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The Life We Fight For

Chapter 12: The Light of Truth

There were many emotions billionaire Vlad Masters had felt in his life.

Fear, however, was not often one of them.

No, indeed, he was accustomed to the luxury of control, over anything and anyone he so wished. He could admit, such luxuries of meticulously developed ghost powers and more than sufficient finances could have softened him to pain and sadness. Although...

The lifeless look of Daniel's unconscious face automatically forced butterflies of anxiety to play in his stomach. As Vlad Plasmius flew toward his home, his thoughts grew dark.

At first, he was practically gnashing his teeth in frustration, wondering why on earth Daniel had attracted the Fenton's attention just to fly off as he had. But Vlad knew, deep down...he was to blame.

'He trusted me...barely, but he did.' Vlad thought. 'A little over a week ago he would've tried to attack me just for being in his space, and now...'

But did Danny ever trust him, really? The teen did make it clear he preferred their relationship to stay businesslike and focused on their mutual goal, but Vlad wanted so desperately for Daniel to grow fond of him and give him at least friendly respect that he could admit to slightly losing sight of their plan that he had so desperately tried to go through with this entire week.

Guilt was not an easy thing to cope with for a regular person, let alone Vlad Masters, who almost never succumbed to such a pitiful feeling. How could he desire to be a father to Daniel if he couldn't even keep him safe? The question only made him angrier at himself, and the person behind this, who was so casually pulling the strings on Maddie the Marionette.

The flight was a quick one, barely 3 minutes before Vlad had caught sight of the mansion and teleported. Normally he did not attempt to teleport with another being, but he was close to desperate. As he entered the house, he shouted at the top of his lungs for his staff through the intercom system, arms still full with Danny's limp form.

"Godfrey! Meet me in the infirmary, now!" He demanded, before flying to the location himself.

His thoughts were scattered in a fevered frenzy as he set Daniel down as carefully as possible on the crisp sheets. Somehow, Daniel looked worse than before. He was sweating now, and his arm had curled around his middle, his eyebrows creased unhappily.

Vlad couldn't only hope he hasn't gotten to Daniel too late. Godfrey appeared within a minute, his eyes scanning the room before finding Danny.

"Dear Lord, not the child." He muttered, his usually friendly face creased in concern.

"Quit gawking and get over here!" Vlad commanded, pulling at the teen's jumpsuit to gain access to the more concerning wounds, one of which was a painful looking blast mark to his left side, along with a steadily bleeding set of cuts along his right calf and arm.

Godfrey snapped out of his stupor and jumped to retrieve the necessary equipment. All the while he was quizzing Vlad on the events that led up to their current predicament. However something about the story startled him.

"Hold on a moment, did you say the boy's mother had blood blossoms?" Godfrey said as he examined Danny's face and head for anything that could resemble trauma resulting in a concussion.

"I did, why? Ah- and pass me the antiseptic." Vlad replied.

Godfrey did as requested and continued with a strained voice, "Sir, you claim the young sir worsened upon your arrival, do you not think this is because there are a good amount of blood blossom plants in the greenhouse?"

Vlad started, giving an alarmed but contemplative look at Godfrey before replying carefully.

"How would he be able to sense them?" He debated. "They are kept under special plants that produce a shield to keep its affect from those outside of it."

Godfrey remained silent for a moment, his eyebrows creased in thought. A frown was present on his face while his right hand rested gently on Danny's unhurt arm.

"Sir... You don't think..."

Vlad looked up this time and grew worried at the look on his Head of Staff's face. "What?" He questioned.

"You don't suppose, the day he first came here... His mother... Intended to end him this same way?"

Vlad paused, thinking. It made sense. It made perfect, terrible sense! Why the boy did not get better as quickly when he came to live with him, or why his core kept acting up. His body had to have been exposed to it on a grand scale, but it was possible that Daniel became hypersensitive to the effects of the Blossoms. Blossoms which, unfortunately, he kept in his greenhouse. For a normal ghost the shield around them would have sufficed, but to a hypersensitive teenager it was most likely hindering his recovery, or worse.

"I'll be back shortly, alert me if he wakes." Vlad said, and without further explanation, he headed off in the direction of the back of the enormous house.

He flew to the greenhouses and passed his poor, confused groundskeeper to enter the only greenhouse with a fingerprint lock and opened the door after gaining entry. He then speed walked to the back of the structure and spotted his prize.

