Co-written between Tangerine Catnip and NebulousMistress

True to his word, Danny was on Vlad's doorstep the following afternoon, his backpack slung over his shoulder and a notebook in his arms. Its black cover was embossed with his trademark symbol scrawled in white correction fluid. He looked and felt a tad more confident that he did the previous night. He'd done some thinking since then and he felt at least somewhat prepared for round two.

The door opened. Danny pushed past Vlad and into the hallway of his mansion. "So where do you want to talk then?" Danny asked. "I don't suppose you have a special room for making truce agreements with archenemies?"

"Of course not," Vlad said. He had considered taking the boy to his plotting room but then he remembered the simulations he'd been working on. While the pages didn't exactly have evil plans in the header he still wasn't sure he should risk it. "Anywhere is fine," he said. "I've sent the staff away for the afternoon. No one will interrupt us."

Danny cocked his head. That seemed kind of strange but given they were going to be discussing their mutual secret maybe it was for the best.

There were some comfy chairs in a secluded alcove out of sight from the front windows. Danny picked out the most comfortable looking one and sat down. He flipped through his notebook. The book contained mostly crude drawings of ghosts with scribbled notes although there were sections detailing the evolution of some of his powers. He flipped to a blank page and marked it with the date and purpose.

Vlad followed Danny to where the comfy chairs beckoned. A small end table stood between the two chairs, waiting to hold refreshments or whatever else they decided to put there. "What are your terms for this truce?" Vlad asked.

Danny bit the end of his pen, running over the advice Jazz had given him in his head. "Well, the most important thing is that you don't hurt anyone but I can't exactly hold you to that," he said. "Sam complains about VladCo's animal testing all the time and I really don't have time to come after you every time you displace a family of bunny rabbits."

"Well, as you've already figured out, I have no intention of bowing to your little friend's ill-advised, impractical ideas," Vlad said. "I run companies. Some of those companies do science. Unless she'd rather volunteer as an unpaid human test subject herself, research will continue to involve animal testing. Furthermore, VladCo is a publicly traded company. I have to answer to shareholders the same as any other company. Business decisions are not something I can or will allow into any discussion of a truce."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Did you practice that one in front of a mirror?" he asked, kicking his legs out as he leaned against the arm of his chair. "How about a ceasefire of hostilities then? No intentional damage done to either party, including family and friends. Also I would appreciate it if you didn't unleash any more ancient all-powerful evils…"

A generic truce, one Vlad would find easy to manipulate, to work around, to avoid and alter. Apparently the boy had never negotiated before. "I should call off the summoning then," Vlad allowed. He kept his face carefully neutral, perhaps a little disappointed. It was a difficult expression to keep.

"I'm not kidding, you know," Danny snapped. "It's already happened twice and the last time you did it just to raise your approval rating. An approval rating you don't need because you can just cheat the election again by overshadowing the voters! Look, neither of us enjoyed that run in with Vortex; this is for your sake as well as mine."

Vlad didn't even hear Danny's outburst. He was too busy laughing that the boy had taken him seriously.

Danny buried his face in his hands, swearing under his breath. He grabbed his pen and scribbled out the terms he had just come up with. "I'm still writing this down," he warned.

Vlad calmed down, his laughter pretty much spent. He took a deep breath to dispel the rest of his giggles. "No intentional damage to friends or family," he said. "Thus far it's all about what I'm not allowed to do. But what about you? Since when are you allowed to continue with your whimsical destruction of my self and property? What are you willing to give up?"

"Well, I'm not going to attack you anymore," Danny said. "I thought that was kind of clear. Also I won't be destroying anything, at least not intentionally. If I catch Skulker trying to hunt the lions at the zoo I'm not going to give up on capturing him if he hides in your underwear drawer. I will give you special consideration, though. I won't stop you from rigging town elections or committing tax fraud or whatever. Just so long as no one gets killed."

"There's no fun in tax fraud," Vlad said dismissively. So the boy offered to not attack him. Interesting. And the 'just so long as no one gets killed' was so wonderfully broad... "Essentially you propose a nonaggression pact. You won't seek me out and I'll not seek you. It's a start. But you're forgetting one important thing, my dear Daniel. I trust your word as much as you likely trust mine. What happens when one of us invariably breaks this pact?"

Danny took a deep breath. He'd planned for this question, it was the cornerstone of his gamble. "That won't happen," he said. "Because we won't want to break the truce." He folded his hands in his lap and looked over to Vlad. His shoulders slumped as shyness took over, the same as it always did when he spoke from his heart instead of his ego. "It's a nonaggression pact but you're wrong about the 'seeking out' part. You and I both know no document is going to keep us to our words but what if we didn't want to break the pact because it would hurt the other person? What if we were friends?"

