Disclaimer: I don't own DP.

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Karma won for next upload, so here it is! (With an Aftermath update to soon follow.)

Overall Miniseries Summary for Karma:Dan challenges Pariah Dark for the position of Ghost King and loses badly. As a result, Pariah Dark rips out Dan's power core, cuts out his tongue, and tortures him to make him an example for other enemies. He then throws a broken Dan to the resistance before claiming the human world as part of his empire. Valerie struggles with what to do regarding their strange prisoner and how to stop Pariah Dark before he destroys them all. Hurt!Dan.

Summary for Karma Part 8:Dan begins to heal from scars of his past, to face a new challenge.


Deliverance

Shot 51: Karma Part 8


"Valerie dear," a familiar, older man called as he walked toward her, "you're lucky I owe you several favors." He carried a dark, fluffy towel over one arm. His voice was a soft echo, just like the click of his shoes.

All resistance members had been forewarned that Dan would be moving under supervision, and so the halls around them were fully abandoned.

The woman nodded at Vlad, relief overcoming her. "I was afraid no one would help me." She'd had to request special permission through her father to allow Dan to move outside of the infirmary. After that battle, she'd then asked Kwan if he would help and received an apologetic 'no,' in fear of Dan's increasing instinctive violence. So she begged at the feet of the very man who'd started this whole venture in healing Phantom.

A spark of amusement lit Vlad's wrinkling face. "Are you sure you do not wish to help him bathe? After all, he likes you."

She blushed and glared at him, sputtering, "Don't even joke about that. Ghost or not, he's a guy." Her voice broke into a hiss in fear that someone would overhear.

The man got a laugh out of the blush on Valerie's face. "I do believe he would still prefer you over me."

"Yeah? Well, he's not gonna have a choice on this," Valerie crossed her arms, her face still dark red. "You remember everything I told you?"

Vlad nodded. The Red Huntress had been quite clear that this Phantom was skittish and not entirely docile. The long-term mission was to gain his trust. The short-term mission was to get him cleaned up without a major incident. "I've brought no weapons and—" he pulled a book from out of his back pocket— "I have some material to read while I babysit."

Valerie raised a finger. "Do not call this babysitting to his face. He'll bite you, and I won't blame him."

"Is that how you got your injury?" the older man asked, tilting her chin at her hand, which was still bandaged.

She deadpanned, "Something like that."

"And his ability to walk? Are you sure a wheelchair isn't a good idea?"

Valerie ran a hand through her tangled curls. "He needs the exercise, or he'll lose more muscle mass. He needs to get stronger. Just make sure he doesn't stumble."

The older man sighed. "Very well."

"I really do appreciate your help with this, Vlad."

"And frankly, I am surprised at your dedication to his wellbeing. To offer him clean clothing and a bath—that's quite the privilege for a prisoner."

Valerie found herself feeling threatening by the underlying question in Vlad's voice. "The survival of Amity Park depended on his information. This is simply paying him back."

The older man stared into her eyes curiously. "Oh, I know it's much more than that, for you to care so much about him." He looked almost conniving. "You're keeping secrets. Playing agendas. Tell me, how much have you not told me of your long-term plans for him? Are you buttering him up for something?"

Valerie rolled her eyes to hide the hint of unease in her. "You already know what I want to happen." But instead of feeding into Vlad's question further, she opened the door to the infirmary room and called out, "Hey you: Vlad's here to get you cleaned up."

Dan sat at the edge of the bed, wrapped in a heating blanket. His face was a bit tight, but given how much he'd tested Valerie's patience with him, he was not about to complain. She was offering him a chance at regaining more of his dignity—provided Vlad did not betray Valerie's command. He pulled the blanket around him closer in some instinctive desire to hide his scars and healing bruises from Vlad, who he knew could do nothing without a selfish motive.

He hazarded a look at the old man, who had peeked his head into the infirmary room. Vlad stared right back in a mix of curious pity, his eyes roving over the healing bruises upon Dan's face.

The ghost looked away in self-consciousness.

