Hello. :D I'm getting better. It's only been two months since my last update. And this chapter is allllll about our favorite couple, so yay. Oh and I want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to my reviewers. Seriously, some of the stuff you guys suggest makes a big impact. Like, changing-the-plot kind of impact. You rock.

Important: This chapter is less crappy thanks to Martel and Skulligator! They edited for me and did a WONDERFUL job! :D

Enjoy?


A storm was brewing outside. Low hums of thunder could be heard in the distance, a light pattering of rain hitting the windows. The occasional flash of lightening was blocked by heavy curtains though, closing our room in near darkness save for the warm glow of the bedside lamp. In fact, the entire outside world seemed closed off from our cozy space, secluding us from its dreary atmosphere. I turned a page in my book, relaxing in the quiet atmosphere and relishing the lack of chaos. Daniel was curled up next to me, scowling at his homework, though that wasn't a surprise. I glanced at him when he snapped the book shut, groaning and rolling lethargically in the bed until his head was buried in the pillows.

"Ugh, I hate Plato."

"It can't be that bad, dear boy." I replied, not bothering to take my eyes from the book I was reading.

"Oh yes it can. I'm about ready to punch Socrates in the face if he asks one more question."

I laughed lightly, absentmindedly ruffling his raven black hair. A muffled sigh emitted from the head buried in the pillows, Plato's Republic dropping against the headboard with a dull thump. My hand in his hair ran along the smooth skin of his back, eyes turning to him with a content smile as he took a much deserved break. He must have been reading that book for a good two hours now. Eventually he stopped suffocating his face against the pillows, staring up at me and blowing a strand of hair out of his face with a grumpy expression.

"You should explain to me what the heck he's saying."

"Come now, little badger, that wouldn't exactly help your education, would it?"

"To heck with my education. I just don't want Ghostwriter to hit me with that stupid ruler again."

"Well then I suppose you'd better do the reading, hmm?" I rose an eye brow, the corners of my mouth twitching into a smile at his pout.

"Psh," Daniel rolled over onto his back, holding the book above his head and yawning at the print, "Some help you are."

I watched him for a while more, leaning against the head board and smiling down at him. He looked tired, but that much was to be expected. I did have the boy so heavily scheduled there was barely time to breathe. It was necessary, however. Ruling the world is no easy task, and unfortunately I can't devote all of my attention to Daniel just yet. Keeping him busy prevents him from both dwelling on his family and thinking about escape, leaving me time to take care of other matters. Besides, Daniel is slowly getting used to his new life here. The routine schedule I have him on is sure to make the transition easier.

"What do you have after you finish your reading?" I asked, mostly for the sake of civil conversation. He seemed to be feeling significantly less volatile this evening, and I intended to take advantage of it.

"Math homework," he replied, taking a moment to stretch, "But I can finish it up during breakfast. I'm too freaking tired to do it tonight."

"Hm," I bookmarked my page, setting it on the bed side table and laying down in the soft covers. Daniel made no noise of protest when I rolled on my side and wrapped my arms around his midsection, but I could feel all the muscles in his body tense.

"Do you mind? It's kinda hard to read with you breathing down my neck." he snapped.

"I'm sure you'll manage." I replied through a yawn, pulling him closer until his back was pressed against my chest.

He made a few sounds of discomfort, but they were soon silenced. Daniel shifted awkwardly before finally settling into my embrace, holding his book sideways to continue reading. And still scowling.

"How much more do you have left?" I asked, curious. I didn't want him up too late.

"I dunno if I should tell you because it's all your fault that I have so much homework anyways."

"Would you like me to make you tell me?"

"About four pages."

I smirked, lips ghosting over his shoulder.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

Daniel shivered against me, but didn't reply, pretending to be buried in his book. I grinned, possessing his soft skin with slow caressings. The grip on his book tightened, but otherwise he made no move to push me away, which was substantial improvement compared to his first week here. In the beginning I had to practically tie the boy down to keep him still.

In the silence of the night Daniel soon finished up his reading. Without a word he closed the book and practically threw it to the other side of the bed, yanking the comforter over his shoulder and keeping a solid glare directed at the pillows. Plenty used to his silent treatment, I left him alone, brushing a few fingers through his soft hair. There was no need to force him to warm up to me anyways. I knew come morning he'd be wrapped up in my arms and clinging to my chest because that's how it always ends up. Daniel can scream that he hates me all he wants, but everyone knows actions speak louder than words.

Eventually, his breathing evened out and fell into slow, rhythmic sighs. I relaxed against him, unable to help the satisfied smirk snake across my face as I pulled him a little bit closer just because I could. After three weeks, Daniel has slowly gotten used to his new life here. Not enough that he's accepted it, of course, but enough that I could start prodding at his childish morals. The boy simply had to let go of his naïve notions of justice and humanity if he was going to make it in this world, especially since it's now my world. It's especially frustrating because proof of what I've been saying all along is surrounding him, but he just won't see it. No doubt his beliefs in heroism are nothing more than a pathetic grapple to his family, a desperate attempt to keep past memories alive by being moral in an immoral world. Silly child...

Daniel laid in my arms, completely unaware of how much he was under my control. He'll never understand right now, but in time he'll see what I've done for him and he'll be grateful for it. The world is a harsh place, indiscriminate in who it burns and unforgiving to a boy like Daniel. I learned that the harsh way, but that doesn't mean he has to. Daniel will hate me now, but he'll become a stronger person because of it. In a way, it's like I'm giving him the second chance he always advocates.

And like I told him, all it would require is a little persuasion.

As I excepted, I opened my eyes to a sunny sky, raindrops on the windows, and Daniel clutching my chest as though his life depended on it. The serenity was still present on his face, contentment that clashed with his cries of hate. Of course, once he woke up and let his usual stubbornness get in the way that contentment would be ruined, but no matter. It was all a matter of time, at this point.

After his obligatory wake up and flustered denigrations, I pushed him into the bathroom to get ready for the day. He wasn't stone cold in the shower either, more pouting than anything at this point. Of course, that's not to say he was receptive to any of my touches (unless they were more intimate), but it was still a subtle step. Daniel washed, dried, and dressed with hardly a glare, just sarcastic quips and his usual fiery stubbornness.

The walk down to breakfast was pleasantly quiet, Daniel reviewing his math notes all the way to the dining room and me making sure he didn't walk into a wall. I didn't have it in my heart to scold him for not paying attention to where he was going because I don't think I've ever seen him so motivated for schoolwork. Not hard to imagine why, of course, but still, why reign in a good habit?

"Man, this is impossible." he huffed, pouring over his homework and leaving the plate of eggs untouched. A short, exasperated sigh left him looking grudgingly in my direction, mumbling "Can you help me again?"

