Yes, I am back. But I've changed.

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4. Silence is Deadly

"Hey, Ryan," Calleigh noted, writing some notes down in a book. "Did you turn down the air conditioning?"

The young CSI shook his head while writing something down as well. "Nope. Did you?"

"I wouldn't be asking you if I had, would I?" she replied dryly, looking in the microscope again. She sighed. "Besides, from what I heard from Alexx and Horatio, this killer we're looking for may seem to have some sort of connection to either being a ghost or some sort of relationship to H's past."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Ghost?"

She rubbed her head and sighed. "Do you really think I want to go into specifics about that sort of thing? All I know is that some old geezer who's a billionaire tycoon and has control of practically every company in the world. And yet the one thing he wants is the Packers and some kid's mom."

'Miss Duquesne,' Plasmius thought, invisible to them in the lab, 'you don't even know the half of it.'

Ryan looked hopeful as he studied the substance under the microscope. He grinned. "I think I figured out our substance. Something called ectoplasm. Only known location of this sort of thing is in a place known as the 'Ghost Zone.'"

Calleigh furrowed her brow. "That's interesting. I wonder if..."

Both looked at each other in surprise. "Masters," they stated in unison.

Danny leaned back on the bed, flipping through channels on TV, staring at the various people discussing weather, news breaks, murders, and other various pieces of information not relative to Miami's lifestyle. Sam sat on the bed next to him, looking at him, confused. "Uh, hello? Earth to Danny. Shouldn't you be thinking about what Vlad could be up to?"

He looked back at her, turning down the volume. "I would be," he sighed, "but there are so many theories of why he could be here right now, they're all making my brain hurt. Frankly, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid or life-threatening, I'm not going to worry."

Sam shook her head. "You've got to have some idea of what he's doing."

He lay back, staring at the ceiling. "I've got one, yeah."

The phone rang to the room. Sam frowned and picked it up. "Hello?" Her brow furrowed even deeper as she took the phone off her ear and handed it to Danny. "It's for you."

He blinked and took it. "Hello?"

"Ah, Daniel," a familiar sinister voice smirked over the phone. "It appears you can't avoid me over the phone or even in Miami-Dade county."

Danny clenched up. "Plasmius. What do you want?"

"A favor. I want you to come down to the Miami-Dade Crime Lab with those two friends of yours. There's something I want you to see."

The boy's eyes narrowed. "What's the catch?"

Click.

He stared down at the receiver and glanced at Sam and Tucker, who now sat on the bed. "Put on your flip-flops or something. We have to go to the Miami-Dade Crime Lab for some reason. Vlad won't say why."

Tucker's jaw dropped. "Dude, you're going to listen to that fruit loop?!"

"Horatio."

The lieutenant turned around to find a brown-haired, green-eyes male standing behind him, smiling rather smugly. He seemed to have the presence of the billionaire himself, but Horatio knew it was in a completely different sense. He leveled his gaze calmly towards the newcomer, despite some sparks seemingly shooting in his direction. "Sergeant Stetler. Mind me asking what you are doing in my lab?"

Sergeant Rick Stetler raised an eyebrow to the redhead. "I see someone has had an encounter today they don't wish to blabber on about. Am I correct, Horatio?"

"Understand, Rick, that you are in my lab for no apparent reason," he told him. "I can throw you out of here for no apparent reason. It works both ways."

"I heard that Vlad Masters is somewhere in the building," Stetler offered to a tight-lipped Horatio. "Figured I'd drop by and wonder where he is."

The lieutenant cocked his head. "Any particular reason?"

A scream erupted from inside the DNA Lab. Horatio's gun was in his hand before he subconsciously understood what was going on as he moved to the hallway with other thoughts racing through his head. He looked in and opened the door to see a frightened and upset Calleigh pointing her gun at a caped figure holding Ryan Wolfe's hand and floating above them all. Ryan appeared to be unconscious.

Horatio pointed his gun at the caped male. "Care to put down the CSI?" he asked politely, a flame of hate in his eyes.

"Ah, so I did pick up the right one!" the floating figure cried with delight. "If I may be so sure as to prod, Lieutenant Caine, is this Ryan Wolfe?"

Calleigh's finger trembled on the trigger. "Put him down!"

The figure sent a strange pink beam down at the woman. The gun shot out of her hand and onto the tile. She gasped and stared at him. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Is that any way to ask a ghost to do such a thing?"

Ghost? Horatio's hand began trembling as well. "How about a first name?"

"Plasmius. Vlad Plasmius, if you must ask," he replied lazily, shooting a wave of electricity through Ryan, making sure he would stay unconscious. "Oh, and Horatio..." He sent another ghost ray towards the male, who leapt out of the way. "If you happen to find a Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, and Tucker Foley, tell them to stay here. They might be useful in negotiating Mr. Wolfe's release."

Horatio glared at Plasmius. "I know you."

"I don't," the half-ghost replied mildly, turning intangible and flying through the roof.

Calleigh looked at Horatio. "We've got to free Ryan."

He pursed his lips. "I understand that, Miss Duquesne. However, we have more important matters. First, let's find out who these kids are. Maybe we can get somewhere with that."

"Right," she replied and ran out.

Horatio frowned. Was Stetler supposed to be a distraction for this Plasmius guy to take Ryan, or was there something more evil at work? Either way, he wanted to get his CSI and the murderer.

He'd start with Vlad Plasmius.

Ooooof. That took some serious thinking.

Yeah. I can imagine. Sorry for the lack of updates. Reviews are appreciated. Let's get to 25! Thanks for reading!