Under the green, brightly glowing shield of the ghostly plant years ago called 'Spirit Blooms' by pagan Wiccans, were perfectly potted Blood Blossoms. Vlad had intended to use them to make a vaccine-type remedy for the plant's own effects, but he quickly threw that idea aside in favor of bringing forth powerful pink energy to his hands, making them glow even brighter than the ghostly shield, and plunged his hands through, burning both plants to a crisp.

A part of him was disappointed at his loss of the rare, special plants, but the larger part of him didn't care and simply hoped by destroying the offending herbs he'd now be able to revive Daniel.

Without another thought Vlad Plasmius left the greenhouse and flew up into the house, not giving a single care to any human who might have seen him. He then hurried to the infirmary and found Godfrey sitting by Daniel with a worried frown plastered on his features, and Daniel continued to lay still, looking rather like a mummy with most of his visible skin bandaged up.

"He's regained a bit of his color, and he looks a bit more relaxed." Godfrey reported once he saw the man come in. "What did you do, sir?"

Vlad ignored him for a moment in favor of taking a seat beside Daniel's bed and never taking his eyes off of his face, hoping that those toxic green, feisty eyes would flutter open any moment.

"Come on, Daniel." Vlad prompted brushing the snowy white bangs from Danny's face. "Wake up, I mean it."

Godfrey stood and this time his worry was turned to his employer. "Sir, I don't think-"

"Leave us!" Vlad ordered, his eyes shining bright crimson. He refused to believe Daniel wouldn't survive, he had tried so hard to keep him out of harm's way to let the boy go now.

Godfrey hesitantly left, giving one final glance to Danny, and shut the door behind him, leaving the two halfas alone.

"I implore you Daniel, if you can hear me, open your eyes..."

The first thing Danny noticed was how light he felt. More than he felt even in ghost form. His head was fuzzy and he had to blink a few times to clear it, not that it made much of a difference, there was only darkness all around him. It was suffocating, black, negative energy swelled inside him and he wrapped his arms around himself as he shivered, trying to force the feeling away.

"It's about time you met your end, don't you agree?" The voice, now frustratingly familiar, prompted from the darkness.

Danny realized with a start that he could not speak, it was as if his own vocal cords we afraid of breaking the deafening black silence that resumed after the villain's statement.

Suddenly, in front of him, a spot of negative energy, even blacker and darker than his prison, appeared and began to grow. He backpedaled away from it but it only grew faster and closer by the minutes. Danny tried to yell, to scream, anything, but his jaw was locked tight.

"You've been a nuisance for too long, halfa. Now I've won, fairly and truthfully, and now it's time for your punishment."

Danny was finally able to cry out as a bit of the tar-like substance touched his silvery white boot, creating a mild burning sensation and preventing him from moving his left foot.

"Just who are you, and what did I ever do to you?!" Danny cried, gasping and grunting as he tried to free himself.

"I suppose you've earned the right to know, now that our fight is over..." Danny's leg was now encased up to the ankle, and his right hand had gotten stuck in all his flailing. "My name is Deus Ivix. And what you have 'done to me' is simple. You exist. You defy all laws of order and naturality. You, are a mistake that never should have happened."

Danny remained silent in slight shock at the bluntness of the ghost's words. Admittedly, Danny had thought along the same lines a few times in his life, but to hear them said so hatefully, even by an enemy, was still a bit crushing. His body was becoming more and more trapped as he gave up on fighting, and simply grit his teeth against the hot, uncomfortable feeling of the darkness surrounding him limb by limb.

'I can't do this by myself anymore.' Danny admitted to himself. He dropped his head to his chest and weakly pulled at his arms to free them, but it was no use.

'Come on, Daniel.'

Danny flinched at the loud voice and brought his head up curiously. He knew that voice, and it wasn't his enemy's voice this time.

'Wake up, I mean it!'

A small, barely visible light appeared behind him, and Danny gasped, pulling at his confines toward the brightness. He couldn't quite reach it simply by stretching his only free hand toward it, the ball of glowing light was further away than his arm span could reach. Danny let out a frustrated cry and turned his attention to the growing darkness in front of him, trying to suck him in and possibly waste him. He dragged what little energy he had left from his core and brought it forth to his hands, letting out a powerful ectoblast that shook the darkness with its light and forced the darkness to recoil at its brightness. However Danny still wasn't completely free, and Deus' mocking laugh broke through while he struggled.

