The first few days after Danny returned home were a mess. Everyone was constantly trailing behind him, checking up on him, and being affectionate to him. They meant well, Danny knew, but he had spend the last year in the Ghost Zone with only Wulf for company. And while Wulf was also very loving, there was a big difference in how he showed it compared to Danny's family and friends.

And beside the coddling by his loved ones, there was also the matter of official business. Danny had been missing for well over a year, and while the police might not have believed his parents when they were first called in, the constant presence of ghosts in Amity Park had changed their minds.

So now Danny (and his loved ones) had to explain how Danny had survived for so long in an environment like the Ghost Zone, and how he had gotten back. In the end, they cobbled together a mostly-true story involving Wulf and Phantom.

And then there was the matter of school. Danny had gone missing just after the start of his freshman year of high school, and had returned several months into the next school year. Several options were discussed, and in the end they decided that Danny was to join the freshman class next year. This way, he had time to recover from his traumatic experiences, or so the school decided.

Danny's parents thought this gave them a good opportunity to settle Danny back into regular life, and Danny hoped that he could use this time to find a good balance between 'regular life' and what had beenhis regular life the past year; ghost hunting.

His parents were of the opinion that he should give up ghost hunting, of course, but were eventually swayed by the tag-team of Danny and Jazz – Danny didn't want to stop, and Jazz thought that ghost hunting had become such a vital part of Danny's life that quitting would have severe negative impacts on him.

So instead the Fentons and Phantom developed their truce into a proper alliance, making sure to wait a few weeks so no-one would connect Danny's return to this sudden development, and the three of them started ghost hunting together.

Danny also taught his parents about the Ghost Zone, and its resident ghosts. They created extensive Ghost Files, focusing first on the ghosts that targeted Amity Park, but also noting all of Danny's friends and allies.

Of course, after a few weeks of smothering by his loved ones, Danny was getting pretty sick of it. Sam and Tucker had listened to his begging and had started backing off, giving Danny time and space to himself, and Jazz's extensive knowledge about psychology meant that she could tell that he couldn't handle it anymore, but his parents struggled to do the same.

Having learned that their Portal was directly responsible for Danny's disappearance, rather than indirectly like they had thought, meant that their previously collected grief and guilt had multiplied thousandfold. They tried to make up for it, and Danny loved them for it, but not even patrols or ghost fighting could get them off of his tail.

So when, roughly a month after he had come home, his mom and sister received an invitation to some kind of event in Florida, he was quick to jump on the opportunity.

They didn't want to go, not without him, but the letter was quite clear about it. The invitation from the DALV company was directed towards Madeline Fenton and her daughter Jasmine Fenton, asking them to attend a mother/daughter science symposium in Florida, all expenses paid for.

In the end, Danny convinced them to go, telling them that he could spend the time doing some father/son bonding with his dad.

Mere hours after his mother and Jazz had left, the first ghost attacked. It wasn't a particularly threatening ghost, just some kind of mutant animal, and Danny watched his dad deal with it without breaking a sweat. The only thing noteworthy about the encounter was that it had attacked FentonWorks, rather than some random civilian in the streets. But Danny and his dad shrugged it off, and went back to tinkering with some of their ghost hunting equipment.

But it wasn't long before another ghost attacked, and another, and then suddenly they started attacking as one massive group.

Separately, they weren't anything special. They were all animal ghosts, no more intelligent than their living counterparts, and all seemed to be based on North American animals, though severely mutated. Danny could spot rabbits, wolves, bears, and even a few beavers, among others. It was a rather bizarre ensemble, but not terribly threatening.

It was still rather suspicious, however. The large group of them, all specifically targeting FentonWorks, made Danny suspect that someone had send them on purpose. Whoever had send them clearly hadn't counted on Danny's presence, however, since it was clearly meant to be an ambush, intended to quickly overwhelm the humans present.

Danny's ghost sense alerted him preemptively, and when the ghosts arrived, they were met by a transformed Danny Phantom and a well-equipped Jack Fenton.

