Well, I got someone who wants to know why Danny's giving in so easily. Fear not. All is explained, and Horatio Caine is going to definitely bring out his fatherly, yet commanding, self.

Dearest thanks for reviewing to Plushiemon, princess moon shadow, Hordak's Pupil, Shadewolf7

6. Both Helpful and Hurtful

He glared out the window, floating in the interrogation room as many pairs of wandering eyes drifted in his direction. He wasn't a museum project that was supposed to be on display in a few days, so why were people pointing at him? And why wasn't he looking for Sam and Tucker? He could have phased his way out of the room right now, but no! There was something in that officer's eyes that made him stay in the room as he glared back at the people looking at him.

The door opened, and Phantom turned around. The redheaded cop who had told him to go inside and wait for him entered the room and nodded to the Hispanic next to him. "Eric. I need to do this one alone."

The one called Eric nodded and left the room. He shut all the blinds to the windows and stood across the table from Phantom, who was floating above the table. "So I take it that the vampire is not your ally," he stated.

Phantom shook his head with a start. "What?" Questions were tumbling out of his mouth faster than he could control his brain process. "Who are you? What am I doing here? Why do you know something about me? I have to go save them!"

The redhead waited patiently for this outburst to finish and fingered his sunglasses. "For starters, my name is Lieutenant Horatio Caine, and I'm the leader of the Miami Crime Scene Investigators. What you're doing here, my friend, is recovering from what appear to be severe battle wounds from that aerial attack I saw you in. And I know something about you, because your friends that were kidnapped told me something about you. And no, you are in no shape to save them."

Phantom glared at him and winced, floating down to the ground and crossing his arms to cover a scratch on his left arm. "You don't think I'm in any shape to save them? What exactly would you know about saving people, Lieutenant?"

"A lot more than you, Mr. Phantom."

He blinked. His tone was kind, and yet it wasn't. There was some sort of wearied quality in his voice that he couldn't quite place his finger on. And the eyes... the eyes seemed to bore into him as if he was inspecting some sort of ghost on a dissection table. Phantom was confused. "What?"

Horatio looked at him steadily, his head tilted. "I know what it's like to have the ones I love and work with die alongside me in the face of evil. I know what it's like to hold a dying person's hand when they are taking their last breath of life. I know what it is like to kill someone and go after them with a lust for revenge. I know what Death looks like, Mr. Phantom. But I'm not quite sure if you do."

His voice... he sounded almost in depressed agony. Phantom seemed to almost wallow in a bubble, but that quickly faded away as he got fired up again. "Well, I bet you wouldn't know a thing about ghosts, would you?"

"No," the leader replied simply. "No I wouldn't."

This was really getting the young hybrid upset. "So, how is this all applying to me? Why am I still in here? I can disappear, you know!"

Horatio looked down. "I know, Danny. I know you can."

"See? See, that is what I... wait a second." He suddenly sank into a chair, worried and confused yet again. "Danny? Hold on a sec. You know who I am?"

"Yes."

Phantom began to back away. "How? I don't understand. How can you know me?! You've got nothing against me that says you know my name! A..." He paused, remembering his conversation moments before.

...Flashback...

Horatio shook his head. "I'm not going to have an enemy of Vlad Plasmius going out to look for him after what I've just witnessed, Mr...?"

He sighed resignedly. "Phantom. Danny Phantom. All right, I'll go with you guys."

...Flash forward...

Phantom kicked himself mentally. How could he be so stupid as to blurt out his name to this guy? He looked at Horatio, his emerald eyes narrowing. "What do you know about me?"

"Your name," he told him. "And if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you some questions."

He put up a hand. "Wait a second. You won't tell anyone?"

Horatio smiled softly, almost fatherly. "What happens between my victims and I stays that way. You can trust me with your life."

"Good thing." He took a deep breath.

What Horatio saw the next moment shocked him like no crime scene he had ever seen before. Two white rings of light split down the teenager, and in the white-haired, emerald-eyed male's place stood a different person- one with raven hair, sky blue eyes, jeans and a t-shirt. He looked calm at the transformation that had occurred as he tentatively sat down in his chair and looked up at the lieutenant. Horatio's eyes widened with disbelief at the boy in front of him. "What was that?"

He laughed nervously. "Eh heh-heh. Um, I'm kind of a half human, half ghost sort of thing. And from where I come from, ghosts aren't exactly treated with open arms of love." He looked very uncomfortable after this, shifting in his chair unnervingly.

"What's your name?"

He smiled a small grin. "The name's Danny Fenton. But call me Danny."

Horatio nodded. "Danny, I can see that you are a teenager with powers unknown to anyone whom I've ever known. I must ask you- could you help us in a murder investigation involving a young child and the location of my CSI: Ryan Wolfe?"

The boy blinked. "Was that the other guy Plasmius took?"

He sighed. "Yes, and it might be in your best interests to lend us your expertise in this. We have a piece of evidence that could be recognized by your ghostly intellect that could connect everything back to this Plasmius character."

The door opened, and a brown haired, forest green eyed male looked into the room. "You're supposed to be working on the Michael Zelman case, Horatio," he told him, looking agitated. "Already interviewing a suspect, and you have no evidence!"

Danny blinked. "What?"

Horatio flashed the man a dangerous look. "Pardon me, Rick. I was interviewing a possible source for the case. When did Internal Affairs decide to get involved?"

Stetler rolled his eyes. "Well, obviously when a missing CSI: is involved, we have to make sure he gets out of his situation alive."

"I'll meet you in the office," the redhead told the man coolly.

Fuming, the Internal Affairs agent shut the door behind him. Horatio sighed. Danny raised an eyebrow. "Who was that guy?"

"His name is Rick Stetler," Horatio told him wearily. "I'll tell you more about him later. But for now, would you like to see the lab?"

Danny nodded. "Would I ever."

The look in Horatio's eyes of joy and relief lifted Danny's heart as he got up from his chair and exited the room. If he was going to help him get back Sam and Tucker, then he really could trust him with his life.

So, now we get to see Danny meet the rest of the crime lab... and Stetler. -sours over- I can't stand Rick Stetler, and many of you will see why in the next couple of chapters. Please review. I really want to know how well this chapter went. Thanks for reading!