Chapter Text
Pete doesn’t remember dying.
He remembers staring at the empty football field, tears clouding his vision. He knew what was happening.
He remembers the gunshot, and sobs.
He doesn’t remember anything else. Not even his he hit the floor. Or where the bullet even hit him.
At least he wasn’t in pain. At least it was quick.
He doesn’t understand what happens when he “wakes”. It’s too overstimulating, too many people and things happening. He doesn’t really recognize anyone, and really just wants his big brother.
He starts crying as he thinks about him, the big brother he hadn’t seen in far too long, who went missing before Pete properly started high school and who only he can seem to remember.
He wonders if he’ll see him here, wherever here is, but hopes too that he won’t. He couldn’t confront the fact his brother was supposedly dead. Hell, he can barely confront the fact he’s dead!
There’s no pounding heartbeat or anything like that, though he’s panicking, he can feel it. Which is weird. He’s dead, this shouldn’t be a problem, he should be okay.
But at the same time this was all so much and he just wanted to be crushed in a hug from Ted like when he was little.
But he can’t get that.
He hugs himself. It doesn’t work. His head hurts more as tears fall, and he just…can’t stop.
Eventually someone walks up to him. Someone vaguely familiar, a redhead who looks like that girl he used to call “Mom” when he was super little. Ted’s girlfriend…
But that can’t be the same person. Jenny’s in Clivesdale.
But she’s just as nice, offering a hug and an ear. He takes the hug, feeling like a scared little kid all over again.
The woman holds him tight. She lets him cry, lets him talk. “We have all the time in the Universe”, she says as she wipes Pete’s tears away.
He cries harder and calls her “Mom” without a thought. Just like he’d called Jenny in the past.
She says nothing to it, staying until he stops crying, until his sons are just sniffles.
Slowly things start to come back to him. It is Jenny, there, holding him. He doesn’t recognize where he is, but he knows it’s Jenny.
He’s all out of tears, or else he’d cry more.
“You’re at the front desk. Or…Front Death-k, as some of the younger ones call it. When you’re ready, you’ll need to go through Judgement, though it should be good for you, you should get your Paradise. You can choose to be Judged by a belief system or unbiased Universal Judgement. Or, there’s the Void. But I think you’re waiting on certain people, so that wouldn’t be your best option.”
“What’s the…Void?”
“Where souls go to…cease to exist. Typically they’re old souls, or it’s what they believed would be their afterlife. It is an option, though, at any time in your Afterlife.”
Pete nods. “I’m not taking that. Not now…Definitely not before I see Ted. Is he…here?”
Jenny shakes her head. “All sources say he’s alive. He did not abandon you, though. It’s…complicated. Even I can’t see where he is. Best guess is an Eldritch Realm.”
He nods, biting his lip. “Ruth? Richie?”
“Richie miraculously is still in the mortal world. Alive but in rough condition. Ruth is in Hell, sent to Level One for Therapy. But she’s well, if not a little traumatized.”
“I can still see her? If I…get that Paradise?”
“Yes, always. I can have someone try and inform her of your arrival?”
“Please.”
“Of course. Are you…ready?”
“Not…just yet. Will I see you after?”
“Not immediately, but you can visit. Just like with Ruth.”
He sniffs and hugs her. “Okay. Ted misses you, by the way, Mom.”
“I know, Petey. I miss him too. And just like you, I’ll be greeting him when he arrives.”
“Thank you. He’s going to need you. I-…Can I know when he arrives?”
“I’ll make sure you do.”
Pete nods, slowly standing properly and wiping his tears. “I think I’m ready now.”
“What do you choose?”
“Universal Judgement.”
“Then…off we go.”
Jenny walks with him to the hall, holding his hand. “If I…end up going to Hell, like Ruth, can I…still get my Paradise?”
“Yes. I don’t know if you will need to reincarnate first, but as long as you’re there on the low levels, therapy levels as they’re labeled, you should be able to put in a request for Paradise. Unless you’d prefer to reincarnate.”
Pete shrugs first, then nods. “Okay, thank you.”
“I wish you all the best, Peter.”
“Thank you, Mom.”