When people write disclaimers on fanfiction, I always wonder why… Because, if they actually did own Danny Phantom or any other show/book/etc. then they wouldn't write fanfiction about it… Needless to say, I don't own Danny Phantom.

Here's a one-shot where Danny tells his parents the truth.

Danny sat staring down at his now cold cup of coffee. Last night (or was this morning?) he had been fighting ghosts nonstop. That added to his stress that final exams were right around the corner kept him from getting any sleep. He was telling himself to just power through his day at school – it's not like any more ghosts are gonna come through with the amount he had sent back to the Ghost Zone in the past 12 hours.

Maddie, his sweet mother, rested her hands on his shoulders gently but Danny felt a painful jolt through his entire body. "OW!" He yelled, getting out of his daze and leaping out of his chair, causing his coffee to spill all over the table. "What was that?" He asked, even though he had a pretty good idea of what it was, as he remembered that sensation quite well.

His mom raised a brow. "Well, I have the Specter Deflector on, but it is only supposed to work on ghosts…"

Danny rubbed his shoulders in discomfort.

"Sorry sweetie, I guess it still needs a few adjustments," she shrugged, snapping it off and putting it on the table. As Danny got out paper towels and put some water on them, he wiped up the coffee mess. Just noticing his blood shot eyes and the bags beneath them Maddie's face shifted to that of concern. "Are you okay?" She put a calming hand on his shoulder. Thank God she took off that terrible device.

Danny shut his eyes and turned away from her. "Yeah, I just – couldn't sleep. The exams are really stressing me out." Well, not the whole truth, but at least he said half of it.

"Ohhhh sweetie," she curved his raven black hair behind his ear. She hugged him. "There is nothing to be scared about, okay? As long as you study and get a good night's rest before the tests, you'll be fine."

Danny was about to make a snarky comment about how 'getting a good night's rest' was kind of out of the question for him, but decided not to since she would have questions that he couldn't answer.

"Thanks Mom," he said instead as he backed off from the hug.

A blue wisp of air escaped his mouth and his mother looked perplexed. "Wha –"

"Excuse me," Danny told her, pretending he burped.

His mother wasn't convinced.

"Uh – I gotta go to school now! Jazz is waiting outside! Bye!"

"Bye Dan-"

He was out the door before she had time to finish her sentence.

Jazz skipped down the stairs and threw some food in her lunch box. She looked up from what she was doing. "Oh, hey Mom!"

Maddie crossed her arms. "Danny said you were waiting outside for him…"

"Oh, that's weir–" Jazz realized Danny was probably after a ghost. "Oh yeah! I just forgot a few things."

Jazz Fenton forgetting things? Not likely. Her mom wondered why her children were being so jumpy and secretive.

Maddie rushed outside, half-expecting to see Danny in the passenger seat of Jazz's car. Of course he wasn't. But if he wasn't there, then where was he? And why was Jazz trying to cover for him? She looked around outside but didn't see him anywhere. It was as if he just disappeared.

But she did notice some movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up in the air and saw none other than Danny Phantom, mid-battle with another ghost.

He blasted the ghost with an ectoray and it went falling into the street. "Come on! I must've fought every ghost twice last night. Why can't you just stay in the Ghost Zone where you belong? You are doomed to go back there anyway." With that, Phantom held out the (stolen) Fenton thermos and sucked in the sprawling ghost.

Where you belong? It's ironic for a ghost to complain about ghosts not staying put in the Ghost Zone since he never does. And why does he have our thermos? That thief! Maddie thought to herself.

"Now to get to school," Danny rolled his eyes and turned around to see his mother glaring at him.

School? A ghost going to school? WAIT, I know what this is!

"If you think you are going to go terrorize Casper High, you better think again Invisobill!" She yelled, pulling out her ectogun from her belt.

Danny shrugged. "It's not Invisobill –"

"Fine, Danny Phantom," his mother spat out. "I have been waiting a long time for this."

"For – what?" Danny gasped as he noticed her free hand had pulled out another gun. She shot it and a net encased Danny. "Hey! Wait, I'm not doing anything wrong! Mo – Maddie, please let me go!"

