Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrights to Danny Phantom, which is the creation of Butch Hartman. Yeay, Canada!

That said…

I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR THE LAST MONTH AND A HALF! MAYBE LONGER! I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M A TERRIBLE KITTY WHO DOESN'T DESERVE CATNIP COOKIES!

NYAA!

I. AM. S~I~N~C~E~R~E~L~YYYYYY GRAAAAAATEFUUUUUUL. To everyone who has stayed with me on this fanfic and doesn't think I've up and ditched. It has been a very trying time for me, all of it my own fault, and your kuroneko begs you to forgive her for letting her life go to pieces like that. I'm usually so good at keeping my writing time, and… I'm not sure what happened. I'm taking steps to avoid it for the future.

But enough of that! *kicks the excuses away* Read on, dear readers! Read on!

=^omo^=;;

Chapter 10

Two Years Later…

The sound was deafening and silent at the same time. He hated the roar that was almost too loud for his mind to comprehend. It was a wonder that his eardrums didn't explode. And the light! It was enormous! Swirling white-green in color, and absolutely blinding. It seemed to force its way into his eyes, his skin…

Oh, sweet mercy, his skin. It felt like it was searing and frostbitten at the same time. The pain was everything that the light and sound was: Almost incomprehensible. But that was still an almost. He still felt the pain, and it felt like the might of it was crushing his lungs. Everything in his body just got colder and colder, making it harder and harder to breath. Why couldn't he breath? Was he dying? Why was this happening to him?

Danny's eyes flew open as he gasped loudly, the orbs glowing bright green as he did so. They cast their weird, soft light around the room as he clutched Packy and took several heaving breaths. He couldn't recall a time when he'd felt so frightened before.

So, crawling out of bed, he did what any child his age did after waking up from a nightmare. He dragged Packy down the hallway, meeting his father halfway between the rooms.

"Poppyseed muffins, Daniel; what are you doing awake? I thought we were being attacked." Vlad said, scooping up his small son. The billionaire frowned at the cool chill Danny shivered with. "Are you alright, little badger?"

"Scary dream…" Danny mumbled, lying his head on Vlad's shoulder and curling into a trembling little ball as he was carried off.

"Ah, I see." Vlad walked into his bedroom and sat Danny on the bed. Kneeling down, he placed a hand on his child's forehead. The dozing child acted like he was burning up, but the reality was… he was freezing. He didn't even have a cold sweat; yet his nose was red and his cheeks were flushed.

And again, there was the trembling as he hugged onto his stuffed companion.

"Daniel, you haven't been wandering off again, have you?" Vlad asked, pulling the blanket over Danny. The little boy curled up in the center of where his father had been sleeping moments before, seeking the heat that still lingered there.

Danny yawned, seemingly trying to merge his face with the pillow. "Mm-mm." he mumbled, voice wearing out.

"I hope you're not lying, little badger. I'll be upset if you are."

"I'm not lying." The boy didn't even open his eyes, already falling back into the realm of dreams. "I don't feel good…"

Vlad frowned, trying – and failing – to keep his concern in check. After all, the boy never lied to him, especially if he thought that doing so would make the billionaire angry in any way. Leaning over, he kissed Danny's cool forehead. "I'm sorry, Daniel. Go to sleep; I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning."

"Mm'kay." Danny managed to open his eyes a bit. "You gonna stay up and keep the monsters away?"

"Of course, Daniel." He couldn't help an amused smirk.

"Good." The little halfa's eyes slid shut once more, his fear quickly dispersing now. "Love you, Daddy."

"I love you, too, son." Vlad gently ruffled Danny's hair, then moved to his desk and turned on his laptop. After all, if he was going to be up, he was going to be productive – and his child couldn't sleep without knowing Vlad was awake at this time of night, anymore.

Lately, Danny had been having nightmares, and they were starting to effect the boy's health. This was the third night this week alone that he had woken up in the middle of the night, and it was Wednesday. They had spent the last month in Colorado because of it. Vlad had no trouble running his business from this far away, and he'd locked up the Ghost Portal good and tight, so he was prepared to stay as long as it took for Danny to recover.

He simply didn't want to. The longer they were here, the more severe it meant that Danny's condition was… And it reminded Vlad that he had no idea how to deal with it.

It had started out as simple nightmares every so often, but then it had gotten progressively worse, until Danny couldn't control his already-unpredictable powers at all. Vlad would find the child with a limb stuck in a solid object, completely unable to free it, or with parts of himself invisible for hours – even days – on end. Now, his son was getting shivers. Was this a ghost malady? If so, he certainly hadn't seen it in the Ghost Zone before.

