Bouquet Part 2

Rating: K+ [Get ready for some angst!]

Pairings: None

Ages: Danny, Tucker, and Sam are all 14

Summary: Danny's bile is red, Vlad's serum is blue, what would you choose if it were you?


The RV was unnervingly quiet and that only made Maddie clutch the wheel a bit tighter. Every bump they hit, she would cringe slightly and worry that those harsh movements were torturing her baby. Her grip on the wheel tightened when she heard a pained groan from the back.

"Jazz?"

"His temperature is really getting high, mom. Ninety-nine is pretty dangerous for him," Jazz rambled off.

Maddie spared a fleeting glance backwards to look over the four passengers she had in the back of the Assault Vehicle. "I-" Maddie paused, trying to figure out how to phrase her next sentence. Purposefully trying to dodge the elephant in the room, er car, was difficult but necessary because of Danny's current state, but she still needed to know-

"Aren't you going to interrogate us? Bombard us with the hows, whens, wheres, whys, and why-nots?" Sam's voice pierced the awkwardness uncomfortably. Maddie could see the way the young girl's face was twisted slightly in distrust and guarded suspicion. It seemed that Danny hadn't been the only one emotionally burdened from living a life out of public knowledge. She valued Sam's strong personality though and in some ways the girl reminded Maddie of herself; it comforted her to know that her son had had such devoted and caring friends- and Jazz.

"No, I'm not. I can't afford to right now. That Ghost Nip is hurting him. I just need to know how… human Danny is," Maddie answered curtly, trying to hide how disturbed she was to think of her son being anything less than fully human.

The friends looked at each other before Sam became their spokesperson again, "He's half human, half ghost. His DNA is infused with ectoplasm at the molecular level as far as we can tell."

Maddie swallowed slightly. "So he's still partially-"

"He's alive."

Maddie was going to speak, but someone pulled in front of her and she was forced to slam on the brakes. The RV's horn blared to life under the mother's palm in retaliation. Another silence, save Danny's whimpers and sharp pained exhales, settled over the others. Maddie pressed harder on the gas pedal.

Eventually they made it to FentonWorks, rushing past a completely confused Jack.

"He's having trouble breathing, mom." Jazz noted as the group, plus a now worried but clueless Jack, moved into the lab.

"That's what Ghost Nip does to humans. That vendor must've accidentally confused them for Queen Ann's Lace."

"Wait, what?"

"Ghost Nip is most commonly known as Poison Hemlock to the general public," Maddie expressed as she reached the examination table in the lab and placed Danny on it.

"Wait, Danny-boy ate some Ghost Nip? Why on earth would he have done that?" Jack asked. "We've told him how dangerous it is before."

"Not now, honey. I'll explain later. Danny's stomach needs to be pumped first and then the respirator…" Maddie finished mumbling to herself. She started grabbing up the necessary equipment. "Kids you might want to leave. Pumping a stomach isn't a pretty sight."

Jazz stayed rooted in her spot while Sam and Tucker exchanged glances. Both teens stepped up to be beside Jazz. "What can we do to help, Mrs. Fenton?" Tucker asked.

Maddie smiled slightly before motioning them over. The five humans got to work, trying to help Danny improve.

zz

"Danno's… Danno's a ghost?" Jack asked in barely something over a whisper.

Maddie glanced at the three younger people in the room quietly. "We haven't talked about it much yet. I was too concerned with helping Danny."

Said half-ghost, lay on the table still in the throws of illness. The group had attempted to pump his stomach, but the ectoplasm in his system had made quick work of the Ghost Nip long ago. The poison, now within his system had begun to shut down his nervous system. FentonWorks had a decent amount of medical equipment, so that the scientists could help people with ectoplasmic related illnesses, but the respirator and other machines keeping Danny's organs alive were just barely enough. They were unsure if Danny would pull through, all they could do was wait for the poison to hopefully be flushed from his system.

"It's really more Danny's story to tell than ours…" Jazz murmured.

