Hello, everyone. So. I haven't been updating my fics on here because of reasons (they're lame reasons, don't worry about it) for the past six months, but I'm going to try and catch up with everything. I won't be able to do it all at once, but I'll be doing my best. To see all the chapters I've added to multichapter fics, just keep going until you don't see this message at the top of the chapter anymore. Sorry about this!

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"Clockwork, I've been wondering..." Danny trailed off and made a face.

"Yes?"

"I've been wondering... Maybe I shouldn't, it's kind of a weird question."

Clockwork turned away from the time screen with a raised eyebrow. Danny made another face. Clockwork didn't have any visible scars from what Dan had done to him, but Danny wasn't blind or an idiot. He'd noticed that Clockwork wasn't age shifting anymore, and Danny didn't think that it was just the instability in the time stream that had caused the reduction in his powers.

So, this question, even if it had been driving him crazy, was probably at least a little insensitive.

Okay, it was definitely insensitive.

"You are wondering what the criteria are for two ghosts to fuse together."

"There's a timeline where I-?"

"There is a timeline where you asked."

"Sorry," said Danny. "But, um."

Clockwork sighed, which Danny knew was an affectation, seeing as Clockwork didn't need to breathe at all. Then, he held out a hand. "Would you like to find out?"

"Uh," said Danny, very intelligently.

"It will be faster to show you, rather than go over the intricacies verbally."

Danny bit his lower lip, then put his hand in Clockwork's.

It was like color. A kaleidoscope. Vivid. Strings of fire wrapping back and forth around the perception of something like forever. And then-

He blinked. Looked down at his hands. Gloves. A shiny, grayish bronze. He pulled them off. Pale blue, bleeding into peach at the tips of his fingers. Strands of silvery-white hair fell into his vision.

Hm. Interesting. He brushed them back, absent-minded, and started twisting it into a simple over-the-shoulder braid.

He hadn't been this particular age in a while. Hopefully, he - that is, Danny - would find this educational. This fusion was certainly more stable than the Dan-Clockwork fusion, if less so than Dan's original Danny-Vlad fusion. It would hold for a while.

And... He smiled slyly. As long as it held... He knew that Danny wasn't opposed to a little righteous mischief, neither was Clockwork. Nor was he, for that matter.

Lovely.

He stretched, getting a feel for his body, then flicked his fingers, getting a feel for his powers. Yes, this would do, this would do.

The Observants would have no idea what hit them.