Disclaimer: Still don't own Danny Phantom! Still wish I did! I don't own Labyrinth either. Don't know who does. Enjoy the chapter!

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Wednesday. December 21st, 2004. Dani's Closet. 11:42 p.m.

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"You're beautiful."

Dani rolled her eyes. He's been saying that for three years! Since the moment he met her. She knew she was beautiful, but she had more qualities than just that! Not that Dash even remotely cared about anything other than her stunning good looks.

"You know our anniversary is coming up in a few days?"

Speak of the devil.

She saw his ice blue eyes turn to her. She was always creeped out by them. They were so cruel, so hollow, so empty.

"Do you want anything extra special for the event?" He softly asked her, while giving her another kiss.

"My freedom!" She harshly whispered, pulling back from the kiss. His laughter echoed throughout her huge closet, sending chills down her spine.

"Darling I never messed with your freedom." He told her, caressing her cheek with his knuckles.

"Just my family!" She defiantly responded, moving her head away from his capture. Suddenly he grabbed her hair and forced her to look at him.

"That's right. And if you ever breathe a word about me or my family, you'll never find their bodies." He cruelly stated and those blue eyes of his showed malicious intent.

"I won't. You know I won't." She quickly said, hoping to appease him. The last time he had gotten angry with her Star, one of her best friends, was in the hospital for a month with an mysterious illness. It was only after she promised to be his date to the junior prom that Star got better.

She was his cousin too but of course Dash didn't care, he didn't care about anybody but his own selfish wants. He would of killed her in cold blood for a prom date.

"Oh I know sweetheart. I know you won't." He reassured her, placing soft kisses along her scalp.

His very next words made Dani freeze in terror.

"Be my wife."

Dani looked at Dash, praying he was joking but he looked at her with dead serious eyes, making her heart bottom out in fear. She didn't know what to say. No? He'd kill her family. Yes? She'd kill herself and then Dash would kill her family anyway out of spite. She was trapped. She was trapped and there was no way out. She always knew this day would come but she thought she'd have at least eight more years. He promised her eight more years!

"You promised me-" She started to say but was rudely cut off.

"I lied." He harshly said, glaring at her with those cold blue eyes.

"Why-" She tried to ask but was cut off once again.

"You tolerate me?"

Dani froze in fear. Dash's words were whispered, as if he was in disbelief Dani could ever say such a thing about him.

"YOU TOLERATE ME!?"

His words were murderous now and Dash looked about ready to kill her. Dani could do nothing but watch and listen to Dash rage at her.

"After all I've done for you, after all I've sacrificed, after all we've been through together, you tolerate me!? Do you know what I've been through because of you!? DO YOU CARE!?" He roared at her, painfully grabbing her hair and holding her at eye level.

Dani could say nothing. She's never seen Dash this mad at her before.

'Why is he so angry with me?' She thought terrified, staring at his savage expression. 'It's not like I haven't said worse things about him!'

She didn't dare say anything, he was too unstable. He might kill her entire family tonight if she said the wrong thing! After a minute or two, Dash calmed down and showed no signs of the outburst he displayed earlier before. He relaxed his hold and softly massaged the places where he'd pulled her hair. His face held a calm exterior, but Dani knew it was just a facade. His eyes showed his true anger.

"Be my wife Dani." He cooly stated while running his fingers through her hair. His ice blue eyes glared at her, as if daring her to say no.

'When hell freezes over!' She was dying to say. But she had no choice. If she'd said that he would kill one of her family members. And she couldn't let that happen. No matter how much it would kill her. She willed herself not to cry but she could feel the wetness fill her eyes.

"Yes." She forced out, blinking back tears from her eyes.

A sinister smile appeared on Dash's face.

"That's my girl." He praised her and Dani felt sickened. "We'll keep it a secret for now and wait until our anniversary to announce the wonderful news."

He looked at Dani expectantly. She nodded her head 'Yes' but she couldn't help but think to herself that this was it. Her life was over.

Literally.

"Now then I have a very important business meeting to attend and we both have to be up early for our road trip tomorrow. I think it's only fitting your boyfriend attend, don't you agree?"

Panic was building in her like a hurricane, Dani had to do something to halt the wedding. For a few moments of sheer desperation, she tried reasoning with him. She knew the odds of him agreeing with her were about as good as her father finally giving up fudge and going on a diet. But she had to try something. She couldn't go down like this. Not yet.

"Dash you don't want to do this."

His ice blue eyes narrowed on her and Dani prayed he didn't do anything rash, like murder her family in their sleep. After a few tense moments of silence Dash spoke, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"You're right darling. I don't want to marry the most beautiful siren to ever grace the planet that mage powers have absolutely no effect on. What on earth was I thinking? I'd rather marry the blonde bimbos I fuck every other day whose minds are so easy to manipulate. Thank you for making me see the light sweetheart."

