Becoming

- Chapter One -

It had always bothered Daniel Fenton how his arch nemesis, Vladmir Masters, was incredibly open about his feelings towards his mother. It hadn't much to do with the fact that it was his mother more so than the idea of picturing someone wanting to see her without her clothes on. Romantic intentions or not, it was just an odd form of sick torture that Danny felt he was subjected to whenever Vlad would mock him in battles about her, or what he wanted to do to her behind closed doors. It always felt wrong. Awkward. Unnecessary.

At first, he didn't mind too much. An occasional jibe here and there seemed innocent enough, and even Danny found himself that mocking Vlad's loneliness and unrequited feelings was actually funny enough to warrant. But as their fights grew as tedious as watching paint dry, Danny felt the smack talk about his parents and the sexual allurement of his mother to be nothing but nonsensical. And gross. Actually, it was embarrassingly gross.

So that was how Danny ended up finding himself at Vlad's manor doorstep. This needed to stop. While he understood that Vlad's feelings were as spoutingly charged as his ego, this was something that needed to be handled off the battle ground. Not as Phantom versus Plasmius, but as a teenager to an adult. Someone clearly needed to set a boundary, but whether or not Vlad would listen was another argument entirely.

Rolling his eyes and with a heavy sigh that this idea of his was as stupid as it appeared, Danny lightly knocked on the door and pushed the small button doorbell. He stood there for many awkward moments shifting his weight between his feet, mostly debating whether or not to just leave since this was obviously a waste of time, but was stopped when he heard small clicks and locks being lifted. The door opened ajar and from it peered an annoyed Vlad Masters, if not a little taken aback.

"Daniel?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yeah hi." Danny offered.

Vlad raised a brow, "What are you doing here? And at this hour? Shouldn't you be off playing hero or something equally noble?"

Danny floundered for a moment. "I was in the area and thought I would stop by." It was partly true, in a way.

That made Vlad look even more suspicious. "Well, as much as I appreciate you stopping by for obviously 'no particular reason at all', when I'm not corrupting your adolescence, I'm actually off working an honest job that requires me to wake early and face the reality of human necessities. So unless you're going to tell me why you're actually taking up the space of my stair landing, I must bid you goodnight."

Danny groaned and crossed his arms. Vlad was often as difficult in person as he was in ghost form. "Look, I just came to talk, okay?"

Vlad glared at him like nothing in the world could possibly have him believe that. "Go home, Daniel." The door shut in his face coldly. Its not like Danny expected Vlad to welcome him inside with open arms but the man was clearly avoiding what he had to say. Maybe he thought it was some kind of joke, but that hardly deterred him. With a simple intangible wave, Danny phased himself through the door and stepped inside. Vlad had just reached his winding staircase and stopped mid-step in his slippers.

"A closed door usually means to go away." Vlad told him as he adjusted his wine red robe.

"Hello, I'm a ghost boy, I make my own doors. Also I'm 14, I don't exactly have the respect for authority I should."

"Quite." Vlad replied mutely, coming back down the steps. "You have my attention, Daniel. If it's a talk you want then it is a talk you shall get. Follow me to the lounge."

Danny followed slowly behind, taking in the smells and sights of the manor. Due to the explosive nature of ghosts and science, it didn't concern him that there were parts where the manor clearly looked it had been rebuilt or repaired. His home had a lot of the same patchworks, to be fair. The halls hung paintings of various settings and themes while the windows draped in heavy red velvet. It looked lavishing but the intricate details were lost on him. Maybe these fancy decorations were important to adults of interest but to Danny it just looked gaudy.

The lounge looked exactly as Danny expected it to. There were shelves of books and a few lounging chairs with a flat screen television on the wall. A desk sat near the back but didn't look like it was used for much beyond decoration. When Vlad took a seat lazily, he nodded to the chair in front of him for Danny to sit. He obliged, still wondering if he was smelling the musk of the books or if it were the chairs themselves.

"Tea?" Vlad began.

"Coffee, thanks." Danny replied instinctively.

Vlad moved his sleeve out of the way and pressed a button on what looked to be a wristwatch. "Walter, please bring two cups, coffee, and tea to the lounge for me and my guest." He adjusted a little and smiled pointedly. "Now Daniel," he prompted.

"Oh, right." Danny said. He'd been swirling his thoughts for days now but still he wasn't prepared for the actual conversation. It took him a moment to build his muster. "I wanted to talk to you about my parents."

That caught Vlad's attention. He sat up straight. "What have they done?" he asked seriously.

