Vera's hair fluttered in the air as she called upon her powers and a cold wind picked up, and lots of books started to fly up into the air and spiral around the Nightingale Manor's library. She smirked a bit, looking up at how silly her hair must look as she did this. She then looked ahead to see Katherine quickly taking down notes and Dean just looking at her with a sort of admiration. She smiled at him, making him blush, and she was once again glad she didn't have the ability to blush.

"So this is only a localized telekinesis?" Katherine questioned.

"Yeah," Vera replied, nodding her head as she sent all the books back to their original place. "As soon as I leave the confines of this house, I just can't do it anymore. Nothing moves when I try to make it move. My sisters can do it too, but I don't think they can do it as well as I have."

"You said that they leave all the time, but you feel you have to stay here, right?" Dean asked as she nodded. "Maybe that has something to do with it. Maybe it's just being in this house has gotten you... I don't know... attuned to it somehow. Maybe being in one area for so long gives you some control over it."

"Hmm, maybe," Vera said.

"Speaking of your sisters," Katherine said. "They don't happen to know how they... passed away, do they?"

"If they do, they've never told me and I never asked," Vera replied with a shrug. "I just know that the earliest time I remember coming into this world as a ghost, they were already there. So I think they died before I did."

"It's really sad to think about, honestly," Dean said softly. "You passed away so young. Just barely younger than I am."

"From the look of that dress," Katherine said, examining Vera's clothes. "I'd say you were around somewhere in the early twentieth century. 1920s, maybe? Not entirely sure. And that breakfast making machine in there... seems like a very old, but amazingly functional invention. Definitely not something that was ever on the market. Was that always there?"

"As long as I remember, now that I actually can remember," Vera said thoughtfully.

"Then maybe your family were... inventors or something?"

"Inventors..." The word seemed fitting to Vera, but she didn't know why. No memories were coming to her.

"I highly doubt that's the only invention in this house," Katherine said excitedly. "There's so much we haven't checked out yet. We might find even more clues somewhere in here. We're like Sherlock and Watson, Dean."

Dean chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I'll bet you'd rather have Martin Freeman here than me."

Katherine smiled and pulled her son close, kissing the top of his head. "Nonsense, but I do appreciate you putting me in the Sherlock role. Honestly, I'd rather take Watson's place. Now if Benedict Cumberbatch were..." She giggled at her son's glare and hugged him again.

Vera smiled as she watched the two interact, but also started to feel a small sadness growing inside her. She started to focus her thoughts as hard as she could to see if she could remember her mother or any family besides her sisters, but absolutely nothing was coming to her mind. It was like something was there and she just couldn't reach it.

"Okay, that's enough for now," Katherine said, moving away from Dean and closing her notebook as Vera sighed in relief. They'd been at it all morning, asking her all kinds of questions and testing her abilities and it was now 1 in the afternoon.

"I wish I could tell you more," Vera said sadly, thinking they might be a bit disappointed.

"Don't you worry about it, dear," Katherine said with a smile.

"We're learning more than we ever thought possible just from talking to you." Dean smiled at her and she smiled back before looking away to the sunlight coming in through the window.

"Come on, Dean. We need to go register you at that local high school. You'll start soon."

"Damn," Dean muttered as Katherine went to her room to get ready to go out, as she was still in her morning clothes. "I completely forgot about school in all of this."

"Why the long face? I wouldn't mind going to school," Vera said with a smile as she imagined learning about all kinds of things. "I've been here so long, learning sounds pretty great."

"Guess you're right," Dean admitted. "I shouldn't gripe about my opportunities. I mean, how much do you even know about the world these days if you've mostly stayed here?"

"Almost nothing. I'd sure like to know more about the world these past years. I mean, I know about technology advancements and all that. I've seen people come here with cell phones and cars throughout the last few decades at least from what I remember. And I have that television, but... I'm not exactly a fan of the news." Dean laughed at that. "Speaking of which, that television definitely wasn't here at the beginning... the beginning of ghost me."

"Yeah, and it's not black and white," Dean observed. "I guess one of the later residents of this house put it in."

"I remember living here while other people did too," Vera said. "A lot of people have bought this property but they never stayed for long."

"Sisters?"

"Sisters." Vera said with a giggle before turning serious again. "The thing is, if I could have just come out and spoken to them, I'm sure I would, like I am now. I'm starting to think I couldn't, just like all those ghosts you and your mom talked to."