It was unacceptable. He wouldn't let something snatch away the normal parts of Danny's life, like an education, or the chance to make friends outside of the family. They were rare occurrences to both halfas, which made them something important. If Danny forgot what it was like to be normal as he got older, then he would grow up like so many privileged, rich brats. He wouldn't let any of that happen.

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose. It was a bad time of night to be worrying about this, especially if he was trying to get work done. Besides, his business empire was going fine. It was the Ghost Zone that he was worried about. He had yet to find the Skeleton Key, which he had been searching for over the last couple of months. Even Fright Knight didn't know where the key was at present, so many centuries had gone by since it was last seen!

He shut his laptop with a discontent tut, leaning back in his chair and propping his chin on a fist. Perhaps he should postpone the search for just awhile longer. Danny was possibly sick, and at the moment Vlad wasn't sure that he trusted the protection of just his reputation to protect the child when he was out of Vlad's sight.

There was a muffled slump, and Vlad cast a glance over to where his son was sleeping. Danny had phased his right arm into the bed, along with part of his shoulder, chest, and half of his face. The older halfa sighed and relocated to the bed, where he managed to fish the boy out of the mattress and set him to rights, before lying down as well. He placed a hand on Danny's head as the younger halfa snuggled into his side, clutching at Vlad's pajamas for a grounding point.

Vlad gazed up into the darkness of the ceiling, quietly worrying about the young Phantom.

"Daniel, don't."

"I'm not doin' anything." Danny peeked over the kitchen counter at Vlad innocently, feet hovering just an inch off of the ground.

The billionaire gave him a pointed look. "I can sense it when you're using your powers, Daniel. Now stop it. What if your hands go intangible and you crack your head on that corner, hm?"

Danny pouted for a moment, but put his feet on the ground and took his hands off of the counter. "I want to train, Daddy. I'll be good and listen."

"Not right now, little badger. It's not the weekend."

"But… But we're here! Can't you teach me just a little?" The child's voice hit a whining pitch.

It wasn't something that Vlad was going to accommodate. "No, Daniel. I won't have you getting hurt. That's final."

Danny's face scrunched up, blue eyes starting to water. "I won't get hurt! I promi – "

"Daniel." Both Vlad's eyes and his voice snapped. There was no anger, no outburst, just the warning: This was not something that Vlad was going to change his mind on, and Danny pressing the matter was just taking time away on the weekend.

The boy stood stock-still for a moment, then huffed and darted through the back door. Vlad sighed and shook his head before going back to his newspaper and coffee; he needn't worry about his little Daniel – Wulf kept an eye on him out there.

Danny ran across the porch, through the garden, and into the trees. He ran until his lungs began aching for air, when his legs finally went intangible and he tripped. The soft earth didn't hurt to fall on, but that didn't mean that he wasn't upset about falling in the first place. Panting, he pushed himself back to his once-again-solid feet, and, with a frustrated growl, kicked at the moss until he could see dirt.

The anxiety he had been trying to outrun caught up with him. He hadn't been whining when he was trying to get Vlad to pay attention to him… Danny sat on a large tree root, arms crossed and knees curled up towards his chest. A chill ran across his skin, then was gone. He almost coughed at the cold sensation.

"Are you alright, little friend?"

Danny jumped at the sound of Wulf's voice as the werewolf came around the tree Danny was leaning against. Wulf looked around wearily, before returning his gaze to the human child.

"Were you being chased?"

"Daddy won't teach me anymore." Danny growled, rubbing at his eyes furiously. "He says I'll just get hurt, and that I can't train when I'm sick, anyway. But I'm not sick."

Wulf sat next to Danny, imitating his posture. "What do you mean, sick? You look perfectly healthy to me… Although, you do look a little worn-out, friend."

"I can't sleep good. I keep having nightmares, and I get cold a lot now." He whimpered, yawning as he kept his sweater's sleeves pressed to his tired eyes. It was always so much easier to make him cry when he was sleepy like this, and he didn't know why! He certainly didn't like it, either.

"I see. That is strange, then." Wulf got a thoughtful expression, crossing his arms and scratching his chin.

Now Danny did look at Wulf. The bags under his eyes felt heavy, and they felt even heavier now for some reason. "Why? Why is it strange?"

