With My Little Eye

With My Little Eye - 1

High Ball: With My Little Eye Copyright © 2008 by Drew Zachary All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Torquere Press, Inc., PO Box 2545, Round Rock, TX 78650. ISBN: 978-1-60370-416-8, 1-60370-416-7 Printed in the United States of America. Torquere Press electronic edition / June 2008 Torquere Press eBooks are published by Torquere Press, Inc., PO Box 2545, Round Rock, TX 78650. www.torquerepress.com

Prologue Jesse didn't go for a walk very often. There wasn't any point, really, as he didn't have to actually walk to get anywhere and he didn't need the exercise. He'd been smart enough to die when he was at a good weight and there he was, forever lean with a decent set of abs and a nice ass. DB told him it was a nice ass, and Jesse chose to believe it. Of course, being a ghost had drawbacks that weren't even close to being offset by being forever young and kind of pretty. He couldn't do anything fun, for one. No eating, no drinking, no smoking, and, God, but he missed smoking. Then there was the whole other set of issues -- so far no one but DB could hear or see him, and Jesse couldn't touch anything. That part kind of threw a crimp in his sex life. Being in love with a living guy made that whole no touching thing a pain in the... well, in everything. So, that was why Jesse was taking a walk. He could think when he was out of the office and wasn't busy salivating over DB. They always started off having a rational discussion about things -- a case, what was on TV, how to control the weird and rare times that Jesse could touch -- but then one of them would either get mad or get hard and they'd wind up having their strange form of sex. It didn't matter if they were mad, usually. They were just that hot for it. This time they'd been talking about how to take advantage of Jesse's ability to walk through walls and such to get information when they were on a case. Jesse was totally fine doing it, DB was happy to have him do it. But they'd run into trouble with using the information on occasion, since there were some things even private investigators shouldn't be able to find out. It wasn't Jesse's fault that he could talk to other ghosts. And it wasn't the fault of the other ghosts that sometimes they saw things or heard things that they passed along to Jesse to tell DB. That DB couldn't get proof of those things or couldn't find a way to use the information was getting frustrating. They'd been yelling back and forth about it and Jesse had just pointed out that the agency, Black Investigations, was getting a lot of business from the ghost world as well as the living world. DB had pointed out that ghosts didn't pay, and then Jesse had realized they were doing that thing where they were circling each other and yelling and they were about to turn it into foreplay -- again. Which was fun and all, but Jesse really just wanted to think things out and maybe get rid of the headache he'd been carrying around for a day or so.

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The park was nice. He'd just put himself there, between yelling at DB and letting DB yell back. DB was going to be so pissed when he got back, but sometimes sex -- their version of it, anyway -- wasn't the answer. Of course, Jesse had no idea what the answer was, and wasn't even sure what the question was most days. He walked through a tree by accident and forced himself to be normal and walk on the path for a while, his hands shoved into his pockets while he thought. When that didn't get him anywhere he headed to the duck pond. Maybe he could think there. He heard her before he saw her, the soft, snuffling crying of a child who'd been at it for a while. She was sitting under a tree by the pond, curled up around herself, little brunette pony tails all tousled. Jesse looked around for an adult, but no one seemed to be paying her any attention at all. When a squirrel took a shortcut up the tree through her shoulder, he knew she was one of his kind. "Hey," he said, going over and looking down at her. "Honey?" God, he hoped she knew she was dead. It was awful when they didn't. She went still and then looked up at him with big brown eyes. "Are you talking to me?" "Yep." He crouched down next to her and waited to see if she'd offer up anything before he had to break the news to her. "Nobody's talked to me for days!" She went to throw her arms around him, screaming when her arms went right through him. Oh, crap. "Honey." Jesse wanted to touch her, even to just grab her shoulders, but there wasn't anything he could do. "Honey, you need to listen to me for a minute." God, he hoped she'd be stunned into not crying for a minute and would hear him. She sniffed hard. "What?" she whispered, eyes sad and scared. "What's your name?" he asked softly. "What can I call you? My name is Jesse." "Gwendolyn, but everyone calls me Gwennie." She sniffed again, mouth screwing up like she was about to start crying. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, but I don't know where my mommy and daddy is and the policemans and the nice lady with bread for the ducks won't talk to me." Jesse sighed and sat right down next to her. "Okay. Gwennie, I have something to tell you and it might make you really sad or really scared. That's okay. You say that no one's

talked to you in a few days? Can you tell me where you were when that started happening, what happened? Maybe things got really fuzzy for a few minutes and then everyone just started ignoring you?" That's what had happened to him, years ago. One minute he was sleepy and things were okay, then... he was dead. "I was in the swings on the backyard and then..." She started crying. "S...s...someone took me and I was in the w...w...woods." She pointed to the west where the park faded away into trees and then into a cozy suburban neighborhood. "Oh, shit." Jesse knew he said it out loud, but he didn't care. This was bad. Really, really bad. "Do you know who took you, honey?" She shook her head. "A m...man." Damn. Jessie sighed again and put his hand on the ground next to her, then moved his fingers so they waved through a dandelion. "See that, Gwennie? You and me, we can do that because we're... well, we're dead, sweetheart. I'm sorry. You shouldn't be, but you are." There really was no good way to tell someone. Well, that stopped her crying. "Are you Jesus?" He'd been called a lot of things in his day, but not that. Well, unless one counted the way DB swore at him when they were getting off. Jesse wrenched his mind away from that immediately. "No. I'm just a guy." "Are we in heaven?" Jesse shook his head. "Not yet. I think maybe you have to... the man that took you needs to be caught before you can go." He looked at her carefully. "Are you brave? I know someone who might be able to help with that." She thought about that for a minute. "I don't feel very brave. I just want my mommy!" The tears started again. Jesse sat next to her and nodded. "Sometimes I want mine, too." He wished he could hold her, that he could brush away her tears or even just tell her that everything would be okay. But it wouldn't. She was dead, she'd been taken from her home and her family and now she was dead. Someone was going to have to pay for that.

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Chapter One DB reached for his coffee, making a face when it proved to be stone cold. Damn it, there was nearly half a cup left, too, and he was rationing himself to one large cup a day from the coffee house down the road. It was Jesse's fault, too. He and his... Right. Dead lover. Ghost. Pain in the proverbial ass. They'd been bitching and then Jesse'd taken off. Poof. The asshole. Jesse knew DB hated that. Grumbling, he rubbed his face and went back to filling out the invoice for his latest case. He hoped the guy paid promptly. He'd not only caught the wife cheating; he'd discovered where she was squirreling away the family jewelry. Andrew Preston owed him far more than DB was actually going to get paid for the case. He sure missed the days when he had a secretary who could do this kind of stuff for him. That and make coffee, book appointments, field client calls... DB hit print on the invoice and grabbed a cigarette out of the pack, lighting up and pondering his overhead. If fewer of his cases were ghost related, he'd be doing a lot better. "And this is where I work." Jesse's voice came from the front of the suite, where a secretary was supposed to be. "Come on, I'll introduce you to DB." Christ. Another ghost. He was going to put his foot down this time. No more ghost cases. Jesse came in through the door instead of through the wall, which was nice for a change. "DB, I need to talk to you," he hissed. He looked a little freaked out, which was also a change. Still, DB was sticking to his guns here, so he took another puff from his cigarette, held it in as he sat back in his chair and raised an eyebrow. He let the smoke go. "You're already talking to me." "Don't smoke around the child." Jesse stepped to the side and a small girl was revealed behind him. "This is Gwennie. She needs our help. Gwennie, this is DB, the nice man I was telling you about." Oh, this was so not fucking fair. A kid.

DB glared at Jesse before looking at the little girl. Shit. She couldn't have been more than eight. Maybe nine. He looked up at the ceiling and groaned. "You can sit in my chair," Jesse said, pointing to the nice chair in the corner. "Look, it even has a sign. Do Not Sit, Reserved for Ghost. That's us." "Jesse... we were just talking about this." Arguing. Fighting. Yelling. There had been a lot of yelling. "Yes." Jesse nodded, watched as the little girl perched himself on his chair, and then turned to face DB. "And that was before I found out she's been..." He glanced back and then mouthed the word 'killed' at DB. "What could I do?" "Let the police take care of it?" DB suggested. "As that's, you know, their job." Jesse frowned at him. "We have her and they don't. Look in the paper; tell me what they know." He pointed imperiously at the newspaper on DB's desk. DB glared and opened the paper to the front page, turning it so it was upside down for him, but facing Jesse. "You can still read, right?" "Yes, thank you." Uh-oh, that was Jesse's really sweet voice. The one that had heralded a long spell of silence last time. The only thing more irritating than fighting with Jesse was not fighting with Jesse. "Hey, Gwennie? You said a few days ago, right? Maybe three?" Well, shit, then it wasn't going to be on the front page and he'd have to be turning pages, in which case he might as well be doing it himself. DB grabbed the paper, gave Jesse another glare, just for good measure, and started scanning the articles. "I don't remember seeing anything about a little girl being... you know." He found it on page three. "Here it is. Gwendolyn Parsons, aged eight, was found dead in Brewer's Glen after wandering away from her home." He looked up and frowned at Jesse. "It says here she tripped and fell, hit her head on a rock. Died of natural causes." Jesse frowned. "Gwennie, are you sure there was a man?" The little girl nodded. "I was in the backyard, and he took me. He had a scary voice." Jesse gave DB a significant look. "See? We have her. They don't." Damn it, Jesse was right. "Well, I can't exactly go in and tell them they've got it wrong, that it's a homicide. I'll be their number one suspect."

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"Then we'll find another way." Jesse leaned closer to him, going through the desk a little bit. "I'll talk to her, see what I can find out. But I need you to promise me that we'll help her. She was murdered, DB. I need to do this." Like he was going to say no to helping this little girl. Even he wasn't that hard-hearted. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't take advantage of the situation. "All right, Jesse, but you owe me and this is the last ghost job." Jesse's eyes narrowed. "I owe you. The ghosts bring work. Sort of." "Not work that pays the bills." God damn it, he did not want to have this argument again. Or at least not right now with a little girl with big brown eyes watching their every move. Besides, he was starting to get a reputation as a nutcase with the local authorities. He hadn't actually told them how he was getting the information he was, but more than once he'd known stuff there was just no way he should have. "We'll talk about it later." Jesse looked like he was going lean even closer, maybe even do what passed for kissing between them, but then he glanced at Gwennie and cleared his throat. "Right, so. We need to talk, honey. DB needs to know everything you can remember." She pointed at him. "You can see me?" DB nodded. "Yeah, I can." "Are you dead, too?" "Not the last time I checked." "Maybe you better check again." She said it so matter of factly that DB started chuckling. He cleared his throat. He was not falling for those big brown eyes and her bravery. She was a ghost, not real. The worst part of handling ghost cases was it didn't matter whether you solved the case or not, whether the bad guy was caught or not, it still had an unhappy ending -- dead client. Jesse went to lean on the wall, his former usual spot. "Trust me, he's alive. I've checked. Do you think you're ready to talk for a little while?" DB could see the way she set her shoulders. He was impressed. She was young enough that he wouldn't have been surprised if all she did was cry and cower and ask for her mommy. Gwennie nodded. "I was swinging in my backyard and a man took me away."

"No one else was in your backyard?" Jesse asked. "Do you know where your parents were?" "I was playing with Lucy, but she had to go home. Mommy and Daddy were at work." "Was someone looking after you?" DB asked. She nodded. "Who?" He pushed. "Nanny Beth. I didn't like her. She'd told me to come in, but I wanted to keep playing." Well, that would explain why everyone was so quick to assume Gwennie'd wandered off under her own power. If there hadn't been any signs of a struggle or a break-in, and her death had looked like an accident... "This man who took you," Jesse said slowly. "You said he had a scary voice. Do you remember the words he said?" "He said I was a bad girl, that I was nosy and he wasn't going to let me tell." Her bottom lip quivered. Jesse made a soft shushing sound and went closer to her, kneeling in front of her chair. "It's okay, honey. I know you're scared. Do you know what he meant? What he didn't want you to tell?" "I don't know. I don't know who he was." The words were almost a wail. DB pushed her while leaving the consoling to Jesse. "Had you seen anything strange or did anything bad happen recently?" Her eyes got big again and she made a little gasping noise. Bingo. Jesse's hands were fluttering around her like he wanted to give her a hug. "Shh, honey. Tell DB what you saw. I know it's scary and hard, but he'll be able to help." She started talking, the words quiet, almost whispered. "Me and Lucy were at the park, and Nanny B. was supposed to be watching, but she was talking on the phone with her icky boyfriend. Me and Lucy saw something shiny in the woods so we went to see what it was." Her voice dropped even quieter. "It was a knife. And a man was hurting a lady with it." Oh, fuck. That case had been all over the front pages about four days ago. A woman had been brutally murdered in Brewer's Glen, just inside the tree line, about twenty yards from the playground. Police had no leads.

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"What did you do when you saw him?" Jesse asked in a low, soft voice.

"We ran back to the park!" She said it like that was the only logical thing to do.

"Of course you did." Jesse smiled at her and then looked at DB. "I don't suppose there's

any new leads in that one? Suspects in for questioning?"

He searched for anything in today's paper on it and found a small update article on page

two. "They've got nothing."

Jesse sighed. "Of course." To Gwennie he said, "Did you tell anyone what you saw,

honey?"

She shook her head.

Or course she hadn't. DB rubbed his face and stifled his groan.

After a long moment Jesse sat back on his heels. "Can you tell me what Lucy's last name

is?"

"Is the man going to hurt Lucy, too?"

DB thought that if he was going to, he'd have already done so, but maybe he was just

having trouble tracking her down, getting her alone.

"I don't know, honey." Jesse was looking anywhere but at her. "But I'd like to make sure

that doesn't happen. If you can tell DB what her last name is, maybe he can find out for

sure if she's safe."

"I think it's Wilson."

Oh, DB could just see how this was going to go: "Hello, I'm not a creepy stalker,

seriously, but could you tell me if you have a daughter named Lucy?" Then he'd have to

get into the why of it and they were sure to start calling the cops on him.

Jesse seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. "I can recon. Right after I find

someone to take charge of Gwen for a while."

It was still going to be hell explaining to Lucy's parents or the cops why Lucy needed to

be protected, what she knew.

"Are you sure Lucy saw the same thing you did, Gwennie?" Not that he didn't believe

her, but maybe Lucy hadn't had the same view.

But Gwen was nodding. "She saw it first."

Jesse looked up at him from the floor, his eyes just as big as Gwen's. "I'm going to take her to the park, see if I can find out anything. You... maybe look through the phone book? See if we know the guys working the case?" "I know how to do my job, Jesse." "I didn't say you didn't. God. I'm making suggestions here." Jesse stood up and held out a hand to Gwen, then dropped it again. "Right, can't do that. Whatever. Come on, honey. Let's go to the park and look around." DB sighed as Jesse and Gwen disappeared. God damn it, this case was the worst kind of suck. Someone had killed a kid and was likely after her friend and no matter what he did one little girl was dead. There were days when he wished he'd never discovered he could see ghosts. Today was one of them.

