Paranoia

Here it is, Chapter 9, as I promised, just...really late. I may do a regular journal about life and the fic later. Anyway, took me a very long time. But then again it's a very long chapter! Over 7k words!

Over 7k words consisting of heartwarming fuzzies to things that may make you guys hate me!

One more chapter after this and it will be done. Paranoia will be complete. There may be a few things connected to it, such as deleted scenes and whatnot, but the main story will be done. Not sure when I'll write it though, hopefully soonish.

Anyway, I guess I'll not keep you waiting longer with my authors note, and beware the warning. Yes, just one warning this time, but I'm sure you understand. I'm sorry, yet not. Some things just have to happen.

Warnings: Character Death

---

After school Sam and Tucker went to find Jazz before she left. She hadn't been there to see Dan and though she probably heard what had happened she would want to know more details. They found her sitting with Valerie on the schools front steps talking after everyone left.

She had apparently been filling Val in on exactly who they were dealing with and the girl looked slightly unnerved. Though she had been out classed in terms of power before none had taken her down as easily as he had. She still seemed to have the determination needed to help in any way she could though.

Sam and Tucker sat down and there was silence for a few moments, realizing that Val had probably told Jazz what happened.

"So...what can we do?" Tucker asked, jumping into the heart of the matter.

"Try to protect him the best we can," Sam said automatically and Valerie just sent her a flat look.

"Look, Sam," she said plainly, "Doing 'the best we can' is not an option here. It's either all or nothing. As in we do nothing and watch this happen to Danny or we die helping him."

Sam shifted back, startled, and Jazz intervened before it could go too far. "We get weapons. We follow Danny. If Dan shows up we fight him. It's as simple as that."

Tucker wanted to interrupt, say that it wasn't that simple. They were only making plans for themselves not thinking about how the evil ghost would react. After all, instead of killing him and getting rid of what he probably thought of as pests he had just trapped them. Why would he do that?

Valerie saw Tuckers frown and asked what he was thinking. "I'm not quite sure. I mean, we're all looking at Dan as the real bad guy here, and only thinking of any reaction he'll have towards us as deadly violence. He didn't do that though, almost as if he was one of the people being controlled."

"But, who's strong enough to control Dan?" Jazz asked, sounding scared.

"I'm not sure. There's something really strange going on here, and I think we should try and figure that out before we go and talk to Danny." Tucker said and Valerie nodded.

Jazz bit her lower lip, thinking, "How about we meet somewhere later, I mean, I really want to go home and check on Danny first."

The others agreed, after all she was his big sister. They decided to meet at the park a little later that afternoon, if nothing came up.

Jazz waved halfheartedly at the younger teens as she drove off, a frown on her face. She actually could think of one ghost that may be more powerful, or at least able to intimidate Dan, but no. That couldn't be possible.

What would Clockwork have to gain from all this anyway?

---

Clockwork stood in his tower looking into the portals all around him. The one he was focusing on the most right now still seemed clear, and a good fate, at least for most of the people involved.

He shook off a wave of slight guilt, a ghost who manipulated time and life didn't have a place for such feelings, and waved a hand in front of a mirror watching the scene inside of it. A small, dark-haired girl ran across her lawn, stopping to stare at a boy who staggered down the street for a second before running inside.

Such a profound difference she would make in the future with only the small sacrifice of a few people.

Clockwork waved his hand in front of him again, causing all the portals to close and he froze the mirror in front of him where it was. With a nod he waved his staff, preparing to go see Dan.

Time was running short and he had to make sure the ghost knew that his little escapade would only last for a few more days.

---

Vlad sat in his office in his mansion. He had come to discover some unsettling things in the past few hours. A new ghost had been sighted in Amity Park and it had seemed to know Danny. He supposed that wasn't that unusual with the boys fame as a Halfa, but it seemed different.

He had attacked the boy physically instead of an energy blast, a very odd thing for a ghost to do, and then he had actually stopped and talked to him.

Vlad frowned. When was the last time he had heard of a ghost who actually just talked instead of spouting insults or claiming their superiority while wasting ecto-blasts? Leaning on his elbows Vlad tried to piece together what was happening.

While he had been visiting he had noticed Danny and his friends odd behavior. He hadn't been sure what to connect it to at the time, but with the appearance of this ghost, though it was new, Vlad had a feeling that he was a large part of it.