"It's hopeless, no one can save you, not him, not your friends, and definitely not your family. They don't care a wit about you, you were never supposed to be created!" Deus exclaimed.

But Danny refused to give up. He knew what the ghost was saying was fast from true. And now that he found himself able to speak, he voiced his objections loudly while striking out at his prison.

"You're so wrong, dude!" Danny declared, finally freeing one of his legs. "My friends would stick by me no matter what, they care about me more than most people care about their friends. And my family would do anything for me, they loved and cared for me since forever! It's only because of your stupid interference that we've fallen apart!"

Danny hesitated for a moment, considering his words, before continuing. "And Vlad may be a seriously flawed Fruitloop, but he helped me and was willing to put aside our differences to defeat you. So take my advice dude, and leave. Me. Alone!"

With one final pull, Danny broke free of the tar-like cage and sprinted in the opposite direction, toward that tiny bit of light he desperately desired.

As he reached out and his fingers brushed the bright light, his eyes lost the ability to stay open and the last thing he heard was Vlad's voice,

"Open your eyes, Daniel."

Danny's world exploded in aches and pains he was sure were not there when he collapsed, but he ignored it for the most part and focused on forcing his eyes to open. Thankfully the windows were not open and it was midday, otherwise Danny wasn't sure he could have opened them as easily.

The first thing he noticed was that he was not in the room Vlad had deemed his, but he did recognize his surroundings after a bit of a look around. He also noticed Vlad himself was beside him in ghost form, with his head tilted downwards and a deep frown settled on his face. Danny regained his bearings enough to turn to him and say in a cracked and hoarse voice,

"If you keep frowning like that it'll get stuck, you know." Ouch, his throat felt like sandpaper.

But it was worth it to see Vlad's head shoot up and stare at him with a shocked expression Danny rarely, if ever got to see. The man took all of a second to stare at the boy before jolting forward and pulling him in closer to embrace him.

At least, that's Danny had thought Vlad was going to do. He quickly realized otherwise when Vlad stood and bent over Danny with hand raised, his clear, intended target in sight as he pulled Danny forward.

"W-Wait!" Danny exclaimed in a panic, freezing.

"Do you have any idea how worried you made your friends, and the trouble you caused for Godfrey and myself?" Vlad demanded, his eyes stern and unbending.

Danny resisted the urge to gulp as he looked up as passively as he could while being stared down by the one person who was literally better than two of him. "Hold on a minute, It's not like I could have known that...She had..."

"Blood Blossoms? Is that what you meant to say?!" Vlad snapped.

Danny looked shocked but had no time to react because this thought seemed to send Vlad into a tangent.

"Honestly, all this time, I have asked, and been patient, and waited, calmly, for you to tell me what exactly happened to you the first day you came to me, I carefully expressed varying reasons of why it was important to tell me." Danny had taken to looking down at the man's shoes while he continued. "Yet you still, for whatever reason, kept the fact that Maddie somehow got her hands on a powerful and dangerous weapon against ghosts and had used them on you. Do you understand what has happened now because of that rash decision?!"

At first Danny just grit his teeth and continued keeping his gaze away from Vlad, but as the seconds ticked by and he realized he was supposed to answer, he simply shrugged, and was promptly given a sharp shake by Vlad. He finally answered in an annoyed but quiet voice. "No, sir."

"Your body has developed a more acute sensitivity to the plant, a plant which I had conveniently had growing in the greenhouses since before you arrived." This time, it was Danny who snapped his head up to look at Vlad in surprise. "It is clear that besides the fact that it was concealed from harming most ghosts, your developed hypersensitivity made it able to affect you and slow your recovery. It also explains why you had such a devastating reaction to it earlier."

Danny bit his lip, thinking of how something that looked and seemed so small and insignificant could inflict such damage to him and reduce him to looking this pathetic. He pushed away the barrage of impeding thoughts for now and finally answered Vlad.

"I heard you, in my head."

When Vlad didn't reply, silently asking him to elaborate, Danny slowly pulled himself back up, and Vlad loosened his grip slightly.

"I'm not sure how, or why, but I felt like something, or someone, had me backed into a corner...I thought I was gonna die Vlad." Danny paused for a moment, reorienting his thoughts. "But I could hear you, and see you, I think. I knew I had to get back to you and my family, so I kept listening for your voice, and it guided me out.

