Danny honestly thought that he was the good guy in the story. The hero that beat the villain, saved the world and everything turned out to be fine in the end. Sure, there might be some difficulties in the meantime, but in the end he always won. So, it was only natural that in this fight when he sucked his older evil self in the thermos, everything was well and over. Dark timeline not going to exist, because he beat the villain. But he was so wrong.
He didn't even have time to relish the moment of his sweet victory and the new power move he acquired, when his thoughts went to his friends and family. And of course.
He beat Dan, but that didn't stop the explosion for actually happening. His fear was confirmed when he turned his face towards them, seeing him with mouth shut and pleading eyes, their body attached with the ecto chains that Dan tied them in the machine. Danny didn't waste any moment- he run.
His thoughts went a hundred per second- he beat Dan, why his friends were still tied? How long did he have to save them? But one thing was certain- he needed to get there as fast as possible, release them and fly them to a safe place. At least, he could turn them intangible so the explosion wouldn't hurt them. Yeah, that would work. But Danny was too anxious to even think straight.
Run.
Run.
All these went for a matter of seconds. Danny felt his body aching, felt the rings appear around his waist, starting their travel towards his head and limbs, turning him back into Fenton. Danny didn't care if his secret was out- he needed his powers!
"No, no no! Come on! I am going ghost!" he screamed as he run, trying to turn back into phantom. The rings reappeared for a split moment, but Danny has become terrified when they vanished immediately. In a blink of an eye. His powers weren't working.
"Nonono!" he yelled in desperation. It was shame that he didn't watch where he was running over, as he tripped in a piece of debris on the road and fell with his face flat on the ground. His jaw and torso was hurting like hell, but that didn't matter in the slightest- the only concern was his loved ones in front of him, 10 meters away, looking at him with desperation. Danny didn't know what to do. He wanted to get back up, but his body wasn't listening to him. He screamed, when he first heared the dangerous whistle of something going to explode.
Everything happened in a second.
The image of his friends and family, terrified for their lives transformed to a pile of debris and fire, also knocking him away. Danny was shocked from the force of the explosion, he was very close after all, it was a miracle he was even alive…wait.
His eyes immediately shot up, hoping to everything he had sacred that it wasn't what he feared to be true.
Smoke. Fire. Debris. But no people.
Danny tried to get up. His whole body was aching, he did fell back pretty hard after all. But none of this mattered.
"MOM! DAD!" he tried to run towards the blazing area, but the smoke of the flames started getting him wheezing.
"JAZZ! SAM! TUCKER! LANCER!" he yelled, trying to catch a glimpse of their hopefully uninjured and alive bodies. But when his eye fell on a dark, almost made of charcoal finger on the dusty road near him, he felt his blood pressure drop.
"NN-no…" he muttered. He couldn't speak. Suddenly he felt his knees not holding his anymore. He fell flat on the ground, staring at the scene before him.
It couldn't be happening. It wasn't- no. Just no, oh god, please please…
The only thing he felt except the numbness of his body and face, was the scorching heat coming from the machine. But that feeling was about to be overtaken too by the numbness.
Danny felt his consciousness fade by the second. He felt his body shutting down, his hands and then his eyes.
As he was passing out, he could hear the cracking of the fire and a siren getting closer.
When Danny woke up, he could barely open his eyes against the white light. After some preparation, he finally opened them to reveal that he was in a hospital bed, attached to a heart monitor and some tubes. He sighed. He tried to sit up on his back, and as he did he felt his head very heavy. Probably the drugs.
He took in his surroundings, trying to understand what was happening and how he had gotten there. He tried hard to squish his brain to focus, but it was too hard.
A doctor and a nurse came in the room after some seconds, they were probably alerted that he has woken. The nurse came to his side to check the instruments and their reading, as the doctor took a quick look at his file for any updates.
"Hello Daniel, sorry to bother you after you waking up, but we wanted to be with you in case you panicked. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked after coming close to check his eyes. Danny blinked trying to understand the man's question.
"Uhhh.." his mouth felt a little dry and his throat raspy. "…Fine.." he told him, not entirely sure of it himself. The doctor's smile flattened and with sad eyes, he took the light away from the boy.
"Do you remember anything?" He asked. Danny sat there in silence. That was a question he wanted the answer too. He knew he remembered, he felt it on the edge of his tongue…
Suddenly, the world came crashing to Danny, his breathing gasped and started hyperventilating, his muscles tensed, the beeping from the heart monitor starting getting louder and more frequent. The doctor quickly saw what happened and what was coming, as the nurse too quickly made a needle to calm the boy in front of them.
