Chapter 2 - Presents

I was gone for fourteen days

I coulda been gone for more

Held up in the intensive care ward

Lyin' on the floor

I was gone for all those days

But I was not all alone

I made friends with a lot of people

In the danger zone

See my lonely life unfold

I see it everyday

See my only mind explode

Since I've gone away

The ballad of Dwight fry ~ Alice cooper

Dani frowned as she woke, the sun peeking through the cabin window brightly. She groaned roughly as she slowly pulled herself out of bed. It had been a paradise for her really. Sleeping in a bed that is, considering her last resting places had consisted of abandoned buildings and dumpsters in empty alleyways. Lazily she stretched out, sprawling over the edge of her new bed taking in the surroundings of her new room. When JD had offered to find her a new room she hadn't been very picky giving only one condition for it. No green and gold, but that had been trickier said than done considering that was the motif of most of the house. Eventually though a suitable room had been found, it was comparably smaller than most of the other rooms and Madds had explained that it had been prepared for Danny during one of Vlad's earlier schemes (when he still had hopes of the younger halfa joining him). Perhaps that was why she had become so taken with the room. The simple yet elegant wood floor, the large bay window, even the antique candelabras littering the room somehow soothed her. Truthfully she found it quite nice but the thought of it being an elaborate trap for her Original soured the warmth of the room slighty. She looked towards the nightstand (which had been one of the only other pieces of furniture in the room beside the bed and wardrobe) and scrambled out of the heavenly bed when she noticed the Thermos was gone. Hastily looking on the floor around the nightstand she was startled by a familiar British accent.

"If you're looking for that trashy old thermos, I've taken back to the lab for safekeeping." JD drawled as he smiled slightly at the humorous sight of the young girl flopping around on the floor.

"We can attend to it after breakfast if you would like." He added before turning away to exit the room. She almost didn't follow until she heard the impatient call of "come along" from the hallway.

JD had spent most of his night making plans. That night upon returning to the lab with the accursed soup holder he had consulted his beloved. He was happy that he finally had the love of his programming back. With the evil V-man gone the two could live out the rest of their eternity together. He had not expected a pseudo-daughter but he was happy for her presence without which he would still be alone and miserable, confined to forever cleaning the lab.

The two A.I.'s had spent the night carefully planning their next step. If executed wrong the whole scheme could turn disastrous quickly but JD had faith in his wife. So silently he led his victim down the empty (but somewhat cleaner) halls.

Dani just wondered why the bot wasn't chattering but chalked it up to him disliking his own voice, if only that had been the reason.

Dan was tired of waiting, he had waited for years. There had been a time when he thought to escaped his prison but found his attempts were in vain. The only thing they brought him closer to was not freedom but a migraine. Dan was no fool, part of him had been one of the greatest minds on the planet, and he soon realized that he was wasting time and effort trying to force his way out. So he had turned to another method, one that the more brilliant half of him was quite versed in. Deceit. He could feel the powerful aura of Clockwork when he drew near, and when he was close he would call out to him. Beg, plead, bargain. He recalled moments from both of his former halves. Times of happiness and carefree moments with Sam and Tucker. Overcoming a disease that no one had any knowledge of and becoming something better. Of all the charities had had given to, of all the people he had saved. Of the family he once had. Though the elder ghost would remind him that was neither here nor the and that he was neither Vlad nor Danny before shaking the thermos. For Dan it was hell, like flying though a thousand hurricanes. For Clockwork it was stress relief.

Dan had waited and he was oh so tired of waiting, knowing that "his" lab was on the other side of a fucking soup can. He could hear his computer, and though he was surprised it had betrayed "him" he really didn't care. As Clockwork had said he wasn't Vlad. As for the Jack program he laughed, with his more morally aligned counterpart's memories he should have seen this coming. Too bad this timelines Vlad didn't know that but then he supposed the still human Vlad from his own didn't either. But what intrigued him most was this female voice he kept hearing. Who would know of this place? Of its workings? How could they even get into the lab if the bug out protocol had been in place. It was... Perplexing. He would wait, he would meet this one called Danielle (he filed the name fruit pebble away, just incase it was important) and he would get his answers. Even if he had to take them forcibly. He didn't need to change the past anymore to ensure his creation, his future. No, he could live in the present, and make this one bow to him. Just as his loyal knight had, just as the ghost zone had. They would kneel.

Danielle fell to the ground when she heard the boom. As soon as she had entered the dining room there had been an explosion of light and sound and for a minute she had thought she was back in the ghost zone. It wasn't until see realized the light had been from a projector and the sound was an explosion of confetti what was happening.

"Happy Birthday!" Two voices called out in excitement. Dani looked up at the odd couple, a robot and a hologram and tears soon filled her eyes. As she took in the sight of a few hastily wrapped boxes and the stack of pancakes on the table.

"Did we do something wrong?!" JD panicked as he went to the try to comfort the young girl. But as he approached she reached out and engulfed him in a tight hug.

"No, I'm just really happy." She said through her sniffles as she held on to the bot now awkwardly patting her back. Eventually her eyes dried and she let go looking back at the table.

