The Foundations We Build

Chapter One: Overture of a Lonely Spirit

Muscle memory was an extraordinary thing.

It was such a fascinating thing that Vlad found himself ruminating about it for days. How it kept him going, on track and on schedule, like nothing could ever be wrong. How it got him from work to home and back again before he even registered a moment of it. How his hands moved on the keyboard of his computer, finishing his last email with a curt sign off he couldn't remember the beginning or end of.

The mayor's office was just as quiet as it always was on a Thursday morning; curtains drawn and door shut in an isolating fashion. His morning coffee sat on the desk untouched along with his cellphone, which had been ringing on and off all day.

His commute home would be short; an invisible flight taking all of 5 minutes. Vlad moved as if on autopilot, waiting until he was fully inside the foyer before dropping his invisibility. Like clockwork, in came his head butler to take his briefcase from him. Oh, and also to scold him for whatever reason he saw fit today.

"Did you know he was almost ten minutes late to his piano lesson today?" Godfrey was telling him. It sounded far away and too loud all at once. What were they discussing again? He didn't remember. Maybe Godfrey didn't either.

Vlad hummed. "I'm sure there was a reason, hm?"

The old ghost looked at him incredulously. Vlad moved past him to begin his descent to the lab, content to end the conversation there. Much to his chagrin, Godfrey followed.

"His grades are slipping. did you know that?" He said. "The school resorted to calling your house number, but not to worry, I let them know it would be taken care of- on your behalf, of course. No need to thank me."

Vlad sighed, waiting patiently as the mechanical doors pulled open to reveal his secret lab, tucked away deep under the mansion. He began to boot up his dormant systems, using his fingerprint to unlock the most precious of all his machinery: his Ghost Portal.

"I mean really," Godfrey continued. "You could at least stay for dinner. The girl is living with her parents again, after all. Danny could use the company."

Vlad's eyebrow twitched. His hand hovered over the button to open the portal doors, needing nothing but a small push to get him out of here.

He needed to get away. Away from the manor, the questions, the prompting, the responsibility of it all. He needed to get away from Godfrey. From Daniel.

It had been three months since the battle with Ivix had torn the Fenton family apart. Three long, unbearable months of nothing but avoiding everything that reminded him of what had transpired. He could barely look in the mirror. How could he bear to look upon the child he'd caught up in this mess?

He'd stopped answering the boy's phone calls after the first week. The school was shortly after instructed only to communicate through email, though that was almost routinely disregarded due to thesheer levels of trouble Daniel got into. There were currently 3 voicemails from Casper High in his inbox from this month alone. Godfrey ignored any and all attempts at distance, of course, citing his responsibilities as a butler.

"Just make sure he gets whatever he wants for dinner then, alright?" Vlad said, changing forms. As his eyes brightened from blue to red, he kept his gaze on the metal doors in front of him. "I'm afraid I have business in the Ghost Zone that can't be avoided. You'll let him know for me, won't you?"

He pressed the button, waiting for the whirring of the opening doors to hush before ascending to a float and proceeding through. As his vision exploded with green and he was transported, he could hear Godfrey's sighed reply.

"As I do every night, sir."

Danny's life felt like a whirlwind outside the mayor's mansion.

His first week back at Casper had been nothing but eventful. All he had expected was a hug from his sister and friends, and then his academic life would go on. After all, he was a nobody, everyone knew that.

But of course, in signature Vlad Master's fashion, he'd shown up to Meet the Teacher Night, with a story too sappy to dare and disprove. He'd seen the treatment poor Danny Fenton was getting at school, taken him under his wing, and eventually made him his ward. A twisted, millionaire's version of a Cinderella story.

But it worked. His classmates and teachers ate it up, and no one had bullied him since. On the contrary, Danny now had a whole new set of problems. Mainly, popularity problems.

"Dude," Tucker waved his hand in front of his face, causing Danny to blink hard and focus on him. "Earth to space boy?"

"We're trying to figure out where to eat lunch," Sam supplied helpfully, seeing his lost expression.