"Whoa..." Dean said. "This is all new stuff. Did you just remember this?"

"Kind of," Vera said. "Not right this second, but I knew other people had to have stayed here for a while. But I guess they just faded from my memory like everything else."

"Weird," Dean said with interest. "Us being here and these memories you keep getting can't be a coincidence, right?"

"I doubt it," Vera said. "I think the more I talk with you and your mom, the more we interact... I start to recall other experiences I must have had. Stuff like that doesn't really matter to a ghost, I guess. And when we're alone, we're eventually going to forget. So yeah, maybe us talking is getting us closer to an answer."

"Wow, that's amazing," Dean said excitedly. "Well, then we're gonna have to keep talking!"

Vera laughed finally. Dean's enthusiasm was infectious. But only for a moment. Her face fell again after a few moments.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Vera looked at him. "Dean... what exactly are you and Katherine trying to accomplish with these tests and questions?"

"Uh... well, we want to learn more about you. No one's ever really had a one-on-one with a ghost, or at least nobody's ever really recorded it."

"I know that, but... what exactly is your goal? Why did that woman... Kress... bring you here?"

"She wanted... us to... get rid of you," Dean said, slowly realizing what she was talking about. "Vera... do you think we..."

"Come on, Dean!" Katherine called, now ready and holding her purse and keys. "Let's hurry!"

"O-okay," Dean replied, turning to head towards the door. He looked over his shoulder. "We'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Yeah," Vera said glumly as he frowned and followed his mom out the door, hearing it close shut loudly.

"You starting to see our point?" A voice said suddenly, and Vera turned uncaringly behind her as Lena popped out of the air, letting go of her invisibility. "I thought you would know whenever we came back into the house?"

"And I don't remember saying you could come back in," she said angrily. "I was distracted and couldn't sense you."

"Yeah, I noticed," Lena replied nastily. "And don't worry, I don't plan on staying. But I want an honest answer from you. You get it now, don't you? All these tests, all these questions, all this bullshit is just to get you to figure out your "true purpose" or whatever on this Earth so you can accept it and then move on to the beyond, and leave this world behind. That's what your little boyfriend and his mom are going to do to you. Like they did to all those other ghosts."

Vera shook her head. "No..."

"And who knows, maybe there's a great next life and it's lots of fun. Or maybe there isn't? Maybe we just stop existing altogether. None of us know, Vera. Are you ready to face that?"

"I won't have to," Vera said, starting to feel afraid. What if there was nothing left for ghosts who crossed over? What if she would cease to exist? What if she died again?

"All the living will ever want to do is get rid of us. We're not supposed to be in this life anymore, little sister. And they don't want us here. Nobody does. This is why the three of us always stuck together and struck back against people. Because we had to. You could have come along all those times, but you never wanted to. Now you can't even leave this house like we can. So now they really need to make you go away just so that ghoulish bitch gets what she wants."

"No," Vera repeated, shaking her head firmly. "No, you're wrong. Dean and Katherine like me. They like having me around. You, Stella, and Bertha are the ones they don't want around."

"A fact I'm very proud of," Lena said smugly. "Yeah, we did something nice for them, but that was for your benefit. This may be hard for you to believe, but we actually do care about you."

"Excuse me if I don't buy that," Vera snapped. "All you ever did was torture me."

"Fair enough," Lena said, an unreadable expression on her face. "We're far from perfect, I know. But this isn't about that. It's time to face reality here, Vera. You know how this is going to end if you let them stay. If you keep playing along with their little game."

"Shut up, Lena," Vera growled. "Just get out of here and leave me alone. Or I'll make you leave myself."

"Fine," Lena said, starting to float upwards and out of the house. "But you know I'm right."

Vera was left alone.

The registration at Fenton High School had gone well. The school was going to make quick arrangements for Dean to start attending quickly since he had moved around the country. He'd start attending the next day.

As the trees and houses went by in Dean's vision, he turned to Katherine who was driving. "Mom, we need to talk about Vera."

"What about her?"

"I don't think she wants to pass on to... whatever is beyond," Dean said.

"She said that?"

"Kind of. She looked really unhappy and was asking me what our whole goal was with our research. We talked about it this morning too, and I was thinking, well... we can't really force ghosts to leave if they don't want to, right? I mean we always thought they wanted to leave but what if they really don't want to?"

