Danny's POV

I arrived at Clockwork's Tower in less than a half hour. Not bothering to be polite I flew straight into one of the many windows. Specifically the one that led to his chamber.

"Clockwork!" I shouted, seeing the empty chamber. I floated to the ground and began to walk around. His medallions rested on their hooks. I walked over to them, taking one of its hook and holding it in my hand. I remembered the first time I saw them. When I fought my evil self.

I remembered my time with Vlad there. How he looked, how he spoke. He regretted his actions in the past, he said he was a fool. That Vlad was different. This Vlad was not.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Clockwork's viewing screen began to glow. I walked away from the medallion, stopping in front of the large screen. The screen became fuzzy, before clearing to reveal an image. It was a sunny day, there was a picnic blanket underneath a large tree. Two sandwiches, a basket of strawberries, and a pitcher of lemonade with two glasses.

"Can I open my eyes now Vlad?" I heard a voice say.

"Not yet, we're almost there," I heard Vlad's voice reply, but it sounded..... younger?

Two figures appeared on screen. One I recognized as Vlad instantly. His hair was white and he had a large smile on his face. He wore a short sleeved green and black striped shirt and faded blue jeans with red sneakers. He was leading a woman up the hill to the picnic blanket. A woman I recognized as Danielle Ryder.

Her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she had a hand over her eyes. She wore a short sleeved red shirt and loose black pants with white sneakers. She wore a golden bracelet on her right wrist and a wide smile was on her face.

They reached the top of the hill. "Ok, now you can open your eyes," Vlad told her.

Danielle removed her hand from her eyes and they instantly lit up in excitement, "Is this... was this you?" she asked. Vlad nodded and Danielle gave him a peck on the cheek. The two of them sat down and began to eat their picnic. They talked they laughed and they fed each other strawberries.

"I love you Vlad," Danielle whispered as she rested her head on Vlad's chest. Vlad stoked her hair and whispered, "I love you too." But he looked unsure as he said it.

The screen went fuzzy again this time it showed the inside of an apartment. The apartment was small, with cream coloured walls and a wood floor. Pictures of Vlad and Danielle were hung all around the room. There was  a couch in the corner and a TV set across from it. The brown coffee table between the two was covered in papers. The floor had multiple pictures of Maddie and Jack and love letters with the name Maddie on it.

Vlad and Danielle were yelling at each other. "All this time! All this time you had feelings for another woman! " Danielle shouted at him. She had tears running down her face and her hair was messy. She wore a jacket and had a suitcase by her feet.

"Yes I did," Vlad said simply.

"Was anything real between us? Did you ever have feelings for me? Or was I just your 'rebound girl'?" Danielle shouted.

Vlad began to shout back, "You were not my rebound girl! I do love you Danielle! But you must understand, Jack stole from me. He ruined my life, took away the first girl I ever loved-"

Danielle cut him off, "How is your life ruined? You have a home, a job. So what? You spend a few years in the hospital because of one mistake and dwell on it the rest of your life? Jack never meant to hurt you! It wasn't his fault you decided to stick your face in front of a highly dangerous device. And Maddie? She never loved you! But I did Vlad. I loved you, I cared for you, spent every moment I could with you. But apparently I wasn't enough to fill that void in your heart that was meant for Maddie."

She picked up the suitcase and opened the door. She turned her head to give Vlad one last glare and say coldly, "Good bye Vlad Masters."  Danielle slammed the door shut behind her and Vlad clenched his fists, letting two dark rings spread across his form, transforming him into a blue skinned, dark haired, fanged ghost.

The screen went fuzzy again, this time the image settled on a hospital scene. A woman was screaming. "That's it Ms.Ryder, you're doing great," a female's voice said, "Just one more, push."

Another scream. Then, I heard a baby crying. The image became the inside of a delivery room with a female doctor holding a crying baby."It's a boy," she said. The mother of the baby laughed lightly before her laugh turned into a cough. It was Danielle again. Her long black hair was slick with sweat and her blue eyes looked dull.

