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The Life We Fight For

Chapter 13- In the Absence of Slumber

A few days had passed since the prior incident with the Blood Blossoms. Both halfas were eager to return to normalcy, especially since things needed to be set in motion for the next step in Vlad Masters' plan. Meetings had to be scheduled, documents were to be drawn up, there was much to do.

With his new resolve to make sure he did things right by Daniel as far as fairly trying to win a spot in the boy's life Vlad used every free moment he had to check up on Danny, something the youth was not always happy about, but tolerated.

It was easy to ignore Vlad after their lessons in the morning, since the man now had a job that required his presence at City Hall. But if Danny was honest with himself, he would admit he was bored after the first few hours of wandering around, lazing about in the home's theatre, or gym, or even just reading in the large library on the third floor was no longer entertaining. He needed something to do, badly. Especially now.

Ever since he'd faced the ghost they were up against in his dream, Danny had been plagued with awful nightmares and visions of the anger and insanity the ghost- now known as Ivix- was feeling knowing Danny had survived and his plan has been foiled. It was a curse Danny was quickly becoming tired of. Even more so when he would wake up from a nightmare and it was only 2 or 3 in the morning, and he had no choice but to go back to sleep and risk another one.

Tonight, a clear Thursday night when everyone had long since gone to bed, Danny had all but given up on fighting the nightmares, but when once again he was woken with a start and gasping for breath with the sound of metal chains clashing against each other roaring in his ears, he'd officially had enough.

"This is crazy." Danny huffed, flinging the covers of the expensive bedspread to the side and rising. "I can't get any sleep like this!"

He thought about calling Tucker, maybe even Sam, but he knew better than to disrupt his friend's sleep. And Jazz? She would just use her usual psychology tricks to analyze him and explain why he was acting the way he was. And as much as he cared for his sister, Danny was certainly not in the mood for that.

So, with nothing more interesting to do Danny powered up the laptop on the desk in his room and sat down, resolving to play 'Doomed' or even write the essay Vlad had asked him to do for Friday on the Playwrights of the Victorian Era. Either way, there was no chance he was falling asleep again. It was too risky.

With this thought in mind, Danny forced himself to stay awake all through the night, and did not experience a single nightmare.

The same could be said of Vlad, though he of course had gotten a full night's sleep. When morning finally arrived and the business man entered the dining for breakfast, finding Daniel already seated and waiting for him, he was immediately suspicious.

Daniel hated waking up early, and though he'd been slowly getting better at it (since the boy now had a stable schedule and could actually sleep without ghostly interruptions ) there was no way Daniel would ever be up and about before Vlad. Still, it would be best Vlad didn't question it. Yet.

"Good morning, Daniel." Vlad greeted, taking his seat right as his and Daniel's breakfast was placed in front of them. French toast with scrambled eggs topped with refried beans and bacon. Vlad had a feeling Daniel had a hand in the decision of the menu this morning.

"Morning." Danny replied, his tone a bit snippy. He lifted his head from his hunched over position and began eating. His head rolled to the side every so often in that exhausted way, and his eyes would droop to half mast constantly. Vlad could easily see the beginnings of bruises under the boy's eyes and his unfocused state spoke volumes about the reason he was up so early. However, once again, Vlad forced himself to let it go.

"Any significant plans for today? Other than starting on the assignments I've given you of course. I expect at least half of them started today." Vlad said, watching Danny closely. He looked much more awake as the food activated his growing teenager appetite.

"It's already finished Vlad, geez." Danny snapped, remembering how he'd struggled through researching every detail Vlad insisted he include in his work. "And no, I don't have any 'significant' plans. I'm in hiding. Not on vacation."

Vlad's neutral expression melded into a frown. He recognized the signs of angst and rebellion when he saw it. Now if only he had a book on understanding teenage youth...

"Fair enough." Vlad said clearly. He paused in conversation for a bit, cringing at the teenager's table manners, and enjoying his meal before trying again. "If you do find yourself bored I would be happy to spar with you later, or guide you through some techniques..."

