The spray-painted tree lurched oddly, it wasn't certain exactly how it was being held up. A Glow Worm toy sat on the crooked top, the tree decorated with hangers, safety pins, bits of newspaper, toys and a few actual ornaments. Badly and strangely wrapped presents piled under, on and around it, it sits as the centerpiece, glowing in mismatched lights, in this warehouse made home. The walls were rusted, the pain peeling, cold, covered in stickers, posters, old broken skateboards, anything that will stick to the wall. bean sat on the couch, or what was once a couch, only having legs on one side so it tilted severely, cushions and blankets piled upon it, watching the Imcredible Hulk. She sat cross-legged, a huge grin on her face, stained with slurpee and candy. From the bathroom behind her, a voice faintly singing, and music blared too loud through a walkman. From upstairs, the sound of more music, sex, conversation. A quiet night in the warehouse.
bean was happy. She was just...happy. Everything seemed to be going so well. She'd bought all her Christmas presents and had a lot of fun playing in the snow. She loved living with the fae, they never told her she was weird or to shut up or go away. They never made her do anything she didn't want to do. They loved her and accepted her, and she loved them. She loved Jeremy. She had everything she needed. It didn't matter anymore that she didn't know who she was or where she came from, or that her Daddy had abandoned her, she had lived and learned. And she had the Hulk. She giggled when he turned green, roaring right along with him, pounding her scrawny chest. She thought she heard something behind the couch, but she shrugged it off. She laughed and scrambled for the remote when the commercials came on, muting the volume. Now this time she definately heard something. She sat still for a moment, heightning her senses to figure out where the noise was coming from. She thought she felt something in her back, something moving. She sprang up, pulling the couch away from the wall and peered down behind it. All bean could see were two of the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. She sat for a moment, looking at them, smiling. The eyes seemed to smile, and she pulled the couch out more. A happy, ageless bearded face smiled back at her, and she flopped down in the filth behind the couch with him.
"Hi!" She added an enthousiastic wave.
"Hi bean. I guess you found me." He stretched out his sandaled feet, tugging the long white robe down over his legs.
"I did? Is that good?"
"Of course it is. There are people who spend their whole lives looking for me and never do. I'm hard to find, but you did it. You're a very special girl, Rebecca."
bean squealed, putting her bony hands to her mouth. "How do you know my name? Nobody knows my name!"
"My dad told me." He smiled, and it was a beautiful smile, and something in the back of bean's brain suddenly clicked.
"Heyyyyyyyyyyy, I know you! I was looking for you, Felicity told me that I had to find you. I've been looking ever since, you're really good at hiding. You were never under the bed or in the closet or the sugar jar or under the table or in the teacups or..."
"Yes, I am very good at hiding. I know how hard you've been looking, you got really close a few times. But I'm here now, and I want to give you something."
bean smiled, crossing her legs, playing with the toes on her rainbow socks. "I get a prize for winning the game?"
"I guess you could call it that." He smiled, and from behind him there came a great wash of light. It glittered and sparkled, like snow, covering everything like a sheet of ice. bean smiled, feeling the light wash over her, cover her. It frightened her at first, but when the light passed over her chest and her heart started to beat, she could only smile. Her lungs started to take in breath, her skin warmed, she could feel only quiet and peace and wonder at the beauty unfolding around her. Everything was beautiful and perfect, and in herself she felt a quiet.
"There's something missing from you, Rebecca, and there's something I need to tell you about that. Trent is a part of you. He was ripped away, and there's a hole in you where he was. That won't ever get fixed, but you can patch it up. You've been doing a great job. That part of you will be returned, but only in death."
bean just smiled at him, running her hands over the warm sparkling light. "Like, the really real death?"
