Co-written between Tangerine Catnip and NebulousMistress

Vlad sat at his desk. Pages upon pages of evil ideas were strewn around him, on the desk, across the chair arms, over the floor... At least they'd started out as evil ideas. Plots and plans and revenge to be taken for slights brought against him, for acquiring that which he needed, for making people pay for what they'd done. For Jack's incompetence, deceit, the callous disregard with which he'd been tossed aside like a disposable toy all those years ago. For Maddie's constant distant hovering, never knowing just what to make of him, the bipolar shifts between deep friendship and seething hatred, always bouncing back and forth even decades ago before the accident. For Daniel and how he dangled that blasted truce in front of his face, promising friendship and understanding and maybe something like an end to this blasted aloneness, this pain, this encompassing anger and then revealing his true intentions by trying to take physical advantage of him!

Vlad snarled in his office. An errant page was destroyed as his hands found it, needing something to rip apart.

He threw himself out of his chair to pace again. A nice little ring in front of his desk was the only surface not covered in papers. Vlad paced this ring, his mind going over the events again and again and again. He'd gotten the boy drunk to ascertain his honestly, found him growing more and more pliant, more willing to speak as the alcohol hit his system. But then something went wrong somewhere. He hadn't expected to reciprocate, to answer truthfully as well. Words he'd not said aloud in years, not even allowed himself to think, came out of him with minimal prompting. And then the boy had tried to hug him and something went odd.

He remembered electricity, sparks along his nerves, his core awakening. It was an odd happenstance given he wasn't under any sort of assault or exposure, he wasn't even in ghost form. And the boy's core awakened as well; the frost left on the chair, the floor, his lips...

Vlad didn't realize his fingers had come up to caress his lips until he tasted skin. He looked at his own hand, almost unseeing as faint white sparks danced along his skin at the mere thought...

Whatever had happened last night, whatever the boy had meant to do, it all hinged on this annoying, inconvenient happenstance. There was no reason for his core to flare simply due to the presence of another core. He had to research this phenomenon. Surely there was some way to control his own reaction. Then he could use the boy's against himself.

It was only fair.

The library deep in the heart of the Ghost Zone was an oddity even here. It was technically the lair of the Ghostwriter, a ghost with the power to warp reality to his will. He would be more dangerous if it weren't for his obsession; his books kept him content to spend his time writing poetry. His lair was open to the public and worked much like a normal library.

Not that the library was truly mundane. It was a library in the Ghost Zone, after all. General knowledge, ancient history, fiction, works in dead languages, books of magic and science, of the present and the future, anything and everything that could be collected. Many shelves were stocked with volumes completely unique to the Ghost Zone either through design or through the destruction of all tangible copies. All of it was there for perusal so long as the rules of the library were followed.

Though he wouldn't be caught dead in a normal library, Vlad often found himself coming here while studying or planning. A visit here never seemed to come unrewarded.

The place was staffed by all manner of imps, shadows, and small ghosts who managed the collection while their master wrote his epics in his study. Provided they could be reasoned with they were as potent a resource as the library itself. An imp hovered lazily behind the reception desk, its beady black eyes vacant as it waited to be of service.

Vlad took a calming breath and strode up to it. The ugly creature turned to him as he drew close. Vlad growled at the creature, attempting to prove to it that he commanded respect and deserved its service. The imp's black eyes stared back dispassionately, acknowledging neither power nor ability. Well, that didn't work. Vlad regrouped, tugging his cape around him to emphasize his regal air. The imp shifted ever so slightly, indicating they would be responding to finesse today. "I require a topic," he said. "Ghost cores and involuntary flares. Especially when... interacting with another."

"Core flares you say?" the imp asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully with a long clawed finger. "We have many books on that topic, perhaps we could narrow it down? If you're looking for something to teach to a little one we have some picture books. Fairly straightforward, useful for giving the 'growing up' talk. Some say we shouldn't have books for such early ages but the Writer believes the sooner they learn about puberty the more prepared they'll be for it."

"Well, I'm sure I don't need such simple information," Vlad said, waving dismissively. "I know that cores flare and all that. I just don't see why they'd flare around another ghost."

The imp raised an eyebrow. It struck him as odd that a ghost like Plasmius wouldn't know but he knew better than to second guess the patrons. "Well… If you're looking for that, we do have section of erotic fiction in the back."

"What does porn have to do with this?" Vlad demanded. He snarled before trying to bring himself under control. This imp was deliberately being obtuse, that had to be it.

The imp shrugged. "Well I'm not here to judge, sir, but I hear only a limited number of ghosts have the raw ability to flare without stimulation. Lately it's become something of a fantasy."