The first ghost phased through the door, and was immediately blasted out again by a well-aimed ecto-ray from Danny. The next few followed the same pattern, getting knocked out the moment they came in by either Danny or his dad.

The ghosts wizened up and tried entering in a larger group, but Danny simply called on his cryokinesis and froze them solid, and his dad swiftly captured the immobile ghosts in a Fenton Thermos.

This seemed to drive the attacking ghosts into desperation, as they suddenly stormed inside, all of them attacking together. They were quick to pick up on the bigger threat, and went exclusively after Danny.

They were no match for Danny, however, and he swiftly dealt with them. He saw his dad picking off the stragglers, but the man avoided shooting the mass of ghosts, obviously afraid of hitting his son by accident.

After the ghosts were all dealt with, the two ghost hunters were left with barely a scratch on them, grinning at each other victoriously.

"Good job Danny-boy!" Jack crowed, clapping his son on the shoulder with such force that Danny flipped over mid-air.

"Thanks dad," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck as he righted himself again.

He watched the man wander back downstairs, carrying several Thermoses filled with ghostly animals, and he couldn't help wondering who had sent the ghosts after them, and more importantly, why. They weren't targeting Danny, as he had feared, because they clearly hadn't expected him to be there.

But he couldn't think of anyone, and he decided that he had more productive things to do with his time, so he phased through the floor to rejoin his dad in the lab.

Vlad eyed the papers lying on his desk with contempt. He enjoyed his role as billionaire, and the power that came with it, but he could honestly do without the paperwork.

Playing with people, manipulating them to play to his wishes, was something he liked. To maintain his power to do so, he needed to do paperwork. He knew this very well.

That didn't make it any less boring, though.

His thoughts wandered back to his latest plan to get his hands on the ever-stunning Maddie, and to get rid of the oaf that called himself her husband, Jack. He had send Maddie and her daughter (who seemed to be taking after her, rather than that idiot of a father) off to Florida, and had arranged for several of his mutant animals to attack Jack while he was alone.

While he was forced to admit that Jack and Maddie were a fairly competent ghost-hunting team, it was clear that Maddie was the main force. Without her, Jack would easily be overwhelmed by the mass of ghosts that Vlad had send after him.

He glanced at the papers again, before standing up, his mind made up. It had been a day since he had send out the ghosts, and he was sure that they had succeeded by now.

He was eager to reap the benefits of his ingenious plan, and set off to travel to Amity Park.

When Vlad arrives at FentonWorks, he's… rather surprised. He had expected to find absolute carnage, the building wrecked by the flood of barely-sentient ghosts he had set upon it. Instead the house stood tall and proud, the bizarre metal contraption still balanced on top, and the garish neon sign still hung from the front as well.

In fact, the whole building seemed entirely undamaged. There was nothing that suggests that the ghosts had been here, but Vlad knowsthey must have been. There was a barely-noticeable hint of ectoplasm in the air which hinted at a large-scale ghost encounter, but it might also be a side-effect from the constant presence of ghosts in Amity Park.

He floats there for what feels like an eternity, wondering how his minions had failed, before deciding to throw caution to the wind and find out.

He glances around, making sure that there is no one around to see, and then transforms back to his human form, returning to the visible plane as well.

He hesitates for a moment with his finger hovering over the doorbell, steels himself for the apparently inevitable encounter with Jack Fenton that he was going to have to suffer through, and presses down. He listens for the thundering footsteps of the oaf, but it stays quiet. He considers the possibility that his animals had been successful after all and simply hadn't damaged the building in the process, but then the door opens.

Standing in the opening isn't Jack, however. The boy bore a clear resemblance to him, with black hair and crystalline blue eyes, but he was smaller and much slighter, and dressed in a t-shirt and jeans instead of a blindingly orange jumpsuit.

Vlad recognizes the boy, of course. He had seen plenty of pictures, had listened to Maddie and consoled her in the hopes of winning her over, knowing that the boy was likely long-dead. No one survived for long in the Ghost Zone.

