Still writing but thought I'd get this posted up now. I hope you like this chapter and if you are curious about anything you can comment here or message me on my tumblr but for now enjoy.

Time progressed for the pair of men after that night. Danny went to see Dr. Ryer on a regular basis and both continued their work at the station and with the Ghost Protection Squad under Darren. All in all it wasn't that totally different from what life had been like before. Only now Danny disappeared for an hour sometimes once or twice a week and as the weeks turned into months the bad dreams that had plagued him before came less and less.

It was into the third month of seeing the doctor though that something strange started to happen. At first Dash didn't think anything of it, but he started to notice that Danny was disappearing and staying away more often than was normal during the week. Something else that struck him as odd was him wanting to refrain from being intimate with each other. It wasn't like Dash was some teenage horn-ball that needed to get laid every day but after a week of all his advances being shot down he started to feel like something was wrong.

"It's just weird. I don't know why but he just seems to avoid getting too intimate with me. I mean we still kiss and make out and lounge together but every time I move my hand up his shirt he stops me and it's just weird."

"Why don't you try talking to him, Dash?" Kwan backed up from his microscope and sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, "Honestly I'm glad to help you but you can't just come up to me while I'm working and ask for relationship advice. You know how Berman feels about you dropping in and I really do need to focus on things here."

"Yeah I know… I'm just… I worry."

"You are so in love," Kwan smirked at him making the blond scowl, "Just give him some time; I'm sure whatever it is that's going on with him isn't serious. And I know you're there Dan so drop the invisibility act already."

"Aww you're no fun," Dash jumped at the sudden voice that seemingly spoke from nowhere before Dan appeared before them, "How'd you know I was around?"

"After spending time with Danny and learning more about ghosts from Darren I've started to understand that a slight decrease in the air around the area can be a sign of spectral activity." He rolled up his sleeve to show off a strange looking watch that had several buttons on the side, "I made this to alert me to any sudden change in the temperature and really what other ghost besides Danny would come around here anyway?"

"And how did you know it WASN'T Danny, hmm?" The ghost smiled slyly and floated over to lean over Kwan's workspace.

"Because Danny wouldn't just lurk around," he leaned up and pressed a kiss to the ghost's lips and smiled, "Nice to see you though."

"Right well I'll just leave you two alone then. Have a nice night." He waved them off to hopefully only kiss a bit and maybe make out in the lab before he started to head home himself. He was concerned about Danny seeming to pull back from him for some reason and even despite the reassurances from his best friend he still felt like something was going on and that it was his own fault.

When he got back to their apartment Dash smiled at the smell that wafted into his nose. Looking into the kitchen he smiled at a pot that was simmering over the stove. It was Danny's turn to cook tonight and it looked like he had made Dash's favorite 3 bean beef chili with bacon. Maybe he had just been imagining things with Danny if he was making his favorite dinner for him.

The thought of Danny preparing his favorite meal filled him with a fond warmth as he walked back to their room once he realized his boyfriend wasn't anywhere else in the apartment. As he opened the door prepared to greet the other man he stopped and went wide eyed at what he saw. Danny was standing in front of a mirror pulling on a button up green shirt but covering his chest from his shoulders down to his waist was a bunch of gauze and bandages.

"What happened?!" Dash didn't even try to be subtle as he marched right over to his boyfriend. He didn't see any blood or anything leaking through the bandages but that didn't mean that whatever happened hadn't been bad.

"DASH!" Danny leapt in surprise and looked away in surprise, "Geeze you scared me, I didn't hear you come in." He tried to turn around and act like Dash hadn't seen the bandages but the blond was having none of that. He grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around. Looking at the gauze again he saw that there was some even at the base of his throat.

"Damn it, Danny, what the hell happened to you?!" He reached out to touch the other's chest but pulled his hand back afraid that it might hurt him.

"It's nothing, Dash," When shocked eyes looked up into his Danny smiled and just shook his head as he finished buttoning up his shirt, "Seriously it's nothing. Just a little… surprise I guess you could say I've been working on that I'll show you later, ok?"

"What kind of surprise leaves you with gauze covering your chest?"

"Something nice, just trust me," Danny took Dash's hand while smiling and lead him out to the kitchen where the aroma of the chili continued to waft through the air. The smaller man walked around getting out a pair of bowls and went about scooping the chili into them before setting them down on the table. Dash meanwhile got out some crackers and cheese yet still watching Danny. He could still see a bit of the gauze that was covering the base of his throat and he couldn't help but wonder what kind of injury might lay under them.

