Chapter 37

"Hello. And who is this?"

Dash blinked, not recognizing the voice of the man that answered the phone. "Uh, this is Dash Baxter. I'm a friend of Fenton. And who are you?" His mouth thinned as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Vlad Masters. I'm," he gave a short snort of a laugh, and Dash could almost visualize the half a smirk on the man's face, though that was all he saw in his mind of the man's face, "a friend of the family. And I'm afraid Daniel isn't home at the moment. Though if you'd like, you can leave your message with me, and I shall pass it on to him when he returns."

Dash couldn't really explain it, but something in the man's voice, or the way he spoke, rubbed the doctor the wrong way. Irritation crawled over his skin as he listened to Vlad. "No, no message. Fenton happens to be here with me right now. I just wanted to see if anyone was at his house to pick up a few things."

"Oh?" Vlad sounded curious. "And why is that?"

"Well, Fenton and his son are sick, could just be a sore throat, so I'm having them stay here with me. I'm a doctor." Dash added the last part because for some reason he had this feeling that the man on the other end of the phone already considered him an idiot, for no real reason. "They came over late last night and weren't intending to stay, so they don't have a change of clothes or other necessities, like a toothbrush. I just wanted to see if someone was there to grab some clothes and stuff for them and bring them over here. That way I don't have to leave them alone." He sighed and added in a mumble, "Fenton's likely to want to sneak off and avoid taking care of himself."

"I see," Vlad said tightly, and Dash suspected the man's mouth thinned when he heard the mumble. "Daniel does have that tendency to put others' needs before his own. As noble as it is, he'll just wind up burning himself out at that rate. He'd do well to be a little more selfish sometimes."

"No kidding." Dash rolled his eyes and felt a little annoyed that he actually agreed with this stranger. "Well, if you can pick some things up, I'll give you my address and you can drop it off any time."

When the man agreed, Dash told him where his house was, even giving the man directions on how to get there from Fenton's house. After he hung up the phone, he rubbed tiredly at his face. Kwan swung by the house earlier to pick up Xander to take him to school. Once they were gone, Dash headed upstairs and opened the door to the guest bedroom to check on his patients. Fenton and Lex were still passed out in bed with son curled up against his father's side. If not for the pair being sick, it would be a rather cute scene upon which to accidentally intrude.

But Dash's checkup only lasted a few seconds before his gaze landed on the green furred dog laying guard at the foot of the bed. Being from Amity Park, the fact that the dog was a ghost didn't frighten him. What had him backing out of the room quickly was when the dog spotted him and jumped off the bed, suddenly transforming into a monstrous beast that growled furiously at him. Thinking on it, now that he wasn't quaking in fear that the dog would bite his head off, Dash remembered seeing that dog before, back in freshmen year. When it appeared in the cafeteria in that giant form, Dash was, like many others, terrified. That was the ghost dog that appeared before his son? Part of him was a little scared of that now, seeing what the puppy could turn into, but other than growl at him, the dog didn't try to do anything to actually hurt him. Dash frowned in thought. Maybe the dog was simply trying to protect Fenton and his son, like a dog protecting its master. But that only brought up new questions in his mind. How did Fenton meet and bond with a ghost dog enough for it to see him as its master?

Hearing a thump, Dash turned and blinked at the raven haired man that entered the kitchen, holding a hand to his head. With a blink, he bit his lip, trying not to laugh at the man for running into the doorframe. It was kind of funny, but the man was suffering from being sick and laughing at him probably wouldn't yield a very good result.

"Would you like some tea?" Dash questioned, already grabbing the pot to fill it with water.

"Yeah," Fenton answered as his hand lowered to his throat. His voice was soft and hoarse, and from the wince, talking seemed to agitate the inflammation of his throat. "Were you just on the phone?"

"Yeah." Dash placed the pot on a burner and turned it on to boil the water. "Since you seem to have a houseguest hanging around all the time, I thought I would give calling your house a shot and see if anyone picked up. Luckily, some guy named Vlad was there, so he's going to bring over some clothes for you and Lex."

"Vlad?" Fenton repeated as he frowned. "What was he doing there?"

Dash shrugged. "He's one of your friends." But he mulled that over for a moment. Vlad got into Fenton's house, but Fenton didn't seem to know the man would be dropping by. How did the man get into Fenton's house? "You should probably try not talking too much. Let your throat rest."

Some of the confusion lifted from the man's face as Fenton's blue eyes suddenly widened. "Oh! Did you ask him to bring my laptop too?"

"Fenton," Dash growled, placing his hands on his hips as he glared at the man. "You are forbidden from doing any work while you're under my care. You are going to sit down and rest and enjoy a day of not having to lift even a single finger. After we go to my office for a real checkup, of course."

Fenton lifted his eyebrows, looking unimpressed by the stern glare directed at him. "I'm a grown man, and you can't bully me around like you used to in high school."