Danny set down his fork with more force than necessary.

"I'm not your apprentice."

Vlad shook his head with a sigh. Was everything so black and white with this boy? How on Earth were they supposed to live together if they couldn't even use their powers in the same room for a few minutes. Was Daniel that upset about Vlad trying to gain his trust as, even as temporary allies?

"You know that isn't what I'm insinuating." Vlad said calmly but with a hint of darkness in his voice. "I would watch your tone even when expressing something you disagree with or are passionate about."

Danny scowled. Enough, he'd had enough. Vlad didn't know how miserable he'd been dealing with these nightmares, it just wasn't fair that he got lectured for letting out his frustration. Danny stood up from the table.

"Drop dead Vlad, you have no right to parent me." Danny retorted. He turned to leave and Vlad spoke.

"You were most certainly not excused." Vlad said, this time his annoyance was clear. "Sit down. We're going to discuss this."

"No!" Danny yelled. Vlad's eyes narrowed, glowing a bright red for a few seconds, before he shot up and reached for Danny.

Danny prepared himself for a punch or an ectoblast to the head but was surprised when he felt a pinch at his ear, guiding him forcibly to stand to the side. A slightly muffled slap was heard, and pain blossomed in his rear. How humiliating!

A second, more heavy smack landed and Danny couldn't hold back the gasp of pained surprise. He was then pulled back to face Vlad, who looked much more calm, and his ear was released.

"You'll learn quickly that I do not like being told 'no'. Forget that, and I will make sure you remember for a long time." Vlad said, emphasizing his final words. His tone of voice was light, but his eyes were dark and promising. He was not someone to be messed with right now.

"Alright, I get it." Danny muttered, forcing himself to sit down with no more than a slight hiss. Vlad surely had a hand of steel!

As Danny rubbed at his abused earlobe and Vlad returned to his seat, Danny found himself once again not as angry at Vlad for the assault or arguments as he perhaps should be. In this house he was constantly being reminded that there was someone who wasn't so easily fooled or outsmarted that was able to...keep him in line. It wasn't something he was used to.

If anything, Danny physically cared for himself more than his parents did. He had gotten rather disturbingly good at hiding any injury or sickness. Even his friends couldn't help him 24/7. There were more ghost fights where he was alone and heavily banged up by the end than he would like to admit.

Here though, he did not have to fight for Vlad's attention, it was almost the opposite. As of late Vlad had taken to checking up on him as often as he could, a habit Danny found both slightly comforting and also very irritating.

"Now," Vlad said. His voice was at that annoying pitch he used when talking to business associates he disliked. "Since you clearly have not planned anything productive today, how about we finish breakfast and head to the study for lessons, hm?"

Vlad had always thought he could just bribe the child with knowledge about their abilities, but for the last week Daniel had been adamant that the billionaire not teach him a thing. Vlad didn't understand why the boy wouldn't simply jump at the opportunity to learn from someone who had been going through the same curse as he for longer, but he guessed that it was something he wouldn't be getting out of Daniel anytime soon.

"Fine, whatever." Was all Danny replied.

When the two began lessons for the day Danny's mind kept wandering without his consent. He couldn't help but feel like he should do some digging on his own, like Vlad had done with Walker. They had made a deal that Danny was to be involved in finding Ivix if Vlad wanted to keep him in his home, but Danny had a feeling Vlad knew a lot more than he was letting on. Danny wanted to find some answers, without the fruitloop's help.

The problem was, he'd have to go to the Ghost Zone to do it, and probably visit Clockwork. It had been a while since he'd seen the Master of Time, anyway. He hoped that Clockwork had seen a happy future for him, and thus saw no reason to intervene on his current situation, but a darker, more anxious side of himself wanted to scream at the thought that his most trustworthy ghost ally had let this happen.

Suddenly, a glowing, bright pink pointer landed on the table in front of him with a loud 'THWACK!' and Danny's eyes jerked into focus. Vlad was standing over him with a frown on his face and an open textbook in his hand, a textbook which Danny was supposed to be listening to him read.

