Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Danny stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, wincing at the steady reddening on his shoulder. It looked inconspicuous enough for now, but he knew that in only a few days it would be standing out in alarmingly obvious blues, purples and blacks. 

The cuts and scrapes along his arms, on the other hand, posed a more immediate problem.

He reached for the bandages on the counter a little too quickly, eyes trailing the droplets of blood that had dripped from his wounds onto the blue rug in front of the sink. 

“Crap,” he muttered to himself, pausing what he was doing and soaking the corner of his hand towel. He threw it on top of the stain-to-be and started wrapping his arms before he left any more evidence.

A hurried knock on the bathroom door jolted him, his elbow knocking the bandage roll off the counter.

“Danny, sweetie, what are you doing in there?” Maddie asked through the door. “Breakfast is getting cold.”

“Uh-sorry! I’ll… I’ll be out in a minute,” he sputtered nervously.

“Maddie! Get down here! The ghost boy’s on the news again!” Jack boomed from downstairs. “He wrecked the bowling alley!”

Danny rolled his eyes as he scrubbed the blood out of the rug. As usual, he was getting pinned for something he was trying to prevent—an unappreciated effort that had nearly gotten him sliced in half. 

At least that was somewhat normal. Having to bandage wounds that should have healed by the time he got home, however, was a new chink in an ever-worsening string of bad luck.

“Danny, you are not going to skip breakfast again,” Maddie warned him through the door.  

He frowned at the stubborn pink spot in the rug, but decided it was small enough and discolored enough that his mom wouldn't notice. He wiped off the counter, threw the towel in the hamper, and tossed the bandage roll and medical scissors in the cabinet under the sink.

Everything clean, he gave himself one last look-over in the mirror. His last task was the small bruise under his left eye. It was a few days old and had already taken on a purplish color. He reached into Jazz’s makeup drawer, getting her coverup and foundation. In the last three months, he had been forced to figure out how to use her makeup to hide the various injuries he received and was impressed with how well it worked. He had to apply quite a bit to hide the darker portions of the bruise, but by the time he finished, he looked passable. He put the long-sleeved shirt he had laid on the side of the counter back over his head. It wasn’t the best solution to hide his other injuries, but he couldn’t walk downstairs in a t-shirt with his arms looking the way they did. He took in a big breath, gave himself an encouraging look, then unlocked the bathroom door and headed downstairs. 

Breakfast plates were already made and set out on the table, so he took the nearest open seat and slunk into it. 

Despite his attempt at subtlety, his presence seemed to immediately draw his mother’s attention. 

“Danny, are you feeling sick?”

He looked up from his plate at his mother, her sharp violet eyes locked onto him. 

“What? No... What?"

“You know it’s going to hit the high 90’s today, right?” she asked, gesturing at his shirt.. 

It was innocent enough, but Danny felt a pang of panic. Granted, his outfit was suspiciously out of season, but up until recently, he had never been the object of the gaze his mother was currently giving him. At least not in this form.

His parents were usually so preoccupied with their inventions that he could probably shave his head without much of a glance his way, but things had been different lately. 

"I'm just a little cold. I’m fine, though,” he tried to assure her, smiling to further sell his lie. 

“You’re not getting mono, are you?” his mother asked with concern, searching gaze melting into warm sweetness as she approached with an outstretched palm to feel his forehead.

He dodged her, twisting his head away. “I’m fine, mom,” he insisted. 

“It is a little cool in the house,” Jazz commented from behind a psychology textbook she'd had her nose buried in. She had been the only thing Danny could count on to be consistent recently, casually going to bat for him without realizing how much she was actually helping.

“He’s being dramatic,” Jack snapped, eyes fixed on the TV. “If he wants attention, he can stop acting out and ask for it.” 

The air fell dead in the kitchen and the room stilled, Jack's tone still echoing down the spines of the other Fenton's.

Maddie broke the silence first, voice firm and imploring as she said, “Jack, there might be something serious going on. He shouldn’t be cold this often." She turned her attention to Danny again and donned her motherly voice. “Let me take your temperature, sweetie. You’re probably getting sick.”

“I already took it. It was normal,” he lied. 

“Well, you’re not cold for no reason. Maybe we should take you to see the doctor.”

“Quiet!” Jack suddenly bellowed. The room jolted. The eldest Fenton seemed to be glaring at the TV, watching Danny’s alter ego go back and forth with Skulker. The fight had been a nasty one, Danny not being at his best given he was fighting with bothersome wounds, and he and Skulker had unfortunately done quite a bit of damage to a few buildings. Danny was most saddened by the collapsing of the bowling alley’s roof. He liked bowling. 

“When I get my hands on that menace…” Jack muttered steamily. "The whole town will see what a danger he is."

Danny didn’t miss the way Maddie’s eyes, too, fixed to the image of him on the screen, forgetting him entirely.

Jazz looked up from her book. Despite the no-doubt righteous speech she clearly wanted to lecture them all with, she spoke reservedly, “Did it never… you know… cross your minds that maybe Phantom isn’t… isn’t an enemy? I mean… he fights other ghosts. He keeps the infestations low. Maybe-”

Jack didn’t let her finish, slamming his fist so suddenly down onto his own plate that he shattered it. 

“Jack!” Maddie exclaimed. 

He ignored her, pointing a finger at Jazz, and then switching it between his two children to make sure his point was taken by both. “That’s what it wants you to think. That’s how they lower your guard and prey on you. That one-” he pointed at Phantom on the screen- “is the best liar of its kind. Did you just forget that it caused thousands in damage to the town, tried to kill your mother and I, and took the mayor hostage?” 

Danny grit his teeth, eyes fixed to his untouched plate to avoid the angry heat emanating from his father. Jazz, too, withered under his furious stare.

Maddie’s motherly sweetness hardened. “Jack. Living room. Now.”

Jack’s gaze rose to hers, the anger in them unrelenting as he stood to his full height, the man’s mountainous form towering over that of his wife's.

Neither of the Fenton children had ever seen Jack withstand a standoff with Maddie, much less push his own will against her like opposing magnets. 

Something faint and indiscernible, however, fractured the tension before it could reach critical mass.  

“Fine. Let’s talk,” he sneered, walking out of the kitchen. 

Maddie went to follow when the doorbell rang. She let out an exasperated huff. “Danny, get the door. And eat your breakfast.”

Danny sighed, pushing away from the table and his very likely cold breakfast at this point and dragging himself to the front door. He caught his parents talking in barely subdued, terse tones as he passed. Danny paused for a second as Jack jabbed an aggressive finger into Maddie’s chest, sneering something to her, and as he did, a little green glow, no bigger than a golf ball, flitted out of Jack’s shoulder before phasing back in. 

He didn’t know what it was; had never seen it before until three months ago, but it seemed to have an idea who, and what, Danny was. When he’d first seen it, he had tried everything he could think of to purge it from the house, but what had started as a simple nuisance had rapidly turned into an urgent danger. 

At first, Jack had just been a little irritable, but after a while, it became erratic and constant; to the point where almost anything could set him off into a furious tirade. All the while, the little ghost seemed to make sure Danny knew it was there and that it was the culprit. It made a game out of letting Danny think he could catch it, but every attempt Danny made, the ghost always seemed to be one step ahead of him. It never revealed itself when his family wasn’t around and it didn’t seem to need to be actively possessing his dad to influence his mood. 

It also seemed to know to avoid his friends. He had enlisted their help several times in his attempts to catch it, but it always vanished when they showed up.  

As his dad got worse, he had gotten desperate enough to gamble on telling Maddie that he thought Jack was being haunted, and, to his surprise, she had been inclined to believe him. 

But even she never found any trace of it. 

Danny glowered under his brow as he watched the little ghost fly in and out of his father’s head and shoulders like he was playground, turning away sullenly as he opened the front door. 

The figure that greeted him had Danny groaning, loudly and pointedly.

Vlad Masters smiled pleasantly at him. “Good morning, Daniel. A little warm for a sweater, isn’t it?”

“Says the guy who always wears black suits,” Danny replied dully. 

“Ooo, however will I recover from such a scathing critique,” Vlad quipped. 

Danny rolled his eyes and stepped aside. "Either come in or go away. I’m not in the mood.”

Vlad stepped inside, patting Danny’s shoulder, right on a bruise. He sucked in a sharp breath and ducked away from him. 

Vlad cocked a brow at the response, retracting his hand and giving Danny a subtle once-over. Whatever conclusion he came to, he kept to himself, turning his attention to that of Danny’s parents across the room, who had paused their argument to acknowledge him. 

“Maddie, Jack! How are the both of you this morning?” 

“Not now. We’re talking,” Jack snapped, mocking the last word with an exaggerated rise in tone. 

“I see. I’ll wait in the kitchen,” Vlad replied unconcernedly. “Daniel, perhaps you should come along as well. I smell breakfast. Have you eaten?” 

Danny bit the inside of his lip as Vlad placed a hand on his bruised shoulder again, but with his parents so close, made no protest as the millionaire guided him towards the kitchen. 

Jazz looked up as they entered, head lifting out of the palm she’d dropped it in and seeming to brighten slightly at Vlad’s presence. 

“Good morning, Mr. Masters,” Jazz said, a little more pep in her voice. 

“Good morning, Jasmine,” Vlad greeted pleasantly as he led Danny to his seat and took the chair beside him. He glanced at her plate, giving a little playful frown. “Were the eggs undercooked? Seems no one has eaten their breakfast.” 

Jazz acknowledged her plate with a weak smile. “Oh, um. No, we–.”

“HE’S LYING!” Jack snapped from the living room. Everyone at the kitchen table froze, ears perked as Jack stormed through the living room and stomped down the steps to the lab. Though the argument in the living room had abruptly gone down a few octaves at Maddie’s forceful snap, the heated tones were impossible to miss. 

When she joined them in the kitchen, her expression was stoic, almost tellingly neutral as she grabbed up the plates off of the table, regardless of whether there was food on them or not, and took them to the sink to clean them. 

Vlad pursed his lips in thought before addressing the three Fentons. “I haven’t yet had breakfast. Would the three of you care for an outing? My treat, of course.”

Maddie stopped the chore she hadn’t even really been doing to look at him. “Actually, that would be great. I think I may have overcooked the eggs this morning,” she commented as she scraped uneaten eggs and toast into the disposal in the sink. 

Danny’s frown deepened and he groaned internally. The last thing he wanted to do was spend his morning playing nice with Vlad, but, and he could hardly believe he was thinking this, it was better than being around his dad.

I'm writing this between classes, but the vast majority of this fic is either completed and being edited or planned already.

As mentioned in the synopsis, I'll add tags to their respective chapters as they come up, but keep in mind this story gets into some dark themes throughout.

Chapter Text

Unwilling to be seen somewhere normal , Vlad took the Fenton’s in his private car to some classier, boujee restaurant Danny didn't even know existed in Amity. The whole while, Vlad was a perfect host, engaging them with pleasant small talk and stories that managed to get Maddie and Jazz to laugh and relax despite the stresses of the day.

Danny didn't buy it for a second, but he kept his distrust to himself. It wasn't Jazz or his mom’s fault that they were buying into the billionaire's douchey show; they didn't know any better.

“Jasmine, I’m surprised your summer is so open. Given your intelligence and ambition, I would have thought you would have taken on an accelerated course or found some other extracurricular activities. Have you ever considered interning?” Vlad asked curiously. 

Jazz smiled uncomfortably, readjusting in her seat and brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I mean, of course I’ve thought of it. It was what I meant…” She stopped, the briefest of glances flashing up toward her mother and brother. “But there’s just… I really can’t.”

“What's stopping you?” he inquired, abandoning the bite of what Danny was pretty sure–but not completely sure–was a crepe. He gave her a generous smile and continued, “If it’s resources you need, I’d be happy to provide them.”

Jazz beamed, fidgeting slightly in her seat as she tried to contain her excitement. Again, her eyes flicked over to Danny, but he avoided her, burying his head in his plate and trying not to participate and draw attention. Her brightness dulled. 

“That’s very thoughtful, Mr. Masters, and I’m grateful for the offer, but I think… I think it would be better if I were at home this summer.”

“I understand, of course,” Vlad relented graciously, but before the topic could be changed added, “The offer stands if you should change your mind.”

Under the brief lull in conversation, Maddie, who had been listening with a quiet intensity, took the opportunity to excuse herself to use the restroom, standing up but lingering at the table. 

The silence dragged enough to bring Danny’s focus back, looking up in time to catch the tail-end of some unspoken visual conversation between his mom and Jazz before the latter announced she'd be going as well.

Danny watched the pair walk off and start discussing something serious almost as soon as they'd left. He saw Jazz raise her hands and shake her head, fixing their mother with a hollow smile Maddie seemed to buy. 

He looked away, shifting his attention to the omelet he didn't remember ordering and picking at it with his fork distractedly. 

“And what about you, Daniel? Do you have a busy summer planned?” Vlad asked conversationally as his eyes, delayed by watching Maddie walking off, settled on him. 

Danny cagily crossed his arms and tilted away from the man across the table as he muttered impatiently. “Don’t.”

“What’s that?”

“Look, you can play nice with them, but not with me. You can’t fool me.”

“Ah, foiled again. My diabolical plan to trick you into small talk has failed. You’re much too clever for me.”

“Maybe you're just obvious.”

“And what exactly am I obviously trying to accomplish by chatting with you, outside of the actual question?”

Danny rolled his eyes, pointedly turning his head away from him.  “You can't small-talk information out of me, Vlad, so don't bother.”

“Would you prefer a heavier topic?” Vlad inquired, an irritatingly good-natured smirk on his face.

“How about a real one?” Danny returned, leaning forward to glare at the older hybrid. “Like what your game is.”

Vlad quirked an amused brow, asking incredulously, “My game?”

“Yeah, your game with your little croney you’ve got haunting my house!” Danny accused, turning to face him and waving an outraged hand in his direction.

Vlad grinned with interest. “Oh, dear. Has the self-proclaimed hero of Amity Park met his match?”

“I have never called myself that,” Danny replied with a glare, sullenly crossing his arms again. 

Vlad waved a hand dismissively. “I haven't sent any cronies to your home, Daniel. Did you consider the possibility that whatever spectral nuisance you're dealing with is likely more to do with your hobby?”

“Most of my hobbies don't hold a grudge against my dad.”

Vlad smiled smugly. “Your father is the target? Perhaps it's more to do with his hobby, then.”

“Or maybe it has to do with yours because who else would want my dad to act the way he is?” 

Vlad raised his head, an intrigued expression crossing his features before he nodded knowingly. “Ahhh, I see. So your father starts behaving terribly and your first thought is that it can't possibly be that he's capable of such behavior?”

“He isn't!” Danny snapped.

Vlad arched a brow skeptically. “My, my, you're more like your parents than I thought…”

“What does that even–”

“You really can't think of a time you've seen your father act irrationally? Or out of anger?”

“I don't see–”

“And then blame it on a ghost ?”

Danny’s defense caught in his throat. He tried to remind himself that it was different, there was a ghost, but the rebuttal felt hollow when he had recent memories of his dad literally all-out attacking Jazz at school because he thought she was a ghost. 

He shook his head, glaring at Vlad again. “I don't have to–look, I know it's you, so quit trying to twist things!”

Vlad set down the mug with a heavy sigh. “Honestly, Daniel, your father’s behavior shouldn’t-” 

“His behavior?” Danny scoffed, drawing a few eyes his way.

“Lower your voice,” Vlad warned calmly. “We’re in public.”

“I don’t care,” Danny hissed, though his voice did lower. 

“At any rate, it hardly matters at this moment, does it? Why are you so resistant to some pleasantness? Your sister and mother seem to be enjoying themselves. I think it would benefit both them and you if you tried to relax as well.”

“I can’t. You’re here,” Danny griped. He regarded Vlad with angry suspicion. “What are you even waiting for?” 

“Waiting for?”

“It’s been three months. You know I can’t get rid of it, so what are you waiting for?”

Vlad gave him a skeptical expression, reclining into his seat and idly stirring his coffee as he said nonchalantly, “I find it hard to believe that you can't get rid of it. Three months, you said? What have you been doing all this time? Glaring at it in hopes it will go away?”

Danny scoffed. “Is that what you're after? You've been trying to bait me into flying around my own house as Phantom? Come on, I'm not an idiot.”

“You overestimate your father’s abilities.” 

“That’s not the parent I’m worried about,” Danny said.

The mug in Vlad’s hands paused at his lips before he could take a drink. “Ah, some wisdom. And yet, still an overestimation. Wouldn’t the benefits outweigh the potential risks?”

“You don’t know the risks,” Danny muttered.  

In a stroke of sour luck, Maddie and Jazz returned. 

“Sorry about that. What did we miss?” Maddie asked uncertainty, looking between them. 

“Actually, we were discussing Phantom,” Vlad replied, flicking his eyes at Danny.

Maddie lit up, but managed to pause her interest long enough to express her surprise. “You were?”

Danny shot Vlad a glare, which the elder halfa ignored, replying encouragingly, “I heard you and Jack have been having a difficult time catching him.” 

“Well, that’s to be expected,” she replied eagerly. “I mean, he’s not like other ghosts at all. He seems to have a form of corporeality and cognitive abilities other ghosts don’t.”

“Fascinating,” Vlad mused, leaning in closer to express his interest. “I imagine being able to study such a specimen would do wonders for your research.”

Maddie blossomed at the chance to talk about her special interest and took Vlad’s bait easily. “Phantom will undoubtedly answer many of the questions Jack and I have yet to even consider. I already have tests prepared for when we catch him.”

“How does one test a ghost?” Vlad inquired.

“Mr. Masters, um, I don’t mean to interrupt but-” Jazz started.

“Just a minute, Jazz,” Maddie raised her finger to her daughter for her to wait, then immediately turned back to Vlad to continue, “Tests on ghosts are currently… well, crude. It’s difficult to get proper data on them without destroying or damaging them beyond repair. But we’ve developed a few methods to maintain their ecto structures for several hours. As long as we don’t go beyond that, we can minimize damage and it gives us plenty of time to harvest samples-” 

Suddenly Jazz started coughing uncontrollably, having apparently inhaled her coffee. 

Danny released the breath he had been holding. 

“Jazz, sweetie, are you okay?” Maddie asked. 

“I’m fine,” she wheezed, taking a few moments to catch her breath and wipe the tears out of the corners of her eyes. 

Maddie gave her another short look of concern before looking at Vlad. “What was I saying?”

“I believe you were saying how you and Jack intend to rip Phantom apart molecule by molecule?” Vlad supplied. “At least, I believe that’s how Jack has described it on a few occasions.” 

Jazz started coughing on pancakes.

“Jazz, chew, honey!” Maddie rebuked concernedly.

The red head cleared her throat. “Sorry! Sorry, I guess I’m just… not feeling that well…” she stammered. 

Danny looked at her from the corner of his eyes, noticing a kind of discomfort about her expression that he was all too familiar with. Jazz didn’t like their parents talking about their ghost hunting either and always seemed to try to steer the conversation to something else or disrupt it entirely. 

Whether she knew it or not, though, Jazz had helped him out of some extremely uncomfortable, and sometimes even risky situations. He thought he should return the favor. 

Danny started fake shivering, rubbing his arms to draw the attention to his unseasonable long-sleeved shirt and pretending like even that wasn't enough to warm himself on this hot summer day. He cleared his throat and gave a little cough for good measure, giving his mom a miserable expression. 

“Yeah, uh, actually… um… mom, I think I might be getting a…” he paused, trying to think of a sickness that wouldn’t require any hospital visits, “I think I’m getting a cold or something. Could we maybe go home?” 

He tried to sound pitiful, but not too much. He didn’t want to raise too many alarms, but he owed it to his sister. 

To his relief, Maddie had been distracted from the topic long enough to hear him and take the bait.

“Oh, sweetie, why didn’t you tell me before?” 

“I just… I don’t know. I thought I could just walk it off, you know?” 

“Well, we’ll get you home and get you nice and bundled, okay?” she assured him.

Vlad raised a hand to grab a waiter’s attention. “Yes, better get you home, Daniel. Wouldn’t want that cold getting worse being tight-lipped, would we?”

Chapter Text

Vlad and Maddie made small-talk on the ride back home, while the two teenagers in the back sat quietly staring out their windows. Danny wanted to ask what was on Jazz’s mind, since normally she would be interjecting herself into the adults’ conversations, but Vlad’s presence kept him quiet. 

They pulled up to Fenton Works and Vlad held open the door for the three Fentons. Maddie gently placed a hand on Danny’s back as they crossed the threshold of the door, telling him sweetly. “Why don’t you go ahead and lie down, and I’ll bring up some water for you and tuck you in. Okay, sweetie?” 

“Danny, come here!” 

A jolt of anxiety jumped through Danny’s skin. His mother's hand tensed against his back.

“Jack, what do you need?” Maddie called back. 

“I need Danny. Right now,” Jack answered curtly, booming voice carrying his impatience up the basement staircase.  

“He’s sick! Whatever it is can wait!” Maddie yelled back, her own voice growing tight. 

There was a brief quiet before heavy pounding alerted that Jack was ascending the stairs, each step promising unpleasantness. 

“Mom, it’s fine, I’ll just go see what he wants,” Danny quickly relented, hoping that if he started heading down the stairs now, he could head off some of the conflict, but it was already too late. 

Jack was at the top of the stairs in moments, steely eyes locked onto his son as he demanded, “How many chores do you have?”

Danny hesitated a beat as his mind tried to shift gears. “Uh… I-I don’t know, uh—”

“You have three. And you only have three because it’s the most I can expect you to do. And they’re the easiest chores I could think of for you, but apparently wiping off a filter is too difficult and too complicated for you,” he seethed, stepping forward and towering into Danny’s space. 

“I-I-I’m sorry, I forgo—”

“You forgot? You’ll do it as soon as you’re done? You meant to, but? Sam needs you? Tucker is having a crisis?” he mocked.

Danny averted his gaze. It wasn’t like Jack was wrong. Fighting ghosts throughout the day and night often made him lose track of things he was doing. 

Danny felt his mom transfer her hand to his arms, giving him a gentle but firm push towards the stairs to the second floor.

“Jack, this can wait,” Maddie said sternly. “He’s not feeling well.”

Jack snatched Danny’s other arm and yanked him toward him. “He’s not getting away with shirking his chores anymore. I’ve had it with his excuses. You’re not even sick, are you?” Jack accused. 

Danny winced at the crushing hold, “I-I’ll clean it!” 

“No you won’t. You’re going up to your bed right now,” Maddie insisted, staring at Jack challengingly. 

“He’s not doing anything until he admits he's fine and quits being a manipulative little brat,” Jack asserted, locking eyes with Danny warningly. 

“I’m not trying–I’ll clean the filters right now. I’m really sorry–”

“Jack, I'm warning you-” Maddie said. 

“Admit it!” Jack shouted and Danny practically jumped out of his skin. He felt Jack’s fingers curl around the collar of his shirt and jerk, a ripping sound accompanying the motion. 

“Jack!” Vlad's voice broke through the confusion like a thunderclap. Everyone turned to look at him, frozen and stunned. Vlad was quick to take advantage, patiently addressing the Fenton patriarch, "I'm sure Daniel will be able to complete all of his chores after a brief rest. Enough time for everyone to settle into their daily routines and clear the fog of sleep, hm?"

Jack’s shoulders slumped slightly, though his scowl remained. He released Danny’s arm, but the damage was done, motherly eyes having scanned him fully before he’d had a chance to duck out of her meticulous view. Maddie gasped and snatched Danny’s arm, pulling back the rip in his sweater before he had a chance to protest and revealing the bruise on his shoulder and neck that had begun to shift from an angry red into an ugly purple. 

“Danny! What happened to you?” she asked as she assessed his injury.

He yanked himself away from her gently. “I—”

“He probably fell off that scooter,” Jack said. “He’s always been clumsy.” 

As much as he didn’t want to add fuel to the humiliating fire Jack was starting, Danny needed some sort of excuse for the bruise. 

“Yeah, that’s… me… clumsy. Heh. Fell off my scooter…”

“Onto your shoulder?” Maddie asked suspiciously. 

“I fell into a pole. Look, can I just clean those filters and go lay down?” he stole a glance Jack’s way and added, “Please?” 

“Nap first,” Maddie instructed. 

Jack didn’t seem thrilled with the direction the interaction had gone, but with all three of his family members watching him warily and Vlad running interference, he sulkily retreated to the lab, allowing his family to finally breathe easy. 

It took a little convincing to assure his mother that his bruise was nothing to be concerned about, along with promises and assurances that he'd be careful and gentle with it until he got better, Maddie eventually dropped the issue. She finally left him alone after she had him comfortably set up in his room, tucking him in, making sure he had water, and giving him some cold medicine to be safe. 

Once the door was closed, he aggressively kicked off the heavy blankets, ripped off his sweater, and melted into the comforting embrace of his bed. He let out a deep, long breath that sank him deeper and he stared softly and blankly at the ceiling. 

He relaxed for a whole ten seconds before the sinking pressed into his chest and spread uncomfortably into his arms and legs. He let out another breath, shorter and sharper, as the ceiling seemed to start pressing in as well. 

He tried to shift positions, reached over to his desk and examined his model rocket like it was new, covered his head with a pillow, but nothing seemed to help him relax.  

He had hoped that if he just gave it enough time he could settle in, but at the sound of the front door closing, the sinking feeling tugged demandingly on his anxiety. 

He stood up, thinking maybe watching Vlad officially leave the house would put him at ease, but as he peered out the window at the street below, he bristled when he saw not just the vainglorious billionaire, but his mom, stepping into his fancy car in front of the house. 

“Crap,” he muttered to himself, rushing over to his bedside table and grabbing his cellphone. Once in hand, he dashed back across the room and leapt at the window, transforming and phasing through the glass to follow as he called Sam.  

“Finally!” she answered, “I was wondering when summer would start.”

“Yeah, about that… it’s going to have to wait a little longer. You know how Vlad’s been hanging around a lot lately?”

“Hard not to notice. He leaves a trail of affluent waste and loneliness wherever he goes,” she snarked. 

“He and my mom just drove off somewhere. I know that sounds like nothing but it's been kind of a day and I could really use your help,” he said, going invisible and dropping down close to the car to peer inside. It didn't look especially nefarious; the two were engaged in a conversation he couldn't hear, but even that made him nervous. 

To his relief, Sam immediately assured, “No need to explain. Anyone being alone with him is bad news. Where should we meet you?” 

“Looks like he’s heading downtown. I can keep you updated. Call Tuck for me?” 

“You got it. Do you need us to bring anything?”

“A good excuse to get him away from her if he crosses the line,” he replied with a bitter chuckle. “I’m supposed to be sick in bed so I can’t be seen.”

“We’ve got it covered, Danny.”

“Thanks, Sam,” he said, hanging up and focusing on his pursuit.

Not unpredictably, the car pulled up to the nicest coffee shop in town. Vlad got out first and held the door open for Maddie and took her inside. 

Danny frowned, sending Tucker and Sam the location before floating into the store. It was busy, since it was still breakfast, so once Vlad and Maddie had ordered some coffee, they decided to take one of the covered tables outside on the patio.

Despite still being invisible, Danny ventured close and peeked at them from behind one of the decorative plants close to the table.  

“Thank you, by the way, for helping diffuse the situation,” Maddie said, almost sheepishly, to which Vlad waved a hand dismissively.

“Normally, I never would have intervened, but—”

“No, I’m very glad you did,” Maddie said softly, eyes downcast solemnly. “He's just been so… it’s hard to get him to listen.”

Vlad paused, seeming to be contemplative, but Danny's skin crawled at how rehearsed it felt. “Maddie, I don't mean to overstep, but from what I've observed… it doesn't seem like an issue with communication.” 

Maddie got quiet, staring at him hard for a moment before looking away again. “I’m worried, Vlad.” 

Vlad reached across the table, took one of her hands and tilted his head at her. “How bad is it really?” 

Danny texted Sam and Tucker as quickly as he could to hurry.

She met his eyes, grimacing, then stared at the table distantly. “What you saw today… he's… He's been argumentative and aggressive to all of us, but… He’s been particularly… harsh… with Danny.” 

Danny's brow quirked in surprise.  

“Ah, then this morning wasn’t a fluke?” 

She shook her head, raised her hands, expression twisting in confusion as she tried to explain. “He’s just been… I don't know, he's been intolerant towards all of us, but lately, with Danny, he's… he's been accusing him of things and saying just… mean things to him and-and… but I’ve never seen him grab him like that.”

Danny swallowed, suddenly feeling very guilty that he had heard any of that. It hadn't really, consciously occurred to him that his dad's treatment of him was all that different. He had just assumed, because Jazz was an A+ student who never missed a curfew and didn't need monitoring, that his dad was just being harsher with him because, even if Jack was acting worse than normal, Danny was still the one causing trouble to begin with. 

It surprised him that she would notice at all, much less that she was acting like Danny was blameless in it. 

“I feel like it’s getting worse. I thought maybe he was drinking or he was on drugs. But I’ve checked the whole house—top to bottom. Every nook and cranny. I pulled out vents, outlets, and moved furniture. I can’t find anything. And he doesn’t leave the house so he’s not doing anything elsewhere. I even thought..." Maddie stopped, swallowing hard as though her next thought was a betrayal in itself, "I even thought he was possessed. But he's clean on all of my scanners. I just… I just don’t understand, Vlad, I—”

“Now, Maddie, stop this. You could drive yourself mad trying to find any reason behind Jack’s behavior. People can change suddenly and without any real provocation,” Vlad told her.

She looked up from the table into his eyes and he smiled softly. “But does that mean…” she swallowed and gave Vlad pleading eyes, “That he could change back?”

Vlad smiled sympathetically.

Danny stared at them, jaw clenching with guilt that he'd put so much on his mom's shoulders, but that he'd also let her confide in someone who was absolutely thrilled to hear it. 

“Mrs. Fenton! Mrs. Fenton!” 

Both Vlad and Maddie looked up as Tucker and Sam ran up to the railing of the coffee shop that separated it from the street and frantically got Maddie’s attention. Danny released the breath he had been unconsciously holding. 

“There’s a ghost, Mrs. Fenton!” Tucker exclaimed, a little too dramatically in Danny’s opinion, but then again, that’s how he often dealt with things. 

“Yeah, it’s terrorizing the people on 2nd street,” Sam said much more believably, “You’ve got to hurry!”

Danny watched his mother’s expression harden in determination and he felt a wave of relief wash over him. She looked at Vlad who–to the surprise of the three children–merely smiled. 

“Of course, I understand, my dear,” he said, taking another casual sip from his half-full coffee mug. “I’ll have the car meet you when you’re ready to go home. I myself have some business I need to take care of as well.” 

She nodded and flipped up her hood and put on her goggles. “Lead the way, kids,” she told them seriously.

They started leading her in opposite directions for just a split second before Tucker course-corrected and rejoined Sam, leading Maddie away from her romantic pursuer. 

Vlad watched her run off, then raised his mug to his lips again as he said, “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

Danny’s eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly collected himself, taking full cover behind the plant to transform into his human half before walking out to stand in front of the man, glaring at him. 

Vlad appraised him casually. 

“You really do look poorly, my boy. You should have taken advantage of the chance you had to rest.”

“Stay away from my family,” Danny said, dropping all pretense. 

“Now see? Lack of sleep can result in flared tempers,” Vlad said. “How about some coffee, Little Badger?”

Danny leaned his hands on the table to bring his glare closer. “I mean it. You went too far with this. I know what you’re doing and it’s not going to work. Leave my mom alone. Leave my family alone. Back. Off.”

Vlad mockingly smirked at the way Danny’s eyes flashed green and he faked a shiver. “Ooh, the scary eyes. Careful, son. Let’s not make a scene.”

“Don’t call me that,” Danny seethed through clenched teeth. 

“Someone ought to,” Vlad replied evenly.

Danny’s lip curled and without even thinking he raised his hand to swat the smug billionaire’s drink out of his hand. Vlad must have discerned his intent, snatching his wrist before Danny could even quite raise it. Sharp eyes stared at him tauntingly.

“It would be ill-advised to cause a scene here. After all, your mother isn't that far, and I can't imagine this little goose chase your friends have concocted will stall her long. What will you tell her when she comes back to get a ride home and finds you here?”

Danny scowled, tried to yank his hand free, but Vlad wouldn't let him go. 

“I suppose you could transform in front of all of these diners, but then your mother would come back to Phantom , instead, and that would be much worse, wouldn't it?”

Vlad reached into his wallet and deposited a wad of cash that was definitely more than what they spent on coffee onto the table. He then started pulling Danny along with him as he stood to leave. 

Danny tried to pull himself free, but (and he hated to admit it) both those options sounded bad and plausible, so his efforts were dulled by trying to also be discreet. They were getting some looks and he didn’t want to make things worse. 

“What are you doing?” Danny hissed under his breath, resigned to following Vlad out of the patio and down the sidewalk. He felt a little embarrassed that the heat was already getting to him, but Vlad, in his black suit, seemed unaffected. 

“If one of the diners had been concerned enough to call the police, what would you have told them? Especially if they happened to notice that bruise. Or those cuts on your arms.”

Danny had completely forgotten he'd left his sweater at home and the wraps and bandages on his arms were exposed, but he shook off the concern to growl, “I'd tell them you did it, now let me go.” As soon as Vlad had dragged them out of view of the restaurant, he grabbed Vlad's hand to rip himself free. 

Vlad released him unconcernedly, turning around and smiling smugly at him. “And they just might believe you, but do you think your mother would?” 

Danny went to respond but felt his chest deflate as he realized how uncertain he felt about his answer. 

Vlad smirked with satisfaction. “She's awfully suspicious of Jack and after this morning, she knows you're willing to appease him.”

“I wasn't appeasing him,” Danny defended.

“What would you call it?”

“I was just keeping the peace!” 

Vlad waved a hand as if the difference was negligible. “It's all the same to her.” 

A black car pulled up next to them and Danny watched someone who definitely wasn’t just a nicely dressed ghost step out of the drivers’ seat to open the door for him. Vlad gestured at the car politely. “After you.”

Danny scowled distrustfully. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Relax, Little Badger. I’d prefer it if you got home before your mother did. I don’t think she’d be pleased to find you missing and I think she’d be all- too pleased to find Phantom flying about, especially as injured as you are,” Vlad reasoned, gesturing again at the open door.  

Danny's lips pressed into a thin line, the paranoid irritation he'd felt before shifting into a simmering anxiety. As much as he distrusted Vlad, he really didn’t want to run into his mom as either version of himself. Warily, he walked over to the other side of the car and let himself in from that side, sitting down and keeping his distance as Vlad settled in as well.  

The driver returned to his seat, closing the partition between the front and back as the car smoothly continued–to Danny’s slight ease–down the street towards his house. 

“This won't work, Vlad,” Danny said as he crossed his arms and sunk into the seat.

“What won't?” 

“This. Making my dad look bad. You already tried that at the reunion.”

“Mm. The reunion was a little hasty, wasn't it. Why she ever cared for that oaf still baffles me.”

“ Cares ,” Danny corrected. “He's not an oaf and she still cares about him. You can't change that.” 

“Do you know why I agreed to our truce at the reunion?” Vlad asked abruptly. 

Danny looked at him, blinked dumbly. “Because I threatened your identity?”

“You threatened both our identities,” Vlad corrected. “And no, it wasn't because of that.”

"Was it because you realized that holding a twenty year grudge is stupid?"

Vlad ignored him, replying casually, "It was partly because I realized that now matter how big of a buffoon Jack is, your mother will excuse it. Maddie is as fierce to her enemies as she is generous and patient towards her loved ones. It's one of the reasons I love her."

Danny grimaced, disgusted that Vlad had the gall to say that out loud.

“But just as importantly, I agreed to our truce..." Vlad said as the car pulled up alongside Fenton Works. “...because I believed you.”

Danny stared at him for a second with flummoxed incredulity before rolling his eyes. “You just said you didn't agree to the truce because of that,” he complained as he stepped out of the car. Before he closed it, he leaned back in, narrowing his eyes to give Vlad one more warning glare. “If you're gonna lie about it, just don't even say anything .”

Vlad smiled. “There's only one liar here, Little Badger.”

Danny gave him one last glare before slamming the car door. He felt Vlad's eyes follow him all the way to the  front door before the car finally pulled away. He stopped before going inside, watching Vlad drive off and his simmering anxiety hardened into determination.

He had no idea what that meant, but he couldn't shake the smug certainty oozing off the other hybrid. It didn't matter what Vlad's plan was; that stupid little ghost haunting his dad was at the core of it. 

He took a big breath and stepped inside the quiet house. 

Chapter Text

The house was completely silent as Danny stepped inside; a thickness in the air that amplified each breath. His eyes glanced towards the doorway to the lab. It was still closed and he couldn't hear any noise behind it, but he couldn't imagine his dad had left. 

Quietly, he walked upstairs, ran to his room and put his sweater back over his head, then crept back out of his room. As he snuck down the hallway, he paused at Jazz’s door; it was closed and quiet, but she often liked to read or work on her computer with headphones, so that didn't surprise him too terribly. 

Passing by her room, he headed back down the stairs to the living room, turned the corner and, with one last glance upstairs to ensure Jazz hadn't suddenly decided to come out, opened up the lab door. 

He kept quiet, not necessarily wanting his dad to know he was there yet, and paused as he looked down the long, dark staircase. 

The last time he was here, it was quick, just trying to unload the thermos into the portal and leaving as quickly as he could. Anymore, there was just too high of a chance that his dad was down there. 

He hesitated at the top of the stairs a moment longer, considered changing into Phantom, but decided against it. The ghost seemed to know he was there whether he was invisible or not; it wouldn't make a difference, and anyway, he needed to catch it off guard. 

With another, deeper breath, he stepped carefully down the stairs, waiting until he was close to the bottom before calling out, “Dad? I'm gonna clean the filters.”

His anxiety flared when he was met with silence. He had been prepared for antagonism, maybe some yelling, but the lack of anything nearly made him change his mind, might have except for the louder, constant worry that had been plaguing him since the little ghost had shown up in the first place. 

His dad needed help. 

He swallowed down his nerves and cautiously entered the darkened lab.

Jack was hunched over a bench working on some gadget, but when Danny had reached the bottom of the stairs, he put down his tools and pressed his hands against the desk, his back turned to him.

“I thought you were sick,” Jack sneered.

Danny swallowed hard and the courage he’d built up started to evaporate. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, eyeing the back of Jack’s head indecisively. He didn’t see the ghost, and as usual his ghost sense wasn't reacting to it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. 

For once, he really needed it to be there. 

“I feel a little better,” Danny replied.

Jack turned to cast dark eyes on him, shoulders arched. “Wow. One nap and you're just better? How convenient.”

Danny tried not to react, watching closely for any sign that the ghost was present, but the look Jack was giving him made him feel small, cornered despite the whole lab being between them. He glanced over at the portal, then back at his dad who continued staring at him impatiently. 

Then he saw it, a small flash of green phasing through Jack’s shoulder and dipping back in. 

Danny kept calm, looking over at the filter again, replying carefully, “I’ll be quick.”

“That would be a miracle coming from you,” Jack snapped.

Danny stiffly crossed the lab over to the portal, glanced at the filter. It wasn’t that full (he hadn’t been able to catch as many ghosts as he usually did thanks to his healing issue and wasn’t straining the portal’s filtration system), so he guessed his dad had probably just assumed it needed cleaning since it usually did around this time.

Danny carefully positioned himself so that he was blocking his dad from seeing what he was doing.  He hovered at the filter for a little while, made a big act of looking frustrated and confused. 

“Figures. What’s the matter now?” Jack grumbled irritably behind him.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, turned to give his dad a meek look. “I-I don’t know, I can’t get it open…” 

This was stupid. Stupid and risky. But he didn't know what else to do.

Jack's eyes narrowed impatiently and he slammed the tool he had been using down onto the counter as he stalked closer.

Danny swallowed, backed a step away from the filter to give his dad space to reach it, all the while inching closer to the portal’s switch. 

He knew he could eject other ghosts from people--he'd done it to Vlad before--but that had taken a lot of force and he wasn't really sure how this ghost worked. It seemed to materialize and dematerialize at random. If he left it out of the open too long, he wasn't sure if he could hold onto it. 

He'd need to quickly shove it out and trap it in the Ghost Zone. If he couldn't, then…

He'd just have to hold it on the other side of the portal until his dad closed it. 

Jack stopped in front of the filter and Danny braced again, waiting for him to lean over it and see what the problem was, but instead, his dad looked at him. 

Danny’s eyes flicked back and forth uncertainly, then pointed again at the filter. “Do you think you could… open it…?” 

“I can open it.”

Danny's nerves tensed anxiously. “Okay…” 

“But I want to know one thing first…” Jack started, taking another step closer. 

Danny swallowed, suddenly noticing how little space he’d given himself; his father’s towering body in front of him, the walls and messy counters of the lab behind and beside him. His brows furrowed in confusion at the question, but another glance at the filter and he guessed he must mean the chores. “I really wasn't feeling–”

“Why couldn't you wait?” his dad asked, his voice changing pitch as a smug, sympathetic grin crossed his face, eyes glowing a deep, familiar red. 

Danny’s eyes bulged as realization hit and he reflexively reached into his core, clenching his fists as he pulled forth spectral energy to transform. 

Or tried to, but faster than Danny had ever seen his father move, the large man had jammed something into his abdomen. 

Danny wailed in shock as icy hot needles ripped through him, the electricity dancing through every inch of him, then settled in his core and started tearing; ripping him apart. His whole body seized and jolted, the pain searing his insides with an unfathomable and familiar pain. For that brief moment, he felt like he was back in the portal and someone had turned it on with him inside again.

It didn't last more than a second, but when it was over he was on his knees, chest spasming, eyes wide and wild as he looked up at his dad in horror. 

"I had planned to wait a few more days, you know, but you just couldn’t wait. There wasn’t a moment you weren’t confident I was involved, but I suppose it didn’t end up mattering, now did it?” 

Danny watched his dad speak, heard his voice, but as he stared up at the towering form above him, he was met once again with eyes that were not his father's.

Still reeling from the shock, taking deep, shuddering breaths of pain and exhaustion, he reached into his core and gasped in alarm when he felt nothing. It didn't just feel hard to access, it felt like it was gone. 

“W-what did you do to me?” Danny stammered in horror, backing away and staring with wide eyes at the figure of his father, who suddenly seemed much bigger than he ever had before. 

