His head was pounding. He could literally feel his slow pulse reverberating in his skull. Or was that just the massive headache he was sporting? It felt like his brain was floating in his skull and throbbing at the same time. Danny groaned lowly as his head lolled to the side. A wave of nausea suddenly hit him and caused him to dry heave.

"Oh. You're finally awake. Good. I was getting worried that I wouldn't be able to speak to you before we started."

With dull, lidded eyes, Danny slowly turned his head to face who had spoken. His eyes narrowed as he tried to place the face. "You're... Kagome's grandmother," Danny said with a frown.

Nakoda smiled brightly. "Very good. Now, can you tell me how many fingers am I holding up?" Nakoda said and lifted her hand.

"Uh... Four?" Danny replied with a groan before squeezing his eyes shut.

Nakoda frowned. "It was two, but close enough I suppose..."

"I thought you left town. What are you doing here? And where am I?" Danny asked with his head lowered and his eyes closed. It was much easier to focus this way.

Nakoda looked up at the boy pinned to the wooden walls of the abandoned warehouse they were in. He was still out of his mind. She didn't even need to exert much focus to keep him pinned to the wall by her magic. Then again, he was just a boy. He probably wasn't very powerful to begin with. "In a warehouse downtown," she answered. "And I did leave. But the guilt made me return. I couldn't just turn my back on my granddaughter like that. Kimiko may not care about her well-being, but I love my granddaughter."

"What are you talking about? Why am I in a warehouse? Why can't I move? And what is that smell?" Danny asked and tried to bury his nose in his shoulder. He wasn't very successful, however.

"I brought you here last night. You've actually been unconscious for almost twenty-four hours. You're still weak from the spell that I used to incapacitate you. That was my error. It's been a while since I've had to use it on a ghost and I may have left you under its effects for too long," Nakoda replied with a slight shrug. "As for the smell, you threw up on yourself once during the night."

Danny cracked an eye open to see that the front of his shirt was, in fact, the totally gross color of baby food and... ectoplasm? He'd been unconscious for almost a day? His parents were probably freaking out. Sam and Tucker must be worried. Were they looking for him? Sighing loudly, Danny spoke up again, "What do you want with me?"

"I want a few things from you," Nakoda replied while folding her arms over her chest. Since his head was lowered, Danny wasn't able to see the sudden shift from a pleasant, smiling face to one of disgusted fury. "First, I want an explanation. I've encountered many ghosts in my lifetime, but I've never come across one like you. The more time I spend with you, the more questions I have. You aren't being possessed by the Phantom boy. What sort of connection do you have with him? He inhabits your body like a parasite- feeding off of you and poisoning you with his ghostly energy and ectoplasm."

"The only person poisoning me is you," Danny hissed with a fierce glare.

Nakoda sighed and shook her head. Youth. "While I am sure that you are a nice boy, Danny I cannot allow you to continue living. In order to destroy Phantom, you have to die as well. You two are so tightly bonded to each other it's almost like you're the same person! Really, I'm doing you a favor. Not only you but Kagome as well. She really shouldn't be associating with a ghost anyway," Nakoda commented before moving away from Danny.

"Wait! You can't!" Danny exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Danny. I don't particularly care for the messier elimination tactics. I'll just give you a little potion," Nakoda said before picking up a large purse from the dirty floors. "It'll melt the ghost right out of your body!"

Danny watched her reach into the purse before attempting to tug his wrists away from the wall. Why couldn't he break free!? There wasn't even any rope to hold him in place!

"Don't bother. I've already given you some salt that I spelled to cancel out Phantom's ghostly powers. You tried to throw it up, but fortunately, it still worked," Nakoda explained while taking an unnecessarily large syringe out of the bag. Danny could see a black liquid moving around in the syringe. "If you're lucky, you might even survive this, Danny. What's more? You'll no longer have any ghostly energy corrupting you. That sounds so much better. At least then you would be able to be with my granddaughter without the threat of dying from her magic."

"Kagome wouldn't hurt me. She's not like you," Danny vehemently argued and attempted to pull his arms free again. He even attempted to summon up the energy for an ectoblast, but it wasn't working. Not even his ice powers were working!

