The Past is Present

Chapter 3: Dinner at The Majestic

The following morning, when a bleary eyed Danny stumbled into the kitchen, he found Jazz sitting at the table which was covered with letters and envelopes.

"Err...weren't you meant to be at the library or something?" Danny asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Danny?!" she exclaimed, nearly jumping up and falling out of her seat. She hastily began to gather the letters up to hide them but when Danny saw one marked 'urgent' he picked it up before she could hide it.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's nothing, Danny, just..."

"It says 'urgent', Jazz, it's gotta be something...y'know...urgent."

"It's just those stupid spam things, y'know, 'you've won a million dollars, act now, don't delay', y'know just those stupid things," she gave a nervous laugh.

"Doesn't look like it," Danny said, reading the letter. "Whoa, hey is this thing for real?" he asked, seriously. "They're gonna take mom and dad to court?"

"It's...yeah, it's real," she sighed. "It's...unpaid electricity bill. Mom and dad haven't paid it for three months and the suppliers are threatening to cut us off and take us to court. So I went and found all the other letters, y'know how they usually just stuff them in the drawer till they remember them? Mom's not usually this forgetful," she sighed. "They've basically had enough of us shorting out the neighbourhood every other week and they put the bill up because we use so much. I guess they had trouble paying it and they just...forgot."

Danny, stunned, fell into a chair and blinked at his sister. He'd never seen her so stressed. "So...what'd we do?" he asked.

"I...told mom and she said she'd take care of it but...I really don't know how they can afford this. The lab...it's using too much power," Jazz said.

"They'll never shut the lab down," Danny purses his lip.

"I know. But if mom and dad don't pay these bills by the end of this month they'll cut off our supply," Jazz said, tossing aside the most recent letter. "We'll have no gas or electricity and all they seem to care about is the stupid lab!" she cried, running a hand through her messy hair.

"How much?"

"Too much," she answered.

"So...we're in trouble...like, real trouble?"

"Yeah, we are."

"And here I was worried about school," Danny sighed, slouching in his chair.

They both knew that their parents loved them more than anything, or at least on equal par with ghost hunting and most of the time, Jack and Maddie were great parents, if unconventional ones. But Danny couldn't ever remember finding unpaid bills and court threats before and he had no idea what to do about it. He supposed if he thought like Vlad, he could just use his powers to rob a bank and use it to pay the bills, but there was no way that he could.

"I was thinking...I could...pay it...I mean, Vlad gave me that money and..."

"No way, Jazz, he gave you that for college and a car," Danny protested. "And I thought you were gonna buy that one you saw last week," he added. Clearly his sister had gene thinking along similar lines, maybe not the robbing a bank route, but it had lead her to think about Vlad.

The old car she'd been using had finally broken down so badly that it wouldn't be worth fixing it and she'd had her eye on a new one, well, it was a used car, but it was still nice.

"Yeah but...well, d'you think..." Jazz began quietly, "Maybe...erm...Vlad could..."

"Oh, no!" Danny exclaimed, standing up and throwing his arms up. "No way, Jazz," he added.

"Why not? We could at least ask. We're...we're in a heck of a lot of trouble here, Danny," she explained.

"But..." Danny began but their mother walked into the room before he could continue.

"Kids..." Maddie said and tried to smile. "You should get to school. I said I'd handle this," she said, gathering up the letters on the table.

"But, mom..." Jazz said.

Maddie crumpled the letters into a small pile and stuffed them into one of the dozens of pockets on her jumpsuit. "Now, have you had breakfast? I'll make you some, then you really should go to school," she said, hurrying around the kitchen.

"I really don't think it's a good idea," Danny said to her as they walked down the street to school. They were on their way to meet Sam and Tucker.

"What?" Jazz asked.

"Paying the bills yourself. I mean, what happens next time and the time after that, you can't pay them forever."

"I know, but...it's better than having no electricity," she replied.

Danny had no answer to that and he didn't want to talk about it in front of his friends, who they could see walking towards them. "Talk about it later, 'kay?" he muttered and she nodded. "Hey, guys!" he waved, putting on a smile.

As he'd expected, Danny and his sister were suddenly everyone's best friend. Everyone they passed in the corridor seemed to know them and ask them how they were and some even hugged them.

