Notes: The bit with Vlad and Danny in this chapter was completely unplanned (you'll see what I mean). I guess I like the pairing too much to focus completely on little Dan, haha. Which is really kind of ironic since (storytime!) I used to be pretty disgusted by the pairing. You know, the whole age gap and pedophilia bit and all. Then I came across Nimrod the Writer's stories. Needless to say... they were hot and ridiculously interesting. So shout out to my reader who first converted me! :D


Chapter Six - Born from Unlucky Stars

Danny decided he hated everyone; he hated his family, his friends, and especially Vlad.

This was because, after years of ignoring Dan's insistence, his sister's psychoanalysis, and everyone else's suggestions and threats, he had finally caved into moving in with Vlad. It had all gone downhill when Dan started school, and everybody had ganged up on him after the child decided he needed to take manners into somebody else's hands besides his mother's.

It hadn't started off quite so badly when he was first cornered into a conversation about Vlad, surprisingly enough, by Tucker. He had been very unconvincing, but more pushy than normal on the matter. though the computer expert had focused less on Dan and more on the perks of the two of them living with a billionaire.

"I mean, you're a single parent and a sixth grade teacher. That doesn't exactly scream 'stability,' man. And I mean economically - you don't really live in the nicest apartment complex... Besides, Vlad bought out the place I work at, and I could really use some brownie points, dude."

"Just shut up, Tucker."

Needless to say, Danny hadn't taken him seriously and had been quick to voice the fact. However, the very next day, he started realizing that there had been a change in tactic from mere passing mentions to official Convince Danny Sessions.

Jazz had invited him over specifically to talk about Vlad. She'd gone on for hours about the psychological development of a child in a hostile family situation. Danny had attempted to argue that it was much less hostile with him and Vlad kept apart, but she wouldn't have it. By the end of the conversation, Danny had been ready to bash his head in, a sick feeling in his stomach from the guilt he felt at hearing all the points Jazz brought up, mostly about how Dan's hostility and psychological development could be linked more to his current situation than Danny's speculation on the alternate future part of him.

"Dan needs a little normalcy. He's half-ghost, he's had so much trouble making friends, he always has to lie about his parentage, and his mother is a man. He already lacks an example of a loving relationship in his life... all of these things could be detrimental to his psychological development, Danny. You've obviously got little confidence in your abilities as a parent, which is the polar opposite of Vlad. You could really be hurting him, and you know what kind of coping methods you used when you were hurting in that other timeline. What Dan needs is stability."

"What are you talking about, Jazz? I'm stable!" he screamed, pitch slightly hysterical after an hour of talking about what a horrible parent he was and what a wonderful thing it would be to move in with Vlad.

Jazz raised an eyebrow. "Of course you are," she deadpanned before continuing her rant on child development.

Danny was sick of being constantly reminded of the elephant in the room that was the alternate timeline. Add to the mix everyone trying to push him to actually live in the same place as his arch-enemy, and he was a downright bundle of nerves. It didn't stop there, however, as it seemed even Sam's jealous tendencies and hate for Vlad weren't enough to overcome her sudden need to lecture him about Dan as everyone else had. It made Danny regret ever making Sam his semi-regular babysitter. In reality, it was less Sam lecturing and more Sam demanding that he move in with Vlad.

Danny sat wide-eyed at Sam's kitchen table, shocked at how forcefully she had just gone and told him he was moving in with his arch-enemy as soon as possible. "Oh my God, not you too! Why the hell do you want me to do that? You hate Vlad!"

Sam regarded him with a sheepish smile before taking a sip of her coffee and continuing in a less demanding tone, "I may hate the arrogant, perverted, psychopathic, egotistical guy almost as much as you do, but I've grown pretty of fond Dan. For a little mini-me of your alternate future self, he's a pretty cool kid."

Danny grimaced at the mention of the alternate timeline. Looking apologetic, Sam said, "Sorry. I was just trying to lighten things up... But really, Danny, it's not good for him. I mean, you want him to grow up happy, right? You want him to be healthy? Well, he's not getting either of those things with this whole 'traumatic divorce' set-up. He's always moody, always complaining about either you or Vlad because he doesn't know what it's like to have both parents around. He's always getting sick because he doesn't have the both of you around enough for your little ghost energy deal. Besides, if you're with Vlad, you can keep an eye on who he lets Dan hang out with and what he lets the kid do. Aren't you always worried that he's hanging out with Skulker and the Fright Knight when you're not there? So seriously, stop being so stubborn and just move in with him already! It's not like he'll say no!"

