Photographed Life

by Silvermoon34

What if Vlad and Danny were father and son? What if they were trying to become father and son again? Where they always enemies? Where they even in the same life time, or if they were, were they even related? What if the present, the cartoon, was just one life amoung many that the pair shared in their attempt to become father and son again? Read to find out.

Chapter One

Original Life; Medieval Ages

A/N: So, I am writing this story because I became curious as to why Vlad always called Danny his son in the show. I mean, outside of Vlad's borderline sadistic obsession with Danny and his "undying love" for Maddie. What if, as the summary states, Vlad and Danny were actually father and son but had just lost each other numerous times until they found each other again? What if the cartoon was just one of many lives?

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DANNY PHANTOM! THE SHOW AND ALL CHARACTERS ASSOCIATED WITH IT BELONG TO BUTCH HARTMAN. I only own the OCs.

This is not a fairy tale; this is a recounting of a story of a father that lost his son and son that lost his father numerous times, through many time streams. This is the beginning, the very start of their journey. I cannot alter the time stream too much, for if I did, it would rupture the rest of time. So, I am left to sit back and watch. For those of you who have met me but forgotten, and those that have yet to meet me and may soon, or those of you that will not meet me at all, I am Clock Work. I am the second oldest ghost in the span of time, but I figure you knew that, on some level.

I shall start this story as one would a winter's tale, for it is longer than a fairy tale. Whether it ends happily or not is decided and also in flux. I have begun the story already but I shall start again, for those of you not yet on the same page.

There was once a baker, a man who stood like a giant at six feet five hands tall. He moved with the grace of a cat, languid and smooth. He was respected, not because of his position because he was no different from the rest of those in the town where he lived, but because of who he was. He was a gentle man with raven wing hair that had elegant streaks of silver, with large, strong, calloused hands that moulded dough as though it were soft earth. He was quick with a smile and hard to enrage; but the few times he did let his anger loose, it was like a dragon's ire and his eyes lit up with a living fire.

One day, he went missing. He did not return from a short trip to visit the next town over until many winters later; four or five winters had passed, long and agonizing without his presence, his baked treats and breads. Many bakers had come and gone from that town but none could hold even a meager candle to his skills.

Then, a woman came to town. She was a sight; long, silver hair that shone as if made of moonlight. Her eyes were a brilliant green and her steps silent as the air they breathed. She wore a simple white and blue dress that almost seemed to float around her and at her side was a massive dog. She was beauty incarnate, it seemed. She set up shop in the man's abandoned bakery. .

"What do you think you are doing?" A man demanded. His form leaned towards a barrel that stood on two legs but was all muscle. His name was Jack Fenton and he held the spot of blacksmith, his beautiful wife the towns seamstress and their daughter a bright ball of curiosity, but she acted not of a child and instead a young lady.

The woman smiled serenely, as though the question were not so upfront, bordering rude and tactless, as Jack was so prone to being, and merely said,

"I am setting up the shop that my husband owns. He will be back soon. Not too long now. By the coming winter, he will be here. Until then, I will be cooking for him."

"Pardon me, good lady, but that just cannot be possible. Vlad had no interest in a family; he was only nineteen when he left! And the woman he was thinking of courting died four winters back from blood blossoms!"

"Oh? Such a poor dear. Well, I shall bid you good day, Master-"

"Oh, no. I am only the blacksmith. I am no fancy Master, Miss. That was Vlad." Jack laughed at his own joke and the woman chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Well, I am Lily. Lily Masters. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mister-"

Jack shook his head, a large hand, the size a anvils head, came up to stop her.

"If you are married to Vlad, then you have no need for titles! My name is Jack Fenton, my wife is the seamstress of the town. We live down the lane, in the house with the green door. We just had it painted." his chest puffed up with pride. And it was a beautiful door; a rich, emerald green. They had been saving for it for the last two and half years. Jack had presented it to Madelaine as a birthday gift.

"Well, thank you Jack. I shall stop by later with some bread if I can manage it. Good morrow." And with that, she went inside the bakery and cleaned, scrubbed, and poured bucket after bucket of dirty, cold water on the lawn outside until the stoves were clean, the counters shone like the sun and the floor was good enough to eat off.

Many helped Lily gather firewood, wheat and barley, among other ingredients. She was well loved, with a bell for a laugh that brought a smile to even the deepest frown. She was like her supposed husband; calm, quiet but with a rapier for a tongue when someone attempted to bully her. That quality did not do her much good but any that wished her harm had to get through a large wolf-like creature that she simply called 'Wulf'.

He was massive, big as a large wagon wheel and some swore they saw him stand of two legs at points and another woman swore on God himself that she heard him talk to Lily. When she was confronted about being a witch, she looked at them all and asked,

"Why would I be a witch? They do not exist." Still, there were many that resented her for her sweet smiles and the goods she made, which rivaled her husbands, her predecessor. One such man was named Baxter, and he had vowed to ruin her business. However, no matter what he tried, nothing worked. And so, he, his son, and rich noble wife, left the twin.

Suddenly, one day, just as Autumn was coming back, Vlad came walking through the town's gate, head high and a wide grin on his face. He had not changed much; he was still just as tall, though now Jack stood a good three inches above him where they had once been level before he left.

His hands were still calloused and looked as though they could mould the dough like soft, newly tilled earth. The only difference was his hair. The streaks had taken over completely and his once raven wing hair, that barely brushed the nape of his neck, was now held back in a smooth ponytail and was only a few shades off of Lily's.

"It's Vlad! Vlad's returned!" the call rang through the village and soon he was mobbed in the town center; friends and old faces filling his vision, but he sought only one face. She stood off to the side, with a gentle smile and patient posture. She could wait for a while. She had nothing but time after all.

"Where have you been?"

"What happened to you?"

