Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom

Chapter 7: Compromise

Vlad's POV

"Jace speaking," a familiar voice replied once I was finally able to get through to at least one of the Fentons'.

I had to resort to calling Danielle's brother directly when no one answered the house phone but this was probably for the best anyway so I could get a feel for the current situation over there. In all honesty, her parents should have been the ones to contact me to check on their daughter's condition as soon as they got home. I knew it the trip from Amity Park to Wisconsin and back took about a day and a half driving, but tired or not, one would think they'd check in sooner...

"Jason? This is Vlad Masters, how are you my boy?" I asked cordially.

Sighing, Jason replied warily, "Actually, truth be told I'm glad you called. Sorry I couldn't reach out to you sooner. Mom and dad got into a huge argument and I had to be the mediator and on top of that, Dani's friends came over because they were really worried about her when she didn't come home with us.

"They kinda freaked out a little because no matter how many times they called they couldn't reach her phone, that's when I realized she probably doesn't even have it with her since my parents had confiscated it before the reunion. How's Dani doing by the way? Is she getting enough sleep and eating properly?"

"She's doing as well as can be expected. Danielle was understandably quite upset at first when she heard the rest of you had returned home without saying goodbye. She has a bit of a fever, but she's resting at the moment which I hope will help. Especially since we had a rather...stressful morning. What about your parents? What were they fighting about exactly?" I asked, trying to sound neutral and concerned, but I was actually smiling, maliciously hoping the guilt of what they've put Daniel through was gnawing at their hearts.

I was disappointed however when I heard the actual reason Jack and Maddie were arguing. Not that it surprised me. As it turns out, that idiot Jack forgot their wedding anniversary. But one should think driving their daughter into such a terrible mental state would be a much greater concern to them.

Ideally, they both should have noticed Danielle's distress much sooner. Then again, the day Jack realizes ANY of his mistakes or faults on his own will be the day I give up my billions and donate every penny to some charity and then go live in somewhere isolated in the mountains for the rest of my life. As for Maddie, was she really so blind to her own daughter's suffering? Was she genuinely placing the blame for Danielle's poor grades and such solely on her husband when they're both to blame for all these years years of neglect? Maddie was just as much to blame for this as he was, and it was baffling to me that the woman I once admired had become so utterly inconsiderate.

True, I could see how forgetting an important anniversary would set any woman off but shouldn't they, well I don't know, set that aside to actually focus on something much more important? Such as actually making sure Danielle's doing alright?

How is Danielle going to feel when she hears they're fighting because of her? And if things escalated, what if they got a divorce as a result? Personally I could care less what they did since I didn't want Maddie's love anymore, but Danielle...she still loves her family dearly and would be devastated if it fell apart while she was gone. She'd likely blame herself for it, like most children do, and forever wonder what she could have done to prevent it.

And we certainly couldn't have that.

It isn't Danielle's job to fix everything, let alone something that in my opinion was broken from the start. Still, this was very troubling news because while I wanted to give Danielle a choice between staying here with me as planned until she recovers or going home, I did not want to subject her to such a disagreeable situation where she would end up watching helplessly as her life unraveled even more. This issue needed to be addressed for Danielle's sake, not theirs, because I didn't want my little badger to think for one second that any of this was her fault.

In all likeliness, if the trend of Jack's thoughtlessness was consistent enough, then it belayed a much bigger problem in their marriage that had nothing to do with their son and daughter, not in the least. Considering my options carefully, I decided that as a 'good friend' I should talk some sense into those two and asked Jason to let them know I called and to contact me as soon as possible. The rest I'm afraid, was out of my hands. That is, unless I decided to implement one of my underhanded tactics to...save their marriage with a few well-timed overshadows to make them forget this nonsense to focus on the most precious thing in their pathetic lives.

And no, it was not their small ghost-hunting family-run company, not their anti-ghost inventions, and most certainly not their marriage, but the two wonderful children that should be the most important part of their lives. Well no matter, Jason was a smart young man as well and nearly old enough now to move out on his own so he could hold his own if he had to. But Danielle...she's the one I'm more concerned about.

I should have realized sooner that aside from her home life, Danielle had friends waiting for her in Amity Park. And so, as much as I wanted to keep her here where she would be safe and nurtured and convince Danielle to throw that all away to be with me, even I understood that this was a selfish and terribly unreasonable request. And if the cost of making Danielle mine was to let her return to her old life for now in order to rebuild a foundation of trust, it would be well worth it.

