Beca sighed as she sat on the end of her bed, tugging at the edge of her t-shirt. She was trying to find the motivation to leave her room and head downstairs to work on their latest case, but was having a hard time finding it. It had been nearly four months since Gail had finally been killed and the reality of the last two hundred years of heartbreak and pain had hit Beca like a sledgehammer. No longer looking over her shoulder all the time, Beca realised that she'd never properly processed anything that had happened to her, and now two centuries of supressing how she felt was starting to bubble to the surface. It made her wonder what she was doing here, why she was trying to do good in a world that seemed to just heap crap on top of crap for people that didn't deserve that.
And then there was Chloe, and the complicated feelings that Beca still had for her despite the fact that she knew that she shouldn't. The way she felt about Chloe was the reason that Chloe was in the mess that she was right now; Beca staying always seemed to have negative impacts on the people she cared about. And yet every time she looked at Chloe, every time Chloe would smile or laugh for a change, every time she looked Beca's way, Beca felt her heart swell and that familiar feeling of happiness at her presence in her life. She still loved her and she hated herself for it.
Sighing again, Beca pushed herself to her feet and ran a hand through her hair in lieu of a brush. Time to get this new case over with.
Aubrey looked up from the file she was inspecting as Beca entered the office and smiled warmly at her. Beca gave her a small one back as she moved around the table to a spare seat. Aubrey was worried about Beca, ever since their conversation in the car two weeks ago she had seen just how sullen and withdrawn Beca had gotten. She had been so worried about Chloe that Aubrey had forgotten Beca was probably struggling too, and she felt awful about it. Aubrey was sick of dropping the ball when it came to looking after her team.
"You okay?" She asked as Beca settled into the seat to her left, studying her carefully.
"Yeah." Beca forced a smile as she nodded, "I'm fine. Sorry I'm late, I overslept."
"It's okay." Aubrey frowned a little, not entirely convinced that Beca wasn't lying to her, but unfortunately there was a pressing case to get to, "Alright, we've got various reports of strange activity around an old farmhouse over the last couple of days. Animals behaving oddly, crops dying en masse with no rhyme or reason for it, disembodied farm tools trying to attack anyone who tried to investigate."
"Oh good, because an errant chainsaw really makes me want to go and figure out what's going on." Beca mumbled with a smirk, Aubrey rolling her eyes but feeling her heart twinge as she realised there might be an element of truth to Beca's sarcasm.
"I'd say we were looking at ghosts or poltergeists." Stacie mused, "They radiate this weird energy that affects everything in the vicinity. It would certainly explain everything that's going on."
"So like Lilly?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah, although judging by how freaky things have been getting around the farmhouse there's more than one." Stacie sighed softly, "Which makes things a little tricky and dangerous."
"So less Casper, more creepy ghost uncles?" Beca raised her eyebrow as Stacie chuckled.
"Pretty much. This is not really something we can plan for, we need to investigate so that we can deal with it." Stacie was starting to pack her stuff into her go bag as Aubrey and Beca got up too.
"Alrighty then, let's go get rid of some ghosts." Beca grinned.
"Oh my God…" Stacie grinned as all eyes turned to look at her, her own sparkling with glee, "You know what this makes us?"
"What?" Aubrey frowned softly, a smirk tugging at her lips.
"We're Ghostbusters!"
Aubrey rolled her eyes at Stacie's gleeful outburst as Beca shook her head, Chloe bursting into a fit of giggles.
"What?! We totally are!" Stacie exclaimed as Aubrey wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her softly as she chuckled.
"You're such a dork." She mumbled against her lips as Stacie blushed a little.
"Yeah, but you love it." Stacie grinned.
"Surprisingly, yes." Aubrey grinned, laughing as Stacie scoffed indignantly and poked her in the ribs.
"Alright you two break it up." Beca rolled her eyes at her friends, "God it's a worry when I'm the professional one. Now come on, unlike the two of you I'm kind of on a time limit as to how long I can be outside before bursting into flames."
"We're coming, we're coming!" Stacie sighed dramatically, Aubrey once again frowning in concern at Beca's attitude, "Chlo will you go through the records for the farmhouse, see if there any suspicious deaths or missing persons reports that might clue us in to who exactly is haunting the place?"