Danny shook his head, "They haven't done anything, so don't get your paternal instincts in a knot. This isn't some cry for help or anything. I just wanted to know why you're so obsessed with them. I mean, obviously in particular you favour my mom, but lets be honest here, your obsession with them is borderline insane. Like, restraining order worthy."

Vlad's eyes formed into slits and his jaw set. Just as he took a breath to speak, the door was rapped on and in came presumably Walter with a tray. He sat the tray on the table between them, bowed, and showed himself out. As the door clicked shut, Danny felt the tension in the air begin to thicken.

Instantly Vlad began to make a cup of coffee for him and a cup of tea for himself. They both appeared painfully aware this was a distraction to help form Vlad's thoughts.

"You feel my actions against them are unusually vested."

That was a huge 'duh', "No kidding."

"And you honestly thought that seeing me in the dead of night for some heart to heart chat would convince me to do otherwise?"

A shrug. "I could have either told you this to your face as the kid I am, or I could have told you through a fist. Somehow I didn't feel arguing with punches and ghost rays was a civil way to address the issue."

Vlad glared. "Don't mock me, boy." He passed Danny his cup of coffee.

"Don't underestimate me, old man." Danny shot back and politely took a sip. It was good.

"So is this some kind of personal favour you are asking of me? A threat, perhaps?"

"No, no." Danny shook his head instantly. "You're not getting it. I'm not here to threaten you to lighten up on your sexual tension surrounding my mom, even if it is grossly unsettling; I just want to know why you do it at all. It's not like its a secret and practically everyone but my dad knows about it. So, yeah, why? Why all this bitterness? Why bother? You're wealthy, you have like a bajillion homes stashed around the world, and on top of that you can do the incredible! Fighting with a 14-year-old halfling and harassing an old fling doesn't really seem, uh, ...smart?"

Vlad set his cup down. "It's not."

"Then why—"

"Daniel, take a look around." he announced that a bit loudly. It filled the room. "Do you see any photographs or telling items that may even remotely look like I have friends or family or anyone to confide into?" Danny didn't respond so he continued. "Do you honestly wish to know why? I thought it obvious that my interests surround my personal gain, revealing the idiocy of your godforsaken twat of a father, and proving to your mother that she deserves better. I've even made it clear that I'm not bitter towards the idea of fathering her children! To take in you and Jasmine as my own despite Jack's awful genetic hilarity."

Danny frowned. "But I think its pretty clear my mom isn't as interested in that idea as you are."

"Oh, what would she know? She married him, its apparent her judgment is clouded."

"And you see, that's your problem. My mom isn't just some trophy, you know. She's a living, breathing, ghost-hunting, woman, (that also likes brightly coloured jumpsuits). Maybe she didn't marry you because you're a egotistical, objectifying douchebag!" He didn't know when they suddenly began leaning on the coffee table with clenched fists and angry glares, but suddenly they just were.

"Don't you think I know that?!" Vlad sneered.

"Then why won't you just accept the fact that she's not interested?!"

"Because Jack stole her from me!"

"And you don't think her feelings on the matter led to that choice?!"

"Damn her feelings, child! This isn't about some chess game of whom deserves to win the right of some crown! This is about the only friend I ever had, that enjoyed me as I was completely, that supported my ridiculous interests in the supernatural and the powers beyond; that stood by my side and claimed himself as my best friend and had the audacity to take the woman I so clearly desired while I sat lonely and afraid in a hospital ward as the ghostly changes came about me! Damn her choice, damn his lies, they were my only friends and they left me to rot."

Silence fell over them. Vlad heaved his breath, seeming to regret having said anything at all. He blinked several times and sat back in his chair, taking up his teacup with a shaky grasp. Danny found himself doing quite the same. It was a lot to comprehend.

Vlad swallowed. "You are so lucky, little badger. You don't understand how lucky you truly are. Being a halfling in this world of fear and ignorance is as hard as life gets. But you have you friends. You have your family. You have the love and support of those that care about you. But, Daniel, I had no one. And the people I thought that would understand, that would come for me and comfort me, they had abandoned me. So in love they became that the idea of including me in their lives was lost. The woman I openly admired and the man I thought was my best friend left me alone and frightened." Their eyes had yet to meet. Vlad stared down into his cup as if it had been the one that forced him to speak.