After that, the night of Dan's sixth birthday party at Fenton Works had been the breaking point for Danny, starting with his dad's less-than-subtle suggestions after Dan had gone home with his father.

"I don't understand why you don't get along with Vlad, son. He's a great guy!"

Danny bit his tongue to keep in any less-than-polite retorts. "Mm," he said noncommittally.

"He wants you to move in with him, and maybe you should take him up on the offer. Your mom and I just want what's best for you and your little boy, Danny. We'd like to see you out of that dingy apartment, that's all, and V-man's the perfect person to move in with. He's Dan's dad, after all!"

"Mmngh."

"Besides," his dad said, tweaking the invention in front of him a bit, "Vladdie's single, and he doesn't look a day over forty!"

Danny raised an eyebrow at the non sequitur. "He doesn't look a day over forty because he stopped aging in his forties, Dad. We've gone over this, ghosts don't age past their twenties. But - wait, that has nothingto do with this."

"Of course it does, son! I'm just saying your mother and I will support you no matter what. I've known Vladdie for a long time, and he's a good guy. Heck, he's practically my son-in-law already, with Dan and all. After this whole 'ghost mates' thing, it only makes sense that the two of you end up together!"

Danny thought he felt his eyes pop out of his head. "WHAT?"

And lastly, the straw that broke the camel's back, was his conversation with Maddie which succeeded in making him feel like a rotten parent and got him to make that humiliating phone call to Vlad after a mere thirty minutes of thinking. Apparently, his mother's insistence had stemmed from his son literally crying to his grandmother to convince her that Danny and Dan should move in with Vlad.

Danny knew how his son worked, for the most part, and he was sure that none of the things Dan had told Maddie were true. Danny knew for a fact that Dan didn't truly blame himself for his and Vlad's fights (for God's sake, he laughed when he'd manage to catch Danny blasting Vlad!); sure, the child didn't like it, but he always seemed moody over their arguments, never sad or guilty. He knew that Dan had never hinted at Vlad and him getting together or falling in love out of his own volition - that is to say, never without some bribe on Vlad's part. And Danny definitely knew that there wasn't a scary lady who gave Dan the evil eye living next door to them, or an alcoholic wife beater across the hall (how did Dan even know what an alcoholic or a wife beater were? He was six!). So when Maddie had brought up all these points from her conversation with her grandson, Danny had been unable to do anything but stare at her with wide eyes.

"MOM! None of that is true! That... that little..."

"Danny, he's six years old! He obviously wants to see his parents getting along and he obviously knows that where you live isn't a healthy place. Why would he lie about something like that?"

"That's exactly it! He's six years old and he can lie about this kind of stuff! Mom, that's just manipulative! And who else do we know who's a manipulative bastard?"

"Danny, don't talk about Vlad like that."

"Oh, so now you're defending him? You've never even done that before, Mom!"

"Daniel Jack Fenton, you listen to me. Now, I know Vlad's pretty rough around the edges, but he's cleaned up quite nicely since Dan and you know it. He loves that child to death, and even though it's strange for me and your father, he loves you to death, too. I mean, after the whole thing with the eggnog and the mistletoe two Christmases ago -"

"Oh, God, you are not bringing that up!"

"And why not? Because it seems to me that it's you who's the problem here, Danny. Vlad would love for you to move in with him. Dan needs you to move in with him. I agreed that you and Vlad should do this arrangement at first, but now I'm not sure it's what's best for Dan. You're twenty-four and already have a son. Vlad's fifty-one, and there's a certain maturity required when you raise a child which he can contribute to your relationship -"

"There is no relationship, Mom!"

She ignored his outburst except for a quick disapproving look. "It's always much better when you have that support. Add the fact that you're raising a very special half-ghost child, which Vlad has much more knowledge and experience about. He knows more about how half-ghosts work than anyone. That's something not even me or your father can honestly say we can help with."

Danny remained silent. He didn't want to admit that he'd thought over all that she'd just said countless times, and he most certainly didn't want to admit that she was making him question his integrity as a parent.

"Danny, I just want a better reason for why you're so dead-set against this."

Danny opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. He sighed and sat down in a chair, shaking his head. He couldn't tell his mother the reasons, after all. He didn't want her nor his father to know the truth about Dan's possible origins. Or maybe he just didn't want to talk about it all again. Maybe all he was was a bad mother...

"Honey, I know you're young, but you have to start thinking about Dan. He's supposed to be your life, now, so make the effort! Your father and I would sacrifice everything to make sure you and Jazz are happy. Honestly, I'm surprised you can be this selfish, Danny. We raised you better than this."