"You got it." Chloe nodded, feeling a pang in her chest as she watched her team leave without her again, "Oh and Stace, I um… I need the next dose."
"Right." Stacie nodded, "I'll sort it when I get back, don't worry."
Chloe smiled tightly, nodding. She hated having to wait, she didn't want to risk it by waiting until the last minute, the monster inside could sense weakness, it's how it had gotten her the first time. But she trusted Stacie far more than she trusted herself. If Stacie said it could wait a little longer, then it could wait a little longer.
"Hey Chlo?"
"Yeah?" Chloe was dragged from her thoughts by Stacie who was grinning from ear to ear.
"When you find something, who you gonna call?"
"Ghostbusters!" Chloe cheered, giggling as she heard Beca groan loudly from where she gone outside to the car.
Beca was ready to strangle Stacie by the time they pulled up outside of the old farmhouse. She had been playing the Ghostbusters theme on loop the entire way there, seemingly hellbent on driving Beca as crazy as possible with her newfound obsession with them being Ghostbusters.
"Oh come on Becs, you know we'd rock the boilersuits." Stacie turned to grin at Beca whose glare she had been able to feel burning through her head rest.
"I swear you make one more Ghostbusters crack and I am going to snap." Beca grumbled yet unable to keep the smirk of her lips as Stacie pouted at her, mercifully interrupted from winding Beca up any further by the sound of Beca's phone ringing.
"What've you got Chloe?"
"So I've been looking at the records for this farmhouse and they are SPOTLESS. Like, ridiculously spotless. I even expanded my search to accidents on the farm that might have caused serious and life-altering injuries but not death, and there is nothing out of place."
As Chloe spoke, the rest of the team got out of the car, wits about them as they headed for the farmhouse. Stacie frowned deeply at this, sighing softly.
"There's really nothing?"
"Not even a missing finger. And not in a weird 'there's gaps in the records' way either, they were just really good at keeping themselves and their employees safe and content."
"I suppose that's a good thing…" Aubrey mumbled, "Although it gives us no answers as to who might be haunting this place."
"Well I might have something for you guys… new owners… AirBnB…"
"What? Chloe you're breaking up, hang on." Beca frowned, stopping in her tracks just off the porch of the farmhouse.
"Be- are you-?"
"I'm just gonna walk back towards the car a bit." Beca mumbled, hoping that the signal would get better once she did.
As she stepped forwards, Beca took the phone off speaker and pressed it to her ear, trying to hear as many of the snippets of Chloe's voice as possible. She had taken no more than two steps before she was thrown backwards, yelping in surprise as she flew through the air and landed painfully on her side on the porch.
"Beca?!" Stacie ran over to her friend, Aubrey hot on her heels as they helped Beca to her feet, "Are you okay?"
"What the fuck was that?" Beca grunted, ribs throbbing painfully but already starting to heal, her attempts at phone conversation momentarily forgotten.
"I think it was whatever is haunting this place…" Stacie raised her eyebrow, "It doesn't want us to leave."
"Oh great." Beca rolled her eyes, retrieving her phone from where it landed next to her on the porch, "That's just great. Malevolent spirts don't want us to leave their new playhouse, I feel so reassured."
Beca lifted her phone to her ear, able to hear nothing from Chloe despite the fact that the phone was still connected to her.
"Chloe? Chloe can you hear me? Dammit…" Beca sighed, hanging up the phone, "Let me guess, our new friends aren't a fan of how reliant we are on technology either?"
"I'd guess not." Stacie chuckled, "Looks like we'll have to figure this out on our own then."
"I hope Chloe isn't freaking out." Aubrey mused as she opened the door to the farmhouse, "There's nothing we can do to contact her now until we sort this mess out, I don't like that."
"Me neither." Beca sighed, "Better get this done quickly then right?"
'Always in such a rush Beca…'
Beca spun on her heel as they entered the front hall of the farmhouse, the door slamming shut of its own accord. The colour had completely drained from her face and her hands were shaking, if her heart could beat it would've been pounding out of her chest by now.
"Beca? What is it?" Aubrey frowned softly.
"N-nothing. Nothing. I thought- it's nothing." Beca shook her head. She really was starting to lose it.
'Nothing? Is that what I am to you now?'
