Disclaimer: I still don't own "Ghostbusters", otherwise the ladies would already be signed for the sequel. See chapter 1 for full disclaimers.

6

A Simple Wish

Director Gilbert hadn't been to the accident site until this moment.

When she and Abby and Jillian had hired in, Erin's specialty had been theoretical paranormal physics-the why and how of spectral existence and how they traveled between dimensional planes. Her job was to solve such questions and pass the information along to engineers like Jillian Spengler, who would put the knowledge to practical use redesigning traps and weapons to combat the continual invasions.

When the firehouse laboratory went up, Erin had been miles away in the safety of her laboratory in the West Virginia field office near Norfolk. She'd watched the live broadcast of the explosion on the satellite feed of the New York City local news.

Then she'd gone into the nearest ladies' room, locked herself inside, and spent the next few hours alternating between throwing up until there was nothing left in her stomach to bring up except acid and crying uncontrollably before anyone realized she was missing…and that was only because an equally devastated Abby had been calling looking for her.

When she was done grieving, Erin became angry.

After she became angry, she began planning: Director Peck had been the one to push for the reckless weapon's construction. Erin would take his job. She'd see that he never found work engineering so much as a pile of Tinker Toys. She'd boot Arthur Klein all the way back to England and make sure he never landed a contract with the Spectral Defense Agency ever again. She'd be the Director that the S.D.A. needed-the one who embraced the paranormal as something beautiful, who could protect Earth from spectral threats without resorting to the insane, dangerous lengths of her predecessor.

Director Gilbert was so far removed from the person she'd been those years ago that she could almost pity how naïve that Erin Gilbert had been. Years of making the shitty decisions necessary to protect earth had beaten the naïve out of her.

Standing in the wreckage of the firehouse, with the evidence of the catastrophe all around her, Erin recalled the depths of grief and anger of that life-altering day anew. She knelt, brushing aside dust and mortar to fish out one of Spengler's radioactive heart labels on a piece of metal. The juxtaposition of the sweet and whimsical with the macabre always amused the engineer.

Until yesterday, she'd almost forgotten how much she missed her friend.

She was grateful that she'd left her agents outside to guard the entrances and exits. It wouldn't do to have them see her hugging a melted scrap of metal.

The voice from the past shattered the moment. "For the record, if I had to go, this is exactly how I'd want to do it."

Jillian Holtzmann was seated on the broken staircase, watching her. Erin was not remotely surprised that she'd slipped past the agents at the door.

Erin dropped the piece of metal and stood, wiping the dust from her knees to avoid eye contact until she was sure that the tears weren't going to fall. "You both have a morbid sense of humor."

"True." She winced at Erin's smashed and bruised nose. "Whoah, that's a shiner. You're my friend, so if you want to take a punch to even things out, I'll give you one for free."

"I'd prefer that you give me the Cintamani stone." Erin didn't approach the engineer, knowing full well she could have set up some kind of trap or ambush amidst the remains of the firehouse.

Holtzmann made a face. "You're a lot more fun when you're a red-head."

"Well, I apologize, but we are still in a radioactive hot zone. If we're going to exchange banalities, I'd rather do it elsewhere, Dr. Holtzmann." She knew full well that the woman had insisted on meeting here expecting that it was going to bring up painful memories and sentimentality in Erin. If she thought that Erin was going to sacrifice the safety of the planet by letting her and the Cintamani stone walk out of here for old time's sake, she was mistaken.

Holtzmann didn't budge from the staircase. Instead, she pulled the medallion from her jacket pocket and turned it over and over in her hands like it was a fascinating toy and not the dangerous weapon Erin knew it to be.

"Dr. Holtzmann, you need to be careful with that-"

That was the Understatement of the Year. "No kidding. I'm wondering—once you have this goodie in your hot little hands, how can I be sure you aren't going after my family…sorry, I mean Spengler's family? See, I'd trust my Erin with my life…but you ain't her."

"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you and Jillian Spengler." Erin produced a data pad and held it up for Holtzmann to see. "The official order revoking the DX-4 order on you and the Ghostbusters. It's ready to be sent when I have the artifact. You have my word."

"Your word and five dollars will buy me a cup of Starbuck's coffee-you have Starbuck's in this timeline, right?"