By the time I returned to check on Danielle by phasing my head briefly through the door, she was fast asleep but I frowned when a soft whimper escaped her lips. She rolled over several times, twisting the blankets and I was taken aback when Danielle spoke in her sleep and begged- "...what are you doing? Please...don't-" Danielle flinched again and gasped, "Wait, wait don't hurt me, I promise I'm not...a bad ghost. No! Not the Fenton-?!"

Bolting upright in bed, Danielle's hair fell over her face like a curtain, veiling her wide fearful eyes glowing green from the nightmare she had just woken from. I'm not sure what sparked this nightmare, but it made Danielle's shoulders tremble as if suffering from a chill, but then I noticed a thin wisp of cold air escape her lips and realized that was her ghost sense going off. How fascinating, so even that aspect of our powers was different since my ghost sense was more like the odd sensation of unnaturally hot air passing through my lungs, only I would exhale this heat rather than inhale.

Either way, before she noticed my presence I withdrew my head from the doorway then opened it normally. After all, I wanted Danielle in a relatively good mood before I let her know that I recently contacted her family. What's more, while I wanted to be more attentive to her needs than her own parents, I knew better now then to try smothering the poor girl by overstepping my bounds.

"Vlad?" she asked tiredly as her eyes faded back to their normal hue. "Ugh, how long was I out for?"

"You slept through most of the afternoon, but considering what happened this morning it's quite understandable. Are you feeling any better, my dear?" As I asked this, I let some genuine remorse to seep into my voice, glancing over at her as I closed the door behind me to measure her reaction.

Instead of answering Danielle asked defensively, "That depends. What happens now?"

"What do you mean?" I asked in return, folding my arms.

Shifting uneasily, Danielle ran a hand through her hair and sighed in defeat, "I've...been thinking about what you said, what you've done and-look, honestly I still don't know if this is all a trick and you only want me as your daughter because I have the same powers as you or whatever, but this whole thing between us is...weird. Not bad weird like I thought since I guess you are trying to help in your own crazy way, but I don't understand you at all so tell me-"

Her eyes bore into mine as she looked up at me and asked bluntly, "What exactly am I to you? A new obsession? An underling you want to mold to your liking? Some kind of pet project? I just can't figure out what you're thinking, like or why you care how I feel about you if you're just going to keep me here against my will anyway."

"That's technically more than one question, but alright," I nodded in understanding, just happy that Danielle was taking the initiative to find out what my true motivations were and making an attempt to be rational about her questions.

Since she seemed placid enough, I confidently strode over to Danielle took a small risk by reaching up to tenderly tuck some of her dark hair behind her ear, ignoring how she recoiled from me. I didn't want to push my luck though so I allowed my hand to fall, content to simply show my little badger some fatherly affection, then her softly, "To put it simply, you are an unexpected miracle that I never could have imagined possible. And I mean this quite literally because the chances of anyone becoming a hybrid like me are, well, lets just say the numbers aren't favorable. And yes, I'll admit that in many ways you are my new obsession, but in retrospect, that is probably a good thing.

"Your existence has given me something else to devote all of my time and effort to other than ruining your father's life as he ruined mine which seems meaningless to me now that you're here. And meeting you has made me realize something else about myself and about...your mother. It would seem that it wasn't your mother's love I was after all these years, it was my desire for fatherhood because I now have this overwhelming need to protect you and shield you from the same hardships that I have faced since becoming half-ghost because of your father's carelessness."

Taking a deep breath, I continued earnestly, "At any rate Danielle, I promise I will answer the rest of your questions to the best of my abilities, but first we have something very important to discuss. You see, I tried calling your parents and-"

"You couldn't reach them, could you?" Danielle interrupted, not sounding surprised in the least and I nodded somberly.

Crossing her arms too, she turned away from me and tried to act indifferent, but I could tell it upset her since Danielle replied rather curtly, "They're probably just busy, as usual. Anyways, um, no offense, but can this wait? I seriously need to take a shower..."

"Of course. There's a change of clothes in the closet for you once you're finished. Then we'll have a late lunch while we discuss matters," after that, I graciously left her to her own devices, trusting Danielle to some extent not to do anything foolish even though I knew taking a shower was partially just an excuse to get rid of me.

