Comradery
Author: Wildwolf (risen from the grave after 3 years—yay, zombie)
Genre(s): General/Romance
Pairing(s): Eventual Vlad/Danny.
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Moderate language (?), eventual slash. Don't like, don't read.
Disclaimer: Don't own the series. If I did, the ending would have been quite different.
Plot: [Post-series] Abroad in college, wondering what to do with the rest of his life, Danny Fenton is visited by Vlad Masters, who has arrived seeking sanctuary from his former enemy.
Notes: I don't really know where this fic is going. My only real expectation is that Vlad and Danny will EVENTUALLY end up together (and I can't stress "eventually" enough). As for the events that lead up to or occur after, and the eventual rating, that is completely up to my fingers on the keyboard.
A bit of a note on un-creativity, Danny is in a college in Houston. Because I say so. :P It won't be of any consequence (maybe?), I just needed a random city. And voila.
I haven't actually tried to really write a fanfic in years. But my recent remerging of DP fandom (the last time I watched this show, season 1 was airing brand new 0_o) is trying to reawaken something.
Just need a muse. *stares pointedly at Vlad* I like me some sexy, witty Vlad.
Chapter 1
It had been four years since I gained my ghost powers. Looking back, I'd been rather foolhardy with them, huh? But that was the high school boy's mentality: a childishly naïve sense of justice and an urge to show off how cool I was.
But that was the old me! The new me was a freshman at college, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to take on the world.
Or at least that was how my parents perceived it. Dad was so relieved when I was accepted into a university that it would almost have been insulting, was it not my dad. Mom and Jazz were proud. Mom gushed about how her baby was growing up and all that. Jazz kept reminding me that if I had any questions, big sister was always available to help.
She really needed a hobby. Or a boyfriend.
It was a little warmer than I was used to, considering that it was February. I'd decided to apply out of state for college. It didn't matter where—just out of Amity Park. I needed to divorce myself from that old life and start things anew. Besides, after the meteor incident, the ghost attacks became far less frequent and Danny Phantom really wasn't needed anymore. My parents would be able to handle it.
When a college in Houston sent me an acceptance letter, I jumped at it. It was far away from home, where no one knew Danny Fenton. Granted, the world knew Danny Phantom, but all of Amity Park associated Danny Fenton with the hero. Thanks to that, I'd never really be able to live a normal life. The cheering and adoration was great at first, but got old pretty quickly. Hence my decision to move away. No one really questioned me about it. I'd like to think that my friends and family understood.
The fact that Johnson Space Center was in Houston had nothing to do with it, I swear. It wasn't Kennedy Space Center, but it was a NASA facility, nonetheless. Mission Control was within twenty miles of me. Yet I hadn't had time to visit the Space Center; I had way too much schoolwork for that.
There was a certain sense of isolationism that came with the ghost powers. Great power, great responsibility and all that. As far as I knew, I was the only person who was—well, no. Vlad Masters was another like me: half-human and half-ghost, created by accident. But he was my enemy. Used to be, at least. While there may have been a subtext of comradery, we were not friends, and I would never be the adopted son that he desired. Besides, I hadn't seen him since the meteor incident. For all I knew, he could be dead. For all I knew, I could be the only one like myself, period.
Wasn't that a sobering thought?
I had no idea what ever happened to Dani, either. I hadn't seen her in years. I wondered what she had been up to.
I shuffled through my pocket for the key to my room. After spending a few hours in a dorm room, I'd decided that it just wasn't going to work out. Other people could mess with my stuff, and there was the risk of people learning who I was. So I got a part time job at the university bookstore and learned the fine art of saving in order to pay for at least part of the rent for an apartment. My parents helped with the rest. I just moved in at the beginning of January, after returning from winter break.
My mess of an apartment welcomed me home. I left my backpack near the door (I probably wasn't going to touch it or anything inside of it again until Monday) and shuffled to the kitchenette. Very little food was in the cupboard. The milk still smelled good, at least, and stale cereal was still cereal.
I sat at the little table with my bowl of cereal, pushing away the open math book and notes and booted up my laptop. Crunching Cheerios interrupted the silence as I read through my email inbox. I still needed to reply to an email from Tucker, and I had a new message from Sam waiting for me. I decided to read her mail first.
