It's 1984, there's Maddie, there's Vladdie, and Jack is in love.
He's not going to say anything yet, because he doesn't really know what to do with that knowledge.
It's obviously not canon, but it is pretty much canon-compliant.
Obviously, it doesn't end well.
tags: Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton, Jack Fenton/Vlad Masters, Jack Fenton, Maddie Fenton (mentioned), Vlad Masters (mentioned), college years, 1984, young and in love, proto-portal accident
1984
It's 1984, and Jack Fenton is a twenty-three years old university student in Madison, Wisconsin.
It's 1984, and Jack is in love.
It's a bit confusing, alright. Jack isn't exactly the most aware of his own feelings, to begin with. Oh, yes, he's honest about them, alright – when he actually knows what there is to be honest about.
It's 1984, and Jack is in love.
The problem – but he doesn't really think it's one, not yet, and he probably never will think it – is that he's not in love with one person.
Jack has two friends. He's friendly with a lot of people, of course, but here, now, Jack has two friends. People who stick with him no matter what, even though they also don't let him get away with... well. Let's just say sometimes Jack is a bit overenthusiastic, and he knows it.
Two friends, who bear with him and don't seem to think he is too much all the time.
It's 1984, and there's Maddie, and there's Vladdie.
Maddie is beautiful, smart, enthusiastic, and she wants to know everything about ghosts and how they works, why they exists, what they entails. She double-checks Jack's work, to make sure he didn't ghost over – ah! – anything in his enthusiasm. She's the one who brought to them the theoretical ideas they are now working on, to make a proto-portal to the ghost zone. She's strong, too, and she's a brown belt in... – Jack may have forgotten which martial art, but she's badass and that's more than enough for him. Maddie says, if she ever has to defend herself against a ghost, having equipment isn't enough, she needs to be able to use it too.
Jack couldn't agree more. About everything.
Vladdie is handsome – and a bit awkward, too – intelligent, determined, and he knows there is something else after, which he thinks is worth knowing about – how, why, and what outcomes is the best? He's the one who cross-references any real-world happening that could be linked to ghosts, and tells them whether or not it's worth a shot. It's thanks to him that they sampled their first bit of ectoplasm, three months ago, because he'd guessed the case in Indiana was a scam and they should better go and check out Minnesota – they'd gotten there too late to actually see a ghost, but they'd found traces of ectoplasm in the cave of the haunted house. Vladdie manages to calm Jack down when he's running on all cylinders and ignoring the obvious.
Jack doesn't know what he'd do without him.
Jack, him, is very good at understanding what both Maddie and Vladdie talk about, even if he doesn't have as many ideas as they do. He's also the best at making things up – not theories, not research, but tools and machines – out of whatever he can find lying around.
Maddie comes up with the ideas, Vladdie figures out how it fits with what they know, and Jack imagines the inventions they need to make it happen. They are a good team, and he wishes they could stay, the three of them, together forever.
It's 1984, there's Maddie, there's Vladdie, and Jack is in love.
Sometimes Jack looks at her, and he thinks – we could have a family, and hunt and study ghosts together.
Sometimes Jack looks at him, and he thinks – we could move all over the globe, and document every ghost story for real.
But it's 1984, and they have – Jack has time, yet. They won't finish their master's degree in ectology before one whole year, and even then they might still stick together afterwards. He's heard Maddie talking about a doctorate with Vladdie, who thinks he might double up with a business degree himself, because someone has to think about how they are going to fund all this. Jack, him, just want to continue working with them.
It's 1984, and Jack has time to think about what he wants out of all this.
oOo
(Then.)
(Then it turns out he doesn't.)
(It's 1984, and there's only Maddie and Jack. He has to make a choice before it's too late. Again.)