Vlad grinned, warping Jack’s face into something wrong, red eyes boring into him as he casually leaned forward. “I call it the Plasmius Maximus. Now, I know you’ve been feeling rather impatient, but not to worry. The worst of it is almost over and unfortunately, that little device will be a necessity moving forward.”

With Jack’s large hand, Vlad backhanded Danny across the face. Danny’s head whipped to the left so hard he fell over, barely catching himself from smacking his face against the floor. The blow had no supernatural power behind it, but that did nothing to cushion the bright, pulsing heat under his skin and in his cheekbone. Tears sprang unbidden from his eyes and his vision was swimming, but adrenaline urged him to move, rising shakily.

“Get out of him or I swear to god I’ll-” 

Vlad tsked disapprovingly. “Temper yourself. These little outbursts of yours will no longer be permitted.”

Danny’s face twisted into a snarl. He used the counter behind him to pick himself up, his back to it as he stared down the towering form of his father. “Get. Out.”

“Or what?” Vlad challenged, brow quirking. 

“I’ll tell them.”

“Oh?” 

“I mean it. I’ll reveal myself to everyone,” Danny resolved, knuckles turning white and fists trembling, the only sign of the rushing adrenaline that threatened to make him rattle out of his own skin. “I’ll tell them our secret and I’ll make sure everyone knows what we are and what we can do.”

“You’d demonize yourself?” Vlad queried, his voice gallingly calm.

“Us,” Danny corrected evenly.

Vlad regarded him briefly, then smiled. “That might be concerning if you were able to reveal yourself, but as it stands, your abilities aren’t a concern and won’t be for several hours. Do you really think I would go through all this trouble without considering that possibility?”

“I think your ego could be seen from space and you’re more prone to mistakes than you want to believe,” Danny retorted, taking a threatening step forward. “And this was a big mistake. You’re messing with my family, and if you think I will ever let this go, you’re crazier than you look, Fruitloop.” 

To Danny’s surprise, the petty use of the despised nickname didn’t have the effect he anticipated. In fact, Vlad seemed to be nothing but smiles, oozing confidence. 

“It’s evident you haven’t explored your overshadow abilities, so let me provide you a lesson. Overshadowing can be extremely effective when used properly. I can, for instance, commandeer a person entirely, as I am currently with Jack. When I leave, he’ll believe he’d simply lost track of his thoughts. This method gets much less effective the longer you remain, as the host cannot justify extended periods of mental absence. It also doesn’t work if you attempt to force them to do something they ordinarily would not. That’s liable to get you kicked from a host body. But, if the desired outcome is to force the host to do something outside of what they might normally do, a partial overshadowing is far more effective.”

Vlad demonstrated his meaning by holding up his palm. Light grew first, a pinprick of intense white light that shifted from the usual pink Vlad’s ectoplasmic power typically produced into a vibrant green. He spent a moment or two letting the pink give way to the green before at last it seemed it was done and what remained was the small, green ghost. 

Danny couldn’t contain the grimace that flashed over his features.

“Yes, I know you’ve gotten quite familiar with it,” Vlad said with a grin, “But do you know why this is the most valuable power we have?”

Vlad paused like a lecturer, but his would-be student was too absorbed with managing the desperate need to fight back against the impenetrable suit of armor the latter currently adorned.   

“Creating this costs us virtually nothing and with prolonged exposure, we can not only convince others to do anything , we can make them believe it was what they truly wanted to do. Normally this can take up to six months, but Jack… well, I suppose part of him was already angry with you… it only took three.” 

His gaze fell to the floor unbidden, shoulders slumping. The adrenaline that had been flooding his system felt like it was being squeezed out by exhaustion, spilling out of the bottom of his feet into the floor. 

“It pains me to have had to go to such lengths,” Vlad said regretfully, “But you insisted on remaining stubbornly ignorant. Remember, son. This was your choice.” 

“Don’t call me that!” Danny yelled, reaching for one of the gadgets behind him. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, he just knew there were enough weapons in this basement to take out a chunk of the ghost zone itself. His fingers closed on something and he swung it, only realizing too late it was just a beaker. It harmlessly bounced off Jack’s broad abdomen, clinking on the ground without so much as a crack. It made no difference to him, however. All he needed was a distraction.

Danny bolted for the staircase. It probably wouldn't take his mom long to figure out there weren't any ghosts around, so she would be home soon. He had to tell her. He couldn't prove it right now, but he'd make her see. He could convince her and damn whatever followed.

He hit the staircase face-first, ramming his nose and busting his lip on one of the steps. He wasn’t entirely sure if he tripped accidentally or if Vlad had done it to him, but the massive gloved hand encasing his ankle made him think it was probably the latter. He scrambled to pick himself up, but Vlad was yanking him back, dragging him kicking and flailing down the stairs and across the floor of the lab until he was within reach; on his back under his father's towering body.  

Danny struck out to kick the man away, but his whole leg jarred against Jack’s abdomen and before Danny could try something else, Vlad was batting his leg away and driving his foot into Danny's stomach.

He wheezed, breath leaving him in a whoosh as his body jolted. He tried to curl in on himself protectively, but the foot shoved him forcefully onto his back again before stomping down on his stomach.

He breathed out a pained heave, grabbing at Jack’s boot and trying to at least ease some of the pressure as Vlad leaned his weight onto his sternum, crushing and trapping him.   

"There's something I forgot to mention about overshadowing,” Vlad said calmly, watching with a glint in his eye as Danny struggled beneath him. “With enough practice and skill, you can not only affect your host's behaviors, you can influence their body as well.” He paused, allowing the insinuation to sink in. “With Jack’s lifestyle, no one would bat an eye if his heart failed him.” 

Danny’s eyes jumped up to Vlad’s, freezing in his struggles.

"It takes little effort on my part," Vlad explained. "And I can do it from anywhere."

"Don’t," Danny growled desperately, trying again to wiggle out from under Jack’s foot, but Vlad only leaned on him harder.

"Whether I will or not depends entirely on you. Now, Daniel, do you doubt that I will kill your father?" 

Danny pinched his eyes shut, trying to breathe, grunting in rising desperation as he struggled to unpin himself.

Vlad reared Jack's hand back and slapped him, and the surprise of it had Danny releasing a strained whine, dazed as the stinging in his face tripled. He could hear a ringing in his ear and his eye wasn’t opening. He coughed when Vlad eased the pressure on his stomach, but when he raised his hand to slap him again, Danny quickly coughed out, “I get it!" 

Vlad’s hand remained poised, but didn’t land. 

"Good. And do you understand that there is no one I cannot influence, buy, or remove to ensure your compliance?"

A thick lump had formed in his throat, furthering his difficulty breathing and making it painful to swallow. He looked over to the lab staircase through his one good eye; it looked miles away now that he was just a weak, scrawny kid.

Blurrily, he thought he could see some of his own blood dripping off the first couple of steps. 

"Daniel…" Vlad warned.

"Just–"

Vlad's brow rose in surprise. 

Danny went limp, trying to catch his breath enough to speak again. One side of his mouth felt swollen. "Just… just leave them out of it. I'll… I-I'll do whatever you want." 

"Yes, you will.”

Danny felt more than saw Vlad become distracted by something. The older man’s eyes wandered toward the ceiling, seeming to listen for a moment before a wide grin crossed his features with a chilling kind of anticipation. 

“Ah, she's home,” Vlad said, gaze rolling back down to Danny. “Let’s make a little noise, shall we?” 

He tensed as Vlad leaned down and captured his arm in Jack’s steely grip, resisted fruitlessly as Vlad pinned it down to the floor beside his head. Danny tensed, but as Jack’s arm reared back, his eyes shot wide with realization, and he started frantically bucking and yanking at his arm. 

Ignoring Danny's renewed struggling, Vlad slammed Jack’s fist into Danny’s left collarbone. 

It cracked, caved, and Danny felt the breath vacate his lungs in a raw wheeze as the fist snapped into bone, pain crushing his arm, shoulder and chest like an anvil. He only found his breath again when Vlad reared back and drove his fist into him a second time, a hoarse scream tearing out of his throat as agony sent him into a desperate, clawing panic. His right arm swung wildly around for some kind of purchase, his legs kicked and scratched on the metal flooring, but his left arm lay still where Vlad held it, numb from the fingers and up the arm until closer to his shoulder where a cold, stabbing pain radiated all the way into his chest. 

When Vlad finally released him, Danny tried to roll over and wrap around himself protectively, but the movement left the sensation of glass shifting under his skin and he cried out again. Instead, he covered it with his good, trembling hand, hyperventilating as sharp, icy pain kept spasming through his shoulder. 

Vlad stared down at him smugly as the sound of rushing footsteps descended the staircase.

With a victorious grin, Jack's eyes returned to their usual color, and he turned to face the entryway as the remaining Fentons approached. 

Maddie practically leapt down the stairs in her rush, Jazz not far behind her. At the sight of Jack looming over Danny’s crumpled form, still clinging desperately to his shoulder and struggling to pull in air, a chilling calm fell over her. She pulled out a baton used for ghosts, crossing the room as she warned, “Step away from him, Jack.”

Though Vlad didn’t seem to be overshadowing him anymore, the residual feelings from his presence remained, and Jack turned to her, glaring furiously. 

“Jazz, call 911 right now,” Maddie told her daughter. “Danny, baby, are you okay?” 

“There you go again, coddling him!” Jack roared. “This is how he gets away with as much as he does. You won't punish him!”

“Step away, Jack. Now .” 

“It was… my fault,” Danny wheezed, carefully cradling his shoulder and gritting his teeth through the stabbing pain as he worked himself up into a sitting position. “I-I was being lazy. I-I--”

“See?! He admits it!” Jack raged. 

“Don’t, sweetie” Maddie told Danny, though her eyes were fixed on her husband. “Jack, back away from him right now or I will make you.” 

Jack seemed taken aback, but it only fueled his uncontrollable anger. “You’re getting mad at me? This is his fault! This is all his fault!” Jack fumed and made a critical mistake. He swung his hand at Danny's face, smacking him with a sharp crack that sent him flailing onto his back. Danny screamed again when his shoulder hit the floor and pain laced into his whole left side. 

It took her only two long strides to dart across the room and get between him and Jack, wasting no time as she swung her baton into the back of Jack’s knee, forcing him to drop. With his balance gone, Maddie pulled back and swung it again, slamming it against her husband’s chest and forcing him onto his back with a loud, heavy thud. She poised her baton over her head, ready to make a secondary strike, but when she saw her husband wheezing, she cautiously walked past him to kneel beside her son.  

“Jazz, call the police!” she shouted more urgently, not realizing her daughter was already panickedly trying to tell the operator what was happening. She returned her attention to Danny, her features as steely as when she was hunting ghosts.  

She knelt next to him and he raised his one good eye to her, though even that was pinched slightly in a lasting wince. She scanned him briefly to ensure she had not overlooked any injuries before scooping him up in her arms, hesitating only a moment when Danny whined at the grinding sensation in his collarbone. 

“I know, baby, I know,” she told him softly, rubbing a thumb over his arm gently. “Be brave.”

He nodded into her shoulder, stifling the whimpers that threatened to spill forth. 

When they were upstairs, Maddie instructed Jazz to close and lock the door to the basement behind them. 

Chapter Text

Vlad was patient, courteous, and the only one willing to maintain conversation as the Fenton’s luggage was brought into the mansion by his staff. He provided a somewhat shortened tour to the three, making note of rooms that would most interest each--for Jazz, he made a point to have her room closer to the library, Maddie’s was nearest both it and the gym. They were in close proximity to one another, which Maddie was relieved to note, but as Vlad crossed to the other side of the balcony, getting further and further from Maddie and Jazz’s rooms, Maddie started to worry about the distance. Vlad placated her worries, assuring her that if Danny needed anything, Vlad’s room was not only just down the hall, but it also was the nearest room to a special surprise.

“Would you like to see?” Vlad asked her. “I thought it might provide some much needed distraction for him.” 

Maddie glanced at Danny, worried eyes roaming him for some interest, but he was as quiet and distant as ever. He hadn’t spoken much since the hospital, which was as understandable as it was upsetting. The silence paired with his eye, still blackened, but finally not so swelled, the red, aggravated bump on his lip, the bandage on his nose, and the firm sling keeping his left arm from jostling his clavicle bone--which the doctor told her had fractured in multiple places--tugged at her worry and desperation. Even a break from the hard, heavy staring he'd started doing would be enough.

She had made a few attempts to get him talking with her, painstakingly avoiding the topic of Jack, but she was lucky if she got much more than two or three word responses. He wasn’t even really speaking with Jazz much.

Frowning to herself, she nodded at Vlad and let him guide them just a little ways down the hall. They were currently on the second floor, where it seemed most of the guest rooms were, and had a spectacular view of the floor below, perfectly eye-level with the grandiose chandelier. The hallways above were in a u-shape with two large staircases on each end that added to the grandiosity and general avarice of the mansion. In a much less garish part of the upper level was another winding staircase tucked away in an alcove. Vlad led the three up into a third level, welcoming them to what appeared to be a fully functioning observatory. 

While astronomy was not among Maddie’s interests, she knew how it had captured Danny’s attention and, moreover, knew how he had been longing for a quality telescope. The one Jack and Maddie had gotten him last year was decent and within their financial range, but she had known even then it wasn’t really what he needed and wanted. The one stationed here in front of the enormous bay window was clearly high-end, if not top of the line. Charts and astronomical diagrams lined the walls, bookshelves stocked with relevant works, and a computer desk all had Maddie’s brows rising in both awe and guilt.

Her eyes once again wandered to her son, a daring spark of hope temporarily making her forget the part of her that felt burdened by such a tremendous gift. The expression she saw on his face, however, more confused her than anything else. His eyes were big, obviously just as taken aback by the room as she, yet there was a hardness she had no explanation for. He seemed to almost hate it.

“I had to resupply a few items, but if there was anything I neglected, do let me know. Although I haven’t pursued the sciences as aggressively in the last decade, the itch never really goes away. I’m sure you understand that.”

She understood it more than he knew. Juggling motherhood and her hunger for knowledge and scientific exploration had always been a challenge, but she had always managed to maintain both. She supposed that kind of multitasking wasn’t something everyone was capable of. 

“Daniel, this room and all of its utilities are entirely at your disposal,” Vlad told him. 

“Is that the end of the tour?” Danny asked emotionlessly. 

Maddie frowned. She understood that he must be going through a rollercoaster of emotions, but she felt guilty that he would so rudely blow off an incredibly thoughtful gift. In fact, despite the fact that Danny was the one to ask that they stay with Vlad over the summer, he had been exceptionally rude to him the entire time. 

Vlad seemed unaffected by Danny’s curtness, patting him on the shoulder not secured in a sling.

“Yes, I suppose that’s all of the essentials. And of course, if any of you ever have any questions, you can always ask.” 

  They made their way back down to the lobby. It seemed that the last of their luggage had been taken to their rooms, as the lobby no longer had an unsightly pile sitting in the middle of it. 

“Thank you for the tour, Mr. Masters. If it would be alright, I’d like to get settled in my room,” Jazz said.

“Of course, Jasmine, Daniel, the both of you feel free to settle in,” Vlad replied cordially, gesturing for them to head back upstairs.

Jazz nodded and looked at Danny expectantly. He didn't respond much, to further Maddie’s dismay, and seemed hesitant for some reason, but after a quick glance between her and Vlad, Danny reluctantly followed his sister up the stairs. 

“Really, Vlad, I can’t thank you enough for this,” Maddie said after they'd gone.

“Please, Maddie, you needn’t say a word,” he told her, raising both hands as if to ward off her gratitude. “It’s the least I can do in such a trying time for you and your family.” 

She smiled sadly, eyes downcast briefly. “Well, at least let me thank you for your patience. With Danny, I mean.”

Vlad placed a gentle hand on her shoulder blade, smiling assuringly. “He’ll come around.”

She buried the unbidden thought that had forced its way to the forefront of her mind, that there was no coming back from this… not for any of them. She forced a smile to her lips, pretending to be encouraged. 

He seemed to see straight through her, pressing his lips together thinly. “It’s a few hours before dinner. How about I help you settle in?”

“Again, thank you, Vlad, but it's been a long… It's been a long week. I think I need to lie down for a bit,” she said, certain she would be doing no such thing.

“Of course. If you should need me, I’ll be in my office right over here,” he said, gesturing to another tucked away room separated from the lobby by a pair of french doors. He gave her arm a soft squeeze and retreated to his office.

She stood in the lobby for a moment more, fighting the feeling of uncertainty, before heading upstairs. She paused at the top, looking in the direction of Danny’s room, torn between giving him his space and checking in on him. Based on his behavior during the day, she suspected he wasn’t in the mood to chat and decided on the latter. 

Instead, she stopped before her room to knock on Jazz’s door. 

Though her daughter opened up for her, she didn’t seem to want her to come in.

“Hey, mom, is D--is everything okay?” she asked from the doorway. A glance into the room revealed Jazz was slowly unpacking clothes into her closet and drawers. 

“Everything’s fine, I just wanted to check in and make sure you had everything you needed,” Maddie said, struggling not to sound as awkward as she inexplicably felt. 

“Oh, yeah, I’m just putting things away,” Jazz said, apparently having a similar problem as she absently moved a tendril behind her ear. “Have you checked on Danny?”

Maddie was both touched and shamed by the question. Jazz had always been particularly, for lack of a better word, motherly towards Danny, and her concern had only grown in the last few months. She was a stark contrast to Maddie’s own failures. 

“Not yet,” Maddie admitted, looking down at her hands. “I thought it would be better to give him a little space. I’ll check on him before dinner.”

Jazz nodded, her eyes wandering down the hall towards her brother’s room. Maddie could make a fairly educated guess as to what Jazz would be doing after she unpacked. 

“Jazz…” Maddie started, startling herself. She had only meant to check in on her, but now that she was here… The last week had been hectic between talking with police, the hospital, and arranging the trip to Wisconsin at Danny’s request. She hadn't yet had a chance to truly unpack everything that happened. 

“Honey, I need to ask you something, and I really need you to be honest with me. And I promise, I won’t be angry or upset with you. I’ll understand...”

Jazz tensed and Maddie wondered if her suspicions weren’t unwarranted. 

“Did you know?” she asked, wishing she didn’t have to even ask and even more terrified of the potential answer.

Jazz blinked, like the question had startled her, and Maddie’s own chest clenched.

“No,” Jazz answered and her tone left Maddie no doubts. “I wish I had. Maybe this wouldn’t have…” 

“No, Jazz, honey, don’t do that. That doesn’t help anything,” Maddie stopped her, aching that her daughter was trying to take any kind of blame. If anyone deserved that, it was their mother. 

She reached out and softly brushed her daughter’s cheek, but at the tenseness she was greeted with, she fought the urge to recoil her touch. Jazz smiled gratefully, but the rift was already felt. 

“ I’m… I’ll be in my room but if you–if either of you need or want to talk, I can come to you or you can come to my room. I’m here for you.”

Jazz nodded. “Thanks, mom.”

Maddie smiled, but couldn’t maintain it for even a second more after the door closed. Taking a deep breath she hoped would bury the emotions that threatened to spill forth, she retreated to her own room and buried herself in organization. As long as she had something to do, she would be alright. 

Chapter Text

The dresser tottered unsteadily as a kick was delivered to its innocent side. Danny’s suitcase lay on the oversized, overplush bed, still unopened. He had not wanted to leave the room, at least for as long as he could’ve gotten away with it, but the “No Service” message on his cellphone was taking precedence along with the messages he’d tried to send Tucker and Sam refused to deliver. 

He considered hunting Vlad down to get the wifi password, but thought of a better idea. Jazz would definitely have it. He would need to wait a little while to make sure everyone had settled in and he didn’t wander into someone he didn’t want to see in the hallway, but it was better to wait a little than to run into Vlad. He figured an hour should be long enough, but what to do in the meantime?

His suitcase kept pestering him, so he pulled it off the bed and shoved it under the bed frame. There were a handful of boxes haphazardly filled with various essentials and summer schoolwork that threatened to pester his mind as well, so he gave his suitcase company. Satisfied with the foreign, emptiness of the room, he figured there was probably one more thing he should make certain of. 

He breathed in deeply, bracing himself and pinching his brows together as he willed the white rings signaling his transformation to pass over him. He wasn’t entirely sure what was going to happen; he hadn’t had a chance to transform since the hospital. His arm tingled in its sling with anxious anticipation.

His anxiety was unfortunately proven to be correct as he assumed his alter ego. The sling, of course, did not transform as well, and boy, he didn’t realize how helpful that stupid thing had been up to this point. His whole left side groaned and protested the freedom, so he kept his arm rigid against his chest and tried his best not to move it too much. Then, setting himself to his task, he turned intangible. 

With more meticulousness than he generally dedicated to anything, he began rotating around the room starting from the doorway, opening air vents, removing lamp shades and light bulbs, phasing his hand through each and every square inch of his pillows and comforter, and so forth until he had dissected every millimeter of the room. 

He was almost irritated when he didn't find anything. It seemed Vlad was confident enough in his scheme that he didn’t feel it necessary to keep any kind of monitoring devices in Danny’s room. The only strange thing he was able to find was that all of the locks in the room--the bedroom door, the closet door, and the private bathroom door--all had only exterior locks. He put it out of his mind, deciding Vlad wouldn't get to keep him long enough for that to be worrisome.

The task didn’t take too long, but the anxiety was driving him crazy and he didn’t think he could sit around for fifteen minutes, so he decided enough time had passed to sneak a peek out into the hall. His invisible head popped out from the middle of his door and scanned up and down the hallway. He didn’t see or hear anyone, so he transformed into his human half, eased the door open, and tiptoed out, quietly making his way to the other side of the second story. At his destination, he pushed past his own hesitation and knocked on the door. 

Jazz pulled the door open, eyes going just slightly bigger at seeing him. 

“Danny, are you… is everything okay?” she asked hurriedly. “Did you lose your pain meds? Do you need help unpacking? I’m pretty much done, I can come-”

“I was just checking to see if you had the wifi password,” Danny interrupted her. 

“Oh. Um, yes, I think I wrote it down. You want to come in?” she offered, moving away from the door as she began looking around for whatever she had written it on. 

Danny stayed at the door, eager to return to the room he was staying in, but at the sound of another door creaking open, he quickly stepped inside and shut it behind him. Her room was partway disaster and partway organized masterpiece. She had clearly finished putting away all of her essentials (clothes hung up and organized by style, shoes lined up along the floor of the closet) and was now in the process of making the room her own. On her desk, which still seemed to be a work in progress, were some photos and knickknacks she had decided to bring along, and a few posters and meaningful quotes were pinned to the wall. Bearbert Einstein was tucked into the blankets on her bed, and nearby was her laptop and her diary, open and clearly being added to on and off. Jazz being Jazz, however, most of the mess involved paper. Danny was certain he saw a few that looked like applications of some kind. 

“You know we’re only going to be here for the summer…” Danny commented, looking with particular dislike at the decorations. 

Jazz blushed, although she seemed unsure about what she ought to feel about the comment. “I just thought it might make it feel more comfortable,” she replied as she opened up a drawer in her desk, pulling out a laminated piece of paper.

“You can hold onto it, if you want. I already logged in,” she said, passing it to him.  

“Thanks,” he said, putting it in his pocket. 

“Have you done any exercises today? For your shoulder, I mean,” Jazz said, stopping him before he could leave. 

“No, I’ll do it later,” Danny replied. He gave her an awkward smile, turning to leave. “Well, thanks for–” 

“It’s really important you do that,” she continued, like she couldn’t quite help herself. “The doctor said your shoulder will freeze up if you don’t.” 

“Yeah, I was there,” he replied with a bit more bite than he meant. He let out a deep sigh, turning around despite himself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound… I’m just tired.”

“It’s okay. Me, too,” she said nervously, although she smiled at the effort. “It was a long drive.”

“I’ll do the exercises,” he promised her. 

“Good.” 

He smiled, awkward as it was, and headed out to the hall again.

“Hey, Danny?”

He stopped before shutting her door, peering his head back in.

“My door’s always open. Day or night,” she said, looking at him hopefully. 

“Okay,” he said, giving her another hopefully reassuring smile before pulling the door closed, sighing in relief as it clicked with finality. 

He hurried back to his room, inputting the password into his phone as he went, but about halfway there, he stopped in his tracks. He tried inputting it again. Then again. And again. Once more, but no matter how certain he was of the accuracy, the wifi would not accept the password. He thought to ask Jazz again, but she’d said she was already logged in. He triple and quadruple checked that he had not accidentally put capitalization where it didn’t belong, or that he had not mistaken a number for a letter. That was clearly not the problem. 

Breathing out of his nose harshly, he changed course, stomping down the nearest set of stairs. He checked the first room connected to the lobby, but it was empty, so moved on to the next, pulling open one of the double doors and groaning to himself at his luck. 

Vlad looked up from his lavish desk, brow rising at his unexpected guest.

“Well, good evening, Daniel. I wasn’t expecting to see you up and about for a few hours yet. How are we feeling? How is the shoulder?”

Danny glared at him, subconsciously standing with his right side facing outward. He raised up the card for Vlad to see.

“What’s the wifi password? This one doesn’t work,” he said curtly, looking at everything but Vlad with a grimace.  

“I assure you it does,” Vlad replied, not even glancing at it to confirm.

“No, it doesn’t. I tried it like a thousand times.” 

“Troubling,” Vlad answered, although his focus remained fixed to the screen in front of him. 

Danny huffed impatiently, glanced at Vlad’s laptop and without really thinking about it slapped it shut. 

Vlad sighed, leaning forward and lacing his fingers together, elbows propped on the desk as he gave Danny his full attention. 

“I’m in a good mood, and I understand you must be feeling frustrated, so I’m going to let that slide this time. But be warned, Daniel… you’re under my roof now. I will not tolerate that kind of disrespect in the future. Do you understand?”

Danny didn’t want to start a staring contest, but now that he was stuck in one, he wasn’t about to back down, especially since he didn’t have any kind of comeback. 

Vlad seemed to take the silence as a victory, smiling as he broke eye contact and reopened his laptop. 

“I decided it would be best to give you a break from the internet. You should be focusing on your recovery.”

“What?” Danny exclaimed. “You can’t do that!” 

“If you’re worried about being bored, the astronomy tower is available to you 24/7. Not to mention the opportunity to catch up on your schoolwork,” Vlad reassured him, managing to do just the opposite. “I’m sure you noticed the bookshelf in your room?” 

He had, but he’d been too preoccupied searching it for listening devices to pay attention to any of the titles.

“I’ve stocked it with all the literature necessary to improve your grades. C’s are hardly worthy of the son of a genius.”

“Okay, I know you’re a lonely bachelor in your sixties who doesn’t know any better, but I’m a teenager. Teenagers need cell service,” Danny pressed. 

“Improve your grades, and I’ll consider it,” Vlad replied, though his tone was colder. 

“Fine! I’ll just use mom or Jazz’s internet, then.”

Vlad chuckled. “I’d very much like to see how you plan to explain that to them.”

Danny winced to himself. He didn’t think Vlad would see through that bluff so easily. 

“On the subject of your family, I don’t appreciate the attitude you’ve had around your mother. You embarrassed her today with your listless attitude. I want to see more of an effort from you to make this transition smooth.”

Danny’s eyes narrowed, fist clenching over the password in his hand and crumpling it as he tried to quell the more violent ideations he was having. 

“You don’t think you’re getting ahead of yourself?” Danny asked. “You got us here for the summer, but you’re forgetting something pretty important.” 

“And what’s that?”

“Mom isn’t interested in you.”

Vlad smirked. 

“What?” Danny snapped. 

“You’re still young,” Vlad replied casually, leaning back into his chair. “You have a lot to learn about relationships. The summer is all I need. However…”

He stood up and leaned over his desk to be just above eye level with the teen across from him. 

“I will not have your attitude causing any undue strain. What you do in your own company is not my concern, but when it involves your mother, you will treat her, and you will treat me, with respect. If I’m dissatisfied with your behavior, there will be consequences.”

“Like what? Spending the summer with you?” 

The response seemed to irk Vlad as he cast the boy a brief scowl, but it disappeared as quickly as it came as he added, “Don’t forget… your father is still alive because I choose for him to be. So stay on your best behavior."

Danny ground his teeth to keep from saying anything stupid, turning his head to glare at a corner.

Satisfied that his threat had sunk in, Vlad settled back into his chair, adding more pleasantly, "And try to relax, Little Badger. This can be a positive change, if you let it.”

Swallowing the expletives that rapidly fired through his mind, he sighed loudly and pointedly, turning on his heel and leaving in a huff. 

As soon as he’d shut the door, he unwrinkled the password in his palm and started making his way from room to room, checking to make absolutely sure the wifi wouldn’t work elsewhere. After ten rooms yielded no results, he angrily shoved the little piece of paper into his pocket and retreated to the room he was staying in, careful to be quiet as he passed by his sister and mom’s rooms so as not to alert them to the fact that he was up and about. 

Once he’d shut his door, he sharply tossed his phone onto the bed and threw the paper into the trash can. 

He couldn’t repress the shout as he kicked the dresser again. 

Chapter Text

“I could arrange it quite easily,” Vlad said over dinner, engaged in conversation with the last person Danny would’ve expected.

“I-I don’t know,” Jazz replied sheepishly. “I mean, I could probably find somewhere to intern here in Wisconsin.”

“Certainly,” Vlad agreed, “But you would lose the prestige the New York branch can offer. While my business does secondarily operate here, it will not look nearly as impressive on your resume, I can promise you.” 

She seemed to agree, since she didn’t argue, but hesitated all the same. “But we’ll be going back to Amity Park after the summer…”

Danny’s fork screeched across his plate as he jabbed at a piece of duck too aggressively. It was all he could do not to pipe in and support her reasoning, even if he didn’t exactly agree with the why.

“Jasmine, you are set to graduate a year early. You’re gifted, like your mother, and should start preparing for your future. It’s never too early, and at the pace you’re currently going, getting some intern experience would do wonders for your academic future,” Vlad reasoned. 

“But now just doesn’t seem like a good time,” Jazz resisted. 

“He’s right, though.”

Both Danny and Jazz looked to their mother.

“It’ll never feel like the timing is right,” Maddie said. “There’s always going to be something that feels more important, but your future is what’s important, sweetie. You have about a year and a half before it’s time to start college. Having that kind of intern experience could get you into the best college in the country.” 

Danny missed the piece of duck altogether this time, so he gave up on it. He was liable to bite the tip of his tongue off if he tried eating right now anyway. 

Jazz unconsciously glanced Danny’s way. 

Vlad was the only one to notice.

Still, Maddie’s words seemed to resonate. She looked down at her lap, clearly turning the idea over in her head.

Small talk resumed between Maddie and Vlad as the meal progressed, with Jazz chiming in only occasionally, which was what was most worrisome. Her usually opinionated interjections were at a minimum as she stared hard at her food, deeply considering their earlier conversation. 

Danny watched her, silent for his own conflicted reasons. Guilt gnawed at his empty stomach, frustration shook his muscles unconsciously. When he wasn't staring at his sister, aware of the excitement and guilt she was trying to quell, he was glaring at Vlad who either didn't notice or didn't care. It could have easily been both.

After dinner, all Danny wanted to do was disappear into his room and continue sulking, but he barely had a chance to decide if he would be doing so on his bed or at his desk when he heard a knock on his door. He considered ignoring it. No matter who it was, he wasn’t up for company. The second knock, however, was timid and sparked a guilt that he couldn’t ignore. 

He opened the door to Jazz’s anxious face. 

“Hey, Danny.”

“Hey,” he said, “Uh… what’s up?”

“Could I come in? Just for a minute?” she asked, rubbing her arm uncomfortably. 

He absolutely didn’t want her to come in. 

“Sure,” he said, stepping aside for her. 

Her eyes wandered over his still packed belongings and the sight seemed to dishearten her. She turned sharply, as though she thought to change her mind. Danny’s position close to the door must have discouraged that idea and she took a deep, self-reassuring breath.

“How are you?” 

Danny decided to relieve them both. 

“Come on, Jazz,” he said lightheartedly.

She looked at him uncertainly, but she dropped the hand gripping her other arm. “What?”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking. Nice weather we’re having, isn’t it? I bet the plants love this rain!” He paused to let the joke land. At her sheepish smile, he softened and asked, “Now that that's out of the way… what's up?” 

“Sorry, I just don’t know how to…” she rolled her hands around in front of herself as she struggled for the words she needed, but trailed off with another smile. “I just wanted to ask you about what we talked about at dinner.”

His smile dropped a little, though he tried concealing it behind an itch. 

“I just wanted to know what you thought,” she finished, staring at him sidelong. 

He wandered over to his bed and sat down, hanging his head slightly. “I don’t-I mean... does what I think matter?” 

She looked down at her fingers. “It matters to me.”

He wasn’t sure what to say. Either he convinced her to stay, trapped along with him and their mother directly under Vlad’s influence, or he convinced her leaving was a good idea, at which point she would be under the influence of whatever intern position Vlad gave her--outside of the reach of help. Part of him wanted her not to go specifically because Vlad seemed to want her to, but was that just because she wasn’t part of his vision of a perfect family, or was it something else?  

“Well what do you want to do?” he asked.

That guilty expression washed over her features again.

He nodded in understanding. Maybe leaving would keep her safe. Maybe Vlad would just forget about her.

“Can I ask you something else?”

He raised his head, resting his arms on his thighs. 

“How long… how long was he…?”

Danny’s eyes grew wide in surprise, but he didn’t try to hide it. He allowed his tight gripping of his blankets and the turning of his head to be seen by her, hoping the obvious discomfort with the subject would be enough to deter it. 

He was more surprised when it only seemed to strengthen her resolve. She approached softly, sitting near the edge of the bed to be close while still respecting his space. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he insisted.

“Please? I need to know,” she asked again, a hint of desperation in the pitch of her voice. 

“Why? What difference does it make?” he asked, looking up at her as he leaned his body back. 

“It makes a difference. Please?” she pressed, though it remained gentle. 

He couldn’t imagine what difference that information could make for her, but moreover, he absolutely did not want to offer any details to anyone, much less Jazz. He had gotten good at lying, but she paid more attention than everyone else. She wasn’t interested in what she wanted to hear. She would dig at her own expense, as long as it was true.  

“I don’t know… a few months ago?” he replied, watching her reaction carefully. 

Her brows rose a little and he wondered if she had made the connection he wanted her to. He figured, if she was trying to figure out a timeline, he could bury his secret in it. If she saw him acting strange after the accident, she would blame it on the lie instead. 

She seemed slightly surprised that he answered, nodding and pausing to consider. “Why didn’t you talk to me? Or mom?”

His expression hardened. “I thought you just wanted to know what I thought about the whole intern thing. Why are you interrogating me?” He didn’t want to be so confrontational, but he couldn’t give her an inch. There was no stopping her from psychoanalyzing him, but he at least needed to keep her looking in one direction.

She backpedaled at the accusation, reaching out for him as she reassured, “Oh, no, I’m not trying to interrogate you! I’m just trying to understand.”

“What’s there to understand?” he asked tautly, pulling away from her touch. “You saw what happened. That’s not good enough for you?” 

Her face dropped as she wrestled with the confusion of having lost complete control of the conversation and her voice took on a placating, desperate tone. “That’s not what I meant...”

“Then what do you mean? Do you want to get a closer look at this?” he asked, brandishing his slung arm at her. “Do you want me to go into more detail?”

“No, Danny! I–I just-”

“What, Jazz? What will make you feel better about it?” he pushed, frustration bubbling out of him faster than he'd meant. She didn't deserve him shouting at her, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself, despite his mind begging him to before he said or did something he would regret.  

But she couldn't know the truth. 

“Danny!” She actually shouted at him. He had never heard her do that before, but it only pushed him further into an uncontrolled spiral. 

“What do you want from me?! What about this situation isn’t fitting into your perfect little world?!”

“It doesn’t add up, Danny!” she finally shouted, gasping at her own words. 

His anger dissipated, replaced with a pang of panic that forced him into silence. “What are you talking about?” he asked, fearing a tremor had snuck its way into his tone.

“I… It's just… Danny, I don’t understand!” she confessed, slumping on the edge of the bed. “It’s not that I… It’s just… Why you, Danny?”

He stared at her, not yet sure what she meant and not daring to speak until his throat stopped feeling so closed. 

“Why didn’t he hurt me, too?” 

He was stunned. In all honesty, he hadn’t expected anyone to question that aspect of his lie. It seemed obvious and reasonable enough to him, but he should have guessed she might do this, and not just because she was the smart one; she just always saw more in him than was there. 

She gazed at him, looking as nervous as he was, as expectant as she was terrified. Danny knew his lie would start crumbling the longer he stayed quiet and, Jazz being Jazz, she would see right through him.

“Why would he hurt his favorite?” 

She blinked at him, as stunned by the statement as he himself was for having made it. He hadn’t planned it; it had spilled from his lips almost automatically, but now that it had, it seemed he couldn’t stop the expulsions. 

“W-what?” she asked in shock.

“Don’t act so surprised. We all know you’re his favorite. You always were. And why wouldn’t you be? You’re his little girl. Your grades are perfect. You’re living up to the Fenton family name. You're on the honor roll and you're gonna be Valedictorian and you'll end up on the cover of that women of science magazine you love. But me?” He held out his good arm and let it drop limply, felt his throat closing again and swallowed hard to clear it. “I’m his failure of a son. I’m the only idiot in a family of geniuses. I'm the only one in a family who knows martial arts or played sports who’s so clumsy and weak I crash my scooter every week. I'm the only one in our family tree who can't break 5’3. I can’t–” he voice stumbling over a heavy lump in his throat, corners of his eyes stinging. He tried to bury it, focus on the heat in his skin, but the more he ignored it, the more easily his eyes seemed to water, “I can’t even get the trash out on time. I'm the family’s first and only loser. ” He ducked his head, clenching his teeth and quickly swiping at his eyes, pretending they were angry tears. 

She was staring at him, mouth ajar in both shock and alarm. She looked like she wanted to stop him, but either didn’t know how or felt unable. 

"So why would he hurt you ?" he continued. "You don't... you don't deserve it."

Silence filled the space between them, but he didn’t dare look at her. He didn’t want to see her agree with him. 

Jazz blinked hard and took a purposeful breath. "Danny… there is nothing you could ever do that would make it okay for anyone to hurt you," she said with an intensity and severity that he rarely heard from her. “You are not a loser. You’re not clumsy. None of that is true and I’m so angry at whatever made you think that you were–I can’t even begin to imagine why you would believe that–but it doesn’t even matter, because no one deserves what was done to you.”

He pinched his brows, avoiding her eyes. She usually had this accidentally patronizing tone, especially when she was trying to be taken seriously, but now she almost sounded like their mom. Her voice was steady and fully sincere. She meant it. 

He swallowed hard, wanting to be comforted, but if she knew what he’d done… what he was still doing… 

He forgot to mention he was a liar, too. 

"I’m not trying to interrogate you, Danny. I just want to help,” she said, reaching out for him.

"Do you?" he questioned coldly.

She recoiled. "What do you mean?" 

"This isn't about you being worried about me, is it? This is about your ego."

He felt her expression turn insulted, but it hurt more that he could see confusion behind it. "My ego? Danny, listen to yourself! This isn't like you. None of this is!"

He scoffed mockingly. "Oh yeah, because you know every little thing about me. It must just kill you that you didn't see it. That's supposed to be your thing, right? Seeing all of the subconscious psychological stuff behind the family. But you missed this."

Now she was just as angry as he was. "This isn't about my ego! But I know you and I know Dad. And I know that..."

"That what? Go ahead. Say it."

She took a deep, calming breath. "You've been hurt...”

"No. Say what you really want to say. You think I'm a liar."

"I don't know what to think!" she yelled at him. "How am I supposed to believe you about anything? Do you know how many lies I've caught you in these last six months? But I haven't said anything because-” she stopped before she said something, quickly recovering, “Because I thought you'd tell me on your own, but instead you suddenly got distant and started disappearing all the time and you–you–y-you shut me out! And that was like six months ago, but Dad? Dad didn’t start acting strange until three months ago. So I know I don't know everything that's going on, but that's only because you’re not telling me everything!"

"Obviously you never saw Dad acting strange! You never saw that side of him! He only showed it to me!" he shouted, his throat burning with excessive use. "You missed it! Get over it!" 

"I can't, Danny!"

"Why won't you just believe me?!"

"Because!"

"Why?!"

"Because I failed you!"

He stopped; his turn to be shocked. 

"Do you know why I'm constantly analyzing our family? Because I thought that I was the only one paying attention. I thought Mom and Dad were just letting us fall by the wayside. They've just been so caught up in all the ghost stuff ever since they got that portal running. I thought I could be what you needed. But…" she stopped, putting a hand over her mouth to try and contain her emotions. 

He swallowed hard. He had never understood why she was on his case all the time. He had assumed she was just nosy. 

The revelation couldn't have come at a worse time.

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and no amount of scowling seemed to make them go away. He felt them slide hot down his cheek and he quickly brushed it aside, chest aching with self hatred.

"Well you missed this," he snapped, spitting venom. With a glare he could hardly believe was his own, he ducked his head and clenched the covers of his bed, muttering finally, “Get out.”

He felt the bed tremble, heard a sniffle as she stood, but he kept his head buried until he heard the door slam, but couldn't find the will to move even after she was gone. 

His arm ached from his whole body tensing and he felt like he was going to shake right out of his skin. He was either going to break something or he was going to break down. 

Stiffly, he snatched a lamp from his bedside table, transformed into Phantom, only gritting his teeth at the pain that accompanied it before phasing through the roof to break something. 

Chapter Text

Jazz left at the end of the week. Vlad had approached her again a few days prior to offer a recent--and unexpected--internship opening in New York. 

They accompanied her to the airport and sent her off; Maddie double and triple checking she had everything she needed and reminding her to call and check in, Vlad being endlessly supportive and positive about what her future held for her. 

Danny stood quietly off to the side, busily tapping his foot and looking at everything else. He couldn’t occupy himself away from the final goodbye and when his turn came, there was a brief, awkward pause before they stiffly embraced, breaking away quickly--Jazz reminding them she was going to miss her flight.  

The ride home was just as bad. Danny sat slumped in the backseat, arms folded and staring out the window. Vlad was, of course, the only one remotely at ease and tried to distract Maddie with small talk, detailing everything Jazz would learn and have the opportunity to do in New York. In vain, it seemed. Even Maddie seemed dimmed.

