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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Danny bounced and bobbed through Long Now, looking for Clockwork and humming to himself. He was in a good mood. Truly bad moods had become rare, since Clockwork enthralled him. His life back in Amity Park was largely unchanged, yes, but knowing that Clockwork had use for him was remarkably comforting. He supposed it must be like having a fallback, a 'plan B,' a safety net.

Clockwork would only leave Danny to be captured by the GIW or vivisected or any of the other things that gave him nightmares if it was the right thing to do. That was basically ontological.

… he wasn't quite sure he was using that word right. It had been the 'word of the day' pinned to the wall in Casper High's library on Friday.

But, anyway, he'd spent the whole last week on Earth, unable to visit the Ghost Zone or Clockwork at all, and he'd developed the first edges of a craving for Clockwork's presence. The other ways he followed his Obsession, like protecting Amity Park and doing volunteer work, were still excellent, of course, and soothed that craving quite nicely, and Clockwork had told him, specifically, that he didn't want Danny to lose the ability to do those things, but, well…

He missed Clockwork.

He wondered if Clockwork missed him back.

The door to Clockwork's workshop was open, and Danny stopped at the threshold, hovering, not willing to disturb what Clockwork was working on. And Clockwork was working on something, under an array of magnifying lenses, a complex, if small, arrangement of gears and shafts that twisted and glittered in his hands.

"Hello, Daniel," said Clockwork. He gestured at a nearby stool. "Come, sit."

Danny flitted into the room with an excited trill, a sound he had, to the best of his knowledge, never made before. Under other circumstances, he might have paused, surprised, but instead he continued on to the stool and sat down. Clockwork, without looking up from his array of lenses, ruffled Danny's hair, eliciting a small squeak from Danny.

When Clockwork took his hand back, Danny leaned forward, eagerly. "What are you working on? Can I help?"

"You can," said Clockwork, with a small upward curl of his lips. He pulled out a small box of gears, screws, springs, gems, and other pieces of clockwork and set it in front of Danny. "I have been struggling somewhat to find appropriate materials for portions of this item. I would like to see if your ice would be effective."

"So," said Danny, picking up a gear smaller than the head of a pencil eraser, "you want me to copy these in ice?"

"Indeed," said Clockwork.

Danny licked his lips, examining the gear carefully. "It might take me a few tries for each one."

"That is acceptable. This is, after all, far from the first iteration of this device. It would be hypocritical of me to expect perfection on the first attempt."

Danny nodded, turning the gear over and over.

"As for your other question," continued Clockwork, surprising Danny who had thought Clockwork was avoiding it, "the intention behind this device is to help stabilize ghosts who have sustained massive trauma to their Obsessions, to prevent them from ending."

"Really?" asked Danny, core fluttering. Or doing something a lot like fluttering. That sounded important. "What, does that mean, massive trauma?"

"Things like a perceived catastrophic failure of one's Obsession or the destruction or loss of an important point or avenue of fulfillment," explained Clockwork in an even tone. "For you, it might be something like Amity Park being destroyed."

Danny shuddered at the mere thought. "That's awful," he said. "Would someone really want to stay after something like that?"

"Generally not immediately thereafter," said Clockwork. "However, as long as one exists, one may still do good in the world. Or whatever it is that their Obsession compels them to. As humans sometimes say, where there is life, there is hope."

Danny turned the concept over in his mind, but the sheer horribleness of the idea of Amity Park being no more was enough to send all his thoughts screeching to a halt.

"Think," said Clockwork, "even if Amity Park was destroyed, are there not other ways you could help others?"

"Mm," said Danny.

"Perhaps your friends or family who may have survived? Perhaps even me?"

"I'd always want to help!" protested Danny. He hunched his shoulders embarrassed at his outburst. "Sorry."

"And yet, if you were ended from the trauma, you could not. So, you see the benefits of such a device."