"E-Evie?" Beca stammered, looking around her as Stacie and Aubrey shared a look that was equal parts confused and concerned.
"Beca? There's no-one here…" Stacie gently put her hand on Beca's shoulder.
'Oh well that's not strictly true.'
It was Stacie's turn to leap round, eyes searching for the owner of that heartbreakingly familiar voice.
"Iz?" Stacie mumbled, Aubrey frowning at her. Just what the hell was going on?
'I mean you guys are here. I'm here. There's whoever started this whole mess in here somewhere too.'
Stacie's eyes fell upon a teenager sat nonchalantly on the stair banister, a smirk on her face, dark hair falling wet and limp onto her shoulders and sticking to her face.
'I really hoped you had gotten smarter since I died, but maybe not…'
"Stace, what're you looking at?" Aubrey laced her fingers into Stacie's as she tried to pull her attention from the banister she was staring at.
'Letting your personal life into your work? I really expected better from you.'
"Wha-" Aubrey spun on her heel, hand releasing Stacie's as her wide eyes found her grandfather stood stoically by the front door, "What're you-?"
'Now really Aubrey. You come from a long and proud line of vampire hunters, surely you can figure out what is occurring here. Or do you need your little team to hold your hand through it again?'
Aubrey swallowed hard as she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, centring herself. This thing may look like her grandfather, but it wasn't him. He was kind and warm, this spirit was cold and cruel.
"You're not him." Aubrey mumbled, "This house is trying to stop us from undoing whatever caused this. You're not him."
She turned to Stacie again, ignoring the booming voice of her grandfather again as it chastised her. Aubrey gripped Stacie's upper arm and spun her to face her, Stacie gasping softly in surprise as tears ran down her cheeks.
"Stace, listen to me. I don't know who you can see, but it's not real. It's not them. This isn't a typical haunting, there's a spell at work here that's making all of us see someone that would really shake us up. I need you and your brain to focus on me and not them okay?"
Stacie nodded hesitantly, sniffing as she took a deep breath, "She's not real. Okay. I can do this."
'Not real? A little rude don't you think? I was very real when you let me-'
"Hey." Aubrey cupped Stacie's face in her hands as she saw her flinch at the words only she could hear, "Block it out. You can do this. I need to pull Beca back to us, you need to focus on what might be doing this as we search the house okay?"
"Yeah." Stacie nodded, shaken but determined, "Yeah, I've got this. Go help Beca."
Aubrey kissed her softly before releasing her, "To keep you grounded." She whispered, smiling at Stacie before heading over to where Beca had pressed herself into the corner. Aubrey's heart twisted as she saw the way Beca was trembling, white with fear as her wild eyes seemed to flit back and forth.
'I can't believe how selfish you still are. Don't you know better by now? Look what you did to us because of your selfishness!'
"Evie I-" Beca stammered, eyes roaming over the three woman towering above her, each sporting the life-ending injuries that Beca had seen inflicted upon them, "I didn't-"
'Tu as ruiné ma vie. Tu m'as tout volé et ensuite tu as continué ta vie et tu l'as refaite!'
"Célia… pardonne moi je t'en supplie…" Beca begged, eyes welling with tears as she bit her lip, feeling her legs start to give underneath as she trembled furiously.
'Forgive you?! You're kidding right? Why should we? Especially when you're doing the exact same thing all over again to this Chloe. You're toxic Beca.'
As Beca's legs gave out underneath her and she stared pleading up at Harper, she felt a pair of hands grip her shoulders and shake her, whimpering a little as they did.
"Beca. Beca look at me."
Beca shook her head, tears pouring down her cheeks, "I never wanted this… to hurt any of you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Beca's world was plunged suddenly into darkness as she was pulled against the person who had been shaking her moments ago. Their other was wrapped tightly around her, pinning her arms to her side, Beca too weak with fear to fight them off but she still struggled a little.
"Beca listen to me." Aubrey's voice whispered in her ear, "They're not here. This isn't real. It's a trick to try and keep us away from the truth of what's happening here. Whatever they're saying to you, whatever you think is happening, it's not. I've got you. You're safe. But I need you to ignore them okay?"
"I-I-" Beca couldn't find her words as she trembled in Aubrey's arms, every muscle in her body tensed in fear, "Th-they're not real?"
