As Vera prepared to return to the basement, the door bell rang once again. She chuckled. Amy must have decided she wanted to see Dean after all. She hurried to the door and pulled it open. "Hey, A-... huh?"
She was staring into the face of Penny, Kress' assistant, but Kress was nowhere in sight. Penny looked ready for business of some kind, wearing a business suit and carrying a large bag slung on one shoulder full of documents of some kind.
Before she could say anything, the young woman promptly fainted at the sight of her.
"Oh, come on... we've already met before..."
Vera stayed very still for a moment, looking around outside to see if anyone else had seen what just happened. When she was sure no one had, she let out the breath she was holding (for no real reason) and groaned. She placed the picture down on the small table by the door and picked up the small woman, bringing her into the house, shutting the door behind her with her powers.
Vera was muttering to herself in her annoyance as she set Penny down carefully on the couch. "What is this?! Come to Nightingale Manor Day? Come one, come all, everybody! Meet the ghosts! Free refreshments, prizes, and freaking carnival rides." Her father's Rise and Shine machine popped into her head at that moment, and she chuckled. Okay, I guess we actually do have that...
As she hurried down to the basement to tell the others, a splash of water jolted Penny awake. She rubbed her eyes. "Oh my... where... who?" She looked up to see a grinning Bertha and Stella and she froze, too scared to scream.
"Our vision isn't based on movement, you know," Bertha said with a laugh.
"Yeah, we're not poorly-researched dinosaurs." They laughed again before Stella leered at her. "We know who you are. You're that assistant of Kress', aren't you?" She pretended to crack her knuckles as a cowgirl hat materialized on her head. "We don' take kindly to your type 'round these parts!"
Penny shrank into the couch in fear as Bertha and Stella advanced on her.
"Down, girls," a voice said, and the two sisters turned to look at Lena, who had suddenly appeared in the house.
"Oh, there you are," Bertha said, surprised. "Where the hell have you been, Leen? What's going on?"
"She's here because of me... sort of." Lena still wasn't sure what Penny had planned. "So leave her alone, this is important."
"Oh. Well, alright then." Bertha relented, backing up from Penny. "If you say so."
"Aw, come on, just one breath," Stella pleaded.
Lena smirked. "No, Stella. Leave her be. Just do it to Dustin when he comes up here. It's funnier messing with him, anyway."
"True enough!" Stella stared at Penny and pointed at her eyes and then back at Penny. "I'm watching you, though!"
Lena rolled her eyes, knocking Stella away with a smack. "ha! Didn't hurt!" Stella jeered as she floated off somewhere else.
Her attention now on Penny, still seemingly sinking into the sofa, Lena shook her head. "We really need to give you some self-confidence lessons."
"I... I don't exactly deal with ghosts on a regular basis, you know," Penny protested in a small voice, sitting up slightly and smoothing out her business dress suit. "I'm not... cut out for all this supernatural business. Besides, standing up to ghosts doesn't seem like a winning idea."
Lena chuckled. "Well, that makes you smarter than Dean. Okay, fair enough on the whole ghost thing, but a mean, bitchy boss isn't exactly an otherworldly threat. What's your excuse for letting her push you around?"
"It's... complicated." Penny looked at the floor with a regretful expression on her face.
"But you do agree what she's doing is wrong, right?"
"Y-yes. Of course."
Lena nodded, a strange regretful look on her face. "Then you're taking your first steps. Trust me, they're the hardest ones to take."
The trapdoor opened up as the armchair came back up to the library, with a blushing Dustin sitting in the chair as an annoyed Katherine sat on his lap. Right behind the chair was Vera, flying with Dean in her arms as she flew upwards before it closed up, setting Dean down on his feet.
"Well, that was fun," Dean said with a chuckle.
"Can't disagree," Vera said, smiling at him. She looked up to look at the two adults getting up from the chair.
"I can't believe you'd even think of doing something like that for me," Katherine was saying, her arms crossed. "You just met me. Why would you set your own life back like that?"
