Pocket Watch
So, I Feel Rather Conflicted…

Is Stress the main excuse…again?

Vlad gently rested Danny in bed, paranoid that one harsh mistake could end up literally breaking him. Once he was sure Danny was well adjusted, Vlad made his way to the nearest phone located just outside of Danny's room, resting against a wall on a podium. He quickly picked it up with his right hand while his other hand rested on the podium, his index finger nervously tapping the edge as he called a doctor.

Vlad's doctor made the general same conclusion that the doctor Danny's family took him to a while ago made: stress. For Vlad though, the answer unconvinced him, feeling as though something was so…off about Danny's constant faints and general weakness. Baring that in mind, he decided to do a little doctoring of his own which consisted of him taking some of Danny's blood with a needle from his lab (while he was still unconscious) and working on his own conclusive theory to Danny's current predicament.

Danny woke up the next day, again feeling groggy and nauseous. He found himself back in his room which surprised and confused him. Touching the side of his head, he pondered over the blank memory between now and when he was flying, how he got here, what he did during those time, and was it anything bad? Before he had the chance to theorize any of the questions rumbling inside his head, he felt a disturbing churning from inside his stomach. Immediately, he clutched his mouth and ran straight for the bathroom.

Afraid for his life, Danny spent the reminder of the day in his room, not even bothering to search for Vlad who as far as he was concerned, pretty much disappeared (which didn't comfort him any further). The older male was in the lab, eyeing the blood he took from Danny through a high powered microscope, magnifying it until he could see Danny's DNA structure. The discovery he found was nothing less then shocking. Vlad removed himself from the microscope and massaged his eyes before observing it once more. There it was, straight in his eyes and it seemed to be getting worse…

………………

Just go with it

"Daniel, if I may, I'd like to observe you for a bit for the next week or so." Vlad said during dinner, eyeing the boy digging his mash potatoes with a spoon, the other hand holding his face as his elbow rested on the table.
"Observe?" Danny eyed Vlad.
"Yes, try to see if I can help you with your fainting problem."
"The doctors all told me it was just stress."
"I know, I know, but I want to make my own observations, so I want to examine you for a week's time." Vlad said, moving his hand back and forth in a calming manner, "A week's time, that's all I ask." Danny eyed Vlad with a look of frustration before it melted to a more sorrow expression. He faced away from Vlad.
"…You're hiding something from me." Danny muttered sadly.
"I can assure you Daniel that it's for the best." Vlad answered, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"You didn't answer my question."
"…Eat your broccoli."

Vlad refused to speak any further, so Danny resumed his meal reluctantly, deciding inside his head that if Vlad's experiments towards him turned out to be part of his usual manipulative plans to either kill Jack, get Maddie, or force him into Vlad's side, he'd be out of there with Mach 3 speed.

Utterly, frantic Chaos

Danny wasn't too big on hospitals ever since that one incident with Spectra, but it didn't prevent him from avoiding it like Tucker does. That said, he still didn't enjoy the poking and probing Vlad utilized. Drawing numerous bloods, checking his ghost powers, and the likes, the week would be a slow, agonizing process for young Danny. It certainly didn't help that he wasn't fully aware of Vlad's intention. Indeed, whenever that man refused to speak any more then he should, that meant Vlad had something up his expensive well made black sleeves. Danny couldn't "go ghost" either as he was only allowed to be his paranormal half whenever Vlad needed to for his examination. It was for the best, to be safe for the time, Vlad would say.

Naturally, the boy grew restless again, but risking his life and flying out only to faint again? That is, if his ghost half was the one thing causing him to lose consciousness, something Danny suspected from the examinations, something he was sure Vlad, too was aware of. That said, his routine composed of waking up, breakfast, watching TV or going on the internet (on his laptop, one of the items he held in his luggage), wandering around, lunch, more TV (which was painfully boring when nothing good ever was on), reading the literally thousands of books Vlad held, napping, dinner, more internet, and finally, sleep. Oh, sure, it was any teenagers dream to goof off, but do it for four days straight and the boredom started to take over.

At least by day five, he got some sense of excitement when he woke up to various screams, shouts, and yelling. He rushed out of bed, clumsily struggling to put on his shirt and pants at the same time as he hopped out of his room to see what the blazin' hell was going on. By the time he took the last step downstairs, he saw the main living room crowded with maids and butlers, each of them shouting at one another to either move said furniture, clean said dust, or generally criticize their work. In the middle of all the chaos, a frantic Vlad hastily tried to pull his jacket over his arm while carrying a briefcase with the other, and stuffing an entire bagel into his mouth using only his tongue and mouth movement.

