Third Person POV

Danny hadn't planned on sleeping at Kylie's and Holt's overnight. He thought he would wake up early, leave them a thank you note and fly home before either of them realized he was gone. But the next morning Danny awoke when he felt a large hand gently shake his shoulder. His eyes cracked up and he rubbed away the lasting bits of sleep as Holt's large frame came into focus. "Hey there Danny, how are you feeling?" The dark skinned man asked, his tone almost fatherly.

"Better." Danny replied with a smile. He attempted to get out of bed but Holt put a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh no you don't." He said with a chuckle. Danny stared up at him confused.  "Kylie would roast me alive if she learned I let you out of bed without her medical clearance." Holt explained.

As if by summons, Kylie appeared in the doorway, a small tray in her hands. On the tray was a glass of milk paired with a small stack of pancakes with bacon and eggs on the side. "That's right." She said with a smile. Kylie walked over to Danny and placed the tray on his lap. She kissed her husband on the cheek. "Happy wife." She began, raising an eyebrow at him.

The man sighed. "Happy life." He finished. Danny mentally gagged at the mushy romance between Kylie and Holt. But he couldn't help think of Jack and Maddie when they were romantic with each other. They really cared about each other. Jack flew to Arkansas just to apologize to Maddie for crying out loud! 

The teen started digging into the breakfast Kylie had brought him. "Thank you both so much." He said in between bites. The food was delicious! "I don't know how I can repay you both for your kindness." The teen finished off the breakfast and Kylie took the tray away, placing it on the side table.

"There's no need." She told Danny, gently ruffling his hair with a smile, "Just think of it as a favor from a new friend." Danny smiled at her and tried getting out of bed again, but after one cold glare from Kylie he immediately went back to lying down while Holt tried to hold down a laugh. Kylie checked over Danny's injuries, changed his bandages and made sure that he wasn't suffering from any major wounds. She still insisted on taking him to a hospital but the teen refused, holding back the urge to say he'd been through worse. He imagined that wouldn't go over well with the two adults.

Once Kylie was finally finished checking over Danny she let him get up and gave him back his original clothes. She had washed them clean of blood and sewn up a few holes that had appeared in his clothes after his fight with Vlad. Danny thanked her and changed into his clothes once Kylie and Holt had left the room. After he finished changing he exited the room and found himself wandering into the living room where Kylie and Holt were waiting. The living room was ordinary with a wooden floor and beige walls. There was a patterned carpet in the middle of the room under a small wooden coffee table. Two brown couches were in the room, one positioned against the far wall and another close to the entrance of the living room. There a was TV set on top of a fireplace mantle, currently turned on. The couple was currently sitting close together on one of the couches watching what appeared to be an old cartoon.

Kylie looked up to see Danny in the doorway and smiled. "Hey kiddo. You feeling alright on your feet?" She asked, her features showing a hint of concern. 

Danny nodded. "I just wanted to say thank you again for taking care of me and letting me spend the night." He told them, hiding a blush. 

The couple smiled at him. "No problem Danny. We're more than happy to help." Holt said, pulling Kylie closer to him. The happy couple smiled at the teen. Danny couldn't help but think if his biological parents were this nice. Nor could he stop himself from wondering if they were, by some random chance, his real parents. But he knew that it wasn't true. No matter how he looked at it or wished it was that easy, he knew Kylie and Holt weren't his parents. But he did have parents somewhere else.

The raven haired teen nodded once more and smiled. He turned and left the living room, silently making his way through the house. He glanced at a clock in the hallway and saw that the time read 9 o'clock. He winced. He'd have to fly at near top speed in order to make it back to Amity Park before Jazz's deadline. Moving a little quicker now, Danny made his way to the front door of the house. It would be easy for him to just transform and silently phase out of the house but for some reason he felt like that wouldn't be fair to them.

Danny sifted through his pockets, searching for any small amount of change that may be in them but found them empty, aside from a napkin with a phone number on it. Kylie must have removed it when she washed the clothes and then replaced it after the were done drying for the napkin was in the same condition as when he first got it. The teen was honestly surprised nothing had happened to it during his fight with Vlad or after. There wasn't even a speck of blood on it.

"Danny? You still alive out there?" Kylie called from the living room. He heard them get up from the couch and start to make their way to the kitchen. Rushing now, Danny stuffed the napkin back in his pocket and approached the side door in the kitchen. He quickly opened it, wincing at the amount of noise it made. Kylie and Holt were running now and they got into the kitchen before Danny could even close the door.

"Danny!" The teen heard Holt shout as he ducked around the side of the house. Crap, he would never be able to outrun the two adults. And he couldn't risk transforming with them this close, they might see him! What to do?

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Kylie said, appearing by Danny's side. The teen let out a small yelp and jumped away from the woman. She had a dead serious look on her face that sent chills down Danny's spine. 