"I'm poor." She continued with gritted teeth. God she hated that evil pig.

"I don't care." He replied, twirling a strand of her hair.

"I have no family background." She insisted.

"Don't care." He responded, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I'm not a mage." Desperation seeped into her voice. She was quickly running out of excuses to give him.

Dash chuckled at her distress and said the words that made her blood run cold. Well colder.

"But you're half ghost."

Silence followed that statement. Deep down in her heart of hearts, Dani had always known Dash knew all about her condition. But she had hoped this to be one secret she could actually keep for herself. She should have known better. She should have known there was nothing going on in Amity Park that the Baxters didn't know about.

"How long-?" She started before Dash interrupted her.

"Have I known about it?" His tone was mocking, as if the thought of Dani even keeping a secret away from him was something to be laughed at. "Since the beginning sweetheart. Dunking behind a van to change? Phasing in the middle of the room? Did you honestly believe that no one saw you? We live in a city! Who do you think was the one who had to erase those tapes and modify all those people's memories? Me, that's who! I knew the first day you got your powers! I warned you to stay away from your parents lab but no, you refused to listen to me like you always do. Although," He mused, sniffing Dani's hair and signing in content. "This does make things a lot easier for everybody."

"Easier?" Dani asked confused. "How in the world does me being half dead make things easier?"

"Yes, well, as you know my mother never wanted me to marry you." Dash reminded her as if Dani could ever forget his evil witch of a mother. "She wanted me to take you as a mistress and then once I grew bored with you have you executed."

Dani's voice hitched. Hearing him speak of her death so callously still sent chills up and down her body.

"Oh don't worry sweetheart. I would never have grown bored with you!" Dash reassured her, kissing her softly on the head. "You're way too beautiful. Anyway there's no need for that anymore. My mother has finally agreed with me and allowed me to take you as a wife."

"But why? There are so many better suitors-"

"Who darling? Who's a better suitor?" He genuinely asked her, sniffing out her hair. "I am Dash Baxter, heir to the richest, most powerful mage family in the entire world. To marry anyone would be beneath me. To marry someone from another mage family would cause unwanted tension and name tampering. Not to mention attempts to assassinate me to steal my name and fortune. So who's a better suitor than a girl with no family name so I don't have to deal with all that drama? Who's a better suitor than a girl who mages powers have absolutely no effect on even before she got her ghost powers never mind afterward?"

Dani stood silent. She tried to say something, anything, to contradict that statement, but nothing was coming to her.

"And the children we'll have. Imagine it darling!" And Dani could hear the sick relish in his voice. "Children with mage powers and ghost powers! And, with any luck, the strange siren powers you seem to have and the ability to be unaffected by other mages powers. The absolute power the Baxter family will attain! We'll be unstoppable!"

"You're already unstoppable!"

It was a lie, of course, but Dani knew that mentioning the Guys in White would not help her case at all with Dash. In fact he might have pushed the wedding up to tomorrow out of spite if she did.

"As long as he's around." Dash admitted with gritted teeth but his words after were spoken with delight. "And even then there are...complications. (Dani secretly delighted in the rage in Dash's tone at the mention of the Guys in White's independence from the Baxters) But with you darling we won't need him anymore. He'll be a relict of the past. Our children will be the ones who will be the most powerful in the entire planet and those pesky little problems we've been having will finally be taken care of! I can't wait until you start having them!"

"But," Dani said desperately, the mere thought of children with Dash filling her with disgust. "It won't be for awhile-"

"Awhile? Awhile? Darling why do you think my mother has agreed to this wedding in the first place?" Dash rhetorically asked, staring at Dani with those cold blue eyes. "For the children sweetheart. She expects you to be with child before the next year's end."

When Dash laid his hand protectively on her abdomen, Dani couldn't take it anymore. Everything...everything was too much for her. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Her very life vanished. All her hopes, all her dreams, all her plans...just gone. Gone with the wind. Gone by the monster she was laying next to. Who expected her to have children and give them up to become some sort of weapon.

"I'm too young to be a mother." She cried out through her hands. Dash quickly wrapped his arms around her in comfort.

"Now, now darling," Dash's tone was soothing. "I know the idea of motherhood may seem daunting at first but once you hold that baby in your hands-"

Dani sobbed even louder.

"Enough Dani." Dash's tone was aggravated now. "Stop acting like a child!"

"I am a child!" She asserted, moving away from Dash's grip. "I'm only seventeen-"

"You'll be graduated by the time of the wedding-"

"And you except me to be married with a baby!" She exclaimed, nearly ripping out her hair in frustration. "How am I suppose to handle being a parent? What would my mother and father think? What would they say? How on earth can you explain it to them that their daughter's pregnant and they're about to be grandparents? There are things that not even mage powers can handle and one of those things is being a teenaged parent!"

