Cinderjuice

A Beetlejuice fanfic by Lady Norbert

Author's Notes: I did not cry while writing that last chapter. Really. I just came closer than I care to admit. This story's affecting me a little too much.

To give an idea of my mindset, while writing chapters 13 and 14 I was listening to Nickelback's "I'd Come For You" on continuous repeat. Look up the lyrics if you're inclined; they really fit this scene.

Chapter Fourteen: The Thingamabob That Does the Job

BJ waited with his hands in his pockets while Lydia absorbed the words he'd spoken. In all the years of their friendship, he'd never been so cold, so harsh, so unfeeling toward her; to some extent he was amazed she didn't see through it. He kept his face impassive, which was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.

"Okay," she said finally. Her pale face had gone even whiter from the shock of his dismissal. "If that's really what you want..."

"It is."

She walked over to Doomie, slowly; he couldn't watch, the ache in his chest was too intense. She retrieved her camera from the front seat, then embraced the car's front bumper as best she could. "Take care of him, Doomie."

"Meep meep," came the sad response.

Still moving slowly, she walked back over to Pinky, pausing in front of Beetlejuice. "I hope you find it," she said quietly. "Thanks for everything, Beej. Oh... here." She pulled off her spider brooch. "You might as well keep this." When he made no move to accept it from her hand, she dropped it on the ground at his feet.

Jacques and Ginger stared at him in bewilderment as she climbed into the car. "I 'ope you know what you are doing, Be-attle-juice," said the skeleton. He sounded more awed than anything; BJ suspected Jacques understood what was really going on, at least in part. "We will get Lydia safely to ze door, and let ze prince know she has left."

"Good. Better get going, then."

He stood on the sidewalk, watching the cloud of dust left even after Pinky was out of sight. Behind him, Doomie was frothing - almost literally. He growled, he whined, he raged, and finally, BJ turned to face him.

"Stop it - just stop it! You think I enjoyed doing that?"

Doomie paused, and made an inquisitive sound. "Why did I do it? I'll tell you why I did it. Because of this letter!" He sat down on the curb. "Listen to this." He unfolded the note from the prince.

Dear Beetlejuice,

Keep this message away from Lydia's eyes. I'm afraid I have some grave news. Earlier today I met with the Fairy Godfather; I wanted to discuss your situation, which he was willing enough to do. It seems that he has known for some time where your missing juice is concealed, but is unable to acquire it himself. It would be an understatement to say I was shocked by his revelation.

How this came to pass, I can only speculate. But it would appear that, in consequence of her friendship with you and her multiple visits to the Neitherworld, Lydia herself has absorbed a portion of your power over time. Clearly this was done without either of you being aware of it. As I'm sure you can imagine, there is no safe way - or at least, none of which I have learned - by which the power can be extracted from her person.

I am uncertain how you will wish to proceed. In light of this information, I can't help but think it would be in the best interests of you both to get you out of the Neitherworld as soon as possible. To that end, I have found the means to reopen the old door, the one by which I used to pick up Lydia for outings years ago. Once you receive this package, I recommend proceeding there with all due haste.

In friendship,

Prince Vince of the Neitherworld

"That's why I sent her away," BJ concluded, folding up the note again. "The sooner she's out of the Neitherworld, the safer she'll be. And she can't come back. If she comes back, I don't know what'll happen to her. I thought... well... if she hates me, she's not gonna want to come back, right? So I tried to make her hate me, for her own good." An intense gloom was settling over him as he picked up the discarded brooch and got to his feet. "I dunno if I made her hate me, but I did a pretty good job of disgusting myself. And not in a fun way."

Doomie made some sorrowful, sympathetic noises. BJ studied the stylized spider for a moment before putting it in his pocket. "I know. I miss her too." He sighed. "I dunno how this happened. I didn't give her any of my powers on purpose, you know? I didn't even know that could happen. But if the prince says it can't be reversed, then it's not safe for her to stay here."

The car rumbled questioningly. "Yeah, I'm not a bad actor, huh? Making it sound like I wanted her to leave?" He laid a hand on Doomie's hood. "I almost believed it myself for a minute. Or would have, if I didn't know better."

He sighed. "So we'll take a lazy way back to the Roadhouse. By the time we get there, she should be gone. For good."

"R-r-r-r." It was the most despondent noise Doomie had ever made.

"What do you mean, how could I do it? What choice did I have? We couldn't keep her, Doomeroo. I guess I've known for a long time that this was coming."

"R-r-r?"

"Impossible, huh? Yeah, you're not wrong. But then, a lot of things about Lyds and me have always been impossible." Unbidden, her words from years earlier came back to haunt him. I believe that when you love someone, the impossible becomes possible. He rubbed his face. "Letting her go is probably the last impossible thing I'll ever do. I'm stuck like this permanently, now."

