Notes: And here's where Vlad comes in. And you guys know how he gets when he finds out he's going to be a father to a kid with Maddie's genes, even if it's with his underage male arch-enemy. :D
So I've got a very busy week with mid-term exams and projects, and this weekend I'm going home to Arizona so no writing's getting done while I'm there. Probably pretty busy next week, too. In other words, the next update will be slower than the past couple have been, so here's a nice, long chapter.
Chapter Two - A Good Conversation Piece
Danny stood on Vlad's doorstep, glaring at the door as if it had offended him somehow. "Stupid fruit loop. Stupid Ember. Stupid energy-sucking leech babies. Stupid Jazz," he muttered to himself.
He'd been standing there for a good ten minutes, alternating between hovering his fist above the door and pacing the path in front of the mansion. The first and only person he'd talked to the day after his conversation with the Lunch Lady had been Jazz. Not only was it much easier and less awkward to speak with somebody who was several miles away in Princeton, but she'd also always been the voice of reason in his life. A voice of reason which he was severely lacking nowadays.
The conversation had started out normally enough, but she'd quickly been able to tell that something was off. It only took her asking what was wrong for him to break down and tell her everything that had been going on; from the Truce Party, to how he felt about having slept with Vlad, to Clockwork's lair and the Far Frozen, to his conversation with the Lunch Lady, and back to everything he knew and how he was falling apart at being faced with something he never would've thought he'd be faced with.
After getting over the shock of Danny's long, slightly hysterical story, Jazz had been the comforting sister he knew her as and had advised (i.e. demanded) that his next step be to go to Vlad's. It was the only logical thing, considering what he knew about trying to fare without his "mate" (why was everyone so insistent on calling Vlad his mate, anyways?). They'd decided that he'd figure things out with Vlad, then tell Sam and Tucker, then see how much he would tell his parents. The latter was possibly the hardest thing Danny would have to do, given that he'd have to tell them about everything from his alter-ego to Vlad's ghost half.
Danny shook his head, overwhelmed by all the responsibilities that had suddenly been thrust upon him. He'd thought he couldn't have more responsibilities than he did being the town hero, but apparently he'd thought wrong. Things could be much worse. Taking a deep breath, Danny resigned himself to his fate and, hesitantly, knocked on the door.
Danny winced at every footstep he heard on the other side of the door just before Vlad opened it with a surprised look on his face. "Daniel! What are you doing here?" he asked awkwardly. At the less-than-warm welcome which was the norm whenever Danny chose to willingly visit his arch-enemy's home, Danny felt himself grow irate.
Who is he to feel awkward? After what he did to me, he's got no right!
With that sudden switch in mood, Danny casually walked inside, pushing Vlad out of the way to get through the door. He took off his jacket and tossed it at a startled Vlad, who barely managed to catch it. Danny didn't hesitate in going ghost once inside the mansion, sighing in relief at the pleasant sensations his ghost half invoked. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Vlad shielding his eyes from his ghostly glow with a perplexed look on his face. Danny glared before smirking malevolently at the older half-ghost.
"Hey, jerk. Happy Father's Day."
"...It's not Father's Day today." Vlad said, ignoring the insult. He surveyed closely Danny, bewildered by his strange behavior. After a pause, a thought occured to him and he grinned. "But if this is your way of telling me you're finally renouncing Jack and acknowledging me as your father, then -"
"Hah! Not gonna happen, and I can't believe you're still going on about that after the Truce Party."
Vlad winced before sending his own glare back at the white-haired teen. "Daniel, I don't think we should be talking about this. Now, do you plan on explaining why you're here and wishing me a happy Father's Day?"
"Oh, just some interesting news," Danny chided, the smirk on his face beginning to greatly trouble Vlad. "I'm guessing you haven't heard any rumors from the Ghost Zone, lately?"
"I haven't," Vlad responded slowly. As a matter of fact, he hadn't been able to get in touch with Skulker, his usual bringer of ghostly gossip, in quite some time. Almost as if the ghost were avoiding him, really. He eyed Danny suspiciously. "Why?"
At the question, some of Danny's anxieties returned to him. Coupled with a sudden infuriation with the other man, along with some other completely unwanted feelings he was sure were originating from his warm abdomen, he found the courage - or perhaps recklessness - to push on with the confession. "Oh, no reason. Just, you know, thought I'd let you know that we kind of had an accident that one night at the Truce Party." Vlad stared at him, not understanding what he was talking about or why he was so willing to bring this up. Danny sat cross-legged in the air, fixing the gloves on his hands before continuing. "You kinda got me pregnant. You know, ghost pregnant, since I'm a guy and all."
