Setting: Let's say after season 6. I know Ryan got canned for gambling in season 5 but I wanted to give him a little more time. Also, the incident with Jesse Cardoza already happened.

Ryan took a deep breath before walking into the school office to start his new job as a substitute teacher.

A substitute teacher. The lowest of the low, the bottom of the totem pole. Something he could do to make ends meet since he quit the News Station and the gun range wasn't making ends meet. He could use the eighty bucks a day. Wasn't like he had a choice. He had completed the Gambler's Anonymous classes but Stetler still wasn't budging, though Horatio was still fighting hard to get him reinstated he wasn't optimistic.

"Welcome to Miami E&S High School," a friendly secretary greeted him. (Engineering and Science) "May I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Ryan Wolfe, I'm here to substitute."

"Oh yes! Sign in here Mr. Wolfe," she handed him a clipboard. She watched him as he signed.

"Now come around here please."She walked him to a portable finger scanner. Each morning, he would have to scan his left index finger to verify his identity. He also had to wear a red and black badge that said 'substitute' with a picture taken by a cheap camera and run through a computer. Might as well paint a target on me, he thought.

"Mr. Thomas, the head of our security will walk you down to the classroom that you will be substituting for." A guy that had to be at least as old as his grandfather escorted him to the classroom.

"So Mr. Thomas-"

"Charlie," he cut Ryan off. "No one calls me Mr. Thomas, not even the kids."

"OK, Charlie," he says. "What can I expect today?"

"It depends," Charlie answers. "If they sense that you are just there to collect a paycheck, then they will eat you alive. If you take the time to talk to them, it won't be that bad."

"Thanks for the advice," Ryan said.

"No sweat. Class starts in twenty minutes. Be sure to read the quick guidelines. It's a giant yellow card taped to the desk."

Ryan entered the classroom. It was amazingly high tech, more than he was expecting. There was a SMART board up front. Computers aligned the perimeter of the classroom, with desks in the middle. Attached to the classroom was a lab. He peaked in; he saw some equipment in the lab that the CSI lab had been coveting for years.

"Hey Charlie," he called out. "What's all this stuff in here?"

"Oh yeah, this was supposed to be some kind of advanced science program. Got a big grant from the government to turn this school into a big science and technology thingy; but no teachers wanted to take time to learn how to use the stuff, so it just sits down here."

"Seriously?" Ryan asks. "What a waste."

Charlie shrugs. Ryan tries the door but it's locked. "Do you have a key?"

Charlie looks at him skeptically. "You're not going to blow anything up are you?"

"Nah, I've got a chemistry and genetics degree, and used to work for the Miami Dade Crime lab."

"How the hell did you end up here?"

Ryan sighed. "Long story."

Charlie chuckled. He walks over to a desk drawer, unlocks it and takes out a set of keys. "Here are keys to the classroom, lab, and supply room. Now don't blow anything up, or I'll get fired."

"Thanks. Oh, and by the way, what's the assignment?"

"The same thing it is every day."

"And what is that?" Ryan asks.

"Read the next chapter and answer the questions."

"Oh."

Ryan walked up to a desk and picked up a book. It was entitled Investigative Science and had a unit on forensics. He thumbed through it; it was so boring that it could put him to sleep at night. In fact, this whole book was full of interesting pictures but very little useful information.

The bell rang, and he could hear the trudging of feet outside. Students piled into the class and sat down. Most of them didn't even acknowledge his presence. They chatted and talked on their cell phones, threw paper balls at each other, or just lay their heads down and went to sleep. Suddenly, he had an idea of how to capture their attention. He sat and observed each student, taking in their habits and whether they talked or not and made mental notes. Pretty soon, he had worked up a profile on each student based on observation and appearances. After about five minutes, all the students quieted down and stared back at him

"Yo man, whatcha you staring at us for?" asked one particularly loud student. He was male, Hispanic and wore very flashy clothes.

"Just observing," Ryan answered.

"Observing what?"

"You tell me."

"If I knew, then I wouldn't be asking," he said while rolling his eyes.

"Ok, look at me. Tell me the first thing that popped into your head when you saw me," Ryan requested.

"That you're a geek," he answered. The class giggled.

"Interesting," Ryan said. "Why would you say that?"

"Look at the clothes, man!" he exclaimed. "What's with the sweater vest?" The class laughed even harder.

"Hey! This is my favorite one," Ryan said. The class kept laughing.

"Tell me, what's your name?" Ryan asked.

"Why?" the boy answered.

"I generally like to know a little about the person I'm talking to. Your name can tell me a lot. So are you going to tell me?"

"Maybe, maybe not," the boy countered.

"Ok, we'll get back to that," Ryan decided.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Not telling you."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"You didn't tell me yours, so why should I tell you mine?"Ryan challenged.

"It's Mr. Wolfe," another girl spoke up.

"How did you know that Brittany?" the boy asked.

"Duh! His name tag," she answered.

"Ahhhh," the rest of the class muttered.

"Exactly," Ryan said. "Guillermo."

"Don't call me that," Guillermo ordered.

"Well what should I call you?" Ryan asked.

"Just G," he said.

Ryan smiled.

"What you smiling at?" Guillermo asked him.

"We used to call my old boss 'H'," he said.