"Vlad? What's going on?" Danny asked, walking casually over to him as he shifted his head back and forth at the league of running, shouting, frustrated maids and butlers.
"I have to go to work which I'm already late for, breakfast is on the table, you can have whatever you want in the fridge when it comes time for lunch and dinner, don't get in the maid and butler's way, don't rough house, use your best judgment, and I'll be back around 7:30. Bye-bye!" Vlad hastily left his manor as quickly as he uttered those words, leaving behind a stunned Danny as he stood in the middle of the frantic servants with a gaped mouth.

"You just gonna stand there or you gonna move?"
Danny snapped out of his little trance to find a middle aged maid with dark brown hair and fierce hawk-like eyes glaring at him as nudged the vacuum she was holding towards Danny's feet.

"Oh, sorry." Danny leaped out of the way and watched as the maid passed him. Needing to know what the heck was going on; he stared at all the other butlers and maids busily tilting paintings in the right order or shampooing carpets and decided to ask the vacuum maid due to their short interaction.
"Err…what's going on?"
"What do you think is going on?" She said with such a sharp tongue it felt like every word she spoke was meant to mentally stab Danny, "We're cleaning Masters' manor."
"I didn't know he had so many…maids and butlers." Danny gasped, "I mean, he's usually alone."
"He calls us every once in a while to clean up." The maid spoke, "You think one man could clean up this entire manor himself?"
"I guess not." Danny half shrugged as he made a casual smile, pondering if he could do such a thing, seeing as he had ghost powers and all. After he shook of the thought of Vlad in a butler wear holding a feather duster, he resumed conversation with the hawk-eyed maid.
"Hey, can I help?"
"Can you help? I never thought I'd live to hear those words coming from this manor." The maid scoffed. She placed a hand on her hips and glared at the boy, ready to humor the child, but his look of sincerity threw her off, "…Alright, let's see what you can do." The maid observed around until she spotted a large file (filled with paper arranged in improper fashion due to Vlad's haste) resting on the dining table where Vlad had eaten earlier, his leftover eggs and bacons as evidence.
"Here." She grabbed the file and shoved it to Danny's chest, "Make yourself useful and take that to his private studies."
"The private…studies?" Danny's eyes widened.
"Yes, are you deaf?"
"Well, it's just that…I'm not…that is…" Danny's tongue tied, leaving him stuttering while an impatient maid watched, "…I'll…just go."

Danny clutched the file close to his chest and ran to the designated location, relieved to be away from the maid who seemed five seconds away from stuffing his face in the vacuum hose.

…………………

A Worthwhile Discovery

Danny found himself walking to Vlad's private study was a much more painful experience. As he took one step closer to the room, he felt like the electric chair was waiting for him with Vlad inside, ready to pull the trigger. If he ever found out, what would happen to Danny? Would he be kicked out of the manor? Where would he go? As much as it pained for him to admit, Danny's only hope lied in Vlad with the only other option is to wander around as a hobo. He COULD just turn off the security camera or cover it, but he had no desires to risk his life using his ghost powers or get Vlad to suspect him any further by wondering why his security camera was off for a brief period of time, so he decided to take the quick approach and just dump the file on his desk, then make like a banana and split.

With his plan cranking inside is head by the time he opened the doorway inside the study, Danny stiffly walked over to Vlad's desk and laid the file on top of a bunch of well written papers.

"Okay, I did it, so let's go." Unfortunately, his feet refused to budge, despite his brain urging the pair to turn the other way around. His mind then started to shift gears when Danny found himself eyeing the papers where he laid the file on. What if, indeed, they were plans to usurp Maddie, or to kill Jack, or to make Danny his son and heir? Is it such a sin to eye the papers of private affairs if it meant protecting his dearly loved ones? But hold it, he ran away from his so-called "loved ones", so in a sense, he was being slightly hypocritical.

"Oh, what am I thinking? These are my parents!" Danny clutched his head as he gritted his teeth in frustration, "Maybe one little peek." Like taking off a bandage, Danny quickly snatched one of the papers and speed read it. A sense of relieve left his head when he found the paper to be nothing more then work plans for his company. Danny took another sheet and read that as well. Same deal. He took another and another and before his mind could wander back to sane reality, Danny found himself opening his desk drawers and rummaging through bundle after bundles of papers and office objects. He desperately tried to seek some sort of evidence of Vlad's possible wrongdoings, to see if any of the three deeds he usually performs would come in the near future, but so far, he was coming off cleaner then the manor the butlers and maids were doting over.

Danny then opened the last drawer located at the bottom left of the desk. There, old photos and newspaper clippings greeted him. Danny carefully took one of the old black and white photos as he sat on the overcomplicated designed, lush red carpet. It was so worn out, having been folded and touched over the years, producing wrinkles and feeling as soft as a napkin. Still clear enough to make out, the picture held an old farm, a middle aged man in a plaid shirt and jeans, donning a goatee and dark hair, and a small boy in overalls, carrying a pitchfork in one hand and a bucket in another, also with dark hair. Danny paid particular attention to the small boy, his eyebrows raised as high as it could reach as he sat stunned.

