Chapter Text
Phoebe bundled herself deeper into her oversized ghostbusters jacket. Ever since she had used the ionic separator she was subjected to a constant chill. Nothing felt right, almost as if her soul no longer fit into her body properly. Sometimes she wondered whether she was even alive or just a ghost possessing her own corpse.
The scientists at the lab were quick to reassure her that that wasn't the case, as she still experienced biological functions; though her heart rate was slower than natural, it seemed to be her new normal. It didn't appear to be causing any issues, so it was agreed to keep it under observation and check in if something changed.
She gravitated to the window, a part of her feeling a deep sense of longing for something unknown. As she gazed out at the city, her thoughts turned back to that fateful night. Stunned, still unable to process what had happened, expecting scolding and disappointment but receiving only comfort and reassurance.
She still carried the weight of shame, as even though her family didn't say anything she knew she made them worry and caused them stress, not to mention the apocalypse she was directly at fault for through her stupid decisions. Her mom put it all on Melody and Gary said no one was to blame but Garraka, but ultimately they wouldn't have had that opportunity if she hadn't stepped into that soul extractor in the first place.
Regardless, she needed to keep moving forward, and threw her all into ghostbusting. Life continued on, Phoebe falling back into the comfortable rhythm of 'busting with her family and spending time with her friends. Podcast had come clean to his parents and with Ray's help managed to convince them to allow him to continue his internship and take online classes, meaning he would be sticking around for the long term.
Speaking of sticking around, Phoebe let out a breath of cold air, a blue glow materializing out the window a moment later.
"Boo."
"Ha ha, very funny, are you going to come inside?"
Turns out moving on wasn't as permanent as they believed, and Melody would regularly pop in for visits in between spending time with her family in the beyond. Even Phoebe's grandfather Egon would sometimes appear, playing chess and pulling out relevant papers for his descendants to continue his work. Not even death could stop a scientist, as was obvious to any Spengler. Of course, Phoebe thought, if you had a chance to continue your life's work in the afterlife, why wouldn't you? It just made sense.
"Are you okay?" Melody asked, drawing Phoebe back to the present. "You're looking a little blue."
"It's fine, what's a little perpetual chill compared to being dead? It's not a big deal, I've been cleared by the doctors." Phoebe grumbled and shifted in her seat.
"That doesn't sound fine to me," concern dripping into her tone. Phoebe dipped her head to avoid the full weight of her ghostly visitor's gaze. "you shouldn't have to accept discomfort just because things could be worse."
"Mel-"
"Plus, you can't tell me you aren't fully disconnected from my dimensional plane," she added hesitantly. "I noticed you could sense my presence before I appeared."
"Maybe I'm just that good at predicting your visits," the excuse falling flat to even her own ears.
"Or maybe you're more ghostly than you let yourself acknowledge around others."
Melody gently guided Phoebe over to the bed, and the two of them sat, letting a comfortable silence settle between them.
Phoebe eventually worked up the courage to reply. "Everyone's already so worried about my heart issues and the lingering effects of electrocution, I couldn't cause them more stress by sharing that I don't fully feel right in my own skin. What would I even tell them? ' Hey by the way I might be part dead. Don't worry the lab says I'm alive, but there's a part of me that's still stretched between dimensional planes and I don't know what I am anymore. ' Yeah, like that would go over well."
"Does anyone else know?" Melody's brow furrowed.
"Yeah, I talked to Lars about it, the team over there knows everything and agreed not to tell my family since it doesn't seem to be harmful to me."
"Well in that case, we could take a look at your more ghostly traits together? Maybe getting a better understanding of them would help with your peace of mind."
Phoebe turned to face her. "You know what, sure. I'm pretty confident acknowledging them won't make me more dead."
"That's the spirit," Melody grinned.
"...was that-?"
"The pun wasn't intended but I'm running with it."
"..."
"..."
"What do you call a ghost who uses clever wordplay?"
"What?"
"A pun-tasm ."
"That was terrible."
"I know. I'm workshopping it- as a ghostbuster I probably need more ghost jokes in my repertoire anyway," she said, a hint of a smirk appearing onto her face, any remaining tension slipping off her frame.
"So, my death-touched friend, ready to get started?"
"Let's do this! ... for science of course."
"Of course."