Hello fanfiction viewers, it's me again. I'm very sorry for not updating this chapter. Anyhow, I give you Chapter 2 of Daniel Masters Timeline 2
Chapter 2
Danny lay curled up in the hospital bed, wallowing in his own grief and self-hatred. Had he truly missed the funerals? How was he supposed to say goodbye now? To apologize for failing them, and not being able to save them? Of course, it had not been medically possible for Danny to have attended the funerals of his family and indeed, his best friends. However with Danny, his hero complex would not allow him to give himself this defense. In his mind, he did not deserve any comfort. In a way he hoped that Vlad had made it up, that he had just told him this tale to shut him up and prevent him from screaming off into an uncontrollable tantrum in front of the solicitor. But surely if it had have been untrue the lawyer would have corrected it? And even Vlad wouldn't lie about something as important as the funerals, would he?
Vlad. Danny scrunched his body tighter out of anger and shame, why had he let himself cry in front of Vlad? If the older halfa hadn't thought of him as weak before he must do now, Danny thought. At least he hadn't fell to pieces in front of Vlad like he had done with the nurse and doctor when he first woke up, he was already struggling to live with himself without adding something like that to his list of 'reasons why I wish I were dead too.' He had already lost count of how many he had come up with in his head.
Danny sighed, what did it matter what Vlad thought anyway? Realistically he was no longer a threat, everyone he cared about gone so there was no one left for Vlad to hurt except for him. And Danny didn't care what would happen to him anymore, just so long as he didn't end up living with the fruitloop! Danny's right hand grasped the bed railing and squeezed it out of anger. In what universe was Danny being placed in Vlad's care a good idea? Danny had meant what he had said, he would live on the streets before live with Vlad in Wisconsin. And he was prepared to fight for his freedom from that man, no matter what authority figure in the social care system he would have to face to get that point across.
Danny sat up on the bed when he heard voices outside of the door, hoping that whoever it was they wouldn't come in and disturb his depressive brooding. He grunted irritably when he realized it was only Vlad talking to Mr Hindle, the idiot lawyer. Having said that, Danny had been grateful to that idiot lawyer just a short time ago, when he asked if he could speak privately to Vlad regarding some 'other important legal matters.' Danny scoffed, it was likely just about payment of his legal fees! He probably just wanted to exist the room, realistically. No one really knows what to do when an injured and angry teenager starts to cry. Still, it got rid of Vlad and give Danny time on his own, and he was more than grateful for that.
"Yes, yes I'll be sure to send a cheque to your office!" Vlad spat angrily. He was not impressed that the Fenton's lawyer had pulled him from Danny's room at such a crucial moment, to simply discuss his payment! Although Vlad didn't know the first thing about comforting grieving teenagers, he saw a brief window of opportunity to use Danny's sadness to talk him round. However, that would have been tainted by having the less than professionally capable Mr Hindle present in the room anyway. Vlad couldn't understand how he was still droning on, surely the man had other things to occupy his time? Vlad knew he did. Which was why his attention was redirected to a nurse who just passed them in the hall and entered Danny's room. It had been the same nurse who advised that he not wake Danny last night. Vlad frowned, if he hadn't have listened to her he probably would have made some sort of break-through by now with Daniel. He looked back to the more than irritating lawyer, deciding that his time would come soon enough. He knew if he was nothing he would still be a patient man.
Danny looked up fearfully when the door opened, and sighed with relief when he saw the nurse who had been kind to him yesterday come in and greet him with a smile.
"Good morning Daniel, how are you feeling today?" she asked sweetly as she set a tray down on the bedside locker.
Danny sighed and lowered his head slightly so as not to meet her gaze. It's not that he wanted to be rude, but he feared that if he started a conversation with her he may break down again as a result of her more than likely to be comforting. Plus, he didn't feel that he deserved her kindness. The nurse smiled with a knowing nod and continued on.
"That's alright sweetheart, you don't have to talk to me. I understand that we all need our quiet moments, and it just doesn't do us any good to see anyone. However, I am obliged to change your bandages and clean your wounds so as you don't get an infection. Would you be alright if I did that? I promise to be as gentle and as quick as I can!"
Danny hesitated for a moment but then nodded to the nurse to go ahead. He knew that if he declined her now he would only be disturbed by someone else later, or Vlad would try to interfere or who knows what. The nurse gently unwrapped the used bandages, and started to dab the first open wound with wet cotton wool. The initial sting came as a shock to Danny.
"Ouch!" He winced.
"Sorry honey." The nurse said genuinely.
"It's okay," Danny replied, "It's not that bad."