"Dr. Holtzmann, our deal expires in less than ten minutes, so I'm afraid I'm done with pleasantries-"

Now, Holtzmann stood up and began making her way down the staircase, still clasping the Cintamani in one hand. "I didn't have to negotiate with you. You get that, don't you? I could have used this to make you do whatever I want. Hell, I could have wished the whole S.D.A. out of existence if I'd wanted."

"I think you understand what a bad idea that would be-"

"Actually, I do." Holtzmann grinned at Erin's disbelief. "I know. I'm as surprised as you."

Reluctantly, Jillian handed over the Cintamani. "You need to destroy this thing, Erin."

Erin studied the medallion. It was an innocuous looking thing for such a dangerous device. "That's not really your decision now. You could have used this to return yourself to your timeline. You've trapped yourself here. Unless the story about this being a Cintamani stone was bullshit?"

Holtzmann shook her head. "All true. I just had to find out something before I could go home."

"I hope it was something important. You understand the terms of our deal have to remain a secret? As far as the public is concerned, you were an unstable woman impersonating Jillian Spengler who has been taken to a mental health facility at an undisclosed location."

"I know a nice one in upstate New York," Holtzmann cracked.

Erin ignored her. "Agent Rorke? Place Dr. Holtzmann under arrest and find the Ghostbusters. We'll issue a public statement-"

Holtzmann interrupted. "Erin?"

Erin glared at her. "What?"

"You didn't send that order," Holtzmann nodded to the tablet in Erin's hand. "The one revoking the DX-4 order on my family."

"Hmm. So, I didn't." Erin thumbed the 'delete' key. "You understand that I can't have the continual undermining of our programs-"

To her surprise, Holtzmann gave her a smile that was more disappointment than bitterness. Somehow, the disappointment-aimed squarely at Erin-was a worse feeling than having to break her promise to keep the Ghostbusters out of jail.

Before Erin could say another word, the Cintamani stone vanished from her hand. She barked at Holtzmann: "What did you do?!"

"Yeah, I kind of figured you wouldn't keep your word. I wished for it to send itself into the sun as soon as you touched it. Like I said-it had to be destroyed."

Erin fumed, but wasn't surprised. "Clever. You just voided our deal. You and the Ghostbusters are going to spend a long time being a family in Federal Prison-"

Then Erin and Holtzmann were both hit with a wave of dizziness. Erin grabbed for the broken worktable to keep from falling. Having expected it, used to it by now, Holtzmann closed her eyes and rode it out.

She opened her eyes when a familiar voice boomed: "I will be deciding who goes to Federal Prison, if you don't mind Deputy Director Gilbert."

Holtzmamm opened her eyes to see Peter Venkman standing in the doorway.

GBGBGBGBGBGBGB

"So, there we are-me, your Uncle Winston, your Uncle Ray, and your Uncle Egon, staring at a Marshmallow Man as tall as a twenty-story building. And he's eyeballing me. We know he's going to climb up the side of that building and that's the end of us-"

The Zeddemore house was bustling with relatives, neighbors, and the extended family Winston had accumulated through years of volunteering with the neighborhood youth center. Everyone had settled into some kind of holiday task-some were in the kitchen helping with cooking or dishing out food that the guests had brought. Others were setting the table. Jo Rita Tolan was decorating the Christmas tree with the help of some of the other teenagers from the youth center.

Peter Venkman sat before a knot of children and regaled them with tales of his glory days in the Ghostbusters. They listened with rapt attention…all except Peter and Dana's autistic son, Jack, who sat at the coffee table sorting a giant bag of Legos by color.

"What did you do?" Winston's grandson, Hunter, wanted to know.

Peter smiled. "What else could we do? We got some chocolate and a really big stick and made a smore out of him." He bit into a smore just to emphasize his point. The kids laughed like it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen.

Ray rolled his eyes as he worked setting out dishes on the massive dining table and four other card tables. "Careful kids, every story your Uncle Peter tells ends with him saving the day all by himself."

"Hey, I'm just giving the people what they want," Peter protested.

The doorbell rang, and Patty Tolan was practically blown into the house by the howling wind and snow outside. She waved greetings to Jo Rita, Peter, Ray, and the kids in the living room. "Hey! Sorry I'm late. Damn snow plows aren't doing much of anything. Nobody wants to work on Christmas Eve."