Yet here the boy stood, frowning at him. Vlad groans inwardly as he realized that the boy didn't know him, but flashes him a polite smile regardless.

He wasn't sure how Daniel 'Danny' Fenton had found his way home after his lengthy trip into the Ghost Zone, but he was already here to solve one mystery, so he might as well attempt to solve this one too.

"I don't believe we've met before, have we? Vlad Masters, pleased to meet you," he introduces himself, offering his hand to the boy.

"Uhm, no, I don't think so. I'm Danny. Uh, Danny Fenton." He shakes Vlad's hand, but continues to eye him with barely-hidden suspicion.

"Ah, the missing son, home at last. Your parents must be so happy to have you back."

"Yeah, I guess so… No offense, but why does it matter to you?"

"They haven't mentioned me, have they? I guess it's not too surprising, as they likely had other things on their minds. I'm an old friend from college, and we've recently reconnected. Are they home, perchance?" He shot another winning smile in the direction of the boy, but it was clearly ignored.

"Mom is away with Jazz, but dad is home. If you come in I'll go get him from the lab." He steps away from the door to let Vlad in, and Vlad gladly entered.

"Please do, thank you."

Danny vaguely points him towards the couch in the living room before racing off towards the kitchen, where Vlad knew the door to the lab was located. He couldn't hear the conversation between the boy and his father, but the thundering footsteps coming up the stairs are hard to miss.

Jack bounces over and grasps Vlad in a bone-crushing hug of the Fenton variety, but was quickly coaxed to let go by his son.

"V-man, what a surprise! I see you've met Danny already!" he booms, and Vlad barely stops himself from wincing at the sheer volume.

"Yes, and I'm glad to see that he has returned to you in excellent health. Has he been home for long?"

"About a month, give or take. But we've been so busy with all the official stuff and informing everyone that we must have forgotten to tell you. Sorry, Vladdie!"

Vlad grimaces at the mention of another of his old nicknames, but quickly smooths out his expression again. "I completely understand, old friend of mine. Mind introducing us? We've exchanged names, of course, but I'm afraid I don't know him outside of his disappearance."

"Of course, of course! Danny, this is my old friend from college, Vlad Masters! And Vlad, this is my son, Danny!" He claps his son on the back with such force that the boy almost falls over, and Vlad instantly sympathizes with the kid. He briefly wonders how the boy had survived 15 years with this man as his father, but decides that Maddie must have protected her kids from any Jack-related danger.

"Dad," the boy groans, "he already said all of that at the door when I let him in. Why don't you tell us something new, like how you two know each other or something?"

Jack smiles broadly at his son. "That's a great idea! We've got so many great stories, Vladdie and I, and some with your mom as well, of course. Let's sit down on the couch and we can tell you all about our college days, right V-man?"

"Yes, that sounds good." He moves towards the armchair, no doubt in his mind that Jack would have sat right next to him if he sat on the couch. Danny sat down on the couch instead, and Jack moved to sit right next to him.

They spend a short while talking about the past, about Jack and Vlad sharing a room in college, about their shared research into ghosts, and various other stories. The Proto-Portal and the accident involving it never came up, but Jack didn't seem to be avoiding the topic on purpose. No, it seemed like it had just slipped his mind, as if it wasn't important enough to mention. Unbelievable.

Vlad steers the topic back to Danny in the hopes of learning more about his disappearance, but the boy tells him all about everything except his time in the Ghost Zone. The boy seems rather restrained, and keeps eyeing him with suspicion, but Vlad isn't sure why. Lingering trauma from his interactions with ghosts, maybe?

Suddenly the boy shifts, glancing away from Vlad and his father.

"Ah shoot, sorry dad, Vlad, I completely forgot that I had to meet Sam and Tucker at the Nasty Burger." He quickly stands up. "It was nice meeting you Vlad, sorry that I have to leave so suddenly."

Vlad waves him off. "Of course my boy, it was a pleasure meeting you as well. Perhaps another time, hmm?"

