"Hey, Fruitloop."
Vlad sighed, although the nickname annoyed him, he barely felt any contempt for it anymore. He looked up from his many documents and mounds of paperwork to see the very familiar form of Daniel Fenton standing in the doorway, smirking at him.
Even after all these years, it still sent a slight jolt of shock to see the very tall form of Daniel Fenton, truly taking after his father. No matter how long the man knew him, he still couldn't get the image of the young fourteen-year-old out if his head whenever he thought of the younger halfa.
The older halfa tried to fight a smile, instead opting to sigh at the boy. "I really dislike that name."
Daniel shrugged, walking into the room and unceremoniously plopping down on one of the plush chairs in front of Vlad's desk. "Old habits die hard."
Vlad smirked. "Whatever you say, Little Badger."
The younger halfa winced. "Okay, I see your point."
The man chuckled. "Now, that we got that settled. What are you doing here so late?"
Vlad eyed the clock for effect. It was nearly half past midnight. Usually, Daniel visited during the day, whether it was between classes or on an errand for his parents, something that was a usual occurrence since the recent partnership between the Fentons and Vlad.
The boy gave him a sheepish look, scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry, I didn't realize how late it was. I was out on patrol and saw your lights on. Just figured…"
The man put down his pen, giving him his undivided attention. "And figured you would pay me a visit?"
Daniel shrugged, looking to the side. "I've been thinking about some things lately. Well, kinda worrying, and you're pretty much the only one who I can talk to about…these things."
Vlad only raised an eyebrow at this, still not following what the younger halfa was trying to say.
The two were silent for a long moment, with Vlad patiently waiting for the young man to continue on.
Vlad looking at him more closely, usually Danny needed very little pretense to talk to him. It wasn't like him to struggle with words—usually he just blurted out whatever was on his mind. The boy, very much like his father, didn't have any semblance of a filter.
"You know you can ask me anything, Daniel," Vlad prompted.
Daniel shifted uncomfortably, then looked up at the man. "Why did you reach out to me?"
The man raised an eyebrow at this. Although he was unable to fathom what topic had the boy so uncomfortable, he knew for certain this was not it. But, if the boy needed something else to focus on instead of whatever what was on his mind, the man would not push. So, he played along.
He sighed, beginning to fiddle with the over-extravagant pen in his hands. Although he was humoring the boy in his distraction from whatever was worrying him so much, this was a topic that made him uncomfortable. But, he owed Daniel this much. "That's a very difficult question. One that has an answer too long for this time of the night."
"I've got time, besides my first class doesn't start til 12:30 tomorrow."
The man was silent, trying to contemplate how the boy would react. He knew Daniel had been undeservingly gracious so far, but could he really push his luck any further? The boy had ample and justifiable reasons to hate the man.
Apparently, the boy saw Vlad's hesitation for what it was. He leaned in towards the man, pinning him with that unwavering blue gaze of his. "Look, I know what you are thinking, but we are past the grudges and all the things you did in the past. I promised I would give you a second chance, and that's not going to change. Not unless you do something now. All I want to know is why."
Vlad smiled at him. For a second, he couldn't help but admire how strong of a man he was becoming. "When did you become so grown-up?"
Daniel smirked at him, reminding him of the younger fourteen year old version of the man in front of him. Somehow, he was comforted that the boy didn't entirely change, that he was still the Danny Fenton he first met. "Guess I had to after saving the world a couple times. But, you are stalling, now. Compliments won't get you anywhere with me."
Vlad laughed, but soon sobered up. He heaved a sigh, trying to find the right words. The right way to explain this. "It is very hard to explain this. Very difficult." He looked up at Daniel. "But, I owe you this much, if not more."
The man stood, somehow finding himself looking out the window. It was easier this way. Talking to the boy, but not really talking to him. It was as if he could convince himself the boy was no longer in the room and he was talking to only himself as long as he remained where he was, looking out at the clusters of dark trees under a starry blanket. And, so, he pretended, his gaze never straying.
"I wasn't like you in the beginning. When you become half-ghost, your very being determines the nature of that other part of you. Your ghostly nature is determined by your human one. In the beginning, I was so angry, so hurt. I pushed whatever love your parents had for me away because it wasn't the kind of love I wanted. I was stuck all by myself in that hospital for so long with this condition I didn't even understand. It was of both my own doing at the same time it wasn't. And, all that pain, all that rage fed the other me.
I realize, now, how foolish I've been. That was the one difference between you and me, Daniel. You could have gone down the same path I did. You could have decided to be the victim, but you didn't."
"I had Tucker and Sam."
Vlad didn't look back at the halfa. Shaking his head, he answered, "You could have pushed them away. Just as easily as I pushed your mother and father away. Do not try to paint me in a way as if this was not my own doing, because it very much was. I felt the change at the time, I felt the rage. I could have stopped it.