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Chapter Two Jesse wasn't sure if DB would be at his apartment or if he would still be at the office. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to talk to DB right then, but what else was he going to do? Curl up and cry like Gwen? He didn't have that option, not if he was going to help. It was dusk and the street lights were coming on, the buildings starting to either light up or go dark as people went home. The lights were on outside DB's office building, so Jesse put himself in the office; if DB wasn't there, he could go to the apartment. DB was there, mumbling to himself as he did something on the computer, hair all mussed up from what had no doubt been a lot of hair pulling. Jesse was used to getting yelled at for suddenly appearing and scaring the crap out of DB, but he just wasn't up for it right then. He cleared his throat and headed to his chair, hoping that DB wasn't in a yelling mood. He kind of looked like he was, though. The hair pulling never boded well, and Jesse had roped him into a ghost case. Yeah, there was going to be yelling. DB jerked at his throat-clearing and looked up with a glare. "You've been gone a long time." It looked like growling instead of yelling. For now. "She wasn't sure where she saw it, since we came into the park from the wrong direction. Then I had to calm her down. And then I had to take her to her house. That part really sucked." Jesse sat in his chair and sighed. "Go ahead. Get it out of your system." "Get what out of my system?" DB glared at him. "The yelling, the swearing, the smoking and drinking and doing all that good stuff. I know you're pissed at me." "Do you have to go looking for them?" DB asked, lighting up a cigarette and blowing smoke rings. "I didn't go looking!" Bastard with the smoking and showing off. "I went to clear my head and there she was. What would you want me to do, leave her there? She was killed, DB! She's just a little kid." "I know! How the hell am I supposed to refuse a case like that? How am I supposed to yell at you for bringing her back and trying to help?" DB blew a few more smoke rings, straight at him. Jesse looked down as the first of the rings went through him. "I really, really hate that. For the record. Yell at me for something else, then. You want to, and if you don't vent it out you're just going to stay cranky and we'll never have sex again."

"I'm just trying to stay solvent here, Jesse. In a perfect world I could do all ghost cases all the time, but those not only don't pay my rent, they get me the wrong kind of attention from the authorities!" It wasn't quite yelling, but it was close. "I know!" He did. He heard about it enough. "I know that, I swear. But now we're... We have to do it, DB. I'm sorry." "I know! I said I'd do it, didn't I? Christ, she's just a baby -- and yet no matter what I do, she's still going to be dead at the end of the day, Jesse." Jesse stood up. "No one knows that better than me. Do you think I'm okay with that?" "I never said you weren't -- you asked me to get it all out and then you bitch at me when I do." "Bitch about me getting you into this, not about her being dead. That's a little close to my own issues." "Well, I'm sorry, but it pisses me off!" DB stood and started for the door, going back to grab his pack of cigarettes and shove them down his pants pocket. "That you're dead, too," he added, muttering. "Kinda bugs me, too," Jesse pointed out, following along. "I'm wasn't happy when it happened and I'm not happy about it now. But I am and I have to deal with it." "Don't mess with my snit with logic, Jesse." He slammed the door behind him and put the key in the lock, turning it hard. Jesse walked through the door and looked at him for a moment. "Want to deal with your snit the other way, then?" DB shrugged. "I was hoping to just walk it off, grab a pizza and some beer and then, you know, get busy with the dead guy in my life." "That's the way I meant." Jesse put his hand on DB's elbow and pushed a little, his fingers sinking in. "The pizza place will deliver your beer if you ask real nice." "Is that an offer?" DB started walking toward the stairwell, and Jesse knew he only had until they hit the street to finish this conversation, because DB hated it when he got caught talking 'to himself' by people. "Of course. Didn't I make that part clear?" Jesse went with him, timing his words carefully. It was a game, almost. He'd say the most outrageous thing he could think of

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and then just pop over to DB's apartment to wait for him. Or if he was really being horrible he'd stay with DB and watch the man struggle not to shout at him in public. "I want you at home, naked, laid out on your bed so I can make you scream out your frustration as you come for me." There, that got them to the door. Now all he had to do was decide if he was going to stay or not. DB glared at him. "Oh, you bastard." Jesse grinned and went through a wall to the sidewalk. "And then, when you're busy coming and yelling and making a mess all over your sheets, I'm gonna -- " He paused to make sure DB had actually followed him out before continuing. "Then I'm going to do that thing where I try to rub off on you and the tingles make you keep coming until you turn into jelly." There, that should do it. Pretty lips going tight, DB was making a visible effort not to say anything. There was a nice bulge at his crotch, though, that was saying plenty. "So, you want to stop off and buy pizza, or are you going to order in tonight?" Jesse wondered if he could get away with touching, but didn't quite have the balls to try it. Yet. Oh, he could hear DB's teeth grinding. "If we're driving I can get you off in the car. Maybe." "I'm walking!" DB closed his mouth with a snap. Jesse grinned. "Okay. We're walking. I think that lady over there heard you." Reaching into his pocket, DB pulled out his cell phone -- which Jesse could have sworn wasn't working -- gave him a triumphant look, and flipped it open, putting it against his ear. "She did not." Jesse stared. "You are so weird." Utterly disgusted at having his fun wrecked, he moved a little faster. "That's not fair." "What's not fair?" DB asked, eyes on the traffic lights up ahead. "How am I supposed to win if you have a way to talk back? Jeeze. At least I can talk dirty, though." He thought hard for a moment and said, "If you would've stayed at the office you could be coming right now, you know. Bent over your desk." The phone clattered to the ground, DB swearing as he bent to pick it up, examining it for breakage. "It doesn't work anyway." Jesse smiled and waited for DB to straighten back up. "So, should I just go and wait for you at home, then?"

DB put the phone back to his ear. "If all you're going to do while we walk is try to torture me, then yes." The phone was closed with a hard snap and shoved back into DB's pocket. "This from the man who blows smoke rings through me!" Jesse wanted to laugh and yell at the same time. "You cheat at chess, you torture me with cigarettes and booze, and then you get mad when I talk dirty at you. I have to get my kicks where I can, man." "Talk dirty to me at home and see if I get mad at you then," muttered DB, disguising the fact he was talking behind his hands as he lit a cigarette. "How about you talk dirty to me?" "At home." "Want me to go there now?" Jesse put his hand on his belt buckle. "I can be all ready for you." DB finally looked at him and Jesse could see the need there. Oh, that was it. Exactly what Jesse wanted to see. "Hurry home," he said softly. "I want you." DB didn't say anything, just hurried along. Jesse watched him for a moment and wished, not for the first time, that DB could at least do the popping in and out of places thing he could do. Of course, he'd rather DB stayed alive, so there was that. When DB went around the corner, Jesse put himself home, closing his eyes against the weird little displacement feeling he always got. The apartment was dim but not dark yet, and DB had left a light on in the bedroom. Not that Jesse needed it, but it was a nice gesture. Well, it was nice -- it was probably on for DB and not Jesse, but that didn't really matter. Jesse walked around the apartment and made sure everything was as it should be -- no lurking, pissed off clients or anything -- and then went back to the bedroom and looked out the window to see if he could spot DB coming. There DB was, hurrying around the corner. The man wasn't quite running, but he was obviously in a hurry and moving fast. It was kind of gratifying. "Come on home, baby," Jesse said out loud. No one would ever hear him so he talked out loud a lot. Then he turned and started getting undressed, fast. He and DB had once talked about seeing if Jesse could just step out of his clothes, but the fear of him doing it by accident kept Jesse stripping like a normal person.

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A dead normal person, but a normal person nonetheless. Shoes, belt, hopelessly dated pants and boxers hit the floor without a sound, and then Jesse tugged his shirt up and off, skipping the buttons. He threw himself onto the bed just as he heard DB's key in the lock, careful not to sink through the mattress or pillows. "Hey honey, I'm home," DB called out. His quick walk had obviously put him in a better mood. And maybe the anticipation of sex helped. "Hey, honey, I'm in bed!" Jesse stretched out and waited, wishing for all he was worth that DB would be able to touch him. Granted, a ghost wasn't worth a lot in general terms, but DB seemed to think he was worth something and that was good enough. Jesse listened to DB coming closer and reached down to stroke himself, knowing DB liked to at least see it. DB came in, tie off, shirt buttons half undone. He stopped as soon as he caught sight of Jesse. "Oh." DB licked his lips. "No more yelling." Jesse moved his hand slowly, his thumb teasing right under the head of his cock. "This is better." God, was it. He loved watching and he loved being watched; it made his cock harder when DB was looking at him. DB went back to stripping, fingers working faster now. Jesse hoped that DB didn't try to climb on top of him again. For some reason that only ever worked when Jesse was on top; DB sinking into him was just disturbing for both of them. As DB's clothes came off, though, Jesse forgot to think. "God, you're sexy," he said, his hand moving faster. "Look at you." "Yeah? You like what you see?" DB came to the end of the bed, leaning against the mattress as he slid a hand around his own cock, jacking slowly while he watched Jesse. "I always like what I see." It was true. Well, where DB was concerned, anyway. "I get off on watching, remember?" DB rolled his eyes. "I know. I was trying to make sexy talk, you doofus." "Oh." Jesse wondered if DB could tell he was blushing. "Well. Maybe less talk and more touching." He shifted on the bed, making room. "Come here and do that. Let me see close up." DB chuckled and slid onto the bed next to him. "You have a pretty cock, Jesse."

"I think that's my line, isn't it?" Man, he wanted to touch. DB had the prettiest cock ever. Jesse touched himself instead, letting himself get more and more worked up. "Okay, a lot less talk." DB kept working his own prick, going slower than Jesse. DB groaned softly, legs spreading. "You're going to kill me." Jesse blinked at his rather unfortunate wording then shoved the entire issue aside. "Show me more." He rolled and got to his knees, moving back on the bed to give DB some space. "Long hard day, lots of frustration... work it out for me." Sitting back on his heels, hand on himself, Jesse stared hard, unable to look away. DB's eyes were on Jesse, hand working faster, fingers of his other hand sliding down to cup his balls. Jesse started to pant, regardless whether he actually needed to or not. Some reflexes never really went away, even if a person was dead. He stroked himself firmly, watching DB's hands, aching to touch and taste. "Yes," he whispered, his tongue darting out to lick his lower lip. "Show me." Legs spreading wide, DB dug his heels into the mattress, hips tilting a little. It exposed the dark little hole hiding between DB's asscheeks. Moving closer, unable to help it, Jesse reached out and put a hand on DB's thigh. "I want to be there." "No. I want to fuck you. I want to feel you tight around my cock. I want to hear you scream when I hit you just right." Jesse gasped, his stomach going tight and hard. "Yes!" His hand moving faster, frantically on his prick, Jesse jerked and nodded. "Yes. Fuck me. Touch me." "Shut up," muttered DB. "I can hear what you're doing. Skin on skin. Fuck, I wish I could smell you." "I can smell you," Jesse said between panted breaths. "Can almost taste you. Did once. Oh, fuck. I'm gonna come, DB." He could feel it, hot and boiling, ready. "Wait for me." DB's hand went faster. "The least we can do it get off at the same time and I want that." DB's hand moved faster and faster, the other one sliding down to touch his hole. Jesse saw that, had a flash of what it would feel like to touch him there, to sink into him, to be impaled by him, to have fingers in his own ass, DB's cock, and then the tight hot feeling surged inside him. "Now!" he managed to say as he started to come, his cock swelling and throbbing in his hand.

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"Yes!" DB shouted along with him, the scent of come suddenly strong as pearly white come shot from DB's cock all over his hand and stomach. "Want." It was a whine, he knew, but God he wanted. They deserved it. Jesse reached out with his own sticky hand and swiped through DB's mess, pretending not to care when his hand when right through it. "After we get some rest," he promised, "I'll give you a nice tingly hand job." "Yeah? Cool. Maybe one of these days..." DB shook his head, shrugged. "Never mind." Turning onto his side, DB curled up facing Jesse. "One of these days," Jesse echoed sadly. "Maybe. I mean, it's happened before. We just need to... figure it out. Maybe talk to someone who knows stuff." DB snorted. "Find a ghost expert so I can ask how I can have normal sexual relations with my ghost buddy? Right." Jesse flushed again. "Well, maybe someone knows about manifesting and such," he said defensively. "A medium or a psychic." "Great. I'm already the nutty PI with questionable sources. Why wouldn't I consult with mediums and psychics?" DB huffed and flopped over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Well, there's the other option, I suppose." Jesse sat up and looked at the foot of the bed. "We keep going like we are, getting pissy and frustrated. I mean, it's not like a medium wouldn't get it, oh no. They'd for sure think you're crazy, and their opinion matters so much." He frowned and tried not to be pissed off. It didn't work much. "Oh, fuck off, Jesse!" DB growled and rolled up off the bed, stomping over to his dresser and pulling out a pair of sweats. "Sure. Whatever you say. Because you're the only one who matters here, what with being alive and all." Jesse kind of sank into the bed a bit before he got up and reached for his own clothes. Yanking the sweats on, DB glared in his general direction. "Damn it, Jesse. I didn't want to come home and fight with you." "You think I did? I wanted to come home and make out and then bitch while you eat in front of me! I wanted to have sex, I wanted to touch and kiss and feel you! And when I make a suggestion all I get back is you sneering." He pulled hard on his trousers, wishing he could just leave them there. Oddly enough, he wasn't brave enough to be the naked ghost walking around town, though. That job was already filled.

"I'm ordering pizza." DB headed out, not even looking his way, back tight. "Enjoy it!" Jesse almost blipped out of the apartment, clothes or not, but spite made him gather up his stuff and walk through every wall he could find, beside and in front of DB, just to piss the man off. "I will!" DB shouted at him. "I know!" Jesse yelled back. "Same as you enjoy everything! Eating and cheating at chess and blowing smoke at me. Which, you know, I wouldn't mind if you'd even pretend to look for help with this thing we have!" DB rounded on him. "You think I like it? You think I like that the only action I get is basically jacking off with someone who isn't even here? You think I like that I can't touch you or feel you or fuck you? Well, fuck you, Jesse, I don't!" "I know that!" He did. Jesse knew it deep inside him; he could see it on DB's face, read it in the way DB held himself. "So why can't we ask someone for help? I'll even do the recon. Find a real medium, not a fake." "Fine! If it'll get you to shut the fuck up, then just do it!" Muttering, DB yanked the phone off the receiver and punched in the autodial. Stung, Jesse turned his back to finish dressing. That done, his crease back in his pants and his shirttail tucked in, he crossed the living room and tried to curl himself into the armchair, listening to DB order pizza. "Oh, and I need a couple packs of Camels, too. If your driver can deliver, there'll be an extra big tip. Thanks." DB hung up the phone and started searching for the pack he kept in the kitchen, swearing when it proved to be empty. "Out of cigarettes?" Jesse thought there was half a pack in the bedroom, but he wasn't sure if he was going to tell DB that, yet. "What was your first clue?" DB tossed the pack at the back wall and threw himself down on the couch with a groan. "The bitching." Jesse looked at him and tried to ignore the stress and tension around DB's eyes. He looked worn out, right down to the bone. It didn't suit him. With a sigh and something that might possibly have been a belated wash of guilt, Jesse said, "There are some in the bedroom. Fell down behind your nightstand." "Seriously?" DB was off the couch like his ass was on fire. He came back a minute later, wallet in one hand, lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

With My Little Eye - 19

Jesse sighed. "Just... don't blow smoke rings at me, all right? I really hate that."

"I only do it to get a rise out of you."

"It's rude." Jesse knew he was being snotty, but it was rude. "There are better ways to get

a rise out of me, anyway. You know that."

"That's just as frustrating, though."

DB sighed and leaned his head back, drawing smoke in and holding it before letting it go

in a puff.

"I know." Jesse sighed again and nodded. "I know. I'm right there with you. But I don't

know what to do about it, either, DB. I'm trying here."

DB chuckled suddenly. "You know, I'm not sure this would really be any easier if you

weren't a ghost. I don't exactly have a great track record. At least this way we have

something to blame shit on."

Jesse thought about that. "I usually just bailed when things got snippy instead of sexy.

Mind you, that's how I wound up dead, so I think I learned my lesson."

DB shot him a look, one eyebrow going up. "We know what happened to you. Accidental

overdose, we solved that back when we first met, Jesse."

Jesse shrugged and looked back. "Sure. But, you know. I didn't know you very well back

then. I just wanted to know how I died. We got that. As to the why... Well, I walked when

I should have run, shall we say?"

"I thought you didn't remember what happened to you? That was the point of bugging the

hell out of me until I found out, right?"

"I... Let's go with I don't remember it exactly, but I have a pretty good idea." He stood up

and turned around. "I know where I was and what I was doing. I can figure it out."