"What was his real name?"

"Horatio," I answered.

"Horatio, that's a weird name…Wait! I knew I had seen you before! You're a cop, aren't you? I saw you with that Horatio guy on the news. He's got red hair and always wears those sunglasses," G said.

Ryan laughed. "You are correct."

"A cop? What're you doing here? You come to arrest someone? You undercover?"

"Well if I was, you just made me didn't you?" Ryan asked.

G shrugged. "Hmphf. You still didn't answer the question. How did you go from a cop to a substitute teacher?"

"It's a long story," Ryan sighed.

"You must have got the axe," another girl said.

"Now what would make you say that Alisia?" Ryan said after looking at her name tag.

"Cause, when someone says 'it's a long story,' then it must have been bad," she answered. "So are you going to tell us how you got fired or what?"

"No, I will not."

"Aha! So you were fired! Was is for police brutality?" G asked accusingly.

"I didn't say I was-"

"No, but you said you weren't going to tell us how, meaning that you did get fired but don't want to talk about it," G pointed out.

Ryan was impressed. "Very good Gui…" he caught himself. "Very good G. You would make a good cop."

G snorted. "Yeah right."

"Actually I wasn't just a cop. I was a CSI."

"What the heck is that?"Someone asked.

"You know, those people who be out there when there's a robbery or killing, trying to figure out what happened. Like taking fingerprints and stuff," Brittany said.

"So, did you have a gun?"

"Yes, I did."

"Ever shoot anyone?"

"No."

"No! Then what's the point of having a gun?"G demanded.

"For protection," Ryan chuckles.

"Anyway," G says. "Did you ever arrest anyone?"

"Of course."

"So did you ever get shot?" Another girl asks.

"Not by a gun," I answer. "But I did get shot in the eye with a nail gun."

"Eeeew!"

"What!"

"No fucking way!"G exclaimed.

"Hey, no profanity," Ryan chided.

"Sorry. But how the hell…heck… did that happen?"

Ryan spent the next twenty minutes rehashing the story.

"So can you see out of that eye?"

"Yes I can," I say.

"You must have had one hell of a doctor."

Ryan chuckled. "Something like that. Anyway, what do you guys usually do in here?"

"Bookwork," G snorted. "Out of this boring ass book. Sorry," he said when Ryan shot him a glance.

"I agree it is pretty boring," Ryan said.

"Yeah, they tried to turn this ghetto school into some fancy science program. But all the scientists who come here end up quitting."

"Why?" Ryan asks.

"Why you think? Because we run 'em off!" G said proudly.

"Why would you do that?" Ryan asks.

"Because, they are boring, and don't want to be here anyway!"

"What would make you say that?"Ryan asks.

"What's with all the questions?" G asked.

"You're asking me questions, so I asked you some," Ryan answered.

"Well answer this. Why don't you teach us something that's not in this book?"

"He's not a teacher," Brittany said.

"So?"

"So he can't teach."

"Hey!" Ryan called in mock offense. "I'm right here!"

"But you're not a teacher," Brittany insisted.

"So you have to have a teaching degree to be able to teach?" Ryan challenged.

"Yeah so they can teach you how to teach," Brittany answered.

"Can you 'teach someone how to teach'?" Ryan asks. "Is that even possible?"

"No," a quiet student named Brian said. "Some of the teachers been to fancy colleges but still can't teach worth nothing." The class nodded in agreement.

"So what makes a good teacher?" Ryan asks the students curiously.

"A teacher who listens," someone said. "And don't think they know everything."

"Someone who cares."

"Who gives you another chance."

"Who lets the students talk."

Ryan started a list on a large flipchart he found.

"What are you going to do with that?" G asked.

"Well, I'm going to ask the next class the same question. Then tomorrow we will see what you all said."

"They're gonna say the same thing," G insisted.

"We'll see."

"Well guys," Ryan said. "You've got some cool stuff in that lab. Have you even been in there?"

"Nope."

"Not once?"

"No."

"So you've never done an experiment?"

They all shook their heads.

"Wow," Ryan said. "Why not?"

"Because they think we might blow up the school," one student said.

"Well it's possible, if you don't know what you're doing, or if you know what you're doing."

"What?"

"He means that it could be an accident or someone could make a bomb," another student said.

"What kind of accident?"

"Well, meth labs explode all the time. One exploded when I was in a crime scene. More than once."

"So let me get this straight. You've been shot in the eye, been in explosions and you're still living?"

"Oh yeah, and then there was the crazy guy with the poison gas."

"You must got nine lives," someone said.

"Nah, just one. But police work is dangerous. I lost a coworker and a good friend in that gas thing."

"Aw man, that sucks."

"It did."

"So man, you asking all these questions about the lab. You gonna let us go in there?"G asked.

"Well," Ryan said. "I need to go in there first and check things out. Then you can go in."

"Really?" A student asked.

"No, he's lying," another student said. "Ain't no way in hell he's going to let us go in there."

"No he's right. I won't just let you go in; I promise that we will do a simple experiment by the end of the week." The reaction from the kids was heartwarming. Now he just had to make that happen.

So, what did you think? Let me know! Please review!

Note: No disrespect of teachers or substitutes intended, especially since I used to be one!