Chapter 56
"You knew this was coming."
His eyes struggled to open when the distant whisper of voice reached him, but his eyelids felt impossibly heavy. Everything about him hurt, and nothing seemed to respond to his commands.
"I had my suspicions."Both voices sounded familiar, but he was having trouble placing them. "I'm able to see all possible futures, and I can help guide things to the best possible outcome."
"You're not much for giving warning, are you?"
His eyes finally managed to crack open, catching a flash of gold through the narrow slit before it was replaced with a strange greenish glow. Something about it seemed familiar, but his vision was too blurry to make out any specific details. He squinted his eyes, trying to bring things back into focus, but the attempt brought a massive headache pounding at his skull.
"It's not my job to forewarn you of possible dangers. I sent him to you because you provided the best possible outcome, along with giving him the training he would need to better fight viruses."
He managed to turn his head, and his vision swam for a sickeningly dizzy moment that made his stomach churn uncomfortably. After a moment, he could finally make out the other two beings occupying the room. They were both familiar with the purple cloak hiding one of their faces and watches strapped over the gloves and the other man with the horned black hair and red eyes. Clockwork and Vlad. Their names popped into his head, but when he tried to sit, he released a pained shout as he collapsed onto his back again. Simply attempting such movement awoke every nerve in his body to a fiery sensation, and he ground his teeth to the point of cracking to hold back a scream in agony. He clamped his eyes shut, trying to fight back that terrible feeling coursing through every inch of his body. When he managed to open his eyes again, he found both men hovering over him, concern etched into Vlad' expression.
"Try not to move too much just yet, Daniel," Vlad instructed, and after staring at him for several long moments, Danny realized with a sense of dread that half Vlad's face was scarred and his left ear was cleanly sliced from his head.
"What happened to you?" Danny tried to shout in alarm, panic growing in him when he noticed the injuries, but his voice came out barely above a whisper, sounding hoarse and gravelly.
"It's all right. It's already repairing itself." Vlad placed a comforting hand on Danny's bicep. "You'll be back to normal in no time too."
Back to normal? His brow creased as those words replayed in his mind. Danny turned his eyes toward where Vlad's hand rested, and they opened wide, panic surging through him again when he realized his arm below the elbow was missing. "What?" he gasped out, struggling to breathe after that shock hit him.
"Daniel, please remain calm." Vlad squeezed his hand around the bicep he held, worry entering his eyes. "It's already healing. It won't be long before everything's repaired, and it'll be like nothing happened."
"But," Danny turned fearful eyes onto him, "what did happen?" His mind was spinning, trying to put the pieces together, but he couldn't seem to solve the puzzle in his mind. "I remember seeing Valerie get hurt, and I got really mad about that, but I can't remember anything after that."
"That's normal," Clockwork answered, drawing Danny's attention onto him. "The corruption to your digital makeup messed with your memories. When you managed to expel the corruption, violently I might add, from your body, the memories of that time were ripped from you as well. I'm not surprised you're a little disoriented after going through all of that."
"Corrupted?" Danny repeated, but thinking too hard still made his head hurt. Some flicker of an image tried to break through his mind, but it kept slipping through his fingers.
"I believe this is my cue to leave you two alone." A smirk ghosted over Clockwork's face before he left the two of them to talk.
"You're cold was a prelude to the corruption," Vlad explained as he sat down on whatever structure on which Danny rested. It felt soft, at least, about which Danny was happy. "You managed to completely remove the virus Technus implanted into you, but then on Saturday something occurred that started changing your coding. I should have seen it sooner, but I took your cold for only that. Just a simple cold."
"You had no reason to suspect it was anything more," Danny argued, frowning when he saw that miserable, guilty expression on Vlad's face. "As for Saturday," he sighed when he thought about it, "I got hit with one of my parents' inventions when I was showing Tuck and Sam the lab. But I checked! It didn't look like the Data Deleter did anything to me." He frowned. "I guess it was something hidden then? It didn't appear right away and slowly worked its way at corrupting my data." His mind still scrambled to grab hold of that teasing memory during that time when he was corrupted. His brow pinched in deep concentration, and he pushed past the throbbing ache that it caused. "You," he said slowly, eying the man staring down at him, "kissed me."
"You remember that part, huh?" Vlad's gaze slid off to the side, and Danny wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or regret.