"I, um, well..." He trailed off, at a loss for words.

Kylie huffed, "If you wanted to leave you could have just told us." 

Danny looked up at Kylie, a guilty feeling in his chest. He lowered his head and softly replied, "I'm sorry."

The older woman immediately lost her stern look. "It's alright, kiddo. I honestly should have expected it. We are still kind of strangers to each other." The teen smiled at her and nodded. He was grateful for her kindness. 

Holt turned the corner and when he spotted Danny, a smile of relief flashed across his chiseled features. "Danny, what were you running off for? Did Kylie's bad references finally get to you?" He chuckled at his joke and Kylie gently elbowed him in the ribs.

Danny couldn't help but chuckle as well. "No, I was just going to start heading home. I didn't want to bother you guys anymore. You've already done so much for me." He said, looking down at his feet and rubbing the back of his neck.

Kylie rolled her eyes and stepped forward, ruffling Danny's hair. "You're not a bother kiddo. We cheese-heads gotta stick together." 

Holt turned around and began walking to the front of the house. "We'd be happy to give you a ride." He called over his shoulder.

Danny smiled and nodded gratefully. Flying home would possibly be faster but this way he could conserve his energy for a full out burst of speed in order to make it home before Jazz's deadline, if he needed to. So he piled into the blue pickup along with Kylie, who sat in the passenger seat. Holt sat behind the wheel and put the keys in the ignition, starting up the truck and they took off.

Author Line Break reporting for duty!

This is Normal Line Break cutting in and saying once again that no one agreed to this.

Danny glanced at the clock on the dash of blue pickup truck. It read 11:58. Danny's eyes widened, at this rate he'd never make it home on time. He had been debating on whether or not to let Kylie and Holt drive him all the way to Amity Park but now he had made his decision. He was still exhausted from yesterday's events but he had had a lot of time to heal paired with his speedy healing factor. He could probably fly home at top speed and make it to Fenton Works before Jazz's deadline. His eyes searched for the nearest building and noticed a grocery store a few feet away from them. "There!" Danny shouted, leaning forward as he pointed at the grocery store. "You can drop me off there!"

Kylie turned around to face Danny from the passenger seat while Holt sent him a quick, confused look in the rear-view mirror. "You sure kiddo? We don't mind driving you to your house."

Danny sent her a reassuring smile and nodded. "I'm sure. My, uh, mom works there." He lied.

The older woman frowned. "And does she know that you snuck out last night to go see your friend," she said friend with air quotes, "and then got yourself a handful of injuries?" Danny was silent. Kylie nodded, "I thought not." She looked at Holt, "Pull into the parking lot. I would like to go in with Danny to talk to his mother."

Danny felt his pulse quicken. If Kylie went with him, his lie would quickly fall to pieces. Maybe he could try and create a duplicate to overshadow a worker in the store and have them pretend to be his mom. No that wouldn't work, his duplication skills were mediocre at best plus trying to focus on controlling a duplicate that is possessing someone else would definitely be harder than just having a normal duplicate. There was one final solution, and he hoped he wouldn't have to come to it.

Holt pulled into the grocery store parking lot and parked the truck. Danny undid his seatbelt and Kylie followed suit. "You really don't have to come in with me, it's fine." He insisted. But Kylie was not going to be deterred. She opened the door and got out, taking a step to Danny's door and opening it for him.

"C'mon kiddo. I just want to have a quick chat with your mother." She said, her voice dangerously serious. Danny looked to Holt for help but saw the man had a look of concern on his face. The two adults really cared about the boy they had just met a day ago and only wanted to make sure he was safe. 

Danny inwardly sighed and climbed out of the truck. He and Kylie made their way to the store entrance. The teen noticed a small alley on the side of the store and quickly formulated a plan. He stole a quick glance at Kylie. Her attention was focused on the store, not Danny. The teen smiled, then bolted for the alley. He heard Kylie shout at him but he was too focused to listen to what she said. He dove into the alley, summoning forth the white rings that formed around his waist. He landed on his hands and sprung off them in a front flip into the air as the rings finished transforming him into his ghostly alter ego. As he finished the flip he made himself invisible and flew into the air. 

Kylie arrived in the alley a few moments later and she looked around it in surprise, seeing no sign of the raven haired teen. Danny felt bad for tricking her, but it was the only way. He had to get home quickly and he couldn't risk Kylie talking to his parents. He should have suspected the older woman would have done something like that. Before the teen took to the sky, he took one last look at Kylie. She looked so worried as she called out Danny's name.

