Alright, since I'll be busy, busy, busy tomorrow, I'm updating this fic tonight instead. Hope you enjoy~ Please review!

~CWA

(P.S. Thanks to everyone who private messaged me with a reminder to update the fic, you guys crack me up- I got at least three messages from three people about it)


CHAPTER FORTY-ONE


Danny Fenton

I wonder the grounds of the college casually with my hands shoved into my pockets and a rather solemn expression on my face that makes people part like the Red Sea in order for me to walk through with ease. My eyes briefly linger on the alter made on the staircase in remembrance of Professor Callaghan with lots of fresh flowers and candles that have long been blown out. My jaw clenches at the sight and I end up glaring at the alter a bit more than I mean to.

I catch a few people sparing sympathetic and slightly hurt looks my ways. But I pay them no heed. I'm a man on a mission. I need to go to the lab, get into Tadashi's area and get Baymax so that Baymax can be safe with Hiro. With Cujo watching over Tadashi, I know I don't have any worries about someone getting to him while I'm away. But Baymax will give a heads up to any ghostly presences to Hiro, including Vlad's. Amorpho, however, has a way of dodging most ghost detection devices since he tends to keep his distance.

A small blue wisp escapes from my mouth. Speak of the devil. From the corner of my eye, I can spot him in the distance. Or at least one of his duplicates. His eyes are a beat red and this time, he's taken the form of someone who can easily be mistaken as a professor with dark, old glasses that sit crooked on his face to hide his red eyes and a long old, beaten coat to cover the many layers he wears underneath. Soft stubble decorates his chin and along his jaw, but squinting my eyes, I can still see the strong aura around him. A very mischievous aura that swirls with red and white around him, pulsing with every step he takes.

The second he spots me, we hold eye contact for a brief second before I nod my head toward the shadowed courtyard area that's more isolated and would allow us to talk in private. He rolls his eyes dramatically, almost rolling his whole body with it, but does as asked and heads to the area with a sauntering walk and his hands shoved into the pockets of the beaten jacket. Even in this form, his stance as he walks is tall, proud and more notice me when I look this good type of vibe. A few stray students do take a second to look at him, making him puff his chest with pride, before they turn away and continue on their own walk.

"Oh mighty King," Amorpho greets with a mixture of dramatization and sarcasm, "What can I, your humble servant, do for you?"

His eyes twinkle and a small sarcastic smirk twitches on the corners of his lips. I sigh deeply and rub my temple with my right hand, muttering curses at his behavior while being thankful that no one is paying attention to us.

"Cut the shit, Amorpho, I'm just doing my business while you do yours. But since you're here, I thought you'd like a little heads up. My boyfriend had created this robot, a nurse robot if you will, called Baymax. I had taken the liberty of not only making him ghost proof- so don't even think about it- but it can detect ghosts within its range. You'll know the robot when you see it- big, white, puffy, looks like a walking marshmallow rather than a robot. So whenever it's up and running, just be weary and don't get too close to it unless they're in danger."

Amorpho nods a bit, though the way he does makes it pretty clear that he thinks all of this is unnecessary and repetitive. It's not until he leans a bit to the side to eye a few good looking people behind me do I finally get the hint that he's done talking now, but I snap my fingers to get his attention once more and give him a small pointed hey do your job look that only a boss or King could muster causing him to huff and cross his arms. He gives me a small dismissal flick of the wrist and I roll my eyes, but continue on my to the lab.

By the time I reach the lab, I've spotted two of his duplicates and even inside of the lab I can see one of his duplicates stalking invisibly through the shadows of the lab, watching the gang rather closely. I can see his eyes flicker to the unfinished ghost portal every now and then- thankfully, I don't have to worry about Vlad getting that thanks to the security systems I have on it. Amopho gives me a small nod of greeting when I pass him on my way to Tadashi's sectioned off lab, but I don't make it through the doorway until Fred spots me.

"Casper," he calls out loudly, waving his hands around, "Casper! Where you going?!"

Amorpho's barely muffled laughter, complete with a snort, causes me to send a small discrete glare his way before I turn on my heels and head toward the gang with a bit of a hunch in my shoulders. As nice as it is to see my friends, and see that even if they look tired that they're alive and well, I have lots of things I need to do. Things that I can't get done if I'm just around them. Still, I force a small, friendly grin on my face that quickly turns genuine whenever they return the gesture.

I'm not even five feet away from them before Fred throws himself onto me, hugging me tightly with no signs of letting go.

"We were so worried about you," Fred babbles, his voice cracking with genuine concern, "Do you realize that we haven't seen you in like a week or two aside from the times that we've gone to check on Tadashi? All while looking like you belong in the hospital yourself! Have you even slept, man? Do we have to take shifts watching Tadashi or something for you to relax?"

