AN: I wrote most of this in July, but I just now got to finishing it a few days ago. So in my mass attempt to finish up my in progress works, I decided to finish this. So... yep. This is a thing.

AU: Maddie and Jack didn't abandon Jack (they also know about his ghost half), but Vlad still becomes bitter due to feeling sorry for himself. Stuff occurs, and eventually Vlad becomes super protective over Danny (and slightly over Jazz). If I were to continue this, Vlad would be the super uncle/godfather towards Danny, move to Amity Park, and try to manipulate Danny into being, maybe not the perfect son, but at the very least, extremely affectionate towards him.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy! To the oneshot!

Warnings: Vlad's narcissistic perspective, self-hate, weird imagery(?)

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. All rights go to the creator, Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon Studios. Please support the official release.

({[]})Protection of the Beast({[]})

It wouldn't easy to forgive them for their actions. In fact, to some, they would be unforgivable.

"Vlad, we'll find a way to fix it. We promise."

Their pretty words and reassuring faces felt plastic, fake like they were only there to make him feel better rather than do anything of importance. It was a shame. They thought they could find a cure.

"You're still the same person, Vlad. We won't leave you. Ever."

Despite their science, Vlad didn't think there was a cure to becoming a monster.

"Well, V-man I don't know how you did it, but you have both ectoplasm and DNA! A hybrid! Who'd a thought?"

He blamed Jack solely at first. After all, he was the one who flickered on the machine when his face was right in front of it. It would have been easy to place all the blame on him. Too easy. Especially when considering the little looks that Maddie and Jack had started giving each other.

"I'm so, so sorry. This was totally unintentional. We'll get through this…. Together."

His mind had concocted a whole range of scenarios. That Jack did this on purpose to get to his beloved Maddie. That if he wasn't such a monster, Maddie would have gone to him instead. That it should have been Jack and not him.

Why him? What did he do to deserve this?

These little fantasies, delusions as they were, only lasted as long as he could not see their eyes. The way they showed love and care to him, despite his status. The way brilliant purple and giggling blue met in shared, soft glances. How they cared for him in one way but cared for each other in ways Vlad could never hope to understand.

Even before the accident, he never had a chance with her, did he?

"Vlad…. I'm sorry but..we can't. I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive us."

Of course there wasn't a cure. When he entered their lab many months after checking out of this hospital, he could tell just by a glance that they'd given up. Lab equipment had been put up, the surfaces squeaky clean and perfect, and their eyes, they were mourning. The air was that of a dead man.

"You're my best friend. Never forget that. As long as you're still you, I don't care if you're a human, ghost, or… something in between."

They were sincere, somehow. They believed every pretty word and vile misconception that had been vomited out their mouths.

They didn't understand. It was like they had cut his last thread of hope.

In that moment, this escapade to try to make him normal again felt like a charade. Like they'd been stringing him along, puppeting their previous friendship with their soft care and enthusiasm in hopes of softening the inevitable blow to the conclusion they've known since the beginning. His best friends, one whom he had put his full trust with and the other, he had grown to love, had put him off as a lost cause. They left him to deal with the fact he was a monster with a thin veil of humanity hanging off him.

Even as they smiled and assured him of their friendship, or what was left of it, the world seemed to dull and buzz until all that was left was Vlad, the odd pulsing in his chest, and the image of a blue faced, red eyed demon looking him back in the mirror.

It made sense, in a way. You can't cure a monster. It had taken him until that moment to realize this.

"Vladdie, I know it's been hard for all of us… but…"

Vlad guessed that was why it didn't hurt so much when Jack asked him to be his best man.

"-I love her. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me and it would make me the happiest man in the world if she said yes. But it would make me the happiest man in the universe, if you were there right next to me."

Vlad had gone his own way by that point. Yes, Maddie and Jack had come to help him with his powers, tried to help him accept himself. However, it just wasn't enough. He'd gained his own place in the world, bitter at humanity and not even guilty at manipulating lesser beings with his freakish abilities. The rising "entrepreneur" had been willing to give up his entire previous life in favor of one filled with tricks, games, and manipulation.

To what reason?

Why not?

"So what do you say, V-man?"

To this day, Vlad didn't know what made him say yes to standing idly by while his very human and happy ex-best friends bound themselves together for their mortal lives.

"I now pronounce you, man and wife."

Wait, yes he did. As vile the concept may be, somehow Vlad had brought it in himself to… partially forgive Jack and Maddie. Not all the way of course. There would always be that kernel of resentment in the back of his mind.

"Alright, now the formalities are over! Cake fight! Every man for themselves!"

Despite his resentment, through the ceremony, more than one smile managed to peek its way through his stoic face and brighten up his less than cheerful mind.

Still, the happiness only could last so long. Maddie and Jack moved to some obscure town in Indiana, leaving Vlad alone once more. However, their leaving wasn't what caused another metaphorical separation between the two groups. No, it was their goals.

"I know it's dangerous, Vlad, but we can't be ghost researchers without a portal can we? We'll take every precaution to make sure… Well, make sure nothing happens this time."

