Danny awoke to semi-darkness. If he'd been completely human it would have been pitch black, but his eyesight need no time to adjust to darkness. He sat up, wincing as his weight shifted onto his injured arm. To his surprised he found it tightly bandaged, though the bandages were stained both dark green and red. It didn't look like Jazz's handiwork.

"Great…" he muttered.

"Glad you're finally awake." came a voice from beside him.

Oh Shit, not him "Uh, hey Conan. How's your friend?"

Conan reached over and clicked on the bedside lamp. Unlike darkness the sudden light, though dim,hurt Danny's eyes.

"She's at the hospital. It was only a slight concussion, but they wanted to keep her there overnight. Your sister's there as well."

"WHAT!"

"She's fine. Some lowlifes tried to jump her and Kisaki-san. They'll be booked as soon as the doctors are finished with them."

Danny let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Then he looked at Conan. There was a…a glint in his eyes. Calculating, though not cold. There was no innocence, no naivety, just an old man's experience with a young man's vigor. He sat perfectly still as he watched Danny, not fidgeting. Something no ordinary child was capable of.

Heh. If Conan were an ordinary child, he'd eat the specter deflector. "What are you?"

Conan laughed, "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

Danny winced and fingered his bandaged arm. This wasn't going to be as easy as a simple denial. "Look, can we just say you didn't see anything weird about me, I didn't notice anything weird about you and call it a day."

"No" came the answer, swift and final. "I don't know what's going on, but I know someone died for it. And for some reason the culprit had targeted me, and by association Ran. Do you have any idea how hard I've been trying to keep that from happening! Your own father is in jail and you're protecting this guy!"

Danny's eyes flashed green. "I'm not 'protecting' anyone. What am I supposed to do? Go up to the nearest police officer and say 'Excuse me officer. That man was killed by Vlad Masters. Proof? No sir I have no proof since he used his ghost powers to do it. Yes ghost powers, he's half ghost you see. No sir, I haven't been smoking any wooden cigarettes.' It's not that I don't want to stop him; I'd do almost anything to. I just …can't." Danny deflated. He hated admitting defeat but it was the truth. When it came to stopping Vlad, he had nothing.

Silence.

"I'm seventeen."

"What?" Danny cocked an eyebrow at the near non sequitur.

"I'm seventeen and trapped in the body of a seven year old. Some men in black coats fed me a poison that shrunk me. I used to be a famous detective, now I can't get anyone to even listen to me. No one can know who I am or those men will come to finish the job. The only way I can get by is by living as someone else. And if Ran ever finds out the truth, she'll hate me. I know what it's like to be helpless."

Why the HELL did I just tell him that? What if he's one of them? I could have just killed us all.

"That's all?"

Conan sputtered "What do you mean 'That's All'?"

"I didn't mean it like that" Danny protested, trying to calm down the minature detective,"It's just that you got on Vlad's threat list. I didn't think a living human could get on Vlad's threat list."

Conan blinked. "A living human? As opposed to what?"

"Ghosts. What did you think that guy who attacked you was?"

"A robot. Ghosts can't exist, they're scientifically impossible."

"Like the murder." Danny pointed out

"…"

Danny sighed and grabbed Conan's hand, placing it on his torso. "What do you feel?"

"A shirt? Your chest? A pulse." Conan was seriously considering the chance that Jazz was the only sane one in the Fenton family.

"Remember the last one" Danny said, concentrating. "I'm going ghost."

Two blue rings appeared around Danny's torso and spread in opposite direction up and down his body. Conan tried to yank his hand away but Danny held it firmly in place. When the rings finished their trip Danny Phantom lay on the bed, his soft glow lighting up the roommore than the small lamp. "How about now?"

Conan was in the process of trying to get his brain running again when he realized what Danny was saying. The cool flesh beneath his fingers was still. There was no heart-beat, no pulse. His chest wasn't rising and falling with each breath, he wasn't even breathing.

Conan took a deep breath. "Half-ghost, huh? How the hell does that work?"

Danny laughed. "Not very well, but I get by."

Conan sighed. "Sherlock Holmes once said 'The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply'."

Danny snorted. "Holmes also said something about being able to find the truth by eliminating the impossible. Let me tell you, somewhere between the meat monster and the Fright Knight, the word impossible doesn't really seem to apply."

S$$S

AN: Don't forget to check out "The Adventures of the Phantom Detective" for omakes from this story. Oh and if anyone was wondering, 'wooden cigarettes' is an old slng term for marajuana.

Sharmaine: Well he is Conan. And don't worry, he called Agasa for help. You know what they say, friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.

nikuaikasawa: O.O Really! Well daym.

LazyShamanist: Yes the can of beans was much fun. Next update on Wensday.

Terra89:I look foward to reading them. Kid will be in this story, around chapter 14 if Iremember correctly. Not that he shouldn't be in yours. Everything's more fun with kid :D And Yes i'm a big fan of Zelda.

Firefly4000:...

Go through with that threat and I may have to do something -unpleasant- involving Cobra Commander.

purrbaby101: Like I said above, he's Conan. He's an expert at seeing what other people miss (or are in denial about. C'mon Maddie's definetly smart enough to have figured it out)