A/N: Last part.

I have the least to say about this one… except that its concept was certainly my favorite of the three.

And, also, this fic succeeded in making my beta-reader very sad.

Enjoy.

--

Night had fallen and the chill that had started to come in with fall was particularly strong. The scientist didn't really seemed to notice it, however, as he stepped out of his car. From where he stood, he could see that his house was nearly dark, with only the occasional flicker of the television screen.

No doubt it was Dib watching that strange paranormal program he had taken a liking to. His sudden interest in the supernatural had seemed to come out of nowhere, likely a result of that show, in fact. The boy hadn't watched much television before Saline left, and the scientist had never questioned why; he still didn't.

All he knew was now that she was gone Dib had started to become a bit odd. He could only assume that he was missing his surrogate mother figure, but there was little he could do. One day she had simply left, taking with her all of the money in their bank account and various schematics and ideas he had written down.

It wasn't too much later that he received the divorce papers in the mail.

They had surprised him a bit; he had barely even realized his wife was no longer around. However, he also wasn't very bothered by the papers and signed them without a second thought, only briefly stopping to wonder if, perhaps, he was growing too detached from his family.

Exhaling heavily, the scientist shook his head and entered the threshold of his home.

Over on the couch, Dib, now nearly four years old, shifted his gaze toward his father. "Hi, dad!" he greeted excitedly, eyes flickering back to the television screen. "I'm watching Mysterious Mysteries of Mysterious Mystery!" he declared proudly.

"Yes, son," he said dismissively, walking past the back of the couch and heading toward the kitchen. That show was nonsense and he probably should have forbidden Dib from watching it, but he was hoping that it was just a phase.

The lackluster response he had received made Dib droop visibly, frowning at the screen where before he was smiling. He squirmed slightly in his seat, as though he was wondering if he should have been there at all.

"Well, my-my wife had died a-about… a year ago and I-I kind of felt like I wouldn't be able to go on without telling her goodbye," a man on the television stammered, looking nervous and somewhat distraught.

The scientist paused, quirking his brow as he listened to the program in the background. He didn't look up at the screen, but he didn't continue his trek toward the kitchen, either.

"Yes, she was in a car accident and died before you could get to the hospital," the host explained, no doubt simply information for the audience at home.

"Ye-yeah, that's right…" the man mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"So, what did you do?" the host inquired, holding up a microphone to the timid man's face.

At this, the scientist's interest was piqued. With a bemused expression, thinking of how silly he was being, he chanced a glance at the program.

"Well, I set out this voice recorder," he said, holding up a simple tape recorder. "And I asked some questions."

"Yes, and you got an EVP from your departed wife?" the host asked the man, before focusing his gaze back onto the camera. "'EVP' stands for Electronic Voice Phenomena, hearing strange things on a tape that were not there when you recorded it."

"I did, this is what I got," he said with a nod, pressing 'play' on his recorder. What followed were a few questions from the man, with no response. This was almost a relief to the scientist, who had slowly migrated right toward the edge of the couch.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get to say goodbye," the man on the tape lamented. There was silence afterwards, but then there was something that could just be barely made out, grainy and distorted in a way.

"Don't be."

The words caused the scientist's eyes to widen underneath his goggles. Normally he would have simply shooed the words away as some malfunction within the device, itself, but for some reason he was quite shocked with the results.

And now he was considering something foolish.

"Dad?" Dib questioned, apparently just now noticing that his father was hovering around the back of the couch. "Were you watching this?" He smiled lightly at the idea.

He coughed at this, appearing almost embarrassed at being found out. "P-perhaps," he answered, at a rare loss for words.

"Hey, you wanna try that so we can talk to mom?" the boy asked, trying not to sound too eager in case that made his father say 'no'.

For a long while, the scientist said nothing. He merely stood there, staring at the television with confusion and apprehension. This was silly; he knew that it was silly. There was no such thing as ghosts, every logical person knew this.

And yet…

"Alright, son," he agreed, simply because this was Dib's idea. It wasn't his and he wouldn't have done it otherwise and maybe once they didn't succeed it would turn Did off of the paranormal for good.

After a quick trip up stairs to retrieve a recorder, he had settled down onto the couch next to Dib. The television was already turned off, light now being given by a small desk lamp on the side table beside the couch.

"You ready, dad?" Dib asked, eyes shimmering with childish anticipation.

With a curt nod, the scientist pressed the 'record' button. "Hello? …Are you here?" He paused afterward, giving time for something to answer… which, of course, it wouldn't. A few more questions followed, basic ones which he figured needed to be asked such as: "Are you my wife?"

He had refrained from inserting anything emotional into the questions, and had not made any side comments at all. Finally, he asked his last question and hit 'stop'. Eyes focused unwaveringly on the recorder, he rewound it.

It made a high pitched whizzing sound before it clicked. Now it was time to see the results… it was just like any other experiment, he supposed.

"Hello? Are you here?" the recorder asked.

…Silence. Nothing but silence.

"Are you my wife?"

…More silence. And this became a pattern. After each question there was only silence. There was no noise at all.

Before it was even done, he had to leave. He sighed and left the recorder playing next to the still present Dib. Clearly disappointed, he slowly made his way into the kitchen. He suddenly felt very tired and began to make himself a pot of coffee, standing by the machine as it hummed away.

Yes, it had been ridiculous to think that he would ever hear her voice again. Even once more… It had been nonsense. All of it was nonsense, the supernatural. He shook his head. His boy would grow out of it, right?

There was an unexpected pulling on his lab coat. Blinking, he looked downward; it was only Dib.

"Dad," he said, nearly jumping up and down with glee, "You really need to come out here and listen because I -"

"Yes, that's nice, son," he sighed, patting the child on the shoulder and giving him a gentle nudge on the back to signify that he didn't want to be bothered.

Frowning, Dib seemed somewhat dejected as he reentered the living room. Carefully, he climbed back onto the couch and picked up the recorder, pressing the 'rewind' button. He stopped it at a particular place, the last question.

"Do you have anything to say to us?" his father on the tape asked and, at first, it seemed as though it would be like all the others, with no response but then something just audible rasped from the recorder:

"I love you."