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Chapter Thirty-Two

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Arriving at the Clock Citadel, Danny didn't even get to touch down on the ground before his sister was wrapping him up in a tight hug and holding him close. "Jazz, c'mon, you saw me last night and The Incident was ages ago."

"You capitalized that in your head, didn't you?" Staying silent, Danny tried not to laugh as Jazz gave a loud, exhausted sigh and hugged him even closer. "I'm your big sister, I'm supposed to be constantly worried about you. Now, c'mon, what disaster happened this time that you had to come all the way over here to finally visit?"

"I think that's the question I should be asking you." Danny squirmed a little to look up at his sister, attempting to have as judging a look as possible. "Didn't you promise to spend all of Christmas break at home?"

"Hey, you get to spend time with your boyfriends, I get to spend time with mine." Ah, yes. The true reason Danny and Jazz got along so well. Mutual blackmail- Wait.

"Um, Jazz? Unless Andy made a clone of himself when I wasn't looking, it's just the one boyfriend. Singular. Andy. Just one." Wiggling his way free, Danny felt offended at the pitying look he was given. "What- Don't look at me with pity!"

"Oh, Danny. The pity isn't for you." Wha- What was that supposed to mean? "Oh, that poor thing… I'll have to talk with him soon. Maybe get him in for a session."

"Jazz, please stop trying to give therapy sessions to people. You're not licensed yet."

"Yet."

"If you two are finished fighting in the entryway." Alright, Danny couldn't be blamed for darting over to give Clockwork a hug. Clockwork was like a second father- Aah, he was dating Jazz, don't equate him to father. Older sibling. Mentor. Yes. Clockwork was a good mentor. "I see you're giving Andrew and Randall time to talk?"

"They needed it." Danny stared at Clockwork for a solid five seconds before he suddenly found himself seated on a couch with Jazz beside him and looking just as startled. "Wha- Hey!"

"You were going to try and steal his cloak again, weren't you?" Jazz snickered, sipping at the light blue tea that was in her cup. Danny noticed his own cup held tea that was a shimmering pink. "It's not poison, you know."

"You don't volunteer to be Andy's lab experiment when he's in his alchemist mad scientist mood." To drink, to not drink, to drink… Eh, Clockwork wouldn't give him anything that would hurt him too badly. It tasted sweet, actually. Huh.

"Mhm. Oh! I almost forgot, but your glasses are ready to pick up!" Pausing, Danny gave Jazz a very odd look. "Did I not tell you that I ordered you new ones as soon as I found out your old ones were broken? Silly me."

"Fine by me. Sooner I get mine, sooner I can give Randy's back. Yes, I was as confused and startled as you to find out he wears glasses."

"I'm really not that startled," Jazz said, only lifting her teacup out of the way as Danny dramatically collapsed across her lap. "A lot of people wear glasses, you know."

"But it's Randy! Randy should so not be the type to wear glasses!" Not only was it such a strange thought for someone who dressed like he did to wear glasses, but it gave Danny very interesting thoughts. Thoughts he should probably not voice to his big sister. "It's weird."

"Mm." Huffing and draining his tea, Danny set the cup down gently before flying over to Clockwork as dramatically as he could manage.

"Clockwork, Jazz is being mean to me!"

"I'm sure she is." Rude. Throwing himself over Clockwork's shoulders, Danny frowned at seeing Clockwork didn't even move. If anything, he looked amused. "Feeling better?" Thinking on the question seriously, Danny finally gave a slow nod.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Randy even cleared me fighting ready again." Although he honestly wasn't looking forward to the nightmares he would be having once things settled down, though. "Also, I might need you to replay something on the time mirrors."

"Andrew getting his goatee shaved, I take it?" Behind them, Danny heard Jazz choke on her tea. "That's a very improper use of time powers."

"So is using the time mirrors to help me with my history homework." Taking Clockwork's silence as a win, Danny settled down a bit more, tail absently swishing through the air. It was so nice to curl around someone in his ghost form, especially people like Clockwork, Andrew, and Randy. Their ecto-signatures were always so warm and comforting. "It can wait, though, because I did have something serious to ask you."

"Oh? And what's that?" Clockwork gave him a genuinely curious glance, Danny frowning as he let a hand tangle in Clockwork's cloak.

"It's about something Walker said to me." The room was silent, Danny watching a slew of images that appeared and disappeared on the time mirrors in the blink of an eye. "Clockwork, do you know what Section 13 is?"

"Section 13?" Oh, no. Anything ghost related that caused Clockwork to look genuinely baffled never ended well. "I can't say that I know much beyond the fact they're affiliated with those charming ghost hunters that have been infecting your town."

"Apparently Walker was a part of it and they were the ones that founded the Guys-in-White." Something about the name, though, set Danny on edge. It didn't feel… It felt wrong. "It sounded familiar."

"It's possible your parents might know of it," Clockwork admitted, flicking his hand and teleporting a cookie over before offering it to Danny. "There are times where my vision does not allow me to see ghost hunters due to the effects of their equipment."

