Hi~ Not much to say here, other than be aware that my warning from the first chapter still stands, we just haven't gotten there yet :P

The Life We Fight For

Chapter 6: Irrational

"I need hair and makeup over here!"

"Five minutes till we're live!"

"Someone get the green screen up!"

Danny sat still as a statue in the midst of a crowd of Vlad's personal television crew with a look of nervousness plastered on his tense face. He was in ghost form, and everyone was giving him weird looks even the makeup artist Julian, who had a sparkly gold colored suit and eerie orange contacts. Danny tried his best to relax as the eccentric man led him to a chair surrounded by bright lights and watched Julian scavenge through the mess of makeup trying to find the right color for Danny's skin.

"Huh, I guess it pays to keep white powder from the Halloween specials..." Julian muttered, adjusting Danny's chair to his liking and holding a fluffy brush up. "Alright mr. Phantom, just close your eyes and don't breathe- er- sorry, I guess ghosts don't do that do they?"

Danny didn't answer and simply did what the man said, going over what he was supposed to say in his head. Vlad had drilled the words into his head syllable by syllable, but still Danny wasn't sure it would be convincing enough to get the people of Amity to see his way. Especially since there were still certain people who believed Phantom was a bad guy.

"Alright, now you better get on the set before the cameras roll without ya." Julian said, nudging Danny out of the chair and towards Vlad, who was waiting for him near the camera crew.

Vlad saw him and ushered him over, tossing an order to get the cameras ready over his shoulder as he pulled Danny aside.

"Do you remember everything you're supposed to say?" The man asked him.

Danny nodded, his eyes glued to the area in front of a green screen where he was supposed to explain to the camera why he was endorsing Vlad. He felt his heart jump into his throat and he looked away, toward the crew who were chattering away in wait.

"Let's get this over with already." Danny mumbled.

Vlad stepped back and the crew quickly got to work setting up the background and getting Danny situated directly in front of the middlemost camera.

Danny tensed as the camera man started to count down and glanced at Vlad, who gestured toward his chest and took a long breath inward. Danny copied the action and relaxed a bit, making sure to focus on the camera just as they started recording.

"Citizens of Amity Park," Danny said in a practiced, clear voice. "Our city has suffered through countless attacks of rogue ghosts that cause irreparable damage on a weekly, even daily basis. Vlad Masters, candidate for Amity Park mayor, will utilize all resources to ensure that ghost hunters are correctly trained and appropriately taught to separate the dangerous ghosts from the friendly ones. This is why I, Danny Phantom, am endorsing Vlad Masters for mayor of Amity Park."

It sounded as natural as a fish walking on the beach, but for his first time on live TV (willingly at least,) he hasn't done too bad. Danny let out a breath of relief as he hurried to follow Vlad out of the building, rubbing his face free of powder.

"Well done, you might just be able to pull this off, little badger." Vlad complemented.

"Don't call me that, someone might hear you!" Danny hissed, glancing around the parking lot.

Vlad merely smirked, deciding to keep quiet. There was something else he needed to discuss with Daniel anyway.

As the two climbed into the awaiting limousine and Danny changed back, Vlad struggled with the conflicting thoughts on how to approach the subject he would need to with a rebellious, emotional teenager.

It was obvious that there had been some damage done to Daniel that Vlad was not yet aware of, and the fact irritated him greatly. Why wouldn't the boy simply admit he'd been injured?! Vlad was getting tired of playing the guessing game with Daniel's well being and if the half ghost was going to stay with him there would have to be a point where Daniel revealed the whole truth concerning his short captivity.

"So," Danny said in a soft voice. "Did I really do okay?"

Vlad couldnt help but chuckle at the soft blush of embarrassment painting the child's cheeks as he stared out the window.

"Indeed, I daresay you could be an actor." Vlad replied honestly. The boy had kept his secret from his parents for almost a year, it made sense he was a good actor, albeit a bit tense in front of an audience...

"...Thanks."

"Of course, my dear boy." Vlad's expression turned serious. He couldn't resist, he just had to know. "Daniel, I want to remind you that you have not yet explained to me how your core became damaged, you must understand that kind of information is extremely important if you want to recover fully."

"I...I can't." Danny whispered. "I don't want to think about it, I can barely handle being reminded of it every second I'm not at home, where I should be."