Daniel nods, and swiftly exits the house. Vlad watches him leave, and found that he was still no closer to uncovering the truth behind the boy. Well, perhaps it would come up in conversation between him and his friends.

And lucky for Vlad, he was a great spy.

He quickly excuses himself, telling Jack that he has to go to the bathroom. With the door locked, he transforms into his ghost form, duplicates himself, and then has the duplicate turn himself back into Vlad Masters. While he typically would have send a duplicate as his spy, he had already listened to Jack ramble on for far longer than he liked.

He sends the duplicate back to Jack, then turns himself invisible and phases out of the building, hoping to catch Daniel before he met his friends.

The boy turned out to be even easier to find than he had expected, because he hadn't gone very far at all. Vlad watches the boy duck into an alley right next to the house, and frowns to himself. What was that boy up to?

He flies closer to take a look, and sees Daniel shiver and breathe out a blue mist. What on Earth was going on here?

The boy took on a defensive posture, glancing around himself warily. Vlad wasn't sure what Daniel was planning on doing if he saw a threat, since it would most likely be a ghost and he didn't seem to be carrying any weapons.

His question is soon answered, however, by a flash of bright light. He watches as a glowing white ring forms around Daniel's waist, and oh. Even if the color was different, he knows what this means.

The ring quickly splits apart, and the two white halos follow their path across Daniel's body. When they disappear, the ghost left behind is one Vlad recognizes from stories and photos – Phantom.

Well, that answers the mystery as to how Daniel survived in the Ghost Zone for over a year. He is a half-ghost, just like Vlad. He couldn't believe it. Another half-ghost existed! He isn't alone anymore! And even better, this half-ghost isn't just anybody, he is Maddie's son. Vlad has to have this boy as part of his family.

Vlad watches as Phantom (Daniel) launches himself into the air, once again surveying the area. He was clearly prepared for a ghost fight, but why? There was nothing to indicate the presence of another ghost, even if he was right.

But then a scream comes from a house nearby, and Danny zips off towards it. Vlad follows at a more sedate pace, and finds Danny intangibly shoving the Box Ghost through a wall. Once removed from the house, Danny fires an ecto-ray at the other ghost, quickly followed by an ice ray, which freezes the Box Ghost to the wall he had been blasted into.

"Well Boxy, I don't know how you keep getting out, but hopefully you'll stay away a little longer this time," the boy mutters, uncapping the thermos he had slung across his back, and quickly captures the immobilized ghost.

Vlad silently judges the boy's skills, and found that he was… rather impressed. He knows a thing or two about Phantom, of course, because who didn't. But knowing about his abilities, and seeing him use them in actual combat are two very different things, especially now that he knew that he was watching a fellow halfa.

Seeing that Danny was about to fly away, and noting that they were in a rather isolated area, Vlad decides that this was a good opportunity to recruit the boy.

He slowly claps his hands, a grin on his face as he returns to visibility. "Well done Daniel, well done."

The boy stiffens and whirls around, one hand tightened around the Thermos it held while the other started glowing green. He scowls at Vlad, but made no direct move to attack. Clever boy, prepared for a fight but not starting it. "I don't know who you are and quite frankly I don't care either. Who told you my name?"

Vlad tuts and shakes his head. "My boy, you told me yourself. Surely you didn't think you were the only half-ghost in existence, did you?"

Daniel's eyes widen, and Vlad felt his smile grow wider. "No way, really? But that means..." he trails off, eyes roving over Vlad. "Vlad? Vlad Masters, my dad's old friend from college?"

And Vlad lets his own transformation wash over him, the black rings taking away Plasmius and returning him back to his human form. "Indeed, the one and only."

Daniel flies closer, as if in disbelief, still inspecting Vlad. "But you look so- so different. And how? And-, and-"

Vlad raises a hand, stopping Daniel's barrage of questions. "Slow down, slow down. Yes, I look quite different in my ghost form. It was quite on purpose, I assure you. As for how, an accident in college involving the prototype for your parents' Ghost Portal."

