Vlad watched the door in anticipation of Daniel's arrival. It was around this time of day that the boy came by with a tray of edibles. Usually fruits and crackers with cheese, that sort of thing. He wasn't especially fond of eating meals that hadn't been made in his own kitchen or an expensive, health-assured restaurant, but he was in no position to be picky.

It had been four days since the vivisection and he was still far from being in any condition to leave. Time was both healing him and driving the ache deeper into his bones and the organs beneath. He found himself struggling to breathe without grimacing in pain more often than not, and he didn't expect that would cease anytime soon. His accelerated healing worked at a snails pace while in human form, and he didn't want to chance transforming when his ghost form was in dubious condition.

His bandages were becoming less dotted with blood every morning, and today the blood flow seemed to have finally found its end. Perhaps now he would be able to nap without waking up to quilts sullied with blood, and Daniel wouldn't have to change the cover every time he did. As it was white, the quilt was beyond saving, but the cover could always be washed. Wash it in time and there would be no lingering stains to worry about.

He threw his legs over the side of the bed and gingerly slid his fingers beneath the bandaged, feeling for the small metallic sutures beneath. He knew they were metal because what else would the Fenton's have had on hand? Comfort wasn't an issue when it came to operating on ghosts. His suspicion was proven correct when several small slivers of metal brushed up against his fingertips, accompanied by a slight ache. He could only reach so low without disturbing the bandages so he didn't explore for long. When he withdrew his fingers they were smudged with old, brown blood, and it occurred to him he hadn't had a thorough wash in quite a few days. He would need to request use of a shower before he began to reek of body odor. He was too proud a man to let that happen.

He wiped the blood off on the bandages since they would be changed at the end of the day anyway and attempted to rise to his feet. He was hardly the pillar of strength he was used to being, but he didn't wobble nearly as much the first time he had tried. He walked tentatively towards the door, using the wall to keep himself upright every step of the way. His hands dove for the door frame after a particularly long and tedious journey and he looked into the hallway, left and right. The guest bedroom door was open, but he couldn't see inside. There was an unusual lack of sound coming from within. Usually he could hear Daniel talking or typing on a computer or listening to music. But today? Nothing. Jazz Fenton's room was similarly quiet, and he could see inside well enough to know she wasn't occupying it. The only sounds he could hear came from the kitchen.

He didn't want to try going down the stairs, but neither did he want to wait any longer for food. "Daniel?" he called hopefully. There was, as he had anticipated, no response. With a sigh, he lugged himself back to bed and seated himself on the end, glancing longingly to the window, where a bright blue cloudless sky was in full view. It was perfect weather for golfing. It had only been a few days and he savored every minute spent with Daniel, but he'd hated being cooped up ever since being forced into hospitalization after the accident. For five years he'd wasted away in a hospital bed. Five years of his youth wasted. He never wanted to feel that hopeless ever again.

"Vlad?" He'd been so immersed in his thoughts he hadn't heard someone enter the room. Giving a little jump, he turned to greet Daniel.

But it wasn't Daniel at the door, it was Maddie.

Contrary to his earlier enthusiasm, he didn't feel the usual swell of warmth at seeing her. In fact, his body felt as if it had been encased in ice.

"Madeline," he croaked, trying to restore normal circulation by shrugging his shoulders and squeezing his hands into fists. He hoped it didn't look aggressive. "What brings you to my… to Daniel's room?"

"I brought you something to eat." His eyes were diverted, so he could only hear her hesitantly shuffling across the carpet, coming closer. "Danny's at school. He couldn't miss any more days without falling behind."

A tray was set down on the bed. He hadn't even noticed her carrying it. To be this frightened of the woman he loved was ridiculous! Glancing to the tray, and then to Maddie, he forced a small smile, hoping to console her.

"Thank you, Maddie. That's very thoughtful of you."

She produced a smile of her own, but it was awkward. "Well, I couldn't let you starve."

"Yes, that would be, uh… unethical." There was a pregnant pause. "Have you been doing well, since…?"

"I should be asking you that. I wanted to ask how you were sooner, but I - I couldn't bring myself to…" She trailed off, and the volume of her voice had managed to drop just above a whisper when she spoke again, "How are you doing?"

Vlad shrugged slowly. "Not fantastic, but I expect that's normal after being ripped open." His wording drew a grimace from Maddie, and he quickly added an apologetic, "But you don't have to worry, I'll make a full physical recovery before the end of the year."

"And mental?" she edged closer to the bed. "I mean, you were influenced by a ghost, and then —"

"Influenced?"

"I discussed it with Jack and Danny, and we agreed it would explain your behavior." One of her petite hands squeezed his tense shoulders, but it wasn't as comforting as she intended it to be. "We've decided we'll do everything within our power to help you."