For twenty years, I let that rage consume me. My other half as a conduit for it. I became Vlad Plasmius. I became something inhuman. Consumed me so much that I lost sight of everything. After the asteroid, after what I did, I suppose it shocked me back. Something that was buried so deep inside of me started to show—I realized it was me—my humanity. I grabbed at it, and with that came a flood of emotions I haven't let myself feel for so long, guilt, pain, loss. I realized how truly terrible I was, all the crimes, the atrocities, every vile thing I have done. Everything I have ever done haunted me; it still does."
Vlad took a breath. Talking about that experience was more difficult than he thought. He still felt the flood of emotions from time to time, in sudden waves, so large sometimes it felt like the first time—when it consumed him so fully. But, he reminded himself every time that this was good. It was good to feel, no matter what emotion it was. It meant he was human.
"I came here to hopefully earn some bit of redemption for everything I have done. I felt like making amends with you and doing whatever I can to help you was a good start. So, was resuming my role as mayor, but instead, with good intentions. Since my ghost form is now the most wanted in the human world, Masters seemed to be a good way to hide since nobody knows he and I are one and the same.
"All for the best. I never want to be that monster again."
"Have you turned yet?"
Vlad turned to Daniel, leaning back on the windowsill. "I'm sorry?"
"You know, gone ghost," Daniel supplied.
Vlad, despite the situation, had to smile at the phrase, remembering how it used to be the boy's battle cry long ago. "No. Not since the asteroid."
Daniel frowned. "Do you miss it? The powers."
The older man shrugged.
"Vlad," the boy began, pursing his lips disapprovingly—reminding the man of Maddie Fenton. She used to do the exact same thing when Jack and he would get into trouble at college—which was often, especially with Jack Fenton coming up with the plans. "You can't be afraid of your ghost half. I don't think turning away completely from that side of you is going to do any good. It's a part of you, you just need to find that balance and looks like you're pretty closing to finding it."
Vlad looked away. "What if that part of me truly is evil, like a real ghost? What would happen to me then?"
"I don't think it's either just the human or the ghost nature. I think this was the man."
"So you think it was me?"
"I know this is pretty harsh," Daniel said, giving the man a hard look. "But, yes. But let me explain, so I don't sound like a complete douchebag. Unfortunately, something that I had to learn, being half ghost, having this much power, it means we can't screw up like everybody else. Simple things, like getting mad or cheating on a test, turn into big things. We are more responsible. We are not like everybody else. What we do has more effects, affect more people—hurts them.
"But, what I'm saying is, it's not the ghost or the human, it's us. It's who we are, the choices we make, what we choose to stand for."
Vlad looked at the young halfa with wide eyes. He couldn't help it. He knew the shocked expression he was giving the boy must have been offending, but he really couldn't help it. What he said earlier to him rang in his head, when did you become so grown-up?
"You know, with the way you are looking at me, I can't tell if I should be insulted or flattered that I've stumped you so hard. I am twenty, you know."
"Daniel, I don't care if you were a hundred, no person would be able to match what you just told me. No person should have to go through whatever taught you that lesson. What happened?"
The boy looked away. "It was a long time ago."
"How long?"
"I was fourteen."
"What happened?" the man repeated.
The boy shifted uncomfortably. "I saw what would happen if I ever screw up. That's what happened. And trust me, it was much worse than what you did."
"You know you aren't making any sense right now, right?"
The boy smiled sadly at the man, looking more aged than he ever had. "Yeah, I know."
"And, you are not going to tell me?" the man deduced, not knowing if he truly wanted to find out what exactly happened to the boy, what gave him such a haunted, tired look.
"I'm sorry, maybe another time, but just trust me on this, don't be afraid of that other part of you. You are different, I can see that much. Besides," the boy leaned back, his expression changing to an almost dreamy one, "you probably miss the hell out of flying."
The man laughed. "I bet that was your favorite part, huh?"
Daniel chuckled. "Still is. Couldn't imagine not being able to."
"Well, I'm happy to see some things still haven't changed."
Daniel looked at the man with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"
Vlad smiled, somehow comforted by this. Apparently, the boy's love of flying wasn't the only thing that remained the same. He was still hopelessly clueless. "It's not anything bad. I'm just still trying to get over how much you've grown; you are no longer that fourteen year old I met at that college reunion. I'm proud of you."
The boy blushed lightly, breaking eye contact with the man, but before he could do so, the man saw a smile on his face.
"But," the man continued, "you still haven't told me what brought you here."
The man almost laughed at the shocked expression on the younger halfa's face. "Wha?"
"Oh, come now, Daniel, I'm not nearly as clueless as you. I do know when someone is stalling. And, you don't exactly have a poker face."
