Chapter Text
A wild flash of light, the monstrous cacophony of everything falling apart around him as a result, and then nothing. Nothing but the unnatural silence that settled over the clearing where his house had once been.
And then, pain.
Pain like nothing Vlad had ever felt before, searing beneath his skin. His nerves raw with the sheer wrongness he felt, as unbalanced and unconditioned as the day he was born. Stumbling out of the debris on shaky newborn legs and squinting through strained eyes at the scene before him. Taking in the way the ghost had laid waste to everything in his path, destroyed everything he'd ever known. And then, after a moment--
"Daniel?!" Vlad called out as he forced himself to stand, the ringing of his ears overpowered only by the beating of his heart, rapidly picking up pace as he felt his stomach drop in dread. Ignoring the burning sensation lighting up beneath his muscles as he flung himself at the nearest mountain of rubble, frantically removing boulder after boulder after rock after rock and throwing them to the side, aided only by adrenaline and the horrendous, all consuming fear of what he would find. "Little Badger?!"
Please, please let him be okay. After everything he's been through, everything we've been through, please let him be okay. Please don't let it have been for nothing.
Yelling out in frustration as more and more concrete was pulled away to reveal nothing and Vlad could feel himself getting desperate. Who knows how long Danny could have been lying somewhere, bleeding out for all he knew? Who knows how much time he really had left, feeling the air around him beginning to chill and seeing the last remnants of sunlight in the sky beginning to fade away with the evening.
He doesn't let himself think about the fact that he would've been more than able to detect a sign of life from Danny by now.
Doesn't let himself think about anything really, anything other than finding that beautiful, reckless, stupid boy and fixing him up, taking him far away from this place. Hiding him away from ghosts and harm and anything else that would ever bring trouble to their lives ever again. They'd run away together, he thinks, sitting back on his hands and catching his breath after hours of searching, damning himself for getting such an obnoxiously, pompously large estate for himself and the only person that'd ever mattered to him. Refusing to acknowledge the ache in his hands, or the way his eyes stung with tears that knew well before he did what he was expecting to find now.
They'd run away together, he told himself resolutely. Some place far, but familiar, the country maybe, where Vlad and Danny could tend to a garden, take care of a couple of cows and other livestock, maybe even get that dog the boy had always wanted. Where neither of them would ever have to worry about feeling that lonely ever again.
Danny would be safe there, they could be happy there. Danny would be--
Would be. Would have been.
Danny would have been, if not for the pale hand he could now see, sticking out from underneath the latest pile of concrete and metal he'd been surveying.
Danny could have been, if he wasn't in Vlad's arms now, devoid of life and looking the worst the elder had ever seen him. Shaking not of his own volition, but as a result of Vlad's shuddering as he pulled the younger closer to him, as the dam began to break and he could feel the overwhelming sense of grief pouring down his cheeks in waves. His throat swelling in the effort to contain his cries, to not disrupt the eerie sense of quiet that had fallen around them. In an effort to at least give Danny this, this final moment of peace that the younger had spent his whole life chasing after. Peace that Danny should have had long before this.
Should have.
Should have been.
Danny should have been happy, Danny should have been safe. After all the efforts the boy made, all of the good he had done, Danny deserved it, deserved safety, not this. Not to die in the arms of a man who'd done nothing but hurt him all of his life. Not to die having never achieved his dream of becoming an astronaut, having never gotten the chance to say goodbye to his family, or his friends. Not to end up alone, or even worse, with Vlad.
For the first time in months, Vlad felt anger. The same familiar, all encompassing anger that had plagued him all of his adult life. And for the first time in years, it was anger on behalf of someone else, selfless, righteous anger.
How could the world be so cruel, so genuinely unforgiving? To send Daniel James Fenton to the steps of death's door at the age of 14 and thrust this level of responsibility upon him. To have him so unbiasedly defend each and every single individual he came across from harm's way. It felt as though the world itself had taken advantage of Danny, of his kindness, and the thought filled Vlad with irreparable anger.
