Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Note: To "Devilsummoner666" lolz yes, I had fun writing that too since this is still Vlad after all! Right now Vlad's absolutely thrilled with the idea of adopting Danielle which means he's clearly rushing into things despite himself as usual. But at the same time he's still the same conceited and uncompromising person he was before so he's not shy about wanting to still get his revenge against Jack and Maddie if he can get away with it. He's honest about it too, even to her, which makes it especially funny or terrifying depending on how you look at it! I mean, a leopard can't change its spots and apart from being serious about helping Danielle and caring about her and Jason, Vlad hasn't really been given any real reason to change much as a person yet so he's not exactly a 'good guy' but he's not 'a villain' either. Vlad is just...Vlad!

P.S. Also, this will be my last chapter this year so...congrats for surviving 2020 everyone!

Chapter 13: Cold Realization

Danielle's POV

Later that night, or maybe it was really early in the morning, I unexpectedly woke up shivering and at first I couldn't figure out why. By then my headache was gone at least, but the unnatural chill I felt just wouldn't go away no matter how tightly I pulled the blankets around me. After awhile I started getting really irritated about it because I was still so tired and wanted to go back to sleep but then I realized something odd was happening to me because I didn't feel feverish or anything, just extremely cold.

That's weird, why do I feel colder inside the blankets than outside of them? And my face doesn't feel as numb as the rest of me does so, what the hell? I thought to myself so after prying the blanket off to test my theory I was shocked when I noticed that on the inside of it where the fabric brushed against me it was coated in a thin layer of glittering frost.

"Oh that's just great, am I turning into a literal ice queen like Diana back at Casper High?" I groaned but at the same time I was oddly fascinated by the beautiful swirling patterns of the frost on the inside of my blanket. I swear it almost looked like the frost was glowing too with this almost opal-like sheen, and when I exposed it to the warmer air in the rest of the room, it didn't seem to be melting right away. That's when I felt the fabric stiffen in my hand where I was holding the blanket up as it began to freeze too and I gasped and let go. That's when it became pretty obvious that I was the one doing this...

I forgot to mention this but my ghost-sense has been going off the entire time too and it's like every breath I exhaled came out as a puff of cold air. But strangely enough it didn't hurt the inside of my lungs or anything, it was just an odd sensation because my ghost-sense usually only lasts for a few seconds. That said it didn't feel like I was sensing another ghost around here, besides Vlad obviously, but he was probably still asleep so I guess it was up to me to figure this out. Don't get me wrong, even though breathing didn't seem to hurt the non-stop shivering was getting pretty annoying so I thought that maybe unleashing some of my pent up ecto-energy might take the edge off at least so I could go back to sleep and I told myself that I'd let Vlad know what happened first thing in the morning.

So with that I pulled myself out of bed, almost slipping a few times when ice formed at my feet until I reached the bathroom. Grabbing a towel I covered my hand while turning the faucet on to fill the bathtub with hot water just to be on the safe side since I didn't know how strong this new power is or if this was only a freaky side effect of the Blood Blossoms messing up my powers to the point where I temporarily had a ghost power I don't normally possess. Taking a few deep breaths of the hot steam to calm my nerves, I placed my hands on the edge of the bathtub and waited to see what would happen, trying to focus my energy into the water.

At first, nothing happened so I wondered if whatever was going on with me was already wearing off but then I felt a sharp pain in my chest and fell to my knees as a sort of cold flash shot through my body into my hands and the water in the tub flash-froze despite how hot it was a few seconds ago. Ok, that's not a good sign. I better go wake up Vlad.

After waiting for my heart to settle down first since that startled me a little I stood up and transformed without thinking since I didn't want to slip on patches of ice again. I still felt weird but as far as I could tell there wasn't anything seriously wrong with me, but I figured Vlad would get mad if I tried to hide this from him which is why I decided to go wake him up. And honestly, THAT was the weirdest part. Having someone I can actually go to for help that I can safely ask questions about things like this.

