Well, I was able to find some time to write! Yay! I guess where there's a will, there's a way . . . as always, enjoy:)

Everyone's attention was turned to the set of double doors at the front of the room when they heard footsteps and a low voice grumbling from behind them.

"You actually expect me to believe that you were able to catch Pha-" Skulker was saying as he was escorted by a guard into the room, his hands encircled by those beams of energy that come out of the guards' buzz batons. He had stopped talking when he was fully in the room and staring at Danny and Sam tied up in the middle of the room behind Walker.

"Whoa," he finally said after a moment of silence during which he took in the complete situation, parents included.

He turned to Danny with a mock sympathetic look on his face. "This must be so embarrassing for you," he teased.

"Not really," Danny answered back smoothly, "at least I don't fly around calling myself," he paused to alter his voice so that it imitated Skulker's, "Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter!" He snickered, "How does it feel to be the prey?"

Skulker just grunted and looked away.

Walker ignored them and spoke into his radio, "Surveillance team for target number three, status please."

"Surveillance?" Danny said giving Walker one of his I-really-hate-your-guts glares, "Were you spying on Sam and I?"

"Why are their parents here?" Skulker suddenly felt the need to ask.

"Dude, ever heard of a little thing called privacy?" Danny continued to pressure Walker.

"What possible advantage could their being here have?" Skulker went on.

Sam watched in amusement as Walker looked about ready to explode as Danny and Skulker both started asking questions at the same time. For some reason, Skulker's sudden appearance hadn't brought back the butterflies. Instead she felt comforted. While it was true that Skulker was one of Danny's worse enemies, she believed that he secretly had a soft spot for the half ghost. It was the half-compliment half-threat he said on the day they saved the world that really had her convinced.

"ENOUGH!" Walker finally exploded.

Danny and Skulker stopped talking, but gave eachother satisfied looks from across the room. If their hands weren't tied, Sam bet they would've high-fived.

Walker turned to Danny, "Yes, I spied on you and your girlfriend, how else would I have known where to find you tonight?"

Walker then snapped around to face Skulker who was still at the front of the room. "They," he snarled, jabbing his finger in the direction of Danny's and Sam's parents, "are here because if I didn't bring them, there was sure to be some kind of ill-conceived rescue attempt."

"Well it probably would have been all we needed to foil your little half-baked kidnapping scheme," Maddie suddenly chimed in with one of her own Danny-like death glares for Walker.

"Ooh, nice," Skulker commented.

The room seemed to freeze for a second after that.

"Did . . . did you just compliment my mom?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"I think I did," Skulker replied, also looking baffled. He turned to Walker, "You have to stop this, it's too weird, grouping me with them!"

Walker was unfazed. "Nice try," he said dryly.

"Then tell us why we are here!" Skulker demanded.

"Yah, dude," Danny added, "enough is enough."

Walker let out a sigh and took his time answering. "Very well then . . . I am opening a new part of my prison right here in this warehouse, a rehabilitation center, an isolated area for prisoners who are a threat to the security of the other prisoners. You two," Walker said motioning towards Danny and Skulker, "are not only flight risks yourselves, but encourage rebellion among the other prisoners," Walker's voice grew extra threatening, "which is why you'll be the first ones to be checked into the rehab center."

"And the third target? The one you're running surveillance on?" Danny questioned with a very serious you-so-did-not-scare-me-with-that-threat tone.

"Wulf, of course," Walker said casually, "He'll be undergoing a special kind of rehab. Certain features of him must be removed as they are illegal and a danger to society."

"You're going to de-claw him?" Sam asked furiously, "What, just because he's a unique creature with an amazing skill that you could never obtain, he has to suffer?"

"Sam . . ." Danny cautioned her, but Sam didn't listen. Her rage fueled her words and she continued to shout at Walker.

"Just because ghosts like Danny can get the best of you sometimes, that means they're criminals?!"

"Sam," Danny said a little more firmly.

