Summary: "Wearing a suit and tie and listening to politics and state issues and the most recent up and coming potential runners for office was not Danny's idea of a fun Saturday night. Maybe it was something that came with age or just having the appropriate amount of sleep but he just couldn't bring himself to enjoy formal events; the fact that he was attending a government function that was hosting the current governor of Wisconsin in order to raise his grade in political science didn't help much either."
Or, Danny runs into Vlad and they have a heart to heart.
Finally came up with an idea for a continuation to Somewhere In-Between! It took a year but I think it came out pretty dang good. :) I recommend that you read that one first if you haven't already. Hope you enjoy it!
Political Science
Wearing a suit and tie and listening to politics and state issues and the most recent up and coming potential runners for office was not Danny's idea of a fun Saturday night. Maybe it was something that came with age or just having the appropriate amount of sleep but he just couldn't bring himself to enjoy formal events; the fact that he was attending a government function that was hosting the current governor of Wisconsin in order to raise his grade in political science didn't help much either.
He'd way rather be catching up on sleep or maybe taking the opportunity to relax and play a few video games for once. But, Mr. Lancer was always going out of his way to try and help him out when it came to school and since things had been a little quieter lately, Danny had felt bad saying no. A mistake that he wasn't going to make twice.
Tucker had at least been willing to come along with him but his friend had disappeared somewhere about twenty minutes ago and Danny had been left to his own devices ever since. Danny wasn't certain what he was doing but supposed it didn't really matter in the end. He just hoped Tucker would come back soon - he needed company but wasn't interested in going around begging for it. Talking to strangers wasn't high on his list right now either.
His lack of interest was more than just boredom though.
Danny just felt… disconnected from all of it. From his peers, from his life - he felt like he was treading water lately and he didn't know which direction to swim in order to reach land.
He wasn't depressed - at least, he didn't think he was depressed. Just… maybe lost and uncertain of what he was supposed to be looking forward to. Uncertain of how he fit in with the world around him. Every teenager felt that way - or so he'd been told, at least. But Danny felt like he was allowed to consider himself an exception to the typical teenage angst considering, well... everything.
Half-dead and all.
But it was getting worse lately. He was going to be a senior in high school next year and for the life of him, he just didn't know what to do with his life.
What kind of life could someone like him even have?
What was he supposed to do?
Get a job?
The Ghost Zone and the human world were intertwined now - the portal in his parents basement wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. And while is was kept confined to Wisconsin as a whole, the government itself was clearly aware of the paranormal world. They weren't going to just forget. If ghosts were coming in an out, then someone had to be willing to help with that, and he was the best and most obvious choice, even if no one else knew what he was doing. Wouldn't it be wrong to just… get up and leave? Amity was home but he also didn't want to stay in this dinky little town for the rest of his life.
But if he was fighting ghosts, how could he possibly do anything else? They didn't exactly hold to a regular 9-5 schedule when they decided that they wanted to cause problems. Danny was barely passing high school. How was he supposed to do more as an adult?
He felt trapped and all of it felt too big for him to figure out on his own. He was sixteen, for crying out loud - chasing girls and cramming for tests and maybe sneaking out to go drinking was how he had always imagined spending this particular period of his life. Being an impossible scientific anomaly and having an existential crisis had been at the bottom of his non-existent list of hopes and dreams.
A cold chill ran through his body and the air in front of his face briefly fogged up as he exhaled. Danny barely restrained from rolling his eyes and instead, stood up from the round table he'd been sitting at. It had a long white tablecloth that stretched to the floor and looked like the dozens of others that were set up around him. It was crowded in here, with lots of important people dressed in fancy formal clothes.
It took him a minute or so of searching before he finally spotted the source of what had set his ghost sense off.
It was Vlad.
Danny wasn't certain why he was surprised to see him; Vlad was the kind of person who'd attend stuff like this and probably even enjoyed it. Plus, he was the mayor of Amity Park - and his popularity numbers were pretty damn good as of late. He'd probably been invited.
Interest peaked, Danny chewed his lip, watching Vlad from across the room.
He was dressed well, as was his usual style and he was greeting and shaking hands with a number of people that Danny didn't recognize or care to know about.
They had gone a long way to making their peace between each other over the last year or so and things had actually been kind of nice between them. Vlad had kept his promise and fixed him up that night Danny had taken refuge in the cemetery, had fed him breakfast the next morning once he had regained consciousness, and had then taken him home in another one of his fancy cars. None of the former scheming or plotting or his usual villain-esque behavior had come back either, as far as Danny knew.
