A/N: I wanted to touch on why Vlad and Danny are somewhat closer to each other in my other fic than they are in the show. There are references that something caused this, and Sam and Tucker aren't the most supportive of their newfound alliance, so I figured it's probably something I can touch on in here. And it fits the prompt! In terms of a timeline, this is a good number of months after anything involving Dani, but shortly before the events in Perceived Parallels. You won't need to have read that fic to understand this one!
Second-gen
It started with something small, something Danny could have easily missed if he weren't paying such a close eye on his parents during the fight.
He was worried about them for a number of reasons. First, his mom had just recently injured herself while practicing forms in the backyard. It wasn't anything too intense, just a sprained ankle, from a quick slip in the mud, but it was enough to keep Danny's eyes flicking over to her every so often.
Second, it was Undergrowth. Undergrowth is a particularly hard ghost for Danny to fight, (along with Nocturn) since they attack the citizens of Amity directly. It causes his obsession to flare up and hover over his friends and family... um, obsessively. This caused him to keep an even closer eye on his parents. He couldn't go 5 seconds without checking if they were alright, despite their capabilities to defend themselves.
Luckily this time, there was the benefit of having both Danny's ice powers and Valerie on the human's side. Unluckily, some ghostly, glowing shield was preventing Danny's chill from rendering Undergrowth to permafrost, not to mention he got there late. (Thanks to an increasingly perceptive Lancer. Once the ghost alarms went off, he had his hand on Danny's shoulder faster than he could throw out one of his novella-turned-expletives)
So, by the time Danny did get to the fight, his parents were tired and struggling, Valerie sported a number of gashes through her suit, and Vlad had even shown up and exhausted a good chunk of energy, based on how often his clones were popping. Undergrowth was, in a sense, winning.
Soon, the fight was nearing its climax. With Danny there, both sides were evenly matched, both sides were at the point where a small tip in their favor could lead to an overwhelming snowball effect towards the end of the fight, and both sides were determined. Valerie was doing a good job of getting citizens out of the damned pods, his parents were doing a good job of preventing the citizens from getting re-captured by the pods, Danny was focusing on pushing his ice down into the root system, and Vlad (willing to help out for his own agendas) was fighting off Undergrowth directly. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz, according to the panicked shouting that occasionally crackled through the Fenton Phones, were cut off from ground zero due to their inability to fly over the vines covering the area, so at least they were, marginally, safe. One less thing to focus on, good.
Either way, Danny was doing his best to keep close to his parents (who've, thankfully, regarded Phantom as the lesser threat for now) while still pushing his frost through the root system. For a while, the ice didn't take, and Danny was going to forgo that plan and join Vlad until a glistening sheen of ice began to form where Danny was blasting.
"Plasmius, I'm getting through!" His eyes shone blue as he pushed, pumping more and more energy into his ice core.
Undergrowth hissed and shifted his roots so that a new one was facing Danny, likely to heal the previous one. The ghost boy followed the injury nonetheless, knowing that he couldn't let this chance slip. He didn't even think twice about it, now that his focus was on something else.
That left his parents open for an attack.
Looking back, it likely wasn't anything that would have turned the battle in any particular way. Undergrowth had managed to snake a smaller vine over to where his parents were fighting. Danny watched it slowly rise and shoot a barrage of almost minuscule spikes over at the two ghost hunters. He yelled something that was unfortunately inaudible over the sounds of battle.
Jack, having noticed the vine a mere second before Maddie, jumped over to her and clutched her in her arms. He closed his eyes and braced himself, preparing for the onslaught of needles to hit his back.
He never felt them.
Jack turned around, noticing the vine rendered to a black char smeared across the pavement. He looked around, confused for a second, before shrugging and re-engaging in the fight at hand.
What Jack wasn't able to see, Danny did.
Vlad had protected them, throwing a clone into the path of the thorns and blasting it simultaneously. The clone didn't take much damage before turning to dust, but it acted as a long-range shield. Danny's eyes flicked up to Vlad, who cringed once the clone was rendered to a cloud of dust, likely being able to feel it's pain.
Now that was something to take note of.
The rest of the battle went along with few difficulties. Danny was able to punch his ice through part of the root system, and Vlad was able to distract and harass Undergrowth enough to allow the humans to take advantage of his weakened state. While it wasn't a clean fight, (and one that Vlad would be complaining about for the next week due to the sheer amount of damage the town had sustained) it was over, and the citywide lockdown was lifted within the next hour. Valerie and the Fentons removed everyone from their pods, and Phantom and Plasmius vanished without a trace. Danny got a long night's sleep, and due to the vine clean-up, schools were canceled the next day, giving him a long time to mull over Vlad's behavior.
It wasn't even my mom he was protecting, it was my dad.
Danny paces around his room restlessly, thinking to himself silently.
There has to be an ulterior motive. He's plotting something, and it requires him, or he was afraid to lose the fight to Undergrowth. Losing my parents might've given him the chance to overpower us… but…
God, it's dumb this is bugging me this much. I should just take it as a win and forget about it.