"I wasn't daydreaming." Danny was quick to defend.

Vlad huffed, removing the pointer from the table. "Clearly not. Care to remind me what we were discussing?"

Danny wracked his brain for the last thing he remembered whilst trying to look confident.

"The Civil War?" He guessed.

Vlad shook his head and closed the book, turning and placing it down on the stack of textbooks that accumulated on the corner of the long rectangular table they used for Danny's schoolwork.

"The Civil War was two subjects ago." Vlad replied, and Danny reacted by lowering his head in embarrassment. Mr. Lancer would have probably given him detention for falling asleep or refusing to listen, but for daydreaming? A lecture, maybe having to stay after class a few minutes to explain himself. He just hoped Vlad was not much more strict than his English teacher.

"It's obvious you're distracted today, so I'll be merciful and end lessons here." Vlad said. Danny smiled in relief. "Besides, you have quizzes in two subjects for tomorrow, I want you in top mental form. I expect very decent scores."

Danny scowled at the smug man and rose from his seat, only for Vlad to rest his pointer on the younger halfa's shoulder.

"I would also like to know what has our hero so preoccupied he cannot even pay attention to a simple lecture...?" Vlad questioned, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"I was just thinking...about some things." Vlad did not release him, so he begrudgingly continued. "L-like maybe visiting someone, an ally of mine..."

He thought Vlad was going to make a joke about the amount of enemies Danny had compared to allies, but surprisingly Vlad only looked at him seriously, and... with a bit of suspicion.

"And this 'ally' of yours, is he or she a ghost?" Vlad asked.

Danny frowned and shrugged the pointer off his shoulder. "Does it matter?"

"Not particularly," Vlad said casually. "Unless, however, you plan on going to the Ghost Zone to meet this person."

Danny was slowly getting into defense mode. What was Vlad getting at? Just because Danny stayed here now didn't mean Vlad could make himself Danny's nanny!

"Why can't I go into the Ghost Zone?" Danny asked, with a bit more bite than he intended. "I'd go there all the time through the Fenton Portal just fine."

Vlad kept eye contact with Danny and reigned in his desire to blast the boy to pieces. Vlad Masters did not waste his valuable time keeping the boy alive for him to run into The Zone with no supervision to get ambushed or caught or even killed.

"There are innumerable reasons for you to avoid the Ghost Realm, but the most concerning is the fact that we still don't know exactly who or what kind of ghost we're up against here. He could be using the Fenton's portal himself to go to and fro as he pleases." Vlad sighed and relaxed his posture a bit. "Honestly Daniel, think. This ghost wants you dead. You need to start caring more for your own safety."

Danny couldn't understand why everyone suddenly seemed to think he was a frail child. He was Danny Phantom! A hero who saved people on a regular basis, there were countless enemies he'd defeated again and again, and experiences that he'd pushed through and learned from to help him grow as a person and protector. However for some reason he didn't feel like that almighty superhero right now, stuck in his arch enemy's house, fighting for his place in his own family, and battling an enemy he knew next to nothing about. It was as if he'd come so far, only to fall just short of his right to happiness.

"I'm not weak, fruitloop." Danny said, his voice barely audible. His clouded eyes fell to stare at the wooden tabletop.

"Believe me, I would be the last person to call you 'weak', little badger." Vlad replied without hesitation. "You are dismissed."

Danny immediately pushed in his chair (a habit Vlad had insisted he obtain) and headed for the door. Just as he opened it and faced the threshold, he turned back and waited a moment to catch Vlad's eye.

"See you for dinner." He said.

"Indeed. Oh, and Daniel?" Vlad called. Danny raised an eyebrow in question. "Go into the Ghost Zone without my permission, and you won't sit properly for a week."

Danny's cheeks grew hot and he glared at Vlad, muttering a quick 'Whatever' before stepping out into the hall and leaving Vlad behind.

'As if I could even get through Vlad's portal. It probably has a genetic lock only accessible by Fruitloops.' Danny thought.