Nakoda's eyes widened in shock. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Danny," Nakoda said with sympathy lighting her eyes. "I just want to destroy the other Danny," Nakoda promised before brandishing the needle.

~9 HOURS EARLIER~

"Sammie-kins, would you be a dear and pass the water?" Sam heard her mother ask. With a barely restrained sigh, Sam lifted the pitcher that was near her before passing it to her father who then passed it to her mother. Pam Manson couldn't stand it when Sam passed the pitcher directly to her. It wasn't proper table manners to pass things over the food... 'Lunchtime at the Manson house,' Sam thought with a silent sigh.

Sam was spearing more of her salad onto her fork when Pam suddenly spoke again. "Sam, how is your friend doing?"

"Danny's fine," Sam responded monotonously.

"No. Not that boy. Your other friend. The new one," Pam hinted and took a bite of her pasta.

"I've been friends with Tucker for years," Sam responded with a brow raised. She knew that her parents were blissfully unaware of the reality of her life, but Sam never thought that they'd been this blind.

Pam frowned. "No, Sam. That sweet Japanese girl. Oh, what was her name again? It starts with a K," Pam trailed off.

"Kagome?" Sam answered with an incredulous tone.

"Yes! Kagome," Pam said with a bright smile. "She's such a sweet girl."

Sam nearly excused herself from the table. While she and Kagome no longer held any sort of open hostility between them, they could hardly be called "friends". If her mother liked Kagome, Sam couldn't help but feel secure in her decision to remain just acquaintances with the Japanese girl. Under different circumstances, Sam had a feeling that she would have gotten along very well with Kagome. But Danny...

"Kagome's fine," Sam finally answered.

"Are you two going to spending any time together soon? I think it would be a good idea to take the two of you down to the mall today to do a bit of shopping. I've seen Kagome out shopping with her mother a few times," Pam hinted and delicately dabbed her napkin at the mouth.

"Raincheck on "Mother-Daughter Day"? I'm full. Can I be excused?" Sam panicked.

"Sure thing, sweetheart," Jeremy answered and sipped his water. Before anyone could say anything else, Sam grabbed her plate and empty cup before dashing out of the dining room. That was close. She could not stay in the house anymore today. If she spent any more time in her mother's presence, Pam would definitely force Sam into a day-long shopping trip. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Sam quickly sent a text to Tucker and Danny.

Meet me at the arcade in 20. CAN'T stay home today.

It took a few minutes, but she received a confirmation from Tucker first. Without waiting for Danny's response, Sam quickly ran back up to her room to grab her wallet.

Twenty-one minutes later, Tucker was walking towards Sam as she stood outside the arcade with her phone in hand. "Hey, Sam. What's going on?" Tucker asked once he got close.

"My mom wants to have a mother-daughter shopping trip. She even wanted Kagome to come with us," Sam answered and rolled her eyes.

Personally, Tucker didn't see what was wrong with going shopping with Kagome. She'd just be trying on different clothes like dresses, skirts, ...swimsuits... Subtly shaking himself out, Tucker nodded sympathetically. Sam definitely wouldn't enjoy a day of shopping for girly outfits. "That sucks," Tucker said.

"Tell me about it," Sam replied and rolled her eyes. "When is Danny going to get here? You don't think he's still at home sleeping. Do you?"

"Probably. We can head inside. I'm sure he'll make it after he wakes up," Tucker said with a shrug. Sam nodded in agreement before the pair entered the air-conditioned arcade.

~:~

Sometimes, Sam considered getting Danny a watch for his birthday or Christmas. But, then he would probably lose it or damage it in a ghost fight. She could even picture the sheepish look he'd have on his face when he showed her the broken watch (if he still had it). Honestly, it would be too much of a hassle. But, at times like these, Sam really wished that Danny had a watch or at least a working alarm clock.

"Hey, Danny. Where are you? Call me back, okay?" Sam left the message on his voicemail before turning to where Tucker was playing pinball. "He still isn't answering."

Tucker chuckled once. "He probably knows how worried you are and is avoiding answering while he runs around trying to get ready," Tucker said over his shoulder with his eyes focused on his game.

"I'm not "worried"," Sam acknowledged while staring down at the text she had sent Danny an hour ago.

