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

Note (10/17/2018): Thanks again "keishinaruka" for your long review, it made me smile so much and I read it several times, so I think the unnamed entity was very pleased! (though it was most likely Dan or Vlad but shh, don't tell them I'm on to them! lolz) Anyways, I have exciting news for all of you readers! Rejoice! Because this chapter should fulfill many of your badger cereal needs with some much needed fluff before we ramp up the excitement within the next few chapters. I'd hint at what's in store more but then a certain entity might get upset with me and tell me it's not the right time. Still, my beta reader and I are very happy with the plan we came up with for the next few chapters since its all important to the story leading up to Dan's eventual grand entrance! Hope you'll stick around til then and continue to reading the story! And here, enjoy the latest chapter!


Chapter 53: It's The Thought That Counts


Vlad's POV

Before I went to check on Daniel I had just finished closing an important business deal and then set about contacting one of my sources in the Ghost Zone about a possible lead concerning Dan. However I had my doubts since the 'black and white blur' Skulker saw was more then likely just Danielle hiding out in the Ghost Zone after finding a way there to escape from me. Luckily for Danielle though, she wasn't my target. So even if I did find out where the little wretch was hiding I had bigger things to worry about and could care less about her.

Still, even a vague clue was better than nothing I suppose because I was growing rather irritated by the lack of any solid proof of Dan's existence even though I KNEW now that there was a very real entity tormenting Daniel. Whether it was by the mere memory of him or by actively using whatever link they had to make the boy hear things in the dark and see his loved ones perish in his dreams. That is why I thought contacting his sister would help because from what I've heard, things were starting to look up for her and his friends despite the constant presence of ghosts in Amity Park again. Especially since the other ghost hunters still living there, such as his parents and Valerie Grey who could put up a fight against these ghosts too, had no choice but to do so now. And this is something that in my professional opinion is something his parents at the very least should have been doing all along, taking responsibility for unleashing ghosts onto their town in the first place and fighting them instead of attacking HIM when Daniel's been doing their job for them for the past year in secret all by himself while disguised as Danny Phantom. They should have realized much sooner then this that the ghosts Danny Phantom fought regularly were the ones they should have been attacking, they were the only ghosts who posed any REAL threat to human lives, not my little badger. But I digress.

Things were progressing nicely so far and my plan to slowly release 'new' advancements in the ghost shields was working splendidly. With Casper High now protected, knowing that his fellow students, his sister, and his friends were safe now and could focus on their studies again instead of constantly being attacked by the ghost of a former lunch lady, or some other specter hoping to gain something from targeting this part of Danny Phantom's former 'territory,' or to entertain themselves by tormenting and terrorizing the students, helped him relax a little more and not feel the need to rush back to play hero again. I even threw in a sound filter to protect the teens against Ember's hypnotic music, which obviously vexed Skulker's little girlfriend to no end but I could care less since it made Daniel feel better about this business arrangement I had with the town and about keeping Axion Labs.

I must admit though that I'm growing more then a little concerned by the fact that Daniel still has way too much excess ecto-energy built up in his system now that he has completely healed, which was another reason why he's feeling so restless lately and he'll need to increase his daily regiment before too long. In fact it was so apparent that this was still a problem we needed to address because just the other day his ice powers started to go out of control for the first time in awhile by bleeding through to his hands. And since Daniel was so tired from not getting a full nights sleep after being woken in the middle of the night by another nightmare, it looks like he wasn't focusing his cold energy properly to just keep himself cool as usual, and as a result he flash froze the weights and they shattered after slipping from his grasp. After that I told Daniel to go rest in his room for the remainder of the day to catch up on his sleep once we channeled the rest of his cold energy out into the open air outside, though he did so reluctantly.

I could always tell when he had one of his nightmares now since Daniel would try very hard to make it seem like nothing was wrong and he was just more determined to get through his weight training session faster so he could move on to the next set, but I could tell he was actually only trying to overexert himself so that he'd be too tired to dream just like before. I warned him that this was hazardous to his health and I always had to cut our work out session short whenever that happened. Once, when he flat out refused to stop, I threatened to short out his powers so he couldn't go flying that night and Daniel wasn't happy about it at all. To prove my point, I actually brought the device to prove I was serious, and I hated seeing him glare at me so bitterly then suddenly start treating me almost like I was the villain again before storming off.