Vlad's hands itched with the urge to ectoblast the imp into dust, wrath of the Writer be damned. All he wanted was some information on the core flare phenomenon so he could figure out why in hell it inspired Daniel to... Oh...

Vlad's fury turned inward and ectoplasm rushed to his face, giving him a purplish blush. He covered his face with one hand to hide his shame before gesturing with the other. "Just... just give me the picture books," he grumbled.

"Will do, sir." The imp bared pointed teeth in a parody of a smile, uncaring of Vlad's embarrassment. "I'll also bring you some others you might find useful. We have some books about how to maximize the efficiency of a flare, though it's mostly sex positions." The imp bowed and flew off to round up the books, depositing them in a pile on a nearby table. The front cover of the book on top was proudly titled Your Changing Body and You in block capitals. Vlad quickly grabbed that book and slapped it cover-down. He glared around him, daring anyone to say anything about it.

Other than the usual imps, shadows, patrons hiding in corners, the library was quiet. Very well then. Vlad lifted the stack and stalked into a tiny, secluded, darkened corner. Hopefully no one would find him here and observe what he was reading.

He picked up the first book and its annoyingly wholesome, infantile cover. He flipped through the pages till he saw the word core, resting his head in his hand as he read the short sentences.

Cores are special balls of energy inside you. They can help you do amazing things! The page was dominated by a picture of a little ghost boy with a glowing orb superimposed over his chest. His features were twisted in an overly cheery grin. Vlad had the urge to sneer in return.

All cores have a special element. Some elements are fire, electricity, ice, water, earth, light and darkness. Pictures representing all of these elements were splashed over the page.

Be careful with your new powers. If you don't use them enough your core will get all blocked up with energy and make you feel bad. The overly cartoonish ghost boy had returned, this time with a giant frown on his face.

When you grow up your core will help you find a very special person just for you. A little ghost girl with an identical core in her chest joined the boy. Both drawings were eying each other from across the page.

When you hug you very special someone your core will be so happy it will cause a burst of energy. This is called a core flare. Don't worry, your core will never hurt your special someone since their core will protect them. The two figures were holding each other a huge red heart drawn above them. Vlad held the book at arm's length, a sneer of distasteful worry etched across his features. He closed that book and stuffed it into the bottom of the pile so he wouldn't have to look at it again. He picked another book off of the stack, one of a very different genre and age category.

A diaphanous woman swooned in the arms of a large green ogre-ish monster on the front cover. The title Fiery Surrender was written in flowery red scrawl. Vlad opened the book. It appeared to be some sort of fiction. He flipped through it, noting the vapid plot and shallow characters. But then around the middle...

Her core ached for his touch. Burning fingers trailed lines of flaming heat down her skin, awakening the shadow within her. "Oh, Antonio," she cried, her shadow reaching for him. His fire burned hotter in her darkness, engulfing them both as- Vlad stopped mid-sentence and skipped ahead a few pages.

The fire burned around them as he finally touched her weeping petals of darkness. His burning shaft ached to engulf itself in her core as she yearned to take his fire into her. "Oh my..." He skipped ahead again.

Darkness burst forth from her core, flaring deep in his arms as his fire- Vlad quickly closed the book. That was... very, very odd. He picked up another book, hopefully one that made sense.

This book seemed less like a trashy romance novel and more like a self-help book. The pages in the beginning were a brief summary of what the core of a ghost was. That quickly led into a history of a core's usage in marriage and breeding contracts, delving into an almost astrological system of personality prediction. Core powers were deeply linked with emotional strengths and the theory assumed that personality could be predicted with certainty based off of those strengths. Ice cores were born from a strong sense of loyalty, justice and order. Fire from chaos and raw emotion, electricity from focus and intensity, earth from kindness and love. The list went on and Vlad skipped ahead.

According to the book the emotional connections of love and the physical stimulations of sex activated the core's powers. With nowhere else to go that power wrapped around the partner. The end result was an explosion of energy that heightened sensation and orgasm to a level that the book had a great deal of fun trying to describe. After that the narrative devolved into a collection of bedroom tips; facts about the nature of cores and how they could be abused in the bedroom.

This was possibly the most elaborate joke Vlad had ever encountered. That or twenty years of being unwilling to attempt to mate with ghosts had been a detriment to his sexual well-being. This would explain why humans had never felt right after the accident. Vlad snorted. That was an understatement if he'd ever made one. Sex with humans was so terrible, so unfulfilling, that he'd given it up completely over a decade and a half ago. These books... This whole concept... It claimed to explain why.

