A/N: I am so so sorry about this late update! Not only was I gone in Tucson for the weekend to visit my friend but I was suffering from severe writers block. But now it's cleared and I know exactly where I'm going. I'm sad to say that with this new plan comes an idea for where and how to end this, which is coming up a very soon. But, I guess that's life.

A huge thank you to all my reviewers who, like always, continue to convice me to write! You guys are awesome!

Chapter Six
Questions That Need Answering

Later that night Danny lay in bed unable to sleep. Thoughts of glowing DNA, ghost powers, and green blood drifted through his mind. The Petri dishes of blood and the results of their research called to him from behind the solid wall where he had found an alcove to hide them. He thought of all the questions that formed from their afternoon at the lab, questions that he still had about himself, about what he had become after the accident, about what to do with the rest of his life.

As he lay tossing and turning he considered telling his parents. If anyone knew anything about what was happening to him, it would be them. They knew more about ghosts than he could ever imagine, and maybe they could help him figure out what was going on, figure out what to do. But if he told them, they might want to try to find him a cure, and he was pretty sure there wasn't one. If he really was half dead, then there isn't any way that he could be given back the rest of his life. It would be like bringing someone back from the dead. The best they could probably do would be to just make him fully dead.

As he thought about it, he wasn't quite sure he'd want a cure if it even existed. As strange as it was to have glowing DNA, green blood, ghost powers, and the knowledge that he could possibly be half dead, deep down, he liked being a ghost. He could turn intangible, reach through anything, walk through walls. He could disappear from sight, sneaking off anywhere he wanted or hiding from anything that might endanger him. And anytime he wanted he could get up and leave, fly off into the sky, soaring over the city. People would kill for that kind of chance, to fly without supports or outside assistance. Just to be up there, all by himself, feeling the clouds and wind whip through his hair and past his face was a rush he couldn't explain, a rush he fully enjoyed beyond anything he'd ever experienced. He could experience things that people only dreamed of, things people could only wish for.

As he thought about it, he realized that if he was presented with the cure right now, he would turn it down. Even though he could once again be normal, a little bit of normalcy was nothing compared to the thrills he could experience with his ghostly powers. And as long as no one ever found out about it, he could act and pretend that things were normal while still experiencing the joys of midnight flights.

But was his parents' urge to find a cure really the biggest downside to telling them? What if they originally wanted to find a cure but once they discovered that one didn't exist they kicked him out of the house? He had long known that his parents despised ghosts and that they had long since wanted to capture one, but would this feeling extend to him? He was a ghost, but he was also their son. Would they see past their hatred of ghosts because of the love of their son, or was their hate greater than their love?

Danny sat up in bed, realizing the way to settle this. He'd go talk to them. They were asleep right now and he knew from many years of experience that if he woke them up now they'd answer any question he asked truthfully because they'd be too asleep to think about what the best answer would be.

He quietly crawled out of bed and crept through the hall into his parents' room, trying not to wake up his sister. Knowing her she'd probably want to talk to him as well and he really didn't feel like talking to her right now. Besides, his parents were the only ones with the answer he needed.

He opened the door to their bedroom and walked to their sleeping bodies curled under the warm covers, his dad snuggling with his teddy bear. He stood next to the bed and took a deep breath, convinced that he wanted to do this, no matter what kind of answer he received.

"Mom? Dad?" Danny asked in a loud whisper. His parents didn't move. "Mom? Dad?" he asked again, this time louder, but still no response. He sighed, silently cursing his parents for sleeping so soundly. He was tempted to shake them awake, but years of experience had also told him that they would jump awake and start screaming about a ghost, and then they wouldn't be in a half asleep phase when he tried to ask them questions.

"Mom," he said, now in an urgent tone. Finally he heard his mother groan and open her violet eyes.

"Danny? What's wrong sweetheart?" she asked as she yawned.

"I can't sleep."

"What's wrong?"

"Can you wake Dad up?"

"Sure honey. Jack, Jack!"

"Where's the ghost?" his father asked with a yawn.

"Danny would like to talk to us, he says he can't sleep."