"Are you ill? Where did you go?"

"Did you really get married?!"

"Why were you gone so long?"

"Give him some air!" A voice bellowed and everyone made room for the blacksmith and his wife, their daughter in the mothers arms, a hard, curious look that was out of place on the five year old.

"Jack! Maddie! And Jasmine! My, you have grown my dear!" Her chest puffed with pride and she struggled to get out of her mother's arms. Maddie chuckled and let her daughter go to her oldest friend. Vlad picked her up, so they would be eye level, and held her carefully, minding her dull blue smock.

"My Papa said you were gone. Why?" Vlad looked surprised; so young and already articulate? Well, not a big surprise when he thought about it. Maddie was her mother after all. And if memory served him right, Maddie was a vicious reader. It made sense her daughter would be the same.

"Well, little one, I had to find someone very precious to me."

"Oh." She nodded very seriously and then asked, "Will you put me down, please?" Vlad did as she requested and she tottered off to her mother's skirt, suddenly shy.

"Well, this has certainly been enough excitement for today. Everyone, leave him alone. He has a wife that would like to see him!" Lily called; she may be patient but even she had her limits. Vlad nodded gratefully towards her and slowly, people dispersed.

"Ah, my sweet, lovely Lily. You are just a beautiful as I remember." Lily giggled and smacked his arm, lightly.

"Hush, you scoundrel. Now, I believe our friends would like some answers." she nodded to Jack and Maddie and little Jasmine, who had come out from the protective shield of her mother's skirt.

"Ah, of course. Come with me and I will explain."

When they reached Vlad and Lily's modest home, he settled them all at the table as Lily flitted about like a bird, making tea, saved for only the most special of occasions and given in small clay cups. As they drank and ate small cakes Lily had made the day before, Vlad slowly explained.

He had received a letter that the woman he was courting was sick and may not recover. He left immediately and spent the next four winters taking care of her, nursing her back to health to the best of his ability. He thought he had lost several times to the fever and almost lost himself but they both pulled through. When he said this, he held Lily's small, fragile hand and pressed a light kiss to her fingers. Jack smiled at his best friend and shook his head, then wrapped a large, trunk like arm around Maddie's shoulders; Jasmine was asleep on her mother's lap.

"We should be going; you two have much to catch up on." Vlad nodded, grateful for his friend, and walked them to the door, watching them until they left. Wulf padded over to his master and butted his hand, sniffing lightly.

"Hello Wulf. I thank you for watching over Lily in my absence. If you wish, you may leave."

"No, I do not yet wish to leave. You will soon have a pup and I stay out of my own will. They will need someone to watch over them before they are old enough to hunt."

"Are you saying I cannot protect my own child?" Vlad demanded, ire flaring for a moment.

Wulf shook his monstrous head. "No, only that they will need someone to watch the forests, the skies when you cannot. You are only halfa, you cannot be everywhere at once, Masters. Lady Lily can only hold her form so long. I would not be surprised if she died shortly after your pup were born." Vlad would have struck the wolf had he not been correct and so held himself back. Wulf did not often speak and when he did, it was never in such long, articulate sentences. Nor was he so forth right.

Lily nodded, knowing that her vessel would only last so long.

"He is right, my love. I have a child, your child, in my womb. Though I doubt my vessel will take the strain."

"I shall enjoy the moments with you while I can, dear Lily. I knew that your body could not stay here on this plane long and I only wish it were differe-"

"Do not say such things, or you may live to rue such words." Lily cut him off and Vlad nodded. With that, they retired, Wulf curling up on the door step.

Eight months passed and the couple were happy as they had ever been. Lily stayed close to home, her belly round and extended. Vlad was always near her when he could spare a moment but when he could not, she was with Maddie and little Jasmine, sewing and idly talking or reading aloud or even sharing stories. One day, when Vlad was at the bakery, Lily and Jasmine were cleaning up the baby's nursery. It had a wooden cradle that the wood carver, Maurice Folley, had made.

His wife, Angela, was a midwife and their five month old son, Tucker, was almost coherent. The walls were a light cream, the same as the walls in the bakery by the windows. There was a rug that the church donated when Vlad had gotten them through the winter on his various pastries and breads, and even curtains from Maddie, though a simple cotton, they were much appreciated. In the cradle, there were woolen knitted blankets of green, yellow, white and even blue.

And Lily had found enough goose feathers to make a suitable mattress. The Masons, a Baron family of the small town, were happy to know Vlad was back and had, in a kind of welcome back and do not leave us for so long again gift, had given their house glass windows and given Lily and Vlad a new comforter for the long, cold winters. Lily had smiled so wide when they gave them the gifts her face almost shone.

Suddenly, Lily felt a kind of shock, a jolt that made her human body wince. She stumbled, hunch backed, towards the door. She was not going to deliver the baby in his room! She would have to get to her room or to the spare room. Whichever was closer.

"Aunt Lily?" Jasmine asked, halting in her dusting of the rocking chair, which Maurice had also built for her. Lily gasped as another wave of pain ricocheted through her, like a jolt of lightning, and gripped the door frame. The ghost side of her was rejecting the life her human side carried. This was going to be difficult.

"Jasmine…. Go and get… Angela… And my husband. Augh!" She winced again in pain and Jasmine, eyes wide, nodded, hiked up her skirts and sprinted out the door, down the steps and down the lane.

She did not stop like she usually would have at the bookstore, run by the Grays, nor did she slow when she saw her father's shop. She sprinted, tumbling to a stop in front of Angela Tucker herself, who was carrying a conversation with her mother as they walked back from the market.

"AUNTLILYISHAVINGABABYANDSHENEEDSYOUTOCOMERIGHTNOW!" She exclaimed all in one breathless go.

"Jasmine, what are you talking about?" Maddie kneeled down to her daughter's level.