"I'm so sorry Danny.." Vlad finally allowed himself to say, and unable to say much else than that. He was so devastatingly, unbelievably sorry for the boy that laid before him now, for what this child had gone through. He was so sorry for the part he had to play in it, in adding to the list of nonsense that this boy had had to experience in his short lifetime.
There's not much else Vlad can do now but sit and repent in silence, so that's what he decides should be done, and so he sits there. Allowing himself to sit back and reflect on all that was and now would never be.
And for the first time in his life, Vlad realizes that he's called the boy Danny.
If the pain from earlier was bad before, it was nothing compared to this.
xXxXx
Vlad tried, he really, really, tried to move on. To go back to living his life while it could still be lived. He owed it to Danny to at the very least try.
He immerses himself in projects, puts all of his efforts into doing all that he can to make Amity Park a place Danny would have been proud of. Puts as much time, effort, and money he can into improving the education system, into building up their community,
It's still not enough.
Pours his heart and soul into his businesses, does everything he can to make them environmentally friendly, energy efficient, and even just moral for god's sake. Puts all of his funds into helping others, donating to charity.
Funding for Nasa space programs to remain in place.
And every evening, Vlad goes home to what's now a modest, two story home in Amity Park, nothing like the esteemed Polter Heights mansion he used to reside in. No longer interested in splurging an ounce of his wealth upon himself, more interested in seeing every last cent go somewhere it was needed, somewhere it was wanted.
Vlad had no interest in investing in himself anymore.
The first few months had been spent doing everything in his power to undo the events of that day, more than aware of Clockwork's possible means of assistance in the ghost zone. Problem was, Vlad had no ability to reach him, given that his ghost half was no longer in his possession and the portal had been destroyed in the incident all of those months ago. This did nothing to stop him however, as he spent weeks combing through all the books he could get his hands on in Amity Park’s extensive library.
The five stages of grief his colleagues called it, what they considered to be his inability to let go, his refusal to give up hope that someway, somehow, he had the ability to change what had happened that day, to prevent it even.
If only they knew how wrong they were, how true that statement was, and just how much it truly was in Vlad's power to make that happen.
And if only he knew how to do so.
He'd been trying endlessly to figure out how, how what was now a completely human man was supposed to get in contact with what was essentially a God? Apparently Danny had been in contact with the elusive ghost more times than Vlad could care to remember, and often in times of dire distress, so what more was the elder waiting for?!
It'd be one thing if it was just a matter of his own suffering, Vlad was more than accustomed to his prayers going unanswered in that regard. But this seemed to be a lot more serious than his inability to move on from what happened.
Little by little word sprung up about a sadistic ghost wreaking havoc on neighboring cities and towns just outside of Amity Park, and Vlad was becoming more than aware that time was running out, and fast. He may not have been able to figure out how to contact Clockwork, but he'd been more than able to recognize the serious repercussions of what had happened in the lab that day. And if what he'd been suspecting from the latest news broadcasts he'd been privy to turned out to be true, well then, those repercussions would be back to bite him in the ass way sooner than Vlad expected.
What he ended up seeing on television that night only solidified that fear.
It'd been another day of endless work trying to atone for the sins he knew would never leave him when he finally found his way back into his measly two story apartment. Groaning as he forced the front door shut behind him, he sighed as he made his way up the creaking stairs to his apartment.
Another day, and not a single step closer to fixing this mess.
Finally settling down on the couch and throwing his head back with a sigh, the man dragged his fingers through his hair before finally pulling the band at the base of his skull loose, feeling the tension leave his body along with his breath. "I don't know how much longer I can go on like this.." he murmured to himself, "It's like I can feel myself getting older, I'm finally becoming that old man Danny liked to call me so often." he snorted mirthlessly.
Deciding he'd had enough of monologuing to himself like the villain he used to be, Vlad stretched over and grabbed the remote before switching the tv on to the news.
And felt his heart stop dead in his chest at the scene playing out on the screen.
