I'm Adopted?

The Past

Danny's POV

I arrived at Clockwork's Tower in less than a half hour. Not bothering to be polite I flew straight into one of the many windows. Specifically the one that led to his chamber.

"Clockwork!" I shouted, seeing the empty chamber. I floated to the ground and began to walk around. His medallions rested on their hooks. I walked over to them, taking one of its hook and holding it in my hand. I remembered the first time I saw them. When I fought my evil self.

I remembered my time with Vlad there. How he looked, how he spoke. He regretted his actions in the past, he said he was a fool. That Vlad was different. This Vlad was not.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Clockwork's viewing screen began to glow. I walked away from the medallion, stopping in front of the large screen. The screen became fuzzy, before clearing to reveal an image. It was a sunny day, there was a picnic blanket underneath a large tree. Two sandwiches, a basket of strawberries, and a pitcher of lemonade with two glasses.

"Can I open my eyes now Vlad?" I heard a voice say.

"Not yet, we're almost there," I heard Vlad's voice reply, but it sounded..... younger?

Two figures appeared on screen. One I recognized as Vlad instantly. His hair was white and he had a large smile on his face. He wore a short sleeved green and black striped shirt and faded blue jeans with red sneakers. He was leading a woman up the hill to the picnic blanket. A woman I recognized as Danielle Ryder.

Her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she had a hand over her eyes. She wore a short sleeved red shirt and loose black pants with white sneakers. She wore a golden bracelet on her right wrist and a wide smile was on her face.

They reached the top of the hill. "Ok, now you can open your eyes," Vlad told her.

Danielle removed her hand from her eyes and they instantly lit up in excitement, "Is this... was this you?" she asked. Vlad nodded and Danielle gave him a peck on the cheek. The two of them sat down and began to eat their picnic. They talked they laughed and they fed each other strawberries.

"I love you Vlad," Danielle whispered as she rested her head on Vlad's chest. Vlad stoked her hair and whispered, "I love you too." But he looked unsure as he said it.

The screen went fuzzy again this time it showed the inside of an apartment. The apartment was small, with cream coloured walls and a wood floor. Pictures of Vlad and Danielle were hung all around the room. There was  a couch in the corner and a TV set across from it. The brown coffee table between the two was covered in papers. The floor had multiple pictures of Maddie and Jack and love letters with the name Maddie on it.

Vlad and Danielle were yelling at each other. "All this time! All this time you had feelings for another woman! " Danielle shouted at him. She had tears running down her face and her hair was messy. She wore a jacket and had a suitcase by her feet.

"Yes I did," Vlad said simply.

"Was anything real between us? Did you ever have feelings for me? Or was I just your 'rebound girl'?" Danielle shouted.

Vlad began to shout back, "You were not my rebound girl! I do love you Danielle! But you must understand, Jack stole from me. He ruined my life, took away the first girl I ever loved-"

Danielle cut him off, "How is your life ruined? You have a home, a job. So what? You spend a few years in the hospital because of one mistake and dwell on it the rest of your life? Jack never meant to hurt you! It wasn't his fault you decided to stick your face in front of a highly dangerous device. And Maddie? She never loved you! But I did Vlad. I loved you, I cared for you, spent every moment I could with you. But apparently I wasn't enough to fill that void in your heart that was meant for Maddie."