I awkwardly pat him on the back, which is a bit hard to do since we have a large height difference and he's kinda pinning my arms to my sides with the way he hugs me. Unluckily, just when I think I'm about to get free, everyone joins in on the hugs with various comments. Things like you should have called us or how are you feeling or how is Tadashi or even have you talked to Hiro he hasn't been by in a while either. Eventually, I'm able to squeeze my way out of the hug with a flustered expression, rubbing at the back of my neck,

"I'm sorry I haven't really talked much, it's just been… stressful. But I'm happy to see you guys are okay."

My expression softens considerably, an intense look of raw concern that briefly throws a few of them off as it seems almost out of place with our discussion. But they don't know. They don't know how much danger they're in. And they would only be in more danger if I told them.

"Of course we're okay," Honey Lemon all but waves off my concern, "What we're worried about is you, Hiro and Tadashi."

"Not to mention that whole thing at the center," Fred pitches in, "Because I, for one, am very hurt that you never said that you knew Vladimir frikkin' Masters, who happens to be one of the, if not the, richest men in the world. So what gives dude?"

The others are quick to chaste Fred for the change of subject, which a bit of a dramatic change from his previous concerned greeting, but such changes are a norm with Fred. GoGo gives him a slap to the back of the head as Wasabi just shakes his head with a small sigh. Honey Lemon flushes slightly and she's the one to whisper chaste, scolding comments to Fred with a finger in the air almost like a mother scolding a child. But the mention of Vlad briefly causes my anger to flare a bit more, my jaw clenching and my teeth grind together as I close my eyes tightly with a sucked in breath before I calm myself down enough to speak.

"Look, Vlad and I did know each other- he and my parents were friends in college actually for a long time. But that's all I'm going to say except for the fact that he's not the person you think he is, okay? Vlad is… He's the worst possible monster, you can think of, okay? He has no morals, no boundaries, and he will not hesitate to destroy you if you're in his way so please just… If you run into him, run. Run, don't look back, use whatever ghost equipment you have available- Fred has some that he thought he stole rather stealthy from me but that's not the point. And finally, make sure to call me. Call me, scream, something."

I look at them intently, my eyes baring into their souls. My aura flares slightly, not enough to be seen in this light, but enough that if the lights were to go out, I'd look more like a nightlight then anything. I want to tell them everything I've told Tadashi and Hiro, I do, but I'm running out of time and I can't go into such a length expression if I want to get things done. Plus they'd be in more dangerous if I really told them why Vlad was so dangerous. But they all share concerned, uncertain looks with each other aside from Fred who seems thoughtful with furrowed brows and a hand to his chin.

"Danny, don't you think that's a bit extreme," Honey Lemon offers hesitantly, but I just purse my lips.

"With Vlad, nothing's too extreme."

Fred voices his thoughts then, the same concentrated look on his face as he paces a bit with his hand waving through the air,

"Rich, white, old man with lots of money, lots of power…. Danny," he turns to me with a serious expression, putting his hands on my shoulders as he looks intensely into my eyes, "Is Vlad a supervillian? Answer me honestly."

I snort. Only Fred could get that close to the truth. But I just shrug his hands off of me in a bit of an uncomfortable manner,

"You could say that…. So just… Stay safe, okay?"

I look over everyone. Fred seems thrilled and is doing a little dance about a super villain being in the city. GoGo doesn't seem to really believe anything, but she's not voicing any complaints and hesitantly, nods a bit to me signaling that she will do what I said in concerns to Vlad. Wasabi eventually nods his head, even if he seems a bit freaked out and slightly fearful. Honey Lemon glances between everyone before sighing and sadly shaking her head as well. I give a final nod to them before I head away and go straight for Tadashi's lab to get Baymax.

When I finally get through the door, I inwardly curse at myself. I could have avoided all of that if I just came here invisible or something.

Damn it.


I'm not exactly thrilled to go see Hiro, even if it is just to give him Baymax. I know I haven't been the best big brother figure to the kid lately and I know that he's mad at me. With Vlad being as evil as he is, I just need to know that Hiro is safe. It hurts to think that him being safe means him hating my guts. But he hasn't been talking to me- hell, as far as I know he's barely even been to the hospital to check on Tadashi. My stomach turns slightly at the uneasiness that comes over me as I walk into the cafe.

The second I enter the cafe, I cough into my hand to hide the blue wisp that leaves my mouth. My eyes sweep across the cafe until they land on a duplicate of Amorpho's sitting and drinking coffee in the corner. He locks eyes with me briefly and gives me a small nod of acknowledgment before he turns his attention to the book in his hands. With his drive to be the center of attention and Aunt Cass not exactly hiding all of the her Beat Poetry Night posters, I'm not even surprised that the book in his hands is a book on beat poetry and how to write. I roll my eyes and turn, ready to head up the stairs, to come face to face with Aunt Cass.

