Vlad sat in his car for a long while, staring at the darkened silhouette that was FentonWorks. His bony, pale hands wrapped themselves around the steering wheel, his foot hovering over the brake as he shifted his gaze up to the sky. An eyelash of moon graced the sky, casting her eerie shadow on everything on the ground.
Sighing, Vlad changed into his ghost form, becoming intangible and phasing out through the car door.
His latest mission was somewhat ironic. He had Jack Fenton to thank for his powers, his unique ability to change into a ghost at will, as well as his growing fortunes. But to Vlad, Jack was only responsible for one thing: stealing the love of his life. Maddie. The money, the power…it was nothing compared to the life he could have had if he had married Maddie.
So Vlad felt no remorse as he phased through the front door of the Fenton's home. Once inside, he quickly turned back into his human form. He felt strangely sentimental about this new mission, and wanted to execute it as Vlad Masters-not Vlad Plasmius.
Vlad held his breath as he began to ascend the staircase, thankful the steps didn't creak. He stayed on edge, ready to turn invisible at any moment. Of course, no one was up-it was the middle of the night.
The door he wanted was immediately obvious, and Vlad failed to suppress his grin. That fool Jack Fenton had just made the job of tearing his heart out much easier without even realizing it.
He almost reached for the doorknob when he thought better of it, quickly phasing through the door and the large, hand-drawn picture that spelled out DANNY in crudely formed letters. The inside of the baby's room was painted a pale blue, the furniture colored dark purple. A wooden crib was set up along one wall, underneath the window.
Vlad took a step closer, peering into the crib. Danny was sleeping peacefully, a lavender blanket covering his chubby body. He already had a decent amount of black hair, at which Vlad grimaced-Danny would at least inherit his hair color from his father.
Carefully, Vlad scooped the baby and blanket up in his arms, carefully not to jostle him. But despite his caution, Danny began to fuss, and Vlad panicked; thinking the baby might begin to cry.
"Shh…it's okay, Little Badger." He murmured absentmindedly, bouncing the infant slightly. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
Danny quieted down, and Vlad gave a sigh of relief. It wouldn't really be much of a problem if he did wake the Fentons up, but he'd rather everything went according to plan. Much fewer complications that way.
Once he was sure the baby was asleep, Vlad turned towards the door, phasing through it with ease. He began walking down the hall, but stopped abruptly when he heard the creaking floorboards, the telltale jingle of a doorknob…
Vlad quickly turned himself and the baby invisible just before a door swung open and Jack Fenton himself came stumbling out, half asleep. Vlad stood still, his heart beating rapidly as Jack tripped over a doll that had been lying in the middle of hallway and finally fell into the bathroom, fumbling with the door handle for a moment before slamming it close.
Vlad let out a breath he had forgotten he was holding. He let his invisibility drop, checking to make sure Danny hadn't woken up.
Slowly, he made his way over to the open doorway that Jack had recently stumbled out of. There, lying in the king-sized bed, was Maddie. HIS Maddie. Sleeping peacefully in a bed she shared with Jack Fenton, living in a house she owned with Jack Fenton, with kids she had given birth to with Jack Fenton.
Burning rage blossomed in Vlad's stomach, and for a second, he just wanted to go into that bathroom and wring Jack Fenton's fat, disgusting neck…
But the fury he felt soon dissipated as Daniel moved in his arms, trying to find a more comfortable position. With a sigh, Vlad forced himself to turn away from the object of his desire.
Vlad made his way down the stairs and out the door without stopping at anything. Soon, he was back in his car, staring at the house again, the baby still in his arms.
Vlad sighed, pressing his head against the steering wheel as he stared down at Danny. Danny was only three months old; he would have no recollection of his life with the Fentons. Vlad had planned the timing of the kidnapping perfectly-the Fentons would have gotten attached to Danny and would so be that much more devastated when they discovered he was missing, but all of the important milestones-his first words, first steps-those were all Vlad's.
Carefully, Vlad made his way to the backseat and strapped Danny into the car seat he had installed. Vlad had spent months getting ready for Danny's arrival; he had acquired a fake birth certificate which stated his name was 'Daniel James Masters' and had used that to get Danny a Social Security card. He found a woman that had died in childbirth-a prostitute named Sally McFadden-and put her name down as Danny's mother. Everything was in place.
Danny was Vlad's. Not Jack Fenton's. Vlad's to raise how he wanted to. He had no one to answer to, no one to prove himself to. Vlad had a son. He had Maddie's son.
Vlad's heart panged painfully as he remembered that even though he had Maddie's son, he would never have Maddie. Vlad started the car.
Short, yes. I normally write super duper long chapters, so don't get used to this 900 crap.
I've always thought Vlad was one of the most interesting characters I've ever encountered in a TV show, movie, or a book. For him, love and hate are so closely intertwined he can no longer tell the difference. This, and the fact he exhibits clear symptoms of several mental illnesses makes him an extremely complex and REAL character.
I actually stole the idea of Vlad kidnapping Danny as a baby from another fic on this site, however, I'm almost certain it's been deleted since I can't seem to find it anywhere.
And cookies to anyone who can figure out where I got Danny's 'mother's' name from. (No, she will NOT be an OC, she's just a name.) I know this is a short, badly written fanfic at this time but I would like reviews telling me what you think of the plot!
-Chihiro