Hey! This is one of the longer stories I was working on. I would like to say thanks to Creepy-Pasta: this one's for you!

I'm still working on a few other, longer stories, but I hope you enjoy this. No, it's not a one-shot, but it's not going to be super long either.

I don't own DP though I wish I did.

On with the story!

Danielle's Rescue

It's not often Skulker doesn't come out on top. He's the most skilled hunter in the Ghost Zone and shall always claim his prize. Once a subject has been deemed unique and he's set his sights on it, it must be his. He will do anything to get his bounty and will let nothing else stop him from doing so.

And then there was the whelp. Skulker would hunt other species when he wasn't hunting the teen, but that was always on his off time. Once in the field he would allow no distractions and demanded full focus from himself. Sure, he'd use traps and bait and would sometimes need capture them, but it was always for The Hunt.

So when Danielle made the unfortunate left turn instead of right on her way out the natural portal into the human realm, accidentally flying right past him, he hardly thought twice about using the small whelplette. Momentarily he'd paused, remembering the warning he'd received after going after the boy's friends, but he shook the fear off. He'd only specified his sister, the Goth, the tech, and the Goth again. Never had he dubbed his clone off limits.

Skulker followed the younger Phantom out the portal and took special care to stay a safe distance away. Those blasted 'heroes' had that ghost sense and he could not allow her to know of his presence until he was ready to attack. He went through his inventory as he invisibly hid by trees, intangibly flew through cars, and mentally mapped out his strategy.

He would wait 'til they were closer to the town, the obvious location for the small girl. She looked hurt, tired, and weak. The ghosts were privy to her relationship with the elder Phantom and knew she traveled to see him when his help was needed. Doing another once over he decided she would most certainly prove to be easier to capture than her original, but he'd learned never to underestimate the halfas. They seemed to have an abundance of energy and no doubt adrenaline would side with her in their upcoming battle.

When the city limits came within sight, and Danielle's sigh was easily audible, Skulker made his move. First he blasted her back with a simple Ecto-ray and hid from sight. He enjoyed playing with his prey, rattling their nerves. When she made a move to escape after scoping the area, he shot her again, hitting her side.

Danielle let out a yelp and finally, as Skulker moved to attack for his third time, her ghost sense alerted her of incoming danger. "Great…" she mumbled as she weighed her options. She could stay and fight, but Danny would be making his rounds any time now and he was her best bet. Her body had caught the flu from Japan and her mental state scrambled her thoughts to the point where she found herself continually shaking her head to stay focused. Again she couldn't dodge and was flown back to meet a tree trunk. A very hard tree trunk. "Ugh…"

Skulker's maniacal chuckling echoed through her ears, and she prepared herself for the worst. She was in no state to match strength with him, and her jumbled mind had no hope of matching wits. She phased through the big oak seconds before the ghost-proof net could capture her.

"What do you want?" Dani whined. She'd be willing to give him almost anything, and perhaps he was trying to catch her for the wrong reason? Was he mistaken in prey? Sure she looked like Danny, but Skulker knew who she was. Heck, all the ghosts knew and some feared her because of it. She gulped in breath after breath as she tried kicking a few blasts herself.

"You shall make glorious bait for the whelp. Now hold still!" A missile shot her way and again she was thrown back into the ground, her head bouncing twice. It was almost too easy. If only he could get the net around her he could complete his hunt once and for all and show the others, Ember especially, that he did indeed deserve his self-proclaimed title.

"You really shouldn't do that," Dani warned. Danny did not like when enemies went after people he cared about, and Dani knew—felt—Danny's overprotective care. She didn't necessarily like that Danny would kick ass once he found out, being as she could normally protect herself, but she'd deal with it. Besides, it was low for Skulker to attack while she was sick. At least, that's what she believed.

"Be quiet whelplette!" Skulker demanded as he finally shot the net dead on. It wrapped around Dani's small, frail body and on command it shocked her. Only on the second level for electricity, it was still enough to make her scream. For good measure he shocked her a few more times before floating over to retrieve his prize. If she couldn't be used to capture a greater target, Skulker would have taken her pelt as well. Maybe after this hunt he will pursue that line of game. "Now, any last words before unconsciousness takes you?"