A thought occurred to her. A thought that might save her or at least buy her some more time.

"How do you even know I'll be able to carry a baby, or even form one, now that I have ghost powers?"

Once again, silence followed that statement. Guilty silence.

"Oh my God..." She whispered, the horrifying truth dawning on her. "You-you had me examined didn't you?"

"I simple checked to make sure-"

"When!?" Dani demanded, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

"When you were sleeping darling. When else? And it turned out you are perfectly capable of forming and carrying a child to full term, whether you're in your ghost form or not. It's really amazing how your womb is built-"

Something in Dani just snapped at his nonchalant confession and she screamed in rage at him.

"You jackass! You unbelievable jackass! I'm expected to have get married, have a baby, and take care of it all by myself while you're off playing ball or fucking one of those many whores that I'm sure you're going to keep on the side!? Well you can forget it! THAT'S NOT HAPPENING!"

"YOU WILL HAVE AS MANY CHILDREN AS I TELL YOU TO HAVE!" He roared down her, his ice blue eyes alight with fury. "I am your future husband and I will be obeyed! We are not in any conceivable way equals, I am a Baxter! I am your superior! I will fuck as many women as I want, play as much football as I want, and I will NEVER need your permission to do it!"

"Like I would give it to you!" She snapped back at him, her fists pounding on his chest. "So you're a Baxter right? Well I'm a Fenton! I deserve some whores too-"

"You will never allow another man to come into your bed."

The statement was spoken with such malice that Dani stopped in shock and fear. He was dead serious.

"I am not kidding Dani." Dash turned to Dani and she saw those blue eyes fill with malevolence. "So help me God should I find out you've been sleeping around on me. No amount of begging or pleading will spare your loved ones from my wrath."

Tears streamed down Dani's cheeks. A sense of hopelessness washed over her and she buried her face into her hands and sobbed once more.

"Now darling don't cry." Dash wrapped his arms around her once again. "After all, you were the one who agreed to marry me in the first place."

"Because you threatened to kill my family!" She shouted back, rage in her eyes, pushing Dash's arms off her.

"So what?" Dash scoffed. "You'd be much better off anyway without that idiotic fatass-"

Her fist slammed into his face before he was able to finish that statement. Dani took sick pleasure as Dash's head snapped back with the force of the blow and he was thrown a couple of feet away. White rings rapidly encased her body and she found herself glaring furiously at Dash, her hands leaking ectoplasmic energy. For the briefest of moments, she felt like killing him.

But as quickly as that moment came it left. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what she just had done. She had just damned her family. Dash or Susan would surely send him to kill one of them as punishment!

'Oh my God!' She fearfully thought, switching back to human form and walking over to him. 'What have I done!?'

"Dash I'm sorry-" She tried to apologize but was quickly cut off when a fist wrapped in her hair and harsh lips met her own. Dash kissed her deeply, drinking in her taste. Dani was gasping and breathless when he broke the kiss in favor of her neck.

"Such strength and determination." He whispered hotly in her neck, licking and feathering it with light kisses. "Our children will be powerful indeed."

"Dash my family-" She pleaded but was cut off again by another long kiss, Dash running his large hands all through her body. He broke the kiss and leaned his head against her hair.

"I grant you clemency." Dash murmured softly in her ear, inhaling her scent once more. "But just this one time."

After a few silent moments, Dash then laid them both on the ground, putting her head on his chest while he ran her fingers though her hair. Dani looked up at the ceiling, which her dad had decorated with glow-in-the-dark stars. Tears came to her eyes just thinking about him. How could he ever handle what Dash was planning for her? It would break his heart.

Dash was the first to break the silence.

"Now darling, now that that's out of your system we won't be having any more of that, now will we?"

"No." She softly responded back.

"I can't hear you sweetheart, what was that?" He whispered mockingly in her ear.

"I said no." She replied louder, feeling familiar rage boil up inside her.

"Good girl." Dash praised again and Dani felt like knocking him out with a brick. He continued. "Now, almost a year ago, we had a deal. Now I have become forced to set that plan back a few years. But you only have yourself and your careless, thoughtless actions to blame for it. Now I would hate to go back on my end of the bargain if you didn't live up to yours. So let's get this straight. This New Year's Eve, who are you going to proclaim in front of all of Amity Park as your boyfriend?"

"You." This will not break me.

"And on the morning of Lughnasadh's day, who are you going to confess your undying love to and marry?"

"You." I am stronger than this.

"And at night," His tone grew husky and full of passion. "Who are you going to be making love to beneath the stars and full moon?"

"You." He has no power over me.

"That's better darling." Dash softly replied, running his fingers through her hair. "You'll soon see this is for the best. You'll see how generous I am actually being with you."

