Hi, hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Sorry for its' lateness, life and all that, you know? Please let me know what you think!

The Life We Fight For

Chapter 27: Day Off

Waking up refreshed and in good mood was an underappreciated phenomenon, hands down.

Having to rise at the crack of dawn every day for the past couple of months took all of the joy out of mornings. At least, Danny thought so.

Which was why he was so grateful that today was Saturday, and ever since yesterday's disaster Vlad had been dead set on cheering the kid up. He'd made sure Danny got all his favorites for dinner, and there was no lecture afterwards to get schoolwork done or to go to bed early. Vlad even suggested he hang out with his sister in the bowling alley rather than the usual routine training.

It wasn't exactly normal spoiling, but he'd take what he could get.

Vlad hadn't come to wake him up yet and Danny was perfectly content to lie in bed for as long as possible. Though he didn't feel the need to avoid Vlad anymore, the peaceful and quiet morning with its pale light shining through the curtains felt too good to pass up.

Until his sneeze broke the silence.

He blinked hard, running his sleeve under his nose. The action had come out of nowhere, jolting him out of his tranquil daze and effectively waking him up. He would've dismissed it as a fluke, but his eyes immediately began to water and he quickly pinched his nose as two more sneezes followed.

'Ouch,' Danny thought, 'what a wake-up call.'

He sat up, shivering as the blanket fell from his shoulders. The cold didn't normally bother him, but he wasn't in ghost form right now so he brushed it off as a human thing and made his way to the bathroom.

Danny went on autopilot, brushing his teeth with his eyes barely even open. But once again he had to pause and let out a sneeze. The sound of running water stopped and Danny looked down to see a frozen icicle instead of a steady, warm stream under the faucet.

"Okay, something's definitely up," Danny muttered, mouth still full of toothpaste.

When he finally exited the bathroom after a similar and much more uncomfortable incident in the shower, he almost felt more exhausted than before he'd gone in. Too tired to bother finding his phone, Danny opted for the easier route of pressing a button on the intercom by the door.

It was a signal for Godfrey, and though he hadn't been too happy with Danny the previous morning the chances that he'd ignore his call were slim to none. He flopped backward onto his bed once more and tossed an arm over his eyes. The golden light wasn't so much appealing as it was annoying now.

Danny must have dozed off because the next thing he knew he was flying into a sitting position at the loud sound of rapping on his door. The visitor didn't wait for an invitation and Danny soon found himself dazedly looking up at Godfrey's stern, weathered expression.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, young man?" asked Godfrey, "I haven't the slightest clue why Mr. Masters let you sleep in this late but I assure you-"

"I think I'm sick," Danny cut in. "I'm not really sure what's wrong, but..."

Godfrey seemed to cross the room quicker than lightning, his stern look gone and replaced by one of strict concern. Danny's voice was softer than usual and, as the distance between them shortened, Godfrey could see the haze of tiredness clouding the teen's eyes.

The butler tugged back his sleeves a bit. "Alright, sit up straight. Let me take a look at you."

Danny held as still as he could while Godfrey stared over him, his eyes shining a bit brighter than usual. After several moments he again looked to Danny, this time a bit more relaxed.

"I see no signs of injury or severe infection," he said, "but you do seem to have caught a nasty bug. I'll have to inform Mr. Masters immediately and suspend your schedule for today-"

"You can really see through stuff?!" Danny said, eyes wide. When Godfrey frowned at him he amended, "Sorry. Jazz told me you could, but I didn't think she was telling the truth..."

"It takes concentration, but yes, I can."

Godfrey's frown deepened as the other chose that moment to have a sneezing fit. A shudder ran through him as he felt the temperature sporadically plummet in tempo with Danny's outbursts. He quickly plucked a handkerchief from his pocket and pinched the boy's nose, ending the cold flashes.

"Thanks," Danny muttered nasally, taking the kerchief square from Godfrey.

Godfrey sighed and put a hand to the halfa's forehead, finding it slightly warmer than usual. By human standards this was no more than a simple cold, but if Danny's powers continued to act up it could mean trouble in the future.

"Lie still and rest for now," he ordered. "I'll see to it that the maids stay clear of here in their cleaning, and that the others are made aware of your condition."

