Danny sipped at his tea, trying to disguise his nervousness as fatigue. He had no idea what to say. "Where do I start?" he wondered. Vlad sat across from his guest, watching him.

"Shall we start with the attack?"

Danny nodded and gave that little half-smile Vlad loved. "What happened to me that night?"

Vlad told Danny everything he'd learned about the Soul Splitters. He explained that the one that attacked him had been a Ghost-Zone fugitive for about a hundred years and that it wanted Daniel as its host. The thing was destroyed before it could fuse with Phantom and when Vlad found him, he was in two, the ghost trying to keep the human safe.

Vlad gave a condensed version of the events in the lab. After he was done, Danny was silent for a moment or two. He remembered bits of conversation he'd had with the older man while he was in the tank. Vlad had as much as admitted to not knowing how he felt about Danny and why he helped him. Danny remembered the compassion he'd seen briefly in Vlad's eyes. He closed his eyes and the memory of his dream washed over him again. When he opened his eyes again, Vlad was standing over him.

"What's wrong Daniel?"

"Um… nothing. Just a little tired, I guess" he lied. Too bad his body didn't back up his story. Danny's face had turned quite red and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea" he thought as his mind searched for a diversion.

Vlad understood Danny's behavior. The tension in the room was incredible and when he moved closer to Danny, he could feel the raw need exuding from every fiber of the young man's being. He understood the reason for Danny's visit. The poor kid faced more physical and philosophical landmines than anyone he'd ever known. He was tired, scared about his future, unsure of who and what he was and all he wanted was some inner peace; some comfort. His friends couldn't give Daniel what he needed because they couldn't fully understand the change that occurred in the boy during that damn accident. His parents, while certainly capable of giving Daniel love, might not be able to accept him if his secret were exposed. Who was left to help guide Daniel? Only Jazz was truly in his corner, waiting to help her brother carry the burden he lived with. But even she couldn't do for him what Vlad knew he could do. He put his hand under Danny's chin, forcing him to look up.

"Why don't we go sit inside? There's a fire going."

Danny followed Vlad into his sitting room and waited as Vlad poured a brandy for himself.

"Sit down. No one's going to hurt you." Vlad said softly.

When Vlad turned around, he saw Danny sitting with his head in his hands. He saw Danny trembling slightly and realized the boy was crying. He set the glass down on the coffee table, sat down and put his arm around Danny, pulling him slightly closer.

They stayed like that for a while. Danny let out all of the fear, the frustration and loneliness he carried in his heart and Vlad absorbed it all without words. After some time, Danny sat up straight and tried to regain his composure. He looked at Vlad, wanting to say so much, but unable to say anything. How could he tell his enemy that he needed him? How could he want to feel Vlad's arms around him, soothing him? The man would indeed think he'd lost his mind and probably take great delight in informing his parents that their son was a freak.

"Daniel, much has happened to you in a short span of time. You've chosen a difficult path and are traveling it with conviction. Sometimes you wish you could walk away from being who you are. If you were given the choice though, I think you would choose to live the life you're living now. Lately you've been faced with new ideas, new challenges and I imagine, new emotions. I don't doubt that you get tired and discouraged. What you need to do now is find what you need to make you happy. I'm not telling you to abandon your quest to right the wrongs in life or the after-life. I'm telling you that you need balance. You're always pointing out that you are nothing like me. Well, dear boy, heed my words so you don't end up this way. You know what you want and need. Doing something good for yourself once in a while doesn't make you evil, you know."

Vlad gave Danny a genuine smile, hoping to lift his spirits. Danny listened to Vlad, happily surprised that the man wasn't telling him that the world was a horrible place and stop being such a baby. Vlad's words were encouraging. "If only I could tell you how you make me feel", he mused.

"Now, you've been here a while. Maybe it's time we get you home."

