Disclaimer: I don't own DP.
Thanks to starwater09, Invader Johnny, Above the Winter Moonlight, Margot-Eve, KimiruMai, KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun, Agest1, Africanvintage, Trish, ZoneRobotnik, Dareeen, and an impressive number of unnamed Guests for reviewing last time! I really appreciate it.
Shot Summary: A universe crossover between Aftermath and Dan's Secret VALentine Plans. Clockwork temporarily takes the Ghost King Dan Phantom and Queen Valerie Gray's baby and places him in the hands of a Dan and Val from another universe. Parental crises abound.
Chapter Warnings: Some mild sexual content/innuendos.
Deliverance
Shot 36: When Worlds Collide Part 3
The Ravager of Worlds sighed as he stretched out on the bed. "Let's refrain from awakening Jax ever again."
It was now well past 1:00 a.m. with Valerie in an even more cranky mood. "No shit," she huffed, pulling back the bed comforter and blankets and scooting herself in, flinging her curls as she collapsed down. "I'm tired, I'm going to sleep—don't do anything to wake the kid up." She then turned on her side, facing away from him.
He sputtered out a curl of her hair with a bit of disgust as he moved his head. "Then do not moan in pleasure for me, and our child will not wake up in horror."
Valerie's eyes narrowed to slits, and she hissed out, "Then don't touch me."
His face twisted as he moved to get under the blankets as well. "That is a wicked idea. Simply do not make noise." He curled up against her, casting his muscled arm over her waist to anchor to her. "Or I could spirit us away to the Ghost Zone, where you could moan and writhe in pleasure all you want."
A blush peppered over her face, and she was thankful that he could not see it. "Shut up," she snapped. "You're the one who wanted to watch a baby."
"Yes, but I have another need too," he complained, sinking his cold fingertips between the hem of her shirt and pajama pants, brushing against her warm stomach just under her belly button. The friction of his callouses sent goose-bumps through her again. "Why not indulge both?"
She pressed her lips together tightly to fight off the wave of attraction she felt for him, and she grabbed onto his hand and pulled it out from under her clothes and set it firmly around her. "This wasn't why I came here with you," she said, voice strained.
Dan fell silent, then complained softly, "You were more than willing not long ago."
She felt some kind of nervous anxiety at the thought, wondering what would have happened had Jax not interrupted. It made her body burn, and it took all of her strength to rein in her thoughts. "Just…go to sleep," she mumbled into her pillow.
"I do not require sleep."
"Well, I do."
"That is a terrible weakness, Valerie dear. You should do something about that."
"No. I love sleep."
She could almost feel the roll of his eyes, his cold breath billowing out on her neck with a huff. "More than you love me?"
"I don't love you. I hate you."
"Well then," he said, voice a low rumble that vibrated her skin, even as his fingers still caressed her through her clothes. "I hate you too."
It was easy enough to fall asleep on that luxury bed, gathered up in soft blankets and soft pillows. But Valerie's dreams were less than pleasant most nights, and tonight was no different. In her dream, she found herself staring at a jail wall. Nathan had hung himself. His incarceration for stalking and attempting to murder her and Dan had been too much. He was swinging in the silence, body limp, green eyes bulged and a smile on his face. The word Freedom had been scratched into the wall.
The slightest movements of the air made the body swing toward her, his face leering.
Valerie backed away, swallowing hard. The cold air had goose bumped her skin and made the hair on the back of her neck raise up. "Oh my god. What the hell is this." She turned around, wide eyed, to find a guard.
And then she froze.
Staring back at her was a familiar face. It was a bloated, green-skinned Nathan with red eyes. He was floating a few inches off the floor. His neck bore a rope-burn scar just barely hidden by his jail uniform. "Valerie," he rasped.
She cried out, immediately calling forth her battle suit. It didn't work.
This dead, ghostly Nathan flew through the bars of the cell, his bulged eyes staring straight through her. He smiled. "Valerie."
She backed up, only to nearly collide with Nathan's dead, swinging body. She hit the wall beside it, the sound a quiet thump. "Oh my god, don't come near me," she demanded, her fear turning to terror. She didn't have any weapons.