"The roof," Danny said immediately. "I don't feel like being bombarded today."

And bombarded he was. Every second in the halls between classes, every morning at drop off and constantly as he exited the building to go home. All day, every day, he was being treated like a spectacle. Even the popular kids had tried to get him to join their friend group, treating him like some kind of freak-turned-royalty, a chance to get close to the insanely powerful Vlad Masters.

As he carried his friends up through the ceiling of their school, he thought about skipping lunch and going for a quick, invisible fly around the town. Surely his friends would understand, right? He just needed to clear his head. It had been so long since he'd just flown around, without a ghost chasing him, that is.

He hadn't expected the ghost attacks to die down, but somehow, they still surprised him every time. Danny began to dread them, as slowly every ghost began to taunt him for his connection to Plasmius. How they were finding out was beyond him, but each fight Danny would end up fighting back tears as another ghost shouted at him to 'go home to daddy', or to 'call Plasmius to save him'.

He didn't eat lunch. Danny watched his friends eat for a bit before handing over whatever restaurant-worthy cuisine Godfrey had packed for him after Tucker complained there wasn't enough meat on today's menu. Sam and Tucker spared him a concerned glance, but Danny pretended not to notice. He grabbed his notebook and resolved to work on english homework- an essay on whatever book he was supposed to have read already. He couldn't even remember the title of it, but he figured he would start writing his name at the top and it would come to him.

"You're just starting that?" Sam asked him. "Isn't it due tomorrow?"

Danny nodded, erasing the first letter of his last name and starting over. He should be used to it by now, he thought, but finishing his signatures with 'Masters' never quite stuck. It was like no matter how neatly or scibble-y he wrote it, it never looked just right.

"Do you want to borrow my notes?" asked Tucker through a mouthful of sub. "They're pretty thorough. After the Box Ghost threw us off last week during English, I need to catch up and improve my grade. This essay is supposed to be worth a chunk of it."

"Thanks Tuck, I'd appreciate it." Danny replied, smiling easily. He wished he could say thank you more often to them, but they could be strict about it if he overdid it, telling him they were friends, and it shouldn't be a big deal when they help him out.

"Speaking of English class," said Sam, "You know Mr. Lancer has it out for you now, right? After you ran out on monday?"

Danny blew out a frustrated breath at the memory. He'd nearly knocked Lancer off his feet, trying to get out of the classroom before he returned to give them whatever he'd printed off for the class at the office.

"It was Skulker, Sam," Danny said, "I couldn't just ignore him. He always does just enough damage to get news crews out and myname dragged through tomorrow's tabloid mud."

"I know," Sam said gently. "I just mean, you didn't have to yell at him to move and then run out, you know? Like, they're going to call Vlad down here eventually, right? With all the stuff that's happened since the semester started?"

Danny's eye twitched. His friend's had been making an effort not to bring up Vlad since that dreadful night 3 months ago, which he appreciated, but he still got annoyed at unavoidable mentions of the man.

"If they can get a hold of him," Danny scoffed.

"Come on man," Tucker said, packing up his things. "We know your hero responsibilities are important, but this is high school. You gotta care at least a little bit about your future after Casper. About what college you're going to get into and all that."

"I do, really," said Danny, standing and folding up his nearly blank essay sheet. "It's just been a stressful couple of months, that's all."

"We understand," said Sam, the last to pack away her vegetarian-friendly lunch leftovers. "At least you're not alone though, right? You have us, Jazz, and the cheesehead. For whatever you need."

"Right," said Danny, quickly transforming to bring his friends back to class.

The next couple of hours felt like an anxious blur to Danny. Every class he failed to pay attention in, every question he got wrong, every race to his next class to avoid the crowds harassing him, it all felt like time was passing too quickly. With each bell ring, he was one class closer to the end of the school day.

Which meant one step closer to seeing his sister, and leaving with Godfrey for the mansion.

Jazz waited for him on the steps every day, resolving to see him off before she went to participate in her many after-school programs and clubs. He ignored her every time. Danny just couldn't get the image of his sister holding the Plasmius Maximus out of his mind.