"No, but-" Dash blinked when Fenton sneezed suddenly, and rather violently. Fenton groaned, rubbing at his sore throat with agony in his eyes. Dash was a bit more distracted by the chill that swept through the kitchen, and he could have sworn that he saw a puff of white with each exhale for several minutes after the man sneezed. "You," he eyed the man with some suspicion, still trying to piece together this whole odd occurrence around the man, "are my patient, and I say you are going to take a break from work until you're feeling better."

Fenton laughed weakly. "I think that ibuprofen really did the trick. I'm feeling great."

Dash did not look convinced even the slightest bit by Fenton's attempt to act healthy. The wincing didn't help Fenton's case either, and it was clear that his throat had gotten worse since the slight scratchiness last night. "You're not fooling anyone like that, Fenton." Dash took the pot off the stove and poured water into a mug. Or he tried to. He frowned when nothing came out of the spout on the pot. Setting the pot down, he yanked the top off and stared into it. "The water's frozen." He glanced at Fenton and frowned even more when the man turned his head away, nervousness in the way he shifted his body. His brow furrowed, trying to puzzle out what exactly was going on.

"How strange." Fenton rubbed at his neck, his gaze turning all around the room without once looking toward the blond man in front of him.

Dash narrowed his eyes. Whatever was going on, Fenton definitely knew what it was. "Well, it might take a bit more time to make that tea." He placed the pot back on the stove, turning up the heat in hopes that it would melt the block of ice inside the pot faster.

Fenton walked over to lean against the counter, keeping quite a bit of distance between them. "Have I mentioned how weird this whole you taking care of me things is?" Talking was definitely not helping the man with his throat problems because he cringed with nearly every word he spoke. "Well, really, all of this is. I was actually pretty terrified when I turned around and realized you were Lex's doctor that day." A smile flickered across his face. "I actually thought you'd pound me the moment you realized it was me. Just like back in the good old days." His eyes lowered, and Dash wondered what sort of things were going through Fenton's head at that moment.

"Yeah," Dash agreed with a bit of a chuckle, "that was a pretty shocking moment. Though I like to think that I've matured past that bully phase of my life." He eyed the other man hesitantly, chewing over his thoughts. "You know what else is weird?" He waited a moment, trying to gauge the man's reaction just from that simple question. Fenton responded with a curious expression as he tilted his head. "Every time you've sneezed, there seems to be a drop in the temperature." He nodded toward the pot on the stove. "Or the odd freezing of water."

Nervousness washed through the brilliant blue of Fenton's eyes as he looked away. "I have no explanation for that."

Dash kept a close watch on Fenton's reactions. The man didn't even try to tell Dash that he might be crazy for even suggesting that there might be some sort of relationship between the sneezing and the drop in temperature and water freezing. "Even stranger, last night, I could have sworn Lex's hair changed colors."

"Maybe it was the lighting. Because sometimes, I swear his hair starts to look a bit darker when the light hits it a certain way."

Dash stared blandly at the man. "Fenton, it looked a reddish purple. That's not normal."

Fenton was clearly searching for some sort of excuse to explain away that oddity, but he was failing badly. "Maybe, um, well, it was pretty late. Maybe you were just tired and thought you saw it change colors." He leaned back on his hands then suddenly stumbled like he lost his balance when he misjudged where the counter was in relation to his hand.

Dash would have laughed at the clumsiness of the man, but the whole incident lost its amusing factor when he noticed that Fenton hadn't simply missed placing his hand on the counter. His hand literally went through the counter. It was like - Dash narrowed his dark blue eyes as he searched for the proper word. It was like Fenton's arm went intangible and phased through the countertop. But that was crazy. The only thing he could think of that could phase through solid objects was a ghost, and Fenton most certainly wasn't a ghost.

"Wow." Fenton laughed as he stood up straight again. "I think this whole throat thing is messing with my head. I'm usually not that clumsy. At least, not anymore."

"I have eyes, Fenton." Dash glowered at the man as the pot whistled after the water finally boiled. He switched off the stove and poured the hot water into the mug, ready with a tea bag to steep. "You can't really expect me to be blind to the fact that you just had your arm go through the countertop."

"You sure?" Fenton winced, hope almost managing to sneak into his eyes. "Maybe you just thought you saw it do that."

"Fenton, do not take me for an idiot." Dash's mouth pursed as his eyes flashed with fury. This wasn't high school anymore where everyone took him to be the stereotypical dumb jock. He was a doctor now, and his job usually involved having to be very observant of small details. "I know exactly what I saw." He folded his arms. "Now, do you want to try giving me a real explanation about this weird little occurrences, like why you're arm just went through the counter like a ghost?"

"Uh, well," Fenton mumbled with his gaze anywhere but at the other man in the room.

"Fenton, the truth!" Dash ordered in a firm bark, making Fenton flinch away.

With an exhausted sigh, Fenton tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling for a moment. "First Kwan. Now you." Lowering his head, he pressed his fingers into his eyes, rubbing at them. "Managed to keep any more people from finding out for the past sixteen years, and now it's like everyone's finding out." He dropped his hands away from his eyes as he finally turned to meet Dash's gaze. Silence filled the kitchen while Fenton mulled over exactly how to tell whatever the truth was. "You know how you pretty much fanboyed over Phantom in high school?"

