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Eddie was furious. How dare she practically kick him out of her apartment? Didn't she realize who he was? What he could do? How much she meant to him?

After being unceremoniously shoved from Sam's apartment, Eddie had driven back to Vlad's mansion, his temper at a dangerous level. Several times during the trip he had purposely swerved towards the unwary squirrels that had unsuspectingly chosen the time and place for their death. After the kill count had reached double digits, he had to admit his mood had definitely improved.

Back at Vlad's, he had made his way towards the basement in order to watch his favorite show in comfort. Sipping lightly at the warm cup of tea in his hand, Eddie snapped his fingers in the air as his gaze never left the screen before him. Danny Vision was better than the slop that was usually on TV these days.

A body materialized beside his chair and waiting until it was noticed. Breathing deeply in the slightly spicy smell of the tea, Eddie reluctantly turned away from the screen to face the figure beside him.

"Skulker, this tea is not nearly strong enough. For the next pot, steep it longer. And its cold down here, get me a blanket." He demanded, catching the much larger and stronger ghost's eye. A cold smile was on his face as he watched in satisfaction as Skulker bowed low towards the ground and vanished without a sound.

Movement from the corner of his eye caught Eddie's attention, Vlad had come downstairs. He had a fierce scowl on his face, a telltale sign that all was not well in the world of Plasmius.

"Welcome back oh wondrous one." He greeted him blandly as he drank his tea, "Something wrong?"

Vlad slowly sat into the chair on the other side of the room and faced the console before him. With a grin, Eddie could see that Master's back was tense and ramrod straight. If this Fenton kid wasn't such a huge pain in his ass, Eddie could see himself almost admiring the man for his spunk. It wasn't every day that someone not nearly as powerful as himself tried to take on Vlad Masters.

Turning back to the monitor, Eddie's eyes popped open in shock. He had known that Danny was slowly fading for the past few days due to the solution that was pounding away in his veins, but it had been a few days since he'd been around to enjoy his prisoner's pain and anguish.

To his delight, Danny was a complete shadow of his former self when they had dragged him into the mansion earlier in the week. His figure was emaciated even though Vlad personally brought him meals three times a day; Eddie could practically see the bones in Danny's arms protruding, digging into the carpet. Not only that, but he was face down, his arms still grasping at the carpet and he was less than a foot away from the innocuous looking vial on the dresser. But what really tickled Eddie's funny bone was that while he was staring at the screen, Danny appeared to be having a seizure.

Skulker appeared and silently laid down a tray laden with a fresh pot of tea, cream and sugar as well as a blanket that had been tucked on his arm. Laying down the tray and wrapping the blanket around Eddie's legs, Skulker again disappeared without a word. Ignoring him, Eddie watched in morbid fascination as Danny twisted and turned, his back arching one minute, his eyes rolling in the back of his head the next. He was jolting erratically in the same spot, his arms and legs clenched tight in unrealized pain; Danny was beyond pain, beyond feeling. He was almost to the point of death, Eddie mused quietly as he slowly sipped his new cup of tea with relish.

A particularly painful looking snap to Danny's spine caused a sharp chuckle to erupt from Eddie. A minute later he was cursing his singular moment of weakness, as Vlad peered over his shoulder. If he had only been silent a minute longer there would no longer have been any need for Vlad or any of his sideshow freaks, Sam would have been his without hesitation and Vlad would have been in jail for the murder of Daniel Fenton.

With a low swear of "Damn," Vlad had vanished from the chilly room. A minute later, Eddie watched in frustration as the man burst into the room, grabbed Danny roughly and poured the vial down his throat. He enjoyed the last few twitching moments of Danny's agony before the antidote began to really course through his system, then slowly Fenton's jerky body motions slowed down until he was still. Eddie grimaced at the sight of Vlad heaving a huge sigh with the barely breathing Daniel Fenton in his arms. Vlad was too emotional. In this line of business, he needed to learn that sometimes the end result was all that mattered and if you needed to crack a few nuts along the way, then that was life.

With a curse of his own, Eddie allowed the cup in his hand to spill over the console before him. Smoothly, he scooted his chair back as the monitor burst into instant flames and sparks. It was done, Danny was theirs. Phase one had been completed, albeit far more quickly than he had originally wanted, but there it was. Now it was on to the next portion of the plan, and this one Eddie knew he would have far more fun with.

