[IC] Stranger Beetles

[Metronome]

"Why do I feel like the FBI is going to be on my doorstep tomorrow?" Charles made it back to the truck in record time. Anything to get this foul smelling corpse off his back. He didn't know what the black liquid now staining his uniform was, but he had an idea.

He set Beetlejuice down in the bed of the truck and covered him with a tarp that was back there. Once he was settled in the cab and headed home, he let out a long sigh. "So what exactly is that thing?" He jerked a thumb towards the back of the truck.

[Beetlejuice96]

"He." Lydia corrected.

"His name is Beetlejuice, he's a demon and my family. He appeared a little after my parents died and hasn't left my side since then. He's kept me safe even after the government took us away, having us do their dirty work or spying on other countries. Even killing people. Everything changed when we finally escaped and came to Hawkins. Our lives were finally normal."

[Metronome]

Charles was silent for a while. "You know, I was just kidding about that whole "FBI" thing."

How did he get himself wrapped up in this? He couldn't just put them out now. This girl needed help. But he also couldn't help but wonder how the Maitlands, of all people, were able to deal with this.

His house was a remote lakeside cabin just outside the city limits. When he pulled up, he got the...demon, and carried him inside. He set Beetlejuice down in the tub inside the master bathroom. There was no way he was going to get black demon blood all over the rugs.

"I'll get him fixed up," Charles said. "Why don't you see if you can find something to change into and get cleaned up in the upstairs bathroom."

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia nodded in reply, giving Beetlejuice one last glance before heading upstairs. Thankfully it wasn't too far away where he'd disappear and frighten Charles more. She scrubbed the demon blood off herself before finding a pair of sweatpants that were a little too big and a shirt she was basically swimming in. At least they were clean.

She arrived downstairs, holding her stained clothes as she headed to the master bathroom to check on them when something caught her eye. It was a picture of a woman with kind, smiling eyes and wild curly brown hair framing her face. A moonstone necklace lay over the picture frame, the same one the woman had. She picked both of them up carefully, a little stunned before looking over at Charles.

"Why...why do you have a picture of my mother and her necklace?"

[Metronome]

Charles was setting Beetlejuice up in the recliner in his room. The demon was covered in guaze patches, dressed in sweats, and actually clean for once. He was also awake and moving sluggishly. He gave Lydia a weak smile and wave when she came in.

"Your friend has a very...interesting sense of humor," Charles remarked before Lydia asked him about the picture.

He paused. The man frowned and came over to take the picture gently. "That's my wife," He said, "She passed a long time ago. Her name was also Delia."

He didn't seem to put two and two together. But Beetlejuice, listening from the recliner, did.

"Holy shit," he croaked.

[Beetlejuice96]

The world crushed Lydia at his words. She swallowed a couple of times before looking up at Charles. He...he was her..."Dad." She said softly, vision blurring as tears formed for the umpteenth time that night.

"My name is Lydia. My mother's name was Delia." She said, using sign language. She hoped, prayed that Charles would understand her and know the truth.

[Metronome]

Charles visibly paled, as though he were seeing a ghost. His hands shook as they reached towards her. It couldn't be, could it?

"Lydia?" His voice broke. He fell to his knees and hugged the girl tightly.

Beetlejuice, meanwhile, could only mentally smack himself for hitting on his best friend's dad.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Dad!" Lydia's voice cracked as she clung to him, trembling softly as tears fell. After all this time he was here and alive. "But...they told me you and mom died. How did you survive?" She asked, pulling away to look at him.

[Metronome]

"They told me you and your mother died!" Charlies was crying, his tough guy persona shattered into bits. Beetlejuice was feeling real awkward being in the same room, but wasn't exactly in any shape to flee.

"I was taken to the hospital after the avalanche. I was there for weeks. I thought I'd lost you both."

[Beetlejuice96]

"A different group found me and after weeks of searching said they couldn't find you or mom. I was sent to the orphanage where Beetlejuice eventually found me. Not long after that, the government took us away to the facility disguising it as the electric company." Lydia explained.

"They had us do things I'm not proud of even though Beej was the one who killed them. But I did pick up the languages where we visited."