I tried to keep my smirk small, but the further narrowing of Daniel's eyes let me know that he caught it. Still, I stood from my seat and happily looked over his shoulder, not about to pass up one of his few voluntary requests for help.

"There's the problem, little badger," I pointed on his paper, "You simply messed up your multiplication. Otherwise the formula is perfect."

He grunted in thanks, which was another improvement from the usual silence I receive. Rolling my eyes, I returned to my seat, watching him furiously scratch away at the paper and glance at the clock.

"You know, if you'd gotten your homework done last night you wouldn't be so stressed out right now." I commented, sipping my coffee.

"Yeah, great advice Vlad," He scowled, "And if you hadn't insisted on nailing me into your desk yesterday evening, maybe I would have had some time to finish it."

I tried not to chuckle as the good memory came back, but I'm afraid I failed. Daniel was not pleased, further glaring.

"You were being so distant yesterday," I waved a hand carelessly, "I couldn't let you drown in your own pity party, could I?"

"And further molesting me was supposed to cheer me up?"

"Well it cheered me up."

"Believe me. I could tell."

"If you'd simply let go of conventional standards it could cheer you up as well." I sighed exasperatedly. "And really, there are no more conventional standards if you think about it. I just don't see what's holding you back."

"Forgive me for feeling shameful every time you stick your hand down my pants. I'll try to work on that."

"Like you're trying to work on your homework?"

He looked down at the paper, one problem completed.

"Shut up, Vlad."

With a small smile I watched him return his focus to the mathematical formulas, clearly trying to drown himself in the work. I held back the tired sigh in my chest, downing the rest of the black coffee and gently setting in on the table. Though I love the daily banter we exchange, the day Daniel stops fighting me couldn't come soon enough, in my opinion. Until then this little game of banter seemed to be the closest we could come to civil conversation, and that's using the term 'civil' loosely.

Daniel glanced at the old grandfather clock frantically, haunched over his textbook and almost muttering to himself, desperately trying to finish up the math equations. However, I couldn't manage to feel very sorry for the boy. His disturbing lack of a decent education had to be remedied, though it's a wonder he learned anything at all with Jack Fenton as his father. If the stubborn child had simply come to me in the first place, I could have given him an excellent education without the emotional distractions Ghostwriter provides. I can't deny that this situation works to my advantage though. Once Daniel has caught up with his studies, I can afford to start offering less homework as an incentive to get him to cooperate during our evenings together.

Miraculously, he finished up the equations in the nick of time, quickly grabbing the rest of his books and running out of the dinning hall with a quick, "ByeVladhopeyoufalloffacliff!" I rolled my eyes yet again, wondering if that was to become my new habit.

A clock struck the hour as I stood and headed off to the lab, turning my focus to another project of mine. Ruling the world opens such a variety of opportunities for someone such as myself. On my walk I passed a few chatting servants, and the moment they saw me they stiffened with fear. Standing straight, they nodded respectfully and mumbled a morning greeting, heads bowed in immediate supplication. It was rather pathetic, really, but I ignored them as usual and continued on my way.

The secret entrance to my lab wasn't necessary anymore and served only for convenience. However, from the first floor of my five story mansion, it really wasn't that convenient at all, so I opted for the more conspicuous entrance. With a simple key code a decorative black door near the dining hall slide into the wall, letting loose the sterile oxygen from the room behind it. The lab lit up automatically when I stepped off the descending stairs and onto the metal floor, and with the lights I freed my ghost half. The familiar rush of power brought a smile to my fanged mouth, solid red eyes picking up so much more than my normal human pupils could.

"Much better." I muttered, walking over to a raised platform.

The platform was circular in shape, a large and intricate computer rising up around it like a desk. Above it, several flat-screens hung in an organized fashion, already hooked up to the computer and awaiting my password. This was, for lack of a better phrase, the base of my operations. From this super computer I could easily access any network in the world, bulldozing complicated firewalls like they were nothing more than candle flames. Technus had been duly payed for his assistance, of course, though I hear China wasn't as thrilled about his gift as he was...

"Password accepted." A mechanical voice rang out, the screens in front of me immediately displaying several different locations around the world via webcam.

And almost as quickly as the screens popped up, the scientists within them jumped, spinning around to look at me with frightened surprise.

"L-Lord Plasmius!" A balding one from the main screen in front of me squeaked, hastily re-griping the papers slipping from his gasp.

"Dr. Austin." I replied dryly, surveying his spineless team huddling in the background. But they weren't what I was really looking for.

Further back, beyond the cowering scientists, a massive hole rested in the wall. Already it was lined with the same intricate technology my own ghost portal held, though incomplete. Thick wires hung from the ceiling of the giant portal, and I could see a few scientists on mechanical lifts working on different aspects of the unfinished gateway. However, with my keen eyesight I could tell that it wasn't even halfway done, prompting a disappointed frown that the scientists further balked at.

"I thought we agreed to a six week time schedule? You're running behind."

Dr. Austin flinched.

"Y-yes," he fiddled with his glasses, not looking me in the eye, "But this technology is...well it's very advanced and my team and I a-aren't quiet familiar with it-"

"I don't want excuses, Austin, I was results." I glared, figuring something like this would happen. "I gave you explicit instructions and detailed blueprints to build this portal. How hard is it to simply follow directions?"

"W-well...uh..."

"Do I need to remind you what's at stake should you mess this up?"

"No!" he cried, desperation shining in his eyes, "Please, we're working as hard as we can. J-just give us a little more time, I beg you!"

I paused, stroking my goatee as though listening to his pathetic pleading. I figured they'd end up behind schedule, which is why I'd already planned for this should such an occasion arise. After all, one can only expect so much from normal humans.

"...Very well." I drawled. "You have an extra two weeks." The man in the screen deflated with relief, clutching his chest.

"Oh, thank you, my lo-"

"But Austin?" I interrupted, my dark tone instantly shutting him up. "If you fail me again, your family will feel the consequences. Permanently."

"Y-yes, my liege." he bowed his head meekly, pure misery choking his voice. From the pain in his tone, I knew I didn't have to worry about the portals not being done on time.

"Then I leave this in your more-than-capable hands." I smiled. "I want this portal past the halfway point when I next call you."

"V-very well, Sir." He choked, staring and blinking furiously at the ground.

I didn't dignify him with a farewell, pushing a button and shifting the images on the screens. I had a lot of things to do today and he wasn't worth my time. A different, but similar scene played out on the main screen now, only this time the portal was normal sized and the head scientist wasn't a balding man, it was a woman.

"Dr. Reich, how goes progress?"