Feeling guilt, Danny phased into the store, found the staff room and took a piece of paper and pen. He wrote a quick note on it and phased back out to the alley where he dropped the note. It landed in front of Kylie and she picked it up with surprise. Danny flew off before she even started to read the note, rapidly picking up speed as he flew towards Amity Park. He chuckled to himself as he imagined Kylie's shocked face once she finished reading the letter. Hey, it's not every day you find out you practically saved the life of the ghost boy Danny Phantom.

littlest line break here. anyone want a cookie? ^-^

Danny made it back to Amity Park and arrived at Fenton Works with almost a half hour to spare. Normally he would be proud he was able to get back home in such a fast time but at the moment he was just about ready to drop dead. His body ached, his lungs burned and standing quickly became a difficult task. He phased into his room at Fenton Works and landed on his bed. White rings appeared around his waist not by his will and changed him back to his human form. 'Looks like I made it just in time' Danny thought to himself.

The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped Danny back to attention. He bolted upright in bed and his eyes darted around his room, searching for the source of the noise. His gaze finally fell upon Jazz sitting on a chair resting against the side wall, reading a book. The teen relaxed and flopped back onto the bed. "Where's Mom and Dad?" He asked, still trying to catch his breath.

"Out." Jazz replied, closing her book and resting on her lap. "They were out all night on a wild ghost chase I sent them on and were upset that they didn't find anything. Mom took Dad to the store to get some comfort fudge." She sent Danny a suspicious look and noticed a piece of white material peeking out from the sleeve of his shirt, as well as some stitch marks on his clothes. 

Before Danny could react, Jazz leaped forward and grabbed his sleeve, lifting it to reveal the bandages that were in need of changing. Her eyes widened as Danny's face went pale. She sent him a look of mixed concern and anger. "You better start explaining right now." She warned, the words coming out harsher than she meant. But who could blame her? Her little brother goes off on his own for unknown reasons for almost a full day and comes home exhausted and covered in bandages! Who wouldn't be a little bit angry?

Danny sighed. "Okay fine. But Sam and Tucker have to be here too." He told her. If he was enemies with Vlad now, he'd have to let his friends in about everything. He'd also have to come up with a good lie about why he fought Vlad. He decided that he wouldn't tell them about his conversation with Vlad from the future. They were personal and he wanted to keep them that way. All they really needed to know was who and what Vlad was and that he was now their enemy. 

Jazz's eyes narrowed but she stood and left the room, only to return moments later with her cellphone, already dialing Danny's friends. Her eyes were glued on Danny, making sure he wouldn't fly off.

The older girl had nothing to fear. Danny was too tired to even sit up, there would be no chance of him flying off. As Danny stared up at his ceiling he felt pain in his chest.

"Promise me, Daniel."

"Little Badger, you just made yourself a very dangerous enemy."

Danny couldn't stop himself from hearing Old Vlad and Present Vlad bickering in his mind. 

"You taught me how to love again, Daniel."

"You broke my heart Daniel."

It was painful. To hear their voices in his mind. He could hardly tell Old Vlad's words apart from Present Vlad's. He felt his throat tighten, like Vlad's fingers were once again wrapped around his throat just as the night before. Tears threatened to spill over, but he held them back. Jazz was still in the room after all. Maybe it was a good thing she was there. Danny had to learn not to think of Vlad and feel sadness. He had to teach himself to feel hate for the old man.

Nearly ten minutes later, Sam and Tucker were in Danny's room. "So what's the big emergency?" Tucker asked, noticing Jazz's stone hard glare focused on Danny. Over the phone Jazz had filled the two teens in on some of the details, mainly about Danny sneaking off for nearly a day and coming home with multiple injuries, and then said that Danny refused to tell her anything unless Sam and Tucker were there.

Danny pulled himself up into a sitting position on the bed, ignoring his screaming muscles. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "For the past year," he began, "I have been training with someone on how to control and master my ghost powers."

All eyes in the room widened. They hadn't expected this. "How could you keep this from us?!" Sam questioned, standing up from her seat. Danny didn't reply.

"Who is it?" Jazz asked in a gentle tone. She felt a little betrayed too but she had to remember that at the time Danny didn't know that she knew his secret. "Do we know them?"

Danny shook his head. "He's another halfa. We met a while back and he said he could train me." Danny's breath became shaky, "For the longest time I would sneak off on weekends or holidays and spend a few days at his home. We would hang out, train, and the more we did it the closer we got."

Jazz, Sam and Tucker were all on the edge of their seats, hanging on to Danny's every word.

"But then, I found out his dark secret." Danny told them. He felt tears burning behind his eyes and his mouth went dry. "He was in love with Maddie and wanted to kill Jack so that he could get back everything Jack 'stole' from him." Danny lowered his head, "He's a monster and I hate him."

Jazz gasped and Tucker and Sam's jaws hit the floor. They were all at a loss for words. This was a huge reveal and no one was really sure how to respond. After a few more moments of silence Sam finally spoke up. "Who is it?" She asked softly.