"Patty! You made it!" Winston emerged from the kitchen, where he'd been putting the finishing touches on the three turkeys he was baking until her heard her voice.

"Uncle Winston!" She gave her honorary uncle a bear hug and then handed him the two bottle of sparkling cider she'd brought for the party. "Merry Christmas! Hey Peter, hey Ray!" She was happy they all could get a night off from Ghostbusting to join the dinner.

Peter was being mobbed by children trying to get the smores he'd taunting them with. "Patty, help!"

"No, I ain't getting in the middle of that. You just got to toss the candy like a grenade and run, otherwise they're like a wolf pack, they'll eat your ass alive."

Hunter giggled. "Aunt Patty said 'ass'."

Patty shook a finger at him, warning him not to start using that word. "I meant 'butt'."

She headed into the kitchen to help with the cooking. "Hey, Aunt Kim! Smells good in here. Do you need a hand?"

Kim shook her head. "Patty, I've got this. You've been working all day. Sit down and have a cookie." She pointed to the counter and the plates that sat there, heaped with Chrismtas cookies.

Patty accepted the invitation to sit, plopping herself on a barstool with a groan of relief. "Thank you. No, I'm fine, really. Hey, Dana, you're husband's in trouble out there."

"Good, good…" Dana Venkman smiled in greeting. Her attention was drawn to the medallion that Patty wore. "Patty, that's an interesting necklace. Is that Sanskrit?"

Patty frowned at the medallion. It looked like chicken scratch to her. "Damned if I know. Yeah, some freak boy admirer dropped it in my booth today. I mean, if he wants to show the appreciation I deserve, who am I to refuse?"

Dana nodded approval. "I'll take a glass of that wine."

Patty apologized, "Sorry, it's sparkling cider. My Christmas bonus was about five dollars."

She looked around at the guests. The house sure looked full, but Patty had a weird feeling they were missing someone. "Did Jo Rita get here okay?"

"I think the kids tied her up and locked her in the linen closet twenty minutes ago," Kim answered.

Patty still couldn't shake that feeling. She'd been having that weird feeling all day that something's…off. "Who are we missing?"

Dana looked around, her brow furrowing. "I think everyone's here-"

The doorbell rang again. Patty heard the door open. Seconds later, the kids who had been hanging on Peter's words scrambled to meet the new arrival, squealing: "Aunt Janine! Aunt Janine's here!"

The children would have loved her even if she didn't spoil them rotten, Patty knew, but sure enough, Janine was loaded down with gift boxes. She was quickly surrounded by the kids, who fired questions at her: "What'd you bring? Is that one for me? Is this one for me?"

"You're spoiling them." Kim went to kiss Janine's cheek in welcome.

Janine defended herself. "It's my right as the Aunt to bribe my way into their hearts. Hey—no! We don't open presents until after dinner!"

The kids grumbled as she puts the gifts under the tree, which was already overloaded. "All right, who wants to help me bring my dishes from the car?" Janine asked.

No one volunteered. The children still stared longingly at the goodies under the tree.

"I'll give you a hand," Ray offered.

"Thanks, Ray," Janine said. To the kids, she hinted: "I might have a box from the Sugar Plum Factory out there."

The kids shrieked and rushed outside to help.

Kim's eyes widened. "Oh good, that's what was missing from our holiday: Kids on a sugar rush."

Patty grinned, but she still couldn't relax. She still had that weird feeling.

GBGBGBGBGBGBGB

"Dr. Gilbert, I'm pleased that you stopped by to see my work. Abigail, I regret that I must tender my resignation," he smirked. The machine was more magnificent than he'd anticipated. An ectoplasmic cloud was already beginning to swirl. In mere seconds, the barrier would collapse and the specters that banged against the mirrors would be unleashed.

Moving as one, Erin and Abby snagged Rowan's legs and pulled him to the floor. Erin elbowed him in the nose.

From that vantage point, Abby finally spotted the main power connection, a thick cable that came up from beneath the ground where it would be hidden beneath the bulk of the machine. She pointed it out to Erin. The gap between the floor and the bottom of the machine was too narrow. Abby couldn't fit, but Erin might make it. After that, all she'd have to do is pray that disconnecting the machine without proper grounding didn't electrocute her. Erin didn't like her odds, but if she did nothing, she and the rest of the world would be dead for certain.

