guestsurprise, who owns Cassie and Vamps, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy!

I only own Rachel and the Grant Mansion. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man Of Action. Also, parts of this story were inspired by the Disney movie "The Jungle Book", where Mowgli runs into Kaa again after running away from Baloo. I don't own "The Jungle Book". Also, there is a mention of guestsurprise's other story "Let Me Cheer You Up."

Never Be Afraid Of Family

Cassie gazed around, sighing in relief when she didn't see Vamps around. She had just gotten back from another rough day at school and really didn't want to talk to the Vladat for fear of what he'd do.

She wasn't scared of him, exactly. It was his hypnosis that scared her. She had seen what he could do from one time he had hypnotized some bullies that had chased her to the Mansion. Vamps had hypnotized them to make sure they didn't know where they were or why they were at the Grant Mansion. Seeing how he could do that terrified the twelve-year-old. What if he did that to her sometime? That seemed like a silly question because she knew he'd never hurt her in any way, but that didn't put her at ease. She turned around and found herself face to face with Vamps and she jumped back with a startled yelp.

"Vamps, you scared me," she said, taking a moment to catch her breath.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "I seem to scare you quite a bit, little one," he said. "Seems all this week I have scared you and haven't meant to."

She heard the suspicion in his voice. "Well," she stammered. "You're really good at scaring people."

He stepped towards her and she jumped back, looking alarmed. "Cassie, why are you acting afraid of me?" he asked her.

"I'm not afraid of you," she said quickly, realizing he was now more suspicious.

"Really?" he asked. "Then why are you acting like I'm about to hurt you?"

Cassie shook her head. "You'd never hurt me, would you, Vamps?" she asked, a bit unsure.

Vamps now looked dead serious. "Alright, Cassie, what is going on?" he asked a bit sternly. "Why are you afraid of me?"

"I'm-I'm not," she stammered, but backed up when he reached for her.

"Cassie," he said, his voice still a little stern. "Either you tell me or…,"

"NO!" she shrieked fearfully, giving him a start. "Don't do it!"

"Do…what?" he asked. "Cassie, I'd never harm you, if that's what you think I was going to do."

She shook her head and Vamps fell into thought and noticed how the twelve-year-old was mostly avoiding his gaze. That alone clued him in. "You're afraid of my hypnosis power, aren't you?" he asked.

Feeling caught, Cassie tried to think her way out of it. "That doesn't scare me," she denied quickly.

Vamps didn't look convinced. "You denied that a little too quickly," he observed.

She tried to put on a fearless face, but her resolve was crumbling a bit when he didn't believe her. "It's…it's true," she said, trying to sound convincing.

Vamps sighed a little. "Cassie, why are you lying to me?" he finally asked.

Caught, the young girl looked terrified and quickly ran off. Vamps would have flown after her, but the look of fear she had on her face when she glanced over her shoulder to see if he was following made him freeze. He knew right then that she was terrified of his hypnosis.

"Vamps?" asked Rachel. "What's going on?"

The Vladat turned to her. "I fear Cassie is not completely comfortable around me," he said a bit sadly.

"What do you mean?" asked the blonde girl, looking confused. "You're her uncle and she knows you'd help keep her safe. Why would she suddenly be afraid of you now?"

"She's not scared of me, but rather she's afraid because of my hypnosis."

The owner of the Grant Mansion looked stunned and then understanding came to her. "Because she's seen what you can do with your hypnosis? Like make someone forget something?" she asked.

Vamps nodded. "I'd never use my hypnosis like that on her," he said and looked at her. "I've never done that to you, have I?"

Rachel shook her head. "The one time you used hypnosis on me was to help me sleep after I had a bad day with work and Ken had bothered me. Whampire was with you, but you two just wanted to make sure I'd sleep well," she said. "And a month ago, when I was injured from that battle with the Knights and she kept running away from me as she felt guilty, you used your hypnosis to calm her down, but that was because you felt there wasn't another option."