Danny never thought he was being selfish. He thought he was being the very opposite, in fact. However, he now doubted himself as a parent in every way. Was he truly raising Dan wrong? Was everything he did to make sure Dan was a good person in vain? No... no, he couldn't let himself think like that, because that would mean that everything really was inevitable. And he would never allow that to happen to his son. He'd promised he wouldn't.

All he wanted was to protect his son from anything and anyone that might corrupt him and, in all honesty, he didn't trust Vlad in the least. But wasn't he justified in not trusting him? The man had done terrible things to him, his family, and his friends, after all.

Top it off with the fact that over the years, he'd grown immensely insistent on fully having Danny as his mate without using the restraint he always possessed when trying to woo his mother. And maybe Danny wouldn't have been so opposed to the idea of moving into the manor to make Dan happy if he wasn't so sure he'd be molested at every possible turn. After all, previous experience had taught him that when Vlad was in love (the thought really did creep him out), the man would never stop until he got what he wanted. Did that make him selfish? Even when he'd begrudgingly informed Vlad that, yes, he'd move in with him, Vlad had reasoned that if Danny couldn't resist everyone's insistence in moving into the manor then there was no hope for Danny resisting his mating instincts. In response, Danny had blasted him in the stomach.

And so Danny and Dan found themselves inside of Vlad's entrance hall, the billionaire sporting a smug, wolfish grin and Danny red in the face from trying to keep his temper his check.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'ALL THE GUEST ROOMS ARE FLOODED?'"

Needless to say, move-in day was not starting off on a good note for Danny, and it was all Vlad's fault.

"Sorry, Daniel, but as I said, all the bedrooms except for Dan's and my own are under serious repairs right now."

"What a perfectly well-planned coincidence," Danny said through clenched teeth, ignoring the strange feeling of deja vu. "You know what? I don't care, I'll sleep on the soggy carpet if I have to, but I am not sleeping in your room."

"But, Mom, where are you gonna sleep, then?" Dan asked from where he floated next to his father.

Danny glanced at him before looking back at Vlad. "I'll stay in Dan's room until the repairs are done."

"No."

Danny blinked when he realized that his pouting son had been the one to utter the word. "What?"

"I said no. I'm not gonna share my room."

Danny's jaw dropped and Vlad looked like Christmas had come early. "You heard the boy, Daniel!"

Danny resisted the urge to blast Vlad in front of his son. "Dan, why don't you want Mommy to stay in your room? It'll only be for a little while," he said in the gentlest voice he could muster.

"No. My room is mine, and I don't wanna share it. Most moms and dads sleep in the same room, anyways."

At that point, Danny looked like he wanted to curl up in a corner. Vlad slung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in way too close for comfort, a triumphant smirk on his face. "Excellent! Let's bring your things inside, shall we, dear?"

Danny could've sworn he heard his brain snap from the sheer hate the world seemed to have for him. "D-Dan? Why don't you go play with the cat?"

"But I don't like Maddie -"

"Go play with the cat, Dan!" he snapped.

Dan scowled and flew through the ceiling in a huff. A second later, the two other hybrids heard something shatter, and Vlad winced at what must surely have been yet another vase. Danny shoved Vlad away from him. "What the hell is your problem, Vlad?"

The older half-ghost looked back at him with mock innocence. "Whatever do you mean, Daniel?"

"I mean that you were the one who agreed to keep your hands off me when I said we'd move in with you!"

Vlad sighed dramatically. "Oh, Daniel, it would be so much easier to give in to those instincts that are already inside you, you know. We are soulmates, whether you want to admit it or not."

"You're sick! Why won't you get it through your thick head that I don't want you touching me?"

"That's not what you were saying the last time you stayed here, little badger."

"If you want to bring up the ghost pox, I can go ahead and hurt you, Vlad. And you know I don't need my powers to do that."

Vlad froze for a second but managed to cover up his emotions with practiced ease, chuckling in that malevolent, patronizing way Danny hated. The raven-haired man clenched his fists, and with a roar of rage stomped off towards the front door to retrieve his belongings before the billionaire could utter another word. Just as he pulled the door open, however, he felt the older man hug him from behind and the intoxicatingly strong smell of spearmint, incense, and the ocean went straight to his head. He shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut when he felt them glow red. "V-Vlad, I'm going to kill you!" he gasped out.