Erin crawled for it while Abby wrestled with Rowan. He grabbed one of Erin's ankles with both hands, holding her back from the cable.

Abby laid across his back, pinning him while she reached to try to pry his hands away from Erin's leg. "Someone…needs a stay…at the happy hospital…"

Erin strained for the cable "Almost got it…" She just needed a few more inches, but Rowan weighed her down like an anchor. Irritated, she glanced over her shoulder and kicked him in the face with her high heel. He screamed, hands flying to his left eye, where her heel had connected. "Asshole…" she grunted.

Her hand was a half-inch from the cable when the ground lurched violently. A roar deafened her and light whited out her sight.

Erin's last awareness before being caught in the blast was that they were too late…

GBGBGBGBGBGBGB

Director Gilbert tried to reorient herself from the wave that had just overloaded her senses. She saw memories play themselves out-and then rewrite themselves-in the space of one heartbeat. The Cintamani stone? What else could it be?

She looked at Holtzmann. "What did you do?"

Holtzmann affected her best sheepish pose. "Okay, I lied. I did change one little thing. Tell Rebecca I'm sorry about the Director's job. She was always happier being at the university anyway."

She had seen every potential timeline this universe had offered. The only constant was that Peter Venkman winning his bid to be the Director of the Spectral Defense Agency was the only way to prevent the DX-4 order against the Ghostbusters from being issued in the first place.

Director Venkman surveyed the firehouse sadly as he approached the women. "I will be deciding who's going to prison and who's going to the unemployment line. I believe you answer to me, isn't that right, Deputy Director Gilbert?"

Erin was still reeling in that lovely position of remembering both timelines as the universe rewrote itself. Holtzmann had made sure to wish that she remembered…if only because she was hoping the change to history would somehow give Erin the opportunity to be the Deputy Director she'd set out to be. Erin straightened up, nodding in greeting to the man in the black overcoat and suit. "Director Venkman?! I mean, yes, sir, that's correct."

Peter gave her an icy smirk. "I know I've been out of town all week, so I'm a little behind on current events, but did I just hear you threaten to send the Ghostbusters….and my goddaughter…to jail? And, as I'm a Ghostbuster, too, am I going to jail with them?"

"The Ghostbusters aided in the escape of a Federal prisoner…" Erin was still floundering. If it was her Erin, Holtzmann would have pitied her. As it was the Evil Blonde Erin and not her dear friend Erin, Holtzmann simply enjoyed the show.

"You have proof of that? According to the video, it looks like Dr. Holtzmann escaped on her own. The Ghostbusters were never in the building." Peter had already done his homework. He was simply closing the trap (no pun intended).

"She was recorded by the drones at the Ghostbusters' warehouse in New Jersey. They were harboring a fugitive-"

Peter looked absolutely fascinated with the situation. He leaned against the work table and pressed on: "Which brings me to my next question: Why was Dr. Holtzmann under arrest in the first place? What was her crime, exactly? Being assaulted by a mob? Was it because she bears a faint resemblance to a former S.D.A. employee? I'm confused."

"It was a matter of national security. She was in possession of a dangerous artifact. It's our obligation-"

Peter shrugged. "Where is it?"

"Pardon?"

"The 'dangerous artifact'? Where is it?"

The fight went out of Erin when she realized how thoroughly Holtzmann had screwed her over. "Gone."

Peter nodded. "Uh-huh. I also decide who is-or is not-a threat to national security. I've reviewed the information and determined that Dr. Holtzmann is not a security threat to national security."

Holtzmann was insulted. "I can try harder."

"You shush," Peter told his goddaughter before returning his attention to Erin. "If I were you, Director Gilbert, I'd see that the illegal DX-4 order for her and for the Ghostbusters is rescinded and hope that the legal sharks don't catch wind of her illegal detainment."

Erin had nothing to say.

Peter gave her another smirk. "Bye."

Director Gilbert took the hint. With one last stink eye at Holtzmann, she retreated from the firehouse.

Holtzmann gazed proudly at Peter. "I will never get tired of watching you playing mind games with the Homeland Security bureaucrats."

He returned the amused grin. "Jillian," he hugged her fiercely.

"Uncle Peter." She returned the hug.

GBGBGBGBGBGBGB

Dinner was boisterous, as usual. It was the biggest Christmas party on the block, with more food than the whole neighborhood can eat. They'd fished Jo Rita out of the closet. She sulked the whole time.

