Rewritten (if badly).

oOo

Danny put a hand on his stomach, wishing the futile effort could to something to dissipate the utter sickness that had formed there. The closer they got to the airport, the more uneasy he became, which didn't help the situation at all. What was he doing? This was VLAD PLASMIUS he was talking about. He put his head in his hands, shaking slightly. His life had gone so wrong so suddenly, and he couldn't explain it for the life of him...or the afterlife for that matter. He chuckled mirthlessly. Old habits died hard. Even after all this time, he still made up jokes like everything was back to normal. Like almost every person he had ever trusted hadn't turned on him.

Restless, he took off his seatbelt and began wandering around, avoiding the stewardesses by heading to the bathroom when they approached him. He didn't mind if they caught him, though, there wasn't much to see anyway. Really, he just wanted to walk off the nausea and jitters that just made him feel even worse. Still restless he transformed into his ghost form (hoping it might help...it didn't), and began to float through the plane invisibly, unable to stop his mind from rushing through the past months over and over again. He remembered too many details, and yet he felt as if he were missing something. Why couldn't he just forget?

The worst had been the phone call. He remembered it so clearly:

Flashback

"Vlad Masters Speaking," he heard on the other end. His breath froze in his throat. What was he doing? What would he say? Should he just hang up...? "Hello?" Danny still couldn't think of anything to say, but his mouth opened...admitting only a few croaked sounds. "Who are you!" Vlad growled at the phone, "How did you get this phone number?" His words seemed jog Danny out of whatever trance the older man's first words had put him into.

"You gave me this number," he said softly, "And you know who I am." For some reason, he didn't want to say his name...like it would validate this horrible dream if he did.

"Ah, Daniel," he could picture Vlad's smirk, and cringed now regretting his decision. "So, have you decided to take my offer?" Danny didn't say anything for several moments.

"Yes," he said finally. He hated this! He hated crawling to people for help, especially Vlad. He hated the way this was being handled...and he hated himself for whatever he'd done to make everyone so angry at him.

"I always knew your intelligence would expose itself in time," Vlad said. Danny could still hear the smirk, and it made his stomach tighten in annoyance and utter despair. "I'll have the proper arrangements made, and we can begin training when you arrive."

"Training?" Danny asked, liking this less and less.

Vlad chuckled lowly, "We can discuss that when you arrive as well," he said. "Now, I need you to go to the following address, and they will have a ticket in hand, and money for you to use when traveling. Take the...3:45 plane to Wisconsin from the New York Air Terminal on Thursday. I will look forward to seeing you."

"Right," Danny muttered as he copied down the address . "So am I," he said sarcastically when he hung up the phone. "Really looking forward to this."

End Flashback

The people he'd gone to were nice enough to give him a room, and the money and ticket he needed. It had been far too long since he'd had a decent meal, and they were more than cordial to him. Still, it hurt. He found himself unconsciously comparing the lady of the house to his mother...that hurt the most. He rarely saw her husband, but he and Danny got along well enough. They had even taken him to the air-port personally, and he regretted leaving them. He wondered how people like that could know someone like Vlad.

By the time this thought rolled around, Danny had circled almost the entire plane, including the wings and storage, and was just popping back into the toilet chamber when the intercom went off.

"We will be landing in Wisconsin soon," he said. Didn't even mention the city. This was only a stop for Danny, probably arranged by Vlad. He doubted they did this often. His stomach suddenly started a new round of acrobatics, worse than before. Deciding he didn't want to know what ghost vomit looked like, he changed back, and emptied his lunch into the toilet. This really wasn't a good idea, he realized. He'd known it all along, but there was no backing out now...was there? Danny couldn't seem to decide or remember. He stumbled back to his seat and curled up on the chair, ignoring the looks of pity the stewardess shot him whenever she passed.

"We are now landing, please make the proper preparations," the intercom came on again, and Danny watched a different stewardess go through actions and preparations. He followed along half heartedly, and looked down, only to see to his surprise that his legs had disappeared. His nervousness and unease was taking it's toll on his control over his powers even. How long had it been since he'd accidentally gone invisible or intangible? He took a deep breath, and tried to relax back into his seat, with little success, although his legs did return.

"Landing in Wisconsin," he said to himself, watching the ground begin to rise up to meet him. He was so numb he could no longer feel his stomach...and could only watch in a daze as they touched down and prepared to taxi down the runway. Danny stayed curled in the chair until the stewardess addressed him directly.

"You're the only one getting off here," she said gently. "And we've landed. There is an escort waiting for you." Danny nodded, and followed her to the door. He stepped off the plane, and tried desperately not to collapse. His legs felt so weak he half wondered if he really only floated along, because he couldn't imagine legs this weak being able to hold him up. With a gulp and a prayer of thanks that he didn't still have something in his stomach, he managed to walk towards the body-guard-type men standing at the door of a black limousine. Typical Vlad.

"Daniel Fenton?" One of the dark-suited men asked. Danny nodded, and when motioned to, slid into the back seat of the expensive car. The numbness returned as he curled up into a ball in the comfortable, soft seat. He knew he was being treated to the very best, but it didn't matter, Danny still hated his life.