A/N: Sorry for ignoring this story for the past three or so months. Got distracted with life and knitting and other writing projects all calling out to me "write me! write me!"... you know, that sort of thing.

I know I've said this before but I'll repeat it. This story is almost over and when it is, I shall edit it and give the old version it's proper viking burial. Seriously, omg those first few chapters... they make me cringe so hard.

Anyway, as always: enjoy and please let me know what you think of this update!

*Now*

Danny curls up further on the bed, seeming so much smaller than the almost nineteen year old that he is. I protectively wrap an arm around his shoulders, drawing him against my chest. If anything, right now he needs to know he's not alone. He's opened up to me. The last thing I'm going to do is make him feel like that was a mistake.

I run my fingers through his hair, absentmindedly whispering words of comfort to the broken boy in my arms. The noise that escapes him nearly breaks my heart. He whimpers, merely clinging to me as if that action alone is taking the very last of his strength. And for all I know… it is.

I kiss his forehead, letting him cling to me and trying not to cling to him back. If only I had known just how broken he truly was back then… despite how he'd acted before, I don't think I could have left him. I wouldn't have been able to turn my back on him when I knew he needed me. Maybe that's why he never told me… did a little sacrificing of his own.

I let him cling to me for a few minutes before I spoke again. "Danny? What's the rest of the story?" I knew there had to be more. Danny was someone who acted first and thought later. He must have done something in between the time his parents told him the truth and now. "Danny? What did you do after that?"

He sighed, but answered my question. "A lot. Started hurting myself to stop the hurt inside," his voice broke along with my heart as he told me his tale of woe. "The day after they told me that, I went into the ghost zone… I was determined to find someone who would end my life. Someone who would make the pain stop permanently. I-I found someone who…would have…"

I closed my eyes trying to picture it in my mind. Danny floating lost through the ghost zone, desperately searching for someone to help him stop hurting.

*Then*

I didn't bother trying to take the specter speeder. I was pretty sure my parents would have heard that starting up and I wasn't in the mood to be stopped. If I was going to do this… it was now or never.

The portal doors opened in front of me and I took a breath, preparing myself for the plunge into that realm. Death awaited me in this realm or that one…

Goosebumps rose on my forearms as I stepped closer to the open portal. The cool interior of the ghost zone made me pause momentarily, reconsider my actions. Did I really want to do this? Let Phantom have sacrificed himself for nothing?

My mind drifted back to all of the nights I laid awake, screaming my throat raw from missing that part of me - from feeling that empty cavity in my chest where my other half should have been. My gut tightened and my decision was made.

I filled my lungs with air and stepped through the portal, floating past all of the various doors and green surroundings. Surely one of the ghosts would see me and come out to kick my ass. Maybe I wouldn't have to suffer in my hell too long.

The random doors slowly drifted past me, opening and closing of their own accord. My heart pounded as a ghost exited one of the doors and drifted past me. They floated mere inches from me and didn't even look my way. I didn't know if I was disappointed or relieved.

I floated through objects and doors, not stopped by anyone or anything for hours. I figured even the box ghost would come looking for a fight. When he saw how defenseless I was… well he'd finally get his revenge for all those years of being shoved into the thermos. And I would let him.

All day I floated through this green space – past doors and empty archways and formless blobs of ghosts whose repeated shrieks of 'get away! Get away!' repeated like a mantra in my head.

I floated closer to a swirling vortex –hoping it was one of Frostbites. Maybe he might end my life for me out of pity. I let my eyes close as I drifted through it and suddenly I was falling. I hit a cold tiled floor and opened my eyes, looking up at the ceiling as the scent of chemicals burned my nostrils. I coughed once, blinking at the lights above me.

Where was I? …did I even care?

I took a breath and stirred on the floor, rolling my head from side to side to get a good look at my surroundings. White cabinets stretched from one end of the room to the other. I rolled my head to the opposite side and the same cabinets stared back at me. An archway stood in front of the swirling vortex that led back out into the ghost zone.

It looked… kind of like the lab my parents had. Except… more expensive. I sat up, quickly spinning around. I was in… Vlad's lab?

The sound of footfalls reached my ears and I scooted backward, closer to the portal.

"Oh, Daniel," Vlad's tone was mocking, laughter dribbling across his words as he spoke. "You think you can slip through my portal undetected?"

He stepped out of the shadows in his Plasimus form and I quickly scrambled up from the tiled floor, realizing how utterly defenseless I was. Knowing that I was powerless right now, I spun on my heel and headed for the portal.

The doors closed quickly in front of me, stirring the bangs on my forehead from the force. I stood there, trapped between a closed portal and my archenemy.

"Thought you could launch a sneak attack, did you?" Vlad's footsteps came to a halt and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Moving quickly, I whirled around and dove to the right to avoid the ecto blast I sensed coming toward me. I crashed into the cabinets next to me, the scent of scorched metal burning my nostrils as I righted myself. "I wasn't planning on attacking you, Vlad," I took a step backward on shaky legs. "I was floating through the ghost zone and-"

"Let me guess. 'Somehow wound up here'… am I right?" his smirk pissed me off and I clenched my hands into fists. He laughed again, filling my ears with that annoying sound. "You think you can slip into my home and not be noticed? Thought you could get what you came for and leave me none the wiser? Oh Daniel, you've been hanging around your oaf father far too long."

I gritted my teeth. This bastard had no idea what he was talking about! He had no idea what my father – my parents – were truly capable of. "Just shut up!" I spat, taking a step toward him despite being utterly powerless in this situation.

He laughed, crossing his arms. "Daniel. If you think I'm scared of you, you're delusional. Why don't you just tell me what you're here for and I might be inclined to give it to you… for a price that is."

"Yeah and we all know how little your 'price' usually is," I returned, gritting my teeth. "I told you. I was floating through the ghost zone and ended up here."

Vlad pretended to yawn and sent an ecto blast hurtling toward me. "Boring, Daniel. Why don't you try something I haven't heard before?"

I yelped as a I dodged his blast. "Plasimus!" I heard him laugh as he watched me recover from my stumbling. "Just unlock the portal and let me go home."

Sure, I wanted a ghost to kill me. Didn't mean I wanted to die at the hands of Vlad. Who would be sure to destroy any shred of my dignity that was left before completely annihilating me. That wasn't the way I wanted to go out.

"Why don't you fight back already? What… am I not worth it anymore?" he questioned, uncrossing his arms and sending a smaller blast toward me.

I dove to the left but it still grazed my shoulder, slicing my skin open. With a wince, I clutched at my shoulder, feeling the surrounding area beginning to go numb. "What did you do to me?" I asked, as my whole arm began to tingle.

"A mild paralytic. Why didn't you use your intangibility to avoid that?" Vlad asked, frowning.

"Why didn't you just not shoot it at me?" I demanded, clutching at the arm and wondering how long it would be before it spread anywhere else.

As if he could read my mind, Vlad answered my thoughts. "Your ghost half should begin healing it immediately. It won't spread any further than that area."

I snarled in response, tossing him a glare as I took a step backward. "Look. Just open the portal and let me go. You have no reason to keep me so… just open the portal and I'll be gone. Out of your hair."

Vlad smirked as he cracked his knuckles. "I think I have every reason to keep you here. I still owe you payback for our last fight…"

My back hit the portal doors and I realized how truly trapped I was. My heart crawled into my throat as he advanced toward me. Forget my dignity… would he really kill me?