"Can it wait until the morning?" he asked with a yawn as he rolled over, preparing to go back to sleep.

"Jack," Maddie warned.

"Alright." He rolled back over and looked sleepily at Danny. "What's the matter son?"

"I just have all these questions that I need answers to."

"What kind of…" Maddie started to ask.

"Alright son, I understand."

"Wait, what?" Danny asked confused.

"I know what you want to talk about and I understand. Now, when a man loves a woman…"

"No, that's not what I have questions about!" Danny stated exasperatedly.

"Oh, it's not?" Jack asked, seeming somewhat confused. "Well then, what do you want to talk to us about?"

"I just had some questions about…ghosts."

"Oh goody! That's something I know even more about!" his father answered.

"Sweetheart, what kind of questions?" his mother asked, sounding concerned. Danny never had questions about ghosts.

Danny took a deep breath. Here it was, time to get his answers. "What do you think of ghosts?"

"What do you mean?" Maddie asked.

"Like what do you think of them? How do you feel towards them?"

"They're evil, foul, despicable beings that need to be exterminated from this earth and put back into the Ghost Zone where they belong!" Jack stated proudly as Danny's face paled. That was definitely not the answer he wanted. His parents were calling him evil, foul, and despicable, and they wanted him gone from this earth.

"Danny, are you all right?" his mother asked, seeing his paling face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Do you feel this way about all ghosts?"

"Of course sweetheart, now why are you asking all these questions?"

"Well, what if Grandma and Grandpa were ghosts, would you feel the same way about them?"

"Why, have you seen them?" Jack asked excitedly as he looked about the room.

"No, but…"

"I think I know what this is about," Maddie answered. "You're worried about what will happen if you died and became a ghost. Danny, you have to understand that ghosts aren't nice and they're not pleasant. When certain people die they become ghosts and go into the Ghost Zone. These ghosts are naturally malevolent and angry at the world and the people in it because they can experience stuff that the ghosts no longer can, like food, fun, life. Therefore they try to destroy the joys of others because they feel that if they can no longer experience it, no one should be allowed to.

"So, to answer your question, if we saw the ghosts of your grandparents, yes, we would hunt them."

"Even if they were your own parents?" Danny asked, shocked. If they would hunt their own parents then they definitely would hunt him.

"Danny, did you not understand what I said? They wouldn't be the same grandparents that you knew before. They'd be evil, malevolent ghosts who would kill you without even giving it a thought."

"But what if they weren't?"

"Danny, all ghosts are evil. That's just the way it is," his father answered. "So, to protect the world, we have to capture all ghosts, no matter what."

Danny nodded his head slowly, understanding their logic, but not appreciating it. If they found out he was a ghost they'd probably use the same logic and get rid of him, not giving himself a chance to explain that he wasn't evil, that he was still human.

"Danny, are you sure you're all right? Why are you even asking these questions anyways?" Maddie asked, looking at her son, concern and suspicion present on her face.

"I just had a dream that we were eating dinner and Grandma and Grandpa's ghosts came into the room and you started fighting them and then threw them back through the portal while they kept screaming for you to stop, yelling that they wouldn't hurt anyone. I just wanted to know if something like that would really happen."

"Well first, I don't think Grandma and Grandpa are ghosts. They went quietly and peacefully, and ghosts are usually only made when a person is torn from life before they're ready to go. But, do you understand why we would now?"

Danny nodded his head. He did understand, he just didn't like it.

"Alright then, off to bed with you. You have school tomorrow and you need to get some sleep."

Danny walked off to his room and once he reached the door he turned around.

"Just one final question. What if Grandma and Grandpa were only like, half ghosts?"

"Half ghosts? What do you mean?" Maddie questioned.

"Well, like they were only half dead. What if they were still alive but were also ghosts?"

"Danny, that's impossible," his father answered.

"Is it?"

"Sweetie, no one can be half dead and half alive at the same time and no one can be a ghost and a human at the same time."

