Disclaimer: Hmmmmm...nope, still not mine.
SO MUCH LOVE to all my reviewers-seriously, you guys are all amazing, and this chapter is for you!
Wishes for Wings- Thanks so much! I tried to keep the interaction true to the show, as Danny and Jazz's relationship is one of the elements that I love about it so much. Haha, it's not weird, no-I'm sure Vlad would be thrilled to hear it. XD But, secretly? I'm trying to make it seem plausible on purpose, because if it's obvious throughout the entire story tha she's going to reject him, then where's the tension? I mean, who knows what could happen? I'm so glad you like her! Writing teen Maddie is so scarily close to writing an OC, which means I'm mega nervous about everything I make her say. Dude, you are, like, totally excellent. XD
Shining Zephyr-Don't you worry, Vlad's got his coming. :D I I'm so glad! Seriously, being told that the characters are IC is probably one of the best compliments I could get, since it's the characters themselves that inspired me to write a fic for them, not what I can make them do. You're so kind, and I hope this update gives you soemthing to cheer about!
mystery writer5775-Haha, wait for it! It's coming.
MutantLover09- Jazz is definitely going to put a damper on Vlad's plans, you've got that down, but who's to say that she won't cause a few problems of her own? Oooh, hinthint. XD I happen to be a Vlad fan, too; I think his supreme jerkiness is just another irresistable trait to love. I have no idea why. Like the show but better?!?!?! Thank you so much! Seriously, I am blushing. You are so kind. And totally groovy. XD
Charmed-and-More-Thanks, I'm notoriously fond of Vlad's cursing habits. XD I'm glad you're enjoying the story-hope you like this chapter, too!
Thunderstorm101-It might not be pretty...
Rya Starling-I'm sure Vlad would love that. XD Well, I don't want to give too much away, but since the plot depends pretty heavily on Jack's absence, he won't be swooping in, say, in the next chapter. But I can assure that he'll play a big role when he finally does show up:D
Jazz wrung her hands restlessly, biting her lip and watching the door as she paced. Despite her protests, Danny had gone ghost to find where Vlad had taken their mother, leaving her behind to wait and hope that the billionaire didn't catch him. True, she was thrilled that her brother had finally knowingly entrusted her with his secret, even if it was only out of desperation, but it did nothing to relieve the feeling of uselessness that took hold of her at the thought of being utterly unable to help him. She was so proud of him, of the responsibility and courage he had shown in the way he used his powers, not to mention the integrity it took to keep fighting in the face of the dangers he had been confronted with. Jazz respected her little brother more than she could say, and she was confident in his ability to persevere, but she was also sure that she would never, ever stop worrying about him. Of course this last fact wasn't helped by the fact that she now knew Vlad Masters to be a fanatical, mentally unbalanced half-ghost with twenty times the power that Danny had.
She gave a cry of surprise as Danny phased back into the room via the wall behind her.
"Danny! You're okay!" She flew to him and caught him up in a smothering hug. Then she pushed him out to arm's length and asked sharply, "Can't you use the door?"
"Sorry." Danny smiled sheepishly.
Jazz crossed her arms. "Did you find out where Mom and Vlad are?"
"Yeah," replied Danny. "They're in Vlad's lab. I think Vlad might've sensed me, but he can't do anything if it's you who shows up."
Jazz nodded, determined. Good. This was something she could do; a way that she could help. "Don't worry, Danny. I'll keep that creep away from Mom. In the meantime, you should get some rest; I'm surprised you're still standing after what's happened to you, today."
Danny pulled a face. "While I appreciate the concern, I'd rather not. I don't wanna spend any more time in Vlad's room than I have to," he told her honestly.
"I know, Danny," said Jazz kindly. "But you should. If we're going to help Mom, we both have to be in top condition. I'll get you out of there as soon as I can, I promise." She took his hand and gave it a final, supportive squeeze before hurrying out of the room.
…
Maddie ran the tips of her fingers over the controls of the Ghost Portal, a dizzying mixture of joy and disbelief in her eyes. Vlad, however, had begun to regret bringing her to the lab at all-she'd hardly given him a second look since they'd arrived. Instead, she had commenced an excruciatingly careful examination of each assorted gadget and every piece of weaponry in the room, occasionally stopping to ask for an explanation of its mechanics or the scientific theory behind it, but more often simply studying it for a moment before nodding in understanding and moving on.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of being ignored, Vlad broke the silence with a soft, "Maddie?"
She spun around to face him, surprise flitting across her face to reveal verecund embarrassment.
"Sorry, Mr. Masters. I got distracted."
"It's quite all right," Vlad told her genially. He opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off by a rush of animated enthusiasm from Maddie.