But it couldn't be. He'd had core flares before, always as a result of a power surge, of exposure to enough electricity to fry a lesser being. Sure they were euphoric, left him giggling and shaky in their wake. But surely that wasn't... Vlad couldn't believe he was contemplating this. He'd long viewed sex as a weakness of flesh, something beneath him. Instead he was simply doing it wrong?

Vlad flipped ahead to find a chapter on elemental masturbation. He read further. Interesting. Apparently his experience with flares was only the first step. This book was geared toward pure ghosts but given the multitude of suggestions given he figured he could use the rather straight-forward nature of the human body to his advantage. Vlad set that book aside.

He spent the next fifteen minutes flipping through the rest of the books: a few more picture books, a self-help book for dealing with core dysfunction, a relationship guide for couples with only one core-bearing participant, and a pocket-sized manual directed towards teens warning about impaired judgment while under the influence of a flare.

The pocket manual was interesting. In the few years after the end of puberty the effects of core flares would be highly unpredictable and more powerfully driven. Only as time wore on and maturity set in could a core's actions be considered controlled. Vlad was already considering how he could use this against Daniel when next they met. Well, maybe not. A fly-by attack over the city would not be conducive to using the information gleaned here. He'd need to make sure their next meeting was... advantageous. Vlad set the pocket manual aside with the other. A copy of the Ecto Sutra joined it. He'd had enough embarrassment for one day. He needed to take the rest of this at something resembling a sane pace in more comfortable, familiar surroundings.

The imp checked out his books without comment and Vlad left the library with a little more strut in his step then when he had arrived. When he got home he would have to remember to contact Skulker about the updated ecto-paralysis darts.

Danny's eyes were closed but he wasn't quite asleep. He was trying to get back to sleep since he could sense it wasn't time for school yet, but doing so was proving difficult. He tried to roll over but something tugged on his arm, keeping him still. He opened his eyes halfway, saw the restraint holding his wrist down. Oh, that would be why, then. He shivered; it was really cold in his room. And what happened to his blanket? And since when did he sleep strapped to his bed? Wait a minute...

Fuck. He woke up enough to realize he wasn't in his room anymore. Danny closed his eyes, trying to decide what was the worst case scenario for being kidnapped so he could hope against it. He opened his eyes again, finding himself in a laboratory. He could have guessed as much, it was always a laboratory. The good news was it wasn't Fenton works, the bad news was he didn't recognize it. He was strapped to a table, his limbs bound outstretched. Ghost proof straps, naturally.

Guys in White? Nocturne? He'd been stolen from his bed, he knew that much. So it had to be someone who knew both his hybrid status and where he lived. So that narrowed it down to all of his enemies. Wonderful. Danny took another look around, looking for more clues, something to identify... Everything seemed normal, normal enough to rule out a lab in the Ghost Zone. That only left one possibility. "God damn it, fruitloop!"

Vlad could sense the boy waking up, taking stock of his surroundings, jumping to conclusions... "I see you're awake," he said, purring in the darkness outside of Danny's field of view. "Good. That will make this much easier."

Danny twisted around, trying to see where the voice was coming from. "Hello, Vlad," Danny said, covering his words in a thick layer of sarcasm to distract from the internal panic that was trying to take control. For most of the last week he'd been dwelling on that moment when he accidentally kissed Vlad. He hadn't told anyone, not even his friends when they asked how his plan had worked out. He'd been scared, terrified all week that some punishment was hanging over his head. And it looked like he'd been right.

Fuck! Why had he done it? He didn't understand. There'd been no reason for him to kiss Vlad; he couldn't even bring up the courage to kiss girls unless they started it and here he was putting moves on his forty-odd year old enemy! And yet every time he thought about it he remembered warmth, comfort, this sense of belonging, things he didn't usually attribute to Vlad. Danny blushed even as he glared with the best poker face he could manage.

Vlad circled around, his suit pressed and his bearing haughty and domineering. It covered his inherent nervousness over the fact that this was an experiment. It might go horribly wrong and he knew it. But he wasn't going to dare allow Danny to know that... "Good evening, Daniel," Vlad said. "Or perhaps it's morning. Depends on your definition." He looked down at his fingernails, nonchalantly shining them on his lapel. "I suppose you're wondering why you're here."

The teenager turned away, glaring at the wall. "No, I'm wondering why you're doing a bad James Bond villain impression," he snapped. "Where's the laser you're going to use to cut me in half?" Danny pulled on his bounds again. They felt more ghost proof that human proof. Maybe if he tried to slide his hands out...

