A/N: Ouch. Sorry, nothing useful came out of my head for a week... I tried working on my other projects and then when that didn't work I started a new fic which I really like but it's not DP, so you'll probably never see it. And I did a one shot. In fact I did everything but work on this story...

I'm posting this chapter and the next at the same time, I had them as one chapter originally but they just don't go together (you'll see why) and it got too long anyway.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom

Free

Danny was lying on his bed, his back to the door. He had been there for hours, trying to sleep, but it wouldn't come, although he was very tired. Too many thoughts were swirling through his head, very few of them pleasant. He had tried to kill his father. He had wanted to kill his father. It was a reflex, drilled into him by Vlad.

He felt a raw hatred rising in him as he thought of his arch enemy and he had to fight to keep control. He clenched his fists and whimpered, trying to push the darkness away. He knew his eyes were red now and he closed them, desperately willing them blue again. He started to sweat, his breathing grew ragged and he didn't dare to move. He thought he had more control than this, but thinking of Vlad brought up all kinds of feelings that he had tried so hard to suppress. Finally he managed to relax somewhat.

He heard the voices coming from below, no doubt discussing his strange behavior. He wondered if he had done the right thing, coming home. What if he was a danger to his father? What if he lost control the next time? He had barely managed to hold back a massive ecto blast that would have seriously harmed, if not killed, his father. He had grabbed the ecto gun laying on the desk as camouflage, as an excuse for the ecto beam he had let go at the giant ghost squid that came out of the portal. And then suddenly he had found himself pointing it at his father. It had taken him a considerable amount of will power to put the thing down again.

The voices downstairs grew louder and then ceased altogether when the front door closed. He continued listening and heard someone come up the stairs, quietly. The door to his room opened, but he didn't turn around, still unsure of his eye color. Somebody sat down on the bed and touched his arm. He tensed.

"Danny?"

His mother's voice. She sounded concerned.

"Sweetie, what's the matter with you? What happened to you the last five months? Why won't you talk about it?"

He turned around slowly and looked at his mother. She looked tired and sad and he felt guilty, knowing he caused that.

"It doesn't matter now. I got away and that's all that matters."

He looked at the metal wristbands. It was now or never. He felt a pain in his heart, knowing he was going to hurt father, but he had to get away. He hated what he had become... no, no, he was better now, stronger, superior... He took a deep breath and walked to the window. There were no bars there and there even was no ghost shield to keep him in anymore. The bars and the shield were in his head now.

Vlad still hadn't dared to take away the controlling wristbands, although he hadn't had to use them in more than a week. Even his school work had been passable. Danny knew why Vlad hadn't taken away the wristbands. He was still there, the old Danny, tucked away somewhere in the back of his mind. It showed in his eyes, in the ever so slight hesitation in obeying Vlad's orders. But it wouldn't be long now, before he was completely gone and he became Vlad's pawn, his perfect son.

That was why he couldn't wait for Vlad to take them off. By that time, he wouldn't want to leave. He wasn't even sure he wanted to leave now. He looked outside. The full moon was shining, giving everything a silvery glow. To him, it almost seemed like daylight and he squinted his eyes. Then he held out his arms in the moonlight and the wristbands seemed to shine a brilliant light, reflecting on his face.

Now or never, he thought and he pushed all thought away. There was only one way to do this and he wasn't sure it would work. If it didn't, he was in for another week of torture, and Vlad would probably never take them away. But if it did... He shuddered at the thought of what would become of him if it did work. Would he be able to get back at himself?

He started thinking about Vlad, how he had hurt him, tortured him, beat him into obedience. He pushed away any feelings of loyalty to the man, love even. How could he even consider loving the man who beat him almost every day? But he had felt the love from Vlad, as a father to his son... the pride when he had accomplished something. Was it really so bad here? He could be so... powerful here, with Vlad backing him up. Only he didn't want power, he wanted his family back.