"Why?" Danny tried to understand what he recalled, but Vlad's actions confused him. The memory of the kiss, though, made his heart beat just a touch faster, and he fought back to the warmth rushing to his cheeks. Vlad actually kissed him? An immense sense of elation filled him, making him feel lightheaded with happiness, but his confusion cut that feeling short, wondering why Vlad would kiss someone like him.
Vlad stayed silent for some time, struggling with what he needed to say. "Since that time I collapsed and thought I was dying, I've cut myself off from the world," he explained, running a hand over his scarred face that was slowly returning to its normal appearance. "I gave up on the idea of winning Maddie." He laughed with some bitterness. "I gave up on the very idea that I would ever have love in my life. It was easier to pretend that I didn't have a human side instead of falling into that despair of anger and loneliness. Then you came into my life." He turned his eyes onto Danny, who couldn't identify the mix of emotions swirling in the red eyes watching him. "You woke me up from that numbed state I'd been living in and made me feel something for the first time. Even if it was initially anger."
"You can't love me," Danny blurted out, his heart beating faster with the suspicion that that was where Vlad's speech was heading. He felt excited by the prospect yet terrified at the same time. How - Why would Vlad like him?
Vlad blinked, stunned by the little outburst. Then a smirk spread onto his face as he placed one hand next to Danny's head and leaned down close, so close that Danny's heart practically leaped into his throat. "Why not?" The teasing gleam in Vlad's eyes only served to make Danny squirm beneath him. "You're attractive, intelligent, a good sparring partner." His mouth came dangerously close to brushing over Danny's lips as he listed out those points. "Love doesn't always come with deep philosophical meaning, Daniel. Sometimes it just happens without you even realizing it."
"But-"
"Tell me," Vlad cut him off with a searching look in his eyes. "If you tell me you have no feelings for me, I'll back off."
Danny could almost see the hurt being push back in Vlad's eyes, and he realized how hard that must be for the man after Vlad failed to find love with Maddie. But being put on the spot like that made him blush darkly and turn his gaze away. The feelings he had were still all so new to him, especially when they were for another man and one that was so much older than he. "I-" Danny bit his lip, clamping his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again to meet with Vlad's gaze. "I think I could love you."
It wasn't a smirk but a true smile that crept onto Vlad's face this time, and Danny really liked seeing it, his heart skipping when Vlad gave him a smile like that. Vlad closed that minute distance, sealing their lips together, and Danny let his eyes slip shut as he enjoyed the kiss.
"I do hope you don't plan to take this any further just yet," Clockwork said, and his voice never sounded more irritating than in that moment. "Your bodies are still recovering and certainly not ready for that type of physical activity."
Vlad pulled back, breathing out a sigh that washed over Danny's face, flushed with a dark blush. "I suppose he does have a point."
When Vlad started to get up, Danny reached out with his other arm, the one that was still intact, and grabbed hold of him. "Um," he mumbled, turning his gaze away out of embarrassment. "Stay?"
Vlad smiled as he nudged Danny over then joined him in laying down beside him. With his good arm, Danny took hold of Vlad's hand and squeezed it tightly as he closed his eyes. His body still felt exhausted from everything that happened and the healing process of growing back an entire arm. He was lulled back to sleep before he even knew it.
He still felt like shit as he stared at the numbers lighting up above the elevator doors. His legs were shaky beneath him, and he had to lean back against the elevator to keep from simply dropping to the floor. Vlad suggested he stay for a while longer in the NetZone until he was fully recovered, but Danny wanted - needed, actually - to visit the hospital and check on Valerie. He recalled what happened to her with a violent jolt, and Vlad nearly had to smack him in the face to calm his panicking, reminding him that she would probably be taken to the hospital to be treated. That, at least, brought some relief to him, but he still needed to check on her and see with his own eyes that she was all right.
The elevator stopped with a jerk, and the doors slid open. With some effort, Danny pushed himself away from the wall and wobbled as he stepped out of the elevator. He walked down the hall, looking for the room number that the woman at the front desk told him when he asked to see Valerie Gray. When he reached the room, he paused, blinking as he stared at the two women sitting outside the door.
Sam lifted her head, and her violet eyes filled with happiness and relief to see him. "Danny!" she whispered so as not to disturb the woman sleeping with her head in Sam's lap. Danny was at loss for words when he saw Paulina like that, his brow pinching together as he stared inquisitively at his friend. "She's been worrying herself sick ever since that attack," Sam explained with a shrug, and when he looked closer, Danny could see the tiredness in Paulina and the faded tracks of tears on her cheeks. "We got to visit with Valerie for a little while, but she needed to rest, so we came out here to wait, and Paulina just pretty much passed out as soon as we sat down."