Sam let out a sigh and glanced over at her prone and unconscious friend. "I think he'd want us to tell them now though… in case-"

"Don't finish that sentence Sam. He'll be fine. He aways is." Tucker interrupted, glancing briefly down at the floor.

Sam looked at the techno-geek for a moment before nodding. She looked back over and up and locked eyes with Maddie and Jack. "It started the day after you two tried to turn on the Ghost Portal for the first time."

For the next hour or so, the two members of the trio and Jazz explained their side of the story, Danny's powers, his enemies, the misunderstandings that seemed to happen all the time when he was only trying to help. As it went on and on the Fenton parents felt worse and worse and yet, they couldn't help but wonder how Danny could still be Danny if he wasn't human.

"Even if he's a ghost he's still our son… but how can you three be so sure it's still the same Danny you knew?" Maddie asked, trying her best not to make them angry.

"Because he still does everything Danny used to do," Sam explained with a slight huff.

"Yeah, he still behaves the same," Tucker added somewhat unnecessarily.

"The only thing that's different is that he takes his self proclaimed responsibility to protect Amity and its people very seriously. Danny was responsible and noble for a young man before the accident, but its become something that consumes his thoughts and time more…" Jazz pondered aloud.

Maddie and Jack exchanged a look before Maddie spoke again. "Does he get violent if he isn't allowed to protect what he deems is his to protect?"

The three kids paused in confusion for a moment. "What do you-" Sam started.

"Danny's still very human in the physical sense, but Jack and I need to know more about his mental state. Ghosts have pretty powerful mental strengths, being able to subconsciously change their appearance and powers. Some ghosts that are able to tap into their subconscious and control it can become shape-shifters. From what you're telling us, it sounds like Danny, at the very least, has a ghostly obsession."

"Danny? Obsession?" Tucker blurted immediately. He frowned as Sam crossed her arms.

"He doesn't get that violent. Impatient maybe, but never violent," Sam insisted.

Jazz hummed in slight worry. "I suppose it's possible that Danny has some kind of obsession. He does have a ghost core as far as we know. Frostbite gave us evidence of that."

"He's still Danny though. Humans change their likes and dislikes all the time," Sam continued.

"Yes, but it might be that that part of Danny's personality will always be stagnant or unchanging," Jazz continued. "I'm not saying Danny's not Danny. I've looked into his eyes too many times and talked with him alone too often about his fears and dreams and hopes to not know inside that he's still Danny and will always be Danny, but if having a ghost core affects how he's treated for his sickness then yes, he has a core and an obsession."

At that, Sam and Tucker grew quite and seemed to nod in acceptance. Maddie twisted her painted lips slightly in thought. Did that mean that there were good ghosts? Danny has a ghost core inside of him and yet is it his humanness or his personality that's kept his ghostly nature from being violent?

Her thoughts and the new silence were broken by beeping coming from one of the machines hooked up to Danny. Everyone rushed over as they watched Danny's vitals drop dangerously again.

"Kids, did any of you happen to see how much Ghost Nip Danny ate?" Maddie asked worriedly as she and Jack worked. "He should've been able to begin stabilizing by now…"

"No, he disappeared on us and by the time we found him again, he was rubbing his face against the flowers. He must've eaten the others out of view," Sam explained.

Jazz flinched when she noticed a mist of blue escape through Danny's mouth. Oh no. I forgot about him! A quick glance at Sam and Tucker told her they were thinking the same thing.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?" Tucker blurted.

"There's kinda one more thing we needed to tell you," Jazz started hurriedly as the beeping stopped and her parents turned to face them.

"Maddie? Jack? Sorry to burst in unannounced, but I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd visit-"

Jazz snapped her mouth closed as none other than Vlad Masters stepped down the stairs and into the lab.

"Oh!? Is Daniel alright?" Vlad asked, feinting interest.

In that moment, looking between her daughter's fearful face, and looking over her once collage friend, she knew. Something clutched at her gut as dread filled her. Another portal, another accident, another half-ghost, one that had followed his obsession into a dark place.