Jasmine took a breath and repeated, albeit slower,

"Aunt Lily is having a baby and she needs to come right now! I have to go find Uncle Vlad!" And with that, she shot off like a rocket. Angela and Maddie's eyes widened and they hiked up their skirts and ran, baskets bobbing on their arms.

Jasmine slammed open the door to the bakery, breathing hard and her cheeks rosy from lack of air. She scanned the front for her Uncle but he was nowhere to be seen and so ran to the back, calling as loudly as she could.

"Uncle Vlad! Uncle Vlad! Where are you?!"

"Back here, Jasmine. Now, what's-" he emerged from the kitchen, covered in flour and face sweaty from the heat of the ovens.

"Aunt Lily is having a baby and she needs you right now!" Vlad's eyes widened and he scooped up Jasmine then took off, moving faster than seemed possible. All Jasmine could do was hold on to his neck and try to catch her breath. When they arrived at his home, Maurice and the town's doctor and healer were already there, the doctor carrying a bowl of water and towels as the healer ground herbs.

"Where is she?!" Vlad demanded, eyes wide and narrowed. Wulf whimpered and nudged his masters hand. Or, at least, that's what it seemed to the rest of the room.

"Upstairs, in labor in-" a horrific scream tore through the house and the healer, Mrs. Walker, winced.

"The spare room." The spare room was just that, a room that they had no need for but had turned into a kind of bedroom; a small room with a window, side table and chest for clothes; Vlad suggested it for when his abilities were out of control and he didn't want to hurt Lily. Or cause alarm. Vlad rushed upstairs, barely making it to the door before the doctor bared his entry.

"Vlad, you really don't-" Another unearthly howl ripped it's way out of Lily's throat, making the whole house seem to shake. Wulf, downstairs, answered it, though lower and plaintive. Vlad glared at the man before he allowed himself to be pushed out onto the landing and began to pace. He didn't leave the landing; in fact, for three hours, he suffered through every cry, moan and swear that Lily could muster before he finally had enough and pushed the door open.

Lily lay on the bed, silver hair hurriedly pulled into a braid though strands now stuck to her face, coated in sweat and she had clawed through the sheets. There was blood, a lot of blood, so much so that Vlad almost felt nauseated at the stench. But when Lily opened her mouth to scream again, he was at her side in an instant, holding her hand tightly as he could before her's snapped closed around his and ground his bones together. It was like this for another two hours, Vlad reassuring Lily as much as he could. A litany of promises that he meant to hold spilling mindlessly.

"I'm right here, Lily. Oh, my sweet Lily, do not worry. I'm here and I won't leave, I promise."

"This child… Is more stubborn… than you!" She panted, pausing every two minutes between each word for breath.

"I didn't think that possible." Vlad mused, a smile on his face. Internally, he was chewing his nails down to the corns, withholding a scream that threatened to move past his lips every time he made a move to speak.

"Vlad… Treat him-AUGH!" Her body suddenly bowed, as if a plank were being shoved in the middle of her back.

"There you go, Lily. Just a little but more." Several, long, drawn out minutes later, there was a gasp from Lily and her tense body unwound, like a top that was falling after losing momentum.

"It's a boy. But…" Angela sucked in a sharp breath, cleaning the blood off the small creature and shaking her head sadly. "He's not breathing." Vlad's eyes went to his son, his son's unmoving, not breathing body and barely held back a strange mixture of the need to cry and the need to roar.

"May I hold him?" He asked, oh so softly. Lily was breathing harshly, her eyes half mast and her hand limp in his grip.

"Vlad-"

"Please." maybe it was the obvious plea in his voice but Maddie looked at Angela and made a kind of shooing motion, as if to say, go on.

"Very well…" She wrapped the body in a swaddle, and Vlad muttered lowly to his child, as Lily watched on.

"Come, breathe my boy. Show me how strong you are, please. Show me that you are brave and strong. Come on, little badger. Do not give up on me yet." He gently rocked his son back and forth but the eyes wouldn't open and the chest still refused to move. Vlad moved to the window, his back facing the women, and brought his right hand up to his son's chest, muttering as he gently pressed two fingers to his heart in a vain hope to fell a beat.

"Please, breathe…" Suddenly, there was a beat, then another and the chest started to rise and fall. The infant's eyes sprang open and he let out a high pitched wail. Vlad turned quickly to the women, seeing Lily's bright smile, and moved to give her their son when her arms rose weakly off the bed. Angela and Maddie crossed themselves as Maddie gasped,

"It's a miracle!"

"What shall he be named?" He asked, barely a whisper, not registrating the other two women in the room.

"Daniel, though I also liked the name James. What do you think, dear?" Lily asked, her voice a bare whisper.

"Daniel James Masters. I like the sound of that. What do you think, little badger?" The infant, now Daniel, quieted and opened his eyes. They were a brilliant blue, and had a curious light to them. He cried again when Lily moved him but quieted when he was allowed to feed.

Vlad couldn't have hidden his joy if it were erased off his face. Maddie and Angela, satisfied that the small family would be alright, moved to leave quietly. Neither parents knew they were gone.

"You lived, you lived my darling Lily."

"Yes, but only just, my dear. I am weak. Do not expect me to do much as I could before." Vlad nodded and brushed back her sweaty hair, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, unbothered by the sweat.

"Of course not, my dear Lily. I will stay here till you sleep and then I will stay till you wake, I promise." Lily smiled and yawned. Daniel stopped drinking and Lily situated herself, holding Daniel close to her breast as she could without suffocating him. He gurgled happily at the warmth and his eyes closed, mother and son drifting off to sleep.

Vlad made good on his promise and didn't move a centimeter, nor did he sleep, the entire night and most of the next day. It was only when Lily proclaimed her need to use the Water Closet and had Maddie help her that Vlad moved. He took their son and rocked him gently back and forth, letting the movement sooth his squirming son.

