Okay, so this was voted for, and so I wrote it!
Summary: Clockwork is evil, and TUE never happened, because Danny returned the test answers. The Observants still want Danny gone. Clockwork also wants Danny. In his bed.
Warnings: NSFW, yaoi, explicit, yadda yadda, don't let the kiddies read.
Story!
STARTO!
Danny drifted through a haze of blackness, head spinning as he tried to gain some bearings on his location. He was lying on something very soft, almost silky, he felt the silk beneath his fingers, and it was warm. Pleasantly warm.
He opened his eyes. The room was dim, but the halfa was able to glance about the room, seeing very old-fashioned furniture. The bed he was on was a canopy bed, the dark red curtains drawn back, and he was dressed in dark blue silk pajamas. Thoroughly freaked out, Danny got up and, finding a pair of dark blue slippers near the bed, he made his way to the giant doors, pulling one open.
The hallway he walked down was enormous, and for a moment he was reminded of the fairytale his sister used to read to him, in an effort to make his childhood semi-normal. It was about a troll who invited children into his house to play, and when it was time to leave they had to give him something of theirs so he could remember them. By the story's end, the picture of the troll included so many left shoes, hats, scarves, dolls, and other ridiculous things that the picture itself made him collapse in laughter. Right now, he wished he was back in bed, five years old again, listening as Jazz made a growling voice for the troll.
He stopped when he saw the numerous portraits up on the walls. One was of a ghost, wearing a bright purple cloak with a pin that resembled a mechanical gear. His eyes were red, but to Danny's surprise they looked very calm and kind. He had a scar over his left eye. The plaque underneath the portrait read: Clockwork.
"Clockwork?" Danny murmured, clutching his arms tightly around himself. He'd never heard of Clockwork before, and he felt an unease building up in his stomach.
He continued to walk, glancing at the different portraits that lined the hall. He reached the end, and found himself in front of another pair of giant doors. He breathed in softly, and pushed them open.
"Hello Danny." The voice made him jump and shudder at the same time. Deep, baritone, and sweet, with something just under it. Power. He crept forward, in awe of the room he'd just stepped into.
It was full of gears, huge ones, small ones, all manner of mechanics, resembling what a clocktower would look like designed by MC Usher. A figure was standing in front of a gear that looked like a TV, a scene playing out on it.
"I see you are up. Did you sleep well?" The figure turned, and Danny was startled; it was the guy from the portrait, Clockwork. He had a kind smile on his lips, and a staff in his hand held a tiny clock in its prongs. Danny moved forward, glancing around the room as he approached the ghost.
"I...uh, yeah. I did. Are you Clockwork?" The ghost smiled and nodded.
"I am. The Time Keeper, Recorder of Reality, any other name the Observants have given me over the millenia." Suddenly, Clockwork shifted, and Danny's jaw dropped as he was left staring at an old man, with a long white beard that trailed below his tail.
"What-Huh-What-What-WHAT?" Danny stumbled backwards, his eyes wide. The old man ghost chuckled.
"I am not just the controller of time, Danny. I am time itself. For me, time moves forwards, and backwards, and-" At the confused and blank expression on the boy's face, he sighed. "Oh, forget it. You're fourteen, why would I try to explain it to you?"
Danny smiled, his unease fleeing. Clockwork was so...human. He acted like a real human being, and that put Danny at ease, because Clockwork seemed so nice. He stood closer to the ghost, blinking at the screens as Clockwork's hand came up and planted itself on his head, rubbing at a sore spot on his head that made him wince.
"Ow, what the?" He touched the spot, felt something like crumbs, and pulled his hand away. There was dried blood on his fingertips. "What happened to me?"
Clockwork leaned over him. "That is something I was hoping you could tell me. I found you floating nearby my home, and when I saw you were injured, I brought you back to nurse you." He held up some bandages that had green ectoplasm on them. "But, I saw something very odd happen. While I was tending to you, you appeared to change forms."
Danny froze; he did not make it a habit to let ghosts know about his human state. He was panicking, unable to form words to make an excuse, when Clockwork ran his fingers through the teen's hair again, which calmed him down quickly.
"No need to fret. I know your secret, Danny, but I also know how you have used your powers to help protect people. You are a hero. Why would I, the protector of time, want to ruin that?" The words Clockwork spoke, accompanied by the soothing rubbing motions, lulled Danny to a drowsy state. He leaned against the ghost, feeling utterly content, when his neck began to itch. He reached to scratch it - and froze when he felt the large collar enclosed around his throat. He backed away from Clockwork, and pulled at the collar, feeling his panic rise up again.
"Clockwork, as I wearing this when you found me?" He asked the ghost. The Time Keeper nodded.
"Of course." Danny felt confusion welling up, because he couldn't remember anything that had happened before he'd woken up, but at Clockwork's next words he felt his mind go numb in shock.
"I put it on you."
End chapter one.