"Ah, and there's that mouth of yours," Vlad drawled. "Let's see if we can't put it to better use, shall we?" Vlad rubbed his hands together before brushing his fingers just across the skin of Danny's belly. The tiniest spark jumped to his skin. "Tell me, my boy, have you ever been struck by lightning?"

Danny jumped as the spark hit him. A small shock of pain skittered across his bare chest. Wait.. why wasn't he wearing a shirt? He had one on when he went to bed… He shifted uncomfortably. Wait, Vlad wasn't actually going to hurt him, was he? Normally Vlad would just rant when he captured him then leave to go do something evil. Was this a threat? "No- I mean yes," Danny stammered. "How do you expect me to keep track of everything I get hit with? Who the hell knows?"

Vlad paused, thinking about his next words. "I suppose it wouldn't be important to you," he admitted. He reached for a bowl on the table next to Danny, pulled from it an ice cube. "Allow me to rephrase. Have you ever lain naked in the snow? Nothing separating you from those big fat flakes of ice drifting down from the sky, surrounding you, enveloping you? Almost a caress..." He trailed the ice down the boy's middle, sliding it along his skin from his neck down to his navel.

Danny's breath hitched, his eyes gone wide as the ice touched his skin. He wiggled, trying to buck his bonds, only to go slack as the cube slid down his belly. How… how did Vlad know about that? He'd only done it once! The snow against his hands had felt so good and he just wanted to see...

Danny shivered, his eyes darting away from Vlad. He could feel it happening again, that odd haze that had gotten him into this mess. He opened his mouth to snark but he couldn't put the words together. He glanced up at Vlad before he could stop himself, confusion and fear showing in his eyes.

Danny's mouth fell open and Vlad took the opportunity, placing the half-melted ice cube on the boy's tongue. Vlad's eyes danced with something clinical, something anticipatory despite his carefully calm expression. "Now imagine that feeling again," he purred. "Enveloped in ice, the cold awakening every nerve in your body..." Both hands very carefully brushed Danny's skin, barely contacting him. The purpose of this exercise wasn't to stimulate him as a human but as a ghost. Vlad concentrated as he worked, sparks dancing down his fingers. His hands stroked every inch of skin they could reach, always almost touching but not quite. A bead of sweat fell down his temple as the sting of ozone stung his nose. This was hard work.

Danny wanted to snap at Vlad, to tell the fruitloop he didn't have to do anything. But something in his tone made it impossible not to remember. The snowdrift had conformed to every inch of his body like a freezing hug. It had been so very relaxing... Caressing... Like being touched everywhere...

Danny flinched at the sparks, expecting pain, but all he received was a buzz. A soft pleasant tingle sunk below his skin and spread rapidly through his body. He made an odd strangled sound, a scream turning into a yelp then getting lost in a gasp. His eyes flashed icy blue and started to glow. The metal table behind him grew colder and colder, frost spreading from his body as the water in the air froze.

Danny moaned. He had no idea what was going on but he really wanted it to stop. Or get stronger. Or something! He slammed his head back against the table. "Vlad… Vlad!" He wasn't sure if he was trying to get the man to stop or to keep going.

Vlad pulled away to observe his handiwork. The boy's eyes glowed icy blue, his skin flushed and wanting. His voice was reduced to begging and moaning, calling his name in an almost wanton tone. Ice crusted the lab table and the restraints keeping Danny contained. And those restraints... He strained against them like he needed to touch something. Or someone... It was involuntary, wasn't it... The boy hadn't known what he was doing when he kissed him. He hadn't known what it might mean or what was happening. He'd only acted, impulse sending him headlong down a path he hadn't even known was there.

Vlad wondered how far he could push this before the boy broke. He shuddered as he forced his core awake, sending current through his body. And then he grabbed the boy's hips.

Danny screamed, tension leaving his body frozen in place as the electricity coursed through him. He could sense it ripping through him like the worst of electrical shocks but all he could feel was cold and warm and blinding, mind-numbing pleasure.

Vlad withdrew and Danny collapsed, still shivering with aftershocks. Icicles dripped from the sides of the table, one even reached the floor where it began to form a small puddle of ice. Danny could feel the sensation in his groin; he knew what was happening but he didn't want to look. That rush of blood whenever he let his mind wander to what Paulina would look like without her shirt, it was just the same. The frustration was there, too. Vlad had done this to him with so little contact but he still wanted more. Needed it. His hips bucked against his will, needing something to rub against, any kind of friction.