"That's pretty cryptic." DB looked at him expectantly.

He knew DB didn't like a mystery. It was part of what made the man a good detective.

"It's embarrassing." Jesse was pretty sure that wasn't going to put DB off for long.

"Spill, Ghost-boy."

"Ghost-boy?" Jesse tried to get indignant, but wound up rolling his eyes. "Do you

remember the Eighties?"

"I was two in 1980." "So... no. All right. Well, these pants were in style and Ecstasy wasn't on the street. I suppose I should be glad I died without a mullet, really." "I do know what a mullet is, and if you had one I would spend most of our time together pointing and laughing." DB looked like he was in a better mood already, only taking occasional drags from his cigarette instead of puffing constantly. "If I had one I'd stay away from people until they were back in style." Jesse went back to his chair and sat carefully. "You know I was at a party. You know I was drinking pretty heavily, and you know I ODed." "Right, but you told me you didn't do drugs like that, so we assumed you got someone else's drink." DB nodded. "Thus, accidental overdose." Jesse sighed and nodded. "Right. And maybe that's what happened, even. But the thing is, I was there with a guy I was kind of sort of seeing. At the party I started kind of sort of seeing someone else. It didn't go over well." "You dog you!" Oh, DB was not going to let this one just go, he could tell. "Yeah, yeah. I was a bastard." He rolled his eyes and nodded. "That's the point, see? I didn't exactly treat my relationship, as annoying and de-sexed as it was, with respect. And when I got caught on my knees, there was a bit of a scene." "And he killed you?" Jesse gave him a scathing look. "If I knew that for sure don't you think I'd be off haunting him? He didn't beat me up, he didn't shoot, stab, hang or anything else. But later on that night, at the same party, I had a drink or two, fell asleep, and woke up dead." DB's eyes narrowed. "You don't have time to haunt anyone -- we have a case." "And I have a private dick to make tingly." Jesse smirked. "Like I'd walk out on this case. God. Poor little dead girl. Doesn't get much sadder than that." "No. And nobody's looking for her fucking killer. We need to get this guy before he kills any more little girls. At least it was quick. For her. That woman he murdered in the park is another story." Jesse sat up a bit, so he was perched on the edge of the chair. "How bad was it? I'm not sure Gwen actually saw how horrible it was, thank God. She knew the man was hurting the lady, she said, but... "

With My Little Eye - 21

DB made a face. "He raped her and then he cut her up into little pieces with an axe. Apparently she was still alive when he started chopping. He's a sicko. And smart, too, if he knows enough to make any witness murders look like an accident." "Oh, God." Jesse felt vaguely ill, which was odd, considering. At least Gwen hadn't seen that. "That poor woman. Does she have a name? And did you have any luck trying to track down Lucy?" "Lucy Wilson. She's from the same general neighborhood as Gwen. And odds are this guy is going to do it again. They've got him pegged as a sexual predator and there's a nation-wide manhunt on for him." DB scratched his head. "I have a hunch he's local, though." "I hate him already." Jesse leaned forward a bit and looked at the floor. "Gwen's parents don't know she was murdered. Lucy's parents don't know she's in danger. Gwen showed me where she lives, but there wasn't anyone home." "I know. If I show up and tell them that they'll just call the cops on me, who will throw my ass in jail and put me down as the number one suspect. I'm not going to be doing anyone any good from jail." "Right. Okay, so." Jesse frowned. "We have to figure out who the creep is before he can hurt Lucy. How do we do that? Do we start with trying to get the police to investigate Gwen's death or do we go right to hunting?" "How do I get the cops to investigate Gwen's death without getting locked up?" DB shook his head and started pacing, cigarette between his lips again. "Unless... Shit, I can't believe I'm going to suggest this. We tell them I went to a medium for something else and she came back with information from Gwen's ghost instead. They'll still think I'm nuts, but at least it'll put the question on the books about Gwen's death without my looking like the number one suspect." Jesse tried not to grin. It wasn't funny. There was nothing funny about dead women and little girls. "You're going to use our sexual problem to solve a case? Awesome." Whoops, he'd laughed. "Fuck off, Jesse." DB blew a smoke ring, looking smug. "I'm not telling the cops what I'm going to the fucking medium for. They don't need to know." "Right, and they won't ask." Jesse grinned and held up his hands. "It's cool. Don't worry about it. Want me to go find one while you have your supper?" "I'm not going tonight." "Little girl in danger."

"I hate you." "And yet, you like to be naked with me." Jesse stood up once more. "I'll be back in a couple hours. Are you going to stay here and wait, or should I try the office first?" "Just come back here." The doorbell rang. "There's my supper. Get out of here before you start bitching about me eating in front of you."

"Yeah, okay. Hey, DB?" Jesse started walking toward an exterior wall, fully intending to

freak DB out if he could before he put himself in the arts district. "Thanks for the almost sex." "Yeah, yeah, anytime!" DB didn't even look up as he made his way through the door, too busy digging through his wallet.

Damn it.

"Maybe next time we can do it over your desk or something."

DB was choking as he opened the door to the pizza delivery dude.

Jesse grinned and left. Yeah he still had it. Now he just had to find a medium so he could

maybe actually get it, and save a life or two as well.

With My Little Eye - 23

Chapter Three DB stood outside of Madame Yanya's little storefront, and considered the possibility that he'd finally lost it completely. It was nearly midnight. He had a case to solve before any other little girls, or big girls for that matter, got hurt. And he was here looking for answers to his screwed up love life. He was seriously considering going home.

"You can't go home." Damn it, Jesse was right there, nattering at him again.

"I didn't say I was going to." It was one thing to have Jesse pop in unannounced, quite

another when it seemed like the ghost was reading his mind.

"You had that look in your eyes. Come on, just knock. She said she'd wait up for you.

Even put on some tea. She's really nice, I promise."

"I guess if she actually talked to you, then she's the real thing." He raised his hand to

knock, but didn't. "What did you tell her?"

Jesse made an impatient kind of noise. "I told her that I knew a live guy who was having

some issues with a ghost and that a little girl needed help." He sounded like he was

telling the truth... just not all of it. Jesse had a habit of stopping his sentences too abruptly

when he was trying to keep something back.

"And..."

Jesse smiled and stepped to the side. "I'll just go in and tell her we're here, all right?"

"Jesse..." He knocked before Jesse could disappear. He hated not knowing if this

Madame Yanya knew he could see ghosts or not.

"Relax," Jesse said. "And smile. She's really very sweet."

Before DB could reply, the glass door, covered with scarves on the inside, flew open.

"Mr. Black? Delighted! Come in, come in, it's cold out there!"

Jesse beamed and stepped forward. "Hey, Madam Yanya. Told you he'd come."

"Of course, dear boy. Of course. I knew it as well."

DB stared.

"Is he all right?" Madam Yanya asked Jesse.

"He's fine. A little overwhelmed, maybe."

Maybe. God. Madam Yanya, this sweet lady Jesse had promised, was well over six feet tall and had stubble that no woman could ever have. And an Adam's apple, which was surrounded by yards and yards of lace and scarves, all brightly colored to match the skirts and shawls. DB finally found his voice. "He is standing right here. Can we come in or are we going to do this on the doorstep?" It was weird as hell, having another living, breathing human being interacting with Jesse. Unless she was... He reached out, hand connecting with an arm. Nope. Real. Jesse and Madam Yanya both laughed. Nice. "Come on in, honey. Have some tea with me and we'll see if can help you out with this little... " His... her voice dropped low. "The little problem you're having." "Oh, hey, look. Interesting things over here." And there went Jesse, into the shop. Fast. DB growled, eyes following Jesse. Asshole. He went in, though. He needed the cover for his story about Gwen and truth was, he liked Jesse a lot and if they could get more out of their relationship than a few tingles when they tried to make love... well, that would be more than nice. Madam Yanya led him through the shop -- full of clutter as far as DB could tell -- and into the very back. There was a couch, a chair and yes, a tea service, but it was clearly where Madam Yanya relaxed and had some down time. There was even a small TV in the corner. "So," she said, tossing a few scarves over the back of the couch and then sitting down. "You fell in love with a ghost. That's a hard way to go, Mr. Black." "Call me DB, and I never said I was in love with him." Madam Yanya smirked. "He said it. And you're here. I know people and I know men -you wouldn't come to see a person about getting busy with a ghost if you didn't love him, honey." She leaned forward and poured tea. "I also know ghosts; your Jesse isn't the first one who's come to me for help. Just the first with this particular problem." Jesse himself took that moment to walk in, looking curious. "Hey, Madam Yanya? You know you have a whole pile of fake herbs, right?" "Yes, dear. Well, mislabeled."

With My Little Eye - 25

"You told her I loved you." DB glared. "And you told her about the..." He made a fucking

motion with his hands.

Jesse raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't you love me?"

"I'm not having this discussion with you in front of a stranger, Jesse."

"Fine. We're done here, then. I'll see you at the office tomorrow and you can apologize to

Madam Yanya for keeping her up so late." Jesse's face was set, his mouth a thin line and

his arms folded across his chest.

Madam Yanya made tsking noises and shook her head.

"That's fine by me. This is your wild goose chase, anyway." He was going to go home

and go to bed and pretend he'd never heard of ghosts or Jesse or any of this shit.

Jesse nodded and turned around. "Fine. I'll see if I can save Lucy on my own, then."

Madam Yanya's eyes narrowed. "Who's Lucy? Don't you walk out on me, child. I can

haul you back if I try hard enough."

"You can what?" Now that had his attention. "What do you mean, haul him back?"

"Who's Lucy?" She gave him a long look. "There's a lot going on here, no? I'll tell if you

will. At least part of it, I'm not about to give away my livelihood, am I?"

Jesse stayed by the door, still not looking at DB.

That was okay, he was in the right mood to ignore Jesse.

"There's a killer out there and two little girls saw what he did. He killed one of them,

made it look like an accident so the police don't even know she was murdered, and we're worried her friend Lucy is next on his list. I can't just go to the cops, though, and tell them that I know this because Gwen's ghost told me -- they'd lock me up and throw away the key." "You can hear more than lover boy here?" Madam Yanya was losing her girlish ways, fast. "Did you see this other ghost, too?"

He shot Jesse a look. "You tell her I love you and we're having problems in bed, but you

don't tell her you're not the only ghost I can see?"

"Priorities," Jesse muttered. "Clearly fucked and wrong, but I thought the whole deal was to get you cred anyway." He looked at Madam Yanya. "DB can see and hear ghosts. We want to save a little girl. Oh, and he's a big jerk, but I don't think you can fix that."

Madam Yanya raised both hands up in the air. "I'm not touching that one. I need a drink. Beer?" "Takes one to know one, Jesse." Then he turned back to Madame Yanya. "Look, do you think you can help us? With our... situation? Because if you can't, I'm going to go home and have a beer there." Madam Yanya looked at him and sighed. "Which one? The girl or the touching? Because I haven't seen any ghosts talking about dead kids and I don't want to. The other... Maybe. But the way you two are bitching I'm not sure it's a good idea." "All right, fine. I knew this was going to be a colossal fucking waste of time." DB got up and headed for the door. "I'll try not to use your name when the cops ask me what medium I spoke to." "Whoa." Madam Yanya stood up and was suddenly, very and completely unladylike. "The last think I need is the cops coming around and you know it. Getting off is that important to you? Fine. Come back tomorrow morning around eleven when I open up. I'll have information for you both. And I won't even charge you much." Jesse seemed to want to merge with his bit of the wall, his eyes still down and his shoulders hunched up. "Yes, getting off with my lover is important to me, okay? But so is saving that little girl's life, and if I don't warn the cops she's in danger, that psycho is going to kill her. But I have to give them a reason for why I have the information I do, so I'm sorry if I'm going to drop your name, but that's just the way it goes." Fuck, his head was starting to hurt. Madam Yanya pushed past him and headed back into the main shop. "I really do need a drink. Look. Save the girl. Do what you have to, but that means I'm going to be up all night packing a few things away and talking to your boy here so I can get my story right. Forget not charging you much. This is so not cool." She turned and pointed at Jesse. "You are not cute. At all." "I'm beginning to get that, yeah," Jesse said with a sigh. "She's wrong," DB murmured as he went by Jesse. "You are cute." Jesse jumped, his whole body jerking and his eyes going wide. "But... Oh, never mind." He sighed again and followed along. "Madam Yanya? Were you serious about me staying here all night telling you about Gwen?"

With My Little Eye - 27

"You got somewhere else to be while he sleeps?" Madam Yanya produced a bottle from the bottom shelf of a cabinet and took a long drink. "I have to find some boxes. Damn it all. Ghosts. What a pain in the ass." "Tell me about it." In that, DB could entirely empathize with her. "You only wish," Jesse snorted. He perched himself on top of a counter. "Tell me about this hauling me back thing. That sounds exciting." Madam Yanya smirked again. "Oh, yes. Very exciting. I just kind of reach into your plane with my mind and grab you by the cuff of your shirt. A lot like my momma did to me when I was wee." The idea of Madam Yanya ever being wee was a little implausible. He couldn't even begin to picture it. "All right, I'm out of here. I have to haul myself into the police station tomorrow before work." Madam Yanya put herself between him and the door. "You will come back in tomorrow morning, yes? And you will take your boy away with you again? I don't need a shop ghost." "Hey, now." Jesse looked offended. He was very tempted to just shake his head and say no, but he couldn't. No matter how pissed the ghost could make him, he cared for Jesse. More than he wanted to admit to himself, let alone anyone else. "He already has a spot to haunt." Madam Yanya smiled. Jesse looked mildly confused and then shrugged. "He gave me my own chair, even. It would be nice to sit in it." Madam Yanya headed to her shelves of jars. "You could. With practice. I have to move some of these." DB shook his head and headed out. He needed some sleep. After all, he had to gird his loins for facing down the cops tomorrow. They were going to think he was either a nut job or a psycho. He didn't like the prospect of either.

Chapter Four Jesse and Madam Yanya -- who, at four in the morning, casually revealed her name to be Steve and declared no one was going to go to a medium called Mister Steve for chrissake -- spent most of the night cleaning the store front up and hiding illegal or merely improper items out of view. Madam Yanya drank a bit, and Jesse floated around, finding yet more things to hide and telling her over and over again about Gwen. By the time the sun came up Madam Yanya knew what Gwen looked like, where she lived, what she'd seen, what her voice was like, and just about everything Jesse knew. She knew about Lucy, she knew about the man's voice, she knew about the flashes that Gwen had seen. "And where is this child now?" she asked, finally turning out the lights. "You didn't leave her in that park did you?" Jesse shook his head and followed Madam Yanya into the little living room again. "Of course not. But I didn't want to take her around with me, either. She didn't see that poor woman being raped, and I'd rather she not hear about it, if I can help it. I asked one of the ladies over on twelfth to take care of her." Madam Yanya sat on the couch and reached for the cold tea. "You left the little girl with whores?" She sounded shocked. Jesse shrugged. "They're not working whores. Why not? They talked to her in soft voices and said they'd take her to the movies, find something age-appropriate. Just because they're working girls, or were when they were alive, doesn't mean they're not kind people. Ghosts. Whatever." "People." Madam Yanya nodded. "You all are people. Just... displaced people. Your man, he needs to get that. And you need to start believing, too. You're never going to get anywhere without faith." Jesse raised an eyebrow and perched himself on the chair. "Faith. What do you mean?" "In the morning." Madam Yanya yawned hugely. "I need to look pretty for the police. Sleeping now. You can stay or go find your man. He's probably sleeping, too, though." Jesse sighed and nodded, then watched as Madam Yanya stretched out on the couch and closed her eyes. DB would be asleep, and Jesse wasn't supposed to go and watch him -apparently it was creepy. So instead Jesse went to the office and read the papers that were out in the open and tried not to think about faith. When the sun was well up, and he'd read everything he could, Jesse went to DB's apartment, but found him already gone. "He's not wasting time," Jesse said out loud with another sigh. "And he's still pissed at me. Fine." If DB was mad, he might not share

With My Little Eye - 29

everything the police said to him, so Jesse thought he'd better just get his butt over to the

police station and see if he could listen in for himself.

