AN: Dude there are STILL PEOPLE READING THIS? AND COMMENTING? I'm absolutely floored. SHOOK to my core. I can't believe you all are still reading. Thank you all so so much for the support, seriously. I'm sorry updates have been so far-between and infrequent. Literally been 10 years since I started this. I wrote most of this so long ago, it feels weird to read the early chapters. But I've heard your calls and feel COMPELLED.

So, here's some more if there's anybody out there who wants it haha~ This is Brief's side of last chapter.

14. Worlds Between

Brief wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. Certainly not this.

It had taken ages to fight his way through the dark sea. He'd set his sights on the light ahead and kept forcing one foot in front of the other, no matter how much effort it took. With each step, Brief felt like the space around him got heavier, bearing down on him with so much pressure at the end that he was certain he'd been trapper under leagues and leagues of invisible, intangible water.

But against his expectations, the light in front of him had grown bigger and closer as he walked to it. That portal had not been a fabrication of his imagination. When he finally reached it, he practically fell through it and could only describe the sensation as passing through a veil of silk. Once he broke through, the weight against his body fell away and he practically hurled himself headfirst into the front door of the sisters' church.

The familiar sight, in front of him so instantly and so perfectly the way he remembered it, hit him with such a wave of nostalgia and relief that he could only kneel there at the door like a puppet with cut strings. Brief wanted to cry, but found that he couldn't. He could only endure the prickling heat behind his eyes and the tightening coil in his throat until he found the will to stand again. Looking around, it was almost as if that attack on the church had never happened. Like this could just be another day of him standing on the stoop, knocking and asking to come in.

It wasn't until Brief caught sight of his goggles – the strap tattered, one of the lenses cracked, faintly speckled with blood that would never come out – hanging off the panty and stocking statue standing solidly at the steps of the entrance that he remembered those days of him yelling on the stoop had been gone and beyond him for some time now. He looked away, closing his eyes with a tremoring breath.

And for the next twenty minutes or so, Brief rehearsed his re-introduction to the sisters. He muttered to himself out on the steps, pacing and pantomiming as he repeatedly approached the door with various scratched attempts.

"Uh, h-hey ladies! It's me, uh.. your old pal Brief, just.. sorta dropping in for a visit..?"

"Oh, hey, afternoon, was just swinging by on my way to the great beyond to.. c-catch up, uh.."

"Stocking! Panty! Been a while! Last time you saw me I was looking a little worse for wear but I just figured now that I'm all patched up, so to speak, I could maybe.."

Growling and fisting his hair, Brief huffed to himself. "You had your whole life to master the art of talking to pretty girls and you botched it, Brief. Now I can't even do it in the afterlife."

Letting out his vexation in a long, slow sigh, Brief crossed his arms and leaned back against the church's front door. Or else he would have if he hadn't phased and fallen right through it. He flailed his arms and clattered onto the ground just inside the entryway, frowning at the ceiling as he found that his tailbone was a bit sore.

"Even when I'm dead I can still bust my own ass from tripping? Seriously?" he grumbled. Then his eyes flew wide and he abruptly sat up, looking down at his own hands. "Wait! Wait, hold on, does this mean ghosts really can feel pain?! It's not just dramatics when Panty and Stocking beat the crap out of them then…"

Suddenly, a bright window opened in his mind. Something in him revved into a waking state. This was a feeling he could only describe as an epiphany.

"I'm a ghost."

Brief looked down at himself, baffled to find himself looking as solid as any living person even though he could stick his hand through the front door and watch it slip right though as if that wood were only air.

"I'm a MOTHERFUCKING GHOST!"

He laughed deliriously, running through the front door and running back again, standing with half himself inside and outside, leaning forward so only his head went through, babbling and giggling and lost in the discovery.

"If I can go through the door, why don't I just phase through the ground? Can I fly? Dude, do I have any powers?" Here he held his hands out, wiggling his fingers, a bit disappointed when nothing happened. "Okay, no powers, but I can walk through walls, that counts for something. Shit, I wish I had my EMF. Can I trigger my own equipment? Could I even operate it? Maybe I could swing by my house and see if… wait! No, focus, you're here for Stocking and Panty."

