Vlad Masters knocked on the front door of the Fenton house that looked just as it did when he was banished to space years ago. As he waited, he stared at the door and tried to push back the growing anxiety he felt crawling up his throat. It had been exactly five years since he last saw majority of the family. When he returned a few months ago, he contacted Jack in hopes to make amends for what he had done. Years floating in space gave one time to think about past mistakes and what he had done to his college friends was unforgivable. Yet the big, lovable oaf had given him a second chance.
After talking for a few months, Vlad had earned Jack's full trust after proving he no longer had ill intentions towards him or his family. And now here he was about to make amends with the rest of the Fenton family. The one he hoped would forgive him the most, though, was Danny himself. Vlad admitted that he had caused him a great amount of pain and now that the boy was nineteen years old, he hoped he had grown mature enough to accept his apology.
When the door opened, it was Jack who answered. He smiled largely and shook Vlad's hand with a grip strong enough to make him groan in pain. "Vladdy!" he said, leading him in. "Glad to see you didn't back out! I was about to call and make sure you were still up to coming over." Vlad smoothed out the front of his suit and looked around the entry way. Same as he remembered. "Yes well, I swore to make amends. If I had backed out I wouldn't have been any different a person than I was before." He said.
He rose a brow at the silent reply and looked up to see Jack staring at him with a huge smile. "Yes?" he hummed, curious as to why he was simply looking at him. Jack rubbed his hands together with an innocent eagerness. "Just glad to have you back! Now, I spoke to Maddie. While she says she won't trust you, she will trust me so she is willing to meet you." Jack laughed, "She'll be down in a moment." Vlad nodded and sighed in relief. At least she was willing. Trust wasn't something he was expecting right away.
"And Daniel? What does he have to say about this?" Vlad asked. Apologizing to his old friends was one thing. His old arch nemesis was another. He noted that Jack's face fell slightly when he brought up his son. "Danny is…well I haven't told him yet. But I am sure he'll be just a fine with it as Maddie is!" Jack said, laughing nervously. The corners of Vlad's mouth frowned slightly, showing his disappointment. This would have been better if Daniel knew about his return beforehand.
The two men looked up when they heard someone come down the stairs. Maddie was in the same jumpsuit as Jack, the same as they were years ago. It didn't' take long for Vlad to see she wasn't exactly happy to be seeing him again. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, her hands were on her hips and a frown planted firmly on her face. "Hello Vlad." She said, voice icy. Vlad nodded at her and gave her a genuine smile. His attraction for her was no more. It had disappeared while he was by himself in space. "Hello."
Jack looked between Vlad and his wife and then pulled them both in with his large arms. "C'mon you two! What's with the stiff air? Vlad is back and he's apologized for everything he's done and swears he's a changed man!" he laughed, "We should be supporting his decision and accept him!" Vlad smiled at his old friend for the acceptance but Maddie wasn't that easily moved. "I don't trust him." She stated.
Both Vlad and Jack frowned at her statement and she sighed heavily. "But I don't distrust him either. I'll believe you for now Vlad but one wrong move and I will hunt you down and make you regret hurting my family, understand?" she said. Vlad laughed at her harsh but genuine words. "Thank you." He said, taking her hand with both of his and squeezing it gently. "I will not betray your neutrality towards me. Now, may I speak to Daniel? I owe him the biggest apology."
Maddie seemed happy that he wanted to apologize to her son most of all. She looked up the stairs. "Danny? Can you come down for a moment?" she called up. A few seconds later, her call was replied with a "Yeah! Be down in a sec!" Vlad pursed his lips when he realized Danny's voice was deeper. The voice of someone young but old enough to have gone through puberty. Someone who, luckily, matured. "I'll go make some coffee." Maddie said before going into the kitchen.
Vlad shuffled slightly and smoothed out the front of his suit yet again as he stood beside Jack and waited for Danny. He just hoped the young man wouldn't react harshly. After a few very long moments, he was about to find out. Footsteps came and echoed through his very soul. At first they sounded normal, but then he noticed something quite off about them. Normal thud, metallic sound, normal thud, metallic sound, over and over. It wasn't until Danny stopped half way down the stairs and stared at Vlad that the man saw why the sounds were off.
Vlad didn't quite spot it right way. Instead he found himself staring at his face. Danny had aged quite well. His black hair was soft and had grown into his bright blue eyes. His features were strong but with a feminine touch in his high cheekbones and lips. He had grown taller than Vlad remembered him to be last and his body was strong and lean from what he guessed to be years of fighting ghosts. It was what he saw last that made him freeze.
Danny had one normal leg, one that he had since birth, but his other one…his other one was no longer there. Just below the knee of his right leg, the flesh and bone disappeared at a clean cut and the rest of his leg was a metal contraption. It was a metal pole essentially with a spring contraption where the foot should have been. It moved up and down with his step so he looked like he was walking naturally. Neon green wires wrapped around it and went into his leg, connecting the prosthetic to him. Vlad felt his heart drop. Danny had lost his leg.
Danny's voice snapped him back to a less painful reality. "Vlad?" he asked. Vlad was surprised at the softness of it before it changed. "VLAD?!" Danny shouted. "What the hell are you doing here?! You're supposed to be in another galaxy!" Vlad winced at the venom in his voice. His words would have had a completely different effect if he still had his childish anger. Jack stepped in front of Vlad slightly and held his hands up. "Now Danny, give the man a chance to explain himself!" he said with a smile. Danny's eyes flashed bright green and his fists clenched, but he caught himself and his eyes faded back to blue.
"Don't tell me you're okay with him being back? After everything he's done?" Danny demanded. Jack frowned deeply, "Hey mister, don't you get that tone with me! Vlad has been back for a few months and we've been talking. He wants to apologize for what he's done in the past. He's a new man." Vlad felt his chest swell with happiness when Jack defended him like that. Of course it made him worse for what he had done to him in the past.
Danny wasn't having it. "You believe him? You honestly believe that a guy who tried to kill us both and take mom is suddenly a changed man after I literally launched him into space?" he spat. He came the rest of the way down the stairs and moved Jack out of the way so he was right in Vlad's face. Despite having grown taller, Danny was still shorter than Vlad and looking up at him. "Tell me right here and now, Vlad. What the hell do you want?" he demanded.
It took a moment for Vlad to answer because he was staring at Danny's face. He had grown very attractive. And now that he was a full grown man… "I want you to forgive me, Daniel. Yes we have had our differences in the past and yes you are the reason I spent all those years in space. But that gave me time to think and I realized I had done unforgivable things." He said sincerely, eyebrows knitting together. Danny backed away and glared. "You want to be forgiven for unforgivable things? You think I'm stupid? I'm not a kid anymore Vlad!"
He certainly wasn't a kid anymore. Vlad sighed deeply and let his eyes wander down to the prosthetic on his leg. Danny caught him staring and got an ashamed and outraged look. "One wrong more and I'll kill you." He whispered before going upstairs and slamming his door. Vlad looked up at the top of the stairs, mind wandering in a thousand places. He understood where Danny was coming from. Back in the past he had done countless things to him that were nothing less than horrible. And yet there was something with Danny that was far past what Vlad had done to him. Vlad dreaded that had something to do with his leg.