Despite everything, the desire was still there. Being able to go ghost and fly through the Ghost Zone was something he'd been missing. It was a moment where he felt completely comfortable being Phantom and was more in-tune with his ghost half. The ecto energy was not only rejuvenating but it was also slightly...comforting. It always made him feel normal when he was a ghost. Like it was where he belonged. Which, logically speaking, it was. He was half ghost, after all.

With his newly given free time Danny found himself quickly becoming bored. He decided to revisit a few rooms in the house that he'd found interesting. He remembered the eastmost hallway on the ground floor had a door that led to the lower levels, which contained a workout gym, but he couldn't remember exactly which door he was looking for.

Danny sighed when he observed that the hallway was quite long and all the doors looked relatively the same. Darned Fruitloop and his symmetrical mansion.

As he began opening doors (quite a few were either sitting rooms or billiard rooms.) he tried to remember which door it was that held the staircase. He opened yet another door and when he closed it, not finding the staircase, he heard what sounded like faint music playing nearby. He stood still a moment, the sudden sound surprising him, and listened. It was classical and very serene as far as he could tell, though he was unsure of what song it was exactly. He was sure Jazz would have known. She insisted classical music was very calming, and owned quite a few CDs of the genre.

Since his sister was not here though, Danny decided to give up on his searching and head toward the sound. He quickly found out it was further away than he'd thought, his sensitive ghost hearing must have helped him picked it up. It was almost at the very end of the overly long hall. Danny turned and came upon the source of the sound, or rather, the door that led to it. Without ceremony he turned intangible and poked his head through the dark wood.

Inside was a large, echoey type room, and it was full of musical instruments. Danny recalled having discovered it his first day exploring, but not thinking much of it. His eyes skimmed over the room and he found what he was looking for.

Godfrey was seated at an ornate and vintage-looking grand piano, playing with a serene look on his face other than the light smile that seemed to be ever-present on his features. He looked a bit more ghostly than usual, his aura was quite bright. Danny guessed that he was so 'in the zone' the butler didn't care for his appearance at the moment.

For several moments that seemed to last forever Danny listened and couldn't help getting lost in the music's calming melody. At this point he'd stepped fully into the room and was visible.

When Godfrey's song ended and the last note was played, Danny snapped out of his revelrie and awkwardly began to clap. Godfrey chuckled and turned around to face him before standing up and giving a mock bow.

"Good afternoon young sir, are you not supposed to be in lessons with Mr. Masters at the moment?" The elder staff asked.

"Don't worry, I'm not skipping." Danny said quickly. "Vlad let me off early."

Godfrey's smile shone a but brighter in relief. Although inside he hoped the boy wasn't fibbing, the older half ghost would be most upset if he was. Not to mention Godfrey would probably give him an earful as well. Deciding to change the subject, Godfrey said,

"I must admit I did not take you for a musical man, Mr. Fenton." To which Danny shrugged.

"It sounded nice. Who taught you to play like that? And for the last time, it's Danny." The boy asked.

"Well I thank you for the compliment, youngster." Godfrey replied, smirking when Danny's eyebrow twitched with the nickname. "My mother taught me, she was a sweet soul. Too full of heart and calm to proceed into this afterlife we share. Though through playing her songs I believe she lives and sees those that loved her."

Danny easily accepted things like religion and beliefs simply because of what he was and the unbelievable proof of other dimensions' existence, and found himself smiling and nodding . Godfrey's disposition was downright contagious.

"You know, Mr. Masters also is a skilled musician. Though he very much prefers his own classical style over much else." Godfrey said. Danny's eyes lit up.

"Really? Vlad?" Danny asked. As an afterthought he continued. "Piano has different styles? I thought it was just... Beethoven's stuff..."

Godfrey's eyes twinkled in that special way and he gestured to the beautiful instrument beside him while keeping his eyes locked in Danny's.

"Would you like me to show you?"

After dismissing Daniel I once again tried to catch up on my work as the mayor and once again I was completely spent within the hour and not even half done. All the people complained about were the ghosts, and ghost hunters!

