Chapter 17: That's Unexpected

When I finally went to my shared bedroom, both Taylor and Irene were there waiting for me.

"Where were you?" Taylor threw her arms around me.

I wrapped my arms around Taylor and looked at Irene. She had a face of worry. "I was with the Fenton's with K and Vlad."

Irene looked surprised. "Vlad? Mister 'I hate Jack Fenton' took you and K to see the Fentons?" She shrugged her shoulders in confusion. "What for?"

"They've been doing studies on Infatuation's victims." I told her.

Her face scrunched in confusion. "Then why weren't O and I invited?"

My thoughts slowed down and when it became clear, I groaned. "Vlad was only thinking about himself. And because he still has this obsession with me, of course he had to bring K."

Taylor scoffed and finally let me go. "What a jerk."

"I'll talk to O about seeing the Fenton's tomorrow." Irene yawned. "So what did the Fenton's do?"

I rubbed my arm and thought about what happened. "Um, it turns out that the victims, and anyone involved with them, have a chemical imbalance. So they're given a diet and shots to balance it." Irene nodded. "And, it turns out K was also affected by Infatuation." They both gasped. "And since we're the first to have two victims with one 'person of interest' they'll be doing studies on us."

"Will it hurt?" Taylor asked worriedly. I shook my head.

"I am definitely talking about this to O." Irene sighed. "We'll talk about this later. Right now we need to sleep."

We all agreed, Taylor agreed reluctantly, and slept in our respectful beds.

The next day Irene and I did our morning routine before Taylor came into our room. "So what is this scary new experiment you're gonna do?" Taylor asked.

"It's not scary," I reassured her. "I'm just going to be with Vlad and K more often, rather than just Vlad. Then the Fenton's are going to perform studies."

"What kind of studies?" Irene asked.

"I'm not sure," I honestly said. "I think they're checking our hearts and hormones in some way."

Irene nodded. "I wouldn't doubt that Fenton's made something advanced enough to check human hormones. But, Vlad isn't exactly entirely human. It's possible that his ghost half will cause a setback since it is a secret."

I felt a wave of dread. How did I forget about Vlad being Plasmius. "Vlad isn't going to let anyone know he's a halfa."

"Especially not the operatives." Irene agreed. "How they reacted to a teenage boy being a halfa, I wouldn't want to see how they would react to an adult being a halfa."

How could Clockwork put Vlad in so much danger. I know he couldn't predict the future with the Russel's interfering, but there had to be another way.

"Well," Taylor started, "he is a bad guy, so should we care about what happens to him?"

"Taylor!" I shouted in horror.

"I mean,"

I cut Irene off before she could defend Taylor's thought. "I am not going to throw someone under the bus like that. Especially when we're under such pressure."

Irene and Taylor gave each other a look and looked back at me.

"Jeanette," Irene sighed. "You have a big heart, but sometimes you just forget to put yourself first. Vlad could be worsening your condition. It could be worsening K's condition." She put a hand on my shoulder. "We don't want to force a decision on you, we just want what's best for you."

I shrugged off Irene's hand. "Vlad and K agreed to work together. I'm not going to break my promise to Vlad, much less sabotage Vlad's growth as a person. I know when to put myself first, and I know now is not the time to do that." I huffed and quickly walked out of the room before doing something I would regret.

The first person to greet me was Lilith in the kitchen. She was drinking coffee and eating a breakfast sandwich at the kitchen island. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." She pointed at the coffee machine behind her on the counter. "There's some liquid joy to fix that up."

"Morning, Lilith." I poured myself coffee in the first mug I found.

"You doing alright girlie?" She asked in a worried tone.

I wonder if anyone has been saying anything to Lilith. "You know how Vlad is a victim of Infatuation?" She nodded. "K is too." She almost choked on her food. "So we're going to the Fenton's for some help." I poured creamer in my coffee and stirred it with a spoon.

"Oh, honey." She walked up to me and gave me a side hug. "You know you're lovable without some ghost's spell."

I felt taken back by that. "I know that, but my problem is bigger than that." I looked at Lilith and whispered. "Vlad's second half might be complicating things."

Her eyes widen with recognition. "Oh, I never even thought of that." She refilled her half full mug. "Well, have y'all talked about it?"

"I didn't even think about it until this morning." I shake my head. "How am I supposed to bring it up to him?" I stared at my mug and placed it down. The urge to drink, or eat, anything left.

Lilith hummed in thought. "I could always talk to him. I am his secretary." She gave me a smile.

A slight relief washed over me. But, it would take longer to get Vlad's reaction. In personal matters, it was always better ripping the bandaid off rather than slowly peeling it off. "Thanks Lilith but, this is something personal. I should be the one telling him."