Vlad learned very quickly of their linear thinking. Of all the one tracked minded, irresponsible things they could have done, the creation of another portal? Ghosts, legitimate ghosts at very least, could have not been real, and Vlad's…. other form, could have created just as a reaction and adaption to the incoming ectoplasm within his system.

It had been three years since the accident, but Vlad guessed the saying was true, humans just couldn't learn.

So Vlad left them. Left them to their insensitivities and obliviousness in a way that was somehow subtle. The hybrid continued on with his life without them, alone.

He hadn't needed them, and yet, they couldn't take a single hint.

"Are you sure you can't come, V-man? You're her godfather!"

They couldn't. Take. A single. Solitary. Hint. Especially that large oaf who insisted to reproduce and continue on a lineage that started with a foundation of unintentional lies and illusions created by delusional minds. That child, that vile, vile child who would just make a mess of everything in the future no matter what it did.

Knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop this madness, Vlad couldn't help blame the little red headed, teal eyed brat for concreting the chain of events.

"You know, Jack missed you. Jazz would love to meet you, if you'd come."

It made him sick to his stomach to visit the Fentons, but Vlad didn't want to make them suspicious. So he came, visited the little brat with fake smiles that were starting to become disturbingly easy to make, and went back home… alone.

But what else was new?

The Fenton home was horrid, loud like Jack yet advanced like Maddie. The inside felt homey and ready for whatever the new family had decided to do. Throughout his visits, Vlad's eyes couldn't help but trail to the seemingly innocent door down to the basement. There, no doubt he would see the beginning technology of a portal.

"It's the strangest thing! One moment it's there and poof! It's gone. A ghost took it I'll tell ya."

Vlad might or might not have taken the prototype. In his defense, considering how the thing had taken away his precious future of any sort of normality… well, it was rightfully his.

Besides, it would set back the two scientists for years. It was a natural move on his part.

"I want you to be honest with me, please… Do you know where the blueprints are Vlad?"

Maddie had been suspicious to say the least. However, his friendly act had proven his innocence, despite being the obvious culprit.

Of course, with blueprints, a prototype, and an ever growing amount of wealth, it was only natural for the hybrid to create a portal himself. It felt incomplete to not finish the creation that turned him into a monster. Truly, he might as well see the final result of the project that took his life.

So it was a risky sort of dance between them. Vlad would go visit the Fentons, chat a bit, tell them a bit about his life with a fake smile and ever-growing irritation at Jack's obliviousness. Maddie would be suspicious of him, having been the most perceptive of the three. Sometimes she would ask him if he resented the accident. Vlad supposed she was trying to see the reason behind his behavior.

"We've been friends for years. You know you can tell us anything, right? We're just a little worried, that's all."

He would give her a different answer each time. Sometimes with deflection, other times with half-truths, and as time went on, he perfected the poker face that allowed him to lie directly to her face. Even as her eyebrow twitched up, a swirl of victory had risen through his stomach when she turned away with a frown.

"Alright. If you say so, Vlad. Since you're so sure, you're okay, why don't you help with Jazz a bit? Since you're such a great part of the family."

Yes, they played their game back and forth. Vlad playing the part of the semi-present godfather while he secretly recreated the device that ruined his life. He rose up in society with each company blackmailed, bought, and ruined, slowly becoming one of the wealthiest, well-recognized businessmen in the world. His games were exhilarating as they were lonely, as he danced around each piece on the board with ease.

Vlad danced through life without someone to share it with, aimlessly moving about without a goal, without a moment to end the beauty. He couldn't share his brilliance with anyone, human or any supposed ghost hiding behind this future portal. He had no purpose in his game and a person without a reason to play wasn't worth existing anyway, but he continued forward anyway. Pride and the deep sense of fear of his own death kept him going.

Maybe that was what broke him that day, what made him so receptive to the idea of someone new in his life.

"Vladdie! Maddie's water broke! Quick! Come meet my new son!"

When Maddie had become pregnant again, Vlad had been indifferent to say the least, if feeling a bit of pity for the future brat for being doomed into a family of inconsiderate, unwatchful idiots. Unlike Jasmine, there was no rage or feeling of betrayal. This brat was supposed to be just another game piece for him to maneuver around.

The child was never meant to be taken, conquered, and kinged.

"I'm glad you're here, Vlad. I know it's been rough between us, but I'm glad… I'm glad you're here to share our family."

He hadn't meant to get attached. It was never part of the plan and definitely wasn't a hidden desire. In fact, Vlad was late to a meeting because of the child's unexpected arrival.

He remembered that moment clearly.

It was a small room, overcrowded when you included Jack in the mix. The air was stuffy with the faint smell of sweat mixed with blood polluting in the air. His nose wrinkled when he stepped cautiously into the room. The beeping and soft whining of machines filled his ears, as well as the excited prattlings of the Fdntons. In the center Maddie was laying down on the bed, sweat drenched, exhausted, and ready to fall asleep at any moment. However, with a tired smile and twinkling lavender eyes, she refused to let go of the little package in her arms.

