AN: Thanks for the reviews! I'm really glad having Vlad in there worked. He wasn't originally going to be in there but I found a reason for him to be. By the way, if you were wondering why the pairings haven't been showing up all that much in the story so far it's because they develop throughout the story and are more predominant near the end. Anyway, here's the next chapter! Sorry it took so long, school was sorta getting in the way...

Disclaimer: I still do not own Danny Phantom and it saddens me so...

"Danny, come down here and say hi to Vladdy!" Jack called.

Danny looked at Free Spirit. "Just let me take care of this, it won't take long." he said. He went back downstairs and into the kitchen. "Hello, Vlad." he said irritably.

"Daniel, good to see you again! I trust you've been well." said Vlad.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Danny with a hint of suspicion.

"I was just passing through and thought it would be nice to pay a visit to my old friend Jack."

"Wasn't that thoughtful of him?" said Jack. He looked up towards the door and saw Free Spirit peeking around the corner. "Hey, who's there?"

Free Spirit gasped and hid behind the wall.

"Who are you? Are you a ghost?" Jack continued.

"I hope this works..." Free Spirit whispered to herself. She came around into the kitchen smiling. "Of course I'm not a ghost!" she said cheerfully, "Why would a ghost come anywhere near a place with this much ghost hunting equipment?"

"How did you know it was ghost hunting equipment?" Jack asked.

"Uhh... Because I'm rather interested in ghost hunting myself!" she said hastily.

"Really?" said Jack, a big smile spread across his face, "Why don't you come over here, I can show you some of the devices I've made!"

Free Spirit walked over to Jack a little nervously. Jack didn't seem to notice and picked up a hand held device from the table.

"This is the Fenton Ghost Tracker, it picks up ghost energy and pinpoints the source. I just fixed it today so it should be in perfect working order." He turned it on and a panic shot through Vlad and Danny but they were relieved when Jack didn't even look at the screen but instead looked at Free Spirit. "Pretty cool, don't you think?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's awesome!" said Free Spirit, "But is it supposed to detect everyone except the user?"

Jack looked at the device and indeed there was a signal coming from everyone in the room except for himself.

"Blast!" he said, "I'll be darned if I can figure out what's wrong with this thing!" He took out a screwdriver and began to dissect the contraption once again. Vlad took the opportunity to walk over to Free Spirit and introduce himself.

"Hello there, my name is Vlad. You must be a friend of Daniel's." he said as he held out his hand.

"Yes," said Free Spirit shaking his hand, "my name is... umm... err..." She thought back, trying to remember the name she had used earlier. "River!" she said finally, "I just moved here today and Danny was showing me around."

"Pleasure to meet you." said Vlad with a smile.

"Yeah, well we have a lot of studying to do." said Danny, "Come on, uhh... River!" He grabbed her hand and led her out of the kitchen.

"But, Daniel, I haven't seen you in so long!" Vlad called after them, "And I would simply love to get to know your friend a bit more!"

"Sorry, Vlad," Danny called back, "but school is first priority!"

Danny and Free Spirit went up to Danny's room and he closed the door hastily.

"Is there something wrong?" Free Spirit asked, "Why did you lead me away from Vlad?"

"Listen," said Danny, "Vlad isn't who he seems to be. It's best if you stay away from him." He sat on his bed and sighed, staring at his knees. After a few seconds he smiled. "That was pretty clever of you."

"What was?" Free Spirit asked.

"That cover up! Saying that you were interested in ghost hunting! The last person anyone would suspect of being a ghost is someone interested in ghost hunting!"

"Yeah... well I needed a quick answer and that was the first idea I got."

There was a knock on the door and they both looked. The door opened and Vlad came into the room. "So sorry to interrupt but you left in such a haste, I was worried. Is there something troubling you, Daniel?"

"No, there isn't." said Danny irritably, "Now if you'll kindly leave-"

"I'm sorry, Daniel, but I have some business to take care of here." said Vlad as he changed to his ghost form.

"Not while I'm around!" said Danny, "I'm going ghost!" And Danny, too, changed to his ghost form. He was just about say something to Vlad when Free Spirit spoke.

"You again!"

Danny looked at her in surprise. "Again?"

"I do wish you would accept my offer." said Vlad.

"I told you, the answer is no!" said Free Spirit, "I appreciate the offer but I don't do things that way, I don't hurt people!"

"Then you leave me no choice..." Vlad sighed. He shot an ectoblast at Free Spirit, sending her flying across the room. Then he glided over, picked her up, and took off out the window.

"Of course..." muttered Danny. He took off after Vlad, not even noticing Conformity hovering over his house.

Conformity watched as he left. "Good, he's gone. Now to deal with Free Spirit." She went in through the window and searched every inch of Danny's room. "She's not here... She must still be with him... You won't get away that easily!" And she took off in the direction she had seen Danny go.