Chapter 50
Sitting through classes, waiting until lunch, left him with an impatient feeling. Danny chewed on his thumbnail, tearing piece by piece from the nail as he watched the clock slowly tick the time away. As soon as the bell rang, Danny was out of his desk, making a beeline toward the door. After a quick stop to his locker to shove his things inside it, he headed straight for the bathroom. He cringed as the memory of what happened the last time he stepped into the school bathroom replayed in his head. Each breath through his nose felt like a thousand tiny needles scraping along the inside of his nostrils, forcing him to breathe through his mouth instead. His head still had a dull throb from being rammed into the paper towel dispenser, and his chest ached from being wailed on by the jock. After that experience, Danny realized that Dash had to have held back a lot over the last three years when the blond jock used him as a punching bag because he never hurt this much after a run in with Dash.
Danny waiting impatiently for the last person to exit the bathroom. When he was absolutely certain that no one else was hiding out in there, he made the jump into the NetZone. It took longer than it did with the scythe, having only done it the one time before, but he crafted the motorcycle again out of his energy. Climbing onto it, he peeled away, racing through the ground level of the NetZone in the direction of Vlad's domain. He arrived outside the firewall in mere moments, skidding to halt with the tires screeching as he came inches from slamming into the wall. Maybe he did take after his father a little too much when it came to driving. The motorcycle dissolved into nothing as he approached the firewall and punched in the password to enter the domain.
"Shouldn't you be at school right now?" Vlad barely lifted his gaze for more than a second before he returned to the screen in front of him as he typed out a message.
"It's lunch time," Danny answered as he approached the desk where Vlad sat. He glanced over toward the two sparking bits of virus data, and his mouth pulled downward as he thought about everything that happened recently. "I guess you don't have much reason to pay attention to things like that though."
Vlad stopped his work, turning his attention fully onto the young man in front of him. "I supposed you have some reason for visiting in the middle of the school day."
Danny shifted his weight, white gloved fingers tracing the circuit design on the desk. "First, um," he mumbled quietly, a faint blush creeping onto his cheeks as it hit him what he wanted to say, "I want to thank you." The smug expression spreading onto Vlad's face gained a flat glare from Danny. He huffed a sigh as he continued. "Your training has really helped me, and I appreciate you taking the time to teach me what you know."
"Well, I'm glad my time wasn't wasted on you." Vlad's smugness washed away into a frown, his red eyes observing the young man in a way that made Danny feel weird and awkward as those eyes drifted down and back up. The memory of yesterday popped vividly back into his mind, and Danny had the strange feeling of standing there in only the baby blue skirt while the man looked him over, bringing the blush back to his cheeks. "But I'm guessing you didn't come here simply to thank me."
"Uh, right," Danny murmured, jolted from his thoughts of embarrassing situations. "Can you find that virus the Guys in White created?"
Red eyes blinked, Vlad taking a moment to ponder over the question put to him. "It could be possible. However, if this thing is capable of thinking in human terms, it might also have ways of masking its presence, making it appear somewhere when it's really hiding somewhere else."
"That's not good enough. You have to find it now!" Danny shouted as he slammed a fist down on the desk, cracking the surface as an involuntary surge of electricity sparked out from his hand.
Vlad frowned at the first then slowly lifted his gaze to the man stand in front of him. "Daniel, are you feeling all right?"
Swallowing back the hint of fear creeping up in him, Danny pulled his hand back, staring down at it as he uncurled the tight grip, his fingers aching. He hadn't meant to lose control like that. He couldn't think of how to explain the sudden rage that filled him in that moment, and that scared him. His green eyes turned onto Vlad, and he didn't miss the concern etched into the man's expression.
"I just-" Danny hesitated, brain scrambling for an explanation. "I'm just not feeling well. I've been sneezing all day and feeling kind of sluggish." The frown and slight narrowing of red eyes were clear indicators that Vlad didn't buy that explanation. "There was another attack this morning," Danny added before Vlad could speak. "This virus is just toying with me. It's using Valerie. And I'm sick of sitting around waiting for it to finally come out of the shadows. It's time I stop playing the defensive and go on the offense. I'm going to hunt this thing down and stop it before it decides to enter its end game. I'm going to end this. So are you going to help me or not?"
Vlad frowned as his gaze pierced into Danny, who gulped and wondered what the man was thinking at that moment. "I'm always willing to help you, Daniel," he answered after some silent thought. "But it might take me some time to track this virus down, if I'm even able to do it." Doubt tinged his voice as he leaned forward on his desk.
"Notify as soon as you find him." Danny walked to the firewall and halted after opening the doorway. "Thanks. Again. For, you know, everything." His head turned, and he glanced back at Vlad, feeling his cheeks warm. Fighting back that odd sensation, Danny stepped through the door, already focusing his thoughts on crafting the motorcycle again. Each time he used the energy manipulation skill, it got easier to make what he had in mind, taking less time than the prior attempt.
