Sorry for the longer-than-usual wait, between exams and Christmas stuff, and just plain family…stuff, this is the longest moment I have had to myself. But anyway, Chapter 29, here it is. (Oh, and just so you know, I didn't just make up the food, nor have I been to a Chart House, I just looked up the menu online).

Chapter 29:

Dani POV-

After I got home from school, we had a little time to kill before dinner, so, we went shopping.

With my anxiety the way it was and my ghost sense going off periodically, the last place I wanted to be was a crowded shopping mall, but, Danny, Tucker, and Tony, wanted to be there even less, so their unenthusiastic glares were enough to amuse me and ease some of my anxiety.

Sam insisted that we go straight for Hot Topic. And, let's just say, Pepper did not want to.

Sam and Tucker thought it would be a great idea for me to play the rebellious daughter part, with fake tattoos and piercings but Pepper refused to allow it. As a result, most of the time we spent in there was for Sam buying things for herself, but I did manage to find a pair of black stud earrings to wear.

Pepper insisted that we go to JCPenny's next for me to get something more formal and appropriate to wear. The boys (and Tony) groaned, and made a beeline for the comfortable seating the second we stepped into the dress department. Pepper shoved probably about six dresses into my arms within the first few seconds, and Sam tacked on a few more., before they both ushered me into the dressing rooms.

Twenty minutes later, after I had ruled out most of the dresses, all three of us (but mostly Pepper and Sam, because I had little of a say in what I was supposed to wear) agreed on a silky purple dress that fell slightly below my knees and had two thick straps that tied behind my head.

"Finally!" Tony exclaimed when we left the dress department.

"Not yet," Pepper corrected him (the look on Tony's face was priceless), "We still need some shoes," she said, gesturing to my sneakers.

"But it's already 6:15," Tony whined.

"So, since when do you care about being on time?" Pepper arched an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Yeah, you guys need to be late anyway," Sam added. Tony, Tucker, and Danny groaned, and quickly found new seating in the shoe area.

Finding shoes went a lot better than finding a dress. It only took five minutes for Sam and Pepper to decide on a short, black, pair of wedge heels, and then another three to wait in line, and another two for Pepper to find the coupon that she had been emailed.

"Are we ready now?" Danny practically begged, I considered lying and torturing him a little bit more, but instead I simply nodded.

I changed into my new outfit before we left, stashing my other clothes in a bag. Neither Danny nor I had had our ghost sense go off within the past hour, so we figured that Vlad no longer had anyone watching us, but, just to be sure, Danny, Tucker, and Sam left the mall with their hoods up and immediately got into the darkly tinted limo to be taken home, while, three minutes later, Pepper, Tony, and I got into one of Tony's cars as he drove us to the restaurant. When we arrived we were close to seventeen minutes late, and my heart was beating like I had just run a marathon in thirty seconds. I had no idea how Vlad was going to play this out. Which made me all the more nervous. Tony put his hand, reassuringly, on my shoulder and gave me a small smile before we went in.

Vlad had, of course, picked the most secluded table at the very back of the restaurant. And when the hostess showed us to the table, I could see that Vlad was already pissed off for us being so late. The second he saw us, he masked his annoyance with an attempting-to-be-enthusiastic-but-was-actually-creepy-smile and greeted us. I couldn't help but notice that he paid a little to much attention to me.

"I was beginning to think that you weren't going to show," Vlad laughed, fakely, sounding more like he had intended for us not to show up.

"Well, we hit some traffic on the way here," Tony lied smoothly, "You already know Pepper, but this is Dani. Dani this is Vlad," Tony introduced me as though we were perfect strangers.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Danielle," he shook my hand, still looking at me with his creepy smile.

"Nice to meet you," I forced a smile, swallowing the lump in the back of my throat.

"Well, why don't we all sit down," Tony suggested.

Guess who had to sit across from Vlad. But I guess it was better than sitting next to him, a spot given to Pepper who looked almost as uncomfortable as me, when Vlad kept eyeing her.

"So Danielle, you must be in 5th grade?" Vlad asked.

"6th grade actually," I replied, shortly. Vlad nodded, though I'm sure he already knew that.

"A girl like you must have lots of close friends?" He prompted. I stiffened. He had emphasized close because he wanted to be able to use my friends against me, so, I lied.

"No, not really, everyone thinks I'm kind of weird," I shrugged.

"You're not weird," Pepper assured me, she opened her mouth like she wanted to point out one of my friends, but the pleading look in my eyes must have convinced her not to."

"I agree," Vlad interjected, "I'm sure you're not weird, everybody is probably just jealous of your living conditions."

I nodded, but refused to make eye contact.

"Danielle is so smart," Tony gushed, changing the subject off of me, "Almost as smart as I was at her age," he added with a playful nudge, "Already, in sixth grade, learning calculus. Soon she'll be able to run Stark Industries for me." I could tell he was kidding, again, but I couldn't help but smile at the praise.

"Is that so?" Vlad asked, feigning surprise, "Where did you get so smart?" he asked, looking smug.