Vlad stared at him as if he had just grown another head. Or something that wasn't normal when it came to ghostly power mishaps. He felt his patience dwindling, already having felt bad enough about what he did to Danny before the younger half-ghost had come barging into his home. Just why on Earth did he come here to feed him these ridiculous tales? "Daniel, if all you came here for is to make this situation even more uncomfortable than it already is with your off-color jokes, then I do think you should leave now."
Danny frowned in anger, upset that his confession hadn't been taken seriously. He was sure he felt a churning inside him from the baby's own anger at being rejected by his father. "Vlad, read my lips: I'm. Freaking. Pregnant."
The man merely rolled his eyes. "Enough, Daniel. Now, if you'd be so kind as to leave my -"
"Can you sense ghosts?"
"Sorry?"
"Can you sense ghosts?" he repeated. "You know, like my ghost sense."
"I don't see how that's relevant -"
"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Danny yelled, floating up to Vlad's face with eyes that were suddenly red and... were those fangs? Vlad gulped and leaned far back, more intimidated than he ever remembered being of the younger half-ghost.
"Yes, I can sense ghosts and half-ghosts! Now, would you calm down?"
Danny backed away and relaxed, his eyes turning green again. Vlad felt his own tense shoulders fall. Unexpectedly, though, Danny grabbed Vlad's hand and placed it on his stomach. "Daniel! What..." he trailed off when he felt himself exhale hot steam. He could feel a ghost signature which was certainly not Daniel's, and it was coming straight from Daniel himself!
What was confusing Vlad the most was that, although the signature wasn't Daniel's, it still had his feel of sorts. He should know, since he'd trained himself to recognize the slightest of ghostly energy readings that could come from Danny. It was then that he noticed the heat eminating from where his hand was, even through Danny's spandex suit. The heat felt much like the heat of his own ghost sense, and just as personal as his hot ectoplasm. His heart was beating faster, an itching he couldn't ignore telling him something in the back of his mind. Suddenly, he felt his heart skip a beat as he felt some of his own ghost energy being removed from him, paying no mind to Danny's gasp of surprise at the sensation. The composure the billionaire usually had quickly left him.
"I-I don't...! Daniel, what..." Danny gave him a somber look and he felt himself pale. "...You're serious, aren't you?"
Danny nodded, slowly letting go of the iron grip he had on Vlad's hand. Vlad held his hand close to his chest, clenching his fist and remembering the foreign feel. He looked the younger half-ghost and paused.
"And you're sure it's mine?" he asked and immediately regretted it when Danny's eyes flashed red again.
"Are you calling me a slut?" Danny growled with a glare, making the other half-ghost gulp and back away.
"No! I just - I meant - oh, butter nuts." Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose, a resigned expression adorning his face before he beckoned for Danny to follow him into a nearby sitting room. "Come on, I'll make some tea. We're going to have to have a long talk, it looks like."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound filled the study, surprising in the billionaire's home, given that it was two in the morning. He was staring into the fireplace in front of him, tapping his index finger on the arm of his chair, his face void of any emotion. He'd just returned from hunting down Skulker in the Ghost Zone, not having missed the looks and snickering from other ghosts as he'd passed. A couple intimidating looks here and a few ecto-blasts there, however, had taken care of that. Skulker had turned out to be a good source of information - albeit an unwilling one. What ghost wanted to have the ghost version of "the talk" with their employer, after all? Unfortunately, there was now no doubt in his mind that Danny was indeed pregnant.
The thing that was bothering him, however, was what he'd learned about ghost mates. Or soulmates, as the full term put it. Ghost mates were bound for afterlife, their cores - their very souls compatible in ways impossible to attain with anyone else. The insinuation that he was Daniel's mate disturbed him, but even more troubling was the fact that only ghosts who were mates could have children. The perfect compatability of the mates' energies was what made it possible to create life. It was the reason why the entirety of the Ghost Zone was now convinced the two were mates.
But surely it must work differently for half-ghosts! The fact that they were both half-ghosts was probably the only reason why this had been able to occur, anyways! Plus, he hadn't shown any of signs of ghostly attraction that the protective mate showed towards the aggressive mate (the child-bearer, which Daniel obviously was). His eyes didn't change color when he was around Daniel, and Daniel's own eyes never changed color unless he was angry, so Vlad obviously wasn't giving off any scents to attract his arch-nemesis. His much younger arch-nemesis. Vlad sighed exasperatedly and rubbed his temple. Yes, this whole "pregnancy" thing was obviously just another side-effect of their ghostly halves.
A side effect with an insane amount of complications...