Danny nodded his head and walked out of the room, leaving his two confused parents sitting in the bed, wondering about Danny's curiosity. They soon let it rest however as they laid their heads down on their pillows and fell back to sleep, figuring they'd discuss it more in the morning.

Danny however went back to his bed and didn't fall asleep for another few hours, reliving the conversation in his brain. They didn't believe in half ghosts, so if they saw him, they'd think he was a ghost and wouldn't believe his protests that he was also a human. They'd hunt him and use all their experiments on him, hoping to exterminate him and put him back into the Ghost Zone, just like all the other ghosts. They wouldn't give him any special treatment because he was their son, just like they wouldn't give his grandparents any.

He realized that he couldn't tell them and that they could never find out that he was a ghost, no matter what. He was going to keep it a secret, just like he had decided before. Now he had proof that his parents would indeed care and would hunt and hurt him if they found out.

As he tossed and turned he finally slipped into sleep.

He woke up, surprised that he had actually managed to fall asleep after all the fears and thoughts that had plagued his mind during the night. He still felt tired as he got ready for school and walked downstairs to the kitchen, ready for breakfast.

As he reached the bottom of the steps he found himself face to face with an ecto-gun. He looked around it and noticed his father behind it, a look of disgust on his face. He looked to the right and noticed his mother also pointing an ecto-gun at him, the same look present on her face.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on?" he asked, his voice shaking with worry.

"Don't even try ghost."

Danny's eyes grew wide in fear and worry. Did they just call him "ghost"? "Wha-what are you talking about?" he stammered as he looked around the room. How could they know? There was no way.

"Don't play dumb with us ghost," his mother answered. "We figured it out after our conversation last night. You were asking us all those questions about what we'd do to ghosts that were family members because you are one. You died in that accident and have been a ghost ever since."

"No, no, that's not true!" Danny yelled, hoping to convince them otherwise. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"Don't lie to us ghost!" his father yelled as Danny flinched. He couldn't stand the way his parents continued to call him "ghost" like he didn't mean anything to them anymore. His father didn't call him son and his mother didn't call him sweetie, it was just ghost because that's all that mattered to them now.

"We're not stupid. Ever since the accident you've been acting weird and strange and in our conversation last night you all but admitted that you were a ghost by your questions and responses to our answers. After you died in that accident you wanted to just live like a normal person, try to live life like you did before, but we found out. You can't fool us."

"No, you don't understand, it's not like that!"

"Jack, get the knife." Danny's eyes widened. Knife?

Jack glared at Danny as he lowered his ecto-gun and walked over to the counter and pulled a knife out of the drawer and headed back towards Danny. He grabbed his arm and yanked it out.

"No, please don't," Danny begged, tears in his eyes.

Maddie just nodded her head and Jack placed the cold metal of the knife against his skin and scraped it across the underside of his arm as Danny screamed in pain. Red and green blood poured out of the wound and ran down his arm onto the floor. Jack and Maddie smiled.

"See, there's our proof: green ectoplasm. You are a ghost," Jack stated triumphantly as he pointed the ecto-gun at Danny's head again.

Danny figured it was time to level with them, to try to describe it to them. He knew it would be hopeless, but he really didn't have any other options.

"Alright, yes, I am a ghost, but I'm only a half ghost."

"As we told you last night, there's no such thing. You're just trying to feed us lies to stop us from doing our job so you can destroy the world."

"No, that's not true! There is such a thing! I'm proof! Look," he demanded as he gestured to his arm "there's red blood as well! If I was a full ghost wouldn't it be just green?"

"It must be taking a while to take full effect," his mother argued.

"No! I'm not a full ghost! I'm human too! And I'm your son!"

"You're not our son. Our son is dead," his father stated in a dead tone.

"No! I'm not completely dead! I'm right here! I have a pulse, I'm breathing! You have to believe me!"

Tears were pouring out of his eyes, his heart felt like it was shattered. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, what he was seeing. They had cut him without a second thought, without hesitation. They didn't care about him anymore. Everything he was afraid of before he fell asleep had come true.

"We'd never believe a ghost," Maddie thundered. "Everything you've been telling us this past week has been a lie, so why should we believe you now?"