Vlad still wasn't a friend - not like… well, not like his others friends were, at least. The age difference between them made that kind of weird. They had different lives and very different schedules… but a few weeks after Vlad had helped him out, Danny had had a quiet afternoon and in a moment of boredom... had decided to take the man up on his offer to teach him something.
Mostly, he'd been bored and curious to see if the offer had actually been genuine or not. In hindsight, going to his enemies mansion alone and unannounced was probably not the smartest thing to do, considering that he hadn't ever told anyone about the night he'd gotten shot or that Vlad had helped him at all. Danny hadn't told anyone what he was doing and it could have gone very, very wrong.
But... Vlad had kept his promise. It had been more than a little weird and the older man's teaching methods had been of the learn or die variety, which was a little nerve-wracking. But once Danny had convinced himself everything would be fine... it had actually been fun. To be able to openly talk about all the things he could do with someone that genuinely understood had been… liberating. Danny had never realized how much he held back with Sam and Tucker and his sister until he suddenly didn't feel the need to.
They spent the entire afternoon working on things - Vlad had even sat down and explained some of the science of their existence to him, as best as he knew and could. Danny kept meaning to go back and do it again sometime but life had gotten in the way and he hadn't found the time to do it. The most he'd seen of Vlad since that day was a few news reports on Facebook detailing some of his political work in Amity Park.
Danny chewed his lip, debating whether or not he should go and talk to him. He glanced around to see if Tucker was anywhere nearby and if he had noticed that Vlad was here but Danny didn't see him anywhere. Which kind of sucked, since the whole point of Tucker coming to this thing in the first place was to keep Danny company. Disappearing on him after the fact was sort of a dick punch.
He was bored and lonely now and if nothing else, this was a pretty public scene. He doubted that anything would happen, if Vlad was in the sort of mood to cause problems.
Stuffing his hands into his suit pockets, Danny grabbed his phone from off the table and started crossing the room, weaving his way through the crowd of people and quietly muttering "Excuse me," under his breath a few times when he bumped shoulders with a few people. Vlad caught sight of him and seemed both surprised and not to see him. Fair, since Danny knew that Vlad was usually able to sense Danny long before Danny could sense him.
He held back once he got close enough, letting the last few people shaking hands with Vlad finish before finally closing the rest of the distance between them and standing close to his side, leaving a foot or three of distance between them.
"Daniel."
"Vladimir."
Vlad kept his voice politely quiet. "I wasn't expecting to see you here," he said casually.
Danny hummed. "Not my first choice, trust me. I'm just... trying to raise a grade, I guess."
"You guess? Daniel, either you are or you aren't."
"Fine. I am trying to raise my grade. Happy?"
"Ecstatic."
It was quiet between them for a about thirty seconds.
"Was there something that you needed?"
Danny shook his head. He hadn't thought any of this out and had no idea what to say. He just... wanted company. "Not really. You just haven't been being… well, you for a while."
Vlad snorted, seeming unoffended. "Eloquent, Daniel."
Danny smiled half-heartedly, still watching the crowd of people. There were going to be some political speeches and business conducted once dinner was finished. The food had been good so far but it was supposed to be several courses and there were a lot of people to get through. In addition to his attendance, he was supposed to write a couple of paragraphs about his thoughts on one of the speakers topics. He hadn't looked at the program to see who was talking. Figured he'd just do the governor and be done with it.
He felt Vlad's eyes on him suddenly and turned his head to meet them. The older halfa's expression was searching, looking at him in that way that only Vlad could do. Finally, something in his eyes seemed to soften a little.
"Would you like to step out for a few minutes?"
Danny paused, the invitation making his heart pound a little. He wasn't sure if he was nervous of grateful for an opportunity to step out of this room. He glanced behind him at the crowd of people and this time, it only took a few seconds before he finally spotted Tucker in the crowd; it seemed like he was finally finished doing whatever he'd been doing. Their eyes met and his friend looked concerned when he realized who Danny was standing next to.
Nice of him to finally show back up again. Hurt and irritation twinged in his chest. Tucker could wait his turn.
"Sure."
Vlad swept a hand out, gesturing to the nearby exit and inviting him to go first. It wasn't a great idea to let an enemy get behind you, Danny thought to himself. Pretty stupid, really. But… at this point, Danny wasn't really sure what Vlad qualified as anymore. If this was all a mistake, then he'd learn his lesson and things could go back to what they were. If not... if not, then he wouldn't mind talking to Vlad like they had done a few months ago. That version of Vlad - the nice one - was easy enough to like.