Vlad's earlier conversation with Danny hadn't been a particularly pleasant one. It had been very difficult to talk to the boy, especially since they were still enemies and his mere presence seemed to infuriate Daniel. From the information he'd coaxed out of Skulker, it seemed that ghosts also had mood swings during pregnancy; unfortunately, they consisted only of rage and giddiness. And, given that this was Vlad who Danny had been speaking with and that the boy had a temper to begin with, the former had been the only emotion Danny had shown. Vlad honestly hoped he'd never have to be on the receiving end of those claws again.
He'd made sure to bring up anything involving Danny's future. Since he was human, his pregnancy could be vastly different from that of a normal ghost. Somehow, Vlad didn't think that the baby would take the traditional two-hundred days to form, or that it would be a full ghost. The concept of another half-ghost like themselves excited the billionaire despite how overwhelmed he'd been, and he'd been quick to share the speculation. It backfired when the moody half-ghost had threatened him to accept the child as it was, ghost or not, or else. Vlad hadn't pushed it any further.
They'd briefly covered Danny's plans for college, which Vlad fully intended to pay for at this point. However, he'd been more concerned with the fact that Danny planned to tell his parents everything. Including his own well-guarded secret. He'd immediately began a fervent protest against the idea. That had also been the first time during the conversation that he'd seen Daniel's new claws up close.
Now, he'd been forced to reschedule his business meeting in Japan and actually push it forward to that weekend, when Danny planned to talk to his parents. It was of course, first and foremost a business meeting. Vlad would never admit that he was terrified of the implications. Nor that he wanted to be as far away as possible from Maddie when she found out that her half-ghost friend of twenty years who'd tried to kill her husband and steal her from him had violated her son.
He shuddered, wishing the Truce Party and that night weren't so clear in his mind. Danny obviously had other things to worry about, but Vlad was still cringing at the implications of having slept with the love of his life's son - someone almost thirty years younger than him, at that! He swore he'd destroy that blasted guitar-wielding ghost if it was the last thing he did.
Despite everything, Vlad felt ecstatic over the notion of being a father. A father to a child with Maddie's genes, nonetheless! He could ignore the fact that Jack's genes were mixed into the equation, sure that his and Maddie's own superior genes could overcome any obstacle. And speaking of genetics, there was the whole part-ghost possibility he'd discussed with Daniel. After all, half of his and Daniel's DNA was human, so surely that would transfer into their ecto-energy and, consequently, this child. A unique hybrid child, a little Vladimir Jr., and it was all Vlad's to mold and care for! Perhaps things were not all bad after all.
And, all things considered, perhaps this was what he had been waiting for for the past three years. This pregnancy would surely finally get Daniel on his side! It already had, in a way, since he would eventually have to move in with Vlad in order to avoid being drained of all energy. They'd have to put up with being in close proximity if they wanted little Vladimir to be alright. Yes, he was sure that in a few years, the three half-ghosts could rule.
As soon as he could get those infernal spirits in the Ghost Zone to stop their nonsense about "bonking the Ghost Child" or whatever the latest gossip said.
They were all in the living room, Sam and Tucker on either side of Danny. Jack and Maddie sat across from the three, eyeing the Fenton Thermos held tightly in Sam's hands.
Sam and Tucker had taken it rather well when Danny had told them (and managed to convince them he wasn't kidding). Well, Tucker had taken it better than he'd expected, at least. Sam's reaction had involved a lot of screaming and hitting. She'd been convinced that he'd wanted to sleep with Vlad until he'd gotten around to explaining from the very beginning when Ember had placed them under her spell. Tucker spent most of the conversation in a state of shock, processing that his best male friend was pregnant, of all things. After all was said and done, they'd both been the supportive friends they'd always been and insisted they both be there when he told his parents.
"Okay, dude, here's the plan: You tell your parents everything, and they accept you and their illegitimate grandchild, and everything will be okay in the world," Tucker recapped for him.
"And if they don't?" Danny asked with a skeptical frown.
Sam held up the Fenton Thermos. "Then we suck you into this and run."
Danny looked at her with a distressed expression, but after thinking it over, finally muttered, "I guess it's the best way to avoid getting ripped apart molecule by molecule..."
"Danny? You said there was something you wanted to tell us?" Maddie asked softly, not oblivious to how agitated her son looked, nor of the fearful look in his eyes.
Danny snapped out of his thoughts and surveyed both his parents in turn. "Yeah. It's... I guess it's a couple things. A couple of really big things."
A long silence stretched between them and turned awkward.
"Son?" Jack started. "You know you can tell us anything, right? Heck, we're your parents!"
Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "So you guys will accept me no matter what, right?"
Maddie and Jack nodded vigorously, both worried for their son at this point.
"And you'll be there for me no matter what kinda stuff I could've gotten myself into?"
Jack nodded, but Maddie frowned. "What did you do, Danny?" she asked in a scolding tone.