"It's just all so fascinating," she blurted, almost breathless. "I mean, some of this stuff is based off ideas I've had for ages, and you can't imagine how wild it is to see them actually completed." She let her gaze trace a long sweep across the room, eventually settling on the man who had brought her there. "It's so awesome. I can't even begin to describe the feeling."
Vlad grinned. "I'm sure I understand it perfectly," he contested fluidly, coming closer to Maddie as he did.
She laughed and brought her palm to her forehead, vaguely mortified. "Oh, duh," she near-groaned. Her nose scrunched up in humiliation. "You helped make it, too. I totally forgot."
Her blatant obliviousness discouraged Vlad very little. What did discourage him was the fact that she had turned away from him and diverted her attention to what was essentially his own version of the Fenton Thermos.
"What's this for?" she asked, holding it up with a curious smile. "Ghost soup?"
Vlad sighed.
…
Maddie wasn't sure how much longer she could take it. The job she seemed to suddenly have with Mr. Masters was quickly proving to be one of the best occupational opportunities she could ever have imagined for herself—regardless of whether or not she could recall any of it—but if she didn't know better she would be certain that he was hitting on her. Everything she could remember of the man consisted of suggestive smiles, sharp glances, and loaded words. Could it be that she had forgotten something…significant? Had she and Vlad…? No, that didn't even bear thinking about. He was her boss—wasn't he?—and that was entirely too unprofessional. And maybe she was just imagining things, anyway. It was possible, she supposed, that she was reading to far into his behavior; maybe that was just the way he was.
In any case, he continued to give her the distinct impression that he was trying to flirt with her, and as flattering as the attention was—especially coming from an admittedly dashing older man—Maddie couldn't help but be put on edge by it.
So she continued to act as though she didn't notice it, throwing her interest into any and everything else with uninhibited exuberance. It wasn't hard, certainly, once she had the lab to examine; she could very easily have spent hours alone in the room, pouring over the stores of data in the massive computers and studying the calculations that had eventually produced the functioning Ghost Portal. If she were being perfectly honest with herself, she probably could have spent hours staring at the Ghost Portal itself. But every time she allowed her concentration to slip even slightly, she would notice Mr. Masters again. This awareness of him, and the acute perception of the affect that this awareness had on her, soon made Maddie more nervous than an Olympic runner crouched at the starting line.
'You're just being paranoid,' she told herself fervidly. But she could feel Vlad's eyes on her back, and the silence was stifling.
"Sooooo…" she drawled, desperate to alleviate the awkward atmosphere. She faced her employer with a curious expression. "How is it that you ended up hiring me, anyway?"
Vlad raised any eyebrow. He hadn't expected that question-at least not so soon. He hadn't had time to prepare an answer. But then again, he was an accomplished liar. "I often hire employees from my old alma mater," he told her smoothly, which wasn't itself a lie. "I've made sure that the dean always keeps an eye out for promising students."
"And I was a promising candidate for office work?" Maddie made a face. Somehow, that didn't sit well with her at all.
"No," chuckled Vlad in response. "But you were rather infamous for your experiments. And when I heard that there was a brilliant young woman with a biochemistry major and an inclination towards paranormal experimentation, well…I just couldn't let an opportunity like that slip by."
Something niggled at the corner of Maddie's mind. "Was it just me?"
"Hm?"
"Was I the only one working on them? My experiments, I mean."
Vlad shrugged. "To the best of my knowledge. Why?"
"Oh, no reason." Maddie's shoulders seemed to droop in disappointment.
Vlad was not satisfied with this response, and she sensed it. She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "I used to get teased in high-school for my interest in ghosts," she admitted sadly. "That, and the fact that I was, like, super obsessed with math." A sigh. "I guess I was just hoping that college would be different."
Vlad laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "People can be cruel when they are faced with someone that cannot be easily sorted into a category that they are familiar with. The closed-minded are often threatened by what they do not understand."
A moment passed between them—a thought passed over Maddie's face. She reached up hesitantly and covered Vlad's hands with hers. "It's lucky for me that you found me, then, huh, Mr. Masters?"
She didn't mean it the way Vlad wanted her to mean it; her smile was wry, but innocent and grateful, with no hint that she realized the implications her words might have. But there was still a form of affection in her voice, even it wasn't the sort he hoped would develop eventually, and beggars couldn't be choosers, could they? He turned his hand over under hers so that the two were clasped.
"I assure you, Maddie; I am the lucky one." His tone was thick with something somehow simultaneously warm and icy; something that gave Maddie chills and made her frown.
All right, he was definitely hitting on her.
Maddie gave a nervous, high-pitched titter and edged away from him. Regardless of what might or might not have happened between the two of them in the past—and she desperately hoped that nothing had happened, as it made her sick to think that she would compromise such an amazing job for something as petty as a fling with her boss—right now Vlad's attentions were unnerving, and she would rather not deal with them.
