Balshumet: Wow yeah, I know this is way longer update lag than usual for me, but on the other hand, life suddenly went "BLAM! I exist, remember me?" what with summer semester for college starting, spring semester ending and everything. In any case, this chapter is all about the Drama! The emotions run high inside, to make up for all of the hitting the last two chapters. There's nothing else to really announce here and no specific warnings for the chapter, though for my readers who are Vlad/Maddie squeamish(and if you are still reading my stuff and are, I wouldn't know why) there's some small interactions here, but you can pretend they are just being good friends...(until you get to the next arc, then you'll flambe me.)
Now for the disclaimer: Nothing has changed between this chapter and the last. I still do not own Danny Phantom, no matter how I wish it will all of my might, or the last season would have gone differently. Butch Hartman and the "wonderful" people at Nick own Danny Phantom. Please do not sue, you will get no cash.
And now, for the emotionally charged story! Cya at the bottom!
If Some Things are Inevitable…
Sunday morning rose well before either Vlad or Danny were ready to greet it. Despite Vlad's early riser status, the last 24 hours had been harrowing to say the least.
For the first time since teenhood, he slept well past mid-morning, only appearing a little before noon at the beckoning of his stomach.
Danny, was more than happy to curl up in a bed and sleep till Armageddon, until he smelled something wonderful wafting up the stairs and into the bedroom. He was sharing what would be his room in the future with Vlad. The future arch-nemesis had graciously offered Danny the one bed in the room, opting to sleep on the floor. Which was just fine with a sleep addled Danny, because sharing a bed with Vlad was still on his 'never happening' list. Though he had to admit, the lists' items had been changed a lot recently, with 'stay inside Vlad's house' and 'fight with him willingly' being struck from it.
He slowly uncurled as the delicious scent twisted under his nose, enticing him from the bowels of sleep. He cast a blurry-eyed furtive glance around the room, hoping to feign sleep if Vlad was still around. Finding nothing but the inside of his currently sparsely decorated bedroom, Danny shrugged the covers off and shuffled towards the door. There wasn't a clock to be seen, so he didn't know the time, but his stomach obviously determined it was time for food. He clopped down the stairs and turned towards the kitchen; where he could hear someone clattering cookware together to make food.
Vlad was making a smorgasbord. He couldn't remember being quite this hungry in awhile, but he assumed it has something to do with the battle yesterday and the few days before that. He smiled down at the practical breakfast buffet he was making. True enough it was officially time for lunch, but he didn't care. He looked over his shoulder when he heard Danny stumble down the stairs and into the kitchen. "I see the smell of food woke you up." He turned around to stir a pot of oatmeal while he waited for Danny process his sentence.
"Yeah. It smells good." His brain was working on monosyllabic at the moment. He lifted his tired head from the table and looked over at the stove. "What are you making?"
"Oatmeal, bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, pancakes, and waffles. Plus toast, in a second or two." Vlad flipped over a pancake as the waffle iron went off next to him.
"Wow. Is, um, that all for you?" Danny only barely lifted his head from the table to ask, before setting it back down.
Vlad snorted in response to the innocent question. "Of course not Daniel. You don't expect me to eat this by myself? Well, I feel like I could at the moment, but I'm not going to." He paused to slap the newest waffle onto the plate of them he was collecting and finished off the pancakes.
Danny smiled into the table top. He was way too tired to think about cooking something at the moment, and sore on top of it. Something vaguely concerning tickled at the back of his mind, and he looked around the kitchen. His eyes finally settled on the clock in the room, before widening in surprise. "It's nearly half past noon, where's everyone else?"
"Maddie is in the lab, Jack has gone grocery shopping, Jasmine is in the living room you just passed without care, and the two of us are in the kitchen." Vlad plopped several of the eggs he had just cracked into the hot skillet. "How do you want your eggs? I'm feeling over-easy today, but something tells me you want scrambled as usual."
"Um, I'll eat them however you want them, I don't really care at the moment as long as it's food." Danny looked over towards the stack of hot waffles and pancakes on the counter next to the stove. "Can I get some of those?" He didn't wait for a response, already walking over to the cabinet where his family kept the silverware and plates to make himself one.
"Of course you can, take whatever you like, the dishes are-" Vlad turned around to find Danny already behind him, reaching for a big fluffy waffle. Vlad raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, determining to put it on his 'still unexplained' list about Danny. If he was luckily, he'd get a chance to ask about it later.
Danny loaded his plate with bacon, hash browns, waffles, and the first two over-easy eggs Vlad made. He looked forlornly over at the near finished oatmeal, realizing he both had no more room on his plate, and had forgotten to bring a bowl.
Vlad rolled his eyes when he saw Danny's face. "Oh for heaven's sake, it's not going anywhere Daniel; I'll bring it to you in a minute. Just grab the syrup from the cabinet and go start eating." He watched in interest as Danny did just that, neither asking where the specific cabinet was nor looking for the shelf it was sitting on. Two points for the uncanny knowledge category and he's been up all of 15 minutes. Vlad mused before finishing off the eggs and stirring the oatmeal one last time.
"Ooo, what smells so delicious?" A voice carried from the living room and back into the kitchen.
"Breakfast, well more like brunch at this point." Vlad answered calmly fixing himself a plate. He reached into the upper cabinetry for a bowl and balanced it with his own food haul.
Maddie walked into the kitchen, Jasmine balanced on her hip. She wasn't in the blue hazmat suit typical of when she worked in the lab, having changed a few minutes back to clean up from lab work. "You cooked? With what, the cabinets are nearly bare." Maddie set Jasmine into her high chair next to Danny nearly frantically piling food into his mouth. "Good morning Daniel." She said while walking towards where Vlad was finishing the balancing act with his own food and the bowl of oatmeal Danny had asked for.
"Guf murnin'" Danny said behind a mouth full of food.
"I made it from scratch. There was plenty of milk and flour to go around, so it was simple." Vlad stepped around Maddie to set his plate and Danny's bowl onto the table.
Maddie was about to fix herself something when she noticed a plate already loaded with her favorites.
"Pancakes, turkey bacon, hash browns and scrambled eggs right?" Vlad called from his position inside the fridge. He looked over the top of the refrigerator door at a pleasantly surprised Maddie. He chuckled and grabbed the last of the orange juice from the door. "You ate it every time I made breakfast for the four of us, so I figured-"
"Four?" Danny had paused in his food vacuum behavior long enough to get a clear question out of his mouth.
"Yes, Maddie and her roommate, plus Jack and I." Vlad set the juice onto the table and settled into a seat besides Maddie.
