Vlad stepped out of the darkness, eyes cold and hard. 

"Did you really think I didn't have security against Halphas?"

He flicked two metal disks toward Danny. They whirled around his wrists and activated, locking his hands in front of him.

Vlad advanced toward him, fists clenched, eyes narrowed into slits. 

"I saved your life. I gave you a home and a family and this is how you repay me?" he snarled. Danny couldn't help but to flinch at his rage. All of Vlad's kindness, his calm demeanor, had melted away. But he didn't forget what he had learned. 

"This isn't a home, it's a prison!" he shot back, wrenching himself to his feet. 

"I know what you did to these kids, what you've been doing since you found them all those years ago!" 

Vlad bared his teeth in a sneering grin.

"Oh you do, do you? And what is that?"

"I know that Space Corps found me because I was using my powers. I know that glowing, radiating, gives me away. But this "family" of yours never learned that. And how could they? How could they know they would be safe as long as they didn't use their powers? You didn't teach them that. You taught them that the second they left this house they would be hunted down, because  you were the only one who could protect them."

Danny locked eyes with Vlad, green with red. 

"You faked it all. There was never a bounty hunter tracking you. Just a hired mercenary you had planned it all with."

Vlad's breathing was heavy and furious.

"You think you know everything, don't you? You think you know what's best?"

He loomed to his full height, eyes burning.

"You don't know anything. These children would be slaughtered within days if they left the compound. The Halphas would be gone for good. I thought you of all people would understand the value of a safe haven."

"This isn't safe!" Danny spat. 

"My parents made a functioning radiation suit in a couple of days. It wasn't perfect, but it did something! You haven't even tried in 9 years! You were never going to let us leave!"

"I can't afford to lose you!" Vlad yelled.

Danny jumped, his accusations falling silent. The lab whirred quietly to fill the gaping silence.

Vlad backed away, clutching his head in his hands. 

"I... I can't let you go."

"Why? Because you love us?" Danny said, words dripping with sarcasm. 

"Because I wouldn't last long."

Danny felt a ripple of shock break his rage and fear. 

"What do you mean?" he snapped, wiping his bleeding nose with his cuffed hands. 

Vlad looked away from Danny's fierce stare, and at his own hands. 

"I didn't know what Halpha blood would do to me. Plasmus's thrive off of rare blood types, and I've always been able to afford whatever I wanted. But no one knew... I certainly didn't know..."

He gave a ragged sigh, shoulders slumping.

"It consumed me Daniel. You have no idea how much power is in your blood. You've never had to live without it. I bought a small bottle before the destruction of Halpha. Before I knew it it was gone, and I needed more. That rush of power, that... energy! It's addicting."

"So you made sure to collect your own little farm of Halphas for all the blood you'd ever need," Danny sneered. 

"You don't think I've tried to break this habit?" Vlad growled. "I've done everything I could think of. I tried over and over again to cut myself off. But it takes a toll. The longer I go, the less control I have. There have been times where I... I just forget. I stopped thinking of anything but where I could get my next dose. I would wake up in a destroyed room, weaker and more desperate than ever."

"So that is why we're here. You're so generous to us because you have no other choice."

Vlad shook his head over and over, agitated and upset. 

"No... I mean... yes. That was my original intention. I set out to rescue the first source I could fine. And it happened to be that escape pod. I had full intentions to keep my distance, not get involved. But... well, you've met them. These children had lost their homes, their families. I was all they had left. They needed me almost as much as I needed them."

"Yeah, that's why you scared them to death. That's why you hired a killer to attack them, and make yourself look like a hero. You just care SO MUCH!" Danny yelled.

Vlad looked up, eyes hard once again. 

"I do care Daniel. I care about my well being. I care about my sanity. I care about these Halphas. And, believe it or not, I do care about you."

He got to his feet.

"But I can't let you destroy all that I've worked to build."