He tried to get out but it was useless. To his surprise, the net wasn't budging even with his super strength.

"Don't waste your energy. We designed it especially for you," Maddie grinned.

Danny sighed, defeated. "Just tell me what you want."

Jazz walked out and noticed what was going on. "Danny!" She shrieked, rushing over to him and their mother. "Mom! Let him go!"

Maddie looked incredulously at her daughter. "Why would I do that? We've been waiting two years for this!"

"Because! Mom, Danny Phantom, he's –"

"Jazz! NO!" Danny screamed. Maddie raised a brow at Phantom's fear.

"Danny Phantom is – my friend." Danny exhaled as Jazz finished what she was saying.

"And you hadn't told me this before because?"

"I – I knew you would disapprove. But he isn't like what you think. He is a good guy just doing what is necessary to protect this city."

"I do disapprove and he is a ghost – all ghosts are evil. Whatever you see in him is just a façade."

Jazz crossed her arms. "All those things you think he's done aren't true. He was framed for anything that looked like a crime."

"I find that hard to believe," Maddie said, also crossing her arms. "Has he brainwashed you or something?"

"I haven't brainwashed anyone! Please – I'll give you anything you want. Just let me go please. I need to be somewhere…" Danny pleaded.

"Jazz you should leave. You are going to be late for school."

"So is Danny! In case you haven't noticed, he isn't in the car!"

"He probably just got a ride with Tucker or Sam."

Jazz shrugged, looking helplessly at Danny who rolled his eyes and mouthed for her to go. She hated seeing him like this – especially since he had been trying so hard to attend school and make good grades. She wished he would just tell Mom and Dad but she understood his fears. Who knew what they would do if they found out he was half-ghost? Would they experiment on him? Would they accept him? Jazz knew their parents wouldn't experiment on Danny Phantom if they knew Danny Phantom was actually their son Danny Fenton. And she knew they would accept him – he was their son, how could they not? But, if she were in Danny's position, she knew she would feel the same way. Poor Danny.

"You're right. I guess I'll head out." Be careful, she mouthed to him. He nodded, frustration in his bright green eyes.

Jazz drove away. As soon as she left, Maddie pressed a button on the net gun that zapped Danny, causing him to fall asleep. She hauled him into the lab and put him in a cage, made of similar material to the net.

"Jack! Come down! I caught Phantom!" She yelled, excitedly.

Danny, still asleep, lay limply on the hard cold metal surface of the cage, and somehow managed to not change back into his human form.

"WHAT?" Jack yelled back. Heavy footsteps bustled down to the lab. He grinned as he saw the ghost boy, sound asleep in the cage. "Great job Maddie! I'll go get some Fenton toast to celebrate."

Jack came back with a loaf of dry bread and they both took out a slice and ate it. After they had eaten some more, Phantom stirred in their cage. He scratched his head, looking around with concern. He saw the Ghost portal and shrugged, realizing where he was. Turning around, he pushed on the bars of the cage but a jolt of pain coursed through him – similar to the specter deflector. He grimaced.

"What time is it?" He asked his ecstatic parents.

"What does it matter to you ghost boy?" Jack asked, then he muttered under his breath, "Ghosts aren't supposed to care about the time of day…"

"I really can't deal with this right now, please just let me go," he said, as he tried to make the bottom of the cage intangible, though that didn't work either. "What is this made of?!"

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Phantom, enough. We just need to run some…tests on you."

"Tests? Why? I thought you guys knew everything there is to know about ghosts," he laughed nervously. His worst nightmares were coming true.

"We've noticed that your ecto-signature is different from most ghosts… We just want to see what makes you so…different," Maddie stated simply.

Danny's eyes widened with concern. "Mom, I mean, uh Maddie! Please don't do this. I know I'm different but maybe it's because I died kind of recently."

Maddie wasn't sure if her ears were tricking her or the ghost kid actually called her 'Mom'. But it wasn't of great concern anyway. "No, that couldn't be it. It is something else. And we are going to figure it out."

Danny sighed. "I really don't think it is necessary."

"Well, regardless, you are terrorizing this town and we are going to put a stop to it once and for all!" Jack shouted.

