Disclaimer: I do not own any of the mentioned characters or song.
Dedicated to xXDeathByDiscoXx encouraging me to write a father/son version of this wonderful story.
Warning: spoilers for Eye for an Eye
They're gonna clean up your looks Because the drugs never work They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me The boys and girls in the clique
With all the lies on the books
To make a citizen out of you
Because they sleep with a gun
And keep an eye on you son
So they can watch all the things you do
They're gonna give you a smirk
Cause they got methods
Of keeping you clean
They're gonna rip off your heads
Your aspirations to shreds
Another cog in the murder machine
They could care less as long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes
Or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone
But not me
The awful names that they stick
You're never gonna fit in much kid
But if you're troubled and hurt
What you got under your shirt
Will make them pay for the things that they did
Teenagers by My Chemical Romance
Vlad Masters did not know what had possessed him to agree to the "week with the mayor" program. Maybe he had just had a hectic day and wasn't thinking straight. Maybe it was to make a good impression; taking in a kid and showing them the ropes of and sharing his home for a week would make him look good. Whatever the reason was, he now regretted it big time.
If he had known it'd be the only person he didn't want above all others, he never would've agreed to it.
Young Daniel Fenton seemed against the thing from the start too. Jack, the big oaf, put him up to it. However, the teenager quickly learned how he could now take advantage of Vlad's "polite" behavior in public. The little brat almost ruined him as he was forced to keep him happy else the press would hear of how Danny was "mistreated".
At home the young hybrid mostly just had the servants make him outrageous desserts and played video games.
Vlad shivered at how troublesome he was while he was working. Danny had completely rearranged his office. Kittens weren't exactly his style. Not to mention the never-ending "whatcha doing now Vlad?"
Daniel nearly drove him insane on the first day!
Danny seemed to think it was necessary to go out on the town to the arcade, mall, theater, and anywhere else. He made Vlad play every single game with him in the arcade.
The second day had been an all-out war. Vlad was determined not to let Danny go unpunished for yesterday. If he was going to be unreasonable he'd have to face the consequences.
After the first prank, Danny took the "two can play that game" philosophy and readied himself for battle.
By the end of the day both of the hybrids had gotten water dumped on them, fell down the stairs when one of the steps became intangible, had "kick me" signs stuck to their backs, and triggered several booby traps.
It was an exhausting trying to humiliate someone constantly.
The next day Daniel slept in very late. Vlad guessed that yesterday really did wear the kid out. He had dropped in to tell him it was time for breakfast when he saw the teen laying fast asleep. His expression was so…peaceful. He had never seen Daniel this relaxed around him.
The billionaire had felt a tug at his heart at seeing the boy. He ignored it and shut the door.
At lunch Vlad took back every thought he had about Danny being "innocent" when he saw him sleeping. He did nothing but complain at the "icky" food he was being forced to eat. He obviously needed to learn some manners.
Vlad was ashamed to say he lost his temper. No one had ever managed to get under his skin, except maybe Jack, as Daniel did.
"You're not leaving this table until all your food on your plate is gone!"
"At least I have better taste than you! And don't even think about pulling that lecture crap on me about how people in Africa are starving and would be grateful for this food!"
Vlad's eyes glowed bright red.
"You are in my house and as long as you are you shall obey my rules!"
It had happened in an instant; Danny had picked up the plate of food and said, "Fine! If I can't leave the table until my plate is empty then here!"
The plate had struck Vlad dead in the face.
Somehow, the whole thing had evolved into a full-fledged food fight. Danny hid behind a chair while Vlad was armed with various fruits behind a corner.
Vlad threw an apple which splattered against the wall.
"Ha! You missed fruitloop!"
Vlad had triumphantly hit him in the face after that remark with an orange.
Five minutes later Vlad was covered with egg yoke and green beans. Danny had bruises from fruits and grape juice on his chest.
After Danny ran out of things to throw, he tried to sneak over to the table to reload but Vlad saw him and pounced. They fell to the floor and rolled around trying to get the upper hand.
"Fruitloop!"
"Poptart!" (poptart is not my creation I do not take credit for this insult for Danny)
Then, all activity ceased when both half-ghosts looked up to find a maid in the doorway. She had blushed, apologized quickly and went out of the room.
Danny looked at Vlad. Vlad looked at Danny.
Then, as if it had been the most natural thing to do, they both started to laugh.
It had to be the most fun Vlad had ever had in his whole life. Things were pretty interesting with Daniel around.