DB was in an interview room. That wasn't a good sign. Neither was the way the

detectives were in his face, peppering him with questions.

Jesse went in, making a face as the combination of glass and steel and concrete made his usual walk through a wall a little more interesting. "Hey," he said, going to where DB could see him without moving his head and giving himself away. "Not going well, huh?" DB shook his head. "I told you. I went to the medium for personal reasons and she had this ghost show up. A little girl named Gwen -- I read the papers, I recognized the name." One of the detectives sneered. "Read the papers looking for customers? That kind of ambulance chaser, are you?" DB rolled his eyes. "Look, I came in because she says she was killed, that her friend Lucy is in danger. The only reason I'm here is because this is a little girl and, I have to assume, so is her friend Lucy." "What were you doing at this medium again?"

"That really doesn't matter, does it? It has nothing to do with Gwen Parsons."

"Tell us anyway." Jesse couldn't tell if they were doing the good cop, bad cop thing, but if

anyone was playing the good cop it was the one with the short, brown hair. The blond

was the sneerer.

"All right, all right. I went to consult her about my love life." DB mumbled the last few

words.

"Your what?"

"Love life, okay?" DB'd gone red. "I told you it was personal."

"Now we're getting somewhere. So you go to consult this Madame Yaya--"

"Yanya," DB corrected.

"Yeah, whatever. So you go consult her about your love life and what comes up is a little

girl's ghost. You like little girls, Mr. Black?"

"Oh, for chrissake!" DB threw up his hands.

Jesse didn't blame him. That was just gross. "I'm not sure if telling them you're gay is a good idea," he cautioned. "Do you want me to go and see if I can get Madam Yanya to call and start talking about Gwen?" DB shook his head again. "I'm just relaying the information, man. I'm not a perv. I didn't kill Gwen, but someone did and another little girl is in danger. Look, think what you want about me, but can you at least check and see if she had a friend called Lucy? Even if I'm a crackpot pervert doesn't the chance that another little girl might die motivate you at all?" "If you're so on the up and up, why didn't this Yanya come in herself." "Because she knew you'd think she was either crazy or you'd accuse her of being a pervert, just like you're doing with me. Trust me, I'm regretting coming in myself, and I can understand better why she wouldn't!" "We'll check out your story, Mr. Black." "Thank you." DB stood. "Oh, no, you're not going anywhere." The blond stood in front of the door, his arms crossed. "You can't keep me here." DB didn't back down. "I came in with information that you've tried to twist into something sick, but you have nothing to charge me with, so you can't keep me." "He's right, Philips. Let him go." Philips reluctantly stepped away from the door. "Don't be leaving town, though, Mr. Black." DB rolled his eyes. "Just make sure that little girl Lucy doesn't get killed." He stalked through the police station, heading for the street at a quick pace. Jesse followed DB instead of putting himself outside, mostly because he was afraid DB would get in more trouble. He didn't want to make that any more likely, so he didn't say a word and didn't try to get DB's attention at all until they'd cleared the doors and were walking down the sidewalk. "Hey." "I knew that was going to happen. I don't know why I even bother." DB walked with long, angry strides. "Because a little girl was murdered, another one is in danger, and because you're a good man." Jesse had no trouble keeping up, though he wished he had to go through fewer people to do it.

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"Yeah, well I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to go to them and spin them some sort of story about how come I know the things I know." DB patted himself down, coming up with his pack of cigarettes in his coat pocket. He lit one up and started smoking hard. "You know what we need? Aside from cigarettes that will work for me, too? We need a cop we can trust. One who can see ghosts and will deal with me, but we don't have that, yet, what we have is Madam Yanya. Are we going over there?" "No, I don't think it would be a good idea to be there when the cops show up. Tell her to give me a call when they leave and we'll go see her about our... little problem." "You still want to do that?" Jesse wished he could bite off his tongue as soon as the words were out. "You changed your mind?" DB stopped, ignoring the people who gave him dirty looks. Jesse shook his head fast. "No. I didn't. I won't. But you were really mad at me last night. I thought maybe..." "We argue all the time, Jesse. Why all of a sudden are you worried it means I want to stop seeing you?" DB made a face and started walking again. "Wrong choice of words, as seeing you is all I can do." Jesse went with him. "Because... well. Just because, I guess. Never mind." No way in hell was Jesse going to mention the love word again and the fact that it was only said in one direction. He was reasonably sure that DB did love him, and that might just have to be enough. He wasn't going to walk out just because DB didn't say it. Even if it did hurt a bit. Or a lot, depending on the day. He realized they were headed for the office, DB making a detour into Starbucks for coffee. Standing in line, DB totally ignored him. "You know, back in my day, coffee came in three kinds of roast and with or without milk." Jesse would never have been able to order anything at a fancy coffee shop. "Are we going to need Gwen later in the day? Just asking, before I go over to Madam Yanya's." DB didn't even nod his head or anything, though his lips got tight. "How about you just fill me in later, then? She's safe enough with the girls. You'll come to Madam Yanya's in a bit?" Jesse backed up, like it made any difference at all. DB shot him a look and muttered. "Call me when the cops have gone and I'll come." Then the eye contact was broken, DB back to staring up at the menu board.

Jesse rolled his eyes. Yeah, he'd call. Well, pester Madam Yanya to call, anyway. "See you in a bit," he said instead. Then he put himself in the street, not wanting to put himself all the way over at Madam Yanya's, yet. He needed a walk.

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Chapter Five DB knew he'd been short and grumpy with Jesse and had maybe chased the ghost away. The truth was it was probably just as well. He was in a foul mood -- being accused of being a pedophile had a way of doing that to him. He sat at his desk, staring at the computer screen, smoking one cigarette after another and sipping at his coffee. He realized he might have put himself in for a long wait by not wanting to show up at Madame Yanya's until after the police had visited, but he was under enough suspicion with them already and if he was there while the cops were, well it would make his story, already pretty thin, look even weaker And God knew, Lucy needed for the cops to be at least a little invested in making sure she didn't meet an untimely death. He hated sitting around and waiting, though. It wasn't helping his mood in the least. DB'd been expecting the phone to ring, Madam Yanya doing the calling to let him know the coast was clear, but Jesse came back to him instead. "Are you still angry?" he asked, his voice coming from the door. "Not at you." "Well, that's a relief." Jesse came closer and stood by his desk. "General anger at the state of the world then, or directed at the cops? Who, by the way, questioned Madam Yanya very closely and were even kind of polite about it, mostly." "Yeah? You think they bought it enough to look into finding Lucy?" That would be good. He hated making a fool of himself, or worse, for nothing. "They seemed pretty interested, yeah. I sat in the car with them, after -- they have a meeting with the patrol officer who responded when Gwen went missing, anyway, and the detectives that went to see Madam Yanya were the guys working the rape and homicide. They didn't seem to think Madam Yanya had anything to do with that, anyway." "Okay. Good. I'm not sure we can do anything else right now. If I start putting my nose in things I'll just be in the way and I do not need them to find more excuses to suspect me." Which just left him with Madame Yanya and the whole I want to be able to touch my ghost lover when we fuck thing. Joy. It wasn't that he didn't want to be able to have more with Jesse, he just didn't want to have to involve a third party to do it.

Jesse was still just standing there, looking around. He never did that. Jesse just was, he never acted like he didn't know what to do or say. He was never at a loss. Before DB could ask him what the hell his problem was, though, Jesse kind of shook himself and nodded. "Okay, then. Ready? Let's go." "I'm driving over. I'll meet you there." He found Jesse distracting in the car and preferred driving without the ghost chattering at him. "Oh. Okay." Grunting a 'see you', DB made his way out of the office, locking up behind him. It didn't take long to drive to Madame Yanya's. The place looked different in the light of day, more rundown and tired than he remembered from the night before. Looking around for Jesse, he shrugged when he couldn't find the ghost and went in. "Madame Yanya?" "Over here, child," she said, popping up from behind a case near the back. "Oh, you do owe me. At least direct some paying business my way, yes?" She fixed him with a hard look, her yellow scarves making her look far too sunny for the dusty shop. "There was a black sedan in front of my store for an hour. No one will be in all day, I just know it." "Well, I'm here. You can charge me an exorbitant fee to tell me how to make this ghost sex thing work. Mind you, I can't pay you until I get a case that pays actual real money." "If you save a child or get that monster arrested, you'll be flooded with cases." She nodded and came out from behind her case. "Your ghost is waiting in the back, trying to find a little faith." "Faith?" DB's eyebrows rose. "He doesn't already believe in ghosts?" "He does that." Madam Yanya started toward the back, ducking to go through a door. "And now maybe you really and truly will, too. But he's gotta believe in himself and what he can do. He's gotta make it work for him." "You think I don't believe in ghosts? Lady, I see them and speak to them and get into trouble with the cops over them all the damn time." "But you've always kind of wondered if maybe you were a little crazy, no?" She turned and faced him, her larger body blocking the door. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Sometimes, didn't you wonder if he wasn't just in your head? No matter what the evidence told you? Didn't you sometimes think you were making him up?" DB glared and crossed his arms over his chest. How the hell could she know that? "Yeah, well, you've got to admit, it's pretty crazy."

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Madam Yanya nodded and didn't move out of the way. "That's one of the reasons you can't touch him. You don't fundamentally believe in him. Or didn't -- have you tried, since you found out I can see and hear him?" He shook his head. They hadn't been alone for more than a few minutes at the office. Was it true? Did he believe in Jesse more now that he wasn't the only one he'd seen interacting with the ghost? Maybe he and Madam Yanya were both crazier than a can of silly string. Her eyes narrowed. "And don't you be thinking about me like that, now." His own eyes narrowed back. "Don't presume to know what I'm thinking, Yanya." "You were wondering if maybe we're both crazy. And that kind of thinking is counter productive and will not get you laid." "You don't know what I was thinking." He was sticking to his guns on that one. "Come on, let's get this over with so I can go and get some work done." The fact that he was between clients, aside from Gwen who was a ghost and therefore didn't count, made no difference. "I thought the goal was to get to the relaxation portion of you life?" Madam Yanya did let him move, though, and they went into the little living room. "Here he is," she said to Jesse. Jesse looked up from the corner chair, fast. "Hey. You didn't dawdle." "I just want to get this over with, okay?" And if Yanya started getting too personal, he was so out of here. Jesse blinked. "Okay, DB. Um. Whatever you say." He looked miserable, and Madam Yanya didn't look too happy, either. "Is that any way to talk to him?" she said, her eyebrow up. "Is that a way to make him feel like you want to touch him? This isn't a magic spell, Mr. Black. This is your work, not mine." "Look, lady, if we could do this without your help, we would. I don't appreciate having my private business dragged out in front of other people. So just tell us what we have to do so we can go do it in private!" Why was that so damn hard to understand? How did him not wanting to get personal in front a perfect stranger translate into him being an ass? "Fine." She looked at him coldly. "You need to believe he exists. He needs to believe you want him and he needs to believe that he has a right to touch. In essence, he needs to have

the faith in himself and in you to cross the barrier of death to touch you. He has to believe he's worthy of it." Jesse stared at the floor. DB just stared at Yanya. He should have known it would be touchy feely. "And that's it?" "If that was it, you'd be doing it already." She glared at him. "When he's been angry, when he's been aroused, when he's been so full of things he can't name, he's made it work. He needs to forget he's dead. You have to make him feel alive. Good luck." He bristled at her implication that he was somehow responsible for Jesse feeling like he was dead. Jesse was dead! "You couldn't have told us all this last night?" He held up a hand. "You know what? Don't answer. I don't care. Come on, Jesse, we're going." Jesse stood up and nodded, his eyes still on the floor. "Thanks, Madam Yanya. I hope the police believed you; you did a great job." Her look softened a tiny bit, but she didn't seem to be any more happy with Jesse than she was with DB. "I hope that other child is safe. I'll be watching the papers. Don't forget what I told you." Jesse nodded again and finally looked at DB. "Office?" "Yeah. Maybe we'll get lucky and a real case'll come in." He managed to find a bit of a smile for Madam Yanya. "Thank you for helping with Gwen. They'd have arrested me for sure if I'd told them the truth." "It helps that I've found things for them before, I suppose." She shrugged and yawned. "I should probably start putting my things back." Jesse winced. "Wish I could help with that." "That is going to be out of your reach, I'm afraid." She gave Jesse a sympathetic look. "I figured." He sighed and looked a DB. "See you there," he said, and then he was gone. DB didn't make the same offer Jesse had, he just grunted out another goodbye and hotfooted it to his car. He was not in the mood for small talk, let alone not-small talk. He also didn't want to think about the things Madam Yanya had said, so it was a good thing there was traffic and it took most of his concentration to make it to his office in one piece.

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Chapter Six Jesse paced. He went from one end of the office and back again, sometimes going too far and having to walk through a wall. He was thinking about everything Madam Yanya had told him, how his death was affecting his present, and he wondered if there really was a way around that. It wasn't exactly easy to feel alive when he was so clearly not. And it wasn't easy to just let go of the emotional connection he had to his own death. It was a pretty big event, after all. "Forget, feel, exist," he said under breath. "Forget about dying, feel alive, exist in both planes. Easier said than done." "You talking to yourself now or is there finally a ghost here who I can't see?" Jesse jumped, which was a complete turn of events. "Just me," he said hastily. "No one here but me." DB chuckled. "I don't often get the jump on you." "True enough." Jesse went to his chair and sat. "You know what I miss most about being alive? Slamming doors." "Not cigarettes?" DB settled in his chair, lighting one up. "That, too. But you know, after twenty years of not smoking I think I might have quit. A good door slam, though... that was satisfying." DB got up, went over to the door and slammed it shut hard. Then he went back to his chair, feet up on his desk. "I don't suppose we had any clients while I was making my way back from Yanya's?" "Not that I saw. Your message light is blinking, though." It was always blinking. Jesse thought maybe it was broken and DB just didn't want to admit it. DB went through the routine of checking it, though. Grumbling when there proved to be no message waiting. "They must have hung up after the beep." "Yeah, that's it." Jesse nodded and forced a smile. "Exactly. So, did Madam Yanya say anything else after I left?" "No. Did you know she'd had dealings with the police before?"

Jesse shook his head. "But it's not really surprising, is it? She can see ghosts. I bet she gets told all kinds of things." "Yeah, I suppose. It just seems like a hell of a coincidence..." Jesse raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm out there looking for people to talk to and forcing them to be do-gooders?" "What? No, I just meant that it's a strange coincidence, that's all." "Oh." Jesse thought about that for a moment. "Maybe it is. I don't know. So, how are we going to deal with this thing? Or are we going to work on the case instead?" "I don't see what more we can do on the case. Like I said earlier, if I start poking into things and get into the way of the cops, they're going to make this morning's little interrogation look like a walk in the park." DB rubbed his face with both hands and lit another cigarette. "I guess we should talk about... stuff." Jesse's twenty years meant nothing. He wanted a smoke so bad his teeth were itchy. "Stuff," he echoed, nodding and watching DB inhale. "Apparently, I'm emotionally attached to my death." "Yeah, well, that's not exactly surprising, now is it? I mean it kind of affects... well, everything." "That's what I said! It was a big, huge thing! And then she asked me why people generally stick around and be ghosts instead of moving on, which made me feel kind of... icky." "What do you mean 'icky'?" "Well, most people don't move on because they have unfinished business, right? They're tied here because of the way they died, or they need justice, or they need to say goodbye to someone." Jesse looked anywhere but at DB. "I stuck around because I was scared to go on, mostly. And now I don't want to." "Because of me." "Well, yeah." Jesse shrugged one shoulder. "I don't want to leave you." DB sighed and sat back. "I don't know, Jesse. I'm not exactly a wonderful catch, and you're giving up... well, I don't know what, but it's got to be better than being a ghost for me." DB shot him a look, a vulnerability in his eyes that Jesse didn't see that often. "Are you sure I'm worth it?"

