.

She moved the hair away from his face and gently touched his face. Now that he was fixed, there was no longer any goo that clung to her hand. His skin was cold...although she couldn't tell whether that was normal for half-ghosts. She should know, having lived under the same roof as Danny, but she realized she always wore her gloves even at home. She rarely ever touched her children with her bare hands. What kind of mother doesn't know how the touch of her own children feels?

"Oh, you're done," a voice said, and Maddie whipped around to see her son standing at the lab's entrance. He seemed relieved to see Niel back to normal, although his expression turned to nervousness when he caught Maddie's eyes.

"Danny," she said. He was in his human form, with black hair and blue eyes...but now that she knew the truth, she couldn't help but notice Phantom's outline in him. It really was ridiculous how she never thought about them as the same person despite seeing them both up close.

She felt herself fill up with dread. Danny had promised to explain everything once they were done, which they now were. Maybe he would even confirm or deny whether Niel really was his clone.

But as she studied him, she saw him shift from one foot to another nervously and cast frequent glances to Niel. Maybe he was as hesitant to delve into his backstory as she was to listen, but Maddie sensed he had something else more urgent to say. Sure enough, he announced, "Vlad's here."

Maddie immediately turned her attention to Niel. She had no doubt that Vlad was here to pick him up. How he knew that Niel was here exactly, she wasn't sure...then again, he did (possibly) create him. Maybe he had a way of tracking him down. Or maybe he guessed they were the only ones who could help him.

She and Jack exchanged a look. Normally, Jack was terrible on picking up on unspoken cues, but after being married for two decades, one learns to read their partner's mind. A silent agreement passed between them: they would not mention their suspicions regarding Niel to Vlad.

She went up the stairs, Jack behind her. Danny stayed in the lab. He stood by Niel's side, maybe to guard him. There was a defensive glint in his eyes and in his posture that made her wonder if that was how she looked like whenever she felt protective over Danny and Jazz. It was weird to think that, if Niel really was his clone, then he would technically be Danny's son.

Okay, that was a weird thought. Maybe sibling was a more accurate descriptor. Teenage parents are one thing, but when the son is almost the same age as the parent--

She banished those thoughts when they emerged in the kitchen. Jazz was there. The sink held fresh silverware, which made her think that Jazz and Danny must have had a meal while she and Jack were in the lab fixing Niel. Maddie felt guilty. She should have been there to greet her daughter when she arrived.

Maddie gave her a small smile. Jazz briefly returned it, but rather than waste time with greetings, she jumped to the more urgent matter and said, "He's in the living room."

Maddie's smile fell as she left the kitchen. Sure enough, there stood Vlad Masters in all his glory. "Maddie," he greeted fondly. Then his eyes moved to the person behind her, and he said a little less fondly, "Jack."

"V-man! How are ya, pal? What brings you to our home?" Jack said cheerily. The grin plastered on his face was so convincing that you never would have suspected that his entire worldview was shattered just a few hours ago.

Vlad pretended to look sad as he cast his eyes down and said sulkily, "It's my son. He's..." He even went as far as swallowing down a fake sob as he said, "He's run away. I was hoping you might know where he went."

Maddie wanted to scoff at his poor display of fatherly concern. If he really cared about Niel, he would have been more worried than that. She hid her contempt behind a look of surprise and said, "Why would he run away from you?"

Vlad shrugged and said, "Who knows? Teenagers, always so rebellious. I'm sure you would know."

Maddie held back a wince. For the longest time, that was what she had believed: that Danny was rebelling. His failed grades, skipping school, staying up late in who-knows-where doing who-knows-what....She had feared her son was a deliquent, until she only recently learned that the "what" he was doing was actually hunting ghosts as the city's ghostly protector. She wondered if Vlad knew that and was subtly gibing her.

Maddie forced herself to stay calm. Thankfully, she was saved from replying by Jack. Her husband said, "It's true, kids are hard to look after. Maybe someday we should get together so I can give you some parental advice, keep an eye on Niel to make sure he's treated right."

Maddie wanted to kiss Jack. Just like her, he was worried for Niel, but unlike her, he knew how to come up with a way of looking after him without sounding suspicious. He was certainly smarter than people gave him credit for. Maddie's idea was just to forcibly adopt the clone from Vlad.

Vlad's face twitched as he said, "I'll consider it." Then, he perked up and gazed into the kitchen. "What was that?"

Maddie frowned. She didn't hear anything. Jack didn't either, because he said, "What was what?"

Vlad composed himself. "Say, you don't mind if I look in your lab, do you? Perhaps your son hid my son down there. They are friends, after all."

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "Why not check Danny's room, then?"

"Oh, I have a feeling he might be in the lab. I just want to take a quick look."

"We were just in the lab. No one was there," she lied.

"He could be hidden somewhere you didn't check. Just let me go down there for one minute."

Maddie hesitated. She wanted to refuse, but she had a feeling Vlad won't take no for an answer. She straightened herself and said, "No need. I'll go and take a look for you."

"Really, it's no problem. I'll just--"

"I'll go," Maddie repeated, and her tone was final. She slapped on a smile and added, "After all, you're our guest. You deserve to relax and feel welcomed. Jack, why don't you chat with Vlad while I'm gone?"

Vlad looked miffed. No doubt he was wishing Maddie was the one staying with him instead of Jack. Tough luck.

She returned to the lab with the intent to wake Niel up, but when she arrived, she saw that he was already awake. He and Danny were in a whispered argument that broke off when they noticed her enter. Maddie wondered what they were talking about, but she didn't ask.

"Vlad wants to take you home," she told Niel.

Niel and Danny exchanged a glance. Then Niel stood up and faced Maddie. "Okay. I'll go."

"You sure?" Danny asked.