Vlad brushed his lips against Danny's ear, making the younger man shudder once again. "Getting harder to fight it, isn't it, Daniel?" he whispered sultrily, his hot breath making shivers run down Danny's spine. Vlad felt it, and Danny could feel the man's lips pull into a smirk against his ear.

Danny clenched his teeth, squirming slightly in Vlad's arms but not putting up much of a fight as he tried to concentrate on controlling the sensations he felt surfacing within him. He could feel his ghost half stirring with the pleasure Vlad's presence and obvious demonstration invoked, but he pushed it to the back of his mind like he usually did. "G-get off me, I don't -"

"WHOA! Uh, sorry! Wrong room!"

Danny jumped, the ghostly spell he was under disappearing as Vlad turned off his mating charms. To Danny's horror, however, Vlad took his sweet time unwrapping his arms from around his torso. The younger man's face was a deep red, and he clumsily backed away from the older man, avoiding the gaze of Tucker's fiancée who'd barged into the house.

"Aria! I told you not to barge in! Just 'cause the door is open doesn't mean - Oh, hey, dude... Vlad," Tucker said, studying Danny's flushed face and Vlad's smug smile.

"This isn't what it looks like, Aria!" Danny hurriedly tried to excuse himself, ignoring his friend's greeting.

Tucker blinked. "What did it look like?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at his half-ghost friend.

Danny stuttered for a while before Vlad eventually had the decency to change the subject. "You're Daniel's friends, yes? I must agree that I don't appreciate people walking into my home like this."

Tucker eyed Danny quizzically before answering. "We just came to see if Danny was moved in yet. Do you... need any help, man?"

"Yes! That'd be good! Come on, let's go outside. Vlad has to go ask Dan something anyways, right, Vlad?" he said very quickly, his voice taking on a rather high pitch from his anxiety. He literally pushed past Tucker and Aria to speed-walk towards his car.

Tucker looked confused for a second longer, but in the end simply grabbed Aria's hand and followed after the hybrid. He was used to his friend's strangeness, especially when it came to Vlad. He decided it was best not to question the situation just yet.

As they followed after him, Danny swore he heard Tucker's fiancée whisper behind him, "Tuckie, you never told me they were gay!"


That night, after Danny and Tucker had put all of Danny and Dan's belongings into a large closet downstairs (and later had them mysteriously end up neatly organized in Vlad's bedroom and study), the rest of the Fentons had decided drop by for dinner at the manor - much to Vlad's chagrin, since he'd planned on spending the evening with his son and would-be mate.

The three half-ghosts, Maddie, Jack, and Jazz were relaxing in one of the manor's living rooms after dinner. The two women and Vlad were talking among themselves, and Jack was fiddling with a Fenton Thermos he was trying to modify to read ecto-signatures. Dan was playing with a small ball of ectoplasm while Danny watched him, sulking from his unfortunate day and feeling resentful towards his family who'd forced him into this arrangement.

Despite his sullen mood, Danny couldn't help but smile as he watched his son chase around the pink glowing ball (courtesy of Vlad), his ghostly tail zooming behind him as he threw the ball across the room and expertly managed to fly to its landing point to catch it just in time. The boy's scarlet eyes sparkled with joy at his playtime. The child truly did love being in his ghost form, Danny realized. The man frowned as he heard his mother, sister, and Vlad laughing on the couch a few feet away.

This whole "family time" thing was truly odd, and he didn't buy that Vlad was sincere about it for one second, especially when he still managed to catch the older hybrid's heated glares every now and then in Jack's direction. Danny wasn't sure just why the man had chosen to maintain such a façade thus far. After so many years, though, Danny supposed that a person stopped questioning their arch-enemy's motives when they were raising a child together, particularly when those motives could most likely be summed up as said arch-nemesis having wooing you as their top priority.

...Oh, how Danny wished he had a normal life.

The raven-haired man sighed, instead turning his attention back to his son. The boy zigzagged towards the pink ball as it zoomed towards the couch where Jack was.

"Alright, let's see what this wire does," the hybrid heard Jack mutter to himself as he prodded the Fenton Thermos.

Danny realized what was going to happen a second too late.

A blue-white light headed straight for the little half-ghost, and the last thing Danny saw was a wide-eyed Dan as he was sucked inside the containment device. Danny thought his slow-beating heart stopped at that moment.

Not a second later Danny heard the screaming inside the thermos much louder than it must've actually been, saw the shaking of the device seem much more violent than it actually was. He could feel all the color slowly drain from his face.

"Oh, geez! Hold on there, little ghost, I'll get you out!"