"Out of where, Daniel?" Vlad asked.

"I-I dunno, the dark..." Danny mumbled, unwilling to recall the ordeal just yet. "Y-you... made me f-feel safe."

As soon as he'd said it, Danny regretted telling Vlad how he'd felt so bluntly. Vlad didn't outright laugh at him, thankfully, but he would not- or could not- respond. The two stayed quiet for several moments, which seemed to stretch on for years. The silence would have surely continued for hours, however Godfrey chose this moment to reenter the room and gave an exaggerated sigh as he hurried to Danny.

"Oh I knew I'd heard you two talking -goodness sir let the poor boy go- are you still in pain? Lie back now, you'll be alright." Godfrey fussed, shooing Vlad a few steps away.

"Godfrey." Vlad said, his voice just the slightest bit strained.

"Sir?" Godfrey questioned, suddenly getting a grip on the tension surrounding the two half ghosts.

It was as if Vlad was contemplating a chessboard and carefully examining his pieces before coming to a final decision. Godfrey remained straight faced, though he could tell the two halfas had tension piling around them.

"Make sure he eats." Was all the billionaire said before turning in one swift motion and heading out of the room. Danny felt his spirits fall.

He'd gone and messed everything up, now. He just had to say he'd hallucinated the guy in his coma-dream. Now Vlad would think he was weak, not that it mattered. Danny tried to tell himself everyday it was only temporary, and this only proved it further. He just wasn't meant to be with Vlad.

He wasn't good enough.

Godfrey watched the boy all but implode on himself in grief and gently clasped Danny's unhurt shoulder. Danny didn't even flinch. His eyes burned with sadness for all of three seconds before he turned to Godfrey and his face lost all trace of negativity.

"So, I'm thinking Chinese for dinner, or lunch, whatever time it is. What do you think?"

Godfrey wasn't sure how the boy did it, acting so casual, but somehow Godfrey understood that he shouldn't push him. He gave Danny a half-hearted smile and nudged him into a laying position while he replied.

"Indeed, I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'll let the cook know immediately. And, it is half past 5 o'clock, young sir." Godfrey said, before tending to Danny more worry some injuries, which were the only things that were really wrong with him, his super fast healing has turned all of his previously deep cuts and gashes to bruises already. But there were a couple ectoplasmic gunshot wounds, one on his right side and shoulder, and another on his left thigh, that were still visible and bleeding in a slow trickle through the bandages.

Again, as Godfrey helped him to the dining room (Danny refused to eat in the infirmary) Danny thought back to the situation at hand. Vlad had saved him, again. That made twice that Danny owed Vlad, big time. He didn't want to accept that Vlad might just want to keep him safe and protected because the fruitloop wanted Danny to join him, because it complicated the matter of them being enemies. And if there was one thing Danny couldn't stand against it was kindness, or even sympathy. They were emotions Danny just couldn't imagine applying to Vlad.

Besides, he still had a family, torn as it was at the moment. He still believed he could save them. He had to. He was the good guy, the superhero, the one who's supposed to save the day in the end. If he couldn't do it, who could?

The cook came to serve the halfas' dinner and Danny frowned, noticing the empty seat where Vlad usually sat at the head of the table.

"Isn't Vlad coming?" Danny questioned the man, as a large helping of fried rice and chicken was placed on front of him.

The chef, who Danny had learned went by Viktor, gave him a pitying glance as he quickly moved away from the table. "I'm sorry, young sir, he's informed me he will not be eating dinner tonight."

Danny's frown only deepened as he nodded and the employee went about his business back in the kitchen. Danny was slow in picking up his silverware for his mind was thinking entirely too quickly.

Did Vlad intentionally miss dinner to avoid him? Was he more upset than Danny had originally thought? Danny had thought that Vlad would be ecstatic that he didn't feel complete hate for the billionaire for the most part, but what if Vlad was getting tired of him? What if their alliance was really the only thing Vlad cared about...?

Danny wanted to scream in frustration but instead he shoved a forkful of rice in his mouth and stifled the sigh that threatened to come through. He resolved to ignore the issue. If Vlad wanted to play this game, Danny would accept the challenge.

After dinner Danny was permitted to stay in his own room, to which he quickly took advantage of and used the phone Vlad had given him to call one of the only people in his life that understood situations he was so clueless at dealing with. The phone only rang once before it was picked up.