Once back at the mansion, Danny made a beeline for the staircase, trying to make his resistance to conversation or mingling painfully obvious. He barely made it into the lobby before Vlad spoke to him, making his skin crawl with unease. 

“Daniel, a moment. I’d like to borrow you.” He posed it as a request, but they both knew better.

Danny happened to catch the warm wink he offered Maddie and suspected he had missed something they had said in the car. 

He didn’t reply; just begrudgingly followed Vlad into his study, letting his own sulkiness ooze out of him in the hopes that it might make Vlad just uncomfortable enough to decide to cut whatever he wanted short. 

Vlad closed the study doors behind them and turned to him, hands behind his back and smiling warmly. 

“Quite an eventful day, eh, Little Badger?” 

Danny roughly pulled a chair out from in front of Vlad’s desk, plopping himself into it. He tucked his free arm under his cast and sunk into the cushion, allowing an aura of misery to form a bubble around him. 

“Have you already forgotten our previous conversation?” 

“Look, you got me here,” he snapped. “Isn’t that good enough?”

“‘Getting’ you here is only part of what I wanted, Daniel,” Vlad replied with a false gentleness. “I want you both to be happy here.”

“Well, enjoy half a victory forever then,” Danny replied.

“You do realize that this juvenile pettiness only hurts you in the long run?”

“I don’t know, it seems like you’re getting frustrated. That’s pretty worth it,” Danny countered.

Vlad shook his head and folded both hands behind his back. “I’m surprised you’re willing to sacrifice your mother’s happiness on the off-chance you’ll irritate me. It doesn’t particularly align with your heroic moral code. But perhaps you’re growing.” 

“I think you’re giving me way too much credit. She thinks dad is a child abuser; how happy were you picturing she’d be?” 

“Oh, you’d be surprised how much influence you have right now, Daniel. You must be more distracted than I thought.”

“Being blackmailed is pretty distracting,” Danny grumbled, slipping even further down the chair until his back was nearly in the seat. Maybe he could slide onto the floor and out the door without Vlad noticing. 

“Or perhaps it’s your injury,” Vlad mused, then glanced at Danny sideways. “It must be quite deflating to the ego to be impaired by such minor injuries. Perhaps your mood would improve if your powers were restored.”

Danny’s attention returned to Vlad, feeling as defensive as he was confused. 

“Human healing is frustratingly slow, isn’t it? How long did the doctor say it would take for that to heal? Months? And even then, it regrows more fragile than before.” 

Danny discreetly took a deep breath, sliding back up the chair. “What are you talking about?” 

Vlad stared at him for a moment, then seemed to think of something amusing. He smiled patronizingly. “It never occurred to you, did it?”

Danny blinked at him uncomprehendingly. “What didn’t?”

“I’d laugh if it wasn’t so concerning,” Vlad said, the smile betraying his lie, “My boy, we need to work on your critical thinking skills. I’ll have to adjust your curriculum.”

“ What ?” Danny snapped impatiently, leaning forward in the seat. 

Vlad chuckled. “I thought you were just being stubborn.”

Danny’s brows pressed together and he hated how long it took him to realize what Vlad was talking about. It should have been obvious, but he had stupidly assumed his healing issues had been coincidental, just another power he didn't quite have enough control over.

“You took my healing…?”

“Of course I did,” Vlad replied simply, smugly. 

“H-how did you… how–When–? That’s… that's why the doctors didn’t find out at the hospital, isn't it?” Danny guessed.  

“A fortunate side effect of dulling your healing factor. But now that we have the pesky business of framing your father and fooling your doctors out of the way,” Vlad boasted, pushing himself off of the fireplace with his shoulder and turning to face it. ”I would be inclined to return those powers to you.” 

He reached up and pulled on an antique-looking candle like a lever. When it responded as such, the fireplace popped out slightly and slid off to the right, revealing a narrow, metal staircase. Vlad stepped aside and stood in front of the entrance. 

“All I would ask is that your mood improves around your mother.”

Danny looked at the staircase, gripped the armrest a little tighter as he deliberated. Part of him wanted to be petty, the bitter part of him wanting to reject anything Vlad had to offer just on principle. 

The smart move was to say yes, get his healing factor back, and then he’d have a real chance of opposing Vlad.

Some other part of him, indifferent to his reasoning and pettiness, kept clinging to the armrest as he stared at the dark, deep staircase. 

He tore his eyes away and leaned back into his chair again. “Fine. Just do whatever you need to do up here,” he said, accentuating the bitterness in his voice. 

“Nonsense,” Vlad replied. “Everything I need is in the lab.”

Danny doubled down, glaring hard at the floor and hoping his stubbornness might for once pay off for him.

“I can take away this reward as easily as I can offer it.” 

Danny gritted his teeth, glanced at the staircase uneasily. Slowly, he stood from the chair and dragged his feet to the entrance of Vlad’s lab, legs feeling like lead and jelly all at the same time. At the top of the stairs, he stared down into the darkness and felt frozen to the spot. His left arm ached and he worried the tender, healing wound on his lower lip anxiously.

Vlad stared at him, arching a brow. “Well?”

“I’m going,” Danny complained, but he kept just standing in the doorway like a moron. It was just dark, he reasoned. If Vlad turned on a light, maybe he wouldn’t feel so anxious. 

Vlad rolled his eyes dramatically next to him and suddenly the man's hand was on the back of Danny’s neck, forcefully guiding him down the staircase. Danny’s heart jumped at the first couple of steps, but Vlad didn’t release him, and as much as he hated Vlad touching him, he wasn’t sure if he would have gone on his own. 

The soft echoes of their steps on the metal staircase reverberated on walls that felt too close and the further down they went, the closer they felt. 

Vlad turned on the lights shortly after they had reached the bottom and, finally, let go of his neck. 

The reclined examination chair in the middle of the room caught Danny's eye first, but the rest of the lab wasn’t much more inviting. There was a room off to the right side that was separated by a small alcove and a wall of glass; inside nothing but an empty, all-white space. To the left were a set of doors that looked like they belonged in a bank vault. Besides the chair in the center of the main room, it looked a lot like his dad’s lab, but cleaner and more organized. Shelves lined the walls with beakers and vials, those separated by whether they were in use or not, and neatly organized tools and gadgets that Danny didn’t recognize. He supposed it couldn’t be that much different than anything his parents had, although the dumb naming convention they used was probably pretty similar.

Danny stood by the entryway of the staircase, fists clenched rigidly at his sides, still worrying his lip and trying not to notice how short his breathing was getting.

Vlad stepped over to the chair, went to pat the seat invitingly, but stopped mid-pat as he cast a quizzical look Danny's way.

Vlad’s expression shifted into a knowing, teasing expression. “Don’t be so dramatic, Little Badger. I'm not your mother. I won't dissect you.” 

Danny plastered an offended scowl on his face, but it felt forced and he couldn't muster the feeling past the tightness in his chest. 

Vlad stared at him, rolled his eyes impatiently. “I'm only teasing, Daniel.”

Danny swallowed, cheeks flushing with embarrassment as he tried to move but couldn't. He looked down at his feet. They looked fine. He looked fine. 

He looked back at the staircase and felt a little wave of dizziness.

He jumped in his skin when he felt a hand on the back of his neck again, embarrassment coiling deeper in his stomach as he felt his nerves tremble. 

“Daniel?”

“I know,” Danny answered quickly, then winced at himself, not sure which of Vlad’s questions he'd just tried and failed to answer. 

Vlad quirked a brow at him before guiding him over to the chair. 

Danny mechanically stepped forward, felt some breath coming back to him as he got closer to the chair and focused on it. 

“Have a seat,” Vlad instructed.

Danny stared at it and didn't see anything that could restrain him up close either, but still decided to sit awkwardly on the corner edge, just in case. 

Danny felt Vlad watching him and tried to act stoically indignant, but kept undermining himself when he would forget to breathe and would have to take little, strained inhales. 

“Try to relax,” Vlad told him. “This won’t take long and you’ll feel better by the end of it.”

Danny watched Vlad disappear into one of the closed off rooms and tried to take the opportunity to calm down, clenching the edges of the seat while he closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly. 

Vlad returned almost immediately with a tray holding two syringes and a pair of scissors.  

Danny eyed the needles warily. “Are you serious,” he groused, fidgeting on the seat. “What is all of that even for? Can’t you just do whatever you did to stop my healing? You didn’t need… needles.”

“If you’d like to wait three months for it to take effect, certainly. Otherwise, yes, the needles are necessary,” Vlad replied dismissively. “You will need to be in your ghost form for the first half.”

Begrudgingly, Danny transformed into his ghost half. Vlad somewhat gently gripped Danny’s upper left arm and pulled it up. Danny winced, pain flaring in his shoulder at the uncomfortable angle. Vlad inserted the needle through the suit and into his skin, apparently just sure where the vein would be, and injected him slowly with something thick and painful. He winced and fidgeted at the sensation and the uncomfortable angle Vlad kept his arm at. 

“Hold still,” Vlad instructed.

“Stop pulling my arm,” Danny grunted, trying to readjust in the chair to give himself some slack. He moved a little too sharply and he yelped as stabbing pain shot from his shoulder to his elbow. 

An unwelcome chuckle from the other side of the room immediately followed. 

Danny’s head snapped up as Skulker phased through the floor and dropped down in front of them, grinning at the scene wickedly.  

“Well, well, taming the pup took less time than I thought. I’m impressed, Plasmius.” Skulker approached the chair, sneering at Danny pointedly. 

“Skulker. To what do I owe this unannounced visit?” Vlad asked, setting the needle down on the tray. He grabbed the scissors before telling Danny, “I need to observe your shoulder. Hold still.”

Danny’s jaw clenched, acutely aware of the smug grin Skulker was giving him as he watched Vlad take the scissors and cut through the neckline of Danny’s jumpsuit. The rebellious side of him wanted to make a scene and prove to the both of them Vlad didn’t have control of him, but Vlad was quick and really kind of clinical about it, and before he could build up the courage or not, his suit had a tear large enough for Vlad to pull it aside to look at his shoulder.

Danny turned his head away. He hadn't looked at it since the lab and he didn't want to know how much worse the mottled purple and blue bruising had gotten, but his attention was brought to the area when Vlad pressed on the bone. Danny hissed a gasp and reached up to cover the area and pull away.

Vlad let him, albeit with an impatient expression.  

“I thought you said that would heal me!” Danny complained, hovering his hand over his shoulder protectively. 

“You’re too generous, Plasmius,” Skulker commented, eyeing the situation with sadistic satisfaction. “The welp deserves to suffer through some pain.”

“I'm not done,” Vlad told him, swatting Danny’s hand away. “Rotate your shoulder.” 

Danny hesitated warily.

“It should only feel uncomfortable,” Vlad assured him. 

Danny complied, only wincing at some stiffness and slight discomfort, but at least he could move it. 

Vlad glanced sidelong at Skulker. “Stop gawking. What is it?” 

“I’d… rather we talk privately,” Skulker replied and the embarrassment drew Danny’s attention back to the hunter ghost. A quick glance at the ghost's arm had him chuckling aloud.

“You still haven’t gotten rid of Tucker’s PDA?” 

Vlad quirked a brow and glanced Skulker's way. 

“The blasted technology doesn’t allow the time to remove it,” Skulker defended with a snarl. “I have 2 minutes before it sends me to do research at the library.”

“I’ll deal with you later, Skulker,” Vlad told him, returning his attention to Danny. “Daniel, if you would transform again.”

“I barely managed to get here at all!” Skulker groused.

With a sigh of annoyance, Vlad walked over to a cabinet and retrieved a small blue box, tossing it at Skulker. The hunter ghost snagged it out of the air, and at his touch, it grew in size and engulfed him. 

“Gah! What is the meaning of this?” Skulker roared indignantly. 

“You won’t be going anywhere in there and I can deal with you later,” Vlad told him, then turned back to Danny, snapping impatiently,  “Transform.”

Danny disliked that Skulker was still able to watch them, even if he was trapped, but begrudgingly transformed into his human half. 

“Your collar.”

Danny obliged, stretching his t-shirt down. 

Vlad grabbed the last of the needles and injected it under the bone, setting aside once done and pausing to stare at Danny’s shoulder.

Danny swallowed uncomfortably and started raising the collar of his tee, but Vlad reprimanded him and continued staring. After what felt like a full minute, Vlad let him pull his collar back up. 

Relieved that it was finally over, Danny released his collar and rotated his shoulder experimentally. He choked on a shout and grabbed at his arm, pinching his eyes shut. 

“What the hell?!” he exclaimed through a tight breath. 

“Oh, did I not mention? Unfortunately your mother will notice if you inexplicably recover from a broken bone overnight. So while I have increased your healing abilities in your ghost half, I can only allow your human half a fraction of that. Rest assured, it will heal well, but you’ll just have to be patient.”

Skulker laughed mockingly. “A wise decision, Plasmius. Pain is an excellent tool for maintaining obedience. Not that it looks like you need it.”

Danny slid off the chair and glared at the hunter ghost. “Laugh it up, tinhead. Maybe it’ll help you pass the time in there.” 

“My prison is temporary,” Skulker replied. “In an hour, I will be back in Amity Park. And you will still be here.” 

Danny froze as all of the tension and pain focused in on that one sentence and without thinking. he had turned on his heel, eyes flashing green as he raised a hand and fired off an ectoblast at the box. 

Only for Vlad to snatch it moments after it was fired, dissolving it in his palm casually. In the same cavalier manner, he gripped the nape of Danny’s neck and steered the wide-eyed boy towards the staircase. 

“These little temper tantrums do nothing for you but emphasize your incompetence,” he remarked, guiding Danny up a step or two before releasing him. “And since the subject is brought to mind, now would be an excellent time to begin your studies. Start at the top of your bookshelf and work your way down. I’ll inspect your progress tomorrow morning.” 

Heat radiating from his ears and cheeks, Danny rushed up the stairs, the secret door shutting behind him.

He retreated to his room, slamming the door shut behind him and standing in the middle of the space. The bare furniture and unfamiliar bed stared back at him.

Skulker’s words started echoing in his mind unbidden, and the walls started pressing on him, reminding him that this wasn’t his room, this wasn’t his house, and he was a long, long way from home. 

He looked over at the dresser, but it looked as beat up as he was feeling. With a snarl, he transformed again without thinking about it and floated up through the roof, unable to stand being in that cramped space anymore. He let his feet land softly on the rooftop and looked out past the pines that framed Vlad’s estate. He wondered which way Amity Park was and if he could get there and back before Vlad noticed; just to prove Skulker wrong. 

He flew out over the trees, heading towards the back of the estate, mostly making a noncommittal guess. He didn’t think it was going to matter, anyway. He doubted Vlad would leave such a glaring security breach.

And yet, he just kept flying, getting more and more confused and emboldened the further he got. He wasn’t going very fast, having assumed he would run into a barrier sooner rather than later, but, as it was, he was close to reaching the end of Vlad’s estate and he was just… still going. Unimpeded. Past an elaborate garden and… did Vlad have a private football field?

He dared to hope, seeing the edge of the property line getting closer and closer. Now he wished he had paid more attention when they had arrived. He could probably fly to Amity in two hours. Vlad would never have to know he had left. And if he could fly there, maybe he could do something to help his dad. If he could remove the overshadow on him, Vlad wouldn’t have anything on him. He could–

He flew headfirst into a barrier, stumbling in the air and putting his hands over his smarted forehead. Rubbing away the ache, he looked down at the ground beneath. He was past the edge of the property. 

Danny flew to the ground, transformed into his human half and stretched out his hand toward the barrier.

It still held firm. 

His fists clenched as the hope was transplanted with frustration. Not only had Vlad made a shield that could block him in both forms, he had made the shield bigger than he needed it to be, just to let him get his hopes up and dash them. He had probably intended to be there when Danny discovered it. At least he had deprived him of that.

Another mini victory in a game he was thoroughly, painfully losing. 

He snarled and punched the invisible barrier, but he hadn’t put a lot of effort into it. He suddenly didn’t have a lot available to him. 

Embarrassed by his own stupidity, he sullenly flew back to the mansion, landing on the rooftop again. He stood there, staring at nothing, cheeks flushed and wallowing in a steadily creeping sense of hopelessness.

Chapter Text

“Are you all settled in?” Maddie asked. She sat on the edge of her bed, the phone call a much welcome distraction from the anxious pacing she had been doing as she waited for Danny and Vlad to finish talking. Her hopes that the conversation might get Danny to open up were probably far-fetched, but Vlad and Danny seemed to have an odd connection she didn’t quite understand. 

Jazz replied with a jet-lagged weariness, “For the most part. There are some decorations I still want to set up, but that can wait until tomorrow.” 

Maddie heard her bustling about her apartment and felt a swell of pride and worry. The only other time she had been on her own was a few summers at camp. Now she was in an apartment and would be gone for three months at least. If she was successful in New York, Maddie wasn’t sure she would want to come back after summer ended, or even if she should. 

“Do you start tomorrow?” 

“Tomorrow’s Saturday, Mom. So no,” Jazz replied with a light chuckle. 

She was quiet for a moment, mild disorientation morphing into embarrassment. She couldn’t remember what day they had come to Vlad’s. It felt like it could’ve been a week or more, but equally like it could have been a day or two. Things had been happening so fast and now she’d lost all sense of time. As kind as Vlad had been to offer his home, if it had not been for Danny’s request, she likely wouldn’t have taken her old friend’s offer. Her routines were already silt in her hands, but now being here, she couldn’t even pretend that there would be anything left when she unclenched her fists to start anew.

“Well, what will you be doing for the weekend?” Maddie finally asked after Jazz said her name to check if their call had been disconnected. 

“I’ll probably just settle in,” she replied, though her voice was weighted with something unsaid. “What about you?” 

“I think Vlad mentioned something about taking us somewhere. It might be good for us to get out and about,” Maddie answered unenthusiastically. 

“I think that would be really good for both of you. Oh, and don’t worry. I’ll be back down for a visit week after next.”

Maddie pinched her brows together as she tried to reason out why Jazz would want to assure her of that. As happy as she would be for any visit, it seemed like it was more important than that. 

“Danny’s birthday,” Jazz supplied.

Maddie winced, both at the blunder and at Jazz’s tone. She tried to think of something to say to remedy the situation, but her mind kept coming up blank. What could be said? 

“We’ll make it special this year,” she decided. “He deserves it.”

“He does,” Jazz replied, voice softening. “Hey, do you um… do you know the number for Dad’s lawyer? Or his name?”

Taken aback by the unexpected question, Maddie fumbled. “I’m not sure. I can find it. I’ve got to go through some of that paperwork, anyway. Why, honey?” 

“I was just gonna look him up. Just to see, you know, who would be representing him,” Jazz answered, quick and clumsy. 

“I meet with the lawyer on Monday,” Maddie said, shifting where she sat on the edge of her bed as a thought nagged at her. “You probably just need his name though… if you’re just wanting to look him up.”

“I mean, I figured the number would help narrow it down, but you’re right, I can probably just find him by his name.” The answer was again blurted, as though she wanted to end the subject quickly.

“Jazz,” Maddie said, severity in her tone. “Have you talked to him? To Jack”

“What? No,” Jazz insisted defensively. “I was just curious.”

“Okay… but if you wanted to, I would prefer to come with you. Just in case.”

“I haven’t talked to him,” Jazz repeated. “Besides, what can he do in jail?”

“If he says anything important, I’d want to be able to give that information to the lawyer.”

“That sounds a little duplicitous...” she suggested, and Maddie could hear a hesitance through the phone that caused her to pull it away from her face, stunned at the naivety of the comment. 

“Jazz, I do not want you talking to him. Do you understand me?” 

“I know what he did, but it seems like entrapment to do that to him while he’s already in jail,” Jazz explained, tapering off near the end of her sentence. “I just mean-”

“Have you said anything like this to Danny?” Maddie interrupted. 

Jazz hesitated and stumbled over the beginning of a sentence. Now Maddie understood why Danny’s goodbye to her had been so stiff and unlike the two of them. She had just attributed it to the cold detachedness Danny had been giving everyone lately. 

“We are on Danny’s side, Jazz. He needs us. He’s counting on us to be there for him.”

There was a heavy silence and when Jazz finally spoke, it was more strained than Maddie had ever heard her sound. 

“I have always been on Danny’s side. Always. And always will be on his side. No matter what has happened and how much he’s l-” she stopped herself, picking up quickly so Maddie could not interrupt her again. “I believe him as much as I always do. And whether he’s saying anything or not, I’m always listening to him. And for you , of all people, to imply that I wouldn’t… ”

There was more there than the sum of what she was saying, but the weight of her shortcomings rendered Maddie speechless despite her questions and concerns. 

“I let Danny down,” Jazz continued. “Something happened and I missed it. I won’t make that mistake again. I hope you won’t, either.”

Maddie swallowed hard, excuses and defenses teetering on the edge of her tongue, but she held them back. None of them were adequate. Part of her also hoped that if she stayed quiet, Jazz might explain some of what she was keeping from her. 

“I have to go,” Jazz said. “I’ll see you for Danny’s birthday.” 

She hung up. 

Maddie dropped her arm to her lap, a wave of exhaustion trying to wash over her, but undeserved anger held it back. She stood from the bed, stretching her arms and shoulders and looking around for something mentally occupying. She had messily unpacked her bags, clothes both in and out of the closet. Little gadgets she’d brought along to tinker with in times of boredom sat unappealing on the desk. She was normally more organized, but she’d had a hard time finding the motivation to make the room livable. Besides, it was easier to repack this way, once the time came. 

She felt practically jittery with the need for distraction, but as nothing here seemed to spark her interest, she stepped out onto the balcony connected to her room. It looked like Vlad had given her one of the master bedrooms due to the size and features, but it somehow felt less comfortable that way. It felt more like she was on a ritzy vacation she didn’t deserve. 

The balcony was nice, though. The breeze gave her a sense of freedom the confines of her oversized bedroom did not, and being able to look out onto the natural beauty of Vlad’s estate increased that feeling. She leaned over the railing and breathed in the fresh air. It helped some, but she still felt a desperate need to do something. 

She thought maybe she could look over the paperwork the lawyer gave her, but doubted she had the focus.  

She looked back into her room dismally, when something drew her attention from above. She might not have noticed if it hadn't been pulsing, but the green glow emanated above her like a beacon. 

The jitteriness swelled, but this time with excitement and familiarity. She grasped at her belt, only just remembering that what little equipment she had brought with her was mostly packed. She rushed to her dresser, where she had deposited most of her ghost hunting equipment, and grabbed the thermos. Some research would be an excellent distraction. 

Using the railing, she hopped up and grasped the roof ledge. It was stable enough, so she pulled herself up. The tiles were slick once the roof inclined, but not impassable. She crept along, watching the green light get brighter and fade like a flickering candle. Once over one of the higher peaks, she finally spotted it. 

Phantom was sitting on the edge of the rooftop, knees pulled up to his chest and playing with an ectoplasmic ball in between his hands, letting it pulse softly. 

A ghost was one thing, but Phantom , in Wisconsin of all the unlikely places, was another entirely. She regretted leaving behind her baton, but she supposed the thermos would still be effective. She carefully rested it on the peak of the roof to steady it and uncapped it. 

He must have heard her, head snapping in her direction and scrambling to his feet as a hand rose to quickly swipe at the corners of his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her, voice constricted in a way that further confirmed her suspicions. The shock became layered with the audacity of the question.

“I think I should be asking that question,” she retorted. She still had the thermos pointed at him, but she tried to make a point of not brandishing it. Under other circumstances, she would have been giddy at the chance to snatch him up then and there, but as it was, she was away from her lab and would not have access to it for three months, nor did she have a more permanent place to store Phantom. More important, however, was that a unique behavioral examination had just presented itself, and her curiosity surged at the unbelievable opportunity. 

She didn’t miss the sniffle he tried to conceal with a quick cough, straightening to compose himself. It was too late, though. She watched him fixedly, taking mental notes, careful not to scare him away. In all her years of studying ghosts, her curiosity in the field had never peaked as much as seeing one cry for the first time. 

“I’m just stargazing,” he replied, apparently oblivious to how useless the answer was. 

“In Wisconsin?”

She watched his eyes grow slightly bigger, dart around in a panicked sort of way. Despite the thermos pointed at him, she wasn’t close enough to ensure that he couldn’t get away from her (not that that was necessarily what she wanted out of the encounter anyway), so she decided to keep him engaged in conversation and ease her way closer.

“You’re a long way from your haunt... “ she took a faux-shambling step forward.

“I don’t 'haunt' Amity Park,” he groused, folding his arms.

His demeanor shifted sharply, shoulders rolling back and standing up straighter, as though her comment had somehow been threatening. It was a curious response. Other ghosts had no particular qualms about such descriptions. It offered more questions than answers, but in particular, it had her concerned. 

“So you haunt something else?” she queried, sidling closer.

He looked at her sidelong, narrowing his eyes as he gauged the question. Seeing her as a physical threat was certainly something she expected, but unlike other ghosts, Phantom seemed to find information to be equally threatening, if not more so. It was among the long list of things that made this specter particularly intriguing. 

“Look, I wasn’t looking for any trouble, okay? I just wanted some quiet. Can’t you just…” he stopped, taming a hitch he hadn’t quite caught in time to hide from her. He turned his head away, continuing, slightly more softly, “Can’t you just cut me a break? Just this once?”

The sincerity with which he pleaded was sent down a conveyor belt of scrutinizing analysis as her mind tried to determine some hidden motive or drive, but as was typical with Phantom, his patterns and obsessions were often veiled with emotional mimicry. It was frustrating, to say the least, especially when determining the same factors in other ghosts was often as simple as asking them; most glad to shriek their drives and desires with the authority of a moron. 

No matter his true meaning, she couldn’t let him leave yet. There were still answers she wanted and studying to do. Calculating her next move carefully, she lowered her grip on the thermos and sighed. “Some quiet sounds nice.”

His shoulders relaxed, arms slowly unfolding as he looked her up and down. 

She stepped forward, watching him through her peripherals for any clue that he might flee, and sat down on the roof near where he had been. 

While he didn’t seem skittish, he certainly appeared uncomfortable. His head swiveled left and right as though he were checking to see if anyone else was watching, brows pressed together in indecisive consternation. 

She looked up at him, “You’ve got your break, Phantom,” she told him, trying to seal the deal, and patted the roof. “As long as you don’t mind a little company.”

“Uh…” He looked around again, eyes restless as he cautiously sat down not far from her. “Okay…”

She stared at him, just a few feet away from her, only ever having been this close to him one other time, and she’d been so busy trying to catch him, she hadn’t taken the time to really visually evaluate him. She knew he was young, of course, but it only seemed to strike her now. Young ghosts weren’t terribly common. Another of Phantom’s fascinatingly unique traits. Except now that an opportunity to assess him up close had arisen, she found it inexplicably uncomfortable. 

It could have just been a sympathetic response to how uncomfortable he seemed to be feeling under her scrutinizing gaze.  

“You came a long way for some quiet,” she commented, looking away.

“If I could’ve picked somewhere closer, I would’ve,” he replied, bitterness making his voice sound gravelly.

“You’re not here intentionally?” she asked, wincing internally at the rapidness of her question. 

To her dismay, he pulled his knees up to his chest and folded his arms atop them. “This isn’t exactly the quiet I had in mind,” he complained. 

“Quiet can be risky.” The words spilled forth from her rather unexpectedly and her mind raced to reroute. If she wanted him to feel empathized with, she needed to measure her questions and answers carefully. She probably should have eaten more at dinner; maybe she would have been more on top of her game.  

“What does that mean?” he asked with the lackluster of one of her kids getting a lecture. 

Damn. She had opened a door she hadn’t intended and wasn’t sure she could backtrack; the forked decision between honesty and creativity both lead down dangerous paths. 

“I don’t usually enjoy the quiet,” she decided, mentally crossing her fingers  that vague honesty would suffice. “It is nice up here though. I imagine flying on nights like this is a uniquely quiet experience.”

He looked up at the stars, lips pressing into a thin line. “Usually.”

“What kind of quiet were you looking for?” she asked. 

He shifted a little, she noticed, away from her. “Solitude.”

“Aren’t you normally alone?” she pried. 

He opened his mouth to respond, but stopped abruptly, jaw working as he considered either his answer or her question, she wasn’t sure. 

“W-well... When I’m not, it’s usually not because someone threatened me to keep them company,” he countered angrily, dropping his head onto his arms; the key in the lock of his defensive posture. 

“I didn’t threaten you,” she defended.

“‘As long as you don’t mind the company’,” he quoted, eyes trailing past her to the thermos still in her hand. “I get a break as long as you get to grill me, right? Why don’t you just get to the point and ask what you want to ask so I can leave?”

She raised her hand in preparation to refute him, but realized he had her. She had no intention of letting him leave this roof until she’d gotten to interview him; she was just surprised that he had caught on so quickly. 

“Just because I have questions doesn’t mean I’m a threat to you. I don’t want you to leave, that’s true, but we don’t have to be enemies right now,” she replied, looking down at the roof tiles and turning the thermos over in her hand. 

“I don’t think you’re an enemy. Never have,” he replied, that defensiveness bubbling up again.

She was surprised to hear that. Considering how persistently she’d hunted him, she would’ve thought he’d consider her one of, if not the most, threatening of his foes. Part of her was almost insulted, but she withheld the judgment and inquired, “Oh no?”

“No.”

“I think you might be underestimating me,” she said.

He shook his head. “No. I think you’re misinterpreting me .”

“What do you mean?” 

He sighed in frustration. “This is the first time you’ve ever had a chance to talk to me, but that’s not really what you want to do, is it? You decided a bunch of things about me before you even asked because you don’t really want to hear what I have to say. That’s your problem. You don’t listen.”

She found herself feeling further insulted. What did this phantom know about her? He’d just agreed that this was the first time they’d really ever spoken, so how could he make such a strange assumption about her? 

At least this was going closer to a direction she was comfortable with. Now that he was agitated, he should start following the usual patterns; ghosts tended to divulge more when they were upset. 

“I would like to hear what you have to say, Phantom,” she replied, finger fidgeting with the button on the thermos. “What assumptions have I made about you that I’m wrong about?”

She really thought that would do it; he would dive into a long-winded monologue about everything that makes him great and special–the way ghosts tended to do when she opened that door–but to her surprise, he turned a dry, irritated look at her.

“Well I’m not an idiot for one thing,” he said, glaring at the thermos. “I can’t even begin to explain to you how much I’m not in the mood for this, so unless you actually plan to use that thing on me, I think I’m done with company and quiet.”

For some reason, this angered her more. “I’m only asking questions, Phantom. Is it such a bad thing to answer? Why are you the only ghost that doesn’t want to share anything about itself?”

“For you, for one thing,” he snapped at her, green eyes boring into her for just a split second before sharply disengaging, as though that one look had been an effort. “Not that that matters.”

She blinked at him. “What do you mean for me?”

“For you, for–for everybody! I–I thought it was for everyone, but maybe…I–” he said, throwing his arms in exasperation, but there was a falter in his voice that wasn’t missed by her. He grabbed a handful of his white locks and started chewing his lip, an odd little tick for a ghost to adopt. “Maybe I am stupid…”

Maddie felt completely lost. It was odd, for all extents and purposes, Phantom had finally fallen into as close to a monologuing rant as she'd ever heard out of him, but what he was saying was basically gibberish. She had run into ghosts that could speak cryptically, but that wasn’t what Phantom was doing. He was being guarded, protective about the words he chose to say. 

“I’m so stupid,” he said, softly, and suddenly he was dropping into a crouch, making himself look small. Eerie green eyes stared pensively out into the dark trees surrounding them, glowing a little more dimly than she thought they usually did. 

Curiosity morphed into shock as he once again appeared to fight back tears, eyes pinching sharply and turning his head away from her to wipe them on his shoulder. Tears. He was almost crying again. It was fascinating, yet some small part of her thought to change the subject. She wasn’t sure where that feeling was coming from. After all, this is exactly what she had been hoping for. Why was she feeling hesitant to move forward?

“Doesn’t seem like whatever you’re doing is working for you,” she said, turning her head away from him to look out idly onto Vlad’s estate as well; a small offering of space for him. 

He laughed humorlessly. “It’s not, but… it’s kind of too late at this point.” His features hardened, closer to an expression she was familiar with seeing on him. He unfurled from himself, resting his arms on his knees in a resigned kind of ease. 

“So what my daughter says about you is true?” she asked, prodding experimentally, “She tells me you keep Amity Park safe.”

“I try,” he replied listlessly. 

“Hard to do from here, I’d imagine,” she commented pointedly.

He looked at her sidelong, eyes flicking to the thermos, then away from her. “Hard to do anywhere.” 

She scowled and decided to abandon the tactful approach. “Why are you here, Phantom?”

He licked his lips, pinched his brows into a wince, then replied without looking at her. “I’m doing what I’m always doing; trying to protect somebody.”

“And who might that be?”

“People,” he responded despondently. 

“It worries me that you won’t answer my questions directly. You do understand how suspicious I find it that you’re here at the same time as me?”

He looked at her, frowning. “I guess I’d be suspicious, too, if I thought you were an enemy,” he shrugged, “If I did, I wouldn’t be sitting here keeping you company.”

She bristled, irritated that he was still dodging her, but also feeling somehow like he’d shamed her, which was ridiculous. He was the one who shouldn’t be here. How dare he make her feel bad for calling it out. 

He seemed to sense the change, wincing at himself. “Look, I get this looks weird, but I promise, I’m really just trying to protect people. Can’t you just take my word for it?” 

She stared at him hard, scrutinizing his pleading face. 

“It matters to you that much what people think of you?”

He looked confused, face contorting as he tried to sort out what she meant. “What?”

“I understand your image as a hero is important to you, but that’s not why you’re here. You wouldn’t be here, so close to a ghost hunter, unless something was driving you to be.”

His expression settled on anger and she almost felt relieved. An angry ghost was predictable.

“I don’t know how else to say you’re not an enemy before that sinks in for you. Why won’t you listen to me?”

“I’m trying to understand why you’re here,” she returned hotly. 

“No. You’re not. You’re hearing the things I’m saying and you’re filtering it through what you know about ghosts. But even you said I’m different. So why do you keep treating me like I’m not?”

She inhaled a little, blinking as she thought about it.

He turned away from her, resuming his curled up position.

As much as she hated to admit it, the accusation stung as badly as it did because he was right. This wasn’t a conversation she’d be having with another ghost. Any other ghost would have still been wrapped up in their own monologue; it wouldn’t be analyzing her. 

This wouldn’t be the first time she’d missed something due to her own arrogance.

Stiffly, she laid the thermos in her lap, noticed his brow rise in surprise at the gesture.

“You’re not wrong…” she said hesitantly, despite the extreme distaste the confession gave her. “I admit I’ve… I’ve had a hard time studying you. As far as I can see, you’re an outlier in every respect.”

He didn’t say anything; just kept watching her cautiously, like he thought she was laying a trap.

“I will… concede… that I’m not an enemy to you and… offer you the same courtesy.” 

“So we can… start from scratch?” he asked hopefully. 

She hesitated, feeling a little exposed, but eventually, stiffly nodded. 

His eyes drooped thoughtfully, then carefully met her gaze, the tiniest hint of a smile on his face. “You wanna shake hands or something?”

Her brows pinched together, surprised at the switch in tone, but he looked almost as uncomfortable as her and it struck her curiously that he seemed to be trying to get her to lighten up. 

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. 

“How about… in the interest of starting anew…”

He perked, turning his head to her, the green light of his eyes shining a little bit brighter. 

“Why were you crying?”

His jaw fell open a little and he breathed in hard, and she briefly thought he was going to shut down on her again, but instead, he shook his head. 

“I wasn’t…” he trailed off, licking his lips and sighing resignedly. “I didn’t think you saw that.” 

She waited, deciding that giving him time was better than pressing. She was invested in the idea of a new method of study, and while she was anxious to ask questions, it seemed, already, that Phantom was responding to this mode of inquiry better. It seemed it really did matter to him how others perceived him.  

He swallowed hard. “I uh… there’s a ghost I fought that has kind of made it his mission to make my–ah–afterlife hell… It’s been working.” 

“And this other ghost is why you’re in Wisconsin?” she asked, coming back to one of the more concerning topics on her mind. 

“Basically,” he affirmed, then asked, “Why are you here?” 

Once again feeling like she was on her back foot in this conversation, she floundered for a moment as she tried to decide how she wanted to answer that question and before she really realized what she was doing, she found herself just saying the truth, “I made… a mistake. More like a series of mistakes. I’m trying to make amends and moving here was part of that.”  

“I… actually meant here–” he cleared his throat uncomfortably, “--on the roof, but…”

She let out a small, flustered laugh. “Oh. I came up here because I noticed some ghost activity.”

“But aren’t you–you know… Why ghost hunt if you don’t have your lab or anything?”

“It was just a means of distraction.”

“Oh,” he said, tone dropping with what she thought might have been guilt, but surely not. 

“I don’t usually have such a hard time compartmentalizing,” she continued unconsciously. She wondered what time it was and worried Danny may have already gone to bed. 

“I’m sorry,” he said.

She gave him a curious expression. “What for?”

“For distracting you,” he answered quietly. 

She shrugged, noting the strange weight to the statement, but she wasn’t sure what it could be.  

A silence fell between them, soft wind filling the space gently with its whispers as it carried the smell of pines and dew. It was fresh and unfamiliar.

“I hate Wisconsin,” she said aloud.

He huffed a tired laugh, apparently sharing the sentiment with a bitterness that seemed to match her own. “Why? Not a fan of cheese?”

Her expression softened slightly at the joke, yet her jaw remained set. She ought to have felt some encouragement that he seemed to be behaving more like himself, but as it was, she could no longer keep her focus on Phantom. 

“If I could’ve picked somewhere closer, I would’ve, too,” she replied. 

Phantom’s smile faded. “You don’t want to be here?”

She wrung her hands together. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I need to be here.” She picked up the thermos, ignoring the slight tensing in the ghost, and stretched a little. “And you’ve been a helpful distraction, but I need to get back.”

He watched her, relaxing slightly again as the thermos remained loose in her grip.

“I… appreciate the company. Enjoy your solitude,” she said, feeling suddenly tired as she started heading back.

“Thanks,” Phantom replied.

She felt his eyes on her as she started walking off.

“--for the company,” he added, loud enough for her to catch.

She turned to look back at him, but he had either turned invisible or flown off. A little pang of regret hit her, but it was the remorse of a habit, an unscratched itch. Capturing a ghost, even Phantom, wasn’t amongst her current priorities. 

Chapter Text

As soon as he had returned to his room, he sat down on his bed and bored holes into the floor as he thought about the encounter, an odd mixture of numbness and agitation preventing him from winding down properly. It occurred to him suddenly that that was the longest conversation he’d had with his mother since… he couldn’t even remember when they’d talked that long.

A knock on the door had him nearly jumping out of his skin. He clumsily slid off the bed, looked around like he had something he needed to hide, then finally asked who was at the door. 

“It’s me,” Maddie said.

He paled, clenching and unclenching his fists as he panickedly tried to decide what to do. What could she possibly want?

“Y-Yeah?”

“Can I come in?”

Why did she want to come in? What did she want? He looked around again, although for what, he wasn’t sure. He had the strangest urge to hide. “Yeah…”

She peeked the door open first, and another jolt of panic hit him when he realized he was just standing awkwardly in the middle of his room. He thought to sit on the bed or at his desk, but would she notice him rushing across the room? What would she think he was doing? He stopped himself, taking a few, intentional breaths to calm down. He reminded himself that she had no reason to be suspicious of him, even if the timing of her visit was uncanny. 

He remained where he was as she finally, slowly stepped inside, standing in front of the door like she hadn’t been invited in. 

“What’s up?” he asked, moving to cross his arms and stopping short with a wince when the sling reminded him of the limits of his human form. 

“Hi, sweetie,” she said softly, standing stiffly and close to herself and looking around, eyes glancing underneath his bed at the suitcase. “You still haven't unpacked?”

“Oh I just… no, not completely.”

“Did Jazz help you set up your computer?” she asked, gesturing with a nod at it.

“Yeah,” he lied, winced at himself. Why did he lie about that?

“That was sweet of her,” she said. “How’s your arm? Have you done your exercises today?”

He shifted, unconsciously tilting the arm away from her. “Not uh–no, not yet. I was gonna do that, but you uh, you knocked.”

“Do you need help?” she offered.

He shook his head. 

She smiled awkwardly at him, taking a breath that raised her shoulders. “Well, I’m sorry I interrupted your exercise, I just wanted to check up on you.”

“Oh, okay. Well. Thanks,” he said, feeling slightly relieved. 

“I also wanted to see…” she started, stepping into the room further, his heart sinking as she did. “I wanted to talk.” 

He worked to quell the anxiety building up. Why did she want to talk now ? What had he done as Phantom? He worried the hem of his shirt.

“About what?” he asked, hoping it was maybe unrelated and just strange timing.

She inhaled again, clasping her hands together in front of herself. “I want to talk about your dad.” 

He paled, stomach twisting upside down and he subconsciously, fractionally shook his head. “We don’t have to.”

“It’s important,” she insisted. 

His legs twitched with the desire to leave. The room was too hot, the air itself pressing on him and his stomach churned with displeasure. He tried to focus on that nauseous feeling for a second, hoping that it would afford him an excuse to avoid the conversation. 

She crossed the room and sat on his bed, offering the place next to her with a pat. 

He hesitated, but only for a split second, sitting as though a third person was between them while still complying with his mother’s wish. 

He saw her notice the distance and berated himself for the frown it drew from her.

“I know this seems out of the blue. And I suppose it is,” she admitted, looking at her knees. “But it occurred to me that we haven’t talked since… Since what Jack did. Since before what Jack did.”

He stared at the floor, mentally recoiling into himself in trepidation for where she was going with this. 

“So much has been going on and has happened and I’ve been so busy trying to undo my mistake that I’ve been making more.”

He pressed his brows together, recalling her mentioning mistakes on the roof. 

“I want to apologize to you,” she said. 

His confused frown deepened. 

She tilted her head down towards him, trying to gauge his expression, but gave up when he continued to stare rigidly at the floor.

“I have so, so many things to apologize for. I let you down in ways I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for. I should’ve stepped in sooner with your father. I just didn’t think he was even capable of that.” Her voice got constricted, but she carried on resolutely. “And I kept letting you down, because all that time you were going through that… I never knew and I didn’t ask.”

Rebuttals and apologies echoed and begged to be released, but he sat still, clenching the edge of the bed and locking his gaze to the floor. Just another freedom Vlad had stolen from him.

