Cinderjuice

A Beetlejuice fanfic by Lady Norbert

Author's Notes: I hope I'm keeping BJ in character well enough. He's very irritable and it's hard to make him funny right now.

Chapter Ten: Put 'Em Together...

Lydia certainly didn't intend to sleep straight through the night, and she had fully expected one of the brothers to wake her after a few hours. "I must have been more tired than I thought," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. The room was colored strangely in the gray light of pre-dawn.

Neither of the brothers Juice were in evidence, which worried her a little. Nothing appeared to be terribly disturbed, however, so she hoped it was just a temporary absence. Had they slept at all? BJ had probably been in more desperate need of sleep than she was.

Stretching, she sat up. Was it really only yesterday she'd been waking up in her own room back home? It felt like she'd been gone much longer, but then, the Neitherworld always did have a way of operating on a different clock. After hours with Beetlejuice, she often returned to the Outerworld to find that she hadn't even been gone long enough for anyone to notice she was missing. Of course, her parents weren't the most observant people, but still.

"Starting to wish I'd thought to bring a change of clothes," she mumbled. There was a tiny powder room attached to the sleeping area, and she staggered into it to - among other necessities - wash her face. There was a light knock at the door, and as she emerged with a towel in her hands, Donny poked his head into the room.

"Good morning, Lydia," he said pleasantly. "I hope you had some sweet dreams! You were sleeping so deeply that we just didn't have the heart to wake you."

"Morning. Where's BJ?"

"Beetlejuice went out to have a kip in the back of your exceptionally friendly car. I knew you'd be up soon, so I've been trying to locate some breakfast. There's not much to be had here that's likely to tempt you, but Miss Kitty was kind enough to provide me with a few of nature's toothbrushes." He handed her an apple.

"I'm so hungry, it looks like a feast. Thanks, Donny." She ate quickly, grateful that at least fruit was an option. "How long has he been sleeping?"

"Not long; two hours, maybe. We were up pretty late. Beetlejuice has a lot on his mind right now."

"I'll bet. Let's let him rest a little longer before we work out a strategy for the day." She glanced around, trying to latch onto something neutral for conversation, and her gaze fell on her camera. "Here, would you like to see some of my pictures?"

"I'd be delighted!"

At least he was easy to please. "My dad set up a darkroom in the basement years ago," she explained as he sat down beside her. "But now everything's gone digital and I don't develop my own photos anymore. It's kind of fun, though, since it means I can carry the pictures around with me and don't ever run out of film."

"I admit I don't know much about photography," he said, following her directions to go through the images, "but you certainly seem to have an eye for the unusual. And you and my brother must have some adventures, by the look of these."

"I could tell you stories," she agreed, smiling.

"This one here, what's this?"

"Well, this one time we turned Doomie into a hot air balloon..."

Donny, as it turned out, was a fun audience for the stories. After she told him about their daring escape from Brinkadoom, he wanted to know just where they'd gotten Doomie. "I mean, I've heard of a car having personality, but yours is something a little out of the ordinary."

"I wasn't old enough to drive in the Outerworld," she explained, "so Beetlejuice suggested we get a car here that we could share. We found him in a scrapyard for a few dollars, and took him to a deserted auto factory. We didn't really expect him to be alive - or whatever he is," she clarified. "But when I told Beetlejuice that we needed a carburetor and that that's the brain of the car, he sort of took that the wrong way. The result was our Doomie." She scrolled through the camera until she found a picture of him.

"And the little pink one?" he inquired, pointing.

"That's Pinky. She used to belong to Mayor Maynot. Doomie fell in love, and... well, his love helped to bring her to life. Beetlejuice didn't believe that it would work, but it did."

"Love conquers all, hm?"

"I've always said that when you love someone, the impossible becomes possible. Even BJ had to concede the point in the end," she said with a laugh. "He's said a lot of disparaging things about love over the years, but I think he secretly believes in it."

Donny smiled, and it was a different smile than she was used to seeing on his face. "I think you're right."

"These are some of the pictures from the other night," she continued, reaching the prom photos. "How we ended up in this predicament - he just wanted me to have a good time. And I did, we had so much fun." She wilted a little. "I know he's not mad, exactly, but none of this would have ever happened to him if it weren't for me."

"You make a handsome pair, you really do." Donny put a hand on her shoulder. "And I know my brother would go through a lot worse than this for you, Lydia."

"Thanks." Her smile was small and sad, but grateful.

"Since when are you two so palsy-walsy?" groused a new voice. They looked up to see BJ standing in the doorway. His hair and clothes were decidedly rumpled, and his expression was only slightly less so.

"BJ - did you sleep at all? You look exhausted!"

He shrugged. "A little."

"Have an apple," she suggested. "Getting some food in you will help."

"I want a beetle. Well, no, I don't, because this body doesn't understand what I like," he amended. "I guess it's more like I want to want a beetle."

"I know you're uncomfortable." Despite Donny's reassurances, Lydia still felt responsible for her friend's predicament. "We're going to find a way to get you back to your old self, I promise."

"Thanks, Babes." He slouched in the chair and, with obvious reluctance, forced himself to eat the remaining apple. "Ugh. Disgustingly healthy and nutritious."

"Well, it'll have to do. I was just showing Donny the photos on my camera," she added, holding it up. "If you want, we can go outside and you can get some sleep on the bed."

"Nah. I'm awake now. Maybe later." He ran a hand through his hair; it didn't really help much. "Let's figure out a plan of attack here."

"I think we should just ignore the idea of confronting the Godfather right now," Lydia insisted after some debate. "Our best and safest bet is to go in search of your missing juice. The only question is, where could it be, and how would you even lose it in the first place?"

"That's what I can't figure out!" The lack of sleep and beetles was clearly getting to BJ; he raked his hands through his hair a few times before putting his head down on the table. "How could I lose some of my power and never know it?"

"Could you have put it into something else, brother?" Donny guessed. "Maybe you cast an enchantment on something that never quite came undone."

"Well... maybe." His voice was slightly muffled by the wood. "I mean, I've juiced a lot of things over the years. But it's supposed to wear off after a while. At least, that's what I always thought they did, the effects didn't really last."

Lydia patted his head gently. "Maybe we need to revisit some of the places we've been and see if we can find what went wrong."

"Are you kidding, Lyds? That could take years! You don't have that kind of time, and in this state I'm not sure I do either!"

"I'm afraid he's right," Donny noted, frowning thoughtfully. "Time's more of a concern for both of you right now."

"Well, we can't just give up!" Lydia protested. BJ just sort of groaned a little. "Look, maybe if he realizes we're not coming after him, the Fairy Godfather will back off. That'll buy us some time. Is there some way that maybe we could track the missing juice?"

"There might be a way," Donny mused. He glanced at the clock. "I'll catch the noon stage out of Tombstone and head back to confer with Prince Vince. If he doesn't know how to track it himself, he'll probably know of someone who can. You two just keep your heads down in the meantime. The sun will rise again, brother, I just know it!"

"Yay," BJ muttered sardonically.