"I will always be here, Daniel. I will never leave your side, I swear on my life."

It seemed that prosperity and happiness would never desert the family; Daniel was growing to be a fine, strong boy and by two was able to speak simple sentences and was even learning to run. However, he also had the issue of being a halfa; at random times, he would turn invisible or his clothes would fall off because they had gone intangible. Lily and Vlad made sure he was never alone while this phase was occurring.

Slowly, by his third birthday, he was able to control the barest amount of his power; his invisibility, which he used to his advantage whenever he, Jasmine, Tucker and Sam, the Baron's daughter, played hide-and-seek, the ability to suppress his ghostly signature, which Vlad had taught him through having Wulf try to find him without being able to smell him (which was achieved by spreading a light cream over his skin).

However, tragedy struck the entire town late one spring, in Daniels fourth year. A horrible bout of scarlet fever was rampant and took many of the elderly, the young and abled and the children. Vlad was one of the few who wasn't sick, though Daniel and Lily both caught the fever.

He stayed by their sides day and night, barely moving.

"Come on, little badger, I know how strong you are. Do not worry, I'm right here." He would murmur to his son, brushing raven locks from a sweaty forehead. Lily lay in the bed next to Daniel's, in the back of the apothecary. Her breathing was ragged and her cheeks red. Finally, one day, she called, weakly, to her husband.

"Vlad… Vlad, my dearest, look at me." Vlad was holding her hand and dabbing her forehead with the other, but at her voice slowly replaced the cloth in the clay basin beside her bed.

"My dear, I will not last long here. I am sorry but this form will not stay. Please-"

"I will never forget you, dear Lily Belladonna, nor our son. He will be well loved, I swear." Lily smiled and her once fantastically bright green eyes, now glazed over with fever, dazzled again, but only for a moment.

"I love you, Vlad Plasmius Masters. I will see you in the afterlife, in the Ghost World. Good-bye, my love." and with that, her chest rattled one more time and her eyes closed. Vlad felt tears coming to his eyes, barely able to hold them back.

He kissed Lily's hand and put it over her stomach, and smiled, albeit a bit bitterly. She looked like she were asleep, but he knew how fast that heat was leaving her and so pulled the sheet up over her head. He turned back to Daniel, whose breathing had evened out and took a new cloth, soaked in cool water, and dabbed his son's forehead.

"Papa?" the creaky voice asked, the four year old's eyes slowly opening.

"Yes, little badger. I'm right here." Vlad said lowly, a rumble that made Daniel's eyes open further. They were less glazed than before and Vlad sighed in relief. The medicine was taking, his son would be alright.

"Where's mama?"

"She… She had to leave." Vlad choked and Daniel noticed. He sat up, just a little bit and asked,

"Oh… When will she be back?"

"Mama is not coming back, Daniel. She had to go, forever."

"Is that why Papa is so sad?" Vlad felt his heart twist in pain, as if it were being hammered into a ball, then wrapped into a ball of thorns and sent rolling down a hill to a rocky bottom. But one look at his son's open, fevered face, Vlad felt himself nodding and hugging his son close.

"Yes, little badger, that is why I am so sad. But I still have you and I won't ever leave."

Daniel smiled, not one of his brighter than the sun smiles but Vlad could feel the intent. Tiny hands squeezed as hard as they could, fisting his shirt and a small, raven head was buried into Vlad's chest.

"I love you, Papa. Please don't leave."

"I won't, Daniel, I promise."

Daniel smiled and released his father, yawning and going back to sleep. Vlad smoothed his son's sweaty hair away and breathed a sigh of relief. He would not lose his son. Not without a fight.

Ten years later

Vlad scoured the bakery for his son. Daniel had been helping him with the bakery since he could walk, though he now went to school to learn how to write, read and do sums in the mornings. Vlad smirked in triumph. Tucker, Samantha, Jasmine and Daniel were all at the top of their class because each of their respective parents had ensured they knew at least the basics. And it did help that they all had at least some work or another that required them, both parents or children, to read complicated instructions or write out forms or do large sums without scratching it out first. However, Daniel was either late or already home, hiding somewhere.

"Little badger! Where are you?!" Vlad called for the fifth time. Slowly, Daniel materialized, coming out of the wall.

"Hello papa." the fourteen year old muttered, looking a bit downtrodden.

"My dear boy, what is the matter?" Vlad asked, coming out the kitchen to the front of the shop. He was covering his left eye and had a hand wrapped around his stomach.

"Nothing."

"Then why are you covering your eye?" Vlad said lightly, crouching in front of his son and trying to get him to move his hand. When Daniel finally gave in, which took a glare and several long minutes of intense staring, he muttered, again,

"Nothing." Vlad was beginning to worry. Normally, his son was loud, witty and very energetic, running around with his friends or even flying after Wulf and training with Vlad himself to fight with the ghosts that came through the town, looking to claim it. But his son was hurt, and very obviously not on accident. He could feel ire beginning to grow.

"Daniel, what happened?" His tone seemed to break something in his son and Daniel finally snapped,

"Dash! That stuck up, asshole of a noble said I had no manners when he bumped into me and almost sent me into the gutter! I apologized because I didn't want him to send guards after me or try and attack me. Then, he started to insult mama! He said anyone whose mother was a-" he stopped, angry tears obviously falling against his wishes. Vlad stood and gently guided Daniel to the back, a hand on his shoulder, where barrels and sacks of flour say in neat rows. Vlad had Daniel sit on a closed barrel and asked,

"What did he say about your mother?"

"That a son of a whore wasn't expected to have manners anyways. I told him if he wanted to see the son of a whore, he should try looking in a mirror sometime." Vlad sighed and shook his head but smiled. There was his little badger.