He nodded. "I need to convince Cassie that I'd never use my hypnosis on her unless it was absolutely necessary, such as an incident like that," he said. "But how?"

"Do what you do best," Rachel suggested. "Show her that she never has to be afraid of her family."

Vamps lit up. "Thank you, Rachel," he said, hugging her. "You just gave me a great idea."

Cassie was laying on her bed trying to get a scene she was thinking about in her head. She didn't want Vamps to hypnotize her and make her do things or erase some of her memory. She was about to get up and make sure the door was locked when Vamps came in. Letting out a sharp scream of surprise, Cassie jumped back. Vamps, seeing she was trying to escape, locked the door and readied himself to catch her. "Cassie," he said. "Come here."

She shook her head, her face filled with absolute fear. She then saw his hand glow green and she tried to move, but he had a good hold on her with his telekinesis and he gently moved her to stand in front of him. She quickly turned away, but he moved so that she was facing him again. "Cassie, let me look at you, little one," he said, lifting her chin up and having her gaze into his eyes as he started his hypnosis.

Cassie saw the swirls and immediately pulled away, covering her eyes and turning away from him, cupping her hands around her eyes to act as blinders. "If you won't let me look at you, then you'll look at me," he said gently as he placed on hand on her head and turned her around gently to look at him as he started his hypnosis again. The twelve-year-old covered her eyes and squirmed out of his grasp, but he grabbed her wrist in a firm, but gentle grip and she looked afraid as she tried to escape. He then pulled her gently to him and she turned around so that she wasn't facing him, but he placed an arm around her waist, hugging her to him. "Cassie, calm down, little one," he said gently.

She shook her head. "I don't want you to hypnotize me," she admitted.

"I know you're afraid of it," he said, his voice still gentle. "But, do you trust me?"

Cassie tried to get away. "Yes, I trust you," she said.

"Enough to let me help you?" he asked as he moved to behind her after letting her go, using his telekinesis to have a blanket wrap around her ankle, which she was now undoing while trying to stay upright.

"But that would mean using your hypnosis, right?" she asked, looking around for him.

"Possibly," he said from behind her, making her jump and she clapped her hands over her eyes, peeking out at him through her fingers. She looked so cute peeking out at him that he had to smile. "Cassie, I can show you that you never have to be ever afraid of me or my powers," he said, coming up to her and seeing her eyes close completely. He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Will you give me a chance to, little one?"

She took a chance and pulled her hands away from her eyes. "How are you going to do that?" she asked.

He smiled. "There's one way I know," he said and pulled her to him with her back to his chest. Holding her in a gentle bear hug, he gently dragged her to her bed and sat down with her in his lap and began tickling her sides, making her immediately laugh.

"NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" she pleaded.

He chuckled. "Your laughter is just too cute, kiddo," he said as he kept tickling her. She tried to escape, but he had no trouble keeping her trapped in his arms. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! NOT THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!" she laughed out.

"But it makes that cute laughter of yours just grow," he teased her in a sing-song voice. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo! I've got a very ticklish girl in my arms and she's not getting away."

Cassie tried to get free, but it was useless and she laughed as Vamps found another tickle spot of hers on her back. She found out, as he did, that her shoulder blades were very ticklish and he showed no mercy, making her laugh even harder until he saw tears beginning to form in her eyes, which convinced him she was at her limit and he stopped, letting her lean back into his chest and guiding her head to rest on his shoulder and he stroked her head affectionately. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?" he asked.

She smiled and looked at him. "Better," she said and looked away in shame. Vamps gently turned her head to face him again.

"Cassie, you never have to be afraid of me," he said. "I would never, in any way, hurt you."

She nodded. "I know," she said. "I'm sorry."

He gently shook his head. "No apology needed," he said gently as he playfully rubbed his nose against her nose, making her giggle and hug him. He held her and rubbed her back, gently rocking her. It wasn't long before she was asleep and he smiled, laying her down on her bed and covering her with her favorite blanket, giving her an affectionate kiss on the forehead before leaving her to dream peacefully in the land of dreams.

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GoldGuardian2418