Vlad PoV

For the first time in many many years, I was nervous. I don't remember the last time I was this nervous. In fact, it was almost akin to fear. And to think a fifteen year old boy reduced me to this state.

Daniel had been in his old room, the one he refused to clean. It confused me as to why he'd go there, but I wasn't about to ask him. Admittedly, it had taken me a while to find him, but once I did I discovered him curled in a ball on the floor, right in front of the door. He was wrapped up in the towel, his gentle breathing brushing dry hair.

Unable to help myself, I'd picked the boy up and flew him to the spare room, softly laying him on the bed and wrapping the covers around his delicate form. I didn't want him sleeping on the hard floor all night. He mumbled slightly in his sleep when I brushed the hair out of his eyes, leaning his head into my hands as he slept. I smiled lightly, leaning down and kissing his forehead on an impulse.

I knew that I'd gotten Daniel thinking yesterday, and I could only hope he was thinking what I wanted him too. Of course, my more logical side was telling me what I moron I was, but I ignored that.

I'd eventually left the room, nervous about the coming day and still nervous about it now, the next morning. However, I couldn't let Daniel starve himself. (We'd missed breakfast again and I couldn't stall the inevitable confrontation much longer) Thus, I forced myself to climb the first set of stairs, taking the long route up to his more distanced room on the third floor to kill time. But I'd barely turned the corner when a loud heavy knocking came from the front door, catching me mid-stride. Curious. Who would come visit me at my own mansion unannounced?

I looked down from the railing to see Stephen heading for the door, looking every bit like a human, when the answer suddenly slammed into me, making my brain instantly flying into overdrive.

"No no, I'll get it Stephen." I called, hastily changing direction and traveling down the stairs.

He gave me a questioning look, but nodded dutiful, his hand inches away from the handle.

"I need you to get a couple servants to guard the door to Daniel's spare room. Tell me immediately if he leaves and don't let him see you. I'll be with humans so make sure your discreet, understand?" I gave him my full attention, showing how important this was.

"Yes Sir." he nodded gravely, disappearing in the air to complete the task.

I took a deep breathe, hearing the knocking once more, hoping I could pull this off without Daniel becoming aware.

"Maddie! Jack! How wonderful to see you." I smiled, my perfect mask fooling all five people who stood on my doorstep. Well, almost all five. Jasmine, Samantha, and Tucker were giving me very dirty glares from behind Jack's wide girth.

"Hello V-man." Jack said in a melancholy voice, the most subdued I'd ever seen him.

"Jack, you look horrible. What's wrong?" My eyes swept over their faces, concern coloring my tone.

"Oh Vlad, the most horrible thing has happened!" Maddie choked with watery eyes. "Danny's been missing for over a week now and we can't find him anywhere!"

"What?" I whispered in horrid disbelief, "The little badgers gone missing?" I pretended to be frozen in shock for a moment before giving a start as though just realizing something.

"Where are my manners, please, come in come in." I ushered them forward, ignoring the three children's glares but keeping a close eye on them.

"The den is just around the corner, you can explain everything-Jasmine? Please don't wander off, my house is very large after all and it wouldn't do for you three to get lost." I reasoned, quickly catching the trio's attempt at giving me the slip.

I heard Samantha curse harshly and discovered where Daniel learned his bad language.

"Kids? What are you doing? It's rude to wander of in other people homes, I expected better of you." Maddie scolded, causing Jasmine to bow her head in shame.

"Sorry Mom." she muttered.

I led all five of them into the den I picked out for this very occasion. The den with a bathroom in it. I'm sure this feature will come in handy when trying to prevent the three annoying ones escape.

"Now," I began, watching them all take a seat and putting myself close to the door, having full view of it. Jasmine noticed this and cast me a glare.

"Tell me what happened." I implored, giving away no sign that I wanted them to hurry up and go home.

"It's the strangest thing, V-man. We woke up about a week ago and Danny was just gone! Plucked straight from his bed it seems. We think it was a ghost, cause who else could have just grabbed our son from his room in the middle of the night?" Jack tried to reason.

"But Dear, It couldn't have been a ghost. Our sensors would have picked up the spectral energy and alerted us." Maddie shook her head and patted Jack's shoulder affectionately.

Unless Daniel secretly disabled such an alarm so he could live peacefully in his own home. I smirked inwardly to myself.