Janine and Ray sat at the kids' table despite Kim and Winston's objections. Jack Venkman sat between Janine and Ray. The trio played with the gingerbread house, rearranging the gum drops by color and size until Jack was pleased with the results.

Patty watched them with a smile. "That girl is oblivious, isn't she?" Patty thought it was obvious to everyone except Janine that Ray adored her but wouldn't do anything about it because she was Egon's widow. Patty resolved to do something to help the guy out in the new year.

Dana hid her own smile. She was more curious why Patty had been fidgety all evening. "Are you okay, Patty?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. How's Jack doing?"

"Great. His new teacher is working wonders. He's just fascinated with electronics. He found Peter's old proton pack yesterday and tried to dismantle it…he started taking pieces of the clock and the kitchen dishes to add-"

Dana turned back to Patty to see that she had tears on her cheek. "Patty! Are you sure you're okay, honey?" Hearing alarm in Dana's tone, Kim, Winston, and Bill looked up.

Patty hadn't realized she was crying. She wiped at her face impatiently. "It's nothing. I don't know…I think I'm still shaking off the Christmas Scrooges." She'd stopped for Christmas Eve services at the church on 78th Street and Central Park West…the most popular church in town since it was rebuilt after Gozer's invasion. Normally, that put her in the Christmas spirit, but for some reason Patty couldn't shake the blues this year. She changed the subject. "I can't believe all these years and I didn't know you all are ghost hunters."

Janine overheard that last bit. Her smile faltered for a second, but she recovers and goes back to playing with Jack.

Kim had noticed. "Maybe it's not a good time to talk about that. We're celebrating today. How about presents?"

The kids shriek and run for the tree. Janine escorts Jack over there. She was one of few people allowed to hold his hand. He sat with her, meticulously pulling each piece of tape off his gift and trying to remove the paper without tearing it.

"She's good with him," Patty commented, fingering the chunky medallion absently while she watched the chaos.

Dana agreed. She didn't mind letting Janine babysit for the evening; Janine adored her godson and was one of few people to whom Dana and Peter would trust Jack without worry. "She's got a way. Why?"

Patty sighed. "Nothing. I just wish she and Uncle Egon had a chance to have a baby of their own before…"

She stopped before saying "before he died" aloud.

As soon as she'd spoken the words, Patty suddenly felt dizzy.

GBGBGBGBGBGBGB

Peter stared at the younger woman in amazement. "My God, Ray was not kidding. You do look like her." He had to hug Holtzmann again, reveling in the ability just to be able to hold his goddaughter again, even if this wasn't exactly the same Jillian. Peter had seen every sort of weird shit the paranormal could dish out. Usually, it sucked, but once in a while it gave them a genuine miracle. He was willing to roll with this one.

Stantz had made an S.O.S. call to Peter, filling him in on the situation. Peter had been at a conference on Global Paranormal Security in Dubai when he received the news. He'd flown back to New York City as quickly as possible. Nothing would have kept him away.

"I wish I could have seen their faces when you climbed into Ecto-1." He offered her an arm, leading the way out of the firehouse. "You give Director Gilbert that shiner?"

Holtzmann shrugged.

Peter approved. "Atta girl. I could use a beer. What do you say we get out of the fallout zone in case one of us still wants to have children in the future-?

"Sounds-"

Holtzmann felt the telltale dizziness. She pulled her hand away from Peter. She didn't understand what was happening. The Cintamani stone was gone. She'd wished it into the heart of the sun, just like she'd promised her father. How could something be changing again? What was changing-?

The world whited out…

….and she was standing in the familiar firehouse with her messy but intact laboratory and the cubbies with the Ghostbusters' gear, in a room adorned with Kevin's palms and bellflowers.

GBGBGBGBGBGB

Patty squeezed her eyes closed against the dizziness.

When she opened them, she was back at the dining table.

Wasn't she just in the living room, watching the kids open gifts? She wondered. But that couldn't be, everyone was still at the table…

…and a glob of mashed potato hit her in the face. It was flung at Jo Rita, who is trying to manage the kids' table.

Patty wiped the potato from her face. "Really, Hunter?" She scooped up a spoonful of her own potato and flung it back at the boy…and the food fight began in earnest.

