Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom, I'm a big fan and was feeling nostalgic.

Note (01/08/2018):WARNING! Intense scene coming up and there is a brief mention of drug use but it is for story purposes ONLY, if you can't handle the upcoming scene or don't want to hear about the drugs then feel free to skip to the next line break after this scene is over. However, you might miss a few important details...

~Chapter 11~

Reality Check

"Geez, I honestly didn't mean to put THAT much oomph into my attack," Venom winced when Vlad made Owen take off his shirt entirely show him his back once they were inside of his base in the infirmary which was little more then a few beds, some shelves, and a single operating table. And what had been only an ugly bruise before was now a nasty, vein-y, purple glowing, blotch covering both shoulders and the back of his neck, "If I'd known sooner who you were I wouldn't have walloped you so hard. Anyway, I've got good news and bad news. Good news is I know how to extract the poison since I've had to do this more then once with my boys after fighting one of them a tad too hard, but the bad news is since you're NOT a ghost and can't phase it out since it's already been in your system too long it's gonna hurt like hell getting it out of ya. I just hope I can finishing reabsorbing it from your body without being zapped or exorcised or some other sh- I mean crap!"

Vlad sent Venom a positively livid glare every time he almost used foul language in front of Owen, he simply would not abide by it. This was already taking much too long and he had a business meeting tomorrow, which meant making sure TONIGHT that Owen couldn't get himself in trouble again the moment he took his eyes off the boy...

Owen seemed to know that too but wasn't as apprehensive about it now that he finally understood the real reason why he ran away before. It was out of fear, pure and simple, the fear of losing Vlad to a darkness that had yet to be lifted from his home. A darkness that had accumulated over the years and hung over the place like a thick fog...suffocating him.

He remembered reading something in The Grimoire about purifying a home, or maybe Owen only thought he had and more then likely actually got the idea from all those now-totally-redundant ghost movies where people with haunted houses would call for mediums or exorcists to cleanse a home. Surely some of that had to be based off of fact, you know, since Owen was basically a type of exorcist anyway when he needed to be...

Owen was supposed to be saving souls from the presence of evil and their own darkness, it wasn't his job to simply banish them here to the Ghost Zone where they could no longer do humans any harm and leave it at that. There were ghosts that wanted to be saved and move on, while others were content to linger, with Vlad it was different, he wasn't dead, but he effected the environment around him just like a ghost because half of him was one.

Snapping his fingers in front of Owen's face, Venom raised an eyebrow, "Yo kid, you still sleep drunk or something?"

Snapping out of his daze, Owen sighed, "No, I was just thinking about something besides the aching throb in my back now. Can we get started already? What do I have to do?"

"Do? Well," taking a very obvious step away from Vlad, Venom replied. "You're going to have to lie on your stomach on the table or sit there while I puncture your skin with my claws, and yes I have claws but I even creep myself out when I change into them. If I need to I can become more...spider like minus the extra limbs. And instead of injecting you with poison or my toxic ectoenergy I'll be drawing it back out. If the infected spot was somewhere easier to reach I could have used my fangs instead which would have probably been faster. Speaking of which, you might want something to bite down on. Yo Pops? You got anything on ya?"

Vlad snarled at him and unceremoniously tore off one of his gloves, more slowly handing it to Owen who was only now starting to look nervous. "How long will this procedure take, exactly?"

Venom huffed, "To hell if I know. What I DO know is that I'm going to have to stop if too much of his necromancer blood gets into my system since it naturally repels ectoenergy and hurts ghosts from what I've heard. It might take a few tries to get it all out, assuming he doesn't reflexively blast me into the nearest wall. You can try holding him down if you want to make this go faster because I'm afraid all my boys are too busy to help out."

Vlad nodded and was about to tell Owen to get into position when he shifted positions to lay flat on the cold rickety table, pointing to one of the beds. "It's fine, he doesn't have to hold me down. I can handle it."

Both Vlad and Venom looked shocked and looked at each other before Venom warned, "No seriously kid, this ain't no visit to cloud nine. This is REALLY going to hurt."

