Chapter 21

His brow scrunched up, his eyes clamping shut tighter in their refusal to open. His head was pounding, and he lifted a hand to rub at it, struggling to remember what happened. It was like the blow to his head knocked out a few of his memories. His green eyes cracked open at the thought of being struck in the head. Why would he have gotten hit in the head? And by whom? His head hurt trying to puzzle it all out.

Danny sat up suddenly, agony stabbing at his brain from jerking upright so swiftly. Groaning, he leaned forward, pressing the heels of his palms to his forehead right above his eyes and feeling the hard bone around his eye sockets digging into his hands. That Guys in White agent was in front of him, and Valerie was behind him. Danny's eyes opened wide as it came to him that Valerie was the one to strike him on the back of his head. His mind boggled over that fact. He understood that he didn't make the greatest impression on her by crashing into her and causing her injury. He was sorry about that! But he couldn't figure out why she would attack him like that.

He jerked his head up, eyes darting around the area as fear crept into him. His heart nearly stopped at the mere thought of being captured by the GIW. How could he be so foolish as to drop his guard and get knocked unconscious right in front of the GIW agent? Idiot, his mind screamed at him as he took in his surroundings. Terrified thoughts of being trapped within the GIW headquarters circled his mind, his throat constricting to the point that he couldn't breathe. Then his eyes fell upon the familiar green dog that attacked him only days ago. The security program was curled around a grumpy looking white cat, the image making Danny raise an eyebrow at the pair of programs. He blinked at them.

"So you've woken up."

Danny snapped his head around to stare at the back of Vlad, who was apparently more interested in the data streaming through his screens than anything else. He glared at the other digital being, anger rising in him at the very sight of him. A sting wounded his pride, realizing that Vlad stepped in to rescue him from the GIW. Vlad saw him being weak. Danny ground his teeth at that fact. Turning away, he swung his legs over the edge of the desk and paused as a couple things struck him as odd. The first thought that came to him was the fact that the desk felt as soft as his bed at home. But that passing thought was overshadowed by the lack of any pain to his side. Dropping his gaze, Danny ran his hand over his right side, confused by the lack of any sign of injury. His costume in this form was completely mended like the GIW agent's bullet never sliced through it, never grazed his body. He could heal in time, but he doubted enough time passed since the attack at the football game.

Danny held a hand over his right side, still marveling over the fact that Vlad would even bother to heal him. He turned his head to glance over his shoulder, but Vlad still had his back to him. "You could have left me," he said, lowering his eyes.

"And leave you in the hands of the Guys in White?" Vlad snorted at the very suggestion. "While I might not have any great care what happens to you," his words made Danny wince, "I can't allow the Guys in White to have you. Not only would it endanger all the programs and viruses of the NetZone, but it would put myself in danger, and I certainly can't allow for something like that to happen."

Danny's mouth pulled into a thin line. Of course the only thing that Vlad cared about was his own skin. He wouldn't bother to save Danny if his capture didn't somehow affect Vlad. "Well," Danny got up from the desk turned bed, "don't feel obligated to help me again." He walked toward the firewall, and immediately the green dog was on his feet and bounding toward him. "You can call off your security program too." He didn't know what to think of everything. After the way he stormed out that first time and his rudeness toward the man when he visited the house, Danny really didn't see any reason why Vlad would ever want to help him, let alone save and heal him. Danny didn't want the help of a cruel liar anyway.

"Cujo will remain with you," Vlad stated, still refusing to even look at him. That fact for some bizarre reason stabbed at Danny, like the man thought he didn't even rank the smallest hint of acknowledgement.

Danny spun around, his green eyes narrowing in fury. "You don't need to keep watch on me. Clockwork can obviously foresee all possible outcomes." He saw a demonstration of that ability when Clockwork showed him examples of his own possible future. The ones where he had red eyes still worried him. "But clearly his suggestion for me to seek help from you wasn't his brightest idea. If all you're going to do is lie to me, then you're the worst choice for a teacher."

Vlad turned halfway as red eyes slid toward Danny. His expression was neutral, seeming unimpressed by Danny's angry rant. He watched in silence for a moment as Danny stood there, chest heaving with each huff of breath after he spat out each furious word. Vlad's eyes slipped shut briefly as he shook his head, like he was dealing with a stupid child that didn't know or understand anything, which only added to the anger Danny felt toward him.