This process repeated itself several times, each one with the head scientist stuttering apologies and trembling ridiculously. The many portals I had being erected around the world were slow in coming, but hopefully by the end of the next month they would be operational. Granted, with so many portals going up the boundary between here and the ghost zone was bound to be come unstable, but that wasn't necessarily a problem in my grand scheme of things. I was growing rather tired of my personal portal being the only means of transportation between here and the ghost zone anyways. The Fenton portal was still open and working, of course, but I had forbidden traffic through there. I didn't want to scare the little "resistance" away from the idea of using it to get into my castle, did I?

When the last scientist offered their stuttering excuses to me, I switched off the computer. My open ghost portal let an ethereal, green glow bathe my lab, chilling it with a type of cold that only the ghost zone can produce. For a moment I just stared out into the swirling green world, a satisfied smile on my face despite a few minor set backs irritating my plans. Until those portals were completed, communication between the other ghosts terrorizing the world was difficult to manage, which was slightly distressing to me. For now, Skulker was doing a fair job at relaying messages, but I wanted something a little more solid. Lord knows that ghost is easily distracted from anything that doesn't involve hunting. Speaking of which...

My sensors alerted me to an approaching specter outside the portal, recognizing Skulker's ecto-signature before he melted through the swirling green gateway. The hunter ghost smoothly stepped into my lab, a bored (but undeniably pleased) expression on his face. Skulker has seriously benefited from my take over, now having ample prey to chase. I offered him a country of his choice for his loyalty throughout the years, but he turned it down, instead asking only for free reign in the human world.

"Plasmius." he greeted, nodding his head.

"Skulker," I smiled, "What brings you here?"

"The usual." he replied in a bored tone, already browsing the weapons hanging along a wall. "Targets, weapons, a message from Vortex."

Annoyance instantly colored my scoff, eyes rolling. If it wasn't Walker causing me problems it was that overgrown weather balloon...

"What is it this time?"

"He's claiming he doesn't have enough room to 'artistically grow' or something." he said, inspecting a double barrel machine gun. "Does this come in pairs?"

"No," I scowled, snatching the gun from the obsessive ghost. "Especially not when you've done nothing to warrant receiving such a weapon."

"...but if I did do something worth it, I could get them in pai-"

"Focus, Skulker." I snapped.

The flame headed ghost pouted, narrowing his eyes and grudgingly telling me the rest of the message.

"He's complaining that there's not enough people to 'witness his masterpieces'. Basically, the fool wants more land."

Oh, I did not have the patience to deal with that imbecile.

"I've given him the entire South American continent, tell him to stop bothering me with trivial nonsense or I'll make him wish he was still locked up in the Observants prison!"

"I did. He quieted down, but I figured I should just warn you that he won't stay quiet for long."

I narrowed my eyes, glaring at the wall thanks to this latest bump in the road. I knew it was a risk to bring Vortex into this from the beginning, but at the time the bigger and more destructive impact I made on the world the more secure my permanent rule would be. However, after three weeks of non-stop chaos, I'm pretty sure a less destructive-and less annoying-replacement wouldn't be too detrimental to my reputation. Vortex will simply have to be removed.

"Thank you Skulker." I sighed, rubbing my temples. The hunter ghost didn't have to tell me this information, and I recognized that. At least now I would be able to remove this headache before it became problematic.

"No need, Plasmius. I'm telling you this for my own interests too." He looked at me and grinned, "I rather like what you've done with the human world and I want it to stay that way."

"Glad to hear you approve." I muttered, turning to a touch screen map and pinpointing Vortex's exact coordinates.

"...So how's the whelp doing?" Skulker asked after a long moment of silence, no doubt still perusing through my weapons display. It was no secret that he desperately wanted to hunt 'his prey' still, but I'd put a stop to that. At least until I deemed it time for Daniel to have a good sparing practice.

"Fine," I replied conversationally, "He's finally stopped pitching a fit, for the most part. Though that's not entirely...a good thing..." Something on the screen caught my attention; I was barely focusing on the conversation with Skulker to begin with.

"It's not?" He sounded confused, "Why? I thought you'd be happy that he's being less difficult."

"Oh believe me, I am," I stood straight, narrowing my eyes at the image on the screen, "But Daniel has a nasty habit of bottling things up and attempting to plot behind my back, which is why him being quiet is almost as bad-if not worse-than him throwing a fit. Come look at this." I pointed to the screen.

Skulker raised an eyebrow, but stepped forward, following my finger to the image and letting loose a low chuckle.

"...Is that really-"

"Mhm." I crossed my arms, glaring. "It seems I'll have to take care of this matter sooner rather than later."

Vortex had taken it upon himself to erect several statues in his likeness, complete with an extravagant crown and scepter. The picture displayed countless people bowing before the statues too, obviously hailing him like a god. This, of course, couldn't continue since the earth was my territory. My eyes further narrowed.

"Well Skulker, this visit has been lovely, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut our time short. Daniel will be getting out of tutoring soon and I'd like this mess with Vortex taken care of in time for our training session."

Skulker huffed indignantly, but when I placed the double barrel machine gun in his hand his frown was quickly flipped.

"And thank you for telling me about Vortex," I said sincerely, "Frankly, I don't care if you only told me out of selfish reasons, that reason saved me a serious migraine."

"My pleasure, Plasmius." He grinned, attaching the gun to his suit and inspecting the gleaming metal.

"And you can be sure useful updates about the other ghosts will only lead to more weapons too."

"I understand," his smile widened. Skulker turned and marched toward the portal, completely engrossed in his new toy. He exited my lab with a last call, eyes never leaving his shiny new gun, "Good luck with the whelp!"

Rolling my eyes at his obsession, I immediately walked into a different section of the lab. This room was larger, much larger, than the previous one, holding an enormous contraption that was vital to my take over. It took up an entire wall, and admittedly looked like something out of a Frankenstein movie. One day I'd take the time to perfect the design, but for now it served its purpose. On one end of the machine, a small ghost portal, the size of the proto-portal actually, was set into the wall and connected to a thick tube covering the circumference of it. In fact, it was so covered that no one would know it was a portal unless I pointed it out myself.

The thick tube-made of a specific metal composed of ectoranium-connected to a larger part of the machine. The larger part held a vat of a synthetic material I designed myself, having spent years on the chemical make up. It was an incredibly versatile substance; the goo-like consistency made the material adequate for almost all human climates, making it durable against basic attacks. The nanobots I inserted into the mixture added the perfect touch, making the key ingredient that animated the goo render themselves under my control. After adding the key ingredient, the formless blobs molded themselves into something similar to a lifeless doll, awaiting my instructions. All I simply had to do was access the nanobots through my computer and tell the synthetic ghost what to do. Compared to my other options for minions, these created creatures were perfect.

