Beetlejuice:
Back In The Game

(A/N: Thanks to all who read and review! And to wild-lotus, the reason for Betelgeuse's detest for Lydia is that no one has ever been nice to him, so when Lydia started being nice to him, in his mind, it made them friends. And since he's never had a friend before, he got a tad jealous and thought that she was pretending to be his friend when she went off to be with Max, like so many people had before. Hope that cleared things up.)

'Betelgeuze…' Jacques opened the door to the spare room, which Betelgeuse had been using for a bedroom for the previous night; the ghoul stared at the skeleton, his eyes gaunt and tired. 'Betelgeuze…you look terrible, deed you not sleep?' Betelgeuse just shook his head and looked at the floor. Jacques walked up to him and sat on the bed next to the weary ghost. 'What 'appened last night? Deed you and Lydia 'ave an argument?' Betelgeuse simply nodded in response. He couldn't get Lydia's words out of his head.

You are nothing!

'Do you want to talk about eet?' Jacques asked and, again, Betelgeuse shook his head. Jacques nodded and stood up. 'Well if you do want to talk about eet…just let me know.' He said before leaving the room.

A whole day passed and Betelgeuse did not leave his room, he didn't sleep, eat or even talk. Jacques would check in on him every now and again, both he and Ginger were worried. Betelgeuse played the scenario over and over in his head, at the time he wished he'd done so much more to Lydia than simply to fling her into the swamp, but despite his loathing for her at the time, he didn't want to hurt her. How could she…? How could she toy with him like that? Make him believe she wanted to be friends with him and then just leave him to be with someone else? She was supposed to be his friend, but she went off to sleep with some other human. Wasn't he good enough? Sure he was dead…but couldn't she be with him instead? Suddenly, there was a knock at his door, cutting Betelgeuse from his thoughts, it opened and a familiar face burst in. It was Adam.

'Betelgeuse??' For a second he had to think about whether or not the figure he was staring at actually was Betelgeuse, he'd gotten thinner. 'We need your help!' Betelgeuse didn't reply, instead he stared at Adam as if he were an alien being. Jacques and Ginger stood behind Adam, looking into the room. 'It's about Lydia.'

'I don't want anything to do with that tramp…' Betelgeuse muttered, speaking for the first time for the better half of two days.

'But Betel…' Adam started, but was unable to finish due to the door swinging shut in his face by unseen hands.

Betelgeuse glanced around his room, the room darkened as the sun was laid to rest for the night and the moon took its stance up in the sky. Shadows filled the room, reminding Betelgeuse of the home he knew once before, reminding him of the atmosphere, the smell, the sounds, the fear, the pain. Maybe he was destined to be alone, maybe there was nothing for him to exist for, maybe he was nothing…he didn't even have a real name. He closed his eyes and sighed, when he reopened them his surroundings had changed. He was back in his dank cell, his home. A thin layer of straw lay strewn across the floor, the familiar smell of excrement and death hung in the air, insects scuttled across the floor, the wind howled outside and the noise…oh god, the noise; the unbearable, maddening, torturing silence. He felt right being here, as unpleasant as it was, he felt more in place here than he did back outside. The door swung open once more and the cell disappeared, he was back in his room. Barbara stood in the doorway, arms folded across her chest and a glare on her face.

'Betelgeuse! Don't you care about Lydia??' Betelgeuse had no answer, because he knew the truth, and speaking the truth would only make him look a fool for the conflict with Lydia. 'Answer me!'

'Go away…' He mumbled, staring at her feet. Barbara defiantly took a step towards him.

'No, I'm not leaving until you come with me, we need your help with Lydia.'

'Look Babs, I don't want anything to do with her…'

'We think she's in trouble with Max, Betelgeuse. She's been acting weird; she threw her parents out of the house because they asked her to come home for visit. She won't answer the phone and she won't let us into the house. She keeps…' Betelgeuse growled quietly and looked up at Barbara.

'I told you, I don't want anything to do with her!' Barbara sighed and ignored him.

'She keeps saying that she has to stay there with Max, that Max is what's more important to her now. We think…we think that Max is keeping her there, threatening her not to have anything to do with us…she's not herself, Betelgeuse, we think she's in real danger with this guy.' Betelgeuse stared up at her. He didn't know how to feel…he still, in some small way, cared for her the way he did the day they became friends, but he detested her for leaving him, for toying with him. He sighed and shook his head.

'Can't do anything…sorry…Juno banned me from earth.' He replied, looking back down at the floor. Barbara blinked and sighed heavily; she left before tempers got frayed. She knew that going against Juno's orders was practically suicide for the dead. Betelgeuse telekinetically closed the door and sighed, laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. He waved his hand in front of him and Lydia's visage appeared on the dark ceiling.

'Where's Max…?' Lydia asked herself, pacing the living room in the same dress she was wearing at the awards. Max had told her to wear something nice, he was taking her out tonight. She fiddled with her earrings a little, still pacing. Max said he wouldn't be long, that was over an hour ago, where could he be, with someone else? No, he wouldn't do that to me, she thought. Max will keep his word, I know him, he will…he'll be here soon. And with that, she heard the door open and shut. Max appeared in the living room doorway, wearing plain jeans and a green t-shirt, Lydia ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his chest. 'I missed you.' Max smiled and wrapped his arms around her, stroking the back of her head softly.

