Working on some things at the moment but the Autumn story is still in progress, for now though enjoy this next installment.
"It's just really frustrating!" Dash groaned as he sat on Kwan's bed and angrily rubbed at his face, "I mean I want to help him so bad, I want him to feel safe with me and to know that I'll tear anyone in my way apart and die trying to keep him from being hurt again but this is…"
He flung his head back onto a pillow and groaned out through clenched teeth trying to figure out what he wanted to say to the Asian man standing at a dresser in front of him. Kwan was getting ready to go to a convention for forensics and was packing his bag for his trip at the moment while listening to his friend voice his concerns for his half-ghostly lover.
"I don't know what to tell you Dash, I mean he has a valid point in not being able to actually go and talk to someone about this. The town trusts him as a hero but there's no telling what kind of backlash would occur from people learning about it. Could cause paranoia and distrust towards him again, and if what all I've learned from Dan is true too, there's not really any shrinks in the Ghost Zone that could help him with this either."
"Yeah, I figured that wouldn't be an option but if he didn't go talk to Dr. Ryer I was going to ask Masters if he had any ideas." He let out a long breath and sighed, he didn't want to go behind Danny's back and try to get him help but at the same time he knew Danny needed something to help get him through this.
"Ehh enough about that. It's depressing and until he decides to do something I can't figure out my next step anyway. How's things going with you and your evil boyfriend?"
Kwan shot an annoyed glare at his friend and rolled his eyes, "Don't call him evil, he's a pretty good guy. Just rough around the edges and gruff."
"Haven't seen him around lately, though, everything alright?"
"Yeah," Kwan put another shirt in his suitcase and shrugged, "Said he had a job from that Clockwork guy. Something about a random portal appearing and people getting lost in the zone. I dunno he said it was no big deal so I'm not worried. He said he'd meet me at my hotel when I arrived so that's just one more reason to look forward to all this."
"Look at you, dating a bad boy anti-hero ghost from the future who was hell bent on destroying the earth and all of humanity after a tragic backstory." Dash chuckled
"Yeah? And look at you dating the nerd you used to beat on that was actually the super hero you idolized."
Dash and Kwan stared at each other for a few moments after saying that and then burst out laughing. They had no idea why they were laughing or what actually set it off but for some reason they laughed and it actually felt good.
"He'll be fine you know," Kwan smiled finally zipping his bag up and looking over at his friend, "He's been through a lot and come through it stronger. He's tougher than either of us, stronger than any ghost we've ever met, and braver than any man we'll likely ever meet."
"I know; I just hope he decides to talk to someone about this. It's eating him up and I just want him to get past this."
"I know you do, Dash, but right now I think you're just going to have to be there for him and weather out this storm. That case brought up a lot of bad memories for him. Things I wouldn't wish on anyone, even Calvin, were done to him and he's got a lot of scars from it all. Maybe one day he'll be able to make all that pain into something he can put behind him or maybe not, but regardless right now I think the most important thing you can do for him is just be there and hold him together when things get to rough."
"Yeah, I will," Dash smiled and got up, "I'll head out then, you have fun at your lil nerd fair and when you get back we'll try to get in a movie night again."
"It's a Forensic Convention," Kwan yelled out as Dash walked away laughing.
Meanwhile on the other side of the city Danny looked at the card he had in his hands again and checked it against the address. Danny had thought about this all day and thought that maybe Dash did have a point with this. He had been carrying around a lot of pain and rage ever since the incident with the Guys in White when he was still a teenager and maybe it would be helpful to talk to a therapist.
Before coming here he had gone back to their apartment and gotten an old hoodie and some jeans and slipped it on over his Phantom persona before coming here so no one would recognize him in the office. He had the hood up and a pair of sunglasses on as he flew up invisibly and intangibly to the Doctor's waiting room. He looked around for a moment noticing the lack of people and figured that everyone was out to lunch at the moment. Just as he was about to leave he stopped and listened carefully. There was some soft music playing from behind a closed door that had the doctor's name on it
Taking a deep breath and straightening out his outfit he took a few steps towards the door and gently knocked on it.
"You can come in."
Danny carefully opened the door and stepped into the room. An older woman who seemed to be in her late 40s sat behind a solid wood desk working on some files. She had a pair of simple grey glasses over her shining green eyes and she had a very professional outfit on that accented her caramel colored skin in a flattering way. When she finally looked up she blinked in surprise and pushed back a short lock of silvered hair to join with the rest of the redish brown that she had in a lose pony tail.
"Oh I'm sorry, are you a new patient?" She reached for a PDA and started to poke at buttons trying to find any information on what she thought she had forgotten.
"Uh, no not exactly, I mean I sort of want to be, but I'm unsure about a lot of this and well… I dunno if this is a good thing for me or if you can even help me at all," Danny rubbed at his arm and suddenly felt like he was 14 again and in trouble at the principal's office.
"Let's try this another way," the woman smiled and stood up from her desk and walked around to offer her hand, "I'm Dr. Tori Ryer; psychiatrist. What can I help you with?"