"Nothing illegal!" Danny quickly clarified. Well, not in the Ghost Zone or the state of Illinois, anyways. And it's more who I did than what. I have got to stop thinking about that!
Maddie eyed him concernedly, noticing his shaking hands. She was now convinced something was terribly wrong. "What is it, then, sweetie?"
Danny swallowed and paused. Sam squeezed his arm reassuringly and he took a deep breath. "I... I guess it all started with the Fenton Portal when I was fourteen, around September. Do you remember when you guys made it and it wouldn't work? And how you guys were so upset about it?" Both his parents nodded. "Well, I told Sam and Tucker about it. And they came over one day after school, and... well, I decided to take a look. I hated seeing you guys so upset, and I wanted to see if I could make it work. And, well, I went in. And it worked."
Jack started at that. "How did you get it to work, son?" he asked excitedly.
Danny gave him a look. He was sure his father had been the one to put the power button inside the portal, after all, though he'd never held it against him. "You guys put the on button on the inside. I kinda accidentally might've pressed it and it might've accidentally shocked me..." he said guiltily.
"THAT WAS YOU?" Maddie yelled. "Danny you could've gotten killed!"
Danny sighed heavily. "Yeah, I know. Trust me, I know. Because... because I kinda accidentally did get sort of killed."
Maddie and Jack looked at him with matching bemused looks. "Did it hurt, Danny? I mean, with all that raw ectoplasm, I don't understand how you lived through that in the first place!" his mother exclaimed worriedly.
Danny rubbed the back of his neck again, not sure how to continue now that he'd made it this far. He'd played out the many different outcomes for this conversation, but he seemed to have forgotten the scripts he'd devised in his head. Sam squeezed his arm again, and he forced himself to say something. "D-do you remember when exactly P-Phantom started showing up?"
Both his parents stared at him, confused by the apparent non-sequitor. "Why?" Jack asked, worried by his son's quavering voice.
"Just - do you remember?"
Maddie nodded. "Around September of that year. But that was because the portal was activated, wasn't it?"
"Pretty much," Danny mumbled, looking both his parents in the eye in turn. Sam nudged him in the side, nodded her head and shook the thermos, letting him now he should go ahead and tell them. "Well, it's actually because, when I got shocked by the portal... something happened. I-I didn't live through it, not all the way. And I..." he looked at both his parents, at his mother's eyes confused and worried, and his father's unexpected look of surprise. Finally, he took one last deep breath and said, "The accident... it - it turned me into a sort of half-ghost. I-I'm Danny P-Phantom."
A thick silence followed. He could feel Tucker fidgeting nervously to his left, could see Sam's knuckles tighten around the thermos to his right. His mom shook her head. "No, you're not," she said, firmly yet jokingly. She didn't believe him. Not that he'd expected them to without seeing him transform, but he'd wanted to plant the idea in their head before he simply went ghost right in front of them.
"Can we see?" Jack suddenly whispered, startling Danny.
"Jack?" Maddie asked, looking at her husband as if he'd just grown another head.
"Well, he has to be able to access the ghost part of him somehow, right?" he boomed enthusiastically. "Come on, Danny, let's see!"
Danny was stumped at his dad's unexpected enthusiasm and willingness to believe him, as were Sam and Tucker. The thermos was limp in Sam's grasp and Tucker's jaw was hanging open. Sam snapped out of it first, elbowing him in the side again. He hated when she did that, but took her cue nevertheless. "I - okay? I, uh, I-I'm going ghost, I guess," he stuttered, closing his eyes and letting transformation rings wash over him. He heard his parents' gasps and kept his eyes shut out of fear. It was a full minute of silence before he got the courage to open them again to see a blank look on his mom's face and a wide grin on his dad's.
"Hah! I knew it!" Jack boomed. His reaction shocked everyone. Danny gawked openly at him, the thermos fell out of Sam's hands, and Tucker began to choke on his own spit. Maddie's deadpan expression never left her face, but her eyes widened a fraction.
"You knew?" they all exclaimed in unison.
"Dad, if you knew, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Danny asked, the adrenaline from the build-up to his confession having been abruptly cut off so that he was now feeling dizzy. His friends shielded their eyes and he felt his aura flare, as if the baby ghost were laughing at him. Danny frowned.
Jack shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "Aw, shucks, son. I just thought it was one of those things you didn't talk about until you were ready. You know, like Vladdie with the Backwash Incident, or you and Jazz with the Turkey Incident! You seemed so bent on keeping it a secret... well, I just thought you'd tell us when you were ready, Danny. I really don't blame you for being scared to tell us."