Danny nodded in understanding then smiled. "It's nice that you two are getting along," he whispered, deciding Paulina definitely could use the rest after the train wreck of emotions she probably went through when she saw Valerie laying on the ground unconscious. "What did the doctors say about Valerie?"
"She's going to be fine. They want to keep her here for a day or so just to be certain, but she seemed perfectly fine when we were talking with her. She's a bit shaken up, but that's not surprising." Sam frowned as she looked off to the side before turning back to him. "I just want you to know, Danny, that I never meant to drive you into lying to us about you. I just wanted to be able to help in some way, but I guess my enthusiasm didn't help matters. I get it now though, after seeing what happened with Valerie and you. What you do isn't a game. I guess I just looked at the glamorous side of the whole hero thing, and I didn't look too hard at the bad part of it. The part where you could get seriously hurt or even be killed doing what you do. I'd still like to help, but I get it now why you tried to keep Tucker and me out this part of your life."
Danny rubbed at his face with a hand, thankful that his arm fully repaired itself before he left the NetZone. "Tucker told you?" He sighed as a new wave of exhaustion hit him. "I guess with what happened I can't really blame him for spilling the beans. I'm sorry I kept it from you. I just," he shrugged awkwardly, "didn't want you getting hurt because of me."
"I know, Danny." Sam offered a small smile. "It hurts that you didn't tell me, but I get it."
"F-Fenton!"
The two friends turned when they heard the surprised exclamation. Danny blinked when he saw Dash walking toward them. "Oh, uh, hi, Dash," Danny said awkwardly, rubbing at his neck as he looked away. "Here to check on Valerie too?"
"Uh, yeah." Dash wore an odd expression before he glanced at Sam.
"She's sleeping, but we might have a chance to see her again before visiting hours are over," Sam said, and the jock nodded at her answer.
"Um, can we talk, Fenton?"
Danny watched the shifting of the jock's weight and frowned, but he nodded and followed Dash down the hall. They walked in silence for some time before they came to the open waiting area. No one else was there at the time, giving them the ability to speak in private. Danny thankfully took a seat, collapsing into one of the chairs that at least had some padding that made it less uncomfortable. His legs were happy not having to support his body for the moment.
"I'm really glad to see you're all right," Dash started as he sat down next to him. "You had us all pretty freaked out when you suddenly went all fiery hair and calling yourself the EXEcutioner."
The color drained from his face. "Wait. You know too? How many people did Tucker blab my secret too?" Danny dropped his head in his hands, groaning at how quickly everyone was finding out his secret. Lifting his head, he jerked his gaze back to Dash. "EXEcutioner? Ugh, great! I have my dad's bad sense in naming things."
Dash chuckled. "Well, if I had any doubts, I think that at least proves you're back to normal." He threw on a grin, and Danny felt a little more at ease around him. "Yeah, well, don't be too hard on him. We would have kept pressuring him until he broke down and told us. Though it seems Kwan already knew. Not sure for how long, but they were working together to keep tabs on you. But they figured out about the whole corruption thing too late."
Danny frowned as he lowered his gaze. "I should have stopped and listened to Tucker. I was so busy trying to be the hero that I didn't stop to think that what he had to say might actually be really important."
"Everyone makes mistakes. I'm just glad this one didn't cost you to lose yourself entirely."
"Dash, I-"
"Ah, there you are!"
Both men turned their heads to see a young blonde girl walking over to them. Her twin tails tied with blue ribbons trailed behind her. She smiled as she dropped into the seat next to Dash.
"I thought I'd find you at Val's room, but the weird Goth girl said you came down this way."
"Ah, yeah, we were just talking," Dash said as he leaned back in the chair. "This is Fenton. Fenton, this is my sister Lily."
"It's nice to meet you, Lily," Danny said with a smile. He recognized her from the time he spied into Dash's bedroom, which felt like it happened ages ago after everything that happened.
Lily pursed her lips, tilting her head as her nose scrunched up. "Well, he's okay. I mean, he's kind of cute. But," she turned her gaze back onto her brother, "I still say Kwan's the better choice for you."
"You too, huh?" Danny chuckled when the girl blinked at him. "I kind of thought Kwan liked this bonehead." He pointed a thumb at Dash, who frowned as the two talked like he wasn't even there.
"Such a bone head," Lily agreed, rolling her eyes at her brother. Then she leaned across Dash. "But why are you whispering like that?" she questioned in a quiet voice.