"Who are you telling what?" O came walking in.

"Don't worry about it." Lilith shrugged off the question. "It's not really any of your business."

"Well, is it K's business?" O asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

I shook my head and made room for O. "It's more Vlad's business." I saw O's brows lower. "It isn't anything bad, just something we haven't talked about in a while." I picked my mug up and drank it to avoid stares.

O took a long sip of his coffee. "Speaking about those two, have either one of you seen them?"

Lilith and I shook our heads.

"I'll go check in Vlad's study room." I walked towards the door with coffee in hand.

"Well if you see K send him my way." O called out, I waved my hand in understanding.

Walking towards the study, I felt nervous. How will Vlad take the information? Would he cut the Fenton's out and perform his own studies? Get rid of the Guys in White? Vlad was not the most rational person.

As I made it to the door I gave a shaky knock. After not hearing anything I decided to open the door just in case. I was not prepared to handle what I saw. There against the desk was Vlad, pinned by K who was kissing him. I dropped my mug, the rug at the entrance cushioned the fall, but soaked up the spilled coffee.

"What?" Was the only word that came out of my mouth.

As if burned, K practically jumped back. He almost stumbled but stood upright a few feet away.

Vlad gave a scowl then fixed his rumpled clothing. His face then morphed into one of shook. "What in the blazes just happened?"

"I would also like to know." I closed the door behind me.

"We were just arguing." K rubbed his head in confusion.

"It could have something to do with our case." Vlad rubbed his chin in thought. "A new development due to negative emotions."

K nodded. "Yeah." He looked at me, eyebrows knitted in worry. "Um, I should get going. I didn't tell O where I was going." He quickly walked towards the door. I stepped aside so he could open. "I'll be back later."

"He's in the kitchen." I called out before he left. I bent down and grabbed the mug I dropped. "Sorry about the rug."

Vlad waved his hand in dismissal. "I'll have it replaced. What brings you here Miss Velia?"

I fidgeted with the mug. "We need to talk."

"Oh?"

I took a deep breath and locked the door. "It's about you."

"I know."

Confusion wrapped my mind. "You do?"

He looked almost guilty. "I sent a clone to go fetch you. It overhead what you and your friends were speaking of." He wrung his hands. "It was for a similar reason as to what the Operative and I were discussing before." He motioned towards himself and the desk. "He wanted the three of us to give blood samples. Samples I can not offer for obvious reasons." His head lowered as he looked at me. "You know why I can not freely give bodily samples."

Walking up to him I nodded. "The operatives can't know, no matter what. Your secret is safe with me."

The opposite of what I thought would happen happened. His eyes turned red and he glared at me. "Then why did your friends know?"

Oh, I knew I was forgetting something crucial. But, it wasn't just that. "We never talked about Clockwork, did we?"

Recognition crossed Vlad's face. "How could I forget, it was how I found you." He ran a hand through his messy hair. "What is your connection with the ghost world?"

"My only connection is Clockwork. He was the one that sent me here in the first place." There really wasn't a reason not to tell him.

"I remember him saying you were not from this timeline." His fingers brushed my forearm. "What timeline are you from? The future, the past, a time that never came, or time that was erased?" He looked distressed.

I entwined our hands as a form of comfort. "I won't lie, I wasn't supposed to exist, at least not here. But, something happened. Someone else who wasn't supposed to exist is disrupting this timeline. My friends and I were sent here to stop them somehow. I don't know how, but-"

"But, once it's done you'll be gone." Vlad tightens his grip. His face was blank. "I never want you to leave." His eyes were red again. "You can stay here, live with me, there isn't a reason you have to go." Steam rose from his form.

"Vlad," I hushed, "that isn't my call."

"But you can't leave!" He shouted. "I'll be alone again, I can't be alone again. You're not Maddie, you can't be Maddie. Please don't leave." He threw his arms around me and sobbed. "Don't leave me." He repeated the phrase like a prayer.

My hands rubbed his back. This wasn't normal behavior for Vlad. Something must be wrong. "We need to call the Fenton's"

His grip tightened. "They'll dissect me, they won't understand."

I petted his hair. They accepted their own son twice. Granted Maddie might have second thoughts since it's Vlad, but Jack wouldn't. "Jack loves you like family, they'll understand."

"But I've treated him like a fool."

I kissed his temple. "And he's forgiven you every time. It'll be fine, I promise."

"And the operatives?" He sniffled.

"No." It was my turn to tighten my grip. "We won't tell them a thing."

A/N: Finally closer to the boss level