The nurse smiled at him. Danny wasn't sure but there was something about this nurse that made him want to pour his heart out to her. Her mannerisms, her kind voice, her bight, happy eyes. Danny realised that she reminded him a little of his mother. He smiled into himself when he read her name tag: 'Mandy.' Mandy was as good as her word, and had Danny cleaned and re-bandaged in a flash.
"There you go my lovely, all finished!" She beamed, "Now is there anything else you need or would like? You know you're such a good patient, I haven't heard your buzzer go once! You do know you have one, don't you?"
"Um, yeah. I do. No I-I don't need anything. Thanks." Danny replied, hesitantly.
"Okay hon, I'll leave you in peace then." Mandy said as she lifted her tray and proceeded to leave.
"Uh, wait…" Danny mumbled as she was a step away from the door.
Mandy turned around again. "Yes?"
"I-I missed their funerals!" Danny blurted out, "Am I a bad person?" He couldn't help it, he had to tell someone and hear their advice. Normally Sam and Tucker would be the go situations like this, but sadly Danny's sad dilemma included them too.
"Oh sweetheart," Mandy said sympathetically, as she set the tray back down and sat in the armchair next to the bed. "Of course you're not a bad person! How can you say that? Why, it was only yesterday that you woke up from a coma, and you're still recovering from quite severe injuries! And let me tell you something hon, people miss funerals for much less than that!"
Danny shook his head whilst trying to fight back his tears. "But they were my family, my friends…I didn't get to say goodbye. I miss them so much!" He choked out.
Mandy nodded and rubbed his arm. "I know, and you'll always miss them. But you're beating yourself up over something which you had no control over, do you think they would want you to be so upset over something like this? And you wouldn't be saying goodbye anyway, for you can't say goodbye to people who will always be with you and will never forget."
Danny looked up at her, finding her kind eyes and sweet words very comforting. He tried to let what she had said sink in, though his guilt was making this difficult. He wanted to see them so bad, even if it meant it was beside their gravestones. He wanted to be close to them again.
"Thank you." Danny whispered. Mandy knew that Danny needed some time on his own, she smiled at him again and left to finish her rounds. Danny sat up in his bed, thinking hard. He knew that what Mandy had said was right, and it had helped him get rid of some of his guilt. However, he still wanted to be there, to talk to them, to ask for forgiveness. And he couldn't do it here. Danny knew that it would be easy for him to leave the hospital and fly to the cemetery,, even though he was weak from his injuries. He realized that now would be the time to act, when he was on his own at last.
Danny wasted no time and skipped thinking logically about this rash decision. He turned intangible on the bed and was about to fly out of the building when he saw Vlad's coat hanging over a chair by the door. He had taken it off and set it there before he left earlier with Mr Hindle. Danny returned to his human form and walked over to retrieve the coat. He shuddered as he wrapped it around him, his broken left arm making this difficult. By no means did he want to wear an item of Vlad's clothing, but he would look much less suspicious at first glance wearing a long dark coat in a cemetery rather than just a hospital gown. Once Danny had the coat draped around him, with great effort he transformed again and finally exited the hospital. With no intention of returning at that.
Vlad was on the verge of ecstatic from relief when Mr Hindle finally relented and left the hospital. Vlad wasn't sure if he had ever encountered a man who was so un-knowingly slow and idiotic! Then he chuckled to himself thinking, of course he did! Jack Fenton! Obviously it made sense, only he would hire a man like that to take care of his legal matters.
Vlad sighed as he pushed open Danny's door, he'd better watch that he not make comments like that to the boy, it would be understandable that Danny would be a little sensitive about something like that right now...Vlad's mouth dropped when he saw that's Danny's bed was empty.
"Daniel?" Vlad called. Naturally, there was no answer. He knocked the bathroom door and did the same again. Vlad then opened the door as a precaution, and of course the room was empty.
"Butter biscuits!" Vlad growled, "Where could that little rat have gone?" He wondered if one of the doctors had taken him out for a scan or test of some sort, but then he would have seen them leave as he had only been in the corridor the whole time. In fact, it had only been a few minutes ago that Vlad had seen the nurse come out of the room. Then Vlad smiled, it was possible that the teenager had turned intangible as a means of hiding from Vlad. It would be effective, as neither of them can sense one another whilst they are intangible. However, Vlad knew that if this was the stunt Danny was pulling, it wouldn't last very long because Danny's weak human half would soon drain the energy he needed to do so.
Vlad chuckled, "Have it your way, my boy. I can wait." He sat down on the chair next to the door looking towards the bed, smiling at thin air. He then moved to lift his cell phone out of his coat pocket. But where was his coat? Vlad stood up, confused. He knew that he'd left the coat there, so where did it-
"Oh no!" Vlad growled, "He didn't!" Vlad knew that only Danny could possibly have the coat, and since neither were in the room, Vlad came to the correct conclusion that Danny had taken it in order to leave the hospital.