"Yeah, it's so weird. It's like some fruitloop just came in and disappeared with Danny." Samantha shook her head sadly, shooting me a pointed glare.

"The world these days is just too cruel." I agreed mournfully, really starting to not like her.

"Please Vlad, we don't know what else to do. Have you seen Danny at all?" Maddie pleaded.

"I'm sorry my Dear, but I haven't seen Daniel in months." I lied straight through my teeth, all the while praying that Daniel wouldn't decide to leave his room three floors up and cause me to take drastic measures.

"Are you sure your haven't seen him anywhere Vlad?" Jasmine watched for my reaction, and I could help but taunt her.

"Not at all." Maddie and Jack bowed their heads in sadness, giving me the perfect opportunity to shoot the three a dark smirk. I watched them simmer in their anger and fear with amusement.

"Of course, I could set the very best of investigators on the case immediately." I turned back to the mourning parents, my facade of sympathy in place once more.

"Would you Vlad? I hate to seem so desperate but..."

"It's no trouble at all Maddie. I'm worried about the little badger as well and I'd hate for anything horrible to happen to him." That was actually an honest statement, but judging from the looks the three younger ones were giving me, they didn't think so.

"Thanks so much Vladdie, I can't repay you enough." I'd never seen Jack so calm before. It was very unusual.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Samantha suddenly stood up, looking triumphant.

"Yeah, me too." Tucker was right behind her.

"That's no problem," I smiled as I saw their faces start to fall. "There's a bathroom right behind you. I'm sure Mr. Foley will have no trouble waiting, after all the next nearest bathroom is quite a walk."

They looked crestfallen, the goth girl trudging over to the bathroom to prevent any suspicion. Tucker fell back to the couch in defeat. Jasmine looked nervous, realizing that they were running out of time.

"Uh, what investigators are you going to hire?" she asked, fishing around for questions to stall with.

"Top of the line, I guarantee it." I assured them all, not deceiving Jasmine or Tucker.

They scowled, Jasmine looked for another question, but I didn't want to waste anymore time. Daniel needed his breakfast soon.

"I'm sorry to rush you so, but I am expected at the office shortly, and I simply can't be late." I said in soft tones, keeping an eye on Samantha as she returned. She looked as though she was going to bolt for the door.

"Wait! Uh...When are you going to hire the investigator?" Jasmine smiled hugely, not fooling anyone.

"As soon as I get to the office I'll call the best in the books." I assured her, standing up as a signal that it was time for them to leave.

Thankfully, Maddie and Jack understood, standing up as well. Jasmine was looking frantic. I kept an extra close eye on the three as I led them back to the entrance hall, taking note of how desperate they were starting to get. I wouldn't put it past them to bolt.

We were turning the corner, the door in sight when a disembodied voice came to my right, soft and very quiet.

"He's heading downstairs." The voice warned, and I felt my adrenaline kick in, but not letting my company know. I had to get them out the door before Daniel got in earshot of them.

Furtively, I picked up the pace slightly, breathing with relief when I grasped the door handle and held it wide open, watching the Fentons, Ms. Manson, and Mr. Foely troop out sullenly. But as the parents headed for the car, the three foiled teens twisted around a glared hatefully at me.

"Don't think this is over Vlad. We're getting my little brother back no matter what." Jasmine hissed, the other two nodding in fervent agreement.

"Thats nice. Now if you don't mind, I need to go feed Daniel. Ta." I smirked at their furious faces. What did I care if they knew Daniel was here. It's not like they could do anything about it.

"Kids? Come on, we don't want to make Vlad late!" Maddie called from the large RV they drove.

The three gave me a last murderous glare and stalked off. I quickly shut and locked the door behind me, turning around with a sigh of relief just as Daniel's unique ecto signature registered, alerting me that he was right around the corner.

I walked casually from the door, heading up the stairs innocently, cooling my nerves. All was safe, I reminded myself, Daniel won't be going anywhere. I was halfway up the steps when he came from around the corner, dressed in navy blue, plaid pajama pants and a loose, long sleeved, matching blue shirt. He froze when he saw me, not expecting to run into me so soon. From the rush of unexpected visitors, I had momentarily forgotten about Daniel's no doubt chaotic emotions. I appeared calm on the outside, acting perfectly normal despite my nervousness, surreptitiously observing his expressions.