Suddenly, in Dani's mind, the Labyrinth scene popped up. Why? She had no clue. Maybe because Sarah's situation reminded her so much of her own. Or maybe in her desperation and anguish, she had completely lost what was left of her mind.

Sarah beware I have been generous up till now. But I can be cruel.

"Generous?" Dani asked incredulously. "What have you done that's generous?"

Generous? What have you done that's generous?

"Everything!" He snapped back, his tone filled with rage. "If it weren't for my love and protection, one of the other families would have surely nabbed you a long time ago and kept you as a shared whore! I give you freedom, with limits of course, and everything you can ever desire. I have protected you all these years, I have cared for you, I have loved you, I have showered you with diamonds and pearls and what do you do to repay me!? Shove it all in my face!

*Everything!* Everything that you wanted I have done! You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have reordered time! I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for *you.* I am exhausted from living up to your expectations. Isn't that generous?

"Honestly Dani I'm not asking for much." Dani could hear the weariness in his voice and it infuriated her. "All I ask is that you give me a little love, a little power over you and I will be your slave. I will be forever devoted to you. I will even stop taking other women, if that's what you desire. All you have to do is obey me and everything that I have is yours.

I ask for so little. Just let me rule you. And you can have everything that you want. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.

"So what do you say darling?" Dash finished in a hopeful tone. He gazed at her longingly with those ice cold eyes and Dani felt like ripping them out.

Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great...

"You have no power over me." She spat back at him, her black eyes filled with fury.

Once the statement came from her lips, Dani felt nothing but relief. It sounded crazy to say but Dani has been telling that to Dash for almost three years. That even though he had power over the city and her family, he had no power over her. And if he made her come to him, she was coming kicking and screaming!

His eyes hardened. For a moment Dani thought she went too far and Dash might just lose it with everything that just happened.

But he didn't.

"Very well." He bitterly replied.

He picked her up abruptly, strode out of the closet, and dumped her unceremoniously on the bed. Dani quickly sat up, brushing her thick black locks away from her face.

"Oh here darling before I forget." Dash harshly stated, conjuring up a paper right in front of Dani's eyes. "A little early Christmas present for you. It's just a copy but I'm sure you can appreciate the sentiment."

She stared at it for a few moments in horror as she read out the title.

Certificate of Marriage.

And on the signature giving parental permission was her mother's name. Madeline Fenton. Somehow to her that part wasn't as surprising and painful as it should have been. She reminded herself that her mother had no choice, that Susan had bewitched her.

'Then why isn't your father's name on it? It needs both signatures!' A nasty voice in her head told her but she quickly shook it off. This paper proved something, something that made her blood boil.

Dash had been planning this for over a month.

'That son of a bitch!' Dani fumed, glaring at Dash with hatred in her eyes.

Dash glared right back at her, daring her to say or do something about it. When she didn't he started speaking again, his voice hard and unsympathetic.

"I could have taken you a very long time ago but I chose not to out of my love and devotion for you. But everybody has limits Dani. There's only so much one can take before they snap. You have no one to blame for your predicament but yourself. This marriage will be consummated Dani, that I can guarantee. I can also guarantee you that children will be produced from this union. The rest is up to you darling. Now whether you choose to embrace me as your loving husband or as the devil is your say."

Dani stared at him furiously but didn't say one word. By now she knew better. Nothing she could say would make Dash want to change his mind about her. Just by looking at his feral eyes trained on her and the deadly edge in his tone kept Dani at bay.

When Dash started speaking again, his tone changed into something desperate and hopeful.

"We can be happy Dani. We can grow old together and watch our children and grandchildren play together from the years to come." Dash kneeled at the side of the bed and made eye contact with her. She could see the madness in his ice blue eyes. He looked at her for a few moments, as if searching for something. Apparently he didn't find it because he quickly stood back up and glared down menacing at her. "Or you can continue to piss me off and you can watch while I fuck other women in our bedroom. The choice is yours." He ruthlessly finished.

With a flick of his wrist, her curtains were drawn, and the room was overcome in darkness.

Dash gave her one last kiss, sharply whispered in her ear "Think about it. I'll see you in the morning sweetheart." and then vanished.

After Dani hid the Marriage Certificate, she laid in her bed for a long while trying not to panic and thinking about how the hell she was going to get out of this situation. The more she thought about it, the more depressed and overwrought she became. She could find no way out. The collar Dash gave her seemed so much heavier now and was even more of a huge reminder of the total control Dash had over her life.

Suddenly, as she was about to break down in tears again, the Labyrinth scene came to mind again and Dani felt a way of fiery determination rush over her as she recalled Sarah's words.

'This won't break me.' Was Dani's last conscious thought as she slipped into her dreamworld. 'I refuse to let the Baxters win. They have no power over me.'

Author's Note: Like it? Hate it? I'll know if you leave me a review!