"This is too weird even for me," Danny grumbled.

"If it makes you feel any better, it's weird for me too," Jazz said. "I'll see you later," she said, walking off to class.

"I need a disguise," the young hybrid muttered.

"We could always try the goth look," Sam grinned.

"Err...maybe later," Danny replied.

The fact that Danny had done all of his homework seemed to surprise every teacher when he handed it to them, especially Lancer.

"Finally decided to buck up your ideas, Mr. Fenton?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Err, yeah," Danny nodded, "Figured I should...y'know..."

"And what force of nature finally forced you to sit down and start this academic streak?"

"...V...err...my err...godfather," Danny muttered.

"Hmm, " Lancer hummed. Like everyone else in the school he too had heard the rumours that the Fenton children's godfather was wealthy billionaire Vlad Masters and from what he'd heard of the man, he was indeed a force of nature to be reckoned with. "Well, good," the man nodded. "Since you're at it, don't forget the test on Friday," he said.

"...Right...what's that about again?" Danny asked and Lancer sighed.

The rest of the day passed much like the last. At dinner they were practically hauled over to the 'popular' table and Sam spent that time ignoring the conversation and stormed off the moment the bell rang for class.

"So, you're coming to my party Friday, right, Danny?" Paulina asked him.

"Err...uh huh, I mean sure, wouldn't miss it," Danny answered.

"Smooth," Tucker whispered to him.

"Good," she smiled, "We better get to class."

"Err...what's with the car, dude?" Tucker stared, open mouthed at the sleek black car that was waiting outside after school.

"Oh...nuts..." Danny face palmed. "Forgot...hoped he had too," he muttered.

"Forgot what?" Jazz asked.

"Err...Vlad's making us go to dinner at this...fancy hotel he's staying at," he told her.

"Why?"

"Said that's what he wanted for helping me with my homework last night," he shrugged.

"Which is still creepy," Sam said.

"It was torture, it took ages," Danny corrected her.

"You needed to do it, Danny, and I'm glad Vlad helped you," Jazz shook her head. "But why did he say that's what he wanted in return?" she pondered. "When did he ask you about it?"

"He didn't really 'ask' but err...last night, after you went to bed."

"Oh," she said. "Well, it's a nice offer but we need to get home...remember?" she said, subtly reminding him, she hoped, about the electricity bill issue.

"Yeah, I know...but it's not like we'll be gone all night...and I am pretty hungry. And unless mom and dad went shopping, we're gonna end up eating that old pizza out the freezer and I forgot how long that things been in there for. And it's free food!" he added.

"I...guess," she frowned.

"Plus, if we don't go we'd never hear the end of it," Danny added.

"True," she scoffed.

"Sneak out some o' that fancy food for me, will ya?" Tucker said to him.

"In what? I don't don't think Vlad goes to places where they let you take a doggy bag home, Tuck," Danny rolled his eyes.

"No fair," Tucker bemoaned.

"Mr. Fenton? Miss. Fenton?" the driver from the car called as she got out. She was a relatively young woman, with short bobbed black hair wearing black trousers and a smart white shirt. "I'm your driver for today, I'm Ainsley. We should really get going, Mr. Masters won't be happy if you're late," she said.

As if on queue, both Danny and Jazz's phone made loud beeping sounds, or in Danny's case a loud 'boo' sound; Tucker had thought it was funny and Danny couldn't get it to change back.

"Speak o' the devil," Danny grumbled as he read the text.

"Vlad?" Jazz asked him.

"Yup," he nodded. "I swear he's psychic or something. Says we'd better go to dinner or else, basically. Oh and he says to 'be nice to Ainsley'. I'm nice!" he frowned.

"Huh, on mine he says 'make sure your brother behaves'," Jazz smirked.

"Say what?" Danny exclaimed and snatched her phone from her hand. "That jerk," he grumbled after reading it. Jazz snorted as she put away her phone.

"Dinner with your arch enemy, huh? Nice knowing you, Danny. I guess we can avenge you when things go wrong," Sam said, smirking from the texts. "Oh, and be nice," she mocked.

"Yeah, and behave," Tucker added.

"Real funny, guys," Danny grumbled.

"Behave," Sam grinned again and they left.

"Bring me food!" Tucker called back and Danny shook his head.