"Good morning Daniel, I was just about to come wake you." I broke the silence, watching the internal confliction that was displayed on his face slowly disappear.

"Did...did you move me to my other room last night?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I didn't want you sleeping on the hard ground." my reasoning was logical yet surprising. I'm sure the boy was wondering why I would care about him sleeping on the hard ground, but he'll no doubt figure it out soon enough.

He looked as though he were waiting for me to ask why he was in the destroyed room, but I wasn't going to play the oblivious game. He and I both knew that something significant happened yesterday, even if Daniel isn't quite sure what that something is.

I myself know quite well what I did, placing him in a situation that stirred up certain emotions and feelings inside him. Weather or not they're good for me has yet to be determined, but seeing as he's not trying to avoid me, I have a slight suspicion that his emotions and desires are playing in my favor. Surely, Daniel can see the bond between us, surely.

I snapped myself out of my musings. Now was not the time for thinking.

"Breakfast?" I prompted.

He snapped himself out of his own reverie and nodded a little sheepishly, lightly stepping down to my side as I waited for him.

"You do know it's almost noon again." he said after a pause.

"Yes, but we missed breakfast yesterday, so I figured having breakfast for lunch today would make up for it." I shrugged. Silence fell again. I commented on mundane things to lighten the mood and avoid and awkward silence.

"It it impossible for you to wear anything not made of blue jean, cotton, or sleep wear?" I raised an eye brow.

"All you've got in those drawers are church clothes," he scoffed. "This is like, the last outfit left that doesn't make me look like a total snob."

"So your saying I look like a snob?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Usually," he said casually, grinning cheekily, "Not so much today though."

I took note that Daniel didn't understand that a simple pair of black pants and a long sleeved button up shirt is casual.

"Well you look like a bum." I muttered.

"Hey, I'm fifteen. It's how I roll." He smirked, thankfully starting to loosen up.

I rolled my eyes at his logic and lead the way into another kitchen. The day was rainy, more like spring weather, so we would be dining indoors today. This kitchen wasn't nearly as open as the outside setting, but several large windows still let the sun in when it shined. Currently they were covered in thousands of water droplets, making the room look a bit too depressed for me.

Daniel took in the setting as I closed the curtains, the lighter print on the cloth brightening up the room better.

"Anything in particular you'd like?" I asked, his beautiful eyes falling back on me.

"I don't really care. Cereal is fine." he shrugged, jumping up on the counter and watching me, until a grin wormed its way on his face.

"Got any fruitloops?" he asked cheekily.

I rolled my eyes, resisting the temptation to push him off the counter.

"I'm making eggs." I mumbled, pulling out the necessary tools and ingredients smoothly.

Daniel laughed lightly, his voice dancing on the air around my ears like dryads, making me smile. I loved his laugh.

"How many will you eat?" I asked, wrapping an apron around me and cracking an egg in the skillet.

"I dunno, three?" he probably shrugged behind me.

"Do you know how to make bacon?" I asked.

"Nope." came his flat rely.

"Well then I guess it's time to learn that too. Come here and help me make breakfast." I sort of asked, wanting his company.

Danny sighed and hopped off the counter, walking up next to me.

"You'll want an apron." I reached into a drawer and gave him one, explaining why as he put it on.

"Bacon tends to spit the grease out of the pan, so the apron will keep your clothes from becoming filthy."

He was a fast learner. All I had to do was point him in the right direction and he basically picked up on it himself. I looked forward to teaching him how to use his ghost powers.

"This stuff smells amazing." he commented, taking a deep wiff of the meat as it sizzled in the pan.

"It better, it's imported."

Daniel rolled his eyes and pressed the spatula to the curling strips, the heat rising up and grease occasionally jumping out.

"So far, I've only seen you cooking the food. You don't do this all the time, do you?" he asked, honestly curious.

"Not usually. I didn't make any of those meals that you so adamantly refused to eat. Most of the time I'm too busy to cook." I flipped a third egg.

"That reminds me, what were you doing that took up five days straight?" suspicion colored his voice.

"I was working in the lab." I answered vaguely. I wasn't about to tell him that I was busy building three memory fabricators to use on his friends if the situation called for it. Thankfully, so far it hadn't.

He watched me for a few more seconds, but soon realized I wasn't going to say anything more on the subject.