The building they were in was something of a smaller version of the State Capital Building. It was fairly elaborate, with a dome and white marble architecture and everything. The hall foyer that they stepped out into was much quieter than the dining hall, with far less people. Once the door shut behind them, the loud chatter and clinking of utensils became muted. Danny sighed in relief and shrugged out of his suit jacket.
"Come with me," Vlad invited, stepping in front of him and leading the way. Danny trailed behind him, slowing his steps to look at some of the artwork that adorned the walls. Oil paints - old ones, of state and American history scenes and historical sites. None of the tacky modern art that he was used to seeing on museums and whatnot. These paintings were set in elaborate frames and had taken a lot of time and skill - the people who had painted them were dead but there was still a faint impression of them in their work. It was another skill that Danny was developing recently; though maybe skill was the wrong word.
It was more something that was happening to him and another thing he hoped to learn how to control. The internet and online forums called it psychometry.
Danny glanced back towards Vlad and after one more glance at the art on the walls, stepped towards him again and began walking side by side with him.
"You're not impressed by much, are you?" he observed after a few seconds.
Vlad glanced down at him, offering him a wry smile. "Should I be?"
"It's pretty fancy here," Danny pointed out, shrugging his shoulders. Most people would be impressed. Vlad didn't necessarily seem bored but none of the busts and statues and art seemed to catch his attention either. Rich people were weird.
"And you and I have both been to a different dimension. This pales in comparison."
Danny tilted his head, willing to concede that point. It had been a while since he'd thought of the Ghost Zone as any spectacular though. There was always something new to see and plenty of ghosts to meet or fight but the dimension itself was almost like walking into the backyard at this point.
"You also own a castle."
Vlad smirked. They stopped at a dark mahogany door with Vlad's name on a nameplate in the center of the wood. He unlocked it and pushed the door open, sweeping his hand out once again in an inviting gesture. "I actually own three," he said once Danny had stepped inside. Vlad followed, closing the door quietly behind him. "The other two are private and are on different continents."
God, the amount of money someone had to have in order to be able to afford to own three private castles was ridiculous. Money wasn't everything but damn if he wasn't a little bit jealous.
"Show off."
The office was a decent size, with a creme colored carpet, leather loveseat set against a glass window with a coffee table in front of it. It had a figurine of an eagle on it and a few leatherbound books. A potted plant was sitting in the corner. There was a grandfather clock, some cabinets with more books and art on the wall behind a dark wood desk.
Vlad stepped behind the desk and sat down in a nice chair. "What's on your mind?"
After a few seconds, Danny approached the desk and without much thought, levitated off the ground, and settling down on top of Vlad's desk in a crisscross position. He rested his elbow on his knee and pressed his chin into the palm of his hand. Some stress he hadn't noticed was easing up now that he was alone and wasn't in a position of having to pretend. Other than his friends and his sister, he couldn't do simple things like levitate without running the risk of being caught and experimented on.
It was nice to just be free to be himself.
"Why does anything have to be on my mind?"
Vlad raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't be coy. You're awfully maudlin."
"Dude, speak like a normal person."
Vlad lifted his eyebrows, staring at him with open amusement now. "Communication is a refined art and skill. The garbled, broken English your generation speaks in is completely ludicrous. Society could benefit from remembering that."
"You're the only person I know that talks like a guy from an 1800's novel."
"Then you should expand your circle of friends." Vlad said simply. "Laziness, even in the spoken word, will get you nowhere in life. Besides, language was developed for one true endeavor - to woo women."
"Now you're quoting The Dead Poet's Society."
"You've seen it?" The older halfa seemed pleased.
Danny rolled his eyes, unable to fully hide his own amusement. "I'm not completely uncultured."
"Perhaps there is hope for you, then."
"Oh, the joy that I feel in the very depths of my soul to be halfway on the list of your approval. It makes my heart aflutter." Danny mocked, sitting up a little and placing a hand on his chest. He grinned and then raised his eyebrows at Vlad. "How was that?"
Vlad actually laughed. "Not bad."
Weird that that should feel so satisfying; but this was a somewhat more familiar humor now - the last time he'd seen Vlad, when he'd shown up for that impromptu training session, they had bantered a like this as well.
It was fun; kind of like their old back and forth when they hadn't been getting along, but friendlier.
The smile on his face lingered for a few more seconds before everything came back again. It slipped from his face and Danny sighed, looking away from Vlad's expression.
He heard Vlad shift in his chair. "What's wrong?" he prompted again. "You don't seem like yourself."
