A/N: Here we go. This is the second last chapter for this story. I have mostly written the next one story, but will wait until I have it all done before posting it. If there is anything from the story that I have failed to explain in the next chapter, let me know and I will do what I can to add it. Enjoy.

"Sam, I think we've found something." Janet Mills held out the PADD to Sam, who broke the meld to take it, despite the doctor working on her left hand, earning her a growl from him.

"What?" Jim joined her beside the bed and held the PADD so Bones could work on the other hand while the left was bandaged by a nurse. The skin would be fragile for a few hours, and Jim guessed that she wouldn't be resting it anytime soon.

"Seems he left his room early this morning, before meeting you for breakfast." Mills spoke, as Winchester navigated the PADD, Bones forcing her to stop using her hands as she did so he and the nurse could finish.

"Who'd he speak to?"

"Dr M'Combe."

Winchester was off the bed before anyone could stop her; Bones didn't even try when she left, even though he had only partly finished the other hand. "What did he say?"

Mills was walking beside her and talking without missing a beat as though she had expected this to happen. "I haven't spoken to him yet, but Dean went to his room after that, M'Combe didn't accompany him. He joined you for breakfast shortly after."

Jim had been following and spoke up before the Winchester did. "So, what, M'Combe set this thing loose? You think he did it on purpose?" Jim didn't think the man would do such a thing.

Mills held her hands out in peace. "I doubt he even realised it. Dean probably asked him if he could search his room without his presence. We've managed to search most of them, but some of the Doctor's haven't been able to leave their stations when we've been in their areas. Most have refused to allow one of us into their room without them there, mostly because they have confidential files on PADDs scattered around."

"Understandable." Winchester said as they entered a turbolift. The doors closed and she hit the command for medbay five. Jim had seen the location on the PADD before she left the room. It was just him, Mills and Winchester that arrived outside the medbay. Bones had stayed behind to attend to patients.

"Captain, Lt, Ensign what can I do for you all this morning?" The doctor's voice was pleasant as he led them into his office, but Jim could make out a note of annoyance in it, so he called him on it.

"Care to tell me what has annoyed you, Doctor?"

"Annoyed, Captain?"

"Yes, when you greeted the Lt and Ensign just now, I heard it."

"I had her brother (pointing at Winchester) in here this morning asking me if I snuck anything on board that didn't get screened, implying that I avoided protocols." He had crossed his arms then, anger starting to tint his words. "Then he had the nerve to ask if he could search my room without my presence. While I have nothing to hide, I might add Captain, I do have many things within that I need to keep confidential."

"I understand that, and I doubt Campbell was implying such a thing. Whatever brought this, ghost, on board may have been shielded. It could have passed through the screening the Hunters undertake without setting anything off." Jim hoped he had understood everything he had been told the last few days and that he had the gist of it right.

"That's another thing, Captain, how certain are we of all this nonsense?" He set down the PADD he had been holding and stared at Winchester, "I've never heard of anything so ridiculous. Now don't get me wrong, I am aware several people are dead, I've done their autopsies. Several others have been attacked, but I have seen no evidence to suggest anything other than people being affected by a drug. I can think of a number of drugs that can induce the symptoms of amnesia, rage and unconsciousness I've seen."

Jim; and Mills, he noticed; had grabbed Winchester's arms when M'Combe had said that. He kept his voice calm, hoping that she would calm down. She was no longer was trying to step closer to the doctor, but he still kept his grip on her.

"I was not aware that you were so closed minded, Doctor. Might I remind you that we are on a five year mission, and as such, things that we do not understand, let alone are able to comprehend; will happen. I take it you have also taken the liberty of doing a workup of the black substance and of the victim's blood?"

"Yes."

When he didn't elaborate, Jim asked "And? What did you find?"

"No sign of any drugs, only a single cell organism that you can't identify." Winchester said. "Ectoplasm is a part of the make-up of those cells." She had stepped clear of Jim, and he let her say her peace. "We've known this for a long time. The Ghost cells as we call them, attach themselves to ghosts, how and why, we don't know. All we know, is that the angrier and older the ghost, the more likely there is to be ectoplasm. When the ghost is expelled, they are too, again, we don't know why." She tipped her head to the side, a small smile appearing on her face. "You have no explanation as to how they got there, let alone let alone what they do, do you?"

