I don't own Danny Phantom or the characters.

Just because Danny had an ice core, it didn't mean he could not feel cold. When the temperature dropped below negative 150 degrees Celsius, he was bound to feel a little chilly. He stole a resentful glance at the pipes in the ceiling through which liquid nitrogen was being pumped. Acting as cooling coils, the pipes possessed small holes which served to leak the liquid and allow it to evaporate once coming into contact with the warmer atmosphere of the container. Naturally, oxygen was also being injected into the container seeing how nitrogen reduced O2 count. At this point it wasn't certain whether ghosts required the same gases as humans to survive, so Mrs. Fenton wasn't taking any chances.

Danny wrapped his arms around his body. His bones ached, and his muscles were almost unresponsive. His shivering a ceased a good five minutes ago and his heart beat loudly in his chest. Where was he again? He failed to recognize the place. He attempted to stand, but his knees gave out halfway up. He noticed a woman leaning over a desk. "Hey! You told me we'd eat at the café yesterday. Don't you keep your word?"

Maddie straightened and looked at Phantom. What in the world was he talking about? She checked the temperature gauge: -159 degrees Celsius. Impressive, but not surprising. Ghosts should be able to tolerate such low temperatures since their range of safe body temperature was much larger than a human's. Ectoplasm, the fluid necessary for ghostly life, had a much lower freezing point than water (blood), so it took longer for the substance to be affected by cold external conditions.

"My sister would give you a piece of her mind if she knew what was going on here!"

Yes, he was definitely acting odd. Maddie stepped up to the container and observed his behavior more closely. He seemed very sluggish and quite confused. In fact, his skin had turned slightly blue, and his pupils had dilated. Her eyes widened in realization. Hypothermia. But that shouldn't be possible.

"Can we please order fries and a drink?"

Nevertheless, she could argue the science later. Right now she had to warm Phantom up. Jotting over to the controls she cranked the lever up to neutral. The influx of nitrogen shut off and thermal coils in the floor of the tank turned on. Phantom seemed to notice since he promptly hugged the floor with his entire body. It went through all the stages of recovery, which Maddie made sure to write down in her notebook: chattering teeth, color change, and even goose bumps. The process took five minutes. By the end Phantom was looking much better, though not completely untouched by the recent trauma. Mistrustful of the ceiling he squatted low on the floor. "You're not going to do that again?" he asked with a hint of anxiety.

"No. I actually had a breakthrough. Hypothermia suggests the presence of internal organs that depend on kinetic energy, i.e. motion, to operate. In that respect you are remarkably similar to humans."

"Tell me about it." Phantom rolled over on his back and put his hands behind his head as if relaxing.

Maddie frowned. That was an odd thing to say. Was it insinuating that there were more ways in which it paralleled humans? At this point, anything was possible. Phantom had already thrown out many of her initial theories concerning its existence, and the laws that proved true for other ghosts never fully applied to it. In fact, Phantom was in a completely different category. The only other ghost she hypothesized that could fit in with Phantom was the Wisconsin Ghost, which she had very little opportunity to study. A good deal more powerful than Phantom, it looked less inclined to remain a minor nuisance if introduced to Amity Park. From what she gathered, the entire western state was its territory.

Phantom's voice shook her from her reverie. "You know what I haven't had in a long time? A bag of chips. Would you happen to have one upstairs?" The ghost had abandoned its restful pose and stood near the wall, pleading with puppy dog eyes. Maddie was irked by how it employed the same technique her son often did when he wanted something. In fact, they looked so related right now she had about left for the pantry by force of habit before catching herself. "Ghosts don't need food."

"Maybe not, but I have taste buds you know. I've tried junk food before, and it was the greatest stuff of my life. So pretty please?"

There went those big sad eyes and that pout again. Maddie sighed and resolved to do something later about this guilt which motivated her to actually fetch it some Doritos. Seriously, Phantom was just a ghost and not her son. She wasn't obligated to do anything for it.

Returning from her kitchen, Maddie placed the bag in the shoot and pressed the button. Hopping with glee, Phantom snagged the bag as soon as it shot into the container. He tore into the bag and then looked up, the orange powder smeared on his cheeks. "Thanks!"

It was actually kind of cute.

Stop.

What was she thinking? At this rate, she and Phantom will be sitting by the campfire singing Kumbaya together. Personal feelings affected judgement, and judgement is critical when dealing with such an intelligent ghost. A stark realization settled upon her. Phantom had planned this. It was acting this way for a reason. The moment she let her guard down, the moment she became its friend, Phantom would strike. After all, it had managed to fool the citizens of Amity Park on several occasions. Jasmine was completely brainwashed. It was only a matter of time before she too fell under Phantom's spell. Well, Madeline Fenton was not going to let that happen. Not on her life.

Sick of Phantom's pleased expression, she jacked the lever which operated the thermal coils to the maximum setting. Time to turn up the heat.

Danny accidentally let something slip. Luckily Maddie brushed it off as the confusion caused by hypothermia. I shall continue to include as much science-ey stuff as possible in order to distinguish this story from others. In the process I shall include my own theories about ghosts and Danny's halfa status.