Hello everybody! I'm finally back after a LONG hiatus from writing. Things just got busy with work and church activities and it began to feel like a chore to write and try to keep up with staying consistent in updating a fanficition. So after I finished my last one, I vowed to not start posting a new one until I had a decent amount written down to be able to have a head start on uploading dates. For this story, I'm not going to have any set upload day, but I will TRY to update every week, or at least every other week depending on the popularity of the thing. As you can see, I decided to do a sequel to one of my previous fanfics, The Hardest of Hearts, which is probably my most favorite Ghostbusters fanfic I've done so far. We'll see where this goes, I've had a LONG time to think and plan certain points of this story, now let's see if I can flesh it out. I plan on jumping back and forth between Nikki and Shawn and occasionally some of the Ghostbusters too, so just bear with me. If you haven't read the first one, please do, I don't want my OC's to confuse you, because there are a few and I'll be bringing in a few more as the story goes on. As always, please keep in contact with me through out this journey by messaging me with any questions or things I'm being a little fuzzy on, and please please PLEASE give me some affirmation if you think this is any good. I live for feedback :)
Nikki Stantz was blissfully relaxed. She found herself lying in a sun-warmed green meadow, the grass and flowers having grown higher than the last time she had visited this place. She could hear the leaves from the nearby willow trees and other greenery rustle soothingly in the calm breeze. She took a deep, steadying breath as she slowly turned her head, observing the crisp realness of the blades of grass that waved by her face. She shifted onto her side, still critiquing the vividness of her surroundings. As she lifted her hand and broke off a strand of the silky grass, Nikki was surprised to find that she could actually feel it as she rubbed the blade back and forth between her pointer finger and thumb.
She propped herself up onto her elbows, still staring curiously down at the bit of crushed grass in her palm. After a moment, she lifted her lazily curious gaze across the warm meadow and spotted the surrounding woods made up of dogwoods and lightly colored flowers. Nikki let the blade of grass slip out of her palm and with a soft sigh, pushed herself into an upright sitting position. She watched the few clouds that dotted the wide sky overhead and basked in the comfortable heat that fell over her from the sun at her back. The light colored shadows from the clouds' lazy movements drifted over the waves of green grass and flowers and Nikki found herself staring at the edge of the woods down the hill in front of her. She frowned to herself in wondering thought and then edged to her feet, surprised that she appeared to be consciously able to control her actions in this dreamlike state.
Nikki moved slowly, remaining speculative and careful of her surroundings. She'd had dreams similar to this situation before but they mostly turned into premonitions of things to come, whether good or bad. She swallowed back her growing fear and let the calm scenery once more wash over her as the breeze picked up and rustled through her long, wavy brown hair. She paused once she reached the nearest willow tree, just a few yards away from where she had awoken. She reached out and brushed the drooping limbs away so that she stepped beneath the overhanging tree. Nikki glanced around, still in awestruck wonder as she stroked the bark of the thin trunk shooting up through the curtain of vine-like branches. She took another deep breath and froze as she inhaled the soft floral scent of the tree. She let her hand fall away from the bark and took a step back, peering up through the shade to the bright sky above her.
The amount of detail she was witnessing was phenomenal and incomparable to her past visions. She could see every small, delicate leaf in the wavering limbs up over her head and the spaces in between where the sky shown through was intricately visible, as were the few straggling clouds that floated by on the ever-calming breeze. As her gaze lowered back to ground level, Nikki was startled to glimpse what looked to be a human figure standing through the curtain of willow branches. She blinked the surprise away and was about to speak when the person blinked out of sight. Nikki frowned once again and darted forward to sweep the branches to the side.
"Hello?" She called quietly, once again amazed that she was able to speak in this dream. The only response was the sweet rustle of the branches and long blades of grass waving around her. She emerged from underneath the willow tree and looked firstly back up toward the hill she had found herself on just a few moments before. Seeing nothing but the soothing scenery of the meadow and forest, Nikki let the curtain fall behind her and moved lightly through the pristine grass. She was about to call out again when a cold hand clamped onto her wrist.