Danny got up and started to clean the mess when Vlad told him it was unnecessary and his staff would get right on it.
"But it's my fault, besides, I haven't got anything else to do."
After soaking that in, Vlad awkwardly began helping him. It was weird, he had never had to do house work since his college days.
Danny started to hum "Say a Little Prayer For You" while he worked.
Vlad looked over at him questionably. Jack had always sung that song when cleaning. It had always drove him up the wall.
"Ah, come on Vladdie! It's fun to sing!"
He remembered how he secretly sung that song to himself when Jack wasn't around.
Vlad joined in silently.
"Forever, and ever, you'll be in my heart."
Danny looked at the older man surprised. But it melted away into a smile.
That smile signified the beginning of something. Vlad had always wanted him to smile at him like that and treat him not as an enemy, but as a figure close to his heart.
Vlad smiled back.
"You look better when you smile Vlad, you should do it more often."
The staff of the house didn't know what to think. Mr. Masters had never acted so oddly. Fist the various pranks around the house, then the food fight, and now a dog!
If there was one ting they knew, it was Vlad Masters did not give something for nothing. It had something to do with the boy….
Danny had been so thrilled when Vlad took him to the pet shop the very next day. He had went straight to the dog section as soon as he stepped foot into the store.
The puppies yipped with excitement and crawled over each other.
Danny picked up a golden retriever. It wiggled and licked his face.
"Cut it out!" he laughed.
Vlad stood not too far off behind him. He had watched Danny play with the puppies. It was amazing how he could be so happy just from a simple animal.
"Having fun Daniel?"
"Yeah! You know, you should go look at he cats, they might have something for you!"
Vlad's eyebrow twitched.
When it was time to go Danny had reluctantly set the pup back down. He really didn't want to leave it.
Vlad had no idea what cam over him, but it just took over him.
He bought Danny the stupid dog. He'd keep it at his house since Jack and Maddie would never allow it at their house. It gave Danny a reason to come visit.
The pair of them stayed up playing DOOMED. Vlad wasn't used to losing at anything. He had yelled at least six different kinds of candy.
"Vlad, why do you always yell out 'sugar cookie!' and 'fudge buckets!' instead of cursing?"
The question had honestly startled him. No one ha ever inquired the nature of his method of cursing before.
"I suppose it's because one day when I was cooking with my mo I cut my finger with a knife. I started to yell out a swear word when she gave me the sternest look; I said the only thing I could think of instead. There happened to be a jar of cookies in front of me at the time so I said 'Sugar cookie!'" (again not mine, got idea from pic on deviantart)
It had been he first time he'd opened up to anyone. It felt nice.
The fifth day was a catastrophe. It started out nice, as all days do sometimes, but by the end of it Vlad and Danny's relationship had turned back to square one.
Danny had gotten bored of his video games and took to roaming the house. As if by chance, he had tripped over the rug and crashed into a table. Fate seemed to have hated him for that table held a priceless vase. Danny could never have been able to jump in time to save it. The resounding crash echoed through the house.
"Daniel what was—OMG!"
"Um…oops?"
"Oops? You broke my vase and all you can say is oops?"
Vlad gathered the pieces to him though he knew it could not be save. He glared at the boy.
"I didn't mean to."
"Of coarse you didn't mean to! When do you ever mean to stumble or fall during a fight and by that you actually win?"
"Hey, I sorry okay? There's no need to get all defensive!"
"Defensive??? You break a priceless vase and you're calling me defensive?"
"I'll make it up to you!"
"What? By working for me? It'd take years."
Danny threw his arms in the air.
"Fine, then I won't!"
"Oh that's real mature Daniel; walk away from the messes you make!"
"Well whatdoya want me to do since I obviously don't have the money to pay you back!"
"Nothing, I'll just have to take back your dog."
"WHAT?? You can't do that!"
"I can and will."
Vlad turned his back on the boy.
Danny picked up a lamp nearby.
"One more move and I drop the lamp!"
Vlad stopped.
"You're not taking back Malcolm."
He pulled out his cell phone.
"I'm warning you Vlad—"
He pushed in the numbers to the pet shop.
"Hello? Yes I'd like to take back a dog."
CRASH!
The lamp lay on the floor in thousands of pieces.
"You're going to pay for that Daniel Fenton!"
"One move and I'll call the press, Vlad, and the next big headline will be 'Mayor Vlad Masters Sued for Child Abuse'".
"You wouldn't."