However, their creation was impossible without that key ingredient, the one I accessed via the miniature portal into the ghost zone.

Once a person dies and goes into the ghost zone, it doesn't immediately become a tangible being like Skulker or Ember or any of the other formed ghosts. After death, a person's echo-similar to that of a soul-wanders the ghost zone aimlessly, absorbing the natural energy of the zone until it becomes a tangible creature. These echo's are the very basest definition of a ghost, moaning and floating like a lost child. Instinctually, they float toward areas of the zone that happen to have more energy than other places, like around portals. The raw energy of a portal is like a fountain to them, attracting wandering souls like bugs to a lamp.

My miniature portal isn't nearly big enough to attract a substantial amount of the soul-like echos, so I added my own attractant to the synthetic mixture I had concocted, which coincidentally is what gives my army its sickly green color. The pure ectoplasm in my minions chemical make up is like candy to the starving echos, and thanks to that they swarm to the miniature portal like flies.

Even better, I don't have to worry about the well of human echos drying up soon. A human is much more likely to become a ghost when killed in a sudden death, and I've been doing a lot of sudden murders since that Monday morning so long ago.

It's a rather elegant process, I believe. The more people who die the more ghosts I can produce. The more ghosts I can produce the more people are killed. As long as I'm careful to moderate the number of people dying, I should never run out of mindless soldiers. If nothing less, it's at least a convenient and productive way for population control. Unfortunately, I have a feeling Daniel won't exactly see things my way...

Luckily, I won't have to keep producing more soldiers indefinitely. Once people settle down I won't need to replenish my army so much. In fact, if people want me to stop killing them, all they have to do is submit to my rule and stop killing off my soldiers. After that I'll have no need to fight off swarms of rebellions and can live perfectly content with the mass amount of soldiers I've already accumulated.

Humming to myself, I walked over to a glass sealed shelf and pressed in the key code. The shelves were full of thermoses, each displaying a red one-hundred percent sign glaring from the canister along with a red bar filled to the top. This was an incredibly convenient way to keep my army compact and easy to carry around. I'd discovered that the ghostly echos take up much less space than fully formed ghosts, and even after combining them with my chemical mixture, they still take up less space than a normal specter. I can fit an impressive ten thousand soldiers into one thermos, twenty thousand if I increase the size of the cylindrical container by less than an inch.

I grabbed one of the thermoses, taking note of the serial number on the side and heading to the mainframe controls. All of the ghouls in each thermos were still blank slates, the nanobots not yet programed and activated. After connecting my chosen thermos to the mainframe and inputing the password, a monotone voice echoed from the small speakers. This mainframe, being so incredibly important, was not blocked by just a simple password though. Voice recognition technology was required to activate and program the nanobots, meaning only I could tell my army what to do.

"Activate thermos Xi-127." I commanded, and seconds later a beep sounded from the computer.

"Nanobots activated." the monotone voice replied.

"Set Programing. Order: kill only interfering humans. Order: Subjugate Vortex. Order: Patrol human communities. Order: Obey Vlad Plasmius. Finish Programing."

I tapped my foot as the computer processed my commands and downloaded them into the billions of nanobots within the thermos.

"Programing complete."

"Excellent." I muttered, ejecting the thermos and stowing it away on my belt, along with an extra empty thermos for Vortex himself.

Moments later I was back in the portal room and flying into the ghost zone. Hopefully this wouldn't take more than an hour. I wanted to be back in time to train Daniel, after all.

It took longer than an hour.

Vortex, though surprised to see me when I suddenly appeared above the Brazilian rainforest, put up an admirable fight. I ended up needing to use over a thousand of the ghouls I'd brought to bring him down. My minions, though durable against punitive humans, were no match for a ghost like Vortex. Thus, it was their numbers I needed to distract him long enough to shove him into the spare thermos I'd brought.

This, however, didn't occur until after the ridiculous chase he'd started. I spent over an hour chasing him around the southern continent before cornering him somewhere in Chile. The foolish ghost had tried to wash me away with an impressive tsunami he'd conjured, but it's not that difficult to turn intangible and avoid all the water. The ghouls I released swarmed him like hundreds of roaches after that, and it was all downhill for the weather controlling specter from there.

All in all, the irksome event took around three hours. By the time I returned from disposing of Vortex, lunch had long since past and Daniel had already started his sets.

"Oh darn, you're here." he said the moment I walked through the gym doors.

I didn't responding, closing my eyes and inhaling slowly. Compared to the chaotic past three hours I'd had, the easy quietness of the workout room was nothing short of a blessing, even with Daniel's spiteful comments. In a way, even those were relaxing too. His harmless sarcasm served as a source of great amusement to me, so much better than the obnoxious heaving and flowery monologues of a certain ghost no longer on this earth.

"Try not to sound too excited, Daniel." I retorted, still feeling sore from the skirmish with Vortex.

"Trust me, I won't."

I glared balefully at him for a moment before sitting on a bench by the mirrors, releasing a long sigh and taking the first rest I'd gotten since capturing and destroying Vortex. Daniel paused in his lifting routine, raising an eyebrow and looking at me.

"Uh...not that I care, but are you okay?"

"If you don't care, why are you asking?"

Daniel glared at me, turning back to the wall and resuming his sets with stubborn silence. I couldn't help but smirk a bit, watching the scowling teen complete his reps and finally dropping the thirty pound weights back on the shelf. He yanked the thirty five pound dumbbells from their waiting position, sighing and completing the last six reps with the heavier weights.

"Did you increase your weights by five compared to last week?" I asked, making sure he wasn't slacking.

"Yes, Mom." he grunted, struggling with the last few lifts.

Daniel's eyes flashed with angry determination on the last lift, forcing his toned arms to complete the set. I smiled, feeling the lingering irritation and tension from my earlier ghost fight slip away as I watched my young protege. As I predicted, Daniel had quickly become consumed with the hours spent training. At first he'd been a typical, angry, awkward teenager, visibly uncomfortable with his inability to lift heavier weights and even more uncomfortable with me training him. He quickly got over that of course, though it wasn't like he had a choice. However, the personalized routine I had him on was doing wonders for his body and his self-confidence. In just a short three weeks, the results of his training were clearly visible, something I know Daniel appreciated.

"What are you smirking at?" he bristled, returning the weights and lowering to the ground.

"The only thing worth smirking at in the room," I teased, getting up and walking over to him as he started his push-ups.

Daniel gave me a wary glare at my approached, yelling indignantly when I kicked one of his arms off the floor. He nearly face planted mid-push-up, but quickly shifted his weight and sat up.

