Chapter 30

He knew something was wrong the moment that first bump developed on his face. Vlad took excellent care of his body and managed to never have another breakout of acne ever since the incident with the Proto Portal. The tired achy feeling that he experienced over the last few weeks now seemed like an obvious precursor to another outbreak of ecto acne. He was supposed to be clear of it! How could the ecto acne return? He needed help. There was no denying that. He wouldn't be able to work out a cure by himself, already the effects were making it difficult to even crawl out of bed in the morning. There was only one person he could turn to for help, but Daniel wouldn't give him that help, not willingly. Perhaps infecting his friends with the same ecto acne strand that he suffered from was going a bit far, but he needed to be certain that Daniel was properly motivated to find a cure.

His consciousness faded in and out as Maddie and Jack searched for a cure, but even they were stumped by the ecto impurities in the readings. After saying he had a great idea, Daniel disappeared off somewhere. Vlad only hoped the boy wouldn't do something stupid. Daniel's friends rested in the beds next to him, currently both sleeping. Maddie and Jazz stepped out for the moment, leaving only Jack in the quarantine chamber.

"Don't worry, Vladdy," Jack said with a faltering smile behind the helmet of his bio-hazmat suit. "We're going to find an antidote. Then you'll be up and about in no time."

Now he was trying to be positive? Vlad thought and would have sneered if he had the energy. He remembered not moments ago, Jack said he was a goner. A poor attempt at humor? Vlad closed his eyes for a moment before turning his gaze back to Jack. "Why Danny?"

Jack blinked, his brow creasing in confusion. "He's our son," he replied, the question clear in his voice. He didn't follow Vlad's meaning, but even Vlad was having trouble following his own thoughts.

"No." Vlad sighed, shaking his head. That didn't help with the pounding drumming against his skull. "I mean the name. Why, of all the names in the world, did you have to choose Danny?"

"Oh." Jack's expression fell, and his broad shoulders sagged. He wouldn't look at Vlad. "I know how much it hurt you when he left."

"You couldn't possibly know!" Vlad managed to keep his voice down if only to not wake the two teenagers sleeping in the room. This wasn't a conversation he wished to be overheard by them.

"I know it hurt you though. You loved him."

"And I thought he loved me, but he ran away the moment he got too scared to tell me the truth." Vlad's hand curled tightly around the bed sheets. The memory still stabbed at his heart. How could he simply disappear like that? It never made any sense to him. He still never understood why the paranormal activity detector went haywire the moment Danny touched the sensing rod. It was like-

"But that's the point," Jack said, breaking Vlad's train of thought.

Whatever was forming in his mind suddenly scattered to the far reaches where Vlad couldn't follow. He tried to recall what he was thinking before Jack interrupted, but it was gone. Curse you, Jack Fenton! Vlad took a breath to clear the burst of anger. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not as blind as you may think." Jack narrowed his eyes at Vlad. "I know you've been trying to bury all memory of Danny and pretend like he never existed."

Vlad winced. Since when was Jack ever the perceptive one? Jack was supposed to always overlook the obvious.

"And that's why I wanted to name my son Danny. I didn't want to forget him. He was important to me too. We were all such great friends. Do you think I don't miss hanging out with him too?"

Vlad looked away. He actually never gave any thought to how Jack would feel after Danny disappeared on them. His pain over the loss was too overwhelming to care how it affected Jack. "I just want him back," he whispered, closing his eyes. Tears gathered, threatening to spill as his chest hurt. It was the first time he admitted it aloud, or even to himself. He did want Danny back, but it was hopeless.

"Did you even search for him?" Jack laid a large hand over Vlad's still curled fist. It did little to offer his friend comfort from the long years of loneliness and heartache. "Even with all your money and influence, you couldn't find him?"

"It wasn't like I had much to go on," Vlad snapped and glared at Jack. "We only had a first name, and he never liked talking about his family. I never even knew where he came from."

Jack lifted his brow, seeming surprised by something Vlad said. "He came from here." He ignored the gaping look Vlad gave him as he continued. "The first time I met up with him, I asked him where he was from. He told me Amity Park."

"You never said anything about that!" Vlad tried to sit up, but the action drained him and he fell back onto the bed.

