VideoGamingFreak1213: You will see. Thanks for the review.

CHiKa-RoXy: you are welcome.

coopt98: YAY!

Phantom: I'm glad you still like it.

XxShadowfandxX: Everything has an ending

Guest1&2: I'm a procrastinator and always will be but I'm glad you like it enough to try to spur me faster

: Thank you. :)

Sorry about the lateness of this but its longer than usual-ish anyways have fun.

Chapter 13

True to her word; the portal took them to Plasmius' castle, into Vlad's master bedroom in fact. Danny noticed with relief that both of them automatically morphed into their human sides as they came back, it would've been a mess trying to get Vlad to morph back. Unfortunately for Danny the portal had not thrown them on the bed but beside it. He struggled for a moment with Vlad's body and finally managed to get the man on it; wincing as he accidently cracked the older hybrid's head on one of the bedposts. "Sorry" he whispered. After taking the man's shoes off he steeled himself for the next; the man's bloody shirt where underneath was the injury. The boy took a deep breath unbuttoned it and gagged. He ran to the bathroom and quickly shut the door.

After letting his body torture him for a while Danny cautiously made his way back to the inert form on the bed silently pleading that it was still alive. He crawled up on the bed next to the older hybrid and after checking for a pulse and breathing sat back and allowed himself a small sigh of relief. He then forced himself to look at the wound; he fought off a bought of nausea when he saw it. Clambering down from the bed he went back to the bathroom but this time for supplies. He was surprised when he saw that Vlad was looking at him. He gave the other crossbreed a small smile and held up the bandages and other stuff by way of explanation.

"Bring that and then hand me the phone over there."

Danny obeyed and handed the man the phone, he stood there for a moment until he realized that there was a couch; he lay down on it determined to stay awake and listen to whatever Vlad said on the phone but his body was against it and soon he was asleep.

Glancing over at where the boy lay, Vlad allowed himself a small smile until he heard the person on the line pick up and he immediately turned his attention towards them "Hello Doctor, this is Vladimir Masters….I find myself requiring your services…." He looked down at his wound, wincing at the pain the slight movement caused, and studied it "as fast as you can…no I don't need an ambulance just…yes until then." He sighed and immediately regretted it he put the rolled bandage against the wound and applied firm pressure. His lips twitched as he took in the blood stained silk sheets; while it didn't bother him financially he had been rather fond of this certain set but then again he could probably order a new one just like it. He gritted his teeth as his gash decided to send an extra strong pain wave traveling through his body. Staring up at the canopy over him he wished that Dr. Astep would come quicker but he knew that she was coming as fast as she could; she always did. A corner of his mouth lifted in amusement "Probably breaking a few traffic laws while she's at it."

As if in confirmation of his thoughts his door opened and in stepped an older woman around 50 but by the looks of her you could tell she was still as fast as a whip. She gave the billionaire a smile "How are you Masters?" she was one person of very few that he let drop the title off of his name.

"If I was fine you wouldn't be here, now would you?"

"No probably not we should change that shouldn't we?" she said rummaging in her sack.

Vlad wasn't fooled by her seemingly bubbly appearance, he knew that she had already taken everything from the sleeping boy to the stained sheets and stored it for later use. She was one of those people who gave the impression of talking nonstop about nothing but in actuality was obtaining all of the information she could; all the while not letting her observers get any sort of data from her. Vlad had been the one person to cut through her illusion and now it was a game for the two of them to try to roost out some information before the other. Exactly whom Vlad could count on to remain 'silent' about his frequent injuries.

Sensing that the billionaire wasn't in any mood to play games she dropped the pretense as she crossed over to the other side and appraised his wound. "Lovely has got to be the best one yet…nice to see you put pressure on it."

The man let out a hiss of pain as she continued to evaluate his wound and closed his eyes to keep from fainting.

Dr. Astep turned to her bag and pulled out a syringe with a needle attached to it and began to fill it.

"Local?" he asked.