So it wasn't invisible to see. Jazz had been at college the last few months - she probably would have noticed that he wasn't at his best if she was at home. Sam and Tucker... if either of them knew he was struggling, they hadn't said anything. His parents didn't bear mentioning. A couple minutes with Vlad and he was already pointing it out like it was perfectly obvious.
It didn't seem fair. But he... he wanted to get these feelings off his chest. Vlad would understand, even if no one else did. He was sure of it.
"I'm just… not like them." Danny admitted quietly, picking at a stray thread in his suit pants.
"Like who?"
"Like anyone that is out there in that room," Danny said in sudden exasperation, gesturing blindly in the direction that they'd come from. "I'm not like anyone at school. Or at home or just… anywhere. People my age are all talking about going to college and what they want to do with the rest of their lives and I… I just feel lost."
Way to just blurt that all out, Fenton, Danny thought to himself. It probably seemed like it came out of nowhere. But Vlad was silent, watching him steadily. When the silence stretched, Danny continued, feeling completely free to speak.
"What am I supposed to do? They all seem so sure of themselves and I'm not. I don't even know what would be safe for me to try and do. I can't be myself around anyone. Not even my best friends because I'm afraid that if they know just how different I am, then… then maybe that will be it."
And maybe Danny wasn't giving them enough credit; Sam and Tucker had been through most of it with him from the beginning. But there were things that he hid even from them. He worked to be as human as he was around them; if they knew just how much he wasn't… God, what if they decided that enough was enough? What would he have if he didn't have them?
How was he supposed to live a normal life when he wasn't normal? It was getting more complicated the older he got, not easier. When he'd been younger, he thought becoming an adult would solve all of his problems. He'd just have the answers - and he was realizing that that was definitely not the case.
There were times, especially recently, when Danny felt like he completely understood why Vlad sometimes just hid away in his castle and didn't have a girlfriend or anything. He had his damn cat and liked his solitude and that was that.
It was just easier.
Didn't have to pretend to be something you weren't when there weren't any people around to pretend for. Plus, Vlad had money. He could get away with a lot more than Danny probably could.
But Danny didn't think he was smart the same way that Vlad was and he didn't have the inclination to cheat or manipulate the world in the same way that Vlad did when he couldn't have things his way naturally. Minus the Packers, of course. For some reason, that was a pursuit that Vlad seemed to want to win on fair ground.
Danny suspected that he just liked having an actual challenge from time to time and since the stupid football team was something that he genuinely wanted, he was willing to take his time and pursue it.
To each their own.
But Danny just… he didn't think he could lie and steal his way through life. It sat wrong in his gut and the secrets that he kept were already a heavy weight on his shoulders. He didn't want to add to that weight and he wasn't certain he would like the person he became if lying and cheating and stealing no longer bothered him.
"Allow me to let you in on a secret," Vlad said finally, cutting through his thoughts and leaning towards him slightly. "The majority of people in college have no idea what they are doing. They do not suddenly have all the answers to life just because they have hit past eighteen. Your peers? Who cares what they think they'll do with their lives? Most of them will waste several years getting pointless degrees that don't pay, go into debt, and never be anything except mediocre. High school popularity is not an indicator of success."
That wasn't encouraging. If the A-listers were doomed to fail when they had plans, then what hope was there for him, who didn't?
Danny felt his shoulders slump and the disappointment he felt must have been evident on his face.
"Do not take what I said as being what is true in regards to you." Vlad continued with an odd sort of patience. "What I meant was… if you do not know who you are or what you are doing, then you are in good company. There is plenty of time."
Time.
Danny closed his eyes, swallowing thickly. He didn't really want to think about time either.
"Everyone talks about college like it's the answer to everything," he said instead, sighing deeply. "I don't even know if I could get into college."
Vlad shrugged, leaning back in his fancy chair. "It may be the answer for some people. It wasn't for me."
"No?"
The older man shook his head, his eyes growing a little dark. His fingers steepled under his chin as he thought. "No. I went to school, of course, but my education was… cut short. I made a name and a life for myself later."
Oh yeah. That was kind of a dumb thing to forget.
The accident that had started everything; the prototype portal. His parents' first mistake and their first accidental creation had been Vlad before it had ever been him. In the past, Vlad had been openly hostile about expressing their part in ruining his life. It seemed overly dramatic and petty at the time, considering the dude was incredibly successful and a multi-billionaire to boot. What could he possibly have to complain about?