"No way!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Nu uh!" Danny called back.

"Come on," Jazz shook her head, smiling and they made their way to the car.

"Err...I forgot to tell mom and dad," Danny told her.

"I'll call them," Jazz said, taking out her phone again.

"Hey, how far away is this fancy hotel anyway?" Danny asked Ainsley as they got into the car and closed the doors.

"Just over half an hour if we manage to avoid traffic, sir," she replied.

"And err...if we don't?"

"More like an hour."

"Geez, why couldn't Vlad just stay at a hotel in the city?" he grumbled and she chuckled. "And what's with the 'sir'?" he asked.

"Then he wouldn't get to show off by sending a driver to pick you up, would he?" Ainsley replied. "Mr. Masters values politeness, I'm told you're his family. So you're 'sir', and Miss. Fenton is 'miss'."

"Errr...I'd feel a lot better if you just call me 'Danny'," he replied. "I err...won't tell Vlad," he added.

"It's more than my job's worth I'm afraid, sir," she replied and he sighed.

"'Sir' it is then, but I'm totally gonna have words with Vlad."

"Your funeral," she smiled.

"Danny, they're not answering," Jazz told him.

He tried calling both his parents' phones and the landline and got no answer. "Guess they're in the lab," he sighed. "Can we make a stop first?" he asked the woman, "Mom and dad don't know we're going."

"Sure thing," she replied, "Where to?"

"Trust me, y'can't miss it," Danny replied, sighing.

"Well...you weren't wrong, sir," Ainsley remarked, looking up at Fenton Works in a mix of awe and confusion.

"Yeah," Danny rolled his eyes and got out of the car.

"We won't be long," Jazz assured her quickly before she followed her brother.

"Y'think they sorted out the bills?" Danny asked her, opening the front door.

"I hope so," she answered quietly. "Mom? Dad?" she called out.

"Lab," Danny said and they made their way down into the lab.

Predictably, their parents were had at work, although what exactly they were working on, they weren't entirely sure. "Mom? Dad?" Danny said.

"Kids!" Jack smiled at them. "Come look at this! It'll zap any ghost it gets close to! I call it the Fenton Zapper!"

"Err..." Jazz blinked and subtly pushed Danny away a little. "Maybe later. We were...we're going out. Vlad invited us to dinner at his hotel so...erm...there's leftover veg stew in the fridge for you but we need to sort out the..."

"I'm handling it, sweetie," Maddie assured her kindly. "But...Vlad asked you to dinner?"

"Yeah," Danny said, "He's got his driver calling me 'sir' and everything."

"He has a driver?" Maddie blinked.

"Yup."

"Oh...well, and...you want to go?" she asked.

"Err...yeah, sure," Danny shrugged.

"Well, have fun," she replied, sounding confused.

"Tell Vladdie we said 'hi'," Jack said cheerily.

"Uh huh," Danny muttered.

"Should we err..I dunno, change?" Jazz asked him before they left the house.

"Why bother?"

"You keep saying it's a fancy hotel, shouldn't we...look fancy?"

"Well, you can if you want but..."

"I'm going to change. I'll be quick."

"We're gonna be late and he's not gonna be happy."

"I think the fact that we changed will make it worth it, don't you? He's all for appearances, right?"

"Guess so. Argh fine, I'll...I dunno, I'll look," Danny stormed off to his room.

"Ready?" Ainsley asked them when they returned to the car.

"Yep," Danny sighed. "Can't believe you made me change," he grumbled to his sister.

"I didn't make you. I just don't feel like being stared at when we go to this fancy hotel," she relied. She'd changed into a knee length skirt and low heels with her usual black top. While Danny had made a minuscule effort by wearing a white button up shirt and the black suit trousers that he'd bought when Vlad had taken them to the theatre.

"Probably give Vlad a heart attack," he snorted.

"Probably," Jazz smiled.

Danny was about to say something but he seemed to think better of it, instea,d he took out his phone, typed a quick message and put it away. A second later, Jazz's phone buzzed. 'Don't say anything to Vlad about the bill. We'll get mom and dad to sort it out l8r. K?' it read.

She sighed but nodded to him and he gave her a small smile.