She held out her arms for the baby and the doctor gave her the newborn boy. "Hello Daniel," she whispered as she gently bounced the baby. Danielle coughed again. She looked up at the doctor, "Would you do me a favor?" she asked. Danielle pointed her chin at a camera on a nearby chair, "Would you take a picture?"

The doctor nodded and grabbed the camera, snapping a picture of mother and child. "Thank you," Danielle whispered before going into another coughing fit. The coughing shook the baby and he began to cry.

The doctor rushed over, "You should rest now Ms.Ryder. I'll be back to check on you in a bit," she said. Danielle nodded and gave her baby a kiss on the forehead before handing him to the doctor. She leaned against the pillows and closed her eyes.

And the screen went dark.

A hand fell on my shoulder and I jumped. "Hello Danny," Clockwork's calm voice said. He was currently in his middle aged form.

"Is it true?" I asked, "Is it all true?"

Clockwork closed his eyes and nodded. Tears spilled from my eyes and I sank to my knees. "No," I whispered, "I'm not his son."

"You are Danny," Clockwork said simply, "But that does not mean you are him."

He knelt down beside, placing a hand on my shoulder, "It is true he is your biological father, but can't you see that he was willing to change? He wanted to be different"

I looked up at the old ghost, "But he's evil. He didn't want to change. He only said that to make me feel sorry for him."

Clockwork stood up and I did as well. "Is that all he is? Evil and manipulative?" Clockwork questioned.

He pointed to the screen, causing an image of Vlad to appear, "Was he anything more to you than a villain? A joke? A man you would never see as anything other than an enemy?"

He shifted to his elderly form, "You saw him in the future. How he changed, how he realized his mistakes. You give everyone a second chance, but you never gave Vlad his."

I hung my head, "I couldn't."

"No, not couldn't. Wouldn't."

"He had done nothing to deserve it!" I shouted back.

"Because you never gave him a chance to prove himself!" Clockwork shouted, "He wanted to change, to make up for everything he'd ever done. But you didn't bother to see him change. You only saw a mad man working to destroy you."

Clockwork sighed and floated away from me, "Everything is not so black and white Danny. Sometimes, you need to see the gray."

I shook my head and flew out of the tower. Clockwork didn't know Vlad like I did. He didn't care, he never wanted to change. Did he? I flew towards Vlad's portal, thinking over Clockwork's words.

ABOUT A HALF HOUR LATER

I entered Vlad's portal and arrived in his lab. I flew straight up phased back into his study. I was about to phase right out of the castle when a book on Vlad's desk caught my eye. I floated over to the desk and recognized the brown book from Vlad's video. I don't remember it being there when I first searched his desk.

I picked it up flipping through the pages, looking at the pictures. I flipped to the last page. There was the picture a Danielle in the hospital holding her baby boy. Me. I traced my finger across her features, "Mom," I whispered.

I took the picture out of the book, placing the book back on the desk. I phased out of the castle and headed back to Amity Park.

ABOUT TWO HOURS LATER

I arrived in Amity Park around midnight. I flew above the city, letting the cool night air fill my lungs. I still held the picture in my hand. City Hall came into view and I landed beside the statue of me holding up the world.

I sat on the base of the statue, rubbing my gloved thumb over the picture. I sighed and stood up, taking off once more. I landed on a nearby building roof, sitting down and hanging my feet over the edge. I stared up at the moon.

"So? You wanted to change?" I said aloud, "Forgive me for thinking you're lying, it's just a natural response to all those times you lied or tricked me."

I placed the picture beside me, "Why didn't you just tell me? I could've tried too. Things could've been different."

I placed my head in my hands, "I don't know what to think anymore about you. Were you a good guy? A bad guy? A psycho? Completely sane?"

I sighed, "Just tell me one thing. Did you honestly mean what you said? About Danielle? About me? About undoing your mistakes? Did you want to make up for everything you did, just so I wouldn't hate you?"

I heard footsteps approach me from behind, "Of course Little Badger."

A/N: And that my friends, brings this story to a close. I do hope you all enjoyed. Thanks for reading!