"Vlad." He muttered in a sort of half whisper. Danny quickly then looked through the equally worn out newspaper clippings containing articles of the same topic, the one known simply as the "Masters Farm". Danny could hardly contain himself. Vlad, once lived as a country boy? This was so ironic it was almost ridiculous. Danny couldn't help but chuckle at the photo showing off the small kid of ten years in overalls, carrying a pitchfork in one hand and a bucket in another. THIS child would grow up to be the future Vladimir Masters? Billionaire entrepreneur who's known over the course of America while appearing in televisions and magazines such as TIME and Fortune? It was beyond belief. Danny shook such thoughts out of his head as he continued giggling like a schoolgirl, sticking his right arm into the drawer until he felt something smooth and cold. Danny immediately stopped giggling and eyed his hand as he fished out…

"…A pocket watch?" Danny observed the round, gold plated object in front of him. The pocket watch was tied to an equally golden chain so that it could also double as a necklace if one desired it to be. The front cover of the watch only contained a single carving of a crown on the middle bottom. The back cover held the words "MASTERS" in bold, also located on the middle bottom. With the maids and butlers far off, it gave way for a very quiet room...maybe too quiet. Danny placed the watch to his ear and found it lacking sound. No ticks, no tocks. He jiggled it for a bit before eyeing the knob on top.

"Hmm…" Danny pondered as he slowly twisted the knob a few times until he could successfully hear the ticking, "Perfect." Now for the coup de grace, the inners of the watch. Danny slowly opened the pocket watch. Typically, the actual clock ticked inside, the numbers 1-12 written in black roman numerals, the hand dials silver, and the background plain and white. On the left side was yet another old photo, this time sepia in color as it showed the young 10 year old Vlad with the same middle age man in the other photo. Could this man by Vlad's father? Danny then afterwards had another thought, one that left him chuckling again.

"So, is THIS the main reason he wanted me out of his studies?" Danny smiled, dangling the watch from its chain, "A pocket watch and old photos of himself as a kid?"
"That's exactly why!" A large shadow loomed behind Danny who slowly turned around to face a very peeved Vlad.
"Vlad!" Danny nervously smiled, "I…I thought you were at work?"
"I forgot to pick up one of my files, the one you gladly took to my room on one of my maid's request." He had his hands on his waist, top half of his body lowered down to somewhat level himself with a sitting Danny.
"I…I…was meaning to leave right after I put my file away, but—"
"But what? You couldn't trust me enough so that you had to dig around my private affairs and find my…my…PRIVATE things! What, did my commands for you to strictly stay out of this room not enter your head? Tell me, when I speak to you, do my words go "blah blah blah"? Do you honestly hate me THAT much that you'd torture me by disobeying me!"
"OKAY, OKAY! I'm sorry, CHILL!" Danny stood up quickly, his blood level starting to rise as much as Vlad's at this point, "I didn't mean to peek, but I don't see why you had to go off and hide this stuff? So what if you were a farm kid? That's nothing to be ashamed of!"
"I KNOW THERE ISN'T!" Vlad raised his arms.
"Then why are you hiding all this?" Danny asked, "Do you have some issues with the farm or this old man who I can only assume is your father?"
"…Get out."
"Ahh, so that's it. You have a problem with your fat—"
"GET OUT!"
Vlad's face turned an enormous shade of red. Already feeling some pang of guilt from disobeying Vlad's order, Danny didn't push the subject further. He placed the pocket watch on the drawer, and then quickly left the room.

Vlad placed a hand over his face as he sat on the wheeled chair next to his drawer after Danny left. He only removed his hand when he eyed the pocket watch, merely a foot away from him. Everything was silent except for the sound of its tick-tocks. Vlad hadn't winded that watch in well over 20 years.
To Be Continued…

…………………

Author's Note: OKAY! OKAY! I confess! I watched WAAAAAAAAY too many Simpsons episodes, so of course I'd give Vlad a farm ala Homer Simpson (who once did live in a farm). I mean, come on, Wisconsin…well, okay, I don't much about Wisconsin, but the farm thing was added as an irony as he once lived a simple life before becoming the rich, well known, well lived billionaire he is now. That said, the farm and such will play a crucial role over the future of this fanfic. I love irony.

Other then that, the only other thing to say was that this fanfic was originally going to be longer with more scenes, but I decided this would make a good cliffhanger feel, not to mention this fanfic is already loooong overdue. And yes, I WILL reveal in time what Vlad discovered about Danny's DNA soon.

Oh, and The Simpsons rules.