"Relax, Sam. It's only been an hour... He's just tired or something," Tucker said. 'Or over at Kagome's', Tucker thought to himself. He'd never say this out loud, however. The last thing to tell Sam when she was worried about Danny was that he was probably with Kagome (or any other girl). Sometimes, Tucker wasn't sure which reaction from Sam was worse, her reaction to hearing Danny was with another girl or her reaction to hearing that Danny was in trouble and fighting a ghost.

"Okay. If he doesn't call after another hour, then I'm calling again."

That hour went by frustratingly slowly for Sam. As soon as those sixty minutes had passed, Sam had her phone pressed to her face once again. It wasn't uncommon for Danny to sleep in after staying up late, but sleeping until almost 2:30 was ridiculous! Tucker watched her as she waited for Danny to answer and then pulled her phone away with a curse. "He's still not answering."

"Why don't you try calling Kagome? Maybe she's heard from him?" Tucker suggested.

Sam raised a brow before pulling up her contacts. Sam had saved Kagome's number in her phone months ago, but she couldn't remember a time when she'd ever used it. There's a first time for everything. After several seconds, Sam took the phone away from her ear again. "She's not answering either."

"They could be watching a movie or at Kagome's house working on her magic," Tucker suggested.

"Should we go check?" Sam asked Tucker with a hesitant expression. Tucker raised a brow at her but didn't answer. Sam sighed loudly. "You know I just don't want him to get hurt. Right? Danny can be so clueless sometimes. I don't want him to keep chasing after Kagome when she's clearly not interested," Sam explained.

"You don't have to tell me, Sam. I get it," Tucker said and rested his hand on Sam's shoulder. "There's only so much you can do. If you try to say something, Danny'd probably take it the wrong way. Besides, I think he already knows that it's a lost cause."

"So why does he-"

"Sometimes it's hard to walk away when you really care about someone," Tucker hinted.

Sam stilled. After a few seconds, she deflated with another hefty sigh. "Alright. Can we stop by the Skulk and Lurk? I have a book on hold there," Sam resigned.

"Sure, Sam," Tucker agreed with a small, encouraging smile.

~:~

At four o' clock on the dot, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief before taking a seat onto the mat below her. While she was taking deep breaths, she heard her new, kickboxing instructor chuckle loudly. He was a stocky man of average height with graying hair and a thick mustache. "You look exhausted!" he exclaimed in his booming voice.

Kagome pushed herself up slowly with a groan. "That's because I am!" she replied. She'd started taking this kickboxing class once her mother had become too busy to practice karate with her anymore. It was a great way to learn new techniques while still keeping her skills sharp.

"That's enough for today then. You've earned a good rest."

'Thank goodness,' Kagome thought as she crawled over to her bag. There was no way her legs would be functional enough to walk right now. Plucking her phone out of the front pocket, she reclined onto the mat as she checked her messages.

Paulina: Dash asked me 2 go with him 2 the fair on Saturday. Wat should I say?

Kagome quickly texted back. He mentioned asking u. He was thinking about winning u a stuffed animal.

Paulina: ¡Dios mío! Not ANOTHER one. Whatever. I'll tell him yes so he'll stop bugging me.

Kagome shook her head with a chuckle. Moving on to the next notification, she saw that Sam had called her. Kagome immediately sat up with a deep frown. Sam had never called her before. She'd never even sent a text message! Why would she call now? Quickly tapping the "Call Back" button, Kagome nibbled at her lower lip. This had to be important if Sam was the one calling... Normally, it would be Danny or Tucker who-

"Hello?"

"Sam, it's Kagome. What's up? You called me," Kagome said.

"Yeah. Like two hours ago. Tucker and I were just wondering if you'd heard from Danny today. I messaged him to meet us at the arcade at 12 but he never showed."

"No. I haven't seen him since last night. Did you go over to his house?"

"No. We figured that he was with you."

"Not today," Kagome answered and grabbed her bag as she stood. "I'm heading home now. I'll text you if I see him."

"We're on our way," Sam said before promptly hanging up.

Without any hesitation, Kagome quickly left the studio while trying to locate her car keys. She couldn't help but think about what Sam had said. Neither of them had seen Danny all day? That was unbelievable. Sam and Tucker were usually the best at keeping track of Danny. Kagome knew for a fact that Danny was practically obligated to let Sam (and Tucker) know if anything was going on with him. But there couldn't be anything going on. Right? Kagome'd spoken to Danny just last night! He had gone to bed. Right?