His smile turned into a smirk.
"But you like ghosts," he hissed. He reached out, and she flinched when his cold, dead fingers touched her face. She could not move. It seemed every muscle in her body was frozen with fear, even though her heart pounded. "Do you know what I can do now?"
He suddenly shoved her against the wall with an inhuman force, one hand wrapping around her neck as the other trailed down her body. Valerie gasped, eyes widening as she tried to pry him off. He left slime on her skin wherever he touched her, staining her clothes. Then she realized he was pulling on her clothes as he choked her, and her heart skipped a beat.
She flinched when the ghost-Nathan tore the collar of her shirt.
In the real world, a sudden jerk of the mattress woke up Dan. His eyes snapped open, half-expecting an attack of some kind—only to realize that nothing but Valerie was moving.
The woman lying beside him was as tense as a board, the lines of her body tight as she flinched again.
Dan forced himself up on his elbows to watch Valerie curiously, only to realize she was still dreaming—having a nightmare of some kind.
He marveled at the emotions it forged within him. In the past, he would have killed this woman at first sign of weakness, but now even her nightmares inspired his protective instincts. He reached for her and wrapped a heavy arm around her waist. Then he pressed his nose in her hair wild mane of hair, nuzzling her until every line of her body was encased in his.
With his touch, Valerie relaxed. The furrow in her brow and her grimace smoothed.
In her dream, the ghost-Nathan disappeared into the mists like water. The slime of his touch slipped off her skin. The heavy weight around her like a blanket, covering her from the dark air. She did not quite understand the presence, but she knew in that moment she was not alone and that the ghost-Nathan was gone.
Valerie sunk into Dan's arms, falling into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.
When the infamous Dan Phantom woke up hours later, still in his human illusion, he was initially confused. First—that he was neither in the Wastelands nor Valerie's room at the resistance. Second—that the space beside him was cold and empty. Valerie was gone.
He shot up, false-blue eyes wide and hair in a tangled mess. He half-wondered if Valerie had disappeared into the bathroom. Or in fact left for good, which she'd threatened to several times.
His face twisted in light panic. She would not do that. Surely, she would not. She would at least slap him and tell him first. Then he saw the Eden Resorts notepad on the bedside table with familiar scrawl on it.
Went to store. Grabbing food. Will be back soon. – V
"Ah," he breathed in relief, not quite recognizing that he'd just had a fairly needy fear. "Valerie needs to eat. Yes. Perhaps she will also bring back some bacon."
Universe restored, he then leaned over the edge of the bed and looked down curiously. A wide-awake Jax looked up at him from within the dresser drawer, his blankets half-unraveled with a sloppily tied, new diaper strapped around him.
Dan blinked, and then an amused smirk curled his lips. "Well, well," he murmured. "It appears Valerie dear cares after all."
The baby gurgled at him, blue eyes big with awe. Jax had felt his father's power core like a heartbeat all through the morning, but now he could physically see him. He gave him a big, toothless smile.
The paternal instincts hardwired in Dan's brain flared up, melting his dead heart. He narrowed his eyes playfully at the baby. "Have you been lying there quietly this whole time?" he asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that it was just past 9:00 a.m. "After you wailed against me last night?"
The baby giggled, reaching up for his rather human-looking father.
Dan gracefully twisted off the bed and kneeled beside the baby's makeshift bed. "If you saw me as I am, would you recognize me further—or would I terrify you more?" He looked around, making sure that all the doors were shut and windows were closed off. Then he lifted his illusion, his skin bleeding a full blue, his eyes darkening to a glowing red. His black hair flickered up and began to glow a snow white.
The baby blinked. And then he smiled again. Now this was his father! He reached up for him happily, his cute face stretching wide, and Dan was not one to deny his own heir. The ghost gently gathered the baby from the dresser drawer and pulled him close. He savored the way Jax felt against his natural skin—a little bundle of heat, not unlike Valerie.
Dan took to floating a few inches off the floor, cradling his child. "So it is not me personally," he murmured to himself. "If you were afraid of me, you would have cried by now."
Jax nuzzled into him, twisting his own black hair until some of it stood up straight.