Nikki put a hand to her chest, her heart beating rapidly from her rude awakening. She looked around the plane at her fellow passengers, all of which seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she had been napping in the first place. Nikki fixed her attention on the stewardess who had startled her back into consciousness and as the woman gently removed her hand from the girl's wrist, Nikki hesitantly lowered her noise-canceling headphones from her ears.
"Sorry! Sorry, dear. I just…I wanted to see if you could help me."
Nikki looked the woman up and down unsurely, taking in her cleanly pressed uniform and blonde hair pulled back from her face in a neat bun. She looked completely normal, dressed as finely as any stewardess on any plane would dress. Nikki almost voiced her comment aloud but was interrupted as the real stewardess assigned to the flight walked past slowly, overlooking the passengers in the seats around her. There were a few mutters of acknowledgement but the overall quietness of the plane remained undisturbed. Nikki glanced back up at the woman standing beside her and smiled warmly, shifting in her seat and wincing as her limbs creaked from being in the same position for the lengthy nap she had taken.
"Of course…sorry, I didn't think I'd fall asleep here like this on such a short flight." Nikki murmured quietly, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to herself from the surrounding passengers. She was lucky to have an empty seat between her and the aisle; she'd caught an early flight in the middle of the week so this particular plane wasn't maxed out to capacity for a change.
"Oh, it gets so boring on these flights. If it hadn't been my job, I'd be snoring too!" The woman beamed at her with practiced perfection and sat gracefully in the open seat next to Nikki. The girl removed her headphones from around her neck altogether and wound them up to place them back in their small compartment beside her. She turned and put an elbow on the armrest between her and the stewardess who seemed positively ecstatic with the girl's attention. "And don't worry, you've still got another five minutes until we start to land. I've been on this route thousands of times, I know without even having to look out the window where we are."
"Wow," Nikki said, grinning with amusement at the woman's chipper energy. "You must have really enjoyed your job. How long were you a stewardess before…?"
"Before I died? Oh, only about five years. I absolutely loved my job, and getting to interact with so many people. But my heart had other ideas. Such as giving out in the middle of a ten hour flight…" She said, her perfect smile wavering just the smallest bit at the memory. Nikki winced at the casual way the woman brought up her demise but the stewardess merely waved a hand through the air as if brushing the comment off. She sighed lightly and clasped both of her hands in her lap, facing Nikki with a soft gaze. "You have no idea how good it is to finally have someone who can see me…"
"I get that a lot," Nikki replied with a humble smirk. She paused in thought and then shifted a curious question to the eager stewardess. "By the way, how did you know I would be able to see you before you woke me up?"
"Oh, ghosts talk amongst themselves all the time, dear. You'd be amazed to know how many hitch rides on my flights. That's where I get all the good gossip. Well, that and whatever I hear the unknowing passengers talking about." She said quickly. Nikki frowned once more.
"Passengers talk about me?"
"Well of course!" The bubbly woman said, nodding enthusiastically as if sharing a joke with one of her girlfriends. Nikki scoffed a little and leaned back in her seat as she silently processed the woman's words. The stewardess watched her patiently for a moment and then she lightly rested a hand on Nikki's knee. When the girl looked up at her hesitantly, the blonde haired woman eased her bright smile into a softer one. "Can you really do it?"
Nikki blinked and then lifted her shoulders in a timid shrug. She offered her hand to the woman who regarded her carefully, keeping her own hands firmly clasped together in her lap.
"Yes, I've been able to do this for as long as I can remember." Nikki answered gently, offering the stewardess a reassuring nod. The woman smiled again in return, and her bright eyes seemed to hold a while longer on Nikki's face before she slowly unclenched her hands from her lap, fidgeting worriedly with her perfectly polished red fingernails. Nikki sensed her hesitance and took a deep, quiet breath while glancing around at the other passengers within her line of sight, hoping she still hadn't drawn attention to herself. She brought her focus back to the woman who was also glancing around at the other people scattered around the plane, families, couples, even a few straggling lone fliers filling up a few of the adjacent seats lining the aisles. "What's wrong?"