"Good," Owen said harshly, gripping Vlad's glove tightly and pointedly looking away from him. "I've caused Vlad enough pain so it's only right I should get a taste of what I've put him through. I'm sick of being weak and relying on him for everything. Everything I've tried doing on my own has blown up in my face so, lets see if I can endure a little pain without whining like a little brat. Because I'm not a brat. I'm going to be Owen Masters damn it so I better start acting like I can take a punch and keep fighting for what I believe in! Just do it already! NOW!"

Venom flinched when the power of Owen's voice alone compelled him to move closer and extend his claws, ugh, he seriously hated using these since they never felt like his own hands like this, and before Vlad could protest or stop him Venom dug his claws into Owen's shoulder blades. Owen screamed and barely managed to force his mouth open again to force the black cloth of Vlad's glove in his mouth. He gripped the sides of the table which creaked and molded to the shape of his hands when his arms automatically shifted to his necromancer form, and Owen had to consciously stop himself from completely transforming, whimpering slightly as his body endured the first wave of pain.

Venom meanwhile, either because Owen compelled him to or because he was scared to death -no pun intended- of Vlad attacking him to spare Owen from this pain focused all of his energy into pulling the poisonous energy out of his skin and back into himself. This was easier said then done because Owen's blood reacted to his negativity and started making his hands burn as if he'd dipped them in something acidic. And the more energy and venom he absorbed, the more painful it became. It was a sickening feeling that reminded him of his own slow and painful death Owen mentioned and eventually, Venom was forced to pull his claws out and instantly charge an attack and shoot the now-poisonous-to-himself energy as far away from them as possible, expelling the necromantic essence he absorbed along with it by accident, panting and trembling slightly from the afterglow of pain.

The moment Venom's claws were out, Owen collapsed onto the table, breathing heavily but knowing Venom's procedure was far from over. Mustering the energy to pry the wad of cloth from his mouth, Owen rasped, "You're...still too angry...from before. Try thinking...of your boss...and...how he took care of you...when you were high off some narcotic and he slung you over...his shoulder and...threw you in the river and told you to do something more useful like work for him instead. It was the first time...anyone said you could be useful...be helpful and...worth something."

Staring at him then over to a rather horror-stricken Vlad who wanted nothing more then to call this whole thing off and find an easier way to do this at home in his lab, Venom took a few deep breaths and exhaled, "Fine...fine I get it. I keep forgetting how freaking sensitive you are. Well stop getting all sentimental on me and lets give this another go-" approaching Owen again, who nodded and replaced the cloth in his mouth, Venom poised his claws again only to have Vlad step in front of him, blocking his path.

"That's enough. I can't stand by and watch my son suffer like this! When I said I was going to punish him this isn't what I meant! I can't allow him to punish HIMSELF like this over one mistake that was a result of my own negligence to stop him from attempting something this stupid!" Vlad exclaimed with a mixture of desperation and anger. "This crude method of yours is going to take much too long! I'm better off taking him to my lab to extract the toxins myse-!"

For a moment not caring that Vlad was one of THE most powerful ghosts ever to step into the Ghost Zone, Venom glared at him and snapped, "You heard the kid, he wants to do this on his own terms to prove something to you AND himself. It's not up to you or me whether he goes through with it or not so back off. If you keep babying him, he's not gonna stand a chance the next time some punk-ass ghost comes making a house call in your world! Has it even sunk in yet that your soon-to-be-son is the freaking heir to the Ghost King's throne?! When word gets out just who this particular necromancer is EVERYONE here is gonna want a piece of him and trust me, old horn-head will be nothing compared to the other old timers lurking in the forgotten corners of the Ghost Zone! And we're all screwed if this kid can't handle the real fight that's coming. It's gonna be your job to get him ready for all that. We've already had some bat-sh** crazy ghosts attack us already acting like they've gone mad or seen the face of the devil himself at their heels, so yeah, this human is the only thing standing between us and the real monsters of this world so excuse me if I'm taking his orders over yours Plasmius. His authority trumps yours whether you realize it yet or not."

The truth of Venom's words hit Vlad like a physical blow. It never occurred to him until now that one day, Owen would not only grow more powerful then he was, but would also hold dominion OVER him if he accepted the role of Ghost King because he was Death's chosen scion who acted in his stead and was destined to raise an army of ghosts against Lilith and her demonic hordes. And since he was half ghost, Owen already had more power over him then ANYONE imaginable. For a child, a mere fifteen year old human to have that kind of power over him...it was an alarming reality.