Deep down I knew Daniel understood that I was just worried about him and I had to make sure he was handling his problems in a healthy manner and wasn't trying to ignore or run away from his problems like a coward. Because we both know he's hardly a coward; I simply had to keep reminding him of that. I'm just glad that Daniel eventually came to find me and apologized for his behavior, claiming he didn't know what got into him, and things settled down not too long after that at least for awhile.

What's more, even if I wasn't his legal guardian, I was still the parental figure in his life now in place of his sister and I couldn't be afraid to punish him when he acted out of turn since Daniel was still living under my roof and I put these rules in place to protect him and keep him healthy both physically and mentally, which meant that I was within my rights to do so for his own good. I wanted him to have his freedom as much as possible during his stay with me, but not if it meant Daniel was going to hurt himself by acting so foolish and reckless. And that's why I've been putting in more effort as well into finding this Dan myself short of flying off into the Ghost Zone under the guise of a business trip and risking leaving Daniel alone for a few days just to continue the search myself since my usual contacts were all but useless at present except for the Fright Knight and Skulker, the latter of which I have been most in contact with since the Fright Knight did not like to be disturbed unless I had a concrete order ready for him to fulfill.

Either way, once Daniel spoke with his sister I was hoping it would cheer him up enough to ease in the subject of continuing his schooling through a personal tutor. So when I knocked on Daniel's door I was only expecting him to look a little sad but relieved after talking to his sister. However, when I saw him looking almost distraught instead I was taken aback. Clearly something had gone terribly wrong or she said something that deeply upset him...

I didn't like the look Daniel gave me either when I walked in. It was like that of a cornered animal that was scared but also liable to lash out at anyone who came too close, frankly it was not unlike he'd been acting near the beginning after I saved his life. It took me a moment to recompose myself and think about this carefully. Daniel was obviously very upset about something and it didn't look as though he was in any mood to talk, least of all to me, so this time I thought it best to give him time to calm down before I broached the subject of their conversation just now.

It was painful, leaving him in such a state, however I was gradually learning when it was best to leave the boy be to sort things out for himself and not allow Daniel to rely on me too much. For as much as I wanted to keep him safe and happy of course, I knew it was dangerous to let him become overly dependent on me when he still had his demons to face as much as I did. Daniel was stronger than this. He knew it too, and Daniel needed to know above all else that he could still push through these feelings without my help. He would have to if he was ever going to fully heal from the emotional scars that I can't do anything about even if I wanted to, which I do, more than anything. All I want is for him to feel like himself again, to BE himself again, which was why I was looking for a way to destroy the only thing standing in the way of our happiness...and his recovery.

I was surprised however when Daniel suddenly came rushing out of his room and grabbed me by the wrist to stop me, his head resting on my back though he didn't utter a single word. I could hear him trying to control his breathing like I taught him to with little success, as it was still shaky and uneven. That's when I knew exactly what he needed right now, which was to not be alone. And so I re-positioned myself and then calmly guided Daniel to my room instead of back to his own to remove him from the problem which was looking at his laptop at the moment.

I eased him onto the leather sofa at the front of my master bedroom then sat down beside Daniel, my arm wrapped securely around his shaking shoulders as he struggled to regain control of his emotions. And when his strength would almost fail him and Daniel was about to begin cry harder and shed another wave of fresh tears, I would give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and continued to just sit with him while he fought his way through his most recent emotional episode.

What I didn't understand was what on earth Jasmine could have possibly said to make him THIS upset. The last time I spoke with Daniel about his sister to let him know how she was doing, Daniel confessed that he was hoping she was acting more like herself again too and not worrying about him constantly or stressing out about what their parents were up to so she could finish school. Aside from that though Daniel had more or less come to terms about the fact that while his parents still anxiously searching for him they were at least helping to fight ghosts now instead of hurting them to get information. We both knew they wouldn't find any leads without my help, but if nothing else at least they were finally doing the town some good for a change more frequently rather then when it was already in the middle of a crisis...