"What the heck was that for?" he scowled.

"One handed pushups from now on. Ten on each arm. Next week we'll double it."

He glared at me, muttering incoherent things and resuming his routine. I watched him follow my demand with a satisfied smile, much preferring this to anything else my worldly duties demanded of me.

It's always nice to see an investment make good on its return, and when I watch my little badger train and study, it's clear that he has most certainly lived up to my expectations thus far. Of course there have been bumps in the road, just as I expect there will me more in the future to come. However, if there's one thing I'm good at it's getting what I want. Daniel-already holding the traits I so value in a person-needs nothing more than a guiding hand to hone his talents. He is, without a doubt, my piece de resistance. Getting him to cooperate in other aspects of our relationship will be as gratifying as-

"Helloooo, earth to Vlad? Are you still in there?"

Two arctic blue eyes and a waving hand stirred me from my thoughts, willingly closer to me than I expected from him (though, admittedly, that's not saying much). I looked down and smirked, Daniel's impatient form huffing angrily and placing his hands on his hips when he finally got my attention.

"Yes, little badger?" I grinned.

"I said, when are we gonna start working on my ghost powers? You haven't forgotten that I'm half-ghost, too, right?"

"Hm," Smirking, I leaned down and kissed him lightly, "As if I could ever forget that."

Daniel's scowl never left his face, determined to appear angry and unreceptive. I only grinned at his stubbornness, knowing exactly how receptive I could make him...

"I suppose you do have a point though," I said, tapping a finger against my chin and turning his frown into a muted blink of surprise.

"I do?"

"Mhm. It's quite clear that you've made considerable progress-" Daniel's cheeks tinged pink when gave him an appreciative stare, "-enough that I think you're more than ready to start working on your ghost form."

I could tell the stubborn boy was holding back a pleased grin, mostly likely itching to use his ghost powers after such a long time of limited use. He followed me out of the workout room with a slightly happier disposition than two minutes ago, as evidenced by his willingness to talk to me. I only hoped he'd keep that improved attitude when we started training.

"Hey Vlad?"

"Hm?"

"How come you have a bunch of smaller, separate rooms for training ghost powers? Why not combine them all into one big room?"

"I could have done that," I replied, stopping in front of a deep red colored door, "But separating the rooms and designating them a specific focus allows me to use more advanced technology for each individual room. I decided to sacrifice convenience for quality."

"Oh," Daniel replied, but then he noticed we were in front of a door and frowned, taking a few steps back. "You're not gonna throw me into a random obstacle course again, are you?"

"No Daniel, I'm not going to throw you into a random obstacle course again." I chuckled, motioning for him to come closer when I opened the door.

He gave me a wary look but inched his way through the doorway, eyes coloring with confusion when he saw the completely bare room.

"Uh...there's nothing here."

"You really must stop stating the obvious, child. It makes you look rather dim."

Daniel didn't reply, watching me with his usual scowl as I took stage of the room and commanded in a strong voice,

"Activate combat mode. Level 1."

"Really Vlad? Level 1? I have had these powers for nearly two years, you know."

"Yes, but I you haven't had your powers like this before." I looked at him with a knowing smirk, "I don't think you realize the change you're going to feel then you transform into your ghost form."

"Putting on a little muscle makes that big of a difference?" he rose an eyebrow, clearly skeptical.

"Lets let you find out for yourself, shall we?"

Daniel didn't change his expression as I approached, reaching up and phasing the restrictive collar from his neck. He rubbed the slightly chaffed skin, never taking his eyes off me as I shifted into my ghost form and hooked the collar on my belt.

A strange look ghosted over Daniel's face when he took in my alter ego, a unique mixture of fear, intimidation, and something else lasting for just a second in his eyes. I don't think he realizes he makes that expression every time he sees me transform, but I certainly don't plan on telling him that gratifying piece of information. It's just another example of his actions speaking louder than his words. The look quickly disappeared as he let his own ghost half wash over his body, replaced with a wide grin that he could at last, no longer contain.

"Finally..." he murmured, dissolving his legs into a spectral tail and flexing a gloved hand.

"Focus on your core, Daniel. Tell me when you feel a difference."

He glanced at me cautiously for a moment before letting his eyes close, stilling in the air as he did what I said. His ghostly glow dimmed slightly as he centered his focus, even the air around him seeming to slow down. I couldn't quite hold back a smile when his eyes suddenly opened with a gasp, the neon color shining slightly brighter than usual and doubling in his now blazing ghostly glow.

"Whoa," he breathed, putting a hand to his chest and almost stumbling in the air.

"How do you feel?" I pressed.

"I feel...great." he blinked, looking down at himself. "Fantastic, actually! Is this really all because I got my human side in shape?"

"Your ghostly core is closely connected to the state of your human half, even drawing energy from it, on some occasions. You can think of your human half as a foundation for your ghostly one. The better shape it's in, the easier your core can circulate and produce ecto-energy. Shoot that gun up there and you'll see what I mean."

Daniel did a double take at the laser sticking out of the wall, clearly having not noticed it until now. We'd really have to work on his observational skills. The boy summoned up green energy into his hand, grin widening at the rush of power I knew he felt. He took careful aim and fired, exploding the gun into a shower of tiny pieces and leaving a scorch mark in the wall that was three times bigger than anything he'd ever produced before.

"Whoa!" he breathed, eyes wide. Daniel looked down at his smoking hand in amazement, probably still feeling the improved strength rushing through his ghostly body.

"Exhilarating, no?" I smirked. Daniel looked at me with a much more open expression, lingering amazement erasing his hostility for the moment. "I'm going to teach you how to control all that power, little badger, and how to use it intelligently. You're only going to get stronger the more you train and exercise."

"...But won't there be a point when my body reaches it's limit?"

"The point of exercising your human body is simply to get it in shape. Like I said, your human half is only the foundation. Once it is at a good, steady performance your ghost half will begin to develop on its own, circulating and building energy more quickly and producing new powers more often. In fact, I still develop new powers myself."

"Wait-You do?" Daniel looked rather nervous. I felt a smirk curl my lip.

"Indeed. Ghost's don't circulate energy like we hybrids do. Their ectoplasm remains stagnant once they've fully formed in the ghost zone, putting a limit on their power. We on the other hand, have no such limitations. There's no telling how strong we could become, how powerful."

Daniel furrowed his brows, clearly not liking what he was hearing. He didn't say anything in response though, mouth sealed in a tight frown.

"There's no need to be afraid of power, little badger."

"I'm not afraid!" he burst out indignantly, fists tightening.

"Hm. I should hope not." I replied, mouth twisting, "Because I plan on making you more powerful than you can imagine."