He knew it wasn't her fault he'd failed to truly save his parents, there was no way she could have known. She was only trying to help. Logically, he knew that. But he wasn't ready to pretend it didn't still hurt, no matter how many times she tried to apologize.

When he saw her red hair floating about in the spring breeze, looking achingly similar to his mother's, he picked up the pace on his way out to Godfrey's waiting limo. She called out his name, like she always did, telling him to have a good night, to eat, to rest, but he didn't respond. Just hurried into the limo and shut the noise of his schoolmates- and his sister- out.

Godfrey wasn't driving today. Lovely. The ghost butler was sitting on the opposite side of the car, appearing stoic, but Danny knew better. He was ticked about something.

"Whatever it is, I'll clean it up after I finish my homework tonight." Danny told him, setting down his backpack and slumping into the plush leather seating.

"I received a call from Casper High today," Godfrey said, not beating around the bush in the slightest. Not in the mood for banter either, apparently. "You're failing English, again."

Danny cracked an eye open to look at Vlad's most trusted staff member. He didn't look too upset, thankfully. There was just a hint of pity in his eyes still. Alongside the guilt he tried to keep well-hidden. Danny could tell though, how much it ate at him that he'd given his sister the device to power him down that night, and restrained his friends.

Pity and guilt. Danny could work with that.

"I've just been overworked lately," he said honestly, letting his voice lower a bit. Soften. "There have been attacks all over town this week."

Godfrey wasn't buying it, sitting with back straight and head high. "And falling asleep in class? Or skipping entirely? How about the incident during PE where you couldn't control your strength and sent a girl to the nurse during dodgeball? Did a ghost cause that too?"

"That wasn't my fault!" Danny exclaimed. "I was already exhausted, and the way she was targetting me triggered my fight or flight. And well, I couldn't fly so-"

"Enough," Godfrey called out, exasperatedly tossing his hands up. "I'll have you know your father is deeply concerned about this, and spoke to me today about what we should do to get your grades up. I think for now it would be best if you went to the manor library straight after dinner tonight; see if that won't encourage you to actually study."

Danny clenched his hands into his shirt, teeth grinding against each other at the mention of Vlad. Everything seemed to go back to him, but the man was nowhere to be seen, was he? Nothing but a whisper of a shadow of a boogeyman for Danny to pretend to be worried about. Why should he truly care about what the fruitloop thinks of him?

"Will he be home tonight?" Danny asked. Godfrey sighed, and Danny huffed out a laugh.

"He can't be too concerned about me if he's disappearing into the portal every night like the human world doesn't matter. Like I don't matter." He said.

The first few times, Danny had called Vlad, tried to figure out what was going wrong, what he could help with, where he was going. But Vlad had simply said it was personal, and Danny shouldn't worry about it. Vlad soon stopped responding to Danny's requests for updates, and not long after that, stopped responding all together. The younger hadn't seen Vlad in over a month at this point, the last time being a parent-teacher night Vlad had appeared at unannounced to encourage the faculty and of course, support his new son. They hadn't talked much on the way back, bidding goodnight at the door before parting ways to their respective rooms.

It felt...dismissive, how Vlad treated him now. Like there was no point in interacting anymore. The last meaningful talk they'd had was shortly after the incident with Ivix, where Vlad had promised him he'd do everything in his power to restore his parent's memories. Danny had trusted him easily then, and agreed to have all evidence of him removed from FentonWorks before his parents were released from the hospital, effectively erasing him from their lives. Vlad had said it was for the best, and Danny believed him. He wondered if that was still the right choice, with how awfully he still felt about it now.

"Danny Masters," Godfrey chastised. "You matter very much to him, you know that. There's simply something of great importance he must attend to in the Ghost Zone, so he can't be present as much as we might like."

"At all, you mean." Danny muttered. He turned and stared out the window, effectively ending the conversation between them. He hadn't felt like talking to the butler to begin with, and definitely didn't now.

Inside the mansion, the air felt thicker, almost suffocating, but in a different way than Casper. Everything seemed to blur around the edges; not seem quite real. He hated being here.