"Don't confuse my words," Vlad said as he returned his gaze to Danny. "I have no personal interest in you." Danny didn't miss the tightening of Vlad's fist at his side. "But I trust in Clockwork. Whatever he sees coming in the future, he knows it requires you to become stronger, to learn more about what you're capable of. That is the reason he sent you to me. Because on your own, you've reached a plateau. You haven't managed to advanced past what I learned in my first year after my accident. We don't have to like each other. You don't even have to believe my so-called lies. But surely after that last fight, you have to realize that you are in serious need of help in your training." His eyes hardened as he stared at Danny. "You can't even manage a simple shield to protect yourself."

The words burned him, stabbing at him with the cold hard truth. His attempts at creating shields so far were feeble at best. Even the smallest attack broke through them. "I can figure it out on my own." Danny twisted about as he stomped toward the firewall, hands clenching painfully tight while he ground his teeth. He simply needed to dedicate more time to training his abilities, when he wasn't busy catching up on his homework. It was the weekend now. He could probably get away with spending a majority of his time over the next two days training.

"You still don't even know how to hack through my firewall to let yourself out." Vlad's voice held amusement as his footsteps approached where Danny stood before the wall that barred his way, yet again. When he came into view in the corner of Danny's eye, Vlad's expression didn't match with the amusement in his speech. A grim look pulled at his face, his red eyes blank behind the visor. "Apologize to your parents for me." He tapped out the code on the firewall to open it. "Business called and I had to return quickly to oversee an error made by some of my employees."

Danny hesitated when the door opened in the firewall. "They were really excited to hear from you again." He didn't know why that fact mattered at all to him. He didn't even like Vlad. But his parents did, and it seemed evident by their reaction to a simply, short message that they wanted Vlad back in their lives. It was... selfish, he decided, to deny his parents the joy of reconnecting with their friend merely because he had some secret spat with the man. "Why-" Danny frowned, struggling with his own thoughts. "Why didn't you ever respond to them before?"

There was an odd look in Vlad's eyes. Pain, regret, bitterness. They flickered through his eyes before Vlad scowled at him. "Just go already, boy." Cold and hard, his words punctuated by a sneer. Vlad spun on his feet, cape whipping with a sharp snap behind him as he walked back to where his screens continued their constant stream of data.

His hands tightened at his sides as Danny bit his lip to keep from shouting back some insult at the man. Whatever, he thought instead as he passed through the firewall. Vlad's reasons for staying away from his parents wasn't any of his business, unless Vlad's comment earlier, back at his house, proved to be true. Why did that man have to be so infuriating? Danny stomped through the NetZone, heading toward the access point within his home. Some small part of him pointed out that he didn't even bother to thank the man. Even if it was for a self centered reason, Vlad still saved him from a horrible fate at the hands of the GIW. If only for that reason, Vlad did deserve some thanks.

A bark at his side alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone. Danny dropped his gaze to the small green dog that trotted along beside him. His tail wagged behind him as the dog stared up at Danny with happiness in his red eyes. Danny sighed, scratching a gloved hand through his white hair.

"I guess I'm stuck with you, huh?" Danny asked with a slight frown. In response, the dog barked. What was the name Vlad called him? Cujo, Danny thought he recalled. Cujo danced about, circling around Danny as they walked toward his home. "Well, at least you seem friendly." He frowned as he remembered their first meeting. "When you're not attacking me for trying to get past that firewall."

Cujo growled softly at the mention of that encounter. Shaking his head, Danny turned his attention to his surroundings. Programs were out as usually, making their way from one place to another as they performed their duties for their users. There were a few along the way, gathered in a little huddle as they played cards. Danny raised an eyebrow at that, but with things like solitaire and internet poker, it wasn't that surprising that programs could pick up on how to play them.

"You've acquired a pet?"

