Danny was examining the cat. After flying away with it, he had looked at it to make sure it was alright, and found a gash on its side. So he's stopped and pulled the cat away to check it over. After pulling out its claws and talking to it, telling it what he was doing, it had calmed down and allowed him to examine it.
It was covered in scrapes, had a couple of nice gashes, several bruises, maybe a couple of broken ribs and a broken tail.
"Well," he said when he was done. "I guess you'll be alright in a few days." He paused as he looked into its eyes and saw understanding there. "Uhh," he said. "Can you, um, understand me?"
The cat nodded and purred. Then it flew out of his arms.
Surprised, Danny took a step back, reaching for the thermos.
Before he can touch it, though, the cat touched Danny's forehead with its nose. It purred louder and there was a flash of light before darkness overcame his vision.
The last thing he heard was a meow and a voice saying, "Thank you."
The cat looked at his savior in surprise. After he had given him the ability to understand him, he had passed out. That was not really very surprising.
No, what was surprising was that as he'd passed out, a ring had appeared around his waist and separated, one going up and the other down, changing the boy's appearance as it went.
He was surprised to see that his savior was not only a fellow ghost, but also a human child.
Curiosity aroused, the tom descended carefully to the ground, and curled up next to the boy, eager now to see how he would react when he woke.
Spike came out first, followed by Buffy, Willow and Xander, and Giles. Anya was staying at the store until it was time for it to close.
"Where is it?" Buffy asked Spike.
"Over here," he said, leading the way.
In the "room" next to Spike's "apartment" they found the portal, a swirling green jagged opening a couple of feet above the floor.
"Willow," Buffy gestured.
She nodded and came forward, setting up for the spell while the others took up stations around the room, in case something went wrong.
Danny groaned as he sat up. Looking down at himself, he saw that he was Fenton, and hoped that no one had seen him change. Looking around, he saw the ghost cat he'd saved laying curled up next to him.
"What did you do?" Danny accused it, not really expecting a reply.
The cat seemed to grin. "I gave you the ability to understand me," he said.
Danny stared at it in shock. "You what?"
"I gave you the ability to understand me," the cat repeated. "So that I could thank you properly for saving me from those children."
Danny continued to stare at him for a moment before remembering the time.
"Crud!" he exclaimed, transforming.
The cat tilted his head. "Something wrong?"
"I'm going to be late for dinner," Danny replied and carefully grabbed the cat before phasing both of them through the floor.
Once in the basement, Danny looked around for the portal.
"What are you looking for?" the cat asked.
"The portal to the Ghost Zone," Danny answered, phasing through a stack of boxes.
The cat starts, surprised. "Why?" he asked.
"So I can get home, duh," he replied. Suddenly he stopped, hearing something. "Shh," Danny whispered to the cat and went invisible and intangible. Then he flew through a wall and stopped dead.
What the heck was going on here?