Daniel looked away, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Vlad raised an eyebrow. He settled down in his office chair. "It cannot be that bad."
"Not bad, more awkward, I guess." The boy paused, giving his older counterpart a wary look. "I was in bio class, and we started talking about animal hybrids."
Vlad only raised an eyebrow, not knowing where Daniel was going with this. He highly doubted the boy could tell him anything he didn't know about being a halfa. When Vlad first realized what happened to him, he spent years researching possible cures for his condition until he stopped looking.
"I doubt we have anything in common with them. Animals are far from paranormal."
"But couldn't the same principles apply though?"
"What principles?"
Daniel blushed, scarlet red reaching the tips of his ears. "Uh, reproducing."
Vlad looked at the boy, shocked. He knew Daniel was seeing Sam Manson. "Did you…"
Daniel blanched. "Uh no, God, no!" He waved his hands in front of him, shaking his head repeatedly.
At this point, in all his years on this earth, Vlad had never felt so awkward, especially with what he was about to ask next. "Are you," he paused shifting uncomfortably in his chair, "uh, being safe?"
The boy looked at him with a horrified expression on his face. "Are you really trying to give me the sex talk?"
"So, you know about, you know?" God, he couldn't believe he was doing this, but still, he felt obligated in some weird protective way.
Daniel groaned. "Yes, Vlad, I know about condoms!"
"Okay," Vlad gulped, silently thankful he didn't have to go any further than that.
"Moving on from that," Daniel said, changing the subject as fast as he could. His face was still beet red. "I wasn't talking about that. In class, they said hybrids are infertile. They can't reproduce at all."
Daniel stopped and looked at Vlad again.
"And, you're wondering if that is the case for us?" The older man confirmed.
"Yeah. I mean, obviously Sam and I aren't doing anything right now, but she talks about that stuff, you know? Like the future and all. She even mentioned how she wanted kids—it just made me think about it. There is so much I still don't know, like this—can I even have kids, or can I have them and they just come out all mutated?"
The man looked a Daniel, then, more sympathetic than ever to the boy because he knew the answer, and that he probably wouldn't like it. He also understood how the boy must be feeling, the same frustration with the unknown as he once dealt with. They were the only two people that were like the way they were. Unfortunately, that meant they were left to figure everything out on their own. While there were many benefits to being a halfa, like their immune systems being stronger, immunity to many gases and forms of poisons, enhanced strength and senses, there were some disadvantages as well.
"You can still have kids," he said, looking to the side. He still felt a little uncomfortable with the subject. "But, it would be harder. The ghost part of our DNA wouldn't be accepted, so it would have to be left to chance—for the human part of your DNA to align with hers during the first stages of reproduction. If the ghost part were to, then either there would be no pregnancy or there could be miscarriages. It's not impossible, but it's difficult for sure. It all depends on a game of chance."
"I guess that was kind of the answer I expected," Daniel finally said after taking a moment to digest what the older man said. "That seems to always be the answer with being a half-ghost, kinda a good and bad one."
Vlad didn't say anything. What would he say? That it would all be better soon. Danny was right. Being a half-ghost wasn't exactly a walk in the park. There were certain things full humans took for granted that both he and the younger man couldn't.
"I'm sorry," the man finally said.
The younger halfa shook his head. "Don't be. Sam and I will do what we always do and figure it out. Besides, we have a long time for that."
"Will you talk to your parents about it?" the man said, knowing full well the Fentons would throw themselves in finding a solution for their son.
Daniel shrugged. "Maybe when it gets closer to that point, but not right now. You know how obsessed they can get with their work. I wouldn't want them worrying about this. It's finally starting to get a little bit normal again."
The man raised an eyebrow at this.
Seeing the man's questioning look, Daniel rolled his eyes. "Don't ask."
Vlad laughed at this, only imagining what Maddie and Jack have been putting their son through in the last couple of years since the Disasteroid and finding out their son was a half-ghost superhero.
Vlad was about to ask again what exactly has been going on in the Fenton household until a very family blue mist escaped the boy's mouth. Said boy groaned. Daniel stood from his seat, looking more annoyed than anything else. "And, that is my cue."
In a flash, Daniel was Phantom. The man could only smile at this, feeling, just like every time he watched the boy change, a sense of comradery. After all this time, he finally felt like he was no longer alone in more ways than one.
"Hey, Vlad?"
"Hmm?"
The boy smiled at him. "Thanks."
The younger halfa made a move to leave but was stopped by the man calling out his name. The boy turned to look at the man. "Yeah?"
"Be careful."
Daniel laughed. "No promises."
And, then he was gone, leaving the man to his work once more, but somehow, like after all his interactions with the younger half-ghost, he felt ten times lighter.