Vlad was worried. Very worried.

He needed to go see Danny, and soon. They needed to talk about a lot of things, and sort some others out. Vlad was still frustratingly occupied with what had happened the night he had to carry Danny home. The boy had felt nice in his arms, and when he had struggled away and Vlad had been forced to drop him the older man had been very...disappointed.

Making a sound of frustration Vlad slammed a palm to his forehead. He did not need to be thinking like that. Danny was still underage, and Vlad was the same age as his father. Vlad shuddered at the thought, and more at the fact that even those reasoning's hadn't deterred him that much.

Sighing to himself Vlad leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, deciding he would go see Danny later that night. Until then, though, he still had a lot to think about.

---

Danny sat listlessly in his room doing nothing. He was sure he had a bunch of stuff to do, like homework, but somehow that seemed almost pointless. After all, if you had just promised your evil older self you would do anything would you still worry about grades?

Danny sighed as that last thought passed and tried to work himself out of his depression. Just sitting around moping and being afraid all the time wasn't going to do anything. Thinking again he realized that Dark probably wouldn't keep his promise about not hurting his friends, so why should Danny keep his promise to do anything?

He shook his head immediately though. How could he know Dark wasn't going to keep it. If Danny acted in a way to contradict what he said, who was to know whether or not Dark would have done the same thing.

Making a sound of frustration Danny sat on his bed and leaned forward, putting his face in his hands. He didn't know what to do. He had almost given up and that disgusted him. The teen was worried about his friends now that they knew and it was hindering him from being able to think properly.

A knock on his door startled him and he found himself standing before he even knew what he was doing. Blowing out a calming breath he called "Come in" expecting it to be Jazz or one of his parents come to interrogate him about what had happened at school.

He was completely confused and shocked when Vlad walked through the door instead. He got over it quickly though, and remembered the last time the man had come to talk to him.

"Deciding to come talk to me while I actually have clothes on? How shocking." Danny quipped, still slightly annoyed.

Vlad sighed and shrugged. "I apologize for my behavior earlier."

Danny sighed and muttered 'whatever' before looking at him and raising an eyebrow. "Why are you here anyway? I thought you went home."

"I did, but I came to talk with you about what has been happening recently. I heard about the ghost attack," at that Vlad noticed Danny flinched, "and I wanted to see that you were all right."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Danny said automatically and Vlad of course didn't believe him.

Walking over and pulling up Dannys computer chair Vlad sat across from the young teen. "No, you are not fine. You are pale and sleep depraved. When you do sleep it's restless and you have all sorts of nightmares. You seem as if someone is about to jump out and attack you at any second. What's wrong?"

As Vlad had been talking Dannys eyes had grown wider and wider. Slightly panicked he wondered if it was that obvious to everyone, and if it was what he could do to hide it better. That thought was thrown out as he looked at Vlad though. He wasn't sure if there was anything that could hide it from the older Halfa and his Maddie and Danny senses.

Danny chuckled softly at that. It was as if Vlad had some sort of radar that told him if something was going on with him or his mother, though lately it had been leaning more toward him.

Vlad raised an eyebrow, wondering what Danny was thinking about. He briefly thought to try and prompt the boy into speaking, but knew that it would only serve to put him more in his shell.

"I'm being...harassed, by a ghost. I'm fine. He won't do anything to anyone besides me. I can handle it, there's no need for anyone to get involved." Danny said suddenly and it took Vlad a moment to realize he was answering his question.

When it did sink in the older man was shocked. He wasn't sure what to say. His first thoughts were about trying to tell Danny that he would take care of it for him. Then he almost said that he would protect Danny so he wouldn't have to worry about it. All his thoughts were along that line after that. Why should a fifteen year old boy have to deal with something like this?

Not being able to find anything better to say, at least that he should say, Vlad finally spoke. "Danny, I want you to know that if there's anything I can do to help you I won't hesitate to do so. I know we haven't always been on the best of terms, but I still want to be able to help you if I can."

Danny bit his lip and looked away. There was that 'anything' promise again. He was sure that no one thinking straight would actually say that, he certainly hadn't been.

"Ok," Danny said softly and sighed, still not looking at Vlad.