Kagome had never driven so recklessly. Having a friend go AWOL wasn't usually the most worrying thing in the world. But when your friend was a half-ghost who constantly lived a life of ghost hunting and life-threatening danger, a little extra worry was necessary. When she pulled up in front of her house, Kagome left the car parked on the street before getting out. She stared at Fenton Works for a few seconds, her eyes gazing at Danny's room.

"Kagome!"

Turning quickly, Kagome spotted Sam and Tucker running towards her. Tucker looked extremely fatigued if his loud panting was any indication, but Sam didn't stop running. "Guys! He's not there," Kagome said.

"What do you mean? You already checked?" Sam asked and stared up at the second floor of Fenton Works.

"I don't need to. I can't sense him in there," Kagome replied.

"You... can... sense Danny?" Tucker asked in between loud pants.

"Yeah. My grandmother showed me how to sense ghostly energy. I know Danny's like the back of my hand and he's not in there," Kagome said and gestured to his home.

"Then where can he be? You don't think that he's in the Ghost Zone?" Sam asked.

"I don't think he'd go without telling us," Tucker replied. "We can try the Booo-merang."

"The what?"

"It's this stupid device Danny's dad made. It's keyed into his ecto-signature. It can find him anywhere," Sam explained.

"Okay. Where is it?"

"It's in Danny's house. I'll go get it," Tucker said before dashing across the street.

Once the two girls were alone, it became blatantly obvious how unprepared they were for this situation. The awkward silence set in immediately, with both girls trying to focus on anything else. Unfortunately, the first (and only) thing they focused on was Danny's disappearance. Kagome sighed deeply. "It doesn't make sense. He told me that he was going home. I even sensed him at home before I fell asleep. Where could he have gone?" Kagome voiced her thoughts.

"I knew I should have checked on him earlier," Sam declared.

"I'm a little surprised that you didn't. You're usually the first person to worry about Danny. What happened?" Kagome asked.

"Tucker convinced me to give him some space. We thought... that he'd be with you. He doesn't usually tell us when he's hanging out with you. Or, at least, he doesn't tell me," Sam said while staring resolutely at Fenton Works.

"Oh..." Kagome responded while looking away awkwardly. "Sam... I-"

"Don't bother. I get it. It's not your fault," Sam cut her off.

"You should tell him you know. He'll never know if you don't tell him," Kagome said with a serious tone. Sam frowned.

"I got it!"

Both girls turned eagerly to face Tucker as he ran across the street with the Booo-merang in hand. He stopped in front of them before pressing the green button to activate the device and tossing it into the air with all his strength. They all watched as the Booo-merang beeped loudly for several seconds while spinning around the block. "Is it supposed to be going in circles like that?" Kagome asked.

"It should have found him by now. Maybe he is in the Ghost Zone," Sam commented. Eventually, the Booo-merang returned to the trio, crashing roughly into the pavement at their feet. Sam picked it up with a deep frown on her face. "He has to be in trouble. We have to do something now."

Kagome watched Sam and Tucker turn to run towards Fenton Works before shouting, "Wait!"

"There's no time to wait! Are you coming or not? Danny needs help now," Sam declared in a fierce tone.

"No. I mean, we don't have to go looking for him. That might take too long. I can just summon him to us," Kagome explained.

"You can do that? Why didn't we have a witch in the group from the beginning!?" Tucker exclaimed excitedly.

"I just need something of his- some kind of personal item that he has a connection with," Kagome said.

"Let's get something out of his room. Come on," Sam instructed before leading them over to Danny's house. Quietly, she cracked the front door open before creeping inside. "We don't want to let Danny's parents know he's missing," Sam whispered and led the group past the living room and up to the second floor.

"Wouldn't it be better to have as many people as possible helping us find him?" Kagome reasoned softly.

"Not if Danny's fighting some ghost in the Ghost Zone. His parents have never been there and would probably go crazy trying to waste every ghost they see- including Danny," Sam argued. "If you can get him back, we don't need to tell them anything."