"So why did you react so terribly to me touching Valerie?" Dan wondered absentmindedly, leaning his cheek against the top of the baby's head. "Are you that averse to sharing her? Or is it something else?"
The baby's chubby, small fingers grabbed onto his jaw, then slipped away. For that blip of a second, Dan felt a prickly sensation in the back of his mind. A second consciousness. It was a chaotic feeling that pulled with a minor frustration—as if the mind did not have the words to explain. Or perhaps maybe the mind did not entirely understand either.
Dan hummed, senses sharpening. He wanted it happen again. He could feel a raw, untrained tap of Jax's mind. This was a new power of sorts, or perhaps baby steps toward overshadowing. "You little devil," he murmured in interest. "Attempting to overshadow me, your own father?"
Jax huffed at him, his small face sliding a bit against Dan's chest as he wiggled further. His fingers began to glow red, and he disjointedly touched Dan's collarbone. This time, the prickle Dan felt was stronger. The frustration had expanded into something like an enduring love and tiredness. A lot of tiredness.
For a second, Dan felt the murky hum of voices in Jax's memory. They were raised, angry. There was a sudden struggle, then a pained, female gasp. "Don't…get away from me!"
But then it was gone.
It hit Dan after a few seconds that the voices were himself…and Valerie. He blinked, instinctively holding the baby closer as he felt its nameless emotions. He sat down on the bed, red eyes wide and sightless. For a second or two, he could not separate his mind from the flicker of sounds that had just invaded him from Jax.
He remained silent for a long time, feeling the heat of the baby in his arms.
He felt a deep uncertainty that something was wrong with the Valerie and Dan Phantom of Jax's universe—the very least that Jax was not born out of love.
Once Dan had dressed into his jeans and a dark shirt, he paced around the room, staring down at the baby he'd placed into the dresser drawer on the floor. "I will get to the bottom of this," he promised Jax. "I will not allow you to return to a world where you hold fear for your parents."
The baby's blue eyes—so much like his own once upon a life—scrunched up, and then he squirmed in his swaddled blankets.
Dan's eyes softened only the slightest, and then he called out wearily to the ceiling, "I know you are watching, Clockwork. I would speak with you now."
There was a slight delay. And then the air twisted. The time ghost appeared as easily as a breeze, boasting the bony and tired form of an old man. His clouded, red eyes stared at Dan with a miserable sort of amusement. "And now you want my presence."
The Ravager of Worlds sneered at him. "Not for the company, I assure you." He pointed at Jax. "You know information about the world in which he was born. I demand to know why this child is fearful of Valerie being attacked by me."
Clockwork hummed, tilting his head. "The Valerie and Phantom of his world have issues," he said. "As you have yours here."
He stepped forward. "He connected his mind to mine," the ghost pressed, his false-blue eyes flashing with irritation until they strained with red. "You know what I heard."
"Yes."
"I want to speak with her—this ill Valerie for whom Jax feels great fear. I demand to know why I heard what I did."
"You cannot interact with her in any way," Clockwork said dryly. "You would create yet a temporal distortion resulting in death."
Dan his eyes and hardened the line of his lips. "This is Valerie, dammit," he snapped. "I know you are withholding important information from me."
"And what would you do with your beloved information?" Clockwork asked airily. "Even if you discovered something against your liking, you cannot undo the mechanics of another world."
"But you can," Dan accused. "I am not a puppet for your amusement, and neither is Jax nor Valerie."
"Then I shall say I am not your puppet either, and you cannot sway me from my decision to bar the further crossing of worlds."
Dan growled.
Clockwork tilted his head and remained silent for a second or two. Then he said, "But I shall allow you to gaze upon this other Valerie Gray, so that you might understand helplessness." And he raised his scepter, and from it bore a portal—like a glass window.
Dan gave the ghost a weary look. "Helplessness? What is this, another ridiculous morality lesson?"
"Yes," the old ghost said, almost merry about it. And then the portal before them came to life, bleeding into colors and shapes.
A vision into another universe soon took full form. It appeared to be some well-decorated room in a Ghost Zone castle. Shreds of green light flickered through heavy shades. And in the corner of the room was a wrought-iron bed with blankets and pillows.
