A/N: Chapter 3 is up! Hope you're hungry! Enjoy!

"Okay, what the heck was all that weirdness?" Jazz asked as she sat down on her bed with her younger brother.

"I have no idea, first Vlad saves mom and Sam from that train, then I go to confront him about it and instead of ranting about some evil plot to win mom and me over and kill off dad he starts talking about regret and being tired, old and alone and then he shut down his entire lab and turned off his portal and packed a bag and is now moving back to Wisconsin to become a boring business man." Danny gave an exasperated wave of his arms before he dropped back and lay spread eagle on his sister's bed.

"Weird." Jazz said.

"Tell me about it, and it only gets weirder-"

"How so?"

"Well, call me crazy but I think I might actually kind of believe him- kinda." he said guiltily.

Jazz's eyebrows knitted together in concern before she spoke, her hands fisting her blankets in anxiety, "What? How could you believe him after everything he has done? Maybe you've forgotten that Vlad's a psychotic fruitloop who's tried to take over the world on numerous occasions and ruined your life just as much, if not more."

"I know I know, and you're right, normally I wouldn't buy it, but he told me something today that really makes me think he might actually be sincere."

"Oh really? And what would that be? What could possibly justify trust right now after everything he's done-"

"Clockwork." came Danny's simple reply.

This seemed to take the wind out of Jasmine's sails and she looked to her brother in question, "What does that old time spirit have to do with anything?"

"Vlad told me he had a run in with Clockwork, that he helped Vlad see his mistakes and told him it would benefit him to start over and try something different if he really wanted to be happy."

"And you think Vlad went along with it? Just like that?" Jasmine seemed doubtful and Danny didn't blame her. If he hadn't seen so much sincere change in his archenemy himself he would deny the possibility altogether.

"Well, if there is one thing I know about Clockwork it's that he has a way of twisting your view of who you are as a person. He can put things in perspective, even if it hurts you, he can make you really think about your decisions, no matter how small. And considering Vlad's had a lifetime of bad decision making I can actually understand how Vlad may have jumped onto the good guy train pretty fast. Self examination can be harsh, especially if your psychologist can replay time for you on a TV screen."

"I think I am rubbing off on you little brother." Jazz teased as she ruffled his hair, the teen affectionately swatted his sister's hand away before he sighed and glanced to the door, "I think I'm going to go listen in-"

"You sure that's a good idea? I mean, mom sent us up here for a reason, she wanted privacy."

"When has it ever been a good idea to leave Vlad alone with mom and dad, especially dad?"

"That's a good point, but if you know he's changed-"

"I said I might believe he's changed, that doesn't mean I'm certain or that I trust him. I'll be right back."

Danny turned intangible and stuck his head down through the floor of his bedroom. In the kitchen below the three adults sat around the kitchen table, even Danny, who wasn't all that great at reading people could tell, the tension was thick.

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"Jack, don't act surprised, you knew I had feelings for Maddie, I told you right before we went into the lab that day. I also told you I was going to ask her out. I would have told her how I felt and asked her out if you hadn't turned around and blown my face off with the ghost portal."

"I'm sorry V-man, it must have been rough. But I had no idea you were so bent out of shape over it after all this time." Vlad had never seen Jack so hurt by his actions and if it had been a different situation Vlad would have reveled in it. But he had a part to play, so shame and guilt were his current companions as he looked to his friend and tried to justify his actions.

"How could I not be? Not only did that destroy what little social life I had, but the next time I hear from either of you it's three months later and you're getting married. You visited me the first week but then you stopped coming completely. I was left alone in the hospital with no one, and the two people closest to me, my only real family ditched me, got married and started a family, not to mention you kept on with the research, research I helped you both to develop and was supposed to get credit for!" The anger and betrayal in his voice was real this time and it bit into the Fenton's like acid. Even Maddie looked ashamed but Vlad didn't go on, he simply stared at the table and slowly tapped his finger on the yellow surface.

Danny's parents sat in stony silence, their guilt swelling and pouring off of them in cascades while Vlad looked at the table with utter defeat. He could feel their shame, but for some reason he didn't feel better about it- he had always thought he would- but right here in this moment he felt nothing but sorrow. His anxiety spiked as he realized he was actually feeling it and not just playing a roll. He needed to wrap this up quickly, the waters were becoming too dangerous.