"V-man! It's terrible, Danny's gotten sick. He ate something that his body didn't like," Jack explained, oblivious to the threat, since he hadn't seen Vlad act suspicious like Maddie had once.

"Is that so?" Vlad asked, taking a couple steps closer. Maddie saw Sam tense up when he stopped beside her boy. "It's quite unlike Daniel to make such a mistake…"

Sam looked at her and the goth saw that Maddie was reaching for a weapon. She gave a brief nod to the older woman. "They know about Danny, Vlad. He ate Ghost Nip."

There was a flicker of nerves on the man's shoulders that one could've easily missed. "Oh? Ghost Nip? How careless of Daniel. It's particularly deadly to a half-ghost." he didn't even bother to turn around to face the tense people in the room or to look upon Jack's confused face.

"What do you mean, Vlad?" Maddie demanded, pulling out a weapon and aiming at the back of his silver-haired head. "Or should I say, ghost!"

Vlad merely gazed over his shoulder lazily. "Oh Madeline… your intelligence allures me every time." His eyes shifted to Jack. "Unlike some." He looked back at Maddie's weapon. "Put down the gun, Maddie. Shooting me isn't going to save your son."

Jazz seemed to be thinking hard about something and then suddenly her heart seemed to stop in her chest. "You did this. You let the vendors and the flower festival into Amity, because you're the mayor. You knew Danny and his friends would go there. You knew he would probably eat Ghost Nip because he'd never seen it in person before and wasn't prepared. You knew he'd get poisoned and you knew we'd all end up here right in this position…" Jazz finished looking up until she locked her gaze with Vlad's.

"Jasmine, you seem to follow after your mother more than I realized. Yes, I formulated this scheme if you must know."

"What do you want, Vlad!?" Sam spit out aggressively.

Vlad let a sickeningly sweet smile come to his face. "I'm just here to save Daniel from death."

"There's always a catch, besides, Danny doesn't need your help. The poison will leave his system eventually-" Tucker insisted only for Vlad to cut him off.

"That's where you're wrong, Mr. Foley. A ghost isn't affected by the flower because they don't eat, a human can die from ingesting it, but can be cured of it as well when the poison exits their system with aid, however for a half-ghost a different issue emerges. Ghost Nip excites their core into making excess ectoplasm. That's why ghosts love it. It gives them a temporary power high before fading from their system. Ectoplasm is typically poisonous to humans when there's too much in the blood stream."

Maddie felt the grip on her weapon grow slack. "Danny's core made extra ectoplasm and now all that extra is stuck in his tissues and blood. The nip caused the delicate balance between his halves to get thrown off. His body accidentally poisoned itself."

"If he'd only sniffed the plant. He would've gotten a bit ill, but healed. Eating it kept the flower's effects active and near his core for longer. He'll die in about a hour," Vlad concluded. The man saw Sam's mouth started to open before he pulled out a vile. "Unless he drinks this serum."

"And there's the catch…" Tucker murmured worriedly.

"As if we'd let you feed Danny whatever that is. This is just apart of some scheme of yours!" Sam expressed heatedly.

Vlad smirked venomously. "It is apart of my plan, but there's nothing you can really do about it, can you? Unless of course… you don't want your friend to live."

Painful silence echoed in the lab for several heartbeats, until Jack could finally find his voice.

"Vladdie, how could you?"

Vlad gave the man a hateful and mocking glare. "Well Jack, you took something from me, so it's only fair I take something from you, hm?"

Jack's mouth moved, but beyond that, it didn't seem to work.

"It's ultimately up to you and it's a simple choice. Do you want the boy to live or die?" Vlad explained. "And if you dare try to tell the general public about me and what I really am… I will make certain Daniel lives no more either way." Vlad snorted in amusement and looked at Sam and Tucker. "Black-mail goes both ways, hm? Now who has the upper hand?"