Much like breakfast the other day, Danielle sat down right beside me at the dining table and I offered to pull her chair out for her while also giving her the option to take care of it herself, which she did. It was a simple exercise, but it proved that once again Danielle preferred to do most things herself whenever possible. This data would prove invaluable to me later on since I was still learning about Danielle's preferences regarding how she wanted to be treated.

But, while I understood why Danielle seemed so demoralized, I wished there was some way to cheer her up even if it was just by offering an excellent meal to make up for the lack of food the past several days. She still looked a bit too pale for my liking and her normally shining blue eyes seemed a bit dull and foggy, but Danielle was clearly trying not to allow the dark shadows in her heart from crushing her which was a good sign...

That's why I hoped she would feel better once I gave her the good news that things have calmed down somewhat at home, thanks to yours truly I might add. Apparently Jack and Maddie felt indebted to me and valued my advice, so it was much easier to sort things out than I expected it to be. Especially since their argument was for the most part a huge misunderstanding anyway according to Jason. They also WERE worried about Danielle and only realized after getting home how selfish it was to leave her behind like that without saying goodbye, even if they left her with a trusted friend. And they didn't want to make matters worse by fighting in front of her, because that would only make matters worse.

I wanted to keep the mood light before getting into any of that, so once Danielle was settled into her chair, I asked calmly, "Alright Danielle, what would you like to have for lunch? Although, I suppose we could call it more of an early dinner. We can have dessert too if you feel up for it."

Danielle stared at me, dumbfounded before she finally remembered how to form words again and asked in confusion, "Hang on, I thought Jason already told you what my favorite foods. Besides, it's your castle so I thought you would have just picked something out for us. You mean...I get to choose what we're eating?"

"Of course my dear," I chuckled, not bothering to hide my amusement. "You are my guest after all."

Unable to contain her curiosity Danielle suddenly asked me, "Are they human?"

"Pardon?" I blinked.

"Your chef, are they human or...a ghost?" Danielle clarified, clearly embarrassed of even asking and she sank further into her chair, eyes downcast.

Getting over my momentary stupor, I smiled to lighten the mood and explained, "If you must know, yes, most of my staff are ghosts but whenever I'm expecting guests they use human disguises. In fact, in regards to the ghosts I have on staff, many of them are old acquaintances of the Dairy King and often still ask him for advice when using any dairy products in their cooking.

"They're good at their job and don't mind working for me so I let them stay in the castle. As you can imagine however, I very rarely have guests for obvious reasons. I like my privacy and don't want to deal with the headache of covering up anything someone might discover by accident. Hosting tour college reunion here was an exception to the rule."

Danielle looked up at me in surprise and gaped, "No way. You...mean the Dairy King is real?"

With a nod, I decided to regale Danielle with the story of how I came across this particular ghost and began. "Oh yes, I discovered just how real he was as soon as I began renovations on this castle when I first bought it. The whole structure was in terrible condition and had been completely vacant for the past fifty years or so since the previous owners complained about smelling rotten eggs. Clearly they thought there have been a gas leak and thus gave up on the property.

"I on the other hand was not so easily deterred. So I investigated the matter further since this was the optimal location for me to live since it's close enough to civilization so that I wouldn't be accused of being completely unsociable, but free enough not to draw too much attention or make absolutely certain no one would dare to venture all the way out here just to spy on me since there's nothing but fields for miles. As you saw when you first arrived, there is only one road leading here, as such I would notice any unauthorized vehicles on the property. But I digress."

I shuttered at the memory of how...putrid the smell was when but she seemed interested so I decided to finish the story. "As it turns out the smell wasn't from a gas leak at all, it was a storage room filled to the brim...with cheese."

I paused for dramatic effect when Danielle asked hesitantly, "So...what happened next? Did he try to suffocate you with Limburger? Strangle you with Swiss or-"

"Good heavens no!" I corrected hastily, cutting her off with a dismissive wave of my hand. "You will soon find that not every ghost is hostile towards humans, my dear. Some are actually rather useful and beneficial to society, in secret of course. If anything, the worst thing the Dairy King did was talk my ear off about how many different cheese blends were stored in there."

Danielle sighed in relief oddly enough after hearing that and when her stomach growled and finally asked shyly, "While we're on the subject of food, do you have like a menu I could look at or do I just have to pick something out off the top of my head?"