Sure, Owen was inexperienced now but more then once Vlad had seen a glimpse of his true potential to strike down his foes with ease and exert dominance over a full ghost, several in fact. And seconds ago, with nothing but his voice and strength of will, he ordered Venom to proceed with the extraction before Vlad could have any say in the mater. What would have happened if Owen had ordered him to leave the room or stay rooted to the bed he'd been sitting on before? The very thought of losing control of his fate, even for a second after the horrors Vlad had suffered for years in the hospital, it made Vlad second guess everything he had envisioned happening when Owen became his son.

For someone so young, so caring and emotionally fragile, to hold in his hands the power to strip Vlad of not only his own power, but his will, it made him feel for the first time in his life truly afraid of someone. But not because Owen would abuse that power, but because it would mean that if Owen made a bad call and ordered Vlad to not interfere...he could get himself killed and Vlad would be rendered utterly and completely useless...

Recomposing himself, Vlad stepped aside but not before warning in a low voice, "Do what you must, but if I discover that you're taking longer then necessary and not being careful, you'll be losing a limb instead of gaining extra ones you lowly spider spook. Now get on with it so we can leave this nightmare behind us."

"Gladly. I want this over with as much as you do and the both of you out of my hair," Venom grumbled, taking position again and inserting his claws again a bit more gently but with enough force to break the skin again that had closed while the two of them were arguing.

Venom had to stop no less then five times before resuming and finally getting all of the poison out, and as expected Owen's accelerated healing did have enough of an effect to make sure that there were no scars left behind despite how many times Venom had punctured his skin. He lost quite a bit of blood though so although Owen miraculously managed to stay conscious, he was unable to stand on his own without the table for support. Vlad on the other hand, sat in contemplative silence until Venom kicked him softly in the boot and pointed behind him at Owen, who smiled weakly at him and waved before returning his hand to the table. Even Venom found himself grinning stupidly, relieved that the whole thing was over and impressed by Owen's tenacity.

"He's got guts, I'll give him that. You ought to be proud Plasmius, the kid was able to make it through all that sh** because he knew his old man was watching and wanted to make ya proud. I'll have Logan escort you two fleshy's out when I get back, need to make sure they didn't do a half-assed job fixing the gate anyway," with a shrug, Venom turned and flew up through the roof, trusting Vlad enough not to pull any funny business since he got what he came for and Owen was back to normal if only woozy from the blood loss and sore from laying on that metal table for at least a good forty-five minutes.

Not sure if he wanted it back or not, Owen shimmied his way over to the bed Vlad was sitting on and plopped down next to him, holding the soaked black glove in his hand by a finger, asking him hoarsely, "Not sure if you still want this back but...do you?"

Vlad shook his head mutely and Owen glanced around the room before he spotted a trash bin -huh, looks like even gangster ghosts had standards for cleanliness- and he lazily tossed it in. For a time, both of them sat there, not saying anything. There was a lot that needed to be said, and a lot that didn't. They knew that mistakes were made today, some pretty serious ones, but at the end of the day...they still loved each other and wanted nothing more then to go home and forget any of this ever happened...

Only, they couldn't.

When Vlad finally found his voice again, he sighed and rose to his feet, pulling back his sleeve to check his watch. He groaned. It was nearly seven in the morning and his meeting was at ten sharp, not nearly enough time to rest and make sure Owen didn't pull another vanishing act on him, even if it wasn't here to the Ghost Zone. What to do...?

Smiling, Owen reached up and grabbed his arm, nodding at the gleaming watch on his wrist and joked, "I know it's one of a kind but do you EVER take that thing off? I'm surprised you're still wearing it even in that form."

Glancing at the watch again and waiting a few seconds as the hands twitched slightly and time moved forward, Vlad replied warmly, "Of course not, this is a precious gift given to me by my son after all. I happen to value it greatly and don't want to misplace it."

Letting his arm drop as his face fell, Owen smiled sadly and asked, "Is this ever going to get any easier?"

Surprised by the question, Vlad wondered aloud, "What my dear boy?"

Smiling warmly up at Vlad, Owen replied a bit more confidently, "Thinking of you as my real dad, and not just another foster parent that's going to get tired of my ghost-related antics..."