Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.

Note (6/14/2017): Took a while to get back to editing, sorry about that guys.I totally forgot I was, what, 39 chapters in with this story? And I've only edited chapter's 1-12 so far too! Seriously that still leaves a lot of chapters to patch up, still, maybe it's the laziness talking but I feel I should stop re-editing for a bit and just write a new chapter soon. I guess we'll see what happens after I update the tweaked version of this chapter first.

~Chapter 13~

A Second Chance

Maybe that's all anybody needs. A second chance. ~ Danny, Season 2, The Ultimate Enemy

After their little misunderstanding down in the lab, Owen was quite obviously sulking so Vlad didn't want to pester the boy. It'd only make matters worse if he annoyed the teen further since he still didn't have much control over his powers yet. At least Owen had finally dropped the whole apathetic-act once he felt more confident that he could control his new power better, letting himself feel annoyed and show it now. Just to prove it, Owen gave Vlad a heated glare when he nonchalantly walked into the library. Then again, Owen had to remind himself that this was Vlad's home and he could go wherever damn well he pleased…

Closing the book he'd been reading with a deliberately loud snap, Owen got up from the armchair he was sitting in and moved to leave the room when something made him stop dead in his tracks. It wasn't his ghost sense going off so much as having a moment of clarity that hadn't registered to him when he was listening to what that other ghost told Vlad. But now, the revelation struck him like a punch to the gut, literally making his old scar throb as if Owen really had been struck.

"Oh my god," Owen barely choked out when his chest clenched. "Those ghosts were-"

Noticing the warning signs of an oncoming panic attack, Vlad's duplicate-whom the real one risked sending out briefly to grab a book from the library so he could cross reference something-didn't waste any time with the pointless pleasantries of asking if he was alright when he clearly was not and picked Owen up. The two of them then phased out through the nearest wall, hurrying back to the original Vlad.

To tell the truth Vlad was planning to test if it was even possible for a ghost's touch to make Owen intangible. Since Owen was immune to overshadowing Vlad wanted to know what other ghost powers wouldn't affect the boy. But carelessly trying this theory out right now was a rather risky move on his part. Even so, Vlad's ghostly extension knew it'd be even more dangerous to leave Owen alone in a state like this so he took the initiative to act exactly as the true Vlad would have in its place.

Too preoccupied with his thoughts to even be surprised that his surroundings had changed drastically and that he'd been too livid to notice it wasn't even the real Vlad he saw in the library, once his feet were placed on the ground again the book in Owen's hand dropped with a dull thud and he covered his mouth. "Oh god, I think I'm gonna be sick."

Vlad opened his mouth to speak after his duplicate returned to him-sharing its memories of what just transpired-and stood up so fast it nearly knocked his chair over. He briefly leaned down on the way over to him to grab the nearest trash bin in case Owen actually DID hurl. The reason Vlad left Owen to his own devices for a while was for one thing he had a few business-related things to take care of and wanted to give Owen some time to 'cool off' in a different sense after their fight earlier. That's why he'd left him alone, including his ghost minions and duplicates. Apart from the one he Vlad sent to get that reference book of course. But still, it'd only been about forty-five minutes since their argument! What could have possibly set Owen off this time?!

Knowing it was a stupid and clichéd question, Vlad dared to ask, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Owen's first instinct was to glare at Vlad indignantly but he thought better of it and focused on his breathing; which was harder than it sounded because every muscle in his body was coiled like a spring, ready to snap. Closing his eyes helped though, it opened Owen's other senses such as his hearing so he could focus on the sound of his breathing…

Vlad realized what he was doing when Owen lowered the hand from his mouth and closed his eyes, therefore he remained silent but watched his features like a hawk for any indication that it wasn't working. At least Owen wasn't so angry he was going to childishly ignore what they learned in training today. That was a relief. And Vlad was very proud of Owen for using this as an alternative method to calm his nerves instead of haphazardly setting something on fire when he became too emotional. That or foolishly thinking that shutting his emotions down completely would help rather than calming down enough to face the problem without running away.

Once Owen's breath evened out he slowly opened his eyes. The color was still drained from his face so Vlad guided him to the nearest chair, which happened to be the one he refused to sit in during their last big discussion. Owen appreciated Vlad's patience with him and the silence while he gathered his thoughts. He could be wrong about this. In fact, Owen sort of prayed that he was once his eyes lifted and met Vlad's troubled ones. Either way, this was important and Vlad needed to know what Owen thought he'd figured out about what happened two years ago.

"Vlad, I…I think I know what the ghosts that killed my parents really were, or ARE I guess since they're still out there, somewhere," Owen began, swallowing hard. "Remember what that Skulker ghost said before, about 'angels of death' and those humans that became 'more than mere ghosts' when they died? It got me thinking…what's darker than a ghost? What could be so evil that ghosts and humans both fear it?"