'I missed you too…you look nice.' He replied. Lydia smiled and looked up at him.

'Thanks…but why are you dressed like that, I thought we were going out.'

'Oh we are, we are, but first…let's dim these lights.' He answered, flicking off the lights, the living room plunged into darkness, save for the pale moonlight that barely made it through the drawn curtains. But it didn't bother Lydia, she felt safe in the arms of her man. 'Lydia…haven't you ever thought about the afterlife?' She'd done more than think about it; she'd been there.

'A few times; why?'

'Do you think there's a place where your happy all of the time? With nothing but what makes you happy?'

'I have that now.' Lydia said, tightening her hold on Max.

'Just think about it…tell me what you see.' Lydia opened her eyes and stared into the darkness, thinking.

'It's a place where the people are really nice, TV always plays the good shows, and my family and friends are there…' But not Betelgeuse, she thought, he tried to take me away from Max. Before she could open her mouth again to start explaining what else she'd want, she saw figures moving in the shadows, figures darker than the dark itself. Suddenly, they started coming towards her, dark demonic shapes, they seemed to be moving out of the shadows towards her.

'Lydia! Stop thinking about it!!' A familiar, yet unwelcome voice rang through the darkness. The lights flickered back on, sending the shadowy demons back from whence they came, and causing Lydia's eyes to sting and water. Suddenly, she felt herself being torn away from her lover's arms. She rubbed her eyes and looked up to see none other than Betelgeuse, glaring at Max, who was rubbing his eyes in a state of disorientation.

'Get off me you jerk! I told you I didn't want to see you again!' She yelled, the fire in her stomach returning, as was her hate for him. Betelgeuse looked down at her, wanting to yell back, but he couldn't bring himself to do it this time.

'Lydia, he's trying to…' Before he could finish, Lydia pushed him away and walked over to Max.

'I don't care about what you have to say, and if it's about Max then it's most likely a lie, just go away.' Max smirked darkly at the ghost and gave him a small wave.

'Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse…Betelgeuse.' He hissed.

'No!' Betelgeuse tried to make a grab for Lydia, but was transported away before he could get near her. Lydia, not questioning Max's knowledge of Betelgeuse's name, wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and buried her face into his chest, closing her eyes.

'Oh Max…I thought he was going to take me away from you…' She said. Max wrapped his arms around her, his smirk widening.

'Nothing will take you away from me Lydia, nothing.' Lydia opened her eyes and gave a small smirk. 'Though I know I should be wary…' she whispered as quietly as she could, 'still I venture someplace scary. Ghostly haunting…' Max didn't notice her chant; 'I turn loose Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse…' she looked up at him, her smirk now wide across her face, 'Betelgeuse!!' Max's eyes widened as she tightened her grip on him.

'You little bi…!' He started, but was cut off as they disappeared into the Neitherworld.

Betelgeuse landed in the middle of the street, he got to his feet, livid. When he saw, in the vision on the ceiling,that Lydia was in trouble,he had to find Barbara and Adam so that one of them could say his name three times and bring him to earth. He didn't care about the consequences, Juno's wrath was nothing compared to the loss he'd feel if Lydia was killed. What Max was doing to her before he got there, he knew what he was doing from somewhere…he couldn't place where, but he knew what would happen if Max succeeded. He roared in anger, that's it, he thought, Lydia's a goner. Before he could even begin to grieve, Lydia and Max appeared ten feet away from him, he grinned. He'd never been so relieved.

'You bitch!! You don't know what you've done!' He roared, pushing Lydia to the floor. She got up and hurried to Betelgeuse, but before she could get within arms length of him, and unseen force pulled her back to Max, who greeted her with open arms.

'Let go of me!' She screamed.

'But I thought you wanted to be with me.' Max replied. Lydia struggled to get free, but Max tightened his vice-like grip on her.

'You tricked me! You manipulated me! You…'

'Possessed you…?' He finished for her. Lydia screamed and lashed out, cutting his face with her nails. He cried out in pain but he wouldn't let her go. 'We may be back here, but I'm still getting what I want!!' He snarled.

'Let her go!' Betelgeuse yelled.

'Oh? And what are you going to do?'

'Your magic may work on earth when you're in human form, but it's nowhere near as strong here, unless you're in your true form. You're at a disadvantage.' He replied with a smirk on his face. Max dropped Lydia and turned to face Betelgeuse.

'So you want a face-off? Fine with me.' He said. The ground began to shake violently and Max began to change form. Like a lizard shedding its skin, Max's skin tore away and swirled into the dark shadows that lay beneath them. He began to grow until he became nine feet tall, he became thinner, spindlier, and his fingers extended like jagged claws. Betelgeuse cowered, he recognised this being, this spectre. He thought back to what Max was doing to Lydia in her house before he appeared; he remembered where he saw it before… "Max" did the exact same thing to him hundreds of years previously, when he was alive. The figure cackled insanely and towered over the trembling ghoul, whose life force he had stolen all those years before. Now Betelgeuse had no chance, what could he do?

(A/N: Hope you enjoyed!)