When Vlad walked past Danny and into the kitchen, he did not notice as the child's ghost sense went off. Danny, who had been sleeping dreamlessly, began to stir uneasily as he was thrust into a nightmare. It was as if Vlad's presence had triggered it. The nightmare came swiftly and did not relent. It was the first dream he had had since the accident, and perhaps he could thank the sleeping pills that Vlad had had him take for the dreamless sleep the night before. The pills had put him into a deep sleep, a place dreams could not enter, but now Danny slept lightly and restlessly—susceptible to the nightmare that was sure to come.
It was as one might have expected; Danny saw his mother and father, Jazz, Tucker, Sam. He watched them die again, listening to the laughter of his future self, Dan. And when they were gone, the two of them stood alone, staring each other in the eyes—observing what they had been and what they would become. As the confrontation began, Danny Phantom inevitably losing, Danny did not wake, and Vlad Masters began to rummage through the kitchen soundlessly.
Vlad had planned to pick up Daniel and take him straight to the airport to catch their plane. They would be on a plane for a good part of the day. They were scheduled to have connecting flights. Halfway through the first flight, the plane would land and they would transfer to another, which would bring them to Wisconsin late that night. But Vlad had not expected, of course, for Daniel to refuse to let him into the house, and they had already missed their first flight by about an hour. Vlad saw no point in attempting to book another; he thought it would be wise if he first made sure Daniel would actually get onto the flight. And he thought that perhaps it had been a good thing they had missed the flight. The commotion might have disturbed Daniel further. He did not need the emotional stress of traveling on top of everything else. Leaving later than planned could also give Daniel the chance to develop some sort of closure, allow him to let his home and the small town of Amity Park go. Assuming he would leave.
In the meantime though, Vlad decided to make himself useful. He realized that Daniel must not have eaten since the explosion of the Nasty Burger, or perhaps even before that, and when he woke he should have something ready for him to eat. Perhaps he wouldn't want to eat it, but Vlad would at least offer it to him. He felt obligated to show Daniel he really meant to take care of him, now more than ever after his recent refusal to let him into the house. Perhaps part of the reason Daniel sounded so delusional was the lack of sustenance his body had gotten, and Vlad thought that if he ate something it might help as well. Vlad hoped that that was all it would take to let Daniel at least accept that he was his new guardian, but he knew it was unlikely.
He rummaged through the kitchen, looking for something to use to cook Daniel breakfast with. Inside the refrigerator there were some vials with a glowing green substance inside them, which Vlad guessed were remnants of Jack's ghostly experiments. For once, he felt no scorn as he imagined Jack, attempting to invent some new ghost hunting weapon and having only jars of unidentifiable goo to show for it when he finally decided to give up. Disowning the vials, Vlad searched until he found a carton of eggs, cheddar cheese, and onions and green peppers that looked fresh enough. He decided to make an omelet, and went about searching for a pan to cook it in after he turned on the stove.
On the couch, Danny had begun to stir restlessly. Still asleep, his body writhed and small moans escaped him as the nightmare continued. He lost to Dan, and was forced to watch as the destruction of the future progressed. Vlad had begun preparing the Ghost Gauntlets to rip his ghost half and human half apart when Danny jerked awake. He was covered in sweat, and he was shaking.
It took him awhile to calm down, but once he did, he noticed the delicious smell of the omelet cooking coming from the kitchen. For a moment he wanted to believe that it was Jazz, or his mother, but he remembered how he had fooled himself before, how painful the recollection of the accident had been, and would not let it happen again. So then he began to wonder—who was in the house?
Slowly, he stood and crept toward the entryway to the kitchen, his heart thudding in his chest. He gripped the wall and peered in through the doorway, his eyes widening as he realized who it was.
"Vlad!" he cried.
Vlad turned around and stared at Daniel. He could see that Daniel was fuming.
"Why are you still here?" Danny hissed.
Vlad took a step toward him, reaching out his hand. "Little badger, I want you to listen to me."
But Danny only took a step back.