[Metronome]

Charles hugged her a moment longer. He couldn't believe she was alive. And the thought of her locked up in some government conspiracy made his blood boil. He stood, and looked over at Beetlejuice, who was trying hard not to ruin the moment with an inappropriate one-liner.

"Well, demon, I guess I should thank you for keeping my daughter safe," He said. Again, the idea of such a....vile creature looking after Lydia made his skin crawl. But she clearly adored him, so he must have made a good impression. Despite the impression he'd already made on Charles.

"Yeah, no problem. Don't sweat it," Beetlejuice said casually.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Want me to start looking around for bugs, Beej?" Lydia asked, knowing that it might cheer him up and bring back a little bit of strength. Upon getting a look from her father, she smiled sheepishly. "He considers creepy crawlies a delicacy from spiders to roaches to flies." She explained.

[Metronome]

"Aww, Lyds, you're the best," Beetlejuice grinned.

Charles grimaced. "You eat bugs?" His face contorted in disgust.

"The slimey and crunchy ones are the best," BJ explained. "I don't technically have to eat, but since I got my shit pushed in like an hour ago, it would help."

Charles looked around the room. He liked to think that he kept his house relatively insect free. "I...er, have some nightcrawlers in the shed. For fishing bait. Do you...like those?

Beetlejuice's face lit up. "Daddy?" He whimpered. "I'M HOME!" He threw his hands up, and promptly regretted it as it tore at his bandages.

Charles made an uncertain face, not quite sure how to take that. "I'll go get those, I guess."

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia couldn't help but giggle at Beetlejuice's reaction upon hearing about worms. Those were one of his favorites among the others. She shook her head as his bandages tore before heading over to fix them. "Can't believe he's actually alive after all this time. He was right here in this town." Lydia said as she patched him back up.

[Metronome]

"Yeah, and he's got this whole 'stoic, macho guy' thing going on that I kinda' dig. Not that I'd try to hit on him or anything. Because I wouldn't." Beetlejuice moved his arm so she could stick the patch back on him.

"Do you think he'll let us stay?" And by 'us', he specifically meant 'him'. Doors seemed to fly open to welcome a cute kid in, but a mangy, ill adjusted demon with emotional baggage? Slam. He doubted Charles would be anywhere near as understanding as the Maitlands. Hey, speaking of...

"We should probably let the Maitlands know we're safe, somehow. It's probably best to stay away from them for a while. I'm sure their house is being watched."

[Beetlejuice96]

"I'm sure he'll get used to you while you recover. Just don't get into any trouble and I'm sure you'll be okay." Lydia replied before looking up at him as he mentioned the Maitlands. She had almost forgotten about the labradoodles.

"I would say a note, but that could be tracked back to us. They might have even bugged the house so Dad can't just tell them. We can't even tell Zach and Nate that I'm okay cause they're probably under watch too." She sighed.

[Metronome]

"No trouble?" Beetlejuice said incredulously. "That's like asking Miley Cyrus to keep her tongue in her mouth. I'll last five minutes, max!" He slumped down in the chair a bit. "What if the Maitlands file a missing person report on you? They'd have to, right? That would give Chuck a good reason to show up at their house, and he can pass them the message on, like, a self destructing letter or something."

[Beetlejuice96]

"No. No self destructing letter. Unless..." Lydia trailed off in thought. "Unless we tell them in the note to destroy it afterwards. Burn it, tear it up and shred it, anything so it can't trace back to us. It might work."

[Metronome]

"Well that seems way less practical," He complained. "But I guess."

Charles came back into the room, looking regretful for having set the demon up in his bedroom, of all places. He thrust a blue, plastic tub at Beetlejuice, which the demon immediately delved into.

"Once you're feeling up to it, we should probably get you settled somewhere else." Charles tried not to watch as Beetlejuice sucked a particularly fat worm up like a spaghetti noodle, making an unnecessarily loud slurping noise. He turned to Lydia.

"I have a spare bedroom you can take. It's probably not as nice as what the Maitlands had, but we'll work on it."

[Beetlejuice96]

"Anything is better than a white padded room with a bolted down bed." Lydia smiled before it slowly faded. Something crossed her mind that she was curious about. "Dad, when I was little, did I show any signs of being...different? Like being able to push things without touching them?"