Or he had stolen from himself. 

“And I’ve been distracting myself since we got here because I’ve been terrified to ask you. But I owe it to you.”

The paralysis broke as alarm bells rang in his mind. 

“I want to be here for you in the way I wasn’t before. I want you to feel like you can talk to me. So, Danny… what do you want me to know?”

He finally met her gaze, slack jawed, and focused entirely on the ache in his chest. It wasn’t fair. The list of things he wanted her to know was too long.

Even Phantom had more freedom to speak to her than he did.

“Anything at all,” she offered. 

“I... I don’t know.”

Her brows drew downwards, thoughtful. “I... you know I won't... judge you or... you know everything your father did wasn't your fault... don't you?"

He didn't answer; didn't even respond, just kept his fists clenched on the edge of the bed. He couldn't do this. He didn't want to do this. He had already had to be cruel to Jazz. He didn't want to be cruel to his mom, too and if she kept digging like Jazz had...

He had to derail her.

"I-I know," Danny managed, glancing up at her. "I will..."

She looked at him, eager, hopeful.

"Tell you... if there's anything, um... I'll tell you," he finished flatly, casting a few nervous glances at her before looking down at the floor again.

She frowned, a little dismayed, but nodded and said, "I understand if you don’t feel comfortable talking about things yet. And I won’t rush you. But don’t hesitate to talk to me, okay? Anytime. Day or night.”

Tension started trickling out of him, hopeful that he had managed to derail the conversation without having to say anything potentially damaging. 

“There’s something I want you to know, though, Danny.”

At her pause, he carefully looked up towards her face, although he wouldn’t make eye contact with her. 

“I will be here for you,” she said, eyes welling at the corners. “And I am so, so sorry I let you down.”

He shook his head, the only form of debate he felt capable of expressing. Without telling her the whole truth, how could she not believe it was her fault? He’d set it up that way. 

She touched his arm and felt her tense at his stony reception before pulling away softly. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to speak, to say anything , but he couldn’t find the words. He couldn’t accept an apology he didn’t deserve and he couldn’t apologize for what he couldn’t explain.  

She wiped her eyes, clearing her throat and giving him a smile he didn’t acknowledge. "Sleep well, Danny. Knock if you need... anything, okay?"

Giving his knee a squeeze, she stood up from the bed and started to leave the room.

He wanted to say something to her; anything, but spent so much time debating on what he could possibly say to any of that, she had left the room before he could think of anything. 

In his solitude, he felt suffocated by shame and guilt. He had dragged her here, despite her apparently hating it here nearly as much as he did, ripped their family apart to include chasing Jazz off, and now he was doing the same to her. Except unlike Jazz, it felt like what he was doing to his mom was slower, crueler. 

Tears pricked at his eyes again, but he harshly rubbed them away, letting out a ragged breath and fighting to regain some composure. He still felt nauseous, but now he had a headache as well. 

The door opening abruptly interrupted his solitude. 

“Daniel,” Vlad greeted casually. 

Shaking away the surprise of his uninvited and equally unwanted visitor, Danny glared at him. “Go away.” 

“I’ve come to review your studies,” he said, gaze landing on the untouched bookshelf. “But I see you chose to waste my time.”

“Just go away,” Danny muttered, knowing he wouldn't but refusing to let him just waltz in without some kind of resistance.

“Is that how your father handled your disobedience? Leave without providing consequences?” 

“Don' t--! ” he started with a low growl, clenching his fists as he tried to manage himself. “Don’t talk about him.”

“I’m torn, Daniel,” Vlad said, all but ignoring the warning. “I’d like to offer an adjustment period, but it’s also important you start off with clear expectations and consequences.”

“Why don’t you read your self-help books a little more before you bother me, then, if you’re so undecided?” he mocked. 

Vlad narrowed his eyes at him. “How was the talk with your mother?”

“It was none of your business,” Danny responded coldly. He felt tired, and the nausea and headache kept pestering him. 

“She seemed upset,” Vlad commented darkly. 

“She was,” he spat, then felt anger dissolve at his emptiness and continued, “You get that normal people have to cope, right? People don’t recover from crap like this in a day and fall in love with their lying sociopathic college buddy the next day. How’s that going, anyway? Have the two conversations you’ve had with her so far been everything you wanted?”

“They have,” Vlad replied calmly. “Despite your attempts to remain a source of pain for her.”

Danny ground his teeth and turned his head away. 

Vlad wandered over to the bookcase and grabbed a few books, carrying them over to Danny’s desk and setting them down. “I want you to start on these three first thing tomorrow. A chapter each. A far better use of your time than… What do you do with your time? Stare at the wall?”

“Oh just, you know, plot and scheme,” Danny replied dully. 

Vlad smiled at him and patted his left shoulder, ignoring the wince it garnered, and headed for the door. “Get your homework done. I won’t be as generous tomorrow.” 

He left, but the renewed solitude offered no comfort. He looked over at the books on the desk, scowling at them. The bed had an equally unappealing look to it. 

A bubbling anger started festering as his eyes fell again on the books as Vlad's demand rang in his ears, and his mom's visit simmered in the far reaches of his mind. His fists clenched, his limbs trembled, and without even realizing he was doing it, he sat up and swiped the books off the desk in a fit of frustration.

They clattered softly onto the floor; not even the paper crinkled.

He sighed and his eyes wandered to his phone; sitting uselessly on top of his desk. He picked it up and glanced again at the service bar; still nothing.

All of this technology and he it was useless to him.

He pressed his brows together as a thought occurred to him. There were plenty of devices in the house that had service. After all, Vlad couldn't get away with keeping internet service from his mom, but he had to use it, too. Vlad had that laptop on his desk and it was obvious from the last time Vlad had brought Danny into his office that he didn't move it from that room.

It was probably still there.

He could...

He scowled as he dismissed the thought. There was no way Vlad would leave his unattended laptop without some kind of security on it. It was probably password protected, at least.

He looked at his phone and noticed the battery life was still at 100%.

His eyes grew big as an idea struck him as he stared at his mostly useless phone.

It could still record...

He waited, pacing his room, keeping his phone charging to maximize the battery life, and kept glancing at the clock on his computer.

He figured not even Vlad was psychotic enough to stay up until 4:00am.

The house was eerily silent as he phased through the door of his room, a dark, gloomy hallway greeting him coldly.

He floated slowly towards the staircase, keeping his eyes and ears perked for noise or movement. His mom was definitely sleeping and he didn't think Vlad was awake either, but he also wasn't sure what lengths Vlad would go to keep an eye on him. So far he hadn't seen any security cameras, no scanners, he didn't even lock Danny in the room, but that somehow made Danny feel even more paranoid that he must have some other, sneakier way to keep an eye on him.

Because surely Vlad wasn't that confident that he'd won...

He ghosted down the stairs, keeping a particular eye out for Skulker or even the Dairy King. No sign of either. It worried him a little that he hadn't seen or sensed the Dairy King since they got there and a small part of him wondered if Vlad had done something to him for releasing Danny back at the reunion.

He was probably just... busy. He was a ghost; he was fine.

He froze at the doors of Vlad's office, the silence pressing in on him, and despite the fact that the mansion was draped in darkness and Danny was still floating invisibly, soundlessly through the foyer, his limbs trembled anxiously. It felt ridiculous that he could go this far through the mansion unnoticed and the paranoid side of him was now sure that whatever Vlad had set up to keep him contained and controlled must be waiting for him in the office. It had to; that's where Vlad's lab was. He wouldn't just leave that unprotected. Vlad wasn't stupid.

Swallowing down his fear, he took a steadying breath and phased his head through the doors, peeking inside the office.

Like the rest of the mansion, it was dark and quiet, outlines barely made visible by the soft blue light pooling in from the window.

He stayed there for a while, staring into the room and waiting for something to happen. When everything stayed quiet, dark, and still, he cautiously floated inside.

Still surprised and confused that he was making it this far, he glanced over at the secret entrance to Vlad's lab. It was closed and innocuous as the first time he'd seen it, but he felt a small tremor tingle down his spine and he quickly looked away from it, focusing instead on the task at hand. He floated to the end of the room and was relived to see Vlad's laptop settled on Vlad's desk. With one last, careful look around the room, he slowly opened up the laptop.

As he suspected, it was locked with a password. He thought about trying to unlock it on his own (the password probably relating somehow to his mom), but he decided against it. If Vlad was at all paranoid, he might have set it up so that he would be alerted if an incorrect password was entered.

He closed it again and turned around to assess the bookshelf behind the desk. It looked like a lot of the books were probably decorative; there was some dust around the edges of the books where whatever housekeeper cleaned the mansion had cleaned around them. That was a good sign; if the books weren't being pulled off the shelf for any reason, it would be the perfect hiding spot.

He pulled his phone out of his waistband and once again checked the battery life. Confirming that it was still at 100%, he turned on the camera and tested a few angles until he got a perfect view of the laptop that would not be blocked if Vlad was sitting at the desk. He pressed record, then phased the phone into one of the books so that just the camera peeked out of the spine. Double checking the angle one more time, he gave the camera an invisible thumbs up and flew out of the room.

Back in the foyer, he looked around at the still silent mansion, waiting for something. 

Nothing. Not even a creak.

He... got away with it?

He should have felt some pride; some relief that Vlad apparently was that confident that he won that he hadn't bothered to keep any kind of tabs on what Danny was doing, but all he felt was a swelling anxiety. He started to fly back towards his room, but he stopped partway down the hall. There was no way he was going to sleep and there was nothing in there for him to occupy himself with besides Vlad's stupid homework...

He looked down the other end of the hall, towards the narrow, winding staircase Vlad had shown them their first day there... With a deep breath out his nose, both to gain courage and to subdue the feeling of having lost some battle, he flew up the stairwell, only hesitating upon entering the darkened observatory. 

Flipping on the lights didn’t help make the room feel less inhospitable and part of him wouldn’t have had it any other way. He ignored most everything in the room, focused entirely on the telescope at the far end. He examined it with knowledge he had only ever acquired online and started experimentally adjusting the settings until he had it positioned where he wanted within the confines of the large, domed window. 

He peered through the scope, letting the stars pull him away from the paranoia and anxiety. The stars gleamed at him, constellations sharpened under the closer view, and he could almost feel the cosmic breeze. He buried his tumbling thoughts and fears in trying to locate all of the constellations he knew, forgetting that, no matter whether his paranoia was right or not, there would be no way to know until the sun came up and he couldn't see the stars anymore.

Chapter Text

He rubbed at his eyes, swearing he could still see stars. Two hours of sleeping on a chair in the observatory had left him feeling foggy and his limbs and back aching. The breakfast in front of him--surprisingly standard, considering the extravagant dinners Vlad usually had his staff serve--smelled too strongly and disturbed his appetite. 

“Good morning.”

He raised his head from his plate as Maddie entered the dining room, a cup of coffee clasped in her hands. He blinked hard to rouse himself, clearing his throat to return the sentiment. 

She walked around the table that was much too large for someone who had until recently lived alone and sat across from him. “How did…” She appraised him with slight worry. “Did you sleep?”

“Yeah, just tossed and turned,” he responded automatically. At her observation of his plate, he took a bite that went straight to his nose and made his throat protest. He ignored the feeling and ate another. 

“You’re up early,” she commented, taking a sip of her coffee. 

“I am?” He wasn’t actually sure what time it was; just that the sun was completely risen by the time he’d left the observatory. 

“It’s almost eight. You usually sleep until noon when you don’t have to wake up for school.”

He wanted to laugh at the insinuation that he slept a lot on days off. Six hours was a very good night. 

“Well, what about you?” he countered, noting her attire suggested she was going out somewhere. It was nice (or at least her version of nice, which usually had a level of utility to even her most formal outfits). She had also either skipped breakfast in lieu of a cup of coffee, or she had eaten already. “Looks like you’ve been up for a while.”

“Don’t you remember? We’re going out today,” she said. 

“We are? Where?”

“I’m not sure. Vlad’s keeping it a surprise. He did mention we would be outdoors. You don't remember? We talked about it at dinner yesterday.”

Danny tried to recall, but he had honestly been mentally absent for most of that meal. Still, he felt like he might have tuned in for something like that. He generally was able to pick up on things he loathed and intended to rebel against. 

“I don’t know if I’m feeling-”

“It’s a nice day,” she interrupted him, eyes sincere, stern, and concerned all at once. “I think it would be good to get out of the house.”

He pressed his lips together, barely concealing his scowl. 

“I don’t know how long we’ll be out, so you might want to make sure you finish your breakfast,” she encouraged. 

Other than very small talk, they sat quietly together, the weight of the night before heavy between them. She didn’t leave until his very last bite, at which point she finished her more than likely cold coffee and told him to get dressed for their outing. 

He put on the most comfortable thing he could find, still trying to recall being told about a this excursion. Had he known, he would’ve complained about it the moment it had been brought up. No use now, though. It was clear Maddie wasn’t going to take no for an answer. 

He met her downstairs, descending the staircase to catch the middle of an awkward conversation between her and Vlad.

“I thought you meant all three of us,” Maddie said to him quietly, but something in her suspiciously innocent tone made Danny suspect that he had not, in fact, been invited to this outing.

“While I'm sure the three of us could do for an outing, I had intended for this particular venture to be for you,” Vlad replied, being obviously tactful. 

“And I appreciate that, I do, but I think it will be good for all of us, don’t you?” Maddie smiled at him, staring at him with eyes that were both lure and trap. 

He sighed, succumbing to the prolonged attention and smiling affectionately. “I’m sure you’re right.” 

She smiled reciprocally, the expression widening at catching Danny descending the staircase out of her peripherals. “Hi, sweetie. Are you ready?”

He didn’t respond to the question; his only avenue of protest.

“Follow me,” Vlad said, leading them to the west wing of the mansion, up a flight of stairs, and onto the roof of the second story. 

Danny frowned at the sight of a waiting helicopter. The idea of flying strapped into a tuna can, unable to appreciate the breeze and deafened by the propellers wasn’t exactly his idea of fun. He had the urge to voice his complaints until he looked at the excited smile on his mother’s face. 

She almost looked giddy; a wide smile stretching across her face and brightening her eyes. 

Danny hadn't seen her look like that in a while. 

Rebellion abandoned him and he silently followed them into the vehicle. Maddie offered to help him buckle in, apparently worried his sling would interfere, but he insisted on doing it himself. The last thing he wanted was to have his mommy buckle him in front of Vlad. So he awkwardly strapped himself into the backseat and put on his headset. It was all clunky and uncomfortable, but he enjoyed watching the ease and eagerness with which his mom settled in at the front. 

Vlad sat in the pilot’s seat, methodically prepping the helicopter before lifting off the helipad. Danny wondered why Vlad would have bothered with a pilots’ license since he could fly everywhere. Even a private jet made more sense to him. 

“When was the last time you flew, Maddie?” Vlad asked her over the headset.

Danny rolled his eyes. 

“It’s been far too long,” she replied, though her eyes were glued to the sights below and around them. “Although I do maintain my license. On the off-chance I get another opportunity.”

“How fortunate,” Vlad responded, looking over at her and smiling. “It seems an opportunity has presented itself.”

The smile she returned made Danny want to turn Vlad’s seat intangible.

They flew for about an hour. All the while, Vlad offered tips, suggestions, and instructions on the helicopter’s function for when she took over. He had her engaged completely on the topic, and Danny wasn’t sure there was anything he could say to disrupt them, so he sulked in the backseat, watching through what little window was available to him as the landscape passed by too slowly.

Eventually, they had entered into what looked like a national park with a stretching, untouched landscape of sandy stone, rivers, and lively plants not yet dehydrated by the summer heat. 

Vlad touched down on the peak of a rocky hill and the location had Danny believing he had scouted the area out ahead of time. The elevated clearing, next to a clear, sparkling river that led into a small fall, surrounded by greenery that was less encumbered by thickets or other unpleasant plant-life was nearly picture-perfect. 

Vlad exited and went around to help Maddie, but she had already hopped out and was looking over the landscape with the eye of someone eager to conquer it. 

Danny struggled for a second or two to remove the seat-belts and headgear, but gave up. He squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating intensely as he reached for his core. He felt the urge of transformation and resisted it, squeezed his eyes tighter to bypass it.  With some effort, he was finally able to phase out of the seat belt, letting it fall to his seat. 

“Need help, Little Badger?” Vlad offered, watching him struggle with a smirk. 

“I’ve got it,” Danny muttered, carefully stepping out and tossing the helmet onto the seat. It didn’t cease to surprise him how difficult simple tasks were one-handed. 

“You ought to be more cautious with where and when you use your powers,” Vlad warned, reaching back into the helicopter and removing a picnic basket. 

“She wasn’t watching,” Danny defended. “And you should be more careful where you talk about it.” Before Vlad could reply, Danny called for his mom. “What are you looking at over there?” 

He felt smug as his mother called him over to look and despite not caring in the slightest about how the formation in the rocks had originally formed, he listened fervently to his mother. 

“It’s an amazing thing, what a little time can do,” she told him as she praised the way the river had obviously shaped the landscape. 

Danny looked at her thoughtfully. Despite what she had told Phantom the next before, her appreciation seemed sincere. “So… you like it here?” 

“Of course I do,” she replied, then tilted her head at him curiously. “Don’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s nice,” he replied quickly, wondering who she had lied to.

She nodded, breathed in the scents the park offered, then checked behind them to see what Vlad was doing.

Danny looked, too, following his mother as she approached the blanket Vlad had laid out. He had emptied the picnic basket, or rather, what Danny decided was a first-date-kit. A decadent charcuterie board was arranged in the center, while several wines sat icing in a bucket on one of the corners most affected by the wind.

“Help yourselves,” Vlad offered genially, reaching into the ice bucket and removing one of the bottles. He presented it to Maddie. “Chateau?”

She nodded as she sat with her legs on one side across from him, helping herself to a chocolate-covered strawberry. 

Danny sat between them, relieved to be in a position to keep them apart, but he disliked his own proximity to the man on his right. He grabbed a handful of cheese, popped one in his mouth and let his eyes wander absently. 

“I apologize, Daniel, I didn’t bring anything for you to drink. There’s bottled water in the helicopter if you get thirsty,” Vlad said, handing Maddie a glass.

“It’s fine. I doubt a few cubes of cheese and a couple of slices of ham are gonna work up a thirst,” Danny quipped, noticing only a little bit of grazing had already made a significant dent in the platters. 

Vlad flashed Danny a stern look before shaking his head dismissively. “This is just an appetizer. Lunch will be ready for us by the time we get back.”

“Will this be enough for now, Danny?” Maddie asked him. 

He nodded. He was mostly just eating so he didn’t have to sit there in awkward silence.  

“I saw you come out of the observatory this morning. How was it?” Maddie asked conversationally. 

Danny's eyes flicked over to Vlad, irritated to see a satisfied smirk on the man’s stupid face. 

Keeping his own expression neutral, he ate another chunk of cheese and shrugged. “The telescope worked.” 

“It’s such a thoughtful gesture. How did you know he was interested in astronomy, Vlad?”

“He mentioned it at the reunion. I was surprised, honestly. I would have assumed his interests would be more closely aligned with your own,” Vlad replied. 

“He was interested in the supernatural for a little while, but…” she trailed off, eyes flicking briefly at Danny with nearly veiled panic before moving on quickly. “I didn’t realize you two spent so much time together at the reunion.”

“He was very polite about it, but I think the reunion bored him,” Vlad replied with a wry chuckle. “I offered an alternative. We got to know each other quite well.”

Maddie dropped her weight onto a hand behind her and tucked her legs. “Oh?”

“We have far more in common than I thought we would.”

“One or two things,” Danny muttered loudly enough for it to be heard, though the remark did little to quell the disgust he felt at the idea. 

Maddie didn’t appear to notice, nodding patiently as she listened. 

“When I learned he enjoyed astronomy,” Vlad continued, either having not heard Danny or ignoring him, “I renovated the observatory for your next visit. I’m pleased it's being put to good use again.”

“I’m grateful. You know he wants to be an astronaut?”

Danny’s whole being tried to curl in on itself with embarrassment. He didn’t dare look at Vlad, instead dropping his head down to eat another piece of cheese to hide his beet-red face. 

“Ah. A competitive profession. I’m sure as the son of a genius, it shouldn’t be a problem for him.”

Danny bristled. “There’s more to it than grades.”

“How did astronomy come up? Danny doesn't talk about it very often," Maddie inquired. 

“Is that so? He was quite open with me,” Vlad replied, a feigned look of surprise on his face. “It was a short but enlightening visit.”

Danny met Vlad’s gaze briefly before down-casting his scowl. He could feel his mother watching them, a perplexed expression on her face. 

Vlad must have noticed as well, as he continued conversationally, "His interest in astronomy wasn't the only thing. I was quite surprised to find he had an interest in the–”

“The Packers,” Danny cut in.

The two stared at him in surprise.

He had no idea what Vlad was about to say, but it was probably either something humiliating or something to trap him in another lie. 

And anyway, it was his turn to put Vlad on the back-foot.

Danny smirked. “Yeah, we talked about the Packers a lot. He even showed me his theater of replays from decades back. You know, way back when they were good.”

Danny looked to see how Vlad would react, but Vlad hardly reacted at all, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

Maddie glanced between them, watching the interaction closely. 

Disappointingly, Vlad chuckled with feigned fondness, dismissing Danny’s jab entirely. “I didn’t think sports would be something he was interested in, but he surprised me. Despite his stature, if he practiced and worked hard, he might could try out.”

The response deflated Danny, but he psyched himself up to try again to crack Vlad’s mask. “I was surprised, too. I thought, you know, because of your age, you’d like golf. But I guess that might be rough on your hip replacement, huh?” 

He expected Maddie to reprimand him, or at least get onto him some, but she was quiet, sharp eyes watching them with a keenness that made him nervous. 

He might be pushing his luck a little. 

Vlad only chuckled. “Perhaps that’s why I won our game. You should never underestimate an opponent, no matter the age or stature.” 

“Game?” Maddie pressed. 

Danny squinted at Vlad confusedly. 

“We played football. He showed promise, but he needs to commit to much, much more practice.”

It took a second, but as it sunk in, Danny scowled and corrected, “You did not win that. You forfeited.” After a short pause, he added bitterly, “And I do practice.”

Vlad smiled patiently. “Without a coach, you won’t get very far.”

“You played football?” Maddie asked incredulously. 

“We had something of a try out and he impressed me. I think he could go far if he committed,” Vlad replied, looking at Danny hard over a sip of his drink. 

“I didn't know you were interested in sports,” Maddie said, soft and hesitant.

She almost looked guilty.

He couldn't imagine why, but the reaction made him panic a little bit. 

“I-I wasn't! I didn't really…” he paused, glanced at Vlad who looked far too pleased with himself.

He didn't want to give him this, but he couldn't hurt her if he didn't have to. He had made her feel guilty enough. He could eat this one. 

“I didn't really think about it until I played,” he reassured, then glanced at Vlad to make sure he knew he hadn't won anything and added, “And I definitely won.”

She looked relieved, the worry vanishing from her features and being replaced with curiosity. 

“So you like it?” she asked. 

Danny wasn’t sure how to respond to the question, since the whole metaphor was getting a little too messy for him, but he didn’t have time to consider his answer or any unintended interpretations he might accidentally cause, so he simply, awkwardly confirmed he did. 

“Then you should get a coach,” she said. “If this is something you're good at and you want to pursue, you should try out and get a coach.” 

Danny and Vlad exchanged mixed glances. Vlad looked smug again. 

So he had lost track of the metaphor.

“What if the coach is a Fruitloop?” Danny asked. 

Maddie blinked at him. “What?”

“Crazy,” Danny interpreted. He tried to catch Vlad’s expression out of the corner of his eye to see if he’d gotten a rise out of the older man, but once again, he couldn’t read his expression. 

Maddie’s brows pressed together in confused thoughtfulness. “Does Coach Mackey still run the football team? I do seem to remember J-” she stopped herself from saying his name, “people from high school saying he was a little unorthodox.” 

“I highly doubt coach Mackey is crazy , but it shouldn’t matter, as long as the coach has the experience you need to learn,” Vlad added. 

Maddie winced a little. “I don’t think that’s necessarily true… but Danny,” she once again turned her focus on him, and that probing look seemed to have vacated her expression for the time being. “It could look good on your resume to have some experience in sports. It could even help you get some scholarships.”

Danny grit his teeth to keep from arguing with her. There really wasn’t a point if she couldn’t understand.  

From the corner of his eye, Vlad taunted him with another smug grin.

Danny tried to help put everything away, but his mom insisted he not worry about it and go ahead and buckle into the helicopter. Her motherly worry gave him an idea to try again to put a hitch in Vlad’s day. 

“Hey, mom, I was wondering... “ he started, hesitating longer than was necessary to grab her attention.

She looked up from the platters she was gathering. “Yes, sweetie?”

“Well, uh… I’ve never gotten to ride in a helicopter before and I was wondering if I could… sit up front with you?” 

Her expression turned sunny as she replied, “Oh I think that would be fun! But that’s, of course, up to Vlad.” 

Danny expected Vlad to pose at least a little resistance, but Vlad smiled graciously and replied, “By all means.”

Concealing a suspicious squint Vlad’s way, Danny hopped into the front passenger seat and buckled in while his mother excitedly prepared for flight. Vlad sat calm and patient in the back seat as Maddie raised the chopper off the ground, disturbing dust like rippling waves in their wake.

Maddie maintained a composed expression until they were well clear of the ground, but after reaching a comfortable altitude, the dam broke and she began to excitedly point out anything and everything. 

Danny smiled along and pretended not to be distracted. It wasn’t that he was uninterested. Far from it, he hadn’t gotten to spend this kind of time with his mom in a long time and it was great seeing her so excited, but he couldn’t focus on it, not with the third wheel in the back seat. 

And especially not with Vlad taking the disruption of his date so well. He had recovered easily from the unexpected additional passenger, and Danny had only managed to mildly irritate him during the picnic. He thought for sure his latest stunt might’ve at least cracked the mask, but if anything, he seemed even more composed than before. 

“I was quite the daredevil back when I first got my license,” Maddie continued, apparently unaware that she had lost half her audience. She laughed a little as a memory surfaced. “Once, I turned the copter upside down and let it--” She stopped midsentence, glancing Danny’s way before clearing her throat and gripping the steering wheel more firmly. “I was young and did some stupid, reckless things that no one else should do.”

Danny looked over at her, smiling a little to himself as she tried to backtrack on the story. He felt strangely comforted by the fact that she was trying not to be a bad example, but more amused that she had no idea just how wasted the effort was. He not only knew she was a daredevil, but if she had any idea the things he got up to…

“I’d say adventurous might be a more apt term,” Vlad said.

Maddie seemed to blush, waving a hand in halfhearted dismissal. “That's a little too generous.”

“Nonsense, you're far more experienced than you were back then. I'd imagine some of those reckless maneuvers are hardly an effort for you now,” Vlad said confidently, then leaned forward and suggested, “How about a demonstration, hm?” 

Maddie’s eyes lit up at the idea, though Danny had to give her credit for taking at least a second or two to resist the temptation.

“Maybe just a little one,” she said, tempering her giddiness as she brought the nose of the helicopter up. 

They were pressed into their seats as they rose, getting no reprieve at the pinnacle as she switched directions sharply, angling the chopper downwards as though she intended to crash headfirst into the ground below. 

Danny wished he could feel the breeze hit his face and hair and it occurred to him that if his mother could fly, she probably would, too. 

Her joy was contagious, and Danny found himself smiling and laughing with her, wishing only that they could go faster. 

She did several more dips, a few twists, and flew far too close to obstacles, but maneuvered it all with an ease that she shouldn’t have been capable of without practice. It wasn’t as though they owned a Fenton Copter (as Jack would have undoubtedly called it). Who knew when the last time she was able to fly was. Danny could only chalk it up to her general genius. There was little she couldn’t do. 

After a dip that might have been cutting it a little too close, however, Maddie seemed to come to her sense, straightening the copter and suddenly switching over to talking very pointedly to Danny about safety. She even tried to say that the demonstrations had been examples of what not to do. 

Danny just laughed to himself, nodding diligently when his mom addressed him.

"I know what I'm doing which is why I showed you, but that kind of reckless flying--or driving--is dangerous and should never be done, okay? Recklessness with any kind of vehicle is dangerous," Maddie reiterated strongly. 

"I got it, Mom," Danny assured her with a smile.

"I'm serious," she stressed, looking over at him.

Danny laughed this time, raising his hands in surrender. "I got it, Mom, seriously!"

She nodded, but looked happy that he was smiling.

Danny looked at her and grinned cheekily. "But I can say it's cool when you do it, right?" 

She looked at him like she wanted to get on to him, but on seeing his face, she grinned back, just shaking her head.

Chapter Text

Despite the guilt of probably being a bad influence, Maddie swelled with relief at the smile that had crossed her son’s face as she dazzled him with tricks. She honestly hadn’t been sure how he would react to the flight; he had become more timid in his teenage years, but when he’d asked to sit in the front, she saw it as an opportunity to capitalize on adrenaline and good old fashioned fun. Even if it was just for a little while. 

If she had known it would work so well, she would have suggested it much sooner. When had Danny developed an adventurous side? Maybe Jazz knew. 

If it hadn't been for the flight, Maddie wasn't so sure the outing would have gone so well, and not just with the confusion surrounding Danny’s participation. She had hoped to gain some kind of understanding of how he felt, but he was elusive as ever.

Except maybe with Vlad. He talked to him like there was some deeper connection. There was tension, too, but it seemed to mostly come from Danny. If it wasn't for his attitude, their teasing and poking at each other would almost be playful. 

Maybe it had been at some point. It didn't look like Vlad was taking offense to the way Danny was acting towards him, even teasing him back.

Maybe that's why Danny had asked to come here in the first place. 

It seemed the harder she looked at him and tried to understand him, the more she realized how much of a stranger he had become to her. For Jazz to know him more intimately was one thing, but for Vlad, her friend from college, to somehow have a better understanding of him?

It was a harsh blow to what should have been her most proud occupation. If it hadn't been for the helicopter ride, she would have left that outing in much lower spirits.

Upon returning to the mansion, the three of them had a brief lunch in the kitchen, after which Vlad suggested watching a film in the theater room. With a gesture that warmed her heart, he offered movies that were space-related. Granted, they were more heavy in theme than she thought Danny might have the interest or patience for, but it was a kind gesture all the same. 

“Isn’t it your naptime?” was Danny’s reply. 

Maddie was once again bewildered by the reaction, but Vlad was ever patient, only smiling and suggesting a different film. 

After repeatedly turning down movie suggestions, Maddie eventually bypassed the problem and told Danny to pick the movie. His choice had surprised her, to say the least.  

“Are you sure?” Maddie had asked, thinking surely a teenage boy would want to watch something more thrilling. 

“No, trust me, Sam showed it to me. You’ll love it,” he had assured her. 

With popcorn and sodas in hand, they settled into the theater and an awkward silence fell over them as Blackfish began playing. 

The opening scene had Maddie groaning internally, and she cast a glance to her right at Danny. He seemed to be watching intently, so she decided to grin and bear it. She felt a little relieved when she glanced at Vlad and saw he had an identical grimace on his face. At least she wasn't alone in her upcoming misery. 

Still, neither of them complained and watched the documentary joylessly. At about a third of the way through, however, Vlad gently tapped her arm. She looked to see him pointing past her. Following his finger, she turned to see Danny’s slumped form fast asleep in his seat. 

“Oh, poor baby,” Maddie cooed softly so as not to wake him. “Let him sleep. He needs it.”

Vlad nodded in agreement, then asked her in a whisper, “Did you enjoy yourself today?” 

“I did, Vlad, thank you. Getting out was exactly what I needed.” She glanced at her son affectionately. “And what he needed.”

“It sounds like more trips are in order, then.”

“That’s a great idea,” she agreed.

“Actually, our conversation today gave me an idea–with your permission, of course,” Vlad ventured. “In the interest of getting him out more, it might be beneficial to push him into sports. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said he could try out, and I happen to know a coach in the area who would be glad to offer him some training over the summer and could accommodate Danny's injuries.”

Maddie half laughed half gasped at the suggestion, making Vlad tilt his head curiously. 

“I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at the idea. I think it's great,” she said, shaking away her surprise. “It’s just, to be honest, when you two were talking about that, I almost thought you were talking about something else.”

“Something else?” Vlad inquired. 

“It was nothing,” she dismissed, still not sure what she had thought about it. 

“Was it his attitude?” Vlad asked with a knowing smile. 

She almost laughed again. “I have never seen him… he's never talked like that. Or acted that way. He's so reserved most of the time. I mean, maybe with his friends, but…”

He smiled. “He means well.”

“Vlad, he… he's rude to you,” Maddie said. 

He waved a hand. “He enjoys some bantering, but…” he trailed off, frowning. 

She swallowed. 

“Even before… what happened, he was particularly resistant about the topic of sports. It’s a shame. He plays well, but he refuses to take it more seriously than that. It seems he doesn’t believe in his own capabilities.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Unfortunately, I suspect Jack may have had a hand in that,” Vlad replied grimly.  

Her body tingled undecidedly, warring over whether she felt saddened or enraged by the statement.

Jack was big and capable, and had played quite a few sports when he was in school. It could be that Danny simply felt like he couldn’t live up to the expectation, or that Jack had actively discouraged him. 

Either was unacceptable.  

She pivoted in her seat to face Vlad more directly, abandoning the documentary entirely now that Danny was sleeping. “Vlad…”

He matched her posture, apparently also eager to do anything but watch the remainder of the documentary. “Hm?”

“Has Danny told you anything? About what happened?”

Vlad’s lips pressed together in a thin line and her heart clenched fearfully.

In an even quieter voice, he whispered, “He confided in me some of what occurred.” His eyes became steely as he stared ahead at her boy. 

She inhaled shakily. “What um… Did he say… Did he tell the police everything?” 

Vlad winced sympathetically. “Daniel… told them the obvious.” 

She pressed her brows together, fear twisting in her stomach. 

“Did Jack do anything…” she stopped, almost choked on the question.

Vlad waited. 

“Did he do anything … worse?”  

“No,” Vlad assured immediately. “No, from what Daniel told me–assuming he was being honest with me–the physical element was a new escalation. I believe all that may have been left out, and likely not even fully expressed to me or anyone else, were some of the mental and emotional aspects… and how long they had been going on for.”

She nodded stiffly, sorrow, rage, and shame forming a lump in her throat. It felt twisted to be grateful that at least Jack hadn't been beating him that long. 

And she felt guilty as she recognized that the other part of that relief was that something so obvious hadn't been going on longer than it should have taken her to notice.

But like Vlad said, that was assuming Danny was being honest.

“He hasn’t talked about it with me at all since the hospital… he hasn't talked to me about anything , since the hospital,” she confessed, throat constricting, eyes glossing against her will. “If I’d thought for a second-”

Vlad shook his head vehemently. “Maddie, now, stop that. You can’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have possibly known. He fooled us all.”

“Maybe if I had been a more attentive parent, I might have seen the signs…”

“You’re doing all that you can now,” he soothed, but her soul rejected it. 

“Am I?” 

She had apparently raised her voice, because Danny stirred. 

They both froze, waiting for him to settle again before she continued in a quieter tone. “I tried getting him to open up to me last night, but I gave up the moment he shut me out. I don’t know if I have the strength to help him through this.”

Vlad was quiet, but nodded to assure her he was listening.

“Did he…” her eyes started watering again and she quickly wiped the beads away and looked down into her lap. “Does he hate me?”

Vlad brows rose and he reached forward and took her hands, squeezing them. “ No , Maddie. You’re a wonderful mother and he knows it.”

She wanted to squeeze his hands back and believe him, but she remained stiff, knowing she would be lying to herself. 

She could do better. She had to do better. 

“Don’t forget, Maddie. You need to recover from this, too.” He gave her hand another encouraging squeeze. “And move past Jack and what he’s done.”

Her heart turned icy at the mention of her husband’s name, but the hands offered some warmth. 

Danny stirred again, pinched eyes betraying either an uncomfortable sleep or rough waking. 

Maddie unconsciously moved her hand away from Vlad’s and purged Jack from her mind as Danny rubbed his neck and acknowledged them.

“Welcome back,” she gently teased. 

His eyes flicked from their armrests to each of them, the pinch in his brow deepening as blood rushed into his cheeks and ears. 

“Why did you let me fall asleep?” he grumbled, a surprising edge to his voice that had her exchange a concerned look with Vlad. 

“Well, Danny it looked like you needed it,” she explained, watching him fidget in his seat and clench his armrests like a trapped animal. 

“How long?” he snapped. 

She tempered her indignation with being spoken to so and assured him it had only been about twenty minutes. 

“Were you even watching?” Danny accused. His angry gaze again ventured towards their seats, flicked up past her face just briefly, and then finally landed on the screen with a scowl. “Just turn it off already.” 

“Danny, you wanted to watch this movie,” she said, tone switching to authoritative. “What’s gotten into you?” 

Vlad paused the documentary, the room slowly brightening. The combination of silence and light only served to highlight the mounting strain. 

Maddie watched Danny stand from his chair, his agitated glower scorching everything in the room but her as he seemed to scramble for something inaccessible. 

“Danny, do you know where you are right now?” she asked, suddenly becoming concerned he was still part way asleep. There had been once or twice she had caught him up during the night sleeping walking in the kitchen or the lab, but he’d never been combative, just very confused and dismissive. Those times she had been able to tell him to return to bed, and he always did.

“We’re not watching a movie, apparently,” he fumed. “We could’ve done something else! And you just let me fall asleep while you--” He stopped himself abruptly, face scrunching up as he bit back whatever else he was going to say. 

“Danny, I don’t understand why you’re angry,” Maddie told him honestly. She was more angry than her tone betrayed, only tamed by her bewilderment. “Is it the movie? Was it that important to you that we see it?” 

“No, it’s just a stupid movie!”    

“Then what is the problem?” she pressed, letting her pitch rise. 

He finally looked at her, his expression worrying her more than his outburst. He worked his jaw like it was caught on something, but the almost desperate upward pinch of his brow stole her attention. His gaze blipped past her and his face turned hot and furious again. 

“I don’t care about the movie,” he insisted, moving down the aisle to leave. “So just turn it off. Do something else.”  

She thought he would storm out, but at the doorway, he stopped and impatiently stared at them both. She returned the stare disbelievingly, standing after a minute before meeting him at the doorway.

Vlad took his time somewhere behind her. 

Leaning in close so that they could not be overheard, she caught her son’s eyes sternly. “What has gotten into you?”

He crossed his arms, careful not to agitate the left one, and glared sullenly at the floor.  

She took a moment to compose herself. 

“I just don’t know what to do, Danny,” she told him, her voice strained in her desperation to understand.  

Vlad quietly walked past them and out of the room without an acknowledgement of the discomfort, allowing her to speak more openly.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked, softening. “What can I do?” 

She could see him wilting under her questions and he still wouldn’t acknowledge her, eyes fixed on the floor and hiding his face with the bangs of his hair. 

Finally, he mumbled, “Can I use your phone?”

Her hopes tentatively jumped and she asked him why.

“I dropped mine,” he explained, his voice strangely deadpan. “It’s not working.” 

She went to grab it, but hesitated as worries started rattling around in her mind. Most bothersome of all was that he broke his phone at some point and hadn’t said anything until now. 

She decided it best to pry a little first. “Who do you need to talk to?”

He took a beat that wasn’t lost on her. 

“I just never got to answer Sam,” he finally replied. 

She considered the answer, but moreover, the hesitation. Jazz had asserted that Danny had a crush on Sam, so she wondered if that may be the explanation, but something felt disconnected.

In the end, though, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t about to deny him the ability to talk to his friends. Especially not when this was the first she’d heard of him actually reaching out to anyone. 

She handed him her cell. “When did your phone break?” 

“Not long,” he replied vaguely. He grabbed the phone and started typing as fast as he could with only one thumb available for him to use. She wondered if his still slung arm had anything to do with his phone breaking.  

“Do you need a new one?” 

He paused again. “Maybe, yeah.”

It bothered her that he still wouldn’t look at her and she wondered if she was failing him again. Should she give him space or should she push? 

“How is Sam?” she asked him. 

“She’s fine,” he replied dismissively. “What are you going to do now?” 

She shook her head. “What do you mean?”

“Like tonight,” he asked, finishing whatever he was writing and handing it back to her. “Did Vlad have more plans?” 

“I don’t think so.” She took the phone back from him, the weight of whatever message he had sent making it heavy in her palm. 

“So are you going to write your paper?” 

She let out an unintentionally frustrated sigh, shrugging. “I don’t know. I might. Did you want me to do something else?” 

“No, you should write your paper,” he said, finally glancing up at her for just a second before looking at the door anxiously. “Can I go?”

“Well- just a minute,” she stopped him, lightly touching his arm. 

Push.

“Is that all?” she asked him. 

He shrugged at her uncomprehendingly. 

She tried to keep her tone even, carefully choosing her words in one more push. “Danny, I’m trying my best…”

She noticed a change in his demeanor, no longer leaning towards the doorway, but now frozen and staring at her. 

“But I can’t do anything if you shut me out. I can’t help unless you let me.” She paused, hoping, praying he would fill the silence.

He stared at her numbly. 

“Tell me something ,” she begged, reaching out to him as hard as she could with her eyes, trying to convey everything she had failed to in the past. 

He stared back at her and for just the smallest of moments, she felt like she had reached some part of him he had locked away from her. He swallowed hard, opened his mouth to answer.

“I want to go.” 

Her heart sank and their gaze snapped like splintered wood. Maddie subconsciously pulled her arms in closer.

His eyes had turned cold, glaring sullenly at her. “Can I?”

She didn’t trust her voice, so she nodded instead.

He rushed past her, snapping something under his breath. She listened as his pace quickened, fading as he ascended the staircase. The silence fell harsh in the empty theater and she inhaled sharply to break it. 

A soft knock on the door urged Maddie to quickly clear her throat. “I’m coming,” she said, leaving the theater and meeting Vlad in the hall. 

“Are you alright?” he asked her. 

She nodded shortly, wrestling with a sudden feeling of impatient irritation. She didn’t want to discuss this with Vlad right now.

He seemed to take her reply as sufficient, however, as he didn’t press her on the matter. “The movie was the last of my plans for the evening. However, if you need company, anything I have to do can wait a little longer.”

She smiled stiffly, looking towards the stairway. “I think some quiet is what I need for now,” she lied.

He nodded amicably. 