"You never asked," Jack pointed out as he checked the readings beeping off the machine next to Vlad's bed. "You could have asked at any point, but you never did. How was I supposed to know you never asked him where he came from?"

Vlad didn't respond. Something was turning in his head as the memories surfaced. Was it possible that he could have found Danny during all this time? Could Danny have returned to his parents after running away from him? Could he still be living here in Amity Park? No, something else was trying to make its way through the fog of his mind. But it didn't get the chance as his consciousness faded again.

When he woke next, it was to Jack pounding on his chest while yelling something about living. Vlad winced each time the fist dropped onto his chest. He was feeling worse than ever. How much time did they have left? Would Daniel fail him, fail his friends?

Daniel returned right then, and Vlad almost felt a swell of happiness to see the boy again. He must have found out the antidote to the ecto acne! Vlad relaxed into the bed as he rested, waiting for Maddie to whip up the antidote that would cure him and Daniel's friends. Ah, I knew I could rely on him, Vlad thought his mind drifting to other thoughts.

After drinking the ecto purifier, Vlad felt almost better. The fogginess of his mind cleared, at least, though he had trouble recalling what happened during his moments of lucidness while suffering from the ecto acne. Did he have a chat with Maddie? No, that didn't seem right.

"Vladdy, you're alive!" Jack grinned with relief down at his friend.

Vlad's brow knitted as he frowned. Some memory danced just out of his reach in his mind. After Maddie and Jack left, Vlad turned his attention to Daniel. Still so easy to move about the chess board. With the proper motivation. "Bygones?" he asked Daniel, hoping the boy would agree to a momentary truce while he recovered. He was still weak from the effects of the ecto acne, but hopefully it wouldn't be long before he had his strength back.

Daniel, however, refused.

That - That brat! Vlad grumbled as he paced around his study. He couldn't believe the boy would kick out a weakened man like that. But at least, he was cured of the ecto acne. Daniel probably wouldn't get over the fact that Vlad endangered his friends' lives any time soon.

The doorbell rang, and Vlad stopped in the middle of his pacing. Who could that be? Ignoring the pile of mail on his table, he left his study, heading for the front door. When he opened it, he blinked at the man standing on the other side.

"Ben? What do you want?" Vlad hoped the man wouldn't try to press the matter about trying to find Danny again.

"I was going through some things when I found an old roll of film," Ben answered with a shrug. He sighed when Vlad continued staring at him, wondering why he should care. "It's from when we were in college. I got it developed and thought you might want to see them."

"Why would I?" Vlad started to close the door, not waiting for an answer.

Ben stepped up and put out a hand to stop the door from closing all the way. "Just - I want you to have them." He shoved the envelope containing the developed film into Vlad's hand. "Look at them. Don't look at them. It's your choice." After that, he allowed Vlad to close the door.

With his gaze on the envelope, Vlad sighed. Did he even want to know what the pictures contained? If Ben insisted that he have them, then he probably knew who else would be in the pictures. Did he want to see them? He tried for all these years to keep that man out of his memories.

Vlad returned to his study and collapsed into his chair by the fireplace. When he did, the pile of mail spilled over onto the floor. With his eyes closed, he breathed out in exasperation. He didn't want to deal with the mail when he still had work to do on his secret project. Bending over, he picked up the fallen mail and placed it back on the table. The letter on top caught his attention when he noticed Maddie's handwriting on the envelope.

Vlad took the letter and tore into it. "Sorry you missed out on the eighties night here," he read over the note. "Wish you could have been there. Here are some pictures." He pulled out the pictures, snorting at how ridiculous Jack looked and swooning over Maddie's beauty. Then he froze when he came across the picture of Daniel dressed up in eighties styled clothing while he danced alongside his parents.

Vlad's mouth hung open as his brain tried to formulate some sort of thought. He grabbed the envelope from Ben and sifted through the pictures inside it until he found one that he wanted. He held up that picture next to the one from Maddie.

"He came from here." Vlad could hear Jack's voice. "He told me Amity Park."

"My parents," another voice rang in his ears, "they're kind of the crazies of our little town. They have this whole obsession with ghosts."

Vlad couldn't breathe. It was like being tackled by Jack and having all the air shoved from his lungs. How could this even be? He was wrong. This was wrong. It couldn't be possible!