It was true what people said about getting older though; Danny found, even if he couldn't excuse the attempts on his parents' lives, that he understood a little more why Vlad was and had been so angry for all this time. He felt the same way sometimes - he just had a family connection to his "creators" that tempered his anger and turned it more into hurt and frustration than anything else.
"What was it like?" Danny asked hesitantly. "When… when you had your accident?"
He couldn't remember if he'd ever asked Vlad that before. He knew some details, of course. But… neither of them had ever just sat down and talked about it either. The fact that they'd been so hostile towards each other hadn't exactly encouraged friendly conversations. He was surprised to realize how much he wanted to hear about it now. Was it anything like what he'd gone through?
"Different than yours, I imagine." Vlad said quietly, after a long moment of silence. "I was hit with a much smaller level of ectoplasm than you were. If I understand correctly, you developed your powers in the immediate aftermath of your accident?"
Danny nodded, his mouth feeling dry.
"Right away," he said quietly, remembering the haunting sounds of the portal coming to life and the subsequent sparking of electricity. He didn't like thinking about it very much, even now. "I woke up as… as Phantom. It was terrifying."
Terrifying to look into a mirror and see a face that he didn't recognize. To realize that the glowing green eyes in the mirror belonged to him... to realize that he was phasing through objects and to hear the faint ghostly echo of his own voice as he panicked and cried... he had thought he was dead. Changing back to his human form hadn't helped and the weeks of fear and depression and accidents that had followed had been just as confusing as they were frightening. He'd adjusted because he'd had to and now... now this was who and what he was.
He couldn't change it and didn't want to. But it didn't make his reality any easier.
"I didn't." Vlad revealed. "It took a long time before my powers manifested themselves."
"You were in the hospital."
"Yes. Poked and prodded like a little lab rat or otherwise kept in isolation." Vlad sneered to himself. He sounded more like his old self than he had in a while and Danny swallowed, regretting having brought that part of his former enemy out again. He was enjoying the friendliness between them and would be sorely disappointed if it were to come to a premature end.
Fortunately, Vlad's rise in anger didn't seem to last very long and none of it was directed at him. The older halfa merely scrubbed at his face with one hand, sighing deeply and shaking his head minutely.
Still. As much as Danny felt like he could be toeing a line, he wanted to ask.
"Did… did my parents really never visit you? You know, when you were in the hospital?"
Vlad shook his head. "No, they didn't."
...how could they create something that had hurt their friend in such an obvious way, literally put him in a hospital... and just walk out of his life like nothing had ever happened? Danny felt his heart sink, feeling sad for both of them.
"There are a lot of reasons why they might have chosen not to come. I… I doubt it was malicious." Vlad added reluctantly, shrugging slightly.
Danny raised his eyebrows, privately wondering how much pride that had cost Vlad in order to admit. It was a change, for sure.
"I'm sorry," he offered hesitantly. "That it all happened the way that it did."
"Don't apologize," Vlad said instantly, waving a hand with a certain dismissive air. "It was nothing that you did."
Fair enough. The older man didn't seem like the type who appreciated pity and Danny could respect that, if nothing else. But still. His parents had been the one to create both of them and Danny knew that as long as he kept his secret a secret, then there would never be an apology extended his way either. He would never admit it to anyone... but he wanted one. It seemed like the least he could ask for and he couldn't.
"It… it's upsetting, sometimes." he admitted after a minute or so passed, feeling unwanted tears prick at the corner of his eyes. "That my parents did this to me and they don't even know how much… how much they hurt me."
It wasn't fair.
"Would you feel better if they knew?"
Danny swallowed, shaking his head. "No," he said quickly. "No, I wouldn't. Because I don't want them to feel bad and I don't want them to… to look at me any different. To look at me and wonder if they could… could fix me, you know? I don't want to be their experiment."
It sucked that he wanted to protect them at all. But he did - he loved them and they didn't even know. Besides, the less people that knew, the better. One day, if the Guys in White ever got wise enough to suspect him as being Phantom and if they came around knocking, no one in his family would have to lie to the government either. Ignorance was bliss.
Vlad seemed to understand, humming quietly in agreement. The sound of the grandfather clock ticking in the corner was the only sound between them for the next few minutes, both of them lost in thought.
"If it is any consolation… I think that they care about you more than they care about their obsession." Vlad finally offered.
Danny snorted quietly, looking down at the desk. If that had been true, then they wouldn't have left the basement door unlocked with the portal that they had built. If that was true… surely they would have noticed something by now.
"I'm not taking the risk."
