A/N: Sooo, I've been really feeling poopy lately. I don't know what it is, but I just don't seem to have my mojo to write any stories. So, you know what they say, "When you're lost write oneshots." And so I did.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom

Summary: Danny lost everyone he held close to him in the Nasty Burger explosion. Vlad tries to help him cope...

"Daniel?" Vlad asked cautiously and in a soft tone. It was uncharacteristically like him that Danny didn't register that it was even Vlad talking to him. The only thing that the teen was focusing on were the three caskets in front of him. His mother…His father…His sister…

Danny shook his head unconsciously as he took a step closer to them. He had bandages on his body from the explosion at the Nasty Burger that were only now starting to heal. Usually it was quicker, but he had shut out his ghost side completely. After all, it was Dark Dan that had done this to him…

He was about to take another step forward, but was held back by a strong grip. Danny didn't know what emotion to feel – it was indescribable. He put his head down and chose to look at the ground as Vlad took a step closer to him, "I miss them too, Daniel," he said in once again, a soft tone.

"If…I…Quicker…" Danny trailed in broken English. He couldn't form a coherent sentence and the boy knew that it was due to the emotional scarring that was done on his mind.

"It's not your fault," Vlad stated insistently.

It was his fault.

"You couldn't have known," Vlad sympathetically said as he tightened his hold on the boy's shoulder.

Except he did. And he couldn't stop it.

"Daniel Fenton?" Asked a young woman who was wearing a business suit. Instead of pants she was wearing a skirt that matched her jacket. "Have you finished your goodbyes?" She asked slowly, as if unsure to approach the boy on the subject. "They're lowering the caskets now."

Danny looked up slowly, a blank look in his eyes. He felt his throat start to get dry and he started to shake, only for Vlad to pull him away from his panic attack by pushing the boy closer to him. He placed his other free hand on the boy's head in a comforting manner. "Daniel, you need to say farewell to them," he stated in a gentle whisper to the boy.

The boy nodded in a sleep-like state as he felt Vlad let him go slowly. Danny took a few steps forward as he stood in front of the lowering caskets. "I…" I trailed, trying to form the right words to come out of his mouth. He let his tears flow freely as they cascaded down his cheeks. He fumbled with his hands nervously, "Sorry…" He mumbled in a fragment as he shook his head. "Sorry," he repeated in a more confident and strong tone.

Vlad and the social worker woman shared worried glances at each other before she took out a folder from the briefcase she was carrying. "These are the adoption papers…" She trailed as Vlad took them immediately. "If anything arises…My contact information is also in there. As is the entirety of Daniel's life. His medical records…School information…" She trailed as Vlad nodded, his gaze never leaving the back of the boy's head.

"Thank you for your services," Vlad stated in his business-like tone as he placed the folder by his side before walking away from the concerned social worker. As he approached the boy, he found that his mouth was slightly agape, as if he were about to say something more, but only mouthed the words 'sorry' over and over again. "Daniel?" Vlad asked once again, drawing the boy out of his trance as his eyes slowly went over to the man who was addressing him. "It's time to go, my boy," he said as he placed an arm over the boy's shoulders and started to lead him away from the caskets.

The social woman watched as they passed her, she opened her mouth to say words of encouragement to the boy, but found that she couldn't relate to him enough to show her sympathy. She placed her hand up and waved slowly to them as they entered the limo that was by the graveyard. "Poor boy…" She trailed under her breath as she picked up her briefcase off the ground and watched as they drove away.

Danny sat in the room that Vlad had gave him. It had been a week since the funeral. When he had originally got there, he had a picture frame of him and his friends and family. But it was too hard…It was too hard to see their smiling faces when he knew that he had killed them all. He body grew tense as he started to feel nauseous as he darted for the bathroom that was in his room as he heaved out the contents of his stomach.

"Calm down…" He mumbled to himself as he tried to get the image of them out of his head. He tried thinking of something else, but it only brought him back to their worried and fearful glances when they were about to get blown up.

