Vlad visits Amity Park.

Vlad Masters was a busy man, but he supposed he ought to make time for this. For Maddie's sake, at the least.

After he had given Jack and Maddie the blueprints for a faulty ghost portal, Vlad had waited patiently for news of a terrible accident, hopefully one in which Jack had died. Instead, he had heard nothing for three weeks, and then news from Amity Park went nuts. There were claims of ghosts everywhere, but no injuries.

A little frustrated, Vlad had gone back through the news articles of the past few weeks, searching for anything to do with Jack being maimed or murdered by a ghost or electrocuted by an invention. Instead, he found the obituary for Daniel Fenton.

Vlad had never met the boy, but he recognized him from the Christmas cards Jack sent out every year. Vlad had watched him grow up, in a way, and it almost pained him to think that he wouldn't see him again. But, Vlad was nothing if not an opportunist, so he found an opening in his schedule - almost two months after the activation of the portal - and planned a trip to Amity Park.

He arrived at FentonWorks early in the morning, just in time to see a young girl leave the house. He recognized her as Jasmine, the older child. She had a backpack slung over her shoulder, so he assumed she was heading into school early. It didn't start this early, did it? Vlad didn't know. The girl seemed angry, so Vlad waited until she had driven away before crossing the street. He climbed the stairs, trying not to wince at the eccentricity of the house, and rang the doorbell.

He had been expecting a loud crash as Jack dropped whatever he had been doing to run to the door, like he had in college. Instead, slow footsteps ambled closer, and the door opened with a solemn creak. There stood Maddie. Her hood was down for once, revealing straggly hair and tired eyes.

Vlad was shocked into silence.

Maddie grinned wearily. "Vlad! How nice to see you! Come on in."

"Er, right." Vlad entered the home into the living room. It there were photo albums spread across the coffee table. He tried not to look, but still saw a photo of a younger Danny with Maddie.

"Jack's just down in the lab. Would you like a drink?" Maddie glanced over her shoulder as she led him into the kitchen.

"Oh, no thank you." Vlad thought she seemed oddly well put together for someone who had lost a child, despite her appearance. "How are you doing?"

Maddie hesitated. "You heard, then?"

"Yes," Vlad said as gently as he knew how. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to come out here, but I didn't think it was something we should discuss over the phone."

"No," Maddie agreed. "Probably not."

Vlad tried to think of what else to say. He had never been in this situation before. He didn't know what to do.

"Let me go get Jack," Maddie said before he could think of anything. "He should be here too."

Vlad nodded, trying not to let her see how much his mood had just soured. He sat at the dining table while Maddie called her husband up from the lab.

Jack raced up the stairs. "Vladdie!"

Vlad struggled not to wince. "Jack. Hello." He warded off a hug. ""Ah, better now. I just got over a cold."

Maddie set a bowl of fudge on the table, and Jack sat down. "Are you here to see the portal?"

"Actually, I'm here to check on you." Vlad glanced at Maddie. She had sat at the table with a glass of water. She seemed very pale.

"Oh."

Vlad looked back at Jack and was surprised to see him looking the most serious Vlad had ever seen him. Suddenly, Vlad noticed the bags under his eyes and the tension in his jaw.

Uncomfortable, Vlad cleared his throat. "You don't have to talk about it, of course. But you should know that if you need anything, you only have to ask." This was mostly directed towards Maddie, but he couldn't just overtly exclude Jack.

"Thank you, Vlad, we appreciate it." Maddie stared past him into the living room room. Vlad guessed she was trying to see the albums.

"Ah, are those pictures?" He asked, unsure what else to say.

Maddie smiled sadly. "Yes, we've been making an album just for Danny. Would you like to see?"

Vlad agreed, and all three went back into the living room. They sat together on the couch and flipped through the book, Maddie pointing out her favorite pictures and explaining where and when they were taken. They did that for a few hours, sitting quietly until Jazz came home from school.

Vlad suddenly realized how long he had been there, and jumped to his feet. "I'm so sorry, my dear, but I have a meeting tomorrow morning, and if I leave now I won't arrive back in time to get any sleep."

Maddie smiled. "Of course, it's no problem. Thank you for visiting, it was wonderful to see you again."

Jack nodded. Vlad realized that he hadn't said a word in hours, but couldn't bring himself to worry. He nodded back, politeness ingrained in his very core, waved to Maddie, and left.

It was only later, on the drive home, that Vlad realized he had skipped over a perfect opportunity to sabotage the portal.