Once the trio was standing in Danny's room, Sam shut the door behind them. "What's that burning smell?" Tucker asked and coughed several times. He buried his face in his shirt as his eyes watered. Sam was quick to open a window in the middle of her own coughing spree.

Kagome's eyes widened. "It smells like burnt sweets," Kagome said in a faraway voice.

"Like birthday cake," Tucker commented in a muffled voice.

Suddenly, Kagome dashed around the room while searching high and low. Sam raised a brow at her. "Is there something in particular we should use? Like clothes or something?" Sam asked.

"This smell. It's familiar," Kagome said. "My grandmother showed me a spell... After burning whatever it is you spelled, it makes things smell like burnt sweets. When a human breathes it, it irritates the respiratory track a little but you'll be fine after a while. But to a ghost, the fumes are like a narcotic and hallucinogen in one."

"You think a witch has Danny?" Sam asked with a dangerous edge to her voice.

"It makes the most sense," Kagome answered. "I don't think it's just a witch. I think it's my grandmother. She's the only one besides me and my mom who know that Danny's a ghost."

"Kagome, start that spell of yours. We need to save Danny now," Sam commanded and handed Kagome one of Danny's shirts from his hamper. Kagome sat on Danny's bed and closed her eyes. Sam and Tucker watched her mutter to herself softly with anxious expressions on their faces. They could see her hands tightening slowly around the shirt as her brows furrowed. "Is it working?" Sam asked impatiently.

"I...can't establish a connection," Kagome said.

"What does that mean?" Sam questioned.

I think there's a cloaking spell around them. It's probably why the Booo-merang couldn't find him," Kagome said.

"So, what do we do now?" Tucker asked.

"I can try again but I need something with a stronger connection than his shirt. I need something he's close to or uses every day- something with an emotional connection," Kagome said and tossed the shirt back in the hamper.

Tucker went towards Danny's dresser and pulled out another article of clothing. "What about his underwear?"

"Gross and no," Kagome replied.

"What about his Fenton thermos? He always has it on him," Sam suggested and handed over the thermos.

Kagome took the thermos and tried again. "It's... It's better but I not good enough. He's still somewhere in town," Kagome said.

"Come on, Tucker. We have to find something!" Sam urged as her eyes scanned over the floors.

"His phone!" Tucker exclaimed and handed over the device that was lying on the floor.

Sam turned away from the two and started searching through Danny's bedside table. She could hear Kagome's failed attempts behind her. She didn't have time to focus on the many different things Tucker was throwing at Kagome! She had to find something they could use. Maybe Danny kept something that they'd given him? After having no success in his bedside table, Sam started upturning Danny's mattress. People liked to hide personal things under their mattresses right? Tossing away a pillow, Sam paused. Finally! Danny was keeping some paper under his pillow. Maybe they could use-

Sam froze. It was a photo strip from some photo booth. The four pictures on the strip had Danny happily posing with Kagome. Sam wasn't sure when they'd taken these pictures, but they had to be important if Danny kept them hidden under his pillow. With an expressionless face, Sam called out, "Kagome, try this."

Kagome raised a brow at the paper being held out to her. She took the paper before recognizing it as the pictures she had taken with Danny last summer. Without a word, Kagome got to work. "...I think I can see him. He's...sleeping?"

"Are you sure he's just sleeping?" Sam asked anxiously.

"Yeah. He's sleeping on a wall. He's really dirty," Kagome replied.

"Where is he?" Tucker asked.

"I'm...not sure. He's up against a wooden wall somewhere in town," Kagome answered and opened her eyes.

"We have to find him. I say we split up and start searching. Most of the buildings in town are concrete anyways. If we split up Amity Park, we should be able to find him," Sam said in a firm tone. She moved over to Danny's desk before searching through his drawers. "Here, Kagome. Take this Fenton Phone. Tucker and I will get ours. If anyone finds him, let the others know."

"We should be extra careful. I know you guys have experience fighting ghosts. But fighting a witch is different," Kagome warned and slipped the Fenton Phone into her ear. "You can't trap a witch in a Fenton Thermos and call it a day."

"We know. We'll be careful, but we have to move fast. Danny needs us to save him now," Sam declared with a determined look. Kagome and Tucker nodded once in agreement.

~:~

Moi-Moi: Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review! Your reviews could help save Danny before it's too late!