#frightober2023

Frank was surprised that he was able to awake without feeling like it was physically hurting him to keep his eyes open. He looked down at the source of the warmth pulsing through him, and smiled when he saw what-- or who-- it was.

Lucy's head was still resting over his heart, and she still fast asleep. Her raven curls were messy from sleep, and her hand was still holding his hand.

Sure, there had been nightmares during the night. He had only been discharged yesterday, and it was all still so fresh in their minds.

But they held each other, allowed the other to have the time to cry, and reminded them that it was over now.

He felt Lucy begin to stir awake against him, and she lifted her head up as her eyes slowly opened. He smiled at her.

The morning of October 1st, 1995 started out peacefully. Lucy Alcott, formerly Lynskey, had woken up in Frank Bannister's arms, feeling the most rested she had ever been since before she began her internship.

"Good morning," he had whispered in her ear, pressing a kiss to her bruised temple.

"Good morning," she echoed. "Sleep well?"

"A lot better than in that hospital bed," he told her.

"I know," Lucy said, feeling his hand move over her stomach.

They laid there in silence, soaking up the joy of having slept in the same bed before they were interrupted by a loud rumble from Lucy's stomach. Her cheeks flushed with warmth as she could feel the teasing smile on Frank's face forming.

"Hungry?" he laughed. "That... that wasn't even a growl-- that was a roar."

"Frank," Lucy couldn't help but laugh as well, despite her embarrassment.

Lucy knew how comforting a heartbeat could be.

She remembered learning at a young age how a mother's heartbeat could comfort her child, and how much it made sense to her, having been such a cuddler as a young kid.

Once she had decided that she wanted to be a doctor, she had bought every book she could find about the human body, and she had always found herself re-reading the chapters on the human heart. It was always so fascinating to her.

One of her earliest memories was when her father let her try his stethoscope on him and listen to his heartbeat. She had been in awe of the very sound of it.

The further she got along in med school, then in her career as a doctor, a heartbeat started to become more of a part of the soundtrack to her day. She listened to so many hearts that sometimes, it was more about doing her job than being amazed by the wonders of the human body.

When Frank woke up-- when he came back to her-- for the second time, one of the first things that she could recall doing was laying her head against his chest, listening to his heart.

It was incredible.

It told her that they both had lived.

That he had lived.

Lucy dropped her keys back into her purse as she walked inside the house. As she closed the door behind her, she saw the various boxes and clear plastic bins on the floor-- most of which she had recognized as the Christmas decorations that she had brought with her from Portland, but the others probably having belonged to Frank.

Speaking of Frank, he walked in from the other room with another clear, plastic box of decorations in his arms. He beamed when he saw Lucy and set the box aside to greet her.

"Hey, Luce," he pressed a brief kiss to her lips. "How was your day?"

"It was good," Lucy told him with a smile. "A little exhausting for everyone, but still good. And you?"

"Same as you," Frank answered. "Exhausting but good. But, I have a question."

"Anything," Lucy said.

"Are you too tired to drive to the Christmas tree farm tonight?" he asked. "I know it's a long drive, but we can stop at that diner you like for dinner. And we'll start decorating tomorrow when we get home from work-- I promise if I get home first, I won't start without you."

"It does sound like fun, but Frank... it's November twenty-seventh," Lucy remarked in an amused manner. "Thanksgiving was only last week."

She felt a little guilty when she saw Frank begin to blush, almost deflating a little.

"I-- I know," he said.

"No, Frank, I didn't mean it like that," Lucy tried to explain. "I'm excited for Christmas. After all, it's my first one here in town... and my first one with you."

Frank smiled. "Well, you're gonna love what it's like here. There's the Christmas parade downtown, the tree lighting-- oh, and the drive-through light show in Fairwater Heights-- I haven't gone in years, but I heard that last year, they had a display in the shape of the opening scene from The Lion King."

Lucy laughed fondly at him. "Sounds like fun."

Lucy ran her fingers through her curls-- still smelling of the beach, even under her shampoo and body wash-- as she settled on the couch, looking back at the open kitchen behind her. Frank had been so kind to do the dishes after dinner that night.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help?" she asked.