Brief patted his cheeks, gave his head a shake, and then began to march through the house in search of the sisters. Time moved strangely for him. It felt like he'd last seen Panty and Stocking looking down at him on the battlefield only hours ago, but Brief was smart enough to know that couldn't be right. The church was completely cleaned up and in perfect condition; even the sisters and Garterbelt wouldn't have been able to do that in less than a day's time.

"Stocking?" he called, strolling down the hall and peering around corners, wary of spooking somebody. "Panty?"

Brief smirked. As a ghost, scaring people was supposed to be sort of his thing but.. well, it felt a little mean. He imagined it would be enough of a shock for the sisters just to see him, let alone having him leaping out at them with a well-timed BOO! They were probably pissed at him. Or, at least, the memory of him. He'd helped saved the church and died trying, but knowing the two of them, they'd likely found a way to blame him for the ghost invasion and complained the entire time they cleaned up the debris left behind. He wondered if he'd had a funeral, if they'd attended it..

Then he abruptly stopped thinking about it because it made his chest ache.

"Paaaantyyy? Stockinngggg? Helloooo?" He was properly shouting now, rubbing the back of his neck with he got no response. "Garterbelt..?"

Hm. Maybe they were out on a job? Would explain why the church was so quiet. Guess there was nothing to do until they got back. He'd been deposited on the church grounds, and given the purity barrier and the state of his own existence, Brief didn't feel confident about exploring town. Instead, he stayed in the church.

For a while, he just wandered the hallways. He'd visited the sisters plenty of times and been left to his own devices while they ignored him. No one used to care if he was here or not, so he'd done as he pleased - much as he felt comfortable doing in someone else's home and a church no less. Eventually Brief found his way to the kitchen. He trailed his hand along the counter, unable to feel its temperature and then frowning when his hand eventually slipped through. He'd have to get the hang of this ghost business before the sisters found him; no reason to give them any teasing ammo. Well, Stocking might cut him a little slack at least. They'd been.. well.. Brief liked to think there'd been something, at the end. He couldn't remember much of the end, even when he tried, but he thought he had a fuzzy memory of Stocking smiling at him.

On a sigh, Brief strolled his way to the sitting room and froze.

The sisters were here.

And they were barely clothed.

Both Panty and Stocking were lounging in front of the TV, draped over the carpet and the couch, glistening like diamonds in the sweltering weather. Even when they got sweaty, they looked incredible. Brief didn't know what day it was and couldn't feel anything particularly warm about the weather, but judging from the soaked state of their bras and thongs, it was hot.

Brief spluttered and spun away out of habit, and after a moment's pause, jerked his gaze right back. They hadn't changed in the slightest. Both of them looked exactly how he remembered them. And their underwear was also the same. For some reason Brief had been expecting some sort of earth-shaking reaction upon seeing them, but really it felt like he'd just seen them yesterday. Though 'yesterday' also felt like a hell of a day, what with the ghost invasion. Seeing them both perfectly okay, neither hurt and the church in one piece, settled something inside him.

But the sting of being ignored was also pretty fresh - they should have been able to hear him at the door. He cleared his throat. Then again. Finally, in a squeakier voice than he cared for, he said, "Um. Hello?"

No answer. They didn't even look over. It was painfully and frustratingly familiar. Abruptly, Brief felt the first touches of real anger. The emotion ballooned quickly and intensely, so strong it actually surprised him before he could fully feel it. Whoa.. mood swing? Brief frowned to himself, and then frowned at the sisters. Panty wore a familiar expression of nonchalance as she zoned out at the television, but Stocking looked.. had he ever seen her wear that kind of face? She seemed sad, a deeper sorrow than he'd ever known her to feel.

"Pass the ice," Panty said.

"We're out," Stocking said.

Brief crept his way further into the room, feeling more and more like an intruder by the minute. "Uh.. can you-.. can you two hear me?"