"I'm afraid I only have menus made for dinner parties, otherwise I have them make whatever strikes me as appealing. So you may order whatever you wish." I replied with a soft smile, also relieved that Danielle wasn't childishly trying to starve herself to get back at me.

After that, Danielle took a few minutes to think of something and eventually settled on chicken cordon bleu with rice and steamed broccoli. She looked so adorably flustered while asking for that that I couldn't help but smile at her fondly. That is, until it occurred to me once again that Danielle wasn't used to being spoiled like this or given the chance to choose her own meals apart from scraping together something edible while left to her own devices. Not to mention her father's huge appetite and rude manners likely got them banned them from most respectable restaurants I'd wager.

It was such a shame she's missed out on even the simple pleasure of a good meal, so it warmed my heart that Danielle was no longer afraid of eating anything I had prepared for her. Little did she know there was more to come. Much more.

I didn't want to overwhelm Danielle again or make her feel as though I was trying to buy her affection through gifts and bribery. To me, these were small gestures of kindness that only Danielle was worthy of since I would never go to the trouble for anyone else. There was a time I would have for her mother, but that's in the past...

Danielle on the other hand NEEDED someone in her life who loved her and wanted to provide her with even the most simple of joys because her parents and clearly deprived her of even that. And if this was something else I could fix in her life...then I would do everything in my power to do so so she never felt this ashamed of asking for something so simple ever again. If she wanted the world, I would give it to her on a silver platter. And if she wanted to reach for the stars, I would pluck them from the very heavens to see my little badger smile again.

Danielle's POV

Vlad wasn't kidding when he said his chefs were world class because when our food arrived it looked almost too pretty to eat. It's one of those meals you almost have to take a picture of because even if you ordered it again, it would never look the same. Too bad one of the things my parents DID still have was my phone which they had taken as punishment when we came on this trip to stop me from talking to my friends and ensuring we spent 'quality time' together. Yeah right, we all saw how that turned out because we barely spent any time together before-

Anyways, the food smelled absolutely amazing so I glanced over at Vlad unsurely but he nodded and told me to help myself so I did. I was going to need my strength and more importantly, if I wanted to get out of here I needed to lull Vlad into a false sense of security and play the part of a good little hostage. Still, I said this before, but whenever I was hungry I usually scarfed down my food but this time I ate almost painfully slow since I wanted to savor every bite. That, and I was buying time before we dove into the whole reason Vlad brought me here to talk, my parents.

Glancing over at Vlad again, he seemed totally unphased by how slow I was eating but when he caught my eye at the last second, I froze until he chuckled, "Relax my dear, there's no need to stand for ceremony on my account. Enjoy your meal and if you want seconds I can have more made for you if that's what you're concerned about."

"No it's fine, I don't want to cause any trouble," I lied, but Vlad put down his knife and fork to rest his hand on my forearm, his dark blue eyes keeping mine prisoner.

Smirking impishly, Vlad snickered, "Oh please Danielle, I live for trouble. Or have you already forgotten? At any rate, this IS their job after all and frankly the entire kitchen staff was excited to hear that I have a guest who is also half-ghost like me so they took great care to make sure this meal was to your liking given that they didn't have to conform to human limitations as far as preparations go. If anything, it would please them to hear you liked it so much you want more.

"There is no higher praise to a chef than knowing that their recipients think it is the most delicious thing they've eaten. Remember my dear, ghosts don't normally eat because they don't have to to sustain themselves like we do. When they prepare a meal, it is purely for enjoyment, and even then most things don't taste quite the same to them anymore so they have to rely on their memory of how human food tastes in order to make sure everything is cooked and flavored properly. Therefore these particular cooks rely on skill more than their senses to know everything is just right."

"I...didn't know that," I confessed, my shoulders drooping.

Taking pity on me Vlad finally let go of my arm and resumed cutting his food as he continued, "That's to be expected since I've been acquainted with ghosts much longer than you have. At any rate, there are many things I can teach you, but now is not the time or place. Once we finish our meal, there are a few things we need to discuss. There's no rush however so please, take your time, and let me know if you want more..."

In the end, I was too nervous to ask for seconds, but I did let Vlad convince me to have some desert. I decided to go for the simplest thing I could think of to make so I went for chocolate mousse because...good god I needed something chocolate right now to calm my nerves. As expected, when that arrived too it looked just as fancy as dinner was.

