Chapter 16

Contrary to what both of them thought would happen, and what Danny prepared to put a stop to if needed, Plasmius' darker half didn't suddenly consume him to try and drink Danny dry.

Instead, Plasmius' grip gentled to a point that Danny almost thought that the older halfa was about to push him away, but strong arms pulled him closer instead and he groaned at the feeling of those fangs sinking even deeper into his skin.

He tried to pull in energy from his surroundings as Plasmius continued to feed until he was sure that he was going to pass out, but then a wave of energy swept through him, and his eyes widened as he realized that Plasmius was cycling the energy between them, leaving him feeling almost high from the other's power.

Finally, the older male pulled away slightly before leaning his head on Danny's shoulder, "That was quite a dangerous gamble that you just pulled…what would you have done if I lost myself?"

Danny rolled his eyes, but the action was slowed due to the blood loss, "I would've done what I always do."

Plasmius lifted a brow even as he lifted his head to look at Danny, "And that would be?"

The smirk Danny threw him was downright sinful, causing Plasmius to instinctively lean closer in anticipation before Danny's next words almost had him falling over, "I improvise."

Plasmius shook his head in frustrated amusement before he froze and Danny looked at him in concern, "What's wrong?"

A thoughtful expression crossed Plasmius' face, "I believe I know why we couldn't siphon energy from the Ghost Zone during that fight. I suspected it earlier, but didn't want to tell you until I had more proof instead of following a wild guess."

Danny's eyes widened in shock, "What do you mean? Wasn't that just the area itself or a fluke?"

Plasmius shook his head, "I got hit with the same device I used on you when you snuck in and I believe that it may have cut off our connection to the energy in the Ghost Zone."

That definitely wasn't something Danny expected to hear and his expression became troubled, "So how do we win? The Dr. Evil wannabes seem to have quite a few of those devices and we don't know when one of the stronger ghosts is going to try and come for my head."

Danny's words caused Plasmius to instinctively tighten his hold in displeasure, "We deal with one threat at a time. First, we attack the scientists' main lab and obtain a list of the smaller labs as well as two of the devices, then we recalibrate one of the devices to undo the effects on ourselves."

Danny frowned in thought before he nodded, "That could work, but we don't even know where their main base is."

He expected Plasmius to agree with him, but instead, the older halfa slightly cringed, "I may have been able to extract the information just before I burnt the ones that attacked us to a crisp."

Danny knew that, if it had been in the past, he'd be ranting and raving about Plasmius being evil right about now, but then the image of his name on a door and a bed with straps flashed through his mind, and realized that he didn't feel anything other than anger toward them.

He noticed that Plasmius seemed to be waiting for his response so he nodded in agreement, causing the tenseness to leave Plasmius' body entirely before he turned back into Vlad, somehow dragging Danny's transformation along with his.

For a moment they blinked at each other in surprise, but then Vlad chuckled, "It seems that our energies are now more in tune than I first suspected. How do you feel?"

Danny was about to say, "Sore", but then he paused and inspected his body for a moment before he looked up at Vlad in surprise, "It's healed! But how?!"

The older man grinned, "With our energies being so compatible, I was able to heal you while you allowed me to drink from you."

Danny was about to get up, but Vlad dragged him back down with a chiding look, "That does not mean that you can simply get up and fight. We will rest for the remainder of the night until I am sure that you have fully recovered. Only then will we make our move."

Danny nodded almost reluctantly before he settled down on Vlad's chest, "You know, I never expected my frustrating boredom to end in this."

A soft rumble underneath his ear told him that Vlad was laughing, "I never foresaw this either, but that doesn't mean I didn't dream of it. Albeit, admittedly, in a much different setting until I realized that I could lose you."