"April, quick, give him the shot- fucking christ, the drugs were supposed to keep him delirious!" the doctor cursed as he tried to hold Danny still and not let him hurt himself by accident.
"You are right, I don't know why he immerged so fast- here doctor, hold him still please.."
Danny's heart rate began to drop a little, and he fell back on his back, slowly relaxing. But he wasn't sleeping as the two adults in front of him expected him to do.
"Daniel? Are you alright?" the doctor asked the boy in front of him, his fresh tears drying on his cheeks.
"No…n-no….it can't be true….no.." Danny muttered. The doctor sighed out again, louder this time. The nurse felt rigid too. Stuff like these were not happening every day in their small town.
"I..I am very, very sorry Daniel. My condolences." The doctor said. Danny began crying again, the tranquilizer keeping him from breaking the place and himself apart.
"I promise, it will all be alright. The nurse here will bring you something to drink and eat, since your pressure went crazy for a minute. Try to sleep, my boy, I know it is hard but if you want we can give you a higher dosage so you can."
Danny kept looking at him, trying to cling on his words, anything to make him forget the fact that he was now experiencing the worst outcome of his life.
The doctor left the room quietly, full aware that Danny was in no place to talk right now.
Danny looked at his hands, trying to understand the why's and what's.
Danny didn't realize that he was sleeping. The drug did calm him down, so it was natural after the…breakdown, he was too tired to keep his self awake. He looked at the food at the table besides him- the last thing he wanted to do right know is fill his body needs. He didn't feel like it, and he didn't deserve it. He went to sleep again, at least asleep the realization and the pain would not catch him in time. But then he heard some fast footsteps outside the hallway, coming closer.
Danny closed his eyes immediately, his instinct telling him not to, if there was a possibility that the person would be a threat, but he had a pretty good idea who was it, and he didn't wasn't to deal with this.
He heard the room's door open with the biggest force he ever heard. He heard the nurses, doctors and a security guard behind, trying not to restrain but at least reason with the person responsible, since that said person probably owned the hospital.
"Daniel!" Vlad practically screamed, looking at the boy in the bed.
"Mr. Masters, please, I understand your panic, but please remain-.." a doctor started.
Vlad almost let his eyes turn red from his emotions, but quick let his brain take over.
"I am very sorry doctor." He informed. "I wish to talk to the boy." He said in a kinda strict manner."
The doctor nearly gulped. "Yes sir, please step inside, I will call doctor Samuel to come speak with you." He said. Vlad simply nodded and without any word stepped inside the room.
Danny could smell the man's cologne- it made him sick- the man was probably standing in front of his bed. Danny didn't open his eyes. Better let the man think that he was sleeping. But Vlad wasn't the one that was tricked easily.
"Daniel…" he sighed. "I know you are awake. But that isn't important." He said. "I came here as soon as I could, oh god, Daniel, I am so.."
"Please. Stop." Danny said, slowly opening his eyes. Sad eyes met the other.
"Daniel, I know in how much pain you are in, I can't even comprehend it." Vlad said, trying to come with words. It was kinda surprising seeing Vlad not having something to say. Maybe this affected him a lot too. "How do you feel?" he asked. Danny almost wanted to laugh at this answer.
"What do you think?" He whispered. "Leave." He said. He didn't want to do any of this- if he didn't talk about it, it didn't exist.
"Daniel, please. I want to help you."
"ARE YOU DEAF? LEAVE!" Danny yelled, damaging his throat. Vlad was taken aback by this, but to Danny's surprise, he actually listened to his plea.
"Alright, I see you are still in shock and it is understandable. I will be outside with your doctor. We will be right back." He said. Danny didn't say anything. No. No, it couldn't be happening!
He heard some muffled voices outside his room- they probably belonged to Vlad and his doctor. Danny really needed that second dose of drug right now.
The men entered the room again, with a nurse this time in case Danny went all ballistics again. Danny wanted to yell at them that he was much more powerful than they gave him credit for, curse them, threat them but his mouth remained shut.
"So, uh….Daniel…" doctor Samuel started, unsure how to proceed. The worst part of being the doctor was to bring the bad news. And in this occasion, doctor Samuel was sure that it was the most difficult thing that he ever did in his career.
"Danny." The boy spoke, anger in his voice. It was weird that he really cared about this small thing at the moment, but he didn't know if he was full or out of emotion at the moment and he needed to grab onto something. Otherwise, hell would break loose. The drug helped him too.