The 'Majestic' hotel was aptly named. It was a huge, baroque style building with columns and statues as far as the eye could see. There was a large water fountain in front and the driveway arched around it with a huge stone staircase leading up to the main door. The ground floor ceiling to floor windows looked to be framed with gold and the sash windows above them were too. It was a lavish display of wealth that suited Vlad and made Danny feel uncomfortable.

"Yup, leave it to Vlad to book into a freaking palace," Danny rolled his eyes.

"Come on," Jazz smiled at him and got out of the car.

Ainsley led them into the building where she was greeted by several porters who opened doors for them and they came to a large dining room. It was classical enough without being old fashioned, yet modern enough to appeal to the twenty first century guests. It was light and open and filled with people who looked to be worth more money than Danny could count. Every wall and even the ceiling was decorated with classical paintings and a huge, crystal chandelier hung from the centre. Along one side, the French windows gave a beautiful view of the surrounding woodland and let in the light. The tables were round and covered with pristine white sheets, atop which was fine china and crystal glasses. They could hear elegant piano music playing and saw that there was a white, grand piano in the far corner of the room with a man in a suit playing it.

"Think we can make a run for it?" Danny muttered to his sister.

"Doubt it," she replied.

"Dang," he grumbled.

"Besides, looks like we've been spotted," Jazz said.

An enthusiastic Vikki walked over to them, wearing a light blue dress and she hugged them both. "Is good to see you, I have missed you both," she beamed at them.

"Err...hi, Vik, didn't know you'd be here," Danny smiled at her.

"Nice dress," Jazz told her and she smiled even more.

"Uncle Vlad bought it from his travel," she declared and twirled, "Is pretty, no? When he say he is to come here and see you, I say I go too. Come, my mumma is here too, and grandmumma you say hello, come, come," she said, eagerly and led them to a large table.

At the table sat Vlad, his cousin Valya and his mother Rosalyn. Vlad seemed to be keeping up with his casual look, in a white shirt sans his usual tie and suit jacket though he was wearing suit trousers. Both his mother and Vikki were wearing elegant dresses and they smiled at the two Fenton teenagers. Vikki took her place beside her mother and Jazz and Danny took the remaining two chairs.

"Ah, Daniel, Jasmine, I was beginning to wonder if you'd wandered off," Vlad said to them.

"We hit some traffic, sir," Ainsley explained after following them.

"No matter, they're here now, thank you, Ainsley," he said.

"Sir," she nodded and left.

"You made an effort the pair of you," Vlad remarked, appraising their choice of attire. "Well done," he said.

"Wow, I feel insulted," Danny muttered.

"I was being genuine," Vlad shrugged.

"Uh huh," the teenager snorted and Vlad grinned.

"We can eat now, yes?" Vikki asked him. "He made us wait till you got here and I am hungry," she told Danny and Jazz.

"Yes, my dear," Vlad said. With the most minute of gestures, three waiters descended on the table, setting down the most expensive looking bowls of soup Danny had ever seen.

"Err...what's this, isn't there like a menu?" the hybrid asked.

"No," Vlad told him, simply.

"What kind of place is this?"

"Burgers and fries won't be an option, I assure you," Vlad retorted.

"Shame," Danny muttered.

"It's err...called witty banter," Jazz whispered to Valya who was looking confused. "They err...they do it all the time," she said.

"Aha," Valya nodded in understanding, "Is different, but so did we. I was unsure if they were serious."

"Yeah, so are they sometimes, I think," Jazz replied.

"So, how was school?" Vlad asked them.

"Same as yesterday, we both got mobbed," Danny shrugged.

"Wonderful," Vlad said, barely restraining a smile.

"Mobbed?" Rosalyn asked, concerned.

"Err...we're really erm...well liked?" Jazz tried to explain, trying not to seem distracted at her parents financial issues.

"It may have come to light that they're my godchildren," Vlad explained.

"Ah," Valya nodded, "This is unfortunate." She remembered when she'd left the castle for a shopping trip in Wisconsin with Rosalyn. It had taken a while, but when people had cottoned onto the fact that they were related to the country's most eligible billionaire, they had turned into press magnets. Some had even suggested that Valya was his wife until he'd corrected them and threatened to sue them. After that, they'd had a formal apology and it hadn't been quite as bad.