"You didn't have to do this you know." She stated as if it were a fact. Though she was touched. It had been so long since she had celebrated her birthday. Infact the only other time had been with Vlad shortly after her creation, but that had been more like celebrating his success rather than her birth.

"Nonsense, it's not everyday a girl turns sixteen." The holographic woman almost chirped as she waved a nonexistent hand toward the table.

"Now go ahead and eat and you can open your presents!" She added cheerily, her bright smile never wavering as the girl sat down at the large mahogany table. The two synthetics noted their plan was running smoothly.

Clockwork watched eagerly, he knew he was meddling but he was by nature a meddler. And most of the time his plans turned out exactly as expected, he was sure this time would be no exception. He was after all the master of all time, not many things could slip past his all seeing gaze. Not the eldest half ghost currently hurdling though space, clinging to his half life with the use of his ghost powers. Not Danny, who was currently playing hooky with his girlfriend. Not even the deranged GiW escapee currently searching for him. For him the old adage "time will tell" could not be more true.

Dan was growing... Anxious, certainly not fearful. He knew there was a time limit and if he was not free before then then he would continue to not be free, simply put. So he justified he had all the reasons in the world to be... Anxious. Dan feared nothing, he was much to proud for fear and he would not fear this. That did not stop the slow and steady thought of "I gotta get outta here" from rapidly building to an all consuming mental mantra. But he would not utter one word, not a single syllable. To do so was to forfeit his chance at freedom. The deal had simply been to wait quietly. That was all he had to do for a chance of escape, and he would do so until the moment either came or passed. That did not stop the mantra and that did not quell the anxiety. Though the mantra dominated his thoughts he had wondered when Clockwork had turned into such a sadistic asshole. Mentally he swore vengeance, though sadly it wasn't the first time.

Dani blew out the single candle on her multicolored stack of pancakes, before the green and gold candle could drip onto them. A wisp of smoke floating lazily through the air as she sat stoically, almost frozen in time.

"Well what did you wish for?" The holo mom chirped. The girl in question sat unmoving caught in a trance, failing to respond to her own name several times.

"Huh? Sorry, it's just this is just so surreal. Ya know?" Her eyes cast downward on her birthday pancakes.

"Just the other day I was eating out of a trash can and now we're here celebrating my birthday... It's all so strange but so... Much. What could I possibly wish for, what more could I need?"

The programs took in what the young and hurt halfa had said, Madds own systems almost crashing with grief. Before she could respond though her husband had started damage control.

"It's not about what you need dear." He said quietly, lifting a single finger to the candle wick.

"It's about what you want. Now then want do you want sweetheart?" A small flame escaped the end of his finger and the candle flickered back to life.

~I wish there was someone like me, someone who could understand~

A wisp of smoke floated lazily through the air.

Dan was beyond the point of frustration. Time was almost up, he could tell (not that he had been counting). If he could pace, he would have. If he could scream, he would have. If could crush and maim and destroy, he would have. But he could only rage silently, cursing Clockwork and Danny and Vlad. Once he had been the most feared and powerful being to ever haunt the zone and now he was reduced to fuming quietly while clinging to the one thing he had been so keen to destroy for others... Hope. And it angered him to no end. He, a once godlike entity had been reduced to such a mortal means as hoping. Giving up his dignity to hope this fool would blindly open the thermos and release him from his cell. It was degrading, even if only he would know. And he hated Clockwork that much more for this. But most of all he hated this fool that would make him hope. And in a flash, color and light returned to his world, so vivid it he had to shield his eyes. The smell of stale air and metal, so fragrant he breathed and gasped it in hungrily.

And before him, the fool. A young girl, maybe 12 or 13. And part of him, (the once protagonist part of him) wanted to break down and praise the fool. The other part (the proud one) wanted him to reach out and teach the fool the true meaning of pain. Neither one out, a familiar and what he thought long lost pair of ectoplasmic rings appeared around his waist. Confusion. It had been the last thing he had experienced before his world returned to darkness.

She had decided to save this "present" for last. She had opened the gifts from her new parents, they had been nice. A lamp for her room and a dress that had been made for her when she was first made. (She thought is was a little sad that it would still fit years later). But ultimately she could tell the deadline was fast coming and she had made up her mind, feeling a little foolish for even hesitating to open the thermos. Whatever was in there deserved a second chance, besides she was sure that her cousin would agree this was the right thing to do. It would be wrong and cruel to leave the poor ghost in there to gather dust for an eternity. To be trapped forever and lost to the ages, forgotten. No this thing deserved a chance at freedom, just like she had. The family had gathered and she resolutely opened the thermos and what she saw shocked her.

A ghost, obviously, but more than that. A man with burning silver hair and glaring red eyes. His skin a pale green color, seeming sickly if not for the bulging muscles rippling under his jumpsuit just like his ever flowing cape. But what shocked her most was the very familiar symbol on his chest. The same on hers and her cousins. A million question raced through her mind but before she could ask even one, the strange gasping creature gave her a strange look before letting out a strangle noise. An even more familiar pair of white ectoplasmic rings appeared around his waist, bathing the room in their light as they passed over him. By the time they had reached his chest he had crumpled to the floor. Completely unconscious and very much... Human.

A million thoughts rang in her mind but the loudest whisper enthralled her.

~Someone~