Dannies, Death, and Dates

Chapter 23

"Aren't... we... getting... close... yet?" Gage panted. 

They sped along a deserted highway. The moon watched them sleepily from behind shreds of cloud while they raced through the chill night air. 

"Getting close," Danny huffed back. "Besides... Aren't ghosts supposed to be immune to tiredness and stuff like that?"

"You don't look much better!" Gage gasped. They had barely slowed down they entire time, and it was starting to catch up to them. "Can we take a breather... for ... just... one second?"

Danny slowly slid to a halt in mid air. His eyes were locked restlessly forward, but he floated off to the side of the road. 

"Whew!" Gage sighed, collapsing on top of his skateboard and flexing his stiff legs. "I haven't had this much exercise since... well ever."

Danny transformed into his human self and sat next to Gage. For a moment, they sat in silence. The empty road seemed to stretch into infinity. Thousands of stars winked above them. But they couldn't enjoy it. 

"What was it like when you first met Dani?" Gage asked.

"Truthfully? It was one of the worst days of my life. Coming from me, that's saying something," Danny replied. "It just felt so wrong. She looked like me, she acted like me... but she shouldn't have existed!"

Involuntary anger sparked in Gage. He opened his mouth to retort, but Danny went on.

"But she did. She... well she kept showing up. It was like we're connected. And when she moved in with us I started to see it."

He sat in silence long enough for Gage to ask, "What?"

"She's not me. She's my clone. We have the same powers, the same look, the same interests even! But she's a different person. One time I was about to abandon a ghost in the middle of nowhere. We'd fought and I didn't feel any sympathy. But... she went back for it. She gave it a place in the zone, and still visits sometimes."

He looked absently down the empty road.

"Dani sees the good in people. And she has a way of bringing it out." 

"Then let's stop talking and bring her home." Gage said.

He hauled himself to his feet and held out a hand to Danny. He hesitated, then took it. 

"Why do you care?" he asked. "Why are you going this far to help her when you've only met a few times?"

"Because she brings out the good in me," Gage said, snapping his bard back onto the road. "And that's something I never want to lose."