"I had no idea we hurt you so badly. You're right, we weren't very good friends. But after what you said at the hospital, we thought you hated us and didn't want us around." Jack said softly as he took Maddie's hand. Vlad's eyes narrowed minutely as he saw the action take place but his anger didn't erupt as it normally would have. Instead a wave of jealousy and envy wrapped around his heart and he tightly closed his eyes before he looked away.

But suddenly Jack's words rang like an alarm in his ears and he instantly looked at them with confusion and shock, "What are you talking about-" Vlad glanced between Jack and Maddie, "You don't remember?" Maddie asked, her hand reaching across the kitchen table to take Vlad's hand, the first time she'd willingly touched him that Vlad could ever remember. His eyes scanned down their faces and then to Maddie's hand still wrapped around his and a violent force shoved into his brain, his mind's eye saw a blurry image of his once best friends, dressed as if they were still in college, looking at him with crestfallen faces and tears in their eyes.

"You yelled at us V-man, told us to clear out and shove off, you blamed me for what happened and never wanted to see me again. Told Maddie that she had botched the whole thing and that you blamed her as well, claimed we were nut jobs and that if we ever came back-"

"You'd have us forcibly removed." Maddie said finishing for her husband.

In that moment Vlad felt his well sculpted exterior crumble, a ice cold dread filled his gut and he looked between the two, his face awash with terror. Suddenly, this wasn't a game anymore, suddenly this was all very real- this wasn't a ingenious plan to win Daniel to his side, he was actually hear having a conversation with his once best friends- and they were telling him things that he didn't remember.

"But, I wouldn't have- I don't remember, when did that happen?" Vlad asked, desperation in his voice.

"The first week we came to see you. You were pretty drugged up on pain meds, could barely keep your eyes open or your sentences straight but you had enough mind to tell us off. We tried to come back, the doctors said you didn't want to see us, that it could worsen your condition if you were upset or agitated." Jack said as he looked at his friend with remorse and pity.

"I don't remember any of this, I don't remember yelling at you. I just remember waiting, staring out the window and hoping I'd see you guys walking up the drive to the front door. After the first month I got so depressed that I called you repeatedly. Didn't you get any of my messages?"

Jack looked to Maddie and winced, "I moved in with Mads after the accident because I couldn't afford to live alone, and with you laid up in the hospital I didn't have an option. It was to expensive. By the time you must have called someone else had probably moved in, but no one ever contacted me to let me know you were trying to get ahold of me. If I had known you know I would have been there V-man, I assumed you hated my guts and never wanted to speak to me again. All that changed after the reunion- I thought you had forgiven us- well, me."

"So, it was-" Vlad stopped because he couldn't say the words, couldn't admit what he just realized.

"A misunderstanding?" Maddie questioned in shock, the look on her face told stories, of how she suddenly put two and two together and realized that they should have tried harder to see him.

"All these years I thought you had abandoned me, that you had stopped coming because you'd wanted Maddie for your own. It was all my fault." that last part came out a whisper, an anguished whisper and Vlad had never felt the emotions that were suddenly tearing through him. "I was out of sorts, the doctors had given me medication for the pain, I was so confused by the medication and the pain- there was so much pain-"

Jack stood and came to stand next to Vlad placing his hand on the man's shoulder, "It's over V-man, we have all the time in the world now, we can be best friends again, the three musketeers!"

Danny saw Vlad put his face into his hands before he took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, ah-I have to go." he wheezed out.

Vlad shoved up from the table on seemingly shaky legs before he rushed from the kitchen and headed for the door.

Danny, who had been listening through the whole ordeal, instantly shot up from the floor and phased through the roof. Flying up, he watched as a seemingly tormented Vlad fled the house, ignoring calls from Danny's parents for him to come back, and got into his car.

The young ghost boy was too shocked to follow.

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Vlad sped down the road and felt his gut twist in anxiety, dread and utter revulsion. So many years of pain and misery, of feeling used, rejected and betrayed were all based on one simple misunderstanding. His life was one big joke and he had never felt like such a fool. The humiliation and what little shame and guilt he could still feel after so many years of self-justification washed through his gut and he thought he might get sick.

"LIARS! THEY ARE ALL LIARS!" he shouted as his hand smacked against the steering wheel.

This was all Clockwork's fault, Vlad had trusted the ghost not to lead him astray, that somehow this road would lead to Danny, at his side loyal and loving, now it looked like the ghost had tricked him, tried to sabotage him.

