Holding Out For a Hero

Summary: The The Ghostbusters confront an unpleasant surprise on a job.

Description: minor graphic descriptions, no pentiontion

Timeline: Summer 1989

Disclaimer: Mrs. Pinckerton is a character of my own creation, and therefore my intellectual property, as is the story itself. I do not own any of the other characters nor do I profit from their use in this story. My purpose is one of philosophical fulfillment: I write, therefore I am.

Sequel Note: This is a sequel to my prior stories Birthday Beginnings, Just the Way You Are, and Birth and Rebirth. It’s not totally necessary to read them to follow this one, but it may help.

Author’s Notes: This story was inspired by some true accounts from some of my friends who go to people’s homes as part of their job. I didn’t believe the first person, but I had to believe it after the second person relayed a similar account b/c they don’t know each other.thinthink something comparable would be likely to happen to the RGBs. After all, it is NYC . . .

Queens Borough Bridge

There’s simply no other way to describe it: it was a nice day. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and warm, and the pre-rush hour traffic was light. In the City That Never Sleeps, these things add up to a very nice day. Summer was here and everyone was enjoying it . . . everyone that is, except the four very shaken men riding home in a remodeled ambulance. The bridge’s almost complete lack of ruthless cabbies or irate motorists was lost on them. The warmth and peacefulness of the day did not register. Even the absence of Peter’s usual hay fever went without notice. They were returning home from a call and an uncharacteristic, uncomfortable silence had befallen the quartet of paranormal investigators. After ten minutes in an embarrassed silence, Ray finally spoke.

“Gosh, that was . . . something.”

“I thought we ag to to never speak of this again, Ray.”

“I know Pete, but it was just . . .”

“It was just an unpalatable experience for all of us,” Egon interjected snidely. “No one wishes to relive it, Raymond.” The blond physicist hadn’t stopped toying with his PKE meter since they’d left ‘the apartment’, but he didn’t really seem to be focused on what he was doing. “The incident is better left forgotten.”

“Easier saian dan done.” Winston had seemed to be concentrating on the road with such intent that he’d appeared to be oblivious to his fellow Ghostbusters. ‘Appearances can be deceiving,’ Peter thought. Then he suppressed a shudder as his off-hand musing triggered a flash of their earlier ordeal in his mind. ‘Appearances can be deceiving in very bad ways too.’

Winston’s apparent concentration on his driving was obviously in an effort to fend off such flashes. His last comment suggested that he was fighting a losing battle.

“Winston’s right, Egon. I don’t think any of us will ever forget what just happened, and I don’t think never mentioning it will make a difference.” Ray felt the awkward hush was not healthy.

Egon roughly pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose as if girding himself for battle. He hated arguing with Ray, but this was not a conversation he wanted to keep having. Peter, sensing the impending argument between two of his closest friends, cut Egon off to keep the peace.

“Tex has got a point, Spengs. We’ve never forgotten the vampires or werewolves we’ve met. How could we ever forget our first zombie, I ask ya?”

Ray cringed at Peter’s tasteless joke at his expense, and Peter grinned wickedly, before bursting into a fit of laughter. Ray tried not to smile, but he was soon chuckling right along with Peter. Winston’s lip quivered with the effort not to join them. Egon smiled and shook his head. He recognized Peter’s disgusting sense of humor for what it was . . . a tactic to create a truce between him and Ray before one was even needed.

“Honestly Peter, you have such a unique talent for being crude at just the right moments.”