Danny nodded, cautiously, trying to climb over his knee-jerk reaction. Then, he nodded again, more firmly, tracing the path of logic. "It would be awful, but I'd still want to help," he said, softly. "So, this will help other people, who have, um. Who've had that trauma?"

"Yes," said Clockwork, making another minute adjustment. "There may also be some benefit to people with more physical damage to their core, but that is not the primary purpose."

"Are you going to give it to, like, Frostbite or someone?" asked Danny, beginning to spin a disk of ice between his fingers. Clockwork didn't really go out very much, so the device would likely do the most good with doctors and other people who dealt with the sick and injured. "Or am I going to be using it on people you send me to?"

"I do intend to give Frostbite the designs, should I create a working one," said Clockwork. "As for the latter, that is an intriguing option. However, as I have yet to see any success in this particular endeavor… it is a question best left for the future."

"Ah," said Danny. He set aside his first gear attempt, dissatisfied by the spacing of the teeth, and started over. He glanced up at the device again. Clockwork had rotated it so that the face of it was pointed at Danny. It consisted of three circles of varying sizes in a diagonal line. The central, largest one was silver, the medium one on the bottom was copper, and the smallest, at the top, was gold. Each one had a tiny keyhole below the center, and a small protrusion in the center. "Are those going to be clock faces?"

"I do have a theme to keep up, Daniel," said Clockwork, with clearly telegraphed mock-seriousness.

Danny giggled and bent to his assigned task once again. It was satisfying, making things like this, and peaceful, sitting next to Clockwork. If he wasn't working with ice, he might describe it as warm. It was definitely cozy.

It was a while before either he or Clockwork spoke again.

"On the subject of stabilization," Clockwork began, "you have now had some time to settle."

Danny perked up with shivery anticipation. "Are you going to change me, now?" He couldn't help but feel some trepidation on the subject, some small degree of fear, but the idea of being altered to better fit his Obsession filled him with a heavy, feverish sort of want, so much so that he felt bloated with it.

"Perhaps," said Clockwork, tightening a miniature screw. "I have some plans. Do you think you have settled enough?"

"I don't really know what's enough," complained Danny. He tried to turn his attention back to the spring he'd been working on, but it had crumbled. "I don't think ice is going to work for these."

"That's fine," said Clockwork. "This is something of an experiment."

Danny huffed and picked a small rod out of the box. "I don't know. Sometimes I feel like the way I act around you is, um. Immature." He winced. The way he phrased that, going for the longest possible word, probably didn't help. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize," said Clockwork. "It is not an unusual reaction to a reduction in stress and responsibility, whether it be in thralls or children who were required to act mature from a young age. In the future, we can experiment with aligning your external appearance with your behavior while in my presence, if that would make you feel more comfortable."

"Um," said Danny, uncertain. "Like, acting more my age, or making me look younger?" From how Clockwork phrased it, it didn't sound like something that would be directly helpful, or like something that would improve Danny's ability to help. On the other hand, just learning how to change himself physically like that would be a great boon.

"Either one," said Clockwork. "But I believe it is better to begin with less comprehensive changes. Have you noticed anything else?"

"Mm," said Danny, thinking. The rod wasn't nearly as hard as the gears to get right, and put the finished one aside to get another. "There was the sound I made when I came in. I've never made a sound like that before, I think."

"I see. I think I may know what it is, and if correct, it would be a good sign. Let us test my hypothesis."

Danny nodded eagerly.

"Firstly, if you do find yourself making an unusual sound in the next few minutes, do not suppress it."

"You think I'm keeping myself from making the sound subconsciously."

"It is a possibility, among timelines. Now, think of something that would make you happy."

"I am happy."

"Something that would make you happy to do, or hear," continued Clockwork.

"You saying you're going to make me more helpful," said Danny, aiming big, pleading eyes at Clockwork. "That you're going to change me today."

Clockwork chuckled. "I do intend to begin adjusting some of your powers today."

"Really?" asked Danny, trilling again. This time, though, the trill didn't just cut off, but settled into repeating cycles of something deeper, if quieter in his chest.