A chocked sob broke from Danny's chest. His mind was swimming in hormones but he still had the ability to feel mortified by all of this. The worst part was he knew that if he were free he'd be on top of Vlad in a heartbeat. "You'll pay for this fruitloop. I'll bend you over this lovely lab table of yours and make you beg for mercy." Those words echoed through Danny's head and he knew he meant them, even though the very idea terrified him.

Vlad pulled away, gasping with exertion. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he found himself gazing at every plane and curve of Danny's body, seeing him arch and squirm and react with the power coursing through him. Vlad purred, felt his core shudder and spark within him. He wanted to keep going. He desperately wanted to keep going, to undo those restraints and dare the boy to try, to dare try to bend him over the table. He wanted to grasp the boy's wrists and complete the circuit, to feel his blood run cold with ice, to close his eyes and succumb to the power within them.

Vlad kept his distance. These thoughts intrigued as much as they disturbed him, woke something within him that he thought long dead. He adjusted his pants, shocked that he had an erection. Odd, that. Not nearly as intense as the shaft that stood weeping in Danny's pajama pants but certainly more of a reaction than he was used to. "If you're lucky you might someday get the chance to try," he purred. Wait a minute... That was not what he'd meant to say. He tried again. "Beg me to let you go and we'll see." That wasn't it either. What was going on?

Shining blue eyes narrowed, locked on Vlad. His black hair was dusted with flakes snow and strands of glowing white. It was so easy to channel his frustration into anger even as he desperately tried to stop himself. "I'll freeze the core of the sun before I beg to you, Masters," Danny howled before thrashing against his restraints like an animal. It never even occurred to him to transform.

Danny fell back against the table, panting and seething. He glared at Vlad, glared hard and angry as he imagined pouncing the man, holding him down and feeling that shock of electricity again, uneven shocks of pleasure as intense as the pain he should feel from the attack. Oh, but he wanted to give, too. He wanted to freeze Vlad from the inside out, make him feel exactly what that bath in the snow was like. He hated Vlad, hated him, wanted him, needed him...

Vlad shuddered, taking an involuntary step forward. Such power. Such elemental fury, all trying to focus itself onto him. He wanted to touch that power, let it course through him, overwhelm him. He wanted to taint that ice with ozone, to watch sparks dance within crystal. He reached out to try and touch that straining skin.

Vlad saw his own hand reaching for the boy and forcibly pulled himself back. He gazed at his hand in wonder, in confusion. This compulsion was strong, so very strong. So strong he didn't know what he was doing anymore, so strong Danny likely had no idea what he was saying. He had to get out of here. Before he found himself tripping the override that would let the boy loose. Before he plastered himself to icy cold skin, chasing his own sparks. Before he said anything else he might regret. Not just for his sake but for the boy's. He needed to get out of here before the boy got a chance to act out these compulsions.

Vlad was so close that Danny could see the sparks fly. His own power rushed in his ears at he strained against the bonds, desperate to get in contact with the other power source. Then he noticed Vlad was backing away. The thought that Vlad was going to leave him like this without letting him connect brought a whole new wave of fury. "Vlad!" he screamed, baring his teeth in a snarl. "Where do you think you're going, you coward! You started this!" His core burned icy cold. Directionless frost suddenly found a target, a tongue of ice spreading along the floor with eerie speed right for Vlad, flash-freezing its way towards the elder, aiming to seal him to the floor where he stood. Anything to keep the electricity, to stop it from leaving.

It took all the effort in the world for Vlad to try to step away from that flooding ice. And even that wasn't enough. Ice crawled up his feet, frost reaching along his skin up his legs. A needy groan fell from Vlad's lips as his hands went for the jacket of his suit. He'd thrown it off without thought, his fingers halfway to undoing his ascot before he realized... No...

Vlad growled and pulled away from the floor, snapping the ice. He fled without a word. It was far, far too dangerous for him to stay there. He ran down the corridor, trying to put as much distance between him and that cold, biting, caressing, wonderful chilling ice.

The lab door slammed behind him and Danny slumped. The tendril of ice that had been reaching for Vlad lost direction and fizzled out, fading into random patterns. The room was silent and Danny was alone. "Vlad, you spineless cowered," he muttered. "I will make you pay, just watch…"

He fumed silently. He knew it was likely Vlad would leave him down here all night. He'd have to find a way out of his bonds himself but it would take time and by then the core flare would have died down enough for him to regain his senses. He didn't know whether to be glad or angry about that.

Danny used his powers to wrap his bonds in a layer of ice, smooth the edges so they'd be nice and slippery as soon as the ice began to melt. And then he began the long, tedious process of freeing himself. He wanted out of here. Not to sleep, no, sleep wasn't going to come back for him tonight.