Vlad had fallen for it, because there was no way that this was actually all his fault, no way he'd wasted so many years of his life on something as satisfying as revenge if the satisfaction could no longer be gained.

Vlad had a moment of clarity then, as he realized he was still able to get to Clockwork's lair. He would confront the time spirit and make him tell the truth, make him admit his cruel and manipulative game.

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Clockwork watched as the older halfa sped down a lonely road towards Amity Park's small but proud animal preserve. The halfa would be here soon and Clockwork had better be ready, though as the spirit of time, he usually was.

This was the turning point, he had known all this would come to a head very quickly, in only a matter of days in fact. Now came the hard part, the part that would test his true abilities to control the vicious and evil side of Vlad that had been created out of years of abuse, neglect and isolation.

Mentoring young Daniel had been one thing, working with the boy had been hard but often times almost fun. He was quick to learn and even quicker to admit when he as wrong or had made a mistake. Eager to please and often times willing to listen and learn.

But Vladimir Masters was an entirely different beast, trying to mentor him through a lifetime of all consuming hatred and mistrust would be one of the more dangerous and difficult things he had ever done. But be done it must, for Clockwork knew the future, knew what was to come if Vlad Masters didn't change his ways. Something was coming that would drive him to the edge, far beyond reason or control, something that would devastate not only the world but Vlad himself and set events into motion that could not be simply altered by his powers of time manipulation.

So as Vlad took out the pocket watch Clockwork had given him the time spirit braced himself and reminded himself with a stern resolution that all was as it should be.

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Vlad turned off the main road and onto a dirt track, his knuckles white from gripping the wheel so hard. Once he reached the end of the road he parked and got out of his car. There were no other people visiting the park today, which meant he was free to change into Plasmius and use Clockwork's little gift to reach his final destination.

As he shifted into the form of his evil alter ego he withdrew from his pocket a small round watch on a chain. He popped the lid open, wound the small button on top clockwise and then held the gadget in the palm of his hand, his mind's eye focusing on Clockwork's face and his lair.

Cool air rushed up around him, and the familiar smell of the ghost zone filled his nostrils as he was transported away from the woods. Before he knew it he stood in Clockwork's old tower and glared around for the spirit in question, "Clockwork! Come out and face me you crazy old fool!"

The time ghosts voice echoed around him but Vlad didn't see anyone, "What's wrong Plasmius? Did you not like what you were told? It's frustrating to be wrong isn't it."

"Enough games you foolish creature, come out so I can destroy you."

"Destroying the master of time, not a very wise decision, then again most of your life choices weren't very good decisions now, were they?"

Vlad growled in rage and he pulled burning pink ectoplasm into his palms, readying to fire the moment the time specter revealed himself.

"It's all lies, I don't remember ever ordering them away. I've done what you've told me and got nothing out of it. Do you realize how hard it was to hug Jack fenton! He smells like cheese and fudge! It's disgusting!"

"They have not lied to you, and I've not mislead you, you simply don't remember- look, and see the truth."

Vlad's gaze landed on the spinning portal and as the image of him in the hospital came through he gritted his teeth and growled more' "No more tricks you lying-"

"Get out! You did this to me Jack Fenton! This is all your fault! You ruined my life, you're insane and I never want to see you again, and Maddie, you either. I hope you will know my pain Jack Fenton! I hope you suffer as bad as I am, you crackpot, you utter failure, you, you lunatic! Get out, and if you come back, I'll have you forcibly removed!"

The conversation between the three friends went on for several minutes, Maddie and Jack begging for Vlad to listen and reconsider, but Vlad remained obstinate in his rantings and eventually shut down all together.

As the two left the portal faded, only to fade back into Jack and Maddie standing outside the door to his room with an older doctor blocking their way.

As the doctor told them Vlad refused them entry and that the stress of their visit could cause further deterioration to Vlad's health a nurse was on the other side talking to Vlad.

"My friends haven't been in at all?" The young Vlad asked sadly.

The nurse shook her head and Vlad deflated. Once Jack and Maddie left the nurse came out looking at the doctor with troubled eyes, "Are you sure this is for the best doctor? The poor kid is really depressed and wants to see his friends-"

"I think it is. He is the only person to ever get ecto-acne and survive, we must keep him calm and sedated so we can do further studies-"

"But he didn't agree to-"

"For the betterment of science and the health of humanity sometimes we have to make sacrifices, this young man's contribution to society will be noted in the medical history books, and if he survives the procedures and treatment plans I've devised he will realize how truly helpful he's been to our cause."