"It's not that bad," Danny mumbled, but he didn't have the energy to argue further. He dropped to his back on the fluffy comforter, earning a chuckle from the old man for his antics.

Convinced he was not in danger of dying anytime soon, Godfrey left Danny to search for his employer.

When Vlad had told him Danny would be sleeping in he had been quite surprised indeed. It was a rare sight for the man to do something purely out of compassion, even for someone as special as Danny.

As Godfrey came silently around the corner en route to Vlad's study, he began to hear voices. Surprised, his eyebrows creased together and he quickly checked his pocket watch.

Half past eleven. He had not been told of any guests scheduled to arrive, especially at such an hour!

With curiosity gnawing at his ghostly core, Godfrey slowed his pace and tuned in to the conversation on the other side of the wall.

"As I've told you, there will be nothing to worry about if you simply do as you're told and do it efficiently." came Vlad's muffled voice. There was a low scoff before a new voice, one with a western accent, filled the room.

"I'm not sendin' my men to their graves- we lost plenty corralling that monster the first time 'round!"

"And if we don't stop Ivix now, he will end up terrorizing the Ghost Zone whether you like it or not," said Vlad. "He won't be satisfied with just my blood spilled, he'll go after every single one of you and trust me, you won't be strong enough to stop him."

There was a loud thud and the walls shook for a moment, causing Godfrey to jump and bite his tongue to keep quiet. If he had to guess at the situation, he'd say their visitor was not exactly happy with Vlad at the moment.

"So you want us to risk our necks so you and that delinquent can run free." There was a sigh, and several moments of silence passed before the voice returned, a bit softer. "But...I did imprison him. Which means I could end up a target sooner rather than later."

"Glad to see your intelligence hasn't gone with the years, Warden," Vlad replied. "I'll expect you to be on call at any moment for when I make this plan a reality. Ivix will go down by my hand, it's only a matter of when. Dismissed."

Godfrey didn't hear anything after that for a good minute. Safely assuming the person had chosen to leave via the ghostly route, Godfrey finally knocked on the study door and entered, hesitantly.

"Apologies for the interruption sir," he said as he closed the door behind him.

Vlad looked up from his desk only briefly, his focus on skimming through piles of letters and reports. Saturday was never an especially laid-back day for him as with others; there was too much work to be done both as a mayor and businessman.

"How much did you hear?" he asked seriously.

"Enough to determine this a very bad idea, if I may be blunt," said Godfrey. "If young Daniel finds out about this, it could-"

"He won't find out, and everything will be fine," Vlad assured him, setting down his last sheet, an unimportant review.

Daniel would never agree to let Vlad take the lead in their fight, nor call the shots when it came to using Walker's resources. He'd known from the start that the boy's plans to defeat Ivix were just wishful thinking, and Vlad didn't have time to indulge him any longer.

"Everyone seems to want to interrupt me today!" Godfrey huffed. "I'm telling you Mr. Masters, this cannot possibly end well! Besides, there's still very much we haven't learned about our enemy. This could go just as badly as Daniel's attempt."

"I'm not nearly as reckless as the boy, I assure you." Vlad said with finality. "Speaking of, I need to get him out of bed. So if that's all, Godfrey..."

Vlad stood, ready to cheer himself up by spoiling Daniel. He didn't exactly have anything specific in mind, but he figured the boy needed a break, especially after yesterday. And truthfully, so did Vlad.

"I'm afraid he won't be leaving bed for today," Godfrey said, getting Vlad's attention immediately. "He wasn't feeling well earlier, so I've sentenced young sir to bed rest."

Well that certainly dampened his already sour mood. Daniel really wasn't kidding when he said the universe liked to hand him the worst luck possible.

Though he wasn't exactly surprised, either.

After his trip into the Ghost Zone Danny had gone back to his normal schedule without pause or hesitation. His ghost form may not have suffered much since, but a human body required much more attention and care.

Vlad sighed, feeling slightly guilty for not having the forethought to ease up before now. He was used to a busy day on top of any ghostly activities, but perhaps he'd expected too much of the same from Daniel.

"I see. All the more reason to visit him, then," Vlad said simply.

Godfrey opened the door for him as he exited with no further comment than to dismiss himself to the kitchen. Vlad wasn't in the state of mind to listen to the advice of others, not now. He was glad his butler decided not to push the matter of Walker further.