"And I assume he punched you because of that remark." It wasn't a question. The eye was an angry blue and black, and when Vlad had Daniel lift his shirt, he was glad that the young halfa had an accelerated healing rate; the bruise was an angry purple and blue and it would hurt for a few days but not as long as if he were a normal human. Already, he could see the bruise receding at the edges.

"Go and see Valerie and Mrs. Walker; they will give you something for your black eye. And Tucker wanted to see you earlier. Yes, you may go off and play. But be back here before night fall." Vlad smiled at his sons eager look, easily confirming his next question before it even left his lips.

"Yes papa!" Daniel hopped off the barrel easily and rushed out the door.

When he got to the apothecary, Valerie, Mr. Gray's daughter, was grinding herbs under Mrs. Walker's careful eye in the front of the shop. Tall shelves of bottles and salves and bandages were all lined up, neat and orderly. There were windows where plants were growing in boxes and long rows of drying and dried plants, hanging from every available surface.

"Ah, Daniel! What can I- What happened to your eye, dear child?!" The healer exclaimed, suddenly a flurry of movement. "Did you run into something? Or was this someones hand?"

"It was Dash."

"Why would he punch you? He was such a nice boy; he even came in for his fathers medicines when his father was too ill to pick up his chamomile tea leaves and yarrow for his stomach!"

"He insulted my mama, and I told him off. Then he punched me." The healer humphed and shook her head.

"Honestly. Insulting sweet Lily like that. Someone aught to tach that boy a lesson, I don't rightly care how old he is. Well, remember young Daniel, that you will always be her son. Now, I am going to find the salve for you. Stay here and don't move." Mrs. Walker disappeared in a flurry of skirts as Valerie shook her head.

"You boys are being stupid again." was all she said to Daniel, who shrugged off the comment and waited for Mrs. Walker to return. Which she did, just moments later. Her brown eyes were intense as she opened the corked bottle and dipped her fingers in the stinking salve. Gently, long, dark-skinned, nimble fingers applied the cream to his eye and then handed him the jar.

"Apply this once in the morning and once at night, before supper. It should go away after three days. If it does not, come back to see me, alright?" Daniel nodded and left. On his way down the dirt road, he passed his Uncle Jack, working in his smithy and his "older sister", Jasmine, sitting on a crate, her nose stuck in a book, like always.

"Jasmine!" the sixteen year old looked up and smiled when she saw her "little brother".

"Hi Daniel! What are you doing here?"

"Me and Tuck were thinking of going out to the markets. Wanna come?"

"Father?" She turned to Jack, who had come from his smithy. His black hair had streaks of silver-grey but his eyes were still glowing like a youths and his perpetual smile never faltered. Wiping his large hands on a scrap piece of cloth, which he stuck in his leather smock, he rubbed Daniel's long raven hair, making the already messy hair defy its owners wish to stay put and stand up further.

"I don't see why not. Make sure to get some eggs, too Jasmine."

"Yes Father." to Daniel, she said, "Let me go get me shawl and basket and we can go." Daniel nodded and waited. Jack smiled at his "nephew"; he was growing to such a gentleman. Then, he noticed something.

"Daniel, why do you have cream around your eye?"

"Oh, I uh, well… I was-'

"He got punched in the face by Dash!" a new voice claimed. Daniel almost jumped from his skin as Jack's gaze turned dark in anger.

"Tucker! Don't sneak up on me like that!" The dark skinned boy only grinned and re-settled his glasses. He was dressed like Daniel; boots, black-grey pants and a green or white shirt. Daniel had a deerskin jacket and Tucker a kind of vest, lined with rabbit fur.

"I couldn't resist. Besides, you should have hear me coming, what with your g-" Daniel slapped a hand over Tucker's mouth as Jack's head turned, a random town person calling good morrow to him.

"Your what?" Jack asked, suddenly confused. Daniel shot a glare at his best friend before covering the slip up with a smooth lie,

"My good hearing; Papa and I played hide-and-seek a lot so I had to know when he was coming." Jack smiled and laughed, accepting the lie.

"Well, that does sound like Vlad!" Jack laughed again, slapping Daniel on the back roughly, causing him to stumble a bit.

At that moment, Jasmine came back out, shawl draped over her shoulders and basket over her arm. She smiled at Tucker and hugged her father before the trio left for market. Along the way, they met up with Samantha, the Barons only daughter. She wore a deep purple dress and mens work boots, unlike Jasmine, who wore a light blue dress and soft blue shoes.

"Watch out, Daniel. Dash seems to be in a bad mood since this morning, due to the whole "incident" with your eye. Apparently, someone heard you snip back and then him punch you and are now calling him a weak livered man. He's pretty angry." Tucker warned and Daniel ignored the look Samantha gave him.

"I'll be fine, Samantha. Don't worry about it." The ravenette rolled her eyes at her friend's careless attitude and struck up conversation with Jasmine over any new books she had read. Immediately, both girls were lost to conversation. Tucker turned to Daniel and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Sorry for almost letting the cat out of the bag, Daniel." Daniel shrugged as Samantha and Jasmine snapped out of their conversation.

"Tucker…" They warned in unison and the dark boy shrank just a little as he explained,

"I almost let it out about Daniel's secret in front of-" whatever he said next was lost in a murmur.

"Who. Did. You almost. Tell." Jasmine asked, slowly, her face a blank mask.

"Your dad…" He winced as both girl's slapped him harshly on the arm and Daniel laughed. Both girls launched into long winded rants over Tucker's foolish decision, etc. They had reached the market by now and it was a wide range of everything. Bakers stall hummed with activity, people coming and going as venders called out prices and woman giggled over the latest tidbit of interesting gossip, though in polite company it was merely referred to as 'the newest information' or such.