Niel nodded reluctantly. "He's my dad."

"That's a fancy way of saying creator," Maddie commented. When Niel stiffened, she said, "I know you're a clone, Niel."

Neither boy seemed particularly surprised by her discovery. Danny just watched her warily to see what she would say next, although Niel did look a bit panicky.

"It's--I mean--The infinite monkey problem--"

"Niel, it's okay," Maddie cut off. "I don't care that you're a clone of my son. But if Vlad hurt you in his experiments--"

"Experiments?" Niel questioned, eyebrows high.

"Yes," Maddie confirmed with a frown. "Did he not make you to study Danny?"

"No! He's--I'm his son," he insisted, glancing at Danny briefly before continuing, "He just made me because he's lonely."

"Lonely?" Maddie said with disbelief. Niel nodded. Maddie looked at Danny, but he had averted his eyes and was suddenly interested in the far wall.

If Vlad was lonely, he could have adopted a real orphan instead of making an entire clone from scratch. And why her son, of all people? She felt a surge of protectiveness burn in her chest. She knew she was missing something, but it was clear as day that Vlad was, for whatever reason, obsessed with Danny. She would have to keep a closer eye on their future interactions.

"Is he still waiting?" Niel asked, interrupting her from her thoughts. The clone looked tense.

Maddie nodded, then pointed out, "You sound reluctant."

Niel bit his lip. "It's not like I can stay away from him forever. He could always track me down, and you can't keep me away from an influential figure."

"You shouldn't live with him if you don't want to," Maddie insisted. "You could stay with us for at least a night. I'll tell Vlad you're staying over."

Niel looked like he was considering that, but he shook his head and said, "That's just delaying things. I can't run away from my problems forever."

There was a steel in his voice that was the same as...not Danny. Phantom. His eyes pierced into hers, dark and determined, and she pressed her lips and nodded.

"If you ever need to get away, just know you could come to us," she told him. "We're friends with Vlad, in a manner of speaking. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Niel's tough exterior faltered, and he allowed himself to smile. "Thank you."

"I'm impressed," Danny suddenly said. "I used to think you were an annoying little brat, but you've grown."

Maddie almost glared at her son, but Niel just laughed. "Thanks, I guess."

Danny smirked and lightly punched his arm, but his expression quickly fell back into worry. "But really. If you need someone, just call."

Niel nodded but didn't say anything. He looked out the lab's entrance nervously. Maddie stood by his side and held his hand.

It had been ages since she last held Danny's hands, and even longer since she'd held them without gloves on. She knew Niel wasn't the same person, but it made her feel nostalgic. She almost wanted to ask the real Danny to hold her other hand so she could feel fulfilled, but Danny was by Niel's other side, standing as protectively as ever.

They ascended the stairs to the kitchen. She expected to find Vlad bored out of his mind by Jack's rambling, but when they emerged in the living room, she was surprised to find the two men engaged in conversation. Then she heard the word "Packers" and thought, Ah, that makes sense.

Vlad broke off their football-related talk when he spotted Niel. His face morphed into a grin, and he said with brimming relief, "Niel. There you are."

Niel was tense, but he kept his tone neutral as he greeted, "Dad."

Vlad stepped forward to embrace his son, but when Niel flinched, he apparently changed his mind and let his arms fall to his sides. He turned to Maddie with a sheepish smile and said, "I'm sorry you had to be pulled into our conflict."

"Not at all," Maddie replied. "I like to think of Niel as part of the family. He's free to visit whenever."

Niel looked at her with big eyes filled with gratefulness and a glint of hope. Vlad smiled stiffly and said, "Thank you for that." He looked at Niel and added, "If no one minds, I would like for us to take our leave. We have some...family matters to talk about that I would prefer to do in private."

Niel gulped but nodded. He walked up to his father, and Vlad kept his hand hovering over his back as they turned toward the exit.

Maddie took one step forward, and Vlad turned back to face her expectantly. Maddie paused for a second before she said to Niel, "Goodbye."

"Bye," Niel responded. "And...thanks."

Maddie smiled, and Niel slowly smiled back. Then Vlad steered them both out the front door.

Maddie looked out the window to see them get into a long black limousine. She kept watching until they drove away, the light from the sinking sun turning the car blood-red as it disappeared into the distance.

Danny plopped himself onto a couch. He fidgeted his hands and murmured, "Thanks for, you know...not freaking out about the whole clone thing."

"I did hold myself together pretty well, didn't I?" Maddie said, her smile a little too wide. "Although, now that you mention it. Why does Vlad have a clone of you?"

Danny rubbed his neck and swallowed hard. "I can't tell you."

"You said you would explain everything."

"I did. It's just...this involves someone else's secret that I can't exactly share."

Maddie noticed Jazz joining them from the kitchen and standing with her arms crossed. It suddenly hit her that Jazz must have known Danny's secret. For how long, she had no idea, but it did explain a lot.

"That's fine," Jack said, gazing at his son patiently. "You don't have to tell us about Niel if you can't. But...everything else..."

Danny squirmed in his seat. He looked at Jazz and seemed to relax slightly. He then looked at his parents and nodded.

"You might want to sit down. It's a long story."

(Bonus:

They sat on the couches around him, Jazz by his side. "It's okay," she said to her brother. "Just please don't tell them that stupid rap you made up."

Maddie's eyebrow rose as Danny's lips stretched into a grin. Jazz groaned and buried her face in her hands while Danny began, "Yo Danny Fenton he was just 14 when his parents built a very strange machine--")

#why did this chapter take me so long to write #Danny Phantom #dannymay #dannymay2020 #niel masters #danny fenton #maddie fenton #jack fenton #jazz fenton #vlad masters #reveal #post reveal #fic #fanfiction #fanfic #writing #mine

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