Cat out of the Bag
Summary: The blood made an awful mess in the kitchen.
Characters: Vlad x Danny
Originally Written: April 2014
"What is going on in here?"
Danny lifted his head to see Vlad standing in the doorway of the kitchen. The older half ghost wore a severe frown upon his face, his arms folded over his chest, and he looked none too pleased with the mess in their house. Danny might have offered a sheepish look if the situation wasn't so serious.
"Cujo may have strayed too close to Amity Park boundary line," Danny answered, turning his attention back to the work he was doing, patching up the ghost dog's bleeding side. Cujo whimpered pathetically, whining at the pain. "The Guys in White, unfortunately, happened to be out just at that time and shot at him, even though he was perfectly within the limits of town. It's lucky I was close by, or-" Danny paled thinking about what would have happened to the poor ghost dog if he hadn't been there to rescue him.
He would never say that Cujo was his dog since Cujo had no real master and ran around on his own a lot. But Danny had a soft spot for the playful puppy, who liked to visit him frequently. Sometimes it felt like Cujo could be his dog when they were playing with each other, but then Cujo would disappear for a couple of weeks or months before showing up again. Danny always had a bit of a panic attack when he didn't see Cujo for quite a while because, as today showed, he never knew if the ghost dog ran afoul with the Guys in White.
"I'll clean up the mess," Danny assured Vlad as he bandaged up Cujo's side to help stop the bleeding. The ghost dog would heal up a lot faster once he was in the Ghost Zone, but he was still in pretty bad shape right now.
"It's fine." Vlad shook his head as he walked toward the kitchen closet to get some of their heavy duty cleaning supplies - guaranteed to clean up those nasty ectoplasm messes! "I don't like that the Guys in White are taking risks like that." He set down the supplies then rolled up his sleeves. "But I'm glad you're all right."
When he looked up, Danny saw the worry in Vlad's eyes. They had talks, sometimes fights, about it. As much as he wanted to put the Guys in White in their place, or even completely destroy their operations, Vlad knew going up against them was no easy feat. They couldn't just start attacking the Guys in White. They had an image to uphold, after all. The public would not see them in a good light if they, as their ghost halves, started trying to tear down the Guys in White. They were supposed to be diplomats, finding ways to keep peace between ghosts and humans through talk and compromise, except in the cases where particularly violent ghosts couldn't be reasoned with. It got really frustrating, even though Danny understood the need to not act rashly. It was difficult for Danny because he just had this need to protect and fight the evil organization.
Even as he thought that, though, Danny realized that wasn't one hundred percent accurate. There were plenty of corrupted members in the Guys in White, but he felt certain that there were some employees that were completely unaware of the organization's evil doing. Those people probably thought they were doing a lot of good protecting people from the vicious ghosts that liked to attack and hurt people. He couldn't blame them for wanting to do the same thing that he wanted to do. It was the agents that harmed innocent ghosts and manipulated the public into supporting them that Danny couldn't stand.
"I didn't mean to-" The words caught in Danny's throat when something came trotting into the kitchen and with a graceful leap landed on Vlad's shoulder as if there was absolutely nothing strange about it. He stared, mouth still open from being in the middle of speaking, as the gray cat, slightly see through, lifted a paw and gave it a lick before rubbing it over its head. "Uh, when did you get a cat?" Not the most intelligent response, but Danny was stunned by the ghost cat's appearance.
"Apparently an hour ago," Vlad confessed with perhaps a touch of color on his cheeks as he reached up and gave the cat a quick scratch under the chin. From the rumbling purr, the cat seemed to approve the little affectionate touch. "I found her while I was at the bookstore and she followed me home. She seemed to like the name Maddie, so that's what I've decided to call her." The cat, Maddie, meowed like she was agreeing to the name.
Danny blinked several times before he frowned. "Wait. So you named the ghost cat after my mom?" His eyes narrowed in a hard, angry glare.
"Not so. Your mother is named Maddie, short for Madeline," Vlad explained as he knelt down, preparing to clean up the mess on the floor from Cujo bleeding out after being shot.
For now, the ghost dog seemed to be okay. He wasn't whining anymore, but Danny knew Cujo was still in great pain. Danny placed a hand to Cujo's head, scratching behind the dog's ears in an effort to provide some comfort.
"I named the cat Maddie, short for Madison," Vlad continued, scrubbing extra hard in places where the ectoplasm blood was stuck a bit more than the rest. "You know, where I used to live in Wisconsin before moving here to help your parents."
"Oh." Danny flushed with embarrassment. For a moment, when he heard the cat's name, an irrational jealousy swept through him.
Vlad had claimed to love his mother for more than twenty years. Thinking that Vlad named a cat for her, Danny's brain immediately jumped to the thought that Vlad still held onto some lingering feelings for his mother. Maybe some part of Vlad did still love his mother, but since Danny was eighteen and they confessed they liked each other, Vlad had never shown any sway in his feelings. Danny bowed his head, trying to shake off that feeling of being silly and an idiot. Vlad loved him. Danny knew that. Vlad got jealous at the idea of anyone else kissing him. Apparently, Danny realized, he didn't much like the idea of Vlad still thinking about his mother as anything more than a friend.
"Sorry," Danny mumbled. "I guess I was just feeling a little jealous."
Vlad lifted his head from his work of cleaning. Maddie the cat blinked golden green eyes at him. "I've let go of those feelings toward Maddie. She is just a dear friend to me now." His gaze dropped to the ghost dog. "You should get him back to the Ghost Zone. He can't heal very well while he's out here in the real world."
"Right." Danny nodded, gathering the ghost dog into his arms. It was easy since Cujo was in his puppy form. He was careful not to cause anymore pain for the ghost. "I'm, uh - Sorry for doubting you." Danny frowned, feeling guilty. "Logically, I knew that. But emotionally, I couldn't help feeling a little jealous."
"It's perfectly natural to feel jealousy, Danny. But it's important not to let that jealousy consume you." Vlad tilted his head up with that severe frown he sometimes wore. "For a long time, I let my jealousy over wanting what Jack and Maddie have together twist my emotions into something ugly. It was only after identifying it and letting go that I was able to open myself up to true happiness."
Danny smiled, because he was the happiness that Vlad meant. "I'm still sorry for being jealous and doubting you." He leaned over and gave Vlad a quick kiss. "After I make sure Cujo will be all right in the Ghost Zone, I'll come help you with this mess. Sorry about getting the blood everywhere."
Vlad shook his head. "The mess can be cleaned up. Protecting an innocent ghost is more important." That was one thing they could definitely agree on.
Danny phased through the kitchen floor and into the laboratory Vlad built there, complete with his own working Portal. He stepped through the open Portal into the Ghost Zone then flew off to a place he knew Cujo would be safe until he healed up. Skulker might be a hunter, but even he had a soft spot for adorable puppies. Danny also knew that Ember would knock Skulker's head off again if the hunter even thought about turning Cujo into a pelt to adorn their lair.
midnight: Those jerks! =( Just jealous because their love stories aren't even remotely as epic as Vlad and Danny's.