Thinking carefully on this before answering, Vlad considered his question methodically. It's true he'd seen and even worked with quite a few murderous ghosts but what could be something else that even ghosts and would humans fear? Death was a probable if simple answer since ghosts were composed mainly of ectoplasmic energy. And energy could be consumed whether one was living or dead. Why then, however, did Owen bring up Skulker's comparison to angels and-

"Demons," Vlad answered flatly and Owen nodded, placing his head in his hands and hunching over the trash bin Vlad put down in front of his seat.

Surely demons couldn't really be considered alive or dead. As far as Vlad knew-or could guess since the subject had never been addressed in his research of the paranormal-they were simply incorporeal masses of pure evil that only mimicked the ability to think and act for themselves. Like the common Spector. The few demons Vlad had heard of written in ghost lore and could theorize about using descriptions from most human religions, some mutual characteristics they shared was that demons were known to crave, steal, and greedily devour souls. Seeing it that way, it made perfect sense that ghosts and humans alike would fear these ancient evil spirits.

Tormenting, torturing, or murdering anyone whether they were alive or dead was enough to make any ghost eventually become less than human and more monstrous. That's exactly the why Vlad assumed some ghosts did not appear in human form but rather as a mass of concentrated darkness, as if they were evil personified…

But wait, Owen wasn't talking about the ghost Azrael, whom from what they'd been told had indeed been human once whereas demons never were. He was talking about the ghosts that killed his parents. Ghosts that he realized were something else all along, something darker. So why did Vlad have a bad feeling the two were still related in some way? The demons that killed his parents, and the ghost that had been guiding Owen along from the shadows ever since he was a baby that may very well turn out to be Azrael himself. Both wanted something from Owen, but the question was, what…?

"Before my mom and dad died, those…things possessing them told me, 'Their sin is bringing about your very existence' and 'Allow the pain, sorrow, and darkness to consume you. Then you'll be free to become just like us. Only purification through death will save you from oblivion.' Vlad, I think they wanted to turn me into one of them. A demon that could…control ghosts so I could help hunt them like they're animals to the slaughter for them to feed on! Then if they couldn't turn me once I died, they were going to devour my soul instead. But that means…oh god, my parents! What if this means their souls were-?!"

The crushing reality that even something as precious as their souls might be completely gone now and he'd never see them again in the afterlife either, Owen burst into tears and began to sob hysterically. That's when Vlad said to hell with keeping his distance from the boy and for the third time that day he held Owen tightly in his arms.

He phased Owen right out of the chair, pulling them both onto the floor and cradled him, soothing him and hushing his desperate cries for the loved ones he'd lost. And in a lot of ways, Owen was still a child whether he was treated like one or not. A brilliant child that came to this alarming conclusion all on his own long before Vlad did. And he'd been researching Skulker's claim since his unexpected visit which was hours ago, the rest however concerning Owen's tragic past was put on hold until they took care of the more recent threat…

Focusing on calming Owen down, Vlad didn't notice when a certain ghost boy appeared and asked menacingly, "Oh great. What did you do to him now?"

"Not now Daniel," Vlad hissed back, almost shielding Owen from Danny's view with his back tilted to one side. "Once again you appear at the worst of times! Despite how things appear, I didn't do anything to Owen, he just realized something horrible about-" Looking Danny in the eyes almost imploringly after relaxing his posture, he stunned the other halfa by uttering no more than three words. "Daniel. Please, help him."

A few hours prior…

Right after Owen stormed off Vlad decided to make his belated phone call to the Fenton's and arrange for Daniel to meet him somewhere to discuss the matter of their 'truce' after finally coming to an important decision. He was going to adopt Owen. No one else in this world could possibly understand him as much as Vlad did and provide for him as well as he would from now on.

In the future, Owen would be able to go to the college of his choice and never again have to live in constant fear of ghosts. Seeing as Vlad's reputation kept most, if not all other ghosts, well away from his castle aside from the ones employed under him. And his young foe, Danny Phantom of course.

If Owen went back to Mistveil now, he'd surely wilt under the weight of everything he knew now to be true. Even then though the rest of his life there until the day someone adopted Owen-or he was sent on his way after legally reaching adulthood in a few years -would be a lie because as Owen himself stated before, he'd never be normal. At least not unless there was some unknown way to remove his powers for good, but neither of them understood his power well enough to even venture a guess as to how this might be accomplished.

"Vladdy my man! Good to hear from you, feels like it's been ages!" Jack Fenton exclaimed happily when Vlad told him he was the one who was calling.

Oh please, it hasn't been THAT long, Vlad thought bitterly but instead simply smiled and said, "Indeed. I do hope you still plan to make time to come the charity event. You and Maddie are coming, aren't you?"