She cooed at the blue bundle. A doctor guarded the child in case the drugged up mother had any delusioned ideas. Though, the man in the white coat mostly reprimanded Jack. Said nimrod was leaning over the bed to get a good look at his son. This would have been fine if he hadn't also been trying to balance a sleeping toddler with only one arm.

It was a domestic scene, something that Vlad had never really been a part of, and standing there in the entryway, he felt like an intruder.

The idea made his stomach clench, his already curled fingers pulling deeper into a fist.

"Vladdie! Meet the newest Fenton! Danny!"

There were rounds where small children were passed, Jazz laying on Maddie and Jack cooing nonsensical words to the newest brat. Vlad watched impassively as this went along. Sweat was starting to cling to his neck, and the already uncomfortable suit turned stuffy from the humidity of the room. He had to force the snarl off his face, especially when the little red headed brat started whining in her sleep.

"Why don't you hold Daniel, Vlad? He is your godson after all."

Vlad never expected to find something to care for. At least, not with the Fentons. Never again.

Yet, as Jack passed him the child, in a way that was surprisingly delicate for him, Vlad couldn't help but stare.

Daniel was small. Terribly small, even for a baby. It was almost like nothing was in his hands. With his powers, the child would have been crushed in an instant if he wasn't careful.

Yet, he could feel the heat radiating from tiny creature and a soft subtly beating of his heart. The child stared blankly at Vlad's face, wide, robin blue eyes inquisitive and searching despite not knowing what to look for. Tiny fingers ran across chubby cheeks before they found their place inside his toothless mouth. As he sucked on his fingers, the other hand reached up to try and touch Vlad's face. He tilted his head to see him better, curious, oh so curious about everything.

But again those eyes. Wide, blue, innocent, beautiful eyes that practically invited new beginnings. They took Vlad's breath away, and he almost didn't realize the little smile that had curled onto his face until he found himself pulling the baby closer to his chest.

The child whimpered slightly, probably frustrated at not being able to reach the shiny silver strands falling on Vlad's shoulder. It was odd. Vlad found himself softly muttering to the precious little bundle, speaking softly in words he hoped to be comforting. Judging by the happy little babble, they were.

It was difficult to explain such a phenomenon in words, but as Vlad held Daniel his arms, his warmth and innocence radiating off his tiny form, the cold hearted business man swore he would protect this child from anything he could imagine.

"Look at that! Aren't they precious, Mads?"

Yes. Precious. A precious little bundle of warmth that was about to contaminated by the Fenton breed's poisonous minds and ideals. Their thoughtless and obliviousness.

And unfortunately, Vlad realized, as he reluctantly passed Daniel back to his mother, the Fentons themselves were going to be the one thing he could never protect the child from.

He should have given up there. Sever that one piece of weakness and walk out, say he had a meeting, something. It would have been easy to get lost in another project and not care about the little child. Destroy his weakness before it was too late.

Yet, he found himself planted in the room, hanging on to every word that the doctor said. Watching the boy squirm, whimper, and eventually cry with an impressive lung capacity. He gritted his teeth, wanting those screams to end not only because of annoyance, but also something warm inside his chest that he hadn't felt in years.

"It's okay… Mommy's here, Danny. Welcome to our family."

Her eyes were caring but stern. She refused to let go of him no matter what. It was normal, Vlad knew. Maddie cared with everything she loved with a passion. It was natural for her to be so possessive. Even so, Vlad inwardly resented every moment Maddie could hold for the child rather than him.

Vlad was only able to hold Daniel again after the drugs kicked in. Even then, he had to wait for Jack to get his turn once more. For once in his life, Jack's voice was soft. Or at least softer than his usual shouting.

"It's glad to see you a part of the family, Vlad. It really means a lot to me, you know. To all of us."

Family. Yes, the word tasted sweet and unknowingly to the Fentons, family was coated in a bright, robin blue. Once Jack got his turn, Vlad was able to hold Daniel once more. The plans in his mind reconfigured, and the foggy dance that clouded his future slowly cleared. He had a goal, he had a path, and he hoped that eventually he would have someone to share this steps and games. A world for him to share and years to share it with.

Daniel might not be his now, but he had time.

The plan was clear.

Vlad would make sure that this child was safe, protected, and raised properly. Spoiled, maybe, but also with an understanding of what was given to him. This child would know how to face the world. He would be cunning yet not overly cruel. Caring but knowing who to give his allegiance too. He would be given all the tools needed to succeed in life, but only when he first learned how to use them properly.

Vlad was going to make this child happy, both as a waddling toddler and a full blown adult. That was his vow, and he going to make sure no human, ghost, or otherwise would ever mess with the child.

Or else, said unfortunate would suffer the consequences of messing with a beast like him.

"Daniel, this is your Uncle Vlad. I'll make sure you'll always be alright. That's a promise."

AN: Word Count: 3,063 (not including intro, outro, or title)

Critiques are loved! Tell me what you liked! Tell me what you disliked! I may continue this, but it's very low on my priorities. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed!

See you next time,

~LunagaleMaster