"Before you," he murmured, "there was no other ghost halfa. I stared out the windows of the ward watching the world pass me by. I waited for Jack and Maddie to come. Surely they would? But as the days grew into weeks, and weeks into months, I realised I wasn't important enough for them to ignore my quarantine just to insure my safety. And yes, Daniel, yes. I grew bitter. Because how else does one become when left so isolated?"

Danny looked down, twiddling his thumbs. "I-I didn't know..."

Vlad scoffed, "How could you, dear boy? So regardless of my feelings towards them, be it passion or madness, can you truly blame me for wanting them to hurt as I have? Can you honestly say that if your friends swept away from you and began wanting less and less to do with you, that you would not want the same?"

"...I don't know." Danny replied innocently.

"And so," Vlad began by downing the rest of his cup, "you now have your answer. Big villain Vlad Plasmius is just as human as the rest of society. Just as bitter, just as hurt, and just as lonely as one man can truly be." The cup was sat down harshly. "Now do be a good boy," he said as he stood straightening his robe, "and go home."

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The following days felt like a blur. The immense weight of what Danny had learned sat with him for most of them. He just couldn't seem to push it from his mind just how ashamed Vlad had seemed when in the heat of their argument. How his anger had almost seemed justified. But at the same time, Danny couldn't bring himself to fully believe that. Sure, he could understand why Vlad would grow so bitter but it felt wrong that the millionaire was holding on to it for so long. If that had happened to him, would he feel the same?

"Danny."

"Earth to Danny."

"Danny!"

Danny snapped out of his thoughts instantly. "Yeah, what?" He asked his friends, Sam and Tucker.

"You spaced out again." Tucker said.

"You've been doing that a lot lately. Is something bothering you?" Sam asked.

Danny didn't know what to say. He hadn't exactly told his friends how he had gone to Vlad's manor and left feeling guilty about it. He wasn't sure they would understand. But this was Tucker and Sam! His best friends. They'd surely understand, right? Why did he feel the need to hide it at all?

"Its just that," he started, not really sure how to phrase it, "I may have gone to see Vlad a few days ago and I may be feeling, I don't know, guilty?"

"Why? Did you smash up his house?" Tucker laughed.

"Tucker." Sam warned before turning to Danny, "Why would you go see him at all? And why would you feel guilty? The man's a villainous loser."

Danny nodded with a wave of his hands, "Yeah, see I get that and all, but honestly I just wanted to know why he had all this obsession about my parents. You guys know how he likes to taunt me about it and well, I got curious and kind of—bit off more than I could chew."

Tucker pat his backside, "I'm sure whatever he told you was just another scheme to get you on his side."

"Tucker's right." Sam added. "He could have told you anything to make himself seem like the victim. Plus, he's like 40, grudges are so high school."

Somehow that didn't feel right. "I don't know, guys. He seemed really genuine." More genuine than Danny had ever believed someone could be. Being half ghost was complicated and since he and Vlad were the only halflings in existence it was hard to swallow Sam and Tucker's regards on the matter. What would they know about it? But Danny stopped that thought in its tracks.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I don't really think he was lying or trying to get me on his side or something. It was almost unlike him while being just like he is. And its not like he has friends to talk about his ghost powers to."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Well maybe he'd have more friends if he stopped acting like such a jerk or better yet, if he stopped meddling in your life."

"But that's the problem, Sam." Danny pleaded, "I mean, I'm half ghost too and its difficult talking about it even with you guys and I trust you with my life! I can't imagine how hard it must be confiding something like that to anyone, especially when you best friend ran off with the girl of your dreams."

Sam and Tucker exchanged worried looks. "You can't be serious."

"I'm not justifying his bitter rage or his egotistical hunger for power and control, I'm just saying that maybe all this has just been his way of dealing with losing his best friends and being left alone while his ghost powers turned his life upside down."

"Even if that is true, which I'm not saying it is," Sam pointed out, "what does it matter? It's his problem. Its not like anyone is forcing him to be alone or not get a girlfriend. He's choosing to be that way."

That hurt Danny a little and he wasn't sure why. "Maybe he is being forced to be this way. It's not easy being a ghost. You can't just walk up to people and say 'oh yeah by the way, I'm a ghost and can shoot lasers out of my ass'."

Sam scoffed, "And it's not like he has to say that either. That's stuff I think even he would know to save for the third date or something."

Danny felt himself growing a bit more angry than he liked. It was stupid. "You just don't get it!" He told Sam pointedly. "I mean, yeah, I have you guys to back me up and all but Vlad? He had no one. No one. Left alone and the only half ghost in existence! You don't think his fears and coping methods are even a little bit reasonable?!"