"I can't believe you remember crazy stuff like this, it's been years." Maddie poured out some baby food for her daughter into a bowl, ready to balancing feeding Jasmine and herself at once per usual.
"Oh come on, I fixed it for breakfast like three times a week, give me some credit." Vlad shot back with a smirk.
The female ghost hunter watched as Danny finished his first plate and practically bum rushed the kitchen counter for seconds. "The food isn't going anywhere Daniel." She smiled around her fork as he tried to Tetris more food onto his apparently too small plate.
"You're so wrong about that. It's definitely going somewhere." Danny settled back into his seat next to Jasmine, fork already posed at his lips. "Its destination is Dannyville, population my stomach."
Maddie rolled her eyes and nudged Vlad sitting next to her. "And what's with you?" She asked to the second person practically inhaling his food at the table. "I haven't seen you eat like this since that time we got caught in the woods for three days and Jack forgot to pack the rations."
Vlad gulped down the last of his waffle before answering, "I didn't actually eat much yesterday, and because of all that running we did I'm starving." He emphasized his point by heading back to the nearly half gone spread for a second plate himself. He decidedly neglected to mention he was always this hungry after he expended a lot of ghost energy. He sat back into his seat and suppressed a laugh as Jasmine valiantly avoided her mother's attempts at feeding her.
Maddie's face settled into a small frown as Jasmine dodged the spoon for a fifth time and then reached for her plate instead. "No." The mother said while moving her plate farther out of Jasmine's reach.
Jasmine let out a frustrated whine and leaned over farther while still avoiding the spoon. When the plate moved again, the frustration became anger and she let out a short scream.
"No, Jasmine." Her mother continued to move the plate away from the determined infant.
Vlad poked the new mother in her side to get her attention. "Why don't I try for a few minutes? You finish breakfast, and I'll play Dodge the Spoon with peanut." He got up to switch places with an increasing flustered looking Maddie.
She sighed and looked back at her currently growing ice cold plate of food. "I don't know, I mean, you're still hungry too." She watched as Vlad waved her off and began to nudge her into his old seat.
"I've already had a whole plate; I'll be fine for a few minutes." He smiled when Maddie relinquished her seat and began eating her food again.
Danny watched the exchange with growing malaise. For the few minutes he had been too hungry to consider anything else, the fact Vlad was eating breakfast with his mom and sister in the kitchen of his house hadn't bothered him. Now, it was all too clear how wrong everything was and he couldn't manage to un-think the sentiment that none of this was supposed to be happening.
Vlad watched as Jasmine grew increasingly more upset with the lack of table food being presented for her to eat. "Where in the world did she get the idea any of this was for her anyway?"
"Jack sometimes feeds her stuff off of his plate when I'm not looking. I keep telling him she's too young to be on serious solids with all the spices in it, but he doesn't listen." Maddie pursed her lips as she thought about the last time Jasmine had gotten a hold of real food. "And he's usually gone or busy by the time the results of it hit her stomach."
Vlad hummed in thought before turning his back completely to Maddie to block his next trick. He turned his hand and the spoon of baby food intangible and stuck it into Jasmine's stunned cheek, slipping it completely inside before only phasing the spoon and not the food inside of it. The Gerber's plopped inside Jasmine's still closed mouth, and Vlad quickly removed the spoon from the inside of her face, turning it tangible. He watched in smug satisfaction as the baby swallowed, eyes still practically bugged out of her head. That trick always did shock her into eating.
Jasmine slowly blinked her eyes before letting out an excited squeal. She kicked her legs and opened her mouth, now more than interested in eating after feeling the fun tingle of intangibility.
Danny watched the whole exchange as a stunned look slowly crossed his face. He couldn't believe how blatant Vlad had just been with his powers. Admittedly, he wasn't the poster boy for inconspicuous sometimes, but the audacity of using his powers with his mom right behind him…it just seemed amazingly shortsighted.
Maddie grabbed her plate and was headed for the sink when she heard Jasmine squeal. The house wife/inventor watched muted fondness as Vlad spooned mashed bananas into Jasmine's much more cooperative mouth. She shook her head and slid back into the seat next to him. "I can't believe you got her to eat. She's so stubborn when she gets like that."
"Oh I'm very convincing when I need to be."
"That's true, and you are the only one who can get her to eat when she's in that kind of mood." Maddie reached over began cleaning up the rest of the table. "I'm still not sure how you convinced us to let you pay for staying here. I mean, you need a new car, and your insurance doesn't pay for acts of God, which is basically what a ghost attack is, and you don't have anything you could sell left. Your whole apartment went up in smoke last night. Why are you paying to stay again?" Maddie shuffled the last of the dirty plates into the sink to be washed later. No doubt by Vlad with his OCD tendencies. She leaned against the kitchen counter and watched the rest of the room.
There were times, like these, when it honestly felt like her life was missing something. She had her husband and her amazing little girl, but sometimes she wished Vlad was here too. He was more than simply helpful, he was one of her closest friends, and came up with the best ideas to help move her family's scientific work forward if they were stuck on something. It was why she was in the lab this morning, Vlad had said something offhandedly last night and it had set off a chain of thoughts in her sleep that left her with an 'eureka' moment when she awoke this morning.
"Because I'm staying in your house, eating your food, using your utilities, and so is Daniel. I have to provide something having two extra people around can't be easy for you financially."
"But you have so much to replace."
"I don't have to move immediately, your quite generous offer for an indefinite stay was very clear last night when we talked it over. If I'm staying here as long as I need, then at least I can pay for something. I still have a job, besides, if I don't buy the groceries we'll all starve." Vlad finished half-joking.
The Fenton's weren't the best with money at the moment, both the adults still used to the single lifestyle without a new baby to suck up most of the funds. They over spent their budget every once in a while, and Vlad pitched in by overpaying for meals that the Fenton's insisted were free, claiming it was for eating through their groceries. Neither party thought anything of the arrangement, and the Fenton's were getting much better about their budget.
"Still, I'm sure that saving all of your money, not paying us, at least for the first two months, would help that significantly." Maddie walked back over to the table, ready to get more comfortable on the couch in the living room.
Vlad scrunched his brows as Maddie lifted her child from her seat by the table. Danny was nowhere to be found. Knowing him, he's vacated the area out of awkwardness. "Perhaps, but I'm not going to be freeloading around here. Besides, even if you don't want me to pay, someone has to pay for Daniel until he gets a job."