Chapter Text

Danny paced, blinking hard every time his angry gaze cast a green glow into the room. 

How hard would he have to push? 

Green flashed him again in the reflection of the window as he passed it. He harshly rubbed at his eyes with his palms until it went away.

Don’t think about it.  

At least he got to text Sam. 

He also got his mom to believe his phone was broken. Whatever Vlad had done to it, maybe the new one would be exempt. Maybe he could get a few texts out before Vlad confiscated it. Assuming his mom was even willing to get him another one, after the way he'd just treated her. He’d basically done Vlad’s work for him and pushed her even closer to him. 

His foot slipped through the floor, tripping him partially, and it took a minute of concentration to get it to phase back up onto solid ground. 

Cheeks flushing with embarrassed frustration, he stopped pacing in front of his bed. It didn’t matter if the phone didn’t work out. He had his backup plan and he was more confident than not that Vlad didn’t have any clue. He would have said something today.

He just needed to retrieve his phone. That was going to be the tricky part. 

In the meantime, he had some time to kill. 

He glanced at the door undecidedly. He didn't want Vlad to think he was getting comfortable by going up to the observatory again, but he also didn't want to spend the next several hours pacing. 

His eyes trailed over to his mostly untouched suitcases, still haphazardly tucked beneath the bed. 

He pulled one out, unzipped it, and went digging through its contents, tossing whatever article of clothing or comics he wasn’t interested in carelessly to the floor, partially because doing things one handed was a lot of work, and partially because the mess he was making behind him gave him some petty satisfaction.

He got to the bottom of the suitcase and suddenly stopped. Thanks to his arm (and a good bit of uncooperativeness on his part), he hadn’t really packed anything of his own; Jazz had done most of that for him when she’d seen him pack one half empty backpack. 

She had definitely over packed judging by the wide range of seasonal outfits neatly and carefully folded at the top, but he hadn't realized what she had put on the bottom.

Safely cushioned underneath all of that extra clothing were his two favorite space shuttle replicas, his travel-sized telescope, and on the other side, a stack of picture frames, all of which had been gently wrapped in clothing to keep them safe.

In the topmost photo, Sam and Tucker’s smiling faces stared up at him.

He looked at it for a second, a mix of emotions holding him in the empty eye contact. After a second or two, he pulled it out of the bag and held it in his lap. 

He hadn't gotten to talk to them after everything and he was sure Vlad had something to do with it. They hadn't even been able to come see him in the hospital. 

Sam was the last one he had a chance to talk to, and only in a pathetic attempt to keep Vlad away from his mom. Neither of them knew it had been Vlad behind his dad’s behavior. They might not even know where he went, he really wasn't sure. 

He just had to count on Sam. She would tell Tucker and then they could figure something out. 

With a deep breath, he placed the photo on top of his bed and went back to digging around through his suitcase.   

He didn't have a lot in the way of entertainment, but he ended up settling on a sci-fi book he had been meaning to read for… maybe a year.  

He was just zipping the bag back up  and shoving it back under his bed when Vlad phased through the door.

Startled, Danny instinctively covered the photo of Sam and Tucker with the book and whirled around. 

Vlad caught the end of the movement, but didn’t say anything, instead reaching behind him to turn the lock on the door.

Danny’s eyes fixed on the handle for a moment. Taking a nervous breath, he sat on the edge of his bed and glared.

“You're not even gonna knock anymore?”

Vlad crossed his arms behind his back and moved further into the room, scowling at the mess Danny had left littered all over the floor. 

“Knocking is a courtesy you haven't earned,” Vlad replied as he surveyed the mess, pausing on Danny’s book. “I don't recall assigning that one.” 

“It's extracurricular,” Danny said. 

“Oh, so you finished your homework that quickly?” Vlad challenged. 

They both knew Danny had not touched the pile, so Danny decided not to be baited and sat with his arms crossed, glaring at nothing. 

“I suppose you didn’t have the time. You had a busy day of being a brat. Do you feel pleased with yourself? Is it satisfying that instead of having a nice day, your mother is now in her room crying?”

Danny's heart clenched, but he buried the sting in a biting tone as he asked, “Why? Did you confess your love?”

Vlad looked down at him darkly, then stepped up to the bed, the air around him shifting and growing heavier as he approached.   

Danny leaned away as the weight of it started pressing in on him. 

“Stand up,” Vlad commanded. 

“Why?”

Vlad’s steely eyes bore down on him. He didn't look at it, but Danny could tell his focus was on the book. 

“It’s nothing,” he insisted.

“Then stand up.”

Danny’s lips pressed together into a grimace as he stood up and watched Vlad push aside the book to pick up the picture beneath.

“I told you it’s nothing,” Danny said, trying to sound annoyed, but despite himself, his eyes were fixed to the picture anxiously. 

“Mm,” Vlad mused, “You wasted your message.”

Danny’s muscles seized in panic and it took him a beat to temper his voice. “What?”

“You should have messaged Mr. Foley. He’s more technologically inclined, isn't he? He might actually be able to do something about your communication issue."

Danny blinked at him, stunned and confused.

More than anything, he was waiting for the shoe to drop; for Vlad to taunt him that his backup plan had failed and that he'd been watching him the whole night he had been sneaking around the mansion.

"Was that pure miscalculation or were you just that desperate to hear from your little girlfriend?” Vlad taunted.

Confusion growing, he waited a beat, but the mocking look Vlad was giving him didn't seem to be hiding behind anything. Since Vlad was waiting for a response from him, he gave a dismissive shrug.

“Do you suppose your mother will continue letting you send messages through her after today?” Vlad said tauntingly. 

If he knew, he was really drawing it out, so Danny decided that he didn't know and to just play along.

“Worth a shot. Now give it back,” Danny replied dismissively, reaching for the photo again. 

Vlad held it a little higher, so Danny crossed his arms impatiently. 

Vlad relaxed his hold of the photo and smiled smugly when Danny didn’t reach for it this time.  

“I haven’t figured it out yet, Daniel, so why don't you enlighten me. Was that whole fiasco a ploy to get a new phone or are you just actually that childish?” the man asked, turning the picture over idly. 

Danny scowled, retorting, “It's like you said, Vlad; I've got a lot of influence right now. I wanted to get her away from you and hey, look at that! It worked.” This time, he held his hand out for the photo demandingly.

Vlad’s eyes darkened and he looked at the photo again thoughtfully. “Maybe I should keep this… After all, I’d hate for you to torment yourself with painful reminders.” 

Danny didn’t respond; didn’t trust that he would do anything other than snatch for it again. 

“Unless you’d like to apologize,” Vlad offered. 

“For what? Messing up your date? And for the record, I didn't even want to go out today.” 

Vlad scowled at him. “You created a scene with your mother for no reason and have upset her. I think you need to apologize for that. You also attempted to bypass my rules and managed not to do any of the homework I assigned you, even after I gave ample time.”

“We've been out all day! When was I supposed to do that?!” Danny complained, intentionally ignoring the bit about his mom. 

“What reason were you unable to do your homework during all of those hours you spent in the observatory?” 

Danny felt a little jolt of panic. So he did see him? Yeah, his mom had said he was in the observatory, but not how long he'd been there for. Had Vlad just been waiting all day to confront him about it? 

A quiet enveloped them and the longer it lasted, the more Danny was convinced Vlad knew what Danny had been doing last night and that this was just Vlad toying with him. 

“No excuses, hm?” Vlad pressed, an eerie calm overtaking him as he removed the photo from its frame, folded it, and slipped it into his inner suit pocket. 

Danny swallowed, steeled his nerves and replied, “I'm not going to apologize for making things hard on you.” 

“It's your decision,” Vlad said, shuffling through a different pocket. 

Danny’s brow twitched confusedly until Vlad pulled out the Plasmius Maximus. 

He was used to ghost hunting weapons. He was used to all of the various things his parents and even other ghosts used to try to hurt him. But at the sight of the little handheld device, Danny’s eyes grew wide as fear zipped through his nervous system and before he realized what he was doing, he had transformed and gone intangible, trying to fall through the floor. 

Vlad had him in the same instant, vice-like grip on Danny’s good arm despite the intangibility. Before his feet had even made it through, he was hauled up until he was dangling like a wriggling fish in Vlad’s grasp. 

Wondering if maybe his intangibility had stopped working, Danny tried again to phase through the older hybrid’s hold.

Every fiber of his being capable of thought and concentration was instantly scrambled as the prongs of the Plasmius Maximus jammed into his abdomen. Volts of electricity pierced straight through him, reaching into his core to shred it to pieces before spreading outward into his veins with icy hot needles. 

White rings enveloped his spasming body as his powers evaporated, and as the light of the rings disappeared over him, he went instantly limp.

Vlad removed his other hand from over Danny’s mouth, apparently having muffled the screaming Danny had been unaware that he was doing, but the other hand still held him dangling over the floor. He pulled him in close, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m disappointed, Daniel. I had hoped you might adjust a little easier. Have I not been patient and understanding?”

Danny just trembled as an aftershock rolled over him. Shuddering, he cast a weak glare Vlad’s way.

Vlad sighed harshly through his nose, dropping Danny enough to let his feet touch the floor, but not releasing him. Danny took the opportunity to catch his breath, feeling some strength returning to him, though echoes of pain lingered in his abdomen.

“I have afforded you privileges that I’m beginning to think were too optimistic of me,” Vlad said. 

“Your company isn’t a privilege,” Danny snarked dully. 

Vlad’s eyes narrowed further, dark and sadistic, and Danny’s whole body tensed at the sight of it. 

“We’ll see,” he said.  

Vlad started pulling him and Danny couldn’t help it; he dug in his heels and resisted with everything he had, the ominous aura surrounding Vlad penetrated whatever bravado Danny had managed to muster. 

He was so focused on getting away that he wasn’t prepared to catch himself when Vlad slung him into his own closet like he weighed nothing. He smacked the wall with his right shoulder, but it didn't save his left from the sharp heat spiking in his collarbone. He grabbed at it, pinching his eyes shut and curling in on it as it throbbed. 

Vlad ignored him, grabbing the books from Danny’s desk and a pencil and tossing them in with him. “Consider yourself grounded for the next 4 hours. In that time, I expect you to read a chapter each of your homework and complete the related assignments. When the four hours are up, I'll be back to grade them.”

Danny grunted and pushed himself off the wall, turning to direct a glare at the older hybrid. “Well, you’re gonna be grading blank paper because I’m not doing it!” he snarled through pain, kicking one of the books spitefully. 

“Then I suggest you find a way to make this closet entertaining,” Vlad countered, grabbing the door handle. “Anything less than an A will earn you an additional half hour per grade letter.”

“Vlad!” Danny rushed the door as the man slammed it shut and locked it. “You can’t keep me in here!” he growled as he banged his good fist on the barrier.

“Oh no? You spend the majority of your time in this room anyway. I hardly think Maddie will notice your absence.”

“I’m not just going to–”

“What good do you think will come of your mother finding you in there?”

Danny’s fist stilled as the implication settled over him, dulling the angry heat that had been helping him ignore the pain still lancing through his arm.

Vlad seemed to take the sudden silence as compliance, as his tone shifted to one of patronizing authority. “I'm no longer extending the privilege of my patience. My expectations of you from here on will be much higher. If you don’t want to become intimately familiar with that closet, I would recommend adjusting your attitude.”  

Danny fists clenched and he thought about smacking the door again, just to be spiteful.

But what if his mom heard. 

Gritting his teeth, he stepped back and leaned against the wall of the closet, scowling into the darkness. 

“There’s a light switch on the left. And remember, Daniel; I expect good grades. I won’t tolerate any slacking from now on.” 

Danny listened sullenly as Vlad left his room and shut the door, but he didn’t move for a while. He stared into the dark, hand hovering over his collarbone protectively and wincing as the throbs of pain slowly lessened into a dull ache.

Eventually, he found enough energy to turn the light on. He settled on the floor criss-cross applesauce and pulled the books close to him. He didn’t want to give Vlad what he wanted, but it was worse to just hand him hours’ worth of uninterrupted time with his mother.

Despite having absolutely nothing else to do and enough motivation to do a good job, he struggled to keep his concentration on any of his work. He doodled in the pages, he read and reread the same lines trying to absorb any of it, he drummed the end of the pencil listlessly on his knee. He really was trying, but his mind kept wandering elsewhere; to the pain in his arm, to what his mom and Vlad were doing…

And to the heavy aching in his stomach. It wasn’t real, he knew, but it was like his body couldn’t move on from the shock of the Plasmius Maximus. He wasn't sure what it was doing to him, but phantom pain still radiated from his center, demanding his attention, demanding he worry. 

It was the same pain he’d felt in the portal. 

It felt like dying. 

He had managed to do all of the reading he had been told to do and was in the middle of writing the last essay he was supposed to write when Vlad came back to check on him, opening the door and smiling like he had not assaulted him hours prior. 

Danny stood and started to leave the closet, but Vlad physically blocked him, holding his hand out expectantly.

“You’re going to grade them now?” Danny asked incredulously. 

“And you’ll wait in here until I’ve finished,” Vlad instructed. 

Danny pressed his lips together, but turned to pick up the books and hand them off to Vlad. 

He took them and sat at Danny’s desk, grading quietly and leisurely.

Danny wasn’t entirely sure how long it took, but by the time Vlad gathered together the completed papers, it had been long enough for him to get a cramp or two. He disguised the discomfort with bored restlessness; kicking his legs out of the doorway, switching the light switch on and off rapidly, drumming on the door frame, whatever obnoxious thing he could think of, because no matter how agitated he got, he refused to sit back down. That’s what Vlad wanted him to do. 

Vlad walked straight up to the door frame, forcing Danny to take a step or two back inside, before he handed the graded papers to the teen. 

The first thing Danny saw was a disheartening amount of red ink marks spattering the page’s contents. It looked like a crime scene. He flipped through the other pages and saw it was the same for the rest, but the mortal wound to his work were the grades.

Two D’s and a C-. 

That wasn’t the part that truly upset him, though. He had gotten enough fluctuating grades to know when he deserved a good one or not. 

“Are you kidding me?” Danny complained, thrusting his finger at a portion of his essay. “How is ‘uninspired’ gradable?”

“I’m sure your public school teachers would’ve considered that drivel passable, but until further notice, I’m your teacher and I’m not looking for passable; I want exceptional.” 

Danny took a deep breath, reminding himself that he wanted out of the closet more than he wanted to scream in old man's face. “Vlad, I had four hours to do this. That’s the best I can do."

“Oh, dear, I certainly hope not,” Vlad said, concealing his mockery with concern as he leaned forward and locked eyes with him. “Your mother will be so disappointed when she finds out genius doesn’t run in the family.”

Danny ground his teeth, going rigid with anger and trying desperately to keep his composure.  

Vlad smiled, pleased at the reaction as he handed Danny the graded papers and books. “Try again, Little Badger. Another four hours and you can turn these into A’s.” 

Vlad started to shut the door, but Danny managed to find his voice, tight as it was, to remind him, “It’s dinner.”

Vlad looked in at him.

“Mom’s gonna wonder where I am.”

Vlad chuckled. “No, she won’t.”

Danny stood stiffly with the pile of books in his arm as Vlad shut the door on him, heard the sharp click of the lock being turned. 

The tension left him and he stepped back into the wall, slid down it and stared at the books in his arm. 

He threw them at the wall.

Chapter Text

Danny didn’t come out of his room the rest of the evening. She had wanted to check on him, especially as dinner came and went without a word, but Vlad had advised against it. 

“I’ll bring him something to eat and check on him, but I think he might need some time to calm himself,” Vlad had said. “I’m sure he’ll be feeling quite foolish in the morning.” 

After a dinner that, while pleasant, had a tense discomfort, she and Vlad made their way upstairs, Vlad carrying a plate of dinner with him. At the top of the steps, she glanced towards Danny's room. It was quiet as ever. 

The phone in her pocket felt denser, desperation to understand weighing heavy on her mind.

Vlad laid a hand gently on her shoulder. "I've got him, Maddie," he assured.

She plastered a stiff smile to her lips, standing there feeling foolish and helpless as she watched him cross the hall to Danny's room.

She waited for a bit, but Vlad didn't come back out straight away. She hoped that was a good sign; maybe Danny was opening up to him...

The thought hurt her more than she thought it should.

Unable to bear the anxiety anymore, she retreated down the opposite hall, hand reaching into her pocket to clutch the phone.

She hadn’t wanted to snoop. She really hadn’t; but once in the solitude of her room, she had barely shut the door before she had pulled the phone from her pocket.

A message to Sam appeared at the top, just above Jazz, who she realized with some guilt she had not reached out to since yesterday. She skipped it for now, opening up Danny's message.

Danny: Hey it’s Danny. My mom let me use her phone. Mine's busted.  I’ll IM later. I miss you guys

Sam: Don’t worry we won’t miss it. We miss you. We’ll see you in no time, ok?

Guilt washed over her so suddenly that she almost threw the phone. She managed to catch herself before her nerves got the best of her and instead quickly clicked out of the message and turned the phone off, setting it down on her dresser as far as possible

She went to her laptop to distract herself, intending to do some research for getting Danny a new phone, but a notification on her desktop gave her pause.

It was an alert.

She stared at it for a moment before clicking the notification to see which scanner had picked up the activity.

While she didn't have quite enough to scan Vlad's mansion in its entirety, the scanners she had covered a large portion of it.

Vlad had initially been resistant to the notion of really any ghost hunting equipment in his home, but she had insisted, reminding him of what had happened the last time they visited him. She wasn't sure if he had decided that her concern was reasonable or if his desire to host them had out-weighed his discomfort, but once he'd changed his mind, he had truly changed his mind, even offering assistance to install them.

She could have been more thorough in her coverage if she had not wasted putting so many of them in the Great Hall. Even she knew the oversaturation of scanners in that area was irrational, but the reunion had admittedly made her a little paranoid. 

"You did check the mansion after the incident," Vlad had reminded her as he helped assist in setting up the scanners. "It evaporated, didn't it?"

"That ghost--the Wisconsin Ghost--did, but... I just want to make sure it's gone," she'd replied.

Vlad hadn't asked any more about it since that first day. He had, however, made recommendations for where to place the rest and assisted in arranging them all over the mansion.

"These look quite sophisticated. How discerning are they?" he had asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean would it be able to tell the difference if there was multiple spectral entities in the vicinity?"

She had been excited to see him show an interest in their old shared hobby and was happy to encourage it. "Yes, they can tell if there are multiple specters in the area and can distinguish the difference between signatures. I had a short range scanner in my watch that I used as a prototype."

"Impressive!" He'd admired. "It seems your research has come quite a long way."

"It had..."

Ghost hunting, her research, had felt like a meaningless distraction.

Staring at the notification now, with echoes of the altercation with her son still fresh on her mind, the frustration of being helpless to help poisoning her thoughts, research felt like an escape.

She opened the notification and checked the time-stamp, eyes going wide as she noted it occurred less than twenty minutes ago.

In the theater...

She hadn't noticed anything, so it had to have been invisible.

A familiar rush of alert excitement hit her, and she immediately logged the signature. She didn't see any other pings, which was a relief, but this one was enough of a mystery on its own.

While it wasn't impossible there was a second ghost around, it seemed clear to her that Phantom had come into the mansion. Why and how were the most pressing of questions. According to the scanner, he seemed to have appeared in the middle of the room out of nowhere, lingered for less than a minute, and then appeared to vanish again.

She cataloged the incident in her research, making special note of the appearance and disappearance. How he could have vanished into and out of the mansion without another of the scanners marking his arrival or departure was both fascinating and worrying.

Not only was he somehow able to briefly bypass her scanners, but Phantom was also still in Wisconsin.

Seeing him for single night was one thing, but why was he lingering. 

A knock startled her, then left her with an anxiety that was foreign to her. She shut the laptop and quickly crossed the room, trying to remind herself to be calm and accept whatever came...

Vlad stood on the other side of the door.

Her anxiety seeped out of her shoulders, replaced with a deep sense of regret and relief.

"Have I interrupted something?" he asked.

She shook her head, the omission of her findings hardly registering to her.

Vlad nodded, looked down at the floor like he was stalling. "I thought you should know that I gave Daniel dinner."

"Yes... I did see you do that," she said uncertainly.

"Yes," he said, bouncing on his feet. "He... It seems he might need the evening..."

She swallowed, nodding in understanding. "Was he rude to you again?"

Vlad waved his hand and shook his head. "Not at all. At worst, he was dismissive, but that's to be expected, given how the evening ended. I think he may be feeling some shame for his behavior. I imagine he should be more approachable tomorrow. "

"You're very patient, Vlad. I appreciate it."

He smiled at her, but it faded shortly after as he seemed to mull on a thought. "Maddie... I feel Daniel might need an... an outlet, of some sort while he's here. Something to get him outside and active."

She nodded, inhaling deeply and leaning on the door frame. "I agree. He's cooped up too much. I just..."

"Perhaps you and I could come up with a few options for him," Vlad suggested.

"I'll give it some thought," she agreed, though she noted the way her own voice sounded dimmed.

Vlad seemed to as well, lips thinning sympathetically. "If you need any recommendations, I have a few ideas that I think he would benefit from."

She nodded stiffly, hesitating on a thought she didn't want to give voice to, but she could tell Vlad had noticed and was waiting for it, so she sighed deeply and admitted. "I'm worried he won't want to do it."

Vlad chuckled. "Well, of course he won't."

She tried to smile, but it wouldn't come, blocked by the lump in her throat. She muttered, "I don't want to be the bad guy..."

Vlad watched her face, wincing at her sympathetically. "... He may not understand now, Maddie. He may resent you for a brief time and he will undoubtedly resist your efforts at every step, but I assure you he will be grateful in the end," he told her. "Give him some time."

She unconsciously rubbed her own arms, nodding softly.

"And I'll be here to support you however you need."

She smiled, but it felt hollow on her lips, her eyes unwilling to match it.

Vlad caught it, but didn't bring speak on it, simply gave her a warm smile and offered, "Would you like to join me in the study? I mean to get some work done before the end of the day, but I would certainly appreciate the company."

"I appreciate the offer, Vlad, but," her mind wandered to the notification on her laptop. "I think I might benefit from some solitude as well."

He sighed deeply, but nodded in understanding and winked his eyes at her. "Of course. If you should change your mind, I should be in the study until nine. Feel free to join me at any time."

She nodded gratefully, waited until he had turned and started heading down the stairs before shutting the door firmly and resuming her research.

She spent an hour or two reviewing the information she had gathered from Phantom the previous night and attempted to build a an ecto-signature out of the blip the scanners had caught, but the scanners just weren't sophisticated enough, not to mention how brief Phantom had been there. Eventually, she gave up on it and decided to see if he had left any kind of trace behind from the roof.

She scoured the duffel bag she had filled up with both items she didn’t want to be without and also didn’t want left unattended until she had located a small, handheld device; a proper scanner. It was supposed to be a translator initially, but the function had proven both faulty and turns out useless after they had captured their first ghost and discovered they were perfectly capable and willing to speak to them. It was, however, able to store ecto-signatures, and also functioned like an EMF. It made ghost hunting and tagging simpler and allowed them to categorize them by type, capability, and potential hazard.

She cringed at the memory of having used the faulty translator function as a basis for believing Jazz to be possessed, but quickly banished the thought to the farthest recesses of her mind.

Ensuring everything was calibrated properly, she hooked the scanner to her belt, slung the thermos over her shoulder, and stepped out onto the balcony. She climbed back up onto the roof as she had the night before and headed off to where she’d last spotted Phantom. 

She didn't hold out a lot of hope of being able to get a complete ecto-signature, but it was worth a try, especially if she wanted to try and fix whatever was keeping the scanners from spotting him. A fresh sample would be best, but she doubted that would get the opportunity to get that close to Phantom again.

She wandered the rooftop, scanning various areas she recalled him touching. There was some residual ecto residue, but it was extremely faint, only barely registering on the device as tiny blips. Sighing in frustration, she looked out onto the estate, felt the breeze brush her hair out of her face, the clear sky twinkling with stars. 

It was as she was scanning the sky that she just spotted it; a flash of green beyond the crest of the side of rooftop she occupied. Her hand grasped the thermos as she knelt down, quietly making her way to the other side of the roof. She climbed to the crest of her section, hoping not to let her presence be known too soon.

She peaked past the rooftop until she could see where Phantom was hovering, moving only to get a better angle to understand what exactly it was he was doing. From this distance, it looked like he was making it snow. 

He also seemed to be cursing, throwing what she now realized were wads of paper into the air and blasting them angrily before going over to a little pile he had collected, grabbing up another sheet of paper, crumpling it up, and then throwing it as hard as he could into the air and firing at it. Having apparently run out of individual papers, he picked up a spiral notebook, ripped out a chunk of pages and growled as he tossed them, firing at them with only fractional success. 

Or at least she'd thought he had missed, but as she watched him frustratedly look at his own hands, she thought maybe he had briefly, for whatever reason, been unable to fire. Mesmerized, she stared as he attempted to make green orbs grow in his hands, wincing as the orbs fluctuated between growing too big to nearly disappearing altogether, swelling and bubbling unstably. The spectre's distressed eyes glowed a fierce green in tandem, brightening and pulsing with the orbs. 

She watched in awed fascination, but she tempered her excitement as the potential seriousness of the situation settled on her. While curiosity made her want to continue observing and studying, it didn’t really matter what exactly had upset the ghost boy so much--or even how or why a ghost wouldn't have or even lost full control of their abilities--as long as he posed a risk to the mansion. 

She raised the thermos, but stopped when Phantom let out a shout and tossed the first of the orbs off into the sky, followed quickly by the second. Both vanished in a streak of green before dissipating into the blue. When they were gone, Phantom dropped into a crouch and pulled his legs up to his chest. 

When he didn’t move for a bit, she decided it was time to make her presence known, returning the thermos to her belt and standing to carefully but casually make her way down the slope towards him. 

Phantom heard her coming, once again whirling around with wide, wary eyes. It was... worrying. It wasn't just that he was alert; he seemed ready to be afraid.

Once his green eyes met hers, however, the fear vanished and Phantom settled back. 

“You’re back…?” he asked in surprise.

“Well, I’m living here,” she reminded him. 

He huffed a little laugh. “Right… uh… come up to stargaze again?”

Her fingers brushed the scanner on her belt, but reminded herself to be patient. Whatever the reason, Phantom was being cooperative again. She might as well kill two birds with one stone.  

“I thought I might… assuming you don’t mind the company?” 

He looked at her with a deep expression she couldn’t identify. He didn’t seem nervous about her asking, as she thought he might be, but almost looked regretful. It puzzled her, but even more so when he smiled.

“Yeah, company sounds nice.” 

She sat down a little ways from him, flicking away a crisped shred of paper as it blew at her knee. 

His eyes caught the movement and it seemed to just occur to him the mess he had been making. His cheeks flushed a light green embarrassedly and he stretched over to what remained--just the spiral notebook--and more securely pushed it against the edge of the chimney he had it sitting against. 

She watched with an amused smirk and considered questioning him about it, but to her surprise, he started trying to explain himself . “I-uh… I found those. I promise they don’t belong to anybody.” 

She found that perfectly unbelievable, but wasn't as concerned with what the notebook was or where it came from. If anything, it was the most harmless thing he could be destroying. She had other, more pressing questions nagging at the forefront of her mind and she was tempted to begin interrogating him, but tempered herself.

“You know… no bias?”

She didn't want to waste the truce they had reached, not unless he pushed her to it. It could be more productive to continue the cooperative relationship they had reached, even if there was the potential it was a ruse.

“Rough night?” she asked lightly, deciding on a more vague acknowledgement of the mess he had been making to put him at ease. 

“You could say that,” he replied with a humorless chuckle. “I guess it was for you, too, huh?” 

She tilted her head at him. “What makes you say that?”

He shrugged. “That’s why you were up here last time.” 

More or less, but she was glad to see he was attempting to relate to her. That should make the evening easier for her. 

“What… um. Do you mind if I ask what happened?” he asked. 

The politeness took her slightly off guard and the sincerity in his face as he turned to look at her further left her feeling more vulnerable than if he had been attacking her. She was once again left at a crossroads of directions she could take the conversation. It seemed odd he would ask her what happened if he had been witness to it already, but maybe he hadn't seen everything. Was it curiosity on his part? Some kind of ploy? She wasn't sure, but she was sure he didn't know she knew he had been in the theater; maybe she could leverage the conversation for answers. 

Maybe it was possibly to make him feel pity for her.

With a resigned sigh, she crossed her legs and leaned forward onto her knees. 

“I went out with my son and friend today. We went for a picnic. It seemed like everyone was having a good time, but when we got back… I don’t know. I still don’t know what to make of it.” 

Phantom’s gaze fell for a moment, then leaned a little closer, waiting for her to continue. 

That was as detailed as she was willing to go, so she looked at him. “And you? What sealed the fate of those poor papers?” 

He looked a little disappointed when she shifted the conversation, but the joke did garner a little smile. 

“It's… kind of hard to explain,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I messed up really bad and… I keep making it worse trying to fix it.”  

Despite the vagueness of the answer, she was struck with a pang of sympathy as her worries bubbled back up to the forefront of her thoughts.

“Can I ask you what happened after the picnic?” 

She looked at him guardedly, surprised at how quickly he had not only accepted her presence here with him, but how interested he seemed to be in talking to her. Whatever the cause, whatever of her theories were correct, he was taking the truce seriously. 

At her hesitance, perhaps taking it as rejecting the question outright, he pressed his lips together in a sort of wince and adjusted where he was sitting to face her more openly. “I know it’s not really fair for me to ask you and then not really answer your questions but… If I promise to answer honestly anything I can… would that be fair?”

Her brows rose in surprise at the offer and it made her even more suspicious of why he seemed to want to know so badly. She narrowed her eyes at him. “And how do I know you won’t lie?” 

“The… spirit of starting over?” he ventured, but when she gave him a dull look in reply, he added, “I can’t make you believe me. I’m just asking you to.” 

She blinked a few times at him. This entire interaction was going much differently than she thought it might go. He was behaving even odder than the night before and she truly didn’t know what to make of it. However, while bizarre, the opportunity was still present, perhaps even more so. 

She turned toward him a little more, using the movement to mask her turning the scanner on him. 

“Without going into too much background detail you don’t need to know, my son got angry with me,” she replied.

“Why?” 

“I have no idea," she said, shrugging helplessly. "We were watching a movie he suggested and he fell asleep. I thought he was angry we watched without him, but he said he didn’t care about the movie.”

“We? Like…” his eyes swiveled downward,  “You mean the rest of your family?” 

“My friend and I,” she supplied, although she once again suspected he already knew that.

“And your friend is the old guy who owns this place, right?”

She scrunched her face at him. “He’s the same age as me.” 

He opened his mouth on an inhale, delayed in his response only for a fraction of a second before recovering. “In number, sure, but I mean…” he looked at her dryly, a mischievous little smirk at the corner of his mouth. “Come on. That guy acts like he was born in ye olden times. As a duke.”  

The joke caught her so off-guard she nearly laughed, both surprised by the jab to her college friend from a ghost, and also by the accuracy of it. She nearly attempted to mask it, but Phantom had immediately brightened at her at her response, and she decided to lean into it; surmising he might be more cooperative if he thought she was opening up to him.

It didn't have to mean anything that she did feel more relaxed.

Phantom gave her a cheeky grin. “So you and the Duke of Cheesetown were watching a movie and your son was mad he fell asleep...” 

“Stop that,” she insisted, a small smile on the corner of her lips. “He’s a very good person. And this is serious.” 

Phantom shrugged compliantly, but the grin remained. 

“Why do you want to know, anyway?” she asked. 

“I dunno. I thought maybe… a different perspective might be… helpful?” he said tentatively. 

“You want to help me,” she said, more accusatory than she had necessarily meant to say it, and she quickly asked why as nicely as she could to try to smooth over the misstep. 

“I like to help,” he replied simply. 

She stared at him, once again struck by the sincerity with which he said it. 

He rubbed the back of his neck as he added, “I’m not always great at it, but… if you want a ghost’s opinion…”

She couldn’t help but perk a little. 

“It doesn’t really sound like he was mad at you or anything.” 

The vulnerable side of her wanted to accept that answer, but the rest of her shunned it away and she shook her head. “You can’t tell that just by what I said.”

“Well… did he give you any reason why he was mad?”

“No.”

“Then it didn’t have anything to do with you.” 

She looked at him skeptically.

“He’s a teenager, right? Aren’t teens supposed to blame their parents for everything? If he didn’t… then it probably wasn’t you.” 

Her shoulders slumped a little and she shook her head. “That’s… nice, Phantom, but… you don’t know everything." This time, she let her voice harden, accusing, "Despite what you saw.” 

Phantom blinked at first, then his brows pressed together in confusion. "What?" 

"I know you were there," she told him. "My scanners caught you in the theater. Were you spying on me?"

His eyes grew wide, but to her surprise, he still just looked confused. She wasn't sure if he was just a good actor, but it truly seemed like he was fully bewildered by the accusation. Maybe he thought whatever he had used to bypass her scanners initially had worked the entire time. 

"In... in the... like when you were watching the movie?" he asked.

"Before we left, my scanners caught you, Phantom," she reiterated. "Why were you there?"

He blinked again, the perplexed expression unwavering as he looked away from her and let his eyes wander with his thoughts. "Um..."

"You said you'd tell me the truth," she reminded him, letting her voice soften a little.

He looked up at her then, distressed, then sighed sharply. "Uh... I was... I was worried."

It was her turn to blink in confusion. "What?"

"You were upset... last time we talked and I was just..."

"You were worried about me."

The skepticism in her tone was colder than she intended and he obviously noticed, wincing at her as he tried to explain. "Last night you said you made a mistake and you seemed upset and I didn't ask about it and I felt bad I didn't ask about it so I thought... I'd check on you, yeah."

She stared at him for a long while, stuck as she tried to decide how to handle that response. He withered under her stare, nervousness evident in the way he pulled his knees in close, in the way he wouldn't quite look at her fully.

And for some reason, it hurt her. 

Almost unconsciously, she made up her mind, calming her tone and stating factually, "Phantom, it’s obvious that your being here in Wisconsin at the same time as I am is evidence that it has something to do with me, which I can only justify as being for one of two reasons; you have some ulterior motive towards me, or you’re haunting something I brought.” Her eyes caught on the anxious swallow from the now even more nervous ghost. “But even if the latter were the case, you should still be able to go more or less wherever you like; it’s never stopped you before, except for this time. I have never found you so easy to find as I have since we got here.”

He stared at her with a grimace, opened his mouth to answer, stopped himself, and repeated the attempt twice more before rubbing his hands over his face in frustration. 

Interesting. 

“So my latter theory is correct?” she pressed.

He huffed. “Not… exactly …” 

She frowned at him. “You’re going back on your promise?”

“No!” he insisted, his face contorting with desperate confliction. “It’s not that. I said I’d answer honestly if I could, and I mean it, I do, but I can’t always answer…”

She gazed at him intensely, not allowing him to back down from at the very least responding. 

“I’m sorry, I–I can’t answer that one.” 

She frowned again, both disappointed and, to her own surprise, hurt again, but really, she had seen this coming. It wouldn’t matter that he hadn’t answered her, though. She was confident the scanner would solve that problem for her. 

Plus, she reminded herself, it did seem he was interested in not outright lying to her. Omission was frustrating, certainly, but not as much as trying to sort out fact from fiction if he had chosen that route.

Her eyes trailed off to the notebook.

“Can you explain that, then?”

He hesitated again and she thought he was about to dodge another question, but instead, he seemed to get smaller. “I got in a fight.” 

She tilted her head at him. "Don't you often?"

He grit his teeth. "Not like this."

She stared at him, pressing with her eyes to continue.

He sighed tightly. "There's this ghost... he's way stronger than me. And he likes to... to mess with me."

There it was again. He had nearly buried it in this look of anger, but she could just see it; Phantom was afraid. She leaned forward on her knees, leaned in close to assure him she was listening and was very, very interested. "What do you mean mess with you?"

“He’s got… he’s… he’s kind of obsessed with me,” Phantom said, teeth gritting. “I pissed him off earlier and he… I shouldn’t have pissed him off. That–” he gestured at the papers– “is letting off some steam.” 

She shook her head confusedly. “Do you know why this ghost is obsessed with you?”

Phantom snorted. “Yeah, I know, but I don't get it.”

“What's the reason?"

Phantom scoffed a breathy laugh, humorless and pain-filled as he answered hesitantly, "He wants me to be his family."

Maddie's brow rose. Now that was strange. A ghost obsessed with another ghost was odd enough, but that kind of obsession was far too nuanced for most ghosts. Obsessions were something simple and usually was one of only two variations; protect their territory or acquire more ecto-energy. Sometimes it was both. For a ghost to want a family, and from another ghost, was very strange and it didn't seem to fall into either of the two categories.  

“Where is this ghost now?” Maddie asked.

Phantom winced, a tiny flash of fear crossing the features of his face as he shook his head. “You won’t find him. And you shouldn’t,” he stressed severely. “He’s dangerous.” 

She watched him rise and scratch his head thoughtfully. After a moment, he looked down at her.

“I’ve got to go…. But um… if you want company again… I’ll be back up here tomorrow night if… you know… If you want…” 

She blinked her surprise away. She was once again tempted to make him stay, to coerce the answers she needed from him. He had all but confirmed her suspicions that his presence had to do with her, but she had gotten nothing definitive from him and now he was adding questions to her list. She needed those answers. 

He stared at her, waiting for a response, his expression tense with nervousness, sadness, but he was obviously willing to wait for her; to agree to meet again, to trust his word, trusting her to let him go.

She accepted the offer with a nod.

He smiled, relieved and... optimistic. 

“Cool. I’ll… see you tomorrow, then.” 

“See you then, Phantom,” she replied, watching him disappear before her eyes. 

She waited for a time, wanting to be more or less sure he had flown off rather than simply remaining there invisibly. After a few minutes had passed, she picked herself up and started heading back down to her room. Once inside, she checked the scanner, relieved at the icon blinking to signal it had locked onto Phantom's ecto signature.

Phantom could be elusive if he wanted, but she didn't need him to explain everything to get the answers she needed; she was perfectly capable of doing it on her own.

With a triumphant smile, she started methodically scanning items in her room. Most items received no reaction from the tool, but some, she was surprised to find, gave only minute little spikes. The only items that resonated with Phantom's signature were items she either had on her person or had actually used in the past to hunt him. 

It was an excellent sign that the scanner was functioning as intended and that she should be able to locate the item he was haunting. The bad news was that nothing in her room reacted with anything higher than fifteen percent.

That only left one option.

And it terrified her.  

Phantom must be haunting something of Danny's.

Danny was distant with her as it was; he wouldn’t be understanding of her going through his things to ghost hunt. Moreover, she wasn’t sure what his opinion on Phantom was, and if it was positive, that could further complicate the issue. Jazz certainly was, so it wasn’t a stretch to believe Danny might be, too. 

She could always lie about why she needed to go through his things, but saying it was a different ghost wasn’t much better and there wasn’t much else she could think of that would warrant her invading his privacy. And simply telling him that she was going to and not giving him a reason why was out of the question. If he had been distant before, that was sure to push him right out of her reach. 

Her only real option was to do it without him knowing. She had to get him out of the room for a while, which would be a difficult task in and of itself, but also ensure she could potentially remove items without him noticing. 

While she didn’t have a solution to the latter, an idea struck her for the first problem. 

Vlad had been right; Danny needed an outdoor activity.

Chapter Text

“No, ” Danny replied, scowling. 

“Why not?” his mom asked, leaning forward on the table and continuing to hound him in lieu of eating her breakfast. 

“Well, my arm for one, thing,” Danny reminded bitingly. “I can’t play football one-handed.” 

“You needn’t do any catching while you recover,” Vlad said helpfully as he cut a symmetrical bite from his omelet. “There are plenty of things you can practice in the meantime.” 

Danny could hardly believe his bad luck. Just when he thought things might be turning in his favor, of course, Vlad had to pull something like this. Sure, his mom had suggested it, but it had Vlad written all over it.   

Even with this unexpected setback, he was still feeling somewhat optimistic. 

He had once again been up extremely late, waiting to ensure everyone was asleep so that he could venture into Vlad's study again and retrieve his phone. It had, of course, died over the course of recording, and while he was still waiting for it to charge enough to look at the video, he was feeling pretty confident about it.

He had also felt much more confident wandering around the mansion thanks to his mom. She had no idea what a huge gift she had given him last night. He nearly broke down in laughter, hardly able to believe his luck, when he finally figured out what scanners she had been talking about and why she thought she'd seen him.

She hadn't. She had seen Vlad.

Wandering the halls after everyone had gone to bed, Danny spotted them; little discs placed at the corners of the ceilings in the hallways that he knew to be his mother's. They used to be scattered all over the house in Amity, but she had apparently brought them with her. They were effective and he'd nearly gotten into trouble by them on a few occasions a few months ago, at least until Tucker had gotten his hands on them. To these scanners, Phantom was invisible. He had no idea how, but Tucker--the absolute genius--had worked his tech magic to make the scanners ignore him. He didn't even register on them anymore. 

But Vlad did.

No wonder Vlad didn't have anything monitoring him! He couldn't. If he wanted to hide any kind of surveillance equipment discreetly, like in a wall or something, he would need to be intangible to retrieve it. And he couldn't just leave cameras up in the bedrooms or other private places; that would also draw suspicion. His mom had, unknowingly, cornered Vlad into leaving Danny an opening.

So that night, he had confidently snuck into Vlad's study, relishing in the knowledge that if Vlad wanted to see what he was doing and didn't want Maddie to know about it, it would have to be in human form.

It was a massive advantage and Danny had woken up almost giddy with the revelation, despite the long night with virtually no sleep. The only thing that would make the day better was if his phone had managed to capture Vlad's password. He might have been able to check it this morning if Vlad hadn’t stopped by way too early to grade his homework for the third time. Vlad had complimented him on his progress before locking him back in the closet for another hour and half, only retrieving him for breakfast. 

If he had known it was going to be an ambush, he would’ve stayed in the closet. 

“I think it would be good for you to get out and be active,” Maddie encouraged. “And like we talked about, it would look good for resumes or scholarships.” 

“Yeah, but I don’t want to,” Danny said adamantly.

“That’s exactly why I think you should,” Maddie replied, gently but firmly. 

“That doesn’t make sense,” Danny complained, throwing up a hand exasperatedly. “Is that your way of saying I don’t get a choice?” 