Danny gulped and took her hand and gave it a firm shake while he took his shades off and pushed his hood back, "I need some professional help, Dr. Ryer, and although I'm sure living in Amity Park you must have heard about me I'll just go ahead and introduce myself."
Danny pulled back his hood and removed the sunglasses before he looked at her, "I'm Danny Phantom." He gave a nervous smile to her and she just stared at him in shock before she shook her head and remembered her manners.
"Right, yes of course, Mr. Phantom, please sit down and let's talk and let me see what I can do for you." She went back to her desk and then looked him over again.
"I'm sorry I just showed up like this but I've been having some troubles lately and someone I know suggested that I talk to someone about it." Danny took a seat in one of the available chairs and started to fiddle with his thumbs.
"I'm going to be honest with you uh… Mr. Phantom?" The doctor looked confused about how to address the man but tried to remain polite and professional about what was going on, "I'm a human psychiatrist and I've never had any types of dealings with ghosts. In fact you're the first one I've actually seen up close and I've been living in Amity for 12 years now."
"Well I don't know much about any differences there might be between humans and ghosts, but I know I have a human body, human like organs and structures, and, despite what some so-called "experts" might tell you, most ghosts have emotions, thoughts, and feelings just like humans. We're really not all that different despite the physical appearances."
"I see." Dr. Ryer looked him over and nodded seemingly interested in what he had to say, "Well considering I do take you on as a patient what is it that you needed to seek me out for? I mainly deal with people suffering from trauma; rape victims, teens who have been bullied, and so on."
"Well," Danny took a deep breath and gulped down the feelings of dread that tried to overtake him, "Several years ago I was caught by the Guys in White organization and… well that's where my trauma comes from."
"They did things to you?" And while it was put as a question, Danny knew that she already knew the answer.
"I'm not exactly human so I'm not protected by humanity laws or whatever they'd be called." He looked away and held his arms.
"I see…" The doctor took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm going to be honest with you, Mr. Phantom, I don't know what happened to you but I can already take several guesses as to what might have happened and I understand how painful that must have been for you. I'd like to help you if only because I am a doctor and it is my duty to help people, or ghosts in your instance. Personally I'd like to do a study about this and perhaps write a paper on the matter of ghost psychology but I have a feeling you wouldn't be too keen on that idea would you?"
"No, ma'am, I don't want it to get out that I'm seeing a doctor, no offense," Danny looked up and cringed hoping he hadn't offended her, "I've just spent a long time trying to gain the public's trust and I don't want them to think I'm losing it and start to distrust me again."
"It's alright I understand," she pulled out her PDA again and started to scan the screen, "I take it you'd like to do this after hours when everyone else has gone home. I can make excuses to stay late, work on case files or something, and you can come then. Are there any good evenings that I can schedule you for?"
"Uhh… Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are good days for me, I don't have things going on those nights most of the time."
"Very well, I can see you this Thursday at 7, by then everyone else should have gone home. Just knock on my window before you fly in."
"Right," Danny started to head towards the window to fly away when he stopped and turned around, "Oh, I forgot to ask how much each session will cost. I've got money from working with the new Ghost Squad that the mayor set up after that fiasco with the Guys in White but I'm afraid it will have to be in cash. Turns out banks don't like to set up accounts for dead people."
"I was wondering what you meant by having things to do," She smiled and waved it off, "Considering all that you do for the city, consider my time as a public service towards helping keep our resident hero healthy. But if you know of any other ghosts that might be willing to participate in therapy and study I'd gladly take that as payment too."
"I'll see what I can do. Thanks, Doc." Danny smiled and turned intangible before he flew out the wall and into the open air.
Later that night when Danny finally made it home a sense of peace came over him as he spotted Dash lounging on the sofa, reading a book. In his mind there was nowhere else he'd rather be than with him, so he quickly locked their front door and walked over to him to lean down and give him a kiss.
"Hey, Dash, how was your day?" He turned to sit on the other side of the sofa facing Dash, taking the spot his feet had been.
"Wasn't a bad day, went to see Kwan off before he went to that forensic conference thing, got some groceries, did a bit of running around and then came home and pretty much just enjoyed the day. I was actually starting to think about getting dinner started when you came in. How about you?"
"Well…," Danny pulled his legs up to his chest and glanced over at Dash, "I went to see Dr. Ryer at her office today and scheduled some time to talk to her. You know… as Phantom?"
Dash put his book aside and sat up instantly alert to what the man before him had to say, "And?"
"I have a session Thursday at 7 pm."
They sat there quietly for a moment before Dash nodded his head. He leaned over to pull Danny into his lap and wrapped his arms around him in a hug him before he fell back down into the couch with him on top, "I'm glad you're getting help. I know it wasn't easy and you might feel weak because of it, but I don't think any less of you for this and I just want you to get past all the negative things that happened when you were younger and come out better from it."
"I know, you dork." The dark haired man smiled at what his boyfriend said while in the embrace of his arms, "But thanks for telling me that. I'm glad that I can actually get help myself."