Maddie sighed and walked back into the living room. Sure, she didn't want Vlad handing over money he'd need to replace the several thousand dollars he'd lost over the last 24 hours, but she couldn't deny they needed the money. If not for Vlad staying, then for Danny. They didn't have any real savings at the moment, and what they did have was being eaten up repairing that huge hole in their roof. Even though Jack was out getting supplies for them to fix it, and between the three of them it would be done by the end of the month, it cost money they didn't have at the moment. "Alright. I can accept money for that at least." She settled bonelessly onto the couch and looked up towards where her ceiling should be. The ghost hunter scowled as the open air from outside shifted the tarp up and temporarily revealed the sky.
Vlad followed her eyes up and grimaced when he noticed the second hole in the roof. I really should have just thrown him out of the hole he had already made. Though I might have some news to cheer her up. "I didn't tell you which ghost Daniel and I ran into yesterday did I?" He leaned over the edge of the couch watching as she flipped a little more aggressively than necessarily through the channels on the television.
"No you didn't, you just said it was pretty annoying." She stopped on MTV to listen to a song by Motley Crew.
"It was the ghost that came through the roof on Wednesday." He waited for her to digest the information over her attention on the music.
"Wait, you mean the one who was able to remove energy out of other ghosts?" She patted Jasmine's back and looked over her shoulder at Vlad.
He was the picture of calm confidence as he related how the two of them had destroyed Dracul, with careful omissions of course, and some out right bullshit for good measure. "It was really a lucky shot, the last blow. For a second, I was sure I was going to be ghost food. Luckily, that ecto-blaster of yours is nicely calibrated. What are you calling that by the way?"
"Well I haven't decided, but right now the only thing I can manage to call it is 'damn'."
"Why's that?" Vlad walked around the couch and sat next to her on the side closer to Jasmine.
"Because it's always, 'damn this circuit blew', 'damn it, it's sucked up another entire pack of batteries, 'damn that stupid gun.'. At this point, it's been called 'damn' more than anything else, so why not?"
Vlad scoffed and picked up his 'niece'. "I can see it now, 'Damn!' it supplies all your ghost hunting needs." Vlad felt his heart flutter at the sound of Maddie's light giggling. He loved that sound.
"Oh yeah, that's a real seller. No matter if you are angry or excited, it'll fit perfectly." Maddie rolled her eyes skyward, and glanced at the clock in the living room. Jack should be back by now. She thought absentmindedly. She heard her daughter giggle when their new boarder tickled her stomach. She had to admit, Vlad was surprisingly good with children.
"Damn!"
The sudden exclamation caught both of the adults off guard. Jasmine giggled some more, and happily repeated herself a few more times.
Vlad and Maddie blinked down at the cursing giggling infant in front of them in shock. Slowly their eyes connected as they processed Jasmine's behavior.
"Maddie?"
"Yes Vlad?"
"We're going to have to stop cursing aren't we?" Vlad frowned when Jasmine cursed again, oblivious to the actual meaning of the word.
"Yeah, I'm also going to have to fill out Jasmine's 'First's' book with that as her first word. Maybe this will come back to embarrass her later." Maddie glanced down at her now more settled daughter, whining for attention since her cries hadn't seemed to work as she liked.
"And I'm going to have to run upstairs and beat you if you don't stop that da-danish filled laughter Daniel."
Danny was doubled over in a giggling fit. As if the ridiculous exchange about what to name one of his parent's ecto-guns wasn't enough, his sister decided to interrupt in the best way possible. Oh Jazz will never live this down. He sucked in some air in a large gasp and continued laughing.
"Danish filled-"
"It was the best I could come up with mid-word."
"Hey I think it's a great idea, what else would a Fruitloop curse on but baked goods?" Danny stood over the banister suppressing giggles on the stairs to complete the sentence. Vlad's impromptu confectionery exclamation was the highlight of his day so far.
"Alright that's it!" Vlad quickly handed Jasmine back to her mother before bounding over the back of the couch. "You're one dead badger Daniel." Vlad rushed towards the stairs as Danny let out a squeak.
The teen hero bounded up the last stair and ran for his room, right as Vlad reached the first step. Danny closed and locked the door behind him and made for the window, to lock it just as a precaution.
"You know Daniel; one would think after having ghost powers for a year, you'd learn how to neutralize them better." Vlad leaned against the inside of the door arms crossed. A pillow sailed across the room and bounced off of his face and into his hands.
Danny had a second pillow in his hands at the ready, a wide grin pressed to his lips. Somewhere between breakfast and Jasmine's first real word, he had forgotten all about ever being antagonistic towards Vlad.
"You must be joking. Do I look five years old to you?"
"No." Danny said while stepping around the bed to face Vlad. "But I definitely feel five." With that last statement, Danny rushed forward.
Maddie jumped on the couch when she heard a crash emanating from the room above her. She was about to head upstairs to investigate when she heard Jack screech to a halt outside. Directly following that, she heard another sound from upstairs. She looked quickly from the ceiling to the front door, making her decision when she heard the RV door slam. She shifted Jasmine father back on her hip as she reached for the front door.
Jack was likely to be burdened down with groceries, and would appreciate the help.
Maddie swung open the door to greet her husband and was instead greeted by an entirely unexpected sight.
Jack was wrestling not with groceries or supplies from the hardware store but a bundle of electronics. They all had the symbol for Axiom labs on the side. Some of it was in the shape of ecto-weapons, but the majority of it was bits, odds, and ends. Jack shoved the stuff in his hands into an over-flowing box in the trunk, before hefting the whole load into his arms. He turned from the trunk to find a very confused wife staring back. "Maddie!" He called loudly from his position right next to the rear of the RV. His orange clad form bounded up the few stairs to his home, Maddie quickly moving to allow him into the house.
"Jack, what is-"
"Do you like it baby?" Jack interrupted while wriggling the box to and fro.
"What's in there Jack? What happened to the groceries?" Maddie admitted; her husband could be scatter-brained. The groceries are probably still sitting inside the RV. She thought with a roll of her eyes.
"I got all these great ghost hunting electronics and weapons from the Axiom depo. They were selling them to make room for more new stuff in their inventory. This stuff was all just declassified! It's the latest in civilian tech. an-"
"Sweetheart that's wonderful, but where are the groceries and hardware store supplies you bought earlier?" Sometimes he can get so engrossed. Maddie set her daughter down into a baby swing to free up her hands to help Jack.
Jack scrunched up his face in concentration. Stopping in the middle of a rant about ghosts always threw him off, but still… "What groceries Maddie?"
"You know," she started while browsing through the family's newest electronic haul, "the ones you were supposed to be buying this morning from the U'Shop'N'Save." She picked through the broken and falling apart mechanics, waiting for Jack's answer.