A moment of silence, followed by an almost unheard, "No."

"Thought not." She lent against a biobed and looked at the PADD she still held. "It says here that you had a gift you brought back on board. Devereaux stated in his report to me that you didn't want him to open it. Care to tell me why?"

Jim could tell that she was starting to get irritated with the doctor, who had been involved in one way or another helping to find out what was happening. When he didn't say anything after a few minutes, Jim prompted him.

"Dr?"

"If I wouldn't tell Campbell, why would I tell you?"

"So I take it you didn't give him permission to go to your room?"

"I certainly did not."

"Something made him go there. What did you tell him about the gift?" When he glared at her, again, she actually growled. "Dr, something you told him sent him there. Now my brother is trapped inside his own body while Jack the Ripper is controlling him." Her voice rose, the sentence ending in almost a shriek, and Jim could hear the desperation in it.

"Jack the…" M'Combe' s voice trailed off. "I told him that I collect antique medical tools. The ones I picked up were from Earth, between the late 1800s to the early 1900s. They were delicate, and I didn't want them exposed to the environment any more than they had to be. I opened them in my room in a temperature and climate controlled container a few days ago."

Any collector of things from that time would know of him, Jim thought.

"The lights flicker? Room go cold?"

"Yeah, I just thought it was one of LtC Scott's patch-up's gone funny."

"No, that was the ghost when you let him out." She dumped the PADD as she left the room, Jim hurrying to keep up. He followed her as she made her way toward the doctor's room, Mills beside her. Jim noticed that M'Combe was following.

"Now, wait a minute, you can't just go charging in there. I've got a lot of confidential information in there!"

"Which should be in the medbays, Dr." Jim said as he turned to face him and hold him back from stopping Winchester. "As I informed everyone several days ago, she and the other Hunters know what is going on and what to do. You not allowing them to search your room is stopping them from doing their job."

They had reached the room then, and Winchester ordered him to open it. When he denied, Jim ordered him, reiterating that she had the authority to give him orders. She and Mills went first, telling him to wait, and Jim watched them clearing the room with their shotguns. He followed and asked what she was clearing it for since Ripper was trapped in the mess hall.

"Some ghosts, especially those that know they are ghosts, like to …" she paused as Jim heard a click. "FREEZE Captain!" She shouted, whirling to face him, hand outstreachd. Jim stopped moving. "Like to leave traps, like the one you just stepped on." She dropped her head and hand, sighing. "There was a reason I asked you to stay outside, Sir."

Jim now felt really sheepish. Bones was always telling him to think and listen before jumping into something. That one day, it would get him killed. He watched as she walked around him, looking at the mat he was standing on.

"What is it?" He asked.

"A pressure switch, I've just got to find where the explosive is." She looked over at Mills and sent her for a kit that was in the back of Baby. After Mills left, taking M'Combe with her, Winchester went back to looking around the room.

"What happens now, Lt?" He asked when she found a box ten minutes later. She set it on a table nearby, seemingly ignoring the plight her CO was in.

"Winchester?"

"Sir, the explosive is a mixture of chemicals and is above your head. While Ripper wouldn't know of them, Dean does, and he is very good at making things go boom. There is nothing I can do until Janet returns with the kit I sent her for that has everything I need to defuse the bomb. It's wireless, sure, but an interruption in the signal could trigger it." She hadn't looked up from her inspection of the box. It was made from wood, which showed how old it was to start with, not to mention expensive. It was plain, and worn smooth from many hands.

"This I believe is what Dean came looking for." She carefully opened it, and Jim winced, fully expecting something to happen. "Captain, I would refrain from moving. Nothing is in here, as it is currently occupying my brother. You moving could set that off." She pulled out an EMF reader and ran it over. It went off, a high ringing-buzz sounding from it. She closed the box, and it went silent. Jim had managed to make out several knives and what looked like a set of clamps.

She murmured something, and symbols lit up in golden light for a moment before fading. Jim recognised a couple of them from the bridge, though they were a little different. "Interesting, the box is warded, like someone in the past knew of the ghost and trapped it within."

"Why is that interesting?" Jim asked, just as Mills walked back in with a bag. He watched as she pulled out a couple of things while Winchester pulled a table under where the bomb was. The pair of them stood on the table and started to pull apart the housing for the bomb.