"Daniel," Vlad said, reaching out and taking Dannys chin so he would look at him, and somehow Danny managed not to flinch as he looked him in the eyes, "I'm serious right now. Please tell me what I can do."

"There's nothing you can do," Danny said softly, "The only thing you could do is go back to your mansion and stay there so I don't have to worry about you too."

Vlad sighed, still not releasing his hold, "I know you think you have my best intentions in mind, but I can take care of myself. I have been doing this for quite some time, you know." he paused for a second, "You should not be the one worrying about things, you're still only a child. If I think I should have someone worrying about me, I will worry about myself." he said bluntly and Danny just stared at him in shock.

"But you have no idea-"

"No I do not, because you won't tell me, but I'm sure I can take care of myself." Vlad said, cutting him off with finality.

There was silence for a few minutes while Danny thought it over. Vlad loosened his grip on Danny's chin and the boy glanced to the side. Vlad did have a point, he tried to convince himself, and he should be all right as long as he didn't get attention drawn to him. For awhile at least.

Looking back at the older man he swallowed before whispering, "Thank you. I just...don't want anyone else to get hurt."

In that instant, that moment of vulnerability and acceptance of whatever Vlad did that the older mans restraint broke. He found himself propelled forward those few inches until his lips lightly touched the young teens.

Danny was shocked. Frozen in place and confused, very confused. Why would Vlad kiss him? And why was it not as horrible as it should be? After a moment Vlad pulled back and started to apologize, but Danny surprised them both by leaning forward and kissing him again. He thought it was strange that it felt almost familiar, but at the same time completely different than anything. Their lips came together again and Danny found his lips parting for the older mans tongue.

For those few moments Danny felt safe. It seemed like there was at least one person who wasn't forcing him to do anything. As if he didn't have any weird powers. As if no one was after him. As if Dark...

Before that thought could finish Danny pulled back and launched himself to the other side of his bed, holding onto the headboard so he didn't fall off. He put his hand to his mouth for a moment, staring at the startled man in front of him. He had no idea.

"I shouldn't have...I shouldn't..." Danny startled to say, his voice wavering as he looked around.

"What's wrong Danny?" Vlad asked, concerned. It had seemed as if Danny hadn't minded what they were doing, but now something else was on his mind.

"I shouldn't have done that. He's going to find out, and-" Danny was interrupted by the sound of the front door slamming and Jazz running up the stairs calling his name. "You need to go. Go back to your mansion, hide in your lab or something. You can't-"

Vlad got up and grabbed Danny's arm making the teen flinch. "I told you that I would be fine."

"No! You won't! Just go!" Danny hissed and yanked his arm back. Jazz called his name again and he knew any second she would be bursting through his door.

Sighing, Vlad stared at Danny for a second letting him know that he wanted to talk to him later. Finally he turned, transforming into his ghost form and left the room going outside just as Jazz walked in.

---

Dark was pissed. Clockwork had come to him earlier telling him their time was almost up. He had then gone to Danny's to see what the boy was doing and maybe mess with him more. It was then that he found his property otherwise occupied with Vlad.

It had taken all that he had left of his willpower to not attack the older ghost then. Clockwork had warned him that he was going back in that damned thermos if he attacked him without being 'physically provoked.' Dark growled, wondering what he could do.

He was certain there were some loopholes, he just had to think a bit. Maybe it really was obvious and he just hadn't seen it before because he wasn't sure how long he had. Sitting in the park on a bench he had claimed as his own he assumed his human form, leaning forward with his chin in his hand thinking.

If only there was a way to provoke him into attacking him first without seeming too obvious. Clockwork would know, regardless, and maybe the ghost was actually planning on Dark doing something. The sadist frowned, wondering what Clockwork was really up to. That ghost had always been an enigma.

"I don't know if I want to see it though." Dark's musings were interrupted by a young couple walking past him. Something about that reminded him of something.

"Come on, it's just a movie."

"Yeah, but it's rated 'R', and I'm not sure."

"Do you even know the definition of an 'R' movie? They can say 'fuck' twice and it automatically moves from pg-13 to 'R', and seriously. If you think the movie sounds interesting, why care about the rating?"