"Fine, keep your schemes." he muttered, pressing on the bacon again.

I smirked and stayed silent, unrelenting.

"So what do you actually do when your home alone?" he sounded as he couldn't see me doing anything but making up new schemes all day.

"I don't plan world domination." I said dryly. Daniel looked at me in mock surprise.

"Really? That's shocking." he looked at me with wonderment till I smacked him in the back of the head. He smirked up at me with a laugh, lightly pushing me back.

"Believe it or not, but I actually do have a life outside of being an evil demagogue." I smirked at his confused look.

"Get a dictionary Daniel," I respond to his unanswered question and he scowled.

"Usually I spend the day doing paperwork for my companies. Then come my schemes to obtain the Packers. After that I usually relax with a book." I paused, deciding to throw out another tidbit about myself that I'm sure would surprise him. "When I have time I like to play my violin as well, but I don't get to do that as often as I'd like."

Danny dropped the spatula on the stove, quickly retrieving it, looking at me with true shock.

"You play the violin?" he looked dumbfounded.

"Of course. All rich people play instruments. It's an easy way to show the media that your sophisticated." I smirked at his agape mouth.

"Don't look so surprised Daniel. Is playing an instrument too human a quality for me?"

He closed his mouth and shot back a sarcastic reply.

"Yeah, thats one thing." then his tone was more serious, "But you just learned to help your image with the paparazzi?" he sounded on the verge of disbelief.

I nodded.

"But isn't the violin really really hard to learn? I thought it took years to master." he looked at me suspiciously.

"It does, but you forget that I'm Vlad Masters." I said arrogantly, making him scowl.

"Whatever, I bet your not even that good." he mumbled. It was painfully obvious that he didn't believe a word of that statement.

"I'll prove it to you after breakfast then." I finished off the last egg just as Daniel finished with the bacon, scooping it on a plate and soaking up the excess grease with a napkin without me telling him too.

"Fine." he said lightly. I think he actually wanted to hear me play.

Smirking smartly to myself, I poured us each a glass of milk and we wandered over to the table, silence filling the room as we started to eat. For a moment the only sound was the clinking of utensils as we both sat in the comfortable silence, thinking about nothing in particular.

"So what do you do on days that you aren't at school or fighting ghosts?" I asked casually, genuinely interested. I loved learning new things about Daniel.

"Uh..." he furrowed his brow, looking as though he was having a hard time remembering. How much of his time did he spend ghost fighting?

"Well, I usually have detentions after school because I'm always late to class." He winced. "And I usually just hang out with Sam and Tucker whenever I can." He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"We all used to spend hours at Tucker's house playing video games and listening to music before I got my ghost powers. That or we'd play pranks on Jazz all day to piss her off." he smiled at the memory.

"Don't you have any hobbies?" I asked.

"Ghost fighting." was his prompt reply.

I frowned. This kid seriously needed a break. I made a mental note to tell all the ghosts in the Ghost Zone to back off a bit.

We went back to eating quietly, falling into comfortable silence once more. I was pleased at the pace things were moving. I had expected Daniel to still be throwing things, but he'd gotten control of his temper quite quickly.

"Tell me about your friends." I asked, starting up conversation.

He gave me an odd look, the clogs in his brain obviously turning. Even so, he answered me and I listened with rapt attention the entire time.

Breakfast soon finished after that. I learned that Daniel was very fond of his friends and he had no life outside of ghost hunting. I would need to fix the latter.

We cleaned up after breakfast quickly enough and I led Daniel back up the stairs, having every intention of shamelessly showing off my instrumental abilities. He walked briskly next to me, looking forward to seeing me play. He peppered me with questions the entire way up.

"How long have you been playing?"

"Just a little over four years."

"Do you have your own violin?"

"I have three."

"Do you play for other people?"

"Defiantly not, this is more of a personal hobby with social benefits."

"Where are we going?"

"My room."

Danny paused in surprise but quickly caught back up to me, a little more subdued.

"Your room?" he questioned hesitantly.

"It's where I always play."

We came to the great mahogany doors, full of detailed carvings and intricate designs. I swung the door open and stepped in, Daniel slowly stepping in after me, gasping at the size and looking around with guilty curiosity.

"You might need a quick tour." I noted.