"Well, I wouldn't want to prove you wrong on that, Mr. Masters." She continued to laugh uneasily. "So, if you like, you can just leave me alone in here for a while so I can get re-acquainted with all of the equipment in the lab. I'd like to be useful again as soon as possible."
Vlad shook his head. "Nonsense, my dear. You've just been through a terrible ordeal—what sort of employer would I be to expect you to be working again so soon?" He placed an arm around her shoulders and began to guide her out of the lab, though she threw back a longing glance at it over her shoulder. "There's still so we need much to discuss."
"There is?" Maddie cast him a distressed look.
"I'm afraid so, Maddie." At the disheartened expression that clouded her face, he cupped her chin and added, "Now, now, there's no need to look so glum. We have plenty of time—I can go as slowly as you like."
Once again, there was the double-edge to his glittering words. Maddie opened her mouth to respond when the door to the lab flew open with a startled crash. She jumped in surprise. Standing in the doorway was a thin, red-haired girl wearing a blue headband and a murderous expression.
…
Danny was tired; he had to admit it. The fights he'd had with Plasmius that day—all of which he had lost, which infuriated him—had left him completely drained, but he couldn't bring himself to use the older hybrid's bed. It felt too wrong. So, instead, he decided to make Vlad regret his decision to lock Danny in his bedroom, and promptly set to rummaging through all of his belongings. There were rather more pictures of his mother than Danny was perfectly comfortable with, but other than that, the room was almost completely impersonal.
There was a closet full of crisp-looking suits and shirts starched until they looked and felt like cardboard, all perfect carbon copies of the one that Danny had seen Vlad don a dozen times before. A search of his drawers revealed only plain white socks rolled into tight, perfect balls and arranged in neat rows and—oh god, ew—Vlad's underwear, which had, Danny noted with the same disgusted fascination usually reserved for car crashes, been folded and ironed so neatly that the corners appeared sharp enough to cut.
It wasn't until he reached the bathroom that things got interesting. Danny had never given much thought to Vlad's grooming habits, but if had, he certainly wouldn't've expected the billionaire to use so many…products. The cabinet behind Vlad's bathroom mirror was jammed with meticulously organized bottles, jars, and boxes—everything from moisturizer to toothpaste to under-eye cream. Danny grinned.
"Blackmail, here I come," he chuckled, sifting through the collection to acquire the most humiliating of the lot. Near the back of the cabinet, his fingers found a tiny, unassuming orange pill bottle, which he regarded with interest.
"Sleeping pills? I didn't think Vlad had trouble sleeping." Danny shook the bottle and found that it was almost full. 'These could come in handy, later,' he decided, tucking the bottle into his pocket. He restored the rest of Vlad's cosmetics to their intended place and shut the mirror cabinet with a calculating grin.
…
Jazz had to resist the urge to gawk at the sight that met her eyes when she threw open the door to Vlad's lab. The billionaire glared at her, and for a moment Jazz was sure that his eyes were glowing red—but that was surely just her imagination. What really threw her, though, was the girl next to him. His arm was draped across the shoulders of an incredibly familiar figure; a girl who couldn't have been much older than Jazz was, her violet-colored eyes wide in shock.
'Mom?' The thought was almost too ridiculous to believe, but Jazz had flipped though her parents old college yearbooks on more than one occasion when she was younger, and she was left with no doubt in her mind. Danny had been telling the truth. Of course, it wasn't as though she had expected to discover that Danny had lied to her, but the more logical side of herself that Jazz had nurtured unremittingly throughout her life had refused to release the small possibility that perhaps her little brother had been mistaken. But, as Jazz admitted rather hysterically, he hadn't been,
The impulse to rush forward and snatch her mother away from Vlad was almost irrepressible. Jazz clenched her hands into fists and forced them to her sides.
'Remember what you and Danny talked about,' she thought firmly. She was supposed to stay with Vlad and her mother until she could find a way to unlock the room that Danny was in—that was it. They would come up with a way to right the lies the despicable, slimy older man had told Maddie later. Right now, the objective was just to keep him from telling her any more. They had to patient, had to wait until the ideal circumstances presented themselves. Had to wait until there was the slightest chance that Maddie would believe them.
"Uh, heeeeeey, Mr. Masters," she greeted Vlad awkwardly, giving her mother a little wave.
"Jasmine," Vlad ground out between clenched teeth. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was just bored," replied Jazz, her voice trembling and squeaky with nerves. "You know. I was done unpacking and I decided to come see what you were up to." She tucked her arms behind her back and gave Vlad the sweetest, most innocent smile she could muster. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know where Danny went, would you?"
It was Maddie who responded. "Danny? As in Daniel? Do you know him?"
