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

Note (02/11/2018): Sorry this took so long, I've been sick and working on other things. But don't worry, we'll be getting back into some action soon! Hopefully by the next chapter. This one is mostly about giving Vlad that final push to accept the good side of himself as a part of him. Also, the notifications have been acting kind of weird lately and I'm not sure if it's just me. If it is it's probably just with that other story I messed up by deleting a chapter by accident instead of replacing the Doc with a new one. Anyways enjoy the chapter and again, it would make my day to see a review for it in my inbox! Hint hint nudge nudge!

~Chapter 22~

Breathless

It took a few tries but eventually Vlad managed to give Owen the shots he needed and the effects on the boy were almost immediate. The swelling went down to almost nothing as did the redness and bruised skin which already looked as if the injury was a few days old and mostly gone. However, an unfortunate side effect of those ghostly injections was that Owen felt very cold. He felt so cold after the second injection in fact that Owen nearly blacked out from the numbing chill now concentrated on his throat, making it hard to breathe when it kept constantly coming out as his ghost sense...

With his unexpected reaction in mind Vlad did his best to help him warm up but in the end it wasn't until he instructed Owen to change forms and try to self-generate more heat through his body that the shivering finally subsided. Some of the coldness returned as soon as Owen changed back though. But at least it was more bearable this time. However, it was troubling to say the least that Owen was hyper sensitive even to ghostly remedies, meaning Vlad would have to study the matter further and delude it enough to reduce the side effects next time.

Still, after the treatment Owen was for lack of a better word almost dead on his feet now. And it showed when Vlad's light-side started to flicker again, nearly vanishing altogether. After those three buzzards unexpected visit Vlad had almost forgotten that he agreed to lift some of Owen's burden by allowing this other self inside of him so it'd be easier for him to maintain the spell even while he was asleep. While Vlad wasn't as against the idea as he was earlier, at least once he fully understood exactly what this being was, he felt...relieved to say the least but still a bit hesitant to allow this other being inside of him willingly.

Like that shadow it was not a direct reflection of himself, it was a being made out of his own feelings and memories and it wasn't there to point fingers and tell him he was a failure or not 'good' enough. If anything, this being embodied all of Owen's faith in him too and that was a very...interesting thought. After all, since when has anyone actively tried to make him happy without an ulterior motive? Since when have they fought so hard to protect someone who often thought he was more powerful then anyone because of his cunning and power? It was moments like this, when Owen was willingly suffering through such physical and emotional pain that Vlad for the first time in his life realized how deeply he was being loved. Because of Owen's presence in his life Vlad was now wholly and completely for who AND what he was. Yet, how could accept that love knowing that someone else had ultieor motives in giving him the boy after all but murdering his parents by staying silent about their impending doom...?

"Owen..." Vlad urged gently, putting those dark thoughts out of his mind after they unexpectedly resurfaced upon seeing the boy struggle to keep his eyes open. "I know you're tired but we're almost done here, I just need to put the bandages around your neck. Would you mind taking off your turtleneck though? I'm rather tired myself and would rather not waste any more energy keeping your shirt intangible just to be a show off." He smirked, having seen how Owen rolled his eyes before when he told him not to worry about rolling up his sleeve earlier and just made it intangible and invisible.

Not having the energy to protest, Owen did as he was told and started pulling up his shirt, though not with out a bit of a struggle. When it was about midway Vlad of course noticed the infamous scar on Owen's stomach, one that he knew about but had rarely seen with his own eyes. There were a few smaller scars littered across his skin but this one served as a painful reminder of everything Owen lost because of what and who HE is whose incredible power was not born through an accident like Vlad's was, but of a purposeful design. All this time, there was such a child already born into the world with this kind of potential, yet who suffered because of a path that he too did not originally chose for himself.

It seemed like an eternity ago when Vlad first saw Owen curled up on the floor screaming in agony, clutching the old wound. An eternity since he saw the unimaginable fear in the boy's eyes that was not only directed at him, but at the memory of a similar darkness pushing him beyond his limits to prove that he was in fact the one they were searching for. And even now it did not escape Vlad's notice that Owen would often hug or at least rest a hand over the same spot when he was extremely stressed. It was like the pain he felt, reminded Owen of his sin of existing in the first place and he unconsciously wondered if fighting to survive was even worth it anymore. At least, before Vlad made him feel hopeful again, wanted, and he didn't have to be as scared of the man suddenly dying on him too or worse, dealing the fatal blow like his parents tried to...