An hour later found Eddie sitting in the laboratory area of the basement, his leg bouncing up and down in irritation as Vlad clucked over his experiment like a mother hen. He had been waiting for the better part of the hour as Vlad adjusted things to his liking; turning this, tightening that, straightening the whatsit. It was enough to drive a man insane, if he wasn't already well on his way there to begin with.

Jumping up, Edward strode over to where Vlad was standing next to a tray of instruments. Almost lovingly, he stroked the sharp implements in interest. Oblivious to Vlad's nervous expression, he caressed a scalpel that he had picked up. With a wicked glint in his eye, he stared at Vlad in anticipation.

"Is he ready?" he asked slowly, as he looked around Vlad. Before him on a gurney, Danny was strapped in with metal restraints. His arms, his chest, legs and even neck were all strapped tightly, not allowing a single inch of movement. He was still unconscious for the moment, his head lolling to the side and his mouth partially open. Eddie gazed upon him analytically, what was it that Sam found so fascinating about this man? Sure by societies standards, Eddie assumed that he would be considered vaguely handsome. But he was poor, unintelligent, and an unnatural freak of nature. He had nothing to offer her.

Suddenly angry, he harshly shoved Vlad aside, ignoring the yelps of pain as his partner slammed into a table filled with metal instruments. It was just Danny and Eddie now, man to man. Eddie smirked, and wasn't it just wonderful that one of the men happened to be dead to the world and strapped in tightly?

Swinging his hand around, Eddie backhanded Danny smartly across the face, "Wake the hell up!" he shouted, his voice grating as it boomed through the room. Danny just shook his head as it bounced from side to side.

Narrowing his eyes, Eddie slapped him again, this time harder. Luckily for Danny, the second slap seemed to spark something inside his head and he awoke. Dazedly, he blinked at the harsh light that Vlad had placed directly over his head. With a grimace of pain, he tried to move his body but realized he couldn't because something was pressing him down.

With a shake of his head, he lifted his eyes and found to his astonishment that they met the malicious hazel eyes of a man before him. Tearing his eyes away, Danny glanced quickly around the room.

"Where am I?" He asked, swallowing desperately. His voiced seemed to not have been used for years, it sounded gravely to his ears and grated unnaturally. Like sharp bits of glass had been shoved down his throat. Every inch of his body was in excruciating agony, right down to the very last eyelash.

A cruel leer appeared on the face a few inches from his own, "Where are you Mr. Fenton? Why, I do believe you're in hell. Welcome, get comfortable. You'll be here for a while."

Suddenly, another body appeared within the scope of Danny's fuzzy vision; tall, and powerfully built it seemed disturbingly familiar.

"Edward, careful. He's still fragile right now."

Danny blanched in pain and anger, "Plasmius." He growled. Pain or no pain, he still tried to struggle against the bonds holding him down. Amusedly, both Vlad and the unknown watched him as he exerted most of his remaining strength.

"Oh Danny, " Vlad sighed in despair, "Honestly, you're weak as a newborn kitten m'boy. Don't even try it. Besides, we have much to discuss." Standing beside his compatriot, Vlad crossed his arms happily and smiled at his victim.

Danny glared hatefully at the men, "I won't join you Plasmius, my GOD this is pathetic in a man your age."

Vlad just shrugged unconcernedly, "We'll see." With a hesitant nod to the other man, Vlad walked out of the basement without looking back. Almost fearful, Danny watched as his cape whisped around the corner and vanished.

A cold chuckle caught Danny's attention and forced it back to the man before him, "Well, well. Looks like we're finally alone; 'bout time, I was dying to finally meet the infamous Danny Fenton face to face." Shifting back a step, he eyed Danny questioningly up and down, "You have quite the reputation you know Mr. Fenton. The question is, why."

Tired, Danny tilted his heavy head towards the man. He seemed so familiar. Inky black hair that was coifed perfectly, tall, built, dressed immaculately. And those eyes, why did they strike him so powerfully? "Do I know you?" asked Danny quietly, he had finally realized the stupidity of his earlier move and was now trying to conserve his energy.

The figure shrugged noncommittally, "Depends. But we do have a friend in common. Beautiful girl really, quite smart too. Has the most amazing amethyst eyes…" With a shock, Danny realized where he recognized this man; this was the guy from the tape of Sam in the park!