Vlad's eyebrows shot to his hairline. That was an unexpected turn of events. It had to be calculated. It had to be a trick. Nearly three years of watching, stalking, seeking, peeking... It couldn't be a serious suggestion. But he kind of wanted it to be. Even if he had no idea why. This called for something tactical. Something that would break down the boy's defenses and lay bare the truth. Something that he wouldn't be able to resist.

Without a word Vlad got up and left the room.

Danny closed his notebook and let out the breath he'd been holding. Fucking hell, this was stupid idea. Vlad was probably going to go get a weapon to chase him out with. He'd known that burying the hatchet with Vlad would be hard but so far 'hard' seemed optimistic. He put the notebook back in his bag but didn't make to leave; he would wait for Vlad to kick him out, then he could honestly say he'd tried his best.

Vlad returned with a bottle, corkscrew, and two glasses. He did not dare take the boy at his sober word. But perhaps with some of his inhibitions worn down he might make more sense. The glasses went to the small table nestled between their chairs. He popped the cork and set the port on the table to breathe. "And how do you propose we approach this... 'friendship' thing?" Vlad asked. "There is a great deal of history between us."

Danny's wide eyes looked from Vlad to the bottle on the table. "Um, well, I just figured we have to have something in common," Danny said. "You like football and we both have superpowers and... is that alcohol?"

"This is port, Daniel," Vlad explained. He figured letting the bottle breathe really wasn't that important given how little culture the boy really had. "It's a type of wine. I've developed quite a liking to it over the years." He poured a glass for himself. Deep red, almost purple liquid caught the light, sucking it in like a black hole. And then a glass for Daniel. He offered it to the boy.

Danny took the glass and looked at it for a long moment. He very rarely drank and he was still a good four years away from being legal. He licked his lips, unsure. It could have drugs in it or maybe poison... He shook the thought from his head; if he wanted to win Vlad's trust he had to be willing to give it as well. If that meant drinking a few sips of this... stuff… then he could manage.

Danny took a small sip. The strong flavor exploded over his tongue, surprising him so much he nearly choked. That was definitely a long shot away from soda pop. He noticed Vlad watching him and he smiled back as best he could. "Wow that's… well I don't really have anything to compare it to," he said. "It's a lot different than beer though."

"The beer your father drinks is glorified horse piss," Vlad agreed. "This... is not anywhere near comparing to that." He took a sip of his own glass. Hmm. It did need to breathe. He wrapped his hands around the glass, letting the heat speed up the process.

"Yeah, well, fancy tastes work if you're wealthy enough to afford them."

"Ffft," Vlad dismissed. "Fancy tastes aren't a factor of money. They're a factor of having good taste. Something I tried and failed to instill in Jack even before."

Danny tried another sip. It was sweet but not in the same way as cake or candy. His chest began to feel warm. "Anyway, I figure we should at least try. I mean, there's a huge age gap but people of different ages can be good friends sometimes. And you said so yourself, you're sick of fighting. And the... um... the hugs worked out just fine."

"How would you suggest we go about this, then?" Vlad asked. He honestly didn't remember how to go about this whole 'friendship' thing.

"Well, spending time together is important isn't it?" Danny asked. "I make time to hang out with Sam and Tucker, surely it works the same way?" He bit his lip in thought before taking a pull of his drink. "Maybe we could make a schedule so I can visit once a week? Or I could text you and ask if you're free?" It felt strange to be referring to such casual things with Vlad. He couldn't even imagine texting him like he would his other friends. Vlad would probably correct his grammar.

Vlad hummed in thought. Right, 'spending time together' was usually a component of friendships. It had been so long since he had one that he was rather rusty. At least the idea of scheduling made sense. "For now at least we might try and schedule time," he said. That way if and when Daniel decided this was a bad idea and reneged on their agreement Vlad wouldn't have had to shuffle around anything important.

Danny nodded. "Cool, we can meet up and have cookies and tea or something." He chuckled softly even though he wasn't sure exactly what was funny. He lifted his glass but found he had already drained it. When had that happened? He sat back in his chair, feeling oddly light and buzzy. His nervousness was getting harder to hold on to. "I'm sure it will be awkward at first but if we can work through that maybe everything will get better? I think it will get better..."