The couple walked off making Dark miss the rest of the conversation. It didn't matter anyway. He already knew what he was going to do. An evil grin worked its way across his face.

He had his plan now, but he still wanted this all to end up in Amity Park. For a few moments he contemplated how to get Vlad back here, but then he saw him walking across the park.

"Speak of the devil," Dark muttered with a smile, catching Vlad's attention for a moment before the seemingly distracted man continued walking. Dark was sure that that would be enough for Vlad to remember this place.

Things all seemed to be falling in place for the evil ghost quite nicely now, all he needed was a nice trip to Wisconsin.

---

"Nice of you to knock." Danny said sarcastically and Jazz sighed at him.

"Well sorry for wanting to come see if you were ok. Val told me about the ghost attack at school." she noticed Danny flinch and continued cautiously, "That was Dan wasn't it?"

"Dan..." Danny said, rolling the name around in his mouth. It sounded so foreign, he was so used to him being referred to as Dark that his 'real' name sounded strange. He sighed, "Yeah, it was."

"So he..." Jazz trailed off, wincing as she realized that she could be being really insensitive.

Danny looked up at her flatly, "He what? Stalked me? Mentally tortured me? Raped me? Yeah, he did, and he'll do it again." he said bitterly leaving Jazz shocked.

She started to try to speak several times before she just let out a sound of frustration. "How can you say that? You're barely fifteen!"

The mention of his age, something usually only mentioned lightly and around his birthday set him back a bit. Trying to still act nonchalant he retorted, "So, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Danny, you know what I mean. You shouldn't have to worry about this kind of stuff," Jazz said, unknowingly echoing what Vlad had said earlier, "You should be worrying about normal kid stuff, like school and stuff."

"I stopped worrying about 'normal' things when I turned into a Halfa." Danny said and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't want to talk about this. I know you want to talk about this, and my friends probably do too, but I..." he trailed off with a sigh.

Jazz shifted her weight back and forth for a second before she sighed as well, "All right. I guess I can leave it for a bit. How about you come hang out with us anyway? Everyone thinks that I'm going to be bringing you to talk about what we can do about Dan, but I guess I'll try to make them back off."

Danny smiled at her as he stood up. "You can be a pain sometimes, but really I don't mind having you as a big sister."

---

The next day Dark decided to make his trip to Wisconsin. He could have done it later that night after he had seen Vlad in the park, but he decided he wanted to have some fun with Danny between the time Vlad saw the tape and he came to 'hurt' him.

Dark chuckled, leaning back in Vlads desk chair. The mansion had really been quite easy to break into, all things considered. It was noting compared to the mans security in the future. Then again Dark had to remind himself that this one still had his ghost powers. Not like it mattered.

The look on Vlads face was quite amusing to the sadist when he walked into his office and found someone already occupying his chair. He was too shocked to attack him there, which in some ways was disappointing, but others was just as Dark had been planning. There was silence while Vlad just stared at the other man and Dark smiled back at him.

Finally breaking out into a chuckled Dark said, "Nice to meet you again, Masters."

"Do I know you?" Vlad said rudely, shaken by the person in front of him. For some reason he gave him a very bad feeling. After a moment he recognized him from the park yesterday, where he had brushed him off. "What do you want?"

"Oh, I just came to deliver this," Dark said, holding up a small tape that looked as if it had come from an old video camera. "I found it amusing and thought that I would share it with you." he set it down on the desk where Vlad eyed it warily.

"What's on it?"

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough." Dark chuckled, "I would watch it with you, but I have something I need to go do." he chuckled again, as if he had some sort of inside joke.

Vlad found himself shivering. There was definitely something wrong with this man. Also, how had he gotten into the mansion? While he was distracted the man stood and began walking out. As soon as he walked past him Vlad spun around, finally getting some sense back.

"Who are you?" he finally asked and Dark stopped for a second before turning back, a slightly insane grin on his face.

"Dark Phantom." he said and turned away before mumbling the rest of the sentence so Vlad wouldn't hear, "Don't bother to remember it. You won't have to remember anything soon."

---

Danny's day had been going so well he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised when it began going downhill. After hanging out with his friends and sister the day before he had been in a better mood than he had been for a long time. When he had gone to school earlier he didn't get called on for anything, and Dash had been avoiding him lately so there was no problem from him.

Jazz had something to do after school and she wouldn't be home for a couple hours. Danny's parents were gone again, probably hunting ghosts, and he had no idea when they would be back. He should have realized that with the house empty it was the perfect time for a ghost to come see him.

"Hello Danny."

Danny jumped about a foot in the air, spinning around to stare at Clockwork floating next to the door in his room. He put a hand to his chest, feeling his heart racing against his ribcage. "C-Clockwork." he stuttered, "Why are you here?"

"I just came to warn you. There is not much time left, and you need to be prepared."

"Not much time...what are you talking about?" Danny said, growing more nervous by the second.

"You will find out." Clockwork said and Danny bristled, "I must go now, I have things to attend to."

"Wait!" Danny called before Clockwork could go, "What are you talking about? What should I be prepared for? What else could go wrong that I need another vague warning! Just tell me what's going on or don't tell me anything at all!" Danny yelled, frustrated.

Clockwork just tsk'd and shook his head. "These things must happen. There is a greater reason for everything." he said before disappearing.

A second after he disappeared Danny finally succumbed and let out a scream of frustration. Why was this happening to him? What higher entity had he pissed off to make his life this way? He beat his head softly against the wall a few times before sighing and closing his eyes, still leaning on the wall.

He needed to calm down. Nothing good ever came out of being angry, it just gave him headaches. Just as he was starting to mellow out his ghost sense went off. 'Not now, please not now,' Danny mentally pleaded, sliding down while still facing the wall, not wanting to turn around and see who it was. Who he knew it must be.

"What a cold welcome," Dark said and Danny finally looked over his shoulder to see him sitting in his computer chair.

"Why would I welcome someone I don't want to see?" Danny asked without thinking, immediately covering his mouth with his hands. When the expected reaction didn't come he looked over at him warily.

He was still there, sitting calmly next to Dannys bed. "Come here," he said and motioned toward the bed.

Danny slowly got up and made his way to the bed, glancing at Dark curiously and cautiously. Sitting down gingerly he winced when his chin was grabbed. He felt like this was very familiar and it was giving him a bad feeling.

"Kiss me." Dark said calmly and Danny's eyes widened.

"W-what?" Danny stuttered. This was not good, the way Dark was acting it was as if he knew about...

"You heard me," Dark said, his voice still deceptively calm, "I told you to kiss me."

Danny swallowed, remembering his promise, and leaned forward barely brushing their lips together before moving back. Dark raised an eyebrow and Danny's heart sank when a look he didn't recognize crossed the other mans face.

"That wasn't very passionate. Maybe this will instill more enthusiasm." Dark said quietly and Danny thought his heart would stop in horror when Dark changed his form to duplicate Vlad.

"No!" Danny found himself gasping before he could realize what he was doing. "I mean-what do you mean?" he tried to cover his slip badly as Dark changed back to himself.

"Don't try to lie to me. I know, Danny, I saw you." Dark said and Danny found himself shrinking back in fear.

He couldn't speak. He could only think about how horrible this was, and how he shouldn't have let Vlad do that. How he shouldn't have done that to Vlad. Without him noticing he started to hyperventilate. Somewhere he heard Dark chuckle darkly before his head was violently turned to the side by the force of a slap.

As Danny scooted back and slightly curled himself up, unconsciously holding where he had been hit, Dark was moving to lean over him. Looking down into Danny's wide eyes he smiled.

"I thought I had made it clear that I didn't want you touching other people. I suppose I'll just have to teach you another lesson." Dark sighed, moving completely on top of the teen and putting a hand up his shirt.

"No! I, Jazz will be home soon, and you- I-" Danny started to protest, but when he saw the look on Darks face he knew it was futile. The older man was serious and nothing Danny did was going to get him out of this.

"Protesting again," Dark growled, "Another bad habit I need to get you out of."

Danny could tell that his struggling, no matter how small it was, was working even more against him to make Dark lose his temper. At one end that was something the teen was deathly afraid of. He had no idea what Dark could do when he was pissed off, and yet...that was part of how on the other end of the spectrum he wanted to anger the other man. Maybe if he got him mad enough he would kill him, or give him brain damage, or something so he wouldn't be aware of what was going on. Danny found himself going into those morbid thoughts more often now, and as Dark roughly unbelted and removed Dannys pants that was almost what he was wishing for.

"There's nothing I can do," Danny whispered, helpless horror in his barely audible voice.

"You're right. There is nothing," Dark hissed back before roughly tugging down his own pants.

"Help me...Dark."

---

Jazz got home and immediately knew something was wrong. It was almost like the echo of a scream and it made her automatically worry for her younger brother. Dropping her things she ran upstairs to Danny's room. She hesitated in front of his door for a second before she heard something heavy fall, followed by the clatter of a few smaller things.

Throwing open the door she gasped and took a step back. She hesitated for another second before she ran over to Danny who was on the floor struggling to get up.

"Danny what-" She started to say but cut herself off. It was obvious what had happened. "Nevermind. Uh..." she trailed off, trying not to stare at him too badly.

Danny shifted again, getting on his hands and knees as Jazz knelt by him, her hands out as if to try and help him but didn't know what to do. He hissed in pain as he tried to use the bed as leverage to stand up and Jazz immediately tried to stop him.

"I'm fine!" he bit out and reached onto his bed to grab his boxers. Somehow he managed to get them on while at least half way covering himself with the shirt he still had on. He hoped they covered the blood too.

"No Danny! You are not fine! I know you don't want to go to a hospital, but you should at least lay down!" Jazz said, her voice slowly rising in hysteria. How could he have done that to her little brother? Why had he done it? Why couldn't she stop him?

"I can't! I don't have time!" Danny yelled at her, and a burst of adrenaline helped him stand with only a couple staggers.

He stood there breathing slowly for a moment, his eyes closed and his face in a grimace. Jazz stood up as well and went to him.

"Why can't you, Danny? What do you mean you don't-" Jazz started to ask but was interrupted.

"I need to go!" Danny exclaimed, his eyes snapping open, "I need, I-! He's going to-!"

Jazz watched in confusion and horror as Danny wiped at his eyes, a couple tears going down his cheeks. Swallowing the urge to ask what was really going on Jazz said, "All right. This is against my better judgment and I really wish you would explain but...Where do you need to go?"

He looked up at her with wide blue eyes, thankful but confused. "The park. I need to go to the park."

"All right, let's go." Jazz said, and put a hand in her pocket and when it came out there was a phone. "I am calling the others. No matter what you say." she added as Danny started to protest and he just blew out a breath instead.

"All right, but please don't take long. I have to, this is all my fault," he said, his hands raising to his face and he bit his lip.

Again Jazz almost said something but instead just opened her phone and started helping Danny down the stairs. She would just have to find out later.

---

Dark arrived at the park shortly after Vlad. He took a few moments to observe the other man. It was obvious that he was angry and doing everything he could to try and not blow something up. Dark chuckled silently to himself. Just as he had planned.

Or was it just as Clockwork had planned?

Dark shook his head, reminding himself it was a futile exercise to think about the Time ghost. If there was something he wanted to do no one would know about it until it was too late, and then they probably wouldn't know who had caused their plan to go awry.

Deciding that he would start, Danny would probably be here in a few minutes after he managed to be able to move. Dark smirked to himself remembering. Yes, it might take Danny a bit.

Floating down so he was a few yards away from Vlad Dark became visible. The other man visibly tensed, but surprisingly didn't go ghost. They stood there in silence for a few moments just staring at each other and assessing.

"I'm going to kill you." Vlad finally said and it surprised Dark into laughter.

"You kill me? You kill me?" He asked between chuckles. "Please, you're being so melodramatic. And completely unrealistic."

Vlad just managed to get out of the way as Dark shot an ectoblast at him completely without warning. While still moving Vlad changed into his ghost form and sent a duplicate behind Dark who dispatched it without even looking.

Their fight went that way for a couple minutes, Dark actually getting a shot on one of Vlads arms, and Vlad was beginning to think that the other man was prolonging it on purpose. It was as if he was waiting for something to happen. He wasn't sure what but Vlad was sure he wasn't going to like it. He thought of escaping for a moment but brushed it off.

This was the man who had hurt his Danny. The boy he wanted as his own son, and now, maybe, something more.

Suddenly as if his thoughts had summoned him Vlad saw Jazz's car screech to a halt and the girl jump out and run around her car to try and help Danny get out, though Danny just tried to brush her off.

He didn't even notice Dark had stopped attacking him as he stared at the boy coming closer. Danny was still just wearing a long shirt and boxers. He looked ragged, as if something had just happened to him and Vlad found his gaze turning to Dark for a moment to catch the satisfied smirk on his face. He felt his rage growing, but his attention was drawn back to the teens when he heard shouting and saw Danny's little posse run up.

---

The first thing Valerie did when she saw Danny was just stare. She then looked between Danny and the still smugly smirking Dark a couple times. Then she took out her gun and shot at him. When it didn't hit him she shot again. And again.

Dark began walking toward them and that got Vlad moving too, to try and get between them.

The Jazz and Tucker had finally gotten Val to stop shooting and now she was glaring at him with loathing.

"My my, what a party we have here. If only the parents had been able to attend." Dark sighed with mock regret.

"What do you want?" Jazz asked, worried that Danny hadn't done anything other than stare at his older self since they had gotten there.

"That, dear Jazz, is a very good question." Dark said, stopping a couple yard from where they were standing. Vlad was between him and the teens though he was off to the side a bit. "I want quite a few things. Your brother, for instance. Or maybe the death of everyone on the planet, and one right now in particular." he said, turning to look at Vlad.

"Vlad? But why?" Sam asked, finally finding her voice. She had been struck silent at seeing the state Danny was in.

Dark snorted and opened his mouth to speak but Danny pushed forward and interrupted him.

"Dark, it wasn't his fault. Please just let him go."

"Dark?" Sam asked curiously, but was ignored.

"Then whose fault was it Danny? Yours? I suppose it was a bit, but of course, I think the adult should be the one responsible in situations like this. After all, taking advantage of a poor, innocent teenager." he tsk'd, "What kind of monster could do that?"

"You." Vlad said, drawing attention back to himself. "You're the monster."

Danny tried to protest and forced his way out of his friends grasps, starting forward a few feet. Vlad stepped in front of him not letting him go any farther.

"What are you doing? If I could just...I could-!" Danny tried to get Vlad to move out of the way, but the older man would have nothing of it.

"No, Daniel. I will not move, I'm here to protect you."

Danny tried to say something more, but he stopped and his eyes widened as he saw a green glow coming from Dark. He tried to warn Vlad, get him out of the way, but it was too late.

Somewhere that seemed very far away Sam screamed as Danny watched Vlad fall to the ground. He knew he should be looking at Dark, making sure he wasn't going to do anything, but he couldn't. All he could think was that this was impossible. This couldn't be happening.

"No." he said, falling to his knees and grabbing Vlad. Turning him so his face was up he tried not to notice the man had turned back human. Tried not to notice the blood pooling under his body. Tried not to notice the hole in his chest.

"That was wonderfully touching. A bit too touching." Dark said by way of explanation, but no one was listening any more.

Danny was in shock, completely unaware of what was going on around him. The only thing he could think was that it was all his fault. If he hadn't done anything, if he hadn't fought back, if he hadn't talked to anyone, to Vlad, none of this would be happening.

---

Clockwork watched from a distance as Dark killed Vlad. He could have stopped him, it was not completely necessary, but changing the future twice in less than a year seemed to be almost pushing a limit. He saw Danny fall, sitting frozen as Vlad's blood pooled around them.

He had to step in soon, it was time. He knew that Dark would not be pleased about it, but what was that man ever pleased about? Sighing as he saw Dannys parents appear out of nowhere as they always did he slipped through his portal, stopping time as he stood next to Dark.

Clockwork had given Dark a time pendent so he wasn't effected by the Time Outs, and the look on his face was almost comical, realizing his time was over. He sighed only a second later and shook his head.

"I suppose I shouldn't complain, after all you did allow me to do all this." Dark waved his hands in a motion as if he was showing off.

Clockwork thought about Darks wording for a moment. It sounded as if he had almost ordered the sociopath to do everything, and actually in a way he had. Mentally shrugging he tucked that bit of thought into a place in his mind he reserved for slight regret.

"It's time to go." he said, as if nothing was wrong around them. "Get Danny and I will be waiting in the portal." With that he stepped back and re-started time.

He heard the screams of Danny's name, Dark's cocky banter and insults. The way he blatantly showed everyone that there was no hope, that he had no sense of remorse. Danny had fainted from all the shock and Dark picked him up to carry away. Clockwork watched, resigned and positive that he was right in what he was doing. Dark walked through the portal, leaving three devastated teenagers and a pair of shocked and confused parents behind.

---

Danny drifted back into consciousness slowly. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened. He frowned, blinking a couple times as he realized he was on a bed. His head throbbed and he gasped and put a hand up to his forehead until it subsided.

Looking around again he swallowed, thinking the room looked sickeningly familiar. Glancing up he saw a canopy of blood red satin and his eyes widened in remembrance and recognition. This was where it had started, where he had first found out Dark was out again.

His mind raced trying to figure out what had happened before he had apparently passed out. He could remember shouting, and his friends, and Vlad...

"Oh god, Vlad!" Danny gasped, a hand rushing to cover his mouth. He hadn't meant to, if only Vlad had listened to him. If he had had some self control it would be fine.

He jumped as a door he hadn't seen slammed open and Dark strode in. "Well well, it seems as if you have woken up."

"Where am I?" Danny asked, still too lost in his emotions to do much.

Dark chuckled, "I would think you already knew."

"I know this is the room where..." Danny trailed off and shook his head before asking again, "Where are we?"

"The Ghost Zone. In my tower." Clockwork said, suddenly appearing.

Dannys eyes widened as he saw the Ghost of Time standing next to his future self, "You! I knew you were-! Why are you helping him?" Danny exclaimed.

"I am not helping him." Clockwork said in his usual calm manner, "I suppose you could either say I am helping no one or helping myself. I told you, Danny, this has to happen."

Biting back a childish retort Danny sat silently waiting for more explanation.

"Well Clockwork, now that it seems our 'deal' is over, what are you going to do with us?" Dark asked. He wasn't nervous about anything that could happen, he was too stubborn to stay dead and even if he got put back in that damned thermos he was sure he could fight his way out eventually. Lately he had been trying to figure out the other ghosts plan, but he had come up blank as well.

"This area is part of my Tower, and yet not. I have secluded it so Time acts differently. You will have this bedroom, plus two other spare rooms and a living room area." Clockwork began to explain, "A bathroom with a shower is down the hall as well. There is no need for you to eat due to time manipulation, but if you desired I could put one in."

There was silence while Danny tried to process everything. "So...it sounds like you're saying I'm just stuck here. With him. Forever?" His voice wavered a little at the end and Dark snorted softly looking away.

Clockwork shrugged, turning and floating out of the room his voice drifted in with the customary, "Time will tell."

After Clockwork left Dark moved further into the room, closer to where Danny was still immobile on the bed.

"If it makes you feel better I didn't know this was going to happen either." Dark said, causing Danny to look at him oddly. Since when did Dark know anything of sympathy.

"What do you care?" Danny muttered under his breath, not really realizing he said it until he looked up to see Dark frowning at him.

"And here I was, trying to be at least a little kind," Dark lamented, shaking his head. "Ah well, I should have known. After all the last time I tried to rekindle my human emotions it sent you running right to someone else's arms. Or should I say their tongue?" He slowly turned so he was facing Danny, "Where did I go wrong to turn my poor little boy into a whore?"

Danny shuddered as Dark slowly slid a hand up his leg, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have...shouldn't have let him touch me." he murmured, hating himself even as the words left his mouth.

"It's ok, Daniel," Dark purred, "You have time to make mistakes, time for me to forgive you or punish you." Danny's breath quickened in nervousness and unease as Dark gently lifted his shirt.

"I, uh, you seem different," Danny managed to say, scared by the huge personality shift Dark had just taken.

"Don't worry, I'm still here," Dark said and Danny mentally winced, "I just thought, we have forever now. I have forever. Do you know how many tricks I could teach a dog if I spent every moment with it from now to eternity?"

Dannys mouth went dry, not even wanting to think about what Dark was implying, hoping that what what Clockwork had said meant that he wouldn't be stuck here.

"Speechless, Danny?" Dark hissed against Dannys lips, pushing the boy down to the mattress. "Don't worry, we can talk later. We do have more than a little time to talk after all."

"Welcome to forever."

---

~End Chapter Nine