Valerie tried to ignore the uncomfortable tension and pulled some clothes off the nearby shelf. "I found these in the charity pile—I think they'll fit him." The pile included gray sweatpants and a white and red flannel button-down shirt. She did not mention that she'd agonized for several minutes over what to give Dan from the pile, and if they would even fit him, or that the red in the flannel had reminded her of his eyes and that she'd hoped the material would keep him warmer.

Vlad accepted them, gracefully pulling them into the crook of his arm. "Thank you, my dear. Are we ready, then?"

The ghost dutifully forced himself to stand. His bare feet hit the floor as he held tight to the bed rail. With great reluctance, he allowed the blanket to fall from him and crumple onto the bed. He clung tightly to Valerie's call button hanging around his neck—he did not want to leave without it— and he trudged forward. With his free hand, he reached out to the bedrails, to the shelves, to the wall as his support. He kept his red eyes lowered to the floor, not daring to look at Valerie or Vlad.

The older man said nothing about Dan's bruises and cuts, nor did he comment on the shaky way the ghost carried himself. He held out his hand, as an offer for support.

Dan turned his face and continued to trudge forward on his own, rejecting the help.

Vlad took the slight fairly well, having expected it. Then he began to walk alongside Dan silently, the towel and clothes swinging off his arm. He knew in some way this was all partially his fault—the dues of his own sins slapped upon the remnant of Daniel Fenton. And this Dan Phantom, who'd been beaten twice, carried a look of such worn tiredness that it reminded Vlad of the day Daniel Fenton had given up on life.

The old man had hopes that this could be the reset button for them all. A chance to rebuild everything that had been broken.


It took all of two minutes for Dan's body to wear out. He easily grew frustrated with himself, noises of irritation and soft growls occasionally escaping between his breathless huffs. His steps began to slow as he held tightly to the stone wall. His muscles had atrophied to the point of near invalidity.

"There is no one around," Vlad said gently. "If you need to lean on me, no one will know."

Dan snarled at him half-heartedly, eyes turning to the older man for only a minute before scanning the hall again in paranoia. He was waiting for some kind of gang to jump out of the doors and the ceiling tiles. He was holding onto Valerie's call button in fear that it would happen again.

Sweat began to bead upon his temples, and he forced himself forward in desperation.

"Boy, you are only tormenting yourself." Vlad's voice hardened with almost a parental warning as he watched the battered soul trudge along. He held out his arm once more. "If you continue like this, you'll have no strength to bathe yourself, and then I'll have to be right there to ensure you do not drown yourself."

Dan turned his guarded eyes to Vlad. His face, from his cheeks to the tips of his elfin ears, began to blush in embarrassment at the thought.

"Well, what would you have me do?" Vlad said, reading his expression. "You need assistance to walk and dress, and Valerie has demanded that you bathe. Had I not come to your rescue, Valerie would have been here." He leaned forward with a raised brow. "Unless you wanted her to see you naked?"

Dan's eyes widened, and he froze a bit, his already existent blush darkening. Then he realized that Vlad was teasing him, and he snarled a bit.

Vlad chuckled at him. "I am kidding, of course." His clouded, blue eyes glinted. "You'll have to forgive me; it's been a long time since I've had someone else to tease."

Dan's eyes glared hard at him. But then he took Vlad's outstretched arm and allowed himself to lean against the man in a skittish, uncertain way, hobbling toward the end of the hall where the washrooms were located.

Vlad tried to keep up pleasant conversation. "Do you know that Valerie is actually quite pleased with you? She's been reviewing all of the information you've given her, and I must say that her battle plans to defeat our common enemy are exquisite."

The minor praise made Dan question Vlad's purpose once again in assisting him, and he turned to look at Vlad once more.

"Oh, yes," Vlad continued easily. "She was terribly reluctant to assist you in the beginning, but I'd say you've quite won her over. Even her father has begun to soften toward your cause as well. You could say we all hope to secure you as a permanent ally of Amity Park."

The ghost gave him a bit of an odd look, mixed somewhere between wariness and interest. He felt relief at the confirmation that others saw Valerie's favor over him. Perhaps that would make them believe he was off-limits for further beatings. And if Vlad's interests in him aligned with Valerie's own—then at least they were not entirely diabolical.