Vlad tried to tell himself he wasn't worried, but as he made his way to Daniel's room he couldn't help remembering the Blood Blossom incident, and how vulnerable he had seen the boy during that time. When it came to his own health Daniel was more than a little careless.

Upon arrival, Vlad intangibly took a look into the boy's room and found him easily, sitting cross-legged on his bed. His arms were wrapped carefully around his abdomen and he seemed to nearly be dozing off.

"I see I've picked a good day to give you some time off," said Vlad as he phased fully into the room. Danny jumped, only to hunch back over immediately.

"Jeez, Vlad!" shouted Danny. "A little warning next time would be nice."

"Father to you," Vlad corrected, unaffected. "How do you feel? Godfrey informed me you were sick."

Vlad watched as Danny stalled his answer, first with a yawn, then by shrugging his shoulders. Not feeling particularly patient, Vlad placed his palm on the boy's forehead.

"I should have given you more time to rest from that fight," he said, "but I suppose we'll just have to do what we can to make sure this sickness is a short one."

Danny shook his head until the offending hand stopped touching him and glared at its owner. His threat level was near dismal at the minute, but old habits die hard...

"I'm not weak, fruitloop," said Danny.

"Father," Vlad snapped, "and weakness has nothing to do with it. If I thought so lowly of you, I wouldn't have let you stay in my home nor lend you my guidance and assistance."

Danny went to shrug without a word, knowing it would annoy Vlad, but quickly stopped. Even that small movement reawakened the aches and throbs in his body.

"You sure know how to compliment a guy," he muttered sarcastically. There were two Vlads in his vision now and, unfortunately, he didn't think the man had duplicated.

Danny shook his head a little, trying to clear the feeling of cotton stuffed inside it. He couldn't remember being this sick since he and Tucker had both caught colds. At least then he'd had someone to share the misery with.

"What is it?"

Great, he'd nearly forgotten Vlad was still in the room. Maybe if he closed his eyes and ignored him, he'd get the hint and go away.

With his head buried in his knees, Danny let out as quiet a sigh as he could manage. He wished he could be laying down instead, but his chest and stomach liked just about every position but the ones that were actually comfortable.

He felt the bed dip beside him and nearly groaned in annoyance. Why couldn't he suffer in peace?

A hand was placed on his back, too warm to be normal. Too strong to simply be human. His chest chose that moment to start throbbing, and Danny could only tense and clench his teeth against it.

"Daniel," Vlad called.

Again, Danny ignored him, only this time it was the fear of how vulnerable his voice would sound that fueled it. The hand on his back moved up to his shoulder, gently trying to pull him back to uncurl from his position.

But that slight movement had only aggravated the pain, causing Danny to instinctively jerk back into a ball. Vlad's grip on him tightened and Danny finally responded.

"Get off," he snapped, or tried to. It came out as more of a complaint than a demand.

"As soon as you get your powers back under control, son." Vlad replied with an amused tone.

Danny looked up with a startled expression, taking in the room with shining, bright blue eyes. Vlad was telling the truth. There was frost building on the windows and creeping up the walls, the temperature in the room was freezing, and worst of all he was shaking like a chihuahua.

"I suppose a 'cold' means something different to you, or at least to your ghost half," Vlad said jokingly.

"Ha ha," Danny muttered, taking a deep breath to steady himself. He tried to pull in the rogue, uncontrolled power, but it was proving to be harder than he thought.

His hands pressed to his chest as he tried to find the place to tap into his ice powers, but his energy was low, and the aching in his chest was too distracting. He finally flopped backwards in defeat, wrenching Vlad's hand from him in the process.

"This shouldn't be so hard," Danny said, frustration clear in his voice. "I hate this."

Vlad easily realized Daniel was not truly talking about his powers with his last words. Though there wasn't much he could think to say in sympathy. He was very new to the parent business, especially when it came to being comforting.

He supposed even Jack had an edge over him in that department. But that didn't mean Vlad couldn't try.

"Change forms, it will be easier," Vlad advised, putting his hand to Daniel's chest and taking the boy's wrists in a gentle grip. He was pressing on his now absent core, almost enough to bruise.