"And what happens when I use all that power against you, Plasmius?" he spat.

I stared at him for a moment, taking in his bristled stance. Daniel didn't move as I stepped closer to him, though he flinched when I grabbed his clenched jaw and forced his face to look up at me. I could help but laugh at Daniel's pathetic threat, the cold sound making the boy tense warily.

"By then, little badger, you'll be so wrapped around my finger you won't even dare to defy me."

He glared furiously, but was unable to say anything in response. It didn't matter, though. I could see the nervous fear in his eyes. As much as he didn't want to believe it, I knew he was starting to. I smiled.

He didn't say a word as I turned my back on him, facing the empty room and ordering, "Activate combat mode Level 10."

My apprentice looked around warily as multiple guns appeared out of the walls, all of them aimed directly at him. I watched him fall into an immediate battle stance, pleased with his sharp insticts.

"So...exactly how many levels are there?" he asked after a long silence, eyeing the ominous weapons with narrowed eyes and trying to forget my ominous prediction.

"One hundred. We'll start out here and go up until I decide you can stop. Begin Level."

"Wait-what?"

The alarm on Daniel's face transformed into a gasp when all the guns fired at once. He jumped into the air, instantly reacting by avoiding and destroying all the guns. In what couldn't have been more than a minute and a half all the guns were taken out, reduced to smoking cinders. Daniel was still breathing heavily from the surprise, fists smoking.

"A little warning would've been ni-!"

"Begin level eleven."

"Ah! Vlad!"

I chuckled as Daniel flew through the air, dodging the blasts from the guns and retaliating with his own shots. He did pretty well, effectively destroying all the targets in a timely manner as the levels increased. His aim needed some work though, and once we started getting to level fifteen he began taking too long to destroy all the guns. I watched as he dived and flipped through the air, avoiding all the blasts specifically keyed into his ecto-signature.

"Good, Daniel. Keep your eyes on all the targets. Don't focus on one gun at a time."

The good thing about the bombardment of blasts was that he didn't have time to shout back a sarcastic comment, needing all the focus he had to avoid getting burned by the ectoblasts. I watched from the sidelines, a pleased smile on my face at how well along he was with his powers. Daniel may think he's no good at them, but for his age and how long he's had them, he's actually not bad. His main problem is just a lack of attention. At least as far as shooting goes.

The non-stop slew of shooting guns lasted for another half hour, each level taxing Daniel's endurance and focus. When we got to level nineteen he was breathing heavily and chaotically spinning around to focus on all the targets, barely missing the high heat shots flying past him. Finally, there were too many guns to handle. Daniel slammed into the floor when a powerful blast caught him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

I was impressed by his reflexes when he crashed to the ground, though. The guns didn't stop firing just because their target was down, instead increasing their barrage now that Daniel was stationary. The little badger let out a yelp and quickly forced up a shield, just barely blocking the shower of attacks. He grit his teeth and glared at the shield, willing it to hold under the heavy barrage. It wasn't until white cracks started forming around the green dome that I finally called off the attack.

"Cease Level." I commanded.

The moment the guns stopped firing Daniel let down his shield, clearly thinking the danger was gone and about to take a rest on the floor. I quickly put a stop to that. He yelped and rolled away when my fist dug into the ground, creating a dent where his head had been just seconds ago.

"What the hell was that for!" he shouted, backing away and raising his fists.

"Your greatest flaw is your lack of attention. Never let your guard down, Daniel, not even for a moment." I flexed my fist and stared at his panting form, a grin unfurling. "You never know when an enemy may strike."

"God, you're so crazy." he panted, mumbling under his breathe.

Hm. Well I was going to give him a break, but if that's how he feels...

Daniel yelled in fright at my sudden attack, jumping back and barely missing the punch I threw at him. His back slammed against the wall and for half a second he stared up at me with wide, terrified eyes before ducking away from another attack. Despite his agility, I quickly caught him by the arm. Daniel cried out in pain when I yanked the limb behind his back and shoved him against the wall.

"Ow! Fuck!"

I smacked him in the head.

"Language, Daniel."

He struggled for a moment more, trying to pull his arms out of my grasp and then trying to relieve the pressure on his joints when I forced them up higher.

"Ow ow ow ow ow okay! You win! Jesus,Vlad, you're breaking my arm!"

I held him there until he stopped struggling completely and then let go. Daniel instantly jumped away from me, rolling his shoulders for barely a second and then immediately putting his fists up in a defensive stance. I only smirked in satisfaction though, the lesson learned.

"Excellent work, little badger." His eyes narrowed, clearly not understanding. "You kept your guard up."

Daniel blinked, just realizing that he was in a defensive stance. He made sure to keep his eyes on me though, tensing when I approached.

"Relax, Daniel," I placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm not going to attack you."

"How do I know you're not lying?" He rose an eye brow, not moving. My grin stretched wider.

"You don't."

For a tense moment neither of us moved. Daniel kept his narrowed eyes pinned on me, not trusting my light smile for a second. In took a while, but eventually he slowly lowered his fists, not once taking his eyes off me. It was a start, at least.

"Now that we know what level you are at, I want to spend some time working on your focus and your aim..."

For the rest of training we basically worked on those two areas. Daniel has a bad habit of focusing on one thing at a time, never taking the time to note his surroundings in a fight. As for his aim, well that's just self explanatory. At first, Daniel remained tense around me, but that was to be expected. Under my guidance, however, he eventually relaxed enough to focus solely on the exercises I had him do. The hour spent working on his focus passed so quickly that I didn't even realize how late it was nearly five in the evening. The last hour was thus spent on aim, something Daniel enjoyed immensely.

"Hit those targets." I pointed to three silver disks set against the back wall, each one about the size of an old record.

He smirked at the simplicity of the task, fire alighting his hand and then soaring across the open space. The disks shattered into a million pieces upon contact, creating a rather beautiful spectacle. Seconds later six more disks popped up, this time just slightly smaller. Daniel shot them on my command, hitting each target with excellent precision. This pattern repeated itself until there were twenty one disks set against the wall, all the size of an average CD now.

"Use both hands for this one. Can't cripple you to one arm, can we?"

He didn't do so well this time, wincing when his dominate hand managed to break all the disks (though not with bulls-eyes) and his left hand only clipped about half of them. I smirked, standing behind him. He tensed at my sudden approach, but I paid it no mind.

"Practice, of course, will lead to improvement, but a few tricks can help you learn to shoot with your non-dominant hand more fluidly."

Daniel was very still when I leaned down and gently placed my hand over his raised left arm, slowly lowering the right one.

"Focus more on the target rather than your hand," I said, perhaps closer to his ear than strictly necessary. "And don't inhale when you shoot."