Doomie needed gas, which gave them an extra bit of time to stall before heading back to the Roadhouse. It was just as well that the car could drive himself; BJ was in a fog. He barely saw or heard anything around him. He just kept replaying those horrible moments over and over in his mind, seeing her stunned face and the devastating resignation in her eyes. At least she hadn't cried in front of him, which was good; Lydia crying was something he absolutely couldn't take.

He'd tried so hard to ignore the truth. When he'd first met Lydia she was young, in that strange in-between place of human youth. She was shy, and sad, and he wasn't even sure what had possessed him to make a friend of this little human. But he had, and she'd just... blossomed. Kind, talented, smart as a whip, able to appreciate the weirder side of everything. And despite how misanthropic he often was, he couldn't help adoring her.

Somewhere over time she'd stopped being a kid and turned into a grownup. A delightfully bizarre grownup, still with a taste for the macabre and a thrill for the gruesome, but a grownup nonetheless. Suddenly they were on more equal footing, and he saw himself as less of a protector and more of a... well, he didn't know the word exactly. What he did know, and did his level best not to acknowledge, was that his own happiness had become tangled up in hers, and without her he was lost.

But if she was safe, then that was more important. He tried to remind himself of that. Nothing was more paramount than Lydia's safety. She had to be okay, even if it meant she never forgave him.

Doomie was almost as depressed as BJ himself, judging by how slowly his wheels were rolling. BJ lounged in the seat, absently turning the spider brooch over and over between his fingers.

It took him a few minutes to realize something was buzzing overhead. That was peculiar. Frowning, he looked up to see a small plane, not unlike the one which had dropped off the package just hours earlier. (Was it hours? His sense of time felt displaced. It seemed more like a week, with Lydia gone.)

"Doomie... uh... I think we'd better pull over." Something weird was going on with this plane, although he wasn't exactly sure what at first. Gradually he realized that someone was jumping out of it, and a huge, colorful parachute opened to guide the figure gently to the ground.

For a split second, his heart jumped as he wondered if she'd come back.

"Beetlejuice!"

So much for that. BJ sighed as the parachute billowed down to reveal his brother. "Donny, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, brother, this is a disaster!"

"...what are you talking about?"

"It's Lydia - she's in trouble, Beetlejuice!"

"Talk faster."

"We saw it - Prince Vince and I, we were watching you on television. Your whole adventure's been televised by Mr. Monitor."

BJ groaned, facepalming. "That ratings-happy clod. But what about Lyds?"

"We saw you send her away - Beetlejuice, they never made it to the door!"

"What?!"

"Like I said, the whole thing's been broadcast live. Someone must have been watching and heard you tell Doomie here the truth about the missing juice. When Jacques didn't check in like he said he would, the prince and I went looking for them. We found the pink car abandoned and disabled, with Lydia's camera on the seat."

"Son of a... where is she?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure who's got her - Prince Vince is checking the camera to see if maybe she got a picture of them."

"Then let's get back to his place. Doomie! We gotta fly! Get in, Donny."

BJ practically broke down the door to the prince's hall, tore past the retainers, and skidded to a halt near the throne. "Any - news?" he gasped.

"Beetlejuice, thank goodness." Prince Vince moved to meet him. "From what the images on the camera have revealed, our friends were captured by Mr. Big and his associates."

"You mean S.N.O.T.R.a.G.? They revived that group?"

"Possibly, yes. I only recognized him for sure, but he definitely had help. Most likely they've taken Lydia to the Fairy Godfather."

"But what can he do?" Donny asked, having followed his brother. "You said there's no way to get the juice out of her."

"No." Prince Vince shook his head grimly. "I said there's no safe way to do it."

"How could I be so stupid?" BJ pulled at his hair. "I never should have left her out of my sight!"

Any fear which had been in his face was rapidly being replaced with an anger such as he doubted either of the others could ever remember seeing. He was furious - with Big, with the Neitherworld in general, but most of all with himself. It was all his fault. "Let's go."

"What are you going to do?" asked Prince Vince, looking bewildered.

"I'm going into that castle and I'm bringing her out. Whatever it takes."

"But Beetlejuice," Donny protested, "you're powerless - and human. If you go in there, they'll probably kill you!"

He paused for a moment, mulling over the words. His hands went into the pockets of his suit jacket and, almost without realizing it, he pulled out the spider brooch. It glinted in his palm, the jeweled legs tickling his skin. There was something oddly reassuring about the weight of it.

...the impossible becomes possible.

He closed his fingers around the spider and looked at his brother.

"I'll take my chances."