Vlad tipped the bottle against Danny's glass, refilling it. The boy drank much faster than he realized and Vlad was willing to use that to his advantage. "I can teach you how to play chess," he offered. "And while it's not quite my favorite activity I do know you enjoy flying. But, really, Daniel. Why now? I thought you hated me. Sometimes it seems you always have."

Danny pulled his legs up and crossed them, resting his hands in his lap. "You probably won't believe me," he said. "But the truth is I don't like hating things. Especially not people. I don't hate Dash even though he's a bully and a jerk, he's just aggressive and dumb and can't help himself. If push comes to shove even he'll do the right thing. Even if it's just for a moment. Then there's all the ghosts. They all have their own reasons for what they do and they can't help it either. It's just in their nature to act chaotic and evil. If they weren't obsessed and dangerous they wouldn't be ghosts. I can't let them do as they please but I don't punish them either, unless you count being inside the thermos for a few hours." He smiled at that; it was pretty cramped in there but it wasn't that bad.

"But it's not the same for you," Danny continued. "I gave concessions to everyone except my archenemy. I don't willfully attack Skulker or smash Ember's guitar or take away the Box Ghost's boxes." Danny felt an odd rush of emotion he wasn't expecting and he had to force back the urge to cry. "I don't know why. Maybe it's because you were threatening me on such a personal level. My family's safety means more to me than anything else and that was way too much to risk and..." He broke off suddenly as he realized he should not have drank so much. It didn't stop him from taking a long swallow of port to try and steady himself. "You were so much stronger than me and it was obvious you were too crazy to reason with and I guess I was scared. Scared you might win, scared I would lose everything. And that fear just turned into this searing hate." Danny took a long ragged breath, suddenly at a loss for words. He had never thought he would ever be able to admit that, to get it off his chest. It felt wonderful and horrible at the same time.

Vlad watched the Danny's outpouring of admission with cold calculating eyes. He looked at the data, attempted to suss out meaning, only to find nothing untoward, nothing unlikely, nothing except bold, unabashed truth. Daniel... had his reasons to hate him, yes. But if he was to be believed... "What changed?" Vlad asked. "I made you hate and you hated that more than you hated me. But what made you able to give it up?" What did I do to deserve this?

Danny winced; he hoped Vlad wouldn't take this as an insult. He licked his lips and looked his tormentor of four years square in the eyes. "Because I'm not scared of you anymore," he said. "I always knew that under all that evil and showboating you were just as confused and lost as I was. I used it to fuel my insults. You were like a perfect example of what would happen if I didn't keep track of what mattered most. That probably scared me even more than what might happen if I failed to protect everyone." An image of the twisted face of his evil future self flashed in Danny's imagination, making him shudder. He willed the sudden shock away. "I'm older now. I've had my powers for long enough to know what I can do with them and how I should use them. I know who I am, and I know I won't turn into you and... I'm not scared anymore. And if I'm not scared then what reason do I have left to hate you? I mean I kind of owe who I am to you in some messed up way. Maybe it's time I try to make up for the mistakes I made."

Vlad nodded. It all boiled down to fear. Danny had been afraid of him. If only he'd shown it, given in to it more often, then Vlad would have had the ammunition he needed to bring the boy to his knees long ago. But then they wouldn't be here, Danny spilling his heart out over glasses of port. "'There is no greater fear than fear of the unknown'," Vlad murmured. "A writer of some... ill-repute said that. And yet I was never an unknown. You were always the unknown. What would you do? What would you choose? How would you react? What was your future? I don't think I was what you feared. No. You feared yourself."

Vlad was about to dismiss the boy and his fanciful need to 'redeem' him or whatever heroic nonsense he was planning. But a small voice in his own mind stopped him. He feared himself. Just as you fear yourself.

Danny looked at his thumbs, lining up the fingertips then separating them. Vlad was probably right about that, in fact it made sense but he was a little too hazy to think about it right now. All that mattered was that he'd said it. Vlad was predictability cold about it, but what else could he have expected. He wondered about leaving but he still had more he wanted to say. He needed this. Vlad had haunted his life for years and he craved some kind of resolution, something to make it all worthwhile. An end to that chapter of his life. "You haven't tossed me out yet. If you're looking for some exploit you can use to turn this on me you won't find it. If I thought there was one I wouldn't have told you." Danny looked up, his lips curved in uncertainty. "I've answered your questions so now it's your turn. Why are you even bothering to ask me about all this?"

