Author's Note: Special thanks to Pixiegirl13 for beta-reading this for me!

The eerie castle's lighting did nothing to soften the hard, jagged angles his opponent's face had. The shadows cast by the man's cloak only made the glowing red eyes more apparent. Danny fidgeted tensely under his gaze, tracing a scar with his own eyes. It was hard to tell how long ago it had been inflicted, but it looked old. Then again, so did his opponent. He looked very old.

The silence stretched on, and Danny glanced back at his hand of cards. His own faint glow—an ethereal combination of silvers and greens—was casting just enough light for him to see that he had a tricky hand. It could be very good for him if he played his next move right, but it could just as easily go horribly wrong. He wasn't Vlad, with his twenty-years of training in strategy and experience. Danny was just a kid. He was just Danny, and this match was too serious to trust to luck alone; after all, luck had failed him too many times for him to trust easily.

Luck would simply have to be made. And he could do that—after all, he was Danny Phantom.

"… Made up your mind, yet?" Danny asked slowly, pulling on a smirk that he hoped hid some of his tension.

His opponent's eyes flickered to him for a moment, before looking back down at his own cards. When he spoke, his old voice sounded as calm as it always did, but Danny thought he noticed that his face was just a bit too expressionless. Or maybe it wasn't—it was hard to tell.

After all, Clockwork had a very good poker face. "I'll take your threes."

Danny let the pent up air in his chest explode out in a sigh of relief, a real smile already on his face. "Go fish! Man, that was close! Got any Jacks?"

Clockwork's form shifted abruptly to that of a tiny child, but he didn't seem to notice except to adjust his smaller grip on his cards. "I haven't drawn my card yet, Danny. You don't know if I'll draw what I asked for."

Danny's tension returned with a vengeance, and he sat up straight in his chair. "Oh, crud…" He muttered.

Clockwork seemed to be taking his sweet time, now, and was wearing a surprisingly smug smirk of his own. Danny had just enough time to wonder how long had the pleasantries been tossed aside in favor of both of them focusing on the game, before the card was drawn and slowly lifted to his opponent's eye level.

Clockwork's smirk faded, and the card was carefully put into place by small hands.

"… Hm. Not a three."

The elation was back, and Danny pumped his free fist into the air. "Whoo-hoo! Alright, Clockwork—got any Jacks?"

Clockwork was already holding the card in question in his direction, poker face still gone. "The Chinese were foolish to invent paper…" He muttered, though Danny could tell he probably wasn't really as bothered as he acted.

"This is fun. If I'd known I had a chance at beating you at cards I would have come to visit much sooner." Danny laughed, taking the card and uniting it with its three brothers. Once that was done he put the cards face-down on his chair's arm-rest, watching with interest as they started floating.

Clockwork's inexplicably gravelly voice (he was a child now, wasn't he?) became a touch more solemn. "I may be the Master of Time, Danny, but I wouldn't use my powers to cheat at a game of cards. Especially against you."

"What, scared I might beat you anyway and cause a paradox?" Danny joked, mood vaguely affected by his seriousness.

"No, not particularly." Clockwork looked up from his cards. "You're my charge and my responsibility. I would be setting a wrong example if I used my powers so irresponsibly."

Danny's smile faded to a reluctantly thoughtful look. "What does that mean?"

"What does what mean?"

"You being responsible for me. My being your charge. You've, uh, helped me a couple of times, and I'm glad and all that you did, but is this 'responsibility thing' official?" Danny leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, not noticing Clockwork tracking his card-hand with his eyes for a moment. "I mean, what does that make you, my ghost-zone lawyer?"

"Perhaps. If the timeline requires me to be, then I will."

"Then what are you the rest of the time? You said I was your charge, so does that mean you're my unofficial godfather, or something? Vlad's my real godfather, but in four words, 'he's a fruit-loop'."

Clockwork nodded. "In short, you're wondering how this responsibility will affect you personally." He put his free hand to his chin, tiny hands rubbing the baby-smooth skin in an unconscious habit.