She sounded so worried that Jazz began to question whether or not she had really forgotten that she was Danny's mother. "Yeah," she replied, a little uncertain of how she should address the disquieting, unfamiliar figure of her teenage mother. "He's my younger brother."
Maddie frowned thoughtfully. "Do…do I know you?" she asked, her voice almost quavering with anguish.
Jazz attempted to answer her in the affirmative, but Vlad cut her off. His face was flushed deep scarlet with a rage that lowered his voice to a growl. "Maddie, this is Jasmine," he said, locking eyes with Danny's sister in a glare that dared her to look away. She didn't. "You've never formally met."
"Really?" Maddie's mouth twisted sideways, and she turned to Jazz. "You seem so familiar. In any case, it's very nice to meet you, Jasmine."
"Jazz," Jazz tore her eyes away from Vlad to correct her with a friendly smile. "I'm assuming you met Danny?"
"Sort of," said Maddie softly.
"What do you mean?" asked Jazz, allowing herself to shoot a grin at Vlad, who was squirming uncomfortably in anticipation of where this questioning would lead.
He decided to intervene. "There was, as it were, a bit of an accident," he cut in, eyeing Jazz pointedly. "It appears that Daniel was playing around in the lab again, and he caused an explosion. He must have hit his head; he's been out cold ever since." He fixed Jazz with a tired smile. "He's not seriously injured, but I doubt he'll learn his lesson. You know how your brother can be."
"I know," said Jazz, her eyes darting to Maddie, then back to Vlad. I know what you've done, the look said. I know who she is.
Vlad heard the unspoken message and drew back a little. "Ah, you always were such a smart girl, Jasmine."
Maddie looked puzzled. Vlad hadn't mentioned the ghosts—why not? Did Jazz not know that the castle was haunted? A disapproving scowl crossed her mouth. It was possible that Vlad believed he was protecting the girl somehow by not telling her, but in the end it was downright cavalier and incautious of him to not inform her of something that could prove dangerous to her—it had been ghosts that injured Danny, though Maddie couldn't say with any certainty that the accident that caused her memory loss hadn't been his fault. Regardless, she felt that Jazz should know about the resident specters—the deceitful ghost-boy, at least, and the horde of vampire ghosts that had been the true cause of Danny's current unconscious status. She made a mental note to bring it up with Vlad when they spoke later.
In the mean time, Jazz provided the perfect distraction to divert Vlad's attention away from Maddie, and she fully intended to take advantage of the girl's presence.
"So Jazz," she quipped in her friendliest tone. "How do you know Mr. Masters?"
"He's an old friend of my parents'," replied Jazz honestly. There was no need to lie about that—attending the same college as Vlad before hadn't caused Maddie to fall madly in love with him, so how could it hurt if she knew, now? "They went to college together."
"So your parents went to the University of Wisconsin, too?" Maddie asked.
Jazz nodded and laughed. "Yeah, but they were there ages ago—I think they graduated in 1984."
Maddie froze. "W-what?"
…
Danny couldn't pinpoint exactly when during his cheerful invasion of his archenemy's privacy he had decided to take a nap, but he was rudely awoken by the door of Vlad's room slamming open and Jazz screaming his name.
"Danny, you need to wake up!" she cried desperately, shaking her brother out of the warm world of sleep.
Danny batted her away. "What? What's wrong?" He blinked muzzily, feeling a prick of embarrassment as his brain kicked into gear and he realized just how stupid the question was.
Jazz paused, her urgency of moments before ebbing away to a faint, hesitant self-consciousness.
"Well," she muttered. "Um…"
The sound of Vlad's voice floated to Danny from the doorway where the billionaire was leaning, looking—for lack of a more fitting phrase—royally pissed off.
"Your sister," the older hybrid hissed. "Has caused your mother to go into hysterics."
Danny looked questioningly at Jazz, who smiled nervously. "I may have mentioned in front of Mom that it's 2005," she admitted thinly.
"So?"
"So?" snapped Vlad. "Daniel, Maddie thinks it's 1985!"
"Oh," said Danny, overcome with a feeling like swallowing live, wriggling ice. "That could be a problem."
"You think?" Vlad's tone dripped with venom. "She's locked herself in one of the guest bedrooms, and she's refusing to come out. I think…" he trailed off, aiming a look at Danny. "I think we might have to scare her out."
"We?" Danny raised an eyebrow. "I don't think we will be doing anything. Why should I help you?"
Vlad crossed his arms and regarded Danny calmly. "I suppose you don't have to," he said, shrugging. "I could do it myself."
Danny immediately recognized in this idea the basic formula he was trying to avoid, ie: Vlad plus Maddie minus Danny equals bad, and so he begrudgingly stood and faced the older hybrid with a scowl.
"Fine, Vlad. I'll help you."
Oh, Vlad, you are a manipulative bastard, and that is why I love you.
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