"No, why would I?" Sam demanded back. "He's an adult, Danny! He's 40-something and he's still upset about something that happened 20-some-odd years ago! He's had plenty of time to sort himself out."

Danny seethed at her, "Yeah because we all know shrinks are just made to handle people turned into half ghosts!"

"What is with you?!" Sam shouted over the table, raising herself up on her hands. Danny mirrored her.

"What's with you?! Not every problem can just be solved like a normal fancy TV special on the women's network. My parents are exactly the kind of people that would chop up and dissect people like us without a second thought!"

"I knew it! This is about you!" Sam declared while Tucker bit his lip, trying not to go against or stand for either of his friends. He tried to work himself up to say something but found the angered fury between Sam and Danny to be far too intense. "This isn't some pity party for a misunderstood Vlad, you're just upset because you think being half ghost somehow warrants your problems more severe than us 'normal' folk." Danny went to speak but she stopped him, "Look, I don't know what the hell Vlad told you, but this is crazy. You think just because you both happen to be half ghosts that you both will understand the other's feelings? That somehow it makes sense now why he chose the path of a pathetic villain? He's not you, Danny, he's a sorry excuse of ectoplasmic flesh!"

How dare she. "No, you're right, he isn't me," Danny confirmed with bitterness on his tongue, "he didn't have anyone to confide into and he didn't have the support of family. I'm lucky and I get that. But you're wrong, Sam. As halflings we do share a lot of feelings in common. And having the support of someone that understands is a big one, and I've just realised that I don't have that either."

Sam looked taken aback. Tucker blinked.

"Are you saying that we, your friends, haven't given you that support?"

"Yeah, Danny, that's a little messed up."

Messed up? Messed up? Deep down something broke inside Danny and he found himself wanting to be as far away from Sam and Tucker as possible. Before he could say anything more that would never be lived down, Danny turned ghost and began a hasty trip towards the sky. Behind him, he could hear Sam shouting, "Yeah you just run off to Vlad's, why don't you?! I'm sure you two will have A LOT TO TALK ABOUT!"

#

#

Sam was so wrong. So very wrong. That was all he could think about as he flew to an unknown destination. The wind felt so nice through his hair and made the problem seem so petty, but Danny could hardly let it go that easily. It wasn't that being half ghost made him better than everyone else, it was more attuned to the notion that he and Vlad were literally the only half ghosts in existence and there wasn't exactly a full science lab running diagnostics on how to help them cope with their betwixt humanity. Sure, Tucker and Sam had been as helpful as ever, but what did they know about the nightmares and the constant wonder if he was a living boy that could turn dead, or a dead boy that could turn alive? They knew nothing of that! Nothing! But the way Vlad had...

Vlad.

As much as Danny didn't want to admit it to himself, he was beginning to understand the frustration and the malevolence that encased his enemy. Even if Vlad had had any relatives or friends that came to understand he was half ghost, they were probably just like his friends now. Always wanting him to cheat on something for them or use his abilities to have the most popular student ask them out. While in hindsight it seemed exactly like the kind of plaything Danny and his friends would do, it was then he realised how much control those close people could have. You won't overshadow their parents so they don't get grounded? Well they can just leave. Threaten to walk away.

Danny stopped himself mid-air, feeling the gush of wind that poured over his ghostly flesh. Something deeply pitted burdened his breathing. His eyes closed tightly, then relaxed. He breathed and took off like lightening in a direction he knew well.

"If I close this door, do I have to worry about you coming in anyway?"

Vlad stood at his manor door, clearly dressed in business attire and not at all in the mood to play games with fickle teenagers. He looked down at Danny but he just bit his lip.

"Do you mind if I just come inside?"

Vlad didn't budge. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Shouldn't you be signing up for dating sites?"

"Daniel, I will call your parents." a halfhearted threat but still Danny stood there just looking at the older man with teenage rebellion and child-like stubbornness. After a moment, Vlad conceded and stepped aside for the young one. Danny walked in a bit hastily while Vlad gave a sigh and closed the door behind them.

"So, to what do I owe the honour?" Vlad began. Danny was a bit distracted by seeing the mainway lit by all the sunlight that poured from the tall windows. It took a moment for him to glance away from them and refocus on himself.

"I wanted to watch you work." He said plainly.

That caused Vlad to stop. He blinked. "Pardon?"

"You heard me. You're old, not deaf. I want to watch you work. Today. If that's alright?" Eyes peered up into Vlad's and the innocence caught him mid breath.