He eased a bit more in Vlad's presence, even as they entered the washrooms. There were a few benches long the wall. Its small foyer then turned and opened into a large room with several shower stalls, the walls a clinical white.

"Are you capable of bathing yourself?" Vlad asked. When Dan nodded, perhaps more out of pride than true ability, the older man looked a bit relieved. "Very good. Let me hang up your things, and then I'll leave you to it."

He gently led the battered ghost to one of the rails and then hung up the towel and placed the clothes on a nearby bench. "I'll be reading at one of the front benches by the door. When I ask if you're still okay, knock on the side of the stall. The first one on the right—I've placed some soap in there for you."

Dan looked a bit overwhelmed by the directions but then nodded, holding onto the railing with tight fingers. Some part of him was in awe of the level of trust Vlad afforded him—or that Valerie had bargained for all of this. Just for him.

"And be sure to wash that greasy hair," Vlad suggested. "Valerie likes her men clean."

The ghost face-faulted, his ease with Vlad fracturing into embarrassment and irritation.

The old man disappeared back down the hall, chuckling.

With a few exhausted huffs and snarls of embarrassment, Dan managed to untie his pants. A flush of green had overwhelmed his face at the insinuation that he was (one of?) Valerie's "men." (As if Valerie would ever see him as more than a prisoner to be pitied.) Not after what had happened to him. Not after what she knew. Dan's shaking fingers touched his bare side, where his power core had been ripped out. He avoided looking at the mirrors, afraid of what he would see.

No, Vlad may have changed for the better, but there was something still cruel in him—to joke of such things. Dan would never be on equal standing again with Valerie.

He shakily limped into the stall and turned the knob. Then he leaned against the wall in exhaustion, closing his eyes as the water surged against him.

The warmth reminded him of leaning into Valerie and feeling her fingers stroke down his temples and neck.

A damnable blush appeared on his face once more. He began to panic.

He could not think of her in such ways.


Valerie paced in the infirmary room, watching the clock. Five minutes passed. Then ten. No screams of terror echoed down the hall, so she assumed something must have gone right. Or perhaps Dan had simply snapped Vlad's neck because maybe Vlad asked too personal of a question—

"—I should have done it myself," she muttered in worry as she crossed her arms, her face lighting up in a small blush. She did not want to admit to herself the level of protectiveness she felt over her prisoner. But then, she knew it would have been terribly inappropriate for her to stand watch while he bathed, despite all the history between them.

And using Vlad was strategic. The old man was wickedly intelligent and a leading advisor to the resistance, and he had come to be something of a father figure for many. Dan needed more people like him to interact with, for several reasons.

She huffed at herself, annoyed at her own conflicting interests. "I know I can trust Vlad. He won't let anything bad happen. He wants Dan as an asset. He won't let anything bad happen."

Within two minutes, Valerie was calling up Vlad through their private frequency, pushing the button on her battle suit's arm.

"Yes?" crackled in Vlad's smooth voice.

"You guys okay?" She barely hid the tension in her voice. "It's been like, fifteen minutes."

There was a pause, then a good-natured chuckle. "Are you worried for me or for him? He's fine, as am I."

Valerie's face began to flush, and she turned off her comm before she could say another word, feeling stupid.

Soon enough, the two men returned. Dan hobbled into the infirmary, wearing his loose-fitted sweatpants and long-sleeved, flannel shirt. The shirt was still unbuttoned, his long hair straggling wetly down his shoulders. The call button cord around his neck was still beaded with water, and his face still shone wet, as if he'd not quite dried himself well.

Valerie raised a brow to hide her relief. "What took so long?"

Vlad looked mostly amused. "Daniel was stubborn and refused to accept my assistance." He waved his hand over to the boy with a sigh. "And I'm afraid buttons are beyond his motor control."

A half-hearted growl rose in Dan's throat as he turned away from the man. He did not want Valerie to know how he'd struggled and failed to fully dress himself.

She turned to the ghost. "Why the hell didn't you let Vlad help?" she demanded. "That's why he's here."

Dan looked up to her, then looked away with tightly pressed lips. Even if he could have spoken, he would not have admitted that he trusted only Valerie's touch. After the beating, he knew of only two categories: Valerie, and everyone else. Vlad was everyone else.

