I stared down at the tie in my hand, inexplicably feeling tears prick my eyes. A fucking tie was making me cry. As I reached up and looped it around my own neck, the feelings just became worse. I never dealt with my own ties; Jazz had always dealt with them for me. My fingers shook as I tied the knot. It was the night of her benefit at Vlad's mansion and, unlike my mother's prediction, Jazz was not awake to go. She was still lying in a hospital bed. I hadn't gotten to see her yet. There was a knock at my bedroom door.

"I'm almost ready," I said, although I couldn't muster my usual annoyance.

My door opened anyway and Dad stepped inside my room. "I thought you could use some help with your tie."

I dropped my hands away from my throat, where I had been massacring the aqua tie – the one that was Jazz's favourite colour. I didn't say anything, but Dad stepped forward anyway, fixing the knot with a quiet efficiency that was completely uncharacteristic of him. Lethargically, he straightened his tie and clapped his hand on my shoulder, steering me out my bedroom and toward the stairs. I leaned against him a little, trying to remember when I was younger and I thought my dad was big enough to fight anything that came to hurt me, with Mom at his side, an ecto-weapon in her hands. I squeezed my eyes tight for a moment, but I couldn't keep the illusion alive. I had been fighting the bad guys for too long on my own – I had been unprotected for so long, that I just couldn't believe that there was someone out there who could offer full protection.

"It'll be okay, Danny," Dad whispered, and all of me fucking hurt because I so desperately wanted to believe the lie he was selling.

"Ready?" Mom was standing by the door.

No, I wanted to pout. I wasn't ready to go to Vlad's and pretend that everything was absolutely fine when all I wanted to do was gut him like a fish before strangling him with his own intestines. But I took a deep breath because I had promised myself that I wouldn't try to start anything tonight. It wouldn't be fair to Mom and Dad – adding to their grief was something that I could not fucking do right now – and they really did need the money for Jazz.

I let them steer me out of the house and into the RV. I flopped into my seat and did my best not to stare at Jazz's empty one. Naturally, it was where I ended up looking the entire fucking drive to Vlad's because I couldn't get over the fact that my sister was in the hospital in a coma. I couldn't make myself realize that she might die and that might she might never sit in that seat again. I felt like I was going to throw up every time I thought of it.

I never thought that I would be glad to arrive at Vlad's, but I wanted to get away from that empty seat like I had never wanted anything before.

As the guests of honour, we were the first to arrive. Vlad was standing just inside of the front doors, Gregor lurking at his side. I felt sick to my stomach as he shook hands with my father and hugged my mother, whimpering sympathies. He tried to touch me, but I jerked away from him.

"He's in a difficult place right now," I heard Mom whisper to Vlad.

"I completely understand," Vlad replied.

I wanted to announce that I was going to wait for Tucker and then stomp outside, but I couldn't leave Mom and Dad alone with him or Gregor. While Vlad's nephew didn't look like a threat, and he barely did anything, let alone anything that could be considered threatening, I still didn't trust him. He shared some of Vlad's DNA after all, and that meant he was a fucking scumbag.

Luckily, people started arriving, Mikey among them. He had been messaging me constantly since hearing about Jazz, but I hadn't seen him. The past few days had just been a mess of worrying, being at the hospital, and then worrying some fucking more.

"How's Jazz?" Mikey asked.

"Same," I grumbled, because it was true. My sister was in a bad fucking place and it didn't look like she would be getting out of it any time soon.

Mikey's lip twitched, and I thought that he was going to say something stupid, like 'she'll be fine, don't worry'. But Mikey was smarter than that, and he quickly switched the topic to a video game that he'd started playing over the summer, something that was supposed to be 'like Doom, but way gorier and much better gameplay'. I nodded and listened, trying my best to pay attention because this conversation felt normal. This was what Mikey would have wanted to talk about under any circumstances, and I could pretend that we weren't wearing suits and Vlad wasn't hovering over my shoulder and Jazz wasn't in the hospital, and that everything was normal. It was easier to sustain the illusion when Tucker arrived.

He gave me an awkward side hug, and then he and Mikey delved further into the conversation about the game because Tucker had been considering buying it, but the internet said there was a weird glitch on the twelfth level. Before I realized he had done it, Tucker had repositioned himself against a wall near the kitchen, forcing me to turn my back on Vlad and stop obsessing.

Good ol' Tuck. Exactly who I needed.

They talked. I listened. But then, in the middle of the conversation, Tucker's expression changed; he looked over the top of Mikey's head, staring oddly. Someone was approaching. I whipped around, not expecting it to be Vlad – there wasn't enough disgust on Tucker's face for it to be Vlad – but I was unsure of who else it could be. I came face to face with Sam, Gregor hovering next to her, although I ignored that. She looked so beautiful, dressed in an elegant black gown. I just wanted to wrap myself around her; I wanted her comfort and no one else's.

