I'll expect you in my chambers this evening, Maddie, he had said.

It took very little imagination to work out his meaning, and that provoked an old, visceral terror. Don't walk alone at night. Watch your drink. Hold your keys between your fingers.

It'd be great if any of that advice could stop what she was certain would happen tonight.

It's for Danny, she told herself. If you play this right, you can protect Danny.

Swallowing, Maddie tucked one auburn strand behind her ear. The mirror displayed her smooth skin, freshened makeup, and meticulously combed hair. A blue blouse buttoned up to her throat. None of it felt like her. No jumpsuit armed to the teeth with ghost-deflecting equipment. No belt loaded with every tool she could ever need for survival.

Just… this. A pretty face, spruced up with touches of makeup and a fancy outfit.

Her hands clutched the sink to hide their tremors.

"Mom? Are you almost done? I gotta piss," came Danny's voice from behind the door.

"Yes, honey, I'm just freshening up," she called back, and was proud of how normal her response sounded. "And don't use that word, Danny!"

"Yes, mom…" There was an eye roll behind that remark, Maddie just knew it.

She smiled faintly, and her mirror reflection smiled back, too much like a frightened animal.

No.

Not a frightened animal. Not just a pretty face. I am Maddie Fenton.

"Mooo-oooom! I gotta go!"

"One moment, Danny."

I am still a scientist. I am still a ghost hunter. I am still a mother. I can do this.

"Mooom!"

She turned from the mirror and unlocked the door, a smile ready for Danny at her lips. "Honey, I was only in there for five minutes! Don't wait so long if you have to go so badly."

Danny stopped in the doorway. "Wait, why are you all dressed up?"

Maddie rolled her own eyes like it was the most casual thing in the world. "Oh, it's silly. Vlad wanted to serve me tea, of all things!"

"Am I going, too?" Danny said, and oh her dear boy, he knew her far too well, because there was a touch of concern there in his eyes, a sliver of suspicion.

"It'll be boring; you're better off staying here for the evening. I'll be back soon enough."

"No, I'll go," Danny said decisively, "I don't want you hanging around Vlad alone."

"Oh, I'll be just fine –"

"No, I'm not leaving you w-"

"Danny!"

He went quiet. Mothers have a certain tone that is not to be disobeyed.

Maddie tilted her chin up. "Danny Fenton, your butt is not to leave this room tonight, do you understand?"

"Y-Yes, mom."

She touched his hair, voice softer, "I'll be back, Danny. Everything's going to be okay."

It was unclear exactly who she was reassuring, and she left the room before she had the chance to examine it.

As she walked through the ornate halls, dwarfed by immense gilded mirrors, statues, and paintings, her mind shivered in and out of memories that had long become dusty with misuse.

Lewd gazes on the streets, strange hands groping where they don't belong, drunken sneers and the occasional free drink she never asked for.

Except in all those cases, she had been fully capable of fending off interest. Now it was so much more complicated – not just about protecting herself, but about protecting her son, as well.

If she complied, rather than fought…

But this train of thought was interrupted by Vlad. Not by the sight of him, nor by the sound of him – neither of these things alerted Maddie to his presence.

It was instead the subtle chill down her spine and the rising of hairs at the back of her neck.

"Lost?" he chimed.

Maddie turned around and there he was, standing like a pillar, clad in black with an unsettling smile at his lips. His eyes lingered far too long wherever they roamed.

"You never mentioned where your room was," she returned.

"My own fault, I'm afraid…" His smile calcified as his eyes settled upon her left hand. "Remove your ring."

Maddie placed her right hand over her left, hiding the opal from view.

"Now," Vlad insisted.

Robotically, Maddie slipped the band from her finger and nestled it into her pocket.

Vlad visibly relaxed. "There now, isn't that better? No need to see that gaudy item… if it were me, I would have selected a much finer ring, you know."

But it wasn't you.

"Leave it to that buffoon to choose such ill-fitting – can we even call it jewelry? – for you."

If things continued this way, her irritation and fear would snap. The glittering opal wedding ring that Jack had selected was far from conventional, and certainly not as costly as a diamond alternative.