Not being able to talk to Jasmine either seems to have been bothering him a lot more than I realized as well, but I didn't have any siblings so it was harder for me to grasp the concept of even what a normal bond with one was like. As such I still had no clue how deep their bond was aside from what I've guessed or heard from either of them directly since Jasmine has more or less been forced to play the part of mother hen in place of their parents when he was too little to take care of himself. And she kept on fussing over him long after Daniel had reached adolescence and started acting more rebellious, self-sufficient, and stubborn like most boys his age.

But a boy his age shouldn't feel afraid of his parents dissecting him; he shouldn't have to fear some monster from the future; he shouldn't have to feel less then human because of a freak accident where he got a little too curious about one of his parents dangerous inventions and nearly got himself killed; and most of all, a boy his age shouldn't feel like he had no one to turn to anymore but the man who he once saw as nothing but an enemy. All that aside, I'm glad Daniel took the initiative to come to me when he felt overwhelmed by whatever happened between him and his sister. He might see it as a sign of weakness, but I for one saw it as progress because it takes a certain amount of courage to accept and look for comfort when you need it. Believe me, there were times when even I thought about letting go of my hatred of Jack some days at the hospital when the pain was too much and ask for him and Maddie to come visit me but as you can see, I never did such a thing...

And maybe I should have.

Daniel still seemed rather shaken despite my efforts to silently comfort him so I decided to bring him a hot drink. Not wanting to leave his side though I sent a duplicate to the kitchen to put on some hot water and since this hardly seemed like the time for tea I was sure I had some hot chocolate somewhere which would do nicely. As it happens, I even had some marshmallows usually reserved for fruit salads and such so I had them add it to the top of Daniel's drink while I decided to only add some hazelnut creamer to mine.

Once our drinks were ready my duplicate brought them to us and I had it set Daniel's mug directly in front of him, but he didn't react, not even when I created the duplicate in the first place and forgot to suppress its ghost signature. So either Daniel was too upset to notice or he had grown used to my presence as both a human and a ghost enough to not react explosively like he did before, which I was hoping was the case. It was probably the smell of chocolate that eventually got his attention. That's when Daniel finally looked up and blinked the tears obscuring his vision away before reaching for it, smiling faintly in gratitude, and then held the mug between his hands. Daniel could have cooled it enough to drink with his ice powers of course, but it would seem the warmth alone was comforting enough for now...

A few minutes passed before he finally took a small sip, though most of the marshmallows had melted away at that point. I let him finish his first before reaching for mine and doing the opposite, reheating it with my electrical powers, which like an microwave oven I was using to make the water molecules vibrate at such a high speed that the friction created heat. As I told him before, our cores made us almost immune to the heat or the cold depending on the type so I for one enjoyed it almost scalding hot. Still, I was mostly just buying Daniel a little more time before I asked him what happened so Daniel could recompose himself. He seemed much calmer now and his breathing had evened out after finishing his drink so I decided to go ahead and turn towards him after gently setting my empty mug down beside his so it would be easier for us to talk.

"Feeling any better now little badger?" I asked warmly, my voice calm and not overly concerned.

Daniel nodded, inhaled deeply, and then sighed, "Yeah, a little...thanks Vlad."

"You're welcome my boy," I replied, briefly rising from my seat just long enough to grab a box of tissues from the bathroom and set it on the coffee table for him.

After taking a few to blow his nose with, Daniel surprised me by instead of getting up to throw them away he simply burnt them with his raw ecto-energy so there was nothing left to throw away once he finished. I wasn't surprised so much by him using his ghost power that way, it was more that Daniel felt comfortable enough to do it without thinking in front of me. Because while I told him he was free to use his powers around the castle for mundane things besides flying, Daniel normally refrained from doing so reflexively and only used them openly outside, which made some sense because he was so accustomed to hiding his powers from everyone but his sister and his friends. That's why it was unexpected to say the least, but I still found it fascinating that Daniel had chosen now of all times to use his ghost powers in such a way without his usual reservations.

