He woke up in an unfamiliar and dark bedroom. Confused, he took in his surroundings. He appeared to be in a plain bedroom with a medium sized window, a closet, a desk with a chair and the bed he currently occupied. Curious, he stood up and walked over to the window, pulling away the black curtains. He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he caught sight of the view outside the glass. "Swirling green skies, floating doors and islands. Nothing too interesting. But you will be able to see it all soon." He felt panic rise up in his chest. He was in the ghost zone. Hurriedly, he backed away from the window as memories began flooding his mind. Memories of talking to Sam and Tucker, getting the message to get home, finding out it hadn't been from Jazz. Memories of his father's sad face. Memories of his sister's terrified expression. And memories of pain. Those were the most vivid pictures in his head. He could not find words to describe the sensation of being in the portal while it exploded with ectoplasmic radiation and electricity. Before he could jump into a full blown panic attack, the door behind him opened. Danny turned around to be met with the being responsible for him even being there. Plasmius smiled a satisfied smile.

"You're awake."

Danny couldn't believe the nerve this guy had, kidnapping him and still smiling like... this. Plasmius' smile didn't falter when he didn't answer, instead he just kept talking.

"I didn't know what you would like your room to be like, so I didn't order any changes yet. Also, I left the mirror out for now. I did not want to freak you out."

Anger was welling up in him as the ghost talked about this as though he had actually come with him out of his free will. He wanted to shout at him, fight him, tell him that he won't stay there for long, but his mind had latched onto those last two sentences and was now busy coming to all kinds of horrible conclusions.

"W-" He coughed, not having noticed how dry and sore his throat felt; must have come from all the screaming. "Why would I... freak out?" he asked carefully, dreading the answer.

The specter's creepily proud smile only added to his already skyrocketing uneasiness.

"Come with me and I will show you." Plasmius said, turning around and making his out into a dark hallway.

After a short moment of hesitation Danny followed the ghost all the way into a large kind of lab connected on its left side to a strange trainings room that could be observed from the outside. He had barely stepped foot inside when Plasmius held up a hand to stop him.

"Stay there. And I want you to that you may never do or touch anything unless I tell you to. Do I make myself clear?"

The ghost's voice was as cold as ice. Danny quickly noticed that the man changed his attitude faster than he could foresee. He had to be even more careful around this guy when he could lash out at any second, even though he might have just spoken like a soft, caring person the moment before.

"I- Yes."

Plasmius did not say anything else as he went off to one side of the lab and came back with a large mirror that he placed in front of Danny with its reflecting side turned away. The blue skinned being did not take his eyes off of Danny while he dramatically turned it, watching the twelve-year-old's reaction to his own reflection. Danny had expected to be met with the usual him: raven black hair, bright blue eyes and light skin. Which is why he was shocked, to say the least, when in his place he saw a white haired, green eyed ghost-boy. He moved slightly and blinked, being confirmed that this person was indeed him. He noticed that his skin was also a bit more tanned and he was glowing. The first thought that came to his mind was, I'm dead, closely followed by, I'm evil, all ghosts are evil. Then he quickly halted his train of thought, thinking back on what his parents had taught him about ghosts. Maybe... maybe they did not really know for sure. He... couldn't just be evil, right? He was an exception. Danny was purposely distracting himself from the I'm dead fact, but it did not work as effectively as he'd prefer.

"It did not quite turn out as expected and your core might be more unstable than others, but we got rid of our problem and that's what matters."

Plasmius smiled satisfied at Danny, who was staring into the mirror with wide eyes, as though trying to will it to show him another picture. No. No no no no! I can't be a ghost, he repeated like a mantra in his head, not wanting to believe what was so obviously true. I don't want to be a ghost. I want to be human again! And then it happened. A bright ring of light formed around his waist, splitting in two and travelling over his body - one up and one down - inverting the white and black of the jumpsuit he wore, turning his hair back to black and his glowing eyes back to their usual blue. He yelped in shock and stumbled a few steps back until Vlad put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from moving. Danny whipped his head up to look at the older man as a pair of very similar rings originated around the ghost king, changing his appearance as well. In front of Danny now stood a seemingly normal human with blue eyes and long grey hair which had been pulled back in a ponytail. He also wore an expensive looking business suit and - Danny would've laughed hadn't he had more important things on his mind - more eyeliner than his sister or mother ever would have dared. The now normally skinned human standing there presented another creepy smile.

"We are the same now, Daniel. Nothing will ever be able to separate us again."

The confidence in which the words were spoken send a shiver down Danny's spine.

"I-I don't understand." he said.

Was he a ghost that could look like a human?

"You and I, Daniel, we are special."

"Special?"