Dan's eyes narrowed, and he stepped closer to the portal. He could see the shadow of a woman in the tangle of blankets. "Valerie," he breathed. He touched the portal, as if to touch her face.
The Valerie in the portal looked sick as he mostly expected. She was breathing hard, her dark skin pale. Sweat beaded down her temples and matted ringlet hair. Her trembling hand covered the blanketed swell of her stomach, which was still round from giving birth.
"She is miserable," he whispered, false-blue eyes narrowed in awe. The wiring in his brain fired with some sort of directive to help her. Kwan had nervously explained that the woman was ill from some kind of post-partum infection. He found himself staring at her swollen belly, which would never happen in his world where ghosts and humans could not make children together. And yet, here it was, killing her.
Clockwork said, "Believe it or not, the medication provided by this world's astute doctor has already improved her condition."
"Improved it?" Dan said, incredulous. He whipped around to glare at the time ghost. "She looks half-dead."
"Like I said, an improvement. She will not die now."
"And where am I?" Dan demanded, almost offended. "Why am I not at her side or offering her my energy?"
"You're on your way back from a rather impressive rampage. But in that universe, you are not capable of transmitting healing energy to a human," Clockwork said, raising a brow. "Not that it matters."
Dan nearly lost it. His eyes sparked red, and when his lip curled back, a sharp fang glinted. "You son of a bitch. You're enjoying this. I could save her from pain right now, and yet you let her lay there in agony."
"What concern," Clockwork murmured. "It is as if you actually care for this woman out of some selfless goodwill."
"Do not patronize me." His human skin flickered in fury, nearly dropping. "Bring her here, or take me to her. I would not have her stay in that universe like this. She is ill, and there is something wrong between her and…me of that universe."
The rise of his voice caught the attention of the baby Jax, who began to whine for his father.
Clockwork looked almost sad. "You already know what is wrong, and that your presence would do only harm."
Then the time ghost was gone, the portal—and the image of the sick Valerie—swirling into dust.
Valerie walked in an hour later, carrying a bundle of bags. Dan blurred toward her and wrapped his arms around her middle. She squeaked in surprise and dropped the bags, eyes widening as she suddenly found herself pressed against him, his cold nose burrowing into her warm neck.
He said nothing for a long while.
She tentatively wrapped her arms around him, relaxing into the embrace. "You okay?" There was something in his touch that seemed desperate and off.
His voice was a vibration against her skin. "You are suffering," he murmured petulantly, nuzzling into her. "In Jax's universe, lying on a bed in sickness."
Valerie blinked. She was in fact standing in a hotel room, wrapped in the arms of her enemy. "I don't feel it," she said awkwardly.
His long fingers ran down her spine, as if in worship of it. "Clockwork showed me an image of the other world," he said, voice strained with odd patterns. "You were in great pain from what I had done to you."
Her skin goose-bumped at his intimate touch, but something about it made her feel like glass. She tentatively touched her hand to his clothed side. "Maybe it's fair," she whispered. Through his thin shirt, she could still feel the uneven scars from the fusion bullets he'd taken to protect her. "You were sick because of me not too long ago."
He rolled his eyes. "You did not shoot me; that worm Nathan did." His hands slid down her hips, still in awe of the concept of this woman—some version of her—giving birth to his child. And then he pulled back, as if suddenly afraid that his touch would hurt her. That somehow, Valerie Gray would always suffer from his affections.
Her face twitched with disappointment at the loss of his touch. She grew a bit hesitant and said, "Look, I don't know what you saw, but we got that medicine to the, uh, other-me, right? And it's not like she would've had a baby if she didn't want it. She'll be fine."
Some kind of strange uncertainty on his face.
He knew the real problem.
It was him.
Valerie moved close to him, gazing up at him. "Don't look so worried," she said. She raised a hand to stroke his face, guiding him to look at her. A sort of miserable smile twitched her lips. "I'm tough."
His long fingers raised over hers, feeling the small scars on her strong hands. "I know."
"Now come on," she said, pulling away. "Help me get these clothes on Jax."
"…You bought him clothes?"
She huffed. "What, you think we can really walk around with him all swaddled in silver thread without someone saying something?"
