Thank you once again. So far, the previous chapter was the great favorite. I offer seedless green grapes and unsweetened apple juice.

We are very near the end of the story-arc that I've envisioned. Not every loose end will be tied, but the ones I had in mind will be complete. After this, there will be one more chapter.

I hope you've enjoyed the ride as much as I've had getting you there.

Disclaimer: I do not own either Danny Phantom or The X-Men.

Chapter 14

That evening, Danny lay on the roof of the highest turret gazing at the stars. The top of a turret was a fine place for him to roost, but a flatter garret might be a nice place to stretch out and stargaze with Sam, which would be a romantic spot to take her some…

"I'm glad I found you so easily, Daniel."

Danny shot up to address Vlad, who appeared to be a blue-skinned, red-eyed vampire, dressed in a white tunic and white breeches, a white cape with a high neck and a bright red underside, who had black hair that seemed to form horns, a closely cut short black beard. Black boots, gloves, belt, and a black cape clasp completed the ensemble.

This was the one ghost Danny could not pick up with his ghost sense.

"Vlad! What are you doing here?"

"I'm just here for a visit, nothing more, nothing less."

"Okay." Being calm around his arch-enemy was not something Danny was prepared to be. Nothing good ever came from his meetings with Vlad, and he had no guarantee that this would be different.

Studying his gloved nails, the elder half-ghost drawled, "So. Your identity is public knowledge. You know, dear boy, what this means, don't you?"

"You can't hold this over my head anymore."

"Very good, Daniel." Vlad looked back at the boy. "This gives you a certain amount of power over me."

Danny rolled both shoulders, one at a time. "Your point is…?"

"Ah, yes. There's that teenage impatience of yours. It is quite amusing. But still, you deserve an answer." Giving the boy ideas was not a good idea, so the man redirected the conversation in what he determined was a more productive direction.

Plasmius sighed dramatically. "I imagine you feel protected by the adults you've currently surrounded yourself with, particularly Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr."

"You could say that. Especially because the professor knows you're here. The only reason you haven't been intercepted and forcibly ejected from here is that he doesn't believe you're here to hurt anyone, including me."

"Understood, Daniel." Vlad paused. "At this time, there wouldn't be any point."

Danny jerked his head in surprise and scrunched his face. "Huh? There wouldn't be any point to what?"

The man shook his head. This should be so simple, but it wasn't. "There wouldn't be any point for my previous approach to my current dilemma."

"And I care about your dilemma…why?"

Vlad sighed gustily. "Because… Now that it's obvious to me that I can't take what I want by force, I'll have to resort to more traditional methods. And I realize that I probably should have started our relationship a bit differently."

Danny flew ten feet away from where Vlad hovered and crossed his arms. "I'm sure you'll let me know what you're talking about any time now."

The elder half-ghost ran a gloved hand through his black hair. "Yes." For the first time since they met, Danny saw Vlad as less than completely confident. "Well… Cherry cheesecake – this is more difficult than I ever imagined."

In a tone more gentle than he'd ever used with the boy, Vlad explained. "Daniel, since I discovered that you were a fellow human/ghost hybrid, what I've wanted more than anything is to…mentor you. To teach you everything I know."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You want me to ditch my Dad so…"

Vlad raised a hand. "Yes, Daniel, about that… When we first met, I was the only useful source of knowledge to teach you about your powers, besides stumbling onto them on your own. So, I thought I could… force you into submission, such that you would get what you want, and I would get what I want."

"You say that like you captured me, tortured me, and held knowledge hostage… in your own twisted way, you're saying it was for my benefit?"

Vlad winced. Put that way, his own method sounded incredibly stupid. "In a fashion. I'm getting nowhere fast, so I'll try this again, differently. When I thought I had a monopoly on information to be learned about powers and your development as a half-ghost, I thought I could exact any price I could desire. However, Mr. Lehnsherr put me in touch with Professor Xavier.

"While I realize that your parents will never know as much as I do in a useful way to help you… The professor has been a teacher for longer than I've been alive. Once he's discovered the powers you have, he can help you develop them, and with his power, he can help you discover new ones. In short, by being here, you have almost rendered me irrelevant."

Danny took a moment to absorb this. "That's a good thing, right?"

Vlad closed his pupil-and-iris-less eyes and hung his head in defeat. "But I don't want to be irrelevant to you."

"What?"

"If I did this correctly when we first met, this wouldn't be so hard."

"So you've said."

Vlad raised his hands to try to emphasize his thoughts, but he dropped them impotently. "Daniel, the teachers in this school can teach you so very much. But I can teach you things that no one else can. I have twenty years of experience to share. I… would like a chance to share with you. To teach you. To mentor you in a way that can only be done by another half-ghost."