"Because I have to know," Vlad said. "Because I've been lied to before by people who claimed to be my friend. Lied to, used, abused, left for dead, all by people who claimed to love me, to be my friend, to be the best of friends. And even by you. I have to know that that's not what's going to happen again. But I don't know if I can, Daniel. A friend might use all the pretty words in the world and then turn around and stab me again. It's happened before. I need to know that this isn't some trick, some ploy. That you're not going to turn around and steal what love I have left. Or stab me in the back and leave me to bleed out in the gutter. Or abandon me to a fate of your own making while you go off and..." Vlad took a shaky breath and a deep draught of port before looking Danny right in the eyes. "I need to know why, Daniel. Because only if I know why will I be able to bring myself to trust you enough to believe you're not lying to me."

"Alright... I understand that." Danny felt a twinge in his chest. He didn't know a lot about Vlad's history, he hadn't cared to know before but this seemed to make sense from what he knew of the man. Then a little tidbit slid into place, settling deep in the pit of his stomach. "And one of the people who betrayed you was my father," he realized.

"Your father was the first person I ever really trusted," Vlad admitted. A deep sigh broke his words, almost stopping them. Almost. "And the last. He taught me how to trust, how to feel, how to really... know a person and just... how to enjoy companionship. Everything I knew about friends and what they did for each other. And then..." He seemed to pull away, to curl in on himself without even moving.

They sat in silence for a long moment. Alcohol and emotion and nerves buzzed around in Danny's head like wasps. "Vlad… I-" He trailed off, his words dying without an idea behind them. Danny sighed and got to his feet. "Even if words don't mean anything I'll do what I can to earn your trust and I'll stand by it." Danny found himself moving and a moment later he was beside Vlad's chair. He reached out a hand hesitantly, resting it on Vlad's shoulder. He had meant it as a small gesture but the moment of contact felt distant and unhelpful. There was only one thing for it.

Hugging a man sitting down proved a lot harder than he expected. Danny stood awkwardly until, not quite sure what to do with his feet until Vlad pulled Danny into his lap. It wasn't a large chair but neither of them were very large men. It was a tight fit but Vlad made it work, even if it meant being stabbed by an elbow here or a hip bone there or a foot thrown over an armrest, it was worth it.

Vlad had forgotten what this felt like, what being in comforting arms really felt like when he was hurting. He was so used to being alone that he'd forgotten. Possessive arms held Danny tight, wouldn't let him go. He buried his face in the boy's neck and just breathed, trying to keep control over himself. It didn't work.

Danny settled into Vlad's lap. The oddness of the situation flew all through his buzzed mind. This was a lot more comfortable than trying to hug while standing. He squeezed Vlad tightly, feeling an overwhelming sense of calm settle over him. The stress of the last hour melted away as a crackle of energy tickled his nerves. It felt so strange but at the same time completely natural. Somehow it meshed with how tightly he was being held. A whole new sensation began to creep over Danny. He recognized some of it, the desire to protect something, to cherish, to take care of something and keep it from getting hurt again. He wanted to help Vlad. Not just for himself or the city but for the sake of the man himself.

Danny's eyes fell half-closed and he pulled away just enough to get Vlad to look up from his neck. A charge of sensation shocked through Danny when he looked into Vlad's eyes. He could see hurt in them, hatred. But he could also see a spark, a tiny little speck of hope for something more. Danny leaned close and pressed his lips to Vlad's.

Vlad froze for a long moment. He had no idea what was going on. He felt lips on his, sparks along his skin...

No. Vlad pulled away, a harsh gasp on his lips. Confusion, wariness in his eyes. And fear. Then as open as those eyes had been to the world... they closed, becoming cold and hard again.

Danny felt the sparks of electricity all fizzle. It felt like suddenly finding a worm in an apple, everything going so well only to crash and burn without a second's notice.

Whether it was his own reaction or if Vlad pushed him Danny never knew but a second later he was on the floor. He had kissed Vlad? What! Why?! Why in hell had he done that! Confused and frightened, Danny looked up at the elder. The glare he got in return cut into him like a knife. Instinct kicked in and Danny grabbed his bag and fled. The sound of the front door slamming behind him echoed through the manor.

The only trace that Danny had been there at all was a thin covering of frost on the arms of Vlad's chair and the ire of the man sitting there. Sparks danced along Vlad's fingertips, tracing the leaf-like patterns of frost on the chair arms. Fury burned in him. He would not be taken advantage of, not again.

He threw himself out of the chair and grabbed the half empty bottle of port. No idea, no plan, not thinking... The crash of glass drew him to some semblance of reality. The stain of red on gray stone mocked him as it dripped down the wall. Like blood... Vlad stormed off. He had work to do.