Dan's false-blue eyes swiveled to the bag on the floor, and he peered into it. There was a little striped onesie, a hat, and a coat—all matching.
"Oh, Valerie," he said, the tension in his face lightening with a small amusement. "You do care."
The air was crisp with spring, the remains of snow having melted away under the higher temperatures. Valerie held Jax for the sole purpose that she was far warmer than Dan, and little Jax clung to her, dressed in his new clothes. His blue eyes were bright with excitement.
Valerie seemed more confident holding the baby, and the baby seemed more confident in holding up his own head and looking around, bouncing happily in his mother's arms.
"Momma's boy," Dan complained to the child as he walked beside them, face in a twist as he stuck his empty hands into his leather jacket's pockets. He'd wanted to hold the baby—but then Jax had whined for Valerie, and he could not deny the child's wishes.
Silly child. It should have known that Dan loved him more.
They were wandering about Eden on its stone sidewalks, drinking in the day. "He just wants me cause I'm warm," Valerie muttered, trying not to smile at the jealousy in Dan's voice.
"Nothing personal then, huh."
"Nope."
The sidewalk of the stone city opened up into a small park around the nearby lake. The wind whipped between them, a few other people wandering about with dogs and children. The trees shaded the path, but it seemed that Dan attracted the shadows more—as if light bent away for him, whereas the light seemed to gravitate toward Valerie.
"Have you thought on my proposal?" Dan asked, looking out at the lake before them, which was still frozen in the center.
Valerie shifted the baby in her arms. "Not really."
His face faulted, and he turned to her. "How can that be?"
"Hey, I got up super early and took care of Jax while you drooled all over my pillow. Kinda didn't have time. And it wasn't really a proposal."
His eyes flashed. "What do you mean by that."
"You told me to marry you," she huffed, "in this weird-ass, demand-ish way. I had to put two and two together to figure out what you were even wanting."
"And what is it that Valerie wants, hmm? You have not answered either way."
The human woman fell silent, feeling constricted. Jax felt her anxiety, and he turned his head to look up at her curiously, his big blue eyes wide. "What's the point in getting married," she muttered to hide her apprehension. "It'll just make me look like an idiot. And it sounds so…" her face twisted "…traditional and 1950s-ish. That ain't me."
His thin lips stretched, although not entirely in humor. "A marriage is ultimately an agreement. How it's done, why it's done—these things are quite fluid. Set aside your 1950s fears, Valerie dear. When I say, 'Rule with me,' I do mean it. And not at all in a wholesome way."
A blush curled through her skin, lighting her cheeks. She turned away. "The last time I ever thought about marriage, I was like, 12. You can't just spring this kind of shit on me."
He rolled his eyes. "Perhaps I should retract my thought, then, if you are so averse to it. I simply thought it an expedient solution to our…various problems."
"And it would create way more problems in the meantime," she retorted, readjusting Jax's hat in a motherly way. The baby smiled at her. Damn that he was so cute when he smiled. Damn that Dan was cute too. "I mean, even if we figured out how to work the system, I don't know a damn thing about your world or what Queen even means."
"Ah, so you are in favor of my proposal?"
"Dammit, it wasn't a proposal. It was you getting all up in my face and demanding it."
He scoffed. "I was in your face for a very functional reason. But tell me, you who hates the 1950s—what sort of 'proposal' are you looking for?" His voice grew dry. "I'm afraid I killed off the white horse and the white knight."
She narrowed her eyes and stopped walking. "That's not what I meant. Just asking like I have an option would be nice."
"I'm not nice."
"I know. That's why I'm questioning my sanity right now."
A more genuine smile stretched his lips at that. His false-blue eyes locked on hers, his expression growing mockingly soft. "Valerie dear," he murmured and reached out to stroke her face, "the mother of my child in some other world. Would you tie yourself to me and become the Queen of the Ghost Zone?"
The baby in her arms giggled, reaching out in joy at the closeness of his parents and the soft rhythm of his father's voice.
Valerie's eyes glinted with mischief. "And for what ungodly unreason would I say yes?"