"How the shitting hell can we be out?"

"There's no more left in the freezer. Go check."

What the hell..? Damn, wow, they really didn't give two shits about him did they? Brief couldn't remember (didn't want to remember) how long he'd been gone but certainly long enough for somebody to miss him. And now he was back, for them no less, and not a single ounce of attention in his direction. He was a ghost, sure, but Panty and Stocking could see them. He wasn't trying to hide from them. In fact, he wanted to be seen more than anything. Yet not once did their eyes stray his way.

Panty stood up and walked past him toward the kitchen, stretching her arms above her head with a yawn. It was a testament to how annoyed he was that he managed not to stare at her scantily clad chest as she sauntered by. He stomped after her. In life, he'd worked himself literally to death to be seen by these two as more than a doormat, and he'd dragged himself through the great beyond to get here, so he sure as hell wasn't about to give up so easily.

He walked alongside her, talking a mile a minute. "Panty, hey, seriously, you can see me right? You have to! You're just ignoring me for old time's sake, which by the way is kind of mean, meaner than I'd expect even from you. Look I know we had some rocky moments back then, before I died I mean, but I'm being serious, just-.. can you look at me? Just look at me, for one second! Panty!"

She didn't look. She didn't react in any way at all, still strolling toward the freezer. Desperation began to well in his chest, along with that burning anger he'd felt before. How many times would he get his nose rubbed in it when trying to show how much he cared about these two friggin' sisters?! Even now, when he was a fuckin' ghost, they couldn't give him this much?

In a fit a frustration, Brief snatched and yanked the freezer door open before Panty could. "PANTY, LISTEN to me!"

Then Panty screamed, so suddenly and loudly, Brief screamed too. He jumped and jerked away, one hand over his chest where his nonexistent heart was pounding. Panty had vaulted across the room, holding her gun with shaky hands and staring at the freezer with wild eyes. Stocking came dashing into the room, already reaching for her own weapons.

"What? Why'd you scream like a little bitch?"

"It opened by its-fucking-self!"

"The freezer?"

By itself? Brief looked between the freezer and the sisters, bewildered. Wait.. could they honestly not see him?

"Ugh, is that all? You made me get up for that?"

"I'm serious, bitch! It moved and I am not okay with that."

"Panty! Stocking!" Brief shouted, leaping between them and the freezer and waving his hands in hopes of drawing even a smidge of attention to himself somehow. "It's me, I'm right here!"

Stocking seemed to be looking right at him as she started walking forward, giving Brief a little sparkle of hope. But when she reached him, she didn't stop. Her feet carried her right through him, a weird, warm feeling rippling through Brief for a second as she did so. Judging from the answering shudder from her, Stocking had felt something too.

Brief looked from his hand to Stocking, then to the freezer. He'd done it once, he could do it again, right? But how..?

Stocking slammed the freezer shut. "It's just old. Calm your tits."

Maybe if he just focused, concentrated on how much he really wanted to connect. Brief turned to Stocking, his eyes following the waves in her hair. It always did get kind of wavy in the summer if she didn't choose to straighten it. He'd loved it that way. Biting his tongue, Brief reached out.

Panty continued ranting. "You didn't see it! I fucking swear, it just – "

Stocking interrupted with a shriek, she and Brief leaping back from one another. She rolled forward and popped up with a sword in each hand. Brief pressed himself to the fridge, trying to catch his breathe. He'd definitely touched her that time, without his fingers slipping through. Blinking down at his hand, Brief's brows knitted in thought. They couldn't see him, and it seemed he could only manifest when he really, really concentrated.

"Something touched me."

"I told you, you stupid bitch – "

"I know, can you please shut the fuck UP for a second – "

During their argument, Brief crossed the room and after a few failed attempts, managed to swat an empty beer can off the table. Both girls screamed, Panty firing off her gun in the process. Brief toppled onto his ass in his haste to dodge, realizing only after he was splayed on the ground that the bullet would have probably just passed right through him. Right.. Man, this whole ghost thing was a real trip. But! He was getting somewhere. Trial and error, trial and error. If he could just.. communicate somehow.