The man could only imagine the horror of having one's own parent attack them when you believed they loved you unconditionally. In Owen's case, his parents were possessed by wraiths at the time so their feelings were not even remotely a factor in what happened. Vlad honestly wondered how Daniel coped with his parents attacking his ghostly alter-ego on almost a DAILY basis with promises of pain and dissection since they had every intention of wasting the ghost boy without realizing Danny Phantom was in fact also their youngest child, Danny 'Fenton.' Honestly, these people were about as clueless about that as most of the people who actually lived in this state who knew the Wisconsin ghost was also called Vlad Plasmius on occasion. A ghost that once publicly seen at Vlad 'Masters' 20 year college reunion.

It was a similar yet different scenario because Owen's parents did not willingly attack their child and to this day probably weren't even aware that they were dead or had done anything so horrific against their will. Because if Vlad and Owen understood anything about these wraiths now, it was that when they extract the negativity from their host to add to their power or create a new wraith, the soul's emotions would go numb, as if they were unable to feel much of anything anymore, like they were a blank slate. True, their memories remained, but the feelings behind them would lose their luster...their attachment towards the place or person they were of which allowed these creatures to control them as they please with their own dark feelings.

As for Daniel's parents, they were not possessed and were unknowingly attacking their child of their own free while foolishly believing that all ghosts are either evil or are incapable of higher functions such as thought and actually feeling true emotions. How ironic that they thought ghosts were just like wraiths, inhuman and unfeeling creatures of darkness. Vlad knew better for more reasons then one...

For one thing, Vlad and Danny were both half ghost and if anything, certain feelings of theirs were enhanced because of a ghost's nature to feel a strong attachment or obsession over something. All ghosts felt this because they had yet to find the will or the inner peace to let it all go and move on to whatever real paradise awaited the souls of the ghosts who were once human. Even Vlad wasn't entirely sure what fate awaited the 'naturally' born ghosts in the Ghost Zone. Were destined destined to fade back into raw ectoplasmic energy if they lost their 'will' to keep going? Would they simply vanish without a trace? Somehow Vlad doubted that was the case, especially because of the simple fact that a ghosts obsession gave them plenty of drive to continue existing so the prior theory was counter intuitive.

Most ghosts by nature were driven by a sort of survival instinct ironically given the fact they are quite dead. They are also highly territorial. And lastly even they followed some sort of a natural order or hierarchy where the weak followed the strong and the strong were compelled to maintain and often pursue total dominance over the others and claim their territory by any means necessary.

At their roots, all ghosts were like this to some degree. So why then, did Owen have such a powerful...allure to other ghosts without those things? Part of Owen was a ghost, a very powerful one. Just not in the stereotypical way of being dead himself. But rather a dead person brought back to life as someone new, but Owen had no ghostly obsession save to prevent others from suffering on his behalf. And he only exerted his dominance over other ghosts when the situation demanded it but was otherwise uninterested in ruling over them, which baffled Vlad. Owen was so powerful yet something constantly held back. Was it fear of the power itself? Or fear of-

His train of thought was interrupted when Owen fell against him and Vlad barely had enough time to drop the bandages in his hand to catch the teen before Owen leaned so far forward he that nearly slid off the bench. Once again, Vlad let himself get too distracted! Just what was wrong with him lately!? How could he keep forgetting that his future son was badly injured? And what's more, those side effects caused by the ghostly serums he gave the boy were far stronger then he anticipated which surely must've worn him out.

His alarm only deepened now that Owen was shirtless because his skin was like ice! Vlad was certain that the after effects would have worn off by now, which is the only reason why-!

"Vladimir, we can't wait any longer!" His light-side told him just as urgently, tightly gripping his arms while fighting to remain intact. "You are not the only one who let himself get distracted. I was attempting to sense the location of our shadow and failed to notice that Owen's body is reacting too strongly to the ghost serums we gave him because the boy is still too busy unconsciously maintaining the spell fueling my form. Unfortunately, the boy is still too inexperienced to control a spell as advanced as this one for very long so he's expending too much energy, weakening his resilience to anything ghost related. It's now or never, Vladimir. You have to let me become one with you, at least for now. That way you should in theory be able to harness my power which is in truth mostly consists of Owen's purifying powers-!Gah!" Falling to one knee when for a split second he actually shined brighter instead of dimmer, Vlad's other self implored, "He's giving too much of his power to me, please, stop him! The boy doesn't know what he's doing to himself, that he's pushing himself too hard and-!"