The woman seemed to notice Dan's internal struggle and so softened in exhaustion with him, tilting her chin toward the bed. "You know what, go sit down. I'll help in a second." Then she turned back to Vlad and demanded, "Can I leave you guys alone for a while?"

Vlad looked a little thoughtful, then nodded slowly. "As long as you can button him up, I believe so."

"Then let's try it," she said, voice dry. She turned around to Dan, who had managed to sit himself on the bed, looking down as he tried to button up his flannel shirt. His exhausted fingers were shaking, and his face was twisted in hopeless frustration with himself. "Okay, hot shot. I've got some work I need to do with my dad, so I'm gonna leave you with Vlad again, now that I know you won't bite each other's heads off."

The ghost looked up, his bruised face slacking in surprise and fear. He seemed entirely disappointed with the thought, and he huffed at her.

Valerie retracted the armor around her hands, leaving her dark hands fully bare. She raised her palms to show she had no weapons against him. A small strip of gauze still wound around her palm from where he'd bitten her before, but it seemed to not bother her. "I'll help you button that shirt if you don't give Vlad trouble. Deal?"

His hands fell to his lap, his fingers still shaking in exhaustion. He gave a hesitant nod toward her deal, but there was a question on his face.

"Relax," the woman rolled her eyes. "I won't leave you with him forever." She gently reached forward and pulled together the front swatches of his shirt, her eyes narrowing in concentration as she worked. It was during times like these that Valerie remembered Dan was inherently male. He was staring at her without shame, curiously watching the way her eyes were narrowed and how her face flushed a bit when she flickered her gaze to his.

She supposed they were far beyond the lines of shame or self-consciousness, but her face was still warm with the understanding that he seemed to genuinely enjoy her touch. "I'm only gonna do this once," she warned him. Her bare fingers occasionally brushed against his bare chest, and she had a suspicion he was leaning forward to make it happen more.

This close, she could see the steady rhythm of his breath and how his hands and limbs were still trembling with exhaustion. She stopped her work once she hit above his navel, thinking him covered well enough. Then she straightened the shirt out at the shoulders, and she stepped back and eyed her work. "Red flannel's not bad on you," she said distantly. It worked terribly well with his hair and eye color, and she knew Paulina would have been proud of her matching skills.

But the thought of the dead woman made Valerie's heart sear with a sudden pain, and she swallowed hard, feeling in that moment a sense of frustration with the universe. She turned away from Dan—who had killed so many of her friends and yet was a victim too.

The ghost caught onto the sudden tension in Valerie's body. He picked at the shirt to hide his fears, unused to the sensation of material covering his body. He'd not been so clothed in weeks, and he felt protected with the scar of his extracted power core hidden from view. But Valerie's reactions to him left him confused. Perhaps with his scars hidden, he appeared as more of a threat?

His fingers tightened in the material, as if anxious she would take it away. His red eyes flickered to Vlad, who was watching from the threshold.

There was an odd mix of sympathy and empathy in the old man, and Dan struggled with what it meant.

Valerie's voice was soft, breaking their thoughts. "I'll be back in a bit. I've got some duties to take care of. Be good while I'm gone, okay? You can trust Vlad."

With some level of reluctance, Dan nodded. He figured if the man had not sold him out in the washrooms, he likely was a true ally.

Then Valerie bit her lip. "I'm serious. Be good." And she disappeared out the door, her steps increasingly distant clicks on the tile.

That left Vlad and Dan alone once more.

Vlad walked deeper into the room with a sigh. "You are a strange puzzle, aren't you?" he said. "You snap at me and refuse my help but cower at the thought of irritating Valerie and yet seem eager for her presence. You seem to worship the ground she walks on. I imagine she's done much to gain such favor in your eyes."

The ghost tensely nodded.

Vlad sat down in the chair in the corner of the room. "To be honest," he said, "I'm glad of it. She deserves your respect far more than anyone else, including myself, deserves." The he pulled on reading glasses, the lenses a bit thick as a tell-tale sign of his increasing age. "Now, I started reading this book a bit ago—Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne. An old adventure classic. Have you read it before?"