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Jesse stared at him. "Is spending time with you, being with you, worth giving up an eternity of being alone in a place I don't know? DB, you drive me crazy, you yell, you cheat at chess, you drink and you smoke and I love you more than I can even begin to tell you. I don't want to leave. I don't want to move on, I don't want to be without you. But wanting doesn't seem to be the same as believing." "That's... wow, Jesse. Nobody's ever said anything like that to me." "Yeah, well." Jesse looked at the toe of his shoes. "No one's said anything like it to me, either." "Yeah. It's not like I have to give up eternity or anything to be with you. So I can't see how anything I could say would match." "You could say you love me. Even once." Jesse had to force himself to look at DB when he really wanted to just vanish and not be there at all. If DB didn't love him, he had no idea what he was going to do. "You know I do. Why else would I be going through all this?" Jesse nodded, unable to talk. Maybe he could just go for a few minutes. Nah, DB would... well, not kill him. "Besides, it doesn't mean anything if you tell me to say it." DB looked at his watch. "You wanna knock off for the day? We could have a late lunch in the park. Go back to my place..." Jesse shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm going to go find Gwen, if we're done here." Maybe have his little emotional fit in the privacy of nowhere. "What?" "Nothing." Jesse looked at the smoke rising from DB's cigarette. "Why can't you say it?" "Dammit, Jesse, you know it, why do I have to say it?" "Because I need you to and that should be reason enough!" Jesse stood up and headed to the door. "And right now I want to slam that!" "Don't worry, I'll slam it for you!" DB did. Twice. "Great, thank you. Nice to know you're happy to slam doors, but you're utterly incapable of saying words that I want to hear." Jesse went back to pacing, his arms waving in the air. "God, you're such a bastard sometimes. Why the hell is it such a big deal for you?

What are you gaining by not telling me? Is there something shameful in saying 'I love you'? Hell, is there something shameful about me? I can tell you right now that I'm sure as fuck not feeling alive, believed in or anything else other than pissed the hell off!" "Oh, so it's all my fault now, is it? That we can't touch, that you're a ghost?" "Yes! No!" Jesse stopped pacing. "You know what, forget it. I'm going to find Gwen. Maybe I'll see you later." He couldn't remember being so angry, or hurt, ever. "Screw you, Jesse. I do everything I can to show you I care for you, including going to a medium for fuck's sake, and you just throw it back in my face!" "You're not doing that for me! You did that for sex! It's not the same thing! Caring isn't love and nothing you're doing now is showing me any different. I told you what I need and you refuse to do it and at this point I wouldn't believe you anyway!" Jesse was glad he didn't really have to breathe, since he'd probably be choking. As it was he was almost in tears. "So sit here and smoke and drink and do whatever the fuck you want. I told you. I told you everything. I've got nothing left." "So fucking go already!" DB slammed his hand down on the desk and grabbed his smokes, lighting another one up. Jesse nodded. "Right." He put himself out, somewhere else, not caring where, and started to move, looking for a dark place to hide. His world had been tiny for years; now it was gone.

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Chapter Seven DB wound up staying at the office, hoping someone would call. Hell, he'd even have taken a ghost job just for something to do. He finally went home to his empty apartment, ordered a pizza and some beer and turned on ESPN. It was pretty damn lonely without Jesse sitting there bitching about everything from DB's choice in TV stations to not being able to eat or drink or smoke. He didn't understand why Jesse had to be so pig-headed about this. DB had never said "I love you" to anyone. It wasn't that he didn't love Jesse. He just didn't understand why he had to say it, like some trained dog or something. Of course, here he was sitting with nobody. He flipped through the channels, coming back to ESPN and tossing the remote on the couch. The phone rang, loud and annoying and jarring. Who the hell would be calling him here? He reached for the phone. "Hello?" "Child, you pissed off your ghost and he's now pissing me off. I can't have him wailing at me when I'm trying to get a bead on someone's granny." "Yanya? What the hell?" "That's what I said, and then Jesse told me what the hell. Loudly. If I didn't know better I'd say he was drunk, but he can't be. Which means he's got no excuse for being so loud and annoying! Come and get him." "Come and get him? He's a ghost, Yanya. I can't make him do anything, let alone come with me." Madam Yanya snorted at him. "Child, you're why he's here and you're the only one who can get him to move. Or shut up. He's heartbroken, Mr. Black. Come and talk to him. Please. He's giving me a headache." "Just tell him I'm coming, that's sure to send him running." "I tried. He doesn't believe me. And he's scaring off the other ghosts." She sounded annoyed and frustrated. "I'm just trying to earn a living here. First the cops, now this... I swear I'm going to move to New Orleans." "I apologize for the cops, but Jesse is not my problem." He slammed the phone down before she could say anything else. He'd wanted to have a picnic, come back here and

make love, dammit. He wasn't the one carrying on and sulking and acting like he'd done something evil. The phone rang again, sounding somehow insistent. He picked it up. "It's late; I'm not coming down there." "Come get your ghost or I'll suddenly start seeing things that the police really should know about, if you get my drift." Madam Yanya's put upon sweet ways were clearly something of the past. "He's obviously not my ghost." DB flung the phone across the room and grabbed his jacket and car keys. God damn it. He was going to kill Jesse when he got there. The streets were deserted this late at night, and he was back in front of Madam Yanya's in no time. He was getting heartily sick of this place. Not bothering to knock, he strode in. "Thank you!" Madam Yanya said emphatically. There was a young girl standing next to her, looking baffled. "He's going to take care of the issue, honey, then we'll have a nice chat with your grandmother." "Where is he?" "In the back, sulking." Madam Yanya smiled, showing lots of teeth. "He's mad as hell. At least he's stopped crying." DB didn't smile back. Heading into the other room, he called out. "Okay, Jesse. Leave Madam Yanya alone, so she leaves me alone, okay?" "Why?" Jesse walked through a wall and flounced onto the couch. "Why should anyone have a chance to forget about me? I left everyone alone for twenty years and where did it get me?" "It got you me, so I take your point. Look, I came. You can come back with me if you want." He turned around and headed back out. Jesse flew out of a wall at him. "If I want?" he yelled. "It doesn't matter what I want, clearly. You can't honestly expect that to woo me back, so I have no idea why you're here. Fuck you. I won't be back. Ever. Go away." He was pale, even for a ghost, and shaking, his feet sunk a few inches to the floor. "I'm not in the mood to fucking woo you back right now, but apparently you aren't wanted here and you are wanted back at my place. But far be it from me to tell you what to do." He glared at Madam Yanya. "There, I came. I told you he wouldn't come with me." He stalked toward the door. "That's not what you said." Both Madam Yanya and Jesse yelled at him.

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"Do you seriously think that 'come if you want' is the same as 'you're wanted." Jesse asked, once more in front of him. "Really? Because all I'm hearing is that you not only don't love me but that you don't even like me." "Fuck you, Jesse! You know I love you, god damn it! How do you think I feel when everything I do that shows you that means nothing?" Madam Yanya turned to the girl and smiled. "Let's go have tea, shall we?" The girl had huge eyes, watching DB. "Yeah, okay. Tea." She followed Madam Yanya, not looking back. Jesse glared at him. "Maybe the same way I feel when I say it, when I tell you I don't want to move on, and I get the verbal equivalent of a handshake. What you do doesn't mean nothing, DB, but you not being able to say what I need to hear says something, too. That you're not willing to bend." "I told you how much it meant to me that you said that, Jesse. You have to give me time for the rest of it. You've got fucking eternity, and you can't give me a little bit of time to do something I've never done before? I mean, ever, Jesse. I don't understand why you're so fixated on three little words, how come they mean more than anything else?" He shook his head. Damn it, he was down here pouring out his heart to a ghost -- in front of fucking strangers who could only see him talking to himself -- and it still wasn't good enough. Jesse didn't say anything for a long, long time. Too long, really, and when he spoke his voice was quiet. "All right, DB. I'll give you my eternity. Taking it elsewhere would hurt too much. But I won't ask about this again, and I kind of doubt I'll say it again, either." "You don't want me to say it just because you're making me, Jesse, because then it isn’t real." "At this point I have no idea what's real and what I thought up." Jesse shrugged. "A short life I fucked up, a short second life alone, and here I am. I don't know what I want, what I expect or what I deserve. I just know what hurts." DB sighed and reached out for Jesse, sighing again when his hands went right through the ghost. "Come on. Let's go home, okay?" "Okay, DB." Jesse seemed to ignore the attempted and failed touch. "Let's go home. You need to sleep." "Thank you," Madam Yanya called from the back. "Don't call me, I'll call you!"

DB snorted. "Not to worry on that front." He went out, holding the door until Jesse'd followed him. "I am sorry I hurt you," he murmured. Jesse blinked and nodded. "I'm sorry I... went insane." DB found himself chuckling at that. "I don't know, Jesse, I don't think that's a very long trip for any of us." "Probably a bit shorter for me, given how rapidly it happened." Jesse shrugged and sighed. "I think I'm a little affection-starved." "I do love you, Jesse." He wasn't sure why suddenly he could say it, why suddenly everything seemed quiet and clear. Except Jesse wasn't pissed off and yelling at him anymore. "I'd hug you if I could." Jesse stopped moving and stared at DB, his eyes suddenly shining. "What did you have to go and do that for?" he asked, wiping at one eye with a shaking hand. "I was working on putting that in a box or something and not feeling it." His hand shook harder and he wiped at the other eye, missing the tear. "I hate this. I want you, I need you. I deserve to be able to touch you, damn it." "Yeah, well, life's a bitch, looks like the afterlife's an even bigger one. And stop blubbering," he grumbled, getting in the car. "You're so romantic." Jesse had his snark back in place as he settled into the passenger seat. "It's all roses and wine with you, isn't it?" "Hey, you want romance, haunt some other PI." DB started the car and checked the rearview before pulling out and heading back to his place. "I tried that once; they couldn't hear me. Then you moved in and life got exciting." "Yeah, for both of us." He gave Jesse a wry smile. "I could think of worse things." "Me, too." Jesse gave him the smile back, looking amused. "The last twenty years or so, for example." "Hey, you can't blame me for those." "No, I really can't. I can blame the dumb ass who spiked my drink, maybe. But then, I wouldn't have the full and exciting life I'm leading now, so. I'd be old." Jesse looked faintly shocked. "God, I would be. Well, middle aged and heading into retirement territory. Quick, change the subject." DB started laughing. "Oh, shit. My boyfriend is old." He pulled up into a spot outside his apartment building. "I'm so not letting you forget that. Old man."

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"You were, like, not even born when I started having sex! You were seven when I died at a sex party!" Jesse was looking more and more shocked. Thank God they were parked, or he'd have run the car off the road, he just couldn't stop laughing. "Stop that!" Jesse swatted in his general direction. "I'm having a midlife crisis, don't laugh at me!" "Midlife crisis?" That had him laughing harder and for once he didn't care who saw him and thought he was a crazy guy sitting in the car and laughing to himself. "Stop it!" Jesse whapped him again, this time connecting. "And don't ask me to do that again, just know that you're not funny and you annoyed me!" Jesse was looking at his hand and grinning. DB stared at Jesse's hand, too, and then up at Jesse's mouth. "Oh, God." He leaned in quickly, planting a kiss on Jesse's lips. They were solid for a moment, cool, but warming quickly under his own, and then they were gone. He sat back with a small gasp, staring. Jesse's eyes were round and he'd stopped joking around. He looked faintly stunned, really, but it faded fast. "So, we can make it work," he said slowly, "if we believe and if we keep trying." His voice was almost thoughtful, like he was examining the idea for the first time. "I wasn't thinking about it at all, really. Not until I kissed you and then it kind of fell apart." He grinned, though, licking his lips, but he couldn't taste Jesse there so he stopped. "Come on, let's go in before someone sees me trying to make out with myself." Talking to himself was one thing, making with the kissy face on his own was a whole different level of weird. Jesse blinked once and started laughing again. "Good point. I'll meet you there." Then he was gone, the car empty. Wow. For a night that had started out like crap, it sure was looking up. They'd only managed a bit of a kiss, but Jesse was right -- now they knew it could happen. He still wasn't sure exactly how, but maybe, just maybe, they would figure it out. He headed up the front walk, a spring in his step.

Chapter Eight Jesse put himself into DB's living room, which wasn't exactly where he'd been aiming for but it was close enough. It wasn't like he had an audience to impress, after all, and the bedroom was only right there on the other side of the wall. He started walking that way, his fingers already working at the buttons of his shirt. He stopped just short of the wall. Maybe... maybe it would be nice to start in the living room, though. He looked back at the couch. Jesse had a great fondness for couch sex. He'd really liked it a lot when he'd been able to have it. Maybe they could try that. He was still standing there, his shirt half unbuttoned, when DB came in. "You've got a head start on me." DB was grinning, his eyes bright and teasing. "You can catch up fast," Jesse suggested. God, DB was hot when he was happy. Jesse's cock stretched a bit more, reminding him that it was still in clothes. Odd that he could feel his own clothing, but nothing other than that. Well, until now, really. Now, he was going to try. "I thought you liked it when I went slowly, put on a show for you?" DB shrugged out of his coat and hung it up on one of the pegs by the door. Jesse's mouth went dry. "Uh-huh." He nodded and his fingers fumbled with the next button. "I like to see." He'd had a lot of time to indulge in watching and he'd gotten very good at it. DB gave Jesse a smile, turned and wiggled his ass. Laughing, he turned back around and started undoing the buttons on his shirt. "You wanna..." Jesse watched DB's shirt fall open. "Um. Do you want to go to the bedroom?" His own buttons had kind of gotten stuck for a minute, and his cock was pretty much at attention. "Yeah, we probably should. I'd love to throw you down on the kitchen table and fuck you blind, but it'll ruin the mood if you go through the table..." DB started toward Jesse, shrugging his shirt off. "Oh, God." Jesse moaned just thinking about it. "Soon. That. Want." "I thought you'd be into that." DB nodded toward the little hall to the bedroom, which he was blocking. "Bedroom's that way." "I know." Jesse blinked again and started moving. "Sorry!" God, he was so pathetic. It was like he'd never had sex before at all, one little mental image about getting fucked on

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a table -- he stumbled and fell toward the bed, catching himself just before he could sink into it. How embarrassing. DB didn't seem put off at all, though. He was stripping out of his shoes, socks and pants, not seeming to care about a show anymore and all about the eager to be naked part. That was a really, really good idea. Jesse knew he should be doing the same thing, but aside from getting his shoes kicked off, he was lost in watching. It might not be a show, but it was DB's skin, and Jesse drank him in, watching every muscle move under his skin. DB wasn't cut or ripped, but he did have a six-pack and his frame carried light muscles. His cock was gorgeous, currently hard and pointing the way to the bed. "Now who needs to catch up?" DB asked, coming toward him. "Me?" Jesse guessed. DB laughed and threw himself on the bed, careful not to touch. "Get naked already and let's see if we can do it again." Jesse nodded and jumped up. "Yeah, okay." Saying it out loud, or at least hearing DB sound positive about the whole thing, spurred him on and Jesse stripped rapidly. His cock caught on his boxers and sprang up, slapping against his belly. "Trying is good." He eyed the bed and opted to lie on his side, facing DB. He was almost shaking, needing DB to touch him. DB shifted so he was on his side, too, and reached out to touch Jesse's cheek, his smile faltering as his hand went right through Jesse. "It's okay." Jesse whispered the words and reached out to lay his palm on DB's chest. "We'll just touch and see what happens. There's no failing. Even if it's just tingles, it's me loving you. Okay?" DB nodded. "I just thought... well, I didn't imagine the kiss in the car, did I?" "Nope." Jesse shook his head and brushed his fingers across DB's skin. "It was real. We can do it again." He tried to believe, told himself that it would happen, not that it might happen. "We can." "The tingles still feel good." He could tell DB wasn't lying -- his cock was still hard despite the disappointment. Then DB closed his eyes. "Kiss me," he whispered. Jesse didn't hesitate. He leaned closer, bracing himself with his free hand and fit his mouth to DB's. Warm skin, soft lips met his and Jesse kissed DB gently, and then again, wanting to taste his lover's mouth.