He was finding himself with less and less time to himself and thinking about the young man that lived with him more often than not. If this was really what having children was like, he needed to hire a tutor for Daniel, just to get some work done in the mornings.

Though, he supposed he could wait on that for now. He was making good progress with Daniel academically, especially now that the boy actually had time to study and apply himself. Not to mention, Daniel definitely seemed to trust him more.

Little things that Daniel did around Vlad that would not have meant much to others, gave Vlad hope that Daniel would come to see him as more than a temporary ally. Daniel no longer moved away when Vlad sat beside him, he allowed casual touches like a hand on his shoulder or back, or even a non-patronizing pat on the head. At least Vlad no longer worried for the safety of his person when he came close to Daniel non-threateningly.

Be that as it may, Vlad still felt anguish for his long-time crush Maddie during the moments when Daniel wasn't in the room. All he wanted was both of them at his side but fate was hellbent on keeping them apart.

With a sigh that seemed to carry throughout the room, Vlad decided to give up on his paperwork and try to exercise his troubles away in the gym. Usually he would unwind by practicing combat with his ghostly abilities, but right now it would only remind him of the situation with Maddie. All he wanted was to avoid ghost powers or ghosts altogether for a couple of hours, just to take his mind off of his situation.

As Vlad made his way down to the gym his sensitive ears picked up a melodic high pitched noise from ahead. A second note was played and Vlad found himself curiously shaking his head at the slow plunking of notes clearly coming from his music room. He couldn't imagine Godfrey having trouble with any score of music, the man was unbelievably talented at such things, and no one ever came into the room other than Godfrey and Vlad.

Though it seemed that every time he had something make sense in his mind a certain raven haired child took it upon himself to shatter his assumptions. A trend he should be finding disturbing, but ultimately couldn't be bothered to combat against as of late.

Which is why Vlad was entirely unsurprised when he found Daniel seated at his piano with Godfrey standing behind him, watching with a patient expression. Daniel seemed very determined and also a bit frustrated, by the way his mouth was curved downward and his eyes were locked onto the keyboard where his hands hovered shakily, clearly trying to figure out where to go.

After a five second pause Danny finally hit a note and his head shot up to look at whatever book was in front of him, before turning his upper body to the side to see behind him. Godfrey nodded in approval and the boy's eyes lit up.

Vlad didn't often get to see that kind of expression on Daniel's face. The boy had taken to frowning much more than Vlad would have liked. To see Daniel so motivated caused his chest to tighten with an emotion unknown to the billionaire.

Finally, Vlad decided to make his presence known, and cleared his throat unnecessarily loud.

"Having fun, are we?" He said, a pleasant smile on his face. Danny's eyes widened for a split second before he shot up from the bench and looked a bit embarrassed.

"Ah, Mr. Masters!" Godfrey greeted cheerfully. "I was just showing Mr. Fenton some of the basics, he's actually quite talented."

Danny's face grew hot and he found himself stepping away from the large instrument. It's not that he was against musicians, he just didn't want Vlad to be involved in yet another thing in his life, even something so casual as an impromptu piano lesson. And he was sure that if Vlad had been standing there listening to him for very long, he'd have found plenty of material with which to ridicule Danny for his mediocre music skills.

"Interesting, I never took you for the musical type, Daniel." Vlad replied, turning his attention to the teenager. Danny shrugged.

"I just...I was only interested in the song Godfrey played, that's all." He said, perhaps a bit too defensively. Vlad raised an eyebrow curiously .

"It seemed a bit more than that, don't you think?" Vlad asked rhetorically. "You're allowed to have your own interests, little badger."

Danny's face went a deeper shade of red and he glanced at Godfrey. The ghost didn't seem to mind the use of the nickname but Danny still glared at Vlad spitefully for it.

"Whatever..." Danny mumbled. "Isn't it getting close to lunchtime or something? I'm gonna go- uh- see what's happening in the kitchen."

As Danny speed-walked to the door Godfrey somehow beat him to it and gently shook his head. "Allow me, Mr. Fenton, I have a job to do, you know."