It was served in this tiny fancy wine-glass looking thing with different layers. It started off whatever that crushed cookie mixture was at the bottom, then moved onto the mousse itself, and finally it was all topped off with whipped cream, chocolate curls, and a little bit of this amazing fudge sauce. Since it was so small though I did ask for seconds and I wasn't disappointed. That tasted SO good and wasn't lukewarm, it was chilled which made it taste even better.

And honestly, I'm surprised I managed to taste anything given the circumstances.

Once we were finished, Vlad told me to leave the dishes and to follow him to his study so I did. After closing the door behind us, Vlad walked over to the desk, sat down in the chair opposite from me, and crossed his legs, looking as regal and calm as ever as his gaze drifted over to me. I on the other hand was starting to look as nervous as I felt so I tore my eyes away from his and decided to just get this over with and asked anxiously, "Do you mind if we get the bad news out of the way first? What did my parents say? Are they alright...?"

Looking at me sympathetically, Vlad explained calmly with his hands clasped on top of the desk, "On the contrary, I have good news for you. You see, I had a long discussion with them while you were...out of sorts earlier and they wanted to apologize for being so thoughtless before. I'll admit, I did hear some nonsense about getting a divorce, but it turns out I was mistaken and they were actually celebrating the anniversary of your aunt Alicia's divorce which I find rather odd, but to each their own. At any rate, they asked me to tell you they love you and to take all the time you need to get better."

"Oh..." I replied, not really comforted much by those words.

I knew they loved me deep down, but it was rare for them to own up to messing anything up. Then again, maybe it was just the way Vlad put it, but when he told me that it sounded like they didn't care how long I stayed away from home after all. They didn't miss me. And they probably only apologized to clear their conscience so they could just forget about me all over again...

Troubled by my silence, Vlad asked, "Danielle? Is everything alright?"

Looking up at him, at his worried expression, it was just like before where I felt I could be honest with him so I decided to just get it all out and pray it would lift this heavy weight off my chest. "No, nothing is alright. I'm just so tired of being left on my own and forgotten by my parents. Makes me wonder if they'd even notice I was gone if I ran away from home."

Leaning back in the armchair, I rested an arm over my eyes and my lips quivered slightly as I admitted sadly, "I seriously considered it a few times. Did you know that? The first time was when I turned ten and they forgot my birthday, and the second was- it was when I got my ghost powers. My friends talked me out of it since they were there when it happened, but I was so scared. It would be one thing if I was the one who decided to run away from home, but the idea of being kicked out by my parents instead terrified me. So I stayed. Because where would I even go...?"

"That's terrible," Vlad replied, sounding disgusted by the very thought of my parents doing such a cruel thing to me. "That does bring up what I wished to discuss with you though."

Taking a deep breath, he explained, "Danielle, it is no secret that I want you to stay here with me, but most importantly I want you to know that you are not alone anymore. I'm here for you if you need me for anything, anything at all. But, I realize now that I was wrong to manipulate you as I did so as a show of good faith I'll give you some time to think about my offer because I truly do love you, my dear. And if letting you return home will allow me to regain some of your trust, so be it."

"R-really?" I choked out, relieved when Vlad nodded.

"Yes. Because one thing remains true throughout all this. You need my help and I am more than willing to offer it. I made this offer to you before, but I also gave you an unreasonable condition in order to obtain it, so allow me to rephrase that offer to you here and now.

"Danielle, if you decide to stay with me for about the next week or so I would be more than happy to help you better understand your ghost powers during that time and then I'll let you return to Amity Park. If you would feel more comfortable training on your own and returning now, then instead you may consult me at any time if there is something you don't quite understand about your powers or if you have trouble with a ghost. Either way, just know that my door will always be open to you, should you need or want anything from me, my dear...

"Should you need a shoulder to cry on, someone to treat your wounds, or merely a safe haven, I will provide all of those things for you. And this time I won't force you to stay nor ask you to disown your family. All I wish to know is if...you can find it in your heart to accept me as I am. I won't ask for forgiveness right away, just understanding since like you...your father hurt me in a way that has left deep scars that I have kept hidden until now. Wounds that I hope together we can mend by being there for one another. So, what do you say, little badger?"