Katherine looked questioning as she continued to drive. "I never thought about it that way either. I guess I always thought the beyond was something they all wanted. Then again... we don't even really know how it all works. If the ghosts don't know, neither do we."

"Yeah, exactly. And if that's the way it is, then maybe it's like another death for them. Maybe it's something terrifying and we shouldn't try to force it on them."

Katherine suddenly smiled and looked at Dean. "Since when are you a champion of ghost rights?"

Dean smirked and shook his head. "I'm serious, Mom."

"I know sweetie," Katherine said comfortingly. "I just think it's not so much about being protective of ghosts, and more about being protective of a certain very cute ghost girl back at our house."

"Mom..." he groaned.

She giggled. "Either way... I'm very proud of you."

Very had been floating through the hallways as she usually did when she was in deep thought when she heard the front doors open. She floated out to greet the two.

"Oh, Vera," Katherine called to her, beckoning her down the stairs. "Come down here, dear. We'd like to tell you something."

Confused, Vera obeyed her wishes and floated down to face the two of them.

"So... Dean told me a little about what's been bothering you."

"Oh..." Vera said, looking at the floor. "I..."

"It's okay, sweetie..." Vera looked up to look at Katherine. "I know you mentioned your sisters not being happy about other ghosts crossing over, but I never gave it much thought. I thought it was my chosen job to help "restless spirits" leave this world and that I had the answers for that, but I see now that I wasn't thinking of what you or your sisters or anyone else wanted. But please understand we don't want to force you to go anywhere you don't want to. If you're not prepared to cross over, I'll grab you by your ankles and pull you from Heaven itself if I have to!"

"I get the feeling she could do it too," Dean muttered with amusement.

Vera laughed out loud with relief and then flew over to hug Katherine, who hugged her back. Vera felt a warm sense of comfort from such a motherly embrace. "Thank you," she said gratefully. She really could trust this family, and they really did want her around. Lena had been wrong after all.

"Of course!" Katherine said happily, moving back.

"I don't know what to think about crossing over, to be honest," Vera said softly. "I never gave it much thought, because it just never happened and I decided a long time ago it probably never was. But recently, the idea became a lot more frightening to me. I guess it's because... I've just gotten to know you. Both of you. And I don't want to lose that."

"Oh, sweetie..." Katherine said, looking close to tears as she enveloped Vera in another emotional hug. "You won't lose us, I promise. I'll protect you!"

Vera chuckled, raising an eyebrow at Dean who rolled his eyes playfully.

It was evening. Katherine and Dean had finished eating dinner and Dean was now lying back on his bed, not ready to sleep yet. He was jotting down a few notes in his own notebook, thinking for a moment that he was soon going to have to be writing math equations and vocabulary words in a notebook instead. Blegh.

Vera came floating through the closed door with a smile. "Thinking deep thoughts?"

Dean smiled. "Not really. I was just making a plan for what the future."

"What kind of plan?"

"Well..." Dean hesitated. "Do you still want to learn more about your past? More about who you are?"

"I... think I do," Vera whispered. "I'm a little afraid of what I'll find to be honest."

"I understand... but I'd be right there beside you for whatever you found out."

"That does make me feel better, gotta admit," Vera said shyly.

Dean grinned and started excitedly reading from his notebook. He talked quickly about places around the house they could check out and look for clues, time periods to research, even investigations outside of the house.

"Dean, why are you so into this? I'm flattered, but, I'm also curious."

Dean slowed down for a second, taking a few breaths and making Vera laugh. "I think the reason why I want to keep doing this is that it's as much for me as it is for you."

"Really? How?"

"When you really get right down to it... what we're doing is trying to figure out life and what it's all about. I'm 17, I haven't even really begun my life yet. And you, you've lost so much over the years of being on your own... but now you're getting something back. Something that's helping you remember who you are. And that's pretty much what life is like. Figuring out who you are."

He gave her a sad look. "I've been alone for a long time. And I think I kinda lost myself at some point. Didn't really know what to do with myself, didn't have much to look forward to. I blocked people out, threw some punches I shouldn't and got into fights. Maybe I really would have become some spoiled little rich kid that never grew up if this kept up. But if I can help you on this journey of yours, I think it could do something good for me too."

Vera smiled. "You're pretty amazing, Dean."

He blushed immediately. "I'm really not... I'm just some guy."

"Let yourself have this," she said, giving him a hug. "You're amazing."

"So are you," he said softly, returning the hug.