Jack picked up a particularly rusted piece and began gutting it for the expensive high-end hardware. "Oh those! I didn't get a chance to get over there." Jack began levering off another rusted component with a screw driver.
Maddie dropped the piece she was currently working with into the table with a resounding thud rivaling the noise coming from upstairs. "What do you mean?" She managed to make the question sound like an accusation as well. "Just how much money did you spend on this," she paused to gesture across the kitchen table, "junk Jack?"
"Aw Mads. This ain't junk." Jack pouted under the increasing glare of his wife.
"Answer the question!" She slammed her hand against the table as another crash came from upstairs.
Daniel's done it this time. Vlad thought while dodging another hastily thrown pillow. It slammed into the night stand, upending it, and sending both its contents and the items on its top crashing onto the floor. The older halfa winced at the sound, sure it would bring at turns curious and then furious Maddie up the stairs.
Danny stood crouched on the opposite side of the room, atop the bureau. He balanced on the edge on the balls of his feet, one last pillow in hand. He was having the time of his life. Not only was he able to get some of his latent anger, about Vlad, out on Vlad; he was able to do it all without ending up tossed through a wall or some other hard solid object. He jumped down and ran towards the dismayed Vlad across the room.
Vlad tripped Danny's legs out from under him. He snatched the pillow from Danny's stunned hands on the way down, and sat on top of him, straddling his hips for good measure.
Danny twisted up to grab the pillow only to be rewarded with a bop to the head.
"Give up little badger; you've lost." Vlad smacked him in the face again when Danny made another attempt for it.
"No fair! Since when is pinning and wrestling part of a pillow fight?" Danny half-whined and reached for the pillow again.
"Say 'Uncle' Daniel." Vlad suppressed a laugh at the ferocious pout Danny was sending him. Somehow, Daniel manages to bring the most childish behavior out of me. He's like the bratty little brother you can't help but love anyway.
"Fine Unkie Vlad. You win." Danny firmly interrupted Vlad's thoughts.
Vlad chuckled while moving to stand up. He used his extra height to deliver a final stinging slap to the face with the pillow. "That's Uncle Vlad to you, brat."
"Yeah whatever." Danny responded. Vlad turned his back to survey the damage their 'little' fight had caused, giving Danny the perfect idea. He was about to sneak in another hit across the back of Vlad's head, when he heard someone scream from downstairs.
"How the hell could you do this to us?"
Danny and Vlad shared a look, after hearing the voice carry up the stairway.
Danny quickly tossed his raised pillow away in favor of heading towards the door. The curious teenager peaked out of the door frame just as he heard his father's surprised voice rush up the stairs.
"I haven't done anything wrong!"
"What are you talking about? Jack, we don't have the money for frivolous purchases like this."
"Maddie calm down."
"Calm? I am calm! I'll tell you when I'm not calm!"
Vlad tossed the younger half a look and motioned towards the back of the house.
Danny reluctantly followed, pulling away from the sudden fight below.
They walked to a spot in the back hallway leading up to the current attic, and what would be the OPS center in the future.
Danny was about to question their position, it was farther away from the kitchen fight he was eavesdropping on, when Vlad winked and stuck his head clean through the floor. More than a little shocked, Danny hesitantly followed his lead, and found himself staring down into the kitchen. Wow! This is perfect. Not to self: eavesdropping is simpler in the back hall. He swept his eyes over the state of the kitchen. His mother's arms were settled on her hips, glaring a fierce storm at his alternatively flabbergasted and furious father."Jack just what are we supposed to do for food? Or about those holes in the roof?"
"I-er, well…" Jack hedged. "I'm sure Vladdie-"
"Vlad's the one who gave me the money for the groceries this time! The man who just had every possession he owns blow up on him doled out the money you just threw away on gadgets and crap!" Maddie pointed an angry accusatory finger in Jack's direction.
"Well gosh Mads, I'm-"
"I don't care how sorry you are Jack! We have a daughter to feed, two holes in our house, no money to buy either groceries or supplies, and you spend the cash we do have on junk!"
"This equipment isn't junk!" Jack valiantly defended.
"Well I can't feed my child microprocessors and spectral resistors Jack Fenton, so it might as well be."
"Don't you go getting all high and mighty on me! I'm not the only one who spends money on stuff we don't need." Jack's voice wavered heavily with accusation.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"You're the one who bought a whole new wardrobe last month, when you had perfectly good clothes at home."
"You mean the maternity wear? Or maybe the clothes from before my hips got stretched out by your kid?" Maddie hissed out at Jack.
Danny felt something poke into his shoulder and slipped his head back through the floor. "What?" He said nervous. The fight was beginning to take on severe tones, and he had a feeling something bad was going to happen. He had all but dismissed the possibility, the apartment being destroyed, and his own presence seriously mucking everything up, but now it seemed to be a significant possibility again.
"Let's get out of here. It's still early and the park is a short walk from here. We could disappear until they decide to be more amicable." Vlad could practically feel the awkward energy coming off of Danny in waves. He wasn't sure why the Fenton's arguing was so upsetting to him, on the other hand, it really didn't matter.
"Uh yeah sure." Danny pushed up from his position on the floor, and started back towards his future room. He paused as he passed the stairs, a new sound catching his attention. "Hey Vlad, do you hear someone crying?"
Vlad stopped next to Danny and leaned over the banister overlooking the living room. In a matter of seconds, he spotted the source of the wails; 6 month old Jasmine bawling her eyes out. Vlad frowned as the argument and Jasmine's cries reached new heights. "Say, you wouldn't mind if we brought peanut with us, would you little badger?"
Danny was about to protest when he heard his parent's lively disagreement reach 'incoherent scream' level. If he didn't want to be around all this anger and noise, there was no way his sister did. So he looked back over at Vlad, and shrugged his shoulders. At the very least, Vlad would be taking care of all the babysitting duties, so he had nothing to worry about.
Vlad smiled, gratefully, over at Danny before walking off to find the needed supplies. It took 15 more minutes than he thought it would, it seemed that kids require half a store's worth of items to go anywhere, but it wasn't like the fighting had died down any. If he had to judge, he'd say it had only gotten worse. Vlad silently slunk down the stairs, scooped up Jasmine, and made a beeline for the front door.
Danny was quick on the elder halfa's heels, stopping only briefly to contemplate the nasty severity of the 'lover's quarrel' going on behind him.
"So how far is this park anyway?" Danny shuffled along after Vlad, holding the baby carrier in his left hand. The fight had him more than a little uneasy, especially since he had an idea of what it would cause, but still he didn't want to be walking around forever. Danny was still tired from the battle with Dracul the day before, and any amount of serious effort, and at this point walking qualified, made him want to curl up in bed for a week.