He thought about his family, his mother baking cookies, his father with his crazy inventions, his sister, who was always nagging him about his homework. He felt the anger rise in him. Vlad had taken them away from him, but he still loved them, even if they didn't remember him. He. Did. Not. Love. Vlad. He called forth the pain instead, remembering the feeling of electricity soaring through his body, Vlad's smiling face as he watched him writhing on the floor.

He started thinking of hurting Vlad, destroying him, beating him to death. Or maybe something more creative... he shivered as endless images of him torturing and killing father ran through his mind.

The feeling started in his stomach. A glowing, burning sensation, making him sweat, making him whimper. His breathing quickened and he shivered as he let the feeling rise, the blind and raw hatred for Vlad Plasmius, his father. No, his enemy, his arch enemy, never his father. The room seemed to shimmer and he heard something, someone growl in anger. Was that him? He pushed away his upcoming fear and concentrated on the glowing red ball in his guts, feeling it grow, feeling it fill him completely. Something... shifted inside of him and he shuddered.

Was it enough? He was shaking now, blackness entered his vision. Don't black out, he thought, it'll all be for nothing if you do. You won't get a second chance. He concentrated on the wristbands and reached. He felt them, felt them respond to his ghost power. A burning sensation shot through his arms, but he kept at it, holding out his hands, pulling strength from the hatred, intensifying it. A small, red ecto beam shot out of his left hand, thrashing the mirror.

He heard running footsteps in the hall. Vlad must have noticed he was doing something. But it didn't matter anymore, he was committed. Again he formed the red ecto beam, more careful this time, hitting the band on his right wrist. He howled in pain as it burned him, but he used the pain to form an even more powerful blast. This time it came loose and he flung it away.

The door flew open as he was panting from exertion.

"Daniel!" Vlad's voice screamed and Danny heard the anger and concern in his voice.

For a moment he faltered. This was his father, he loved him, cared for him, obeyed him always. He raised his head and looked at him. Vlad took a step back and Danny wondered what it was he saw. But he knew Vlad had made a mistake. Had he come to him, touched him, showing his anger and concern, Danny would have relented.

Instead, fear spread on his face. Fear that Danny could feel. Fear that he could tap into, take energy from, use it as fuel for his hatred. And he did. Just as Vlad pressed the button on his remote, intending to shock Danny with the remaining wristband, Danny blasted him out of the room with a massive red ecto beam.

Silently Danny followed him and stared down at him as he laid on the floor, his back against the wall. He could smell the burned flesh of Vlad's face and upper body, his left side was red and charred. Almost casually now, Danny blasted the other band from his left wrist and shifted to his ghost form in a flash.

"Vlad," he said and was shocked at his own voice. It sounded deep, menacing, inhuman.

"I have to change back," he thought. "Stop... I need to stop".

He drifted closer to Vlad and grabbed his shirt. He smiled. Fear was better from up close, it almost made him dizzy. Something in his head was screaming at him. It was annoying and he tried to push it away. Finally, frustrated, he pushed Vlad away and put himself to the ground in the middle of the hallway.

"Do it!" the voice in his head screamed, "Destroy it! All of it! You'll be free!"

He took a deep breath and let out his ghostly wail.

Maddie looked down on her son, his tired face, the hurt in his eyes.

"Who did this to you," she whispered, but he turned away.

She bend over and purposely brought her face up close to his, staring into his eyes, forcing him to look at her. She searched for something, anything, a sign that he was still there, her baby boy. But his eyes were empty, devoid of emotion and the expression on his face was guarded.

"Did Vlad do this to you?" she asked.

He stiffened, giving her the answer she needed. Anger rose in her. Vlad Masters, their friend, had kidnapped and hurt her son and somehow had set him up against his father. She had seen the look on his face when he pointed the empty ecto gun at Jack, first the anger and then the confusion, as if he didn't know what he was doing.

"I'll get him for this, somehow," she growled, getting up, but Danny caught her arm and shook his head.

"I took care of him," he said simply, "He won't be bothering us anymore."