"You know it V-man! It's great what you're doing for these kids. You've really got a heart of gold; literally too I bet since you're so rich!" Jack laughed heartily, making his former college friend roll his eyes. Something that thankfully Jack couldn't see him doing since they were speaking over the phone.

Getting back to business Vlad smooth talked his way into asking if Danny was around. And Jack of course was all too happy to tear his son away from whatever he was doing to let him bond with his favorite college buddy. But for the first few minutes it might as well have been a group call since Jack kept interrupting them.

"Dad, do you mind?" Danny finally asked when it became too much of a hassle to keep up appearances and see what Vlad really wanted. "I'm sure he just wants some advice on what kids like these days. I'll let you have the phone back when Mr. Masters is done with his questions and then you can chat aaaalll you want." Vlad scowled from his end of the phone but was counting on the fact that Jack was easily distracted and would likely forget to ask for the phone back. Even if he did Vlad could always make up an excuse to get out of it.

Jack took the hint and went off somewhere to work on some new ghost gadget or another and both halfa's let out a relieved sigh. They also both waited in their respective rooms in silence to confirm when they were officially alone. As soon as Danny let out another sigh, Vlad seized the opportunity to speak first.

"Now before you get all uptight, I wanted to sincerely thank you again for saving Owen. I'm ashamed of myself for failing to do so myself."

Danny shrugged and sat down on the couch, "Well I couldn't exactly let someone die just because you decided to get cold feet. Besides, when it comes to saving lives I'm the one with way more experience. What happened back there anyway? It's not like you to hesitate, Vlad. Or were you afraid he'd use his ghost repelling powers the moment he saw you? For all I know, the reason Owen was in the woods was because he was hiding from YOU and there was no kidnapping involved at all. But enough of my theories, what is that you want Plasmius?"

"I want two things Daniel," Vlad began in his most casual business-like tone. "First of all, I'd like for you to come to my castle. Alone this time preferably so that we can discuss the matter of this truce I'm willing to offer between us in exchange for your help dealing Owen's unusual situation. Face to face. The second thing I'd rather not tell you just yet until I know where we stand once the terms of this truce are made. There's…also one more request I have for you but this is more of a personal favor, one that's not part of our deal."

"Fair enough, but don't try anything funny once I get there. Got it? So, uh, what's the third thing anyway?" Danny asked, sounding genuinely curious and not the least bit rude, though there was that underlaying hint of suspicion that Vlad was accustomed to by now.

With only the smallest hint of a chuckle Vlad replied, "You father has probably been blathering about it all week but as you know I've invited your family to the charity event I'm hosting as my personal guests. And before you even ask, no, I am not plotting anything against you or Jack at this time. Even with my duplicates I'll have my hands full making sure Owen is safe from any more kidnapping attempts. Ghost or otherwise. My carelessness has already exposed him to the media once already, but once the charity event goes live his identity will be confirmed and that will make him a target. I know you well enough to know that you'd protect him anyway since he's an innocent bystander. However, this time I am ASKING you to please keep him company during the charity. Owen could really use a friend right now that's his own age that he can rely on, not to mention one he can openly talk to about ghosts besides me."

"You're asking me to babysit your latest pet-project? Are you serious?" Danny accidentally said aloud then quickly corrected himself the instant he felt Vlad's anger flare up even through the receiver. "Geez Vlad calm down. I'm sorry ok? I know that was a horrible thing to say so I take it back. Look, if it makes you feel any better I don't have a problem with Owen, especially since we hardly even know each other. It's more that I have a problem with YOU. I still don't trust you Vlad, but, Sam did tell us about what happened to his parents so at least now I know that part wasn't a lie. It was in the news two years ago. I'm almost surprised that my parents weren't part of the mobs wanting to know why Owen blamed ghosts for their deaths. Although that's probably because they're not heartless monsters like those reporters were who were calling a kid who just lost his family crazy. I…can sort of relate to it actually."

"What?" Vlad wondered taken aback by that last comment. "How on earth would you know what it's like having your family murdered by an evil ghost?"

Danny laughed nervously, "You'd be surprised Vlad. It's a long story involving a big test, some nasty burgers, and a time-controlling ghost. You know Vlad, it's kind of ironic that the only reason the people I care about are all still here…is because of you. So, maybe, I should remember my own words from back then. Or whenever it was in the timeline and at least be open to giving you a second chance. No, not to become your son or anything like that. I mean to give you a chance to show everyone that there's still enough good buried somewhere inside you to put Owen's needs before your own selfish plans for him. He's not so different from you you know. In his eyes, Owen's lost everything that was ever important to him but maybe you can give him something back that your wealth can't buy. Something you're going to have to fight for with everything you've got if these ghosts are even half as dangerous as you say. It's about time you started fighting for someone else for once…"