"Alright, Danny. I spoke to Mr. Masters here and his lawyer. It turns out, that in an unfortunate case like this, your parents permitted custody of you and your sister to him. In other way, Mr. Masters here can be legally your guardian if you allow it." The doctor said.
Danny knew that was the reason they spoke so secretly outside. He knew this would happen, this happened in the other timeline, which wasn't so different than this one apparently. Danny didn't wanted to face this, didn't want to see this story playing in front of him. He wanted to pause it, or better yet, pull the damn tape out and burn it.
Danny wasn't sure what to say. Like hell he wanted this to happen, not only he would turn to Dan but just the thought of him with Vlad send him a vile to his throat. But then again, staying without someone would mean that he would be going to a foster home, and then perhaps in a new family. That probably meant that Dan wasn't going to be a real threat. But it also meant strangers, and on top of that strangers who didn't understand himself and his situation. The question was: what was a better choice than the other?
But all this thinking was futile, because Danny was still in the phase of denial. He couldn't even process the death of his family here.
"We know, and we are terribly sorry that all of this has happened and we propose you these changes so terribly soon. You can forget them for the time being, we aren't in a rush. Now what I want from you Danny, is to become more stable. You will be watching a psychiatrist starting from tomorrow or the day after, depending on your state of physical health. We just told you the information just for typical reasons, but it seemed like you were not ready to hear them." Doctor Samuel told him. Vlad was looking at Danny with those sad eyes, Danny didn't want to look at them.
Danny nodded. He wanted to sleep.
"Now, we are going to leave you to rest. There will be staff outside your room to check on you from time to time. If you experience a panic attack, please press that red button on your left. Me and a nurse will be coming to you right away. Well, Mr. Masters, I am sorry but we have to let Danny rest." Samuel escorted Vlad outside.
"Yes, yes, of course. I am sorry, this whole ordeal was shocking for me too. Don't worry Daniel, I am going to return first thing in the morning to check on you." Vlad said and got out the room with the doc. Danny sighed and close his eyes. The faster he would sleep, the faster a panic attack wouldn't catch him.
The next days came by quickly. Danny would wake up, seeing Vlad's face first thing in the morning and quickly ruin his whole day. He would try to eat without puking, talk with his psychiatrist for about two hours, then rest and sleep. Vlad wanted to help Danny so much, that Danny found it extremely annoying oh and fake.
In the meantime Danny to his surprise accepted Vlad's offer to take him in. He hated himself when he uttered those words, but honestly, if he could keep Dan from existing somehow, then it was his best option.
But then the day of the funeral was here, and Danny had to go. He couldn't, but he wanted to. It was the least he could do for his family and friends.
Vlad had bought him a suit, perfect fit (creepy but we are talking about Vlad here, of course he would know Danny's size).
It was raining at the funeral. Of course. Danny could spot Sam's and Tyler's parents near him. He didn't dare to look at them. He knew that if they knew what really happened that night, he would be on the ground all beaten up by the fathers. It was fine. He deserved it. It was all his fault in a sense.
He couldn't stand it when they lowered the caskets in the ground. When it was his turn to toss a flower and a handful of dirt.
Everyone else has been long gone before Danny. Sam's and Tucker's parents left some hour ago. Danny wondered how heartbroken they felt. He understood from his side of view, but he knew it was worse when you lost your only child. He took a sharp breath. It was all his fault.
Danny was sitting on the muddy grass in front of his family grave. It hadn't stop raining since, and he was soaked from head to toe. He didn't care.
He heard some faint footsteps from behind. Suddenly the rain droplets stopped falling on his head and body. He averted his eyes to his rear side. Legs in black trousers and expensive black shoes. He looked forwards again.
"Time to go, Daniel." Vlad murmured. Danny didn't answer.
Vlad stayed still, his black umbrella covering him and Danny at the same time.
"Sitting here won't bring them back. Trust me, I know." He said. "I know that you don't want to leave them, but you know better than this, my boy. These bodies aren't them anymore. They are long gone." He said. Danny wished that the man besides him would shut up, but he didn't have the strength to say anything. He didn't have the strength to do nothing. But suddenly he remembered.
"Vlad?" Danny asked. At his side, Vlade perked up and watched down at the young boy.
"What is it Daniel?" He asked.
"I want to tell you something…something serious." Danny said, his anger showing to his voice. Vlad's face was serious.
"Of course."
After 3 months
Vlad was reading a philosophy book, accompanying it with a cup of black tea. His peripheral vision caught glimpse of a silhouette approaching him. His eyes got up from the page he was reading and saw the sight of Danny, suddenly stopping almost in front of him. Vlad didn't speak. He just watched Danny staring the floor, a dead look in his eyes.