Danny grunts in frustration, flopping onto his bed dramatically. He drapes the back of his hands over his eyes.
I want to trust him. I really do. Being up an ally and down an enemy would be nothing but positive. I might actually get some sleep for once, I wouldn't have to keep looking over my shoulder, and although it sucks to admit, Vlad knows a lot about halfas and ghosts and everything of that nature.
He uncovers his eyes and stares at his ceiling, tossing ideas and thoughts around in his head and chewing the inside of his cheek.
Then, he transforms, phasing through his window and flying over to the mayor's mansion.
TTTTTTTT
An unpleasant tingling forms in the back of Vlad's head which he's come to know as his less-accurate version of Danny's ghost sense. He turns around, wiping his wet hands on a towel, and sighs.
"Come on out, no use lingering in the shadows when I know you're there."
"You do your own dishes?" Danny materializes on the other side of the kitchen island, crossing his legs in midair.
Vlad rolls his eyes, masking his surprise at Danny's appearance with feigned irritation. "Occasionally, when my employees are away. I'm not going to sit here helpless if I want a cup of tea."
The younger blinks, watching Vlad pick up a small mug and head for the kettle.
I wonder how I ask him this without him skirting around the question.
"Daniel." Vlad asks, raising an eyebrow. "Is there something you need? I can't imagine you'd be here for idle conversation." He fills the kettle up with water from the sink.
"Vlad." He chews the inside of his cheek again, then stares ahead at his back standing at the sink. "Why did you protect my dad?"
The older halfa pauses, and although Danny can't see his face, he can imagine it's contemplative. "I have to say I have no idea what you mean, little badger." He says mechanically.
Danny sighs, raising his voice above Vlad's. "Cut the crap Plasmius, I saw you throw your clone in front of the thorns, and I saw my dad protect my mom, so don't use her as an excuse. You protected him, and I want to know if you're scheming something."
"The only thing I was scheming," and he pointedly shoots a glare towards Danny here, "was the demise of that destructive plant beast. Undergrowth, or whatever he chooses to call himself this era." He sets the kettle down on it's electric receiver, flipping it on and turning around to face Danny with his arms crossed. "If your father managed to render himself useless, he wouldn't even be a distraction."
"Oh c'mon Vlad, you know those needles wouldn't have done any real damage, and they weren't doing anything particularly useful by being down there either. Tell me the real reason."
Vlad shrugs, avoiding Danny's glare. "I'm sorry Daniel, but I've already told you my truth. Whether you choose to believe it or not is up to you." He waves him off. "If assuming that I have some hidden fondness for your father helps you sleep at night, then so be it. It doesn't affect me in any way."
Danny glowers at the man, clearly not happy to accept that as an answer. "Fine, then I'll just have to keep an even closer eye on you than I do usually. Whatever you're planning, I'll catch onto it before you can finish."
Vlad pinches the bridge of his nose. "Honestly, Daniel, you're acting even more like a child than usual. Not every smidgen of my behavior is directly correlated to some ulterior motive. I'd have hoped by this point that you've gathered that."
Danny barks a laugh. "Are you kidding me? You've almost killed people, you brought a child into this world only to abandon her, you've repeatedly attempted to rip my family apart, you've tortured me, you've attacked my friends, and made my teenage life in general a living hell. Just... not attacking me for a few months isn't going to fix any suspicions I have against you." He gestures around, still floating in the kitchen. "If you can even fixthat. I doubt it. You don't care. You just want me as some… messed up henchman. It's not happening, Vlad."
Vlad's face shows a small pang of hurt before readjusting to his neutral state. He looks at the ground in a way so uncharacteristically Vlad. He hesitates.
In a much more quiet voice than he's used to, he speaks. "I knew some of my choices have been… less than stellar, but I can assure you that those mistakes are in the past-"
Danny scoffs, interrupting. "As if, Plasmius," he spits the name like venom. "I'm not going to fall for that again." He gradually gets more and more worked up, old pains resurfacing after months of suppression. "You've- you're… you only care about your own interests, I think the whole clone fiasco proved that."
"Little badger, I'm trying to say that-"
"No, you know what? I never got to get this out, Plasmius. So you're going to listen." Danny could feel his blood chilling, cool energy swirling behind his irises. "I was willing to look past a lot of the things you did because I… Thought that you could be better, I try to see the good in everyone, but that was just messed up, you know?"
"Daniel-"
"And I literally never know when you're on my side, or the enemy's. Are you helping me find Undergrowth so you can protect Amity, or did you bring him here to capture him and, I dunno, absorb his power, or something? I have no clue-"
"I WAS NEVER AGAINST YOU, DANIEL!"
Danny pauses with a flinch, backing away from the outburst. His eyes snap to Vlad's red irises, and then wrinkle in confusion. They sit there for a moment, staring at each other and feeling the emotions, anger, sadness, guilt, fear, swirl around them, with the only sound echoing through the room the whistling kettle on the counter.