"No. No they're not. Would they be this cruel if they were?"
"I- I don't know…" Beca whispered, tears slipping from underneath Aubrey's hand, "They're right, about everything, they're right…"
"Beca, come back." Aubrey held her a little tighter as she tried to centre her, "Come back to the present. They're not here but you are, and I need you. So focus on what I'm saying. I'm going to move my hand from your eyes in a moment, and then we're going to get up and search this place from top to bottom. You can do this."
"They're not real." Beca mumbled more to herself than Aubrey, trying to desperately convince herself, "They're not real. They're not real."
'We're very real Beca. You will never be rid of us.'
"You're not real." Beca shook her head as Aubrey moved her hand and helped her to her shaky feet, hand still resting on the small of her back to keep her anchored to reality, "You're not real. You're not real."
"That's it Beca. You're okay." Aubrey tried to reassure Beca as they joined Stacie again.
"I think I know what this is." Stacie swallowed the lump in her throat as she continued to ignore the taunting voice behind her, "But I can't be sure until we find the idiots that cast it, they'll still be in here somewhere."
"Okay." Aubrey nodded, "This isn't a huge house, we'll take it room by room together. No way in hell am I splitting us up with whatever this is going on."
Beca nodded gratefully as she clenched her hands tight, nails digging into the palms of her hands as she tried to ground herself in reality. The three of them moved through the house, searching every single room in search of someone else that might hold some answers to what was going on.
'You'll never find them Beca, why not just run away you're actually good at that.'
"You're not real."
They worked their way through all the rooms downstairs and the basement with no success. Aubrey was growing steadily more frustrated as she could see Beca struggling to keep herself in the present and the way that Stacie would on occasion flick her gaze over to an empty corner. She had to get them out of here and fast, but she could only do that once this spell had been undone.
"Alright, let's check the upstairs. They have to be here somewhere." Aubrey grumbled, one hand on Beca's shoulder the other in Stacie's hand as tried to keep them anchored in the moment.
"You're not real." Beca whispered to herself again, Aubrey feeling her heart break for her friend. It was all she had said since Aubrey had pulled her back to the present, and she knew that Beca wasn't talking to her and Stacie. They had to get out of here.
Upstairs was a large master bedroom and as the team approached, Beca shrieked and fell backwards, scrambling away from it on her back, eyes wild.
'YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP THIS? YOU THINK THAT GOING IN THERE WILL RID YOU OF US, OF WHAT YOU DID TO US?'
"I'm sorry." Beca sobbed, shaking her head furiously as Aubrey dropped to her side, "I'm sorry, I won't go in there, I'll stay here, it's what I deserve."
"Beca, hey!" Aubrey snapped, firm but not angry, "We're almost there. If they're getting worse that means we're almost there. Now pull yourself together and come on."
"I-I can't." Beca stammered, tears flooding down her cheeks, "I can't do this. I shouldn't be here. They're right-"
"Now you listen to me Beca Mitchell." Stacie grabbed Beca's upper arms tightly and fixed with a fiery and determined look, "I don't care what crap they're spouting, I need your tiny ass to get up and help okay? Because you should be here, you have a job to do. Now get up and get your ass in there."
Beca gulped and nodded softly, letting Stacie pull her to her feet, Aubrey's arm wrapped tightly and protectively around her waist as she helped her stand on her shaky feet. They went into the master bedroom, Beca's eyes screwed tightly shut as the roaring of the sprits grew almost painfully deafening. Aubrey pressed her hip into Beca's, her eyes scanning the room and falling upon a young couple cowering in the corner furthest from them. Stacie saw them too and, ignoring her own ghost with all the strength she had, made a beeline for them, grabbing the wrist of the young woman to get her attention.
"Where is it?" She demanded, with far less consideration then she would usually have for the terrified young woman.
"Wha-what?" The woman whimpered, her eyes unfocused as she looked up towards Stacie.
"The spell you used, where is it? I need it undo the mess you've made!"
"H-here." The young man cowering beside her rummaged in his pocket and passed a piece of paper to Stacie who all but snatched it from him, anger written in every line of her expression as she read what was written there.
