Author's note: I enjoy mad scientist Maddie, too...
This chapter is a twist on Kindred Spirits.
Planned
"Let me make sure I'm understanding you correctly," said Vlad. "You want me to kidnap your son?"
Maddie and Jack nodded.
"So that I can clone him?"
They nodded again.
Vlad huffed in amusement and leaned back on the sofa in the Fenton living room. "May I ask what you want a clone of your son for?"
Maddie and Jack exchanged glances.
"There are some tests we want to run," said Maddie quietly. "Some experiments we want to try."
Vlad's eyes sparkled. "You want to cut him open, don't you?"
"There are just…" Maddie shuddered, her voice shook. "There are so many secrets locked in his ghostly hybrid form. But obviously, we can't do anything with the real Danny. Never. But if we had a clone, we could do anything we want. And the real Danny would never have to know."
"You're terrible."
Maddie and Jack said nothing.
"But I wouldn't expect anything less from the great and beautiful Maddie Fenton." Vlad smirked. "Or Jack Fenton, of course."
"It wasn't my idea," muttered Jack.
"No, of course it wasn't," said Vlad with a sneer. Jack's gaze hardened.
"We need you to do this, Vlad," said Maddie. "We can't do it. Danny can't know that we know he's half ghost. And your cloning technology is far more sophisticated than ours is."
"You're with him all the time. You can't just collect samples of his DNA?" asked Vlad.
"We can't get the mid-morph DNA," said Maddie. "We can't extract that unless he's in the process of transformation. Which we can't do without being right there. Which we can't do because he can't know that we know he's a ghost."
"But he does know that I know he's a ghost," mused Vlad, looking off to the side and crossing his arms.
"Right, and you're already an established enemy of his," said Maddie. "He'll never suspect Jack and I have anything to do with it. He'll just think it's all you without a second thought."
Vlad chortled. "You're right. You're absolutely right. He would never know."
There was a long silence in the room. Jack kept his head low while Maddie stared straight across at Vlad.
"All right," said Vlad. "I will do this for you. For the price you offered to me. But only because you're such good friends of mine." He looked at Maddie fondly. "You know I'd do anything for you, my dear."
Maddie's lips thinned. Jack could see the vibrations in her left knee.
"It's settled. I will get that mid-morph DNA and make a clone of your son for you two to fuck around with." Vlad leaned back and spread his arms on top of the sofa. He looked up at the ceiling. "I'll just need to plan this out. Probably create a few test clones."
"Vlad, please," said Maddie. "Whatever you do, please don't hurt him, okay?"
Vlad guffawed. Jack raised his head while Maddie glared.
"Oh, are you being serious?" Vlad cocked a brow. "You engineered a ghost portal to shock him with several hundred volts of ectoplasmic energy, and you're asking me not to hurt him?"
"I knew what I was doing," snapped Maddie. "I calibrated that portal to fit the exact specifications of his biology. He was never in any danger."
Vlad gave a slight roll of his eyes and scratched his temple. "I mean, I'll probably have to rough him up a little before I can successfully subdue him enough to take him back to my lab. God knows that scrappy little brat can put up quite a fight."
"Vlad," reprimanded Maddie darkly.
"Sorry, your oh-so-darling son can put up quite a fight. And the mid-morph DNA extraction won't exactly be an enjoyable experience for him."
"We're just asking you to try," said Maddie. "Try your best not to hurt him."
Vlad eyed her warily. "You are aware that this clone I create will be Daniel in every way, right? He will think he's the real thing. He will see you as his mother, both of you as his parents. And he will have his own sentience, his own consciousness. He won't understand why you're hurting him. You know this, right?"
Jack rested his elbows on his thighs and leaned over, his head drooping toward the floor.
"Danny. His name is Danny, not Daniel," said Maddie. "And of course we know. That's why we need one. We need an exact replica of Danny to work with, exact even in memories and thoughts. One that is disposable. He may think he's the real Danny but he won't be the real Danny. And Jack and I won't forget that."
Vlad blinked a couple times before exhaling and rising to his feet. "Well, then." He stretched his arm across his body, popped a couple joints. "I suppose I should get going. I have a teenage boy to terrorize."
He started to walk out of the living room toward the front door until Maddie gave him pause.
"Vlad," she said softly. "Please. Don't hurt him."
Jack turned his head to study his wife's face. Her eyes were wet.
Vlad did not move for some time. Then he nodded and silently left.
Maddie took Jack's hand in hers and breathed in tremors through hunched shoulders.
"This is the only way," she murmured to herself. "There's no other way. We have to. For our research. This is the only way."
Jack continued to watch her face, her eyes shut tight, her teeth clenched.
For once, it appeared even she was frightened by this scheme.