Danny turned his head at the voice. "Uh, yeah," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he dropped his gaze away from the bookish program. "Kind of got thrust upon me." He shrugged. "Any good books come in, Ghost Writer?" Danny always enjoyed seeing what new books were added to the Ghost Writer's library database. It was Danny's interest in books that bridged the rift between them after Danny accidentally destroyed Ghost Writer's only copy of his very own story during a fight. It surprised him that a program could actually come up with its own ideas for a novel, but back then, his knowledge on programs and viruses was limited to the ramblings of his parents and general knowledge of how to use a computer for school and gaming.

Ghost Writer shook his head. "Not since the last time you asked. My user seems to have gotten distracted from his work." The program frowned, disappointed in the neglect from his user. It was a sad thing that many programs experienced Danny came to discover. Users created programs. Then they got distracted with life or newer programs, and the older ones went on forgotten. But all programs remained in existence on the NetZone. The Ghost Writer could at least busy himself with writing his own novel when his user wasn't entering new books into the database.

"If you ever get that new novel finished, you should send it to me." Danny started walking again. "I'd love to read it."

The Ghost Writer blinked then nodded with a somewhat embarrassed look. "I'll be sure to do that."

Danny grinned as he began jogging toward his home. He shook his head, amused by the fact that the Ghost Writer seemed almost surprised that anyone would want to read his novel. In a matter of moments, Danny finally arrived back at his home, jumping through the access point. His room was dark as he shifted back into his human appearance. Lifting his arm, he tapped buttons on his watch, and the holograph of Cujo appeared. One corner of his mouth tugged upward. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that Vlad gave him the security program. Cujo seemed to pick up on virus attacks before his own alert programming could. When his stomach gave a growl, he closed the holograph as he left his bedroom.

Heading downstairs, Danny wandered his way into the kitchen to see what he could find to eat. He opened the refrigerator, glancing over what was available. His nose scrunched up when he noticed the ham still sitting in the far back on the top shelf, wondering how long that had sat there. He couldn't really remember it ever moving from that spot. His attention turned back to looking for something actually edible when a noise caught his ear.

Closing the refrigerator door, Danny walked over to the door the led down into the laboratory in their basement. He nudged the door, cringing as it creaked when it swung open wider. Standing very still, he listened for any sound that his parents heard the noise, but they continued right on with whatever their latest project was. Tentatively, Danny walked down the top steps until he could lean down and peek at what his parents were doing. They had their backs to him as they stood over a table in the middle of the laboratory, poring over blueprints. His blue eyes drifted toward the far wall where the Fenton Material Portal sat set into the wall. There was the large opening that he stepped into at the beginning of his freshmen year. It still gave him chills to look at the machine, recalling the lasers that appeared when he accidentally flipped a switch before shocks of electricity surged through his body, altering his very DNA.

"Jack, it needs to be less bulky," his mother was saying as she scratched out part of the blueprint.

"I still think this one is the best idea," his father said he drew out one of the blueprints from the bottom of the pile.

Danny lifted an eyebrow when he caught a glimpse of it. He could have sworn it looked something like that thing out of old lunchboxes. The thing that would keep soup and other liquids hot until lunchtime. Frowning, he scratched at his head until the word for it popped into his head: thermos. With a tired sigh, Danny climbed back up to the kitchen. A thermos didn't sound like it would be too dangerous an invention, though he couldn't imagine what his parents were possibly trying to accomplish by designing some techno version of a thermos. His stomach grumbled again, reminding him of his hunger. He would worry about the thermos thing later.

swagdanny: Haha, yes~ XD

Just Will: He's certainly a pain in Kwan's side. =( Thanks! *blushes* I seem to be late to the party on shows. XD;; Except DP. I was with this show from the beginning. Kwan, forever hating the Guys in White, who are always shady. XD;; Will Kwan unravel the DNA mystery? Will Dash ever confess to his crush? Tune in next time on *shot* XD;;

Sammi: XD Yeah. *pets him* Poor Dash. Your love will go unrequited~

maltese: Well, I have a few chapters of this already typed out. The other stories I posted recently were either things I had typed up and sitting around for a while, or I randomly worked on between chapters of this story. My mind wanders... A lot. _ ;; And well, I spent almost all day writing. XD;;

midnight: XD I was wondering if anyone made that connection before the last chapter. XD;; We shall see~ =)

danny: Why thank you! =) *blushes*