"Not too far, just a few blocks. More than long enough for a conversation not meant for mixed company." Vlad nonchalantly replied.
Danny winced. He had been hoping Vlad would just drop that line of conversation after the diner exploded and all, but apparently he was more determined than a dog with a bone. "A conversation about what?"
"Don't be ridiculous Daniel, about your ghost powers of course."
Danny sighed and rubbed his free hand on his neck. "I thought we already had this conversation?"
"No. What we had was a game of twenty questions where you answered about two out of every ten. I'm not really satisfied with how that conversation went, but I'll allow you your former stipulations. You don't have to answer anything you don't want to." Vlad stepped off the curb and began crossing the street towards a fenced in area.
Danny hesitated on the other side of the street. He recognized where they were going now. The park was a favorite of his when he was a child. It was only about five blocks from Fentonworks, and had an assortment of childhood favorites, including swings and a jungle gym, making it a popular destination for families. Especially, in the evening in of summers, when it the light from the sun lasted into the late evening and the air was warm but no longer blazing.
"Are you coming?" Vlad was leaning against the green fence surrounding the park; already well ahead of the stalled Danny.
As if I really have a choice, it's either awkward conversation with Vlad, or listening to my parents argue. Danny shrugged his shoulders, as best he could with his burden, and started across the street. This was really the lesser of two evils.
The two of them walked into a deserted park.
The lack of people surprised Danny, who then had to, once again, recall the time in which he resided. It was likely most of the families moved to Amity Park sometime in the future, causing the lack of kids running around to make more sense. Vlad probably knew this place would be deserted too. Danny shoved a tingle of discomfort away at the thought of being alone with Vlad. Despite the fact he and Vlad had nearly died fighting together just barely 24 hours previous, he still didn't trust him farther than he could be blasted. Most of the time at least. He noted with growing apprehension. Danny nearly jumped when the older halfa grabbed the baby carrier out of his hand. He had been so engrossed that Vlad moving around to his left side had gone unnoticed.
Jasmine had been surprising quiet during the entire walk. The yelling in the house, and the subsequent crying she had done, had tired her out. At the moment, she was just enjoying the peace and quiet, and had no intentions on doing much but relax.
Danny made a beeline for the swings. If he was going to be subject to an unwanted conversation with Vlad of all people, he was at least going to be comfortable.
Vlad quickly joined him, setting Jasmine in the baby swing to free up his hands. "So Daniel, could I ask your opinion about something?"
Danny eyed Vlad suspiciously. He had been sure the next thing out of his cunning future arch-enemy would be a question about his powers. Now he seemed to want to talk about something else entirely. "About what?" Danny hedged. He wasn't about to agree to help with something he knew nothing about.
"I was wondering what to get for Maddie for her birthday. You seem creative enough, so I thought you might have some interesting suggestions."
The teen hero let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. So that was it. "Dude her birthday is only like two weeks away." Danny rolled his eyes. Honestly, you'd think someone professing to be in love with my mother would know what to get her. "You had better think of something quick, or you'll run out of time. She loves azaleas, but I'm sure Jack will get her those. I mean she also likes ghost hunting stuff, so maybe some really nice-what are you looking like that for?" Danny fidgeted under Vlad's intense gaze. At the moment he felt like Vlad was dissecting an interesting scientific project, the project being him.
"I was just wondering how you knew when her birthday was, since I didn't mention the date, and I'm sure Maddie hasn't. That's not something people talk about casually."
Uh-oh. "I..uh…well."
"More over Daniel, how did you know where the dishes and syrup were this morning at breakfast? It's not like you've gotten your own plate before. The last time you ate there, everything was gotten for you, and even if by some miracle you figured out where the dishes were on the first try, there really is no excuse for the syrup." Vlad gave Jasmine a small push in the swing and waited for Danny to reply. While he wanted to question Danny about his ghost powers, he needed to soften him up first.
"I…" He what? He didn't really have an excuse for this. I mean even if he could explain away everything, from the plates and syrup to the bathroom thing last week, that still left his knowledge about his mom and dad, well future mom and dad. Suddenly, an idea hit him. It wasn't the best plan, but it was better than the mindless gum flapping he was currently doing. "How do you think I know about all that?" Yeah great plan, answer a question with a question Fenton. Maybe he's as narcissistic as I remember? Danny could only hope Vlad gave him a small reprieve by taking the bait.
"I think you spied on them with your powers. It would explain how you knew the house layout and even little things, like dish placement. It also explains how you knew I visited often and how to ask for me to get inside." Vlad finished the explanation with another push to the baby swing.
Danny felt relief flood through him like a small tsunami.
"However," Vlad interrupted Danny's feel good moment, "that doesn't explain how you know so much about their personalities, or mine. You knew Maddie's birthday, and that Jack is an awful cook. You honed in on my feelings for Maddie nearly instantly, and I can assure you most people can't even begin to guess at them. You also unconsciously play into our personalities and weaknesses, making it harder to un-entangle our lives from your own. That kind of thing only comes from a significant amount of time spent with the people involved, to develop your behavior around their own. I'm not sure how you're doing that."
Danny swung his legs in the seat of the swing. He was still at a loss to explain that, but not answering was better than saying anything at this point. Vlad could see through any lie he constructed, and more importantly, it was easier letting him fill in the blanks himself.
Vlad took in Danny's stoic form a few moments longer before shaking his head. He knew that at this point, that his questions on that kind of knowledge were going to go unanswered. "The last time we spoke about seriously, you said you got your powers in an accident." It wasn't really a question or a statement either.
"Yeah and I'm not going to say where either."
"Oh I wouldn't dream of asking the specific location. I was just wondering, what constitutes an accident to you?"
What kind of non-question is that? Danny still felt at prickle of unease under his incredulity. He knew enough about Vlad now to assume this was a roundabout way of still getting what he wanted. "I mean, it wasn't on purpose. I didn't mean to-" Danny stopped short, realizing he had almost given away the specifics of his accident. "I mean, no one meant for it to happen."
"So then it's safe to assume your parents' worked for the government?"
"Ok where did you get that assumption?" Danny was having a hard time following Vlad's logic, tenuous to non-existent as it was to him.