"I'm not terrorizing Amity Park. I'm seriously trying to protect it. Right now, who knows how many ghosts are out there hurting innocent people?"

"You are the only real threat here ghost scum!"

"I beg to differ," Danny remarked, sassily.

As if on cue, a blue wisp escaped his mouth, the portal opened and a menacing ghost stepped through… Skulker. Danny rolled his eyes. This guy will never stop coming…I swear. But then again, he was kind of relieved for a change of subject.

Then again, he was locked in a cage that he couldn't phase through so he couldn't protect his parents.

"Look out!" He cried to Jack and Maddie who didn't see Skulker at first. "Oh, duh," Danny said to himself.

He let out a huge wail sending Skulker slamming into the wall. The house shook and he accidentally damaged a lot of his parents gadgets (luckily most of them were either useless or didn't work). Skulker fell down unconscious, and Danny barely stayed conscious himself. He felt faint and nearly fell backward against the bars. A white ring formed around him and he almost let himself turn into his human self but, with every ounce of strength he had left, he made the ring disappear.

His parents, who had fallen over while he wailed, went over to him and stared. "I've never seen anything like that…" Jack murmured.

Maddie nodded in agreement. "A ghostly wail…Maybe his ecto-signature is so different because he is so powerful."

"I was talking about that ring that formed around him then went away but yeah I've never seen that either…"

"Phantom?" Maddie said, bending down.

His eyes weren't glowing green anymore, but, in the darkness, she couldn't make out what shade they were. As Danny realized his eyes were blue, he made them green again. "Oh – you might want to use this and put him back into the Ghost Zone before he wakes up again." He tossed the Fenton thermos to them.

It landed right in Maddie's hands. "…thanks," she said hesitantly. She did as he said.

"What was that ring? That formed around you," Jack asked.

"Oh – uh – you saw that?" Danny asked nervously. "That was a – um – an energy boost."

Jack raised a brow, not convinced.

Danny rubbed his neck – like their son. Hmmm…

Maddie came back. "Why did you save us?" She asked Phantom.

"I just want to keep you guys safe."

She rolled her eyes. "The truth."

"That's it. Honestly."

"Hmmm," Maddie and Jack looked at each other.

"Stop lying and tell us. We could keep you here for days," Jack told him.

"Tell you what? That I have some ulterior motive? And besides, I thought you were gonna keep me here forever."

"Well, the plan is to send you back to where you came from – the Ghost Zone," Maddie said.

I'm not from there, Danny wanted to say, but he knew there would only be more questions.

"Look, you can't get rid of me. We can't get rid of any of these ghosts eternally. There will always be more ghosts. Sending me away isn't going to change anything."

"We are well aware that there is no getting rid of you. But as long as we keep you from coming out of the portal, we can protect this city."

"I don't belong there!" Danny screamed. Okay, I guess I let my emotions go ahead of my thoughts.

"Yes you do! It may be hard to accept but that is where ghosts go. You are not of this earth. You are a spectral being," Maddie told him.

"No," Danny whispered. "I'm not."

Jack and Maddie exchanged glances. Does Danny Phantom believe he is still a human?

"Phantom, you are a ghost. You know that right?" Jack said.

"I'm not a full-on ghost."

What?

"I'm a half ghost."

"You – what? That's not possible!" Maddie shook her head.

"Yes, it is."

"What does that mean?" Jack asked curiously.

"I - I'm," he had been lying for so long that he struggled to tell the truth. He closed his eyes. Am I making a huge mistake? "I'm not just Danny Phantom."

They didn't say a thing.

"Could you open the cage?"

"Wh - "

"I promise I'm not gonna try anything. I'd rather just show you."

Though both Fentons were eyeing each other suspiciously, they nodded to each other and Jack unlatched the cage.

Danny stepped out and stood in front of them with a look of fear on his pale face. "This is going to be shocking, but I think it is time you guys knew…"

"Knew what?" Maddie whispered, her whole body tense.

Danny closed his eyes and sighed. A white ring formed around his torso splitting up and down, revealing his white and red T-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and raven hair. He opened his eyes which were now a beautiful shade of blue.