Danny cocked his head. "At what price?"

"This might be hard to believe, but… I'm not looking for compensation. I… want a chance to start over. To be that… uncle I should have been thought of, if I came at this more rationally and reasonably when we first met."

Danny backed away uncomfortably. "Why would you do that? And more importantly, why should I do that?"

"Because, Daniel… Of all the ghosts out there, or the Mutants out there, we are the only two of our kind. Even though your parents think of themselves as experts on ghosts, they don't truly understand you. The Mutants not only understand your hero complex, they understand how to deal with helping you grow into your powers. The Mutants have the power to teach you, to protect you, and to… make sure that no one takes advantage of you.

"Your parents could try, but they can't do what I can do for you. But, well… Your parents have been a consistent source of love for you. That's… something that I've always wanted. I've always wanted to be loved. You will be loved and supported by everyone here. And… I want to be there for you, too.

"Besides – why should Magneto have a place of trust in your heart while I cannot?"

Danny narrowed his eyes. "Because he's never locked me up. He's never grabbed me by the throat and hurt me. He's never threatened me and tried to turn my own family against me." It still hurt beyond belief that the villain in front of him tried to have his own sister kill him in his football field-turned-gladiatorial arena. He might never forgive Vlad for that.

The elder half-ghost straightened up. "But that's not quite true, is it? He did try to turn your family against you."

"No he…" Danny closed his eyes. "Yes, he did." He slumped. He hated when Froot-Loops out-argued him.

"Magneto exposed your secret to your parents in the hope that they would turn against you. I would never have done such a thing. Ever."

Danny hung his head, defeated. "I guess."

Vlad realized he had one chance at this. "Listen, Daniel. Because Professor Xavier will be in charge of the way you're treated here, he will be the main adult responsible for your program, your learning, your… overall influence. Mr. Lehnsherr wants to be here to be another source of emotional support. I… I know I've done… little to deserve it, but I'd like a chance to be at least as influential as Magneto is."

"You know, Magneto supports the fact that my parents care for me."

Vlad grimaced. "As will I."

"Prove it."

The vampiric ghost's red eyes flew wide open. "What?"

"Vlad, the first thing you ever told me, besides how much more experienced you are than I am, and how much more powerful you are than me, and how much power over me you had, was that you wanted me to disown, or disavow, or renounce my father – who, by the way, you've never mentioned without calling him an idiot, or a moron, or anything else that mean."

Danny glared and ticked Vlad's main offenses on his fingers. "You've pretty much tried to kill Dad, seduce Mom, and, I don't know, adopt me and make me into your evil apprentice, or something."

"But…"

"Magneto was nothing but proud and appreciative that my parents love me, support me, and care for me. You've done nothing but tear my father down and try to manipulate my mom."

"But…"

"If you want to show me that you deserve to be as trusted as much as I trust Magneto – which isn't a lot, but a lot more than I trust you – prove it."

Vlad wrung his hands. He had no idea where the boy was going with this. "How, Daniel? How can I prove to you that I mean to… be honorable to you and your family?"

"Tell my parents your secret yourself."

"But Daniel, I…"

Danny held up a hand and Vlad became quiet. "Mom pretty much figured it out, and she's the one you've been trying to hide from more than anyone. Admit to my parents that you are 'the Wisconsin Ghost' and that you've turned over a new leaf."

"But your parents despise the Wisconsin Ghost."

"Then you have your work cut out for you, don't you?"

"Of all the times you choose to act like me, why must it be on this topic?"

"Because, Vlad, if you want me to trust you, you have to come clean to the people I trust. The Mutants all know who you are, and they have the ability to protect me from you, if they need to. I trust my parents more than I trust even them, and the Mutants saved me and Sam and Tucker, and all our parents from Freakshow and the Guys in White.

"Show me that you'll give up your most important disguise to hide from my parents, and I'll be able to trust you… at least as much as Magneto. After that, I'll see how sincere you are, and trust can be built and can grow from there."

Vlad bared his fangs and then closed his eyes. This was one of the most difficult decisions he had ever had to make.

Danny stared heavenward for a few seconds and thought, 'I can't believe I'm considering this.' He said, "Look, Vlad, I never said you had to broadcast your secret to the world. Just to my parents."

"Perhaps… perhaps I can do this." He put a hand on his forehead.

"And I'll be waiting for you. Good night, Vlad." With that, Danny dove through the roof to go to his room.

Vlad took his hand from his head. "Daniel will wait for me? That… gives me hope. Maybe I can do this."