“Danny, sometimes I have to make decisions that I think are going to be better for you in the long run that might not be what you want in the short term,” she explained carefully, but Danny saw her glance Vlad's way.

Vlad's approving, encouraging look was all Danny needed for confirmation.

“So... no,” Danny groused, flopping back into his chair sulkily.

“I think it will be good for you,” she reiterated, smiling sympathetically at him. 

Danny scowled, wanting to at least ask for it to be anyone but Vlad, but he knew better than to make that kind of request. At best, she wouldn’t wonder why Danny would ask that and Vlad only punished him a little bit; at worst, she questioned him about it and Vlad still punished him but much worse.

He inhaled sharply, reminding himself to be patient. He did not want to spend the day with Vlad, but Danny Fenton couldn’t risk making his mom suspicious. 

That had to be left to Danny Phantom. 

“Fine,” he snapped. 

Maddie smiled at him sunnily, finally taking a bite of her breakfast. “I really do think you’ll have more fun than you think you will.”

“I really, really doubt it,” Danny grumbled.    

Vlad looked overjoyed as he escorted Danny outside, leaving Maddie alone in the mansion to handle some legal work she had waiting for her. Danny sulkily let Vlad steer him to a garage tucked away on the side of the manor. He drove out a second later with a golf cart and patted the seat next to him. 

“She’s not watching. We can fly, you know,” Danny pointed out bitterly. 

“One can never be too careful,” Vlad replied dismissively, again patting the seat.

Danny turned away, masking the tiny smirk that threatened to break through his sulky demeanor. He couldn't help but briefly bask in the idea that Vlad felt paranoid about his mom.

“Besides, a little drive can be quite refreshing.”

“Not if you’re there,” Danny bit, plopping into the seat and slouching and cradling his left arm. 

Vlad elbowed him gently.

“Oh, come on, Little Badger. Lighten up a little. This can be a nice day if you choose for it to be.”

“Glad to know I get to choose my mood at least.”

Vlad simply shrugged him off, driving the golf cart down the gravel path towards the back end of the estate. It looked different in the daytime and even bigger from ground level. 

He hated driving. 

It took them almost ten excruciating minutes before they finally drove up to the edge of the football field. Danny was a little surprised that Vlad actually meant football. To be honest, he had been trying not to worry he would be spending the day in Vlad’s lab. The last thing he had expected was to actually play. 

Vlad parked the cart next to a big building that sat just on the edge of the field and beckoned Danny to follow him inside. 

Vlad didn’t just have a football field. He had a fully stocked locker room, too. With plenty of lockers, showers, benches, and gear to supply a full team. 

Danny explored a little bit, opening a locker and finding a full set of padding and apparel. He pulled at one of the shirts to look at it and barked out a laugh so loud and sudden that Vlad whirled to look at him. 

“Were you going to tell the Packers where you hid all their stuff?” Danny jabbed, laughing a little more. 

Vlad glared at him from under impatient eyelids. 

He opened up another locker and found the same setup. The padding even had the names of players on them. 

“Wait, is this actually their stuff? Oh my god, are you holding the Packers hostage?!” Danny exclaimed, sandwiching his cheek between his unconstrained palm in feigned alarm. 

“Go outside,” Vlad demanded, eyes narrowing on him severely. 

Danny rolled his eyes, but didn’t press it anymore, heading outside and waiting for Vlad on one of the benches. He removed his left arm from his sling and did a few of the exercises the doctor suggested while he waited, noting that, while it still hurt to move it, it did feel like it was getting better. He was a little surprised by that; he didn't really think Vlad would honor his word.

He wondered how long it would be before he didn’t have to wear the sling anymore. The doctor had said it would be about a month, but Vlad probably shortened that time thanks to… whatever it was he had done. Or rather, had undone. 

Or maybe he was just getting better naturally and didn't remember how long or short that was supposed to take.

Danny decided he'd rather give the credit to nature either way.

Vlad came out a short time later, but only brought a football and a handful of black material. He thought it might be a girdle. 

“You worried you’re going to throw out your back?” Danny asked him snarkily.

Vlad stopped in front him, handing over the material. “This is for you. It’s an immobilizer for your arm. You’re going to want to have that on if you don’t want to exacerbate your injury,” Vlad told him.

“I could just transform,” Danny suggested as he took the material and unfolded it.

Vlad shook his head. “No transforming. We have two options for games to play today, Daniel, and since you’re wanting to make some decisions, I shall leave the choice to you.” 

“Okay…” Danny replied warily, carefully maneuvering his arm into the immobilizer. The biggest strap wrapped around his chest, the other over his shoulder, and then a third strap locked his wrist in place at the chest, preventing much movement at all.

“We can play full contact or no contact. Which would you prefer?”

“Oh,” Danny said in surprise, having expected the options to be more heinous. 

Still, he considered each carefully. It didn't seem to make much of a difference other than that one option involved tackling, but he wasn't sure how Vlad planned to pull that off without hurting him on accident. It was possible that was Vlad's intent, but that didn't make a lot of sense to him. Danny reasoned Vlad getting permission to spend one on one time with Danny like this, alone, was ideal for him. He couldn't really see what the angle was in offering the option at all. 

Even so, the idea of getting to tackle or hit Vlad at all was enticing. 

Maybe too enticing...

“No contact,” Danny decided.

Vlad smiled and Danny tried to shake the unease that maybe he'd made the wrong decision. Vlad started towards the center of the field, beckoning over his shoulder, “Up, up!” 

Danny begrudgingly followed him to the center of the field. Once there, Vlad positioned him so that they were facing each other.

“The rules are very simple,” Vlad said, flipping the ball in his hands again. “You chose no contact, so if you don’t have the ball, all you have to do is steal it without touching me. If you can get it, I’ll lose ten yards and will have to try to steal it back. If I’m holding the ball and touch you while you’re trying to steal it, you lose ten yards, and vice versa. Whoever pushes the other past the goal line wins. Sound simple enough?”

“It doesn't sound like football,” Danny pointed out. 

“I never said we would be playing football,” Vlad countered with a wry grin.

Danny rolled his eyes. “Okay. What happens if one of us wins? We just win?” 

Vlad pursed his lips thoughtfully. “What would you like to win?”

“How about if I win, you let my dad go and disappear forever?” 

Vlad tsked at him, flipped the football expertly in his hand as he considered the question before offering, “I tell you what, Little Badger, if you win, I'll fly your friends out here to see you for your birthday.” 

He straightened, wide eyes searching Vlad's expression for deception or some kind of verbal loophole he'd missed in what the older hybrid had offered. "Seriously...?"

"Cross my heart," Vlad promised, placing his hand to his chest demonstratively.

Danny hesitated as he tried to think about all of the excitement and hope that went with that offer. Sure, Vlad would probably be monitoring them the whole time, but Vlad had already made a mistake with his mom. His plan wasn't completely foolproof. There could be an opening to get some info to Sam and Tucker. They could get his dad free of Vlad's influence if they knew it him. He wasn't sure how yet, but it was a start.

"Bare in mind, Daniel, that this is a one-time offer."

Danny looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that this is your only chance to see your friends again for the foreseeable future."

An angry tingling started up in the tips of Danny's fingers and up into his arms and chest and he clenched his teeth, resisting the urge to swing his fist into Vlad's pompous face. He wasn't even sure why it made him as angry as it did; he knew that was Vlad's end goal. It wasn't necessarily news to him, per say, but hearing it aloud felt like it had been brought into reality. It wasn't just some fuzzy, vague concept; it was a certainty.

He discreetly cleared his throat, fists clenched stiffly at his sides as he raised his gaze to Vlad again and said through a tight jaw, “And if you win?” 

“You'll be happy to know, Daniel, that you actually have a choice in this,” Vlad replied, indifferent or oblivious to the obvious rage he had set in Danny.

"You can either encourage your mother to go out with--"

“No,” Danny snapped. 

Vlad chuckled. “Not feeling so confident that your mother will refuse me, then, Little Badger?” 

“No, I just don’t think it's fair to subject her to that much time with you,” Danny replied. 

"Not even for a chance to see your friends?"

Danny swallowed, trying to remind himself that Vlad could never stop him from seeing his friends. He'd find a way.

"It's not worth it," Danny said.

Vlad shrugged and Danny hated how unconcerned the man seemed with Danny's refusals and resistance. "Hmm, then I doubt you'd like the second option. Tell you what, Little Badger, I'll leave it to you. What would you trade for the chance to see your friends?"

Danny bit his lip while he thought about it, mind blanking on any options he felt comfortable giving.

“I don’t know, Vlad. You’ve kind of got everything but my enthusiasm,” he admitted. 

Vlad smiled. “Then I’ll take your enthusiasm.”

Danny paused, shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he blinked quizzically at the older hybrid. “I don’t think I can give that. You already know I can't," he added. Neither of them needed to be reminded of Danny's last deal with him. 

“Mm, yes, I've been very disappointed in your behavior recently. However, you did manage at least a day of behaving before you relapsed," he said the word with a sneer, but it was a hint that almost passed Danny by unnoticed as he continued, "It seems perhaps it's not that you can't do it, it's that your stamina for it is low. So, with that in mind, all I'm asking of you is to give me a full twenty-four hours."

"You want my enthusiasm for twenty-four hours..." Danny asked skeptically.

Vlad nodded. "In that time, you will be respectful, polite, and make every effort to put your mother in a good mood. After the twenty-four hours, we can renegotiate. That doesn't sound so bad, does it?"

Eyes pinched with wariness, Danny worried his lip, debating with himself. Vlad's offer wasn't completely unbelievable, so Danny thought he probably would keep his word if he won, but that wasn't really the issue. He really didn't think he'd offer it at all if he wasn't sure he would win.

Danny eyed the forty-year old man. He wasn't exactly great at sports, but he could definitely run, and he was much younger than Vlad. Without their powers, Danny had a much better chance to actually win.

Vlad watched him, smiling patiently, occasionally spinning the ball absently in his hand.

“I’ve only got one problem,” Danny finally said, deciding to test Vlad's sincerity. He waved his immobilized arm as best he could. “I’m kind of at a disadvantage here.”

Vlad nodded in agreement, transferring the ball to his right hand and tucking his left behind his back. “Fair?”

Danny considered again cautiously. He didn't think Vlad would outright cheat, but he was still acting confident and assured, which was worrying on its own.

He shouldn't agree to anything. He knew that, but... 

"If I win, I want to use your theater, just me and my friends," Danny bargained. He figured if he was going to gamble, he should really make it worth his while and make sure he had a chance to talk with Sam and Tucker somewhere Vlad couldn't snoop on them, not at least without some significant risk.

“Agreed,” Vlad said with a smile, placing the ball down on the fifty yard line and backing away to the opposite forty yard line. “Game on.”

Vlad raised a finger and shot a small pink beam into the air to signal the start.

Danny rushed forward, counting on his youth to get him to the ball first. When he looked up to see where Vlad was, he was a little confused to see Vlad merely walking towards it. 

He must have known as well as Danny did that he couldn't outrun him, so he would probably wait right up until Danny was grabbing for it. He must have miscalculated how fast Danny was going to be though, at the rate Danny was running, he would be able to get to it, snatch it up, and back off before Vlad was within arms' reach.

He sprinted right up to it and reached, then watched his fingers phase right through it, sending the rest of him stumbling forward unsteadily. He staggered, managing not to face-plant on the grass. Once he was steady, he whipped around in outrage to complain just in time for Vlad to tap the ball against his chest.

“That’s ten yards,” Vlad said with a beaming grin. 

“What the hell was that?!” Danny demanded, swatting the ball and Vlad's arm away from him. 

“I said no transforming,” Vlad explained, smile growing even wider. “I never said you couldn’t use your powers.” 

"That's--!" Danny started, but stopped himself. There was no use in pointing out how unfair that was; Vlad already knew that and had obviously been counting on it.

Simmering with frustration, Danny huffed a breath and headed back to his side of the field.

He went to the thirty yard line and re-positioned, eyes narrowing with focus and determination. He knew the rules now, he just needed to match shenanigans with mischief.

Vlad signaled the start, but this time, Danny didn’t rush forward. With the ten yard difference, there was no way he would make it there first, so he was better off trying to steal it for this round. 

Vlad didn’t exactly rush forward either, but he did get there first, picking up the ball and then stopping altogether. He held the ball out towards Danny and gave him a taunting smirk. 

Danny suppressed his irritation as he closed the distance, watching Vlad closely. They had less than ten yards between them now, but he wasn’t confident that was going to be close enough for what he had planned. 

He slowly started stepping closer, trying to keep his face neutral as he focused and concentrated on his core. Most of the time, when he used his ghost powers in human form, it was an accident. He had practiced some with Sam and Tucker, but he hadn't been able to accomplish much. When he used his powers accidentally, it felt like his core was kind of bubbling over like boiling water. He didn't need boiling water. 

He just needed to focus. If Vlad could do it, he could, too. 

Vlad smiled calmly, waiting and watching as Danny got closer.  

He felt a cold sensation as he tried to will his powers forth, but it was only a mild chill, the same thing he always felt when he tried to get his powers to do what he wanted and he tried not to get frustrated when they once again didn't cooperate. 

Vlad could just stand there and turn the ground intangible; just casually calling on his powers whenever he felt like it, mocking him with how easy he made it seem.

The chill got colder and Danny suddenly felt it building. He stopped his wandering thoughts, tried to will the feeling into his hands. 

It went to his feet instead, intangibility spilling out from each step and pooling into the ground around him in a wobbly kind of circle. Already feeling it becoming unstable, he rushed suddenly forward trying to tack advantage of it before he lost what little control he had over the sensation.

Vlad’s legs fell through the ground as he approached and Danny lunged after him, fingers nearly brushing the ball, but not before he felt the intangibility start to effect him instead. Suddenly he was falling as well, but he noted with some confusion that Vlad still was as well, letting his whole body dive backwards through the ground and vanishing somewhere beneath.

Danny pitched forward, a foot slipping into the grass as the intangibility fully backfired on him. He didn't react fast enough and his foot became tangible in the dirt, snaring him in place and making him lurch. He had barely caught himself on his hand and other knee and was about to start yanking at his foot when he felt the ball press at his back, holding him in place.

“Don’t be baited, Little Badger. If I’m not moving, then I’ve already anticipated you,” Vlad said from behind him. 

Danny's head hung and he sighed in frustration, squeezed his eyes shut again to try to get intangibility back into his leg. His core warbled unsteadily, faintly aching like a bruise and he winced a little at the sensation, but it passed nearly as soon as he'd felt it, but it had been distracting enough to break his concentration.

Vlad quirked a brow at him tauntingly. "Need help, Little Badger?" 

"I don't want help from you," Danny bit, trying again to get his core to respond to him. Using his powers as Danny Phantom was hard enough, but in human form it felt like trying to catch bubbles in a butterfly net. He snarled in frustration as he finally got some powers to bubble over, but all it did was make him invisible.

Vlad chuckled, gripping Danny by the upper arm and phasing him up through the ground. "I could see you thinking, Daniel. You'll just tire yourself out that way." 

"I said I didn't want your help," Danny snapped, yanking his arm out of Vlad's grip. Danny felt no resistance from him, so he stomped off to the twenty yard line, pretending he had thought of the advice himself.

Once he’d reached his mark, he turned around and continued pretending that the distance wasn’t discouraging.  

Vlad set the ball down again and returned to his mark not far away. 

He winced to himself at the worsening odds. He wouldn't stand a chance if he couldn't use his powers reliably, but apparently he couldn't think about using his powers? How did that work? Was Vlad just messing with him? 

He fired into the air again. 

Danny rushed forward, wanting to close the distance as quickly as possible, in case his powers failed him again. 

Vlad retrieved the ball when Danny was about halfway towards him and once again flaunted the fact by holding it out as though offering it to him.

Danny ignored the taunt, his mind occupied with thinking about not thinking about his powers and the way his core ignored him when he wanted it. Or, he supposed, when he was thinking about it. He tried to recall a time when it came easy, but the only times he could think of were when Sam or Tucker were in trouble. Those times, he just kind of did it.

His mind was still on Sam and Tucker when he got close to Vlad and, to both of their surprise, white rings flashed at his abdomen and then vanished nearly at the same time in an even brighter streak of white.

It surprised and briefly blinded both of them and Danny felt a little pang of panic that he had been about to transform. Vlad would definitely hold that against him and he unintentionally slowed his approach as he paused to make sure the transformation hadn't happened.

Vlad didn't waste the opening, sidestepping Danny deftly to avoid him. 

Sure that it had just been a flash, Danny tried to recover and follow him, but fell forward instead when he was suddenly pushed from behind. The shock of it had him stumbling again, but before he could catch himself, something else had caught him as he tapped his own chest against the outstretched ball.

Danny's eyes shot up at Vlad with shocked disbelief. He spun around, mouth agape at the original Vlad standing behind him, then turned back to the clone Vlad and pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“There is no way you did that without transforming!”

The duplicate looked down his nose at him and sneered. “You could do this, too, if you let me train you.” 

Danny’s arm dropped. “Are you kidding me? Is that what this was about? To wow me into letting you teach me?”

“Partly,” the copy admitted, evaporating into a mist of pink and reabsorbing into the original. “I can’t train you if you won’t participate, so I thought a demonstration might help coax you. But even if you refuse, I’ll still get a better attitude out of you.” 

“That’s assuming you win,” Danny reminded.

“Yes, you’re right. You still have ten yards. I’ll get a better attitude from you in…” he looked at his watch. “Oh, call it five minutes?”    

Danny tried not to let the jab or the walk get to him as he went out to the ten yard line. He turned around and evaluated the distance between them. He wasn’t the most athletic in his human form and the back and forth was starting to wear him down.

He needed his powers to do what he needed them to do.

At Vlad’s signal, Danny got out of his ready stance and decided to walk to the fifty yard line. 

Vlad chuckled as he watched him, picking up the ball and tossing it a few times. 

“Feeling tired already?” he asked, having to raise his voice to account for the distance between them. 

Danny blew off the comment, watching the man flip the ball in his hands, thinking about the advice. His powers had reacted better when he was thinking about Sam and Tucker, but most of the time it was an instinctive thing. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to make himself react on instinct. 

Vlad remained where he stood, watching him smugly. 

Danny focused on Sam and Tucker, bringing to mind times they had been in trouble and his powers had lucked out for him. His core got colder, burying that faint bruised feeling as icy tendrils worked their way up his arms. Danny kept thinking about his friends as he picked up speed, reaching out for the ball without really thinking about how he'd get it. To his surprise and relief, an ectoblast had formed in his hand and he urgently fired it off before he could lose it.

Vlad’s grin widened as he twisted slightly to skirt the shot.

Danny felt the cold build at the back of his eyes. It was a sensation he hadn't felt very often and usually only when he was angry, and right now he was pretty ticked off. He felt it build and then burst in a flash right as his focus landed on the football in Vlad's arm. 

Vlad looked stunned when it flew out of his hand. 

Danny’s green eyes returned to their usual color as he looked at Vlad, a swell of satisfaction at the surprised expression on the older hybrid's face. The cold stayed with him, spilling into his arms and Danny fired another blast out of his palm into the billionaire’s chest. It wasn't as big or powerful as Danny would have hoped, but it did make Vlad stumble backwards. Danny was happy with anything he could get.

Danny rushed past him and snatched up the ball from where it had tumbled away, cradling it to his chest for a moment just to make sure it didn't phase away from him before he raised in victoriously. "Ha!" He turned to Vlad with his own smirk and pointed it at him. “That’s ten yards, Fruitloop!” 

To his disappointment, Vlad brushed at his shirt--which had a small, but satisfying little hole in it--and clapped approvingly. 

“That was a very clever deception, Daniel,” the man commended, smugness returning in all its vanity.

“Glad you liked it,” Danny grumbled in annoyance, tucking the football under his arm. 

“Seems like the practice was valuable to you,” Vlad commented.

“It helped knowing the rules,” Danny retorted. 

“You knew the rules,” Vlad pointed out. "You just needed to expand your mind a little." 

Danny rolled his eyes and brushed past him, placing the football down on the fifty yard line. He then took his place at the end of the field and Vlad took his spot on the thirty. 

He frowned at the distance. He really needed to get there first this time and force Vlad to the offensive, but with the twenty yard difference, he really doubted it. 

If he lost this one, he didn't know when he'd get a chance to see Sam and Tucker. He had his backup plan and he was feeling confident about it, but this could be a sure thing. He just needed to get there first. He had to get there first. 

Vlad raised his hand and fired another pink blast into the air. 

Danny felt a jolt of desperation and he started running forward without a plan; just that he needed to get there first. He was sprinting, despite how exhausted he already was, his focus solely on his friends, on keeping Vlad from getting another thing he wanted.

Then he felt it; his feet, ever so steadily, rising off the grass. 

Eyes going wide, he looked down as his toes started brushing the ground, making him bounce and bound with semi-weightlessness, until one finally step had him surging forward much faster and he finally wasn't touching the ground at all.

His hand spun wildly in the air as he tried to balance himself amidst the sudden burst in speed, but…

He was flying! In human form!

Vlad paused, brows raised in surprise as Danny flew right up to the ball and clumsily scooped it up, juggling it clumsily several times as his momentum carried him right past the older hybrid. 

Danny whooped in triumph when he cradled the ball to his chest, but now he had a new problem. How did he stop? In ghost form it was easy, but he had gained some finesse in that form. As a human, it felt more like he was a passenger, being carried off by a gust of wind.

He just needed to ease out of it. Just like Phantom did. Just decrease the energy slowly and smoothly. 

He leaned left to keep from flying out of the field, but the alteration in his trajectory destabilized him and his flight suddenly got very bumpy, making little lurching drops as the ability started to fail him. 

Crap.

He focused on smoothing out the decline, but the harder he concentrated, the more the energy either kept bursting out in little waves that propelled him forward sharply. Eventually, his movement altogether stopped and he dropped like a sack of potatoes to the ground beneath him.

He skidded on his shoulder and of course it had to be the bad shoulder. He tilted to land on his back, sliding a little ways, a small part of him feeling a little petty satisfaction that he was probably damaging the grass. He left behind a little trail of dirt and grass that crumpled up in front of him and eventually cushioned his eventual stop.

His back and arms aching, the ball still cradled firmly against his chest, he carefully righted himself and looked around to see where he had ended up. He was still on the field, but…

He was alone on the field. 

Eyes widening in alarm, he scanned the area, but Vlad was nowhere to be seen.

That meant he could be coming from anywhere. 

It turned out “anywhere” was right in front of him. 

Vlad appeared in a flash of pink, hand striking out to grab the ball. It started Danny so badly that he jolted back, tripping over himself and falling back to the ground with a little oof as his hands fumbled and lost the ball. Vlad vanished snatched it and vanished again, reappearing just as quickly behind the boy and tapping him on the top of the head with the football.

“Game over,” the hybrid said. 

Danny’s shoulders slumped and he heaved a breath as both exhaustion and the sudden fright settled heavily into his bones. 

Vlad walked around in front of Danny and extended a hand to help him back up. 

Danny looked at it and then tossed himself backward to lay in the grass, letting the football roll away, panting heavily.

Vlad chuckled. “That was something. Was that your first time flying in human form?” 

“Yes, it was. Now do you mind?” Danny said exhaustedly, closing his eyes in an attempt to block him out of his senses. “I’m trying to be a sore loser over here.”

“I'm impressed,” Vlad continued, ignoring him entirely. “And that was only after forty minutes of playing a little game. Imagine what you could learn with an hour of proper practice.”

Danny sighed sharply and picked himself off the ground, swiping at the dirt and grass on his clothes. The grass stains stubbornly remained. “I’m not going to train with you.” 

Vlad’s smile was patient and he simply shrugged. “We’ll revisit the discussion another time, then. Now!” he said, clapping his hands together. “How about an early lunch?”

Danny scowled at him.

Vlad tutted. "Ah, ah, ah, remember our bargain, Daniel. Don't test me this time. You will regret it."

Danny slumped, the exhaustion seeping deeper, but he tried not to dwell too hard on the loss. He had the backup plan, he reminded himself, but more importantly... he just flew as a human. 

Maybe some serious practice wasn't a bad idea.

Chapter Text

Maddie was fuming. She knew it was irrational, maybe silly to have gotten so upset, but she couldn't shake it.

She’d had a few calls with their lawyer already, and while he did seem very knowledgeable, she'd quickly developed a dislike for him. Vlad had insisted that he would cover their legal counsel, hiring his own personal lawyer who was apparently one of the best in the country. He was as competent navigating the legal red tape as he was callous in his interactions with her. This particular time, he pivoted the conversation away from the criminal element of their suit into the civil, pressing upon her that she could easily pursue avenues to sue for damages.  

Damages. As if Danny were shattered glassware caught in the middle of a dispute. As if there was any amount of money in the world that could repay the destruction Jack had inflicted on their family. 

He had begun to ramble about how much money she would win from the suit, how it was a slam-dunk, but it was him saying how easy Jack had made it for them to win that was the final straw that made her hang up on him. 

Body buzzing with rage, she checked her watch, relieved that the call hadn't taken up too much of her time. She decided to spend a few minutes burning off some angry energy before her next task, needing to get her mind sharp and focused again.

The room at the end of the hall from hers was a mostly unused space, the center of it cleared and empty and the walls lined with antique furniture covered in plastic to keep them safe from dust. Large windows lined the wall facing outward, letting in plenty of natural light through the thin white curtains attempting to shield the space from the outside world. It was calm, serene, and she'd found it a perfect spot to do some practicing. 

She tried to meditate first, as that was how she normally liked to start her exercises, but found she was too wound up to focus, so she skipped it, instead getting straight to work in practicing her martial arts forms, letting her rage seep into each punch and kick.

She only gave herself fifteen minutes, but already felt the relief of venting her anger, and even if she hadn't been feeling better, she didn't have any more time to spare. Vlad had told her they would be gone for about two hours and she didn't want to run the risk of Danny walking in on her. 

She retrieved her handheld scanner from her room, once again double-checking the settings to make sure it still had a lock on Phantom’s signature. She then checked her laptop for any more pings, but found none, glanced at her notes again, triple-checked the scanner, and thought perhaps she'd forgotten something she needed.

It took her a moment to realize she was procrastinating.

She shook her head, reminding herself that this was necessary. Phantom hadn't shown any aggression outright, but it didn't change the fact that there was Danny's safety to consider if Phantom was indeed haunting something of his.

The reminder strengthened her resolve, allowing her to determinedly cross the hall to Danny’s room, hesitating only once more as her hand gripped the handle. She pressed on, letting the betrayal pass over her as she entered.

It had been over a week at this point since they had moved in, so it was very concerning to find that most of Danny’s belongings were still packed in suitcases, and what wasn't was scattered over the floor or pushed under the bed in piles. Other than that and the computer he had set up on the desk, none of his personal items had been pulled out at all.

It worried her. He spent so much time in this room, isolating himself, rejecting any efforts to coax him out, and apparently hadn't even been talking with his friends so... what was he doing?

She checked the computer, finding with some dismay a thin coating of dust covering the keyboard. Beside it sat his phone, plugged into the wall to charge, big white letters announcing that it had reached one hundred percent.

Curiosity and concern coalesced as she stared at the screen. It didn't look broken, but maybe something was wrong with the battery?

She thought to turn it on, check to see what was wrong with it so they could maybe fix it instead, but found her hand only hovered over it, the worry warping into guilt again as she considered violating yet another layer of her son's privacy.

Guilt won out and she turned away from the electronics, settling down on the floor next to the piles of clothes and mostly untouched suitcases beneath his bed.

She pulled out the scanner, deciding to start with items she didn't have to move first. She was quite surprised that there was an ectosignature reaction just from scanning the room, although the majority of her scans were barely over five percent. Some locations had higher spikes, but nothing that would indicate anything other than Phantom passing through the walls or floors, which alarmed her some, as none of her other scanners besides the one in the theater had indicated ghostly activity.

The clothes on the floor and much of the furniture also had a mild reaction, further confirming that Phantom had either spent a good deal of time here, or he had been here extremely recently.

She started scanning other easily accessible things in the room. The computer had a very low trace, but the phone spiked significantly, which she thought was strange. Everything else; the bed, the desk, the chair, even the closet door, showed some indications of the specter, but nothing strong enough to indicate a full-blown haunt.

Typically, haunted items were in the sixty to eighty percent range, as a ghost's energy became concentrated both through creating a link to the object and to spending a significant amount of time around it, but everything here was closer to the ten to fifteen percent range, only echoes.

The phone, however, was a little higher, nearly forty percent, and she wondered if Phantom had something to do with it breaking.

Still, none of the readings she had gotten were strong enough to indicate Phantom's haunting of them. 

She frowned, feeling hesitant again. Whatever it was Phantom was haunting, it wasn't something she could easily access, and she was left with no choice but to start looking through Danny's bags. She didn't want to disturb more of his privacy than she absolutely had to, but she was worried enough to press on despite her own reservations. She knelt down and pulled out one of the suitcases from under his bed, starting with the unopened one. As she suspected, and judging by the neat way everything was folded inside, it hadn't been touched since it was packed.

She felt some semblance of relief as, although some traces were present, they were so minute as to be nearly zero, and one by one she cleared the items inside the suitcase of having any significant traces of Phantom's signature on them.

As she settled into a rhythm of scanning and returning items, she couldn't stop her mind from festering, worry tainting her thoughts despite the clinically methodical way she rifled through her son's things.

It had to be Danny. Of all people.

Her stomach twisted and knotted with shame, but she merely grimaced through it and kept scanning. She wasn’t about to fail him again. Not again. The least she could do was keep a ghost from... from... well, she wasn't sure what, per say, but it had to be some kind of hazard for the specter to be in such close proximity to her son. She could at least remove the object and give Danny some real privacy.

She put away the first suitcase and pulled out the second one, which was already open and had clearly been rifled through. This time, she got much stronger pings and as items reached into the forty and fifty percent range, she set them aside.

The items giving her the highest indications were... strange. And random. She couldn't see what, if any connection for why Phantom's signature was more strongly connected to them; just that they were things in Danny's room. It did beg the question though... Did Danny know something in his room was being haunted?

She at first assured herself he would have told her if he'd seen anything odd, but the thought fell flat nearly as soon as she'd thought it.

No. He wouldn't. And not just because he'd become distant since they got here. Danny hadn't liked talking about the paranormal in at least a year. Plus, Phantom was well liked by most of the kids in Amity Park. Even Jazz had implied she liked him.

She glanced at her little pile of items that had significant traces of Phantom's signature, an odd collection if looked at objectively, but her worried mind moved her away from the scientific, and she looked at the pile of her son's things--Danny's things--subjectively. 

"I like to help." 

Phantom had said it with such sincerity and a kind of somberness she would never have expected to hear from a ghost, and now, looking at the items, items Danny would certainly be finding comfort in right now, a theory started formulating in her mind. 

She felt silly even for thinking it, but...

She wondered if it was possible Phantom was trying to help. Or make up for a mistake.

The timing couldn't be discounted. For Phantom to show up so shortly after Jack had become so... hostile to Danny, was an odd coincidence. The two developments couldn't just be chance. They had to be related somehow.

She wondered if it was possible Jack had thought Danny was possessed, but tossed the idea quickly; Jack would have ruled out that possibility first, or done more to try to catch Phantom--behavior she would have noticed. He'd been less than discreet when he'd expected Jazz of being one. And anyway, ghosts couldn't possess people for that long. Possession was too demanding on a ghost's energy and they became unstable after a few weeks. Even Phantom couldn't tolerate that kind of prolonged energy drain.

No, if the two were related to what happened, it was something Danny had been doing or Jack thought Danny had been doing; something that Jack had become increasingly frustrated with, enough to see Danny as an enemy and hurt him. 

Maybe Jack thought Danny was hiding Phantom from him.

Maybe he was.

The thought jarred her and her instinct was to say it was impossible...

But she was starting to get used to being confronted by impossibles.

She knew many of the town's teens had claimed Phantom had rescued or helped them. Most of the them regarded him as a hero and wouldn't offer her or Jack information about him when they asked. It wouldn't be surprising for Danny to feel the same way, and, given her and Jack's opinions about ghosts, it would be equally unsurprising for him to conceal that from them.

It might also explain why Phantom was unwilling to tell her what he was doing there. If he had created the situation, either intentionally or accidentally, he certainly wouldn't want to admit it.

Considering the timing of Phantom's appearance, the items his signature was most prevalent on, his "checking on her" in the theater, his concern about what was bothering her and asking her questions he already knew the answers to, she couldn't shake the thought that Phantom being there was personal. 

She wanted to ask Danny, but if that was the reason--or something like it was--he either wasn't aware of it or wasn't going to tell her. With everything that happened, it felt more likely Danny didn't actually know; he wouldn't let things get that far--wouldn't have kept letting Jack hurt him--for a ghost.

She shook her head, actively forced herself to purge the thoughts from her mind. They were barely theories. She didn't have enough evidence to be speculating like that; she didn't even have whatever Phantom was supposed to be haunting yet. Whatever the case was, her best bet at getting the truth was asking Phantom. Truce or no truce.

She collected herself as best she could; tried not to let theories she didn't yet have enough evidence for run away from her as she finished scanning everything in the bag and making one more round to scan everything else in the room. By the end of it, she had collected a small pile of items; some of which Danny wouldn't notice were missing and some that he might. Things like the phone she knew she couldn't remove without him knowing. No matter the item, there would be no way to conceal that she'd gone through his room, but she thought she might could at least justify it.

As she gathered up the "dirty" laundry off the floor and stepped out into the hall, she was met with the sounds of people moving about the entryway. She wondered if she should try to slip by unnoticed, but decided against it. She would rather address the missing clothes and items now when she had some control over the response, rather than later when confusion could prompt Danny to look harder at what all was missing. As for the phone, she'd have to get that later. There was no way to remove that without his knowledge.

So she peered over the banister as Vlad and Danny stepped inside and greeted them warmly. It looked like Vlad must have changed shirts, as the one he wore was different than what he'd left in, but more worrying was that Danny’s clothes were scuffed up and had a good deal of grass stains. She scanned him for any injuries, but he seemed fine otherwise; just messy. His arm was even in a brace and there was nothing in his face suggesting he was in any kind of pain.

"How was it?" she asked. "Did you have a good time?"

She saw Danny's eyes land on the pile of clothes in her arms, narrow his eyes, then widen them confusedly when he recognized them as his. "Y-yeah, yeah, it was great. What, um... what's that?" he asked her, pointing awkwardly.

She was surprised his response wasn't more vitriolic, especially given how he'd acted the night before. She felt a little gratitude towards Vlad that his recommendation to give Danny space seemed to have worked.

"I had some laundry to do and thought you might need a load done, too," she answered simply, then hefted the pile pointedly. "Looks like I was right. If you want to change, I can add those in as well."

He looked down at himself like he'd forgotten, then back at her, looking sort of stuck in confusion and surprise. "Thanks..." he said eventually, glancing upwards towards his room.

"Maddie, I can have that laundry done for you," Vlad told her helpfully. "You really needn't trouble yourself."

Maddie shrugged a shoulder and shook her head dismissively. "Don't be silly. I wanted to. Keeps me busy," she said. "I could use directions to the laundry room, though." 

"Certainly," he said, gesturing for her to come downstairs. "Afterwards, how about some lunch?"

"That sounds great," she said.

"Daniel, why don't you change and then wait for us in the dining room?"

Danny glanced between them, and for just a second, Maddie thought he looked... off. He seemed relaxed enough, shrugging in a good-natured way as he left them to wait in the dining room, but she thought for that brief moment he'd looked like he was trying not to vomit; a tense, strained look appearing and vanishing almost in the same moment. 

She watched him walk away, wondering if she'd imagined it. After all, she was worried and on alert, both from having expected Danny's reaction to her going through his things to have been worse, and because of the still-swirling thoughts involving Phantom, but she considered the possibility that the expression (if it had even truly been there) had more to do with him getting some exercise and sunlight for the first time in over a week. 

At Vlad extending his arm out to direct her to follow him, she decided to put it out of her mind for now. She could check up on it during lunch; just to make sure he was alright. She followed Vlad past the study and the kitchen towards the back of the mansion, and as they walked, Vlad asked her, "How was the call?"

She stifled a sneer, replying, "Mostly unhelpful. A lot of it was retreading old ground."

"There tends to be a lot of that in these kinds of things," he admitted sympathetically as he opened the door to the laundry room for her to enter. "Any news on Jack?"

She shook her head as she got to work getting a load started. "No, just the same tactics from his lawyer. Sounds like they're still trying to go with the insanity defense, but I don't think there's been any updates from the evaluations he's been getting from the psychologists."

"Mm," Vlad remarked. "Nothing to do but wait, I suppose."

She shrugged, feeling prickly at the conversation, so she took a breath and changed topics. "How was Danny today?"

Even Vlad seemed to brighten at the change in topic, smiling as he told her with, she noted, some pride, "He impressed me. His stamina is better than I expected, and he got quite creative to overcome the broken arm."

She turned to him, asked hesitantly, "And... he had fun?"

His smile grew wider, pleased as he reported, "A wonderful time. He applied himself more than I've seen him do. It was exactly what he needed. With your permission, I'd like to take him a few days a week."

She finished off the laundry and turned to him, letting a relieved smile make it past her other concerns. "That would be great, Vlad. I think that would be really good for him."

Vlad looked delighted and she tried to let the energy brush off onto her, but she was too distracted, focus somewhat split thinking about Phantom and thinking about Danny.

At least until they got to the dining room. Lunch consisted of an amusingly extravagant dish, seared salmon with a citrus flavor, and roasted vegetables. She was craving something more comforting, but she ate it without complaint, more interested in Vlad's retelling of Danny's eventful day.

It was mostly exercises, from the sound of it; nothing that might risk further injury to Danny's arm, as Vlad had promised, but plenty of drills and apparently Danny had done a great job of understanding and even coming up with his own plays. As she listened, she watched her son, looking for any other signs of that distressed look he had given her earlier. While he was maybe quiet, she didn't see any other worrisome expressions from him. His appetite was good, he seemed engaged in the conversation, and even smiled and and replied when Vlad looped him into the conversation.

"The coach was impressed and fully believes, if he commits to it, he could compete at the collegiate level," Vlad praised, and she was once again taken aback by the pride in Vlad's voice and eyes. It surprised her, especially with how Danny had been acting towards him this whole time, but things started making sense to her. No wonder Danny wanted to come here. Vlad looked and talked about him the way Jack should have been.

Maddie set aside her anxieties for the time being, allowing her own pride to swell, and she looked to Danny to express it, "Oh, honey, that's amazing!"

Danny, also to her surprise, smiled modestly as he replied, "I could have done better, but, you know, hard to do when I'm not at one hundred percent."

Vlad shook his head and remarked, "I suspect your limitations were a major factor in what made your performance so impressive. In fact, the coach expressed to me that it was your ability to adapt that stood out to him. That and your eventual willingness to accept guidance. It's amazing what a little pressure can do; it can be the catalyst to positive change, when you let it."

Danny chuckled wryly and joked, "Oh come on, all that was only impressive because I can't move an arm. Since I can't really play football right now, I am thinking outside the box--" he said this in a sort of pointed way, but he moved on faster than she could analyze it-- "But my arm will get better and then..." He shrugged, then smirked. "I can go all out."

Vlad chuckled. "I take it you're going to commit to training, then?"

Maddie saw Danny look at her and she could tell he was asking her for permission, but, despite how positively the afternoon had seemed to go, she wasn't sure in which direction he was asking.

When she didn't answer, Danny returned his attention to Vlad and said, "Ten o'clock, right?"

Vlad went over the details of the practice meets, which would actually be later in the day at one o'clock on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, looking excited at the prospect of getting to take Danny and offer advice from his own experience playing the sport back in college.

Maddie watched and the more they interacted, the more her anxiety ebbed. She didn't see any more strange behaviors or reactions out of Danny for the remainder of lunch; he was relaxed and in a better mood than she'd seen in what felt like a very long time. There was also something grounding about being in Vlad's presence. He maintained an atmosphere of calm; steadfast and sturdy in a way that, right now, she more than welcomed.

Once they were finished with lunch, Vlad leaned back in his chair and announced, "I think some relaxation is in order. Daniel, would you mind if I borrowed your mother for a while?"

Danny looked at him for a beat before asking, "What for?"

Maddie also looked at her friend, tilting her head at him inquisitively.

Vlad addressed Maddie as he said, "I knew today might be trying for you, so I've arranged for a masseuse to come by this afternoon for two hours. You and I can spend some time relaxing."

Maddie's brows rose and she laughed awkwardly. "Vlad, I--I can't accept a gift like that..." she protested, and while that was true, it was really for more than that. She was both stunned, flattered, and mortified by the offer. For one thing, she wasn't really up to relaxing right now, but the gift was also far too intimate for her comfort.

"Why not? I'm happy to offer it, you deserve it, and more importantly, you need it." Vlad encouraged, then looked to her son and said, "Don't you agree, Daniel?"

Maddie looked at Danny and saw him stiffen noticeably, no mistaking it this time, but she couldn't tell what it meant. It felt like Vlad was trying to get Danny to admit something. She wondered if it had anything to do with last night; if whatever Danny and Vlad had talked about was being brought forward now. Had Danny wanted to apologize in some way, and this offer was the reluctant result of that? Was the massage Danny's idea? Maybe the idea had been floated but not fully committed to until now. She didn't want to turn down an olive branch, if that's what this was, even if the idea of getting a massage with her college friend felt a little too... close.

Danny cleared his throat tightly, rigid as he looked between them, before finally turning towards her and managing, "I... think..." He cleared his throat again. "Mom, you should get to... to relax..." He paused again, looked at Vlad, then licked his lips and turned back to her, a kind of resigned slump drooping him as he admitted, "I guess I was just kind of hoping I could... I don't want to mess up your plans or anything--I think you should get the massage, you deserve it--it's just I... I had..." he looked up sheepishly. "I had a lot of fun and I thought I'd get to spend more time with Vlad today."

Maddie looked at him, then at Vlad, who looked just as surprised as she was.

Vlad responded first, smiling patiently as he leaned forward. "I'm very pleased to hear that, Daniel, and I do promise you and I will spend more time together. In fact, I'll find some spare time this evening and you and I will do another activity. Just the two of us," he assured, but Maddie noted Danny still looked a little disappointed.

"It's alright, Vlad," Maddie interrupted. "To be honest, I don't know if I'm comfortable taking you up on a massage. I don't want to sound ungrateful, it's a very thoughtful gift, but it feels a little too personal."

