Disclaimer: Beetlejuice and Co belong to Geffen. Alas that he did not choose to make further use of them.

AN: For WitchyWanda, a bit of the technical stuff. I am not a ghost hunter, but I love ghost stories, and as with every hobby, there is expensive equipment to buy. As you'll see, tho, it won't do any good with our favorite fiend.

Chapter 16: Glow

He found her at the top of the hill, within the palm grove. Although he could feel her like a blazing beacon, and could have gone immediately to her, he resisted startling her, and instead made lots of noise stomping through the underbrush, just so she would know he was coming. Some terrible fear gripped what excuse he had for a heart, but he was determined to see it through. Well, he kinda had to, since he was her ride, after all. When he approached her, his throat seized up a bit, and it was all he could do to kneel down beside her. A moment gave him the courage, for her back was still turned to him, and she was gazing out at the sea.

"Lyds, I… what Eleanor said was true. You were… are completely safe with ole' BJ. I would never be so stupid as to risk you."

"I know," Lydia murmured.

"I mean, I know I can be crazy sometimes, but… what?" He shifted to peer at her, and she turned her head and tucked it against her shoulder to gaze back at him.

"I know that I'm safe with you." She paused. "But how did you know it?" Her eyes were dark and intense, and he felt a little like a bug on a pin. He shifted uncomfortably, and settled cross-legged in the stiff grass underneath the shade of the palms.

After a moment, he cleared his throat. "Well, as Juno laid out for you, I've got a bit of a glow. A big vapor trail. In human terms, they call it an EMF: electromagnetic field, you know? Shows up as an orb in those stupid photographs." She nodded carefully. He cleared his throat again and forged on. "And the gauss, just a measurement of how much flux I put off. They use these weak little meters that are good for testin' batteries and such." He snorted derisively, and then sighed, refocusing on her. "So it was just a matter of makin' sure you were inside my glow." He took her hands then, hanging on to her as if to transfer his sincerity. "And you were totally inside, I promise! I wouldn't risk a hair on your pretty head." He attempted a winning smile, but it came out very toothy.

She stared gently at him for a long time, and then gracefully lifted herself slightly and slid into his arms, settling in his lap. "Am I inside your glow, now?" Her voice was equally gentle. So why did he feel as if his insides were being tugged out? He pulled her a little more tightly against him, her head on his shoulder. He could feel the heat of her breath against his throat.

"Are now." The truth was, she had been even when she was sitting a few feet from him. But what she didn't know…

"So how much flux do you put off, B?"

He looked uncomfortable, pondering whether to tell her the truth. Oh, hell, Juno would probably let it slip at a frickin' dinner party or something. "You remember Mt. St. Helens?"

"Sure," she said, a little drowsily. "It erupted in 1980, didn't it?" He nodded, and then to her surprise, leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"I don't know why I'm tellin' you this," he admitted, his voice gruff and uncertain. Her eyes grew very wide, and her jaw dropped. She shifted to stare up at him.

"You mean… that was you?"

"It was a bet! We didn't even think it would work," he began defensively. "Barry, if I recall—always makin' trouble. Anyway, we just wanted to get away for a while, and went to Washington to start a few stories circulatin', and then Barry dared me to try and get the old crater to smoke a bit, just to start another rumor." His green eyes lost focus. "So I went down into that cold dead hole and just let loose everythin' I had. One minute my own private little electrical storm, and the next… the crater was talkin' to me. Everythin' happened so fast. And it was… amazing." He was lost in the memory of it. "I've never seen such beautiful gold red fire as that, Lyds, straight from the belly of the earth." A smile floated around his mouth such that she had never seen, of wonder and childlike awe. After a moment, he came back to himself, and looked down at her. "Anyway, Juno was furious. She made me take charge of those that died." He sobered. "We had sent out warnings, and everything, but they were ignored. Humans, whaddaya do? But after all, they were pretty cool with it. Who gets to haunt an active volcano nowaways?"

"Who, indeed?" To his surprise, she did not look angry. Her fingers stroked over the sharp contours of his face, leaving warmth on his skin and stoking a fire in his breast. "Wild and untamed, still…"

"At your service," he whispered against her cheek, and his voice shook, so very slightly.

Lydia would never be able to account for the distance that vanished between them in that moment. One heartbeat she was savoring his reply, and the next she was kissing him, her lips open against his, tasting rum and ozone and something uniquely him, beyond the leather and neglect, like golden fire rising from the belly of the earth. And then his long fingers were tangled in her hair, his head tilting to gentle and deepen, and gods, consume her, and damn the consequences. She squeezed shut her eyes and drank him in until her skin was tingling with dancing energy, until she felt in her breast the tremendous heat that would set off a volcano. He broke the kiss with a sharp breath, then, and she opened her eyes to see him looking down at her with that same childlike awe. She followed his gaze to her hands and saw that her skin was glowing in the twilight haze. "Gods, B…" she whispered, and he smiled at her with an immense tenderness.

"Say my name, Lydia," he murmured huskily, tilting his head to kiss her jaw. "Please"

A burst of heat exploded inside her at that rare word from his lips. "Beetlejuice." His arms tightened around her, and he rocked her against him, like he had so many times before, except this was different. It felt like possession.

"At your service, Lydia."

They stayed on that hill until the sun had long gone below the wide horizon, resting in each other's company in awed silence. Beetlejuice seemed for the moment to be completely cured of the fidgets, and Lydia, curled up against his breast, drifted in and out of dreams. Not until the breeze turned cold did he finally stir. "There was more I wanted to show you, Lyds, if you'll travel with me again."

She looked sleepily up at him, her lips grazing his cheek. "Actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to go home, B."

"Oh." He frowned, and she giggled.

"With you. Come back with me."

"Oh! Well, I supposed I could manage that." He looked pleased rather than smug, and she marveled at the subtle change. She climbed out of his lap, and held his hand to pull him up, realizing at the same moment that her assistance was completely unnecessary. He grinned toothily at her, and she grinned back at him, and she tucked herself into his embrace for the jump. And then he reached down and tilted back her chin, and kissed her sweetly, and deep, and when the tearing winds tried to rip her away from him, she found they didn't bother her nearly as much as the first time.

Still, when they reappeared in her dorm room, she felt woozy, and stumbled against him, but he didn't reach to right her immediately, and she muzzily realized the lights were on. "Did we leave the lights on, B?"

"Um."

Lydia looked where he was staring, and there, sitting on the bed with an expression suspended between astonishment and terror, was Beth.