"You're not going to relax until you see what's going on are you?" Danny grunted feeling a bit annoyed after they had sat down and Dash still looked at him with great concern in his eyes, "Fine, I was going to save this until after dinner but oh well might as well show you now."

Standing up from his chair he went over to the garbage can they had by the fridge and opened it up before taking off his shirt. With his bare back turned to Dash he started to pull off the tape that held the bandages in place and tossed them into the white plastic bag. He still couldn't see what was wrong with his boyfriend but from what he could see of the gauze there didn't seem to be much blood.

"Okay… So just be honest and tell me what you think." Danny turned around and Dash went wide eyed at the sight of a tattoo that covered most of his chest.

The tattoo was like a jade bird but split into shapes like a mosaic. The wings were spread out from over one shoulder to the other and the feathers on the wings reached down in prism shapes. The body was made up of various diamond shapes going down the center of his chest to where the tail was made of swirling strokes that ended just above the waistband of his pants. The bird's head rested at the base of his throat where a few feathers came off the head and made their way up his throat and neck. The most impressive thing about it, though, was that if covered up the y-incision scar that Danny had. It might not have completely covered it and hid it beneath the ink, but it still took the attention away from the ugly mark.

Dash walked over to Danny and reached out slowly to touch the ink that now covered him. He let his hand start at the strong shoulders where the wings reached and slowly felt across the smooth expanse of his pectorals to where the head of the bird laid. It was a thing of beauty and it was on an even more beautiful canvas in Dash's opinion. As his hands moved down across Danny's abs tracing the tail with his fingers he thought about how long something like this must have taken and how painful and nerve wracking it must have been letting someone do this to him over his scar.

"Danny… what?" Dash continued to move his hand up and down the skin, tracing the bird that covered him now. He was confused about this sudden reveal and wondered where he had got the idea to do this.

"Dr. Ryer sort of suggested it," Danny blushed as he felt his boyfriend's hands caress his body as if he was a fine piece of art.

"Getting a tattoo?" The incredulous look Dash gave him made him laugh.

"No, she… she suggested when she learned about what the Guys in White did to me that I should do something to change it into something better. Like how cancer patients will do something to celebrate them beating cancer she told not to think of the scar as a reminder of a horrible experience but to try to think of it as something that I overcame and grew from. I became stronger, faster, better, and now after all these years it feels like I've grown past being that weak person who was captured by them."

"So you decided to get a tattoo of a green bird?" The blond looked at him curiously trying to figure this all out.

"No, you goof," Danny chuckled and lightly pushed him away, "It's a phoenix because of how I overcame a traumatic experience and it's in green because that's my favorite color and reflects my ghostly half."

"It looks awesome and…" Dash rubbed the back of his head feeling a bit self conscious about what he was now thinking, "Does that mean that you're… okay? Have you moved past this?"

"Dash…" Danny sighed and put his shirt back on and buttoned it up, "I'll never be able to move past this, and I'll never really be ok. What happened to me was traumatic and it will always be a part of what makes up my history. What happened; happened but so long as I acknowledge that and don't let it control and influence me, I'll be fine. I'm done letting the past control and hurt me, it's my life and I'm done letting one moment in my past control me."

"So does this mean you're done with therapy and that I can touch you again?" The taller man chuckled as they sat back down at the table.

"The only reason I didn't want you touching me and all was because I didn't want you to feel the bandages or see the tattoo. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"That's good, I thought you might have been relapsing or something and were afraid of me touching you." Dash blushed and looked down at his bowl of chili to scoop a good helping into his mouth.

"Dash… I love you, if you were doing something that was making me uncomfortable I would have said something. Don't worry about it," He smiled and reached over to take the other man's hand and then grimaced a bit, "But… there is one thing I am afraid about…"

"What's that?" Dash turned his hand around to take his boyfriend's hand into his own to provide comfort and reassurance.

"I'm afraid about how my mom will react to the tattoo when we go over to their place next week and when I tell them… well… everything." He gave a bit of a nervous smile and Dash just went wide eyed at the statement. Danny was going to take him to his parents', going to come out as bi to them, and if he read the look on his face right likely tell them he was Danny Phantom and tell them about all that had happened to him.

It crossed his mind a moment later that this was also a 'meet the parents' type of deal and considering his past with the Fenton family from when the men were in high school Dash had only one thing to say.

"Your parents are going to grill me aren't they?"

The answer is: Yes, they are going to grill him over a nice open flame seasoned with rosemary, garlic and some golden potatoes. No not really, but yeah the next chapter is going to be a "meet the parents" type of deal and Dash would never be ready for that no matter how much time I gave him.