Vlad's look was a murderous one if he ever saw one, looking seconds away from blasting a hole through Jack right then and there.

"NO! DAN!" Danny shouted, pushing Jack and an approaching Vlad out of the way. He felt his eyes glowing red, but it didn't matter as an overwhelming, constricting sensation overtook him, feeling his son's desperation and fear as he fumbled to find the release button on the wretched device with Vlad's hand painfully gripping his shoulder. Unfortunately, the silver claws which had involuntarily sprung out of his hands made the task impossible. He swore under his breath, feeling like he would cry as the feelings inside him escalated along with the screaming inside the thermos, and he was somewhat relieved when Vlad took the object out of his hands and quickly pressed the release button. The same light shot out of the thermos again, revealing the six year old in a state of wide-eyed terror.

The child was hugging himself and shaking like a leaf, practically hyperventilating from the claustrophobia-induced panic. Both Danny and Vlad knew that Dan often had nightmares about being trapped in the thermos from his vivid descriptions, though the child had never identified what it was he was trapped in and they obviously hadn't enlightened him. Now, however, it looked like he was sure of what his nightmares' common trap was - and that it had brought on some very unpleasant emotions.

Feeling almost as anxious as his son, Danny ran towards Dan and knelt down in front of him, ready to comfort the terrified boy. He never expected what came next, though, as the second Dan saw his mother approaching, something seemed to flash in his eyes. He screamed bloody murder and stumbled backwards.

"YOU PUT ME IN THERE!" the child yelled, flying clumsily towards a startled Vlad and squeezing himself into a tight ball in his arms. "YOU PUT ME IN THERE! YOU PUT ME IN THERE!" he yelled over and over again, crying like he never did outside of his dreams.

Danny's chest was tight with emotion as he looked on in shock at the sobbing child in an equally shocked Vlad's arms. He began to approach the two but someone held him firmly back, and he turned around to see Jazz with her hand on his shoulder, also holding an arm out to keep Maddie and Jack at a distance.

"Danny, don't," she whispered, shaking her head and giving him a sad look.

"You put me in there, you put me in there, you put me in there..." Dan was now mumbling through shaky sobs. Danny felt himself shaking just as much. He put a hand to his mouth, feeling terribly sick all of a sudden, and ran out of the room.

Vlad watched Danny run out, the same sick knot in his own stomach coupled with confusion at his son's words. The man's gaze met Jazz's, and the two shared a look before realization hit Vlad. He looked down helplessly at his son, unable to do anything but continue to try and comfort the traumatized child.


He frantically slammed himself against the sides of wherever he was. He felt his lungs tighten, tried desperately to take in more air than was possible in such a small space. He tried to conjure up ectoplasm but failed. Why couldn't he? Wasn't he in his ghost form? In human form? Didn't he have any form? What was he? Where was he? Where were his parents? Why couldn't he get out?

Why did he feel so angry?

Suddenly, he heard a voice and felt something move whatever it was he was in. In his panic, he failed to hear whatever it was the voice had said. Against his will, he felt himself grow still as if there was someone controlling him, unable to keep up his struggles like he so badly wanted to do. He tried to scream and demand that the stranger outside let him out, but his voice wouldn't work.

This was the worst part of his nightmares. The fact that his screams, his questions, his pleas always went unheard.

Suddenly, a blinding blue-white light engulfed him, and the next thing he knew, he was in a strange room full of gears and ticking clocks. In front of him, a grave look on his face, was a blue-skinned ghost clad in a purple cloak. Dan felt his own fear flare at the strange scene and the ghost's piercing red eyes, on top of the contradictory feelings of rage he couldn't pinpoint the origin of. Ideas of ways he could hurt the ghost in front of him flashed through his head, and he whimpered - or tried to, at least - against the gore his mind conjured.

"Well! It's certainly been a while, Clockwork," Dan heard the same baritone disembodied voice from his other nightmares say. "You obviously had your kicks keeping me in that infernal thing, but I hope you know that you just made a big mistake."

And then he felt himself lunge towards the ghost, trying to plead with his own body to not do what he could see in his mind's eye was about to occur.

"TIME OUT!"

He froze, unable to move a single muscle. The other ghost, apparently named Clockwork, surveyed him with that same emotionless stare which made a shiver run down Dan's spine - or would've, if he weren't trapped in that strange form of limbo where he couldn't speak and where he had no control of his own body. All was silent for a few seconds' pause, Clockwork suddenly changing his appearance to that of a child's before speaking again.