"Being related to me?" Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"The 'being mobbed'," she corrected him.

"Yeah, it sucks," Danny said.

"Well, you'd better get used to it, all of you," Vlad said, taking a sip from a crystal wine glass.

"I am used to it," Valya replied. "I don't like it, but I am used to it. It will take more than this to scare me away, cousin," she said.

"Don't tempt me, Valya," Vlad smiled at her.

"You do not scare me," she declared.

"Or me," Vikki declared, happily.

"Clearly I'm not trying hard enough."

"Guess you're not so scary after all," Danny said.

"Is this 'insult Vlad day'?" the man asked.

"It can be," Danny grinned.

"No, it couldn't. Now eat your soup," Vlad told him and Vikki giggled.

"How was Canada?" Jazz asked him.

"Lovely," Vlad answered smoothly. "I managed to skilfully avoid the press the whole time and I spent most of my time skiing," he said. He'd told the same story to his cousin, his mother and to Vikki as well as the press when they'd asked questions on his return so there was no reason for them not to believe it.

"Skiing?" Danny asked and shivered.

"Yes, it's quite fun. A benefit is that no one knows that it's me; the goggles and a hat do wonders," Vlad replied.

"Gimme a warm beach any day," Danny grumbled.

"I'll keep that in mind for my next holiday. In the meantime, I brought you gifts."

"It's not snow, is it?" the young hybrid asked.

"Sadly, no," Vlad grinned. He snapped his fingers and yet another, ever attentive waiter, placed two small boxes on the table, one beside Danny and the other for Jazz.

"Err...thanks," Danny blinked, surprised. He gently but down the silver spoon as though it were made of glass, and picked up the box. He found that it contained a very expensive watch with so many different functions it would likely make Tucker's head spin when he saw it. "Whoa, awesome," he could help but exclaim.

"I couldn't help but add some of my own...adjustments," Vlad told him. "It's capable of interfacing with my personal computer system, you understand," he said pointedly. "I left instructions for you in the box," he added, "Don't try to set it up at the table, please."

"Y'mean...whoa..." Danny muttered in understanding, "Thanks."

When Jazz opened the box left for her, she found an exquisite set of silver jewellery with crystals and beautiful roses inlaid into it. There was a necklace, earrings, a ring, a bracelet and a dainty matching watch.

"The same goes for your watch, Jasmine," he said to her.

"Computer watches, cousin," Valya smiled, shaking her head.

"I enjoy a challenge. I wasn't sure I could get it to work with such a small watch," he shrugged.

"This must've...cost a fortune," Jazz stared at the jewellery set. But Vlad waved a dismissive hand.

"I won't take it back. I can't, not after the adjustments I made. So don't even think about refusing it," he told her.

"But..." she looked over at him and sighed at his expression. There was no arguing with him and it really was a beautiful set. She'd never owned anything so beautiful and she had to admit, a watch that could be used to speak to Vlad's super computer AI, A.N.I.I, wasn't easy to refuse. "Well...thank you, Vlad, it's beautiful," he said, finally.

"Well, that was easier than I anticipated," he replied, surprised. "Now, if I could get you both to put those away for later, we can move onto the main course," he added.

The rest of the dinner passed as uneventfully as dinner with a former arch enemy could, Danny supposed. The food was the best he and his sister could remember ever eating and Vlad even made them laugh several times, it wasn't nearly as bad as Danny had been expecting. That was until a man in a suit, bearing an embroidered name tag which read 'Richard' walked up to the table.

"Mr. Masters, sir?" he said.

"Yes, what it?" Vlad drawled, clearly disinterested in whatever the man had to say and also annoyed that he'd just been interrupted mid sentence.

"I'm sorry to disturb you and your guests sir, but I've been asked to deliver this to you from the manager, sir," he said, calmly. He handed a small piece of paper to Vlad whose expression darkened on reading it.

"I was told this had been handled," he ground out, scrunching up the paper in his fist.

"It has sir, and the...item in question...has been replaced. However, the manager feels that...given the cost of replacing such a valuable...item...payment should be made...in full."

"Now?" Vlad demanded, "In the middle of dinner?"

"My apologies, sir," the man inclined his head and he swallowed nervously.

