Warnings for this chapter: None.

-o0o-

Chapter nineteen: A Fenton does not submit.

Danny finds himself in a black void like place. He looks around in curiosity, he can see himself, but there was no floor, no up or down, even time seems irrelevant here. Danny starts walking, though he has no clue if he is going anywhere, he just feels that he needs to find someone.

That someone appears seemingly out of nowhere, on his knees and holding his head as if he was in pain, "Phantom!" Danny cries running over to him.

Phantom looks up with eyes wide in surprise before wrapping his arms around Danny, burying his face in the other boys neck,

"Danny!" Phantom exclaims, his voice muffled.

The boys hug, relief flooding through them until anxiety from Phantom's part of the link sweeps through Danny. Phantom clutches the other man's shoulders, panic in his green eyes, "What are you doing here? This is the inbetween, the living can't last long here!"

"That would be my fault."

The two pull apart as a creature with Vlad's voice appears, with blue skin and black hair styled like devil horns dressed in white with a cape and black gloves, boots and belt. Blood red eyes gleam as a fanged smile splits his face.

"Do you like my true form? This is what I had become after I died." Vlad growls as the smile turns into a demonic snarl.

Danny stands and gets in front of Phantom, eyes glowing bright blue in anger, "You mean after you murdered us? Yeah, I think this look suits you."

Phantom stiffens at this news, 'Vlad was the one who killed me? Killed us?' He feels his own anger bubble as he slowly gets to his feet and joins Danny, facing down Vlad with his own eyes blazing and fists bright with energy, "È umile maiale cane(1)!" He spits viciously.

Vlad yawns, putting on an air of indifference, "Is that the best you can call me? I've been called worse when I was alive."

Danny blasts Vlad with a blue ray, throwing demon off guard, "Is this better Fruitloop?" He says with grinning victoriously. Vlad growls, duplicates himself, and charges, forcing the two apart.

"Regardless of what you think or do Daniel, I'm still more powerful than you'll ever be!" Vlad hisses as he blasts Danny with a pink ecto ray. Danny yells as he gets thrown back, hitting the invisible ground. Another blast which Danny dodges before jumping and sending a flying kick at the monster, which is easily caught.

Danny is left dangling by his ankle until Vlad tosses him, sending him flying before he rights himself. A wave of pain hit him and Danny screams, his hands flying to his head and squeezing, trying to get it to stop. He feels an incredible chill rack his body, causing him to fall to his knees. He vaguely hears Phantom calling his name before a hand grabs the front of his shirt and lifts him up. He squints open his eyes to see a blurry image of Vlad grinning up at him in triumph.

"See Daniel? Your powers are beginning to overwhelm you. It won't be long before they and the inbetween destroy you and you finally become mine."

"I'll...nev-Urg!-never become...yours Masters!" He forces out. Vlad growls and shakes Danny, jarring him and making his squeeze his eyes shut again as the migraine worsens.

"You will submit to me Daniel Jameson! You were mine first! If it wasn't for me you'd have never been where you are now!" Vlad howls.

Danny looks him square in the eye and says very low, "That's true, if you had never found me back then I would have never got where I was," Vlad grins, thinking he'd won, "If you had never brought me on that ship, I'd have never met my friends. If you had never taken me on that ship I wouldn't have discovered my talent for piano,"

He glares Vlad down as his voice steadily rises, "If you had never taken me in, I would have never felt like I owed you. If I hadn't met you I wouldn't have felt worthless! Well guess what?!"

Danny grabs Vlad's wrists, squeezing with a strength he never thought he possessed. He feels something cold swell in his chest, pushing at the back of his throat and making him feel as if he is going to throw up, "Daniel Jameson, would probably submit to you, he would have been terrified of you, but I'm a Fenton! And we don't submit to monsters LiKe YoU!!!"

On the last two words, blue waves erupt out of his throat, sending Vlad away from him. Ice particles form on the tips of his black hair and on his shoulders, his throat feeling like he'd swallowed a whole jar of vix vapor rub. But Danny ignores this and keeps shrieking, and Vlad keeps screaming, freezing into a solid block of ice.

Vlad shatters, the last of his screams fading in the air as Danny is finally able to stop the wail. He collapses, Phantom catching him at the last second. Danny pants, his throat sore and his head pounding as Phantom whispers soothing words and praises in his ear.

The world around them suddenly brightens, transforming into a beautiful meadow with flowers of every kind and fragrance. Phantom looks around in awe, not bebelieving what he is seeing.

"Madre di Dio...(2)" he whispers breathlessly.

Danny simply smiles, remembering when he was there before. A man appears before them, a grandfatherly smile on his blue face. Danny's grin grows at the presence,

"Hey Clockwork," he says, his voice thick and scratchy from wailing for so long.

"Hello Daniel, Phantom, you both seem exhausted."

Danny chuckles, "Yeah, you could say that." He raises a brow, "What are we doing here though?"

Clockwork suddenly becomes stone faced, "Phantom can't stay a ghost forever. Now that Vlad's gone for good it's time he moved on."

Danny feels Phantom's grip tighten, "I'm not leaving Danny." the ghost says flatly.

Clockwork sighs, "I cannot stop you from staying the way you are, but think of this," Clockwork gazes at the white haired man with a stern, but gentle look.

"Danny is alive and he must live his life, where you are dead and have been so for almost seventy years. You are stuck and will be unable to grow as spirits should. You could wait until it is Danny's time to leave, but you will not be able to experience the same things as he. You won't be able to grow old with him like you want, you won't be able to truly help him if he gets hurt, and as time goes on you will be unable to remember what it is like to be human." His gaze softens farther, "Do you really want that, Daniel Baritoni?"

Phantom looks down at Danny, indecision written on his face before Danny feels a flood of despair, "Are you sure there is no other way?" Phantom asks softly.

Clockwork seems to think for a moment before finally coming to a decision, "Well, I could rewind your personal clock to the time before your death, but this has never been done before so I'm not sure what could happen."

"Please, I just want to be with my Nightingale." Phantom pleads. Danny glances up at his lover before giving Clockwork his best puppy dog eyes, even if it couldn't be possible, Danny knew in his heart that there would never be anyone but Phantom for him.

Clockwork studies them for a moment, before a kind smile appears on his face, "Wind Back..." He says simply. Everything becomes white again.

Translations for this chapter

(1) "È umile maiale cane!" You lowly Pig Dog!

(2) Madre di Dio, means Mother of God.

A/N I am sorry to say that the next chapter will be the final one, though I am thinking of writing an extra chapter for this. It might be a while before I do so though since it's one I haven't written it yet.

It's been a good run, and I thank you all for your support. Final chapter will be published Thursday, and as always I hope you all have a great week!

~Sorceress