Aubrey watched Stacie with concern, not used to seeing this kind of anger from her. This spell had really shaken her up, and Aubrey made a mental note to find out exactly who Stacie had seen that had messed up her up so much.
"Make them stop." Beca's mumbled pleas into her shoulder as she turned into her body, hiding her face in her shoulder dragged Aubrey's attention from Stacie to her, "If they're not real then make them stop."
"We're trying Beca." Aubrey promised her, pulling the violently trembling Beca into a tight embrace, "I swear we're trying. We're almost there."
Stacie had missed the exchange between Aubrey and Beca as her focus remained on the spell in front of her, flexing her hands.
'You'll never be able to do it. You can't use your magic when it matters most, to save the people you love. If you weren't so freaking useless I'd still be here!'
"Shut up." Stacie growled, "I know you're not her, so just shut up."
Hunter whistled loudly as the spirit tried to belittle Stacie again, glowing furiously as he leant his powers to her.
"Thanks." Stacie smiled softly, "You're right. You and I can do this. You ready?"
Hunter whistled an affirmation as Stacie flexed her hands once again.
"Spirits of my loved ones rise, take yourselves to the other side. I banish you from this place, I forbid you to enter this space. Take your malevolent deeds a-brewing, leave my sight before you ruin. You are not the one I loved, you are not here from above, go and take your devilish whims back to your Satanic king!"
Stacie roared the reversal spell, a vicious wind whipping around the room as a loud, piercing screech could be heard by all. Stacie had to grind her heels into the floor to keep her balance as she repeated the spell again.
"Spirits of my loved ones rise, take yourselves to the other side. I banish you from this place, I forbid you to enter this space. Take your malevolent deeds a-brewing, leave my sight before you ruin. You are not the one I loved, you are not here from above, go and take your devilish whims back to your Satanic king!"
Aubrey and Beca were thrown against the wall behind them as the wind continued to whip furiously around them. Beca's hands were pressed tight over her ears as she curled into a tight ball on the floor, Aubrey crouched protectively over her as Stacie again repeated the incantation.
"Spirits of my loved ones rise, take yourselves to the other side. I banish you from this place, I forbid you to enter this space. Take your malevolent deeds a-brewing, leave my sight before you ruin. You are not the one I loved, you are not here from above, go and take your devilish whims back to your Satanic king!"
There was a pulse and a deafening roar, the glass in the windows and the picture frames exploding outwards. And then, suddenly, silence as the world fell still. Stacie stood panting, hands shaking a little from the exhaustion of the spell as Aubrey gently moved Beca's hands from ears and helped her to her feet.
"It's over Beca. They're gone."
Beca looked up at Aubrey as she realised she was right, sighing heavily as she slumped against her a little, her expression looking as exhausted as she felt.
"Get up." Stacie snapped, Aubrey's attention moving immediately to the couple Stacie was standing over, "What the hell were you playing at?"
Aubrey looked to Beca who nodded softly, indicating she was okay as she pulled away. Aubrey gave her shoulder a squeeze as she stepped over to her girlfriend, shocked by the obvious display of anger.
"Stace…"
"No!" Stacie yelled, hands clenched into tight fists as the couple scrambled to their feet, fear bright in their eyes, "Do you have any idea how dangerous that spell is? I know witches who can move the earth with a twitch of their finger who wouldn't go anywhere near this! This spell is so dangerous that even black magic witches don't touch it because you can't control anything once it's been said! Where the hell did you get this huh? Who gave this to you?!"
"That's it." Aubrey stepped between the couple and Stacie as her fiancée took a menacing step towards them, "Go. Go clear your head, take a breath, and then come back. This is not the way we talk to the people we're helping Stacie."
"Helping? Hell, we should have left them to it if they think they're smart enough to control it!" Stacie was red in the face as she tried to push past Aubrey.
"Outside Stacie. Now. Or I will make you." Aubrey stared her down, grateful for Beca as she gently put her hand on Stacie's shoulder and got her attention.
"C'mon dude. Let's get some fresh air." Beca encouraged Stacie, her body still shaking badly but determined to defuse things.
"Fine." Stacie grunted, turning on her heel and storming from the room, Beca close behind. Aubrey sighed heavily as she turned to the couple Stacie had been berating.