Vlad had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. "Honestly Daniel it was rather simple. The kind of energy necessary to create a ghost hybrid is extreme. Far beyond what someone could get in exposure to even the most active of ghost hauntings or weak points. There is only one machine I know that is capable of producing that kind of power, and it was confiscated by the University of Wisconsin after my own accident. As any consolation, it was nonfunctional when they got their hands on it, but the proto-portal and its schematics were taken and placed under university property." He explained calmly. "I'm sure those government hacks, the Guys in White, would love to take a look at the schematics and try and create a working replica. Knowing their incompetence, but determination, there are two ways for things to have played out. They could have failed consistently in small ways, building up an excess of ectoplasm on this side of the barrier that they then ruthlessly experimented on you with."
Danny felt a small shiver run down his spine at the thought. He hadn't even considered that as an option.
"The second is one spectacular failure, something relatively explosive, that exposed you to a lot of energy at once. Considering, that not only did you claim it was an accident, which I believe by the way, and the fact only the government would have access to the kind of technology needed, the rest of the ghost hunting community is frankly light-years behind, it necessarily follows that your parents worked for the government before they died, likely in the same explosion that gave you your powers." Vlad picked Jasmine out of the swing and sat down in another one next to Danny. "Am I close little badger?"
Not even. But I have to admit, there are some serious glimmers of how it actually went down in that tale. "Um, well…close enough?" Danny made a note to have other people fill in the details for him in the future, it made lying so much easier. "Mind telling me how you figured it was my parents working for the government, and not me sneaking into a lab or something?"
"Simple enough. You are both incredibly awkward and comfortable around ghost hunters." The look Danny was giving him was priceless. "What I mean is; you told me you used to fight ghost regularly in your hometown, but being around Maddie and Jack makes you nervous, and not just because they like to shoot at ghosts either. From there, it follows your own parents' hunted ghosts; where else would a kid your age get the practice? It also explains why their whole house makes you uneasy." Vlad paused to look over at Danny. "Reminds you of home right?"
You have no idea how much. I'm so glad I haven't told him any real details from my life, or I'd be royally boned. Danny replied mentally.
Vlad sighed and bounced an increasingly fussy Jasmine in his lap. "You don't have to say anything to that. To be honest, I'm glad your powers were an accident, the alternative is horrifying."
"I'll say. Who treats other people like glorified lab experiments?" Danny shoved thoughts of Dani away from his mind; the point was still a valid one.
"Those hacks at the university hospital for one." Vlad hissed. When he noticed Danny's quizzical stare, he decided to share a little more. "Did I ever tell you about my time in the hospital, before my powers manifested?"
Danny frowned in thought. Vlad hadn't ever mentioned any details, not in the several months since he had known him, not that he blamed him one bit. Danny shook his head and waited for Vlad to continue.
"At first, they didn't know what to do with me. They knew I had some kind of radiation poisoning sure enough, but they didn't know how to fix it or why it was manifesting as…" Vlad stopped and quirked his mouth into a small grimace. "In any case, for the first couple of weeks I was in so much pain, I wasn't really all there. I was in and out of consciousness, and it took them nearly three weeks to actually stabilize me. At one point, I remember them asking about next of kin, just in case I died."
Danny felt surprise jolt through him like a bolt of lightning. He had an idea that the ecto-acne was more deadly than he originally thought, but it never hit him how serious it was.
"After that, they had every specialist they could think of running in and out of the ICU. Checking samples of everything, biopsies of every organ, x-rays, dozens of monitoring equipment you name it and I had it hooked up somewhere. But that all eventually died down. After I had been in there for a solid three months, with no significant improvement, but no longer a nearly dead wreck, they handed over my case to another head doctor. They moved me out of the ICU, something I was originally glad for, and onto a floor I hadn't heard of before then."
A dark tendril of dread slithered up Danny's spine. This story was beginning to sound rather ominous.
"I never saw the new head physician over my case, but he sent plenty of his underlings into the room for him. Since the other doctors had exhausted all of their ideas and resources on my case so far, they handed the case over to an experimental researcher in radiation studies. They re-took plenty of samples, but that wasn't the bad part. Several of their…therapies were less like boons of medical science and more like medieval torture, but with no real clues what was wrong, let alone how to fix it, his "therapies" were as good as anything in the hospital's eyes. In between being treated like a lab rat, and being injected with absurdly painful "remedies", I had just about lost hope of ever getting out." Vlad stopped when an unseasonably cold breeze curled through the area. He sighed before continuing, "Nothing they did helped, but it was the only option I had, so I went along with it."
"When did you get out the hospital?" Danny interrupted the narrative. He really didn't need any more details about the hospital from hell.
"The…symptoms from the poisoning resolved on their own, soon after my powers showed up. I checked myself out right after that; against doctors' orders might I add." Vlad snorted before adding, "but it's not like they were doing much for me in any case."
Danny didn't know what to say about the story. He had to admit, it never occurred to him how much differently his life would have gone without his best friend's help right after the accident. If he had ended up in hospital like Vlad, or even just having tests run like crazy by his overly concerned parents. When he thought about it, the possibilities were chilling. He had gotten the easy road in a lot of ways.
When Danny didn't respond, Vlad decided to move on. "Come on, we should get home, the sun is setting." He stood from his place next to Danny and headed back towards the park entrance.
"Oh, er, yeah. Hey are you hungry, 'cause it's totally dinner time."
The sight that greeted the duo upon returning home was nothing like they expected. Maddie and Jack were still arguing, and worse, it seemed to have hit a whole 'nother level of extreme. Danny and Vlad stood on the curb across the street, watching as bags of luggage fell from an open window at the top of Fentonworks, and onto the street below. On the sidewalk, Jack Fenton would pick up a bag and run it back inside, only to find an entirely different piece of luggage waiting for him when he returned outside. The entire time, two angry scream strain voices carried on an argument.
Danny blinked at the scene before him. He'd never seen his parents act so completely nuts. Admittedly, they weren't the most normal parents by any stretch of the imagination, but throwing things out of a window and screaming mindlessly at each other is definitely outside of his definition of normal, even with his own family.
Vlad paused for only a second more before forging ahead across the street. The sooner he got to the bottom of this, the sooner he could convince the neighbors to stop rubbernecking out of the house next door, and intervene between the two overwrought adults.
Danny stumbled off the curb after him, not at all ready to jump into the fray, but seeing no choice in the matter. This is going to end badly. He thought right before the first coherent sentence reached his ears.
"Damn it! Stop throwing my things out of the window Maddie!"
"Get out! What part of that don't you understand? Get out of my house!" Maddie screeched and tossed another piece of luggage outside onto the sidewalk.
Jack run the piece back inside and continued screaming, "This is my house too damn it. I'm not going anywhere! If you want to get away from me so badly, why don't you go to a motel or somethin'?" He picked up the newest piece and was about to run back inside with it, when he spotted Vlad and Danny crossing the street. "Vladdie! You have to help me! Maddie," he gestured up just as another piece of luggage landed next to the trio, "she's lost her mind!"