Returning to the matter at hand though, I asked him calmly, "So Daniel, would you mind telling me what happened? What did your sister say to you that has you so upset? I thought you were looking forward to talking with her and what Jasmine told me she wanted to tell you herself shouldn't have come as that much of a shock. In fact I thought you'd see it as a good sign that your parents are finally putting your sister's needs before their own again, like a parent should."

Shaking his head, Daniel explained, "I think I already know what Jazz was going to tell me since I noticed her repacking when we opened the video chat, and you're right, that's not why I'm upset." Heaving a heavy sigh, Daniel leaned his head back and rested an arm over his forehead, as if contemplating whether or not he should tell me but after a look of sad resolve flashed in his eyes he confessed, "I saw Sam and Tucker. She...invited them over to talk without telling me and I didn't know what to do or what to say to them after what happened last time. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I finally got to see them again since I've been worried about them too, but I wish Jazz would have warned me first. Even if it was to help me patch things up with them, Jazz should have told me what she was planning so I could have handled it better. From the beginning, you knew that I'd react like this which is why you were so against me talking to them, I think I...understand why now. Turns out you were right, I still wasn't ready to see them. And I know Jazz was only trying to help me by arranging this while she had the chance. Jazz always thinks she knows what's best for me too and must have decided to take matters into her own hands as usual when it comes to my personal life, no surprise there. So anyways, after I got over the shock of seeing them for the first time in months we talked about some stuff and at first I was glad to see them. I felt so relieved to finally have the chance to tell them I'm not mad about what happened or hate them for acting like jerks, but then..." blinking tears out of his blue eyes again, Daniel stared blankly up at the roof and with a mixture of pain in his voice and a feeling of exasperation he told me, "...I've...been afraid of this ever since I got my ghost powers, but sometimes I feel like...Sam and Tucker care more about the ghost side of me then the friend they grew up with. I mean, Sam practically begged -or ordered I guess is more accurate- me to come back home because she said they 'need Danny Phantom.' But who is it she really needs more Vlad? Danny Fenton, or Phantom? If I didn't have these powers, would Sam and Tucker still want me to come home so badly? I don't even know anymore. They still don't understand that my parents...they almost killed me for real this time and chased me out of my own home! You can't expect anyone to just...get over something like that so easily, no matter how hard they try because believe me, I've tried. I've tried so hard! And besides, it sounds like my parents and Val have been keeping most of the ghost problems under control so far and Sam and Tucker told me that they were helping out with it too until he hurt his arm after a fight with Technus, so I really don't think they need me back right away. At least Tucker seems to understand that I need more time to deal with my...other problem once I explained the situation with Dan better and Tucker was trying to be more supportive about my decision to figure out what he's up to this time before I risk putting everyone in danger of being targeted by him again because Dan wants to get to me. But Sam, she still doesn't trust you at all. She thinks that you're going to take your sweet time figuring out a way to help me with my parents and you're going to try to convince me that they've already given up on me so I should just stay here with you for good since I don't belong there anymore or something like that. It's not like you haven't already admitted that you might feel tempted to do that, but I know you better then they do, especially now, and I want to believe that you won't go back on your word. Because I don't...I don't want to lose what we have now once we finally sort things out with my parents and stop Dan because...when you're not being a fruitloop it turns out I actually LIKE hanging out with you Vlad. They don't have a clue just how badly I've always wanted someone around who understands what I'm going through, someone that can actually help me learn more about my powers and make me feel like I'm more to them then just some super powered freak and tell me I don't have to feel ashamed of what I am! It means so much to me to finally have someone besides my sister around who fully accepts me for who I am again and not have to doubt that they enjoy having me around. At least you care about what I want to do with my powers, and you're probably one of the few people who have ever even bothered to ask me what I want to grow up to be and do with my future for ONCE in my life! And honestly, sometimes I feel like none of this is real and like...I don't even know who I am anymore! Without ghost fighting, what am I? What's the point of having these powers if I'm never going to use them again? Am I just some freaky little boy with freaky little powers like Spectra once told me? And even when or if you do smooth things out with my parents, do I still HAVE to go back to being Danny Phantom right away, and fight ghosts all the time again? Or can I justify letting my parents do their PROFESSIONAL job for once and fight them sometimes instead of me for a change so I can finally have a life again? And is it so bad that I...want you to stay a part of it? Is it bad that I actually like having you around now because it makes me feel...like I'm not alone anymore? That I can finally ask for help and not feel like I'm drowning in these stupid tears I've held back for so long that sometimes I feel like they'll never stop, that it'll never stop hurting so much to care about what happens to you along with everyone else when I don't even know what's going to happen to me now?"

