Patient Name: "Beetlejuice"

Patient Number: 197665

Date of cancellation: December, 1991

Date of entry to institution: January, 1992

Doctor's Notes:

Patient has had a turbulent history, to say the least. Recent events, including a separation with long-time friend and companion Lydia Deetz have caused much concern. However, the patient is moving through the stages of coping (although in a rather unique way) and seems to be reaching acceptance. His mood has shown marked improvement, as has his interaction with other patients...

Doctor Grayne looked over the top of her clipboard at Beetlejuice. He looked back at her, a slight scowl on his lips.

"Do I really have to do this?"

"No." Doctor Grayne shrugged. "But I think it would help you if you did."

Beetlejuice sighed. He had resumed visibility, at least, and was now almost back to his old self. He was still hurting, anyone could see that, and still sorry. But his return to the land of the living, so to speak, had eased some of the tension off of the ward and brought about a sense of ease. As such, Beej felt somewhat more duty bound to play by the rules, even if he acted like he had a bad attitude.

"Fine." He growled, crossing his legs and not looking at the doctor. "But I don't have to like it."

"Agreed." Grayne nodded, flipping over a piece of paper on her clipboard and clicking the end of her pen smartly. "So who should we thank?"

"Lydia." This answer was not surprising, nor was the blunt tone with which it was delivered. "Maybe if I'd thanked her more, she wouldn't have gotten pissed off. Is that what you want to hear?"

Doctor Grayne paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow.

"No. Tell me something more meaningful. Surprise me."

Beej gave her a glare of grudging respect. Over the years, Grayne had learned the best way to deal with Beetlejuice was the no-nonsense approach. He shifted in his chair, staring out of the window, thoughtfully.

"Dot. And the boys. All the Warners, but Dot especially." Beetlejuice spoke slowly, as if picking each word deliberately.

"Why?"

"They all helped me, and they've helped me before. They're good kids, and she knows how to treat people. Clever, you know. Smart."

"Who else?"

"The rest of the ward I guess. For putting up with me, know what I mean?"

"Anyone else?"

"You, the nurses, the other doctors..."

"Again, for putting up with you?"

"Yeah..." He sighed. "That, and not giving up on me. Letting me stay here and not bumping me to Psych. And... Lydia." He was much more earnest this time, his eyes gaining a dull, far-away shine as he bit his lip. "She's done a lot for me... too much. I screwed up, and I know I screwed up. I just wish..." He caught himself, cutting his eyes to the doctor as she watched him, intently. He looked at the clock, before standing and walking to the door. "Well, no point crying over spoiled milk, as the saying goes."

"I believe it's "spilled", Beetlejuice."

"I prefer mine spoiled." He winked, leaving. Grayne raised her eyebrows, before returning to her notes.

"Patient has yet again begun masking emotional vulnerability with attempts at humour. I believe his recovery to be right on track."

The TV room was crowded. Yakko smiled, hugging his sister tight to him as they watched the weekly movie. With him on the couch, Dot on his lap and Wakko to his side, they took up half the couch. With Pinky and the Brain on the arm of the couch, Darkwing (who was now insisting everyone call him "Drake", inspired by the recent changes in the ward) and Pepper Ann taking up the other side of the couch, and Doug, Sonic, Tails, Ace and the Mask seated around and in front of the TV, they were enjoying a private cinema. Beetlejuice floated behind the couch, laying down on the air and watching over Yakko's shoulder.

"Man, they don't make films like this anymore."

"I know." Pepper Ann sighed, curling one leg up underneath her. "I swear; TV's gotten worse since we got cancelled."

"You know what I blame?" Sonic sighed, not taking his eyes off the TV. "Anime."

There was a pause.

"Is that racist?" Doug mused, his brow furrowed. "I can't tell for certain."

"I think it is..." Ace nodded. Sonic punched him in the arm, throwing the group into a light-hearted argument.

"Beetlejuice." Nurse Romano poked her head into the TV room, beaming widely. "You've got a visitor."

"Who?" He didn't take his eyes off the TV screen. "Can it wait? We're just getting to the good bit."

"Oh, I think you'll want to see her." Nurse Romano smiled again, stepping aside and letting a young woman through.

The young woman looked to be in her early or mid twenties, with pale skin and dark eyes. Her long, black hair hung down her back, and her body was slender and toned, clad in reds and blacks. She smiled nervously, not quite meeting Beetlejuice's startled gaze.

"Lydia?"

"Hey... Beej."

Beetlejuice fell to the floor with a bump, before staggering to his feet and approaching Lydia carefully.

No one was watching the TV now.

"Lyds, babes..." Beetlejuice cleared his throat, unable to speak above a whisper. "You... you got..."