Daniel frowns at him. "In college? So you've been half-ghost for what, 20 years? But my parents didn't know about the existence of half-ghosts until I told them. Were they not there when it happened, like when I had my accident?"

"No, they were there. In fact, it was your dad's fault it happened in the first place. The buffoon plugged in the Portal while I was standing right in front of it, and it exploded outwards, right into my face! I had to go to the hospital for a terrible case of ecto-acne, it took me years to recover."

"Wait, so did it not… instantly turn you into a ghost? And the explosion only hit your face, not your whole body? Was the prototype smaller than the regular Portal?" Daniel was eyeing Vlad with a calculating look in his eyes. Vlad quietly approved. The boy is clever, clearly takes after his mother. A worthy addition to the Masters family, for sure.

"No, it did not. The Proto-Portal was barely big enough for one to fit their head through, and the contaminated ectoplasm it spewed wasn't strong enough for such a drastic change. At the time, it only leeched the color out of my hair and caused the ecto-acne. The rest came more slowly.

Which brings me to my next point. You've been a half-ghost for what, a year?" Daniel nods. "As you've figured out yourself, I've had my powers for more than twenty years. Even if your skills are fairly impressive, you could do with proper guidance and training from another hybrid. Join me, and I'll help you master your powers, teach you everything I know. All you have to do is renounce your idiot father."

"Dude, you're nuts. I just got my own family back, and you think I'm gonna abandon them just to join you? No way." Daniel scowls at him, and Vlad realizes that he had taken the wrong approach to recruiting the boy.

"I've done fine figuring out my powers alone, and now I have my friends and family to help too. I don't need your help." Daniel looks around them, and nods to himself before turning back to Vlad.

"Look, I'm guessing that you're not here to cause any trouble, only to talk to me?" Seeing Vlad nod, he continues. "Good, in that case I should get going. My friends are waiting for me."

Daniel turns around again and speeds off, almost immediately turning himself invisible. Vlad remains in the alley, sorting through his plans. He has to get the boy, but it clearly wasn't as simple as he had hoped. He would have to win the boy over, make him realize how much better off he would be with Vlad as his father instead of Jack.

The best way to do this, Vlad decides, is to train young Daniel anyway. That way he can show the difference he would make, how much of an improvement he would be over that oaf. But how can he get the boy to agree to training, especially since he just offered it at too high a price?

Well, the boy doesn't have to accept if his parents do. They must know that Daniel is Phantom, it's too obvious for clever Maddie to miss, and if she knows then she must have told Jack. And if they accept their son, then they will likely also accept their old college friend.

And if he tells them that he has been half-ghost since the accident in college, then they will surely see the benefits to having him train Daniel.

Yes, that could work. He'll have to return another time, when Maddie is home. A weekday, so that the children will be at school.

He shifts back to his ghost form and returns to FentonWorks, where he recombines with his duplicate and excuses himself, swiftly leaving the conversation with Jack. He has much to think about, but the seeds for a new plan have been planted. In due time, he will get to harvest the results, his beautiful new family.

And so, roughly a week later, Vlad returns to FentonWorks.

He rings the bell and waits, tracking Jack's progress to the door based on his thundering footsteps. The door swings open, and there stands the enormous orange idiot himself.

"Vladdie! What a surprise! Come in, come in." He steps aside to let Vlad in, his whole face lit up in a huge smile.

"Vlad? Surely you didn't come all the way from Wisconsin just to visit us?" Maddie (wondrous, amazing Maddie) questions as she emerges from the kitchen, pulling down her hood to reveal her stunning violet eyes.

"I did, but worry not, it was no hassle." Maddie frowns at him, but Jack claps him on the back and starts to guide him towards the couch before she could say anything else.

"Well, I'm glad to see you again V-man! Have a seat, and then we can talk about why you're here."

Maddie trails behind them, sitting down next to Jack on the couch. "Yes, although I'm not sure why you couldn't have called."

Vlad, seeing that he couldn't sit on the couch next to Maddie, sits down in the armchair once again. "I could have called, yes, but I wanted to talk about something very important, and I feared it was too… sensitive to discuss over the phone."

