What Ghost? (Complete)

Chapter Thirty-Four: An Unexpected Twist

John stood in the centre of a large white room that felt vaguely familiar. He knew he'd never been here before, but a memory of his surroundings niggled at the back of his mind. Wait...how could he have a memory? Becky had said he wouldn't remember anything about his past. But he remembered everything!

And then it hit him. He was right, he'd never been here before. But Becky had described this place to him, right down to the six beings floating in a circle above his head. He was with the Archangels!

"Welcome, John...we have been waiting a very long time for you to be here. Do you know where you are?"

John chuckled. "Well, from the way Becky described it I'd say I'm 'Upstairs', and you guys are the 'Powers That Be'."

The Archangel beside him broke into a tinkling laugh. She definitely had to be the one Becky had described as Archangel Two. Her laughter was quickly silenced by the look she received from One.

"I suppose that is one way of describing it, and Guardian Angel Becky has never been one for adhering to...ahem...formalities."

John grinned. "So why am I here anyway? I thought I wasn't supposed to have any memory of my past?"

Archangel One looked far from happy. Interesting. "Well, it seems you may have created a precedent. A new opening has arisen for a Guardian Angel, and you appear to have the necessary...qualifications for the job. Would you be interested?"

John felt a tiny ray of hope bubbling up inside him. "Well, I guess that depends on when, where and who?"

Archangel Two smiled, and looked at One. The old Archangel rolled his eyes and nodded, and she turned to John with a beautiful smile. "Because of your selfless bravery in dealing with the poltergeist, you have earned the right to go back. The when would be as soon as you have completed basic training, the where is Hellesville College, and the who is a young girl named Kate. She is about to become a pawn in a nasty custody battle, and will need your guidance and support. There will be conditions, of course..."

But John had stopped listening after the where and who. He couldn't care less about conditions. They were letting him go back to Becky! The rest didn't even matter...

***

Billy hadn't seen much of Becky for the three days since the party, but when he had she'd looked terrible. It was as if the light inside her had gone out, and nothing he said or did helped.

"I don't know what to do Kate. She just looks so miserable all the time. I miss the old Becky so much, even if she was an annoying pain in the butt most of the time. She seems to be just fading away."

"You just need to give her some time Billy," Kate said, lifting her head from his chest to look into his eyes. "Deep down she knew John couldn't stay, but it's like when someone's dying and you don't believe it until they're gone. I don't know if she'll ever recover enough to be the old Becky. All we can do is hope, and be there when she needs us."

"Dammit, it's all just so unfair! They were happy, they weren't hurting anyone...why would anyone wanna take that away? Man, I thought life was bad enough, but death really sucks!"

"Well, maybe not all the time," a voice said from behind them. Billy could have sworn it sounded like...

"John!" Billy jumped up and grinned at the sound of the familiar voice. "How...? What...?"

Billy was having trouble stopping himself from roaring with laughter at the sight of John decked out in full Guardian Angel regalia...wings and all.

John held his arms out in front of him. "Ta-da! And don't you dare laugh! I had to agree to this or they wouldn't let me come back. Hey Kate...you're very quiet."

Kate stood frozen, her eyes wide and her mouth open as she stared at John. She shook her head and smiled. "Sorry, welcome home John. I was just a bit overwhelmed by the whole...Angel thing. Does Becky know you're back yet?"

John winked. "She's my very next port of call. I just had to check-in on my new assignment first."

Kate's eyes went wide again. "Ummm...sorry?"

Billy looked from Kate to John in confusion. "Kate's your new assignment?"

John chuckled. "Apparently the 'Powers That Be' feel that Kate will be needing my services, and hey, I'm not complaining. So don't even think about breaking up or changing schools, either of you!"

John's face sobered, and a serious look came into his eyes. "Where is Beck'? Is she okay?"

"What do you think? Of course she's not okay. She's been an absolute mess." Billy's face broke into a grin. "But I have a feeling that's all about to change. She's down in the room where you...disappeared. She spends most of her time down there these days."

John nodded. "Of course she does. I probably would have done exactly the same thing. Well, I'll catch up with you guys later. I have some very important business to attend to."

Billy watched John walk away and fade into nothing. He turned to Kate and picked her up, swinging her around as he hugged her. "Oh my God Kate, this is awesome. Looks like we'll be getting the old Becky back after all."

* * *

Becky sat on the floor in the room where John had taken on the poltergeist...and lost. For the millionth time, she ran the events of the party over in her head, trying to think what she could have done differently so that John would still be here. She knew it was just a futile exercise in frustration, but she couldn't help herself.

She missed him so much! She couldn't even remember what she used to do with her time before she met him. Oh yeah, that's right, I used to hang out with Billy. But Billy had Kate now, and it just wasn't the same. Plus, seeing them together made her even more aware of how alone she was...again.

"Damnit," she yelled, looking up at the Heavens. "Why couldn't you have bent the rules just this once? I don't want to do this without him!"

"Maybe they did...and maybe you won't have to," a voice that sounded like John's whispered in her mind.

Becky burst into tears. "So now you're going to torment me with his voice? What the hell did I ever do to deserve...?"

Before Becky could finish the sentence, she was enveloped in a bear hug and being kissed by the man of her dreams. It was without a doubt the most wonderful moment of her entire existence. She kept her eyes closed just in case it was all in her imagination, revelling in the feeling of being back in his arms and kissed senseless.

She felt John's lips leave hers and heard him chuckle. "What...no welcome home? Don't tell me my Becky is actually lost for words? Open your eyes babe, I'm really here."

Becky opened one eye just a slit, and then both eyes flew open as she realised John was telling the truth. He wasn't just a figment of her imagination. He was back. "But...how...?"

John grinned down at her. "It's a long story...and we have an eternity for me to explain it all to you. Right now though, I can think of much better things to do with our time," and as he leaned down Becky lifted her face to meet him half way. Suddenly eternity sounded wonderful!