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?”