Vlad looked up at a sweating flustered Maddie and a red faced with anger Jack and made a snap determination. This was all Jack's fault. So he acted accordingly. I need to get them away from each other, and since this is obviously Jack's doing, he'll be the one leaving. "Jack what in the world is going on?"
Danny snuck behind the two adults on the sidewalk outside, spiriting himself and his currently infant older sister inside the house, and away from some of the loud insanity. Unfortunately, he could still hear all of the arguments from the living room, and it was driving him up the wall.
Jasmine was no better off, the combination of fatigue, hunger, and the buzzing tension in the air, made her a nearly tearful mess.
Danny noticed his pint sized future older sister about to break into tears, and decided to find a location a lot quieter somewhere in the house. The only place he could think of was the basement/lab, and considering the current atmosphere it was a good choice. With barely a moment's hesitation, Danny plunged down the steps into the Fentons' basement; Jasmine nestled securely in his arms.
Back upstairs Maddie and Jack had completely ignored Vlad's presence and gone back to screaming, now significantly more hoarsely, at one another.
"Jack, I can't stand to look at you another minute right now, just go!"
"Why should I? This is my house, I'm not going anywhere. If you don't want to look at me, then get out of my house!"
"Jack perha-" Vlad attempted to interrupt.
"Why should I be the one to leave when you're the one who fucked up?"
"I didn't do anything wrong!"
"And still you refuse to admit spending all of our money, with no savings in the bank, on Axiom's garage sale garbage wasn't a mistake! What am I supposed to feed my baby Jack? Screws and circuitry!" Maddie glared down from the second story window, and tossed another piece of luggage out.
"I don't know, whose fault is it we have no savings? No one told you to buy new clothes you selfish bitch!"
"And what was I supposed to wear Jack? Rags? All of my stuff was nearly 4 years old, worn out because it was already from the Salvation Army, and didn't fit because my shape is different after having Jasmine."
"Yeah maybe so, but that doesn't mean you needed to buy stuff from the department store."
"After you splurged on six new jumpsuits and the components for an ecto-defense system we could have built from scratch for ¼ of the price? Am I not allowed to buy anything nice for myself?" Jack opened his mouth to respond, but Maddie interrupted, "That still doesn't excuse you spending Vlad's money to buy shit from Axiom instead of groceries."
"We'll find more money b-"
"Where Jack? From the ethos? We have no savings; the mortgage is coming up due, as are the utilities. We have two gaping holes in our roof in the middle of the summer rainy season, and no. Fucking. Food. What are we supposed to do till next month?" Maddie tapped her foot loud enough to be heard on the street below, waiting for an answer.
"I'm sure Vladdie- Wait V-man now that you're here I can ask you, can I borrow about 2000 dollars until next month?"
Vlad stood flabbergasted on the street next to Jack. Who in the world asked to borrow that kind of money from a basically homeless man on such short notice? "Jack…I…" Vlad scuffed the heel of his shoe against the sidewalk and tried to think of a proper response. He shook his head before replying, "Jack, I'd love to help, but I don't have that kind of money to give you. Even if I wanted, I still have bills of my own to pay, so I don't have the money available right now. I mean, maybe in a couple of weeks, two, I'd be ab-"
"You see? So what are you going to do about our cash problems?" Maddie had walked down the stairs, tired of screaming out of a window, and was standing in the living room.
"Well, I have a few inventions I could sell." Jack crossed his arms.
"Which ones? We don't have the supplies to build any more of our schematics, and the ones we do have won't be ready for sale before the bills are due."
"Well I don't know Mads, but it'll be ok."
"The world doesn't run on rainbows and happy thoughts Jack."
"Oh that's right; it runs on cute dress skirts and red trampy lipstick."
"Hold on the both of you!" Vlad interceded before the fight ratcheted back up into furious scream-a-thon territory.
Maddie and Jack's heads swiveled Vlad's direction.
"This is going to get us nowhere. Now I appreciate the fact you are both angry, and that this is really none of my business. On the other hand, the two of you have been fighting for hours, and you still don't have the money to pay for anything. Let's say it is safe to assume screaming isn't going to cause money to appear alright?" Vlad held out his hands, palms up, willing the gesture to placate the quarreling couple.
Maddie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Vlad's right Jack, we can't keep this up all night."
"Yeah that's true Mads, a-"
"But you still aren't staying here tonight."
"Wait one Goddamn-"
"Jack! Can I speak with you for a moment?" Vlad grasped the orange clad ghost hunter around the wrist, and forcefully drug him off.
"Yeah what's up V-man? Listen, I know I asked for a lot of money a little bit ago, and there's no way I could really ask you to give that much, but maybe just a few hundred-"
"That's not what this is about."
Jack's eyebrows shot up and he motioned for Vlad to continue.
"Jack I think you really should spend the night in a motel."
"Vladdie-"
"Just hear me out!" Vlad turned his back to the increasingly impatient looking Maddie, wanting this to look like it was completely Jack's idea. "I'll give you the money to stay in a motel for two days. It'll give you both some time to cool off, and it'll make her miss you more if she's staying here without you right?"
"Well I gu-"
"And I'm sure you will show up with a heartfelt apology and some flowers and chocolates right when she's missing you most." Vlad sent Jack a covert nudge and wink.
"Oh! Right, that's a great idea Vladdie, glad you-"
"You."
"Oh, uh, I thought of it. I don't really want to leave her alone with Jazzy though, what if a ghost shows up?"
"Oh I promise me and Daniel will take great care of them. And it'll only be for two days at most. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Yeah that's true, ok V-man, I'll take you-my advice and make scarce for a day or so. Then come back with a huge romantic gesture and a teddy bear for Jazzy. Yo-or Ihave the best ideas." Jack paused before slapping Vlad on the back. "Thanks for reminding me of them Vlad." He was honestly grateful, who could ask for a better best friend.
"Oh you're very welcome, I just don't know what I'd do if the two of you couldn't get along." Like perhaps marry Maddie and perform inappropriate, for public conversation, actions with her.
Jack walked around Vlad and strode towards his wife. "Listen baby, I know you're upset with me, and I understand that. I guess it wouldn't be so bad to spend the night in a motel, and I wouldn't want you leaving the house and being uncomfortable. I'll grab some things and be on my way for the night before all of the places fill up." Jack picked up two piece of luggage off of the floor. He wasn't sure what was in them, but since Maddie had been emptying the drawers of his things to stuff into suitcases, he was sure there'd be more than enough clothes for a day or two.