Sliding into place onto the motorcycle, Danny paused to stare at the firewall, now perfectly sealed off without even a single sign that a doorway opened in it only moments ago. There has to be something wrong with me, he thought, shaking his head before he took off back toward the school. He shouldn't be having flustered feelings around someone as old as his own father. Though it's not like Vlad can't alter his appearance to look younger, he thought absently and felt like banging his head on something for that stray thought passing through his brain. Why was he even thinking about things like that now? Until Tucker brought it up, Danny probably never would have started thinking about feelings toward another man. Dash's sudden kiss yesterday really didn't help things either. Like it even matters, he sighed internally. Vlad wouldn't like me that way.
When he arrived back at school, Danny left the NetZone, appearing in one of the bathrooms at school. Danny changed back to his human form. "Oh no," he muttered seconds before a sneeze hit him. "Ow!" He tentatively held a hand to his throbbing nose. Groaning, he left the bathroom. Calvin had to be a jerk and break his nose while Danny had a stupid head cold. Frowning, Danny dropped his hand to his throat and wished he thought to wear a turtleneck again. He didn't want to think of how that encounter with the jock would have ended if Lancer didn't show up to interrupt them.
When he arrived in the cafeteria, lunch was already almost over, and his stomach grumbled unhappily at the missed meal. Danny grabbed an apple, one of the few items that he actually knew what it was, and headed over to the usual table. Tucker had the seat right at the end of the bench with Kwan next to him and Dash on the other side of Kwan. Danny frowned seeing the only open seat was next to Dash, like the universe was trying to force them together somehow.
"What happened to your face?" Sam asked when Danny sat down with them.
When all of them turned their heads toward him, Danny shrank down, hunching his shoulders as he absently twisted the stem off his apple. "It's nothing," he murmured, catching the horrified looks on the three women's faces.
"Nothing?" Dash shouted , catching Danny's chin and forcing him to face the jock. "Looks someone tried to bash your face in!" His dark blue eyes lowered, and his hand trailed down to Danny's throat, fingers brushing over the ugly bruises there. Danny gulped as he tried to subtly scoot away from the jock, wishing Dash would stop looking at him like that. "Who did this?" Dash locked his gaze with Danny, and his expression clearly said he wasn't going to drop the topic until he got an answer.
"It's seriously not that big a deal." Danny turned away from the jock as he bit into his apple. Their theater class was bound to be fun with Dash focused on his injuries. He wished he could fix his human injuries the same way that he did his digital ones. If he could rid himself of illness the same way he could remove harmful coding, he wouldn't have to suffer through this head cold.
"Not a big deal?" Sam and Tucker shouted together, drawing the attention of other students around them. "Danny, it looks like someone was seriously trying to kill you," Sam argued with concern in her violet eyes.
When he glanced at Tucker, Danny didn't miss his friend's quick flick of green eyes toward Valerie, who actually appeared worried about him as well. He sighed as he lowered his arm, turning the apple about in his hands. "It's nothing. Just a run in with a jerk. Not like it's the first time some jock decided to beat up on me. And Lancer stopped it, so it's okay."
"Who did it?" each one of them demanded, and Danny shrank again under all their gazes.
"Wow." Danny tried to laugh, but it came out a bit broken. "Who knew you all could talk in unison like that?" His mouth twitched partway into a smile, but none of the others at the table found it amusing. Abandoning the apple on the table, his appetite gone, Danny threaded his fingers through his raven hair. "It was Calvin Williams, okay? Not a big deal. We all know he's the biggest jerk in the school. It's not that surprising that he'd want to beat me up for no reason."
"I'm going to kick his ass," Dash muttered darkly.
"Oh, that's so it!" Paulina pressed her mouth into a thin, angry line. "I'm so plastering that picture of him all over the school. I warned him not to do anything."
"Wait. You both threatened him because of me?" Danny raised an eyebrow, his stomach sinking with that sensation of dread.
"He had a picture of us kissing that he wanted to post up all over the school." Dash's hands were clenched in tight fists on the table.
"Wait. What?" Tucker gaped at them. "You kissed?"
"I'm surprised it took this long for Dash to make his move," Valerie said with a smug smirk.
"The kiss isn't important," Danny snapped and rubbed at his head as it started to throb. "You do realize threatening him only made things worse, right? That was exactly why he attacked me! He obviously wasn't going to do anything against Paulina. And he couldn't stand up against you," he pointed a finger in Dash's face. "But me? I'm the weak one in this scenario. Naturally, he was going to take out his rage on me." Luckily, the bell rang at that moment. Danny snatched up his partially eaten apple as he headed for the door to the cafeteria.
"Okay. Seriously, Danny," Tucker said as he and Sam caught up to him. "When were you going to tell us about the kiss?"
"I was hoping never." Danny frowned at the smirking grin on Tucker's face. He was almost surprised that Sam didn't look as upset as he was expecting when the kiss was announced. "Nothing is going to happen between Dash and me anyway."