A butcher had his meats out on display and a fruit vendor had his best fruit out for the public, a merchant was setting up his fabrics and dyes as a farmer herded his sheep down the busy lane.

"I need to go buy eggs; Tucker would you like to accompany me?" Tucker, having no choice as Jasmine latched his arm to hers and dragged him away, still berating him, left Samantha and Daniel behind.

"I guess we'll meet them at the fountain." Daniel shrugged and Samantha nodded, chuckling lightly.

"What do you want to see?" She asked and Daniel measured his purse; he had a enough coin to buy some apples for his papa, so to make apple fritters. Vlad loved them, though he rarely ever made anything for himself.

"I want to buy some apples for papa; his birthday is coming up and I want to make him something." Samantha nodded and they headed off for the fruit vendors. Along the way, they talked about the comings and goings in the Baron's home, how much Samantha just wanted to be left alone and not forced to marry some cousin three times removed or an old man.

Her grandmother and grandfather were on her side and her parents were apparently going to respect her decision. For now. On that ominous note, Samantha went onto asking how Daniel received the black eye she could see past the salve.

"Oh, Dash." Samantha's face darkened in a way that certainly wasn't lady-like and she growled out,

"What did he do?"

"He insulted my mama by calling her a whore." Samantha growled again and her glare intensified. Daniel hurried to smooth her feathers out, so to speak.

"I got him back though. I told him if he wanted to see a whores son, to look in the mirror sometime, that is if his face didn't break it first, and that the bear whom he got his manners from wanted them back because he was tired of eating cooked flesh." Daniel felt bad for lying to his papa earlier, well more like not telling him everything forthright but the knot still felt awkward in his chest. Samantha laughed, loudly, at that and squeezed Daniel's shoulder. As always, she knew exactly what was troubling him.

"Don't worry, Daniel. Vlad won't mind too much. Besides, he may have said worse, much worse. Or done far worse." Daniel nodded and sighed. Samantha was right. As usual.

Before Samantha could speak, they heard a voice behind them. Choosing to ignore it, they continued. Only when Daniel had bought a dozen apples, and borrowing a basket from the vendor and promising to return it that day after he dropped the fruits off at his home, did the voice become clear.

"Masters! I'm talking to you!" Dash suddenly came from behind, spinning Daniel around, making his drop his basket of apples and causing his to glare at the taller boy.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak lily-livered, pus-filled fool. Do you Samantha?" She shook her head and glared at Dash, who leered at her in turn.

"You know, one of these days, you'll learn to return my affections."

"Even if I could spit venom, and it can melt off your face, never. If you and I were all that were left on this world, I would rather kill myself." Daniel felt his eyes widen at that; Samantha usually wasn't the brash one in their friendship. Dash's leering smile fell and shattered on the ground, replaced with a red face and an angry sneer. But then it was gone. He wrapped an arm around Daniel's shoulders and Samantha followed, still simmering in anger.

"Well, Danny boy, I have a bit of a surprise for you. Come with me," he tightened his hold and Daniel knew he had no choice. It was either allow himself to be lead along or reveal his secret, which his papa had been adamant about keeping safe. Unless Daniel were in extreme danger and couldn't save himself in any other means.

"Fine. Samantha, go and find Tucker and Jasmine and tell my father that I may be late for supper." Which was code for 'go and find out friends, then go and get help. NOW.' Samantha nodded, looking apprehensive and allowed Daniel to leave her sight before she took off.

'At least Samantha will be safe...' the fourteen year old thought with a slight feeling of relief. He winced when Dash stuck something sharp into his ribs and kept his eyes forward.

"Say a word, Masters, and I accidentally go after Mason, Fenton and Folley. And then your dear father. I would have gone after your mother but that bitch is already dead." It took everything Daniel had to not lash out and kill Dash right then and there. Dash lead them out to the forest, where three other men with horses were waiting. Daniel stopped for a moment, "stumbling", and dropping his coin purse. Inside were some coppers and a sketch of his mother that Vlad had down when she was still alive, before his birth.

"Come on, Masters! We have a schedule and it doesn't include you lagging behind." with that, he was thrown in front of one of the bigger men and Dash mounted his own horse. With an unseen signal, they were off. And Daniel found himself praying that they wouldn't be going far.

They rode for fifteen minutes at a hard canter down the beaten road then turned off and disappeared into a clearing. Daniel looked around, but all that was there were oaks and beeches and one or two maples. Nothing that seriously stood out. He gulped as the men stayed on their horses but Dash dismounted, a malicious smile on his face.

"Well, let's see how well you do without the ability to run to daddy, huh?"

"You might not want to do that." Daniel said lightly, taking a battle stance. Dash unsheathed a sword from the saddle on his horse and looked at the blade then Daniel, a smirk coming to his face.

"And why not?" His red doublet was expensive, made of velvet, with brass buttons and his pants were a dark blue, almost black. His boots were black and high, the eyelets expertly laced. He cracked his knuckles, a menacing, almost freakishly childish, smile on his face.

"Let me show you." And halos of light suddenly surrounded Daniel, a smirk coming to his face. His hair turned white as snow, his clothes replaced with a black doublet and grey pants that were stuck in high leather boots, strapped into place through three belts. His brilliant blue eyes turned a bright emerald green.

Just as a smirk came to his face, mostly at Dash's expression. Suddenly, a wisp of cold air shivered out of his lungs and wafted through the air. He turned and felt a shiver of fear as a large, humanoid ghost came from nowhere. Well, not nowhere. He had been one of the men. Another turned into a ghostly knight with dark blue armor and a black blade. His horse turned the color of death; pale and blue.

"Well, that was not what I expected…" Daniel muttered before he launched his attack.

Vlad looked outside as the sun began to set. Daniel had been far too long with his friends. And he was almost always home by now. The market was only an hour's walk away and the forest beyond a half hour. There was no reason for him to be so late. And if he were having supper with another of his friends, he would have come home first to tell him.