Maddie watched him grab a few more things out of the bathroom for good measure, before loading it all into the RV to set off.
"So I guess I'll see you Tuesday night." Jack stopped when his wife scrunched up her face before nodding slowly. "I love ya' baby and I'll miss you." Jack leaned over and gave his wife a good-bye kiss, before peeling off in "Jack" driving style down the street, trashcan crashes announcing his retreat.
Maddie left out a deep breath into the gloom of the falling night, walking back into her much quieter, but much emptier feeling house. She knew her husband meant well, but sometimes his behavior made their relationship harder. He was so out there all the time, and he barely paid attention to finances and food, worrying more on the next great invention or discovery. And while that was fine in college, and single life, there were some things more important than even the best ghost discoveries on the planet. And if Jack didn't learn to reorganize his priorities to include more mundane things, it would put strain on their relationship. She flopped down on the couch and glanced at the clock. Only 8pm, and it feels like midnight. What a nightmare of a day. Maddie shifted her glance over to the top of the basement stairs, where she heard steps echoing up the stairwell.
Danny finally heard the loud resonating voices from upstairs disappear. He had waited a few extra minutes just to be sure it was over and not just a lull, before peaking up the stairs. A few more seconds of waiting had afforded him not a single sound of aggravation, so he figured it was safe to come out now.
"So that's where you two were hiding." Vlad said as the pair reappeared onto the ground level.
"Has the air raid stopped? Last I heard suit case bombs were raining from the sky."
Maddie crossed her arms and frowned. "I'd prefer it if you didn't go into the lab, it can be dangerous down there. At least don't take Jasmine with you, there are fumes in there I don't want her exposed to." She decided to ignore that air raid comment.
"That's funny coming from someone who didn't notice her child disappeared for several hours." Danny retorted. Instead of the fierce glare and stinging verbal rebuttal he was expecting, his mother broke down into tears. Danny started at the intense crying jag his minor comment had set off.
Vlad sent Danny a monstrous glare before sliding next to Maddie on the couch.
Danny was waiting on the periphery of the scene when Vlad sent him a cold look that had him retreating up the stairs; baby sized elder sister in his arms.
Vlad settled into the couch next to a heaving Maddie. He hadn't expected her to take the comment well after her fight earlier, but this was a little more than what he had anticipated. Vlad floundered around for something to say. He wasn't even sure is was what Danny had said was the problem, so he was at a loss for how to help. More importantly, Maddie made him nervous as all hell, so making coherent sentences around her was a struggle on a good day. "Maddie-"
"Oh God I'm so sorry!" Maddie sniffed through her tears. "I don't mean to just turn into a water fountain on you, I'm just so flustered and tired after everything that's happened today."
Bingo. At least he could work with that. "It's alright Maddie really. I'm sure you're more than a little upset after today, and I'm sure Daniel didn't mean anything by that comment. I'm more worried about how you're feeling than being in the room with you crying. I mean you're obviously upset, so that's what matters."
Maddie rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, smearing some of her mascara across her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her middle, more out of comfort than chill. "I'll be alright. I mean, I'm upset now, because Jack still doesn't seem to understand what he did wrong, but I'm sure after he thinks about it more, everything will be fine." She let out a shuddering breath and leaned back into the soft comfort of her furniture.
Vlad took a deep breath; it was now or never after all. A little boldness here could pay off big time later. A voice somewhere in the back of his head told him this was seriously wrong, but he stuffed it into a box. There were more important things to worry about at the moment. He carefully slid an arm around Maddie's shoulders. He barely suppressed a jump of surprise when instead of just accepting his gesture; she leaned deeply into his embrace, sobs coming back in full force. Now, more alarmed about the return of her tears than his awkwardness, Vlad wrapped both arms fully around her form, pressing her shaking body into a full hug.
Maddie snuggled deeper into the hug, happy for the emotional comfort it provided. There was a good chance she had just messed up her relationship with her husband on a few levels with some of the things she accused him of and said over the last few hours. At the moment, she only wanted to relax and forget all of that just happened. She sighed as the last of the sobs left her calm, and in no hurry to extract herself from the warmth of the hug. Maddie could hear Vlad's heart racing with her head leaned against his chest, and could only smile to herself. Nervous as ever, at least some things never change. She pulled back gently and looked up at him. "Thank you, I needed that hug." She watched as his face tinged with pink. Will never stop being fun.
"Yeah of course, any time." He realized he should probably be removing his arms about now, but there was no way in hell that was happening without her asking. He felt his heart skip a beat when she leaned in to lay her head against his shoulder instead of scooting away.
"You want to eat dinner, watch a bad comedy, and pretend the rest of the world doesn't suck for a few hours?" Maddie asked.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great plan."
Maybe for a few hours…
God please.
…just let me pretend. Their thoughts mirrored one another.
By the time he had rounded the corner into his room, Danny was barely holding back from hyperventilating. It was happening again, right in front of him this time. It didn't matter that the circumstances had changed. Sure they weren't in Vlad's apartment, considering it was a piece of burnt-out slag. Sure he was nearly entirely sure that the fight was different than the one they had ultimately had, because the crazy circumstances dictated it, but it didn't matter. Nothing matters; well nothing I can change matters. Danny thought ruefully.
The truth of the matter was, even if he could changes something in the past, minor details, the exact way something happened, no matter what he did, Danny felt like some general events would still occur. Even though the argument was about something else, it still as big and happened. Even though Vlad's house no longer existed, his mom and dad were still separated with his mom downstairs, emotionally needy and vulnerable, with a circling vulture of a Vlad hanging around.
If no matter what I do, some things are just meant to happen, then maybe fate is real. And he wasn't sure what was more disturbing about that thought. The fact that it meant people had no real control over their circumstances, or the fact his mission was essentially a sham that put his very existence in danger for no reason.
…then destiny must exist.
Balshumet: In any case, this is the last full chapter of this arc, though the next one will be partially set in the past, the majority of it will be back in the future! I also solomnly swear to make at least one reference to that movie next chapter in some way that isn't cheesy.(My Beta will make me)
As for the rest of this A/N, I know some of my readers here are also cross reading for Beloved, and wondering what up with no updates there. Well my plan is to update basically twice a month with that one, so, I do owe you all an update this week to make up for the severe lack of movement over there. No worries! I shall have that with the update for Bittersweet, this coming weekend. I know this because I have parts of both of those chapters written now, and I'm going to 'until we win' the two of them. So for now I hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to give me a buzz. As always my Lovelies, R&R.