"Then what in the BLAZES are you waiting for?!" Vlad roared, sounding enraged yet fearful at the same time as Owen began shivering violently again to the point that the man was afraid he was having a seizure. Turning his attention to Owen who by some miracle was still barely conscious he ordered, "Owen, you have to change into your necromancer form. Your human body can't handle the ghostly chill you are feeling and you seemed to feel better once you self-generated more heat energy so hurry, change back! Do it now!"

"Do it now!" At the last second, Vlad's light-side didn't hesitate to shoot forward and merge himself with the original Vlad. And since their emotions were as one, their voices too rang out at the same time. Owen barely heard anything either Vlad had said but the moment they merged, since Owen had given Vlad's other form too much of his power, that also included his dominance over ghosts. So in response to that 'order,' Owen's spirit immediately complied and he changed forms subconsciously.

The first few times Owen changed, there were no rings of light like there was whenever Vlad or Danny changed into their ghost forms but rather a ripple of flame that would burn away his human attire like a flash fire. But this time, to Vlad's surprise there actually was a pair of rings that ran up and down the length of Owen's body that was made of his usual blue flames.

When Vlad felt it pass through him due to their close proximity it reminded him of the time Owen set them both ablaze with these flames to purify him so they could enter the Ravenheart Mansion. It was comforting, alluring even, which suddenly made it clear that his theory was correct! Ghosts, and even half-ghosts like himself were naturally attracted to Owen's power like moths to a flame, seeking it either for comfort or for their selfish need for more power. Owen's flames, like his blood, could be used to either harm or empower ghosts. Though the latter was mostly a deterrent to defend against ghosts invading his body but like most everything about Owen's powers and physiology worked together to accomplish one or the other, like how Owen changed the nature of the Blood Blossoms surrounding the mansion by simply purifying them with his necroenergy and rendering them harmless yet still able to repel any ghost or wraith with ill intentions.

Vlad sighed in relief when Owen's shivering stopped abruptly and he blearily opened his eyes, dazed because he had no idea what had happened to him. He remembered taking off his shirt, and then Vlad sort of zoned out there for a bit, they both did. It felt like all of a sudden he was being pulled in two directions, leaving him feeling cold and exposed. That's when Owen wondered if maybe he was right. Maybe he didn't study that spell carefully enough and didn't know how to regulate the steady flow of energy Owen was using to keep the other Vlad from vanishing.

Then again, that didn't explain why Owen felt so bitterly cold. Sure that ghost stuff made him cold but that feeling passed when he changed forms. But when he changed back to his human self thinking everything was fine that unnatural chill returned ten fold. Either way, in the end, maybe they just didn't understand his power and his biology as well as they thought...

What happened? Owen asked himself, slowly pushing himself upright again.

"You nearly passed out my boy," Vlad responded, his brows creased in worry and also frustration that Owen was speaking again without permission.

Owen's eyes widened in shock when Vlad responded to his unspoken question. But he didn't say anything! Not out loud anyway. To test his theory, Owen thought, You really are such a worry wart...

Again, not realizing Owen's lips weren't moving Vlad rolled his eyes, "Well when you collapse like that what do you expect to do, hmm? Shrug it off and not worry about your well-being? What sort of father would I be if I ignored something like that?"

Smiling for some reason, Owen met his gaze and put a finger to his lips before thinking, It's about time you accepted him. I was wondering if you were going to chicken out and force me to end the spell after all. Good to see something good came out of...whatever just happened. Well one thing's for sure, until you fix those ghost serums I am NEVER letting you give me a shot with that stuff in it ever again. The side effects are much worse then the actual illness.

Vlad blinked, about to respond when he thought better of it and pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking, I suppose the return of his boyish antics means he's alright now. But my god that scared me. I thought for sure that-

Suddenly cutting of the man's thoughts, Owen smirked and pointed out, Hey there V-dad. Sorry to interrupt your train of thought but it looks like it worked, my spell I mean. All you had to do was accept the other you, which is also a part of me. It might only be for now but...we're connected, Vlad. Connected in a way I've only felt once before and...wow. I've felt your powers before when I was still sort of afraid of you but now its- did I really change you so much?