The electric kettle automatically clicks off, quieting to a light boil as their eyes move away from each other. Vlad sighs.
"I always wanted what I believed to be the best for you, from the beginning." He leans back against the counter. "I thought- no, knew I could be a better father and mentor to you than your bumbling oaf. I thought I could make you and your mother happier, thought that our shared biology would make us the ultimate team, and I thought-"
His mouth clicks shut, before hesitantly resuming.
"I thought I could make you be better than me."
Danny relaxes, watching the man's downcast eyes and tightened jaw.
"Then… why did you-"
"I was bitter, my dear boy. Bitter and frustrated. I still am, very much so." He begins to relax as well, letting all of these weights off his shoulders with his speech. "I did many things that were misguided with a 'means to an end' philosophy about me, and it was… wrong of me. I've only recently begun to realize this, but it began with your little 'cousin'. That was the point when I realized I couldn't have you, or Maddie, as a family.
"So, I decided to make one. But I… didn't want my own. I still wanted you, and her. I wanted to steal a home instead of build one. Copy one, buy one."
He sighs. "It's all the same. It was, at least."
Danny thinks this over for a little bit, scrutinizing the details and, no doubt, searching for lies. But he couldn't find any inconsistencies.
Because it was the truth.
He takes a look into Vlad's eyes, and as much as the older man wants to tear them away, he doesn't. He meets Danny's toxic green gaze and pushes forward with as much sincerity that his old, bitter heart can muster.
"I realized… after your 'cousin' happened." He continues "I saw how you looked at me, I realized the grave mistake I made, and I ran from it. I thought about what I did, really thought about my actions for once in my long life, and… decided to change. See if I could change. I thought about Jack, about Maddie, about you…"
He holds his breath for a moment. "I resolved myself to be someone that can earn your trust, rather than take it from you. So yes, I protected your father, because I knew that you would be devastated if he got injured."
Danny stares up at the man. At some point in the conversation, he had left the air to stand on the ground, and although Vlad was still over a foot taller than him, he sees his nervous fidgets, the uncomfortable eye contact, the foreign feeling of being honest causing him to feel unfamiliar to Danny. If he was lying, he'd be far, far more composed.
Danny narrows his eyes at the older ghost. He was still angry, could still feel the energy pooled within him, but it was stagnant, calm. "You should be doing it because you want to protect him, not because of me." The words were said with conviction, but not distaste.
Vlad turns around to click the kettle back on, the steam from its top long since cooled. "Years of bitterness can only be sweetened so fast, little badger."
Danny sits behind Vlad, staring at the ground, thinking, really thinking about what Vlad had said. He desperately wants to believe him, to believe he can change. Having someone in this world that understands what he's going through is something he craves so, so much. To be able to discuss their physiology, to learn from him, to have a real ally that's not trying to kill him or has some other ulterior motive. It's been a tempting offer in the past on many occasions, but he can't help but shake the feeling that despite how sincere he's being, Vlad is trying to use him for his twisted game.
Old habits die hard, he supposes.
"I'm sorry, my dear boy."
His eyes snap up. Did Vlad just… apologize?
"What?" Danny so intelligently asks.
Vlad turns around with a steaming mug in his hand, looking at Danny with hard, determined eyes.
"I'm sorry. My obsession for your mother, against your father, and towards you caused me to do things that were… less than scrupulous. It caused you a lot of pain and hardship and ruined any chance of becoming trusted by you, which is what I regret most. I'll do anything in my power to get that back, even if that means saving someone who, for the past 30 years, I've seen as my enemy."
Danny looks down at his feet, thinking over the response. Vlad apologized. And it was sincere (as far as he could tell). Really, Danny didn't know what to say. Then, the thing about his dad. He did save him, and he said 'someone who I've seen as an enemy.' Past tense. He could be reading into it, but the implication would be that he doesn't have those feelings towards him anymore. At least not as strong.
He glances up at Vlad, who's patiently waiting for his response. He'd have to ask his mom, but he was pretty sure Vlad hasn't apologized at any point in his life. He didn't really think he was being manipulative, not anymore. Although, that could just end up being wishful thinking. Dangerous wishful thinking.
"You could… still be lying." Danny whispers.
Vlad scoffs. Back to normal, then. "Of course I could be, but I'm not." Vlad stops after this sentence, seeming to think something over. "But if you choose not to believe me, I'll simply prove it with my actions. I fully intend to earn your trust, little badger." He sighs, sets down the mug, and pulls another out from his cabinet.
He turns to look at Danny, smirking and raising an eyebrow. "I can't imagine tea is to your liking, but I have some delicious Mexican hot chocolate I can make, if you're interested."
Danny looks at the mug, and then up at Vlad. He frowns, but his face softens after a moment of contemplation.
"Do you… have any marshmallows?"
After all, what type of hero would he be if he didn't help a bitter old man change for the better?