"Wait…I…"

"Relax. I will continue this with you. But right now, you need sleep and if you stay here, what are you going to tell your family? I'll get you home tonight and I'll come to you tomorrow."

"Promise?"

Vlad smiled again, loving Danny's trusting nature. "Of course I promise. How else can I be near you?" he thought.

"Yes, I promise. It's not like you'll leave me alone if I didn't. Let's get you home."

Vlad transformed himself into Plasmius and grabbed Danny around the waist. Being held tightly by the enemy he'd come to love made Danny weak. He was limp in the arms of Plasmius, who had dreamed of this moment. Yet all he was going to do is take the young man home and at most, ruffle his hair. With a swirl of his cape, Vlad disappeared into the night with Danny.

Once in Danny's bedroom, Vlad released his passenger. Vlad looked around the room, realizing that he'd never taken notice of the things that made up Danny's life. The computer was still on and music was playing softly. The room was neat and his bookcase held more than the model rockets Danny had been building since he was a child. Vlad smiled inwardly when he saw the "For Dummies" series of books on physics, psychology and philosophy. He was impressed that Daniel still wanted to study aeronautical engineering and still hoped to enter the Space Program.

"Thanks for the ride" Danny whispered.

Vlad laughed. "I will see you tomorrow Daniel. Get some rest."

Without thinking, Danny ran to Vlad and hugged him tightly. When they separated, Vlad smirked at the one that held his heart captive. His eyes traveled up and down Danny's body longingly.

"Good Night, Little Badger" he said, and was gone.

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Danny had just finished getting changed when there was a soft knock on his bedroom door. He opened it to an upset sister.

"Where did you go?"

"How did you know? I locked this door."

Jazz smugly held up a key which Danny tried unsuccessfully to snatch from her.

"Where were you? Are you crazy? What if Mom and Dad…"

Danny cut her off by putting a hand over her mouth and bringing her into the room.

"Calm down Jazz. I'm ok. I've just been so bored. I needed to get out.

"What if something had happened? You're still not well. No more flying until I'm sure you're better. I mean it Danny. Don't make me…"

"That's blackmail Jazz. Would you really break your promise and tell them the thing that would cause them to hate me?"

"They wouldn't hate you Danny. I'm surprised you can't see that. And, no, I wouldn't break my promise. I can't stand always being worried about you though. And don't you dare tell me not to worry."

"I promise you I won't overdo. But my brain is going to turn into mush if I don't start trying to get back to normal."

"Speaking of normal, where have Sam & Tucker been lately?"

"Sam's stuck at her Aunt's house and Tucker went to some technology expo with his cousin. I get the feeling that the novelty of my being half-ghost has worn off and they just don't know how to break away from me."

"Danny that's not true. They're your friends. They care about you. They wouldn't desert you."

Danny sighed. Of course Sam and Tucker cared about him. Things just weren't the same between the three of them lately. Danny had been going to great lengths to keep his ghost-fighting to himself and he missed having his friends at his side. They didn't seem to miss the activity that took up so much of Danny's time.

"Ok Jazz. Look, I'm really tired. Is it alright if we continue this later?"

"Whatever."

"Great" he said once his sister was gone. "I really didn't need to start thinking about this now."

Danny got in bed, pulled the covers up and tried to sleep. He tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable. After about a half-hour, he sat up. He couldn't shut his mind off. And when his thoughts turned to his conversation with Vlad, Danny realized sleep was hopeless. He went down to the kitchen, to nose around in the refrigerator. He turned on the light and found his father doing the same thing.

"Hi Dad."

"Danny! Are you ok Son?"

"Yeah," Danny laughed. "Just hungry."

"Well," Jack said as he rummaged around inside the fridge, "Aha! Your mother left some pie in here! Sit down - we'll have some late dessert."

Danny smiled. Sometimes, when your heart aches and your mind burns with a thousand questions that can't be answered, all you can do is sit and eat pie with your father in companionable silence. Tonight, that was enough.