Dan leaned back on the pillows, his legs and arms still trembling a bit from his exhaustion, and he shook his head in wariness.

The old man asked, "I've not made it too terribly far. Would you care if I read aloud? You can rate me on how well I do. You see, I read for the children in the Youth Ward, but I want an honest opinion. They don't have standards yet."

The ghost huffed, almost in amusement that Vlad soliciting his opinion for something so mundane. But he understood that Vlad was attempting to ease the tension between them, and so he hesitantly nodded.

The old man's gaze softened, and he turned to his book, flipping open to the second chapter and beginning to read. His voice had always been a smooth, deep tone that lent itself well to telling tales. As he spoke the opening lines of chapter two, the words seemed to lift off the page and turn to images in Dan's mind.

Dan closed his eyes, resting his hands atop his stomach, feeling the flannel of his shirt warm him slightly. Despite the small part of him that was bristled by Vlad's continuing presence instead of Valerie's, he began to relax. He could not remember the last time he'd heard a story of any kind.

Vlad, who truly had been volunteering in the Youth Ward, fell into his story easily, adjusting his tone to match the emotions of the characters' dialogue. But just as the tension began to ease fully between them and Dan was truly listening in interest, something happened.

There was a soft knock at the door. Dan flinched, struggling back up into a defensive position when he realized it wasn't Valerie. Then he stopped.

Vlad looked up in surprise, stopping as well mid-sentence.

Instead of Kwan or disgruntled resistance members, there in the doorways stood a little girl standing. She held a thick piece of paper in her dark hands, her brown eyes wide as she awkwardly slipped in. "Um. Hi."

"…Nina?" Vlad recognized her, raising a concerned brow. He looked to Dan in fear that the ghost would try something. "What on earth are you doing here?"

The little girl took another step forward, raising her big eyes to the ghost sitting tensely on the bed. "Commander Valerie Gray forgot to pick up a picture."

"A what?"

"A picture," she stressed. "I draw a picture for Phantom every day, and Commander Gray forgot." She pressed her lips tightly together, looking as fearful as a rabbit about to bolt. Around the room were her various drawings, some of them looking worse for wear from Dan's previous tantrums. Maybe he did not like her pictures. Maybe all of this was a mistake.

Vlad stood up and quickly moved between Dan and the girl. "Young lady, this building is on lock-down. How did you get out of the Youth Ward?"

She shrugged awkwardly. She tried to peek around Vlad to see Dan, her breath a little quick. Her dark hands were shaking. "I made him a picture," she said, voice trembling. "I worked really hard on it."

"I'm sure you did. Now—"

Dan, who was now sitting tensely on the bed, clenched his knuckles. Then he leaned forward and pushed at Vlad's arm. His own strength was still shaky, but it was enough to budge the old man to the side. Then he himself staring straight at the little girl.

He could remember what Valerie had demanded of him. "You're going to stop her guilt by accepting these pictures and anything else she throws at you. Got it?"

He tilted his head, as if to question her.

The girl seemed to shy away from his red eyes, but she held up her picture with shaking arms, turning it around for him to see. "I wanted to give you another picture," she said, trembling. "M-my mom used to draw me pictures of teddy bears, cause we don't have 'em anymore. So I drew one for you."

It was a full-color drawing, with a brown teddy bear colored delicately with soft lines. Dan peered at it with narrow eyes, realizing that this little girl had managed to simulate the appearance of fur simply with her colored pencils. He grabbed onto the edge of the drawing and eased it from her. Although he had no particular attachments to a stuffed bear, he understood it held meaning to the girl, and that her drawings were more and more ornate with each passing day.

He looked back to Nina with searching eyes. Surely, she did not still feel guilt for his beating?

"Do you like my drawing?" she asked softly.

Whether out of respect for Valerie's wishes or in true appreciation of the art, he nodded.

Nina blinked, and her watery eyes began to shine brighter. "Oh, good," she said in relief. She smiled. "Commander Gray said you liked them, but I didn't know if she was lying."