Daniel knew how protective of him Vlad was. Vlad sighed and shook his head. He would worry if he did not come home in the next twenty minutes then. Wulf was nowhere to be seen or felt, but the were-ghost would have come as fast as he could if something were wrong.

He looked up suddenly as his front door was wrenched open and Tucker and Samantha, lead by Jasmine, came barreling through.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, hand not leaving the rolling pin he had been using to flatten out the dough he planned to use as crust for some lemon tarts, which were sitting on the clay tablet, waiting to be put in the brick oven.

"It's Daniel! He's in trouble! Both with Dash and some ghosts! Their in the forest!" Vlad nodded once, his breath leaving him in a gust. Wulf's sharp bark brought him back and Vlad grabbed the closest weapon he had; the rolling pin.

"Lead me there." he spoke to Wulf now and the were-ghost nodded, smelling the air and then taking off at an easy lope, eating the distance like it was nothing.

"Mr. Vlad!" he heard the children call behind him but he couldn't bring himself to care; he had a son to protect.

'Lily, please… Protect our boy. I'm not ready to lose him too.' Vlad practically flew past his friends and didn't stop to answer questions, merely yelling over his shoulder,

"Daniel, trouble." and didn't slow to see if the younger ones and their parents were following. He was following Wulf. Vlad was at that moment glad for his halfa abilities; when he felt extreme emotions, certain qualities came out. Such as extreme stamina that outlasted his human side, the speed that was almost supernatural and the strength that he could feel flowing through his veins. He would not give these bastards the satisfaction of seeing his ghost form. No, he would beat the pumpkin tart out of them with his rolling pin and then rub their pathetic, pus filled, fucking faces in the ground beneath his heels-

'I may want to stop that train of thought… Lily would not be happy.' Then again, she would be much more violent in her retaliation. Never stand in a mother's way of her child. You would be seriously injured. Or killed, depending on what it was.

When Wulf finally slowed, Vlad noticed how far they had run. The night market was bustling and a few people called out to him in greeting but he paid no attention. Wulf had slowed for but a moment before he had picked up the pace, howling as he went. Wulf had found something, be it Daniel himself or his scent, Vlad wasn't particularly picky on the subject. He just wanted his son back, alive and as well as he could be. Something returned the howl. His heart skipped a beat. Vlad had taught Daniel, when he was very young and prone to wandering off, if he were lost and couldn't use his powers, to howl like Wulf. Vlad or Wulf or both of them would hear and come and find him.

Vlad listened intently and froze. It was Daniel; the howl was high-pitched, long and plaintive before it was cut off. Vlad's heart jumped into his throat and his stomach dropped to his feet. He laid on the speed and was now almost keeping pace with the supernaturally fast werewolf-ghost. Finally, finally, they reached the forest. Wulf stopped but Vlad could sense it now. Residual ghost signatures. His son was just ahead!

Vlad burst into the clearing, rolling pin raised high. He couldn't see Daniel, though he could see two other men standing over something, faint green and blue stains of ectoplasm- which meant ghosts had been here and had been destroyed- and horses that were spooked, shying away from the clearing and into the woods. He rushed the men, expecting to have an explanation or direction if they didn't know anything. They were snickering, kicking something. Vlad pulled the first one away and saw it was this Dash that had hurt his little badger before, earlier that day.

Vlad glared and didn't bother to ask questions. He just swung his rolling pin and listened in a sickening satisfaction as it connected soundly with the boy's skull. Vlad then did the same with the other man, though not nearly hard enough apparently, because he was getting up a moment later. Wulf, however, chose that exact moment to come bounding in and launched himself at the man, pinning him to the ground. The man was a grisly, unsavory type that hung about in whore houses and drinking dens, and by the smell, only bathed once every three months.

But he also wasn't very tough, as he didn't even attempt to push off the massive beast that stood on his chest and practically cut off his airflow. Vlad nodded in satisfaction and turned to see who they had been kicking, knowing in the back of his mind who is was, but he tried not to think of it.

"Papa…" Daniel lay on the ground, in his human form. The rolling pin dropped to the ground and Vlad rushed over, scooping Daniel into his arms and cradling his broken, battered and bruised form as gently as he could. His stomach and chest were bleeding heavily, his right arm was at an unnatural angle and there was an unnatural wheezing coming from his chest, which barely rose and fell. He winced with each breath, even when Vlad laid him down and ripped up his jacket, trying to staunch the blood flow.

"Do not speak, little badger. You will be fine, I swear. I swear to you, you will be fine…" Vlad was rambling and he knew it. Daniel didn't seem to notice though.

"Papa, I feel cold, really cold. Colder than winter when my core seems to freeze me."

"Hush, little badger. Please, don't."

"But papa, why am I cold?" Vlad shook his head, feeling tears prick at his eyes, and tried to hold them back. He had to be strong for his son. He had to be… Vlad picked Daniel back up, cradling him as gently as he had when Daniel was a babe.

"Little badger, I'm here. I'm moving you so we can go home and have supper after Mrs. Walker looks over you-" he trailed off when he heard hoofbeats and yelling. Wulf growled a warning to the man he pinned and he gave his master a sympathetic look. He knew his son was leaving. Vlad didn't let his gaze leave his son, who was slowly bleeding out, turning colder as he moved. Finally, Vlad sank to his knees, deciding that keeping Daniel warm was paramount.

"Papa, I'm scared… I don't wanna leave yet!" Vlad could feel his son's weak clutching at his clothes, as if holding into his father's clothes would help to anchor him to the physical world.

"I'm right here, Daniel, my little badger. Come now, don't give up yet. You have Masters blood." Vlad continued on like this as the sounds of people approaching came closer and closer, and he could pick out his son's friends voices and his own good friends. Among them was at least one person on horseback.