"I just... I don't know, I just wanted to..."
"What, protect me? I don't need protection, Dustin! Certainly not from someone I don't even know!"
"Is it really that wrong to just care about someone, no matter how soon?" Dustin shot back. "I'm not some creep here, Katherine!"
"I don't know that!"
"So... what happened down there?" Vera asked Dean as they continued to argue. She had quickly rushed everyone out of the basement.
"I'm... not even sure," Dean said. "You see..." He explained what Dustin had been planning to do. Apparently, Dustin hadn't planned on telling Katherine the full truth about his plan for Kress, but it seemed his journey through Vera's father's machine had scared the life out of him that he told her everything that had happened since his last visit. Dean had chuckled about that, but Katherine had immediately become very un-amused.
"One second, she's fawning all over him, and the next, she's pissed at him. This really isn't like her at all."
"That's true," she said softly. "I mean, all in all, it sounds pretty romantic to me."
"You're not wrong," Dean agreed. "Even I had to give him some major Dean Approval points for that."
"Wow, that's a big deal," she teased him.
"My mom is a very big deal," he said sincerely, and Vera couldn't help but hug him.
"Alright, alright," Dustin cried out, throwing his hands in the air. "Fine. I'll just go, okay? You won't ever have to worry about seeing me again. Don't worry, I know the way out!"
He stomped down the staircase and practically threw open the library doors. Dean and Vera were silent as they watched him leave before turning their attention to Katherine slowly making her way down the stairs, wiping at her eyes.
"Mom?"
"It's okay, sweetie. Just give me a second." She took a deep breath. "Come on, let's go see what Miss Penny wants." She started walking away out of the library as Dean and Vera followed her.
"Any idea what could be wrong?" Vera asked.
"Actually, yeah," Dean said grimly. "I have a pretty good idea."
"What is it?"
"Hmm... well, I don't know for sure, but it's something I need to talk to my mom about alone."
"Oh, okay," Vera said, nudging him with a wink. "You fleshies and your secrets." He chuckled, making her smile. She loved when she made him laugh.
As Dustin made his way to the front door, Stella flew up to him. "Hey, handsome! Hold up!"
Dustin suddenly glared at her with such frustration that it froze her in place. "Not. Now." He growled.
Stella immediately floated backwards. "O-okay." She turned to see that even Lena and Bertha looked shocked, as well as Penny.
Dustin turned and walked out the front door, closing it behind him. He was angry enough to slam it, but he didn't. As he entered his car and pulled out of the house's driveway, he sighed and rubbed at his eyes. Getting angry always felt good in the moment, but the feeling very quickly wore off.
Inside, Katherine, Vera and Dean finally entered the living room where Penny was waiting for them. "Someone should probably start explaining," Katherine impatiently said after three seconds of silence.
Lena shrugged. "She can handle it. We were just here to give her the royal welcome. Come on, girls."
"But first!" Stella announced, flying over to Dean. "A message from our sponsors! Our specially made Ew de Cologne!" She blasted her horrible breath right in his face. Dean fell back onto the couch, coughing.
"Stella!" Vera growled as Stella and Bertha cracked up laughing. Even Penny was chuckling from the couch, covering her mouth to hide her giggle.
Lena held up her hands. "Hey, I had nothing to do with this one, Vera. That was all her."
"Oh, really?" Vera raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I told her to attack Dustin, not Dean." Lena gave her an innocent smile.
"Okay, now that I believe," Vera said with a roll of her eyes. "In that case..." Her eyes then began to glow blue.
"Retreat!" Stella cried out as she and Bertha flew through the ceiling. But they were still inside the house, so they didn't get far before they were yanked back down by an invisible force and pulled together.
"And now, a message from Vera's Pest Control," Vera announced as Dean laughed. Her left arm morphed into a giant flyswatter. "Got ghosts? Call Vera!" With a mighty smack boosted by her psychic powers, Stella and Bertha were sent flying and screaming out of the house and all the way to Russia.