Dan's thin lips twitched sideways, and he huffed as he set the picture aside. He grabbed onto his clipboard and marker, turning over one of the pages to write a note to her. She did not lie, he wrote, then flipped the board over so she could read it.

From where he stood, Vlad watched the exchange in genuine surprise, raising a brow. Apparently, these two had met before. There was no way either of them would be so civil.

Nina stepped forward more confidently this time. There was a lightness in her heart now, even as she stared at the fading bruises upon his face—bruises she'd helped to place there. "Is there anything you'd like for tomorrow?"

The weak ghost twisted the marker in his hand. He was beginning to soften toward the girl, still not quite sure why she felt so responsible for him. Surprise me, he wrote.

The little girl moved closer to watch him as he wrote, noting the artful way he did it. "Nothing special?" she asked. "Do you have a favorite color?"

He shrugged. When he did so, some of his drying hair fell down his shoulder and into his eyes. He moved to sweep it out of his face, only for it to fall right back. Now that it was clean of blood and sweat, it shined in thick locks. Without his hair flickering, it was becoming harder to keep it out of his eyes.

Nina noticed his struggle and tilted her head. "You having trouble with your hair?"

His red eyes slid to her wrist, and in that moment, he longed dearly for the feeling of his hair tied back. For a semblance of normalcy.

She raised a thin wrist, which had a few hairbands on it. The she twisted her fingers around one of the black hands. Maybe, she thought, she could undo more of her debt to him if she helped in other ways. "Do you want one?"

"I think he's had enough, Nina," Vlad cut in patiently. "Now, he's tired; you should probably get back to the Youth Ward."

"Hm," Dan snapped at the man, giving him a frustrated look for putting words in his mouth. Then he turned back to the girl. Help me tie back my hair, he wrote instead. He'd realized that he'd not dealt with non-flickering hair in years and had little skill with it. The little girl seemed harmless enough and willing to help. I'll owe you favor.

The girl considered it, then nodded bashfully. "I'm good at braids?"

For a second, he hesitated. Just do one.

"Deal."

And ask Vlad to start reading again.


Sometime later, Valerie reappeared to see Vlad in the corner of the room, animatedly reading aloud Journey to the Center of the Earth. The little girl Nina was standing on a chair behind Dan, whose legs hung off the side of the bed. She was tying the end of Dan's simple braid, but quite a few strands of his white hair were too short to remain back and so still fell around his face unevenly.

Valerie stopped and blinked. "What is this?" she demanded, voice softening in surprise.

Everyone stopped.

Vlad looked up. "Ah, Valerie. You're just in time for the end of chapter two, if you'd like to join us?"

As for Nina, she'd discovered that Dan's hair was soft as clouds, and she struggled to pull away from It, even as she looked up at Valerie and saluted. "Commander Gray! I'm braiding Phantom's hair."

"…I see that." She leaned against the doorway with amusement, raising a brow. "But why?"

"It was in his face," the girl said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But now it's not. Or mostly not."

Vlad clarified, waving a hand in the air, "She brought a picture for him, and I suppose he's taken a liking to her. They're even making deals with each other, how precious."

Nina leaned forward, using Dan's broad shoulder as a support. "His hair's so soft," she whispered to Valerie, brown eyes wide in awe. "I mean it's really soft."

Though it hurt his bruised face, Dan's lips twitched in genuine delight. Nina's touch was gentle, and he found enjoyment at her own happiness. It felt good to feel wanted—even if it were only for his hair.

Valerie realized then with a start that Dan's smile was actually quite handsome when not twisted in hatred and arrogance. Even worse, she felt a sudden, alien spark of jealousy at how well his attention had been kept by the others. She cleared her throat. "Yeah, well. Thanks for watching over him while I was gone."

Dan, so in tune with Valerie, immediately caught the strain in her voice. He narrowed his curious red eyes.

Vlad seemed to catch on as well, but he tilted his head in thought of another reason for Valerie's strained emotions. "Did your meeting with Damon go well?"

"He's not convinced we've got a full plan together," she admitted. "But he says we're on the right track. I need to review those plans with Phantom."