Sam and I dated for a little while. It took several months for us to realize that, really, we were better off as friends. It took another couple of months after that for us to realize that it wasn't going to change. So we broke it off, but still stayed close. She stayed in Amity Park with her family, attending the local university. Her family was thrilled when I moved away. That stung a bit.
Tucker was at some fancy technical school in California. He had all the technology he could ever dream of to play with. I heard he was helping one of the professors there on a doctoral thesis, and that various businesses and government institutions were already scouting him. Then again, this all came from Tucker's mouth. It could very well be exaggerated.
I clicked Sam's email. 'Hey Danny,' it started, 'how's your Friday 13th going? Pretty standard here. I think your parents have been busier today than any other time of the year, not like that's saying anything.' Oh yeah, it was Friday 13th, wasn't it?
The email continued on, detailing what she thought of her chemistry class, and how she wished that she didn't have to mess with prerequisite classes to take some course or other. Her TA was apparently really hot, and her parents were thinking about getting her a new car. My guess was that she'd hate whatever they picked out, and they would argue about it for a while before coming to a compromise. Sam's relationship with her parents bettered as she got a little older. I think they all came to respect each other as adults.
I missed her. And Tucker. The months Sam and I were dating had been awkward at best, but they were still months that we were spending together. In this place, I didn't know anybody outside of a classroom or work environment. It was liberating not to be stopped everywhere I went by adoring fans, but lonely as well.
I didn't feel like being on the computer, for once. There was an unsettled feeling in my stomach resulting from the thoughts of being isolated. Granted, lonely apartment was still better than dorm. My old dorm mate had kind of reminded me of Dash. That gave me great incentive to have completely opposite hours as him.
Maybe I should get a pet. Not a cat. There was no way I was going to be a lonely bachelor with a cat. That would have been Vlad's job. The fruit loop.
Fruit loop.
What kind of nickname was that? Well, it wasn't meant as a nickname so much as an insult. A weak insult, granted, but an insult. I'd call him by that insult again.
Maybe a dog. I didn't have enough money to spend on a dog. A hamster, then. Did I have to run that by my landlord? I didn't really pay attention when I signed the lease.
Debating between studying and going grocery shopping, I decided on groceries. I had eaten the last of the cereal, and it didn't look like I had any ramen noodles left. There was a small grocery mart a few blocks away. I had fifty dollars to get me through the rest of the week. That should be enough. And the fact that I walked everywhere was great exercise. I could actually do a 100-meter dash without keeling over. My body was still pretty bony, though. But I was nowhere near as lanky as was in high school. Maturation tended to do that.
That unsettled feeling continued as I walked those few blocks on the edge of the adjacent neighborhood. It was just a flurry in the stomach, sort of like the feeling before an exam. Or maybe it was closer to my ghost sense. There wasn't a ghost nearby, but something felt off. I quickened my pace a little.
I made it to the grocery mart in one piece. Obviously nothing was going to attack, unless they wanted my food. I wasn't sure what in its right mind would want the food I survive on. I stocked up on cup noodles and canned soda, as well as a few other necessities. Browsing the cereal aisle, I stopped. Frootloops. Choking back a laugh, I picked up the box. Just for old time's sake.
The front of the mart was done up for Valentine's Day. Which was tomorrow. Great. I wasn't big on the holiday. Even less so now that I had no contact with the opposite sex whatsoever. Dark thoughts muttering in my brain, I paid for the groceries and lumbered out the door, arms now a bit heavier than they had been.
That entire venture took about half an hour. The TV barely had any channels, so there wasn't anything terribly interesting to watch. I left it on the earlier version of My Bloody Valentine (I'm sure the people who ran the programming found it ironically fitting) and plopped back down at the table. Math. Finite mathematics. College algebra had been hard enough. But core requirements to graduate required a certain number of mathematic courses, and this seemed easier on paper. I considered emailing the problems to Tucker so he could set up some sort of tutorial for me. Because he could do things like that.