He relaxed slightly when I stepped away, my hand lingering on his shoulder for just a moment. Daniel paused to gather his focus again, not saying a word before suddenly shooting one of the disks. As I predicted, his left handed shot shattered the disk with a clean bulls-eye, silver slivers bouncing to the ground.

"I did it!" He blinked, clearly surprised that my advice had actually worked.

"You have so little faith in me."

Daniel snorted, shaking his head and shooting another target, and then another. A small, genuine smile started to light up his face as he destroyed all the targets, leaving the ground lined with silver diamonds. It was a rather beautiful sight, seeing him so excited about his ghost powers. He'd probably scowl if I told him that though, so I kept the rare moment to myself.

After that, the rest of his training seemed to pass in a flash. I kept him at stationary targets for now, only varying the sizes and locations of the silver disks. By the time evening was well on its way the floor was littered with shining shards, and Daniel was starting to feel the effects of a prolonged usage of his powers. He stubbornly refused to quit however, until I had to forcibly drag him out of the room and lock his ghost powers away with that damned collar. Needless to say, that smile I was so enjoying quickly dropped after that, and I was left in the silence of the halls as Daniel took a quick shower.

The poor boy had been shaking with the effort to bring forth a mere ectoblast, I wasn't about to let him continue to run himself ragged. I sighed in the suffocating emptiness of the halls, knowing the moment Daniel walked out of that door the cold antagonism between us would return. There really wasn't anything I could do about it, though. It's not my fault he absolutely refuses to let me help with anything beyond homework and training.

He finished up and exited the small locker room with his usual grim expression back in place. I caught him fiddling with the collar around his neck as we made our way to my study, scratching the irritated skin and pulling at it needlessly. By the time we got to the cozy room, his usual tension had fully returned, made all the more apparent by the steely silence between us.

This is how things usually go, but still, that didn't stop a forlorn sigh from making its way past my lips. Daniel glanced up at me, but then trained his eyes back to the carpet with a frown. It seemed that the beginnings of the day and the ends of the day are when he's most sullen, hands shoved in pockets and face devoid of expression. I suppose I should be slightly more grateful though. At least he doesn't shoot me those pitiful death glares anymore. Not very often, at any rate.

I held the door to my study open and Daniel trudged in, automatically marching to the couch and grabbing a text book. Here I would usually make my way to the desk and work on various things until I deemed it late enough for bed, but today I stopped. I think I was growing quite tired of his stubbornness. Leaning against the door with a frown on my face, I watched Daniel read through a science book and take notes, admirably dedicated to his studies but visibly devoid of any emotions. He seemed to have shut himself in, as though preparing for something painful.

I wasn't stupid, of course. I knew exactly what he was trying to block out, but that simply wasn't healthy for the child. Daniel's habit of bottling things up and blocking them out was just as bad as his desperate cling to naïve notions of justice. In fact, I was relatively confident the two depended on each other. If I could get him to cease this mental blocking and accept and enjoy the perks of his new life, then his notions of justice would soon crumble. Or vise versa, if I could crumble his notions of justice, then the mental blocking would soon follow...

And all it would take is a little persuasion.

A rather sinister smirk curled the edges of my lips, but I didn't question Daniel just yet. Instead I made my way to the desk like I normally would, perusing through emails and checking on updates. Pointless busy work, really. I wanted to make sure Daniel was nice and comfortable before I spoke with him. He finished up his science work, double checking through an assignment and then nodding to himself in satisfaction. Then I watched him pick up his Republic book. Perfect.

Impatiently, I waited just a little bit longer. I knew Plato was something he struggled with, and as I predicted, not twenty minutes later his face was already screwed up in irritation. He was almost making this too easy.

"Need some help, little badger?"

Daniel jumped when I spoke, turning around and looking up at me with a deadpanned expression.

"Must you do that everyday?"

"You're the one who jumps as though it's unexpected."

He gave me a dry glare, watching as I walked through the couch and sat beside him. I noticed he didn't scoot away this time, though the expression on his face was no less inviting.

"I thought you weren't gonna help me with this." he mumbled bitterly, waving the philosophy book around.

"I took pity on you."

"Gee, thanks."

Daniel sighed and leaned back into the couch, drawing his legs up and flipping through the book with a moody expression.

"Why do I even have to learn philosophy anyways?" he grumbled, scowling at the print.

"Because it teaches you to become a good critical thinker."

"I know how to think."

"Do you?"

"Oh ha ha Vlad. Very funny."

I watched him for a moment, a light smile on my face as he continued to flip through the pages. From the look on his face, it was clear as day that me being so close was making the stress start to build up for him. All it would take was a little prodding to get under the mountainous pile he's bottled up...

"What has Ghostwriter been having you do so far?"

"Well..." Daniel scrunched up his face, "I'm supposed to have read up to book four, but I barely understand book one... He's tried to explain it to me, and I know they're talking about justice, but so far I only understand what Thyrasmachus is saying."

Here he turned to me with another deadpanned expression.

"Mainly because Thyrasmachus' philosophy on justice is exactly like yours."

"Oh?" I smirked.

"Ghostwriter called it 'ethical egoism'." he returned to flipping through the book, a bit more violently now, "Basically it's the belief that one should do whatever is in their best interest, and that's supposed to be justice."

"You disagree?"

"Of course I disagree!"

"And why's that?"

"Well..." Daniel looked a little taken aback, clearly not expecting me to have asked his opinion, "That's not justice, that's just being selfish!"

"It's selfish to look out for ones self?"

"You know what I mean, Vlad. Don't try to twist my words."

"I'm not twisting your words Daniel. Thyrasmachus states that it is just to do what is in ones best interest, but you call that being selfish. Is it selfish to take care of yourself?"

He blinked, mouth slightly agape.

"Uh...no, I guess not, but you-!"

"I am a human being. I've never claimed to be a saint, little badger. I know exactly how selfish I am. But we're not talking about what I do, we're talking about justice being definable as taking care of ones self, something that you shouldn't be so opposed to. ...what do you think the definition of justice is, Daniel?"

"Doing what's right." He said immediately, no doubt in his voice.

"And is it not right to take care of yourself?"

"..."

Graciously, I gave him a moment to think that over. I was careful to keep any smugness out of my expression. Daniel was looking even more confused than when I first started talking to him.

"But...but Socrates can't agree with that..." he mumbled. "He mentioned something about the soul-"

"Oh yes. The harmonious soul argument." I rolled my eyes, "Basically, Socrates' argument for why we should be moral-or just-is that if one is moral then one's soul will be in harmony, and, since such harmony is desirable, the conclusion is that one should be just or moral. Do you hear anything familiar about this?"