I remember all the times I've tried going to my parents for help with normal everyday things before I learned the hard way not to expect anything from them. If I was lucky mom and dad would at least attempt to explain my math homework to me for example only to get into more complex algebra I hadn't learned in school yet without realizing it and then suddenly have a breakthrough with the calculations they've been working on for one of their inventions which usually ended in them rushing off to go apply it, leaving me standing there feeling even more confused than before. Or they'd straight up tell me they were too busy to deal with me and that I should go ask Jason for help instead. As you can imagine though when we were both just kids he barely knew any more than I did so that didn't really help me much. But at least my brother patiently tried to help me work through my problems which is more than I can say for our parents who couldn't be bothered half the time.

Jace...I thought silently to myself, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. If it wasn't for me none of this would have happened. You wouldn't have had to choose between me and our parents and you wouldn't have to-

Clenching my fists and feeling another sharp pang in my chest I grit my teeth and said, "Focus Dani. Don't lose control again...not again-!"

Suddenly my mind flashed back to what happened in the lab when in a blind panic I destroyed all the Blood Blossoms down there and the scattered red petals almost looked like splashes of blood considering the sheer number of them that littered the floor or were still fluttering down to join them. But I...I didn't hurt my parents, I know that. No, all this time they've been hurting me but this, even if they hadn't nearly pulled their weapons on me their words already cut me to the core...

Gripping the sides of my head I yelled, "NO! Stop it! Stop thinking about it!"

Forgetting all about Vlad, I clenched my eyes shut and could practically feel my heart shattering all over again as the bitter cold realization that my own parents don't love me anymore made it impossible to think about anything else. I always thought I would be able to go to them for help, that someday I could trust them with my secret, however the truth is I haven't trusted my parents in a long time because it eventually got to the point where none of it felt real. It felt like they were just going through the motions of being good parents, saying they love me and that they care about my feelings or were only doing what was best for me, but since when has anyone besides Jason actually put my needs first? Who can I depend on anymore?!

I don't know how long I stayed like that, willing myself to shut out the fresh wave of pain gripping my heart, but when I finally registered the distant voice calling my name and felt someone shaking my shoulders my eyes snapped open to see Vlad's familiar ghostly red eyes staring into mine in desperation. It was only then that I realized I had unleashed an actual cold wave and the entire hallway was coated in snow and ice. And when I turned and looked at my own reflection in a nearby mirror I was shocked when my hair almost seemed more like an icy mist and even in my ghost form my eyes were glowing a pale blue to match my frozen lips. That's-I don't feel cold so why do I look so...?

"Danielle! Snap out of it for god's sake!" Vlad snapped harshly, but I could tell that he seemed to be panicking after seeing me in a state like this.

Still a bit dazed, I changed back to my human form and landed with a soft crunch into the snow that was now covering the hallway for at least a few yards in both directions and waited for Vlad to realize I already heard him loud and clear. And once he did, his shoulders relaxed but then Vlad asked me seriously, "Danielle, what in the world happened? Are you alright?"

"No, I'm NOT alright," I replied somewhat hysterically as I stared down at my trembling hands, "I'm allowed to actually say that now, aren't I? I don't have to lie anymore and pretend that I am alright because I'm not, Vlad! Maybe I never was to begin with because I've been lying to myself most of all!"

Trailing off and feeling oddly empty and apathetic I continued, "I told myself I could do it, that I didn't NEED your help and that my parents would always love me no matter what, and for a while I even believed it. But here I am and now I don't know why this is happening to me. I don't know what I'm doing wrong because I haven't had my powers go out of control like this for months. So why? Why is this happening? Is it because the Blood Blossoms are still messing me up? Or are my feeling so out of control and chaotic that I'm triggering new abilities I didn't even know I had? I don't know. I don't understand ANYTHING and I feel like I don't know who I am anymore."

Waiting until he was sure I was done venting Vlad explained evenly after changing back to his human form too, "You may be onto something there Danielle, but first I need you to understand something. While it's true those Blood Blossoms weakened you they couldn't have triggered something like this. This is all you my dear."