"Danny! Are you okay? Gosh you were bleeding everywhere-"

Danny almost smiled hearing the voice of his best female friend. Even though he'd seen them both earlier that day, Danny still wished he could hang out with Tucker and Sam without the paranoia of being hunted down and caught.

"I'm fine, Godfrey fixed me up good as new. I don't even think I've got a new scar." Danny replied, looking over himself with contentment. That was one thing he especially appreciated about being half ghost. Wounds only half affected him most of the time. As long as he didn't suffer a direct hit from an ectoblaster or sharp object.

"I can't believe you ran- er- flew off like that. I thought we were supposed to be a team, Danny. You nearly got killed! Do you realize how stupid that was?!"

Sam's voice held an odd quiver in it and Danny bit his lip in remorse. He'd gone and made her worry about him again. Great.

"I'm sorry, Sam, you're right." Danny said, his free hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck. "I guess I just haven't been thinking straight lately."

"Does it have to do with Vlad?" Sam asked bluntly. Danny resisted the urge to cringe.

"How'd you know?" He questioned. Was it obvious?

"From the way you were looking at him during the speech, I could tell something was up. I don't know what happened between you two, but you should be trying to get along, you know."

Danny sighed softly and withdrew his free hand to rest on the pillow beside him, tracing its swirling Milky Way design. "It's just awkward living with a guy that thinks your whole family should be...different. Vlad wants me to become some kind of son to him, but I just can't do that, I already have a father."

Sam contemplated his words carefully, the cogs in her head turning in thought. On the one hand, Vlad was bad news to the Fenton family. On the other hand, right now the Fenton's we're different and Vlad could offer protection, and not to mention now that he was mayor their initial plan to get the guns and government funding away from the trigger happy Fenton parents could go into action.

"As much as I know you're not gonna like it, I honestly believe you shouldn't be pushing Vlad away right now. He's your ally, at least, right now he is." Said Sam. Danny remained quiet so she continued. "Besides, what's going to happen if you can't figure out what's going on with your mom within the next week? Or month? Think about it Danny, maybe... You may want to start looking for another familiar face to fill a familiar role..."

Danny grit his teeth, trying not to shout. Everyone wanted him to give up on his family, it seemed. His sister was outright disowning them, and Vlad never wanted his parents together in the first place. The odds were so unfairly stacked against him and his chances of returning to his normal life, it made him almost angry. He breathed in deeply, away from the phone's microphone, calming himself before replying.

"I'm sorry Sam, but I can't. At least...Not until I'm sure that there's no way things can go back to normal."

He heard a haughty voice echoing from Sam's side and she gave an irritated huff at the noise before she said,

"I just hope you know what you're doing, Danny. I gotta go." She hung up and Danny was left to endure the silence of the large house alone.

Danny wanted so badly to be able to figure out just who exactly this Deus Ivix was, he wished he could go into the ghost zone for answers. Surely Frostbite would know something, but knew the second Vlad caught wind of such an idea he'd be locked up in his room forever.

With Vlad back in his mind Danny felt a weight settle in his chest. So much had happened in the span of less than two weeks and Danny was already on the brink of distraction. The fact that he was almost suffocated with attention by The billionaire and his staff was both a refreshing change and a frustrating one. Refreshing, because living with scientists who were beyond dedicated to their work left little time for family. Frustrating because he knew Vlad was only helping him to get Danny on the man's side, to become like a father to Danny.

That thought was more nerve-wracking than he could handle.

If Vlad changed- that is, if he became not evil- Danny didn't know how he could fight him. He was able to keep the billionaire at arm's length simply because he reminded himself every minute of every day he was stuck here that it was only temporary. They would go back to being enemies soon enough.

But what if they didn't? What if it wasn't so easy to return to normal, and Vlad was able to alter his ways, convince Danny to not hate him?

Danny shuddered at the thought. Better to stay neutral, then. He should only treat Vlad as a... Business partner. That couldn't be too hard.

Speaking of Vlad...

Danny was still slightly irked that the guy had skipped eating dinner with him. It wasn't only completely out of character for Vlad, it was downright rude! Danny had almost died for pity's sake, the least the billionaire could do was show up to dinner.