The house used to feel like a fortress, protecting him and everyone in it. Without Vlad, it lacked that safety factor that always made Danny look at the place as something more than a millionaire's magnum opus of an abode. All the decor and space just felt shallow and empty now.

That night, when he finally got to his bedroom, it was nearly midnight. He couldn't focus on much of his schoolwork, and after a couple of hours achieving nothing but rewriting the same paragraph for Lancer's class, Godfrey set him loose. Although the ghost had advised him not to, Danny had gone down to the lab and sat in frontof the portal, on the phone with his friends.

They never said anything about him waiting in the lab when they video chatted in the evenings, and he didn't offer any explanation. Mostly, because he didn't have one, really.

He knew Vlad came home in the wee hours of the morning, before sunrise, and left before Danny got up for school. He simply thought that maybe, if he was consistent enough, he'd catch Plasmius coming through the portal early, force the man not to ignore him.

Vlad never came early.

As Danny tossed his backpack onto his star-patterned duvet and changed into silk pajamas he was begrudgingly getting used to, he felt his eyes prick with moisture. Quickly, he ran a hand through his hair and breathed deep. The stinging behind his eyes didn't go away though, and Danny found himself looking around the room, chest heaving. It all felt like too much, suddenly.

He reached his bed and drove an intangible arm through the frame, grabbing the carelessly thrown box from behind it. A small, obsidian black cube, with a panel and a single switch on the bottom. Hastily, Danny flipped the switch and held up the projector.

His ghost sense didn't go off. Out of juice, he supposed. Typical.

Danny let out a frustrated shout, rubbing at his tired, blue eyes as he stepped out into the hall. He gave a quick glance around and, once he saw there were no night cleaners or nosy butlers around, he dipped into the bedroom at the other end of the hall, opposite his.

For a moment he dared to hope Vlad was there, or even that there'd be something in his bedroom that might answer Danny's questions, but it was as neat and empty as always.

A dark contrast to his own bedroom, which was nearly always lit up with stars and silver accents reflecting on every surface, the master bedroom was full of deep tones. Rich ebony woods made up the furniture- the desk, the vanity, the bedframe, all accented with a sparkling gold on each metal detail. The velvet, crimson rug looked soft enough to sleep on, definitely softer than Danny's old bed at FentonWorks. But he didn't care about the man's choice in expensive rugs and too-intricate looking chandelier fixtures.

Danny dropped his projector onto the nightstand and settled into an exhausted heap on the neatly made bed. It engulfed him, such was its enormous size, and Danny found himself briefly wondering how lonely it must make Vlad feel to sleep in it. Either way, the fruitloop's feelings were not what he cared about now. The younger halfa only wanted to sleep, so he shut his eyes and blocked out his problems. He could only hope they wouldn't come to him in his dreams.

"The rear garden seems to be improving nicely,"

Vlad's caped whipped around him as he decended into the hedged yard below him. Dora rolled her eyes, putting away her needlepoint. There goes her relaxing hour.

"The flowers you brought are growing nicely," she acquiesced graciously. "Though I'm sure you remember me saying it was not necessary to go so far into the uninhabitated realms of the Ghost Zone to retrieve them..."

Plasmius ignored her, as he usually did when she brought up his exploring. He wanted to do it and that was that. Dora, at least, seemed capable of relenting on the subject. A trait he wished she would pass on to the inhabitants of his own home.

"How's Danny?"

Vlad gave her a quick glance, before returning his gaze to the garden around them. It was impressive, what the dragon folk were able to do with the wild land the Ghost Zone had provided them. Dora's face seemed gentle enough.

"He needs his father," Vlad said. It was the first time in a while he spoke about Daniel to anyone but Godfrey.

Dora had tried at first, when he'd begun his visits, to question him about Daniel, even try to come and see the boy, but Vlad assured her he was fine, that he'd take care of him. He knew she knew better though, she was simply that sharp. Perhaps that's why he continued to come here after these long few months.

"But you here," said Dora. "Unless you mean-"

"I dont."