Daniel thankfully didn't fight Vlad pulling his hands away as he seemed to be focusing on his task. It took longer than ten seconds for him to finally start transforming, a fact Vlad filed away to the growing list of things to be concerned about.

When Daniel's hair had finally gone white and his pajamas were replaced with his signature jumpsuit, Phantom was left panting with half-lidded green eyes. Vlad felt his forehead once more, worry mounting when he felt barely any change in temperature. Daniel's temperature should have been several degrees lower than his human form, especially with a fever!

"What?" Daniel asked, his voice tired. "What's that look for?"

Vlad stood up, letting his palm linger a few moments more, to be sure of its accuracy. He

walked to the other side of Daniel's room as he replied.

"Nothing, dear boy," he said casually.

"Liar," he heard in response. Vlad resisted the urge to chuckle at the childish accusation.

Once he'd found what he was looking for, he returned to Daniel's side, noticing more as he stood above him. The teen's knees were bent, likely unwilling to flatten and stretch his stomach muscles. His gloved hands had gone back to their post at his core, tight enough to hear the gloves' material strain.

Vlad tossed the fresh pair of black pajamas onto the bed before retaking his seat on the soft comforter. He tapped Daniel's cheek a few times, hoping he hadn't already fallen asleep. When he began to look around again, Vlad gestured to the clothes.

"I believe your rest will be more productive if you're not head to toe in ghost gear." he said. Daniel's only response came in the form of a groan as he snatched up the bundle and headed off to the connected bathroom.

Vlad allowed himself to drop the façade of calm and pursed his lips together. Watching Daniel's retreating back, stressed thoughts appeared in his mind like flashes of lightning. Vlad quickly became annoyed at how easily he seemed to get worked up over an overconfident teenager.

Nearly two months ago it wouldn't have mattered if Daniel were ill or healthy, he would have fought him and not held back. To see so much change in so little time was almost distressing.

Vlad's thoughts were interrupted when Godfrey entered the room, carrying a tray. He remembered the short conversation they'd had earlier and waited for the old ghost to start nagging once more.

"Please tell me he has not run off again..." Godfrey sighed, seeing the empty spot on the bed.

Unwanted memories of Daniel's foolish actions since coming to his home filled Vlad's mind. He frowned deeply, his hand coming up to needlessly straighten his tie.

"He'll be back soon," said Vlad, "just set down his lunch somewhere for now."

Godfrey did as instructed and slid the tray easily onto the closest bedside table. When he didn't excuse himself immediately, Vlad's annoyance grew.

"How on Earth are you going to live without that child when the time comes?" Godfrey asked sadly.

"I assure you I have no intentions of letting Daniel go," said Vlad. "Regardless of whether or not he agrees, there is no way I can let the progress I've made made with him go to waste."

It seemed Godfrey decided that today was the day to push his luck, for he didn't give any indication that he'd drop the touchy subject. The older ghost avoided Vlad's cold eyes, keeping his tone light.

"And if you can't make him see things your way?" he said. "I can't imagine you can still fight him as you used to..."

"Why not?" Vlad snapped, more than a bit irritated. "You think Daniel has changed me that much? You must be joking."

To think the Vlad Plasmius could be rendered helpless by big blue eyes and headstrong determination made his stomach churn. Absolutely not. There was no way he would ever be anything but the powerful, manipulative halfa he'd become long ago.

"But he has changed you," Godfrey insisted. "You certainly love him, don't you?"

"You forget your place, butler," Vlad said, his voice low and dangerous. "I will never change for anyone, especially a defiant brat!"

Godfrey too began to get heated, not at all intimidated by the rough treatment of his employer. He hadn't seen this harshness in a long while and it only added to the list of Daniel's changes.

"You will not get any further with him if you use fear and strength to get what you want," said Godfrey, "Don't you think that if you could admit he's influenced you it would mean something to him?! That it might help him see you as a man and not a villain?!"

"I don't need parenting advice, especially from you!" Vlad's eyes changed to red and he stood from his seat.

"You want me to admit how I feel? Then you asked for it!" said Plasmius, his teeth grinding. "If Daniel betrays me...I will destroy him in a heartbeat."

Godfrey frowned deeply and sighed, preparing to retort. But Vlad wasn't finished yet, his anger was only mounting.

