Chapter 14

Plasmius' mind was a jumbled mess as they made their way back to the mansion and he kept glancing down to ensure that Danny was alright as he tried to make the trip home as smoothly as possible even as he ensured that they were both invisible and intangible.

Luckily it seemed that, except for the usual ghosts that have been visiting the human world quite often and as a result were allies of theirs, there were no new ghosts in the area and they made their way back safely without any delays. However, rogue ghosts seemed to be the very least of their worries as he eased Danny down onto one of the sofas before turning him onto his side to survey the damage that had been done as he allowed Plasmius to fade away.

The burn was quite bad and even though it might have been done to stop Danny from bleeding out, the idea that he'd burned him this badly while knowing that he was in his human form and that there could have been other complications such as Danny's body going into shock instead of simply passing out, didn't sit well with him.

He reached the only conclusion that he could think of at that moment, that it would be better to let Danny go back home and to protect him from afar rather than to try and keep him close, and then risk losing him because he couldn't control a part of himself.

He sighed heavily as he gathered his thoughts to tell Danny to stay away from him once he was healed and that he would ensure that there would be a safe place where he could stay, but before he could utter the words he felt Danny yank him forward and he came face to face with a furious gaze as Danny glared at him.

$$$$Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters$$$$

By the time they made it back to the mansion, Danny was sure that Plasmius had somehow completely sealed himself off in a way and he couldn't deny that the thought frightened him more than anything he could think of at that moment.

He was also certain that, if given enough time to brood over whatever it was that bothered him, Vlad would somehow determine that it would be better for Danny to be anywhere but where he was and that was totally NOT ACCEPTABLE for the younger halfa.

As such, he resorted to plotting as they phased their way through the entrance, but when nothing came to mind he simply decided to do as he always did, bulldoze straight through a problem and hope that it would solve it.

For a moment he didn't do anything as Plasmius laid him down on one of the sofas to take a look at the burn, but he felt the man close himself off even more once he properly looked at it and finally Danny decided that he'd had enough.

Despite the pain, Danny grasped Vlad's suit and dragged him forward before glaring at him, "Don't you dare do or say what I think you are going to!"

Vlad gave him a confused look which caused Danny to drag him even closer before planting a kiss on his lips and then looking him straight in the eyes, "I can feel you trying to isolate yourself again even though this is nothing compared to the damage we'd done to each other in the past. Whatever that part of you is, he did the only thing he could think of at that moment to try and stop me from bleeding out."

A frustrated growl left the older halfa's lips as he briefly leaned into the kiss before gently yet firmly pushing Danny back down onto the sofa as he spoke, "He may have done that, but there are other things that could have gone wrong because of it! What if your body had gone into shock?! You're still under the influence of that infernal contraption so most of your abilities are currently locked down because of it and your human body isn't built to withstand such punishment!"

Danny tried to force himself to sit up, but Vlad used both hands to keep him down so he placed his hands on the older man's jaw to keep his gaze on him, "Listen to me…I've suffered through and survived much worse than this! Hell, we've beaten each other to a bloody pulp quite a few times, and even though you held back, we've both had to reset or even rebreak bones that didn't heal properly in the past. Pain is nothing new to us and a minor burn wound is the least of our problems right now!"

Vlad froze as the words echoed through the room and a few moments of tense silence passed before he sighed and lightly rested his head in the crook of Danny's neck in defeat, causing Danny to pull the man down on top of him while only wincing slightly as it caused the burn to rub against the sofa, but he didn't draw attention to it as the man growled out, "I know that, but there is a reason why I tried to keep that part of Plasmius locked away!"

Danny lightly shrugged, "Maybe that's the reason why you blacked out. I doubt that trying to lock a part of you away is a good thing. All you've done is possibly fracture your powers and you maybe even created multiple personalities because you couldn't accept that your other half has vampiric tendencies."

Vlad stiffened in his arms, causing Danny to worry that he might have gone too far as the older man raised his head before looking at him in shock, "What did you just say?"

Danny smiled sheepishly, "It's not like it's a big deal! I don't know how things were when you were a teen but these days vampires are one of the coolest things since sliced cheese, right up there with werewolves even! You can even find-"

His rambling was cut off as Vlad gave him a deep kiss and it took a few moments for him to realize that he still needed to breathe in his human form before he slightly pulled back.

He blinked up dazedly at the man, "May I know what it was that I said so that I can say it again?"

Vlad shook his head in amusement, "How did you know?"

Danny deadpanned, "You're seriously asking me that? With Plasmius sporting the whole blue skin, fanged and red-eyed look?"

Vlad chuckled although the faint blush said it all before he shook his head, "Although the word 'vampire' doesn't really describe it, it certainly is as close as one can get to describe the symptoms."

Danny tilted his head slightly in confusion, "What do you mean?"

He both heard and felt Vlad sigh as the man seemed to try and get his thoughts in order while absentmindedly trying to make them more comfortable.

Finally, Vlad carefully rearranged them so that Danny was resting on his chest before he spoke once more, "Vampires drink blood because they need it to survive, and yet their bodies cannot naturally produce it anymore. My transformation was a lot slower than yours because I wasn't exposed to pure ectoplasm in the exact blend that you had been so my body will always crave to replenish the substance that it is lacking."

Danny nodded, "So what is the problem?"

Vlad ran a hand over his face in exhaustion, "Would you start drinking human blood if you suddenly became a vampire even if it suddenly tasted different?"

The face Danny pulled was answer enough and Vlad chuckled before his face became serious, "Exactly. You wouldn't want to do it and given that I was already feeling like enough of a 'freak' as it was, I completely ignored that part of me even after I finally got out of the hospital. Which, of course, led to it triggering a part of Plasmius' survival instincts once I finally made it home."

Danny frowned in worry, "What happened?"

Vlad shrugged, "I blacked out the moment I got home and woke up a week later with splatters of ectoplasm all around me."

Danny flinched at that, "Which led to you trying to find ways to stop it from happening again."

Vlad nodded, "Exactly, but in the process I somehow split Plasmius into two beings instead of simply stopping the cravings like I thought I would."

Danny went silent for a few moments to try and process it all, as well as to try and keep whatever fantasies he had from possibly freaking Vlad out since he already didn't seem to accept that part of himself.

He didn't miss the resigned look that appeared on Vlad's face, so he searched for a way to try and ease Vlad's worries, but instead, his mouth decided to speak before he thought things through, and a blush of embarrassment took over most of his body as his words echoed around the room, "So you're basically a ghost-vamp. Do you drink ectoplasm with your teeth like a vampire?"