The Nasty Burger.

The sadistic laughter of Dark Dan.

The explosion.

The funeral.

He puked again as he felt another wave hit him as he tried to not get his slightly long hair in the toilet. He hadn't gotten a hair cut in a few months, and was due for one. He heard knocking at his door and immediately tried to calm himself down as he turned on the faucet to wipe his mouth clean. "Yeah?" He asked loudly over the running of the water. Danny knew it was Vlad checking up on him again, as he always did whenever he would start to puke. He seemed to know exactly when he was doing it, and the boy knew that he wasn't even puking that loud to raise suspicion.

"Daniel?" Vlad's muffled voice came from beyond his bedroom door. "Are you having another attack?" He asked, though he stated it more than asked.

Danny glanced at the toilet and then darted his eyes to the door, "No?" He asked in denial as he flushed the toilet quickly as the man walked into the room with a stern expression on his face.

"Daniel, don't be presumptuous," he stated as his arms were crossed and he narrowed his eyes, "Now, I will ask again," he said and Danny had to do all he could to avoid rolling his eyes. "Did you have another attack?"

"Gee, Vlad, just because you hear running water doesn't automatically mean that I'm having an attack," Danny sarcastically said as he walked out of his bathroom, "I was just using the bathroom for normal reasons."

Vlad's look grew sterner as Danny started to grow tenser, "Are you lying to me?" He asked as he smirked, "Because, let me remind you, Daniel, you are a terrible liar," he stated as he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a bottle of prescribed pills. Danny glared as he let out a huff at being found out, "That…" Vlad trailed and his smirk changed into a teasing grin, "And you smell absolutely horrid," he stated as he tossed the bottle over to the boy who only glared harder at the man.

"Thanks," Danny said dryly as he caught them before clenching them in his hand. If there was something he hated more than taking pills…It was taking pills. He snapped the top off and swallowed them whole, trying to get Vlad out of his room quicker. "There. Happy?" He remarked with a roll of his eyes.

Vlad still had his arms across his chest in a smug fashion, "Ecstatic," he said dryly as he drawled out the word, "If you need anything, Daniel, then call me. You should know that you can't get away with sneaking your attacks."

Danny scoffed, "Whatever, Vlad," he said as he tossed the bottle back at him, "Maybe if you just gave me the bottle to begin with, I wouldn't want to sneak them."

"Don't be preposterous, dear boy, how else will I know you're taking them?" Vlad chastised with a sarcastic smirk as he deposited the bottle back into his pockets. His tone then softened considerably, "I need to know so I can take care for you properly, Daniel," Vlad stated as Danny remained silent as he darted his eyes in a different direction. "I can never live up to the roll of a parent…And this is new to me. It's a foreign concept really, and I don't know how to be a…Good…Guardian," Vlad said with a sigh. "Sugar cookies, Daniel, I don't know if starting school next week is a good idea or not!"

Danny decided to remain silent and tried to not burst out crying again, so instead he closed them tightly. He hated it when Vlad got sentimental on him. Why couldn't he just be his old jerky self and not be this broken father character that he tries to be.

"You shouldn't see me as a father figure, I have no desire to replace Jack. But…I wish you would let me in sometimes. Let me care for you," Vlad chided as he looked at the boy. He couldn't tell what the boy was feeling but decided that he wanted to be left alone. After all, the boy wanted to start school again next week, and Vlad was against it from the start. But the boy was…Persistent. He got a notification from his phone from work that he needed to go in, "I must go, Daniel, but please let me in your life," he said as he made his way out the door, closing it behind him.

Danny opened his eyes as tears started to flow down his cheeks, "I just don't…Want to bother anyone with my existence!" He yelled in a hushed whisper as his legs started to shake and he fell on his knees as he brought his head against the wall with a soft thud as he tried to not think about the world.

END