"I wouldn't say fanboyed," Dash mumbled, scratching absently at a reddening cheek. "But what about it?" His brow knitted, trying to figure out the connection between that and what Fenton needed to say.

"Well," Fenton drew out the word awkwardly, "that was me."

"Come again?" Dash frowned at the forced grin on the raven haired man's face. Maybe being sick was starting to affect Fenton's brain and make him think crazy things.

"Right." Fenton shook his head. "Should have known just saying it wasn't enough."

Dash jumped, knocking back the mug of tea, spilling the hot liquid over the counter and floor when the ring of light appeared around Fenton's waist. "What the-" His eyes grew wide when he stared into vibrant green eyes, watching him with a nervous gleam. The costume he wore wasn't the same as Dash remembered from high school with the new addition of a cloak and goggles that rested a top the slicked back snow white hair. "How-" Dash rubbed at his face, disbelief washing over him like a torrent of water. How could this even be possible? How could Fenton be Phantom? It didn't make any sense! "This has to be a dream."

"Okay. That may have been a bad decision." Fenton slowly sank to the floor.

"Shit. What's wrong?" The doctor in him kicked into full gear as Dash hurried over to crouch in front the man. Ghost? What was Fenton anyway?

Fenton clamped his eyes shut. "Feels like a thousand hot pokers all stabbing at my throat." He held a hand to his throat as he tried to curl up into a tight ball, looking far more miserable than two seconds ago when he appeared to be a normal human.

Panic surged through him as he tried to keep calm. "Switch back!" Dash ordered for lack of knowing what else to do at the moment. He knew what to do when a human was sick. But what was he supposed to do for a sick ghost?

Fenton was slow to respond, but after he managed to revert back to his usual appearance, the pain in his expression eased away but didn't entirely disappear. "Remind me not to do that again," he mumbled, leaning forward to press his head against Dash's chest. "I don't feel so good now."

PhantomD: If only they could have become friends in canon! D: Ah well. That's what fanfics are for, right? XD

jeanette9a: XD Yeah, Danny, your excuses weren't doing too well there. XD;;

HoboGloves1004: Aw, look at that! Steven and Desiree are both so protective of Paulina that they fought to keep the other from hurting her. orz Aside from the ghost powers? XD Yeah. Aw, Vlad, you're too late to stop Danny from exposing his secret!

kairi8912: Steven's secret is out! 8D

Kyo Shijou: *shakes fist at Steven* You dare to hurt Desiree! *slaps him* Dash is such a care taker. 8D Though his desire to take care of Danny might just solely be the doctor in him. XD

Neko Saiyuu: Yes. That would be a good question. Why does Steven know about Danny? Or more importantly, how much about Danny does he know?

YoDog41: No more needing to lie for Desiree~ 8D

Tsuki Silverbane: If a human character annoys you in my fic, it's usually a good guess that he's working for the Guys in White. XD;;

Hoytti: But that shouldn't be too surprising, right? I mean, with his parents being ghost hunters and all. XD

Stranger: It really is~ 8D

Troper: I do have a liking for that pairing. XD Thanks! =) I try to get stuff written everyday.

Ani-DP-TT-PJ-H-Ben10 Fan: Oh no! D: Sorry you had to go without wifi! Haha, yup! XD There were only so many odd occurrences that could happen right in front of him before he had to start asking for answers.

Jade of Silence: Paulina and Desiree, best bros. 8D If is more like when he finds out. XD

MsFrizzle: Oh good! I'm glad. =) He's had quite some time to calm the crazy. XD Why was he there, indeed. 8) Well, Paulina's wish wasn't for the perfect guy. She wished to meet a nice guy like Danny, which is sort of what she got, minus the ghost powers. XD;;

Spongebob Swagpants: Vlad's very untrusting toward random people he doesn't know learning about their half ghost secret. XD;; Paulina would probably be gushing over little baby Hunter. 8D

Clockwork's Apprentice: XD There was just something too fishy about him, huh? They might meet. 8) Glad you love it~ And thanks for following me on tumblr! 8D

midnight: Vlad has his moments. XD Secrets coming out all over the place! XD

Ilys47: *snaps fingers* I don't think I kept his hunter secret very well. XD

nique17: Dash and Vlad are likely to want to butt heads with each other. XD

Just Will: Yeah. =( Hopefully Jeremy will get to stay with his father. Danny needs to take a deep breath and just relax. He's getting too stressed out being a single dad. =( The poor guy. And yeah, he really needs to realize that he's going to be little help to anyone if he's not taking care of himself. That makes me think of this one episode of Bones, I think, where the kid is bouncing on his bed happy about a snow day because there's white stuff falling in his room but it turns out to be the ceiling about to collapse. Well, Danny's family, or at least his parents, are known for ghost hunting. Not too surprising if he's had some encounters with ghosts too, right? But yeah, definitely questioning Danny's cousin being involved romantically with a ghost. No one's doing very well in the whole secret keeping department, huh? XD;;