"You're Eddie aren't you?"

Eddie laughed joyously and clapped his hands in appreciation, "So she's mentioned me? And to you? How adorable. What a perfectly girlfriend type of thing to do, it's so Sam I could choke."

Danny bared his teeth at Eddie and snarled at him, "You're the one that ruined her life!"

Suddenly, Eddie's jovial face turned dark. His bright golden eyes glinted madly and his mouth widened in an evil smirk, "No, see not yet." Walking towards Danny, he gracefully pulled the scalpel between his fingers and began to run it gently through his hands, "You see Daniel, Sam is mine. She always has been, we are meant for each other. And the only thing stopping that, is you unfortunately." Eddie ran the sharp edge of the instrument slowly down Danny's cheek as he spoke, the cold metal running painful shivers throughout his body.

Danny's eyes widened desperately as he felt the cold blade then run delicately along his throat. With one smooth swipe he knew his life would be over and so would Sam's. "You're the one who tried to have me murdered." He murmured quietly, so as to not jostle the blade or startle Eddie.

Eddie grinned into Danny's face, "Yes. Poor, stupid woman; who knew assassins could have a conscience? After she failed I had to have her terminated, she hadn't even bothered to take out at least a few of those scientists in that explosion. It was disgraceful really; I had to file a complaint with her company. They were incredibly disappointed." Danny swallowed convulsively as the edge traveled between his eyes and down the bridge of his nose.

"If you wanted me dead, why don't you just do it now?" He wanted to know, he had to know. The better chance he had later on of escaping if he survived and warning Sam and Tucker. This was no ghost they were dealing with, but a psychotic human. No one was safe.

With a heavy sigh, Eddie pulled back the scalpel and looked at it sadly, "If Vlad hadn't seen you dying in your room then you would have already been dead and this would have been a non-issue." Quickly, his good mood was back and his eyes slightly wild in their sockets as they stared at Danny, "But since that didn't happen, this will be far more fun." He giggled wildly, a strange high sound that cut through the cold room, "What would you do, if the one you loved came back and tried to destroy you Danny?"

Suddenly, Danny knew what they wanted. Vlad wanted a protégé and Eddie wanted Danny to practically destroy Sam. "You can't make me do anything, psycho." He spat harshly at Eddie, his blue eyes icy in their glare.

Eddie nodded along, as if in agreement, "Oh no, I agree one hundred percent. But see, that's why I came to Vlad, and since he has a prior attachment to you, well it made it that much easier." His smile to Danny was sunny in appearance but full of despicable meaning.

"Sam will never love you."

Those five words were enough to break the tenuous barrier holding Eddie back. Suddenly, he was face to face with Danny. With a jerk of his arm, Eddie had grasped Danny's face in his hand, forcing Danny to tilt his face painfully towards his tormentor. The look in Eddie's eyes was enough show Danny just how desperately his man wanted the one thing to ever get away from him, Sam.

Gripping his rival's face painfully in his grasp, Eddie critically looked over the smooth planes of Danny's forehead, cheeks, lips and nose. "I wonder," he mused aloud in a faux cheery voice, "will Sam still love you if you are disfigured." And without another word, Eddie's other arm flashed down towards Danny's face.

A blaze of fiery pain cut across Danny's entire face as he screamed into the empty laboratory. It was a shallow cut, but he couldn't know that. All he could feel was the gentle trickles of blood as it pulsed down his face and neck.

"Not enough, let's try again shall we?" Eddie hissed in rapture. Again his scalpel flew through the air, this time towards the other cheek, making an equally deep slice into the formerly flawless skin.

A second ear splitting shriek cut through the silence. Sobbing desperately, Danny couldn't move or escape from this hell, all he could do was lay there and wait for Eddie to finally realize that he no longer needed his new toy. Again the blade was moving towards Danny and in resignation he shut his eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable stab of agony to carve through his visage.

"Edward!"

A second before the blade had made contact, Eddie groaned. What a time for an interruption. Turning around, he grinned at the horrified expression on Vlad's face. "Hey Vlady, come to join the party?" he asked, waving the blood drenched scalpel in Danny's tear streaked direction.