Vlad was obviously confused, but not in a bad way. "Of course. Wishing to take a look at the man in action? Interested in business, are we?"

"Yeah sure." Danny replied. "I don't know." The dripping conscience of teenage uncertainty did not go unnoticed by Vlad. He smiled as politely as he could and began leading Danny up the stairs with a soft hand on his back.

Danny wasn't sure if Vlad had any idea why he was here, and to be fair, Danny hadn't the slightest idea why he had come either. But as Vlad led him through office after office and one lab to another, Danny took notice that the manor was almost laughably understaffed. He hadn't seen a single soul outside of the butler Walter that came and went about as quickly as a fart. He wasn't even sure if Vlad had hired anyone other than Walter, it was so silent. The offices themselves were noisy in their own way with prompters and phones ringing, computers blipping, and old ass pagers vibing, with the occasional phone conversation that was painfully full of ass-kissing, but other than those noises, it was eerily quiet. And Vlad too, even heavy at work on his computer sat in utter silence.

For a while, nothing but typing filled the void between them.

After a few more minutes, "So are you going to tell me why you're really here?" Vlad asked so suddenly that his voice almost felt as loud as a megaphone. Danny jolted in his seat beside Vlad and innocently began to twirl in it before stopping and squeezing on the handles.

"Something is troubling you." Vlad accused a moment later, noticing Danny's fingers squeeze. The typing stopped, the glasses fell and the older man turned in his chair to give Danny his full attention.

Danny wasn't sure how to react. So he didn't react at all. "Is this about that night?" he offered gently, his voice almost a whisper. "Do you have more questions for me?"

"I," Danny started but his tongue refused to move any more. But Vlad was patient. He waited. And it was many more silent beats before Danny worked himself up to speak again. "I noticed that you don't really have a lot of staff here." He said lamely.

"But of course," he supplied like it was evident, "can't chance the local workforce to come upon my little secret, can I?"

That made sense. "And you don't have any pictures or even some weird family photo as your desktop background."

Vlad stared at him pointedly. "Daniel, do I look like I have family to you?"

"So this includes friends too?"

"Do you honestly think a man like me has friends? Really, Daniel."

"You're not making this easy!" Danny spat automatically. Just then, his chair was forced into Vlad's direction and pulled closer. Vlad practically hovered over him with his height.

"People like me don't have friends. We don't have family and. We. Don't. Care." He punctuated each word as if it were a sentence of its own. Vlad released him and stood up as gracefully as a ruler. "Anyone that learns of this secret would certainly exploit me, and getting close to anyone just makes it easier for your enemies to know your weakness."

"Sounds lonely." Danny admitted.

"Ah yes, it's often lonely at the top. But what about you, Daniel?" He turned and peered at the boy. "Such trifle needs seem beyond a boy so full of heroism and loving support." Danny looked down at that. Vlad noticed. "Ah, so the reality of your condition has finally reached you, has it? Trouble in paradise?"

"Don't act like you're not as pathetic," Danny barked, "so what if I'm limited to my two friends. Who cares that I have a ghost hunting family that would probably jump at the chance to see what my insides are like? It doesn't matter, does it? The guilt, the exploitation, the secrecy! It's all pointless, isn't it?! Because no matter what I do or who I love, I'm going to end up just as alone as you are!"

Vlad only watched him. Danny stood and slumped back down. He was in pain. Emotional torturous pain.

"No one understands this—thing we are. We may as well be freaks of nature! Saving the world, destroying it, its all so stupid when you're still a target for the public to point a finger at and for your friends to completely misunderstand and have an argument that you run away from, and find yourself at the doorstep of the only other person you know that understands, and you see first hand why it has to be this way."

"Daniel..." Vlad breathed almost like a reprimanding father.

"You said I'm lucky, Vlad." Danny heaved. "You said I'm lucky but am I?" His face began to hurt. His eyes stinging themselves. "My mom and dad left you before they could rip you apart and figure out why you were. You kept your distance and took your life into your own hands and just look at me! I'm at the mercy of a town that wants my head every other week, a school system that flunks me for being human, and friends that can only see me become this thing. How long until they walk away? Until they can't support me anymore? Until they realise that what I need they can't provide?"

"And what it is that you need?" Vlad's voice was gentle like silk.

Danny fell short. He barely knew what to say. It hurt so much and his face kept stinging. "I think I need to be with my own kind." His lips forced out. "but I'm afraid."

"Afraid?"

"I'm afraid... of being alone."

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