"Local. Someday I'm going to get you to go to the hospital for such things." Done with her task she turned to him "Ready yourself."

Ten minutes later she was done with him and was putting the last of her bandaging away but got out a water bottle and a pill and handed it to the man on the bed. "I'm bursting with curiosity with how you got that."

He took it and swallowed it down and replied "You always are."

"This time it's more grievous that the others."

"I got stabbed."

"Obviously but how, where and most importantly why?"

"Maybe later, Astep. For now…" he gestured with the hand the opposite of the wound "how long before I recover."

"You were extremely lucky it didn't tear or puncture your lungs, how it didn't hit them I shall never know. However a couple ligaments and tendons were cut along with some muscle …So about 4 months*."

The hybrid held back a groan and instead nodded "All right." A thought occurred to him "My heart?"

"Didn't even touch it." She said giving him a curious look but then continued "I'm curious as to how you're going to change your bandage on your own."

"See that boy over there. I have no doubt that he will help."

"If you say so Masters. In any event if you need me.."

"I know how to call. Go on get out of here and find some other person to deceive with that giggly granny disguise."

"Giggly granny indeed." She snorted but went out the door.

The billionaire let out a small groan after he heard her car pull out and closed his eyes; bracing himself for the days ahead.

Danny woke up to the sound of his stomach rumbling; he stretched and looked over to Vlad lay and noticed that the older hybrid's injury had been attended to while he was sleeping. He walked over to where the man lay and just stood there staring at him; thinking of all that had happened in…How long had it been? He didn't know but one thing he did know was that things between Vlad and him had changed. He wasn't sure if he could bear it. Plasmius and Phantom were bitter enemies, it was well known in the Ghost Zone and the human world-at least Amnity Park. His stomach growled again but he ignored it. But now? Were they allies now or were they still enemies? He found himself half hoping that they were allies. Vlad knew so much more than he did about…everything but there was the factor that this man always tried to tear his family apart. Sekhmet had kept referring to Plasmius as his friend and maybe…maybe she was right. This whole venture they had been learning to trust each other. He sighed, shaking his head; perhaps during the time it took for Vlad to heal it would make itself clear. Again his persistent belly growled and this time the teen managed to take his eyes off of the man and stepped out the door.

It took him a while to find his way to the kitchen but once he found it he set himself to building the biggest sandwich ever. The teen finished it and found that he was still famished so he made himself another one. While he was busy wolfing down the second one he wondered if Vlad would want anything but then decided that he would wait until the man woke up to ask him. Finished with his sandwich he considered about making another one, his stomach wouldn't mind but he decided against it, he was still exhausted from the whole ordeal. He made a plan that as soon as he checked on Plasmius he would crawl back on the couch and nap.

Vlad was still sleeping when Danny poked his head around the door, both relieved and disappointed the teen gave a sigh and then flopped down on the couch. Sleep didn't come immediately for him though; he was being visited by visions of when he had stabbed Plasmius. He felt guilty and a part of him whispered that there could've been another way or maybe he could've warned the older hybrid before he struck. He tried to shut out the poisonous thoughts but they were persistent. The feel of cutting through flesh and the man's cry of pain. The dagger's long blade dripping blood after it had been pulled out and the warning to not pull at the wrong time. He hoped that he didn't withdraw the blade at the wrong time. Finally the memories having exhausted him both physically and mentally he dropped off.

Blue eyes snapped open as the stab wound sent a sharp pain through his body and Vlad stiffened, gasping. When it was over he relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief which he immediately wished he hadn't. He noted with some amusement that though this was painful it wasn't as agonizing as the pain Sekhmet had given him. A corner of his mouth lifted with the thought that perhaps she had, in a way prepared him for this. Another sting, though not as sharp as the one that woke him up, reminded him that he should take more pain medicine. Getting up was out of the question though. His eyes found Daniel sleeping on the couch and he wondered for a minute if the boy had been sleeping as long as he had. "Daniel. Daniel! DANIEL!" He grimaced as his last call caused his nerves to tell him that they weren't happy with him. He was relieved to notice that the teen had shot up at his yell.