Danny now wore a crooked grin, the relief from his dad's reaction making him feel insanely happy. He almost giggled to himself, but Sam elbowed Danny to get him back on track. "Oh, uh, how exactly did you find out, Dad?"
"I've known since that time Vladdie placed that bounty on your head! You can't work that close with your own son and not recognize him! Plus, it was kind of obvious when you were calling me 'Dad,' son." Sam and Tucker looked at Jack, baffled. Danny was now beyond confused. His bumbling dad had known? His father never ceased to amaze him. "After that, everything clicked into place. Sure, there were a lot of times when I'd have my doubts, but it all kept coming back to the same place. I mean, Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton? Really, son, you should be more creative with naming things! Like your old man!"
Danny couldn't help but smile widely in relief, Tucker patting him on the back in a sort of congratulatory gesture. His smile fell, however, when he caught sight of his mother's face. Maddie shook her head, her expression melding into shock and comprehension as she gazed at the half-ghost in front of her, suddenly aware of all the similarities between her Danny and Danny Phantom. "Danny... I need some time to think this over," she said and began to rise.
"Mom, wait!" Danny pleaded, knowing that if he didn't tell them everything right now, that it would only be that much harder. He had to do this!
Maddie gave him a pleading look of her own. "Danny, I'm sorry. I love you, and - and I can accept this, eventually, but I need some time to myself."
"But Mom -"
"Son, you should let your mother -"
"But I still have more to tell you!"
"Sweetheart, I promise I'll be back, but right now this is too much for -"
"I'm pregnant!"
The second the words escaped his mouth, he regretted it. He slid down in his seat, trying to focus on not going involuntarily invisible. Sam slapped a hand to her forehead while Tucker shook his head.
Maddie and Jack were staring at him, Maddie with an overwhelmed expression. "Danny, that's not funny right now."
"I'm not trying to be funny, Mom," he said in a strained voice, now near tears. He just wanted this all to be over with. He just wanted to never have gone to the Truce Party.
"But Danny, that's not possible," Jack said, forced to take his son seriously at seeing his obvious distress.
"It is," Danny told him, feeling himself close to losing it now that he'd revealed that he was pregnant. His parents hadn't tried to kill or shoot him, which was all he could've asked for at the moment, but he wasn't sure what kind of reaction he'd get from this. After all, wasn't this something they'd had to worry about with Jazz, not him? "Because I'm part ghost. And ghost pregnancy isn't the same thing as human pregnancy, so anyone can get pregnant, even male ghosts. And I didn't know so it was obviously an accident, and I can explain everything but I just really -" Tucker and Sam cut him off by slapping a hand each to his mouth.
Another long silence engulfed the room, in which Danny took the time to collect himself, his face in his hands. Jack was deep in thought, and Maddie had a lost expression on her face. "Is that why the Fenton Ghost Tracker pointed at you for both the ghosts it detected the other day?" Jack asked without looking at him, obviously still stuck somewhere in his thoughts. Danny made a noise to confirm, looking down at his lap.
Sam and Tucker observed the situation, giving each other a look. Sam placed a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Danny, I think we should take a break now. You've told them the two most important things. For now, just let them take this in, okay?" she told him. Danny nodded slowly again. After giving his parents one last look he floated up into the air, flying out of the living room and to his room. Sam and Tucker followed him up the stairs.
Four hours later found Danny just as anxious as he'd been before he'd told his parents anything. They were all in the same position they'd been in before, sans his friend's who'd decided to leave him some privacy with his parents now that the risky part was done with. Danny was still in ghost form for comfort's sake. Jack wore a rare serious expression, but Maddie looked much better than before. She even managed to smile at Danny, who tried to return it though it looked more like a grimace. Surprisingly enough, both Maddie and Jack had a notebook in front of them, with a pen poised in each of their hands.
"Danny, we want you to tell us everything. Explain everything." At seeing Danny frown, Maddie leaned across the coffee table and patted his white-gloved hand softly. "We're not trying to make a science experiment out of you, honey. I promise," she assured him with a motherly smile.
"We just want to know all that we can about this," Jack added. "Maybe we can help. I mean, as strange as a ghost-human hybrid is, and as many stories as I'm sure you have for us about fighting ghosts, this should probably be our first priority."
Danny smiled gratefully at them, exhaling nervously. "What do you want to know?"
"You said this wasn't like human pregnancy," Maddie started immediately, her inquisitive nature getting the best of her. "It obviously isn't, since you don't have a womb. Do you know how it's possible for you?"