Danny looked uncomfortable. "Well, yeah, sort of. But it probably affects you too, right? I mean…"

Clockwork made a small waving motion, regarding the half-ghost seriously. "All of time is my responsibility. You are an incredibly strong person in your own right, Danny, and even if you hadn't become a half-ghost, the roles you play in the flow of time would have still carried their own weight. It is my duty to oversee the paths that fate decides the timeline will follow, and to interfere to prevent catastrophes that could eventually lead to widespread destruction." Clockwork let go of his cards to steeple his fingers, ignoring how the stiff papers floated in the air right where he left them.

Danny tried not to fidget under the 'child's' heavy gaze, but it was difficult. Looking for some way to occupy his hands, he reached for a toffee floating in a bowl beside the pond-deck. "I still don't really get it…"

Clockwork nodded as though he'd expected that response (which he probably had.) "The Observants have decided that because I spared your life I am now responsible for your actions. They expect me to ensure that you will never become your evil self in this reality."

Danny shuddered and put the toffee in his mouth, using the sweet as an excuse to avoid speaking. He knew it was probably irrational to have such a strong reaction to a mere memory, but the very thought of his alter ego left him feeling pale and ill.

Clockwork continued, his weathered voice sounding grim. "I take my duty very seriously, Danny. I have seen many futures, and I've seen the horrors your evil future self can bring. If I have to go back a thousand years to do it, I will make sure he never exists."

Danny lifted his gaze from his floating cards, his previous good mood completely gone. He hesitated a few moments before talking, and when he spoke his voice was hollow. "Even if I die in the process." He said it like it was a fact, not a question.

Clockwork nodded. "Yes."

"Well… that just made my day." Danny mumbled, leaning back heavily in his chair.

"Don't get me wrong, Danny." Clockwork said carefully. "The fact that I'm prepared to do whatever it takes does not mean that I want to, or that I even expect things to get that far."

"Really." Danny stared broodingly at his knees, folding his arms to hide the fact that the conversation had started them shaking. It was stupid for him to feel this much dread from a conversation about something that wouldn't even happen. After all, he'd promised it wouldn't, and he knew it was a promise he would keep—the mere thought that he might not was something to keep him awake at night, shivering and closing his eyes to the shadows of his room.

"You've already made several decisions that have changed your life forever." Clockwork pointed out quietly. "You still have your teacher, your friends, and your family."

"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that cheating on one test can easily lead me to become a mass murderer." Danny replied.

"Time is not a slide in a playground. There is no ladder to climb, and no single path down."

Danny folded his arms, squashing the urge to point his C-average grades out. "And what does that mean?"

"It means that that one test was only one part of a larger pattern. Once you took the easy way out the first time, taking it again became easier. Because the test was as important to you as it was, the smaller, less important-seeming decisions you found ways to cheat on seemed like less of a problem. By the time you underwent the procedure that resulted in your counterpart, your will to do what was right was weak enough that you easily overcame it." Clockwork paused. "The test was a turning point because of your reasons for cheating, not because you cheated in itself; it is possible that you could have cheated and not become what you did. It is also possible that you could have not cheated and still been broken."

"Great." Danny muttered, drawing his feet up onto the chair. His cards drifted lifelessly beside his chair, the game entirely forgotten. "So anything can make me evil. Anything can…" He swallowed and left the sentence unfinished.

"Yes. However, good deeds are also a part of a pattern. Doing the right thing is a goal you have been fighting for constantly, even at the cost of your health and grades. As things stand now, it is unlikely you will become him."

"But that doesn't mean I can't."

"No."

"Then there's still the danger. Everyone could still die, or even just leave, and I could still turn into him."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Danny." Clockwork's form shifted from child to adult, but neither time-master nor half-ghost paid it any attention. "You're dangerous, and you need to be aware of that."

Danny didn't reply, slouching in his chair and avoiding the other ghost's gaze. He was aware of it. He knew he would be aware of it for the rest of his life, even if the nightmares did eventually stop.