"Believe it or not, I'm having second thoughts." The stewardess admitted, biting her lip and shrugging her thin shoulders. Nikki smiled at the woman sympathetically, remaining silent as the woman made her decision. After a moment, the stewardess took a steadying breath and continued, her bubbly demeanor gone. "I've been stuck on this plane for years…"
"But you enjoy the people." Nikki finished for her, trying to understand. The woman nodded, her eyebrows pinched together with her strained thoughts.
"I absolutely love the people. No matter what attitudes they're in while they're flying." She smiled timidly and brushed at some non-existent speck of dust on her skirt. "I always have. And, for the past few years, I've been able to watch my little niece grow up on her flights."
Nikki followed the ghost woman's gaze to the living stewardess who was currently offering a cup of ice water to a man sitting a few rows ahead of them. With the newfound knowledge that she was related to the stewardess sitting next to her, Nikki could easily see the resemblance. The stewardess' niece had the same thick, shoulder length hair only a few shades darker. Her body wasn't as lean as the ghost woman's but as close as their ages seemed to be, they could have been mistaken as sisters. Nikki smiled as the ghost woman watched the stewardess continuing on her rounds. When she looked back towards Nikki sitting beside her, the woman's eyes were shining with tears.
"That must be really nice, that she's had you to watch over her." Nikki remarked gently with a supportive smile. The stewardess smiled and ran a finger under her eye to wipe away a fallen tear before she resumed her bright, but emotional grin.
"She was nine years old when I died…I didn't think I'd see her again. But then she was assigned to the same plane I was over ten years later. She really had a lot to learn." She let out a polite laugh as she reminisced on memories Nikki could only imagine.
"I'm sure she did, and I'm sure she unknowingly learned a lot from you while sharing these flights with you." Nikki said, watching the stewardess' niece disappear to check on the back half of the plane behind them. The ghost woman nodded again and lowered her shimmering eyes to her hands curled together in her lap. When she looked up again, it was to scan over the small crowd of people currently inhabiting her plane. Nikki remained silent, patiently watching the woman's fond gaze survey her surroundings. With a contented sigh, the smiling stewardess finally turned back to Nikki with a motherly look in her eyes.
"You seem like a sweet, young girl. Why are you traveling all alone?" She asked casually, her bright pink lips relaxing into half of her extreme smile. Nikki blinked, taken aback by the woman's hasty shift of the conversation to herself. She straightened up in her seat and glanced out the window where she could see the city far down below the cloudbank.
"Well," She started, licking her lips and clearing her throat as she fumbled for how to respond. "I'm just coming back from visiting my mother. My boyfriend went with me last time, but he was busy and couldn't get away for this trip."
"You have a boyfriend?" The woman asked a little too eagerly. Nikki paused, raising her eyebrows in surprise at the stewardess' reaction and the woman giggled softly with embarrassment. "Sorry…like I said, it's been a while since I've actually held a conversation of any kind."
"That's okay," Nikki said, grinning to herself in amusement as a pang of sadness threatened to hit her. "Yes, he works here in the city. He's a Ghostbuster."
"A Ghostbuster?" The stewardess repeated, her smile broadening at the knowledge. She pursed her lips as if in thought and then tilted her head to the side, causing her blond hair to shift slightly on her shoulders. "I believe I recall hearing some about them. They were really rather charming from what I remember. Which one is he? I sure hope it's not that Peter Venkman…say…but now, that Ray Stantz sure was a cutie…"
Nikki felt herself blush with embarrassment as she patiently waited for the woman to finish her mental wandering. The stewardess seemed to realize the girl had fallen silent and she finally turned back and stared at her with wide-eyed expectation. Nikki let out a quiet laugh and tucked her dark brown hair behind her right ear self-consciously.
"Ray Stantz is actually my dad." She explained with a knowing smirk. The stewardess froze with clear mortification and then she let out a hesitant chuckle herself as Nikki pressed her lips together, trying to stifle her laughter. The girl coughed into her fist in a horrible attempt at covering her amusement and she received a few concerned glances from the passengers across the aisle from her before she ducked closer to the window and out of sight. The stewardess winced empathetically and fidgeted with her perfectly styled hair in remorse.