Danny proceeded to explain everything he knew about ghost biology and mates. He told them about how he'd gone to a ghost ally and found out he was pregnant, how he'd talked to another pregnant ghost who'd explained the process and changes he was going through, and about all that he'd speculated with Vlad (though without mentioning who he'd theorized with, of course). So far, he'd avoided several questions about his mate by quickly providing an interesting fact that launched them on a tangent of more questions unrelated to who the father was. It was rather difficult when he had to explain how a ghost's mate played into this, and about complementing ecto-energies, so he was very proud of himself for having managed so many successful subject changes. Upon mentioning that he could feel the child inside of him, Maddie's eyes grew bright.
"How?" she whispered.
Danny smiled genuinly for the first time since they'd started their questioning. "I can't really explain it. It's just... I can feel its ghost signature. I can feel the connection. I didn't really feel it until I knew I was - well, you know." Maddy nodded enthusiastically, writing it all down. Lost in the light feeling that suddenly enveloped him, Danny continued, "I can feel it kind of... try and communicate, now that it knows I know it's there. I can feel what it feels, its emotions, and.. well, I don't know, it's hard to describe. But Vlad said he could feel his own en -"
"Vlad? What's Vladdie got to do with this?" Jack interrupted and Danny realized much too late that he'd said something he hadn't wanted to say just yet. He opened his mouth to try to respond but nothing came out.
Maddie eyed him suspiciously. "Danny? Why would you go to Vlad about this?"
Danny opened and closed his mouth several times, a perfect imitaion of a fish out of water. His mother tapped her foot impatiently while Jack simply looked confused. Maddie was sure that if Vlad was involved, nothing good could come out of it. Danny sighed and licked his lips before deciding how to go about this. "Uh, well he... I mean, it's like this... he's kind of..." He sighed and ran a hand through his white hair. "Mom, Dad... can you think of any other ghost portals or, say, prototype portals that might've backfired on anyone? Like the Fenton Portal backfired on me?" he hinted, looking at them to see immediate understanding on their faces.
"Wait, you mean Vlad's a... like you?" Maddie asked, everything suddenly clicking into place for her. Danny hesitated before nodding.
"But he never told us anything!" Jack jumped in. "And we're supposed to be best friends! Oh, geez, no wonder he didn't talk to me for all those years! Must've been so hard going through that all by himself," Jack finished guiltily. His face turned pensieve, and he asked, "Do we know his ghost half?"
Danny froze and turned to look at his mom, who was on the edge of her seat waiting for his answer. Well, their reaction can't be much worse than when they find out he defiled their little boy.
"Yes. You do."
Jack grinned. "Who is it? Is that why you and Vladdie don't get along? Some sort of half-ghost competitiveness? Trying to see which one's the alpha male?"
Danny looked at him, wide-eyed. "What? No! What do you think ghosts are, Dad? Vlad and I just..." Hate each other's guts so much that you had sex and made a kid? Shut up, brain! "It's complicated. But I don't think I hate him. And he definitely doesn't hate me," he explained, mumbling the last part under his breath.
Maddie's eyes narrowed suspiciously, sure that her son was trying to cover something up. "What ghost is he, Danny? How'd you find out?"
Danny eyed them, thinking quickly. He had to tell them, now that it'd been brought up. But he didn't want to hurt his father, or spark his mother's ire more than it'd already be sparked later, or make his child's grandparents hate Vlad. If he could avoid things becoming so complicated, he would, even if it meant disguising the truth a little. Okay, a lot. With those thoughts in mind, he took a deep breath. "Do you guys remember your twentieth college reunion? There was a new ghost there? White cape, blue skin, pointy black hair?"
After a second or so of pondering, his father's expression melded into shock and his mother's face turned dark. "The Wisconsin Ghost?" she asked with bite in her voice.
"Actually, his name's Plasmius," Danny corrected her in an inappropriately light tone of voice to cover up his anxiety. One wrong move and it'd be Vlad's head, and he couldn't exactly afford that at the moment.
"But that's the ghost that tried to kill me and steal the Fenton Portal! That couldn't have been Vlad!" Jack exclaimed.
"Oh, yes it could have," Maddie replied, making Danny tense. "Jack, sorry to say, but Vlad -"
"- had ghost pox!" Danny interrupted in a high-pitched voice. Both his parents turned to look at him with eyebrows raised. "You know, like chicken pox for ghosts? Yeah, it's a one-time thing. Makes you act pretty crazy. He still had it when he tried to steal the Fenton Portal. And remember that one time when I robbed that bank? Yup, all ghost pox. Which proves that it wasn't his fault. But we're okay now! Really!" Danny flinched inwardly at his blatant lie over the Freakshow incident.
Jack seemed convinced. Maddie, however, gave him an incredulous look, obviously not having bought a word of it. Danny shot her a pleading look and it was all the confirmation she needed for her suspicions about Vlad. She leaned back into the couch, looking sick.