"Uh, girls?" he asked as pressed his palms to the floor and sat up. The sisters continued to panic. With a sigh, he glanced around. Maybe he could convince them to sit down somehow, just try and talk. If he could get a pad and paper, maybe he could write?

"DID YOU SEE THE FUCKING CAN – "

"YES, YOU SKANK, I SAW IT – "

Pressing his lips together and mustering his intent, Brief managed to nudge one of the chairs at the kitchen table with his foot. The sisters fled the room. He blinked, suddenly alone. What? Since when were Panty and Stocking scared of anything? He'd have expected them to start fumigating the place by now, or just start destroying everything indiscriminately if they had even a small sliver of a chance of hitting their mark. Or honestly, he could see them not giving a rat's ass about whatever spectral force was haunting their kitchen.

He followed them into the living room, finding them standing side by side as they surveyed the entrance to the kitchen. Panty spoke softly. "How do we fight this thing?"

"If it has a physical form and is just invisible. We throw shit on it so we can see it. If it's just.. energy, I don't know, we're fucked."

Wow, they really were taking this seriously, huh? Brief reached up to scratch the back of his neck, studying the intense, frightened expressions on their faces. Stocking especially. She was always the more serious one; seeing her losing her cool like this.. how much had changed since he'd been away?

"Some help you are," Panty snapped.

"Well, why don't you come up with the plans then!?" Stocking snapped back.

"Since when has that ever been my fucking job?!"

Brief watched Stocking grit her teeth, pain passing over her face at the remark. It made his heart hurt to see it. He could recall a similar haze in her eyes right at the end, even if the memories were still so fuzzy. Panty worried her lip with her teeth, darting her eyes between her sister and Brief, looking right through him. Like she needed to take responsibility, even if she didn't know how. He didn't like those looks on either of them.

Somehow, some way, he was going to fix this.

For the rest of the afternoon, Brief did his best to make contact with the sisters with limited success. Dare he say, no success.

Being a ghost was harder than it sounded. Every attempt to physical contact, either with the girls or with the furniture, required immense concentration. As time went on, it grew exhausting. Kind of like working a muscle. He could only do it for so long, and the intervals of time between his attempts got longer and longer the more tired he became. Even more annoying was the fact he couldn't easily sit or lay down on furniture, so whenever he got wiped out from another attempt at contact, he just flopped onto the floor. Chuck rushed over to greet him every time. That was one exciting discovery – it seemed like Chuck could actually see him. Brief couldn't touch him and couldn't tell if Chuck could hear him, but being seen by anybody at this point was a win. He supposed not having to endure Chuck's slobbery tongue whenever he planked on the ground within reach was also a win.

Eventually the sisters got tired too, cloistering in Panty's bedroom to regroup. Brief let them go for a minute, staying where he was facedown on the kitchen floor. Had he really clawed his way back here just to realize he couldn't communicate with them at all? Was it all hopeless from the start? They thought he was just a run-of-the-mill ghost and clearly wanted him gone. Wasn't all that different from how it used to be, way back in the day. Things had been different, just for that little while in that last year. Only a handful of time, but still so precious to him, even now.

Closing his eyes, Brief heaved a sigh and pushed himself up off the ground. Wandering his way to Panty's bedroom, he found the blonde sitting in front of a pink, heart-shaped fan, hair up in a messy pony-tail, still in her underwear clicking around on her phone. He crossed the room and dropped to a squat in front of her, staring hard at her face. She looked bored, but underneath there was something more – something tight around her eyes, a distraction in her expression. He could remember the last things they said to one another.

"You're an angel. Aren't you made of faith?"

"You're such a kid."

Brief watched her now and wondered if she still thought that.

"Panty," he said, speaking quietly enough though he knew she wouldn't hear him at all. "I know we aren't.. well, weren't really on the best terms."