"Ah, as expected," said Clockwork. He put his tools down and reached over to drag a crooked finger along the lower curve of Danny's jaw. The vibration rose in both pitch and intensity, and rose further still as Clockwork laid his palm against Danny's cheek.

It wasn't, quite, hypnotic. Danny knew what that felt like, courtesy of Freakshow's mind-control staff. But it was soothing, relaxing, and Danny's eyelids drooped ever-so-slightly.

"You're purring," said Clockwork, apparently pleased. This, of course, made Danny purr harder.

"Frostbite said animal traits are common for thralls to develop," said Danny. The force of the purr distorted his words almost to unintelligibility.

Clockwork, however, didn't seem to have a problem understanding him. "He is correct. Although, it should be said that non-human traits are common even in ghosts that are not thralls. It is only that thralls tend to develop further animal traits, after they have fully dedicated themselves."

"Am I going to turn into a cat?" That prospect gave Danny a faint sense of disquiet; cats had a limited ability to help others.

Clockwork smiled and ruffled Danny's hair, bringing the purr back into a vocalized trill. "Not on your own," he said, fondly. "It does tell us that you have settled sufficiently for some small alterations to be made. But first, we ought to put these away."

"But it's important, isn't it?" asked Danny, even as he surrendered his pieces. "It's an important thing for helping people."

"Yes, but so are you." He placed the device and the pieces one by one into a nearby case. Each component had a silk-lined form-fitting depression, and Clockwork sorted them into place with a great deal of efficiency. That done, he closed the case, locked it, and turned to Danny.

Suddenly, Danny was as nervous as he was on the first day of school. He held very still as Clockwork traced careful fingers over his face, neck, and chest before standing up. He craned his neck to see what Clockwork was doing on the other side of the workshop, then pulled back into himself when he came back with a large brass-bound chest.

"For later," explained Clockwork, when Danny regarded it with interest. "But for now, let us start with something simple. Which of your powers do you dislike?"

That was a question Danny hadn't expected, and he rocked back, slightly. "Overshadowing," he said, the quickness of his answer surprising himself, "and the Wail."

"Can you explain why?" asked Clockwork, his head tilted ever so slightly to one side.

"I don't, um," said Danny, fidgeting, "I don't like having that much control over another person. I don't like how it feels, afterward. I use it, because it's useful, and sometimes it's the only way to get out of a situation without fighting or someone getting hurt, and there are parts of it I do like, like dream traveling and hopping into video games, and being able to push other ghosts out of people is really important, but…" He sighed. "It reminds me of Freakshow. I didn't like– I don't want–" His hands spasmed slightly on the air as he grasped for words.

"He used you against your purpose," said Clockwork, "and used you poorly at that."

"Yeah," said Danny. "And I still don't remember everything I did."

"And the Wail?"

Danny shrugged. "It's just… hard to use. It's a cool power! But it's sort of… indiscriminate. Like, a lot of the time, when I use it, it breaks other things, even when I'm trying to hold it back. And it really wears me out, so if I don't get it right the first time, if I don't win when I use it, I'm screwed."

Clockwork nodded. "Then, for overshadowing, you principally dislike subverting the wills of others in their own bodies? The portions of overshadowing that, such as overshadowing objects, do not bother you?"

"Um, yeah," said Danny. "Yes. That's definitely it."

"Then, you will lose that power," said Clockwork.

Something in Danny's chest went tight even as a great weight lifted from his soul. The power gave him a responsibility that he very much did not want. Had given.

"How?" he asked.

"You will not use it. The portion of the core in which it resides will no longer receive energy. Neighboring portions of your core, corresponding to adjacent powers, will grow into it. It will either atrophy or be crushed."

"Ah," said Danny, as the tightness grew more acute.

"You will still be able to phase into a person, and hide within them. You may even communicate with them, or whisper to their subconscious. You may impose your will on machines or objects, or even plants and lesser animals, but not upon anything sapient."