"Fine," Vlad said. He took out his wallet from his pocket. "Does your manager have a preference? Cash or cheque?" he asked sarcastically.

"I believe cash would be preferred, sir," the man said, Vlad's sarcasm was lost on him.

Vlad handed him a considerable amount of money, "Keep the change," he said and waved the man away.

"Thank you, sir," the man nodded and made his escape.

"What's that all about?" Danny asked.

"Nothing," Vlad shook his head, putting away his wallet. "I accidentally broke one of their prized crystal vases last night, nothing to worry about. I gave him enough money to buy at least half a dozen of them."

That wasn't a total lie, Vlad though in his defence. The fact that it was a crystal mirror he'd shattered rather than a vase was a mere detail. And it hasn't exactly been an accident; he'd punched it after all. But they didn't need to know that.

Jazz had been staring at the amount of money that Vlad had just given away with such a blasé attitude, stunned. That money would have solved her parents money problems instantly. But then, so would the expensive jewellery set he'd just given her. But it had been a gift, she wasn't sure her conscience would let her pawn a meaningful gift to pay an electricity bill.

"What?" Vlad asked her, noticing that she was staring at him.

"I...just...that was...a lot of money is all," she managed to say.

"Only a few thousand," he shrugged and she choked.

"A...few...thousand," Jazz blinked.

"Yes?"

"Erm...ok..." she said, slowly picking up her glass to take a sip of water while he rolled his eyes at her.

"Will there be dancing again tonight, uncle Vlad?" Vikki asked him, eagerly.

"There could be dancing every night, Vikki, if I paid them, but otherwise they only open the ballroom on Mondays," Vlad answered.

"Dancing?" Jazz asked.

"As in...ballroom dancing?" Danny specified.

"Yes."

"Uncle Vlad is very good," Vikki told them. "He is teaching me," she said.

"Your mother should pay me for all the things you want to learn, dear girl," Vlad said. "I don't think we need to bother to send you to school, the only things you haven't asked me to start teaching are mathematics and science."

"Oh!"

"No, professor Vlad needs a break," he grinned and she sulked.

"Professor Vlad," Danny snorted.

"Well, I did help you with your homework, Daniel, I'd say it's an apt title, wouldn't you?" he asked. "Were your teachers sufficiently stunned that you handed anything in?"

"Erm...maybe," Danny pursed his lip.

"So, no dancing tonight?" Vikki asked.

"Not tonight," Vlad answered.

"Do you dance, Danny?" Vikki asked him.

"Err...not really...I mean...I guess normal dancing...at parties...when I actually get invited," he mumbled.

"Not ballroom dancing?"

"Err...no," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uncle Vlad could teach you," she suggested and the man in question literally choked on his wine and Danny laughed.

"Uncle Vlad isn't a rental teacher, Vikki," Vlad managed to say after a moment.

"I err...don't really wanna learn, don't think I'd be any good," Danny replied, sheepishly

"What about you, Jazz?" Vikki asked.

"Never tried, but it always looked fun," she answered.

"Girls," Danny muttered into his glass, taking a sip and Rosalyn smiled.

After a while, they, like many other other guests moved to sit outside and enjoy the view of the stars and the scenery on the terrace, wrapped in warm coats.

"I suppose you two should be heading back to Amity Park, unless you'd rather spend the night here. It would be in considerable luxury," Vlad said to Danny and Jazz.

"Maybe some other time," Danny rolled his eyes.

"And I couldn't go to the library today, so I'll have to go early tomorrow morning," Jazz said.

"Suit yourselves," Vlad shrugged. "I'll drive you. Get your things and meet me out front," he said, "And don't get lost," he added before walking away.

"Jerk," Danny grumbled.

"Bye, Danny," Vikki hugged him and then Jazz, "Bye, Jazz. You will come back again, yes?" she asked, "When there is dancing. It will be fun."

"Erm...sure, if it's ok with Vlad," Jazz said.

"It will be," Vikki said with childish optimism, "You remember way to lobby? I can show you."

"We'll be fine," Jazz told her and the little girl waved them goodbye.

"That wasn't so bad," Danny remarked when they were out of earshot.

"It was nice," Jazz agreed, "And the dancing might be...fun."

"I'd end up tripping over my own feet. No thanks."

"Are you really sure we shouldn't ask Vlad about the..."