DB groaned, mouth opening, hand reaching for him to tug him closer, and it all fell apart, DB's hand going through his body and his face slipping into DB's before he yanked himself back. Groaning, DB opened his eyes. "It's okay. We can just jack off. The tingles are good, Jesse. They get me hot." "We'll just.... we'll do what works." Jesse was panting, disappointed and turned on all at once, tasting a glimmer of DB. "Whatever works." He looked down DB's body and cupped DB's balls with one hand, making the right motions. "Tingles are good." "Yes!" DB shouted, legs spreading, hand going down to jack himself. "They're good." Jesse laughed, he had to. If it worked, it worked. "Chalk one up for the ghost." He sat up a bit and used both hands, his gaze fixed on DB's cock and what he was doing. "Go slower for me. Nice and slow." He slipped his fingers low, checking to make sure he wasn't actually sinking inside DB's body. Yet. DB made a whimpering sound, but he slowed his hand, and Jesse could see everything as DB masturbated. DB's free hand slid up over his own chest, fingers tugging at his nipples. "That's it." Jesse thought he might sound like a pervert, his voice was so low and rough. He watched DB's hand stroke up and down, the flick of the wrist at the top, the way the skin stretched and those nipples stood right up. "I want to see it all." His own cock throbbed, aching to be touched, but he didn't move his hands off DB's balls and ass. DB's eyes drifted closed, his hips bucking a little so that DB was rubbing his ass along Jesse's hand. Soft gasps began to fill the air. Jesse nodded and breathed faster, concentrating on rubbing there and teasing around DB's hole. He imagined that it had to be a little like rimming, what with the tingles. Carefully, he held two fingers together and kind of pressed them at the opening, sliding them back and forth. "Fuck." DB bucked and then settled, staying in place so Jesse could get the tingles where they needed to be. DB's hand sped up on his cock. "Oh, shit." Jesse stared and licked his lower lip, his hands shaking. "God, yes." He rubbed and pushed and felt his own prick start to drool. Suddenly he could feel the heat of DB's body around his fingers and as they hit DB's gland, his lover shouted, bucking. Jesse closed his eyes for a brief moment and didn't stop his hand at all; he fingered DB and held his breath, watching avidly to see DB's reactions. "You're so warm inside," he whispered, awed. DB gasped, eyes flying open, and just like that Jesse's fingers went pushing through DB's body again, the heat and soft walls gone.

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"I'm sorry!" Jesse closed his eyes and snatched his hand away. "I'm sorry." The heat of embarrassment and anger with himself for messing up crowded his thoughts. He'd ruined it and forgotten that they were just doing whatever worked. "Shh. Shh. It's okay." DB's voice was rough, his hand still working his cock. "Don't think. Just do it. Please. I'm close." Jesses pulled himself back together and took a moment to calm himself. "Tingles," he said softly. Then he put his hands back on DB and watched. "You're so beautiful." That was the truth, no matter what. "Guys aren't beautiful." The words were only half spoken, DB groaning and moving his hand faster again. "Close. Close." "Okay, you're hot." Jesse would have rolled his eyes, but he was too busy looking at the fluid beading at the tip of DB's erection. "And beautiful." DB's laugh was cut short, his hips starting to jerk. It moved Jesse's fingers back and forth through DB's balls and must have felt pretty good, because DB shouted. Come poured out of DB's cock and his arm flailed, reaching for Jesse, grabbing onto his shoulder and holding on. Hot. Solid. Holding. Fingers digging into his skin. Jesse didn't say a freaking word, just reached for his own cock and started jerking off with a sticky hand, feeling DB's hand on him. His back arched, but he didn't move his body away from DB, didn't do anything to break the connection. He was going to come with DB touching him. He was. It was a damn good thing he was close. DB kept holding on, eyes closed tight as his fingers rubbed the come into his belly. That was it. Seeing DB like that, sticky and hot and just freshly fucked... Jesse felt heat bolt through him and he yelled as he came, spraying fresh juice onto DB's belly. "Oh, God." DB's eyes stayed closed, but the hand on Jesse's shoulder dropped right through him, the magic gone again. DB rubbed Jesse's come into that sexy belly, and he laughed a little. "We did it. Sort of." Eyes opening, DB smiled up at him. "Close enough." Jesse panted and grinned, then flopped on the bed, his control shot enough that he sank about half an inch. "You touched me." He was ridiculously pleased about that. "I did. And you touched me. Well, you came all over me."

"And I had fingers in your ass," Jesse declared proudly.

DB snorted. "You know, if anyone could hear this conversation..." Looking over, DB

frowned. "Get out of my bed."

Jesse stared at him, stung. "What?"

"You're in the bed, Jesse. You know that weirds me out. It's like you're chopped in half or

something."

"Oh!" Jesse knew he was blushing and wondered if DB could tell. "Sorry." He sat up and

rearranged himself so he was more appropriately positioned. "My control gets a bit

wonky after I come, I think."

"It just kind of ruins the afterglow, you know?" DB gave him a half smile and reached

out, hand ghosting above his skin before DB drew it back. "Still, we're getting better at

this whole making out thing, aren't we?"

"We are." Jesse nodded. "You know, I don't mind if you do that. Try and then kind of...

miss. I like that you want to reach out to me. I worry that you'll hold back too often that it

won't happen." Well. That was a nice bit of over-sharing. "Sex makes me talk too much."

"I hate to break it to you, but everything makes you talk too much, Jesse, not just sex."

Jesse grinned. "Sucks, doesn't it?"

DB shrugged. "It's not my favorite quality in the world, but I guess it's about all you've

got, so I don't blame you for being a Chatty Cathy."

Jesse snorted. "This from the man who blows smoke rings through me. Let's compare

qualities." He snickered and poked DB in the ribs.

"Ow!" DB poked him back, hard.

"Ow!" Jesse rolled over and laughed. "Yay us! Want to try to have a pillow fight?"

"What are we? Twelve?" Still, that didn't stop DB from grabbing his pillow and bringing

it down. This time it went right through Jesse, which given how much strength DB had

put behind the attempt was maybe a good thing.

"Ha! You might be twelve. I'm middle aged. We talked about this, didn't we?" Jesse

made an attempt to be as annoying as possible before snuggling into the spot next to DB

again. They were at their best when they were being snotty, really.

"I think we decided not to go there because you really are an old man."

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"Or you're a child and I'm robbing the cradle. You're just not as mature as I am." There, that was better. "Ha! You're the one who wanted a pillow fight." DB grinned and tugged the covers up over them. "There is nothing immature about a good pillow fight," Jesse said solemnly. "Try not to snore tonight, okay?" "I don't snore!" DB stuck out his tongue. "I might blow smoke rings through you and cheat at chess, but I do not snore." It was kind of hard to argue with the truth, but Jesse was game. "If you say so," he said kindly. "Although being asleep you're really not the best one to judge. And it's nice that you can finally own the cheating thing. Good for you." DB made a face and picked up the second pillow on the bed, tossing it at him. "I'm going to sleep now." "Okay." Jesse smiled and blew him a kiss as he settled himself on the pillow. "Good night. I love you." He closed his eyes and grinned. He was really going to have to be careful about when he said that. Later. DB grunted. It sounded like it might have been "me, too," but it could have been "love you." Of course it could have also just been a grunt. Jesse picked which one he liked best and made himself look like he was sleeping. He could handle that.

Chapter Nine DB stared at the phone, drank his coffee, puffed on his cigarette and grumbled. There was no reason for the police to keep him updated on Gwen's case, but he was worried about Lucy. If anything happened to her because he hadn't managed to convince the cops to protect her, it was going to weigh heavily on his mind for a long time to come. He couldn't call them, though. They already thought he was at best a nut case, at worst the main suspect in the brutal slaying of the woman in the park. There hadn't been anything in the paper about Gwen's death not being an accident. There hadn't been anything new on the original murder case, either. Damn it, where was Jesse anyway? If nothing else, he could have sent his ghost off to see what was going on at the police station. "So, I was thinking." Jesse was talking even as he appeared, almost but not quite in his chair. "Damn. I thought I had it that time." DB winced and closed his eyes for a second, happy that Jesse had figured things out by the time he opened them again. He hated the constant reminders that Jesse was a ghost. It wasn't like he could forget that, either, but walking through walls, going through furniture, it just slammed the point home. "So you were thinking..." he prompted when Jesse didn't continue. "Oh! Right!" Jesse looked surprised and embarrassed at the same time, which was kind of endearing. And annoying. "I was thinking I could go and poke around a bit more, follow the detectives. Or I could go and get Gwen from the ladies and talk to her some more, see if she remembered anything more about the man. What do you think?" "Why don't you bring Gwen here and I can talk to her? While I'm doing that, you can go see what you can get out of the detectives. If you can find out who Lucy is, you can pop in on her and make sure she's okay. That way we can do both." He might grumble and bitch, but really, Jesse was an asset to DB's business. Even if he couldn't tell anyone how he'd come by the information he had. Jesse was already nodding and getting to his feet. "You got it." He crossed the room with quick strides, stepped around the desk instead of through it, and kissed the top of DB's head. "Heh. Awesome. It's kind of like a surprise each time."

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DB grinned and rubbed his head where Jesse had touched it. He almost reached out, but decided not to. He'd rather see Jesse off with a kiss that worked than an attempt to touch that hadn't. "I'll be back with the little princess in a just a few minutes." Jesse smiled at him, looking pleased, and winked out of the room. DB sucked back the last couple of draws on his cigarette and snuffed it out. He closed the newspaper and made sure there weren't any open files on the desk that might scare a little girl. As he waited for Jesse to bring Gwen back, he jotted down a couple of questions she might be able to answer and debated asking for more details on the murder she'd witnessed. He didn't want to upset her, but they had so little to go on. "This is cool." Jesse's voice came through the front room. "I'm glad you thought of it. Come on, let's go show DB." Jesse came in through the door, his eyes slightly wild. "You remember DB, right Gwennie?" With one hand Jesse waved at DB; the other was tangled in Gwen's fingers. DB gave Gwen a smile. "Hey, honey." It took him a moment, but then he realized that Jesse and Gwen were actually holding hands, not just pretend. "She said she could follow me better this way. She's right." Jesse looked like he was trying to be calm, probably for Gwen's sake. "Gwen had a good time with the girls," he went on quickly. "They went to a lot of movies." He tried not to be jealous that Jesse was holding hands with Gwen. She was a little girl and needed the comfort. "Movies are good. Did you explain to her about what we're going to do?" "That you're going to talk to her for a bit and ask some questions, and I'm going to whip off to see some other people." Jesse nodded and led Gwen to his chair. "I promised to take her to meet Madam Yanya later, too. She's heard stories." "As long as I don't have to tag along on the Yanya visit..." Not that he didn't like the medium, but things had gotten very personal while they were there. "Heck, no. Gwen is too young to hear you and Madam Yanya bicker." Right, because Jesse had nothing to do with the bickering. "So, you two okay? I can go?" "Sure, we're good. Maybe check back on us in a bit?" He wasn't exactly Mr. Wonderful With Kids.

Jesse smiled and nodded, clearly knowing what DB needed. "Of course." He knelt down in front of Gwen and let go of her hand. "I'll be back in a bit, honey. You can talk to him and ask him questions if you want, and you just tell him what you can. If you need me, you just hold on a little bit because I'll be back soon. I don't want you to leave here without me, okay? That would scare me and I won't be able to find you. Do you understand? You need to stay here." Gwen nodded slowly, her gaze fixed on Jesse's face. "I'll wait here for you. I promise. It'll be okay." "Good girl." Jesse stood up and looked at DB, mouthing, "I'll be as fast as I can," at him. He grunted to let Jesse know he'd seen the words and then turned back to Gwen, summoning the girl up a friendly smile. "So... you don't mind answering a few questions for me?" She shook her head. "Nope. Is it more about the man?" She seemed a lot calmer than she had the first time they’d met. Maybe hanging out with hookers wasn't as bad as he'd thought. "It is. I'm sorry, but the more information you can give us, the better chance we have of getting him before he can hurt anyone else, you know? I need to know if you can remember anything else at all -- either from when you saw him hurting that lady or when he took you." She frowned a little. "When he was hurting the lady, there was shadows and he was kind of far away. And when he took me he didn't let me see anything, not really. I saw his sleeve, and I know he had a hat on. Like a ball cap, not a cowboy hat or the kind of hat a policeman wears." DB jotted down notes as she talked. "What about his voice, honey? Did he sound young? Or old?" "Kinda old. Like Daddy or you, but not like Poppy." Gee, thanks, kid, he thought. He supposed he was pretty old to an eight year old, but still. "Could you tell what color his skin was?" She shook her head. "He had gloves on. They smelled like a garden." Damn it. "Like flowers or dirt?" "Like the special dirt my mommy uses in the rose beds. It's got special poop in it, not like regular dirt." She looked very knowledgeable about it.

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"Do you help your mommy with her rose garden?" If he could trust her information, that probably made the guy a gardener, or a worker at a nursery. He bet a lot of people in Gwen's neighborhood employed a gardener. Maybe a lot of them even used the same one, if he was good and word of mouth got his name passed around. "All the time. We have three bushes and the baby one in the middle is mine. My mom won't let me use the rose dust for mites, but I feed the bushes and trim and sometimes she lets me mulch, too." She sighed and looked at him. "I grow nice roses." Oh, she knew her stuff. The gardener angle was definitely a go. "I bet you do. So you guys don't have a gardener, then?" "Nope, but the Korton's next door do, and the Johnston's across the street. My mom said she likes doing it herself and that paying someone to do her hobby for her is just silly. Do you have a hobby?" "I like reading detective novels." Which was maybe a silly hobby for a PI to have, kind of like a busman's hobby. If that made any sense. "Does Lucy have a gardener?" "I..." Gwen frowned again and her head tilted a little to the side. She looked a bit like a confused puppy for a moment, but DB didn't think she'd appreciate hearing that. Or maybe she would; kids were confusing. "There was a truck there once with shovels and junk in the back. They were planting trees in the backyard, or maybe building the walkway? I don't remember." She looked upset, her chin starting to quiver. "That's okay, honey. You've remembered a lot. You've done really well, really." Hell, just knowing the guy was a gardener helped. He could go knock on one of the neighbors' doors and pretend to be new to the area, inquire about their gardener. "Really?" She perked up a bit. "I helped?" "Yeah, honey, you did." Not as much as he'd been hoping, but she had made a difference. Besides, he had no clue how to cheer up a little girl if he couldn't give her a chocolate bar or an ice cream cone. "Good." She nodded and looked around the office. "How come you don't have any pictures of your wife?" He blinked at her. "Because I don't have one." "Why not? Wives are nice." "I'm sure they are, but I um... I..." Shit. What if his being gay freaked her out? He cleared his throat, knowing it was too damn soon to expect Jesse to come back. He finally settled on, "I'd rather have a husband than a wife."

She looked at him suspiciously. "But boys are kind of... you know. Gross."

"Hey! I'm a boy!"

"Oops." She didn't look terribly bothered by her faux pas. "Jesse is a boy, too. He's all

right, I guess."

"He is. I like Jesse." He couldn't help but smile as he said it.

"Ohhhhhh." She grinned and nodded. "Gotcha. You like Jesse. Does he know?" She

pulled her legs up to her chest and squeaked, giggling like she had something on him that

she could use to her advantage if she only knew how.