"Vlad, what is this about? Did something happen?"

"Not recently, no. I wanted to talk with you about the accident in college, with the Proto-Portal."

Maddie and Jack share a confused look with each other, both trying to figure out why he brought it up. Maddie, clever as always, figures it out first. He watches as she grows wide-eyed and stares at him.

"You're… Are you?"

Jack frowns. "Is he what, Maddie? I don't get it."

Vlad ignores the oaf, focuses on Maddie, and nods. "I am."

He stands up, suddenly, and calls on his ghostly core. A single glowing black ring forms around his waist, where it splits apart and slowly makes it way over his body. The rings transform his expensive black suit into a much simpler white outfit, accessorized with a black belt, black boots, and black gloves. The look is finished by the high-collared cape he wears, the inside as red as his eyes. His skin is an unnatural blue, and his eyes empty and pupil-less. His hair is swept out of its ponytail and into a spiked haircut, as black as it had been before his accident. The rings fade away, and Vlad grins at his love and her husband, revealing sharp fangs.

"You're- holy moly V-man, you're-" Jack falls into an uncharacteristic silence, and he and Maddie share a silent conversation.

"Vlad, we're… we're so sorry. That this happened to you, and that you felt like you couldn't tell us about this." Jack nods, but for once doesn't speak.

"It's fine, I assure you. I will admit that I was pretty… peeved, but it's been twenty years. I'm over it." He waves off their concerns and returns to human form before sitting back down. "Now, there was something else I wanted to talk about as well.

Your son, Daniel, is a half-ghost as well, correct?"

"How did you find out, Vladdie? I mean, you didn't even know Danny until you two met last weekend."

"It was rather obvious to me. But then, I already knew that ghostly hybrids such as us exist, so it was a rather obvious answer for his miraculous survival in the Ghost Zone. But that's not what I wanted to talk about."

Maddie frowns at him. "Then what did you want to talk about? You're the one who brought up Danny."

"Well, I'll get straight to the point then. As I mentioned, I've had my powers for over twenty years. Your son has had them for barely a year. With my experience, I could help train him, and help him understand our… shared condition. We are the only two known hybrids, after all."

"Vladdie, what a brilliant idea! I would love for you to help Danny! Just imagine," Jack wipes away an imaginary tear, "my best friend and my son bonding over ghost hunting."

"Yes, it sounds like a very good idea, as long as Danny agrees. He should be in his room, I'll ask for him to come join us."

She stands up and leaves, and Vlad curses to himself. He had picked a weekday in the hopes that Daniel wouldn't be home, but the boy apparently hadn't gone back to school yet, likely because he had only recently reappeared. Oh butter biscuits, he might remember Vlad's previous offer and refuse again.

Maddie soon returns, Daniel trailing behind her.

"Danny-boy, Vlad here offered to help you train because he's a half-ghost too! Isn't that exciting!" Jack booms, and Vlad winces away from the sudden shout. He sees Daniel quirk a smile, but the boy quickly wipes it away in favor of frowning at him.

"Yeah, that's… incredible. I dunno dad, I don't really, y'know, know him." He shrugs listlessly, and Vlad resists the urge to roll his eyes. Stubborn teenager.

"Well Danny, you could get to know each other during training, of course. Maybe we can try it out a few times, and if it doesn't work, we can always take back over?" Maddie lays her hands on Daniel's shoulders, clearly attempting to convince him. He wasn't easily swayed, however.

"Maybe… Can we do the training here, in the lab?"

"I guess, but my dear boy, I have specialized rooms that we could use to train. Wouldn't it be better to use those?"

The boy continues to frown at him. "We could, but if we train here mom and dad can watch as well. And Jazz, and Sam and Tucker too."

"Well, it would be pretty enlightening to watch you two train, and I can see why you might want your friends to come visit during training as well. We've got space to train in the lab as well, and we can adapt it to your needs as well."

