Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of its characters; all are the property of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon.

The next day is not so different; he makes all the runs, goes about his routine mechanically, as if on autopilot. He doesn't talk to anyone, make any effort to connect with others whatsoever. Although he doesn't notice it (or doesn't care), some of his fellow employees have started to notice something vaguely... off, about this man. They, too, make little conversation with him.

He is back at the loading dock, slowly going about the same motions, sparing little thought towards the others around him. Although, a nagging thought in the back of his mind plays with the possibility that he may be subconciously slipping into a state of mental catatonia; that he'll be stuck in the same routine for the rest of his life, silent, lost...

...alone.

The word which so used to strike fear into his heart, despite the hundreds that surrounded him every day, admiring him; but now, he realizes, he holds little contempt for the word as he did a while ago.

And that revelation is what shakes him visibly.

His head snaps up suddenly, and the others look at him strangely, some glancing around to see the invisible force that has rapidly grabbed his attention. When they cannot find it, they return to their former business, albeit not without giving him some puzzled looks first.

A second later, he composes himself and tries to return to work as well, but he barely gets a second to calm down before the same sharp feeling of heightened awareness enters his body like it did last night. While his vision remains temporarily sharpened, he looks around for the cause of the disturbance.

Filled with a sense of dread, he snaps his head around to look up towards the sky.

He stops, stupefied.

There, floating against the cloudless atmosphere, is the familiar black and white jumpsuit of the boy that he had tried so hard to forget ever since he had been run off the face of the planet.

And here he is, still in the sky, glancing around as if looking for something.

Thinking quickly and not wanting to find out what it is (although he has a pretty good idea), he grabs his coat from one of the boxes and makes his way off the property.

He doesn't see the faint wisp of cold air escape from the boy's mouth.

Bursting through the doors of his building, he can feel a myriad of emotions bubbling up, resurfacing after he's fought so hard to keep them down. Panic, paranoia, hate...

His head is swirling, and before he knows it he's on his floor, making his way to his room.

He is greeted by a familiar senior on his way.

"Hey!" Mrs. Stein barks at him as he passes by. "Whatta you doin' here so early?"

He unintentionally lets out a growl, startling the old woman into silence.

He pays no mind to it, continuing on until he is back in his apartment. He glances around and is slightly glad to see that the few items he possesses should take no time at all to pack back up and get out.

Picking up the few clothes lying around and tossing them near the duffel bag, he turns around and finds he has left his morning's coffee on the counter, no doubt cold by now.

Well, he figures. There probably won't be much to drink on the way out of town.

Fatigued and against his better judgement, he slinks to the counter, places a hand on the mug, but doesn't pick it up.

He doesn't have much time to think before the chilling sensation racks his body again. He waits.

And waits.

A presence slowly phases it way into the room, silent but wary. He settles on the ground, returning to full visibility. Vlad does not see the earpiece or utility belt of some sort he is adorning.

Vlad is the first to break the silence.

"What are you doing here?"

"I don't want to fight you," Danny replies, putting up his hands in surrender. He figures he'll just have to be straightforward as well.

When Vlad doesn't respond, he straightens his posture and continues.

"I'm just here to... run damage control. Ask a few questions."

But it doesn't seem like he'll be the one asking much.

"And how did you find me?" Vlad asks, his back still to Danny. His tone is calm, collected, like the man Danny and the public know, but there's a hint of struggle to it. Danny vaguely notices his haircut, but cannot distinguish anything different about the man from behind his giant trenchcoat.

"Danielle's been hanging around Denver," the now sixteen-year old half-ghost replies, immediately mentally smacking himself for ratting the poor girl out. Still, he goes on, figuring Danielle is now safe at home with his group and Vlad can't do much about it. "She managed to spot you out and get back to us."

Vlad is silent. Danny wonders if he is even listening to a word he's saying, but goes on anyway.

"Look, Vlad, I know you've been through a rough spot. But you don't have to live like this; this isn't your only choice."

The elder ghost visibly tenses, surpressing a hiss at the boy's ignorance. Didn't have to live like this? What were his other options? Being forcibly turned in to the Guys In White, who no doubt were waiting for him back home to lock him up?

Danny senses this, pauses, and slowly keeps going.

"You can start over. Come back home, sort this out."

Vlad scoffs, stopping Danny's speech. The boy waits for his response.

"Sort it out?" he quietly snaps. "Sort what out? That I'm a global pariah? That I'm some grand prize for the government to get their hands on?"

Danny is stunned, but manages to retort with, "Look, we can figure this all out when we-"

"We nothing," Vlad cuts him off, turning slightly to face him but still keeping most of his face obscured. He can feel his blood start to boil over and his grip on the coffee mug tighten as he keeps speaking. "How dare you come into my home and patronize me after all you've done?"

Danny starts to feel his own temper rise. Soon his own feelings of resentment towards this self-centered man start to resurface as well.

"Patronize? I'm trying to help you!..."

"Help?" Vlad roars, turning to face him fully. Danny does a double-take at the man's appearance, far different from the last time he's seen him.

"Don't come in and preach to me about the pile of filth my life has become and then offer your hand for help! As if you can look down on me as some charity case for your pity! I don't need your help. I'm perfectly capable of surviving by my own means, you condescending little twit."

Danny is soon furious as well, and despite his mission to show up and keep the dispute as civil as possible, soon gives in to his own anger and frustration.

"And you think you're so high and mighty? You're the one sitting in this hellhole of a town becuase of your own stupid decisions, and you still find a way to turn it around and blame everyone else!"

Vlad stares the boy down, forcing himself to stop and think clearly. But it proves futile.

"...Get out of my house," he growls slowly and quietly, a sense of furious tension clearly evident.

Danny's eyes widen, but he can't stop himself before stupidly spewing out, "Vlad, wait-"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" the elder roars, his black transformation rings racing across his body at record speeds Danny has never seen before, the last straw on the camel's back falling into place with little regard as to who might possibly have heard it.

Immediately a blast of pink energy bursts from the palm of his hand, sending a stunned Danny blasting through his wall, albeit intangibly with no damage to the building.

Danny catches himself in midair, shaking off the surprise attack when he notices Vlad speeding towards him, fists blazing with ectoplasm.

The younger hybrid immediately puts up a green sheild of his own, but that proves ineffective when Vlad smashes him along with it into the roof of the building opposite his own.

There is a sickening crash of bones and cement, and as the dust clears, Danny slowly opens his eyes to find his neck in the grasp of Vlad's right hand, still glowing with energy.

Smirking joylessly, the latter tightens his grip, barely allowing Danny to choke out in pain.

"Well," he sputters. "This certainly wasn't what I had in mind."

Vlad barely has time to furrow his brow as the youngster teleports into a green flash of light, leaving his hand empty against the side of the exit that leads to the roof of the building.

Whirling around, Vlad sees his opponent floating unsurely in the air above him, giving him an unreadable look before flying off in the other direction.

Vlad's first instinct is to follow and finish the nuisance off for good, or at least give him a good enough beat down he won't easily forget. But he thinks better of it and stays at the top of the building, looking after the spot where Danny sped off from.

His first thought is that he must immediately gather his belongings and high-tail it out of town, leaving no trace behind, lest the ghost boy rat out his last hiding place. Slowly, though, he decides against it. Maybe, just maybe, being brought in would end this pointless game of cat and mouse, this day-to-day routine of not knowing what was to come.

He is staying; maybe out of surrender, or maybe just to see if the boy is stupid enough to show back up alone.

No; he can't be. ...Could he?

...He'd have to wait to find out.