But Jack had selected it for its resemblance to the night sky, to the nebulas and planets they loved to gaze at together. A wedding ring with meaning had much greater value to her than one chosen purely for price.

"Are we going to your chambers?" Maddie asked, unable to keep a tone out of her voice.

Oddly, the statement jarred him. "Maddie…. dear, I don't-" He faltered. Maddie found some vindictive gratification at his blundering. Then he shook his head, and thus returned the sinister persona. "I have no intention of forcing you," he said smoothly. "The plans for the evening hardly included that. Unless you… desired it, of course."

So he wasn't planning on… Huh.

She willed strength into her bones. He still greatly cared for her impression of him. If she handled this right…

"What were you planning?" she asked, generously roving her regard over him.

"A simple date, Maddie… to catch up, remember the good times we had together."

"It's been so long since we were close, Vlad… I'm not sure I can do something like that."

Vlad's eyed widened, everything about his demeanor softened as he approached. "Maddie darling, of course you can… Don't you remember how we were in college?"

With a deep breath, Maddie stepped nearer to him, and they halted, not even a foot apart.

He smelled of something rich and almost otherworldly, though not unlike wisps of campfire smoke clinging to dark, amber-heavy wood.

"I do remember…" Maddie murmured, coyly, "what we had…."

One delicate hand caressed the ridge of his powerful shoulder; beneath her touch she felt him tremble. His breath, oddly cool, shivered in excitement.

"Yes?" he breathed back.

She toyed with his cravat. "I have… thought about us, sometimes."

His heart began to race beneath her palm.

Slowly, she drew her eyes up to meet his, and feigned insecurity. "But we can't, Vlad… Jack –"

"Don't think of him," Vlad said, suddenly sharp.

Okay, topic change. "And – and Danny," she added lamely.

Vlad's brow furrowed.

"He – he doesn't see the good side of you, like I do." Down her hand trailed, button past button on his suit, and settled over the very last.

"What do you propose I do?" Vlad was bewitched. His fingers gingerly brushed the curve of her hip as if asking permission.

"You can be so sweet and generous, Vlad… But around him…" she shook her head. "You really hurt him this morning."

"He was out of line; he required punishment-"

"Vlad." Stern, thorny. "You want us to raise him together, don't you?"

"Yes, absolutely," Vlad replied, and he leaned in closer than their conversation required.

"Raising a child is about compromises, Vlad. I don't believe in punishment like that."

His eyes lowered to her lips. "Compromises could be made."

"No more physical punishments. Or punishments of any kind without running them past me."

"And what if the boy misbehaves?"

"I'll handle him."

"I see…" Vlad murmured. It was crystal clear that he had long since lost the weight of the conversation, and was simply replying on autopilot.

"Do you agree, Vlad?" Maddie inquired, tone rising nervously.

Vlad's lips gently parted – for a moment, Maddie believed he was going to give his reply, and then his lips brushed hers.

"G-aack!" Maddie shot out of his arms as if stung.

Vlad gazed after her with tranquil alarm, as if bewildered why she was suddenly five feet away, yet also too complacent to really mind. "Maddie, dear…?" His fingers touched his lips and lingered. His eyes were distant and unnervingly soft.

"I-I - I want to take it slow!" She flailed for an excuse and then rushed to add, "like we did in college!"

"I…. yes." Vlad cleared his throat, and shot her a smile, like they shared some thrilling secret. "Yes, of course. Slow. Just like in college."

Maddie could have laid down right there on the floor in relief. "Now, I should get back to Danny… the poor boy is probably wondering where I'm at."

"Yes, yes." Vlad's fingers touched his lips again idly, as if the sensation of the brief kiss had not quite left. "Tomorrow. Dinner. That, that is to say – I'll have dinner prepared tomorrow. Six sharp, Maddie. I'll expect you and Danny both, naturally."

Maddie agreed to the meal and darted from the hallway as quick as she could, her heart racing and her skin feeling unnaturally cool.

It was only several hallways away that she slowed, and leaned heavily against the wall, taking in deep breaths.

She must have remained there for a solid five minutes, breathing in and out, surrounded by the needless wealth that characterized every inch of Vlad's mansion.

Then, quietly, she slipped on her wedding band.