Tucking some of my hair behind my ear Vlad continued sympathetically, "Danielle, you are still in the middle of the grieving process so its only natural that those strong feelings are going to trigger your ghost powers more intensely than usual. As for why this happened, my guess is that you were unconsciously searching for a way to dull the pain and this is the result. I'm just glad you seem to have regained control because ice cores are extremely rare even among full ghosts and difficult to control. I have a heat core so it was fairly easy for me to hide how unnaturally hot my body temperature became once my core started to mature, but I imagine it might be a bit more challenging for you since you're so young and those changes are hitting you much more rapidly it seems. To put it simply, for us at least, this is perfectly normal."

While letting his words sink in I finally dared to look around at my handiwork and in a way...the ice and snow was strangely beautiful. I know its weird to see snow inside a castle but it was almost like seeing those snow-covered castles in the movies where everything seems so magical, pure, and untouched. And even the moonlight sifting in from the window from outside made the snow I created sparkle even more. Even though most of Vlad's castle was fully heated, I guess my newfound ice powers made it last longer so it wasn't until Vlad started radiating heat to melt it that the snow finally vanished and he said he'd have someone clean up the hallway later...

I felt really bad about leaving behind such a huge mess, but Vlad was just relieved that I didn't hurt myself and insisted on making sure my condition was stable before sending me back to bed. After scaring him like that it seemed like the least I could do was let him do that much for me, especially since Vlad probably wanted to go back to bed as much as I did. So I let him take my temperature and check my pulse without putting up a fuss and just to be safe Vlad suggested waiting a while before using my powers again to give me time to both physically and mentally recharge and I agreed. After all, I shouldn't have to fight any ghosts while I'm here as long as Vlad keeps his word. And I doubt he's going to repeat the same mistake as last time when he trapped me in his lab and Skulker unexpectedly showed up.

Satisfied with the results, Vlad insisted, "I know you're a bit too old for this but I must insist that you stay in my room with me tonight so I can make sure nothing else happens while your ghost core is acting up. Besides which I'll need to change the bedding in your room since the frost inside of your blanket must have thawed by now too. And since you cannot trust your ghost sense at present we'll just have to rely on mine to detect if you begin using your powers unconsciously in your sleep again."

Blushing I grumbled, "Oh god do I have to? Can't I just sleep in one of the other guest rooms?"

"I suppose you could, but I would feel much better knowing you'll be alright somewhere I can see you little badger," Vlad smiled warmly, "I only want to keep you safe."

Flinching I muttered defensively, "Yeah well...my parents used to tell me that too so sorry if I'm having a hard time believing it anymore even when you say it."

"I'm not your parents Danielle," Vlad glowered quietly. "Besides, have I given you any reason to doubt me since the last time we met unlike those two traitors?"

"No..." I finally relented, realizing that I might have hurt his feelings again. "It's just weird you know? I haven't slept in my parent's bed since I was a newborn baby and that one time when I was like 3 or maybe 4 years old and I thought there was a monster in my closet and they blew the door off its hinges which flew across the room and broke my crib. Thank god mom was holding me at the time or it might have hit me instead."

I bit my lip when it started quivering because I was sick of crying and regretting the past and huffed, "Anyway my point is, I'm not a baby anymore, Vlad. I've beaten up more real 'monsters' in the past several months than a normal person will ever see in their lifetime."

Finally turning to face me Vlad sighed softly and said with a disappointed look on his face, "I know my dear, but if you would at least indulge me for tonight it would make me feel better knowing I'm right here by your side if you need me. And remember Danielle, I've never had children of my own but I've always looked forward to comforting them like this."

"I take it back, looks like you really are just as big of a manipulative fruitloop as you were before," I grumbled but Vlad just smiled victoriously as I begrudgingly climbed into his king-sized bed since I assumed that's where he wanted me to sleep and settled on the far side of it, thankful that it was big enough to keep a comfortable distance between us.

Still, after seeing his almost innocent pouty-face I honestly didn't stand a chance against Vlad. Too bad Vlad had other ideas and pulled me securely against his chest, but at this point, I was too tired to protest. And besides...he felt so warm and after dealing with all that shivering earlier it was such a relief so before I knew it I had nodded off again, comforted by the reassuring strength of his arms like Vlad was offering to be my shield against the heartache that almost consumed me earlier. A heartache that Vlad already knew all too well from his own experience of being abandoned by my parents...

So I guess that's just one more thing we have in common now.