"Oh my," She stammered through her embarrassed laughter. Nikki grinned at the ghostly stewardess who would have been blushing a deep crimson the color of her outfit had she been physically able to. "Well, when you said your boyfriend was a Ghostbuster…oh geez, I've really messed up, haven't I?"
"No, no…" Nikki said, shaking her head and leaning closer to the woman, careful to watch the ignorant passengers beginning to shift in their seats in preparation for the landing that was so obviously near. She watched as the living stewardess, the niece to the ghost sitting adjacent to her, made her way to the front of the plane for her upcoming announcement. Nikki looked once more to the ghostly stewardess who had also noticed the nearness of the end of the flight. Nikki offered a warm smile to the stewardess. "Your information is just a little outdated, that's all. My boyfriend only recently joined the team."
"I sure hope you don't intend to call them for my case…" The stewardess remarked quietly, with only an inkling of teasing in her voice as a mix of emotions flashed across her features. Nikki shook her head and stared down at her own hands for a moment.
"No, the uh, protocol has been changed since you've last heard. I'm supposed to be present at any busts that are theorized to be containing lost spirits." Nikki shrugged and ran a hand sheepishly through her hair. "So I can help as many ghosts to cross over as I can."
The stewardess regarded the girl beside her with a timid smile. She pressed a hand to her heart and then gently rested her other one on Nikki's arm where it was draped lazily on the armrest between them. Nikki looked up at her with surprise and was met with a warm and comforting smile.
"What an amazing gift that is to have," The ghostly stewardess whispered softly. She held Nikki's gaze for a long moment before tearing away slowly to glance up at her niece where she was reciting the landing protocol to the passengers around her. A fond smile touched the woman's lips as she watched her niece at work, seeming to enjoy her job as a flight attendant just like her aunt. When the woman looked once more back down at Nikki, her radiant smile was once more brightening her face. "Do you know where I'll go when you help me?"
Nikki was about to answer when she caught herself suddenly remembering the dream she had been having before she had been startled awake from her unintentional nap. The beautiful, warm meadow with the rolling grass dotted with light colored wildflowers flashed across Nikki's mind. As she thought of it, she could even remember the floral smell of the willow trees and dogwoods that filled the place. The stewardess seemed to realize she'd struck a nerve because she cautiously removed her hand from Nikki's arm and apologized.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask something like…"
"No, you're okay. It's just that…uh, yeah. I think I do know what it's like." Nikki stammered quietly, blinking back into awareness and watching the other stewardess at the front of the plane where she was instructing the passengers to begin fastening their seatbelts. She absently reached for her own, and clicked it together with a thoughtful frown. She could feel the curious weight of the ghost woman's stare, but Nikki chose instead to look at the back of the seat in front of her. "I went there once. When I almost…died…myself. I saw it."
The woman leaned forward, still keeping her concerned gaze on the girl beside her. Nikki took a breath and broke away from her stupor, smiling sadly and letting the peace that she had felt in the memory dream wash over her. She flipped her hand over on the armrest and felt the comforting warmth that her abilities caused radiate up from her palm. The woman straightened back against her seat once more, her head still tilted to the side as she regarded Nikki's reaction. A hint of fear trailed over her face but in the end, the stewardess was overrun with curiosity.
"And? How was it? What did you see?"
"It was beautiful." Nikki breathed simply. The ghostly stewardess' face melted into her calming smile and she resumed her bright and eager expression as she unclenched her hands from her lap. She reached for Nikki's offered hand still lying open on the armrest between them and Nikki took a breath of anticipation as the warmth spread from her hand and rapidly through the rest of her body at the ghost's touch. Nikki's heart raced and she felt a thrill in her chest as her fingers closed around the ghost woman's hand. The stewardess had time only to glance up in surprised thought as Nikki smiled in reassuring farewell. Her radiant beaming smile lit up the woman's face and her gaze drifted past Nikki as she began to fade. Nikki felt the stewardess give her hand one final squeeze. A second later, the seat next to her was empty once more.