I didn't have an explanation for that, for the longest time, I have always thought that maybe my brains came from Vlad tinkering with my genetics, and it was obvious that Vlad thought so too.

"I think I can answer that," Tony stepped in, "I don't think that her smarts came from either of her parents, because they couldn't have been very smart to give her up. But, I think that her smarts came from her. I think, Danielle had something to prove to the world, and she has done a great job of proving it. And then, after being placed in the competition of the foster system, made her step it up even more."

I smiled at Tony. At the same time, I saw a flicker of anger across Vlad's face.

Suddenly the waiter came up. "Can I take your drink orders and maybe get you some appetizers?" he asked.

"Yes, I'll have a glass of the Estancia Meritage," Tony ordered some wine.

"Of course, Mr. Stark," the waiter said, writing it on his pad.

"I think I'll have the same," Pepper agreed putting down the menu.

"Might as well make it three," Vlad laughed, though I could tell he didn't really want it. And he was even more angered at the fact that the waiter had failed to recognize him the way he had Tony.

"And I'll just have a Dr. Pepper, please," I said, handing the menu over to the waiter.

"Of course," the waiter continued to write, "Any appetizers?"

Vlad looked like he wanted to say "no" but Tony overpowered him.

"Sounds great," Tony said, "Hmm…ooh, the Crab, Avocado and Mango Stack looks great. Two of those please."

Pepper gave him a weird look, and then I realized why: Tony doesn't like mango, or Avocado for that matter. He had simply ordered that because it was one of the most expensive appetizers on the menu.

When the waiter finished writing he walked off.

"Anyway, where was I?" Vlad asked, "Oh, yes. What was your last Name before you were adopted by Mr. Stark?" Vlad asked.

"Fenton," I said simply, looking him dead in the eyes this time.

"Really?" Vlad asked, "How interesting. I know some Fenton's who live in Amity Park. One of them is a complete idiot, but hid wife is beautiful. Anywho, you do slightly resemble their son, whose name is, Danny, ironically," Vlad pressed.

"Really?" I asked, pretending to be surprised, "Maybe I should get in touch with him. Maybe he's a long lost relative, like a third cousin once removed, or something," I replied, using the exact same "relation" Vlad had told me to tell Danny when I had first met him.

"So, Mr. Stark, what is it like to suddenly take on the paternal figure to a young girl?" Vlad asked, still having a stare down with me.

"Well, I'm sure you saw the press conference. But, it's been…an experience. I didn't have a great father figure, so I was convinced that I wouldn't be much of a father to her. And, I must say, it was difficult at first. I'm sure I made some mistakes, but, it's also been one of the best experiences of my life. Danielle is a great daughter, and we really have a lot in common," Tony put his arm around my shoulders.

Vlad frowned, quickly, of course, before once again plastering on his creepy smile.

"That's wonderful," he said, "What about your parents before, do you remember anything about them?"

I nodded, "Well, I never knew my mom. But my dad was a complete dick." Vlad was a little taken aback, but he tried not to let it show and Tony looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Danielle!" Pepper reprimanded me.

I smiled sheepishly in her direction. "Well, he was. He was an egotistical, worthless, seriously crazed up Fruitloop, and anything I did was never enough for him. And then he because abusive, to the point where he tried to destroy me," I never broke eye contact with Vlad, "I'm just glad I was taken out of there when I was. And I never intend to be in that situation ever again."

"Hmm, well, um," Vlad cleared his throat, "Danielle, what do you like to do for fun?" he changed the subject.

"Help Tony with his cars and weapons and inventions, listen to music, go to the beach," I shrugged.

"That's nice," Vlad sighed, clearly happy that I accepted the change of subject. The waiter returned with our drinks and we ordered our food, Tony, once again, choosing the most expensive item, the Filet and Cold Water Lobster Tail, and ordering it. After another ten minutes of awkward dinner conversation, our food finally arrived.

Tony raised his wine glass, and the rest of us followed suit.

"Cheers," he said, with a smirk on his face, before clinking his glass with ours. Knowing what was coming next, I inched a little out of the splash zone. Unfortunately, Pepper didn't have the same option.

Tony "accidentally" let his glass slip out of his hand, spilling red wine all over Vlad, and a little on Pepper. It wouldn't have been so bad for Vlad if he wasn't wearing a white shirt.

"I am so sorry," Tony lied, and leaned over with his napkin attempting to remove some of the excess wine off of the table, and, in doing so, "accidentally" knocked Pepper's wine onto Vlad as well.

At this point, Vlad looked about to blow, but somehow, he managed to hold it together, as we called the waiter over and he cleaned it up. Another twenty minutes later, we had finished and Tony ordered dessert for me. Hot Chocolate Lava Cake, and let me just say, it was good. Of course, it might have tasted even better knowing that Vlad had paid for it.

The total bill, when it was handed to Vlad, was $255.92, which would have been a small bill for Vlad, but he was reluctant to pay it, either way.

We finally said goodbye and went home. All that was left now was to figure out what Vlad's next move was.