Nina's smile fell a bit. She ran her fingers down Dan's braid in some subconscious desire to keep petting him. The ghost seemed to lean into her touch, enjoying how sometimes her fingers brushed against the tips of his elfin ears. "So you want us to leave?"

The woman hesitated. "I hate to break up the party. Looks like you guys were having fun."

"Do you know, we actually were?" Vlad had a sort of amused awe about him as he closed his book. Then he stood up. "But I understand business before pleasure, my dear. We'll save chapter three for another time." As he walked toward the door, he turned to Nina and patted her on the shoulder. "Come along, Nina."

She turned to the older man and struggled to hide her disappointment. "Aww." Then she climbed down from her chair, her shoes making a soft click against the tiles. "But I wanna fix his braid tomorrow too."

The old man nearly chuckled. "You'll have to ask Phantom and Valerie for that."

Dan raised a hand to touch the low braid at the back of his head, then looked to Valerie for approval.

Valerie pressed her full lips together. "As long as it doesn't bother him, I don't see why not."

Nina turned back to the ghost, a tentative joy in her as she waved. "Tomorrow, then. I'll bring a new picture by too."

He waved back, still a bit hesitant on if he were having the correct reactions to things. But it made the little girl smile, and he felt a warmth in his chest bloom once more. He liked seeing Nina smile. He was beginning to understand that her smile was much better than her tears.

And then Vlad and Nina left, leaving Dan and Valerie alone.

Valerie shut the door behind them and said, "I can't believe you let that girl braid your hair."

Dan sat expectantly on the edge of the bed, waiting for Valerie to begin her questioning about the battle plans. He continued to stroke his long braid, as if still in awe that someone he'd wronged would care enough to help him. He smiled again.

Valerie walked forward then, somewhat unsettled by this image of Dan Phantom. "And you're smiling," she accused. His face had begun to brighten as his bruises faded, and bathing had given him back some level of elegance in his features. He was beginning to look as he once did. Stronger. Healthier. It was getting harder to see him as simply a helpless informant who could not protect himself.

His smile stretched a bit wide, this time with a mischievous spark of his old self.

Retracting the armor around her hand, she opened her palm to show that she carried no weapon against him. Gently, she grabbed onto his chin with her bare fingers, surprised at the stubble she felt. He allowed her to do so without complaint, fully trusting.

"You're looking a lot better, you know," she said, gently turning his chin to the side. She was almost jealous as she stared at his skin. "You might not even have scars after all this."

His red eyes slid to her. Then he grabbed onto her hand and pulled it away to look at it. His long fingers ghosted across the bandage on her hand—where he'd bitten her.

There was a question on his face. Does it hurt?

She allowed him to hold her hand, watching him curiously as his expression began to tense once more. "It's better," she said. "Nothing Kwan can't fix, so don't worry about it."

But he looked back up at her with some kind of self-frustration, as if to say, It should not have happened.

"I told you, it's fine." She pulled away from him, voice soft. "It doesn't even hurt."

Dan huffed at her. His palms still tingled with the fiery heat of her skin, and he suddenly desired to touch her again or be touched. He looked away in some kind of shame, stroking his braid for some kind of tactile experience to cover his need.

Valerie sat down beside him on the bed. Then, with a bit of a nervous sigh, she retracted her armor fully, the panels settling deep as nanoparticles within her blood. It left her in her military pants and an old tank. For the first time, she sat next to him not as a Commander, but simply as Valerie. "I was kinda pissed when you bit me," she admitted ruefully, "but I know I hit a nerve with you. Maybe I deserved it."

The ghost turned to her in surprise, his brows furrowing. "Hn," he disagreed.

Silence wavered between them for a time.

"The fact is," she said, voice strained, "I'm not here about the battle plans. That was a lie. My dad fully approved our strategy after he saw those castle layouts you gave us."

Dan raised a brow this time, reaching for his marker and paper on the other side of him, flipping over to a clean sheet to ask questions. Why lie?

Valerie continued softly, "Because what I have to say is just between you and me."

He blinked in surprise.

"We're going to start the attack on Pariah Dark in three days. We've got as many resources pooled now as we're gonna get. And I'm telling you this because no matter how much intel we have, there's an off-chance I might not make it back. And we need to prepare for it."