He rolled his eyes. God. "Yes. He knows." And too soon or not, he'd better get back here

soon before the little minx ferreted out more of his secrets.

"So, are you going to take him on a date?" She squealed again and wiggled harder. "I

know all about dates. There's dinner and movies and then you run out of gas."

His mouth dropped open. "What? Who told you that?"

"Lucy." She looked at him like he was missing the obvious. "Everyone knows that."

"No. No, not everyone knows that. Especially eight year old everyones." He'd keep the

fact that he and Jesse had skipped right to the running out of gas part to himself.

Although, really, they'd worked together awhile before that. Still, that wasn't the same as

dating. Shit, did Jesse want to go out on a date with him?

"Knows what?" Jesse had come in behind him. "Do I know? Do I want to know? Man,

she looks happy. What did you do?"

DB jumped a little. "She's making fun of me."

Thank God Jesse was back.

"Good for you, honey." Jesse nodded to her. "I do that all the time."

"He likes it," she said, giggling and looking devious.

DB rolled his eyes and then shot Jesse a look to let the ghost know he didn't. "Gwen's

been a big help, actually. The guy that took her is a gardener."

Jesse went pale, even for a ghost. "That's interesting," he said in a very calm voice. "Gwen, come with me, honey. I'm going to take you over to Madam Yanya's now. DB is going to get in his car and drive to 1543 Terrace Hill. Right now. This instant."

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"I am?" It took a second, but the penny dropped pretty quickly. "Okay, I am. Is that where you know who lives?" He stood up and shrugged his coat on, heading out, pulling the door closed behind him not even caring if that meant Jesse and Gwen had to walk through it. "Uh-huh. Meet you there as soon as I can." Jesse had Gwen by the hand again and she looked a little scared. "It's okay, honey. Madam Yanya will talk to you and I'll have her call the police, too." "Just don't let go," Gwen said, all her giggles gone. "I won't. Promise. Be careful, DB." "1543 Terrace Lane, right? They have a gardener?" He didn't want to scare Gwen anymore, but he wanted to make sure he knew what he was walking into. "Hill. Not Lane. It's west, and yes, they do. But he's not really doing anything. He's just... watching." Jesse made a frustrated sound. "I didn't think anything of it." "Get Gwen to Yanya's and meet me there." He slammed the office front door closed and ran.

Chapter Ten Jesse took Gwen right into Madam Yanya's sitting room. "You stay here, honey. I'll make sure she turns on the TV for you." Gwen nodded and sat on the couch looking terrified. "Lucy lives on a hill." "I know, honey. DB's going to get her. I promise." God, DB better move fast. Jesse couldn't bear to look at Gwen's huge eyes if they were too late. "Madam Yanya?" he yelled. "Lord, not you." Madam Yanya was in the shop proper, but looking over at him. "What now? Oh, hush, missy -- it's just a ghost; I'm not talking to myself!" The female customer backed up a couple of steps and Jesse ignored her. He rushed forward, talking fast. "1543 Terrace Hill, got that? It's where Lucy lives and the man might grab her. DB is on his way now, but I need you to call the police and send someone to back him up, tell them you had a vision or something of a gardener stealing a little girl. 1543 Terrace Hill. Her name is Lucy. Oh, and Gwen is in your room and would like to watch TV." Madam Yanya blinked at him. "She'd like to watch -- " "Call the police!" "Don't you snap at me! 1543 Terrace Hill. Got it. And if you're wrong I'll never have any credibility ever again." "If I'm right, a little girl could die." He couldn't get much more blunt than that. The woman customer was almost to the door. "No little girl will die if I can help it," Madam Yanya said darkly. "Fine, you go. I'll call the cops." The customer fled and Jesse yelled a thank you just before he put himself back at Lucy's house, praying DB would get there soon. DB wasn't there yet, but the gardener had Lucy. She was limp in his arms, a cloth held in front of her face as the guy ran along a walking path between the houses toward the woods. "Oh, shit!" Jesse followed the man as best he could, trying to keep his bearings from the house so he could get to DB at the same time as he followed the man and child. It helped, at least, that trees weren't an issue for him; he could go in a straight line.

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He heard tires squealing back on the street behind them, followed by his name, the wind carrying the shout. "You hurt her, I'll kill you myself," Jesse told the oblivious man. With a snarl he put himself back by DB's car, already shouting and pointing. "In the woods, run!" DB nodded, turned off the engine and went running in the direction he'd pointed. "Did Yanya call the cops?" "She better have." Jesse went with him, moving ahead and back. The scum bag was still moving and that meant Lucy wasn't buried yet. Maybe she was even still alive. "She said she would. He's going left, the ground slopes down. Be careful." He put himself forward again, between the two of them, and started looking for rocks to throw. He was starting to get dizzy with motion sickness. DB was trying to be quiet, but every step sounded huge to Jesse. He swore he could hear DB panting. "I gotta get you in better shape." He didn't know if DB heard him or not, and it didn't matter. Lucy was moving, just her arm, but Jesse didn't think it was because of the way she was being held. "Oh, no, no, no, little one. You need to stay still and quiet. DB! Hurry!" DB stopped trying to be quiet and came barreling toward him, shouting. "Stop! I know what you did! Put the girl down!" The man turned suddenly, and Lucy's arm flew out. Her eyes were barely open and Jesse was almost sure she was either drugged or stunned. "What?" the man said, his eyes wide, his whole body tense. "What the hell are you talking about. She's my niece." "God, he's younger than I thought," Jesse said, getting really close. "She's alive. He's a creep. Shoot him." DB pulled out his gun, coming forward until he was about ten feet away from the man. "I don't care who she is, put her down." For a long moment no one moved, and then Lucy made a noise, a little whimpery moan of fear and pain, and the man's hands flexed. "DB!" Jesse could see it, he could see the man about to throw Lucy so he could get away. "I'll get her! Don't let him get away!" "Just put her down!" DB shouted. "Don't hurt her!" Snarling, the man threw Lucy toward DB and turned to run. Jesse was sure that he'd planned for DB to either stay with the child or perhaps even shoot her in reflex.

"Go!" Jesse yelled, reaching out and catching Lucy before she hit the ground. He could hear sirens. "Get the cops!" DB shouted back as he took off after the guy. Tripping, DB went down and rolled, but then he popped back up, limping a little, but still moving strongly. "How the fuck am I supposed to get them?" Jesse stared after them and set Lucy down carefully. "Don't get yourself killed, god damn it!" She stared up at him with wide eyes that started to fill with tears. Wait a minute. He'd been able to hold her and she could see him. Oh, fuck she wasn't dead already, was she? "Lucy?" Oh, shit, oh, shit. "Do you hurt, honey?" God, maybe she would scream or something. Maybe DB would just shoot the creep. "Did you see the man who took you?" The tears started to fall and she started to cry. "I want my mommy!" She began to wail. Well, that would take care of getting the cops to come this way. "That's it, baby, you just cry your heart out for me." He looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of DB and wondering if it was ethical to tell the child the gardener had taken her. Probably not. But if it looked like the cops wanted DB, he'd totally do it. Her screams got louder and now he could hear the cops coming down the same hill they'd chased the gardener down. She was going to be okay. And then Jesse heard a shot. "There's the girl!" One of the cops broke away from the rest and ran toward Lucy, already talking into his radio. Up by the house a woman started to scream for her baby, and Jesse figured it was time to go help his man. He'd lost track of them, so he followed the cops, trusting Lucy was in good hands. "This way!" Shouted one of the cops, taking off in the right direction. "Stop! I said stop!" There was another shot. "DB!" Jesse put himself as close to the sounds as he could. "The cops are here; they've got Lucy!" God, DB was still limping. "Are you okay?" He couldn't seem to stop yelling. DB's head whipped around and then, as Jesse watched, the gardener launched himself up from where he was lying at DB's feet, knocking DB over, the gun going flying. "No!" It was like that bitch in the hospital again. No way in hell was Jesse letting anyone hurt DB. He launched himself, but at the gun this time. He'd shoot if he had to; it wasn't like he could go to jail.

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The two of them rolled partway down the hill, coming to a hard stop as DB's back hit a tree. The gardener slammed DB in the face and the gut and then got up as the sounds of the cops pursuing them got louder. He took off, dragging his right leg behind him. Jesse lifted the gun and pulled the trigger, aiming to take the bastard's head off. Of course, he missed, but it sure made the police hurry up, and the woods were filled with shouts of '"Shooter!" One of the cops dropped down by DB and Jesse shot again, adding to the mass of confusion. This time he got the creep high up on the other leg and he fell to the ground, amid shouts and yells from the very upset cops. "Nobody move," shouted one cop, as they all pulled out their guns, several trained on DB, most on the gardener. "This guy's out cold," the cop examining DB said. That had the focus shifting to the gardener, just the one cop staying by DB's inert form. Jesse very casually set DB's gun down in the fallen leaves and walked toward the scumbag gardener. He was pretty sure the man was alive. "Sicko," Jesse told him, not able to keep his mouth shut. He didn't really have a reason to, either. This man had killed a baby, a little girl, to protect himself. He was a rapist and a murderer. Jesse suddenly wanted DB's gun back. "Put your hands on top of your head!" The cops were slowly approaching, a half dozen guns trained on the asshole. Jesse hoped he tried to make a run for it. He was obviously a coward, though, his hands going up. "Don't shoot! Did you get him? Did you get the guy who took the little girl? I tried to stop him, but he shot me!" "Oh, you liar!" Jesse stared down at him. "She saw you. She did." She had to. He bent down low and looked into the man's eyes. "I will haunt you for Gwen. Every day. You killed her, do you hear me? You will pay." "I'm hurt! Please, you've got to help me!" The cops didn't say anything until they had the gardener cuffed. One of them called for an ambulance, another one started treating the gardener's wounds with basic first aid. The others milled around, comparing notes. Jesse thought he heard DB groan.

"Hey. Hey, you." He put himself close to DB, avoiding the cop watching him. "Come on, baby. Come around for me, need you to talk to the nice policeman before they listen to lies." DB groaned again, eyes opening. "Oh, ow. Ow." "This one's coming around!" "That's it." Jesse patted him nervously, his hand not really connecting. "Wake up. Tell them what we saw. Please, honey." DB tried to get up, but the cop leaned a knee into his gut. "Just stay right where you are and put your hands behind your head." "What?" DB blinked. "You can't arrest me -- I saved Lucy. You have to find the gardener. He's the one. He's the one who took Lucy, who killed Gwen and that poor woman." The cops exchanged looks and Jesse nodded his head. "Tell them you saw him carrying Lucy, that he had a cloth over her mouth. That Lucy and Gwen saw him in the park. Tell them you know Madam Yanya, anything!" Jesse was vaguely aware that he wasn't helping and was probably making things worse. "Tell them to ask Lucy!" "She's okay isn't she?" DB asked. "Lucy, I mean? He had a cloth or something over her face and she wasn't moving." One of the two detectives who were working the case showed up, moving carefully down the hill. "All right, people, you're walking all over my scene here." "Two suspects in custody," someone said and cops began moving around, one of them trying to pull DB up. "This one can walk." "I am going to kill Yanya," Jesse muttered. "Would it have killed her to tell them you'd be here?" The detective got up in DB's face. "Well, well. Fancy meeting you here." "It's a damn good thing I showed up when I did or he'd have gotten away with her!" "So say you. Have the EMTs check him out and then take him down to the station." With that the guy went over to check out the other suspect. "Come on," the cop holding DB said. "Let's go."

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Well, fuck. Jesse followed along, fuming, without any idea what to do. He ranted a bit, too, calling each cop a nasty name and talking extensively about the detective's parentage. "Tell me what to do," he finally said to DB as they picked their way through the trees. "Yanya? Throw a brick at these clowns?" "Everything'll get sorted down at the station," DB said.

"That's right, buddy. We're taking you down to the station. You can tell your story there."

DB gave him a look and shrugged.

Jesse realized he was wringing his hands and made himself stop. "I'm acting like a

teenage girl, aren't I? I hate it when they try to arrest you. It makes me cranky."

DB didn't reply, but he did shoot Jesse a look that seemed to say "You hate it?"

"I'm just gonna go tell Gwen we got him." That would be nice. And it would put him out

of DB's way.

DB nodded.

"And then I'll meet you at the station so we can go home together. Or you know. I'll camp

out with you in jail."

DB shot him a glare. "I am not going to spend the night in jail."

The cop snorted. "You keep telling yourself that."

Jesse glared at the cop. "Want me to shoot him? I shot the creep. Right in the ass. Maybe.

Around there, anyway."

DB glared at him again and jerked his head.

"Hey! What are you doing? You try and run away and I'll shoot you." The cop shook DB

a little and dragged him up the hill faster.

"No one shoots him but me!" Jesse took one look at DB's face and hastily added, "which I would never, ever do, and going to Madam Yanya's now. See you later, DB." He didn't wait for a reply, knowing there wouldn't be one. He just put himself down the road a ways for a few minutes until he'd composed himself then headed to Yanya's to share the good news. DB would have all the time in the world to tell him off later. He hoped.

Chapter Eleven It was well after midnight before DB was able to leave the police station, and he knew he was going home to a mess. Jesse had told him the police had searched his apartment and his office, as well as Donald Webber's. They'd found the evidence connecting Donald Webber to not only to the park murder, but also Gwen's, which got DB off the hook. For this at least. The police had made it clear they were going to be keeping an eye on DB. That was fine with him, he'd already sworn off ghost cases for good. He let himself into his apartment and froze. Jesse had warned him, but still. The place was totally trashed. Sighing, DB closed the door behind him and stepped over a slew of comics from his collection, headed for the kitchen. He sure hoped there was some beer in the fridge. Jesse was in there, oddly. DB didn't think he'd ever seen Jesse in the kitchen before and certainly not looking with such intense concentration into a drawer. "Don't tell me I've got ghost mice or something." Jesse jumped and spun around. "Christ, you scared me!" He shook himself all over and then looked back at the drawer. "No. But they spent a lot of time going through your junk drawer and I was trying to see why." DB grinned, amused that he'd managed to startle Jesse again. "My junk drawer?" Frowning, he went over, pawing through the crap in there. "I think they were amazed by the tubes of lube. Or maybe just at how old they are." DB whapped Jesse, gasping a little as he actually connected. "They're not that old." Okay, maybe they were. He made a face and tossed them into the garbage. "I suppose." Jesse came and stood close to him. "They kept you a long time. I was getting worried." "Yeah, well, they had that asshole telling them it was me, and my credibility isn't exactly golden with them. I figured they'd eventually get something on the other guy, or at least not have enough evidence to actually charge me, but they sure enjoyed keeping me in the hot seat." He shook his head. "No more ghost cases. I can't afford them." Jesse sighed and nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I wouldn't have pushed this one but... well, you saw her." He shrugged. "I'll avoid the park from now on. Did they get a confession or are they still gathering evidence?"