"They aren't even the ones doing anything wrong! It's you who's wrong! Wulf is just minding his own business, not bothering you, and you have to go and freakin' attack him!"

"Sam!" Danny yelled this time.

"What?!"

"We're not gonna let that happen. He isn't touching Wulf."

"Oh really," Walker said, leaning in to smirk in Danny's face, "And what gives you so much confidence, ghost punk?"

"Oh, nothing," Danny replied smiling, "just the fact that your little potion you were so proud of didn't shut down my freezing powers; it kicked them into overdrive!"

Walker barely had a second to process what Danny had said before Danny opened his mouth and a giant blue blast engulfed Walker. When Danny closed his mouth and the blast had subsided, Walker stood literally frozen in place.

Danny coughed and a few beads of ice flew out of his mouth to land daintily on the concrete floor.

"You've been here for hours and you've been able to do that?!" Skulker said almost as surprised as Walker probably was. It was hard to gauge his reaction through all the ice.

"Relax, I wasn't able to control it until just a few seconds ago," Danny replied coolly, "now come here."

Without really knowing why, Skulker walked over and managed to just fit between the frozen Walker and captive Danny. Sam saw this as yet another sign that the hunk of metal trusted Danny. Danny blew on Skulker's wrists, freezing the energy that held them. Skulker then easily broke the ice with his um . . . robotic strength.

"Not bad," he remarked examining his freed hands and the Walker ice sculpture behind him.

"What," Danny half-teased, "you could have done better?"

"Well," Skulker began, "I do have a high-powered-"

"Don't wanna hear about it," Danny interrupted, giving Skulker a have-you-completely-forgotten-the-situation-I'm-in-right-now? glare.

"You know, I wouldn't insult your only chance at freedom if I were you," Skulker patronized, "I could use this to my advantage."

"And so could I," Danny shot back, "there's plenty more where that came from," he nodded towards Walker, "and it's just begging to come out."

Skulker was quick to respond, "Hey, calm down, I was only kidding, geez."

Sam believed him. The butterflies that had once plagued her stomach were now completely gone and she saw that as a sign that Skulker could be trusted. After all, the little pests had been spot on, warning her whenever Walker was about to do something to make her miserable, like oh I don't know, tell her parents about how she snuck out of the house with her boyfriend late at night! Sam didn't even want to begin to imagine what the talk at home was gonna be like once this was all over.

Skulker went around behind Danny's chair and began fooling with the cuffs until he broke the lock and they fell off.

"Yesss," Danny couldn't help but hiss as he massaged his wrists where the cuffs had dug into his skin.

Skulker moved on to Sam's cuffs without a word. Danny stood up and turned to face Sam. He had a loving boyfriend smile ready for her, but when he looked into her eyes they suddenly grew wide.

"Guards!" she warned.

Danny turned to see several guards standing in the doorway. They were talking into their walkie-talkies, probably requesting back-up.

"No problem," Danny said proudly as he allowed the blue rings to appear around his waste, turning him into his ghost half. Without the cuffs he was finally able to use all of his powers.

"You with me?" he turned to ask Skulker, who suddenly appeared at his side.

"Yup," he replied, his arm transforming into a giant gun of some kind.

"Ahem!"

Danny turned all the way around to see Sam standing there, freed, with her hand held out to him.

"Oh, right," Danny muttered as he detached a wrist-ray from his belt and handed it to her with a measured look that Sam knew all too well to mean either "Be careful!" or "Please not in front of your parents!" In this case it probably meant both. Sam just smiled a yes-I-am-so-going-to-fight-ghosts-with-you-in-front-of-my-parents-clearly-demonstrating-for-them-how-much-danger-you-put-me-in-daily grin.

"Let's do this," she said as soon as the wrist-ray was strapped on.

There's something about this chapter that bothers me. I don't know why. I guess I'm just sad cuz the story's winding down. Writing the begining was so much more fun! Anyways, I definitely will not have time to write tomorrow, but I plan on writing a lot Friday so until then!