"You can hardly ignore it Daniel. Not only is it not healthy but I cannot fully hope to help you if you keep everything bottled up." Vlad pressed. "She did something to you to try and take your life, it hurt you very badly, and now you are internally injured and for some reason it has not yet healed. This is all I know about that day. Please Daniel, tell me what happened exactly."

Danny bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. A series of flashes in his mind showed him unpleasant amounts of ectoplasm and blood blossoms, making him shudder.

"I-I...she..."

"Does it have anything to do with this?" Vlad questioned, gesturing to the scars across the boy's wrist all the way to his upper arm and disappearing beneath his sleeve.

Danny shook his head, trying to pull his sleeve down a bit further, self consciousness settling in. He had never cared about the scars he got on rare occasions where his ghost fights were worse than usual, but for some reason the jagged lines-barely visible as they were- bothered him deeply. If it were not late May and beginning to get hot he would have worn a turtleneck just to hide them.

"It's not that it wasn't horrible, it's just..." Danny trailed off.

"You still love them."

Danny looked downward. His silence was answer enough. How could he simply ignore and betray the people that raised him? He was still clinging to the small hope that something was going on that he wasn't aware of, something Danny Phantom could fight, and save the day just like always. It was all he hope for.

"They didn't kill you this time, you can thank your friends and sister along with myself for that, but what happens when no one is around? What if I hadn't been able to save you?" Vlad said.

Danny frowned, glaring a bit as he looked up at the older man.

"You want to have all the answers, don't you?" Danny snapped. "The fact of the matter is, I don't trust you. Our alliance is only valid as long as you and I hold up our respective ends of the deal. I'm not going to become your evil apprentice, or your creepy perfect son. Period. So stop acting like you care."

Vlad growled softly. He was trying to help the boy but his heroic attitude and sense of justice and righteousness was getting in the way!

"If you would look past your black and white view of the world and think for a minute, you might come to a different conclusion than me simply being a 'villian'!" Vlad shot back.

"Like you've given me any reason to assume any different when your creepy obsession has caused me nothing but grief!" Danny shouted, changing into Phantom. "I'm flying back on my own."

"You arrogant brat! Your core isn't stable!" Vlad protested, but Danny's mind was already made up. He couldn't stay in a room with Vlad without a fight breaking out, which was seriously not what he wanted at the moment.

"Don't follow me." Danny demanded, phasing out of the limo and shooting into the air in the direction of Vlad's mansion.

"Sugar cookies!" Vlad swore, pulling out his phone and calling his butler.

"Hello sir, how can I help you?"

"Make sure Daniel returns home safely. If he does arrive on his own, you know what to do if he's out of control."

"Of course sir, may I ask why he isn't riding with you? You haven't scared the poor boy off have you?"

Vlad frowned at Godfrey's statement, which hit way too close to home for the man's comfort. He hasn't meant for the conversation to take the turn that it had, but he couldn't dwell on regrets now.

"He's fine. Just do as I asked, please." Vlad snapped the phone shut and sighed heavily leaning back with a weary drop of his shoulders.

"Wonderful." He muttered. "Simply wonderful."

Meanwhile Danny was flying as fast as he possibly could, even though he had lost the limousine ages ago. The city of Amity was a blur of color beneath him, and he made sure to stay high enough in the sky to avoid being easily seen.

His chest was tight with the exertion of pouring all his energy into his flight but he didn't care in the least. His parents, Vlad, the election, everything seemed too much to handle at the moment. Danny suddenly slowed as he began to recognize his surroundings. He was in his neighborhood now. Fentonworks was standing tall only a few blocks away.

Home. He wanted it and feared it at the same time. He craved the normalcy of sitting at dinner to radioactive chicken beside his parents and sister, who would chatter away about whatever new project she was working on, and their dad who would put in his two cents about something to do with ghosts or his newest tech.

Danny flew towards the huge house and hovered in front of it, invisible. He was surprised when he saw none other than Jazz looking out the open window of her bedroom with unfocused eyes. He flew down to her and was surprised to see her eyes were slightly red and puffy.

"Jazz?" Danny called, becoming visible. She jumped and banged her head in the process.

"Geez, little brother!" Jazz cried. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry." Danny chuckled. "You looked spaced out, I couldn't resist!"