Vlad looked at her, frowning in a worried sort of way. He leaned back in his chair and considered for a moment, then it seemed to dawn on him what she was unwilling to say, and he shook his head at himself, smiling through a wince. "I apologize, Maddie, I meant that we would be receiving massages separately, in our own rooms. I didn't mean to make that sound so forward."

"Oh," she replied with an awkward laugh, feeling mostly relieved. She wasn't quite sure what the rest of it was that she was feeling. "Oh, it's alright, Vlad. I didn't take it as anything other than a misunderstanding."

In the interest of keeping peace, she glanced Danny's way, to see if she had managed to avoid potentially hurting any feelings, but to her dismay, he was looking down into his lap, expression almost neutral--maybe a little distressed--but she couldn't tell if that had been because of her, some internalized embarrassment, or just the general awkwardness of the situation.

Vlad nodded empathically. "Good. Well, with that cleared up, I still insist you accept the massage and relax," he said decidedly. "Then Daniel, you and I will spend some more time together this afternoon. I believe that meets everyone's needs, hm?" 

Maddie still wasn't terribly comfortable with the idea of a massage at all, but she knew all she'd do with the rest of her day was obsess and stress over events that she couldn't resolve until much later this evening, so maybe she should take a page from her own book and do something she didn't want to do, but would be good for her in the long run.

As they all started getting up to disperse to their respective activities, Vlad pulled her aside to privately repeat, "I have to apologize again for the confusion, but it occurs to me that I may need to apologize for the gift itself. Gifting massages is something I do regularly for my guests, colleagues and associates. I admit it didn't occur to me that gifting something like that to you might be just as forward as implying we'd be doing the activity together."

A little swell of guilt of her own rose to the surface at the gentle earnestness in his face and she shook her head reassuringly. "Vlad, you have been nothing but respectful and kind and patient," she said, leaning in close to speak in a hushed tone while Danny cleared his plate from the table. She could feel him watching them for as long as he seemed able to linger, but he eventually ran out of plates and dishware to gather and had no choice but to take them out of the room. 

"You don't have to apologize," she told him, noticing that despite their sudden solitude, neither of them moved away from each other, continuing to speak softly. "And I should have brought it up with you in private. I hope I didn't embarrass you."

"Not at all. I rely on your candor and I admire it," he said and she watched his lips twerk up softly. "I always have."

She felt heat rush into her cheeks and she carefully stepped back, a little dismayed at the newly acquired space despite herself. To distract from the feeling, she tilted her head at him inquisitively. "Was that your idea?"

He stared for a moment before giving it away with a playfully sly smile. "The specifics were left to me, but the sentiment was Daniel's contribution. I did tell you he would be feeling regretful today."

"Well, that was very sweet of both of you, then. And I should thank you for spending more time with him today. I'm-..." She stopped as an overwhelming swell of emotions rushed through her, confused and coalescing with the worries from before, and she started to be even more assured that the massage had probably been a good idea; a chance she could take advantage of to sort through the flurry of emotions that she'd been getting pin-balled by. "I'm so relieved he had so much fun. He looks like he feels better."

"A little exercise never hurts," Vlad said with a light laugh.

The feelings ebbed enough for her to focus and separate them, and she realized that his casual reply couldn't be left as it was. A soft seriousness settled over her as she shook her head. "I think it's more than that, Vlad."

This time, when she looked at him, recalling the look of pride as he recounted Danny's game, she embraced their closeness and gripped his forearm lightly. "There's only so much I can do for Danny right now... I'm grateful he has you. That we all have you."

He stared into her eyes, gracious as always as he accepted her severe sincerity, placing his free hand over hers and gently pressing, a comforting acknowledgement. "Always, my dear."

Their gazes remained locked for only a moment or two, but the intensity of it had her chest tightening and heat rushing into her cheeks and ears, and she quickly broke the contact, rubbing his arm appreciatively as she resumed some distance. She didn't, however, want to let any discomfort linger between them, so she quickly commented, "I was thinking about Danny's birthday this weekend."

His expression looked soft, but he didn't chase, instead quirking a brow. "Oh?"

"I had an idea, but I wanted to run it by you first."

Vlad smiled widely. “You have my undivided attention.”

Chapter Text

Danny was fuming by the time he left the dining room, all of the tempered frustration and disgust finally released in a sharp, elongated grunt as he stepped into the semi-privacy of his room, arms out in front of him like he wanted to either punch something or rip his hair out. But more than frustration, he felt stupid to think that Vlad wouldn't leverage their deal like that. After all of the negotiating, the careful way Danny had chosen his words to prevent exactly this, Vlad had found a way to get Danny to push his mom closer to him anyway.

And now he'd have to spend more time with him this afternoon. He couldn't imagine what Vlad wanted to do with that "quality time", but as he considered his brief window of freedom, his eyes suddenly shot toward his phone, still sitting on his desk charging. 

He frowned to himself. He couldn't check it right now; not with Vlad's "company" looming over him. So instead, he unplugged the phone and put everything away. He didn't need to hide it, necessarily. Vlad assumed his phone was useless and never confiscated it from him. 

That done, he debated how he wanted Vlad to find him. He could be petty and read his fiction novel instead of doing the homework Vlad wanted him to do...

His eyes flicked over to his closet and he felt his abdomen twist with the phantom stabbing of metal prongs.

No. It wouldn't do him any good to get locked up for hours again. He needed to have the evening free to look at that password and sneak into Vlad's office, but would it be too suspicious if he wasn't rebelling in some way? Vlad royally screwed him over with his "deal", and under normal circumstances, Danny would want to do something petty...

What's Vlad expecting him to do? 

Sighing heavily to himself, he plopped down into his computer desk chair, transformed into his ghost half, and waited. 

Once again, there was no knock, no announcement that he was coming in. Danny didn't even hear him walking up the hall. Vlad just helped himself into the room.

Danny waited a half second, making sure his mom wasn't trailing behind the older hybrid for any reason, before firing a small ectoblast at him. 

To his surprise, Vlad didn't see it coming, eyes widening and jolting back in surprise, but not fully out of the way. More to Danny's surprise, the shot got him right in the bolo tie. 

It wasn't a massive blast. Danny didn't want to draw his mom's attention; he just wanted to piss the Fruitloop off, and if the wide-eyed look of utter bafflement on Vlad's face was any indication, he'd succeeded.

"Daniel, what in the blazes--"

Danny fired off another small blast, this time getting him in the shoulder and knocking him back a step into the bedroom door. 

"What? I thought you wanted to bond, Vlad? How about a little catch!"

He fired again, but naturally, Vlad was prepared this time, snatching the ectoblast out of the air in his palm and either dissolving it or absorbing it, Danny wasn't really sure how he was doing it. Either way, Vlad glowered at him as he assessed the damage to his bolo tie (which was about half of what it used to be) before rolling back his shoulders.

Danny tensed, for a second wondering if he'd baited Vlad into all-out fighting him, but instead, Vlad released a terse breath through his nose before smiling stiffly. 

"A bit risky to be throwing your powers around with your mother present, don't you think?"

"Didn't stop you," Danny countered flatly, transforming back into his human half and sulking into his seat. There wasn't really a point in continuing his petty assault. He didn't want to risk truly ticking off the other hybrid for one thing, but more importantly, he was fairly confident he'd achieved his real goal--meeting Vlad's expectations. 

Vlad tilted his head curiously. "Whatever do you mean?"

"In the theater. That's how you knew what my text was, right? You don't get to lecture me when you're using your powers right over mom's shoulder."

Vlad stared at him for a beat before the smile turned genuinely amused. "I'm quite capable of subtlety. You, on the hand... you have a lot to learn."

Danny scoffed a laugh, swiveling in his desk chair idly. "If you think I'm gonna keep training with you after you went back on our deal today, you've got--"

"I did no such thing," Vlad cut in smugly. 

"Yes, you did," Danny retorted hotly. "I told you I wouldn't bet on getting mom to spend any time with you and--"

"Did I make you encourage her to join me for the massage? Hm? Did I force you to demand she spend that time with me?"

Danny glared at him, jaw working with frustration, but technically, Vlad was right. He hadn't lied. That's how Vlad worked. And anyway, there was no point arguing with him. So instead, he heaved out a scoff and threw his arms up in exasperation, swiveling away from him to glare at the floor. 

Vlad chuckled. "Believe me, Daniel, if you'd agreed to those terms, you and I wouldn't be having this argument right now." 

Danny rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter, Vlad. I'm not going to train with you. I'm not agreeing to anything anymore."

"That wouldn't be very wise," Vlad replied, gliding fully into the room and surveying it with a calm scrutiny.

Danny watched him from under his brow, tensing slightly with nervousness, but it confirmed a suspicion he had from the start and he decided to test the theory.

"If you're looking for something, why don't you check your cameras?"

Vlad stopped and quirked brow. "Hm?"

Danny circled a finger at the air. "Or your ghost cronies or whatever you're using to keep tabs on me."

Vlad stared at him for a second, sharp eyes evaluating him before smiling again. "Keep tabs on you? And why would I need to do that? The worst you can do is refuse to do your homework, and I think we both know you've learned your lesson on that front."

Danny snorted, sitting up straighter in his seat and pointing out, "I can also ruin all of your bolos."

Vlad glanced down at the ruined accessory, then broke a small amused smile. "I suppose so. And I really ought to punish you for breaking our deal with your little outburst."

Danny stared at him, ignoring the threat entirely and instead accusing steadily. "It's mom, isn't it."

Vlad met his gaze, unresponsive to the accusation, but Danny pressed on anyway.

"If she weren't here, you'd have surveillance on me. You'd probably be doing a lot differently if she weren't here," Danny continued, then leaned back lazily in his seat and smirked. "Not so easy having a ghost hunter living in the same house as you, huh?"

Vlad was silent for a moment, simply staring at him, before his expression finally shifted into a slow, wide smirk. "It's worth accounting for, but it hardly affects me... but for you, Daniel... it's a matter of survival, isn't it?"

Danny's eyes trailed him as Vlad settled on the edge of his bed, crossing his legs and leaning back relaxed as he continued, "I understand you still have...mm...accidents, occasionally, don't you? Sporadic loss of control of your powers? I imagine that's put you in some truly harrowing situations. Has your mother ever caught you in the house as Phantom? Has she ever hurt you?"

"I don't have accidents anymore," Danny lied vehemently and was about to refute Vlad's other accusation as well before he caught himself. Shaking his head, he glared at the elder hybrid. "If this is all you wanted to do, how about we just skip it and I tell mom we had some real quality bonding time if she asks, because I'm not feeling all that chatty."

Vlad sighed, leaning forward slightly to pull something out of his pocket.

Danny immediately tensed, eyes flicking towards the closet, then back to Vlad, but instead of the Plasmius Maximus, Vlad pulled out a small, sleek box. He examined it before standing from the bed and coming over to stand over Danny.

"It's true, I do need to be more cautious with your mother in the house, but not for the reason you think," Vlad began, opening the box and removing a sleek watch.

Danny remained stiff in his seat, eyeing the watch suspiciously before returning his gaze to Vlad.

"She's cunning and clever enough to eventually notice surveillance equipment, so of course, to keep her at ease, I've elected not to use them, but that's not because I'm concerned about my safety. No, knowing your mother..."

Vlad extended his hand towards Danny's right arm, making a beckoning motion.

Danny didn't move, staring at his hand, eyes flicking between Vlad's, his hand, and the watch, as he weighed his suspicion with getting into a fight right now.

His mind wandered briefly to his desk drawer, where the phone with his plan was waiting for him.

With a tense breath, he lifted his hand to Vlad, who promptly took it and started affixing the watch to it.

"Her opinion of me might change, certainly, but worse, her scientific curiosity would outweigh anything else. You and I may be hybrids, but your mother battles her own dual nature." Vlad continued as he locked the watch to Danny's wrist. "The scientist in her would inevitably overrule the rest of her, and as you can imagine, that would set me back slightly. I'd have to resort to methods I'd rather not to get her to move on from it."

Once the watch was secured, Vlad released Danny's wrist back to him. Instantly, Danny pulled it close, looked at Vlad suspiciously, before turning his attention to the watch.

It was nice. It had a sleek, digital face with the time zones for Wisconsin and Indiana, weather, a bunch of information Danny didn't really need. On the back, the latch mechanism had all but vanished into itself, and Danny wondered how Vlad had gotten it on and, more importantly, how he was supposed to take it off.

"But it's nothing I couldn't overcome. But if she found out about you, Daniel... it would be dangerous."

Vlad straightened, staring at Danny with an intensity Danny normally didn't see in him unless he was about to fight.

"She already sees Phantom as a specimen, but if she were to find out it was you? That a ghost had been living in her home, lying to her, masquerading as her son, tearing her family apart..."

Vlad leaned forward, getting close enough to draw Danny's attention away from the watch as the older hybrid bore down on him as he asked, "Do you have any idea how much danger you've been in up until now?"

Danny swallowed, but maintained the eye contact, eyes hardened with stubbornness more than any actual feeling of conviction. His shoulder pulsed and ached, but he resisted the urge to acknowledge it, instead rolling his eyes like Vlad was being dramatic. "And what? I'm so much better off here with you?"

Vlad's eye twitched, but he masked it immediately with a smile. "Oh, absolutely. Think about it. You're finally getting enough sleep and full meals. You're getting a real education. You haven't had to do battle or clean up any of your idiot father's messes, there are no gadgets your parents left out for you to stumble upon and injury yourself, you've not been neglected or ignored or forgotten. And now, you have a teacher with decades of experience to help you navigate your new, volatile powers. Daniel... you're more cared for here than you've ever been..."

Danny's lip curled with disgust, unconsciously rolling his aching shoulder, and he had to take a second to resist clocking the older hybrid in the face, but instead, he just huffed a breathy, incredulous laugh and shook his head. "Is your delusional speech over with now or were you gonna keep on rambling at me?"

Vlad chuckled, patting Danny's hand before straightening. "I suppose that's all for now. Would you like to know what your new watch is for?"

"I can take a guess," Danny replied dully, tensing again in preparation.

Vlad smiled. "Ah, good, that should speed this along. This is the new and improved Plasmius Maximus. Starting this weekend, you'll wear this twenty-four seven."

Danny's brow pinched. "This weekend? Why not now?"

"I need an occasion to offer this to you that won't make your mother suspicious," Vlad replied. "You'll be receiving this from me as a birthday present."

"Oh, wow, and I get a sneak peek?" Danny asked dryly, immediately going to try to pry it off, more on principle than any expectation that he would actually be able to. "Why not keep it a surprise?"

"You have a tendency to respond to my surprises with attitude. That won't do. You're going to be gracious and happy for receiving this, and you'll put it on immediately. I don't want your mother giving that watch a second thought."

Danny glared at him, glanced at the watch, then looked back at him. "Or what?"

Vlad seemed taken aback, brows rising incredulously before shifting into a bemused smirk. "Do you really need another example of why it's in your best interest to behave?"

Danny kept his gaze locked on Vlad challengingly, but didn't respond. They both knew he was just making an empty bluff.

With a deceptively warm smile, apparently accepting his silence as surrender, Vlad raised his own wrist with an identical watch and pressed a button.

The air rushed from his lungs and all of his muscles seized at once as electricity ripped through him, his vision whiting out briefly before the current died, leaving him gasping and trembling in his seat.

Vlad stared dispassionately, waiting for him to regain his composure before explaining, "That's the first setting. It only lasts for an hour, but it can go up to eight. Consider yourself disciplined for your outburst."

With shivering breaths, Danny straightened up in his seat and leveled a simmering glare at Vlad, but when he saw the older hybrid reaching for the button on his watch again, he couldn't stop the wince, bracing for another volt.

Instead, it released the hidden clasp on Danny's watch.

Danny opened his eyes when he heard the click, glancing down at it and letting out a relieved breath.

Vlad smirked, taking it off Danny's wrist. "Now, since you decided we should spend some quality time together, I think it would be best used doing some schoolwork," he said, putting the watch back in its box and settling on his bed. "I'm quite aware you haven't started yet, so consider me your personal tutor for the next two hours."

Danny groaned to himself, stretching his now sore and aching muscles. He didn't see any point in arguing. Vlad won this one.

But the phone in his desk drawer assured him, there were still plenty of battles up for grabs.

Two hours was about two hours more of time with Vlad than he could handle, and the senior hybrid seemed to confuse tutoring with patronizing taunting or condescending mockery. He revelled when Danny didn't understand the subject matter and Danny had to pull teeth to get the man to either leave him alone or give him some actual information.

For someone who kept touting how important Danny's education was, he sure seemed to like it when Danny got answers wrong, but after the agonizingly endless allotted time had passed, Vlad finally let Danny be, though not before assuring him that he'd be back in the evening to grade his work.

Danny waited a minute after Vlad had left before rushing over to his drawer and reconnecting his cellphone, pleading with any higher power that might listen that his plan had worked.

He wasted no time uploading the video from his phone to his computer, knee bouncing with anxious impatience as it transferred over, but finally, he had the video up, a perfect view of Vlad's office and the screen and keyboard of his open laptop.

It took him a bit, scrubbing through the eight hours of footage, but finally, he stopped fast forwarding when Vlad showed up, relieved that, as he sat, Danny had managed to angle it so that Vlad's back didn't obscure the keyboard.

He watched with bated breath, as Vlad's started typing.

“Yes!” he nearly shouted, standing sharply from his chair in triumph as Vlad clearly, visibly, entered the laptop password. 

He may not have been tech savvy like Tucker or as intellectual as Sam, but he was feeling pretty damn clever in that moment. He dropped back into the seat and leaned in closer, slowing the video down so he could carefully log each keystroke. He didn’t dare write it down anywhere; he couldn't risk Vlad finding it. It was risky enough having the videos. Instead, he committed the password to memory, which was much harder than he thought it would be. It wasn’t anything cliche like he was hoping for. He had been banking on it being something gross like maddiexvlad4ever , but it was just a jumble of numbers and letters that made it that more difficult to memorize.

While he worked, he kept his peripherals focused on the door. If Vlad decided to come pester him again unannounced, with the video open on his computer, he was screwed.

He had already deleted the video from his phone, and once he was confident that he had memorized it, he deleted it from his computer as well. 

Tucker had told him that deleting something on the computer didn’t mean it couldn't still be recovered, but he didn’t know how to delete a file more than that, and he had to hope Vlad didn’t, either. 

With a sigh of relief that seemed to take with it the weight of the day, Danny finally relaxed, collapsing in his chair and taking a moment to bask in his victory.

He'd have to figure out a time to access Vlad's laptop. That was going to be tricky, but thanks to his mom's astute attention to detail keeping Vlad from putting surveillance up around the mansion, it wouldn't be impossible.

In the meantime... he had some time to kill.

He hadn’t been out flying since the first day they had arrived, much less just for the relaxation of it. It hadn’t been how he had expected he would be spending his time. He had arrived on the rooftop and waited near the chimney for nearly an hour, delaying his celebration in lieu of expected company. 

She didn’t show up.

He felt a pang of disappointment that surprised him, and it briefly chipped the edges of his victory, but he quickly brushed it off. Probably better that he didn't talk to her again as Phantom. Besides, things were looking up, and it was worth indulging in.

After he was confident she wouldn’t be coming, he stood up from his usual waiting spot, gotten in a good, satisfying stretch, and took off as fast as he could. 

He switched back and forth between racing through trees to see how fast he could go and how close to obstacles he could get, to leisurely twirling and looping through brunches just for the fun of it. At some point, he started pushing with his legs off of one tree, doing different flips, twisting in the air, and pushing off the next tree like he was in a pool.

He loved flying. It was the one thing about ghost powers that he considered a net positive, and the one thing that never felt alien to him. Coasting over the ground, weightless and unencumbered, he could simply be.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been flying or what exactly drew his attention, but as he floated with his back to the ground, arms holding up his head as though drifting down a river, he glanced back towards the rooftop. 

Maddie’s distant silhouette sat near the chimney, almost exactly in his favorite spot, and although there was some distance between them, he thought he could see her head following his trajectory, watching him.

A new swell of energy ran through him and he rolled midair into an upright position, tail morphing and separating into legs unconsciously as he started flying towards her. 

She had definitely seen him and watched him fly up. There seemed to be an odd tenseness in the way she was sitting, legs bent and feet planted in what seemed to be a bad attempt to sit casually and she didn’t seem to know where she wanted her arms to be, but Danny brushed it off. He doubted their new arrangement was easy for her and something about the attempt only fanned the embers of his still comfortably burning good mood. 

He approached with some caution, hovering in front of her and making a point to show that he was relaxed and comfortable, hoping it might rub off on her.

“I didn’t think you were going to show,” he said.

She glanced downwards fleetingly before looking back at him, deciding her arms should be beside her instead of in her lap. “I did say I would be back,” she said, although it seemed like she was saying it more for her own benefit. “You look like you’re in a good mood, Phantom.”

He flipped around to float horizontally on his back and shrugged a shoulder and the corner of his mouth. “It was a good day.”

“Oh?” she pressed.

He knew she wouldn’t be happy with the lack of details, but he had to share something. 

He raised his hands in a preemptively placating gesture, “I can’t go into details but… I took some big risks and they’re paying off.” 

She nodded, her violet eyes staring into and through him as she nodded absently. “Sometimes you have to take risks.”

Danny’s smile dipped a little and he shifted away from her gaze, noticing for the first time the bag leaned up in the shadow of the chimney. He felt a small blip in his pulse, but ignored it, addressing the item casually.

“What'cha got there?” he asked lightly, pointing his chin at it.

The question seemed to return the huntress to the present, the glaze in her eyes dissipating. 

“I brought some things to show you,” she answered, reaching up and pulling the bag closer.

“Oh yeah?” Danny asked, the response drawn out with uncertainty. 

Before she opened the bag, she looked up at him and smiled. “I thought we could play a game.”

Danny returned the expression, though a little more tensely. “Like a game game? A game two truce…trucies might play?” 

Maddie blew a laugh out of her nose. “A truce-compliant game, yes.” 

He pulled his legs into a cross-legged sit and floated a little closer. He knew his mom liked games and it didn’t seem unbelievable to him that she might bring one or two with her when they came, but the idea of her wanting to play a game with Phantom felt almost as ridiculous as… well, agreeing to a truce with him.  

She opened the bag and pulled out a white bundle that almost made him gasp. He had to clench his jaw to keep from reacting as she unfolded it and held out the familiar item for him to get a good look at.

Her sharp eyes bore into him, watching his reaction closely, but said nothing.

Danny stared at it, trying to decide if or how he should respond. She wasn’t reacting to him, and she was just quietly waiting for him to say or do something.

“Isn’t that your son’s shirt?” he decided to ask and internally breathed a sigh of relief at how uninterested he sounded. 

She quirked a brow. “You recognize it.”

“Well, yeah. He wears it almost every day and it’s got a big red target on the front,” he pointed out, as proud of his lie as he was irritated at the clean self-burn. 

She stared at him, looking slightly disappointed. 

“I don’t get the game here,” Danny continued, bolstered by the successful deflection. “Are we gonna play keep away with your kid’s only shirt?” 

“He has two,” she muttered defensively. 

“Not anymore,” Danny teased. 

“You’re telling me this doesn’t mean anything to you?” she pressed.

Danny stared at her for a second blankly. “You mean emotionally? Or– ha!– do you mean spiritually?” 

She looked somewhat exasperated with his aloofness, but he only laughed.

“Sorry, I’m in a good mood and I’m not taking your game seriously. Sorry,” he repeated, adorning a more serious expression. “I’ll let you explain the game.”  

“You said you would be honest when you could?” Maddie asked him.

He suppressed a wince. “Yeah.”

"You're haunting one of my son's things."

He blanched and couldn't stop the expression before she'd noticed.

"What are you haunting?" she demanded.

A jolt of panic hit him and he found himself unable to fly anymore, landing on weak knees. "I... I-I can't-..."

She looked frustrated, but also almost as desperate as he was, as she asked, "Why won't you tell me?"

He licked his suddenly dry lips, unable to hold her gaze for a longer than a second or two before his eyes darted this way and that, anywhere but at her, as if searching for an escape. Anything but continue this risky conversation.

Maddie's brows raised at the response and her whole tone shifted, raising a hand gently. "You can't... can you?"

Danny swallowed, then slowly nodded. It was the truth, really.

“What if I were to guess? Could you tell me then?"

His mischievousness truly made its exit. 

Should he? Could she even guess? In all honesty, if she hadn’t by this point, she either was so stuck in her ways that it was basically impossible for her to see Phantom as anything other than a ghost, or she just truly, deeply, didn’t want to know.

“If you can guess right... I can tell you.”

“Then is this it?” she asked, raising the shirt to him again.

He looked at her, then at the shirt, pausing momentarily as he grappled with the absurdity of the situation. If she thought he was haunting his own shirt, then there really was no way she'd ever guess right.

With the relief of that knowledge, he pressed his brows together, lips pressed in sympathetic, barely suppressed amusement. “Why would you think I was haunting your son’s t-shirt?”

“You’re dodging,” she accused.

“I'm not! It’s not,” he answered quickly, eager to return the question, “I’m just way more interested in why you’d pick the shirt.”

She frowned at the quick response, dropping the article of clothing and carefully folding it in her lap. “Well for one thing, it has the highest reading of your ecto signature.”

Danny buried the panic that sentence gave him. It was bad enough she had invaded his privacy and gone through all of his things, but now he had to worry about her picking up more than his signature. If she were to get a hold of Plasmius’s ecto signature and see it all over the mansion…

“But I also thought it would explain…”

Her sudden change of tone recaptured his attention and he looked at her earnestly. When she continued to hesitate, he gently pressed, “What?”

She shrugged. “It’s his favorite shirt. He’s barely worn anything else since he got it.”

Danny’s face pinched a little. Now that it was being pointed out to him, he couldn’t recall why exactly that shirt was always his go-to; it just was and had been for so long that he couldn’t trace the reason back.

Before he had given it much thought, Maddie filled in the silence. “We were um… we were trying to make shirts with the Fenton Works logo. We had just started our research in Amity and it was the first time Danny and J… and Jack had shared an interest. Ghosts and ghost hunting helped them bond in a way they hadn’t in a long time…”

“But… it doesn’t have a logo,” Danny pointed out.

She laughed a little. “No… Jack was trying to include Danny in the process, so he put him in charge of ordering the shirts, except something went wrong with the order and instead of the logo, they just sent us these white t-shirts with empty backgrounds. Danny was so upset, but Jack, he…”

The memory tickled the back of Danny’s mind; this had been years ago, when they had just moved to the area. He had been maybe ten years old, so it wasn’t so surprising that he had forgotten; what really struck him was that she hadn’t. He always knew that shirt was special to him, but he had never realized it might have been special for anyone else. 

“Jack gave Danny all of the shirts and told him they would just be his logo instead. It made Danny feel so important… they were way too big but it didn’t matter,” she said, smoothing out a crease in the fabric before gently placing it back into her bag. "And even though most of them don't fit anymore...he still wears the ones he can."

A heaviness pulled on her shoulders and she suddenly looked like she hadn’t slept in a while. 

Danny looked away, mouth twitching with a question he didn’t want to ask.

“Where… is he?” 

Maddie’s eyes un-glossed and she looked at him confusedly. 

“Jack…”

She tensed, eyes going big like the question scared her.

He winced, quickly sputtering, “I’m sorry, I just–” 

“No, I just wasn’t… the question surprised me,” she admitted. 

He swallowed nervously, guilt threatening to eat away at him again and he quickly tried to dismiss his own question. “You don’t have to…”

“I left him.” 

He drew back at the expression on her face and absently ran a hand over his shoulder. “I shouldn’t have asked… I’m sorry.”

She seemed surprised, although at what, Danny wasn’t entirely sure, but the embers behind her violet eyes faded and she shook her head. 

“Like I said, it just surprised me.”

Danny grimaced, but couldn’t seem to help himself, asking, “Do you… regret it?” 

Maddie’s eyes bore into the tiles in front of her, a scowl warping her features. “If I could go back… I would do more than just leave.”

Danny rested his head in his hand, wrestling the guilt he had needlessly inflicted on himself back into an already overcrowded corner of his mind. He wasn’t sure what exactly had compelled him to press at the mental bruise, but as much as it was painful, there was also a disturbing sense of satisfaction; like it was better to know for sure how bad of a person he really was. 

Vlad would be so proud.

He heaved a breath, banishing the thoughts to the farthest reaches of his mind and gestured at her bag. “What else you got in there, Mary Poppins?” 

The change of tone seemed to jolt her from her daze, but she seemed eager to change the subject as well. 

She reached inside and Danny suddenly worried that she would have nothing but his clothes.

To his relief, she removed his smaller telescope instead. He wasn’t too surprised with this one; while it wasn’t very powerful, it was easy to store in his backpack and use anytime he was out and about and both his human and ghost halves got plenty of use out of it. 

“How about this?” she asked. 

“As cool as being the Telescope Ghost, Master of All Things Near and Far would be, that’s not it.” 

To his delight, she actually gave his silly joke a good-natured smile and immediately accepted his answer, putting the telescope away without much further thought. 

The next item she pulled out had his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

Maddie’s eyes got big. “Is it this?” she pressed, excited and yet at the same, sounding oddly nervous.

“Uhm… no,” he said as convincingly as he could as he tried to remind himself that she was not talking to Danny right now. “I was just… I don’t think that’s your son’s…”

She looked at the green scrunchie in her hand. “It’s his friend’s… but it did have your ecto signature on it and it was in his room…”  

He once again tried to shove down the embarrassment. It was his most shameful possession; not even Sam knew he had it. When he had first moved to Amity, they had been assigned a science project together and she had offered up her ponytail as a bonding agent. And maybe he liked carrying it around sometimes, but only because he kept meaning to give it back, just... hadn't found the right time.

Maddie sighed resignedly and tucked the ponytail away, reached back into the bag, and produced another memento.

She was even more careful with the model rocket than she had been with the previous items, much to his relief. While he had bought and received plenty of model rockets, this was the only one that was an exact replica, with lots of adjustable pieces, scaled to size and while he did mess with it sometimes… he was glad to see his mother was showing it more courtesy. 

“And this one?”

“That’s pretty cool, but not enough to call it home, you know?” he joked.

She looked puzzled as she put it away and grabbed another item. This one made him laugh.

“A pillowcase? Aren’t ghosts known for wearing sheets?”  

Her mouth pursed into a barely suppressed, amused smile. “Well I can’t imagine how else so much of your signature ended up on it unless you were wearing it constantly.”

He shrugged. “Hey, you know, nobody can resist a good nap.” 

“You nap?”

“I wish. I barely sleep,” he joked with feigned longing. 

Her eyes wandered downwards thoughtfully before rolling back up towards him, curiosity sharpening her gaze. “So you do sleep?”

Danny winced and bobbed his head. There was that napping ghost. That one seemed to sleep...maybe...it wouldn't be weird for him to say he slept, right?

"Yeah."

"Do you dream?"

Danny inhaled slowly as he debated. Would that be weird for a ghost to dream? Does she already know the answer and she's just testing him?

"Y-yeah, sometimes..."

"Do you ever dream about when you were alive? Do you remember anything about your life before?"  

His eyes boggled at the question. “U-u-h-h… I-I… I mean… you know…” he stammered as his brain scrambled. Did other ghosts remember being alive? He had no idea. He had never thought to ask any of them, and even if he had, it wasn’t something he really wanted to know.

She didn’t relent, continuing to stare and wait for him to say something, although the longer he stalled, the more impatient she seemed to get it.

He sighed resignedly. “I… yeah, some...some things.” 

“That’s very unusual,” she commented.

He winced. “How unusual?”

“Exclusively,” she said, but her tone was light again and she regarded him contemplatively. “That seems to surprise you.”

“It does… I don't know what's normal for...uh... other ghosts. I mean, I deal with ghosts a lot but it’s usually...you know…” he raised his fists in front of himself miming a fist fight, “Politely asking them to leave town.” 

The response had the charming effect he was hoping for; she smiled again. 

“I’ve run into plenty of aggressive ghosts, but I don’t think I’ve seen one as territorial as you are. Does it have anything to do with what you’re haunting? Do you even know why you do it or is it a compulsion? All ghosts I’ve studied behaved on compulsion, but–” she chuckled to herself, “the amount of times I’ve found you to be an outlier in nearly every category… it’s maddening! I have to admit, I wish I had the opportunity to hunt you. I haven’t in a while…”

Danny winced; didn’t bother to try to hide it. 

“Oh, but it must be the same for you?” she said, her tone shifting to something almost like the comraderie between rivals. “You haven’t wreaked havoc in a while.”

“I don’t do that.” 

“Then why do you fight?”

Danny took a deep breath. “Do you remember about a month ago that snake ghost that was at the park?” 

Maddie’s brows furrowed, unable to bring it to mind.

“That ghost, the snake, he’d pick a kid to follow around and then spent two days just terrorizing them. He thought it was hilarious. He did it to a few kids before I finally found him at the park.” 

“And what’d you do to this ghost?” 

"Sent him back to the Ghost Zone.”

She looked surprised. 

“If I could’ve sent him to the end of the Ghost Zone, I would’ve… but I don’t know how to do that. I don’t actually know where exactly they go when I send them back.”

“You can banish other ghosts?” 

Danny blinked at her confusedly, then it suddenly dawned on him that of course she didn’t know he had been using the portal. He had been trying very hard to make sure she didn’t. So how was he supposed to explain… 

“Yeah,” he decided. Vague was a good option, and technically true enough.

She looked slightly disappointed, but didn’t press. “So you got rid of the ghost because... he was being a bully?” 

“Yeah. Most of them are, so I get rid of them, but I don’t just attack every other ghost I see.” 

“Most of them? What about the rest?” 

“Some of them are just kind of… pests? Like, they don’t mean any real harm, they’re just kind of harmful on accident,” he explained, then added. “A few of them are actually friendly, though.” 

"I find that hard to believe," she mumbled to herself.

"Hey, look who you're talking to," he rebutted, flashing her a friendly smirk. "Some of them are friendly. And I think some of them maybe just...don't know what to do with themselves, you know?"

She stared at him contemplatively. "Do you give other ghosts a lot of thought like this?"

He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. No... Yeah... Sometimes. It's just... I met a good one a while back and it just kinda...got me thinking."

"Is that your obsession?"

Danny looked over at her. "What?" 

"Something like justice or...the opinion of others? It's a little nuanced than what I've typically run into for ghosts, but... is that why you care so much what I think of you? And what other ghosts are doing?"

He stared at her for a minute, briefly baffled that she was once again condensing him down to what she knew already about ghosts, but then he glanced at the bag of his belongings, then back at her with a rueful shake of his head, chuckling humorlessly to himself.

She pinched her brows at him confusedly. "What?"

“Nothing," he dismissed, chuckling to himself one last, breathy laugh before turning to her and remarking, "It’s just… you’d make a great ghost.”

She looked confused by that, staring at him with bewilderment, which only further cemented his bitter relief.

She was never going to see it.

He shook his head again, waving off his own comment. "Forget it." He gestured at her bag again. "Come on, what else you got in there?"

She stared, sharp eyes boring into him with that laser-focus that she used when she was working, but seemed to not find what she was looking for, breathing out a small sigh before turning back to the bag.

It turned out she had a lot more to show him, although most of it was mundane items he used every day; she even brought out his toothbrush. He teased and joked about each new item, and felt a little excited each time he could get her to smile despite herself.

It was...weird.

It was weirder when he left. He thought he'd feel relieved not to be getting grilled by her anymore, but if he was being honest with himself...he'd been having fun.

But he couldn't stay on the roof forever. He needed to get back to his room before Vlad came back to "grade" his work. So, when he had the chance, he stood, stretched his arms and declared, "This was fun, but I gotta pretend to sleep, so..."

Before he could finish his sentence, she butted in, "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

He looked down at her, surprised.

She gestured at the bag, "These were the things with the strongest signature, but there were more I can bring up tomorrow...assuming you weren't lying to me."

He braced himself, at first assuming she was back to accusing him, but her tone was light, almost playful. If he didn't know any better, he almost thought it was a joke.

He gave her a mischievous smirk. "Oh, didn't you know? Ghosts can't cheat on games. It's a whole thing."

She rolled her eyes, but there a little quirk at the corner of her lips that assured him that she had taken it well. "Good," she said, gathering up the bag and its contents. "I'll bring more tomorrow night, then."

He repressed a frown, electing to ignore the fact that she planned to go through more of his stuff. Instead, he nodded amiably and gave her a little, awkward wave. "Until round 2."

When he returned to his room and begrudgingly turned his attention to the required homework, he once again found it difficult to concentrate. Not only was he a bundle of nervous energy, he also kept thinking about what Vlad said about his mom. On one hand, it should have been a relief that his mom was so good at compartmentalizing that she would never see him as anything but a ghost, but...she had agreed to the truce, right? Sure, she was still doing her usual thing, but it wasn't like she was hunting him down anymore. They were talking. She was joking with him.

Maybe she'd never seen him as anything but a ghost, but...maybe her opinion of ghosts could change.

He did his best past the distraction to get some work done, but he already knew well before Vlad returned to check his progress that he'd be spending a good chunk of the night in the closet.

The 'C' Vlad gave him earned him another shock from the Plasmius Maximus and a solid four hours in the closet, but this time, Vlad decided he'd check his work in the morning. So instead of sulking like he normally would, he decided to take advantage of the time, determined not to spend tomorrow morning back in there, too.

He wasn't less distracted than he was before, but there were less distractions in the barren closet to draw his attention elsewhere.

Whether he had managed to get an 'A' or not, though, as soon as he felt access to his ghostly half return to him, he abandoned the homework entirely and grabbed his phone from the drawer he'd stuffed it in. He wasn't sure when was going to be the best time to go, but he just had to give it his best guess. At a quarter to 2:00AM, he ventured to his door, peeking out into the darkened hallway. He let a little energy creep into his eyes, turning them green and allowing him to see a little more clearly. When no sounds or movement greeted him, he stepped into the hall and made his way to the staircase. 

He crept down the steps, grateful for the architecture that seemed impervious to surprise creaking floorboards. He didn’t necessarily need to sneak; if Vlad was still awake, there would be no hiding from him. Better to give an excuse or lie. He wondered if Vlad would believe he was going for a late-night snack.  

Crossing along the edge of the entryway, he reached Vlad’s office door and paused at the entrance, listening for a moment to see if he could hear Vlad mulling around inside. 

If Vlad was there, it wasn’t outside of the realm of possibility that the older hybrid already knew he was there. Danny had purposefully remained human in the hopes that Vlad’s ability to inexplicably find him was related to his ghost half and that maybe the same didn’t apply if he wasn’t transformed. 

Long after it had remained quiet on the other side of the door, Danny swallowed nervously and gripped the handle, opening the door slowly to peek inside. The lights were off, but it didn’t comfort him; it just made him more aware of how little of the inside of the room he could see. Widening his view, he pushed the door open further and eased inside, wide eyes checking the dark corners and flicking repeatedly to the fireplace. 

More or less confident that if Vlad was going to jump scare him, he would’ve done it by now, he quickly raced to the desk and opened up the laptop. He mouthed off the password to himself as he typed it in, careful not to mistakenly enter a typo in case Vlad was paranoid enough that one false entry might lock the laptop or, at the very worst, alert Vlad somehow.

Double checking it, he took a deep breath and pressed enter. 

The light from the screen shifted as it granted him access and he pumped both fists triumphantly. 

Now the only question was how to reach out to Tucker and Sam. He couldn’t install anything; that was too time-consuming and too risky. 

He opened up the web browser and browsed Vlad’s recent searches. He didn’t recognize most of the sites he visited; most of them seemed business related. Nothing social, like he was hoping. He'd have to go onto a site Vlad didn't use.

Risky, but he was already being risky. What difference would it make now?

He opened up a private tab and opened up Instagram, logging in with his own credentials. He didn't really use it except to follow Sam, but she scrolled it often enough that he figured she'd probably have notifications turned on. He opened up messenger and started typing faster than he ever had before, ignoring the typos as long as it was legible. 

Danny: I don’t know how long I have Im on vlad’a laptop you guys have to he.p my dad. Vlad’s possessing him and he’ll kill him if I don’t do what he says. I dont remember what you have with you Sam but if you have any of my parents stuff that might help, find a way to get vlad out of my dad and I can take care of vlad

 

He hit send after a cursory look over the message and sat back, watching the screen tensely. He gasped aloud when he saw bubbles show up in the group chat. 

Sam: Thank god! So relieved to hear from you! Are you okay? 

Tucker: dude thank god! how much time do u have? 

Danny leaned forward to start typing, but stopped as more messages poured in. 

 

Sam: I’ve got a box of your parents’ stuff.. I know I’ve got one of those lipstick ecto guns

Sam: I’ll check what else 

Sam: Did you know Jazz is helping too??

Danny blinked in surprise, a swell of conflicting feelings making his cheeks feel hot. 

Tucker: yeah shes been talking to lawyers and paranormal experts

Danny winced, chewing on his lip anxiously. If Sam and Tucker knew what she was up to, what if Vlad knew, too? What would he do? Maybe he wasn’t worried about it, but it didn’t seem like Vlad would just brush off a risk like that, no matter how small it looked. 

Danny: How do you guys know?

Sam: She’s been texting us. She’s been asking us for the truth. Do we tell her?

Tucker: we’re helping her as much as we can

Tucker: we didn’t know what to say when she asked

Tucker: we think she knows

Sam: It could help if she knew everything

Danny: she’ll end up om Vldas radar if she knows everything

Sam: I think she’s going to put herself on his radar anyway

Tucker: u know her

Tucker: she’s like your mom

Danny rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. She was like his mom; when she got a scent, it was hard to derail her. He had hoped their last conversation had done it, but she was like a bloodhound. 

Danny: keep her out of trouble ok vlad’s not kidding

Sam: We’ll keep an eye on her, don’t worry. We won't say anything

Sam: What else do you need?

Danny: I need a way to track vlad. I took some big risks getting this far

Tucker: you’re on his computer right now?

Danny: Yeah

Tucker: 1 sec

Danny waited, gaze re-engaging his surroundings as the silence pressed in on him.

Tucker: i need the IP

Tucker walked him through several screens until he had located the information and passed it off to his friend.

Tucker: 1 sec

Danny waited again, glancing at the clock to see how long he had been here. Not quite fifteen minutes, it felt like this was getting riskier and riskier the more time went by. 

Tucker: click accept when u get the popup

A popup showed up asking to give access to another computer. Danny clicked accept.

