The next morning, at breakfast, with grim determination, Danny ate more then he had in weeks, much to Vlad's relief. He polished off the eggs and sausage before him and downed the glass of orange juice, then turned to Vlad.
"I was thinking that I could help you out in the lab today if you don't mind," he remarked simply. Vlad could tell that it wasn't something that Danny was actually looking forward to with enthusiasm, but at the same time, he didn't want to miss an opportunity to reach out to Danny in his time of need.
"Very well," he replied. "I'll be going down after I finish my breakfast. You can help me test some new equipment I've been working on."
"Thanks," Danny nodded. He waited patiently for Vlad to finish, eyeing the older half-ghost's every move. Vlad had made an art out of not feeling anything even remotely close to guilt over anything and Danny was now determined to emulate it. If he could just stop feeling all of the horrid emotions that he had been faced with lately, he was positive that he might actually be able to move on with his life. His first step to that end had been to swear to himself that he would never care about another person again as long as he lived. Not hard so far since the only person he had any real contact with anymore was Vlad.
Of course, he was not about to tell that to Vlad. Somehow, he knew that Vlad would disagree with this new outlook on life that Danny was going for. He had caught Vlad a few times going to the entrance hall by himself, although Danny had not stepped foot in it since his initial arrival. Danny pushed aside the little voice in his head that was telling him that this was because Vlad was indeed feeling guilty and sad at the same time.
When they went to the lab, Danny was amazed to see the changes Vlad had made to it since he had last been in there. He cringed at the sudden memory. He had last been in the lab when he was with his family for his dad's college reunion. That was when he had first discovered that Vlad was also a half-ghost and that he was obsessed with Danny's mom. A tear started to creep into Danny's eye, but he quickly clawed his arm to rid himself of it. He was determined not to cry anymore.
Vlad started explaining the various experiments to Danny, and he noticed that as he did so, Vlad's voice became slightly more excited. It seemed that he was enjoying this time with his new 'son.'
"What are those?" Danny asked, pointing to a pair of large claw-like gloves on a work-bench. They reminded him of Wolf's claws in a strange sort of way, only more real and less ghost.
"Oh, yes," remarked Vlad with a smile. "Those are the Vlad Plasmius Ghost Gloves. I made them so that I would be able to separate ghosts from solid objects. Silly really. I created them back when …," he paused for a moment.
"Back when you were still fighting me?" Danny finished for him.
"Well, yes, actually. I told you it was silly."
"And just how did you plan on using it?" Danny's curiosity was getting the better of him.
"Well, you see. You just put them on and you can grab ghosts. If the ghost is hiding behind something solid you can reach through and pull it out, while you are corporeal. I thought it a good idea considering what happened in Colorado. I couldn't exactly risk you turning me back to human form again without some way to continue fighting you."
"I see." Danny reached out and gently stroked the gloves as thoughts began to form in his head.
"Yes, I am sorry about that. I know it must seem so petty now, but you know how it is, or um, was…"
"Can they be used to un-possess people?" Danny interrupted.
"What do you mean?"
"You said that you can reach through solid objects to pull a ghost through. Does that mean that if a ghost is possessing an object it can be pulled from that object?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. That was one of the first test I ran with it," Vlad smiled. "The ability to separate ghost matter from physical matter is one of its prime applications."
Danny picked up the gloves lovingly. Perhaps he did not need to follow Vlad's lead after all. Perhaps there was another way. An easier way.
"Can they be used to ripe away a ghost's human half?" he asked. Vlad laughed.
"Well I suppose so, but who would want to..." He stopped in mid sentence. Danny was standing completely still, his eyes wide with awe, never leaving the gloves. In an instance Vlad knew what Danny was thinking. The idea sent a shiver of cold down his spine.
"Daniel," Vlad continued, suddenly serious again. "You can't be serious. You can't just run away from your human side."
"Can't I?" he retorted bitterly. "Ghosts don't have to feel anything. They have it easy. If I'm nothing but a ghost then..."
Vlad watched, half amazed, half frightened at the look on Danny's face.
"I don't want to be human anymore!" Danny yelled as he turned toward Vlad. A fire erupted in his eyes and sneer curled his lips. "If being human means hurting all the time now, then I don't want it! Make me a ghost!"
"My boy, What you're thinking... what you're asking... Do you realize that if I do that, you can't go back?"
"I don't care," Danny spit. "Just do it!"
Vlad started to put a hand on Danny's shoulder and quickly withdrew it at the look on the boy's face. Heaving a heavy sigh he lowered his head. "Very well," he muttered. "But it will take some time to get everything ready, so it will have to wait until tomorrow."
"That's fine with me," Danny said as he stalked out of the lab. "Tomorrow is just as good as any other day."
Vlad watched the retreating figure of Danny Fenton. Had he always had that much fire and passion in his soul. If so, it definitely explained why Vlad had never quite been able to defeat him properly. Well, at least he bought himself some time. Hopefully once Danny had a good nights sleep he would realize what a foolish request he was making.
At least, Vlad hoped he would.