Title: Give Me Back the Light

Author: Ainahim

Rating: M, just to be safe.

Pairing: Vlad x Danny

Summary: Vlad/Danny one-shot. Danny hasn't been able to face light since things happened between him and Vlad, but what will he have to do when he confronts the darkness that embraced him?

DISCLAIMER: Danny Phantom is not mine. If it was, it would have to be on a channel that let animated men repeatedly have sex. But alas, it belongs to Nickelodeon and animated men do not repeatedly have sex. So that's what fanfiction is for!

…

It was dark. It was completely dark, save for the streetlight. The accursed streetlight that shone on Danny and made him feel so vulnerable at the crosswalk. There was no need to feel vulnerable, because he was all alone in this darkness, with the orange light shining down on him. It wasn't fair.

Every since that weekend…it seemed so long ago, and yet it seemed so close. He looked right up into the brightness and couldn't stand it. He shielded his eyes from the light, the accursed light, the laughing light. Danny could no longer face the light, not after what he and Vlad had done.

His parents were probably worried sick. He didn't care. It was their fault in the first place. They had sent him there that weekend. It was entirely their fault. The streetlamp flickered. Good. He crouched away and waited for the light to die. In the darkness he was welcomed, was embraced.

The damned streetlamp's light finally went out. But how he missed being able to live in the world of the light.

If it weren't for that raw, dark passion, he might still be able to.

…

It was cold, walking down the dark streets back to his house. He huddled against himself, not wanting to go back home. He wanted to see Vlad. He wanted to get everything out of Vlad. He wanted to touch, kiss, and he also wanted to hit and tear at the older man. That desire had been too much for the both of them, and it had definitely corrupted Danny. The desire had never been gentle enough for him to be accepted back into the light. Danny wanted to break into Vlad's thoughts. He wanted to be able to show him the pain he'd etched inside.

Danny felt himself fade, so that he was there, but still not there, and he flew over the buildings, sneaking invisibly into his home and down into the lab. The Ghost Zone welcomed him more than it ever had before, because here the light had also faded from existence. He threaded through doors and past other agonized forms, all wondering why they were there, and why they could still exist but not actually exist. Why were they so hollow? If they actually wanted Danny to answer, they didn't show it, and he soared past them too quickly to even bother. He knew his destination. In retrospect, Danny had traveled way too fast to get to this portal, but at the moment when he got there the word 'finally' crossed his invisible lips.

He explored the huge house, still invisible. This house had become so familiar to him in just one weekend, but flying around it gave him a different perspective.

Finally he found Vlad. The older man was aware of his presence instantly. Was he just that in tune with his powers, or was it because he recognized Danny? His breath hitched, but he couldn't allow himself to think about it. He didn't want to feel for Vlad. He was here to tell Vlad of his pain because for a few brief days he had allowed himself to feel, and he'd had everything familiar stolen. He pulled himself back into visibility, back into being a human. The emotions were still just as heavy.

He was ready to tear them both apart, he was ready to deliver verbal abuse until his vocal chords shattered, but when he materialized he could see that Vlad caught his pain. One look into each other's eyes was all it took. The older man's expression softened into brief sorrow.

"Daniel…"

"Stop."

"You can't fool yourself…"

"Shut up."

"You can't say you didn't want it just as much as I did."

"Why did it have to be YOU!"

In an instant Vlad had Danny in his arms. It was shocking, it felt so different. He wouldn't let himself want it, but he could only beat his fist on the rich man's chest once before all other sorrowful emotions took hold of him. He couldn't hurt Vlad anymore. Vlad was the darkness, and he was the only thing that had ever given him that kind of comfort. Ever.

"Why was it…you? Of…all people…" A few stray tears fought their way out from behind his closed eyes. His own tears were betraying him. He didn't want them to fall, but they fell anyway.

"I'm sorry."

"I can't even withstand it anymore, Vlad. If they had never sent me here…if you had never…if…if we had never…"

When Danny's voice had finally failed him, the older man gently lifted his chin up so that their gaze met, and then Vlad pressed his lips to the boy's gently.

The gentleness is what took him by surprise. Every kiss of theirs, even the tentative ones, had a rough edge to them. This was a whole new kiss, a type that Danny didn't quite understand.

"Come upstairs with me," the man whispered half-huskily in his ear, but before he could even try to deny it Vlad continued, "I can show you something that might be able to bring you back into the light."

…

That was the night where Danny learned that there really was a difference between making love and simply having sex. Every touch, every caress, and every kiss…every gasp, every bead of sweat…there was a softness behind it when people actually made love. There was true feeling behind it, something he'd never wanted to admit to having. As Vlad kissed his way down his neck and naked torso, he realized that holding back how he really felt had been why he was trapped in the darkness. Danny had only allowed himself so much, and it hadn't been enough.

He'd given himself the right to feel the physicality, but the emotions never came to meet it until this night.

Even the way he dug his fingers into the sheets when Vlad entered him was different. He had been through this before, but the feeling…the feeling…his own gasps made his heart ache. They truly were connected this time.

While the thrusts grew and became more persistent, Danny felt the previously forbidden name fall off his tongue. He loved the feel of that name now. Vlad. In response to his cry, the man pressed their lips together briefly, their sighs meshing for a single moment, the friction increasing, the tempo getting faster.

The release was truly a release this time. Souls had been intertwined and had found the feeling together. Danny had never felt like that. Ever. Suddenly, he wanted every other type of first to be with that man and that man alone. The darkness of passion is always there, but it needs to be complimented with the light of love.

The light of love.

And as they lay together, new words leaving each other's lips, Danny knew it was true and he drifted into sleep not thinking about anything else.

He was gently woken by the sun, and every memory from the previous night flooded into him as he sat up into the new day's sunlight. Ordinarily, he'd flip at realizing that he'd spent the night away from his home without notifying his parents, had therefore subjected himself to much ridicule, and had been at Vlad's house no less. Now the whole idea seemed funny and being at Vlad's house seemed no longer like a curse.

Danny laughed a genuine laugh like he hadn't in about two weeks. "My parents are going to kill me! I can't even think up a reasonable excuse." At hearing this, the man - who had obviously already been awake but didn't actually want to wake up or sit up – smirked, but still didn't open his eyes.

"You lazy goose," Danny muttered under his breath and gave him a small kiss on the lips.

"You realize you're rewarding the dog who is disobeying you and therefore is probably going to keep his eyes closed expecting that same attention," Vlad muttered in a half-sleepy voice.

Rolling his eyes, he sat up again, looking straight out at the rays of sunshine that edged through the blinds of the window. It fell on him without guilt, and also fell on the form of his lover. So much he had realized just last night, and how much better he felt now.

Finally, Vlad sat up and draped his arms around the teenager's shoulders, giving him a faint kiss on the cheek.

"New day, right?" The man asked as Danny snuggled closer to him.

"Oh, yes."

FIN

A/N: Yay for things that start out angst and end up cute. So ends my Vlad x Danny fanfiction debut. I have to thank Hoobastank because I was listening to them pretty much the entire time writing this fanfic. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to melt some chocolate, cover myself in it, and wrap myself in a package. Ta-ta!