A/N: One more chapter to go after this! Boo! Enjoy it while it lasts!

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Chapter Twenty-Three: A Ring of Truth


Jazz

"You are extremely hard-headed, you know that?"

I growled in Johnny's general direction, trying not to let my mind register the fact that I was having a conversation with the same ghost that had scared me two years back.

"Shut up," I demanded.

He sighed. "Why won't you realize that you are in danger?" he asked. "Why won't you get away from this place?"

"Because Phantom is down there, and he's probably getting hurt. You won't let me in the house, so this is best I've got." I was sitting behind the driver's seat of my car in the floorboard. I didn't want to leave the vicinity, but Johnny insisted on my being hidden from sight. My arms were wrapped around my knees, which were beginning to cramp because of the tight space. Johnny was sitting behind the passenger's seat, quite in the same position I was.

He lightly kicked my foot. "You are a danger magnet," he commented.

I stuck my tongue out at him. He was annoying me, but that was probably the best I could hope for at the moment. Somehow, I was able to keep down all the emotion that should have been coming out right about now. About how embarrassed I was that I had shown how hurt I was over John to Johnny. And about how much I'd actually like him as Dean. And about how humiliating it was to realize that I wasn't over Johnny in the least. I must have truly liked him. My falling for him while he was Dean showed I had some serious problems.

A car door surprised me, and I jumped. Johnny jumped too. He jumped up and through the car roof.

"Hey!" I called after him. I managed to get myself up and out of the car in just a few seconds. Patty was quickly grabbing something out of her back seat when she glanced up and saw Johnny standing a few feet away from her.

"What are you doing here, punk?" she asked threateningly. She pulled out a huge ecto-gun and pointed it right at him. Not thinking, I jumped in front of Johnny.

"Stop! He saved me!" I exclaimed.

Patty instantly lowered the gun. "Jazz? What are you still doing here?" she questioned.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Johnny beat me to it. "She's hardheaded," was his response. I glared at him.

"You mean you're actually being nice to her this time?" Patty asked as she shut the door and moved toward the house. I perked up at that and followed her.

"This time? You mean you knew he was here two years ago?"

Patty stopped for a second and looked me straight in the eye. "I'm the one who made him leave," she answered. I gasped and glanced at Johnny. He nodded. I looked back at Patty, who sighed. "I wish you didn't have to find all this out this way, but everything you know is about to change. Now, where's Danny?"

"If you mean Phantom, he's in the basement, with Plasmius," I quickly answered. Hey, if Patty had an ecto-gun, I was going to assume she knew everything. But why did Patty have an ecto-gun? And why hadn't I ever seen it?

She looked surprised at my statement, but it was obvious that she was surprised to find out I knew about Danny being Phantom, not at the fact that Danny was Phantom. "Alright. Jazz, get out of here. You're who were trying to protect."

"So...you know that I'm in danger? What else—"

She interrupted me. "Let's get through the morning first, Jazz, then I'll answer your questions."

With that, she ran into the house. I started to follow her, but Johnny pulled me back.

"What in the world are you doing?" he asked, looking at me as if I were crazy.

"The woman that might as well be my mother is going in there," I stated. I looked him cold in the eye. "So am I."

He didn't fight me anymore. I saw Patty flit down the stairs to the basement, and I followed behind as quickly as possible. So did Johnny.

Right as Patty got downstairs, I heard Plasmius ask a question. "By the way, what convinced you I was evil?" Right as my foot hit the bottom of the stairs, I heard Patty answer the question, even though it must have been directed toward Phantom.

"I did," she stated simply. I took in my surroundings. Plasmius and Phantom were both in the far back-right corner of the lab, both staring at the sudden intruders. Phantom was bound to an upright table and had a laser threatening to cut him in half. That sight made unthinkingly shouted out.

"DANNY!" My eyes widened and everything seemed to fade away at that moment except for me and Phantom. He looked right at me, worry in his eyes. He was probably worried that I was still here, just like Patty and Johnny were. But that wasn't what was so amazing about this moment.

I had called him Danny.

At that moment, I knew for certain that whatever he had done, he had done with reason. I didn't hate him. I only thought I hated him. Sure, he wasn't the four year old little brother I had lost ten years ago, but he was who my little brother had grown up to be. Maybe the situation wasn't ideal and maybe it was strange. But it was Danny. Phantom was Danny. Phantom wasn't some evil ghost that had taken my brother away from me.

Danny offered me a weak smile, and I responded with one of my own, then the world sped back up.

Patty aimed her large gun at Plasmius's laser and shot, effectively destroying the laser that would've cut Danny in half. Plasmius was standing in complete surprise.

"And who might you be?" he asked.

"You mean you don't recognize me?" Patty questioned. She stepped closer with her ecto-gun trained right on Vlad. She looked angry. I had seen Patty mad about me stealing a cookie before supper, and I had seen her slightly leery about me getting close to Dean, but I had never seen her full-blown angry.