"Mhm," said Danny, rubbing his chest.

"Now, unfortunately, it is possible that a new mind-control-related power might grow in, and we should take some measures to prevent that." Clockwork opened the chest, revealing a set of sparkling instruments nestled in black silk depressions. He extracted what looked like a crystal tuning fork. "Some measurements, first."

He struck the tuning fork against the heel of his hand and let it ring for a moment, the sound bell-like and pure. Then, he held the tips against Danny's breastbone. The sound seemed to move from the tuning fork into his core, although the note sung by his core was not quite the same, and it wasn't alone for long. Some internal urge compelled him to open his mouth and harmonize.

The roof of his mouth itched, and the bases of his teeth twinged as if he had bitten into a lemon. An image popped into his head of his canines slowly lengthening.

However, when the note faded and Danny was able to close his mouth again, his teeth seemed to be the normal length.

"Yes, we're going to have to do some scaffolding to make sure something unpleasant doesn't replace it."

"What could replace it?" asked Danny, rubbing his throat.

"Any number of things, from mind control similar to that used by your enemy Freakshow, to something parasitic in nature, like Undergrowth."

"Gross," said Danny.

"Quite." Clockwork seemed to consider something only he could see for a moment. "What is a power, or a type of power, you would like to have?"

"Something that would let me help more," said Danny at once. "Something like… Um… Something like my ghost sense, maybe, but for non-ghost related things. Sometimes it's hard to tell if someone needs help."

"Yes," said Clockwork. "We can manage that. It will take some work, of course."

Danny bobbed his head in response.

"We will be able to have some adjustments service both goals… and possibly even stabilize your Wail to some degree. Yes, I can see this working quite nicely."

"What do I need to do?" asked Danny.

"First," said Clockwork, "we will need to do a little more investigation, and then we will develop your voice." From his chest, he produced a set of magnifying lenses, a stopwatch, a vial of something thick and golden, another dozen tuning forks, and a choker broad collar made of delicate filigree and a single, clear, oblong stone, set right where the hollow of the wearer's throat would be.

"Why?" asked Danny.

"Why what?" asked Clockwork as he organized the materials.

"Why investigate more?"

"We must know if it will be necessary to induce a… very limited and circumspect form of mind control to stabilize the other things we need to do."

Danny let himself make a very small dissatisfied sound, but it evolved into a pained whine as the tightness in his chest spiked.

"Ah, it looks like your core is active enough that other parts of it are already competing for space," said Clockwork, gently pushing Danny back into a more upright position, and stabilizing him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Is that bad?" asked Danny, resting his head against Clockwork's wrist.

"Not at all." He raised a magnifying lens with his other hand. "Let us begin."

First, he examined Danny's eyes closely, then his hands. Then he sat for a while with a hand pressed to the center of Danny's chest. Then, after, he took up the tuning forks, one by one, and used the same method as before to test Danny's core.

"Yes," said Clockwork. "We will have to make one after all, I think. But we will make it so that it's not so easy to use." He patted Danny's cheek, eliciting a small trill. "It won't be so bad. It may even be useful to you, in extremity. We shall make it a last resort, similar to your Wail."

"Even more of a last resort than the Wail," proposed Danny. He blinked hard. He had hoped he wouldn't have to have a mind control power. But if Clockwork said it would be useful…

"Yes," said Clockwork. "I would like to put you in mind of Ember McLain's ability to compel people with her voice. To make others listen. We will give your voice a similar ability. Only, when you use it to overcome the will of others, it will drain you. Drain you completely, to the point where you would be unable to change form, in either direction. Drain you to the point where you would find it difficult to move, even if you managed to retain consciousness. And you will only be able to use it if you have complete conviction in what you say, and strong emotions besides."

Danny nodded. "But, um. I don't know how to make myself have a power. Develop a power." Which was something painful in its own right, now that Clockwork had told him to do it.

"That is why we will do it together," said Clockwork, gesturing at the other tools.