"No, Luce, I'm almost done anyway," he told her, settling the third-to-last dish to dry.

Once he was finished with the dishes, he took two wine glasses out of the cabinet and walked into the living room.

"How does a glass of wine sound?" Frank asked.

Lucy smiled. "Sounds lovely."

"Red or white?"

To some, it may have been an ordinary question. But to Lucy, it was so much more.

Unlike Ray, Frank had asked her instead of just assuming and then trying to make her go along with it when she tried to tell him any different than what he had wanted.

She remembered her first time drinking on her twenty-first birthday. Funnily enough, she had been studying the effects of alcohol on the liver, as well as the toll that cirrhosis took on the body, around that time. Ray had taken her out to a bar that was so loud that she could feel the vibrations of the music in her chest, and she could barely hear a word that anyone was saying.

He had ordered a beer for himself, and a glass of red wine for her.

She only had half of her glass that night, and she had gone to bed with a pounding headache (though that could have been from the music) or

Yet, every time they went out to any place that served alcohol, Ray would order red wine for her.

When she had gone to Excalibur's to have dinner with Frank and with Ray's emanation, she had taken it as an opportunity to finally order for herself. She had once tried white wine at a bachelorette party for one of the wives of Ray's friends, and it tasted much better to her-- not to mention, she hadn't felt like she was going to vomit within a few hours of only drinking half a glass.

It wasn't like she would have heard Ray protesting.

So, whenever she and Frank went out to a place that served alcohol, Frank would make his order and ask what she wanted.

And she always said the same thing.

"Ma'am, are you okay? Ma'am!"

The deep voice uttering those words worsened the throbbing pain in Lucy's head. A strong hand helped her roll over from her stomach onto her back. Her eyes will still closed, but she could tell that it was very bright out.

"Where's my husband?" she asked.

"He's getting help, ma'am," the voice told her. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Doc-- Dr. Lucy Bannister," Lucy answered, unable to keep herself from thinking about how familiar the voice was. "My husband's name is Frank. We-- we have a daughter, Julia-- she turned one on Halloween."

"Any family we can call?" the voice asked her.

"My-- my boss, Dr. Henry Kamins," Lucy told him, beginning to open her eyes slowly.

And when she saw the owner of the voice. He had dark hair that was obviously naturally wavy, but had been styled in a high pompadour. His dark brown eyes were framed by round wire glasses, complimenting the structure of his face in a way. He was dressed in a familiar, tan-colored flightsuit that she had seen people of all ages dress in for Halloween.

"Egon Spengler?" she spoke his name aloud without even realizing.

"Yes-- Dr. Bannister, what's the last thing you remember?" Egon asked her.

Lucy opened her mouth to try to speak, but she struggled to articulate her thoughts.

How-- how was Egon Spengler right there across from her?

He was a character from a movie. She had seen in theaters with her mother when it first came out.

"Wh-- what's going on?" she asked. "Where-- where the hell am I?"

"Dr. Bannister, you're in Tribeca," Egon explained. "You may have sustained a concussion or some other head injury."

"No, I mean-- how is this possible? This-- this can't be real!" she exclaimed.

Well, why the hell wouldn't it be? she thought.

If ghosts and witches existed, then of course she would somehow find a way to be trapped in a movie. Even if Egon looked a teeny bit older than he had in the second movie.

"What-- what year is it?"

"Today's date is November 5th, 1991," Egon answered.

"No, it's November 5th, 2001," Lucy argued. "I-- Frank and I-- FRANK!"

She pushed herself up to her feet and immediately regretted it, but still ran off until she came across Frank, who was being examined by Dan Ay-- Ray Stantz.

"Frank?"

"Luce," Frank sat up and pulled her into his arms.

"What-- what's going on?" she asked him. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Just-- we were getting Julia ready for bed," Frank tried. "And-- and then, those women from Anissa's coven burst in... and that's it. I-- I can't remember anything else until now."

"Who's Anissa?" Ray asked.