"Yes. The really real death. It's nothing to be scared of, you know. You still have lots to do here on earth, so don't try to hurry it up or anything."He smiled at her, picking up a toy off the floor covered in the white light and played with it, enjoying it. "When yo die though, Rebecca, it will be at Trent's hands. You'll both die together, because then you will be one again. It's the way it has to be."
bean looked a little scared at this, so he offered her his arms for a hug. She cralwed over to him, hugging him, calming down. "I understand. I can feel the space where he used to be. He scares me more than anything in the world, but I understand, and I won't be scared when it's my time to die." He hugged her, kissing the top of her head. She felt his lips press against her skin and suddenly everything was clear. She seemed to step outside of herself for a moment, and there she could see herself, clearly, untainted by madness and hardship and chemicals. She saw the strange, scrawny girl dressed in rags and leather and chains, with the partially shaved head, piercings, makeup, chipped nail polish, and the insanity in her oddly-coloured eyes. She saw herself, and roundabout metaphorical way she spoke. When his lips left her, she returned to herself with a new understanding.
"Thank you. I feel much better now." and she hugged him tight.
"You're welcome, Rebecca. I hope you have a good Christmas. Jeremy got you something good." He winked, teasing her.
"You too...I'm gonna tell people about the game, and to try and find you. Oh! Wait!" She got up, running over to the table. The light was fading slowly from everything, but she didn't care, she had it inside her now. She came back to him and pressed a burnt, oddly shaped cookie into his hand. "Happy birthday. I made these. I know they're not very good, but I tried." She gave him a crooked bean smile, biting her lip, hoping he wouldn't be offended. He took a bite and smiled.
"These are the best cookies I've ever had. Thank you. Remeber that I love you, and I'm always here."
"I love you too. I hope I'll see you again soon." and with that, he dissapeared.

bean woke the next day, opening one eye, then the other, then the other. She smiled, feeling Jeremy there with her. She kissed him, hugging him tight. He opened his eyes, looking up at her with a smile, kissing her back. "Hi bean...you look...different. Are you ok?"
"I'm better than I have ever been. I love you." he laughed, sitting up and over her, smoothing the hair off her face. "I...I love you too...bean."
"It's Rebecca, you know. My real name. I don't really want everyone calling me that, but I thought you should know." She giggled at the shocked look on his face.
"Oh...ok." He smiled, and poked at her pillow. "Kind of a lumpy pillow, isn't it? Maybe you should check and see if there's something under it." bean squealed, picking up the pillow and throwing it across the room. Sitting there innocently was a small jewlery box. She tore off the ribbon and opened it. Inside was a little silver ring, a little Celtic band. It was simple but pretty, and obviously somewhat expensive. bean stared at it in shock, not able to say anything. Jeremy's hand shook as he took the box from her hand, pulling the ring out of the box and holding it up to her, taking her hand.
"bean, Rebecca...I love you. I know it's important to you that you're married to someone you love. I know you were, and you really loved him. I know I can't ever be him, and I know I won't live forever like you, but the time I have, well, I just can't imagine it without you anymore. So um...howabout it? Wanna get married?" Jeremy wasn't expecting to get pounced, but he did. All bean could do was kiss him and cry, hlding tightly to him. Somewhere in there she croaked out a yes and, ring on finger, she kissed him, holding him close to her while she cried.
She cried for Lucifer-Angel, her dead husband, the first person to accept her and love her. The one who gave her hope.
She cried for her lost Daddy, abandoned her for reasons she couldn't understand.
She cried for her lost friends, all the people she'd known that were gone or dead. Moredchai, Casper, Spider, Wolfram, Jezebel, Zippy, Gabriel, Rasputin, Issac,...even Mr Nore, that weird guy. All the faces that had come and gone, the short life she remembered.
And she cried for love. Her saviour. Jeremy was the only thing in her life that quieted the voices, made the walls stop bleeding, did little tricks to cheer her up. Jeremy wasn't perfect, but he was perfect for her. She wanted to tell him all of this, but she just couldn't make words. Her mind found his, and she felt it, sharing, the connection. He poured his life into her, the beatings, the shame, the street life, the anger, the home he found here, with others like him, and his tentative love for this strange little creature named bean.
When it was over, they were closer than any two could ever be. They didn't need words. They didn't leave the room for hours, and when they did, after bean had showed off the ring, to the great shock and surprise of the other people who lived there, she made a qucik phone call.

"Hey, Felicity, I wanted to let you know, I found Jesus. He was behind the couch the whole time. I'm gonna get married, so you don't have to worry anymore. Merry Christmas!" and she went back to play.