Oddly enough, my grades had improved since high school. Maybe it was because I didn't have any friends to procrastinate with. And the aforementioned dorm mate gave me plenty of reason to stay at the library. My grades still weren't phenomenal, but I averaged a B overall last semester.
I ignored a chill that ran through my body as I stared, engrossed in forcing myself to learn linear depreciation. Break-even point, my ass.
I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I obviously wasn't going into space science fields, not with my mathematics and physics grades. And one has to be physically fit to be an astronaut. So those dreams out of the way, what else was there to do? Granted, now you could pay a large sum of money and go into space, but I was a college student. As far as I could tell, there was no such thing as a college student with money.
I almost welcomed my cell phone ringing. That was, until I saw my home number on the caller ID. Groaning to myself, I answered, "hello?"
"Hi, Danny," Jazz's voice on the other line replied cheerily. "How have you been?"
"Not much has changed since yesterday." My eyes narrowed. Someone in the family made a point of calling every day, just to check in. The baby of the family going out of state was a big deal, I supposed.
"What are you doing?"
"Homework."
"Ooh, which class?"
I almost growled in frustration. "Math."
"Do you need any-"
"No, Jazz, I'm doing fine."
"Oh," I couldn't tell if she sounded disappointed, "Mom wants to know if you're eating well. She's worried, you know."
Sigh. "Yeah, tell Mom I'm doing just fine. I eat three meals a day, get plenty of sleep, and exercise. Just like every other day." I just didn't mention that three meals consisted of cereal, exercise was walking to class, and sleep was usually in class.
"Fine, I'll let you get back to your homework. Just… know we're proud of you, Danny."
I knew they were. Aside from that she or Mom or Dad told me that during the phone call every day. I just had an overprotective family. We wrapped up the conversation and I got back to work. God, I hated math.
::
I managed the first few problems before I looked at the clock. It was almost 11:30. I had work at 9:00 in the morning (not my idea, believe me). I stretched a bit and decided it was about time for a shower, then bed.
I was almost asleep when a great chill ran through me. It was far more intense than the one earlier, so much that I couldn't ignore it. I hadn't felt my ghost sense in a while; I'd almost forgotten what it felt like. I was up and out of bed immediately, fists up in a defensive position. Light flashed as I transformed into my ghost half. Tensing, I brought energy into my hands. The warm, green glow felt familiar, even though I hadn't used the power in a while. I could hear someone—feel them somewhere. Where were they? Who was it? Even with the light cast from my hands, I couldn't see anyone.
The back of my neck tingled in pure human fear and adrenaline as a voice spoke behind my ear: "Hello, Daniel." I jumped (well, flew) and whipped myself around. That breath had been like fire on my ear. I already knew who it was. I might have even known as soon as I felt the presence. I just hadn't been sure. It had been too long since I felt this person near me.
Vlad transformed back into his human form, settling his feet onto the carpet gracefully, silently. My heart sped up as his features came into semi-focus in the dark. He did nothing threatening, but I did not feel comfortable enough to transform back into my normal self. He had a history of having some dark reason to bother me, and I preferred to be ready when trouble started.
"What are you doing here, Vlad? I thought you were--"
"Dead? Yes, I suppose everyone would think that I was dead. It's been four years, has it not?" His voice seemed pleasant, but I could feel the biting arrogance behind it. Even now he still looked down on me as a kid who was weaker than him.
"Not long enough," I clenched my fist to make a show. After these years, I really had no idea if I could take him in a fight or not. I'd grown soft on my powers out of lack of regular use. For all I knew, these years had made Vlad twice as powerful as he had been. There was nervousness in my gut. Would I stand a chance?
"Daniel, I'm not here to fight you."
"Then why are you here?" Body still tense.
His eyes were still that steely stone cold, unwavering. His posture opened a little, though, as he replied, "I need your help."
The thought took a little while to get into my skull and process itself. Vlad? Help?
Happy Friday 13th, Danny.
Thank you for reading the first chapter! I sincerely hope to continue this.
Any comments? Did I make any errors concerning DP-universe events? If so, please tell me! No petty flames, though, please. Flaming for the sake of flaming is not cool.
Time to go watch Reign Storm for the 3rd time in two days. Vlad and his chess references are highly erotic.