"Does this help happen to involve experimental methods of extracting the ghost? Because if so…"

"No, no!" Maddie said quickly. "Danny told us everything you said about the ghost. We know it's part of you now. We'd risk further hurting you if we tried to extract it." Her hand finally withdrew, much to Vlad's relief. "You have a lot of actions to explain, but Jack, Danny, and I are committed to helping you through this."

Those were the exact words he'd hoped to hear throughout his time in the hospital. Unable to restrain a snicker, he shook his head and muffled his laughter by biting a knuckle — which hurt, but he'd rather bite a knuckle than come off as hysterical. He slowly brought his feet up to the mattress and sunk his head into the space between his body and his knees.

"Thank you," he whispered hoarsely, blinking away tears.

"Vlad," Maddie had come close again, leaning in enough that he could feel her breath warming his shoulder. "You don't have to accept our help if you don't want it. We won't force it on you."

"No!" Vlad jerked his head up, almost smacking Maddie in the face. "I - I mean, yes, I want you help. Please, I really do. All I ever wanted was to get close to you, Maddie. You and Daniel." He looked imploringly at her.

Her lips twisted into a grimace. "And Jack?"

"Well…"

"I'll never be in love with you, Vlad." She sounded stern as she said this, but when she saw Vlad grimace and dive back into the space between his knees her voice took on a softer edge, "But we are friends, and I want to be there for you—"

"Like you were there for me when I was in the hospital?" came his muffled reply. It wasn't angry, just inquisitive. "Why couldn't you have been there for me then? Why be there for me now?"

"It's… it's complicated," she stuttered. "For a while, we weren't allowed to visit because of government investigation, and then college ate up all our free time, and we decided to have an early marriage, and — it was just a very busy time for us."

Vlad clawed his fingers into his legs like an angry child trying to restrain their tears. "So you merely forgot about me."

There was a guilty pause. "No, Vlad. We drifted apart, like people do, but we never forgot about you. We spoke about you and thought about you often. When we spotted you in papers and news articles all those years later, we were proud. We even invited you to our wedding, remember?"

Vlad shrugged his shoulders as best he was able with his head buried between his legs. "Do you ever think that could have been us…? Surely you felt something for me?"

Maddie sighed. "It was Jack I had feelings for, and it will always be Jack I have feelings for. We're in our forties now and have children. Even if I had been interested, it's too late now, sweetheart." She reached down and pat his back like a consoling parent. "That doesn't mean you can't have a place in our family. You don't need to be married to me to be part of the Fenton's." The pets turned into circling motions. "Didn't Danny call you 'uncle'? Doesn't that sound nice?"

His body was rigid under her touch and his response less than enthusiastic. "I suppose."

"That's the spirit," Maddie encouraged. Seeming to notice his discomfort, at last, Maddie ceased her massaging and stepped away from the bed, footsteps receding in the direction of the door. "Daniel will be home at four. You're welcome to call for either me or Jack if you need anything or use the computer if you're bored."

The door shut with a gentle click and Vlad was finally able to lift his head to get a good look at what meal he had been delivered. A chicken sandwich, tomato soup, a bowl of fruit, and some yogurt. Delicious, and especially so because it'd been made specifically for him by Maddie. Whether she reciprocated or not didn't matter, he would always be in love with her.

Even if he shivered at the thought of being touched by her again, felt as if he'd been manhandled with every consoling stroke of her palm, he still loved her. Not even the trauma of a live dissection could extinguish his feelings.

He slid across the bed to retrieve the tray and began to eat ravenously. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, and Daniel had been in a rush (now he knew why) so he'd only managed to get down a piece of toast and some milk.

While he ate, he gave Daniel's computer a distant, but thorough inspection, frowning at the mediocre quality of it. It didn't look like Maddie and Jack had given it any embellishments, surprisingly. Perhaps Daniel had prevented them from taking it apart for them to 'improve'. Smart move, if so. He'd let Jack improve some of his equipment back in college, and by 'improve', he meant 'utterly ruin'. What remained had been unfixable.

The thought of Jack's constant blunders was putting him off his food. He tried to think of something else, of Maddie, but that was similarly disheartening.

After a while of fumbling for a happier subject, he thought about the time Daniel had referred to him as 'Uncle Vlad' and smiled.

If he wasn't able to be a dad, he could at the very least be an uncle. He could make Daniel love him as one, too. The boy had desperately tried to save his life despite everything he had done to him, everything he had put him through, and that made him feel as if he had a chance to cultivate a proper relationship with the boy.

Being an uncle wasn't ideal, but it was better than being considered nothing but a nuisance.

"Hey." Danny held up a plastic bag as he entered his bedroom. "I brought you some ice cream. That's what you give sick peoples, I think."