"He is nothing more than an opponent, a trophy to beat into submission and throw away! And once I have achieved that goal Daniel Fenton will mean nothing to me, understand? I will never love that child!"

Godfrey looked furious, his face tight. He stepped forward to argue when his expression suddenly dropped. His eyes widened and all of his energy seemed to leave him, his look startling Vlad. The billionaire followed his gaze, over his own shoulder and to the other side of the room.

Daniel stood in the open doorway of the bathroom, frozen.

Vlad immediately tensed, unsure of how the boy would react. He half expected an ectoblast to the jugular, or maybe a roundhouse to the cranium, but Daniel surprised him.

He visibly recovered from his shock and tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat. In the next moment he was diving through the carpet to the floor beneath them.

"Go after him!" Godfrey yelled.

Vlad barely heard the plea, as he quickly transformed and followed after Phantom. Daniel's powers weren't under complete control, so it was almost laughably easy to track his movements. He was flying fast, but Vlad had the advantage of teleportation.

All the while he was kicking himself internally. He often accused Daniel of having an uncontrollable temper, and here he was getting worked up over feelings.

He stopped his pursuit and closed his eyes, focusing. The teen kept moving in a crazed pattern, but if he could just predict where he was going next...there!

Vlad teleported to the grand ballroom on the first floor, successfully intercepting Daniel's flight. He stood firm as Daniel nearly crashed into him, falling over with an angry grunt.

"Stop following me!" Daniel ordered, ending his sentence with an unintimidating cough.

"And let my mansion freeze over? I think not," said Vlad. Daniel looked around and his eyes widened slightly as he noticed the frost creeping up the walls.

"You know what...?" Daniel said, "You deserve it!"

Vlad was forced to throw up a quick shield as Phantom lunged forward, ice shooting from his eyes. He'd never seen Daniel use that trick before and was immediately put on the defensive.

Daniel was a blur of green and blue, his cytoblasts charging his swift, strong punches and ice blasting Vlad's shields away. But Vlad would not give him an opening, blocking him at every turn and hoping he'd run out of energy soon.

As Vlad flew up and dodged a blast to his side Daniel finally managed to catch him in the air and land a fist into his chest. Vlad slammed into the ground, shaking the marble floor and cracking it in some places. He noticed there was a thin coating of ice on the ground, and grit his teeth angrily.

"You know, that actually felt really good," said Daniel, "like old times, huh V-man?"

Vlad pushed off of the ground and glared at the other, his tone dripping with malice when he spoke.

"Well now that you've successfully made me angry," said Vlad. "Children should know better than to attack their fathers, so it seems I haven't quite done my job. Allow me to fix that!"

Daniel went intangible just in time to miss being blasted through the wall. He dived down underneath Vlad but was cut off by a pink blast to the floor before he could escape. The ectoblasts merely smashed a layer of ice, but it was enough for Daniel to back up and fly right into Vlad's grip.

He grabbed the boy's arm and twisted it behind his back, just enough to cause pain. Vlad reminded himself that Daniel was ill, and he was lucky that the teen had dodged his first attack. In his anger, Vlad could have knocked him out in a minute if he wished.

"Enough!" Vlad growled. "This is ridiculous!"

He only seemed to upset Daniel more, struggling to keep him still as he pulled at his trapped limb.

"I'll show you ridiculous!" Daniel said, turning invisible and kicking Vlad in the kneecap.

With a howl of surprise and pain Plasmius let go, forced to throw up another shield as Daniel took the opportunity to bombard him with blasts. The adrenaline the boy was using to fight would leave him near unconscious if he didn't calm down soon!

Daniel broke through his shield and shoved Plasmius backward into a wall. Vlad's eyes widened as he got to see Phantom's face. Daniel grabbed his collar and held him against the icy wall, eyes wet and face red. He tried to address the change in expression.

"You're-"

"Yeah I'm crying!" Daniel interrupted. "Go ahead and make fun of me, I don't care anymore!"

Vlad turned intangible as Daniel made to punch his face, hearing the freezing walls shake when his fist landed on the ice coated surface. Things were going from bad to worse, quickly. If Vlad didn't deescalate the situation there would be serious consequences.

"Listen to me Daniel," Vlad said, letting himself remain pinned. "What I said-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Vlad heard as he was pulled forward and thrown down to the ground. Again, he allowed it and tried again.

