Holding Out For a Hero

Back at the firehouse . . .

The guys returned to their headquarters a lot less flustered than they had been. Janine looked up from her filing (nails, not files) and quirked a curious brow at them. “That was quick. Dr. V usually takes longer than that just to write out the bill.”

“Well . . . it wasn’t a ghost problem after all,” Ray blurted out, suddenly blushing again.

“Then what was it?” she asked, putting aside her nail file. Her GB radar was going off, and she was starting to get a little concerned at the way none of them seemed to be willing to maintain eye contact with her.

Egon saw the worry forming in her eyes. He cleared his throat and walked over to Janine’s desk. “Mrs. Pinckerton is . . . well, she’s a very . . . lonely elderly woman. It was a false alarm. She just wanted some . . . company.”

Peter gave him an incredulous glare, unjustifiably irate at Egon’s knack for understatement. He then went into his office, calling over his shoulder, “Mrs. Faversham ‘just wanted some company’, Egon. I don’t even want to think about what that woman wanted!” He muttered mockingly to himself, “I’ll be in my bedroom if any of you wants me.” He cringed. “Eww!”

“What’s Peter talking about? I’d think he’d want to keep her company, you know, like he does for Mrs. Faversham.”

“I don’t think Mrs. Pinckerton and Mrs. Faversham are on the same level,” Ray stated timidly. “Although she and Mrs. Rogers may have a lot in common.”

Janine frowned. “That’s a little harsh, Ray. Mrs. Rogers was Wat, and she possessed Peter.” She shuddered remembering how Peter’s mind fought the demon for control of his body. You’re calling Mrs. Pinckerton a demon just because she’s lonely?”

“No, but she wasn’t what she appeared to be, just like Mrs. Rogers.”

“And her house was a trap too!” Peter yelled from behind his office door. “We were lucky to escape with our lives!”

Ray then looked very contrite. “Golly, guys! I really damaged her door pretty bad. Should I pay to replace her locks? I probably shouldn’t have blasted them off like that.”

“Absolutely not, Ray!” Peter responded again from his office. “She perpetrated a terrible fraud and wasted our precious time! She can write it off for our troubles!” Janine could tell how upset he was so she decided not to mention that they hadn’t had a call in a while, so it really wasn’t a waste of their time. Besides, she was totally bewildered by the whole exchange. Why would Ray shoot the locks off a sweet old woman’s door, especially if there was no ghost?

“I don’t understand. Why isn’t she like Mrs. Faversham, if they’re both just lonely old women? And why is Peter so pissed off?”

Egon replied, “There are many forms of loneliness, Janine. I doubt that Peter approves of Mrs. Pinckerton’s form.” He immediately closed his eyes, shaking off a mental image of her ‘form’.

“But Egon . . .”

Winston shook his head wearily, and gave Janine a more direct answer. “It’s like this, Janine. Mrs. Faversham offered us some tea. Mrs. kertkerton offered us some T & A.” With that, he retreated back to his novel, praying a little concentration would wash away the horrible image of Mrs. Pinckerton standing over him in all her wrinkled glory.

He wondered if he’d ever want to have sex again. His girlfriend Kelechi was gonna kill him.

As Ray retreated upstairs to the lab, only Egon remained with Janine. He stared at her for a moment, as if unsure of something. Then he leaned in to kiss her, a very clinical look on his face, as if he were performing an experiment. Despite his expression, the kiss was full of passion. Suddenly, Egon’s posture stiffened and he broke the kiss. Janine let him pull away from her, although she did so reluctantly. He sighed dejectedly, knowing that their date that night would be pretty tepid. He hoped she’d understand.

“What happened to you guys, Egon?” She sounded really upset, but he still couldn’t bring himself to talk about it. Maybe after a few drinks tonight, he’d loosen up enough to tell her.

He sighed and answered her as best as he could for the time being. “Nothing that should have surprised us, my love. At least, not in this city.” He knew the tender appellation would distract her from her fretfulness,thatthat being said, he went upstairs to the lab to help Ray.

Janine smiled at the term of endearment, shrugged, and returned to her filing. ‘Men’ she thought, shaking her head in confusion. ‘Serves me right for giving a damn.’

END

Author’s Notes (cont’d): It’s true! Lonely women sometimes make up emergencies or pretend to need a package picked up or call a repairman to get something that isn’t broken fixed. This is all to get a little ‘male companionship’ (YOU know what I’m talking about). Well, not every man will sleep with any woman, contrary to popular (female) belief, so some of my poor guy friends in these professions have ended up getting chased around by desperate women with overactive libidos. It isn’t hard to imagine that some woman might do such a thing to the RGBs. That’s what happens when hotties make house calls! Sexual harassment at its finest!

Reference was made to the following RGB episodes:
The Thing in Mrs. Faversham’s Attic – the guys befriend a sweet old lady who’s been haunted by a horror in her home for over half a century (Mrs. F reminds Peter of his late mother)
Mrs. Rogers Neighborhood – a powerful demon named Wat lays a trap for the guys and then possesses Peter to try to free the ghosts in the containment unit