Oneshot, indeterminate time period.

This is A theory on half ghosts. It's not my go-to theory but it is a theory that fits all the data presented by the show. You know what that means...

This headcanon is free to a good home. Just link it back to me in some way.

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Danny took a deep breath as he stood at the big lead-lined door to the FentonWorks laboratory. Last night had been far too close for comfort. He'd been shot in the back by his own mother as the Fentons somehow managed to sneak up on Phantom as he was putting that night's nuisance away. He got away with only some minor burns but still. He couldn't let that happen again.

He needed to find a way to change his parent's view of Phantom. The first step was to figure out what his parents really thought. Aside from the obvious. He pulled open the lab door and headed downstairs.

"Mom? Dad?"

Maddie looked up from the computer and smiled. Jack glanced over but kept fiddling with the device in his hands. "What is it sweetie?" Maddie asked.

"Um..." Danny fidgeted. He didn't know where to start.

"If you're hungry just order a pizza," she said, waving dismissively. "Your father and I are going to be working late tonight. I was able to get a shot off on Phantom yesterday and we're still trying to analyze the data."

"That's... kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," Danny admitted.

"Hmm?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "What... is your opinion of Phantom?" he asked. "I mean, your real opinion."

Maddie sat back and looked at her son, an expression of calculating confusion on her face. "What do you mean our 'real opinion'?"

"Well... I know..." Danny cleared his throat and tried again. "I know you and dad have to keep up a point of view for your theories to be taken seriously by scientists and paranormal researchers. But surely you don't just share the status quo opinions. What... do you really think about Phantom?"

"Is this a school thing?" Jack asked.

"No, no, just... I want to know."

Maddie saved her work before getting up from the computer. She patted Jack on the shoulder, letting him get back to work. She led Danny up the stairs.

"What?" Danny asked. He pouted. Obviously they weren't going to talk to him about this. Did they not trust him? Did they think he was too dumb or too untrustworthy or, or, or something?

Maddie led Danny up to the kitchen before pushing the lab door closed. She started the makings for hot chocolate. "Sit down, Danny," she said.

Danny pulled up a chair. Now he was going to get yelled at for asking. Right?

Maddie took a deep breath. "Danny, before I start explaining things, know that your father and I love each other very much."

Um, what? "What?" Danny asked.

"We work together every day, we build equipment together, we invent things together, but, well... Your father deals with the weaponry. I deal with the science. As such he and I have developed some very, ah, incompatible theories."

"So you and Dad have different theories?"

"About Phantom in particular," Maddie agreed. "Your father is very much in favor of destruction. He's an engineer. He builds things. He builds things for a purpose, mostly for capturing and destroying ghosts. He doesn't really accept theories that don't go along with that goal."

"I... see..."

"Whereas I'm a scientist. I always have been. I have a need to understand things, not just destroy them. I've been studying Phantom, usually where he can't see me. He is... a remarkably textbook example of a newly formed ghost."

"Wait, textbook?" Danny looked at her in shock. She must be reading some strange textbooks.

"Of course. Most ghosts still believe themselves to be alive for at least a little while. Sometimes years. He seems to have that same quality. I've observed him playing fetch with a ghost dog, reading a book in the park, and flying randomly with no set purpose. He still thinks he's alive. But anyone can also observe the budding obsession in him. He seeks out trouble. I believe he seeks it out for the sole purpose of saving people. It looks good on the surface but it's a very dangerous obsession for a ghost to have."

"Wait, why is saving people dangerous?" Danny asked.

"The obsession of saving people is dangerous," Maddie corrected. "If ever there's no one left to save I guarantee Phantom will find someone. He will do that the only way he can, by putting that someone in danger in the first place. He is a very dangerous ticking time bomb for this town."

Danny pouted. He wouldn't put people in danger like that. He just needed to save people. There was a mile-wide difference there, right? A thud drew him out of his funk. He looked up to see his mother placing a mug of hot chocolate in front of him. She smiled fondly before sitting down with her own mug.

"Was there anything else you wanted to know?" she asked.

Danny went over what she said as he sipped his cocoa. He had to find something... Something to convince her. "You mentioned that Phantom acts like he believe he's still alive. Could it be possible that maybe he is still alive? Like he was half-ghost or something?"

Maddie looked thoughtful as she sipped her cocoa. "Half ghosts are not unheard of," she admitted.

"Really?" Danny tried to hide his enthusiasm. He didn't hide it very well.

Maddie gave him a fond look, wanting to nurture that feeling in him. "There's been maybe four or five cases with some evidence," she said.

"'Some evidence'. All ghosts have only 'some evidence'."

"True. Half ghosts are a special case, though. Ghosts who believe themselves still alive with such force that they're able to take and maintain a human form for long periods of time. They're usually very powerful. Makes sense as maintaining a human form has got to take oodles of power."

Danny's heart both leaped and fell. Leaped because his mother might, just might believe him if ever he admitted he was half ghost. Fell because she still thought Phantom was just a ghost. Because she'd likely consider him just a ghost if ever she found out.

"Why so interested in Phantom?" Maddie asked. "Your father and I were worried it was Jazz who had the crush on the ghost boy. Danny, is there something you wanted to tell us?"

Danny blushed. The idea that his own sister had a crush on him was both absurd and embarrassing. "No, Mom, I-I don't," he said, stammering. The blush burned deeper. He drained his hot cocoa, not caring that it was still too hot to drink quickly. His ice powers took care of that discomfort. "I think I'm just going to go upstairs. A lot of homework, you know."

Maddie nodded and watched as her son bolted up the stairs. That was an odd conversation. She rinsed out the mugs and headed back down into the lab.

"Good talk?" Jack asked.

Maddie looked at him, not sure how to say this. "I think Danny has a crush on Phantom," she said, finally settling on something.

Jack looked at her like she'd grown two heads. Then he stared off into space. He shrugged and put down his project. "I think this is something a father needs to deal with," he said.

"Don't discourage him, I'm sure it'll pass."

"Oh I know. I just need to give him the 'we'll love you no matter who you date' speech so he knows we support him. So long as he doesn't date ghosts."

"Have fun, Honey," Maddie said, settling back to her computer and her data. She hadn't considered the possibility that Phantom might think himself half ghost. That would explain where he hid all day and it was certainly more savory than her previous theory involving long-term possession.

She got to work analyzing her data with this new theory.