Dora sighed, allowing herself a moment of indignance and crossing her arms. The long sleeves of her dress draped her lap where she sat, looking up at Plasmius.

"I just don't know how to be what he needs," Vlad said after a long moment. The halfa lowered onto the bench beside her and leaned his elbows on his knees, dropping his chin into his hands. He stared out, as if in a daze.

"It felt easy when he didn't want it, want me," Vlad continued. "I was doing what I felt was best, and Daniel would fight me on it, but it seemed natural- the way we did things. I think even then Daniel knew that we needed trust to survive, and thus allowed me to open that door between us."

"And now?" prompted Dora. It was the first time in a while Vlad was willing to talk about the hero, and she had been so worried. She didn't want him to stop now.

"Now," Vlad replied. "Now it's not life or death, and all of the sudden everything's more difficult. How is making sure he eats the blasted carrots on his plate before going for dessert harder than shoving him out of the way of an ectoblast? I felt almost lost trying to explain to him he's not allowed into the lab without shoes on because he can't walk around in socks without slipping every minute! All of his socks have grips now, by the way."

As Plamius began to ramble, Dora found herself relaxing into a smile. Danny was still Danny then, it seems. But the man in front of her was simply the spitting image of a wandering soul, seeking guidance. Perhaps she wasn't quite the one to be giving advice on the matter, but seeing as he only came to chat with her of all people these days, she wouldn't let the opportunity slip away.

"You both have been fighting for your lives for a long time now," Dora said carefully. "It's understandable there is some adjustments to be made as you find your normal again. It isn't as if anyone wouldn't understand that, however..."

Vlad turned slightly to look at her, eyebrow raised. Dora squared her shoulders, an obvious habit when she wanted to appear authoritative, in control.

"Danny is the young one here," she said, "He's relying on you to set the pace for your lives together now. All of this soul-searching you've been doing, it has to be affecting him, in some way. His given parents had years to figure out what kind of role-model they wanted to be, and how their home would function as their children grew up. You may not have that luxury, so things may be harder, but you can't allow yourself to take that out on Danny."

Vlad's eyes narrowed slightly. "I give him everything, Dora."

"Maybe, physically," she replied. "But are you there when he wants you to be? There are no devils to fight right now, hurling insults and ectoplasm at you both to trigger your bond with each other. You said it was easy to tell when you were needed for survival before now, but survival is more than shelter and safety, isn't it?"

Plasmius didn't respond, staring hard at Dora's face like it was a chess board. A puzzle to solve, that he couldn't quite grasp. She sighed.

"You're lucky it's Danny, you know," she told him. "You could just ask what he wants from you. His heart is written on his sleeve, like a map."

Their conversation drifted then, Plasmius thanking her for her advice but speaking no more of Daniel. He felt bothered by it, like he was being scolded. Dora was always careful around him, which he liked, but not so much that he couldn't understand the points she was trying to make.

He talked to her about her brother, how he'd taken to being locked up again, and her servants, who she delighted in driving up a wall with her disappearances into isolated places of the castle. She too, as he understood, appreciated alone time to think.

When Vlad stepped through the Ghost Portal and transformed, he immediately felt exhaustion settle into his bones. He certainly wasn't getting any younger, try as he might to stay fit. Working off of 4 hours of sleep every night probably wasn't the best course of action for his health, though.

His heart nearly stopped as he caught himself just before he slipped to the floor, sliding on a...pencil? One with the eraser chewed up, at that.

"Daniel," he hissed, rubbing his sore foot.

As he ascended from the depths of his lowest floors, he thought about having Godfrey remind the boy how to clean up after himself, again. Maybe he would follow Dora's advice and do it in person. They'd been...distant, for long enough that his sudden presence might still spook the boy into behaving.

But Daniel wasn't ever really bad. He didn't do things maliciously nearly ever, even when on a defiant streak. Even when he did it was almost always provoked. It made it increasingly difficult for Vlad to figure out how parenting the boy was supposed to work.