"If we were looking at my own future, this would be a grave mistake indeed. However, my job isn't to care for myself, but for the timeline." The disembodied voice didn't answer, and Dan could feel the strange presence in the back of his mind frozen just as much as he was in his nightmares. "Unfortunately, even the timeline will eventually have to do without me, for the most part. Now is not that time, though. Now is the time to take care of other matters."

Finally, Dan's emotions and the unidentified ones were the same, focused on the feeling of confusion as the ghost changed back into an adult form. Just what was this strange ghost talking about?

"But I digress. This is about you, after all. TIME IN!"

He could finally move again. This time, his body felt more hesitant to lunge at the time-controlling ghost. His eyes roamed over Clockwork, some part of him calculating as if trying to decipher the ghost's next move. "Let me guess. You're going to blackmail me into doing something for the timeline. Babysit my younger self, perhaps? Scare someone into repentance?" Clockwork simply smirked ambiguously.

"None of that will be necessary, Dan. There's just a... bump in the timeline right now that I really must take care of, which you just happen to be a part of."

Dan's heart would've skipped a beat if he was all there. He'd never been addressed by name in any of his nightmares. He had no idea what this Clockwork and the voice were talking about, couldn't understand most of the things they were saying. He just wanted this to end! He wanted to wake up!

"What a shame. So tell me, now. What's to stop me from ending your afterlife in the most painful way I can muster on a whim?"

With the coldness the disembodied voice held, Dan was shocked that this Clockwork ghost could hold such a steady, fearless gaze when he himself could feel his mind constricted by fear despite the fact that he so often dreamed of things like this, of strange conversations and threats that ended in bloodshed. "I don't know. Is there really anything? After all, all is as it should be right now, and you will do what you have to do."

There was a pause full of angry curiosity before the voice spoke again. "I don't know what you're planning, Clocky... but I'm going to make it hurt."

Without warning, Dan's body lunged towards the ghost, grabbing his cloak and staring down at him. He felt himself grin, though he had nothing to be happy about, full of pure terror and anxiety at that moment. As he met Clockwork's gaze, he saw something he didn't recognize in the scarlet eyes, though his mind fed him the word to name the emotion. He saw pity.

Then came that moment. Dan braced himself for what he knew was about to come, what always came in the end.

The other ghost didn't struggle, didn't move as a black-gloved hand dug its claws into his chest, scattering the glass of the clock that was embedded there on the floor. Green-glowing hands tore violently at the ghost as if they were ripping through mere fabric, his face gruesomely mangled, ectoplasm splattering all over the tower ground and nearby gears. Dan felt invisible tears build up in his eyes, his phantom throat somehow raw from screaming and his pitiful sobs unnoticed as he felt some semblance of himself commit the act.

"Wake up, son. Shh, you're dreaming. Dan, wake up."

He reached out, shooting up in bed and trembling uncontrollably. It took him a second to realize he was awake and in his father's arms. He clutched at his father's pajama top, trying to get the grisly images out of his head as he was rocked back and forth.

It took several minutes to calm down, but Dan finally managed to steady his breathing and reduce his crying to mere sniffles, though the dream he'd just had was still clear in his mind and his shaking hadn't quite stopped.

"Do you want me to call your mother?"

Dan suddenly remembered the strange memory-like image of a cloakless, younger but unmistakable version of his mother pointing the Fenton Thermos at him and sucking him inside with a fire in his eyes. He frantically shook his head, clutching his father's shirt even tighter. "No!"

"Shh, alright. It's alright."

"I d-don't wanna be here!" Dan suddenly found himself crying out.

"Shh, calm down, son. I've got you. Where do you want to go?"

"It's dark in h-here!"

"Do you want me to turn on the -"

"It's small and I don't w-wanna be t-trapped!" he exclaimed, burying his face into his father's chest. He didn't hear what Vlad said next, but his ghost sense left him in the form of a red mist when he felt him transform. He clutched at the other half-ghost's silver suit as the familiar sensations of flight and intangibility washed over him. All the while, he never opened his eyes until he felt a cool breeze blow his way. Still clutching his father's suit, he looked up with teary blue eyes to see that they were now on the roof under a brilliantly starlit sky. Vlad set them both down, adjusting the child in his lap before he continued to rub soothing circles into his back.

"Better, Dan?"

"...It's still dark," he mumbled, moving around until he was able to grab his father's cape and wrap it around himself. Vlad looked down at him and smiled.

"Not necessarily. We've got all these stars around us, after all."