"I'm sorry, she's never like that. This spell, it's shaken us all up a bit." Aubrey smiled softly.
"It's okay." The woman sniffed sadly, "It was stupid, we didn't think it was actually a spell y'know? We didn't believe in any of that stuff, thought it was as fake as Ouija boards are…"
"Ouija boards are very real in the right hands." Aubrey raised her eyebrow, encouraging the couple to sit on bed before their shaking legs gave way, "I take it neither of you are witches are then?"
"No." The man shook his head, "No we're just normal people. We've always been fascinated with the occult, we thought it might be fun to try and summon some dead ancestors on our honeymoon. Y'know try and find out about our family histories and stuff?"
"And what, was too pedestrian?" Stacie was stood in the doorway, significantly calmer than she had been a few moments ago but still bristling a little.
"Kinda?" The woman half smiled, "We just wanted a different kind of honeymoon."
"So go skydiving, don't mess with the spirit realm!" Stacie sighed exasperatedly, "Look, I shouldn't have gotten as mad as I did and I'm sorry. You just stumbled across a spell that hasn't seen the light of day for a few centuries for good reason."
"Cool." The man smirked.
"No. Not cool." Stacie shook her head, "You guys really need to hear me now. You do not ever mess with something you don't understand, especially not the dead. It has consequences you cannot even begin to imagine but you would no doubt have found out if we hadn't turned up to investigate. It almost took us down, and believe me when I say that is no easy feat. We've faced evil you can't even fathom and come out stronger, but that nearly became too much for us to handle."
"I'm sorry." The woman mumbled, looking genuinely contrite, "You're right. We shouldn't have messed with something like that."
"Are you both okay, are you hurt at all?" Stacie asked, softening a little.
"No. We're okay. Just a little shaken up." The man responded, pulling his wife a little closer.
"Good. Now I need to know where the hell you got that spell because it should never have happened. There's no way you should have been able to get anywhere near it."
"It was a friend of your sisters wasn't it?" The woman frowned, "She was at the wedding, I didn't recognise her, but she handed us this paper and said that if we wanted to get really freaky on our honeymoon we should use it."
"What did she look like?" Aubrey pressed, pulling a notebook from her satchel as she took notes.
"Um, pretty average I guess? Brunette, shortish, about the same age as you guys? Said her name was Alice."
"Okay… we'll give this information to the Council later, I don't like this." Aubrey frowned as she turned to Stacie who nodded, looking equally troubled, "Where's Beca?"
"Outside." Stacie sighed softly, "She's really shook up, I think this has messed with her more than we'll ever understand."
"Yeah, I think you're right." Aubrey nodded sadly, "We should get her home. Are you two going to be alright or do you need us to take you somewhere, call someone?"
"No we're good, we still have a few more days of our honeymoon to enjoy!" The woman grinned, "Thank you. For fixing that."
"It's fine." Stacie smiled tightly, "It's what we do. Just… do some normal honeymoon things from now on okay?"
"You got it." The man winked, "Nothing but normal honeymoon boning from here on out!"
"Karl!" The woman scoffed slapping his chest.
"What? You heard the woman Jen, this is what normal honeymooners do!"
"Take me home." Stacie mumbled to Aubrey as they left the room and headed out of the farmhouse, "Before I do something that I won't regret but will definitely get in trouble for."
It had been a silent car ride back to the office, worried glances from Stacie and Aubrey cast in Beca's direction as their friend stared out of the window, forehead pressed against the cold glass and a hollow look in her eyes as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Beca hadn't said a word since taking Stacie to get some air, lost in the memories of the past and the words of the spirits that still echoed around her head.
"Becs?"
"Hm?"
Beca sniffed softly as she finally dragged her gaze from the window to Stacie who had turned to smile softly at her.
"We're home."
"Oh." Beca hadn't even noticed as they'd pulled up outside their office. She unbuckled her seatbelt and let herself out of the car, following Aubrey and Stacie inside.
Chloe leapt up from her seat as they entered, panic in every mine of her but relieved to see her friends home in one piece.
"What the hell happened?" She all but shrieked, "I heard Beca yelp and then the line cut out! I've been trying to call you guys for hours, I almost called the Council to report you missing!"