"What I said wasn't right, or fair to you," he repeated, standing up as Phantom landed in front of him.

"I was angry and didn't realize I was only defending my pride." The temperature in the room was rapidly dropping and, if Vlad were a betting man, he'd say Daniel's energy was finally running out. "What you heard was my selfish desire to hold on to my past, to continue to be the powerful, manipulative man I had made myself into."

Daniel shook his head, refusing to listen. Flurries of snowflakes spiraled around them, in time to Phantom's distress. Vlad gave his best attempt at fixing the situation as his body began to shake from the cold.

"I now realize I would much rather be a father than any of those other things! Your father, Daniel!" Vlad exclaimed.

Like a spell, all the movement in the room stopped. Daniel dropped to his knees with an unreadable expression, but to Vlad's relief he no longer seemed to be crying. He walked up and kneeled to the younger's height.

"Everything will b-" he cut off his sentence as he tried to put a hand on Daniel's shoulder, and it fell right through.

Daniel looked up at him with what could have been a passive expression, but Vlad knew better. The boy was seething, but had nothing left to fight with. He felt backed into a corner and was trying to appear calm.

"You know what, Father?" he said, "I've had just about enough of your lies!"

Before Vlad could stop him, Daniel screamed, rings of energy pouring from his mouth. Vlad was shoved backward, but the attack didn't even last ten seconds before he passed out, leaving a dazed Plasmius and frozen ballroom behind.

Chandeliers began to crack and fall from the ceiling, the loud smashing just enough to get Vlad's attention. He jumped up and grabbed Daniel, flying him out of the room and into the next, a conference room.

He hardly noticed when Godfrey and a few other workers entered the room, having felt the house shake from the Ghostly Wail. Daniel was sweaty, pale, and breathing heavily, the fight only making his condition worse. And it was all because of his idiotic temper.

"Sir?" Godfrey called. Vlad muttered a rude 'leave', but it wasn't quite loud enough. "I'm sorry Mr. Masters, what-"

"I said get out!"

Vlad's staff quickly followed the order, fleeing the room like scurrying mice. Godfrey was the last to leave, casting a sad and concerned glance at Daniel before departing. Silence fell over the two, suffocating and tense. Vlad dropped into a chair, unsure of what to do next.

Daniel would want nothing to do with him after this, with good reason. But Vlad had been truthful when he told Godfrey he would not lose the boy no matter what.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, his body gradually regaining the heat it had lost. Daniel's head turned away from Vlad's chest at the uncomfortable temperature, but he was not ready to let go just yet. Time passed slowly, and he grew weary of staying in ghost form.

Plasmius changed to Masters, black rings replacing his white jumpsuit with a black, formal one. Unfortunately the light made Daniel whimper and tense up, his eyes opening just barely.

Vlad was reminded of when he'd carried a half-awake Daniel to his bedroom when his core was damaged. He shifted the teen into a sitting position and ran a hand through the still white hair, encouraging him to wake. The fact that he had not changed forms upon losing consciousness was definitely worth concern.

When Danny could see the world around him come back into focus, it was dim and foggy, very slowly returning to the way it was. His head was pounding and making it hard to think about anything other than the fact that being sick utterly reeked.

That, and the fact that the cheesehead jerk still hadn't left him alone. He shook his head to get rid of the cobwebs, pain shooting through it as he did so. Vlad's grip on him tightened.

"Calm down," he said, "you were only out for an hour at most."

"I don't care! Now let me go or else!" Danny snapped, but he had little energy to back up his threat. "I'm not a baby!"

No sooner than the phrase had been said was he coughing like crazy into his arm, each hack causing his throat to burn mercilessly. Vlad stood up and began carrying him out of wherever they were into a hallway. As Danny's fit calmed down he noticed the direction they were heading in and immediately protested.

"No way," he said, "I'm going back to my room, alone, not-"

"To the infirmary," interrupted Vlad, "where you will spend tonight resting, just in case."

Danny tried to go intangible but could barely find the energy to keep his head up let alone break free of Vlad's hold. Even though the man seemed remorseful he still hasn't forgiven him for the stuff he heard while he'd changed. Hotheaded in the moment or no, Vlad's words had stung.

"Come on, you've done enough to make me miserable already, at least let me pass out in my own bed!"