I answered before Daniel had a chance to gape at me.

"Socrates is arguing that it is in our best interest to be moral for what you determine to be "selfish" reasons. He's basically agreeing with Thyrasmachus."

I really almost felt sorry for the boy. After a moment of shocked silence he looked away, staring at the open space of the room. His brows were furrowed together as he tried to find a way around my logic, eyes narrowing with mounting anger.

"Well Thyrasmachus also said that justice is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger, which is another load of crap. Justice isn't suppose to be used like some tool to get ahead in life, is supposed to help people and make life fair!"

"Which is exactly why it fails. Just behavior only works to the advantage of other people, Daniel, not to the person who behaves justly. You can defend Amity Park for fifty years and the citizens you protect will never truly believe in you. The moment you fail they'll tear you apart and blame all their problems on you, and that doesn't sound very just, now does it? The truth is that justice is merely an imposed convention that doesn't benefit those who adhere to it. The rational thing to do would be to ignore justice entirely."

"I can't do that!" he shook his head, "It doesn't matter if people don't appreciate me. Defending the citizens of Amity Park is the right thing to do!"

"You think so, do you? Let me let you in on a little secret, Daniel, you acting 'justly' only hurts you and benefits me, and I'm supposed to be the villain. How do you rationalize that?

"Okay, fine," he yelled, turning to me angrily, "Justice doesn't exist and it's okay to be selfish, but what you do is completely crossing the line!"

"What I do, Daniel, is simply in my best interest."

"No, what you do is murder!" he jumped out of his seat furiously, sparks flying in his eyes. I sat back and prepared for the inevitable rant that followed.

"What you do isn't just or moral! It's cruel! No one asked you to take over the world, and no one wants you to! Life is worse than ever because of what you've done! Just look at Amity Park! Look at Kwan!" his voice cracked, "If you weren't such a power hungry, twisted, conniving fruitloop none of this would be happening! All those people would still be alive and I'd be defending my city like I'm supposed to be doing!"

A flash of anger overtook me and I stood up as well, towering over his furious figure.

"You weren't defending your city, you were destroying yourself!" I yelled. "I watched you throw yourself into life or death situations for cruel and ungrateful citizens day after day, Daniel. You can't lie to me boy, if you had continued to live that sort of life you would have been dead before your twentieth birthday. Is it so wrong what I wanted to save you from that fate?"

"Then why the hell did you have to burn the rest of the world to do that!" he screamed back, "Why couldn't you have just-just kidnapped me or something and left the rest of the world alone?"

"Are you honestly trying to tell me you would have listened had I simply 'kidnapped' you?" I asked, skepticism dripping from my voice.

"Well I'm listening now, Vlad!" Daniel cried hysterically, "I'm listening to why you think it was necessary to kill all those innocent people and burn the entire fucking planet!"

"No one is innocent Daniel. No one. If I didn't kill them then something else would have eventually. In the end, everybody dies."

"But that doesn't give you the right to decide their deaths for yourself!"

"Would you rather the world go back to what it was? Eating itself alive with all its corruption and consumption? You and everyone else may think me a devil for what I've done to this miserable planet, but I can guarantee you people are going to come out better because of it."

"And why the hell would you even care about that?"

"I don't. Frankly, I've lost all compassion for the lying, manipulative, corrupt people on this earth that you refuse to see. Look around you Daniel! You constantly advocate naïve notions of justice, but where is your justice now? The truth is, people aren't going to save you because all they care about is themselves. ...Not even your own family is coming to save you."

The look Daniel was giving me was filled with such loathing that it was almost painful, but for all the hate in his eyes, there was twice as much agony.

"You..." he was shaking, eyes red with forced back tears, "...Y-you don't know anything about my family."

I stared at him impassively, the air gone still from the sudden lack of shouting.

"My family won't abandon me here." he whispered, gritting his teeth and swallowing thickly.

"They already have, Daniel."

He shook his head, beyond words at this point. Daniel was shaking with the effort to hold back tears and keep his glare up, looking more desperate and broken than anything else. We stared at each other, an unspoken struggle exchanged in the silent air. I waited until the moment was right, taking a step forward-

"Don't." Daniel croaked, stepping back and stumbling into the coffee table.

I didn't listen to him, closing the distance between us in one step and wrapping my arms around him.

"L-Let me go, Vlad!" He yelled angrily, hitting my chest and rebelling against my embrace.

I didn't move, holding him tighter as he continued to struggle. He yelled in fury, pain, and despair, beating his fists on my chest until a sob suddenly tore through his throat and he collapsed in my arms.

Daniel cried, burying his face into my chest and clutching my suit with white knuckled fists. I held him tighter, gently rubbing his back as sob after sob wracked his small frame. He couldn't fight it anymore, completely falling into my embrace and holding me like I was all he had left.

Slowly, I lowered us back to the couch, reclining on the long cushions and taking him with me. Daniel didn't fight, curling up against my chest with his face still buried in my clothes and arms holding me tight. I kept my own arms wrapped around him until he didn't need it anymore, running my fingers through his angel soft hair.

We stayed like that for a long time, a lot longer than I though we would. Even after Daniel's cries reduced to silent sniffles, he remained in my embrace. Neither of us said a word, consumed with thoughts or simply savoring the moment. I knew I'd given Daniel a lot to think about, just as much as I'd damaged his moral resolve. It wasn't completely broken of course, but it was enough that it made an impact. There were a lot of holes in my arguments that Daniel would eventually find and pick out for himself, but when he did I'd simply tear apart his defense all over again and put him back at square one. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Eventually it would wear him down and Daniel would start to see things my way. For now, though, it took a long time before he finally said anything, and when he did it was a question I'd long since planned for.

"...Do you love me, Vlad?"

"So much, Daniel." I replied quietly, hugging him tightly for a moment.

He was quiet, playing with a button on my shirt.

"Then...then why do you hurt me?" he croaked.

I slowly rubbed his back, staring down at his pitiful form on my chest.

"...I don't want to hurt you, little badger." I replied earnestly, pressing my lips against the crown of his head, "Unfortunately...that's all you seem to let me do."

Daniel didn't reply, burying his head in my chest once more and releasing a shuddering breath. I pet his hair again, hand trailing down to caress his back. We stayed like that for so long I was sure Daniel had fallen asleep. When he finally spoke up I almost missed what he said, his voice so very quiet.

"Can...can we just go to bed?"

I smiled gently, his meek and exhausted tone melting my heart. I kissed the crown of his head again before carefully standing up, taking him with me into my arms.

"Of course we can, Daniel." I replied, exiting the silent study and bringing a close to yet another productive day.


Next chapter stars Clockwork!