Notes and summary: I have been a fan of this show since it first aired but strangely enough, I never got around to writing fiction about it. I know MANY other people, like myself were totally unhappy with the way they did Jim's death… So here is my take on how I think that should have gone down. Set that evening after Jim's funeral and burial service. There might be a Rick / Melinda pairing later on, but for now, their relationship (at least on her end) is strictly platonic.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

"Now you call us if you need anything … I don't care what time it is." Delia said as she gave Melinda a hug she didn't return. She pulled back and looked at her friend, there was no light in her eyes at all, just emptiness, numbness. She knew it all too well because that was how she felt when Charlie had died, but she had had Ned to help pull her out of her grief, Melinda had no one … and she was worried for her.

Melinda didn't even say goodbye to them as they left, she was too consumed with grief to even acknowledge what was going on around her.

After they left, a sad smile crossed her face.

"I know you're here, Jim, I can feel you." She said to the seemingly empty room.

Jim appeared at her side.

"Mel." He said, his voice hoarse with emotion as tears streamed down his face, for her, not him as he reached for her and gathered her in his arms.

"Jim … you … you can't stay here, you have to cross over into the light." She said as she choked back sobs.

"I can't go, I can't leave you here alone." He said as he pulled back to look into her eyes.

"You have to, it's the way things are supposed to be, you have people waiting for you … over there, you brother, your parents. In the light, you'll be at peace." She said.

"But … what about you? I can't leave unless I know you'll be okay." He replied.

"I will be okay … well … maybe not okay okay … but I will heal … but I can't do that if you are here and around all the time." She said.

A look of hurt crossed Jim's face and he averted his gaze.

"You …. You don't want me around?" He asked, as though he were afraid of what the answer might be.

"Jim … I think you know the answer to that, but it wouldn't be fair of me to ask you to stay around in purgatory, waiting for me." She said with a sad smile.

"I would … all you have to do is ask." He said quickly.

"I know … but it's not fair to you, while you're here in limbo, you'll still feel all the pain of your death, both physical and mental, in the light, you'll be whole and at peace. Wouldn't you rather wait for me there?"

Suddenly, something bright caught his eye, he turned around and saw it, the light he had been hearing about for so long, there they were, his parents, grandparents, his brother, all waiting for him, waving at him with huge smiles on their faces.

"You see it, don't you?" Melinda asked him.

"Yeah … my whole family is there, waiting for me; but I can't go yet, there's something I have to do first." He said as he disappeared.

"Awww come on, you piece of junk! Geez I pay out the wazoo for satellite internet and half the time it doesn't even work!" Rick Payne said as he thumped his laptop screen, which was displaying a 'connection cannot be established' message for what seemed like the thousandth time that night.

Then, it suddenly felt like the temperature in the makeshift office had dropped twenty degrees, Rick's breath hung silvery in the air in front of him. Sure it was cold outside, but it wasn't that cold.

"Who's here? If you're looking for help, you have the wrong person." He said in an attempt at dry humor as he turned around in a circle, he didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to get nervous.

"Oh no, I've got the right person all right." Jim chuckled to himself as he walked right through Rick on his way to the computer.

Rick let out a surprised shout and jumped back, it felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.

"I HATE it when you ghosts do that! I always feel so … so … violated!" He said indignantly as he shivered.

"Yeah? Wait until you're the one doing the walking through people." Jim replied as he summoned all of his strength and began typing on the keyboard.

Rick watched, transfixed as his laptop opened word seemingly by itself and words started to appear on the blank document.

'Rick, go back to Grandview … Melinda in trouble

-Jim'

Jim suddenly felt like he was going to faint, he sank down in Rick's desk chair and he hoped like hell that Rick was smart enough to put two and two together, because he didn't have much strength left to do anything else.

A look of horrified realization crossed the professor's face.

"Oh, god! Jim? Is that you?" He said to the empty room; Jim didn't have the strength for anything else, so he did the only thing he could, he walked through Rick's body again.

"AH! Oh … god! Okay! I'll take that as a yes! Damn … what the hell happened? Yeah … you can't answer that because you're a ghost. Okay … Melinda … and you want me to go … why?" Rick asked, Jim gave him a withering look and summoned what was left of his strength.

'I think you know why.' He typed on the computer.

"I can't believe this … I am having a computer conversation with my friend's dead husband." Rick said as he ran his hand through his hair.

"And what happens if I say no? You know I have tons if stuff to do here, there are artifacts to organize and catalog …" Jim suddenly plunged his hand through Rick's chest.

'go … or I'll haunt you til' you do.' He typed.

"Okay, okay! You make a very … compelling argument. Just … stop with the walking through me thing." Rick said as he rubbed his chest.

"Good." Jim said to himself, knowing Rick couldn't hear him.

"Just … let me get some things finalized here first, then I'll be on the first flight I can catch back to Grandview." He said.

"It's a deal." Jim replied with a grin.

