Danny finally found his voice, which still sounded rather dead.

"There….was a party, Vlad."

Master's eyes narrowed.

Was Daniel delirious? But now wasn't the time for that. He made a grab for Danny's waist, but this time, Danny rose away into the air, hovering over the earth by a few inches.

"One….a long time ago. Ten years, to mark the celebration of twenty."

What on EARTH was Da-?

"My….mom went. SO did Dad. And me. And….Jazz."

Vlad's heart froze.

And abruptly stopped beating as he whipped to face the sorrowful orbs of Danny Phantom.

"Little ba-er, Danny, please. You're not well, you need to get some rest-"

But Danny continued.

"Ecto-pusses. And….three green birds. Skulker….was there as well."

Vlad's mouth had dropped.

His mind had gone completely blank, his mouth very dry. His heart resumed hammering, but at a now much more frantic pace.

The world was completely silent, save for the wind flute playing in the distance, the world still muffled in its almost pure comforter.

Danny's eyes deadened somewhat again.

"The birds….went for the father of the family. Jack Fenton. I….saved him. And then, I met up…"

Vlad's fists were now so tightly clenched it was quite painful. Well….it would've been if he could've taken any notice.

Please….son…..I'm begging you…..stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it…..

"…with you, Vlad Plasmius."

And something in Vlad's carefully constructed core-taken with great prestige and care-snapped as he made a frantic seize for Danny again, and this time, succeeded in crushing the ghost boy to him, mindful of his side.

Danny did not attack Masters, nor did he go intangible, but Fenton and Masters seemed keen enough of moving away. Danny did not really care, seeing as Phantom was still…

Vlad let his knees slide to the snow, arms folding around Danny as if desperate the boy would fade from his fingertips.

Danny's eyes finally closed, as something hot dripped onto the billionaire's shoulder.

"Please….Danie-Danny. You're not well, you're not well-"

Well. That was typically what a person was when they were dead. Give or take. Danny closed his eyes again, feeling hot blood rushing underneath Vlad's flesh.

And allowed his body to phase into intangibility, so that Vlad's arms found that he was holding nothing but cold, empty air as Danny sank away into icy earth, wincing as Vlad's cry of pain melted away in the distance.

When along the pavement,

Palpitating the flames of life,

People flicker around me.

I forget my bereavement

The gap in a great constellation,

The place where a star used to be.

What had made Danny Masters "real" was gone. How could he resume living a lie if it meant destroying Fenton and Phantom in the process?

And ultimately, Masters?

Fenton had bee locked away into darkness-and although it pitied Masters somewhat, despite his own predicament, it now wanted to be avenged, body and soul.

Fenton was the firstborn, and therefore closest to Phantom. It wanted freedom. It wanted hope.

But mostly, it simply wanted to be saved.

As for Danny Masters, Masters simply wanted to know whymhis own "father" had lied to him for all this time.

And although it pitied Fenton, it did not, under any circumstances, seem willing to die to keep Fenton happy.

He felt he had done too much-worked too hard-to die now.

And how could you collapse ten years of his life as being nothing short of a mistake? A part of him learned to love Vlad like he had loved Jack.

Love.

That word hurt more then anything else.

There are stars in the night sky that look brighter then the others. When you look at them through a telescope, you realize you are looking at twins. The two stars rotate around each other, sometimes taking a hundred years to do it. They create so much gravitational pull there's no room around for anything else. You might see a blue star, for example, and realize only later that it has a white dwarf as a companion-the first one shines so bright, by the time you notice the second one, it's really nothing but too late.

But he needed help.

And, if it could come from anyone, it had to be Clockwork.