"Like me, you are now half-ghost and half-human."

He was now at the point where his mind didn't offer much of an reaction anymore. He just stood there, eyes fixed on the image of the two humans in the mirror in front of him. Two human beings. Two ghostly beings. Human and ghost, both species united in one.

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

It had only been one week since the incident. No one really knew what exactly had happened. Most people were saying it had been a technical fault, some believed it had actually had something to do with ghosts, though these theories weren't very popular. There were also some that thought someone had caused the explosion on purpose, even though there had not been a lot of evidence, much less anything that would indicate such a thing. But there was one thing she knew for sure. She couldn't say why, but she just knew that Danny was alive. The police said he had been inside the house at the time, yet there hadn't been a body. She didn't know what had happened, or where he might be, but she would find out. She would see him again and when she did, she was never going to let him go again.

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

The training he had to go through was hard. The occasional experiments he had to endure were annoying and uncomfortable. The physical abuse and torture he suffered were painful. But the worst part about being stuck in a castle with Vlad Plasmius was that he had no idea what had happened to his friends and family since he had been taken those three months ago. The first time he had asked the older halfa about his family, he had gotten an earful and the instruction to never ask about them again, because, "Daniel, you have a new family now." The second time he had asked, he had received a beating that had made the message quite clear. He had not dared asking a third time. So, on top of worrying about what mood Plasmius might be in today, and how he could avoid as many bruises and punishments as he could, he also had to worry about his parents, sister and his two best friends. The other ghosts that he sometimes met in the castle that worked for Plasmius either didn't know anything or weren't allowed to tell him. But that didn't mean they knew nothing. He had learned several very useful facts about the build of the castle, its location, security and who he could trust and ask for help. This lead to Danny and the other ghosts that were tired of Plasmius' reign to form a plan of dethroning the evil king. So far though, he had only told one of them about his true heritage, so for now the others had agreed upon making Danny king, or at least prince until he would be of age. It wasn't what he'd had in mind for his future, but until a new heir could be found, he would have to do as placeholder.
More weeks of silent planning and training with Vlad went by, when he was put through another row of weird tests. Vlad told him they were necessary due to the lack of stability his ghost core possessed, but half of the things he had to do could never have anything to do with this. Then again, until their plan could be put in action, he did not have a choice but to do exactly as the older halfa asked. Afterwards, he was in his room, going through a book about the system of law in the ghost zone, when Vlad entered the room, sending an accusing glare in Danny's direction.

"Daniel. We need to talk."

He hurriedly stood up and turned around. Had he found out? Were all their plans ruined because someone had spoken? He hoped not; it was all he could do.

"I just went through last test's results."

Danny let out a soundless breath. So it was something else. Maybe something was wrong with his ghost half. Could it be removed if it all became too dangerous?

"And I came upon something that should make you forget your old... family once and for all."

Now Danny was holding his breath again. He did not know what to expect. All he knew was that it could not be good.

"I compared your DNA to Jack Fenton's."

Danny noted how he did not say your father, but Jack Fenton. It seemed to be incredibly hard for Vlad to call anyone but himself Danny's family. The ghost king had been too lonely for too long. It must have damaged him beyond repair.

"He is not your real father. I checked Maddie's as well. Both are not your birth parents."

Danny's eyes widened.

"What? But that's impossible! What about Jazz?" he asked incredulously.

"Her DNA shows that she is Maddie and Jack Fenton's daughter by blood."

He had no idea how Vlad had DNA samples of his family members or if he was telling the actual truth, but if he was... that meant he must have been... adopted? Why would his parents never tell him? Had Jazz been informed about this? He was pulled out of his thoughts when Vlad took a few steps to close their distance and put a firm hand on his shoulder. From experience, Danny knew that should he try to escape from the grip or move much at all he would end up with another painful bruise and perhaps even additional punishment.

"Daniel," Vlad loved using these dramatic pauses in his speech. "Have you known about this? Have the Fentons ever informed you that you were adopted?"

Danny inwardly winced at the way he said the name Fentons like Danny wasn't one of them anymore. He slowly shook his head to answer the man's question.

"I hope you are speaking the truth. It would be inappropriate for a future king to lie, now wouldn't it?"

You're one to speak, Danny thought grimly. Neither of them said anything more after that. Vlad released the younger halfa's shoulder and left Danny alone in his room that wasn't really his. It wasn't home. That night, Danny cried himself to sleep, praying that he was going to get out of there and see his family again. And soon.

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

I do not own Danny Phantom or any of its characters. Neither do I own Young Justice or any of the DC Universe characters.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'd really appreciate it to receive a few votes and comments from you guys. :) Please tell me what you think!

FaHa