"What is it?!" Danny came over in a rush almost tripping over his own feet to get to Vlad.

The billionaire entertained the thought of Daniel falling on top of him and was thankful that he hadn't "I need more pain med. Go into the bathroom and in.." He gasped as another wave went through him then swallowed "In the cupboard middle shelf you'll find a greenish looking bottle with pills in it grab it and bring it here."

Danny nodded and went into the bathroom he reappeared a few minutes later with the requested item in hand. He passed it to Vlad and then stood waiting.

Unscrewing the lid, the man shook one out and then re-screwed it back on. He swallowed it down, grimacing at the taste.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Just rest for now." Vlad replied putting a hand to his side and pushing on it; trying to get the pain to lessen.

"How badly damaged is your heart?"

"The doctor said that it hadn't even been touched but you and I both know that's claptrap."

Danny nodded; he had FELT it hit Vlad's heart, although he didn't know how he knew that it had "So what do you think happened?"

"Probably some properties of the dagger going into play, whether it cloaks the fact that it was tore, which I doubt, or it healed my heart on the way out. Both sound ridiculous but if the first one were true I imagine that I would be in more pain or possibly dead." He then caught the teen's eye "I believe that you owe me an account of what happened after Empusa took you and everything you know about the Vampirblut."

Nodding he started to speak but the older hybrid cut him off.

"Not now, I'm exhausted. Tell me when I next wake." He shut his eyes after saying this and let the welcome dark take him to where he hoped would be restful sleep.

Vlad woke to find the boy not in the room with him. He mentally shrugged; Daniel would be somewhere in the house, probably eating. He put his hand back to his side as it started aching, then glanced at the clock. It would still be awhile before he could take anymore medicine. He contemplated going back to sleep but while his body was tired his mind was now wide awake. His mind mostly wandered to Daniel and his relationship with each other. It had changed, no doubt about it. Vlad had mostly looked at it as a very tense father-son or maybe uncle-nephew relationship. Daniel however held that it was bitter enmity between the two of them. Plasmius had been more than happy to let the boy believe it just so he could train him in a way. Now the teen had to face the fact that their association with each other was more than just enemy to enemy. "These will be a couple of interesting months ahead." The man shifted his position on the bed trying to find a more comfortable one. He was jolted out of his thoughts by the adolescent's return.

"You're awake!"

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Vlad replied with a sarcastic raise of his eyebrow.

The young hybrid would've been more offended by this but as it was he was just glad that the man had enough energy to make cynical remarks "Did you want anything?"

"Only your explanation of what happened when she took you."

Taking a deep breath; Danny nodded and haltingly told him the story. He spoke of Empusa offering him the choice of leaving or staying. Of hiding in the cell that Plasmius was in and about how the dagger had seemed to make him plunge it deeper until it cut to the older crossbreed's heart. Related how the blade had the man's name on it and Sekhmet's explanation and her opening a portal.

Never speaking a word, Vlad listened until the boy went quiet and only then did he speak "You left out a great detail, little badger."

His eyes looked at the billionaire questioningly "What?"

"Your feelings on each little matter. You recounted your whole story as if it had happened to a robot."

Realizing that Vlad was right the boy nodded and then retold his narrative, this time including most of the doubts he had had.

Again the older hybrid was silent until Daniel was done and then he nodded. Closing his eyes he tried to mull over what the boy had said but found himself trying to drift off instead; his mind now as exhausted the rest of him.

"Vlad?"

He opened his eyes to meet the teen's gaze "What is it?"

"You and me…It's not…I mean. It's changed. Our association with each other, I mean. We're not really bitter enemies anymore."

"Never have been or you'd be dead." Smiling wryly from his position on the bed the man spoke aloud "True. So what would you have me do?"

"Tell me exactly how I'm supposed to respond the next time you come to kill my father or take my mother."