Danny bit his lip as he pulled his knees up to his chest, burying his face in them to hide his tears. He mumbled a name under his breath.

"What was that?" Tucker asked, leaning forward a bit.

Danny lifted his head and glared at Tucker. "VLAD MASTERS!" He shouted as hot tears threatened to spill over.

After the reveal sunk in Jazz's eyes went wide with anger and shock. "Vlad Masters?!" She repeated, "As in the creepy billionaire from Mom and Dad's college reunion?!"

"Is there any other?" Danny replied, his voice strained.

The room went silent. Sam and Tucker had heard about Vlad a few times, but the man was mostly a mystery to them. He was apparently a billionaire who was an old friend of Jack and Maddie. Jazz hadn't really cared enough to get to know the man but Danny apparently had. And it had not ended well. 

Jazz's eye burned with anger as she looked over Danny's injuries again. "Did he do this to you?!" She questioned, her tone demanding an answer.

The teen nodded slowly. "I went to see him, to confront him on what I had learned. I attacked him and he retaliated. We fought for a long time until I was able to escape. I got a new friend to treat my wounds and then came back here." There was no way he was going to tell Jazz about Kylie and Holt. Two strange adults he had just met took care of him and let him sleep in their house.That would probably cause her to have a heart attack.

Jazz stood up from her seat with enough force that the chair she was sitting in went flying back and tipped over. "I'm going to kill that man." She growled, pulling out her phone.

"What are you doing?" Tucker asked.

"Calling the police. I'm reporting Vlad for child abuse and conspiracy to commit murder." Jazz informed him as she got ready to dial.

Danny's eyes widened. "No!" He screamed and dove out of bed towards Jazz. He tackled the girl to the floor, knocking the phone out of her hand. Sam and Tucker were on him in seconds, dragging him off Jazz and pulling him away from her. "Don't call the police, please!" He begged as he struggled against his friend's grips. He knew he could phase right through their hands but at the moment he was more focused on stopping Jazz from calling the police. 

"Why shouldn't I?" She yelled back, "He hurt you Danny! He wanted to and probably still wants to kill Dad." She picked her phone up off the floor and got ready to dial again. 

"They won't be able to arrest him!" Danny told her. "He'll have an army of lawyers and even if he is convicted he'll easily be able to escape prison!" His arms phased right out of Sam and Tucker's hands and he slowly approached Jazz. "And if you make that call, he'll know it was me. He could come after me or you guys." He lowered his head and stared at his feet. "Plus, I don't think I'd be strong enough to testify against him if we were able to get him on trial." He looked back up at Jazz, his blues eyes becoming glassy. "Please Jazz." He begged. "I don't want any of you to get hurt. I can handle Vlad. And now that you all know about him," he smiled, "Vlad doesn't stand a chance."

Jazz still looked hesitant, but lowered the phone. "Fine." She said, "No police. But if that creep ever shows up in Amity Park he better bring an army with him." Jazz smiled, but the three teens noticed the serious look in her eyes. Never mess with big sis.

Danny smiled gratefully and sat back down on the bed. Jazz picked up her fallen chair and sat back down, with Tucker and Sam resuming their seats. "Anything else you have to get off your chest or is story-time over?" Sam asked, smiling.

Danny thought over if he should tell them anything else. It might be a good idea to inform them about Vlad and how powerful he was. And anything else that seemed important he would tell them, so long as it was nothing he wanted to keep personal. 

As Danny began to inform his friends about everything they should know about Vlad, he couldn't help but feel like a giant weight was being lifted off his chest, but a chain was being wrapped around his heart. The pain of hating Vlad would probably never leave him but in time he might be able to learn how to deal with it.

That night, just before he fell asleep, Danny heard a faint conversation in the depths of his mind.

"Does the hurt ever go away?" He asked softly.

A shadowy figure sat beside him on the bed and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I wish I could say yes. But it will get better in time. For both of you. I promise."

A/N: Hey guys. This isn't really an update. It's more of a conclusion for the last chapter. The thing is I couldn't find a way to easily transition from Danny being with Kylie and Holt to where I'm going with the next chapter. It's a major time gap in between the two and it wouldn't make any sense the way I had originally wrote it (Plus for some reason I've grown really attached to Kylie and Holt and selfishly wanted them to have a little more screen time *I hadn't planned it to be as much as they got in this chap but what can I say, they grew on me*) Anyways the next update will be coming soon. 

One last thing I wanted to thank you all. It has officially been one year since I joined Wattpad and I have also reached 500 followers. It has been quite the experience for me. I'd like to think that my writing has improved over the course of my time on this site. I look back at my early works compare them to my latest chapters and see a difference. Major or not I'm not very sure but there is a difference.

And thanks to all of my readers for supporting my works. Your votes, reads and kind comments all support me. I am thankful for each and every one of you. See you all in the next one!