A/N: The next chapter! Not much else to say except sorry for the lateness!

Danny awoke groggily and realized with dismay that he was thirsty. He tried to stretch and look around for water, but found that his entire body ached. At first, he was confused when he didn't recognize his surroundings, then it all flooded back to him. The capture, the imprisonment. He must have slept standing up. His arms ached the most, having, most likely, held his body weight as he slept. He blinked rapidly to try to wake up and called out in a hoarse voice.

"Hey! Is anybody here?"

No reply.

"I need some water!"

He heard rustling coming from the front of the prison and smiled triumphantly.

Footsteps were now rapidly approaching and Danny steadied himself on his feet. To his utter disdain, instead of the guard with some ice cold water, he saw two very dark and creepy looking ghosts. One of them had a key and used it to unlock his cell. Danny merely gave them a suspicious look.

"What's going on? Are you my lawyers or something?"

The two ghosts looked at each other, then replied, "Or something."

Danny gulped. He had a feeling that this would not bode well. He watched increasingly warily as they removed several foreign and sharp-looking tools from their long, black cloaks.

"Um…I don't suppose those are props for a mock trial?" Danny questioned hopefully.

"No," they answered simultaneously.

One of them picked up a large drill-like object and pushed a button to demonstrate. The long screw at the end spun rapidly and Danny did not like the look of that point at the end of it.

"Where is she?" asked the one holding the drill.

"Who?" Danny asked, pushing his back against the wall to try to escape the impending blade.

"The girl. Sam Manson."

"Sam? What does she have to do with this? Why would you want to know where Sam is?"

"Think about it," the ghost answered. "She comes from one of the wealthiest human families on Earth. Think of the profit a ghost could make off of her ransom. Being ghosts, we are masters of sneaky entrances and exits, as well as hiding hostages. If we could seal her away and hide her in the Ghost Zone, no one would find her and the money would be ours to gain in exchange for her freedom."

Danny thought about this and realized, with horror, that they were right. Sam was worth a lot. But not just in monetary value for him.

"What does this have to do with my trial?" he asked, avoiding their question.

The one who had been questioning him swept forward and pushed his arm across Danny's neck, choking him.

"I will not ask nicely again. Where is she?" he demanded, twirling the drill in his other hand.

Danny fought to breathe against the arm that was suffocating him. He answered, "I'm not going to tell you."

"Suit yourself." The ghost pushed the button on the drill all the way down and Danny grimaced, turning his head away as best he could with an arm across his neck from the sight of the drill getting ever-closer to his arm.

He yelped in pain as he felt the sharp point dive into his skin and produce a steady stream of blood. He tried to scream, but couldn't find the air to fill his lungs and he felt tears flow down his face.

The ghost stopped and pulled the drill out from Danny's arm, wiping the blood carelessly onto his cloak. He pulled his arm away from Danny's throat as the halfa gasped for breath.

"That was a small demonstration. Now, tell me. Where is she?"

Danny stared at the ground, trying to breathe normally again, his brain thinking at lightning fast speed. Why were they doing this? Did the Observants send these guys just to watch him simmer some more? Well, whatever they were doing here, there was no way Danny was going to help them get close to Sam.

"No," he replied, this time full of conviction.

DPDPDPDPDPDP

Sam was sitting in her room, venting her feelings in her journal when a sudden muscle cramp sprang into her arm. She dropped her pen and rubbed her arm, wincing in pain. What would have caused that? She thought of Danny and how defeated he had seemed in that cell, all alone. Of course, who could blame him? They were giving him practically no chance of survival. That was what she had been writing about, but the rest would have to wait for tomorrow. She realized that it was 11:40 PM and she should probably get some sleep, as Jazz had commanded her. They would think of some way to help Danny. They always did.

But, then again, Danny was usually there to help them think of a way out.

DPDPDPDPDPDP

"Then you fail," came a voice from outside of Danny's cell. An Observant strode in, his eye narrowed in Danny's direction.

"What?" Danny asked.

The Observant appeared to be fuming, "That was a test. You failed."

Danny stared dumbfounded. "What do you mean I failed?!? I didn't cave! I didn't reveal where she was. Isn't that what the hero is supposed to do?"

The Observant closed his eyes and rubbed his eye (he didn't have temples). "The hero needs to choose the outcome which will result in the least amount of lives lost. If you told where this 'Samantha' girl was—"

"Sam," Danny corrected, cutting him off.

"—where this 'Samantha' girl was," the Observant continued loudly, none-too fond of being corrected, "few lives, if any, would have been lost because you would be there to protect the town after you gave them the information they needed. The path you chose would result in your death, which would free every ghost to cause chaos in your town."

"They never said they were going to kill me!"

"They never said they weren't," the Observant retorted. "This is our point. Your silly human emotions prevented you from putting your little crush in any danger, even though the result of your doing so put every person in your town in even greater danger. To be a hero, you must not have the capability to love anyone more than anyone else. When--I mean, of course, if--you are removed from your human part, we will give you the ability to feel a sense of justice so that you may continue to protect your town, as well as other emotions necessary of a hero. We will not, however, allow you to care for anyone or anything personally."

"WHAT? That makes NO SENSE! They could have killed Sam if I sold her out AND killed me, did you ever think of that? Huh?"

The Observant shook his head. "The path you chose was the wrong one and would have resulted in more deaths. This is what the rules say. The laws are the laws and we must not interfere with them. This information will be used against you in the upcoming trial."

He signaled to the dark ghosts and they packed up their tools and left, leaving Danny to hang silently on the wall with a hole in his arm and in his heart.

DPDPDPDPDPDP

Elsewhere, Sam awoke from her sleep and began crying at a sudden pang that sprung into her heart. The feeling that she would never again see her Danny returned and she buried her head into her pillow to sob.

And at that moment, both she and Danny thought the same thing.

Sometimes, life is too painful to bear.

Don't like that last line as much as my others, but I like the concept of my chapter, in all humbleness. Not sure I like how it was carried out, though. If you find mistakes or if this doesn't make sense, please let me know. As always, I really appreciate reviews! Let me know if it sucked or soared. Thanks!