Dan shook his head, letting blue transformation rings wash over him and wrapping Vlad's cape tighter around himself. The wind made his flaming white hair flicker wildly against his neck, and he sighed. "Why does it even have to be dark?"

Vlad chuckled, relieved that the child had calmed down, for the most part. "There's nothing to be scared of, lapushka. I'm here, after all."

"I'm not scared of the dark! I'm not scared of anything!" Dan retaliated, scowling down at the roof tiles.

His father smirked. "Well, at least some part of you is aware that it's never wise to reveal one's fears and weaknesses. However, that doesn't mean that there's any shame in having them."

Dan was silent while he contemplated this, eventually forgetting what they were talking about when the memories of his latest nightmare came back to him. He looked up at the stars with a nervous red gaze. He knew his parents always told him his dreams weren't real, but it just seemed so... there was just something... "Dad, who's Clockwork?" He immediately felt his father tense against him.

"Why do you ask?"

Dan's interest peaked at his dad's tone of voice. "You know him!"

"I most certainly don't."

"But you know who he is!"

"I never said that."

"But you do!"

"Enough, Dan," Vlad said firmly. Dan's eyes narrowed and he flew up to his father's face, challenging the warning look with his own mischievous mock-frown. The six year old grabbed Vlad's face between his small hands and squashed the cheeks together, creating quite a comical picture.

"But I need to know, Daddy! Is he a good guy or a bad guy?"

"Let go of my face, boy."

"Not until you tell me-eeEE!"

The child was suddenly grabbed from behind and spun around in rapid circles pressed against someone, the motion making his head spin.

"Get off, Dad!" he yelled at the duplicate who had grabbed him. It disappeared and he felt himself flying through the air before a pair of hands caught him. Dan saw double vision for a while before everything came back into focus, his father's amused smirk being the first thing that met his gaze. Vlad chuckled at the child's pout as Dan phased out of his grip and sank to the roof tiles, crossing his arms and turning away from his dad.

"Relax, boy. Where's your sense of humor?" the man said, sitting down next to the young half-ghost.

"You just didn't wanna answer me!"

"Because I have nothing to answer you, of course."

"Liar."

Vlad sighed heavily, and a thick silence engulfed the two, lightened somewhat by the soft twinkling of the stars.

"Is Clockwork evil?"

Vlad was silent, refusing to answer him.

"...Am I evil?"

The eldest half-ghost started at the question, surveying his son with a critical gaze. The child wasn't looking at him, however, instead staring down at his lap and fiddling with the edge of his small cape. Vlad swallowed hard, trying to think of a suitable response to such a loaded question.

"Son, why would you ever wonder such a thing?" he asked the boy softly. "Why would you ever even classify yourself in such black and white terms?"

Dan finally looked up at him, red eyes confused at the mention of black and white terms. He frowned in frustration, shaking his head and not particularly caring to hear more things he didn't know the meaning of after his nightmare. "Dad, I hurt people in my dreams!" he cried, feeling his eyes grow moist. "I say bad things and scare others so much! And the kids at school call me scary sometimes, so I'm scary in real life, too! But you and Mom said that my dreams aren't real but... b-but... IT'S NOT FAIR!"

Out of despair, the child sent an ectoblast towards a tree across the street. It managed to nick a branch, successfully making half the tree collapse to the ground. Vlad winced, both at the damage and the small ghost's words which cut him down to the very core, knowing his child was in pain. The man swallowed hard, rubbing the child's back in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

"You're right. It isn't fair." Dan looked at him with resentment, but his father continued before he could be interrupted. "But a lot of things aren't fair in life. It isn't fair that we have to hide our ghost halves. It isn't fair that you have bad dreams you don't deserve. And it most certainly isn't fair that your mother's so stubborn in returning your old man's affections, hmm?" Seeing that the young ghost didn't crack a smile at that, Vlad sighed.

"Dan, let me tell you something. Entities like us can't be classified into groups. We don't fit into the spectrum of ghosts or humans, we don't fit into the spectrum of normal human reproduction... but that also means that we don't fit into the spectrum of good and evil."

Seeing that the child was now listening intently, trying his best to understand everything his father was saying, Vlad continued. "We hold so much power, son. Much more than an ordinary ghost. That also means that we have the responsibility to use that power as we see fit. We will always have to make choices about how we use that power. What may be a good choice for our own benefit might seem like a bad choice to someone else."

"Like telling Grandma all that stuff so we could live together?"

Vlad smirked. "Precisely. Your mother isn't happy about it, but we both obviously know it was for the best."

Dan nodded, somewhat grasping the concept of all that his father was telling him.