"But he isn't a lab rat, he's a human being, and besides this is the only recorded case of ecto-acne-"

"This is a special case and I don't want to hear anymore of your thoughts on the ethics of medical science. Necessity is the mother of invention and right now the cure for ecto-acne is a very big necessity-"

The screen faded and Vlad's jaw hung open, his brow bent up in utter disbelief, "He- he experimented on me- he kept Jack and Maddie from me- he is the one who ruined e-everything."

"Before you go running off to seek revenge, you should know the nurse who objected to his treatment of you eventually reported him for malpractice and patient abuse, he lost everything and eventually died of alcohol poisoning."

Clockwork finally appeared then, his hand coming to rest on Vlad's shoulder, "Absorb the anger and injustice you feel about your past treatment, see it for what it was, wrong and the result of human nature."

Vlad yanked himself away from Clockwork and looked over at the ghost like he was a mutant, the crazed look in his eyes spoke volumes, "What do you know of human nature, you're dead!"

"You must accept and realize you are not the only one who has suffered horrible cruelty at the hands of others-"

"Get away from me you despicable-" Vlad's hands erupted in electricity and his narrow glowing red eyes warned of intent to harm.

Clockwork continued towards him and reached out his hand, the other holding his staff down and away, the less threatening he seemed the easier this would be, "There are millions who have had it even harder than you. When you are ready, release the raw energy that is your rage and see what is left, trust me to guide you through this, to help you- trust me Vlad Masters."

Vlad took a deep breath, his eyes scanning from the portal back to the ghost before him. Sweat poured down his face and the electricity in his hands slowly burnt out. He took another deep breath and then another. Soon he was breathing in and out so quick and hard that he thought he might faint, the rage built up, raw aggressive energy pooling in his gut and electricity snapping around his fingers. But as all the negative energy built in his core he felt Clockwork's hand come to rest on his shoulder and in that split second of uncontrollable and irrational rage he realized he wasn't alone, he saw the cruelty and neglect for what it was- human error and in that moment the rage turned to anguish and for the first time in twenty years a sob escaped Vlad's mouth.

When his legs gave out he sunk to his knees and hunched over, hands gripping into his hair, utter agony consuming him and the rage slipping away into nothing. He continued to sob and heave deep breaths, all the while Clockwork's hand was resting solidly on his back, keeping Vlad from descending down into the madness that had so often consumed him before.

As fatigue overtook him, and his sobs became silent tears and those tears became a few sniffs here and there Vlad felt a sudden calm overtake him, a soothing clarity and a feeling of being clean and mentally sound wrapped around his very being and he let out a shudder of breath, "W-what just happened?" his eyes stared at the dirty floor but he wasn't really looking at anything. He had never felt so calm, so not angry before.

"You faced your demons, and for the first time you won. You let go of your rage, replaced it with your true pain and in a moment of clarity were able to let it all go."

"I feel- I feel so, different."

"Your burdens are gone, you've accepted what has happened to you, to a degree at least and with that acceptance becomes the ability to move on."

"You mean, I'm not angry anymore?" Vlad stood and looked at his hands, them seemed different somehow how, less stiff maybe. His mussels felt like jello, but his soul felt- clean? He wasn't sure how to describe it.

"There will still be moments of bitterness or resentment, maybe envy and jealousy as well, but as long as you don't let them control you, as long as you realize those things you covet are because they are good and true and based in love, you will fully heal, and eventually be free."

Vlad took a deep shaky breath before he spoke again, "And all this, this will lead me to Daniel?" the hope in his voice was desperate, the look in his eyes a plea for truth.

Clockwork smirked and looked to Vlad with gratified eyes, "Yes, if you continue down this path I have laid for you, Daniel will be yours sooner then you think."

"I still don't understand, any of this- how facing my own demons will lead me to him, or how allowing me to humiliate myself with childish emotions can help form a bond. Still, I will continue as planned, when do I see the boy next?"

"Soon, when he comes to you he will have many questions, remain patient and don't press, answer honestly to anything he asks with the exception of our plans for him. After that, it is up to you and your instincts.

"My instincts?" That was something Vlad knew all about. His instincts were finely tuned and he never doubted them. Unless it came to Daniel of course.

"You'll understand soon enough, I can't ruin the surprise now can I?"

A/N: R&R The next chapter is going to be awesome