Not yet, at least. Maybe one day. But not now. Not when his life was already confusing enough as it was. Adding two more people in on his secret wouldn't make that any easier. Especially having to deal with the guilt that would inevitably follow. He'd rather continue pretending to be normal.
A different sort of silence stretched between them and it wasn't uncomfortable. He needed a break from talking for a few minutes. This was more emotion and feel-good stuff than he was used to. There were no cameras in this room that Danny could see and so he let himself levitate off the desk, changing positions so that he was reclining backwards in a lazy sprawl in the air. He tucked an arm behind his head and let a small ball of glowing green plasma appear in his hand. He tossed it upwards before letting it drop again, catching it like a ball. He did it a few more times, content to entertain himself for a little bit.
He should probably go back out into the fray and find Tucker. He was probably worried.
Danny glanced over at Vlad, who had turned his attention to his phone. It looked like he was sending a text. With a half smirk, Danny tossed his ball at him and was amused when Vlad lifted a hand and caught it without looking up, before lightly throwing it back at him.
They repeated the exchange a few times, both of them lost in their own thoughts. The minutes kept ticking by and without any prompting at all, a different, uneasy sort of feeling grew in his chest; Danny wanted to know the answer to this particular question but he was also afraid of what that answer might be. It occupied his mind more often than not.
He caught his ball one final time and then reabsorbed the energy, flexing his fingers slightly as they tingled in response. He closed his eyes for a moment, bracing himself and then asked,
"We can't die, can we?"
Vlad looked up at him quickly and Danny felt his heart pound in his chest a little harder at the expression that was on his face. He drifted a little closer to the desk and slowly sank down until he was sitting in the leather chair across on the opposite side of Vlad's desk and waited.
The older halfa hesitated to answer, obviously surprised by the question. But then finally, he just shook his head. "No. We cannot."
Confirmation.
He had suspected that it was true after than night in the cemetery. He'd lost so much blood. Vlad had explained to him in the aftermath some of the science behind the weapon that had shot him... but essentially, it had all amounted to the fact that he hadn't been healing because he'd been dying.
Danny swallowed, feeling his throat tighten with emotion. "H-how long have you known that?" he asked hoarsely.
"I've suspected it for several years. But I've only been able to confirm it in the last year and a half."
The last year… around the same time that he'd come off of his villain high and started trying to make peace between them. Maybe a few months before Vlad had found him in that damn cemetery.
"Have you… stopped?"
"Aging?"
"Yeah."
Vlad nodded again. "Only in the last two years. I haven't aged since I turned forty-four."
Forty-four. What about him? They had been different ages when they'd had their accident. Danny had changed quicker - he was still getting taller but... how much time did he have?
"And me?" Danny dared to ask.
"I suspect that you will continue to age until perhaps your mid-twenties." Vlad said quietly.
A tight, miserable feeling grew in his chest. He wanted to keep his cool at the same time that he wanted to bawl his eyes out. God, he didn't want this. His life was gone. Taken before his eyes and he was going to have to watch everyone he had ever loved die. They were all going to continue on, aging and living and eventually abandon him in death and he was going to be completely alone forever.
He could visit them in the cemetery.
Graveyards. That was what his future would amount to. Visiting graveyards to be with all the family and friends he'd collect along the years and then lose, one by one. Danny didn't realize that he had actually started crying until he suddenly couldn't see through the tears that were streaming down his face.
Damn damn damn. He pressed his face into his hands, choking back a sob that was building in his throat. He hated crying and Vlad was the very last person he wanted to be weak in front of. But now that he knew for certain, it seemed so completely overwhelming that he didn't know how to just turn it all off.
"I guess I can be grateful that I probably won't go bald first," Danny choked out, trying to laugh. It didn't sound like a laugh though. None of this was anywhere close to funny.
His mid-twenties. How long could he pretend to be twenty? How long before people noticed, once he was in his thirties and forties... that he wasn't aging? What was going to happen? How did he do this? Was he destined to run and hide and leave everyone behind? Was his existence going to be spent avoiding powerful people that wanted to experiment on him?
"Daniel," There were hands on his shoulders and Danny opened tear-filled eyes and saw that Vlad was squatting in front of him now. Danny sobbed again, feeling hot and desperate and alone. He didn't want to do this - he almost wished that he hadn't asked except that he had already known. "Daniel," Vlad said again. "Look at me."
Danny couldn't bring himself to do it - a few minutes went by as he tried to get ahold of himself. Vlad's presence was steady and consistent. Finally, Danny got his breathing under control and scrubbed fiercely at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt before meeting Vlad's steady gaze. It was strange how much the older halfa had seemed to change.