Panty said nothing, still tapping on her phone with eyes heavy-lidded. A bead of sweat skated down the side of her neck. Brief forced his eyes not to follow its trail.

"I don't know if you care, but I'm sorry things ended that way. Honestly, I have no clue what I was to you. You were my friend, though. Just.. I dunno, I hope you know that."

Panty blinked, raising her head. She squinted, brow furrowed, as if she'd heard something in the distance. His chest clenched in hope. They were both perfectly still for a second, before she turned his way. Their eyes met and for a moment he thought she might have actually heard him somehow, but no. She leaned into him, reached through him, and yanked a bag of potato chips through him to pop the bag for a snack. Brief snorted. Kinda felt nostalgic, in some weird way.

He sat back and looked instead toward the bathroom, listening to the hushing rush of the shower. Stocking was in there. The respectful thing to do would be to wait until she was finished and dressed, then give his emotional testimony to her. But.. okay, so, the ghost thing had been pretty shitty so far so he was going to give himself just this one thing. Wasn't like anybody would know. Also, he'd done worse stuff while he was alive and still made it to heaven, so just this one little breach of privacy couldn't hurt, right? Right?

Brief found himself across the room before he realized it, his palm hovering against the bathroom door. He pushed and stepped through; the barrier was nothing to him. In front of him was the shower, the curtain drawn shut, with only the sound of running water behind it. He could easily just step through, step into the shower with her, look at her as long as he pleased. But it felt wrong to do that to her. After everything.

She'd held him in those last moments. He remembered it through the fog, the feeling of her hands around him, seeing her face smiling down on him.

"Hey, hero. You did so well."

Brief took as deep a breath as he could and focused. His fist gripped the shower curtain and with one tug, he ripped it aside. Even just that much was too much, air bursting out of him as if he'd been drowning. He quickly shut his eyes, panting, bracing hands on his knees.

At first there was nothing, but then Stocking said, "Like what you see, pervert? You can look, but don't touch."

Brief eased open his eyes. He could look? She didn't mind? Figured. Stocking and Panty had never been fussy about stuff like that. With permission, Brief lifted his head and there she was. Pale under the spray, her hair dark and long and heavy from the water, as beautiful as he'd ever seen her. Nothing about her had changed, not a single part of her different, and yet nothing was the same. She kept her gaze out into the room, searching, her bright eyes brighter under the fluorescent lights. Every time her eyes skated over him, his heart leaped.

"Stocking," he whispered, mesmerized. "I'm sorry. For this, and for back then. For all that stuff, I just.." He couldn't look away, couldn't even blink. Emotion clogged his throat and stung his eyes. His body started feeling too warm. ".. I wish I'd had more time."

In response, Stocking struck a pose. Her hands roamed her body, her neck tilted back to elongate its shape, her expression falling into one of desire. She moaned. Lewdly. Abruptly Brief felt like he'd been lit on fire. He choked on his tongue and then suddenly there was a gush of liquid of his nose – a familiar feeling he'd almost forgotten about. Only a moment after that, everything jerked. Like somebody had grabbed him by the shoulders and RIPPED him forward.

Brief opened his eyes, catching sight of Stocking again and somehow setting himself off into another, more powerful nosebleed and another, more powerful JOLT. Buzzing broke out over his body, the tingling almost like electricity spidering through him. It was all really friggin' disorienting, frankly uncomfortable. Blood dripped over his lips, through his fingers, onto the floor. He pulled his hands away from his face to look at them, then at the tile. Shit, was this like.. ectoplasmic blood? Or..? Ghost residue? Could he see it, or could-?

He whipped his head up to Stocking, who was staring at him now. Not through him, not around him.. AT him. For a moment neither of them could do anything but blink. He rushed a hand back to his nose, trying to stem the blood. And despite everything, all that had happened between them before and since, Brief found himself falling back into old habits.

He gave her a wobbly smile. ".. uh. This isn't.. I wasn't.. uh, well – "

Stocking's shriek shook the integrity of the building's foundation, it was so loud.

/tbc~