Vlad entered his bedroom and immediately froze. In his lost thoughts, he hadn't noticed his door had been left ajar, and in the dim hallway light flooding into his room, he could see none other than the boy in question tangled up in his sheets, knocked out. Carefully, he approached him, ensuring he was indeed asleep before huffing softly.

"This is my bed, you brat." Vlad grumbled, tugging contrastingly gently at the mess of blanket and comforter around the boy. When he went to grab him, something dark and reflecting caught his eye. Ah.

He grabbed the Ectosignature Projector and flipped it over. As suspected, he'd need to replace the vials inside. He felt his chest tighten a bit as he looked between Daniel and the cube in his hand.

Alright, maybe Dora had a point.

Still, he needed time before he could confront Daniel, before he could try and make up for the time he'd spent away. One more week, that should be enough, right?

He scooped the boy up and deposited him in his proper bed. Tiredly, he changed out the vials in the projector before turning it on and leaving it on the boy's bedside table. He guiltily watched as Daniel's features softened, relaxed now. He'd have to start weaning him off that blasted device. Yet another thing to complain to Godfrey about until he fixed it for him.

Vlad couldn't be home every night, of course. And the boy needed to sleep. Somehow, those two things didn't feel right seperated in his head. Dora's advice from the last few months came biting at his broken logic, reminding him some things in his life would have to change for Daniel's wellbeing's sake.

He was a parent now, after all.

Waking up from the best sleep Danny had gotten in a while, only to find the fruitloop had yet again dodged him last night, ruined the hero's mood for the day.

He'd scared the Box Ghost so bad this morning before heading into first period that he was almost certain it would be ghost-free day. News travels fast when the resident half-ghost hunter is miffed and not pulling his punches.

Godfrey lectured him in the car, and it had actually stuck with him through class as he realized just how lost he was on what they were supposed to be learning. Vlad had made everything clear enough for him to keep up, even excel in some subjects he hadn't before. Now he was once again struggling to comprehend what was going on even in his best classes, let alone his failing ones.

It all came to a head when his ghost sense went off in English.

"Of all the classes," Danny muttered, making eye contact with Tucker, who'd caught him shuddering. Danny rolled his eyes and raised his hand, asking to be excused.

"I'm about to collect essays, mr. Fen- Masters." Said Lancer. Danny went pale. "Though since I'm absolutely sure you completed it, you can simply hand it in and grab a hall pass for the restroom."

"I- I forgot all about it. I'm sorry sir, it's not, uh, totally finished." Danny said quickly, reaching into his backpack and pulling out his half-hearted attempt at a title and beginning paragraph from last night.

"It's a miracle it's even been started, for once," said Lancer. "You can wait until I'm finished collecting everyone else's work before I dismiss you."

Danny felt his ghost sense creeping up at the back of his throat and frowned. He looked around, out the window, through the door window to the hall, but didn't see anything. Meaning the signature was strong enough to be sensed from further away. Not good.

"Actually," Danny called, standing up. He ignored the pleading looks from his friends and stepped away from his desk. "I've really gotta get going, mr. Lancer, sorry."

"Always in a rush, Masters!" Lancer exclaimed. "I told you to wait two minutes, and even that you can't do. Walk out of this class, and I will not let it slide this time."

Danny's breath went frosty, and he jogged to the door. Maybe he should have been more contrite about it, but he couldn't bring himself to care. It wasn't like there was anything that could actually be done to him at this point.

Vlad didn't care what he did at school, or anywhere. So why should Danny?

"Mr Masters!" His teacher called out to him as he entered the hall. Danny raced down the empty hallway to a closet, phasing in quickly to transform.

Ember had been easy enough to deal with, not as poweful as she could be without time to gather up enough adoring fans, but it still took the entire rest of his day before he finally secured the ghost in his thermos. Tucker and Sam were waiting for him at the front of the school, draggin him away before the mob, or his sister, could get to him.

"Did you get her?" Sam asked.

"They almost put us on lockdown, man!" Tucker hissed. Danny held his hands up.