She has a sad, heart-broken expression on her face as she eyes with uncertainty, unsure what to do or how to comfort me. But I really think she's the one that needs comforting. My expression softens considerably as I set Baymax's red case down and bring her in for a tight, comforting hug with a brief, familial kiss on the cheek. She breaks down in my embrace, hugging me tightly with loud, broken sobs into my shoulder as she shakes and trembles. A few customers briefly turn to us in concern, but a few know of Tadashi's hospitalized condition thanks to the news and tabloids and turn away with a sad, understanding. I glare at anyone who doesn't turn away, not afraid to flash my green eyes to get them to understand the message to mind their own damn business.

After a moment, Aunt Cass finally pulls away with me, sniffling as she rubs at her eyes with a sad smile.

"Oh, look at me, getting your nice shirt all wet," she sniffles, but her voice is soft and broken, "...It's really good to see you again, Danny. I was getting worried…"

My heart sinks at her words and I swallow the lump in my throat as I offer her a comforting smile as I pick up Baymax's case with one hand, using my free hand to gently rub her shoulder in a comforting manner.

"It's good to see you too, Aunt Cass…. I'm sorry I haven't been around that much, but is it okay for me to go see Hiro?"

She hesitates briefly, refusing to meet my eyes as she bites at her lower lip with uncertainty before she finally just sighs and waves me on up toward Hiro's room. I give her a thankful smile before I head up there with a tight grasp on Baymax's case. In my moment of hesitance, I just hover in the doorway.

So far he hasn't noticed me. He's sitting at his computer desk with a sad, slightly angry expression on his face as he holds one of Tadashi's spare caps in his hands, turning it over and over again, rubbing his thumb over the logo. I hesitate for a moment. Wondering if maybe it'd be easier to just leave Baymax and go without him noticing before I take a deep breath. Maybe I can ease things over with him, find out what's wrong. Oh hell with that. I know exactly what's wrong. He's mad at me because I won't tell him everything, it's pretty clear since it started out when I told him that'd I just tell him everything later.

"Danny."

Hiro finally notices me. His eyes snapping to me and for a moment, it's almost as if he wants to come hug me before he stops himself. A small frown forms on his lips and he goes back to sitting down with the cap and a slightly angry expression. I sigh and set Baymax down at his feet and place a hand on his shoulder,

"Hiro…"

He shrugs out of my grasp with a small huff, his bottom lip puffing out slightly as he crosses his arms, the cap loosely hanging between his fingers.

"Hiro," I try again, this time swirling the chair so he's forced to face me and placing my hands on either side of him to keep the chair in place as I look into his eyes, "Hiro we have to talk."

He shifts a bit in the seat, but the angry expression stays on his face.

"Sure," he mumbles, "What do you want to talk about? Tadashi being in the hospital? You not telling the whole story? The green dome I saw? The way you crumbled metal as if it's nothing-"

His voice gets slightly louder with each statement as I cringe with a mix of guilt and irritation. I roll my shoulders slightly to ease the tension in my body, but it still lingers there, threatening to break free.

"Look, Hiro," I try to ease his anger with a gentle tone, "I know this is frustrating. But you're going to have to trust that this for you own safety-"

He jumps from the chair, forcing me to rear backwards. His hands tremble at his sides and his eyes are wet with a disappointed, hurt gleam to them,

"-how is it for my safety when I'm living in ignorance of whatever is endangering me," Hiro's voice raises to an almost shouting level, "Brothers don't keep secrets! Brothers don't lie! And I thought we were brothers! But apparently not because you won't tell me anything beyond the bad stuff Vlad's done and how dangerous he is! But you're not telling me everything! I know there's more to this Danny!"

My last nerve snaps. I'm not sure if it's from all this stress, everything happening at once, or if it's Hiro's words or if it's the mention of Vlad in the mix of this emotion. Or maybe it's from the way his anger and frustration roll off in waves, his aura flaring up. Small wisps of his aura breaks away and slips into mine, adding to my own frustration. But my eyes flash a deadly, glowing green that causes Hiro to falter, taking an uncertain step back as I step forward.

The white glow of my aura is brightly visible in this dim light, forming a cocoon of light around me that pulses violently and shakes like static. My hands tremble at my sides, green sparks flickering at my fingertips.

"Fine, Hiro, you really want to know what I am?! I'm a freak, okay?! I'm just a creepy kid with creepy powers- a half-ghost hybrid that's nothing more than the cause of a freaky lab accident!"