Slowly, realization floated across Plasmius's face. "You're the one I took Daniel from," he stated simply.

"No; I'm the one you stole Danny from," Patty corrected. She unleashed her weapon again, and a purple energy beam blasted Plasmius away from his now smoking and unusable laser. Plasmius hit the ground, looking surprised; he didn't let his surprise linger though.

He jumped back up and shot an ecto-blast at Patty. She ducked and rolled underneath the blast and landed just feet away from Plasmius. She then pulled a handful of small balls out of a belt on her waist and threw them toward Plasmius. The balls exploded around Plasmius, causing him to shriek. He stepped back, trying to get away from the explosion. Patty followed him with her ecto-gun.

She stopped the barrage after just a few moments, though. Plasmius glared at her and rushed toward her, his hands outstretched and throwing ecto-blasts every second he got. Patty evaded the blasts, jumping around like I'd never seen her move before. She fell into a corner, flicked her hand to her belt and pulled out a spray bottle.

Plasmius continued flying straight towards her. I would've looked away if I hadn't have been so worried about what was going to happen next.

Patty held up the bottle once Plasmius was just a few feet away. As soon as she sprayed, Plasmius stopped dead in his tracks. He fell to the floor and started coughing. I watched with wide eyes. How had something that simple stopped him?

He gradually stopped writhing. In fact, he was holding completely still. I could see his eyes darting across the room. "W-what did you do to me?" he asked.

Patty smirked. "Like it? It's kind of like perfume, except it has this really cool ingredient that causes ghosts to be temporarily paralyzed."

Though I was still wondering how and why Patty possessed all this ghost fighting equipment, at the moment, I couldn't be anything less than completely thankful that she did.

Patty stepped closer to Danny and hit a button that released him. He fell to the floor and grabbed hold of his left leg and cringed as he moved his left arm.

Then Patty bent down and handcuffed Plasmius with a glowing pair of handcuffs. She took hold of the glowing chain in between the cuffs and began dragging him toward the stairs. "Don't worry," she comforted. "You'll get feeling back in a couple of hours. Or...well, I guess it depends on how strong this perfume was. Oh well. Six hours max, I promise."

"This isn't over," Plasmius said to Danny. "Not by a long shot."

Patty looked away from Plasmius and toward me. "And you, didn't I tell you to get out of here?" she asked.

I stepped out of the way to allow Patty to get to the stairs. "Yeah," I admitted. "But you had a bit of explaining to do, and I wanted to watch whatever it was you were going to do with an ecto-gun that huge."

She pushed Plasmius into the stairwell and turned back around. She paced back toward Danny. I followed her, curious, and I could feel Johnny following behind me.

"Danny, human," Patty instructed.

He complied easily and, before I knew it, my black-haired, blue-eyed brother was sitting on the ground in front of me with a nasty burn on his arm. He rolled his pants leg up to reveal a similar burn. Patty went to work on the wound.

I just took in the strange scene. I had a million questions I wanted to ask all three of the people around me, but I didn't know where to start or what to ask, so I just stood there, staring at my foster mom (who was apparently also a ghost hunter) taking care of my long, lost brother (who was apparently also a ghost).

"First order of business," Patty began, still seeming to direct most of her attention to Danny's leg. "Why are you here?"

Patty hadn't said a name, but we all knew who she was talking to. I glanced at Johnny, who glanced at me. He took a deep breath.

"He was trying to get Jazz killed, that's what," Danny answered for him.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "I didn't know Vlad wanted to kill her. He never said that. And if I remember correctly, you're the one who pushed me out of the way of saving her the first time."

"And if I hadn't, Vlad would've killed me, and Jazz would be on her way next."

"Oh, you don't think I could've held my own against Vlad?"

"No. I didn't hold my own, and I've been training with him for ten years. How long have you—"

"Both of you, shut up!" Patty exclaimed. She had moved onto Danny's arm, but at the moment, she was looking back and forth between the arguing boys. "Danny, I asked Johnny."

Johnny sighed and started again. "Vlad came to me about three and a half weeks ago. He said that he was working on a special plan that involved someone I knew." He threw a glance at me, then pointed at Danny. "He said that he was afraid you wouldn't go through the plan because she was your sister. He only needed me for back-up. I didn't want to help him because I knew Jazz here wasn't going to put up with me and because I didn't want her to get hurt.

"But he promised that after he was finished, I could have her forever. He said he would give her to me." I glared at Johnny, angry, then I shot a glance toward the stairwell, where I could just see the edge of Plasmius's cape. How dare he try to give me away! "I agreed. I came here with him and he laid out all his plans. He had done some research and had found a family a long way off from here that had just died in a fire. He had sent some of his ghost agents to get the teenage boy.

"I was supposed to go undercover and do whatever he said, so I became Dean." Johnny turned and looked at Dean's body, that was still just lying on the ground. Patty gasped.