A desk took up only a small corner of my room, miscellaneous papers stacked on it. The rest of the room was set up in sections. There was a living room section, complete with fireplace. A reading section with a book shelf that almost extended the entire wall. My four poster bed was made up of one monstrous, king sized, pillow littered mattress. The last open space of wall was taken up by two French doors that led to a deck. The deck was made of stone and at the press of a button an awning would set itself up. There was another, smaller couch and several potted plants outside too. I caught Daniel eying the telescope outside from the the French doors, a glint in his eye.

I had only one picture in my room and I caught Daniel staring at it as I picked up a violin case from beside the fireplace, it's hot flame flickering warmly and casting a pleasant glow around the darkened room.

Daniel stared at the picture of himself that rested on my beside table. It was of him smiling happily, waving at the camera from a blustery looking day. A red stripped scarf was wrapped around his neck and dancing on the wind, a light brown jacket tight on his shoulders.

I was a little nervous at his silence. He didn't comment about the picture and I didn't explain it. As far as I was concerned it was just a picture, granted it was probably the only material item I had in my entire mansion that I actually cared about, but he didn't have to know that.

He bounced over to the couch that was positioned in front of the fireplace, the one that my case rested on. His face was inscrutable, but he relaxed easily into the couch so I suppose he wasn't unnerved by the photo too much. I applied a bit of rosin to the bow, since I hadn't played in a while. Daniel watched with growing wonderment as I tuned effortlessly, drawing the hair across the strings and hearing the crisp sound resonate through the delicate box.

"Anything in particular?" I asked, not really knowing what to play.

"Dude. I listen to Dumpty Humpty and sleep through music class. I barely know what a violin sounds like."

I rolled my eyes.

"Right then." I murmured, racking my brains and playing one of my more favorite pieces, starting slow and then increasing the tempo.

I must have met Daniel's standards of 'master' because his mouth dropped when I played a string of sixteenth notes for about twenty measures straight, not breaking once. The notes flew from the strings, echoing beautifully off the marble fireplace and flying in the air around us. I felt a small smile tug at my lips as my long fingers danced over the neck of the instrument, moving as one being in perfect rhythm.

Eventually, I lost myself in the music, and I think Daniel did as well. He was staring into the fire, his expression one of deep thinking and eyes glazed. I played on, pausing for barely four counts before starting up another song. Time seemed unable to touch us as we settled into the captivating notes. I made a mental reminder to play more often. I felt my stress and nerves leave me when I drew the bow across the strings. Eventually though, Daniel came back from the dark recesses of his mind, looking made up about something but to what, I couldn't even fathom. He looked almost determinded.

I was just wrapping up the Beethoven's fifth, wishing I had the accompanying orchestra with me, when I ended on the final note to see Daniel watching me with a relaxed smile, completely at peace with himself.

I removed the string instrument from my shoulder and set the bow on the couch, staring at Daniel for a moment as the silence of the room slowly came back to us, the crackling fire making the only noise.

"You play beautifully, you know." He told me quietly, a little blush rising to his face.

I hid my surprise at the blunt compliment well, floored that we would be so openly nice to me.

"Thank you." I smiled.

I paused a moment longer, before I set the small violin back in its case, zipping it up tight and resting it against the wall once more. I sat on the couch with my arms resting on the back, close to Daniel, but far enough to give him his space. The rain was heavy, pouring down in buckets from the sky and splashing against the closed French doors.

The dark and cloudy sky made it appear to be later than it really was. Because of the dark sky coupled with the comforting fireplace, one would guess that it was night, not the late afternoon. Still, time couldn't reach us just yet, and we continued to sit in silence, neither of us really wanting to do anything but relax in the calm between us.

I caught Daniel glancing at me several times, looking as though he were debating with himself about something. I watched the fire twist and bend, waiting for him to make up his mind about whatever it was he was thinking. Eventually, he came to a decision and hesitantly crawled closer to me, looking a little nervous. I looked over to him and gave him a silent but welcoming smile, another fire dancing within me as he settled in beside me. The light blush still rested on his cheeks, but he smiled in satisfaction as he snuggled closer. He leaned his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes slightly, sighing softly.

Almost as hesitantly as his crawl had been, I lowered the arm that was resting on the back of the couch and draped it over his shoulders. Whimsically, I hugged him briefly with that one arm and stared off into the fire once more, the light smile on my lips hiding my true elation.

We sat like that for the longest time, neither of us saying a word.