"How could he be so stupid?" Vlad snapped, knowing that the younger halfa had put himself in danger, giving his current health conditions. Vlad knew better than to report this to hospital staff, it would be too suspicious that no one had seen him leave. Besides, it would be easy for Vlad to get him back. After the conversation they had had that morning, Vlad had a fair idea of where he'd be.
Danny stood next to the graves, one beside the other; Jack, Madeline and Jasmine Fenton. Danny had not been to Sam or Tucker's graves yet, they were buried in different churchyards. At least Danny thought they were, Vlad hadn't mentioned whether or not their funerals had taken place, he could only assume they had.
At least Vlad had been right about one thing, the gravestones and displays were truly lovely, and honourable to their memory. The gravestones were black marble with nice gold imprinting, each with a kind message regarding each of the Fenton's. Sitting neatly on Jack's grave was a display of orange lilies. Danny smiled, they reminded him of Jack's orange jumpsuit. On Maddie's there were equally beautiful white lilies. Even in death it would appear as though Jack and Maddie were to be a match, even though they were a little different from one another. And lastly, on Jazz's grave there was a lovely display of jasmines.
Danny sighed sadly, and took in a shaky breath. He was trembling, although he wasn't sure if it was from grief or coldness. He was very grateful to have the fruitloop's coat at this moment. Danny kneeled down, next to the graves and looked at them as though he were looking at the people they remarked.
"I'm sorry." Danny whispered, "I'm so sorry. I wish I could have saved you, I tr-I tried so hard!" He cried, choking on his words. He didn't even try to stop the tears from flowing, he just kept going.
"Please forgive me," he begged, "I love you all so much. I just wish I could have been the hero you deserved…"
"You were, Daniel."
Danny froze. Could it be? He turned his head and saw Vlad looming in the shadows, leaning against the tree which sheltered the three graves lovely. Danny glared at him. How dare he follow him here? Vlad, who was in human form also, pulled a handkerchief from his front pocket and reached it to the boy. Danny chose to ignore this gesture.
"What are you doing here Plasmius?" He spat at the man. Danny's anger had overwhelmed him, his dislike for the man could stand alone but the fact that he had not let him alone to grieve had truly infuriated him.
"Oh what do you think I'm doing here Daniel?" Vlad snapped back, retracting his previous kind gesture and mirroring the boy's angry response, "I'm hardly out for a stroll on this bitter freezing cold January afternoon now, I'm I?"
"Well get out of here! Why can't you just leave me alone? Can't you tell that you're the last person I want to see right now?"
"It hardly matters what you want when you're clearly not thinking straight Daniel. I believe it's fairly obvious that you're grief has overshadowed any little common sense or logical thinking that you may have had beforehand."
"Oh so what, because I'm sad that my family and friends' are dead I can't be trusted to think and make my own decisions? Get lost Plasmius, what would you know about human feelings anyway? It's not like you have a heart!" Danny hissed at him, giving him a venomous stare.
Vlad glared at his young so-called charge. That last remark really stung. How could Danny say he didn't have a heart? Everything he did was because had a heart, and he was simply following its desire. The same as what Danny did, what he was doing right now.
"Listen Daniel, you can hurdle insults at me all day long if you wish, but the fact of the matter is, heartless or not, I do happen to understand something about what you're going through. It's clear that your irrational and reckless behaviour is the result of your heart breaking. And I know it's painful, and I know you're doing what you're doing to try to make that pain go away. But it won't, Daniel. Doing stupid things and putting yourself at risk will not take the pain away, only time will." Vlad said to the boy in a calm tone.
Danny had listened, but he didn't like what he had heard. What did Vlad know anyway? Anything he said or did was bad news! That didn't stop Danny from taking to heart some of the things Vlad had just said. It was like they were fuel which flamed the hurt, and the hurt was coming out from Danny now, in the form of tears and sobs.
Vlad watched the boy pityingly. He hadn't meant to upset him so. He only wanted him to understand, to try and make him see sense, and hopefully talk him back into returning to the hospital. Seeing him now distraught and shivering in the cold, Vlad knew that he had to get Danny back, before he became very ill from the cold. Vlad leaned down in front of Danny and gently took his arm.
"Come Daniel," He said gently, "Let's get you back to the hospital now, hm?"
"No!" Danny yelled at him fiercely, pulling his arm away with force, "You can't make me go with you, I won't!"
Vlad sighed, if he knew Danny Fenton like he thought he did, he knew this would not go down without a fight. A fight which he knew the boy was physically unable to compete in.
Ripped off of Chapter 2 of No Second Chances by xSeriouslyx.