"I know it seems daunting and I know that I am not someone you fully trust," Vlad said simply and there was something calming in the fact that the older halfa was being so calm. It felt like an anchor, soothing and taming his own hurt and pain, even if just a little bit. "But it will be alright."
Alright.
Danny barked a laugh that was also a sob. "You can't promise that," he said miserably, shaking his head. "It feels l-like everyone has already died. Or like I'm dead and I… I - I can't do this, Vlad. I don't want this! I don't want this, Vlad - I don't want this."
He didn't want to live forever. Who would ever want this? To be forced to watch everything and everyone he had ever loved move on and be the only one left?
Why had his parents ever built that damn portal? Why did they do this to him?
God, none of this was fair! Danny scrubbed at his face again, sniffing and crying miserably. He could already feel a headache coming on. A box of tissues appeared in his line of sight and he glanced at Vlad again before taking it from him with a heavy sigh. He sat the box down in his lap and pulled a few tissues out, blowing his nose.
"You can't make promises like that, Vlad." Danny repeated sadly, his voice wobbling. "You just can't."
A hand was hesitantly placed on top of his head - some weird attempt at comfort. Tears streamed down his face and Danny hoped that it would stay.
"Perhaps not," Vlad allowed after a few seconds. "But, what I can promise is that I will be around much, much longer than either of your parents will be. If nothing else… you won't be alone."
Danny blinked, meeting Vlad's eyes. He'd never really seen Vlad look sad before - but he did now. Sad and maybe a little scared too. They were in the same boat, he realized slowly. In all of the same ways. Some of the misery and terror he felt at the idea of existing forever abated just a tiny bit. Someone - someone - would be around to endure it with him.
It was a small comfort.
Danny let himself cry for a little bit longer and Vlad seemed willing to just let him. He didn't know how they were going to do this. He didn't know how he would be able to do any of this and it felt miserable and daunting to even try. It felt like having been handed a death sentence - the minutes of his life were ticking by except it was the minutes of everyone else's lives that he was now counting.
The countdown to loneliness.
He swallowed, shuddering a little as he tried to get his breathing under control. Vlad's phone buzzed a few times but was completely ignored. A few minutes later, there was a very subtle shift in the air and Danny felt a cold chill just before his breath fogged the air in front of him once more. Though not visibly but in a more ghostly sense, he recognized one of Vlad's duplicates merging into the older halfa.
Vlad leaned back from him for the first time, standing up and leaning against the edge of his desk.
"Mr. Foley is looking for you." he said, watching him carefully.
Right.
"Tucker," Danny corrected quietly. He'd almost forgotten about his friend entirely - and the fact that he was even here tonight at this stupid function. To get a higher grade. It hadn't been his cup of tea a few hours ago and now it just felt stupidly trivial. "Mr. Foley sounds weird."
Vlad rolled his eyes. "A little too familiar for my tastes."
Danny nodded , not really in the mood to banter or argue now.
"Will you be alright?"
"It's a lot to take in." he admitted. "I had thought... after that night... I was thinking maybe I couldn't die. I just kept hoping it wasn't true."
"I understand."
Danny pursed his lips and then nodded again. Slowly, he stood up, tossing his used tissues in a nearby trash can and shrugging back into his coat jacket. "I guess I should go find him," he said tiredly. It was a weird feeling that came over him now - everything felt too big. The future too unknown. Now, more than ever, he felt like he was treading water in a cold, dark pool that had no bottom.
"You should," Vlad agreed slowly, though his tone wasn't quite as confident. "Before he calls in reinforcements and disrupts the evening entirely."
"He wouldn't do that here," Danny muttered. Vlad placed a hand on his shoulder and walked with him to the door. he pushed it open and then they were stepping back out into the hall.
"I assure you, he would. As would you and the rest of your friends. You have hardly ever been subtle."
"You're one to talk. You literally held a college reunion in your home castle in order to attempt murder." Danny stopped at a water fountain and took a drink before wetting his hands and scrubbing his face for a moment.
Vlad only hummed, waiting for him. "Not one of my finest moments but I assure you, a great deal of thought went into the whole thing."
"How comforting."
Did it even matter if Vlad had wanted to kill his dad? Danny wasn't sure - things like that weren't okay. Vlad... Vlad wasn't a great person. Maybe not evil, since he wasn't really inclined to think in those terms as much as he had been when he was fourteen.
He didn't really care right now, Danny decided tiredly. Not even a little bit. Maybe later, it would matter again. But Vlad was... Vlad was important now. If only because they were exactly the same and were being forced to endure the same fate together. A murder attempt seemed kind of small in the face of that reality.
