(Part two! Danny's totally a rat in jail here.)
(One month later...)
Danny sat alone in the jail cell, his legs crossed tightly.
Having spent nearly a month living on the streets after the explosion, he had now become a hardened cynic. And who could blame him? The one friend he though he could rely on in harsher times had ghosted him, so to speak, and left him to the mercy of homeless life.
Yes, the infamous Clockwork.
The most powerful ghost, his most powerful friend who had deserted him for the sake of his oh so PRECIOUS timeline. The traitor, Danny reasoned, couldn't care less about the people he watched over. Clockwork fit the stereotype of a ghost that his deceased parents had always used to promote: cold, unfeeling, selfish.
Though he knew it wasn't true for all ghosts, and especially half ghosts like himself, it still stung that THE most powerful ghost in existence- that he knew of at least- fit the bill. Oh, what Danny wouldn't give to deliver a verbal, and if possible, a physical thrashing upon the cruel Time Lord.
Everyone he valued was gone.
Danny tucked his hands under his arms for warmth, though he still shivered. His thin grey jacket provided barely any warmth to his small body, leaving him to regret ever stealing it. It was winter after all, and the cold spared no one.
Though it was nearly midnight, Danny tried to keep his senses sharp. His eyes darted around, utilising whatever dim light that entered the cell to take in more of his surroundings. His ears were also focused, picking up the snores of inmates several cells away.
After a while, despite his astuteness, he began to tire. Soon, Danny's eyelids began to droop, and stifling a yawn only became so much harder. The light seemed to become dimmer with every slow blink he made, each one threatening to plunge him into sleep. The snores became less and less noticeable, and his mind began to slip in and out of reality. Fighting sleep was his only objective now. He refused to be caught off guard.
Danny had never been to jail, after all. It paid to be cautious.
"Hey kid," a guard called out to him. "You got a visitor."
Danny jolted his head up, shocked that the man had slipped past his radar. He must have partially fallen asleep, he reasoned, and made himself temporarily vulnerable. He pushed his coarse black hair out of his face and stared at the guard, confused.
"I...don't have any relatives...here..." Danny weakly explained. His voice didn't work well due to its lack of use for hours on end. That, and Danny began to worry, it could be the effect of a possible incoming cold.
The guard looked at him, then shrugged.
"Well, someone's here to see you anyway," he responded. "Might even pay bail."
"Oh."
Danny watched the guard leave and shifted his position, bringing his knees to his chin. It seemed odd to him that a stranger would visit, especially since he lacked a family and any other connections. He was nothing but a petty thief at this point, in fact, having used his weakening ghost powers to steal food and clothes. Danny wasn't ashamed of it, however. It was now his survival over everything.
A tall man in a black suit entered the room, activating Danny's ghost sense. The dim lighting from above seemingly gave the man's deep blue eyes a glow. He walked towards Danny's cell and stopped just before the bars, a half grin plastered across his face.
The other halfa.
Danny immediately scooted back to the back wall of the cell, as far away from the bars as possible. He felt wide awake now, stunned by her enemy's presence. His stomach knotted with anxiety, Vlad's presence having shattered any feeling of security he had.
"Calm down," Vlad chuckled, sitting down on the cold floor. "It's not like you're going anywhere."
Danny remained silent.
"So," he continued, his face only a few inches in front of the bars, "I haven't seen you in a while. How is life on the streets?"
Danny narrowed his eyes at him, insulted by his amusement. How dare he make fun of his current situation?
"The streets are fine," Danny retorted, regaining his voice. "I survived."
Vlad tilted his head.
"Even though you did, you look worse for wear," he commented. "Your hair is an absolute mess, and I'm sure you haven't changed out of those clothes in days. Weeks, maybe."
"Well, I'm fine here," Danny stated, frowning at him from behind his knees. "So you can just leave."
Vlad laughed, his voice filling Danny's ears with the sound of joy at Danny's expense.
"So eager to get rid of me, hmm?" he continued. He tapped one of the bars softly with his finger. "You don't actually want to stay behind these, do you?"
"It's safer," Danny muttered.
"Safer?" Vlad asked, intrigued by his answer. "Don't you know what happens to the smaller boys in prison?"
In an instant, Danny leaned forward and shot his fist past the bars, aiming at Vlad's face. Vlad quickly moved to the side and caught it, unfazed. He gave it a harsh squeeze, his hand lighting up with a faint pink hue, then let it go.
Danny retracted his hand quickly and rubbed it with his other one, giving him a sharp glare when the pain went away.
"Oh my, I think I might have scared you," Vlad remarked, smirking. "And you should know better than to fight me. I always win."
Danny scowled.
"Oh, and it's quite interesting how you've ended up here," Vlad purred. "Stealing, wasn't it? Where have your holier-than-thou morals gone? Did they escape with your tactical skills, seeing as how you've been caught too?"