It had been almost a week since the funeral.

"Jim, I wish you would let me cross you over." Melinda said as they sat together on the couch, arms around each other just as they had done in life.

"I told you, I can't go, not until I know you are going to be okay." he said as he tightened his embrace around her shoulders.

"Say, where did you go for those few days, anyway?" She said.

"I had to take care of some business." He replied ambiguously.

"What kind of business?" She asked as her eyebrow rose suspiciously.

Jim smiled. "You'll see." He said as her doorbell rang.

Melinda gave Jim a peculiar look and went to answer it, she opened the door and her mouth fell open in shock.

"Well … that wasn't quite the welcome I was hoping for … but, hey! I can work with it." Rick said as he grinned sheepishly at her.

"Rick … what … what are you doing here?!" She asked.

He grinned at her. "Ask your husband." He said as he gestured to the room.

Melinda turned to Jim.

"You went and got him? For me?"

"And he was very persuasive, just so you know." Rick interjected.

"Yeah … I know you guys had something special, I knew you would never … you know … I trusted you ... but I still never liked it." Jim said with a sheepish grin.

Tears spilled down Melinda's cheeks, she suddenly dashed at Rick and threw her arms around his neck.

Rick hesitated for a moment before tentatively returning the embrace, but as soon as he hugged her, all those old feelings, the ones he had long since buried, the ones he had run half way across the world to get away from started to surface once more.

"Okay…!" Rick said awkwardly as he released her, knowing that Jim was still somewhere in the room … he couldn't see him, but he could feel his presence. The man had a presence about him, even in death.

Sure enough, Melinda looked across the room and smiled that smile she only did when she and Jim's eyes would meet, Rick found himself wishing she would smile that way at him, but he brushed the thought away. He knew that was a dream that would never come true, because Jim had been Melinda's one true love in life.

Jim walked up to her and they embraced.

"Now, I know you'll be okay." he said, suddenly, he heard a voice call his name and he turned around. There they were again, his whole family in the light, waiting for him with huge smiles on their faces.

"You see it, don't you?" Melinda said, struggling to hold back her tears.

"Yeah, grandma and grandpa, dad, and my brother … they're all here."

He turned to Melinda and took her face in his hands.

"I guess this is goodbye." He said.

"For now, that is." She replied as she smiled tearfully at him.

"I'll wait for you … and when it's time … you know … I'll be the one that … that comes and gets you." He said, finally unable to hold back the tears any longer and he wept freely.

"I know you will." She said as she cried with him.

Jim gave her one last kiss, letting it linger for as long as he could, he could feel the pull of the light, he released her and started walking toward it. The closer he got, the more at peace he felt, Melinda had been right, this was where he belonged and the physical and emotional pain from his death started to fade.

Just then he felt something nudge his hand, he looked down to see Homer, the dog walking beside him. He seemed to sense that Jim needed a little extra comfort.

"Homer's there with him." Melinda said through her tears.

"What … the dog?" Rick asked, she nodded.

He reached the edge of the light and found that it was actually a large gateway; what lie on the other side was hidden behind bright light. The three kids and their families were also there to greet Homer, who bounded to them, and they all walked into the light together.

His grandfather reached out his hand to him. "Come on, son." He said with a benign smile.

There was an older woman standing there as well, she gave him a warm smile as their eyes met.

"So nice to finally meet you, Jim. I've been hearing so much about you from your family, tell Melinda I said hi, and that she'll be okay; she still has work to do on the other side."

Jim looked back at Melinda with a huge grin on his face.

"Your grandmother's here, she says hi, that you'll be okay; and you still have work to do." He told her as he blew her one final kiss and took hold of his grandfather's hand.

Tears streamed freely down Melinda's face as she watched him disappear.

"Is he …? Did he ..?" Rick asked, Melinda nodded and she collapsed against him, sobbing.

"I'm sorry, Melinda, for what it's worth." He said … not knowing what else to say.

"Stay with me?" Melinda said abruptly, pulling back to look at him, her huge brown eyes, full of tears, were pleading.

Rick hesitated.

"I don't think that's really a good idea …"

"Please? I just I … can't be alone … not tonight." She cut him off.

"Let me call Delia …"

"No! I want someone who … understands, someone who isn't rationalizing everything." She interjected again.

"Well I … uh …" Rick trailed off as he pulled at his collar.

Melinda seem to read his mind and gave him an endearingly withering look.

"You can sleep on the couch." She said dryly, a smile playing about her mouth.

"Oh! Yes! The couch! Yeah … that's totally what I was thinking." He said as he felt heat rise to his face.

"Good … see you in the morning." She said smiling in spite of herself as she retreated upstairs.

Notes: so there you have it, the first chapter, sorry it was a bit short … but that seemed like the best place to end it. Like I said, any Rick/Melinda romance is going to be VERY eventual, she just lost her husband after all, and of course, that takes a while to get over.