Suddenly, Danny spoke.
"Do it." He said calmly, but Vlad knew exactly how much grief and despair was hiding behind those words. He decided to play dumb, but it would only gain him a second or two of peace.
"Do what, little badger?" Vlad asked him, setting his book down. He would continue it another time. Danny in front of him was a bigger concern.
"You know. My humanity. Remove it." Danny replied, his eyes finally risen, looking at the older halfa. Vlad himself wasn't surprised of his look, Danny always looked like this when he called him down for lunch and dinner everyday, when he asked him to spend some time with him outside, when he asked him to talk to a therapist. But Danny never listened.
Vlad looked at him in the eyes. "You know my answer, Daniel. We've discussed it before, if you remember. At the funeral." Vlad simply answered. Danny didn't yield.
"I know. But I don't care anymore. Do it." Danny said again, stepping closer to the sitting man.
"So you are saying that it doesn't matter? Daniel, do you even remember what you told me that day?" Vlad got up.
"Yes. But I have changed my mind. It…it doesn't matter anymore." Danny replied.
"This isn't like you. I know you, my boy. You never break promises. You never surrender. I thought..."
"VLAD, I DON'T PLAN TO SIT FOR A CHAT, ALRIGHT? JUST GO AND MAKE THE STUPID GLOVES ALREADY!" Danny yelled at the man. Vlad didn't flinch in the slightest.
"No. I won't. I understand your pain, Daniel. But we both know what come out of this if we let it happen. You even saw it." Vlad said.
"I DON'T CARE!" Danny screamed.
"I do. This action affects everyone, including me. My answer is no. And it won't change." Vlad told Danny as he made his exit from the room.
He was stopped dead on his tracks when he heard the voice tone of his ward.
"Please…" Danny whispered.
"Daniel, we won't have this chat. I honored your wishes that…time and promised you this- the one thing you would let me do for you. For your family.
"Vlad, please…" Danny tried again, his voice getting more desperate.
"No, Daniel. Please, for your own good, you have to stop doing this to yourself."
"P-please….y-you can't do this t-to me.." Danny started crying. Vlad sighed as he approached the crying teen.
"I c-can't take it anymore…I want to stop hurting! Vlad…I b-beg you…please…. please….. p-please.." Danny whispered as he slowly fell on his knees in front of the man.
Vlad sighed again. He knew that the boy was at his limits. But Danny made a promise to his family. And Vlad made a promise to him as well. And to Maddie.
"No." Vlad said, not backing down. He turned once more to leave when he felt a desperate weight on his legs. He looked down and saw Danny, with tears on his eyes, grabbing desperately his pants. Vlad looked astonished for a second. Then he felt mad.
"Daniel, get up for the love of god!" He tried to push Danny's grasp off him but that made Danny's hold to him even stronger. It was like Vlad was the only thing keeping him alive now.
"PLEASE!" Danny yelled with grief and desperation. "Please! Do it! I-I beg you, Vlad, I'll do anything! Whatever you w-want! You want m-me as a pawn? I will serve you. I w-will stay with you forever. Y-you want me as a son? I will become that! Please, Dad, please…." Danny tried to get into Vlad, trying to please the man to do the thing he wanted to do two weeks now.
Vlad looked at Danny with sad eyes. Five months ago, he would probably take Danny's offer of submission very kindly. But after their talk to the funeral...after learning what their future awaits…after making a promise...after the nightmares every night, the sobs that were heard outside the room, the tears, the hugs, everything…No. Vlad would not do that to Danny anymore. He has changed.
"Danny…" he used the boy's preferred name. "Please. Get up. I can't stand watching you like this." Vlad said. But the answer he got was simply Danny letting out a painful sob and curl himself into a begging position. Vlad quickly got down to his knees and tried to raise Danny's head from the blue carpeted floor.
"W-why?.. WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT? I WILL GIVE YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT! WHY ARE YOU STILL REFUSING?! VLAD, PLEASE, DON'T DO THIS TO ME, YOU CAN'T BE SO CRUEL! I AM BEGGING YOU! PLEASE!" Danny screamed, his face still attached to the floor. Vlad finally got the strength in his arms to lift Danny's posture from the floor, and then immediately embraced him in a tight hug. Danny grabbed onto the man's suit just like he was grabbing on his legs. Like it was a lifesaver.
"Shhh little badger. I am sorry. I am very sorry. I miss them very much! Please, I don't want anything from you. I don't care. Just please, for the love of god, please don't make me break my promise to Maddie." Vlad said. Upon hearing these words, Danny cried harder.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.