"Yes, I suppose that would be possible. So how about weekly training here in the lab, every Saturday, starting this weekend?"

Daniel nods, but shoots him one last suspicious glance. "Yeah, that sounds good. Was that all?"

"Yes, thank you Danny. Let me know if you're going out, okay sweetie?"

Daniel nods at his mother before speeding back up the stairs. Vlad watches him go, smiling to himself. Soon enough the boy would be his. But he has to be patient. It would be no easy task to win the boy over during their training sessions.

But Vlad Masters always got what he wanted, and what he wanted was his beloved family.

The training sessions go well, all things considered. Daniel might lack proper training, but he has acquired a lot of skills during his time in the Ghost Zone, and he is a good student. He listens well, follows instructions to a t, and is adaptable to no end. The only thing that holds him back is his impatience, but coaching from his friends and family help him stay motivated.

Vlad hadn't been sure about the inclusion of Daniel's loved ones when they first started training, but they proved to be more helpful than distracting. While he did his best to compliment Daniel's progress, the support from his family and friends was much more powerful.

He often found himself watching Daniel during their breaks. The interactions between the boy and his family made him alternate between sick and pleased, sharp pangs of jealousy whenever Jack and the boy got along well but enjoying seeing his future wife and her son together. But it was Daniel's friendship with the two teens that really struck a cord with Vlad.

He saw Daniel and Samantha and Tucker, saw them play and joke and screw around with each other, and he was reminded of his college days. He looked, and he saw Jack, Maddie, and himself. And he found that he missed that friendship.

He realized, suddenly, that he desired more than just a wife and kids. He wanted to be loved, not just as a husband and a father, but as a friend.

And as he continued to watch Daniel and his family, he realized that they were all irreversibly connected. Maddie and Daniel cared far too deeply about Jack, and Jasmine as well, to separate any of them. Doing so would change who they were, permanently.

And Vlad found that he didn't want them to change. He didn't want to break up this family.

And he was horrified when he realized what he had almost done. In his desperation, he had almost screwed up his only chance at happiness with Maddie, just because he wasn't happy with what he had. He threw away his friendship with her just because he wanted more, because he wanted something he would never even get.

Because he could see, now, that Maddie was happy with Jack. Far happier than she would ever be with him.

But they hadn't abandoned him, despite the fact that he carried some childish grudge against them for two decades. Jack still cheered him on like nothing had ever happened, and Maddie started to open back up as well.

Vlad vowed to himself that he wouldn't let this chance pass him by. He was given a second chance, and by God was he going to take it.

He might not become Maddie's beloved husband, but he could be her dear friend. Hers, and Jack's, of course. He would rekindle their lost friendship, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.

And luckily for him, his old friends were more than happy to accept him back in their lives, and into their family.

"Hey, uncle Vlad?" Danny asks as he floats over to where Vlad was seated in a plush chair. They were in Vlad's office in his new mansion in Amity Park, where Vlad had been working on, ugh, paperwork.

"Yes, little badger?" Vlad looks up from the papers spread over his desk to smile at the boy, seeing his grimace at the nickname.

"I was thinking about the first time we met. Back then you asked me to join you so we could train together. I refused, because you wanted me to renounce my dad, but then days later you came by and asked my parents instead."

"Yes, I remember that. I was quite impressed by your swift take-down of the Box Ghost."

"Right, right. But I don't understand why you asked me to abandon my dad." The boy frowns at him, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Well, dear Daniel, at the time that was what I most desired. My own little family, with Maddie as my wife, and you as my son."

Danny quirks his eyebrow. "At the time? So not anymore, then?"

"No, not anymore. I've gotten what I always wanted, even if not the way I had envisioned it. A loving family to call my own."

Danny floats over, wrapping a cold arm around his shoulders, and with a smile so bright that Vlad knew he had made the right choice. "Aww, I love you too V-man!"

Yes, Vlad thinks to himself, his plans had worked out quite fine. He had sown the seeds and finally harvested the results, and even if they weren't quite what he had planned, the results were far beyond what he could have hoped for.