Lucy looked at Ray, still trying to adjust to the idea of communicating with this fictional character in a flesh-and-blood form. "She's... she's... I'm sorry, I just--"

Suddenly, something whooshed past them-- an indigo shape with a high-pitched cackle. Frank gripped onto Lucy protectively.

"PETE! WINSTON!" Ray called out.

Egon caught up with them. "Dr. Bannister, I think you and your husband should go inside the firehouse."

Frank and Lucy were the first people to stand in front of the fireplace. Maureen joined them from where she had been helping Brian and her mother with the dishes, little Chelsea on her hip and dressed in a dark blue and white floral dress. Laura and her brood were next, pocketing her lipstick that she had applied. Elliot handed baby Natalie to her, while he picked up Anton.

Everyone else joined them fairly quickly as Charles began to set up the camera and arrange everyone.

"Little ones in the front, grown-ups in the back..." he mumbled to himself.

Lucy grinned over at Frank, and he smiled back at her.

"You know... you know told me what you were thankful for this year," she whispered.

"Well... I'm thankful for my wife," he told her, smiling as she briefly lowered her head to hide that she was blushing. "And for my family."

He indicated everyone else.

"In that case, I'm also thankful for my family," Lucy agreed. "And for you."

"Okay-- we got thirty seconds!" Charles suddenly exclaimed, rushing to his place in between Tami and his mother.

Everyone checked each other over before freezing in place and smiling, just in time for the camera to flash and click.

Lucy blew her nose into what must be her tenth tissue of the day, and groaned. Her ears were so clogged up that she could barely hear the movie on the television-- not that it was that much of a problem. She practically had it memorized by heart at this point.

Frank grimaced sympathetically, lying a blanket over her when he noticed her shivering. "Oh, Luce, I'm so sorry--"

"No, Frank, this isn't your fault," Lucy said. "I've been treating patients with the flu recently; I could've gotten it from them, or one of my co-workers. I'm the one who should be sorry for ruining date night."

"Hey-- hey," Frank looked into her spring green eyes, saying firmly, "You didn't ruin anything. You need to rest so you can feel better. Besides I... I kinda like that I get to stay in with you."

Lucy smiled. "If I didn't feel so disgusting, I'd kiss you."

"How about a forehead kiss?" Frank suggested.

"Luce? You sure you don't need my help?" Frank called as he futzed with the wrists of his jacket's sleeves.

"No, I'm fine," Lucy called back from the bedroom. "Laura's just helping me lace up the dress.

"Okay."

Frank looked at himself in the mirror, unable to keep from admiring the costume-- a royal blue 18th century-era court ensemble with golden embellishments that matched the Beast's suit. Hazel had outdone herself; maybe if she hadn't been a teacher, she could've designed costumes for movies or for the theater.

He heard footsteps from behind him, and turned around. A wide smile spread across his face.

Lucy looked like she was floating on air as she walked out of the bedroom, clad in Belle's iconic yellow gown.

Unlike Frank's costume, Lucy had bought hers when she was helping Hazel and Dr. Kamins' grandchildren pick out their costumes at the Halloween store. But, she had purchased a hoop skirt (not a crinoline cage, because apparent they were entirely different things) to add more volume to the skirt.

Her ebony curls were styled in the same period-appropriate half-down half-up hairdo.

She smiled back at him, smoothing her hands over the bodice of the dress.

"You look... God, I'm just speechless," Frank confessed.

"I'm pretty speechless myself," Lucy flirted, going to plant a quick kiss on his lips. "Thanks for coming over to help, Laura."

"Don't mention it," Laura said. "The older kids and I will be over later, and I can't wait to see how Bree will react."

The two women hugged goodbye, and Laura exited the house.

"So... we only have an hour and a half before we got trick-or-treaters," Lucy said. "What should we do?"

"Well... I have an idea," Frank began to suggest.

He carefully took her hand, and led her to the CD player. He retrieved one of the CDs from the display and inserted inside, pressing the skip button to get to the song he wanted. The opening of the title song from Beauty and the Beast began to play.

"May I have this dance?" he requested.