"Anyone that knows of ghosts, knows how to get rid of them. That Ripper was sealed, tells me that they didn't know who they were dealing with, or had no way of finding out." Winchester said as she stepped off the table. "Captain, very slowly, step off the rug, and back toward the door."

Jim did as he was told, keeping as still as possible. Once outside, he straightened and took a deep breath. Letting it out in relief, he turned toward Winchester as she left the room, carrying her gun in one hand, the wooden box in the other.

"What now?" He asked, falling into step with her.

"Janet will finish defusing the bomb,…"

"I thought you did?"

"I took care of disarming the pressure switch, the bomb is still live." She looked at him and Jim realised that she had done so to get him out as soon as possible. He nodded his thanks as they entered a turbolift, the Lt texting someone on her cell phone. He noticed that they were heading back to the mess-hall from that morning.

"Are you hoping to trap it again in there?" He asked, pointing to the case.

She put the cell away before answering him. "No, I'm hoping to destroy it."

Jim shuddered at the tone he heard in her voice. It was like ice was dripping from every word, as though she fully expected her brother to not survive what was coming. She told him what she wanted him to do once they entered the room, and stressed that he do nothing else. They entered the room to see Campbell still standing, arms crossed, within the circle of salt and iron filings. Several Hunters were spaced around the room, all pointing shotguns at him, more entering the room until all 26 were present.

"Dear sister, you left me all alone here. I've missed you."

"You have one chance to leave him." She said, keeping the box hidden behind Jim. He walked in front of her slightly as she laid it on a table. He heard the wooden lid creak open, but given the distance, and his voice as he continued; Jim doubted that Ripper did.

"Like I said, I like this body. And you've already locked me in here, so it's partly your fault that I can't leave." Campbell spread his arms in a nothing-I-can-do gesture as he said that.

Winchester said something and her brother's wrist, where the binding spell was, glowed for a moment before fading back to a dull black. "I've just broken the binding spell. Now leave."

"You know, your brother believes you sat back and did nothing as you watched that ghost kill your father." Ripper said, clearly trying to provoke her.

"It wasn't a ghost that killed our father," she suddenly stepped clear of Jim, cocked and raised her rifle, "I did."

BANG!

Smoke filled the hall, making it hard to see; the smell of burnt metal hung in the air before the air system cleared it. He was getting over the fact he had just seen Winchester shoot her brother as he watched Campbell fall. The ghost, while free of his body, was still trapped within the salt circle. Winchester dived back to the box behind him. He turned in time to see her pour salt into it, along with a liquid of some sort before tossing in a small silver box with a flame coming out of it. Fire quickly engulfed the box.

"NOOOO!" Ripper screamed, before he burned like his tool kit; flames starting at his legs before racing up and covering the rest of him as he moved toward her. He exploded as the fire covered his head, causing every light to flicker. Silence reigned for several moments after light returned to the room. It was shattered by a cry.

"DEAN!" Winchester raced to her brother, sliding through the salt ring on her knees, stopping beside him. Jim called out for medics, knowing that Bones had stationed some here. He stayed back and watched as the Hunter struggled to wake her brother.

"Dean?!" She was shaking him slightly, his face pale; Jim was worried that he was dead like Devereaux. "Dean, please? Wake up!" Her voice went quiet before rising to a shout at the last two words. Her bare hand was resting on his Psi points, and for her to be begging him to wake up, he was deeply unconscious. He heard a low moan as the medics went to pass him. He held out a hand to stop them, giving the two siblings a moment.

"Next time you have one of these hair-brained, cockamamie, outlandish schemes, leave me out of it." He barely heard it, but Jim sighed in relief at hearing those words. Winchester was too, as she hugged him tightly, laughing.

"No guarantees, you are a Winchester." She said as she sat back and allowed the medical staff to look him over.

Jim smiled and once he got a nod from the attending doctor that he was going to be fine, he headed to the bridge. The crew needed to know that everything was over, and they could get back to what was considered normal for this particular Starfleet ship.

A/N: YEAH! Bye bye Ripper! I hope you enjoyed this story. I have an epilogue of sorts, from Scotty's view, explaining a few things that I realised had cropped up. If there is anything I've missed, let me know and I'll try to rectify it.