Dani could tell he felt confident, smug even. She knew her powers wouldn't be able to heal these injuries as fast as usual if she ever got out of this. But last words, well, she was the hero. She supposed a warning would be the best smartass comment she could make in this situation. "Ya, if I were you I'd fly real fast, real far, real quick."

Skulker cackled, low and deep, making what Dani was about to say that much sweeter. "And why is that young halfa?"

Mustering a smirk as she took the last of her energy she replied, "Because there is one livid ghost floating behind you, and I've never seen his eyes glow that deadly of a green before." With that Dani passed out, a 'plump' coming from her forehead meeting grass, so Skulker was left to turn and satisfy his confusion himself. Of course, it was Danny Phantom he found.

"You are in for a world of pain," came Danny's too calm and steely voice. Skulker didn't even have time to finish gulping before Danny was on him, not an ounce of humanity showing. Danny's snow white hair floated upwards, moving as though submerged in water. His eyes seemed to glow such an acidic green they promised nothing but suffering. His aura, already unusually bright when normal, blinded anything within a mile of their fight; or rather, Skulker's punishment.

Furious had nothing on Danny. Had Sam not been there with him he surely would have eliminated the mechanical ghost scum. Sam had rushed over to help Dani, cutting the ropes and soothing her body enough for her to change forms, as he hammered Skulker within an inch, probably less, of his afterlife. "Danny," Sam warned. She didn't scream, didn't shout, didn't raise her voice, but he still heard her.

Skulker was silent, his body suit mangled, and it fell to the earth in a large heap of technology. Danny flew down to the head and kneeled so his mouth was right next to where his ear should have been. "If you ever touch Danielle again, I will show no mercy. No longer will you be hunting me because I will be hunting you." He popped the lid of his thermos and sucked the waste of ectoplasm inside. He'd have to tell Skulker to spread the word before releasing him to the Ghost Zone.

Danny floated over to Sam, who'd picked Danielle up once Danny produced the Fenton Thermos, and took both girls in his arms. No words were exchanged. Far too tense for conversation, Danny's eyes never widened farther than slits as he rushed to Sam's. Her parents were on an extended vacation and her Grandma went to visit a sick friend. Actually, Tucker's family currently resided on a cruise ship touring the Atlantic islands. It was just Sam and Danny this week, which had also contributed to Danny's pissed off behavior.

He had planned a week of romantic gestures, movie nights, dinners that didn't take place at the Nasty Burger, and had even stolen back his ring the other day to hopefully present to her later. This had been the week he would confess his feelings, thoughts, and desires to Sam. He was willing to risk it all to potentially gain the world.

A hopeless romantic, Danny was prone to jealousy. He hated other guys touching, talking, joking, looking, anything with Sam. As far as he was concerned, she was his. He may have denied it in public as far as the whole 'lovebirds' thing was concerned, but that had been to preserve their cherished friendship. That, however, had been before Tucker butt dialed him a few days ago.

Danny had been on his way to Sam's to meet his two best friends after patrolling the city once more, and Tucker had accidentally dialed his number and hadn't noticed until it had been pointed out by Danny when he flew him home. He'd over heard a lot, especially Sam's reasoning behind not acting on her feelings towards him. They had been exactly the same as his! No longer did he wonder why people called him clueless.

He'd been ecstatic and had barely restrained himself when he'd finally made it to her window. He had to take multiple deep breaths and even then his goofy smile stayed firmly in place. Both friends had been skeptical, but he'd kept his newfound prized information to himself until safely locked in Tucker's bedroom. It was there Tuck told him about the upcoming cruise and Danny's plan began to formulate.

Now though, looking at the battered and bruised body of Dani, no happy emotion stood a chance of breaking through his determined demeanor. Thank God he'd gotten there when he had. Sam had felt a strange gut feeling, and once she convinced Danny to check it out with her and they'd gone a couple feet down the trail, Danny's supersonic hearing picked up Dani's scream. It hadn't been very loud, muffled almost, but it had been filled with despair.

They arrived at Sam's mansion within five minutes, and Sam went straight to work. As Danny stepped out to call Jazz about staying the night with Sam, she quickly located the first aid and began cleaning and patching mud and scrapes throughout Dani's hair and body. She'd had a few minor burns around her abdomen as well as three knots near the back of her head.