"Oh," Danny reached up to place a hand to his throat, "I'm still recovering from being sick, and my throat still hurts a bit."
"Did you want something, Tails?" Dash interrupted, tugging on one blonde pigtail.
"Are you never going to stop calling me that?" Lily pouted as she yanked her hair free from his hold. Then her cheeks turned pink as she played with her hair. "Well, Jeremy said it was okay with his parents if he came over to visit today. And since you're already here, I figured I'd just ask you about it instead of bugging Mom and Dad."
"And what do you two plan to do together?" Dash frowned at the girl, putting on an expression that Danny could only think to describe as "big brother protectiveness."
"Nothing bad," Lily replied, reddened cheeks puffing out as she glared at her brother. "I wanted to show him my art since he wanted to see it after I mentioned it. So you can get your head out of the gutter." Danny bit his tongue to keep from chuckling at their interaction.
Dash sighed out dramatically. "Well, I suppose that would be okay. But you're not to be alone with him in your room. You can show him your art in the front room. And don't argue with me on that." He stared sternly at her as he folded his arms.
"Sometimes you're really annoying," Lily grumbled with a frown. Then she hugged him before she hopped to her feet. "We'll be waiting in his room whenever you're ready to go."
"She seems nice," Danny said when they were alone again. "How come I've never seen her before?"
Dash frowned as he threaded his fingers through his hair. "She's been in and out of the hospital pretty much all her life, and my parents have kept her pretty much to a sheltered life. They're just worried about her. I mean, I am too. I don't want her getting hurt. She's never really complained about it though." He shrugged. "And since you're probably going to ask, she has a terminal illness. It's actually a miracle she's survived this long. The first doctor predicted she wouldn't live past seven. It's been kind of a rollercoaster with her, and we never know if the next time we have to take her to the hospital will be the last," he hesitated, and Danny could see the pain and sorrow in his dark blue eyes, "time."
Danny chewed on his lower lip as a thought turned in his mind. "You know, um, well, I'm not the greatest at the computer stuff, but Vlad knows a lot about it." He reached up and scratched at his head. "What I'm saying is, we could maybe, like, make a digital copy of her. It obviously wouldn't be the same, and the real her would die, but you'd still have a way to keep a part of her alive."
Dash stared at him for the longest time, and Danny shrank in his seat, fearful that the jock was about explode at him. "I get that you want to help," he said after a while and sighed. "I've wished a thousand times over the years that there would be some magic cure for her. It's a nice offer, but I can't." He shook his head. "It wouldn't be her. My parents and I, we've known Lily's time is going to be short. Lily knows it as well. We've all been preparing ourselves for that day." He leaned forward, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes. "But it's still going to hurt like hell. I can't imagine her not being in my life one day. I don't even want to think about it even though I know it's going to happen."
Danny honestly couldn't think of any words of comfort to give him. He rested a hand on Dash's shoulder, squeezing it. "I really wish there was something I could do. I wish these powers I had could save her, but," Danny hung his head miserably, "they don't work that way." He wished there was something he could do for Dash. He never imagined Dash walked around with that type of burden over his head. Simply thinking about Jazz having some terminal illness that could kill her at any moment tore at Danny's heart. They sat there for quite some time in silence with Danny's hand still placed on Dash's shoulder.
"Let us in! Let us in!" Kwan and Danny cried together as they pretended to pound their fists on the in visible door.
Dash sat back like he was lounging in a comfortable house. "What's that?" He put a hand to his ear. "I thought I heard my dear old friends crying for me to let them in. But surely that can't be. They were so certain," he rolled his eyes, "that they built the best homes. Why would they need to come crying to me?" Some of the children in the audience giggled at Dash's exaggerated speech.
"Please let us in!" Kwan called. "The wolf came, and she huffed and she puffed, and she blew down my house of a straw."
"We beg of you. Let us in!" Danny pleaded. "The wolf huffed and she puffed, and she blew down my house of sticks."
Dash rolled his eyes again and grinned at the children in the audience. "I don't know. Should I let them in?"
"Yes!" the children answered loudly.
Dash got to his feet and walked over then pretended to unlock and open the door to his house. "I told you those houses wouldn't stand." He ushered the other two in his house and closed and locked the door. "You should have listened to my advice." He placed his hands on his hips and gave them a stern look.
"We're sorry! We should have listened," Kwan said, looking shamed by Dash's words.
"We didn't think the wolf would blow down our houses." Danny hung his head.