Dan was not to be turned. "For the reason that we have spent a decade tormenting each other, and we will be quite miserable unless this continues."
She huffed teasingly. "I don't know, I got a lot of scars from you."
From a distance, they appeared as a young couple sharing a sweet moment. Dan stepped closer, one large hand caressing down Valerie's back to pull her closer and the other sweeping up to stroke her face again. "I promised payment in full for each," he said, his baritone voice a hum between guilt and amusement. "You can collect at any time."
Valerie leaned into his touch. "And what do I get for payment?" she demanded petulantly.
"Something I'm afraid would be too inappropriate to explain before Jax," he murmured, "given his previous reaction to our…explorations." And then he pulled away. The light touch of his calloused skin against hers sent chills down her spine.
She closed her eyes, struggling to remember that she had a baby in her arms and that she was in public. "You tease," she complained.
"I'm the one still waiting for an answer to my proposal."
At that, Valerie opened her eyes. Something in her looked unsteady and vulnerable. The wind ruffled her thick, ringlet hair—a piece of which Jax managed to grasp onto in delight. "Well, I guess I kinda have been tied to you for years. It probably wouldn't be that much different."
His face faulted. "I swoon you with a romantic proposal, and you respond with, 'I guess?'"
"Hey, you're not even the Ghost King yet," she retorted. "So half of that proposal was just hypothetical anyway." She winced when Jax pulled on her hair, and then she pulled back to try and grab it from his hot, little hands. "Ouch, dammit, that hurts."
Jax gurgled at her, blue eyes wide in curiosity of her hair, which was stiff and sleek.
Dan huffed. "The hypothetical component does not solve your inherent hesitance in saying yes." He slid his eyes to her, suddenly more guarded. "For what reason are you not convinced?"
"For the same reason I'm not sure I'm really holding a baby and talking to you about ruling another dimension together."
"Valerie dear, this is standard conversation with one such as I."
"Well, I kinda need a moment here. It's not like you're asking me to partner in the biggest conspiracy of the century or anything." Her stomach began to grumble at her, and the vibration made the baby in her arms giggle. "And I'm hungry."
Sometime later found them in the mall of Eden to grab lunch for Valerie.
Dan fed the baby from a bottle while Valerie worked on a turkey bacon sandwich, and he reveled in the way Jax's hot little hands reached out to touch his own. "I do believe he's getting more coordinated," Dan hummed in delight as he watched the baby slurp down the milk. "Look at this. He might yet rule worlds."
"Or play electric guitar," Valerie teased, voice muffled from the food in her mouth.
Dan's face twitched, but he said nothing, instead focusing his attention on the baby in his arms. Jax's wide blue eyes were staring up at him in total trust, despite all that he knew. In that moment, he had visions of teaching this child to fly, watching it grow into a strong man…He and Valerie ruling the Ghost Zone together and teaching the child all the greatest battle strategies…
He felt a sense of protectiveness swell for this child—and a dread. Clockwork would soon come to take Jax away and restore him to his true parents.
You are just a pawn to them, he thought as he watched the child's eyes close in tiredness. If they do not love each other, for what other reason would Valerie possibly give birth to you?
The muddled sound of Valerie's fearful cry still wavered in Dan's memory. His own voice had been twisted in a tease as usual, but Valerie…she had been afraid.
Valerie gently kicked his foot beneath the table. "Yo, hey. Space cadet. I've been calling your name. Did you short circuit or something?"
Dan blinked and looked up at her suddenly. "No," he said, dark brows angling with irritation. "I am simply contemplating ways to keep this child to us."
The woman bit down on her sandwich again, eyeing him. "This Clockwork guy," she said, mouth full. "How powerful is he?"
The disguised Ravager of Worlds looked away. "Powerful," he muttered reluctantly. It pained him to admit it.
"He's the Master of Time, right?" She swallowed again, not quite noticing that she had crumbs trailing from the side of her lips. It made her look much younger and innocent. "So is he, like, watching over us right now?"
"…Yes." Dan turned to look at her, half in the mood to tease her. "And you have food on your face."
Her cheeks tinged red, and she wiped her mouth. She always felt less graceful around him, who always seemed so superior to his mundane surroundings. "So, uh, was he watching when we…?"