His red eyes hardened in alarm.

She scratched at her arm nervously. "I just…don't want you to worry about what might happen to you. Since we can't mask your signature with tech, dad's agreed to cut a deal with you—intel about the Ghost Zone and other ghosts in exchange for escape to a dimension where Pariah Dark can't track you."

All of the relaxed joy in Dan began to fade into anxiety as he stared at her. He could not even focus on the deal she was offering him. He wrote in sharp letters, What's the probability of your death?

Valerie sighed. "It depends. But I can't just assume I'm invincible here."

Dan's hand hesitated over the paper. Call off the mission.

"I can't do that either," she said, voice strained. "My people are in danger. You're in danger."

He seemed frustrated. We can find another way.

"Look, I know we've never seen things eye-to-eye, right?" she tried to smile, and it was weak. "But we don't have any other options. I just…need you to tell me that you'll work with my dad. If it comes to that."

Why risk yourself? His words were becoming shaky and harder to read with every new sentence, as if he could not keep up with the onslaught of his thoughts.

"Because that's what people do for others they care about," she said softly. She pressed her full lips tightly together. "I care about everyone here. You included."

Dan looked at her with a raw expression, his dead heart pulling. His breath hitched in a strange way at her confession. And that's when it hit him. She was distancing herself from him on purpose—trying to him warm up to others in anticipation of her own absence.

That's what all of this was about.

Valerie whispered, swallowing hard, "I'll kick his ass for you either way. But we need to be realistic about this."

His red eyes began to burn as he stared at her. "Hmm," he complained in fear, the deep tone of his voice ragged. "Hmm."

In that second, he could no longer control his desire to touch her. He reached out to her face, running his fingers softly down her cheek to memorize her lines. Despite all of their misunderstandings, Valerie was the one person with whom he entrusted all of himself. She knew his every humiliating secret and respected him still.

She leaned into his hand, not breaking eye contact. This was the most vulnerable position she'd ever put herself in with him, and she cupped her hand against his, swallowing hard. She could feel the reverence from his long and cold fingers. "I know you don't wanna think about this. But you'll do it, right? You'll work with my dad if it comes to that?"

He blinked once, and then several times, realizing that the burning in his eyes was tears. Their deal had led to strange realizations, which was that he desired to be in her favor, and to favor her. He felt tied to Valerie in ways he could not explain—she was his foundation, his reason for existing—and here she was, forcing him to consider a world without her.

But Dan knew he was in every way a liability to her, unable to offer himself as a soldier and being a security breach even if he tried. And so he did the one thing that was in his power.

He nodded in respect of her wishes, swallowing hard.

She exhaled in relief, her own eyes beginning to water as she watched him. "I'll protect you," she whispered. "I promise."

He leaned his forehead against hers. I know. And without words, his touch spoke for him as his free hand reached for hers and grabbed on tight.

But please don't die, he begged her. Please don't die.

There was a terrible worming within him—an anxiety that he felt deep things for Valerie. And that Pariah Dark would take her away from him.


A/N: I just, you know, needed bonding moments to happen. And then angst happened!

1. Okay, peeps. A big question. I keep getting several people anonymously posting that they hate Dan/Val fics that include any mention of children. At the same time, I'm getting people with accounts begging me in reviews and private messages to write more Dan/Val fics with a child. So I'm going to put a chapter warning at the top anytime there is a mention of a Dan/Val child. Those who like that thing can read, and those who don't will have a head's up not to read. It's disheartening to receive reviews that some people are "vomiting" over content ideas I've put hours into based on other people's requests. So let's try this system and see if it works. I also can't easily pull Aftermath out of this collection into a new story without screwing up several things about this collection. That said, the next upload will be Aftermath, which includes a child in it. So, wherever you fall on the lines of that battlefield, you've been forewarned, haha. Is this fair, everyone? I really hope this works better for you all.

2. Also, I've received a few requests over the months regarding sequels to Dan's Secret VALentine plans. Your thoughts? (Also, wishing you all a happy Valentine's Day for those who celebrate!)

Please review with your thoughts, questions, ideas, or constructive criticisms. Thank you!