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"I don't know, they wouldn't tell me a damn thing. I do know they had enough to let me go and I think they charged him." He went to the fridge and gave a little whoop when there proved to be not only two bottles of beer left, but a couple of take out boxes with leftover Chinese. He opened them up and sniffed. They looked safe, so he tossed their contents onto a plate and into the microwave. "If you die of food poisoning, don't bitch to me." Jesse was sticking right by him, as close as close could be. "I keep hoping Lucy will help. She was pretty freaked when I checked on her, though." "Yeah, well, they would have kept me at least overnight if they weren't sure they had the right guy." He grabbed the plate out of the microwave when it beeped and went over to the sofa. He had to put his food on the chair, right the coffee table and put the cushions and pillows back on the sofa before he could sit and eat. "Do you know where the remote is?" he asked before taking a cautious bite. Oh, that didn't taste too bad. "On top of the TV, I think." Jesse moved past him and made a grab for the remote, so surprised when he picked it up that he dropped it again. "You know, this is starting to annoy me. There's all those stories about haunted houses with floating objects, right? I should be able to do this." "You had it for a moment there." DB narrowed his eyes suddenly. "Hey. The cops said I shot Webber twice, but I would swear I only hit him the once. You know anything about that?" "I shot him in the ass." Jesse beamed at him. "I missed once, but I got him the second time. Your gun is really heavy, by the way. I've never held one before." "Wow. You actually were able to hold it and shoot it off?" Hell, if Jesse could do that, they had to be able to figure out the making out thing. "Uh-huh. I was really, really not happy with him. I just kind of decided there was no way he was getting away, and I was going to stop him. So I picked up the gun and shot him." Jesse made a face and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I missed. But it was heavy and I'd never done it before! But then I got him." Jesse grinned again and blushed. "That's pretty cool." DB thought about it for a minute. "On the other hand, I'm not sure I like the idea of ghosts being able to kill people. I mean, I know you're one of the good guys, but a lot of ghosts aren't." "I promise not to tell any other ghosts that they, too, can shoot guns. How's that?" "That's good. I just hope none of the really bad ones figure it out for themselves, you know?" Because that would be... well, really bad. He shook himself. It wasn't his problem. Especially right now. He had supper to eat, a beer to drink. And a lover to try to touch.

Jesse wandered around a few minutes, absently poking at things, or at least pretending to. He always stopped just shy of touching them. "DB?' Oh, oh. That sounded like Jesse was thinking again. "Yeah?" Man, he should have turned on the TV while he had the chance. "You remember that thing about fucking me blind over the kitchen table?" His cock perked up in his pants. "Yeah." He didn't think he was ready to try that yet; the table could do some serious damage to him if Jesse went ghost on him mid-fuck. Hell, they still hadn't been able to do anything for more than a few seconds at a time. "I'm thinking we should make that a goal. Like, a real goal. By such and such a date, which may or may not be my birthday, we're going to be good enough at the touching thing that it happens." Oh, man. He sounded determined, too. Thinking and determined. That never boded well. "When exactly is your birthday? And what happens if we aren't ready yet by then?" They were good enough at arguing about shit that he didn't see any need to set themselves up for fighting in advance. "Well, it's not for a while. And if we aren't, we aren't. But I think a solid goal is a useful tool in making our plans." God, he really did die in the eighties. DB rolled his eyes. "Are you going to keep bugging me about this until I agree to it?" "Yes." "All right, all right. When's your birthday, Jesse?" How weird was it to be discussing a birthday with a dead man? It was pretty weird. But then weird was kind of how his life was going these days. "September. September fifteenth." Jesse was still kind of prowling around restlessly. "And that's what I want." He nodded sharply, his color high. Weird that a dead guy could blush, too. "Okay, fine. September fifteenth we'll try to do you over the table." He thought they were putting pressure on that they didn't need, but the touching thing was getting better all the time. Especially when they didn't think about it, which he was most certainly doing right now. He had to stop doing that. He grabbed the remote before Jesse could try for it again, found a channel with some mindless comedy on and settled in to eat his supper.

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"Oh, thank God." Jesse finally settled, perching on the other end of the couch. "I tried to turn it on a couple of hours ago and just got frustrated." "You know you could have used your powers for good and cleaned the place up for me." DB grinned at Jesse to let him know it was a tease. "I'm not your maid." Jesse grinned back at him and flipped him off. "What this place needs is a nice fire, not a cleaning. The cops really brought out its inner mess." "Hey, that's my home you're dissing. Some of us have to live here." His place wasn't that bad. Although he really could use a cleaning lady to come through once a week and give it some spit and polish. He needed more real paying cases for that, though. "I suppose." Jesse didn't look repentant. "Are you almost done eating?" "Hey. It's after midnight and I spent the whole damn day in jail. I'm hungry and I'm going to eat every last bite on this plate." He was going to finish his beer, too. Still, his cock started going hard -- he knew what Jesse wanted. "Yeah, yeah. I don't suppose you'd considering hurrying it up a bit?" Jesse was looking at him steadily, gaze intent and bright. "Almost lost you today, DB." "I know." It had been a close call. He would say he should stick to non-criminal cases, except his cheating husband cases seemed to be equally as likely to get him shot at. "I seem to be making a habit of it." "Not my most favorite part of the job." Jesse moved closer, not really appearing to move. But there he was, a lot closer than he'd been and he was still looking at DB the same way. Like dinner had better be over really soon. "Let me eat, Jesse, or I'm going to pass out on you in the middle of the proceedings." He was three-quarters done anyway, just the noodles and a couple little bites of beef left. Jesse nodded. "Yeah, okay." He put his hand on DB's thigh, though. "I'll just watch TV." "Just make sure that hand stays where it is." Not quite solid, it still left him with tingles radiating out from where it sat, and his cock perked up some more. He pretended to concentrate on the TV, too, not even tasting the food anymore as he shoveled it down. "Sure. That one." Looking right at him, Jesse started using his other hand. But not on DB; no, Jesse was being a good ghost. He was getting his own pants undone. "Christ, Jesse." He turned his attention back to the TV, which was commercials now and not taking up his attention at all. Groaning, he shoved the last of the food into his mouth and grabbed his beer to wash it down with.

"If you hurry you can catch up." There was a catch in Jesse's voice, what might have been a hitch in his breathing. If he breathed. One of these days DB was really going to have to find out about stuff like that. But not right now, not while Jesse's hand was gliding up and down, nice and slow. He nearly choked on his beer, but he managed to get it all down, get the bottle and plate sitting on the coffee table and the TV turned off. "Bedroom," he growled. "See you there." Jesse flickered out, but not before DB saw his eyes close and his mouth open in a moan. From the bedroom came the immediate sounds of Jesse muttering to himself. "Stupid clothes, always in the way. DB, come on." He shook his head and started stripping as he went to the bedroom. He stopped mid-strip when he saw the room. It was in worse shape than the living room, his mattress off the bed, drawers emptied out, sheets God only knew where. "Fuck." He shrugged out of his open shirt and grabbed the mattress, cursing when he realized the cops had cut the bottom open from one end to the other. "Did they think I had a secret stash of confession letters in here or what?" "I don't know. I don't care!" Jesse was naked, or next thing to it. He threw off his shirt to finish the job. "Fuck the mattress. I almost lost you, DB." "Excuse me, but I need the mattress on the bed to fuck you. And I know I almost died, you don't have to keep reminding me!" He manhandled the mattress back onto the bed, turning the cut side down. It would have to do. "Right." Jesse nodded and moved to him. "Right. Let's stop talking about it. Let's stop talking." A hand landed on him and DB felt the tingles start up. "Okay?" "Yes. Screw the cops." DB stripped his jeans off and threw himself down on the bed, looking at Jesse in all his naked glory. His cock finished the job of getting hard, tip kissing his belly. "Screw the cops." Jesse was nodding like he agreed, but he sounded like he had no idea what he was agreeing to, just saying words as he looked at DB. "Mine." He climbed onto the bed and straddled DB's hips. "Close your eyes." DB did as he was told, arching into the tingles that moved over him. "Keep them closed," Jesse whispered. The tingles shifted and danced, then a wet tongue licked up his neck. The sensation broke away to tingles before coming back as kisses pressed along his jaw. "Don't look. Maybe it's easier if you don't see." Jesse kissed him before he could answer.

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Warm lips against his own had him gasping, and Jesse's tongue slipped between them, hot and wriggling in his mouth. He moaned, hands fisting into the sheets. He didn't think about it, didn't do anything but let himself feel. Jesse's hands carded through his hair and the kiss deepened. He could feel Jesse's chest against his own, warm and solid, and then hands skimming his shoulders as Jesse's mouth moved back to his neck. "Yes," Jesse whispered between licks and kisses. "This. You feel so good. Yes." "Yes!" He arched, Jesse's body dissolving above him, the solid warmth becoming just tingles again. It was okay, though, because the kisses were still real, Jesse's hands making real contact every now and then. He reached up, his own hands blindly finding Jesse's shoulders. Groaning, he slid his hands down until his fingers found Jesse's nipples and he tweaked them both. Jesse gasped and the tingles grew more intense for a moment, surrounding him before backing off to more manageable levels. "Harder," Jesse begged. "Please, DB." There was almost rhythm to the tingling and the way it moved, and DB could imagine Jesse thrusting against him. His own cock was hard as nails and he started thrusting up, imagining their cocks were sliding together. He pinched Jesse's nipples again and twisted them hard, too. For a moment or two he could feel the heat of Jesse's cock sliding against his own, burning along his belly. "Fuck!" DB pushed up again, but the real sensation was gone, leaving only the tingles behind. "Oh!" Jesse panted against him and for a moment all real sensation was gone. The kisses on his neck and shoulders came back. "That's it. God, yes. Can feel you. Need you, DB. So right." He nodded, keeping his eyes closed and enjoying the real touches along with the tingles. He didn't think about it too hard, just accepted and got closer and closer to coming. Jesse talked, murmuring softly as he petted and stroked and kissed; DB wasn't even sure if all the words were for him. But when the panting picked up and the words became a chant of "God" and "Yes" over and over, DB was pretty sure Jesse was getting what he needed. His cock was going to just explode, the tingles all over his body, Jesse's kisses fading in and out like little explosions. And then he could feel Jesse's cock again, rubbing against his own. He cried out, coming hard. "Yes!" Jesse yelled, too, and he could feel Jesse grinding down on him, cock hard and hot and getting slippery as Jesse slid in DB's come, then it throbbed alongside his own, twitching and pulsing.

Heat splashed up along his body and DB laughed, rubbing it into his and Jesse's bellies for a moment or two before Jesse's body disappeared. He opened his eyes slowly, looking up to meet Jesse's. "Hey. That was pretty good." Not perfect, but it beat the hell out of how they'd been doing up 'til now. "Uh-huh." Jesse beamed at him and brushed his mouth over DB's, leaving tingles that lingered. It didn't feel so weird, anymore. "Guess that's all I can do for now, though." Jesse laughed and rolled to the side. "Damn. That was good. I could feel you." "Yeah. We give a whole new meaning to feel you up." He grinned and rolled to his side, too, watching Jesse settle. He was going to have to find the sheets and blankets from the mess before he fell asleep, but for now he just enjoyed the afterglow. It was better than usual. "We need to practice a lot," Jesse said, still smiling broadly. "We can practice at the office. Over the desk." He rolled his eyes. "No sex at work, Jesse." He could just imagine someone coming in and seeing his naked ass humping at the desk, no one else in the room. "You say that now." Jesse smirked and looked down their bodies. "We'll see. But not now -- now, you need to sleep or something." "Yeah. I do." He leaned in and tried not to think how kissing Jesse should be impossible. Their lips brushed together briefly, but it was enough. He licked his lips, picking up the flavor of Jesse on them and smiled. Yeah, it was enough.

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Epilogue Jesse looked down at the little hand in his own. "So Lucy is okay and with her mom and dad, like I told you. And the man that hurt you... the man who hurt you and that lady, he's in jail." He swallowed hard and looked at Gwen's face. "Let's go see DB. He'll want to say goodbye, I think." He had no idea if that was really, really true, but Jesse kind of needed DB to say goodbye before Gwen moved on. "Okay." She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Then Madam Yanya. She's funny."

"She is." Kind of hard to disagree with that. "Okay, you come with me. Hold tight." He

put them in DB's office, hoping his aim was true.

They materialized right by DB's desk. Go him.

DB looked up from the morning paper. "Hi, Jesse. Hey, Gwennie." He looked a little

surprised to see them.

"Gwen's... going." Jesse looked down at the top of her head. "She can go on now. So I

thought you'd like to say goodbye before I take her back to the park woods."

"Oh. Sure." DB smiled at the little girl. "I'm glad everything worked out for you, honey.

Thank you for your help in catching the bad guy."

Gwen nodded. "He was bad. I hope he never hurts anyone again." She tilted her head and

looked up at Jesse and then back at DB. "Did Jesse really shoot him in the bum?"

Jesse found something else to look at.

DB laughed and nodded. "He did. I think he was aiming higher, though."

Gwen giggled. "The bum," she whispered, clearly delighted. "That's good." Jesse felt her

let go of his hand and he looked back down to see her blow a kiss at DB. "Thank you, Mister." "You're welcome, sweetheart. You have a good... afterlife."

"I'll try. I hear there's ice cream." She took Jesse's hand again and looked up at him.

"Madam Yanya now?"

"Sure, honey." Jesse refused to have a thick voice yet. Maybe when he said his own

goodbye. He glanced at DB and said, "I'll be back in a little while."

DB nodded, a sad smile on his face. "Bye..."

With Gwen waving, Jesse took her to Madam Yanya's, kind of glad he'd let DB say his

goodbye. It seemed he'd needed it after all.

Madam Yanya, once she'd stopped glaring at Jesse for once more appearing, was just as

sweet as could be with Gwen. She was clearly the source of the ice cream information, as

well, and promised Gwen that there would be plenty of toppings, too.

"And when you're done with ice cream, child, there's going to be so many things for you

to do. You'll be warm and safe and happy. I promise." Madam Yanya looked like she was

going to cry, crouched way down on the floor to look at Gwen's face. "And in a few

years, before you know it, you're family will all be together again. It's a good thing,

moving on."

Jesse knew she was saying the truth. He also knew it didn't apply to him, not yet. It didn't

bother him, hearing her get Gwen ready to leave; he had a reason to stay.

Gwen blew her a kiss, too, and said goodbye to Madam Yanya as she took Jesse's hand.

"See you," Jesse said with a grin.

"Child, I just know that's true." Madam Yanya rolled her eyes. "I got a feeling you're

going to be the bane of my existence, aren't you?"

"I'll try not to be." Jesse grinned even brighter.

He got a shrewd look in return. "You work out your problem?"

Jesse could feel the blush rise. "We're getting there, thanks. I need to go now." He could

still hear her laughing as he took Gwen to the park.

"What did she mean?" Gwen asked curiously as they walked toward the woody place

where he'd found her.

"Nothing, honey. Just grownup stuff."

"About you and him being married?"

Jesse laughed. "Kind of. Hey. Here's your tree. Ready?"

Gwen nodded and turned to face him. "I think so. I'm kind of scared."

Nodding, Jesse kneeled down. "I'm sure you are. It's another big change. But this is the

right way, honey. You're going somewhere wonderful and lovely. You shouldn't have died, Gwen. I'm sorry you did."

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She sighed and nodded. "Me, too. I'm sorry you died, Jesse. Maybe I'll see you someday." "I hope so, honey." Gwen looked at him, her eyes older than they should have been, and then she hugged him. "Goodbye, Jesse. Thank you." "Thank you," he whispered back, holding her close. She grew warm in his arms, bright until he had to look away. When the light faded, she was gone. Jesse sighed and sat on the grass for a long time. He might have stayed even longer, but he could hear a voice calling, sounding scared. Finally rousing himself, he went to see what was going on. *** DB stared at the phone, willing it to ring. He needed some paying clients in the worst way. He needed cheaters and liars and people who were paranoid. It was a little ghoulish, maybe, but those cases were his bread and butter and not only was the butter getting thin, but the bread was almost gone. He shook his head as he put the bills in the inbox, sorting them by oldest to newest, the ones that were threatening dire consequences if not paid going right at the top. As soon as he had the cash, they were on the top of his list. He wondered what was keeping Jesse. Maybe the ghost thought he'd be in a foul mood what with all the bills and expenses and no money coming in thing. Jesse could be awfully perceptive when he wanted to be. Still, thinking about his very own ghost put a smile on his lips. A voice came from the outer office, which was weird because he hadn't heard the door and it wasn't Jesse. It was a young voice, female. "... sure he can help me?" she was asking. "I'm sure." Jesse came to the doorway, looking apologetic and holding hands with a girl who looked a bit older than Gwen, maybe twelve. "DB, this is Molly. Um. She kind of died last night..." END