A moment later, Paulina appeared on stage, and she pounded her fist on the invisible door. "Come out, you little pigs," she shouted. "Or I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!"
The three men exchanged glances before turning toward where Paulina stood. "Not by the hair of our chinny chin chins!" they said together.
Paulina took a step back, pushing up the long sleeves of her furry shirt. She took a deep breath and blew until she was red in the face, but of course, since the house was meant to be made of bricks, she was unable to blow it down like she did with the other two houses. The three men yawned, bored by her display as she tried several times to blow down the house.
"Ugh!" Paulina collapsed onto the floor, winded by her efforts. "I can't blow down this brick house! How did these little pigs outsmart me?"
The three men high fived each other in their victory over the wolf. "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" Danny and Kwan sang together as they hooked their arms together and danced like dorks to the amusement of the children as the curtain closed on them. When they were done, Danny released a relieved sigh.
"I can't believe we're finally done with that," Danny said, following his group off the stage as the next one prepared to put on their performance. "You all were really good." He was even more relieved that he could finally change out of the pink dress. Paulina helped him, unzipping the back so that he could let it fall and pool at his feet.
"You were great too, Danny," Paulina said as she picked up the dress to put it away as the men changed.
Danny tugged on his regular clothes and shoved his feet into his waiting sneakers. "And now we can spend the remainder of the day just relaxing." He stretched his arms over his head, glad they didn't have to return to Casper High and finished out the day sitting in class. There wasn't much time left anyway, only about another hour.
"I agree. Your performance was quite good."
Danny jumped when he heard the familiar voice. Spinning around, he stared wide eyed at Vlad, who chose to adopt a younger appearance that made him look two or three years older than Danny. His hair still had that silvery quality that his older human form had with a slightly lighter color through the center. "W-What are you doing here?" He really hadn't expected the man to come watch the performance, even though he mentioned it to Vlad the other day.
Vlad raised an eyebrow like he couldn't believe Danny had to ask. "I came to see you, obviously."
"Uh, who is that?" Dash asked, frowning at the man. He already changed out of his pig costume and was shrugging on his letterman jacket.
"Daniel's boyfriend," Vlad answered, snaking an arm around the raven haired man and pulling him flush against him.
"Wait, Vlad! Gah!" Danny couldn't stop the horrible blush rising to his cheeks. They hadn't even discussed whether they were official boyfriends or anything like that! His bright blue eyes darted toward Dash, worried about the jock's reaction.
"Ah," Dash said as hurt flashed briefly in his eyes. "You were just trying to let me down easy because you already had someone?" He shook his head. "You should have just said that in the first place."
"I, uh-" Danny blinked, surprised that Dash didn't explode in some rage. A part of him still felt guilty, knowing that Dash liked him, but Danny couldn't change that he liked Vlad and not Dash.
"We weren't telling anyone just yet," Vlad answered smoothly. "It was still new to both of us, and we weren't sure if it would work out. But," he smirked with his attention solely on Danny, "I suppose there's no harm in letting people know now." Before Danny couldn't think to protest, Vlad leaned in to kiss him. Sighing into the kiss, Danny gave up the fight and wrapped his arms around the man.
Author's Note: Thanks everyone for sticking with the story until the end! =D Also thanks to akiwitch for letting me bounce ideas off and listening to me whine like a brat while writing this. Thanks to XD for the NetZone name. And thanks to Just Will for the suggestion of Phantom Pulse as a name. I have a few afterward ideas to go with this as well as a what if idea that I might not touch just yet.
maltese: Haha, I guess Tucker can manage to keep some secrets? XD;;
midnight: Yes~ XD Gotta love alliterative names. Well, it's still a miracle no one figured it out in the actual show. XD;; And not just in terms of Fenton and Phantom looking a lot. There were so many slip ups that it's a wonder that no one ever picked up on the truth. XD;;
Just Will: Haha, Danny suffers another total body shut down from the shock of Vlad kissing him? XD Yeah, I imagine that would be horrible to experience. D8 I have no idea about tropes. Well, Clockwork just reaches in. He doesn't fully go in there physically. XD;; Yeah, having all those terrible memories engraved into his memory has to really suck for Dash. *pats Dash* D: He didn't have a lot of luck with love here, did he? *twiddles thumbs* I do have something about Jing, but I got lazy and wanted to wrap up the story. It'll be in the afterwards stuff when I get around to writing them.
DARKLOVEFORFANFICTION123: The kiss sort of woke him up. XD;;; But the corrupted data was still in there affecting him.