A groan resounded in the otherwise tense silence. Vlad placed a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Don't worry little badger, either way, your pain will end shortly."

"Don't touch him!" Maddie shrieked in rage and terror. Vlad gave her something between a pitying and an amused look.

"Maddie, that's no way to speak to your future husband. That doesn't sound like love to me."

Maddie's face grew paler and Jack grit his teeth, finally finding some other emotion other than confusion to latch onto. "What!?"

Vlad chuckled. "Soon enough… Now, can we not get back to the more pressing matter of Daniel? He doesn't have too much time after all."

Maddie felt her eyes start to water against her will.

Danny blinked and the water that had bubbled near the corners of his eyes fell. "Wha" He turned, still looking sodejected. "That doesn't excuse anything" His eyes widened and he turned to her. "Did I hurt anyone!? Did I hurt you too bad!?"

Her precious son. Her baby boy. Danny. Her Danny. She put a hand over her mouth as she tried to choke back a gut-wrenching sob. She felt Jack's large hand rest on her shoulder.

"Please… just save him. Help my baby boy."

Vlad watched, seemingly without thought at the scene before turning towards Danny. She'd expected to hear Jazz, Sam, or Tucker object or say something, but they most likely were feeling much like herself. They were trapped.

Maddie watched as the gently glowing blue liquid disappeared from the vile and into her son's throat. Several minutes passed before Danny's opened his blue eyes.

"Uncle Vlad?"

"Glad to see you're feeling better, little badger."

"Thanks. What happened?"

"It seems your father wasn't very careful about telling you the dangers of Hemlock poisoning while they studied it in the lab. That was quite neglectful of him."

"Oh… it's not… not his fault."

"Your golden heart astounds me every time, my boy."

The others watched in a mixture of awe and horror as Danny gave the man a bright smile. He turned and spotted Sam and Tucker now that he was sitting up and detached from the life-support machines. "Guys! I'm sorry I worried you."

Sam clenched her teeth but tried to smile when Tucker grasped at her hand to give her comfort. "Glad you're okay, Danny."

Danny continued to smile before he looked at Vlad as though waiting for something.

"How about you go to your room and take a nap, Daniel? You must be exhausted."

"Okay!" Danny replied hurriedly and jumped from the table. He waved at his parents before dashing up the stairs and out of sight.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Sam ground out angrily.

Vlad gave her a triumphant look. "I made him into the perfect son." He then turned and walked towards the exit, only for Jack and Maddie to step in front of him.

"What makes you think we're letting you leave. You're going to fix Danny!" Maddie demanded.

Vlad frowned and his face turned more dangerous. "I can leave whenever I want and the nano-bots in Daniel can also start tearing apart his body whenever I want. If you want Daniel to stay alive, I suggest you step aside, old friends."

Stunned by this revelation, Vlad was able to easily pass the Fenton parents. He paused on the top step. "Everything will continue as normal. Jack will start to show signs of being an inadequate father and husband, Madeline Fenton will leave him for these reasons and rekindle an affection for another old acquaintance of hers who happens to be the mayor. Her son and daughter will find comfort in a new and more reliable father figure and Daniel Fenton's friends will be as supportive as ever." He glanced over his shoulder at the frozen people bellow him. The light, from the living room above, cast him in deep and menacing shadows, making his eyes seem to glow red. "A wonderful and happy ending, don't you agree? He can continue some of his hero work and even Jack gets to live. I'm sure that would make Daniel happy." Another pause. "Remember. One word, one peep about Daniel's new situation or my own condition and the lights go out for Daniel Fenton." And then Vlad was gone.

And the newest silence left behind ate at them, making their ears buzz with maddening noise and their hearts pound at rapid pace.


There is more than one way to get Checkmate.


The funny thing is that I hadn't planned for Vlad to get involved with the second part of this at all. Seems he out-maneuvered the author as well. ;)

Thanks to pearl84 for her story Checkmate. I got a little inspiration from one of her story's plot points.