"Totally worth iiiiittttt..." Stella called out from the distance as her voice got fainter and fainter.
Vera's hand turned back to normal as she turned to look at Penny, who was staring at her, awestruck. "Hopefully you're not as scared as me now as you were when we first met."
"The whole... ghost thing is still new to me, but... I'm slowly getting used to it." Penny smiled. "If it makes you feel any better, I had a good laugh later that night after getting over the scare."
Vera smiled back at her.
"Alright, that's enough excitement for me," Lena said, turning around to head to the main hall staircase. "I didn't sleep all night, so I'm gonna go take a long nap right about now."
"You're not going to go after your sisters?" Katherine asked in amusement.
"They know the way back," Lena muttered with a shrug. "Truth be told, we're drawn to this place just like Vera is. By the same invisible pull. But, well..."
"I'm not strong enough to overcome it," Vera admitted with a shrug. "Not on my own, anyway." She smiled at Dean, who smiled back.
Lena looked at her for a moment, then floated over, giving her a kiss on the head. "No. You just have a lot of powerful feelings. We've spent years denying them."
With that, she floated out of the room in silence, leaving a surprised room behind her as she made her way up to the second floor.
"Do... ghosts usually sleep?" Penny asked, breaking the silence after Lena had left.
"We don't need to," Vera explained with a smile. "We don't get physically tired, but our minds are the same as human minds. Being up for so long eventually tires out the mind. So it's nice every once in a while. Who doesn't love a good nap?"
They shared a laugh as Katherine stepped forward. "You're here on behalf of Kress, I take it, Ms. Smith?"
Penny stood up from the couch, quickly composing herself. "N-no, not exactly. I'm here because of Ms. Kress, but I wasn't sent here." She chuckled darkly. "In fact, she'd be quite livid if she knew I was here for the reasons I'm here."
Katherine raised an eyebrow. "I see. Come on, let's discuss this further in the study area."
Dean watched the two women enter the small office room Katherine had been using to keep all of her notes and work, both ghost related, and day job related. "I think that was code for, 'let's not discuss this in front of the kids'," he muttered, walking into the entrance hall.
Vera giggled, following behind him. "Eh, can't be all that exciting. Not when compared to machines that break the laws of reality, anyway."
"True, true," Dean said, looking around the hall. "Well, now what? Mom'll probably be busy for a while so she'll have to look into the machine later. We could always just hang out."
Vera smiled at the thought, then pushed it aside. "I want to show you something." She flew towards the small table and picked up the picture Amy had brought her. She handed it to him with a smirk. "I can't exactly tell, so I'll need you to be the judge. How does it compare?"
Dean took a look at the drawing, his expressionless face quickly turning into one of shock. "Holy crap... it looks just like you. Wait... this looks a lot like..."
"Amy's drawings?" Vera chuckled. "She's the one who came by earlier, when I left the lab. She came by to give this to me. Said that I was beautiful and she wanted me to be able to see my own beauty since I couldn't see it in pictures or anything."
"Wow," Dean said softly. "She really did that?"
"Even offered to make me more if I wanted. In all kinds of cute clothing too." Vera laughed again, as tears fell from her eyes, evaporating on contact.
"Are you okay...?"
She nodded. She lied.
Dean immediately moved forward, putting his arms around her and hugging her close. Vera leaned her head against his with a small smile. She could just let things stay like this. She could.
"I knew Amy was cool, but wow," he said with a smile on his face and in his voice.
Vera felt like she'd been punched in the stomach.
"So... what do you think?" She asked. "Does it look like me?"
"Yes, but it's still a drawing." He smiled at her. "So it automatically isn't as beautiful as the real thing."
Vera felt that usual fluttery feeling in her chest. It usually brought her joy. Now it brought her pain. It's like my heart is fluttering... but I don't have a heart.
"Vera?" Dean asked as she seemed to stare into space.