Without a word, Vlad marched woodenly over to Eddie, quickly plucked the blade from his hand and with a firm sweeping gesture, shoved him away from their guinea pig. Laughing, Edward made his way towards the stairs. At the base of them, he turned and winked at Danny.

Blood drenched and pale, Danny watched as Vlad hesitantly began to clean his wounds with a slightly dirty rag, "Vlad." He mumbled, the words sticking slightly in his mouth. He was so tired.

Without waiting for a response Danny continued, "Kill me," he begged quietly, in a low voice, "this is not worth anything. What good is a broken, unwilling slave? You know I won't join you and Eddie…" Danny fell quiet, wincing occasionally when Vlad scrubbed too roughly in some spots.

Vlad turned his back towards Danny and dropped the crimson soaked rag onto the table. Resting his hands on the edge of the table he allowed his shoulders to slump slightly. "I can't," he replied quietly, "Besides," he added, turning around, a small smile on his face, "by this time tomorrow, none of this will matter anyways."

Then straightening up, he nodded at Danny, making sure not to catch his eye, and walked out of the room and up the stairs. If he strained his ears hard enough, Danny could hear each individual footfall as it was made along the stony steps. Each step made its own ominous sound as it echoed back down to the freezing chamber he was stuck in for now. Tears of frustration and pain stung his cheeks as they flowed down his face; tiredly, Danny closed his eyes and willed himself asleep hoping that the next day would be no worse than this one.

A pained expression on her face, Jazz sat alone on the couch. Carefully, she rested her hand on her still slender stomach. What was she going to do? How could she tell her family that she was going to have to leave graduate school for a while to take care of her child? That the father of her child didn't even know he was going to be a father?

Silently, Sam walked into the living room, two piping hot cups of hot chocolate topped off with whipped cream in her hands. Stopping, suddenly she caught sight of Jazz resting on the couch with a forlorn look on her face. Moving quietly, she left the room and stood around the corner watching her friend. Jazz sighed heavily and tucked some of her bright red hair behind her ear, her right hand still lightly caressing her stomach; Sam could almost feel her heart breaking at the sight in front of her. If not for herself, then they needed to find Danny for Jazz at the very least.

"Hey," Sam greeted Jazz weakly, walking sedately into the room so as to not drop the hot drinks in her hand, "Thought you might want some company. And hey, look! I brought chocolate!"

Smiling warmly at the sight, Jazz scooted over for Sam to sit beside her. Thanking her profusely, Jazz breathed in the heady chocolate aroma and took a small sip. "God Sam, how'd you know I needed this?"

Taking a sip of her own drink, Sam licked her lips in satisfaction, "Its chocolate Jazz, you're pregnant and your only brother is currently MIA. I think you need it."

Jazz nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I guess. Where's Tucker?" After they had discovered a possibly correlation between Eddie and Danny, Tucker had disappeared and neither Sam nor Jazz had heard from him for at least twelve hours.

"I dunno, but if anyone is gonna call him, it's you. The last time I called I got more information into Tuck and Val's relationship than I ever wanted." Said Sam with a nervous shiver. Never again, she thought desperately. If she had to listen to Valerie moan one more time...now she understood how Danny had felt that one time when he had caught them before he and Val had broken up.

Laughing, Jazz put down her cup and shook her head, "Ok, fine…I'll call him." She got quiet for a minute before continuing, "We've waited long enough and I want my brother back. No, I need my brother back." Tears leaked slowly from her eyes as Jazz furiously wiped them away. Sighing, Sam reached over and patted her lightly on the back in sympathy.

"I know Jazz, really. I know you want Danny back, believe me, I do too. God do I want him back." Sam whispered, as she stared into the swirling creamy brown depths of her hot chocolate, "Do you know what I'm going to do when I see him?"

"Hog tie him to the bed?" guessed Jazz coyly, a wicked smile on her face.

Sam laughed at the image in her head, "Ok, maybe after that…but no, I'm going to jump in his arms, smack his head hard and demand that he never scare me again." Her face fell at the rush of emotions that assaulted her, "And then I'm going to tell him that I love him desperately."

Jazz nodded slowly, and reaching over gave her a loving one armed hug, "I understand Sam."

"More hugs?"

Tearing apart, the women were stunned to see Tucker standing just inside the living room staring at them with an amused look on his face. "Wipe that smirk off your face Foley before my boot does it for you," Jazz growled as Sam laughed.