"When we what?" Dan's face sharpened with a dark amusement. "When we were adult-type touching each other?"
That blush of hers darkened. "Dammit, you don't have to say that so loud."
He could not resist the temptation to tease her further. "I would adult-type touch you any time, regardless of whether Clockwork were watching." He watched her fingers tighten on her sandwich, her body stiffening. "But never fear. Clockwork looks at a timeline only when he thinks it in trouble."
"Are we in trouble right now?" she whispered.
A smirk stretched his thin lips. "Oh, we're at the top of the list. And I have a suspicion that you're quite the vocal lover, which would certainly draw unwanted attention from many sources."
She set her sandwich down and narrowed her eyes, her blush now spreading to the tips of her ears. "You stop that right now."
"You mean you haven't imagined the way you'd gasp and moan if I thrust my—?"
Valerie quickly pulled a piece of bacon out from her sandwich and shoved it in his mouth, fingers shaking.
Before she could pull away, Dan's cool lips trailed against her fingertips, his tongue catching crumbs. His eyes never left hers. And then he pulled away slowly, chewing on the bacon in a way that suggested he wasn't thinking of bacon.
Valerie spent the rest of the day attempting to distract them from each other. She dragged Dan and the baby to various shops and bookstores, only the latter of which was able to break Dan of his incessant teasing. His eyes lit up in great appreciation. "Would you look at that," he murmured. The entire bookstore had been carved out of the cliff stone, with shelves and shelves piling high in a circle around the store. He had his eye on the "Rare Books" section.
Jax wiggled about in Dan's arms, reaching toward new colors to touch them. His intelligent eyes soaked up everything he saw and heard, and he whined when Dan didn't hold him in a way that allowed him to see everything.
"The Epic of Gilgamesh," Dan's baritone voice echoed in wonder, reaching up with his free hand to touch the spine of an old book. It was one of the first English translations from the 1800s. The spine was a worn red with gold lettering.
Valerie leaned against the shelf, eyebrow raised in amusement at the look on Dan's face. "I don't think I've ever seen you froth at the mouth before, except for bacon."
"Shut up," he said without force, too distracted to care about being teased. His false-blue eyes were focused on the book, and he pulled it from the shelf. The baby in his arms reached out disjointedly to touch the cover. "This was one of the first stories ever written."
"And why do you like it so much?" the woman sighed, trying not to roll her yes.
"It is about a king's quest for eternal life," he murmured. "To understand the mechanisms of death."
The baby cooed, delighted by the smoothness of the gold lettering.
Valerie hummed and crossed her arms. "I don't think that book's gonna have much to say you don't already know."
His lips twitched, although not with humor. "No," he agreed. Then he pulled the book away from the baby's grasp. "But I remember this story. Growing up with it." He had vague memories of a young Vlad Masters hiding away from his father and reading old myths in a forgotten mansion corridor. "A useless sentiment I thought I had destroyed."
Jax gave a huff of frustration as he reached for the book, whining to touch it again. Dan's face softened, even though he set the book back on the shelf.
It struck Valerie then that Dan was trying to say something—that he was trying to share something about himself with this child. A history. A love of myth and epics.
She leaned her head against the shelf nearby, watching him as he stepped back to look at all the rare books, pointing them out to Jax—who wiggled about in rapt attention despite having little comprehension of what his father said.
It hit her that she could get used to this. To Dan.
The thought sent a chill of fear and excitement down her spine.
Later that evening, they laid on the bed together, Jax a bundle of blankets between them. A stack of books rested on the bedside table, thanks to Dan's insistent demand that Valerie read them.
"I do not want to let him go," Dan murmured, running a calloused finger down the baby's face. His lips twitched at the coo from the baby and the way Jax's intelligent eyes tracked his movements. "I would watch him grow into a ruler of worlds."
"We still have another day with him," Valerie said, propping her head up, spilling ringlet curls down her shoulder.
"A day is not enough." There was a pattern of anxiety in Dan's baritone voice, roughing his usual tone. "I will never again see a child of our blood."