"You've been in our house this entire time?" she asked.

"Yeah, ironic, isn't it?" Again, I was learning to hate irony. "Last week, Vlad told me to somehow get you to come over here this morning, so I did." He seemed finished, but Danny picked up on the story.

"But, in his defense, once he realized Jazz was in danger, he did try to free her." Patty nodded. She was now just staring at Johnny.

"How come my tracker never picked you up inside the house?" she asked. "And what about the relatives you were going to go live with? And the agency worker?"

"Well, everyone involved was overshadowed by a ghost, so the people won't remember anything. And about your tracker..." Johnny slipped the gold ring off his right ring finger and tossed it to Patty. All of a sudden, a beeping noise filled the air. Surprised, Patty pulled out a small device from her belt and pressed a button. The beeping stopped. She glanced at the ring in her hand.

"Explain," she stated.

Johnny smiled. "I told Vlad that you were a ghost hunter and that I wouldn't be able to sneak by you so he gave me that ring. It's one of only three. It's a special ring that masks a ghost's ecto-signature from detection. The Ancients—"

"Who?" Patty asked.

"A group of really old, really powerful ghosts," Johnny explained. "Anyway, the Ancients created three of these rings a long time ago, and gave them to select ghosts—ghosts they thought were worthy enough to have them. Over time, these ghosts have either lost the rings, and other ghosts found them, or traded them to other ghosts.

"Vlad told me that he actually had two of these rings one time. He said that fifteen years ago, he traded one to some ghost that gave him the Star prophecy. He had worn the other one everywhere until he gave it to me. That way, no ghost hunter could ever pick up on the fact that he was half-ghost." At this, Patty glanced down at Danny, who gave her a knowing look. I was getting tired of the secrets.

"And it really works well," Patty noted.

"Yeah, I even tested it the day Vlad gave it to me." Now, Johnny was looking between me and Danny. "You know that night you went to that restaurant? Nasty Burger? I was right outside, and I took the ring off for just half a second. And—"

"That was you?" Danny asked, almost jumping up. "Well, that explains a lot."

I had no clue what he was talking about, but I was starting to get used to that now. I sighed and turned to Johnny. I was about to say something, when Patty's cell phone rang. She answered.

"You here?" she asked, standing up. "Good. I'll be right up." She flipped the phone closed. "Sorry, guys. I have to take this guy into custody. The van's here to pick him up." With that, Patty left, leaving me alone with two guys that, twenty minutes ago, I thought was trying to kill me.

"You were going to give me that ring," I reminded Johnny.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I offered, but I knew you wouldn't take it," he stated.

I put my hands on my hip angrily. "And what's that supposed to mean? You knew for a fact that I wouldn't take it?"

He nodded, a solemn look on his face. "You were still too hung up on the past to take the ring. I only offered because it would make me seem more legitimate."

"Hung up on the past?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. I didn't like where this was going.

He looked me straight in the eye. "Hung up on me." We stared at each other, neither willing to admit to being weaker than the other. I'm not sure how long we stood that way, but I finally lost. I hung my head.

"I know," I stated simply, looking back up at him pitifully. "Your dieing really tore me up, and, as much as I hate to admit this—" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath "—I really missed you. Even after you came back and tried to talk me into dating you again, I really missed you. Even though you scared me to death when you popped into my room, I missed you, John." I swallowed. "I never wanted to let you go, but I had to. Death is how people part, and your death is how we should've parted."

He took my hand and sighed hard. "I hate this," he admitted. "But at least you still get to be alive."

"Yeah...but only because of your sacrifice. Look, I said this the last time I saw you, but I didn't really mean it, and even though I'm extremely mad and embarrassed that I fell so hard for Dean, I'm going to say this: Thank-you, for saving me two years ago and for saving me today. Without you, I wouldn't be alive."

He smiled sourly. "I guess I need to leave, don't I?" he asked.

I nodded but smiled. "Yeah, that would probably be for the best. But...you don't have to leave thinking I hate you, okay?"

He took a deep breath. "Okay. You know, over the past two years, I've heard about ghosts having obsessions of some sort. I figured out your mine." My lips parted, but I didn't say anything. "But I think I'm strong enough to tell you that this is the last time I'll ever see you."

"And I think I'm strong enough to tell you that this is a good thing."

"Last time I saw you, I said you were lucky, but I never told you why," he began. "He looked over his shoulder, toward the direction Patty had gone. "It was because you had someone there who cared about you."

With that, Johnny faded from view.


A/N: Now everyone go back and read the last part of Intermission III in this brand new light. :) Oh, I love the feeling of finally revealing the mystery. It's so much fun! But it's also sad...no things to clear up.

Just kidding. There's an entire chapter of wrap-up. After all, what do we really know about Patty? And Jazz and Danny haven't uttered hardly a word to each other.

Bye Johnny!

Review please!