Jazz frowned disapprovingly but she couldn't hold it for long, choosing instead to pull the ghost boy toward her by the arm and embrace him.

"I'm glad you're okay, Danny." Jazz said before pulling back to look him over. "You are okay, right?"

"More or less, but I'm more concerned about you. How have mom and dad been?" Danny asked, watching Jazz's eyes darken. Voices could be heard from outside of her room and she tensed.

"We should talk somewhere else." She suggested. Danny nodded and wordlessly picked her up, flying away until he reached the park. There was no one there as it was a Friday, and most kids were at school. Jazz was obviously skipping, which was very unlike her, but Danny was secretly grateful he had run into her.

He lowered Jazz onto a bench and hovered in front of her.

"Well, a few things have happened since you left." She began. "I immediately went to school and told Mr. Lancer you were sick, so no one is expecting you there..."

"And mom?"

"Maddie is just fine. It's as if nothing happened. She thinks you are at Tucker's place, she keeps denying everything having to do with hurting you!" Jazz said, getting up and beginning to pace angrily.

"Does dad remember?" Danny asked quietly. He didn't like what he was hearing.

"Jack doesn't remember a thing." Jazz said. "It's like they got their minds wiped."

Danny frowned at the news, but shook his head and decided to ignore it as best he could. Now was not the time to think about those things.

"Well, I've got a plan, and so far it seems like it will work." Danny said. He quickly explained the deal he'd made with Vlad, the election, and where he was currently staying.

The whole time he was speaking Jazz's frown only deepened and she eyed the trees beside him, not looking directly at Danny.

"Danny..." Jazz said, pity noticeable in her voice. "I know you want to save everyone, it's your job...but I really think they should be...put away for a while."

"I can't just do that to them Jazz!" Danny said. "They're our family, Vlad's going to help me figure this thing out, and everything will go back to how it was."

"That's impossible at this point!" Jazz declared.

"I won't abandon them in a cell to rot. Not if it possibly could be unjust imprisonment!"

Jazz stopped pacing and stood tall in front of Danny. Normally she was slightly taller than him, but he was hovered a couple of inches above the ground, and the siblings were eye to eye. Jazz gave a frustrated grunt and pointed at Danny's chest angrily.

"How could you be so naïve?! They want to kill you! If they saw you right now, who's to say they wouldn't remember everything and pull out their guns on you?! Think for once!"

"I am thinking! I'm doing my best to make everything okay again, that's why I'm forcing myself to stick around that fruitloop with an ego all day! I want to fix this, I want everything to be alright again!" Danny shouted. He shook with frustration and anger, his chest tight to the point of pain.

"This isn't the way, Danny. Please, you haven't been with them these past couple of days, they don't deserve to be free, the certainly didn't care about your freedom." Jazz pleaded. "They need to be in prison. That's the only way things will change. Maybe then they'll see the error of their ways."

Danny's eyes blurred with tears and he grit his teeth, backing up in the air away from his sister.

"I'm sorry Jazz, but I just can't do that."

Danny shot back into the clouds, Jazz's desperate voice shouting for him to come back. But he couldn't bring himself to stop. He felt stressed beyond belief, and sorrow was clouding his mind like a shadow of darkness coming over him.

He flew straight into Vlad's mansion and landed in kitchen. He sighed in relief when he saw no one was there at the moment and decided he would make himself something to eat to distract his mind from the pile issues that were dominating his life.

Danny got to work making himself the most interesting combinations of sandwiches that would make Tucker proud and felt his mood begin to lift. He wasn't going to let the troubles plaguing his family life effect his outlook on everything or ruin a perfectly good day. What kind of hero would he be if he just sat around and only thought about his next fight with a villian?

As Danny was finishing his last couple of sandwiches he felt his ghost sense creep up his throat. A large gust of icy breath much colder than normal burst from his mouth and he turned away, coughing over his shoulder at the brisk feeling in his mouth that still lingered.

He caught sight of the being that set off his power in his peripheral vision and frowned. It was one of Vlad's staff and it was definitely not the happy-go-lucky chef.

"Afternoon, Mr. Fenton." Said the ghost, who looked practically ancient. "I don't believe we've formally met. My name is John Godfrey, and I am the head of staff here."

"Oh, hi, looks like you've already got my name, but let's keep it at Danny okay? None of that 'Mr. Fenton' stuff." Danny replied.