"I'm sorry it took a little longer than usual, I've been off my game." Said Danny. "I've had a hard time reigning in my strength and well, I didn't want to actually do too much damage, so I mostly just wore her out until I could use the thermos."

"This isn't a game, Danny," Sam said suddenly. "Lancer is miffed, and you just spent all day on one ghost. You could've called for help. You know I have a study hall right after English!"

"Guys," Tucker called out.

"I know Sam, I just wasn't thinking," Danny said quickly. "I haven't been all week, I promise I'm going to do something about it, okay?"

"Do something like what? What you need to do is figure out how to balance your responsibilities, like a high schooler." Sam retorted. Danny glared at her.

"Guys!" Tucker cried, pointing to the street. "Danny's ride is here."

"That's not...my car," Danny said slowly, feeling like a bucket of cold water just got thrown on him. "It's Vlad's."

"What?" Said Sam. Tucker gasped.

"Vlad has two limos?!"

Danny watched the man exit the car, smiling graciously at the kids who greeted him as he walked up the steps. Mr. Lancer and the principal were waiting for him, taking turns shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries. Vlad looked around until finally, he caught sight of the other halfa and gestured with a short jerk of his head for Danny to come over.

"Oh you are toast, my friend." He heard Tucker saying to him. "Rest in Peace for the second time, brother."

Danny's legs moved mechanically to the group of adults like a doomed man. By now, his classmates had realized what was going on and started whispering around him, making him feel even more self-conscious. He cursed Vlad and his need to make an entrance absolutely everywhere. Why couldn't he fly in? Surely no one would notice.

As soon as he was close enough, Vlad's hand gripped his shoulder. Not squeezing, but just heavy enough to be grounding. In a way he was grateful for it. Danny wasn't a stranger to being in trouble, but this is the first time he was actually kind of guilty for it. He hadn't meant the ghost fighting to get this...involved, in his daily life.

Sitting next to Vlad in the principal's office felt surreal. Having Vlad talk on his behalf, listen to all his misdeeds be laid out plainly, and assure his teacher he'd improve, it just made Danny feel awful.

He'd wanted nothing more than to tear Vlad a new one these last couple of months. To drag him out of the ghost zone and make him regret ignoring him, for once to have the moral high ground. But he just couldn't seem to do anything right these days.

As they walked back to Vlad's vehicle the man's hand returned to his shoulder, guiding him with a stern authority into the limo ahead of him. Danny sat as far away as he could, dropping his backpack beside him to lean on tiredly.

No one spoke for a long, painstaking minute as Vlad sent out text after text on his phone. Danny realized with a start the man had to have abandoned work to get to the school exactly when he did. Yet another thing to feel guilty about.

Vlad tucked away his phone, and for the first time in months, they looked at each other properly.

"I'm disappointed in you," Vlad said, his tone even. Danny's stomach twisted.

"I didn't-"

"One excuse, and I'll ask the principal to give you the suspension I just saved you from." Vlad said. Danny couldn't read his face, but he could tell it wasn't an empty threat. The cheesehead was hiding his true feelings from him though, that much he could tell.

Danny nodded, staring at the tiny wrinkles in the leather cushioned seats. He wished there was a better reason for why he felt so awful, but all he could come up with was how badly he'd messed up their first meeting in months. How Vlad probably wanted nothing to do with him now.

"Stop catastrophizing," Vlad said, "We'll discuss what we need to at home."

Home. Right, because that's where they were going. Not FentonWorks, not the Ghost Zone, but Vlad's house, where he'd been isolated all this time. He could cry now.

Vlad let him drop off his backpack in the library, telling him he'll be spending the weekend there catching up on all the extra credit Lancer had given them to improve his grade, and change out of his school outfit. The knot in his stomach didn't go away. If anything, it coiled horribly tighter as he returned from the bathroom to Vlad sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting for him.

He sat far enough away that he could face Vlad. He didn't like how the man's face was unreadable right now, and was hoping it was just the angle, or the lighting. Usually, he could tell immediately just how mad Vlad was.