"Where've you been Tuck?"

Tucker shrugged as he moved farther into the room, "Had to tell my beloved she was my life didn't I?" Spying the cups in their hands, his face lit up in jubilation, "Ooooh chocolate!" Diving forward, he grabbed the cup from Sam's hand and drank deeply.

Sam nudged Jazz with her elbow, "Told you I didn't want to call."

Smacking his lips and sighing in deep satisfaction, Tucker set the empty cup back onto the coffee table and grinned at Sam, "Good chocolate Sammy, seriously, gotta give Val that recipe. Now, onto the news; the reason why I was gone so long was to get something to help our little operation." Digging in his pants pocket, Tucker pulled out a small silver, round chip which he held up proudly.

Jazz squinted her eyes to try and see the tiny object better, "What the hell is it?"

Before their eyes, Tucker seemed to deflate, "What, you can't tell?"

"Tuck…" Sam warned.

"Fine! You guys know that I'm now working for that tech company right?" they both nodded, so he continued confidently, "Well, the company's headhunters were going after me back in high school to be honest. They had somehow caught wind that I'd been experimenting with different kinds of tracking devices."

Sam eyed the object in Tucker's hand questioningly, "A tracking device?"

"Tucker," Jazz asked hesitantly, "why do we need a tracking device?"

"Are you going to put it on Eddie?" Sam asked hopefully, her eyes shining in anticipation.

An embarrassed flush distressingly crept up Tucker's dark skin, "Well," he said, rubbing his head nervously, "Um, I didn't think that he would let me get that close to him and since this is a really delicate piece of machinery I can't really let you or Jazz handle it Sam so…" A desperate smile graced Tucker's face until he caught a glimpse of the expressions on Jazz and Sam's faces.

Sam stood up in shock and shook her head, waving her hands in distress, "No…no….NO! Tucker, you want to bug me?" she exclaimed. This was so wrong, how could he want her to be anywhere near that possibly sociopath?

Tucker smirked and shot her a look that said "duh," "What, you expected me to suggest the hormonal pregnant chick?" he asked, gesturing to Jazz.

"Hey!" Jazz cried, "This pregnant chick can still kick your ass and psychoanalyze you till the cows came home. Besides Sam, I think Tucker actually has something there."

Sam stared at her in shock, what? This was ridiculous, how could these two want her to be alone with the madman who possibly had kidnapped her boyfriend? "J-Jazz…what the hell are you talking about?" Sam stuttered.

Jazz's face lit up in excitement at the idea running through her head, "Think about it. Sam, it makes sense. The only one that Eddie could trust would be you. You're the key to getting into where Danny's at."

Quietly, Sam gazed at Tucker and Jazz's expectant faces. She had to admit they had a point, and wasn't it her fault to begin with that they were all in this mess? After all, it was because of her that Eddie had come back into the mix.

"Fine," she mumbled childishly, crossing her arms before her chest, "but I don't like it."

Tucker rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her, "You don't have to like it Sammy, but if we want Phantom back, and if you want your boy toy back, then someone has to do this."

"Can we tape record me too? Just in case I disappear somewhere along the way?" Sam asked feebly.

Jazz scratched her chin in thought, "Guys I think we're going to need some time. Sam's obviously going to need more than just a tiny bug on her before she's ready to go along with Eddie. Tucker, think you can whip up a undetectable recording device?"

He nodded happily, "Yeah, I've been dying to work on more of my private stash of spy gear."

Sam shook her head in despair, "I don't even want to know why you've been making spy gear." Jazz chuckled along with her in agreement.

"Hey," he replied, indignant "you never know when Danny wants to make this sidekick thing official."

"Yeah well, when Batman wants you back Robin we'll let you know."

Chuckling, Tucker just pocketed his tracking device and giving both women a warm hug he said goodbye and left. Jazz claimed she was tired and went to the guest room to take a nap, but Sam knew that she was going to go and have a long cry.

If she was honest, Sam wished she could do the same. It was all that she wanted to break down and cry; she knew what Eddie was capable of. It had been some freak form of rationalization that made her think he had been misunderstood. Sam's eyes narrowed as she cleaned up the living room, and that bastard had made her think she'd had a job. He had used her again. But this time, she was finally going to get her revenge, he would hurt no one when they were finished.