Godfrey chuckled and held out a hand, which Danny hesitantly shook. He wasn't used to ghosts doing anything but beating him up, hunting him down, or freaking him out. Still, if he was employed by Plasmius, no matter how nice he was Danny was sure he could not simply let his guard down around him that easily.

"So, I hear you're planning on saving your parents from a sticky situation with the law, is that right?" Godfrey pressed.

Danny glared down at the stack of sandwiches on the counter in disgust. He would have to have a little chat with Plasmius about what he shared with his freaky servants...

"Yeah..." He said slowly. "More or less."

"Quite noble of you, is the rest of your family in support of your efforts?" Godfrey asked. His eyes were kind and gentle, but on the inside he was immensely concerned. It didn't take a genius to figure out where Danny had flown off to after he did not return within the time it would normally take to fly to the manor.

"She's...against it." Danny said. He didn't like that this ghost was dampening his previous carefree mood.

"Ah, a sister then?" Godfrey paused, and Danny nodded in confirmation. "Oh dear, care to talk about it? Forgive me for being so nosy, but I'm told I am quite a good listener."

Danny eyed the old butler critically for several long moments, searching the man's features for any sign of sinister intent. He sighed and looked away. He bobbed his head once and Godfrey smiled brightly.

"Wonderful!" He said, heading to the other side of the kitchen and searching through the cabinets. "Allow me to make us some tea first, it will calm the nerves."

"No offense, by I'm not really a fan of tea..." Danny said. Godfrey chuckled.

"Ah, but you have yet to try my homemade tea, at least give it a try Mr. Fenton, it's all I ask."

Danny frowned as Godfrey proceeded to boil water on what looked like kettle taken straight out of a victorian fairy tale book. He sighed and began thinking about which sandwich he wanted to eat first.

"Alright, I'll try your tea. Oh, and it's Danny." The boy said.

"Of course." Was all the butler replied.

As the butler proceeded with his task he watched the boy out of the corner of his eye. He'd never seen a teenager look so lifeless. It was as if all the youth had been sucked right out of the boy! He'd seen his employer in various states of obsessive, depressive moods whilst working for the man, but the sullen look on Danny's face was downright pitiful!

"So tell me about this sister of yours."

-With Vlad-

"If the welp finds out about this, I am not taking responsibility."

Vlad glared at the metal ghost beside him from his seat in front of his many screens, each showing a room in the mansion. Danny and Godfrey were displayed on the largest monitor in the lab and Vlad had been watching then suspiciously for a solid ten minutes when Skulker appeared.

"Have you finished the device or not?" Vlad demanded.

"Here it is." Skulker said, holding up a small circular object. "Get this on the brat and you'll have access to audio, video, and the pups vitals. Though I don't see why you'd have much use for this thing."

"That isn't for you to understand now is it?" Vlad grabbed the object from Skulker and held it up to the light. "Call me paranoid, however this boy seems to find trouble wherever he goes, and that might just become an extremely useful advantage to this mystery. Therefore it seems only logical to keep tabs on him."

"Whatever you say, you are the one helping him." Skulker said. "He's still prey to me."

With that Skulker left through the ghost portal and Vlad was left watching the screen portraying Daniel and his butler.

The billionaire sighed and turned towards the door. He had quite a lot of serious conversations he'd been needing to have with Daniel that were lined up in front of him, but the most important was the boy's school. He could only let the teen pull the sick card for so long... however if Daniel did return to Casper High, there was a chance his parents could find him there.

Vlad left the lab and walked quickly to the kitchen where he had seen the boy last. He heard voices from inside and began to mentally prepare himself for the angst that was sure to explode from the teenager right in the man's face as soon as he saw him.

Vlad stepped into the room and Godfrey immediately smiled at him. Daniel however looked away from him, his dark bangs concealing his expression from view.

"Good evening sir." Godfrey greeted him.

"Indeed. I hope you haven't let our guest spoil his dinner." Vlad replied, his eyes glued on Danny. Godfrey chuckled but then straightened up, casting Daniel a quick glance.

"I believe once those bright eyes come out of that mess of a mop, Mr. Fenton will have something to say to you Mr. Masters."