With former doubts concerning what he'd said to the man earlier banished from his thoughts, Danny got up- a bit shakily- and headed off to find Vlad. Easier said than done, of course. Danny had at least 4 basic guesses as to where Vlad could be:

Most likely, he was in the lab. Where Danny wasn't usually allowed to go, unless Vlad was with him. He'd have to check there last, then. Second was the lounge, where Vlad liked to read in the evenings after dinner and sometimes dragged Danny along with him. The third was the man's study. He usually avoided it during the evening because that's where he did work and he preferred to, as he'd once said, 'unwind and relax one's mind and body', at that time. The final place, more like a last ditch effort, would be the room Danny encountered a couple days ago, where Vlad had been working with his electricity abilities when Danny interrupted him, with some shockingly painful results. Now Vlad felt the need to warn him against going near the room every time the older halfa was going to use it, which was beyond irritating.

Danny made his way to the closest area first, which was the second floor lounge. All of the largest bedrooms and bathrooms were on the second floor, along with Danny and Vlad's rooms there was a small library, a room just for Vlad's wardrobe, with a matching room for Danny's, a sauna that connected to both of their private bathrooms to use at their leisure, and of course, the lounge on the opposite side of the hall from Vlad's bedroom.

The lounge itself was not as large and fancy as the rooms on the first floor, which Godfrey had told him were more heavily decorated for aesthetic purposes than anything else. No, this room was always warm and cozy, for it had a large fireplace made of smooth sandstone that contrasted against the dark wood panels that made up the four tall walls. The ceiling held up a large but not too intricate chandelier of polished brass with lowly lit candles that sent dancing shadows across the walls.

While Danny had expected Vlad to be sitting by the fire deep in a book of some sort the man was nowhere in sight. His next best bet was either the lab or his study, and since he didn't want to get caught going to the lab if Vlad turned out not to be there, he decided to check the older halfa's study first.

The study, much like the lounge, was decorated modestly aside from the ornate desk that stood tall and regal in the center of the room surrounded by bookcases full of files and novels and a large window along the wall that was behind the desk. As Danny approached the intimidating room, he began to hear voices.

While it wasn't unusual for Vlad to house meeting from work in his home it was not usually this late and Vlad made it a point to let Danny know when there were humans in the mansion so that he didn't use his powers.

Intrigued and with nothing better to do, Danny listened in to the low voices in the study, from outside the decorated double doors.

"-Everyone who doesn't live under a rock knows there was a riot not too long ago." Vlad's voice filtered through. "I only ask you these questions because this seems to be something worthy of being hidden, perhaps you could shed some light on the subject?"

Danny frowned at the irritation in Vlad's voice and marveled at how he was acting. It was unlike Vlad to lose his cool. Then again, it was unlike Vlad to take visitors at this hour of the evening, as well.

"I'll tell you what I told your hunter friend." A voice, which Danny knew too well, replied in a western accent. "Observants paid me to keep that freak locked up- dunno why- so I did. Didn't think he'd be such a bother to keep caged, otherwise I wouldn't'a taken it. The one-eyed goop gang can be pretty convincing though, when they actually get involved in things 'round the Zone..."

That was Walker! It had to be! Danny's teeth ground against each other in anger. Of course, Vlad couldn't stop his evil schemes for too long before he was already trying to undermine everything Danny had been trying to tell himself about Vlad. Vlad was, and always would be, a criminal fruitloop. Plain and simple.

"The ghost, warden, tell me who we're dealing with here. I'm afraid I cannot help you recover the prisoner if I don't know who I'm looking for. Tell me, who is this ghost?" Vlad asked, with even more irritation in his voice. So much, that Danny was thankful he wasn't Walker at this moment. Vlad talking to you while in a bad mood was like a death sentence.

"Calls himself 'Deus Ivix', other than that, the Observants were tight-lipped on his crimes. They were paying me so much, I didn't exactly feel the need to look into his past." Walker's explanation seemed to only make Vlad more frustrated, as a deep sigh could be heard, before Vlad replied in a high-and-mighty voice,

"Well then, now would be a perfect opportunity to gain some of that missing information then, wouldn't it? If you want him caught without the council finding out, that is. Go to the Ghost Zone, and find everything you can on this Ivix ghost. Do not disappoint me, warden."

Danny backpedaled away from the door as he recognized the dismissal for what it was, and was just out of the way when Walker came walking out, grumbling and scowling at no one. Then, he caught sight of Danny and sneered at him with contempt.