"Hi, Tucker; Mikey," she said softly. "Hi, Fenton. I'm sorry about Jazz. I hope she gets better soon."

"She will," I snapped, pointedly looking at Gregor as I said it. There was no guarantee that he knew what his uncle was, but in case he was aware, I wanted to let him know that I was onto the two of them.

"How are you holding up? My sister was in a car accident when we were very young. I understand that it's hard," Gregor said.

I ground my teeth together. Why the fuck would I care about his damn sister? Although I wanted to punch him for standing so close to Sam, I managed to say, "I'm fine."

"Uh, we were about to go get some food. Do you want to join us?" Tucker interrupted my conversation with Gregor.

I gave him points for the first part of his sentence and then took them away for the second.

"Actually, Sam and I were about to dance." Gregor put an arm around Sam, dragging her close to him. I couldn't believe she was letting him talk for her. "Unless you want to get something to eat, Sam."

Maybe we could have fried Gregor, I thought spitefully, glaring at his head, seeing if I could spontaneously develop laser powers and destroy him on the spot. Sadly, it didn't work.

"Sorry, Tuck," Sam apologized, pointedly not looking at me. "I'm not feeling very hungry right now. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

"Cool," Tucker replied.

Not okay. I wanted to drag her along with us, partly to get her away from Gregor, but mostly so that I could have her with me. Even being in her presence, made me feel calmer. And, she had spoken to me. She had spoken directly, sincerely, to me. On any other day, one sentence would have been enough to send me flying.

She and Gregor went to turn away. I wanted to blurt out anything that would make her stay, anything that would make her have a conversation with me.

In the end, Mikey was the one who spoke to her. "Hey, Sam, save a dance for me? It's been awhile since you almost stepped on my feet."

I stared at him, trying to remember the time line of the winter. Who had danced with her last, him or me? It didn't even matter. Gregor was getting her next dance, and that was antagonizing every fissure she had created in my heart.

"Sure thing," Sam assured him.

Mikey was getting a dance. As she walked away, I didn't even get a look back. I couldn't help but stare as she and Gregor disappeared into the swell of the crowd. I also couldn't help but stare at the back of his light blond head, pretending that he had white hair instead. I tried to pretend that she was walking with me. I shook my head, trying to ground myself back in reality – it was fucking painful, but I couldn't allow myself to end up completely lost in fantasy. Not in Vlad's house.

"Ready to go eat?" Tucker asked.

"We're actually going to eat?" I asked, a bit surprised. I thought he had just said it so we could get away from Gregor.

"I'm hungry," Mikey said quickly. "Where's the kitchen in here?"

Tucker and I both pointed at the same time. We had studied Vlad's mansion mockups extensively from the real blueprints that Jazz had managed to get and our own drawings of the bottom level of his mansion, where he hid his ghostly laboratories and everything else he didn't want the rest of the world knowing about.

"Let's go," Tucker said.

They started off and I took a few steps with them, but then my steps stuttered. Vlad was swept up in the crowds and entertaining his guests. I could see the back of his ugly, narrow head over in the corner, talking to people I didn't recognize.

"I'll catch up with you guys later."

Tucker stopped, and raised his eyebrows at me. "C'mon, the least you can do is eat this guy's food. I'm sure he hasn't poisoned it … Not even on the off chance you would be the one eating it."

"…Why would Mr. Masters want to poison Danny?" Mikey asked innocently.

"He's a bit of a creep," I said vaguely.

Mikey glanced toward Vlad. "I can see that."

"Let's go eat," Tucker said, and nodded with his head toward the kitchen.

"I just have to piss," I told him, trying to ignore the look he was giving me. "Really. I'll meet you in the kitchen later."

"You've got ten minutes, and then I expect you in the kitchen," Tucker ordered me.

"Fifteen. I can go pee by myself, Mom," I griped at him.

Tucker glared at me, but I stared him down. We both knew that I wasn't going to the bathroom; that I was going to go snooping around the mansion instead. I could also see that he wanted to go with me, but I couldn't let him do that. I would be able to slip away without much notice and, if Vlad did catch me, I could hold my own. Tucker would just get hurt. Normally, it wasn't something that I would think of – Tucker knew how to fight back, he'd been doing it for years – but after what had happened with Jazz, I wasn't going to allow anything to happen to him too. I could barely handle what was happening to Jazz, but if something happened to Tucker too, I'd probably just collapse, and the only person left with a chance to resurrect me wouldn't even talk to me.

So, I'd just have to keep him safe.

"Fifteen," Tucker agreed.

He and Mikey headed for the kitchen, and I headed for the upstairs.

I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my fantastic betas: Forever Sky.

~TLL~