Danny's head shot up and he looked at Godfrey pleadingly. They'd had a quick conversation regarding the events that preceded Danny's visit with his sister, andthe old man had not spared a stern word.

-earlier-

"Let me see if I understand this correctly: you left the car, in ghost form, without so much as attempting to think about what damage your actions could have caused to not only yourself but your sister as well?" Godfrey said. Danny looked down sheepishly.

"He gave me no choice, besides he always insists on giving me that weird shot every morning, my powers wouldn't have gone haywire...I think."

"You sound quite sure of that." Godfrey said, unconvinced. "I daresay an apology is necessary in this case."

"What?!" Danny jumped to his feet. "No way! Vlad doesn't deserve anything from me, he's evil!"

"Yet he has done nothing but help you." Godfrey countered.

"That's...it's not..."

"An adult who is currently your sole benefactor and actually taking an interest in your physical and mental health deserves a bit of politeness despite past differences, don't you think so?"Godfrey pressed.

"I...guess your right..."

-present-

"B-but I-"

Danny gulped at the sweet smile yet dark eyes of the ghost butler and bit his lip turning to Vlad who wore a bewildered frown on his face.

"You wanted to tell me something?" Vlad asked with a raised eyebrow.

Danny tried his best to keep eye contact with the other half ghost and blushed slightly, deciding to hurry up and get it over with.

"I wanted to say... I'm sorry for running-er, flying- out on you earlier... it wasn't cool..."

Vlad went completely rigid and Danny was sure he was going to be laughed at, or worse made fun of.

What Vlad was really thinking was how in the world he had let a shape-shifter into his home undetected, because this certainly was not the same Daniel he had interacted with for the past few days!

"Sir?" Godfrey whispered at him. Vlad jolted and his glassy eyes snapped back to Daniel who was looking up at him with nervous icy blue eyes.

"I accept your apology, if course." Vlad said, and Danny looked relieved. But Vlad began to once again gather his wits about him and fixed the boy with a stern stare as he remembered the events from the car ride earlier. "However I would hesitate to do such a reckless thing again, as I will not be so forgiving."

Danny shuddered and nodded quickly, and Vlad dropped the stare.

"Now, I believe it would be a good for you to rest in your room for a bit until dinner, Daniel." Vlad said. He wanted very much to interrogate the butler on the details of his conversation with Daniel.

"I feel fine." Danny replied, frowning.

Vlad almost forgot how infuriating the boy could be.

"I don't believe it was a suggestion."

Danny glared at the billionaire and crossed his arms. No way was he going to get sent out of the room like a little kid who wasn't allowed hear an 'adults conversation'.

"I don't want to go to up there." Danny said flatly. "And you can't make me."

Vlad growled and stepped forward to knock some sense into the insolent brat when Godfrey stepped in front of him, whispering softly so that only Vlad could hear.

"He's a child, treat him like one. Just watch and learn." Godfrey turned to a curious Danny. "You have been asked to go to your room and stay quiet for the evening, should you choose to behave childishly and ignore the suggestion, you can consider yourself confined to your room for both the entire evening and the following morning. You have five seconds to decide."

Danny's eyes widened and he looked at Vlad as if he were questioning whether this was serious or not. Vlad simply raised an eyebrow at him and Danny felt his stomach jump onto his throat. No way was he letting himself get grounded by an old man!

"1...2..."

Oh man, of all the never-racking sounds the butler had to count-

"3... not getting any younger here..."

Danny bit his lip and uncrossed his arms. No, no no he wasn't going to give in-

"4..."

In a rush of panic Danny shoot up from the chair he'd been content to continue sitting on. His hands waved in surrender and his eyes were wide.

"Alright, I'm going already!" Danny said, hurrying out the door and away from the two men.

As soon as the boy left Vlad stared amazed at Godfrey.

"Are you certain you've always been a butler?"

...

Next chapter: Danny faces an unknown enemy in a place where he is most vulnerable: his dreams.

So sorry this is a bit later than scheduled and quite short, I apologize for that! I do have a rather good excuse though, my birthday is on Sunday! Got a lot of planning to do~

Anyway, I hope you are all having a good day, I love when my readers tell me about their day in a review, so if anyone is actually reading this, where is your favorite place to read ff? Where are you reading right now? At home? On a long car ride? On a date? (I hope not lol :P) Let me know in the reviews!

-Priscilla