A/N: So apparently this weekend is a major writing boom for me? Don't ask. I just know that I haven't had this much inspiration for writing anything in ages, and the confidence booster from my last fic definitely influenced my choice in posting this. I'm warning you all right now, it's almost twelve midnight where I am, there's school tomorrow, and I only just finished this. I apologize for any mistakes I've managed to make, but I'm pretty sure I like this better than when I first tried.
The idea came from Ghost-Chicky on tumblr, who once mentioned a fic idea where the reason why Vlad never saw Jack or Maddie was because the doctors were concerned weren't sure how contagious Vlad's sickness was and a nurse hid all the letters they tried to send. Then, years later, another nurse finds them in a back room and sends them to Vlad. Cue redemption-arc sort of thing. My inspiration came from a daily challenge thing I do, to try and grow good habits. One challenge I had was to "Write a Letter", and immediately my brain leapt onto this idea and refused to let go.
Disclaimer: Definitely not mine. I don't think I'd be angry because of school if it was mine.
Talina Duffman roughly pulled the old closet door open, frantically waving her hand in front of her face and coughing when a bit of plaster and dust flew into her face. Huffing, she wrinkled her nose at the faint but pungent odour of old paper before flipping the light switch to illuminate the old closet. She blinked repeatedly at the sight.
Strewn haphazardly across the top of the old steel table were piles of letters, dozens if not hundreds of them atop each other. Beneath the table were a few multi-coloured packages and deflated balloons, the vibrant coloring long since faded. On each gift and letter in the same style of handwriting was the name 'Vlad Masters'.
Talina was a new worker at UW Hospital, tasked with emptying some of the older rooms so they could be converted to hospital or storage rooms, but even she knew the old stories about the Ghost-Hunting trio of Maddie, Jack, and Vlad, and how Vlad Masters had been hospitalized for years after a lab accident. She frowned when she read the return address; Sure enough, the name "Jack Fenton" was written in the corner, but why in the world were these letters here instead of with Mr. Masters? Talina knew how much it sucked not getting any news from your friends following large potentially life-changing events, and though she just as easily could have swept the letters and gifts into the trash and forgotten about them, she didn't.
Instead, she neatly tied the letters together, placed stamps on each of the packages, wrote a quick explanation and apology to Mr. Masters, and sent them all off to a certain mayors mansion in Amity Park.
In a mansion in Amity Park, a man named Vlad Masters was reclining peacefully on a couch, delicately sipping his steaming mug of tea as he watched domestic scenes play out in the Fenton household from his television. Jack, the forgetful oaf, attempting to build some hairbrained invention on the kitchen table; Maddie, his dear love, appeared to be organizing their information on ectoplasmic weaponry if the glimpse of the laptop screen and the papers spread on their living room table were any indication. The calm of his afternoon was quickly shattered by the echoing ring of his doorbell, and he sighed, setting his cup down on a saucer and standing up.
"Who in the world would be at my door at this time? I could've sworn I told my secretary to cancel everything..." Vlad grumbled to himself, absentmindedly pausing at a mirror to straighten his collar. Standing before the door, he relaxed, wiping his face of all irritation at being interrupted on his day off before he opened the door. A polite greeting died on his lips when he failed to see anyone standing there, but directing his gaze downwards he saw a small stack of letters, tied together with worn brown twine, a single navy blue envelope with neat green writing on the back sitting atop the pile. A few brightly wrapped gifts sat next to it.
Vlad raised an eyebrow, bending for a moment to pick up the richly coloured envelope. Straightening, he looked at the return address, brow furrowing and lips twisting downward in a thoughtful frown.
Talina Duffman
University of Wisconsin Hospital
600 Highland Ave,
Madison, WI 53792
Beneath the address was a date, but Vlad barely paid it any attention, his mind busy trying to figure out why in the world that infernal hospital would be sending him a letter after all these years. He moved the envelope aside, looking down to see the address on the envelopes below him. A blink, then burning rage as he glared down at the innocent words in the corner of the white papers. He grit his teeth, clenching his hand into a fist and restraining his urge to just go ghost and destroy the damnable pieces of paper, reasoning that as he was currently standing on his doorstep, there were far too many possible witnesses. Sure enough, when Vlad looked upwards, he noticed a handful of people strolling down the streets, walking dogs or rushing to places. He thinned his lips, crushed the rage beneath his will, and stooped down to collect the letters and packages. Then, turning on his heel, he brusquely walked inside and slammed the door.
Vlad simmered as he strode back down his halls. Willpower was all that kept him from simply shredding the letters until he caught sight of the date scribbled on one of the letters beneath the address.
May 20th, 19XX
Sent just under a week after he'd been hospitalized...?
Thoroughly baffled, he set the stacks down on his coffee table next to the tea, a quick wave of the hand and a flash of pink reheating the herbal blend. Tearing open the flap of the dark blue envelope, he pulled out the thankfully white paper and picked up his tea, eyes quickly taking in the words on the paper.
"Dear Mr. Masters,
I, on the behalf of the staff here at UW Hospital, apologize for not having been able to give you your mail sooner. It was only by chance when cleaning the back rooms that I came across these letters, and I made sure to forward them to you as soon as I was able. I'm personally unaware of why they were all locked away in a back room, but I assure you, I intend to bring this incident up with my superiors.
Enjoy your mail,
Talina Duffman."
Vlad stared vacantly at the letter for a long time, his mind absently processing what he had just read and running the words locked away over before he snapped into action, aggressively but carefully setting his cup and the letter down, delicately pulling apart the knot in twine and opening the oldest of the letters. Slipping the stationery out of its paper confines, he leaned back and began to read. Trying to ignore the spluttering spark of hope in his chest, something he thought no hadn't existed for years.
"Hey, Vladdie..."
Jack Fenton straightened up from his hunched position over the kitchen table, his large fingers pausing in their delicate wiring at the ring of the doorbell. He blinked for a moment before jumping out of his seat, no hesitation or fatigue in his movement despite the fact it was about midnight.
"I've got it!" He said, conscious of the late hour, before bounding to the door and eagerly yanking it open. Jack grinned widely, overjoyed at their late night visitor.
"Vladdie! How's it going, V-man? Come on in." Jack moved aside, Vlad shuffling in. Jack quietly shut the door before turning to face his best friend since college, a bright smile on his face. He ushered him inside to the couch, sitting down himself. Vlad himself barely responded, simply sitting down. "So, what's this visit about, Vlad? I haven't seen you in ages."
Vlad hesitated, looking up at the man he once called his best friend. Glancing down at his right hand and the piece of paper he had crumpled inside it, he steeled his resolve.
"Listen, Jack, I need to tell you something..."
A/N: The ending is open because I am lazy as hecky. UW Hospital, or University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, is an actual place in Madison, Wisconsin where they went to university, and the address is the real deal. Talina Duffman is a random character I invented because I needed someone to find the stuff in the back room. I estimate, based on information about Vlad in the wiki, that he was most likely hospitalized sometime in the late 1980's, but since I didn't feel like trying to figure out the year, I threw a random date up there.
I don't think I need to explain that I love thinking about who Vlad could have been and the lost character development of Vlad (and Sam and Valerie and pretty much everyone) in canon. This old man deserves love, but he also needs to be shown where he went wrong. He's nuts, sure, but he's not beyond renewal either.
Now that this is over, good night everyone!
Edit: Fixed stuff. I hate my phone and its damn buggy keyboard and how terrible maneuvering this place is when you're on the desktop site on your phone.