Tucker: nice

Tucker: i can access his laptop from here

Tucker: if he has other cameras connected to his laptop ill have access to those 2

Tucker: ill get u a schedule

Danny wanted to fly; he was so ecstatic. 

Danny: TThanks guys I'll log back int tomorrow

Tucker: don’t risk it. well get it 2 u

Danny’s brow popped up in surprise. What did that mean? 

 

Tucker: we got u dude

Sam: Be safe.

 

He swallowed, nodding at the screen as though they could hear.

Danny: thanks guys talk soon

With a heavy sigh, he exited out of the tab, deleted the history, and closed out of the laptop. He wanted to stay longer, just to ask them more and talk to them, but every second he was in here was a risk.

And he needed this to work. He needed this win.

Carefully stepping out of the room, making sure to leave everything exactly the way he'd found it, he crept back upstairs and got to work on his homework again. He didn't need more time locked in the closet, and plus, he was once again a bundle of anxious energy, and he needed somewhere to channel it.

At least until tomorrow. If Vlad came in tomorrow and was his usual smug self...

Then he got away with it.

Chapter Text

New York was everything she was hoping it would be and more. Vlad had seemingly spared no expense–providing her an apartment on the 16th floor of a 16 story building, a block away from her internship, with everything she could possibly need or want within walking distance. The internship was in HR, sure, but there were plenty of opportunities for conflict resolution. By all accounts, it was all a dream come true.

And she couldn’t appreciate any of it. 

Jazz tried to calm her nerves as she approached the gate to the correctional facility, trying to keep her nerves in check. This trip had been difficult to plan for, but she was fairly confident that she had arranged things carefully enough. Tuesday she had shown up to work purposefully looking a little haggard than she had been, and allowed herself to “space out” a few times. It had killed her inside, but she kept it up, acting fatigued and confused. The next day, she amped it up. With carefully applied makeup, she made herself a little paler, put bags under her eyes, and gave herself a slight flush to her skin. She looked as sick as she could without truly being sick.

There was still a part of her that felt paranoid and silly for going to all of the trouble, especially considering she still wasn’t fully convinced of her own theory. 

But if she was right, this would be necessary.

So she managed to get excused from work until she got better, leaving her the remainder of the week free to do what needed to be done. 

She had even been careful about leaving her apartment, covering up her hair and wearing clothes she normally didn’t, which made her feel especially ridiculous and paranoid, but she had already decided that if she was wrong, therapy would be her very next stop. 

But now, entering the prison all on her own, dressed like someone on the run in a large coat with her hair tucked into a hat, she felt utterly ludicrous. Of course, she had to remove the hat and have everything checked before she could enter–an unavoidable exposure–that bolstered the feeling of ridiculousness. She should have just flexed her hours. Being so secretive about this made her feel and look insane, but… 

She had to be sure. 

The security guards checked her in and guided her into the Visitors Room. She had been feeling nervous, but kept it together until she saw him and suddenly, all of her feigned confidence fled and she stopped in her tracks at the sight of him.

Jack sat at the bench assigned for the visit, hunched, subdued. Heavy bags sat beneath his eyes that looked both haunted and empty all at once. His facial hair was growing out and his head hair was a forgotten mess. He didn’t even see her come in. He just sat, staring at the table with his brows pinched together slightly like he was worrying or in pain. 

She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, or if she had been expecting anything at all, but seeing him now, she felt her heart twist with guilt, rage, and confusion, and she didn’t know which emotion to give credence to. She inhaled shakily, shook her head, and carefully composed herself.

This was for Danny. 

Pressing her shoulders back and raising her chin, she approached the opposite side of the bench, her expression a mask of careful neutrality.

Finally, Jack noticed her, his eyes flicking up, but the rest of him didn’t bother to follow at first until he recognized her. His expression shifted, eyes widening, brows pitching upward with what she could only describe as fear as he fidgeted in his seat uneasily. 

She swallowed, once again surprised by the reaction, but maintained her composure once more. 

“Dad.”

He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, then lowered his gaze and asked quietly, “J-Jazz… W-what are you doing here? Where’s your mom?” 

“It’s just me,” she replied dismissively, sitting down across from him. 

He looked confused and even a little alarmed by that, his gaze wandering past her repeatedly as though that couldn’t possibly be true and Maddie was going to be just around the corner. 

He looked… pitiful. Terrified. It tugged on her heartstrings again, insistent enough to give her pause once more, but she banished the feelings, clearing her throat and clasping her hands in front of her on the table. “I need to talk to you.”

“Y-your mom should really be here with you,” Jack muttered. 

“Well, she’s not,” Jazz reiterated. 

Jack frowned, but didn’t press further, slumping back in the seat and expression returning to that thoughtful, pained look before he asked quietly, “Can I… what can I do for you?”

“I want you to answer some questions for me,” she answered. “Honestly.”

He winced, fingers clenching into fists, but he looked too tired to even be anxious, and he nodded weakly. 

She hadn’t been expecting so much cooperation. This was nothing like she had been expecting. And now, faced with any answers she needed with apparently no resistance, she felt her confidence waver once more, gut twisting with the weight of what she was about to delve into. She hesitated now, grappling with uncertainty, before taking a deep breath and raising her gaze to her father. 

“Why were you hurting him?”

Jack visibly flinched, hunching his shoulders further as though he could disappear into his own chest. 

Jazz stared at him, eyes boring into him as a swell of fury, sorrow, and outrage bubbled up in her chest at the reaction. She thought he wouldn’t answer, and was about to demand he look at her, but to her surprise, Jack finally uncurled, taking a deep, shuddering breath and shaking his head as he muttered wearily.

“I don’t know…”

Jazz’s face scrunched with incredulous disgust. “You don’t know why you…” her voice caught in her throat, and she swallowed hard to clear it before continuing accusatorily, “...why you broke his collarbone?”

Jack finally looked up at her, eyes shimmering, expression pleading.

It sickened her.

“You don’t know why you abused him?” she demanded, lip curling with anger. “You don’t know?”

“He deserved it!” 

Jazz jumped as Jack snapped, his tone suddenly sharp with a fury she didn’t think he’d have the energy for just by looking at him, but just as suddenly as he’d opened his mouth, it was gone, and he was hunching in on himself like the outburst was just as shocking to him. 

“N-no, that’s not… that’s not true,” Jack whimpered to himself, cupping his face and shaking his head, tears slipping down his cheeks. His shoulders shuddered as he muttered to himself before finally straightening again, looking at her with reddened eyes. “You deserve the truth, Jazz. And… the truth is… I don’t know.”

She tried to swallow again, but it caught in her throat when Jack fully dissolved into dry, empty sobs that seemed to come from somewhere already long depleted. 

He shook his head at himself, eyes pinched with sorrow. “I’ve been so angry and I don’t know why. And Danny, he… I know it’s wrong but I felt like… like he… like he deserved it,” he said through gritted teeth, wincing through the admission like the very idea of it angered him. “Every time I think about him I want to…”

He looked up at her, shaking his head hard, expression tormented, exhausted, teary as he told her, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me! Why would I still want to…”

Jazz’s bottom lip trembled, nose scrunched with disgust and a shameful pity she couldn’t seem to fully suppress. With a shuddering breath, she pressed on, asking, “And it was just Danny?”

Jack nodded, pinching his eyes shut as he continued quietly sobbing. “Everyone made me mad, but Danny… I don’t know why…”

“What about me? I made you mad, too? Do I still?”

“Y-yes, but not…not now…” Jack answered, and that admission seemed to break a new dam, and he buried his face in his palms, shaking his head again. “I’m so sorry, Jazz. I’m so sorry…” 

“Stop it,” she snapped, low, almost a whisper, but sharp enough for him to hear and to startle him out of the safety of his hands. “How long?”

He sniffled, then pinched his brow in confusion as he acknowledged her question. “W-what do you mean?”

Throat tight with emotion, she strained out again. “How long were you hurting him?” 

Jack’s eyes trailed back down to the table, fists clenching and unclenching and expression tense like thinking about it caused him physical pain. “I-I’m not s-sure… I remember everything the night y-you… you saw, but I don’t remember… I don’t remember the other times. I know I must have. He was so… he had so many bruises and scars, I… I must have, but I only remember  that night in the lab.” 

Jazz blinked in confusion, taking a moment to process the information before asking, “What about the anger? You were angry at him for months. When did that start? Did he… say something? Do something? Was it one thing?” 

Jack shook his head uncertainly, hands opening up in a hopeless shrug. “I-I don’t know. A few months, maybe? It… I just… things started bugging me and then making me angry and then… and then the lab.” 

Jazz stared at him hard, searching his eyes, his posture, his breathing for any sign of dishonesty, of holding back.

All she saw was a broken, tired man. 

She knew she wouldn't like his answer no matter what it was. But this…

This was worse.

Nothing? 

She wanted to press harder, wondering if maybe he knew the secret she did and was keeping it to himself for some reason, but what would the point of that be? Jack didn't have any reason to keep it to himself anymore. 

But she was sure by the look in his eyes. He didn't know. 

He had abused Danny… for nothing. 

She felt her chin and bottom lip trembling, felt her fists pressing against her thighs shaking with a whirlwind of emotions she couldn't fully identify and didn't have the strength to grapple with, but she pressed on, reminding herself of her purpose for being here.

Taking another deep breath that shuddered worse than she wanted to admit, she looked at her father again and asked, “How have you been feeling since you got here?”

His eyes cautiously lifted to look at her, searching her face with a mixture of confusion and guilt before the callousness in her expression confirmed her intention, and he responded dully, “I'm not angry here. At least… not in the same way. They have me in counseling and I think… I think that's helping.” 

She nodded, then hesitated on her next question, feeling once again silly for even asking it. “Why did you start inviting Mr. Masters to our house?”

Jack blinked, his weary eyes looking confused again. “H-he’s… he's my friend…” 

“Do you remember when you started inviting him over?”

“N-no…”

“I do,” she said, straightening her back, trying to appear more confident even as the feeling of ridiculousness tried to make her backpedal. “It was a month after the reunion… you started getting angry when he started visiting. Do you remember that?”

Jack blinked again, harder, longer, shaking his head with bewilderment and muttering, “I-I don't… I don't really r-remember… W-why does that–” 

“Mom said you got possessed when we were there…” she swallowed, eyes hardening. “Is that true?”

He nodded, the most certain she'd seen him so far. 

She fidgeted, swallowing uncomfortably with the question on the tip of her tongue. Quietly, almost inaudibly, she asked despite the absurdity of it, “... Are you sure it left?” 

He started to nod, but the certainty wavered. His eyes trailed away as he considered.

She waited as he processed, watching his expression, but suddenly, he became resolute and looked at her with unwavering certainty. 

“I knew I was possessed at the reunion. I fought it. What happened these last couple of months…” he swallowed hard, his eyes hardening and becoming distant as he uttered with tight conviction, “What I did… there wasn't anything to fight. It was just... feelings.”

He looked her in the eyes, and she couldn't help it. Her shoulders dropped, her eyes shimmered and burned with the tears of a losing battle.

“It was my fault.”

She felt a droplet fall down her cheek and quickly swiped it away, turning her face from her father briefly to try to reign in her reaction, but she was running out of strength, out of stamina, her mind reeling with the hollow truth.

Nothing…

Jack slumped again, then asked hesitantly, “Why… why did you ask about Vlad?”

She cleared her throat, took a moment to collect herself even though she knew her face was red and her eyes were shimmering. “Because Danny hates him.”

Jack looked surprised, shaking his head to himself. “N-no, he--”

“He hates him,” Jazz reiterated. “Ever since the reunion, he's hated him.” 

Those words leaving her mouth restored her resolve, her certainty, and she continued fiercely. “Why are you even surprised? He didn't hide it! Have you ever seen Danny be so cold to someone? Or look so a–” she stopped herself short before finishing. 

Jack didn't deserve to know that; he lost the right to know what Danny's fears were. 

Besides, it's not like she could truly accuse Jack of being blind.

She had been, too. 

Jack's expression shifted, hardening slightly, staring at her intensely and desperately all at once. “... why?”

Jazz swallowed, hesitating, because in truth… she had no idea. 

It hadn't truly occurred to her at all until after she'd left and had started processing everything in the quiet nights alone. How Danny had been more than just rude to Vlad any chance he could. He had been outright hostile at times. When Jack had invited Vlad into their home, Danny had made it clear how much he disapproved, but more than just snarky or snide remarks, Danny had watched him. 

Then Danny had asked to go to Vlad’s mansion. That had been strange on its own. Then Danny had gone quiet. Jazz assumed it was the shock and trauma from what Jack had done, but…

He never stopped watching. He kept making snide remarks… but more carefully. He kept being rude… but more subtly. And worse, Jazz couldn't deny it anymore…

When Vlad had suggested she take the internship, there had been a moment where Danny had looked terrified.

She'd chalked it up to worry, to separation anxiety, to trauma, but the night of their fight, Jazz realized the argument had been a lie. 

There had been no fear of Jack when he'd talked about him. He had laid his insecurities bare and ripped open hers. It had been so cruel, so shockingly callous that she'd almost buried it. But now, having had time to reflect, to replay and analyze everything, she had realized the fight hadn't been Danny reacting from trauma. It was panic. 

He hadn't just been trying to defend an already exposed secret. He had been actively trying to drive her away from one that still existed. 

And it worked. 

After a moment, she shook her head, admitting softly. “I don't know.”

All she knew was something had scared him so badly that he'd attack her, that he'd use his own insecurities to distract her, that he'd press on an open wound openly and plainly to get her to back down. 

And Vlad had something to do with it. She just wasn't sure how or why yet. 

She suddenly felt her father's eyes on her, realizing she'd become engrossed in her own thoughts, and she sighed curtly, reiterating, “I don't know. I just know he does. Why didn't you?”

Jack remained subdued, eyes downcast like a kicked dog, and that only made her angrier. As if his shame deserved her pity. Plastering a scowl on her face to try to mask the reddening of her eyes, she crossed her arms and asked, “Do you remember anything out of the ordinary before you started getting angry? There has to be something that–there has to be a reason!” 

She flinched slightly at herself, the outburst an unbidden admission that made her feel small.

Danny may have been using her insecurities to hide something in their last fight, but that didn't mean what he'd said wasn't true. 

She had failed him. 

Her father looked at her, staring at her pained expression, then furrowed his brow in thought, but after a moment, he just softly shook his head.

Jazz sighed in frustration. That can’t be true. Everything was basically normal until…

“... Did Vlad ever come over to the house just to talk to you?” 

Jack looked up at her, expression twisting in thought again as he considered her question. His brow dipped deeper and he slowly shook his head. “N-no… no, we… he never came over if you kids or Maddie weren’t there.” 

She nodded in agreement. She couldn’t recall a time when Vlad came over and didn’t spend the majority of his time with everyone else, either. That hadn’t necessarily surprised her at the time, considering the way Vlad had acted towards their mom at the reunion, but now that she was thinking about it, the reunion seemed to have been some sort of catalyst. Vlad hadn’t been on Danny’s radar at the time. Vlad had been polite but ignored both herself and Danny the way adults tended to do when teenagers were dragged to any adult event. And Danny had been basically polite but ignored him, too.  

It wasn’t until afterward, and suddenly Vlad was going out of his way to talk to Danny. Danny was watching him. Jack started getting angry and violent. Whatever was going on started there, at Vlad’s mansion. 

A theory slowly started to form in her mind. Jazz’s jaw clenched and she took in a deep breath to shore up courage as she looked at her father and point-blank asked, “Did you know that Mr. Masters is interested in mom?” 

Jack’s face fell slack with shock, eyes widening in bewilderment. “W-what?” 

She frowned, burying the misplaced sense of betrayal in a scoff and she muttered, “Of course you didn’t.” She cleared her throat and looked at him, maintaining an air of calloused indifference she already knew would hurt her later. “He flirted with her in front of you basically as soon as we walked through the door at the reunion. And he kept flirting with her. You didn’t notice?” 

By the look on his face, no. He had no idea. His face had gone pale, mouth slightly ajar, expression pinched in a look of confusion and bafflement like he was trying to convince himself he had misheard her. 

There went the theory that Jack had found out about some sort of cheating. She didn’t think her mom would do that, but she also wouldn’t put it past her father to think he had uncovered cheating when he hadn’t. But obviously it wasn’t that. And even now, having been given this information… he still wasn’t angry. Just sad and pitiful. 

Jack’s eyes started to glisten, and, to Jazz’s surprise, his mouth lifted into an absurd, empty smile. “I… guess he has for a while. That would explain why he joined our club…” he muttered, shaking his head to himself. 

“Your club?”

Jack nodded. “Back in college. Our club dedicated to ghost phenomena. Vlad joined after our first semester. He was a genius like us, but it always seemed like he hated the work. Didn’t really feel like he believed in any of it sometimes, but he kept coming. I just thought he was grumpy. Heh… I’m a fool… aren’t I?” 

Jazz blinked back more tears forcefully. “Y-yeah, you… you told us this story.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s why I was so excited to go to the reunion… I was hoping he had forgiven me… for what I did.” 

She stood stock still, surprised and unsure how to react. Jack was always one more likely to skew things towards aggrandizement. He had told them all what happened to Vlad Masters during the college years, but the way he had told the story then had distanced himself from the responsibility or consequences of it. 

Regardless if he was genuinely remorseful or just fishing for pity, the reminder of what happened to Vlad hit with a new weight now than it had before. Cautiously, she leaned forward and asked, “What was it again that got Mr. Masters sick? You don’t still have it, do you? Somewhere in the basement?”

“It was a proto-portal,” Jack explained. “Our very first attempt at a portal to the ghostly realm. Since it was… defective… I shut it down and boxed it up. It’s somewhere in the lab, but I don’t know where now. Probably behind a mountain of other defective prototypes.” 

Jazz swallowed. 

She had always guessed Danny must have had some kind of accident in the lab. That was the only thing that made sense. But what if the same sort of accident had happened to Mr. Masters, too, all those years ago?

Because in her mind, she couldn’t imagine much that would truly scare Danny. Ghosts didn’t scare him; he could fight them. People didn’t really scare him; he was an excellent liar. 

But if he couldn’t do either of those things; if there was a ghost he couldn’t fight and a person who knew he was lying; a person like him, but better at it.

She felt insane for even wondering about this, but she’d felt a little insane when she’d seen her brother transform into a ghost, so she supposed insanity was just the norm now. 

And anyway, she knew there was someone who knew the truth. 

“J-Jazz…?”

She looked at him.

“W-why are you asking about Vlad? Did he…” he swallowed, eyes glimmering brighter and jaw trembling. “Did he and your mom get together?” 

She wasn’t sure why, but the question broke something in her. She felt the floodgates break and a hot, angry tear streak down her cheek; felt herself trembling with rage and she slowly stood from the bench. Before she realized she was doing it, she was speaking, voice tight and strained with barely suppressed rage. “Are you serious? You had all this time to ask me if Danny was okay and you ask if Mom and Vlad are together now? Are you serious? Did you ever care?” 

Her fists clenched and she could feel the tears flowing freely now and she distantly realized with dismay that she was just crying and yelling at him like a child, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “You know it wasn't just the last six months, right? You and mom, you–” her breath hitched, but she barrelled onward, “--you both ignored him! I’m the one who made sure he got dinner at night when you both were too busy with your research. I made sure he had gifts at Christmas because you two somehow always picked that holiday to do your worst experiments. I'm the one who made sure he got his homework done so he wouldn't fail his classes and get held back. I’m the one that’s been encouraging him to go to college even though you two have made him believe he’s not smart enough for it. I'm the one who kept reaching out to him even after he started pretending he didn't want anything to do with this family anymore. And I'm the only one who's paying attention to the fact that he still needs help. So if you think your only failure was the last six months, you're wrong. You let him down years ago when you decided he didn't matter!”

Jack looked shocked, small and feeble, hunched away from her and crying to himself. 

Like she was being mean.

“Who cares if Vlad and Mom are together?! All you’re thinking about is yourself!” 

She hated it, but part of her wanted him to reach out for her, to try to stop her from stomping away, but he just sat there, sunk into the bench, eyes downcast in self-pity. She wanted it to not hurt so much as she stepped out of the Visitation Room and out of the building, but it didn’t stop hurting. Guilt, betrayal, doubt, and exhaustion all pulled at her mind, vying for her attention and all of them both succeeding and failing. By the time she got to the Uber, she just wanted to collapse. She buried her face in her jacket and cried quietly in the backseat, stunned, empty. She kept repeating the encounter in her mind, stomach twisting with guilt for things she wished she hadn’t said, the feeling of sickness worsening with the things Jack did and didn’t say. 

She thought she was stronger than this. 

She allowed herself to be overwhelmed and exhausted during the car ride. She let herself cry it out and feel hollowed out even as she stepped out of the car and returned to her apartment building. She hid herself once again as she returned to her apartment, but figured she must look terrible and if she was being spied on, she really would look sick. 

Once she was inside the relative security of her own place, she made herself some tea and sat down at her desk that faced the window, staring at the street below and once again replaying the encounter. 

Was she crazy? Did she just go and harass her abusive father in prison out of paranoia? Was she trying to find a way to punish a man who had, so far, done nothing that she could see but give her an internship, give her mother and brother a place to live, and been there to support them all throughout this nightmare? Did she just not know how to handle someone being generous with their time and resources? Was she just reacting to Danny not knowing how to handle someone being generous with their time and resources? 

Wiping her eyes, she set aside her cup of tea and reached for her phone, opening up her contacts, clicking on Sam’s name. 

She hesitated. She hadn’t wanted to do this. She had wanted Danny to tell her, in his own time.

But at this point, she reasoned keeping this secret was doing far more harm than good. 

I know. I need you to call me.

She left it at that. She knew Sam and Tucker knew. They weren’t as good of liars as Danny was, but they had made it clear early on they had no intention of acknowledging they knew Danny’s secret, and they had been blowing her off the last few days when she’d started asking them questions about Danny. It had all been subtle, just trying to understand if Danny was still hiding something from her, if they knew about the abuse, and they had been just as evasive as Danny had been about it. Tucker had completely stopped responding to her–which made sense, he was the worst liar of the three of them. 

To her surprise, Sam called almost immediately. 

“Sam–” Jazz began as she put the phone up to her ear, but she didn’t get to finish.

“What do you know?” 

Jazz paused, a little surprised by the tone. Sam was a passionate person, but she typically responded to things like she wasn’t interested, her tone dry and sarcastic, but she sounded anxious. 

“I know…” she swallowed, doubt twisting in her stomach again. Was this the right choice? What if Sam just refused to acknowledge it? What if Danny never forgave her? 

A silence fell for a moment, and Sam hesitantly asked, “Hello?”

“I know he’s a ghost,” Jazz blurted out before she could stop herself, and with the secret out in the open, she just kept going. “I saw him transform. I know he’s been keeping it a secret. I know he’s been this way for at least six months. I know you and Tucker know. I know our mom and dad don’t. I’ve known for four months and I’ve been waiting for him to tell me but I think he’s still in trouble.” 

Another, deeper silence met her once she finished. 

She felt her eyes welling up again, but she was too tired to truly cry again, so she just waited; waited for Sam to tell her she was crazy, she was wrong, to deny it again, to tell her she needs to seek help because she clearly does–

“We promised him we wouldn’t tell you.” 

She gasped softly.

Another silence. Then, “Jazz, you can’t tell anyone, do you understand? No one can know you know. Especially Danny, he can’t know you know.”

She felt sick again, asking quietly, “So he is still in trouble.”

“It’s just that–”

“What does Vlad have to do with this?” she asked, clinging to the phone by her ear desperately. 

Silence again.

Her chest ached and she strained out, “Sam, please. I need to help my brother. What is going on?” 

The silence hung again and she was certain Sam had muted herself. There wasn’t even static. It bore down on her suffocatingly, stomach twisting with the frustrating helplessness of having it confirmed that Danny was still in trouble and that people knew and wouldn’t let her help. 

“Jazz… we promised him we wouldn’t tell,” Sam finally said. “I don't want to break that promise… but I also think he’s wrong not to get more help. So I’ll tell you what I can tell you, okay? But you have to make sure no one knows you know. Not even Tucker. Just me and you know you know, okay?”

She wiped her reddened eyes with the palm of her hand, frustrated still, but at least she wasn’t being abandoned in the dark anymore. It was something. 

“Fine. Just tell me what’s going on.” 

“Okay,” Sam said, her voice somewhat gentler. “You’re right about everything you said. He’s still in trouble. He’s in a lot of trouble. Tucker and I have been trying to help but we can’t get near him. I can’t explain why. Can you still get in contact with him?”

Jazz nodded, then remembered she was on the phone. “Y-yes. We’re getting together for his birthday this weekend… you’re not coming?”

“No,” Sam replied, but didn’t elaborate further, continuing, “But we need to get something to him. I’m gonna have it sent somewhere you can pick it up. It’s a game console and games. Say the console is from me and Tucker and the games are from you.”

“Why?”

“It’s better if I don’t explain.”

“Sam…” Jazz said, swallowing. “You understand how scary you’re making all of this seem…”

“... Yes.” 

“... Is Vlad a ghost, too…?”

“...” 

Jazz covered her mouth in shock, the silence answer enough. She just truly hadn’t expected to be right. Swallowing, trembling, she asked, “What does he want?”

She was met with silence again as Sam hesitated. Jazz clutched the phone closer. “Please, Sam.”

“Nothing,” Sam answered, and at first, Jazz was going to cry again from despair and frustration, but then, “He already has it.” 

“Already…?” Jazz repeated under her breath. She thought for a second, then paled. 

He wanted her family? 

She felt sick again, eyes casting around her apartment unbidden, the paranoia suddenly multiplying and wondering if she'd been right to be paranoid about being watched in her apartment. 

Except… Danny had pushed her away. Vlad had suggested she leave because he wanted their mom and Danny. Not her. And Danny had been protecting her the best he could by pushing her away with everything he had. To protect her. 

She relaxed just slightly, taking some mild comfort in the idea that Vlad wasn’t giving her much thought. 

“Sam…” she said, taking one last, deep breath to steady her nerves. “I need to know what you know about Vlad. I need to help my brother.” 

She heard Sam sigh heavily, obviously still conflicted with having this conversation at all, but after a moment, Sam replied resignedly, “... Okay. He can be mad at me after all of this is over. You’ll want to sit down. It’s… a lot.”

“I’m ready. For everything.”

Chapter Text

The morning of Danny’s birthday, Vlad roused the Fentons bright and early. Danny had of course complained that not even the sun was up as early as they were, but Maddie did her best to reassure him that it would be worth it. With breakfast and coffee to go, the three left Vlad’s mansion and headed to the airport to meet up with Jazz, who Vlad had flown in for the day. 

Maddie was somewhat concerned about this reunion, considering how tense her leaving had been. She was pleasantly surprised when they entered the private plane and Jazz leapt off her seat to instantly wrap her brother in hug that obviously startled him. She gave him a quick squeeze before moving on to hug Maddie as well.

Jazz looked great. She was beaming even, excitedly sharing how her internship was going as they took their seats on the plane and settled in for the flight. Maddie had planned on making space for Jazz and Danny to maybe talk privately and resolve whatever had caused the rift from last time, but it seemed it wasn't needed. Jazz was positive and inviting and Danny looked stunned at first by it, but Danny's somewhat guarded intensity settled and relaxed, and he followed her lead in engaging as if nothing had ever been wrong. 

That had been a massive relief for Maddie, and she, too, was able to relax. The four settled into an easy and relaxed two and half hours of small talk and playful banter. Jazz caught them up on her internship, which was unsurprisingly going well. She was impressing her bosses with her unending enthusiasm and knowledge to the point that they had begun discussing something more permanent once she graduated. 

Maddie smiled proudly at her daughter who was practically glowing with excitement as she shared her experiences. The only thing that seemed to not be going well for her was relating to the other interns, who, according to Jazz, were projecting their own insecurities onto her by excluding her from any casual activities. 

This, too, didn’t surprise Maddie in the slightest. Fentons always had difficulty making friends. Vlad was the only friend Maddie really had. 

The only exception was Danny, who had managed to double the Fenton average. 

She frowned to herself, the conversation a disappointing reminder that she had failed to get Sam and Tucker to come on the trip. Apparently Sam had been grounded for vandalism during some small protest that hadn't even made local news, and Tucker’s parents had not been comfortable with their son making such a trip without their supervision, which struck Maddie as somewhat sudden and odd considering Tucker had attended weekends and camping trips with Danny without any concern about supervision. Despite her best efforts, neither set of parents had been willing to budge or compromise with her. 

She had dreaded having to tell Danny they wouldn't be coming and had been prepared for some kind of regression from the contentment he'd had for the past few days. She had prepared herself for yelling, attitude, anger, frustration... Anything, really.

But he had just nodded. That was it. Like he had been expecting it. She had stared dumbly as he'd continued his breakfast like she'd told him it might be a little cloudy. 

That had worried her, but she wasn't sure how to address it, and ended up deciding it was best to drop it for the time being. She didn't want to cause any unnecessary drama around his birthday of all days, but it remained in the back of her mind, and she started wondering if his good attitude warranted a little more... skepticism... 

That had been the only concerning thing she'd seen from him, though. As far as she could tell otherwise, Danny looked like he was in a great mood since starting football practice. There had been only once, the morning after Vlad took him out to practice, where she had seen some tension in him; like he was anxious about something. At first, she'd chalked it up to being sore and tired, but as the evening went on and his anxiety got worse, she started to suspect and worry that it was some misplaced guilt for having a good time. But the very next day, he was perfectly calm and content, even a little playfully snarky, which she hadn't seen from him in a while, and it didn't recede as the week went on. 

Vlad later confirmed her suspicions, telling her he'd had a chance to ask Danny about it. Apparently it had taken some careful prying on his part, but eventually, Danny had admitted to him that he did have a good time, and just hadn't known how to accept it. Maddie didn't know how Vlad did it, getting past her son's defenses, getting him to communicate with him, but since she was consistently failing so miserably on that front, she was both embarrassed and grateful to have Vlad reaching out to him where she couldn't.

So she'd dropped her worries. She hadn't been sure why Danny had asked to come to Wisconsin after the incident, but now... now she understood. For whatever reason, Vlad and Danny had a connection she didn't truly understand, but it really was helping him. 

When the plane landed, Danny once again badgered her for details on where they were going, but Maddie insisted he wait and not spoil the surprise. She even had him close his eyes during certain parts of the drive so that the exits wouldn’t give away the destination.

When the private car finally pulled into the lot and she let him open his eyes, his mouth dropped open in shock as he gazed out the window.

“Surprise!” Maddie squealed excitedly. 

“Happy birthday, Danny!” Jazz chimed in.

Danny slowly opened his eyes, looking between the three of them in the limo before glancing out the window. The moment he did, he did a double-take, staring wide-eyed at the massive building they were parked in front of, but his eyes seemed fixed to the enormous NASA logo. It took him a while to tear his eyes away to look back at her and Jazz with disbelief. “Are you serious?” he asked, almost breathlessly. “Really?”

Maddie's smile grew brighter at the excitement in Danny’s dazzled blue eyes as they were let out of the car and approached the entrance. 

“Take your time, sweetheart. We’ve got a full weekend ahead,” Maddie told him as he started rushing towards the front of the building.

His eyes grew even bigger. “Weekend? Are you serious?!”

Maddie smiled and nodded. “Vlad got us rooms on site.”

It had felt like too much, when Vlad had offered. She had pitched the idea to drive here over the weekend, and Vlad had not only loved the idea, but had insisted they take his plane and that he purchase them a hotel to stay for the weekend. 

She'd tried to protest, but Vlad wouldn't hear it, asserting: "He needs to be reminded what his future could look like."

She'd felt a little guilty letting Vlad do so much for them, but now, seeing Danny stare with wide eyes full of wonder and passion, all of her anxieties, guilt, and concerns washed away. 

Danny’s eyes flicked to Vlad, then back to her, seeming conflicted for a split second before his excitement won out over whatever hesitation had struck him.

“Thi–This is–I–” he stammered breathily.

“Hurry up, Danny, let’s get in there!” Jazz ushered.

Maddie stepped out of the limo shortly after Danny burst out of it, then glanced back in at their luggage, but Vlad placed a hand on the back of her shoulder and smiled reassuringly. "The driver will take our luggage. I have everything taken care of." 

She smiled gratefully. It was strange having all of the details of the trip handled for her. It had been strange since the first day they'd arrived in Wisconsin, having everything handled. She supposed she should see it like a vacation, but she wasn't used to having nothing to do. Still, she couldn't deny, seeing how much effort and care Vlad put into making them all comfortable and handling the details; it was refreshing. 

She didn't remember Vlad being so caring in college. He had been... intense. And a little fragile in the ego. She was glad he was so...different.  

As they entered the lobby, she watched Danny’s eyes grew comically bigger as he absorbed the sights around him, and he almost started to absently wander away to look at some displays when a small group of men and women in business attire approached the four of them, the man at the head of the group leading the way and making a beeline straight for Vlad.  

“Mr. Masters!” the man greeted, shaking Vlad’s hand amiably, “How was the flight over?”

“Mr. Garcia,” Vlad greeted in return, “The flight was comfortable, but as you can see, my godson is eager to start our tour today.”

Mr. Garcia looked over at Danny and extended his hand to him. “Oh, you must be Danny. I heard you have aspirations of being an astronaut?” 

Danny’s cheeks took on a reddish color. “Uh… y-yeah... Y-yeah! Uh, I'm uh... yeah, I... I do.”

“You know, we’re on course to making the first trip to Mars here in the next decade or so. If the timing’s right, that could easily be you.”

Danny got even redder, but it was overshadowed by a wide, excited smile.  

“Now, I won’t take up too much of your time,” Mr. Garcia told the group and began handing each of them a pamphlet. “We have your itinerary here. If you have any questions or concerns, I have given Mr. Masters my personal number, please don’t hesitate to reach out. There is room for some adjustments for a few items if we need to rearrange anything, however we do ask that you arrive at the dinner on time. As you’re aware, our astronauts have strict training regimens and we want to be respectful of their time.”

“Dinner… with an astronaut?” Danny muttered in awe, flipping open the pamphlet to scan over its contents. “Oh my god, we’re having dinner with Robert Behnkin?!” 

Maddie exchanged a puzzled expression with Jazz; neither of them apparently knew the significance of the name. 

"And this here is Amanda Walsh. She'll be your guide for the day," Mr. Garcia said, making way for the woman amongst the group next to him. She approached and shook Vlad and Maddie's hands. 

“Thank you very much, Mr. Garcia. Ms. Walsh, a pleasure to meet you,” Vlad said amiably. Once Mr. Garcia left them, Vlad turned to the group and clasped his hands together. “Now, I believe our first visit is the… hm… Daniel, would you take a look at the itinerary?” 

Danny looked at the top of the pamphlet. “Introduction Day…” he read, read a little further along, then looked up at Maddie excitedly. “Whoa, we’re going to get to do astronaut training?!”

“Hey, no reading ahead!” Jazz teased him. 

Ms. Walsh smiled with amusement at Danny's excitement, then gestured for the four to follow her. "If you'll follow me, Mr. Masters, Fentons, we have a shuttle waiting for you just outside to take you to our first event."

They were almost late to the shuttle, mostly due to having to corral Danny away from exhibits and displays that caught his attention—honestly, Maddie had never had so much difficulty keeping Danny on track, but it didn’t bother her in the slightest. Every time she had to pull him away from a rocket ship replica or a documentary on the latest mission, it made her sure that, finally, she had made a good call.

“I promise we’ll see everything, honey,” she assured him.

Once on the shuttle, Amanda began pointing to various buildings and complexes and shared their significance, use, and history, but Maddie didn’t find any of it that particularly engaging. While she certainly acknowledged the scientific importance of space exploration, it never really called to her and admittedly, even bored her a little. 

Danny, though, was enraptured, practically buzzing in his seat as his head swiveled this way and that and occasionally pointed something out to her or to Jazz and told them some history or interesting little factoid behind it. 

It only struck her now, watching him soak in every boring tidbit the guide offered like a star, his excitement burning brighter as he added to every comment she made with more details no one else but him seemed that invested in, just how much of a Fenton he was. She knew he wanted to be an astronaut, but she had never seen it shine quite like it was now. She actually didn't realize how much mental space he had reserved for it. It was dazzling. She had seen that same excitement in Jack about ghosts, in Jazz about psychology, and now she was finally seeing what sparked Danny. To be honest, she had thought he just didn’t have that same level of interest in anything that the rest of their family did. He had gotten so distant in his teenage years, she had never really had an opportunity to view him this way.

She couldn’t have been happier to listen to something so dull. 

About a quarter way into their drive, Amanda began passing out paperwork to each of them.

“While we get to our destination, we’ll need you all to sign these waivers before you can participate in the activities.”

“Waivers?” Jazz asked, reading it over scrupulously. “What for?”

“Mr. Masters has reserved a very special VIP experience for all of you,” the guide informed her. “We will be doing flight simulations and training courses today to prepare you for a sub-orbital flight tomorrow!”

Danny’s eyes grew to the size of saucers and he nearly dropped the pen he had handed her. 

Maddie, too, looked just as surprised and she whirled to direct the expression at Vlad.

The billionaire merely shrugged as he took the paperwork and signed it. “They had a flight planned for this weekend. I couldn’t resist.” 

“Vlad, that’s… it’s too much!” Maddie breathed.

“Not even close!” Danny butted in, signing the paperwork messily and eagerly before he passed it back to the guide like it was a timed test. He then settled into his seat about as calmly as a paper bag on a windy day. 

Even the guide’s constant commentary throughout the drive did little to quell the anxious energy emanating from him. 

With a reaction like that, Maddie knew she couldn't protest any more, despite her reservation about accepting such a massive gift. She couldn't imagine how much that must have cost. She sat rigidly, unease settling in the pit of her stomach, but looking over at Vlad, at the smile that crossed his lips as he watched Danny's reaction, she realized that Vlad seemed to be taking almost as much joy from this as Danny was. It stole her breath away, how much he cared about her family, how hard he was working to get Danny (no, all of them) through this. She couldn't take this away from either of them. 

The group eventually arrived at a preparation site that looked like a small, domed amphitheater meant for many more guests than the four of them, where they began with a lecture by a former astronaut Maddie didn't catch the name of. She regaled them with stories from her own trips to space, instructed them on what to expect over the course of the training, and gave a presentation on astronomy; complete with a dazzling planetarium show full of lights and 3-D imagery.

Danny sat next to her, entire being hyper-focused on the presentation like he expected a test afterward. She cast little glances at him throughout, not wanting to make him self-conscious, but basking in his excitement. 

After about an hour and half for the presentation, it was time for some simulations, which was deeper into the facility. A staff member introduced them to a motion simulator that was really just a cockpit meant to be able to move with gyroscopic motion.

Danny was permitted the first ride after all of them got fitted for a flight suit, which they were told they would not only be using over the course of the weekend, but that they would be taking home with them. Danny looked overjoyed, hands idly moving over the material like he was memorizing it. 

After providing him a headset, the staff helped strap him into the cockpit and get acquainted with the various dials and screens present in front of him. 

Maddie stared at the screen beside the simulator, watching Danny's expression go from intimidated to determined as he carefully got the machine to spin and move, “navigating” his initial “launch”.  

There were a few times he looked unsure, but he was surprisingly open to instruction by the staff, paying close attention as they explained how to turn right side up when he'd once spun out of alignment for the spaceport docking portion of the simulation.

It wasn't that she thought he was an obstinate student, but more that she was surprised he hadn't inherited her or Jack’s egos. She could admit she didn't like having it pointed out when she was wrong or didn't know something, but Danny was all humility; asking questions, following directions with a hunger for knowledge that superseded pride. It struck her somewhat painfully how...starved he was for this. 

“He's doing well,” Vlad commented, sidling up next to her as they both watched his progress on the screen. “It's impressive what he can accomplish when he puts his mind to it.” 

“I know,” she concurred, then added enthusiastically, “Did you see how he looked like he knew what some of the dials and buttons were already? I think he might have been studying some of this on his own.”

Vlad smiled. “I think it's more likely he's gotten his piloting skills from his mother.” 

Maddie scoffed a laugh. “I wouldn't know the first thing about how to fly a spacecraft… This is all Danny.” 

Vlad nodded, then opened his phone and started typing something away.

She looked at him, then flicked her eyes at the phone without being too nosy. “What’s that?”

“I'm letting Mr. Garcia know to send the prerequisites for competitive piloting programs. I wasn't entirely sure what aspect of astronautics Danny was interested in. This is giving me some valuable insight.” 

Maddie blinked at him, then glanced at the phone again as he finished his message. “Why…?” 

Vlad looked at her sideways, then smirked at the corner of his mouth. She didn't mean to stare so hard at the expression and quickly averted her face before the redness in her cheeks could be observed. 

Vlad either didn't notice or let it slide past, explaining nonchalantly, “I've been working with his tutor to cater his education towards future admittance to the NASA program.”

She stared, dumbfounded for a moment before shaking her head to herself and clarifying, “You've been… what?” 

Vlad looked at her and apparently noticed the slight unease on her face, smiling reassuringly as he explained. “He mentioned a few months ago that he's been struggling in school and was concerned how his grades would affect his chances of being accepted into the NASA program. I'm told the typical routes are through the sciences or mathematics, but apparently he's struggling with those. I thought having his tutor focus on those topics might help, but it seems that hasn't been the case. So… we'll have to adjust for his natural inclinations. Piloting appears to be on that list.”

She looked at him, then at the screen showing Danny's determined, excited face as he successfully docked in the simulation, pumping his fist in triumph while Jazz cheered him on from outside. Her daughter, back from her internship at New York, and her now fifteen year old son celebrating his birthday at the very institution he hoped to gain a career in one day. She looked back at Vlad, the orchestrator of the smiles on her children’s faces and felt a flutter in her chest. 

Swallowing a tight lump in her throat, she crossed her arms over her chest, muttering only loud enough for Vlad to hear. “Thank you.”

Vlad seemed to hear the weight in her gratitude, turning to look at her fully and his expression softening. “It’s my pleasure, Maddie.” 

She smiled again, feeling that flutter spread to her stomach and down her arms, and she ducked her head, feeling a sudden wave of shyness that felt both foreign and exciting. 

She saw him grin out of the corner of her eye, then he clapped his hands and outstretched a hand to the similar Danny was vacating. “And now, Maddie, I think it’s your turn for a bit of fun… don’t you think?”

The flutter returned twice-fold, and she swallowed for a second before adorning a grin of her own. “Let’s see how helicopters compare to a space shuttle.”