Danny came back but he was of no use to Sam. Still steaming from the fight, he commenced to sculpt something from his ice crystals to give to Dani once she awoke; a gift to take her mind off the pain, if only for a while. Perhaps a dolphin, her favorite sea creature? A one of a kind necklace for her to wear? An anklet that would always be with her?

Sam brought Dani into her bathroom and stripped her down. She needed new clothes, underwear, and a good cleaning. She smelt rancid and her back, arms, and lower legs were covered in dried blood and dirt. Small pebbles fell from her raven locks as Sam washed through the tangles. An hour later Danielle could be found sleeping soundly and cleanly in Sam's bed, borrowing a pair of Sam's comfiest pjs.

Sam placed a Fenton Phone on the night stand alongside a note written in her elegant cursive. The shades were drawn so not a single slice of sun had a chance to shine through, and multiple blankets covered the shivering girl. Danny didn't want to leave at first, but Sam believed it would be healthier for him to take a break. Besides, Dani would eventually feel his presence or unrelenting stare and that could lead to premature waking. She needed as much rest as she could get and then she'd be hungry.

The two teens made their way to the kitchen where Sam wordlessly began cooking pasta noodles, meatballs, burgers made from real meat, baked chicken tenders, Caesar salad, garden salad, potato wedges, and strawberry popsicles. She didn't know what Dani would be hungry for, but she wanted to make sure she had options. Danny sat above the island, meditating as best as Sam could tell. He could cook wonderfully but she understood that his mind was otherwise busy.

Two hours later, when all the meals were made and packed away, and Sam had finished cleaning the kitchen of her mess, Danny's aura had calmed down and his eyes no longer promised murder. He could change back to Fenton, which he did immediately, and Sam led him to an extra guest bedroom. "You can sleep here or you can bring the mattress into my room and sleep beside her."

He nodded his consent, unsure of what to say, and watched Sam walk out the door and down the hall to another guest bedroom. The door shut with a click leaving Danny to bring his gaze back to the cold furniture around him. He would bring the mattress with him so he could sleep close to Dani, but he would wash up in this bathroom first, changing into the extra clothes he left at Sam's house.

He didn't rush, not wanting to become frustrated and jump start his emotions once again, and was satisfied at seeing it only took twenty minutes. Gathering the mattress with its sheets, Danny phased through the wall and into Sam's room. He placed his bed on the right of Sam's frame and almost blasted through the mattress when he saw something move on the other side of the bed.

On the floor, to the left and towards the head of Sam's king sized bed, laid Sam on a makeshift mattress made from many blankets and few pillows. She seemed comfortable, yet Danny would have none of it. He went to get another mattress and upon placing Sam on it almost laughed at finding a small assortment of Ecto-weapons hiding beneath her pillow. She stirred momentarily, but only once. Danny promptly made his way to his bed and 'got comfy.'

He was warm, his back wouldn't hurt in the morning, his neck lay in a comfortable position, so it wasn't hard to imagine his eyes easily slipping closed. Though his mind continued to spin about Dani's safety, his later chat with Skulker, and his switch in plans for this week, his body knew it needed to rest.

Sam would help him take care of Dani until her strength returned and Jazz would keep the parentals at a safe distance. Sure, ever since he saved the planet from the Disastroid they'd been understanding, but they also tended to be overbearing. And they didn't know about Dani yet.

He would chat with Clockwork about speeding up the construction of his lair in hopes that Dani would agree to staying there or moving her lair into his, if she had one. He could place his door anywhere he wanted and that way he could be assured of Dani's safety each day and every night. He'd also need to have a chat with Dani.

They called each other cousins, but that was a lie. In his heart he knew they were something more, but what he'd yet to discover. He just knew they were beyond that. He cared for her more than a cousin would. He tried to protect her, more so than he protected Sam, with more vigor than any cousin would think. Clone? No, Dani was her own person. Perhaps he would use her visit, which hopefully became permanent, to figure out what Dani was to him. Maybe they could explore together how she turned out to be a girl, and a lot younger than he.

Sleep proved to be restless, but a deep slumber it maintained. Danny would be the first to wake the next morning, and that would be well after lunch time.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! The next will be up soon(: