Danny fell onto his bed with a sigh. Twenty ghosts. Twenty spooky assholes that had kept him from his homework and his bed for hours. He let his transformation go, and winced as the aches of battle made themselves known. His eyes drifted shut for some well-deserved sleep and-

The alarm went off. He groaned into his pillow. This was so unfair. Couldn't he even get ten minutes shut-eye? Maybe he could fake being sick. But there was that big History test today, and if he didn't take it he'd fail the entire class. Danny rolled onto his back with a grumpy huff. He was going to fail it anyway, wasn't he? And he'd fail all his other classes, and get kicked out of school, and be stuck for the rest of his miserable life in Amity freakin' Park hunting ghosts and being hunted by his parents and Valerie.

"Time out." Clockwork gazed down at Danny in sympathy. Even frozen in time, Danny looked exhausted and miserable. Clockwork pulled a medallion from under his cloak and looped it around Danny's neck. Danny breathed out a puff of cold air then fell off the bed with a scream when he realised how close Clockwork was. The time ghost smothered a laugh and proffered his hand to Danny.

"Dude, you scared me!" Danny said, frowning as he took Clockwork's hand and allowed himself to be pulled up.

"My apologies, Danny. I'm afraid I require your presence at my tower for something quite urgent." Danny paled and transformed immediately. "It… It's not him, is it?" Clockwork smiled at Danny reassuringly.

"I assure you Danny, it's impossible for him to escape from the thermos. I've put plenty of precautions in place to safeguard it. And you will never turn into him. I promise." Danny relaxed a little at that, but Clockwork could still see the tension in his frame. He opened a portal and gestured to it. "Shall we? I'll be sure to bring you back to this moment so you don't miss your big test." He said, letting Danny go first before scooping up his bag and following.

"So what's going on, Clockwork? Not that I don't like hanging out with you, but I'm pretty worn out." Danny said with a yawn. Clockwork gently pushed Danny forwards to the edge of his main platform. A door folded up from the ground and opened into a corridor.

"That is precisely why I brought you here, Danny," Clockwork began, overtaking Danny to lead him down the corridor. He kept the bag out of sight. "I've noticed that your battles have become more and more difficult despite your growing powers. It's affecting all aspects of your life, and if it remains unaddressed, there could be severe consequences for you." He turned to Danny, solemn. "When I aided you with Dan, I was assigned to monitor you and prevent you from causing harm by the Observants." He tailed off, noticing Danny's horrified expression.

"What they didn't stipulate however, was whether or not you would be causing harm to others, or to yourself. Which is why I brought you here today." Clockwork opened the door to his left and indicated for Danny to go in. The halfa floated inside cautiously and stopped in the doorway, shocked.

"Whoa! This is the biggest bedroom I've seen since that fruitloop's place!" Clockwork chuckled and pushed Danny forward.

"It's yours to use when you need it." He said. Danny span around to face him, his eyes wide. "Seriously?"

"I'm very serious, Danny. If you don't look after your health soon, you're going to get hurt badly. I'm not willing to let that happen to you. Now, I believe that you spent all night hunting ghosts, yes? It would be a good idea for you to catch up on your sleep." Danny hovered there, gaping. Clockwork smiled back. He had his arms open for the hug before Danny was half-way to him. After a moment, Clockwork pulled away and wafted his hands towards the large bed that sat flush to one wall in a gesture that meant "go on and sleep before I make you". Danny gave him a watery smile and floated over to the bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Clockwork glanced down at Danny's bag where it had been dropped on the floor. "Now then, let's have a look at what homework you've got waiting for you."

…

Danny had never felt so good in his entire half-life. He didn't know how Clockwork had found or made a bed so exquisitely comfortable, but he was pretty sure it was some kind of witchcraft. Well, ghostcraft. He stretched lazily and tilted his head to look around the room. It was black and white, to be expected of his quite frankly mischievous mentor. The ceiling was amazing though. A perfect replica of the night sky, with Polaris directly above him. Danny loved it. Eventually, he got bored with lying in his amazing – because it was so freaking amazing – bed and dragged himself up to find Clockwork again.

He found his mentor in the main hall as usual, but less usual was the sight of Clockwork poring over some very familiar books.

"Did you steal my homework too?" Danny asked, flying up to look over Clockwork's shoulder. The ghost hummed absentmindedly, shaking the book in his hands as lightly as he could. "It would have been foolish of me to attempt to help you regain your lost sleep if I didn't also help you catch up on your schoolwork as well. Your grades are atrocious, but it can't really be helped. Or couldn't, rather." He said, casting an amused look at Danny.

"Don't suppose you'd like to do it all for me?" Danny said, lips quirked up in a cheeky grin. Clockwork merely raised a brow and held the book out for Danny to take. He sighed, and grabbed it. "Can't blame a guy for trying…"

"I will help you if you get stuck, but this work is meant to help you learn. You'd gain nothing from it if I did it for you." Danny dropped down to the floor and spread his materials around him while Clockwork directed some of his attention back to his neglected screens. There was a companionable silence, broken only by the occasional question and answer between the pair. Eventually, Danny closed his last book with a satisfied sigh.

"I honestly didn't think I'd ever get this stuff done. Or even understand it after doing it. You're a really good teacher, y'know?" The smirk that flitted across Clockwork's face was distinctly smug. "That would be because I know everything, Danny." Danny rolled his eyes with a snort and stretched.

"I don't think I've felt this good in like… forever." He pushed off the floor to hover next to Clockwork. The screens were showing a somewhat familiar scene, and Danny leant forward in interest. "Hey, my History test is on the colonisation of America!" Clockwork raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? What a coincidence." He remarked. Danny grinned back and elbowed him in the side. "Coincidence my ass." Clockwork ignored him, choosing to instead wave his staff at the screen. The image changed to show several ships battling through a storm.

"You know that America was 'discovered' by Christopher Columbus in 1492, but the true colonisation did not begin until 1607 when the British started to develop Jamestown…"

…

Danny stepped out of the portal back into his room and glanced to the clock. True to his word, Clockwork had kept time frozen at the moment it had been when he'd swept Danny away. It felt like he'd been away for days and with a quiet chuckle Danny realised he probably had been away for that long.

"I'll take the medallion before I resume time. Otherwise your mother will spot me when she bursts through the door to wake you up ten seconds after time starts up again." Clockwork said, holding his hand out for the cog necklace. Danny transformed back to his human self and reached to take the medallion off, then paused.

"Thanks, Clockwork. For everything. I appreciate it." Clockwork smiled and bowed his head in farewell. "Feel free to visit if you need help. And good luck with your test." He looped the medallion off Danny's head and watched as the teen froze, a smile on his face. Clockwork sighed. "I suppose I should go and deal with the angry Observant that is about to enter my tower in… five minutes." He murmured, returning through his portal and letting time continue once more.

Danny blinked as his mind adjusted to the sudden absence of Clockwork when his mom burst through the door. "Danny! If you don't get up you'll be- late…" She finished, clearly surprised that her son was awake and out of bed. Danny smiled at her.

"Morning, Mom!"

…

"Dude, you've been disturbingly chipper all morning. You nearly high-fived Dash for pushing you over!" Tucker said, nudging Danny's side. Danny shoved him away playfully, a grin on his face. It was true, he'd spent most of the morning in a happy daze. Who knew that having a full night's sleep, time to finish all his homework and a first-hand look at the subject matter for his History test would perk him up so well? That wasn't even taking into account the disturbing lack of ghost attacks, which Danny was more than certain Clockwork had a hand in.

"I'd say it's disgusting how cheery you are, but it's nice to see you so relaxed for once." Sam commented. She ruffled Danny's hair and grinned at his blush. "Lovebirds!" Tucker sang, and skipped ahead with a shriek as both of his friends lunged at him. They made it into their History class with time to spare and Danny slid into his seat feeling calmer than he ever had before a test. As the rest of the class filled up and everyone prepared themselves, he stretched and shot a grin to Sam and Tucker. He was going to ace this.

…

"Oh man, I totally blew it!" Tucker whined, slumping against his locker miserably. Danny laughed and pushed him out of the way so he could get into his own locker. "Too bad, Tuck, I think I might have actually done well this time. Guess you'll be taking the make-up alone." Tucker sneered half-heartedly at the friendly jibe, watching Danny with curiosity.

"So, how come you've been so pleased with yourself, anyway?" He asked, folding his arms in front of himself. Danny glanced around the corridor and tapped his watch. "Had a little intervention this morning that resulted in a good night's sleep and a bit of extra revision." Tucker's eyes widened. "Dude! That's so unfair! How come you get a helping hand from the master of-" Danny and Sam both clapped their hands over Tucker's mouth before he could finish.

"Maybe don't tell the entire school, Tuck." Sam rolled her eyes. Tuck looked sheepish. "Sorry. But why did he help you out? Isn't he supposed to be all watching and no doing unless something's apocalyptic? Oh man, you're not gonna go all evil on us, are you?" Danny snorted and closed his locker. "No way! He's just bending his instructions a little to help me out before I end up burning out. And I'm glad he did, otherwise I would literally be working on no sleep today." Sam and Tucker looked sympathetic.

"You shouldn't try and handle all the ghosts yourself, Danny. You don't have time to do everything alone." Danny laughed, nearly falling over in his amusement. His friends watched him, bemused, until he managed to gather himself into sensibility.

"That might have been true before, Sam. But now? Now I've got all the time in the world."

…

an: fukken title drop like a loser, am I right?

apologies for the delay in posting this, I just caught a cold and trying to write is like smashing my face into a brick wall repeatedly. next chap of fate and destiny will be up before friday, but expect delays from then since sun and moon will finally be out in europe!