"I'm sure, Jazz. We'll sort it out."

"How?"

"I...I don't know, but we will. But if we can't...then I guess...maybe we can ask him."

"Yeah, okay," she nodded.

On seeing Vlad standing by the familiar black Mercedes, they made their way over him. "You didn't get lost, well done," he remarked.

"Ha hah," Danny grumbled and Vlad grinned.

"I'll teleport you as soon as we're clear of the hotel," he told them, getting into the car and they followed him. "Are you alright, Jasmine?" he asked her after starting the engine and driving away, "You seemed a little...distracted today."

Cursing the man for being so observant Jazz smiled and shook her head. "I'm fine I was just...surprised...about the jewellery is all. I really do like it," she replied.

"Oh, well...good," Vlad said.

Shortly after, Vlad stopped the car and took a good look around them. "That's far enough, I believe," he remarked and teleported them and the car back to the small space beside their house in Amity Park. It was dark enough that no one would see them and he placed them directly behind the Fenton RV which was large and bulky enough to hide them from view. It was better to be safe than sorry when teleporting, he'd learned that the hard way.

"Any reason y'couldn't have just teleported us after school?" Danny asked.

"And resist the opportunity to give your school friends something to gossip about tomorrow," Vlad grinned at them.

"Huh," the young hybrid muttered.

"I can make a habit out of it if you like," Vlad added.

"No thanks."

"Pity," he replied, getting out of the car. "Home sweet home," he said, mockingly and it seemed as though it was physically painful for him to say as he followed them into the house, closing the door behind him.

"Mom? Dad? You guys home?" Danny called.

Suddenly they heard an explosion from the lab and the three of them rushed down the stairs to find Jack and Maddie wafting away smoke from an innocuous looking device on a table.

"What happened?" Jazz asked them, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, hi kids," Jack beamed at them. "We're fine, the Fenton Zapper doesn't hurt humans. But I think we fixed it," he said.

"That was 'fixing' it?" Vlad scoffed.

"Vladdie! Come look!' Jack dragged him over to the table and Vlad, with a completely disinterested expression was pulled across the room.

The second he got within about two feet from it he recoiled when the small device, no bigger than a small book, exploded in a shot of green and zapped his right arm. It tore through his dress shirt and pieced his skin quite deeply in his opinion, drawing blood which he covered with his hand instantly. The Fenton Zapper was smoking again but it didn't shock anyone else.

"Argh!" he cried, leaping away and glaring at Jack.

"Hey, are you okay?" Danny asked, as he and his sister rushed towards him. Fortunately they were far away from the Fenton Zapper that neither Danny nor Vlad would be zapped now.

"Vlad?" Jazz asked him.

"I'm fine," the man snapped. "What on earth is that thing?!" he demanded.

"Well, that's weird," Jack scratched his head, "Its only meant to zap ghosts. Vladdie's not a ghost. Must be a crossed wire again, Maddie," he said. "You're okay, right V-man? Takes more than a little explosion to take you down right?" Jack declared slapping Vlad on the back and turning to his wife and their latest invention.

Vlad winced, both at Jack's comment and his ever forceful 'good natured' slap on the back. Luckily, neither Jack nor Maddie were looking to see Vlad's eyes glow red and a brief snarl of his lip showed his ghostly fangs.

"Vlad" Danny said, quietly. "Eyes," he whispered.

Vlad snarled but closed his eyes and when he opened them, the glow was gone. "Of course, Jack. After all, what's one more explosion?" he hissed, storming from the lab.

"Oh...bye V-man!" Jack waved.

"Vlad?" Maddie called after him, but didn't follow him. Her children, however did.

"Hey, wait up!" Danny exclaimed.

"What?" Vlad turned to them. They'd caught up to him in the living room and he wasn't far from the front door when he stopped.

"I just...are you okay? That looked like a nasty err...zap," Danny said.

"I'm fine," Vlad said. "It'll heal before I get back to the hotel. Though I'd steer clear of that thing if I were you. If it really did do what it's designed to and it wasn't a fluke, don't go near it, Daniel."

"Right," he nodded.

"You really are tempting fate living here, you know," Vlad told them before he wrenched open the door and left.

"So...that went well," Danny muttered when the door slammed shut again.