The smile on Danny's face told him otherwise.
The two avoided each other after the incident. When they passed in the halls Vlad knocked Danny over.
Danny made a call on Vlad's cell and ordered 500 boxes of fruitloops to be delivered to be house.
Things weren't looking good.
The next day was slow. They ate their meals quickly and quietly being very careful not to look at each other or make any eye contact.
The staff was starting to worry. The two seemed to be more irritated with each other than normal.
"DANIEL!!"
"Geez, what crawled up your butt and died??" Danny said looking up from his game.
"Look what your dog did to my favorite shirt!"
Vlad angrily shove the ruined shirt in front of Danny's face.
"Not my fault if you don't keep your door closed so he can't get in,"
"This cost me more than anything you'll probably ever own!"
Danny stood up and walked away.
"I'm talking to you!"
"Well go talk to someone else! Your voice annoys me!"
"Fine, I guess I'll just have to take the dog back."
Danny turned around abruptly; his eyes bright green.
"What is your freakin problem?? He's a puppy! He can't help it if he's not house-trained yet! And you should've closed your door!"
"Don't you dare blame this on me you insolent rat!"
"Fruitloop!"
"I AM NOT A FRUITLOOP!"
Vlad was seething with anger. Curse him, curse the dog, and curse the whole world!
Danny was silent for a moment then muttered, "fruitloop."
"AAARRRGGH!"
Vlad jumped on the unsuspecting Danny who leaped out of the way.
"Oh you wanna fight? Bring it on old man!"
The house was suffering terrible damage as ecto-blasts after ecto-blast was fired. Vlad didn't even seem to notice how one of his blasts completely destroyed his favorite chair.
Then, Danny suddenly stopped. A blast had hit him right in the chest. He doubled over and fell to the floor.
"OMG! Daniel!"
Danny didn't move. He couldn't even tell if he was breathing.
Vlad had rushed him to the hospital as fast as he could. All he could think of the whole time was if Danny was going to be okay. But he had to be okay!
He never left his side as he sat in a chair near the bed. Feelings of guilt ate at him.
Danny turned over and mumbled, "Vlad."
Vlad wondered what the boy was dreaming about.
The next few minutes were a blur. His family had been contacted and they soon arrived looking very worried.
Vlad gave them some alone time; he had no right to interfere. He decided to just go on home. Daniel would be fine without him.
Vlad didn't get any sleep that night. He stayed up cleaning the whole house. His lips moved slowly and softly as he sang.
XXXXXXXX
It was the last day. Vlad had Danny's luggage taken back to his house. He felt empty knowing Daniel wouldn't be staying with him anymore.
Danny was let out of the hospital the very next day. He was glad to be back with his family. But he couldn't help feeling there was something he needed to take care of.
It took courage but Danny finally willed himself to visit Vlad. He rang the door bell and waited.
"James get the door!" Vlad yelled.
Wait, it was their day off. He forgot. He got up reluctantly, and little annoyed, and opened the door.
"Daniel??"
"Hey Vlad." Danny said sheepishly.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to see Malcolm."
Oh yes, the dog. He was here to see the dog.
Vlad opened the door wider and let the boy in.
"Malcolm!"
The puppy ran straight to Danny. It was ecstatic to see him.
Vlad didn't really want to witness Danny playing with the pup, so he started to walk back to his study.
"Vlad?"
"Yes?"
Danny was looking down at the floor.
"I'm sorry for being such a—a brat to you."
Vlad was honestly shocked. Daniel was…apologizing to him?
"Daniel I—"
"No, don't say it's your fault because it wasn't. I was the one causing trouble. I was acting like a selfish brat. You took me in and all I did was complain and play pranks."
"You're right, you were an evil little brat."
"Hey, you weren't supposed to agree!"
Vlad smiled.
"Just joking my boy."
Danny smiled too.
They stood there for a couple minutes before Danny finally broke the ice.
"I was wondering if…I could come over for a hour or two each day."
Vlad blinked.
"You want to…come over? I'm sure Malcolm would be delighted but I thought—"
"No, it's not that." Danny interrupted. "It's just I broke that vase, and the lamp, so I just…"
Vlad understood now. He put his hand on his shoulder.
"I'll tell my staff you'll do all the cleaning from 3:15 to 4:00."
Danny smiled.
"Thanks Vlad."
"And another thing…if you ever sing that idiotic song again I'll make you wear a maid outfit."
Huh, that's funny. For some reason I'm more proud of this fic then the first version.