"Did weekend cartoons teach you that?" Vlad snorted, looking over from where he was lounging on the bed, ankles crossed and arms folded behind his head. He'd spent the entire day reading what few books Daniel kept in his room and napping. Now he possessed far more knowledge on astrology than he had ever cared to.

"Actually, yeah," Danny replied with a shrug. "Do you want it or not? It's caramel swirl."

Caramel swirl? He tried not to visibly salivate.

"I'll need a bowl. I won't be eating out of the container like a neanderthal."

Daniel arched an eyebrow. "That's a bit of a exaggeration," he said as he sat down on what little mattress was unoccupied. It was fortunate Vlad was so thin or there wouldn't have been enough room. "Don't worry, I brought a bowl and spoon up." He pulled the spoon and bowl out of the plastic bag and handed them to Vlad, but didn't hand over the ice cream until he'd picked off the plastic tab securing the lid.

"I could have done that myself," Vlad scoffed, but Daniel only shrugged again in response. Apparently he was being thought of as an invalid, and that was both advantageous and a little embarrassing. His health had deteriorated to the point of being a hindrance, but he wasn't hopeless. He could still make his own meals and wander around if he really, really wanted to. He just hadn't tried because he had other people to do it for him and it felt kind of… nice to be doted on. Being cared for by people who weren't obligated to help him for their bimonthly paycheck wasn't something he experienced often.

"How…" He paused, finding it awkward to verbalize the question he had in mind. He dipped his spoon into the ice cream to make it seem like he wasn't hesitating. "How was school? Did you have a good time with those little friends of yours?"

"Uh, yeah, I did," Daniel replied, clearly perplexed.

"And were you disrupted by ghosts at any point?"

"Not today." Daniel scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "First day I've managed to get through without having a ghost show up in a while. I actually managed to finish all my maths in class instead of having to do it as homework. Why, uh… why did you want to know?"

"I saw your mother earlier," he replied, flapping a hand dismissively. "We discussed some things."

"Yeah, mom told me about that. I didn't think she'd be having you turning a different leaf this fast."

"It's 'turning over a new leaf', and it isn't justy your mother that has me trying to act the part allocated to me."

"Oh?" Daniel hummed questioningly, before letting out an even louder, "OH!" as he realized what Vlad meant. "But I didn't do anything?"

"Don't sell yourself short, Daniel." He picked up his bowl and scooped ice cream into it as he spoke. "You've allowed a former enemy to occupy your room. You attempted to save me. You've taken me on as your own responsibility. You've done more for me than anyone in the forty years I've been alive."

Daniel looked shocked. "In forty years? But — your family—?"

Vlad shook his head, and Daniel fell into a sombre silence. "I'm sincerely grateful for what you've done for me. If you can let bygones be bygones - and it seems you can - I have every intention of being part of this family. That isn't to say I don't still love your mother and will stop pursing her, but it does mean our relationship will be far more amicable."

"Oh…okay," Daniel said awkwardly. "Uh, that's— that's great. What about my dad?"

Vlad pressed his lips together in distaste. "I've little time for your father, but I realize I won't be able to maintain a relationship with you if I continue to try to harm him."

"Are you serious?" Daniel's eyes had gone wide. "You aren't going to try to hurt my dad anymore? No more diabolical plans?"

He nodded. "Will I be a good man? That's questionable, and I can't promise that I won't go through with the plans that don't involve you or your family, but what you've done for me has changed my priorities."

"Wow," Daniel whispered. "I can deal with that, I think. I'm actually really happy about this." He ran a hand through his hair, blinking rapidly. "It's so weird. You're not my archenemy anymore."

"Better yet, I'm willing to teach you without the requirement of denouncing your father. I want to be as helpful to you as you have been to me."

Daniel's jaw had gone slack in disbelief. "I-I'll need a little while to decide, but that isn't a no."

"So," Vlad said, feeling it was time for a new topic. "I gather from your books that you like space. I could take you up there in a ship of my own design, some time, if you'd like."

The gasp that left Daniel's mouth was clearly a 'yes', and a very enthusiastic one at that. "Really? You can take me into space? In a ship!?"

"Of course I can. I'm Vladimir Masters, my dear boy—"

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Without a word of warning, Daniel had thrown his arms around Vlad to pull him into a loose embrace. It was momentary, awkward, and he almost lost his bowl of ice cream to the floor, but it was still the most heart lifting thing that had happened to Vlad in years.

He slowly wrapped an arm around Daniel's waist to give him a quick squeeze back. "No, thank you."

"You don't need to thank me for the hug, it comes with the whole 'being family' thing," Daniel said as he playfully nicked Vlad's spoon for a lick of ice cream. "What should I call you, then? Uncle Vlad?"

"Yes. Yes, I would like that."