Chapter Twenty-Nine: Poison Eyes
"What?" The guys turned to look over their shoulders at the cloaked figure standing in the entrance to the alleyway. "What do you want?" They demanded.
"I want you to leave off that kid." He asked calmly.
"Heh. You look like you got lots of money. So tell you what; we'll leave off the kid if you pay us off!" One of them said.
"No." Dan said firmly.
"No?" The men got up, leaving the kid alone in favor of him. "What do you mean 'no'?"
"I mean that if you want my money, you'll have to fight me." He smirked and made a "come at me" gesture with his fingers. They let out roars and lunged.
Dan moved out of their way, then slammed his fist into the gut of one of them, swiftly kicking another and punching the third so hard he spun away. They tried to come at him, but he did the same thing in reverse, leaving them groaning on the pavement.
"That all you got?" He smirked, then looked at the kid. "C'mon. I'll escort you home."
The kid sniffled and ran to him, gripping his leg. "Thank you, mister!"
Dan blinked and gently pried him off, offering his hand instead. The kid took it and he pulled his hood on before leaving the alleyway. "Where's home?"
The kid told him the directions and he took him there. The relieved look of the mother and the distrustful but grateful gaze of the father were reward enough and he refused anything they offered. "I'm just glad the kid is safe." He said, smiling before walking away.
By the time he got back to the hotel, it was way past curfew and Vlad was sitting up with a book, watching for him out the window. When the door opened, he looked over and sighed. "I forgot you don't glow right now. How was your walk?"
"…Ran into Sam and Tucker. They don't know who I really am." Dan walked past him and took off his cloak, letting it fall to the bed and release his powers. "I also saved a kid by my strength alone, no powers needed."
"Did you hurt anyone?" Vlad asked.
"Not in a permanent way." Dan pulled up his leg and took his shoe off, then did the same with the other. "Just knocked them out. They were demanding money from me."
"Well, as long as you didn't do anything permanent." Vlad sighed heavily, then closed his book. "Let's go to sleep. We need to be rested for the funeral tomorrow."
Dan nodded, in the process of changing into some of Danny's pajamas he'd packed. After he finished changing he climbed under the covers and curled up. "Good night, Vlad."
Vlad sighed and walked over to him, gently brushing his red hair out of his face. "Sleep well, young Phantom."
She couldn't stop thinking of him. Those poison-green eyes, that intense gaze…and he would only be in town for one day, tomorrow. She had to know. But how to ask? Was it better if she didn't? Maybe he didn't want them to know. Oh, she just didn't know!
What Sam DID know, however, is that as long as she kept focusing on Dan's face, she wasn't getting any sleep. She had to think of something else. Danny's face. His soft, blue eyes. His smile. His…she couldn't do this. There was no way she would be able to sleep without sobbing herself to sleep if she thought about Danny at bedtime. She sighed softly as she thought of things that they could do, if he were still alive. Gentle touches…soft kisses…real make-outs, instead of the fake-out-make-outs they'd been doing…
She had to stop this. She just had to. Sighing, she got up and dialed Tucker's number. He answered after a few rings.
"Can't sleep?"
She nodded, sighing. "You neither?"
"Yeah."
She sat down on her bed, bowing her head. "I just…I feel kind of guilty, to be honest. I can't stop thinking of Dan, and thinking of Danny makes me cry, and…"
"You think Dan is Phantom. I thought so too, but why wouldn't he want us to know?" Tucker asked. "Do you wanna talk to his 'godfather' and see what he has to stay? After all the grief he put us through, he owes us this much."
"…Sure." Sam smiled. "We'll ask him after the funeral."
"I still can't believe he's gone." Tucker said softly. "The Guys in White are horrible…"
"Yeah." Sam sighed sadly. "We'll figure it out tomorrow. I think I can sleep now. Thanks for talking to me, Tucker."
"Anytime, Sam." Tucker replied.
They both hung up and Sam lay back on her bed. 'Danny…if only I knew you were happy and not a ghost…'
With that thought, she let herself go to sleep.
The next day, Vlad woke to find Dan already up and dressed; his cloak on and his hood pulled over his head. He was silently standing by the window, looking out at the city he used to protect so passionately. He slowly got up and approached him, but Dan didn't even react until he felt a hand on his shoulder. "What are you thinking about?" Vlad asked, now that Dan was looking at him.
"…The funeral." Dan admitted, looking away from him and back to the window.
Vlad nodded. "I'll get dressed and then we can go out for breakfast before we go to the Fenton's house."
Dan started. "We're going there?!"
"Yes. They asked me to come, it's only right that I visit them before the funeral." Vlad nodded.
"…Fine." Dan nodded. "You visit them; I'll walk around town for a while. I'm not going there."
"Alright, then, but we're going to have breakfast together." Vlad walked over and started to change.
Dan glanced at the man changing, silently observing. His body was older than Danny's, much older, but when it came to muscle-size they were pretty equal. He could most likely handle the same stuff as Danny could – maybe more, with all his skills. He looked at the window. "They tried to get him to say if there were others like him."
"You didn't tell them." Vlad said, pausing in pulling on a new shirt.
Dan nodded. "It was keeping us alive. They thought we were one-of-a-kind. That, and you don't deserve what they did to us, fruit-loop."
Vlad chuckled a bit, thinking of Danny when his nickname was said. "Well, thank you for keeping my half-a state a secret."
Dan nodded. "Danny thought it was for the best, and I wasn't gonna tell them anyway."
Vlad nodded, buttoning up his shirt and then putting on a black tie before he put on a black blazer. After he finished, he walked over to look out the window. "It's a sunny day."
"Should be raining." Dan murmured.
"You could fix that, couldn't you?" Vlad looked at him.
Dan glanced at him. "…Could. I won't, though. Danny deserves the sun's warmth, he was missing it so badly."
Vlad nodded and went to the door, putting his wallet in his pocket. "Well, let's go to breakfast."