Vlad gave him a stern look and opened his mouth to speak when they heard a loud voice yell to them.

"What the heck is going on down here?!"

They both turned to see Jazz's angry form storming towards the two. Danny saw the book in her hand and was suddenly terrified. Interrupting his sister's studying meant death...or worse, being her psychoanalysis subject.

"It felt like there was in earthquake going on, but nothing outside was moving. Then I hear a couple of maids yelling about you two fighting each other!" she shouted. "You morons are supposed to be working together! What in the world were you fighting over?"

Thankfully Danny's energy choose that moment to leave him, a single sneeze making him lose the ability stay upright. Vlad sighed- the most annoying sound he could ever make- and shifted Danny to comfortably lay on his shoulder.

"We were actually about to go to the infirmary-"

"My room, Plasmius," Danny corrected. He didn't care if Vlad scolded him for whining, he hated going to the sterilized, boring, white-washed ward.

"What's wrong?" Jazz asked, looking to Vlad.

"Daniel's been running a fever since this morning and we are going to treat it," he said, matching Danny's glare afterwards. Jazz glanced between the two of them and raised a hand to rub at her temple.

"Danny can't afford be sick when we could be attacked at any moment," she began, "so I don't care how you do it, just fix whatever is going on between you two, and do it quickly. If I have to stop my research because the house is on fire - or frozen - you will both regret it!"

With her piece said Jazz turned on her heel, book tucked under her arm, and went right back to the library. Danny let out a breath he didn't recall holding when she was finally out of view.

"Alright Daniel," Vlad said suddenly, "we will head to your bedroom and you can rest there, but there are some conditions."

"I feel like a hostage already, fruitloop," Danny complained.

Vlad's eyes narrowed dangerously, his tone dropping to nearly a whisper. Danny couldn't help but tense.

"You gave me your word, boy. Avoid calling me my proper title again and I will not hesitate to go back on my end as well," Vlad waited till Danny nodded to continue. "You will hear me out about what happened earlier, without complaint, and you can stay upstairs as you wished. That's the deal."

"...Fine," said Danny. At least Vlad just wanted him to listen to his no doubt pathetic excuses for calling him a trophy. That, he could ignore.

But what he found difficult to ignore was the growing pain in his head and now chest as well. He wished he had the energy to cool himself off, or at least not be next to someone with a hot core.

When they reached his room and Vlad set him down on his bed the movement caused a short yelp to escape his throat. That repositioning had made the pain spike for a moment. Great, as if he couldn't get any more pathetic.

"What is it?" asked Vlad. Danny shook his head and buried himself under the covers, all the way up to his neck.

"I said I would explain about earlier, and I meant it." Vlad continued, "I was not being truthful when Godfrey confronted me because I did not want to admit that you've changed me. Even though it's completely true."

Danny was barely listening, too focused on a steadily increasing problem. His mouth began to go dry.

"It's fine, Vl- Father," he tried, pushing himself up onto his elbows.

"Do not patronize me Daniel, I'm old enough to know when one is in the wrong," Vlad said, ignorant of his ward's issue. "So I must apologize-"

"I forgive you!" cried Danny, "Now-!"

"Not until I've finished," snapped Vlad. "I said I wanted to be a father to you and I intend to do so. Starting with- are you alright?"

Danny gulped, glad that Vlad finally seemed to notice his struggle. His throat hurt from yelling so his voice was much softer than usual when he spoke.

"I-I'm gonna puke..."

Vlad's eyes widened and he quickly created a pink bucket from ectoenergy. He shoved it into Danny's arms just in time, the gross noise of gagging filling the air.

His throat burned when he finished and he had more than a bit of moisture clinging to his lashes. Vlad took the bucket from him and left to dispose of the contents.

Danny collapsed onto his stomach in misery. When Vlad returned he had a wet washcloth in hand. Obediently he rolled over and let the cold cloth be laid on his forehead. Danny sighed tiredly.

"This reeks," he said dramatically. Vlad nodded, settling down in a chair beside him.

"Agreed."

Next Chapter: The life of a Masters is not for Danny. At least, that's what he tells himself when he's thrust into it.

Thanks for reading, I hope I can continue to make these long chapters on time :) Sparkle on, my friends.

-P