"That would actually make sense," Jazz pointed out, her tea now a soft, warm green. Danny wasn't even willing to question it. "You may be able to see different points of time, but your powers are still ectoplasmic in nature. If Mom and Dad know how to deflect ghosts, then no doubt others do by now. It could be as simple as them having blood blossoms around their buildings!"

"Ugh, blood blossoms." Danny bit into his cookie with a fierce scowl, suppressing the shiver that wracked his body. If Andrew and Randy hadn't somehow managed to find him then Danny would have been trapped down in that pit for ages. "Can you look into it, Jazz, if you get time? Tucker would probably be all too happy to help."

"I suppose," Jazz sighed, smile tugging at her lips. "You would just be helpless without me." Ha! She didn't even know the half of it.

"Completely and utterly useless," Danny agreed, flying back over to the couch and sitting down by her. "Hey, how's Vlad doing? He hasn't gone supervillain crazy again, right?"

"It was close there, for a while. He really cares about you, you know. I think it helped that you two finally sorted everything out." 'Sorted everything out'. Those were some words for it. It had been more like forty-eight hours of fighting, two breakdowns, and a screaming match before Danny managed to get through Vlad's self-loathing and villain persona. "It seems as if, ah, well… Vlad was really, really worried about you and when Randy and Andrew told him the news…"

"What? What happened? Is he alright?" Andrew and Randy hadn't mentioned anything about Vlad being hurt - damn, they really had come far if Danny was honestly worried about the Fruitloop these days.

"He might have transformed in front of Mom and Dad after they told us it was Walker." Ah… Ah. That… Right. "Yeah, some truths came to light after that. Since you told them your secret, it didn't take much to piece together Vlad's - and what happened to him. Dad took it pretty hard when he realized what had actually happened in that lab accident."

"Oh." Ironically enough, that was what Vlad had always wanted. For his 'best friend' to realize what he had done to him. Of course it ended up actually being sort of Danny's fault for Jack finding out. "How are they doing?"

"Well, they didn't really get time to talk about it all until we heard you were okay. Once they did, it was surprisingly Vlad who comforted Dad and told him none of it was his fault." ...Huh. "Mom's been complaining that they're now even closer than they were in college. They've been watching football games together - face paint and jerseys included."

"Ah- No. Stop. Okay. I don't need to- No." It was weird enough with Danny being friendly with Vlad, he didn't need to think about his parents being friendly with him too. "He's happy though, right? Vlad?"

"Yeah, I think he's finally happy. Certainly took a while to get there, though." She was telling him. The last few years with Vlad had only made things worse and worse and finally… Well, one of them had been bound to break under all that pressure. Danny just hadn't expected it to be Vlad.

"He deserves it, you know. Being happy." It was hell getting there, but Danny really did believe in Vlad deserving that happiness. "I keep thinking about it and… He was a bit like me- I could have been him." Dan had taught him that lesson well enough. "We both got these crazy powers we knew nothing about, but… I had you, and Sam and Tucker and Mom and Dad and then Andy and Randy and… I had friends and family. Vlad's been alone for so long." Danny wouldn't be surprised if Spectra had got her claws in him at one point, either. Not with how much she knew about him.

"He's just been alone with this skewered perception and trying to find someone to blame for all his problems. That family reunion just kind of kickstarted it all to supervillain proportions." It was after Danielle had been created that Danny realized just how detached from reality Vlad was starting to get - and how lonely. "I mean, when you look back on it, it makes sense."

That final fight when he was trying to stabilize Dani proved that there was some good in Vlad. He barely even tried to fight back and for all his threats about melting Dani, Danny had found scattered vials around of what looked like attempts that might help her. That was when Danny realized there was still good in Vlad, buried deep as it was.

"Sorry, got lost in my thoughts." Danny shook his head, smiling up at Jazz. "I'm glad, though, that Vlad and Dad made up. Vlad really needed him again."

Jazz looked proud of him for some reason, Danny rolling his eyes as he was pulled in for yet another hug. "I'm so proud of you, Danny. You're learning and growing and maturing-"

"Oh! Hey, I just remembered that Sam took pictures of the party from last night. We should go get some of those." While Jazz sighed and dropped her head, Danny swore he heard laughter coming from Clockwork's direction. "What? I need to find blackmail on Randy!"

"Randall is hardly the type to leave evidence behind," Clockwork cautioned, Danny happily taking the cookie that was floating in front of him. "Although you should try getting his hair wet."

"What- What? Why? What's getting his hair wet going to do besides make him glare at me?" Because, really. Randy was so defensive and uptight about the product he used in his hair.

"Call it a late Christmas present." Mhm. Well, Danny wasn't in the habit of ignoring Clockwork's advice. Usually. "Perhaps try asking Danielle next time you see her about Section 13. She's been curious about ghost hunting companies lately."

"Oh, yeah! Where is she right now, anyway? Italy?" Last time Danny had checked in with her she had been near it, at least. "We should get her and Vlad to talk things out." That would be a bit hard, though…

"Focus on one impossible task at a time, little brother," Jazz laughed, setting her empty cup down and standing up. "Hey, why don't we go pick up your glasses now? We can even meet up with Sam and Tucker. Make a bit of a day out of it."

"That…" Spending the day in the human world and around his friends and pretending everything was normal… "That sounds pretty great, actually."