Dana covered her head as the food storm flew around the room. "What were you saying, Patty?"

Patty held up her plate as a shield when Jack, with a laugh, picked up a handful of peas and flung them at her. He then got up and moved to retrieve them.

"I was saying Holtzmann and Janine are late. I'm going to go call and make sure nothing's on fire or disintegrated at the firehouse." Patty had the sudden, urgent need to check on them.

She was relieved when Holtzmann picked up the phone. Why had she been so worried?

"Yeah, what?" the engineer said instead of 'hello'. Patty thought Holtzmann sounded weird…well, weirder than normal. "Holtz? You two okay?"

"I'm-I'm at the firehouse."

Yeah, she sounds extremely weird. "I know that. Holtz, I told you, you got to open a window when you glue. You don't need those fumes making you loopier…"

Holtzmann cut her off. "Patty…it's good to talk to you, but I gotta check on something…" Patty heard her calling for Janine before the line went dead.

When Patty put her phone away, Winston asked, "How's Jillian?"

"Crazy as ever. I mean, she's brilliant, but she's got the attention span of a gerbil…"

GBGBGBGBGBGB

Erin blinked as the blinding light faded and the dizziness that assailed her finally abated.

Where the hell was she?

For a moment, her memory was a complete blank. Then a car horn blared, indicating that she had been crossing the street and probably ought to get out of the way. Erin ran for the sidewalk, ignoring the driver, who gave her the finger before going on his way.

Market. She was going to the market. She forgot to get some items for her Christmas Eve dinner, she reoriented herself. Jagannath and his ghost buddies had kept the Ghostbusters so busy that Erin hadn't picked up everything she needed yet.

What was up with the brain fart she'd just had? Probably a symptom of some early stage brain tumor from too much time around Holtz's radioactive contraptions. She made a mental note to get a CAT scan as soon as the holidays were over.

Her hand was on the door to the small market when a familiar face on the street corner caught her eye. "Kevin?"

Their receptionist searched for the caller that had spoken his name (he actually looked skyward also, Erin noticed with a groan). She forgot about the market and walked over to him, tapping his shoulder. "Hi!"

He gave her a brilliant smile. "Oh, hey."

"What happened to Vermont?"

Kevin gave her a worried frown. "I don't know. I haven't watched the news-"

Erin stifled another groan. "I mean aren't you supposed to be in Vermont? The ski trip?"

He pushed his lens-less glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "Uh, well, you know, it turns out most of my mates brought their girlfriends along. I wasn't keen on being the third wheel, so I begged off. I thought I'd hit the ice rink by that giant Christmas Tree."

She didn't blame him, having been the third wheel in more group dates than she cared to remember. "You're doing the traditional New York City Christmas instead. Good idea."

He smiled. "Would you like to come? If you're not busy?" he invited.

She was so unprepared for the questions that several seconds elapsed before she realized he'd spoken. "Who? Me?"

Kevin shrugged. "I was going to stop for an ice cream cone. We always have one for Christmas back home. I suppose it's a strange craving when it's twenty degrees out-"

"Yes," she interrupted him before Kevin forgot his question. "Yes to the skating and the ice cream, not to the 'strange' craving, it's not strange at all-"

"Great!" Kevin smiled. "Did you need something from the market?"

"What?"

"You're standing in front of the market. Did you need something?" he repeated.

Erin shook her head. "No, who cares? Ice cream?"

Kevin offered her his arm. She accepted that as well before he changed his mind.

GBGBGBGBGBGBGB

Abby sat bolt upright, heart pounding, moving so quickly that her vision swam. She was terrified-and for the life of her she couldn't remember why.

She glanced around her. The private jet was quiet except for a sleeping stewardess and two Homeland Security big wigs who weren't happy to have a passenger along for the ride. Abby wondered how many blackmailed favors Holtzmann would get to call in over the whole 'Homeland Security shooting her during the Voga Ra'El incident' thing. Abby was starting to enjoy the perks of having leverage on Rorke and Hawkins (however, she officially still owed them an ass-kicking for trying to kill her friend).

She leaned back in the plush seat (her tax dollars at work), the inexplicable moment of terror subsiding. Must have had a bad dream…whatever it was, it must have been a doozy.

Just to be safe, she pulled out a book to keep herself a wake until the plane landed.