"Danny, it's fine if you're gay and want to hook up with him," Sam said, stunning her friend because that wasn't the way he saw her reacting at all. "I know I've always had these lingering feelings for you, but I'm not going to stand in your way of finding someone that you like."
"It's not-" Danny scratched at his head as his mouth pursed. "I just don't like Dash that way. And really, could you see us being together in a serious relationship? Because I can't."
"Well, you could help Paulina and me think up a way to get Dash and Kwan together." Sam wore a devious smirk that Danny learned long ago he hated because it usually meant she had a plan that would end badly for everyone involved.
"Wait. Dash and Kwan? How come no one is filling me in on these things?" Tucker complained.
"Sam, don't try playing matchmaker." Danny sighed wearily. "If they're going to get together, they have to work it out themselves. If you force it, things will just fall apart and neither of them will end up happy."
"You just like spoiling my fun, don't you?" Sam huffed before waving to them as she broke away to head to her next class.
"So how are things going with you and your sugar daddy?" Tucker asked now that they were alone as a smirk stretched wide across his face.
"Oh my god, Tuck!" Danny fought a losing battle to keep the blush off his face. "Don't call him that!"
"Oh, oh!" Tucker poked at his friend's reddened cheeks. "You are so in love with this guy."
"I am-" Danny sneezed and winced at the painful feeling shooting through his nose.
"That's right. It's good to admit it." Tucker patted him on the shoulder, ignoring the glare sent his way. "But, dude, are you okay? That didn't sound so good."
"You try being sick with a busted nose and tell me how it feels each time you sneeze." Danny glared daggers at his friend. "I'll catch up with you after school." Danny waved to Tucker then headed into his next class. When he spotted the three A lists that were in his group, he sighed, hanging his head. "Okay. First off," he said as he joined them, "no more talking about this," he waved at his face. "It's over and done with. Lancer dragged him off to the principal's office. So let's just forget all about it." He dropped into his chair and wished school was over already. None of three looked happy to have the topic of Calvin beating him up as off limits.
"What happened to wearing a dress for a week like we agreed to in our bet?" Paulina questioned, folding her arms as she stared pointedly at him, but Danny suspected some of the rage burning in her emerald eyes was over what Calvin did.
"I'm wearing the dress," Danny argued, pulling at the irritatingly frilly skirt peeking out from under his heavy sweater. "You can't really expect me to walk around in something short and sleeveless when it's this cold out." He shivered as though to prove his point. " And you never said I couldn't wear something other than the dress or skirt."
"Yeah, he's still keeping to the bet, Paulina," Kwan agreed, "so cut him some slack."
Danny appreciated the jocks allowing him some leeway in the whole embarrassing bet, but he frowned when he glanced between Dash and Kwan. The jocks sat awkwardly next each other, not their usual joking selves, ribbing each other as they talked like they did during class since the beginning of the year. The odd shift between the two men worried him. He sneezed then shouted in pain as he leaned forward, holding his nose in his hand as he groaned.
"You're not having a very good day, are you?"
Danny glanced at Paulina, her brow creasing as she frowned at him. "I think that's an understatement," he mumbled with a sigh. "Let's just get on with the rehearsal. We don't have many more days before we actually have to perform this thing." The A lists agreed reluctantly, and they stood up to take their usual places as they ran through the play.
swagdanny: Oh right~ XD I almost forgot about the Pariah Dark thing. You'd have to look that up. XD;; *fails at remembering all the names* Well... Not quite yet. Kwan doesn't want to be rebound guy, and Dash certainly wouldn't want Kwan to feel like the rebound guy. And Dash isn't going to just be like "Whelp, Kwan likes me so I'm going to like him back now and forget all about Fenton." So they probably will need some time still to actually become a thing. D:
Just Will: Kwan, master of diversion. XD He planned on acting, but... Yeah, that didn't work so well when it came to actually dealing with his brother. DX Dash will always have Kwan's back. Danny still feels guilty after peeking into Kwan's bedroom that one time, but he knows the feeling of being overshadowed by a sibling and feeling like a disappointment, so he can definitely relate to Kwan there. Huh. You're right. Sam and Kwan really haven't interacted much, but Sam is coming to see that Kwan isn't entirely how she pictured him from the beginning. It's a shame, but it unfortunately happens sometimes. At least Kwan has people in his life that do care about him. The GIW don't seem to accomplish much. orz Maybe they do on some level, but the public doesn't really see it?
Sammi: Thanks~ =)
midnight: Jing is an idiot. DX Kwan's like literally begging him to show that he actually wants, in some small way, to be part of his life, and Jing's just "nope, job's more important." orz I think you've lost, Jing. Was your job worth it? I think Kwan's still not happy with Dash knowing. XD;; But he'll find a way to deal with it. At least Dash is going to try not to hurt him anymore by being ignorant of his friend's feelings.
maltese: It was a bad move on Skulker's part. D: Nope. Definitely not an OC here. Dash and Kwan can be happy together! Once, you know, Dash actually comes to realize he returns Kwan's feelings. orz