None of it is real. Not really. These feelings aren't real. She remembered Amy's cheeks turning pink as she left and absentmindedly touched one of her cheeks. My cheeks don't turn red. My tears are just images. It's all just a memory of the real thing. It's all fake. Just like me.
Amy is real. I'm not. Dean deserves someone real.
"Hey," he said softly, waving a hand in her face. "Where'd you go off to?"
"Sorry... it's just... you know, overwhelming to finally be able to see myself," she said. "I guess it was just something I didn't know I needed until I got it. Is that silly?"
"Not at all," Dean whispered softly, handing the picture back to her as he continued to hold her. "That's a very human thing to feel."
Vera tried to think of something to respond with, but she couldn't. "Yeah. So anyway, I was thinking... since we're probably not gonna be doing much research today... maybe you could go out today."
"Go out?"
"Yeah," she said with a smile. "I've been with you when you talk to your friends. They've asked you to come out and hang out with them several times. You're usually too busy with what we're doing here. But I'm pretty sure you're all free for the day. Besides, you deserve some time off. Even Katherine got some time off."
Dean chuckled. "Yeah, she did. But I mean... are you sure?"
"Yeah, Amy said they're all going to be heading out today. You should go be with them."
"Between school and then our research, it has been pretty busy." Dean smiled, looking at the floor nervously. "I've never... been out with friends before, you know? It's honestly an entirely new thing for me. Even before my mom and I did all this, I didn't have many friends..."
"Then you should definitely do it." Vera beamed, placing Amy's picture back down on the table before turning around to him. "My life's been all about discovering and trying new things for the past two weeks. It shouldn't only be me, right?"
"Yeah, you're right." Dean nodded, heading for the staircase. As he did, he stopped and turned back. "Are you going to be okay here on your own, though?"
"Of course!" I only did it for decades...
"I think I'll also take a nap like Lena. That sounds pretty good right about now."
"Okay! Well, I'm gonna go get ready too." He turned and ran up the staircase, clearly excited.
Vera kept the smile plastered on her face as he departed. When he was gone, she let out a sigh and allowed herself to sink beneath the floor.
As Dean made his way down the staircase, now dressed and preparing to call Amy on his phone, he saw Katherine was emerging from the study as well with Penny on her heels.
"Hey, mom, I'm heading out-"
"Dean, I'm going out-"
They both stopped, and laughed. "I was gonna go out with some friends," Dean explained.
"That's wonderful," Katherine said with a smile, hugging him close. "Have fun, and be careful, okay?"
"Yeah, I will. But, where are you going, mom?"
Katherine looked at Penny for a moment, and then back at Dean. "It's a bit of a secret. I'll let you know when it's all said and done."
Dean raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged, knowing she wasn't gonna tell him. "Alright. I don't get it, but you know I trust you. But before you do... can I talk to you for a second? Alone?" He motioned towards the library.
Katherine nodded uncertainly, turning to Penny. "Be with you in a moment," she said softly, following Dean into the library as he closed the doors behind them. "What is it, sweetie?"
"I've just been wondering why you got so angry at Dustin for doing what he did."
Katherine looked surprised, clearly not expecting this. "I... I just..." She looked down at the floor.
When she didn't answer, Dean continued. "I mean, I get that going out of his way to take such a big leap for someone he barely knows would be surprising. But you just changed so quickly from how you were acting around him before. Maybe I was wrong, but I thought it was clear you really liked him, no matter how short a time you've known each other.
"Things are just... complicated right now, sweetie."
"I have a theory," Dean said. "I don't know if it's true... but I'm going to put it forward. This morning, when I went in to try to wake you up so we could go look at the machine... I saw the picture on the bed. Of Dad. The one you never take out because it makes you cry. Sitting on the bed in front of you so you could stare at it."
Katherine let out a sad sigh, closing her eyes tightly as if to erase a memory.
Dean continued. "As far as I know, you've never gotten... romantically attached to anybody in a long time just like I haven't, because we always moved around and you were so focused on our work. So Dustin is the first guy besides Dad that you've been interested in. So it'd be the first time you felt some guilt over, well... finding someone new. And it made you think of Dad. And suddenly, the way you skipped dinner and just went up made a lot of sense to me. Am I close?"
