Again, another quick chapter. I hope no one minds that these early ones are coming out so fast. Oh well, I just get so excited when I finish a chapter. I just have to publish it as soon as possible. So, yay for anyone who gets to read two or three chapters all together!

"So," Danielle took a bite out of the hamburger she was holding, "why are you running away?"

Danny sighed as he took a bite of his hamburger. Why was he running? He felt kind of bad that he was running away from his parents. He swallowed, but he could feel the lump in his throat grow, "Well, I was fighting Vlad in the park." He paused, and Danielle nodded for him to go on. Danny sighed, "I got pretty worn out, so, at some point, I guess I passed out and transformed back. My parents saw, so, I took off."

He looked over at Danielle, who seemed to be deep in thought. They walked on in silence for a bit before she spoke, "So, I get that they didn't know, but why would that make you run?"

"Well, let's see," Danny started ticking off the points on his fingers, "They're ghost hunters, they hate Danny Phantom, they think he's evil, they want to rip him apart molecule by molecule, need I go on?"

Danielle shook her head, "Alright. So what's your plan? Hang around here forever?" she waved her arms around, gesturing at the town.

Danny looked around. He didn't really have a plan beyond that. It had all been kind of sudden. Danielle looked over at him and put her hand on his shoulder. He smiled at her. At least he could count on her, for now.

They arrived back at the motel, and Danny paid for another night. They walked into the room, and Danny dropped his bag on the floor and flopped into one of the two chairs. Danielle flopped into the other one and laid her head back, staring at the ceiling. Danny looked over at her. He hadn't seen her in about two years, and the last time had been very brief, but he was surprised by how little she had changed. She still dressed almost exactly the same. Her hair was a bit longer, but it was hard to notice in her ponytail. She was a good deal taller, and her voice was slightly different. She picked her head up and smiled at him. Her attitude certainly hadn't changed. For whatever reason, Danielle seemed to have more of an optimistic attitude than Danny did. Maybe it was because Danny had grown more pessimistic based on his experiences. Danielle had yet to face off against the dark world. Though she had been through some harsh stuff, she still retained a cheery outlook on the world. Danny hoped she wouldn't lose it soon.

Danielle looked around the room, "Have you tried to contact anyone yet?"

Danny shook his head, "No. I forgot my phone, I wouldn't be surprised if Sam, Tucker, and Jazz have their phones bugged, so it doesn't really matter. I'm logged into my email on my laptop at home, so my parents can read any emails I send or receive." Danny pushed his hand through his hair, "I guess I could send them a letter," he joked, but there was no humor in his voice.

Danielle let out a fake laugh, "True. But those can be traced too." They sat in silence for a minute, both of them lost in thought. Finally, Danielle said, "So, is the only problem with using the motel phone that your parents would recognize your voice?"

Danny gave her a puzzled look, "Yeah, I guess."

Danielle smiled, "Well then, what if it wasn't your voice?"

"Come on, Mom. This is ridiculous," Jazz whined.

"Now, Sweety. I just have a few more questions."

Jazz rolled her eyes. Yeah right. A few more questions, and then a billion more after that.

"Now," Maddie looked down at her clipboard, "Did you know that Danny was, well-"

"For the last time, Danny is half ghost!" Jazz shouted and threw her hands up in frustration. Why couldn't her parents just say it. Why were they trying to avoid stating it the way it was?

"Yes, that. Did you know?"

Jazz leaned forward and rubbed her forehead, "Yes, ok. I knew." It did feel good to finally say it, to stop lying to her parents. Jazz felt a sense of relief, like a burden had been lifted, but it was only temporary.

"How long have you known?"

Jazz swallowed hard. This is going to crush Mom. "Uh, about, a year, or two, or three..."

Maddie's head snapped up, "Three years?!" Jazz bit her lip. Maddie took a deep breath before moving on to the next question, "When exactly did 'this' start?"

Jazz paused, didn't they know about the accident? Sure, Danny had hidden his powers, but the actual accident, Danny being knocked unconscious, would be hard to miss. Apparently not. "About three years ago."

"Wait," Maddie held up her hand, "You've know the whole time? And you didn't tell us?"

Well, the cat's out of the bag already. Might as well tell her everything. "I haven't known the whole time. There was an accident one day. Danny went inside the ghost portal and it turned on while he was inside. At some point after that, I saw Danny transform, but I didn't tell him until a while later, and he was the one who came and talked to me about it. He wanted to tell you guys, but, I mean, come on. You're constantly trying to catch ghosts. Dad wants to 'rip them apart, molecule by molecule', and you want to dissect them. Why would you expect him, after all that, to be comfortable telling you that he's half ghost?!" Jazz stopped short. She hadn't meant to start shouting, but by the time she got to the end, she just couldn't hold it in any longer. Were her parents really so clueless that they couldn't see why Danny hadn't told them.

Maddie sighed, "Well then," she wrote down something on her clipboard, "So, Danny talked to you about this after you saw him change?"

Oh no. Jazz bit her lip. "Yes?" she said hesitantly. She didn't like where this was going.

Maddie nodded, "Alright, Jazz. That's all for now."

Jazz stood up and pushed her chair back under the kitchen table. But she stopped before she left the room. Should she say something? She opened her mouth, but Maddie was already on her way down to the lab. Jazz turned around and headed up to her room. She knew exactly where this was going. And she knew it was bad.

She hurried up to her room and grabbed her purse. She headed out to her car and drove to the library. She got herself a study room, and once she was inside, she pulled out the Fenton Phones.

"Sam? Tucker? Anyone there?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I'm here," Sam's voice came in.

Jazz sighed with relief, "Thank goodness. We have a problem."

"What?" a hint of panic echoed in Sam's voice.

"Well, they haven't actually said anything. That is, this is just a guess-"

"Jazz, just spit it out."

"I think my parents still think Danny, or Danny Phantom, is evil."

"What?! I thought you were going to talk to them and tell them the truth!"

"I know, and I did. But, Mom seemed pretty hung up on the fact that Danny didn't tell me about him being half ghost until after I had already found out."

"Hmm, well they do have a point..."

"Sam!"

"Would it help if Tucker and I talked to them? I mean, we knew about it as soon as it happened."

Jazz shook her head, "I thought about that, but I don't think they would care. I mean, you and Tucker were there when it happened, and I'll guess you couldn't actually see inside the portal?"

Sam sighed, "No."

"They would probably think Danny only let you know what was going on because you saw him as a ghost."

"This is all such a mess. If they're going to twist everything into Danny Phantom trying to trick us and pull the wool over our eyes, how are we supposed to show them they're wrong?"

Jazz's heart sank, "I don't know that there is anything we can do."

"But, if we don't convince them that Danny's fine..." Sam trailed off.

Jazz finished for her, "He can't come back. Ever."