I don't own DP.

fan reader: I believe the blossoms' effect is caused by a chemical reaction inside them, activated by ectoplasm. When the blossom is chewed, it's broken open, so when swallowed, the stomach acid can instantly reach the offending chemical and serves to instantly neutralize it. Or that's how I rationalize it, anyway :)

Danny leaned back as far as he could. Why didn't I think things through... He just managed to avoid the beam as it shot over his head, hitting a panel on the other side of the lab and sinking into it like water into a sponge. Jack was in front of him, singing some song about ghosts as he tinkered with the invention that had shot the beam.

Maddie, beside him, pulled him back into a sitting position. "Now, Danny, stay still. We don't want it to be inaccurate," she admonished breezily.

Correction: you don't want it to be inaccurate, he thought, flinching as another beam shot past his cheek. A tingle ran down his spine at the near miss, and he shivered, imagining what the beam might have done if it had hit him. It didn't hurt human-world objects, but they'd tested it on ectoplasm in front of him... it had basically vaporized the stuff.

"Jack, how's the invention coming?" Maddie called.

The big man's hands held a tiny object, a little circlet about a half inch wide and maybe a millimeter thick, curving round into a slightly misshapen circle. Danny had wondered, at first, why they hadn't made it perfectly circular; nobody had answered his question, but as he'd watched, he realized they wanted it to fit his arm exactly... and of course his arm wasn't perfectly circular. "It's done!" Jack boomed, holding it up proudly.

Maddie took it out of his hands. "Excellent!" she murmured, before looking at it more closely. Jack was known for cutting corners, and she didn't want any malfunctioning invention to hurt her baby.

A door slammed above them, footsteps echoing in rapid succession toward the door to the lab. Jazz, Sam, and Tucker were finally here. Jazz appeared in the doorway first, hopping the last few steps and hastening over to stand beside Danny, looking worriedly into his eyes. "Are you all right?" she murmured urgently.

"So far," he replied in an undertone as Sam and Tucker came up behind him.

"Jazz drove us here," Tucker whispered.

"Sorry we took so long," Sam grumbled. She sounded incensed. "Lancer decided he wanted to detain Jazz for some reason."

Danny smiled. "No worries." Just their presence was enough to make him feel much more confident.

"Hello, Sam, Tucker, Jazz," Maddie greeted, putting a last piece onto the invention. "Jack? The bracelet shouldn't have been shooting beams... it's supposed to diffuse the energy through Danny's body in order to drive out the ectoplasm, not concentrate it to shoot intermittently..."

"I knew that." Jack frowned. He'd forgotten that they were making the bracelet for Danny to wear, caught up in the excitement of a new invention.

The Fenton matriarch held up the bracelet proudly. It gleamed in the artificial light of the lab, tinted green from the many glowing green samples of ectoplasm scattered here and there in beakers. In Danny's eyes, it looked downright sinister. Beside him, Tucker swallowed hard, clutching his PDA tightly.

"Here you are, Danny," Maddie caroled, turning to him and holding out the bracelet. She waited, smiling.

With a jolt, he realized he was supposed to take it. Frantically he thought back to the entire building process. It hadn't taken long... and he was pretty sure he could understand how to build it again. He'd watched carefully, hoping that he'd be able to tell Tucker something about it. There's a strip on the inside of the bracelet... the part that'll touch my arm. It's made out of some special material... that's the part that shot the beam. It was covered over on the outside with something more decorative, ordinary metal. So it should be safe to touch... the outside. Gingerly, as though picking up a very large, venomous insect, he took the bracelet, careful to only touch the outside part. One eye was shut, waiting for pain to rip through him... but as nothing happened, he opened it again, a frisson of relief shooting through him. He held the bracelet in one hand, holding it a bit to his left so Tucker could get a good look at it.

A low curse slid from between Tucker's clenched teeth, too low for his parents to hear. Danny jolted and glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. "It wasn't programmed," Tucker filled them in under his breath, watching as Maddie turned away to push a few tools back into boxes. "I can't unlock it with my PDA. I...it might be hard to get off. How does it latch?"

"A key," Danny murmured, voice very quiet. "The key IS programmed, I think. It puts out a certain frequency to switch the bracelet locked and unlocked."

Jazz edged toward the table, looking around for the key, then froze as Maddie turned around. "Put it on, Danny," the woman ordered mildly. "It won't do any good just sitting in your hand like that."

Danny gulped and turned the bracelet over in his hand, stalling for time. Jack reached over toward a pile of metal and brought a key out, turning to him. "I'll latch it on, so no filthy ghosts will take it off you," he proclaimed in satisfaction.

"Wh...what does it do, exactly?" Danny managed to get out. Sweat was beading on his forehead, and he swiped at it, trying to be inconspicuous.

Maddie caught the gesture and correctly interpreted it. "I've tested this invention several times, dear. It won't hurt you. In fact, it should drive out all the ectoplasm in you, so none of the others will target you anymore, either," she told him, trying to be comforting. "Just put it on and you'll see what I mean, okay?"

"How fast does it work?" Her attempt to reassure him was nice, but wildly off the mark. If only she knew.

"It should take a few hours. First it has to reconfigure itself to your body and identify the ectoplasm in it. Then it will begin to push out the ectoplasm, a process that will take a few hours just to keep it from being too traumatic for you. By tomorrow you'll be completely ectoplasm-free!"

He swallowed. Okay, so it shouldn't start ripping me apart as soon as I put it on. He turned the bracelet over, opening the band so he could get his wrist inside, and as slowly as he dared, he put it over his wrist. Holding his breath, he clicked it shut; Jack jumped forward and locked it.

Danny was only peripherally aware as Jack went to put the key on a ring in his pocket. As soon as the inside of the bracelet had touched his skin, a sharp, dangerous tingle had come from it; like something was burning him. For now, it remained isolated to the skin of his wrist; but he could feel the energy waiting, processing and moving. It wouldn't be long before it began its deadly purpose. I have to get this thing off. Like... now.

He looked up at the other three, then looked to his parents. Both of them were smiling proudly. "What do you think, Danny-boy?" Jack boomed.

"It... it's great, Dad, thanks," Danny managed to get out. "How long do I have to wear it?"

"Until it drives the ectoplasm out of you. Then we'll take it off, and you'll only have to wear it when you're leaving the house," Maddie explained.

Jazz winced. "Uh... Mom? Can I have a key, so I can remove it in case you aren't around?" she suggested hopefully.

"No, Jazz. It won't hurt him to wear it, and I don't want any more keys that we have to have," Maddie shook her head. "The more keys we have, the more possibility there is for one to get into the hands of a ghost."

Jazz's lips tightened. "Yeah..." she couldn't seem to find anything else to say.

Danny shuddered suddenly. The bracelet had let loose a wave of energy, shuddering through his entire body abruptly, like a tidal wave. It hit every cell in his body, then bounced rather painfully back through and was reabsorbed into the bracelet. The pain in his wrist intensified, beginning to spread. He glanced up at Sam, horrified. She stared back fearfully. We need that key...!

I'm wondering if I should switch the rating to T?