Both parents were speechless. At first they both thought Danny was being overshadowed but somehow they knew this was impossible. They had never seen anything like this before. Danny Phantom was their son, Danny Fenton. So many questions filled their heads but a ton of answers too. Like where he had been all those times when he skipped school and why he had rushed out on numerous occasions and why he and Phantom had never been seen at the same time and why Danny never got sleep and why he had become some secretive and distant and why their (thought to be defective) gadgets always pointed him out as a ghost…

"You - oh, Danny!" His mother embraced him and so did his father.

A few seconds later they backed away from each other.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Jack asked.

"I was…scared you wouldn't accept me. Or would try to experiment on me. Or that you would hate me for the rest of eternity. Or all of the above," Danny stammered.

"We love you no matter what," Maddie put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and Jack smiled proudly.

"So you really are trying to do what's best for this town," Jack stated.

Danny nodded.

"How did it happen?" Maddie asked.

"I - the ghost portal incident…"

"Oh God…Are you okay?"

"Well - besides being half dead - "

Tears started forming at both of the parents' eyes. "You mean we…killed you?" Maddie looked horrified you.

"No! NO! You didn't. I am alive," He pulled her hand put it to his neck. "Feel that pulse? I'm alive." He told his dad to as well.

They wondered how this was possible.

"How unusual…But comforting," his mom smiled. "The ectoplasm must've linked with your DNA giving you ghost-like abilities."

Danny nodded. "Accidentally pressing the ON button in the portal may have struck me with lightning and made me half ghost but I am glad it did…With these powers, I can help people, protect this city from the ghosts that invade."

"All this time we hunted you, but you were never really the enemy…" His dad shook his head.

"Who else knows?" His mom questioned.

"Sam and Tucker were with me when it happened. Jazz, of course, found out on her own early on."

"How could we have been so blind?"

Danny shrugged. "I didn't make it easy on you. I made sure you would never find out, but I guess that was a mistake. And you had plenty of reason to think I was evil. But those times I was only being overshadowed or someone else was…"

"Well, I never imagined capturing Danny Phantom would end up like this!"

Jack chuckled. "Well Danny boy, we are really proud of you," he put a hand on his shoulder. "All that you've been doing to protect this city. And that ghostly wail! Wow!"

Danny laughed. "Yeah, I know right! I actually picked that trick up in an alternate timeline…"

Maddie and Jack exchanged confused glances. "Alternate -?"

Danny brushed it off. "There was this time ghost named Clockwork who was supposed to kill me to prevent a catastrophic future of me becoming 'Dan', an evil version of myself mixed with Plasmius' evil ghost side. Well, in this alternate timeline, you guys and Mr. Lancer found out and were almost killed… I found that power as I yelled at Dan. Apparently he hadn't gotten that power until recently, well in his time. Anyway, Clockwork reversed time and helped me get back on track."

"Huh?" They both looked very confused.

"Anyway…" Danny said awkwardly.

"Well none of that made much sense but who is Plasmius and what do you mean his 'evil ghost side'?" Maddie asked.

"Oh…" Danny sighed. He hadn't expected to tell them this but they needed to know… "Plasmius is…my arch enemy. In fact, he has been since we visited Vlad Masters in Wisconsin that one night. You see, Vlad Masters is Plasmius or as you know him, the Wisconsin ghost…"

"What?!" His mom shrieked. "But…does that mean he is like you?"

"Unfortunately, yes. He is the only other person like me in the world."

"Vladdy? He was our friend… And now he is our own son's arch enemy!"

"I wish I could say he were on our side, but he is crazy and a danger to everyone."

"Dually noted," His mother said.

"So…what powers do you have?" Jack asked.

"Flying, intangibility, invisibility, ecto-beams and balls, super strength, super hearing, ice powers, super vision, ghost sense…I think that's it?"

"Fascinating!" His dad exclaimed.

"Oh no! That's why you wanted to leave so badly. You need to go to school!"

"Well, maybe we should just hang out for the day…"

"No way. You need to focus on school! And no ghost-fighting on school nights. Your father and I will take care of it."

Danny sighed as he walked up into the kitchen to grab some food and his backpack. He laughed. 'No ghost-fighting on school nights'... This would take some getting used to.