"I'm sorry Chloe." Aubrey smiled softly as she dropped her bag onto the table, "The spell was vicious, it knocked out the phone signal and once it was dealt with we just wanted to come home. We didn't mean to worry you."
"Are you guys okay?" Chloe frowned, tone softer but no less concerned as she could see how exhausted they all looked.
Her eyes fell on Beca who was stood in the middle of the office, stare vacant as she seemed lost. Chloe looked back to Aubrey with a wordless question, her heart clenching when Aubrey shook her head. Chloe moved towards Beca, not saying a word as she pushed aside her feelings of panic and hesitation and wrapped her tightly in her arms. Beca was still and motionless for a good few minutes in Chloe's arms before the dam broke, heavy sobs shaking her body as she clung to Chloe, face buried in the side of her neck. As Beca's legs gave out, Chloe carefully lowered them both to the floor, shushing Beca softly as she held her close and whispered soft reassurances into her hair.
Stacie and Aubrey exchanged a look and head quietly for the apartment upstairs. Beca and Chloe needed their privacy right now, especially Beca. She needed to have a safe place to get everything off her chest, and even they knew that Beca loved them and trusted them, they also knew she needed Chloe more.
"They were right." Beca sobbed into Chloe's embrace, "I shouldn't be here. I don't deserve to be here. I caused this, all of this pain that we've been through, that you've been through, it's because I was selfish and I didn't leave when I should've!"
"No Beca." Chloe shook her head, holding Beca as tight as she possibly could, "I don't know what happened tonight or who said that to you, but I do know that this is where you belong. You belong here with us, with your family. You are great many things Beca, but you are not selfish you hear me? You are the most selfless, kindest, warmest person I know. What we've been through… it isn't your fault. If you won't let me blame myself, then you can't blame yourself either."
Beca sobbed harder, clinging to Chloe as if her life depended on it, her body convulsing with the force of her anguish, "I-I don't why I'm s-still here!" She gasped out between sobs, "W-why I keep trying to p-pretend that I b-belong…"
"You do belong Beca." Chloe could feel her heart break as she lifted Beca's head to look at her, hating the hollow and lost look in her stormy blue eyes, "Your place is here, with us… with me. You don't have to run anymore Beca. You don't have to keep looking over your shoulder. We've got you. Just trust to keep you here until you remember that you belong here with us."
"I-I'm sorry." Beca wept as she looked up at Chloe, her fingers resting on the scars on Chloe's neck, "I'm sorry I l-let this happen to y-you. I should n-never have stayed."
"Stop it." Chloe shook her head, taking the hand that was resting on her neck in hers and giving it a soft squeeze, "Please Becs. I have never needed you to apologise, and I still don't. I am grateful that you stayed, I want you to always stay. Stay Beca. You belong here, I promise that you do. Just stay and the rest will figure itself out."
Beca let her head drop into the crook of Chloe's neck again, speechless as she wept in her ex-girlfriend's arms. This was all such a mess and it was all her fault. She should never have stayed when Chloe found out what she was. All of this would have been infinitely avoidable if she had just left.
What the hell was she supposed to do now?
Stacie sighed heavily as she sank onto the end of the end of the bed, head in her hands as she sniffed softly. Aubrey sat next to her, head resting on her shoulder as she said nothing for a moment, simply letting Stacie know that she was there. It was after ten minutes of silence that Aubrey finally broke, hating the silence between them when she was so worried about Stacie.
"Please talk to me." She mumbled against her shoulder, "I've never seen you blow up like that. Who did you see?"
"I-I'm not ready." Stacie shook her head a little, tears on her cheek as she turned her head to look at Aubrey, "I'm not ready to talk about this Bree."
"Okay…" Aubrey whispered with a soft sigh, "You know that you can tell me anything right? That there's nothing you can ever say to me that would make me love you any less?"
"Thank you." Stacie rested her head on top of Aubrey's still snuffling quietly, "It's just- this is like the one thing that I don't talk about. Ever. And it's not you, I promise it isn't. I'm just not ready to talk about it."
"It's okay." Aubrey lifted her head and pulled Stacie into her, kissing her softly on the crown of her head as Stacie buried her face in her neck, "You don't have to talk about it, I was just worried about you, as long as you know that I'm here, that you're not going through this alone, that's all that matters to me right now."