The ghost left no room for argument and was out of the room before anyone could take another breath. Danny was left scowling after him when he realized Godfrey most likely had no intention of checking on the kitchens, but rather to meddle with his relationship with Vlad. If one could call it a 'relationship'.

The billionaire in question took the opportunity for what it was and decided to use the time he'd been given to talk to Daniel, saying in a cautious voice: "since you expressed the lack of activities to do in your spare time, perhaps adding some music lessons to your schedule would help relieve the boredom?"

Danny desperately wanted to shrug and not give Vlad the satisfaction of an answer, but decided that it would probably be easiest if he just agreed.

"Sure. I've got nothing better to do." Danny said, walking out of the room.

Vlad stubbornly followed behind him, determined to get the teenager out of his bad mood. He'd looked so motivated and even excited earlier! Vlad couldn't understand why his mere presence in the same room as Daniel caused such a negative reaction. Vlad's eyes narrowed a bit as he voiced his thoughts.

"If you would simply tell me of other things that interested you there would be much more for you to do other than waste away in the manor little ba-"

"Don't call me that!" Danny exclaimed, frustrated. "And I'd rather stay in 'my room' all day everyday than have a heart to heart with you about my hobbies!"

"Why must everything be so black and with you?! Just because you're a so called 'hero' does not mean you get to decide who is evil and who is good!" Vlad challenged.

"You have proven to me time and time again in the past that you aren't trustworthy enough for me to get comfortable around you and let you dictate how I should live my life! I get that I'm living in your house and I gotta listen to you most of the time, but you can't make me like you." Danny stated angrily. "All relationships are built on trust, Vlad. And frankly, I trust you about as far as I can throw you!"

Vlad was angry, make no mistake about that. But he couldn't say he was shocked. He knew how Daniel felt about him. But hearing it said, validated, and out in the open, simply made him sad more than anything else.

"You're right."

Danny seemed to want to shout again, but registered the change of tone of Vlad's voice and stopped. Danny gave the man an unsure look. Was he serious? Or was the older man being sarcastic? Before Danny could think of getting defensive, Vlad continued.

"I have not always had your best interest in my actions, I'll admit." Vlad confessed. "However, that cannot and will not stop me from doing all I can to gain that trust from you. Have I or have I not been pleasant your entire stay with me?"

"Being nice isn't enough, cheesehead." Danny grumbled. Vlad just didn't get it!

"What on Earth do you want me to do Daniel?!" Vlad snapped, exasperated. "Do you want an apology? Because I can assure you the only one that should apologize for anything is Jack Fenton!"

Danny's eyes flashed green and within moments he was in ghost form shooting an ectoblast at Vlad. The man caught it easily, absorbing it in his right hand while holding up a shield to deflect the boy's blasts with his left.

Danny was beyond livid. His family- as far as he was concerned- was on the verge of destruction, and all the elder half-ghost cared about was a decade old grudge! Danny shot forward, fists raised with a clear intention of attacking Vlad.

Vlad grabbed him at the last second and gripped his wrists, shoving Danny into the wall and finally transforming into Plasmius. His red eyes bore into Danny's determined green ones, and before Danny could even think of an escape Vlad quickly spun him around with one hand moving to grip both his wrists. Danny was now facing the wall. Danny got a horrid feeling in his stomach, and not two seconds later he felt a gloved hand strike him hard on his rear end.

"You will not attack me unprovoked." Vlad told Danny firmly, before swatting him again. "Especially when I'm trying to have a conversation with you."

"You call that conversing?!" Danny snapped rebelliously. But when he only received another sharp spank in reply, he all but stomped his foot on the ground in frustration. "You can't do this, let me go!"

"If you weren't such a hot-headed brat, I wouldn't have to." Vlad said. "Now, we're going to talk, civilly about this. Turn around."

Danny's wrists were released and he immediately turned to face Vlad. Plasmius then changed to Masters, and after a few hesitant moments, Phantom changed to Fenton. Vlad spoke first

"Now, I'll admit I let things get out of hand before. So, let's start over-"

"But you were 'out of hand' and didn't get spa-sp-" Danny blushed. "You know!"

