Cheering the Badger Up

Vlad sat quietly in his study that night, sipping a glass of hot tea and going over various bills. He shook his head at them, baffled at how a rich, powerful man such as himself wasn't immune to this. He would hire someone to deal with them for him, but Vlad much preferred to do them himself; no need to risk revealing his methods of acquiring his vast wealth.

He finished by the time 1 AM rolled around, and was about to prepare for bed when he heard a small noise. Not an incredibly loud one, but not so quiet that you could just miss it. Curious, Vlad set down his papers and made his way towards the direction of the sound. As he drew closer, the noise became louder and more distinguishable. At a certain distance, and based on his location at that point, near the balcony, it became clear what it was: the anguished cries of a certain 14-year old adoptee. He quickly turned into Plasmius and made himself invisible to avoid detection, and watched as the recently orphaned teenager broke down crying against the rail.

Vlad knew he shouldn't have been surprised; For the past few days since the tragedy, Danny often frequented the balconies when he wasn't trying to sleep the days away in his room or occupy himself sitting outside in the gardens. Whereas he made his best effort to hide his emotions during the day, to try and keep a stoic air around him, it was the night when Danny thought no one was watching where he let his sorrow shine through. Vlad felt pity, and sympathy, for the boy; it reminded him of his own anguish the day his former best friend and love of his life got married. He was invited to the reception, only showing up for a few measly minutes hidden in the very back. Outside, he was completely stoic; inside, he sobbed just as Danny was doing now.

Only this time, there was no way to ever see any of them again. There was no one left close to Danny except for Vlad himself.

During those few short days, Vlad found himself missing the old Danny, despite previous grievances: a fire inside that seemed near impossible to stop, a strong will, a youthful, almost playful spirit, evident in his various gratuitous puns. He had never seemed so… quiet and broken before. Just that morning, he hadn't said two words to the man, no threats or annoying quips but a soft near-whimper of 'Good morning'.

Vlad couldn't stand seeing him like this any longer. If he couldn't lift the boy's depression, he could at least attempt to make him smile in the very least.

The next morning, Vlad set his plan into action. Danny was still asleep, which left him time to get everything ready. The mansion staff had no idea what their boss was up to, zipping around with various boxes, plates, and other, heavier looking items… and did one of those boxes move?

A short time later, when Danny awoke, Vlad was nowhere to be found in the dining room, where breakfast was usually served. No Vlad meant no food, and unlike before, Danny was incredibly hungry.

"Hey, chef?" Danny asked flatly to one of the cooking staff, a ghost wearing a chef's hat and holding a giant pot. "Do you know where Vlad went?"

"None of us do, Young Master Daniel. He seemed to be awfully busy wherever he went," the ghost replied with a shrug. Danny decided he cared just enough to go and see what was wrong with the frootloop and went off into the halls to search for him, just to make sure he wasn't up to anything; he wasn't too out of it to not want to punch a few holes into him if he was still trying something evil. Though the mansion was large, it only took him a few minutes due to the noise Vlad was still making.

"Vlad? Are you in here?" Danny asked as he turned the corner into the room, and he had to pause once he saw the contents. Inside the room was a large shuffling box dead center which was obviously made of metal of some kind, smaller boxes off into the corner, and the walls were decorated in some kind of green streamers.

In the back he saw Vlad, finally noticing the boy in the doorway. He smiled lightly and it took on a warmer tone instead of the usual condescending sneer he wore.

"Good morning, Daniel," Vlad said, trying not to sound too proud of himself.

"Hey…" Danny replied, distracted with the moving box in the room and what could have warranted the decorations.

"Well, come in and open the box already. I don't have all day," Vlad said. Danny blinked once the sentence hit him.

"The big box is for me? You know my birthday is like a few months away, right?" Danny replied with confusion.

"Consider it an early present," came Vlad's answer. The man ushered Danny inside when he didn't start moving and placed him in front of the large box. Danny hesitated before finally opening the box up, still expecting some kind of trap. What he got instead was a pleasant surprise.

When he opened the box, little Cujo hopped up and gripped the sides to look around. A glowing green bow was tied around his torso and his collar was slightly altered. Cujo leaped from the box and tackled Danny to lick him when the ghost dog noticed him. Danny laughed as he soon found his face to be covered in ectoplasmic slobber, not minding since at least it came from a friendly ghost.

"Cujo, c'mon, down boy!" Danny said between giggles, though not entirely forcefully as he was glad to see the two faced little pup.

"The two of us were able to work out a little deal," Vlad said, shaking a box of treats in explanation. "I got him to stay here so he could keep you company. The other boxes have everything you need to take care of him."

Cujo finally settled down enough for Danny to remove him. The boy was left baffled, amazed that Vlad was willing to do something so nice for him.

"Alright, what's the catch?" he asked once cynicism took over.

"The 'catch' is that he's your responsibility and I don't want to step in any invisible 'surprises'. Other than that, I want absolutely nothing in return."

Danny nodded, feeling grateful Vlad would go out of his way to find Cujo. It must have been a difficult catch, what with Cujo not being the nicest dog around strangers. Quietly, he finally managed to say, "Thank you so much, Vlad…" just as the man walked out the door to give Danny privacy. Together for the rest of the day, the ghost boy and ghost dog spent the entire time playing and enjoying each other's company, and Vlad could finally see some of the 'old' Danny shine through.

(This idea just popped into my head. I've always wanted to write something 'The Ultimate Enemy'-centric, but since I need a little more time before I can start putting Dan in my stories, things based on events after the deaths of Sam, Tucker, and the Fentons (and Mr. Lancer, can't forget him. I mean, come on, he deserved more than just a sunken in monument with a barely legible 'Gone' on it.) will have to do. And since I've got a lot of darker things going on, why not try and make this one more light hearted. I dunno if Vlad seemed a little OOC or not; I usually write him solely as an antagonist. I hope you enjoyed this little drabble.

This was my first one-shot, and if you guys like it, I'll post some more often. Heck, if there's enough interest and potential, I might try to flesh them out.)