"-- destruction in a neighboring Amityville town today as we're finally able to put a face to the specter that's been tormenting the city. The following is a recording taken on a cellphone at the scene."
Vlad's eyes widened in horror as he took in the sight on the screen before him, watching as a ghost dressed in black and white laid waste to the city beneath his feet, consuming the surrounding areas in white hot fire and sending down ectoplasmic beams in their wake. Vlad could barely even process the way the camera man's hands shook as it zoomed in on the features of the elusive ghost that had been evading the law for weeks now. And, seeing the other ghost up close, he swallowed the lump in his throat at the familiarity of his everything.
The bluish-green tint of his skin, inhuman and sickly in comparison to what had once been a tan, lively complexion. Ironic really, considering the circumstances. The all too familiar wrath in the man's unearthly red eyes as he looked down upon the scene beneath him with what could only be described as disgust, his anger palpable even through the filter of a phone screen.
Hypnotic, endlessly flowing hair catching in the light of the city burning to dust around him, rivaled only by the bright glint of light reflecting off of the overwhelming set of fangs the massive ghost sported. Every last inch of the specter was massive, unforgiving, and an abjectly horrifying reminder of what he had done to Danny.
He’d been so distracted by the ghost’s everything that he hadn’t even realized the camera man had been thrown off to the side, startled to see that he’d gotten up close and personal.
“It’s going to be a lot worse than this when I finally work my way over there, Amity Park! I’ve been waiting a long, long time for this. You’ve more than had it coming.” he snarled. “It’s about time you’ve paid your dues.”
“Oh, and don’t think I’ve forgotten. I’m coming for you, Vlad Masters.”
The same, spine chilling laugh left the villain’s throat before the video finally ended.
Vlad found his ears ringing, as loud and as vibrant as they had been that day, that day that felt as though it were so many years ago now. This was it, the voice of the ghost that'd been tormenting civilians and wreaking havoc for the last few weeks. The voice of someone he'd known for years, but different somehow, sadder, more pained than he'd ever imagined it, and yet,
" I'm coming for you, Vlad Masters."
Throwing himself from the couch, Vlad threw on his coat before making his way out the door, the utter devastation of the situation finally hitting him as he got into his car, hands shaking as he forced the key into the ignition and slammed down on the breaks.
This couldn't be happening, there was no way this was what would become of Danny, that this is what he'd done to Danny.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Vlad felt the familiar sensation of tears running down his face as he drove down a road he'd been down hundreds if not thousands of times before. A drive that had once been routine, failure after failure, heading back to what was once his cold empty castle in the middle of nowhere to grovel in what he now understood to be self pity.
There has to be something I can do. There has to be some way to fix this. There has to be.
Ignoring the anxious jittery motions of his limbs, Vlad stepped out of the car and into an all too familiar place that haunted his every waking thought, every minute of the day rearing back to this moment, this single place in time where he'd lost everything. Overwhelmed, he sunk to his knees, releasing months of frustration as he curled in on himself and finally allowed himself to grieve fully.
Where Danny had died, under his care and under his misguided, foolish attempts to fix him. Where Vlad had learned that even after everything, he was still human. Where the world had taken and hurt and abused them at every turn and went on like nothing ever happened. Like Danny never happened.
Where Vlad came to shed more tears than he would ever admit to anyone.
And here he was again, self pitiful as always in a place that'd never welcomed him, in a world that'd never welcomed him.
And where, for the first time in months, maybe even for the first time in years, Vlad felt the gentle touch of another person as a hand ran through the silver coils veiling his anguished face, unable to contain the breath of utter relief that rushed out of him at the contact.
Sorrowful blue eyes trailing up, taking in the otherworldly blue glow in front of him before settling on a pair of red eyes in the midst of an ever changing face, shifting from youth to age with an unsettling grace that only served to comfort Vlad in that moment.
And finally, the being before him spoke the only words that could ever lift the burden off of Vlad's shoulders.
“I was wondering when you’d be back, Vlad Masters.”