Author's Note: I own nothing.

20 Confusion

Dani woke in a cold seat fighting back against… blankets? She blinked, finding herself in the room she'd fallen asleep in. There was a soft knock on the door.

"Is everything alright in there?" It was Mr. Masters. Dani scrambled out of the bed and to the door, opening it just a little.

"Yeah, sorry if I woke you Mr. Masters. I'm fine."

"Oh please, Mr. Masters was my father, call me Vlad. Are you sure you're alright Little Badger? You look quite pale." Dani nodded forcing a grin.

"Yeah, just a nightmare. Sorry for the scare." Vlad shook his head a smile pulling at his lips.

"Not at all dear. This old castle can make you see things sometimes. Sleep tight Little Badger." With that he left, and Dani closed the door behind him. She leaned her head against the cool wood for a moment. Had it been a dream? It had certainly felt real and she was still sore from her fight with the vampiric ghost. But then why had she woken up back in bed.

"Dad!" At that thought she slipped through the walls to the room where her parents were staying. They were fine. Sound asleep, her father's snores shaking the window. Dani shook her head slipping back to her borrowed room. It couldn't have been a dream, right? Solidifying she trudged into the en-suite bathroom and splashed her face with some water. Examining her reflection she frowned. Her cheeks were slightly red, like she'd been hit. That would likely be gone by morning. She shook her head grumbling as she stepped back over to bed. She would figure it out in the morning, she needed some sleep she was feeling absolutely wiped out.

She woke the next morning, dressed in her usual jeans and t-shirt and followed her nose to the kitchen which was empty except for Vlad and a few large stacks of pancakes. He smiled at her as she entered.

"Ah there you are. I was about to come check on you. Your parents headed into town to grab a few things and I believe your sister is buried somewhere in the stacks of my library." Dani chuckled as Vlad motioned to a seat and set a stack of pancakes in front of her. "I thought I'd save you some breakfast, wouldn't want you going hungry now would we?" He said with a grin.

"Thanks, Mr. Masters." Vlad nodded.

"Vlad please. And when you're done I have a favor to beg. Your father tells me you're mechanically inclined." Dani nodded.

"I mean mom and dad have been teaching me and Jazz since we were old enough to walk. So I'm not bad, why?" Dani asked before stuffing her face with the pancakes. She'd never had syrup like this before, it was great, sort of tart like apples but with a familiar flavor she just couldn't put her finger on. Whatever it was it was great.

"Well I have this old car, bit of a vintage fixer upper really. And for some reason it just won't start, for the life of me I can't figure it out. Maybe you'll see something I didn't." Dani nodded. She didn't advertise it often but she really did enjoy working on mechanics. It was sort of fun, when it didn't have to do with ghosts. She'd never been one for the software side of things but the hardware was fun to figure out, like a big puzzle.

"I'd love to!" She wolfed down her breakfast and Vlad led her into the garage. She was feeling great this morning, energized and ready to take on the world. It was full of classic cars, an impala, a Bugatti, a Rols Royce. He stopped in front of a cute little red number and Dani whistled.

"Is that an Alfa Romeo? Nice!" Vlad nodded.

"A 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider to be exact my dear girl. Beautiful isn't she? She'll be much better if she actually runs though. He carefully popped the hood. Dani blinked at him.

"Wait you want me to look at this car?" Dani asked blinking. Vlad nodded.

"If you'd like to certainly."

"Um, Mr. Masters I think this car might be worth more than my parents house." Vlad laughed.

"Quite possible if I remember the way your father manages money." Dani frowned at the bite against her father. Vlad kept going though. "I might as well get a second set of eyes on it, if neither of us can find what's wrong with it then I'll have to take it into a mechanic. I'd prefer to have someone I trust look at it." Dani nodded and set to work.

It didn't take her long to find a few chords that had been severed, it wasn't major damage but it would need replacing before the car would start again. Vlad grinned.

"Marvelous! I think I have everything we need for that." His phone buzzed and he glanced at it, frowning slightly. "Go ahead and start without me Little Badger, I need to take this phone call." Dani nodded slightly wiping some sweat off her brow and leaving behind a streak of oil.

Vlad stepped out of the garage and out of Dani's hearing before answering the video call. A mechanical ghost stared back at him green hair flaming in a mohawk on the top of his head.

"Ah Skulker about time. I see your suit fits again. How are the upgrades treating you?" Vlad asked. Skulker grinned.

"Perfectly. I have what you ordered Plasmius. Though I'm not sure why you of all beings want this." Vlad rolled his eyes.

"I've encountered a young Halfa and the discussion I have planned will go better for everyone without powers on her end." Skulker's eyes narrowed.

"The girl?" Skulker questioned. Vlad glared.

"Did the whole ghost zone know before I did?" Vlad snapped and Skulker balked slightly.

"Halfa's are rare, and a novelty like that is big news in the Zone." Skulker defended but Vlad cut him off.

"You catch wind of anything like that again I will be the first to hear about it, do you understand me?" Skulker nodded and Vlad frowned as something caught his attention from back in the direction of the garage. Music, or at least a voice. It was haunting and carried with it the compulsion to follow it, like in old ghost stories. He frowned and turned back to Skulker. "I will free you two days from now, when the girl is alone use the device on her and our deal will be done." Skulker nodded and Vlad ended the call. He quietly crept back to the garage. Dani was under the hood of the car, singing lowly along with the phone now sitting on the rack of tools. He doubted she even noticed she was using one of her powers, that was until her sister wandered into the garage from the door to the house. Dani pulled her head out of the engine and looked up at the sound of footsteps.

"Jazz?" Her voice had returned to normal. The redhead looked around in confusion.

"I have no idea what I came in here for. What are you doing? Aren't those cars like ridiculously expensive?" Jazz asked concern in her voice. Vlad saw his moment to step back in.

"They are and Danielle here has just saved me a small fortune in auto mechanic bills trying to figure out what was wrong with this one. How are you enjoying the library Jasmine?" He asked it to be polite he didn't particularly care. Dani was powerful, moreso than he'd ever expected, moreso than she knew. Maybe eventually more than him. Maddie had always been his goal, the one that got away, the life he never got to have. Dani was the cherry on top. A child he could relate to, could teach amazing and powerful things. One who could help him to gain so much more power, if he played his cards right. As Jazz finished talking he smiled and nodded, checking his watch. "It's about lunch time, what would the two of you like to eat? I can get anything you like here faster than you'd ever believe." He would play the generous host for now. He'd even allowed Maddie out of his sight, though only temporarily, to gain Dani's trust. Once he had it he would show her the truth, he would reveal his secret and use it as the linchpin in getting her and Maddie to stay. If that meant appeasing Jazz too he could live with that, she seemed intelligent enough and looked more like Maddie than she did Jack. Dani's powers outweighed her resemblance to her father. In them he would have the life he'd been robbed of by Jack Fenton.