"Did you just come here to insult me?" Danny asked, glaring at him. "Don't you have anything better to do? And for your information, I'm only here because I stole for survival. I need to live somehow."
"Well, look where that's landed you."
Danny felt his words sink in hard and fast, almost as if they were a painful blow. He knew Vlad was right, but the truth coming from his mouth irritated him. Danny blamed the feeling on having experienced his lies before.
"Why are you here?" Danny asked him flatly, breaking the silence. The sting of Vlad's words ebbed away slowly as she spoke.
"To make an offer," Vlad explained, knowing that Danny was upset by his bluntness. He had seen the unconscious reaction in the boy's face. "I know you are homeless. I know your family's gone. I'm here to tell you that I can take you in."
Danny's eyes widened.
"I know you don't like me," Vlad acknowledged. "Despise is a better word, really. But this is one of those times you really need to use your brain, Daniel. No one else knows you. You have no distant relatives that are coming to rescue you. You have no close friends in this state, either. They don't know about how you're...different. Even if you're upset about it, I'm all you have left."
Before Danny could utter a response, Vlad reached his hand through the bars and lifted a finger to his mouth.
"Enemy or not." he added.
Danny slapped his hand away and stared at him, contemplating his message. Why would he want to have anything to do with him? His mother, Vlad's never ending obsession, was gone. The man's motives, sometimes vicious, were always hard to read. Maybe that was what made him such an elusive criminal.
"You've tried to kill me before," Danny brought up.
"Oh, I've never tried to kill you," Vlad denied gently. "Only get you out of the way. Temporarily."
Danny scoffed. Vlad shook his head, disappointed.
"I thought you'd be more intelligent, Daniel." he informed her. "You would choose jail over a home?"
"I told you, this place is safer," Danny insisted. "I get food, water, and a roof over my head. That's all I need for now."
"No it's not." Vlad argued, though trying to keep his voice soft. The last thing he wanted to do was rile the teenager up. "People in jail are dangerous. They don't all have innocent intentions like you. And furthermore, food, water, and shelter are not all you need. Climb higher up Maslow's pyramid, Daniel. You need affection and attention too."
"I don't," Danny huffed. "I'll be fine." Who was Vlad to offer those things? It had to be a trap, Danny reasoned.
"Not in the least." Vlad countered. "Why are we even arguing about this?"
"Because you're a liar," Danny shot back. "You've lied to me before a bunch of times."
"Yes, well, you survived, and we're still here," he said, brushing the boy's angry statements off. "Come now, Daniel. I told you, you haven't got anyone else."
Vlad watched Daniel's expression turn somber, realising he must have started thinking of his deceased family.
"You never had a chance to properly mourn them, did you?" Vlad asked softly. Your survival was at risk much too fast."
Danny shook his head.
"No, but I can't...I can't think of them right now." Danny told him, stumbling over his words. Sadness threatened to well up inside him and spill embarrassing tears. "I just need to focus on living."
"Oh, but you're not living," Vlad insisted. "You're just existing. That's really all anyone can do in a filthy place like this."
"Maybe, but... you're obviously dangerous. I can't go with you."
"I'm only dangerous to the ones I despise, Daniel."
"That could be anyone."
"It's not you."
A guard walked in, unaware of his intrusion on the couple's conversation. His keys jingled on his belt, hitting his thighs with every step. His face was stern, hardened by working with the more difficult inmates in distant cells.
"Five more minutes," he gruffly announced before turning around and leaving. "He ain't got all night. Pay the bail or go."
Vlad watched him leave, then turned back to Danny.
"So, have you made your decision?" Vlad asked, slightly annoyed by the interruption. "Time waits for no one, Daniel."
Oh, if Vlad only knew how heartless time really was.
Danny grimaced, the lack of time to make a good decision stressing him. Vlad had finally made his way into his mind, the manipulative conman that he was. One one hand, Danny felt that Vlad's intentions were dangerous, and that jail would suffice as a shelter. But on the other, he desperately wanted to get away from questionable prisoners, and someone to ease the loneliness he felt. Maybe even to vanquish it altogether.
"Why do you even want me?" Danny asked him, peering directly into dark blue eyes. "I've done nothing but fight and insult you."
"Because no matter how low you think I am, I'm not letting an innocent child get locked up for simply trying to stay alive," Vlad explained. "You love justice, don't you? Consider this a form of mine."
Danny, pressed for time, made his decision. He grabbed Vlad by the collar and pulled his face against the bars harshly.
"Ok," Danny began. "I'm coming with you. But if you hurt me at all, I'm killing you. No mercy."
Vlad smiled, unbothered by the sudden aggression. It wasn't that unexpected from a verbally cornered child, after all.
"We go by my rules," Vlad said, yanking his collar out of her grip. "But yes, I'm not here to harm you."
"Fine. Pay the bail."