"What I'm trying to say is that even though you'll end up making bad choices sometimes, that does not make you a bad person. And it most certainly does not make you 'evil.' Just remember to always keep a balance between your heart and your brain. Do you understand?"

"I think so."

Vlad smiled. "Good."

Another bout of silence passed between them, this time much more comfortable and even peaceful as the two sat close together looking at the stars.

"So, if we can't be evil, can the dark be evil? Because I don't like it."

The man chuckled. "No, Dan, the dark isn't evil, either. In fact, it can be quite peaceful. Most things won't fit into the category of either good or bad, as you'll come to find. This is what is meant by 'black and white terms.'"

Dan frowned. "But how's the dark peaceful? It's sca - I mean, it's stupid!"

"Well, you're not scared of the Ghost Zone, are you?"

The boy shook his head frantically at the question. "Of course not! It's not really dark there, anyways. There's ectoplasm and stuff there that makes things really bright!"

His father smiled at him. "You'll hear this more than once in your life, lapushka, but you can't have light without darkness. Remember, when it's dark in the Real World you can see the stars, and when it's dark in the Ghost Zone you can see the ecto-novas." He paused to let Dan think the words over before throwing another question his way. "Do you know what the green ectoplasm is, exactly, Dan?"

The child shook his head. He caught his father's hesitation, though the man still answered him. "They're the remains of departed ghosts."

Dan's face scrunched up in disgust. "Eww!"

"Not quite. You see, all this means is that ghosts are eternal," his father explained, conjuring up pink ectoplasm in his hand. "Ectoplasmic matter can never truly be destroyed. It is always around, always surrounding us and energizing our cores. All those departed ghosts watch over us, in a sense. And, when the miracle is able to occur, that ectoplasmic matter can join together and create something better. Something marvelous." Vlad molded the ectoplasm so that it turned from a simple ball into an intricate lily. "In a sense, that's how you were born, Dan. From mine and your mother's ectoplasmic energies joining together."

Dan's eyes widened, so busy observing the spectacle in front of him that he didn't notice his father's face, red eyes gazing sadly yet lovingly at him.

"So... since the Ghost Zone matches the Real World, does that mean the stars are humans watching over us?" Dan asked, looking away from the ectoplasmic lily and to his father. The man smiled.

"Now, there's a thought. What do you think, lapushka?"

Dan didn't answer right away, but then he grinned and said, "Maybe."


End notes: So while writing this, it occurred to me that the dream I was writing up was in the mind of a six year old. And certainly not the worst of what his dreams are supposed to be. And I just thought... what is wrong with me? Why would anyone do that to a poor six year old? Ah, well, c'est la vie. Obviously, this all affects Dan as he gets older. He lacks much of the innocence that other children his age have, making him that much more different than his peers. Because most of the ghosts Dan associates with don't have the same emotions for shock value as humans, it's yet another reason why he gets along better with them. That doesn't mean that that Dan lacks those emotions himself (at least not yet - come on, people, he's still a kid), only that he's that much more inclined to embrace his ghost side, the very meaning of freedom to him.

The whole "ghosts don't age past their twenties" thing that Danny mentioned. Just drawing on the Instinct-universe bit that by-birth ghosts reach full physical maturity in their twenties. Ectoplasm can't be destroyed, and ghosts "live" forever unless they are so damaged that they lose form. Now, since ectoplasm preserves a ghost so that it never shuts down out of natural causes, this translates into preserving the physical form where a ghost, or even a human, has the most vitality - in their twenties. I especially think that half-ghosts' bodies would work overtime to preserve the healthiest possible physical form because half-ghosts have to keep up two completely different biological structures that are constantly working together. In Vlad's case, his ghost form would've been twenty, would've reached full physical maturity, when he reached his forties... Besides, wouldja look at Vlad's bod' in "Eye for an Eye?" There's gotta be something keeping that up! Ahem. Yes, I do love to think up complicated theories to suit my own tastes and/or plot points, but then how do you think I managed to knock up Danny and reincarnate Dark Dan?

Six years have passed at this point, and unfortunately, it looks like Danny's starting to forget a lot of important things - like how he initially placed all his trust in Vlad, and his promise to not let Dan live in Dark Dan Phantom's shadow. But he's only human (sort of), and these things do happen. It's just not going to be pleasant for Dan, huh?

Anyways, that's it for now! Will be posting at least two oneshots this week, both Vlad/Danny. I've been writing up a storm for this story, lately. Remember, reviews help fuel the Jewcika Writing Train! :D