"Because it's the truth! Please, you don't want to do this!"

"Oh yes we do. As we told you last night, it's our job. Goodbye ghost."

"No!" Danny screamed as he heard the whirring of the ecto-guns. He was engulfed in green light as he continued to scream.

Danny sat up in his bed, panting and breathing hard, his face covered in sweat. He looked around his room, trying to figure out what had happened. How could he be in his room? Wasn't he just shot by ecto-guns?

His door opened and his mother walked into the room, her face filled with concern. As soon as Danny saw her he started backing away from her, his eyes wide with fear.

"Danny, what's wrong?"

"No, just stay away from me!" he yelled. He debated flying out the window since they already knew, but something about the look on his mother's face told him not to.

"Danny listen to me, everything's all right. You were having a bad dream."

"What?" A nightmare? That's all it was? He looked at his arm where his father had cut him with the knife and noticed that there was no mark. He looked back up at his mother who was now sitting on his bed, her hand on his.

"You were having a nightmare. I heard you scream in your sleep and came running into your room. And you're covered in sweat too. Let me get you a towel."

His mother left the room to retrieve a towel and Danny took the opportunity to collect his thoughts. So it had been a dream. His secret was still safe, his parents still didn't know, they hadn't tried to eliminate him. He felt relieved, everything was still okay.

His mother entered the room and started wiping his forehead with a wet cloth. "Danny, what did you dream about?"

He had expected this question. For as long as he could remember his parents would comfort him by asking him to recount the dream while they told him exactly why it couldn't happen. The problem was, this time they couldn't tell him that it wouldn't happen, because he knew that it could.

"I dreamed that I died and became a ghost, but I wasn't a bad ghost. I didn't want to destroy the world or hurt people; I just wanted to spend more time with my family and friends. But you and Dad saw me and started yelling at me and pointed ecto-guns at me, and then Dad cut me with a knife. When I tried to explain that I wasn't bad you wouldn't listen to me and then you shot me with the ecto-guns, and then I woke up."

His mother sighed as she leaned forward to give him a hug. "I knew it was something like this. It's because of our conversation last night, isn't it? Listen sweetheart, there's nothing for you to worry about," she comforted, pulling away and holding his shoulders in her arms, looking right into his clear blue eyes. "There's no reason why you should be afraid of dying any time soon and even if you did, the chances are pretty good that you won't become a ghost. And even if you did, we wouldn't hurt you unless we had proof that you were evil. You're our son and we'd have a hard time hurting you even if we had to. So don't worry sweetie. I know your dream was probably frightening and probably scared you, but there's nothing to worry about. Your father and I will always love you and we'd have a hard time hurting you, even if you were trying to destroy the world."

Danny smiled at his mother and gave her a hug, feeling more comforted than he had been since their conversation.

"Now, I don't want you to give this any more thought, alright? You don't need to think about it. Now I think it's time for you to get ready for school." She gave him a kiss on the forehead and left the room.

Danny got up and headed into the shower. As the warm water poured over his body he thought about what his mother had told him. She said that they'd still love him and that they wouldn't want to hurt him if they knew he was a ghost. That didn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't hurt him, but they wouldn't want to, which gave him comfort.

He knew that he could never tell them. No matter what his mother said the frightening images in his dream were still there. He didn't want to risk it. If he could ever find some way to prove to them that some ghosts were good then maybe he'd tell them, but otherwise he was going to keep it a secret from them for as long as he could. At least now he knew that if they somehow figured it out by accident he wouldn't be completely screwed and that they'd still give him the benefit of the doubt.

As he ate breakfast he still felt somewhat depressed knowing that his parents would still injure him if they had to, but his outlook on the rest of his life had definitely brightened. Things would be okay.

A/N: So, did I have anyone going? Teehee, I had fun writing that dream. I don't know about you, but I agree with Danny...that dream would be enough to scare me out of ever telling them I was a ghost...which was kinda the whole point. I've always wanted a good, solid reason for why Danny wouldn't tell his parents, so here it is! Hope you agree!