"Your ghost fighting," Vlad began, "was never something I intended to restrict you from. You're self-imposed responsibility to keep the city safe is fine by me. However,"

Danny's eyebrows knit together, pairing with his frown as he watched Vlad cross his arms in thought.

"If this is something you cannot balance with your schooling, then I am left with no options but to have you homeschooled or take a break from playing hero. Both, if I could have my way right now." said Vlad

Danny's eyes moved to the ground. He nodded curtly, unsure of what the right answer would be at this point. He just wished a ghost problem would come right at this moment and save him from continuing this conversation.

"I think there's more to this than teenage willfulness though, am I wrong?" Vlad asked. "What's going on in that head of yours, little badger?"

That pesky stinging behind his eyes was back. Danny blinked hard and shrugged. He hoped that was enough.

It wasn't. Vlad continued to stare at him, patiently. Danny opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure what to say.

"Is it because of me?" Vlad said finally. The gentle tone was the nail in the coffin for Danny, and he quickly scrubbed at his face as tears escaped in a race down his cheeks.

"You left me alone," Danny accused him, not sounding at all as confident as he'd meant to. He didn't dare say anything more, focused only on controlling his emotions before he embarassed himself further.

"I did," said Vlad, "and I'm sorry, Daniel. That doesn't make it alright, but I promise you, I'm available whenever you need me. No more late nights."

Danny's head bobbed once, and he felt his stomach slowly relax, like all the worry and tension had begun to melt. Vlad seemed sincere, and that was as much as he felt he could ask for, right now. He wanted to discuss ghost fighting, and what they'd brought up in the meeting about his treatment of his teachers, but there was no way he'd get through that conversation without breaking down again, that's for sure.

"There's still the matter of your actions today," Vlad said, and Danny was reminded that the man's face was still that stern, unreadable expression.

Oh, he'd seen that face before. It took him a moment to place it, but it was all too familiar now. He'd seen it on Vlad before. Most notably, right before he got tossed over the man's lap.

"Given the excitement, we'll handle it in the morning." Vlad told him. Danny found himself floundering at the words, surprising himself with his response.

"I'd rather now," he said. "I don't want to be thinking about it all night, I just want to get everything over with!"

Vlad blinked at him, shocked. After a moment he shook his head, chuckling.

"As you wish."

He hated how he could tell Vlad was barely using any strength, yet he could've sworn the man had an iron palm. Vlad's approach to spanking had shocked him at first, but now he just found it embarassing, mostly, because the man insisted on talking through it when Danny really messed up. It hurt worse than anything else, honestly.

"We didn't work for months on your academics for you to throw away your future," Vlad was telling him. "And definitely not for some ghost attack the police definitely could've handled."

"I know," Danny choked out. He wasn't sure if Vlad actually wanted a response, but he felt compelled to regardless.

"This is the last time I hear you're putting absolutely anything above school. I mean it." Vlad finished.

When Vlad let him up, Danny was breathing heavy, but not crying. Just looking at Vlad like the contrite kid he felt like, standing between his knees.

"You'll do all the work Lancer gave you this weekend and we'll speak no more of this. Understand?" Asked Vlad.

Danny's heart sank as he recalled the stack of make-up and extra credit work waiting for him but nodded regardless. He looked at Vlad, for the first time today seeing his true emotions on his face. He appeared tired, perhaps as much as Danny was, but calm; content even. Maybe he truly had been missing Danny as much as he'd hoped.

"I'm sorry, dad." He said quietly. Vlad grabbed his arms in a firm, grounding grip, pulling them down from where they were hovering around his slightly red face.

"You're forgiven, my boy," said Vlad, "Will you forgive this old fool as well?"

"I forgive you," Danny said quickly. "But don't ignore me again!"

He felt like the rage and defiance he'd felt that very morning was nothing but a distant dream. Like his body just needed a little assurance that everything would be alright, that the world wasn't ending, and that Vlad still cared. Now, he felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted from him. Well, besides the slight lingering sting in his rear.

Danny slept peacefully that night, no projector necessary.

Hope you enjoyed, and sparkle on,

-P