The large, shadowy room was filled with nothing but the sounds of the gears of the castle for several entire minutes before either of them moved or spoke again. Clockwork left his own chair and floated towards Danny's. When he reached the boy he put a purple-gloved hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. Danny's head snapped up in surprise at the touch, but quickly looked away as he scrubbed his face dry with a sleeve.

Clockwork's voice was still gravelly, but it was softer than before. "Don't think that your future is sealed. We are fortunate that your potential is as great as it is. The futures I have seen where you dedicate yourself to good have been peaceful and prosperous."

Danny swallowed, trying to steady his voice. "Then I've got to work towards those."

Clockwork squeezed his shoulder again, before letting go. "You will. People are what they are in habit. You have already formed a pattern that works for you. Time will tell where it is that it takes you, and because you know what could happen you are more likely to make the right decisions."

Danny nodded, taking a deep breath. He was still cold, and his sleeves were wet from sweat and tears he had rubbed off, but his resolve had deepened. While he still felt sick, he was also feeling calm. It was a cold calm, yes, and a frightened calm, but it was something he could cling to. With that in mind he looked up and met Clockwork's gaze. "I know. And I'm going to keep working at it. He's—he's never going to be real." His fists clenched. "I've said it and promised it and sworn and everything already—there's nothing else to say about it. In fact, this subject doesn't even exist. Can we talk about something else, now?"

For a moment Danny thought he glimpsed an odd, fleeting grin on Clockwork's face, but the ghost had turned back towards his chair before he could be sure. By the time the ghost was seated and facing forward again his face was serious, though fortunately not quite as serious as it had been just a few minutes ago.

"Nines." Said Clockwork casually.

Danny blinked, not understanding.

"Do you have any nines?" Clockwork repeated calmly, taking his cards from where they had been floating as though the entire conversation hadn't even happened.

Danny blinked again, before looking from side to side for his cards. He found his book-of-Jacks where it had drifted a foot or so to the left, and his cards were lazily swaying above and a little behind him. "Right… uh, here." He worked the three numbered cards in question out, dimly registering disappointment in having failed to complete the set. While Clockwork set his new book to one side, Danny reached for another toffee, trying to think of something to say that might put the previous conversation further behind them. "This toffee's good. To tell the truth, I don't think I've ever seen a ghost eat. Besides me, but I don't exactly count for that..."

"Ghosts eat if they want to." Clockwork said absently, now studying his cards for his next move. "Where do you think I got them?"

Danny shrugged, speaking around a mouthful. "I dunno. Ghost Foods R' Us?"

Clockwork looked up at him. "Try Constanti—actually, it's Istanbul now. It was Constantinople when I got it. Do you have any twos?"

Danny choked at his words, but nearly suffocated and wound up swallowing the toffee anyway. "W-what! You mean you've had these for—uh—that long!?"

Clockwork raised an eyebrow. "I'm the Master of Time."

Danny took a moment to process this, before he covered his face with a hand. "Oh. Right."

Clockwork snorted, looking highly amused. "Now—twos?"

Danny lowered his hand, still blushing. "… Damnit, you get three cards again—you're not using your powers or something, are you?"

Clockwork smiled as he took the cards. "Danny, I thought I already told you: I would never use my powers to cheat." He then glanced pointedly down at Danny's hand, which had sunk down to rest on his knees again. The tops of the cards were leaning back, and if they'd moved any farther they would have been visible.

Danny snatched his hand up protectively. "Hey! No fair, plain looking is still cheating!"

"I never said I cheated. What's to say I haven't merely been making good guesses?"

"Come on, Clockwork, that's two way-good cards in a row! Admit it!"

"I will not."

"Give, or I'm taking your toffee!"

"I can get more."

Danny held a demanding hand out, and Clockwork gave him his cards with a smirk. The boy went through the motions of reshuffling irritably, muttering to himself while he did, but he knew he wasn't really angry. Clockwork had promised, in some way, to help him keep his future self from ever happening. The weight of responsibility, which had seemed overwhelmingly heavy before, was just the smallest bit lighter.

Not gone, but at the very least lighter, and for now that was enough.