They got closer to the dining hall and auditorium where the speeches were going to be held - the chattering of voices was much more noticeable now. Danny hesitated, not wanting to go back into that room with all those people. He wasn't certain if he could keep it together. Vlad seemed to notice his hesitation and stepped in front of him, placing his hands firmly on Danny's shoulders.
"Breathe. Lift your head, square your shoulders. Have the attitude that this is something you can rise above," Vlad instructed, his voice taking on a somewhat sterner tone. "Go home and do whatever you have to do to raise your grade in political science. Stay up all night if you have to. Make it matter."
"It doesn't," Danny protested, somewhat taken aback. He didn't know what he wanted to do once he left this stupid function but it sure as hell wasn't homework.
"Which is precisely why it should." Vlad said simply.
"Danny!"
Both of them looked up at the sound of his name.
It was Tucker. He had a stressed out, somewhat desperate look on his face and he jumped forward, grabbing Danny's arm and boldly placing himself between Danny and Vlad, ready for a fight.
"What the hell did you do to him, you creep -" Tucker started, his eyes flashing.
"Tucker, stop." Danny said, feeling somewhat exasperated. Tucker shot him an incredulous look, clearly concerned and Danny almost felt bad when he remembered that none of his friends knew about anything that had been taking place between him and Vlad. For all Tucker knew, they were still mortal enemies and Vlad had done something creepy and weird to him. "Everything is fine."
"Dammit, nothing is ever fine when it's Vlad," Tucker exclaimed quietly, lowering his voice when a few important looking people walked by, giving them side eyes. He turned his attention back to Vlad. "What did you do this time?"
Vlad slowly tucked his hands into his pockets, coming across as rudely casual. "Nothing." he said simply.
"We were just… talking, Tucker." Danny explained awkwardly.
"And what, it was so emotionally stirring that it made you cry?"
Ah. Danny scrubbed his face with the arm of his jacket again, realizing for the first time that, even if he'd stopped, the fact that he'd been crying was probably still perfectly obvious. He flushed, embarrassed.
"Long story," he said dismissively. He wasn't ready to share what he and Vlad had talked about - he didn't even know how to start a conversation like that and if he was being honest, he wanted to put it far out of his mind for as long as he could. "Listen, I promise I'm fine. I'm fine, my dad is fine… everything is good, man."
"Mr. Masters!"
This time, all three of them turned and a hurried looking usher had a relieved look on his face. "Sir, we've been trying to contact you. You're next to speak."
"I apologize for the delay," Vlad said promptly. "I had to take an important call. I'll be there momentarily."
The usher nodded his head. "About four minutes, Sir." Then he ducked back through the door he'd came from, probably to let someone know that Vlad had been found.
"You're speaking?" Danny asked curiously. He wasn't certain why that surprised him, but it did.
Vlad flashed him an amused look, ignoring Tucker entirely. "If you'd read the program, you would have seen that I was invited to make a few comments."
Oh. Right.
"Whatever."
"Go do your homework," Vlad said, patting him on the shoulder. "Call me if you need to." He said, giving him a meaningful look before passing by them both with a confident stride. Danny had a feeling that if he did need to call, that Vlad would pick up no matter what time it was. It was... it was a nice feeling and made him feel a little less alone.
"Don't tell me what to do, fruitloop." Danny said in response, following him through the door. Tucker kept by his side, glancing between both of them incredulously and very clearly confused.
The older halfa only chuckled before disappearing into the crowd of politicians once again, making his way to the podium.
Danny watched him for a long moment, a sad smile quirking at his lips. He didn't know anything anymore and he was far from being okay. More than anything, he wanted to go home and be miserable in bed for the next few days. But... someone understood and that was more valuable to him than anything else in the entire world right now.
He let Tucker grab him and push him up near one of the walls, where they were out of earshot from other attendees.
"You sure you're alright?" Tucker whispered, eyes wide. "What happened? What did he want?"
Danny shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Tuck." he said quietly. "We really were just talking. …everything is fine."
Tucker didn't look like he believed him.
That was fair.
It was a lie, after all.
But maybe… maybe before he went home and did homework… maybe he'd stay for just a little bit longer and listen to Vlad's speech.
A/N Whew! This was FUN to write. Very depressing but I am incredibly weak for these two idiots getting along with each other like this. So much angst potential. Neither of them are having a particularly great time adjusting to this realization that they really aren't going to die. It's got to be it's own kind of hell.
Thanks so much for reading!