Katherine sobbed softly, wiping away some tears as she hugged Dean close. "You're way too observant for your own good..."
Dean chuckled. "You got only yourself to blame, Mom. We've spent the last few years doing nothing but observing."
She laughed along with him, pulling back from the hug. "I know I was unreasonable to Dustin. When I realized I was growing even the slightest bit of feelings for him, I immediately shut them down and tried to avoid contact with him because all I could see was your father's face in my mind. It felt like a betrayal. So when I saw him again today, I felt like I had already dealt with those feelings and put them away. He was just a new friend as far as I was concerned. Then he told me what he wanted to do for me... what he wanted to do for us, if you remember."
Dean did remember. Dustin had said that he wanted to help not only Katherine, but to make things easier on Dean as well, as the enormous amounts of money Kress was demanding would eventually take its toll on them both.
"And I was so overcome with those same feelings from before that I just... lost it. I just... needed to push him away. So I wouldn't have to worry. To stay loyal to your father. I miss him, Dean. So much."
"I miss him too," Dean said softly, his voice breaking as he hugged his mother close. Tears ran down his face. "Every day..."
They stayed like that for a while before pulling apart. "It's all up to you, mom," Dean said. "I'm not trying to convince you of anything. But I think you need to hear that having feelings for someone else is not a betrayal. It's been over six years, Mom. All I know is that it was pretty obvious how sad you were when you ended things like that with him. And I don't like seeing you sad."
Katherine smiled, wiping her tears away. "I know you don't, sweetie. You shouldn't try to take care of me so much... I'm the parent here. That's my job. You're too young to be doing that."
Dean smiled back. "I'm growing up, mom."
"Yeah, you are..." She kissed his forehead and sighed, looking down at herself, still in the hastily thrown together outfit she'd put on in the morning. "God, I'm a mess. I was really going to go out in this?"
Dean chuckled. "You're beautiful, Mom. I'm pretty sure Dustin feels the same way."
She groaned, gently pushing him away with a giggle. "Aren't you supposed to be encouraging me to stay away from other men?"
"Maybe if I was a normal son in a normal family," Dean said with a smirk. "But since when have we ever been normal?"
"Damn right," Katherine said with a laugh. She composed herself a bit, brushing her hair out of her face. "Okay, enough of my drama. I'll figure things out, baby. I always do. What I want you to do is put it out of your head for the day and go be with your friends, okay? Be a teenager. Don't worry about me."
"I can do that," he said with a grin. "For now, anyway." He hugged his mom and then made his way out of the library and out the front door, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he closed the door behind him.
"He must make you proud," Penny said softly as Katherine walked out.
"All the time," Katherine whispered. "I just want what's best for him." She turned to look at the young assistant with a determined face. "Which is why I hope this all works out."
Penny nodded. "Trust me."
Vera floated down into the laboratory, prepared to float about and see if she could remember anything on her own. But something was wrong. Something didn't seem right.
The machine. It was gone again. Something had caused it to recede back in the water, and she knew it had been above the water when she left.
"What the hell?" Vera said softly, looking over the large pool of water in confusion. "Why does this keep happening?"
"Because you cannot use this machine."
Vera gasped at the sudden voice. and she whirled around to see... another ghost.
It was an older man who looked to be in his mid to late thirties or early forties. He was dressed in an old-fashioned, comfortable suit that was meant to be worn inside the home. He had short, light blonde hair and a slight beard growing in, along with dazzling green eyes. Her eyes.
She stared at him, unable to speak.
"You always were the quiet daughter," the ghost joked as a smile on his face replaced the sad, forlorn expression he had worn just a few seconds earlier. Tears ran down his cheeks, falling to the floor and vanishing in puffs of smoke. "So much to say. So much I should have said so long ago..."
"D... Daddy?"