Ghostfinders 02 - Ghost of a Smile

because he had more pride than to vent without good reason. Wasting a good moan on minor occasions would cheapen it. So he sat quietly with Melody, trembling and twitching occasionally from the psychic distress of his surroundings, while JC looked down at him and felt obscurely guilty for dragging him into a case like this.
    JC probably could have kept going, but he made a point of taking a rest anyway because he knew the others would stay on their feet as long as he did, for pride’s sake. So he sat down and took a breather, taking one for the team. And it did feel good . . . to sit, relax, breathe steadily, and take a short break from all the madness.
    JC smiled down at Happy. “What’s the matter with you, Happy? You’re sitting slumped on that step like an old man.”
    “I feel like an old man,” growled Happy.
    “Don’t you move, lover,” said Melody. “I’ll get you one.”
    They all managed some kind of smile, but none of them had the energy to laugh. JC adjusted the sunglasses over his glowing eyes, to make sure none of the light was escaping. The glasses weren’t in any way magical, or scientifically augmented, and shouldn’t have made any difference to the glow in JC’s eyes, but they did. They toned things down, made the glare bearable to those around him, and helped him see the world more clearly. JC assumed it was a psychological thing and made a point of never testing it. No-one should have to see the world too clearly for too long. He nodded to Kim.
    “That was some display you put on back there, sweetie. I didn’t know you could glow like that.”
    “Neither did I,” said Kim. “Until I had to. It disappeared the moment the ghostlight disappeared. I haven’t tried to call it back. I’m not sure that would be safe. I’m not blind to how it affected Happy and Melody. Besides, it made me feel . . . uncomfortable.”
    “Did it hurt you?” said JC.
    “No,” said Kim. “Quite the opposite.”
    There was a long pause as they all considered the implications of that, in their various ways. There was something of an uncomfortable gap now, between JC and Kim, Happy and Melody. Even if none of them were ready to acknowledge it yet. Between those who glowed, and those who didn’t. Happy finally broke the quiet, if only because silence bothered him more than uncomfortable truths.
    “It does feel good, to sit and rest,” he said. “A little downtime, between all the ghosts and ghoulies. I only hope there aren’t any long-leggity beasties up ahead. I’ve never liked things with too many legs. Don’t like the way they move . . . All very well for you to smile, JC, the rest of us haven’t got your energy.”
    JC nodded slowly. “Say it, Happy. It’s all right. Say what’s bothering you.”
    “How am I supposed to know what you’re thinking? I’m just the team telepath. And you, it would seem, are so much more now. Certainly more than me. I can’t do the things you do. Are you the team psychic now?”
    “I don’t know,” said JC. “Most of the time I’m me, same as I always was.”
    “And sometimes your eyes blaze like the sun,” said Melody. “And the monsters run screaming from you.”
    “You’re different,” Happy said bluntly. “Ever since you got those eyes. It’s like you can do anything.”
    “Trust me, that’s not the case,” JC said carefully. “It might seem that way, but I’m as vulnerable to the bad things as you. In case you didn’t notice, I was taking the same beating as you from those cold-hands ghosts. I could have died back there if Melody hadn’t taken control of the air-conditioning and saved the day.”
    “It’s me, isn’t it?” said Kim, sitting in mid air now, hugging her knees to her chest. “You’re afraid of me, aren’t you? Please don’t be afraid of me. I may be a ghost, but I’m a nice ghost. Like Casper, in the cartoons.”
    “Casper the dead baby?” said Happy, smiling a bit. “I always thought that was a really creepy concept.”
    “I don’t know where that light came from, or why it chose me,” said Kim, peering at him from over her knees. “And I don’t think I want it to happen again. What use is a gift you can’t control?”
    “You were changed, along with JC, down in the depths of Oxford Circus Tube Station,” Melody said stubbornly. “And it’s not fair! Happy and I were down there, too, fighting the good fight, and we didn’t get anything!”
    “We got each other,” Happy said