"I got Editing Treatment, Beej." Her voice wavered with emotion as she spoke. Her tone was a firm one that suggested she'd rehearsed this speech a few times before. "I... I did this for me, because I feel I need to be an adult before I can fully take myself seriously. And, I know you're going to say I was fine the way I was before, but I didn't feel fine, and I didn't do this for you." He tried to respond, but she closed her eyes and held up a hand to silence him. Tears began to leak through her eyelids. "Now, I want to say that this last week has been hell for me. I can't stand being away from you, Beej, I just can't. But I've had just as much to go through here as you have, and I know now that... if you can't appreciate that, then there's no reason I should be with you. So... I..." She trailed off, pressing her fingers to her lips and blinking back tears.

Beetlejuice cast a glance back over his shoulder, to see the group of expectant faces grinning and egging him on. He flushed with embarrassment, and growled at them. They were not perturbed. He turned back to Lydia, trying to ignore the fact that he could almost physically see his reputation crumbling around him.

"Babes... Lydia... I, uh... Look, you know I'm no good at the emotional stuff, but... well... I can't do anything without you. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I took you for granted, and that was wrong of me. And... fair enough; you got yourself edited, and no one can tell you how to live your life. I can deal with that." He gripped Lydia's hands, smiling as he felt a tingle of excitement run down his spine. She gazed up into his eyes (she now stood only a little shorter than him) and found herself returning the smile.

"But you know what? I'm looking into those big old eyes of yours, and I'm seeing that you're exactly the same, Lydia. You're still the warm, considerate, beautiful girl I've known all these years. You're still my best friend. If you'll have me."

"Beej..." She laughed, her voice choked with tears. "I want to be much more than friends." She hugged him, throwing her arms around his neck and beaming as he gripped her, one hand on her back and the other around her waist.

From the couch, the group emitted a distinct "aww", followed by one or two shouts of "kiss her, you dope" and bouts of laughter. Lydia broke away, smiling shyly, as if noticing the group for the first time. Beetlejuice kept hold of her hand. He grinned at her, his familiar goofy grin, and she giggled, before obliging the calls of the group and pulling Beetlejuice into a kiss.

The catcalls and whoops were riotous, and the film played on, forgotten.

There is a building just outside of Burbank, L.A.

Well, to be pedantic, there are many, but this particular one was special. It lay just outside the town, through the bridge that led to Toon Town. No-one was really sure how or why it came about any more, but it was generally accepted that it had been there since the 50s.

The building, that is. Toon Town's development is an entirely different story.

But regardless; the building sat, square and wide, with clean grey-brown brick and a garden quad in the middle. The gleaming brass plaque outside identified it simply as the "Valiant and Rabbit Recuperative Home for Disenfranchised Toons", and it was by this plaque that Beetlejuice and Lydia stood, carrying a few suitcases, with a few others floating behind them courtesy of Beej's powers. They stood on the sidewalk, waving up to the assembled toons who were hanging out of windows to bid them a farewell, before linking arms, kissing once more, and strolling off into Toon Town, to find themselves a life.

Inside the 90s ward, everyone felt oddly sad. They were delighted to see Lydia and Beetlejuice finally work through their problems and move out into the world, but they were heartbroken to see their friends go. Drake, as he now called himself, was on the road to recovery and seemed to have put his Darkwing days behind him. Ace and The Mask seemed to have solved a lot of their temper issues, and Doug and Pepper Ann were both looking at finishing high school and maybe applying to college. The 90s, it seemed, were finally coming to an end, and it only took them until 2011 to cope with it.

Yakko turned t his siblings, grinning broadly.

"Hey, sibs." He picked Dot up, swinging her into a piggy-back, and let Wakko grab hold of his tail, dragging him across the waxed linoleum floor. "You ever think about moving out of here?"

"Yeah..." Dot giggled, hugging her brother's neck. "Why?"

"Well, I've been doing a little research, and it turns out that, as long as I can get the doctors to sign off on a bill of mental health, I could hypothetically adopt the two of you. We could live on our own. Hypothetically, of course."

Wakko let go of his brother's tail out of shock, spinning and tumbling across the floor.

"Really?"

"But what about money?"

"We've got some left from the show." Yakko shrugged. "We could use that, and then teach kids toon skills. Or write for the studios or something. We're young, we're free, and we'll figure something out." Yakko grinned, putting Dot on the floor as he helped Wakko to his feet. "What do you say?"

Dot and Wakko exchanged glances, looking a little worried. Eventually, they laughed, hugging Yakko tight. They didn't need words. Still laughing, they linked hands and ran to see Doctor Grayne about Yakko's bill of mental health.

There is a building just outside of Burbank, L.A...

Well, to be pedantic, there are many, but this particular one is special. It lies just outside the town, through the bridge that leads to Toon Town. It is squat and square, and not that appealing to look at, but to some poor toons, it is home. To others, to the lucky ones, it is where they remember who they are, and who they can count on.