He held Daniel close as possible as his son tightened his fingers even more, his breathing coming in pained gasps, the blood flowing out like expensive silks, or red wine, staining Vlad's jacket that he had wrapped around the wounds in a feeble attempt to keep the blood inside.

"Papa, don't let me leave, please!" Daniel cried out in a pained wheeze and Vlad could see tears carving tracks down his son's chiseled face.

"I'm here, Daniel. I will never let you be alone, never. I will find you, my little badger, no matter what it takes."

"Papa…" Daniel gasped, his brilliant blue eyes swimming in emotion, as if they were drowning in it all. "I'm so sorry."

"Hush, Daniel." Vlad smoothed his sons hair out, humming softly so to keep his dying son calm. "You have nothing-"

"I'm leaving you… Like Mama did… And now you'll be alone." he gasped, clutching at his father's shirt.

"Oh Daniel… Go to sleep. I love you, little badger."

"Papa, I'm scared. I don't… I don't want to leave you… Alone."

"I will find you, Daniel, my little badger. I always will."

At this, Daniel smiled, slightly, and asked, in a breathless gasp,

"Promise?"

"I swear, I swear on your blood, on mine, on your mother's name and grave, that I will find you again, Daniel."

Daniel smiled, then frowned, and with a gasp, a shattered, broken sound that echoed from his ribs, said,

"Papa... I.. I can't see." And the light faded away from his eyes, like embers of a once roaring fire finally losing their hold and oxygen sputtering out. They were dead and no matter how much heat Vlad forced from his core, he knew his son was gone.

Vlad was found by his best friends, his sons friends, and the Guard, with Daniel in his arms, Vlad's frame curled around his son, shoulders shaking as tears fell, shameless.

He wouldn't let anyone touch his dead son, opting to carry him to the church, the Guard blowing whistles for more guards and cagers for the last man alive. Vlad knew none would believe the man's story of ghosts and as Vlad was well respected and well loved- not to mention he had powerful friends with the Baron and his wife and over half the town on his man and Dash would be in serious trouble; in fact, they would be lucky to have a hanging. Vlad moved through the next few hours in a fouge state. After setting Daniel down at the priest's direction, he sat in the pews and stared at the fire that burned down the candles.

He felt people helping him stand after he didn't even know how long, someone putting him on a donkey's back. After another undetermined amount of time, he was surrounded by people. Jack, Maddie, Samantha, Tucker, Gray, Mrs. Walker, Baron Mason and his wife, the Baroness. The Folleys, Wulf, Jasmine… The list went out the door. He heard none of their words, nor their reassurances. The next few weeks went by in a blur. They buried Daniel, and Vlad felt that they may as well have buried him too, for all the pain and emptiness he felt. The only full sentence Vlad had spoken in the last few weeks was,

"I want him buried next to Lily." It was speedily arranged.

Everyone who attended the funeral cried. Vlad could only stare at the hole, as the dirt that slowly piled on, each wet slap of dirt like another thorn that speared his heart. Slowly, people began to filter away, in small groups or one by one, all muttering sand dry apologies.

Finally, it was just him, Jack, Maddie, Jasmine, Samantha, Tucker and their parents and Wulf, who sat at his left hand, monstrous head nudging Vlad's hand every few minutes.

"Uncle Vlad?" He heard Jasmine's tentative voice and came back.

"I want those bastards hung, or in the worst living hell that they cannot possibly imagine."

"Vlad-"

"I promised, Jack! I promised her that I would protect him and I failed to! What kind of father am I? Fuck, what kind of man am I? I cannot keep my word." Vlad spun around, eyes blazing in fury. Wulf whined at his masters distress but there was obviously nothing that would calm the man down.

"Vlad, stop. You're in pain, I understand. But please, calm down." Vlad just then realized he was standing and shouting, the faces of those he held dear in various stages of apprehensive, fearful and concerned.

"Why… Why not take me? I'm old. I don't need to live that long."

"Would you stop talking like that? This is not the Vlad Masters I know!" Jack suddenly jumped up, his loud voice booming. Vlad looked at him with dead eyes.

"What?"

"You need to stop being a corpse! This is not how Daniel would have wanted you to be! So wake up and live!" Vlad merely blinked and sighed, shaking his head. It wasn't that simple but his friend had a point. So, Vlad went about his daily life, barely able to keep from shattering many days as he walked past his room and then Daniel's. Wulf never left his side for long and Vlad's pastries, once so very light and fluffy, well, were still light and fluffy but you could tell he wasn't as passionate about it. There was no one left who knew what he was, no one left who cared about baking as much as he.

Everyday, Jasmine came to check in on Vlad, staying for several hours at a time and making sure that he ate and slept properly. Jack and Maddie came by every week for dinner and Mrs. Walker came by to buy new pastries and invite Vlad out for walks. Occasionally, he accepted.

Tucker and Samantha, when they were betrothed (Vlad could have seen it coming), named their firstborn son Daniel, in honor of their best friend. Vlad had smiled when he heard that. And when the man became too old to mould the dough at the way he used to and the ghost powers he had meant nothing at his old, old age, Vlad left a long letter to his friends and family as to why he left. It was too painful, but if someone could remember to keep the ovens hot and the shop running, he would appreciate it. Vlad wished them all the best of everything with their lives and that if they found his body near the base of the mountain, he would very much like to be buried next to his son and wife. Much thanks and love, Vlad Masters.

The man passed the next night. The whole town knew because of the plaintive wail that came from the man's old, old beast of a dog. He never left for the mountain. He stayed in his bed, asleep, with his hands folded over top the letter and a tear track still drying. And so the man's soul passed from this life to his next, where he would only hope to meet his son, like he promised.