"I can't tell you that; you'll have to figure that one out for yourself."

Danny didn't look too pleased with his answer but decided to let it go. Vlad was just being Vlad; never giving too much information. He sighed "Fine but what exactly are we."

"Two people who have unique powers that nobody else in the world has who have found themselves on unknown ground. Time will tell Daniel. For now though I believe some rest is in order."

"For you."

"Whatever suits you." The man rejoined then closed his eyes and tried to ignore the fact that the teen was staring at him.

Once he was satisfied that the older hybrid was truly asleep Danny went to go find some information on how long they were gone. He searched the master bedroom for any sign of a cell phone but found none. "Watch him not have one, the fruit-loop" He was about to give up until he saw the man's alarm clock and noticed that it had the date on it too. He felt a bit stupid now; he had never even thought about a different source than a phone to know what date it was. His eyes opened in surprise; it had only been two days since their departure. But that couldn't be it had been a lot longer than that in their cell. He glanced at Vlad and was tempted to wake and ask him but knew better than that. Out of the two of them he was pretty sure that the man had had more strain from their venture. He sighed there was nothing really to do in this house. He turned his gaze back toward the older hybrid and wondered if he should be doing anything more than waiting for the man to wake up. He walked towards Vlad and looked down at him trying to figure things out. He remembered the thermometer from what felt like forever ago and wondered where it had wound up. Deciding to go look for it he left the room.

Finally after having found it he approached Vlad with it and wondered how he was going to get a reading. He lifted the man's arm that was opposite of the wound and stuck it in the man's armpit, which woke the man up with a start.

"What are you doing?" He asked his voice thick with sleep.

"Trying to take your temperature but I didn't think I should stick it in your mouth when you were sleeping."

"Don't bother Daniel, I feel fine; aside from the wound that is."

"You also said you felt fine when my family and I first arrived here and you managed to have a fever of what was it…108?"

"Don't be ridiculous it was 105. Besides then it was me going from my normal self to a vampire this time it's different."

"Oh so you mean you've done this before and know exactly how it's going to be." Danny stared at Vlad who just remained silent and Danny sighed "Empusa told me that the change from vampire back can be as difficult as the first time you changed. Just..let me do it."

"When did she tell you this?"

"While you were passed out."

For some reason this statement made Plasmius angry "Pardon me for that won't you Phantom, I was stabbed at that time by someone I thought I trusted." The words were out before he could stop them or think them through and he could see the guilty hurt in the teen's eyes "Daniel, I'm so sorry I didn't mean that."

Danny met the other hybrid's gaze "I know and now I know why I wasn't supposed to let you see the Vampirblut until it was time. You would've turned on me."

"Everything has a will to survive Daniel, even a bitter old vampire." Seeing the teen give a small smile Vlad said "I suppose we should see whether or not I have a fever eh little badger?"

Danny smiled in agreement and handed the thermometer to Plasmius who took it, turned it on and then stuck it in his mouth. They both waited until the telltale beeping began after which the man took it out and looked at it an eyebrow going up "Well done Daniel, its 102."

"I win." The boy said with a sort of grin.

"Indeed and now if Dr. Phantom would be so kind I believe that my wound needs checked and my bandage most likely needs changed." Vlad was rewarded by the boy going pale and gave his own version of a grin "Or I suppose I could get someone else to do it."

He couldn't help looking relieved but he also was curious "Who?"

"Normally I'd have one of my doppelgangers do it but as it is I'm too weak to summon one. So I'll have to get my ally to come here. Promise me you won't freak out when he arrives."

"Who is it?"

"Not telling, you will find out when he gets here." So saying he reached up, hissing with the pain it caused, and pressed a small hidden button.

Yes I know I lied about the one more chapter thing, I really thought that it would only be one more. Then I realized I wanted to do more stuff with our favorite hybrids. Sorry for how long it took to get this one up and I apologize in advance for how long the next one probably will be. P&H

*I'm guessing if anyone out there knows better tell me :)