"I do." Stacie whispered, "I'm sorry for getting so mad today…"
"It's okay." Aubrey promised her, stroking her hair, "I'm sorry that I threatened to make you go outside."
"You don't have to apologise for that." Stacie smiled softly as she lifted her head and rested her forehead against Aubrey's, "You were doing your job. And honestly? It was kinda hot…"
Aubrey giggled, shaking her head a little before brushing her lips over Stacie's, "I love you, you idiot."
"I love you too." Stacie kissed her, fingers playing with the baby hairs on the back of Aubrey's neck as she pulled away again, "Thank you for always taking such good care of us Aubrey."
"I don't know about that…" Aubrey sighed, "I've been so worried about Chloe and the way she keeps punishing herself that I missed how much Beca was falling apart under the weight of what happened to her."
"You have had your eye on Beca." Stacie frowned softly, "She's just better at hiding how she's feeling than the rest of us. She's had two hundred years to practice."
"I guess." Aubrey mumbled, "I'm just sick of feeling like I'm dropping the ball with one of you when I'm trying to help another."
"You are amazing Aubrey Posen." Stacie cupped her face in her hands, "But you are not infallible. You are human, a powerful one, but human nonetheless. So be kinder to yourself and know that we can see how hard you work to keep us all safe."
Aubrey's eyes glittered with emotion as she rested a hand on Stacie's left wrist, "What would I do without you Stacie Conrad?"
"You don't ever have to find out." Stacie promised her, "Let me worry about Chloe for a little while, you focus on Beca and making sure that she stays here with us where she belongs."
"Okay." Aubrey nodded, smiling softly at her fiancée, "We can get them through this right?"
"Yeah." Stacie nodded, "We can get through anything together."
Beca woke the next day with a start, realising that it was far later than she normally got up. Shit, she was going to be late. Again. As she reached over to her bedside table she found a mug with a note set on top of it. Frowning softly, Beca picked up the note and read it, running a hand through her sleep tussled hair.
'You're taking the day off. No arguments. Get some rest Beca, we love you. Bree x'
The mug contained what had undoubtedly once been a hot cup of coffee but had long since cooled, Beca grimacing as she took a sip from it. She sighed heavily as she sank back into her pillows, not having the energy to try and subvert Aubrey's instructions. Beca rolled onto her side, frowning as her eyes fell onto a small box and another note. What was this? Give Beca pity presents day?
Beca picked up the box and the note, gasping softly as she opened it and saw the contents. Inside the box was the engagement ring that she had given Chloe… god it felt like years ago now. The last time Beca had seen it was around the finger of the doppelganger that had tried to take Chloe's place, and now here it was hung from a chain in a box in her hand. Beca decided to read the note to see if that would make some sense of the ring's sudden reappearance.
'Beca,
I've had this for a while now. I never knew why I kept it or why I wore it around my neck constantly, or why touching it made me feel calmer when I was lost in the horror of the world that Gail had dragged me into to. But I do now. It's because it reminded me of you, of all of you, and the fact that if I just fought a little longer then I could come back to you. It anchored me through the worst experiences of my life, through the hellish actions that I may not be entirely responsible for (that's the best I can do right now, and even that was hard to write). It kept the good part of me alive.
I don't need it anymore, not like I used to. I can't exactly go anywhere right now anyway, but I don't think I want to. So I'm giving it back to you, maybe it will remind you that no matter what you think, you're needed here. I need you here. Stay, wear this and stay. Remind yourself that we don't work as a team without you. You belong here Beca, this is your home.
Get some rest Becs. We'll be here when you feel stronger again.
Chloe x'
Beca sniffed as she wiped at the tears on her cheeks. Chloe had really had it all this time? Beca stared down at the ring again, taking it from its box with shaky hands and draping the chain around her neck. She turned the ring in her hands as she looked at it, lying back against her pillows, Chloe's note carefully stored on her bedside table.
Chloe had kept this on her even when she wasn't Chloe anymore. She had used it to cling to the good parts of herself when Gail tried to smother them. And now she had given it to Beca to use as an anchor instead.
Beca still wasn't sure why she was staying here. But she did know that her friends cared enough to fight her if she tried to leave. And maybe right now, that was enough.