"I knew Vladdie wouldn't do something like that! I'd have been crushed if my best friend had tried to kill me!" Jack said with a bright smile on his face. Danny gave Maddie a look at his father's words and she quickly deflated.
Resigned, Maddie asked, "So what was this you were saying about Vlad, sweetie? I'm going to have a long talk with that man."
Danny paled, this not going unnoticed by his parents. Let's just get this over with. "It's probably going to be a longer talk than you think, Mom," he paused to get his bearings before continuing, "because there was this Christmas party in the Ghost Zone... See, there's a truce every year between all ghosts, humans, and half-ghosts. But at the party, Ember - that's the girl singer ghost with the blue hair - kind of did one of her mind-control spells with her guitar on me and Vlad. And it was kind of a love spell and things happened and now Vlad and I are having a baby!"
Danny was shaking by the time he finished, staring at his lap as his parents tried to catch up with what he had just told them.
"Danny? Are you saying Vlad's the father?" Maddie asked in a flat voice.
"Yeah," Danny confirmed, looking from his lap to his parents again.
"Wait, so you and Vlad...?" Jack waved his hands around. Danny looked away and nodded, face flushing a deep red. Jack slapped a hand to his forehead, looking sick. "Oh, geez! This is... Oh, gosh. And you said it was a mind-control spell? How do these things happen?"
"Welcome to my life, Dad," the half-ghost mumbled, ignoring his mother's currently murderous look. He'd made it clear that it had all been an accident, so it would be unfair for her to be angry at Vlad for this when he was just as much a victim as he was. He was sure she knew that much and that it was probably the reason she was still sitting. However, that didn't erase the fact that Vlad was Plasmius on top of the father of her grandchild.
An awkward silence filled the room for nearly ten minutes before Maddie spoke up. "Danny?" she called out gently, her previous anger having more or less diminished in light of the current situation. Her son was most important right now. "Have you thought about maybe, you know... stopping the pregnancy? I mean, you're seventeen. You're still a child yourself! We don't know if it's a full ghost, and I'm sure that neither you nor Vlad are happy with the situation. I'm sure we could figure out a way to -"
Danny felt his eyes go red and his aura flare, causing his parents to have to shield their eyes. "NO! I'm not getting rid of this baby, Mom! Ghost, half-ghost, or human, it wouldn't be right! Just because it's weird and kind of inconvenient for me right now doesn't mean that it would be fair to the baby! So keep your scientific ideas off of Daniel Jr.!" he screamed, a dizzy spell overtaking him. Shaking his head, he floated up into the air in a huff. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed," he snapped, going invisible and flying up to his room, leaving two stunned parents behind.
Once he'd woken up from his nap and was successfully calmed down, Danny had informed Maddie that Vlad was in Japan for the weekend. They'd talked through the weekend about Danny's experiences with Vlad and the troubles he'd given Danny in the past. Danny had revealed he knew more about the man than Maddie could ever have imagined. She could tell he hadn't told tell her everything, but what he did tell her was good enough for her. Jack had even coaxed Danny into telling him about his fights, which Maddie had to admit helped her get acclimated to the whole half-ghost thing. Her son was a hero and in the family business, after all! So fortunately, Maddie had had plenty of time to sort through her thoughts and emotions before she knocked on Vlad's door Monday morning.
When the door swung open, she immediately spotted the nervous glint in Vlad's eyes. "Hello, Maddie! Looking lovely, as always! Come in, come in," he greeted her, giving her a dazzling smile as he led her inside and to a nearby sitting room.
Vlad disappeared for a minute before returning with a tea kettle. He poured the two tea, and if she hadn't been looking for it she would never have spotted the nervous way in which he was conducting himself. He'd obviously been expecting her, as Danny had told her. Finished with the tea, the billionaire couldn't help but sit close to her. "So, Maddie," he began in a sultry voice, "what brings you here this morning? Not that I don't love having you visit me -"
"Enough, Vlad," Maddie cut him off and leaned away from him. "I think you have an idea of why I'm here. And considering the circumstances, I don't think it's appropriate for you to be making advances on me. Not that it ever was, of course," she said venemously, her voice taking a desperate pitch as she continued. "For God's sake, Vlad, you lied to us! You tried to kill Jack!"
Forgetting his plan to remain calm and avoid trouble given what he'd done to her son, he threw caution out the window as he defended himself from her (truthful) accusations. "He ruined my life!"