"You were punished for attacking me. Not only was it a brash decision, but if I had been anyone else could I have defended myself?" Danny tensed and Vlad knew he got the message. "Even for a hero, striking out first is often not the best strategy. Obviously, if you would just give me a chance to show you these things, we could simply avoid them."

Danny glared at Vlad but it was half-hearted. The way Vlad had easily defended himself against Danny made him desperately want to get back to ghost hunting. He was getting disturbingly rusty. But, to let Vlad Masters train him, to cross that line...Was it worth it?

Ultimately, Danny was going to have to face off against either his mother or the ghost that controls her. However he was currently in no condition to fight this ghost, Ivix had already been proven to be very strong. Danny locked eyes with Vlad. He'd made his decision.

"I'll train with you..." Danny started. Immediately Vlad gave Danny his full attention. "If you agree to give up on getting revenge on my dad."

Vlad stood still as a statue and tense as can be, his eyes widened ever-so-slightly. Though the awkward silence only lasted for all of two long seconds. What came next was boisterous laughter resonating throughout the hall. Vlad had thrown his head back and let out a cruel laugh that lasted several moments. Meanwhile Danny rolled his eyes and waited till Vlad was wiping imaginary tears from his eyes after which the man finally responded.

"You cannot be serious!" Vlad cried. "Years and years of suffering has been brought to me by that fat idiot's blunder. You'll have to be more convincing if you'd like me to give that up!"

Danny scowled. Half a dozen things Vlad would want popped up in Danny's mind almost instantaneously, but he needed leverage. Especially if he was going to survive living with the person he'd always thought to be one of his strongest enemies for much longer. No, he couldn't offer Vlad his complete trust or loyalty yet. So then, what did the fruitloop want? Danny thought hard for a few seconds before looking up at Vlad once more.

"I'll give you a second chance." Danny said finally.

Vlad looked completely floored. An odd look for a billionaire with the usual finesse and grace of a regal peacock!

"A...What?" Vlad sputtered. His eyes were glued to Danny's.

"You've been saying you want to get along, fairly and with trust," Danny explained. "But frankly, I don't trust you, as I very clearly said earlier. But...if you promise me, there'll be no more assassination attempts, no more revenge plots, no evil schemes against my dad... I'll give you an honest fresh start."

Vlad's face somewhat resembled a trout that had stayed one too many seconds on land. He didn't know what to say. Vlad slowly straightened to this full height, adjusted his tie, and sobered up his expression.

"You understand what it is you're offering, don't you?" Vlad questioned. "You cannot use my past against me, I will have a fair chance at becoming a better father than he ever was."

Danny inwardly cringed at the bluntness, but otherwise stayed serious. He was, of course, serious. His father's life was more important than his own comfort. Danny nodded, and Vlad's hand rose from his side.

"Then, I promise, I will no longer exact revenge on your father's physical person." Vlad said. Danny's eyebrow twitched as he realized that meant the man would still ridicule him verbally, but decided to deal with it. "In return, you'll allow me to train you, and have a clean slate."

"Agreed." Danny said, refusing to hesitate before shaking Vlad's outstretched hand. Vlad beamed at him with a bright expression and a twinkle of excitement in his eyes. Danny might have just rocked his world. Well, perhaps if his mom had been added to the equation, he would have, anyway.

"Can we go eat lunch now? Honestly, we've been standing out here for way too long." Danny joked. He began walking away toward the dining room, and Vlad strode right beside him.

"Of course, Little badger." Vlad said cheekily. "That teenage appetite of yours is quite insatiable."

"It is not! You just eat too little!" Danny snapped, though still, it did not have the actually bite of a real insult. After all, it wouldn't do to fight after they'd just agreed to get along. Vlad chuckled.

"Perhaps. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see."

.

Next Chapter: Danny finds out about a plan that could end his family's chances of returning to normal.

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Well. That was kind of all over the place huh? How I always make it to 6000+ words I'll never know.

Thank you for your continued support, SPARKLE!

-P.K.