Another two years, but it's here.

Updated: 10/07/18

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but your pain.

Author's note at the end of the chapter.

After a few exchanged words and quiet whispers, Vlad decided to lead her away from the medical wing of his estate deciding to leave Daniel to rest, as well as to get her as far away from Daniel as he could.

He led her down to the basement of his home allowing them a little more privacy, he trusted the staff of his home to keep quiet and out of sight, but while Maddie was here they were to keep as quiet and out of the way as the dead.

And luckily they all were.

They now stood in his private lab among many monitors and experiments, experiments she barely glanced at as he leads her to the largest computer in his lab.

"Now do you have it?" Vlad asked not wanting to waste any more time away from Daniel.

Maddie stared up at Vlad, but slowly reached into the black pouch on her hip, and pulled out a single black stick.

A flash drive, no longer then an inch and she held it out for him to take.

"This has everything you need, and everything I've been working on." She explained to him, "Plans, blueprints, passwords, it's all there on the drive. Once you have what you need, destroy it and get him out of here." She went on. "I don't care where you take him, I don't care if I ever see him again, just keep him safe Vlad."

Her voice wavered as he wrapped his hand around the drive she presented him with.

He wouldn't be doing it for her, he reminded himself, as he turned the flash drive over in his hand. None of this was for her anymore.

It hadn't been for a very long time now.

He turned away from her placing the drive near the keyboard of the computer.

"I'll be sure to copy everything down. Nothing will be traced back to you, and I'll send you a private email. Once that's out of the way I'll be out of your hair Madeline. Out of your life as well, so no more worries."

Vlad thought of his private cottage in Russia, the mansion in the Keys, even the private property in Alaska he knew no one knew about. Many properties not even under his name that were kept off the record. With all the places he could disappear with Daniel to keep him safe.

Away from the madness that had become their life.

Maddie was silent, and he let it stretch on, letting her own thoughts drive her mad as he had these last couple of days.

Finally, she took a deep breath, and he turned back to face her.

"No one can know about this." Maddie began, "He stays with you, and you keep him out of the way. You make sure to keep his ghost signature as protected as possible. The Trackers will be able to pinpoint his location if you don't."

"And who's fault is that exactly?" Vlad asked knowing he was probably overstepping, but he did not care.

She grew silent again, fist clenching, but she did not move.

"Keep him safe Vlad. Please." Maddie's voice shook, holding herself together as best she could. "Just keep him safe. I've delayed the Trackers for now, but you two need to leave as soon as possible."

"I will. You know I will, I have the resources, more than just the human ones." He looked to her, blue eyes with just a hint of red seeping through before he calmed himself.

She nodded, not asking for him to elaborate any further. She knew enough not to ask any further questions it would be safer for both of them.

The less she knew the better.

Vlad gave her a moment so they could both collect their thoughts, before one more question was asked, one he needed to know.

"... Any word from Jasmine?" He asked gently.

He had been on his own hunt for the eldest Fenton child but had still come up empty-handed.

"No. Not yet." Maddie went on, "But I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Yes. You will." Vlad said with a nod, and that felt as final as it was going to get, so he walked past her, knowing she would follow.

No further words were exchanged as he took her back to the front doors. Her steps were silent behind him, but he trusted her enough not to attack. Knowing he held all the cards at the moment, the life of Daniel came down to him now, at least long enough for everything else to be set into place.

His hands stopped at the doorknob as he turned to see Maddie looking up at the stairs, almost longingly.

She would not be seeing Daniel again, he would make sure of it.

"If he sees you here, he'll run." Vlad reminded her, "I cannot guarantee how much longer he'll be asleep so please," He opened the doors and stepped aside.

"Get out." He snapped, annoyed that she didn't even flinch. However, the way he had been acting, he knew she held just as much power as he did, or at least until he got the rest of what he wanted.

"Maddie." The old nickname used more like a curse then words of endearment as she finally turned back to him and began to make her way over to the door.

She stopped briefly, seeming to consider a few words, before slowly reaching out to him.

He tensed and held back a growl as she placed a hand to his chest. He had to close his eyes to keep her from seeing the red glow but did flinch when soft flesh just barely grazed under his left eye.

It was over within seconds.

"Thank you." He barely heard her say, and then she was gone.

He slammed the door behind her, the flash of black rings going over his body and he teleported away back down to his lab, inside his training room.

"Computer activate targets, maximum level!" He growled out the whine of the room started up as a male voice responded.

"Activating targets at maximum level."

He let energy ray after energy ray fly, letting his rage lead him as he attacked targets, as well as deflected oncoming attacks, splitting up and coming together in complicated combinations that years of practice had developed.

His hands smoked, targets littered the floor, and he slowly drifted back down to the ground.

The training finally ending.

"Sir," his computer called, "Monitors have detected a change in breathing. Daniel shall be awake any moment now."

Vlad took a deep breath, anger fading, pity replacing it, but he squashed it down as he started to compose himself.

Even with his plan, it was all still a mess. A horrible gruesome mess that had started with a single idiotic death.

"You idiotic buffoon." Vlad growled hands clenched, "Even in death you hold power, the only one who could have helped, and you got yourself killed by your own wife's hand."

Jack Fenton had tried, but ultimately had failed and now Vlad was left to pick up the pieces.

A/N: Hello people of fanfiction! How are y'all doing tonight? Or morning? Or whatever time it is as you read this.

I'm not apologizing this time, I deserve all the annoyance at such a long wait, but hey it's here, it's being looked over, and should be wrapped up in another... 5 chapters? Maybe. I make no promises.

I feel every two years is a sucky tradition, so maybe I'll try to finish this up before the next NaNoWriMo comes around. As well as before I graduate from college. To think I started this story 5 years ago because I couldn't fall asleep and had stayed up reading Pearl84 stories.

Good times.

Also fun fact! Jack is dead because I didn't know where to fit him in the story, and so I asked myself my favorite question when writing: What is the worse thing that could happen?

And that's how chapter 5 was born.

That and work was super slow, and I saw someone else had followed, which showed me how many you there actually were.

So I also let guilt lead the way.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had lots of fun writing it!