"Could you really imagine your life without being what you are after all this time?" she countered. "If it weren't for that accident, you wouldn't have the gift you have! Because that's what it is! That's what both yours and Danny's powers are! Vlad, you two can do things nobody else can. But while Danny's used his powers to do good, I can figure out what you've done with them, even if Jack can't. And, just so you know, Danny tried to cover for you even after he told us you were Plasmius! He even went as far as making himself look like the bad guy! Jack doesn't suspect a thing!" she yelled in a choked voice. Vlad's face changed from anger to surprise, and she forced herself to calm down. Sighing, she laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Look, Vlad, I know how you feel about me, and I know how you feel about Jack. I also know how you feel about Danny - you want him as a son - and now that I know about both of you, that makes sense to me. But things change. Really, Vlad, you're having a child with Danny! And, accident or not, I will not let you make this more complicated than it already is." Vlad tried to interrupt, but Maddie put a hand to his mouth, needing to be heard. "You need to move on."
Vlad glared at her and stood up, moving her hand in the process. "Maddie, like you said, it was an accident with Daniel, which I would change if I could! You're asking me to move on from something that I will not move on from. Twenty-three years, woman! I will not give up on you, Maddie," he said with determination. Maddie's eyes narrowed.
"What about Danny?"
Vlad stayed quiet, not sure what to tell the love of his life - and the grandmother of his child. What about Danny? How was he supposed to feel about the boy now? And what about Maddie?
The woman sighed and stood up as well, seeing him tense as she walked closer. "You're saying you'll continue to try and kill your baby's grandfather? Marry his grandmother? And what about Danny? What will happen with him? Vlad, things will change, whether you want them to or not," she told him softly, unkowingly summarizing most of his previous thoughts. Her face hardened. "And if they don't, I won't allow my grandchild to be raised in a hostile and confusing family situation. Even if I have to invent a way for the child to be healthy while he's kept away from you."
Vlad paled at the obvious threat in her voice. Knowing Maddie like he did, she wouldn't say things like that without meaning them. "Maddie..."
She gave him a somber look. "It's up to you, Vlad."
Vlad paused, his face growing stony as he met her eyes. "I can cease my plans for revenge on Jack. I can even make the effort to view Danny as a partner in raising this child, above everything else." His face softened and he placed both hands on Maddie's shoulders. "But Maddie, I love you. I can't let you go," he whispered, a softness in his voice that only Maddie could ever invoke in him.
Maddie took a step back, letting his hands fall. "And I love you, too - as a friend. As the friend I thought you'd been for over twenty years. I'm not asking for a miracle. I'm willing to forgive you for everything. I'm willing to keep your secret. I'm willing to help you get over all this hate, Vlad. I'll be there for you. Danny will be there for you. Jack will be there for you, if you let him."
At that, Vlad's anger returned to him. "Don't talk about me as if I'm some sort of charity case, Maddie, because I'm not," he spat. "What I am is a product of another person's happiness, namely Jack's! I had everything stolen from me -"
"- yet you gained supernatural abilities and became a billionaire," she interjected.
"I spent years in the hospital and struggling with powers I knew nothing about all on my own!"
"Because you decided to kick us out of the room whenever we tried to visit!" Maddie yelled, now angry as well.
"Only because Jack took the first opportunity to steal you away from me and then rubbed it in my face with your hand in one of his and a wedding invitation in the other!" he screamed back, his eyes briefly flashing red, and if Maddie hadn't already seen Danny's eyes do the same while he was in ghost form all weekend, she might have been startled.
"I always loved Jack, Vlad!" she shouted, tears now in her eyes. "And if I hadn't married Jack, Danny and Jazz wouldn't be here. I know they wouldn't. And you wouldn't be about to have your own child! Your own perfect, half-ghost child, just like you've always wanted!"
Vlad clenched his fists, his breath shaky from indignation. "How do you know this is meant to be my child? How do you know Daniel and Jasmine wouldn't have been our children if things had been different?"
Maddie deflated. She said nothing for a few seconds, then she sadly shook her head. "Because you were never the one I was in love with, and you can't have a child without love. That's why I forgive you, Vlad. Because of Danny; because he said all you ever wanted was love. Well... here's your chance."
Vlad stared at her, a lost expression on the billionaire's face. She came forward and squeezed his arm tenderly. If it had been under different circumstances, he would have died from joy at her affection.
"Everything happens for a reason. The accident with the Proto-Portal happened for a reason. And I know this happened for a reason, too. So, please, Vlad - think about what you have now. Think about what you will have. I can assure you, once this child is born, everything is going to change for you. And it'll all be for the best," she finished with a small smile. Turning her back, she escorted herself out of the mansion, leaving a frustrated and hopeless Vlad behind.
End Notes: I very much see Jack as being one of those people who just jump out and surprise you because they are actually aware of so much more than they let on. I had to have him already know, because in my mind no parents can be that oblivious, haha. Plus, all that fumbling and the way he interacts with Phantom in more than one episodes... hmm. But that's just me and my story.
Anyways, we're through here. See you next chapter!