"You! Listenin' in on conversations that got nothin' to do with you, is against the rules..." Walker's face contorted into a smirk as he advanced on Danny slowly.

"Uh, yeah, hate to break it to you, but that conversation had everything to do with me!" Danny exclaimed, raising his hand to fire an ectoblast at the warden ghost.

"Daniel." Vlad's voice rang out, stern but calm, as he approached the door. "Don't. It's not worth it."

Danny glared at Vlad, who was in ghost form, and turned his gaze back to Walker. The warden hadn't taken his eyes off of the younger halfa, but he was no longer advancing on him and simply stood casually, as if the whole thing was beneath him. Slowly, and with a hard look at the two Danny lowered his hand and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I believe you were dismissed, Walker. Do you honestly need to be escorted out?" Vlad snapped, and Walker was suddenly tense again.

The ghost jailer huffed and left as fast as he could walk with his dignity intact. Danny watched the skeleton-looking man leave until he rounded a corner and was out of sight. Then, he turned to Vlad.

"Why'd you stop me?" He asked bluntly.

"The short answer?" Vlad replied, keeping his eyes averted from Danny's. "You're injured, and I'd rather not mop the floor with your blood, thank you. Speaking of which..."

Danny yelped as he was scooped up into Plasmius' strong arms and carted off in an unknown direction. He thrashed in the elder's arms and found that his hurt shoulder was still sore. His eyebrows creased together and he settled for glaring at Vlad in embarrassment while he massaged his throbbing injury.

"I thought you were avoiding me." Danny said with a touch of sarcasm. "Didn't even bother to show up for dinner..."

"Would you prefer I continue avoiding you?" Vlad questioned, with full sarcasm. He waited for Danny to shake his head in reply before continuing.

"I've thought over a few things, and I've come to the decision that while I will still uphold my end of our bargain, there is nothing stopping me from trying to obtain another of my goals..." Danny barely thought before he spoke.

"You want me as your sidekick." Danny deadpanned.

"Oh, more than that, Daniel." Vlad said, and at this point the two had reached the stairs to the main floor and Vlad changed into his human form, sending a chill down Danny's spine. Was this how it felt when he changed beside Sam and Tucker?

"I want you as my heir, my protegé , I want to give you what Jack and Maddie can't and never could. I want you not as a sidekick, but a son, Daniel."

Danny felt Vlad's arms tighten slightly around him as they descended the stairs and he had to admit, he felt infinitely safer with Vlad than at FentonWorks. But, he still felt loyalty to the pair that raised him, that taught him the morals he chose to live by, that gave him the love and kindness he tried to extend to everyone he could. He bit his lip and looked away from the man's face.

"Vlad..."

"I know." Vlad interrupted. "I am nowhere near close enough to Jack's level of fatherhood. As much as it pains me to say. But you have to accept that regardless of current circumstances, I will still try to convince you to join me."

When Danny didn't respond right away, Vlad continued carefully.

"Think about it Daniel, what I could give you, what you could achieve here, with no distractions, no hiding in your own home..." Vlad slowed his pace and looked at Daniel for the first time since the boy had awoken. "Let someone else be the protector, for once."

Danny saw the sincerity in the older halfa's eyes, and felt a heavy weight in his chest. He couldn't accept Vlad's offer. He was needed to much, cared for and needed by his town of Amity. He couldn't give that up, not without a fight.

"As tempting as that sounds, not everyone can be bought that easily, Vlad." Danny said finally. Vlad simply nodded, and stopped walking.

At first Danny thought Vlad was going to drop him for the rejection, but he looked forward and realized where they were.

"Hungry much?" Danny said as they entered the kitchen and Vlad was able to put Danny down on a high metal stool that was kept in the corner. "I'm really not that mad about dinner, you know..."

Vlad turned and waved a bag of flour at Danny teasingly. "Then I suppose I'll have to eat all the cake myself."

"Whoa whoa whoa, you can make cake?" Danny said, suddenly feeling well enough to stand. "I take it back, I think I'm still hungry after all!"

Next Chapter: Danny's nightmares get more and more intense as the two halfas get closer and closer to solving the mystery of Deus Ivix.

Hoi~ I know, this is kind of a plot-moving chapter, so there's a lot to digest...Heheh. Just take your time, and read slowly XD you'll get it eventually.

Review, favorite, & follow~ Aaand remember, if you're review-shy just say SPARKLE so I know you exist.

See you all next time~

-P