Wulf cast Danny a sly look, then innocently shrugged and said, "Because for a ghost, it's perfectly normal for your body to be doing this, given your age. Your father's such a smart guy, he should know that. Maybe he's just as bad here as he is in the Ghost Zone; and to be mean to his own son, too. Tsk, tsk, tsk." Wulf shook his head woefully. "How unfortunate for you."

"Daddy is a smart guy, Wulf! You know that!"

"So he does know that your cold flashes mean you're about to get a flood of power? Funny. He should want to train with you all the time, then. Unless…"

Danny looked at Wulf anxiously. "Unless… what, Wulf? Unless what?"

"I guess he just doesn't want you to be stronger. Of course, if you were stronger, then you could beat him and save the Ghost Zone from his tyranny. He's a very bad man over there, you know. I guess now he's a bad man here, too."

"He is not!" Danny yelled in English, jumping to his feet. Tears were flooding his eyes suddenly in anger. "Why would you say that? Daddy would never, never, ever be a bad guy! He's the good guy!"

"Then why isn't he teaching you to use your powers for good? Why isn't he teaching you how to be a superhero right now, when you're about to get such a grand boost of powers?" Wulf stood up smoothly, then knelt down to Danny's level. "Can you answer me that?"

"It… It's not the weekend!" Danny defended confidently, although visibly faltering.

"But he's taught you during the week before. He did when you two first arrived at the beginning of the month."

It was true; Vlad and Danny had done some training to try and get Danny's few powers back under control. When it didn't work, they had gone back to their weekends-only schedule, but even then it was much lighter than before.

Wulf watched Danny grasp for an answer and come up empty each time for a moment. After a moment, a smile worked its way across his muzzle. "Of course, if he won't teach you, then you could always go to the Ghost Zone and teach yourself."

"But… then I'd have to go in the basement…" Danny whispered. "A-And… the Ghost Portal…"

"Well, then, by all means! Stay here, in the Real World, and don't become a superhero. I mean, my goodness… real superheroes aren't afraid. They're brave… and I guess you aren't."

Something didn't smell right.

Wulf felt a prickle along his spine as his hackles raised defensively. Danny had come this way, but he didn't smell Phantom's ghost signature. This one was…

He growled low in his throat, then bounded forward as quickly as his bulk would go. His movements weren't smooth, but they were swift enough to get him through the trees without having to waist strength phasing through them. This signature was not the cub's, nor his father's, nor even the robot or the knight. But it was powerful, and he did not like that. It was something that Vlad could never break him of with all of the man's words about 'jumping the gun'… whatever that meant.

If Wulf did not recognize the signature, it was an enemy as far as he was concerned.

Finally, he found Danny propped up against a tree. He was asleep, arms crossed and knees drawn up to his chest. His eyebrows knit together furiously – the cub was in trouble in his dream world.

"Little friend? Are you alright, cub?" Wulf asked.

Danny let out a small sound in his sleep, a fearful sound. He was about to cry; Wulf could smell the salt of it.

That wasn't all that he smelled. It was faint, but… Wulf's nose searched the small body. The enormous energy came from Danny, but it was not Danny. The cub smelled faintly of another being, yet he was not being overshadowed. He was merely trapped in a nightmare.

"Friend! Wake up! You are in danger!" Wulf barked, but Danny hardly stirred.

A couple of squirrels on Wulf's shoulder chattered nervously, alarmed by the specter's change in his usual calm state. He was scared, and they were scared, and he wanted the human boy awake. Their chattering turned into hisses before they jumped at each other, attacking, then jumped on Danny to use him as their temporary battlefield before running up into the tree he was leaning against.

Danny yelped at the rude awakening, jumping back into reality. He looked around with a dazed expression. Wulf carefully put a hand on the halfa's shoulder. "Friend? Are you alright?"

The boy didn't respond; he kept looking around in sleepy confusion. He started to whimper, and his tears grew larger. Finally, he looked at Wulf.

"I wanna go home…"

Wulf's ears drew back at the heartbroken sound of the child's voice. What had his nightmare been about, that he would take up this tone? Gingerly, Wulf picked Danny up and set the boy on his back before striding off towards the cabin. He would have to warn Vlad Masters that something was wrong with Danny, and that he needed to take the cub back to their bigger den in the fields. They weren't safe here.

=^TwT^=;;

So… there was a part in there that must have really confused you, right? With Danny talking to Wulf? And Wulf being strangely well-spoken? And acting human-like?

Nyaa?

Well… I'm not explaining it 'til next chapter, which I'm working on now! I'M BACK, BABY!

*chows down on some catnip, puffs up the tail and darts away at crack-kitty speed*