As there was no way to refute that, Valerie remained silent, simply watching him make over the child. The sight was still quite odd to her, as she remembered several times when this strange being had shot at children and laughed—when he had purposely targeted the weak for a game. And now here he was, lying next to one, propped up on his elbow in order to tickle the baby's belly and thread fingers through Jax's ever-growing hair. The baby seemed to preen under the soft attention from him.
"I do not want to give him back," Dan murmured darkly. "Not to anyone."
"I know."
"You hardly even care about him," the ghost retorted.
Valerie's face twisted. "I care too. It's just that he's a baby, and I'm not exactly…I dunno. He'd be better off with his real parents."
Dan gave her a sharp look. "You do not know that." And then he fell silent in fear of revealing the troubles with Jax's universe.
The human woman huffed, her teal eyes flashing. "We're just temporary replacements. It's not worth getting so attached to him."
But the damage was already done. The little sneak had wormed his way into Dan's cold, dark heart, cracking the sides. The man's face pulled with an agony as he said, "How can you deny your own flesh so easily?"
"Because he's not mine," she pressed. "He's cute and all, but he was meant for that other world. Didn't that Clockwork guy say that keeping him here much longer would make something bad happen?"
"What does Clockwork know," Dan muttered. "The bastard manipulates time to his own liking."
Valerie watched him, taking in this odd, paternal side of Dan. "Maybe you can talk him into seeing Jax. You know, in the future."
The ghost laughed something dark and bitter. "Clockwork is a cruel being. He has already stated that I will never see this child again, and he does not lie."
Something in Valerie's heart pulled at seeing the strange misery on Dan's face. Given his human illusion, he looked akin to the haggard parents whose injured children had lain in the infirmary for days. Valerie had seen many children slowly die, their parents waiting in agony for the inevitable. Dan's face carried the same dread of impending loss.
Of all people on the planet, Dan likely deserved his agony. But it did not make watching it any easier.
Valerie reached out over the baby to touch Dan's face. The simple action seemed to jar the ghost out of his mood, his false-blue eyes looking into hers as he grabbed onto her hand to caress the backs of her fingers.
This was weakness. Everything about it was weakness.
"…Did you really mean it?" she whispered. "About the…ruling thing. Your proposal."
His eyes searched hers, his pain dampening with a bit of curiosity. "I did not suggest it lightly."
She paused for a second, feeling vulnerable. "If anyone discovered us, I'd be killed for treason."
"I would not allow you to die." His rough fingertips slipped from her hand down her arm.
"Would I ever be able to see my friends again if we did this?" she whispered. "My father?"
"I imagine so," he murmured, sweeping her curls off her shoulder. "Provided we can create a believable construct."
"Don't you get tired of lying, though?" Chills stormed down her spine at his touch. "I'd have to lie for the rest of my life."
He was tracing her collarbone now. "Then I shall withhold my plans from you, and when the time comes, you will not have to lie."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "It doesn't work that way. I'll still have to lie about all of this."
"You already are," he murmured to her. He swept his fingers lower than her collarbone, tracing the line of her side down to the full swell of her hips. Her skin goose-bumped. "But I'd hate to further disrupt your moral conscience."
Valerie huffed with several kinds of frustration. "No, you wouldn't. You're enjoying this. Watching me squirm."
His voice dropped with a tease. "I would rather make you squirm in a different way." His cool hand rested upon her hips.
She swallowed hard, eyes tightening in desire. She whispered hesitantly, "…Then don't make me regret saying yes." And she leaned in to kiss him, stretching his mouth open with her full lips. He submitted with a hum of pleasure, his long fingers sweeping up from her hips to sink into her ringlet curls. Their movements were more confident now, the action too easy of a compromise.
Only the curious coo of an awake baby between them made them break apart.
A/N: There will be one more chapter of this crossover, and then I shall return to a full Aftermath update.
Thanks to all for the well wishes! I'm doing a little better lately, and I even took a full week off work to recuperate. I've been working on transferring files from my old laptop (it finally kicked the bucket) to my new one, and so I'm very behind on updating all my stories. This one was mostly complete, so I'm getting it out the door first.
Please let me know your thoughts, comments, ideas, or constructive criticism. I always love reading your reviews!