"Daniel please, calm down...you're only making yourself more hysterical," I warned in a concerned and slightly alarmed tone when he started hyperventilating and pressed the palms of his hands tightly against his eyelids. "Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly..." I instructed, resting a hand on his shoulder but resisting the urge to pull him into my arms and hug him tightly since Daniel needed to work through this, "...and again...there you go."

After taking a moment to recover, while not removing his hands from his eyes, Daniel muttered weakly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to unload all of that on you...I just-"

"No no, it's alright. I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to confide in me and you clearly needed someone to talk to. I'm...sorry I haven't been around much lately. I try to keep my schedule free to spend time with you but I also don't want you to feel like I'm smothering you so I let you do as you please. But perhaps it's time to begin doing something more...productive so you don't have all this excess energy after all," that having got his attention, Daniel lowered his hands and looked at me, his gaze guarded but hopeful which encouraged me to make my offer. "I know you've had a rough week, and there will be conditions I expect you to uphold to make sure you don't use this as another excuse to overexert yourself, but I think using your ghost powers again more frequently will help you feel less restless and better prepared to face this Dan once we find out where he's hiding. You've already healed up quite nicely, and you're making strides building up more muscle in your human form as well to balance out your physical strength and your ghost strength, so I see no reason to delay any longer. I've been meaning to ask if you feel up to it anyway and, well, now seems as good a time as any to discuss it. What do you say Daniel?"

"Do you really mean that?" he asked pensively.

Smiling in response, "Would I have brought it up if I didn't?"

Still hesitant, Daniel asked, "Are you sure you're not...mad that Jazz went behind your back and I talked to my friends? I thought you didn't want me to."

"I'm a bit disappointed that she didn't consult with me before arranging this but no, I'm not especially angry. We were going to set something up with those two before too long if things went well with your sister first but I was hoping to be there for it so they wouldn't dare say anything too...unkind again. Because as I told you before, I will NOT stand for any more of their slanderous behavior being directed against you that might make your emotional recovery take even longer, which is part of the problem. They clearly want you back which is a good sign, but that doesn't mean you are ready to go back and if I may be so bold, I'd even go as far as to say that it actually has very little to do with what I'M doing. Even without my involvement in your life now there's a lot that needs to be addressed before anything can be done about the situation with Jack and Maddie, such as disposing of this new threat to your life that we discovered shortly after I rescued you that day. A ghost unlike anything you've ever faced before that's powerful enough to use your own powers against you, and this Dan somehow attacked you directly during a moment of weakness right under my nose! In fact he has done so several times! That's why taking care of him first needs to be our top priority Daniel, the rest will take time and you can't put an exact number on how long that may take us. The incident with your parents was traumatic enough, but there's also this terrible future you witnessed at the hands of this Dan who made you do God knows what that wants you back under his control and to destroy everything you hold dear, which means he doesn't care about territory or power, this is personal and it's all about you. Rest assured I will not let that happen Daniel. I will not let him take you away from us. Once we settle the score with him, we'll worry about the rest. We just have to take the necessary steps and precautions in our own time and not let ANYONE, force our hand. Not when we are the ones who control our fate in the end, not them. Remember that. No matter what anyone tells you, even me, this is your life and you only get to live it once. So it's up to you to make the most of it. That's exactly what I intend to do, regardless of what I've lost during the course of my life. And I will do everything in my power to make sure you are more then capable enough to master your fate as well."